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VOL. 22.
WILMINGTON, N. CM TlflJRSDAT .MOENING, JUNE 28, 1866.
NO. 21.
9
1 ' ' 1 ' 1 .
JEFFERSON DAVIS IN FRIS0N.
Semes and Incidents of tlie L.ife of tlie Ex-Con
federate President in tlie Casemate at Fortress
Monroe Extract from the Diary of tlxe Post
Surgeon Tlie Torture of the Prisoner Opinions
ff the Confedersite Leader in Social and Politi
cal A flfairs Inside History of the Confederacy
Comments on the Military Policy of the North
and the South AVho were the Great Generals
From the New York World of Saturday 10th.
( ntitt tied from lost Thursday's Journal.
JrsE 1. Called with Captain Korte, officer of
the dav. about noon. Had been sent for at eight
1. M.,but was away fishing.
Ue asked me what luck fishing, and appeared
in better spirits than usual.
Had just heard, ho said, through an irregular
hanuel, that he had been indicted with Mr. Breck
inridge in the District of Colnmbia, and hoped
therefore that lie was about to have a constitution
al trial not one by military commission, to which
he would not have pleaded, regarding it as a fore
gone murder. The news had reached him through
tlie conversation of some soldiers in the guard -room,
who sometimes spoke to each other in loud
tones what they wished him to overhear. It was
probably in no friendly spirit they had given him
this news ; hut to him it was as welcome as air to
Ihe drowning.
Tie then referred to the severity of his treat-
liient, supposing himself at present to bo merely
held for trial, and not already undergoing arbi
trary punishment. As this conversation was a
ery important one, I took full note of it almost
immediau-ly on (putting his cell, and it is now
iven in very nearly, if not precisely, his own
words :
"Humanity supposes every man innocent,"
urged Mr. Davis, "until the reverse shall be pro
M ii ; and the laws guarantee certain privileges to
persons held for trial. To hold me here for trial,
,.'' oil the rignrs f a condemned convict is not war-rtin-l
hif bur is re rotting to the spirit of justice.
In tin; political history of the world there is no
pjirallel t my treatment. England and the de--potir
governments of Europe have beheaded men
accused of treason ; but even after their conviction
no such efforts as in my case have been made to
degrade them. Apart, however, from my person
al treatment, let us see how this matter stands :
" If the real purpose in the matter be to test the
-inestioTi of secession by trying certain persons
e.miected therewith for treason, from what class
-,r el.isses should the persons so selected be drawn?
" From those who called the State Conventions,
or from those who, in their respective conven
tions, passed the ordinance of secession? Or,
from the authors of the doctrines of State rights ?
Or, from those citizens who, being absent from
their States, were unconnected with the event, but
on its occurrence returned to their homes to share
the fortunes of their States as a duty of primal al
legiance ? Or from those officers of the State,
who, being absent on public service, were called
hme by the ordinance, and returning, joined
their fellow-citizens in State service, and followed
the course due to that relation ?
"To the last class I belong, who am the object
of greatest rigor. Tins can only be explained on
i in: srriosiTioN that ha vino been most iionoeed,
i, Tirnnr.roKE, excite most hevengefel feelings
FOR HOW ELSK CAN IT EE ACCOUNTED FOE ?
" I did not wish for war, but peace. Therefore j
sent Commissioners to negotiate before war com- j
menced. and subsequently strove my uttermost to
soften the rigors of war ; in every pause of conflict
seeking, if possible, to treat for peace. Numbers
of those already practically pardoned are those
who. at the beginning, urged that the black flag
should be hoisted, and the struggle made one of
desperati- n.
" Believing the States to be each sovereign, and
their union v- -luntary, I had learned from the
Fathers of the Constitution that a State could
change its form of government, abolishing all
which had previously existed ; and my only crime
linn been obedience to this conscientious convic
tion. Was not this the universal doctrine of
the dominant Democratic party in the Xorth pre
vious to secession? Did not many of the oppo
nents of that parly, in the same section, share and
avow that faith? They preached, and professed
to believe. We believed, and preached, and prac
ticed. " If this theory be now adjudged erroneous, the
history of the States, from their colonial organiza
tion to the present moment, should be re-written,
and th.e facts suppressed which may mislead oth
ers in a like manner to a like conclusion.
' 'Jint ifuslsnsiose the pvrposeba to teat the ques
:'iih nf aerrssitm Ly i judicial decision, why begin hi
oppressing th: chief subject f the experiment? Why,
m the name of fairness and a decent respect for
the opinions of mankind, deprive him of the
means needful to a preparation of his defence;
and load him witli indignities which must deprive
his mind of its due equilibrium ? It ill comports
irith - lii,titi( ,f ii great tuition f" eriwe fear of
ofVlNO TO A SINCEE CA1TIVE ENEMY ALL THE ALVAN
. A.iF.S l-oSN!-:I.K 1 "o I : AN EXPOSITION OF JIIS SIDE OF
THE orr.Sl Ion. A ofESTION SETTLED I'.Y VIOLENCE,
olt IN DrsKI t ;aKI OF LAW Ml "ST KEMAIN UNSETTLED
I i (P.EVEK.
" relie ing all good government to rest on truth,
it is th" resulting belief that injustice to any indi
vidual is a public injury, which can only find
compensation in the reaction which brings retri
l.utive justice upon tlie oppressors. It has been
the continually growing dangers of the North,
that in attempting lo crush the liberties of my
people, von would raise a Frankenstein of tyrany
that would not down at your bidding. Sydney
and JIussell. and Vane, and Peters suffered ; but
in their death Liberty received blessing their lives
might never have conferred.
