Transcriber's note:
Variations in spelling and hyphenation have been made consistent.
THE VICTIM
A Romance of the Real Jefferson Davis
by
THOMAS DIXON
Illustrated by J. N. Marchand
BOOKS BY THOMAS DIXON
The Victim
The Southerner
The Sins of the Father
The Leopard's Spots
The Clansman
The Traitor
The One Woman
Comrades
The Root of Evil
The Life Worth Living
[Illustration: "The man in front gave a short laugh and advanced on the girl" [Page 300]]
THE VICTIM “
_A majestic soul has passed_"--Charles A. Dana
[Illustration: Colophon]
New York and London
D. Appleton and Company
1914
Copyright, 1914, by
Thomas Dixon
All rights reserved, including that of translation into all foreign languages, including the Scandinavian Printed in the United States of America
TO
THE BRAVE WHO DIED
FOR WHAT THEY BELIEVED
TO BE RIGHT
_Fold up the banners! Smelt the guns!
Love rules. Her gentle purpose runs.
A mighty mother turns in tears
The pages of her battle years
Lamenting all her fallen sons!_
THOMPSON
TO THE READER
_In the historical romance which I have woven of the dramatic events of the life of Jefferson Davis I have drawn his real character unobscured by passion or prejudice. Forced by his people to lead their cause, his genius created an engine of war so terrible in its power that through it five million Southerners, without money, without a market, without credit, withstood for four years the shock of twenty million men of their own blood and of equal daring, backed by boundless resources._
_The achievement is without a parallel in history, and adds new glory to the records of our race._
_The scenes have all been drawn from authentic records in my possession. I have not at any point taken a liberty with an essential detail of history._
Thomas Dixon.