The Sun.
London, England, 1863-12-08 00:00:00

THE SOUTHERN PRESIDENT.

Mr. Jefferson Davis struck me as looking older
than I expected. He is only fifty-six, but his face
is emaciated, and much wrinkled. He is nearly six
feet high, but is extremely thin, and stoops a little.
His features are good, especially his eye, which is
very bright, and full of life and humour. I was
afterwards told he had lost the sight of his left eye
from a recent illness. He wore a linen coat and grey
trousers, and he looked what he evidently is, a well-
bred gentleman. Nothing can exceed the charm of
his manner, which is simple, easy, and most fasci-
nating. He conversed with me for a long time, and
agreed withßenj amin that the Yankees did not intend
going to war with England if she recognised the
South ; and he said that, when the inevitable smash
came—and that separation was an accomplished
fact—the State of Maine would probably try to join
Canada, as most of the intelligent people in that
State have a horror of being " under the thumb of
Massachusetts." He added, the Maine was inha-
bited by a hardy, thrifty, seafaring population, with
different ideas to the people in the other New
England states. When I spoke to him of the
wretched scenes I had witnessed in his own State
(Mississippi), and of the miserable, almost despe-
rate, situation in which I had found so many unfor-
tunate women, who had been left behind by their
male relations ; and when I alluded in admiration to
the quiet, calm, uncomplaining manner in which they
bore their sufferings and grief, he said, with much
feeling, that he always considered silent despair the
most painful description of misery to witness, in
the same way that he thought mute insanity was
the most awful form of madness. He spoke to me
of Grenfell, who, he said, seemed to be serving the
Confederacy in a disinterested and loyal manner.
He had heard much of his gallantry and good ser-
vices, and he was sorry when I told him of Oren-
fell's quarrel with the civil power. He confirmed
the truth of my remark, that a Confederate general
is either considered an Admirable Crichton by the
soldiers, or else abused as everything bad; and he
added, the misfortune was, that it is absolutely ne-
cessary, in order to insure success, that a general
must obtain and preserve this popularity and influ-
ence with his men, who were, however, generally
very willing to accord their confidence to any officer
deserving of it. With regard to the black flag-
and-no-quarter agitation, he said people would talk
a great deal, and even go into action determined to
give no quarter; " but," he added, " I have yet to
hear of Confederate soldiers putting men to death
who have thrown down their arms and held up
their hands." He told me that Lord Russell con-
fessed that the impartial carrying out of the neu-
trality laws had pressed hard upon the South ; and
Mr. Davis asserted that the pressure might have
been equalised, and yet retained its impartiality, if
Great Britain, instead of closing her ports, had
opened them to the prizes of bath parties; but I
answered that perhaps this might be over-doing it
a little on the other side. When I took my leave
about 9 o'clock, the President asked me to call upon
him again. I don't think it is possible for anyone
to have an interview with him without going away
most favourably impressed by his agreeable unas-
suming manners, and by the charm of his conversa-
tion.—Colonel Fremantle s Three Months in the
Southern States.