"If the doctrine of State Sovereignty be a dan
gerous heresy, the genius of America would indi
cate another remedy than the sacrifice of one of
its believers. WicklitVe died, but Huss took iip
his teachings ; mid when the dust of this martyr
was sprinkled on the Hhine, some essence of it
was infused in the cup which Luther drank.
"The road to grants of power is known and
open ; and thus all questions of reserved rights
on which men of highest distinction may differ,
and have ditfeivd. can be settled by fair adjudica
tion ; and thus only can they be finally at rest."
Mr. Jhiris ib'-.t spake the restrictions placed
'l"u his reading, irh 'c h supposed must soon termi
nate if lie ''.' tn ' pho'fij tri'd. .Hooks would
be indispc usable to preparing his defence, nor
did he see how ho could be denied free intercourse
with counsel.
Books, if he could get them, would be a great j
consolation. True, he had the two best point- t
ing to his Bible and Praver-book, but the mind !
could not keep continually at the height and strain
of earnestness required for their profitable read
ing. That the papf.es and othek px'Tlications
ok the 1V SHOULD EE DENIED HIM, HE COULD UN-!i-USTANl
TIloUOHEVEN THIS WOULD NOT EE 1UOHT
WHEN HE WAS PKEFAEING YOll TEIAL. He WOllld tbcil
le.juiie to know what phase of public, opinion he
addressed: for in all such trials and in this age
of publicity there must be two tribunals, onein--iue,
lut infinitely the vaster one outside the court
room. To old English or other books for his pe
nwd, what obiec-tion could be urged? Such in-
htlgeiicics were given to the worst, criminals be- ;
lore trials; and even after conviction tiie prison
lil-rarics were open for their use. A mind so ac
five as his had been for forty years could not sud- j
h niv bring its machinery to a pause. It must j
eilhi-r have food or prey upon itself, and this was j
his case at present. Exceit for the purpose oi
i'ETXY TOETUIiE TIIEK E COULD BE NO COLOli OF KEA- '
f-ON Ion WITHHOLDING FROM HIM ANY HOOKS OB PA-
'EHS DATED PlUOli TO THE WAR. !
June S. Was called to the prisoner, whom I
had not seen for a week. Entered with Captain '
E. A. Evans, officer of the day. Found Mr. Da- i
via relapsing and very despondent Complained '
again of intolerable pains in his head. Was dis-;
tiacted night and day by the unceasing tread of ;
the two sentinels in his room, and the murmur or
gabble of the guards in the outside cell. He said
his casemate was well formed for a torture-room
of the inquisition. Its arched roof made it a per
fect whispering gallery, in which all sounds were
jumbled and repeated. The torment, of his head
was so dreadful, he feared he must lose his mind.
Already his memory, vision, and hearing, were im
paired. He had but the remains of one eye left,
and the glaring, whitewashed walls were rapidly
destroying this. He pointed to a crevice in the
wall where his bed had been, explaining that he
hai changed to tho other side to avoid its mephit
ic vapors.
Of the trial he had been led to expect, had heard
nothing. This looked as if the indictments were to
be suppressed, and the action of a military com
mission substituted. If so, they might do with
him as they pleased, for he would not plead, but
leave his cause to the justice of the future. As to
taking his life, that would be the greatest boon
they could confer on him, though for the sake of
his family he might regret the manner of its tak
ing. June 10. Mr. Pavis out of sorts, very ill-tempered.
Complained that his clean linen, to be
sent over twice a week by General Miles, had not
been received. General Miles had taken charge of
his clothing, and seemed to think a change of them
twice a ireek enough. It might be so in Massachu
setts. But now even this wretched allowance was
denied. The General might know nothing of the
matter ; but if so, some member of his stall was
negligent. It was pitiful they could not send his
trunks to his cell, but must insist on thus doling
out his clothes, as though he were a convict in
some penitentiary. If the object were to degrade
him, it must fail. None could be degraded by un
merited insult heaped on helplessness but the per
petrators. The dav would come that our people
would be ashamed of his treatment. For himself
the sufferings he was undergoing -would do him
good with his people (the South.) Even those who
had opposed him would be kept silent, if not won
over, by public sympathy. Whatever other opin
ions might be held, it was clear he was selected as
chief victim, bearing the burden of Northern ha
tred, which should be more equally distributed.
Sunday. Julu 11. Was sent for by Mr. Davis
and called in company with Captain R. O. Bickley,
officer of the dav-
Found prisoner very desponding, the failure of
his sight troubling him, and his nights almost with
out sleep. His present treatment was killing him by
inches, and he wished shorter icork could be made of
his torment. He had hoped long since for a trial,
which should be public, and therefore with some
semblance of fairness : but hope deferred was
making his heart sick.
The odious, malignant and absurd insinuation
that he was connected in some manner with the
great crime and folly of Mr. Lincoln's assassina
tion, was his chief personal motive for so earnest
ly desiring an early opportunity of vindication.
But apart from this, as he was evidently made the
representative in whose person the action of the
seceding States was to be argued and decided, lie
yet more strongly desired for this reason to be
heard in beharll of the defeated, but to him still
sacred cause. The defeat he accepted, as a man
has to accept all necessities of accomplished fact ;
but to vindicate the theory and justice of his cause,
showing the authority of the Constitution and the
Fathers of the Country, that his people had only
asserted a right had committed no crime ; this
was the last remaining labor which life could im
pose on him as a public duty. Mr. Davis then
spoke of ex -President Franklin Pierce in terms of
warm admiration, as the public man who had stu
died constitutional law, and the relation of the
States to highest profit, remarking, that if he were
given any choice of counsel, Mr. Pierce would be
one of those whose advice he would think most
reliable. He also spoke of Mr. Charles Eames of
Washington, as a walking encyclopaedia of consti
tutional law, very accurate and ready in his refer
ence to precedents ; adding that he had seen a re
port that Messrs. Eeverdy Johnson of Maryland,
and Charles O'Conner of New York, had professed
their readiness to assume his defence, when ap
proached by some of his friends for that purpose,
for which he felt grateful, both personally and for
his people. His own fate was of no importance
in the matter, save to the government, on which
history would devolve the responsibility for his
treatment. Martyrdom, while representing the
deliberate action of his people, would be immor
tality; but for the sake of justice, not merely to
his own people, but to the whole American peo
ple, whose future liberties were now at stake in his
person, a fair and public trial was now the neces
sity of the situation.
