HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
LIFE OF 
 
 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 BY 
 
 BERNARD C. STEINER 
 
 JOHN MURPHY COMPANY 
 
 PUBLISHERS 
 BALTIMORE MARYLAND 
 
 1916 
 
tr 
 
 COPYRIGHT, 1916, 
 JOHN MURPHY COMPANY 
 
 PRESS OF JOHN MURPHY COMPANY, BALTIMORE, MD. 
 
PREFACE 
 
 Two Border State Union men did much to 
 save Maryland to the Nation in 1861, and 
 their characteristics were so diverse that they 
 tempt one to write parallel lives of them, as 
 Plutarch did of ancient statesmen. The life 
 of one, the great lawyer, Reverdy Johnson, 
 for some time occupied my thought. Having 
 completed a study of Johnson s career, I took 
 up the life of the great orator, Henry Winter 
 Davis, and have endeavored to write his "life, 
 in the manner of Tacitus and Plutarch, rather 
 than in that of the modern biographer, who 
 tells us what we ought to know from the his 
 tories" (Saturday Review, December 13, 1913, 
 page 750). In this study I have been much 
 assisted by an autobiographic sketch of Mr. 
 Davis s early years, written by him shortly be 
 fore his death and placed in my hands by Miss 
 Mary Winter Davis, his only living daugh 
 ter. This sketch forms the first three chap 
 ters of the book. Much assistance has also 
 been obtained from the volume published by 
 Harper and Brothers in 1867 at the instance 
 of Mrs. Davis, entitled "Speeches and Ad 
 dresses Delivered in the Congress of the 
 United States and on Several Public Occasions 
 by Henry Winter Davis." The editorial in- 
 
 343643 
 
troductions to the speeches therein printed 
 are valuable. Unfortunately, I am unable 
 positively to name the editor. The publishers 
 have no information as to this matter. Mr. 
 Joseph M. Gushing, an intimate political 
 friend of Mr. Davis, once told me that the 
 editor was George B. Milligan, Esq., while 
 Capt. Henry P. Goddard was informed 
 that the editor was Henry Stockbridge, Esq.; 
 yet the families of neither of these gentlemen 
 can throw any light upon the matter. I am 
 much obliged to Messrs. John T. Graham and 
 W. Hall Harris for information. The collec 
 tions of the Maryland Historical Society also 
 has been useful in preparing this book. It is 
 a privilege to bring again to the attention of 
 men one who was a fearless combatant for 
 what he believed to be the right, an eloquent 
 speaker, a ready debater and an honorable 
 man, to whom more than to any other one man 
 is it due that Maryland freed her slaves in 
 1864. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER I Early Years, 1817-33 7 
 
 II Kenyon College and Tutorship, 1833-39. *9 
 
 III The University of Virginia, 1839-40- ... 46 
 
 IV Practice of Law in Alexandria and Bal 
 timore, 1840-55 64 
 
 " V The Thirty-third Congress, 1855-57 80 
 
 " VI The Thirty-fourth Congress, 1857-59... 112 
 
 " VII The Thirty-fifth Congress and the Strug 
 gle to Preserve the Union, 1859-61 144 
 
 VIII Support of the Union, 1861-63 194 
 
 IX The Thirty-seventh Congress and the 
 
 Struggle with Lincoln, 1863-65 235 
 
 " X Last Days, 1865 350 
 
"I saw him beat the surges under him, 
 And ride upon their backs. He trod the water, 
 Whose enmity he flung aside, and breasted 
 The surge most swoln that met him. His bold head 
 Bove the contentious waves he kept, and oared 
 Himself with his good arms in lusty stroke 
 To the shore, that o er his wave-worn basis bowed, 
 As stooping to relieve him. I not doubt 
 He came alive to land." 
 Shakespeare (The Tempest, Act 2, Scene i, lines 114-122). 
 
 "The brilliant chief, irregularly great, 
 Frank, haughty, rash, the Rupert of Debate." 
 
 Lord Lytton (The New Timon, page 31). 
 
 "A man must be measured, not by individual words or deeds, 
 but by the whole completed record of his accomplishments, and 
 by the dominant motive of his life." (Ephraim Emerton in 
 7 Harvard Theological Review, 229.) 
 
 "Government is a trust and the officers of government are 
 trustees, and both the trust and the trustees are created for the 
 benefit of the people." Henry Clay at Lexington, Ky., March, 
 1829. 
 
CHAPTER I. 
 
 EARLY YEARS FRAGMENTS OF 
 
 THE EVENTS OF MY LIFE AND 
 
 TIMES (1817-1833). 
 
 [Written in 1865.] 
 
 I am now forty-eight years old. 
 
 The glories of the world have passed before 
 me, but have not lighted on my head. 
 
 I have lived during great events in which I 
 have not been permitted to be an actor; but I 
 have been near enough the scene of action to 
 be able to appreciate the powers and conduct 
 of the actors and the causes of events. A few 
 brief memoranda of them may lend interest to 
 the sketch of my uneventful life. 
 
 I was born on the i6th of August, 1817, in 
 Annapolis, Maryland, at the old Parsonage. 
 
 My father, the Rev. Henry Lyon Davis, 
 D. D., 1 was then president of St. John s Col 
 lege and rector or pastor of St. Ann s Parish. 
 
 The old church then stood in its original 
 form, of colonial origin, with its square, high- 
 backed pews, the pulpit far advanced in the 
 body of the building of the old goblet style, 
 with a lid hanging by a chain from the lofty 
 ceiling; and immediately before our pew was 
 that of the Colonial Governor, with the socket 
 
8 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 for the mace which marked his dignified pres 
 ence. 
 
 My father was a man of genius, endowed 
 with varied and profound learning, eminently 
 versed in mathematics and natural science, 
 abounding in classical lore, endowed with a 
 vast memory and gifted with an accurate, con 
 cise, clear and graceful style; rich and fluent 
 in conversation, but without the least preten 
 sion to oratory and entirely incapable of ex- 
 tempory speaking. 
 
 He was of high tone and temper, the most 
 unbending independence, and sensitive to the 
 least suspicion of soliciting favor even to a 
 marked degree. 
 
 He was a Federalist of the most elevated 
 stamp early embraced and always adhered 
 to. He was a graduate of Carlisle, in Penn 
 sylvania, where he contracted an early friend 
 ship for Roger B. Taney, who then was of the 
 same way of thinking on public affairs, and to 
 gether during the whiskey rebellion they illus 
 trated at once their courage and conviction by 
 heading a party of students in cutting down 
 the liberty pole which the disaffected had 
 erected in Carlisle in defiance of the govern 
 ment. 
 
 Their fate was singularly different. 
 
 My father was removed from the presiden 
 cy of St. John s by a Board of Democratic 
 
CHAPTER 11817-1833 9 
 
 trustees because of his Federal politics, and 
 while Mr. Taney was in President Jackson s 
 Cabinet my father, at the end of a letter to me, 
 then at Kenyon, gave me my only lesson in 
 politics in this laconic sentence: "My son, be 
 ware of the follies of Jacksonisml" Such was 
 my father s popularity among the students and 
 his reputation for learning and ability, that 
 nearly the whole body of young men deserted 
 the college and followed him to his private 
 residence for the benefit of his instruction ; and 
 his successor, Mr. Rafferty, 2 an Irish Demo 
 crat, took possession of an empty college. 
 
 This gentleman had the usual amount of 
 letters with which Democrats are usually tinc 
 tured and, having occasion to deliver an ad 
 dress shortly after his elevation, people were 
 surprised at the eloquence of the style and the 
 familiarity with literature it exhibited, till 
 my father tracked him through his pilferings 
 and in a pamphlet replete with refined and 
 classic Latin shewed the precious stones which 
 glittered on Mr. RafTerty s pages to be frag 
 ments stolen from the composition of a num 
 ber of celebrated writers artfully joined into 
 the mosaic which he palmed on the public as 
 his composition. 
 
 Of this pamphlet I have never seen but one 
 copy probably the only one in existence 
 
io HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 now, I believe, in the State Library at Annap 
 olis. 
 
 My mother was Jane Brown Winter, 3 a lady 
 of graceful and simple manners, fair complex 
 ion, blue eyes, auburn hair, with a rich and 
 exquisite voice that still thrills my memory 
 with the echo of its vanished music. She was 
 highly educated for her day, when Annapolis 
 was the focus of intellect and fashion for 
 Maryland, and its fruits shone through her 
 conversation and colored and completed her 
 natural eloquence, which my father used to 
 say would have made her an orator if it had 
 not been thrown away on a woman. 
 
 She was the incarnation of all that was 
 Christian in life and hope, in charity and 
 thought, ready for every good work, herself 
 the example of what she taught. 
 
 She had only two children, myself and my 
 sister, Jane Mary Winter Davis, born on the 
 29th of January, 1821. 
 
 Under the inspiration of our mother s life 
 and teaching, my sister grew into the Chris 
 tian Missionary, and for years on the coast of 
 China dedicated herself to kindling with her 
 husband, the Rev. Edward W. Syle, 4 the 
 watch-fires for that great nation. 
 
 I can boast of no such dedication of my life, 
 nor of any special points of this early training, 
 but the exhortations and warnings so fervid 
 
CHAPTER 11817-1833 ii 
 
 and incessant from my mother s lips against 
 the vices and excesses which specially beset 
 youth and early manhood have not been whol 
 ly without their reward in preserving me from 
 dangers which, with my temperament, would 
 have proved fatal to my body and mind. 
 
 My education was begun very early at home. 
 Under the sharp discipline of my aunt Eliza 
 beth Brice Winter, I could read before I was 
 four, though much against my will. 
 
 Nearly all my instruction was at home; but 
 for a short time I was among the small boys 
 at St. John s Grammar School. 
 
 When my father was removed from St. 
 John s, he went to Wilmington, Delaware, and 
 till he became settled there I went with my 
 aunt to Alexandria, D. C., where I went to 
 school for a while to Mr. Wheat. Thence I 
 went to Wilmington, where I was instructed 
 under my father s supervision, and that in 
 struction continued when, in 1827, he removed 
 back to Maryland and settled on a farm in 
 Anne Arundel county. 
 
 There my love for outdoor life and sports 
 gave small promise of scholarly proficiency. 
 I was always too glad to exchange my Latin 
 grammar 5 and Erasmus for a turn in the 
 fields behind a plough and with a scythe taken 
 from one of the slaves, who were always glad 
 of my company and a relief; and before I was 
 
12 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 eleven I was inspired with the sporting fever 
 and roamed the country with a gun larger than 
 I well could bear, superintended by a trusty 
 servant, Frank Garner, to see that I did not 
 shoot myself instead of the birds. Frank lived 
 to be set free by me and to enter the United 
 States service during the rebellion, to drive an 
 ammunition wagon through the peninsula 
 campaign of McClellan, till the army lay at 
 Hampton Landing. He returned consider 
 ably hardened on the subject of life. "Lord, 
 Master Henry, a dead man ain t no more to 
 me than a dead chicken." He saw the rebel 
 charge at Malvern Hill, and his judgment on 
 the rebels was that they would stand fire very 
 well, but not the push of the northern bayonet. 
 He was my guardian in my holidays and my 
 sports, and he lived to see his race reach the 
 promised land. 
 
 In 1830 my father sent his slaves to the East 
 ern Shore of Maryland. I asked the privi 
 lege of accompanying them. We came down 
 the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad in the horse- 
 car, reached Baltimore at night, slept in the 
 car all night. In the morning I set forth to 
 hunt transportation across the Bay, but found 
 the basin and the Bay fast frozen, though early 
 in December. 
 
 We could find no conveyance, and set off on 
 foot to walk by way of Havre de Grace and 
 
CHAPTER 11817-1833 13 
 
 Elkton to George Town Cross Roads, a dis 
 tance of eighty miles, the snow ankle deep and 
 unbroken. We walked over the Susquehanna 
 on the ice, and at the end of three days had ac 
 complished our march a pretty good one for 
 a boy of thirteen years. 
 
 My familiar association with the slaves 
 while a boy gave me great insight into their 
 feelings and views. They spoke with freedom 
 before a boy what they would have repressed 
 before a man. They were far from indiffer 
 ent to their condition. They felt the wrong 
 and sighed for freedom. They were attached 
 to my father and loved me, yet they habitually 
 spoke of the days when God would deliver 
 them, when white people would be punished 
 for their ill treatment, and they constantly 
 considered that their master would have a 
 great account to settle at the day of judgment 
 for them; or, as they expressed it, "Master 
 will have many a black man hanging to his 
 coat tail when he is trying to get into heaven 
 at the last day." 
 
 At that time nobody taught that slavery was 
 anything but wrong and evil; the negroes of 
 my father, like other men, were taught to look 
 forward to a day of freedom, either in Africa, 
 or absolutely at his death. I have a letter of 
 my father s to Mr. T. McDowell, of Wil 
 mington, dated 4th March, 1828, at Poplar 
 
i 4 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 Spring, which his daughter, Mrs. Spooner, 
 kindly sent me because of its bearing on the 
 negro question now. In it he says: "By the 
 blessing of God, I am now on my own farm 
 and have servants more than enough to culti 
 vate it. As my black people reach 25 years I 
 emancipate them and send them to Liberia, 
 having first taught them to read." 
 
 I and my sister were the teachers for that 
 instruction. Most of them, young and old 
 learned to read well, but none of them could 
 ever be induced to take their freedom on con 
 dition of going to Liberia, and they all ob 
 tained their freedom only after my father s 
 death from my sister and myself. 
 
 The South brought on rebellion and the cot 
 ton culture first turned the tide of opinion 
 against freedom and towards slavery; and the 
 Georgia man, with his broad white hat in 
 quest of slaves, was the emblem of the change 
 about 1830. As an illustration of the temper 
 of the times, it may not be unworthy to men 
 tion that during my father s absence my 
 motherplaced me at a Methodist lady s school. 
 My father, on his return, instantly removed 
 me. He was a most liberal man for his day, 
 but the exodus of the Methodists was then still 
 so recent that they were looked upon as sort 
 of rebel Episcopalians not an independent 
 sect. 
 
CHAPTER 11817-1833 15 
 
 Nor was political temper less violent or 
 more excluded from private life. I once 
 mingled with the boys at a funeral of a Demo 
 cratic gentleman during the fierce contest be 
 tween Adams and Jackson, and I was imme 
 diately saluted with the inquiry, "What are 
 you doing at a Democratic funeral?". From 
 my kind relation s, Dr. David Davis 7 hospit 
 able house, where I passed the winter, I went 
 to Alexandria, to the care of my aunt, and by 
 her was put to school under Rev. Loring 
 Woart 8 at Howard, near the Theological 
 Seminary of Virginia. 
 
 He was a cultured and elegant gentleman ; 
 he married Miss West of the Woodyard and 
 was lost on the Pulaski, whose disaster is fa 
 mous. 
 
 Mrs. Wilmer, 9 the widow of the Rev. Dr. 
 Wilmer, of Alexandria, mother of the present 
 Bishop Wilmer, of Alabama, kept the house, 
 one of the kindest and sweetest of women. 
 
 I never have met a man who could lead, 
 control and influence youth as Mr. Woart did. 
 He joined in our sports on the lawn, led the 
 skating matches, the swimming expedition, 
 spoke ex-cathedra in the schoolroom, and in 
 the long winter evenings read Scott s novels to 
 an entranced crowd, giving full effect to the 
 dramatic cast of the narrative by rich and 
 
1 6 HEXRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 varied voice. It was a high lesson in the art 
 of elocution. 
 
 At that school, which was very select, I met 
 some persons who have since become of note 
 in various ways. Richard Wilmer is a bishop. 
 George, his brother is an eminent minister, 
 who doffed the gown for the rebel uniform 
 and musket. Mansfield Lovell 10 commanded 
 the forces which evacuated New Orleans. 
 Barton Key, L long the United States District 
 Attorney in Washington, the son of the author 
 of the "Star-Spangled Banner," whose tragic 
 death at the hand of Sickles M convulsed Wash 
 ington, and Wilmer Connell, my oldest friend 
 living, a friendship inherited from our fa 
 thers, now a gentleman of fortune, living in 
 hospitable ease near Philadelphia. 
 
 NOTES ON CHAPTER i. 
 
 1. Rev. Henry Lyon Davis was born in 1775 and died in 
 Howard county (then a part of Anne Arundel county) on his 
 plantation, near Woodbine, in 1837. He graduated at 
 Dickinson College in 1795. He was in charge of St. 
 John s College, as vice-principal from 1816 to 1820, and as 
 principal from i&2o to 1824. Rev. Ethan Allen wrote of him 
 as "a man of much learning, of vigorous mind and of com 
 manding personal stature." (Steiner s Education in Maryland, 
 page 106.) 
 
 2. Rev. William Rafferty was elected professor of Ancient 
 Languages in 1819, vice-principal in 1820, and was principal 
 from 1824 to 1831. 
 
 3. Mrs. Davis s health was much impaired in her later 
 years, so that her children had much of their training from 
 
CHAPTER 11817-1833 17 
 
 their aunt, according to the recollection of Governor Edwin 
 Warfield, whose father was a neighbor of Rev. H. L. Davis. 
 
 4. "The Rev. Dr. Edward W. Syle, a missionary of this 
 Society in China from 1845 to 1861, died in England on the sth 
 of October last, in the seventy-fourth year of his age. About 
 a year ago he was stricken with paralysis, but resumed his 
 work. The day before he died he had a second stroke. Mr. 
 Syle, an alumnus of the Theological Seminary of Virginia, was 
 appointed, with several others, at the meeting of the Foreign 
 Committee in November, 1844, Mr. Syle and Ids wife sailed 
 from Boston on the 28th of May, 1845, a d arrived at Hong 
 Kong on the 4th of October following, in rime to join in the 
 establishment of the mission station at Shanghai. He visited 
 this country in 1853, because of impaired health, and presented 
 the claims of the China mission with great earnestness and 
 much success. For a time he was engaged by the Domestic 
 Committee in work among the Chinese in California. He re 
 turned to China in April, 1856, and resumed charge of Christ 
 Church in the native city. Among his plans for benefiting the 
 people to whom he was ministering, Mr. Syle established an 
 industrial school for blind communicants and such other blind 
 persons as chose to attend. This charity was received with 
 much favor in Shanghai. 
 
 "Since his resignation Dr. Syle has been employed in China 
 and Japan, holding chaplaincies for seamen and for foreign 
 residents. He never, however, lost his interest in the Chinese 
 missionary work. For about six years he has been living in 
 or near London, during which time he has been employed with 
 much frequency in representing the Church Missionary Society 
 throughout that country." (Through the kindness of Rev. Dr. 
 Frank M. Gibson, Librarian of the Maryland Diocesan Library, 
 I have been furnished this information, contained in the organ 
 of the Protestant Episcopal Church Missionary Society, The 
 Spirit of Missions, for September, 1890.) 
 
 5. Creswell, in Speeches and Addresses (page 19) Mated that 
 Davis always kept his Greek Testament lying on his table for 
 easy reference. On his knowledge of Latin, Creswell (page it) 
 cites the fact that in a visit to him, shortly before Davis s 
 death. Davis said that he often exercised himself in translating 
 from Tacitus. 
 
i8 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 7. Dr. Davis was Henry Winter Davis s uncle and was the 
 father of the Hon. David Davis, Associate Justice of the United 
 States Supreme Court, and United States Senator from Illinois 
 (1815-1886). 
 
 8. On the loss of the Pulaski, see "Steamboat Disasters and 
 Railroad Accidents," by S. A. Rowland Worcester, 1846, pages 
 59, 88, 89. The steamboat was lost because of "the explosion 
 of her starboard boiler, when off the coast of North Carolina, 
 and on her passage from Charleston to Baltimore, June 14, 1838, 
 by which disastrous event nearly one hundred persons per 
 ished." 
 
 9. Rev. William Holland Wilmer (1782-1827) was the father 
 of Bishop Richard Hooker Wilmer (1816-1900) and of Rev. 
 George Thornton Wilmer (died 1898). Whitaker s Life of 
 Bishop Wilmer (page 17) states that "in 1831 Mrs. Wilmer re 
 moved to the Seminary Hill and opened a High School on the 
 site of what is now the residence of the principal of the Episco 
 pal High School. She employed two instructors, both clergy 
 men, and limited the number of pupils to eighteen. The school 
 continued for three years." 
 
 10. Gen. Mansfield Lovell, of the Confederate Army (1822- 
 1884). 
 
 n. Philip Barton Key, killed February 27, 1859. 
 12. Gen. Daniel Edgar Sickles (1825-1914). 
 
CHAPTER 111833-1839 19 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 KENYON COLLEGE AND TUTOR 
 SHIP (1833-1839). 
 
 From Howard we both went to Kenyon 
 College, in Ohio, in the fall of 1833. 
 
 It was then the Garden of the Lord for 
 young Episcopalians. Bishop Chase, 1 the lit 
 erary Daniel Boone of the West, had planted 
 it with money begged abroad; he presided 
 over its destinies with patriarchal despotism 
 till its growth required a different and more 
 steady rule, and then went forth to found an 
 other garden farther in the forest, while 
 Bishop Mcllvain 2 came to guide Kenyon to 
 its future fortunes. 
 
 I got there during the first year of Mcll 
 vain. 
 
 Wilmer Connell was my chum. My letter 
 states the share of the burthens. On rising 
 "Wilmer and I make up our beds; he makes 
 the fire and I sweep out the room, I bring a 
 bucket of water at night for washing; in the 
 morning, for drinking during the day." Shoes 
 shone only on state occasions. 
 
 I was the sole representative and substitute 
 of the swarm of black people who ate my fa 
 ther out of house and home. 
 
20 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 Under such a system the expenses ought not 
 to have been great; but I read now with some 
 amusement the following: 
 
 "My whole bill with Mr. Wing, the treas 
 urer, amounts to $88 that is, $30 for tuition, 
 $50 for board and for the attendance of the 
 college physician during term, $6 for room 
 rent." Washing was $6 per annum. 
 
 The mystery of sending young gentlemen 
 from the cultivation of Maryland to the rude 
 West for education found its solution in the 
 ardor of the Episcopal missionary who found 
 ed Kenyon. He made it the Mecca of Epis 
 copacy. Towards it all good churchmen wor 
 shiped from Louisiana and from Maine. At 
 that holy seat the church had assumed its le 
 gitimate prerogative of bringing up youth in 
 the way it should go, and all "churchmen" 
 were enthusiastic in supporting the great pro 
 test against Godless education at dissenting 
 seminaries. Thus it was that the best people 
 not only of Louisiana and North Carolina, but 
 from the ends of Maine and the neighborhood 
 of Harvard, sent their sons to Kenyon, that 
 they might sit under the drippings of Episco 
 pal grace. 
 
 In these days of extravagance it will hardly 
 be believed that eighty or a hundred dollars 
 covered every legitimate and reasonable ex 
 pense of a year at the college, and that in the 
 
CHAPTER 111833-1839 21 
 
 woods not much more could be spent for want 
 of things desirable to purchase. 
 
 This cheapness doubtless quickened the sec 
 tarian zeal which prompted so distant a pil 
 grimage to so holy a shrine. For me it was a 
 fortunate and a determining circumstance. 
 
 I crossed the Alleghanies by the National 
 Road, on the top of the stage for the benefit of 
 the scenery. It was my first view of the great 
 ridge which I then climbed so painfully, but 
 over which now the great railway hurries us 
 with such reckless speed. When I crossed the 
 Ohio I saw the new and strange West, the 
 land freed for the development of republican 
 equality. Gone were the smooth and open 
 lands, the aristocratic old mansions and the 
 swarm of slaves to which I had been accus 
 tomed in Maryland and Virginia. The skele 
 tons of the forest, bland and barkless, stood 
 amid growing wheat and corn; the houses 
 were small frame buildings, with red gables 
 and red sides, perched on the tops of hills, 
 whence every tree was cleaned, and every hori 
 zon was a forest and every house solitary. 
 
 But I was pleased "with the general ap 
 pearance of the country, and especially with 
 the houses, the appearance of which was bet 
 ter than the country houses of those parts of 
 Pennsylvania and Virginia through which I 
 passed." 
 
22 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 I arrived at Gambler on the 28th of October, 
 1833, in a snowstorm, the ground frozen wher 
 ever it was bared by the wind after having 
 broken down four stages, and one of them 
 four times, on the horrible roads and come 
 many times in great danger of being tumbled 
 over. 
 
 Kenyon was then the centre of vast forests, 
 broken only by occasional clearings, excepting 
 along the lines of chief transit the National 
 road and the Ohio river and its navigable trib 
 utaries. The main college building was large 
 and solidly built, so solidly that it was singu 
 larly enough looked on with jealousy by the 
 "natives" of the neighborhood, to whom its be 
 ing built with "British" money suggested the 
 suspicion that it was a "British" fort disguised 
 as a college. 
 
 Everything but the college itself was of the 
 most primitive and temporary character. All 
 buildings were of wood unseasoned. 
 
 The great avenue was unimproved and with 
 out even planks or elevated paths, and when 
 the ground was not frozen in the winter that 
 Western soil was worked into mud so deep 
 that it was "an every-day occurrence to see 
 thirty or forty or fifty students strung single 
 file on the top of the fence going to their 
 meals." 
 
CHAPTER 111833-1839 23 
 
 My room was in the seventy-four a vast 
 factory-like building for the younger boys 
 dormitory and recitation rooms. The green 
 planks had parted company, and through the 
 long seams not only wind but light penetrated. 
 It was like camping out. The snow drifted 
 straight through, covered the bed and made 
 drifts on the floor. No fire would keep the 
 room warm; our blankets were hung round 
 the fireplace to break the force of the wind, 
 and vast piles of wood blazed in perpetual 
 sacrifice to the cold god who would not be ap 
 peased. The wood was brought by the coun 
 try people, and cost us little but the labor of 
 cutting it ourselves. For servants were an un 
 known luxury, and we cleaned our own rooms, 
 made our own beds, blacked our own shoes 
 and cut and brought in our own wood and 
 made our own fires when by accident they 
 went out. Such a life was healthy, and to 
 young men of sixteen not unpleasant. We 
 were proof against every form of exposure. 
 My cloak hung untouched for four years on 
 the wall. One night, cold, clear, the moon 
 glittering on the snow, some outlaws from the 
 college invaded our department, threw up our 
 windows and covered us with a shower of 
 snowballs, a challenge to combat when we 
 were undressed for bed. We instantly sallied 
 forth just as we were, in shirts and drawers, 
 
24 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 into the deep snow, had a battle royal, cleared 
 our territory of the invaders and went to bed 
 in a glow, none the worse for the midnight 
 campaign in dishabille. 
 
 It was the day of self-supporting or manual 
 labor schools, by which the difference between 
 learning and labor, the mechanic and the stu 
 dent was to be obliterated; when labor was 
 not to exhaust, but only to sharpen the appe 
 tite for letters, and the wearied form was to 
 find rest in the assertion of the independence 
 of the mind on matter. 
 
 I with others were instructed from home by 
 my father, by my mother and by my aunt, to 
 engage in the pleasant task of cleaning and 
 grubbing certain acres of new land for noth 
 ing a day; and not a few hours of exhaustion 
 were spent in testing thus fully of this new 
 theory of leveling the inequalities of God. Of 
 course, it failed, and was everywhere aban 
 doned, for it was erecting into a rule the he 
 roic success of a few rare and indomitable 
 spirits who, under the spur of ambition and 
 poverty, did what the mass of students neither 
 poor nor ambitious did not care to attempt and 
 could not be compelled needlessly to accom 
 plish. I lost some hours of pleasure, a few of 
 study and strengthened a constitution already 
 strong enough! 
 
 My first year in the preparatory department 
 
CHAPTER 111833-1839 25 
 
 was spent in these exercises, occasional gun 
 ning contrary to law repealed by the com 
 mon law of the West, whose Solon was Nim- 
 rod or Boone; and in the studies necessary to 
 secure my entrance to the freshman class next 
 year. Lessons beyond those of my class were 
 exacted of me. My time seems to have been 
 well employed. The most important work 
 of the year was the translation of the whole 
 of Sallust s "Bellum Catilinarium," a work 
 which was much more a lesson in English 
 writing than in Latin construction and tended 
 more than anything could have done to fix the 
 habit of brief, sincere and pointed expression. 
 When completed it was sent home to attest my 
 industry and progress. 
 
 I joined the Philalethic Society of the pre 
 paratory department. 
 
 There were two societies, divided between 
 the Northern and Southern students. For this 
 was in 1833 ; the first attempt of the negro and 
 cotton interest to defy the United States was 
 in 1830, and the agitation had only just been 
 suppressed by the firmness of President Jack 
 son and the conciliatory tariff bill of Mr. 
 Clay; but the division of feeling survived, 
 and in the backwoods among youths at college 
 secession was effected in their societies, a 
 prophecy ignorantly made of things to come. 
 
 The one society of the preparatory depart- 
 
26 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 ment had been divided the year before I came 
 by the withdrawal of the Northern students, 
 and I joined the Southern society on my ar 
 rival. 
 
 I am amazed to see what a bundle of South 
 ern prejudices I carried to college with me. 
 Indulging them brought down on me the stern 
 rebuke of my father. 
 
 In my first letter to my mother from Ken- 
 yon I said: "The Southern students I am 
 pleased with; the Northern I am not much 
 acquainted with and have no desire to be so." 
 
 My father had small toleration for such fol 
 ly, and sharply reprimanded my silly preju 
 dices in avoidingNorthern associations, among 
 whom the best students were to be found, and 
 regretted my joining the Southern society. 
 
 My presumptuous reply will strikingly il 
 lustrate the strength of the virus then already 
 poured into the blood of Southern youth in 
 spite of the liberal views of the parents. 
 
 "As to my having joined the Southern so 
 ciety, I cannot possibly conceive where the 
 fault lies. I was from the South, had been 
 born and bred in the South, and why, when 
 there was a Southern society on the hill, I 
 should join the Northern, I cannot conceive. 
 You seem to have gotten wrong ideas of the 
 difference that now exists between Northern 
 ers and Southerners. About a year since the 
 
CHAPTER 111833-1839 27 
 
 Philalethic was a neutral society, and on ac 
 count of some disagreement between the mem 
 bers the Northerners withdrew from it and 
 formed a society of Northerners. All persons 
 coming from different parts of the Union were 
 expected to join the society belonging to the 
 part from which he comes. The Northerners 
 would never have dreamed of my joining their 
 society. Nothing could be more disagreeable 
 to me than to belong to their society. Their 
 manner and habits are so different from what 
 I have been accustomed. Because I have not 
 joined the Northern side is no reason that I 
 should be at enmity with them. They come 
 to my room and I go to theirs as frequently as 
 anywhere else." 
 
 The very germs of separation inspired me 
 unconsciously. My father saw that unity of 
 ideas and feelings is the only foundation of 
 national unity, and strove to keep me in the 
 tight path. 
 
 Party spirit ran high, and even the disci 
 pline of the faculty was impeached of partial 
 ity to the Northern students. 
 
 "The faculty are nearly all Yankees, and 
 they take care not to depart from their Yan 
 kee principles. They are very partial to their 
 kindred. I have known an instance in which 
 a Yankee and Southerner were employed in a 
 frolic together. It was found out for they 
 
28 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 have spies everywhere. The Southerner was 
 brought to trial to answer for his misdeeds and 
 to pay the penalty by dismission, while the 
 Yankee was permitted to remain in rest and 
 quiet." 
 
 Such was the spirit prevailing at Kenyon in 
 1833 and 1834. 
 
 On October 29, 1834, I passed my examina 
 tion and entered the freshman class. I was 
 promoted to the college building. Wilmer 
 Connell was called home by his father s death 
 and soon plunged into commercial life and 
 laid the foundation of his splendid fortune, 
 with which he now dispenses a liberal hospi 
 tality at his country seat near Philadelphia. 
 
 My companion now was a Mr. Moore, of 
 Rhode Island, of ambrosial curls, loud voice, 
 vast vanity and little head. His Northern 
 home had taught him to close the doors which 
 my education had neglected and my hardy life 
 in the Seventy-four had taught me to despise, 
 till Moore broke me into civilized habits by 
 calling me from the first to the third floor as 
 if for something urgent, and then pointing to 
 the open door, dismissed me with the lesson. 
 
 I pardon him for this and everything else 
 except his allowing me to sleep through the 
 grand phenomenon of the u Falling Stars" of 
 1834, which to susceptible minds seemed the 
 very emblem of the last day, while he with all 
 
CHAPTER 111833-1839 29 
 
 the rest of the college watched those strange 
 fires till they ceased to shower. 
 
 What punishment is equal to such conduct? 
 
 As the sphere of study expanded the sub 
 jects of interest increased. Natural science, 
 political economy, logic, metaphysics as then 
 understood in the United States and England 
 that is to say, psychology on the basis of 
 Reid, Stewart and Brown avoiding the deep 
 problems of real metaphysical science, the 
 possibility of external knowledge, the concep 
 tion of the infinite and the absolute, the vindi 
 cation of the ways of God to man, or a the 
 odicy unless Butler s Analogy be considered to 
 touch that problem in some of its relations- 
 were seized on and prosecuted with a zest that 
 attested the natural bent of my mind. The 
 foundations for future building were laid. 
 
 But the fruitful fields of exploration were 
 those on either side of the narrow highway of 
 the prescribed march. 
 
 While a boy of ten or eleven I had become 
 familiar with the classics of Addison, Johnson 
 and Swift, Cowper and Pope and Robertson. 
 
 I now plunged into the current of History. 
 It was the transition period from the shallow 
 though graceful pages of Gillies and Rollins, 
 Russell and Tytler, and the rabbinical ag 
 glomeration of Shuckford and Prideaux, to 
 the modern school of free, profound and pow- 
 
30 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 erful investigation which has reared immortal 
 monuments to its memory in Hallam, Ma- 
 caulay, Grote, Bancroft, Motley, Niebuhr, 
 Bunsen, Schlosser and Thiers and their fol 
 lowers. 
 
 But of these great works none but Niebuhr s 
 History of Rome, Hallam, were then in evi 
 dence or known in the backwoods of Ohio. 
 Cousin s History of the Philosophy of the 
 Eighteenth Century was just glittering on the 
 horizon. Gibbon shone alone as the morning 
 star of historic investigation, which he had 
 heralded for so long and which was then 
 breaking. 
 
 With the materials I did the best I could. 
 But only think of seeing the French Revolu 
 tion only in the pages of Burke s brilliant vi 
 tuperation and Scott s Tory diatribe! A re 
 publican picture of the great republican revo 
 lution, the formation of all that is now toler 
 able in Europe, did not exist or was not acces 
 sible in any authentic and comprehensive 
 page, and Americans were fed on the foam of 
 English fury and taught to hate Jacobins and 
 revolutionists as if it were not they who forced 
 our principles on aristocracies which hated us, 
 avenged in blood the blood of ages, and did 
 to their enemies what their enemies had done 
 to their fathers through long centuries and 
 
CHAPTER 111833-1839 31 
 
 would have done to them had they not been 
 anticipated. 
 
 So that my reading had to be in great meas 
 ure unread in more mature days and with 
 ampler resources. 
 
 But I imbibed the nourishment before me, 
 was conservative, aristocratic, English in 
 thought and view as much as one can be who 
 lives in the woods and at the antipodes of 
 everything English a democrat in fact, an 
 aristocrat in word a contradiction which 
 Southern origin and education tended to de 
 velop and conceal. 
 
 The English origin of the college, its church 
 spirit and character and the admiration of the 
 bishop for English forms, led to an attempt 
 to naturalize the students Oxford caps and 
 gowns at Kenyon, but the gown was not a con 
 venient garment to chop wood in, the silk tas 
 sel of the cap would make love to the boughs 
 of the forest, its hard flat top rocked to and 
 fro like a drunken man in every gust, and the 
 impatient sons of the West were undergoing 
 perpetual metamorphosis from a gownsman 
 into a Buckeye in shirt sleeves till the effort 
 was abandoned as against the nature of the 
 Western man. 
 
 At the end of the year a change in the 
 college term gave me a vacation of three 
 months. 
 
32 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 I spent all my vacations at college for the 
 distance from home forbade a visit, and I 
 availed myself of the time which must be idle 
 or filled with study to pursue and complete the 
 studies of the Sophomore year, which was 
 ahead, to which I had already devoted myself 
 during the Freshman year; and at the opening 
 of the next session I passed the examination 
 for the Junior class. 
 
 It was a pretty sharp trial of resolution and 
 dogged diligence, but it saved me a year at col 
 lege, indurated my powers of study and men 
 tal labor into a habit, and perhaps enabled me 
 to stay long enough to graduate. I do not 
 recommend the example to those more inde 
 pendently situated, for learning must fall like 
 the rain in such gentle showers as to sink in if 
 it is to be fruitful, and when poured on the 
 richest soil in torrents it not only runs off with 
 out strengthening vegetation, but washes away 
 the soil itself. 
 
 The residue of my college life was more 
 fruitful than its beginning. 
 
 The regular studies were respectably prose 
 cuted and have not been wholly without fruit, 
 not merely in knowledge, but what is of vastly 
 more account, the habit and power of mental 
 labor. 1 
 
 These studies were wrought into my mind, 
 made part of the intellectual substance by the 
 
CHAPTER 111833-1839 33 
 
 vigorous collisions of the societies in which I 
 delighted. The questions propounded for de 
 bate were assigned to two or four chief dis 
 putants, heard judicially by the president, 2 
 before the faculty, thrown then open for the 
 melee of general discussion, and finally the ar 
 guments were summed up and the decision 
 pronounced with appropriate and authorita 
 tive criticisms on manner and matter by the 
 president. 
 
 For these mimic conflicts I prepared assid 
 uously not ever in writing, but always with 
 a carefully deduced logical analysis and ar 
 rangement of the ideas to be developed in the 
 order of argument, with a brief note of any 
 quotation or image or illustration on the mar 
 gin at the appointed place. From that brief I 
 spoke. 
 
 The societies were two the N. P. K. (Nu 
 Pi Kappa) and the Philomathesian, organized 
 in 1832 or 1833, under the inspiration which 
 divided the societies of the preparatory de 
 partment, on the basis of the residence of stu 
 dents. This was instigated by and cultivated 
 an exclusive spirit, social and political, which 
 had just threatened to kindle and has since 
 burst into civil war. 
 
 I belonged to the N. P. K, the Southern 
 society. The other was the more numerous, 
 equally able in intellect, but different in tone 
 
34 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 and composition. The former affected aristoc 
 racy; the latter the steady level of Northern 
 society. Occasionally gentlemen crossed the 
 line in choosing their society. 
 
 The most brilliant of my college friends, 
 Howard Smith, was of the number and from 
 Pennsylvania, yet was in the N. P. K. But 
 this was exceptional. 
 
 The negro question was an element of divi 
 sion, but not bitter nor exciting. The societies 
 were rivals, not foes, and associations followed 
 predilection and not origin. 
 
 But the diversity of feeling lay there, only 
 awaiting the day of development. Among the 
 gentlemen of brilliant promise not always 
 redeemed in after life were William Smei- 
 der, of Kentucky, long since a distinguished 
 lawyer of Mississippi; F. K. Hunt, of Ken 
 tucky, famous for his brilliant and genial dec 
 lamation; Horace Smith, of infinite jest, since 
 consul at Lisbon; Stephen Griffith Gassoway, 
 of Ohio, and William F. Giles, of Mississippi, 
 my most valued and devoted friends, who 
 have been snatched from life in the midst of 
 careers full of great promise, were all mem 
 bers of my class when I entered the Junior 
 year, and with such it was a privilege to have 
 been associated. 
 
 They were all richly endowed by nature, of 
 the highest moral tone, cultivated vastly be- 
 
CHAPTER 111833-1839 35 
 
 yond the beaten track of study. Gassoway was 
 a poet, a writer of great ease and facility, a 
 preternatural power of acquiring, glossed over 
 with a harmless and amusing vanity, which 
 should rather be termed a just appreciation of 
 his powers which he did not care to conceal 
 from his friends, but hounded by the ambition 
 to be an orator, for which he had not one 
 single qualification. 
 
 Giles was filled to overflowing with the 
 most varied and rare information, recondite, 
 curious, dusty and musty. If he rolled him 
 self over in the dust of a library, his ever-dear 
 delight, knowledge, stuck to him like iron fil 
 ings round a magnet, and his rare and antique 
 humor procured him the name of Monk- 
 barnes. Both sought the ministry, were emi 
 nent in their studies, but died too early to do 
 anything but make people deplore the loss of 
 so much promise. 
 
 I have not met their like since. Perhaps we 
 never do replace the bosom friends of college 
 life. 
 
 The authorities of Kenyon were men of 
 mark. 
 
 Professor Bache in chemistry, 3 Professor 
 Buckingham 4 in mathematics, Dr. Sparrow 5 
 in moral science, were men who would have 
 graced any university of Europe. 
 
36 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 Dr. Sparrow was a great favorite with the 
 students in the pulpit because of his clear 
 logic, his profound thought and his singularly 
 rich and striking imagery. Wholly without 
 manner or action, except an occasional con 
 vulsive throwing forth of the arm to point 
 some pointed sentence, with no gift of voice 
 to attract, his earnest reading, with his eye on 
 his manuscript unless when emphatically lift 
 ed or if to force his words into his hearers, al 
 ways riveted attention, even in the most 
 thoughtless and suppressed the restless weari 
 ness of students doing a duty which they 
 wished at an end. 
 
 Alas, that a residence in Virginia should 
 have bent his stern principles of morals to the 
 necessary deflection for the apology of slavery 
 and the rebellion for its maintenance. 
 
 Bishop Mcllvain was a different man in 
 mind and style. 
 
 Dr. Sparrow was a recluse and a student; 
 the Bishop was a man of the world as well as 
 a man of God but not a man of the Western 
 world of that: day. 
 
 He was bred in the refinements of New 
 Jersey, was versed in the society of Washing 
 ton when Adams, Webster, Clay and Calhoun 
 shone there, had been long enough at West 
 Point as chaplain to be imbued with its ideas 
 and habits of authority and subordination. 
 
CHAPTER 111833-1839 37 
 
 From these scenes he was transported to the 
 wild woods, rough, free, uncultivated, self- 
 dependent people of the West, over whom he 
 was to be a bishop, and at the head of a col 
 lege which must conciliate their confidence if 
 it were to flourish. His manner and refine 
 ment were not helps, but hindrances. Though 
 affable, kind, devoted, indefatigable, of the 
 fine class of minds and of wonderful oratori 
 cal power, he looked and felt too much above 
 the average level, was too different from his 
 flock and too little able to assimilate himself 
 to them, in apostolic phrase to be all things to 
 all men to be as Bishop Chase had been, to 
 acquire a leadership over them and this he 
 never did acquire. 
 
 But at the college this great and brilliant 
 example of a Christian gentleman, who was a 
 bishop without being a bore or a puritan, who 
 set the example by his life of what the highest 
 style of manner was, and what dignity and 
 elevation in character produced in appear 
 ance and bearing and conduct, was of infinite 
 use in breeding gentlemen out of the rough 
 material there collected, which professors who 
 were merely scholars might shape and sharp 
 en, but could never polish or decorate. 
 
 He was a master of the highest art of ora 
 tory. To listen to him on Sunday was a les 
 son in oratory which could be had nowhere 
 
38 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 else in the United States, unless at the feet of 
 Webster or Clay, nor abroad, but from the 
 voice of Brougham. He spoke without a 
 manuscript, except on the rarest occasions or 
 on the most abstruse topics. His style was 
 clear, simple, masterful, but abounding in rich 
 imagery, too rich for any place but the pulpit, 
 but never overdone nor superabundant. His 
 person was elegant and graceful. His pale 
 face and forehead, so bald as to show the clear 
 and noble outline of the head, but not so much 
 as to disfigure. 
 
 His action spoke to the eye what his words 
 carried to the mind not pantomime, but pre- 
 sentative action; not vehement, but earnest; 
 not of the forum, but of the pulpit. His voice 
 was the clearest, the fullest, ringing without a 
 particle of sharpness, filling the whole house, 
 yet not drowning itself in its own reverbera 
 tions, but the very impersonation of sound 
 which filled the whole house and was every 
 where present, but proceeded from nowhere. 
 It descended on you as if from heaven. It was 
 a voice I never heard equaled but by Mr. 
 Clay s. Within a few days, after thirty years, 
 I have had the privilege of having him under 
 my roof and hearing him speak, and time has 
 made no inroad on either his person or his 
 voice. 
 
 To have sat under him for four years is a 
 
CHAPTER 111833-1839 39 
 
 great and rare privilege, which has not been 
 among the least fruitful of my intellectual 
 trainings. 
 
 It may not be uninteresting to mention that 
 during his visit to me lately he remarked that 
 both Jefferson Davis and Robert Lee were at 
 West Point during his chaplaincy; I said that 
 was a serious impeachment of his ministry. 
 He replied: "Hardly so in regard to Jefferson 
 Davis, for he was so low in his classes that he 
 never reached that section which was under 
 my instruction." 
 
 The current of college life was undisturbed 
 by any great excitements. The threat of colli 
 sion between Ohio and Michigan on a question 
 of boundary waked feeling enough to ruffle our 
 calmness, but the United States beneficently 
 thrust the sword between the combatants, gave 
 Ohio the cause of war and indemnified Mich 
 igan with the vast peninsula which doubled 
 her territory and wealth and took nothing 
 from anybody, and we all smiled again. 
 
 The contest between Van Buren and Har 
 rison was loud and angry enough to find an 
 echo in our halls-premonitory of the struggle 
 of 1840, which was closed by the rebellion. 
 The students of higher grade were enlisted on 
 either side rather by prejudice than knowl 
 edge; I am almost ashamed to confess that my 
 lofty and impractical notions of what a Presi- 
 
40 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 dent ought to be in point of capacity was near 
 making me balance the weak incapacity of 
 Harrison against my distrust of all Democrats 
 the only weakness of my life in that re 
 spect and it was this first conflict of Harri 
 son and Van Buren which imprinted on my 
 memory the growing disgust for Abolitionists 
 which then began to take the place of old and 
 universal sympathy for emancipation. 
 
 But these were transitory ripples caused by 
 the passage of the great storm. 
 
 Amid it all I worked on at my metaphysics 
 and morals, varied by a spell on the public 
 roads of Ohio under its laws, and dreamed of 
 the world without to the close of my career. 
 
 On the 6th of September, 1837, at twenty 
 years of age, I took my degree and diploma, 
 decorated with one of the honorary orations 
 of my class on the great day of Commence 
 ment. 
 
 The world was all before me where to 
 choose and Providence my guide. 
 
 My father s death had embittered the last 
 days of the year 1836 and left me without a 
 counsellor. I knew something of books, but 
 nothing of men, and I went forth like Adam 
 among the wild beasts of the unknown wilder 
 ness of the world. 
 
 My father had dedicated me to the minis- 
 
CHAPTER 111833-1839 41 
 
 try, but the day was gone when such dedica 
 tions determined the life of young men. 
 
 Theology as a grave topic of historic and 
 metaphysical investigation I delighted to pur 
 sue, but for the ministry I had no calling. 
 
 I would have been idle if I could, for I had 
 no ambition, and my mother had deeply and 
 often impressed on me the sentiment that a 
 private Christian gentleman was the most dig 
 nified and independent character. 
 
 But I had no fortune and I could not beg or 
 starve. 
 
 Under this irrational instigation, which I 
 was long in getting rid of, I dedicated myself 
 to the law. 
 
 I returned to the East by way of Romney, 
 met the first locomotive on the track at Win 
 chester, and behind it went to Charlestown, 
 Jefferson county, Va., where I spent some days 
 at the grand mansion of Bushrod Washington. 
 I fear my scholastic airs made a singular con 
 trast with the habits of the landed gentry of 
 that connection whom I there met, into whose 
 talk of oxen and houses I was foolish enough 
 not to enter, while I gloried in the fine man 
 sions and broad acres which inspired and sup 
 ported it as if the two things were separable. 
 
 For all forms of mercantile pursuits I had 
 no taste and great disgust. I was the subject 
 of the prejudices of my State and time, and, 
 
42 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 strange as it may seem now, it was then a pre 
 vailing sentiment in Maryland and Virginia 
 that trade was not suited for a gentleman who 
 could follow nothing but farming or one of 
 the learned professions without something of 
 disparagement. 
 
 Great gains relaxed the rigor of the rule, 
 but still it was the rule, and when in 18^0 I 
 came to Baltimore to reside, so enlightened a 
 gentleman as Robert E. Scott, of Fauquier, 6 
 once asked if the Baltimoreans were not all 
 shopkeepers if there were any aristocratic 
 gentlemen there!! 
 
 When I left college my father was dead, his 
 estate deeply in debt, his negroes bound out 
 to save them from sale till their labor could 
 liberate them, and myself and my sister in the 
 meantime in the most straitened circum 
 stances, which our aunt s kindness could only 
 partially relieve. 
 
 I sought a tutorship, and for two years ded 
 icated the time relieved from its drudgery to 
 law and letters. 
 
 With an eye on the University of Virginia, 
 I read nearly its whole course, and refreshed 
 myself with the pungent and fragrant pages of 
 Tacitus "Histories" and the glowing and bril 
 liant, dignified and elevated epic of the De 
 cline and Fall of the Roman Empire. I exer 
 cised myself in translations from the former, 
 
CHAPTER 111833-1839 43 
 
 and in transferring the thoughts and images 
 of passages of the latter into my own language. 
 The latter task dispelled the popular error 
 that Gibbon s style is swollen and declama 
 tory, for every effort at condensation proved a 
 failure, and at the end of my labors the page 
 I had been foolish enough to attempt to com 
 press had expanded to the eye when released 
 from the weighty and stringent fetters in 
 which the gigantic genius of Gibbons had 
 bound the thought. 
 
 The experiment was instructive and useful, 
 though a failure. 
 
 Under this pecuniary pressure the strength 
 of my old-fashioned feelings towards slavery 
 was subjected a severe shock. 
 
 The sale of my share of the slaves would in 
 stantly have placed me in funds to pursue my 
 studies at the University and borne me over 
 the dead point of the machinery of the law at 
 a beginning career. 
 
 In reply to an offer of a connection of the 
 family to purchase the slaves, my feelings 
 were in April, 1839, expressed thus: 
 
 "Mr DEAR AUNT: I received a letter at 
 last from the Doctor (Dr. Davis) several days 
 since. He mentioned that Captain J. Allen 
 stated that he would purchase Sally if I had 
 no objection. I am not certain whether Sally 
 was set to my share in the division made by 
 
44 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 the Doctor and have not a list with me from 
 which I can satisfy myself. I wish Jane would 
 consult the memorandum she has, and if it 
 should happen that Sally does belong to me, 
 let me know. If she is the property of Jane, 
 of course I shall make no objection in charac 
 ter of administrator even if it is within my 
 power to do so. But if she is under my con 
 trol I will not consent to the sale, though he 
 wishes to purchase her subject to the will" 
 (i. e., to be free if she would go to Liberia). 
 
 I have still, now lying before me a brief 
 demonstration of the impossibility of heredi 
 tary slavery on any moral ground, written just 
 before this letter in 1838, in the midst of Vir 
 ginia slaveholders, when a doubt was damna 
 tion, political and social! 
 
 While waiting the opportunity of going to a 
 law school I had a very advantageous offer 
 from a gentleman in Mississippi, and I was 
 about to accept it, but the final letters were de 
 layed and I remained in Virginia. It is singu 
 lar now to see from my letters, intimating a 
 thought of going to Mississippi, what a cry of 
 horror it extorted from my pious aunt, and it 
 illustrates what is now almost inconceivable, 
 what a sink of iniquity, what a broad road to 
 destruction that region was then considered. 
 
 Finally my aunt sold some land in 1839 and 
 dedicated the funds to my legal studies. 
 
CHAPTER 111833-1839 45 
 
 The relative advantages of private and uni 
 versity study were largely and anxiously de 
 bated in my letters, and I maintained the lat 
 ter with vigor and success. 
 
 The superiority of the Virginia, the Massa 
 chusetts or the Connecticut school was then 
 considered and decided not so wisely in fa 
 vor of the University of Virginia. 
 
 Aided by my aunt s munificence, the same 
 love which began my infantile education, 
 which bore me through college and which so 
 many of my most costly books still attest, I ar 
 rived at the University of Virginia in Octo 
 ber, 1839. 
 
 NOTES ON CHAPTER II. 
 
 1. Rt. Rev. Philander Chase (1775-1852), uncle of Chief Jus 
 tice Salmon P. Chase. 
 
 2. Rt. Rev. Charles Pettit Mcllwaine (1798-1873). 
 
 3. Benjamin Franklin Bache (1801-1881). 
 
 4. Catharinus Putnam Buckingham (1808-1888). 
 
 5. William Sparrow (1801-1874). 
 
 6. Robert Eden Scott (1808-1862). 
 
 7. The schools of Harvard and of Yale. 
 
46 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA 
 
 (1839-40). 
 
 The University of Virginia is divided into 
 schools in each of which a separate diploma 
 is awarded, but bound together by a common 
 government into the University. Its schools 
 did not in 1839 at all complete the cycle of 
 sciences or departments of human learning. 
 The Schools of the Greek, Latin, of the Mod 
 ern Languages, of Mathematics, of Physics or 
 Natural Science, of Chemistry, of Law and of 
 Moral Philosophy were, I believe, all that 
 then existed. 
 
 The Classical School was under a plodding 
 pedant, Gesner Harrison; 1 that of the Modern 
 Languages under a polyglot German 2 smell 
 ing of assafoetida, who was shortly after my 
 day expelled for whipping his wife, and his 
 varied knowledge being united in no one, sev 
 eral professors discharged his functions. When 
 some one complimented him on this tribute to 
 his learning, he replied : "Ah, yes, it takes a 
 great many fips to make a thaler!" 
 
 Under him I got a smattering of French 
 and German, with a compound pronunciation 
 of both. 
 
CHAPTER 1111839-1840 47 
 
 Professor Rogers 3 gave a national charac 
 ter to the School of Natural Philosophy and 
 Geology, and I enjoyed the privilege of at 
 tending and profiting by his eloquent and 
 original lectures during the brief course. 
 
 Professor Bonnycastle 4 raised the School of 
 Mathematics to deserved celebrity and en 
 riched it by his contributions to mathematical 
 investigation. 
 
 Moral Philosophy was taught and made 
 ridiculous by Professor Tucker, 5 who stuck in 
 the outer bark of English and Scotch Mental 
 Philosophy, gave his students the vertigo by 
 the narrow circle in which he revolved, and 
 tried to enliven his disquisition by stale tradi 
 tionary jokes and stories, which descended 
 from class to class and year to year like intel 
 lectual heirlooms of the school. 
 
 His work on the Progress of the United 
 States in Wealth and Population in fifty years 
 is, however, a most valuable and meritorious 
 summary of national progress and the first 
 scientific effort to make statistics luminous in 
 this country. 
 
 Professor Davis 6 presided over the Law 
 School a most amiable and excellent gen 
 tleman, but one wholly without experience as 
 a lawyer and wholly incompetent to deal with 
 the high and abstract principles of judicial 
 science. 
 
48 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 His lectures were little besides readings on 
 the Virginia Statutes and their construction 
 by the Virginia Court of Appeals. He did 
 attempt to illustrate the law of tenures as mod 
 ified by Virginia law, but the pamphlet was 
 wholly unintelligible in theory and worthless 
 in practice the despair and agony of succes 
 sive generations of students which, if not un 
 derstood, must be memorized at the peril of 
 losing a diploma. 
 
 The University Buildings consisted of a 
 miniature of the Pantheon of Agrippa at the 
 head of a broad lawn, on either side of which 
 were two rows of dormitories, after the fash 
 ion of negro cabins, broken at regular inter 
 vals by the professors houses, which rose 
 above them all of substantial brick and gen 
 erally kept in good order. 
 
 The lecture room and library occupied the 
 Pantheon, or rotunda. 
 
 The genius of the institution looked down 
 on it from Monticello the Holy Mount the 
 residence of the founder of the University and 
 the fountain of its inspiration, moral and po 
 litical. 
 
 In striking contrast with Kenyon, here no 
 sectarian, no religious bias or basis was recog 
 nized. 
 
 The University employed no chaplain; no 
 
CHAPTER 1111839-1840 49 
 
 prayers opened the day; no service was en 
 acted on Sunday. 
 
 Still the students employed and paid by vol 
 untary contributions a chaplain, who was 
 chosen from year to year, in concurrence with 
 the authorities, and the services were respect 
 ably and respectfully attended by the general 
 mass of the students. The theory of Jefferson 
 remained the practice of a more believing 
 age prevailed over it. 
 
 But Jefferson s political ideas permeated 
 the whole body of the students and infected 
 the whole atmosphere of the slave States not 
 without an element of strong antagonism, but 
 one never strong enough to throw off the moral 
 malaria. 
 
 It is among the singular anomalies of his 
 tory that the devotees of Jefferson s political 
 theories of State s rights and constitutional 
 construction were the most violent opponents 
 of his views on slavery and the rights of man 
 in the negro. 
 
 I was soon sensible of a great difference be 
 tween the sentiment of the mass of the students 
 and that of Maryland in my boyhood; per 
 haps my Ohio residence made me more sensi 
 tive to the slightest change of temperature. 
 
 I remember being rather disgusted by the 
 change from Maryland to Ohio from the cul- 
 
50 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 tivation and distinction of classes to the rough 
 dead level of the West and on my return I 
 remember I was struck with a sort of revul 
 sion of feeling at the aspect of slavery which 
 I certainly had not carried with me to the 
 West. But with the great mass of students it 
 was the natural, the only tolerable or possible 
 state of the negro. It was not frequently the 
 theme of discussion, though sometimes its re 
 lation to the principles of freedom were 
 looked in the face, and then it was generally 
 admitted to be at once irreconcilable and ir 
 redeemable. On this topic I still possess my 
 own opinions in writing of that date. 
 
 On the theories of the Constitution there 
 was more discussion, and I had sat at the feet 
 of Clay and Webster as the rest had of Jeffer 
 son and Calhoun; the war was waged fiercely 
 during my year at the University. There was, 
 however, then still a great body of dissenters 
 from the Jeffersonian theories in the Univer 
 sity, as in the slave States but always a mi 
 nority on the defensive and gradually driven 
 to occupy or concede more and more of the 
 ground of their adversaries till finally their 
 opposition was a protest without principle, 
 and the admission was universal, either tacitly 
 or expressly, that the slavery interest found its 
 only secure bulwark in the supremacy of the 
 States, the right of nullification or secession, 
 
CHAPTER 1111839-1840 51 
 
 or the denial or limitation of every attribute 
 of sovereignty of the United States. 
 
 But this logical and systematic result had 
 not then been impressed on the Southern 
 mind ; it was the dream of a few, and the drift 
 was towards it, and it was involved remark 
 ably, but surely, in the general principles of 
 State rights, which was everywhere taught 
 and in one sense or another generally ac 
 cepted. 
 
 I was always on the other side, as well in 
 theory as in practice, and was vigorously de 
 nounced for a Federalist. 
 
 Professor Davis was the preacher of Jeffer- 
 sonianism, and certainly the Federalist Our 
 text-book on the Constitution was a sufficient 
 ly curious work, read by the light of the Jef- 
 fersonian Commentator! Story was Suspect 
 ed" and ostracised. Webster s arguments were 
 answered by the imputation of Federalism 
 and the shrug of the shoulders. The Doc 
 trine was then expounded ex-cathedra with 
 a glance to the Holy Mount and the young 
 men went home sufficiently Instructed to make 
 the rebellion, for it is that generation of stu 
 dents who have prepared, organized and led 
 the rebellion. R. M. T. Hunter and Seddon 6a 
 had just left the University a year or two when 
 I got there. Mr. Orr, of South Carolina, and 
 Clay, of Alabama, were there during my year. 
 
52 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 The tone and bearing of the students was 
 high and manly; their cultivation was not 
 equal to it. The sense of personal dignity and 
 self-importance was developed in an exagger 
 ated degree. The duel was the only soap for 
 tarnished honor. Every year supplied its ex 
 amples of wounded honor seeking a surgeon 
 at Bladensburg or some other point in the 
 proximity of Washington; the young gentle 
 men mysteriously vanished from sight, reap 
 peared beyond the "Commonwealth" and 
 sought or accepted distinguished advice at the 
 seat of the government. Arguments and views 
 from distinguished lips were found more per 
 suasive after a long journey and in the neigh 
 borhood of the historic field of civil war, and 
 after applications of emulgents, the scorned 
 honor reappeared without a stain and the skin 
 which held it without a scratch at the Uni 
 versity; and so the farce ended. 
 
 The English education of most of the young 
 men was always found to have been sadly neg 
 lected ; but, its existence being assumed as the 
 condition of admission, scarcely any attention 
 was paid to it at the University; and if the 
 little examination in spelling and writing 
 grammatically could be scraped through, 
 nothing more was required and little more 
 was likely to be attained. 
 
 The examinations were very rigid, but no 
 
CHAPTER 1111839-1840 53 
 
 one was required to undergo them unless he 
 aspired to a diploma, and then he must be 
 very thorough or he failed. A considerable 
 proportion took diplomas in one or more 
 schools, but very few took the Diploma of the 
 University, which required diplomas in per 
 haps five schools and a general examination 
 on them all at the end. Those who took these 
 grand diplomas were generally hard students 
 of more industry than mind. There were some 
 distinguished exceptions. But the habit was 
 to select two or three schools, at the fancy of 
 the student, and devote the stay at the Uni 
 versity to them. This gave the education a 
 very partial and imperfect character and left 
 the graduate with a narrow view of the field 
 of knowledge and a very imperfectly devel 
 oped and ill-balanced mind. 
 
 The literary societies were not well attend 
 ed or well sustained at least not so well as at 
 Kenyon. 
 
 I acquired a little French and German, 
 enough to perfect, after leaving the Universi 
 ty; attended Professor Rogers s lectures in ge 
 ology, which were very few and brief that 
 term, and devoted my chief time to the crab 
 bed and jealous jade of the law. 
 
 I have described, I think, justly the lectures 
 of Professor Davis. 
 
54 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 On International Law Vattel s amiable gen 
 eralities and shallow philanthropy was the 
 text-book, for Wheaton s vigorous and historic 
 work was of Northern origin and fit only to 
 furnish the supplemental notes of the profes 
 sor. Kent was too Federal to be vise across 
 the lines. Story, not orthodox on the Consti 
 tution, was unavoidable in Equity Jurispru 
 dence and acquiesced in. 
 
 Stephens s scientific exposition of pleading 
 was judiciously chosen and infinitely instruc 
 tive, but on a dead science, which every Legis 
 lature strove to bury rather than to revive, 
 and on which every pratcising lawyer, after 
 exhaling eulogies on its subtle refinements, 
 united with the antagonist to declare worth 
 less by agreeing in stereotyped form in every 
 cause "to waive all error of pleading and al 
 low either party to give any evidence compe 
 tent under any form of pleading." Still the 
 study of that beautiful work was admirably 
 calculated to form the mind of a scientific 
 lawyer, and I for long years have done it 
 homage at the end of many a well-fought and 
 successful struggle. 
 
 The chief training of the school was found 
 in the venerable but now obsolete volumes of 
 Coke on Littleton, whence streamed that glad 
 some light of jurisprudence with which the 
 old master of legal torture prophetically bids 
 
CHAPTER 1111839-1840 55 
 
 his disciples farewell at the end of his book 
 and the beginning of his battle. 
 
 The labor I devoted to mastering the invis 
 ible distinctions, to noting the endless diverrsi- 
 ties of the recondite principles of the old law 
 of real property, is now powerful even in the 
 remembrance. 
 
 Often in despair I have closed the book and 
 sunk on my bed, wearied out with expositions 
 I could scarcely grasp and whose application 
 I could not see; sometimes I have thrown the 
 book across the room in my wrath, and once 
 my fellow-students attest having caught me 
 kicking it over the floor in a moment of men 
 tal agony. Still I mastered it, and I think in 
 that work I did penance for all legal sins of 
 the future, and all work has since been easy. 
 I have found myself since armed where others 
 have been naked in the day of battle familiar 
 with matters which were mysteries to compet 
 itors who had not been instructed in its mys 
 teries, and able to explore my way over track 
 less wastes of controversy to a safe conclusion, 
 where those who studied by the stars of "mod 
 ern instances" were lost because they did not 
 appear for many days. 
 
 I set down Coke on Littleton with the hick 
 ory rod on my shoulders in my youth as the 
 great instruments of whatever in law or learn 
 ing I have been but instruments abhorrent to 
 
56 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 the humanity of modern homes and banished 
 from school and college with the rack, and 
 Thomas Acquinas of a barbarous age. 
 
 thereof let this little suffice the diligent 
 reader. 
 
 It is quite certain that Professor Davis was 
 no light in that labyrinth! 
 
 There was a moot court, in which I tried the 
 edge of my logic on several occasions, but it 
 hardly can be called part of the training of the 
 University. 
 
 Of society at the University there was little, 
 except the students; and the professors consid 
 ered themselves responsible for one party to 
 the class; they were always affable and polite, 
 treating their students as gentlemen younger 
 but not below them, and this conduct was met 
 in the same spirit. A high tone of personal 
 conduct prevailed. The exceptions were 
 marked, but few, and punished by a singular 
 want of consideration among the students who 
 had a just public opinion of their own very 
 free from the usual bias of antagonism to the 
 authorities, which mitigates low conduct to 
 mere rebellion against unjust oppression, 
 whose ministers are the professors. Their dis 
 cipline was generally supported, because free 
 and not petty, nor beyond what was necessary. 
 There was little coarse dissipation; practical 
 jokes were thought unbecoming; ladies society 
 
CHAPTER 1111839-1840 57 
 
 was eagerly sought, and the neighborhood 
 swarmed with that peculiar growth of all col 
 leges antique unmarried maidens, at whose 
 feet many generations of students have sighed, 
 revived, been accepted and forgotten with no 
 lesion of the heart to either party the one so 
 often impressed that it has become elastic, the 
 other under a southern sun melting to accept 
 the image of the adored, and melting as easily 
 before another flame to take the features of 
 the successor. 
 
 In May, 1840, was held at Charlottesville 
 one of those Episcopal carnivals known as the 
 Episcopal Convention of Virginia. 
 
 In other dioceses the convention is a grave 
 convocation of politic clergymen and laymen 
 to pass canons, administer discipline and go 
 home. 
 
 In Virginia it was then a spiritual carnival, 
 an ecclesiastical frolic, a religious revival and 
 a time of great social and physical outpouring 
 and refreshment. Prayers and preaching, 
 dining and visiting, salutation and parting 
 consume the days and nights. The early dawn 
 sees long lines of worshipers streaming to 
 the morning prayers and lectures in many 
 churches. All denominations open their 
 churches for the Episcopal clergy who ac 
 cept, but never reciprocate the courtesy. Pul 
 pit orators from distant dioceses crowd to the 
 
58 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 theater of doing good to souls or themselves. 
 Reputations are made or marred. Rich liv 
 ings follow a bold flight or a fervid appeal. 
 Ladies and gentlemen, young and old, sit in 
 judgment on the sermon of the day. Vast 
 crowds gather from every part of the State, 
 and not a few from distant States. All houses 
 are open. Every lady competes for the privi 
 lege of entertaining an angel not unawares; 
 and these angels of the churches think they 
 are enjoying only their own. "Is the Bishop 
 putting up with you?" was once the innocent 
 inquiry of a gentleman. "Oh, no," was the 
 hostess reply, "we are putting up with him." 
 Surely there was no more venerable or vener 
 ated man than this Bishop, but the witty reply 
 points the tale and paints the scene in the col 
 ors of the time. 
 
 For weeks the ladies are devoted to house 
 wifely preparations for the feast, that there 
 may be plenty and yet time to mingle the spir 
 itual with the social delights. 
 
 Such is a faithful picture of the Convention 
 of 1840 at Charlottesville, as it is fixed in my 
 memory, of which glimpses float out in my 
 letters of that date. Not a few names of note 
 rise before me some of promises not per 
 formed, some who sleep forever, some who 
 still stir the world to flee from ruin to right 
 eousness. That great Bishop, Meade, 7 born to 
 
CHAPTER 1111839-1840 59 
 
 rule men, lived to bow to the storm meaner 
 men had raised to bless the rebellion in the 
 name of God, and died in the hopeless strug 
 gle to prove by an appeal to the Lord of Hosts 
 that slavery is a Christian institution. 
 
 He presided over and inspired the conven 
 tion. 
 
 When it was over I thus described to my 
 sister its characters and impressions. 
 
 "This morning, after a week of bustle and 
 confusion, prayer and dissipation, preaching 
 and visiting, the American carnival closed and 
 Charlottesville relapsed into its wonted dull 
 ness. 
 
 "The crowd that took the sacrament was 
 immense; more than forty were confirmed; 
 and Dr. Tyng, 8 of Philadelphia, recalled by 
 his eloquence, his action and the depth and 
 beauty of his thoughts, the splendid efforts of 
 Bishop Mcllvaine. 
 
 "Mr. Davis sent me your letter and request 
 ed me to call on him; I did not hear his ser 
 mon, but some one informed me that it was 
 rather too learned for a sermon delivered be 
 fore a promiscuous audience. Mr. Slaughter 9 
 preached once, and his effort was spoken of in 
 the highest terms ; I was so unfortunate as to 
 lose it. 
 
