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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Border and Bastille, by George A. Lawrence
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Border and Bastille
+
+Author: George A. Lawrence
+
+Release Date: November 3, 2006 [EBook #19705]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BORDER AND BASTILLE ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by David Garcia, Mary Meehan and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This
+file was produced from images generously made available
+by The Kentuckiana Digital Library)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+BORDER AND BASTILLE.
+
+BY GEORGE A. LAWRENCE
+
+THE AUTHOR OF "GUY LIVINGSTONE"
+
+New York:
+W. I. POOLEY & CO.,
+Harpers' Building, Franklin Square.
+
+WYNKOOP, HALLENBECK & THOMAS, PRINTERS,
+No. 113 Fulton Street, New York.
+
+
+
+
+L'ENVOI.
+
+
+When, late in last autumn, I determined to start for the Confederate
+States as soon as necessary preparations could be completed, I had
+listened, not only to my own curiosity, impelling me at least to see one
+campaign of a war, the like of which this world has never known, but
+also to the suggestions of those who thought that I might find materials
+there for a book that would interest many here in England. My intention,
+from the first, was to serve as a volunteer-aide in the staff of the
+army in Virginia, so long as I should find either pen-work or handiwork
+to do. The South might easily have gained a more efficient recruit; but
+a more earnest adherent it would have been hard to find. I do not
+attempt to disguise the fact that my predilections were thoroughly
+settled long before I left England; indeed, it is the consciousness of a
+strong partisan spirit at my heart which has made me strive so hard, not
+only to state facts as accurately as possible, but to abstain from
+coloring them with involuntary prejudice.
+
+To say nothing of my being afterwards backed by the powerful
+Secessionist interest at Baltimore, the introductory letters furnished
+me by Colonel Dudley Mann and Mr. Slidell, addressed to the most
+influential personages--civil and military--in the Confederacy, from
+President Davis downwards, were such as could hardly have failed to
+secure me the position I desired, though they benevolently over
+estimated the qualifications of the bearer. To the first of these
+gentlemen I am indebted for much kindness and valuable advice; to the
+second I am personally unknown; and I am glad to have this opportunity
+of acknowledging his ready courtesy. It was Colonel Mann who counseled
+my going through the Northern States, instead of attempting to run the
+blockade from Nassau or Bermuda, as I had originally intended. In spite
+of the events, I am so certain that the advice was sound and wise, that
+I do not repent--scarcely regret--having followed it.
+
+I need not particularize the precaution taken to insure the safe
+delivery of these credentials: it is sufficient to state that they were
+never submitted to Federal inspection; nor had I ever, at any time, in
+my possession, a single document which could vitiate my claim to the
+rights of a neutral and civilian. Even Mr. Seward did not pretend to
+refuse liberty of unexpressed sympathy with either side to an utter
+foreigner. While I was a free agent in the Northern States, I was
+careful to indulge in no other.
+
+Since my return, I hear that some one has been kind enough to insinuate
+that I might have succeeded better if I had been more careful to
+prosecute my journey South with vigor at any risk; or if I had been less
+imprudent in parading my object while in Baltimore. I prefer to meet the
+first of these assertions by a simple record of facts, and by the most
+unqualified denial that it is possible to give to any falsehood, written
+or spoken. As to the second--really quite as unfounded--it may be well
+to say, that before I had been a full fortnight in America, I was
+"posted" in the literary column of "Willis' Home Journal." I could not
+quarrel with the terms in which the intelligence--avowedly copied from
+an English paper--was couched. The writer seemed to know rather more
+about my intentions--if not of my antecedents--than I knew myself; but I
+can honestly say that the halo of romance with which he was pleased to
+surround a very practical purpose, did not however compensate me for the
+inconvenient publicity. This paragraph soon found its way into other
+journals, and at last confronted me--to my infinite disgust--in the
+"Baltimore Clipper," a bitter Unionist organ.
+
+Perhaps this will answer sufficiently the accusation of "parade," for
+even had we been disposed to indulge in an "alarum and flourish of
+trumpets," the sensation-mongers would have anticipated the absurdity.
+Besides this, my movements were not in anywise interfered with up to the
+moment of my arrest, when we were miles beyond all Federal pickets. My
+captors, of course, had never heard of my existence till we met. It is
+more than probable that the report just referred to did greatly
+complicate my position when I was actually in confinement; but here my
+person--not my plans--suffered, and here, the real mischief of that very
+involuntary publicity began and ended.
+
+After my plans were finally arranged, I had an interview with the
+editorial powers of the _Morning Post_; there it was settled that I
+should communicate to that journal as constantly as circumstances would
+permit, any interesting matter or incidents that fell in my way, in
+consideration of which was voted a liberal supplement of the sinews of
+war; but it was clearly understood that my movements and line of action
+were to be absolutely untrammeled. I could not have entered into any
+contract that in any way interfered with the primary object I had in
+view. I had no intention of commencing such correspondence before I had
+actually crossed the southern frontier, so that one letter from
+Baltimore--afterwards quoted--was the solitary contribution I was able
+to furnish.
+
+I have said thus much, because I wish any one who may be interested on
+the point to know clearly on what footing I stood at starting: for the
+general public, of course, the subject cannot have the slightest
+interest.
+
+Of all compositions, I suppose, a personal narrative is the most
+wearying to the writer, if not to the reader; egotistical talk may be
+pleasant enough, but, commit it to paper, the fault carries its own
+punishment. The recurrence of that everlasting first pronoun becomes a
+real stumbling-block to one at last. Yet there is no evading it, unless
+you cast your story into a curt, succinct diary; to carry this off
+effectively, requires a succession of incidents, more varied and
+important than befell me.
+
+A failure--absolute and complete--however brought about, is a fair mark
+for mockery, if not for censure. Perhaps, however, I may hope that some
+of my readers, in charity, if not in justice, will believe that I have
+honestly tried to avoid over-coloring details of personal adventure, and
+that no word here is set down in willful insincerity or malice, though
+all are written by one whose enmity to all purely republican
+institutions will endure to his life's end.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS.
+
+
+CHAPTER I. A Foul Start
+
+CHAPTER II. Congressia
+
+CHAPTER III. Capua
+
+CHAPTER IV. Friends in Council
+
+CHAPTER V. The Ford
+
+CHAPTER VI. The Ferry
+
+CHAPTER VII. Fallen Across the Threshold
+
+CHAPTER VIII. The Road to Avernus
+
+CHAPTER IX. Caged Birds
+
+CHAPTER X. Dark Days
+
+CHAPTER XI. Homeward Bound
+
+CHAPTER XII. A Popular Armament
+
+CHAPTER XIII. The Debatable Ground
+
+CHAPTER XIV. Slavery and the War
+
+
+
+
+BORDER AND BASTILLE
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+A FOUL START.
+
+
+Looking back on an experience of many lands and seas, I cannot recall a
+single scene more utterly dreary and desolate than that which awaited
+us, the outward-bound, in the early morning of the 20th of last
+December. The same sullen neutral tint pervaded and possessed
+everything--the leaden sky--the bleak, brown shores over against us--the
+dull graystone work lining the quays--the foul yellow water--shading one
+into the other, till the division-lines became hard to discern. Even
+where the fierce gust swept off the crests of the river wavelets,
+boiling and breaking angrily, there was scant contrast of color in the
+dusky spray, or murky foam.
+
+The chafing Mersey tried in vain to make himself heard. All other
+sounds--a voice, for instance, two yards from your ear--were drowned by
+the trumpet of the strong northwester. All through the past night, we
+listened to that note of war; we could feel the railway carriages
+trembling and quivering, as if shaken by some rude giant's hand, when
+they halted at any exposed station; and, this morning, the pilots shake
+their wise, grizzled beads, and hint at worse weather yet in the offing.
+For forty-eight hours the storm-signals had never been lowered, nor
+changed, except to intimate the shifting of a point or two in the
+current of the gale, and few vessels, if any, had been found rash enough
+to slight "the admiral's" warning.
+
+It had been gravely discussed, we heard afterwards, by the owners and
+captain of "The Asia," whether she should venture to sea that day;
+finally, the question was left to the latter to decide. There are as
+nice points of honor, and as much jealous regard for professional credit
+in the merchant service as in any other. Only once, since the line was
+started, has a "Cunarder" been kept in port by wind or weather--this was
+the commander's first trip across the Atlantic since his promotion; you
+may guess which way the balance turned.
+
+We waited on the landing-stage one long cold hour. The huge square
+structure, ordinarily steady and solid as the mainland itself, was
+pitching and rolling not much less "lively" than a Dutch galliot in a
+sea-way; and the tug that was to take us on board parted three hawsers
+before she could make fast alongside. It was hard to keep one's footing
+on the shaking, slippery bridge, but in ten minutes all staggered or
+tumbled, as choice or chance directed, on to the deck of the little
+steamer. I was looking for a dry corner, when an American passenger made
+room for me very courteously, and I begun to talk to him--about the
+weather, of course. It was a keen, intellectual face, pleasant withal,
+and kindly, and in its habitual expression not devoid of genial humor.
+But, at that moment, it was possessed by an unutterable misery. No
+wonder.
+
+"I was ill the whole way over from America," he said, "and _then_ we
+started with bright weather and a fair wind."
+
+I was much attracted by the voice, betraying scarcely any Transatlantic
+accent: it was quiet and calm in tone, like that of any brave man on his
+way to encounter some irresistible pain or woe; but saddened by an agony
+of anticipation, he presaged, only too truly, "the burden of the
+atmosphere and the wrath to come."
+
+Another struggle and scramble--and we are on board, at last. It is some
+comfort to exchange that wretched little wet tug for the deck of the
+Asia; though a trifle unsteady even now, she oscillates after the sober
+and stately fashion befitting a mighty "liner." Half an hour sees the
+end of the long stream of mail-bags, and the huge bales of newspapers
+shipped; then the moorings are cast loose; there rises the faintest echo
+of a cheer--who could be enthusiastic on such a morning?--the vast
+wheels turn slowly and sullenly, as if hating the hard work before them;
+and we are fairly off.
+
+The waves and weather grew rapidly wilder; as we neared blue water, just
+after passing the light, we saw a large ship driving helplessly and--the
+sailors said--hopelessly, among the breakers of the North Sands. She had
+tried to run in without a pilot, and _ours_ seemed to think her fate the
+justest of judgments; but to disinterested and unprofessional spectators
+the sight was very sad, and somewhat discouraging. So with omen and
+augury, as well as the wind dead against us.
+
+    "The Sword went out to sea."
+
+All that day and night "The Asia" staggered and weltered on through the
+yeasty channel waves, breaking in her passengers rather roughly for a
+conflict with vaster billows. Thirteen hours of hard steaming barely
+brought us abreast of Holyhead. The gale moderated towards morning, and
+we ran along the Irish coast under a blue sky, making Queenstown shortly
+after sundown.
+
+By this time I had become acquainted with my cabin-mate, in which
+respect I was singularly fortunate. M. ---- was a thorough Parisian,
+and a favorable specimen of his class. Small of stature, and
+slender of proportion--a very important point where space is so
+limited--low-voiced, and sparing of violent expletives or gestures,
+delicately neat in his person and apparel, one could hardly have
+selected a more amiable colleague under circumstances of some
+difficulty. I can aver that he conducted himself always with a perfect
+modesty and decorum: he would preserve his equilibrium miraculously,
+when his perpendicular had been lost long ago: he never fell upon me but
+once (sleeping on a sofa, I was exposed defenselessly to all such
+contingencies), and then lightly as thistle-down. On the rare occasions
+when the _mal-de-mer_ proved too much for his valiant self-assertion, he
+yielded to an overruling fate without groan or complaint: folding the
+scanty coverlet around him, he would subside gradually into his berth,
+composing his little limbs as gracefully as Cæsar. His courtesy was
+invincible and untiring: he was anxious to defer and conform even to my
+insular prejudices. Discovering that I was in the habit of daily
+immersing in cold water--a feat not to be accomplished without much
+toil, trouble, and abrasion of the cuticle--he thought it necessary to
+simulate a like performance, though nothing would have tempted him to
+incur such needless danger. His endeavors to mislead me on this point,
+without actually committing himself, were ingenious and wily in the
+extreme. Sitting in the saloon at the most incongruous hours of day and
+night, he would exclaim, "J'ai l'idée de prendre bientôt mon bain!" or
+he would speak with a shiver of recollection of the imaginary plunge
+taken that morning. I don't think I should ever have been deluded, even
+if my curiosity had not led me to question the steward; but never, by
+word or look, did I impugn the reality of that Barmecide bath. To his
+other accomplishments, M. ---- added a very pretty talent for piquet;
+the match was even enough, though, to be interesting, at almost nominal
+stakes, and so we got pleasantly through many hours--dark, wet, or
+boisterous.
+
+We were not a numerous company--only thirty-three in all. Few amateurs
+travel at this inclement season. I knew only one other Englishman on
+board, an officer in the Rifle Brigade, returning to Canada from
+sick-leave. Among the Americans was Cyrus Field, the energetic promoter
+of the Atlantic Telegraph, then making (I think he said) his thirtieth
+transit within five years. He was certainly entitled to the freedom of
+the ocean, if intimate acquaintance with every fathom of its depth and
+breadth could establish a claim. It rather surprised me, afterwards, to
+see such science and experience yield so easily to the common weakness
+of seafaring humanity. Mr. Field told me that throughout the fearful
+weather to which the Niagara and Agamemnon were exposed, on their first
+attempt to lay down the cable, he never once felt a sensation of nausea;
+the body had not time to suffer till the mind was relieved from its
+heavy, anxious strain.
+
+For three days after leaving Queenstown, the west winds met us, steady
+and strong; but it was not till the afternoon of Christmas day that the
+sea began to "get up" in earnest, and the weather to portend a gale.
+Then, the Atlantic seemed determined to prove that report had not
+exaggerated the hardships of a winter passage. It blew harder and harder
+all Friday, and after a brief lull on Saturday--as though gathering
+breath for the final onset--the storm fairly reached its height, and
+then slowly abated, leaving us substantial tokens of its visit in the
+shape of shattered boats, and the ruin of all our port bulwarks forward
+of the deck-house. I fancy there was nothing extraordinary in the
+tempest; and, in a stout ship, with plenty of sea room, there is
+probably little real danger; but about the intense discomfort there
+could be no question. I speak with no undue bitterness, for of nausea,
+in any shape, I know of little or nothing, but--oh, mine enemy!--if I
+could feel certain you were well out in the Atlantic, experiencing, for
+just one week, the weather that fell to our lot, I would abate much of
+my animosity, purely from satiation of revenge.
+
+Unless absolutely prostrated by illness, the voyager, of course, has a
+ravenous appetite; such being the case, what can be more exasperating
+than having to grapple with a sort of dioramic dinner, where the dishes
+represent a series of dissolving views--mutton and beef of mature age,
+leaping about with a playfulness only becoming living lambs and
+calves--while the proverb of "cup and lip" becomes a truism from
+perpetual illustration? Neither is it agreeable, after falling into an
+uncertain doze, to feel dampness mingling strangely with your dreams,
+and to awake to find yourself, as it were, an island in a little salt
+lake formed by distillation through invisible crevices.
+
+    "Oh, laith, laith were our gude Scot lords
+    To wet their cork-heeled shoon,"
+
+says the grand old ballad; so, I suppose, it is nothing "unbecoming the
+character of an officer and a gentleman" to hold such midnight
+irrigation in utter abhorrence.
+
+On one of these occasions I abandoned a post no longer tenable, and went
+into the small saloon close by, to seek a dry spot whereon to finish the
+night, I found it occupied by a ghastly man, with long, wild gray hair,
+and a white face--striding staggeringly up and down--moaning to himself
+in a harsh, hollow voice, "No rest; I can't rest." He never spoke any
+other words, and never ceased repeating these, while I remained to hear
+him. Instantly there came back to my memory a horrible German tale, read
+and forgotten fifteen years ago, of a certain old and unjust steward,
+Daniel by name, who, having murdered his master by casting him down an
+oubliettes, ever haunted the fatal tower, first as a sleep-walker, then
+as a restless ghost--moaning and gibbering to himself, and tearing at a
+walled-up door with bleeding hands. The train of thought thereby
+suggested was so very sombre, that I preferred returning to my cabin,
+and climbing into an unfurnished berth, to spending more minutes in that
+weird company. I never made the man out satisfactorily afterwards. It is
+possible that he was one of the few who scarcely showed on deck, till we
+were in sight of land; but rather, I believe, like other visions and
+voices of the night, he changed past recognition under the garish light
+of day.
+
+Then come the noisy nuisances, extending through all the diapason of
+sound. One--the most annoying--to which the ear never becomes callous by
+use, is the incessant crash, not only alongside, but overhead. At
+intervals--more frequent, of course, after our bulwarks were swept
+away--the green water came tumbling on board by tons; and, being unable
+to escape quickly enough by the after-scuppers, surged backwards and
+forwards with every roll of the vessel, as if it meant to keep you down
+and bury you forever. Lying in my berth, I could feel the heavy seas
+smite the strong ship one cruel blow after another on her bows or beam,
+till at last she would seem to stop altogether, and, dropping her head,
+like a glutton in the P. R., would take her punishment sullenly, without
+an effort at rising or resistance. Nevertheless, I stand by "The Asia,"
+as a right good boat for rough weather, though she is not a flyer, and
+sometimes could hardly do more than hold her own. Eighty-one knots in
+the twenty-four hours was all the encouragement the log could give one
+day.
+
+I liked our commander exceedingly. He had just left the Mediterranean
+station, and there still abode with him a certain languid levantine
+softness of voice and manner; when he came in to dinner, out of the wild
+weather, the moral contrast with the turmoil outside was quite
+refreshing. Report speaks highly of Captain Grace's seamanship; and I
+believe in him far more implicitly than I should in one of those hoarse
+and blusterous Tritons, who think roughness and readiness inseparable,
+and talk to you as if they were hailing a consort.
+
+The library on board was not extensive, consisting (with the exception
+of "The Newcomes") chiefly of religious works of the Nonconformist
+school, and tales, which have long ago passed into surplus stock, or
+been withdrawn from general circulation. But there was one invaluable
+novel, which I shall always remember gratefully. I never got quite
+through it, but I read enough to be enabled to affirm, that its
+principles are unexceptionable, its style grammatically faultless, and
+its purpose sustained (ah, how pitilessly!) from first to last. The few
+amatory scenes are conducted with the most rigid propriety; and when
+there occurs a lover's quarrel, the parties hurl high moral truths at
+each other, instead of idle reproaches. But it is mainly as a soporific,
+that I would recommend "_Silwood_:" on four different occasions, under
+most trying circumstances it succeeded perfectly and promptly with me,
+for which relief--unintentional, perchance--I tender much thanks to the
+unknown author, and wish "more power to his arm."
+
+Quite crippled for the time being by rheumatism, I was in bad form for
+clambering about the sloping, slippery planks; nevertheless I did
+contrive to crawl up to the hurricane-deck just before sundown, about
+the crisis of the gale. I confess to being disappointed in the
+"rollers:" it may be that their vast breadth and volume takes off from
+their apparent height, but I scarcely thought it reached Dr. Scoresby's
+standard--from 26 to 30 feet, if I remember right, from trough to crest.
+One realizes thoroughly the _abysmal_ character of the turbulent chaos,
+and there is a sensation of infiniteness around and below you not devoid
+of grandeur; but as an exhibition of the puissance of angry water, I do
+not think the mid-ocean tempest equal to the storm which brings the
+thunder of the surf full on the granite bulwarks of Western Ireland.
+
+It must be owned, that the conversational powers of our small society
+were limited. Very often some selfishness mingled with my sincere
+compassion for the prostrated sufferings of my Philadelphian friend of
+the tug-boat; for whenever his weary aching head would allow of the
+exertion, he could talk on almost any subject, fluently and well. He was
+returning from a long visit to Paris, and a rapid tour through Germany
+and Southern Europe. Most of the countries, that he had been compelled
+to hurry over, I had loitered through in days past, and I ought to have
+been shamed by the contrast in our recollections--his, so clear and
+systematical--mine, so vague and dim. An intellectual American
+travelling through strange lands does certainly look at nature, animate
+and inanimate, after a practical business-like fashion peculiar to his
+race; but it would be unfair to infer that such minds are, necessarily,
+unappreciative. At all events, that concentrative, synthetical power,
+that takes in surrounding objects at a single glance, and retains them
+in a tolerably distinct classification, is rather enviable, even as a
+mental accomplishment.
+
+We did not speak much about the troubles beyond sea, and the
+Philadelphian was rather reserved as to his proclivities. My impression
+is, that his sympathy tended rather southward (all his early life had
+been spent in Alabama), but he declined to commit himself much, nor do I
+believe that he was a violent partisan either way. On one point he was
+very decided: Falkland himself could not have wished more devoutly for
+the termination of a fatal civil war--fatal, he said, to the interests,
+present and future, of both the combatant powers--ruinous to every
+class, with two exceptions; the adventurers who, having little to lose,
+gained, by joining the ranks of either army, a social position to which
+they could not otherwise have aspired; and the speculators, who,
+directly or indirectly, fairly or unfairly, made gains vast and unholy,
+such as wreckers are wont to gather in time of tempest and general
+disaster. He scarcely alluded to the corruption and peculation prevalent
+in all high places, diluted in its downward percolation till sutlers and
+horse-thieves would strive in vain to emulate the fraudulent audacity of
+their superiors. It was well he spared me then, for soon after landing,
+my eyes and ears grew weary with the repetition of all these ignoble
+details. To illustrate how heavily the taxes were already beginning to
+weigh on the non-militant part of the population, my informant proved to
+me by very clear figures that, if he individually could secure permanent
+exemption from such burdens by the absolute sacrifice of one-tenth of
+his whole property, real and personal, the commutation, would be
+decidedly advantageous to him. True, he represented a class whose
+incomes exceeded a certain standard, and therefore suffered rather more
+heavily; but the same calculation, with very slight alterations, applied
+to all other subordinate ones.
+
+Grave and mild of speech was the Philadelphian philosopher, without a
+trace of dogmatism or self-assertion in his tone; nevertheless, I judged
+him to be a man of mark somewhere, and I afterwards heard that, albeit
+not a violent or prominent politician, he had great honor in his own
+country.
+
+Strong head-winds and a heavy sea baffled us till we had cleared the
+longitude of Cape Race; then the weather softened, the breeze veered
+round till it blew on our quarter, and we had clear sky above us all the
+way in. We sighted the first pilot-boat on the afternoon of January 3d,
+and, as she came sweeping down athwart us, with her broad, white wings
+full spread, our glasses soon made out the winning number of the
+sweepstakes, "22." It was long past dinner hour when the beautiful
+little schooner rounded to, under our lee, but all appetite just then
+was merged in a craving for latest intelligence.
+
+It was a caricaturist's study--the crowd of keen, anxious faces round
+the gangway--as the pilot came aboard. He was a stout man, of
+agricultural exterior, looking as if he were in the habit of ploughing
+anything rather than the deep sea; but it is the fashion of his guild to
+eschew the nautical as much as possible in their attire. The "anxious
+inquirers" got little satisfaction from him--he seemed taciturn by
+nature, if not sullen--and they came back to where the rest of us stood
+on the hurricane deck, muttering discontentedly, "Gold at 46. No news."
+It seemed very odd--such a complete stagnation of affairs, military and
+civil--but we went to dinner in spite of our disappointment. Before we
+rose from table the truth began to ooze out. One or two New York papers,
+that had slipped on board with the pilot, were more communicative than
+he would or could be.
+
+Thousands of corpses, the full tale of which will never be known till
+the day of judgment, lying rolled in blood, with a handful of earth
+raked over them under the fatal Fredericksburg heights; the finest army
+in Federaldom hurled back upon its intrenchments; nothing but darkness
+covering a disastrous, if not shameful defeat; the papers crowded with
+dreary funeral notices, showing how, to every great city of the North,
+from hospital and battle-ground, the slain are being gathered in, to be
+buried among their own people; a wail of widows and orphans and mothers,
+from homestead, hamlet, and town, overpowering with its simple energy,
+the bombastic war-notes and false stage-thunder of the press; rumors of
+a terrible battle in the far West, where, after three days' hard
+fighting, Rosecrans barely holds his own, and yet "_there are no
+news_!"
+
+It is an excellent quality in a soldier not to know when he is beaten,
+but whether blind obstinacy will succeed when it influences the rulers
+and destinies of a great nation, is more than questionable. Pondering
+these things, I remembered how, four thousand years ago, a stiff-necked
+generation were brought to their senses and on their knees. It was on
+the morning after the visit of the Dark Angel, when Egypt awoke, and
+found not a house in which there was not one dead. If such fearful waste
+of life goes on here, with no decisive or final advantage on either side
+attained, that ancient curse may not be long in recurring.
+
+I rose when the sun ought to have risen, on the following morning,
+intending to admire the famous harbor which Americans love to compare
+with the Neapolitan Bay. But long before we reached the Narrows,
+
+    "A blinding mist came up and hid the land
+    As far as eye could see."
+
+Very soon we were buried in fog, dense and Cimmerian, as ever brooded
+over our own Thames or the Righi panorama. More and more slowly the
+paddles turned, till they stopped altogether. It was dangerous to
+advance, ever so cautiously, when the keenest sight could not pierce
+half a ship's length ahead. So there we lay at anchor for weary hours,
+listening to the church-bells chiming drowsily through the heavy air,
+till an enterprising tug ventured out for the mails, and sent another
+for the relief of the passengers.
+
+The custom-house officers were not troublesome, and I was soon at the
+Brevoort House, the Parisian Pylades still faithfully following my
+fortunes. I was far from entreating him to leave me; landing utterly
+alone in a strange land, one does not lightly cast aside companionship.
+For reasons easily understood, I had declined to avail myself of many
+proffered letters of introduction to New Yorkers.
+
+That lonely feeling did not last long: the first object which caught my
+eye on the steps of the Brevoort House was an honest English face--a
+face I have known, and liked right well, these dozen years and more.
+There stood "the Colonel" (any Ch. Ch. or Rifle Brigade man will
+recognize the _sobriquet_), beaming upon the world in general with the
+placid cheerfulness that no changes of time or place or fortune seem
+able to alter, looking just as comfortable and thoroughly "at home" as
+he did, steering Horniblow to victory at Brixworth. I had heard that my
+old friend was on his way to England to join the Staff College, but had
+never reckoned on such a successful "nick" as this. By my faith, my
+turns of luck beyond the Atlantic were not so frequent as to excuse
+forgetfulness, when they did befall.
+
+So I had aid and abetment in performing the little lionization which is
+obligatory on a visitor to New York; for the "Colonel's" comrade, my
+fellow-voyager of the Asia, came to the same hotel.
+
+Assisted by the Parisian, we made trial of the esculents peculiar to the
+country--gombo soup, sweet potatoes, terrapins, and canvas-backs--with
+much solemnity and satisfaction, agreeing, that fame had spoken truth
+for once, in extolling the two last-named delicacies. We went to the
+Opera, and there, in a brilliant _salle_ of white and gold, spoilt,
+however, by the incongruity of bonnets mingling everywhere with full
+evening toilettes, assisted at a massacre--unmusical and melancholy--of
+"Lucrezia." We drove out through the crude, unfinished Central Park to
+Harlem lane, whither the trotters are wont to resort, and saw several
+teams looking very much like work (though no celebrities), almost all of
+the lean, rather ragged form which characterizes, more or less, all
+American-bred "fast horses." The ground was too hard frozen to allow of
+anything beyond gentle exercise; but even at quarter-speed, that
+wonderful hind-action was very remarkable. Watching those clean, sinewy
+pasterns shoot forward--well _outside_ of the fore hoof-track--straight
+and swift as Mace's arm in an "upper-cut," you marvel no longer at the
+mile-time which hitherto has seemed barely credible.
+
+Perhaps this same bitter weather may account for our disappointment in
+the brilliancy of Broadway. Several careful reviews of the sunny side
+failed to detect anything dangerously attractive in beauty, equipage, or
+attire. It is probable that most of the _lionnes_ had laid them down in
+their delicate dens, waiting for a more clement season, to renew
+external depredations; though sometimes you could just catch a glimpse
+of bright eyes and a little pink nose peering over dark fur wrappings,
+as a brougham or barouche, carefully closed, swept quickly by. We
+visited Barnum, of course. I think a conversational and communicative
+Albino was the most note-worthy curiosity in the Museum, chiefly, from
+his intense appreciation of the imposture of the whole concern,
+originated and directed by the King of Humbugdom.
+
+The sanguine popular mind was unusually depressed just then. The
+President's emancipatory proclamation had recently issued, and seemed to
+adapt itself, with wonderful elasticity, to the discontents of all
+parties; not comprehensive enough for the ultra-Abolitionists, it was
+stigmatized by the Democrats as unconstitutional and oppressive; while
+moderate politicians agreed that, beyond irritating feelings already
+bitter enough, it would be practically invalid as an offensive measure.
+We shall see, hereafter, how these prognostications were justified.
+
+But the first word in all men's mouths, for a day or two at least after
+my arrival, was--Monitor. That same gale which had buffeted the Asia so
+rudely on the high seas, had raged yet more savagely shorewards: the
+Merrimac's antagonist, like a drowning paladin of the mail-clad days,
+had sunk under her mighty armor, and now, with half her crew in their
+iron coffin, lay at rest in the crowded burial-ground on which Cape
+Hatteras looks down. Great discouragement and consternation--greater
+than has often been caused by the loss of any single vessel--fell upon
+all the North when the news came in. Ever since her famous duel, which
+the Federals never would allow was a drawn battle, they had elevated the
+Monitor into a national champion, and prophesied weeping in the South if
+she and their batteries should meet: few then dared to insinuate a doubt
+about Charleston's certain fall, when once the leaguer was fairly
+mustered for assault. Grave doubts were now expressed as to the
+seaworthiness of all the new iron-clads, though their advocates could
+point to a sister of the unhappy Monitor, which had survived a great
+part of the same storm. That they all must be more unsafe in really
+rough weather than the crankiest of our old "coffin brigs," seems quite
+ascertained now: the fact of their being unable to make headway through
+a heavy sea unless towed by a consort, speaks for itself. The immediate
+cause of the Monitor's foundering (according to Captain Worden's
+account, which my informant had from his own lips) was a leak sprung,
+where her protruding stern-armour, coming down flat on the waves with
+every plunge of the vessel, became loosened from the main hull; but, for
+some time before this was discovered, she seems to have spent more
+minutes under than above the water, and nothing alive could have stood
+unlashed for a second on her deck. So great was the public
+disappointment, that the tribe of false prophets--whose cry of "Go up to
+Ramoth Gilead, and prosper," deafens us here, not less, usually in
+defeat than in success--did for awhile abate their blatancy; while
+Ericsson--most confident of projectors--spake softly, below his breath,
+as he suggested faint excuse and encouragement.
+
+The news from the West--hourly improving, and more clearly
+confirmed--were hardly welcomed, as they deserved, and scarcely
+counter-balanced the naval disaster. It was not long, however, before
+Rosecrans the Invincible came in for his full share of credit--perhaps
+not more than he merited. Few other Federal commanders can claim that
+epithet; and, though some people persisted in considering Murfreesburg a
+Pyrrhic victory, it is certain that he held his ground manfully, and
+eventually advanced, where defeat, or even a retrograde movement, would
+have been simply ruin.
+
+On the fifth day our small company were scattered--each going his own
+way, east, north, and south--while the Parisian abode in New York still.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+CONGRESSIA.
+
+
+Of two lines to Philadelphia I selected the longest, wishing to see the
+harbor, down which a steamer takes passengers as far as Amboy; but the
+Powers of the Air were unpropitious again: it never ceased blowing, from
+the moment we went on board a very unpleasant substitute for the regular
+passage-boat, till we landed on the railway pier. My first experience of
+American travel was not attractive. The crazy old craft puffed and
+snorted furiously, but failed to persuade any one that she was doing
+eight miles an hour; the grime of many years lay thick on her dusky
+timbers--dust under cover, and mud where the wet swept in, and her
+close, dark cabins were stifling enough to make you, after five minutes
+of vapor-bathing, plunge eagerly into the bitter weather outside.
+Indeed, there was not much to see, for the track lies on the inner and
+uglier side of Staten Island. The last few miles lead through marshes,
+with nothing taller growing than reeds and osiers.
+
+For an hour or so after leaving Amboy, you look out on a country thickly
+populated, well cultivated, and trimly fenced, bearing a strong
+resemblance to parts of our own eastern counties. We passed through one
+wood, in height of trees, sweep of ground, color of soil, and build of
+boundary-fence, so exactly like a certain cover in Norfolk similarly
+bisected by the rail, that I could have picked out the precise spot
+where, many a time and oft, I have waited for the "rocketers." But the
+character of the landscape soon changed; loose, sprawling "zigzags"
+usurped the place of neat squared posts and rails; the stunted woodland
+stretched farther afield, with rarer breaks of clearing; and the low
+hill-ranges, behind which the watery sun soon absconded, looked drearily
+bare in the distance.
+
+It was pleasant, from the ferry boat, which was our last change, to meet
+the lights of Philadelphia, gleaming out on the broad dark Susquehanna.
+
+I can say little of that staid, opulent, intensely respectable city--not
+even if the imputation of dullness, cast upon her by the more mercurial
+South, be a slander; for the few hours of my stay there were spent
+almost entirely with my Asiatic friend, whose invitations and
+inducements to a longer sojourn were very hard to resist. But I was
+impatient to get on (as men will be who cannot see their arm's-length
+into the future), and at midnight I started again for Washington.
+
+My recollections of that journey are the reverse of roseate. The
+atmosphere of the cars--windows hermetic, and stoves red-hot--made one
+look back regretfully on the milder _inferno_ of the passage-boat; the
+acrid apple-odor was more pungently nauseating; and the abomination of
+expectoration less carefully dissembled. Besides this, I was afflicted
+by another nuisance, purely private and personal.
+
+Whether there be any such thing as love at first sight or no, is a
+question--grave or gay, as you choose to discuss it--but, that
+instinctive antipathies exist, is most certain. I was the victim of one
+of such that night. Waiting for change in the ticket-office, my eye
+lighted on a dark man, of African appearance, standing unpleasantly
+near, and for a second or two I could not get rid of a horrible
+fascination, compelling me to stare. I say "dark man" advisedly, for it
+would have been hard to guess at his original color, unless his cast of
+feature had not given a line. Now, I have seen Irish squatters in their
+cabins, London outcasts in their penny lodgings, and beggars of Southern
+Europe in their nameless dens; but the conviction flashed upon me (and
+it has never since passed away), that I was then gazing on a dirtier
+specimen of healthy humanity than I had ever yet foregathered with. I
+believe that all the rains of heaven beating on his brow would not have
+altered its dinginess by a shade, nor penetrated one of the earthy
+layers that had thickened there; a thunder-shower must have glanced off,
+as water will do from tough, hardened clay. Rough patches of hair,
+scanty and straggling, like the vegetation of waste, barren lands, grew
+all over his cheeks and chin (a negro with an ample, honest beard is an
+anomaly), and a huge bush of wool--unkempt, I dare swear, from earliest
+infancy--seemed to repel the ruins of a nondescript hat. Whether he was
+really uglier than his fellows I cannot remember--I was so absorbed in
+contemplating and realizing his surpassing squalor--but the expression
+of the uncouth face (if it had any whatsoever) was, I think, neither
+ferocious nor sullen. There is generally a "colored car" attached to
+every train; for you will find the tender-hearted Abolitionist, in
+despite of his African sympathies, when it is a question of personal
+contact or association, quite as earnest in keeping those "innocent
+blacknesses" aloof, as the haughtiest Southerner. On the present
+occasion there was no such distinction of races. I do not think the
+contraband was conscious of the effect produced by his lordly presence;
+it was probably simple accident which brought him so often in my
+neighborhood; but, wherever I moved through the crowded cars, seeking
+for a seat, the loose shambling limbs and dull vacant eyes seemed
+impelled to follow. At last I lost my _bete noire_, and found a place
+close to the door with nothing but a low pile of logs in my front. I was
+tired, and soon began to doze; but I woke up with a start and a shudder,
+as a haunted man might do, becoming aware, in sleep, of the approach of
+some horrible thing. There he sat, on the logs close to my feet, in a
+heavy stertorous slumber, his huge head rocking to and fro, and his
+features hideously contorted, as he growled and gibbered to himself in
+an unknown tongue, like some dreaming Caliban. I arose and fled away
+swiftly from the face of my "brother," and, finding no other available
+resting-place, did battle on the outside platform with the keen night
+wind.
+
+I am indebted, however, to that honest contraband for a curious sight,
+which I should have otherwise missed--the crossing of the Gunpowder
+River. There, the train rushes, on a single track, over three-quarters
+of a mile of tremulous trestle-work, without an apology for a side-rail,
+so that you look straight down into the dark water, over which you seem
+wafted with no visible support beneath. The effect is sufficiently
+startling, especially seen as I saw it, under a bright, capricious moon.
+From Baltimore, the cars were less crowded, and I encountered my dusky
+tormentor no more.
+
+If there is much in first impressions, I was not likely to be enchanted
+with Washington.
+
+The snow, just then beginning to melt, lay inches deep on the
+half-frozen soil; everything looked unnaturally and unutterably dreary
+in the bleak leaden dawn-light; and, as I drove down Pennsylvania avenue
+(after rejection at the lodgings to which I had been recommended), the
+first object that caught my eye was a huge placard:
+
+     EMBALMING OF THE DEAD.
+
+These ghastly advertisements are not unfrequent in that part of the
+city, and I was informed that the advertisers occasionally do a very
+brisk business.
+
+After waiting for two hours in the hall of the Metropolitan, like a
+client in some patrician antechamber, they _did_ accord me a tolerable
+room on the sublimest story.
+
+I called that same afternoon on Lord Lyons, to whom I brought an
+introductory letter. I have to thank the British Legation for much
+courteous kindness, and for two very pleasant evenings, on the first of
+which I was the guest of the chief, on the second, of his secretaries.
+Here will (if I ever leave it behind me) begin and end my agreeable
+reminiscences of Washington. I disliked it cordially at first sight; I
+was thoroughly bored before I had got through my stay of seventy hours;
+I utterly abominate and execrate the city
+
+     From turret to foundation-stone,
+
+at this moment, as I catch a narrow glimpse of its outskirts through the
+rusty window-bars of the Old Capitol. Should the Southern Mazeppas,
+whose banners have already floated in sight of Arlington Heights, ever
+work their will here, I could name one Briton whose composure will not
+be ruffled by compassion at hearing the news. If there is anything in
+presentiments, surely one of these whispered warnings thus early in my
+pilgrimage, though I was deafer than the adder just then.
+
+There was in Washington, of course, the usual crowd--official,
+political, and mercantile--with a vast supplement of hangers-on and
+aspirants, that always follows the meeting of Congress; and, besides,
+the influx never ceased of all officers who could get leave--of many who
+could not--from the Army of the Potomac. Speaking impartially--for I
+scarcely interchanged four words with an American during my stay--I
+thought the military element the most repulsive.
+
+It would be unfair to cavil at the absence of a martial bearing in men,
+who, having followed other professions all their lives, so lately and
+suddenly took up that of arms. In this singular war, whole regiments
+have been sent into action (as at Antietam) without even an hour's
+practice in file-firing, and have stood their ground, too, manfully,
+though helplessly, the merest food for cannon. So it is not strange if
+the lawyers, merchants, clerks, stock-brokers, bar-keepers, and
+newspaper editors, who officer the volunteer corps, should laugh at
+"setting-up" preliminaries to scorn, and consider a few days of rough
+battalion-drill a satisfactory qualification for efficient service in
+the field.
+
+In spite of these disadvantages, it is indisputable that the Yankee will
+fight right stubbornly, after his own fashion, though rarely with the
+dash and fire of the Southerner. Considering the raw and heterogeneous
+materials out of which the huge armies of the North have been formed,
+the individual instances of personal cowardice are creditably rare. Even
+in the cases of disorderly retreats, I believe discipline rather than
+pluck to have been wanting. Martinets and formalists would certainly be
+out of place here, and some of the technicalities of the art of war may
+well be dispensed with; nevertheless, all these palliations do not alter
+my unfavorable impression of the Federal officer on furlough.
+
+Once out of the camp, and among familiar scenes again, the recent
+centurion falls back, swiftly and easily, into the slovenly habits and
+careless demeanor that were natural to him before he was called to
+command; his uniform begins to look like a masquerade dress hired for
+the occasion; of the hard and, perhaps, gallant service of months past,
+there is soon no other evidence, than an unnecessary loudness of speech,
+and a readiness to seize on any occasion to bluster or blaspheme. A
+friend of mine once remarked (by way of excuse for being detected in the
+most eccentric _deshabille_) that "the British dragoon, under _any_
+circumstances, was a respectable and elevating sight." I do not think
+the most amiable stranger would be inclined to concede as much to an
+officer of Federal volunteers, encountering that warrior in his native
+bar or oyster saloon. On the whole, I prefer the real Zouave _en
+tapageur_, to his Transatlantic imitator: the former at least swaggers
+_professionally_.
+
+It would hardly be honest to take the "loafers" of Washington as fair
+representatives of their order: there are, no doubt, better--if not
+braver--soldiers in the front; and perhaps even the queer specimens then
+before me might look decent, if not dignified, under the earnest light
+of battle.
+
+But wherever I was brought in contact with portions of the Federal army
+(I never saw a whole regiment in review order), I was forcibly struck
+with the entire absence of the "smartness" which distinguishes our own
+and much of the Continental soldiery. While I was at Washington, there
+were three squadrons of regular cavalry encamped in the centre of the
+city. These troops were especially on home-service--guard-mounting,
+orderly duty, &c.--with no field or picket work whatever. There was no
+more excuse for slovenliness than might have been allowed to a regiment
+in huts at Aldershott or Shorncliffe. I wish that the critical eye of
+the present Cavalry Inspector-General could inspect that encampment; if
+he preserved his wonted courteous calmness, it would be a very Victory
+of Suffering: the effect upon his predecessor would be instantly fatal.
+
+The arms looked tolerably clean and serviceable; but bridle-bits,
+bosses, spurs, and accoutrements were crusted with rust and grime;
+boots, buttons, and clothing were innocent of the brush as the horses'
+coats of the curry-comb. The most careful grooming could not have made
+the generality of these animals look anything but ragged and
+weedy--rather dear at the Government price of 115-120 dollars,--and
+their housings were not calculated to set them off to advantage. The
+saddle--a modification of the Mexican principle of raw-hide stretched
+over a wooden frame--carries little metal-work; it is lighter, I think,
+than ours, and more abruptly peaked, but not uncomfortable; being thrown
+well off the spine and withers, there is little danger of sore backs
+with ordinary care in settling the cloth or blanket. The heavy clog of
+wood and leather, closed in front, and only admitting the fore-part of
+the foot, which serves as a stirrup, is unsightly in the extreme; its
+advantages are said to be, protection from the weather, and the
+impossibility of the rider's entanglement: but the sole has no grip
+whatever, and rising to give full effect to a sabre-cut would be out of
+the question. Besides a halter, a single rein, attached to rather a
+clumsy bit, is the usual trooper's equipment: to this is attached the
+inevitable ring-martingale, without which few Federal cavaliers, civil
+or military, would consider themselves safe.
+
+I cannot conceive such an anomaly as a thorough Yankee _horseman_.
+Given--one, or a span of trotters, to be yoked after the neatest
+fashion, and to be driven gradually and scientifically up to
+top-speed--the Northerner is quite at home, and can give you a wrinkle
+or two worth keeping. But this habit of hauling at horses, who often go
+as much on the bit as on the traces, is destructive to "hands." If the
+late lamented Assheton Smith were compelled to witness the equitation
+here, he would suffer almost as much as Macaulay in the purgatory which
+Canon Sidney imagined for the historian. I have discussed that
+Martingale-question with several good judges and breeders of American
+blood-stock, but I never could get them _quite_ to agree in the
+absurdity of tying down a colt's head for the rest of his natural life,
+without regard to his peculiar propensities--star-gazing, boring, or
+neutral. The custom, of course, never could prevail where men were in
+the habit of crossing a country; but an American horse is scarcely ever
+put at anything beyond the ruins of a rail fence, and there are few,
+north of the Potomac, that I should like to ride at four feet of stiff
+timber. It is very different in the South, where many men from infancy
+pass their out-door life in the saddle: from what I have heard,
+Carolina, Louisiana, and Georgia--to say nothing of the wild Texan
+rangers--could show riders who, when the first strangeness had worn off,
+would hold their own tolerable in England, over a fair hunting country,
+in any ordinary run.
+
+On the outbreak of the war, volunteers enlisted in the Federal cavalry,
+who--far from being able to manage a horse--could not bridle one without
+assistance; and a conscript, who could keep his saddle through an entire
+day, without "taking a voluntary," was considered by his fellows as a
+credit to the regiment, and almost an accomplished dragoon. Such a thing
+as a military riding-school has, I believe, never been thought of, away
+from West Point; the drill is simply that of mounted infantry. Things
+are better now than they were; a Federal cavalryman can at least sit
+saddle-fast, to receive and return a sabre-cut; there have been some
+sharp skirmishes of late, and, allowing for exaggeration, Averill's
+encounter with Fitzhugh Lee brought out real work on both sides.
+
+Looking at that squalid encampment, it was easy to realize all one had
+heard of the mortality among the horses in the Army of the Potomac,
+where no natural causes could justify it. Unless some sympathy exists
+between the two--unless the trooper takes some pride or interest in the
+animal he rides beyond that of being conveyed safely from point to
+point--it is vain to expect that the comforts of the latter will be
+greatly cared for. General orders are powerless here, and the personal
+supervision of the officers--even if "stables" were as carefully
+attended as in our own service--would only touch the surface of the
+evil. That utter absence of _esprit du corps_ and soldierly
+self-respect, has cost the Federal treasury many millions; nor will the
+drain ever cease till "re-mounts" shall be no more needed.
+
+The foregoing remarks apply exclusively to the _tenue_ of the privates
+and non-commissioned officers; those of superior rank that I met were
+tolerably correct, both in dress and equipment; several, indeed, were
+mounted on really powerful chargers, and rode them not amiss, though
+with a seat as unprofessional as can be conceived.
+
+The military loungers certainly monopolize all the leisure of
+Washington--by day at least; for, if all tales are true, the
+legislators, in the evening and small hours, are wont to unbend somewhat
+freely from their labors; and the Senate acts wisely, in not risking
+through a night session the little dignity it has left to lose. But,
+with few exceptions, every civic face meets you with the same anxious,
+worried look of unsatisfied craving; there is hunger in all the
+restless, eager eyes, and the thin, impatient lips work nervously, as if
+scarcely able to repress the cry which the children of the horse-leech
+have uttered since the beginning of time. It is easy to understand this,
+when you remember that, at such a season, there gathers here, besides
+the legion of politicians and partisans, and the mighty army of
+contractors, a vaster host of persons interested in the private bills
+submitted to Congress, and of candidates for the numerous places of
+preferment which are being vacated and created daily. Before the
+smallest of these has lain open for an hour, there will be scores of
+shrill claimants wrangling over it, summoned from the four winds of
+heaven by the unerring instinct of the Rapacidæ.
+
+Every one of any official or political standing can either influence or
+dispose of a certain amount of patronage; to such, life must sometimes
+be made a heavy burden. Human nature shrinks from the contemplation of
+what each successive President must be doomed to undergo. His nerves
+ought to be of iron, and his conscience of brass, or a Gold Coast
+Governorship might prove a less dangerous dignity. The character best
+fitted for the post would be such an one as Gallio, the tranquil cynic
+of Antioch.
+
+Marking, and hearing these things, I thoroughly appreciated an anecdote
+told me on board the Asia. At Mobile, in 1849, the Philadelphian met
+President Polk, then on his way home from Washington, his term having
+just expired. He took up office--a cheery, sanguine man, quite as
+healthy as the generality of his compatriots at forty-five; he laid it
+down--a helpless invalid, shattered in body and mind, past hope of
+revival. My informant, who knew him well, was much shocked at the
+change, but tried to console the ex-President, by speaking of the
+important measures that made his administration one of the most eventful
+since that of Washington; hinting that such grave responsibility and
+continual excitement might well account for exhaustion and reaction. The
+sick man shook his head drearily, and put the implied compliment aside:
+he was past such vanities then.
+
+"You're wrong," he said. "It isn't Oregon, or Mexico, or Texas, but the
+office-hunters that have brought me--where I am."
+
+In that answer there was the simple solemnity, that attaches to the
+lightest words of the dying. Sixty days later the speaker was "sleeping
+down in Tennessee," never more to be vexed by the clamor of the
+cormorants, or waked by the clients keeping watch at his door. Nor was
+he a solitary victim. General Taylor did not live to see half his duty
+done, and the atmosphere of the White House, in one month, proved fatal
+to Harrison.
+
+To a disinterested spectator--especially if he chance to be of indolent
+temperament--there is something very irritating in the ceaseless crowd,
+and hurry, and din. From early morning till long past midnight, you
+might search in vain, through any one of the principal hotels, for a
+quiet nook to write or read in, unless it were found in your own
+chamber, where the appliances of comfort are more than limited. All
+private sitting-rooms are instantly engaged at fabulous prices, and, in
+the public parlors the feminine element reigns with no divided sway. It
+is difficult to appreciate even newspaper "leader," with a prattle and
+titter around, wherein mingle tunes, not _quite_ so low and sweet as the
+voice of Cordelia. Those energetic civilians never seem at rest or at
+ease; they snatch their frequent drinks, upstanding and covered, as if
+they were just a minute behindhand for some appointment, and bolt their
+food, as if dinner were a necessary medicinal evil.
+
+Soothe to say, the edibles do not deserve much better treatment: the
+whole commissariat arrangements in the hotels is supremely
+uncomfortable. The guests feed separately, but no dinner can be served
+in the public rooms after five, P. M.. You can choose to any
+extent, from a sufficiently ample, though very simple, _carte_; but your
+repast arrives _en masse_, no matter into how many courses it ought
+naturally to be divided, and is set down before you in uncovered dishes.
+Of course, when you arrive at the last, it retains scarcely a memory of
+the fire. I saw some of the _indigènes_ obviate the inconvenience, by
+taking fish, flesh, and fowl on their plate at one and the same time,
+consuming the impromptu "olla" with a rapid impartial voracity; but so
+bold an innovation on old-world customs would hardly suit a stranger.
+All liquors are rather high in price and lower in quality than one would
+expect, considering the place and season; but the sum charged for
+unstinted board and a tolerable bed (from two to two and a half dollars
+per diem), is reasonable enough, especially during the present
+depreciation of the currency.
+
+Out-door scenes were not much more attractive. The three-months' reign
+of Jupiter Pluvius, which has made this spring evilly notorious, had
+just begun in earnest. In the main avenues, on either side of the
+rail-track of the cars, the mud was a trifle deeper than that of a
+cross-lane, in winter, in the Warwickshire clays. To traverse the
+by-streets comfortably, you require rather a clever animal over a
+country, and especially good in "dirt;" they are intersected by frequent
+brooks, much wider and deeper than that celebrated one which tested the
+prowess of "_le bonhomme Briggs_." There are rough stepping-stones at
+some of the crossings, and the passage of these, after nightfall,
+resembles greatly that of a "shaking" bog, where the traveler has to
+leap from tussock to moss-hag with agile audacity; the consequences of a
+false step being, in both cases, about the same. I began to think,
+regretfully of certain rugged continental _pavés_ execrated in days gone
+by; they, at least, had a firm bottom, more or less remote.
+
+The public buildings of Washington do not attempt architectural display:
+with scarcely an exception, they are severely simple and square. But
+there is a certain grandeur in the masses of white marble, which is
+everywhere lavishly employed, and the Capitol stands right well--alone,
+on the crest of a low, abrupt slope, with nothing to intercept the view
+from its terraces, seaward, and up the valley of the Potomac. The effect
+will probably be better when wind and weather shall have slightly toned
+down the sheen of the fresh-hewn stones, so dazzling now as almost to
+tire the eye.
+
+I lingered some time in the stranger galleries of Congress, but--"a
+plague on both their Houses"--there was no question of stirring interest
+before either. I had hoped to see at least one Representative committed
+to the custody of the Sergeant-at-Arms; but, on that day, the
+hardly-worked official had rest from his labors. Only a few hours later,
+an irascible Senator (from Delaware, I think) created a temporary
+excitement by defying first his political opponent, and then generally
+all powers that be, eventually displaying the revolver, which is the
+_ratio ultima_, of so many Transatlantic debates. I heard some "tall
+talking," enforced by much energy of gesture and resonance of tone; but
+not a period veiling on eloquence. The speakers generally seemed to have
+studied in the simple school of the "stump" or the tavern, and, when at
+a loss for an argument, would introduce a diatribe against the South, or
+a declaration of fidelity to the Union, very much as they might have
+proposed a toast or sentiment, supremely disregardful of such trifles as
+relevancy or connection. The retort--more or less courteous--seemed much
+favored by these honest rhetoricians, and appreciated by the galleries,
+who at such times applauded sympathetically, in despite of menace or
+intercession of Vice-President or Speaker. Nobody, indeed, took much
+notice of either of these two dignitaries; and they appeared perfectly
+reconciled to their position. You would not often find orators and
+audience understand one another more thoroughly; the easy freedom of the
+whole concern was quite festive in its informality.
+
+Having secured a portion of my English letters (one or more were
+retained for the recreation, and, I hope, improvement of the
+post-official mind), nothing detained me in Washington beyond the fourth
+morning. I turned northwards the more cheerfully, because it involved
+escape from a certain chamber-maiden, to whose authority I was subjected
+at the Metropolitan--the most austere tyrant that ever oppressed a
+traveler. That grim White Woman might have paired with the Ancient
+Mariner--she was so deep-voiced, and gaunt, and wan. On the few
+occasions when I ventured to summon her, she would "hold me with her
+glittering eye" till I quailed visibly beneath it, utterly scorning and
+rejecting some mild attempts at conciliation. I am certain she suspected
+me of meditating some black private or public treachery; and I know
+there was joy in that granite heart when circumstances brought me, at
+last, in my innocence, before the bar of her offended country. On that
+fourth morning, however, the mood of Sycorax seemed to change; there was
+a ghastly gayety in her manner, and on her rigid lips an Homeric smile,
+more terrible than a frown. Then I pondered within myself--"If her hate
+be heavy to bear, what--what--would her love be?" The unutterable horror
+of the idea gave me courage that I might otherwise have lacked, to
+confess my intentions of absconding. But I avow that the liberality of
+the parting largesse is to be attributed to the meanest motives--of
+personal fear.
+
+On the railway platform, shaking the mud of Washington from my drenched
+boots, I purposed never to return thither. But I reckoned without my
+future hosts, MM. Seward and Stanton, who, though I have trespassed on
+their hospitality, now for some weeks, seem still loth to let me go.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+CAPUA.
+
+
+The southward approach to Baltimore is very well managed. The railroad
+makes an abrupt curve, as it sweeps round the marshy woodlands through
+which the Patapsco opens into the bay; so that you have a fair view of
+the entire city, swelling always upwards from the water's edge, on a
+cluster of low, irregular hills, to the summit of Mount Vernon. From
+that highest point soars skyward a white, glistening pillar crowned by
+Washington's statue. I have seldom seen a monument better placed, and it
+is worthy of its advantages. The figure retains much of the strength and
+grace for which in life it was renowned, and, if ever features were
+created, worthy of the deftest sculptor and the purest marble, such,
+surely, was the birthright of that noble, serene face.
+
+No one, that has sojourned in Washington, can be ten minutes in
+Baltimore without being aware of a great and refreshing change. You
+leave the hurry and bustle of traffic behind at the railway station, and
+are never subjected to such nuisances till you return thither. Even in
+the exclusively commercial squares of the city there reigns comparative
+leisure, for, except in the establishments of government contractors, or
+others directly connected with the supply of the army, business is by no
+means brisk just now. You may pass through Baltimore street, the main
+artery bisecting the town from east to west, at any hour, without
+encountering a denser or busier throng than you would meet in Regent
+street, any afternoon _out_ of the season, and, about the usual
+promenade time, the proportion of fair _flâncuses_, to the meaner
+masculine herd, would be nearly the same.
+
+I betook myself to Guy's hotel, which had been recommended to me as
+quiet and comfortable: for many people it would have been _too_ quiet.
+The black waiters carried the science of "taking things easy" to a rare
+perfection; they were thoroughly polite, and even kindly in manner, and
+never dreamed of objecting to any practicable order, but--as for
+carrying it out within any specified time--_altra cosa_. After a few
+vain attempts and futile remonstrances, the prudent and philosophical
+guest would recognize resignedly the absolute impossibility of obtaining
+breakfast, however simple, under forty-five minutes from the moment of
+commanding the same; indeed that was very good time, and I positively
+aver that I have waited longer for eggs, tea, and toast. I never tried
+abuse or reproach, for I chanced, early in my stay, to be present when
+an impatient traveler voided the vials of his wrath on the head of the
+chief attendant: insisting, with many strange oaths, on his right to
+obtain cooked food, of some sort, within the half-hour.
+
+Years ago, I was amused, at the _Gaietés_, by a common-place scene
+enough of stage-temptation. _Madelon_, driven into her last
+intrenchments by the sophistries of the wily aristocrat, objected
+timidly, "_Mais, Monseigneur, j'aime mon mari._" For a moment the
+_Marquis_ was surprised, and seemed to reflect. Then he said,
+"_Tiens--tu aimes ton mari? C'est bizarre: mais--après tout--ce n'est
+pas defendu._" As he spoke, he smiled upon his simple vassal--evidently
+wavering between amusement and compassion.
+
+With just such a smile--allowing for the exaggeration of the African
+physiognomy--did "Leonoro" contemplate his victim, and me, the
+bystander, and then sauntered slowly from the room, without uttering one
+word. It was a great moral lesson, and I profited by it. But, in truth,
+there was little to complain of; the quarters were clean and
+comfortable, and one got, in time, as much as any reasonable man could
+desire. The arrangements are on the European system, _i.e._, there are
+no fixed hours for meals, which are ordered from the _carte_, and no
+fixed charge for board. I should have remained there permanently, had it
+not been for one objection, which eventually overcame my aversion to
+change. The basement story of the house was occupied by a bar and oyster
+saloon; the pungent testaceous odors, mounting from those lower regions,
+gave the offended nostrils no respite or rest; in a few minutes, a
+robust appetite, albeit watered by cunning bitters, would wither, like a
+flower in the fume of sulphur. Half-a-dozen before dinner, have always
+satiated my own desire for these mollusks; before many days were over, I
+utterly abominated the name of the species; familiarity only made the
+nuisance more intolerable, and I fled at last, fairly _ostracised_. How
+the _habitués_ stood it was a mystery, till I recognized the fact, that
+there is no accident of pleasure or pain to which humanity is liable, no
+antecedent of rest or exertion, no untimeliness of hour or incongruity
+of place, which will render an apple or an oyster inopportune to an
+American _bourgeois_.
+
+My first visit in Baltimore was to the British Consul, to whom I brought
+credentials from a member of the Washington Legation. I shall not easily
+forget the many courtesies, for which I have never adequately thanked
+Mr. Bernal: few English travelers leave Baltimore, without carrying away
+grateful recollections of his pleasant house in Franklin street, and
+without having received some kindness, social or substantial, from the
+fair hands which dispense its hospitalities so gently and gracefully.
+
+On that same evening my name was entered as an honorary member of the
+Maryland Club. It would be absurd to compare this institution with the
+palaces of our own metropolis; but, in all respects, it may fairly rank
+with the best class of yacht clubs. You find there, besides the ordinary
+writing and reading accommodation, a pleasant lounge from early
+afternoon to early morning; a fair French cook, pitilessly monotonous in
+his _carte_; a good steady rubber at limited points; and a perfect
+billiard-room. In this last apartment it is well worth while to linger,
+sometimes, for half an hour, to watch the play, if the "Chief" chances
+to be there. I have never seen an amateur to compare with this great
+artist, for certainty and power of cue. A short time before my arrival,
+at the carom game, on a table without pockets, he scored 1,015 on _one
+break_. I heard this from a dozen eye-witnesses.
+
+I went through many introductions that evening; and, in the next
+fortnight, received ample and daily proofs of the proverbial hospitality
+of Baltimore. There are residents--praisers of the time gone by, who
+cease not to lament the convivial decadence of the city; but such
+deficiency is by no means apparent to a stranger.
+
+If _gourmandize_ be the favorite failing in these parts, there is surely
+some excuse for the sinners. Probably no one tract on earth, of the same
+extent, can boast of so many delicacies peculiar to itself, as the
+shores of the Chesapeake. Of these, the most remarkable is the
+"terrapin": it is about the size of a common land tortoise, and haunts
+the shallow waters of the bay and the salt marshes around. They say he
+was a bold man who first ate an oyster; a much more undaunted
+experimentalist was the first taster of the terrapin. I strongly advise
+no one to look at the live animal, till he has thoroughly learnt to like
+the savory meat; _then_ he will be enabled to laugh all qualms and
+scruples to scorn. Comparisons have been drawn between the terrapin and
+the turtle--very absurdly; for, beyond the fact of both being
+testudines, there is not a point of resemblance. Individually, I
+prefer the tiny "diamond-back" to his gigantic congener, as more
+delicate and less cloying to the palate. Then there is the superb
+"canvas-back,"--peerless among water-fowl--never eaten in perfection out
+of sight of the sandbanks where he plucks the wild sea-celery; and, in
+their due season, "soft crabs," and "bay mackerel." Last of all, there
+are oysters (well worth the name!) of every shape, color, and size. They
+assert that the "cherrystones" are superior to our own Colchester
+natives in flavor: for reasons before stated, I cared not to contest the
+point.
+
+A dinner based upon these materials, with a saddle of five-year-old
+mutton from the Eastern Shore, as the main _pièce de résistance_, might
+have satisfied the defunct Earl Dudley, of fastidious memory. The wines
+deserve a separate paragraph.
+
+For generations past, there has prevailed a great rivalry and emulation
+amongst the Amphitryons of Baltimore. They seem to have taken as much
+pride in their cellars, as a Briton might do in his racing or hunting
+stables--bestowing the same elaborate care on their construction and
+management. The prices given for rare brands appear fabulous, even to
+those who have heard at home, three or four "commissioners" at an
+auction, with plenipotentiary powers, disputing the favorite bin of some
+deceased Dean or Don. But when you consider, what the lost interest on
+capital lying dormant for seventy years will amount to, the apparent
+extravagance of cost is easily accounted for.
+
+That is no uncommon age for Madeira. No European palate can form an idea
+of this wonderful wine; for, when in mature perfection, it is utterly
+ruined by transport beyond the seas. The vintages of Portugal and
+Hungary are thin and tame beside the puissant liquor that, after half a
+century's subjection to southern suns, enters slowly on its prime, with
+abated fire, but undiminished strength. Drink it _then_, and you will
+own, that from the juice of no other grape can be drawn such subtlety of
+flavor, such delicacy of fragrance, passing the perfume of flowers.
+Climate of course is the first consideration. I believe Baltimore and
+Savannah limit, northward and southward, the region wherein the maturing
+process can be thoroughly perfected.
+
+Those pleasant banquets began early, about 5 P. M., and were indefinitely
+prolonged; for cigars are not supposed to interfere with the proper
+appreciation of Madeira, and the revelers here cherish the honest old
+English custom of chanting over their liquor. Closing my eyes now, so as
+to shut out the dingy drab walls of this my prison-chamber, I can call
+up one of those cheery scenes quite distinctly: I can hear the "Chief's"
+voice close at my ear, trolling forth the traditional West Point ditty
+of "Benny Havens," or the rude sea-ballad, full of quaint pathos:--
+
+     'Twas a Friday morning when we set sail;
+
+then--deeper and fuller tones, rolling out Barry Cornwall's sonorous
+verses of "King Death." It is good to look back on hours like these,
+though I doubt if the ill-cooked meats, whereof I hope soon to
+partake--not unthankfully--will be improved by the memory.