" My people," he added, " attempted what your
people denounced as a revolution. My people
failed ; but your people have suffered a revolution
which must prove disastrous to their liberties un
less promptly remedied by legal decision, in their
efforts to resist the revolution which they charged
my people with contemplating. State sovereign
ty the coiner stone of the Constitution, has be
come a name. There is no longer power, or will,
in any State, or number of States, that would dare
refuse compliance with any tinkle of Mr. Seward's
bell.
Mr. Davis cowplaineil this sleeplessness was aggra
vated by the lamp kejt burning in his room all night,
so that he could be sen at all moments by the guard
in the outer cell. If he happened to dose one feverish
moment, the ?ioise of relieving guard in the next room
aroused him, ana the lamp poured its full glare into
his aching and throbbing eyes. Tliere must be a
change in th is, or he would go crazy, or blind, or
both.
"Doctor," he said, "had you ever the con
ciousness of being watched ? Of having an eye
fixed on you every moment, intently scrutinizing
your most minute actions, and the variations of
your countenance and posture ? The conscious
ness that the Omniscient Eye rests upon us in
every situation, is the most consoling and beauti
ful belief of religion. Bui to have a human eye
riveted on you in every moment of waking, or sleep
ing, sitting, walking, or lying down, is a refinement
of torture on anything the CamancJies or Spanish In
quisition ever dreamed. They, . in their ignorance
of cruel art, only struck at the body ; and the
nerves have a very limited capacity of pain. This
is a maddening, incessant torture of the mind, in-!
creasing with every moment it is endured, and
shaking the reason by its incessant recurrence of
miserable pain. Letting a single drop of water
fall on the head every sixty seconds does not hurt
at first, but its victim dies of raving agony, it is
alleged, if the infliction be continued. The tor
ture of being incessantly watched is, to the mind, what
the water-dropping is to the body, but more effictive,
o.s the mind is more susceptible of pain. The Eye of
Omniscience looks upon us with tenderness and
compassion ; even if conscious of guilt, we have
the comfort of knowing that Eye sees also our re
pentance. But the human eye forever fixed upon
you is the eye of a spj', or enemy, gloating in the
pain and humiliation which itself creates. I have
lived two long in the woods to be ' frightened by
an owl, and have seen death two often to dread
any form of pain. Hut I confess, Doctor, this
torture of being watched begins to pray on my
reason. The lamp burning in my room all night
would seem a torment devised by some one who
had intimate knowledge of my habits, my custom
having been through life never to sleep except in
total darkness."
The conversation, so far as related to its medical
aspect, I deemed it my duty to communicate that
afternoon to Major General Miles, who could not
remove the lamp altogether, but directed that it
should be screened at night, so that no direct and
glaring beams should be thrown into the prison
er's eyes.
July 2Ql7i. Called on Mr. Davis, Captain Korte,
Third Pennsylvania artillery, being officer of the
day, and, of course, my companion. Was request
ed to call by Major General Miles, who had re
ceived report that prisoner was seriously ilL
Found Mr. Davis in a very critical state : his ner
vous debility extreme ; his mint mere despondent tfum, !
ever heretofore ; his appetite gone; complexion livid, '
and pulse denoting deep prostration of all the physical
energies. Was much alarmed aaidrealized with pain,
ful anxiety the responsibilities of my position. -. If he
were to die in prison, and without trial, subject to
such severities as had been inflicted on his attenu
ated frame, the world would form unjust conclu
sions, but conclusions with enough color to pass
the m into history. Ifc seemed to me, let me frank
ly confess, due to the honor of America, and the
future glory of our struggle for national existence,
that this result should not happen.:
Mr. Davis asked me could nothing be done to
better. his condition, or secure him the justice of a
trial before death., The effort of his people to es
tablish a country had failed, and they had no
country now but America It was for the honor
of America, not less than for his own, and for jus
tice to his cause, that he pleaded.
Assured Mr. Davis that no effort of care or such
skill as I possessed should be wanting for his ben
efit. Then commenced . conversation on various
topics, seeking to divert his mind from the afflic
tions preying, on it.
Mr. Davis said when he had last been out on
the ramparts he had met Mr. C,, C. Clay, similarly
walking under guard. Clay was looking wretch
edly, and seeing him made Mr. Davis realize more
acutely his own humiliating position. Men at sea
in a ship never realize how forlorn and frail the ves
sel is theu are on board, until their counterpart in
some closely passing vessel is brought under notice.
Absorbed in exercise and the emotions of the
scene, he had previously failed to realize his situ
ation, with an officer at his side as custodian, and
four bayonets pacing behind him to secure that
he should make no effort to escape. The moment
Mr. Clay passed, his own situation stood revealed;
and nothing but his strong conviction that to re
main in his cell would - be equivalent to suicide,
could induce him to parade again in the same
manner. As he passed Mr. Clay they exchanged
a few words in French, nothing more than the
compliments of the day and an inquiry for each
other's health ; but it seems this had alarmed the
officer, who did not understand the language, Mr.
Clay not being permitted to pass him again, but
being marched off to another part of the ramparts.
