ration of the Board. Being excluded
from the terms of amnesty in the proclamation of the United States of
the 29th of May last, and an object of censure to a portion of the
country, I have thought it probable that my occupation of the position
of president might draw upon the college a feeling of hostility, and I
should therefore cause injury to an institution which it would be my
highest object to advance.

I think it the duty of every citizen, in the present condition of the
country, to do all in his power to aid in the restoration of peace and
harmony, and in no way to oppose the policy of the State or general
Government directed to that object. It is particularly incumbent on
those charged with the instruction of the young to set them an example
of submission to authority, and I could not consent to be the cause
of animadversion upon the college. Should you, however, take a
different view, and think that my services, in the position tendered
me by the Board, will be advantageous to the college and the country,
I will yield to your judgment and accept it; otherwise I must most
respectfully decline the offer.

Begging you to express to the Trustees of the college my heartfelt
gratitude for the honor conferred upon me, and requesting you to
accept my cordial thanks for the kind manner in which you have
communicated its decision, I am, gentlemen, your most obedient
servant,

R. E. LEE.

JEFFERSON DAVIS.

~1808=1889.~

JEFFERSON DAVIS, President of the Confederate States, was born in Todd
County, Kentucky, but his father removed to Mississippi soon
afterwards, and he was reared and partly educated in that state. Later
he attended Transylvania University in Kentucky, and in 1824 entered
West Point. He was graduated in 1828 and served seven years in the
army, being stationed in Missouri and Minnesota. On account of
ill-health he resigned in 1835 and travelled, and then settled on his
Mississippi plantation, "Brierfield."

He was elected to Congress in 1845; served in the Mexican War with
great distinction and was injured in eye and limb at the battle of
Buena Vista. He was Secretary of War in President Pierce's cabinet,
and was a Senator when Mississippi seceded from the Union.

He made his farewell to the Senate in January, 1861, and returned home
where he was at once appointed commander of the State troops. But he
had been elected president of the new Confederacy by the Convention a