 "Dr. Keith 10 has, unfortunately, deserted 
 written for extempore sermons; but this mode 
 
60 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 is not so efficient nor so interesting as the for 
 mer. His written discourses were remark 
 able for their ability and eloquence; his ex 
 tempore effusions possess more of animation, 
 energy and feeling, but not enough to com 
 pensate for the loss or the sacrifice of pro 
 found reflections and beautiful style which 
 so remarkably enriched the former. It is the 
 child of his old age; he pets it till tis spoiled, 
 then is too blind or too devoted to descry its 
 faults. 
 
 "Mr. Parks, 11 an accession to the banner of 
 Episcopacy from the ranks of the Methodists, 
 has a vast reputation for wonderful eloquence, 
 supported, however, by but a slender founda 
 tion; his delivery is devoid of grace; his ani 
 mation degenerates into violence; his voice 
 has not yet lost the Methodistical whine a 
 whine that gradually increases till approach 
 ing termination of the sermon gives the sig 
 nal for a copious effusion of tears and chok 
 ing sobs, which, acting by sympathy on his 
 audience, produce corresponding manifesta 
 tions of feeling equally gratuitous, uncalled 
 for and ridiculous." 
 
 This was the religious revel of the year; but 
 the country was now agitated by the swelling 
 tide of discontent which swept the Democrats 
 from power and gave a treacherous promise 
 of a change of policy. Harrison and Van 
 
CHAPTER 1111839-1840 61 
 
 Buren again contested the palm. The predic 
 tions of financial ruin which filled the last 
 years of President Jackson had been fulfilled 
 under President Van Buren; the Whig states 
 men were now the prophets of the country, 
 and the victory in the fall of 1840 placed them 
 in power for a day. 
 
 My first knowledge of political speaking is 
 of this date. 
 
 I heard with great delight Mr. William C. 
 Rives, 12 in the Court House at Charlottesville, 
 vindicate his "consistency" in Virginia 
 phrase, impeached by his desertion of Mr. 
 Van Buren and accession to the cause of Gen 
 eral Harrison. It was then the Virginia dog 
 ma that consistency in a public man was what 
 chastity is to woman, and that consistency 
 meant holding the same views and applying 
 the same measures in every variety of circum 
 stances. 
 
 Of the merits of the controversy it is not 
 worth while to speak; the vindication was to 
 me a novel experience in oratory. 
 
 I stood in a window, holding myself up by 
 the sash for four hours, for length and not 
 brevity was the test of merit in Virginia, and 
 every theme was deduced from the resolutions 
 of 98. 
 
 Mr. Rives spoke with wonderful energy 
 not violently, but with an intensity of gesture 
 
62 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 and utterance, a simplicity of expression, an 
 absence of rhetorical amplification and a di 
 rectness and practical plainness worthy of all 
 admiration, wholly different from the per 
 functory drawl which prevails in the pulpit, 
 and equally different from fine pulpit oratory, 
 with its well-rounded periods and elaborate 
 imagery. It was a man in earnest, not over 
 nice in his weapons, but bent on beating down 
 his foe. Mr. Ritchie, 13 of the Richmond In 
 quirer, had impeached him of inconsistency, 
 and he was on trial for his life. That paper 
 w r as the Bible of all good Democrats ; it bore 
 the impress of the Jeffersonian era and ideas; 
 its enmity was ruin; its suspicion was danger 
 ous. Mr. Rives speech was an encounter with 
 his paper; its editor he "denounced" as "alter 
 nately the lickspittle and the libeller of every 
 public man of Virginia." This phrase sticks 
 yet in my memory. 
 
 But the Inquirer remained master of the 
 field, and Mr. Rives never recovered his hold 
 on the Virginians. 
 
 I left the Court House impressed with i 
 new idea of the contests of real life, debating 
 in the Senate, and the fervid appeals which 
 sway multitudes. 
 
CHAPTER 1111839-1840 63 
 
 NOTES ON CHAPTER III. 
 
 1. Gessner Harrison (1807-1862). 
 
 2. George Blaetterman vide Herbert B. Adams s Thomas 
 Jefferson and the University of Virginia (page 160). 
 
 3. William Barton Rogers (1804-1882). 
 
 4. Charles Bonnycastle (1792-1840). 
 
 5. George Tucker (1775-1861). 
 
 6. John A. G. Davis (1801-1840). 
 
 6a. Davis s chronology is not exact as to R. M. T. Hunter 
 (1809-1887), who left the University before 1830. As United 
 States Senator from Virginia, he framed the tariff of 1857. He was 
 thought of for the Presidency of the Confederate States and was 
 Secretary of State and Senator therein. James A. Seddon(i8i5- 
 1880) graduated from the University of Virginia with the de 
 gree of B. L. in 1838, and was afterwards a member of the 
 Congress and Secretary of War for the Confederacy. James L. 
 Orr (1822-1873) graduated at the University in 1842. He was 
 speaker of the Thirty-fifth Congress, and afterwards became a 
 member of the Confederate Senate. After the close of the war 
 he became a Republican, and when he died he was Minister to 
 Russia. Clement C. Clay (1819-1882) graduated at the Uni 
 versity of Alabama in 1835, and completed his law studies at 
 the University of Virginia in 1840. He was a member of the 
 United States Senate, and afterwards of that of the Confederate 
 States. 
 
 7. Rt. Rev. William Meade (1789-1862). 
 
 8. Rev. Stephen Higginson Tyng (1800-1885). 
 
 9. Rev. Philip Slaughter (1808-1890). 
 
 10. Rev. Revel Keith 1792-1842). 
 
 11. Rev. Martin P. Parks, rector of Christ Church, Norfolk, 
 where the Convention had met in 1839. He soon afterwards 
 became chaplain of the U. S. Military Academy at West Point. 
 
 12. William Cabell Rives (born 1795, died 1868). 
 
 13. Thomas Ritchie (1778-1854). 
 
64 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 PRACTICE AT LAW IN ALEXAN 
 DRIA AND BALTIMORE 
 
 (1840-55). 
 
 After leaving the University of Virginia, 
 Davis entered upon the practice of the law in 
 Alexandria, Virginia. There "his ability and 
 industry attracted attention, 1 and before long 
 he had acquired a respectable practice, which 
 thenceforth protected him from all annoy 
 ances of a pecuniary nature. He toiled with 
 unwearied assiduity, never appearing in the 
 trial of a cause without the most elaborate and 
 exhaustive preparation, and soon became 
 known to his professional brethren as a valu 
 able ally and a formidable foe." 
 
 He was tall, standing six feet in his stock 
 ings, had dark hazel eyes and curly brown 
 hair, and wore a moustache on an otherwise 
 clean-shaven face. On October 30, 1845, he 
 married Miss Constance C. Gardiner, daugh 
 ter of William C. Gardiner, Esq. 2 She is de 
 scribed as "a most accomplished and charm 
 ing young lady, as beautiful and as fragile as 
 a flower." She lived only a few years after 
 their marriage, and grief over her loss may 
 have been one of the causes which determined 
 him to leave Alexandria. 
 
CHAPTER IV 1840-1855 65 
 
 While practising law at Alexandria in 1849 
 he is said to have voted against the establish 
 ment of district free schools and to have con 
 tributed to the columns of the Alexandria 
 Gazette for April 25 and May 3, letters signed 
 "Hampden," in which he opposed the election 
 of a State s Right Whig to Congress and con 
 tended for the supremacy of Congress over 
 the Territories, with a right to abolish slavery 
 therein. 3 He removed to Baltimore in the 
 next year and acted as attorney for Rev. H. 
 V. D. Johns in a difficulty he had with Bishop 
 Whittingham, because Dr. Johns had offici 
 ated at a service in the Eutaw Street Meth 
 odist Episcopal Church. 4 Although through 
 out his life he was a member of the Protestant 
 Episcopal Church, he showed his independ 
 ence of ecclesiastical action again, three years 
 later, in the publication of a pamphlet attack 
 ing the bishops for acquitting Bishop George 
 W. Doane, of New Jersey, from charges 
 which had been preferred against him. 5 
 Davis s friend Creswell 6 described him as a 
 "man of faith," who "believed in Christ and 
 his fellow-man." "His implicit faith in God s 
 eternal justice and his grand moral courage, 
 imparted to him his proselyting zeal and gave 
 him that amazing kindling power which en 
 abled him to light the fires of enthusiasm, 
 whenever he touched the public mind." 
 
66 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 "His private life was spotless. His habits 
 were regular and abstemious, and his practice 
 in close conformity with the Episcopal church 
 of which he was a member. He invariably 
 attended divine service on Sunday, and con 
 fined himself for the remainder of the day to 
 a course of religious reading." 
 
 He was scrupulously neat in his dress, and 
 usually wore a red or a polka dot necktie. His 
 social gifts soon brought him into friendship 
 with other lawyers, and he formed one of the 
 original members of the Friday Club, which 
 met weekly on Friday, from 8 to 12 P. M., at 
 the houses of its members. The club was 
 formed by a brilliant group of lawyers in No 
 vember, 1852, and Davis often came over from 
 Washington to the club s meetings while he 
 wa,s a member of Congress. The club was 
 broken up on March 22, i86i, 8 by the out 
 break of the Civil War. 
 
 Aristocratic in his bearing, he knew how to 
 win men by his commanding manner. The 
 story is told 9 that after a political meeting 
 Davis wrapped his cloak about him and went 
 away without speaking to any one, and that 
 on the next day a butcher in the market said 
 that he intended to vote for Davis from that 
 very reason. Yet in his arguments he sought 
 to convince, not to drive, and in his eloquent 
 sentences he displayed a wit that "suggests the 
 
CHAPTER IV 1840-1855 67 
 
 play of a Damascus cimiter that flashes and 
 scintillates as it sweeps the air." His fear 
 lessness at the trial table is shown by the story 
 that when Reverdy Johnson, the leader of the 
 American bar, twitted him for taking notes, 
 Davis, with a quick reference to Johnson s im 
 pressive voice, retorted: "Yes, Mr. Johnson, 
 but you will please remember that, unlike the 
 lion in the play, I have something more to do 
 than to roar." n 
 
 At the Baltimore bar, Davis made a bril 
 liant career for himself and rapidly achieved 
 success. 12 He soon entered upon a political 
 career and obtained such a reputation as a 
 speaker, through his address to the Whig Na 
 tional Convention of 1852, that, when he was 
 a candidate for election as a presidential elec 
 tor in that year, he was not only called on for 
 such local occasions as a joint debate at Mai- 
 ley Bridge, in Anne Arundel county, 13 but was 
 even summoned to speak at a Scott meeting at 
 Niagara Falls, where he occupied the plat 
 form with Horace Greeley and Robert C. 
 Winthrop. 14 He had been a resident of Mary 
 land for only two years at that time, and 
 showed his interest in the attitude of the Ro 
 man Catholic church by writing to John M. 
 Clayton to inquire if it were true that nine 
 Roman Catholic bishops had pledged them 
 selves to support Clay for the Presidency. 15 In 
 
68 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 1852 he published his only book, "The War 
 of Ormuzd and Ahriman in the Nineteenth 
 Century," 16 the title page of which bore ap 
 propriately a quotation from Demosthenes. 
 It is a young man s book, turgid and over- 
 rhetorical, and yet contains passages of great 
 power. Wide reading in both ancient and 
 modern history and an earnest, fervid spirit 
 are shown. The Crimean War had not as yet 
 revealed the weakness of Russia, and to Davis 
 that great empire was a menacing danger to 
 the world. He would appeal to the people 
 of the United States to resist its onslaught, ere 
 there came a world-embracing, despotic em 
 pire. 17 "Within the four score years of the 
 life of man, two powers have grown from in 
 significance to be the arbiters of the world," 
 Davis wrote. "Each is the incarnation of one 
 of the two great spirits pure, absolute, un 
 checked, uncontrolled, unlimited which have 
 always striven and now still strive on the the 
 atre of nations for the mastery of mankind. 
 These two spirits are liberty and despotism 
 the Ormuzd and Ahriman of the political 
 world. Their purest emanations are the Re 
 public of America and the Empire of Russia." 
 In other nations the principles of liberty and 
 despotism are mingled, but "it is only in the 
 Republic of America that the people, imbued 
 with the spirit of liberty, are the recognized, 
 
CHAPTER IV 1840-1855 69 
 
 uncontrolled, unquestioned, sovereign power. 
 It is only in Russia that the emperor is met by 
 the cheerful, unquestioning, submissive and 
 the affectionate devotion of the people." An 
 ticipating the objections that the negro slaves 
 were under despotic rule and that the Poles 
 were discontented, Davis said that these facts 
 were not important enough to be considered, 
 and insisted that the United States had 
 "thriven among the arts of peace and indus 
 try," while Russia "has gorged its greatness 
 by the spoils of war and fruits of intrigue." 18 
 In Davis s opinion, "in this age of the world, 
 two principles of government divide mankind. 
 The one theory, rejecting with contempt the 
 shallow fiction of the social contract, and with 
 indignation the impious arrogance of the 
 right divine, traces the fundamental prin 
 ciples of civil society, in the nature and wants 
 of man, written there by the finger of God 
 and surrounded by feelings, tendencies and ca 
 pacities which, in their natural development, 
 assume the shape and attributes of national 
 existence under formal governments." He 
 believed that "the purposes of civil society can 
 only be attained by the instrumentality of 
 government, reducing to the forms of law the 
 will of the nation and coercing submission 
 from its individual members. The right to 
 prescribe these laws and direct their execution 
 
70 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 is sovereignty. That power in the State which 
 holds that right in the last resort is the sov 
 ereign power. The persons who actually ap 
 ply and execute those laws are the officers and 
 delegates of that sovereign power. Wherever 
 that sovereignty resides, it must be absolutely 
 uncontrollable and arbitrary." Such is Davis s 
 political theory. "The controversy of the age 
 disputes the residence of that ultimate sover 
 eignty. We maintain that it resides in the 
 mass of every nation. A majority has no in 
 herent rights; it is an artificial creation; it 
 holds only a delegated power; it is only the 
 instrument provided by the previously de 
 clared will of the nation for ascertaining its 
 decision under given circumstances." 
 
 We can see the reasons why Davis was so 
 ardent a Unionist as we read: "It is the nation 
 only which is sovereign. The mass of the na 
 tion is necessarily somewhat indefinite, but 
 each case must be adjusted as it rises. One 
 man could not be allowed to impede the will 
 of all the rest, nor would a majority of one be 
 any ground, except for the provisions of posi 
 tive law, for the control of the other half of 
 society. It is the duty of mere fragments of 
 the nation to yield their opposition to the gen 
 eral will." 20 
 
 "The despots of Europe," on the other hand, 
 "deny any participation in the attributes of 
 
CHAPTER IV 1840-1855 71 
 
 sovereign power to the nation; they arrogate 
 them absolutely to the crown. Kings are the 
 plenipotentiaries of God, who imparts to them 
 the absolute power of sovereignty. In his 
 name, they rule with absolute sway his sub 
 jects; they are responsible not to the people, 
 not to the nation but to God, the source and 
 giver of their power." "The scourge of a 
 merciless ruler" may "be a misfortune to a 
 nation," but it has no right to demand a 
 change. The "responsibility of an ambassa 
 dor is to his sovereign," and the "only right of 
 the subject is prayer to God for relief, or for 
 vengeance, or for patience." 21 
 
 The author next discussed European history 
 since the downfall of Napoleon, believing that 
 the "Holy Alliance was a scandalous conspir 
 acy against the liberties of mankind." He 
 traced the story through the conferences of 
 Laybach and Verona; the crushing of the con 
 stitutional movements in Spain, Naples and 
 Poland; the downfall of the Bourbons in 
 France; the revolt of Europe in 1848 against 
 the "holy conspirators" and the recent over 
 throw of Kossuth in Hungary. His ardent 
 imagination saw a dictatorship of Russia on 
 the Continent of Europe and believed that the 
 American Republic should ally itself with 
 England and face the prospect of the last war 
 of freedom and despotism. "The crown of 
 
72 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 Hungary was for centuries elective," Davis 
 wrote, "as were all the other crowns of Eu 
 rope, that now forget their lowly origin in 
 their lofty claims to the right divine. The 
 mists which have hung around the morning 
 of history have always been the refuge of 
 royal pride to conceal the nakedness of its 
 birth. It has ever aspired to draw its title to 
 rule from the gift of God, rather than the 
 will of man, and the illusion of historic per 
 spective which blends the heavens and the 
 earth in the distance of the dim horizon has 
 served to veil the fiction of a divine diploma 
 for usurpations which time has half covered 
 with the hoary emblems of right. The pesti 
 lent delusion has hitherto proved ineradica 
 ble, save by the sword or by the ax." ffi 
 
 He held that from the Czar there was more 
 danger to the world of an universal empire 
 than there had been from Charles V, Louis 
 XIV, or Napoleon; that the dictatorship of 
 Russia in Europe is absolutely inconsistent 
 with the experience of the English monarchy 
 and the American Republic as free, popular, 
 representative governments." The only alter 
 natives before us are "a war in Europe, now 
 with allies," or war hereafter, on our own soil, 
 without allies. 23 WithNapoleonlll in France, 
 there w r as no hope to the cause of liberty there, 
 and no other continental power was "able to 
 
CHAPTER IV 1840-1855 73 
 
 stay the march of Russia to universal empire." 
 The Czar is "not only the arbiter of Chris 
 tian Europe, but also the master of Moham 
 medan Europe," and thus controlled the an 
 swer to the two great problems of Europe in 
 the nineteenth century the fates of the Otto 
 man Empire and of free principles. So long, 
 however, "as England exists, resplendent in 
 all the glories of liberty, despotism can find 
 no safe and quiet abode on the Continent of 
 Europe." 24 
 
 History, in ancient times, showed what the 
 danger was. "The Grecian genius has left 
 the model of liberty for the inspiration of fu 
 ture ages. It has also left the plan by which 
 it may be encountered and destroyed. Every 
 usurpation of a later day, effected by anything 
 but barbarous force, has been a coarse and 
 distant imitation of the classic art, with which 
 Philip subjugated the fierce and turbulent 
 democracy of Greece. The rise of the Rus 
 sian Empire and its march to the control of 
 Europe is the closest imitation history fur 
 nishes of the great model. Europe awaits her 
 Ch^ronea." * 
 
 In the United States, the "North is filled 
 with the fanatics of liberty, as the South is 
 with the Quixotes of slavery." Where there 
 is compromise, it is because the balance is 
 turned by a small minority of moderate men. 
 
74 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 "The Compromise Bills of 1850 have not laid 
 the infernal spirit of sectional agitation. The 
 day of final collision is adjourned; it is not 
 gotten rid of. Emancipation, or disunion, 
 may be the only alternatives. The eagle eye 
 of Russia will not fail to mark such oppor 
 tunity." Mexico may ally herself with Rus 
 sia, which, on "the west coast, is an American 
 power, nearer our possessions than we are." 
 It is true that Washington warned us against 
 entangling alliances, but an English alliance 
 now comes under the exception he made of 
 "temporary alliances for extraordinary occa 
 sions," and the instructions he gave Jay, as to 
 an armed neutrality, hinted at the possibility 
 of an alliance with other nations to support 
 our principles. The other great principle of 
 our foreign policy, the Monroe doctrine, also 
 was "the formal adoption of the policy" which 
 Davis advocated, for "Russia now invades, or 
 seriously threatens our rights," and J. Q. Ad 
 ams, in his Panama message, "declared that, 
 in our sphere, and in our day, and according 
 to our measure, and as far as is complete with 
 our safety, we are on the side of liberty, not 
 merely in word, but in deed." 
 
 In 1853 Davis delivered the closing address 
 before the Maryland Institute, an eloquent 
 and scholarly oration, which was published 
 in pamphlet form. He told his hearers in 
 
CHAPTER IV 1840-1855 75 
 
 glowing sentences, "the history of labor is the 
 oldest and will be the last of all histories. 
 It begins with the fall of man it will end 
 only with his race. It antedates the ruler 
 and the priest, and it will survive or cease 
 with them." 
 
 "God inflicted labor as a penalty. His mer 
 cy softens it into a blessing. The pride of man 
 has perverted it into a disgrace." 
 
 "Industry, in its widest acceptation, em 
 braces every active exercise of the powers of 
 mind or body for the production of any use 
 ful object or result. The subjects of industry 
 are the same in every age some exercising 
 the higher and other the lower faculties, some 
 level to the capacity of all, others attainable 
 only by the few, but all intended to be pur 
 sued for the comfort and elevation of man in 
 this his lower abode. In the eye of God, all 
 are honorable, for He made the faculties of 
 man to be exercised, not to be idle. In the 
 eyes of the primitive patriarchal society, all 
 occupations were honorable, for all were the 
 offspring of some of the faculties of man. But, 
 from that day to this, pride and power have 
 sought to elevate themselves on the shoulders 
 of the multitude and, to mark the distinction, 
 they have stamped the pursuits of the multi 
 tude with contempt. The favored pursuits 
 have varied in different ages, but the relation 
 
76 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 between them and others has ever been that of 
 the honorable and the despised. " He consid 
 ered the history of Greece, Rome and the 
 Middle Ages, and noted that the Americans 
 had succeeded in agriculture, mechanics and 
 commerce; but had not as yet excelled in 
 science, the fine arts or literature. Political 
 economy had treated of wealth, not man, but 
 now the beginnings of social legislation were 
 found in England. Socialism is urged by 
 some. "As a whole," when examined, "it can 
 never be adopted, as no theory has at any time 
 been adopted by men for the reconstruction of 
 society, but it will furnish new and fertile 
 suggestions. It is penetrated with a moral 
 idea which is mighty for the elevation of the 
 working classes." This early recognition of 
 the importance of socialism is notable. 
 
 After praising the Odd Fellows, he takes 
 up subjects of local interest the tobacco 
 warehouses, the public schools, the laws con 
 cerning shipping, the limitation of hours of 
 labor, government banks, a public chemist, 
 and a State geological survey. Finally, he 
 said: "It is the proud peculiarity of this Re 
 public that labor is honorable in all. It has 
 been so from the beginning; it will so continue 
 tc the end of the Republic. It is a product of 
 our free and equal condition; it is the essential 
 guardian of that condition. It has been so 
 
CHAPTER IV 1840-1855 77 
 
 from the condition of the emigrant fathers, 
 from the condition of the country they sub 
 dued, from the age of the world in which they 
 lived, from the religious ideas which imbued 
 them, from the political institutions which 
 spring from those ideas and in return fostered 
 them by their protection. American Repub 
 licanism does not look on labor as a necessity; 
 it imposes it as a duty, and, therefore, it is 
 honorable in all, and idleness is not honorable 
 in any. Yet we are least of all people guilty 
 of the folly of leveling all pursuits. We do 
 not honor less the smaller; we only honor 
 the greater triumph more." 
 
 During these years of practice at the bar 
 Davis did not neglect the study of languages 
 and literature. His friend Creswell 26 said 
 that "his habit was not only to read, but to 
 re-read the best of his books frequently, and 
 he was continually supplying himself with 
 better editions of his favorites. In current 
 playful conversation with his friends he quot 
 ed right and left, in brief and at length, from 
 the classics, ancient and modern, and from the 
 drama, tragic and comic. He was the best 
 scholar I ever met, for his years and active 
 life, and was surpassed by very few, except 
 ing mere bookworms." As a result of the 
 training of these years, Davis entered public 
 life "possessed of a mind of remarkable 
 
78 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 power, scope and activity; with an immense 
 fund of precious information, ready to re 
 spond to any call he might make upon it, how 
 ever sudden; wielding a system of logic 
 formed in the severest school and tried by long 
 practice; gifted with a rare command of lan 
 guage and an eloquence well-nigh superhu 
 man, and withal graced with manners the 
 most accomplished and refined, and a person 
 unusually handsome, graceful and attractive." 
 
 NOTES ON CHAPTER IV. 
 
 1. Creswell, Speeches and Addresses, XIX. 
 
 2. Creswell, Speeches and Addresses, XX . 
 
 3. Vide "Portrait of Henry Winter Davis, Esq., by his own 
 hand, and "A Review of Mr. Davis and Free Soilism." In 1855 
 he is said to have claimed that these letters were his contribu 
 tions toward maintaining the peace of the country against se 
 cessionists. 
 
 4. H. W. Scott s "Great American Lawyers." A slight 
 sketch of Davis, with portrait, occupies pages 283-290. 
 
 5. This pamphlet, which caused Davis s opponents in 1855 
 to taunt him as a "lawyer with pompous pretensions to the 
 character of a theologian," is entitled "A Epistle Congratulatory 
 to the Bishops of the Episcopal Court at Canada by Ulric von 
 Hutten, New York, 1853, page 74, and is dated on the Feast of 
 Alcantara." 
 
 6. Speeches and Addresses, XXIX John A. J. Creswell, 
 (1828-1891) was a member of the Thirty-eighth Congress, United 
 States Senator from Maryland from 1865 to 1867, Postmaster- 
 General 1869-1874, and member of the Alabama Claims Com 
 mission 1874-1876. 
 
 7. Speeches and Addresses, XXXIII. 
 
 8. Capt. Henry P. Goddard, in an informing article on 
 Davis, which appeared in the Baltimore Sunday Herald of 
 
CHAPTER IV 1840-1855 79 
 
 March 8, 1903, on the authority of William F. Frick, Esq., at 
 that time the last survivor of the Club, names as the members 
 of the Club, in addition to Messrs. Frick and Davis: Severn 
 Teackle Wallis, Judge George William Brown, C. H. Pitts, 
 Thomas Donaldson and F. W. Brune. 
 
 9. By Isaac Brooks to Capt. H. P. Goddard, and repeated in 
 the Baltimore Sunday Herald of March 8, 1903. 
 
 10. Capt. H. P. Goddard, in the Baltimore Sunday Herald 
 of March 8, 1903. 
 
 11. Steiner s Johnson, 4. Curiously, the only comment I have 
 found by Johnson upon Davis is a reference in a speech made 
 in the Senate in 1866 to him as "eminent as a lawyer, as well 
 as a politician, and, in my judgment, more often wrong in the 
 latter capacity than he was in the former." (Steiner s Johnson, 
 I39-) 
 
 12. 10 Cent. L. J., 106, speaks of his boldness. 
 
 13. "Portrait of Davis by his own hand." 
 
 14. Rhodes, U. S. vol. I, 270. 
 
 15. Clayton Papers, in Library of Congress. 
 
 16. Printed in Baltimore, it is an octavo of 450 pages. 
 
 17. On the title page he placed the quotation: 
 
 "Litora litoribus contraria, fluctibus undas, 
 Imprecor, arma armis, pugnent ipsique nepotesque." 
 
 18. Page 12. 
 
 19. Page 23. 
 
 20. Page 25. 
 
 21. Page 26. 
 
 22. Page 218. 
 
 23. Page 276. 
 
 24. Page 327. 
 
 25. Page 333. 
 
 26. Speeches and Addresses. XXII. 
 
8o HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 THE THIRTY-THIRD CONGRESS 
 
 (1855-57). 
 
 The rapid influx of immigrants, after the 
 potato famine in Ireland and the failure of 
 the revolutionary movements in Germany, 
 alarmed many persons in the United States 
 and led to the formation of the Know Noth 
 ing, or Native American party. Maryland 
 had always shown nativist leanings and was a 
 conservative State, in which the Whigs had 
 been strong. When that party broke up, its 
 members feared the anti-slavery proclivities 
 of the Republican party and coalesced with 
 the Americans, giving the union such strength 
 that in 1856 Maryland was the only State to 
 cast her vote for Fillmore, the Whig and 
 American candidate. When Davis was in 
 Europe, in the summer 1 of 1854, the Ameri 
 can party was organized in Baltimore, and 
 that autumn it carried the city in a quiet elec 
 tion. With many another Whig, Davis joined 
 the Know Nothings and took a prominent part 
 in the party councils. He wrote a pamphlet, 
 defending its position, which pamphlet was 
 published under the title of "The Origin, 
 Principles and Purposes of the American 
 Party," and defined that party as "the associa- 
 
CHAPTER 1855-1857 81 
 
 tion of American Republicans to vindicate 
 the fundamental principles of the Republic, 
 sacrificed by worn-out parties to personal and 
 factional ambition." This "revolt, veiled in 
 secresy," was opposed by "fanatics of freedom 
 and fanatics of slavery, disorganizers and dis- 
 unionists both." The party s platform in 
 cluded the exclusion of religion from political 
 influence, freedom of schools from sectarian 
 ism, and the protection of the "purity of elec 
 tions against the influence of venal, foreign 
 immigrants." The old issues were dead. The 
 people support the tariff of 1846. The strug 
 gle as to implied power had ended in a com 
 promise. The bank and internal improve 
 ments are no longer issues. The people revolt 
 against parties. The Nebraska and the Home 
 stead bills are to be opposed. "American Re 
 publicans alone are entitled to rule the Amer 
 ican Republic. The great mass of European 
 emigrants are unfit recipients of American 
 citizenship, without a longer and more thor 
 ough probation." Too many of the enslaved 
 millions were coming to our shores. "By our 
 American law, office is the right of no one. It 
 is not a property, but a trust. No person, 
 but one of American birth, shall be trusted 
 with American affairs." The State should be 
 neutral in religion, avoiding Mormon and 
 Papist influence. The Roman Catholics in 
 
82 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 Maryland had deserted the Whig party to 
 vote for Lowe, the successful Democratic can 
 didate for Governor, because he was one of 
 their faith. American Roman Catholics, how 
 ever, "with American principles in their bos 
 oms, are not to be confounded with the Ultra- 
 montanes in Europe. The Federal Consti 
 tution makes the Union neutral as to slavery 
 in the States, and the new party tolerated no 
 agitation of that "local subject." They sup 
 ported the fugitive slave law, and did not fa 
 vor the repeal of the Kansas bill; "for, to open 
 the question, renews the terrible collision of 
 opposing passions." Kansas may decide as to 
 the establishment of slavery in its first State 
 Constitution. The veto power of the Presi 
 dent is feared, as he forms no part of the Leg 
 islature and should not influence the nature of 
 the laws, but should veto those acts only which 
 appear to him unconstitutional. The new 
 party recognized "no absolute or ultimate sov 
 ereignty anywhere, but in the mass of the peo 
 ple of every country." The party s foreign 
 policy was one of "peace and avoidance of en 
 tanglement," though the existence of Euro 
 pean colonies on our Southern borders was 
 viewed with disgust. 
 
 Davis s political activity led to his nomina 
 tion and election to Congress in the autumn of 
 1855. His previous career and his speech at 
 
CHAPTER V 1855-1857 83 
 
 the Assembly Rooms, on Hanover street, when 
 he accepted the nomination, were bitterly at 
 tacked during the campaign in a series of 
 pamphlets. He was elected by a vote of 7,988, 
 as against 7,493 for his opponent, Henry May. 
 Nine years later 3 Davis told the House of 
 Representatives that this election was the 
 "first open struggle for power between the 
 Know Nothings and the Democrats, who" or 
 ganized banded bodies of armed ruffians and 
 bullies, who at nearly every poll in the City of 
 Baltimore, at the municipal elections, made 
 deliberate assaults on the people there assem 
 bled and numbers of persons were wounded. 
 They carried by a small vote that election. In 
 the two weeks before the Congressional elec 
 tion, the "young mechanics of Baltimore, the 
 heart and sinew of the Republic, and without 
 whom the nation would be nothing," organ 
 ized themselves with arms and said: "We will 
 vote, if it is to be a vote, and fight, if it is to be 
 a fight." Again the Irish and Democrats, 
 "armed with United States weapons, took the 
 offensive, but failed at the polls, and the re 
 sult was that we carried the day by a small 
 majority on a very full vote, and nobody was 
 fool enough to come here, after having ap 
 pealed to arms as well as votes, and been de 
 feated, and attempt to impeach the election." 
 Davis was sworn in as a member of the 
 
84 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 Thirty-fifth Congress on December 3, 1855, 
 and found the House beginning a long strug 
 gle for the Speakership. No party had a ma 
 jority in the House, and no two parties would 
 unite. Davis s prominence is shown by the 
 fact that he received occasional votes for the 
 office of Speaker, although a new member. 4 
 He voted with his associate from Baltimore, 
 J. Morrison Harris, 4a for various Know Noth 
 ings. 5 As the long struggle dragged on, Zol- 
 licoffer, 5a of Tennessee, moved, on January 11, 
 1856, that it be considered the duty of all can 
 didates fully to state their opinions on impor 
 tant public problems. Davis concurred in this 
 view and made his first speech, in which he 
 maintained that the American candidate, Ful 
 ler, 51 had answered "a series of sharp and 
 pressing interrogatories," and the other candi 
 dates Richardson 5c for the Democrats, and 
 Banks 5d for the Republicans should do the 
 same. Yet these men had refused to say how 
 they would organize the committees if elected. 
 Davis "would vote for any gentleman into 
 whose hands I believe the interests, the dig 
 nity and the honor of the country would be 
 safe." He continued to vote for Fuller until 
 the end, opposing on February i an election 
 by plurality. On the next day, when Banks 
 was elected Speaker over Aiken, 5e for whom 
 the Democrats then voted, Davis and Cullen, 5f 
 
CHAPTER V 1855-1857 85 
 
 of Delaware, were the only representatives 
 from slave States who did not vote for Aiken. 6 
 Although Davis thus showed that he was not 
 in complete sympathy with the South, even he 
 voted against the expulsion of Preston Brooks 
 for assaulting Sumner, and withheld his vote 
 as to the censure of Keith. 7 When the com 
 mittee appointments were announced, Davis 
 was placed on the Ways and Means Commit 
 tee, and continued as a member thereof until 
 1861. He sprang into prominence in March 
 by his speeches on the Kansas election. On 
 March 12 8 he made the first of those orations 
 which led James G. Elaine, then the young 
 editor of the Kennebec Journal, in Augusta, 
 Maine, to write 9 that "Davis is the most elo 
 quent and promising member of his party in 
 the House," and to entertain for Davis an ad 
 miration which did not lessen with the years. 
 
 When the Committee on Elections asked 
 authority to send for persons and papers to 
 investigate alleged violations of peace in Kan 
 sas, Davis made "observations on the ques 
 tion," saying that "with criminations and re 
 criminations of adverse partisans I do not 
 meddle." He would have favored action look 
 ing toward the impeachment of Governor 
 Reeder, or a general investigation of malad 
 ministration in Kansas. The people of Mary 
 land had "no tender susceptibilities connected 
 
86 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 with this subject, and have neither formed 
 emigrant aid societies, nor invaded a Terri 
 tory." "Resting, as Maryland does, centrally 
 between tw r o sections of this country, honestly 
 and devotedly bound up in the Constitution 
 of this country, she is ready, freely and fairly, 
 to investigate grievances alleged either by the 
 North or by the South in respect to any Ter 
 ritory, how far soever it be toward the setting 
 sun." He feared no "grave civil complica 
 tions from the organization" of Kansas, and 
 thought the cloud was "a wind cloud bois 
 terous, disturbing, casting the dust in men s 
 eyes, but not charged with any lightning likely 
 to strike any one of the towers of the Republic 
 and having none of the portentious stillness 
 which marks the coming earthquake which 
 can shake its foundations." The Elections 
 Committee differed as to whether evidence 
 should be taken by calling witnesses before the 
 committee, or whether a commission should 
 be sent to Kansas to take evidence; but Davis 
 said that the real point was, whether there 
 were facts which can weigh a feather in this 
 matter. There was no foundation for an in 
 vestigation by parol testimony. The Demo 
 crats wrongly argued that no court could in 
 quire into the legality of the organization of 
 the Kansas Legislature which passed the Act 
 under which Whitfield claimed the election to 
 
CHAPTER 1855-1857 87 
 
 a seat in the House, and that, therefore, the 
 House itself could make no such inquiry. 
 "The constitution of the Legislature is a thing 
 that never has been and never can, properly, 
 be a matter of judicial investigation," for "all 
 judicial functions proceed upon the assump 
 tion that there is a Legislature in existence." 
 An election to a seat in the House "lies within 
 the circle of the political functions of the 
 State," and "must be decided, before any ques 
 tion can be decided by the judiciary." "The 
 very existence of the government," Davis con 
 tinued, "rests upon the postulate that, for 
 every difference about political conduct, there 
 is a final arbiter, whose decision is absolute, 
 binding on everybody and all questions." We 
 must, then, go to the law and see where the 
 right to decide this question is vested, both in 
 case of an ordinary election and of a revolu 
 tion. The "extent of violence and mode of 
 fraud" do not change matters. "There is no 
 gentleman in this House for whom illegal 
 votes were not cast. There has been no Leg 
 islature elected in our history where there has 
 not been more or less violence at the polls." 
 By the Kansas-Nebraska Act the whole con 
 trol of the election was delegated to the Gov 
 ernor, and, therefore, the Legislature ap 
 proved by him was a valid one. In deciding 
 between two rival Territorial governments, 
 
88 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 the House must go "behind the law, to the 
 authority which the body has assumed to pass 
 the law. We are in search, not of the law, 
 but of the foundation of the law. The Presi 
 dent must determine exclusively. Upon his 
 judgment sandy as the foundation may be, 
 aghast as we may stand at the frail vessel in 
 which this awful power is now deposited 
 rests the sanction of every power, the authority 
 of every law, the enforcement of every pre 
 cept, and everything which rescues that Ter 
 ritory from the control of the Indian and con 
 verts it into the domain of civil society." 
 Pierce had acted. The House can not inquire 
 collaterally into the validity of the territorial 
 laws of Kansas. Kansas has been invaded 
 from both North and South, and Davis must 
 support the President, since the people of 
 Kansas "were wanting to themselves in not 
 meeting armed intrusion by armed resist 
 ance." 10 
 
 At the evening session of the House on Au 
 gust 7, 1856, when it was in committee of the 
 whole on the state of the Union, 11 Davis deliv 
 ered an eloquent address upon the coming 
 Presidential election. Fillmore had been 
 nominated by the remnant of the Whigs and 
 by the Americans, and Davis earnestly advo 
 cated his election as a national candidate over 
 Fremont and Buchanan, who had been nomi- 
 
CHAPTER 1855-1857 89 
 
 nated by the Republican and Democratic par 
 ties, respectively. Davis regarded both of 
 these parties as sectional ones, and in sentences 
 replete with his knowledge of Shakespeare 
 and the Bible, with allusions to classic mythol 
 ogy, ancient history, and Cooper s novels, he 
 urged that neither of them should be given 
 the victory. His dramatic power was clearly 
 shown in this speech, and its hot sentences still 
 thrill the reader. He maintained that "the 
 Democratic party rests itself on its boasted 
 and self-arrogated privilege of supporting and 
 sustaining the peculiar institution of the 
 South. Its strength, and its whole strength, 
 consists in its assertion that it alone is the de 
 fender of Southern rights. It is, therefore, 
 dangerous for anything to arise within the 
 limits of the South and claim a hearing from 
 the Southern people, which touches more 
 nearly the rights of the people, and appeals to 
 the more elevated and noble sentiments of de 
 votion to the Constitution and the Union. The 
 gentlemen of the Republican party of the 
 North aspire to represent that sentiment 
 which is likewise local and peculiarly confined 
 to the boundary of the North, and having no 
 power beyond it. They are strictly sectional 
 parties, tending to bring into collision hostile 
 opinions, feelings and interests concentrated 
 without mixture at the opposite poles of the 
 
90 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 country each intensified, like opposite elec 
 tricities, by the intensity of the other, and 
 threatening, if brought into contact, an ex 
 plosion that may shake the foundations of the 
 Republic." On the other hand, the American 
 party is national, and Fillmore s "truth to the 
 Union is made the reason why Southern gen 
 tlemen, for whom he ran the greatest risk 
 against the opinion of his own region of the 
 country, are to turn against him." The North 
 has not been guilty of any act of State Legisla 
 ture or Governor, "which, in the slightest de 
 gree, has sullied the honor or injured the in 
 terest of the South." "There is hostility at 
 the North," but it is toward the Democratic 
 party, who vainly are claiming that the South 
 is the object of this hostility. At the last 
 Congressional election, a "stubborn resolution" 
 was manifested at the North. "No event had 
 since transpired to show that the Democrats 
 had even a plurality of the votes in any State 
 north of Mason and Dixon s Line. The causes 
 of this hostility were" the repeal of the Mis 
 souri Compromise, the enactment of the Kan 
 sas-Nebraska Act, and the outrages in the Ter 
 ritory of Kansas, denied or defended by the 
 Democrats. As late as 1845, in the Texas 
 resolution, the Democrats had recognized the 
 Missouri Compromise, and Buchanan had 
 voted for that resolution. The compromise of 
 
CHAPTER 1855-1857 91 
 
 1850 brought peace for a time and the decline 
 of the Abolitionists. That compromise was 
 due to the efforts of Fillmore, "leading the 
 conservative men of all parties." Then came 
 the Kansas-Nebraska bill, "an invitation for 
 all the elements of strife to concentrate in 
 Kansas," and Pierce made the conditions there 
 worse by sending an incompetent Governor 12 
 into the Territory. The Northern people will 
 not vote for the Democratic nominees because 
 "they have blazoned on their banner the very 
 words of the ambiguous oracle" of the Kan 
 sas-Nebraska Act, "plainly and in bloody let 
 ters, interpreted on the field of Kansas." 
 
 Davis spoke "for the Constitution and the 
 Union," and was "pleading for the great 
 rights of American citizens" and "for the 
 honor and integrity of the American govern 
 ment." He and his fellows of the American 
 party had been attacked bitterly by the Demo 
 crats, and now the attempt was made to force 
 them to vote for the Democratic candidate 
 "because of our connection with the South." 
 "So paramount do they regard the allegiance 
 to the sectional candidate, that they ask us to 
 sacrifice our personal preferences, our politi 
 cal connections, our outraged dignity, for 
 their triumph." He refused to do this. "The 
 repudiation of the Democratic party is the 
 first condition and best security for peace and 
 
92 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 safety. It silences the plea of revenge and 
 retaliation. The people of the South owe it 
 to themselves and to their future as complete 
 ly to discard the Democrats as the people of the 
 North have withdrawn from them their confi 
 dence." The threat of secession had been 
 made, in case of Fremont s election, and Davis 
 considered it "portentous to hear the mem 
 bers of a party contesting for the Presidency 
 menace dissolution and revolution as the pen 
 alty they will inflict on the victor for defeat 
 ing them. People who do not hold the Union 
 worth four years deprivation of office are 
 scarcely safe depositories of its powers." Pie 
 felt convinced that the Union would not be 
 dissolved, "until some party bent upon acquir 
 ing party power" shall "exasperate, beyond 
 the reach of reason, Northern and Southern 
 minds, as my Southern friends have now exas 
 perated the Northern minds. It would be an 
 act of suicide, and sane men do not commit 
 suicide. The act itself is insanity. It will be 
 done, if ever, in a tempest of fury and mad 
 ness which cannot stop to reason. Dissolution 
 means death the suicide of liberty without 
 the hope of resurrection." The division of 
 territory of the Republic would leave a "sharp 
 and jagged chasm, rending the hearts of great 
 Commonwealths, lacerated and smeared with 
 fraternal blood." 
 
CHAPTER V 1855-1857 93 
 
 However the election may result, Maryland 
 "knows but one country, and that the Union. 
 Her glory is in it; her rights are bound up in 
 it. Her children shed their blood for it, and 
 they will do it again. Beyond it, she knows 
 nothing. She does not reckon whether there 
 is more advantage in the Union to the North 
 or to the South; she does not calculate its 
 value; nor does she cast up an account of 
 profit and loss on the blood of her children." 
 Because Fillmore "knows not where the South 
 ends or the North begins," Davis would fol 
 low him and summon all men to join him, in 
 the name of the Union Fillmore saved in 1850. 
 
 Late in the session (August 13), when Pen- 
 nington, 13a of New Jersey, moved that no 
 money appropriated for Kansas be paid until 
 every person charged with treason in connec 
 tion with the Topeka Constitution, be released 
 from confinement, and Grow, 13b of Pennsyl 
 vania, argued that no prosecution of such per 
 sons ought to be begun, Davis said that he felt 
 that the prosecutions ought not to proceed, 
 that a charge of constructive treason is a scan 
 dal, and that the House had the right to arrest 
 appropriations in the case of revolutionary 
 necessity. That point had not yet been 
 reached, and Pennington s proposal was, 
 therefore, not proper, but childish. The Ad 
 ministration had tried the country till it was 
 
94 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 at the verge of civil war, and is now seemingly 
 about to set free the victims of months of im 
 prisonment. The "pressure of the Presiden 
 tial contest, the necessity of party power, have 
 driven the Administration to arrest a course 
 of misrule, which they have hitherto denied 
 to be misrule, which the ambition of party 
 power initiated, but which now threatened 
 those who began it." These prosecutions fur 
 nish ground for impeachment, their continu 
 ance is a "grave offence," their "final dismis 
 sion is a confession of the original error." 
 
 National politics again appeared in discuss 
 ing the question of suffrage 14 in the City of 
 Washington, when Davis defended the pro 
 posal that, after naturalization, a foreigner 
 should wait for a year to obtain voting privi 
 leges, as a person did who moves to that city 
 from another State. When he has resided "as a 
 citizen for a year" in the city and has had his 
 attention directed to the "municipal con 
 cerns," when he is "under the influence of 
 those obligations of citizenship," then he may 
 "vote wisely upon the rights and interests of 
 citizens around him." The "practical opera 
 tion of allowing foreigners to vote, without 
 these qualifications," is that, on the "day be 
 fore the election, the courthouse is crowded 
 with files of foreigners to take out their pa 
 pers, and the next day they go to the polls to 
 
CHAPTER 1855-1857 95 
 
 turn the balance against men, native and for 
 eign, who have been here ten or twenty years. 
 Men do this who know nothing of the interest 
 of the country, men who have never had their 
 attention turned towards any of the great du 
 ties of American citizenship, men who have 
 so little interest in becoming citizens that they 
 do not, in nine cases out of ten, pay the fees 
 for their own naturalization papers; men who 
 in nine cases out of ten do not seek the court 
 house of their own accord to get their natur 
 alization papers; men who are raked up in 
 our cities and marched and dragged along be 
 fore the tribunals of the United States by men 
 who stand by them to pay the fees of naturali 
 zation out of their own pockets; men whose 
 papers are not even confided to their own 
 keeping, but are kept by politicians in their 
 own possession until they are marched up in 
 files to the polls on the day of election." No 
 party would naturalize men if they could not 
 vote for a year. The five years a foreigner 
 spends before naturalization form no equiva 
 lent for the twenty-one years of minority of 
 natives. "Men who have grown up under 
 despotic governments have learned to obey au 
 thority from fear and, therefore, they look 
 upon authority not as a power of which they 
 are a part, but as their natural enemy." In 
 Baltimore the United States Court sat on 
 
96 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 election day, so that naturalized voters, made 
 after the sun had risen, should vote before it 
 went down. They were no fit arbiters of the 
 affairs of the State. The Washington City 
 authorities did not favor the proposed law, 15 
 and sent Davis a remonstrance, which he pre 
 sented to the House. The bill said that if the 
 election judges knowingly refused to receive 
 the vote of a legal voter, they are guilty of 
 crime. Davis opposed this provision, since 
 neither in Maryland nor in Virginia is an elec 
 tion judge held responsible for drawing a 
 wrong conclusion from facts, but only for the 
 exercise of his judgment. The word cor 
 ruptly, or an equivalent, should be inserted, 
 if the act is to be considered a crime. "It is 
 not the habit," he continued, "of this part of 
 the country to appoint judicial officers and 
 then hold them to the performance of their 
 duties by penalties." The law was devised to 
 revolutionize the city, after the defeat of the 
 Administration in the local elections. Warm 
 ing to his theme, Davis continued his denun 
 ciation of the Democratic party. In "Balti 
 more, where from time immemorial" they 
 "have made election after election one un 
 broken scene of violence, denunciations, riot, 
 bullying and bloodshed," they "were taught a 
 lesson Jast fall which they are not likely to for 
 get." Their success in 1852 had disturbed the 
 
CHAPTER 1855-1857 97 
 
 nation. "It was they who made the peaceful 
 night horrid with their clank of the fire bell, 
 before whose sound the prophetic mind of 
 Jefferson trembled. It was they who, without 
 one petition, without any popular demand, 
 without any political necessity, without the 
 excuse of any practical good hoped for or pre 
 tended, to the dismay of the peaceful millions 
 of the North, with views of party ambition, 
 rekindled the smoldering and dying embers of 
 the slavery war and committed the nation to 
 the strife of fierce factions, of which they are 
 most dangerous." They call themselves sav 
 iours of the Union, but they are rather "the 
 evil genii of the Union, who first stirred those 
 subterranean fires whence came that earth 
 quake which lately rocked its deep founda 
 tions." 16 
 
 When the publication, at the nation s ex 
 pense, of the papers of the transcontinental 
 exploring expeditions was proposed, Davis 
 objected 18 to the publication by the Federal 
 government of picture books, or of stories of 
 interesting travels, as unconstitutional, nor 
 would he print incompleted reports, nor books 
 on elegant paper with superb topography, in 
 an expensive quarto form. He was willing, 
 however, to vote for the printing of such a 
 scientific work as a geographical reconnois- 
 sance of the unexplored territory of the gov- 
 
98 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 ernment." He advocated the establishment 
 of a government printing office, instead of do 
 ing printing by contract. He favored a trans 
 continental road for military purposes, and 
 held that, if it was right to build it, it was also 
 right to make surveys for it and to publish 
 those surveys. "I think that the Government 
 of the United States has the right to make a 
 road wherever it has the right to send a sol 
 dier, or to send a mail bag. I think it is folly 
 to make roads where roads are already made, 
 but I think it would be wisdom to make them 
 where they are not made and where they are 
 necessary for the purpose of either military or 
 postal transit. Whether they shall be made 
 here or there is not, in my judgment, a ques 
 tion of constitutional power, but a question of 
 expediency, with reference to the particular 
 work and expenditure, and one which is ad 
 dressed to the discretion of government." 
 
 He favored an appropriation for a foreign 
 minister who went from Paraguay to Uruguay 
 on a special mission, 19 as he thought that the 
 officers of the United States were not slaves of 
 the government, so as to owe all their time 
 thereto. An officer was bound to take so much 
 of his time as is necessary to discharge the 
 service which he is charged to perform, and 
 the residue is at his own disposal. Conse- 
 
CHAPTER V 1855-1857 99 
 
 quently, he may receive extra pay for extra 
 services. 
 
 He was much interested in the appropria 
 tion bills. He opposed ffl an appropriation for 
 the Washington Aqueduct, as he objected to 
 making local improvements with funds from 
 the public treasury, though he was willing to 
 pay the National Government s fair propor 
 tion for introducing water. Three-fourths of 
 the work was in Maryland, and Davis doubted 
 if the United States possessed the right of emi 
 nent domain there. If Congress can appro 
 priate for such a purpose as the Aqueduct, 
 why can it not also do so for the improvement 
 of rivers and harbors? Feeling that there has 
 been a "laxity in the conduct of the executive 
 department, 21 running, it may be, through sev 
 eral administrations, which requires to be 
 called to the attention of the country," Davis 
 insisted that an appropriation should be defi 
 nite in amount. "Ambiguous language is not 
 to be construed in favor of taking money from 
 the treasury." The creation of an obligation 
 is one thing, and provision of funds to pay for 
 it is another. The deficiency bill should not 
 contain appropriations for expenditures of the 
 preceding year, because the Secretary of War 
 has applied this year s appropriation to pay 
 them. If he may do this, he may also double 
 the military establishment, and the Executive 
 
ioo HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 is emancipated from the control of the Legis 
 lature. Davis advocated a conference com 
 mittee on the Deficiency bill, though he 
 thought that the Senate abused its privileges 
 by sending back to the House fifty amend 
 ments to that bill which should have been in 
 other bills. He felt that he had called the at 
 tention of the country to abuses, and could af 
 ford to waive his opposition, especially since 
 Mr. Joseph Lane had told them of the "inex 
 orable necessity" which existed for the pro 
 tection of the lives of the people of Oregon. 
 
 Davis advocated the payment of Ohioans 
 who aided in the execution of the fugitive slave 
 law, as it was wrong not to appropriate money 
 needed to carry out any law, and he praised 
 the Bostonians who helped to seize a fugitive 
 slave. A colloquy, in excellent temper, fol 
 lowed with Joshua S. Giddings, the anti- 
 slavery representative of the Western Reserve. 
 In the course of it, Davis said that Jefferson 
 was the higher law man of his day, and in the 
 Alien Act showed himself an unsafe guide in 
 construing the Constitution and in adminis 
 tering the law. The higher law doctrine, 
 "like noxious weeds, grows from year to year." 
 Fillmore is to be praised, because he did not 
 shrink from executing laws. The Abolition 
 ists are not the only partisans of the higher 
 law, for the "strict construction, secession gen- 
 
CHAPTER V 1855-1857 101 
 
 tlemen, who only meant to apply the dogma in 
 extreme cases, of which they are to be the 
 judges, stand upon the platform of Gid- 
 dings." 24 
 
 Baltimore politics were very turbulent in 
 1 856. Eight years later 25 Davis told the House 
 of Representatives that the Democrats, "furi 
 ous" at his election, "organized for the elec 
 tions of 1856. The great Irish ward was a 
 vast arsenal, and men marched forth in battle 
 array and fired deliberately volleys into peace 
 ful crowds at a neighboring precinct. In 
 stantly it was replied to. But the Irishmen 
 could not meet the young American mechan 
 ics, and again the Democrats mourned defeat, 
 while we grieved over our friends treacher 
 ously slain. We had either to be driven from 
 the polls or fight, and our young men prefer 
 red the latter alternative." 
 
 In the second session of this Congress 
 Davis s chief activity was in connection with 
 an investigation of charges of corruption 
 against certain members. He supported a bill 
 for their punishment, 26 containing a section 
 providing that any person testifying upon the 
 subject before the investigating committee 
 should be free from prosecution, which pro 
 vision he believed to be in accordance with 
 the Common Law both of England and the 
 United States, and he reported for the com- 
 
HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 mittee, moving the expulsion of two of the in 
 culpated persons. 27 
 
 When the votes for President were counted, 
 Davis said ffl "the only purpose of assembling 
 here is to identify the things which are sent 
 here as votes. The act is a ministerial and not 
 a judicial one. "Until the House has a mo 
 tion before it to proceed to the election of a 
 President, their act is extra judicial." The 
 Constitution does not "ask judgment by any one 
 on a mere count, and does not say that any one 
 shall be declared President; but, merely, that 
 the votes shall be counted, and he who has a 
 majority shall be President, not declared Pres 
 ident, for the law declares him. When called 
 on to elect a President, we settle that result 
 that there is an election, by refusing to go on 
 and perform that duty." 
 
 He had previously expressed himself with 
 great force on the teachings of the late elec 
 tion, in a speech delivered in the House on 
 January 6. 29 The President s message was un 
 der discussion, and Davis maintained that 
 Pierce s words therein had given rise to the 
 fierce debate on the meaning of the Presiden 
 tial election, in which the House was engaged. 
 Davis vehemently attacked that "extraordi 
 nary document," which showed the bitterness 
 of a spirit "broken by such a fall." He espe 
 cially objected to Pierce s statement that, as 
 
CHAPTER V 1855-1857 103 
 
 Senators represent their respective States and 
 Congressmen their constituents, so "the Presi 
 dent represents the aggregate population of 
 the United States." Pierce s statement is one 
 of "sinister import," assigning "our lower 
 sphere, where we should not behave unseem 
 ly." If it be true, however, then Buchanan, 
 who received a minority of the popular vote, 
 "misrepresents the people." In summing up 
 the lessons of the election in his message, 
 Pierce had departed "from the severe cour 
 tesy, the respectful reserve, the passionless dig 
 nity, observed by his predecessors in alluding 
 to the conduct of sovereign States, or the mo 
 tives of great bodies of the people in the high 
 est function of their sovereignty;" had "for 
 gotten the President in the partisan, and in 
 flamed the passions already consuming the vi 
 tals of the Republic." The election had not 
 only proved that a minority of the people de 
 sired Buchanan as President, favored the Kan 
 sas-Nebraska Act and approved of Pierce s 
 administration; but also that this minority 
 "was so located, in various States, that under 
 the Constitution it could cast a majority of the 
 votes of the Electoral College." The election 
 also demonstrated that the "blast which pros 
 trated" the friends of the Kansas-Nebraska 
 Act at the "North was no passing squall; that 
 no sober second thought had changed their 
 
io 4 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 first thought; but that a settled and unchange- 
 . . hostility through all the North condemns 
 them to a hopeless and pitiable minority." 
 The Democratic party had been really con 
 demned. "The great majority of the country 
 are tired of its men. are hostile to its princi 
 ples, condemn its measures, mock at its blun 
 ders, are weary of its agitations, abhor its sec 
 tional warfare and have ordered a hue and on 
 to be made against everything bearing the 
 name of Democrat, as disturber of the public 
 peace." That party, whose "domination in 
 the Executive chair" will continue, because 
 people "were so unfortunate as to differ as to 
 the measure of redress," has long been divided 
 on the questions of protection and internal im 
 provement, and now, on the question of slav 
 ery, has become widely divided "upon exactly 
 the same question of constitutional power that 
 rests at the bottom of the words of the Kansas- 
 Nebraska Act." The language of this Act, 
 a: Alexander H. Stephens had just said, con 
 ferred by grant "upon the people of the Ter 
 ritories all the legislative powers that Con 
 gress can confer." The dispute was as to 
 whether these people can exercise their legis 
 lative power concerning slavery now," in their 
 1 erritorial condition." This dispute was not 
 a "mere difference of interpretation," but a 
 "radical, inherent, profound difference" as to 
 
CHAPTER 1855-1857 105 
 
 Congressional power, "splitting them from 
 top to bottom." On this question, as to 
 whether the Act ought to have been passed, 
 the election of an anti-Kansas Act majority of 
 the House in 1854 gave the answer of the 
 \vhole North, but the North entered on a con 
 test "of reprisal and retaliation, revenge and 
 conquest, not defense and restoration." South 
 ern Democrats claimed the "law as a great 
 Southern triumph, not merely in point of 
 principle, but in point of policy and fact, as 
 opening a hitherto barred territory to slavery 
 and giving a chance for another slave State to 
 restore the disturbed equilibrium of the 
 Union." On the other hand, Northern Demo 
 crats argued: "It is the best measure for free 
 dom, it breaks dow r n all the compromises; it 
 leaves the question open; it confers legislative 
 power upon the people of the Territory. You 
 will never hear of another slave State; we will 
 make Kansas a free State; and, therefore, we 
 are willing to abide by the principles of the 
 Kansas-Nebraska Act, because, although it 
 ought not to have been passed, it perhaps will 
 do no harm/ So arguing, they even printed 
 on handbills: "Buchanan, Breckenridge, and 
 Free Kansas." Davis believed that it touched 
 the "dignity of the South more" to have the 
 slavery question settled by the rude back 
 woodsman/ under the doctrine of squatter 
 
io6 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 sovereignty, than in Congress in "solemn con 
 sultation," where partition might be made, so 
 that peace should reign. He still favored com 
 promise and eulogized the "very purpose and 
 principle of the Act of 1820," which "were to 
 vindicate the equality of States and the right 
 of the people to form their own constitution 
 without control." In advocating that compro 
 mise, William Pinkney s "words of glory, vin 
 dicating the absolute equality of the States 
 against the usurpation of the United States, 
 form the fit prelude to that equal argument of 
 the man of Massachusetts who, ten years after, 
 maintained the supremacy of the United 
 States against the encroachments of the States. 
 On those cyclopean foundations have we rest 
 ed, and still unshaken rest, those two pillars of 
 the Constitution, the absolute and inalienable 
 equality of the States in their sovereign func 
 tion, and the equally absolute supremacy of 
 the United States within the sphere of their 
 conceded powers." Davis thought the Kan 
 sas Act an "electioneering manoeuvre" which 
 had "secured neither a territory, nor a State, 
 nor a constitutional principle, nor peace" to 
 the South, but had reopened a "dangerous agi 
 tation" and divided the Democrats. Their 
 party was no longer a "homogeneous body," 
 and it won the Presidential election, because it 
 
CHAPTER V 1855-1857 107 
 
 obtained the votes of the "foreign recruits in 
 Pennsylvania." 
 
 The election had also shown that the Re 
 publicans could not win. The people "will 
 not sanction a merely sectional canvass for the 
 Presidency, nor intrust with the government a 
 party whose whole power is confined to one- 
 half the States, whatever their purposes may 
 be. They will not sanction retaliation as the 
 spirit in which wrong is to be repressed. They 
 think that the evils of civil war are greater 
 than the evils of another slave Territory, and 
 the policy of the Republican party, while it 
 did not justify, did tend to kindle war." The 
 success of that party would have involved the 
 "exclusion of every Southern gentleman from 
 office," and one-half of the people would have 
 had no voice in the government. Davis held 
 that "the condition on which alone any party 
 can fitly be entrusted with the government is 
 the possession of power and friends enough, 
 everywhere, to carry on the government with 
 the men of the State to be governed, so that a 
 domestic government shall not assume the 
 form of foreign domination. Instruments of 
 any power may always everywhere be found; 
 but the office, in such hands, partakes of the 
 nature of despotism, and such men alone were 
 at the disposal of the Republican party in one- 
 half the States of the Union." The Republi- 
 
io8 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 can party was a hasty levy, en masse, of the 
 Northern people," and "has no future," but 
 must pass away with its occasion. From both 
 Democratic and Republican parties "the eye 
 of the country turns with hope" to "the ranks 
 of the American party, thinned by desertions, 
 but still unshaken." That party "alone is free 
 from sectional affiliations at either end of the 
 Union, which would cripple it at the other. 
 Its principle is silence, peace and compromise. 
 It abides by the existing law. It allows no 
 agitation. It maintains the present condition 
 of affairs. It asks no change in any Territory, 
 and it will countenance no agitation for the 
 aggrandizement of any section." Its "high 
 mission" was "to exclude appeals to foreign 
 birth, or religious feeling, as elements of 
 power in politics, to silence the voice of sec 
 tional strife not by joining either, but by re 
 calling the people from a profitless contro 
 versy." The "sound position of the American 
 party" was to hold "silence on the slavery 
 agitation. Leave the Territories as they are 
 to the operation of natural causes. Prevent 
 aggression by excluding from power the ag 
 gressors. Awake the national spirit to the 
 danger and degradation of having the balance 
 of power held by foreigners." 
 
 Shortly before the Congress adjourned 
 Davis was married a second time, on January 
 
CHAPTER V 1855-1857 109 
 
 26, 1857, to Miss Nancy Morris, daughter of 
 John B. Morris, Esq., of Baltimore, who sur 
 vived him with two daughters. 30 In the early 
 part of his married life he spent a winter in 
 the household of his father-in-law. He was 
 rather a quiet man in his home, not speaking 
 frequently, but occasionally pouring forth 
 long speeches in eloquent form; not smiling 
 often, but breaking forth in a sudden laugh, 
 when something appealed to him as amusing. 
 
 NOTES TO CHAPTER V. 
 
 1. Speech of May 9, 1864. 
 
 2. In the newspapers there was some correspondence between 
 him and Mr. Henry May, his Democratic opponent. At lease three 
 pamphlets appeared against Davis, i, "Portrait of Henry Win 
 ter Davis, Esq., by his own hand," which said that "his politi 
 cal inconsistencies were daguerreotyped in colors warranted not 
 to fade, as his principles have always done under the corroding 
 touch of time," and that in the American Sentinel of October 
 22, 1855, Davis had asserted the unconstitutionality of the Ordi 
 nance of 1787; 2, "A Review of Mr. Henry Winter Davis and 
 Free Soilism," which asserted that at the table he always took 
 the Free Soil side; and 3, "Read and Judge for Yourself: A 
 Review of the Pamphlet of Henry Winter Davis," i. e., the 
 Origin, etc., of the American Party. 
 
 3. On May 9, 1864. 
 
 4. E. J. Walker, of Alabama, voted for him on December 4, 
 and W. R. Smith on December 6. 
 
 43. Harris (1821-1898) was member of Congress from 1855 
 to 1861. He was the reform candidate for Governor in 1876, 
 and was a scholarly lawyer and a high-toned, courteous, Chris 
 tian gentleman of the old school. 
 
 5. E. G. December 3 for Marshall, December 4 for Walker, 
 Lake and Valk, December 6 for Wheeler. 
 
i io HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 53. Felix M. Zollicoffer, of Tennessee (1812-1862). 
 
 5b. Thomas J. D. Fuller, of Maine (1808-1876). 
 
 50. William A. Richardson, of Illinois (1811-1875). 
 
 5d. Nathaniel P. Banks, of Massachusetts (1816-1894). 
 
 5e. William Aiken, of South Carolina (1806-1887). 
 
 5f. Elisha D. Cullen (1799-1862). 
 
 6. Vide I, Elaine, Twenty Years, 122. 
 
 7. 3 Pierce s Sumner, 489. Lawrence M. Keith, of South 
 Carolina (1824-1864). 
 
 8. On February 28 he had favored a grant of an addition 
 to the salary of the Governor of New Mexico, as he had acted 
 as Superintendent of Indian Affairs. On the same day he in 
 troduced bills for the improvement of the Patapsco and for con 
 necting it with the Susquehanna. 
 
 9. Gail Hamilton s Elaine, 112. 
 
 10. On April 29 he opposed postponement of a Nebraskan 
 contested election case. 
 
 11. Speeches and Addresses, 39. 
 
 12. Andrew Horatio Reeder (1807-1864). 
 
 13. On August 13. 
 
 133. William S. Pennington (1796-1862). 
 i3b. Galusha A. Grow (1827-1907). 
 
 14. On March 25. 
 
 15. On May 14 and 15. 
 
 1 6. Howell Cobb answered this speech. 
 
 17. On April 2. 
 
 1 8. On April i he had opposed the purchase of Alden s In 
 dex to the Supreme Court Reports. 
 
 19. On April n. 
 
 20. On April 14. 
 
 21. On April 25. 
 
 22. On April 29. 
 
CHAPTER V 1855-1857 in 
 
 23. On May 9. 
 
 24. On August 7, under instructions from the Committee on 
 Ways and Means, he offered an amendment to the Civil Appro 
 priation Bill, appropriating $200,000 for a United States Court 
 House in Baltimore, expecting later to provide for a separate 
 Post Office building. On the 8th he opposed, as improvident, 
 Bowie s proposition to appropriate $267,000 for the purchase of 
 the Merchants Exchange in Baltimore for government uses. 
 
 25. On May 9, 1864. 
 
 26. On January 21 and 22. 
 
 27. On February n, 25, 27, 28. On February 24 he advo 
 cated relieving persons who had suffered in a fire when their 
 goods were in bond. 
 
 28. On February n. 
 
 29. Speeches and Addresses, 63. 
 
 30. Speeches and Addresses, XXI. Mrs. Davis died in 1902. 
 One daughter died young. 
 
ii2 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 THE THIRTY-FOURTH CONGRESS 
 
 (1857-59). 
 
 In the autumn of 1857 a Governor of Mary 
 land was chosen. Seven years later, on the 
 floor of the House of Representatives, 1 Davis 
 thus spoke of the fall campaign : "The Ameri 
 cans, having got possession of power, did what 
 the Democrats had refused to do, organized 
 the police and armed it, for we did not choose 
 that, while we were in power, ruffians should 
 make an election a question not merely of 
 numbers, but of power. Representatives of 
 the majesty of the law, we meant to enforce 
 submission to it, and we organized and armed 
 a strong police force and it accomplished its 
 purpose and kept the peace." At the munici 
 pal election Davis claimed that "peace and 
 quiet" reigned throughout the city, except in 
 the Eighth ward, "where the Irish took pos 
 session of houses and armed themselves and 
 shot at the police as they passed, and thrice 
 marched to attack Americans at the polls, and 
 as often they were dispersed. The police sup 
 pressed every attempt at disturbance, without 
 hurting one of the villains who were aiming at 
 their lives and who killed several of them." 
 