+
+In spite of this large hospitality, instances even of individual excess
+are comparatively rare. I have seen more aberration of intellect and
+convivial eccentricity after a Greenwich dinner, or a heavy
+"guest-night," than was displayed at any one of these Baltimore
+entertainments: a stranger endowed with a fair constitution, abstaining
+from morning drinks, and paying attention to the Irishman's paternal
+advice--"Keep your back from the fire, and don't mix your liquors"--may
+take his place, with comfort and confidence.
+
+But my social recollections of Baltimore are by no means exclusively
+bacchanalian. British stock, lamentably at a discount in other parts of
+the Union, is, perhaps, a trifle above par here. The popularity of our
+representatives--masculine and feminine--may have something to do with
+this; at any rate, the avenues of the best and pleasantest circles are
+easily opened to any Englishman of warranted position and name.
+
+If a traveler were to enter a drawing-room here, expecting to be
+surprised at every turn by some incongruity of speech or demeanor, such
+as book-makers have attributed to our American cousins, he would not
+fill a page of his mental note-book. I had no such prejudices to be
+disappointed. After experience of society in many lands, I begin to
+think that well-bred and educated people speak and behave after much the
+same fashion all the world over. Few Baltimorean voices are free from a
+perceptible accent; it is more marked in the gentler sex, but rarely so
+strong as to be disagreeable. The ear is never offended by the New
+England twang, or Connecticut drawl, and some tones rang true as silver.
+
+You hear, of course, occasional peculiarities of expression, and words
+somewhat distorted from our Anglican meaning, but these are not much
+more frequent or strange than provincial idioms at home. I was only once
+fairly puzzled in this wise.
+
+It was at a public "assembly." I had just been presented to the
+
+     Queen rose of a rosebud garden of girls,
+
+a very gazelle, too, for litheness and grace; the music of the _Sirène_
+had begun, and my arm had encircled my partner's willowy waist; when I
+felt her hang back, and saw on her fair face a distressed look of
+penitence and perplexity: "I'm so sorry," she murmured, "but I can't
+dance _loose_." Perfectly vague as to her meaning, I assured her that
+she should be guided after as _serree_ a fashion as she chose; but this
+evidently did not touch the difficulty. By the merest chance, I observed
+that all the cavaliers put themselves, as it were, in position, their
+left hand locked in the right of their _valseuse_, before making a
+start, omitting the preliminary paces that get you well into the swing.
+It was all plain sailing then, and swift sailing, too; the rest of the
+performance was completed with perfect unanimity, much to my own
+satisfaction, and, I trust, not to the discontent of my fairy-footed
+charge.
+
+The freedom and independent self-reliance of the Baltimorean
+_demoiselles_ is very remarkable. At home they receive and entertain
+their own friends, of either sex, quite naturally, and--taking their
+walks abroad, or returning from an evening party--trust themselves
+unhesitatingly to the escort of a single cavalier. Yet, you would
+scarcely find a solitary imitation of the "fast girls" who have been
+giving our own ethical writers so much uneasiness of late. It speaks
+well for the tone of society, where such a state of things can prevail
+without fear and without reproach. Though Baltimore breeds gossips,
+numerous and garrulous as is the wont of provincial cities, I never
+heard a slander or a suspicion leveled against the most intrepid of
+those innocent Unas.
+
+From the _morale_ one must needs pass to the _personel_. On the
+appearance of a _debutante_, they say, the first question in Boston is,
+"Is she clever?" In New York, "Is she wealthy?" In Philadelphia, "Is she
+well-born?" In Baltimore, "Is she beautiful?" And, for many years past,
+common report has conceded the Golden Apple to the Monumental city. I
+think the distinction has been fairly won.
+
+The small, delicate features, the long, liquid, iridescent eyes, the
+sweet, indolent _morbidezza_, that make southern beauty so perilously
+fascinating, are not uncommon here, and are often united to a clearness
+and brilliancy of complexion scarcely to be found nearer the tropics.
+The Upper Ten Thousand by no means monopolize these personal advantages.
+At the hour of "dress parade" you cannot walk five steps without
+encountering a face well worthy of a second look. Occasionally, too, you
+catch a provokingly brief glimpse of a high, slender instep, and an
+ankle modeled to match it. The fashion of Balmorals and kilted kirtles
+prevails not here; and maids and matrons are absurdly reluctant to
+submit their pedal perfections to the passing critic. Even on a day when
+it is a question of Mud _v._ Modesty, you may escort an intimate
+acquaintance for an hour, and depart, doubting as to the color of her
+hosen. But, conceding the justice of Baltimore's claim, and the constant
+recurrence of a more than _stata pulchritudo_--I am bound to confess
+that, with a single exception, I saw nothing approaching _supreme_
+perfection of form or feature.
+
+The exception was a very remarkable one.
+
+I write these words, as reverently as if I were drawing the portrait of
+the fair Austrian Empress, or any other crowned beauty: indeed, I always
+looked on that face, simply as a wonderful picture, and so I remember it
+now. I have never seen a countenance more faultlessly lovely. The _pose_
+of the small head, and the sweep of the neck, resembled the miniatures
+of Giulia Grisi in her youth, but the lines were more delicately drawn,
+and the _contour_ more refined; the broad open forehead, the brows
+firmly arched, without an approach to heaviness, the thin chiselled
+nostril and perfect mouth, cast in the softest feminine mould, reminded
+you of the First Napoleon. Quick mobility of expression would have been
+inharmonious there. With all its purity of outline, the face was not
+severe or coldly statuesque--only superbly serene, not lightly to be
+ruffled by any sudden revulsion of feeling; a face, of which you never
+realized the perfect glory till the pink-coral tint flushed faintly
+through the clear pale cheeks, while the lift of the long trailing
+lashes revealed the magnificent eyes, lighting up, slowly and surely, to
+the full of their stormy splendor. It chanced, that the lady was a
+vehement Unionist, and "rose," very freely, on the subject of the war.
+Sincere in her honest patriotism, I doubt if she ever guessed at the
+real object of her opponent in the arguments which not unfrequently
+arose. If there be any indiscretion in this pen-and-ink sketch from
+nature, I should bitterly regret the involuntary error, though its
+subject, to the world in general, remains nameless as Lenore.
+
+There is another peculiarity of Baltimore society, which a stranger will
+only perceive when he has passed withinside its porches. It is divided,
+not only into sets, but, as it were, into clans. Several of the leading
+families, generally belonging to the territorial aristocracy (let the
+word stand) that took root in the State at, or soon after, its
+settlement, have so intermarried, as to create the most curious net of
+cousinship, the meshes of which are yearly becoming more intricate and
+numerous. Yet there are no especial indications of exclusiveness or
+spirit of _clique_; rather it is the homely feeling of kinsmanship,
+which makes the intercourse of relations more familiar and
+unceremonious, than that of intimate acquaintances or friends.
+
+Cadets from many powerful houses in all the three kingdoms, were among
+the early colonists of Maryland. It is good to mark, how gallantly the
+"old blood" hold its own, even here; how, the descendants of soldiers
+and statesmen have already attained the pride of place that their
+ancestors won at home centuries ago, by a like valiance of sword,
+tongue, or pen. Take one family, for instance, with whose members I was
+fortunate enough to be especially intimate.
+
+For generations past, the Howards have been men of mark in Maryland.
+Wherever hard or famous work was to be done, in field or senate, one, at
+least, of the name was sure to be found in the front. The present head
+of the family sustains right well the reputations of the worthies who
+went before him. A staunch friend and an uncompromising
+adversary--valuing political honesty no more lightly than private
+honor--liberal and unsuspicious to a fault in his social relations--very
+frank and simple in speech--in manner always courteous and cordial--it
+would be hard to find, in Europe, an apter representative of the ancient
+régime. I believe, that those who really know General Howard, will not
+consider this sketch a flattery or an exaggeration. He was a candidate
+for the Governorship at the last election, and so powerful was his
+acknowledged personal _prestige_, that, in despite of overt intimidation
+and secret influences, which made a free voting an absurdity, the Black
+Republicans exulted over his withdrawal as an important victory.
+
+Though ordinary business is so slack in Baltimore just at present,
+almost every male resident, not engaged in law or physic, has, or
+supposes himself to have, something to do. Instances of absolute
+idleness are very rare. So, by ten, A. M., all the men betake themselves
+to their offices, and there busy themselves about their affairs, after a
+fashion, energetic or desultory, till after two o'clock. The dinner hour
+varies from three to half-past five. Post-prandial labor is generally
+declined; wisely, too, for few American digestions will bear trifling
+with; though Nature must have gifted some of my acquaintance with a
+marvellous internal mechanism. How, otherwise, could they stand a long
+unbroken course of free living, with such infinitesimal correctives of
+exercise? The evening is spent after each man's fancy--at the club, or
+at one of the many houses where a familiar is certain to meet a welcome,
+and more or less of pleasant company. The entertainments are often more
+extensive and formal, embracing, of course, music, and such are
+invariably wound up by a supper. I have heard certain of our seniors
+grow quite pathetic over the abolition of those social, if unsalubrious,
+repasts. I wonder at such regrets no longer, if I cannot share them.
+There is surely an hilarious informality about these _media-nochi_ that
+attaches to no antecedent feast; the freedom of a picnic, without its
+manifold inconveniences: as the witching hour draws nearer, the
+"brightest eyes that ever have shone" glitter yet more gloriously, till
+in their nearer and dearer splendor a Chaldean would forget the stars;
+and the "sweetest lips that ever were kissed" sip the creaming Verzenay,
+or savor the delicate "olio," with a keener honesty of zest. The
+supper-tables are almost always adorned by some of the pretty, quaint
+conceits of an artist, whose fame extends far beyond Baltimore. Mr.
+Hermann's ice-imitations of all fruits and flowers, are marvellously
+vivid and natural: I have never seen them equalled by any continental
+_glaciers_.
+
+I have lingered, perhaps, too long over too trifling details; and yet, I
+wish I had done my subject more justice. Be it remembered, that I
+visited Baltimore at a season of unusual social depression. I do not
+speak of the stagnation in commerce, and the ruin of Southern interests
+and possessions, from which many have suffered heavy pecuniary loss: the
+effects of the war come home to the fair city yet more sharply. For
+months past the best part of her _jeunesse dorèe_ have been fighting--as
+only the daintily born and bred _can_ fight, at bitter need--in the van
+of Southern armies.
+
+Every fresh rumor of battle adds to the crowd of pale, anxious faces,
+and every bulletin lengthens the list of mourners. There are few
+families, Federal or Secessionist, who have not relatives--none that
+have not dear friends--exposed to hourly peril, from disease, if not
+from lead or steel. The suspense felt in England during the Crimean or
+Indian wars, cannot be compared to that which many here are forced to
+endure. _We_ knew, at least, where our soldiers were, and heard often
+how they fared: their sickness, wounds, and deaths were all recorded.
+But the scenes of this war's vast theatre are so often shifted, and
+communication with the remoter parts of the Southwest is so uncertain,
+that months will elapse without a line of tidings from the absent; the
+grass has grown and withered again, over many graves, before the weary
+hearts at home knew that the time was past, for waiting, and watching,
+and prayers.
+
+The last season in New York, they say, has been the gayest known for
+many years. The _nouveaux riches_ have been spending their ill or well
+gotten gains right royally. But the temptations to exuberant festivity
+are few indeed in Baltimore, just now: with all that they have to endure
+and fear, it speaks well for the hardihood of her citizens, that they
+can maintain even a chastened cheerfulness.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+FRIENDS IN COUNCIL.
+
+
+I may not deny that I found the places in which my lines were just then
+cast exceedingly pleasant: if no serious purpose had been before me I
+could have been contented to sojourn there till spring had waned. But it
+is some satisfaction now to be able to think and say--I do say it, in
+perfect honesty and sincerity--that I did not lose sight of my journey's
+main object for one single day from first to last. Indeed I should have
+felt far more impatient of delay had it not been for the continuance of
+foul weather, and recurrence of heavy storms, which made armies no less
+than individuals, impotent to act or move. On the morning following my
+arrival, I took counsel with one who was, perhaps, better able to advise
+me as to my future course than any one then resident in Baltimore:
+certainly none could have been more heartily willing to help, both in
+word and deed. I owe to that man much more than a debt of ordinary
+hospitality. To say that his courtesy and cordiality were marked, where
+benevolence to a stranger is the rule, would very faintly express the
+personal trouble he undertook and the personal risk he incurred in his
+efforts to facilitate and further my purposes. Up to this moment I do
+not believe that he has grudged one whit of all this, much as he may
+have chafed at all having proved unavailing. I am right sorry that
+prudence forbids my chronicling here a name which will always stand high
+on my muster-roll of friends; but the memory of almost any Englishman
+who has visited Baltimore will fill up the blank that I must leave
+perforce.
+
+It seemed that there was a choice of two routes into Secessia. The
+first--in many respects the easiest, and far the most traveled--lay
+through the lower counties of Maryland: the narrow peninsula on which
+Leonardstown is situated forming the starting point, whence the
+blockade-runner took to cross the Lower Potomac--there, from four to
+eight miles wide. It was necessary to run the gauntlet of several
+gun-boats and smaller craft; but traffic at that particular time was
+carried on with tolerable regularity, and captures, though not
+unfrequent, were, so far, exceptions to a rule. On the land route,
+before reaching the point of embarkation, lay the chief difficulties. A
+horseman traveling with saddle-bags, became at once a suspicious
+personage, liable everywhere to jealous scrutiny. The main roads were
+already becoming so cut up as to be traversed only with great toil and
+difficulty by ordinary vehicles, while the cross roads were simply
+impassable by wheels. The principal turnpikes still hard enough to carry
+a "stage," _e. g._, that from Washington to Leonardstown, were more
+carefully guarded, and picketed at certain points, especially bridges.
+At any one of these points, a search might be apprehended, and anything
+beyond the simplest necessaries was liable to seizure as contraband of
+war; personal arrest might possibly follow, but the Federal outposts
+were said to content themselves, as a rule, with confiscation and
+appropriation, unless any documents of a compromising nature were found.
+Such a course was obviously pleasanter for all parties, than sending in
+prisoners--with their effects. Now it so chanced, that in the
+modest--not to say scanty--outfit, which I thought it worth while to
+bring out from home, was a certain pair of riding boots, by which I set
+especial store. They were such as many of our field-officers now in
+Canada are in the habit of wearing--coming high up on the thigh,
+perfectly water-proof, but very light, and pliant as a glove. I saw
+nothing of American manufacture to compare with them. Some of my
+duck-shooting acquaintance at Baltimore were never weary of admiring
+their fair proportions; nor did my sage counselor, before alluded to,
+refuse his warm approbation; but he urged very strongly the hazard of my
+wearing them on my way to the Lower Potomac--to carry or transmit them
+otherwise was simply impossible. Nevertheless, neither Bombastes nor
+Dalgetty could have clung more obstinately to this favorite _chaussure_
+than did I to mine. I knew that in the South, where an ordinary pair of
+cavalry boots commands readily seventy dollars or more, they could not
+be matched, and I had not
+
+     Lived in the saddle for years a score,
+
+without learning that on a long march the value of thoroughly well
+fitting and comfortable nether integuments is "above rubies." And they
+did carry me right well and safely through many rough ways and much wild
+weather, impervious alike to water, mud, rain, or snow. I _will_ give
+honor where honor is due. Fagg, of Panton street, was the architect.[1]
+So I "set my foot down," literally and metaphorically, on this point,
+absolutely determined that boots and saddle-bags should share my
+fortunes. Eventually I compromised things, by investing in a colossal
+pair of overalls, warranted to smother and obliterate the proportions of
+any human legs, however encased beneath.
+
+[Footnote 1: If this looks like an "advertisement," I can't help it, and
+only say that it is a disinterested one; it may be long before I need
+water-proofs again, and I owe their deserving manufacturer nothing
+but--justice.]
+
+But during this discussion the other route came naturally into question.
+It was the one most generally attempted by horsemen, and during the last
+ten weeks had been traversed repeatedly with perfect success.
+
+In this neighborhood there were one or two fords, easily crossed at
+ordinary seasons, and only impassable after continuous downfalls of snow
+or rain. In fact, the chief obstacle was not the river but the
+Chesapeake and Ohio canal, which runs close along the northern bank from
+Cumberland to Washington. It is not broad, but very deep, muddy, and
+precipitous, nor could I hear of any one who had succeeded in getting a
+horse across it, or who had even made the attempt. The only passages
+were by bridges over, and culverts under, the water-way. These were, of
+course, zealously guarded; but it was possible, occasionally, to attack
+a picket with an irresistible "silver spear;" and several instances had
+lately occurred of sentinels keeping their eyes and ears shut fast
+during the brief time required for a small mounted party to pass their
+posts. I do not mean to insinuate that venality was the general rule; so
+far from this being the case, I understood that it was necessary to make
+such overtures with great caution, while the negotiation involved
+certain delay and possible failure. Detachments were constantly shifted
+from point to point, and regiments from station to station. Some corps
+were notoriously more accessible than others. According to common
+report, the recruits from New England, Massachusetts, and Connecticut
+were the easiest to deal with, and the subalterns were said to be
+usually open to a fair offer. But perhaps this was a scandal after all;
+for the Marylander holds the Yankee proper in such bitter dislike and
+contempt that he would miss no chance of a by-blow.
+
+Once over the river at this point and you were comparatively safe. There
+were no regular pickets or patrols on the further bank, and only
+scattered reconnoitering parties of cavalry were to be evaded. Under
+cover of darkness, with a good local guide, this was easily done--one
+long night's ride.
+
+To this route my Mentor and I did at last seriously incline, for good
+and sufficient reasons.
+
+The Southern "trooper" fares, I believe, far better in many ways than
+his Northern compeer. Besides being more carefully groomed and tended,
+he carries a rider better able to husband a failing animal's strength,
+so as to "nurse him home." But the "raiders" travel often far and fast
+through a country fetlock-deep on light land, where provender is scanty
+and shelter there is none. The daily wear and tear of horse-flesh during
+this last bitter winter has been something fearful, and even at the time
+I speak of the difficulty of obtaining a really serviceable "mount" in
+Virginia could hardly be over-estimated. From one thousand to one
+thousand five hundred dollars were spoken of as ordinary prices for a
+fair charger, and men willing to give that sum had been forced to go
+into South Carolina before they could suit themselves. In my own case
+the difficulty was increased; for in hard condition, without cloak,
+valise, or accoutrements, I drew fourteen stone one pound, in a common
+hunting-saddle. Now, an animal well up to that weight, with anything
+like action on a turn of speed, is right hard to find on the
+Transatlantic seaboard. Even in Maryland, where horse-flesh is
+comparatively plenty, and breeders of blood-stock abound, such a
+specimen is a rarity. Even among the stallions, I can scarcely remember
+one coming up to the standard of a real weight-carrier, with the
+exception of Black Hawk. I saw hundreds of active, wiry hackneys,
+excellently adapted for fast, _light_ work, either in shafts or under
+saddle; their courage and endurance, too, are beyond question; but
+looking at them with a view to long, repeated marches (where--if
+ever--you ought to have ten "pounds in hand"), I decided that they were
+about able to carry--the boots honorably mentioned above. However, after
+mature consideration and long debate, it was settled that I should, if
+possible, be mounted before starting, instead of trusting to chance
+beyond the border. This, of course, decided the selection of routes: no
+quadruped could cross the Lower Potomac.
+
+Some scores of miles up the country there lived, and I trust lives
+still, a certain small horse-dealer, a firm Secessionist at heart, well
+versed in the time-tables of the road southward; indeed, his house was,
+as it were, a principal station on the underground railway. He was
+reputed trustworthy, and fairly honest in traffic. I can indorse this
+conscientiously, only hoping that such a remarkable characteristic as
+the last named will not identify the individual to his hurt. I was at
+once put into communication with Mr. ---- Symonds, let us call him, for
+the sake of old hippic memories. He spoke confidently as to my ultimate
+prospects of getting across, without pretending to fix an exact day, or
+even week. Shortly before my arrival he had forwarded several travelers,
+who arrived at their journey's end without the slightest let or
+hindrance. I suppose there is no indiscretion in saying that Lord
+Hartington and Colonel Leslie were among the fortunate ones. Mr. Symonds
+"thought he had something that would suit me," and, a few days later,
+the animal and the dealer paraded for inspection in Baltimore.
+
+I was much pleased with both. The man seemed to understand his business
+thoroughly; without making extravagant promises, he expressed himself
+willing to serve my purpose to the utmost of his power, at any
+reasonable risk to himself, and spoke very moderately about the horse,
+asking for nothing more than a fair trial of his merits. I liked the
+animal better than anything I had seen so far. He was a dark-brown
+gelding, about 15.3, with strong, square hind-quarters, and a fair slope
+of shoulder--without much knee-action--but springy enough in his slow
+paces: his turn of speed was not remarkable, but he could last forever,
+and, if the ground were not too heavy, would gallop on easily for miles
+with a long, steady stride; like most Maryland-bred horses, he had
+wonderfully clean, flat legs: after the hardest day's work, I never saw
+a puff on them; he was not sulky or savage, but had a temper and will of
+his own; both of these, however, yielded, after a sharp wrangle or two,
+to the combined influence of coaxing and a pair of sharp English rowels:
+in the latter days of our acquaintance we never had a difference of
+opinion. Considering the scarcity of staunch horse-flesh, the price
+asked was very moderate, and I closed the bargain on the spot. I was
+assured that my new purchase was of the Black Hawk stock, and he was
+christened "Falcon" that same day.
+
+So Mr. Symonds departed, promising to set all possible wheels to work,
+and to inform me of the earliest opportunity for a start, the first
+_desideratum_ being, of course, a reliable guide.
+
+I cannot say that the hours of my detention hung heavily. The social
+attractions of the place were ample enough to fill up afternoons and
+evenings right pleasantly. In the mornings, whenever the weather was not
+pitilessly bad, I rode or drove through the country round.
+
+I think no one understands the full luxury of rapid motion without
+bodily exertion, till they have sat behind a pair of first-class
+American trotters. The "wagon," to begin with, is a mechanical triumph.
+It is wonderful to see such lightness combined with such strength and
+stability. I have seen one, after five years' constant usage over
+fearfully bad roads. It was owned by a man noted for reckless pace,
+where many Jehus drove furiously; not a bolt or joint had started, the
+hickory of shafts and spokes still seemed tough as hammered steel. These
+carriages are roomy enough, and fairly comfortable, when you are in
+them, but that same entrance is apt rather to puzzle a stranger. The
+fore and hind wheels are nearly the same height, and set very close
+together; even when the fore-carriage is turned so that they nearly
+lock, the space left for ascent between them is narrow indeed; this same
+arrangement renders, of course, impossible a sudden turn in a contracted
+circle. But the dames and demoiselles who put their trust in these rapid
+chariots, make a mock at such small difficulties. You are shamed into
+activity after once seeing your fair charge spring to her place, with
+graceful confidence, never soiling the skirt of her dainty robe.
+
+The team that I used to drive constantly were fair, but not remarkable
+performers; their best mile-time was a trifle under three minutes twenty
+seconds. Their owner had not had leisure to keep them in steady
+exercise, so that at first they were very skittish, and prone to break;
+but they soon settled down to their work, and then did not pull an ounce
+too much for pleasure, even when spinning along at top-speed, with their
+small lean heads thrust eagerly forward, after the fashion of the barbs
+called "Drinkers of the Wind." Once I drove, in single harness, a
+trotter whose time was close on two minutes forty-five seconds; but this
+is not considered anything extraordinary, and the outside price of such
+an animal would be under one thousand dollars: once "inside the forties"
+the fancy prices begin, and go up rapidly to four thousand dollars, or
+higher.
+
+It must be remembered that the roads in these parts cannot be compared,
+either for level or metal, with the highways over our champagne, they
+"cut up" fast in rough weather, and settle slowly, while the ground
+generally sinks and swells too abruptly to allow of a lengthened stretch
+at full speed. I often wished that the whole "turn-out" of which I have
+spoken could be transported, without the risk of sea-passage, into one
+of our eastern counties. I can hardly conceive a greater luxury to a
+"coachman" than sending such a pair along on the road leading into
+Norfolk from Newmarket.
+
+I had been some time in Baltimore before I was honored by an
+introduction to the most renowned--it is a bold word--of all its
+beauties. To many, even in England, the name of "Flora Temple" will not
+sound strange: her great feat of the mile in two minutes nineteen
+seconds has never yet been equaled, and for the last three years she has
+rested idly on her laurels, in default of any challenger to dispute her
+sovereignty of the turf. Her owner, W. Macdonald, Esq., resides within a
+short distance of the city, and, I doubt not, would receive any stranger
+with the same courtesy that he extended to me. His stables are well
+worth a visit, for, besides the fair champion, they contain several
+other trotters of no mean repute (one team, the "Chicago Chestnuts," is
+a notoriety), and the carriages exemplify every improvement of American
+manufacture. The building itself is very peculiar--perfectly circular,
+with a diameter of one hundred feet, and a dome-roof rising to fifty
+feet at the crown. In the centre is a large fountain of white marble,
+round which is a broad tan-ride, and outside this again the stalls,
+horse boxes, harness and carriage apartments.
+
+On the left-hand side of the entrance-arch is a large chamber,
+rush-strewn, like the firing-room of some ancient châtelaine, but
+brilliant with polished wood and metal, gorgeous with stained glass:
+that is the boudoir of the Queen of the Turf, and over the door-way are
+her titles of honor emblazoned. The Great Lady, as is the wont of her
+compeers, is somewhat capricious at times, and disinclined to parade her
+beauty before strangers; but she chanced to be in a special good humor
+that day, and allowed me to admire her "points" at leisure.
+
+It is hard to fancy a more faultless picture of compact activity and
+strength. Viewed from a distance, and, at first sight, her proportions
+deceive every one; you are surprised, indeed, when you come close to her
+withers, and find that you are standing by a veritable pony, barely
+reaching fourteen hands three inches. But look at the long slope of
+shoulder--the chest wide enough to give the largest lungs free play in
+their labor--the flat, square quarters, the muscular fullness of the
+upper limbs, so perfectly "let down," the clear, sinewy legs, without a
+curb-mark or windfall to tell tales of fearfully fast work and hard
+training--and you will wonder less how the championship was won. They
+say that the Queen was never fitter than now; yet since her zenith she
+has seldom rested, and is now long past the equine climacteric, and far
+advanced in her teens.
+
+This part of America is so constantly visited by my compatriots, that it
+may be well, while we are on this subject, to say a few words about the
+sporting resources of Maryland.
+
+There is very fair partridge-shooting in many districts. As I crossed
+the country in mid-winter, I could hardly judge of what the autumn cover
+would be; but I heard that of this there was no lack, and that in
+October the birds would lie right well, especially in the weedy
+stubbles, and along the brushy banks of water-courses. In many places a
+fair shot may reckon on from ten to fifteen brace, and I could name two
+guns that have not unfrequently bagged from thirty to fifty brace on the
+Eastern Shore; but I believe they shot with unusually "straight powder."
+There is a good show of woodcock at certain seasons; but it sounds
+strange to English ears when they speak of the season opening in June;
+the bird is much smaller than ours, weighing, I believe, about seven or
+eight ounces, and it is found much oftener in comparatively open ground
+than in thick woodland.
+
+But the royal sport of Maryland is the wildfowl shooting on the
+Chesapeake Bay. The best of the season was passed long before my
+arrival; but in two visits to Carroll's Island, I saw enough to feel
+sure that my Baltimore friends vaunted not its capabilities in vain. I
+cannot remember having seen elsewhere so promising a "ducking-point."
+Imagine a low, marshy peninsula, verging landward into stunted woods,
+full of irregular water-courses and stagnant pools--tapering off seaward
+into a mere spit of sand, on which reeds and bent-grass scarcely deign
+to grow, towards the extreme point, just where the neck is narrowest,
+are the "blinds"--ten or twelve in number--a long gunshot apart, in
+which the "fowlers" lurk, waiting for their prey. On either side stretch
+the broad estuary of the Gunpowder River, and the broader waters of the
+Chesapeake, along whose shallows lie the banks of the wild celery on
+which the canvas-back loves to feed. Changing these feeding-grounds soon
+after dawn and shortly before sunset, the fowls naturally cross the neck
+of the little peninsula: they will never willingly pass over land,
+unless they can see water close beyond. Occasionally you may have fair
+shooting all through the day, but, as a rule, the above-mentioned hours
+are those alone when good "flying" may be reckoned on. When it _is_
+good, the sport must be superb: it is the very sublimation of
+"rocketing." You must hold straight and forward to stop a cock-pheasant
+whizzing over the leafless tree-tops--well up in the keen January wind;
+but a swifter traveler yet is the canvas-back drake, as he swings over
+the bar, at the fullest speed of his whistling pinions, disdaining to
+turn a foot from his appointed course, albeit vaguely suspecting the
+ambush below. The height of the "flying" varies, of course, greatly. I
+saw nothing brought down, to the best of my calculation, within
+forty-five or fifty yards, and most were much beyond that distance. At
+first you let several chances slip, believing them to be out of shot;
+but the mighty duck-guns, carrying five or six drams of strong coarse
+powder, do their work gallantly; and nothing can be more refreshing than
+the _aplomb_ with which their victims, stricken down from that dizzy
+height, strike water, reeds, or sand.
+
+Among the many varieties of fowl--varying from wild swan to
+widgeon--that are slain here, the canvas-back holds, by common consent,
+the pre-eminence for delicacy of flavor and tenderness of meat; but I
+confess I have thought almost as highly of an occasional "red-head" in
+perfect condition.
+
+This, the most celebrated of all ducking points on the Chesapeake, is
+rented by a club, the members of which are all resident in Baltimore, or
+its neighborhood; the number, I think, is limited to twelve. When they
+muster in force, the sleeping accommodation must necessarily be limited,
+as Mr. Russell describes it; but there is room and verge enough in the
+quaint old homestead of the proprietor for any ordinary party. The burly
+host himself is quite in keeping with the place, and bears his part
+right jovially in the rough-and-ready revels that contrast not
+disagreeably with the social amenities left behind in the city. I spent
+some very pleasant hours of sunshine and twilight at the "Colonel's";
+(he has as good a right to the title as many more pretentious
+dignitaries), though the "flying" was indifferent on both my visits. On
+the first occasion, though several varieties of fowl were bagged, we
+only secured one canvas-back, which was courteous enough to tumble to
+the stranger's gun. Sooth to say, the first interview with the
+uncompromising contraband who hakes you _is_ a trial, and it is bitterly
+cold work for feet and fingers, when you first come into your "blind"
+under the early dawn; but the blood soon warms up as the warning cries
+from the markers become more frequent; the pulse quickens as the dark
+specks or lines loom nearer, defined against the dull red or silvery
+gray of the sky-line; chills and shivers are all forgotten, as your
+first "red-head," pioneer of a whole "skeen" from the river--crashes
+down yards behind you, on the hard, wet sand that fringes the bay.
+
+In the genial October weather, during which comes the cream of the
+flying, the sojourn at Carroll's Island must be enviably delightful. But
+much I fear, that next autumn's prospects look brighter for the fowl
+than for their sedulous persecutors. Who can say what changes may have
+been wrought in the fortunes of some of those cheery sportsmen before
+next season shall open. Perhaps ere that the echoes of the Chesapeake
+will be waked by an artillery that would drown the roar even of the
+mighty duck-gun. The sea-fishing in the bay is remarkably good, but it
+is not greatly affected by amateurs; and very few yachts are seen on its
+usually placid waters. Almost all the streams round the Chesapeake, in
+spite of their being perpetually "thrashed," and never preserved, abound
+in small trout; but farther afield, in Northwestern Maryland, where the
+tributaries of the Potomac and Shenandoah flow down the woody ravines of
+Cheat Mountain and the Blue Ridge, there is room for any number of
+fly-rods, and fish heavy enough to bend the stiffest of them all.
+
+Before troubles began, they used to hunt, after a fashion, in most of
+the upland districts; but the sport can hardly be very exciting. The
+gravest of the "potterings" of ancient days, when our great-grandsires
+used to "drag" up their fox while the dew lay heavy on the grass, was a
+"cracker" compared to one of these runs, as I heard them described.
+Three or four couple of cross-bred hounds do occasionally weary and
+worry to death their unhappy quarry, after three or four hours "ringing"
+through endless woodlands; unless, indeed, he goes earlier to ground, in
+which case he is dug out to meet a quicker and more merciful death. The
+fact, that a heavy fall of snow is supposed greatly to facilitate
+matters, about settles the question of "sport." I should like to ask
+Charles Payne, or Goddard, their opinion of "pricking" a fox. However,
+to ride straight and fast over such a country would be simply
+impossible; their detestable snake-fences meet you everywhere, with
+their projecting "zigzags" of loosely-piled rails; you can hardly ever
+get a chance of taking them in your stride, and they are a fair standing
+jump with the top bar removed, which generally involves dismounting. The
+name of poor Falcon had led me so far afield, that I must continue my
+own chronicle in another chapter.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+THE FORD.
+
+
+In about ten days I heard from Mr. Symonds. The road was not yet open,
+but a party was waiting to start. He had secured me a henchman in the
+shape of a private in an Alabama regiment who was anxious to accompany
+any one south, without fee or reward. The man was said to be well
+acquainted with the country beyond the Potomac, besides being really
+honest and courageous. I had no reason to question these qualifications,
+though his tongue was apt to stir too loudly for prudence, and too fast
+for truth; while over the manner of his release (he had been for months
+a prisoner of war), there hung a mystery never cleared up
+satisfactorily. It was necessary, of course, that my squire should be
+mounted, and after some deliberation, it was settled that I should
+furnish him with a steed. I was moved thereto, partly from a wish to
+spare Falcon all dead weight in the shape of saddle-bags, partly from
+the knowledge that superfluous horse-flesh was a commodity easily and
+profitably disposed of in Secessia. I did not trouble myself much about
+my second horseman's mount, merely stipulating for a moderate animal at
+a moderate price. I bought indeed "in the dark," and did not see my
+purchase till the day before our first actual start. This last
+negotiation concluded, I had nothing to do but to abide patiently till
+it pleased others to sound "boot and saddle."
+
+So day followed day till, in spite of all the social attractions of
+Baltimore, I began to chafe bitterly under the delay. I never could get
+rid of a half-guilty consciousness that I ought to be somewhere else,
+and that somewhere--far away. On the morning of 17th February, I was in
+the office of my friend and chief counselor, above mentioned, discussing
+the propriety of throwing aside the upper route altogether--selling back
+my cattle--and making my way as straight as possible to the shores of
+the Lower Potomac. We were actually debating the point when the door
+opened, and disclosed Mr. Symonds. He had come all in hot haste to tell
+us that a main obstacle was removed. The water had been let out of the
+Chesapeake and Ohio canal, so that it could now be easily crossed at any
+unguarded point. The picket was of necessity so widely scattered as to
+be easily evaded. The small party that my squire and I were to join,
+meant starting at latest on the following Friday or Saturday night. Mr.
+Symonds had no recent intelligence from the immediate bank of the river,
+but he believed that, in despite of the heavy rains and occasional snow
+storms, we should find one crossing place--White's Ford to wit--still
+barely practicable.
+
+I was already furnished with sadlery, &c., but small final preparations
+and divers leave-takings filled up every spare minute till afternoon on
+the following day. I was to sleep the first night at a house only a few
+miles from Mr. Symonds', so as to be in readiness to start at two hours'
+notice, and my Mentor insisted on seeing me so far on my way. It had
+been snowing at intervals all the morning, and the flakes were driving
+thick and blindingly as we drove out of Baltimore. Our team faced the
+heavy road and frequent hills right gallantly, but the fifteen miles
+seemed long, that brought us to the door of our quarters, faces aching
+with the lash of sleet--beard and moustaches frozen to bitterness.
+
+As my hosts were in nowise privy to my plans, I may venture to say, that
+for the next three days I was more or less a guest at Drohoregan Manor.
+This ancient homestead of the Carroll family is very well described by
+Mr. Russell in his "Diary:" his visit, however, was to the late
+Professor, who died last year. The law of primogeniture does not prevail
+here, and it was only an accidental succession of single heirs, that
+brought an undivided patrimony down to the present generation. One
+cannot help regretting that the estate is to be cut up now into five
+shares or more. Eleven thousand acres of fertile hill and dale, sinking
+and swelling gently, so as to attract all the benignity of sun or
+breeze--not more densely wooded than is common on our own western
+shores, and watered to an ornamental perfection--truly on any civilized
+land, such is a goodly heritage.
+
+The home-farm of Drohoregan Manor has long been celebrated for the
+breeding of a high-class stock of all kinds. I saw sheep there scarcely
+coarser than the average of Southdowns; and some fine, level,
+clean-limbed steers. Here has stood, for a dozen years past, the
+renowned Black Hawk, considered by many superior to his sire, the Morgan
+stallion of the same name. As I before said, he realized my idea of a
+thoroughbred weight carrier, better than anything I saw in Maryland;
+though if one of his stock--a brown two-year-old colt--"furnishes"
+according to present promise, he will probably be surpassed in his turn.
+There was a large number of colts and fillies well adapted for rapid
+road work; and I was not surprised to hear that at the sale which
+followed quickly on my visit, they fetched more than average prices. I
+did not think so highly of the cart stock, principally the produce of a
+big gray Pereheron horse. Both he and Black Hawk remain in their present
+quarters, for the late Colonel Carroll's eldest son retains the Manor
+House, and proposes, I believe, to continue both the farming and
+breeding establishments on no diminished scale. I rode up to Mr.
+Symonds' in the afternoon of the 19th; he was absent, but his wife
+informed me that it was possible--though scarcely probable--that our
+party would start the following night. Then, for the first time, I made
+acquaintance with my squire for the nonce--"Alick" he was called; I
+cannot remember his surname--he had a rugged, honest face, and a manner
+to match; but I was rather disconcerted at hearing that he knew no more
+of riding or stable work than he had picked up in a fortnight's
+irregular practice in an establishment where horses as well as men were
+taught to "rough it" in good earnest.
+
+I liked my new purchase much more than my new acquaintance. The former
+was a raw-boned, leggy roan, with a coarse head, a dull eye, and a
+weakish neck, far too low in condition, as I saw and said at once; not
+fitted for long travel through a country where a horse must needs lose
+flesh daily, from pure lack of provender. However, there was no time to
+make a change, so I was fain to hope that easy journeys at first, and a
+light weight on his back, might gradually bring the ungainly beast into
+better form. It appeared that he was just recovering from the distemper
+and "sore tongue," which had followed each other in rapid succession.
+These two diseases are the terror and bane of Virginian and Maryland
+stables. An animal who has once surmounted them is supposed to be
+seasoned, and acquires considerable additional value, like a "salted"
+horse in Southern Africa.
+
+So I returned to the Manor for that night, and thither, early the next
+morning, came Symonds in person. He informed me that the start from his
+house would not take place till after nightfall on the following
+evening, so that I had thirty vacant hours before me, I knew that the
+English mail had reached Baltimore, and it then seemed so uncertain when
+letters would reach me again, that I could not resist the temptation of
+securing my correspondence. My host was himself returning to the city,
+so I accepted the offer of a seat in his wagon, and we had a pleasant
+drive back through the clear frosty weather.
+
+The next day--having made the Post-office "part," and said those few
+more last words that are forgotten at every leave-taking--I retraced my
+steps, by the afternoon train, to Ellicott's Mills, where I found a
+carriage from Drohoregan Manor awaiting me. At this point, the Patapsco
+hurries through a channel narrowed by embankments and encroachments of
+the granite cliffs, looking upon the yellow water streaked with huge
+foam-clots, chafing against its banks lip high. I could not but augur
+ill for our chances of traversing a wider and wilder stream. But it was
+too early then to think of desponding, so casting forebodings behind, I
+drove up to our rallying place, rattling over four long leagues under
+seventy minutes. The black ponies tossed their heads, and champed their
+bits, gayly, as they made best time over the last mile.
+
+I found that the party that purposed actually to cross the Potomac was,
+from one cause or another, reduced to four, including myself and my
+attendant. A cousin of Symonds', hight Walter, with the same
+surname--there is a perfect clan of them in those parts--was to
+accompany us only to our first resting-place, a farm-house about
+eighteen miles off. Our proposed companions were both Maryland men; one
+had already served for some months in a regiment of Confederate cavalry,
+and was returning to his duty, after one of those furloughs--often
+self-granted--in which the Borderers are prone to indulge; the other was
+a mere youth, and had never seen a shot fired; but a more enthusiastic
+recruit could hardly be conceived.
+
+Twilight had melted into darkness long before the rest of the party
+arrived; then an hour or more was consumed in the last preparations and
+refreshments. It was fully nine o'clock on the night of February 21st,
+when we started from Symonds' door, strengthened for the journey with a
+warm stirrup-cup, and warmer kind wishes from the family, including two
+_very_ "sympathizing" damsels, who had come in from neighboring
+homesteads to bid the Southward-bound good speed.
+
+Before we had ridden a mile, the Marylanders turned off to a house where
+they were to take up some letters, promising to rejoin us before we had
+gone a league. But we traversed more than that distance, at the slowest
+foot-pace, without being overtaken, and at length determined to wait for
+the laggards, drawing back about thirty paces off the path, into a glade
+where there was partial shelter from the icy wind that swept past, laden
+with coming snow. There we tarried for a long half-hour (told on my
+watch by a fusee-light), and still no signs of our companions. Symonds
+(the cousin), who abode with us still, began to mutter doubts, and the
+Alabama man to grumble curses (he had ever a fatal facility in
+blasphemy), and I own to having entertained divers disagreeable
+misgivings, though I carefully avoided expressing them. At last our
+guide thought it best that we should make our way to a lonely
+farm-house, about seven miles short of our night's destination, where,
+in any case, the party was to have called in passing. So we wound on
+through the narrow wood-paths in single file--sinking occasionally
+pastern-deep, where the thin ice over mud-holes supplanted the safe
+crackling snow-crests--traversing frequent fords, where rills had
+swollen into brooks and turbid streams; some of those gullies must have
+been dark even at noon-day, with overhanging cypress and pine; they were
+so bitterly black now that you were fain to follow close on the splash
+in your front, for no mortal ken could have pierced half a horse's
+length ahead. At length, we left the path altogether, and pulling down a
+snake fence, passed through the gap into open fields. It was all plain
+sailing here, and a great relief after groping through the dim woodland;
+we encountered no obstacle but an occasional "zigzag," easily
+demolished, till we came to a deep hollow, where the guide
+dismounted--evidently rather vague as to his bearings--and proceeded to
+feel his way. Somewhere about here there was a "branch" (or rivulet) to
+be crossed, and danger of bog and marsh if you went astray. At last he
+professed to have discovered the right point; but neither force nor
+persuasion could induce the stubborn brute he rode to face it. There was
+nothing for it but trying what "giving him a lead" would do. The place
+was evidently a small one, but the landing absolutely uncertain; so I
+put Falcon at it steadily, letting him have his head. Then first the
+poor horse displayed his remarkable talent for getting over difficulties
+in the dark, a talent that I have never seen equaled in any other
+animal, and which alone made him invaluable. He took off--almost at a
+stand--out of clay up to his hocks, exactly at the right time, and
+landed me on firm ground without a scramble. A minute afterward there
+came a rush, a splutter, and a crash, and a struggling mass rolled at my
+feet, gradually resolving itself into a man, a roan horse, and two
+saddle-bags. So sped Alabama's maiden leap. It was soft falling,
+however, and no harm beyond the breaking of a strap was done; but it was
+fully three-quarters of an hour before our united efforts got Symonds'
+refugee across. We accomplished it at last by hurling the brute
+backwards into the branch by main strength, and then wading ourselves
+through mud that just touched the upper edge of my thigh-boots. Once
+over, the track was easily found, and a barking chorus, performed by
+half a dozen vigilant mongrels, guided us up to the homestead we were
+seeking, just as the snow began to fall heavily. The stout farmer was
+soon on foot--men sleep lightly in these troublous times--proffering
+food, fire, and shelter. Our guide strongly advised our remaining there
+till we could gain some tidings of our lost companions; it seemed so
+unlikely that they should have passed or missed us on the road, that he
+could not but fear lest accident or treachery should have detained them;
+he offered himself to retrace our track, and make all inquiries, which
+he alone could do safely. So it was settled; and, after making the
+horses as comfortable as rude accommodation would allow, my squire and I
+betook ourselves to rest, not unwillingly, about three, A. M.
+
+The traveler's first waking impulse leads him straight to the window or
+to the weather-glass. I turned away from the look-out in utter disgust;
+a hundred yards off, through the cloud of driving snow-flakes, and a
+level white mantel, rising up to the tower bars of the snake-fences,
+merged tillage into pasture undistinguishably. I chronicled that same
+day as the dreariest of all _then_ remembered Sabbaths. Besides some odd
+numbers of an ancient Methodist magazine, there was no literature
+available, and all the letters that I cared to write had been dispatched
+before I left Baltimore.
+
+A visit to the shed which sheltered our horses, did not greatly raise
+one's spirits. Poor Falcon was hardy as a Shetlander, and in any
+ordinary weather I never thought of clothing him, but no wonder he
+shivered there, under a rug, coated inch-deep with snow; the rough-hewn
+sides and crazy roof gaping with fissures a hand-breadth wide and more,
+were scanty defense against the furious drift, which swept through, not
+to be denied. I tried to comfort my horse, by chafing his legs and ears
+till both were thoroughly warm, setting Alick at the same task with the
+roan; though clumsy and apt to be obstinate, he worked with a will. At
+last we had the satisfaction of seeing both animals feed, with an
+appetite that I, for one, could not but envy. Our hosts were so cordial
+in their honest hospitality, that one felt ungrateful in being so
+wearily bored. In the afternoon we had a visit from a neighboring
+farmer, who, I believe, had been summoned with the benevolent intent
+that he should enlighten or entertain the stranger. He was one of those
+stout, elderly men, who, by dint of a certain portliness of presence,
+gravity of manner, and slowness of speech, acquire in their own country
+much honor for social or political wisdom. He was quite up to the
+average rank of rustic oracles; nevertheless, our converse dragged
+heavily; it was "up hill all the way." There was a depressing formality
+about the whole arrangement; my interlocutor sat exactly opposite to me,
+putting one cut-and-dried question after another; never removing his
+eyes from my face, while I answered to the best of my power, save to
+glance at the silent audience, as though praying them to note such and
+such points carefully. I began to feel as I did in the schools long ago,
+when the _vivâ voce_ examiner was putting me through my facings; and was
+really glad when the one-sided dialogue ended. The queries were very
+simple for the most part, relating chiefly to the sympathies and
+intentions of Great Britain, with regard to the war. On the latter point
+I could, of course, give no information beyond vague surmises,
+practically worthless; as to the former, I thought myself justified in
+saying that the balance of public feeling, in the upper and agricultural
+classes especially, leant decidedly southward. But here, as elsewhere, I
+found it impossible to make Secessionists understand or allow the
+wisdom, justice, or generosity of the non-interference policy hitherto
+pursued by our Government. This is not the time or place to discuss an
+important question of statecraft, nor am I presumptuous enough to assert
+that different and more decisive measures would have had all the good
+effect that their advocates insist upon; but however justifiable
+England's conduct may have been according to theories of international
+law, I fear the practical result will be that she has secured the
+permanent enmity of one powerful people, and the discontented distrust
+of another. It is ill trusting even proverbs implicitly; that old one,
+about the safe middle course, will break down, like the rest, sometimes.
+My pertinacious querist stopped, I suppose, when he had got to the end
+of his list, and apparently spent the rest of the evening in a slow
+process of digestion; for he would break out, now and then, at the most
+irrelevant times, with a repetition of one of his former interrogations,
+which I had to answer again, briefly as I might. About sundown _le Bon
+Gualtier_ returned, sorely travel-worn himself, and with an utterly
+exhausted horse. He had ascertained that our companions had gone on,
+probably to our original destination of the previous night; though why
+they should have passed our present resting-place without calling there,
+remained a mystery; nor was that point ever satisfactorily explained. To
+proceed at once was impossible, for a fresh horse had to be found for
+our guide; this, a cousin of our host's offered to provide by the
+following evening (we could not venture to stir abroad in daylight); he
+also offered to make his way to the farm where the missing men were
+supposed to be, early in the morning, and to bring back certain
+intelligence of their movements. This was only one instance of the
+cordial kindness and hearty co-operation which I met with at the hands
+of these sturdy yeomen. Not only would they rise and open their doors at
+the untimeliest of hours, and entertain you with their choicest of
+fatlings, corn, and wine, but there was no amount of personal toil or
+risk that they would not gladly undergo to forward any southward-bound
+stranger on his way; nor could you have insulted your host more grossly
+than by hinting at pecuniary guerdon. Before midnight the snow had
+ceased to fall; the next morning broke bright and sunnily, though the
+frost still held on sharply. Two or three visitors, masculine and
+feminine, came in sleighs during the day, and altogether it passed much
+more rapidly than the preceding one. About four, P. M., our good-natured
+messenger returned; our comrades had duly reached the spot originally
+fixed for the Saturday night's halt, and had pursued their journey on
+the Sunday evening to the farm which was to be our last point before
+attempting the Potomac; their written explanation was very vague, but
+they promised to wait for us at the house they were then making for. We
+at once determined to press on thus far that night, though the score or
+more of miles of crow-flight between would certainly be lengthened at
+least a third, by the _dêtours_ necessary to avoid probable pickets or
+outposts, and the deep snow must make the going fearfully heavy.
+Walter's fresh mount came down--a powerful, active mare, in good working
+condition, but with weak, cracked hoofs that would not have carried her
+a day's march on hard, stony roads.
+
+Under the red sunset we started once more, with more good wishes;
+indeed, I had ridden a mile before my fingers forgot the parting
+hand-grip of my stalwart host.
+
+Now in thinking or speaking of these night rides beforehand, one is apt
+to invest them with a slight tinge of romance and excitement, which is
+not unattractive. Let me say, that in practice, nothing can be more
+dreary and disagreeable. I can fancy a canter through or canter over
+some woodland paths, under the capricious light of a broad summer or
+autumn moon, with one or more pleasant companions, being both
+exhilarating and agreeable, but traverse the same number of miles in a
+night of winter or early spring, when you have to blunder on at a foot's
+pace in Indian file, thankful, indeed, when the snow or mud is only
+fetlock deep, where, if you are in mood for conversation, you, dare not
+often speak above a whisper (I never could see the sense of this, far
+out in the wilds, but the guides are imperative), where the solitary
+excitement is found in the possible proximity of a picket, or the
+probable depth of a ford. I think you would agree with me, that the only
+object in the journey on which your eyes or thoughts delight to dwell,
+is the "biggit land" that ends it.
+
+On that especial night we had one thing in our favor--the reflection
+from the fresh white ground carpet would have prevented darkness, even
+without the light of a waxing moon. But it was slow and weary traveling.
+It would have been cruelty to have forced the horses beyond a walk
+through snow that in places was over their knees; besides which, we
+dared not risk a jingle of stirrup or bridle-bit, where an outlying
+picket might be within ear-shot. Twice we passed within twenty yards of
+where the fresh track showed that the patrol had recently turned at the
+end of his beat; but the guide knew the country thoroughly, and
+professed to have no fears. To speak the truth, I had heard him, when in
+the ingle-nook, and warm with Old Rye, vaunt so loudly his own sagacity
+and courage, that I conceived certain misgivings as to how far either
+were to be relied on. That night, however, he fully maintained part of
+his character by leading us safety and surely through a perfect
+labyrinth of tracks, sometimes diverging across the open country, and
+occasionally plunging into woodland where there was no vestige of a
+path.
+
+I ought to be nearly weather-proof by this time; but, in spite of a warm
+riding-cloak and a casing of chamois leather from neck to ankle, I felt
+sometimes chilled to the marrow; my lips would hardly close round the
+pipe-stem, and even while I smoked the breath froze on my moustache,
+stiff and hard. My flask was full of rare country whisky, fiery hot from
+the still; but it seemed at last to have lost all strength, and was
+nearly tasteless. I would have given anything for a brisk trot or
+rattling gallop to break the monotonous foot-pace, but the reasons
+before stated forbade the idea: there was nothing for it, but to plod
+steadily onwards. Walter himself suffered a good deal in hands and feet;
+but the Alabama man, utterly unused to the lower extremes of
+temperature, only found relief from his misery in an occasional
+drowsiness that made him sway helplessly in his saddle. The last league
+of our route lay through the White Grounds. The valley of the Potomac
+widens here towards the north, and six thousand acres of forest stretch
+away--unbroken, save by rare islets of clearings. There was no visible
+track; but our guide struck boldly across the woodlands, taking bearings
+by certain landmarks and the steady moon. It was not dark even here; but
+low sweeping boughs and fallen trunks often hidden by snow, made the
+traveling difficult and dangerous. I ceased not to adjure Alick, who
+followed close in my rear, to keep fast hold of his horse's head. I
+doubt if he ever heard me, for he never intermitted a muttered
+running-fire of the most horrible execrations that I ever listened to
+even in this hard-swearing country. Whether this ebullition of blasphemy
+comforted him at the moment I cannot say; but, if "curses come home to
+roost," a black brood was hatched that night, unless one whole page be
+blotted out from the register of the Recording Angel.
+
+Both men and horses rejoiced, I am sure, when, about two, A. M., we
+broke out into a wide clearing, and drew rein under the lee of
+outbuildings surrounding the desired homestead. The farmer was soon
+aroused, and came out to give us a hearty though whispered welcome. It
+is not indiscreet to record _his_ name, for he has already "dree'd his
+doom;" he was noted among his fellows for cool determination in purpose
+and action, and truly, I believe that the yeomanry of Maryland counts no
+honester or bolder heart than staunch George Hoyle's.
+
+Our last companions were sleeping placidly up-stairs--that was the best
+intelligence that our host could give us. He laughed at the idea of
+fording the Potomac, declaring that no living man or horse could stand,
+much less swim, in the stream. Knowing the character of the man, and his
+thorough acquaintance with the locality, one ought to have accepted his
+decision unquestioned; but I was not then so inured to disappointment as
+I became in later days, and wished to see for myself how the water lay.
+After a short sleep and hurried breakfast, Hoyle took me to a point
+whence we looked down on a long reach of the river. At the first glance
+through my field-glasses, every vestige of hope vanished. The fierce
+current--its sullen neutral tint checkered with frequent
+foam-clots--washed and weltered high against its banks, eddying and
+breaking savagely wherever it swept against jut of ground or ledge of
+rock, while ever and anon shot up above the turbid surface tossing trunk
+of uprooted alder or willow. Mazeppa's Ukraine stallion, or the
+mightiest _destrier_ that ever Paladin bestrode, would have been whirled
+away like withered leaves, ere they had swum ten of the seven hundred
+yards that lay between us and the Virginia shore. I could hardly believe
+my eyes, when Hoyle pointed out to me the fording-place where, on the
+23d of last December, he had crossed without wetting his horse's girth.
+
+It was waste of time to look longer, so, in no pleasant mood, I returned
+to the farm-house, where a council of war was incontinently held. The
+Marylanders had already arranged their plan; they had a vague idea of
+some ferry to the northward, and intended to grope their way to it
+somehow. Before attempting this, it was necessary to divest themselves
+of any suspicious articles, either of baggage or accoutrement; indeed,
+they left every scrap of clothing behind, except what they carried on
+their persons, and one change of under-raiment sewn up in the folds of a
+rug. They meant to assume the character of small cattle-dealers, and as
+far as appearance went, succeeded perfectly--nothing more unmilitary can
+be conceived. Their horses were passably hardy and active, but stunted,
+mean-looking animals, while the saddle-gear would have been dear
+anywhere at five dollars. The men themselves had the lazy, slouching
+look peculiar to the hybrid class with which they wished to be
+identified. They were civil and sorry enough about the turn affairs had
+taken; but evidently quite determined that we should part company. The
+elder of the two took me aside, and spoke thus, as near as I can
+remember:
+
+"Look here, Major, I'm right down sorry about this here; and I'd have
+liked well to have gone slick through with ye, but it won't work in the
+parts we're agoing to try. Four men and horses ain't so easy put up as
+two, and there ain't many as'll venture it. The sort of your brown horse
+is kind'er uncommon up along there, and they'd spot _him_ if they didn't
+spot you, and you'd never get to look like a citizen--not if you was to
+shave and wear a wig. There's no two words about it: it ain't to be
+done."
+
+I believe the man intended to gild the pill with a rough compliment; in
+any case, I was bound to swallow it. There was no sort of contract
+between us, nor any promise of remuneration; I only rode by sufferance
+in that company. I felt, too, that he was right: it would be very
+difficult for any Englishman--drilled or undrilled--to disguise himself
+as a Virginia cattle-dealer, so that keen native eyes could not detect
+the travestie. I do not think I should have pressed the point, even had
+I been in a position to do so; as it was, I yielded with good grace,
+only begging my late companions to let me have the earliest information
+as to the route, if they succeeded in getting through. This they readily
+promised; so, with the concurrence of the good Walter, I determined to
+fall back, for the present, on my original "base," with the consoling
+reflection that I was only imitating the most renowned Federal
+commanders.
+
+All this was scarcely settled, when our host hurried in--rather a blank
+look on his bold face--to say that one of his contrabands had just come
+in, after an absence of two hours: he had taken one of his master's
+horses without leave, and absolutely declined to state where, or why, he
+had gone. As 1,800 Federals, including a regiment of cavalry, occupied
+Poolsville--only six miles off--it was easy to guess in what direction
+the "colored person" had wandered. There was no time for argument, and
+even chastisement was reserved for a more fitting season: in fifteen
+minutes more, we had ridden swiftly across the cleared lands, and with
+Hoyle for our pilot, were winding through the ravines and glades of the
+White Grounds. The day was dull and cloudy: so, having no sun to guide
+us, we, the strangers, speedily lost all idea of direction; even Walter,
+the confident, owned himself fairly puzzled. But our host led on at a
+steady pace, never pausing to consult landmarks or memory; evidently
+every bush and brake was familiar to him; there was not the ghost of a
+track, but we seemed generally to follow the winding of a rapid, shallow
+stream, up whose channel we often scrambled for forty yards or more.
+
+    We had na ridden a league, a league,
+    O' leagues but barely three,
+
+when we struck a path leading straight through the woods to
+Clarksburg--the first point on the proposed route of the two
+Marylanders: they meant to feel their way cautiously thence in a
+northwesterly direction; the elder had one or two acquaintances in the
+neighborhood of Frederick City that he hoped would assist them. So, with
+leave-takings, hurried but amicable, our party separated. We, the other
+three, proposed to make for our quarters of the last Sunday, and for ten
+miles further our kind host rode in our company, absolutely refusing to
+turn back till we were in a country that Walter knew right well, and
+might be considered comparatively safe; then he left us, proposing to
+return home by another and yet more circuitous route, so as to baffle
+possible pursuers. He did get home safe, but was arrested within the
+same week--not, I trust, before he had moderately chastised that
+treacherous contraband--and we met, two months later, in the old
+Capitol.
+
+Three hours' more riding brought us within sight of the town, where we
+intended to refresh ourselves and our cattle, and, perhaps, to abide for
+the night. We relied so implicitly on the hospitality we were certain to
+find, that we had provided ourselves with no food of any sort; my flask,
+too, had been emptied on the previous night. Fancy our disgust, when we
+found the shutters closed, everything carefully locked up, and no living
+soul about the place but two helpless little colored persons of tender
+age. The whole family had gone out to a sledging "frolic," and would not
+return before late at night; it was then past P. M.; we had breakfasted
+lightly at seven, and been in the saddle ever since nine o'clock. We did
+discover some Indian corn for the horses, and left them to feed under
+their old shed, only removing bridles and loosening girths.
+
+About ten minutes later, we were sitting under the house-porch--it was
+narrow and deep, as is the fashion in those parts, and boarded up the
+sides breast high--I was lighting a sullen pipe, hoping to deaden the
+hungry cravings which could not be satisfied, when I felt my arm pulled
+violently; a hoarse whisper said in my ear, "By G--d, they've got us,"
+and turning, I met the good Walter's face, white, and convulsed with
+emotions which I care not to define or remember. Alick was already
+crouching below the boarding, and I stooped, too, mechanically; as I did
+so, I followed the direction of the guide's haggard eyes: by my faith,
+just where the wood opened on the clearing, about one hundred and eighty
+yards to our front, there sat on their horses six Federal dragoons,
+surveying the landscape with some interest. It was very odd to see them
+gazing straight down upon us, evidently unconscious of our proximity;
+but they were looking from light into the shadow of the porch:
+fortunately, too, the horses were well under cover. It chanced that,
+close to the gate in the outermost inclosure, there was a watering-pond;
+around and from this tracks of all kinds of cattle crossed and diverged
+in every direction; as we entered we had remarked many hoof-prints
+turning abruptly to the right, probably left by the sleighing party. The
+dragoons halted five minutes or so in consultation; then they turned and
+rode off quickly along that same right-hand track. The house was so
+evidently shut up, that I presume they thought it would be wasted time
+if they searched it then.
+
+Resistance would have been utterly out of the question, even if the
+numbers had been more equal, for the only arms in the party were my
+own--a long hunting-knife worn in my belt, and a fire-shooter carried by
+Alick; so we prepared for escape instantly. I had to go round to the
+back of the house to get my hunting-cup, which I had left there. When I
+came out I found Walter already mounted; his mare was not in the same
+shed with our horses. In a few hurried words he explained that; it would
+be best for _him_ to make off at once, and wait for us in the woods
+below, to which the clearing sloped down from the homestead. Though I
+had before formed my own opinion as to his vaunted valiance, I confess I
+_was_ rather disappointed; but he was not a hireling, and I had no right
+to prevent him from looking after his own safety first; I only shrugged
+my shoulders without replying, and went into the other shed to help
+Alick saddle up. The Alabamian was much less delicate or more determined
+than myself; when he heard of Walter's intentions, his face darkened
+threateningly.
+
+"By the ----!" he said, "he ain't going to quit after that fashion," and
+as he went out towards the corner where Walter still lingered, I saw his
+hand shift back to the butt of my revolver. Now, I was too sensible of
+the guide's good intentions and disinterested kindness to wish to press
+hardly on a temporary loss of nerve, so I busied myself with buckle and
+curb-link, and refrained from assisting at the debate; it was very
+brief, nor can I say if Alick's arguments were intimidating or
+conciliatory; I rather suspected the former, from the expression of his
+face when he returned, simply remarking, "I've made it all right, Major.
+He stops with us as long as we want him to."
