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THE WILMINGTON JOURNAL. E.VGKLHARD & PRICE, Proprietors, To whom all Letters on Business must be addressed.' " ' "TERMS "OP ADVEltTlSUrO." : ' - i ' ' , J 1 square, of 10 linef or less, for each and orery inser tion, $1. , Special Notices will bo charged $2 00 per square for each and every insertion. t , t j All Obituaries and private publications of every char a c tar, are charged as advertisements. . No advertisement, reflecting upon private charac ter, can, under ast ctbcttmstanctcs, bo admitted. Terms of Subscription. tt'eeklv Taper, one year, invariably in advance, $3 00 "Do. Six months, " " " 2 00 I tail v Taper, one vear, invariably in advance, $10 00 six months. " " 5 00 " three months, " " 3 00 one month, " " 1 00 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-