CHAPTER 11857-1859 113 
 
 The Gubernatorial election occurred a fort 
 night later. The Democratic Governor, 
 Thomas W. Ligon, 2 thought, said Davis, that 
 "nothing could defeat the Americans but the 
 employment of organized militia," and called 
 out six thousand men, armed with muskets 
 borrowed from Governor Henry A. Wise, of 
 Virginia. "Negotiations passed" to which 
 Davis was a party and in which Thomas 
 Swann, the Mayor, "showed indomitable firm 
 ness." Davis approved Swann s action and 
 advised him to yield nothing. Ligon "sent en 
 rolling officers through the streets to find men 
 to hold Wise s muskets," but failed. Then 
 Ligon, "disgusted at his own abortive attempt 
 at military dictation, issued a final order" that, 
 having secured the "object of his intervention, 
 he would not use force, and slunk from the 
 city which had tolerated his presence. After 
 the negotiations had gone on all night, the 
 broad place before the Holiday Street The 
 atre was packed with Swann s partisans, while 
 Irish not far off, with clenched fists and yells, 
 menaced them, without being able to provoke 
 a word." One of Ligon s advisers saw that 
 assembly over Swann s shoulder, and, going 
 out of the back gate, told the Governor, who, 
 after receiving that news, desisted from his 
 efforts. The election "passed quietly as a Sab 
 bath and the people recorded their reproba- 
 
ii 4 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 tion of this illegal attempt" by electing 
 Thomas Holliday Hicks, the American can 
 didate, as Governor. 3 In the Congressional 
 election Davis received 10,515 votes to 3,979 
 cast for Brooks, his opponent. 4 On May 9. 
 1864, Davis said that in the contest over this 
 election proof had been given of only 26 ille 
 gal votes and of 40 or 50 cases of assault. Both 
 sides contained violent men. Voters were 
 prodded with awls at the polls, and the charge 
 was made against Davis that he spoke at a 
 meeting in Monument Square with a gigantic 
 awl suspended above his head. 5 Davis s fear 
 lessness is shown by an anecdote told of his 
 campaigning. A Democratic club had sworn 
 to mob him if he spoke at the Cross Street 
 Market Hall. On the appointed evening, in 
 an open carriage, wearing a full-dress suit, 
 white gloves and a silk hat, he drove to the 
 hall and walked through the crowd to the 
 stage. There he stood, facing the audience, 
 placed his hat on a table and, slowly drawing 
 his gloves from his fingers, dropped them into 
 the hat and then began an eloquent speech. 
 The crowd, awed by his personality, listened 
 intently, and as they left the hall a man was 
 heard to say: "That s the man for my vote. 
 He as good as said, damn you, I don t care 
 for you put that in your pipe and smoke it." 
 The party rancor of that time is shown in a 
 
CHAPTER 11857-1859 115 
 
 curious incident. On December 23, 1857, 
 representatives of the Jefferson, Washington 
 and Columbian Societies of the University of 
 Virginia wrote to invite Davis to address them 
 in the coming June. He accepted this invi 
 tation, writing from Washington on January 
 4, 1858, and regretting that he had not visited 
 the University since he "left it for active life, 
 seventeen years ago." The Jefferson and 
 Washington Societies soon withdrew their in 
 vitation, but the Columbian Society wrote, on 
 January 26, expressing regret at the action of 
 the other societies, "which was either on ac 
 count of political feelings or local preju 
 dices," and requested Davis to deliver the ad 
 dress before the Columbian Society alone. 
 
 When Congress met in December, 1857, 
 Henry P. Brooks contested Davis s right to 
 his seat, and William Pinkney Whyte, in the 
 other Baltimore district, contested Harris s. 
 In both cases it was alleged that there was no 
 fair opportunity in Baltimore to exercise the 
 right of suffrage. The election committee 
 reported 6 that it was inexpedient to grant 
 Brooks s prayer for the appointment of a com 
 mittee to take testimony at the public expense. 
 He should be left to take testimony at his own 
 expense, as Whyte was doing, having also 
 been refused this desired privilege. No law 
 less condition prevented this course. This 
 
ii6 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 report was discussed on the i6th and 
 and was approved by a vote of 115 to 89. On 
 the i6th Thomas F. Bowie, a Maryland Dem 
 ocrat, made a speech against Davis, full of 
 sound and fury, and two days later, when 
 Davis rose to the question of personal privi 
 lege to ask an explanation of Bowie s lan 
 guage, the latter retracted his words, saying 
 that from his "inmost soul" he "abhorred the 
 principles of the Know Nothing party," but 
 did not "in any personal sense" refer to 
 Davis. The contest dragged on until May 
 19, when the House discharged the Election 
 Committee from further consideration of 
 Brooks s memorial. In the following month, 7 
 similar disposition was made of the other con 
 test from Baltimore. 
 
 At that time there were a Mayor and Coun 
 cil in Washington City elected by the resi 
 dents. Among the voters were many tempo 
 rary ones, "including possibly a thousand 
 Government clerks, who look to leaving 
 Washington at the end of four years," and a 
 "swarm of laborers on the public works." 
 Davis felt that neither of these classes could 
 be said to be identified with the interests of 
 the city, yet they controlled its destiny, casting 
 from a fourth to a third of the six thousand 
 votes. Riots had occurred at the last election, 
 at which the Democratic candidate for Mayor 
 
CHAPTER VI 1857-1859 117 
 
 had been elected by a plurality of 26 votes, 
 through the influence of the Federal Admin 
 istration. At these riots the marines had been 
 ordered out, and, firing on the mob, killed 
 fourteen men and wounded twenty more. 
 Thirty-four persons were indicted for riot by 
 the grand jury, on which there was not a 
 single member of the American party, while 
 no investigation was made of the firing by the 
 marines, whom Davis asserted the President 
 had no right to call out, as the Marshal had 
 not been called upon to quell the disturbance. 
 Davis defended the accused men, who were 
 not convicted, although tried before a petit 
 jury, selected from a panel of whose thirty- 
 two members only four were Know Nothings. 
 On the floor of the House, 8 he attacked the 
 Administration and denied that his party 
 caused the riot. 
 
 His interest in local affairs was shown in 
 his introducing a bill 9 for the improvement 
 of the Patapsco River, so as to make the port 
 of Baltimore accessible to war vessels of the 
 United States. He gloried 10 that Maryland 
 sold interest-bearing funds, borrowed money 
 and paid interest on it, so that the War of 
 1812 could be carried on. Her claim was 
 settled on equitable principles 11 in 1826. 
 
 In opposing the Treasury Note bill, which 
 was making "a perpetual, irredeemable cur- 
 
ii8 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 rency the very material of exchange," though 
 the Administration had spoken against the 
 evils of paper currency, Davis maintained 
 that "we have now a perfectly sound paper 
 currency throughout the country, because the 
 banks have not broken. Merchants have 
 broken, but the banks have not broken. The 
 paper has not been returned to them. It is 
 still in circulation. Now the Treasury wishes 
 to increase the paper currency, to the ex 
 tent of twenty millions, and, therefore, 
 either inflates the currency, or substitutes 
 the credit of the Government for it." "The 
 Government had locked money in its vaults, 
 through the Sub-treasury system, more than 
 was needful, and the speculative tendencies of 
 the country had been pushed on by the tariff 
 policy of the administration, so that a panic 
 occurred, which was not rapidly passing 
 away." During this panic the Secretary of 
 the Treasury had been guilty of a "grave 
 financial error," in purchasing "United States 
 stock" at a premium. 12 Davis supported Stan- 
 ton s proposal 13 for investigation of the 
 charges of bribery in connection with the pas 
 sage of the tariff of 1857. He voted against 
 all the tariff bills, and, standing "in terror of 
 no press," said that he usually held newspaper 
 charges in such contempt that the only notice 
 he would take of them would be to bring 
 
CHAPTER 11857-1859 119 
 
 them to a grand jury. Here, however, the 
 charge was that money was used. This may 
 have been done legitimately, so that he wished 
 that technicalities, delay and secrecy might be 
 taken away in the investigation, and that a 
 committee, sitting as commissioners, should 
 take evidence and lay the result before the 
 House, which could then determine whether 
 to put the parties on trial. Davis advocated 
 the inclusion of a clause in the Consular and 
 Diplomatic bill, 14 providing that the money 
 appropriated therein be not applied to meet 
 expenses accruing before or after the fiscal 
 year, so that there may be a readjustment of 
 accounts and a review of the expediency of 
 the appropriations every year. This limita 
 tion should not prevent appropriations for ob 
 jects of permanent interest, such as buildings, 
 but would prevent squandering and misappli 
 cation of public funds and would give Con 
 gress greater control of the Administration. 15 
 
 Always interested in the proposal to build 
 a Pacific railroad, he found authority therefor 
 in the powers to establish post roads, to pro 
 vide for the common defence, to carry on war 
 by providing transportation for troops, where 
 Jefferson found authority to begin the Na 
 tional road, where Monroe, Madison, Adams 
 and Jackson found authority to vote for the 
 Chesapeake and Delaware Canal, and where 
 
120 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 Congress found authority to enter the soil of 
 Maryland for the Washington aqueduct, to 
 declare the great navigable waters of the 
 West perpetual channels of commerce, to 
 make the Wheeling bridge a post road, and 
 to build postoffice buildings. 16 
 
 When a resolution was pending to expel the 
 delegate from Utah, inasmuch as the Terri 
 tory was in open rebellion, Davis, in opposi 
 tion, 17 said: "If there is resistance, in either 
 a Territory or State, it is not, in the eye of the 
 law, and cannot be a resistance of the legal 
 authorities of the Territory and, therefore, 
 cannot be regarded as the resistance of the 
 Territory itself; but certain evil-disposed per 
 sons within the limits of the territory, under 
 the guise of its authority, are resisting the 
 laws that bind them." Such was his view of 
 the constitutional relation of citizen to the 
 Union. It might be an appropriate subject 
 for inquiry, whether there be "an illegal and 
 organized combination of evil-minded citi 
 zens who have banded themselves together to 
 resist the authority of the United States." If 
 any territorial officers take part in such re 
 bellion, the President can remove them. If 
 the delegate has countenanced an illegal com 
 bination against the Federal laws, he should 
 be expelled; but if he is loyal, "though that 
 rebellion should include every citizen in the 
 
CHAPTER 11857-1859 121 
 
 Territory except one, still he stands here as 
 the representative of the legal rights of that 
 one man in that Territory. Nay, sir, he stands 
 here as the representative of the rebellious 
 children of the Republic. He stands here to 
 see that those who have committed treason 
 shall be tried fairly under the Constitution 
 and laws of the United States. He stands 
 here to see that the laws are carried out which 
 protect the man who has been guilty of trea 
 son from the outrage and violence which mili 
 tary authority visits upon political offenders." 
 In these fiery words did he define his position, 
 which he was forced by the logic of events to 
 take again within a few years in a much more 
 serious emergency. 
 
 He opposed the admission of Kansas under 
 the Lecompton Constitution, and on March 
 30 18 addressed the House on that subject. 
 Having previously voted against admitting 
 Kansas as a State under the Topeka free State 
 constitution, he felt he occupied an advan 
 tageous position in the debate. No higher 
 proof of his ability as a constitutional lawyer 
 can be given than his discussion of the admis 
 sion of States in that speech. He began by 
 expressing surprise that "an Administration 
 which professes to be the godfather of "popu 
 lar sovereignty" should oppose the submission 
 of a Constitution to the popular vote; that an 
 
122 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 Administration, which is in name Demo 
 cratic, should propose to impose upon the ma 
 jority the will of the minority." However, 
 Davis saw in the movement an attempt "to 
 prevent the Administration, which boasted 
 itself the omnipotent pacificator, from being 
 brought to lick the dust, now, ere the termi 
 nation of the first session of its first Congress." 
 
 Davis demanded proof that the "piece of 
 parchment" produced by the Administration 
 contained "the will of the people of Kansas." 
 Buchanan s followers asked that Kansas be 
 admitted under the Lecompton Constitution, 
 "for the sake of the principle involved." 
 Davis asked: what was the principle? He 
 could not accept it as a principle that 2,200 
 men who had voted for the members of the 
 convention at Lecompton, should "make their 
 will the law" over 10,000 who voted against 
 ratifying the constitution framed there; nor 
 that the people of a Territory had a "legal 
 right themselves to take the initiative and lay 
 upon your table a constitution" the acceptance 
 of which they are entitled to demand; nor that 
 any constitution containing "a clause sanction 
 ing slavery" must be accepted. He would not 
 reject the constitution because slavery was 
 "embraced" therein. "If put there by the will 
 of the people, it ought not to weigh with the 
 weight of the dust in the balance upon the 
 
CHAPTER 11857-1859 123 
 
 question, for to allow that to be a ground of 
 exclusion would be unwise and would exhibit 
 an unsocial disposition," which would "lead to 
 nothing but disastrous civil collisions." 
 
 Davis especially dissented from the position 
 that Congress was bound to accept what the 
 Territory had sent. They might inquire 
 "whether there be here legal authority, 
 whether here the ballot-box has been protect 
 ed, how many stayed from the polls, or why 
 they did so." 
 
 "All that is necessary," argued Davis, "to 
 the admission of a State, is the concurrence of 
 the will of the people of a Territory and of 
 Congress. The application of a Territory to 
 be admitted as a State is only a petition upon 
 your table an offer upon their part which 
 we may accept or which we may reject at our 
 pleasure. After that concurrence, it has been 
 ingrafted into the living body politic of the 
 country, bone of our bone, flesh of our flesh, 
 to share with us for good or evil, to the end of 
 time, the blessings or misfortunes of the Re 
 public to be severed by nothing except that 
 external violence which shall lop off some 
 living limb of the Republic," or by civil 
 strife. With great acumen he proceeded to 
 state that enabling acts "are only the guaran 
 tees that Congress, in its wisdom, throws 
 around the expression of the popular will." 
 
i2 4 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 After the people have acted under these acts, 
 "the will of Congress, to concur with the will 
 of the people, is expressed in the act of Con 
 gress admitting the State, and it is that con 
 currence" which "alone makes the distinction 
 between a Territory" and a State. Our Con 
 stitution knows no such thing as an "incipient 
 State." Davis found "no intermediate con 
 dition between a Territory and a State." 
 Whatever is covered by the jurisdiction of the 
 United States is either a Territory or a State. 
 He left the "dogma of sovereignty" to the 
 "gentlemen who meddle with metaphysical 
 disquisitions." "The word is not used in our 
 laws; it is not found among the wise words of 
 our Constitution. It is the will of the wisp, 
 which they who follow will find a treacherous 
 guide through fens and bogs." Nor would he 
 define "popular sovereignty," that "dema 
 gogue s name for the right of the people to 
 govern themselves not that popular sover 
 eignty which is limited by and springs from 
 an act of Congress not that mushroom 
 growth bred in the hotbed of political cor- 
 ruption as a dainty delicacy for the people s 
 palate, under the sedulous care" of the Demo 
 crats "which, now that it is grown, is found 
 to be nothing but toadstools, whereof the body 
 politic is sick; but that right of the people to 
 govern themselves, recognized by the funda- 
 
CHAPTER 11857-1859 125 
 
 mental law as the very corner-stone of the Re 
 public, which, in this case, the President vio 
 lates and denied." Davis intended to deal in 
 "legal language," in which he found "such a 
 thing as the people of the United States, of 
 which the people of a Territory form the sub 
 jects." The Territories had no "legal right" 
 to initiate proceedings to form a constitution." 
 The House was not then "dealing with revo 
 lutionary, but with legal rights. We live and 
 are born under the Constitution, and to us that 
 is the ultimate criterion of legal rights; it is 
 our embodiment of natural right, in a living, 
 practical form of government; beyond it we 
 recognize no natural right as a source of legal 
 right, and he who can not deduce his claim 
 of right under it, has none." There must be 
 no confusion of a "right of law, under the 
 Constitution, with the natural right men 
 tioned in the Declaration of Independence, of 
 people to alter and change their government 
 to suit themselves." The people living in a 
 territory must form a State government for 
 themselves, within the geographical limits 
 laid out for them by Congress, "the only legal 
 authority, the only source of law for the Ter 
 ritories." Congress throws around these peo 
 ple "a legal protection," authorizes them to 
 proceed, and gives them "the guarantees of 
 law in their proceedings." Congress had 
 
126 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 passed no special act authorizing a convention 
 in Kansas, and the Kansas-Nebraska Act did 
 not do so, for it reserved to Congress power 
 to make two or more States out of the Terri 
 tory. He discussed the manner of admission 
 of all the States: first, those such as Vermont 
 and Texas, which had never been Territories; 
 second, Territories such as Ohio, in which 
 Congress had given the Legislatures "power to 
 make laws in all cases; and third, Territories 
 such as Minnesota, in which, as in Kansas, 
 Congress had extended the Legislature s 
 power "to all rightful subjects of legislation." 
 For both the second and third classes enabling 
 acts had been passed, specially authorizing the 
 call of a Constitutional Convention and pro 
 viding for the details of that convention. 
 Next he took up "Territories which have 
 spontaneously petitioned for admission under 
 constitutions framed without an enabling 
 act," such as Arkansas. In all these cases 
 Congress declared the boundaries of the State 
 in the act admitting it, and thus established 
 the fact that there was "no authority in her 
 constitution prior to her admission," for "the 
 territorial limits of a State are essential to her 
 existence." If the territorial convention has 
 no right to define "the territory of the State it 
 creates," it cannot "create a State in the eye of 
 the law at all, for Congress may destroy its 
 
CHAPTER VI 1857-1859 127 
 
 identity by taking away a half, or two-thirds, 
 or all its territory." Consequently, till "final 
 admission as a State, the constitution is not a 
 law; it is merely a proposition." When Mich 
 igan was admitted, after framing a constitu 
 tion without an enabling act, Buchanan said, 
 in the Senate, that the passing of laws by the 
 Legislature for the calling of a constitutional 
 convention was an "act of usurpation." Cal- 
 houn then held that the movement "was revo 
 lutionary, as it threw off the authority of the 
 United States over the Territory and that we 
 are left at liberty to treat like proceedings as 
 revolutionary and to remand her to her terri 
 torial condition, or to waive the irregulari 
 ty." Buchanan made an initial blunder in 
 recognizing the Lecompton convention, which 
 he ought to have ordered the military to dis 
 perse, as they had been directed to turn out 
 the convention held at Topeka. Davis next 
 showed that the law of the Legislature of 
 Kansas in regard to the convention was not 
 executed, for no census of the whole Terri 
 tory was taken, as directed, before the election 
 for members of the convention; the apportion 
 ment was made by the secretary, who was the 
 acting Governor, and not by the Governor 
 and secretary; and fourteen counties were not 
 represented in the convention. If, then, there 
 was no legal election, those who did not vote 
 
i 2 8 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 were not "bound by it." "They were only 
 not participating in a usurpation. The foun 
 dation for a presumption of the assent of those 
 who stayed at home is that the law required 
 them to be at the polls. It is the duty of the 
 citizen to cast his vote, and if the citizen does 
 not cast it, he is held to authorize those who 
 do, but that cannot be, where the proceeding 
 has no legal validity." Less than 3,000 voters 
 here "modestly ask the powers of a State gov 
 ernment against the votes of 10,000 and the 
 protest of 7,000," so that it is seen that "an 
 overwhelming majority of the people are op 
 posed to the thing that is now sought to be 
 forced, or foisted upon them." Yet Buchanan 
 stated that "the way to pacify them is to sub 
 ject them, permanently, to the hateful domi 
 nation of the handful of men from whose 
 hands they would have wrested the govern 
 ment but for the United States troops." His 
 "policy is high treason against the right of the 
 people to govern themselves." Since the 
 "stronger part of the people" is against the 
 Constitution and the President proposes to 
 "confide the power of State government" to 
 the "weaker party," Davis asked whether the 
 United States troops were "to guarantee the 
 new usurpation." He held that the passage 
 of this law would be a "declaration of civil 
 war," and that "free government is a farce, if 
 
CHAPTER 11857-1859 129 
 
 men are required to submit to usurpation such 
 as has here been perpetrated." He feared that 
 "the people of Kansas are not in a mood to as 
 sist at the farce. They will turn it into trag 
 edy. Having heretofore resisted, we ought 
 to suppose they will resist again." Congress 
 ought not to drive them "upon revolutionary 
 courses," but "give them the opportunity of 
 expressing their will as to the law under 
 which they are to live." 
 
 Later in the session, 20 when the Kansas situ 
 ation was again under discussion, Davis fa 
 vored giving the people there an opportunity 
 to say whether or not they preferred the Le- 
 compton Constitution. He believed that that 
 Constitution had been framed by a majority 
 of the people of the Territory, and while he 
 did not object to the Constitution, he did ob 
 ject to forcing the people to accept it. Davis 
 had strong State s rights ideas from having 
 studied at the school" of Clay and Pinkney, 
 and at the University of Virginia, and had 
 heard "upon every Southern hustings, since as 
 a boy I attended debates, and since as a man 
 I have taken my humble share in them," that 
 every new State had a right to be admitted on 
 equal terms with every other State. This is a 
 "fundamental principle which lies at the very 
 basis of the Confederacy." Therefore, "no 
 Southern gentleman can consistently vote 
 
130 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 for" the pending bill. When John H. Rea 
 gan, of Texas, remarked that Davis was in 
 consistent, inasmuch as he had opposed the 
 repeal of the Missouri Compromise, Davis 
 replied that "The Missouri Compromise did 
 not admit any such principle as that there 
 could be any limitation upon the sovereign 
 power of a State, whether with reference to 
 slavery or any other subject. It did proceed 
 upon the assumption that there could be a re 
 striction upon a Territory while it remained 
 a Territory, and no longer than it remained a 
 Territory." Pinkney had argued that an "in 
 fant State" could not be tied up, and opposed 
 the compromise, because he did not consider 
 the power rested in Congress to control the 
 question of slavery during the territorial con 
 dition. Previous to the admission of Missouri, 
 conditions of various kinds had been put into 
 enabling acts, but never since that time, as the 
 debate then settled the question. 21 He object 
 ed to the method of adoption of the Lecomp- 
 ton Constitution under a law which was ab 
 solutely void, as it surpassed the authority of 
 a territorial Legislature to call a convention. 
 The pending bill refused to allow the people 
 of Kansas "to gain admission to the Union, 
 unless they concede one of the flowers of their 
 prerogative." A Territory may be admitted 
 by petition of a majority of the inhabitants. 
 
CHAPTER 11857-1859 131 
 
 If, after admission, Kansas chooses to yield 
 its sovereign prerogative as a matter of con 
 tract, she may do so. When the bill says 
 Kansas shall not tax United States lands, 
 it merely sets forth a declaration that 
 such are the public rights of the United 
 States, operative without the assent of Kan 
 sas; but the power to tax lands in the hands 
 of individuals is absolute and can not be lim 
 ited by Congress, more than any other por 
 tion of the taxing power of the State. 22 Davis 
 represented a Southern Statewhich lost "more 
 negroes a year by the failure to execute the 
 Fugitive Slave law than all the other States 
 put together a border State, and hence, in 
 case of serious difficulty, more directly inter 
 ested than South Carolina herself, for she has 
 a tier of patriotic States between her and any 
 aggressor. The State of Maryland is on the 
 frontier." Following Pinkney and in the 
 name of Maryland, Davis solemnly protested 
 against conceding the right of State sover 
 eignty, "so vital to the maintenance of the in 
 terests of the South." 
 
 A week later, 23 he opposed the admission of 
 Minnesota, whose Constitution admitted to 
 the suffrage white persons of foreign birth, 
 who had declared their intention to become 
 citizens because, under the Federal Consti 
 tution, a State had no right to confer this priv- 
 
132 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 iiege. The right of suffrage affected directly 
 all States, through the election of representa 
 tives in Congress. Therefore, foreigners were 
 thus given power, not merely to misgovern 
 Minnesota, but also "me and my constituents." 
 Calhoun properly had opposed a similar pro 
 vision in the Michigan Constitution. The 
 Federal Constitution begins with the phrase, 
 "We, the people of the United States," not 
 the residents, which, would include slaves, but 
 the body politic, persons who are citizens of 
 the United States. Davis cited Taney s opin 
 ion in the Dred Scott case in support of his 
 contention, and said that he would vote against 
 any one who should claim a seat in the House 
 through the votes of unnaturalized foreigners. 
 
 At the Baltimore election of 1858, as Davis 
 told the House of Representatives six years 
 later, 24 the Democrats "submitted to the inev 
 itable. Finding that organized military force 
 would not crush us, they organized a most in 
 famous association, called the Reform party, 
 whose duty it was to He down what they could 
 not fight down in open daylight. Its leaders 
 shrank from contact with the rough crowd at 
 the polls; they wanted an election managed 
 like a ballroom. They went to the polls and 
 stayed till about 10 o clock, getting all the 
 votes they had, and when they had run dry, 
 by preconcerted arrangement, they withdrew 
 
CHAPTER 11857-1859 133 
 
 from the polls and said they were not allowed 
 to vote, and whined about freedom of elec 
 
 tions." 
 
 Turning aside from political affairs, on No 
 vember 1 6, 1858, Davis addressed the gradu 
 ating class at the commencement of the East 
 ern Female High School of Baltimore. 25 Yet 
 even here he devoted his chief attention to a 
 defense of the religious freedom of the United 
 States, which he sharply differentiated, both 
 from that tolerationwhich declared the "State 
 the patron of all the sects, whose ministers it 
 pays and controls as a part of the machinery 
 of government, and seeks the quiet of the 
 State in the stagnation of opinion and the he 
 reditary descent of creeds;" and from the an 
 cient principle "which assumes the supremacy 
 of the spiritual over the civil power; asserts 
 the right of the church to define and the State 
 to enforce the true faith; prohibits free judg 
 ment, or punishes its errors as crimes." Con 
 trary to both of these principles is "the Amer 
 ican principle of the freedom of thought, the 
 freedom of religion, the right of every citizen 
 to unchecked freedom in forming his religious 
 opinions, and the deep interest of the State in 
 securing him not only freedom, but the means 
 of enlightened judgment, and the greater, 
 deeper and holier faith in the sufficiency of 
 every enlightened mind to read for himself in 
 
i 3 4 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 the Word of God the will of God, whose 
 practice is religion." The American people 
 are religious, and their governments uphold 
 religion, but oppose sectarianism. The sys 
 tem of education supported by the American 
 people is not godless, though it is unsectarian. 
 "Everywhere the public schools attest their 
 efforts to make freedom of thought and re 
 ligion, not merely the right, but the habit of 
 the nation. The State throws open the field 
 of knowledge and declares the right of every 
 one freely to enter and enjoy the fruits." He 
 believed in reading the Bible in the schools, 
 without "sectarian exposition." "All history 
 cannot show the mass of any people ever edu 
 cated by any church," and the State must as 
 sume the task. The home must assist the State 
 in training the young, and "cultivated and pi 
 ous mothers preside over the family." He 
 was glad to see the class before him, those 
 "future matrons of the Republic," who al 
 ready showed fitness for their "high mission 
 as prophets of patriotic inspiration to the 
 young men of the land." He believed that 
 woman s place was in the home, and that 
 "when, in after years, the eye of the world 
 shall wonder at the dazzling destinies of the 
 Republic, culminating in splendor and tri 
 umph," they would learn "that it is not the 
 glory of industry, or arts, or arms, but the 
 
CHAPTER 11857-1859 135 
 
 light which the matrons of a nation shed 
 around its path." 
 
 In the second session of this Congress, Davis 
 chiefly took the floor to debate military mat 
 ters. 28 He complained that, through "the in 
 decision of Congress and the lack of nerve 
 and energy and independence" of the Presi 
 dent and the Secretaries of War, the head of 
 almost every regiment had been allowed to be 
 come an old man, incompetent to do his duty 
 ia the field. A young man with brevet rank 
 had to be allowed to discharge this duty, and 
 should receive the same pay. He also moved 
 to strike out appropriations for commutation 
 and extra rations to officers at the principal 
 sta:ions, holding that the Government had 
 too many stations, consulted personal interests 
 and favored "gentlemen of antique years." 
 He claimed * that the Secretary of War had 
 been guilty of "flagrant and persistent viola 
 tions of law" in the Quartermaster s Depart 
 ment, in expending money beyond the amounts 
 appropriated, and that nothing would restrain 
 him but a vote of censure or impeachment. 28 
 Later in the session, 29 he moved to strike out 
 an appropriation for boats used in an expedi 
 tion to Paraguay, which the President had 
 "created," incurring an expense greatly in ex 
 cess of the appropriation given for that war, 
 "which in an unguarded moment of enthusi- 
 
136 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 asm we authorized him to wage." On the 
 other hand, he defended the coast survey, say 
 ing that "It is not economy to stop great na 
 tional works of necessity. It is economy to 
 stop the leaks in the Commissary Department, 
 or in the Quartermaster s Department, or the 
 stealings in the navy yards, or the wasteful and 
 extravagant expenditures under the name of 
 miscellaneous; but it is not economy to stop 
 the clearing out of our rivers and harbors, or 
 the erection of our fortifications, or the sup 
 ply of our armaments; still less is it common 
 sense to darken our light-houses, or to arrest 
 the survey of the coast." These are econom 
 ical expenditures which pay more, in what 
 they save, than the Government expends in 
 accomplishing these great objects. 
 
 Davis was always opposed to the increase of 
 slavery. About this time he wrote for the 
 newspapers a stirring article against the re 
 opening of the foreign slave trade. 31 He felt 
 that it was "time that the insidious advances 
 toward this nefarious and unchristian traffic, 
 which a large and influential party" were 
 "making, should attract the attention of Mary 
 land," lest the people be taken unawares. The 
 "grand and humane" colonization policy was 
 said to have failed; the discontinuance of the 
 joint English and American fleet cruising off 
 the coast of Africa to capture slave vessels was 
 
CHAPTER 11857-1859 137 
 
 proposed; the "English experiment of eman 
 cipation" in the West Indies was alleged to 
 have been mistaken; men asserted "the uni 
 versal unfitness of the negro for mere personal 
 civil freedom anywhere"; the unconstitution 
 ally of the Federal statute against the foreign 
 slave trade was alleged; juries in the South 
 refused to convict slave traders in the very 
 teeth of the evidence. "The question is upon 
 us: Is it the great Democratic bait to catch 
 the South in 1860, or to concentrate the South 
 for an act of rebellion? The Democratic 
 party is now ready at the South to make the 
 issue repeal or rebellion. What does Mary 
 land say?" With this query he ended this 
 article, as full of a triumphant irony as any 
 thing he ever wrote. 
 
 Davis was active throughout 1859 m en ~ 
 deavoring to bring about a fusion of the Re 
 publican party in the North with the Ameri 
 can party and with the remnant of the South 
 ern Whigs. In pursuance of this effort, he 
 addressed Horace .Greeley an important letter, 
 which was published in the New York Tri 
 bune during November, i859. 32 Davis favored 
 the nomination of Judge Edward Bates, of 
 Missouri, for the Presidency, and endeavored 
 to induce the Republican party to select him 
 as a candidate for whom both Southern Whigs 
 and Northern Republicans could vote. He 
 
138 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 vainly hoped that the nomination might be 
 made in the old Whig fashion, without any 
 declaration as to legislation in reference to 
 slavery in the Territories. He addressed a 
 number of letters to individuals and to jour 
 nals against the wisdom of the union of the 
 forces opposed to the Democratic party on 
 such a basis, and maintained that "all the Ter 
 ritories are now, by law and in fact, free, for 
 there are slaves in none." In New Mexico 
 alone had any legislation attempted to estab 
 lish slavery, and the act there passed was void, 
 being in conflict with the decree of Mexico 
 abolishing slavery." If the Republicans 
 should insist on the enactment of a law pro 
 hibiting slavery in the Territories as "a cardi 
 nal point of policy in the canvass of 1860," 
 they would lose the substance for the shadow" 
 and would fail to accomplish anything. On 
 the other hand, the election of a President, 
 "holding the views of Mr. Clay" as to slavery, 
 "and in character above the necessity of 
 pledges or platform, insures everything that 
 is necessary to satisfy reasonable men, to ar 
 rest the slave propaganda." To carry a legis 
 lative restriction of slavery, the Republicans 
 must have a clear majority of both Houses of 
 Congress and the President, and hold this po 
 sition "long enough to change the Supreme 
 Court." The last was essential, "for, as now 
 
CHAPTER 11857-1859 139 
 
 constituted, or as hereafter filled by any Dem 
 ocrat, any law of Congress restricting slaves 
 will be declared void," and thus any legisla 
 tion will be undone. 
 
 "On the other hand," Davis urged, "the 
 election of a President in 1860, of itself, si 
 lences and arrests the slave propaganda, if he 
 be elected by a combination of the opposition, 
 in a manner so free as to secure a permanent 
 union of the Republican and American vot 
 ers." He, alone, "is sufficient, and without 
 him everything else is perfectly worthless." 
 He can veto Congressional legislation, ap 
 point Territorial officers, and also the judges 
 of the Supreme Court. With sagacious fore 
 sight, Davis saw that "between now and the 
 end of the next term a majority of the judges 
 now on the bench must, in the course of na 
 ture, be substituted by others. Three new ap 
 pointments will change the complexion of the 
 Court. There are more than three very old 
 men, whose places must be filled by the next 
 administration and that will determine the 
 complexion of the Court for the next genera 
 tion." The odious "Dred Scott case is a Dem 
 ocratic case, decided by Democratic judges, 
 resting on Democratic party political views 
 of the Constitution and laws, and inspired by 
 Democratic prejudices and sentiments." No 
 Whig judge would have concurred in it, for 
 
140 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 Clay and the Whigs believed that slavery 
 "existed only by virtue of the positive law of 
 the land on which it was attempted to be en 
 forced. So that if forbidden by Congress, or 
 if neither forbidden nor sanctioned by Con 
 gress, it did not exist; and if Congress has no 
 power over the subject at all, then that, of 
 itself, made all the Territories necessarily and 
 forever free, till they both became States and 
 adopted slavery." In Davis s view, "to ac 
 complish a reversal of the Dred Scott folly, no 
 pledge is needed, no platform, nothing but a 
 President holding Mr. Clay s views. Judges 
 appointed by such a President will instantly 
 repudiate that ridiculous farrago of bad his 
 tory, worse law, and Democratic partisan 
 ship." Davis appreciated fully the great 
 power of the President, as it was to be wielded 
 by Lincoln and as it has been again, in the 
 twentieth century. Therefore, he wrote that 
 the President "is omnipotent against anything 
 but a two-thirds vote of both houses, so that 
 his administration may be censured, but can 
 not be arrested by any less number by law." 
 "The tendency was to have a Congress in sym 
 pathy with the President, but without such 
 agreement" the "slave propaganda is forever 
 broken down," for, without his consent, there 
 can be passed no slave code for the Territories, 
 nor a repeal of the laws against the slave 
 
CHAPTER 11857-1859 141 
 
 trade, nor can there be a repetition of the 
 scenes of Kansas. If the conservative people 
 could unite and carry the election of 1860, 
 they ought to continue in possession of the 
 Federal Government for a generation; but, if 
 they fail, "they may roll up the map of the 
 United States for twenty years. 33 
 
 NOTES ON CHAPTER VI. 
 
 1. On May 9, 1864. 
 
 2. "Now a traitor," said Davis in 1864. B. G. Harris asked 
 why Ligon was so called, and Davis, after an angry encounter 
 of words, said: "I respectfully decline to make any reply to the 
 unworthy member from Maryland." 
 
 3. In 1864 Davis said that J. C. Groome, who ran against 
 Hicks, was now disloyal, so that the historical significance of 
 that election was considerable, as Hicks s Union sympathies 
 were most important in 1861. 
 
 4. Brooks later became a secessionist, and was confined in 
 Forts Lafayette and Warren. 
 
 5. 3 Scharf, Md. 273. 
 
 6. On February 12. 
 
 7. On June n. 
 
 8. On May 24. 
 
 9. On January 22. 
 
 10. On June 7. 
 
 11. On June 7 he condemned any department violating a law 
 by making a contract for the extension of the Capitol without 
 specific authorization, but felt that "If Congress saw fit to waste 
 the people s money, it was no part of the President s business 
 to make them economical." 
 
 12. Speech of December 19. 
 
 13. On January 15. 
 
 14. On June 3 vide position on Clayton-Bulwer Treaty on 
 May ii. 
 
142 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 15. His zeal for efficiency in public service was shown on 
 March 2 by his opposition to the attempt to replace on the roll 
 of officers men declared unfit for positions by two Boards of 
 Inquiry. 
 
 16. Speech of January 20. 
 
 17. On December 23. 
 
 18. Speeches and Addresses, 83. 
 
 19. Davis here spoke of Calhoun as "a gentleman from 
 whom, in many respects, it is my misfortune to have differed 
 in political opinion, but who, in my judgment, was one of the 
 ablest gentlemen that ever graced the councils of this country 
 more conservative, manly and upright in his views and con 
 victions, and conduct, than almost any man of his party; al 
 ways ready to sacrifice party allegiance on the altar of truth; 
 always following the dictates of an independent judgment, as 
 well in his votes as in his reasoning, and, for that reason, justly 
 the worshiped idol of the great Southern section of this country." 
 
 20. On April 28. 
 
 21. He admitted that grants of land might be made on a 
 condition. 
 
 22. The bill said non-resident proprietors should not be 
 taxed higher than resident ones. Davis said this discrimination 
 is a question of State policy, which may prevent "Irish absen 
 teeism." 
 
 23. On May 5. 
 
 24. On May 9, 1864. 
 
 25. Speeches and Addresses, 104. 
 
 26. On December n, 1858, he opposed the impeachment of 
 Judge Watrous, of Texas; on February 9, 1859, he said that the 
 precedent of the contested election case of Vallandigham vs. 
 Campbell, authorized the admission of hearsay evidence in the 
 Nebraska contested election; on February 15 he moved to ap 
 propriate an extra amount to Miami Indians not named in the 
 treaty with the tribe, so that the amount given to the enumer 
 ated Indians be not unjustly diminished; on March 3 he ob 
 jected to the report of the Conference Committee on the Post- 
 office bill, said there was no authority to make a contract to 
 carry the mails to the Pacific Coast via Tehuantepec without 
 
CHAPTER 11857-1859 143 
 
 revoking the contract made via Panama, and that it was con 
 trary to the privileges of the House for the Chairman of the 
 Committee on Ways and Means to say that the President will 
 or will not sign certain bills. 
 
 27. On February 18. 
 
 28. On March i he proposed not to allow the reopening of 
 old accounts, when the claims of the States were discussed in 
 the Army bill. 
 
 29. On March 2. 
 
 30. On February 28. 
 
 31. Speeches and Addresses, 115. 
 
 32. Speeches and Addresses, 119. 
 
 33. Scharf, Chron. of Balto., 574, speaks of Anthony Ken 
 nedy and Davis as addressing a Know Nothing mass-meeting at 
 Baltimore on October 27, 1859. 
 
i 4 4 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 THE THIRTY-FIFTH CONGRESS 
 AND THE STRUGGLE TO PRE 
 SERVE THE UNION. 
 
 After being nominated by the American 
 party in 1858 for re-election to Congress, 
 Davis accepted the nomination in a speech at 
 the Maryland Institute, in which he said that 
 "Our policy is to oppose all agitation of 
 slavery." The Thirty-fifth Congress, like the 
 Thirty-third, opened with a long and bitter 
 struggle over the election of a Speaker. Davis 
 voted for John A. Gilmer, of North Carolina, 
 a conservative man, throughout December, 
 1859, and January, 1860, but on the last day 
 of the latter month he changed his vote to Pen- 
 nington, of New Jersey, a conservative man, 
 but the Republican candidate, an act which 
 led to "considerable applause from the Re 
 publican benches and mingled applause and 
 hisses from the galleries," as The Globe re 
 porter noted. This vote, which led, on the 
 next day, to the election of Pennington over 
 McClernand, the Democratic candidate, 
 caused great indignation in many quarters 
 throughout Maryland. As had been the case 
 four years previously, Davis s colleague, Har- 
 
CHAPTER VII 1859-1861 145 
 
 ris, was more conservative, and continued vot 
 ing for Gilmer to the last. The Maryland 
 Legislature had a Democratic majority, and 
 on February 9 the House of Delegates, by a 
 vote of 62 to i, passed a resolution that Davis, 
 "by his vote for the candidate of the Black 
 Republicans, has misrepresented the senti 
 ments of all portions of this State, and thereby 
 forfeited the confidence of her people." This 
 resolve, when sent to the Senate, slept until the 
 end of the session; but on February 28, after 
 Davis s defense of himself on the floor of the 
 House, Dr. Lynch, of Baltimore county, of 
 fered a resolve there, which he asked be refer 
 red to the Committee on the Colored Popula 
 tion, that $500 be appropriated to transport 
 Henry Winter Davis to Liberia, as he has, in 
 "his late speech, most violently assailed the 
 people of this State, through us their repre 
 sentatives, because of our loyalty to the best 
 interests of the South." McKaig said that if 
 the person named were a worthy colored man, 
 he would vote for the appropriation, but he 
 knew no white man by that name worthy of 
 the notice of the Senate of Maryland. The 
 Senator from Frederick said he refused, as a 
 matter of privilege, to vote on any measure 
 applauding or censuring Congressmen, as they 
 are responsible to their constituents. 
 
 The Senate felt that Lynch s proposition 
 10 
 
146 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 was so unbecoming that, finally, the proposer 
 himself secured unanimous consent to strike it 
 from the journal. 
 
 On February 21, 1860, when the House was 
 in Committee of the Whole, Davis seized the 
 opportunity to set forth his opinions of the 
 resolutions and of "their contrivers and sup 
 porters" 2 in a superb oration. With scornful 
 sarcasm, he began: "Mr. Chairman, the hon 
 orable the Legislature of Maryland has deco 
 rated me with its censure. It is my purpose to 
 acknowledge that compliment." He taunted 
 the Democratic majority of the Legislature as 
 being like Christopher Sly in "being out of 
 place in her legislative halls"; as "greatly de 
 ficient in sound, practical common sense," but 
 as abounding in the "genius of ignorance," 
 and as needing lawyers to attend their caucus 
 to perfect the laws. "Not elevated to the full 
 sense of the dignity and responsibility of their 
 high place by the great memories which sur 
 round them in the State House, where daily 
 they meet, where once the great Congress of 
 the Revolution sat and where George Wash 
 ington surrendered his sword that the law 
 might thenceforth reign the caucus is the 
 Legislature, the Legislature the recording 
 clerk for the dictates of the caucus; debate is 
 silenced and consideration is banished." 
 Keeping the offensive, he pilloried the enact- 
 
CHAPTER VII 1859-1861 147 
 
 ments of the Legislature. "In the midst of 
 the excitement in the country upon the Negro 
 Question," men were found in the Legisla 
 ture "anxious to follow the deplorable ex 
 ample, shocking to the sensibilities of the 
 great mass of the people of Maryland, of re 
 ducing into slavery the men that our fathers 
 freed." ** "Nothing but the unanimous shriek 
 of indignation which rang from one end of 
 Maryland to the other averted the danger of 
 the passage of some such despotic and oppres 
 sive measure and one, seriously and rashly, 
 unsettling the industrial interests of Mary 
 land." The Legislature had taken the control 
 of the police force of Baltimore City from the 
 municipal authorities, and Davis ardently at 
 tacked this "flagrant usurpation." As they 
 boasted themselves the "sole guardians in 
 Maryland" of "Southern rights," they had put 
 "cap and bells" on the bill by incorporating 
 therein a proviso that "no Black Republican, 
 or indorser or supporter of the Helper book, 
 shall be appointed to any office" by the Police 
 Board. 
 
 On this provision Davis emptied the vials 
 of his wrath; while he held up to equal exe 
 cration and to ridicule a similar provision 
 found in the recent charter of the Baltimore 
 Street Railway Company, prohibiting any 
 "Black Republican or indorser or approver 
 
148 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 of the Helper book" from receiving any of the 
 benefits of or privileges of this act." Then he 
 turned to the examination of the resolution of 
 censure. Prior to the election of Speaker of 
 the House of Representatives, a resolution 
 had passed the House of Delegates "which 
 was intended to condemn beforehand any vote 
 which should not be" for a Democrat, but 
 Davis truly asserted "that all they could do 
 w r ould not make me waver one hair s breadth 
 from w r hat they knew was my firm resolve." 
 His vote for Pennington had "recalled to 
 them that they were committed to follow" the 
 former resolution with "explicit condemna 
 tion." He read the first sentence, containing 
 the charge that he had "misrepresented the 
 sentiments of all parts of this State, and there 
 by forfeited the confidence of her people." 
 Then, with superb scorn, he said: "I respect 
 fully tell the gentlemen who voted for that 
 resolution to take back their message to their 
 masters and say that I speak to their masters 
 face to face and not through them." The 
 Democrat s "whole policy is to poison the 
 minds of our people against every man not a 
 Democrat in the free States; to inspire them 
 with distrust, apprehension and terror; to 
 teach them to look on the accession to power 
 of any one called by the name of Republican 
 as not merely a change of power from one to 
 
CHAPTER VII 1859-1861 149 
 
 another political party, differing in principle 
 and policy, but equally loyal to the United 
 States, but as not far removed from such op 
 pression and danger as to furnish just cause 
 of seeking revolutionary remedies. Their 
 hope seems to be to retain power by the fears 
 of one-half the people for the existence of 
 slavery, and of the other half for the existence 
 of the Union. Agitation, clamor, vitupera 
 tion, audacious and pertinaceous, are the 
 weapons of their warfare." This spirit, like 
 that of Milton s "Portress of Hellgate," stands 
 "ready for the purpose of retaining their hold 
 of power, to let loose on this blessed land the 
 Satan of demoniacal passion." 
 
 Davis felt that these resolutions would have 
 little effect on his "constituency which had 
 stood by me, through good report and through 
 evil report," and that his act was "not only 
 approved, but honored and applauded by 
 every man whose opinion I regard." As to 
 that vote, "I, sir, have no apology to make. I 
 have no excuses to render. What I did, I did 
 on my own judgment, and did not look across 
 my shoulder to see what my constituentswould 
 think. I told my constituents that I would 
 come here a free man or not at all, and they 
 sent me here on that condition. I told them 
 that if they wanted a slave to represent them, 
 they could get plenty, but I was not one. I 
 
150 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 told them that I had already passed through 
 more than one difficult, complex, dangerous 
 session of Congress; that I had been obliged 
 again and again to do that which is least grate 
 ful to my feelings; to stand not merely op 
 posed to my honorable political opponents, 
 but to stand alone among my political friends, 
 without the strength and support of which a 
 public man receives from being buoyed up 
 breast high by men of like sentiments, elected 
 on like principles, and who, if there by error, 
 would stand as a shield and bulwark between 
 him and his responsibility. I foresaw, then, ex 
 actly as it resulted, that the time would come 
 when I would be obliged again to take that 
 stand; and I wanted my people to know it, so 
 that if they chose to have another one, who 
 would go contrary to his judgment and bend 
 like a willow when the storm came, they 
 might pick him out and choose the material 
 for their work." 
 
 "Mr. Chairman, they sent me here, and I 
 have done what I know was my duty." He 
 then recited Mr. Pennington s record as a 
 Governor of New Jersey and as a Whig in the 
 day of Whig greatness, "as a man who had de 
 clined official position offered him by Taylor 
 and Fillmore, who was in "favor of the en 
 forcement of every law that any Southern 
 State has an interest in," and who was sound 
 
CHAPTER VII 1859-1861 151 
 
 on the protection of American industry and 
 on river and harbor improvements. Penning- 
 ton was a man of "moderate views, in favor of 
 silence on the slavery question, of putting an 
 end to the internecine strife of sections that 
 has raged for years, and therefore, of all men, 
 the man to sit in that chair." Davis had ex 
 pected "clamor over that vote," but was sur 
 prised that the Know Nothings in the Legis 
 lature, "my own friends, excepting four of 
 them," voted for the resolution. In an amus 
 ing manner, he described how they allowed 
 themselves to be frightened, and cried out, "I 
 admire the audacity of the Maryland Demo 
 crat as much as I deplore the weakness of the 
 Maryland American." 
 
 Davis intended to "meet with all equanim 
 ity" the "obloquy attached to the course that I 
 have felt it to be my duty to pursue," and re 
 membered how Clay s vote for John Quincy 
 Adams as President "brought accusation 
 against him." "I have sat at his feet," con 
 tinued Davis, "and learned my political prin 
 ciples from him. I can tread his path of po 
 litical martyrdom. Before any cry of Legis 
 latures or people I will not yield, they may 
 pass over my prostrate body or my ruined 
 reputation, but step aside I will not to avoid 
 either fate." He was "aware that we all this 
 day regard the negro question as that which is 
 
152 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 decisive, important and controlling." "There 
 have been others at other times, equally im 
 portant, equally exciting, equally controll 
 ing." But whatever be the question, Davis 
 meant always "to assert my independence, 
 awed by no authority into acts which I disap 
 prove. 
 
 Non civium ardor prava jubentium, 
 Mente quatit solida neque auster. 
 
 "No sir, not even the south wind. Whether 
 it relate to a matter of financial policy, or to 
 a matter of sectional strife, no man is fit for 
 this place who is not willing to take his politi 
 cal life in his hand and, without looking back, 
 go forward on the line of w r hat he regards as 
 right, and, sir, whether it relates to the ma 
 terial interests of my constituents or to those 
 great political interests which are supposed to 
 be bound up with the existence of slavery in 
 the slave States, I trust I shall never allow 
 myself, by any clamor or by any storm, how 
 ever loud or however fierce, for an instant to 
 be made to veer from that course which strikes 
 me to be right. I am not here merely as a 
 member from the Fourth Congressional Dis 
 trict of Maryland. I am not here merely to 
 represent the residue of the State of Mary 
 land. I am not entitled to consult their preju 
 dices as only worthy of regard. I am bound 
 to look to a wider constituency, to a higher 
 
CHAPTER VII 1859-1861 153 
 
 duty. If my duty to that wider constituency 
 can be made to promote the interests of my 
 local constituency, then my duty to the two 
 coincides. But, sir, in the great necessities of 
 public life, there have been heretofore, and 
 there may be again, occasions on which I may 
 be called upon, as other public men have here 
 tofore been, to make the painful decision that 
 the interest of the nation requires that I shall 
 disregard the opinions, unanimous, firm, re 
 peatedly expressed, of my constituency." 
 
 The spirit which lay at the bottom of the 
 resolution of the House of Delegates appeared 
 tc Davis of "sinister import." He recited the 
 "extraordinary circumstances under which the 
 election of Speaker took place." The "Demo 
 cratic portion of the House, day after day, 
 branded the representatives of the great ma 
 jority of the people of the free States as trai 
 tors to the country, instigators of assassination, 
 bent upon breaking up and destroying slavery 
 in the States, carrying into the midst of our 
 families the torch and the knife of the assas 
 sin and incendiary." Southern States adopted 
 revolutionary resolutions, and, for the first 
 time, a State forgot the Constitutional prohi 
 bition of entering into compacts with another 
 and sent a messenger to Virginia, appealing 
 to her, by reason of the John Brown raid, "to 
 send delegates by law to a Convention of 
 
154 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 States, which, if it did anything, must assume 
 the form and functions of that great revolu 
 tionary Congress which took the earlier steps 
 to break the bonds that bound our fathers to 
 the throne of Great Britain." Davis stood 
 there, "sworn to support the Constitution of 
 these United States not of any other confed 
 eracy which a future sun may rise upon," and 
 did right in voting to elect as Speaker a man 
 who was a "symbol of peace." If secession 
 should come, Davis would have neglected his 
 duty had he not helped to organize a House 
 of Representatives competent to sanction 
 measures which might be necessary; or better, 
 to "avert the very possibility of collisions so 
 disastrous," by the election of one under whose 
 auspices "at least there is an hour before 
 strife, when men may pause and become cool." 
 The House of Delegates had really said that 
 "anarchy had better reign than that any one 
 called by the name of Republican should be 
 elected Speaker." Than his vote for Penning- 
 ton, there was no act of Davis s life he regret 
 ted less, "none more defensible on high and 
 statesmanlike reasons, none where the event 
 has more promptly indicated its wisdom." He 
 believed that the calmer judgment of the 
 Democrats would "soften the sweeping judg 
 ment which impeached a whole political par 
 ty of conspiracy to promote servile insurrec- 
 
CHAPTER VII 1859-1861 155 
 
 tion." "John Brown s crime" was "no inva 
 sion of Virginia at all, still less an invasion of 
 Virginia by or from a free State. It was a 
 conspiracy to free negroes, arrested in the at 
 tempt, defended with arms, stained with mur 
 ders and punished with death." Not a slave 
 joined Brown voluntarily, and, though the 
 crime was "atrocious," it revealed a state of 
 feeling "on which our eyes ought to rest with 
 satisfaction," for it "negatives the existence of 
 any conspiracy against our peace in the free 
 States of the Confederacy. Neither the plan, 
 nor the execution, revealed any higher intelli 
 gence or greater power behind the crazy en 
 thusiasts who acted in the tragedy." With 
 sharp insight, Davis urged the Southerners to 
 permit the "keenness" with which they felt 
 "this crime against the peace of a slave State" 
 to "enable them to appreciate how the more 
 aggravated events in Kansas influenced the 
 minds of men in the free States, and fired the 
 fanaticism of Brown to the point of bloody 
 revenge." Davis believed that the sympathy 
 with Brown was of "no political significance 
 in the populous North," that his "bloody type 
 of fanaticism" was "most rare among the abo 
 litionists," which body of enthusiasts "had 
 never numbered ten members of the House. " 
 Sympathy with any convicted criminal was 
 too common to excite surprise. Davis ac- 
 
156 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 cepted with full faith Sherman s statement, 
 reiterated by Corwin, that the Republicans 
 had no "intention of invading the rights or 
 quiet of any slaveholding State; that there is 
 no design or desire to tamper with, or trouble, 
 slavery where it exists; that they are willing 
 to let the subject alone, if others are willing to 
 let things stand as they are." He wished to 
 leave unanswered any "vague dissertation on 
 impractical theories, such as the possibility of 
 property in man, or whether slavery be hate 
 ful to God," and he pointed out that, from 
 1855 there had been proposed by the repre 
 sentatives of the free States no bill that was 
 not "defensive in its character; not one that 
 has looked beyond retaining the Territories 
 free which were already free." His conclu 
 sion was that: "We have, then, peace before 
 us, if we will only accept it. The free States 
 ask no new law." 
 
 On June 2 James A.Stewart, another Mary 
 land Congressman, attacked Davis for that 
 vote for Speaker which caused the election of 
 a Black Republican and made the South lose 
 the chairmanship of almost all committees. 
 In Stewart s Eastern Shore district the people 
 of all parties "utterly condemn and repudiate 
 Davis s course. Davis inquired why the Sen 
 ate of Maryland did not pass the resolution of 
 condemnation, and Stewart could make only 
 
CHAPTER VII 1859-1861 157 
 
 a lame reply. 3 Stewart continued with the 
 assertion that if Davis would go before the 
 voters of Baltimore and stand by the doc 
 trines of the Republican party, he would not 
 receive more votes than Fremont; for "the 
 people of Maryland are loyal to the Union 
 and the Constitutional rights of the South," 
 and "they look upon the Republican party as 
 hostile to the perpetuity of this Government 
 and at war with the people of the country." 
 Stewart did not know whether Davis sub 
 scribed to the doctrines of the Republican 
 party and wished to know where to locate him, 
 but Davis deigned to make him no reply. 
 
 Elaine wrote of this brilliant defence that, 
 for "eloquence of expression, force and con- 
 clusiveness of reasoning, it is entitled to rank 
 in the political classics of America as Burke s 
 address to the electors of Bristol does among 
 those of England." It was Davis s chief ap 
 pearance on the floor of the House at this ses 
 sion. 
 
 He opposed assessing a duty on wool 
 upon the American, instead of upon the for 
 eign valuation, because the same principle was 
 not elsewhere carried out in the law and be 
 cause it was difficult to fix upon a reasonable 
 average as to cleanliness, or to cleanse wool in 
 the custom house. 5 He urged an appropria 
 tion of $10,000 for repairs needed at the Bal- 
 
158 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 timore Custom House 6 on account of fire, and 
 that the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad be per 
 mitted to extend its tracks through certain 
 streets in Washington and to build a bridge 
 over the Potomac River. 7 He refused to sup 
 port the Pacific Railroad bill, though it pro 
 posed an object which lay very near his heart, 8 
 because the charter was given to a voluntary 
 association, without a grant of eminent do 
 main. The "work can be accomplished only 
 by a corporation, or by direct action of the 
 Government, w r hich method I prefer." He 
 hesitated to "create a corporation, holding 
 such stupendous power," and proposed that 
 the work be subdivided among corporations, 
 each of which should be coextensive with a 
 State, and thus the influence of a non-resident 
 corporation would be prevented. 
 
 Believing that sailing vessels were of no 
 value, 9 he advocated fitting up as many as pos 
 sible of those contained in the navy with auxil 
 iary steam power. He opposed meddling with 
 the arrangement of studies at West Point/ 
 and moved to strike out an appropriation for 
 barracks at Camp Cooper and at Fort Mon 
 roe, where he had been recently, since the 
 means of the Government were so scanty. He 
 also opposed, on behalf of the Ways and 
 Means Committee, an appropriation for the 
 payment of volunteers called into service in 
 
CHAPTER VII 1859-1861 159 
 
 Kansas in 1856, and the establishment of a 
 post in the Red River Valley, for which there 
 had been no recommendation from the War 
 Department. "The fact that Indians in that 
 locality kill and scalp each other is no valid 
 reason why the Government should appropri 
 ate money to build a fort for the protection of 
 the whites." On the other hand, he favored 
 an appropriation for the purchase of ord 
 nance, since the result of "any military opera 
 tion hereafter is, in great measure, dependent 
 on being able to compete with any nation of 
 the world in the improved arms of modern 
 warfare." n 
 
 At the Chicago convention of the Republi 
 can party in 1860 eight votes were cast for 
 Davis as Vice-President on the first ballot, 12 
 and we cannot but regret that such a sound 
 anti-slavery man and a Border State Unionist 
 was not named to make the campaign with 
 Lincoln and to lessen the force of the charge 
 that the Republican was a sectional party. 13 
 When Wilmot, of Pennsylvania, moved not to 
 receive the delegates from Maryland to the 
 convention, Cleveland, of Connecticut, made 
 the convincing reply that "but for Davis, of 
 Maryland, our hopes of victory in the strug 
 gle to organize the House of Representatives 
 would have been dashed to pieces, yet we 
 haggled over giving Maryland a vote." 
 
160 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 During the Presidential campaign Davis 
 made an important speech to the voters of the 
 Fourth Congressional District. 15 He began 
 with expressing his joy "over the dissolution 
 of the Democratic party," which had pro 
 claimed that, upon its integrity, "depended 
 the integrity of the Union." Davis asserted 
 that the Democratic party had pushed the 
 country near "the brink of the precipice of 
 disunion," and then, after reciting the record 
 of Maryland in voting for Scott and for Fill- 
 more, Presidential candidates opposed to the 
 Democrats, urged his auditors to vote for Bell 
 and Everett. "The most important of all 
 things" was a "change in the government, with 
 which the Democratic party was not fit to be 
 entrusted." The firing on the election mob in 
 Washington, the subjecting of the people of 
 Kansas to military rule, the "weak wielding" 
 of power against the Mormons in Utah, the 
 expedition to Paraguay, the illegal firing on 
 neutral vessels near Vera Cruz, the attempt of 
 Democrats in Congress to have the President 
 seize the States of Chihuahua and Sonora, all 
 these things show that that party has forgot 
 ten "all the limitations upon the executive 
 power, and they are grasping at the right to 
 wield the sword at the pleasure of the Presi 
 dent." Furthermore, the swelling of the ex 
 penses of the Government, in a time of com- 
 
CHAPTER 111859-1861 161 
 
 mercial panic, proved their incapacity, as did 
 the incurring of a public debt in a time of 
 profound peace, the corruption of the civil 
 service, the "reckless use of public money in 
 the elections," the veto of Merrill s Agricul 
 tural College bill, and the "failure to remodel 
 the tariff so as to protect all the varied inter 
 ests of American industry." Davis believed 
 that the Democrats should be ousted from 
 power, so that the administration might "give 
 us the laws which are essential to the pros 
 perity of the industry of the country," build 
 the Pacific railroad, "reinstate the system of 
 improvement of rivers and harbors," reorga 
 nize the navy, and place the army upon a 
 proper footing. These reforms will never be 
 accomplished by the Democratic party; for, 
 so long as it "shall remain in power, so long 
 there will be nothing but one eternal howl on 
 the negro question to keep themselves in." 
 
 Through his arduous public duties Davis 
 had been unable to attend a public meeting be 
 fore this one, but he had kept his eye upon the 
 current of public affairs. With absolute truth, 
 he told his audience that he was not "fright 
 ened by popular clamor," nor "eaten up by 
 any personal ambition that would lead me to 
 hide, in any particular, any opinion of mine." 
 He referred to his vote for Pennington, which 
 he would repeat, if it were necessary. He 
 11 
 
162 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 could not be induced, by "any amount of in 
 timidation or threat or insinuation," to "make 
 any combination with a Democrat." "I will 
 do everything that is honorable to elect John 
 Bell." The Democratic party had "two wings, 
 but no body," and the opposition, "representing 
 the great body of the once powerful and dom 
 inant Whig party," was also divided from top 
 to bottom. This was a great misfortune, for 
 neither Lincoln nor Bell, if chosen President, 
 could carry on the Government without the 
 united support of these members of Congress 
 who opposed the Democrats. The "oblitera 
 tion of the lines of demarcation" between fol 
 lowers of Bell and of Lincoln must be striven 
 for. Davis was "for that party really of the 
 Union and of the Constitution a party united 
 and powerful over the whole Republic, de 
 voted to the interests of the whole country 
 which will inflict wrong or insult on the sen 
 timents, the feelings, the rights, the interests 
 of none." He warned men not "to excite pas 
 sions or fears wantonly, for it is difficult to 
 calm excited passions or fears." Davis yield 
 ed to "none in devotion to the interests" of 
 Bell, but in eloquent phrases declared that he 
 would never allow himself to "join in a 
 clamor" against the Republicans, "which I 
 know to be baseless, which I believe to be in a 
 great measure dishonest, and which I am con- 
 
CHAPTER VII 1859-1861 163 
 
 vinced is dangerous to the best interests of the 
 country." The North was not "filled with 
 John Browns," the Republicans were not 
 "traitors to the Constitution, hostile to your 
 interests, bent on servile insurrection, endeav 
 oring to invade your State institutions and 
 make your families insecure and your lives a 
 torment." Those who spread these ideas "are 
 playing into the hands of that element of dis 
 union which exists at the South," and which 
 desired, in the event of Lincoln s election, "to 
 precipitate them into a revolution." In vot 
 ing for candidates for office, "We must guide 
 ourselves according to the policy we know 
 they are going to pursue, and allow their ab 
 stract opinions to remain abstract opinions, 
 unless they are called into active practice and 
 are matters directly in issue. I say that, at 
 this moment, according to the avowal of every 
 party not Democratic mark the limitation- 
 according to the avowal of every party except 
 ing the two wings of the Democratic party, 
 the slavery question is absolutely settled, if 
 the Democracy will let it alone." Lincoln had 
 even stated that the Fugitive Slave law should 
 be executed. Davis believed that "the way to 
 settle the slavery question is to be silent on it," 
 and that there was "no ground for fear, in the 
 event of Mr. Lincoln s succeeding." Mr. 
 Breckenridge, the "seceding candidate of the 
 
1 64 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 Democratic party," holds opinions "the most 
 extreme, untenable and dangerous of all," for 
 "he maintains that the Constitution of itself 
 carries slavery into the Territories; that, un 
 der it, any individual has a right to carry his 
 slave there without any law; and that laws 
 must be passed by Congress, as they may be 
 come needful, forthe purpose of protecting it." 
 The election of Mr. Breckenridge will, there 
 fore, result in a "perpetual struggle in the 
 Congress of the United States by persons who 
 desire to carry negroes into the Territories, 
 and do not wish to do so until they are pro 
 tected by law, to secure the passage of laws by 
 Congress to protect them there. There is not 
 the remotest probability that such a law can 
 ever be passed through both Houses of Con 
 gress. It is, therefore, an element of perpetual 
 discord, perpetually tending to widen still 
 farther apart the two portions of the Union." 
 Douglas, in the second place, had shown 
 "that the Constitution does not carry slavery 
 into the Territory," that the "inhabitants of a 
 Territory have themselves the absolute right 
 to introduce and allow slavery, if they see fit" 
 He had the better of Breckenridge, "as a ques 
 tion of political history." The "extreme 
 Southern portion of his party would not lend 
 themselves to him; they thought they had been 
 dealing with a tool, and they found they had 
 
CHAPTER VII 1859-1861 165 
 
 been dealing with a master." Douglas had 
 done another good thing in agreeing with 
 Reverdy Johnson, who argued the Dred Scott 
 case, 16 in saying that the Supreme Court never 
 passed upon Breckenridge s doctrine, which 
 had been "adopted by the great body of the 
 Democratic party at the South." That party 
 had "lived upon its boasted orthodoxy for the 
 last twenty years," and now Douglas had 
 given "again freedom of opinion," so that 
 "men can speak above their breath; men can 
 read history, and repeat it, without the fear of 
 being tarred and feathered in any neighbor 
 hood in the South." For this service "future 
 generations will owe him a debt of gratitude." 
 
 Turning to Bell, Davis admitted that, "as a 
 matter of abstract opinion," he agreed with 
 Breckenridge; but, nominated by the Consti 
 tutional Union party, he stood upon a plat 
 form "in favor of things remaining as they 
 are," and "of silence on the negro question." 
 Everett held opposite opinions, but the "ques 
 tion is never what he may think as a question 
 of law, but what he will do as an administra 
 tor of the law." He had formerly expressed 
 anti-slavery opinions, but now had accepted 
 a nomination of a party pledging its nominees 
 "to silence, to quiet, to leaving things as they 
 are, to the faithful and honest execution of 
 every law." 
 
1 66 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 Lastly, he turned to "meet the question right 
 in the eye," "what are the opinions of Mr. 
 Lincoln?" Many persons said that, if he were 
 elected, they would dissolve the Union. 
 Davis did not believe that they would do this, 
 but examined "the ground upon which they 
 might act and found no question open, except 
 the question of the Territories, which were all 
 absolutely free in point of fact." They were 
 in the exact condition that they were, when 
 "Clay introduced his great Compromise bill 
 of 1850," with reference to territory acquired 
 from Mexico. The "great wisdom of that 
 compromise was that it stated that, as slavery 
 did not exist nor was likely to be introduced 
 therein, it was not expedient for Congress to 
 provide by law for the introduction or exclu 
 sion of the institution." With masterly skill 
 Davis continued, linking Lincoln s name to 
 that of the revered Whig leader and claiming 
 that both men thought the same with refer 
 ence "to the territory that it is free. It is, 
 therefore, needless to pass any law upon the 
 subject." Quotations from Clay s speeches 
 proved that he considered slavery an evil 
 which "ought not to be extended voluntarily." 
 Lincoln also had "no legislation to ask, unless 
 legislation is asked on the other side." John 
 Sherman, when he was the Republican candi 
 date for the Speakership, made a similar 
 
CHAPTER VII 1859-1861 167 
 
 "great declaration," that "there is not one sub 
 ject of sectional controversy which can pos 
 sibly arise, unless it is thrust upon us by the 
 opponents." From the time of the repeal of 
 the Missouri Compromise, the most extreme 
 Republican propositions aimed at nothing 
 more than "reinstating things as they were 
 prior" to that repeal. "The struggle has been, 
 on the part of the Administration, in Demo 
 cratic hands, to force slavery into" Kansas 
 against the will of the people. The struggle, 
 on the part of the whole body of the Northern 
 people, has been to prevent slavery from being 
 forced into Kansas." Davis had been "a par 
 ty to all this controversy," struggling some 
 times mistakenly to do what he thought was 
 best. He summarized the history of the 
 Congressional treatment of the subject to 
 prove his point. The Republican platform at 
 Chicago left out the provision of "the wild 
 platform" of 1856, which called for laws to 
 "prohibit in the Territories those twin relics 
 of barbarism, polygamy and slavery," and the 
 bills which Grow, of Pennsylvania, a "stiff 
 Free Soiler," introduced into Congress for 
 the organization of new Territories, simply 
 declared, in the spirit of Clay, that nothing in 
 the bills should be taken to authorize slavery, 
 an "imprudent" declaration of opinion, but 
 not a "law of affirmative exclusion." The men 
 
168 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 of Maryland were exhorted "to look at the 
 facts and to remember that, among the mil 
 lions of the North, there are men as wise as 
 we are, as honest as we are, as well educated as 
 we are, having as great interests at stake in the 
 perpetuity of the Union as we have, and as 
 earnestly and honestly devoted to the integrity 
 of the Constitution as we are, and that they 
 are not likely, deliberately, to invite civil 
 war." Those who were "furious on the negro 
 question" were an "equally small minority in 
 both sections." Their "power is clamor." 
 The proof that the "conservative masses of 
 the North" were misrepresented was shown, 
 in that the Abolitionists were talking of put 
 ting a separate Presidential ticket in the field, 
 and that the investigations of the John Brown 
 raid, made by the United States Senate and by 
 the Virginia Legislature, found no evidence 
 implicating "any man holding political posi 
 tion, or aspiring to hold any position, in the 
 North, with that insane performance." Even 
 the Abolitionists in general, "so far from ex 
 citing rebellion, are of the Quaker s opinion, 
 that it is wrong to shed blood." If Lincoln 
 wins, he will let the slavery question rest 
 where it is, and will agree with Bates, who 
 stated that, with slavery in the States, Con 
 gress had no concern, but that Congress ought 
 not to exercise the power which it had, so as 
 
CHAPTER VII 1859-1861 169 
 
 to "plant and establish slavery in any Terri 
 tory heretofore" free, or to "acquire tropical 
 regions for the purpose of converting them 
 into slave States." The Democratic party 
 alone wished to disturb the status quo, to ac 
 quire additional territory in Mexico, which 
 was free; or in Cuba, which was slave. The 
 threats against the Union, in the event of Lin 
 coln s election, formed "another instance of 
 that persistent agitation of the slavery ques 
 tion, and appealing to men s fears and at 
 tempting to shake their nerves, which has been 
 the policy, in my judgment, of the Demo 
 cratic party for a great many years past." 
 Davis did not share any fear of disunion, and 
 he was averse to the fusion movement against 
 Lincoln, which had begun in some States. If 
 there were real danger, "all parties should be 
 merged in the presence of the over-ruling ne 
 cessity of the country," over the whole coun 
 try, and not merely in one or two doubtful 
 States in the North. For himself, Davis said 
 again that he would "do anything that is hon 
 orable to elect John Bell to the Presidency," 
 but he would "not give the lie to all political 
 truth by casting a vote, or half a vote, for men 
 with whom I differ on every political ques 
 tion." Fusion would not really help Bell. If 
 the conditions w r ere as grievous as the Demo 
 crats say, let them abandon their candidates, 
 
170 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 vote for Bell, the Union candidate, and cer 
 tainly defeat Lincoln. A fusion of Bell voters 
 with the Democrats would probably throw 
 the election into the House, where "the in 
 sane method of assault upon and misrepresen 
 tation of Mr. Lincoln s opinions" by a portion 
 of Bell s supporters, had "put an end to the 
 possibility" of the Republicans voting for 
 Bell. The Democratic States would not vote 
 for Bell, and there would probably be no elec 
 tion in the House. "Scenes of violence and 
 tumult" might follow. Davis had gone 
 through two contests in the House of Repre 
 sentatives for the election of Speaker and had 
 "seen those scenes of violence; I have heard 
 words of menace; I have looked, from day to 
 day, to some outbreak that would drench that 
 hall in blood." "By the infinite blessing of 
 Providence, that danger has been averted," 
 but Davis would not take the risk again of 
 bringing into the House a controversy which 
 the people ought to decide. The Democratic 
 majority in the Senate would gladly elect one 
 of that party as Vice-President, if possible, 
 and, if not, may prefer to have a year of in 
 terregnum, or to elect Breckenridge as Presi 
 dent of the Senate and treat him as President 
 of the United States. "When the matter goes 
 to the Senate, if they see fit to make no elec 
 tion, we are pushed upon this dangerous alter- 
 
CHAPTER 111859-1861 171 
 
 native, a vacant or a disputed Presidency." 
 Douglas, Breckenridge, or even Bell, are as 
 sectional candidate as is Lincoln, for it is the 
 misery of our condition that, turn wherever we 
 may, we find that this infernal strife has split 
 every body into a thousand pieces, and no man 
 can tell where to find the piece that belongs to 
 him." This condition should be faced. "There 
 is a degree of timidity that is, of all things, in 
 my judgment, the most dangerous in political 
 life. Half the blood that was shed in the 
 French Revolution was shed from sheer ter 
 ror. It was not courage, it was not ferocity, 
 it was sheer terror that made them cut their 
 neighbors throats today, lest those neighbors 
 should cut theirs tomorrow. That is the state 
 of mind in which the conduct of too many in 
 this canvass tends to throw the people of the 
 United States." He concluded his address 
 with an account of the destruction of the im 
 age of Serapis at Alexandria, and with the 
 cry, "Gentlemen, smite fearlessly the Demo 
 cratic party. The Union will survive its frag 
 
 ments." 
 