+
+Ten minutes afterwards we gained the shelter of the woods, and, keeping
+always well down in the gullies or hollows, were picking our way in a
+direction nearly parallel to that taken by our pursuers. This was our
+only course, as we dared not show ourselves as yet across open ground or
+along traveled roads. We might have ridden about a league and a half--it
+is difficult to judge distance in thick cover and over broken ground,
+when the pace is so constantly varied--our guide's confidence began to
+return, and, with it, his weakness for self-laudation. He began once
+more to recount his many narrow escapes, and was sanguine as to his
+chance of pulling through this--the closest shave of all. We were
+halting on the bank of a muddy, swollen stream, in some doubt whether we
+should try the treacherous bottom there or higher up, when, looking over
+my shoulder, I saw the figures of four horsemen, looming large against
+the red evening sky as they passed slowly across the sky-line, on the
+crest of some abrupt rising ground about 300 yards to our right: soon
+two more showed themselves, making the pursuing party complete; they
+were evidently retracing their steps--for what reason I know not. Almost
+at the same instant the Alabamian caught sight of the enemy; but before
+he could speak I touched our guide on the shoulder with my hunting-whip,
+pointing in the direction of the danger. If you ever saw a wing-tipped
+mallard's flurry when the retriever comes upon him unawares, you will
+have a good idea of how the valiant Walter "squattered" through the
+ford. The twilight was darkening fast, and, in the shadow of the ravine,
+we were almost safe from the eyes of our pursuers; but I marvel that
+even at such a distance their ears were not attracted by the flounder
+and the splash. My squire and I followed more leisurely; indeed,
+throughout, the former had displayed a creditable coolness and
+determination; also, he seemed to take very kindly to my own favorite
+motto, "_Festina lente_"--"More haste, worse speed."
+
+That was our last look at the dragoons. We learnt afterwards that, later
+in the evening, they searched the farm-house (the family had just
+returned), and not only struck our trail through the woods, but held it
+within three miles of our resting-place for the night; there the
+numerous crossroads, and the utter confusion of many tracks, baffled our
+pursuers; probably, too, their horses by that time were in poor
+condition for following up an indefinite chase.
+
+Alick and I determined to push for our original starting-point--the
+house of Symonds of that ilk. Another two hours' riding brought us to
+where a lane turned off towards Ben Gualtier's home. He was evidently
+anxious to find himself a free agent, and this time even the Alabamian
+did not seek to detain him. The rest of the road we had traversed, on
+the preceding Saturday, and we could hardly miss our way. So there I
+parted from my honest guide, with many kind wishes on his side, and
+hearty thanks on mine. I rather repent having alluded to that little
+nervousness; but, after all, it was hardly a question of physical
+courage; we sought to avoid imprisonment, not peril to life or limb.
+
+My stout horse, Falcon, strode cheerily over the last of those dark,
+tiresome miles without a stumble or sign of weariness; but the roan's
+ears were drooping, and he slouched along heavily on his shoulders long
+before we saw the lights of Symonds' homestead, where we met a hearty if
+not a joyful welcome. We had not tasted food for thirteen hours, during
+which we had scarcely been out of the saddle; so even disappointment
+could not prevent our relishing to the uttermost the savory supper with
+which our hostess would fain have comforted us.
+
+Our talk was chiefly of the future, about which Symonds did not despond,
+though he was disposed to blame, somewhat sharply, our late companions,
+for choosing to find their way South independently; I thought he was
+unjust then, and since that I have had ample evidence of their good
+intentions and good faith.
+
+The next morning I rode Falcon down into Baltimore, there to await fresh
+tidings, leaving Alick and the roan at Symonds', to await fresh orders.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+THE FERRY.
+
+
+I had not been in Baltimore three days when my plans were somewhat
+altered by the introduction of a fresh agent. The guide, who accompanied
+Lord Hartington and Colonel Leslie, had returned unexpectedly, and
+Symonds pressed me strongly to secure his services. He had made the
+traverse several times successfully, and was thoroughly acquainted with
+most of the ground on both banks of the Potomac. He had now made his way
+on foot from the Shenandoah Valley, across the Alleghany Range, to
+Oakland; thence by the cars to somewhere near Sykesville, on the
+Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. Here, the day began to break, and he would
+not trust farther to the short-sightedness of Federal officials; so he
+looked out for a soft place in a snowdrift, and leapt out, alighting
+without injury. The same reasons that made reticence useless in Hoyle's
+case apply here: to both men Republican justice has done its worst long
+ago. My new guide's name was Shipley. He was lying _perdu_ in Baltimore
+when I first heard of him, so there was no difficulty in arranging an
+interview. After some hesitation, and not a little negotiation, Shipley
+agreed to pilot me through by one route or another. He was to ride my
+second horse, and keep the animal as a remuneration for his services, so
+soon as we should be fairly within Confederate lines. He would not
+promise to start before the expiration of a full week, as the clothes
+and other necessaries which he had come specially to obtain could not be
+got ready sooner. This new arrangement involved two changes which did
+not please me, viz., the elimination of poor Alick from the party, and
+the shifting of my saddle-bags from the roan on to Falcon, for the guide
+stipulated that each should carry his own baggage. Symonds, however, was
+very urgent that I should close with the conditions at once; he had the
+highest opinion of Shipley's talents and trustworthiness, and insisted
+that such a chance should not be let slip. He promised that Alick, if
+possible, should be provided with a mount, so as to be still enabled to
+accompany us. _I_ could not, of course, be expected to increase my
+already double risk in horse-flesh.
+
+So we struck hands on the bargain, and I resigned myself pretty
+contentedly to another delay. The days passed rapidly, as they always
+did in Baltimore on most afternoons. I rode Falcon out for exercise and
+"schooling." He soon became very clever at the only obstacles you
+encounter in crossing this country--timber fences, and small brooks with
+steep broken banks; though, to the last, he always would hang a little
+in taking off, he never dreamt of refusing.
+
+Before the week was quite out, Alick came down from Symonds', bringing
+tidings of our late companions, the two Marylanders. They had succeeded
+in crossing by a horse-ferry at Shepherdstown--a small village not far
+from Sharpsburg, and about seven miles from the battle-field of
+Antietam. The letter was written from the south bank of the Potomac, and
+furnished us with all the necessary names and halting-points on the
+route. Now, everything looked promising again. It was soon settled that
+Alick and Shipley should make their way across the country to Sharpsburg
+with the two horses (this was the latter's own arrangement, and _he_,
+too, was unkind enough to object to my un-citizenlike appearance). I was
+to meet them there, at a certain house, on a certain day, traveling by
+another route--through Frederick city. Thither I betook myself by the
+train leaving Baltimore, on the afternoon of March the 10th, arriving at
+Frederick nearly two hours behind time, in consequence of a difficulty
+between the wheels and the rails, the latter having become sulkily
+slippery with the sleet that came on in earnest after nightfall. Very
+early the next morning I started for Petersville, near which village, in
+the shadow of the South Mountain, lay the country-house of the
+good-natured friend who had offered to forward me to Sharpsburg.
+
+I shall not easily forget that drive; the distance was rather under
+fourteen miles, and it was performed in something over four hours; yet
+the load consisted simply of my driver, myself, and my saddle-bags, in
+the lightest conceivable wagon, drawn by a pair of horses especially
+selected for strength rather than speed. We traveled on a broad
+turnpike, not inferior, I was told, in ordinary times to the average of
+such roads; in many places the mud literally touched the axles, and more
+than once we should have been set fast in spite of the struggles of our
+team, if I had not lightened the weight by descending into a quagmire
+that reached fully half-way up my thigh-boots.
+
+At last we struggled through, reaching my friend's house with no other
+damage than some strained spokes and a broken spring. There I found
+horses ready caparisoned, and a faithful contraband to guide me on my
+way. The ride was as pleasant as the drive had been disagreeable. It was
+positive rest to exchange the jolting and jerking of the carriage for
+the familiar sway of the saddle. I had a strong hackney under me, a
+bright clear sky overhead, and a companion who, if not brilliantly
+amusing, was very passably intelligent.
+
+He was able to tell me all about the South Mountain fight: indeed, our
+route lay right across the centre of that bloody battle-ground. Riding
+along the valley, with the hills on our left, we soon came to
+Birkettsville: close above was the scene of the most furious assaults,
+and the most obstinate struggle. The quaint little hamlet--reminding you
+of a Dutch village--looked cheerful enough now, as the sun shimmered
+over the dark-red bricks, and glistening roofs grouped round a more
+glittering chapel-cupola; but one could not help remembering, that
+thither, on a certain afternoon, in just such pleasant weather, came
+maimed men by hundreds, crawling or being carried in; and that for weeks
+after, scarce one of those cozy houses but sheltered some miserable
+being moaning his tortured life away. The undulating champaign between
+the Catoctin and South Mountains, that forms the broad Middletown
+valley, seems to invite the manoeuvres of infantry battalions; but,
+climbing the steep ascent in the teeth of musketry and field-batteries,
+must have been sharp work indeed, though the assailing force doubtless
+far outnumbered the defenders. I think the carrying of those heights one
+of the most creditable achievements in the war.
+
+The terrible handwriting of the God of Battles is still very plainly to
+be discerned; all along the mountain-side trees--bent, blasted, and
+broken--tell where round-shot or grape tore through; and scored bark,
+closing often over imbedded bullets, shows where beat most stormily the
+leaden hail. Near the crest of the mountain, there are several patches
+of ground, utterly differing in color from the soil around, and
+evidently recently disturbed. You want no guide to tell you that in
+those Golgothas moulder corpses by hundreds, cast in, pell-mell, with
+scanty rites of sepulture. Besides these common trenches, there are
+always some single graves, occasionally marked by a post with initials
+roughly carved. It is good to see that, after the bitter fight, some
+were found, not so weary or so hurried, but that they could find time to
+do a dead comrade--perhaps even a dead enemy--one last kindness.
+
+Descending from the ridge, we rode some way up a narrow valley--where
+overhanging pine-woods and soft green pastures, traversed by rapid
+streams, reminded me often of the Ardennes--and then climbed the Elk
+Range, beyond which lies the field of Antietam. We soon crossed the
+creek, along whose banks was waged that fierce battle that made men
+think as lightly of the South Mountain fight as if it had been but a
+passing skirmish, and I rode up to the appointed meeting-place in
+Sharpsburg just a few minutes in advance of the appointed hour.
+
+My first question, after making myself known to the good man of the
+house, was naturally, of my horses and men. Will you be kind enough to
+fancy my feelings, when I heard that they were miles away, and--the
+reason why. Three days before the ferry-boat had been carried away and
+shattered by the floods; nothing but a skiff could cross till a cable
+was rigged from bank to bank; there was no chance of this being
+completed before the beginning of the following week. The neighborhood
+was too dangerous to linger in; there was a provost-marshal guard
+actually stationed in Sharpsburg: so my men, hearing of the disaster on
+their road, had very properly remained at their last halting-place,
+about ten miles farther up the country. I was so savagely disappointed
+that I hardly listened to my new friend, as he proceeded to give some
+useful hints on our route and conduct, whenever we should succeed in
+getting over the river. I only remember one suggestion: "if I was
+stopped anywhere this side of Winchester, I might give a fictitious
+name, and say that I was going to visit _my son_, an officer in the
+Federal army." Now, as I have barely entered on my eighth lustre, I can
+only suppose that the great bitterness of my heart imparted to my face,
+for the moment, a helpless--perhaps imbecile--look of senility. I had no
+alternative, however, but to retreat, as my men had done; the place was
+evidently too hot to hold me: already, through the window, I saw a
+shabby dragoon paying auspicious attention to my horses, contraband, and
+saddle-bags. I was greatly relieved, on going out, to find that the
+warrior was too stupidly drunk, to be actuated by anything beyond an
+idle, purposeless curiosity. So, after receiving directions as to where
+I was likely to rejoin my companions, I set my face northeast again, and
+rode out into the deepening darkness with feelings not much less sullen
+than the black rock of clouds massed up behind, that broke upon, us,
+right soon, with wind and drenching ruin.
+
+My horse, as well as I, must have been glad when we reached the
+homestead we were seeking, for throughout the afternoon I had ridden
+quickly wherever there was level ground, calculating on a night's rest
+in Sharpsburg. I had some difficulty in convincing the farmer that I was
+a true man and no spy; having once realized the fact, he showed himself
+not less hospitable than his fellows. I was not surprised to find my men
+gone; with all his good-will to the cause, their host had not dared to
+entertain such suspicious strangers longer than twenty-four hours: keen
+eyes and ready tongues were rife all around, and we had proof already,
+in poor George Hoyle's case, how quickly and sternly the charge of
+"harboring disaffected persons" could be acted upon: he had sent the men
+to separate secluded farm-houses, whence they could be summoned at a few
+hours' warning. He strongly advised me to wait elsewhere till the horse
+ferry was reestablished, of which he promised to give me the very
+earliest intelligence: so I at once determined to take the Hagerstown
+stage to Frederick next morning (the house stood not many yards from the
+main road), and the rail from thence back to Baltimore, leaving men and
+horses in their present quarters. It was evident that the honest
+Irishman spoke (he was an emigrant of twenty years' standing) thus in
+perfect sincerity, from no lack of hospitality, though in poor mood for
+conviviality. I did strive hard, all that evening, to meet his simple,
+social overtures half-way, simply that I might not appear ungracious or
+ungrateful.
+
+The homestead nestles close to the foot of the South Mountain, near
+Middleton Gap, some miles north of the point where I had crossed that
+day. We talked, of course, about the battles (they were within sound,
+though not sight, of Antietam). I found that a field-hospital had been
+established in the field immediately adjoining the orchard, and that
+some of the wounded, chiefly Confederates, who could not be moved, had
+lain there for many days. I asked the good wife how she felt while the
+Southern army was marching past her doors, "Well," she said, "I wasn't
+greatly skeared, only I thought I'd pull down the new parlor-curtains;
+but they behaved right well, and didn't meddle with nothin' to signify;
+not like them Yankees, who are always pickin' and stealin'. But I'd like
+to get right out of this country, anyhow; we'll never do no good here
+while the war lasts."
+
+I wonder how many voices, if they dared speak out, would join in the
+dreary "_refrain_ of those last few words?"
+
+No note-worthy incident marked my journey back to Baltimore. I remained
+there till the following Tuesday, and, in that interval, received a note
+from Shipley, which both puzzled and disquieted me; it was purposely
+vague and obscure; but, as far as I could make out, the writer thought
+it would be better at once to make for some point northwest of
+Cumberland--to retrace, in fact, the route that he had himself recently
+traversed; I rather inferred that he meant to move in that direction
+without waiting for me, leaving me to make my way to a rendezvous which
+he would appoint by letter. Now, of all parties concerned in the
+expedition the one whose safety I valued next to my own was Falcon. I
+had been loth to trust him, so far, to a rider about whose
+qualifications I knew nothing--except that it was very unlikely he would
+have good "hands." I had no notion of risking the good horse, without
+me, on an indefinitely long journey, where he might be indifferently
+cared for. I wrote at once to stop any such movement; and with this I
+was forced to be content.
+
+Late on the Monday evening, the expected summons reached me--sent
+specially by train. The next morning I started for Frederick, whence I
+intended to drive through Middletown to Boonesborough, near which was
+the place of meeting. The first thing I saw in the morning paper, when I
+began to read it in the cars, was a fresh general order, suggestive of
+most unpleasant misgivings. General Kelly had just succeeded to the
+command of Maryland Heights, and of the division specially selected for
+picket duty on the river. This--his first order--enjoined the seizure of
+all boats of every description between Monocacy creek and St. John's
+(comprising the whole of the Upper Potomac); no passenger or merchandise
+could be conveyed from Maryland into Virginia without a proper pass, and
+then only at the two specified places--Harper's Ferry and Point of
+Rocks; any one transgressing this edict was liable to arrest and trial
+by martial law.
+
+Throwing down the ill-omened journal, I could not forbear a muttered
+quotation: "The day looks dark for England." Nevertheless, I drove on
+straight from Frederick, determined to prove what the morrow would bring
+forth. It was late when we reached the small roadside hotel, on the
+ridge of the South Mountain, where I had arranged to halt for the night;
+but, late as it was, I had time to hear fresh evil tidings before I
+slept.
+
+The Shepherdstown ferry was in working order at noon on the Monday. The
+same evening, soon after dusk, four mounted men, with two led horses,
+rode down, requiring to be set across instantly. The ferryman objected,
+stating that his orders were imperative against putting any one over,
+after sundown, without a special pass. The men insisted, stating that
+they bore dispatches from Kelly to Milroy, and enforced their demands
+with threats. The unhappy ferryman was totally unarmed, and only wished
+to escape. They shot him to death without further parley, under the eyes
+of his mother and sister, who saw all from their windows. Then they
+ferried themselves and their horses across, and left the boat on the
+Virginia, bank, after knocking out two or three of her planks. Naturally
+there was a great revulsion of popular feeling in the country, and there
+had been a real _émeute_ round the murdered man's grave. When they had
+buried him, that day, in Sharpsburg, no one, suspected of Southern
+sympathies, could venture openly to appear. From all that I could learn,
+the authors of that butchery were not Confederate soldiers, or even
+guerrillas, but purely and simply horse-thieves, who had come over with
+the sole object of plunder, tempted by the enormous prices that
+horse-flesh could then command in Virginia.
+
+Very early the next morning I had a visit from the Irishman, who lived
+hard by. Things did not look less gloomy when I had heard what he had to
+tell. To begin with, that unlucky tongue of Alick's had been doing all
+sorts of mischief. He never touched strong liquors, so there was not
+even that excuse for his imprudence. Instead of remaining quiet in the
+secluded retreat to which he had been, sent, he would persist in hanging
+about in the immediate neighborhood of Boonesborough, and appeared to
+have spoken freely about our projects, greatly exalting and exaggerating
+their importance; indeed, he could scarcely have said more if we had
+been traveling as accredited agents between two belligerent powers. Such
+vainglorious garrulity was not only intensely provoking, but involved
+real peril to all parties concerned. I thought the Irishman was
+perfectly right in taking that blundering bull by the horns, and acting
+decisively on his own responsibility, inasmuch as there was no time to
+communicate with me. He insisted that the Alabamian should quit the
+neighborhood without an hour's delay--there had already been talk of his
+arrest--furnishing him with certain necessaries and a few dollars on my
+account. In despite of the edict aforesaid, there were still punts and
+skiffs concealed all along the river bank, and a footman unencumbered
+with baggage could always be put over without difficulty. Indeed, Alick
+had actually crossed into Virginia, and returned safely, while he was
+loitering about Boonesborough. I never saw the Alabamian again, though I
+heard from him once, as will appear hereafter. He carried away with him
+my best wishes and my revolver; I hope both have profited him. Where
+caution or diplomacy are not required, his sterling honesty and dogged
+courage will always stand him and others in good stead; if his superiors
+can only tie up his tongue, I believe they will "make a man of him yet."
+
+As to Shipley, I found that it was not considered prudent for him to
+await my arrival there, as a search might be made over the Irishman's
+premises at any moment. He had been sent back on the previous afternoon
+to a house near Newmarket, a village some thirty miles east of
+Boonesborough, so that we must almost have crossed on the high road
+leading to Frederick city; there I was certain to find both him and
+Falcon.
+
+The Irishman was decidedly of opinion that to persevere in our
+enterprise at the Shepherdstown ferry or anywhere in the immediate
+neighborhood, would be not only the height of rashness, but absolute
+waste of time. He advised our striking northward at once, by the
+Cumberland route, which then appeared to be the only one offering
+possible chances of success. Even on the Lower Potomac, the _cordon_ of
+pickets and guard-boats had been so strengthened of late as to become
+well nigh impervious, and captures were of hourly occurrence.
+
+Slowly--and I fear rather sullenly--I admitted the justice of my
+friend's counsel, as I walked down to his stable, where the roan had
+been standing since Alick's departure. Perhaps even while I write, the
+war-tide is surging backwards and forwards once again past the doors of
+that cozy homestead; but I trust its roof-tree is still inviolate by
+fire or sword, and that no rude hand has scorched or torn the "new
+parlor-curtains," in which my trim little hostess took an innocent
+pride. It was past noon when I bade farewell to my friends, and mounted
+the roan, to strike Shipley's back trail. There was a light blue sky
+overhead, though the wind blew intensely cold, and hoofs on the hard
+frozen ground rang as on pavement. For the first eighteen miles or so,
+which brought us to Frederick, my horse stepped out cheerily enough,
+though he carried far more weight than he had yet been burdened with, in
+the shape of myself and full saddle-bags. Here we baited, an obscure inn
+which had been recommended to me as "safe;" and late in the afternoon
+held on for Newmarket. I found the farm-house I sought without any
+difficulty, but the owner was down in the village, a mile or so off.
+Without dismounting, I asked to see the mistress, and a thin,
+sickly-looking woman came to the door. At my first question--relating of
+course to Shipley--a glimmer of distrust dawned on her pale, vague face.
+"There was no one there except her own family, and she had never seen or
+heard of a man on a brown horse." I was too thoroughly inured to
+disappointment by this time to feel angry--much less surprised--at
+anything in that line. Evidently I had to do with one of those
+impracticable yet timorous females--strong in their very weakness--who
+will persist in bearing a meek false-witness till the examiner's
+patience fails. So my answer was quiet enough. "Pardon me, I think your
+memory is treacherous. You surely must at least once in your natural
+life, have seen or heard of 'a man on a brown horse.' But if you have
+known nothing of such a remarkable pair within--the last month for
+instance, I fear you can't help me much. If you will tell me where to
+find your husband, in Newmarket, and allow me to light my pipe, I'll not
+trouble you any more." These benevolences the pale woman did not
+withhold, but she saw me depart with a wintry smile, and I heard her
+distinctly mutter to a handmaiden--fearfully arid and adust--who peered
+over her mistress' shoulder, "There's another on 'em, _I_ know."
+
+I found the husband in Newmarket, easily enough--at the "store," of
+course: this is invariably the centre of all gossiping and liquoring-up,
+in such villages as cannot boast a public bar-room. When I delivered
+certain verbal credentials, he was disposed to be more communicative
+than his spouse; but his information was not very clear or satisfactory.
+It appeared that on the previous morning, some hour before dawn a man
+had knocked at the door and asked for shelter: from the description, I
+at once recognized my guide and Falcon. But, for once, Shipley's
+over-caution told against him: he not only declined to give his name,
+but would not state, precisely, whence he came or whither he was going:
+there were many Federal spies about, laying traps for Southern
+sympathizers; so the former got suspicious, and instead of welcoming the
+stranger, prayed him to pass on his way. This solitary instance of
+inhospitality is thus, I think, easily accounted for. I could not blame
+my "informant;" but the state of things was enough to chafe even a meek
+temper: the roan's long legs had begun to tire under the unwonted weight
+before I reached Newmarket, and he rolled fearfully in the slowest trot;
+yet I had sworn not to sleep before I laid my hand on Falcon's mane, and
+I felt, with every fresh check, more savagely determined to keep the
+trail as long as horse-flesh would last under me. I knew there were few
+places in that county where Shipley would dare to trust himself even for
+a night's lodging: some of his relations lived within half a league of
+Symonds; and, if he meant fairly by me and mine, he was certain to
+advise the latter of his return: so I resolved to push straight on for
+my old quarters. Between me and the wished for _gîte_ there lay sixteen
+miles of hilly road--darkling every minute faster.
+
+I do not care to remember that dreary ride--or rather, walk--for two
+hours, at least, of the distance were done on foot. For awhile I had
+pleasanter companions than my own sullen thoughts: a pair of blue-birds
+kept with me, for two or three miles at least, fluttering and twittering
+along the fences by my side, with the prettiest sociability--sometimes
+ahead, sometimes behind--never more than a dozen yards off; their
+brilliant plumage shot through the twilight like jets of sapphire flame:
+I felt absurdly sorry when they disappeared at last into the deepening
+blackness. I had been warned of the probability of encountering a
+cavalry picket somewhere on my road: so I was not greatly surprised when
+the possible peril became a certain one. I was riding slowly up a low,
+steep hill, about ten miles from Newmarket (I think the two or three
+houses are dignified by the name of Rockville), when I saw the
+indistinct forms of several horses, and the taller figure of one mounted
+man, standing out against the clear night-sky on the very crest of the
+ascent. I drew rein instinctively; but in that particular frame of mind,
+I don't think I should have turned back, if the gates of the old Capitol
+had stood open across the road. So I jogged steadily on, trying to look
+as innocently unconscious as possible. Seven or eight horses were
+picketed to some posts outside what I conclude was a whisky store; the
+troopers were all comforting themselves within: the intense cold had
+probably made the solitary sentinel drowsy, for his head drooped low on
+his breast, and he never lifted it as I rode past. I could not attempt
+to make a run of it, so I did not quicken my speed, when the danger was
+left behind: indeed I halted more than once, listening for the sound of
+hoofs in my rear, in which case I meant to have made a plunge into the
+black woods on either side, so as to let the pursuit pass. Hearing
+nothing, I dismounted again, and strode on rather more cheerfully.
+
+The roan was not more glad than his rider, when we groped our way up the
+lane, leading through fields to Symonds' homestead. The good wife came
+out quickly, in answer to my hail, her husband being absent, as usual.
+
+"Oh, Major," she said, "I can't say how glad I am to see you. Shipley's
+so anxious about you: he hasn't been gone half an hour."
+
+"And the brown horse?" I broke in.
+
+"He's in the stable; and looking right well."
+
+With a huge sigh of relief I flung myself out of the saddle.
+
+"That'll do," I said, "Mrs. Symonds; I don't want to hear another word,
+unless it relates to--ham and eggs."
+
+Truly, I fear that the neat-handed Phillis must have been aweary that
+night before she had satisfied Gargantua. A messenger soon summoned
+Shipley, and he was with me before midnight; he explained all his
+movements satisfactorily, and I could not but acknowledge he had acted
+throughout discreetly and well. We sat far into the morning, discussing
+future plans. Ultimately it was settled that he should start with the
+roan, so soon as the animal should be rested and fit for the road,
+traveling by moderate stages, to some resting-place near Oakland. The
+rendezvous was to be determined by information he would receive in those
+parts; and I was to be advised of it by a letter left for me in
+Cumberland. Shipley reckoned that it would take him ten days at least to
+make his point. This interval I was to spend in Baltimore; from which I
+was to proceed, with my horse, to Cumberland, in the cars. This plan had
+the double advantage of saving Falcon over two hundred miles of march,
+and of enabling my guide to make his way, more securely, as a solitary
+traveler. He could not trust himself on the railroad, nor would it have
+been safe to attempt the transport of two horses.
+
+So, on the following day, I made--anything but a triumphant--entry into
+Baltimore. Kindly greetings and condolences could not enable me during
+that last visit to shake off a restless discontent--a gloomy distrust of
+the future--a vague sense of shameful defeat.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+FALLEN ACROSS THE THRESHOLD.
+
+
+Early on Monday, the 30th of April, I addressed myself to the journey
+once more, taking the cars to Cumberland, whither Falcon had preceded me
+by two days, and this time I bound myself by a vow--not lightly to be
+broken--that I would not see Baltimore again, of free will or free
+agency, till I had heard the tuck of Southern drums. The most remarkable
+part of the road is from Point of Rocks to Harper's Ferry, inclusive,
+where the rails find a narrow space to creep between the river and the
+cliffs of Catoctin and Elk Mountains. The last-named spot is especially
+picturesque, standing on a promontory washed on either side by the
+Potomac and Shenandoah, with all the natural advantages of abrupt rocks,
+feathery hanging woods, and broken water. Thenceforward there is little
+to interest or to compensate for the sluggishness of pace and frequency
+of delays. The track winds on always through the same monotony of forest
+and hill, plunging into the gorges and climbing the shoulders of bluffs,
+with the audacity of gradient and contempt of curve that marks the
+handiwork of American engineers. I wonder that one of these did not take
+Mount Cenis in hand, and save the monster tunnel. The line was strongly
+picketed; everywhere you saw the same fringe of murky-white tents, and
+at every station the same groups of squalid soldiery.
+
+What especially exasperated _me_ was, the incessant and continuous
+neighborhood of the Potomac. If you left it for a few minutes you were
+certain to come upon it again before the eye had time to forget the
+everlasting foam-splashed ochre of the sullen current, and at each fresh
+point it met you undiminished in volume, unabated in turbulency. Long
+before this I had begun to look at the river in the light of a personal
+enemy. I think that Xerxes, in the matter of the Hellespont, did wisely
+and well. Did I possess his resources of men and money, I would fain do
+so and more likewise to that same Potomac, subdividing its waters till
+the pet spaniel of "my Mary Jane" should ford them without wetting the
+silky fringes of her trailing ears.
+
+Theoretically, a road passing through leagues of forest-clad hills ought
+to be pleasant, if not interesting; practically, you are bored to death
+before you get half way through. There is a remarkable scarcity of
+anything like fine-grown, timber; the underwood is luxuriant enough,
+especially where the mountain laurel abounds; but in ten thousand acres
+of stunted firwood, you would look in vain for any one tree fit to
+compare with the gray giants that watch over Norwegian fiords, or fit to
+rank in "the shadowy army of the Unterwalden pines."
+
+We reached Cumberland shortly after sundown; my first visit was to the
+stables, where I hoped to find Falcon. Imagine my disgust on hearing
+that, through an accident on the line, the unlucky horse had been shut
+up for forty-six hours in his box, with provender just enough for one
+day. He had been well tended, however, and judiciously fed in small
+quantities at frequent intervals, and, barring that he looked rather
+"tucked up," did not seem much the worse for his enforced fast.
+
+I found Shipley's letter, too, where I had been told to expect it; he
+had got so far without let or hindrance; the meeting-place was set about
+forty miles northwest of Cumberland. I spent the evening, not
+unpleasantly, partly at the house of a "sympathizing" resident to whom I
+had been recommended; partly in the society of the most miraculous
+Milesian I ever encountered--off the stage or out of a book. He was
+stationed in Cumberland on some sort of recruiting service, and from
+dawn to midnight never ceased to oil his already lissom tongue with
+"caulkers" of every imaginable liquor. I was told that at no hour of
+the twenty-four had any man seen him thoroughly drunk or decently sober.
+When we first met, his cups had brought him nearly to the end of the
+belligerent or irascible stage; he was then inveighing against the
+dwellers in the Shenandoah Valley, where he had lately been quartered,
+for their want of patriotism in declining to furnish their defenders
+with gratuitous whisky and tobacco; threatening the most dreadful
+reprisals when he should visit "thim desateful Copperhids" again.
+Suddenly, without any warning, he slid into the maudlin phase, taking
+his parable of lamentation against "this crule warr."
+
+"I weep, sirr," said he, "over the rrupture of mee adhopted
+counthree--the counthree that resaved mee with opin arrums, when I was
+floying from the feece of toirants," &c., &c.
+
+When he informed me that he belonged to Mulligan's division, the words,
+"I suppose so," escaped me, involuntary. Truly, if the rest of the
+brigade resembled the specimen before me, only the mighty Celt, whom
+Thackeray had made immortal, could command it. I shall never again look
+on the "stock" freshman as an exaggeration or caricature.
+
+I waited, the next morning, till a heavy snowstorm had resolved itself
+into a thin, driving sleet; then my saddle-bags were strapped on Falcon,
+and I set forth alone, the good horse striding away, as strong under me
+as if he had never heard of short commons. We baited at Frostburgh, a
+small village set on a hill mined and tunneled with coalpits; fifteen
+miles or so beyond this was the roadside inn, where I proposed to halt
+for the night. The sun had long set when I rode up to the
+spectral-looking white house; remarking with no pleasant surprise, that
+not a vestige of smoke rose from its gaunt chimneys. At the gate there
+stood a cart laden with some sort of household goods. Near this, a man,
+who lounged up, seeing me draw rein, to ask my business. It appeared
+that a "flitting" had taken place that very day, and that he--the good
+man--was then betaking himself, with the residue of the chattels, to
+their new home, about five miles back on the Frostburgh road, whither
+his family had already gone. The next chance of a billet was at
+Grantsville, two leagues farther on. Now that sounds too absurdly short
+a distance to disquiet any traveler; but neither is the fatal straw in
+the camel's load a ponderous thing, _per se_. Both Falcon and I had
+reckoned that our day's work was done when we climbed the last hill, so
+it was in some discontent that we set our faces once more against the
+black road, and the stinging sleet, and the bitter north wind.
+
+Amongst Mrs. Browning's earlier poems, there is one to my mind almost
+peerless for sweet sonority of verse-music, and simplicity of strength.
+If it chance that any reader of mine has not admired "The Rhyme of the
+Duchess May," this page, at least, has not been written in vain. My
+saddle-bags held no volume other than a note-book, but that ballad in
+manuscript was nearly the last gift bestowed on me in Baltimore. Never
+was mortal mood less romantic than mine, so I cannot account for the
+fancy which impelled me, there and then, to recite aloud, how
+
+    The bridegroom led the flight, on his red roan steed of might;
+    And the bride lay on his arm, still, as tho' she feared no harm,
+        Smiling out into the night.
+    "Fearest thou?" he said at last. "Nay," she answered him in haste,
+    "Not such death as we could find; only life with one behind,
+        Ride on--fast as fear--ride fast."
+
+I found one listener, more appreciative than the wild pine-barren, that
+surely had never been waked by rhythmic sound since the birthday of
+Time. Falcon pricked his ears, and champed his bit cheerily, as he
+mended his pace without warning of spur. As for myself--the pure,
+earnest Saxon diction proved a more efficient "comforter" than "the
+many-colored scarf round my neck, wrought by the same kind white hands
+beyond the sea;" hands that, even now, I venture to salute with the lips
+of a grateful spirit, in all humility and honor.
+
+So the way did not seem so long that brought us through the straggling,
+dim-lighted streets of Grantsville, up to the porch of its single
+hostelry, where, after some parley, I found a fair chance of supper and
+bed, and a heavy-handed Orson to help me in racking up Falcon.
+
+It would be very unfair to draw a comparison between an ordinary
+roadside inn in England and its synonym up in the country of America; a
+better parallel is a speculative railway tavern verging always on
+bankruptcy. There is an utter absence of the old-fashioned coziness
+which enables you easily to dispense with luxuries. You enter at once
+into a stifling, stove heated bar-room, defiled with all nicotine
+abominations, where, for the first few minutes, you draw your breath
+hard, and then settle down into a dull, uneasy stupor, conscious of
+nothing except a weight tightening around your temples like a band of
+molten iron. That is the only guest-chamber, save a parlor in the rear,
+the ordinary withdrawing-room and nursery of the family, where you take
+your meals in an atmosphere impregnated with babies and their
+concomitants. The fare is not so bad, after all, and monotony does not
+prevent chicken and ham fixings from being very acceptable after a long,
+fasting ride. It blew a gale that night from the northwest, and the
+savage wind--laden with sheets of snow--hurled itself against eaves and
+gable till the crazy tenement quivered from roof-tree to foundation
+beams. I went to my unquiet rest early, chiefly to avoid an importunate
+reveler in the bar-room, who "wished to put to the stranger a few small
+questions," troublesome to answer, that I had not patience to evade.
+
+It was high noon on the following day when I set forth again. The snow
+had ceased to fall two hours before, but I wished to give it time to
+settle; besides, any tracks would greatly help me over the rough
+cross-country road I had to travel. My route-bill enjoined me to call at
+a certain house where the lane turned off from the highway, to obtain
+further instructions. These were duly given me by the farmer, an elderly
+man, with a wild, gray beard, vague, red eyes, and a stumbling
+incoherence of speech. He repeatedly professed himself "pure and clear
+as the dew of Heaven." These characteristics applied probably to his
+principles--patriotic or private; they certainly did not to his
+directions, which led me two miles astray, before I had ridden twice
+that distance; no trifling error, when you had to struggle back over
+steep, broken ground, through drifts fully girth deep.
+
+However, as evening closed in, I "made" Accident--the point where I
+ought to have found Shipley. He was a very good guide--when you caught
+him--but such a perfect _ignis fatuus_, when once out of sight, that I
+was not at all surprised at hearing he had gone on, the night before, to
+a farm-house--more safe and secluded, certainly--about sixteen miles
+off. My informant offered to pilot me thither so soon as it should be
+thoroughly dark. This offer I accepted at once, only hoping that Falcon
+would, like myself, consider it "all in the day's work."
+
+I shall never forget my halt at Accident, if only on account of the
+martyrdom I endured at the hands of some small, pale boys, children of
+the house wherein I abode. I had just settled myself to smoke a
+meditative pipe before supper, when they came in, with a formidable air
+of business about all the three; they drew up a little bench, exactly
+opposite to my rocking-chair, fixing themselves, and me, into a
+deliberate stare. Every now and then the spokes-boy of the party--he was
+the oldest, evidently, but his face was smaller and whiter, and his eyes
+were more like little black beads than those of either of his
+brethren--would fire off a point-blank pistol-shot of a question; when
+this was answered or evaded, they resumed their steady stare. I was
+lapsing rapidly into a helpless imbecility under the horrible
+fascination, when their mother summoned me to supper; they vanished
+then, with a derisive chuckle, to which they were certainly entitled:
+for they had utterly discomfited the stranger within their gates.
+
+One more long night-ride over steep, broken forest-ground--enlivened by
+certain ultra-marine reminiscences of my guide, who had been a sort of
+land-buccaneer in California--brought us to the farm, far in the bosom
+of the hills, where I found Shipley, buried in a deep sleep. The sole
+intelligence I heard that night related to the roan: the enfeebled
+constitution of that unlucky animal had given way under rough travel and
+wild weather; he was reported to be dying; hearing which, I could
+scarcely deny him great good sense, however I might lament his lack of
+endurance.
+
+"The sooner it's over, the sooner to sleep," applies, of course, to
+horses as well as hard-worked men.
+
+My new host was a thorough specimen of the upland yeoman--half hunter,
+half farmer, and all over a cattle-dealer. Deer and bears still abound
+in those hills, though the latter are not so plentiful as they were a
+score of years back, when B---- and his father slew thirty-three in a
+single season: in one conflict he lost two fingers, from his
+hunting-knife slipping while he was locked in the death-grapple.
+
+The next morning broke wild and stormy, but the good man rode out on the
+scout, to see how the land lay round Oakland; while he was absent we
+talked over our plans, and looked over his cattle to find a remount for
+my guide. The roan's malady had not been exaggerated; he was indeed in a
+miserable plight, suffering, I thought, from acute internal
+inflammation. After dinner we had some very pretty rifle practice, at
+short distances, with a huge, clumsy weapon. I saw a boy of sixteen put
+five consecutive bullets into the circumference of a half-crown at
+seventy-five yards.
+
+Late in the afternoon our host returned, and we came to terms for rather
+a neat four-year-old filly: neither her condition nor strength was equal
+to the work before her; but Shipley thought that, nursing, she would
+carry him through; and once in Secessia, my interest in the purchase
+would cease. The roan was, of course, left behind, to be killed or
+cured. His chances of life seemed then so faint (though the hill-farmers
+are no mean farriers) that I thought he was fairly valued in the deal at
+thirty dollars. It appeared that there was increase of vigilance
+throughout the frontier-guard: in Oakland itself a full company was
+stationed, and strong pickets were thrown out all around, but B---- felt
+confident he could pilot us through these.
+
+We started soon after nightfall, in the midst of a sharp sleet-storm,
+but we dared not delay to give the weather time to clear, for a
+domiciliary visit from the Federals was by no means improbable. The old
+hunter had not boasted too much of his local knowledge. He led on,
+through winding byways and forest paths--sometimes striking straight
+across the clearings--till the lights of Oakland glimmered in our rear,
+and the _cordon_ of pickets was threaded; nor did he leave us till we
+had reached a point whence a straight track--well known to
+Shipley--would bring us down on the north branch of the Potomac.
+Thenceforward, my guide and I rode on alone: the moon shone out, broad
+and bright, in a cloudless sky, as we climbed the wooded spurs that lie
+as outworks before the main range of the Alleghanies; the silvery
+transparent shimmer of the frost-work on the feathery for-sprays, was
+one of the most remarkable effects of reflected light that I can
+remember. The snow was more than fetlock-deep where it lay level, and
+the filly tired fearfully towards morning. She could not walk near up to
+Falcon's long, even stride. I had to halt perpetually, to wait for my
+companion; but in the tenth weary hour we sighted the crazy bridge that
+spans the North Branch, and by four, A. M., on Good Friday, our steeds
+
+        Might graze at ease
+    Beyond the brood Borysthenes.
+
+Rock, and wood, and water, were all looking their best, under a
+brilliant sun, when I rose, but the object on which I gazed with most
+satisfaction, was the accursed river circumvented at last. The solitary
+green things I could find actually on the bank, were some sprigs of
+cypress: these I gathered with due formula of lustration; but the _absit
+omen_ was spoken in vain.
+
+Then I wrote two or three letters, inclosing in each the cypress, token
+of partial success; but these never reached their destinations: they
+were prudently suppressed, three days later, by the person to whose
+discretion I trusted to forward them. My correspondence being cleared
+off, and Falcon thoroughly groomed, I fell back upon the resources of
+the little town for amusement, and lighted on one scrap of light
+literature, the fragment of a nameless magazine. In this there were some
+good, quiet verses, that I thought worth transcribing, were it only for
+the incongruity of the place in which I found them: perhaps they are
+already well known; but _I_ am ignorant even of the author's name.
+
+                 MAUD.
+
+    Yes, she always loved the sea,
+    God's half uttered mystery;
+    With the murmur of its myriad shells,
+      And never-ceasing roar:
+    It was well, that when she died,
+    They made Maud a grave beside
+    The blue pulses of the tide,
+      'Neath, the crags of Elsinore.
+
+    One chill red leaf falling down--
+    Many russet autumns gone;
+    A lone ship with folded wings
+      Lay sleeping off the lea:
+    Silently she came by night,
+    Folded wings of murky white,
+    Weary with their lengthened flight;
+      Way-worn nursling of the sea.
+
+    Eager peasants thronged the sands;
+    There were tears and clasping hands;
+    But one sailor, heeding none,
+      Passed thro' the churchyard-gate:
+    Only "Maud," the headstone read,--
+    Only Maud, was't all it said?
+    Why did _he_ then bow his head,
+      Moaning, "Late, mine own, too late!"
+
+    And they called her cold--God knows,
+    Under quiet winter's snows,
+    The invisible hearts of flowers
+      Grow up to blossoming:
+    And the hearts judged calm and cold,
+    Might, if all their tale were told,
+    Seem cast in a gentler mould,
+      Full of love and life and spring.
+
+We were in the saddle again an hour before sunset, our next point being
+a log-hut on the very topmost ridge of the Alleghanies, wherein dwelt a
+man said to be better acquainted than any other in the country round,
+with the passes leading into the Shenandoah Valley. We ascertained,
+beyond a doubt, that a company was stationed at Greenland Gap, close to
+which it was absolutely necessary we should pass; but with a thoroughly
+good local guide, we might fairly count on the same luck which had
+brought us safe round Oakland. Night had fallen long before we came down
+on the South River, a mere mountain torrent, at ordinary seasons; but
+now, flowing along with the broad dignity of a swift, smooth river. My
+guide's mare wanted shoeing, and there chanced to be a rude forge close
+to the ford, which is the only crossing-place since the bridge was
+destroyed last autumn by the Confederates. It was important that the
+local pilot should be secured as soon as possible (he was constantly
+absent from home), so I rode on alone, with directions that were easy to
+follow.
+
+The smith, whose house stood but three hundred yards or so off, had told
+me that I had to strike straight across the ford, for a gap in the dense
+wood cloaked by the opposite bank. It was disagreeably dark at the
+water's edge, for the low moon was utterly hidden behind a thicket of
+cypress and pine; but I did make out a narrow opening _exactly_
+opposite; for this I headed unhesitatingly. We lost footing twice; but a
+mass of tangled timber above broke the current--nowhere very strong--and
+the water shoaled quickly under the further shore; the bottom was sound,
+too, just there, though the bank was steep; and Falcon answered a sharp
+drive of the spurs with a gallant spring, that landed him on a narrow
+shelf of slippery clay, hedged in on three sides by brush absolutely
+impenetrable. There was not room to stand firm, much less to turn
+safely; before I had time to think what was to be done, there was a
+backward slide, and a flounder; in two seconds more, I had drawn myself
+with some difficulty from under my horse, who lay still on his side, too
+wise, at first, to struggle unavailingly. If long hunting experience
+makes a man personally rather indifferent about accidents, it also
+teaches him when there is danger to the animal he rides; looking at
+Falcon's utter helplessness and the constrained twist of his hind legs,
+which I tried in vain to straighten, I began to have uncomfortable
+visions of ricked backs and strained sinews: I was on the wrong side of
+the river, too, for help; though even the rope of a Dublin Garrison
+"wrecker" would have helped but little then. Thrice the good horse made
+a desperate attempt to stand up, and thrice he sank back again with the
+hoarse sigh, between pant and groan--half breathless, half
+despairing--that every hunting man can remember, to his cost. It was
+impossible to clear the saddle-bags without cutting them; I had drawn my
+knife for this purpose, when a fourth struggle (in which his fore-hoofs
+twice nearly struck me down), set Falcon once more on his
+feet--trembling, and drenched with sweat, but materially uninjured. I
+contrived to scramble into the saddle, and we plunged into the ford
+again, heading up stream, till we struck the real gap, which was at
+least thirty yards higher up. It is ill trusting to the accuracy of a
+native's _carte du pays_. Another league brought me to the way-side hut
+where I was instructed to ask for fresh guidance.
+
+"Right over the big pasture, to the bars at the corner--then keep the
+track through the wood to the 'improvements'--and the house was close
+by." Such were the directions of the good-natured mountaineer, who
+offered himself to accompany me: but this I would by no means allow.
+
+Now, an up-country pasture, freshly cleared, is a most unpleasant place
+to cross, after nightfall: the stumps are all left standing, and felled
+trees lie all about--thick as boulders on a Dartmoor hillside; then,
+however, a steady moon was shining, and Falcon picked his way daintily
+through the timber, hopping lightly, now and then, over a trunk bigger
+than the rest, but never losing the faint track: we got over the high
+bars, too, safely, hitting them hard. The wood-path led out upon a
+clearing, after a while: here I was fairly puzzled. There was no sign of
+human habitation, except a rough hut, some hundred yards to my right,
+that I took to be an outlying cattle-shed: there was not the glimmer of
+a light anywhere.
+
+I have not yet written the name of the man I was seeking: contrasts of
+time and place made it so very remarkable, that I venture to break the
+rule of anonyms. Mortimer Nevil--who would have dreamt of lighting on,
+perhaps, the two proudest patronymics of baronial England, in a log hut
+crowning the ridge of the Alleghanies?
+
+While I wandered hither and thither in utter bewilderment, my ear caught
+a sound as of one hewing timber; I rode for it, and soon found that the
+hovel I had passed thrice was the desired homestead; truly, it was
+fitting that the possible descendant of the king-maker should reveal
+himself by the rattle of his axe.
+
+It is needless to say, that I was received courteously and kindly. The
+mountaineer promised his services readily; albeit, he spoke by no means
+confidently of our chances of getting through; the company of Western
+Virginians that had recently marched into Greenland, was said to be
+unusually vigilant; only the week before, a professional blockade-runner
+had been captured, who had made his way backwards and forwards
+repeatedly, and was thoroughly conversant with the ground. The attempt
+could not possibly be made till the following evening; till then, Nevil
+promised to do his best to make Falcon and me comfortable.
+
+I shall not easily forget my night in the log hut; it consisted of a
+single room, about sixteen feet by ten; in this lived and slept the
+entire family--numbering the farmer, his wife, mother, and two children.
+When they spoke, confidently, of finding me a bed, I fell into a great
+tremor and perplexity; the problem seemed to me not more easy to solve
+than that of the ferryman, who had to carry over a fox, a goose, and a
+cabbage; it was physically impossible that the large-limbed Nevil and
+myself should be packed into the narrow non-nuptial couch; the only
+practicable arrangement involved my sharing its pillow with the two
+infants or with the ancient dame; and at the bare thought of either
+alternative, I shivered from head to heel. At last, with infinite
+difficulty, I obtained permission to sleep on my horse-rug spread on the
+floor, with my saddle for a bolster; when this point was once settled, I
+spent the evening very contentedly, basking in the blaze of the huge
+oaken logs; if stinted in all else, the mountaineer has always large
+luxury of fuel. I was curious to find out if my host knew anything of
+his own lineage; but he could tell me nothing further, than that his
+grandfather was the first colonist of the family; oddly enough, though,
+in his library of three or four books, was an ancient work on heraldry;
+his father had been much addicted to studying this, and was said to have
+been learned in the science.
+
+At about ten, P. M., Shipley knocked at the door, fearfully wet and cold;
+the smith had accompanied him to the ford, so that he could not go
+astray, but his filly hardly struggled through the deep, strong water.
+Our host found quarters for him, in the log hut of a brother, who dwelt
+a short half-mile off.
+
+I spent all the fore-part of the next day in lounging about, watching
+the sluggish sap drain out of the sugar-maples, occasionally falling
+back on the female society of the place; for the Nevil had gone forth on
+the scout. It was not very lively: my hostess was kindness itself, but
+the worn, weary look never was off her homely face; nor did I wonder at
+this when I heard that, besides their present troubles and hardships,
+they had lost four children in one week of the past winter from
+diphtheria; it was sad to see how painfully the mother clung to the two
+that death had left her; she could not bear them out of her sight for an
+instant. A very weird-looking cummer was the grand-dame--with a broken,
+piping voice--tremulous hands, and jaws that, like the stage witch
+wife's, ever munched and mumbled. She seldom spoke aloud, except to
+groan out a startlingly sudden ejaculation of "Oh, Lord," or "O dear;"
+these widows' mites cast into the conversational treasury did not
+greatly enhance its brilliancy.
+
+The blue sky grew murky-white before sundown, and night fell intensely
+cold. The Nevil who guided us on foot had much the best of it, and I
+often dismounted, to walk by his side. If he who sang the praises of the
+"wild northwester" had been with us then, I doubt if he would not have
+abated of his enthusiasm. The bitter snow-laden blast, even where thick
+cover broke its vicious sweep, was enough to make the blood stand still
+in the veins of the veriest Viking. After riding about ten miles, we
+left the rough paths we had hitherto pursued, and struck, across
+country. For two hours or more we forced our way slowly and
+painfully through bush and brake--through marshy rills and rocky
+burns--demolishing snake-fences whenever we broke out on a clearing.
+Shipley led his mare almost the whole way; and I, thinking the saddle
+safest and pleasantest conveyance over ordinarily rough ground, was
+compelled to dismount repeatedly.
+
+It was about one o'clock in the morning of Sunday, the 5th of April: we
+were then crossing some tilled lands, intersected by frequent narrow
+belts of woodland. Our course ran parallel to the mountain-road leading
+from Greenland to Petersburg; the former place was then nearly three
+miles behind us, and our guide felt certain that we had passed the
+outermost pickets. It was very important that we should get housed
+before break of day; so we were on the point of breaking into the beaten
+track again, and had approached it within fifty yards, when suddenly,
+out of the dark hollow on our left, there came a hoarse shout:
+
+"Stop. Who are you? Stop or I'll fire."
+
+Now I have heard a challenge or two in my time, and felt certain at once
+that even, a Federal picket would have employed a more regular formula.
+The same idea struck Shipley too.
+
+"Come on," he said, "they're only citizens."
+
+So on we went, disregarding a second and third summons in the same
+words. We both looked round for the Nevil, but keener eyes would have
+sought for him in vain; at the first sound of voices he had plunged into
+the dark woods above us, where a footman, knowing the country, might
+defy any pursuit. Peace and joy go with him! By remaining he would only
+have ruined himself, without profiting us one jot.
+
+Then three revolver-shots were fired in rapid succession. To my question
+if he was hit, my guide answered cheerily in the negative; neither of us
+guessed that one bullet had struck his mare high up in the neck; though
+the wound proved mortal the next day, it was scarcely perceptible, and
+bled altogether internally. One of those belts of woodland crossed our
+track about two hundred yards ahead; we crashed into this over a gap in
+the snake-fence; but the barrier on the further side was high and
+intact. Shipley had dismounted, and had nearly made a breach by pulling
+down the rails, when, the irregular challenge was repeated directly in
+our front, and we made out a group of three dark figures about
+thirty-five yards off.
+
+"Give your names, and where you are going, or I'll fire."
+
+"He's very fond of firing," I said in an undertone to Shipley, and then
+spoke out aloud. (I saw at once the utter impossibility of escape, even
+if we could have found our way back, without quitting our horses, which
+I never dreamt of.)
+
+"If you'll come here, I'll tell you all about it."
+
+I could not have advanced if I had wished it; in broad day the fence
+would have been barely practicable. I spoke those exact words in a tone
+purposely measured and calm, so that they should not be mistaken by our
+assailants: I have good reason to remember them, for they were the last
+I ever uttered on American ground as a free agent. They had hardly
+passed my lips, when a rifle cracked; I felt a dull numbing blow inside
+my left knee, and a sensation as if hot sealing-wax was trickling there;
+at the same instant, Falcon dropped under me--without a start or
+struggle, or sound besides a horrible choking sob--shot right through
+the jugular vein.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+THE ROAD TO AVERNUS.
+
+
+Before I had struggled clear of my horse, Shipley's hand was on my
+shoulder, and his hurried whisper in my ear.
+
+"What shall we do? Will you surrender?"
+
+Now, though I knew already that I had escaped with a flesh-wound from a
+spent bullet, I felt that I could not hope to make quick tracks that
+night. Certain reasons--wholly independent of personal convenience--made
+me loth to part with my saddle-bags; besides this, I own I shrank from
+the useless ignominy of being hunted down like a wild beast on the
+mountains. So I answered, rather impatiently:
+
+"What the deuce would you have one do--with a dead horse and a lamed
+leg? Shift for yourself as well as you can."
+
+Without another word I walked towards the party in our front, with an
+impulse I cannot now define; it could scarcely have been seriously
+aggressive, for a hunting-knife was my solitary weapon; but for one
+moment I _was_ idiot enough to regret my lost revolver, I was traveling
+as a neutral and civilian, with no other object than my private ends;
+the slaughter of an American citizen, on his own ground, would have been
+simply murder, both by moral and martial law, and I heard afterwards
+that our Legation could not have interfered to prevent condign
+punishment. But reason is dumb sometimes, when the instincts of the "old
+Adam" are speaking. I suppose I am not more truculent than my fellows;
+but since then, in all calmness and sincerity, I have thanked God for
+sparing me one strong temptation.
+
+Before I had advanced ten paces the same voice challenged again.
+
+"Stop where you are--if you come a step nearer, I'll shoot."
+
+I was in no mood to listen to argument, much less to an absurd threat.
+
+"You may shoot and be d----d," I said. "You've got the shooting all your
+own way to-night. I carry no fire-arms,"--and walked on.
+
+Now, I record these words--conscious that they were thoroughly
+discreditable to the speaker--simply because I mentioned them in my
+examination before the Judge Advocate (after he had insisted on the
+point of verbal accuracy), and from his office emanated a paragraph,
+copied into all the Washington journals, stating that I had cursed my
+captors fluently. I affirm, on my honor, that this was the solitary
+imprecation that escaped me from first to last.
+
+So I kept on advancing: they did _not_ fire, and I don't suppose they
+would have done so, even if they had had time to reload. I soon got near
+enough to discern that among the three men there was not a trace of
+uniform; they were evidently farmers, and roughly dressed "at that." So
+I opened parley in no gentle terms, requiring their authority for what
+they had done, and promising that they should answer it, if there was
+such a thing as law in these parts.
+
+"Well, if we ain't soldiers," the chief speaker said, "we're Home
+Guards, and that's the same thing here; we've as much authority as we
+want to back us out. Why didn't you stop, and tell us who you are, and
+where you're going?"
+
+By this time I was cool enough to reflect, and act with a purpose. For
+my own, as well as for his sake, I was most anxious that Shipley should
+escape. I knew they would not find a scrap of compromising paper on me;
+but he was a perfect post-carrier of dangerous documents, and a marked
+man besides--altogether a suspicious companion for an innocent traveler.
+So I began to discuss several points with my captors in a much calmer
+tone--demonstrating that from the irregularity of their challenge we
+could not suppose it came from any regular picket--that there were many
+horse-thieves and marauders about, so that it behoved travelers to be
+cautious--that it would have been impossible to have explained our
+names, object, and destination in a breath, even if they had given more
+time for such reply: finally, making a virtue of necessity, I consented
+to accompany them to the regular out-post of Greenland, stipulating that
+I should have a horse to carry me and my saddle-bags; for my knee was
+still bleeding, and stiffening fast.
+
+All this debate took ten minutes at least, during which time my captors
+seemed to have forgotten my companion's existence, though they must have
+seen his figure cross the open ground when they first fired. Long before
+we got back to the horses, Shipley had "vamosed" into the mountain,
+carrying his light luggage with him; only some blank, envelopes were
+lying about, evidently dropped in the hurry of removal.
+
+I knelt down by Falcon's side, and lifted his head out of the dark red
+pool in which it lay. Even in the dim light I could see the broad,
+bright eye glazing: the death-pang came very soon; he was too weak to
+struggle; but a quick, convulsive shiver ran through all the lower
+limbs, and, with a sickening hoarse gurgle in the throat, the last
+breath was drawn.
+
+My good, stout, patient horse! Few and evil were the days of his
+pilgrimage with me; but we had begun to know and like each other well. I
+cannot remember to have borne a heavier heart, than when I turned away
+from his corpse, half shrouded in a winding-sheet of drifting
+snow-flakes--seeing nothing certain in my own future, save frustrated
+projects and exhausted resources.
+
+I threw my saddle-bags across Shipley's saddle, and rode slowly down,
+three miles, into Greenland. The filly's head drooped wearily, as she
+faltered on through the half-frozen mud and water; but no one guessed,
+till daylight broke, that she had then got her death-wound.
+
+When we reached the hovel that was the headquarters of the detachment,
+only two or three soldiers were lounging around the fire; but the news
+of a capture roused most of the sleepers, and the low, dim room was soon
+filled, suffocatingly, with a squalid crowd, in and out of uniform:
+prominent, in the midst, stood the long, lank, half-dressed figure of
+the lieutenant in command. Neither he nor his men were absolutely
+uncourteous, when they once recognized that I was not a Confederate spy,
+or a professional blockade-runner; but they were exultant, of course,
+and disposed to indulge in a rough jocularity, during the necessary
+inspection of my person and baggage.
+
+The surgeon was a coarse edition of Maurice Quill; when he had examined
+my knee, and dressed it--not unskillfully--(the conical point of "the
+Sharp's" bullet had just reached the bone), he took great interest in
+the search of my saddle-bags; desiring to be informed of the precise
+cost of each article. When I declined to satisfy him, he became
+exceedingly witty--not to say sarcastic.
+
+"Here's a mighty curious sort of a traveler, boys; as don't know what
+nothing costs that belongs to him, nor how he come by it," &c.
+
+Now I was getting tired, and bored with the whole business, and stifled
+with the close atmosphere--laden with every graveolent horror; besides,
+I had not escaped from London "chaff" and Parisian _persiflage_, to be
+mocked by a wild Virginian. So I said, quite gravely:
+
+"It's very simple; but I don't wonder it puzzles you. You have to pay,
+when you buy, out here, I dare say, _I_ haven't paid for anything for
+twenty years. But, if I had known I was going to meet _you_, before I
+came away I would have--looked at the bills."
+
+Perhaps my face did not look like jesting; anyhow, he took every word
+for earnest, and remained silent for some time; ruminating, I suppose,
+on the grand simplicity of such a system of commerce.
+
+This occupied their attention for a considerable time; when a party
+_did_ start in pursuit of my companion, under the guidance of
+Dolley--the man who had fired the last fatal shot--I reflected, with
+some satisfaction, that the fugitive had a long two hours' "law," The
+guard-room cleared gradually; and, before daybreak, I got some brief,
+broken rest--supine on the narrowest of benches, with my crossed arms
+for a pillow.
+
+In spite of wound, and weariness, and discomfiture, I have spent a
+drearier time than the morning of that same Sunday. After the first
+awkward feeling had passed off, my captors showed themselves civil, and
+almost friendly, after their fashion. They were very like big
+school-boys--those honest Volunteers--prone to rough jokes and rude
+horse-play among themselves, which the commanding officer not only
+sanctioned, but personally mingled with: good-fellowship reigned
+supreme, to the utter subversion of dignity and discipline.
+
+There were some lithe, active figures among them, well fitted for the
+long forced marches for which both the Northern and Southern infantry is
+renowned; and two or three raw-boned giants, topping six feet by some
+inches; but not one powerful or athletic frame: in many trials of
+strength, in wrist and arm, I did not come across one formidable muscle.
+
+About three o'clock--the weather had become bright and almost warm
+before noon--I was lounging about on the bank of the trout-stream that
+ran past the door, with my guard at my shoulder, when I saw a group of
+several figures approaching. When they came nearer, one man lifted his
+cap on his bayonet's point, and the others shouted. I could not catch
+the words; but I guessed the truth: they had run down Shipley, after
+all. He was so utterly exhausted, both in mind and body, when first
+brought in, that he could hardly speak: he was not of a hardy
+constitution, and he had undergone fatigue enough--to say nothing of the
+fearful weather--to have broken down a more practiced pedestrian.
+Dolley's party were not the actual captors, though they were hard on the
+fugitive's trail; another squad, sent to search for some Confederates
+supposed to be hidden in the neighborhood, had come upon some tracks in
+the snow, leading to a farm-house, and there discovered my unhappy
+guide, sleeping the sleep of exhaustion. This was twelve miles from the
+spot where we parted, and he had struggled on till strength would carry
+him no further.
+
+The lieutenant's face grew longer than Nature had left it, as he
+perused, one after another, the documents found on Shipley. Though his
+demeanor towards myself remained quite amicable, it was clear that he
+judged me, to a certain extent, by my associations; and his simple
+joviality was somewhat clouded by an uneasy sense of responsibility.
+Nevertheless, the evening passed quickly enough round the guard-room
+fire; the men sang some simple chants, and the deep, rough voices
+sounded not unmusically. Once more, I preferred a single plank to the
+nameless abominations of the bunks, above and below stairs; and
+consequently awoke with aching bones, but flesh intact.
+
+The next morning we bade farewell to the Greenland detachment, in no
+unkindness. I was really sorry when I read in the papers, a month later,
+of their capture by Imboden's division, after an obstinate defense in
+the church, which was burned over their heads before the survivors would
+surrender.
+
+New Creek, the headquarters of Colonel Mulligan's brigade, was our
+destination. We had a sufficient escort, and besides, the valiant Dolley
+accompanied us, in the character of chief witness, as well as chief
+captor. His "get up" was very remarkable, consisting of a pair of brown
+overalls, an old blue uniform coat, about three sizes too small for him,
+and the very tallest black hat, that, as I think, I ever beheld. Slight
+as my wound was, it had quite crippled me for the time; a farmer,
+however, for a moderate consideration, found me a pony that saved my
+legs, at much peril to its own: for it stumbled miraculously often.
+Shipley began by walking, but was glad to avail himself of a chance
+animal half way. Dolley and two of his friends were mounted; the
+soldiers kept pace with us gallantly on foot.
+
+When we started, I bore no sort of malice to that same Dolley; but,
+before we had got through the twenty-three miles that brought us to New
+Creek, I hated him intensely, as one hates the man--friend or foe--that
+bores you to death's door. That he should be puffed up with vainglory,
+was neither unlikely nor unreasonable. His own shots were the only ones
+he had ever seen fired in anger. It was natural, too, that he should
+over-estimate the importance of his capture; he had suffered from the
+war, in purse, if not in person, and had lost two sons in the Northern
+army from disease, one of whom had been imprisoned for six months by the
+Confederates. After his first excitement had passed away, he bore
+himself not unkindly towards me; though, at Greenland, he did greatly
+bewail the darkness that had caused him to take a costly life instead of
+a worthless one; Falcon would have fetched five hundred dollars in those
+parts; even at my own valuation, _I_ could not have been appraised so
+highly. So I listened to him twice or thrice with great patience, while
+he told how well he had deserved of his country; but, when he persisted
+in repeating the same tale, not only to me, but to every creature he
+encountered, the iteration became simply "damnable." He spoke of his
+dead sons in the same pompous tones of self-exultation with which he
+reckoned all other items standing to the credit side of his patriotism.