Clay was natural'y delicate, of an atrabilious type,
and his appearance denoted that he must be suf
fering severely.
Pteplied that I had been attending Mr. Clay,
and saw nothing in his state to occasion alarm.
He had a tendency to asthma, bnt that was a long
lived disease. Mr. Davis inquired how Clay was
fed. Replied that at first he had received soldier's
rations, but latterly, his condition demanding it,
had been fed from the hospital. Mr. Davis ex
pressed much sympathy for his fellow-sufferer,
begging me to do whatever I professionally could
for his relief, and to hold up his hands. Let me
here remark that, despite a certain exterior cynic-
jsm 01 manner, no patient nas ever crosseu my
path who, suffering so much hinself, appeared to
feel so warmly and tenderly for others. Sickness,
as a general rule, is sadly selfish ; its own pains
and infirmities occupying too much of its thoughts.
With Mr. Davis, however, the rule did not work,
or rather he was an exception calling attention to
its general truth.
Prisoner compbuned bitterly of the restrictions im-
posea by uenerai Junes on nts correspondence wim
wife; certain subjects, and those perhaps of most in
terest, being forbidden to both. 1 he convicts m State
prisons were auowea this liberty ummpeaea, or only
subject to the supervision of the chaplain whose scru
ting had a religious and kindly character that of
a father confessor. His letters, on the contrary, tad
to be sent open to General Miles, and from
him, he understood, similarly, open t the At
torney-General. hat unbosoming of con
fidence mutual griefs, mutual hopes, the
interchange of tenderest sympathies was possi
ble, or would be delicate under such a system ?
He pictured idle young staff officers here, or yet
more pitiful clerks in the law departments at Wash
ington, grinning over any confessions of pain, or
terms of endearment he might be tempted to use;
and this thought embittered the pleasure such cor
respondence might otherwise have conferred.
The relationship of husband and. wife was the in
ner vestibule of the temple the holy of holies
in poor human life ; and who could expose its
secrets or lay his heart bare on his sleeve, for such
daws to peck at ? Even criminals condemned to
death for heinous crimes, were allowed not only
free correspondence with their wives, but inter
views at which no jailor stood within earshot.
What possible public danger could there be from
allowing such letters to pass without scrutiny ?
Time ; will set all these petty tyrannies in. weir true
ligltt. He that first pleadeth his own cause seems
justified ; but his neighbor cometh and searcheth
him. If the privilege were ever abused ; if any
thing he wrote to his wife were published to the
detriment of the government, or tending to dis
turb the peace, what easier than to say : " This
privilege has been abused and must cease. "
August li. Had been absent in Baltimore on
official business some few days, during which Mr.
Davis sent for me. Called with Captain Evans,
officer of the day, and explained my absence. A
pustule, somewhat malignant in character, was
forming on the prisoner's face, which was much
inflamed and swollen. He reiterated belief that
the casemate was full of malaria poison, caused
by the rising and falling of the tide hi Hie ditch out
side (as previously explained), tn I wished the Wash
ington people would take quicker means of dispatch
ing him, if his death without trial .wqs. ?their object.
That it was so he was led to suspect, for a trial
must develope many things not pleasant to thoee;
in power. In particular it would place the respon
sibilty for the non-exchange of prisoners where ii
belonged.
Called the same evening. Prisoner in a high
fever, the swelling of his face spreading to , his
back and head, with indications of latent rysiper.
las. Mr. Davis wished he con Id -have -with him
his faithful servant Robert, who, though a slave, ,
had a moral nobility deserving honor. The ne1
groes had excellent' traits of character, but re
quired, for their own sakes, guidance and control
They were docile, as a general rule, easily embued
with religious sentiment, quick in sympathies,
and of warni' family affection. Their passions,
however, were intense and uncontrollable. Slavery
had been blamed for their incontinuance, but this
was unjust Wer-a.the .free blacks any less libid
inous? The Southern slaves were incomparably
more chaste, or less unchaste, than people of the
same race in the North. Slavery was a restraint
upon promiscuous intercourse, and for commercial
reasons, if for none higher. The negroes were
improvident to a degree that must reduce them
to destitution it not carea lor. iney;iiaa to De
provided with fresh seeds for their little garden
patches every year, no remonstrances sufficing to
make them provide one season for the wants of
the next. It was in their affection's .they were
strong, and many of them had excellent traits.
His man Robert was the best and most faithful of
his race,' and had attended him through many se
rious illnesses. Was with his wife on board the
Clyde, but might possibly have deserted the fink
ing ship by this time. Did not think ''he would,
though others with greater claims to keep them'
faithful were among his enemies.
August 16. Called with Captain Gressrn, Aide-de-Camp
of Gen. Miles, officer of the day. Prison
er suffering severely, but in a less critical state, the
erysipelas now showing itaelf in his nose and fore
head. Found that a carbuncle was forming on his
left thigh, Mr. Davia urging this as a proof of a
malarial atmosphere in his cell, reiterating his-'wish
that, if the Government wanted ' to be ind ofliim wih-
qui irxair u migru laice some quvctcer process
Prisoner said he had never held much hoie for
himself since entering Fortress Monroe, and ws
now losing it for his people. The action and tone
in rocrnrA tn the Richmond filectichs. crave evi-1
dence that the policy of " woe to the conquered
vvou-iu. prevail. vv liiu a cruei iarue it wtu iv per- , ovamjj. mo cdumucvu va uo svac uiui, c
mitan exercise of the elective franchise;1 th a ; all other faien; lie IvadeoonYmrtted but stretched
proviso that the electors must Cast their ballots jaow on a?;be4, ro iTfHcfc iie jaigM. njeterjise,
for men they espiBe or hgtei J Either all prJjnd.lopg:yfl. eyes o fth hicfe no wjOIi
- j . i ., r . : r.; . ' ; ,
.government
'should be abandoned, or free ' acceptance given ib
the men endorsed byihe people,-, To ask men who
had fought, sacrificed, n.d lost their all for a cause,
to wheel suddenly, .and vote into power men they
despised ' as renegades'' br'cowards, was the sin'of
attempting" to" seethe the Md in itg mother's milk;
Better for the South.: to remain disfranchised for
ever, than , crawl back into office r ; recognition
through such incredible apostacy. ' Better remain
prisoners, than be: citizens on such terms. In no
district of Virginia could What we called a " loy
alist," muster a corporal's guard, of mev. with sim
ilar sentiments. Why organize Tiypociisy by at
tempting to force into elective positions men who
were, not representatives :of-.. their alleged constitu
entsmen who could only excite the abhorrence
j, or contempt of ninety-nine , in every hundred of
me peopie r .earner me oontn snomu De declared
so many conquered provinces under military' rule,
or given back the freedom of the ballot.