 Mindful of the dire emergency, Davis 
 wrote from Washington a public letter to his 
 constituents on January 2, i86i. 17 Lincoln 
 had been elected; South Carolina had seceded. 
 The other far-Southern States were following 
 her. When Congress met in December, Davis 
 
172 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 had been named as the member from Mary 
 land of the special committee, consisting of 
 one Congressman from each State, to consider 
 that part of President Buchanan s message 
 which related to the "present perilous condi 
 tion of the country." From that close contact 
 with the course of events, out of his earnest 
 soul, he tried to avert a disastrous ending of 
 that "drama of revolution" which had been 
 opened in South Carolina. To his vision, 
 "Ambitious and restless men, availing them 
 selves of factitious fear, which they have in 
 spired, and sectional passions, which they have 
 inflamed, are conspiring the overthrow of the 
 Government. They hope to found a Southern 
 Confederacy on the fragments of the United 
 States of America," and ask Maryland to join 
 it, rather than to "desert the South and join 
 the North." Davis replied that such was 
 not the question which Maryland was "called 
 upon to answer. Maryland is now joined to 
 both the free and the slave States, under the 
 wisest Constitution and by the best govern 
 ment the world ever saw. That government 
 has never wronged her, or failed to protect 
 her. The formation of a Southern Confed 
 eracy must be preceded by the destruction of 
 that government. Till it is broken up and its 
 armies defeated, there can be no Southern 
 Confederacy. Maryland, therefore, is asked, 
 
CHAPTER VII 1859-1861 173 
 
 not whether she prefers to enter a Northern 
 or a Southern Confedracy, but she is asked to 
 form a coalition to break up and destroy the 
 Constitution which Washington founded and 
 to plunge into the horrors of a civil war for 
 the purpose of creating a Southern Confed 
 eracy. That is the true question you have to 
 consider, for peaceful secession is a delusion, 
 and if you yield to the arts now employed to 
 delude you, the soil of Maryland will be 
 trampled by armies struggling for the Na 
 tional Capitol." 
 
 Davis unhesitatingly answered his question 
 by saying that "the interests of Maryland are 
 indissolubly connected with the interests of 
 the United States; any division of the confed 
 eracy is to her fatal." His foresight led him 
 to predict that, "no matter what new combi 
 nations arise, whether Maryland stands alone 
 or unites her fate to any new confederacy on 
 her Northern or her Southern border, she is 
 utterly ruined and prostrate, for this genera 
 tion at least. When she will revive, God only 
 knows. If the present Government be de 
 stroyed, Maryland slaveholders lose the only 
 guarantee for the return of their slaves. 
 Every commercial line of communication is 
 severed. Custom house barriers arrest her 
 merchants at every frontier. Her commerce 
 on the ocean is the prey of every pirate, or the 
 
i 7 4 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 sport of every maritime power. Her great 
 railroad loses every connection which makes 
 it valuable. If two republics divide the ter 
 ritory of the United States, Maryland is 
 ruined, whichever she join." 
 
 If she joins the South, "her slaves will 
 walk over the Pennsylvania line unmolested," 
 and the reopened African slave trade will de 
 stroy the value of those who may remain. 
 "Free trade will open every port, and cotton 
 and woolen factories and iron and machine 
 works of Maryland would be prostrate before 
 European competition." Baltimore will not 
 be the emporium of such a republic. "Noth 
 ing intended for the South will ever pass Nor 
 folk, and from the West we will be severed 
 by custom houses, duties and political antipa 
 thies in favor of New York." "The expenses 
 of government must be doubled by the neces 
 sity of a large standing army, for all the con 
 ditions of present security will be gone; and 
 a great Northern power, divided from us by 
 an air line, will be an ever-impending danger. 
 In the war of separation, and even after, 
 Maryland will be an outgoing province, with 
 out a fortification or a natural boundary, al 
 ways overrun at the first sound of arms, in 
 capable of being defended by the weaker 
 power, of which she will form a part, whose 
 natural line of defense must be the Potomac, 
 
CHAPTER VII 1859-1861 175 
 
 and on this side of which no Southern army 
 would venture a decisive battle." 
 
 Joining a Northern republic would also be 
 ruinous for slavery and Southern trade would 
 be lost; but there can be no division of the 
 Union along State lines. "Western Virginia 
 belongs to the Valley of the Mississippi. Vir 
 ginia can never withdraw from the existing 
 Confederacy undivided; her western boun 
 dary will be the Blue Ridge. Maryland will 
 be swayed by adverse forces, which will prob 
 ably give her northern and western counties 
 to Pennsylvania; her peninsular to Virginia." 
 As to Baltimore, whatever may be her sym 
 pathies "in the present political heats," in the 
 long run her interests will decide her future 
 relations. 
 
 In spite of these consequences, men, "madly 
 bent on revolution," wish the "convocation of 
 the Legislature." Men join with them who 
 are strangers to these purposes and blind to 
 the results of such a session, which will "in 
 spire the revolutionists," "dishearten the 
 friends of the Government" in the South, "de 
 stroy the moderate feelings of the free States," 
 and "greatly embarrass the President" "The 
 halls of legislation will immediately become 
 the focus of revolutionary conspiracy," which 
 may lead to anarchy and the flames of civil 
 war, while "within its constitutional powers" 
 
176 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 the Legislature can do nothing. Maryland s 
 only danger is the destruction of the Union. 
 Every person in Maryland is bound to obey 
 the Federal laws as enforced by the Presi 
 dent. The Constitution forbids any agree 
 ment between Maryland and any other State 
 for any purpose, and a convention of the cen 
 tral slave States would be an illegal and pos 
 sibly a "treasonable assembly to levy war for 
 the overthrow of the Government." "Mary 
 land is not ready to be entrapped. Those who 
 propose such a convention should specify "the 
 acts, so plainly unconstitutional and so intol 
 erably oppressive to them, that they are will 
 ing to tear the Government to pieces in the 
 pursuit of redress." If there are such acts, 
 and the people prepare to destroy the Union, 
 let them also "prepare their hearts for war, 
 and their fields for desolation, and their chil 
 dren for slaughter. Let them prepare for an 
 era of proscriptions, confiscations and exiles, 
 to be followed by anarchy and be closed by 
 the rude despotism of the sword." There are 
 no sufficient causes for secession. "Will any 
 one propose gravely to rush on such ruin, be 
 cause a few negroes have run away and not 
 been caught because some liberty bills have 
 been passed and never acted on; because a 
 mob, once in a while, has resisted an unpopu 
 lar law; because Maryland has been in a mi- 
 
CHAPTER VII 1859-1861 177 
 
 nority in a Presidential election? Are the 
 people of Maryland dreaming of a revolution, 
 in the event of a failure to resettle the Terri 
 torial question to the satisfaction of Southern 
 secessionists?" No, "if discontented men at 
 tempt to destroy the Government, because it 
 is not changed to suit them, the right and the 
 duty, the highest interest and the loyal honor 
 of Maryland require her to sustain the laws 
 of the United States and the Constitution, 
 which are her only safety. Let us not counte 
 nance revolutionary violence to redress imagi 
 nary wrongs by impossible measures." Davis 
 believed that "the firm attitude of Maryland 
 is now the chief hope of peace," and that if 
 the citizens of the State "firmly adhere to the 
 United States against all enemies, resolved to 
 obey the Constitution and see it obeyed, your 
 example will arrest the spirit of revolution 
 and greatly aid the Government in restoring, 
 without bloodshed, its authority." 
 
 When the report of the special committee 
 of thirty-three was made, Davis addressed the 
 House on February 7, 18 expressing the strong 
 est Union sentiments. Five years later Cres- 
 well said: "For such utterances only a small 
 part of the people of his State was on that day 
 prepared. Seduced by the wish, they still be 
 lieved that the Union could be preserved by 
 fair and mutual concessions. 19 His language 
 
 12 
 
178 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 was then deemed too harsh and unconciliatory 
 and hundreds, I among the number, de 
 nounced him in unmeasured terms. Before 
 the expiration of three months, events had 
 demonstrated his wisdom and our folly." Yet 
 there is small wonder that the scorching words 
 with which he began his speech startled men, 
 who still hoped against hope for an accommo 
 dation. Rising in his place, Davis cried: 
 "We are at the end of the insane revel of par 
 tisan license which for thirty years has, in the 
 United States, worn the mask of government 
 We are about to close that masquerade by the 
 dance of death. The natives of the world look 
 anxiously to see if the people, ere they tread 
 that measure, will come to themselves." Ve 
 hemently he attacked the policy of the Demo 
 cratic administrations, which had as its result 
 that "the original ideas of the Constitution 
 have faded from men s minds," so that they 
 no longer remember "that the United States is 
 a government entitled to respect and com 
 mand, that the Constitution furnishes remedy 
 for every grievance and a mode of redress for 
 every wrong; that the States are limited with 
 in their spheres, are charged with no duties to 
 each other, and bear no relation to the other 
 States, excepting through their common head, 
 the Government of the United States." Con 
 sequently, "unconstitutional commissioners 
 
CHAPTER VII 1859-1861 179 
 
 flit from State to State, or assemble at the na 
 tional capital to counsel peace or instigate 
 war." To Davis s view, "the operation of the 
 Government has been withdrawn from the 
 great public interests, in order that competing 
 parties might not be embarrassed in the strug 
 gle for power by diversities of opinion upon 
 questions of policy, and the public mind, in 
 that struggle, has been exclusively turned on 
 the slavery question, which no interest re 
 quired to be touched by any department of 
 the Government." While the people s "pas 
 sions, inflamed by the fierce struggle for the 
 Presidency, were the easy prey of revolution 
 ary audacity, within two months of a formal, 
 peaceful, regular election of the Chief Magis 
 trate of the United States, in which the whole 
 body of the people of each State competed 
 with zeal for the prize, without any new event 
 intervening, without any new grievances al 
 leged, without, any new menaces having been 
 made, we have seen, in the short course of one 
 month, a small portion of the population of 
 six States transcend the bounds, at a single 
 leap, at once of the State and the National 
 Constitutions, usurp the extraordinary prerog 
 ative of repealing the supreme law of the land, 
 exclude the great mass of their fellow-citizens 
 from the protection of the Constitution, de 
 clare themselves emancipated from the obli- 
 
i8o HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 gations which the Constitution pronounces to 
 be supreme over them and over their laws, 
 arrogate to themselves all the prerogatives of 
 independent power, rescind the acts of cession 
 of the public property, occupy the public of 
 fices, seize the fortresses of the United States, 
 confided to the faith of the people among 
 whom they were placed, embezzle the public 
 arms concentrated there in defense of the 
 United States, array thousands of men in arms 
 against the United States, and actually wage 
 war on the Union by besieging two of their 
 fortresses and firing on a vessel bearing, under 
 the flag of the United States, reinforcements 
 and provisions to one of them." The disloyal 
 conduct of Buchanan s Cabinet appeared to 
 obliterate the "very boundaries of right and 
 wrong," and "the doom of the Republic seems 
 to be sealed, when the President, surrounded 
 by such ministers, permits, without rebuke, 
 the Government to be betrayed, neglects the 
 solemn warning of the first soldier of the age 
 (General Scott), till almost every fort is a 
 prey to domestic treason, and accepts assur 
 ances of peace in his time, at the expense of 
 leaving the national honor unguarded. His 
 message gives aid and comfort to the enemies 
 of the Union by avowing his inability to main 
 tain its integrity, and, paralyzed and stupe 
 fied, he stands amid the crash of the falling 
 
CHAPTER VII 1859-1861 181 
 
 republic, still muttering not in my time 
 not in my time after me, the deluge." 
 
 Buchanan has earned the Tacitean phrase, 
 "consensu omnium capax imperil, nisi im- 
 perasset" ; for "the acquisition of supreme 
 power has revealed his incapacity and crowns 
 him with the unenviable honor of the chief 
 destroyer of his country s greatness." 
 
 If the rebellious States are recognized, we 
 "abandon the Gulf and Coast of Mexico, or 
 surrender the forts of the United States; yield 
 the privilege of free commerce and free inter 
 course; strike down the guarantees of the 
 Constitution for our fellow-citizens in all that 
 wide region; create a thousand miles of inte 
 rior frontier to be furnished with internal cus 
 tom houses and armed with internal forts, to 
 be themselves a prey to the next caprice of 
 State sovereignty; organize a vast standing 
 army, ready at a moment s warning to resist 
 aggression; create upon our Southern boun 
 dary a perpetual foothold for foreign powers 
 whenever caprice, ambition or hostility may 
 see fit to invite the despot of France, or the 
 aggressive power of England to attack us 
 upon our undefended frontier; sever that 
 unity of territory which we have spent mil 
 lions and labored through three generations 
 to create and establish; pull down the flag of 
 the United States and take a lower station 
 
182 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 among the nations of the earth; abandon the 
 high prerogative of leading the march of free 
 dom, the hope of struggling nationalities, the 
 terror of frowning tyrants, the boast of the 
 world, the light of liberty, to become the sport 
 and prey of despots whose thrones we consoli 
 date by our fall ; to be greeted by Mexico with 
 the salutation, Art thou also become weak as 
 we? Art thou become like unto us? This is 
 recognition." "Refuse to recognize! We 
 must not coerce a State in the peaceful process 
 of secession. We must not coerce a State en 
 gaged in the peaceful process of firing into a 
 United States vessel to prevent the re-enforce 
 ment of a United States fort. We must not 
 coerce States which, without any declaration 
 of war or any act of hostility of any kind, 
 have united, as have Mississippi, Florida and 
 Louisiana, their joint force to seize a public 
 fortress. We must not coerce a State which 
 has planted cannon upon its shores to prevent 
 the free navigation of the Mississippi. We 
 must not coerce a State which has robbed the 
 United States Treasury. This is peaceful se 
 cession." His clear vision appreciated fully 
 the situation. He did not wish "to exasperate 
 the already too much inflamed state of the 
 public mind;" but he insisted "that the Con 
 stitution of the United States and the laws 
 made in pursuance thereof must be enforced; 
 
CHAPTER VII 1859-1861 183 
 
 and they who stand across the path of that 
 enforcement must either destroy the power of 
 the United States, or it will destroy them." 
 He still hoped that such collision might be 
 avoided, that "the revenues may be collected 
 in disaffected ports on board United States 
 ships," that no vessel shall be allowed "to pass 
 out unless she has papers of the United States 
 on board," that postal routes may be suspend 
 ed, that courts of justice "may be supported as 
 they were in Utah," or removed to "States 
 which are not disturbed." Even so clear a 
 vision as his, still hoped that these "regular 
 peaceful methods" would "allow time for re 
 flection." Davis believed that "the Govern 
 ment of the United States was" vested by the 
 Constitution with adequate power to meet 
 every emergency. It is required to guarantee 
 a republican form of government to every 
 State. A government whose officers are not 
 sworn to supportthe Constitution of the United 
 States is mere usurpation and not a republi 
 can government." The Federal Government 
 has the power to "suppress insurrection," and 
 "insurrections ordered by State authority will 
 be suppressed as promptly as others." "If, to 
 the regular execution of the laws of the United 
 States, armed resistance shall be made, the 
 Government has authority to disperse those 
 who oppose the enforcement. This is not war. 
 
184 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 It is supporting the civil power by the mili 
 tary arm, against unlawful combinations too 
 powerful to be otherwise dealt with. When 
 the United States suppress an insurrection, or 
 enforce the laws, they harm only those actu 
 ally resisting, and then, only so far as to re 
 move their resistance to the civil arm. Its end 
 is their dispersion. The United States carry 
 the Constitution before their arms; its provi 
 sions hedge their bayonets, and every weapon 
 sinks when its authority is admitted." 
 
 The war is due to the "revolutionary fac 
 tion," long "mingled in the ranks" of the 
 Democratic party, to the "tenacity with which 
 defeated politicians cling to power, and to 
 the excitement of the popular mind by "fierce 
 discussions upon the topic of slavery, on which 
 the Southern people are so justly sensitive." 
 In these discussions there have been made 
 "the grossest misrepresentations of the pur 
 poses of the great body of the Northern peo 
 ple." Without a constitutional amendment, 
 Davis believed that there might be peace, if 
 Northern men, like Charles Francis Adams 
 and Thomas Corwin, could induce the South 
 to believe that there existed no purpose to dis 
 turb slavery in any State. 
 
 Davis then proceeded to lay before the 
 House the results to which the Committee of 
 Thirty-three had come, "to compare the rem- 
 
CHAPTER 111859-1861 185 
 
 edies that the majority and the minority of 
 the committee, respectively, propose, and to 
 contrast the complaints and the remedies of 
 the minority with themselves." 
 
 The first recommendation was that an en 
 deavor be made to secure the repeal of the 
 personal liberty laws of the States and the 
 amendment of the fugitive slave law, so "as 
 not to give cause or pretext for the fears which 
 it has occasioned at the North," by providing, 
 in case of a claim of freedom, for a trial be 
 fore a court of the United States in the slave 
 State whither the alleged fugitive is carried. 
 The plan of the minority, that when "fugi 
 tives are rescued by violence, the United States 
 shall pay the value to their owner and have 
 the privilege of sueing the county or district 
 permitting the rescue for the amount," would 
 "perpetuate," not "close the slavery contro 
 versy." 
 
 As to Territories, the South had secured the 
 repeal of the Missouri Compromise line and 
 now demands that it be restored by constitu 
 tional amendment. "A more flagrant, inex 
 plicable, unintelligible case of capricious in 
 consistency is unknown to history." No law 
 can be passed through Congress, "establishing 
 slavery in an inch of territory where it does 
 not already exist," yet this amendment stated 
 that "slavery is hereby recognized as existing" 
 
1 86 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 south of 36 30 north latitude. The South 
 not only asks an impossible thing, but also asks 
 "the people of the North to declare that they 
 have been hypocritical in their opinions, that 
 African slavery is not merely unpolitic, but 
 immoral, and themselves ingraft in the Con 
 stitution a doctrine which you accuse them of 
 hating so eternally that they are struggling to 
 destroy it, illegally and unconstitutionally. 1 
 The only territory then owned by the United 
 States south of the Missouri line was that of 
 New Mexico, and the proposal of C. F. Ad 
 ams, which Davis endorsed, was to form that 
 into a State, removing the subject of contro 
 versy, and to leave the residue of the terri 
 tory north of the line to the administration of 
 the law. In the two months of the session 
 which had passed no member had urged the 
 exclusion of slavery from this Northern re 
 gion. The propositions which Davis advo 
 cated would satisfy the people, and he be 
 lieved that they would prevent Virginia from 
 seceding. 
 
 He could speak for Maryland. "Confident 
 in the strength of this great Government to 
 protect every interest, grateful for almost a 
 century of unalloyed blessings, she has fo 
 mented no agitation; she has done no act to 
 disturb the public peace; she has rested in the 
 consciousness that, if there be wrong, the Con- 
 
CHAPTER VII 1859-1861 187 
 
 gress of the United States will remedy it; 
 and that none exists which revolution would 
 not aggravate." He asserted that he spoke for 
 "the people of Maryland, who are loyal to the 
 United States," and continued, saying: "In 
 Maryland we are dull and cannot comprehend 
 the right of secession. We do not recognize 
 the right of Maryland to repeal the Constitu 
 tion of the United States ; and if any conven 
 tion there called by whatever authority, 20 un 
 der whatever auspices, undertake to inaugu 
 rate revolution in Maryland, their authority 
 will be resisted and defied in arms on the soil 
 of Maryland, in the name and by the author 
 ity of the Constitution of the United States. 
 A majority have no more right than a minor 
 ity. The right of a majority is a constitu 
 tional right. For the destruction of the Con 
 stitution they can have no right. We in Mary 
 land will submit to no attempt of a minority, 
 or a majority, to drag us from under the flag 
 of the Union." With such brave words did 
 he hearten his followers. With the majority 
 of the Committee, Davis saw no need to pro 
 hibit by constitutional amendment the aboli 
 tion of slavery in the forts, dockyards, and 
 District of Columbia, nor of the interstate 
 slave trade, nor to make these prohibitions and 
 the articles touching the ratio of representa 
 tion and fugitives from labor, unchangeable, 
 
i88 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 for no one proposed to change them. "The 
 question of the immunity of slavery in the 
 States" appeared, however, to Davis to be 
 "very different." When slavery was estab 
 lished by a State, the "majority proposed to 
 quiet forever apprehension that the North 
 would destroy" the institution, and "anew to 
 consecrate the principle of State rights in in 
 ternal affairs by forbidding any change in the 
 Constitution affecting slavery in the States." 
 Davis knew thoroughly, however, that "no 
 guarantee of slavery will silence agitation, or 
 the pulpit, or the press, or incendiary publica 
 tions, or incitements to revolt, or the organ 
 ized invasion of States," like John Brown s. 
 Yet he also knew that the Northern people 
 now disclaimed the contemplation of disturb 
 ing slavery in the States, and that if that im 
 pression could be spread throughout the South 
 "the revolutionists will have few followers 
 and peace and harmony will be restored to our 
 people, in spite of every effort to disturb 
 them." 
 
 In the debates of the Congressional Session 
 of 1860-61, outside of the forementioned 
 speech, Davis took almost no part, except to 
 record his vote 21 in favor of Major Ander 
 son s course in removing to Fort Sumter. 22 He 
 was active during those months in the effort to 
 preserve the Union, and Elaine, a clear-sight- 
 
CHAPTER VII 1859-1861 189 
 
 ed observer, wrote in after years that, though 
 Davis had not co-operated with the Republi 
 cans in 1860, "under all circumstances," he 
 was a devoted friend of the Union, and that, 
 "more than to all others, to him is due the 
 maintenance of loyalty in Maryland." * 
 
 As early as January, 1861, Lincoln was con 
 sidering Davis as a possible member of his 
 Cabinet, 24 and such an appointment was 
 strongly urged, not only by the Union men of 
 Maryland, but also by such an astute politi 
 cian from another State as Thurlow Weed. 25 
 The influence of the Blair family, however, 
 was sufficient to have one of their members 
 named as Postmaster-General, and as Mont 
 gomery Blair was a resident of Maryland, 
 there was, of course, no place for Davis. 
 Blair s influence in Maryland was small, and 
 he was not regarded as one of the State s lead 
 ers, so that the Border State Republicans were 
 dissatisfied. As the Cabinet contained more 
 former Democrats than Whigs, they claimed 
 that it was not as strongly Union a body as 
 Buchanan s final Cabinet, which contained 
 Holt, Dix and Stanton. Lincoln, however, 
 held to his decision to name Blair with such 
 firmness that he said : "When that slate breaks 
 again, it will break at the top." 26 The breach 
 between Lincoln and Davis was never healed. 
 The latter was admitted by Lincoln s * friends 
 
190 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 to be a "man of too much integrity and eleva 
 tion of character to allow the imputation that 
 his action on public matters was dictated en 
 tirely by feeling or caprice," but it is quite 
 probable that Lincoln s failure to select a 
 more representative man had its effect in 
 causing Davis to distrust the President s wis 
 dom. 28 
 
 NOTES ON CHAPTER VII. 
 
 1. On March 21, E. J. Hall wrote Coleman Yellott, Senator 
 from Baltimore City, asking him how he would have voted on 
 the House resolution. He responded in a letter dated March 
 28, which the Baltimore Clipper of April 3 said was a fine 
 campaign document and which was published in pamphlet form, 
 with the title, "The North and the South: Reasons Why Cole 
 man Yellott, the State Senator of Baltimore City, would not 
 have voted to censure Henry Winter Davis for voting for Wil 
 liam Pennington for Speaker of the House of Representatives." 
 Yellott said that, as a Southern man and a slaveholder, he would 
 not have voted for McClernand, for he regarded the Demo 
 cratic party as a dangerous enemy to the true interests of the 
 South, nor would he have voted for Pennington, because he 
 was a sectional candidate. While not approving Davis s vote, 
 he would not have censured him, and he pointed out the fact 
 that the Anti-Slavery vote decreased from 1848 to 1852 because 
 of good Whig administration. Yellott objected to emigrants 
 voting on the slavery question, and was "ardently attached to the 
 principles of the American party." 
 
 2. Speeches and Addresses, 126. 
 
 2a. Brackett, Negro in Maryland, pp. 256 ff. 
 
 3. He said because of the Police bill and other important 
 matters. Davis rejoined that the Police bill passed before his 
 speech and the session of the Legislature did not end until 
 March 10. 
 
 4. I, Twenty Years in Congress, 498. 
 
 5. Speech of May 9. 
 
CHAPTER VII 1859-1861 191 
 
 6. On May 23. 
 
 7. On June 9, Grow, of Pennsylvania, proposed as an 
 amendment that the railroad be required to connect with the 
 P., W. & B. R. R. in Baltimore. 
 
 8. On May 29. 
 
 9. On June n. 
 10. On June 14. 
 
 11. As chairman of the conferees on the Army Appropria 
 tion bill, he submitted a report, which the House adopted on 
 June 19. 
 
 12. A. K. McClure, "Lincoln and the Men of the War 
 Time," 41. 
 
 13. Burgess, Civil War, I, p. 67. 
 
 14. Globe, June 20, 1860. 
 
 15. Speeches and Addresses, 146. Davis s position is clearly 
 shown by the following letter, undated, in the possession of the 
 author : 
 
 MY DEAR NICHOLLS: I think our friends have just cause to 
 be disgusted with the self-constituted Union party leaders, and 
 your resolution to make your own nomination for Mayor and 
 not to submit to their dictation meets my hearty approval. 
 
 I think also we are under no obligation to support the Union 
 nominees unless we think it advisable so to do to save Mary 
 land from the horrors of Democratic rule, and I confess I do 
 not think it possible to save the State by any other course at 
 this time. Thousands who would support Lincoln will also 
 support Bell, but many who will support Bell will not support 
 Lincoln. 
 
 If these parties divide the Democrats must take the State, 
 and we lose Court of Appeals, the Criminal Court Judge, the 
 Legislature, a Senator in Kennedy s place and the next Gov 
 ernor. Surely such consequences are too serious to be encoun 
 tered merely to spite ourselves for the insolence of the Union 
 leaders. The State of Maryland cannot be carried for Lincoln; 
 there should, therefore, be no Lincoln ticket in Maryland for the 
 same reason that there should be no Bell ticket in New Jersey 
 or Pennsylvania. Let us adhere to this policy and we will save 
 Maryland from the Democrats and hold the future in our 
 hands. Do nothing rashly till I see you. 
 Yours, 
 
 H. WINTER DAVIS. 
 
192 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 16. Davis added that it was "difficult for any one who knows 
 anything about the legal points really involved in the record 
 before the Court to surmise how it was possible for them even 
 to have gotten at it." 
 
 17. Speeches and Addresses, 189. 
 
 18. Speeches and Addresses, 200. 
 
 19. Speeches and Addresses, XXIII. 
 
 20. A self-called State Convention met at Baltimore on Feb 
 ruary 18. 
 
 21. On January 9. 
 
 22. On March 2, as chairman of the managers on part of 
 the House, he presented the report of the Committee of Confer 
 ence on the Civil Appropriation bill. 
 
 23. I, Twenty Years in Congress, 498. 
 
 24. 3 Nicolay & Hay s Lincoln, 364; 9, Nicolay & Hay, 113. 
 Lincoln s biographers state that Lincoln had the highest admira 
 tion for Davis, because of his conduct in the Thirty-fifth Con 
 gress. 
 
 25. I Memoirs, 606. See Riddle s Wade, 259. 
 
 26. Vide 3 Nicolay & Hay, 364; I Elaine s Twenty Years in 
 Congress, 285. 
 
 27. 9 Nicolay & Hay, 113. 
 
 28. Inasmuch as Davis had supported Bell in the Presiden 
 tial campaign, a delegation of Republicans, including John T. 
 Graham, who in earlier and later years was a faithful fol 
 lower of Davis, waited on Lincoln to ask that some other than 
 Davis be named. They said that no one but a man who voted 
 the Republican ticket in the preceding year should be named 
 for office. "Why, there aren t enough of you to fill the Mary 
 land offices," replied Lincoln. "Then give each of us two 
 offices," was the unabashed response. On September 20, 1864, 
 after a conversation with Lincoln and Blair over men and 
 things in Maryland, Welles wrote (2 Welles Diary, 153) : "In 
 the early days of the administration Henry Winter Davis and 
 his crew had been more regarded than they deserved." I have 
 found absolutely no proof of this statement. Davis s position as 
 a Border State Union man, opposed to the Abolitionists, and as 
 an opponent of Montgomery Blair, is shown by a story that 
 Judge Hugh L. Bond told Capt. H. P. Goddard (Baltimore 
 
CHAPTER VII 1859-1861 193 
 
 Sunday Herald, March 8, 1903), that Davis was reluctant to 
 call on Wendell Phillips because of his dislike for the Aboli 
 tionists, and, after he had been induced to call, he said: "How 
 can Phillips be honest and look so like Montgomery Blair?" 
 
 Mr. J. F. Essary, in his Maryland in National History, at 
 page 226, states that Montgomery Blair was for some time a 
 Know Nothing, and that his departure from that political party 
 caused the beginning of the hostility between him and Davis. 
 Mr. John T. Graham, who was a prominent member of the 
 American party and close friend of Davis, stated in December, 
 1915, that if Blair was ever a Know Nothing, he was very 
 quiet about the matter, as Graham had never heard of it, and 
 that from his close intercourse with Davis, Graham was able to 
 assert positively that there was no such cause for the unfriend 
 liness the two men showed each other. 
 
 The following letter is of interest, as showing the relation 
 of the Blairs to the Maryland Republicans: 
 
 OFFICE OF THE TRIBUNE, 
 
 New York, August 24, 1860. 
 
 Sit You ask how I know that Frank Blair is an Emancipa 
 tionist. I answer: 
 
 1. By the fact that he has emancipated all his own slaves. 
 
 2. By his open avowals in many speeches that he favors 
 emancipation in Missouri. You say you do not find emancipa 
 tion set forth as a principle in the Chicago platform. Of course 
 not. Emancipation is an affair of the States and has no right 
 to a place in the national platform. 
 
 Yours, 
 
 HORACE GREELEY. 
 JNO. T. GRAHAM, ESQ., 
 Baltimore, Md. 
 
 13 
 
i 9 4 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 SUPPORT OF THE UNION 
 
 (1861-63). 
 
 During the troublous weeks of the Spring 
 of 1861 no one was more outspoken than Davis 
 for the Union cause, nor did anyone do more to 
 keep Maryland in the Union. He even took 
 so extreme a stand as to write to the New York 
 Tribune, with James R. Partridge and Archi 
 bald Stirling, Jr., and request that the arms, 
 arsenals and forts in Maryland be placed in 
 the hands of the Union men of the State. When 
 Lincoln called for a special session of Con 
 gress and it was necessary to elect a represen 
 tative from the Fourth Congressional District, 
 Davis at once announced himself as a candi 
 date "upon the basis of unconditional main 
 tenance of the Union." l He added : "Should 
 my fellow-citizens of like views manifest their 
 preference for a different candidate on that 
 basis, it is not my purpose to embarrass them." 
 He was not a self-seeker; but, as no one else 
 came forward, he led the Union forces in Bal 
 timore. Four days after he proclaimed his 
 candidacy, the Sixth Massachusetts Regiment 
 attempted to march through Baltimore to the 
 re-enforcement of Washington. During the 
 
CHAPTER VIII 1861-1863 195 
 
 dark days which followed Davis was not idle, 
 but, as he wrote to William H. Seward, the 
 Secretary of State, on April 28: "I have been 
 trying to collect the persons appointed, scat 
 tered by the storm, and to compel them to take 
 their offices or to decline. I have sought men 
 of undoubted courage and capacity for the 
 places vacated. We must show the secession 
 ists that we are not frightened, but are re 
 solved to maintain the Government in the ex 
 ercise of all its functions in Maryland." 
 
 "We have organized a guard, who will ac 
 company the officers and hold the public 
 buildings against all the secessionists in Mary 
 land. A great reaction has set in. If we 
 now act promptly the day is ours and the city 
 is safe." 
 
 For the next month and a half he car 
 ried on, without cessation, "the most bril 
 liant campaign against open traitors, doubters 
 and dodgers that unrivaled eloquence, cour 
 age and activity could achieve. Everywhere, 
 day and night, in sunshine and storm, in the 
 market houses, at the street corners and in the 
 public halls, his voice rang out clear, loud 
 and defiant for the unconditional maintenance 
 of the Union." 2 
 
 Though defeated in this contest, he never 
 slackened in his efforts nor in his "uncompro 
 mising devotion" to the Union. 
 
196 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 As a leader of this forlorn hope, at the spe 
 cial election held on June 13, he was defeated 
 by Henry May, 3 the Conservative-Union can 
 didate, with secessionist sympathies, by a ma 
 jority of 2,048 votes out of 14,621 cast. 4 Dur 
 ing the canvass he openly declared himself in 
 favor of coercion of the South, and frankly 
 avowed that he had voted against the Critten- 
 den Compromise, which was preferred by the 
 people of Maryland, because he thought that 
 it was impracticable and imposed terms to 
 which the free States ought not to be asked to 
 submit. The story is told that when the re 
 turns of the election were brought him, he in 
 terrupted the messenger, who was expressing 
 regret over May s election, with the inquiry: 
 "How many votes did I get?" When he was 
 told he received more than 6,000, he ex 
 claimed: "Thank God. If as many men as 
 that voted for me today, I defy them to take 
 Maryland out of the Union." 
 
 In the political campaign during the Au 
 tumn of 1861, Davis took a leading part on 
 the Union side, speaking in Baltimore on Oc 
 tober 16 in answer to an address from Union 
 men, headed by Johns Hopkins, 5 and at Elk- 
 ton on October 26. 6 The Baltimore speech 7 
 is an important one. No one dreamed any 
 more of peaceful secession. Cotton had been 
 shown not to be king, and the Confederate 
 
CHAPTER VIII 1861-1863 197 
 
 States had failed to "bring to their knees Great 
 Britain and France" through that product. 
 The Democrats of the North, "subservient for 
 a long generation to Southern dictation," had 
 proven to be patriotic. The Southern Repub 
 lic had inaugurated "an era of confiscations, 
 prosecutions and exiles," yet the "partisans in 
 Maryland of the men who do these things 
 make our streets hideous with their howl 
 about oppression, and invoke all the prin 
 ciples of the Constitution that their allies 
 have spent now nearly a year in making a 
 dead letter, to secure their immunity here and 
 convert this heaven into their hell." Neutral 
 ity had disappeared. "The enemy is at the 
 door, and the people of Maryland know that 
 they who are not their friends are their ene 
 mies." "The men with secessionist sympathies 
 have no right to complain. In the face of the 
 mercy of the Government which they perpet 
 ually abuse, they insolently meet patient 
 Union men upon the corners of the streets, in 
 their counting rooms and in the parlor, and on 
 the Merchants Exchange, and wherever men 
 most do congregate, and, while they writhe 
 under the blow that has stricken them down 
 here and taken from them the fruits of their 
 treason, before they could fully enjoy them, 
 their only comfort is to appeal to the future, 
 to promise retribution, to intimate that assas- 
 
198 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 sination may cut short those who treat them 
 as traitors; that, if ever they get the upper 
 hand, the lamp-post will be graced by indi 
 viduals that they name; that they will not be 
 as insanely merciful as the Government of the 
 United States is; and these things, while they 
 venture to impeach the Government for harsh 
 and oppressive measures." 
 
 There was no sign of Southern victory, there 
 was no hope of peace, though some desired it 
 without honor. Davis appealed to the "men 
 of Maryland, who remember that your fore 
 fathers thought seven years of war better than 
 peace with submission and degradation. * * * 
 to revive the recollection of those great days 
 and act upon their inspiration." The State 
 had been accused of disloyalty, yet she had 
 never hesitated for a moment, which was 
 more than could be said for any other slave 
 State, except Delaware. Governor Hicks 
 was enabled to "resist the pressing applica 
 tions for the convocation of the Legislature," 
 because, "knowing the people who had elected 
 him, their temper and their purposes, he felt 
 that, however severe the pressure might be, 
 where one person sought the meeting of the 
 Legislature, there were thousands who stood 
 by him in his refusal to convoke them." At 
 the time of Lincoln s inauguration, "the des 
 tiny of the capital of the United States lay in 
 
CHAPTER VIII 1861-1863 199 
 
 the hollow of the hand of Maryland." "If 
 disloyalty had lain as a cankering worm at 
 the heart of Maryland, then was her time," 
 for "she could have presented herself before 
 her Southern sisters, dowering them with the 
 capital of the country, and there was no power 
 that could have prevented that gift." The 
 mob of the i9th of April was aroused by the 
 sympathizers with secession, and the Gov 
 ernor, "suddenly smitten by an inexplicable 
 terror," threw himself into the arms of his 
 enemies." "One-third of the people of Bal 
 timore, under the influence of pressure and 
 persuasion and delusion, and a little coercion, 
 elected secessionists to the House of Dele 
 gates." Then came the reaction. No county 
 supported the revolution in Baltimore, and 
 the Union men gradually regained the upper 
 hand there. In Cecil, Allegany and Wash 
 ington counties, stanch Union resolutions were 
 adopted. The Legislature did not dare to put 
 to a vote a bill establishing "a military des 
 potism in the disguise of a bill of public safe 
 ty." During all of April Washington was at 
 the mercy of Maryland. It would have been 
 at the mercy of the Confederates, had their 
 leaders possessed audacity. Nearly a month 
 after the mob, General Butler, with less than 
 a thousand men, came to Baltimore and found 
 no opposition there. With elaborate sarcasm, 
 
200 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 Davis held up to scorn the record at the extra 
 session of the members of that Legislature, 
 who were not the "representatives of the loyal 
 and free men of Maryland," as was proven by 
 the fact that at the Congressional election in 
 June the Union men "cast a great majority of 
 the whole vote of the State." The Autumn 
 had come, and "secession as an active, dan 
 gerous and agitating element, now lies writh 
 ing in its last agonies in Maryland." At most, 
 "very nearly one-third of the people of the 
 State are disloyal," and "will not take up arms 
 on the Union side." He excused the failure 
 of Maryland to fill her quota of troops as 
 partly the fault of Governor Hicks and partly 
 the fault of the War Department, which "felt 
 small confidence in the Union men of Mary 
 land." Now, however, there was reason to 
 believe that the Administration was convinced 
 of their loyalty, and, under a new Governor 
 and Legislature, Alaryland would stand in the 
 foremost rank of States. Davis had voted for 
 Bell, who had proven a traitor, and now re 
 joiced in Lincoln s election and was "more 
 earnestly anxious" for his success than for any 
 other one who had "wielded power in my 
 day." "This Administration, weak or strong," 
 was the "last and only hope of the American 
 people," and must be "supported, let what 
 ever else may fail, in spite of the contempt 
 
CHAPTER VIII 1861-1863 201 
 
 with which it had treated the people of Mary 
 land." The Administration had naturally or 
 ganized itself "on a strictly party basis," had 
 underrated the importance of securing sup 
 port from the great central slave States, and 
 had selected generals unequal to the needs of 
 the occasion. Lincoln s policy in the Border 
 States, especially in Maryland, had been con 
 spicuously weak, yet a "straightforward hon 
 esty" had "marked his every act." "The pol 
 icy of the Administration and of Congress in 
 dealing with this rebellion had been eminent 
 ly liberal. The policy of the people in the 
 rebellious States has been eminently illiberal 
 and barbarous." Lincoln had disowned Fre 
 mont s freeing of the slaves. There was no 
 danger of decrees of emancipation, and, con 
 sequently, none of servile insurrection. Davis 
 believed that the "signs of the times showed 
 that the wisdom of the Administration was 
 becoming equal to the enthusiasm, the devo 
 tion, the liberality with which the people and 
 the States have lavished men and money in the 
 cause of the Republic," and that, with such 
 wisdom, there would be no doubt of the suc 
 cess of the Union. "The misfortune of Bull 
 Run" had "broken no power, nor any spirit;" 
 it "bowed no State, nor made any heart fal 
 ter;" it "was felt as a humiliation" and taught 
 the War Department that "it requires military 
 
202 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 knowledge to lead a host, that it requires 
 months to convert a crowd into an army; that, 
 without artillery, a modern army is nothing, 
 and that, without cavalry, it is a bird without 
 wings; that without the means of following 
 up a victory, victory is worthless." Davis 
 hoped that when the "banner once more points 
 forward, it will proudly advance, until the 
 rejoicing soldier shall, like Xenophon s 
 Greeks at the prospect of the Euxine, after 
 their weary march, greet with the cry of The 
 sea! the sea! the glimmering waves of the 
 Gulf of Mexico." He neither wanted the as 
 sistance, nor feared the hostility of foreign 
 powers. "We know that we owe them noth 
 ing but good will," but "we rely upon their 
 interests and not upon their love, to let us 
 alone." He had been surprised that the "great 
 despot of Russia" had shown sympathy to the 
 United States and would "accept the cour 
 tesy" of his "good wishes," but would "trust 
 nothing to his good will ; our fate is in our own 
 hands. We must not merely defeat, we must 
 destroy the army before Washington. That 
 will break the military power of the rebellion, 
 and whenever the sword shall be stricken 
 from the hand which lifted it against the 
 Union, the terrors of despotic power will van 
 ish from the land and grateful eyes will turn 
 
CHAPTER VIII 1861-1863 203 
 
 in tears to greet the unforgotten banner of the 
 Republic." 
 
 Davis believed that the constitutional pow 
 ers of the Federal Government were sufficient 
 for the repression of rebellion, and pro 
 claimed that belief in a speech delivered at 
 Brooklyn in November, 8 1861. Webster had 
 been dead only ten years, and the institutions 
 whose success he believed would continue to 
 distant ages, were already tottering. Many of 
 the people of the North were even in search 
 of a master, and "are ready to lay their liberty 
 a sacrifice on the altar of victory." When 
 Webster died, "American liberty looked 
 strong and was boastful of its strength; when 
 President Buchanan left the White House, 
 American liberty was like Herod, eaten of 
 worms beneath his royal robes and ready to 
 give up the ghost. The foundations of the 
 constitutional edifice were already secretly 
 sapped; the mortar was already picked from 
 the stones ; and when the judges of the Su 
 preme Court pronounced the Dred Scott judg 
 ment the very Caryatids of the Constitution 
 were seen to bend beneath the unusual pres 
 sure and the whole edifice seemed, to thought 
 ful eyes, to rush to its ruin. The sap went on 
 more earnestly, more vigorously," until "the 
 enemies of the republic thought their day was 
 come; they rushed openly to the assault of the 
 
204 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 breach they had been so long and so secretly 
 preparing. Bold men thought the last day of 
 the republic was come. Bad men withdrew to 
 seize their part of the dismembered heritage. 
 Fervid friends gathered round the bed of the 
 dying patient and talked hopefully of peace 
 ful dissolutions, and when rash men whis 
 pered with bated breath of coercive remedies, 
 they were put far off, lest the shock of the sug 
 gestion might hasten the catastrophe. "Then 
 Sumter was attacked and the nation" rose 
 from its bed of death and cast off its prema 
 ture grave-clothes and challenged its right to 
 be a nation of history." Men cried for action 
 and were summoned thereto, and in their ex 
 citement and lack of acquaintance with the 
 new conditions, "they supposed that laws were 
 meant for times of peace, that constitutions 
 were only to be obeyed in courts of law, that 
 fury might not minister arms." Such prin 
 ciples "ruled the Government in great meas 
 ure, with the people leading it on and rejoic 
 ing over every arbitrary act." No one was 
 more interested in the suppression of the re 
 bellion than Davis, who knew that we "in 
 Maryland would live on the side of a gulf, 
 perpetually tending to plunge into its depths, 
 if the rebellion succeeded." For his hearers 
 it was "greatness, strength and prosperity" to 
 preserve the Union ; for the Marylanders, 
 
CHAPTER VIII 1861-1863 205 
 
 "life and liberty." He had no "tenderness 
 for the parricidal hands that have lifted 
 weapons against the heart of the nation;" but, 
 "in their grave," he did "not wish to see Amer 
 ican liberty perish," nor that the Government 
 should be "driven to the necessity of inaugu 
 rating revolution for the purpose of suppress 
 ing insurrections." He objected to the decla 
 ration of martial law, to the suspension of the 
 writ of habeas corpus by the President s order, 
 to the suspension of newspapers, to the seiz 
 ure of telegraph. Davis held that the Consti 
 tution vested in "Congress adequate power to 
 suppress the rebellion;" but vested in no one 
 "arbitrary or unlimited powers for that or any 
 other purpose." If the Constitutional powers 
 of the Government were not sufficient, for the 
 suppression of the rebellion, "the Government 
 of George Washington has failed." We are 
 then in the face of another revolution, and 
 will be governed by the "law of Julius Caesar, 
 the law of the master over the slave." Martial 
 law is excluded from our system, for the Con 
 stitution does "not vest authority to declare it 
 anywhere, in any body, under any circum 
 stances." He went into an elaborate constitu 
 tional and historical argument in support of 
 his position, and claimed that, to allow the 
 President to proclaim martial law in accord 
 ance with the will of the people, would be to 
 
206 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 establish the "democratic despotism" of 
 France, not "American republicanism." It 
 would "cause us to tread the path of the Ro 
 man republic and arrive at the conclusion of 
 the Institutes of Justinian, that the will of the 
 Emperor had the force of law." The Con 
 stitution had omitted nothing "necessary to 
 carry the republic through this great crisis." 
 The guarantee to the States of a republican 
 form of government makes it "the duty of 
 Congress to overthrow the usurping govern 
 ments in ten rebellious States," by calling 
 forth the militia to execute the laws of the 
 Union and to suppress insurrection. An ordi 
 nance of secession "is so much waste paper." 
 The laws of the Southern States are the acts of 
 a mob, "transcending the limits of their 
 power and flying in the face of the supreme 
 government of the land." Congress must 
 "authorize the President to use the military 
 power of the republic to compel the submis 
 sion of its enemies" and to inflict such reason 
 able penalties and forfeitures as will not exas 
 perate and indurate the hostile population." 
 The President is merely the "executor of the 
 laws. He has authority to command the 
 army, when the army exists, but it can only 
 exist by the law of Congress." In the whisky 
 insurrection, Washington regretted the inade 
 quacy of the law, but took no steps outside of it, 
 
CHAPTER VIII 1861-1863 207 
 
 and, after the emergency was past, he secured 
 its amendment. That law gave Lincoln au 
 thority to suppress the rebellion. Congress 
 had already passed a law providing for the 
 confiscation of property of rebels, used to pro 
 mote rebellion, and had declared a blockade 
 of the Southern Coast. Congress had also 
 placed a magnificent army at the President s 
 disposal. In a few days Congress will meet 
 again, and may do more. The army must 
 "break down a combination of armed force," 
 and against those in arms in opposition to the 
 Government, the bayonet is "the process of 
 law." The "right to use arms ceases with the 
 necessity of suppressing combinations too 
 powerful to be suppresed by the ordinary pro 
 cesses of law." When the army is assembled, 
 it may rightfully subject the whole territory 
 occupied by it "to the burden of war, at the 
 will of the military authority. It is not a vio 
 lation of a private right it is the assertion of 
 the right of eminent domain over the national 
 territory, asserted in time of war by the high 
 est political authority, the Constitution of the 
 United States." He developed this thought 
 at great length, holding that, beyond the needs 
 of the army, private property was as "sacred 
 in civil war as in foreign war, or in peace;" 
 but that Congress may legalize confiscation, 
 not as a right of war, but as a "penalty at- 
 
aoS HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 tached to crime." The right to seize persons 
 in arms, or those who are aiding and abetting 
 such persons, is a involved in the right to use 
 military force;" yet when arrested, these per 
 sons may lawfully have the benefit of the writ 
 of habeas corpus, until it be suspended by act 
 of Congress. He discussed this point with 
 thoroughness and quoted precedents to justify 
 his position. Yet Taney went too far in his 
 decision in the Merryman case, against which 
 Davis cites the language of the same judge in 
 the case of Luther vs. Borden, to which lan 
 guage he gives high praise. The matter is 
 thus summed up by Davis: "A military arrest 
 of a person engaged in the insurrection is not 
 only legal, but is beyond the cognizance of the 
 courts," which "have no right to inquire into 
 the subject at all." If the writ is issued, the 
 military officer should not produce the pris 
 oner, but "return to the Court the simple fact 
 that the person is held by the order of the 
 President for being engaged in the insurrec 
 tion," and "if the courts attempt to enforce 
 the production of the prisoner," "it is the 
 legal duty of the officer to resist force," as the 
 arrest was "beyond the jurisdiction of the 
 court." The President, Davis continued, "is 
 to make war for suppression, not for punish 
 ment that belongs to the courts. But within 
 the scope of warlike operations the President, 
 
CHAPTER VIII 1861-1863 209 
 by the law of Congress, is paramount to the 
 
 courts." 
 
 Davis apologized for his long constitutional 
 discussion, but the "foundation stones of the 
 republic" were "not as polished as the col 
 umns and cornices which glitter in the sun," 
 and he felt that it would take "away half of 
 our republicanism to feel that we put down 
 rebels by a violation of the law." He wished 
 "the war to be conducted as a war ought to be 
 conducted, which is to determine the life, and 
 not only the life, but that which is more, the 
 freedom of the American people, the reputa 
 tion of republican government, its respect, its 
 enduring power, and its influence over the na 
 tions of the world." He would "respect and 
 confide in the wisdom, resolutions and up 
 rightness of President Lincoln, but Presi 
 dent Lincoln is not good enough for 
 my master. I will trust him with the 
 administration of the laws, but I will 
 not trust him to make them, nor beyond 
 them." He would not add a dictatorship to 
 the President s constitutional powers. Nations 
 of Europe had failed in "their efforts for re 
 publican government because they are not 
 habitated to the restraints of law self-im 
 posed," but "it is self-control that is the great 
 ness of the American people. It is obedience 
 to their own law that is their power. It is 
 
 14 
 
210 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 because they have declared that their Consti 
 tution is the salus populi; it is because they 
 adhere to the rule that the written law is the 
 voice of the people; it is because they appeal 
 from the hour of passion to the day of calm 
 reflection, that they have proved themselves 
 worthy of the liberty that their fathers con 
 quered for them." 
 
 The campaign resulted in the election of a 
 Union Governor and Legislature. To one of 
 the young members of the House of Dele 
 gates, the Hon. John V. L. Findlay, Davis 
 wrote a characteristic letter in January, 1862 : 9 
 "I think you have a fine opportunity for dis 
 tinction and a flattering prospect of distinc 
 tion, if you use the opportunities and abilities 
 you have with diligence, prudence and, above 
 all, with absolute fearlessness at any or all 
 consequences. Cowardice of mind is the 
 curse of American politics, and the first con 
 dition of success is to know that victory can 
 not be won unless at risk of defeat, and he who 
 is unwilling to be shot should not aspire to 
 military glory." 
 
 It is not surprising that Davis was urged 
 for the United States Senatorship, and that, 
 as a candidate of the radical element of the 
 Union party, he was a strong competitor of 
 Reverdy Johnson in the caucus during March, 
 i86 2 . 10 " 
 
CHAPTER VIIIi86i-i863 211 
 
 About this time we find such traces of 
 Davis s activity as an occasional letter about 
 a political prisoner; 11 or an appearance in a 
 court-martial. 12 He kept close watch upon 
 the proceedings in Congress, as is shown by 
 the letters he addressed his friend, Hon. Jus 
 tin S. Morrill, then a Representative from 
 Vermont, on June 6 and 15, i86a. 13 Carefully 
 he distinguished between a bill of attainder, a 
 "law performing the office of a judgment," 
 rightfully forbidden Congress, and the pro 
 posed Confiscation bill. The former placed 
 a "person just where a conviction and judg 
 ment of a court places him, nothing remains 
 but execution." Bills like the latter "name 
 no particular persons; therefore, they punish 
 nobody. They declare that certain acts com 
 mitted after their passage shall be punished 
 by confiscation," while a "bill of attainder re 
 lates to the past." These proposed bills do 
 not make the forfeiture dependent on a pre 
 vious conviction for treason, and so contra 
 vene no constitutional provision concerning 
 that crime. "It would be gross error to say 
 that one can be deprived of liberty or life, 
 otherwise than under criminal prosecution; 
 for then the President has murdered many 
 men in the field and enslaved many men in the 
 military prisons. For men in arms, a bullet 
 is due process of law; seizure by military 
 
212 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 power is due process of law; they are not con 
 victions, nor trial, nor punishment of the per 
 sons; they as assuredly deprive them of life or 
 of liberty as a conviction and a sheriff, and 
 they are just as legal as conviction and hang 
 ing." Taxation, also, deprives the person of 
 his property, not by judicial process, but by 
 an administrative process, yet it is a process of 
 law essential to the existence of the Govern 
 ment. The revenue laws of the United States 
 have always provided for forfeitures without 
 a jury for illegal acts, "irrespective of the con 
 viction or prosecution" of the guilty person. 
 The navigation laws, the laws prohibiting the 
 sale of liquor to Indians, the statutes for sup 
 pressing the slave trade, "abound in pointed 
 illustrations," and the last-named statutes "are 
 of special interest in relation to the confisca 
 tion of the slaves of rebels." "Slave property 
 is the pretext of the rebellion and the chief 
 instrument by which the revolutionists have 
 coerced submission to their will. Sound pol 
 icy requires that a weapon of such power be 
 broken or wrested from the hands of the ene 
 mies of the Government." The "necessary 
 form of confiscation is emancipation," but the 
 "release of the Government s title in the slaves 
 confiscated is not to be confounded with a 
 prohibition against holding any slave in the 
 State." The care with which the punishment 
 
CHAPTER VIII 1861-1863 213 
 
 of treason was hedged about by the f ramers of 
 the Constitution shows their "desire to exclude 
 political persecution," but does not deprive 
 the Government of the power to punish the 
 "acts which amount to treason under other 
 names and free from those restrictions." Thus 
 "the traitors who burned the Maryland bridge 
 and shot the Massachusetts men on the i9th of 
 April were guilty of treason, but they were 
 also guilty of resisting the laws of the United 
 States, and of a riot, and of obstructing mail 
 routes, and for any of these crimes "may be 
 punished, without the limitations placed on 
 
 treason." 
 
 The second letter added to the illustrations 
 of the power to confiscate slaves by emancipa 
 tion, the laws of the United States in the Dis 
 trict of Columbia, which "prohibited the im 
 portation of slaves for sale or residence, de 
 clared the slave imported free, and punished 
 the importer by fine." These laws were 
 adopted from the laws of Maryland and Vir 
 ginia. Davis himself had "in more than one 
 instance successfully asserted that claim" of 
 freedom "before the courts of the District and 
 of Virginia." The Compromise Acts of 1850 
 embody the same principle. "The process for 
 enforcing the freedom of the slave was by suit 
 in the name of the negro against the owner for 
 freedom, in the form of an ordinary action for 
 
2i 4 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 trespass, and the title to freedom was vested 
 by operation of law, immediately on the con 
 summation of the act of forfeiture, and the 
 suit was merely the judicial form of authenti 
 cating the title the law had vested." 
 
 In the political campaign of 1862 Davis 
 spoke on October 30 at Newark, New Jersey, 14 
 especially attacking the peace party. He told 
 his hearers that the Confederates in arms "will 
 defy you ; disarmed, they will beg for terms. 
 But there are persons who are opposed to wag 
 ing a war of subjugation." To such Davis re 
 plied that if the South "shall persistently re 
 fuse to accept the benefits of free government 
 under the Constitution of the United States, 
 then this question is presented to us. If men 
 perversely refuse to govern themselves under 
 our laws, whether we shall, therefore, sacrifice 
 our nation and our independence, permit an 
 archy because of their refusal, or govern them 
 by law?" To this trenchant query he an 
 swered that "I have no hesitation in saying, 
 just what meaning you place on subjection, 
 that their subjection is my freedom." 
 
 Threats had been made that the army would 
 rebel if McClellan were removed from com 
 mand, and the Democrats said "that they alone 
 can carry on a successful war." In reply, 
 Davis pointed to Harrison in the Indian war 
 fare, to Scott in the War of 1812 and the Mex- 
 
CHAPTER VIII 1861-1863 215 
 
 lean War, and to Taylor in the latter war. 
 The failure of the troops was due to Demo 
 cratic leadership; "slowness is not the way to 
 prostrate this rebellion." For that end the 
 audacity of Taylor is needed. The Demo 
 crats cried out against the suspension of the 
 writ of habeas corpus, which had been put 
 into effect in Baltimore by Generals John A. 
 Dix and Wool, 15 both Democrats; while Lin 
 coln, in suspending the writ, merely followed 
 in the footsteps of two Democratic leaders, 
 namely, Jefferson in Gen. James Wilkinson s 
 case, and Jackson at New Orleans. After all, 
 "all such hue and cry was a sham." The 
 Democrats "mean to stop the war." They re 
 fer to acts "illegal and unnecessary and here 
 after to be rebuked, but which can not now be 
 rebuked without endangering the public cause 
 and the safety of all." 
 
 They complain of the abolition of slavery 
 in the District of Columbia, but do not pro 
 pose to re-establish it. They complain of the 
 emancipation proclamation as tending "to dis 
 turb and overthrow all the foundations of so 
 ciety in the Southern States." Davis replied 
 that we are not bound "to prevent any such 
 disaster, which they, the rebels, alone have 
 rendered possible." If the extreme charges 
 of the Democrats against that proclamation 
 are true, "it is an unconstitutional act that 
 
216 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 hurts no loyal State," and "its illegality does 
 not touch any man in any State not now in re 
 bellion." "If the proclamation is to be effect 
 ual," however, "it must have the force of law," 
 and Congress, at its coming session," should 
 "recommend the adoption of an amendment 
 to the Constitution declaring that no State 
 shall tolerate slavery within its borders, extin 
 guishing slavery throughout the United States, 
 with a provision for compensating the owners 
 in loyal States." On the ratification of such 
 an amendment "you will have gone to the 
 root and core of the matter." 
 
 Davis also favored a confiscation bill that 
 should "touch the lands of the leaders of the 
 rebellion, not for life, but in the fee simple," 
 and a distribution of those lands to the "ne 
 groes who shoulder the musket." Coloniza 
 tion in Liberia "is an impossibility, and, if it 
 v/ere practicable, it would not be desirable. 
 The lands in the Southern States must be cul 
 tivated, and the negroes will remain there and 
 will have to cultivate them." 
 
 In his peroration he urged the people to go 
 on, "with that indomitable resolution never to 
 submit, or to be content with anything less 
 than the subjugation of rebellion, the defeat of 
 rebels, and the victorious maintenance of the 
 whole republic." 
 
 In February, 1863, Davis and his friends 
 
CHAPTER VIII 1861-1863 217 
 
 began an active political movement in favor of 
 emancipation in Maryland. It was necessary 
 to elect a Legislature in the fall of that year 
 which should be favorable to submitting to 
 the people of the State the question of calling 
 a constitutional convention, which convention, 
 w r hen called, should submit to the people a re 
 vised Constitution, abolishing slavery. In the 
 midst of the political campaign came the bat 
 tle of Gettysburg. On the morning of July 5 
 Charles Carleton Coffin, the war correspond 
 ent, entered the Eutaw House, in Baltimore, 
 and told Elihu B. Washburne and Davis that: 
 "We have won the greatest battle of the war. 
 I have been all over the battlefield, and the 
 rebels are in retreat." In his graphic phrase: 
 "The next moment Washburne and Davis 
 were hugging each other," in the relief from 
 the great strain. 16 J. A. J. Creswell was 
 Davis s chief lieutenant in the movement, and 
 Davis made a vigorous campaign throughout 
 the Eastern Shore, where Creswell was the 
 successful Union candidate for Congress. As 
 Davis had no opposition to his own Congres 
 sional election in the Baltimore district, he 
 spoke for Creswell and emancipation at Elk- 
 ton on October 6, at Towson on the i $th, at 
 Salisbury on the 24th, at Snow Hill on the 
 27th, and at Baltimore on the 28th. The 
 election in November resulted in the choice of 
 
218 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 a Legislature pledged to call a Constitutional 
 Convention. 
 
 In the important campaign of 1863 Davis 
 did not limit his efforts to Maryland, but also 
 spoke at Philadelphia on September 24." In 
 his judgment, the election of a Democratic 
 Conservative President would end the war 
 and also the Union and the movement for ne 
 gro freedom, "the great result, though not the 
 original object of the war. If men favor the 
 continuance of the conduct of national affairs 
 in the hands of the Republicans, the continu 
 ance of the war until every rebellious weapon 
 sinks in submission to the national authority," 
 and the abolition of slavery, they must vote 
 for the Republican candidates in Pennsyl 
 vania. The Democrats declared that they 
 "alone can restore the Union," that it "can 
 only be restored by peace and conciliation." 
 Davis asked the piercing question: "They 
 were in power when the rebellion broke out. 
 Why did not they arrest it?" They could have 
 prevented the election of Lincoln. "Why did 
 they not subordinate their internal party dif 
 ferences to the patriotic purpose of averting 
 an otherwise inevitable w r ar? They say that 
 they alone can restore the Union, and by 
 peace. Then, why did they break it up? 
 They are very fond of asking who is respon 
 sible for the war, and I take great pleasure in 
 
CHAPTER VIII 1861-1863 219 
 
 responding, the Democratic party, that ruled 
 the country for thirty years." The war Demo 
 crats heartily support Lincoln, and "they who 
 now arrogate to themselves the reputation and 
 the name of the Democratic party are the 
 mere refuse that remained behind when the 
 patriotic elements withdrew for the defense of 
 the nation." When it included the War Dem 
 ocrats, that party coud "not prevent the war. 
 Who will believe that this wretched remnant 
 can stop the war? Why did the South rebel? 
 Because they had lost the majority of the 
 North." The rebellion is merely the "Demo 
 cratic party in arms in the South and in sym 
 pathy in the North. What Democrat does 
 not sympathize with his Southern brethren?" 
 The Democrats opposed the war "in its begin 
 ning; they have maligned it to the present 
 day; they have embarrassed its progress; they 
 have villified those that conduct it; they have 
 struggled against every measure essential to 
 its conduct. Place them in power, would they 
 not effectuate their own purpose and let it 
 drop? Of course, peace is their policy." "In 
 each Legislature which they have elected, the 
 cloven foot has appeared. No great leading 
 man, calling himself a Democrat and not now 
 supporting the Administration, vows himself 
 in favor of prosecuting the war to the bitter 
 end, till the banners of rebellion trail in the 
 
220 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 dust." The Confederates are unwilling to 
 give up the struggle. An armistice would be 
 given only "to argue with maniacs, to debate 
 on the field of battle, or to realize the darling 
 idea of the Democratic disunionists, to palsy 
 the arm of the United States, to arrest the im 
 petus of its onward advance, to give the people 
 in rebellion time to breathe, the men stricken 
 to the knee, time to gain their feet; the men 
 whose resources are exhausted, an opportunity 
 to replace them, to break up the blockade, to 
 open their ports to foreign commerce, to give 
 them the recognition that could never be with 
 drawn, not merely of belligerents, but of par 
 ties holding a position competent to deal on 
 equal terms with the United States." The 
 Democrats were really, "in plain English, op 
 posed to the farther conduct of the war," and 
 had "attempted everywhere to elect disloyal 
 Governors, pledged to embarrass the United 
 States in the enforcement of the laws." 
 
 Maryland and Pennsylvania have a "com 
 mon interest in this great struggle," for the 
 Mason and Dixon Line, "that so long has been 
 of ill omen, was abolished by the day of Get 
 tysburg" and Maryland is about to give up 
 slavery, the "only mark of disunion between 
 the States." The common interest of both 
 States lies "in filling up the depleted ranks of 
 the Army of the Potomac. Whether the Gov- 
 
CHAPTER VIII 1861-1863 221 
 
 ernment see it or not, from the beginning of 
 the war to this day, there has been but one de 
 cisive point upon which one decisive battle 
 could end the war, and that has been Virginia. 
 It has never been a question of marching to 
 Richmond; it has been a question of dispers 
 ing and destroying the army of General Lee, 
 and that has never been difficult to find. 
 What the Government has needed is a single 
 ness of purpose, bending its unbroken ener 
 gies to the annihilation of that army, and with 
 it would crumble the Southern republic. Vic 
 tories on other points are victories of detail; 
 victory on that point is decisive, final and 
 overwhelming. Peace will follow the de 
 struction of that army; the war will endure 
 until that army is destroyed." "The war drags 
 its length along now, because a Presidential 
 election is only a year off, and the rebels of the 
 South count on having their friends in office." 
 Davis felt convinced that "the way to peace 
 is over the battlefield, and there is no other 
 path." There are four millions of slaves in 
 the South, and they should be armed against 
 the "oligarchy of slaveholders." The emanci 
 pation proclamation "confers no title; it can 
 only be made a title by arms." Washington, 
 Jackson, Perry, Barney at Bladensburg, Banks 
 at Port Hudson, Gilmore at Fort Wagner, 
 bore testimony to the negro s usefulness as a 
 
222 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 soldier. "Men are men, in spite of their skin 
 and deeper than their skin." Davis believed 
 that no court of law would hold the emancipa 
 tion proclamation "a valid title to freedom," 
 and that it must be followed by "a law of Con 
 gress and arms." The idea of colonization of 
 negroes must be discarded. "Make up your 
 minds, gentlemen, that if they are to be sol 
 diers, they are to be freemen, with the rights 
 of free laborers, protected by the laws, recog 
 nized by the United States in their position, 
 guaranteed the remedies of the courts of the 
 United States and armed and drilled to make 
 their rights effectual." This can not be done 
 on the restoration theory of the Democrats as 
 to the Southern States. The "Union as it 
 was" would restore West Virginia to Virginia 
 and surrender the Union men in Kentucky, 
 Tennessee and Missouri to the rebels. The 
 American people are not "ready for such a 
 restoration as that." "They delude the peo 
 ple with vain words when they speak of the 
 Union as it was. Call the dead to life; clothe 
 his bones with his dissolved flesh; restore the 
 soul to the soulless eyes of the thousands who 
 have fallen martyrs upon the battlefield, and 
 then you can restore the Union as it was. The 
 attempt is to begin a new civil war." Davis 
 went on to discuss the other part of the Demo 
 cratic war-cry: "I am for the Constitution as 
 
CHAPTER VIII 1861-1861 223 
 
 it is, and that has altered the Union as it was, 
 and it will stay altered until eternity. And 
 when I speak of the Constitution as it is, I 
 mean as it came from the hands of George 
 Washington, Alexander Hamilton and James 
 Madison adequate for every contingency of 
 national life, speaking so plainly that those 
 who run may read and only the perversely 
 blind can misinterpret. Aye, the Constitu 
 tion as it is, which says that Congress may call 
 forth the militia and use the armies of the 
 United States to suppress insurrection and, 
 therefore, the war is constitutional, according 
 to the letter of the Constitution as it is. That 
 Constitution says that Congress shall guaran 
 tee to every State a republican form of gov 
 ernment, and it is under the Constitution as 
 it is that the armies now march to remove op 
 pression and restore republican liberty. And 
 it is the Constitution as it is which declares 
 that Congress shall have a right to pass all 
 laws necessary and proper to carry into execu 
 tion all the powers vested in it or any other 
 department of the Government, and, there 
 fore, whatever Congress may think, in its 
 judgment, is necessary to restore and guaran 
 tee republican forms of government in the 
 rebel States, that law, according to the Con 
 stitution as it is, Congress may pass." One can 
 hardly state the Congressional plan of recon- 
 
224 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 struction in clearer form, and there is no won 
 der that one holding such views came into 
 conflict with Lincoln, ere many months had 
 passed. Lincoln s suspension of the writ of 
 habeas corpus was, at best, of doubtful consti 
 tutionality, but Congress had now suspended 
 the writ and placed the "matter on the just 
 basis of law. Rational men will yield obedi 
 ence to it. None but traitorous conservatives 
 will continue to howl against it. Every loyal 
 man knows the President will not use it for 
 oppression." 
 
