136 CONFEDERATE PORTRAITS

time with heartier self-effacement. The patient skill with which the result was accomplished is well indicated by Mrs. Davis when she says : " It was to me a curious spectacle ; the steady approximation to a thorough friend- liness of the President and his war minister. It was a very gradual rapprochemeiit^ but all the more solid for that reason." ^7 J. B. Jones, who disliked and distrusted his Jewish superior, analyzes the relation between presi- dent and secretary with much less approval. **Mr. B. unquestionably will have great influence with the Presi- dent, for he has studied his character most carefully. He will be familiar not only with his * likes,' but especially with his ' dislikes.' " ^s And when the diarist hears that the president is about to be baptized and confirmed, he takes comfort because " it may place a gulf between him and the descendant of those who crucified the Saviour." 29 If we accept Benjamin's own words, however, and I think we may, we shall conclude that his devotion to Davis was founded, at any rate in part, on a sincere esteem and admiration. Writing to the London Times," after the war, he says : " For the four years during which I have been one of his most privileged advisers, the recipient of his confidence and sharer to the best of my ability in his labors and responsibilities, I have learned to know him better perhaps than he is known by any other living man. Neither in private conversation nor in Cabinet council have I ever heard him utter one unworthy thought, one ungenerous sentiment." ^o

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