As a writer of terse, chaste, vigorous, classic English he had few equals and his reports, letters, messages, proclamations, and last his great book, "The Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government," all show a clearness and beauty of style which proclaim him a cultured and broadly endowed scholar, ripe in experience and knowledge. After the death of Mr. Calhoun he was incomparably the ablest exponent of States' rights, and even during the life time of that great publicist, Mr. Davis shared the labors and responsibilities of leadership with him. Like Mr. Calhoun, Davis gave little evidence of capacity or taste for mere party tactics. His was a broader and more philosophical mind, and the great principles at stake were the questions which entirely absorbed his attention.

His reputation as a soldier gave special weight to his opinion in the Senate on questions relating to the army, and at once he was made chairman of the committee on military affairs. In contrast with Mr. Douglas, he bitterly opposed the Clay compromise of 1850. In 1853 he was induced, after having been offered the position twice, to become Secretary of War under Franklin Pierce.

“Men who are characterized as theorists or abstractionists when entrusted with public office are often the most practical and judicious administrators. It was so with Hamilton in matters of finance, and it was eminently so with Calhoun and Davis, both abstractionists and both by general admission among the most successful administrators that ever presided over the War Department.

The American Cyclopedia says of Mr. Davis: "His administration of the War Department was marked by energy and ability and was highly popular with the army. He proposed or carried into effect the following: A revision of the army regulations; the introduction of camels into America; the introduction of light infantry or rifle tactics; the manufacture of rifled muskets and pistols, and the use of the minie ball; the addition of four regiments to the army; the augmentation of the seacoast and frontier defences, a system of exploration in the Western part of the continent for geographical purposes, and the determination of the best route for a railroad to the Pacific. This railroad he advocated as a military necessity for means of transportation of troops to preserve the Pacific slope as apart of the Union."

President Pierce's Cabinet is remarkable as being the only Cabinet in the history of the country that remained intact throughout the entire Presidential term. Ex-Judge Campbell, of Philadelphia, Postmaster General under Pierce, says: "Jefferson Davis was one of the best educated men whom I ever came in contact with; and Caleb Cushing, who was in the Cabinet with him, was the most highly cultured man of his time."

When Mr. Davis' term of office as Secretary of War expired, in 1857, he was at once returned to the Senate from his State.

On October 10, 1858, introduced by Caleb Cushing, Mr. Davis, in behalf of the Democratic party, addressed an audience in Faneuil Hall, Boston.

In 1860 he introduced his States' Rights Resolutions, which provoked a debate of great bitterness on the part of Mr. Douglas.

Mr. Davis was frequently spoken of for the Presidency, and at the meeting of the Democratic Convention at Charleston, in 1860, he received a large vote for the nomination. Benjamin Butler, of Massachusetts, voting for him on one hundred and eighty-nine ballots. He did not wish the nomination, and so anxious was he for harmony in the Democratic party that he persuaded, by his own personal influence, both Breckinridge and Bell to agree to withdraw from the canvass provided Douglas would do the same.

By this means he hoped to get the three elements to unite on one man, but unfortunately Mr. Douglas refused to withdraw. The four candidates entered the field and Mr. Davis' fears were realized. He then tried to effect a compromise to permit the State to remain in the Union, and as a member of the committee of the Senate to whom was referred the famous Crittenden Compromise, he avowed himself willing to accept that or any other plan that the opposing factions could agree upon. This compromise failed because the Northern Republicans opposed every effort that was made for peace. In speaking of the transactions of Stephen Douglas, he always referred to Jefferson Davis as one who sought means for conciliation. After this failure to agree, Mississippi seceded from the Union. Mr. Davis did not hesitate to obey her mandate or to follow her lead. and on the 21st of January, 1861, he delivered his famous “Farewell to the Senate."