[1] Oh! for an hour of Jackson! Oh! for a day of
our dead Dundee!"[2]
[Footnote 1: His words.]
[Footnote 2: His words.]
The face of the speaker glowed, and I shall never forget the flash of
his dark eye, as he uttered the words, "if any thing happened." There
was a whole volume of menace to President Davis in those words.
"But this is useless!" he went on; "Jackson is dead, and there is none
to take his place. So, without leaders, with every sort of
incompetence, with obstinacy and stupidity directing the public
councils, and shaping the acts of the administration, we are gliding
straight into the gulf of destruction."
I could make no reply. The words of this singular man and profound
thinker, affected me dolefully.
"Yes, colonel," he went on, "the three or four months which have passed
since your last visit, have cleared away all mists from _my_ eyes at
least, and put an end to all my dreams--among others, to that project
which I spoke of--the purchase and restoration of the family estate of
Stafford. It will never be restored by me. Like Randolph, I am the last
of my line."
And with eyes full of a profound melancholy, the speaker gazed into the
fire.
"I am passing away with the country," he added. "The cause is going to
fail. I give it three months to end in, and have sent for a prominent
senator, who may be able to do something.
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