Page:Southern Historical Society Papers volume 29.djvu/363

 Confederate Sl.dfc* S/rtfc De/tard/x ///. 347

the early age of thirty years, he next became a member of the United States Senate, and there taking the acknowledged lead in all matters of revenue and appropriation, he soon impressed himself on all his contemporaries as one of the very ablest among them. On all rev- enue matters he led the Senate. He left that body in 1861 without a personal enemy and with the sincere respect and esteem of all its members of either party. His mind was thoughtful, sagacious, well balanced, and pre-eminently conservative. His elaborate instructions to Messrs. Slidell and Mason, who were commissioned to London and Paris in September, 1865, embody the general policy of the Confederate State Department which was pursued to the close. Like Mr. Toombs, he was careless as to personal appearance, but he was far more studious, industrious, and methodical, and he possessed not only a higher scholarship, but a broader, more thoughtful grasp of public affairs coupled with a riper judgment and more conciliatory temper.

The Confederate Government moved from Montgomery to Rich- mond in the latter part of May, 1861. The President's offices and those of the State Department were located on the upper floor of the spacious granite building known as the Federal custom-house. The President had there his personal office and Cabinet room and also some other rooms for his six aids and his private secretary. The remainder of the rooms on this floor were assigned to the State De- partment and were ample for its purposes, the force being only a small one. On going from the army to Richmond in the early autumn of 1861, I found Mr. Hunter in the State Department. I saw also Messrs. Mallory, Reagan, and others. Mr. Davis I did not see for a few weeks. He was at this time confined to his home on Shockoe Hill by a protracted illness, but he possessed a great vitality and he recovered in a month or so. After that illness he was careful to take regular exercise. He used to take very long rides in the country, going out late in the evening and having only a single companion, perhaps one of his aids, or his sister-in-law, Miss Howell. The country about Richmond was at that time thickly wooded, imperfectly guarded, and he ran considerable risk, but on a point like that he would not have relished advice. His attention to his arduous office work was unremitting. He was grave, but courteous, a good busi- ness man, attentive to official routine and forms. He had been four years United States Secretary of war, and knew their value. He dined late and after his rides, but was always singularly abstemious and temperate. After dinner he was usually ready for quiet, social