Richmond, February 25, 1862, Nevil Blacklidge, Special Correspent.
In a driving rainstorm today, the Hon. Jefferson Davis became the President of the Permanent Government of the Confederate States of America. He begins under the Constitution a six year term as does his distinguished Vice-President, the Hon. Alexander H. Stephens of Georgia.The setting was a platform erected in front of the statue of General George Washington in the public square. It was fitting that the man who made a confederation of states into a nation was honored on his birthday by a man who has made this southern confederation of states into a nation!
Addressing a sea of umbrellas, President Davis made a series of telling points as he came he noted with mixed feelings of pride and humility given the great tasks before him. First, he stated, the Confederacy is based upon the principles of our revolutionary fathers. As Divine Providence favored the brave Washington as he faced what appeared to be insurmountable odds, so too the Confederacy will triumph though the justice of her cause. When six states saw their existence was threatened by “the dogmas of a sectional party” in violation of “our constitutional compact” these same states rose up and banded together to secure their constitutional liberties. Their hope was that a continuing sense of justice would render it possible to preserve the Constitution and our Union, but the malignity of the North under Lincoln knows no bounds. The North is a bastille for those who hoped to live under religious and civil liberty.
The list of the abuses of power of the Lincoln mobocracy is almost limitless. People are held in prisons without charges as the writs of habeus corpus have become meaningless. Members of a state legislature have been imprisoned, elections have been held under threats of the military, civil officers, peace-loving people and women all have been incarcerated. In the South there is freedom of speech; the courts are open in their judicial functions; every right of peaceful citizens is guaranteed, despite the fact that we are being invaded. The law in the North is the law of the will of Lincoln and his congressional minions. This from a man who prides himself on being a lawyer, a man who invokes the word “Union” at every turn.
The Confederacy was formed to escape a revolution about to be launched by means of “a despotism of numbers.” Our shrinking power in all branches of government meant in a short time our appointees to offices of trust whether diplomats or the federal bench would never be nominated, no congressional committee chairmanships would be awarded, our internal improvements would be under-funded, and our “peculiar institution” would soon be rendered illegal by the federal courts. The right to independence is also denied to us by the rejection of any negotiations concerning property forcibly seized from southern citizens.
The first year of the Confederacy has been a remarkable one with no comparison since the time of the Founding Fathers. A new government has taken possession of seven hundred thousand square miles. The six states have grown to thirteen. When Maryland is allowed a free voice, she will also join us. There are a million men opposing the Confederacy over battle lines covering thousands of miles. Surely, our foes will sink under the enormous load of debt that has occurred; it will follow them for generations. The South as well will pay a heavy price in blood and money. “But we know the value of the object for which we have struggled, and understand the nature of the war in which we are engaged. Nothing could be so bad as failure, and any sacrifice would be cheap as the price of success in such a contest.”
The determination this conflict has engendered, as seen in the self-sacrifice and devotion to the causeby loyal southerners, is proof of our future success. Providence will teach us “the values of our liberties by the price we pay for them.” The blockade will make us self-supporting. We may now cultivate foreign trade without the restraints of the northern tariff laws, another example of the tyranny of numbers. There will be no wars of conquest by this Confederacy. This voluntary association of states will triumph against “the tyranny of an unbridled majority.”
Finally, President Davis noted a series of recent military disasters; these will cause in the hearts of our brave people more determination to resist the invader, and we will treasure “the inheritance bequeathed to us by the patriots of the Revolution.” The reverses they met served to provide a crucible that refined their patriotism. The same under the guidance of Divine Providence we hope will be true for this Confederacy. He closed with these words, “Speaking for all those on this platform, for those withing the range who are hearing of my voice, and in this Confederacy, and to all who would join us if freely given a choice, we pledge to this cause, our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor.”