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INAUGURAL ADDRESS 
 
 OF 
 
 PRESIDENT D^VIS 3 
 
 DELIVERED AT THE CAPITOL. 
 
 Monday, February 18, 18G1, at 1 o'clock, I*. 3J, 
 
 MONTGOMERY, ALA.: 
 
 6H0ETER & EEID, PEINTEES, ADTEETISEE OFFICE. 
 1861. 
 

 
 
 PERKINS LIBRARY 
 
 Duke University 
 Kare Dooks 
 
 
 
 
IIVAUGMJIfcAL. ADDRESS 
 
 Gentlemen of the Congress of the Confederate 
 
 States of America; Friends and Fellow- Citizens : 
 
 Called to the difficult aud responsible station of Chief 
 Executive of the Provisional Government which you have 
 instituted, I approach the discharge of the duties assign- 
 ed to me with an humble distrust of my abilities, but 
 with a sustaining confidence in the wisdom of those who 
 are to guide and to aid me in the administration of public 
 affairs, and an abiding faith in the virtue and patriotism 
 of the people. 
 
 Looking forward to the speedy establishment of a per- 
 manent Government to take the place of this, and which 
 by its greater moral and physical power will be better 
 able to combat with the many difficulties which arise 
 from the conflicting interests of separate nations, I enter 
 upon the duties of the office, to which I have been cho- 
 sen, with the hope that the beginning of our career, as a 
 Confederacy, may not be obstructed by hostile opposition 
 to our enjoyment of the separate existence and indepen_ 
 dence which we have asserted, and, with the blessing of 
 Providence, intend to maintain. Our present condition, 
 achieved in a manner unprecedented in the history of 
 nations, illustrates the American idea that Governments 
 rest upon the consent of the governed, and that it is the 
 right of the people to alter or abolish Governments when- 
 ever they become destructive of the ends for which they 
 were established. 
 
 190033 
 
The declared purpose of the compact of Union from 
 which we have withdrawn, was "to establish justice, en- 
 sure domestic tranquility, provide for the common de- 
 fence, promote the general welfare, and secure the bless- 
 ings of liberty to ourselves and posterity;" and when, in 
 the judgment of the sovereign States now composing this 
 Confederacy, it had been perverted from the purposes for 
 which it was ordained, and had ceased to answer the ends 
 for which it was established, a peaceful appeal to the bal- 
 lot-box, declared, that so far as they were concerned, the 
 government created by that compact should cease to ex- 
 ist. In this they merely asserted a right which the Dec- 
 laration of Independence of 1776, had defined to be ina- 
 lienable. Of the time and occasion for its exercise, they, 
 as sovereigns, were the final judges, each for itself. The 
 impartial and enlightened verdict of mankind will vindi- 
 cate the rectitude of our conduct, aud He, who knows the 
 hearts of men, will judge of the sincerity with which we 
 labored to preserve the government of our fathers in its 
 spirit. The right solemnly proclaimed at the birth of 
 the States, and which has been affirmed and re-affirmed 
 in the Bills of Rights of States subsequently admitted 
 into the Union of 1789, undeniably recognizes in the 
 people, the power to resume the authority delegated for 
 the purposes of government. Thus the sovereign States, 
 here represented, proceeded to form this Confederacy, and 
 it is by abuse of language that their act has been denomi- 
 nated a revolution. They formed a new alliance, but 
 within each State its government has remained, and the 
 rights of person and property have not been disturbed. 
 The agent, through whom they communicated with for- 
 eign nations, is changed, but this does not necessarily in- 
 terrupt their international relations. 
 
 Sustained by the consciousness that the transition from 
 the former Union to the present Confederacy has not 
 proceeded from a disregard on our part of just obligations, 
 or any failure to perform any constitutional duty — moved 
 
by no interest or passion to invade the rights of others — 
 anxious to cultivate peace and commerce with all nations, 
 if we may not hope to avoid war, we may at least expect 
 that posterity will acquit us of having needlessly engaged 
 in it. Doubly justified by the absence of wrong on our 
 part, and by wanton aggression on the part of others, 
 there can be no cause to doubt that the courage and 
 patriotism of the people of the Confederate States will be 
 found equal to any measures of defence which honor and 
 security may require. 
 
 An agricultural people — whose chief interest is the ex- 
 port of a commodity required in every manufacturing 
 country — our true policy is peace, and the freest trade 
 which our necessities will permit. It is alike our inter- 
 est, and that of all those to whom we would sell and from 
 whom we would buy, that there should be the fewest 
 practicable restrictions upon the interchange of com- 
 modities. There can be but little rivalry between ours 
 and any manufacturing or navigating community, such 
 as the North-eastern States of the American Union. It 
 must follow, therefore, that a mutual interest would in- 
 vite good will and kind offices. If, however, passion or 
 the lust of dominion should cloud the judgment or in- 
 flame the ambition of those States, we must prepare to 
 meet the emergency and to maintain, by the final arbitra- 
 ment of the sword, the position which we have assumed 
 among the nations of the earth. We have entered upon 
 the career of independence, and it must be inflexibly pur- 
 sued. Through many years of controversy, with our late 
 associates, the Northern States, we have vainly endeavor- 
 ed to secure tranquility, and to obtain respect for the 
 rights to which we were entitled. As a necessity, not a 
 choice, we have resorted to the remedy of separation ; 
 and henceforth, our energies must be directed to the con- 
 duct of our own affairs, and the perpetuity of the Con- 
 federacy which we have foimed. If a just perception of 
 mutual interest shall permit us, peaceably, to pursue our 
 
 190033 
 
separate political career, my most earnest desire will 
 have been fulfilled. But, if this be denied to us, and the 
 integrity of our territory and jurisdiction be assailed, it 
 will but remain for us, with firm resolve, to appeal to 
 arms and invoke the blessings of Providence on a just 
 cause. 
 