 Congress ought to have taken up the re 
 organization of the Southern State govern 
 ments at the last session; for, the sooner the 
 "grounds upon which we act are ascertained 
 the better for all parties." We must not 
 "speak of the Southern men in arms as alien 
 enemies," for to do so is to admit that "their 
 secession was effectual, to give them the right 
 of independence in the eyes of the world. I 
 say they are traitors and not enemies, citizens 
 under the law, against which they are illegally 
 waging war, not foreigners waging a war 
 upon equal terms with men who are foreign 
 ers to them. They war with the rope around 
 their necks." When the rebellion shall be 
 suppressed, the Southerners will not be a "con 
 quered people," nor are the States, "by rebel 
 lion, extinguished" so as to become Territo- 
 
CHAPTER VIII 1861-1863 225 
 
 ries." The States are "continuing, perpetual 
 elements of our Union, and their citizens "are 
 always beneath the Constitution." But Davis 
 held that there was a "marked discrimination 
 between the individual rights of the citizens 
 the existence of the State as a body politic and 
 its capacity, by reason of its want of organiza 
 tion, to exert its political powers. If a man in 
 South Carolina comes to Philadelphia, no 
 lawyer can plead alien enemy to his suit. 
 When the opposition is dispersed, then the 
 reign of the courts is restored and the day of 
 punishment may come. But, with reference 
 to their political franchises, the wisdom of our 
 forefathers has placed them a step farther off. 
 There can be no electors of President from 
 any State, unless there be a government or 
 ganized in it, recognized by the Government 
 of the United States, whose officers have 
 sworn obedience to the Constitution of the 
 United States." The present Southern State 
 officers had not carried "their territory from 
 beneath the laws of the United States," but 
 had "torn down" "their own State govern 
 ments and instituted others." "They are a 
 band of traitors, usurping rights over citizens 
 of the United States. The armies of the 
 United States move to strike that power from 
 their hands and restore it to loyal men, and -in 
 doing that the only arbiter of what govern- 
 
 15 
 
226 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 ment shall be recognized, the only arbiter of 
 who shall be treated as Governor, or a legis 
 lator, or a judge of a rebel State, is the United 
 States in Congress assembled. Till they shall 
 recognize another government, there is no 
 government." In the absence of a State gov 
 ernment, there must either be anarchy or a 
 legislative and executive power somewhere. 
 "Those that have abdicated can no longer be 
 the government of the State. The right and 
 duty to guarantee a republican government is 
 vested in Congress. Congress is, therefore, 
 charged to take every measure that is neces 
 sary to restore republican government. Pend 
 ing the interregnum, Congress is the only leg 
 islative power for that State, the President is 
 the only executive power for the State." In 
 Virginia the administration had already ap 
 plied these principles to the circumstances. 
 The emancipation proclamation would not 
 stand against the wishes of the seceding States, 
 w 7 hen once they should be reorganized, nor 
 did Davis believe that the "Supreme Court of 
 the United States will recognize it as law," 
 but "it can be helped by an Act of Congress 
 in the execution of its guarantee of republican 
 government, if it consider that the continu 
 ance of these men in slavery and the power of 
 the masters over them is incompatible with a 
 permanent consolidation of republican institu- 
 
CHAPTER VIII 1861-1863 227 
 
 tions in the States. That is a political and not 
 a judicial question," and on such questions 
 the "courts of the United States will follow 
 the judgment of Congress and the President." 
 "It is frivolous," Davis continued, "to say that 
 we can arm a million of men to prostrate half 
 a million in the dust, taking away precious 
 life to restore republican government; but we 
 cannot restore freedom to slaves in the same 
 cause. Life is protected against illegal ag 
 gression in the Constitution, as well as prop 
 erty. Life is not less sacred than slavery. 
 Can we destroy life to repel from power those 
 who have usurped a power to create unrepub- 
 lican forms of government in the rebel States, 
 and are we to be told that the power of Con 
 gress is limited with reference to that species 
 of property that it must stand a perpetual 
 obstacle to free government?" That is to 
 adopt the strict construction of the "rebellious 
 faction, that by coalition with Northern 
 Democrats, has governed the country to its 
 ruin for 30 years. They have always been in 
 favor of tying the Government of the United 
 States hand and foot, because they saw that it 
 had strong feet to trample down rebellion and 
 long arms to reach it." The "barriers thrown 
 up to protect the institutions of slavery," in 
 Davis s eyes, were "the deliberately prepared 
 bulwarks for a premeditated rebellion." 
 
228 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 "When we are done with the rebellion, there 
 will be no governments, even in form, to rec 
 ognize in the slave States. Their people will 
 "form a State without a political organiza 
 tion." Such organization they "can only re 
 ceive under the auspices of Congress and in 
 accordance with the forms and by the laws 
 that it, and it alone, shall see fit to prescribe." 
 Our forefathers wisely foresaw that a great 
 rebellion might arise, "and, therefore, they 
 created the power to suppress insurrection and 
 imposed the duty on Congress to guarantee 
 republican government." Here we have no 
 struggle between poor and rich, forming a 
 revolution difficult to deal with, but a foun 
 dation of revolt which is a "social institution 
 the right by law, contrary to the law of na 
 ture, for one man to hold another in servitude. 
 You cut up the roots of the rebellion by strik 
 ing the shackles from the slave." The slaves 
 had properly been called out as soldiers and no 
 ill results had followed. The Border States 
 were emancipating slaves. "In Maryland, 
 that surrounds your capital and more than 
 once had felt the tramp of the invaders such 
 is the unanimous sentiment of her people that 
 her Governor has been compelled to hasten 
 up his lagging opinions and proclaim himself 
 in favor of emancipation, and a convention 
 next year to effect it; and the only question is 
 
CHAPTER VIII 1861-1863 229 
 
 whether the enlistment of negroes will leave 
 any to emancipate?" The mass of freedmen 
 had shown wonderful quiet and there ha 
 been no servile insurrections. We must not 
 call negroes into the field and abandon them 
 afterwards to slavery. An Act of Congress 
 freeing the negroes in the revolted States, will 
 place "four millions of people in the rebel 
 States, whose liberty depends upon the per 
 petuity of the Union, and for the first time 
 you will have a guarantee such as you never 
 had before." Some raise the cry of the dan 
 ger of negro equality. "In the first place, if 
 anybody is afraid of negro equality, he is not 
 far from it already; in the next place, if God 
 has made him equal, and only incidental cir 
 cumstances have made him unequal, you can 
 not help it; and if He has made him unequal 
 you cannot help it; and if He has made him 
 unequal, by the laws of nature and independ 
 ently of the accidental circumstances, then no 
 amount of demagogism, no amount of aboli 
 tion enthusiasm, can make one hair black or 
 white or add an inch to his stature, intellectual 
 or moral." You cannot expel the negroes, 
 for the ships, the land to receive them, the 
 money to remove them, the persons to supply 
 their places in the South, all are lacking. 
 There is little danger of their removing to the 
 North. In Maryland "we find that the slaves 
 
2 3 o HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 are lazier than the free negroes." "No rebel 
 State will vote to emancipate their slaves," but 
 they will gladly keep the negroes as f reedmen, 
 if the choice lies between that and losing them 
 altogether. If the rebels be allowed to retain 
 power, the Union may be restored, but "it 
 will be at the loss of all the fruits of the war; 
 there will be no permanent peace." He urged 
 that the Union armies, which already "gird 
 all the rebellion, press forward only a little 
 more, and with one combined and energetic 
 effort end the war in another year." "It is 
 tenacity, it is endurance, it is patience, it is 
 the resolution never to stop fighting until your 
 enemy yields, that constitute the great quali 
 ties of nations born to rule. We are on trial 
 before the nations of the world. Every despot 
 in Europe curled his lips when the rebellion 
 broke out, at the feeble, wretched, vacillating, 
 dilapidated government that undertook to re 
 store its authority over this immense and mag 
 nificent region." Napoleon III sent troops to 
 Mexico when our fortunes were at low ebb, 
 and his actions, as well as those of England in 
 permitting "the sailing of the Alabama and 
 the Florida," and in many other ways, "fester 
 and rankle till the day of account." Davis 
 even incited his hearers to a future war with 
 France and England, and closed his speech 
 with an expression of a hope that Admiral 
 
CHAPTER VIIIi86i-i863 231 
 
 Dupont might take London. Rodomontade 
 one may say, yet it was the earnest thought of 
 many sincere persons at that time, which 
 thought, had Napoleon not retired from Mex 
 ico and England agreed to arbitrate the Ala 
 bama claims, might well have led to a terrible 
 struggle. 
 
 In New York City, Davis addressed a large 
 meeting in the Cooper Union 18 on October 9. 
 In urging a vigorous prosecution of the war, 
 he especially opposed the so-called "Peace 
 party" and maintained that there was no law 
 ful government in the rebellious States which 
 the Federal authorities could recognize. 
 When the armed opposition should be swept 
 away, Congress must reorganize those States 
 and establish a republican form of govern 
 ment there. He prophesied the success of the 
 movement for emancipation in Maryland, fa 
 vored the enlistment of negro troops, and re 
 minded his hearers that "they served in the 
 ranks of George Washington and Andrew 
 Jackson." Although he had "never sympa 
 thized with the radical Abolitionists" and 
 "thought them one hair s breadth this side of 
 craziness," yet in this emergency, when the 
 "nation is on the point of triumph" and "when 
 the only thing that fires the Southern heart is 
 the Opposition" in the North, he felt that the 
 man who revives old prejudices, or "who now 
 
232 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 utters a word for the purpose of awakening 
 prejudice against any man on the side of the 
 Government, is either a traitor at heart, or so 
 low in intelligence that he does not know the 
 consequences of his acts." 
 
 Three days later a dinner was given at the 
 Astor House by prominent gentlemen of New 
 York City in honor of the Russian Minister 
 and of the Russian Admiral Lisovski, com 
 manding a fleet then in New York harbor. 19 
 Russia had been the only European power ef 
 fectively to show a friendly disposition to 
 wards the United States, and advantage was 
 eagerly taken of the visit of the Russian fleet 
 to show an appreciation of that friendliness. 
 Davis was requested to respond to the toast, 
 the President of the United States, and in re 
 plying thereto bore testimony, with pleasure 
 and heartiness, to the earnest uprightness of 
 purpose and far-seeing sagacity with which, 
 in matters more gravely complex and weighty 
 than this nation since the Revolution, had ever 
 been called upon to deal with," Lincoln "has 
 discharged his high duty." The toast had 
 stated that the nation was "solving the prob 
 lem of self-government and universal free 
 dom," but Davis asserted that that problem 
 had been solved and the day of experiment 
 had already passed. He referred to the hos 
 tility of England and of France. In his clos- 
 
CHAPTER VIII 1861-1863 233 
 
 ing paragraph he stated that "history will 
 show no example of an equal struggle" to the 
 Civil War, "within the limits of any one na 
 tion, met with equal power, sustained with 
 equal endurance, crowned with equal success, 
 promising equal triumph, with that in which 
 we are engaged." After these bold words the 
 speech concluded with a graceful reference 
 to the fact that Russian serfdom "has vanished 
 like the morning clouds" before the recent 
 imperial ukase. It was a curious irony of 
 events which gave the author of the Warfare 
 of Ormuzd and Ahriman, and of the Davis- 
 Wade Manifesto, the duty of making such a 
 speech. 
 
 NOTES ON CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 1. Speeches and Addresses, XXV. 
 
 2. Creswell, Speeches and Addresses, XXVI. 
 
 3. On the disunionist position of May, see Congressional 
 Globe of July 18 and 20, 1861, and War of Rebellion, Off. 
 Recs., 2nd Series, vol. 2, p. 780. 
 
 4. 3 Scharf, Md., 433. 
 
 5. At this meeting Job Smith presided. 
 
 6. Moore s Rebellion Record, vol. 3, p. 58, and Supp., vol. 
 170. 
 
 7. Speeches and Addresses, 224. 
 
 8. Speeches and Addresses, 258. 
 
 9. Quoted by Capt. H. P. Goddard in Baltimore Sunday 
 Herald of March 8, 1903. 
 
 10. (Steiner s Reverdy Johnson, 57.) Judge George M. Rus- 
 sum told Capt. H. P. Goddard (vide Baltimore Sunday Herald 
 of March 8, 1903) that he went to Annapolis to try to secure 
 Davis s election, and was told that a fund of $25,00x3 would 
 
234 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 ensure success. He told Davis this, and the latter indignantly 
 replied that he would not give one cent. 
 
 ii. He asks for release of W. Wilkins Glenn, proprietor 
 of the Exchange newspaper, as did Montgomery Blair and 
 Reverdy Johnson. War of Rebellion, Off. Recs., 2nd Series, vol. 
 2, p. 780, September 28, 1861, and asks that George Dent s case 
 be examined, expressing no wish for his discharge, op. cit. p. 
 872, December, 1861. 
 
 12 E. g. with Milton Whitney, as counsel for Col. James 
 Badger, of the Quartermaster s Department, who was tried at 
 Annapolis in June, 1863, for fraud in buying coal for army. 
 
 13. Speeches and Addresses, 292. 
 
 14. Speeches and Addresses, 302. 
 
 15. Gen. John Ellis Wool (1784-1869). 
 
 1 6. Coffin s Lincoln, 379. 
 
 17. Speeches and Addresses, 307. 
 
 1 8. Speeches and Addresses, 341. 
 
 19. Speeches and Addresses, 338. 
 
CHAPTER IX 1 863- 1 86? 235 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 THE THIRTY-SEVENTH CONGRESS 
 
 AND THE STRUGGLE WITH 
 
 LINCOLN (1863-65). 
 
 In the Spring of 1863 Davis decided again 
 to be a candidate for election to Congress, and, 
 fearing that Lincoln "might be inclined to fa 
 vor unduly the Conservative candidate, 1 sought 
 an interview with the President. As a result 
 of this interview, Lincoln wrote Davis a letter 
 on March 18, stating that "there will be in the 
 new House of Representatives, as there were 
 in the old, some members openly opposing the 
 war, some supporting it unconditionally, and 
 some supporting it with huts and ifs and ands. 
 They will divide on the organization of the 
 House on the election of a Speaker. As you 
 ask my opinion, I give it that the supporters 
 of the war should send no man to Congress 
 who will not pledge himself to go into caucus 
 with the unconditional supporters of the war 
 and to abide the action of such caucus and 
 vote for the person therein nominated for 
 Speaker. Let the friends of Government first 
 save the Government, and then administer it 
 to their liking." Lincoln s lukewarm and 
 somewhat Delphic utterance 2 was courteously 
 received by Davis, who replied, two days later, 
 
236 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 that Lincoln s letter "will greatly aid us in 
 bringing our friends to a conclusion such as 
 the interests of the country require." The 
 campaign, which ended in Davis s election, 
 was a long and doubtful one. On Octo 
 ber 12 Judge Hugh L. Bond wrote Sec 
 retary Stanton that, in view of the canvass, he 
 hoped the draft and the enlistment of negroes 
 in Maryland might be postponed until after 
 the election. 3 
 
 Dr. Hosmer writes 4 that of the new men in 
 Congress in December, 1863, "perhaps the 
 most brilliant was Henry Winter Davis, of 
 Maryland, whose ardent unionism had oper 
 ated powerfully to save his State from seces 
 sion, and who, though, before the war a sup 
 porter of John Bell, was opposed to the con 
 servatives and a promoter of the war. His 
 powers were conspicuous, and the highest an 
 ticipations were entertained of his eminence as 
 a statesman, blasted two years later by his pre 
 mature death." 
 
 When Congress met, on December 7, the 
 Clerk had not placed the names of the Mary 
 land members upon the roll; but, in spite of 
 some protests, the House, by the vote of 94 to 
 74, ordered them put there. Davis at once 
 had some Missouri representatives added to 
 the roll, but his first important action, forbod- 
 ing what was to follow, was the substitute 
 
CHAPTER IX 1863-1865 237 
 
 which he offered to Thaddeus Stevens s reso 
 lutions concerning the President s message. 
 Davis moved that "so much of the message as 
 related to the duty of the United States to 
 guarantee a republican form of government to 
 the States in which the governments recog 
 nized by the United States have been abro 
 gated, or overthrown, be referred to a select 
 committee of nine, to be named by the Speak 
 er, who shall report the bills necessary and 
 proper for carrying into effect the foregoing 
 guarantee." This was the entering point of 
 the wedge between the Presidential and Con 
 gressional plans of reconstruction. Stevens 
 did not object to the change, which was car 
 ried by a vote of 101 to 80. Davis claimed 
 that the original resolution "intended to point 
 to what, in the very inaccurate phraseology of 
 the day, is known as reconstruction," and con 
 tinued thus: 
 
 "Now, as I think there has been no destruc 
 tion 6 of the Union, no breaking up of the Gov 
 ernment, I carefully avoid the use of any such 
 word. The fact, as well as the constitutional 
 view of the condition of affairs in the States 
 enveloped by the rebellion, is that a force has 
 overthrown, or the people, in a moment of 
 madness, have abrogated the governments 
 which existed in those States under the Con 
 stitution and were recognized by the United 
 
238 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 States prior to the breaking out of the rebel 
 lion. The Government of the United States 
 is engaged in two operations. One is the sup 
 pression of armed resistance to the supreme 
 authority of the United States and which is 
 endeavoring to suppress that opposition by 
 arms. Another a very delicate and perhaps 
 as high a duty is to see when armed resist 
 ance shall be removed, that governments shall 
 be restored in those States, republican in 
 form." Davis wished to limit the investiga 
 tion of the committee to the latter question, 
 and had not intended to instruct the commit 
 tee to report any particular measure. He was 
 made chairman of the committee, and began 
 work at once. On January 18, 1864, he asked 
 to be allowed to report from this "select com 
 mittee on the rebellious States" a bill to guar 
 anty them a republican form of government 
 and have the bill made a special order. He 
 failed to get the two-thirds vote needed for 
 this. A few days later his own position was 
 exhibited 7 in the debate on an election case, 
 when he said that there was no legal authority 
 to hold any election in Louisiana, and that any 
 attempt to hold an election therein was an 
 usurpation of sovereign authority, which was 
 properly forbidden by the military authority. 8 
 On February 10 he moved that the credentials 
 of men who claimed election from Arkansas 
 
CHAPTER IX 1863-1865 239 
 
 be laid on the table, but six days later with 
 drew the motion, as he did not wish to show 
 "an illiberal spirit," nor raise an issue with 
 Dawes, of Massachusetts, who was advocating 
 their admission. Because, however, it was not 
 a mere question of election law, but the recog 
 nition of a State government was involved, he 
 was not willing to have that recognition passed 
 upon as a collateral matter. Credentials were 
 "presented, not signed by any officer of any 
 State government known to the United States. 
 There is a rebel Legislature in Arkansas is 
 there any other? If the contestant does not 
 come under that Legislature," which, we say, 
 "is a body usurping the authority of the United 
 States and merely a collection of rebels, hav 
 ing no legal authority," whence does he come? 
 There is "no State s government in the State of 
 Arkansas recognized by the laws of the United 
 States and that appears to this house, in in- 
 tendment of law, or in point of fact." To ac 
 cept these credentials was to assume such a 
 government. Davis wished a direct vote upon 
 that question, to see if the House "will recog 
 nize as a government this thing organized 
 without any authority of law, without the su 
 pervision of any official authority, organized 
 merely under the dictation of a military com 
 mander." It would be unsuitable to permit 
 the Committee on Elections to take jurisdic- 
 
240 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 tion of the question of the existence of a State 
 government, yet recognition of the govern 
 ment is a condition precedent to the election 
 of a member therefrom. "If we recognize a 
 government in Arkansas and the President 
 refuse to recognize it, in what condition are 
 w r e? If the Senate recognize a government 
 and we fail to recognize it, in what condition 
 are we? Or, to take the other case, if the 
 President, under the pledge given in his proc 
 lamation of the 8th of December, i863, 9 shall 
 see fit to recognize it as the government of a 
 State and to treat it as entitled to the guaran 
 tee of the United States, and if this House, or 
 both Houses of Congress refuse to recognize 
 it, where are we? Can there be a recognition 
 of a State government which does not unite 
 the suffrages of all three political depart 
 ments?" If the electoral vote from a disputed 
 State will decide a Presidential election, who 
 is to be the judge of its validity? "If we are 
 willing to say that State governments exist in 
 all the rebel States, though the war is waged 
 against us by their authority, then we take one 
 view of the subject. But, if the States have 
 ceased to exist, if the fact of their rebellion 
 has destroyed their relation to the United 
 States as governments, that is a political ques 
 tion to be determined by the President, by the 
 House of Representatives and by the Senate 
 
CHAPTER IX 1863-1865 241 
 
 of the United States. Neither one of the 
 three, nor any two of the three can determine 
 it." Davis saw the dangers of divided opin 
 ion, which might even lead to a civil war for 
 the Presidency, and, therefore, he moved to 
 lay the papers on the table. He stated that 
 "the President has called on General Banks to 
 organize another hemaphrodite government, 
 half military, half republican, representing 
 the alligators and the frogs of Louisiana, and 
 to place that upon the footing of a government 
 of a State of the United States." Arkansas 
 had thrown off her allegiance and defied the 
 authority of the United States. "I think that 
 the State of Arkansas is not extinguished. I 
 think that no citizen of Arkansas has lost any 
 personal privilege of citizenship, nor have 
 they withdrawn from any responsibility to the 
 Government of the United States. A State 
 should exist with a government. The Con 
 stitution of the United States assumes that, 
 when it compels Congress to guarantee a gov 
 ernment. The rebel government in Arkansas 
 is a military government, and, therefore, not a 
 republican government, and the United States 
 is now engaged in removing it. When it is 
 removed there will be no government in point 
 of fact, as there is none in point of law. Today 
 the condition of Arkansas I take to be this: 
 Mere political privileges depend upon her or- 
 
 16 
 
242 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 ganization of a State government, and not 
 upon the fact of her being a State. Without 
 her Legislature, there are no electors entitled 
 to vote for Congressmen." "A man may live, 
 but without arms he can not well work, with 
 out legs he cannot well walk. The substance 
 of the man is there, but the faculty of action 
 is gone. It is the paralyzed condition in 
 which the rebel States now exist." The "con 
 stitution of Arkansas is now, by the mere ef 
 fect of the rebellion, absolutely dead and inca 
 pable of revival, except by a revolutionary 
 process." The Constitution uses not the word 
 may, but shall, in the guarantee clause, so that 
 it is not merely a right, but a duty, for Con 
 gress. "They are bound to see that it is not 
 merely a mushroom growth, under the dicta 
 tion of a military commander, or of the Presi 
 dent s proclamation. Arkansas is in the 
 Union, so far that we are bound to see that 
 nothing which has the form, without the sub 
 stance, of government shall control her citi 
 zens, that the loyal men of Arkansas cannot 
 be governed by traitors, who call themselves 
 the Legislature of Arkansas. If the people of 
 Arkansas have taken steps to organize a gov 
 ernment and, upon investigation, we shall be 
 satisfied that what they have done fairly rep 
 resents the masses of the people of Arkansas 
 and that the thing called a government is one 
 
CHAPTER IX 1863-1865 243 
 
 to which we can intrust the interests of the 
 people of Arkansas and the government so or 
 ganized is one which we can say shall be 
 obeyed and which we are ready to commit 
 ourselves to enforce compulsory obedience to, 
 then I will consider the questions of election 
 law involved in this case. But it must not 
 be done by this House alone; it must not be 
 done by the Senate alone; it must not be done 
 under the proclamation of the President, 
 which so far as it is anything more than a 
 State paper, is a grave usurpation upon the 
 legislative authority of the United States. It 
 must be done by the concurrence of the legis 
 lative and executive powers, and without that 
 it is nothing. I cast no imputation upon the 
 faith of the President. I impeach very seri 
 ously the legality of his proclamation." 10 
 
 On January 14, 1864, when the bill to con 
 fiscate the property of rebels was under dis 
 cussion, 11 after S. S. Cox, of Ohio, had spoken 
 in opposition thereto, Davis sarcastically re 
 marked that it was fortunate that the Admin 
 istration had been placed beyond the necessity 
 of relying upon the support of Cox, who had 
 promised to give it to all proper measures for 
 "suppression of the rebellion." The opposi 
 tion had been sent to Congress to "oppose, to 
 embarrass, to libel and break down the Ad 
 ministration," and, "when they tender sup- 
 
244 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 port," Davis looked "at it with something of 
 suspicion." It was the "settled, resolved pol 
 icy of the Administration" to confiscate the 
 property of "some portion of the people en 
 gaged in the rebellion." Davis agreed with 
 the wisdom of this policy, though he would 
 confine the effect of the confiscation "to a few 
 of the leaders," and he felt that the bill abol 
 ishing the limitation of the operation of such 
 confiscation to life estates was a wise one. It 
 had been argued that, to pass such a bill was 
 a violation of the Constitutional provision that 
 "no attainder of treason should work corrup 
 tion of blood, or forfeiture, except during the 
 life of the person attainted." This provision, 
 Davis showed, did not apply here, for there 
 was no attainder, and the Constitution limited 
 in no other way "a forfeiture of the whole fee 
 in lands." 1 There being no attainder, the 
 only question was whether the bill proposed 
 to confiscate property without due process of 
 law, and a long line of precedents supported 
 the proposition that such a judgment of con 
 fiscation could be inflicted in rent. The reve 
 nue law of 1799 forfeited property brought in 
 under fraudulent invoices, the navigation 
 laws, and the laws against the foreign slave 
 trade provided for the forfeiture of vessels, 
 without regard to any proceedings against 
 masters or owners, ardent spirits carried 
 
CHAPTER IX 1863-1865 245 
 
 among the Indians are forfeited, and in Vir 
 ginia and Maryland the statute book long pro 
 vided that negro slaves introduced from any 
 other State and from foreign countries should 
 be free. In Davis s legal practice in Alexan 
 dria, in Washington, and in Baltimore he had 
 frequently known cases arising under these 
 laws and found that "the law vested freedom; 
 the court authenticated it," while an appeal to 
 the United States Supreme Court proved the 
 validity of the law, "forfeiting the master s 
 right of property, but not indicting him of 
 crime." The law for the abolition of the slave 
 trade in the District of Columbia in 1850 con 
 tained a similar provision, and the "tradi 
 tional laws of the republic" settled it that the 
 "United States Government can say that those 
 who have been in arms against it shall forfeit 
 their property and that the tribunals of the 
 country shall enforce it in rem." 
 
 Early in the war, Davis perceived the im 
 portance of providing for the reorganization 
 of the seceding States. During the Thirty- 
 seventh Congress Davis, who was not then a 
 member of the House, prepared a bill for this 
 purpose, which bill provided a "complete 
 guarantee to the people of the insurrectionary 
 States that, upon certain conditions, these 
 States might resume their place in the Union 
 when the insurrection had ceased." He hand- 
 
246 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 ed John Sherman the bill, and the latter intro 
 duced it and had it referred to the Judiciary 
 Committee, which never reported it. 13 The 
 subject was, therefore, one upon which Davis 
 had long pondered. 
 
 On February 1 5, Davis, on behalf of the Com 
 mittee on rebellious States, asked consent to 
 have a bill printed and, reporting it, had it 
 read twice. A month later, 14 when the House 
 had refused to recommit this bill, 15 Davis 
 made an eloquent speech in favor of it. 16 The 
 preamble of the bill, as first introduced, is im 
 portant, since it contained the Congressional 
 theory of reconstruction in its earliest form. 17 
 "The so-called Confederate States are" de 
 scribed as "a public enemy, waging an unjust 
 war, whose injustice is so glaring that they 
 have no right to claim the mitigation of the 
 extreme rights of war which are accorded by 
 modern usage to an enemy." As a result of 
 this condition, "none of the States which have 
 joined the so-called Southern Confederacy can 
 be considered and treated as entitled to be rep 
 resented in Congress, or to take any part in 
 the political government of the Union." Al 
 though this proposed preamble was not adopt 
 ed, it showed Davis s position. The bill pro 
 vided for the appointment of a provisional 
 Governor in each rebellious State in which 
 resistance ceased, and for an enrollment of 
 
, 
 
 CHAPTER IX 1863-1865 247 
 
 white male citizens. When a majority of 
 these should have taken an oath of allegiance, 
 they should elect delegates to a convention, 
 which must insert in the constitution it pre 
 pared provisions preventing any prominent 
 civil or military officers of the Confederacy 
 from voting for or becoming Governor or 
 member of the Legislature; prohibiting invol 
 untary servitude, and declaring that no debt, 
 State or Confederate, created by or under the 
 sanction of the usurping power, should be rec 
 ognized. After a Constitution had been 
 framed by the convention and ratified by the 
 voters, it should be certified to by the Presi 
 dent, who should, by proclamation, recognize 
 the government established thereunder as that 
 of the State, and after these events members of 
 Congress and electors might be chosen from 
 that State. During the provisional period, the 
 laws of the United States and of the State be 
 fore the rebellion should be in force. All 
 slaves were emancipated in these States, and 
 the Federal courts must discharge them by 
 habeas corpus writs and inflict fines on persons 
 holding them. 18 
 
 In his speech of March 22, Davis called to 
 the support of the bill "all who consider 
 slavery the cause of the rebellion," who think 
 that "freedom and permanent peace are in 
 separable, and who are determined" to secure 
 
248 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 both these ends "by adequate legislation." He 
 believed that the bill prescribed "such condi 
 tions as will secure, not merely civil govern 
 ment to the people of the rebellious States, but 
 will also secure to the people of the United 
 States permanent peace after the suppression 
 of the rebellion." He urged that the bill be 
 accepted both by those who thought that "the 
 rebellion has placed the citizens of the rebel 
 States beyond the protection of the Constitu 
 tion, and that Congress, therefore, has supreme 
 power over them as conquered enemies," and 
 by those who thought that "they have not 
 ceased to be citizens and States, but that Con 
 gress is charged with a high political power 
 by the Constitution to guarantee republican 
 governments in the States, and that this is the 
 proper time and the proper mode of exercis 
 ing it." If slavery is dead, let us bury it out of 
 our sight. He insisted firmly that the Consti 
 tution not merely conferred a power, but im 
 posed a duty on Congress to guarantee a re 
 publican form of government. Congress pos 
 sessed "a plenary, supreme, unlimited political 
 jurisdiction, paramount over courts, subject 
 only to the judgment of the people of the 
 United States, embracing within its scope 
 every legislative measure necessary and 
 proper to make it effectual, subject to no re 
 vision but that of the people." It is a political 
 
CHAPTER IX 1863-1865 249 
 
 question which the Supreme Court will not 
 review. 
 
 Secession is neither domestic violence, for 
 the act was "the offspring" of the people s 
 "free and enforced will;" nor invasion, for no 
 foreign power attacked the South; but it is 
 the act of the people of the Confederate States, 
 "constituting either a legal revolution, which 
 makes them independent," or a "usurpation 
 against the authority of the United States." 
 All parties in Congress took the latter view 
 and agreed that no "rebel government" was a 
 "State government within the meaning of the 
 Constitution." The President and the courts 
 of law concurred in this view. He cited Lu 
 ther vs. Borden, the Rhode Island case, as au 
 thority for the position that "it is the exclusive 
 prerogative of Congress of Congress and not 
 of the President to determine what is not 
 the established government of the State." 
 Congress was now executing its duty "by its 
 arms," and was "engaged in suppressing a 
 military usurpation." Success would result 
 in "the overthrow of all semblance of govern 
 ment in the rebel States. The Government of 
 the United States is then, in fact, the only gov 
 ernment existing in those States, and it is there 
 charged to guarantee them republican govern 
 ments," which duty carried with it the right 
 to pass necessary laws to accomplish that re- 
 
250 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 suit and to see that "everything inconsistent 
 with the permanent continuance of republican 
 government shall be weeded out." He saw no 
 choice but that "the rebel States must be gov 
 erned by Congress, till they submit and form a 
 State government under the Constitution, or 
 Congress must recognize State governments 
 w r hich do not recognize either Congress or the 
 Constitution of the United States, or there 
 must be an entire absence of all government in 
 the rebel States, and that is anarchy." He re 
 jected the two latter positions, for to recognize 
 a government which does not recognize the 
 Constitution is absurd," and to "accept the al 
 ternative of anarchy is to assert the failure of 
 the Constitution and the end of republican 
 government." He found no government in 
 the rebel States, except the authority of Con 
 gress, which body must "administer civil gov 
 ernment, until the people shall, under its guid 
 ance, submit to the Constitution of the United 
 States, and under the laws which it shall im 
 pose and on the conditions Congress may re 
 quire, reorganize a republican government 
 for themselves and Congress shall recognize 
 that government." The insurrection was not 
 yet suppressed, and it was not yet time to re 
 organize the State governments, but in that 
 "intermediate period" Congress ought to take 
 possession of the "States now in rebellion," 
 
CHAPTER IX 1863-1865 251 
 
 until a "republican government can be estab 
 lished deliberately, undisturbed by the sound 
 or fear of arms and under the guidance of 
 law." 
 
 No one State had been absolutely conquered 
 and in no such State did "enough of the popu 
 lation" adhere "to the Union to be intrusted 
 with the government of the State. One-tenth 
 cannot control nine-tenths. Only in West 
 Virginia, and possibly in Tennessee, were 
 there enough Union men to be intrusted with 
 power. * * * You can get a handful of 
 men in the several States who would be glad 
 to take the offices, if protected by the troops of 
 the United States, but you have nowhere a 
 body of independent, loyal partisans of the 
 United States ready to meet the rebels in arms, 
 ready to die for the republic, who claim the 
 Constitution as their birthright, count all other 
 privileges light in comparison, and are re 
 solved at every hazard to maintain it." Davis 
 maintained that the "loyal masses of the 
 South" in 1860 numbered a full half of the 
 population. "They did not rebel, they voted 
 against secession, they acquiesced in the vote 
 which decreed it, they went with their State, 
 they were content to accept what they did not 
 prefer, but were unwilling to resist; they pre 
 ferred Union with peace, but when Union and 
 peace could not exist together, they yielded up 
 
252 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 the Union, rather than make war to maintain 
 it." Davis did not trust these men, and he 
 further asserted that no man could say that 
 any respectable portion of the Southerners 
 were willing to accept any terms that even the 
 Democrats would offer them. He would not 
 entrust the State governments to "doubtful 
 loyalty," until "armed rebellion shall have 
 been trampled into the dust" and there "shall 
 be in the South no hope of independence and 
 no fear of subjection, until the United States 
 is bearded by no military power and the laws 
 can be executed by courts and sheriffs, without 
 the ever-present menace of military authori 
 ty." Until then each seceding State should 
 be administered by a civil government ap 
 pointed by* the President. 
 
 He heartily approved a constitutional 
 amendment prohibiting slavery, but felt that 
 it was "not a remedy for the evils we must deal 
 with," for it did not provide for the "civil 
 administration of the States prior to the recog 
 nition of State government." 
 
 Next he discussed Lincoln s amnesty proc 
 lamation of December 8, which "provided no 
 guarantee of law to watch over the organiza 
 tion" of the new governments, which pledged 
 the Executive, but not Congress, and might 
 lead to a government being recognized by the 
 one and not by the other, which did not satis- 
 
CHAPTER IX 1863-1865 253 
 
 factorily "accomplish the final removal of 
 slavery." The proclamation might not be 
 valid; but, even if it were, it recognized 
 slavery in parts of Virginia and Louisiana. 
 The operation of the proclamation would be 
 come a judicial question "as soon as the State 
 government is recognized," and Southern 
 courts will maintain the institution of slavery, 
 if possible. Davis did not "desire to argue 
 the legality of the proclamation of freedom," 
 but added: "I think it safer to make it law." 
 This would be done by the bill, "by the para 
 mount power of Congress to reorganize gov 
 ernments in those States, to impose such con 
 ditions as it thinks necessary to secure the per 
 manence of republican government, to refuse 
 to recognize any governments there which do 
 not prohibit slavery forever, "for slavery is 
 really, radically inconsistent with the perma 
 nence of republican governments." The Con 
 gressional jurisdiction had "attached in all the 
 rebel States" and, "until Congress has assent 
 ed, there is no State government in any rebel 
 State." Davis believed that the time had 
 "come, not merely to strike the arms from the 
 hands of the rebels, but to strike the fetters 
 from the arms of the slaves and remove that 
 domineering and cohesive power without 
 which we could have had no rebellion, which 
 is now its animating spirit and which will die 
 
254 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 when it dies." Webster might well be fol 
 lowed in his argument in the Rhode Island 
 case that the "great political law of America 
 is that every change of government shall be 
 conducted under the supervising authority of 
 some existing legislative body, throwing the 
 protection of law around the polls, defining 
 the rights-of voters, protecting them in the ex 
 ercise of the elective franchise, guarding 
 against fraud, repelling violence and ap 
 pointing arbiters to pronounce the result and 
 declare the persons chosen by the people." 
 This bill applied this great principle of 
 American political law." 
 
 For two months the bill was before the 
 House until, on April 20, Davis announced 
 that he expected to call for the previous ques 
 tion. On May 4 he moved to perfect the bill, 
 by excluding therefrom the rule of one-tenth 
 of the citizens as sufficient to reorganize the 
 State government and by requiring a majority 
 so to act. 19 On the other hand, he proposed 
 to soften the operation of the clause excluding 
 the officers of the State and Confederacybynot 
 having it cover inferior military officers, or 
 those whose duties were merely ministerial, so 
 that the exclusion operated only on persons of 
 dangerous political influence. Davis s views, 
 backed by his speeches of unusual power, 
 caused such a change in the temper of the 
 
CHAPTER IX 1863-1865 255 
 
 House that, although the Republicans were at 
 first almost unanimous in favor of accepting 
 Lincoln s plan, when the bill came to be voted 
 upon, Davis won by a vote of 73 to 59. Dr. 
 Hosmer adds, "rarely in the history of the 
 United States has eloquence produced so 
 marked a result." 20 The bill remained in the 
 Senate for a number of weeks. When it was 
 returned to the House with amendments, 
 Davis moved not to lay these amendments on 
 the table, but to ask for a committee of confer 
 ence, and carried the House with him by a 
 vote of 63 to 42. The bill was passed on In 
 dependence Day, on which day Congress ad 
 journed. Chandler went to Lincoln and urged 
 him to sign the bill, 21 but in vain, for Lincoln 
 took the ground that "Congress has no consti 
 tutional power over slavery in the States," and 
 said that, "in asserting that the insurrection 
 ary States are no longer in the Union," the bill 
 made a "fatal admission that States, whenever 
 they please, may, of their own motion, dissolve 
 their connection with the Union. Now, we 
 cannot survive that admission, I am con 
 vinced. If that be true, I am not President; 
 these gentlemen are not Congress. I have la 
 boriously endeavored to avoid that question 
 ever since it first began to be mooted and thus 
 to avoid confusion and disturbance in our own 
 counsels." For that reason he had urged the 
 
256 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 passage of a constitutional amendment abol 
 ishing slavery. He maintained that "I 
 thought it much better, if it were possible, to 
 restore the Union without the necessity of a vio 
 lent quarrel among its friends as to whether 
 certain States have been in or out of the Union 
 during the war a merely metaphysical ques 
 tion and one unnecessary to be forced into dis 
 
 cussion." 
 
 A number of years later Blaine wrote that 
 the Reconstruction bill was "commonly re 
 garded as a rebuke to the course of the Presi 
 dent, in proceeding with the grave and mo 
 mentous task of reconstruction ffi without wait 
 ing the action or involving the counsel of Con 
 gress." Lincoln, however, was not in the hu 
 mor for a rebuke. "Though the least preten 
 tious of men, he had an abounding self-respect 
 and a full appreciation of the dignity and 
 power of his office. He had given careful 
 study to the duties, the responsibilities and the 
 limitations of the respective departments of 
 government, and he was not willing that his 
 judgment should be revised or his course cen 
 sured, however indirectly, by a co-ordinate 
 branch of the Government." 23 
 
 The astute veteran statesman, John Sher 
 man, wrote in his Recollections, 24 a generation 
 later, that "I have always thought that Mr. 
 Lincoln made a serious mistake in defeating a 
 
CHAPTER IX 1863-1865 257 
 
 measure which, if adopted, would have avert 
 ed many, if not all, the difficulties that subse 
 quently arose in the reconstruction of the rebel 
 States." 
 
 Davis s position on the Committee on For 
 eign Affairs brought him into conflict with 
 Seward on the Mexican question. 25 On De 
 cember i9he secured the passage by the House 
 of a resolution concerning the activities of the 
 French in Mexico. On January 7 he spoke 
 in the debate upon the Diplomatic bill, saying 
 that the civil troubles in the United States had 
 developed a deep-seated hostility in several of 
 the European governments, and one of them 
 had "intruded with armed power into Mexi 
 co for the purpose of establishing upon our 
 borders a monarchical government, menacing 
 the institutions of the United States." Before 
 the rebellion, France would not have thought 
 it prudent to do this. In the judgment of the 
 author of the "Warfare of Ormuzd and Ahri- 
 man," the designs of the European govern 
 ments extended "to the whole of what the Em 
 peror of the French terms Latin America, 
 and, if the United States mean that their in 
 fluence shall meet European influence, wher 
 ever it may see fit to show itself in Latin 
 America, then there we must have our repre 
 sentatives near all those governments. I think, 
 very possibly, one gentleman might discharge 
 
 17 
 
258 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 all the ordinary duties relating to commercial 
 matters among several of those governments. 
 The material thing is not the protection of our 
 commerce, but the representation and protec 
 tion of our political power, our political in 
 fluence and the interests of republican govern 
 ment represented and which I take it we mean 
 to maintain in Central America, as well as in 
 Mexico, when the time shall come. 26 
 
 On April 4, from the Committee on For 
 eign Affairs, Davis reported a joint resolu 
 tion, 27 declaring that Congress "were unwill 
 ing, by silence, to leave the nations of the 
 world under the impression that they are in 
 different spectators of the deplorable events 
 now transpiring in the Republic of Mexico; 
 and that they, therefore, think fit to declare 
 that it does not accord with the policy of the 
 United States to acknowledge any monarchi 
 cal government erected on the ruins of any 
 republican government under the auspices of 
 any European power." In a brief speech, 
 supporting the resolution, Davis asserted that 
 the Democratic policy towards Latin America 
 was that "of the wolf to the lamb," frighten 
 ing "foreign wolves from the prey they 
 marked for their own," while the Republican 
 policy was "to cultivate friendship with our 
 republican brethren of Mexico and South 
 America, to aid in consolidating republican 
 
CHAPTER IX 1863-1865 259 
 
 principles, to retain popular government in 
 all this continent from the fangs of monarchi 
 cal or aristocratic power, and to lead the sis 
 terhood of American republics in the paths of 
 peace, prosperity and power." He wished to 
 state the American position, "before another 
 usurper has placed his foot on Mexican soil." 
 
 Under Davis s leadership the House passed 
 unanimously this resolution, to which Rhodes 
 refers, as speaking "indubitably the opinion of 
 the country," but as nevertheless "an injudi 
 cious utterance." It has always been a dis 
 puted point as to whether Congress should 
 take any part in foreign affairs, until they 
 reach a crisis where the Legislature must con 
 stitutionally be called in, and the resolutions 
 then adopted were in accordance with a line 
 of precedents, which have frequently since 
 been followed by Congress. In spite of 
 Davis s urgency, Sumner left the resolution to 
 slumber in his Senate committee room. 29 
 
 The resolution as passed by the House was 
 published in the newspapers, and Seward 
 feared that the French government might 
 view it as an unfriendly act of the United 
 States. Accordingly, on April 7, he wrote to 
 Mr. Dayton, our Minister at Paris, stating 
 that the relations of the United States with 
 Mexico and France constituted an executive 
 and not a legislative question, and directing 
 
2 6o HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 Dayton, in Lincoln s name, to tell the Em 
 peror that he contemplated no change in pol 
 icy. Seward admitted that the resolution rep 
 resented the unanimous sentiments of the peo 
 ple of the United States, but wrote that it was 
 another question whether it was necessary, or 
 proper, to express such a sentiment. 
 
 Seward should rather have told Dayton 
 that the resolution was a joint one and that un 
 til passed by the Senate and signed by 
 the President, it should not be taken as an an 
 nouncement of the policy of the country. Be 
 fore Seward s dispatch reached Dayton, 
 Drouyn de 1 Huys, the French foreign minis 
 ter, read the resolve and said to our minister 
 in reference thereto: "Do you bring us peace 
 or war?", when he met the latter. After read 
 ing de 1 Huys Seward s dispatch, Dayton 
 wrote again, stating that the difficulty had 
 been settled. 30 As a result of this, the French 
 government announced in the Moniteur that 
 it had received from the United States satis 
 factory explanations in reference to the reso 
 lution passed by the House. This announce 
 ment naturally aroused Davis, who on May 23 
 induced the House to ask Lincoln for the ex 
 planations he gave Napoleon. This was done, 
 and on May 25 Davis had the correspondence 
 referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs. 
 After two unsuccessful attempts to present the 
 
CHAPTER IX 1863-1865 261 
 
 report of the committee, 31 late in the session, 32 
 he brought in a resolution statingthatCongress 
 had a "constitutional right to an authoritative 
 voice in declaring and prescribing the foreign 
 policy of the United States, as well in the 
 recognition of new powers as in other matters, 
 and it is the constitutional duty of the Presi 
 dent to respect that policy, not less in diplo 
 matic negotiations than in the use of the na 
 tional force, when authorized by law." The 
 resolution declared that "the propriety of any 
 declaration of foreign policy by Congress is 
 sufficiently proved by the vote which pro 
 nounces it, and each proposition, while pend 
 ing and undetermined, is not a fit topic of dip 
 lomatic explanation with any foreign power." 
 This report was adopted by the House. 33 
 
 Davis spoke on May 26 in favor of termi 
 nating the reciprocity treaty between the 
 United States and Canada, because it was 
 "the last remnant of the old, one-sided Demo 
 cratic policy, always for the benefit of foreign 
 nations." He also opposed the treaty, because 
 it kept up a lucrative trade in coal against the 
 interest of Maryland, and because the Cana 
 dians had availed themselves of it to modify 
 their tariff, so as to make it injurious to us, 
 without violating the treaty in terms. He op 
 posed the negotiation of another treaty, since 
 "We are a heavily taxed people and Cana- 
 
262 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 dians a lightly taxed one, and, therefore, abso 
 lute reciprocity" gave them the benefit of the 
 difference between the taxes and was one-sided. 
 "We can not make," he continued, "arrange 
 ments with any country for free trade, so as to 
 take away the legislative discretion of Con 
 gress and render it impossible to adjust our 
 internal system as the public interest re 
 quires." The Ways and Means Committee 
 had been interfered with in adjusting internal 
 taxation, and will be interfered with in the 
 adjustment of the tariff by the exemption of 
 articles by this treaty. Davis would not pass 
 hostile legislation, but wished that each nation 
 should "make the law to suit its own conven 
 ience and interest," and then commerce will 
 be let free, "so far as it is mutually beneficial." 
 Such a treaty Davis believed, furthermore, to 
 be a "direct invasion of the powers of Con 
 gress to regulate commerce with foreign na 
 tions and to lay and collect taxes, and trans 
 ferred to the President and the Senate prerog 
 atives which belong to Congress as a whole." 
 
 Desirous of having the war brought to a suc 
 cessful conclusion, on February 3, Davis 
 moved to add to the Enrollment Act a pro 
 vision that no one shall be allowed to pay com 
 mutation money except clergymen, Quakers, 
 and men with dependent wife and children 
 and less than $1,200 income independent of 
 
CHAPTER IX 1863-1865 263 
 
 their industry. To prevent hardship, he 
 would allow, in case of any drafted man on 
 whom a near relative may depend for support, 
 $10 per month for each person, not exceeding 
 $500 annually in any case. The money should 
 be paid directly to the dependent person, or 
 guardian. "The enemy now presses our 
 forces at every point within rifle shot," said 
 Davis. "Any sudden breeze may bring them 
 directly into collision with our depleted army. 
 In any event, early in March, the armies will 
 come into collision. It is, therefore, impor 
 tant, unless the United States mean to abandon 
 the contest, or unless they mean to be beaten, 
 directly, at the outset of the campaign, that 
 they should restore their armies to an adequate 
 strength to meet and overwhelm the enemy. 
 A balanced campaign is a lost campaign; a 
 balanced fight is for the United States a lost 
 day, wasted honor, wasted time, wasted treas 
 ure." He opposed giving bounties, as he held 
 that "the Republic has a right to have the 
 services of every man competent to bear a 
 musket. The way, the democratic way, the 
 republican way, the wise and efficient way to 
 raise an army is to make every man, within the 
 military ages, liable to military duty". A 
 week later, he moved to strike out the pro 
 vision for the payment of $300 to each owner 
 of a drafted slave, on the ground that,"if slaves 
 
264 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 are liable to military duty at all, they are lia 
 ble to military duty on the same ground as 
 every person (citizen or denizen), who owes 
 obedience to the laws. If they owe military 
 service, we owe the master nothing, for taking 
 what the slaves owe. If they do not owe mili 
 tary service to the country, I do not mean, for 
 one, to buy slaves for soldiers. In my judg 
 ment, they do owe military service to the Gov 
 ernment. Can anybody contend for one mo 
 ment, in the eye of reason and common sense, 
 that four million men, strong, stalwart and 
 energetic, and who have proved themselves on 
 the field of battle to be as courageous as white 
 men, more amenable to discipline and more 
 inured to the vicissitudes of climate and to 
 daily labor can anybody suppose that that 
 great body of men are not liable to be taken 
 by the laws for the defense of our country? 
 If they are, it is because they owe the duty to 
 the Government and, if they do, we owe the 
 master nothing for taking them." x 
 
 He instanced the fact that a son or an ap 
 prentice might be taken, "who is quite as dear, 
 quite as necessary, quite as valuable to the fa 
 ther and to the employer," as the slave to the 
 master, and he denied that a slave, necessarily, 
 was made a "freeman by taking him for a sol 
 dier." 87 
 
 On the next day, Davis moved M that "a just 
 
CHAPTER IX 1863-1865 265 
 
 compensation" be paid "each loyal owner of 
 any slave, who may volunteer into the service 
 of the United States." He did this, not be 
 cause it was "due at all to the owner of the 
 slave," but to ratify the policy instituted by 
 Lincoln in Maryland. By Davis s proposal, 
 in the case of the slave, the bounty was to be 
 paid to the master, on his freeing that slave; 
 as it would have been paid to the white volun 
 teer himself. He differentiated this case 
 from that of a negro drafted into the army; 
 for, "if the Government has the right to take 
 the slave, it has the right to take him exactly 
 as it takes the son, the father, or the brother of 
 any citizen of the Republic, with no more 
 compensation." 
 
 Near the close of the session, 39 Davis unsuc 
 cessfully 40 advocated an amendment to the 
 Enrollment bill, providing that no exemp 
 tion should be obtainable from military service 
 on payment of commutation money. "We 
 want men, not money. We want men to bear 
 arms." No government should allow "one 
 man to pay his obligations to the Republic in 
 money," while it "requires another to pay it in 
 blood." He further advocated the division 
 of the men enrolled as fit for military service 
 into two classes, one comprising those from 
 1 8 to 25 years of age, the other those 
 from 25 to 40. Each year 25,000 men should 
 
266 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 be drafted from the first class to supply de 
 ficiencies in the army, and any more men 
 needed should be taken from the second class. 
 The draft should not be undertaken, until 
 volunteers, each of whom should be allowed 
 $300 bounty, had been called for, and every 
 drafted man, having persons dependent on him 
 and not having $300 a year income, should be 
 allowed $20 per month for such dependents. 
 He advocated a draft in the occupied parts of 
 the rebellious States and was willing that 
 volunteers secured in these States should be 
 credited to the State procuring them. With 
 these provisions, Davis believed the Govern 
 ment would have "power to create an army, 
 which, if there be only wisdom and energy at 
 the White House, will be able to stamp out the 
 rebellion in another campaign." 
 
 It was proposed to establish a Bureau of 
 Freedmen s Affairs and, as the disposition to be 
 made of free negroes was a subject which in 
 terested Davis greatly, he addressed the House 
 thereupon on January 25. 42 James Brooks, of 
 New York, had impeached the election of 
 representatives from Maryland, saying that 
 if the people of the State had been allowed to 
 vote, they would have elected other men, and 
 Davis, immediately, denied that the people 
 were prevented from voting, except those "who 
 disavow, deny and disown their allegiance to 
 
CHAPTER IX 1863-1865 267 
 
 the United States," who, accordingly, had no 
 right to vote. The complaint of the inter 
 ference of the military with the elections was 
 made only as to four of the eight counties in 
 the Eastern Shore district. The Democrats 
 had carried the Southern Maryland district 
 and, in the other three districts, there was no 
 opposition to the members elected, though "a 
 distinguished adviser of the President" urged 
 opposition to Davis. The State was carried 
 for the "emancipation candidate for Comp 
 troller" by 20,000 majority, and the extreme 
 claims of the opposition could not cut down 
 that majority by one-third. The Legislature 
 in Maryland was "overwhelmingly Union," 
 but had been opposed to emancipation, until 
 the election had "carried with it such moral 
 power" that a majority of both Houses were 
 "compelled to pass just such a bill as we dic 
 tated to them," for the summoning of a consti 
 tutional convention. 
 
 Slavery was not yet dead in Maryland. A 
 majority of the Convention had to be secured 
 "on the old slavery apportionment, where one- 
 fourth of the population controlled the State," 
 and it was uncertain how potent was the "hos 
 tile influence that presides near the President s 
 ear." As yet the cause of emancipation in 
 Maryland was under "no obligations" to 
 Lincoln for its advance and, on the 22nd, a 
 
268 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 convention of emancipationists, while express 
 ing confidence in him and "appreciation of his 
 services, added this significant admonition" 
 that they opposed the "reorganization of State 
 Governments" in seceded States, which did 
 not "recognize the immediate and final aboli 
 tion of slavery as a condition precedent," and 
 that they regretted that "influences in the cabi 
 net" had "depressed the efforts of the radical 
 friends of the administration and of emanic- 
 pation and given prominence to those who are 
 the unwilling advocates of emancipation" in 
 Maryland, Missouri, Arkansas, Tennessee and 
 Louisiana. Davis justified this resolution, 
 as showing that the Maryland advocates of 
 freedom gave a devotion "not personal, but to 
 principle," and would support Lincoln, only 
 so long as he supported the cause of emanci 
 pation. 
 
 In the rebel States also, slavery was not 
 dead; but, if the Democrats should carry the 
 coming election, "slavery is as alive as it was 
 the day that the first gun blazed against Sum- 
 ter." Davis set his face to the future and 
 feared not "to say, to friend and foe, what the 
 times demand." Slavery was not destroyed 
 by Lincoln s proclamation, which only was 
 "valid to the extent of turning" slaves "loose 
 from their masters during the rebellion. If the 
 old governments should be re-established and 
 
CHAPTER IX 1863-1865 269 
 
 the "dominant aristocracy" allowed "to re 
 possess the State power in its original pleni 
 tude," the institution would be restored. 
 "Nothing but the resolute declaration of the 
 United States, that it shall be a condition prec 
 edent that slavery shall be prohibited in their 
 Constitutions and that the United States shall 
 give judicial guarantee to the negroes, freedom 
 in fact, and that the United States shall be 
 kept under the control of men of such political 
 views and purposes that the law will be exe 
 cuted as a constitutional law and imposed on 
 reluctant people nothing else can accom 
 plish the death of slavery." 
 
 Davis supported the bill as a temporary 
 measure, but he felt that the nation s perma 
 nent policy should be determined toward the 
 freeman. Lincoln had favored colonization 
 and compensation, and Montgomery Blair, 
 "supposed on that and other subjects, more ac 
 curately to represent his opinion than any 
 other person," had commented on the Presi 
 dent s policy, in the form of an attack upon 
 the "radical abolitionists." Davis acknowl 
 edged himself to be one of these and denied 
 that they wished "to elevate to an equality" 
 with the whites the negroes, or that it was 
 true that "unequal races cannot live together 
 on terms of equality and peace." He ap 
 pealed to history for the disproof of "that as- 
 
270 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 tounding generalization" and adduced the Vol- 
 kerwanderung as an instance. The Spaniards 
 would have kept the Moors as fellow citizens, 
 had the latter been willing to accept Christian 
 ity. The San Dominican negroes engaged in 
 no slave revolt; but, having been freed by the 
 French Assembly, refused to submit to re-en 
 slavement. In Jamaica and in the French 
 colonies, the f reedmen live peacefully with the 
 whites. In Mexico and South America, the 
 "two races are not blended, neither is reduced 
 to slavery;" but "the Indian and Spaniard live 
 together, because both are civilized and both 
 are Christian and both are interested in the 
 same laws and government and industry." In 
 our own country, the Massachusetts colonists 
 warred on the Indians, because the latter were 
 a "people of different religion," who "refused 
 every form of American civilization." The 
 race riots in New York City in 1863, a solitary 
 instance of such violence, were due to the 
 Irish, not to Americans, and even these riots 
 had "more of Democratic hostility to the Gov 
 ernment than Celtic hostility to the negro." 
 If the negro be transplanted, whither shall he 
 go? No place can be found for him. Fur 
 thermore, if compensation be given loyal own 
 ers for loss of slaves, "who will submit to ad 
 ditional millions of taxation?" Davis urged 
 that "such a debt would equal the war debt; 
 
CHAPTER IX 1863-1865 271 
 
 it would prostrate the resources of the country 
 for generations ; it would inflict the scourge of 
 perpetual debt on a land destroyed by civil 
 war and made a desert by the deportation of 
 its laboring population." Nay more, "the 
 master will offer the negro more to stay, than 
 the Government will offer him to go. Two 
 generations can not fill up his place, and, if 
 we can stand his presence two generations, per 
 haps Christian philosophy will enable our de 
 scendants to reconcile themselves to the per 
 manence of what has been found tolerable so 
 long." The negroes themselves do not wish to 
 leave America, but "prefer to stay where they 
 
 are." 
 
 Davis appealed to Congress to "deal with 
 the problem, under the conditions which 
 exist." "The folly of our ancestors and the 
 wisdom of the Almighty, in its inscrutable pur 
 poses, having allowed" the negroes to "come 
 here and planted them here, they have a right 
 to remain here, and they will remain here to 
 the last syllable of recorded time. And 
 whether they become our equals or our su 
 periors, whether they blend, or remain a dis 
 tinct people, your posterity will know, for 
 their eyes will behold them, as ours do now. 
 These are things which we cannot control. 
 Laws do not make, laws can not unmake them. 
 If God has made them our equals, then they 
 
272 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 will work out the problem which he has sent 
 them to work out and, if God has stamped 
 upon them an uneradicable inferiority, you 
 cannot make one hair white or black, or add 
 one cubit to their stature." He insisted that 
 Congress do "not add to the inherent diffi 
 culties of the problem, prejudices, drawn from 
 fancies, not facts." Next he defined his own 
 position as "a Marylander, not a Northern 
 fanatic. My father was a slaveholder. I, 
 myself, for years was a slaveholder. I have 
 lived nearly all my life in Maryland. I know 
 the temper of her people. I have lived for 
 years in Virginia. I know the temper of her 
 people; I know the relations of the white and 
 black population in those States." Maryland 
 had more free negroes than any other State 
 and Virginia came next. In Maryland, "one- 
 eighth of our population is free negro." In 
 1859, a Slaveholders Convention was held in 
 Maryland, whose conveners intended to put 
 an "end to free negroism in Maryland;" but 
 to that convention came James Alfred Pearce, 
 an old Whig, whom Davis honored and to 
 whom he referred as "always a statesman, al 
 ways a gentleman, however, wandering into 
 errors in his last days. " He made a report, 
 in which he said that the result of any removal 
 of the free negroes would be "far greater than 
 all the evils the people of Maryland ever suf- 
 
CHAPTER IX 1863-1865 273 
 
 fered from them. In the City of Baltimore, 
 it is estimated that there are more than 25,000 
 of them, employed chiefly as domestic servants 
 or laborers in various departments of industry. 
 In many of the rural districts of the State, 
 where labor is by no means abundant, they 
 furnish a large supply of agricultural labor, 
 and it is unquestionable that quite a large por 
 tion of our soil could not be tilled without their 
 aid. In some districts, they supplement all 
 the labor demanded by the farmers. Their 
 removal from the State would deduct nearly 
 50 per cent, from the household and agricul 
 tural labor furnished by people of this color, 
 and indispensable to the people of the State, 
 would produce great discomfort and incon 
 venience to the great body of householders; 
 would break up the business and destroy the 
 property of large numbers of landowners and 
 landrenters; would be harsh and oppressive 
 to those people themselves; would violate pub 
 lic sentiment, which is generally not only just 
 but kindly, and would, probably, lead to other 
 evils. We are satisfied that such a measure 
 could not receive the legislative sanction and 
 would not be tolerated by the great body of the 
 people of Maryland, even with that sanction. 
 The committee, therefore, cannot recommend 
 their expulsion from the State. Still more 
 unwilling should they be to favor any measure 
 
 18 
 
274 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 which looked to their being deprived of the 
 right to freedom, which they have acquired by 
 the indulgence of our laws and the tenderness 
 of their masters, whether wise or unwise, or 
 which they have inherited as a birthright" 
 After that convention, an attempt was made to 
 have the Legislature pass a bill, authorizing 
 the hiring out of negroes to the highest bidder 
 and, if they should then prove disobedient, to 
 have them sold as slaves. As passed, it ex 
 tended to only a few counties, 43 and was not to 
 become operative there until approved by 
 popular vote. It was adopted in only one 
 county, and there by accident. 44 Davis con 
 tended that the judgment of the people of 
 Maryland concerning the free negro was that 
 "we neither will expel ourselves, nor encour 
 age to go, nor allow other people to expel" 
 them. 
 
 The emancipation movement in Maryland 
 w r as indebted to negro enlistments. At first 
 only free negroes were enlisted, but after 
 Judge Bond s remonstrance a levy was made 
 "from the slave population, in order that the 
 Union men might have the free colored popu 
 lation to hire," and "every slave enlisted was a 
 poor white man s substitute." The recogni 
 tion of that fact, more than anything else, 
 brought over "the people of the slaveholding 
 counties of Maryland, who had voted at the 
 
CHAPTER IX 1863-1865 275 
 
 beck of the slaveholders for generations," so 
 that Creswell was elected over Crisfield, "a 
 most able gentleman." Davis deprecated ar 
 guments appealing to prejudice or to hostility, 
 and urged that "the great politico-economic 
 argument should be permitted to prevail." 
 
 Stern in his loyalty, Davis rose to heights 
 which remind one of Cicero s orations against 
 Catiline, in a speech delivered in the House 
 on April 1 1, when a resolution was being con 
 sidered for the expulsion of Mr. Alexander 
 Long, of Ohio. 45 He struck to the heart of the 
 matter, and maintained that the question at 
 issue was whether, as a legislator sworn to 
 maintain the Constitution, Mr. Long had 
 shown a "determination not to defend, but to 
 yield up undefended to the enemies of the 
 United States what he was sent here to pro 
 tect." The precedents of the House showed 
 that "words may prove criminality" and may 
 be "visited first by censure, and, if they judge 
 it necessary to the public safety, by expulsion 
 from the House." He criticised the House 
 for recently voting that Benjamin G. Harris, 
 from the Fifth Maryland district, was an "un 
 worthy member" for language uttered in the 
 House which designedly tended to "give aid 
 and encouragement to the public enemies of 
 the nation," and then not going further to his 
 expulsion. Yet the censure voted on that oc- 
 
276 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 casion showed the House s punishment of the 
 utterance of words. Long had said that the 
 only alternatives were: the "extermination of 
 the enemies of the United States," or the "rec 
 ognition of the Southern States as an inde 
 pendent government." In this view he agreed 
 with the "rebel chiefs, and, like them, he 
 avowed himself for recognition" of the South 
 ern Confederacy, which meant "the dissolu 
 tion of the United States." 
 
 Having thus stated the case in "plain lan 
 guage," Davis charged Long as having vio 
 lated "a solemn oath and, therefore, not to be a 
 fit depositary of his constituents vote, a safe 
 person to be intrusted here with the secrets of 
 the United States, a worthy guardian of the 
 existence of the republic." In 1860 "the 
 avowed enemies of the Republic" left the 
 House. "One by one, as their stars dropped 
 from the firmament of the Union, they went 
 out, some with tears in their eyes over the 
 miseries they were about to inflict; some of 
 them with exultation over the coming calam 
 ity; some of them with contemptuous lectures 
 to the members in the House; some stayed be 
 hind to do the traitor s business, in the dis 
 guise of honest legislators in both Houses, as 
 long as they dared." Davis heaped scorn upon 
 those too cowardly to avow the friendship 
 they really felt for the secessionist cause and 
 
CHAPTER IX 1863-1865 277 
 
 preferred an "open adversary." He did not 
 wish to restrict free speech, but claimed that 
 Long was arraigned, "because he violates the 
 law of the country by his purpose to destroy 
 it" No privilege of the right to debate should 
 prevent the punishment of such a violation. 
 Next he called attention to the moderation of 
 the House, and asked what would have been 
 the fate of a man who in the Confederate Con 
 gress, the French National Assembly, or the 
 English Parliament in 1745, should have made 
 a like proposal to yield. If it were a consti 
 tutional right to speak thus, in spite of the law, 
 the safety of the people would require Long s 
 expulsion; but it is "within the limits of the 
 written law, which the wisdom of our fore 
 fathers gave us, so to act." The question is 
 one "that nobody in this country has a right to 
 be on more than one side of. On one side is 
 patience, duty and an oath. On the other is 
 treason, crime and perjury." Chatham s ex 
 ample must not be cited against Davis, for he 
 entered his "dying protest against the recogni 
 tion of American independence." Opinion is 
 "like the ocean, whose tides rise and fall, day 
 by day, at the fickle bidding of the moon, yet 
 it is the great scientific level from which every 
 height is measured the horizon to which as 
 tronomers refer the motion of the stars. But, 
 like the ocean, it has depths, whose eternal 
 
278 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 stillness is the condition of its stability. Those 
 depths of opinion are not free, and it is they 
 that are touched by the words which have so 
 moved the House." Such words "break up 
 the fountains of the great deep, on which all 
 government is borne," and "pour its flood in 
 revolutionary ruin over the land." To punish 
 them is not a a violation of freedom of opinion, 
 but is a protection of its normal ebb and flow." 
 If other men have voiced similar expressions, 
 that fact will not excuse Long, for "their guilt 
 is not his innocence," and "if their guilt is be 
 yond my judgment," Long s guilt is not. 
 
 He then attacked the Democratic party for 
 having "more sympathy with the enemies of 
 the country than with the country itself." 
 Even the aid of the war Democrats was "more 
 embarrassing than their opposition." If that 
 party should gain control of the nation, then 
 Davis said, in a long and eloquent sentence, it 
 might be necessary to consider recognition of 
 the Confederacy. 
 