To, offer bribes f oft wholesale falshoodi would be
found poor policy ; and the men hereafter to cre
ate trouble in the South, would not be the gallant
and well-born gentlemen who fought loyally, and j
at every sacrifice of life and property for n cause
they believed right, but tliat small scum of pol
troons and renegades who remained " neutral "
through the.cbntest, only anxious to avoid danger
for themselves; and jump over to the side that won.
The former class accepted defeat, and would loyally
preserve anyooiigations tnat might be imposed on
them. The latter were worthless and pitiful intrigu
ers, commanding no popular confidence, chastened
by no memories of the struggle ; and now that no per
sonal risk could be incurred, would seek to obtairr
popularity the popularity of demagogues by re
fanning ' into flame the passions and prejudices of
the ignorant and vulgar. .They will.be, clamorous
for Southern rights, now that Southern rights, are
dead, and out-Herod ilerod in their professed de
votion to the Southern cause. '
August 20. Called with Captain Evans, officer
of the day.,, Mr. Davis suffering great prostration,
a cloud oi erysipelas covering his whole face and
throat. Tlie carbuncle much inflamed. Spirits
exceedingly dejected, evinced by anxiety for , his
wife and children. That he should die without
opportunity of rebutting in public trial the impu
ted stigma of having had share in the conspiracy
to assassinate Mr. Lincoln, was referred :to fre
quently and painfully. That history would ! do
him justice, and the criminal absurdity of ,the
charge be its own refutation, he had cheerful con
fidence while in health ; but in his feebleness and
depondency, with knowledge how powerful they
were who wished to affix this stain, his alarm, lest
it might become a reproach to his children, grew
an increasing. shadow. .
Of Mr. Lincoln he then spoke, not in affected
terms of regard or admiration, but paying a sim
ple and sincere tribute to his goodness of charac
ter, honesty of purpose, and Christian desire to be
faithful to his duties according: to such lierht as
was given him. Also to his official purity and
freedom from avarice. The Southern press la
bored in the early part of the war to render Mr.
Lincoln abhorred and contemptible, but such ef
forts were against his judgment, and met such op
position as his multiplied cares and labors would
permit. Behind Mr. Lincoln,' (luring his first
term, stood an infinitely more objectionable and
less scrupulous successor (Mr. Hamlin ;) and the
blow that struck down the President of the United
States would place that successor in power. WThen
Mr. Lincoln was reinaugurated the cause of his
people wras hopeless, or very nearly so the strug
gle only justifiable in continuance by its better at
titude for obtaining terms ; and from no ruler the
United States could have, might "terms so gener
ous have been expected. Mr. Lincoln was kind
of heart, naturally longing for the glory and re
pose of a second term to be spent in peace. Mr.
Johnson, being from the South, dare not offer
such liberal treatment ; his motives would be im
pugned. '
In every embittered national struggle, proposals
to assassinate the rival representatives were com
mon, eminating from different classes of men with
different motives ; but spies of the enemy, wish
ing to obtain evidence how such proposals would
be received ; from fanatics, religious or patriotic,
believing the act Would prove acceptable to Hea
ven;; from lunatics, driven mad by sufferings con
nected with the struggle ; and from boastful and
often cowardly desperadoes, seeking- gold and no
toriety by attempting, or promising to attempt,
the crime. At the time it occurred, Mr. Lincoln's
death,: even by natural causes, would have been a
serious injury to the prospects of the South ; but
the manner of his taking-off, frenzing the Northern
mind, was the last crowning calamity of a des
pairing and defeated, though righteous cause.
August 23. Called with Captain Evans, Third
Pennsylvania Artillery, officer of the day. Prison
er a little improved, febrile symptoms subsiding.
Had no appetite for ordinary food, but found'the
coolness and moisture oi fruits agreeable. Said he
had concluded not to lose any. more spoons for
me, but would retain the one that morning sent
with his breakfast. Unless things took a change,
lie would not require it long.
. This was. an allusion to the desire some cf the
guard had to secure trophies of anything Mr. Da
vis had' touched. They had carried away hisbrier
wodtt pipeV'ahd from time to time taken five of
the spools' Rent over with hrs meals from my quarters."'-
The meals were sent over bv a bright little
mulatto boy named Joe whp handed, them to the
Sergeant of the guard outside the casemate,, who
passed them through the window to" the Lieuten
ant of the guard in the outer cell, by whom they
were handed to the prisoner through the grated
doors of the inside room, the keys of which were
held by the officer off the day. No knife and fork
being allowed the prisoner, "lest he should com
mit suicide," hi food had to be cut' up before be
ing sent oyer a needless . precaution, it always
seemed to me, and more likely to produce than to
prevent' the act, by continually keeping 'the idea
that it Was expected ; before the prisoner's mind-.
