Page:Southern Historical Society Papers volume 17.djvu/131

 Life^ Services and Character of Jefferson Davis, 123

of nations, and whenever the inherent rights or the moral ideas under- lying the movements of society are brought in question, the personal qualities, the honor, the comprehension, the constancy of its leading spirits must contribute largely to the final judgment. In this forum personal and public character are blended, for in great conjunctures it is largely through their representative men that we must interpret the genius of peoples.

A TRUE REPRESENTATIVE MAN OF THE SOUTH.

It was fortunate for the South, for America, and for humanity that at the head of the South in war was a true type of its honor, char- acter, and history — a man whose clear rectitude preserved every complication from impeachment of bad faith ; a patriot whose love of law and liberty were paramount to all expediencies ; a commander whose moderation and firmness could restrain, and whose lofty pas- sion and courage could inspire ; a publicist whose intellectual powers and attainments made him the peer of any statesman who has cham- pioned the rights of commonwealths in debate, or stood at the helm when the ship of state encountered the temptest of civil commotion.

HE TRULY REPRESENTED THE SOUTH AS A CONSTITUTIONAL

PRESIDENT.

In the tremendous storm which has scarce yet subsided, Jefferson Davis never once forgot that he was a constitutional President under the limits of the fundamental law of the Confederate republic. Some thought that he might have imparted a fiercer energy to his sore- pressed battalions had he grasped the purse and the sword, seized the reins of a dictator and pushed the enterprise of war to its most exigent endeavor. But never once did ambition tempt or stress of circumstances drive him to admit the thought, at war as it was with the principles of the revolution which he led and with the genius of the Southern people. He stood for constitutional right. To him it was the Rock of Ages. Who does not now rejoice that he was inflexible ?

HE TRULY REPRESENTED THE SOUTH IN NOT NEGOTIATING FOR PEACE ON OTHER TERMS THAN INDEPENDENCE.

Had a man less sober-minded and less strong than he, been in his place the Confederacy would not only have gone down in material ruin — it would have been buried in disgrace. Excesses, sure to bring