+Fortunately for my equanimity, I was not present when he told his own
+tale at New Creek; it must have been a grand romance of history.
+
+Yet my poor Dolley made a bad night's work of it after all. His three
+days' fame in local papers cost him dear. Immediately on getting out of
+prison, I heard--not without a savage satisfaction--that Imboden's
+horsemen had harried his homestead thoroughly in their last raid; Dolley
+only saving his life by "running like a hare." The Southerners know
+everything that goes on near their lines, and are wonderfully regular in
+settling scores with any registered debtor.
+
+At New Creek I was confronted with Colonel Mulligan. His attire was
+anything but military; black overalls crammed into high butcher boots, a
+Garibaldi shirt of the brightest emerald green; but his bearing was
+unmistakably that of a soldier and gentleman. He treated me with the
+utmost courtesy. I also met with no small kindness from the adjutant of
+the artillery corps, an old Crimean. Unluckily, Colonel Mulligan could
+not deal with my case, so, after a brief examination, and liberal
+refreshment, Shipley and myself were forwarded by rail to Wheeling, two
+hundred miles further west, where the district Provost Marshal was
+stationed.
+
+We reached Wheeling in the early morning, and there were indulged with a
+most welcome bath, and breakfast. Soon afterwards we stood in the
+presence of the Provost Marshal, Major Darr.
+
+The figure of this functionary certainly resembles, in its square
+obesity, that of the great Emperor in his latter days. Possibly for this
+reason, Major Darr affects a Napoleonic curtness and decision of speech.
+Nevertheless, he was amenable to reason, and on my agreeing to pay the
+expenses of an escort, consented to forward me to Baltimore, to be
+identified. Shipley was committed at once to the military prison.
+
+It was a long, weary journey of twenty-three hours, and I was so
+harassed by want of sleep, that I scarcely appreciated some really fine
+scenery on the Laurel and Chestnut ranges. We reached Baltimore about
+three, A. M., and I dispatched two notes immediately, one to the British
+Consul, another to my most intimate acquaintance in the city.
+
+Both came down without delay, proffering all possible assistance. I had
+a regular _levee_ before my guards conveyed me to the office of the
+Chief of Gen. Schenck's staff, to whose mercies I was consigned. Colonel
+Cheesebrough was civil enough; but, in his turn, professed himself
+unable to deal with my case, and referred it to the General. Cæsar was
+not less dilatory than Felix. I never saw the potentate before whose nod
+Baltimore trembles (he was unwell, I believe, or unusually sulky), but I
+underwent a lengthened interrogatory at the mouth of a very young and
+girlish-looking aide-de-camp. In the midst of this, rather an absurd
+incident occurred. General Schenck's headquarters are at the Eutaw
+House. The fair daughter of a house at which I had been very
+intimate--was to be married that same day, and at that same house the
+bridegroom's party were staying. Suddenly, through an opening door, two
+or three of these my friends debouched upon the scene. They had not
+heard one word of my misadventures, so that they were naturally rather
+surprised at finding me there, in such company. I really think that the
+sympathy lavished upon me in that brief interview was not so refreshing
+as the palpable discomfort of the unhappy _aide_, under a galling
+glance-fire maintained by Southern eyes, not careful to dissemble their
+hatred and scorn.
+
+I was so perfectly used to being _ballotte_ by this time, that it did
+not in anywise surprise me, to hear that I was to be sent down to
+Washington, to be examined by the Judge-Advocate-General. There was so
+much delay in making out commitment papers that we lost the afternoon
+train. No other started before eight, P. M., so that, by the time we
+reached Washington, all offices would have been closed, and we must have
+spent the night in the Central Guard-house. I had heard enough of the
+foul abominations of that refuge for the imprisoned destitute, to make
+me determined never to cross the threshold unless under actual coercion.
+I said as much to the cavalry sergeant who had me in charge; suggesting
+that, by taking the four A. M. train on the following morning, we should
+arrive hours before the Provost Marshal's or Judge Advocate's offices
+were open. He was civilly rational about the whole question, and, on my
+parole not to attempt escape, readily consented to accompany me to a
+house, where I was more at home than anywhere else in Baltimore. There I
+remained till long after midnight: though none of us were in the best of
+spirits or tempers, that brief return to social life was an
+indescribable rest and restorative. I mention this unimportant incident
+chiefly because one of the charges brought against me afterwards was
+founded on "my having bribed my escort, and spent the whole night at the
+house of a notorious Secessionist." The poor sergeant was reduced to the
+ranks for dereliction of duty; and I the more regret this, because his
+good-nature was _not_ mercenary.
+
+We reached Washington about six, A. M. No offices were open before nine.
+I employed the interval, partly in breakfasting with what appetite I
+might, partly in a visit to Percy Anderson, whose slumbers I was
+compelled to break by the most disagreeable of all morning
+apparitions--a friend in trouble. I could only just stay long enough to
+receive condolences, and promises of all possible assistance--private or
+diplomatic; then I betook myself to the Provost Marshal's office, which
+I did not enter; thence to that of the Judge-Advocate-General.
+
+I look back upon that interview with feelings of unmitigated
+self-contempt, I confess to have been utterly deluded by that sleek
+official's sham _bonhommie_; so that when he prayed me to be frank and
+explicit--"Anything that you say, I shall receive with perfect
+confidence," &c., &c.,--I did strive, to the best of my powers, to
+forget no important incident or word relative to my conduct since I
+landed in America; only making reservations where confession might
+implicate others. An artless boy might easily have been gulled by the
+portly presence, the unctuous voice, and eyes that twinkled merrily
+through gold-rimmed glasses; but no man of mature age can remember such
+a gross mistake without a hot flush of shame.
+
+I have little cause to love the Federal Government; but I bear no grudge
+against any individual Unionist with the solitary exception of the
+Judge-Advocate, simply because to him alone can I trace deliberately
+unfair dealing and intentional discourtesy. While I was in prison I sent
+him two letters, at long intervals; though I again committed a gross
+error, in addressing him as one gentleman would write to another, I
+cannot think this wholly excuses his coolly ignoring both
+communications. On the 21st of May, Major Turner's duty brought him to
+Carroll place, and he remained there two full hours: the superintendent,
+who had conferred with the prison surgeon on the state of my health,
+pressed him strongly to see me. The Judge-Advocate refused, on the
+ground that the case was already decided, and would be settled in a day
+or so, at furthest; that same afternoon he departed on a fortnight's
+leave, knowing right well that no steps could be taken in the matter
+till his return. Officials are justified, I suppose, in avoiding all
+waste of time or trouble; perhaps it _was_ more simple to lie to a
+subordinate than to risk the short discussion that an interview would
+have involved. I cannot guess at the especial reason which caused me to
+be honored by Major Turner's enmity; certain it is that he was _not_
+neutral or indifferent with regard to my case, but exerted himself very
+successfully to thwart any measures tending to its decision or
+adjustment.
+
+During the latter days of my imprisonment, I indulged more than once in
+a day-dream, not the less pleasant because it is wildly improbable.
+Should the changes and chances of this mortal life ever bring me face to
+face with that jovial Judge, on any neutral ground, by my faith and
+honor I will say in his ear five short words not hard to understand. On
+the steps of Carroll place, when the door opened to set me free, I sent
+Major Turner a message much to this effect. I devoutly hope it was
+delivered with the "verbal accuracy" of which he is so remarkably fond.
+
+At the conclusion of the long examination, the Judge-Advocate left me
+for a short time to obtain instructions--possibly a warrant--from
+Secretary Stanton; on his return he told me that nothing could be
+decided until Shipley's case had been inquired into; he assured me that
+the latter should be telegraphed for at once from Wheeling; and so, with
+the pleasantest of smiles, and a jest on his lips, handed me over to
+Colonel Baker, who was already in waiting. This official's overt
+functions are those of a District Provost Marshal--in reality, he is the
+Chief of Secret Police. There are legions of stories abroad, imputing to
+him the grossest oppression and venality; even strong Unionists shake
+their heads disparagingly, at the mention of his name.
+
+But of Colonel Baker, from my own knowledge, I can say nothing: I simply
+passed through his office to the Old Capitol; nor do I know that he in
+anywise influenced my after fortunes.
+
+It appeared that my quarters were to be, not in the main building of the
+prison, but in a sort of _dependänce_, a couple of hundred yards off,
+called Carroll place; thither I was at once removed, after a brief
+consultation with the officer on guard.
+
+Mr. Wood, the head Superintendent, soon came to welcome the new arrival,
+and in his first sentence gave me a specimen of the _brusquerie_ of
+address for which he has acquired a certain notoriety.
+
+"Mr. ----," he said, "I'm always glad to see your countrymen _here_. My
+father was an Englishman; but I've no sympathy with England. I was born
+and bred a plebeian, sir."
+
+As I felt no particular interest in Mr. Wood's proclivities or
+proletarianism, I simply shrugged my shoulders, and turned away without
+a reply. But when, on his first visit to my room, two days later, he
+repeated exactly the same formula, without variation of a syllable, I
+thought it better to assure him that the iteration was absolutely
+unnecessary, inasmuch as I had believed him on _both_ points easily from
+the first. He was not at all disconcerted or offended, only we heard him
+mutter to his subordinate, when they got outside our door:
+
+"That's a pretty d----d high-handed sort of a chap, anyhow."
+
+After half an hour's waiting, I was conducted to a room on the third
+story, No. 20, and in a few minutes experienced that great rarity of a
+"fresh sensation," finding myself--for the very first time in my
+life--fairly under lock and key.
+
+I had been so "harried" of late, that I felt a certain relief in being
+settled _somewhere_. The rest of the afternoon and evening was spent in
+making acquaintance with the Baltimorean blockade-runner, my room-mate,
+and in exchanging dreary prison civilities with the cells either side,
+through little tunnels pierced in the wall by former prisoners, which
+allowed passage to anything of a calibre not exceeding that of a rolled
+newspaper. A deep, narrow trough, ingeniously excavated in a
+pine-splinter, enabled us to pledge each other in mutual libations,
+devoted to our better luck and speedy release. The neighbors, with whom
+I chiefly held commune, were an Episcopal clergyman and a captain in the
+Confederate army. Of these, more hereafter. I breathed more freely when
+the temporary absence of my room-mate, for exercise, left me alone--for
+the first time since my capture--with my saddle-bags. They had been in
+Northern custody for four days, and subjected to the severest scrutiny:
+nevertheless, they still held certain documents that I was right glad to
+see vanish in the red heat of a fierce log fire.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+CAGED BIRDS.
+
+
+The miserable first-waking--dreariest of all hours that follow a great
+loss or disaster--came late to me. I had gone through a certain amount
+of knocking-about--mental and bodily--in the last week; and, for eight
+nights, the nearest approach to a bed had been the extempore couch of a
+railway-car. So, on an unhappy emaciated palliasse, covered by a dusty
+horse-rug (it took me four days to weary the jailer into a concession of
+sheets), I slept, all noises notwithstanding, far into my first
+prison-day. It was provokingly brilliant and warm; indeed I must, in
+justice to the Weather Office, allow, that its benignancy has scarcely
+been interrupted, since I ceased to care whether skies were foul or
+fair. My recollections of that first day are rather vague; but my
+impression is, that I had a good deal to think about, and did not in the
+least know how to begin. I paced up and down, as long as my knee would
+allow; it was still stiff and painful, though healing fast. In a room
+twelve feet by eight, you square the circle much too often for pleasure;
+but it was a week before I had any other exercise. Then, I believe, I
+made some attempts to improve the acquaintance of my room-mate.
+
+He was not sullen, but, at first, somewhat saturnine and silent. The
+fact was that, for many days, he had been fasting from the luxuries
+dearest to every American heart--whisky and tobacco; for all money and
+clothes had been taken from him at the Provost Marshal's office, and
+never were returned: in these respects, after my arrival, he fared
+sumptuously, by comparison, and abated greatly of his discontent. I
+might have been much more unfortunate in my companion. He was not
+conversational, certainly, nor very amusing in any way; but he was
+cunning in all the small crafts of captivity, and kept our chamber swept
+and garnished to the best of his power. The way in which dust
+accumulated and renewed itself within those narrow limits, was little
+short of miraculous; you might brush till you were weary, and ten
+minutes afterwards things would look as though brooms had never been.
+Twining ropes out of sea sand, or any other of the tasks with which
+wizards have baffled fiends, were not more helpless than that on which
+my comrade busied himself each morning. The wood fire could not account
+for it; the nuisance increased when it became too warm to light anything
+but candles; so it must remain another of the physical puzzles
+concerning which we are perpetually wondering, where it all comes from,
+and are never likely to be satisfied.
+
+Mr. C---- seemed by no means sanguine as to his own prospects, and took
+an early opportunity of advising me not to buoy myself up with hopes of
+speedy release. I can say, truly, that from the very first I did not so
+delude myself. Some of my Baltimore friends would fain have persuaded me
+that, in the utter absence of criminating evidence, I should not be
+detained long; I forbore to argue, but my opinion remained always the
+same. I had heard how tenacious was the grasp of Federal officials,
+unless loosened by more golden oil than I could then command. I had
+heard, too, how slowly aid or intercession from the free outer world
+could penetrate these mock-bastilles, and how reluctantly the
+authorities would grant the supreme favor of a hearing, or trial, to any
+whose condemnation was not sure. So I was prepared to resign myself to
+anything short of a month's incarceration; but even thus, I
+under-estimated the hospitable urgency of my amiable entertainers.
+
+The return-wing of the main building in which we were confined, is
+occupied exclusively by the prisoners committed under a Secretary's
+warrant. These are much more closely guarded than the other inmates; but
+they have the advantage of being divided off into pairs, or threes at
+most, in their rooms, and their comforts are certainly better attended
+to. The regulations anent food and liquors are liberal enough; you can
+obtain almost anything by paying about twice its cost; but the privilege
+of having meals sent in, is not lightly valued by those who have once
+done battle with the boiled leather, called ration beef, contests in
+which passive resistance generally prevails.
+
+The barred window of No. 20 looks out on the narrow yard wherein
+ordinary captives are allowed to disport themselves for three half-hours
+daily. It is a very motley crowd. There are no Confederate soldiers
+here; all these are confined in the Old Capitol; but of every other
+class you may see specimens.
+
+I will try one or two sketches. It used to amuse me to guess at the
+profession of a captive from outward signs, and, after a little
+practice, one is rarely wrong.
+
+Those three, talking together apart, and gesticulating so vehemently,
+with the Hebrew stamp on every line of their dark, keen faces, are
+blockade-runners: they bewail their captivity more loudly than their
+fellows; but, be sure, they will wriggle out, soonest of all, if freedom
+can be purchased by hard swearing or gold. The profits of a single
+successful venture are simply fabulous; the smugglers are frequently
+captured with dollars on their persons by tens of thousands: they will
+part readily with a share of the plunder to any accommodating official,
+sooner than lose valuable time here; and, as for the oath, they swallow
+it without a pretense at reluctance.
+
+That group, with wild beards and long unkempt hair, clad in rough
+garments of every shade, from "butternut" to hodden gray, come evidently
+from the far uplands of Virginia. Looking at those rough-hewn faces and
+fierce eyes, you can easily believe that such men are not careful to
+dissemble their sympathies, and would not lightly forget an injury; the
+chastisement of this paternal Government will change sullen disaffection
+into savage animosity; they will all be sent South in time, and "it's a
+free fight there." I fancy one or two of those yeomen will see the color
+of Yankee blood, before they see the old homestead again.
+
+That pale Judas face, with scanty, hircine beard, and an expression
+changing often from spiteful to cunning, could belong only to a Yankee
+paymaster or commissary, detected in his frauds before he had made up a
+pile high enough to defy justice; for swindler is not _quite_ safe till
+he is nearly a "milliner." (So, was my comrade wont to pronounce
+millionaire.) Such cases occur daily, and the unity of shabbiness here
+is always diversified by some trim criminals in dark blue. Putting
+apparel aside, these accessions do not seem greatly to improve the
+respectability of the life below-stairs.
+
+There is a very tall man, who generally manages to take his exercise at
+a different hour from the common herd: when he does mix with them, his
+well-cut clothes and spotless linen make a strange contrast with the
+squalor round him. He seems perfectly contented with his present lot; he
+is always humming snatches of song, or chanting right lustily: he speaks
+loud and freely with the few to whose converse he condescends; and there
+is a gay recklessness about his whole bearing almost too ostentatious to
+be natural. Before long you notice one peculiarity. Speaking or
+listening--sitting or standing--walking or resting--his long, white,
+lissom fingers are never still; they cannot handle the commonest object
+without betraying a swift, subdued dexterity. Look closer yet, and all
+his glib, sham-soldier talk will not deceive you. That gallant belongs
+to a great army, whose spoils--if not bloodless--must be won with knife
+and pistol, instead of rifle and sabre; to an order whose squires are
+often knighted with no gentle _accolade_--an order, the date of whose
+foundation neither herald nor historian knows, but which must last while
+Christendom shall endure--the Unholy Order of Industry.
+
+The professional gamblers, here, far outnumber the turfites of England,
+and they apply themselves to their business from early youth with far
+more exclusive pertinacity. The richest field for their talent is
+barren, now that the highroad of the Mississippi is closed; but still in
+every city of importance, North or South, he who would "fight the
+tiger," need not wander far without discovering his den. In Richmond,
+especially, the play never was so desperate and deep. It is unnecessary
+to say towards which side the sympathies and interests of the mercurial
+guild tend. The cunning Yankee was ever too prudent to risk much of his
+hard-earned gold on the chance of a card, fairly or unfairly turned: it
+is only the planter, on whom wealth flows in while he sleeps, that
+tempts Fortune with a daring, near which the recklessness of the Regency
+seems cautious and tame.
+
+It is not strange that the captive knight should accept his present
+position so cheerfully. Here, he enjoys every luxury that money can buy,
+and whithersoever he may be consigned, he is sure to fall on his feet;
+for it matters little to those cosmopolites on what spot of earth their
+vagrant tents are pitched. Neither is he of the stuff that is likely
+indefinitely to be detained: even this jealous Government need not fear
+to let such an enemy go free. My comrade--not innocent or unmindful of
+past losses at _faro_--contemplating the gay cavalier with no loving
+glance, growls out, "They won't bother themselves with that rubbish
+long."
+
+There is another figure, quite picturesquely repulsive, which will
+attract you more than if it were pleasant to look upon. A man,
+exceedingly old, stout, and lame, with red, savage eyes, and a scowl
+that never lightens or breaks: it would be an equine injustice to
+compare his head to a horse's; that of many a thoroughbred measures less
+in superficial inches. Clearly, a storekeeper from some remote village,
+where he has battened on the necessities of his neighbors for years,
+till he has got bloated like an ancient spider in its web. He hobbles up
+and down, never interchanging a word with his fellows, but unceasingly
+mumbling his huge toothless jaws; they say he never mutters anything but
+curses; if so, his daily expense in blasphemy is something fearful to
+contemplate. I think that cleanliness is as foreign to that horrible old
+creature's soul as godliness: he never shows a vestige of linen, and I
+am certain he sleeps in that rusty coat of bluish gray, and in that
+squalid cravat-rope, never untwisted since it was first donned. His
+offense must surely have been commerce, active and profitable, with
+Rebeldom, for he never can have sympathized with any living thing.
+
+One more picture, to close the list. I ought to know that figure, long
+and lanky, but sinewy withal, though the head, under the fur cap, is
+averted still.
+
+    Mock me not, for otherwhere, than along the greenwood fair,
+        Have I ridden fast with thee.
+
+He turns now--I knew I was right--it is my cheery host of the White
+Grounds, who led us so gallantly through brake, and brook, and
+snowdrift, when the Federal dragoons followed hard on our trail: a broad
+light of recognition spreads over all his honest face as he waves a
+stealthy salute, and I straightway go through the pantomime of drinking
+to his health and quick deliverance.
+
+Women of all classes are confined here; but beauty alone beams on the
+prison-yard from the windows of its cell. At this moment of writing, I
+hear voices from a room immediately below me; fair, the speakers
+possibly may be, but--judging from the fitful scraps of conversation
+that rise hither--they are assuredly _very_ frail.
+
+I think one of the most exasperating circumstances of this house of
+bondage, is the exceeding flimsiness of its defenses. Part of the
+inclosure of both yards consists of tall, thin boarding, full of cracks
+and crevices, that might be breached with no extraordinary exertion of
+foot or shoulder; and there is hardly any part of the stronghold out of
+which a man, of average ingenuity, armed with a common clasp-knife--if
+unwatched--could not make his way in a couple of hours. But, unwatched
+you never are. The passages are not more than thirty feet long, and
+there is a sentinel in each who can hear almost every sound from within.
+A State prisoner never stirs beyond his room, without an armed guard at
+his shoulder.
+
+I soon heard that my reverend neighbor on the right contemplated
+evasion, and, considering his opportunities, I rather wondered at
+finding him here. In every cell there is a small closet, corresponding
+with those on the floor above and below. In this especial one the
+ceiling had fallen away, or been removed by some former prisoner;
+nothing but plain boards intercepted a passage to the unoccupied
+attic-story, where dormer windows opened on to the shingle roof. But,
+with all this, it took the parson a full month to make up his mind and
+preparations. I often communed with him through the tunnel aforesaid,
+and he amused me not a little sometimes.
+
+He looked at all things through a magnifying glass of about eighteen
+power. I know that he was perfectly honest in the delusion of
+considering himself one of the most important State prisoners that had
+ever been confined here. He would have it that half Maryland was in
+mourning for him, and ready with ransom of untold gold, but was certain
+that the Government would never venture to set him free while the war
+should last. Upon the oath of allegiance being proposed to him, instead
+of simply declining, he defied the Judge to do his worst, expressing his
+readiness to confront either gallows or platoon. The risk of either was
+about equal to that of his being tortured at the stake, on the steps of
+the Capitol. In spite of all this simple vanity, and flightiness of
+brain, you could see that the parson had good strong principles, and
+held to them fast; and I believe that his nervous excitability would not
+have deterred him from encountering real danger. He appeared thoroughly
+courteous, generous, and good-natured; and my companion, to whose
+regiment he had been chaplain, told me that nothing could exceed his
+considerate kindness to the soldiers.
+
+Albeit afflicted by occasional fits of depression, the reverend, as a
+rule, talked very cheerily; but, ah! me, how sorrowfully he would sing!
+There was one psalm--penitential I presume--of about twenty-two verses,
+an especial favorite. This was probably, the most soul-depressing melody
+that has been chanted since the days of The Captivity. The mournful tone
+bore you down irresistibly; Mark Tapley would have subsided into
+melancholy gloom, before the slow versicles were half dragged through.
+But the parson was not the only musical culprit, nor the worse, by many
+degrees. It would be absurd to expect much cheerfulness here; a hoarse
+roar breaks out now and then at some coarse practical joke; but a frank,
+honest laugh--never. Yet I do wish that imprisoned discontent would vent
+itself otherwise than in discordant, dismal howling. At this minute a
+cracked voice is droning out,
+
+    A little more cider;
+
+it might be a Sioux chanting his death-song.
+
+How well I remember, in what "stately home of England" I first listened
+to that pleasant ditty. I hear, now, the leader's rich, round tones, and
+I see quite plainly the fair faces of the youths and virgins that made
+up the choir. _Bastá!_ it don't bear thinking about. If mine enemy were
+anywhere but round the corner, I would try if his music would stand a
+volley of orange-shot.
+
+For three days or so, I could scarcely take up a paper without seeing my
+own unlucky name paraded in one or more paragraphs. As they all varied,
+it was somewhat remarkable that, in all alike, facts should have been so
+absurdly distorted. They were not content with drawing my own fancy
+portrait--imagine, if you please, the caricature--but they built a
+little romance about poor Falcon's assassin, giving him credit for much
+suffering for his country's sake, particularly for long imprisonment at
+Richmond, since which time he had devoted himself as an Avenger. I was
+gratified to observe that his name was seldom, if ever, correctly spelt.
+I did think of sending a contradictory note to one of the local
+journals, but decided against wasting ink and paper. Besides, it is a
+pity to abase oneself unnecessarily. "I ain't proud, 'cos its sinful,"
+nor over careful with whom I try a fall; but I confess a preference for
+more creditable antagonists than American penny-a-liners. So, I let
+them--lie.
+
+On the fourth evening of my imprisonment, there was an unusual stir in
+the building soon after nightfall. Intercourse between the different
+rooms is prevented as much as possible, but the channels of covert
+communication are many, and not easily cut off. In ten minutes every one
+was aware that the iron-clads which were to annihilate Charleston had
+recoiled, beaten and wounded. My mate rejoiced greatly after his
+saturnine fashion, and I--the fullness of listlessness being not
+yet--felt a brief glow of satisfaction. Others were more demonstrative.
+Loud came the pæan of the warlike priest through our mural
+speaking-trumpet; while the sturdy soldier on the left, after hearing
+the news, and taking a trough-full of "old rye," expressed himself "good
+for two months more of gaol." Some one at a lower window began to sing,
+softly at first, the National Anthem of the South; then voice after
+voice joined in, in spite of sentinels' warnings, till the full volume
+of the defiant chorus rolled out, ringingly:
+
+    "Hurrah! hurrah! for Southern rights, hurrah!
+    One cheer more for the bonnie blue flag
+      That carries a Single Star."
+
+On the whole, I think that Sunday evening passed more rapidly than any
+that I can chronicle here.
+
+The newspapers, for the next few days, were rather amusing. The
+well-practiced Republican apologists exhausted their ingenuity in
+endeavoring to explain away the reverse. It was an experiment--a
+reconnaissance on a large scale--anything you please but a repulse. But
+the facts hemmed them in remorselessly; at last, in their desperation,
+they fell fiercely, not only on their Democratic opponents, but on each
+other.
+
+The truth is, that the failure of the iron-clads was so complete, that
+it ought to furnish some useful hints for the future. With the exception
+of the Keokuk, whose construction differed slightly from that of her
+fellows, none were sunk or fairly riddled with shot; but scarcely one
+went out of that sharp, brief battle efficiently offensive. The starting
+of bolts might easily be remedied, but it is clear that the revolving
+machinery of the turrets is far too delicate and vulnerable; and that
+these are liable to become "jammed" by a chance shot at any moment. This
+objection is the more serious, when you consider how miserably these
+vessels seem to steer. Almost all were more or less "sulky" as soon as
+they felt the strong tideway, and the huge Ironsides lay a helpless,
+useless log, half an hour after going into action. Neither do they
+appear to be very formidable offensively. No reliable evidence proves
+Fort Sumter to have suffered material damage; yet the attacking force
+spent their strength exclusively on one of its sides and angles, and
+there was nothing to prevent their pouring in a concentric fire on any
+weakened point or possible breach.
+
+But a stranger soon ceases to be surprised at any trick or eccentricity
+of the American Press. The common courtesies and proprieties of the
+Fourth Estate are utterly ignored in the noisy Batrachomachia; the first
+step in editorial training here must be to trample on self-respect, as
+the renegade used to trample on the cross. Not only do the leading
+articles teem with coarse personal abuse of political opponents, but a
+rival journalist is often freely stigmatized by name; his antecedents
+are viciously dissected, and the back-slidings of his great-grandsire
+paraded triumphantly; though this is an extreme case, for such an
+authenticated ancestor seldom helps or hampers the class of which I
+speak. A year of such ignoble brawling must surely be sufficient to
+annihilate more moral dignity than most of these small Thunderers can
+pretend to start with.
+
+One is prepared for anything after seeing whole columns of journals,
+boasting no small metropolitan and provincial renown, filled by those
+revolting advertisements, that the lowest of our own penny papers only
+accept under protest.
+
+Upon one point, certainly, all agree--constant distrust and depreciation
+of England; and, all things considered, I know no one spot on God's
+earth, where the hackneyed old line can be quoted so complacently by a
+Britisher:
+
+    Sibilat populus, mihi plaudo.
+
+It would be unfair, not to give the American Press credit for great
+energy and ability in collecting intelligence from the different seats
+of war. Considering the vast surface over which military operations
+extend, and the immense distances that often lie between the scene of
+action and the place of publication, it is really wonderful to see how
+copiously the New York journals contrive to minister to their readers'
+curiosity. The "Herald," in particular, has one or more correspondents
+wherever a single brigade is stationed, and according to their own
+accounts--which there is no reason to doubt--they frequently accompany
+the troops till actually under fire. All agents of the Press with the
+army of the Potomac are now obliged to sign their communications with
+their real name. This general order is of course intended to check the
+freedom of criticism, which has of late become rather too plain-spoken
+to be agreeable to the irascible Chief. But it is difficult to gag an
+undaunted "special;" so every morning the last intelligence streams
+forth--fresh, strong, and rather coarsely flavored--like new whisky from
+a still.
+
+The sobriety of the weekly journals contrasts refreshingly with the
+license of their diurnal brethren. Sporting papers are nearly the same
+all the world over; but, in the rest of these placid periodicals, there
+is little of violence or virulence to be found. They are enthusiastic
+about the war, of course, and occasionally querulous about the
+Copperheads; but they never quarrel among themselves, and are seldom
+thoroughly savage with any one or anything. They generally contain a
+chapter or two borrowed, with or without permission, from some English
+story in progress--"Eleanor's Victory" is the favorite now--the rest of
+the non-illustrated pages are filled with the very mildest little tales
+that, I think, ever were penned.
+
+These simple romancers in nowise resemble the vitriolic
+melo-dramatists--scarcely caricatured by _Punch_ in "Mokeanna,"--who try
+to drug, in default of intoxicating their audience; the liquor they
+proffer in their pretty flimsy cups, if not exciting, is far from
+deleterious; not unfrequently you catch glimpses of an under-current of
+honest pathos, soon smothered by garish flowers of language; and
+sometimes the style sparkles into mild effervescence, redeeming itself
+from utter vapidity; these ephemerals, indeed, belong rather to the
+lemonade than the milk-and-water class; but, throughout, there is a
+woeful want of _verve_ and virility.
+
+It was inexpressibly refreshing, after loitering through twenty such
+pages, to revert to the "History of the Crimean War:" the curt, nervous
+periods were a powerful mental tonic; and few of his many readers owe so
+practical a debt to Mr. Kinglake as the writer of these words.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+DARK DAYS.
+
+
+So--heavier with each link--the chain of days dragged on. My room mate
+soon thawed into a stolid sociability, and was quite disposed to be
+communicative; but his narrative riches about matched those of the
+knife-grinder, and his military experience of one year only embraced one
+battle--that of Manassas. His ideas of English society were very
+remarkable. The works of Mr. G. W. M. Reynolds are much favored, it
+appears, by the class who believe in Mr. George F. Train's veracity and
+eloquence; from these turbid fountains mine honest friend's conceptions
+were drawn. I took some trouble to undeceive him, and partially
+succeeded, chiefly by insisting upon the fact that--of all living
+writers--the ingenious author of the "Mysteries of Everything" was
+probably the man least qualified, by personal experience, to discourse
+concerning the manners and customs of the upper, or even the educated,
+classes. Slowly and reluctantly, the Baltimorean abandoned his cherished
+ideal of the British aristocrat--a covert Caligula, with all modern
+improvements--varying the monotony of orgies with interludes of murder
+and rapine; the instrument of these pleasant vices being always ready in
+the shape of a Frankenstein-monster, whose mission it is to tyrannize
+perpetually over the guilty lordling or lady whose secret he holds;
+doing a steady trade of two assassinations or abductions weekly; and
+utterly inviolable by cord, shot, or steel, up to the final blue-fire
+_tableau_ of the dreary drama. I believe that my mate is now prepared to
+admit, that a certain amount of piety and chastity is not incompatible
+with tenure of the highest dignities in the Anglican Church--that a
+youth need not necessarily be a savage Sybarite, because he happens to
+be heir to a dukedom--that matronly virtue may, with a struggle, be
+retained even by a Countess--and that a man may possibly be a kindly
+landlord, and even an honest farmer himself (that was the crowning
+triumph), though born a belted Earl.
+
+On the fourth day, I bethought myself of teaching my companion piquet
+(no purely transatlantic game is in the least interesting, if the stakes
+are nominal); he acquired it with the ready aptitude that seems natural
+to Americans, and I soon had to drop the odds of the deal. We played
+many hundred _parties_ for imaginary eagles; eventually I got a run, and
+left off a good winner, which, as my opponent had not money enough to
+buy tobacco, was highly satisfactory to every one concerned.
+
+After a week's confinement to my room, I was allowed to take half an
+hour's exercise daily in a narrow strip of yard just twenty-one paces
+long; it was hedged in with kitchens and all sorts of disagreeable
+buildings, but the additional space was not to be despised. On the first
+evening after this concession, I was pacing up and down moodily (only
+inmates of the same room are allowed to descend together, so that you
+gain no social advantage), when just over my head, from a window on the
+first story, there broke out a burst of merriment, and a
+half-intelligible trill of baby-language; then a little round pink face,
+under a cloud of fair hair, peered out at me through the bars. The utter
+incongruity of the whole picture struck me so absurdly, that, I believe,
+I did indulge in a dreary laugh. Then the child began to talk again; and
+clapped its hands exultingly, as its mother caught an orange I threw up
+at her, when the sentinel's back was turned. So a sort of acquaintance
+began. Every day for a month, I saw that promising two-year-old (to
+whose sex I cannot speak with certainty); and I never heard it fretting
+or wailing. Whenever it saw me, it used to break out into a real
+uproarious laugh, as if our common imprisonment was the very best joke
+that had ever been presented to its infantile mind. I am ashamed to
+avow, that my own sense of the ridiculous was by no means so keen. The
+mother evidently pined far more than the baby; for her face grew, every
+day, more white and worn. What was the offense of either against the
+Government, I never heard; for no official or soldier will answer any
+question, and discourse between the prisoners is strictly forbidden.
+They went South, in the great exodus of the 20th of May. I contrived on
+that morning, with much cunning, to cast in six or seven oranges at
+their window, which, I hope, solaced those two Gentle Traytours through
+the burden and heat of the day.
+
+Till I got too sulky and savage to seek unnecessary intercourse with any
+one, I found occasional amusement in chaffing the sentinels. The orders
+against conversation with these were not rigidly enforced. Finding that
+they rose very freely to the bait of a strained ironical politeness, I
+used to beg them to tell off by sections, the victims of their red right
+hands--chickens and ducks not being counted; also, I was fain to learn,
+how many rebel standards and pieces of cannon each man had captured and
+retained? If they took no credit for any such feats, I would by no means
+believe them, imputing the denial solely to the modesty inseparable from
+true courage.
+
+Descending into the yard, one day, I found the sentry--an overgrown lad,
+with broad, crimson, beardless cheeks--in a perfect paroxysm of
+excitement, using great freedom of gesticulation and blasphemy. I had
+had immense success in bewildering this particular warrior a few days
+previously: so I went up to him at once:
+
+"My blood-stained veteran," I said, "what has raised your apoplectic
+valor?"
+
+I think he was rather ashamed at being caught; but he grumbled out,
+sulkily rough, something about--"If they don't keep their ---- heads in,
+they'll get more than they ask for." I followed the direction of his
+eyes, and there, on the third story, sat two of the quietest-looking
+middle-aged women I ever beheld. They were evidently new arrivals, and
+had not heard of the injunctions against putting heads out windows: for
+they were staring down in blank astonishment, unconscious that the
+blatant threats were leveled at them. Now, the ingenious juggler who
+packed himself into a bottle, might possibly have succeeded in
+infringing the aforesaid rule: no other human being could have got his
+cranium through the bars. I suspect, it was simply an outbreak of the
+plethoric sentry's irrational ferocity (he had been sweltering under a
+burning sun for two hours) on the first helpless object that came across
+him; for I could not make out that the women had answered or aggravated
+him. I addressed to my friend many compliments on his prowess--trusting
+that his soldierly zeal would be appreciated in higher quarters.
+Nevertheless, I presumed to suggest that it would have been wiser to
+have begun with the baby: if he could frighten that into fits, his rapid
+promotion must have been insured. I believed that Brigadier Turchin
+would soon want an _aide_, and who knows? &c.
+
+In a few minutes he waxed frightfully wroth; but he had already broken
+the non-conversation orders, and I would not allow him to fall back upon
+these now. At last he retreated to a part of his beat where I could not
+follow him, and there growled and ground his teeth till my time was up.
+The corporal who was my immediate guard tried to excuse his comrade,
+hinting that "he wasn't quite right in the head." Possibly this may have
+been one of his "off-days." The jest of that afternoon was turned into
+bloody earnest before three weeks had passed.
+
+Not long after this I had a pleasanter incident to chronicle. As I
+entered the yard one day, my guard remarked with a broad grin:
+"Somethin' new up there, Colonel."
+
+The indiscriminate appropriation of military titles here, is, of course,
+proverbial, though common prudence made me very careful not to claim a
+fictitious rank, after leaving Baltimore, where I was well known. I got
+a brevet-step with almost every change of place or association;
+disclaimers were never listened to.
+
+Through the bars of a second story window that fronted each turn of my
+tramp, I saw--this. A slight figure in the freshest summer toilette of
+cool pink muslin; close braids of dark hair shading clear pale cheeks;
+eyes that were made to sparkle, though the look in them then was very
+sad, and the languid bowing down of the small head told of something
+worse than weariness.
+
+Truly, a pretty picture, though framed in such rude setting, but almost
+as startling, at first, as the apparition of the fair witch in the
+forest to Christabelle. Slightly in the background stood a mature
+dame--the mother, evidently. No need to ask what their crime had been;
+aid and abetment of the South suggested itself before you detected the
+ensign of her faith that the demoiselle still wore undauntedly--a pearl
+_solitaire_, fashioned as a single star. I may not deny that my gloomy
+"constitutional" seemed, thenceforward, a shade or two less dreary; but,
+though community of suffering does much abridge ceremony, it was some
+days before I interchanged with the fair captives any sign beyond the
+mechanical lifting of my cap when I entered and left their presence,
+duly acknowledged from above. One evening I chanced to be loitering
+almost under their window; a low, significant cough made me look up; I
+saw the flash of a gold bracelet and the wave of a white hand, and there
+fell at my feet a fragrant pearly rosebud nestling in fresh green
+leaves. My thanks were, perforce, confined to a gesture and a dozen
+hurried words, but I would the prison beauty could believe that fair
+Jane Beaufort's rose was not more prized than hers, though the first was
+a love token granted to a king, the last only a graceful gift to an
+unlucky stranger. I suppose that most men, whose past is not utterly
+barren of romance, are weak enough to keep some withered flowers till
+they have lived memory down, and I pretend not to be wiser than my
+fellows. Other fragrant messengers followed in their season, but, if
+ever I "win hame to mine ain countrie," I make mine avow to enshrine
+that first rosebud in my _reliquaire_, with all honor and solemnity,
+there to abide till one of us shall be dust.
+
+I heard from Lord Lyons about once a week. Though my letters were always
+answered most promptly, the replies never reached me within eight days.
+All correspondence, going or coming, passes the inspection of the
+Provost Marshal and the Superintendent, and letters are forwarded and
+delivered--sooner or later--the whole thing resolving itself into a
+question of official memory or convenience. I did not doubt from the
+first, that no intercession, that could properly be exercised, would be
+spared. If repeated applications and strong representations could have
+availed, I should have been free long ago. But many autocrats might take
+a lesson from the insolent indifference of this Administration, when an
+argument or a request is to be set aside; it is exactly in proportion to
+the pliancy they display when confronted with demands enforced by a
+substantial threat. Lord Lyons' reputation for courtesy and kindness of
+heart stands too high to need any testimony of mine; but I cannot
+forbear here expressing my sense of his good offices, and I am not the
+less grateful, because these words are written on the fifty-sixth day of
+imprisonment.
+
+To one member of the Legation, I am indebted for far more than official
+benevolence. On the second day after my committal, Percy Anderson
+brought up himself to the Old Capitol, a package containing cigars,
+books, newspapers, &c., which, he was told, would be transmitted to me
+"right away." I trust that the contents satisfied the critical tastes of
+the officer on guard; for from his clutches no fragment emerged. I never
+even heard of the kind intention, till weeks had passed; and, of many
+papers afterwards forwarded by the same hands, only one packet reached
+me.
+
+All this time, my reverend neighbor was pressing on in earnest his
+preparations for escape. His room-mate was a young Marylander, who had
+served some time on the staff of the Confederate army; he was captured
+at his own home, whither he had returned for a hurried visit, and was
+now detained as a "spy;" this vague and marvelously elastic charge is
+always laid, when it is desirable to exclude a prisoner from the
+conditions of exchange. The plan of evasion was very simple. After
+passing through the floor into the attic, and thence out through the
+dormer-window, they had to crawl over about eighty feet of
+shingle-roof--not slippery at all, nor particularly steep--along the
+ridge, except where they had to descend a little to circumvent the
+chimney-stacks; this brought them to another dormer, giving admission to
+a house in the same block of building, but not connected with the
+prison. The parson believed this to be uninhabited; and the event proved
+either that he was right, or that the inmates were friendly. After
+several false starts, they decided on making the attempt on the 1st of
+May.
+
+In the twenty-four hours preceding, the reverend's excitable nerves had
+been wound up to something above concert pitch. He seemed to hold the
+real risk--discovery and the bullet of a sentinel--very cheap; but,
+magnifying imaginary difficulties after his own peculiar fashion, he had
+come to look upon the roof as a pass of peril, only to be accomplished
+by preterhuman agility and steadiness of brain. His fellow-adventurer,
+who from first to last bore himself with a gay recklessness good to
+behold, laughed all such forebodings utterly to scorn. I tried the
+gentler tone of grave argument, demonstrating that a _glissade_ on
+shingles in dry weather was next to impossible, and that the ridge, once
+gained, was nearly as safe traveling as an ordinary mountain-path. The
+parson's armor of meek obstinacy was proof alike to reason and ridicule;
+he waxed not wroth, and was thankful for any suggestion; but, when asked
+to act accordingly, ever fell back on one plaintive formula--"I am no
+gymnast,"--after the fashion of that exasperating child who met all the
+Poet's questions and objections with the refrain of
+
+    Master, we are seven.
+
+These visionary terrors would have been of little moment, if they had
+not induced his reverence to persist in the use of certain machines,
+which were more than likely to bring the whole adventure to grief. These
+were a sort of sandals, studded with sharp nails, that could be fitted
+either to hands or feet, and no words can describe the proud
+satisfaction with which they were regarded by their simple-minded
+constructor. Though I saw it was almost useless, I tried hard to
+persuade him that, for any sort of climbing (where neither ice nor sharp
+edges were to be feared), no engines could be so safe as bare feet and
+hands; that it would be much harder to recover himself, if a slip ensued
+from any strap giving way; finally, that if the contrivance answered
+perfectly in every other way, there was certain risk of what was most to
+be avoided--sharp, sudden noises, likely to strike strangely on the
+sentinel's ear. My friend heard me out quite patiently, thanked me very
+cordially, and then--took his own way.
+
+Everything was ready by midnight; but the start was not made till three,
+A. M., at which hour the moon was quite down. We could talk but little,
+as it was especially important not to arouse any suspicion among the
+sentries; as far as I could make out, the adventurers employed the
+interval very wisely, in taking in supplies of both creature and
+spiritual comforts, dividing their attention about equally between
+supper and devotional exercises. At last the moment came, and they bade
+us farewell; the good parson bestowing upon my unworthy self a really
+pathetic benediction. If my own "God-speed" was less solemn, I know it
+was not less sincere. Then I went to bed, and as another twenty minutes
+passed without my hearing a sound, I began to think the fugitives were
+well away. I was just dropping off to sleep, when I heard voices in the
+yard speaking loud and hastily, though I could not catch the words. Then
+there was a scuffle of feet above, and a scrambling fall beyond the
+right hand wall. After a few minutes silence, quick steps came along the
+passage, and the door of No. 22 was opened. The visitors soon went away;
+but we did not know what watch might be set, so essayed no communication
+with our unlucky neighbor till the morning was far advanced. The
+adventure had miscarried in this wise.
+
+When they mounted into the empty attic they found the window invitingly
+open, and, after waiting a few minutes to humor the moon, the soldier
+volunteered to reconnoiter. He reached the ridge without the slightest
+difficulty, and crawled along till he could see his way clear to the
+window they wished to attain. Then he returned undiscovered and reported
+progress. Now the first mistake was making a reconnaissance at all:
+_vestigia nulla retrorsum_, ought to have been the word that night, if
+ever. The second and graver error was, allowing the parson to go first,
+when they started in earnest. The light, lithe body of the soldier could
+glide over the roof with the silent swiftness of a cat "on the rampage;"
+the same animal, shod with walnut-shells, suggests itself as an apt,
+though irreverent comparison for the priestly fugitive. To use the
+narrator's own words--occasionally more forcible than elegant:
+
+"You might have heard him two blocks off, squattering and spluttering
+over the shingles."
+
+Those miserable machines, when put to the proof, made more noise than
+even we had imputed to them. The prisoners over whose heads the parson
+passed, heard the slipping and scratching quite plainly, though the
+attic floor was between them. Nevertheless he had time to reach the
+desired window, to let it slip once with a resonant bang, and to slip
+inside out of sight, before any alarm was raised. But the drowsy or
+careless sentinel awoke to a sense of his position just as the second
+fugitive turned the first chimney-stack, and challenged with a threat of
+shooting. The Marylander knew that the game was up, as far as he was
+concerned; if he went on and escaped the bullet, those below would have
+seen at what window he entered, and the start was hopelessly short: to
+persist would only have insured two recaptures. He certainly did the
+wisest thing in retracing his way as speedily as possible. When the
+guards came to No. 22, they found its solitary inmate in bed, sleeping
+apparently the heavy, stertorous sleep of a deep drinker: an empty
+whisky-bottle gave a color of probability to the picture. They could get
+nothing out of him then; and, afterwards, he took the line of having
+been insensibly overcome by liquor, and so prevented from accompanying
+his fellow-prisoner. The authorities could scarcely have believed the
+story; but perhaps they wished to keep the escape as quiet as possible;
+at any rate the Marylander was not more strictly guarded or severely
+treated than before. He took the mishap with wonderful pluck and
+good-humor, and spoke rather humorously than wrathfully of the whole
+affair. Yet, as far as he knew, he had come back to indefinite
+captivity. When he went South with the rest of them on the 20th of May,
+no man of the five hundred better deserved freedom.
+
+Some days afterwards we had news of the divine--safe so far, and many
+miles away. Certainly, had he possessed his soul in patience a fortnight
+or so longer, he would have been forwarded to his desired destination
+securely and at the expense of the enemy. Before he reaches it now, he
+will have paid away a sheaf of greenbacks, and run the gauntlet of a
+frontier blockade, closing in more tightly every hour. North of the
+Potomac there is no rest for the sole of his foot. So, many would say,
+that the escapade had far better have been deferred. Eight weeks ago I
+should have been of that same opinion, but now I doubt--I--doubt. The
+prospect outside ought to be very dark, and rife with peril, to induce a
+man to resign himself deliberately to another decameron here.[2]
+
+[Footnote 2: Since writing the above, I have met the parson in England.
+I am bound to state that he gives rather a different account of the
+escapade, and intimates that the Maryland youth's "tightness" was rather
+real than shamed; that it was, in fact, the cause of his being left
+behind. It is possible that I may have been too hard on his reverence's
+nervousness--scarcely doing justice to his earnestness of purpose; but,
+as to the aforesaid infernal machines I decline to retract one word.]
+
+On the 15th of May, my room-fellow was told that he was to be sent South
+immediately: he received the news very stolidly, and betrayed no
+impatience during the interval that elapsed before the exchange-steamer
+could be got ready. Truth to say, it is rather an equivocal
+advantage--to be turned loose in a city where famine-prices prevail,
+utterly penniless. But, if my mate did not exult in his prospects,
+neither did he in any way despond. He "supposed he'd get along somehow;"
+indeed, he had plenty of a very useful capital--solid, persevering
+self-reliance.
+
+There was great bustle in the yard on the morning of the 20th; all the
+men who had got the order of release were mustered there before ten
+o'clock. After many delays, each person passed out singly, as his name
+was called, and it was high noon when the last prize was drawn; leaving
+nothing but dreary--very dreary--blanks for us whose tickets were still
+in the wheel. There was no uproarious merriment, or even exuberant
+cheerfulness in the crowd below; the satisfaction was of the saturnine
+sort, such as people feel who have waited long for their just dues, and
+have extraordinarily little to be thankful for. Once more, in dumb show,
+I pledged mine honest host of the White Grounds, while he responded in a
+stealthy _duc-an-dhurras_; then, having furnished my mate with such
+provant as was available, I wished him, too, sincerely good-speed.
+
+I cannot say that I was sorry, at first, to find myself quite alone. I
+am ashamed to confess that I had been daily growing more sullen and
+unsocial; upon reflection, I think I had decidedly begun to tyrannize
+over my companion; some of his harmless peculiarities, which I hardly
+noticed at first, would, at times, irritate me savagely; besides every
+cubic inch of vacant space has its value in a low-browed room twelve
+feet by eight, when the thermometer means mounting in earnest. But, as
+the dreary time dragged on, and as the leaden listlessness settled down
+heavier hour by hour, I began to look back regretfully, if not
+remorsefully. There were moments, not few or far between, when I would
+have given much to hear the wire-drawn monotone that lately had been an
+offense to me; ay, even though each slow sentence should be punctuated
+by expectoration.
+
+Among those who were exempted from the gaol delivery was an Englishman,
+John Hardcastle by name, who had been arrested about a month later than
+myself, on the Lower Potomac, on his way homeward through the Northern
+States. He had, I believe, been employed by the Confederate Government
+in carrying out some inventions and improvements in armory. There was
+nothing remarkable about the little, round, ruddy man, except a
+joviality which never seemed to droop in the heavy prison air; when I
+wrote that an honest laugh was never heard here, I ought to have made
+that one exception; he had a fair voice, too, and a large collection of
+songs, which he chanted out merrily, instead of merging all tunes into
+one dolorous drone. He was confined at first on the floor immediately
+under me, but, on the 20th. of May, changed his quarters into one of the
+large rooms in the main building, with windows opening back and front
+into the yard and the avenue; these latter were without bars. All
+through the evening of Sunday, the 24th, I listened, rather enviously,
+to Hardcastle's noisy mirth; his voice never ceased to rattle--now
+bantering a fellow-prisoner with good-natured aggravation--now shouting
+out a verse of some popular song--now declaiming a sentence or so of
+exaggerated mock-oratory--yet he did not give me the idea of being
+uproarious with drink (I heard afterwards he was perfectly sober),
+rather, he seemed possessed by an exhilaration involuntary and
+irrational, like a person who has inhaled laughing-gas. It was not till
+next day that the Highland word "Fey" came into my mind. I am scarcely
+inclined now, wholly to deride that old superstition. Is it possible
+that the foreshadow of doom does, in some mysterious way, affect certain
+nervous systems, when the soul, within a few hours, must pass out free
+through the rugged doors of violent death?
+
+About eleven o'clock on the following morning I heard a rifle-shot, but
+took, little heed of it, as I knew that accidental discharges from
+careless handling of firelocks were not uncommon. Shortly afterwards,
+the officer of the keys asked me to visit the Superintendent in his
+room. It was natural that such a summons should conjure up certain faint
+hopes of approaching liberation; or, at least, of the "hearing" so long
+deferred. All such visions vanished instantly at the first sight of the
+official's face, as he met me in the door-way; no good tidings for
+anyone were written there; I knew that some grave disaster had occurred,
+before my eye lighted on the table, strewn with papers, letters, and
+bank-notes--all dabbled with the dull, red blots that marked the hand of
+Cain.
+
+In a very few words--spoken in a low hoarse voice, strangely changed
+from its wonted boisterous loudness--the Superintendent told me why I
+was wanted there. A British subject had just been shot by a sentinel for
+transgressing the window-order mentioned above; as eight hundred dollars
+in Confederate notes, besides other valuables, were found on his person,
+it was thought well that I should assist at the inventory and attest its
+correctness. It seemed that some hasty words of the Superintendent,
+reflecting on the remissness of the soldiers on duty, had been the
+proximate cause of the slaughter, I do believe that the death-warrant
+was unwittingly spoken. The man's bearing and demeanor are rough, even
+to coarseness, and his sensibilities probably blunted from having
+perpetually to listen to complaints and tales of wrong-doing, which he
+must perforce ignore; but I do not think his nature is harsh or cruel;
+the bark of Cerberus is much worse than the bite; and he is quite
+capable of benevolent actions, done in an uncouth way. The lips of the
+corpse, up-stairs were scarcely whiter than those that kept working and
+muttering nervously close by my shoulder, as I sat at my ghastly task. I
+was right glad when all was ended, and I had escaped from the small,
+close room, where the air seemed heavy with the savor of blood. All that
+day, there lay upon the prison-house a weight and a gloom, that came not
+from the murky, windless sky; the few faces that showed themselves in
+the yard looked more dark and sullen than ever; and men, gathering in
+knots instead of pacing to and fro, murmured or whispered eagerly. My
+unlucky head chanced to be more troublesome than usual; altogether, I
+cannot look back upon a more depressing evening.
+
+About noon on the following day, a tawdry coffin of polished elm, beaded
+and plated wherever there was room for a scrap of silvered metal, was
+laid on chairs in the prison yard; and, soon, all those who had access
+to that part of the building gathered round it--listening, uncovered, to
+the scanty rites, which the Old Capitol concedes to prisoners released
+by that Power, in presence of whose claims the _habeas corpus_ is never
+suspended. A tall, lank-haired man, looking more like an undertaker than
+a divine of any denomination, read straight through, without a syllable
+of preface, the fifteenth chapter of the First Epistle to the
+Corinthians, and then, kneeling down, began a rambling, extemporaneous
+prayer, the main object of which seemed to be, to address the Deity by
+as many periphrastic adjurations as possible. The orator besought "that
+these melancholy circumstances might be blessed to us, the survivors;"
+and rehearsed several platitudes on the uncertainty of life; but, from
+first to last, there was not one single word of intercession or
+commendation on behalf of the dead man's soul. I was glad when it was
+over; our own simple service, read by the merest layman, would surely
+have been a more fitting obsequy.
+
+What followed was startling enough from its very suddenness. One of the
+assistants stepped forward, and, with a quick, careless motion, threw
+back two folding shutters, that formed the upper part of the coffin lid;
+the blaze of the vertical sun, on which no living thing could have
+looked unblinded, fell full on the heavy eyelids, that never shrunk or
+shivered, and on the bare, upturned features, blanched to the unnatural
+whiteness only found in corpses from which the life-blood has been
+drained away. Since then, I have tried to recall the face as I saw it
+often--round and ruddy, beaming with reckless joviality, and grotesque
+humor: it will only rise as I saw it once--white, and solemn, and still.
+When the crowd had satisfied their curiosity, the coffin was borne away,
+and everything fell back into the old groove of monotony.
+
+It will hardly be believed, that, though the victim had communicated
+more than once with the British Legation (an envelope franked by Lord
+Lyons was among the papers I examined), the Federal authorities did not
+deem it necessary to give any official notice of the slaughter. Percy
+Anderson was absolutely ignorant of what had happened, when he came to
+me on the following day. The fact, too, is significant, that the
+Washington journals, for whose net no incident is generally too small,
+made no allusion to the tragedy, till the Thursday morning; I presume
+silence was considered useless, when a member of our Legation must have
+been made acquainted with the details.
+
+The regrets of those who may have been interested in poor John
+Hardcastle's life and death, will scarcely be lessened by the knowledge,
+that he was not even in fault when he suffered. There were eight or ten
+prisoners confined in the same room; and it was one of his companions
+who had previously been twice warned back by the sentinel: he himself
+was shot almost instantaneously after his head was thrust forth, without
+a second challenge. The Washington papers stated that, when ordered to
+draw back, he refused with an oath. With such chroniclers, one would not
+bandy contradictions; I give this version of the facts, as I received it
+from the lips of the Superintendent.
+
+Late in the afternoon of Wednesday, the 27th, I was again summoned
+below. I found Percy Anderson waiting there: he had obtained from the
+War Office an order to see me alone, without limitation of time. I
+understood that there was no precedent for such a concession; the
+general rule being that prisoners should only receive their friends in
+the presence of an officer, who is bound to watch and listen jealously,
+while no interview can be extended beyond fifteen minutes. Never,
+surely, was a call better timed. I was at my very worst, just then;
+besides a couple of potatoes and a crust of dry bread, no solid food had
+passed my lips for seventy hours. Of my personal appearance, from my own
+knowledge, I can say nothing, (for my mate and I had agreed in
+considering mirrors superfluous luxuries); but, from the startling
+effect produced upon my visitor, I fancy that the dreary week of weeks
+had made wild work with the outward as well as inward man. I know that
+the kind diplomatist was more than pained at finding himself unable to
+give me any foothold of certain or substantial hope; it was impossible
+to hazard a reliable guess as to the termination of my confinement.
+Hitherto, the unceasing efforts of the Legation had spent themselves on
+the passive obstinacy of the Federal Government like bullets on a cotton
+bale; of a truth it was long before those unjust judges grew aweary.
+Nevertheless, the mere sight and sound of a frank English face and voice
+were more effectual restoratives than all the cunning tonics and
+incentives with which the prison surgeon had been striving to quicken an
+imperceptible pulse, and to revive a deceased appetite. I have always
+thought since, that the rest at that one conversational oasis, just
+enabled me to hold on to the hither verge of Sahara.
+
+The next eight days seem nearly blank to me now. I was past reading
+anything, for I could scarcely make out the capitals with which the
+journalists headed their daily bits of romance from Vicksburg and
+elsewhere. It was with great difficulty that I scrawled detached
+sentences at long intervals--a difficulty that, I fear, some unhappy
+compositor, doomed to decipher the foregoing pages, will thoroughly
+appreciate, though he may decline to sympathize with.
+
+I had one passage of arms with the Superintendent during that week. I
+have an idea that I spoke somewhat freely with regard to the
+Administration that he had the honor to serve, pressing him for a
+justification of its conduct in my own especial case.
+
+The official listened quite coolly and calmly, with a twinkle of
+amusement in his shrewd cynical eyes, and answered:
+
+"Well, we've had a good bit of trouble with England and English this
+year; and I reckon they think they've got a pretty fair-sized fish now,
+and mean to keep him, whether or no."
+
+"That's Republican justice, all over," I said; "to make the one that you
+can catch, pay for the dozen that you can't, or that you are afraid to
+grapple with."
+
+"I don't know about justice," was the reply; "but it's d----d good
+policy."
+
+And so we parted--not a whit worse friends than before.
+
+    Delicta, majorum, immeritus lues,
+
+if memory had not failed me, I might have quoted that line often and
+appropriately enough. But every agent in the "robbery"--from the
+vainglorious Virginian, my chief captor, down to the smooth Secretary,
+whose velvet gripe was so loth to unclose--seemed provokingly bent on
+exaggerating the importance of their prize. Perhaps the very interest
+felt in my release, and the exertions unsparingly used--especially in
+Baltimore--to secure it, strengthened the false impressions or pretenses
+of the Federal powers. I write in the firm assurance that no Southern
+friend will deem these words ungracious or ungrateful.
+
+There is no stone, above or below ground, white enough to mark,
+worthily, in my calender, the fifth day of last June. I hereby abjure,
+for evermore, any superstitious prejudice against the ill luck of
+Fridays. Late in the afternoon, I was pacing to and fro in the narrow
+exercise-ground, speculating idly as to the delay of my dinner, which
+was overdue--not that I felt any interest in the subject, but it was a
+sort of break, and fresh starting-point in the monotony of hours--when I
+was summoned once more into official presence. They took me to the room
+on the ground-floor, where I had waited on the first day of my
+imprisonment while the cell above was preparing. I found there the
+lieutenant commanding the guard, and two or three more officers, one of
+whom, I understood, was a deputy of the Judge-Advocate. They read out a
+paper, of which the following is an exact copy, and asked if I had any
+objection to sign it:
+
+     DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, COUNTY OF WASHINGTON.
+
+     _Old Capital Prison, Washington, D. C._
+
+     I, ----, of ----, in England, do solemnly swear on my Parole of
+     Honor, that I will leave the United States of America, with as
+     little delay us possible, and that I will not return there during
+     the existing rebellion.
+
+     So help me God.
+     Signed, ----.
+
+     Sworn to and subscribed before me,
+     this fifth day of June, A. D. 1863.
+     JOHN A. LOVELL,
+     Lieut. Comdg. Guard.
+
+Now, had I been offered a free passage South, I doubt if I should have
+accepted it, then; the aspect of things within the last two mouths had
+changed for me entirely. I could not hope to carry out one of my
+original plans; for all available resources were nearly exhausted, and
+procuring fresh supplies from home would have involved infinite
+difficulty and delay. Besides, a refusal gave at once to the Federal
+authorities the pretext for detention that they had sought so eagerly,
+and, so far, failed to find. I know no earthly consideration, excepting
+clear obligations of duty or honor, that would have persuaded me to
+incur ten more prison days. If, instead of being a free agent, I had
+been bound by an oath to penetrate into Secessia at all hazards, I
+should have held myself at that moment amply assoilzed of my vow. So,
+with the remark--"that, of all the places on this earth, the Northern
+States of America was the country I most wished to leave, and least
+cared to revisit"--I signed the parole, and confirmed it with an oath.
+
+Then, it appeared that my debt to the Union was paid, so that it had no
+further lien on my effects or me. The saddle-bags were soon packed; in
+another half-hour, I stood outside the prison-door--realizing, with a
+dull, dazed feeling of strangeness and novelty, that there was not the
+shadow of bolt, bar, or wall between me and the clear sultry skies.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+HOMEWARD BOUND.
+
+
+Now that this personal narrative is drawing rapidly to its close, there
+is one point to which I must needs allude, at the risk of sinning
+egotistically. While under lock and key, I never ventured to grapple
+with the subject. Even now--sitting in a pleasant room, with windows
+opening down on a trim lawn studded with flower-jewels and girdled with
+the mottled belts of velvet-green that are the glory of Devonion
+shrub-land, beyond which Tobray shimmers broad and blue under the breezy
+summer weather--I shrink from it with a strange reluctance that I
+cannot, shake off, though it shames me.
+
+I speak of the effect--moral, intellectual, and physical--produced by
+those eight weeks of imprisonment.
+
+I do not wish to intimate that there were any actual hardships beyond
+the prevention of free air and exercise to be endured. More than this: I
+am ready and willing to allow, that certain privileges were conceded to
+me that I had no right to claim, which were granted to few, if any, of
+my fellows in misfortune. The Corporal of the Keys was a clerk in the
+house of Ticknor & Field, the great Boston publishers, before he became
+a soldier; and was disposed to show every consideration and indulgence
+to one whom he was pleased to consider a brother of the Literate Guild.
+The under-superintendent--Donnelly by name--treated one with a
+benevolence quite paternal. The monotony of my solitary confinement was
+often broken by his rambling chat and reminiscences of a gambler's life
+in the Far West; for he liked nothing better than lingering in my cell
+for an hour or so, when his day's work was done. After the prison doors
+were opened, I lingered for ten minutes within them, to exchange a
+farewell hand-grip with that quaint, kind old man. There was a stringent
+curfew-order, enjoining the extinguishment of all lights at nine, P. M.;
+but on condition of vailing my window with a horse-rug, so as not to
+establish a bad precedent, I was allowed to keep mine burning at
+discretion. Now some readers of these pages may think that a
+confinement, such as I have described, wherein, there was to be obtained
+a sufficiency of meat, drink, tobacco, and light literature, is not,
+after all, a _peine forte et dure_; and that it is both weak and
+unreasonable thereanent to make one's moan. So, in bygone days, when a
+lazy fit was strong upon me, have I thought myself. I am not malicious
+enough to wish that the most contemptuously skeptical of such critics
+may be undeceived, at the price which I paid for the learning. It is
+possible that a person of settled sedentary habits, endowed not only
+with powerful resources within himself, but also with the ornament of a
+meek and quiet spirit, might hold out well enough for awhile, more
+especially if supported by the reflection that he was suffering for his
+country's good or for his own private advantage. But take the converse
+example of a man unsupported by any consolations of patriotism or
+peculation, of a temperament somewhat impatient, and prone to anger,
+accustomed, too, from youth upwards, to constant habits of strong
+out-door exercise, with such an one I fancy it will fare--very much as
+it fared with me. It is an established fact, that a few months'
+confinement within four walls, without stint of food or aggravation of
+punishment, will bring an athletic Red Indian to the extreme of bodily
+prostration, if not to mortal sickness.
