Daily union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1865-1866, 1866-06-30
Ininn and american.
sATIRn.Y. 1--WE 30. IseG.
JEFFERSON DAVIS IN PRISON
Additional Extracts from DR. CraVen's
Book
Conversations, Opinions and SeBii.
meutS.

Conversations, Opinions and senfi.
ments.
June Twisted Mr.. DAVIS with Capt.
KoRTE, officer Of the day. General MILES,
learning that the pacing Of the two sentinels
in his room at night disturbed Mr.. DAVIS
and prevented his sleeping, gave orders that
the men should stand at ease during their
two hosrs of guard, both night and day, in
stead Of pacing their accustomed beat This
Mr.. DAVIS SAID l0as much pleasqnter for him,
but cruel for he men obliged 10 stand so long IN
one position, as II they had been bronze or mar
bic statues Feared, as it has cost them suf-
fering, il would make them hate him more,
as the cause-though innocent-of their in
convenient attitude; and there were plenty
of men wearing uniforms of that color who
hated him more than enough already.
From this point Mr.. DAVIS glided off to
some considerations of statuary, commenting
on the growing taste for representing ami
mails, birds and men in painful or impossible
attitudes in the bdssO retieuOs, bronzes and
other modern scul pture Stricken deer con-
.torted by death-wounds; horses With sides
laceratcd by the claws Of a clinging tiger /;
partridge, or other birds, choking in snares
or pierced with arrows; dying Indians,
wounded gladiators, dying soldiers-pain or
death in every variety Of grade, seemed 10
form the present staples for popular bronze
and Parian ornament Our sculptors made
their horses stand eternally with fore paws
poised in air in an attitude only possible for
moment 20 the living animal. Such works
were not pleasing, bat the reverse. They
fretted the sensibilities with petty pain, and
lacked the repose which should form the
chief charm of sculpture.
The groups Of the LAGOON and Dying
Gladiator were the only eminent works of
antiquity of which he had heard or seen
cast, Of which pain or horror had been the
elements depicted; and in these the treat
ment had been so overwhelmingly grand as
10 numb the senses Of suffering by the splen-
dor of their beauty, For modern sculpture,
however-the statuary designed for parior
Ornaments-he wished 10 see more pleasant
themes. The agony of a wounded deer or
bird could have nothing to recommend il,
bat the fidelity Of imitation with which the
agony was portrayed; while i'm the LAGOON
there was the titanic struggle of the father
30 free his children from the coils of the
serpent, and behind the Dying Gladiator
rose up the gazing circles Of the amphithe-
atre-each subject Weakening trains Of
thought and emotion which concealed our
sense Of physical pain, or only allowed it 10
obtrude a a sort of undertone, or diapasOn,
10 the awful beauty Of the picture.
Mr.. DAVIS, on this subject was really elo-
quent, showing a keen appreciation Of art
and ! only regret that my notes report him
30 imperfecuy. IL struck nae as a strange
place for such a dissertation, strange man
strangely eircumstanced TO be its author
and a strange incident-two armed soldiers
standing like statues within a CELL TO have
given origin in such a mind to a lecture on
the aesthetics of repose applied TO modern
sculpture.
BENZ. F. BUTLER.
Talking Of Gen. BUTLER, said Mr.. DA-
WIS, with a smile, Richmond owes him
something, if only for giving il the best joke
of the war. He referred TO the Dutch Gap
Canal, considered as a war measure, for as a
commercial one, improvirg the navigation
of the James il was full of advantage Ii
was task imposing great bardships upon
many thousand soldiers, and must have
been inspired by GRANTS similar attempt
TO change the course Of the Mississippi at
Nicksburg. IL successful, the canal only
avoided one battery, Fort Hewlett, which
might have been carried by a resolute effort
nor could any of us understand what ade-
quate object could be gained by il when
completed The James, from Dutch Gap
10 Richmond was too shallow for gunboats
was paved with torpedoes, and obstructed in
every conceivable manner. Besides, the
works at Chapin's and Drury's Bluffs would
still remain.
Commercially, the canal might be of great
value 10 Richmond. The loop of the river
which cut il oh-about seven miles in
length-iormod the shallowest and most in
tricate part of its navigation, from Rockets
20 the sea. BY making lock Of the Dutch
Gap Canal, and throwing a dam across the
river just below the higher lock, the water
mp to Richmond might be permanently
raised two feet and placed beyond tidal in
huence, and thus allowing vessels of ten or
eleven feet draft 10 reach the city in all |
stages of the tide, while at present vessels
drawing even eight or nine feet can only,
with extreme difficulty, be brought up at
high tide. Commercially, the canal ives
good but as a war measure, of no value
HIs VIEWS OF TREASON.
Mr.. DAVIS said il was contrary to reason
and the law of nations 20 treat as a rebel
lion or lawless riot 2 movement which had |
been the deliberate action Of an entire peo-
pie, through their duly organized State gov |
ernments. To talk Of treason in the case
of the South was 10 oppose an arbitrary cpl |
tibet against the authority Of all writer. of |
international law. NATrEI. deduces from
his study of all former precedent-and all
subsequent International iurists have agreed
with him that when a nation separates
into two parts, each claiming independ-
ence, and both or either setting up new
government, their quarrel, should il come
10 trial by arms, or by diplomacy, shall be
regarded and settled precisely rs though il
were a difference between two separate ma
tons which the divided sections &c faoiO
have become Each must observe the laws of |
war in the treatment Of captives taken in bat |
tie, aud such negotiationsas may from time to |
time arise, shall be conducted as between |
independent aud sovereign powers Mere |
riots, or conspiracies Of lawleSs objects, in |
which only limited fractions OF people arc |
irrcgularly engaged, may be properly treat |
ed as treason, and punished rs the public |
good may require; bat EDMUND BURKE had |
exhausted argument ON the subject, in his |
memorable phrase applied TO the first Amer |
lean movement; for independence: 81 know |
not how an indictment against a whole peo- /
pie shall be framed"
B,a for NJ LiRcoln'S uaiiracy DEATH Mr. |
Ddris thought. 1isrc could hare been no gucs- /
ZION raised upon he subject That creui-morc |
calamity % The South hdR he North, IA he |
timf aud manner q tis trdRSpu1ng-had IN |
famed popular passions 20 the highes, pitch, |
and made the people Of the section which |
had lost their chief now seek rs an equiva- |
Lent the life Of the chief Of the section con-
quered. This was an impulse Of passion, /
not a conclusion which Judgment or Justice |
could support. Mr.. LINCOLN through his |
entire administration, had Acknowledged the |
South a. a belligerent nationality, exchaug- |
ing prisoners Of war establishing truces, and |
sometimes sending, sometimes receiving, |
propositions for peace On the last Of these |
occasions, accompanied by the chief member |
Of his Cabinet he had personally met the |
Commissioners appointed by the Southern
States 10 negotiate, going half way 10 meet |
ibem, not far from where Mr.. DAVIS now
ai0od; and the negotiations Of Gen. GRANT 1
With Gen. LIKE, just preceding the latier'S !
surrender, most distinctly and clearly point |
ga TO The promise OF general amnesty
ten. GRANT Ia his final letter, expressing |
the hope that, with lEEs surrender, all |
difficulties betueen the sections might be |
aettlad without the loss Of another life" or /
words 70 that effect.
GENERAL GRANT.
To my question what he thought Of Gen |
GRANT Mr.. DAVIS replied that he was a |