 "When the people, exhausted by taxation, 
 weary of sacrifices, drained of blood, betrayed 
 by their rulers, deluded by demagogues into 
 believing that peace is the way to union and 
 submission to victory, shall throw down their 
 arms before the advancing foe," then Con 
 gress "may, without treason to the dead re 
 public, declare themselves for recognizing 
 
CHAPTER IX 1863-1865 279 
 
 their masters at the South, rather than exter 
 minating them. Until that day, in the name 
 of the American nation, in the name of every 
 house in the land where there is one dead for 
 the holy cause; in the name of those who stand 
 before us in the ranks of battle; in the name of 
 the liberty our ancestors have confided to us, 
 I devote to eternal execration the name of him 
 who shall propose to destroy this blessed land 
 rather than its enemies." The people had 
 risen to the "height of the occasion, dedicated 
 this generation to the sword," and as a result 
 the "banner of the Republic, still pointing on 
 ward, floats proudly in the face of the enemy," 
 while "vast regions are reduced to obedience 
 to the laws" and a "great host, in armed array, 
 now presses with steady step into the dark re 
 gions of the rebellion." Davis believed that 
 the "earnest and abiding resolution of the peo 
 ple" will "save us." But if, "with such heroic 
 resolve, we fall, we fall with honor and trans 
 mit the name of liberty, transmitted to our 
 keeping, untarnished." This eloquent pero 
 ration was greeted with deserved applause, for 
 its last sentences still stir one s blood. "If we 
 must fall, let our last hours be stained with no 
 weakness; if we must fall, let us stand amid 
 the crash of the falling republic and be buried 
 in its ruins, so that history may take note that 
 men lived in the middle of the nineteenth cen- 
 
280 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 tury worthy of a better fate, but chastised by 
 God for the sins of their forefathers. Let the 
 ruins of the Republic remain to testify to the 
 latest generations our greatness and our hero 
 ism. And let Liberty, crownless and child 
 less, sit upon these ruins, crying aloud with a 
 sad wail to the nations of the world: I nursed 
 and brought up children and they have re 
 belled against me. 
 
 Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy, had 
 disliked Davis for some time and believed 
 that Davis was disappointed because he had 
 not received Welles s portfolio. 46 Because of 
 this dislike, Welles asked the Speaker, when 
 the latter consulted him, not to place Davis 
 on the Naval Committee. Welles admitted 
 that Davis was "one of the most talented and 
 ingenious men in Congress," but he especially 
 suspected Davis, because he had been the 
 "friend and adviser" for some time of Ad 
 miral Dupont, between whom and Welles dif 
 ficulties had arisen. 47 Dupont had asked to be 
 transferred to Washington, and Davis sug 
 gested this transfer to Seward, who approved 
 it, but Welles and Lincoln declined to make 
 the transfer. 48 On February 25, when the 
 Navy Appropriation bill was under discus 
 sion in the House, Davis made an attack upon 
 the management of the department and asked 
 an investigation of it, while he eulogized Du- 
 
CHAPTER IX 1863-1865 281 
 
 pont. 49 Davis referred to the naval attack 
 upon Charleston "as brilliant and as insane as 
 Balaclava," and continued that "it was not a 
 naval expedition, undertaken on the judgment 
 of naval officers or advised by the officer in 
 command charged with its execution, but was 
 devised in the department, without consulting 
 him. If there is shame, it is because the de 
 partment thought a cotton-spinner was better 
 than an admiral to plan it." The ablest offi 
 cer in the Navy thought that the attack must 
 be a combined one in order to be successful. 
 Admiral Dupont was brave. 50 The Navy De 
 partment met him with slurs and insults. 
 Sumter is now a heap of ruins, but Charleston 
 does not fall. The "men in control of the 
 Navy Department keep in retirement the most 
 brilliant officer since Decatur, because the 
 department s crude experiment failed and it 
 was advisable that the department should not 
 appear at fault." 51 
 
 Interested in judicial matters, 52 Davis was 
 willing to exclude cases of tort from the juris 
 diction of the Court of Claims, but was un 
 willing that a mere administrative officer, by 
 administrative action, should conclude claims 53 
 against the Government, and held that that 
 court s jurisdiction extended to all cases of 
 contract. When the National Currency bill 
 was being discussed, Davis 54 objected to driv- 
 
282 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 ing the Bank of Commerce out of business, 
 because of a provision in its articles of asso 
 ciation as to personal liability of stockhold 
 ers. 55 State banks, he maintained, must, on 
 the other hand, be driven from existence, or 
 there would be a "plethora of currency" and 
 a consequent "desolating revulsion" like that 
 of i837. 56 He opposed taxation of national 
 banks by the States, "as placing the existence 
 of these corporations at their mercy." It was 
 a "question between the sovereign power of 
 the United States and the necessities of the 
 machinery it creates," on the one side, and the 
 necessities of the States that desire to tax 
 them," on the other. 57 
 
 From the Committee on Rules 58 he reported 
 an order, which was passed, that the names of 
 members present, but not voting on any pro 
 posal, shall be recorded on the Journal imme 
 diately after the yeas and nays. 59 
 
 Davis felt that he was "charged simply with 
 the interests of the United States, and, in 
 subordination to the interests of the United 
 States, the interests of my district." 60 Follow 
 ing the "paramount interest of the country," he 
 voted to censure and to expel his fellow-repre 
 sentative from Maryland, B. G. Harris, for 
 disloyalty. 61 
 
 When a Missouri election case was before 
 the House, 62 Dawes intimated that the decision 
 
CHAPTER IX 1863-1865 283 
 
 of the case might have an effect upon the pros 
 pects of the Administration in the coming 
 election. Davis then asked him whether that 
 was a proper consideration. Dawes, without 
 answering, charged Davis with "midnight 
 cabals" and responsibility for disorder at the 
 Baltimore elections, and for dens, where voters 
 were cooped up and "from which Plug Uglys 
 go forth." Davis waited for three days and 
 then replied in a spirited address. 63 In this 
 apologia pro vita sua, he began by stating that 
 an election case is not a personal contest be 
 tween the sitting member and the claimant, 
 but is a question relating to the rights of the 
 people represented. "Is either of the parties 
 claiming the seat entitled to speak here for 
 the people of the district? That question can 
 only be presented in two aspects. First, was 
 there a valid election at all and anywhere in 
 the district, and, secondly, if there was a valid 
 election, which of the two parties had a ma 
 jority." To declare an election void at one 
 poll "is not an avoidance of the election, unless 
 the election was centered at one poll, where 
 an overbearing force was present, with men 
 ace and violence such as would deter a man 
 of ordinary firmness from approaching the 
 polls and tendering his vote." Davis main 
 tained that the "prevalence of rumors, or 
 threats, or intimidations before the day of elec- 
 
284 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 tion, or elsewhere than at the polls, or in gain 
 ing access to them, is no consideration at all 
 relevant to the validity of the election." In 
 the Missouri case fifteen counties were includ 
 ed in the district, and there was no pretence of 
 violence, except as to five of these, while there 
 was no violence that could intimidate in one- 
 tenth of the precincts in those counties. "Fear 
 of use of force by legal means" is no reason 
 for annulling an election; consequently, there 
 should be no complaint of the presence of mi 
 litia at the polls. They are there for protec 
 tion. If a person is arrested by them, he may 
 complain to the proper authorities. 
 
 He turned next to the attack made on him 
 by Dawes. Massachusetts and Maryland must 
 have the same law. It was a "most unkind 
 and unexpected occurrence that a gentleman 
 from Massachusetts should rise, after the great 
 struggle for freedom in the loyal slave States 
 of the Union, when triumph has perched on 
 their banners, and reproach them with the 
 dust and sweat of the conflict, rather than 
 swell the chorus of exultation." Dawes op 
 posed the use of military elections; but when 
 the troops were used in the "massacre" at the 
 Washington City election of 1857, the Repub 
 licans were silent, for they did not care "to 
 soil themselves by defending Know Noth 
 ings." Yet "all who are against the common 
 
CHAPTER IX 1863-1865 285 
 
 enemy are for the Republic." The Demo 
 crats, when they oppose the use of troops at 
 the polls, should remember the transactions in 
 Kansas. Although Maryland elections had 
 often been attacked, Davis had "sat with con 
 temptuous silence in this House for six years, 
 scorning to notice railing accusations" made 
 elsewhere. "No man ever dared, in my pres 
 ence," he continued, "to impeach my con 
 duct." Only after his third election did the 
 opposition contest his seat. He had easily won 
 that contest, and Dawes had then voted that 
 Davis retain his seat. "No elections have 
 anywhere occurred of more national import 
 ance or which reflected more honor upon the 
 indomitable spirit and determination of the 
 people to vindicate their rights at every haz 
 ard, than the elections in which I was a candi 
 date." As he had been attacked on the floor 
 of the House, on that floor he now defended 
 his conduct to the people of the United States. 
 The American party was "organized to rescue 
 the public school from Democratic and sec 
 tarian conspiracy, and first met and broke the 
 power of the Democratic domination" of the 
 country. The Republican party "encountered 
 its fragments, when its sceptre was already 
 wrested from its hands." Davis had risen to 
 "vindicate" the memory of the American par 
 ty and "claim its true place in history." He 
 
a86 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 rehearsed the Maryland campaigns from 1855 
 to 1859, m which latter year John Brown s 
 raid caused such alarm that the Democrats 
 carried the State. The persons whom Dawes 
 sneered at as Plug Uglys were as "respectable 
 as the most respectable of his constituents. It 
 is the heart of the American mechanics that 
 he thus slights. Many of them now sleep in 
 soldiers graves. They constituted in great 
 part the famous First Maryland Regiment, 
 which, under the heroic Kenly, arrested with 
 their bayonets for hours ten times their num 
 ber of rebel cavalry at Front Royal and never 
 yielded till they were literally ridden down 
 and destroyed, that they might give the Mas 
 sachusetts Banks time to save his army. They 
 formed the great, silent, irresistible power 
 which palsied the traitors who, on and after 
 the 1 9th of April, vainly strove to tear Mary 
 land from the Union." He closed by vindi 
 cating the Administration and saying, "while 
 we have the power, we will enforce the Con 
 stitution as we think right." K 
 
 Without consulting his Cabinet, 66 Lincoln 
 issued a proclamation on July 9 upon the sub 
 ject of the Davis-Wade bill. He thought 
 that measure "too rigid and too restrictive," 
 and that it were better to have "no fixed and 
 formal method" of reconstruction and to be 
 tied to "no single plan of restoration." He was 
 
CHAPTER IX 1863-1865 287 
 
 not willing to declare that the governments of 
 Louisiana and Arkansas should be "set aside 
 and held for naught," and he hoped for a con 
 stitutional amendment that would abolish 
 slavery. Yet he was satisfied that the system 
 contained in the bill was "one very proper, for 
 the loyal people of any State choosing to adopt 
 it," and he was willing to appoint military 
 Governors, "with directions to proceed ac 
 cording to the bill," in States where military 
 resistance was suppressed and the people had 
 sufficiently returned to obedience to the Con 
 stitution and the laws. 
 
 The struggle between Congress and the 
 President as to the right to reconstruct the 
 Southern States thus began, and continued 
 with increasing acrimony until finally a vic 
 tory in fact was won by Congress under the 
 Presidency of Andrew Johnson. Long years 
 afterwards the Supreme Court of the United 
 States supported Davis s position as the legal 
 one, saying that it is a "legislative duty to de 
 termine the politcal questions involved in de 
 ciding whether a State government in form ex 
 ists." 67a 
 
 Chase was very angry at the issuance of Lin 
 coln s proclamation, and years later E. L. 
 Pierce, writing Sumner s biography 68 said that 
 "no part of the President s entire official 
 course was so open to exception as that which 
 
288 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 he pursued on this subject of reconstruction, 
 where he seemed to assert power for himself, 
 to the exclusion of the people of the United 
 States and of Congress." Lincoln s biogra 
 phers are correct, however, in writing 69 that 
 the "great mass of voters accepted Lincoln s 
 proclamation as the wisest and most practi 
 cable method." 
 
 After Lincoln s proclamation had been is 
 sued, Davis sat down to prepare a public reply. 
 Congress would not meet for several months, 
 and he felt that an earlier answer should be 
 made. When he had finished it, he read it to 
 his friend and admirer, John T. Graham, who 
 was to copy it out fair for publication. Gra 
 ham was so thrilled with it that he said : "Mr. 
 Davis, don t show what you have written to 
 anyone else, but send it just as you have writ 
 ten it," fearing that if other Republican lead 
 ers in Maryland, such as Archibald Stirling, 
 Esq., or Judge Hugh Lennox Bond, saw the 
 document, they would soften and modify its 
 expressions. Davis yielded to Mr. Graham s 
 persuasion, and the document was sent to Sen 
 ator Benjamin F. Wade just as Davis had 
 written 70 it. Davis s act has been viewed as 
 an "intemperate arraignment," which really 
 strengthened Lincoln s position, 71 although it 
 was not surprising that "men of so much intel 
 ligence, courage and tenacity" as Davis and 
 
CHAPTER IX 1863-1865 289 
 
 Wade would not permit so bold an act as Lin 
 coln s proclamation to be issued, while they 
 were silent. 
 
 Davis s best friends may well wish that he 
 had left the manifesto unwritten. With the 
 most exalted purpose, and with a fundamen 
 tally correct constitutional position, he pre 
 pared a document, whose fierce attack on the 
 President could do no good, and which (save 
 for the fact that it was boldly published) re 
 minds one in many particulars of Hamilton s 
 equally unwise attack on Adams in the cam 
 paign of 1800. The argument of the mani 
 festo, addressed to "the supporters of the Gov 
 ernment" is that of Davis s congressional 
 speeches upon the bill for the reorganization 
 of the seceded States and is cogent. The os 
 tensible reason for the document was that 
 Davis and Wade, having read "without sur 
 prise, but not without indignation, the procla 
 mation of the President," felt that they ought 
 not to pass it in silence, but ought to endeavor 
 "to check the encroachments of the executive 
 on the authority of Congress and to require 
 it to confine itself to its proper sphere." With 
 words of extreme condemnation, they declare 
 that, so far as Lincoln s proclamation "con 
 tains an apology for not signing the bill, it is 
 a political manifesto against the friends of the 
 Government. So far as it proposes to execute 
 
 19 
 
290 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 the bill, which is not a law, it is a grave execu 
 tive usurpation." Lincoln had called atten 
 tion in the proclamation to the fact that the 
 bill was presented to him, just before the ad 
 journment of Congress, and Davis properly 
 exposed this subterfuge by showing that the 
 bill had been so fully discussed for so long a 
 time that "ignorance of its contents is out of 
 the question." The provisions of the bill did 
 not "take the President by surprise." The 
 evidence rather tended to show that Lincoln 
 had determined not to sign the bill, long be 
 fore it passed the Senate. Davis also empha 
 sized the danger of permitting the President s 
 "wisdom and prudence" to be "our sufficient 
 guarantees," in so important a matter as the 
 treatment of the rebel States. Lincoln had 
 upheld, in his proclamation, "those shadows 
 of governments in Arkansas and Louisiana 
 which Congress formally declared should not 
 be recognized, by repelling the representatives 
 and Senators from these States and by refusing 
 them an electoral vote." Davis condemned 
 these "mere oligarchies, imposed upon the 
 people by military orders under the forms of 
 election," and maintained that Lincoln, "by 
 preventing this bill from becoming a law, 
 holds the electoral votes of the rebel States at 
 the dictation of his personal ambition." Not 
 only so, but the Supreme Court, in the Rhode 
 
CHAPTER IX 1863-1865 291 
 
 Island case, had established the correctness of 
 the doctrine that the "judgment of Congress, 
 which the President defied, was the exercise of 
 an authority exclusively invested in Congress 
 by the Constitution." Under the Constitu 
 tion, the right to Senators and Representatives 
 is "inseparable from a State government. If 
 there be a State government, the right is abso 
 lute. The two Houses of Congress are ex 
 pressly declared to be the sole judges of their 
 own members. When, therefore, Senators 
 and Representatives are admitted, the State 
 government, under whose authority they were 
 chosen, is conclusively established; when they 
 are rejected, its existence is as conclusively re 
 jected and denied. And to this judgment, the 
 President is bound to submit." 
 
 Lincoln had said that he was unwilling to 
 "declare a constitutional competency in Con 
 gress to abolish slavery in States," but the bill 
 only referred to rebel States, where Lincoln 
 had already emancipated "much the larger 
 number of slaves." Davis insisted that the 
 President can not have "more discretion in this 
 matter than Congress had. Indeed, except as 
 to a small part of Louisiana and Virginia, the 
 bill "added a congressional title and judicial 
 remedies by law to the disputed title under the 
 proclamation and perfected the work" of 
 Lincoln. Slavery in the States can be abol- 
 
292 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 ished only by their constitutions and the bill 
 provided that the new State constitutions must 
 contain a provision for manumission. 
 
 Davis s wrath knew no bounds at Lincoln s 
 proposal to execute the bill as a law, by his 
 "plenary dictatorial power," than which state 
 ment, he cried out, "a more studied outrage on 
 the legislative authority of the people has 
 never been perpetrated." He particularly ob 
 jected to the appointment of provisional mili 
 tary governors, instead of civil ones, as the bill 
 provided, and to the procedure, by "persons re 
 sponsible to no law and more intrusted to se 
 cure the interests and execute the will of the 
 President than of the people." He objected 
 to the rebel States being allowed to take the 
 easy way of following the requirements of the 
 President s proclamation of December 8, 
 which failed to give the needed "guarantees 
 of future peace" or to "protect the loyal men 
 of the nation against three great dangers: i. 
 The return to power of the guilty leaders of 
 the rebellion. 2. The continuance of slavery, 
 and 3, the burden of the rebel debt." The 
 failure to sign the bill was a "rash and fatal 
 act," a "blow at the friends" of Lincoln s "ad 
 ministration, at the rights of humanity, and at 
 the principles of Republican Government." 
 He had presumedonmen s forbearance. Davis 
 and Wade supported a cause, not a man, and 
 
CHAPTER IX 1863-1865 293 
 
 insisted that the "authority of Congress is par 
 amount," and to that authority Lincoln must 
 "leave political reorganization." The mani 
 festo ends with the ringing call to the "sup 
 porters of the Government" to "consider the 
 remedy for these usurpations, and, having 
 found, fearlessly execute it." The manifesto 
 caused Davis to be defeated by Gen. Charles 
 E. Phelps in October for the Congressional 
 nomination, but was characteristic of a man, 
 who "always boldly avowed his opinions and 
 assumed their full responsibility." 72 
 
 When the manifesto appeared on August 8, 
 Welles asked Lincoln what he thought of it, 
 and was told that he had not read it and prob 
 ably should not read it. "From what was 
 said of it, he had no desire to" do so, and 
 "could himself take no part in such a contro 
 versy as they seemed to wish to provoke." 
 Welles added, "perhaps he is right, provided 
 he has some judicious friend to state to him 
 what there is really substantial in the protest 
 entitled to consideration, without the vitupera 
 tive asperity." Lincoln was content to let his 
 opponents "wriggle," n but thought it strange 
 that Greeley would publish the manifesto in 
 the Tribune, a paper which had favored the 
 administration. The publication of the mani 
 festo caused Welles to indite a more atrabili 
 ous passage than usual in his diary: "The pro- 
 
294 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 test is violent and abusive of the President, 
 who is denounced with malignity, for what I 
 deem the wise and prudent omission to sign a 
 law. There are many offensive features in 
 the law, which is in itself an usurpation and 
 abuse of authority. How, or in what way or 
 ways, the several States are to put themselves 
 right, and retrieve their position is in the fu 
 ture and cannot well be specified. There must 
 be latitude and not a stiff and a too stringent 
 policy pursued in this respect by either the 
 Executive or Congress." Looking for low 
 motives, Welles found that "in getting up this 
 law it was as much an object of Mr. Winter 
 Davis and some others to pull down the ad 
 ministration as to reconstruct the Union. I 
 think they had the former more directly in 
 view than the latter. Davis s conduct is not 
 surprising," but Wade should not have lent 
 himself to "such a despicable assault." Davis 
 seemed to Welles to be the ringleader who had 
 drawn in Colfax and they had flattered Wade 
 to do a foolish act. Venting the vials of his 
 wrath on Davis, Welles wrote of him as a man 
 who "had a good deal of talent, but is rash 
 and uncertain. There is scarcely a more am 
 bitious man and one that can not be more safe 
 ly trusted. He is impulsive and mad and has 
 been acute and contriving in this whole meas 
 ure." He is "not controlled by earnest zeal," 
 but is "ambitious and malignant." 
 
CHAPTER IX 1863-1865 295 
 
 Nicolay and Hay 75 are hardly less severe. 
 From the "grim beginning" of the manifesto 
 until the end, it was the "most vigorous attack 
 that was ever directed against the President by 
 one of his own party during his term." It 
 "insinuated that only the lowest personal mo 
 tives could have dictated" Lincoln s action, 
 while it also "ridiculed Lincoln s earnestly 
 expressed hope for constitutional amendment." 
 Every sentence of Lincoln s proclamation 
 "came in for its share of censure or ridicule." 
 
 A less partisan critic 76 wrote that, notwith 
 standing the necessity for harmony among 
 those desiring to put down the rebellion, after 
 the issuance of Lincoln s proclamation, "two 
 of the boldest leaders, disregarding every con 
 sideration of prudence, arraigned the Presi 
 dent, in language which, for severity, was 
 never surpassed by the invectives of his ablest 
 political opponents. In the entire experience 
 of the Republic, no executive had ever as 
 sumed to reject those provisions in a legisla 
 tive measure which he disliked and adopt those 
 that were acceptable. This is precisely what 
 Mr. Lincoln did and the reasons for his action 
 he declared to the people with a confidence" 
 like Jackson s. 77 Davis s ardent admirer, 
 Elaine, writing twenty years later, said that, 
 while the Congress almost unanimously dis 
 sented from Lincoln s "extraordinary" course 
 
296 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 in issuing his proclamation, they had gone 
 home and found the people united in his sup 
 port. "Two of the ablest, most fearless, most 
 resolute men then in public life" were excep 
 tions and they sent forth the manifesto, "able, 
 caustic and unqualified." "The protest closed 
 with the language of stern admonition, if not 
 indeed of absolute menace," but it was "a 
 brutum fulmen with no visible political re 
 sult," save the defeat of Davis, when a candi 
 date for renomination to Congress. "The 
 very strength" of the paper was its "special 
 weakness. It was so powerful an arraignment 
 of the President that, of necessity, it rallied 
 his friends to his support with that intense 
 form of energywhich springs from the instinct 
 of self-preservation." Elaine is probably cor 
 rect in adding that, even if the President were 
 in error, it were better to follow him than to 
 have dissension and division, and that men pre 
 ferred to follow Lincoln, who had all the 
 power, rather than Davis and Wade, who had 
 none. 79 In spite of the "solicitations of most of 
 his personal friends in Maryland," Lincoln 
 refused to "discriminate against the faction 
 headed by Mr. Davis in making appointments 
 to office in that State" and when, during this 
 important campaign, a deputation of promi 
 nent supporters of the administration in Mary 
 land came to Washington to denounce Mr. 
 
CHAPTER IX 1863-1865 297 
 
 Davis for his outspoken hostility to the Presi 
 dent, saying such a course, if it continued, 
 would lose Mr. Lincoln the electoral vote of 
 the State, he replied: "I understand that Mr, 
 Davis is doing all in his power to secure the 
 success of the emancipation ticket in Mary 
 land. If he does this, I care nothing about 
 the electoral vote. 80 
 
 Lincoln s words might have been even 
 stronger. When Creswell pronounced his 
 eulogy on Davis, he said "his crowning glory 
 was the leadership of the emancipation move 
 ment" in Maryland. 81 The Confederates had 
 talked of delivering the State from the "ty 
 rant s heel" which was upon its neck, but 
 Davis set about the task of breaking the last 
 tie which bound Maryland to the other slave 
 States by destroying slavery and thus placed 
 the State "unalterably on the side of the Union 
 and freedom." Gathering Creswell, Gushing 
 and a few others, he organized his "little band, 
 almost ridiculous from its want of numbers, 
 early in 1863." Enemies laughed them to 
 scorn, but Davis led them to success through 
 a contest, in whose "heat and fury," the hearts 
 of his associates were "welded into permanent 
 friendship" with him. He announced their 
 platform in a few comprehensive words, de 
 claring that they stood for "a hearty support 
 of the entire policy of the national adminis- 
 
298 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 tration, including immediate emancipation by 
 constitutional means." He opened the cam 
 paign, by publishing an address of some twen 
 ty pages to the people of the State, which 
 pamphlet Creswell characterized as notable 
 "for the warmth and vigor of its diction and 
 the lucidity and conclusiveness of its argumen 
 tation." He closed his message with this 
 hopeful sentence: "We do not doubt the result 
 and expect, freed from the trammels which 
 now bind her, to see Maryland, at no distant 
 day, rapidly advancing in a course of unex 
 ampled prosperity with her sister free States 
 of the undivided and indivisible republic." 
 
 In the campaign, Creswell continued: "Mr. 
 Davis was ubiquitous. He arranged the or 
 der of battle, dictated the correspondence, 
 wrote the important articles for the newspa 
 pers, and addressed all the concerted meetings. 
 In short, neither his voice nor his pen rested 
 in all the time of our travail. He would have 
 no compromise, but rejected all overtures ot 
 the enemy short of unconditional surrender. 
 On the Eastern Shore, he spoke with irresisti 
 ble power at Elkton, Easton, Salisbury and 
 Snow Hill, at each of the three last named 
 towns with a crowd of wondering "American 
 citizens of African descent" listening to him 
 from afar, and looking upon him as if they 
 believed him to be the seraph Abdiel. His 
 
CHAPTER IX 1863-1865 299 
 
 last appointment, in extreme Southern Mary 
 land, he filled on Friday, after which, bidding 
 me a cordial God-speed, he descended from 
 the stand, sprang into an open wagon awaiting 
 him, travelled 80 miles through a raw night 
 air, reached Cambridge by daylight and then 
 crossed the Chesapeake 60 miles, in time to 
 close the campaign with one of his ringing 
 speeches in Monument Square, Baltimore, on 
 Saturday night." 
 
 Victorious in the election of 1863, he then 
 "allowed himself no reprieve from labor," un 
 til the Legislature had called a constitutional 
 convention, and had voted to adopt the Con 
 stitution abolishing slavery, which that con 
 vention, had framed. Then he went before 
 the Court of Appeals successfully to maintain 
 the validity of the adoption of the Constitu 
 tion and "drew extraordinary encomiums, even 
 from his opponents in that angry litigation." 8 
 
 It is, therefore, easily to be seen that during 
 1864, Davis took a very prominent part in 
 events in Maryland. In pursuance of a call 
 by the Unconditional Union State Central 
 Committee, he addressed a meeting in the 
 Maryland Institute in Baltimore on April i. 83 
 He began, by asserting that the election of the 
 previous autumn had shown that the people of 
 the State wished that Maryland "be put upon 
 the same basis of free institutions, which have 
 
300 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 wrought such miracles of prosperity among 
 our Northern sisters." The Governor and 
 the Legislature had been unfriendly, but the 
 Assembly "did not dare adjourn without pass 
 ing" the bill to submit to the people the ques 
 tion of calling a Constitutional convention. 
 Two sets of delegates were nominated for elec 
 tion to that Convention, and Davis strongly 
 urged the election of those men who were 
 pledged to vote for emancipation. "The slav 
 ery interest" was struggling "vigorously to 
 maintain its domination." It had been hither 
 to master of the whole State, through the "rot 
 ten borough counties of Southern Maryland 
 and the Eastern Shore," who "have used their 
 power to take to themselves the lion s share of 
 our political honor and to cast upon you the 
 ass s share of every political burden." Taxa 
 tion had been unevenly imposed. One-fourth 
 of the white population had held one-half of 
 the political power. The first fruit of the 
 "breaking down" of slavery should be to re 
 distribute political power and to "reassert the 
 right of numbers" in Maryland. The slavery 
 men were trying to discourage men from vot 
 ing for a convention, on the ground that it 
 might vote to compensate slaveholders for 
 freedom. Davis ridiculed this fear. The 
 slaveholding counties elected only half the 
 convention. Any "ordinance they may pass 
 
CHAPTER IX 1863-1865 301 
 
 as part of the Constitution has to be submitted 
 to the vote of the people for their sanction 
 and the vote of the City of Baltimore alone 
 will defeat any bill for compensation." Cres- 
 well s victory, in "the Africa of the Eastern 
 Shore," proved that some, even of the slave- 
 holding counties, would vote for emancipa 
 tion. Davis s experience in the Eastern Shore 
 campaign, had taught him that the poorer 
 classes, who, "for three generations, had been 
 voting at the dictation of the leading gentle 
 men of their regions," had now "cast their 
 first independent vote, for their own freedom 
 first and the freedom of the negro afterward." 
 Crisfield, "the ablest man of the Eastern 
 Shore, a gentleman of large property, a large 
 negro-holder, with a national reputation, 
 leaning to the Copperhead style of politics, 
 intensely conservative," was beaten by Cres- 
 well, who argued that the time for emanci 
 pation was come. Not only so, but the 
 Maryland Legislature had excluded secession 
 ists from voting at the next election, holding 
 "that men who are traitors to the country have 
 no part in our political community." The 
 opponents alleged that the advocates of the 
 Convention favored giving to the negro 
 "equality" and, for that allegation, Davis un 
 mercifully ridiculed them and denied the 
 charge. The slave-holders deserved no com- 
 
302 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 pensation, because they had failed to pay fair 
 taxes on slave property. For forty years, they 
 had been "plunderers of the public purse for 
 their private benefit." They had also spurned 
 the "only chance they ever had of receiving 
 anything as a ransom for their slaves," by re 
 jecting all overtures from the Federal Govern 
 ment in the early months of the war. "Be 
 tween them and compensation, the great gulf 
 is fixed." The President s proposal of com 
 pensation was "intended to promote the sup 
 pression of the rebellion," to "save a thousand 
 millions of dollars" and a "year of anarchy 
 and bloodshed. The year had gone. The 
 thousand millions of dollars are sunk in the 
 ruts of our artillery in the South. The blood 
 is shed. The blood that pays the ransom of 
 the negro is poured out and the money of the 
 Government went with it," so that those who 
 refused the offer, may now "eat the bitter 
 fruits of their folly." 
 
 The slaveholders had no longer a claim upon 
 the Federal Government for compensation, 
 since the "United States never granted them 
 slave property." If the State enfranchise the 
 slaves, the loss to the owners is analogous to 
 that occasioned by a change in the tariff, which 
 Davis had seen destroy "values infinitely 
 greater than the value of the slave property of 
 Maryland," without any one proposing to 
 
CHAPTER IX 1863-1865 303 
 
 "compensate the broken manufacturers of 
 Massachusetts and the iron dealers of Pennsyl 
 vania or Maryland." 
 
 "Negroes are no more property by the law 
 of nature than white men." The slaveholders 
 had their compensation, by "robbing the State 
 Treasury of the taxes" upon the slaves "real 
 value;" by the "improved value of their 
 lands," especially in "Southern Maryland, 
 where everything that smiles and blossoms is 
 the work of the negro that they tore from 
 Africa;" and by "four generations of uncom- 
 pensated labor." No political party would 
 dare to go into a canvass and advocate doub 
 ling the war debt by compensating owners for 
 their slaves. "There is scarcely a household 
 where there is not one dead," continued Davis 
 eloquently, "there is scarcely a household 
 where children are not lacking for some of 
 the comforts of life, by reason of this great 
 war, and their wants must not be increased to 
 give luxuries to the rich slaveholders. The 
 negro is paid for by the hardships that men 
 are now enduring. He is paid for by the in 
 creased price of labor, the increased price of 
 land and bread, the withdrawal of labor from 
 the free States, the converting of an immense 
 population into an army. This is the pay for 
 it. It is paid for by the iniquity of the re 
 bellion and they will get no other pay but the 
 suppression of the rebellion." He closed, by 
 
3 o 4 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 urging all Baltimoreans to vote for a Conven 
 tion, "which not merely rids her commercial 
 wealth of the burden of being in a slave State, 
 but restores to her political equality with all 
 the free regions of the State." On October 
 12, 1864, the new State Constitution abolish 
 ing slavery was adopted. 
 
 During the first six months of 1864, the 
 breach between Lincoln and Davis had so 
 widened that, on May 13, Governor E. D. 
 Morgan, of New York, told Secretary Welles 
 that the hall in which it was expected that the 
 National Republican Convention would meet 
 had been hired by the malcontents through 
 the treachery and connivance of Davis. 84 
 
 Overtures were made Davis of support 
 for the vice-presidential nomination, if he 
 would support Lincoln, but he indignantly re 
 plied: "What! Desert a cause for my personal 
 preferment." ffi 
 
 The National Union Convention met at 
 Baltimore on June 8 and unanimously renom- 
 inated Lincoln for the Presidency. Davis, who 
 would have preferred Chase or Wade, was 
 seriously disturbed by the nomination. The 
 proclamation of the President and the raid of 
 Early into Maryland in July increased his dis 
 turbance. He feared that, with Lincoln as its 
 standard-bearer, the Union party might even 
 lose the election, and so participated in a con- 
 
CHAPTER IX 1863-1865 305 
 
 ference held in New York City at the end of 
 July, in the hope of securing Lincoln s with 
 drawal. 86 
 
 Later in August, Davis wrote Charles Sum- 
 ner, taking a cheerless view of the prospect 
 and seeing small chance of success against 
 Executive influence. 87 He advocated a new 
 candidate for the Presidency, and vouched 
 Wade as a supporter of such a man. 88 
 
 Davis was not one, however, to sulk 89 in his 
 tent, and, though he was not renominated for 
 Congress nor invited to take part in the can 
 vass in Maryland, he spoke under the auspices 
 of the Union League in Philadelphia on Octo 
 ber 25- 90 His friends knew that he would 
 neither yield to their persuasions, nor to the 
 "threats and imprecations of enemies." He 
 bent to no considerations of "policy," but was 
 unbending in his attitude towards all ques 
 tions. He could subordinate personal con 
 siderations to those of public interest. No act 
 of his life is nobler or more statesmanlike than 
 the delivery of the eloquent Philadelphia ora 
 tion. Bitterly and rightfully opposing the 
 policy of the President, disappointed in his 
 hopes of a renomination for Congress, but yet 
 convinced that the success of the effort to put 
 down the rebellion demanded Lincoln s re 
 election, with fine magnanimity he sprang to 
 his support. Davis began his address with a 
 
 20 
 
306 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 statement of his beliefs, that "the canvass in 
 which the American people are now engaged 
 is very much the most momentous that the his 
 tory of the world, or of free government, has 
 produced. If it succeed, as in my judgment 
 it will succeed, in placing in power the men 
 who have conducted the Government through 
 this awful crisis, till safety begins to be visible, 
 a result will have been accomplished which 
 will forever place the capacity of the people 
 of America for self-government beyond cavil 
 beyond the reach of question for they are 
 called to vote for the election of a man who 
 has presided over the Government in circum 
 stances altogether unprecedented, during a 
 time when vast sacrifices have been exacted 
 and vast sacrifices have cheerfully been made 
 by the mass of the American people; when 
 enormous taxes have been imposed; when 
 enormous armies have been raised; when great 
 results were expected and great results have 
 not always been achieved; when disaster has 
 perched upon the national banner as often as 
 victory; and when the great preponderance of 
 our resources in men and money, while grad 
 ually and steadily eating toward the heart of 
 the rebellion, have not reached it with that 
 promptness, have not crushed it with that de 
 cisiveness that our hopes led us to expect when 
 the war broke out. Under these circumstances, 
 
CHAPTER IX 1863-1865 307 
 
 judged by the history of the world, discontent, 
 dissension, the lack of spirit and of energy, di 
 visions at home, dictating tones from abroad, 
 popular submission, popular bewilderment, 
 were what we were entitled to expect nay, 
 what we were bound to expect. Instead of 
 that, what do we behold? The great mass of 
 the American people having, as it were, been 
 surprised into the renomination of the present 
 candidate then for a moment pausing, as if 
 frightened at what they had done then lis 
 tening to the first echo from Chicago, and for 
 getting every doubt, throwing aside every 
 hesitation, subjecting every criticism to the 
 dictates of the highest reason and the highest 
 statesmanship, as one man, turned to the can 
 didate whom before they had doubted, with 
 a resolution that they must make an election 
 not between two individuals, not between the 
 personal qualities of Abraham Lincoln and 
 George B. McClellan, not between the public 
 services of the one or the other, but an election 
 between the overthrow and the salvation of the 
 Republic." There is no wonder that the au 
 dience here interrupted the speech with loud 
 applause. He subordinated his personal dis 
 likes and differences of opinion to the great 
 question, "what do we wish to accomplish?" 
 and, without hesitation, said that "I, and thou 
 sands like me in America," will vote for Abra- 
 
3 o8 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 ham Lincoln, because, "if we desire a change, 
 we cannot change now without bringing ruin 
 upon the Republic; and, for that reason, every 
 doubt is subordinated to the great necessities 
 of empire." "Great sacrifices," he continued, 
 "heretofore made, are to be thrown away, if 
 you come to one judgment, and to be fruitful 
 in blessings, if you come to another judg 
 ment." The decision must be made solemnly, 
 with full consciousness that it means continu 
 ance of the war, that "it dooms fifty thousand 
 men to death, and that they have to come from 
 your brothers and your sons;" that it deter 
 mines "whether the fabric of government 
 reared by our fathers shall remain untouched, 
 whether the integrity of republican institu 
 tions shall be preserved." He had "never for 
 a moment hesitated" in his belief "that the 
 mass of the American people, taxation, blood 
 shed, failure to the contrary notwithstanding, 
 are for the war as the only path of safety. Not 
 because they want bloodshed, but because they 
 want peace; not because they want to subju 
 gate their fellow-citizens, but because they are 
 determined all shall be free." Consequently, 
 when the Democratic platform expressed a 
 "doubt as to whether the war was to proceed," 
 the people s judgment was settled as to the 
 candidate. It is not desired to restore the 
 
CHAPTER IX 1863-1865 309 
 
 Union "as heretofore," when Buchanan was 
 President, and the nation was humiliated. 
 
 The Democratic success would mean to the 
 Union "its submission to Southern dictation, 
 its destruction before Southern rebellion, dis 
 solution and death, and not preservation." 
 The Democrats advocate a cessation of hostili 
 ties, opening the door for foreign intervention. 
 If the Confederates refuse to makepeace,"how 
 will you ever take up the musket, after it has 
 been laid down?" It was clear that "the ces 
 sation of the war means the end of the war- 
 that the end of the war means the end of co 
 ercive measures for the restoration of the Re 
 public." McClellan s backers were Peace 
 Democrats, and would "repeal every law on 
 the statute book for carrying on of the war," 
 disband the negro regiments, and "remove the 
 suspension of the habeas corpus, in order that 
 Democratic traitors might walk at large and 
 communicate with the enemy." The Republi 
 cans have "struggled, to the best of their abil 
 ity, be it poor or great, for four years to carry 
 on" the war, and "if they are not stripped of 
 power now, will, in a reasonable time, put an 
 end to it." There is no other way of "restoring 
 the integrity of the Republic than bythebloody 
 paths of war." Davis had taken that position 
 in the fall of 1860, and never swerved from it. 
 He saw clearly, from the time of the secession 
 
3 io HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 of South Carolina, that "the only path to unity 
 in this country is over bloody battle fields." 
 
 The people must not be deluded. "You may 
 be near the end of the rebellion, but there is 
 many a sharp struggle before you yet, and the 
 only way to end it is to let the rebels have no 
 rest, to press them on, day by day, and night 
 by night, filling up the gulf between you and 
 them with your dead sons and brothers, if 
 necessary, but remembering that every week 
 of armistice, every day of delay, every month 
 of winter quarters means other hetacombs to 
 fill up the gap in your march." The Demo 
 crats raised objections to Lincoln s conduct of 
 his administration, but Davis boldly cried 
 that "the Republican party stands at his back 
 and takes the responsibility of what has passed 
 before." Mistakes had been made, "yet the 
 substantial things of government had been 
 done better than our antagonists could do 
 them." Striking at the central point of the 
 campaign, Davis averred that "the question is 
 not whether Mr. Lincoln has done the best 
 that any mind could conceive, nor even the 
 best that he himself could do, nor whether 
 what he has done, is absolutely right, or abso 
 lutely in accordance with law; but the ques 
 tion is whether his opponent would do better." 
 This question Davis unhesitatingly answered 
 negatively, saying that the "greatest of all fail- 
 
CHAPTER IX 1863-1865 311 
 
 ures" during the war was the "failure of 
 George B. McClellan," and that to that fail 
 ure, more than to any other cause, the duration 
 of the war was due. 
 
 The Democrats objected to the violation of 
 the rights of personal liberty, but Davis re 
 plied that liberty stands in the same category 
 with life. "How many men has Abraham 
 Lincoln shot down, according to the law, be 
 cause they stood in grey clothes before men in 
 blue clothes?" Why are the captured Con 
 federates confined? "May men furnish the 
 enemy with munitions of war, or clothes, or 
 information, or give them aid and comfort, or 
 send them medicines, and yet not be within the 
 range of indictment for treason, or at the op 
 tion of the country, the military security of a 
 discretionary arrest?" It is true that Lincoln 
 suspended the writ of habeas corpus illegally, 
 as Davis warned him, in the first year of the 
 war; but in 1863 Congress suspended it legally. 
 
 What is McClellan s record? In September, 
 1 86 1, he was "the first man that took a step in 
 the direction of arresting without judicial pro 
 cess," when he ordered General Banks to seize 
 members of the Maryland Legislature who 
 had Southern sympathies. Davis believed 
 that, on the whole, "more men have been im 
 properly discharged than have been improp 
 erly arrested," but he was certain that, with 
 
3 i2 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 McClellan s record, he is not the man to im 
 peach the conduct of the President as to ar 
 rests." McClellan s action was taken when 
 "there was no armed foe in Maryland." 
 
 The Democrats also alleged that "military 
 power has been brought to bear illegally upon 
 elections, and Reverdy Johnson had recently 
 made such imputation." Here again Davis 
 was able to point out the inconsistency of the 
 Democratic position, by calling attention to 
 McClellan s order of October 29, 1861, to 
 General Banks in Maryland, not only "to pro 
 tect Union voters and to see that no disunion- 
 ists are allowed to intimidate them," but also 
 "to arrest and hold in confinement till after 
 the election all disunionists who are known to 
 have returned from Virginia recently and who 
 show themselves at the polls." He further 
 authorized Banks to suspend the habeas cor 
 pus act, in carrying out these instructions, and 
 gave the "first example in the United States 
 during this war of an attempt to prevent 
 rebels from voting." McClellan used the 
 wider term of disunionists, yet Johnson, with 
 out complaining of the order, was a successful 
 candidate for the House of Delegates at that 
 election and was elected to a seat in the United 
 States Senate 91 by the Legislature then chosen. 
 
 Since the Democrats claimed that, if success 
 ful, they would carry on the war on Christian 
 
CHAPTER IX 1863-1865 313 
 
 principles, Davis showed, by the warfare of 
 England, France, Russia and other European 
 nations, that "there never has been a war con 
 ducted upon principles that could be called so 
 nearly Christian, excepting that the only 
 Christian principle I can apply to the conduct 
 of war is that it shall be short, and sharp, and 
 merciful. And the danger of this war has 
 been that the President could not rise to the 
 height of the emergency and steel his heart 
 against what was pity in the individual, but 
 cruelty in the ruler." Davis held that war 
 meant the "greatest destruction in the shortest 
 time. That is mercy and that is wisdom." 
 
 The Democratic party, he believed to be 
 disloyal at heart, and he considered it no idle 
 threat that they had adjourned their conven 
 tion to meet at the call of the National Com 
 mittee. He feared that if the election of 
 President should depend on the vote of the 
 Border Union States, the Democrats would 
 allege that the election was illegal and would 
 try to overthrow the Government. He was 
 confident, however, that a majority of the Free 
 States would vote for Lincoln, and advocated 
 prompt action. 
 
 The Democrats asserted that "the policy of 
 the President has divided the North and 
 united the South," but Davis replied that the 
 North had never been united, for there "never 
 
3 H HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 was a day that the great mass of the Demo 
 cratic party and its chief leaders were not op 
 posed to the war." As to uniting the South, 
 that was done by the firing on Sumter and the 
 battle of Bull Run, as McClellan s own testi 
 mony in 1 86 1 proved. From that time "the 
 South united themselves to gain their inde 
 pendence." Again turning to McClellan s 
 record, Davis showed that in July, 1862, he 
 had favored the "right of the Government to 
 appropriate claims to slave labor permanently 
 to its own service," and was willing even to 
 extend this confiscation to "all the slaves of a 
 particular State, thus working manumission 
 in such State," whether it be loyal or not. He 
 was thus several months ahead of the emanci 
 pation proclamation, in which proclamation 
 Davis believed the President overstepped "his 
 legal authority." 
 
 In 1862 the country had been divided, with 
 the majority against the Administration. 
 Now the "majority is on our side," the "radi 
 cal maniacs" have turned out to be "wise 
 statesmen. Energy, for the thousandth time, 
 has been shown to be stronger than hesitating 
 weakness. When a thing is to be done, the 
 shortest way is the best way to do it, and brings 
 strength and energy with it. The country to 
 day stands committed to this: the end of the 
 war, the integrity of the Government, and the 
 
CHAPTER IX 1863-1865 315 
 
 extinction of the cause of the war slavery." 
 Our strength has grown in proportion as the 
 "Black abolitionists" have "got near the Presi 
 dent s ear and the men of the Blair school have 
 got far from it." He traced the progress of 
 events, freeing of slaves who aided the rebel 
 lion; prohibition of return of fugitives; eman 
 cipation in the District; enlistment of negroes; 
 proclamationof freedom, whichwillnot be law 
 until Congress shall act, but which was "an 
 utterance, though illegal, in the right direc 
 tion;" the admission of West Virginia on con 
 dition that she should abolish slavery; emanci 
 pation in Misouri; the enlisting of negroes as 
 substitutes for whites in Maryland; the law 
 which declared that bond and free owed mili 
 tary service on the same conditions; and, fin 
 ally, emancipation in Maryland. Davis had 
 felt bitterly the lack of support from Wash 
 ington in the struggle for victory in Mary 
 land, and said that only Stanton and liberal 
 gentlemen in Philadelphia and Boston had 
 given encouragement and aid to the making 
 the State free, by the "untouched and untram- 
 meled vote of her own citizens." The Repub 
 lican party then stood "more united, stronger, 
 agreeing better in opinion, more resolutely de 
 termined to meet the public enemies, more 
 united about the instruments that we shall use 
 to smite them down, than at any other period." 
 
316 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 Davis hoped that the men who advised Lin 
 coln to give a pocket veto to the bill to secure 
 freedom to the slaves, would not repeat their 
 advice, for it would be clear that "the mass of 
 the American people are resolved that no slave 
 shall breathe the American air." In this pe 
 roration he insisted, with eloquence, that the 
 people needed "resolutely to determine that, 
 having gone through the greater part of the 
 suffering which they will be called upon to 
 endure during the war, they will only endure 
 a little longer, they will only not fail in the 
 very hour and crisis of victory; for he that 
 holds out the longest is sure of the victory. 
 The only criterion of a great nationality is the 
 capacity of endurance." If we endure as the 
 Romans did, we shall surpass their state in 
 greatness. 
 
 The second session of the Thirty-seventh 
 Congress saw Davis s last appearance in public 
 life and found him ardent and forceful as 
 ever. At the very opening of the session, 93 he 
 made an unsuccessful attempt to have an 
 amendment to the Constitution reported, per 
 mitting export duties to be laid, and he se 
 cured the reference to the Election Commit 
 tee of a petition from Louisianians, protesting 
 against the seating of persons claiming to have 
 been elected to the House from that State. 94 
 
 On December 15, still protesting against the 
 
CHAPTER IX 1863-1865 317 
 
 foreign policy of Lincoln in reference to Mex 
 ico, Davis offered a resolution similar to the 
 resolution which he had presented on June 27, 
 but the House was no longer swayed by him. 
 A Presidential election had intervened and the 
 resolution was laid on the table by a vote of 
 69 to 63- 95 Smarting under this defeat, Davis 
 immediately asked to be excused from the 
 Committee on Foreign Affairs, since he dif 
 fered from the majority of the House. 96 He 
 recited the unanimous passage of the resolu 
 tion of April 4, and the fact that three days 
 later Seward "directed our representatives 
 abroad virtually to apologize to the French 
 government for the resolution," and even 
 "presumed to impeach Congress of usurpation 
 in undertaking to prescribe to the President 
 rules to govern his foreign policy. That cor 
 respondence was made the subject of a circu 
 lar by the French government to all the gov 
 ernments of the world, and in the debates in 
 the French Assembly the world was given to 
 understand that the resolution was a vain and 
 presumptuous usurpation." Seward s letter 
 "was in a tone that was not respectful to the 
 dignity and authority of the House of Repre 
 sentatives." Davis maintained that "The Sec 
 retary of State, before all Europe, in a matter 
 of the greatest moment, slapped the House of 
 Representatives in the face, and the House of 
 
318 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 Representatives says it will not even assert its 
 dignity." The members of the House has 
 tened to assure Davis of their confidence in 
 him. They had yielded, because there was 
 nothing to be gained by further protest. S. S. 
 Cox supported Davis s position as to Seward, 
 but would not vote to excuse him from the 
 committee, and testified to "his ability, to his 
 earnestness, to his energy, and to his outspoken 
 integrity." Elaine could not support Davis, 
 but could not excuse him from the commit 
 tee. Thaddeus Stevens, who took Davis s 
 view of the action of the Administration, 
 urged Davis not to consider the vote of the 
 House as a personal reflection upon him. 
 Boutwell said that the majority cast no reflec 
 tion on Davis, and that "no gentleman enjoys 
 to a greater, if to an equal, extent the respect 
 and confidence of members on this 97 side, and, 
 as far as I know, on the other side." Davis s 
 resolution went too far. The President 
 should be arraigned for disregarding the 
 expressed judgment of Congress, when 
 only one House had expressed such a 
 judgment. Farnsworth expressed his high 
 opinion of Davis, and said that he had 
 moved to lay the resolution on the table 
 without disrespect for Davis. 98 Davis closed 
 the debate, saying: "I have been brought up 
 on defeats; I have lived in minorities." Only 
 
CHAPTER IX 1863-1865 319 
 
 one member of the Committee on Foreign Af 
 fairs dissented from the resolution, which was 
 caused by the fact that "a free nation on our 
 borders lay bleeding in the talons of the 
 French eagle, and a vagrant adventurer, who 
 had never seen the soil of Mexico, called him 
 self her emperor." The precedents showed 
 that Congress had the right to declare and 
 prescribe foreign policy, and not the Presi 
 dent alone, as Seward asserted. Davis distin 
 guished between his position as chairman and 
 that of a member of a committee, and stated 
 that he felt that he was not the representative 
 of the House on this question. He was not 
 willing to submit to a surrender of the power 
 of the people, and asserted that a Congres 
 sional vote is not a proper subject of executive 
 criticism. The House refused to excuse Davis 
 from his position. Four days later he reintro- 
 duced his resolution," and when Farnsworth 
 again moved to lay it on the table, Davis won 
 by 73 to 49. He then moved the previous 
 question, and carried it by a vote of 71 to 56. 
 The resolution was divided, and then the for 
 mer part was adopted by a vote of 118 to 8, 
 and the latter by a vote of 68 to 58. 
 
 Of this victory, Davis s bitter enemy, Welles, 
 wrote: 100 "There is a disposition to make the 
 Legislature the controlling power of the Gov 
 ernment. The whole was conceived in a bad 
 
320 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 spirit, and is discreditable to the getters up 
 and those who passed the resolutions. Davis 
 has never been and never will be a useful 
 member of Congress. Although possessing 
 talents, he is factious, uneasy and unprinci 
 pled. He is just now connected with a clique 
 of malcontents, most of whom were gathering 
 a few months ago with Chase." 
 
 Davis s hostility to the Administration was 
 shown m by his speech favoring investigation 
 of military imprisonments. John Ganson, of 
 New York, had moved to have a jail delivery 
 from the old Capitol and Carroll prisons. 
 Stevens opposed the motion, while S. S. Cox 
 favored it, and afterwards wrote that Davis 
 placed "the matter on the highest ground." 
 He demanded that the committee examine the 
 facts and spread them before the American 
 people. "This is bold ground. It is worthy 
 of the parliamentary heroism in the time of 
 the Stuarts and their prerogative. It is an 
 audacious act in a member of the dominant 
 and arrogant party." 
 
 The law suspending the writ of habeas cor 
 pus, in Davis s opinion, allowed too limited a 
 discretion to the President, but, being law, 
 should have been obeyed. "This suspension 
 is not a substitute for the criminal law, but is 
 political in its character, merely precaution 
 ary to avert dangers, not to punish crimes; it 
 
CHAPTER IX 1863-186.? 321 
 
 looks to the future, not to the past; it is, in war 
 or in grave political danger, what security to 
 keep the peace is to the daily administration 
 of justice. I am ready to vote to enlarge the 
 liberty which it confers upon the President, 
 but shall vote to stop the abuse of continued, 
 perpetual and reiterated disobedience to law." 
 He maintained that the resolution was not un 
 necessarily censorious, in reference to Lincoln, 
 or his Cabinet officers; for "many abuses con 
 nected with a war of this magnitude may not 
 come to their knowledge." In Maryland, for 
 example, arrests have been made by a person 
 calling himself a provost-marshal, a term 
 not known to the National laws, who acted ab 
 solutely without the knowledge of the Secre 
 tary of War. "The very independence of 
 American character is being broken down un 
 der the unchecked license of military arrests, 
 and people come to believe that the existence 
 of a state of war justifies anything in the shape 
 of discretionary and arbitrary authority on the 
 part of military officers." Men were afraid 
 to complain and, thereby, incur the displeas 
 ure of the military authorities. The Secretary 
 of War had "endeavored to mitigate the 
 abuses, but oppressions are inseparable from 
 illegal arrests." Garfield joined Davis, the 
 measure was passed, and a reconsideration re 
 fused by a vote of 136 to 5. 
 
 21 
 
322 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 When the Legislative Appropriation Bill 
 was debated, 104 Davis said that he usually fol 
 lowed the Ways and Means Committee with 
 half an eye, but he now opposed an increase 
 in a salary asked, because of depreciation of 
 the currency, as he thought the remedy lay in 
 improving the currency. He was willing to 
 vote for an increase in a salary, when it was 
 inadequate on its original basis and had no 
 just proportion to salaries paid for like serv 
 ices in the ordinary business of the country. 
 He also promised to support any measure 
 which tended to deduce the volume of the cur 
 rency and thereby to add to its value. 
 
 On the next day, in pursuance of the same 
 hard money principle, in Committee of the 
 Whole, he objected to the issue of more treas 
 ury notes and maintained that, although the 
 notes be not a legal tender in form, their value 
 would be the same, since they were susceptible 
 of use in ordinary exchange and, therefore, 
 they would inflate the currency. "I am not 
 willing to put in the hands of any officer," con 
 tinued Davis, "the power to issue one more 
 dollar to be converted into a circulating medi 
 um." He believed that the needs of the Gov 
 ernment should be supplied by loans and of 
 fered a motion that notes, issued to pay the 
 expenses of government, be not legal tender, 
 nor be of a less denomination than $100. He 
 
CHAPTER IX 1863-1865 323 
 
 carried the House with him, by a vote of 54 to 
 39; but Thaddeus Stevens stated that, if this 
 amendment remained, he would not ask to 
 pass the bill. When report was made to the 
 House, the provision was stricken out, by the 
 narrow margin of 60 votes to 63. 
 
 A month later, when the loan bill was be 
 fore the House, Davis moved 105 to strike out 
 provisions that the interest should not ex 
 ceed 73/10 per cent, and that the rate 
 of interest be expressed on the bonds. 
 He said that, under the bill, the Sec 
 retary of the Treasury might issue coupon 
 bonds, or treasury notes, and increase the in 
 flation under which the treasury suffered. 
 "You have not disposed of the currency ques 
 tion, when you have disposed of legal tender 
 bank notes, which are what have, in great 
 measure, inflated the currency." Davis as 
 serted that "Currency is anything that is in 
 such form and has such value that it will pass, 
 conveniently and readily, from hand to hand 
 in lieu of coin." The Government made notes 
 legal tender, in order to compel acceptance of 
 them and the act would have been equally ef 
 fective, whether or not those notes had a value 
 independent of that given them by the coercive 
 authority. Without such coercive power, "if 
 the Government issues treasury notes, sub-di 
 vided into sums, which will answer the pur- 
 
324 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 poses of currency, in such sums as will pass 
 from hand to hand in the daily commerce of 
 the land, so long as the credit of the Govern 
 ment is equal to the credit of a bank, the treas 
 ury note will stand as a bank note and, if there 
 be two treasury notes, while the market only 
 calls for one, there will be a corresponding in 
 flation of currency and corresponding depre 
 ciation of value." Whether "we shall adopt 
 a specie basis," or issue currency notes to pay 
 interest, was a question on which Davis enter 
 tained serious doubts. "Doubtless, it would 
 be very convenient to permit the Secretary of 
 the Treasury to put the credit of the Govern 
 ment in any form that would suit the con 
 venience of the occasion, but it is a matter of 
 life and death that there should be restored a 
 normal ratio between the currency of the coun 
 try and the standards of value gold and sil 
 ver. 106 He wished to reduce the "enormous 
 volume" of the currency and believed that 
 "now, when we can see the end of the rebel 
 lion, the credit of the Government can raise 
 by loan what is needed." Every note of the 
 United States, of a denomination under $_$o, 
 passing from hand to hand, inflated the cur 
 rency. "If you double the currency, you 
 must double the taxes and, if there be any one 
 thing true, both in point of common sense and 
 political economy, it is that every step you 
 
CHAPTER IX 1863-1865 325 
 
 take in the direction I have indicated is a step 
 towards lightening the burdens of the people, 
 restoring the rates of value, and making that 
 which is the nominal standard of value ap 
 proximate to the real one." On February 28, 
 Davis followed his speech by moving that no 
 note, hereafter issued by Congress, shall be a 
 legal tender and that no treasury note be issued 
 for a less sum than $50, but he was defeated by 
 a vote of 55 to 86. 
 
 On January 30, Davis made the first of 
 several speeches, advocating the establishment 
 of a Board of Admiralty. 107 On February 3, 
 Davis again advocated his proposal. 108 The 
 condition of the navy and the danger of war 
 with foreign powers, "so soon as the rebellion 
 shall be suppressed," made "it a matter of 
 vital moment that we should not be deluded 
 by any apparent strength." He had drawn 
 up his proposition, after conference with the 
 "first officers of the navy," who, like him, 
 trembled at its present condition. The naval 
 committee had deliberated upon it for nearly 
 a year, yet they refused to report it, so Davis 
 tried to incorporate it as a rider to the Appro 
 priation Bill and have it freely debated. He 
 bitterly said that there was little chance of the 
 success of his measure, since the administra 
 tion opposed it, but he wished to force a vote 
 upon it. During the War, Secretary Welles 
 
326 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 and "his irresponsible Assistant Secretary, 
 who 108a is the real and acting Secretary," had 
 changed the navy to convert us into a first class 
 naval power, but most of the ships they had 
 provided would be of no use in a war with a 
 European power, as Davis showed in great 
 detail. The most of the vessels had been use 
 ful in a civil war, but would be useless in a 
 foreign one. He then discussed the English 
 and French plans of naval administration and 
 maintained that his plan copied their excel 
 lencies. The Secretary was left free to act, 
 but only after he had advised with "men of 
 professional standing, competent ability, and 
 of high and permanent rank." Previously, 
 there had been such temporary boards; now 
 there should be a permanent one. During the 
 war, a lack of responsibility had led to "the 
 rash empiricism, the scandalous improvidence, 
 and the costly failures which mark the admin 
 istration of the department." He believed 
 that "half a dozen rebel cruisers could not 
 have swept our commerce from the ocean, or 
 driven it to take refuge under foreign flags, 
 and destroyed many millions of property, and 
 lighted every sea with the conflagration of our 
 ships for three years, had any body of compe 
 tent naval officers been invited to devise a 
 systematic plan for their pursuit and capture." 
 With proper advice, the Port Royal expedi- 
 
CHAPTER IX 1863-1865 327 
 
 tion could have been followed by the fall of 
 Savannah and Charleston, instead of being 
 left "barren to the nation of half its rightful 
 fruits." Davis was not "seeking to cast im 
 putations upon any one;" but endeavored "to 
 expose the evils of a merely personal and ir 
 responsible administration of the department" 
 and to propose "an adequate remedy." He 
 then proceeded to attack the policy of build 
 ing monitors, whose usefulness he decried. 
 Rather should the Ironsides have been multi 
 plied, as it "met the approval of naval officers." 
 He claimed that the popular clamor and the 
 "pressure of iron contractors," not the advice 
 of naval officers, produced the orders for the 
 building of monitors, and that such vessels 
 had failed, by the confession of the depart 
 ment, and had been found as useless "for a 
 sea-going vessel of war" as well as "to go in 
 shallow water." After a detailed statement 
 of his position, he closed his speech with the 
 assertion that the course of the department 
 showed "the necessity of some supervising 
 board," to "secure to the nation the money that 
 it is now expending in the structure of vessels." 
 
 On the following day, Davis spoke for the 
 third time, referred to Farragut s capture of 
 Mobile with wooden ships and said that his 
 opponents grossly misrepresented his propo 
 sition. 109 On the sixth, Davis made his last un- 
 
328 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 successful effort to carry his point. 110 He 
 spoke with great bitterness, accused the Naval 
 Committee with failing to treat his proposi 
 tion with "ordinary fairness," or to show that 
 they had even read it. 111 They had accused 
 him of being in "ill temper," but that accusa 
 tion did not "affect the value of the measure." 
 
 He retorted that he had not a personal ac 
 quaintance with either Welles nor Fox, that 
 he had not received favors from them as had 
 two of the three members of the committee 
 who had replied to him, nor was he interested 
 in the construction of ironclads, as was the 
 third member who had spoken in reply. His 
 opponents had charged him with copying the 
 British Board of Admiralty, and that the 
 Naval Commissioners of 1815 in the United 
 States had been such a board as Davis de 
 scribed. These statements, Davis denied and 
 asserted that he proposed "not to remove the 
 bureaus, not to substitute any other organiza 
 tion to discharge their ministerial duties, not 
 to interfere with the free discretion of the 
 Secretary; but to interpose, on the French 
 system, between the administrative discretion 
 of the Secretary and the ministerial obedience 
 of the bureaus, a council of naval officers, 
 whose advice the Secretary may command on 
 all matters, whose opinions he must take on 
 some matters, but which, when taken, he is 
 
CHAPTER IX 1863-1865 329 
 
 free to disregard." He believed that he was 
 supporting the "very foundation" of the 
 American system of government, "that is to 
 have a council of advisers around an executive 
 head, a principle used, indeed, by Napoleon 
 in the early days of his empire." This board 
 of professional officers, appointed by the 
 President, would not "divide the responsi 
 bility," nor delay the Secretary s judgment, 
 but put "light around him." Such a Board 
 would have more weight than one merely 
 summoned by the Secretary. After another 
 extended attack upon the monitors, Davis re 
 turned to his favorite theme, the exaltation of 
 the power of Congress and maintained that, 
 so "long as Congress will not assert its su 
 premacy over the departments, and prescribe 
 such organization of them as will give this 
 nation the benefit of its resources, so long as 
 Congress stops to inquire what the depart 
 ments wish, instead of imposing on them what 
 the interest of the nation requires; we will be 
 powerless before the nations of the world." 
 He insisted that he was "pleading the cause 
 of the American navy against the Navy De 
 partment" and instanced, as proving the des 
 potism of the department, the case of Admiral 
 Wilkes, who had been punished "for contro 
 verting statements in the report of the De 
 partment, seriously affecting his honor as an 
 
330 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 officer." In conclusion, he insisted that he 
 was not influenced by his "estimate of the per 
 sonal value" of Secretary Welles; but looked 
 to "the day, when the American nation will 
 have to vindicate its power before the nations 
 of the world, now insidiously seeking its ruin, 
 not by stealthy depredations on unarmed tra 
 ders, but with a navy bearing proudly the ban 
 ner of the republic over the seas." 
 
 Ashley s bill for the reconstruction of the 
 seceded States had been postponed, in Janu 
 ary, against Davis s wish. 112 His breach with 
 the administration was wide 113 and the parties 
 on either side of it were bitter in their re 
 marks concerning those on the other one. 114 
 
 In his brief, vigorous speech on February 111 
 21, which closed the debate upon Ashley s 
 bill, Davis reiterated the position he had 
 previously taken, but with an advance, for the 
 bill provided that all citizens of the United 
 States, instead of all white residents, should be 
 enrolled as voters. In general, the bill was 
 the same as that passed at the last session. 
 Some had voted for it before, who opposed it 
 now, because it was the "will of the President 
 that has been discovered since the bill had 
 been passed." Davis prophesied that "the 
 course of military events seems to indicate 
 that, possibly by the fourth of next July, prob 
 ably by December, organized and armed 
 
CHAPTER IX 1863-1865 331 
 
 rebellion will cease to lift its brazen head in 
 the land." "If this bill," therefore, "does not 
 become a law," and Davis gloomily feared its 
 defeat, when Congress again meets, "at our 
 door, clamorous and dictatorial, will be 65 
 representatives from the States now in rebel 
 lion and 22 Senators claiming admission." 
 "You can prevent the rise of the flood now; 
 but, when it is up, you cannot stop it." These 
 claimants of seats will be either those who 
 have been rebels or, like those chosen in Louis 
 iana, "servile tools of the executive," who will 
 be supplanted by "rebel representatives" after 
 two years. A declaratory resolution will not be 
 sufficient, stating that members of Congress 
 shall "not be received from any State hereto 
 fore declared in rebellion, until a joint act or 
 resolution of Congress . shall have declared 
 that they have organized a new government." 
 There must be a law forbidding an election, 
 as was done in the proposed Statute. After 
 such a law, for the President to sanction such 
 an election "would be an impeachable offence 
 and, if he did not sanction it, the question 
 would never be here to trouble us." The pro 
 visional governors ought to be appointed, ac 
 cording to law, and the President should not re 
 main "in power, with no law to guide him." 
 Ten years before, the United States Govern 
 ment was one of law. Davis had "lived to see 
 
332 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 it a government of personal will. Congress 
 has dwindled from a power to dictate law and 
 the policy of the government, to a commission 
 to audit accounts and appropriate moneys, to 
 enable the executive to execute his will and 
 not ours." Dawes had charged that the bill 
 revived the "black laws of the South." Davis 
 denied this charge and stated that the law 
 provided that both negroes and whites were 
 "to be tried by the same court, under the same 
 law, upon the same evidence, for the same 
 crime." There was "no time fixed, within 
 which the provisional governor must call 
 upon the people to elect whether they will 
 exercise a State government or not," for that 
 matter was necessarily left to his judgment. 
 The real objection was not to the length of 
 time of the rule which the bill prescribed, but 
 to the prescription of any rule at all. Davis 
 would not agree that one-tenth of the voters 
 might "stain the national triumph, by creating 
 a low, wretched, vulgar, corrupt and coward 
 ly oligarchy to govern the free men of the 
 United States the national arms to guarantee 
 and enforce their oppressions; not by my vote, 
 sir, not by my vote." He insisted that the 
 House must "say whether it prefers arbitrary 
 discretion or legal rule;" whether or not it 
 would "erect a barrier now" to prevent "the 
 pressure of the times and the clamor of the 
 day" from overwhelming their successors. 
 
CHAPTER IX 1863-1865 333 
 
 In spite of all Davis s efforts and his alli 
 ance with Stevens, the bill was laid on the 
 table by a vote of 91 to 64 and his defeat was 
 complete. 116 
 
 At the very end of the session, 117 when the 
 Miscellaneous Appropriation Bill was on its 
 final passage, 118 Davis delivered his last Con 
 gressional speech in behalf of an amendment 
 that no person should be tried by a court- 
 martial, or by a military commission in any 
 State or Territory where the Federal Courts 
 are open, except persons actually in military 
 or naval service, or rebel enemies charged 
 with being spies, and that all proceedings con 
 trary thereto should be void and the persons 
 held in custody through such proceedings 
 should be discharged. He maintained that 
 that his amendment cast an "imputation on no 
 officer; but, recognizing the error which the 
 people, as well as the Government, have, in 
 common, committed against the foundation of 
 their own safety, now, before the very idea of 
 the supremacy of the law has faded from the 
 country, to restore it to its power." 119 The 
 amendment was confined in its operation to 
 civilians in the loyal States. 
 