+
+It is humiliating to confess, but I fear unhappily true, that in despite
+of all advantages of a civilized education, some of us, under like
+circumstances, will go down as helplessly as the noble savage.
+
+Would you like to hear of the process? It is not pleasant to look upon,
+or to tell.
+
+The first few days are spent in an uneasy, irritable expectation that
+every hour will bring some news--good or bad--from the world without,
+bearing on your own especial case; then comes the frame of mind wherein
+you allow that there must be certain official delays, and begin to
+calculate, wearily, how far the wire-drawn formalities will be
+protracted, making a liberal margin for unexpected contingencies: this
+phase soon passes away: then comes the bitter, up-hill fight of hoping
+against hope; how long this may endure depends much on temperament--more
+on bodily health; but in most cases it is soon over, and is succeeded by
+the last state, ten thousand times worse than the first: slowly, but
+very surely, the dense black cloud of utter listlessness settles down,
+never broken thereafter save by brief flashes of a futile, irrational
+ferocity. All your ideas move round like tired mill-horses, in the
+narrowest circle, with an unhappy Ipse Ego for its centre: all the
+passing events of the outward world seem unnaturally dwarfed and
+distant, as if seen through an inverted telescope: the struggles of
+stranger nations move you no more than the battles on an ant-hill; the
+only question of civil or religious liberty in which you feel the
+faintest interest is the unimportant one involving your own personal
+freedom. And throughout you are shamefully conscious that this
+indifference is not philosophical, but simply selfish.
+
+So much for the _morale_. Does the _physique_ fare better.
+
+When you enter the gaol, there is probably laid up in your lungs a
+certain store of fresh, free air, which takes some time to exhaust
+itself; but soon you begin to draw your breath more and more slowly, and
+to feel that the atmosphere inhaled no longer refreshes you; no
+wonder--it is laden with compressed animal life. Then a dull, hot weight
+closes round your brows, as if a heavy, fever-stricken hand was always
+clasping them; there it lies--at night, when the drowsiness which is
+_not_ sleep overcomes you--in the morning, when you wake, with damp
+linen and dank hair: plunge your forehead in ice-cold water; before the
+drops have dried there it is burning--burning again. The distaste for
+all food grows upon you, till it becomes a loathing not to be driven
+away by bitters or quinine: there is no savor in the smoke of
+Kinnekinnick, nor any flavor in the still waters of Monongahela.
+Physical prostration of necessity speedily ensues. Let me mention one
+fact--not in vaunting, but in proof that I do not speak idly. When we
+were trying those athletics at Greenland, the day after my capture, I
+could rend a broad linen band fastened tightly round my upper arm by
+bending the _biceps_: when I had been a month in Carroll place I had to
+halt, at least once, from absolute breathlessness and debility, on the
+stairs leading from the yard to the third story; my pulse was almost
+imperceptible. By this time my sight had become so seriously affected
+that I was absolutely unable to read the clearest print; even now, a
+month after my enfranchisement, though keen Atlantic breezes and home
+comforts have worked wonders, I cannot write five consecutive sentences
+without a respite.
+
+I am forced to quote my own experience; but I know that it could be
+matched, if not exceeded, by very many cases of equal or worse
+suffering.
+
+Long confinement falls, of course, intensely harder on a stranger than
+on a native. The latter, I suppose, can never quite divest himself of an
+interest in passing events, which the former, at the best of times, can
+but faintly share: besides which, most Americans--not purely political
+prisoners--have either a definite term of captivity to look forward to,
+or are, in one way or other, subject to the chances of exchange.
+
+If the Federal Government had avowed at once, that it was their
+sovereign pleasure to keep an Englishman in durance for a _certain_
+period, without attempting to excuse the arbitrary stretch of authority,
+one would have chafed, I suppose, under the injustice, but still
+submitted, as it is the duty of manhood to submit to any inevitable
+necessity. It was the doubt and indefiniteness of the whole affair that
+made it so inexpressibly exasperating. It was bad enough to have no
+palpable adversary to grapple with: it was worse to have no specific
+charge. As I had contravened a general order by crossing the Federal
+lines without a pass, the Legation did not apply for my unconditional
+release: it merely pressed for the inquiry and trial that, in most
+civilized countries, a criminal can claim as a right. I was never
+confronted with any judicial authority from the moment that I entered
+the prison doors till they opened to let me go free: I never received
+any official intimation of the reasons for my prolonged detention; and
+Lord Lyons' repeated applications were at last only met by a vague
+assertion that they "had reason to believe that an aide-de-camp's
+commission, signed by General Lee, had reached me at Baltimore." There
+was not, of course, the faintest scintilla of evidence to establish
+anything of the sort. While in America I received no communication
+whatever--written or verbal--from any person connected with the
+Confederate Government or army.
+
+I do honestly affirm that, in dilating on the several hardships of my
+own especial case, I have no idea of enlisting any sympathy, public or
+private. I simply wish to show what arbitrary oppression can be
+exercised upon British subjects with perfect impunity by a Government
+which will maintain quasi-friendly relations with our own just so long
+as it conforms the standing-ground of a tottering Cabinet. Perhaps, some
+day or other, as a last peace-offering to the Republican hydra, MM.
+Seward and Stanton will burn a bishop, and so bring our pacific Foreign
+Office to bay.
+
+Physical causes prevented my feeling very exhilarated or exultant during
+my earliest hours of freedom. It was pleasant though to meet an English
+face at the hotel where I meant to sleep. I had not seen Mr. Austin
+since we were contemporaries at Oxford; but on the 2d June I had
+received from him a very kind and courteous note, offering a visit, if
+it should be acceptable. I need scarcely say how welcome it would have
+been; but he did not get my written reply till the following Monday--not
+bad time, either, for the Old Capitol post-office. I dined with Mr.
+Austin, and at the same table sat General Martindale, military commander
+at Washington, and Senator Sumner. The former certainly recognized my
+identity; but he was not the less amicable for that. It was odd to find
+myself receiving suggestions as to my route, in case I visited Niagara,
+from the same man who three days before had granted a pass to my friend
+for his proposed prison visit. I sat some time after dinner in talk with
+Mr. Sumner. His face is much aged and careworn since I first saw it,
+some years ago, in England: but his manner retains the polished
+geniality which made him so great a favorite in most European _salons_.
+
+The rest of the evening I spent at Percy Anderson's. I much regretted
+that I could not see Lord Lyons, to express my sense of his unwearied
+exertions in my behalf; but he was dining out; and it was judged better
+that I should not risk an apparent infringement of my parole by
+lingering in Washington an unnecessary hour the next morning, so I was
+forced to trust my thanks to writing.
+
+I can never forget, while I live, the welcomes which waited me in
+Baltimore; welcomes much too cordial to be wasted on a discomfited
+adventurer. Still I was glad to find that those whose opinion was well
+worth having gave one credit for having deserved success. I was very,
+very loth to leave my kind friends, though we may perchance forgather
+again should I outlive my parole, and be enabled to carry out certain
+half-formed plans of hunting in the Far West. It was only the sternest
+sense of duty that impelled me to sacrifice to Niagara sixty hours that
+intervened before June the 13th, when the Inman steamer started, in
+which I had secured a berth by telegraph.
+
+Twenty-two hours of unbroken rail-travel--partly through the beautiful
+Susquehannah Valley; partly through the best cultivated lands (about
+Troy and Elmira) that I saw in the States, whose trim, loose stone walls
+reminded one of part of the Heythrop and Cotswold countries--brought us
+to Buffalo. The Company had here so contrived matters that it was
+absolutely impossible for the traveler to proceed farther that night, or
+to get at any luggage beyond what he carries in his hand: from Elmira it
+travels by a route of its own, to which your through-ticket does not
+apply: the baggage-agent hands it over to you at Niagara the next
+morning, with a cheerfully placid face, as if rather proud of the
+satisfactory correctness of the whole arrangement.
+
+I will not add a stone to the descriptive cairn heaped up by generations
+of tourists in honor of the King-Cataract; simply because it is
+presumption in any man to pass judgment on that famous scene till he has
+studied it for more days than I could spare hours. I do not think, the
+eye is disappointed, even at first sight: after being fully prepared by
+Church's vivid picture--a very triumph of transparent coloring--you
+still stand dumb in honest admiration of that one miracle in the midst
+of wonders--the central curve of the Horse-shoe--where the main current
+plunges over the verge, without a ripple to break the grandeur of the
+clear, smooth chrysoprase, flashing back the sunlight through a filmy
+lace-work of foam. But the ear is certainly dissatisfied: perhaps my
+acoustics were out of order, as well as other cephalic organs; but it
+struck me that Niagara hardly _made any noise at all_. Yet I penetrated
+under the Fall as far as there is practicable foothold; and listened at
+all sorts of distances for a _deafening_ roar, which never came.
+
+I started eastward again by that same night's express. I cannot let
+this, my last experience, pass, without recording my vote on the
+much-mooted question of American railway travel. The natives, of course,
+extol the whole system as one of the greatest of their institutions; but
+I cannot understand any difference of opinion among strangers. The
+baggage arrangement--except when the Company suffers under an aberration
+of intellect, such as I have mentioned on the Niagara route--is really
+convenient, and the _commissionaires_ attached to every train relieve
+you of all responsibility at your journey's end, by collecting your
+effects and transporting them to any given direction; but this solitary
+advantage does not counterbalance other _désagrémens_. When the weather
+is such as to allow a true current of air to circulate through the car,
+the atmosphere is barely endurable; but with stoves at work, and all
+apertures closed, it soon becomes dangerously oppressive. The German
+element prevails strongly throughout Yankee-land: perhaps this accounts
+for the natives' dread of fresh air. Your only chance of escaping from
+semi-suffocation is to secure a seat next to a window, and keep it open,
+hardening your heart against all the grumbling of your neighbors, who
+run through a whole gamut of complaints, in the hope of softening or
+shaming the Hyperborean. Sometimes you will have to encounter menaces;
+but, in such a cause, it is surely worth while to do battle to the
+death; revolver and bowie-knife lose their terrors in the presence of
+imminent asphyxia. The advocates of the system chiefly insist on the
+sleeping-cars, and the advantage of passing from one end of the train to
+the other at your pleasure. On the first of these points, let me say,
+that few aliens, after one trusting experiment of those stifling berths,
+will be inclined to repeat it: the atmosphere of a crowded steamboat
+cabin is pure and fresh by comparison. As for the vaunted promenade--the
+man who would avail himself thereof, would, probably waltz with grace
+and comfort to himself on the deck of the Lively Sally in a sea-way: it
+requires some practice even to stand upright without holding on; the
+jolting and oscillation are such that I think you take rather more
+involuntary exercise than on the back of a cantering cover-hack. The
+pace is not such as to make much amends: from twenty to twenty-five
+miles an hour is the outside speed even of expresses: and on many lines
+you ought to calculate the probabilities of arrival by anything rather
+than the time-tables. Collisions, however, are certainly rare; the most
+common accident is when the train breaks through one of the crazy wooden
+bridges, or, obeying the direction of some playfully eccentric
+pointsman, plunges headlong over an embankment into some peaceful valley
+below. The steam-signals are very peculiar; the engine never whistles,
+but indulges in a prolonged bellow, very like the hideous sounds emitted
+by that hideous semi-brute, yclept the Gong-Donkey, who used to haunt
+our race-courses some years ago--making weak-minded men start, and
+strong-minded women scream with his unearthly roaring. When I first
+heard the hoarse warning-note boom through the night, a shudder of
+reminiscence came over me, for I used to shrink from that awful creature
+with a repugnance such as I never felt for any other living thing.
+
+All the weariness of the long night-journey will not prevent a traveler
+from appreciating the superb Hudson, along whose banks the last part of
+the road, from Albany, is carried. You are seldom out of sight of the
+Caatskill range--blue in the distance or dark in the foreground--but the
+crowning glory of the river are the old cliffs, where the rock soars up
+sheer from the water's edge, with no more vegetation on its face than
+will grow in the crevices of ancient walls.
+
+I had scarcely twenty-four hours left for the Imperial City before the
+Edinburgh sailed. This time I abode at the New York Hotel, where a
+Baltimorean had already secured quarters. This much, at least, must be
+conceded to the Yankee capital. In no other town that I know of can a
+traveler so thoroughly take his ease in his inn. These magnificent
+_caravanserais_ cast far into the shade the best managed establishments
+of London, Paris, or Vienna, simply because luxuries enough to satiate
+any moderate desires, are furnished at fixed prices that need not alarm
+the most economical traveler. The _cuisine_ at the New York Hotel is
+really artistic, and the attendance quite perfect. Also is found there a
+certain Château Margaux of '48: after savoring that rich liquid velvet,
+you wilt not wonder that the house has long been a favorite with the
+Southern Sybarites. Things are changed, of course, now, and many of Mr.
+Cranston's old patrons must now exercise their critical tastes on
+mountain whisky and ration beef; but the tone of feeling in the
+establishment remains the same. An out-spoken Republican or Abolitionist
+would not meet a cordial welcome from the present frequenters of the New
+York, nor, I think, from its jovial host. Likewise the Empress City can
+boast that her barbers and iced drinks do actually "beat all creation."
+After a long journey you are thoroughly disposed to appreciate these
+scientific tonsors, whose delicacy of manipulation is unequaled in
+Europe. Only the pen of that eloquent writer, who told the "Times" how
+he "thirsted in the desert," could do justice to the high-art triumphs
+of the cunning barkeeper.
+
+"Joe"--of the mirthful eye, and agile hand, and ready repartee--long may
+you flourish, mitigating the fierce summer thirst of many a parched
+palate; stimulating withered appetites till they hunger anew for the
+flesh-pots; warming the heart-cockles of departing voyagers till they
+laugh the keen breezes of the bay to scorn. With me, at least, gratitude
+for repeated refreshment shall long keep your memory green--green as the
+mint-sprays that, when your last "julep" is mingled, should surely be
+strewn, unsparingly, on your grave.
+
+I never felt quite clear of Federaldom till I set my foot firm on the
+deck of the good ship Edinburgh. I did not indulge in a soliloquy even
+then; so I certainly shall not inflict on _you_ any rhapsodies about
+freedom; but, in good truth, the sensation was too agreeable to be
+easily forgotten.
+
+The homeward voyage was as great a "success," as unbroken fine weather,
+favorable winds, and company both pleasant and fair, could make it. On
+the thirteenth day, towards evening, I found myself in the familiar
+Adelphi, at Liverpool, savoring some "clear" turtle, not with a less
+relish because, in the accurately pale face of the waiter who brought in
+the lordly dish, there was not the faintest yellow tinge nor a ripple of
+"wool" in his hair.
+
+All of my personal narrative that could possibly interest the most
+indulgent public is told now; if the few words I have left to say should
+bore you--O patient reader!--they will at least be free of egotism.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+A POPULAR ARMAMENT.
+
+
+It was ordained that the navy should reap all the boys and the men that
+were to be gathered in the warfare of this spring. The amphibious
+failures in the southwest involved no graver consequences than a vast
+futile expenditure of Northern time, money, and men; such waste has been
+too common, of late, to excite much popular disgust or surprise. In
+other parts, the keenest correspondent has been put to great straits for
+memorable matter; for a skirmish, or a raid, even on a large scale, can
+hardly carry much beyond a local interest.
+
+On the last day of April, the summer land-campaign began in earnest,
+when its truculent commander led the "finest army on the planet" across
+the Rappahanock, unopposed.
+
+If all other warlike music was prudently silent then, be sure, the
+General's own private trumpet flourished very sonorously; indeed, for
+many days past it had not ceased to ring. Few armaments have set forth
+under more pompous auspices. First came the great review, graced by the
+presence of the White House Court, who witnessed the marching past of
+the biennial veterans with perfect patience, if not satisfaction. The
+"specials" of the Republican papers outdid themselves on that occasion;
+magnificently ignoring his temporary dignity, they hesitated not to
+compare each member of the President's family with a corresponding
+European royalty, giving, of course, the preference to the
+home-manufactured article: it was good to read their raptures over the
+gallant bearing of Master Lincoln, as if "the young Iulus" (as they
+_would_ call him) had shown himself worthy of high hereditary honors.
+One writer, I think, did allow, that the balance of grace might incline
+rather to Eugénie the Empress, than to the President's stout,
+good-tempered spouse; but he was much more cynical or conscientious than
+most of his fellows.
+
+Thenceforward one became aweary of the sight, sound, and name of
+"Hooker." The right man was in the right place at last: had his counsels
+been followed in the Peninsula, when the caution or incapacity of
+McClellan threw the grand opportunity away, the Federal flag would have
+floated over Richmond last summer. Was there not the hero's own
+testimony to that effect, rendered before the War Committee, months ago,
+wherein, with a chivalrous generosity, he ceased not to exalt himself on
+the ruined reputation of his late commander? Even as Ajax prayed for
+light, the people cried aloud for one week of fair weather: no more was
+wanted to crush and utterly confound the hopes of Rebels, Copperheads,
+and perfidious Albion. Every illustrated journal was crowded with
+portraits, of Fighting Joe and his famous white charger; it was said,
+that horse and rider could never show themselves without eliciting a
+burst of cheering, such as rang out near the Lake Regillus, when
+Herminus and Black Auster broke into the wavering battle. No wonder. Had
+he not thoroughly reorganized the army demoralized by Burnside's defeat,
+till there was but one word in every soldier's mouth, and that
+word--"Forward!"
+
+There was joy, as for a victory, when it was known that the Falmouth
+camp was broken up, and that the eager battalions had left the
+Rappahannock fairly behind them: as to success, only fools or traitors
+could question it. Even the Democratic journals were carried away by the
+tide, and hardly ventured to hesitate their doubts. The hero's own
+proclamation, issued on the south bank of the river, was surely enough
+to reassure the most timid unbeliever.
+
+How vaunt and prophecy were fulfilled, all the world knows now. A more
+miserable waste of apparently ample means and material has seldom been
+recorded in the annals of modern war. General Hooker stands forth the
+worthy rival of that mighty monarch, who,
+
+            "With fifty thousand men,
+    Marched up the hill and then--marched down again."
+
+But of the two, the exploit of the American strategist is much the most
+brilliant and memorable; his preparations and blunders were conducted on
+a vaster scale, and, Varus-like, scorning the triviality of a bloodless
+disgrace, he left sixteen thousand dead, wounded, and missing behind in
+his retreat.
+
+The defeated General may well pray to be saved from his friends: the
+strongest ground of condemnation might be drawn from the excuses of some
+of these injudicious partisans. Not more than a third of the Federal
+forces was, they say, at any one time engaged: yet Hooker's last words
+to his troops, before going into action, boasted that the enemy must,
+perforce, fight him on his own ground. The Federal commander recognized,
+perhaps not less than his opponent, the importance of the simple old
+tactic--bringing a superior force to bear on detached or weak points of
+the adverse line--which has entered, under one form or another, into
+most great military combinations since war became a science; but he
+appears to have been utterly incapable of reducing theory to practice.
+For the twentieth time in this war, a Northern general was
+outmanoeuvred and beaten, simply because his adversary--understanding
+how to husband an inferior strength--seized the right moment for
+bringing it into play.
+
+I do not mean to assert that the Confederates invariably advance in
+column, or to advocate this especial mode of attack: a successful
+outflanking of the enemy may turn out an advantage not less decided than
+the breaking of his centre; but, when half-disciplined troops are to be
+handled, concentrative movements must surely be safer than extensive
+ones. It would be well to remember that, among all the trained
+battalions of Europe, our own crack regiments are supposed to be the
+only ones that can be thoroughly relied on for attacking in line.
+
+If Hooker thought himself strong enough to cross the rear of Lee's army,
+and cut him off from Richmond, while a combined movement against the
+city was being executed by Dix and Keyes from the southeast, the delay
+of forty hours, during which he advanced about six miles, can scarcely
+be excused, or even accounted for. That the wary foe should be taken
+entirely by surprise, was a contingency too improbable to be calculated
+on by any sane tactician, however sanguine.
+
+To dispense almost entirely with the aid of the cavalry arm, on the eve
+of a general engagement, was certainly a bold stroke of strategy--too
+bold to be justified by any independent successes likely to be achieved
+by the detachment. Stoneman's exploits appear to have been greatly
+exaggerated; but, whatever were the results, they might clearly have
+been attained if he had crossed the Rappahannock alone with one
+horseman, leaving the main guard to attend more dress-parades in the
+Falmouth camp. To pretend that weather in anywise influenced Hooker's
+retreat is utterly absurd. No change for the worse took place till the
+Tuesday evening, when the army had fallen back on the river bank; the
+troops were actually recrossing when the rain began: then it did come
+down in earnest.
+
+    Nocte pluit tota, redeunt spectacula mare--
+
+a spectacle frequently repeated in this war--that of a Federal General
+"changing his base" in hot haste, without flourish of trumpet.
+
+At the most critical moment, Fighting Joe seems to have been afflicted
+with the fatal indecision, by no means incompatible with perfect
+physical fearlessness, which has ruined wiser plans than ever were
+moulded in his brain. Rumor hints broadly at a sudden fit of depression,
+not unnatural in one notoriously addicted to the use of stimulants; but
+this is, probably, the ill-natured invention of an enemy.
+
+At all such seasons, some subordinate must needs lift some of the
+dishonor from the shoulders of the chief. The non-arrival of
+reinforcements is much the easiest way of accounting for a foiled
+combination. The rout of Howard's corps was not to be considered, as it
+happened under the General's own eye: so Sedgwick was, by some, made the
+Grouchy of the day: but he seems to have fought his division as well as
+any of his fellows, and it was probably a superior force that checked
+his advance towards the main army, and eventually hurled him back upon
+the Rappahannock.
+
+Perhaps the Confederate organs do not greatly exaggerate, when they
+claim Chancellorville as _the_ victory of this war: though there is a
+fearful counterpoise in the loss of the South's favorite leader. But the
+great Army of the Potomac, in its shameful retreat, could not console
+itself by the boast of having done to death the terrible enemy, at whose
+name they had learnt to tremble. A miserable mistake (so the Richmond
+papers say) slew Stonewall Jackson, in the crisis of victory, with a
+Confederate bullet, as he was reconnoitering with his staff in front of
+his line.
+
+Surely it is glory, sufficient for any one of woman born, that the news
+of his death should have sent a start and a shiver through thirty
+millions of hearts. I subjoin a funeral notice, which utters very simply
+and strongly the feeling of the country that the stern, pure soldier
+served so well: but a strange honor and respect attaches to his memory
+amongst those whom in life he never ceased to disquiet. Even the rabid
+Republican journalists rejoice--not coarsely or ungenerously--speaking
+with bated tones, as is fit and natural in presence of a good man's
+corpse.
+
+Let us return to our poor Hooker, who is sitting now, somewhat gloomily,
+in the shade. Human nature can spare so little sympathy for braggarts in
+disaster, that we may possibly have been too hard on his demerits. In
+this respect the Grim old Fighting Cox (as the historian of the Mackerel
+Brigade calls him) is absolutely incorrigible. Conceive a General--on
+the very morning after the reverse was consummated--proclaiming to his
+soldiers "that they had added to the laurels already won by the Army of
+the Potomac!" If a succession of defeats are equal to one victory--on
+the principle of two negatives making an affirmative--or if nothing
+added to a cipher brings out a substantial product, there may possibly
+be something in these words beyond the desperation of bombast,
+otherwise----
+
+But, in justice to Joseph, let us ask--Are the materials at his command,
+or at that of any Federal commander, really so powerful or manageable as
+they seem?
+
+Probably no one civilized nation is composed of elements so difficult to
+mould into the form of a thoroughly organized army, as the Northern
+States of the Union. The men individually, especially those drawn from
+the West, are fully endowed with the courage, activity, and endurance
+inherent in the Anglo-Saxon race: they can act promptly and daringly
+enough on their own independent resources; but, when required to move as
+unreasoning units of a mass, directed by a superior will, they utterly
+fail. All the antecedents of the Federal recruit interfere with his
+progress towards the mechanical perfection of the trained soldier. The
+gait and demeanor of the country lads are not more shambling and
+slovenly than those of the ordinary British; but the latter from his
+youth up, has imbibed certain ideas of subordination to superiors, which
+make him yield more pliantly and implicitly to after discipline. Now,
+the American is taught to contemn all such old-world ideas as respect of
+persons. Even the All-mighty Dollar cannot command deference, though it
+may enforce obedience. The volunteer carries with him into the ranks, an
+ostentatious spirit of self-assertion and independence. He has always
+mixed on terms of as much equality as his purse would allow of, with the
+class from which his officers have emerged by election; and knows that,
+at the expiration of their service, each will resume his place as if no
+such distinction had existed. So he goes into action fully prepared to
+criticise the orders of his superiors, and even to ignore them if they
+clash too strongly with his private judgment; he has no intention of
+abating one iota of his franchise, or one privilege of an enlightened
+citizen. In the regular army, ceremonial is rather better observed; but,
+even here, you will observe the barriers of grade frequently
+transgressed, both in manner and tone: the volunteers will rarely salute
+even a field-officer, unless on parade, or by special orders.
+
+This spirit of independent judgment is by no means confined to the rank
+and file. The evidence before the War Committee shows how seldom a
+General-in-Chief can depend on the hearty co-operation of his Division
+leaders, and how unreservedly dissent was often expressed by those whose
+lips discipline ought to have sealed.
+
+The fact is, that a spirit of party impregnates all the military
+organization of the North: a Federal army is a vast political machine.
+State Governors have followed the example of the Administration in their
+selection of the higher officers: these, as a rule, owe their election
+entirely to their own influence, or that of their friends; all other
+qualifications are disregarded. It is idle to expect that such men can
+command the confidence of the soldiers by virtue of their rank; they
+have to win this by individual prowess.[3] The Confederates have been
+more just and wise. Some of these political appointments were made at
+the beginning of the war, but changes were made as soon as incapacity
+was manifest, and almost all posts of importance are now occupied by
+officers educated at West Point, or at one of many military schools long
+established at the South.
+
+[Footnote 3: It is well to remember, that, before the Committee for
+inquiring into the conduct of the war, Generals McDowell and Rosecrans,
+in the most explicit terms, attributed many disasters to the fact, of
+the soldiers having no confidence in the officers who led them.]
+
+An army of free-thinkers is very hard to handle either in camp or field.
+They do not grumble, perhaps, so much as the British "full private;"
+indeed they have little cause, for the commissariat arrangements, even
+in remote departments, are admirable, and the Union grudges no comfort,
+or even luxury, to her armies. But they become "demoralized" (the word
+is a cant one now) surprisingly fast, and recover from such, depression
+very, very slowly. When the moment for action arrives, such men get
+fresh heart in the first excitement, but they lack stability, and if any
+sudden check ensues, involving change of ground to the rear, a few
+minutes are enough to turn a retreat into a rout. You may send forth
+your volunteer, with all the pomp and circumstance of war, and greet his
+return with all enthusiasm of welcome; you may make him the hero of
+paragraph and tale (I believe it is treasonable to choose any other
+_jeune premier_ for a love story just now); you may put a flag into his
+hand, more riddled and shot-torn than any of our old Peninsular
+standards; you may salute him "veteran," a month after the first baptism
+of fire; but the savor of the conscript and the citizen will cling to
+him still.
+
+What would you have? The _esprit de corps_, which has more or less been
+kept alive in civilized armies since the days of the Tenth Legion, is,
+perforce, wanting here. All military organization is posterior to the
+War of Independence. It is certainly not their fault if even the regular
+battalions can inscribe on their colors no nobler name than that of some
+desultory Mexican or Border battle. If Australia should become an
+empire, she must carry the same blank ensigns without shame. But when a
+regiment has no traditionary honors to guard, it lacks a powerful
+deterrent from self-disgrace.
+
+It is easy to deride martinets and pipe-clay: all the drill in
+Christendom will not make a good soldier out of a weakling or a coward;
+but, unless you can turn men into machines, so far as to make them act
+independently of individual thought or volition, you can never depend on
+a body of non-fatalists for advancing steadily, irrespective of what may
+be in their front; nor for keeping their ranks unbroken under a hail of
+fire, or on a sinking, ship. As skirmishers, the Federal soldiers act
+admirably; and in several instances have carried fortified positions
+with much dash and daring; it is in line of battle, on a stricken field,
+that they are--to say the least--uncertain. In spite of the
+highly-colored pictures of charges, &c., I do not believe that, from the
+very beginning of this war, any one battalion has actually _crossed_
+bayonets with another, though they may often have come within ten yards
+of collision. This fact (which I have taken some trouble to verify) is
+surely sufficiently significant.
+
+The parallels of our own Parliamentary army, and of the French levies
+after the first Revolution, suggest themselves naturally here; but they
+will not quite hold good. The stern fanatics who followed Cromwell went
+to their work--whether of fighting or prayer--with all their heart, and
+soul, and strength, conning the manual not less studiously than the
+psalter, while their General would devote himself for days together to
+the minutest duties of a drill-sergeant. With all this, and with his
+"trust in Providence," it was long before the wary Oliver would bring
+his Ironsides fairly face to face,
+
+    With the bravos of Alsatia and the pages of Whitehall.
+
+It is true that the Revolutionary army of '93 was utterly different from
+those, wherein the Maison du Roi took the right of the line. It was
+hastily raised, and loosely constructed, out of rude material perilous
+to handle. But--putting aside that military aptitude inherent in every
+Frenchman--in all ranks there was a leaven of veterans strong enough to
+keep the turbulent conscripts in order, though the aristocratic element
+of authority was wanting. Traditions of subordination and discipline
+survived in an army, not the less thoroughly French, because it was
+rabidly Republican. The recruits liked to feel themselves soldiers; they
+were willing to give up for awhile the pageantry of war, but not its
+decorum; and, in that implicit obedience to their officers, there
+mingled a sturdy plebeian pride; they would not allow that it was harder
+to follow the wave of Colonel Bonhommne's sabre, than that of Marshal de
+Montmorenci's baton; or that the word of command rang out more
+efficiently from the patrician's dainty lips, than from under the rough
+moustaches of the proletarian.
+
+The regular army here does little to help the volunteer service, beyond
+giving subalterns as field-officers (a lieutenant would rarely be
+satisfied with a troop or a company); the rank is, of course, temporary,
+though sometimes substantiated by brevet. It is possible, that a few
+non-commissioned officers may be found, who have served in a similar or
+subordinate capacity in the regular army during the Mexican war; but
+such exceptions are too rare to affect the civism of the entire force.
+
+True it is, that the Federal levies have to face enemies not a whit
+superior in discipline. Indeed, Harry Wynd's motto, "I fight for mine
+own hand," is especially favored in the South. But when one side is
+battling for independence, the other for subjugation, there must ever be
+an essential difference in the spirit animating their armies. The
+impetuosity of the Confederate onset is acknowledged even here: on
+several occasions it has been marked by a wild energy and recklessness
+of life, worthy to be compared with the Highland charge, which swept
+away dragoon and musketeer at Killiecrankie and Prestonpans.
+
+I am not disposed to question the hardihood or endurance of the Yankee
+militant; nor even to deny that a sense of patriotism may have much to
+do with his dogged determination to persevere, now, even to the end: but
+as for enthusiasm--you must look for it in the romances of war that
+crowd the magazines, or in the letters of vividly imaginative
+correspondents, or--anywhere but among the Federal rank and file. Such a
+feeling is utterly foreign to the national character; nor have I seen a
+trace of it in any one of the many soldiers with whom I have spoken of
+the war. All the high-flown sentiment of the Times or Tribune will not
+prevent the Yankee private from looking at his duty in a hard,
+practical, business-like way; he is disposed to give his country its
+money's worth, and does so, as a rule, very fairly; but military ardor
+in the States is not exactly a consuming fire at this moment. The
+hundred-dollar bounty has failed for some time to fill up the gaps made
+by death or desertion: and the strong remedy of the Conscription Act
+will not be employed a day too soon. Perhaps those who augur favorably
+for Northern success expect that coerced levies will fight more fiercely
+and endure more cheerfully than the mustered-out volunteers. _Qui vivra
+verra._
+
+It is simple justice, to allow that the native soldiers have borne
+themselves, as a rule, better than the aliens. The Irish
+Brigade--reduced to a skeleton, now, by the casualties of two years--has
+performed good service under Meagher, who himself has done much to
+redeem the ridicule incurred in early days; but the Germans have not
+been distinguished either for discipline, or daring. The Eleventh
+Division, whose shameful rout at Chancellorville is still in every one's
+mouth, was almost exclusively a "Dutch" corps.
+
+But other difficulties beset a Federal General, besides the
+intractability of his armed material, and the jealousies of immediate
+subordinates. The uncertainty of his position is in itself a snare. When
+the chief is first appointed, no panegyric seems adequate to his past
+merit, and the glories are limitless that he is certain to win. If he
+should inaugurate his command with the shadow of a success, the
+Government organs chant themselves hoarse in praise and prophecy. But
+the popular hero knows right well, that the ground is already mined
+under his feet; the first reverse will drag him down into a pit of
+obscurity, if not of odium, deep and dark as Abiram's grave. Of all
+taskmasters, a Democracy is the most pitilessly irrational; it were
+better for an unfaithful or unlucky servant to fall into Pharaoh's
+hands, than to lie at the mercy of a free and enlightened, people.
+Demagogues, and the crowds they sway, are just as impatient and
+impulsive now, as when the mob of the Agora cheered the bellowing of
+Cleon; neither is their wrath less clamorous because it has ceased to
+lap blood. A Federal chief must be very sanguine or very short sighted,
+who, beyond the glare and glitter of his new headquarters, does not mark
+the loom of Cynoscephalæ. Conceive the worry, of feeling yourself
+perpetually on your promotion--of knowing, that by delay you risk the
+imputation of cowardice or incapacity, while on the first decisive
+action must be periled the supremacy, that all men are so loth to
+surrender. The unhappy commander, if a literate, might often think of
+Porsena's front rank at the Bridge, when
+
+    Those in the rear cried, "Forward,"
+    Those in the van cried, "Back."
+
+To few minds is allotted such a temperate and steady strength as would
+enable a man, thus tried and tempted, to weigh all chances calmly;
+determined to strike, only when the time should come; disregarding the
+extravagant expectations alike of friend or foe; shrinking no more from
+the responsibilities of unavoidable failure, than from any other
+personal dangers. If such a chief could once fairly grasp the staff of
+command, a virtual dictatorship might work great things for the North.
+But whence is he likely to emerge? Hardly from the midst of this vast
+political and military turmoil, where every man is struggling and
+straining to clutch at the veriest shred of power.
+
+Hooker has fared better than his fellows in misfortune. The Washington
+Cabinet, usually ready enough to make sacrifices to popular indignation,
+still stand by their discomfited favorite with creditable firmness. Even
+before the army crossed the river, there appeared significant articles
+in the Government organs, begging the public to be patient and moderate
+in anticipation. The press-prophets, who indulged in the most
+magnificent sketches of what _ought_ to be done, were those, with whose
+patriotic regrets over defeat, would mingle some exultation over a
+disgraced political opponent. So people in general seem content to give
+the Fighting One another chance.
+
+This unusual clemency may be easily accounted for. It would be almost
+impossible to pitch on any one with the slightest pretensions to fill
+the vacated path. If you except Rosecrans, and perhaps Franklin, there
+is hardly a Division leader who has not, at one time or another,
+betrayed incapacity enough to disqualify him from holding any important
+command. West Point may send forth as good theoretical soldiers as
+Sandhurst, or St. Cyr, while the practical experience of American
+Generals might equal that of our own officers before the Crimean war;
+but the best from West Point have gone southward long ago, and by the
+retirement of McClellan the North lost, probably, her one promising
+strategist. Cool and provident in the formation of his plans, though
+somewhat unready in their execution, and scarcely equal to sudden
+emergencies, if he achieved no brilliant success, he was likely to steer
+clear of grave disaster. The dearth of tacticians is made very manifest,
+by the list of candidates suggested in the event of Hooker's removal
+from command.
+
+There are horses, invariably beaten in public, which never appear
+without being heavily backed; and there are men, who contrive to retain
+a certain number of partisans, zealous enough to ignore all patent
+demerits, and to give their favorite credit for any amount of possible
+unproved capacity. Yet one would have thought the Republicans might have
+hesitated in bringing forward Fremont, who has already been removed for
+blunders hardly to be excused by ignorance; and though the name of
+Sickles is, unhappily, well known in Europe, it is somewhat startling to
+find him, so early in the day, aspirant to the highest military honors.
+His advocate admits that the latter hero's professional opportunities
+have been scanty, but, says he, placidly, "Neither was Cæsar bred a
+soldier." If the sentence was written in sobriety, no praise can be too
+high for the audacity of that superb comparison. Another patriot was
+exceedingly anxious that General Halleck should be incontinently removed
+from the War Office, to make room for--Butler. We accept these things
+calmly now; for repeated proof has taught us, that world-wide infamy
+bars no man's road to profit and honor, when Black Republicans weigh the
+merits of the claimant. The Abolitionist organs of that same week
+contained glowing accounts of McNeil's exploits in Missouri, and
+announced with much satisfaction an accession to Negley's Brigade in the
+shape of Colonel Turchin. I quote the words: "He was received with great
+delight, and will, no doubt, do good service, if allowed. It will be
+remembered that he was court-martialed some time since, for punishing
+guerrillas."
+
+Atrocities have been so rife here of late, that even wholesale murder
+and ravishment have a chance of being lost in the crowd: in any other
+civilized land than this, that reminder might well have been spared.
+
+Surely the Confederates in the Southwest have two prizes now before
+them, well worth the winning; but in the front of battle Tarquin is
+seldom found, and in the rout they must ride far and fast who would
+reach his shoulders with the steel. The real perils of these men will
+begin when the war is done; the hot Southern vendetta will cool
+strangely, if all the three shall die in their beds.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+THE DEBATABLE GROUND.
+
+
+There is one very vexed question, the importance of which, both in the
+present and for the future, can hardly be over-estimated. It does not
+depend on the vicissitudes, the duration, or even the termination of the
+war: rather it will become more gravely complicated as prospects of
+peace dawn clearer.
+
+In which direction do the sympathies and interests of the _Border_
+States actually tend? Let it be understood that the point to be decided
+is--not whether the Democrats in those parts are politically stronger
+than their Republican opponents; but whether the popular feeling
+identifies itself with North or South; whether an uncoerced vote of the
+majority would be in favor of or hostile to the Union; finally, on which
+side of the frontier-line, in case of separation, the State would fain
+abide.
+
+It seems to me that only personal knowledge and experience can enable an
+alien to form any accurate opinion on these points; even where the press
+is not forced to grumble out discontent with bated breath, under terror
+of martial law, party spirit runs so high as to render statements,
+written or spoken, barely reliable; sound, deeply as you will, into
+these turbid wells, it is a rare chance if you touch truth, after all.
+So, of Tennessee, Missouri, or Kentucky, I will not say a word, but for
+the same reasons I _may_ venture to hazard more than a guess at the
+sympathies of Maryland.
+
+Notwithstanding her superficial extent is comparatively small, there can
+be no question which of the Border States enters most importantly into
+the calculations of both the belligerent powers; the weight of interests
+and wealth of resources that Maryland carries with her--to say nothing
+of her local advantages--are such that she cannot eventually be allowed
+to adhere to either side with a lukewarm or divided fidelity.
+
+The position I am about to advance will meet with a certain amount of
+dissent, if not of incredulity, and some one will probably point at
+recent events as furnishing an unanswerable contradiction to much that I
+affirm. I will only pray my readers to believe that I have tried hard to
+cast prejudice aside in listening, in marking, and in recording; my
+opportunities of forming a deliberate judgment on the sympathies of all
+classes in this especial State were such as have fallen to the lot of
+very few strangers; and my observations _ought_, certainly, to have been
+the more accurate, from their field having been necessarily narrowed.
+Perhaps I can hardly do better than reprint here the larger portion of a
+letter, written in the middle of last March, to the "Morning Post;"
+nothing that has occurred since induces me materially to modify any one
+of the opinions expressed therein. Though, in common with many others, I
+may have regretted the disappointment of our anticipations with regard
+to a general rising, in co-operation with the Southern invaders; I think
+it is easy to show that there were reasons sufficient to account for, if
+not excuse, this second apparent supineness.
+
+"I believe that at home people have a very faint--perhaps a very
+false--idea of how men think, and act, and suffer, in this same Border
+State. Your impression may be that a lethargy prevails, where, in
+reality, dangerous fever is the disease--a fever that must one day break
+out violently, in spite of the quack medicines administered by an
+incapable Government--in spite of the restrictions unsparingly employed,
+by that grim sick-nurse, martial law.
+
+"I fancy the world is hardly aware of the hearty sympathy with the
+South--the intense antipathy to the North--which animates at this moment
+the vast majority of Marylanders. I have heard more than one assert that
+of the two alternatives, he would infinitely prefer becoming again a
+colonial subject of England to remaining a member of the Federal Union.
+This sounds like an exaggeration; I believe it to have been simply the
+truth, strongly stated. I believe that the partisan spirit is as rife
+and as bitter in many parts of this State, as it can be in South
+Carolina or Georgia.
+
+"A remarkable instance of this popular feeling occurred last week, at a
+large sale in Howard county. The late proprietor, an Irishman by
+descent, belonging to one of the old Roman Catholic families that have
+been territorial magnates here for generations, had a great fancy for
+dividing his land into small holdings, rented by men of proportionately
+small means, so as to establish a sort of English tenant-system,
+involving, of course, much free labor. It would have been hard to select
+a spot in that country where the abolition feeling would be more likely
+to prevail. On the present occasion about six hundred farmers and others
+were assembled. They were Southerners to a man; at least, no one hinted
+at dissent when Jefferson Davis's health and more violent Southern
+toasts were drunk amidst a storm of cheers.
+
+"Twice has Maryland been taunted with her inaction, if not charged with
+deliberate treachery; first when, at the outbreak of the war, she did
+not openly secede; again, when she did not second by a general rising
+Lee's invasion of her boundary. It would be well to remember that for
+Maryland to declare herself, before Virginia had actually done so, would
+have been the insanity of rashness. She could hardly be expected to defy
+the vengeance of the North, while cut off by a neutral State from
+Southern aid, especially since Governor Hicks' measures of disarmament,
+by which not only the militia but private individuals were deprived of
+their firelocks. Virginia has fought so gallantly since then, that it is
+easy to forget her tardiness in drawing the sword; but it would be vain
+to deny that on the southern bank of the Potomac there does exist a
+certain jealousy, arising probably from conflicting commercial
+interests, which has led to suspicion and misconception already, and may
+lead to more harm yet. General Lee issued his proclamation inviting
+Maryland to rise only one day before he commenced his retreat--short
+notice, surely, for a revolution involving not only the temporary ruin
+of many interests, but the certainty of collision with a Federal army of
+one hundred and twenty thousand men then within the border of the State.
+Had Maryland joined the Confederacy a year ago, I believe her entire
+territory would be desolate now, as are most great battlefields. With
+the immense means of naval transport at the Federals' command, it would
+be easy for them to land any number of troops in almost any part of the
+western division, for the whole country is intersected by the creeks of
+the Chesapeake Bay and its tributary rivers. One glance at the map will
+show this more plainly than verbal description, and make it needless to
+remark on the still more exposed and isolated position of the Eastern
+Shore.
+
+"In spite of all this, men say that if the opportunity were once more
+given, the blade would be drawn in earnest, and the scabbard thrown
+away. It may well be so; there has been oppression and provocation
+enough of late to make the scale turn once and forever.
+
+"Meantime, Maryland has not confined herself to a suppressed sympathy
+with the South. We may guess, perhaps, but no one will ever know, the
+extent of the covert assistance already rendered by this State to the
+Confederacy. I am not referring to the constant reinforcements of her
+best and bravest--over twelve thousand, it is said--that have never
+ceased to feed the ranks of the Southern armies.
+
+"One significant fact is worth mentioning, drawn from the reports of
+Federal officers--viz., out of nine thousand Marylanders drafted into
+the service, there are scarcely one hundred now remaining in the ranks;
+they deserted, literally, by bands.
+
+"I speak of supplies of all sorts, especially medicines, furnished
+perpetually; of valuable information forwarded as to the enemy's
+movements and intentions; of Confederate prisoners tended with every
+care, and supplied with every comfort that womanly tenderness could
+devise; of a hundred other marks of substantial friendship that could
+not only be rendered by a nominal neutral, but a real ally. It would be
+hard, indeed, if any miserable jealousies were to prevent all this from
+being appreciated and rewarded some day.
+
+"The Federal Government, at least, does ample justice to the
+proclivities of Maryland. The system of coercion, hourly more and more
+stringent, speaks for itself. The State is at this moment subjected to a
+military despotism more irritating and oppressive than was ever
+exercised by Austria in her Italian dependencies; more irritating,
+because domestic interference and all sorts of petty annoyances are more
+frequent here; more oppressive, because it is considered unnecessary to
+indulge a political prisoner with even the mockery of a trial. Nothing
+is too small for the gripe of the Provost Marshal's myrmidons. There was
+a general order last week for the seizure of all Southern songs and
+photographs of Confederate celebrities. One convivial cheer for
+Jefferson Davis brought the 'strayed reveler' the following morning into
+the awful presence of Colonel Fish, there to be favored with one of his
+characteristic diatribes. The duties of that truculent potentate are
+doubtless both difficult and disagreeable, yet one would think, it
+possible for an officer to act; energetically without ignoring the
+common courtesies of life, and to maintain rigid discipline without
+constantly emulating the army that swore terribly in Flanders. The oath
+of allegiance--that is the touchstone whose mark gives everything its
+marketable value. The Union flag must wave over every spot--chapel,
+mart, institute, or ball-room--where two or three may meet together; and
+beyond the shadow of the enforced ensign there is little safety or
+comfort for man, woman, or child--for women least of all.
+
+"During the past week two ladies of this city have been arraigned on the
+charge of aiding and abetting deserters from the Federal army. In the
+first case, the offense was having given a very trifling alms, after
+much solicitation and many refusals, to a man who represented himself
+and his family as literally starving. The fugitive made his way to
+Canada, and thence wrote two begging letters, threatening, if money were
+not sent, to denounce his benefactress. Eventually he did so. This lady
+is to be separated from her husband and family, with whom she is now
+residing, and sent across the lines in a few days. In the second case I
+am justified in mentioning names, as from the peculiar circumstances it
+will probably become more public. Mrs. Grace is the widow of a Havana
+merchant, and a naturalized subject of Spain, to whose Minister she has
+since appealed. She was summoned before the Provost Marshal on the same
+charge, but was too ill to attend in person. Her daughter went to the
+office, and found that the evidence against her mother was an
+intercepted letter from some person (whose name was equally unknown to
+Mrs. Grace as to the officials), telling his wife 'to go to that lady,
+who would take care of her.' Miss Grace represented the extreme hardship
+of the case; they had no friends or connections in the South, and her
+mother's health was far from strong. Finally, she gave her own positive
+assurance that there was not the faintest foundation for the charge.
+Colonel Fish did not scruple to reply 'that he considered an anonymous
+document evidence' strong enough to bear down a lady's proffered word of
+honor. If, after this provocation, the spirit of the fair pleader was
+roused, and she spoke somewhat unadvisedly with her lips, few will be
+disposed to impute to her anything more than imprudence. The Provost
+Marshal closed the discussion very promptly and decidedly--'Your mother
+will go South within the fortnight; and you, for your insolence, will
+accompany her.' When women and weaklings are before them, the
+_argumentum bacculinum_ seems favored by the Republican chivalry.
+
+"The country is not much better off than the city. The same system of
+espionage and coercion prevails there; especially since that fatal
+proclamation has sown distrust between master and slave, it is hard to
+say how many spies there may be in any man's household. Large landed
+proprietors, who have shown no sign of Southern proclivity, beyond
+abstaining from taking the oath, cannot obtain the commonest
+necessaries, such as groceries, &c., without resorting to shifts and
+stratagems that would be absurd, if they were not so painful. Such
+trammels are far more galling to the purely agricultural class than they
+are to the inhabitants of a city like this, where commerce has
+introduced a large mixed element, embracing not only Northerners, but
+almost every European race.
+
+"But, in spite of all privations and annoyances, there is in the
+Marylander just now an honest earnestness of purpose, a readiness for
+self-sacrifice, a patient hardihood, a brave, hopeful spirit, quick to
+chafe but slow to complain, that might make Anglo-Saxons feel proud of
+their common blood. There is plenty of the stuff left out of which
+Buchanan, Semmes, Maffit (of the Florida), Hollins, and Kelso are
+made--Marylanders all--who are doing their _devoir_ gallantly on the
+decks of Southern war-ships. I cannot believe that the day is far
+distant when both moral and physical energy will have free and fair
+play.
+
+"The ties of mutual interest that bind this State to the Confederacy are
+too obvious to need much explanation, but it may be well to touch upon
+them briefly. Her extensive water-power marks out Maryland as eminently
+adapted for the produce of all kinds of manufactures. That very
+accessibility from seaward, which is her weak point in war time, is her
+strength in time of peace. The Chesapeake and its tributaries are
+natural high roads for the transport of freight to the ports of
+Virginia, and thence into the interior. Before these troubles, the trade
+of Maryland was almost exclusively with the South; and, unless violently
+diverted, it must always remain so. The South is now straining every
+nerve to establish a formidable steam-navy. It is not too much to say
+that the adhesion of Maryland is absolutely indispensable if this object
+is to be attained. She can not only offer superb harbors, in which the
+South is palpably deficient, but her natural productions--ship timber,
+iron ore (the largest and toughest plates in the United States are
+hammered here), and bituminous coal, the best for steam purposes south
+of Nova Scotia--would be invaluable."
+
+With this State the South would retain all the material advantages that
+the restoration of the Union could offer; without her, neither would the
+territorial line be complete, nor the internal resources adequate to the
+requirements of a powerful nation. President Davis has repeatedly
+promised that the free vote of Maryland as to her future shall be one of
+the prime conditions of any treaty whatsoever, and the Southern Congress
+have confirmed this by a nearly unanimous vote. On this point there
+surely ought to be no doubt or wavering. A single concession to the
+arbitrary tendencies of Lincoln's Cabinet, so as to allow interference
+with the free expression of Maryland's will when the crisis shall
+arrive, would not only, I believe, crush the hopes of the vast majority
+of this State's inhabitants, but also betray the vital interest of the
+Southern Confederacy in days to come.
+
+If further proof were needed of the Southern sympathy prevalent in
+Baltimore, such would be found in the measures of coercion and
+prevention employed by General Schenck, when Lee's army was thought
+dangerously near. A private letter dispatched to me in the height of the
+panic, more than confirmed the accounts in public prints of the
+stringency of the martial law. The Federal officers were, perhaps, not
+sorry to have such a chance of repaying, with aggravated oppression, the
+tacit contumely which must have galled them for a year and more. The
+Maryland Club, whose members are Southerners to a man (for the Unionist
+element was eliminated long ago), is now the headquarters of a New
+England regiment, and even Colonel Fish may now wander at will through
+the cool, pleasant chambers that, before comparative liberty was
+stifled, he would have found not more accessible than the lost paradise
+of Sultan Zim. I greatly fear that some of those daring dames and
+damsels, so careless in dissembling their antipathies, may, ere this,
+have been made to pay a heavy price for the indulgence of past disdain.
+The position of a Federal officer, in Baltimore, was certainly far from
+enviable; many men would have preferred the lash of a cutting whip, or
+even a slight flesh-wound, to the sidelong glances that, when a
+dark-blue uniform passed by, interpreted so eloquently the fair
+Secessionists' repugnance and scorn. Neither were words always wanting
+to convey a covert insult. I heard rather an amusing instance of this
+while I was in prison.
+
+It was at the time when Brigadier-Generals were being created by scores
+(I myself counted over sixty names sent down by the President to
+Congress in one batch), when, according to some Washington Pasquin, a
+stone, thrown at a night-prowling dog in Pennsylvania avenue, struck
+three of these fresh-fledged eagles: a Baltimorian _lionne_ entered one
+of the street railway cars, in which two or three Federal officers were
+already seated. An infantry soldier got in immediately afterwards, and,
+in taking his place, set his boot accidentally on the silken verge of a
+far-flowing robe. The lady gazed on the unconscious offender for a
+minute or so, and spake no word; then, looking beyond him as though he
+had never been, she addressed the conductor with the pretty
+plaintiveness affected by those languid Southern beauties:
+
+"Sir, won't you ask that Brigadier-General to take his foot off the
+skirt of my dress?"
+
+Which position was the most enviable at that moment--the "full
+private's" or that of his silent superiors?
+
+It was curious to remark how thoroughly the majority of clergymen, of
+all denominations, but especially Roman Catholic priests, identified
+themselves with the Southern sympathies of their flock. Arrests of these
+reverend men were very common; but they held their way undauntedly, and
+"kept silence even from good words" only under the pressure of actual
+coercion. Another anecdote is worth relating.
+
+One day there came forth an edict, peremptory as that which bade all
+nations and languages bow down to a golden image, enjoining that, on a
+certain day, Sabbath-prayers for the President should be offered up in
+every church, chapel, and meetinghouse in Baltimore. There was an
+ancient Episcopalian divine, who during nearly half a century had won
+for himself much affection and respect by a zealous and kindly discharge
+of his duties. A notorious Secessionist, he was wise and prudent withal,
+so that many were curious to hear how he would execute or evade the
+obnoxious order. He complied with it--in this wise:
+
+"My brethren," said he, "we are commanded this day to intercede with the
+Almighty for the President. Let us pray. May the Lord have mercy on
+Abraham Lincoln's soul."
+
+Did ever priest pronounce a blessing more grimly like a ban?
+
+Perhaps it was well that Lee did not advance near enough to Baltimore to
+bring things to a climax there, unless he could have succeeded in
+capturing the place by a _coup de main_, and have held it permanently.
+Independently of Schenck's avowed intention of shelling the town, on the
+first symptoms of disaffection, from the forts of Constitution and
+McHenry, there might have been wild work there in more ways than one. If
+the Secessionists had once fairly risen against their oppressors and not
+prevailed, it is difficult to say where the measures of savage
+retaliation would have ended. I do not like to think of the possible
+brutality that might have lighted on many hospitable households in
+blood-shedding or rapine.
+
+So much for the city. I have mentioned above some of the reasons that
+make an up-rising throughout the State so exceedingly difficult and
+dangerous to organize. That no active aid was rendered to Lee's army
+upon the last occasion of its crossing the frontier, is, I think, easily
+explained, when the peculiar circumstances of time and place are
+considered.
+
+Southern proclivity is by no means so general in the northwestern
+counties of Maryland as in the eastern region, or on the seaboard. The
+farmers in the former parts suffer greatly from the ceaseless incursions
+over the border. When cattle are to be driven away, it is feared that
+even regular "raiders" and guerrillas are not over-careful to ascertain
+the sympathies of the owner. The horse-thieves, of course, are
+absolutely indifferent whether they plunder friend or foe. Now, though
+the Marylander is far from being imbued with the exclusively commercial
+spirit of the Yankee, it is not unnatural that he should chafe under
+these repeated assaults on his purse, if not on his person. All such
+considerations vanish in the fierce energy of the thorough partisan,
+who, without grudging or remorse, casts the axe-head after the helve;
+but I speak, now, of men whose sympathies at the commencement of the war
+were almost neutral, and who began to suffer in the way above described
+before the bias of feeling had time to determine itself. It was surely
+natural that the first angry impulses should turn the wavering scale;
+more especially when the irritation was constantly being renewed.
+
+Beyond these northwestern counties, in neither inroad, did the
+Confederate army advance. I was not much surprised at reading in the
+able letter of the Times correspondent, how the Southerners were
+disappointed by meeting all along their brief line of march gloomy faces
+and sullen dislike, instead of a hearty welcome; for I knew that in the
+neighborhood of Hagerstown, Boonesborough, and all round South Mountain,
+the majority of the inhabitants were--to use my Irishman's
+expression--as "black as thunder."
+
+One glance at the field of the recent operations will show, that the
+isolated Secessionists in the southeastern counties could do little more
+than pray for the success of the Confederate arms: even detached bodies
+of such sympathizers could not have joined Lee, without running the
+gauntlet of the Federal forces lying right across the path.
+
+It should not be forgotten, that the stakes of the invader and of the
+insurgent differ widely The former, if worsted, can fall back on his own
+ground, with no other damage than the actual loss sustained. The latter,
+if foiled, must calculate on absolute ruin--if not on worse miseries.
+Even if he should himself escape scathless beyond the frontier, he must
+leave homestead and family behind--to be dealt with as chattels and
+kindred of traitors fare.
+
+Thus, though I am disposed to think more despondingly than before of
+Maryland's chances of aiding herself, for the present, with the armed
+hand, my conviction remains unchanged as to the proclivities of the
+majority of her population, both civic and agricultural. I do honestly
+believe that, in despite of the tempting geographical water-line, the
+natural place of the State is in the Southern Confederacy. And I do also
+believe, that the denial of a free vote as to her future, and a coerced
+adhesion to the Northern Union, would involve, not only the ruin of many
+important interests, political and commercial, but an exodus of more
+influential residents, than has occurred in any civilized land, since
+the Revolutionary storm drove thousands of patrician emigrants over
+every frontier of France.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+SLAVERY AND THE WAR.
+
+
+Everyone in anywise interested, practically or theoretically, in the
+Great War, is just now prophesying of the future, simply because it
+looks vaguer and dimmer than ever. So I will hazard my guess at truth
+before all is done.
+
+I am no more capable of giving a valid opinion as to the chances or
+resources of the South than if I had never left these English shores.
+Proximity that is not positive presence, rather embarrasses one's
+judgment, for the nearer you approach the frontier-line, the more you
+become bewildered in the maze of exaggerated reports, direct
+contradictions, and conflicting statistics. Judging from individual
+cases, and from the spirit animating the "sympathizers" on the hither
+side of the border, I feel sure that the bitter determination of the
+South to hold out to the last man and the last ounce of corn-bread, has
+not been in the least overstated; but as to the aspect of chances, or as
+to the actual loss or gain achieved by either side up to this moment, I
+am no more qualified to speak, than any careful student of the
+war-chronicles. It is from consideration of the present and probable
+strength or weakness of Federaldom, that I should draw the grounds of
+any opinion that I might hazard.
+
+I think _both_ are generally under-estimated. In spite of the resistance
+offered in many places to the Conscription Act, it is likely that for
+some time to come the North will always be able to bring into the field
+armies numerically far superior to those of her adversary; nor do I
+believe that she will have exclusively to depend on raw or enforced
+levies. Many of the three-year men and others, whose term of volunteer
+service has just expired, after a brief rest and experience of home
+monotony, will begin to long for excitement again, though accompanied by
+peril and hardship. To such the extravagant bounty will be a great
+temptation, and the Government may not be far wrong in calculating on
+the re-enlistment of a large percentage of the "veterans." Besides, it
+should always be remembered that if it comes to wearing one another out
+in the drain of life, the preponderance of twenty millions against four
+must tell fearfully, even though the willingness to serve on the one
+side should equal the reluctance on the other. Neither do I think that
+national bankruptcy is so imminent over the Northern States, as some
+would have it. Mr. Chase is, of course, a perilously reckless financier;
+but, on more than one occasion, audacity has served him well, when
+prudent sagacity could have been of little aid: the "Five-and-Twenty"
+Loan was certainly eminently successful, and the tough, broad back of
+Yankee-land will bear more burdens yet before it breaks or bends. I am
+speaking now solely of the resources which can be made available for
+_carrying on_ the war: these, I think, will be found sufficient for its
+probable duration. With the commercial future or national credit of the
+Northern States this question has nothing to do; it is not difficult to
+foresee how both must inevitably be compromised by the load of debt
+which swells portentously with every hour of warfaring. But if we have
+been wont to undervalue the strength of Federaldom, latent and
+displayed, we have perhaps scarcely realized how very unsubstantial and
+slippery are its presumed points of vantage.
+
+First, take the North great battle or, rather,
+stalking-horse--Abolition.
+
+Let no reader be here unnecessarily alarmed. On that terrible slave
+question, over which wiser brains have puzzled, till they became lost in
+a labyrinth of self-contradiction, I purpose to speak only a few cursory
+words. It is beyond dispute that a vast extent of the richest land in
+the South can only be kept in cultivation by the Africans, who can
+thrive and fatten where the white man withers helplessly. No one that
+has realized the present state of our own West Indian colonies, will
+believe that the enfranchised negro can be depended upon as a daily
+laborer for hire. The listless indolence inherent in all tropical races
+_will_ assert itself, as soon as free agency begins or is restored. With
+a bright sun overhead, and a sufficiency of sustenance for the day
+before him, money will not tempt Sambo to toil among cotton or canes,
+should the spirit move him to lie under his own vine or fig-tree; and he
+is unfortunately peculiarly liable to these lazy fits just when his
+services are most vitally important to the interests of his employer.
+From so much ground having been thrown out of cultivation in the West
+Indies, the supply of free negro labor is perhaps now nearly equal to
+the ordinary demand; but we all know how, in the early times of
+emancipation, the fortunes of our planters fared. There has been, in all
+ages, certain cases of apparent political necessity, hardly to be
+justified--sometimes hardly to be defended--on purely moral grounds.
+Whether the existence and maintenance of a slave population in the South
+be one of these huge dilemmas or paradoxes is a question that any
+English or Northern abolitionist is about as capable of determining, as
+he would be of legislating for Mangolian Tartary.
+
+The two blackest points in all the dark system--for dark it is, looking
+at it how you will--are first, the complication of sin and shame arising
+from the mixture of the races; and, secondly, the separation of husband
+and wife from each other, and from their infant families, by sale. I do
+firmly believe that the recurrence of the former evil becomes rarer
+every day, for advance of civilization only seems to strengthen the
+natural repugnance--with which moral sentiment has nothing to
+do--existing between the Anglo-Saxon and African blood.
+
+The subject is not a pleasant one to dilate upon, but that such a
+repugnance does exist, few that have been brought into actual contact
+with the "colored" element _en masse_, will be inclined to deny. I think
+some of those scientific philosophers who write volumes to prove that
+there is no physical difference between the races, would feel their
+theories strangely modified after such a practical trial. If this be an
+immutable fact, it may work in the South for the prevention of evil as
+well as of good; in the North it can only work for bitter harm. In
+Delaware, where the free negroes are found in unusually large
+proportions to the whites, they are notoriously more hardly treated than
+in any other State of the original Union; and fanaticism must be blind
+and deaf indeed if recent events in New York have not taught it to doubt
+whether the tender mercies of the Abolitionists are so gentle, after
+all. While things are so (and there is scant hope of their changing
+within many generations) the position of the black freedman in the North
+will never be much higher than that of the Chinese in California, where
+a scintilla of civil rights is the utmost that the unhappy aliens can
+claim. In the South, I do greatly fear, there is no alternative between
+suppression and subjugation.