 As a consequence of our new condition, and with a 
 view to meet anticipated wants, it will be necessary to 
 provide for the speedy and efficient organization of 
 branches of the Executive Department, having special 
 charge of foreign intercourse, finance, military affairs, 
 and the postal service. 
 
 For purposes of defence, the Confederate States may, 
 under ordinary circumstances, rely mainly upon their 
 militia, but it is deemed advisable, in the present condi- 
 tion of aftairs, that there should be a well instructed and 
 disciplined army, more numerous than would usually be 
 required on a peace establishment. I also suggest that 
 for the protection of our harbors and commerce on the 
 high seas, a navy adapted to those objects will be requir- 
 ed. These necessities have doubtless engaged the atten- 
 tion of Congress. 
 
 With a Constitution differing only from that of our 
 fathers, in so far as it is explanatory of their well known 
 intent, freed from the sectional conflicts which have in- 
 terferred with the pursuit of the general welfare, it is not 
 unreasonable to expect that States, from which we 
 have recently parted, may seek to unite their fortunes 
 with ours under the government which we have institu- 
 ted. For this your Constitution makes'adequate provision ; 
 but beyond this, if I mistake not the judgment and will of 
 the people, a re-union with the States from which we 
 have separated is neither practicable nor desirable. 
 To increase the power, develop the resources, and pro- 
 mote the happiness of a Confederacy, it is requisite that 
 there should be so much of homogeneity that the welfare 
 of every portion shall be the aim of the whole. "Where 
 
this does not exist, antagonisms are engendered which 
 must and should result in separation. 
 
 Actuated solely by the desire to preserve our own 
 rights and promote our own welfare, the separation of 
 the Confederate States has been marked by no aggres- 
 sion upon others, and followed by no domestic convul- 
 sion. Our industrial pursuits have received no check — 
 the cultivation of our fields has progressed as heretofore — 
 and even should we be involved in war, there would be 
 no considerable diminution in the production of the sta- 
 ples which have constituted our exports, and in which 
 the commercial world has an interest scarcely less than 
 our own. This common interest of the producer and 
 consumer, can only be interrupted by an exterior force, 
 which should obstruct its transmission to foreign mar- 
 kets — a course of conduct which would be as unjust to- 
 wards us as it would be detrimental to manufacturing 
 and commercial interests abroad. {Should reason guide 
 the action of the Government from which we have sepa- 
 rated, a policy so detrimental to the civilized world, the 
 Northern States included, could not be dictated by even 
 the strongest desire to inflict injury upon us ; but if other- 
 wise, a terrible responsibility will rest upon it, and the 
 suffering of millions will bear testimony to the folly and 
 wickedness of our aggressors. In the meantime, there 
 will remain to us, besides the ordinary means before sug- 
 gested, the well knowc resources for retaliation upon the 
 commerce of an enemy. 
 
 Experience in public stations, of subordinate grade to 
 this which your kindness has conferred, has taught me 
 that care, and toil, and disappointment, are the price of 
 official elevation. You will see many errors to forgive, 
 many deficiencies to tolerate, but you shall not find in 
 me either a want of zeal or fidelity to the cause, that is 
 to me highest in hope and of most enduring affection. 
 Your generosity has bestowed upon me an undeserved 
 distinction; one which I neither sought nor desired* 
 
Upon the continuance of that sentiment, and upon your 
 wisdom and patriotism, I rely to direct and support me 
 in the performance of the duty required at my hands. 
 
 We have changed the constituent parts, but not the 
 system of our government. The Constitution formed by 
 our fathers is that of these Confederate States, in their 
 exposition of it; and, in the judicial construction it has 
 received, we have a light which reveales its true meaning. 
 
 Thus instructed as to the just interpretation of the in- 
 strument, and ever remembering that all offices are but 
 trusts held for the people, and that delegated powers are 
 to be strictly construed, I will hope, by due diligence in 
 the performance of m} 7 duties, though I may disappoint 
 your expectations, yet to retain, when retiring, something 
 of the good will aud confidence which welcome my en- 
 trance into office. 
 
 It is joyous, in the midst of perilous times, to look 
 around upon a people united in heart, where one purpose 
 of high resolve animates and actuates the whole — where 
 the sacrifices to be made are not weighed in the balance 
 against honor, and right, and liberty, and equality. Ob- 
 stacles may retard, they cannot long prevent, the progress 
 of a movement sanctified by its justice, and sustained by 
 a virtuous people. Reverently let us invoke the God of 
 our fathers to guide and protect us in our efforts to per- 
 petuate the principles, which, by his blessing, they were 
 able to vindicate, establish and transmit to their posteri- 
 ty, and with a continuance of His favor, ever gratefully 
 acknowledged, we may hopefully look forward to success, 
 to peace, and to prosperity. 
 
Hollinger Corp. 
 P H8.5