The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1866-09-24
Interview with Mr.. Davfs-IntereSt.
ing Conversations with Mrs. Davis
and che Distinguished Prisoner.

TO The kttuOf ~ Ge huet:
Please let mo say through Your paper
that have Just returned from Washing
ton without any bishop, priest, or deacon
accompanying me; that wrote letter to
our martyr, JEFF. Davis, some weeks since,
To which got no response until the return
Of Mrs. Davis, he not being allowed to
write; that in compliance with the spirit
Of that response, FASTENED TO Fortress
Monroe on the 18th instant, just as have
done many u time for our poor soldiers or
poor negroes under sentence that pro-
cccded to Washington, after seeing the ter
rible condition Of Mr.. Davis, and have
come back this morning, tootsore ana
weary, not without hopes for the maj
safety of him, whom ] conscientiously ne
lieye to he about the ablest and best man
in America. Mr.. Davis is greatly deblli-
tatcd and declining very fast. during
breakfast he gave us some rich, sparkling
gems of political wisdom from Burke, with
his own comments on their folly, as rich
as Burkc's original thoughts. ] only re-
member .one other such day spent in my
life. 1t was at Lagrange in 1928, when
LAFAYETTE and Cardinal Mezzofonte were
debating on high matters OF literature and
art. and | was a mere silent absorbent oil
the golden treasure of liquid thought.
| arrived at the fortress about an hour
before Mr.. Davis left his prison. Presently
Mrs. Davis Joined me, and we had very
agreeable discussion, in which she MAIN
tanned that the American people, north
and south, were as noble a people as any
ON the earth and / maintained, chiefly
for arguments sake, that the aristocracy
of all lands-the real aristocracy-were
markedly superior to the masses OF the
pcoplc. | maintained that the catacombs
of Rome and Paris showed a gradual APP
Proclamation to certain type OF character
which was not even yet attained except IN
the aristocracy Of worth. She insisted
that the heads of Phidias and Fraxitalcs
were not equallcd in modern times with
Christianity and all the appliances Of cul-
turc. She cited the remarks of many dis
tinglishcd foreigners who called her atten-
ton to the fact that the American people
could mere easily adapt themselves to, and
more thoroughly cmbody, the true princi-
pies of politencss than any other demo-
cratic people in the world. Just then
made a wicked query that killed q good
deal of this theory 'shrs. Davis, how do
the many strangers that come here behave
towards Mr.. Davis 7" "Ah," said she,
" almost all the northern women that come
here peer through the blinds in the most
indicate manner, so that we are often
obliged to retire to the inner casemate to
avoid their rude glances." Mrs. Davis,
no refined, Mstinctively polite people could
by possibility be guilty Of such grossncss.
So YOU have demolished your own theory"
At this time we saw slender, shadowy,
tottcring form approach the door. Some
thing in my heart told me it was Mr.. Davis.
Strange, mystic human heart, with its divi-
nations and prophecies! Bible of the true !.
Infalliblc God-word to every human soul
that has ever been magnetized with love |
had known this man at Il time when his word
swaycd an Empire composed ofas noble men
and as glorious, God-gifted women as has
ever appeared in the tide ottime. have OBJ
tanned at his hands the Spaling ofthc lives of
fortv-scvcn Confederate soldiers during the
war. got off fourteen Federal soldiers
condemned to death. / got his written
permit-no ordcr-to allow me TO visit all
the Federal prisons and alleviate in all
lawful ways their suilerings. have prayed
God upon him commensurate to the mercy
he might extend to others, and that he
might hope for himself, should the changes
Of time ever make him suppliant for this
bencficcnce.
And now he is before me prisoner
good God How changed The last time
saw him his brow seemed decked, not
only with crown OF intelligent glory, but
with a sort OF " prin,uS inter pareS"-halo
of all the kingly chivalrics of the past
ages. Now he was bent, broken, Keeling.
But oh that voice, its timbre, cadence,
tone, al AIN glad to sec you, Mr.. Kelley:
Your hair is winter than it was that beau
! tiful autumn morning that you prayed by
INV bedside in Richmond. Your heart,
too, has been scared. Well, thank God,
amidst it al, and by it all, we are ripcning
| for the Skies" "Mr. Davis, has it never
occurred TO you that not victorious, but
defeated causes, when founded on truth
and honor, are finally victorious in the flow
! of the ageSi
Said Mr.. Davis: No good cause.cvcr
dies. Whatever was true in our theory
of State rights will live, and be yet adopted
entirely by our northern brethren. The
American people are cminently thoughtful
and practical, assimilating to themselves
! truth from every point; witness their won
dcrful improvements in the practical arts.
You know how the Normans conquered the
Saxons at uastings-how they oppressed
and wronged them; yet in the course OF
three centuries the ideas Of the conquered
subdued their conquerorS and led the
United Kingdom to the conquest Of that
very France whence the cOD4uerors came.
! Centuries in the past were no more than
decades in the present. have no fear as
to the ultimate triumph Of our principles,
purified from whatever was wrong or sell
fish in them, as you and have been puri-
fled by sorrow"
"Do You remember, Mr.. Davis, that
couplet of Lady Guion's translated by
Cowpcr ~
" The path of sorrow, and that path alone, >,
Leads TO the place where sorrows are UNKNOWN
Yes, | remember it well. 1t is the COM
pend of Christianity. The world has never
yet fully appreciated that aspect-the
EccE HOMO of Christ. have read more
in the old books probably than you have,
Mr.. Davis let me recite TO you an instance
in the life of Julian: lie had oppressed
and thwarted Cyril, of Jerusalem, in va
! rious ways; at last, on going to the Par
THAN war, he met the good Bishop in