+
+There is no reason why the second great evil--the separation of families
+(under a certain age) should not be entirely removed by proper
+legislation; and I believe measures to this effect have already been
+mooted in more than one of the slaveholding States. Putting these two
+points aside, I believe that the condition of the slave--especially
+where the "patriarchal" system prevails--is infinitely better than that
+of the coolies: the unutterable horrors and waste of life in the Chincha
+Islands have never been matched in Kentucky or Louisiana. I believe that
+the whole roll of authenticated cruelties exercised on the negroes in
+any one year would be outnumbered and outdone by the brutalities
+practiced within the same time upon the apprentices in our own coast
+trade, and upon seamen--white and colored--in the American
+merchant-service. With all this it should be remembered that the
+ordinary slave-rations far exceed, both in quantity and quality, the
+Sunday meal of an English west-country laborer; and that the comforts of
+all the aged and infirm, whom the master is, of course, obliged to
+maintain, are infinitely superior to those enjoyed by the like inmates
+of our most lenient work-houses.
+
+I think it is a mistake to suppose that the negroes, as a race, _pine_
+for freedom; though, when it is suggested to them, they may grasp at it
+with eagerness, much as they would at any other novelty. Many, no doubt,
+can appreciate liberty, and use it as wisely and well as any freeborn
+white: gradual emancipation would be one of the grandest schemes that
+could be propounded to human benevolence: it is rife with difficulty,
+but surely not impracticable. The indiscriminate and abrupt manumission
+of the negro would, I am convinced, turn a quaint, simple, childish
+creature--prone to mirth, and not easily discontented if his indolence
+be not taxed too hardly, susceptible, too, of strong affection and
+fidelity to his master, as many recent events have shown--into a sullen,
+slothful, insolent savage, never remembering the past, except as a sort
+of vague excuse for the present indulgence of his brutal instincts,
+conscious that every man's hand is against him, without the meek
+patience of a pariah; but only venturing to retaliate by occasional
+outbursts of ruffianism or rapine. Where a body of these men is
+subjected at once to military discipline, and overawed by the presence
+of white soldiers in overwhelming numbers, the same danger cannot exist;
+yet I doubt gravely as to the ultimate success, in any point of view, of
+those negro levies. It seems hard to say, but I do think it is better
+for us--even for the sake of Christian charity--to leave that Great
+Anomaly to be dealt with by God in His own time.
+
+Were the cause stronger than it is, it would be damaged, with many
+moderate thinkers, by the absurdities and violence of its moat zealous
+advocates. Ward Beecher, the great Abolition apostle, fairly outdoes the
+earlier eccentricities of Spurgeon; every trick of stage effect--such as
+the sudden display of a white slave-child--is freely employed in the
+pulpit of Plymouth Church, and each successful "point" is rewarded by
+audible murmurs of applause. One fact stamps the man very sufficiently.
+In the latter part of last May, he was starting for a four-months'
+absence in Europe; it was purely a pleasure trip, the expenses to be
+paid by "his affectionate congregation;" and the whole arrangements were
+thoroughly comfortable, not to say luxurious. The text of his last
+sermon was taken from Acts, chapter xx. 18-27--words that even an
+Apostle never spoke till, standing in the shadow of bonds and death, he
+said farewell to saints who should never look upon his face any more.
+
+Theodore Tilton, another shining light, much distinguished himself by
+announcing that there was no doubt that "the negroes were destined to be
+_The_ Church of Christ:" he founded his discovery not so much upon the
+strong religious feeling prevalent among "colored" persons, as on that
+verse in the Songs of Solomon, where the Bride professes herself "black
+but comely."
+
+It would be well if such absurdities were all one had to record: some
+ebullitions of abolitionist zeal will hardly bear writing down. Take one
+instance. At a large Union meeting at Philadelphia, the _Reverend_ A. H.
+Gilbert, speaking of the Proclamation, and its probable effects in the
+South, did not deny that it might entail a repetition of the San Domingo
+horrors on a vaster scale. "But," said he--"speaking calmly and as a
+Christian minister--I affirm that it would be better that every woman
+and child in the South should perish, than that the principles of
+Confederate Statesmen should prevail."
+
+In all that huge assembly, there was not one man found who--for the love
+of wife, or sister, or daughter, or mother--would rise to smite the
+brutal blasphemer on the mouth; nay, the Quaker brood cheered him to the
+echo.
+
+That same Proclamation has done less harm than was expected, after all.
+Maryland has suffered, perhaps, most: the whole Constitution is rendered
+null and void there now, without her gaining any European credit as a
+voluntary free State. The negroes stay or run away according to their
+fancy, and work as it suits their convenience; the chances against
+recapture being about 1000 to 1, so it says something for the system,
+that so many have chosen to remain: hardly any household or domestic
+servants are found among the fugitives.
+
+Putting abolition aside, let us examine the condition of the North's
+"second charger"--battle-horse--Restoration of the Union at any cost.
+The question of the right of the Southern States to secede has been
+discussed till every European ear must be weary of the theme; so we will
+let the justice of the case alone, and only look at the wild
+improbability of any such result being achieved. In the North, of
+course, there is a strong peace-party; in the South I do not think that
+any man would venture to suggest to his nearest friend any compromise
+short of the acknowledgment of the Confederacy as an independent nation.
+It is an utter mistake to suppose that, if the Emancipatory Proclamation
+were revoked, the road towards peace would be smoothed materially: it
+might have a good effect in displaying a spirit of conciliation on the
+part of the Federal Government--nothing more. The wedges that will keep
+the South apart from the North, forever, were moulded and sharpened long
+before they were driven home. For years far-seeing men, especially on
+the Border States, had provided, in their financial and domestic
+arrangements, for a certain disunion: not for the first time in history
+has an aristocracy grown up in the centre of a democracy, and, while the
+world shall last, such a state of things can never long endure without a
+collision, involving temporary subjugation or permanent disruption.
+
+The New Englander sees this just as plainly as the Virginian, and both
+have an equal pride in thinking that Cavalier and Roundhead are fighting
+the old battle once more. Disputes about tariffs and falsified
+compromises have only been specious pretexts for indulging in a spirit
+of antagonism, which was then scarcely dissembled, and can never be
+glossed over again. But the Federal Government are not only pursuing a
+_mirage_, in trying to enforce a Union which could scarcely be
+maintained if all the South country lay depopulated and desolate: they
+are risking, every day, more perilously, the cohesion of the States that
+still cling to the old Commonwealth. The Black Republican tendency to
+put down all political opposition with the armed hand, or with the
+_lettre de cachet_, is perpetually conflicting with the State rights,
+which many true-hearted Americans value no less highly than their
+allegiance to the Union. The Democrats are almost strong enough to defy
+their opponents, even while the latter are in power; and resistance to
+the Conscription may be only the beginning of a struggle that will
+terminate in a second solution of political continuity, not less earnest
+than the first. Listen to _The World_, of the 19th May, speaking of
+Vallandigham's arrest:
+
+"The blood that already makes crimson Virginian and Kentucky hill-sides,
+is but a drop to that which will flow on northern soil, when the
+American people discover that the battle has begun to save the
+Constitution from tyrants."
+
+Brave words, these! Yet, making allowance for editorial blatancy, they
+may contain a germ of bitter truth. When New York, the Empress City, has
+been threatened with martial law, it is fair to conclude that Federaldom
+may soon have other enemies to deal with than those who are vexing her
+borders.
+
+No Government can hope successfully to carry out the principle of
+arbitrary and irresponsible power, unless its standing ground be as
+unassailable, and its resolves as unanimous as those of any individual
+autocrat.
+
+Yet, no administration--civil, political, or military--can be otherwise
+than unsound to the core where no mutual confidence or reliance subsists
+among its constituent members. Mr. Lincoln's Cabinet do not even keep up
+the appearances of a Happy Family; in all the subordinate departments,
+scarcely a week elapses without the promulgation of some disgraceful
+scandal. For instance, last spring, before men had had time to discuss
+the gigantic Custom-house frauds, there appeared a quiet paragraph to
+the effect that one hundred and forty thousand dollars had disappeared
+mysteriously from the Navy Office on the eve of pay-day; a huge reward
+was offered for the discovery of the criminal, or recovery of the money;
+but even Unionists laughed openly at such an advertisement, which
+probably did not cause the real robber, whoever he was, to turn once
+uneasily in his gorgeous bed. Even in the Commissariat, which, in all
+ages and in all armies, has been the presumed headquarters of the
+Autolyci, no one has yet emulated the evil renown of the Butlers at New
+Orleans (it was openly stated in Congress, and scarcely contradicted,
+that the profits and plunder carried off by that noble pair of brothers,
+exceeded seven millions of dollars); but many of the contractors appear
+to have used their opportunities much as if they were scrambling for
+eagles, or robbing "against time." The corruption that has long
+prevailed in Congress, whenever a "private bill" is in question, has
+long been notorious; but this, at least, was shrouded with a thin vail
+of decorum which the peculators in military and civil high places
+disdained to encumber themselves with in these latter days.
+
+Instances of all this might be multiplied to weariness, but you have
+only to look at a week's files of any northern journal to be convinced
+of the existing state of things, which even the Black Republicans not
+unfrequently bewail.
+
+There is another sort of extra-horse that the Government, or its organs,
+are fond of riding for a short "spell," when the others have been hacked
+rather too hardly. They have christened it--"Perfidious Albion." To
+speak the truth, however, the Anglophobia is not confined to the
+Abolitionists or Republicans when anything occurs to make any particular
+journal cross or querulous, you are almost sure to meet, that same week,
+a sanguinary leader, with the threadbare motto--"_delenda est
+Britannia_." Lately, it has been suggested that the most certain fact to
+secure the adhesion of the South, would be an invitation to join in an
+internecine war with England and France, with Canada and Mexico for
+prizes.
+
+Truly Secessia has little cause to love us; for our practical sympathy
+with her in her dire strait has been confined to the furnishing of
+war-munitions at a moderate profit of three hundred per cent.; yet, I
+think, even in such a cause, Georgia, Carolina, and Virginia would stand
+aloof, rather than dress up in line with the Yankee battalions. The
+mobocracy are "all for a muss," of course, as they always are till they
+see the glitter of bayonets; but I cannot believe that the bellicose
+ideas they are so fond of mooting have ever been seriously entertained
+by the Government. The Federal navy is too utterly inefficient now, save
+for attack and defense along its own shores, to give cause for
+apprehension even to a second-class Power: it cannot even protect
+Northern commerce. For a year or more, the Florida and Alabama have
+laughed at the beards of all the cruisers, and carry on depredation
+still with a high hand. The only grave aggression must be made on the
+frontier of Canada; and there the invaders would be met by a militia
+quite as well drilled as themselves, who have held their own, once
+before, gallantly; to say nothing of the reinforcement of our own
+regular army; if the crack regiments of New York or Massachusetts should
+chance, in such a case, to find the Guards or Highlanders in their
+front, it is just possible that the "veterans" might have some fresh
+ideas as to the realities of a "charge in line."
+
+Reading these bellicose articles, you are perpetually reminded of the
+favorite national game of "Poker." In this, a player holding a very bad
+hand against a good one, may possibly "bluff" his adversary down, and
+win the stakes, if he only has confidence enough to go on piling up the
+money, so as to make his own weakness appear strength. That audacity
+answers often happily enough, especially with the timid and
+inexperienced, but the professional gamblers tell you mournfully that
+they sometimes meet an opponent with equal nerve and a longer purse;
+then comes the fatal moment when the cards must be shown, and then--_le
+quart d'heure de Rabelais_. I think, if ever Britannia is forced to
+"see" Federalia's "hand," the world that looks on will find that the
+latter has been "bluffing" to hide weakness.
+
+Nevertheless, I am far from undervaluing the actual strength of the
+northern land armies. They are composed of the most uncouth and
+heterogeneous materials; but they work well enough, after their own
+rough fashion, and certainly recover surprisingly fast from temporary
+discomfiture; it is difficult to believe that the troops who met Lee so
+gallantly at Gettysburg were the same who recrossed the Rappahannock in
+sullen despondency, after Chancellorsville. But the foreign element in
+the Federal forces must soon grow dangerously strong; it should never be
+forgotten that the foreigners, attracted by enormous bounty, even if
+they be of Anglo-Saxon blood, can be but mercenaries, after all; and, in
+history, the Swiss almost monopolize the glory of mercenary fidelity.
+Such subsidies can only be relied on when pay is prompt and work plenty:
+irregularity or inaction will soon breed discontent, followed by some
+such revolt as menaced the existence of Carthage.
+
+These are some of the causes which, as it seems to me, even now
+neutralize, to a great extent, the really vast resources of the North,
+and will some day imperil her very existence as a nation--united in her
+present form. Now, as to the event of the struggle.
+
+I believe amalgamation, or any other terms than absolute subjugation of
+the South--to be maintained hereafter by armies of occupancy--simply
+impracticable. This--not only on the grounds of political and social
+antagonism before alluded to; but because this contest has been waged
+after a fashion almost unknown in the later days of civilization. I do
+not speak of open warfare on stricken fields, or even of pitiless
+slaughter wrought by those who, when their blood is hot, "do not their
+work negligently;" but of bitter by-blows, dealt on either side, such as
+humanity cannot lightly forget or forgive--of passions roused, that will
+rankle savagely long after this generation shall be dust. There remains
+the chance of utterly quelling and annihilating the insurrection (I
+speak as a Federal) with the strong hand.
+
+On the one side is ranged an innumerable multitude--who can hardly be
+looked upon as a distinct nation, for in it mingles all the blood of
+Western Europe--doggedly determined, perhaps, to persevere in its
+purpose, yet strangely apathetic when a crisis seems really
+imminent--easily discouraged by reverses, and fatally prone to
+discontent and distrust of all ruling powers--divided by political
+jealousies, often more bitter than the hatred of the Commonwealth's
+foe--mingling always with their patriotism a certain commercial
+calculation, that if all tales are true, makes them, from the highest to
+the lowest, peculiarly open to the temptations of the Almighty Dollar;
+these men are fighting for a positive gain, for the reacquisition of a
+vast territory, that if they win, they must watch, as Russia has watched
+Poland.
+
+On the other side I see a real nation, numerically small, in whose veins
+the Anglo-Saxon blood flows almost untainted; I see rich men casting
+down their gold, and strong men casting down their lives, as if both
+were dross, in the cause they have sworn to win; I see Sybarites
+enduring hardships that _un vieux de la vieille_ would have grumbled at,
+without a whispered murmur; I hear gentle and tender women echo in
+simple earnestness the words that once were spoken to me by a fair
+Southern wife--"I pray that Philip may die in the front, and that they
+may burn me in the plantation, before the Confederacy makes peace on any
+terms but our own." I see that reverses, instead of making this people
+cashier their generals, or cavil at their rulers, only intensifies their
+fierce energy of resistance. Here men are fighting--not to gain a foot
+of ground, but simply to hold their own, with the liberty which they
+believe to be their birthright.
+
+It may well be that darker days are in store for the South than she has
+ever yet known; it may be that she will only attain her object at the
+cost of utter commercial ruin; it may be that the charity of the
+European Powers is exhausted on Poland, and that neither pity nor shame
+will induce them to break a thankless neutrality, here; but in the face
+of all barely probable contingencies, I doubt no more of the ultimate
+result, than I doubt of the ultimate performance of the justice of God.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's Border and Bastille, by George A. Lawrence
+
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+
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Border and Bastille, by George A. Lawrence
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Border and Bastille
+
+Author: George A. Lawrence
+
+Release Date: November 3, 2006 [EBook #19705]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BORDER AND BASTILLE ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by David Garcia, Mary Meehan and the Online
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+file was produced from images generously made available
+by The Kentuckiana Digital Library)
+
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+
+
+
+</pre>
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+<h1>BORDER AND BASTILLE.</h1>
+
+<h2>BY GEORGE A. LAWRENCE</h2>
+
+<h3>THE AUTHOR OF "GUY LIVINGSTONE"</h3>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">New York:<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">W. I. POOLEY &amp; CO.,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Harpers' Building, Franklin Square</span>.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+
+
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">WYNKOOP, HALLENBECK &amp; THOMAS, PRINTERS,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">No. 113 Fulton Street, New York</span>.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>CONTENTS.</h2>
+
+
+<!-- Autogenerated TOC. Modify or delete as required. -->
+<p>
+<a href="#LENVOI">L'ENVOI.</a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_I">CHAPTER I. <span class="smcap">A Foul Start</span></a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_II">CHAPTER II. <span class="smcap">Congressia</span></a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_III">CHAPTER III. <span class="smcap">Capua</span></a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_IV">CHAPTER IV. <span class="smcap">Friends in Council</span></a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_V">CHAPTER V. <span class="smcap">The Ford</span></a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_VI">CHAPTER VI. <span class="smcap">The Ferry</span></a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_VII">CHAPTER VII. <span class="smcap">Fallen Across the Threshold</span></a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_VIII">CHAPTER VIII. <span class="smcap">The Road to Avernus</span></a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_IX">CHAPTER IX. <span class="smcap">Caged Birds</span></a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_X">CHAPTER X. <span class="smcap">Dark Days</span></a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_XI">CHAPTER XI. <span class="smcap">Homeward Bound</span></a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_XII">CHAPTER XII. <span class="smcap">A Popular Armament</span></a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_XIII">CHAPTER XIII. <span class="smcap">The Debatable Ground</span></a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_XIV">CHAPTER XIV. <span class="smcap">Slavery and the War</span></a><br />
+</p>
+<!-- End Autogenerated TOC. -->
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="LENVOI" id="LENVOI"></a>L'ENVOI.</h2>
+
+
+<p>When, late in last autumn, I determined to start for the Confederate
+States as soon as necessary preparations could be completed, I had
+listened, not only to my own curiosity, impelling me at least to see one
+campaign of a war, the like of which this world has never known, but
+also to the suggestions of those who thought that I might find materials
+there for a book that would interest many here in England. My intention,
+from the first, was to serve as a volunteer-aide in the staff of the
+army in Virginia, so long as I should find either pen-work or handiwork
+to do. The South might easily have gained a more efficient recruit; but
+a more earnest adherent it would have been hard to find. I do not
+attempt to disguise the fact that my predilections were thoroughly
+settled long before I left England; indeed, it is the consciousness of a
+strong partisan spirit at my heart which has made me strive so hard, not
+only to state facts as accurately as possible, but to abstain from
+coloring them with involuntary prejudice.</p>
+
+<p>To say nothing of my being afterwards backed by the powerful
+Secessionist interest at Baltimore, the introductory letters furnished
+me by Colonel Dudley Mann and Mr. Slidell, addressed to the most
+influential personages&mdash;civil and military&mdash;in the Confederacy, from
+President Davis downwards, were such as could hardly have failed to
+secure me the position I desired, though they benevolently over
+estimated the qualifications of the bearer. To the first of these
+gentlemen I am indebted for much kindness and valuable advice; to the
+second I am personally unknown; and I am glad to have this opportunity
+of acknowledging his ready courtesy. It was Colonel Mann who counseled
+my going through the Northern States, instead of attempting to run the
+blockade from Nassau or Bermuda, as I had originally intended. In spite
+of the events, I am so certain that the advice was sound and wise, that
+I do not repent&mdash;scarcely regret&mdash;having followed it.</p>
+
+<p>I need not particularize the precaution taken to insure the safe
+delivery of these credentials: it is sufficient to state that they were
+never submitted to Federal inspection; nor had I ever, at any time, in
+my possession, a single document which could vitiate my claim to the
+rights of a neutral and civilian. Even Mr. Seward did not pretend to
+refuse liberty of unexpressed sympathy with either side to an utter
+foreigner. While I was a free agent in the Northern States, I was
+careful to indulge in no other.</p>
+
+<p>Since my return, I hear that some one has been kind enough to insinuate
+that I might have succeeded better if I had been more careful to
+prosecute my journey South with vigor at any risk; or if I had been less
+imprudent in parading my object while in Baltimore. I prefer to meet the
+first of these assertions by a simple record of facts, and by the most
+unqualified denial that it is possible to give to any falsehood, written
+or spoken. As to the second&mdash;really quite as unfounded&mdash;it may be well
+to say, that before I had been a full fortnight in America, I was
+"posted" in the literary column of "Willis' Home Journal." I could not
+quarrel with the terms in which the intelligence&mdash;avowedly copied from
+an English paper&mdash;was couched. The writer seemed to know rather more
+about my intentions&mdash;if not of my antecedents&mdash;than I knew myself; but I
+can honestly say that the halo of romance with which he was pleased to
+surround a very practical purpose, did not however compensate me for the
+inconvenient publicity. This paragraph soon found its way into other
+journals, and at last confronted me&mdash;to my infinite disgust&mdash;in the
+"Baltimore Clipper," a bitter Unionist organ.</p>
+
+<p>Perhaps this will answer sufficiently the accusation of "parade," for
+even had we been disposed to indulge in an "alarum and flourish of
+trumpets," the sensation-mongers would have anticipated the absurdity.
+Besides this, my movements were not in anywise interfered with up to the
+moment of my arrest, when we were miles beyond all Federal pickets. My
+captors, of course, had never heard of my existence till we met. It is
+more than probable that the report just referred to did greatly
+complicate my position when I was actually in confinement; but here my
+person&mdash;not my plans&mdash;suffered, and here, the real mischief of that very
+involuntary publicity began and ended.</p>
+
+<p>After my plans were finally arranged, I had an interview with the
+editorial powers of the <i>Morning Post</i>; there it was settled that I
+should communicate to that journal as constantly as circumstances would
+permit, any interesting matter or incidents that fell in my way, in
+consideration of which was voted a liberal supplement of the sinews of
+war; but it was clearly understood that my movements and line of action
+were to be absolutely untrammeled. I could not have entered into any
+contract that in any way interfered with the primary object I had in
+view. I had no intention of commencing such correspondence before I had
+actually crossed the southern frontier, so that one letter from
+Baltimore&mdash;afterwards quoted&mdash;was the solitary contribution I was able
+to furnish.</p>
+
+<p>I have said thus much, because I wish any one who may be interested on
+the point to know clearly on what footing I stood at starting: for the
+general public, of course, the subject cannot have the slightest
+interest.</p>
+
+<p>Of all compositions, I suppose, a personal narrative is the most
+wearying to the writer, if not to the reader; egotistical talk may be
+pleasant enough, but, commit it to paper, the fault carries its own
+punishment. The recurrence of that everlasting first pronoun becomes a
+real stumbling-block to one at last. Yet there is no evading it, unless
+you cast your story into a curt, succinct diary; to carry this off
+effectively, requires a succession of incidents, more varied and
+important than befell me.</p>
+
+<p>A failure&mdash;absolute and complete&mdash;however brought about, is a fair mark
+for mockery, if not for censure. Perhaps, however, I may hope that some
+of my readers, in charity, if not in justice, will believe that I have
+honestly tried to avoid over-coloring details of personal adventure, and
+that no word here is set down in willful insincerity or malice, though
+all are written by one whose enmity to all purely republican
+institutions will endure to his life's end.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="BORDER_AND_BASTILLE" id="BORDER_AND_BASTILLE"></a>BORDER AND BASTILLE</h2>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_I" id="CHAPTER_I"></a>CHAPTER I.</h2>
+
+<h3>A FOUL START.</h3>
+
+
+<p>Looking back on an experience of many lands and seas, I cannot recall a
+single scene more utterly dreary and desolate than that which awaited
+us, the outward-bound, in the early morning of the 20th of last
+December. The same sullen neutral tint pervaded and possessed
+everything&mdash;the leaden sky&mdash;the bleak, brown shores over against us&mdash;the
+dull graystone work lining the quays&mdash;the foul yellow water&mdash;shading one
+into the other, till the division-lines became hard to discern. Even
+where the fierce gust swept off the crests of the river wavelets,
+boiling and breaking angrily, there was scant contrast of color in the
+dusky spray, or murky foam.</p>
+
+<p>The chafing Mersey tried in vain to make himself heard. All other
+sounds&mdash;a voice, for instance, two yards from your ear&mdash;were drowned by
+the trumpet of the strong northwester. All through the past night, we
+listened to that note of war; we could feel the railway carriages
+trembling and quivering, as if shaken by some rude giant's hand, when
+they halted at any exposed station; and, this morning, the pilots shake
+their wise, grizzled beads, and hint at worse weather yet in the offing.
+For forty-eight hours the storm-signals had never been lowered, nor
+changed, except to intimate the shifting of a point or two in the
+current of the gale, and few vessels, if any, had been found rash enough
+to slight "the admiral's" warning.</p>
+
+<p>It had been gravely discussed, we heard afterwards, by the owners and
+captain of "The Asia," whether she should venture to sea that day;
+finally, the question was left to the latter to decide. There are as
+nice points of honor, and as much jealous regard for professional credit
+in the merchant service as in any other. Only once, since the line was
+started, has a "Cunarder" been kept in port by wind or weather&mdash;this was
+the commander's first trip across the Atlantic since his promotion; you
+may guess which way the balance turned.</p>
+
+<p>We waited on the landing-stage one long cold hour. The huge square
+structure, ordinarily steady and solid as the mainland itself, was
+pitching and rolling not much less "lively" than a Dutch galliot in a
+sea-way; and the tug that was to take us on board parted three hawsers
+before she could make fast alongside. It was hard to keep one's footing
+on the shaking, slippery bridge, but in ten minutes all staggered or
+tumbled, as choice or chance directed, on to the deck of the little
+steamer. I was looking for a dry corner, when an American passenger made
+room for me very courteously, and I begun to talk to him&mdash;about the
+weather, of course. It was a keen, intellectual face, pleasant withal,
+and kindly, and in its habitual expression not devoid of genial humor.
+But, at that moment, it was possessed by an unutterable misery. No
+wonder.</p>
+
+<p>"I was ill the whole way over from America," he said, "and <i>then</i> we
+started with bright weather and a fair wind."</p>
+
+<p>I was much attracted by the voice, betraying scarcely any Transatlantic
+accent: it was quiet and calm in tone, like that of any brave man on his
+way to encounter some irresistible pain or woe; but saddened by an agony
+of anticipation, he presaged, only too truly, "the burden of the
+atmosphere and the wrath to come."</p>
+
+<p>Another struggle and scramble&mdash;and we are on board, at last. It is some
+comfort to exchange that wretched little wet tug for the deck of the
+Asia; though a trifle unsteady even now, she oscillates after the sober
+and stately fashion befitting a mighty "liner." Half an hour sees the
+end of the long stream of mail-bags, and the huge bales of newspapers
+shipped; then the moorings are cast loose; there rises the faintest echo
+of a cheer&mdash;who could be enthusiastic on such a morning?&mdash;the vast
+wheels turn slowly and sullenly, as if hating the hard work before them;
+and we are fairly off.</p>
+
+<p>The waves and weather grew rapidly wilder; as we neared blue water, just
+after passing the light, we saw a large ship driving helplessly and&mdash;the
+sailors said&mdash;hopelessly, among the breakers of the North Sands. She had
+tried to run in without a pilot, and <i>ours</i> seemed to think her fate the
+justest of judgments; but to disinterested and unprofessional spectators
+the sight was very sad, and somewhat discouraging. So with omen and
+augury, as well as the wind dead against us.</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">"The Sword went out to sea."<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>All that day and night "The Asia" staggered and weltered on through the
+yeasty channel waves, breaking in her passengers rather roughly for a
+conflict with vaster billows. Thirteen hours of hard steaming barely
+brought us abreast of Holyhead. The gale moderated towards morning, and
+we ran along the Irish coast under a blue sky, making Queenstown shortly
+after sundown.</p>
+
+<p>By this time I had become acquainted with my cabin-mate, in which
+respect I was singularly fortunate. M. &mdash;&mdash; was a thorough Parisian,
+and a favorable specimen of his class. Small of stature, and
+slender of proportion&mdash;a very important point where space is so
+limited&mdash;low-voiced, and sparing of violent expletives or gestures,
+delicately neat in his person and apparel, one could hardly have
+selected a more amiable colleague under circumstances of some
+difficulty. I can aver that he conducted himself always with a perfect
+modesty and decorum: he would preserve his equilibrium miraculously,
+when his perpendicular had been lost long ago: he never fell upon me but
+once (sleeping on a sofa, I was exposed defenselessly to all such
+contingencies), and then lightly as thistle-down. On the rare occasions
+when the <i>mal-de-mer</i> proved too much for his valiant self-assertion, he
+yielded to an overruling fate without groan or complaint: folding the
+scanty coverlet around him, he would subside gradually into his berth,
+composing his little limbs as gracefully as C&aelig;sar. His courtesy was
+invincible and untiring: he was anxious to defer and conform even to my
+insular prejudices. Discovering that I was in the habit of daily
+immersing in cold water&mdash;a feat not to be accomplished without much
+toil, trouble, and abrasion of the cuticle&mdash;he thought it necessary to
+simulate a like performance, though nothing would have tempted him to
+incur such needless danger. His endeavors to mislead me on this point,
+without actually committing himself, were ingenious and wily in the
+extreme. Sitting in the saloon at the most incongruous hours of day and
+night, he would exclaim, "J'ai l'id&eacute;e de prendre bient&ocirc;t mon bain!" or
+he would speak with a shiver of recollection of the imaginary plunge
+taken that morning. I don't think I should ever have been deluded, even
+if my curiosity had not led me to question the steward; but never, by
+word or look, did I impugn the reality of that Barmecide bath. To his
+other accomplishments, M. &mdash;&mdash; added a very pretty talent for piquet;
+the match was even enough, though, to be interesting, at almost nominal
+stakes, and so we got pleasantly through many hours&mdash;dark, wet, or
+boisterous.</p>
+
+<p>We were not a numerous company&mdash;only thirty-three in all. Few amateurs
+travel at this inclement season. I knew only one other Englishman on
+board, an officer in the Rifle Brigade, returning to Canada from
+sick-leave. Among the Americans was Cyrus Field, the energetic promoter
+of the Atlantic Telegraph, then making (I think he said) his thirtieth
+transit within five years. He was certainly entitled to the freedom of
+the ocean, if intimate acquaintance with every fathom of its depth and
+breadth could establish a claim. It rather surprised me, afterwards, to
+see such science and experience yield so easily to the common weakness
+of seafaring humanity. Mr. Field told me that throughout the fearful
+weather to which the Niagara and Agamemnon were exposed, on their first
+attempt to lay down the cable, he never once felt a sensation of nausea;
+the body had not time to suffer till the mind was relieved from its
+heavy, anxious strain.</p>
+
+<p>For three days after leaving Queenstown, the west winds met us, steady
+and strong; but it was not till the afternoon of Christmas day that the
+sea began to "get up" in earnest, and the weather to portend a gale.
+Then, the Atlantic seemed determined to prove that report had not
+exaggerated the hardships of a winter passage. It blew harder and harder
+all Friday, and after a brief lull on Saturday&mdash;as though gathering
+breath for the final onset&mdash;the storm fairly reached its height, and
+then slowly abated, leaving us substantial tokens of its visit in the
+shape of shattered boats, and the ruin of all our port bulwarks forward
+of the deck-house. I fancy there was nothing extraordinary in the
+tempest; and, in a stout ship, with plenty of sea room, there is
+probably little real danger; but about the intense discomfort there
+could be no question. I speak with no undue bitterness, for of nausea,
+in any shape, I know of little or nothing, but&mdash;oh, mine enemy!&mdash;if I
+could feel certain you were well out in the Atlantic, experiencing, for
+just one week, the weather that fell to our lot, I would abate much of
+my animosity, purely from satiation of revenge.</p>
+
+<p>Unless absolutely prostrated by illness, the voyager, of course, has a
+ravenous appetite; such being the case, what can be more exasperating
+than having to grapple with a sort of dioramic dinner, where the dishes
+represent a series of dissolving views&mdash;mutton and beef of mature age,
+leaping about with a playfulness only becoming living lambs and
+calves&mdash;while the proverb of "cup and lip" becomes a truism from
+perpetual illustration? Neither is it agreeable, after falling into an
+uncertain doze, to feel dampness mingling strangely with your dreams,
+and to awake to find yourself, as it were, an island in a little salt
+lake formed by distillation through invisible crevices.</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">"Oh, laith, laith were our gude Scot lords<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">To wet their cork-heeled shoon,"<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>says the grand old ballad; so, I suppose, it is nothing "unbecoming the
+character of an officer and a gentleman" to hold such midnight
+irrigation in utter abhorrence.</p>
+
+<p>On one of these occasions I abandoned a post no longer tenable, and went
+into the small saloon close by, to seek a dry spot whereon to finish the
+night, I found it occupied by a ghastly man, with long, wild gray hair,
+and a white face&mdash;striding staggeringly up and down&mdash;moaning to himself
+in a harsh, hollow voice, "No rest; I can't rest." He never spoke any
+other words, and never ceased repeating these, while I remained to hear
+him. Instantly there came back to my memory a horrible German tale, read
+and forgotten fifteen years ago, of a certain old and unjust steward,
+Daniel by name, who, having murdered his master by casting him down an
+oubliettes, ever haunted the fatal tower, first as a sleep-walker, then
+as a restless ghost&mdash;moaning and gibbering to himself, and tearing at a
+walled-up door with bleeding hands. The train of thought thereby
+suggested was so very sombre, that I preferred returning to my cabin,
+and climbing into an unfurnished berth, to spending more minutes in that
+weird company. I never made the man out satisfactorily afterwards. It is
+possible that he was one of the few who scarcely showed on deck, till we
+were in sight of land; but rather, I believe, like other visions and
+voices of the night, he changed past recognition under the garish light
+of day.</p>
+
+<p>Then come the noisy nuisances, extending through all the diapason of
+sound. One&mdash;the most annoying&mdash;to which the ear never becomes callous by
+use, is the incessant crash, not only alongside, but overhead. At
+intervals&mdash;more frequent, of course, after our bulwarks were swept
+away&mdash;the green water came tumbling on board by tons; and, being unable
+to escape quickly enough by the after-scuppers, surged backwards and
+forwards with every roll of the vessel, as if it meant to keep you down
+and bury you forever. Lying in my berth, I could feel the heavy seas
+smite the strong ship one cruel blow after another on her bows or beam,
+till at last she would seem to stop altogether, and, dropping her head,
+like a glutton in the P. R., would take her punishment sullenly, without
+an effort at rising or resistance. Nevertheless, I stand by "The Asia,"
+as a right good boat for rough weather, though she is not a flyer, and
+sometimes could hardly do more than hold her own. Eighty-one knots in
+the twenty-four hours was all the encouragement the log could give one
+day.</p>
+
+<p>I liked our commander exceedingly. He had just left the Mediterranean
+station, and there still abode with him a certain languid levantine
+softness of voice and manner; when he came in to dinner, out of the wild
+weather, the moral contrast with the turmoil outside was quite
+refreshing. Report speaks highly of Captain Grace's seamanship; and I
+believe in him far more implicitly than I should in one of those hoarse
+and blusterous Tritons, who think roughness and readiness inseparable,
+and talk to you as if they were hailing a consort.</p>
+
+<p>The library on board was not extensive, consisting (with the exception
+of "The Newcomes") chiefly of religious works of the Nonconformist
+school, and tales, which have long ago passed into surplus stock, or
+been withdrawn from general circulation. But there was one invaluable
+novel, which I shall always remember gratefully. I never got quite
+through it, but I read enough to be enabled to affirm, that its
+principles are unexceptionable, its style grammatically faultless, and
+its purpose sustained (ah, how pitilessly!) from first to last. The few
+amatory scenes are conducted with the most rigid propriety; and when
+there occurs a lover's quarrel, the parties hurl high moral truths at
+each other, instead of idle reproaches. But it is mainly as a soporific,
+that I would recommend "<i>Silwood</i>:" on four different occasions, under
+most trying circumstances it succeeded perfectly and promptly with me,
+for which relief&mdash;unintentional, perchance&mdash;I tender much thanks to the
+unknown author, and wish "more power to his arm."</p>
+
+<p>Quite crippled for the time being by rheumatism, I was in bad form for
+clambering about the sloping, slippery planks; nevertheless I did
+contrive to crawl up to the hurricane-deck just before sundown, about
+the crisis of the gale. I confess to being disappointed in the
+"rollers:" it may be that their vast breadth and volume takes off from
+their apparent height, but I scarcely thought it reached Dr. Scoresby's
+standard&mdash;from 26 to 30 feet, if I remember right, from trough to crest.
+One realizes thoroughly the <i>abysmal</i> character of the turbulent chaos,
+and there is a sensation of infiniteness around and below you not devoid
+of grandeur; but as an exhibition of the puissance of angry water, I do
+not think the mid-ocean tempest equal to the storm which brings the
+thunder of the surf full on the granite bulwarks of Western Ireland.</p>
+
+<p>It must be owned, that the conversational powers of our small society
+were limited. Very often some selfishness mingled with my sincere
+compassion for the prostrated sufferings of my Philadelphian friend of
+the tug-boat; for whenever his weary aching head would allow of the
+exertion, he could talk on almost any subject, fluently and well. He was
+returning from a long visit to Paris, and a rapid tour through Germany
+and Southern Europe. Most of the countries, that he had been compelled
+to hurry over, I had loitered through in days past, and I ought to have
+been shamed by the contrast in our recollections&mdash;his, so clear and
+systematical&mdash;mine, so vague and dim. An intellectual American
+travelling through strange lands does certainly look at nature, animate
+and inanimate, after a practical business-like fashion peculiar to his
+race; but it would be unfair to infer that such minds are, necessarily,
+unappreciative. At all events, that concentrative, synthetical power,
+that takes in surrounding objects at a single glance, and retains them
+in a tolerably distinct classification, is rather enviable, even as a
+mental accomplishment.</p>
+
+<p>We did not speak much about the troubles beyond sea, and the
+Philadelphian was rather reserved as to his proclivities. My impression
+is, that his sympathy tended rather southward (all his early life had
+been spent in Alabama), but he declined to commit himself much, nor do I
+believe that he was a violent partisan either way. On one point he was
+very decided: Falkland himself could not have wished more devoutly for
+the termination of a fatal civil war&mdash;fatal, he said, to the interests,
+present and future, of both the combatant powers&mdash;ruinous to every
+class, with two exceptions; the adventurers who, having little to lose,
+gained, by joining the ranks of either army, a social position to which
+they could not otherwise have aspired; and the speculators, who,
+directly or indirectly, fairly or unfairly, made gains vast and unholy,
+such as wreckers are wont to gather in time of tempest and general
+disaster. He scarcely alluded to the corruption and peculation prevalent
+in all high places, diluted in its downward percolation till sutlers and
+horse-thieves would strive in vain to emulate the fraudulent audacity of
+their superiors. It was well he spared me then, for soon after landing,
+my eyes and ears grew weary with the repetition of all these ignoble
+details. To illustrate how heavily the taxes were already beginning to
+weigh on the non-militant part of the population, my informant proved to
+me by very clear figures that, if he individually could secure permanent
+exemption from such burdens by the absolute sacrifice of one-tenth of
+his whole property, real and personal, the commutation, would be
+decidedly advantageous to him. True, he represented a class whose
+incomes exceeded a certain standard, and therefore suffered rather more
+heavily; but the same calculation, with very slight alterations, applied
+to all other subordinate ones.</p>
+
+<p>Grave and mild of speech was the Philadelphian philosopher, without a
+trace of dogmatism or self-assertion in his tone; nevertheless, I judged
+him to be a man of mark somewhere, and I afterwards heard that, albeit
+not a violent or prominent politician, he had great honor in his own
+country.</p>
+
+<p>Strong head-winds and a heavy sea baffled us till we had cleared the
+longitude of Cape Race; then the weather softened, the breeze veered
+round till it blew on our quarter, and we had clear sky above us all the
+way in. We sighted the first pilot-boat on the afternoon of January 3d,
+and, as she came sweeping down athwart us, with her broad, white wings
+full spread, our glasses soon made out the winning number of the
+sweepstakes, "22." It was long past dinner hour when the beautiful
+little schooner rounded to, under our lee, but all appetite just then
+was merged in a craving for latest intelligence.</p>
+
+<p>It was a caricaturist's study&mdash;the crowd of keen, anxious faces round
+the gangway&mdash;as the pilot came aboard. He was a stout man, of
+agricultural exterior, looking as if he were in the habit of ploughing
+anything rather than the deep sea; but it is the fashion of his guild to
+eschew the nautical as much as possible in their attire. The "anxious
+inquirers" got little satisfaction from him&mdash;he seemed taciturn by
+nature, if not sullen&mdash;and they came back to where the rest of us stood
+on the hurricane deck, muttering discontentedly, "Gold at 46. No news."
+It seemed very odd&mdash;such a complete stagnation of affairs, military and
+civil&mdash;but we went to dinner in spite of our disappointment. Before we
+rose from table the truth began to ooze out. One or two New York papers,
+that had slipped on board with the pilot, were more communicative than
+he would or could be.</p>
+
+<p>Thousands of corpses, the full tale of which will never be known till
+the day of judgment, lying rolled in blood, with a handful of earth
+raked over them under the fatal Fredericksburg heights; the finest army
+in Federaldom hurled back upon its intrenchments; nothing but darkness
+covering a disastrous, if not shameful defeat; the papers crowded with
+dreary funeral notices, showing how, to every great city of the North,
+from hospital and battle-ground, the slain are being gathered in, to be
+buried among their own people; a wail of widows and orphans and mothers,
+from homestead, hamlet, and town, overpowering with its simple energy,
+the bombastic war-notes and false stage-thunder of the press; rumors of
+a terrible battle in the far West, where, after three days' hard
+fighting, Rosecrans barely holds his own, and yet "<i>there are no
+news</i>!"</p>
+
+<p>It is an excellent quality in a soldier not to know when he is beaten,
+but whether blind obstinacy will succeed when it influences the rulers
+and destinies of a great nation, is more than questionable. Pondering
+these things, I remembered how, four thousand years ago, a stiff-necked
+generation were brought to their senses and on their knees. It was on
+the morning after the visit of the Dark Angel, when Egypt awoke, and
+found not a house in which there was not one dead. If such fearful waste
+of life goes on here, with no decisive or final advantage on either side
+attained, that ancient curse may not be long in recurring.</p>
+
+<p>I rose when the sun ought to have risen, on the following morning,
+intending to admire the famous harbor which Americans love to compare
+with the Neapolitan Bay. But long before we reached the Narrows,</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">"A blinding mist came up and hid the land<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">As far as eye could see."<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>Very soon we were buried in fog, dense and Cimmerian, as ever brooded
+over our own Thames or the Righi panorama. More and more slowly the
+paddles turned, till they stopped altogether. It was dangerous to
+advance, ever so cautiously, when the keenest sight could not pierce
+half a ship's length ahead. So there we lay at anchor for weary hours,
+listening to the church-bells chiming drowsily through the heavy air,
+till an enterprising tug ventured out for the mails, and sent another
+for the relief of the passengers.</p>
+
+<p>The custom-house officers were not troublesome, and I was soon at the
+Brevoort House, the Parisian Pylades still faithfully following my
+fortunes. I was far from entreating him to leave me; landing utterly
+alone in a strange land, one does not lightly cast aside companionship.
+For reasons easily understood, I had declined to avail myself of many
+proffered letters of introduction to New Yorkers.</p>
+
+<p>That lonely feeling did not last long: the first object which caught my
+eye on the steps of the Brevoort House was an honest English face&mdash;a
+face I have known, and liked right well, these dozen years and more.
+There stood "the Colonel" (any Ch. Ch. or Rifle Brigade man will
+recognize the <i>sobriquet</i>), beaming upon the world in general with the
+placid cheerfulness that no changes of time or place or fortune seem
+able to alter, looking just as comfortable and thoroughly "at home" as
+he did, steering Horniblow to victory at Brixworth. I had heard that my
+old friend was on his way to England to join the Staff College, but had
+never reckoned on such a successful "nick" as this. By my faith, my
+turns of luck beyond the Atlantic were not so frequent as to excuse
+forgetfulness, when they did befall.</p>
+
+<p>So I had aid and abetment in performing the little lionization which is
+obligatory on a visitor to New York; for the "Colonel's" comrade, my
+fellow-voyager of the Asia, came to the same hotel.</p>
+
+<p>Assisted by the Parisian, we made trial of the esculents peculiar to the
+country&mdash;gombo soup, sweet potatoes, terrapins, and canvas-backs&mdash;with
+much solemnity and satisfaction, agreeing, that fame had spoken truth
+for once, in extolling the two last-named delicacies. We went to the
+Opera, and there, in a brilliant <i>salle</i> of white and gold, spoilt,
+however, by the incongruity of bonnets mingling everywhere with full
+evening toilettes, assisted at a massacre&mdash;unmusical and melancholy&mdash;of
+"Lucrezia." We drove out through the crude, unfinished Central Park to
+Harlem lane, whither the trotters are wont to resort, and saw several
+teams looking very much like work (though no celebrities), almost all of
+the lean, rather ragged form which characterizes, more or less, all
+American-bred "fast horses." The ground was too hard frozen to allow of
+anything beyond gentle exercise; but even at quarter-speed, that
+wonderful hind-action was very remarkable. Watching those clean, sinewy
+pasterns shoot forward&mdash;well <i>outside</i> of the fore hoof-track&mdash;straight
+and swift as Mace's arm in an "upper-cut," you marvel no longer at the
+mile-time which hitherto has seemed barely credible.</p>
+
+<p>Perhaps this same bitter weather may account for our disappointment in
+the brilliancy of Broadway. Several careful reviews of the sunny side
+failed to detect anything dangerously attractive in beauty, equipage, or
+attire. It is probable that most of the <i>lionnes</i> had laid them down in
+their delicate dens, waiting for a more clement season, to renew
+external depredations; though sometimes you could just catch a glimpse
+of bright eyes and a little pink nose peering over dark fur wrappings,
+as a brougham or barouche, carefully closed, swept quickly by. We
+visited Barnum, of course. I think a conversational and communicative
+Albino was the most note-worthy curiosity in the Museum, chiefly, from
+his intense appreciation of the imposture of the whole concern,
+originated and directed by the King of Humbugdom.</p>
+
+<p>The sanguine popular mind was unusually depressed just then. The
+President's emancipatory proclamation had recently issued, and seemed to
+adapt itself, with wonderful elasticity, to the discontents of all
+parties; not comprehensive enough for the ultra-Abolitionists, it was
+stigmatized by the Democrats as unconstitutional and oppressive; while
+moderate politicians agreed that, beyond irritating feelings already
+bitter enough, it would be practically invalid as an offensive measure.
+We shall see, hereafter, how these prognostications were justified.</p>
+
+<p>But the first word in all men's mouths, for a day or two at least after
+my arrival, was&mdash;Monitor. That same gale which had buffeted the Asia so
+rudely on the high seas, had raged yet more savagely shorewards: the
+Merrimac's antagonist, like a drowning paladin of the mail-clad days,
+had sunk under her mighty armor, and now, with half her crew in their
+iron coffin, lay at rest in the crowded burial-ground on which Cape
+Hatteras looks down. Great discouragement and consternation&mdash;greater
+than has often been caused by the loss of any single vessel&mdash;fell upon
+all the North when the news came in. Ever since her famous duel, which
+the Federals never would allow was a drawn battle, they had elevated the
+Monitor into a national champion, and prophesied weeping in the South if
+she and their batteries should meet: few then dared to insinuate a doubt
+about Charleston's certain fall, when once the leaguer was fairly
+mustered for assault. Grave doubts were now expressed as to the
+seaworthiness of all the new iron-clads, though their advocates could
+point to a sister of the unhappy Monitor, which had survived a great
+part of the same storm. That they all must be more unsafe in really
+rough weather than the crankiest of our old "coffin brigs," seems quite
+ascertained now: the fact of their being unable to make headway through
+a heavy sea unless towed by a consort, speaks for itself. The immediate
+cause of the Monitor's foundering (according to Captain Worden's
+account, which my informant had from his own lips) was a leak sprung,
+where her protruding stern-armour, coming down flat on the waves with
+every plunge of the vessel, became loosened from the main hull; but, for
+some time before this was discovered, she seems to have spent more
+minutes under than above the water, and nothing alive could have stood
+unlashed for a second on her deck. So great was the public
+disappointment, that the tribe of false prophets&mdash;whose cry of "Go up to
+Ramoth Gilead, and prosper," deafens us here, not less, usually in
+defeat than in success&mdash;did for awhile abate their blatancy; while
+Ericsson&mdash;most confident of projectors&mdash;spake softly, below his breath,
+as he suggested faint excuse and encouragement.</p>
+
+<p>The news from the West&mdash;hourly improving, and more clearly
+confirmed&mdash;were hardly welcomed, as they deserved, and scarcely
+counter-balanced the naval disaster. It was not long, however, before
+Rosecrans the Invincible came in for his full share of credit&mdash;perhaps
+not more than he merited. Few other Federal commanders can claim that
+epithet; and, though some people persisted in considering Murfreesburg a
+Pyrrhic victory, it is certain that he held his ground manfully, and
+eventually advanced, where defeat, or even a retrograde movement, would
+have been simply ruin.</p>
+
+<p>On the fifth day our small company were scattered&mdash;each going his own
+way, east, north, and south&mdash;while the Parisian abode in New York still.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_II" id="CHAPTER_II"></a>CHAPTER II.</h2>
+
+<h3>CONGRESSIA.</h3>
+
+
+<p>Of two lines to Philadelphia I selected the longest, wishing to see the
+harbor, down which a steamer takes passengers as far as Amboy; but the
+Powers of the Air were unpropitious again: it never ceased blowing, from
+the moment we went on board a very unpleasant substitute for the regular
+passage-boat, till we landed on the railway pier. My first experience of
+American travel was not attractive. The crazy old craft puffed and
+snorted furiously, but failed to persuade any one that she was doing
+eight miles an hour; the grime of many years lay thick on her dusky
+timbers&mdash;dust under cover, and mud where the wet swept in, and her
+close, dark cabins were stifling enough to make you, after five minutes
+of vapor-bathing, plunge eagerly into the bitter weather outside.
+Indeed, there was not much to see, for the track lies on the inner and
+uglier side of Staten Island. The last few miles lead through marshes,
+with nothing taller growing than reeds and osiers.</p>
+
+<p>For an hour or so after leaving Amboy, you look out on a country thickly
+populated, well cultivated, and trimly fenced, bearing a strong
+resemblance to parts of our own eastern counties. We passed through one
+wood, in height of trees, sweep of ground, color of soil, and build of
+boundary-fence, so exactly like a certain cover in Norfolk similarly
+bisected by the rail, that I could have picked out the precise spot
+where, many a time and oft, I have waited for the "rocketers." But the
+character of the landscape soon changed; loose, sprawling "zigzags"
+usurped the place of neat squared posts and rails; the stunted woodland
+stretched farther afield, with rarer breaks of clearing; and the low
+hill-ranges, behind which the watery sun soon absconded, looked drearily
+bare in the distance.</p>
+
+<p>It was pleasant, from the ferry boat, which was our last change, to meet
+the lights of Philadelphia, gleaming out on the broad dark Susquehanna.</p>
+
+<p>I can say little of that staid, opulent, intensely respectable city&mdash;not
+even if the imputation of dullness, cast upon her by the more mercurial
+South, be a slander; for the few hours of my stay there were spent
+almost entirely with my Asiatic friend, whose invitations and
+inducements to a longer sojourn were very hard to resist. But I was
+impatient to get on (as men will be who cannot see their arm's-length
+into the future), and at midnight I started again for Washington.</p>
+
+<p>My recollections of that journey are the reverse of roseate. The
+atmosphere of the cars&mdash;windows hermetic, and stoves red-hot&mdash;made one
+look back regretfully on the milder <i>inferno</i> of the passage-boat; the
+acrid apple-odor was more pungently nauseating; and the abomination of
+expectoration less carefully dissembled. Besides this, I was afflicted
+by another nuisance, purely private and personal.</p>
+
+<p>Whether there be any such thing as love at first sight or no, is a
+question&mdash;grave or gay, as you choose to discuss it&mdash;but, that
+instinctive antipathies exist, is most certain. I was the victim of one
+of such that night. Waiting for change in the ticket-office, my eye
+lighted on a dark man, of African appearance, standing unpleasantly
+near, and for a second or two I could not get rid of a horrible
+fascination, compelling me to stare. I say "dark man" advisedly, for it
+would have been hard to guess at his original color, unless his cast of
+feature had not given a line. Now, I have seen Irish squatters in their
+cabins, London outcasts in their penny lodgings, and beggars of Southern
+Europe in their nameless dens; but the conviction flashed upon me (and
+it has never since passed away), that I was then gazing on a dirtier
+specimen of healthy humanity than I had ever yet foregathered with. I
+believe that all the rains of heaven beating on his brow would not have
+altered its dinginess by a shade, nor penetrated one of the earthy
+layers that had thickened there; a thunder-shower must have glanced off,
+as water will do from tough, hardened clay. Rough patches of hair,
+scanty and straggling, like the vegetation of waste, barren lands, grew
+all over his cheeks and chin (a negro with an ample, honest beard is an
+anomaly), and a huge bush of wool&mdash;unkempt, I dare swear, from earliest
+infancy&mdash;seemed to repel the ruins of a nondescript hat. Whether he was
+really uglier than his fellows I cannot remember&mdash;I was so absorbed in
+contemplating and realizing his surpassing squalor&mdash;but the expression
+of the uncouth face (if it had any whatsoever) was, I think, neither
+ferocious nor sullen. There is generally a "colored car" attached to
+every train; for you will find the tender-hearted Abolitionist, in
+despite of his African sympathies, when it is a question of personal
+contact or association, quite as earnest in keeping those "innocent
+blacknesses" aloof, as the haughtiest Southerner. On the present
+occasion there was no such distinction of races. I do not think the
+contraband was conscious of the effect produced by his lordly presence;
+it was probably simple accident which brought him so often in my
+neighborhood; but, wherever I moved through the crowded cars, seeking
+for a seat, the loose shambling limbs and dull vacant eyes seemed
+impelled to follow. At last I lost my <i>bete noire</i>, and found a place
+close to the door with nothing but a low pile of logs in my front. I was
+tired, and soon began to doze; but I woke up with a start and a shudder,
+as a haunted man might do, becoming aware, in sleep, of the approach of
+some horrible thing. There he sat, on the logs close to my feet, in a
+heavy stertorous slumber, his huge head rocking to and fro, and his
+features hideously contorted, as he growled and gibbered to himself in
+an unknown tongue, like some dreaming Caliban. I arose and fled away
+swiftly from the face of my "brother," and, finding no other available
+resting-place, did battle on the outside platform with the keen night
+wind.</p>
+
+<p>I am indebted, however, to that honest contraband for a curious sight,
+which I should have otherwise missed&mdash;the crossing of the Gunpowder
+River. There, the train rushes, on a single track, over three-quarters
+of a mile of tremulous trestle-work, without an apology for a side-rail,
+so that you look straight down into the dark water, over which you seem
+wafted with no visible support beneath. The effect is sufficiently
+startling, especially seen as I saw it, under a bright, capricious moon.
+From Baltimore, the cars were less crowded, and I encountered my dusky
+tormentor no more.</p>
+
+<p>If there is much in first impressions, I was not likely to be enchanted
+with Washington.</p>
+
+<p>The snow, just then beginning to melt, lay inches deep on the
+half-frozen soil; everything looked unnaturally and unutterably dreary
+in the bleak leaden dawn-light; and, as I drove down Pennsylvania avenue
+(after rejection at the lodgings to which I had been recommended), the
+first object that caught my eye was a huge placard:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>EMBALMING OF THE DEAD.</p></div>
+
+<p>These ghastly advertisements are not unfrequent in that part of the
+city, and I was informed that the advertisers occasionally do a very
+brisk business.</p>
+
+<p>After waiting for two hours in the hall of the Metropolitan, like a
+client in some patrician antechamber, they <i>did</i> accord me a tolerable
+room on the sublimest story.</p>
+
+<p>I called that same afternoon on Lord Lyons, to whom I brought an
+introductory letter. I have to thank the British Legation for much
+courteous kindness, and for two very pleasant evenings, on the first of
+which I was the guest of the chief, on the second, of his secretaries.
+Here will (if I ever leave it behind me) begin and end my agreeable
+reminiscences of Washington. I disliked it cordially at first sight; I
+was thoroughly bored before I had got through my stay of seventy hours;
+I utterly abominate and execrate the city</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i1">From turret to foundation-stone,<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>at this moment, as I catch a narrow glimpse of its outskirts through the
+rusty window-bars of the Old Capitol. Should the Southern Mazeppas,
+whose banners have already floated in sight of Arlington Heights, ever
+work their will here, I could name one Briton whose composure will not
+be ruffled by compassion at hearing the news. If there is anything in
+presentiments, surely one of these whispered warnings thus early in my
+pilgrimage, though I was deafer than the adder just then.</p>
+
+<p>There was in Washington, of course, the usual crowd&mdash;official,
+political, and mercantile&mdash;with a vast supplement of hangers-on and
+aspirants, that always follows the meeting of Congress; and, besides,
+the influx never ceased of all officers who could get leave&mdash;of many who
+could not&mdash;from the Army of the Potomac. Speaking impartially&mdash;for I
+scarcely interchanged four words with an American during my stay&mdash;I
+thought the military element the most repulsive.</p>
+
+<p>It would be unfair to cavil at the absence of a martial bearing in men,
+who, having followed other professions all their lives, so lately and
+suddenly took up that of arms. In this singular war, whole regiments
+have been sent into action (as at Antietam) without even an hour's
+practice in file-firing, and have stood their ground, too, manfully,
+though helplessly, the merest food for cannon. So it is not strange if
+the lawyers, merchants, clerks, stock-brokers, bar-keepers, and
+newspaper editors, who officer the volunteer corps, should laugh at
+"setting-up" preliminaries to scorn, and consider a few days of rough
+battalion-drill a satisfactory qualification for efficient service in
+the field.</p>
+
+<p>In spite of these disadvantages, it is indisputable that the Yankee will
+fight right stubbornly, after his own fashion, though rarely with the
+dash and fire of the Southerner. Considering the raw and heterogeneous
+materials out of which the huge armies of the North have been formed,
+the individual instances of personal cowardice are creditably rare. Even
+in the cases of disorderly retreats, I believe discipline rather than
+pluck to have been wanting. Martinets and formalists would certainly be
+out of place here, and some of the technicalities of the art of war may
+well be dispensed with; nevertheless, all these palliations do not alter
+my unfavorable impression of the Federal officer on furlough.</p>
+
+<p>Once out of the camp, and among familiar scenes again, the recent
+centurion falls back, swiftly and easily, into the slovenly habits and
+careless demeanor that were natural to him before he was called to
+command; his uniform begins to look like a masquerade dress hired for
+the occasion; of the hard and, perhaps, gallant service of months past,
+there is soon no other evidence, than an unnecessary loudness of speech,
+and a readiness to seize on any occasion to bluster or blaspheme. A
+friend of mine once remarked (by way of excuse for being detected in the
+most eccentric <i>deshabille</i>) that "the British dragoon, under <i>any</i>
+circumstances, was a respectable and elevating sight." I do not think
+the most amiable stranger would be inclined to concede as much to an
+officer of Federal volunteers, encountering that warrior in his native
+bar or oyster saloon. On the whole, I prefer the real Zouave <i>en
+tapageur</i>, to his Transatlantic imitator: the former at least swaggers
+<i>professionally</i>.</p>
+
+<p>It would hardly be honest to take the "loafers" of Washington as fair
+representatives of their order: there are, no doubt, better&mdash;if not
+braver&mdash;soldiers in the front; and perhaps even the queer specimens then
+before me might look decent, if not dignified, under the earnest light
+of battle.</p>
+
+<p>But wherever I was brought in contact with portions of the Federal army
+(I never saw a whole regiment in review order), I was forcibly struck
+with the entire absence of the "smartness" which distinguishes our own
+and much of the Continental soldiery. While I was at Washington, there
+were three squadrons of regular cavalry encamped in the centre of the
+city. These troops were especially on home-service&mdash;guard-mounting,
+orderly duty, &amp;c.&mdash;with no field or picket work whatever. There was no
+more excuse for slovenliness than might have been allowed to a regiment
+in huts at Aldershott or Shorncliffe. I wish that the critical eye of
+the present Cavalry Inspector-General could inspect that encampment; if
+he preserved his wonted courteous calmness, it would be a very Victory
+of Suffering: the effect upon his predecessor would be instantly fatal.</p>
+
+<p>The arms looked tolerably clean and serviceable; but bridle-bits,
+bosses, spurs, and accoutrements were crusted with rust and grime;
+boots, buttons, and clothing were innocent of the brush as the horses'
+coats of the curry-comb. The most careful grooming could not have made
+the generality of these animals look anything but ragged and
+weedy&mdash;rather dear at the Government price of 115-120 dollars,&mdash;and
+their housings were not calculated to set them off to advantage. The
+saddle&mdash;a modification of the Mexican principle of raw-hide stretched
+over a wooden frame&mdash;carries little metal-work; it is lighter, I think,
+than ours, and more abruptly peaked, but not uncomfortable; being thrown
+well off the spine and withers, there is little danger of sore backs
+with ordinary care in settling the cloth or blanket. The heavy clog of
+wood and leather, closed in front, and only admitting the fore-part of
+the foot, which serves as a stirrup, is unsightly in the extreme; its
+advantages are said to be, protection from the weather, and the
+impossibility of the rider's entanglement: but the sole has no grip
+whatever, and rising to give full effect to a sabre-cut would be out of
+the question. Besides a halter, a single rein, attached to rather a
+clumsy bit, is the usual trooper's equipment: to this is attached the
+inevitable ring-martingale, without which few Federal cavaliers, civil
+or military, would consider themselves safe.</p>
+
+<p>I cannot conceive such an anomaly as a thorough Yankee <i>horseman</i>.