It was in returning the trays from Mr. Davis to my
quarters that the spoons were taken an annoy
ance obviated by his retaining one for use. .This
only changed the form of trophy, however; nap
kins that he had used being the next class of pri
zes seized and sent home to sweethearts; by loyal
warders at the gates. ...... :
Mr. Davis expressed some anxiety as to his pres
ent illness. He was not one of those who, , when
in trduble, wished to die. Great invalids seldom
had this wish, save when protracted sufferings had
weakened the brain. Suicide's Were commonly of
the robuster. class men. who had; never been
brought close to death nor thought about it serl
Oijsly. A good old Bishop once remarked, that
"dying was the last thing a man should think
about," and the mixture of wisdom and quaint bu
rner in the phraze had impressed Mr. Davis.
Even to Christn ns, with the hope of an immortal
future for the soul, thetidea of physical annihila
tion of 'parting forever from, the tenement :of
flesh in which we have had so many joys and sor
rows was one full of awe, if hot terror: ; What it
must be jto.M1 unbeliever, who entertainedLabso
lute an4 jto tal annihilation aa:; to his prospect, he
could not corjeeive.. " Never again to hear of wife
or children to takethe great leap into black Va
cuity, with no hope of meeting in a brighter and
happier lif e, the. loved, ones left behind, the loved
ones gone before ! ., .. ,
He had more reasons than other men, and now
more than ever, to wish for some prolongation of
life, as also to weleome death: His- intolerable suf
ferings and wretched state jargued for the grave as
a place of rest ,Hisv duties to the cause heli&dire
presented, and'bis family, made him long to. be
continued on the foofetool', m whatever pain or
' misery, at least until by -the ordeal of : a trial he
could oonyinphe, world; fc&waa not the -.monster
his enemies, weuld make him appear. . and that no
wilful depWtures friom (the ! fcumanit?es7of war bad.
' tehee or continuing representative
coma Dar. up to tne tnrone ot uivine mercy, it
"was his comfort that no such crimes as men laid to
his eharge reproached him in the whispers of his
conscience. ;
"IThey charge, me with crime. Doctor, but. God
knows my innocence. I endorsed no measure
that was not justified by the laws of war. Failure
is all forms of guilt in one, to men who occupied
my positiop. Shotfld I die, repeat this for the
sake of my people, my dear wife and poor darling
children. Tell the world I only loved America,
and that in following my State I was only 'dairying
out doctrines received from reverenced lips in my
early youth, and adopted by my judgment at; the
convictions of riper years."
Mr. Davis spoke with intense earnestness the
solemnity of a dying man, though not then, in mv
judgment, in any immediate danger. His words.
as quoted were taken down on my return to quar
ters, and are here given for what each reader may
think them worth. Thev certainly impressed me
as sincere, and as if whether true or not. iudsred
by the standard of law the speaker uttered them
in the good faith of a religious man,1 who thought
death might very possibly be near, if not immi
nent and certain. ....
' September 1. Was called at daylight by Captain
Titlow, officer of the day, to see State-prisoner
Davis, who appeared rapidly sinking, and was be
lieved in a critical condition. The carbuncle on
his thigh was much inflamed, his pulse indicating
extreme prostration of the vital forces. Tlie ery
sipelas which had subsided now reappeared, and
the febrile excitement ran very high: Prescribed
such remedies, constitutional and topical, as were
indicated ; but always had much trouble to per
suade him to use the stimulants so urgently need
ed by his condition. Let me here say, however,
that in docility and a strict adherence to whatever
regimen was prescribed, Mr. Davis was the model
patiet of my practice. He seemed to regard the
doctor as captain of the patient's health, and obey
ed every direction, however irksome, disagreeable,
or painful, with military exactness.
Mr. Davis renewed his complaints of the vitia
ted atmosphere of the casemate, declaring it to be
noxious and pestilential from the causes before no
ticed. Mould gathered upon his shoes, showing the
dampness of the place, and no animal life could
prosper in an atmosphere that generated these by
phomycetous fungi. From the rising and falling
of the tides in the loose foundations of the case
mate, mephitic fungi eminated, the spores; of
which, floating in the air, were thrown off in such
quantities, and with such incessant repetitions of
reproduction, as to tnoroughly pervade the at
mosphere, entering the lungs and blood with every
J 3 l - .vr
uicaiu, aiiu reueveiupiug meir poisonous quaui
ties in the citadel of life. Peculiar classes of these
fungi were characteristics of the atmosphere in
which cholera and other forms of plague were
most rankly generated, as had been established by
AT Tfc n r 1 1 i- i ..
me xvev. iur. usoorne, in a long ana interesting
series of experimental researches with the achro
matic microscope during the cholera visitation of
1854 in England. Men in robust health might de
fy these miasmatic influences ; but to him, so phy
sically reduced, the atmosphere that generated
mould found no vital force sufficient to resist its
poisonous inhalation.
Assia-ed Mr. Davis that his opinion on the matter
had for some time been my men, and that on sever
al occasions I had called the attention of Maj. Gen
eral Miles to the subject. Satisfied that the danger
was now serious if he were longer continued in
such an atmosphere, I would make an official re
port on the subject to the General commanding,
recommending a change of quarters. ,
Mr. Davis spoke of the wretchedness of being
constantly watched of feeling that a human eye,
inquisitive and pitiless, was fixed upon all his
movements night and day. This was one of the
torments imposed on Marquis de Lafayette in the
dungeon of Magdeburgh and Olmutz. Indeed,
the parallel between their prison lives, if not in
some other respects, was remarkable. Lafayette
was denied the use of knife or fork, lest he should
commit self-destruction. He was confined in .a
casemate,, or dungeon, of the two most powerful
fortresses of Prussia first, and then Austria.
