Wilmington journal., 1866-10-04


Very respectfully.
l.. L. BATES
From the Richmond Times Of Sept. 25
The Interview of Rev. Nh. Kelly OF Peters.
Eur;~, with Fir. Davis.
Mr.. John j.. Kelley of Petersburg. is
publishing i'll the Petersburg haoer the par
ticulars of his recent interview with Mr..
Jefferson Davis. The statement which ap-
ears i'll the Intlec is 50 interesting that we
publish it almost entire
| Well, to return to my theme. and to be-
gin at tho beginning. Mr.. Davis was dress
ed in plain, neat, somewhat worn suit of
black, which hung somewhat loosely on his
person. His dress, frock coat especially,
seemed too large for him. AS he leaned
upon my arm, [ could measure by my own
muscular sense, with tolerable accuracy,
the great decline i'll his phpsjque. All his
senses seemed to be preternaturally acute,
especially his hearing. He has lost the
use of one eye; the other IS quite acute, as
was evinced by this incident: ! was sitting
nearest the door during d very interesting
conversation in which he was more than
usually animated and interesting. \ shadow
seemed to me tobe iustpassingh 10y the door
passingon, hisquick perception ascertained
d,opper. and he motioned us into the case
mate. His whole being, body, soul and
spirit, seemed to me to be like al ideal
sensitive plant. Not only outward things
affect him deeply, but the very aroma of
! thought, as yet unspoken, perhaps scarcely
we'll formed, is felt by him in some appa-
rently mysterious manner. | read in jung
Stilling, many years ago, something about
this, and [ remember something of Mean
der's eXplanation-but it is only the dream
of dream, the shadow of a vanished glory
l will return to this again.
His linen Was white as the driven snow
his neck cloth neatly adjusted-his hands
| faultlessly y neat and his upper beard closely
shaved-but with all this neatness, there was
an air of subdued dignity, of sanity, serene
humility that affected you too deep for tears
There was still n leaven Of the old imperi-
alness in his voice, Il nuance of a tone that
| indicated occasional high temper, and, per
haps, angry words.
| 10 Il suggestion that perhaps the i'll will
manifested towards him by some public
men, might be caused by an unforgiving
spirit on their part, in view of some offence
given by him, he said THAT is quite pro-
bable [ have often been too angry. Though
generally thoughtful and cautious-even
tender to the faiIinGs of others-yet when
they crossed my path in the shape Of pre-
| tence, falsehOOd, craft or cant-then these
faults aroused bitter anger for the moment,
! sOmetinlG3 utter alienation. This was all
| wrong. Oh hey public life blunts our
perceptions as to the higher deiicacies-
! tenderness, forboarance putting the best
construction Oh things, words and persons
they are capable of. | have erred in this
| particular; but mad often great provocation
| -neVer however, have / uttered an angry,
undertaking, or denunciatory sentiment,
without believing l had good cause for so
doing, and, in most cases, my country has
already, or will hereafter find that J was
right. / now feel and acknowledge that [
was sometimes wrong as to the tone Of col
oring Of d p.rast, while under the excite
ment of debate, as for instance when Mr..
Johnson, after the Mexican war, made
some remarks derogatory Of the West Point
officers, thought it strange that any man
of sense should think that the training of
officers for duty, by a thorough military
education, would rather disqualifv them for
| that duty, or what Was the Same thing, that
unframed officers did better than the West
Pointers. In the course Of reply / made
use of this remark Who would select
tailor to shoe horse OF q blacksmith TO
make q coat p This gave personal offence
to Mr. johnson, who regarded it as Il sheer
personality. Nothing Al the world was
further from my thoughts"
10 the query whether he had anything to
complain Of in his present treatment, he re-
piled that he had not. The present COM
mander of the fort was soldier and gen
tleman, who, while diligent and faithful in
the discharge of his duty to his govern
ment, was also forbearing and considerate
as to all the 1ninutiE Of his prison life, and
allowed him al the indulgence he required,
which was simply not to be insulted in the
| intolerable ways and manners he had been
by the creature who used every means to
torment him before The arrival of General
Burton.
| One of us told him that all the officers of
rank in the old army, with whom we had in
any way come il contact, had expressed
the opinion that he ought to have been re-
leased year ago; that some of them thought
that he, as COMMANDMENTS Chief of the Con
lfederacy, was virtually included III the pa
role Of these armies on their surrender,
and ought to have been admitted to parole
at once, but for the malicious assassination
charge, which no one, that knew him, be-
lieved. Mr.. Davis said, st that gratifes me
very much. [ was brought into frequent
contact, both in the Mexican war and as
Secretary of War under President Pierce
with many officers, and did then, and do
now, entertain a high sense of the chival-
ric honor of many of them. The Govern
ment may have been deceived by the testi-
mony which has since turned out to be
sheer perjury, tending to implicate me in
the assassination of President Lincoln; or
it may have been subject to one of those
manias which occasionally, like plaques,
seize Governments and communities; or,
what is most likely, few unprincipled
men, seeing an opportunity, in the excited
condition Of the nation, for obtaining
wealth and position, through the instru-
mentality of villains, suborned for the pur-
pose, really did impose upon the Govern
lment, and led them to believe for q mo,