+Given&mdash;one, or a span of trotters, to be yoked after the neatest
+fashion, and to be driven gradually and scientifically up to
+top-speed&mdash;the Northerner is quite at home, and can give you a wrinkle
+or two worth keeping. But this habit of hauling at horses, who often go
+as much on the bit as on the traces, is destructive to "hands." If the
+late lamented Assheton Smith were compelled to witness the equitation
+here, he would suffer almost as much as Macaulay in the purgatory which
+Canon Sidney imagined for the historian. I have discussed that
+Martingale-question with several good judges and breeders of American
+blood-stock, but I never could get them <i>quite</i> to agree in the
+absurdity of tying down a colt's head for the rest of his natural life,
+without regard to his peculiar propensities&mdash;star-gazing, boring, or
+neutral. The custom, of course, never could prevail where men were in
+the habit of crossing a country; but an American horse is scarcely ever
+put at anything beyond the ruins of a rail fence, and there are few,
+north of the Potomac, that I should like to ride at four feet of stiff
+timber. It is very different in the South, where many men from infancy
+pass their out-door life in the saddle: from what I have heard,
+Carolina, Louisiana, and Georgia&mdash;to say nothing of the wild Texan
+rangers&mdash;could show riders who, when the first strangeness had worn off,
+would hold their own tolerable in England, over a fair hunting country,
+in any ordinary run.</p>
+
+<p>On the outbreak of the war, volunteers enlisted in the Federal cavalry,
+who&mdash;far from being able to manage a horse&mdash;could not bridle one without
+assistance; and a conscript, who could keep his saddle through an entire
+day, without "taking a voluntary," was considered by his fellows as a
+credit to the regiment, and almost an accomplished dragoon. Such a thing
+as a military riding-school has, I believe, never been thought of, away
+from West Point; the drill is simply that of mounted infantry. Things
+are better now than they were; a Federal cavalryman can at least sit
+saddle-fast, to receive and return a sabre-cut; there have been some
+sharp skirmishes of late, and, allowing for exaggeration, Averill's
+encounter with Fitzhugh Lee brought out real work on both sides.</p>
+
+<p>Looking at that squalid encampment, it was easy to realize all one had
+heard of the mortality among the horses in the Army of the Potomac,
+where no natural causes could justify it. Unless some sympathy exists
+between the two&mdash;unless the trooper takes some pride or interest in the
+animal he rides beyond that of being conveyed safely from point to
+point&mdash;it is vain to expect that the comforts of the latter will be
+greatly cared for. General orders are powerless here, and the personal
+supervision of the officers&mdash;even if "stables" were as carefully
+attended as in our own service&mdash;would only touch the surface of the
+evil. That utter absence of <i>esprit du corps</i> and soldierly
+self-respect, has cost the Federal treasury many millions; nor will the
+drain ever cease till "re-mounts" shall be no more needed.</p>
+
+<p>The foregoing remarks apply exclusively to the <i>tenue</i> of the privates
+and non-commissioned officers; those of superior rank that I met were
+tolerably correct, both in dress and equipment; several, indeed, were
+mounted on really powerful chargers, and rode them not amiss, though
+with a seat as unprofessional as can be conceived.</p>
+
+<p>The military loungers certainly monopolize all the leisure of
+Washington&mdash;by day at least; for, if all tales are true, the
+legislators, in the evening and small hours, are wont to unbend somewhat
+freely from their labors; and the Senate acts wisely, in not risking
+through a night session the little dignity it has left to lose. But,
+with few exceptions, every civic face meets you with the same anxious,
+worried look of unsatisfied craving; there is hunger in all the
+restless, eager eyes, and the thin, impatient lips work nervously, as if
+scarcely able to repress the cry which the children of the horse-leech
+have uttered since the beginning of time. It is easy to understand this,
+when you remember that, at such a season, there gathers here, besides
+the legion of politicians and partisans, and the mighty army of
+contractors, a vaster host of persons interested in the private bills
+submitted to Congress, and of candidates for the numerous places of
+preferment which are being vacated and created daily. Before the
+smallest of these has lain open for an hour, there will be scores of
+shrill claimants wrangling over it, summoned from the four winds of
+heaven by the unerring instinct of the Rapacid&aelig;.</p>
+
+<p>Every one of any official or political standing can either influence or
+dispose of a certain amount of patronage; to such, life must sometimes
+be made a heavy burden. Human nature shrinks from the contemplation of
+what each successive President must be doomed to undergo. His nerves
+ought to be of iron, and his conscience of brass, or a Gold Coast
+Governorship might prove a less dangerous dignity. The character best
+fitted for the post would be such an one as Gallio, the tranquil cynic
+of Antioch.</p>
+
+<p>Marking, and hearing these things, I thoroughly appreciated an anecdote
+told me on board the Asia. At Mobile, in 1849, the Philadelphian met
+President Polk, then on his way home from Washington, his term having
+just expired. He took up office&mdash;a cheery, sanguine man, quite as
+healthy as the generality of his compatriots at forty-five; he laid it
+down&mdash;a helpless invalid, shattered in body and mind, past hope of
+revival. My informant, who knew him well, was much shocked at the
+change, but tried to console the ex-President, by speaking of the
+important measures that made his administration one of the most eventful
+since that of Washington; hinting that such grave responsibility and
+continual excitement might well account for exhaustion and reaction. The
+sick man shook his head drearily, and put the implied compliment aside:
+he was past such vanities then.</p>
+
+<p>"You're wrong," he said. "It isn't Oregon, or Mexico, or Texas, but the
+office-hunters that have brought me&mdash;where I am."</p>
+
+<p>In that answer there was the simple solemnity, that attaches to the
+lightest words of the dying. Sixty days later the speaker was "sleeping
+down in Tennessee," never more to be vexed by the clamor of the
+cormorants, or waked by the clients keeping watch at his door. Nor was
+he a solitary victim. General Taylor did not live to see half his duty
+done, and the atmosphere of the White House, in one month, proved fatal
+to Harrison.</p>
+
+<p>To a disinterested spectator&mdash;especially if he chance to be of indolent
+temperament&mdash;there is something very irritating in the ceaseless crowd,
+and hurry, and din. From early morning till long past midnight, you
+might search in vain, through any one of the principal hotels, for a
+quiet nook to write or read in, unless it were found in your own
+chamber, where the appliances of comfort are more than limited. All
+private sitting-rooms are instantly engaged at fabulous prices, and, in
+the public parlors the feminine element reigns with no divided sway. It
+is difficult to appreciate even newspaper "leader," with a prattle and
+titter around, wherein mingle tunes, not <i>quite</i> so low and sweet as the
+voice of Cordelia. Those energetic civilians never seem at rest or at
+ease; they snatch their frequent drinks, upstanding and covered, as if
+they were just a minute behindhand for some appointment, and bolt their
+food, as if dinner were a necessary medicinal evil.</p>
+
+<p>Soothe to say, the edibles do not deserve much better treatment: the
+whole commissariat arrangements in the hotels is supremely
+uncomfortable. The guests feed separately, but no dinner can be served
+in the public rooms after five, <span class="smcap">P. M.</span>. You can choose to any
+extent, from a sufficiently ample, though very simple, <i>carte</i>; but your
+repast arrives <i>en masse</i>, no matter into how many courses it ought
+naturally to be divided, and is set down before you in uncovered dishes.
+Of course, when you arrive at the last, it retains scarcely a memory of
+the fire. I saw some of the <i>indig&egrave;nes</i> obviate the inconvenience, by
+taking fish, flesh, and fowl on their plate at one and the same time,
+consuming the impromptu "olla" with a rapid impartial voracity; but so
+bold an innovation on old-world customs would hardly suit a stranger.
+All liquors are rather high in price and lower in quality than one would
+expect, considering the place and season; but the sum charged for
+unstinted board and a tolerable bed (from two to two and a half dollars
+per diem), is reasonable enough, especially during the present
+depreciation of the currency.</p>
+
+<p>Out-door scenes were not much more attractive. The three-months' reign
+of Jupiter Pluvius, which has made this spring evilly notorious, had
+just begun in earnest. In the main avenues, on either side of the
+rail-track of the cars, the mud was a trifle deeper than that of a
+cross-lane, in winter, in the Warwickshire clays. To traverse the
+by-streets comfortably, you require rather a clever animal over a
+country, and especially good in "dirt;" they are intersected by frequent
+brooks, much wider and deeper than that celebrated one which tested the
+prowess of "<i>le bonhomme Briggs</i>." There are rough stepping-stones at
+some of the crossings, and the passage of these, after nightfall,
+resembles greatly that of a "shaking" bog, where the traveler has to
+leap from tussock to moss-hag with agile audacity; the consequences of a
+false step being, in both cases, about the same. I began to think,
+regretfully of certain rugged continental <i>pav&eacute;s</i> execrated in days gone
+by; they, at least, had a firm bottom, more or less remote.</p>
+
+<p>The public buildings of Washington do not attempt architectural display:
+with scarcely an exception, they are severely simple and square. But
+there is a certain grandeur in the masses of white marble, which is
+everywhere lavishly employed, and the Capitol stands right well&mdash;alone,
+on the crest of a low, abrupt slope, with nothing to intercept the view
+from its terraces, seaward, and up the valley of the Potomac. The effect
+will probably be better when wind and weather shall have slightly toned
+down the sheen of the fresh-hewn stones, so dazzling now as almost to
+tire the eye.</p>
+
+<p>I lingered some time in the stranger galleries of Congress, but&mdash;"a
+plague on both their Houses"&mdash;there was no question of stirring interest
+before either. I had hoped to see at least one Representative committed
+to the custody of the Sergeant-at-Arms; but, on that day, the
+hardly-worked official had rest from his labors. Only a few hours later,
+an irascible Senator (from Delaware, I think) created a temporary
+excitement by defying first his political opponent, and then generally
+all powers that be, eventually displaying the revolver, which is the
+<i>ratio ultima</i>, of so many Transatlantic debates. I heard some "tall
+talking," enforced by much energy of gesture and resonance of tone; but
+not a period veiling on eloquence. The speakers generally seemed to have
+studied in the simple school of the "stump" or the tavern, and, when at
+a loss for an argument, would introduce a diatribe against the South, or
+a declaration of fidelity to the Union, very much as they might have
+proposed a toast or sentiment, supremely disregardful of such trifles as
+relevancy or connection. The retort&mdash;more or less courteous&mdash;seemed much
+favored by these honest rhetoricians, and appreciated by the galleries,
+who at such times applauded sympathetically, in despite of menace or
+intercession of Vice-President or Speaker. Nobody, indeed, took much
+notice of either of these two dignitaries; and they appeared perfectly
+reconciled to their position. You would not often find orators and
+audience understand one another more thoroughly; the easy freedom of the
+whole concern was quite festive in its informality.</p>
+
+<p>Having secured a portion of my English letters (one or more were
+retained for the recreation, and, I hope, improvement of the
+post-official mind), nothing detained me in Washington beyond the fourth
+morning. I turned northwards the more cheerfully, because it involved
+escape from a certain chamber-maiden, to whose authority I was subjected
+at the Metropolitan&mdash;the most austere tyrant that ever oppressed a
+traveler. That grim White Woman might have paired with the Ancient
+Mariner&mdash;she was so deep-voiced, and gaunt, and wan. On the few
+occasions when I ventured to summon her, she would "hold me with her
+glittering eye" till I quailed visibly beneath it, utterly scorning and
+rejecting some mild attempts at conciliation. I am certain she suspected
+me of meditating some black private or public treachery; and I know
+there was joy in that granite heart when circumstances brought me, at
+last, in my innocence, before the bar of her offended country. On that
+fourth morning, however, the mood of Sycorax seemed to change; there was
+a ghastly gayety in her manner, and on her rigid lips an Homeric smile,
+more terrible than a frown. Then I pondered within myself&mdash;"If her hate
+be heavy to bear, what&mdash;what&mdash;would her love be?" The unutterable horror
+of the idea gave me courage that I might otherwise have lacked, to
+confess my intentions of absconding. But I avow that the liberality of
+the parting largesse is to be attributed to the meanest motives&mdash;of
+personal fear.</p>
+
+<p>On the railway platform, shaking the mud of Washington from my drenched
+boots, I purposed never to return thither. But I reckoned without my
+future hosts, MM. Seward and Stanton, who, though I have trespassed on
+their hospitality, now for some weeks, seem still loth to let me go.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_III" id="CHAPTER_III"></a>CHAPTER III.</h2>
+
+<h3>CAPUA.</h3>
+
+
+<p>The southward approach to Baltimore is very well managed. The railroad
+makes an abrupt curve, as it sweeps round the marshy woodlands through
+which the Patapsco opens into the bay; so that you have a fair view of
+the entire city, swelling always upwards from the water's edge, on a
+cluster of low, irregular hills, to the summit of Mount Vernon. From
+that highest point soars skyward a white, glistening pillar crowned by
+Washington's statue. I have seldom seen a monument better placed, and it
+is worthy of its advantages. The figure retains much of the strength and
+grace for which in life it was renowned, and, if ever features were
+created, worthy of the deftest sculptor and the purest marble, such,
+surely, was the birthright of that noble, serene face.</p>
+
+<p>No one, that has sojourned in Washington, can be ten minutes in
+Baltimore without being aware of a great and refreshing change. You
+leave the hurry and bustle of traffic behind at the railway station, and
+are never subjected to such nuisances till you return thither. Even in
+the exclusively commercial squares of the city there reigns comparative
+leisure, for, except in the establishments of government contractors, or
+others directly connected with the supply of the army, business is by no
+means brisk just now. You may pass through Baltimore street, the main
+artery bisecting the town from east to west, at any hour, without
+encountering a denser or busier throng than you would meet in Regent
+street, any afternoon <i>out</i> of the season, and, about the usual
+promenade time, the proportion of fair <i>fl&acirc;ncuses</i>, to the meaner
+masculine herd, would be nearly the same.</p>
+
+<p>I betook myself to Guy's hotel, which had been recommended to me as
+quiet and comfortable: for many people it would have been <i>too</i> quiet.
+The black waiters carried the science of "taking things easy" to a rare
+perfection; they were thoroughly polite, and even kindly in manner, and
+never dreamed of objecting to any practicable order, but&mdash;as for
+carrying it out within any specified time&mdash;<i>altra cosa</i>. After a few
+vain attempts and futile remonstrances, the prudent and philosophical
+guest would recognize resignedly the absolute impossibility of obtaining
+breakfast, however simple, under forty-five minutes from the moment of
+commanding the same; indeed that was very good time, and I positively
+aver that I have waited longer for eggs, tea, and toast. I never tried
+abuse or reproach, for I chanced, early in my stay, to be present when
+an impatient traveler voided the vials of his wrath on the head of the
+chief attendant: insisting, with many strange oaths, on his right to
+obtain cooked food, of some sort, within the half-hour.</p>
+
+<p>Years ago, I was amused, at the <i>Gaiet&eacute;s</i>, by a common-place scene
+enough of stage-temptation. <i>Madelon</i>, driven into her last
+intrenchments by the sophistries of the wily aristocrat, objected
+timidly, "<i>Mais, Monseigneur, j'aime mon mari.</i>" For a moment the
+<i>Marquis</i> was surprised, and seemed to reflect. Then he said,
+"<i>Tiens&mdash;tu aimes ton mari? C'est bizarre: mais&mdash;apr&egrave;s tout&mdash;ce n'est
+pas defendu.</i>" As he spoke, he smiled upon his simple vassal&mdash;evidently
+wavering between amusement and compassion.</p>
+
+<p>With just such a smile&mdash;allowing for the exaggeration of the African
+physiognomy&mdash;did "Leonoro" contemplate his victim, and me, the
+bystander, and then sauntered slowly from the room, without uttering one
+word. It was a great moral lesson, and I profited by it. But, in truth,
+there was little to complain of; the quarters were clean and
+comfortable, and one got, in time, as much as any reasonable man could
+desire. The arrangements are on the European system, <i>i.e.</i>, there are
+no fixed hours for meals, which are ordered from the <i>carte</i>, and no
+fixed charge for board. I should have remained there permanently, had it
+not been for one objection, which eventually overcame my aversion to
+change. The basement story of the house was occupied by a bar and oyster
+saloon; the pungent testaceous odors, mounting from those lower regions,
+gave the offended nostrils no respite or rest; in a few minutes, a
+robust appetite, albeit watered by cunning bitters, would wither, like a
+flower in the fume of sulphur. Half-a-dozen before dinner, have always
+satiated my own desire for these mollusks; before many days were over, I
+utterly abominated the name of the species; familiarity only made the
+nuisance more intolerable, and I fled at last, fairly <i>ostracised</i>. How
+the <i>habitu&eacute;s</i> stood it was a mystery, till I recognized the fact, that
+there is no accident of pleasure or pain to which humanity is liable, no
+antecedent of rest or exertion, no untimeliness of hour or incongruity
+of place, which will render an apple or an oyster inopportune to an
+American <i>bourgeois</i>.</p>
+
+<p>My first visit in Baltimore was to the British Consul, to whom I brought
+credentials from a member of the Washington Legation. I shall not easily
+forget the many courtesies, for which I have never adequately thanked
+Mr. Bernal: few English travelers leave Baltimore, without carrying away
+grateful recollections of his pleasant house in Franklin street, and
+without having received some kindness, social or substantial, from the
+fair hands which dispense its hospitalities so gently and gracefully.</p>
+
+<p>On that same evening my name was entered as an honorary member of the
+Maryland Club. It would be absurd to compare this institution with the
+palaces of our own metropolis; but, in all respects, it may fairly rank
+with the best class of yacht clubs. You find there, besides the ordinary
+writing and reading accommodation, a pleasant lounge from early
+afternoon to early morning; a fair French cook, pitilessly monotonous in
+his <i>carte</i>; a good steady rubber at limited points; and a perfect
+billiard-room. In this last apartment it is well worth while to linger,
+sometimes, for half an hour, to watch the play, if the "Chief" chances
+to be there. I have never seen an amateur to compare with this great
+artist, for certainty and power of cue. A short time before my arrival,
+at the carom game, on a table without pockets, he scored 1,015 on <i>one
+break</i>. I heard this from a dozen eye-witnesses.</p>
+
+<p>I went through many introductions that evening; and, in the next
+fortnight, received ample and daily proofs of the proverbial hospitality
+of Baltimore. There are residents&mdash;praisers of the time gone by, who
+cease not to lament the convivial decadence of the city; but such
+deficiency is by no means apparent to a stranger.</p>
+
+<p>If <i>gourmandize</i> be the favorite failing in these parts, there is surely
+some excuse for the sinners. Probably no one tract on earth, of the same
+extent, can boast of so many delicacies peculiar to itself, as the
+shores of the Chesapeake. Of these, the most remarkable is the
+"terrapin": it is about the size of a common land tortoise, and haunts
+the shallow waters of the bay and the salt marshes around. They say he
+was a bold man who first ate an oyster; a much more undaunted
+experimentalist was the first taster of the terrapin. I strongly advise
+no one to look at the live animal, till he has thoroughly learnt to like
+the savory meat; <i>then</i> he will be enabled to laugh all qualms and
+scruples to scorn. Comparisons have been drawn between the terrapin and
+the turtle&mdash;very absurdly; for, beyond the fact of both being
+testudines, there is not a point of resemblance. Individually, I
+prefer the tiny "diamond-back" to his gigantic congener, as more
+delicate and less cloying to the palate. Then there is the superb
+"canvas-back,"&mdash;peerless among water-fowl&mdash;never eaten in perfection out
+of sight of the sandbanks where he plucks the wild sea-celery; and, in
+their due season, "soft crabs," and "bay mackerel." Last of all, there
+are oysters (well worth the name!) of every shape, color, and size. They
+assert that the "cherrystones" are superior to our own Colchester
+natives in flavor: for reasons before stated, I cared not to contest the
+point.</p>
+
+<p>A dinner based upon these materials, with a saddle of five-year-old
+mutton from the Eastern Shore, as the main <i>pi&egrave;ce de r&eacute;sistance</i>, might
+have satisfied the defunct Earl Dudley, of fastidious memory. The wines
+deserve a separate paragraph.</p>
+
+<p>For generations past, there has prevailed a great rivalry and emulation
+amongst the Amphitryons of Baltimore. They seem to have taken as much
+pride in their cellars, as a Briton might do in his racing or hunting
+stables&mdash;bestowing the same elaborate care on their construction and
+management. The prices given for rare brands appear fabulous, even to
+those who have heard at home, three or four "commissioners" at an
+auction, with plenipotentiary powers, disputing the favorite bin of some
+deceased Dean or Don. But when you consider, what the lost interest on
+capital lying dormant for seventy years will amount to, the apparent
+extravagance of cost is easily accounted for.</p>
+
+<p>That is no uncommon age for Madeira. No European palate can form an idea
+of this wonderful wine; for, when in mature perfection, it is utterly
+ruined by transport beyond the seas. The vintages of Portugal and
+Hungary are thin and tame beside the puissant liquor that, after half a
+century's subjection to southern suns, enters slowly on its prime, with
+abated fire, but undiminished strength. Drink it <i>then</i>, and you will
+own, that from the juice of no other grape can be drawn such subtlety of
+flavor, such delicacy of fragrance, passing the perfume of flowers.
+Climate of course is the first consideration. I believe Baltimore and
+Savannah limit, northward and southward, the region wherein the maturing
+process can be thoroughly perfected.</p>
+
+<p>Those pleasant banquets began early, about 5 P. M., and were indefinitely
+prolonged; for cigars are not supposed to interfere with the proper
+appreciation of Madeira, and the revelers here cherish the honest old
+English custom of chanting over their liquor. Closing my eyes now, so as
+to shut out the dingy drab walls of this my prison-chamber, I can call
+up one of those cheery scenes quite distinctly: I can hear the "Chief's"
+voice close at my ear, trolling forth the traditional West Point ditty
+of "Benny Havens," or the rude sea-ballad, full of quaint pathos:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i1">'Twas a Friday morning when we set sail;<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>then&mdash;deeper and fuller tones, rolling out Barry Cornwall's sonorous
+verses of "King Death." It is good to look back on hours like these,
+though I doubt if the ill-cooked meats, whereof I hope soon to
+partake&mdash;not unthankfully&mdash;will be improved by the memory.</p>
+
+<p>In spite of this large hospitality, instances even of individual excess
+are comparatively rare. I have seen more aberration of intellect and
+convivial eccentricity after a Greenwich dinner, or a heavy
+"guest-night," than was displayed at any one of these Baltimore
+entertainments: a stranger endowed with a fair constitution, abstaining
+from morning drinks, and paying attention to the Irishman's paternal
+advice&mdash;"Keep your back from the fire, and don't mix your liquors"&mdash;may
+take his place, with comfort and confidence.</p>
+
+<p>But my social recollections of Baltimore are by no means exclusively
+bacchanalian. British stock, lamentably at a discount in other parts of
+the Union, is, perhaps, a trifle above par here. The popularity of our
+representatives&mdash;masculine and feminine&mdash;may have something to do with
+this; at any rate, the avenues of the best and pleasantest circles are
+easily opened to any Englishman of warranted position and name.</p>
+
+<p>If a traveler were to enter a drawing-room here, expecting to be
+surprised at every turn by some incongruity of speech or demeanor, such
+as book-makers have attributed to our American cousins, he would not
+fill a page of his mental note-book. I had no such prejudices to be
+disappointed. After experience of society in many lands, I begin to
+think that well-bred and educated people speak and behave after much the
+same fashion all the world over. Few Baltimorean voices are free from a
+perceptible accent; it is more marked in the gentler sex, but rarely so
+strong as to be disagreeable. The ear is never offended by the New
+England twang, or Connecticut drawl, and some tones rang true as silver.</p>
+
+<p>You hear, of course, occasional peculiarities of expression, and words
+somewhat distorted from our Anglican meaning, but these are not much
+more frequent or strange than provincial idioms at home. I was only once
+fairly puzzled in this wise.</p>
+
+<p>It was at a public "assembly." I had just been presented to the</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i1">Queen rose of a rosebud garden of girls,<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>a very gazelle, too, for litheness and grace; the music of the <i>Sir&egrave;ne</i>
+had begun, and my arm had encircled my partner's willowy waist; when I
+felt her hang back, and saw on her fair face a distressed look of
+penitence and perplexity: "I'm so sorry," she murmured, "but I can't
+dance <i>loose</i>." Perfectly vague as to her meaning, I assured her that
+she should be guided after as <i>serree</i> a fashion as she chose; but this
+evidently did not touch the difficulty. By the merest chance, I observed
+that all the cavaliers put themselves, as it were, in position, their
+left hand locked in the right of their <i>valseuse</i>, before making a
+start, omitting the preliminary paces that get you well into the swing.
+It was all plain sailing then, and swift sailing, too; the rest of the
+performance was completed with perfect unanimity, much to my own
+satisfaction, and, I trust, not to the discontent of my fairy-footed
+charge.</p>
+
+<p>The freedom and independent self-reliance of the Baltimorean
+<i>demoiselles</i> is very remarkable. At home they receive and entertain
+their own friends, of either sex, quite naturally, and&mdash;taking their
+walks abroad, or returning from an evening party&mdash;trust themselves
+unhesitatingly to the escort of a single cavalier. Yet, you would
+scarcely find a solitary imitation of the "fast girls" who have been
+giving our own ethical writers so much uneasiness of late. It speaks
+well for the tone of society, where such a state of things can prevail
+without fear and without reproach. Though Baltimore breeds gossips,
+numerous and garrulous as is the wont of provincial cities, I never
+heard a slander or a suspicion leveled against the most intrepid of
+those innocent Unas.</p>
+
+<p>From the <i>morale</i> one must needs pass to the <i>personel</i>. On the
+appearance of a <i>debutante</i>, they say, the first question in Boston is,
+"Is she clever?" In New York, "Is she wealthy?" In Philadelphia, "Is she
+well-born?" In Baltimore, "Is she beautiful?" And, for many years past,
+common report has conceded the Golden Apple to the Monumental city. I
+think the distinction has been fairly won.</p>
+
+<p>The small, delicate features, the long, liquid, iridescent eyes, the
+sweet, indolent <i>morbidezza</i>, that make southern beauty so perilously
+fascinating, are not uncommon here, and are often united to a clearness
+and brilliancy of complexion scarcely to be found nearer the tropics.
+The Upper Ten Thousand by no means monopolize these personal advantages.
+At the hour of "dress parade" you cannot walk five steps without
+encountering a face well worthy of a second look. Occasionally, too, you
+catch a provokingly brief glimpse of a high, slender instep, and an
+ankle modeled to match it. The fashion of Balmorals and kilted kirtles
+prevails not here; and maids and matrons are absurdly reluctant to
+submit their pedal perfections to the passing critic. Even on a day when
+it is a question of Mud <i>v.</i> Modesty, you may escort an intimate
+acquaintance for an hour, and depart, doubting as to the color of her
+hosen. But, conceding the justice of Baltimore's claim, and the constant
+recurrence of a more than <i>stata pulchritudo</i>&mdash;I am bound to confess
+that, with a single exception, I saw nothing approaching <i>supreme</i>
+perfection of form or feature.</p>
+
+<p>The exception was a very remarkable one.</p>
+
+<p>I write these words, as reverently as if I were drawing the portrait of
+the fair Austrian Empress, or any other crowned beauty: indeed, I always
+looked on that face, simply as a wonderful picture, and so I remember it
+now. I have never seen a countenance more faultlessly lovely. The <i>pose</i>
+of the small head, and the sweep of the neck, resembled the miniatures
+of Giulia Grisi in her youth, but the lines were more delicately drawn,
+and the <i>contour</i> more refined; the broad open forehead, the brows
+firmly arched, without an approach to heaviness, the thin chiselled
+nostril and perfect mouth, cast in the softest feminine mould, reminded
+you of the First Napoleon. Quick mobility of expression would have been
+inharmonious there. With all its purity of outline, the face was not
+severe or coldly statuesque&mdash;only superbly serene, not lightly to be
+ruffled by any sudden revulsion of feeling; a face, of which you never
+realized the perfect glory till the pink-coral tint flushed faintly
+through the clear pale cheeks, while the lift of the long trailing
+lashes revealed the magnificent eyes, lighting up, slowly and surely, to
+the full of their stormy splendor. It chanced, that the lady was a
+vehement Unionist, and "rose," very freely, on the subject of the war.
+Sincere in her honest patriotism, I doubt if she ever guessed at the
+real object of her opponent in the arguments which not unfrequently
+arose. If there be any indiscretion in this pen-and-ink sketch from
+nature, I should bitterly regret the involuntary error, though its
+subject, to the world in general, remains nameless as Lenore.</p>
+
+<p>There is another peculiarity of Baltimore society, which a stranger will
+only perceive when he has passed withinside its porches. It is divided,
+not only into sets, but, as it were, into clans. Several of the leading
+families, generally belonging to the territorial aristocracy (let the
+word stand) that took root in the State at, or soon after, its
+settlement, have so intermarried, as to create the most curious net of
+cousinship, the meshes of which are yearly becoming more intricate and
+numerous. Yet there are no especial indications of exclusiveness or
+spirit of <i>clique</i>; rather it is the homely feeling of kinsmanship,
+which makes the intercourse of relations more familiar and
+unceremonious, than that of intimate acquaintances or friends.</p>
+
+<p>Cadets from many powerful houses in all the three kingdoms, were among
+the early colonists of Maryland. It is good to mark, how gallantly the
+"old blood" hold its own, even here; how, the descendants of soldiers
+and statesmen have already attained the pride of place that their
+ancestors won at home centuries ago, by a like valiance of sword,
+tongue, or pen. Take one family, for instance, with whose members I was
+fortunate enough to be especially intimate.</p>
+
+<p>For generations past, the Howards have been men of mark in Maryland.
+Wherever hard or famous work was to be done, in field or senate, one, at
+least, of the name was sure to be found in the front. The present head
+of the family sustains right well the reputations of the worthies who
+went before him. A staunch friend and an uncompromising
+adversary&mdash;valuing political honesty no more lightly than private
+honor&mdash;liberal and unsuspicious to a fault in his social relations&mdash;very
+frank and simple in speech&mdash;in manner always courteous and cordial&mdash;it
+would be hard to find, in Europe, an apter representative of the ancient
+r&eacute;gime. I believe, that those who really know General Howard, will not
+consider this sketch a flattery or an exaggeration. He was a candidate
+for the Governorship at the last election, and so powerful was his
+acknowledged personal <i>prestige</i>, that, in despite of overt intimidation
+and secret influences, which made a free voting an absurdity, the Black
+Republicans exulted over his withdrawal as an important victory.</p>
+
+<p>Though ordinary business is so slack in Baltimore just at present,
+almost every male resident, not engaged in law or physic, has, or
+supposes himself to have, something to do. Instances of absolute
+idleness are very rare. So, by ten, A. M., all the men betake themselves
+to their offices, and there busy themselves about their affairs, after a
+fashion, energetic or desultory, till after two o'clock. The dinner hour
+varies from three to half-past five. Post-prandial labor is generally
+declined; wisely, too, for few American digestions will bear trifling
+with; though Nature must have gifted some of my acquaintance with a
+marvellous internal mechanism. How, otherwise, could they stand a long
+unbroken course of free living, with such infinitesimal correctives of
+exercise? The evening is spent after each man's fancy&mdash;at the club, or
+at one of the many houses where a familiar is certain to meet a welcome,
+and more or less of pleasant company. The entertainments are often more
+extensive and formal, embracing, of course, music, and such are
+invariably wound up by a supper. I have heard certain of our seniors
+grow quite pathetic over the abolition of those social, if unsalubrious,
+repasts. I wonder at such regrets no longer, if I cannot share them.
+There is surely an hilarious informality about these <i>media-nochi</i> that
+attaches to no antecedent feast; the freedom of a picnic, without its
+manifold inconveniences: as the witching hour draws nearer, the
+"brightest eyes that ever have shone" glitter yet more gloriously, till
+in their nearer and dearer splendor a Chaldean would forget the stars;
+and the "sweetest lips that ever were kissed" sip the creaming Verzenay,
+or savor the delicate "olio," with a keener honesty of zest. The
+supper-tables are almost always adorned by some of the pretty, quaint
+conceits of an artist, whose fame extends far beyond Baltimore. Mr.
+Hermann's ice-imitations of all fruits and flowers, are marvellously
+vivid and natural: I have never seen them equalled by any continental
+<i>glaciers</i>.</p>
+
+<p>I have lingered, perhaps, too long over too trifling details; and yet, I
+wish I had done my subject more justice. Be it remembered, that I
+visited Baltimore at a season of unusual social depression. I do not
+speak of the stagnation in commerce, and the ruin of Southern interests
+and possessions, from which many have suffered heavy pecuniary loss: the
+effects of the war come home to the fair city yet more sharply. For
+months past the best part of her <i>jeunesse dor&egrave;e</i> have been fighting&mdash;as
+only the daintily born and bred <i>can</i> fight, at bitter need&mdash;in the van
+of Southern armies.</p>
+
+<p>Every fresh rumor of battle adds to the crowd of pale, anxious faces,
+and every bulletin lengthens the list of mourners. There are few
+families, Federal or Secessionist, who have not relatives&mdash;none that
+have not dear friends&mdash;exposed to hourly peril, from disease, if not
+from lead or steel. The suspense felt in England during the Crimean or
+Indian wars, cannot be compared to that which many here are forced to
+endure. <i>We</i> knew, at least, where our soldiers were, and heard often
+how they fared: their sickness, wounds, and deaths were all recorded.
+But the scenes of this war's vast theatre are so often shifted, and
+communication with the remoter parts of the Southwest is so uncertain,
+that months will elapse without a line of tidings from the absent; the
+grass has grown and withered again, over many graves, before the weary
+hearts at home knew that the time was past, for waiting, and watching,
+and prayers.</p>
+
+<p>The last season in New York, they say, has been the gayest known for
+many years. The <i>nouveaux riches</i> have been spending their ill or well
+gotten gains right royally. But the temptations to exuberant festivity
+are few indeed in Baltimore, just now: with all that they have to endure
+and fear, it speaks well for the hardihood of her citizens, that they
+can maintain even a chastened cheerfulness.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IV" id="CHAPTER_IV"></a>CHAPTER IV.</h2>
+
+<h3>FRIENDS IN COUNCIL.</h3>
+
+
+<p>I may not deny that I found the places in which my lines were just then
+cast exceedingly pleasant: if no serious purpose had been before me I
+could have been contented to sojourn there till spring had waned. But it
+is some satisfaction now to be able to think and say&mdash;I do say it, in
+perfect honesty and sincerity&mdash;that I did not lose sight of my journey's
+main object for one single day from first to last. Indeed I should have
+felt far more impatient of delay had it not been for the continuance of
+foul weather, and recurrence of heavy storms, which made armies no less
+than individuals, impotent to act or move. On the morning following my
+arrival, I took counsel with one who was, perhaps, better able to advise
+me as to my future course than any one then resident in Baltimore:
+certainly none could have been more heartily willing to help, both in
+word and deed. I owe to that man much more than a debt of ordinary
+hospitality. To say that his courtesy and cordiality were marked, where
+benevolence to a stranger is the rule, would very faintly express the
+personal trouble he undertook and the personal risk he incurred in his
+efforts to facilitate and further my purposes. Up to this moment I do
+not believe that he has grudged one whit of all this, much as he may
+have chafed at all having proved unavailing. I am right sorry that
+prudence forbids my chronicling here a name which will always stand high
+on my muster-roll of friends; but the memory of almost any Englishman
+who has visited Baltimore will fill up the blank that I must leave
+perforce.</p>
+
+<p>It seemed that there was a choice of two routes into Secessia. The
+first&mdash;in many respects the easiest, and far the most traveled&mdash;lay
+through the lower counties of Maryland: the narrow peninsula on which
+Leonardstown is situated forming the starting point, whence the
+blockade-runner took to cross the Lower Potomac&mdash;there, from four to
+eight miles wide. It was necessary to run the gauntlet of several
+gun-boats and smaller craft; but traffic at that particular time was
+carried on with tolerable regularity, and captures, though not
+unfrequent, were, so far, exceptions to a rule. On the land route,
+before reaching the point of embarkation, lay the chief difficulties. A
+horseman traveling with saddle-bags, became at once a suspicious
+personage, liable everywhere to jealous scrutiny. The main roads were
+already becoming so cut up as to be traversed only with great toil and
+difficulty by ordinary vehicles, while the cross roads were simply
+impassable by wheels. The principal turnpikes still hard enough to carry
+a "stage," <i>e. g.</i>, that from Washington to Leonardstown, were more
+carefully guarded, and picketed at certain points, especially bridges.
+At any one of these points, a search might be apprehended, and anything
+beyond the simplest necessaries was liable to seizure as contraband of
+war; personal arrest might possibly follow, but the Federal outposts
+were said to content themselves, as a rule, with confiscation and
+appropriation, unless any documents of a compromising nature were found.
+Such a course was obviously pleasanter for all parties, than sending in
+prisoners&mdash;with their effects. Now it so chanced, that in the
+modest&mdash;not to say scanty&mdash;outfit, which I thought it worth while to
+bring out from home, was a certain pair of riding boots, by which I set
+especial store. They were such as many of our field-officers now in
+Canada are in the habit of wearing&mdash;coming high up on the thigh,
+perfectly water-proof, but very light, and pliant as a glove. I saw
+nothing of American manufacture to compare with them. Some of my
+duck-shooting acquaintance at Baltimore were never weary of admiring
+their fair proportions; nor did my sage counselor, before alluded to,
+refuse his warm approbation; but he urged very strongly the hazard of my
+wearing them on my way to the Lower Potomac&mdash;to carry or transmit them
+otherwise was simply impossible. Nevertheless, neither Bombastes nor
+Dalgetty could have clung more obstinately to this favorite <i>chaussure</i>
+than did I to mine. I knew that in the South, where an ordinary pair of
+cavalry boots commands readily seventy dollars or more, they could not
+be matched, and I had not</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i1">Lived in the saddle for years a score,<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>without learning that on a long march the value of thoroughly well
+fitting and comfortable nether integuments is "above rubies." And they
+did carry me right well and safely through many rough ways and much wild
+weather, impervious alike to water, mud, rain, or snow. I <i>will</i> give
+honor where honor is due. Fagg, of Panton street, was the architect.<a name="FNanchor_1_1" id="FNanchor_1_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a>
+So I "set my foot down," literally and metaphorically, on this point,
+absolutely determined that boots and saddle-bags should share my
+fortunes. Eventually I compromised things, by investing in a colossal
+pair of overalls, warranted to smother and obliterate the proportions of
+any human legs, however encased beneath.</p>
+
+<p>But during this discussion the other route came naturally into question.
+It was the one most generally attempted by horsemen, and during the last
+ten weeks had been traversed repeatedly with perfect success.</p>
+
+<p>In this neighborhood there were one or two fords, easily crossed at
+ordinary seasons, and only impassable after continuous downfalls of snow
+or rain. In fact, the chief obstacle was not the river but the
+Chesapeake and Ohio canal, which runs close along the northern bank from
+Cumberland to Washington. It is not broad, but very deep, muddy, and
+precipitous, nor could I hear of any one who had succeeded in getting a
+horse across it, or who had even made the attempt. The only passages
+were by bridges over, and culverts under, the water-way. These were, of
+course, zealously guarded; but it was possible, occasionally, to attack
+a picket with an irresistible "silver spear;" and several instances had
+lately occurred of sentinels keeping their eyes and ears shut fast
+during the brief time required for a small mounted party to pass their
+posts. I do not mean to insinuate that venality was the general rule; so
+far from this being the case, I understood that it was necessary to make
+such overtures with great caution, while the negotiation involved
+certain delay and possible failure. Detachments were constantly shifted
+from point to point, and regiments from station to station. Some corps
+were notoriously more accessible than others. According to common
+report, the recruits from New England, Massachusetts, and Connecticut
+were the easiest to deal with, and the subalterns were said to be
+usually open to a fair offer. But perhaps this was a scandal after all;
+for the Marylander holds the Yankee proper in such bitter dislike and
+contempt that he would miss no chance of a by-blow.</p>
+
+<p>Once over the river at this point and you were comparatively safe. There
+were no regular pickets or patrols on the further bank, and only
+scattered reconnoitering parties of cavalry were to be evaded. Under
+cover of darkness, with a good local guide, this was easily done&mdash;one
+long night's ride.</p>
+
+<p>To this route my Mentor and I did at last seriously incline, for good
+and sufficient reasons.</p>
+
+<p>The Southern "trooper" fares, I believe, far better in many ways than
+his Northern compeer. Besides being more carefully groomed and tended,
+he carries a rider better able to husband a failing animal's strength,
+so as to "nurse him home." But the "raiders" travel often far and fast
+through a country fetlock-deep on light land, where provender is scanty
+and shelter there is none. The daily wear and tear of horse-flesh during
+this last bitter winter has been something fearful, and even at the time
+I speak of the difficulty of obtaining a really serviceable "mount" in
+Virginia could hardly be over-estimated. From one thousand to one
+thousand five hundred dollars were spoken of as ordinary prices for a
+fair charger, and men willing to give that sum had been forced to go
+into South Carolina before they could suit themselves. In my own case
+the difficulty was increased; for in hard condition, without cloak,
+valise, or accoutrements, I drew fourteen stone one pound, in a common
+hunting-saddle. Now, an animal well up to that weight, with anything
+like action on a turn of speed, is right hard to find on the
+Transatlantic seaboard. Even in Maryland, where horse-flesh is
+comparatively plenty, and breeders of blood-stock abound, such a
+specimen is a rarity. Even among the stallions, I can scarcely remember
+one coming up to the standard of a real weight-carrier, with the
+exception of Black Hawk. I saw hundreds of active, wiry hackneys,
+excellently adapted for fast, <i>light</i> work, either in shafts or under
+saddle; their courage and endurance, too, are beyond question; but
+looking at them with a view to long, repeated marches (where&mdash;if
+ever&mdash;you ought to have ten "pounds in hand"), I decided that they were
+about able to carry&mdash;the boots honorably mentioned above. However, after
+mature consideration and long debate, it was settled that I should, if
+possible, be mounted before starting, instead of trusting to chance
+beyond the border. This, of course, decided the selection of routes: no
+quadruped could cross the Lower Potomac.</p>
+
+<p>Some scores of miles up the country there lived, and I trust lives
+still, a certain small horse-dealer, a firm Secessionist at heart, well
+versed in the time-tables of the road southward; indeed, his house was,
+as it were, a principal station on the underground railway. He was
+reputed trustworthy, and fairly honest in traffic. I can indorse this
+conscientiously, only hoping that such a remarkable characteristic as
+the last named will not identify the individual to his hurt. I was at
+once put into communication with Mr. &mdash;&mdash; Symonds, let us call him, for
+the sake of old hippic memories. He spoke confidently as to my ultimate
+prospects of getting across, without pretending to fix an exact day, or
+even week. Shortly before my arrival he had forwarded several travelers,
+who arrived at their journey's end without the slightest let or
+hindrance. I suppose there is no indiscretion in saying that Lord
+Hartington and Colonel Leslie were among the fortunate ones. Mr. Symonds
+"thought he had something that would suit me," and, a few days later,
+the animal and the dealer paraded for inspection in Baltimore.</p>
+
+<p>I was much pleased with both. The man seemed to understand his business
+thoroughly; without making extravagant promises, he expressed himself
+willing to serve my purpose to the utmost of his power, at any
+reasonable risk to himself, and spoke very moderately about the horse,
+asking for nothing more than a fair trial of his merits. I liked the
+animal better than anything I had seen so far. He was a dark-brown
+gelding, about 15.3, with strong, square hind-quarters, and a fair slope
+of shoulder&mdash;without much knee-action&mdash;but springy enough in his slow
+paces: his turn of speed was not remarkable, but he could last forever,
+and, if the ground were not too heavy, would gallop on easily for miles
+with a long, steady stride; like most Maryland-bred horses, he had
+wonderfully clean, flat legs: after the hardest day's work, I never saw
+a puff on them; he was not sulky or savage, but had a temper and will of
+his own; both of these, however, yielded, after a sharp wrangle or two,
+to the combined influence of coaxing and a pair of sharp English rowels:
+in the latter days of our acquaintance we never had a difference of
+opinion. Considering the scarcity of staunch horse-flesh, the price
+asked was very moderate, and I closed the bargain on the spot. I was
+assured that my new purchase was of the Black Hawk stock, and he was
+christened "Falcon" that same day.</p>
+
+<p>So Mr. Symonds departed, promising to set all possible wheels to work,
+and to inform me of the earliest opportunity for a start, the first
+<i>desideratum</i> being, of course, a reliable guide.</p>
+
+<p>I cannot say that the hours of my detention hung heavily. The social
+attractions of the place were ample enough to fill up afternoons and
+evenings right pleasantly. In the mornings, whenever the weather was not
+pitilessly bad, I rode or drove through the country round.</p>
+
+<p>I think no one understands the full luxury of rapid motion without
+bodily exertion, till they have sat behind a pair of first-class
+American trotters. The "wagon," to begin with, is a mechanical triumph.
+It is wonderful to see such lightness combined with such strength and
+stability. I have seen one, after five years' constant usage over
+fearfully bad roads. It was owned by a man noted for reckless pace,
+where many Jehus drove furiously; not a bolt or joint had started, the
+hickory of shafts and spokes still seemed tough as hammered steel. These
+carriages are roomy enough, and fairly comfortable, when you are in
+them, but that same entrance is apt rather to puzzle a stranger. The
+fore and hind wheels are nearly the same height, and set very close
+together; even when the fore-carriage is turned so that they nearly
+lock, the space left for ascent between them is narrow indeed; this same
+arrangement renders, of course, impossible a sudden turn in a contracted
+circle. But the dames and demoiselles who put their trust in these rapid
+chariots, make a mock at such small difficulties. You are shamed into
+activity after once seeing your fair charge spring to her place, with
+graceful confidence, never soiling the skirt of her dainty robe.</p>
+
+<p>The team that I used to drive constantly were fair, but not remarkable
+performers; their best mile-time was a trifle under three minutes twenty
+seconds. Their owner had not had leisure to keep them in steady
+exercise, so that at first they were very skittish, and prone to break;
+but they soon settled down to their work, and then did not pull an ounce
+too much for pleasure, even when spinning along at top-speed, with their
+small lean heads thrust eagerly forward, after the fashion of the barbs
+called "Drinkers of the Wind." Once I drove, in single harness, a
+trotter whose time was close on two minutes forty-five seconds; but this
+is not considered anything extraordinary, and the outside price of such
+an animal would be under one thousand dollars: once "inside the forties"
+the fancy prices begin, and go up rapidly to four thousand dollars, or
+higher.</p>
+
+<p>It must be remembered that the roads in these parts cannot be compared,
+either for level or metal, with the highways over our champagne, they
+"cut up" fast in rough weather, and settle slowly, while the ground
+generally sinks and swells too abruptly to allow of a lengthened stretch
+at full speed. I often wished that the whole "turn-out" of which I have
+spoken could be transported, without the risk of sea-passage, into one
+of our eastern counties. I can hardly conceive a greater luxury to a
+"coachman" than sending such a pair along on the road leading into
+Norfolk from Newmarket.</p>
+
+<p>I had been some time in Baltimore before I was honored by an
+introduction to the most renowned&mdash;it is a bold word&mdash;of all its
+beauties. To many, even in England, the name of "Flora Temple" will not
+sound strange: her great feat of the mile in two minutes nineteen
+seconds has never yet been equaled, and for the last three years she has
+rested idly on her laurels, in default of any challenger to dispute her
+sovereignty of the turf. Her owner, W. Macdonald, Esq., resides within a
+short distance of the city, and, I doubt not, would receive any stranger
+with the same courtesy that he extended to me. His stables are well
+worth a visit, for, besides the fair champion, they contain several
+other trotters of no mean repute (one team, the "Chicago Chestnuts," is
+a notoriety), and the carriages exemplify every improvement of American
+manufacture. The building itself is very peculiar&mdash;perfectly circular,
+with a diameter of one hundred feet, and a dome-roof rising to fifty
+feet at the crown. In the centre is a large fountain of white marble,
+round which is a broad tan-ride, and outside this again the stalls,
+horse boxes, harness and carriage apartments.</p>
+
+<p>On the left-hand side of the entrance-arch is a large chamber,
+rush-strewn, like the firing-room of some ancient ch&acirc;telaine, but
+brilliant with polished wood and metal, gorgeous with stained glass:
+that is the boudoir of the Queen of the Turf, and over the door-way are
+her titles of honor emblazoned. The Great Lady, as is the wont of her
+compeers, is somewhat capricious at times, and disinclined to parade her
+beauty before strangers; but she chanced to be in a special good humor
+that day, and allowed me to admire her "points" at leisure.</p>
+
+<p>It is hard to fancy a more faultless picture of compact activity and
+strength. Viewed from a distance, and, at first sight, her proportions
+deceive every one; you are surprised, indeed, when you come close to her
+withers, and find that you are standing by a veritable pony, barely
+reaching fourteen hands three inches. But look at the long slope of
+shoulder&mdash;the chest wide enough to give the largest lungs free play in
+their labor&mdash;the flat, square quarters, the muscular fullness of the
+upper limbs, so perfectly "let down," the clear, sinewy legs, without a
+curb-mark or windfall to tell tales of fearfully fast work and hard
+training&mdash;and you will wonder less how the championship was won. They
+say that the Queen was never fitter than now; yet since her zenith she
+has seldom rested, and is now long past the equine climacteric, and far
+advanced in her teens.</p>
+
+<p>This part of America is so constantly visited by my compatriots, that it
+may be well, while we are on this subject, to say a few words about the
+sporting resources of Maryland.</p>
+
+<p>There is very fair partridge-shooting in many districts. As I crossed
+the country in mid-winter, I could hardly judge of what the autumn cover
+would be; but I heard that of this there was no lack, and that in
+October the birds would lie right well, especially in the weedy
+stubbles, and along the brushy banks of water-courses. In many places a
+fair shot may reckon on from ten to fifteen brace, and I could name two
+guns that have not unfrequently bagged from thirty to fifty brace on the
+Eastern Shore; but I believe they shot with unusually "straight powder."
+There is a good show of woodcock at certain seasons; but it sounds
+strange to English ears when they speak of the season opening in June;
+the bird is much smaller than ours, weighing, I believe, about seven or
+eight ounces, and it is found much oftener in comparatively open ground
+than in thick woodland.</p>
+
+<p>But the royal sport of Maryland is the wildfowl shooting on the
+Chesapeake Bay. The best of the season was passed long before my
+arrival; but in two visits to Carroll's Island, I saw enough to feel
+sure that my Baltimore friends vaunted not its capabilities in vain. I
+cannot remember having seen elsewhere so promising a "ducking-point."
+Imagine a low, marshy peninsula, verging landward into stunted woods,
+full of irregular water-courses and stagnant pools&mdash;tapering off seaward
+into a mere spit of sand, on which reeds and bent-grass scarcely deign
+to grow, towards the extreme point, just where the neck is narrowest,
+are the "blinds"&mdash;ten or twelve in number&mdash;a long gunshot apart, in
+which the "fowlers" lurk, waiting for their prey. On either side stretch
+the broad estuary of the Gunpowder River, and the broader waters of the
+Chesapeake, along whose shallows lie the banks of the wild celery on
+which the canvas-back loves to feed. Changing these feeding-grounds soon
+after dawn and shortly before sunset, the fowls naturally cross the neck
+of the little peninsula: they will never willingly pass over land,
+unless they can see water close beyond. Occasionally you may have fair
+shooting all through the day, but, as a rule, the above-mentioned hours
+are those alone when good "flying" may be reckoned on. When it <i>is</i>
+good, the sport must be superb: it is the very sublimation of
+"rocketing." You must hold straight and forward to stop a cock-pheasant
+whizzing over the leafless tree-tops&mdash;well up in the keen January wind;
+but a swifter traveler yet is the canvas-back drake, as he swings over
+the bar, at the fullest speed of his whistling pinions, disdaining to
+turn a foot from his appointed course, albeit vaguely suspecting the
+ambush below. The height of the "flying" varies, of course, greatly. I
+saw nothing brought down, to the best of my calculation, within
+forty-five or fifty yards, and most were much beyond that distance. At
+first you let several chances slip, believing them to be out of shot;
+but the mighty duck-guns, carrying five or six drams of strong coarse
+powder, do their work gallantly; and nothing can be more refreshing than
+the <i>aplomb</i> with which their victims, stricken down from that dizzy
+height, strike water, reeds, or sand.</p>
+
+<p>Among the many varieties of fowl&mdash;varying from wild swan to
+widgeon&mdash;that are slain here, the canvas-back holds, by common consent,
+the pre-eminence for delicacy of flavor and tenderness of meat; but I
+confess I have thought almost as highly of an occasional "red-head" in
+perfect condition.</p>
+
+<p>This, the most celebrated of all ducking points on the Chesapeake, is
+rented by a club, the members of which are all resident in Baltimore, or
+its neighborhood; the number, I think, is limited to twelve. When they
+muster in force, the sleeping accommodation must necessarily be limited,
+as Mr. Russell describes it; but there is room and verge enough in the
+quaint old homestead of the proprietor for any ordinary party. The burly
+host himself is quite in keeping with the place, and bears his part
+right jovially in the rough-and-ready revels that contrast not
+disagreeably with the social amenities left behind in the city. I spent
+some very pleasant hours of sunshine and twilight at the "Colonel's";
+(he has as good a right to the title as many more pretentious
+dignitaries), though the "flying" was indifferent on both my visits. On
+the first occasion, though several varieties of fowl were bagged, we
+only secured one canvas-back, which was courteous enough to tumble to
+the stranger's gun. Sooth to say, the first interview with the
+uncompromising contraband who hakes you <i>is</i> a trial, and it is bitterly
+cold work for feet and fingers, when you first come into your "blind"
+under the early dawn; but the blood soon warms up as the warning cries
+from the markers become more frequent; the pulse quickens as the dark
+specks or lines loom nearer, defined against the dull red or silvery
+gray of the sky-line; chills and shivers are all forgotten, as your
+first "red-head," pioneer of a whole "skeen" from the river&mdash;crashes
+down yards behind you, on the hard, wet sand that fringes the bay.</p>
+
+<p>In the genial October weather, during which comes the cream of the
+flying, the sojourn at Carroll's Island must be enviably delightful. But
+much I fear, that next autumn's prospects look brighter for the fowl
+than for their sedulous persecutors. Who can say what changes may have
+been wrought in the fortunes of some of those cheery sportsmen before
+next season shall open. Perhaps ere that the echoes of the Chesapeake
+will be waked by an artillery that would drown the roar even of the
+mighty duck-gun. The sea-fishing in the bay is remarkably good, but it
+is not greatly affected by amateurs; and very few yachts are seen on its
+usually placid waters. Almost all the streams round the Chesapeake, in
+spite of their being perpetually "thrashed," and never preserved, abound
+in small trout; but farther afield, in Northwestern Maryland, where the
+tributaries of the Potomac and Shenandoah flow down the woody ravines of
+Cheat Mountain and the Blue Ridge, there is room for any number of
+fly-rods, and fish heavy enough to bend the stiffest of them all.</p>
+
+<p>Before troubles began, they used to hunt, after a fashion, in most of
+the upland districts; but the sport can hardly be very exciting. The
+gravest of the "potterings" of ancient days, when our great-grandsires
+used to "drag" up their fox while the dew lay heavy on the grass, was a
+"cracker" compared to one of these runs, as I heard them described.
+Three or four couple of cross-bred hounds do occasionally weary and
+worry to death their unhappy quarry, after three or four hours "ringing"
+through endless woodlands; unless, indeed, he goes earlier to ground, in
+which case he is dug out to meet a quicker and more merciful death. The
+fact, that a heavy fall of snow is supposed greatly to facilitate
+matters, about settles the question of "sport." I should like to ask
+Charles Payne, or Goddard, their opinion of "pricking" a fox. However,
+to ride straight and fast over such a country would be simply
+impossible; their detestable snake-fences meet you everywhere, with
+their projecting "zigzags" of loosely-piled rails; you can hardly ever
+get a chance of taking them in your stride, and they are a fair standing
+jump with the top bar removed, which generally involves dismounting. The
+name of poor Falcon had led me so far afield, that I must continue my
+own chronicle in another chapter.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_V" id="CHAPTER_V"></a>CHAPTER V.</h2>
+
+<h3>THE FORD.</h3>
+
+
+<p>In about ten days I heard from Mr. Symonds. The road was not yet open,
+but a party was waiting to start. He had secured me a henchman in the
+shape of a private in an Alabama regiment who was anxious to accompany
+any one south, without fee or reward. The man was said to be well
+acquainted with the country beyond the Potomac, besides being really
+honest and courageous. I had no reason to question these qualifications,
+though his tongue was apt to stir too loudly for prudence, and too fast
+for truth; while over the manner of his release (he had been for months
+a prisoner of war), there hung a mystery never cleared up
+satisfactorily. It was necessary, of course, that my squire should be
+mounted, and after some deliberation, it was settled that I should
+furnish him with a steed. I was moved thereto, partly from a wish to
+spare Falcon all dead weight in the shape of saddle-bags, partly from
+the knowledge that superfluous horse-flesh was a commodity easily and
+profitably disposed of in Secessia. I did not trouble myself much about
+my second horseman's mount, merely stipulating for a moderate animal at
+a moderate price. I bought indeed "in the dark," and did not see my
+purchase till the day before our first actual start. This last
+negotiation concluded, I had nothing to do but to abide patiently till
+it pleased others to sound "boot and saddle."</p>
+
+<p>So day followed day till, in spite of all the social attractions of
+Baltimore, I began to chafe bitterly under the delay. I never could get
+rid of a half-guilty consciousness that I ought to be somewhere else,
+and that somewhere&mdash;far away. On the morning of 17th February, I was in
+the office of my friend and chief counselor, above mentioned, discussing
+the propriety of throwing aside the upper route altogether&mdash;selling back
+my cattle&mdash;and making my way as straight as possible to the shores of
+the Lower Potomac. We were actually debating the point when the door
+opened, and disclosed Mr. Symonds. He had come all in hot haste to tell
+us that a main obstacle was removed. The water had been let out of the
+Chesapeake and Ohio canal, so that it could now be easily crossed at any
+unguarded point. The picket was of necessity so widely scattered as to
+be easily evaded. The small party that my squire and I were to join,
+meant starting at latest on the following Friday or Saturday night. Mr.
+Symonds had no recent intelligence from the immediate bank of the river,
+but he believed that, in despite of the heavy rains and occasional snow
+storms, we should find one crossing place&mdash;White's Ford to wit&mdash;still
+barely practicable.</p>
+
+<p>I was already furnished with sadlery, &amp;c., but small final preparations
+and divers leave-takings filled up every spare minute till afternoon on
+the following day. I was to sleep the first night at a house only a few
+miles from Mr. Symonds', so as to be in readiness to start at two hours'
+notice, and my Mentor insisted on seeing me so far on my way. It had
+been snowing at intervals all the morning, and the flakes were driving
+thick and blindingly as we drove out of Baltimore. Our team faced the
+heavy road and frequent hills right gallantly, but the fifteen miles
+seemed long, that brought us to the door of our quarters, faces aching
+with the lash of sleet&mdash;beard and moustaches frozen to bitterness.</p>
+
+<p>As my hosts were in nowise privy to my plans, I may venture to say, that
+for the next three days I was more or less a guest at Drohoregan Manor.
+This ancient homestead of the Carroll family is very well described by
+Mr. Russell in his "Diary:" his visit, however, was to the late
+Professor, who died last year. The law of primogeniture does not prevail
+here, and it was only an accidental succession of single heirs, that
+brought an undivided patrimony down to the present generation. One
+cannot help regretting that the estate is to be cut up now into five
+shares or more. Eleven thousand acres of fertile hill and dale, sinking
+and swelling gently, so as to attract all the benignity of sun or
+breeze&mdash;not more densely wooded than is common on our own western
+shores, and watered to an ornamental perfection&mdash;truly on any civilized
+land, such is a goodly heritage.</p>
+
+<p>The home-farm of Drohoregan Manor has long been celebrated for the
+breeding of a high-class stock of all kinds. I saw sheep there scarcely
+coarser than the average of Southdowns; and some fine, level,
+clean-limbed steers. Here has stood, for a dozen years past, the
+renowned Black Hawk, considered by many superior to his sire, the Morgan
+stallion of the same name. As I before said, he realized my idea of a
+thoroughbred weight carrier, better than anything I saw in Maryland;
+though if one of his stock&mdash;a brown two-year-old colt&mdash;"furnishes"
+according to present promise, he will probably be surpassed in his turn.
+There was a large number of colts and fillies well adapted for rapid
+road work; and I was not surprised to hear that at the sale which
+followed quickly on my visit, they fetched more than average prices. I
+did not think so highly of the cart stock, principally the produce of a
+big gray Pereheron horse. Both he and Black Hawk remain in their present
+quarters, for the late Colonel Carroll's eldest son retains the Manor
+House, and proposes, I believe, to continue both the farming and
+breeding establishments on no diminished scale. I rode up to Mr.
+Symonds' in the afternoon of the 19th; he was absent, but his wife
+informed me that it was possible&mdash;though scarcely probable&mdash;that our
+party would start the following night. Then, for the first time, I made
+acquaintance with my squire for the nonce&mdash;"Alick" he was called; I
+cannot remember his surname&mdash;he had a rugged, honest face, and a manner
+to match; but I was rather disconcerted at hearing that he knew no more
+of riding or stable work than he had picked up in a fortnight's
+irregular practice in an establishment where horses as well as men were
+taught to "rough it" in good earnest.</p>
+
+<p>I liked my new purchase much more than my new acquaintance. The former
+was a raw-boned, leggy roan, with a coarse head, a dull eye, and a
+weakish neck, far too low in condition, as I saw and said at once; not
+fitted for long travel through a country where a horse must needs lose
+flesh daily, from pure lack of provender. However, there was no time to
+make a change, so I was fain to hope that easy journeys at first, and a
+light weight on his back, might gradually bring the ungainly beast into
+better form. It appeared that he was just recovering from the distemper
+and "sore tongue," which had followed each other in rapid succession.
