serious  character  of  the  contest  between  the  seceding  States  and
the  Union,  is  wholly  untrue.  Mr.  Davis,  more  than  any  man  I
ever  heard  talk  on  the  subject,  had  a  correct  apprehension  of  the
consequences  of  secession  and  of  the  magnitude  of  the  war  to  be
waged  to  coerce  the  seceding  States.  While  at  Montgomery,  he
expressed  the  belief  that  heavy  fighting  must  occur,  and  that  Vir-
ginia was  to  be  the  chief  battle-ground.  Years  prior  to  secession,
in  his  address  before  the  Legislature  and  people  of  Mississippi,
Mr.  Davis  had  earnestly  advised  extensive  preparation  for  the  pos-
sible contingency  of  secession.
"  After  the  formation  of  the  Confederate  States,  he  was  far  in
advance  of  the  Constitutional  Convention  and  the  Provisional  Con-
gress, and,  as  I  believe,  of  any  man  in  it,  in  his  views  of  the  grav-
ity of  the  situation  and  the  probable  extent  and  duration  of  the
war,  and  of  the  provision  which  should  be  made  for  the  defense
of  the  seceding  States.  Before  secession,  Mr.  Davis  thought  war
would  result  from  it ;  and,  after  secession,  he  expressed  the  view
that  the  war  commenced  would  be  an  extensive  one.  What  he
may  have  thought  at  a  later  day  than  the  early  part  of  1862,  I  do
not  know ;  but  it  is  inconceivable  that  the  '  interview '  can  be
correct  as  to  that.
"  The  idea  that  Mr.  Davis  was  so  *  extreme  ?  in  his  views  is  a
new  one.  He  was  extremely  conservative  on  the  subject  of  seces-
sion.
"  The  suggestion  that  Mississippi  would  have  preferred  Gen-
eral Toombs  or  Mr.  Cobb  for  President  has  no  foundation  in  fact.