 The Speaker ruled the amendment out of 
 order, as not germane to the bill, but the 
 House overruled him by a vote of 50 to 65. 
 Stevens then opposed the proposition, saying 
 
334 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 that debate should not be delayed. Davis de 
 nied ever embarrassing "the proceedings of 
 the House by any pertinacious adherence to 
 schemes of my own," as he insinuated had been 
 done by Stevens. "Such a proposition" as this 
 amendment "will never be out of place while 
 the voice of liberty is heard." Davis had 
 watched the "gradual intrusion of the mili 
 tary on the rights of the citizens, from the out 
 break of the rebellion," when McClellan "set 
 the bad example, in an order illegally sus 
 pending the writ of habeas corpus in Mary 
 land." There had been unconstitutional usur 
 pations, which ought not to be continued. The 
 ridiculousness of the military position was 
 shown by the fact that a Baltimorean had been 
 placed in prison by a military tribunal for 
 counterfeiting Confederate currency! Davis 
 well said that "I can state no other fact that 
 will better illustrate the insolence of irrespon 
 sible military tribunals, known to no law, ap 
 pointed under no law, restrained by no law, 
 authorized by nobody." When Stevens inter 
 rupted, saying that a "man who was fool 
 enough to spend his time in such work ought 
 to suffer some severe punishment," Davis wit 
 tily retorted that: "If all fools are at the mercy 
 of the military courts and they are to judge of 
 it, they have a wide jurisdiction." When 
 Davis had been asked to importune Lincoln 
 
CHAPTER IX 1863-1865 335 
 
 for the pardon of a man convicted by a mili 
 tary commission for selling goods to a govern 
 ment spy, in the belief that they were to be sent 
 into the Southern Confederacy, he had re 
 fused to "beg, as a favor, the personal liberty 
 of an American, illegally and oppressively 
 condemned," especially since "the President 
 had twice refused to refer his case to the courts 
 of the United States." He was alarmed, be 
 cause military courts try "loyal men in loyal 
 States, where no war rages, for violation of 
 what they call the usages of war," and thus 
 annul every act of Congress. Even guerrillas, 
 such as are captured in Kentucky, should have 
 a civil trial. He held that the demand for 
 military courts came from the fact that a 
 "sharper and easier way to deal with crimi 
 nals as enemies" was desired. "It is the cry 
 for vengeance and not justice." Maryland 
 was a State that had "been disturbed by in 
 ternal dissensions," and Davis feared to per 
 mit "military tribunals to apply their harsh, 
 sharp vengeance between men who live on ad 
 jacent estates, at the instigation of personal 
 revenge, of malice, without local public trial, 
 unprotected by the rights secured to them by 
 the Constitution and the laws." If men "have 
 committed acts which render them dangerous, 
 but are not criminal, or can not be proved, we 
 have authorized the suspension of the habeas 
 
336 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 corpus," and that is a sufficient safeguard. A 
 provision declaring acts of military commis 
 sions void should be placed in the law, so that 
 a loud voice "may go out to the people, an 
 nouncing that their representatives recognize 
 that fact, and encouraging the people to seek 
 redress," not by crawling solicitations at the 
 hands of the President of the United States, 
 but of right by law, before the courts, which 
 are the glory and the safety of the American 
 Republic." As a military commission had 
 no jurisdiction, condemnation by that tribunal 
 would not be a conviction to prevent a court 
 trial. "Public safety never has required these 
 illegal and summary trials; it now requires 
 that they cease." Davis had prepared his 
 amendment, after careful thought and fre 
 quent consultations, and was not willing to 
 change one word of it. John F. Farnsworth, 
 of Illinois, rose to insist that the vigorous 
 measures of the President had alone saved the 
 day in Maryland, but Davis came to the de 
 fense of the loyalty of the State with the asser 
 tion "that there never was a day when the 
 people of Maryland were not masters of her 
 fortune and masters of the Capital of the 
 United States, and that Mr. Lincoln was in 
 augurated there only because they were 
 loyal." There had been no need for Lincoln 
 to flee through Baltimore. Farnsworth con- 
 
CHAPTER IX 1863-1865 337 
 
 tinued, emphasizing the need of military tri 
 bunals and regretting that Davis should make 
 a speech on which he received congratulations 
 from Democrats such as Harris, of Maryland, 
 and Voorhees. 
 
 Of Davis s part in this debate, S. S. Cox 120 
 wrote that he "rose again to a height of grand 
 argument in favor of personal liberty." His 
 speech was "an awakening to those who were 
 then with us." He "reproduced the eloquence 
 of Pinkney, with the cogency of Wirt." After 
 the speech, "amidst the wildest applause, the 
 three years of arbitrary arrogance were buried 
 beneath the reprobation of the House of Rep 
 resentatives," for the "popular branch of Con 
 gress 121 rose above all debasing thought to lis 
 ten to the teachings" of Davis. "It is due to 
 the memory of Henry Winter Davis," Cox 
 adds, that "the new generation should know 
 and appreciate the courageous and the intel 
 lectual stamina of that most gifted orator." 
 
 The House agreed to Davis s amendment by 
 a vote of 75 to 64, but the Senate refused to con 
 cur therewith. The committee of conference 
 failed to agree, and Davis reported for them, 
 on March 3, 122 advocating the failure of the 
 whole bill, rather than the withdrawal of a 
 provision "touching so nearly the right of 
 every citizen to his personal liberty and the 
 very endurance of republican institutions." 
 
338 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 The committee recommended that this law be 
 left "standing as a broken dike in the midst 
 of the rising flood of lawless power around us, 
 to show to this generation how high that flood 
 of lawless power has risen, in only three years 
 of civil war, as a warning to those who are to 
 come after us, as an awakening to those who 
 are now with us." He would permit no item 
 of the bill to pass, not even the appropriation 
 for the insane, and as the House agreed with 
 him, the bill failed. 123 
 
 NOTES ON CHAPTER IX. 
 
 1. 9 Nicolay and Hay, 113. 
 
 2. Nicolay and Hay say that Lincoln did all in his power to 
 heal the breach with Davis, but elicit this as their only proof. 
 
 3. War of Rebellion Off. Recs., Series 3, vol. 3, p. 877. 
 
 4. Outcome of the Civil War, p. 73. 
 
 5. On December 15. 
 
 6. Vide McCarthy, Lincoln s Plan of Reconstruction, p. 224. 
 
 7. On January 29. 
 
 8. McCarthy, p. 57, animadverts to the fact that Davis alone 
 of those who spoke approved the action of the military gov 
 ernor. On December 17 Davis voted with the majority, when, 
 by a vote of 67 to 90, the House condemned Harrington s Re 
 solves condemning arbitrary arrests. On January n he intro 
 duced a bill requiring certain persons to take the oath of alle 
 giance. 
 
 9. This proclamation accompanied the President s annual 
 message to Congress and surprised the people. It offered am 
 nesty to the majority of those in rebellion, upon their taking an 
 oath to support the Union in the future as well as the legisla 
 tion and proclamations which had been made concerning 
 slavery. When at least one-tenth of the voters of any State 
 should take such an oath and should re-establish a republican 
 
CHAPTER IX 1863-1865 339 
 
 form of government, that government would be recognized by 
 the Federal authority. The proclamation further stated that 
 Lincoln would welcome the abolition of slavery in any such 
 State. In his message Lincoln defended the proclamation as 
 constitutional and wise. In his comprehensive and fair life of 
 Lincoln, in the American Statesmen Series, Morse (vol. 2, p. 228) 
 does not sufficiently recognize the constitutional objection of 
 Davis and those who agreed with him to the President s taking 
 upon him to "guarantee to a State a "republican form of gov 
 ernment," rather than leaving this guarantee to Congress. 
 
 10. On June 29 he moved again to lay on the table the 
 whole subject of representatives from Arkansas, and won by a 
 vote of 80 to 46, while 56 members did not vote. On May 23 
 he objected to paying a Virginia contestant who held a Federal 
 office, as, if he were allowed his seat, he would have been al 
 lowed only one salary. 
 
 11. Speeches and Addresses, 343. 
 
 12. Davis maintained that the Constitution meant that "the 
 forfeiture worked must be effected during life," while Cox had 
 argued that "the forfeiture, when worked, shall endure for the 
 life of the party." Davis replied that "attainder worked no 
 forfeiture, after the death of the party, except by the corrup 
 tion of blood." Otherwise, Congress would be able to confis 
 cate lands for other crimes, but not for treason, and for that 
 crime could put a man to death and seize his personal property, 
 but not his lands, and the Constitution would sanction the "un- 
 republican discrimination between real and personal property." 
 
 13. Sherman s Recollections, vol. i, p. 359. 
 
 14. On March 22. 
 
 15. Speeches and Addresses, 368. 4 Rhodes, 485, refers to 
 Davis as "an orator and a man of brilliant parts, who thought 
 the President s scheme neither coherent nor orderly, and ob 
 jected to it strongly because it did not contain a sufficient guar 
 anty for the abolition of slavery," who "made an energetic 
 speech." 4 Pierce s Sumner, 217, calls the Davis-Wade bill as 
 liberal as the President s policy, "more conservative in requir 
 ing a larger proportion of voters, and wiser, as well as juster, 
 in enforcing, as a peremptory condition of restoration, perpetual 
 abolition of slavery in the States." 
 
 16. 9 Nicolay and Hay, 116, speak of it as a "speech of ex 
 traordinary energy. Without hesitation, he declared it (the 
 
340 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 bill) a test and standard of anti-slavery orthodoxy, and asserted 
 boldly that Congress and Congress alone had the power to re 
 vive the reign of law in territory which, through rebellion, had 
 put itself outside law." They assert that in the preamble to 
 the bill (p. 115) Davis expressed, with "habitual boldness and 
 lucidity," his "fundamental thesis that the rebellious States 
 were out of the Union." This, of course, is extremely inaccu 
 rate. But Burgess (Reconstruction and the Constitution, 18) 
 speaks of the Davis-Wade plan as "nearer to some doctrine on 
 reconstruction" than Lincoln s, and states that the bill contained 
 a "true theory," in claiming reconstruction to be a legislative 
 problem, in requiring loyalty to the United States of a majority 
 of the white males as a basis of local government, and in as 
 serting a power to abolish slavery within the limits of the se 
 ceding States, dealing with these as territories, or districts, sub 
 ject to the exclusive authority of the central government. The 
 theory of the bill was "sound political science, and the Presi 
 dent ought to have heeded its teachings." 
 
 17. Reprinted in 9 Nicolay and Hay, 114. 
 
 18. See Appleton s Annual Cyclopedia, 1864, p. 293. 
 
 19. S. S. Cox, Three Decades, 435, says Davis s bill, like 
 Lincoln s, had the defect of being "based on the policy of 
 forced emancipation." 
 
 20. Outcome of the Civil War, 139. An illustration of hero 
 worship is shown in Hosmer s sentence: "In spite of the bitter 
 ness, Lincoln s all-abounding magnanimity wrapped Davis with 
 in his regard. The President could not win him, but he stead 
 fastly endured striking a return blow." Vide, 6 Schouler s U. S. 
 469. 9 Nicolay and Hay, 119, say Lincoln refused to exercise 
 influence on this debate. 
 
 21. 4 Rhodes, 485; Appleton Annual Cyclopedia, 1864, p. 
 307; 9 Nicolay and Hay, 120. 
 
 22. 2 Twenty Years in Congress, 42. 
 
 23. Vide 9 Nicolay and Hay, 115, who claim that Davis s 
 design was to put a stop to the work of reconstruction which 
 Lincoln had begun. 
 
 24. Vol. i, p. 361. 
 
 25. On December 17 he reported favorably a resolution to 
 have 10,000 extra copies printed of the papers on foreign affairs 
 which accompanied the President s message. On December 19 
 
CHAPTER IX 1863-1865 341 
 
 he secured the passage by the House of a resolution concerning 
 the activities of the French in Mexico. Vide Schouler, vol. 6, 
 p. 432. 
 
 26. On February 4 he favored printing ten thousand extra 
 copies of the diplomatic correspondence, as Seward wished done, 
 so as to state our case fully and authentically to the nations of 
 Europe. On March 2 he introduced a resolution requesting the 
 President to send the Mexican and Venezuelan correspondence 
 to the House, and on the i6th he moved to have referred to the 
 Committee on Foreign Affairs the message of the President 
 concerning the claims against Ecuador. 
 
 27. Speeches and Addresses, 395. Appleton s Annual Cyclo 
 pedia, 1864, p. 314. 
 
 28. 4 Rhodes U. S., 471; 7 Nicolay and Hay, 407. 
 
 29. Vide 4 Pierce s Sumner, 193. 
 
 30. Despatches of April 22 and May 2. 
 
 31. On June 4 and 6. 
 
 32. On June 27. 
 
 33. 4 Nicolay and Hay, 407, say that Davis did not "con 
 vince a considerable portion of the public that the course of the 
 Government (they mean the President) lacked dignity or fair 
 ness." 
 
 34. On January 28 he introduced a bill to regulate dismis 
 sions of officers in the Army and Navy, and on February 10 he 
 sarcastically proposed that the President order General Lee not 
 to move on Washington until the appeals from the draft were 
 decided. With Thaddeus Stevens, in this month, he opposed as 
 premature the passage of the bill establishing the rank of lieu 
 tenant-general (I Elaine, Twenty Years, 510). On April 21 he 
 moved to repay Baltimore for money expended on the fortifica 
 tions about that city. On July i he moved to concur in amend 
 ments to the Enrollment bill. 
 
 35. On February 10. 
 
 36. In like spirit he urged on April 30 and May 25 that the 
 negro regiments be not put on a different basis as to support of 
 families from the white regiments. 
 
 37. Speeches and Addresses, 351. 
 
 38. Speeches and Addresses, 351. 
 
 39. On July i. 
 
342 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 40. Speeches and Addresses, 410. 
 
 41. He regretted that illness had kept him from any earlier 
 discussion of the bill. 
 
 42. Speeches and Addresses, 353. 
 
 43. St. Mary s, Charles, Somerset, Worcester, Howard, Balti 
 more. Vide Brackett, Negro in Maryland, pp. 254-262. 
 
 44. In Howard the vote was 55 for and 1397 against; in 
 Kent 74 for, 1502 against; in Baltimore 684 for and 5364 against. 
 
 45. Speeches and Addresses, 397. Gideon Welles heard him 
 and wrote in his Diary (vol. 2, p. 9) that the speech was 
 "declamatory, eloquent; but the debate did not please me, nor 
 the subject." 
 
 46. I Diary, 482. 
 
 47. I Diary, 479. October 31, 1863. When Admiral Dupont 
 died, on June 23, 1865, Welles wrote (II Diary, 320), with a 
 vindictiveness that went beyond the grave, that, in October, 1863, 
 Dupont prepared an "adroit letter," in concert with Davis, to be 
 used as an assault on Welles in Congress, but that Welles an 
 swered in such manner "as to close up Dupont and Davis got 
 more- than he asked." 
 
 48. II Diary, 117, 118. August 23, 1864. 
 
 49. Welles had written as early as January 6 (I Diary, 505) 
 that he heard of Davis as being among those "cavilling and ex 
 erting themselves to bear down upon the Engineer in Chief." 
 Of the speech on February 25 he wrote that (i Diary, 531) 
 Davis "flung his vindictive spite more malignantly at Fox, 
 whom he called a cotton-spinner, than at me." F. P. Blair an_- 
 swered Davis on February 27, regretting his absence from the 
 House at the time and calling him a Jacobin. 
 
 50. Dupont commanded the expedition against Port Royal, 
 and wrote Davis on the eve of the attack on Hilton Head, on 
 November 6, 1861. The letter is printed in the Army and Navy 
 Journal, vol. 51, p. 1237, May 30, 1914. 
 
 51. On April n Davis introduced a bill to establish a board 
 of naval administration. On May 16 he asked for the proceed 
 ings of the court-martial on Commodore Charles Wilkes. On 
 May 13 Admiral Shubrick told Welles that Dupont, under 
 Davis s "control," was writing a book. (2 Diary, 30.) 
 
 52. On June 6 he expressed the wish to legalize the acts of 
 the United States District Court for Virginia, which is required 
 
CHAPTER IX 1863-1865 343 
 
 by law to meet at Richmond, but which really met in Alexan 
 dria. 
 
 53. On January 12. 
 
 54. On April 2. 
 
 55. In a contest between State and National banks, he wished 
 the support of that bank, and was opposed to the principle of 
 individual responsibility, as being a needless trammeling of in 
 nocent persons. 
 
 56. On April 4. 
 
 57. On July 2 he proposed a ten per cent, tax on State bank 
 notes, and when that proposal failed, a three per cent, tax on 
 the average amount of notes annually in circulation, but failed 
 to carry that proposition also. 
 
 58. On June 8. 
 
 59. On June 9 he expressed the belief that "in this country 
 fortunes are ephemeral. On July 2 he opposed the grant of the 
 hall of the House for an Indepndence Day celebration of the 
 National Democratic Association, saying he never spoke in the 
 House except on a legislative subject, and never voted to allow 
 any outside body to use the hall. 
 
 60. On June 9 he objected to giving the Select Committee on 
 a New York and Washington Railroad leave to report at any 
 particular time, as the bill might seriously affect local interest 
 in Maryland. 
 
 61. On April 9. 
 
 62. On May 6. 
 
 63. He regretted that Dawes was absent. 
 
 64. He quoted Harry Percy s speech, "I remember when the 
 fight was done," and sneered at Dawes s reference to the open 
 ing of the Massachusetts elections with prayer, and reminded 
 Ganson, a Democrat from New York, who had spoken against 
 Davis, of past Democratic frauds in Louisiana, New York and 
 Pennsylvania. 
 
 65. After this speech, B. G. Harris made an attack upon 
 Davis, which the latter ignored. Harris said that "Massachu 
 setts, in carrying out outrages, was but acting upon principles 
 which the member from Baltimore City was prominent in inau 
 gurating in Maryland and of which he reaped the personal 
 benefit, which it was calculated through force and violence to 
 
344 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 confer." He was a "slanderer." The Speaker then called 
 Harris to order. When the latter resumed his attack he said 
 that Davis "consumed an hour in giving history, if statements 
 so false can properly be called history, of himself and his Plug 
 Uglys. Three times has he come to this House by the aid of 
 bludgeons and daggers of the Plug Uglys, and he now occupies 
 his place here by favor of the bayonets of brutal tyrants." 
 
 66. Welles knew nothing of it (2 Diary, 98). 
 
 67. 9 Nicolay and Hay, 122; Appleton s Annual Cyclopedia, 
 1864, p. 307. 
 
 673. Kernan vs. City of Portland, 223 U. S. Reports, 118 at 
 151. See Wm. W. Pierson on Texas vs. White, 19 S.W. Hist. 
 Quar. 2, 22. 
 
 68. Vol. IV, p. 219. 
 
 69. 9 Nicolay and Hay, 124. 
 
 70. Speeches and Addresses, 415. 6 Schouler, 470, says the 
 Davis-Wade manifesto was "violent, and insinuated what was 
 wholy unfair," that Lincoln "meant to reconstruct the South so 
 as to hold electoral votes in pledge." Riddle s Wade, p. 259, 
 calls the manifesto an "admirable performance, saving its tone, 
 reviewing the whole ground" and showing the "world for the 
 first time how widely asunder the President and Congress 
 were." 
 
 71. Burgess, Reconstruction, p. 15. Coffin s Lincoln, at page 
 431, says more wisely: "In their anger the authors of the mani 
 festo overlooked the one question foremost in the minds of the 
 President the constitutionality of the act." 
 
 72. Speeches and Addresses, 428. 
 
 73. 2 Welles Diary, 98. 
 
 74. 2 Welles Diary, 96. 
 
 75. Vol. 9, pp. 124-126. 
 
 76. McCarthy, p. 278. 
 
 77. On page 283 McCarthy repeats Nicolay and Hay s charge 
 that Davis, "though treated with extreme fairness, not to say 
 generosity, by the President, pursued toward the Administration 
 a course of consistent hostility." Disappointment at not being 
 placed in the Cabinet and Davis s "sense of public duty led him 
 to think Lincoln scarcely entitled to courteous treatment." For 
 getting that the manifesto was issued, because Congress was not 
 in session, McCarthy continues by saying that, if Davis believed 
 all he said, he should have impeached Lincoln. The political 
 
CHAPTER IX 1863-1865 345 
 
 departments of government, according to McCarthy, entered on 
 a struggle for power. Congress had been defeated, and its 
 discomfited leaders sought to relieve their feelings by railing at 
 the President." These sentiments are, of course, unfair and the 
 statement is incorrect. 
 
 78. 2 Elaine, Twenty Years, 42. 
 
 79. 9 Nicolay and Hay, 114, insist, with great unfairness, 
 that the breach between Lincoln and Davis was entirely the 
 fault of the latter. "In spite of all the efforts which the Presi 
 dent made," they write, "to be on friendly terms with Mr. Davis, 
 the difference between them constantly widened. Mr. Davis 
 grew continually more confirmed in his attitude of hostility to 
 the President. He became one of the most severe and least 
 generous critics of the Administration in Congress. He came at 
 last to consider the President as unworthy of even respectful 
 treatment, and Mr. Seward, in the midst of his energetic and 
 aggressive campaign against European unfriendliness, was con 
 tinually attacked by him as a truckler to foreign powers and 
 little less than a traitor to his country. The President, how 
 ever, was a man so persistently and incorrigibly just that, even 
 in the fact of this provocation, he never lost his high opinion of 
 Mr. Davis s ability, nor his confidence in his inherent good in 
 tentions." 
 
 80. 9 Nicolay and Hay, 114. Coffin s Lincoln, p. 464, states 
 that when Fox, the Assistant Secretary of the Navy, said to Lin 
 coln: "I am glad that" Davis "has been defeated. He has ma 
 liciously assailed the Navy for the last two years." Lincoln re 
 sponded: "I cannot quite agree with you. You have more of 
 the feeling of personal resentment than I. Perhaps I have too 
 little of it; but I never thought it paid. A man has no time to 
 spend half his life in quarrels. If any man ceases to attack me, 
 I never remember the past against him." 
 
 81. Speeches and Addresses, XXVII. 
 
 82. Speeches and Addresses, XXII. 
 
 83. Speeches and Addresses, 384. 
 
 84. 2 Diary, 30. 
 
 85. Capt. H. P. Goddard, in Baltimore Sunday Herald of 
 March 8, 1903, repeating an anecdote told him by Joseph M. 
 Gushing, Esq. James M. Scovel, in 38 Overland Monthly, 204, 
 gives a different version of this story. 
 
 86. Speeches and Addresses, 415. 
 
 87. 4 Pierce s Sumner, 251. 
 
346 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 88. 4 Rhodes, 518. New York Sun of June 30, 1889, printed 
 letters from Davis on August 19 and 25, and from others written 
 in the hope of forcing Lincoln s withdrawal from the Presiden 
 tial canvass (9 Nicolay and Hay, 367). 
 
 89. James M. Scovel, in 38 Overland Monthly, 205, says 
 that Davis was present at a White House reception during the 
 campaign, and that, on seeing him, Lincoln said to Scovel: 
 "This looks well for us. Henry Winter Davis has not called at 
 the White House till now, during the three years past." 
 
 90. Speeches and Addresses, 428. Mr. J. F. Essary, in his 
 Maryland in National History, at page 240, states that Montgom 
 ery Blair retired from Lincoln s Cabinet in order that Davis s 
 support of the Republican ticket might be secured in the Presi 
 dential campaign of 1864. Mr. John T. Graham, who was so 
 intimate a friend of Davis that he made the fair copy for the 
 press of the Davis-Wade manifesto, stated in December, 1915, 
 that he knew nothing of any such arrangement, and that his re 
 lations to Davis during that time were so close that it was im 
 possible that he could have been ignorant of the matter. 
 
 91. Davis also referred to the riot in Washington in 1857, 
 and to Governor Ligon s course of action, as proving that Dem 
 ocrats had no objection to the use of force at elections when 
 such use would redound to their advantage. 
 
 92. Lincoln referred neither to his Proclamation nor to the 
 manifesto in his message. Burgess, Reconstruction, 18. 
 
 93. On December 5. 
 
 94. McCarthy, page 340. 
 
 95. Davis s report, which accompanied the resolution, after 
 a careful study of our foreign relations, claimed that the Presi 
 dent s action was both "novel and inadmissible" (Speeches and 
 Addresses, p. 456). He maintained that "the will of the people, 
 expressed in legislative form by the legislative powers, can de 
 clare authoritatively the foreign policy of the nation; to the 
 President is committed the diplomatic measures for enforc 
 ing it." 
 
 96. Speeches and Addresses, 472. 
 
 97. The Republican. 
 
 98. Spalding said he had voted not to lay the resolution on 
 the table, but was unwilling to lend aid to a direct attack upon 
 Lincoln; Dawes jested about the matter; Littlejohn stated that 
 he voted to lay on the table the resolution, because Davis had 
 moved the previous question without debate. 
 
CHAPTER IX 1863-1865 347 
 
 99. Stevens, with Davis s consent, substituted Executive De 
 partment for the President. 
 
 100. 2 Diary, 202. 
 
 101. On January 6, 1865, Welles wrote (2 Diary, 224) that 
 Benjamin F. Butler was in Washington, and, "allied with Wade, 
 Chandler and Davis, he will not only aid, but breed mischief." 
 Yet, curiously, Welles wrote on January 18 of the capture of 
 Fort Fisher, that (2 Diary, 227) Davis, "who for some cause, 
 avoids me, is not satisfied. I do not doubt that he is glad we 
 have succeeded, but he does not like it that any credit should 
 even remotely come to me." 
 
 102. On January 18, 1865. 
 
 103. Three Decades of Federal Legislation, 233, 234. 
 
 104. On January 19. 
 
 105. On February 27. 
 
 106. He stated that Senator Morrill, of Vermont, was the 
 ablest financier in either branch of Congress, whom he had met 
 in eight years of service. 
 
 107. In this speech he spoke of the appointment of cadets, 
 saying that the Constitution conferred this power upon the 
 President but, to stop attacks on the Military and Naval Acad 
 emies, the Administration had made a rule that the members of 
 Congress should be called upon for recommendations, and thus 
 apportioned the appointments not among the representatives, but 
 among the Congressional districts. After Davis had spoken for 
 some time, Blaine moved that the House adjourn, as Davis was 
 not in "a favorable physical condition." He was unwell again 
 a week afterwards and was excused for absence on account of 
 illness on February 7 and 8. 
 
 108. Speeches and Addresses, 480. 
 
 io8a. Gustavus Vasa Fox, closely connected with Montgom 
 ery Blair by marriage. 
 
 109. Welles wrote on that day (2 Diary, 236) that "the move 
 was sneaking and disingenuous, very much in character with 
 Davis, who is unsurpassed for intrigue and has great talents 
 for it." Welles added that the English were thinking of abol 
 ishing their admiralty board, and that Schenck was one of 
 Davis s clique and had Speaker Colfax s sympathy. 
 
 no. Welles wrote (2 Diary, 237), Davis s renewed attempt 
 to put the Navy in commission was decided against him. "He 
 and his associates had intrigued skilfully and counted in vain 
 on Democratic support" (Speeches and Addresses, 512). 
 
348 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 in. When a bill concerning the destruction of the Alabama 
 was discussed, on February 28, he moved that Gushing and his 
 men have the value of the Albemarle given them, as sinking it 
 "was an infinitely more brilliant service than the destruction of 
 the Alabama." He objected to the pay department of the Navy 
 bill, because it doubled officers and appointed paymasters, with 
 out abolishing navy agents. 
 
 112. McCarthy, page 295. 
 
 113. Vide 2 Welles Diary, 239, February 10, 1865. "Wade 
 and Davis are leading spirits in the radical movement and are 
 inimical to the Administration" (247), February 22. "Hale 
 leads the radicals in the Senate, and Davis in the House. Davis 
 has far greater ability than Garfield or Schenck, who gather 
 around him. They assume to dictate to the Administration and 
 dislike Seward." 
 
 114. On January 16, 1893, Gen. J. D. Cox wrote Rhodes 
 (5 U. S. 51) that in February, 1865, he was in Washington, and, 
 at Garfield s invitation, dined with Schenck and Davis. "The 
 berating of Lincoln by the two last named was something to take 
 one s breath away. Garfield laughed at it and at them, as if it 
 were a kind of conversational pryotechnics, but I was utterly 
 dismayed." Nicolay and Hay (vol. 9, p. 452) in after years 
 had not forgotten their bitterness, and spoke of the speech of 
 February 21 as one in which Davis "rallied but feebly to the 
 support of his discomfited colleagues. His short speech was no 
 ticeable only for its continued accusation of the President as a 
 selfish usurper and for his ill-natured flings at his Republican 
 colleagues of the House, who had changed their minds or re 
 fused to vote with him, as being influenced by the will of the 
 President." With a much more "ill-natured fling" than any of 
 which Davis ever used and one without good foundations, they 
 continue: "With all his recognized logic and eloquence, Mr. 
 Davis was one of those men who possessed the comforting fac 
 ulty of seeing that everybody but himself was arbitrary, selfish 
 and subservient," and they maintain that the House was unwill 
 ing to follow the committee or Davis," since neither could ap 
 parently frame a plan to suit itself (sic) for a single week," 
 and since it was close to the end of the sesssion. 
 
 115. Speeches and Addresses, 529. 
 
 1 1 6. Vide McCarthy, p. 311; Hosmer, Outcome of Civil War, 
 226. 
 
 117. On March 2. 
 
CHAPTER IX 1863-1865 349 
 
 118. On March i, when a tariff bill was debated, he moved 
 an amendment on the part of the Committee on Foreign Affairs 
 (declared out of order by the Chair), which, he said, secured 
 freedom of exports, but which really provided against arbitrary 
 prevention of persons or goods leaving the country. On the 
 same day he spoke concerning a claim of Stewart Gwynne, an 
 employee of the Treasury Department, for printing presses to 
 print money in a particular way. 
 
 119. Speeches and Addresses, 538. 
 
 120. Three Decades, 233. 
 
 121. Page 236. 
 
 122 Speeches and Addresses, 551. 
 
 123. George W. Julian, in his political Recollections, p. 246, 
 wrote: "Davis was a man of genius. Among the famous men 
 in the Thirty-eighth Congress he had no superior as a writer, 
 debater and orator. He was a brilliant man, whose devotion 
 to his country at this crisis was a passion, while his hostility to 
 the President s policy was as sincere as it was intense." 
 
350 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 LAST DAYS (1865). 
 
 After Davis retired from Congress, he re 
 turned to the practice of law, but the fire 
 burned within his breast and he became more 
 radical. 
 
 On May 27, he wrote a friend l in Washing 
 ton, making, in his letter, a formal declaration 
 of his opinion in favor of negro suffrage as a 
 necessity. Although his health had been im 
 paired by his labors in Congress, his spirit 
 was as keen as ever and his zeal as ardent for 
 a successful reconstruction of the Southern 
 States. He felt that the "future of the nation 
 is summed up in the restoration of political 
 power to the States lately in rebellion." He 
 had no knowledge as to Johnson s policy; but 
 felt that the condition of the problem a were 
 plain." The President must take the initiative 
 and Congress would be likely to recognize the 
 State governments, which he should allow 
 to be organized. No governments existed in 
 "any State which rebelled ; none can be organ 
 ized, legally, without the assent of the United 
 States, and no steps to secure that assent can be 
 taken without his permission;" for he may re 
 fuse to allow any convention to be held. If he 
 does so, "things will await the solution of Con- 
 
CHAPTER X 1865 351 
 
 gress." "If he permit the aggregate white 
 population of the South" to vote, he will 
 "place the sceptre in the hands from which we 
 have just wrested the sword." He may at 
 tempt "to discriminate the loyal from the dis 
 loyal" and, then, a "mere handful of the popu 
 lation will remain, wholly incompetent to 
 form, or maintain a State government," con 
 stituting in fact "an odious oligarchy." 
 
 Davis saw that the "whole mass of the popu 
 lation of the South has given aid and comfort 
 to the rebellion. The Union men of the South 
 preferred union and peace to disunion; they 
 deplored the outbreak of the war, but they 
 never hesitated a moment which side to take. 
 If there was to be war, they were for their 
 States and against the United States. There 
 was no respectable number of Union men, 
 willing to aid the United Sates in compelling 
 submission to the Constitution, and there is 
 none now. It is certainly to this class of the 
 white population that we must look for aid, 
 in restoring civil government in these States, 
 but it is a great delusion to suppose them 
 either bold or strong enough to meet and defy 
 the united and energetic faction of revolution 
 ists which drove them into rebellion." If the 
 Southern whites are "restored to political 
 power," they will be interested in repudiating 
 the public debt, which was "created to sub- 
 
352 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 jugate them to the laws," and in restor 
 ing slavery. To avoid the danger of the 
 ex-Confederates returning to power in the 
 nation, "the State governments in the South 
 must be placed in hands interested to maintain 
 the authority of the United States. This can 
 be done, only by recognizing the negro popu 
 lation as an integral part of the people of the 
 Southern States, and by refusing to permit any 
 State government to be organized, on any 
 other basis than universal suffrage and equal 
 ity before the law." He doubted whether a 
 "government can be recognized as republican 
 in form, which excludes from suffrage and 
 equal laws," half or more of the people and 
 the negroes form that portion of the popula 
 tion of several States. He was sure that the 
 white people, loyal or disloyal, of the "States 
 which rebelled" would not "reorganize gov 
 ernments," on the basis of negro suffrage. He 
 found no "State governments and no voters in 
 any of the rebel States," but only "States and 
 people of those States, both known to the Con 
 stitution of the United States." Negroes, 
 Davis continued, "are as integral a part of the 
 people of those States as the whites. Both are 
 citizens; neither has a right to exclude the 
 other; neither can speak in the name of the 
 State for the other." The proper solution of 
 the problem is to make an appeal to the people 
 
CHAPTER X 186.5 353 
 
 of the State, black and white together. If 
 Johnson is not willing to adopt this method, 
 the problem will not be solved rightly and 
 then it "threatens to generate a barren and 
 bitter agitation, sure to result disastrously to 
 those who propose the political enfranchise 
 ment of the negroes and to consolidate the 
 union of the enemies of the government in the 
 loyal States into an irresistible power." Con 
 gress ought to recognize no government, but 
 such as is organized on the basis of universal 
 suffrage. Davis felt that the "shame and 
 folly of deserting the negroes" was "equaled 
 by the wisdom of recognizing and protecting 
 their power." They were more fit for the 
 franchise than the secessionists and no more 
 ignorant "than large masses of the white voters 
 of the South, or the rabble which is tumbled 
 on the wharves of New York and run straight 
 to the polls." His conviction was that, "if 
 organized and led by men having their confi 
 dence, the negroes will prove as powerful and 
 loyal at the polls, as they have already, in the 
 face of equal clamor and equal prejudice, 
 proved themselves under such leaders on the 
 field of battle." 
 
 As early as June 30, Welles wrote in his 
 Diary 2 that Wade was mollified, but that 
 Davis was "intending to improve the oppor 
 tunity of delivering a Fourth of July oration, 
 
354 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 to take ground distinctly antagonistic to the 
 Administration on the question of negro suf 
 frage." This oration at Chicago was Davis s 
 last great appearance in public. 3 The audi 
 ence was the largest gathered in the whole 
 country on that day, and ten thousand people 
 were estimated to have assembled to hear the 
 orator in the great hall of the Sanitary Fair. 
 The Mayor of the city presided, and Lyman 
 Trumbull headed the list of vice-presidents. 
 
 After the reading of Lincoln s Emancipation 
 Proclamation and his last Inaugural Address, 
 and of the Declaration of Independence, Davis 
 was introduced, and congratulated his hearers 
 that that Declaration was now "true in right 
 and true in fact, from one end of this broad 
 land to the other." He reminded the audi 
 ence that in 1860 the American Republic rest 
 ed, "not dreaming of war, with no weapons to 
 grasp, with no arms provided, with no army 
 organized, with no generals to lead us save 
 those at the plow, with no leaders but their 
 enemies in power, while a deep and wide 
 spread conspiracy, organized for years, was 
 preparing to strike what it fondly hoped was 
 the final blow at the integrity of the American 
 Republic." When the people realized this 
 last fact they arose in arms for the salvation 
 of their country. But in the early days of the 
 war there was a hesitation to touch "one sign 
 
CHAPTER X 1865 355 
 
 of aristocratic domination which must not be 
 interfered with that was slavery." Gradu 
 ally, however, "the popular heart caught the 
 real spirit of the rebellion," and "the nation 
 knew that it was struggling, not only to retain 
 reluctant States, but to expunge from its insti 
 tutions that which made the Declaration of 
 Independence a lie and a vain thing." Davis 
 maintained that it was "from that day" that 
 the "defenders of the cause, inspired by prin 
 ciple, have pursued energetically the contest 
 in the face of the hostility of all the nations of 
 the world, and loud predictions of failure here, 
 till that glorious consummation has been at 
 tained which greets us here today." The vic 
 tory had been obtained at a great cost. "When 
 contemplating these sad and yet ever glorious 
 battle fields, everywhere seen, w r ho does not 
 deplore it with tears, that American blood has 
 flowed on both sides, that it was our brethren 
 who were led astray, ruined, scourged to de 
 struction by the Nemesis of History, which 
 drives men to work out for themselves the 
 punishment of their own errors? Who does 
 not remember that they are sons of the same 
 forefathers who fought for that very Union 
 which they attacked and we defended? Any 
 man who does not remember this, lacks one- 
 half of the American heart." 
 He next summoned his auditors to look back, 
 
356 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 "that we may be thankful for, and not proud 
 of the things we have accomplished." Events 
 had proved that "secession is not a peaceful 
 remedy," that the South can be conquered, 
 that the "bond of peace" can not be preserved 
 by compromise, that the "negro is a man." He 
 had proved his manhood at the point of the 
 bayonet, "in the line of battle, alongside of 
 armed white men, charging just as deeply into 
 the heart of the enemy s ranks as his white 
 brethren, vindicating his right to manhood by 
 the exercise of the highest prerogative of man 
 fearlessness in the presence of eternity and 
 of death which leads him there." 
 
 Another lesson learned was that "State 
 rights are responsible to the bayonet," that 
 States are immortal, but State governments 
 that are organized by men and may be used 
 for selfish purposes, perverted to the purposes 
 of treason to defy the Union, are, by the laws 
 of the United States, not immortal, but amen 
 able to the laws, as men for their acts, and die 
 by treason." 
 
 The results of the war were obtained, not by 
 great leaders, though we "had, charged with 
 the conduct of public affairs, faithful, diligent, 
 devoted, and now martyred, servants of the 
 Republic. But they did not initiate the move 
 ment which led to this great consummation; 
 it sprang from the popular heart, which com- 
 
CHAPTER X 1865 357 
 
 pelled them to make war; the impulse came 
 from the masses of the people, and they freely 
 poured out their treasure and the blood need 
 ed to carry on the war. It was the people 
 w r ho anticipated it, their instinct dictated it, 
 their treasure supported it, and they demand 
 ed every measure, and sustained, without a 
 murmur, every disappointment, and supplied 
 money to fill up every waste and every loss." 
 
 He compared the war to the "struggle of the 
 French republic against those who sought its 
 overthrow," for "all Europe was opposed to 
 us; they hastened to vest our enemies with the 
 rights of war, they threw open their ports for 
 their privateers; they prepared in their ma 
 chine shops the materials for breaking our 
 blockade; they prepared the arms with which 
 our enemies fought us ; and for four years they 
 fitted out ships of war and manned them with 
 English sailors, to depredate on our com 
 merce." We remember "The Warfare of Or- 
 muzd and Ahriman," when we hear Davis 
 say: "They thought our day of doom was 
 come, and it is not impossible that their error 
 proved our salvation. But we will remember 
 that it was their error and not their merit, and 
 will visit its consequences upon them." Think 
 ing that "the great aegis of our protection 
 ceased to recover the republics of America," 
 Spain seized upon San Domingo and invaded 
 
358 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 Peru, while France and England conspired 
 against Mexico. Louis Napoleon, "with the 
 purpose of limiting our expansion and 
 strengthening his imperial throne by its coun 
 terpart in America" had set up Maximilian 
 as emperor of Mexico. "We dissembled our 
 indignation at this grave menace and insult 
 with difficulty, but for the present, perhaps, 
 not unwisely." Now, however, there is no 
 longer need of silence, and we should declare 
 that "the introduction of a European prince 
 into an American republic, for the purpose of 
 founding on its ruins a hereditary throne, is 
 an insolent defiance of the declaration of Pres 
 ident Monroe." France must withdraw her 
 armies, which, while in Mexico, are a "per 
 petual menace to us." "We wish for no con 
 quests, but we have established freedom here 
 and we will have freedom here, and we will 
 have freedom from here to Cape Horn." We 
 desire to observe all the laws of neutrality, and 
 we "are resolved that England shall accept 
 and respect her own neutrality laws." 
 
 The cause of the war was slavery. "Govern 
 ment by law we secured by the Constitution; 
 personal freedom we sacrificed to an existing 
 interest, supposed to be temporary, admitted 
 to be wrong, difficult of remedy, but to be rem 
 edied. But the expansion of our territory in 
 spired that interest as it grew in strength: 
 
CHAPTER X 1865 359 
 
 first, with a desire for permanence, then with 
 a desire for power." The addition of Florida 
 and Louisiana caused the supporters of slavery 
 to determine to rule. It first asserted itself as 
 a power in the Missouri Compromise. "The 
 Compromise of 1850 was the recognition of its 
 equality with freedom in disposing of the for 
 tunes and fate of the nation." In the repeal 
 of the Missouri Compromise, the war in Kan 
 sas and the Dred Scott decision, it asserted its 
 power to rule. To sum up the history of 
 opinion on the matter, "slavery was first 
 wrong, then excusable, then defensible, then 
 defended by scriptural, historical and politi 
 cal arguments, then advocated and vaunted 
 as the highest development of the social organ 
 ization." "The Southern ethnology separatee? 
 the negro from the human race; the Southern 
 religion proclaimed the slave trade a mission 
 ary enterprise; the new Southern morals pro 
 claimed the duty of holding the negro, for his 
 own benefit, as the highest of moral obliga 
 tions; the new Southern theory deduced the 
 highest proofs of the wisdom of God from his 
 placingtheblackman in subjection to the white; 
 the new Southern history made the chief pur 
 pose of the Constitution the protection of this 
 interest; the new Southern political economy 
 professed to have found in negro slavery that 
 organization of labor for which the Old 
 
360 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 World had so long striven in vain; the new 
 Southern philosophy added to Jefferson s 
 enumeration of the inalienable rights of man 
 that of the negro to a master." The South 
 feared, lest the "intrusion of new ideas might 
 breed doubts," and so there was found "a ter 
 ritory equal in area to the greatest empire in 
 the world, filled with an energetic, brilliant, 
 brave and devoted people, educated in the idea 
 that the State is supreme and could secede at 
 w iH * * * That corner-stone, on which 
 they sought to raise a new empire, now lies 
 crumbled and shattered under the feet of ad 
 vancing freedom." 
 
 The whole South had been involved in the 
 rebellion. The so-called Union men there 
 "were willing to vote that peace should con 
 tinue, and with it the Union, but, if it were to 
 be broken, then they would not fight against 
 their brethren at home for the maintenance of 
 the Union. They preferred peace at home 
 and war with the United States, to war at 
 home and peace with the United States." 
 Even since the collapse of the Confederacy, 
 the Southerners might be divided into "those 
 who acquiesce readily and those who acqui 
 esce only under coercion." Andrew Johnson 
 had declared himself, and Davis openly op 
 posed him. "To that people our rulers are 
 now proposing to extend the privilege of gov- 
 
CHAPTER X 1865 361 
 
 erning themselves and us." It was well to 
 make haste slowly. Virginia s Legislature 
 had shown that there are "precautions abso 
 lutely necessary." Davis favored the execu 
 tion of Jefferson Davis, but felt that "the mere 
 hanging of men has no power to prevent such 
 a rebellion as this, where men have staked 
 hundreds of thousands of lives on the issue and 
 died, glorying in their cause. By hanging 
 them, you would be only multiplying the num 
 ber of martyrs, without materially diminish 
 ing that of criminals." But they should be 
 "stamped with the foul brand of treason, not 
 allowed to glory over their struggle against 
 the nation, to remain the heroes of the South, 
 as they are at this day." England and France 
 preach moderation to us, but they do not show 
 it to overthrown enemies. As "we are today 
 a nation, in spite of their advice, their enmity 
 and their efforts, silence would better become 
 them." 
 
 Davis believed that "the immense region" of 
 the South could not be governed by military 
 power, for such government is "inconsistent, 
 not only with the principles of our institutions, 
 but with the permanence and integrity of the 
 American Government." When we organize 
 the civil governments in the subjugated States 
 "we must recognize not only personal free 
 dom, but the principles of self-government 
 
362 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 the right of the people to rule." Davis found 
 no white population of the South "who will 
 draw the sword for us and will maintain our 
 rights, where they are threatened, and are 
 powerful enough to maintain the authority of 
 the State government at home." He found 
 such men in the negroes, and he proposed to 
 give them the franchise, because their rights, 
 and even more, "our safety," were at stake. 
 "It is a question of power, not of right, a ques 
 tion of salvation, not of morals. The alterna 
 tives are before us of a republican, friendly 
 government, or a hostile oligarchy in the 
 South." He held that "when negroes become 
 free, they become a part of the nation, and to 
 ostracise them is to sanction a principle fatal 
 to American free government." To the ob 
 jection that the negroes are not intelligent 
 enough to vote, Davis replied that they know 
 "a gray uniform from a blue one. They know 
 a Yankee from their masters. They have 
 fought well under Yankee leadership." He 
 told the Chicagoans that: "I have seen about 
 as much of negroes as any of you, have lived as 
 near them, and I suppose have as much preju 
 dice toward them as any of you; but to talk of 
 this, after we have had to call them to our aid 
 in putting down the rebellion, is either drivel 
 ing folly or infinite meanness." In Maryland 
 emancipation was carried, "by going to the 
 
CHAPTER X 1865 363 
 
 poor white men in the Southern portion of the 
 State and showing them that the negro could 
 relieve them from military service. They did 
 not stop to discuss his right to political privi 
 leges then. If he is their and your equal on 
 the battle field, in the service of the country, 
 he is and should be at the ballot box." 
 
 Davis refused to believe that Johnson was 
 opposed to negro suffrage. "He may have de 
 sired to give" the Southern whites "a golden 
 opportunity" of "silencing every doubt as to 
 their loyalty." Like Davis, Johnson knew 
 that the "only authority that can recognize 
 State governments at the. South is the Con 
 gress," and to that "august assembly" Davis 
 turned and appealed to it, "not to take any 
 man s declaration as to the safety of trusting 
 the whole mass of the rebels of the South with 
 the control of the Southern States," which pol 
 icy might "clog and even arrest the wheels of 
 government." He was "very little of a philan 
 thropist," but he knew that the negro s vote 
 was necessary for carrying on the Govern 
 ment, and that if the constitutions of the 
 Southern States did "not give the mass of the 
 negroes the right of voting on equal terms with 
 the loyal white men," then "republican prin 
 ciples" required that no person from those 
 States should be admitted to Congress. Con 
 gress should pass a constitutional amendment, 
 
364 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 securing the suffrage to the negroes, and sub 
 mit it to the States, for "we need the votes of 
 all the colored people. It is numbers, not in 
 telligence, that count at the ballot box; it is 
 right intention and not philosophic judgment 
 that casts the vote." If such an amendment 
 be passed, "all the principles of the Declara 
 tion of Independence will be executed; this 
 Government will rest on the right of individ 
 ual liberty and the right of every man to bear 
 a share in the government of the country, 
 whose laws he obeys and whose bayonet, in the 
 hour of danger, he bears." 
 
 Convinced in the rightfulness of granting 
 suffrage to the negro, he wrote the Nation 
 upon that subject, and his letter was printed 
 on November 30.* In editorial comment, the 
 letter is spoken of as presenting, "in a forcible 
 shape, nearly all that can be said in favor of 
 negro suffrage at the South. To the temper 
 of portions of the letter, we might offer several 
 objections, though none of them would affect 
 the weight of the argument. But when he 
 calls for negro suffrage, and in the same 
 breath finds fault with the President for not 
 withdrawing the troops from the South, we 
 feel bound to say that his zeal outruns his dis 
 cretion. The bestowal of the franchise, after 
 the close of the war, without military protec 
 tion, would, in our opinion, have been of about 
 
CHAPTER X 1865 365 
 
 as much use to the negroes as rations of pate 
 de foie gras." This is scarcely a fair com 
 ment, since Davis s criticism of the President s 
 military policy was largely made because he 
 feared that the military occupation of the 
 South would become permanent, and because, 
 having so great power, the President had not 
 used it for the permanent safeguarding of the 
 Republic, by granting negroes the suffrage. 
 Davis s letter was called forth by the result of 
 the election in Connecticut, in which State a 
 decisive majority had just refused to permit 
 the negro to vote. Davis felt that this election 
 revealed the fact that "there is an unreliable 
 minority in our ranks, willing to unite with 
 the enemies of the country," but that the im 
 portance of the election was lessened since, "in 
 Connecticut," "no practical importance at 
 taches to the negro vote and the old prejudice 
 was free to assert its power." Davis was as 
 strongly convinced as ever that, in the South 
 ern States, the "negro population is a controll 
 ing power, on which the United States can 
 rely there, in the event of a renewed rebellion. 
 It is the only body of people who can give the 
 white minority of loyal men a voice in the na 
 tion and prevent them from being over 
 whelmed and ostracised by the hostile major 
 ity. It is the only body from which a Re 
 publican vote can be expected in any of those 
 
366 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 States; for the mass of whites, loyal as well as 
 disloyal, hate and villify us, while the negroes 
 know that liberty is our gift." Davis was 
 alarmed because "the tone of the Southern 
 press now merely muttering between bayo 
 nets is that of execration against the Repub 
 licans." With others who had voted for 
 Johnson, Davis "stood confounded and divid 
 ed" by his policy. The only choices other 
 than negro suffrage were "an oligarchy of 
 loyal whites, or an aristocracy of hostile 
 whites. The one is loyal, but not republican ; 
 the other is neither loyal or republican." The 
 former, President Lincoln organized in Vir 
 ginia and Louisiana; the latter President 
 Johnson is "organizing under his proclama 
 tion." There was danger that results of the 
 war should be lost, and "in all the South the 
 only mass of the population interested and 
 able to prevent this danger is the negroes." 
 Johnson s words had been inconsistent. "His 
 policy is that of our enemies," and he had left 
 the Southern negroes "to the will of the mas 
 ters." He "has as much power to admit as to 
 exclude voters," and, while his whole "con 
 duct was a usurpation, it was no more usurpa 
 tion to direct his agents to receive than to re 
 fuse negro votes." He had not followed the 
 ante-bellum constitutions in all respects. "The 
 suggestion that the constitutions survive the 
 
CHAPTER X 1865 367 
 
 governments is at once absurd and dangerous. 
 The governments ceased to exist, because they 
 disowned their subordination to the United 
 States in point of law. Our arms expelled 
 them as usurpations in point of fact. The con 
 stitutions were constitutions of those govern 
 ments and of nothing else. When the rebel 
 lion usurped power in the States, the State 
 governments ceased to exist, the constitutions 
 became dead forms; the line of official trans 
 mission of powers was broken, there ceased to 
 be any person designated to renew the func 
 tions of government, and they could never be 
 renewed, till the people constituted anew the 
 government, or Congress, in executing its 
 guarantee, directed such governments to be 
 constituted. For a government is certain men 
 charged with certain powers. A constitution 
 of government is the law creating the powers 
 and designating the men to execute them ; and, 
 without the men, the government and the con 
 stitution are alike nonentities." 
 
 Davis s consistency was exact and his logic 
 relentless, if you granted him his premises. 
 He admitted that "nothing is more true than 
 that the question of suffrage belongs to the 
 States, but it is equally true that Congress is 
 the exclusive judge of the compatibility of 
 their solution of it with republican principles. 
 The States have the right to prescribe who 
 
368 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 shall vote, but they have no right so to exer 
 cise it as to create an oligarchy or an aristoc 
 racy, instead of a republican form of govern 
 ment; and it is the right and duty of Congress 
 to judge this question; and its judgment is 
 final and conclusive on all departments of the 
 Government. This judgment it is the duty of 
 the President to execute; over it, he has no 
 power. It is the duty of guaranteeing repub 
 lican government in the States which gives 
 Congress this high jurisdiction ; and the right 
 of determining who are the Representatives 
 and Senators carries with it the exclusive right 
 of determining which is the constitutional 
 that is, the republican government of a State 
 for, otherwise, it might find itself compelled 
 to admit Representatives and Senators of the 
 States whose governments are not republican 
 in form or substance, in its opinion." 
 
 Davis s reasoning was never more cogent, 
 nor his reasoning more acute than in this pa 
 per. He maintained that "republican prin 
 ciples and national interests alike forbid the 
 acceptance of the President s plan." "Repub 
 lican government, in the American sense, is 
 the government by the mass of the people 
 through their representatives. Whenever, 
 therefore, the mass of the citizens, or any great 
 proportion of them, is excluded from political 
 power, the government ceases to be republi- 
 
CHAPTER X 1865 369 
 
 can." In Connecticut the exclusion of ne 
 groes from voting "does not touch the republi 
 canism of her government, for the persons ex 
 cluded form no material or appreciable por 
 tion of her citizens," but in South Carolina 
 the negro citizens form two-thirds of the 
 whole body." "To deny them a vote" is not 
 merely to establish an aristocracy of race, but 
 also an oligarchy. "The Constitution makes 
 no distinction of color. Its only distinction 
 is that between free and slave inhabitants." 
 
 Free negroes are citizens, and, indeed, voted 
 in North Carolina and in Maryland at the 
 time of the adoption of the Federal Constitu 
 tion. The President s "mushroom govern 
 ments" ought to be rejected, for "his intermed 
 dling is wholly illegal." "What has been done 
 is a vain form." Military rule should not be 
 prolonged; for, if continued long, "the idea 
 of government by law will die out from the 
 land." "Discarding, therefore, the horrible 
 thought of military government," Congress 
 can "paralyze the dangerous vote" by a consti 
 tutional amendment, apportioning represen 
 tation according to the number of persons al 
 lowed to vote. This policy, however, would 
 leave the "States in the hands of the disaffect 
 ed," and should be rejected, as should that of 
 placing them in the hands of the loyal white 
 minority. A reorganization of these States on 
 
 24 
 
370 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 the "basis of universal suffrage," secured 
 "against the mutations of political life" by the 
 adoption of a constitutional amendment, is 
 necessary to support the prohibition of slavery. 
 "They who propose to postpone negro suf 
 frage till the negro is educated, need political 
 education more than the negro." Davis would 
 neither deprive Southern leaders of citizen 
 ship, nor confiscate their lands, but would 
 "balance the power of the disaffected aristoc 
 racy by the resident mass of loyal negroes, 
 armed with the ballot and bayonet." Johnson 
 was "experimenting now on nothing but the 
 patience of the Republicans and the support 
 of the Democrats." If he should obtain a 
 majority in Congress, "a counter revolution is 
 effected, which postpones the fruits of war for 
 a generation." 
 
 The Republicans then possessed two-thirds 
 of both houses of Congress, so that they could 
 do what they thought right. "If the Presi 
 dent deserts those who elected him for the 
 votes and policy of their opponents, we must 
 break the coalition at any cost." Davis felt 
 that it was insane to dream that the South 
 would of "itself ever give either suffrage or 
 equality before the law, and now is our only 
 time to compel it." 
 
 His religious feeling caused him thus sol 
 emnly to close his last public utterance: "If 
 
CHAPTER X 1865 371 
 
 men say God works slowly, yet will not let a 
 good cause fail, they had better enlighten 
 their piety by a glance at his ways in history, 
 and reflect that he visits wasted opportunities, 
 not less than wickedness, with ruin. I trust 
 we may not be monuments of that wrath." 
 
 During the second week of the first session 
 of the Thirty-ninth Congress Davis visited 
 Washington, and when he entered the hall of 
 the House of Representatives he received a 
 "general, spontaneous and cordial" greeting 
 from gentlemen on both sides of the House, 
 so that he was sensibly touched. "The crowd 
 that gathered about him was so great that the 
 party was obliged to retire to one of the larger 
 ante-rooms, for fear of interrupting the public 
 business." 5 
 
 Society in Baltimore had been divided into 
 two hostile camps by the war. The Union 
 people held assemblies, which Mr. and Mrs. 
 Davis attended. The Union men formed the 
 Union Club, which stood on Charles street, 
 where the Masonic Temple now stands, about 
 two blocks from Davis s residence. In a little 
 room there Davis was wont to meet Joseph M. 
 Cushing, George C. Maund, Archibald Stir 
 ling, Jr., Hugh Lennox Bond, James T. Par 
 tridge and John T. Graham, and discuss 
 Maryland politics with them. All of the 
 party smoked, except Davis and Graham, who 
 
372 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 frequently left the room before the rest to 
 avoid the smoke-laden atmosphere. Graham 
 often called for Davis, when such a conference 
 was arranged, and did so on a cold day in the 
 Christmas season of 1865. Davis came out of 
 his house, as was frequently the case, without 
 an overcoat. Graham remonstrated with him 
 on his recklessness, but Davis made light of 
 the matter. Just before reaching the Club, 
 however, he shivered and said to Graham: "It 
 is cold." He stayed a while at the conference 
 and returned to his house for the last time. 
 
 The cold which he caught developed into 
 pneumonia and, after a very short illness, on 
 December 31 he died at his home on the west 
 side of St. Paul street, above Saratoga street. 
 Until the morning of the day preceding his 
 death, his recovery was expected, but then un 
 favorable symptoms appeared, and when his 
 wife spoke to him on that evening of a brief 
 visit they had planned to Mrs. S. F. Du Pont, 
 he replied, in the last words he ever uttered: 
 "It shows the folly of making plans even for a 
 day." He continued to fail rapidly in 
 strength and passed away about two o clock on 
 the next afternoon, so "quietly that no one 
 knew the moment of his departure." To this 
 day the surpassing beauty 8 of his face, with its 
 lofty brow, finely chiseled nose and sweeping 
 
CHAPTER X 1865 373 
 
 moustache, lingers in the memory of those 
 who saw his body as it lay awaiting burial. 
 
 He was cut off in the prime of life, before 
 men knew he was ill, and the city was awed 
 by the suddenness of his end. Even the Sun 
 paper, which had fought him bitterly while 
 alive, now he was dead, could do naught but 
 praise him, diminishing that praise, in truth, 
 as much as it could, calling him a "politician 
 of considerable ability and aspirations," a man 
 of "fine forensic talents," one who "rather 
 prided himself on being a progressive in poli 
 tics and seemed disposed to startle at times by 
 his enunciations. His extreme radicalism in 
 the end doubtless worked to his disadvantage 
 among his political associates." 
 
 At eleven o clock on New Year s Day the 
 rooms of the Union Club were filled with 
 Davis s friends, manifesting the depths of their 
 feelings. Governor Thomas Swann was made 
 president of the meeting, 9 and said that, asso 
 ciated with Davis "for many years in the pub 
 lic affairs of the State of Maryland, no one, 
 perhaps, had a better opportunity than myself 
 of judging of his commanding talents, indom 
 itable energy and industry, and his many pri 
 vate virtues. An able debater, the ablest, per 
 haps, in the country; a brilliant orator, firm 
 and decided in all his impulses, spotless in the 
 relations of private life, few of our public men 
 
374 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 in the country have built up a greater reputa 
 tion for cultivated genius, or attached to him 
 more devoted friends among those with whom 
 he co-operated in his political career. For 
 some years past it has been my misfortune to 
 differ with him upon questions of national and 
 State politics, under circumstances which 
 might have been supposed to have led to 
 alienation and unkind feeling. This I am 
 happy to have it in my power to correct. But 
 the past is forgotten in the severity and sud 
 denness of the blow which has brought us here 
 today. There are occasions when the petty 
 differences of this life should be forgotten. It 
 is in the sad occurrence of events like the pres 
 ent that the worthlessness of all worldly pur 
 suits is so keenly brought to our view." 
 
 All that day and until late in the evening 
 the body lay in state at his residence, and the 
 newspapers recorded that "many colored peo 
 ple were among those who viewed the re 
 mains" of him who had fought for them so 
 valiantly. The funeral services took place in 
 St. Paul s Protestant Episcopal Church in the 
 afternoon of the next day, and were conducted 
 by Rev. Dr. Hobart, the rector of Grace 
 Church. Afterwards Davis s body was in 
 terred in the family vault of his father-in-law 
 in St. Paul s graveyard. The Mayor and City 
 Council attended the funeral services in a 
 
CHAPTER X 186? 375 
 
 body, as did Chief Justice Chase, Mr. Justice 
 Davis, his cousin, Mr. Justice Swayne, Gen. 
 H. W. Halleck, Secretary Edwin M. Stanton, 
 Charles Sumner, Governor Swann, and Lieu- 
 tenant-Governor C. C. Cox. The courts ad 
 journed for the day and a meeting of the mem 
 bers of the bar was held in the Superior Court 
 room. 10 The presiding officer, Judge R. N. 
 Martin, spoke of Davis as an "accomplished, 
 skillful and able lawyer, with intellectual 
 power as an advocate and debater that gave 
 him a conspicuous place among the most bril 
 liant of our forensic and party orators," and 
 "as possessing all those qualifications which 
 belong to a cultivated and irreproachable gen 
 tleman." Resolutions were adopted, 11 in mov 
 ing which William Schley spoke of Davis as 
 "deeply grounded in the elements of law" and 
 as having "great ability in conducting causes." 
 "If he had given his powerful mind, in a large 
 degree," to law, he would have been among 
 the "foremost lawyers; but nature designed 
 him for a statesman." In private life he was 
 "a refined and courteous gentleman of rare 
 acquirements and highly cultivated taste, gen 
 ial and social in disposition. He was not a 
 man to abandon his convictions," but was 
 "stern and uncompromising and fearless in 
 the discharge of what he considered his du 
 
 ties." 
 
376 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 J. Morrison Harris, who had served in Con 
 gress with Davis for six years, seconded the 
 resolutions concerning that "great man," in 
 whom "regular habits and physical vigor 
 would have led men to look for long life." 
 His colleague thus bore testimony to Davis : 
 "So unquestionable was his ability, so large his 
 information, so striking his views, so evident 
 his earnest and clear convictions, and so 
 irresistible the power of his eloquence that, 
 however men differed with or censured him, 
 he never rose to address the House that its 
 members did not throng around him and, 
 friend and foe alike, accord to him frank and 
 liberal praise. In all his relations to the House 
 he occupied high position, and both in the 
 committee room and on the floor he made him 
 self felt." His enemies could accuse him of 
 nothing worse than erroneous opinions. "His 
 more important speeches were the products 
 of a full mind, and its stores of acquisition 
 were fused with a freshness of handling that 
 was always novel and applied with an earnest 
 vigor that commanded willing audience, even 
 when it failed to enforce conviction. His ar 
 guments were close, compact and true, reason 
 ing strictly. He never stopped short of log 
 ical sequences, bold and self-poised. He did 
 not pause to estimate probable censure, or hold 
 back from fear of consequences. He appeared 
 
CHAPTER X 1865 377 
 
 to have an intuitive and unfaltering faith in 
 his own convictions, and he wrought courage 
 ously for their realization. His fluency was 
 wonderful, and his style of speaking carried 
 his hearers with him by the very rush and im 
 petus of the vigorous earnestness that marked 
 it. He was undoubtedly an orator of rare 
 ability, and those skillful to judge assigned 
 him a foremost rank among the eloquent 
 speakers of the country." 
 
 "Early winning distinction, his cogent mode 
 of arguing his causes and the breadth and com 
 prehensiveness of his arguments have won him 
 unstinted praise in all the courts in which he 
 practiced." In the Supreme Court "he had 
 gained the position of a counsellor of com 
 manding abilities." He possessed the "firm 
 faith of a Christian man." "Proud and self- 
 contained in the matters that pressed upon him 
 sharply in the rough conflicts of public life, I 
 know," said Mr. Harris, "that he was genial, 
 vivacious and singularly agreeable in his pri 
 vate intercourse." His "extensive reading, 
 large observation, literary taste, and wonder 
 ful memory made him a most attractive and 
 pleasant companion, and, while his earnest na 
 ture attached his friends most strongly to him, 
 they felt that differences of opinion did not 
 beget in him any personal littlenesses, and that 
 
378 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 he was to be fully and frankly relied upon in 
 all the professions of his friendships." 
 
 The eloquent R. Stockett Matthews fol 
 lowed and bore witness to the fact that Davis s 
 "whole heart was aglow with a love of liber 
 ty." The law had just u lost one of its ablest and 
 most ingenious interpreters, in whom the rar 
 est gifts of nature were united to ripe scholar 
 ship and copious and accurate legal learning. 
 He brought to the discharge of the trusts com 
 mitted to his management a profound appre 
 ciation of the responsibilities of an advocate. 
 In small, as in great cases, he was painstaking 
 and exact, never trusting to the chances of the 
 trial table interests which could be best pro 
 moted by faithful study and preparation. No 
 question was so complicated as to baffle his 
 powers of subtle analysis, and the most ab 
 struse principles were simplified by the force 
 of his clear logic. He was a rapid, keen and 
 exhaustive thinker, not less eminent for the 
 quickness of his perceptions than for the co 
 pious logic with which he illustrated every 
 subject upon which his mind was brought to 
 bear. Although it was easy at all times to 
 recognize in his diction and in his varied style 
 the cultivation of a scholar of widely diversi 
 fied acquirements, yet his arguments in the 
 courts were sui generis exhibitions of process 
 es of pure reasoning." They were "terse, vig- 
 
CHAPTER X 1865 379 
 
 orous, compact and lucid, and their unity was 
 seldom marred by the interpolation of decided 
 cases." For some years before his death he 
 had seldom appeared in the courts. A "most 
 self-reliant and self-poised man," when Davis 
 was "once satisfied that a certain course was to 
 be pursued, he walked through it to the end 
 and never asked himself how many or how few 
 would follow him. Dreading alone the con 
 demnation of his own conscience, he neither 
 omitted to do what it dictated, nor dreaded the 
 disapprobation of others. He felt that right 
 and truth and justice ought to be popular, and 
 he was their champion at all times against all 
 odds, and fearless of all consequences. He 
 could dare to do what most men would shrink 
 from; he could dare to leave undone a thou 
 sand things which men equally honest, but 
 with coarser natures, are in the habit of think 
 ing necessary to the success of a public man." 
 
 Archibald Stirling, Jr., showing signs of 
 his great grief in his speech, 12 added that 
 Davis, "while he was in many respects a proud 
 man and a man of quick temper," was "desti 
 tute of every species of personal meanness and 
 of every species of personal resentment. He 
 united the utmost rapidity of thought, the ut 
 most facility of acquiring information, with a 
 habit of most patient investigation." A "cul 
 tivated Christian gentleman," he was reserved 
 
380 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 in religious matters, but had a "firm and strong 
 faith." 
 
 Outside of Baltimore, came other testimo 
 nies to his power. Greeley wrote that the 
 House of Representatives had listened to him 
 as it listens to few, and that he had "keen in 
 vective, salient intellect, with power of con 
 tinuous thought." By nature self-reliant, he 
 seldom permitted the opinions of others, even 
 of his own friends, to influence his own resolu 
 tions. Hence he grew to be thought as a poli 
 tician self-willed, and, by those who make ex 
 pediency their established doctrine, to be de 
 nounced as impracticable. Little cared he. 
 His "fidelity to ideas was one of his most ad 
 mirable traits." 
 
 Charles Sumner wrote a lofty eulogy 
 upon Davis, 13 for he felt that Davis s 
 death "at this moment is a national calamity. 
 His rare powers were in their perfect prime 
 and he had dedicated all to his country. At 
 this crisis, when the best statesmanship, in 
 spired by the best courage, is much needed, it 
 is hard to part with him. Nature had done 
 much for this remarkable man. Elegant in 
 person, elastic in step and winning in manner, 
 he arrested the attention of all who saw him, 
 and when he spoke, the first impressions were 
 confirmed. He was rapid and direct. He 
 went straight to the point. He abounded in 
 
CHAPTER X 1865 381 
 
 ideas. Language lent her charms. Among 
 the living orators of the country he had few 
 peers. Professional studies and political ex 
 perience added to his powers. Had he lived 
 I know not what height he might have 
 reached. Never before had he been so com 
 pletely master of himself, and never before 
 did he see so clear and glorious a line of duty. 
 As the occasion was vast, so I doubt not would 
 have been his efforts. He looked to nothing 
 else than the complete enfranchisement of his 
 country and the redemption of all the prom 
 ises of our fathers in the Declaration of Inde 
 pendence." In his recent letter to the Nation, 
 he had "touched this question to the quick," 
 and was right in his contention. "Alas! that 
 he is not here to help in the battle now at hand ! 
 With what force and beauty, with what inten 
 sity and eloquence he would have illustrated 
 the congenial theme." Sumner compared him 
 with Charles James Fox. Davis was a "zeal 
 ous man and, like all zealous men, when great 
 questions are in issue, sometimes gave offence. 
 It is hard to strike strong blows without leav 
 ing bruises. It is hard to restrain the rage of 
 a generous indignation so that it will not seem 
 severe. There are times when Justice is se 
 verity. There were things he could not bear. 
 His warm nature glowed at the thought of 
 wrong or usurpation; nor could he check the 
 
382 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 currents of his soul, even if they threatened to 
 dash against persons powerful in place or in 
 fluence. A President like Lincoln was not 
 above his honest, fearless criticism." 
 