While in Magdeburgh, he found a friend in the
humane physician, who repeatedly reported that
the4prisoner could not live unless allowed to breathe
purer air than that of his cell ; and on this recom
mendation the Governor at first answering that he
"was not ill enough yet" the illustrious prisonerwas
at length allowed to take the air some times on
foot, at other times in a carriage, but always ac-
compained by an officer with drawn sword, and
two armed guards.
Mr. Da lis then narrated with great spirit and
minuteness, the efforts made by Count Lally-To-lendal,
assisted by Dr. Eric Bolhnan, of Hanover,
and Mr. Huger, of South Carolina, to effect La
fayette's liberation. Mr. Huger was a young gen
tleman of Huguenot extraction ; and Layfaytte,
upon landing near Georgetown, South Carolina,
accompanied by Baron De Kalb, had first been a
guest of Major Huger, the father of his rescuer.
Dr. Bollman's visit to Vienna, where he remained
six
months, lulling suspicion by pretending to
study or practice medicine : his there meeting with
young Huger, and the manner in which the two
cautious, but daring men, mutually discovered to
each other their similarity of object; the code of
signals which they gradually established with the
prisoner and his final rescue for some brief hours
from captivity by their exertions, together with his
re-arrest, and the capture and terrible punishment
inflicted on his rescuers all of these points Mr.
Davis recited with a vividness which made each fea
ture in the successive scenes pass before the men
tal eye as though in the unrolling of a panorama.
Huger and BolJman were heavily ironed ronnd the
neck and chained to the floors of separate dun
geons, in utter darkness. - Once every half hour
the Austrian officer of the day entered, flashed a
dark lantern into their faces to identify them and
see that they still lived, and then carefully exam
ined every link of the chains binding their necks
to the floor and shackling their feet and wrists.
This treatment lasted night and day for six months,
the prisoners being almost skeletons when finally
obtaining their release, which was secured by the
representations of General Washington, tlie powers
ful ad vocacy of Mr. Fox and the Liberals in the Britih
Parliament and the humane sympathy of the Count
Metrouskie, who wielded a powerful influence in the
Austrian court. Layfayette, howeveT, even in his
second imprisonment was never shackeled; and,
though treated with the utmost cruelty, no indig
nities were offered to his person, save that he was
robbed , of his watch and some other trinkets on
being recommitted, reduced to a single suit of
clothes, and stripped of every little comfort that had
been previously allowed him, save such betterments
of food his regulation diet being bread and water1
as were certified by his medical attendant to be
necessary for the support of life.
After quitting prison, proceeded, by invitation
of General Miles, and in company with that offi
cer, to make an inspection of the fort, for the pur
pose of selecting more healthful quarters for the
State prisoner Decided that rooms in second
story of . the south end of Carroll Hall would best
suit a building : long used as officer's quarters,
near the main" sally-port, and in which nearly eve
ry officer of the old army was for some months
quartered after 1 quitting West Point, and before
being assigned to general duty elsewhere. It is a
tradition, in and around Old Point Comfort thai;
botq Grant and onerman occupied in their day
the very chambers selected for the second incar
ceration of Mr. Davis. As with the casemate.
there were to be two rooms used for the prisoner's
confinement. . In . the outer one a lieutenant, and
two soldiers were constantly stationed -on guard,
having a view of the inferior chamber through a
grated door. Opposite this door was a fireplace.
To its right when facing the door; window heavr
Uy grated, and with a sentinel continually on duty
before it, pacing up and down the piazza,. "Oppo-
aiva m winuow B ugor, leuumg lpto me crnuur,
but permanently fastened with heavy- iron clamps.
and in tMs dor.a Bbdiripan
9t fmwnm wataftUy framed by night
l day, ready to report to his officer the first sign of
any attempt on the : prisoner's part to shuffle off
this mortal coil by any act of self-violence. It was
of. this face, with' its unblinking eyes, that Mr.
Dkvis so bitterly complained in after days ; but
this is anticipating. The prisoner, as was said of
Lafayette, is perhaps "not sick enough yet," and
has .to suffer some further weeks of exposure in
his present casemate.
The rooms being selected, General Miles gave
orders to : the Engineer Department for ' their
speedy conversion from quarters to a prison, the
piazza being prolongated and raised by a flight of
stairs, so that access to the ramparts could be had
by Mr. Davis without a decent to the crround-tier.
which invariably caused a' crowd tS collect, with
ite usual unpleasant attendants of staring and
whispering commentaries, ...
Called this dt (Oct. 5) with Cantain TZnrto.
Third Pennsylvania artillery, officer of the day,
'and' found- Mr. Davis already looking much bright
er, exclaiming as I entered, "The world does
move,., after all.". The panel in the side-door
opening on the corridor, in. which a sentry's face
was framed,- gave him some annoydnce, and he re
ferred again to Lafayette in-connection with tho
torture of a human eye constantly riveted on his
movements. If his wish were- to commit suicide,
such a precaution would prove wholly unavailing.
It looked rather asrif the wish were to drive him
to its commission. He then referred to some em
inent. French General, who, while a prisoner in
England, procured and studied anatomical dia
grams .lor the purpose of learning how life could
be most certainly and painlessly lost, or with least
disfigurement. He discovered that precise part
of the breast in which the heart, unprotected by
any rib, lay nearest the surface. Sticking a small
pin through this spot in the diagram, he next ap
plied the diagram to his breast, and marked, by a
puncture, the exact place in which even the slight
wound of a pin-prod would bo fatal. Some timo
after, being transferred to France, and re-incarcerated
for a conspiracy against the life of the
Emperor, he was found dead in his cell the pin
sticking in his heart, and the diagram, which he
had ; never parted with, lying at his feet. This
was an instance of how absurd it was to attempt
preventing suicide by watchfulness. Even before
being allowed knife or fork, there was no moment
in which Mr. Davis could not have thrown down
his burden of life, if wicked enough to have wished
so rushing into the presence of his Creator.
