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for which they suffered trampled and forgotten by the
onward march of new interests and new men. Perhaps Freedom like some
deity of ancient Greece, loved him too well to let the slurs and
contumely of outrageous fortune dim the bright lustre of his virgin
fame." He is enshrined in the hearts of thousands.

His daughter, Varina Anne, or Winnie, "the Child of the Confederacy,"
as she is lovingly called, is a writer of some ability. She was
educated in Europe, and has written "An Irish Knight" [story of Robert
Emmet], and articles for magazines. Mrs. Jefferson Davis' Life of Mr.
Davis is a work of rare excellence and interest. See also _Davis
Memorial Volume_, by J. Wm. Jones.

WORKS.

 Rise and Fall of the Confederacy.
 Autobiography, [unfinished; it is included in Mrs. Davis' book.]

Mr. Davis' writings have a force and dignity of style that accord well
with his character. "His orations and addresses are marked by
classical purity, chaste elegance of expression, a certain nobleness
of diction, and a just proportion of sentence to idea."--John P.
McGuire.

TRIP TO KENTUCKY AT SEVEN YEARS OF AGE, AND VISIT TO GENERAL JACKSON.

(_From Autobiography in Mrs. Davis' Life of Davis._[16])

My first tuition was in the usual log-cabin school-house; though in
the summer when I was seven years old, I was sent on horseback through
what was then called "The Wilderness"--by the country of the Choctaw
and Chickasaw nations--to Kentucky, and was placed in a Catholic
institution then known as St. Thomas, in Washington county, near the
town of Springfield.

. . . When we reached Nashville we went to the Hermitage. Major Hinds
wished to visit his friend and companion-in-arms, General Jackson. The
whole party was so kindly received that we remained there for several
weeks. During that period I had the opportunity a boy has to observe a
great man--a stand-point of no small advantage--and I have always
remembered with warm affection the kind and tender wife who then
presided over his house.

General Jackson's house at that time was a roomy log-house. In front
of it was a grove of fine forest trees, and behind it were his cotton
and grain fields. I have never forgotten the unaffected and well-bred
courtesy which caused him to be remarked by court-trained diplomats,
when President of the United States, by reason of his very impressive
bearing and manner.

Notwithstanding the many reports that have been made of his profanity,
I remember that he always said grace at his table, and I never heard
him utter an oath. In the same connection, although he encouraged his
adopted son, A. Jackson, Jr., Howell Hinds, and myself in all contests
of activity, pony-riding included, he would not allow us to wrestle;
for, he said, to allow hands to be put on one another might lead to a
fight. He was always very gentle and considerate. . . .

Our stay with General Jackson was enlivened by the visits of his
neighbors, and we left the Hermitage with great regret and pursued our
journey. In me he inspired reverence and affection that has remained
with me through my whole life.

LIFE OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.

Those who have intimately known the official and personal life of our
Presidents cannot fail to remember how few have left the office as
happy men as when they entered it, how darkly the shadows gathered
around the setting sun, and how eagerly the multitude would turn to
gaze upon another orb just rising to take its place in the political
firmament.

[Illustration: ~Beauvoir.~]

Worn by incessant fatigue, broken in fortune, debarred by public
opinion, prejudice, or tradition, from future employment, the wisest
and best who have filled that office have retired to private life, to
remember rather the failure of their hopes than the success of their
efforts. He must, indeed, be a self-confident man who could hope to
fill the chair of Washington with satisfaction to himself, with
assurance of receiving on his retirement the meed awarded by the
people to that great man, that he had "done enough for life and for
glory," or even feeling that the sacrifice of self had been
compensated by the service rendered to his country.

FAREWELL TO THE SENATE, 1861, ON THE OCCASION OF THE SECESSION OF
MISSISSIPPI FROM THE UNION.

I rise, Mr. President, for the purpose of announcing to the Senate
that I have satisfactory evidence that the state of Mississippi, by a
solemn ordinance of her people, in convention assembled, has declared
her separation from the United States. Under these circumstances, of
course, my functions are terminated here. It has seemed to me proper,
however, that I should appear in the Senate to announce that fact to
my associates, and I will say but very little more. The occasion does
not invite me to go into argument, and my physical condition would not
permit me to do so, if it were otherwise; and yet it seems to become
me to say something on the part of the State I here represent on an
occasion so solemn as this.

It is known to Senators who have served with me here that I have for
many years advocated, as an essential attribute of State sovereignty,
the right of a State to secede from the Union. Therefore, if I had not
believed there was justifiable cause, if I had thought that
Mississippi was acting without sufficient provocation, or without an
existing necessity, I should still, under my theory of the
government, because of my allegiance to the State of which I am a
citizen, have been bound by her action. I, however, may be permitted
to say that I do think she has justifiable cause, and I approve of her
act. I conferred with her people before that act was taken, counselled
them then that, if the state of things which they apprehended should
exist when their convention met, they should take the action which
they have now adopted.

I hope none who hear me will confound this expression of mine with the
advocacy of the right of a State to remain in the Union, and to
disregard its constitutional obligations by the nullification of the
law. Such is not my theory. Nullification and Secession, so often
confounded, are, indeed, antagonistic principles. Nullification is a
remedy which it is sought to apply within the Union, and against the
agent of the States. It is only to be justified when the agent has
violated his constitutional obligations, and a State, assuming to
judge for itself, denies the right of the agent thus to act, and
appeals to the other States of the Union for a decision; but when the
States themselves, and the people of the States have so acted as to
convince us that they will not regard our constitutional rights, then,
and then for the first time, arises the doctrine of secession in its
practical application.

A great man, who now reposes with his fathers, and who has often been
arraigned for a want of fealty to the Union, advocated the doctrine of
nullification because it preserved the Union. It was because of his
deep-seated attachment to the Union--his determination to find some

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