EXTRA.
PRESIDENT JEFFERSON DATIS'S INAUGURAL ADDRESS.
Delivered in. Richmond, February 22,1862.
Fellow-Citizens: On this, the birth-day of
ibe n.tn n f st fdtntificd with the establish¬
ment of Amiikan independence, and jbeneath
the morvmrt ejected to comm em orate his
heroic vhluts and those cf his compatriots', we
have ssscmbkcl to usher into existence the per.
manent Government sof the Confederate
States. Through this instrumentality-, under
the favor of Drvire Providence, we hope to
perpetuate tfce principles of our Revolution
ary fatheis. The day, the memory and the
purpose seem fitly associated.
It is with n ir gltd fcelingn ol humility and
pice tl 1 sj ] i}i to take, in the presence of
tit jttjk si o ItJoit high Heaven, the oath
pmcribtd &s a qualification for the exalted
station to which the unanimous voice of the
people las called me. Deeply sensible of all
tiki isin pheo by this manifestation of the
leejh'b ce r tic ti.ee, 1 i m yetmcre profoundly
impuiscd by the vs&t impossibility of the of¬
fice, and fci n.hly ft el my own unworthinesa
In return for their kindness, I can only offer
assurances of the gratitude with which it is
received, and can but pledge a zealous devotion
of evfciy faculty to the service of those who
have, chosen me as their Chief Magistrate.
When & long course of class legislation, di¬
rected not to the general welfare, but to the
Eggi&ndiz»ment ot the Northern section of
the Union, culminated in a warfare on the do
Hiestic institutions ot the Southern States—
vhen the dogmas of a sectional party, sub¬
stituted for the previsions of the constitutional
icmpact, threatened to destroy the sovereign
rights of the States, six oi those States,
withdrawing from the Union, confederated
together, to exercise the right and perform the
duty of instituting a government which would
"better secure the liberties, for the preservation
of which that Union was established.
Whatever of hope some may have entertain¬
ed that a returning sense of justice would rex
move the danger with which our rights were
threatened, and render it possible to preserve
the Union of the Constitution, must have been
dispelled oy tfce malignity and barbarity of
the Northern Stales in the prosecution of the
txisting war. The confidence of the most
hopeful among us must have been destroyed
by the disregard they have recently exhibited
for all the time-honored bulwarks of civil and
religious liberty. Bsstiles filled with prison¬
ers, arrested without civil process, or indict¬
ment duly found; the writ of hateas corpus
suspended by Executive mandate; a State
Legislature controlled by the imprisonment of
members whose avowed principles suggested
to the Federal Executive that there might be
another added to the list of seceded States;
elections held under threats of a military pow¬
er; civil tflkeis, peaceful citizens, and gontle
women in cas ce rated for opinion's sake, pro¬
claimed the incapacity of our late associates
to administer a government as free, liberal
and humane as that established for our com¬
mon use.
For proof of the sincerity of , ur purpose to
maintain our ancient instkwe may
point to the Constitution of tL iAnfederacy
and the laws enacted under it, . well &s to
the fact that through all the necessities of an
unequal struggle, there has been no act on our
part to imp air personal liberty or the freedom
of speech, of thought or of the press.. The
Courts have been open; the judicial functions
fully executed, and every right of the peaceful
citizen maintained as securely as if a war of
invasion had not disturbed the land.
The people of the States cow confede¬
rated bees me convinced that the Govern¬
ment of the United States had fallen into
the hands of a Sectional Majority who would
pervert that most sacred of all trusts to the
£ eetiucticn cf the rights which it was pledged
to prelect. They believed that to remain
longer in the Uricn would subject ibem to a
continuance of a disparaging discrimination,
lubmissicn to which would be inconsistent
with their welfare, and intolerable to a proud
people. They t herefere determined to sever its
bonds, and establish a new Confederacy for
Ihemstlves. [Obe«!s.]
The ixp;riment instituted by our revolu¬
tionary f&ifcus of a voluntary union of sove¬
reign States k r pur posts specified in a solemn
ccmpacf, bsd been perverted by those, who
feeling power ar.d forgetting right, were de¬
termined to respect no law but their own will.
The Government had ceased to answer
the ends for which it was ordained, and
established. To save ourselves from a revolu¬
tion, which iff its silent but rapid progress
was about to place us under the despotism of
numbers, and to preserve in spirit as wall as
in form, a system ol government, we believed
to be peculiarly fitted to our condition and
lull cf promise for mankind, we determined to
make a new association composed of States
homogeneous in interest, in policy and in feel¬
ing. [Cheers.]
True to our traditions of peace and our love
of justice, we sent commissioners to the United.
States lo propose a lair and amicable settle*
ment of all questions of public debt or pro-
pert) which might be in dispute. But the
Government at W ashington denying our right
to seii government, refused even to listen to
any pit-petals ior a peaceful separation.—
Nothing v.&s thin kit to is but to prepare for
war. [Cheers.]
Th# first y ear in our history has been
thes me si eventful in the annals of this
Continent. A new government has been
established, and its mactinery put in
operation, ovtr an area exceeding 700,000
squaie miles. The great principles upon
whkh we have been willing to hazard every
thing that is dear to man, have made con¬
quests for us which could never have been
achieved by the sword. Our Confederacy has
grown from six to thirteen States ; and Mary¬
land, already united to us by hallowed memo¬
ries, ana material interests, will, I believe,
when able to speak with unstifled voice, con¬
nect her destiny with the South. [Great
applause.] Our people have rallied with
unexampled unanimity to the support of
the gieat principles of Constitutional gov¬
ernment, wilh firm resolve to perpetuate
by arms the rights which they could not
peacefully secure. A million of men, it is
estimated, are now standing in hostile array,
ana waging war aloDg a iiontier of thousands
of miks ; battles have been fought; seiges
have been conducted, and although the contest
is not ended, and the tide for the moment is
against us, the final result in our favor is not
doubtful.
