Page:Southern Historical Society Papers volume 24.djvu/386

 378 Southern ///.v/o/-/W// S<><->'< />/

Even after the charge of treason had broken down, and he was once more a free man, Mr. Davis continued to be, until the hour of his death, a shining mark for the political enemies of the South. So well understood was the love of the people for him that it became, as it appeared to us, a political device, which never failed of its pur- pose to attack him, in order to arouse expressions of resentment from the South. Ben. Hill and Lamar were especially dear to our hearts, because they defended Mr. Davis.

There is something in his unbending nature, free from all the petty diplomacies which make for popularity, that made him a favorite subject for ridicule and defamation. He was a man understood only by his peers. Pliant, politic, narrow, partisan souls could never rise above the clouds of his adversity to behold the eternal sunshine set- tled on his head. It was impossible to answer the assailants in kind. Every shaft aimed at Mr. Davis in Congress, at the hustings, or through the press, drew the hearts of the Southern people closer to him. They are a loyal and faithful folk. Their disfranchised leader became their Prometheus, chained to the rock, with the vultures gnawing at his vitals.

It is not the least thing for which they love him that his last years were devoted to the vindication of their cause and the deathless story of their achievements. It is sweet to them to think of him at Beauvoir, aged and bent, invalid, and almost blind, pouring out his last energies in defence of their honor. The seductions of power never reached him. He died in the political faith in which he lived, unchanged to the end, standing like a mast where the ship went down. Brave, unconquerable old man!

ENSHRINED IN OUR AFFECTIONS.

I question whether any other man ever received the popular de- monstrations of affection which attended Mr. Davis. No sovereign in the height of .his power ever witnessed the overwhelming mani- festations of devotion and reverence which the presence of this aged and powerless man evoked. When he was released from trial, thous- ands of the citizens of Richmond stood with bare heads in silence as he passed. It was at Atlanta, at the unveiling of the Hill monument, that Henry Grady proclaimed him "the uncrowned king of all our hearts," amid an outburst of enthusiasm, which must have repaid him for years of suffering. It is said that seven cities claim the birth of Homer, dead; but seven States contested for the honor to be the burial-place of Jefferson Davis. On the day of his funeral