October 13. Called with Captain Theodore Price,
Third Pennsylvania artillery, serving on the staff
oi Major General Miles, officer of tho day. Mr.
Davis in good health, but complained of being
treated as though he were a wild beast on exhibi
tion, not a prisoner of State awaiting trial. La
dies, and other friends of persons in authority at
the fort, were let loose on the ramparts about tlio
hour of his walk, to stare at him as though ho
were the caged monster of some traveling menag
erie. He had endeavored to rebuke this during
his last walk, when he saw a group of ladies wait
ing for his appearance, by turning short round and
re-entering his cell. Dear and valuable as was the
liberty of an hour's exercise in the open air, thero
were prices at which he could not consent to pur
chase it, and this was of the number. His gene
ral treatment Mr. Davis acknowledged to be good,
though there were in it many annoyances of de
tailsuch as the sentry's eye always fastened on
his movements, and the supervision of his corres
pondence with his wife unworthy of any country
aspiring to magnanimity or greatness.
- The change to Carroll Hall had been of tho
greatest benefit to the prisoner's health, the air
being purer as it was loftier, his own room moro
cheerful, and only subject to the drawback that he
had hitman eyes from three directions continually
ficced upon him through tlie grated door entering his
ropmt tlie window opening on the piazza at his left,
and the door opposite the window, with an open panel
fn it, opposite which stood a sentry.
Mr. Davis said it was scandalous that govern
ment should allow General Miles to review his let
ters to his wife. They had to pass through tho
hands of Attorney General Speed, who should bo
a quite competent judge of offensive . matter, or
what was deemed offensive. General Milos had
returned to him several pages' of a letter written
to Mrs. 'Davis, containing only a description of his
new prison, in answer to her enquiries, tho Gen
eral declaring such description to be objectionable,
perhaps suspecting that, if told where he was con
fined, Mrs. Davis would storm tho fort and rescue
him vi et -armis. This was both absurd and cruel
one of ' those acts of petty tyranny which was
without excuse, because without any sufficient ob
ject. In; regard to attempts at escape General
Miles might give himself no uneasiness. Mr. Davis
desired a trial both for himself and cause, and if
all the doors and gates of the fort were thrown open
he would hot leave. If anywhere in the South the
Confederate ' cause yet lived, the thing wonld bo
different ; but as that cause was now wrapped in
thfi shrnnd of a militarv defeat, the onlv dutv left
to him his only remaing object was to vindicate
the action of his people, and his own action as
their representative by a fair and public trial.
Finally, in December, 1865, the jailer in charge
of Mr. Davis was ordered by his employer, Secre
tary Stanton, to interfere with the meals of the
prisoner, and to prevent his physician from con
versing with him.; and upon Dr. Craven's ventu
ring to send to a tailor for a heavy overcoat to
protect the invalid from the increased cold weath
er, this humane Surgeon was "relieved from duty
at the fort."
Great interest is civen, and some relief to this
wretched narrative of petty tyranny and degrading
malignity 1 wreaked upon a captive, by Dr. Cra-
Davis, on all sorts of subjects, political, scientific,
religious, and even artistic.
COXVEBSATION WITH MR. DAVIS.
Speaking of how greatly the powers of the sight
toay be increased by; practice, Mr. Davis upheld
the theory that the brain, too, was alo enlarged
in its capacities, both physically and intellectually
by continual labdT. He pointed to the large brains,
of nearly ail who have been eminent in pursuits
involving mental labor, contending that as the la
bor of the tailor deyelqpes the muscles of the right
thumb and fore-finger, those of the ' d elver the
musclesof thehVg, and so forth, so the increased ex
ercise of the brain increased its size. There was
m . a 1111 1 .1 1
a lault in nis . parallel, ne , jenew, or rauier wnai
appeared to be a fault that we can establish no
analogy between the mental and physical phases
of existence. j Still it was certain that labor en
larged all organs involved in it, so far as we had
means oi judging, .and that wiuie we aid not
know how the brain acted in its reception or emis
sion of ideas whether purely passively, or with
some physical action, however slight we did not
know for sertain that the brains of all great intel
lectual .workers were much larger, on the average,
than were those of men pursuing different call
uxgs. . . , -.
' '-r"'' l 'h 'n i ' "ii'-it .1 ? V t.- '- i. a'
xtemaraea mat wim mese laeas, ue musi iu a.
great extent be a believer in phrenology, to which
he assented, while at the samfe- time 'protesting
against the charlatanisms . which had overlapped,
for selhsh purposes of gam, wnat ox trutn -tnero
was in the science. Before the matter could be
properly tested, the anatomy of the brain should
bo Made ?" speciality, and ntudied with all the as
Rwtanoeoi innumerable subjects for many years.
But the men who now put themselves fotward as
proiessors 01 tne science, nau pruuawj ucvw ereu
the inside of any brain certainly1 not of half a
dozen in their lives. .
, . Beferring to the stories that were probably be
ing circulated about him in the Northern papers,
aha the1 falseness of such stories in general, Mr.
Davis instanced what he called the foul falsehood
hat he had preached and effected tlie repudiation
of the Mississippi, bonds..
"There, is no. truth, in the report," he said.
"jne event referred "to occurred before I had any
connection ' with politics my first entrance into
which was-in 1843' : rior was I at any time a disqi-