Page:Southern Historical Society Papers volume 29.djvu/33

 In Memory <>j Jrff'fi-.

a sample of the ardent and eloquent appeals which Mr. Davis made for the preservation of the constitutional union.

In the actual movements taken by his State towards secession, he was not the leader, but the follower and moderator of his people. He favored caution and delay in order to leave open, as long as pos- sible, every chance for amicable arrangement, and he thereby in- curred the criticism of his friends who were bent on immediate action, and who accused him of not being in heart with the movement.

When all attempts at settlement had been met by determined and immovable opposition on the part of the dominant party, and when Mississippi had actually seceded and re-assumed her position as a sovereign State, nothing was left for Mr. Davis but to yield his un- qualified allegiance to the State of which he was a citizen, and to which he believed his allegiance was due. His parting words to his fellow senators upon his retirement, indicated in eloquent terms that he parted from them, not in anger, but in deepest sorrow.

Jefferson Davis was not an aspirant for the position of President of the Confederate States. He had signified to his friends his pref- erence for service as a soldier in the field, and supposed that he had guarded against any consideration of his name for the presidency, but when the delegates of the States assembled in convention for the purpose of organizing a provisional government, it proved to be their unanimous sentiment that Jefferson Davis was the man of all others best fitted for the responsible position of President of the Confederate States. When he was informed of this unanimous ac- tion he felt compelled to yield his personal preferences and not to shirk the responsibility which was thrust upon him by the represent- atives of the people.

Of Mr. Davis' career as President of. the Confederate States, I shall say but little. The wisdom of his administration of that high office has been subjected to that fierce criticism which always falls upon the heads of the leaders of lost causes. But when we consider the condition and environment of the Southern States when they entered upon this tremendous war their lack of arms, of ammuni- tion, of workshops, of factories, of trained mechanics, of ships of war and merchant vessels; their inadequate facilities of transporta- tion, their agricultural condition, which had always been engaged in the production of articles for export, and had been dependent upon the Northern States for supplies of food and forage, their want, in fine, of everything which was essential to prepare a people for suc- cessful warfare; when we consider that they were specially cut off