reason that I happened to know Mr. Davis in the summer of 1850, when
he was the moving spirit of a convention of "Fire-Eaters," that
assembled together at Nashville, Tenn. And I have a slight
recollection of a speech he made on that occasion, in which
separation by arms was urged, and no love for the Union advanced. I
remember also that that speech was rewarded with hisses,
notwithstanding the strong dis-union element of the convention. His
dislike of the Union and plan for separating the nation, it is well
known, had been the besetting sin of his brain for twenty years.
How, then, he could have engaged in this gigantic rebellion with
green spectacles on, I cannot just exactly see. It was the ignorant,
unreasoning masses of the South who were led into the rebellion with
green spectacles on, not men like Mr. Davis. But, my son, never
strike a man when he is down; that is the work of cowards. Let us
give Mr. Davis credit for such virtues as he had, and for the manner
in which he exerted them in keeping life and strength in the
government he attempted to set up. In connection with the rebellion,
we had to deal with Mr. Davis more in his character as a soldier
than a statesman. Mr. Davis was undoubtedly an able soldier. He was
the head and front, the very life and soul of the men in the South.
Born to those qualities of pride, self-esteem, and self-will, all
of which produce confidence in the possessor, he grew up feeling
himself superior, as he was, to the ordinary men of his age. He
inherited at the same time great fixedness of purpose and
determination; and so prominent were these traits of his character,
that they impressed every one who came in contact with him.

These, my son, were the attributes that gave wings to the man's
ambition and found him aspiring to one of the high places in the
temple of fame. The nation gave him a thorough military education at