Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1866-10-16
The Condition and Fate of Ex-President
Davis.

The editor of the Natchez Miss Courier,
| (Mr. Hillyer) has recently visited Mr.. Davis,
and writes as follows to his paper concerning
the present state of the illustrious prisoner s
health, and the fate which awaits him:
Mr.. Davis health is sfeeble-precarious in the
extreme. Long confinement, and the treat
ment he received during the first year of his
horrible incarceration, have told terribly upon
his tender frame. He was never a man OF
| muscle. The intellectual ever predominated
over the material He is one Of those gifted,
intellectual men, born once in century, whose
brain is thought, and whose mouth is eloquence.
In his prison dungeon, he can almost be spoken
Of as hero of the past, and his acts, principles,
and ambition have an historic and heroic in
terest. AS State prisoner of the great empire
of the United States, he is surrounded with
more personal interest than any other man can
possible be. The iron mask Of the Bastile was
but g curiosity. The State prisoner of the U.
States Is a wonder and an object Of glory
It would be difficult for an old friend of Mr..
Davis to recognize him, were he not presented
to him as the great State prisoner. Emaciated
to the extreme almost walking skeleton ht-
tie left but a great and stately form; a gray
beard covering that peculiar style of features
and Of mouth which in other days has given
life and thought to a nation; an eye undimmed
and full of the fire of intellect; he yet might
pass upon our streetsunknown to former friends.
His physical condition is such that in walking
he is obliged to use cane and the arm of a
friend or attendant. The writer does not know
what skeleton weighs. Add ten pounds to
any medical mans report On the subject, and
Mr.. Davis weight can be ascertained. His
lower limbs are as a man s wrists, and the pris-
oner's steps totter as he walks. But yet he is
reliant on his own integrity and on the God
whose favor and mercy, with beautiful simpli-
city, he asks at more hours than the imprisoned
Daniel did
Mr. Davis, confined as he is, will not live
long. Emaciated in the extreme, without ap-
petite and without hope, he is gradually going
down to the long home where million sf man
ly and womanly tears will follow him. The first
chill, the first attack of any sharp disease, will
carry him away to the great Judge who ruleth
over all. Tempered may be the wind that blows
over Fortress Monroe May her breaths be
sweet, and her winds soft
Mr. Davis is yet denied the use of pen, ink
or paper. He violates the parole that allows
him walk inside the Fortress, If he even give
his autograph. During the day, he has little,
except as prisoner, to complain Of During
the night, he has grated doors, guards and Of
ficer to watch every time he turns over in bed,
Or changes the position Of his pillow.
In all probability Mr.. Davis viii never see
our people again. He Is an Individual victim,
whose life by confinement will be sacrificed to
solve a great political embarrassment. Like
the man who drew the elephant in lottery,
the Government knows not what to do with
him should not death, less remorseless than
earthly power, consign him to a tomb which
will be hallowed for ages as that of martyr
sacrificed for people! No matter what Mr.
Davis political views might have been, and
certainly the writer Of this article was, up to
1861, as much opposed to them as any South
ern man living, that ilustrious State prisoner
now lives, and will die if longer confined in For
tress Monroe, as the vicarious representative Of
people that loved him in manhood trusted
him when in power, and now turn their eyes
upon him as one suffering unjustly for their
doings.
1t is useless to speculate as to the future of
Mr.. Davis Unless the great hand Of mercy
soon intervenes the silent and cold hand Of
death will shortly relieve Mr.. Seward and Mr.
Stanton from further trouble in the NATTER
Speaking of his hopeless condition, and of what
he had endured, almost the last words of that
illustrious State prisoner were: Would that
[ could be the conductor by which the light
ming Of vengeance could be warded off our dear
people, could then live or die here contented-