 To Davis s loyalty to the Union, Sumner 
 gave ample praise: "His country owes \nuch 
 to him. Living in a State which panted with 
 the throes of rebellion and surrounded by a 
 disloyal population, he was, from the begin 
 ning, austere in patriotism. He made no com 
 promises. He stood by the flag at all hazards, 
 as the combat deepened; he was among the 
 foremost to see that slavery was the great rebel. 
 Against slavery he struck. He had the inex 
 pressible satisfaction to witness the first stages 
 of its overthrow, and he was girding himself 
 for the final battle with the transcendent of 
 fender under the new form it assumed. In 
 striking against slavery, he set an example to 
 his fellow-citizens everywhere. If he, whose 
 home was in a slave State and whose friends 
 were slave-masters, could strike such blows, it 
 was hard to see how citizens of other places, 
 where slavery did not prevail, could hesitate." 
 
 Maryland "will cherish his memory with 
 especial reverence. Among all the sons she 
 has given to the country there is none who can 
 be named before him. Hereafter, when Mary 
 land is fully redeemed and a happy people re 
 joices in all the manifold blessings secured, 
 
CHAPTER X 1865 383 
 
 then will hearts throb and eyes glisten at the 
 mention of this noble name. Better for his 
 memory than any triumph of genius at the bar 
 will be his devoted championship of human 
 freedom. Maryland may not now be ready 
 to do fit honor to her departed son, but the 
 time cannot be long postponed. Her advance 
 in civilization may well be measured by sym 
 pathy with his name." The eulogy closed by 
 quoting "these artless, feeling words," from a 
 "journal published by colored persons in Bal 
 timore." "He was true to his country and a 
 true friend to the colored people, never fal 
 tering in the time of need. In Congress he 
 fought as a hero for our people, and at home 
 he labored assiduously for the bondman and 
 espoused the cause of liberty, justice and truth 
 up to the time of his death." His memory 
 "should live in every colored American s heart 
 for ages to come. At his own peril, he "stood 
 invincible for his country, knew no flag but 
 the flag of free America, even when his nearest 
 friend would impeach him for his acts and al 
 most threaten his life." 14 
 
 An estimate less complimentary was made 
 by Gideon Welles, who wrote in his diary, in 
 his usual bitter manner, on January i, 1866, 
 that Davis: "a conspicuous member of the last 
 Congress and a Maryland politician of noto 
 riety, died on Saturday. He was eloquent, pos- 
 
384 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 sessed genius, had acquirements, was eccentric, 
 ambitious, unreliable, and greatly given to in 
 trigue. In politics he was a centralist, regard 
 less of constitutional limitations. I do not con 
 sider his death a great public loss. He was 
 restless and active, but not useful. Still, there 
 will be a class of extreme radicals who will de 
 plore his death as a calamity and eulogize his 
 memory." 
 
 From Washington, on January 3, 1866, 
 Chief Justice Chase wrote thus to Mrs. Davis : 
 
 "I would not intrude yesterday on your 
 sacred grief, even by word of sympathy, but 
 cannot forbear expressing in a few lines my 
 profound sense of the great loss sustained by 
 Maryland and the whole country through the 
 terrible bereavement which has been permit 
 ted to fall on you. 
 
 "I always wanted to know a great deal more 
 of Mr. Davis, personally, than I did; but I 
 knew enough to make my admiration of his 
 remarkable qualities of mind and heart equal 
 to that felt by those whose relations were more 
 intimate. His brilliant eloquence, his rare 
 attainments, his noble manners and, above all, 
 his clear perception of the right and the fear 
 less courage with which he devoted himself to 
 its vindication and establishment, drew to him 
 irresistibly something besides and far better 
 
CHAPTER X 1865 385 
 
 than the applause of men, their profound re 
 spect and their affectionate devotion. 
 
 "His greatest work is his noblest monument. 
 To him especially belongs the great honor of 
 breaking the bonds of every slave in his native 
 State. The Free Commonwealth of Mary 
 land, better than any star-pointing pyramid, 
 will commemorate his genius and his labors. 
 
 "You cannot think much of these things now, 
 and yet his public acts and the greatest public 
 act of his life must be to you hereafter a grate 
 ful retrospect. At this moment the anguish 
 of separation, the great loss to yourself and to 
 your dear children, the void in your home, 
 must engross all your thoughts and feelings. 
 If you think of other things at all, you are in 
 consolable under the thought which oppresses 
 me and multitudes, how can he be spared when 
 there is so much to be done which no other 
 man can do so bravely and so well? God s 
 grace and the gentle healings of time can only 
 bring relief. May God s grace be with you, 
 dear Madam, and may you at last see even in 
 this sorest of afflictions the manifestation of a 
 Father s love. 
 
 "With deep sympathy and sincere respect, 
 "Your friend, 
 
 "S. P. CHASE." 
 
 Congress did Davis an unexampled and as 
 yet unparalleled honor. On Washington s 
 
3 86 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 Birthday both Houses adjourned to hear a 
 memorial oration 16 delivered by John A. Cres- 
 well, a Senator from Maryland, on Davis, 
 though he died a private citizen. 17 Reverdy 
 Johnson, the State s other Senator, sat on 
 Creswell s right, and the galleries were filled 
 with attentive listeners. 18 
 
 In introducing Creswell, the Speaker, 
 Schuyler Colfax, referred to Davis as one who 
 was "inflexibly hostile to oppression, whether 
 of slaves on American soil, or of republicans 
 struggling in Mexico against monarchical in 
 vasion, faithful always to principle and lib 
 erty, championing always the cause of the 
 downtrodden, fearless as he was eloquent in 
 his avowals. He was mourned throughout a 
 continent; and from the Patapsco to the Gulf 
 the blessings of those who had been ready to 
 perish followed him to his tomb." 19 Creswell 
 began by referring in terms of high praise to 
 Washington and Lincoln, and then sketched 
 Davis s career. In his estimate of his friend 
 he first dwelt upon his oratory, remarking that 
 "he always held his hearers in rapt attention 
 until he closed, and then they lingered about, 
 to discuss with one another what they had 
 heard. I have seen a promiscuous assembly, 
 made up of friends and opponents, remain ex 
 posed to a beating rain for two hours, rather 
 than forego hearing him. His stump efforts 
 
CHAPTER X 1 86? 387 
 
 never fell below his high standard. He never 
 condescended to a mere attempt to amuse. He 
 always spoke to instruct, to convince, and to 
 persuade through the higher and better ave 
 nues to favor." ^ He never wrote out his 
 speeches, yet "his style was perspicuous, ener 
 getic, concise and, withal, highly elegant. He 
 never loaded his sentences with meretricious 
 finery or high-sounding supernumerary words. 
 Of humor, he had none; but his wit and sar 
 casm at times would glitter like the brandished 
 scimiter of Saladin, and, descending, would 
 cut as keenly. The pathetic he never attempt 
 ed; but, when angered by a malicious assault, 
 his invective was consuming and his epithets 
 would wound like pellets of lead." 
 
 Turning to consider the character of the 
 man, Creswell found his "most striking char 
 acteristics" to be "his devotion to principle 
 and his indomitable courage. There never 
 was a moment when he could be truthfully 
 charged with trimming or insincerity." His 
 views were always clearly avowed and fear 
 lessly maintained. 21 "Some have said he was 
 hard and dictatorial. They had seen him 
 only when a high resolve fired his breast and 
 when the gleam of battle had lighted his coun 
 tenance. His friends saw deeper and knew 
 that beneath the exterior he assumed in his 
 struggles with the world there beat a heart as 
 
3 88 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 pure and unsullied, as confiding and as gentle 
 as ever sanctified the domestic circle or made 
 loved ones happy." ffl 
 
 Several of those who knew Davis, in the 
 years following his death paid noteworthy 
 tributes to him. John W. Forney ffl wrote that 
 Davis "passed away in the flush and prime of 
 his usefulness: the Rupert of debate, the Ri- 
 enzi of the people, the model of manly beauty 
 yet he faded out at the moment when he 
 was filling the hearts and eyes of men." 
 
 James G. Elaine had long admired Davis, 
 and when Theodore Tilton, in the Independ 
 ent, said that Davis s mantle had fallen on 
 Roscoe Conkling, Elaine made use of this 
 comparison in his attack upon Conkling on 
 the floor of Congress, on April 30, i866: 24 
 "The resemblance is great. It is striking. 
 Hyperion to a satyr. Thersites to Hercules, 
 mud to marble, a dunghill to a diamond, a 
 singed cat to a Bengal tiger, a whining puppy 
 to a roaring lion. Shade of the mighty Davis ! 
 forgive the almost profanation of that jocose 
 satire." Conkling, quite naturally, never for 
 gave Elaine, whose admiration for Davis was 
 further expressed three years later, 25 witness 
 ing to "the infinitely varying and always fresh 
 ly developing grandeur of Davis s character. 
 I was only yesterday glancing over his 
 
CHAPTER X 186^ 389 
 
 speeches and I came across this, which I well 
 remember when it fell from his lips." 
 
 "For untimely agitators and premature re 
 formers, I have little sympathy. They are 
 cocks that crow at midnight, heralding no 
 dawn and only disturbing peaceful and needed 
 rest by unseemly and unseasonable clamor." 
 
 "I do not quote this," Blaine continued, "as 
 any striking exhibition of eloquence, or ex 
 cellence of speech, but only of the wonderful 
 readiness and facility of expression and illus 
 tration which came to his lips as with inspired 
 force. I remember the startling significance 
 of this particular phrase, as it fell on my ear. 
 It arrested the attention of the entire House." 
 
 "Davis was essentially a many-sided man. 
 His culture seemed to embrace the whole do 
 main of knowledge. He was a profoundly 
 learned lawyer. He was a most clear-headed 
 and admirable statesman. He was a man of 
 letters. He was a matchless orator. He was 
 a true and genial Christian, and yet a man of 
 the world." 
 
 Fifteen years afterwards, while writing his 
 Twenty Years in Congress, Blaine had lost 
 none of his long-felt admiration for Davis, 
 and wrote of him: 26 "As a debater in the 
 House, Mr. Davis may be cited as an ex 
 emplar. He had no boastful reliance upon 
 intuition or inspiration, or the spur of the 
 
390 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 moment, though no man excelled him in ex 
 tempore speech. He made elaborate prepa 
 ration by the study of all public questions, and 
 spoke from a full mind, with complete com 
 mand of premise and conclusion. In all that 
 pertained to the graces of oratory, he was un 
 rivalled. He died at 48. Had he been 
 blessed with length of days, the friends who 
 best knew his ability and his ambition believed 
 that he would have left the most brilliant 
 name in the parliamentary annals of Ameri 
 ca." In another part of the work Elaine spoke 
 of Davis s highly cultivated "mind" and of his 
 "style of writing, which, in political contro 
 versy, has rarely been surpassed, a style at 
 once severe, effective and popular." 2T 
 
 John Sherman wrote his Recollections thir 
 ty years after Davis s death, and thus spoke of 
 him 28 as "the most accomplished orator in the 
 House while he was a member. Well edu 
 cated in college, well trained as a lawyer, an 
 accomplished writer and eloquent speaker, yet 
 he was a poor parliamentarian, a careless 
 member of committee, and utterly unfit to 
 conduct an appropriation or tariff bill in the 
 House. He was impatient of details, queru 
 lous when questioned or interrupted, but in 
 social life and in intercourse with his fellow- 
 members, he was genial, kind and courteous. 
 On one occasion, when I was called home, I 
 
CHAPTER X 1865 391 
 
 requested him to take charge of an appropria 
 tion bill and secure its passage. He did as I 
 requested, but he was soon embarrassed by 
 questions he could not answer, and had the bill 
 postponed until my return. I felt for Mr. 
 Davis a personal attachment, and I believe 
 this kindly feeling was reciprocated." 
 
 One of Davis s political antagonists in Con 
 gress, S. S. Cox, 29 wrote, years after Davis s 
 death, that he "was the most gifted in elo 
 quence and logic of any member of Congress 
 within the author s acquaintance." Cox re 
 called "a certain boyishness in his manner and 
 figure," which "wore of! the moment he began 
 to speak." In Cox s estimation, Davis was 
 "the best orator in every sense of the word, 
 whom he has ever heard in Congress. He 
 had logic, but it was logic set on fire with rhet 
 oric. As the war was winding up and liberty 
 became almost as indispensable to our country 
 and its institutions as the Federal Union itself, 
 it was Henry Winter Davis who rose to the 
 front rank of debate and by his silvery style 
 and cogent logic held Congress almost en 
 thralled until something was accorded to the 
 dignity of personal and public liberty which 
 had been invaded by the excesses of the war." 
 Cox continued to speak of Davis s "austerely 
 energetic, yet elegant style. It is said that he 
 had no humor, but humor is nearly allied to 
 
392 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 wit and sarcasm. It is confessed that he had 
 much of the latter, but it was frequently blend 
 ed, as the writer has seen, with good temper. 
 In some of his speeches, especially those in the 
 midst of the war, he made others sympathetic 
 with his own heroic resolve." When he failed 
 to produce the desired effect, the failure was, 
 "perhaps, due to a lack of moderation in tem 
 per and to an enthusiasm which had been gen 
 erated in contending so closely in a border 
 State with those who opposed him." 
 
 An unfriendly critic is forced to bear testi 
 mony to Davis s "zeal for civil liberty," which 
 "will constitute his best claim to the gratitude 
 of posterity," and to his possession of "literary 
 gifts scarcely surpassed by any statesman then 
 in public life." * 
 
 Julian 31 characterizes Davis as "the most 
 formidable debater in the House. He was 
 full of resources, while the rapidity of his ut 
 terance and the impetuosity of his speech bore 
 down everything before it. The fire and force 
 of his personality seemed to make him irresist 
 ible, and can only be likened to the power dis 
 played by Mr. Elaine in the House in his later 
 and palmier years." 
 
 These are the estimates of others, and, at the 
 end, it falls to every biographer to sum up the 
 character of the man whose life he has writ 
 ten, whom he has learned to know well, whom 
 
CHAPTER X 1865 393 
 
 he has tried to understand. As a boy, I was 
 taught that Henry Winter Davis was a great 
 man and an eloquent orator, and, as I have 
 studied his life, my appreciation has grown of 
 the fine gifts with which he was endowed and 
 with his noble use of them. The impression 
 has been made on some men that his was a 
 complex nature, but it does not seem so to me. 
 There is a remarkable sincerity and simplicity 
 throughout his whole career. He was a fine 
 scholar, a man of pure private life, of a strong 
 religious faith, of a dauntless courage, of a 
 lofty eloquence, of a changeless love for his 
 country. He was a leader of men who gave 
 and took blows in conflict, and, though he 
 might be bitter in speech towards an antago 
 nist, he never permitted personal ends to inter 
 fere with public duty. Alexander Hamilton 
 in 1800 and Daniel Webster in 1848 and 1852, 
 when displeasing Presidential nominations 
 had been made by their party, compare unfa 
 vorably as to their conduct with Davis in the 
 Autumn of 1864, when he made his fine ad 
 dress in Philadelphia in behalf of Lincoln s 
 election. Davis has been called an aristocrat, 
 but in his heart the love of mankind burned 
 with an inextinguishable blaze. His devotion 
 to American principles never faltered, and he 
 was keenly vigilant to guard against any dan 
 ger which might threaten the Republic. In 
 
394 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 his younger years that danger seemed to him 
 imminent from Russia, and he boldly warned 
 his fellow-countrymen against it. Thatlovefor 
 his country, for the principles of the Declara 
 tion of Independence, and for the provisions of 
 the Constitution led him to strive to obtain 
 freedom and civil rights for the negro slave 
 and to resist any setting aside of the frame of 
 national government, no matter how great the 
 need for this might seem. 
 
 Sir George Otto Trevelyan has recently 
 written: 32 "The American people, during 
 every great crisis in their history, have shown 
 themselves willing to be strongly, and even 
 autocratically, handled by rulers whom they 
 themselves have voluntarily placed in power." 
 
 However true this might be of Americans 
 in general, it was far from true of Davis, who 
 ever guarded with extreme jealousy the ob 
 servance of constitutional provisions. He was 
 anxious that the Executive should not en 
 croach one inch upon the sphere of the Legis 
 lature, and denounced such encroachment 
 whenever he found it. 
 
 Detraction has found little to say against 
 Davis, except that he made bitter attacks upon 
 the political conduct of his adversaries, and 
 that he was a leader of men whose conduct at 
 elections was rough and turbulent. As to the 
 former charge, who was not bitter in those 
 
CHAPTER X 1865 395 
 
 strenuous times but Lincoln and Reverdy 
 Johnson? Davis s bitterness, like that of the 
 Psalmist of old, came from the fact that 
 he believed his adversaries to be the opponents 
 of a righteous cause. As to the latter charge, 
 his friends admitted that Davis was sometimes 
 mistaken in his lieutenants and reposed too 
 much confidence in unworthy men. There is 
 little doubt also that in those old, bad political 
 times in Baltimore the temptation to fight the 
 devil with fire was great, and that a man who 
 was scrupulously upright in his own conduct 
 might shut his eyes and permit henchmen to 
 perform lawless deeds with less blame than 
 would be given in later, better days. 
 
 When one admits all that the advocatus dia- 
 boll can adduce, there are found no more than 
 a few spots on the sun, and the glorious lustre 
 of Davis s brilliant character is only slightly 
 dimmed. He loved America so well that he 
 would not willingly suffer those to come to its 
 shores and share in the rule of the land who 
 seemed to him to be unworthy to be called 
 Americans. He loved his State so well that 
 he was not willing that a single man within its 
 borders should remain a slave. He loved the 
 United States so well that he put forth his 
 whole effort that the land should remain 
 united and the spirit of secession and division 
 should be put to flight forever. For this faith- 
 
396 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 ful service and this whole-souled devotion to 
 his country, this fiery soul deserved well of it. 
 Maryland has borne many famous sons, but 
 none loved her more unselfishly, more com 
 pletely than he. For this love and for his great 
 service to the Union, men may well preserve 
 the memory of the name of Henry Winter 
 Davis. 
 
 NOTES ON CHAPTER X. 
 
 1. Speeches and Addresses, 556. Capt. H. P. Goddard, in 
 the Baltimore Sunday Herald of March 8, 1903, quoting Rev. C. 
 Herbert Richardson, says that Davis remarked about this time 
 that the military commission appointed to try the assassins of 
 Lincoln, was without legal warrant, and that President Johnson 
 might as well have called out the marines and shot down the 
 prisoners. 
 
 2. Vol. 2, p. 235. 
 
 3. Speeches and Addresses, 565. 
 
 4. Speeches and Addresses, 585. On July 26 (Rhodes, vol. 
 5> P- 534) a letter was written by Davis to Sumner (vide Sum- 
 ner s Manuscripts in the Harvard University Library), asking 
 whether Massachusetts would tolerate Dawes, who sustained 
 the President and whose speech Davis found "very discourag 
 ing." 
 
 5. Creswell, Speeches and Addresses, XXI. 
 
 6. Appleton s Annual Cyclopedia for 1865 states that he 
 died of typhoid-pneumonia, resulting from a cold bath, taken 
 while suffering with a heavy cold. 
 
 7. Creswell, Speeches and Addresses, XXI. 
 
 8. Creswell, Speeches and Addresses, XIV, speaks of "his 
 lifeless body, as beautiful as the dead Absalom." 
 
 9. Joseph M. Gushing acted as Secretary. Resolutions of re 
 gret were adopted, which were proposed by a committee, of 
 which Hon. William J. Albert was chairman. 
 
 10. In the United States Court memorial addresses were 
 also made by Judge W. F. Giles and W. J. Jones, and, in the 
 Criminal Court, by Judge H. L. Bond and George C. Maund. 
 
CHAPTER X 1865 397 
 
 11. Reverdy Johnson, Jr., acted as secretary of the meeting. 
 
 12. C. J. M. Gwinn also spoke. 
 
 13. In New York Independent of January n, 1866, reprinted 
 in Works, X, 104-108. 
 
 14. Sumner s biographer, Pierce (vol. IV, p. 293), refers to 
 this warm tribute by Sumner to Davis. 
 
 15. 2 Diary, 409. On the other hand, Riddle s Wade speaks 
 of him (p. 259) as "one of the ablest and most brilliant men of 
 his time." 
 
 16. See Speeches and Addresses, 9. 
 
 17. Andrew Johnson and half of the Senators were absent. 
 
 18. The atrabilious Welles wrote in his Diary for the Day, 
 vol. 2, p. 438, injuring his own memory more than Davis s by 
 stating that he felt that the celebration had an ulterior purpose. 
 Davis was a "private citizen who died in Baltimore, two or 
 three months since, but who had been a conspicuous actor among 
 the radicals. He possessed genius, a graceful elocution, and 
 erratic ability of a certain kind ; but was an uneasy spirit, an 
 unsafe and undesirable man, without useful talents for his coun 
 try or mankind. Having figured as a leader, with Thaddeus 
 Stevens, Wade and others in their intrigues, extraordinary hon 
 ors are now paid him. A programme, copied almost literally 
 from that of the twelfth in memory of Mr. Lincoln, is sent out. 
 Orders to commemorate this distinguished Plug Ugly and Dead 
 Rabbit are issued, and the whole is a burlesque which partakes 
 of the ridiculous more than the solemn, intended to belittle the 
 memory of Lincoln and his policy, as much as to exalt Davis, 
 who opposed it. I would not go. The radicals wished Davis 
 to be considered the equal or superior of Lincoln." The small- 
 minded man could neither forget that Davis had opposed him, 
 nor could he refuse a grudging eulogy. 
 
 19. Speeches and Addresses, XII. 
 
 20. Speeches and Addresses, XXLX. 
 
 21. Speeches and Addresses, XXXI. 
 
 22. Speeches and Addresses, XXXIII. Appleton s Annual 
 Cyclopedia for 1865 (p. 305) thus spoke of Davis: "His intellect 
 was admirably suited to his profession keen, inventive, salient, 
 and with that power of continuous thought which is essential to 
 every man that has to do with affairs of the forum or of the 
 State. As a politician, his unflinching integrity often assumed 
 the appearance of audacity, and, by nature self-reliant, he sel- 
 
398 HENRY WINTER DAVIS 
 
 dom permitted the opinions of friends to influence his own reso 
 lutions; hence, by those who made expediency their cardinal 
 doctrine, he was sometimes denounced as self-willed and im 
 practicable. His Southern birth and education, his political 
 hopes, which were always high, and his professional interests, 
 to which he was much attached, weighed as nothing against his 
 faith in the principles of the Declaration, of humanity, of free 
 dom, and of equal rights." 
 
 23. I, Anecdotes of Public Men, 302. 
 
 24. Vide Moore s American Congress, 460. 
 
 25. Gail Hamilton s Elaine, 239. 
 
 26. Vol. i, p. 499. 
 
 27. Vol. 2, p. 43. 
 
 28. Vol. i, p. 194. 
 
 29. Three Decades of Federal Legislation, p. 92. 
 
 30. McCarthy, p. 283. 
 
 31. George W. Julian s Political Recollections, p. 360. 
 
 32. G. O. Trevelyan, George III, and C. J. Fox, vol. 2, p. 
 301. 
 
INDEX 
 
 Abolitionists, 100, 231, 269, 315. 
 
 Abolitionists and rebellion, 168, 192, 193. 
 
 Adams, John Quincy, 159. 
 
 Adams, Charles Francis, 184, 186. 
 
 Admission of States into the Union, 121 to 127, 129, 130. 
 
 Admiralty, Board of, 325 to 330, 342, 347. 
 
 Aiken, William, 84, 85, no. 
 
 Alabama, The, 230, 231, 348. 
 
 Alexandria, Va., n, 15, 343. Davis practices law there, 64, 65. 
 
 Albemarle, The, 348. 
 
 Albert, William J., 396. 
 
 Allegany County, Union, 199. 
 
 Alleghany Mountains, 21. 
 
 Allen, Capt. J., 43. 
 
 American Party, see Know Nothings. 
 
 American Party, Davis s pamphlets on, in 1854, 80. 
 
 Anderson, Major Robert, 188. 
 
 Annapolis, 7, 10, n, 233; State House, 146. 
 
 Anne Arundel County, u, 67. 
 
 Appointments to Military and Naval Academies, 347. 
 
 Appropriation bills in 1856, 99. 
 
 Arkansas admitted as State, 126; Congressmen in 1863, 238 
 to 241. 
 
 Arkansas, Reconstruction of, 242, 243, 268, 287, 290, 339. 
 
 Arbitrary arrests, 339. 
 
 Army appropriations, 191. 
 
 Army, management of criticised by Davis in 1858,135,136,142. 
 
 Army, management of criticised by Davis in 1860, 161. 
 
 Army post, opposed when without departmental recommenda 
 tion, 159. 
 
 Army officers, 341; too old in 1858, 135; need of organization 
 in 1861, 202. 
 
 Army of the Potomac, 220. 
 
 Army, Confederate, in Virginia, must be destroyed, 221. 
 
 Aristocratic character of Davis, 66. 
 
 Astor House, 232. 
 
 Ashley, James M., 330. 
 
 Attainder, Bill of, 211, 244. 
 
 B 
 
 Bache, Benjamin F., 34, 45. 
 
 Baltimore visited by Davis as a boy, 12; Virginian s opinion 
 of, 42. 
 
 Baltimore, Davis s removal to, 65. 
 
400 INDEX. 
 
 Baltimore, Know Nothings in 1854, 80. 
 
 Baltimore, Election of 1854, 83; naturalization in, 95. 
 
 Baltimore, Election of 1852, 96; lawlessness of elections, 96. 
 
 Baltimore, Election of 1856, 101. 
 
 Baltimore, Election of 1857, 112, 113. 
 
 Baltimore, Election of 1858, 132. 
 
 Baltimore, Election of 1859, J 43- 
 
 Baltimore, Government buildings in, in, 158. 
 
 Baltimore police taken from city authorities, 147, 190. 
 
 Baltimore Street Car Company Charter, 147. 
 
 Baltimore s position, if Maryland united with South, 174, 175. 
 
 Baltimore, Railroads in, 191. 
 
 Baltimore occupied by General Butler, 199. 
 
 Baltimore sentiment in April, 1861, 195, 199, 213; in autumn, 
 1861, 197. 
 
 Baltimore, Election of, 1861, 196. 
 
 Baltimore, Habeas corpus suspended in, 215. 
 
 Baltimore, Davis speaks at, in 1863, 217, 299. 
 
 Baltimore, Davis speaks at, in 1864, 299. 
 
 Baltimore, Negroes, in, 273. 
 
 Baltimore, Elections in defended, 283, 285, 286, 343, 344. 
 
 Baltimore Republican National Convention of 1864, 304. 
 
 Baltimore fortifications, 341. 
 
 Baltimore Society during the war, 371. 
 
 Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, 12, 41, 158, 191. 
 
 Banks, N. P., 84, no, 221, 286, 311, 312. 
 
 Bates, Edward, 137, 168. 
 
 Barney, Joshua, 221. 
 
 Badger, Col. James, 234. 
 
 Bell, John, supported by Davis for Presidency, 160, 162, 165, 
 169 to 171, 191, 192, 200. 
 
 Bible in schools, 134. 
 
 Blaetterman, Prof. George, 46, 63. 
 
 ^ Blaine, James G., 85, 256, 295, 296, 318, 347, 388, 389; admira 
 tion of for Davis, 157, 188. 
 
 Blair, Frank P., 193, 342. 
 
 Blair, Montgomery, 189, 192, 193, 234, 267, 269, 315, 346, 347. 
 
 Bladensburg, 52, 221. 
 
 Blockade, 207. 
 
 Bond, Hon. Hugh, L., 192, 236, 274, 288, 371, 396. 
 
 Boutwell, George S., 318. 
 
 Bowie, Thomas F., 116. 
 
 Breckenridge, John C., 163 to 165, 170, 171. 
 
 Brevet officers, 135. 
 
 Brooklyn, N. Y., 203. 
 
 Bradford, Gov. A. W., 228, 300. 
 
 Brooks, Henry P., 115, 116, 141. 
 
 Brooks, Isaac, 79. 
 
 Brooks, James, 266. 
 
 Brooks, Preston, 85. 
 
 Brown, Judge Geo. Wm., 79. 
 
 Brown, John, 153, 155, 163, 168, 188. 
 
 Bounties, 263. 
 
INDEX. 401 
 
 Bonnycastle, Prof. Charles, 47, 63. 
 Brune, F. W., 79. 
 Buckingham, C. P., 34, 45. 
 
 Buchanan, James, 88, 90, 103, 127, 172, 309; his administra 
 tion, 122, 128, 160, 180, 181, 189, 203, 388. 
 Bull Run, Battle of, 201, 314. 
 Butler, B. F., 199, 347. 
 Burial of Davis, 374. 
 
 Calhoun, John C., 127, 132, 142. 
 
 Canada, Reciprocity treaty, 261, 262. 
 
 Candidates for office, 163. 
 
 Carlisle, Pa., 8. 
 
 Cambridge, Md., 299. 
 
 Cecil County, Union, 199. 
 
 Chandler, Zachariah, 255, 347. 
 
 Character of Davis, 375, 379, 381, 387, 388, 390, 393. 
 
 Charleston, S. C., Attack on, 281, 327. 
 
 Charlestown, W. Va., 41. 
 
 Charlottesville, 57, 61. 
 
 Chase, Salmon P., 287, 304, 375, 384, 385. 
 
 Chase, Bishop Philander, 19, 37, 45. 
 
 Central America, 258. 
 
 Chicago, 307, 354. 
 
 China, 10, 17. 
 
 Clay, Clement C., 51, 63. 
 
 Clay, Henry, 25, 38, 50, 129, 140, 151, 166, 167. 
 
 Clayton-Bulwer Treaty, 141. 
 
 Clayton, John M., 67. 
 
 Cleveland, Chauncey F., of Connecticut, 159. 
 
 Civil Appropriation bill, 192. 
 
 Civil War, cost of, 355. 
 
 Civil War, to be prosecuted to finish, 214 to 216, 218 to 221, 
 230, 231, 252, 263, 266, 279, 306 to 309, 314, 316, 331, 357. 
 
 Civil War, unique, 232. 
 
 Coast Survey, Davis defends, 136. 
 
 Cobb, Howell, no. 
 
 Coercion of citizens, not States, 120. 
 
 Coffin, Charles Carleton, 217. 
 
 Coke upon Littleton, 54, 55. 
 
 Colfax, Schuyler, 294, 333, 347, 386. 
 
 Colonization of negroes impossible, 216, 222, 229, 269, 270 to 
 272. 
 
 Commutation money, 262, 263, 265. 
 
 Compensation for slaves, 269 to 271, 301, 303. 
 
 Compromise, Political, doubtful of success in 1852, 73, 74; in 
 1857, 106. 
 
 Compromise of 1850, 91, 93, 166, 213. 
 
 Confederate Army must be defeated, 202. 
 
 Confedrate States, Recognition of, 276, 278. 
 
 Confiscation of rebels property, 207, 211 to 213, 216, 243 to 
 245. 3H, 339- 
 
402 INDEX. 
 
 Congress, Candidacy of Davis for, in 1861, 194 to 196. 
 Congress, Election of Davis to, in 1856, 82. 
 Congress, Election of Davis to, in 1858, 114 to 116, 144, 285. 
 Congress, Election of Davis to, in 1862, 217, 235, 236. 
 Congress, Compromise measures of, 1861, 172, 177, 183 to 185. 
 Congress, Memorial to Davis, 385. 
 Congress, Power of, in war, 207. 
 Congress, Power of, to admit States, 124, 125, 127 
 Congress punishes words, 275 to 277. 
 Congress, Struggle with President Johnson, 370. 
 Congress, Relation to foreign policy, 258-261, 317-319, 346. 
 Conkling, Roscoe, 388. 
 Connecticut, Negro suffrage, in, 365, 369. 
 Connell, Wilmer, 16, 19, 28. 
 Conscription, 263, 264 to 266, 341. 
 
 Constitution of United States, Authority of, 125, 154, 178, 182, 
 183, 210, 223. 
 
 Convention of P. E. Diocese of Virginia, 57, 58. 
 
 Cooper Union, 231. 
 
 Corruption of Congressmen in 1857, 108. 
 
 Constitutional Union Ticket in 1860, 165. 
 
 Consular and Diplomatic Bill of 1858, 119. 
 
 Corwin, Thomas, 156, 184. 
 
 Cotton not king, 196. 
 
 Courage of Davis, 387, 397. 
 
 Court of Claims, Jurisdiction of, 281. 
 
 Courts-martial, 211, 333, 334, 337. 
 
 Cox, C. C., 375. 
 
 Cox, S. S., 242, 318, 320, 337, 339, 340, 391. 
 
 Creswell, John A. J., 78, 217, 275, 297, 298, 300, 386. 
 
 Crisfield, John W., 275, 301. 
 
 Cross Street Market, Political meeting at, 114, 115. 
 
 Crittenden Compromise, 196. 
 
 Cuba, 169. 
 
 Cullen, Elisha D., 84, no. 
 
 Currency Bill of 1864, 282. 
 
 Currency, Depreciated, 322 to 325. 
 
 Cushing, Wm. B., 348. 
 
 Cushing, Joseph M., 4, 297, 345, 371, 396. 
 
 Davis, Mrs. Constance Gardiner, 64. 
 
 Davis, Dr. David, 15, 18, 43. 
 
 Davis, Rev. Henry Lyon, 7, 8, 16, 26, 40, 42, 272. 
 
 Davis, Mrs. Jane Brown Winter, 10, 16. 
 
 Davis, Miss Jane Mary Winter, 10, 17, 42 44. 
 
 Davis, Jefferson, 39, 361. 
 
 Davis, Prof. John A. D., 47, 51, 53, 56, 63. 
 
 Davis, Justice David, 18, 375. 
 
 Davis, Miss Mary Winter, 3, 109. 
 
 Davis, Mrs. Nancy M., 3, 109, in, 371, 384. 
 
 Davis s death, 372, 373, 396. 
 
INDEX. 403 
 
 Davis s dress, 66. 
 
 Davis-Wade Manifesto, 288, 289 to 296, 344, 345. 
 
 Davis-Wade Bill, see Reconstruction. 
 
 Dawes, Henry L., 239, 283 to 285, 332, 343, 346, 396. 
 
 Dayton, William L., 259, 260. 
 
 Deficiency Bills, 99, 100. 
 
 Delaware, 198. 
 
 Democrats, Danger from their success in 1864, 218. 
 
 Democrats, Disloyal, 218 to 220, 278, 313, 314; opposition to 
 Lincoln, 243, 308. 
 
 Democrats, Dissolution of party, in 1860, 160. 
 
 Democrats, in 1860, 162, 171, 178. 
 
 Democrats, Policy of terrorism denounced by Davis, 148, 153, 
 165, 169. 
 
 Democratic party in 1856, Davis s opinion of, 89, 91, 96, 104, 
 106. 
 
 Democrats responsible for war, 219, 227. 
 
 Democrats, War, 197, 219. 
 
 De 1 Huys, Drouyn, 260. 
 
 Devotion to principle, 387. 
 
 Dickinson College, 8, 16. 
 
 District of Columbia, Slavery in, 187, 213, 215, 245, 315. 
 
 Dix, John A., 189, 215. 
 
 Doane, Bishop George W., 65. 
 
 Donaldson, Thomas, 79. 
 
 Douglas, Stephen A., 164, 165, 171. 
 
 Dred Scott Case, 132, 139, 140, 165, 192, 203, 359. 
 
 Dueling at University of Virginia, 52. 
 
 Dupont, Admiral S. F., 231, 280, 281, 342, 343. 
 
 Dupont, Mrs. S. F., 372. 
 
 E 
 
 Early, Gen. Jubal A., 1 %>4. 
 
 Eastern Female High School, Davis s address in 1858, 133. 
 Eastern Shore Campaign of 1863, 217, 267, 299, 300. 
 Eastern Shore politics in 1859, 156. 
 Easton, Md., 298. 
 Economy favored, 136, 141, 160. 
 Election judges, Duties of, 96. 
 Electoral votes for President, Counting of, 102. 
 Elkton, Md., 13, 196, 217, 298. 
 
 Eloquence of Davis, 66, 376, 380, 384, 386, 387, 389 to 392. 
 Emancipation, 201; proclamation, 215, 216, 221, 222, 226, 253, 
 268, 291, 314, 354. 
 
 Emancipation in Maryland, 217, 228, 231, 267, 297 to 300, 315, 
 
 363, 385- 
 
 Eminent domain, 158. 
 
 Eminent domain, Did Congress possess it in Maryland, 99. 
 
 England, Alliance with advocated, 71, 73, 74. 
 
 England in 1861, 181 ; hostility, 230 to 232, 361. 
 
 English influence at Kenyon, 31. 
 
 English literature, 29. 
 
>4 INDEX. 
 
 Equador, 341. 
 
 Europe, Davis s tour in 1854, 80. 
 
 Europe, Opposition of, to United States, 357. 
 
 Eutaw House, Baltimore, 217. 
 
 Everett, Edward, 165. 
 
 Expenditure of Government within year, 119. 
 
 Expenditure over appropriation condemned, 135. 
 
 Export duties, 316, 349. 
 
 Farnsworth, John F., 318, 319, 336. 
 
 Farragut, Admiral, 327. 
 
 Fearlessness of Davis, 67, 114, 210, 375, 379, 380, 384; shown 
 in speech on censure of House of Delegates, 144. 
 
 Federal Judiciary, Position of, 87. 
 
 "Federalist," The, 51. 
 
 Fillmore, Millard, 80, 88, 90, 91, 93, 100, 150. 
 
 Findlay, John V. L., 210. 
 
 First Maryland Regiment, 286. 
 
 Florida, 359. 
 
 Florida, The, 230. 
 
 Foreign Affairs Committee, Davis s service on, 317. 
 
 Forney, John W., 388. 
 
 Fort Fisher, 347. 
 
 Fort Monroe, Barracks at, 158. 
 
 Fort Sumter, 188, 204, 281, 314. 
 
 Fort Wagner, 221. 
 
 Fox, Gustavus V., 281, 326, 328, 342, 345, 347. 
 
 France, hostile, 232; in Mexico, 257 to 266, 317. 
 
 Fremont, John C., 88, 92, 201. 
 
 French language, 46, 53. 
 
 French Colonies, Negroes in, 270. 
 
 French Revolution, 30; Republic, 357. 
 
 Frick, William F., 79. 
 
 Friday Club, 66. 
 
 Front Royal, Va., 286. 
 
 Fugitive Slave law, 100, 131, 163, 185. 
 
 Fuller, Thomas J. D., 84, no. 
 
 Funeral of Davis, 374, 375. 
 
 Fusion between Republicans and Southern Whigs proposed in 
 I 859> 137, 138; in 1860, 161, 169, 170, 191. 
 
 Gambier, Ohio, 19, 22 to 40. 
 Granson, John, 320, 343. 
 Gardiner, Miss Constance C., 64. 
 Gardiner, William C., 64. 
 Garfield, James A., 321, 348. 
 Garner, Frank, 12. 
 Gassoway, Stephen G., 34, 35. 
 Georgetown, Md., 13. 
 
INDEX. 405 
 
 German language, 46, 53. 
 
 Gettysburg, Battle of, 217, 220. 
 
 Gibbon, Edward, as a historian, 30, 43. 
 
 Giddings, Joshua S., 100. 
 
 Giles, William F., 34, 35, 396. 
 
 Gilmer, John A., 144, 145. 
 
 Gilmore, Gen. Quincy A., 221. 
 
 Glenn, W. Wilkins, 234. 
 
 Goddard, Henry P., 4, 78, 79, 192, 233, 345, 396. 
 
 Goods in bond destroyed by fire, in. 
 
 Graham, John T., 4, 192, 193, 288, 346, 371, 372. 
 
 Greece, Ancient, overthrown by Macedon, 73. 
 
 Greek language, 17. 
 
 Greeley, Horace, 67, 137, 193, 293, 380. 
 
 Groome, J. C., 141. 
 
 Grow, Galusha A., 93, no, 167, 191. 
 
 Gwinn, C. J. M., 397. 
 
 H 
 
 Habeas Corpus Act, Suspended, 205, 208, 215, 224, 311, 312, 
 320, 321. 
 
 Hale, Senator John P., 348. 
 
 Hall, E. J., 190. 
 
 Halleck, Gen. H. W., 3 75- 
 
 Hamilton, Alexander, 223, 289. 
 
 Hampton, Va., 12. 
 
 Harrington, H. W., 338. 
 
 Harris, Benjamin G., 141, 275, 282, 337, 343, 344. 
 
 Harris, J. Morrison, 84, 109, 115, 116, 144, 376. 
 
 Harris, W. Hall, 4. 
 
 Harrison, Prof. Gessner, 46, 63. 
 
 Harrison, W. H., 39, 60, 214. 
 
 Harvard Law School, 45. 
 
 Havre de Grace, 12. 
 
 Hicks, Thomas H., 114, 141, 198, 199, 200. 
 
 Higher Law Doctrine, 100. 
 
 History, Writers of, 29. 
 
 Hobart, Rev. Dr. John H., 374. 
 
 Holt, Joseph, 189. 
 
 Holy Alliance, 71. 
 
 Home life of Davis, 109. 
 
 Hopkins, Johns, 196. 
 
 Hosmer, James K., Opinion of Davis, 236, 255, 340. 
 
 House of Representatives, Corruption of members in 1857, 101. 
 
 House of Representatives, Election to, 87. 
 
 House of Representatives, Use of its Hall, 343. 
 
 House of Representatives, Visited by Davis in 1865, 371. 
 
 Hunt, F. K., 34. 
 
 Hunter, R. M. T., 51, 63. 
 
406 INDEX. 
 
 I 
 
 Independence Day Oration in 1865, 354. 
 Independence, Declaration of, 354, 364, 380, 394, 398. 
 Indians in Massachusetts, 270. 
 
 Insurrection, Power of Federal Government to suppress, 183, 
 184, 204 to 207, 223, 225, 228, 238, 249, 250. 
 Irish in New York, 270. 
 
 Jackson, Andrew, 25, 215, 221, 231, 295. 
 
 Jamaica, 270. 
 
 Jefferson, Thomas, 48, 50, 100, 215, 360. 
 
 Johns, Rev. H. V. D., 65. 
 
 Johnson, Andrew, 287, 350, 353, 360, 363, 366, 370, 396, 397. 
 
 Johnson, Reverdy, 3, 67, 79, 165, 210, 234, 312, 386. 
 
 Johnson, Reverdy, Jr., 397. 
 
 Jones, W. J., 396. 
 
 Julian, George W., 349, 392. 
 
 K 
 
 Kansas election in 1855, Davis s speech on, 85 to 88. 
 
 Kansas-Nebraska question, 91, 93, 103 to 106, 121, 122, 126 to 
 131, 141, 155, 158, 160, 166, 285, 359. 
 
 Kenly, John R., 286. 
 
 Kennedy, Anthony, 143, 191. 
 
 Kentucky, 222. 
 
 Kenyon College, 9, 19 to 40; curriculum, 29. 
 
 Keith, Lawrence M., 85, no. 
 
 Keith, Rev. Revel, 59, 63. 
 
 Key, P. Barton, 16, 18. 
 
 Know Nothings in House of Delegates fail to support Davis, 
 151. 
 
 Know Nothings, 80, 190; political views of, 81 ; position on 
 slavery, 108 ; eulogized, 285. 
 
 Kossuth, Louis, 71. 
 
 Labor, Davis upon, 75, 76. 
 Lake, William A., 109. 
 Land, Non-resident owners of, 142. 
 Lane, Joseph, 100. 
 Latin, n, 17, 25. 
 
 Latin America, Endangered by France, 257; Republican policy 
 toward, 258, 259. 
 
 Lecompton Constitution, 121, 122, 127 to 130. 
 
 Lee, Gen. Robert E., 39, 221. 
 
 Legal ability of Davis, 375, 378, 389, 391, 397. 
 
 Liberia, 14, 44, 145, 216. 
 
 Lieutenant-general, 341. 
 
 Ligon, Thomas W., 113, 141, 346. 
 
INDEX. 407 
 
 Lincoln, Abraham, in 1860, 162, 163, 166, 168, 171, 191, 218; 
 considers Davis for Cabinet, 189, 190, 192; appoints Blair, 189; 
 opinion of Davis, 192; inauguration of, 198; must be supported, 
 200, 201, 232, 268. Border State policy weak, 201 ; Davis s opin 
 ion of in 1861, 209; habeas corpus policy, 215, 224; writes as to 
 Davis s Congressional candidacy, 235, 338; vetoes Davis-Wade 
 Bill, 255 to 257; relations with France, 260; does not aid Mary 
 land Union men, 267, 315; issues proclamation on Davis-Wade 
 Bill, 286 to 288. 
 
 Lincoln and Davis-Wade Manifesto, 293 to 297. 
 
 Lincoln, Assassination of, 396. 
 
 Lincoln, flight through Baltimore needless, 336. 
 
 Lincoln opposed by Davis, 382. 
 
 Lincoln, Renomination for Presidency, 304. 
 
 Lincoln supported by Davis in campaign of 1864, 305 to 308, 
 310, 346, 393. 
 
 Lincoln, Welles compares his memorial with Davis s, 397. 
 
 Lincoln s second inaugural address, 354; his reconstruction 
 policy, 366. 
 
 Lisovski, Admiral, 232. 
 
 Literary societies at Kenyon College, 25 to 33. 
 
 Literary style of Davis, 387, 390. 
 
 Littlejohn, DeWitt C., 346. 
 
 Long, Alexander, expelled from House of Representatives, 
 275 to 277. 
 
 Louisiana, Annexation of, 359. 
 
 Louisiana, Reconstruction of, 230, 241, 253, 268, 287, 290, 291, 
 316, 366. 
 
 Lovell, Gen. Mansfield, 16, 18. 
 
 Lowe, Gov. Enoch Louis, 82. 
 
 Loyal citizens of rebel States, 121. 
 
 Luther vs. Borden, 208, 249, 254, 291. 
 
 Lynch, Dr., of Baltimore county, 145. 
 
 M 
 
 McCarthy on Davis-Wade Manifesto, 295. 
 
 McClellan, George B., 12, 214, 307, 309, 311, 312, 314. 
 
 McClernand, John A., 144, 190. 
 
 McDowell, T., 13. 
 
 Mcllwaine, Bishop Charles P., 19, 36 to 38, 45, 59. 
 
 McKaig, State Senator, 145. 
 
 Madison, James, 223. 
 
 Majority, Right of, 187. 
 
 Malvern Hill, 12. 
 
 Marley Bridge, 67. 
 
 Marshall, Humphrey, 109. 
 
 Martial law, 205, 207, 335. 
 
 Martin, Judge R. N., 375. 
 
 Maryland a border State, 86, 131, 172, 173, 204. 
 
 Maryland campaign of 1860, 190. 
 
 Maryland coal trade, 261. 
 
 Maryland Congressmen ordered seated in 1863, 236, 266. 
 
408 INDEX. 
 
 Maryland Constitution of 1864, 217, 267, 299, 300, 304. 
 
 Maryland Delegates to Republican Convention of 1860, 159. 
 
 Maryland election of 1863, 217, 267. 
 
 Maryland excludes Secessionists from suffrage, 300. 
 
 Maryland, Failure to fill quota of troops, 200. 
 
 Maryland Gubernatorial election of 1857, 113. 
 
 Maryland Institute address of Davis, 1853, 74. 
 
 Maryland in War of 1812, 117. 
 
 Maryland Legislature and proposal to censure Davis for vote 
 for Pennington, 145, 146, 156; Davis s speech on the censure, 
 146. 
 
 Maryland Legislature in 1861, 198 to 200, 311. 
 
 Maryland Legislature, Session of 1860, 190. 
 
 Maryland, Love for the Union, 93. 
 
 Maryland, Negroes vote in, 369. 
 
 Maryland, Slavery in, 272. 
 
 Maryland, Struggle for Union, 172; ruined by disunion, 173 
 to 177, 189, 191, 192, 194, 205, 286. 
 
 Maryland, Treatment of disunionists in, 312, 321. 
 
 Maryland, Union sentiment in, 177, 186, 187, 195, 197, 198, 200, 
 336. 
 
 Mason and Dixon Line, 200. 
 
 Massachusetts, Elections in, 284, 343. 
 
 Matthews, R. Stockett, 378. 
 
 Maund, George C., 371, 396. 
 
 Manual Labor Education, 24. 
 
 May, Henry, 83, 109, 196, 233. 
 
 Maximilian I in Mexico, 358. 
 
 Meade, Bishop William, 58, 63. 
 
 Merryman, Ex parte, 208. 
 
 Methodists, 14. 
 
 Meteors of 1834, 28. 
 
 Mexico, 270; Buchanan s aggressions on, 159, 160, 169. 
 
 Mexico, French aggression in, in, 230, 231, 257 to 260, 317, 
 3*9, 341,. 358. 
 
 Miami Indians, 142. 
 
 Michigan, 39; admission as State, 127, 132. 
 
 Military governors, 338. 
 
 Military imprisonments, 320, 334, 335. 
 
 Military rule in South, 364, 369. 
 
 Milligan, George B., 4. 
 
 Minnesota, admission of, 126, 131, 132. 
 
 Mississippi (State), Opinion of, in 1838, 44. 
 
 Missouri, 222, 315; Congressmen in 1863, 236, 268, 282, 284. 
 
 Missouri Compromise, 106, 130, 167, 185, 359. 
 
 Mobile, 327, 329. 
 
 Monitors disapproved, 327. 
 
 Monroe Doctrine, 74, 358. 
 
 Moore, Mr., student at Kenyon, 28. 
 
 Moors in Spain, 270. 
 
 Morgan, E. D. 304. 
 
 Morrill Agricultural College Bill, 161. 
 
 Morrill, Justin S., 211, 347. 
 
INDEX. 409 
 
 Morris, John B., 109. 
 
 Morris, Miss Nancy, 109. 
 
 Napoleon III, 72, ui, 181, 230, 231, 358. 
 
 "Nation," The, 364, 380. 
 
 National Banks, 343 ; taxation of by States, 282. 
 
 National road, 21. 
 
 Naturalized citizens, privileges of, 94. 
 
 Naval Committee, 328 ; Davis member of, 280. 
 
 Navy, 325 to 330, 348. 
 
 Navy, Abolition of sailing vessels in, 158; reorganization of, 
 161. 
 
 Nebraska, no, 142. 
 
 Negro question and Democrats, 161, 179. 
 
 Negro suffrage, 330, 350, 352 to 354, 362 to 366, 369, 370. 
 
 Negroes, Enlistment of, 221, 228, 229, 231, 236, 263 to 265, 274, 
 315, 342, 356, 362. 
 
 Negroes, Equality with whites, 229, 269, 271, 272, 301. 
 
 Negroes, Free, in Maryland, 230, 272, 274, 342. 
 
 Negroes, Free, in Maryland, attempt to re-enslave in 1860, 
 147. 
 
 Negroes, Freedom and position of, 222. 
 
 Negroes listen to Davis, 298. 
 
 Negroes tribute to Davis, 383. 
 
 Newark, N. J., 214. 
 
 New Jersey, 36. 
 
 New Mexico, no; slavery in, 138, 186. 
 
 New Orleans, 215. 
 
 Newspapers, Davis s attitude toward, 118. 
 
 New York City, 231, 232; riots of 1863, 270. 
 
 New York City Conference against Lincoln, 305. 
 
 "New York Tribune," 137, 293. 
 
 Niagara Falls, 67. 
 
 Nicholls, Letter of Davis to, 191. 
 
 Nicolay and Hay on Davis-Wade Manifesto, 295. 
 
 Ninetenth Century, History of, 71. 
 
 Norfolk, Va., 174. 
 
 North Carolina, 369. 
 
 North, Conservative position of, in 1860, 168. 
 
 Nullification movement, 25. 
 
 O 
 
 Oath of allegiance, 339. 
 Odd Fellows, Davis s opinion of, 76. 
 Officer, Extra pay for, 98. 
 
 Ohio, 21, 126; boundary dispute with Michigan, 39; contrast 
 with Virginia, 49. 
 
 Ordnance, Purchase of, 159. 
 
 Oregon, 100. 
 
 Orr, James L., 51, 63. 
 
 P 
 
 Pacific Railroad, 119, 158, 161. 
 
 Panama, 143. 
 
 Paper money, 117, 118. 
 
4io INDEX. 
 
 Paraguay. 98; expedition against, 135, 160. 
 
 Parks, Rev. Martin P., 60, 63. 
 
 Partridge, James T., 194, 371. 
 
 Patapsco river, 386; improvement, no, 117. 
 
 Pearce, James Alfred, 272. 
 
 Pennington, William S., 93, no; elected Speaker, 144, 148 to 
 150, 154, 161, 199. 
 
 Pennsylvania, Foreign vote in 1856, 107. 
 
 Pennsylvania s interest in the war, 220. 
 
 "People of the United States," 132. 
 
 Personal appearance of Davis, 372, 380, 396. 
 
 Personal liberty laws, 185. 
 
 Perry, O. H., 221. 
 
 Peru, 358. 
 
 Phelps, Gen. Charles E., 293. 
 
 Philadelphia, Pa., 28, 218, 305. 
 
 Phillips, Wendell, 193. 
 
 Philosophy, 29. 
 
 Pierce, E. L., 287, 340. 
 
 Pierce, Franklin, Davis s opinion of, 88, 93, 102, 103. 
 
 Pinkney, William, 129; speech on Missouri Compromise, 106, 
 130, 131- 
 
 Pitts, C. H., 79. 
 
 Political bitterness, 15. 
 
 Political prisoners, 211. 
 
 Politics in 1852, 73. 
 
 Port Hudson, 221. 
 
 Port Royal expedition, 326, 342. 
 
 Postal service, 142. 
 
 Post Roads, Power to build, 98, 119, 120. 
 
 Potomac river, 158, 174. 
 
 President, Commander of Army, 206. 
 
 President, Counting electoral votes for, 102. 
 
 President, Power of, 139, 140, 232. 
 
 Presidential election of 1836, 39. 
 
 Presidential election of 1840, 61. 
 
 Presidential election of 1852, 67. 
 
 Presidential election of 1856, 80, 88, 92, 102, 105 to 107. 
 
 Presidential election of 1860, 160, 171, 179, 200; Democrats 
 favor slave extension, 137; importance of, 138 to 141 attempt at 
 fusion of Whigs and Republicans, 137, 138, 191. 
 
 Presidential election of 1860, if thrown into Congress, 170. 
 
 Presidential election of 1864, 218, 221, 305 to 309, 346. 
 
 President s relation to Congress, 141, 143. 
 
 Printing by National Government, 97, 98. 
 
 Protection, 161. 
 
 Protestant Episcopal Church Convention of Diocese of Vir 
 ginia, 57, 58; Davis s membership, 65, 66. 
 
 Public lands in Kansas, 131, 142. 
 
 Public opinion, 277. 
 
 Public schools, 134. 
 
 Pulaski, Steamship, 18. 
 
INDEX. 4.H 
 
 R 
 
 Rafferty, Rev. William, 9, 16. 
 
 Reading of Davis, 77, 377. 
 
 Reagan, John H., 130. 
 
 Reconstruction by President, 238 to 241, 243, 252, 292, 339 to 
 34i, 350, 364, 365- 
 
 Reconstruction, Congress s power, 293, 330, 331, 340. 
 
 Reconstruction, Congress s power to determine its own mem 
 bership, 291, 368. 
 
 Reconstruction, Congressional power over, supported by Su 
 preme Court, 287, 344. 
 
 Reconstruction, Davis-Wade Bill, 237, 246 to 248, 253 to 257, 
 286, 290, 316, 340. 
 
 Reconstruction, Importance of, 350, 361. 
 
 Reconstruction, Restoration theory, 222 ; Congressional power 
 over, 223, 224, 226, 228, 231, 240 to 243, 245, 249, 250, 254, 255, 
 363, 368. 
 
 Reeder, Gov. Andrew H., of Kansas, 85, no. 
 
 Religious faith of Davis, 77, 377. 
 
 Religious freedom, 133, 134. 
 
 Representation, Unequal in Maryland, 300. 
 
 Representative, Relation to constituents, 148, 149. 
 
 Representative, Relation to country, 152 
 
 Republican government, 368. 
 
 Republican party in 1856, Davis s opinion of, 89, 107, 108. 
 
 Republican party in 1860, 162, 163, 166, 167. 
 
 Republican party in 1864, 315. 
 
 Republican Convention of 1860, 159, 167, 193. 
 
 Republican form of government, guarantee to States, 183, 206, 
 223, 226, 231, 238, 24.1, 242, 248, 249, 251, 253, 352, 361, 368. 
 
 Republicans in 1859, as to slavery in States, 150, 168, 188. 
 
 Republicans in Maryland in 1860, 157, 192. 
 
 Restriction on States when admitted to the Union, 130, 131. 
 
 Rhodes, John F., 339. 
 
 Richardson, Rev. C. Herbert, 396. 
 
 Richardson, William A., 84, no. 
 
 Richmond, Va., 221, 343. 
 
 Riddle s Life of Wade, 397. 
 
 Ritchie, Thomas, 62, 63. 
 
 River and harbor appropriations favored by Davis, 136, 161. 
 
 Rives, William C., 61, 63. 
 
 Roads for military purposes constitutional, 98, 119. 
 
 Rogers, Prof. William Barton, 47, 53, 63. 
 
 Roman Catholic Church, 67. 
 
 Roman Catholics in Politics, 81. 
 
 Romney, W. Va., 41. 
 
 "Rupert of debate," 388. 
 
 Russia, Dangers from, 68 to 74. 
 
 Russia friendly in 1861, 202, 232. 
 
 Russia serfdom abolished, 233. 
 
4 i2 INDEX. 
 
 Saint Anne s Church, Annapolis, 7. 
 
 Saint John s College, Annapolis, 7, 8, n, 16. 
 
 Saint Paul street, residence of Davis, 372. 
 
 Saint Paul s Protestant Episcopal Church, Baltimore, 374. 
 
 Salary of officers, 322. 
 
 Salisbury, Md., 217, 298. 
 
 Sallust, 25. 
 
 San Domingo, 270, 357. 
 
 Savannah, 327. 
 
 Schenck, Robert C., 347, 348. 
 
 Schley, William, 375. 
 
 Scholarship of Davis, 77, 89, 376, 389, 390. 
 
 Schools in Alexandria, 65. 
 
 Scott, Robert E., of Fauquier, 42, 45. 
 
 Scott, General Winfield, 180, 214. 
 
 Scott s novels, 15. 
 
 Scovel, James M., 346. 
 
 Secession, a conspiracy, 354. 
 
 Secession and nullification in 1840, 50. 
 
 Secession destroys State governments, 367. 
 
 Secession, peaceful, a delusion, 173 ,176, 182, 196, 356. 
 
 Secession, revolution, 92, 206, 241, 249. 
 
 Secession, successful results of, 181 ; causes of, 184, 204, 360. 
 
 Secessionists, 100. 
 
 Secessionists in Baltimore in 1861, 197, in Congress, 276. 
 
 Sectional parties condemned, 107. 
 
 Seddon, James A., 51, 63. 
 
 Senatorial candidacy of Davis, 210, 233. 
 
 Seward, William H., 195, 257, 259, 260, 280, 317 to 319, 345. 
 
 Sherman, John, 156, 166, 246, 256, 390. 
 
 Shubrick, Admiral, 343. 
 
 Sickles, Gen. Daniel, 16, 18. 
 
 Sixth Massachusetts Regiment, 194, 213. 
 
 Slaughter, Rev. Philip, 59, 63. 
 
 Slaveholders Convention in Maryland in 1859, 272. 
 
 Slave trade, foreign, in 1858, 136, 137. 
 
 Slave trade, interstate, 187. 
 
 Slavery, cause of the war, 358, 359, 382. 
 
 Slavery, abolition of by Constitutional amendment, 216, 226, 
 227, 252, 255. 
 
 Slavery, abolition of as result of war, 218, 268, 269, 315, 355. 
 
 Slavery, attempt to have it ignored in Presidential platform 
 of 1860, 138, 163, 165. 
 
 Slavery, development of justification of, 359. 
 
 Slavery in District of Columbia, 213, 215. 
 
 Slavery in forts and dockyards, 187. 
 
 Slavery, growing in strength in South in 1859, 137. 
 
 Slavery, Know Nothing opinion of, 82. 
 
 Slavery minimized, 69; agitation deprecated in 1858, 144. 
 
 Slavery in States, 188. 
 
 Slavery in Territories, 138, 166, 167. 
 
 Slavery in Territories, power of Congress over, 65, 82, 164, 
 165, 169, 186. 
 
INDEX. 413 
 
 Slavery, a theory of, to be avoided, 156. 
 Slavery in United States Constitution, 369. 
 Slavery in Virginia, 50, 59. 
 Slavery, Whig view of, 140. 
 Slaves freed when bought into State, 245. 
 Slaves of rebels to be confiscated, 212. 
 Slaves of Rev. H. L. Davis, n to 14, 43. 
 Snow Hill, Md., 217, 298. 
 Smeider, William, 34. 
 Smith, Howard, 34. 
 Smith, Job, 233. 
 Smith, W. R., 109. 
 Socialism, Davis s opinion, 76. 
 South America, 259, 270. 
 
 South Carolina, secession of, 171, 172; in 1861, 179, 180. 
 South, prejudices of, 26. 
 Southern Maryland, 267, 300. 
 Sovereignty, Davis s view of, 69, 106, 124. 
 Spain, 357. 
 
 Spalding, Rufus P., 346. 
 Sparrow, William, 34, 35, 45. 
 
 Speakership, struggle for, 170; in 1855, 84; in 1859, 144, 148, 
 153, 154, 156, 159, 161, 190. 
 Spooner, Mrs., 14. 
 Squatter Sovereignty, 105. 
 Stanton, Edwin M., 189, 236, 315, 321, 375. 
 State Bank Notes to be driven out, 282, 343. 
 State, coercion of, 182, 196, 204. 
 State rights, 51. 
 State sovereignty, 131. 
 
 States, claims of in Army Bill of 1859, 143. 
 States, compacts between, 153, 176, 178. 
 States, equality of, 106, 122, 124. 
 
 States, not destroyed by war, 224, 225, 228, 242, 351, 356. 
 Stephens, Alexander H., 104. 
 Stephens on Pleading, 54. 
 Stevens, Thaddeus, supported by Davis, 237, 318, 320, 323, 
 
 333, 334, 34i, 347, 397- 
 
 Stewart, James A., 156, 157. 
 
 Stirling, Archibald, Jr., 194, 288, 371, 379. 
 
 Stockbridge, Henry, 4. 
 
 Story, Joseph, Works of, 51, 54. 
 
 Sub-treasury, 118. 
 
 Suffrage a State issue, 368. 
 
 Suffrage of men not yet naturalized, 131, 353. 
 
 Suffrage of Southern whites after war, 351, 360, 362, 366. 
 
 Sumner, Charles, 259, 305; eulogizes Davis, 380, 396, 397. 
 
 "Sun" newspaper, 373. 
 
 Supreme Court Reports, Alden s Index to, no. 
 
 Susquehanna River improvement, 13, no. 
 
 Swann, Thomas, 113, 373, 375. 
 
 Swayne, Mr. Justice, 375. 
 
 Syle, Rev. Edward W., 10, 17. 
 
4 i4 INDEX. 
 
 T 
 
 Tacitus, 17, 42. 
 
 Taney, Roger B., 89, 208. 
 
 Tariff changes, effect of, 302. 
 
 Tariff of 1857, u8. 
 
 Taxation, 212; by Congress, 262; of slaves, 302, 303. 
 
 Taylor, Zachary, 150, 215. 
 
 Tehuantepec, 142. 
 
 Tennessee, 222, 251, 268. 
 
 Territories, government of, 87. 
 
 Territories, power of Congress over, 130; slavery therein, 65, 
 82, 104, 164. 
 
 Texas, 126. 
 
 Tilton, Theodore, 388. 
 
 Toleration, religious, 133. 
 
 Topeka Constitution, 93, 127. 
 
 Towson, Md., 217. 
 
 Transcontinental Exploring Expedition, 97 ; military road, 98, 
 119. 
 
 Treason, 213, 224, 225, 361. 
 
 Treason, constructive, 93. 
 
 Treasury notes, 117, 118, 322 to 325. 
 
 Trevelyan, Sir George O., 394. 
 
 "Tribune," N. Y., 194. 
 
 Trumbull, Lyman, 354. 
 
 Tucker, Prof. George, 47, 63. 
 
 Tyng, Rev. Stephen H., 59, 63. , 
 
 U 
 
 Union Club, Baltimore, 371, 373. 
 
 Union men in South in 1840, 50. 
 
 Union men in South in 1860, 251, 252, 351, 352, 360. 
 
 Uruguay, 98. 
 
 Utah, Rebellion in, 120, 160, 183. 
 
 Valk, W. W., 109. 
 
 Vallandigham vs. Campbell, 142. 
 
 Van Buren, Martin, 39, 61. 
 
 Vattel s International Law, 54. 
 
 Venezuela, 341. 
 
 Vermont, 126. 
 
 Vice-Presidency, Davis suggested for in 1864, 304. 
 
 Virginia and John Brown s invasion 153, 155. 
 
 Virginia s attempt to prevent secession, 186. 
 
 Virginia, Importance of campaign in, 231. 
 
 Virginia, University of, buildings, 48. 
 
 Virginia, Davis s tutorship in, 44. 
 
 Virginia, University of, character of students, 52, 56. 
 
 Virginia, University of, curriculum of, 46, 47. 
 
 Virginia, University of, diplomas of, 53. 
 
INDEX. 415 
 
 Virginia, University of, English training at, 52. 
 Virginia, University of, invitation to Davis to address liter 
 ary societies in 1857, 115. 
 
 Virginia, University of, law school, 47, 48, 54 to 56. 
 
 Virginia, University of, literary societies at, 53. 
 
 Virginia, University of, political opinions of students, 49, 129. 
 
 Virginia, University of, religion at, 48, 49. 
 
 Virginia, University of, social life at, 57. 
 
 Virginia, University of, 46 to 58. 
 
 Virginia, Reconstruction in, 226, 339, 361, 366. 
 
 Virginia, Slavery in, 50, 253, 272, 291. 
 
 W 
 
 Wade, Benjamin F., 288, 292, 294, 296, 304, 305, 325, 348, 353, 
 
 397- 
 
 Walker, E. J., 109. 
 
 Wallis, Severn T., 79. 
 
 War Department lacks confidence in Maryland, 200. 
 
 War of 1812, Maryland s share in, 117. 
 
 War of Ormuzd and Ahriman, 68 to 74. 
 
 War, Power of President, 206 to 209, 332, 335. 
 
 War, Proper method of conducting, 313. 
 
 Washbourne, Elihu B., 217. 
 
 Washington Aqueduct, 99, 120. 
 
 Washington, Bushrod, 41. 
 
 Washington County, Union, 199. 
 
 Washington, D. C., 66 suffrage in, 94, 96; railroad to, 343. 
 
 Washington, D. C., in 1861, 199. 
 
 Washington, Election riots in 1857, 116, 117, 160, 284, 346. 
 
 Washington, George, 206, 207, 221, 223, 231. 
 
 Washington, George, opinion on entangling alliances, 74. 
 
 Washington s Birthday, 1866, 386. 
 
 Watrous, Judge, of Texas, 142. 
 
 Ways and Means Committee, Davis on, 86. 
 
 Webster, Daniel, 106, 203, 254. 
 
 Weed, Thurlow, 189. 
 
 Welles, Gideon, 280, 293, 294, 304, 319, 328, 330, 342, 344, 347, 
 348, 353, 383, 397- 
 
 West, Miss, of the Woody ard, 15. 
 
 West Point, 36, 158. 
 
 West Virginia, a necessity if Virginia secedes, 175, 222, 251, 
 
 3i5- 
 
 Wheat, Mr., schoolmaster, n. 
 
 Wheaton s International Law, 54. 
 
 Wheeler, John, 109. 
 
 Whig, National Convention of 1852, 67. 
 
 Whigs, Southern, in 1859, 137. 
 
 Whiskey insurrection, 8, 206. 
 
 Whitfield, J. W., Delegate from Kansas, 86. 
 
 Whitney, Milton, 234. 
 
 Whittingham, Bishop William R., 65. 
 
* 4 i6 INDEX. 
 
 Whyte, William Pinkney, 115. 
 
 Wilkes, Admiral Charles, 329, 342. 
 
 Wilkinson, Gen. James, 215. 
 
 Wilmer, Rev. George T., 16, 18. 
 
 Wilmer, Bishop Richard H., of Alabama, 16, 18. 
 
 Wilmer, Mrs. William Holland, 15, 18. 
 
 Wilmington, Del., n, 13. 
 
 Wilmot, David, of Pennsylvania, 159. 
 
 Wing, Mr., treasurer of Kenyon College, 20. 
 
 Winter, Miss Elizabeth Brice, n, 42 to 44. 
 
 Winthrop, Robert C., 67. 
 
 Wise, Gov. Henry A., 113. 
 
 Witnesses before Congressional Committee, 101. 
 
 Woart, Rev. Loring, 15. 
 
 Women, Proper sphere of, 134. 
 
 Wool, Duty on, 157. 
 
 Wool, Gen. John E., 215, 234. 
 
 Yale Law School, 45. 
 Yeas and Nays, 282. 
 Yellott, Coleman, 190. 
 
 Zollicoffer, Felix M., 84, no. 
 
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