He
never evinced any such aspiration, by word or sign, to me--with
whom he was, I believe, as intimate and confidential as with any
person outside of his own family. On the contrary, he requested
the delegation from Mississippi not to permit the use of his
name before the Convention. And, after the nomination of both
Douglas and Breckinridge, he conferred with them, at the
instance of leading Democrats, to persuade them to withdraw,
that their friends might unite on some second choice--an office
he would never have undertaken, had he sought the nomination or
believed he was regarded as an aspirant.
"Mr. Davis did not take an active part in planning or hastening
secession. I think he only _regretfully_ consented to it, as a
political necessity for the preservation of popular and State
rights, which were seriously threatened by the triumph of a
sectional party who were pledged to make war on them. I know
that some leading men, and even Mississippians, thought him too
moderate and backward, and found fault with him for not taking a
leading part in secession.
"No 'plan of secession' or 'scheme of revolution' was, to my
knowledge, discussed--certainly none matured--at the caucus, 5th
of January, 1861, unless, forsooth, the resolutions appended
hereto be so held. They comprise the sum and substance of what
was said and done.
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