The President at the South.
--
President Davis arrived at
Selma, Ala., on the 17th inst. The
Selma (Ala.) Dispatch gives some notes of his trip:
His personal suite consisted of
Curtis Lee, son of
Gen. Lee, and
Col. Johnston, son of the lamented
Albert Sidney Johnston.
He was met at the steamer's wharf by
Mayor Keith, of our city, and rode in a carriage with the former to the
Gee House.
Upon arriving there he was shown into the parlor, where he was visited and conversed with by a large number of officers and civilians, besides several ladies, who also tendered their congratulations.
Amongst the latter was a venerable lady, the mother of
Hon. C. J. McRae, now our most important agent in
Europe, who had been an old neighbor and friend of the
President.
Their meeting, we learn, was a most affecting one, and the changed and sad situation of the present, as contrasted with the past, keenly felt and expressed by both.
After a short time spent in the reception of his visitors, the
President was urged to speak to the people, which he did from the front door of the hotel, in some brief remarks, occupying him scarcely ten minutes. The President very firmly endorsed
General Bragg, and declared, with
Longstreet, the gallant, to attack; with the chivalrous
Wheeler, and other subalterns, to assist, and the brave and able
Braxton Bragg to devise, the country could look for nothing but success.
He spoke highly of
Alabama and her troops, saying he had been shown a battle worn flag, belonging to the
State, which had been carried through the bloody fights in
Tennessee until pierced by more than fifty of the enemy's ballets; and that its gallant bearer he had just promoted for his heroic conduct.
He also spoke of the necessity of strengthening our armies from the large number of home reserves, and mentioned the present jaded condition of
Wheeler's cavalry in
Tennessee and the want of mounted infantry to relieve, to some extent, their great labors.
The President closed amid much applause, and shortly afterward proceeded to the depot, where he took the train for
Meridian, Miss.
A lady here, intent on seeing the
President, awaited his arrival most anxiously at the depot, and, upon seeing him, rushed frantically to where he was, exclaiming in pathetic accents, "Oh,
Mr. President, will you let the
Yankees come to
Selma?" "I assure you, my dear madam, they shall not," replied the dignified
Mr. Davis, and there upon the overjoyed fair one smacked his lips.
No dainty "bus" it was, either, but a regular "sockdologer," that sounded like the report of a small pistol.
