CONFEDERATE STATES. 



127 



States which they represented. This resulted 

 in a Provisional Constitution, to continue in 

 operation for one year. Under this Constitu- 

 tion, Jefferson Davis, of Mi-sissippi, was elect- 

 ed President, and Alexander H. Stephens, of 

 Georgia, Vice-President. On the 16th of Feb- 

 ruary, Mr. Davis arrived at Montgomery, to be 

 inaugurated and to enter upon the duties of his 

 office. He \vus greeted with an ovation, to which 

 he-responded in an address reviewing the posi- 

 tion of the South. He said : " The time for 

 compromise has now passed, and the South is 

 determined to maintain her position, and make 

 all who oppose her smell Southern powder and 

 feel Southern steel if coercion is persisted in. 

 He had no doubts as to the result. He said 

 we will maintain our rights and government at 

 all hazard-;. We ask nothing,- we want nothing ; 

 . we will have no complications. If the other 

 States join our Confederation they can freely 

 come in on our terms. Our separation from the 

 old Union is now complete. Xo compromise, 

 no reconstruction is now to be entertained." 



After reaching the Exchange Hotel he again 

 addressed the crowd from the balcony as fol- 

 lows : ' Fellow-citizens and brethren of the 

 Confederated States of America for now we 

 are brethren, not in name merely, but in fact 

 men of one flesh, one bone, one interest, one 

 purpose, tf identity of domestic institutions 

 we have henceforth, I trust, a prospect of living 

 together in peace, with our institutions subject 

 to protection, and not to defamation. It may 

 be that our career will be ushered in in the 

 midst of a storm ; it may be that, as this morn- 

 ing opened with clouds, rain, and mist, we shall 

 have to encounter inconveniences at the begin- 

 ning ; but, as the sun rose and lifted the mist, 

 it dispersed the clouds and left us the pure sun- 

 light of heaven. So will progress the Southern 

 Confederacy, and carry us safe into the harbor 

 of constitutional liberty and political equality. 

 We shall fear nothing, because of homogeneity 

 at home and nothing abroad to awe us ; be- 

 cause, if war should come, if we must again 

 baptize in blood the principles for which our 

 fathers bled in the Revolution, we shall show 

 that we are not degenerate sons, but will re- 

 deem the pledges they gave, preserve the 

 rights they transmitted to us, and prove that 

 Southern valor still shines as bright as in 1776, 

 in 1812, and in every other conflict." 



In concluding his speech, Mr. Davis said : 

 " I thank you, my friends, for the kind mani- 

 festations of favor and approbation you ex- 

 hibit on this occasion. Throughout my entire 

 progress to this city I have received the same 

 flattering demonstrations of support. I did not 

 regard them as personal to myself, but tendered 

 to me as the humble representative of the prin- 

 ciples and policy of the Confederate States. I 

 will devote to the duties of the high office to 

 which I have been called all I have of heart, 

 of head, and of hand. If, in the progress of 

 events, it shall become necessary that my ser- 

 vices be needed in another position if, to be 



plain, necessity require that I shall again enter 

 the ranks of soldiers I hope you will welcome 

 me there. And now, my friends, again thank- 

 ing you for this manifestation of your approba- 

 tion, allow me to bid you good night." 



The inauguration took place at Montgomery, 

 on the 18th of February. The hill on which 

 the Capitol is situated, was crowded with the 

 wealth and beauty, the soldiers and citizens 

 from the different States. In the evening the 

 city was gorgeously illuminated. The Presi- 

 dent held a levee at Estelle Hall bands of music 

 played, fireworks were displayed, and a grand 

 and general demonstration was made. (For 

 Inaugural Address see PCBLIC DOCUMENTS.) 



The cabinet officers of this new Government 

 were as follows : Secretary of State, Robert 

 Toombs ; Secretary of the Treasury, Chas. G. 

 Memminger ; Secretary of War, L. Pope Walker. 

 Mr. Stephens appeared in Congress and took 

 the oath of office and entered upon his duties. 

 (See CONGRESS, CONFEDERATE.) 



Several new questions now arose for imme- 

 diate decision. All the other States of the 

 Union were to the new Confederacy parts of a 

 foreign country. Goods from those States 

 were required to enter at the custom-honses 

 of the Confederacy, and all vessels bound to 

 foreign ports received a clearance in the name 

 of the Confederate States. 



The months of the Mississippi River being 

 in the State of Louisiana, that State, upon her 

 secession from the Union, undertook to collect 

 the duties upon the foreign goods imported, and 

 to appropriate them to her own use. These 

 goods, when destined to ports up the Mississippi 

 or Ohio, within the United States, became sub- 

 ject to the duties imposed by the tariff of the 

 Union. How should this difficulty be adjusted ? 

 The Convention of Louisiana passed a resolution 

 pledging the faith of the State to preserve the 

 navigation of the Mississippi free. But this 

 proposition looked to the future, and never 

 was of any benefit. The prospect of a close 

 shutting up of the mouths of the Mississippi 

 to the trade of the Western States, was the 

 most alarming apd irritating event which could 

 be presented to the minds of their citizens. It 

 was equally alarming to see that outlet in the 

 possession of a foreign power. Even Kentucky 

 could not retain her calmness under such an 

 anticipation. This was her language : " No 

 doubt, when the Cotton States Government 

 shall go into full operation, the revenue laws 

 of Louisiana, so far as the exaction of duties is 

 concerned, will be substituted by the revenue 

 laws of that Government, and we greatly fear 

 that, unless the favorite old Southern theory of 

 free trade shall prevail, the Government will 

 exact, as Louisiana now does, duties on goods 

 passing up the Mississippi for States out of the 

 Southern Confederacy. It is in vain for any 

 man to attempt to disguise or conceal the fact 

 that, unless the Southern States that have suf- 

 fered themselves to be precipitated into revolu- 

 tion can be won back, the most dreadful of all 



