The weekly North-Carolina standard. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 186?-1869, 1866-08-01

liberty to receive any DOCKS or papers tua
ANYBODY chooses to send him, and in peru
sing these, and in conversations with his wifi
and with the numerous visitoas who are CON
stantly calling upon him, he prevents time
from hanging heavily upon his hands. sa
THE CRAVEN BOOK
Although he has never said so IN so many
words, he has said enough to show that the
has read the work with decided Impotence
and indignation He thinks it gross breach
of confidence in the first place, for Dr. Ora
ven to have written any book about him at
all, as all the information he pretends to give
was derived from the confidential and gen.
orally considered sacred relation ofphysician
and patient Having written book, under
these circumstances, Mr.. Davis thinks he was
doubly bound to- adhere strictly to truth
Generally, Mr. Davis denies the accuracy of
every reported conversation in the book, but
as throwing light upon his thoughts and
feelings, l specify a few of the points he
made.
He grew most indignant perhaps over the
fact that Craven puts into his mouth on sew
eral occasions the expression, "Me and my
people," which he says he never used at any
time or upon any occasion, the form of words
used when he had occasion to refer himself
and the Southern people being, "Me and Our
people," In commenting upon this point,
Davis remarked that whatever he might
have been, he had never been egotistical
Mr. Davis repudiates in toto the Craven ac-
count of the manacling scene, including the
mock-heroic speeches Craven represents to
have been made on both sides. His account
10 @hoa ffa f1ot ,xhar, tho H1o Of cO1liorc
entered his room, and the sergeant had sta
ted in few direct words the business upon
which they had come, he Davis quietly and
briefly said that he must resent it to the ex
tent of his power as an insult to I" me and
oar people," With the view only of enter
ing this forcible protest. and with no intent
of engaging in childish struggle with the
soldiers, he struck at the man nearest him,
when the soldiers brought their arms prompt
ly to the position of "charge bayonets."-
Sergeant however, instantly ordered,
"Shoulder, arms" and had the prisoner
seized and placed upon the bed. When there,
Davis struggled for moment with the same
intent, but only for moment and then sub
mitted without remark to what he knew he
could not avoid. The Sergeant (who was
the only "officer" presently Mr.. Davis says,
performed his duty just as soldier would
do, made no excuse for it, and did not plead
orders. In short, all the detail of this scene
in the Craven book, including the exclama-
ton by Mr.. Davis, +" Oh, the shame oh, the
shame !" are, upon the authority of the pri-
soner himself, merely Pigments of the Doctors
imagination.
Mr.. Davis is particularly indignant over
fho fao Of fhot no &c Y,,o6a 10 n
Hunter as christian and patriot" and
he says, truly enough, that it would have
been grotesquely inconsistent for him to
have done anything of the kind after having,
as President of the Confederacy, put Hunter
under the ban as a robber. All that he ever
said to Craven on the subject was, that Hun
ter was fanatic, and he gave as his reason
for the opinion, that he had on two occas-
ions, some years ago, attended Hunter in
duel, and that both times, when all was in /
readiness for the word to be given, Hunter
knelt down and prayed, rising and firing at
the word.
Mr.. Davis says that he never uttered a
word upon the question of reconstruction |
until May last, five months after Dr. Craven |
had left the Fort. Then he did at the re- |
quest Of some of the officers of the Fort, ex- |
press his views, and it is this conversation
that is attempted to be given in the book,
and is there represented as having been held |
with DR.. Craven himself With the report |
made of his remarks, Davis does not find
much fault, except that when speaking of |
the folly of requiring people to take oaths,
he illustrated it by saying that when the
Fugitive Slave Law was in force, the New
England members coming to the bars of the
Houses OF Congress to swear support to the
Constitution and the laws, ALWAYS made
mental reservation against the Fugitive Slave
Law. This illustration, which he seems to
consider of great weight, is omitted.
Upon one point Jefferson Davis rises to the
dignity of justice, and puts to the blush
those of his self-constituted advocates who
are continually loading General Miles with
he most opprobrious epithets Mr.. Davis
has none OF these for the man whom fate has
made his Jallor, but simply says that to him
General Miles is an enigma. He says he
Knows Miles to be brave man and good
soldier, and is 10th to believe that bis course
oward him Davis has been pursued only
or the purpose of adding to his physical
ilscomtorts or of putting indignlty upon
him, and prefers to believe that the man
whom he knows to be good soldier has
pursued his course from sense of duty
further, MIR. Davis admits that when he has
made complaint of anything in his treat
nent, General Miles has rectifed it; and the
prisoners only further ground OF dissatisfac-
lon was that it was not done at once, the
General taking his own time to work the
eform.