charge of the organization and equipment of the surveying parties sent out to examine the various routes proposed. He also had charge of the appropriation for the extension of the capitol. Mr. Davis left the cabinet at the close of President Pierce's term in 1857, and in the same year entered the senate again. He opposed the French spoliation bill, advocated the southern route for the Pacific railroad, and opposed the doctrine of “popular sovereignty,” often encountering Stephen A. Douglas in debate on this question. After the settlement of the Kansas contest by the passage of the Kansas conference bill, in which he had taken a chief part, he wrote to the people of his state that it was “the triumph of all for which we contended.” Mr. Davis was the recognized democratic leader in the 36th congress. He had made a tour of the eastern states in 1858, making speeches at Boston, Portland, Me., New York, and other places, and in 1859, in reply to an invitation to attend the Webster birthday festival in Boston, wrote a letter denouncing “partisans who avow the purpose of obliterating the landmarks of our fathers,” and containing strong Union sentiments. He had been frequently mentioned as a democratic candidate for the presidency, and received many votes in the convention of 1860, though his friends announced that he did not desire the nomination. Before congress met, in the autumn of 1860, Mr. Davis was summoned to Washington by members of President Buchanan's cabinet to suggest some modifications of the forthcoming message to congress. The suggestions were made, and were adopted. In the ensuing session Mr. Davis made, on 10 Dec., 1860, a speech in which he carefully distinguished between independence, which the states had achieved at great cost, and the Union, which had cost “little time, little money, and no blood,” taking his old state-rights position. He was appointed on the senate committee of thirteen to examine and report on the condition of the country, and, although at first excused at his own request, finally consented to serve, accepting the appointment in a speech in which he avowed his willingness to make any sacrifice to avert the impending struggle. The committee, after remaining in session several days, reported, on 31 Dec., their inability to come to any satisfactory conclusion. On 10 Jan., 1861, Mr. Davis made another speech on the state of the country, asserting the right of secession, denying that of coercion, and urging the withdrawal of the garrison from Fort Sumter. Mississippi had seceded on 9 Jan., and on 24 Jan., having been officially informed of the fact, Mr. Davis withdrew from the senate and went to his home, having taken leave of his associates in a speech in which he defended the cause of the south, and, in closing, begged pardon of all whom he had ever offended.
Before he reached home he had been appointed by the convention commander-in-chief of the army of Mississippi, with the rank of major-general; but on 18 Feb., 1861, he exchanged this office for that of president of the Confederate states, to which the provisional congress at Montgomery had elected him on 9 Feb. He selected for his cabinet Robert Toombs, of Georgia, as secretary of state; Leroy P. Walker, of Alabama, secretary of war; Charles G. Memminger, of South Carolina, secretary of the treasury; Stephen R. Mallory, of Florida, secretary of the navy; Judah P. Benjamin, of Louisiana, attorney-general; and John H. Reagan, of Texas, postmaster-general. The last three continued in the cabinet as long as the Confederate government maintained its existence. Toombs, Walker, and Memminger were succeeded by others. In his in- augural address Mr. Davis asserted that “necessity, not choice,” had led to the secession of the southern states; that the true policy of the south, an agricultural country, was peace; and that “the constituent parts, but not the system,” of the government had been changed. The attack on Fort Sumter, on 13 April, precipitated the war, and Mr. Davis, in his first message to the provisional Confederate congress, on 29 April, after a review of events (from the formation of the United States constitution till 1861), which, in his judgment, had led to the contest, commended this act, while avowing a desire to prevent the shedding of blood. The message also condemned, as illegal and absurd, President Lincoln's proclamation calling for troops, and that announcing a blockade of southern ports, and ended with the famous words, “All we ask is, to be let alone,” followed by a promise to resist subjugation to the direst extremity. Shortly after the change of the Confederate capital from Montgomery to Richmond, which he had strongly advised, Mr. Davis removed thither, and was met on his way with many marks of popular favor, every railway station swarming with men, women, and children, who greeted him with waving handkerchiefs. Soon after his arrival the fine residence of James A. Seddon was bought and put at Mr. Davis's disposal by citizens of Richmond. His first days in the new capital were spent in reviewing troops and in speech-making. He exhorted his hearers to remember the dignity of the contest, and “to smite the smiter with manly arms, as our fathers did before us,” and declared his willingness to lay down his civil office and take command of the army, should the extremity of the cause ever warrant such action. Before his arrival in Virginia an army of about 30,000 men had been raised, and as fast as new troops arrived their officers were assigned to a rank in the Confederate service, regulated by that which they had formerly held in the U. S. army. On 20 July, Mr. Davis sent his second message to the provisional congress, then in session at Richmond. In this message he complained of barbarities committed by National troops, and again asserted the impossibility of subduing the south. On the morning succeeding the delivery of this message he set out for Manassas, where a contest was thought to be impending, and arrived there in time to witness the close of the battle of Bull Run, reaching the field when victory had been assured to the Confederates.
The battle of Bull Run was followed by a period of inaction, and Mr. Davis was blamed by many for this policy, as well as for his “failure to organize the troops of the several states into brigades and divisions formed of the soldiers of each,” as the law directed. In answer to these complaints, he has urged the length of time necessary to organize “the terrible machine, a disciplined army,” and protested that, as far as in him lay, he favored an advance and endeavored to comply with the legal plan of army organization. The question of the treatment of Confederate prisoners by the National authorities soon demanded his attention. On 17 April, 1861, two days after Mr. Lincoln's call for troops, Mr. Davis had issued a proclamation inviting applications for letters of marque and reprisal. The “Savannah,” a private vessel commissioned in accordance with this offer, was captured off Charleston, and her officers and crew were tried for piracy in New York and sentenced to death. Later the captain and crew of the privateer “Jefferson Davis” were similarly convicted in Philadelphia. Thereupon, in November, 1861, Mr. Davis ordered retaliatory measures to be taken,