The period is near at hand when our foes
must sink under the immense load of debt
which they have incurred ; a debt which in
their effort to subjugate us has already at¬
tained such tearful dimensions as will subject
them to burthens which must continue to op¬
press them ior generations to come.
e too have Lad cur trials and difficulties
That we sue to eec&pe ihtaa in future is not to
be hoped. It was to be expected when we
enured upom this war that it would ex¬
pose „our people ( to sacrifices and cost
tfcem much, both of money and bloccL
But we knew the value of the object for which
we struggled, and understood the nature of
the war in which we were engaged. Nothing
could be so bad as failure, and any sacrifice
would be cheap as the price of success in such
a contest. [Cheers.]
But ih© picture has its lights as well as its
shadows. This great strife has awakened in
the people the highest emotions and qualities
of the human soul. It is cultivating feelings
of patriotism, virtue and courage. Instances
of self-sacrifice, and of generous devotion to
the no'blo cpse for which we are contending,
are rife throughout the land. Never has a
people evinced a more determined spirit than
that now animating men, women and children
in every part of our country. Upon the first
call the men fly to arms; and wives and
mothers send their husbands and sons to bat¬
tle without & murmur of regret.
It was, perhaps, in the ordination of Provi¬
dence that we were to be taught the value of
our liberties by the price which we pay fcr
them.
The recollections of this great contest with
all its ccmmon traditions of glory, of sacrifice,
and of "fclocd will be the bond of harmony and
enduring t flection amongst the people, produ-
cii g unity in policy, fraternity in sentiment
and j )int effort in war.
Nor have tie material sacrifices of the past
year been made without some corresponding
benefits. If the acquiescence of foreign na¬
tions in a pretended blockade has deprived us
of our eeranaerce with them, it is fast making
us a self supporting and an independeut peo¬
ple. The blockade, if effectual and permanent,
could only serve to divert our industry from
the production of articles for export, and em*
ploy it in supplying cbinmodities for domestic
use.
It is a satisfaction that we have maintained
the war by our unaided exertions. We have
neither asked nor received assistance from any
quarter. Yet the interest involved is not
wholly our own. The world at large is con¬
cerned in opening our markets to its commerce.
When the independence of the Confederate
States is recognized by the nations of the
earth, and we are free to follow our interests
and inclinations by cultivating foreign trade,
the Southern States will offer to manufacturing
nations the most favorable markets which ev
er invited their commerce. Cotton, sugar,
rice, tobacco,provisions,timber and naval stores
will furnish attractive exchanges. Nor would
the constancy of these supplies be likely to be
disturbed by war. Our Confederate strength
will be too great to tempt aggression, and
never was there a people whose interests and
principles committed them so fully to a peace*
ful policy aa those of the Confederate States.
By the character of their productions they are
too deeply interested in foreign commerce
wantonly to disturb it. War of conquest they
cannot wage, because the Constitution of their
Confederacy admits of no coerced association.
Civil war there cannot be between States held
together by their volition only. This rule of
voluntary association, which cannot fail to be
conservative, by securing just and impartial
government at home, does not diminish the
security of the obligations by which the Con¬
federate States may be bound to foreign na¬
tions. In proof of this it is to be remembered,
that at the first moment cf asserting their right
of secession, these States proposed a settlement
on the basis of a ccmmon liability for the obli¬
gations of the General Government.
Fellow-Citizens: After the struggles of ages
had consecrated the right of the Englishman to
Constitutional Representative Government, our
colonial ancestors were forced to vindicate that
birthright by an appeal to arms. Success
crow ned their efforts, and they provided for
their posterity, a peaceful remedy against ^fu¬
ture aggression
The tyranny of as unbridled msjority, the
most odious, and least responsible form of des¬
potism has denied us both the right and the
remedy. Therefore, we are in arms to renew
such sacrifices as cur fathers made to the holy
cause of Constitutional liberty. At the darkest
hour of our struggle the Provisional gives
place to the Permanent Government. After a
series of successes and victories,which covered
our arms with glory, we have recently met
with serious disasters. But in the heart of a
people resolved to be free, these disasters tend
but to stimulate to increased resistance.
To show ourselves worthy of the inherit*
ance bequeathed to us by the patriots of the
Revolution, we must emulate that heroic devo¬
tion which made reverse to them but the cru¬
cible in which their patriotism was refined.—
[Applause.]
With confidence in the wisdom and virtue
of those who will share with me the respon¬
sibility, and aid me in the conduct of public
affairs ; securely relying on the patrotism and
courage of the people, of which the present
war has furnished so many examples, I deeply
feel^the weight of the responsibilities I now,
with unaffected diffidence, am about to assume;
and fully realizing the inadequacy of human
power to guide and to sustain, my hope is re¬
verently fixed on Him whose favor is ever
vouchsafed to the cause which is just. With
humble gratitude and adoration, acknowledg¬
ing the Providence which has so visibly pro¬
tected the Confederacy during its brief, bup
eventful career, to Thee, Oh God ! I trusting¬
ly commit myself, and prayerfully invoke Thy
blessing on my country and its cause,
[Continued and enthusiastic cheering ]
Evacuation of Na»!iviIIe,
Augusta, Feb. 22 —Private dispatches re¬
ceded hire from Chattanooga state that Fed¬
eral gunboats reached Nashville on Thursday,
Savaknah, Feb. 22—General Walker has
received despatches which state the Confede¬
rates have evacuated Nash villa