+These two diseases are the terror and bane of Virginian and Maryland
+stables. An animal who has once surmounted them is supposed to be
+seasoned, and acquires considerable additional value, like a "salted"
+horse in Southern Africa.</p>
+
+<p>So I returned to the Manor for that night, and thither, early the next
+morning, came Symonds in person. He informed me that the start from his
+house would not take place till after nightfall on the following
+evening, so that I had thirty vacant hours before me, I knew that the
+English mail had reached Baltimore, and it then seemed so uncertain when
+letters would reach me again, that I could not resist the temptation of
+securing my correspondence. My host was himself returning to the city,
+so I accepted the offer of a seat in his wagon, and we had a pleasant
+drive back through the clear frosty weather.</p>
+
+<p>The next day&mdash;having made the Post-office "part," and said those few
+more last words that are forgotten at every leave-taking&mdash;I retraced my
+steps, by the afternoon train, to Ellicott's Mills, where I found a
+carriage from Drohoregan Manor awaiting me. At this point, the Patapsco
+hurries through a channel narrowed by embankments and encroachments of
+the granite cliffs, looking upon the yellow water streaked with huge
+foam-clots, chafing against its banks lip high. I could not but augur
+ill for our chances of traversing a wider and wilder stream. But it was
+too early then to think of desponding, so casting forebodings behind, I
+drove up to our rallying place, rattling over four long leagues under
+seventy minutes. The black ponies tossed their heads, and champed their
+bits, gayly, as they made best time over the last mile.</p>
+
+<p>I found that the party that purposed actually to cross the Potomac was,
+from one cause or another, reduced to four, including myself and my
+attendant. A cousin of Symonds', hight Walter, with the same
+surname&mdash;there is a perfect clan of them in those parts&mdash;was to
+accompany us only to our first resting-place, a farm-house about
+eighteen miles off. Our proposed companions were both Maryland men; one
+had already served for some months in a regiment of Confederate cavalry,
+and was returning to his duty, after one of those furloughs&mdash;often
+self-granted&mdash;in which the Borderers are prone to indulge; the other was
+a mere youth, and had never seen a shot fired; but a more enthusiastic
+recruit could hardly be conceived.</p>
+
+<p>Twilight had melted into darkness long before the rest of the party
+arrived; then an hour or more was consumed in the last preparations and
+refreshments. It was fully nine o'clock on the night of February 21st,
+when we started from Symonds' door, strengthened for the journey with a
+warm stirrup-cup, and warmer kind wishes from the family, including two
+<i>very</i> "sympathizing" damsels, who had come in from neighboring
+homesteads to bid the Southward-bound good speed.</p>
+
+<p>Before we had ridden a mile, the Marylanders turned off to a house where
+they were to take up some letters, promising to rejoin us before we had
+gone a league. But we traversed more than that distance, at the slowest
+foot-pace, without being overtaken, and at length determined to wait for
+the laggards, drawing back about thirty paces off the path, into a glade
+where there was partial shelter from the icy wind that swept past, laden
+with coming snow. There we tarried for a long half-hour (told on my
+watch by a fusee-light), and still no signs of our companions. Symonds
+(the cousin), who abode with us still, began to mutter doubts, and the
+Alabama man to grumble curses (he had ever a fatal facility in
+blasphemy), and I own to having entertained divers disagreeable
+misgivings, though I carefully avoided expressing them. At last our
+guide thought it best that we should make our way to a lonely
+farm-house, about seven miles short of our night's destination, where,
+in any case, the party was to have called in passing. So we wound on
+through the narrow wood-paths in single file&mdash;sinking occasionally
+pastern-deep, where the thin ice over mud-holes supplanted the safe
+crackling snow-crests&mdash;traversing frequent fords, where rills had
+swollen into brooks and turbid streams; some of those gullies must have
+been dark even at noon-day, with overhanging cypress and pine; they were
+so bitterly black now that you were fain to follow close on the splash
+in your front, for no mortal ken could have pierced half a horse's
+length ahead. At length, we left the path altogether, and pulling down a
+snake fence, passed through the gap into open fields. It was all plain
+sailing here, and a great relief after groping through the dim woodland;
+we encountered no obstacle but an occasional "zigzag," easily
+demolished, till we came to a deep hollow, where the guide
+dismounted&mdash;evidently rather vague as to his bearings&mdash;and proceeded to
+feel his way. Somewhere about here there was a "branch" (or rivulet) to
+be crossed, and danger of bog and marsh if you went astray. At last he
+professed to have discovered the right point; but neither force nor
+persuasion could induce the stubborn brute he rode to face it. There was
+nothing for it but trying what "giving him a lead" would do. The place
+was evidently a small one, but the landing absolutely uncertain; so I
+put Falcon at it steadily, letting him have his head. Then first the
+poor horse displayed his remarkable talent for getting over difficulties
+in the dark, a talent that I have never seen equaled in any other
+animal, and which alone made him invaluable. He took off&mdash;almost at a
+stand&mdash;out of clay up to his hocks, exactly at the right time, and
+landed me on firm ground without a scramble. A minute afterward there
+came a rush, a splutter, and a crash, and a struggling mass rolled at my
+feet, gradually resolving itself into a man, a roan horse, and two
+saddle-bags. So sped Alabama's maiden leap. It was soft falling,
+however, and no harm beyond the breaking of a strap was done; but it was
+fully three-quarters of an hour before our united efforts got Symonds'
+refugee across. We accomplished it at last by hurling the brute
+backwards into the branch by main strength, and then wading ourselves
+through mud that just touched the upper edge of my thigh-boots. Once
+over, the track was easily found, and a barking chorus, performed by
+half a dozen vigilant mongrels, guided us up to the homestead we were
+seeking, just as the snow began to fall heavily. The stout farmer was
+soon on foot&mdash;men sleep lightly in these troublous times&mdash;proffering
+food, fire, and shelter. Our guide strongly advised our remaining there
+till we could gain some tidings of our lost companions; it seemed so
+unlikely that they should have passed or missed us on the road, that he
+could not but fear lest accident or treachery should have detained them;
+he offered himself to retrace our track, and make all inquiries, which
+he alone could do safely. So it was settled; and, after making the
+horses as comfortable as rude accommodation would allow, my squire and I
+betook ourselves to rest, not unwillingly, about three, A. M.</p>
+
+<p>The traveler's first waking impulse leads him straight to the window or
+to the weather-glass. I turned away from the look-out in utter disgust;
+a hundred yards off, through the cloud of driving snow-flakes, and a
+level white mantel, rising up to the tower bars of the snake-fences,
+merged tillage into pasture undistinguishably. I chronicled that same
+day as the dreariest of all <i>then</i> remembered Sabbaths. Besides some odd
+numbers of an ancient Methodist magazine, there was no literature
+available, and all the letters that I cared to write had been dispatched
+before I left Baltimore.</p>
+
+<p>A visit to the shed which sheltered our horses, did not greatly raise
+one's spirits. Poor Falcon was hardy as a Shetlander, and in any
+ordinary weather I never thought of clothing him, but no wonder he
+shivered there, under a rug, coated inch-deep with snow; the rough-hewn
+sides and crazy roof gaping with fissures a hand-breadth wide and more,
+were scanty defense against the furious drift, which swept through, not
+to be denied. I tried to comfort my horse, by chafing his legs and ears
+till both were thoroughly warm, setting Alick at the same task with the
+roan; though clumsy and apt to be obstinate, he worked with a will. At
+last we had the satisfaction of seeing both animals feed, with an
+appetite that I, for one, could not but envy. Our hosts were so cordial
+in their honest hospitality, that one felt ungrateful in being so
+wearily bored. In the afternoon we had a visit from a neighboring
+farmer, who, I believe, had been summoned with the benevolent intent
+that he should enlighten or entertain the stranger. He was one of those
+stout, elderly men, who, by dint of a certain portliness of presence,
+gravity of manner, and slowness of speech, acquire in their own country
+much honor for social or political wisdom. He was quite up to the
+average rank of rustic oracles; nevertheless, our converse dragged
+heavily; it was "up hill all the way." There was a depressing formality
+about the whole arrangement; my interlocutor sat exactly opposite to me,
+putting one cut-and-dried question after another; never removing his
+eyes from my face, while I answered to the best of my power, save to
+glance at the silent audience, as though praying them to note such and
+such points carefully. I began to feel as I did in the schools long ago,
+when the <i>viv&acirc; voce</i> examiner was putting me through my facings; and was
+really glad when the one-sided dialogue ended. The queries were very
+simple for the most part, relating chiefly to the sympathies and
+intentions of Great Britain, with regard to the war. On the latter point
+I could, of course, give no information beyond vague surmises,
+practically worthless; as to the former, I thought myself justified in
+saying that the balance of public feeling, in the upper and agricultural
+classes especially, leant decidedly southward. But here, as elsewhere, I
+found it impossible to make Secessionists understand or allow the
+wisdom, justice, or generosity of the non-interference policy hitherto
+pursued by our Government. This is not the time or place to discuss an
+important question of statecraft, nor am I presumptuous enough to assert
+that different and more decisive measures would have had all the good
+effect that their advocates insist upon; but however justifiable
+England's conduct may have been according to theories of international
+law, I fear the practical result will be that she has secured the
+permanent enmity of one powerful people, and the discontented distrust
+of another. It is ill trusting even proverbs implicitly; that old one,
+about the safe middle course, will break down, like the rest, sometimes.
+My pertinacious querist stopped, I suppose, when he had got to the end
+of his list, and apparently spent the rest of the evening in a slow
+process of digestion; for he would break out, now and then, at the most
+irrelevant times, with a repetition of one of his former interrogations,
+which I had to answer again, briefly as I might. About sundown <i>le Bon
+Gualtier</i> returned, sorely travel-worn himself, and with an utterly
+exhausted horse. He had ascertained that our companions had gone on,
+probably to our original destination of the previous night; though why
+they should have passed our present resting-place without calling there,
+remained a mystery; nor was that point ever satisfactorily explained. To
+proceed at once was impossible, for a fresh horse had to be found for
+our guide; this, a cousin of our host's offered to provide by the
+following evening (we could not venture to stir abroad in daylight); he
+also offered to make his way to the farm where the missing men were
+supposed to be, early in the morning, and to bring back certain
+intelligence of their movements. This was only one instance of the
+cordial kindness and hearty co-operation which I met with at the hands
+of these sturdy yeomen. Not only would they rise and open their doors at
+the untimeliest of hours, and entertain you with their choicest of
+fatlings, corn, and wine, but there was no amount of personal toil or
+risk that they would not gladly undergo to forward any southward-bound
+stranger on his way; nor could you have insulted your host more grossly
+than by hinting at pecuniary guerdon. Before midnight the snow had
+ceased to fall; the next morning broke bright and sunnily, though the
+frost still held on sharply. Two or three visitors, masculine and
+feminine, came in sleighs during the day, and altogether it passed much
+more rapidly than the preceding one. About four, P. M., our good-natured
+messenger returned; our comrades had duly reached the spot originally
+fixed for the Saturday night's halt, and had pursued their journey on
+the Sunday evening to the farm which was to be our last point before
+attempting the Potomac; their written explanation was very vague, but
+they promised to wait for us at the house they were then making for. We
+at once determined to press on thus far that night, though the score or
+more of miles of crow-flight between would certainly be lengthened at
+least a third, by the <i>d&ecirc;tours</i> necessary to avoid probable pickets or
+outposts, and the deep snow must make the going fearfully heavy.
+Walter's fresh mount came down&mdash;a powerful, active mare, in good working
+condition, but with weak, cracked hoofs that would not have carried her
+a day's march on hard, stony roads.</p>
+
+<p>Under the red sunset we started once more, with more good wishes;
+indeed, I had ridden a mile before my fingers forgot the parting
+hand-grip of my stalwart host.</p>
+
+<p>Now in thinking or speaking of these night rides beforehand, one is apt
+to invest them with a slight tinge of romance and excitement, which is
+not unattractive. Let me say, that in practice, nothing can be more
+dreary and disagreeable. I can fancy a canter through or canter over
+some woodland paths, under the capricious light of a broad summer or
+autumn moon, with one or more pleasant companions, being both
+exhilarating and agreeable, but traverse the same number of miles in a
+night of winter or early spring, when you have to blunder on at a foot's
+pace in Indian file, thankful, indeed, when the snow or mud is only
+fetlock deep, where, if you are in mood for conversation, you, dare not
+often speak above a whisper (I never could see the sense of this, far
+out in the wilds, but the guides are imperative), where the solitary
+excitement is found in the possible proximity of a picket, or the
+probable depth of a ford. I think you would agree with me, that the only
+object in the journey on which your eyes or thoughts delight to dwell,
+is the "biggit land" that ends it.</p>
+
+<p>On that especial night we had one thing in our favor&mdash;the reflection
+from the fresh white ground carpet would have prevented darkness, even
+without the light of a waxing moon. But it was slow and weary traveling.
+It would have been cruelty to have forced the horses beyond a walk
+through snow that in places was over their knees; besides which, we
+dared not risk a jingle of stirrup or bridle-bit, where an outlying
+picket might be within ear-shot. Twice we passed within twenty yards of
+where the fresh track showed that the patrol had recently turned at the
+end of his beat; but the guide knew the country thoroughly, and
+professed to have no fears. To speak the truth, I had heard him, when in
+the ingle-nook, and warm with Old Rye, vaunt so loudly his own sagacity
+and courage, that I conceived certain misgivings as to how far either
+were to be relied on. That night, however, he fully maintained part of
+his character by leading us safety and surely through a perfect
+labyrinth of tracks, sometimes diverging across the open country, and
+occasionally plunging into woodland where there was no vestige of a
+path.</p>
+
+<p>I ought to be nearly weather-proof by this time; but, in spite of a warm
+riding-cloak and a casing of chamois leather from neck to ankle, I felt
+sometimes chilled to the marrow; my lips would hardly close round the
+pipe-stem, and even while I smoked the breath froze on my moustache,
+stiff and hard. My flask was full of rare country whisky, fiery hot from
+the still; but it seemed at last to have lost all strength, and was
+nearly tasteless. I would have given anything for a brisk trot or
+rattling gallop to break the monotonous foot-pace, but the reasons
+before stated forbade the idea: there was nothing for it, but to plod
+steadily onwards. Walter himself suffered a good deal in hands and feet;
+but the Alabama man, utterly unused to the lower extremes of
+temperature, only found relief from his misery in an occasional
+drowsiness that made him sway helplessly in his saddle. The last league
+of our route lay through the White Grounds. The valley of the Potomac
+widens here towards the north, and six thousand acres of forest stretch
+away&mdash;unbroken, save by rare islets of clearings. There was no visible
+track; but our guide struck boldly across the woodlands, taking bearings
+by certain landmarks and the steady moon. It was not dark even here; but
+low sweeping boughs and fallen trunks often hidden by snow, made the
+traveling difficult and dangerous. I ceased not to adjure Alick, who
+followed close in my rear, to keep fast hold of his horse's head. I
+doubt if he ever heard me, for he never intermitted a muttered
+running-fire of the most horrible execrations that I ever listened to
+even in this hard-swearing country. Whether this ebullition of blasphemy
+comforted him at the moment I cannot say; but, if "curses come home to
+roost," a black brood was hatched that night, unless one whole page be
+blotted out from the register of the Recording Angel.</p>
+
+<p>Both men and horses rejoiced, I am sure, when, about two, A. M., we
+broke out into a wide clearing, and drew rein under the lee of
+outbuildings surrounding the desired homestead. The farmer was soon
+aroused, and came out to give us a hearty though whispered welcome. It
+is not indiscreet to record <i>his</i> name, for he has already "dree'd his
+doom;" he was noted among his fellows for cool determination in purpose
+and action, and truly, I believe that the yeomanry of Maryland counts no
+honester or bolder heart than staunch George Hoyle's.</p>
+
+<p>Our last companions were sleeping placidly up-stairs&mdash;that was the best
+intelligence that our host could give us. He laughed at the idea of
+fording the Potomac, declaring that no living man or horse could stand,
+much less swim, in the stream. Knowing the character of the man, and his
+thorough acquaintance with the locality, one ought to have accepted his
+decision unquestioned; but I was not then so inured to disappointment as
+I became in later days, and wished to see for myself how the water lay.
+After a short sleep and hurried breakfast, Hoyle took me to a point
+whence we looked down on a long reach of the river. At the first glance
+through my field-glasses, every vestige of hope vanished. The fierce
+current&mdash;its sullen neutral tint checkered with frequent
+foam-clots&mdash;washed and weltered high against its banks, eddying and
+breaking savagely wherever it swept against jut of ground or ledge of
+rock, while ever and anon shot up above the turbid surface tossing trunk
+of uprooted alder or willow. Mazeppa's Ukraine stallion, or the
+mightiest <i>destrier</i> that ever Paladin bestrode, would have been whirled
+away like withered leaves, ere they had swum ten of the seven hundred
+yards that lay between us and the Virginia shore. I could hardly believe
+my eyes, when Hoyle pointed out to me the fording-place where, on the
+23d of last December, he had crossed without wetting his horse's girth.</p>
+
+<p>It was waste of time to look longer, so, in no pleasant mood, I returned
+to the farm-house, where a council of war was incontinently held. The
+Marylanders had already arranged their plan; they had a vague idea of
+some ferry to the northward, and intended to grope their way to it
+somehow. Before attempting this, it was necessary to divest themselves
+of any suspicious articles, either of baggage or accoutrement; indeed,
+they left every scrap of clothing behind, except what they carried on
+their persons, and one change of under-raiment sewn up in the folds of a
+rug. They meant to assume the character of small cattle-dealers, and as
+far as appearance went, succeeded perfectly&mdash;nothing more unmilitary can
+be conceived. Their horses were passably hardy and active, but stunted,
+mean-looking animals, while the saddle-gear would have been dear
+anywhere at five dollars. The men themselves had the lazy, slouching
+look peculiar to the hybrid class with which they wished to be
+identified. They were civil and sorry enough about the turn affairs had
+taken; but evidently quite determined that we should part company. The
+elder of the two took me aside, and spoke thus, as near as I can
+remember:</p>
+
+<p>"Look here, Major, I'm right down sorry about this here; and I'd have
+liked well to have gone slick through with ye, but it won't work in the
+parts we're agoing to try. Four men and horses ain't so easy put up as
+two, and there ain't many as'll venture it. The sort of your brown horse
+is kind'er uncommon up along there, and they'd spot <i>him</i> if they didn't
+spot you, and you'd never get to look like a citizen&mdash;not if you was to
+shave and wear a wig. There's no two words about it: it ain't to be
+done."</p>
+
+<p>I believe the man intended to gild the pill with a rough compliment; in
+any case, I was bound to swallow it. There was no sort of contract
+between us, nor any promise of remuneration; I only rode by sufferance
+in that company. I felt, too, that he was right: it would be very
+difficult for any Englishman&mdash;drilled or undrilled&mdash;to disguise himself
+as a Virginia cattle-dealer, so that keen native eyes could not detect
+the travestie. I do not think I should have pressed the point, even had
+I been in a position to do so; as it was, I yielded with good grace,
+only begging my late companions to let me have the earliest information
+as to the route, if they succeeded in getting through. This they readily
+promised; so, with the concurrence of the good Walter, I determined to
+fall back, for the present, on my original "base," with the consoling
+reflection that I was only imitating the most renowned Federal
+commanders.</p>
+
+<p>All this was scarcely settled, when our host hurried in&mdash;rather a blank
+look on his bold face&mdash;to say that one of his contrabands had just come
+in, after an absence of two hours: he had taken one of his master's
+horses without leave, and absolutely declined to state where, or why, he
+had gone. As 1,800 Federals, including a regiment of cavalry, occupied
+Poolsville&mdash;only six miles off&mdash;it was easy to guess in what direction
+the "colored person" had wandered. There was no time for argument, and
+even chastisement was reserved for a more fitting season: in fifteen
+minutes more, we had ridden swiftly across the cleared lands, and with
+Hoyle for our pilot, were winding through the ravines and glades of the
+White Grounds. The day was dull and cloudy: so, having no sun to guide
+us, we, the strangers, speedily lost all idea of direction; even Walter,
+the confident, owned himself fairly puzzled. But our host led on at a
+steady pace, never pausing to consult landmarks or memory; evidently
+every bush and brake was familiar to him; there was not the ghost of a
+track, but we seemed generally to follow the winding of a rapid, shallow
+stream, up whose channel we often scrambled for forty yards or more.</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">We had na ridden a league, a league,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">O' leagues but barely three,<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>when we struck a path leading straight through the woods to
+Clarksburg&mdash;the first point on the proposed route of the two
+Marylanders: they meant to feel their way cautiously thence in a
+northwesterly direction; the elder had one or two acquaintances in the
+neighborhood of Frederick City that he hoped would assist them. So, with
+leave-takings, hurried but amicable, our party separated. We, the other
+three, proposed to make for our quarters of the last Sunday, and for ten
+miles further our kind host rode in our company, absolutely refusing to
+turn back till we were in a country that Walter knew right well, and
+might be considered comparatively safe; then he left us, proposing to
+return home by another and yet more circuitous route, so as to baffle
+possible pursuers. He did get home safe, but was arrested within the
+same week&mdash;not, I trust, before he had moderately chastised that
+treacherous contraband&mdash;and we met, two months later, in the old
+Capitol.</p>
+
+<p>Three hours' more riding brought us within sight of the town, where we
+intended to refresh ourselves and our cattle, and, perhaps, to abide for
+the night. We relied so implicitly on the hospitality we were certain to
+find, that we had provided ourselves with no food of any sort; my flask,
+too, had been emptied on the previous night. Fancy our disgust, when we
+found the shutters closed, everything carefully locked up, and no living
+soul about the place but two helpless little colored persons of tender
+age. The whole family had gone out to a sledging "frolic," and would not
+return before late at night; it was then past P. M.; we had breakfasted
+lightly at seven, and been in the saddle ever since nine o'clock. We did
+discover some Indian corn for the horses, and left them to feed under
+their old shed, only removing bridles and loosening girths.</p>
+
+<p>About ten minutes later, we were sitting under the house-porch&mdash;it was
+narrow and deep, as is the fashion in those parts, and boarded up the
+sides breast high&mdash;I was lighting a sullen pipe, hoping to deaden the
+hungry cravings which could not be satisfied, when I felt my arm pulled
+violently; a hoarse whisper said in my ear, "By G&mdash;d, they've got us,"
+and turning, I met the good Walter's face, white, and convulsed with
+emotions which I care not to define or remember. Alick was already
+crouching below the boarding, and I stooped, too, mechanically; as I did
+so, I followed the direction of the guide's haggard eyes: by my faith,
+just where the wood opened on the clearing, about one hundred and eighty
+yards to our front, there sat on their horses six Federal dragoons,
+surveying the landscape with some interest. It was very odd to see them
+gazing straight down upon us, evidently unconscious of our proximity;
+but they were looking from light into the shadow of the porch:
+fortunately, too, the horses were well under cover. It chanced that,
+close to the gate in the outermost inclosure, there was a watering-pond;
+around and from this tracks of all kinds of cattle crossed and diverged
+in every direction; as we entered we had remarked many hoof-prints
+turning abruptly to the right, probably left by the sleighing party. The
+dragoons halted five minutes or so in consultation; then they turned and
+rode off quickly along that same right-hand track. The house was so
+evidently shut up, that I presume they thought it would be wasted time
+if they searched it then.</p>
+
+<p>Resistance would have been utterly out of the question, even if the
+numbers had been more equal, for the only arms in the party were my
+own&mdash;a long hunting-knife worn in my belt, and a fire-shooter carried by
+Alick; so we prepared for escape instantly. I had to go round to the
+back of the house to get my hunting-cup, which I had left there. When I
+came out I found Walter already mounted; his mare was not in the same
+shed with our horses. In a few hurried words he explained that; it would
+be best for <i>him</i> to make off at once, and wait for us in the woods
+below, to which the clearing sloped down from the homestead. Though I
+had before formed my own opinion as to his vaunted valiance, I confess I
+<i>was</i> rather disappointed; but he was not a hireling, and I had no right
+to prevent him from looking after his own safety first; I only shrugged
+my shoulders without replying, and went into the other shed to help
+Alick saddle up. The Alabamian was much less delicate or more determined
+than myself; when he heard of Walter's intentions, his face darkened
+threateningly.</p>
+
+<p>"By the &mdash;&mdash;!" he said, "he ain't going to quit after that fashion," and
+as he went out towards the corner where Walter still lingered, I saw his
+hand shift back to the butt of my revolver. Now, I was too sensible of
+the guide's good intentions and disinterested kindness to wish to press
+hardly on a temporary loss of nerve, so I busied myself with buckle and
+curb-link, and refrained from assisting at the debate; it was very
+brief, nor can I say if Alick's arguments were intimidating or
+conciliatory; I rather suspected the former, from the expression of his
+face when he returned, simply remarking, "I've made it all right, Major.
+He stops with us as long as we want him to."</p>
+
+<p>Ten minutes afterwards we gained the shelter of the woods, and, keeping
+always well down in the gullies or hollows, were picking our way in a
+direction nearly parallel to that taken by our pursuers. This was our
+only course, as we dared not show ourselves as yet across open ground or
+along traveled roads. We might have ridden about a league and a half&mdash;it
+is difficult to judge distance in thick cover and over broken ground,
+when the pace is so constantly varied&mdash;our guide's confidence began to
+return, and, with it, his weakness for self-laudation. He began once
+more to recount his many narrow escapes, and was sanguine as to his
+chance of pulling through this&mdash;the closest shave of all. We were
+halting on the bank of a muddy, swollen stream, in some doubt whether we
+should try the treacherous bottom there or higher up, when, looking over
+my shoulder, I saw the figures of four horsemen, looming large against
+the red evening sky as they passed slowly across the sky-line, on the
+crest of some abrupt rising ground about 300 yards to our right: soon
+two more showed themselves, making the pursuing party complete; they
+were evidently retracing their steps&mdash;for what reason I know not. Almost
+at the same instant the Alabamian caught sight of the enemy; but before
+he could speak I touched our guide on the shoulder with my hunting-whip,
+pointing in the direction of the danger. If you ever saw a wing-tipped
+mallard's flurry when the retriever comes upon him unawares, you will
+have a good idea of how the valiant Walter "squattered" through the
+ford. The twilight was darkening fast, and, in the shadow of the ravine,
+we were almost safe from the eyes of our pursuers; but I marvel that
+even at such a distance their ears were not attracted by the flounder
+and the splash. My squire and I followed more leisurely; indeed,
+throughout, the former had displayed a creditable coolness and
+determination; also, he seemed to take very kindly to my own favorite
+motto, "<i>Festina lente</i>"&mdash;"More haste, worse speed."</p>
+
+<p>That was our last look at the dragoons. We learnt afterwards that, later
+in the evening, they searched the farm-house (the family had just
+returned), and not only struck our trail through the woods, but held it
+within three miles of our resting-place for the night; there the
+numerous crossroads, and the utter confusion of many tracks, baffled our
+pursuers; probably, too, their horses by that time were in poor
+condition for following up an indefinite chase.</p>
+
+<p>Alick and I determined to push for our original starting-point&mdash;the
+house of Symonds of that ilk. Another two hours' riding brought us to
+where a lane turned off towards Ben Gualtier's home. He was evidently
+anxious to find himself a free agent, and this time even the Alabamian
+did not seek to detain him. The rest of the road we had traversed, on
+the preceding Saturday, and we could hardly miss our way. So there I
+parted from my honest guide, with many kind wishes on his side, and
+hearty thanks on mine. I rather repent having alluded to that little
+nervousness; but, after all, it was hardly a question of physical
+courage; we sought to avoid imprisonment, not peril to life or limb.</p>
+
+<p>My stout horse, Falcon, strode cheerily over the last of those dark,
+tiresome miles without a stumble or sign of weariness; but the roan's
+ears were drooping, and he slouched along heavily on his shoulders long
+before we saw the lights of Symonds' homestead, where we met a hearty if
+not a joyful welcome. We had not tasted food for thirteen hours, during
+which we had scarcely been out of the saddle; so even disappointment
+could not prevent our relishing to the uttermost the savory supper with
+which our hostess would fain have comforted us.</p>
+
+<p>Our talk was chiefly of the future, about which Symonds did not despond,
+though he was disposed to blame, somewhat sharply, our late companions,
+for choosing to find their way South independently; I thought he was
+unjust then, and since that I have had ample evidence of their good
+intentions and good faith.</p>
+
+<p>The next morning I rode Falcon down into Baltimore, there to await fresh
+tidings, leaving Alick and the roan at Symonds', to await fresh orders.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VI" id="CHAPTER_VI"></a>CHAPTER VI.</h2>
+
+<h3>THE FERRY.</h3>
+
+
+<p>I had not been in Baltimore three days when my plans were somewhat
+altered by the introduction of a fresh agent. The guide, who accompanied
+Lord Hartington and Colonel Leslie, had returned unexpectedly, and
+Symonds pressed me strongly to secure his services. He had made the
+traverse several times successfully, and was thoroughly acquainted with
+most of the ground on both banks of the Potomac. He had now made his way
+on foot from the Shenandoah Valley, across the Alleghany Range, to
+Oakland; thence by the cars to somewhere near Sykesville, on the
+Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. Here, the day began to break, and he would
+not trust farther to the short-sightedness of Federal officials; so he
+looked out for a soft place in a snowdrift, and leapt out, alighting
+without injury. The same reasons that made reticence useless in Hoyle's
+case apply here: to both men Republican justice has done its worst long
+ago. My new guide's name was Shipley. He was lying <i>perdu</i> in Baltimore
+when I first heard of him, so there was no difficulty in arranging an
+interview. After some hesitation, and not a little negotiation, Shipley
+agreed to pilot me through by one route or another. He was to ride my
+second horse, and keep the animal as a remuneration for his services, so
+soon as we should be fairly within Confederate lines. He would not
+promise to start before the expiration of a full week, as the clothes
+and other necessaries which he had come specially to obtain could not be
+got ready sooner. This new arrangement involved two changes which did
+not please me, viz., the elimination of poor Alick from the party, and
+the shifting of my saddle-bags from the roan on to Falcon, for the guide
+stipulated that each should carry his own baggage. Symonds, however, was
+very urgent that I should close with the conditions at once; he had the
+highest opinion of Shipley's talents and trustworthiness, and insisted
+that such a chance should not be let slip. He promised that Alick, if
+possible, should be provided with a mount, so as to be still enabled to
+accompany us. <i>I</i> could not, of course, be expected to increase my
+already double risk in horse-flesh.</p>
+
+<p>So we struck hands on the bargain, and I resigned myself pretty
+contentedly to another delay. The days passed rapidly, as they always
+did in Baltimore on most afternoons. I rode Falcon out for exercise and
+"schooling." He soon became very clever at the only obstacles you
+encounter in crossing this country&mdash;timber fences, and small brooks with
+steep broken banks; though, to the last, he always would hang a little
+in taking off, he never dreamt of refusing.</p>
+
+<p>Before the week was quite out, Alick came down from Symonds', bringing
+tidings of our late companions, the two Marylanders. They had succeeded
+in crossing by a horse-ferry at Shepherdstown&mdash;a small village not far
+from Sharpsburg, and about seven miles from the battle-field of
+Antietam. The letter was written from the south bank of the Potomac, and
+furnished us with all the necessary names and halting-points on the
+route. Now, everything looked promising again. It was soon settled that
+Alick and Shipley should make their way across the country to Sharpsburg
+with the two horses (this was the latter's own arrangement, and <i>he</i>,
+too, was unkind enough to object to my un-citizenlike appearance). I was
+to meet them there, at a certain house, on a certain day, traveling by
+another route&mdash;through Frederick city. Thither I betook myself by the
+train leaving Baltimore, on the afternoon of March the 10th, arriving at
+Frederick nearly two hours behind time, in consequence of a difficulty
+between the wheels and the rails, the latter having become sulkily
+slippery with the sleet that came on in earnest after nightfall. Very
+early the next morning I started for Petersville, near which village, in
+the shadow of the South Mountain, lay the country-house of the
+good-natured friend who had offered to forward me to Sharpsburg.</p>
+
+<p>I shall not easily forget that drive; the distance was rather under
+fourteen miles, and it was performed in something over four hours; yet
+the load consisted simply of my driver, myself, and my saddle-bags, in
+the lightest conceivable wagon, drawn by a pair of horses especially
+selected for strength rather than speed. We traveled on a broad
+turnpike, not inferior, I was told, in ordinary times to the average of
+such roads; in many places the mud literally touched the axles, and more
+than once we should have been set fast in spite of the struggles of our
+team, if I had not lightened the weight by descending into a quagmire
+that reached fully half-way up my thigh-boots.</p>
+
+<p>At last we struggled through, reaching my friend's house with no other
+damage than some strained spokes and a broken spring. There I found
+horses ready caparisoned, and a faithful contraband to guide me on my
+way. The ride was as pleasant as the drive had been disagreeable. It was
+positive rest to exchange the jolting and jerking of the carriage for
+the familiar sway of the saddle. I had a strong hackney under me, a
+bright clear sky overhead, and a companion who, if not brilliantly
+amusing, was very passably intelligent.</p>
+
+<p>He was able to tell me all about the South Mountain fight: indeed, our
+route lay right across the centre of that bloody battle-ground. Riding
+along the valley, with the hills on our left, we soon came to
+Birkettsville: close above was the scene of the most furious assaults,
+and the most obstinate struggle. The quaint little hamlet&mdash;reminding you
+of a Dutch village&mdash;looked cheerful enough now, as the sun shimmered
+over the dark-red bricks, and glistening roofs grouped round a more
+glittering chapel-cupola; but one could not help remembering, that
+thither, on a certain afternoon, in just such pleasant weather, came
+maimed men by hundreds, crawling or being carried in; and that for weeks
+after, scarce one of those cozy houses but sheltered some miserable
+being moaning his tortured life away. The undulating champaign between
+the Catoctin and South Mountains, that forms the broad Middletown
+valley, seems to invite the manoeuvres of infantry battalions; but,
+climbing the steep ascent in the teeth of musketry and field-batteries,
+must have been sharp work indeed, though the assailing force doubtless
+far outnumbered the defenders. I think the carrying of those heights one
+of the most creditable achievements in the war.</p>
+
+<p>The terrible handwriting of the God of Battles is still very plainly to
+be discerned; all along the mountain-side trees&mdash;bent, blasted, and
+broken&mdash;tell where round-shot or grape tore through; and scored bark,
+closing often over imbedded bullets, shows where beat most stormily the
+leaden hail. Near the crest of the mountain, there are several patches
+of ground, utterly differing in color from the soil around, and
+evidently recently disturbed. You want no guide to tell you that in
+those Golgothas moulder corpses by hundreds, cast in, pell-mell, with
+scanty rites of sepulture. Besides these common trenches, there are
+always some single graves, occasionally marked by a post with initials
+roughly carved. It is good to see that, after the bitter fight, some
+were found, not so weary or so hurried, but that they could find time to
+do a dead comrade&mdash;perhaps even a dead enemy&mdash;one last kindness.</p>
+
+<p>Descending from the ridge, we rode some way up a narrow valley&mdash;where
+overhanging pine-woods and soft green pastures, traversed by rapid
+streams, reminded me often of the Ardennes&mdash;and then climbed the Elk
+Range, beyond which lies the field of Antietam. We soon crossed the
+creek, along whose banks was waged that fierce battle that made men
+think as lightly of the South Mountain fight as if it had been but a
+passing skirmish, and I rode up to the appointed meeting-place in
+Sharpsburg just a few minutes in advance of the appointed hour.</p>
+
+<p>My first question, after making myself known to the good man of the
+house, was naturally, of my horses and men. Will you be kind enough to
+fancy my feelings, when I heard that they were miles away, and&mdash;the
+reason why. Three days before the ferry-boat had been carried away and
+shattered by the floods; nothing but a skiff could cross till a cable
+was rigged from bank to bank; there was no chance of this being
+completed before the beginning of the following week. The neighborhood
+was too dangerous to linger in; there was a provost-marshal guard
+actually stationed in Sharpsburg: so my men, hearing of the disaster on
+their road, had very properly remained at their last halting-place,
+about ten miles farther up the country. I was so savagely disappointed
+that I hardly listened to my new friend, as he proceeded to give some
+useful hints on our route and conduct, whenever we should succeed in
+getting over the river. I only remember one suggestion: "if I was
+stopped anywhere this side of Winchester, I might give a fictitious
+name, and say that I was going to visit <i>my son</i>, an officer in the
+Federal army." Now, as I have barely entered on my eighth lustre, I can
+only suppose that the great bitterness of my heart imparted to my face,
+for the moment, a helpless&mdash;perhaps imbecile&mdash;look of senility. I had no
+alternative, however, but to retreat, as my men had done; the place was
+evidently too hot to hold me: already, through the window, I saw a
+shabby dragoon paying auspicious attention to my horses, contraband, and
+saddle-bags. I was greatly relieved, on going out, to find that the
+warrior was too stupidly drunk, to be actuated by anything beyond an
+idle, purposeless curiosity. So, after receiving directions as to where
+I was likely to rejoin my companions, I set my face northeast again, and
+rode out into the deepening darkness with feelings not much less sullen
+than the black rock of clouds massed up behind, that broke upon, us,
+right soon, with wind and drenching ruin.</p>
+
+<p>My horse, as well as I, must have been glad when we reached the
+homestead we were seeking, for throughout the afternoon I had ridden
+quickly wherever there was level ground, calculating on a night's rest
+in Sharpsburg. I had some difficulty in convincing the farmer that I was
+a true man and no spy; having once realized the fact, he showed himself
+not less hospitable than his fellows. I was not surprised to find my men
+gone; with all his good-will to the cause, their host had not dared to
+entertain such suspicious strangers longer than twenty-four hours: keen
+eyes and ready tongues were rife all around, and we had proof already,
+in poor George Hoyle's case, how quickly and sternly the charge of
+"harboring disaffected persons" could be acted upon: he had sent the men
+to separate secluded farm-houses, whence they could be summoned at a few
+hours' warning. He strongly advised me to wait elsewhere till the horse
+ferry was reestablished, of which he promised to give me the very
+earliest intelligence: so I at once determined to take the Hagerstown
+stage to Frederick next morning (the house stood not many yards from the
+main road), and the rail from thence back to Baltimore, leaving men and
+horses in their present quarters. It was evident that the honest
+Irishman spoke (he was an emigrant of twenty years' standing) thus in
+perfect sincerity, from no lack of hospitality, though in poor mood for
+conviviality. I did strive hard, all that evening, to meet his simple,
+social overtures half-way, simply that I might not appear ungracious or
+ungrateful.</p>
+
+<p>The homestead nestles close to the foot of the South Mountain, near
+Middleton Gap, some miles north of the point where I had crossed that
+day. We talked, of course, about the battles (they were within sound,
+though not sight, of Antietam). I found that a field-hospital had been
+established in the field immediately adjoining the orchard, and that
+some of the wounded, chiefly Confederates, who could not be moved, had
+lain there for many days. I asked the good wife how she felt while the
+Southern army was marching past her doors, "Well," she said, "I wasn't
+greatly skeared, only I thought I'd pull down the new parlor-curtains;
+but they behaved right well, and didn't meddle with nothin' to signify;
+not like them Yankees, who are always pickin' and stealin'. But I'd like
+to get right out of this country, anyhow; we'll never do no good here
+while the war lasts."</p>
+
+<p>I wonder how many voices, if they dared speak out, would join in the
+dreary "<i>refrain</i> of those last few words?"</p>
+
+<p>No note-worthy incident marked my journey back to Baltimore. I remained
+there till the following Tuesday, and, in that interval, received a note
+from Shipley, which both puzzled and disquieted me; it was purposely
+vague and obscure; but, as far as I could make out, the writer thought
+it would be better at once to make for some point northwest of
+Cumberland&mdash;to retrace, in fact, the route that he had himself recently
+traversed; I rather inferred that he meant to move in that direction
+without waiting for me, leaving me to make my way to a rendezvous which
+he would appoint by letter. Now, of all parties concerned in the
+expedition the one whose safety I valued next to my own was Falcon. I
+had been loth to trust him, so far, to a rider about whose
+qualifications I knew nothing&mdash;except that it was very unlikely he would
+have good "hands." I had no notion of risking the good horse, without
+me, on an indefinitely long journey, where he might be indifferently
+cared for. I wrote at once to stop any such movement; and with this I
+was forced to be content.</p>
+
+<p>Late on the Monday evening, the expected summons reached me&mdash;sent
+specially by train. The next morning I started for Frederick, whence I
+intended to drive through Middletown to Boonesborough, near which was
+the place of meeting. The first thing I saw in the morning paper, when I
+began to read it in the cars, was a fresh general order, suggestive of
+most unpleasant misgivings. General Kelly had just succeeded to the
+command of Maryland Heights, and of the division specially selected for
+picket duty on the river. This&mdash;his first order&mdash;enjoined the seizure of
+all boats of every description between Monocacy creek and St. John's
+(comprising the whole of the Upper Potomac); no passenger or merchandise
+could be conveyed from Maryland into Virginia without a proper pass, and
+then only at the two specified places&mdash;Harper's Ferry and Point of
+Rocks; any one transgressing this edict was liable to arrest and trial
+by martial law.</p>
+
+<p>Throwing down the ill-omened journal, I could not forbear a muttered
+quotation: "The day looks dark for England." Nevertheless, I drove on
+straight from Frederick, determined to prove what the morrow would bring
+forth. It was late when we reached the small roadside hotel, on the
+ridge of the South Mountain, where I had arranged to halt for the night;
+but, late as it was, I had time to hear fresh evil tidings before I
+slept.</p>
+
+<p>The Shepherdstown ferry was in working order at noon on the Monday. The
+same evening, soon after dusk, four mounted men, with two led horses,
+rode down, requiring to be set across instantly. The ferryman objected,
+stating that his orders were imperative against putting any one over,
+after sundown, without a special pass. The men insisted, stating that
+they bore dispatches from Kelly to Milroy, and enforced their demands
+with threats. The unhappy ferryman was totally unarmed, and only wished
+to escape. They shot him to death without further parley, under the eyes
+of his mother and sister, who saw all from their windows. Then they
+ferried themselves and their horses across, and left the boat on the
+Virginia, bank, after knocking out two or three of her planks. Naturally
+there was a great revulsion of popular feeling in the country, and there
+had been a real <i>&eacute;meute</i> round the murdered man's grave. When they had
+buried him, that day, in Sharpsburg, no one, suspected of Southern
+sympathies, could venture openly to appear. From all that I could learn,
+the authors of that butchery were not Confederate soldiers, or even
+guerrillas, but purely and simply horse-thieves, who had come over with
+the sole object of plunder, tempted by the enormous prices that
+horse-flesh could then command in Virginia.</p>
+
+<p>Very early the next morning I had a visit from the Irishman, who lived
+hard by. Things did not look less gloomy when I had heard what he had to
+tell. To begin with, that unlucky tongue of Alick's had been doing all
+sorts of mischief. He never touched strong liquors, so there was not
+even that excuse for his imprudence. Instead of remaining quiet in the
+secluded retreat to which he had been, sent, he would persist in hanging
+about in the immediate neighborhood of Boonesborough, and appeared to
+have spoken freely about our projects, greatly exalting and exaggerating
+their importance; indeed, he could scarcely have said more if we had
+been traveling as accredited agents between two belligerent powers. Such
+vainglorious garrulity was not only intensely provoking, but involved
+real peril to all parties concerned. I thought the Irishman was
+perfectly right in taking that blundering bull by the horns, and acting
+decisively on his own responsibility, inasmuch as there was no time to
+communicate with me. He insisted that the Alabamian should quit the
+neighborhood without an hour's delay&mdash;there had already been talk of his
+arrest&mdash;furnishing him with certain necessaries and a few dollars on my
+account. In despite of the edict aforesaid, there were still punts and
+skiffs concealed all along the river bank, and a footman unencumbered
+with baggage could always be put over without difficulty. Indeed, Alick
+had actually crossed into Virginia, and returned safely, while he was
+loitering about Boonesborough. I never saw the Alabamian again, though I
+heard from him once, as will appear hereafter. He carried away with him
+my best wishes and my revolver; I hope both have profited him. Where
+caution or diplomacy are not required, his sterling honesty and dogged
+courage will always stand him and others in good stead; if his superiors
+can only tie up his tongue, I believe they will "make a man of him yet."</p>
+
+<p>As to Shipley, I found that it was not considered prudent for him to
+await my arrival there, as a search might be made over the Irishman's
+premises at any moment. He had been sent back on the previous afternoon
+to a house near Newmarket, a village some thirty miles east of
+Boonesborough, so that we must almost have crossed on the high road
+leading to Frederick city; there I was certain to find both him and
+Falcon.</p>
+
+<p>The Irishman was decidedly of opinion that to persevere in our
+enterprise at the Shepherdstown ferry or anywhere in the immediate
+neighborhood, would be not only the height of rashness, but absolute
+waste of time. He advised our striking northward at once, by the
+Cumberland route, which then appeared to be the only one offering
+possible chances of success. Even on the Lower Potomac, the <i>cordon</i> of
+pickets and guard-boats had been so strengthened of late as to become
+well nigh impervious, and captures were of hourly occurrence.</p>
+
+<p>Slowly&mdash;and I fear rather sullenly&mdash;I admitted the justice of my
+friend's counsel, as I walked down to his stable, where the roan had
+been standing since Alick's departure. Perhaps even while I write, the
+war-tide is surging backwards and forwards once again past the doors of
+that cozy homestead; but I trust its roof-tree is still inviolate by
+fire or sword, and that no rude hand has scorched or torn the "new
+parlor-curtains," in which my trim little hostess took an innocent
+pride. It was past noon when I bade farewell to my friends, and mounted
+the roan, to strike Shipley's back trail. There was a light blue sky
+overhead, though the wind blew intensely cold, and hoofs on the hard
+frozen ground rang as on pavement. For the first eighteen miles or so,
+which brought us to Frederick, my horse stepped out cheerily enough,
+though he carried far more weight than he had yet been burdened with, in
+the shape of myself and full saddle-bags. Here we baited, an obscure inn
+which had been recommended to me as "safe;" and late in the afternoon
+held on for Newmarket. I found the farm-house I sought without any
+difficulty, but the owner was down in the village, a mile or so off.
+Without dismounting, I asked to see the mistress, and a thin,
+sickly-looking woman came to the door. At my first question&mdash;relating of
+course to Shipley&mdash;a glimmer of distrust dawned on her pale, vague face.
+"There was no one there except her own family, and she had never seen or
+heard of a man on a brown horse." I was too thoroughly inured to
+disappointment by this time to feel angry&mdash;much less surprised&mdash;at
+anything in that line. Evidently I had to do with one of those
+impracticable yet timorous females&mdash;strong in their very weakness&mdash;who
+will persist in bearing a meek false-witness till the examiner's
+patience fails. So my answer was quiet enough. "Pardon me, I think your
+memory is treacherous. You surely must at least once in your natural
+life, have seen or heard of 'a man on a brown horse.' But if you have
+known nothing of such a remarkable pair within&mdash;the last month for
+instance, I fear you can't help me much. If you will tell me where to
+find your husband, in Newmarket, and allow me to light my pipe, I'll not
+trouble you any more." These benevolences the pale woman did not
+withhold, but she saw me depart with a wintry smile, and I heard her
+distinctly mutter to a handmaiden&mdash;fearfully arid and adust&mdash;who peered
+over her mistress' shoulder, "There's another on 'em, <i>I</i> know."</p>
+
+<p>I found the husband in Newmarket, easily enough&mdash;at the "store," of
+course: this is invariably the centre of all gossiping and liquoring-up,
+in such villages as cannot boast a public bar-room. When I delivered
+certain verbal credentials, he was disposed to be more communicative
+than his spouse; but his information was not very clear or satisfactory.
+It appeared that on the previous morning, some hour before dawn a man
+had knocked at the door and asked for shelter: from the description, I
+at once recognized my guide and Falcon. But, for once, Shipley's
+over-caution told against him: he not only declined to give his name,
+but would not state, precisely, whence he came or whither he was going:
+there were many Federal spies about, laying traps for Southern
+sympathizers; so the former got suspicious, and instead of welcoming the
+stranger, prayed him to pass on his way. This solitary instance of
+inhospitality is thus, I think, easily accounted for. I could not blame
+my "informant;" but the state of things was enough to chafe even a meek
+temper: the roan's long legs had begun to tire under the unwonted weight
+before I reached Newmarket, and he rolled fearfully in the slowest trot;
+yet I had sworn not to sleep before I laid my hand on Falcon's mane, and
+I felt, with every fresh check, more savagely determined to keep the
+trail as long as horse-flesh would last under me. I knew there were few
+places in that county where Shipley would dare to trust himself even for
+a night's lodging: some of his relations lived within half a league of
+Symonds; and, if he meant fairly by me and mine, he was certain to
+advise the latter of his return: so I resolved to push straight on for
+my old quarters. Between me and the wished for <i>g&icirc;te</i> there lay sixteen
+miles of hilly road&mdash;darkling every minute faster.</p>
+
+<p>I do not care to remember that dreary ride&mdash;or rather, walk&mdash;for two
+hours, at least, of the distance were done on foot. For awhile I had
+pleasanter companions than my own sullen thoughts: a pair of blue-birds
+kept with me, for two or three miles at least, fluttering and twittering
+along the fences by my side, with the prettiest sociability&mdash;sometimes
+ahead, sometimes behind&mdash;never more than a dozen yards off; their
+brilliant plumage shot through the twilight like jets of sapphire flame:
+I felt absurdly sorry when they disappeared at last into the deepening
+blackness. I had been warned of the probability of encountering a
+cavalry picket somewhere on my road: so I was not greatly surprised when
+the possible peril became a certain one. I was riding slowly up a low,
+steep hill, about ten miles from Newmarket (I think the two or three
+houses are dignified by the name of Rockville), when I saw the
+indistinct forms of several horses, and the taller figure of one mounted
+man, standing out against the clear night-sky on the very crest of the
+ascent. I drew rein instinctively; but in that particular frame of mind,
+I don't think I should have turned back, if the gates of the old Capitol
+had stood open across the road. So I jogged steadily on, trying to look
+as innocently unconscious as possible. Seven or eight horses were
+picketed to some posts outside what I conclude was a whisky store; the
+troopers were all comforting themselves within: the intense cold had
+probably made the solitary sentinel drowsy, for his head drooped low on
+his breast, and he never lifted it as I rode past. I could not attempt
+to make a run of it, so I did not quicken my speed, when the danger was
+left behind: indeed I halted more than once, listening for the sound of
+hoofs in my rear, in which case I meant to have made a plunge into the
+black woods on either side, so as to let the pursuit pass. Hearing
+nothing, I dismounted again, and strode on rather more cheerfully.</p>
+
+<p>The roan was not more glad than his rider, when we groped our way up the
+lane, leading through fields to Symonds' homestead. The good wife came
+out quickly, in answer to my hail, her husband being absent, as usual.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, Major," she said, "I can't say how glad I am to see you. Shipley's
+so anxious about you: he hasn't been gone half an hour."</p>
+
+<p>"And the brown horse?" I broke in.</p>
+
+<p>"He's in the stable; and looking right well."</p>
+
+<p>With a huge sigh of relief I flung myself out of the saddle.</p>
+
+<p>"That'll do," I said, "Mrs. Symonds; I don't want to hear another word,
+unless it relates to&mdash;ham and eggs."</p>
+
+<p>Truly, I fear that the neat-handed Phillis must have been aweary that
+night before she had satisfied Gargantua. A messenger soon summoned
+Shipley, and he was with me before midnight; he explained all his
+movements satisfactorily, and I could not but acknowledge he had acted
+throughout discreetly and well. We sat far into the morning, discussing
+future plans. Ultimately it was settled that he should start with the
+roan, so soon as the animal should be rested and fit for the road,
+traveling by moderate stages, to some resting-place near Oakland. The
+rendezvous was to be determined by information he would receive in those
+parts; and I was to be advised of it by a letter left for me in
+Cumberland. Shipley reckoned that it would take him ten days at least to
+make his point. This interval I was to spend in Baltimore; from which I
+was to proceed, with my horse, to Cumberland, in the cars. This plan had
+the double advantage of saving Falcon over two hundred miles of march,
+and of enabling my guide to make his way, more securely, as a solitary
+traveler. He could not trust himself on the railroad, nor would it have
+been safe to attempt the transport of two horses.</p>
+
+<p>So, on the following day, I made&mdash;anything but a triumphant&mdash;entry into
+Baltimore. Kindly greetings and condolences could not enable me during
+that last visit to shake off a restless discontent&mdash;a gloomy distrust of
+the future&mdash;a vague sense of shameful defeat.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VII" id="CHAPTER_VII"></a>CHAPTER VII.</h2>
+
+<h3>FALLEN ACROSS THE THRESHOLD.</h3>
+
+
+<p>Early on Monday, the 30th of April, I addressed myself to the journey
+once more, taking the cars to Cumberland, whither Falcon had preceded me
+by two days, and this time I bound myself by a vow&mdash;not lightly to be
+broken&mdash;that I would not see Baltimore again, of free will or free
+agency, till I had heard the tuck of Southern drums. The most remarkable
+part of the road is from Point of Rocks to Harper's Ferry, inclusive,
+where the rails find a narrow space to creep between the river and the
+cliffs of Catoctin and Elk Mountains. The last-named spot is especially
+picturesque, standing on a promontory washed on either side by the
+Potomac and Shenandoah, with all the natural advantages of abrupt rocks,
+feathery hanging woods, and broken water. Thenceforward there is little
+to interest or to compensate for the sluggishness of pace and frequency
+of delays. The track winds on always through the same monotony of forest
+and hill, plunging into the gorges and climbing the shoulders of bluffs,
+with the audacity of gradient and contempt of curve that marks the
+handiwork of American engineers. I wonder that one of these did not take
+Mount Cenis in hand, and save the monster tunnel. The line was strongly
+picketed; everywhere you saw the same fringe of murky-white tents, and
+at every station the same groups of squalid soldiery.</p>
+
+<p>What especially exasperated <i>me</i> was, the incessant and continuous
+neighborhood of the Potomac. If you left it for a few minutes you were
+certain to come upon it again before the eye had time to forget the
+everlasting foam-splashed ochre of the sullen current, and at each fresh
+point it met you undiminished in volume, unabated in turbulency. Long
+before this I had begun to look at the river in the light of a personal
+enemy. I think that Xerxes, in the matter of the Hellespont, did wisely
+and well. Did I possess his resources of men and money, I would fain do
+so and more likewise to that same Potomac, subdividing its waters till
+the pet spaniel of "my Mary Jane" should ford them without wetting the
+silky fringes of her trailing ears.</p>
+
+<p>Theoretically, a road passing through leagues of forest-clad hills ought
+to be pleasant, if not interesting; practically, you are bored to death
+before you get half way through. There is a remarkable scarcity of
+anything like fine-grown, timber; the underwood is luxuriant enough,
+especially where the mountain laurel abounds; but in ten thousand acres
+of stunted firwood, you would look in vain for any one tree fit to
+compare with the gray giants that watch over Norwegian fiords, or fit to
+rank in "the shadowy army of the Unterwalden pines."</p>
+
+<p>We reached Cumberland shortly after sundown; my first visit was to the
+stables, where I hoped to find Falcon. Imagine my disgust on hearing
+that, through an accident on the line, the unlucky horse had been shut
+up for forty-six hours in his box, with provender just enough for one
+day. He had been well tended, however, and judiciously fed in small
+quantities at frequent intervals, and, barring that he looked rather
+"tucked up," did not seem much the worse for his enforced fast.</p>
+
+<p>I found Shipley's letter, too, where I had been told to expect it; he
+had got so far without let or hindrance; the meeting-place was set about
+forty miles northwest of Cumberland. I spent the evening, not
+unpleasantly, partly at the house of a "sympathizing" resident to whom I
+had been recommended; partly in the society of the most miraculous
+Milesian I ever encountered&mdash;off the stage or out of a book. He was
+stationed in Cumberland on some sort of recruiting service, and from
+dawn to midnight never ceased to oil his already lissom tongue with
+"caulkers" of every imaginable liquor. I was told that at no hour of
+the twenty-four had any man seen him thoroughly drunk or decently sober.
+When we first met, his cups had brought him nearly to the end of the
+belligerent or irascible stage; he was then inveighing against the
+dwellers in the Shenandoah Valley, where he had lately been quartered,
+for their want of patriotism in declining to furnish their defenders
+with gratuitous whisky and tobacco; threatening the most dreadful
+reprisals when he should visit "thim desateful Copperhids" again.
+Suddenly, without any warning, he slid into the maudlin phase, taking
+his parable of lamentation against "this crule warr."</p>
+
+<p>"I weep, sirr," said he, "over the rrupture of mee adhopted
+counthree&mdash;the counthree that resaved mee with opin arrums, when I was
+floying from the feece of toirants," &amp;c., &amp;c.</p>
+
+<p>When he informed me that he belonged to Mulligan's division, the words,
+"I suppose so," escaped me, involuntary. Truly, if the rest of the
+brigade resembled the specimen before me, only the mighty Celt, whom
+Thackeray had made immortal, could command it. I shall never again look
+on the "stock" freshman as an exaggeration or caricature.</p>
+
+<p>I waited, the next morning, till a heavy snowstorm had resolved itself
+into a thin, driving sleet; then my saddle-bags were strapped on Falcon,
+and I set forth alone, the good horse striding away, as strong under me
+as if he had never heard of short commons. We baited at Frostburgh, a
+small village set on a hill mined and tunneled with coalpits; fifteen
+miles or so beyond this was the roadside inn, where I proposed to halt
+for the night. The sun had long set when I rode up to the
+spectral-looking white house; remarking with no pleasant surprise, that
+not a vestige of smoke rose from its gaunt chimneys. At the gate there
+stood a cart laden with some sort of household goods. Near this, a man,
+who lounged up, seeing me draw rein, to ask my business. It appeared
+that a "flitting" had taken place that very day, and that he&mdash;the good
+man&mdash;was then betaking himself, with the residue of the chattels, to
+their new home, about five miles back on the Frostburgh road, whither
+his family had already gone. The next chance of a billet was at
+Grantsville, two leagues farther on. Now that sounds too absurdly short
+a distance to disquiet any traveler; but neither is the fatal straw in
+the camel's load a ponderous thing, <i>per se</i>. Both Falcon and I had
+reckoned that our day's work was done when we climbed the last hill, so
+it was in some discontent that we set our faces once more against the
+black road, and the stinging sleet, and the bitter north wind.</p>
+
+<p>Amongst Mrs. Browning's earlier poems, there is one to my mind almost
+peerless for sweet sonority of verse-music, and simplicity of strength.
+If it chance that any reader of mine has not admired "The Rhyme of the
+Duchess May," this page, at least, has not been written in vain. My
+saddle-bags held no volume other than a note-book, but that ballad in
+manuscript was nearly the last gift bestowed on me in Baltimore. Never
+was mortal mood less romantic than mine, so I cannot account for the
+fancy which impelled me, there and then, to recite aloud, how</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">The bridegroom led the flight, on his red roan steed of might;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And the bride lay on his arm, still, as tho' she feared no harm,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Smiling out into the night.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">"Fearest thou?" he said at last. "Nay," she answered him in haste,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">"Not such death as we could find; only life with one behind,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Ride on&mdash;fast as fear&mdash;ride fast."<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>I found one listener, more appreciative than the wild pine-barren, that
+surely had never been waked by rhythmic sound since the birthday of
+Time. Falcon pricked his ears, and champed his bit cheerily, as he
+mended his pace without warning of spur. As for myself&mdash;the pure,
+earnest Saxon diction proved a more efficient "comforter" than "the
+many-colored scarf round my neck, wrought by the same kind white hands
+beyond the sea;" hands that, even now, I venture to salute with the lips
+of a grateful spirit, in all humility and honor.</p>
+
+<p>So the way did not seem so long that brought us through the straggling,
+dim-lighted streets of Grantsville, up to the porch of its single
+hostelry, where, after some parley, I found a fair chance of supper and
+bed, and a heavy-handed Orson to help me in racking up Falcon.</p>
+
+<p>It would be very unfair to draw a comparison between an ordinary
+roadside inn in England and its synonym up in the country of America; a
+better parallel is a speculative railway tavern verging always on
+bankruptcy. There is an utter absence of the old-fashioned coziness
+which enables you easily to dispense with luxuries. You enter at once
+into a stifling, stove heated bar-room, defiled with all nicotine
+abominations, where, for the first few minutes, you draw your breath
+hard, and then settle down into a dull, uneasy stupor, conscious of
+nothing except a weight tightening around your temples like a band of
+molten iron. That is the only guest-chamber, save a parlor in the rear,
+the ordinary withdrawing-room and nursery of the family, where you take
+your meals in an atmosphere impregnated with babies and their
+concomitants. The fare is not so bad, after all, and monotony does not
+prevent chicken and ham fixings from being very acceptable after a long,
+fasting ride. It blew a gale that night from the northwest, and the
+savage wind&mdash;laden with sheets of snow&mdash;hurled itself against eaves and
+gable till the crazy tenement quivered from roof-tree to foundation
+beams. I went to my unquiet rest early, chiefly to avoid an importunate
+reveler in the bar-room, who "wished to put to the stranger a few small
+questions," troublesome to answer, that I had not patience to evade.</p>
+
+<p>It was high noon on the following day when I set forth again. The snow
+had ceased to fall two hours before, but I wished to give it time to
+settle; besides, any tracks would greatly help me over the rough
+cross-country road I had to travel. My route-bill enjoined me to call at
+a certain house where the lane turned off from the highway, to obtain
+further instructions. These were duly given me by the farmer, an elderly
+man, with a wild, gray beard, vague, red eyes, and a stumbling
+incoherence of speech. He repeatedly professed himself "pure and clear
+as the dew of Heaven." These characteristics applied probably to his
+principles&mdash;patriotic or private; they certainly did not to his
+directions, which led me two miles astray, before I had ridden twice
+that distance; no trifling error, when you had to struggle back over
+steep, broken ground, through drifts fully girth deep.</p>
+
+<p>However, as evening closed in, I "made" Accident&mdash;the point where I
+ought to have found Shipley. He was a very good guide&mdash;when you caught
+him&mdash;but such a perfect <i>ignis fatuus</i>, when once out of sight, that I
+was not at all surprised at hearing he had gone on, the night before, to
+a farm-house&mdash;more safe and secluded, certainly&mdash;about sixteen miles
+off. My informant offered to pilot me thither so soon as it should be
+thoroughly dark. This offer I accepted at once, only hoping that Falcon
+would, like myself, consider it "all in the day's work."</p>
+
+<p>I shall never forget my halt at Accident, if only on account of the
+martyrdom I endured at the hands of some small, pale boys, children of
+the house wherein I abode. I had just settled myself to smoke a
+meditative pipe before supper, when they came in, with a formidable air
+of business about all the three; they drew up a little bench, exactly
+opposite to my rocking-chair, fixing themselves, and me, into a
+deliberate stare. Every now and then the spokes-boy of the party&mdash;he was
+the oldest, evidently, but his face was smaller and whiter, and his eyes
+were more like little black beads than those of either of his
+brethren&mdash;would fire off a point-blank pistol-shot of a question; when
+this was answered or evaded, they resumed their steady stare. I was
+lapsing rapidly into a helpless imbecility under the horrible
+fascination, when their mother summoned me to supper; they vanished
+then, with a derisive chuckle, to which they were certainly entitled:
+for they had utterly discomfited the stranger within their gates.</p>
+
+<p>One more long night-ride over steep, broken forest-ground&mdash;enlivened by
+certain ultra-marine reminiscences of my guide, who had been a sort of
+land-buccaneer in California&mdash;brought us to the farm, far in the bosom
+of the hills, where I found Shipley, buried in a deep sleep. The sole
+intelligence I heard that night related to the roan: the enfeebled
+constitution of that unlucky animal had given way under rough travel and
+wild weather; he was reported to be dying; hearing which, I could
+scarcely deny him great good sense, however I might lament his lack of
+endurance.</p>
+
+<p>"The sooner it's over, the sooner to sleep," applies, of course, to
+horses as well as hard-worked men.</p>
+
+<p>My new host was a thorough specimen of the upland yeoman&mdash;half hunter,
+half farmer, and all over a cattle-dealer. Deer and bears still abound
+in those hills, though the latter are not so plentiful as they were a
+score of years back, when B&mdash;&mdash; and his father slew thirty-three in a
+single season: in one conflict he lost two fingers, from his
+hunting-knife slipping while he was locked in the death-grapple.</p>
+
+<p>The next morning broke wild and stormy, but the good man rode out on the
+scout, to see how the land lay round Oakland; while he was absent we
+talked over our plans, and looked over his cattle to find a remount for
+my guide. The roan's malady had not been exaggerated; he was indeed in a
+miserable plight, suffering, I thought, from acute internal
+inflammation. After dinner we had some very pretty rifle practice, at
+short distances, with a huge, clumsy weapon. I saw a boy of sixteen put
+five consecutive bullets into the circumference of a half-crown at
+seventy-five yards.</p>
+
+<p>Late in the afternoon our host returned, and we came to terms for rather
+a neat four-year-old filly: neither her condition nor strength was equal
+to the work before her; but Shipley thought that, nursing, she would
+carry him through; and once in Secessia, my interest in the purchase
+would cease. The roan was, of course, left behind, to be killed or
+cured. His chances of life seemed then so faint (though the hill-farmers
+are no mean farriers) that I thought he was fairly valued in the deal at
+thirty dollars. It appeared that there was increase of vigilance
+throughout the frontier-guard: in Oakland itself a full company was
+stationed, and strong pickets were thrown out all around, but B&mdash;&mdash; felt
+confident he could pilot us through these.</p>
+
+<p>We started soon after nightfall, in the midst of a sharp sleet-storm,
+but we dared not delay to give the weather time to clear, for a
+domiciliary visit from the Federals was by no means improbable. The old
+hunter had not boasted too much of his local knowledge. He led on,
+through winding byways and forest paths&mdash;sometimes striking straight
+across the clearings&mdash;till the lights of Oakland glimmered in our rear,
+and the <i>cordon</i> of pickets was threaded; nor did he leave us till we
+had reached a point whence a straight track&mdash;well known to
+Shipley&mdash;would bring us down on the north branch of the Potomac.
+Thenceforward, my guide and I rode on alone: the moon shone out, broad
+and bright, in a cloudless sky, as we climbed the wooded spurs that lie
+as outworks before the main range of the Alleghanies; the silvery
+transparent shimmer of the frost-work on the feathery for-sprays, was
+one of the most remarkable effects of reflected light that I can
+remember. The snow was more than fetlock-deep where it lay level, and
+the filly tired fearfully towards morning. She could not walk near up to
+Falcon's long, even stride. I had to halt perpetually, to wait for my
+companion; but in the tenth weary hour we sighted the crazy bridge that
+spans the North Branch, and by four, A. M., on Good Friday, our steeds</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i4">Might graze at ease<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Beyond the brood Borysthenes.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>Rock, and wood, and water, were all looking their best, under a
+brilliant sun, when I rose, but the object on which I gazed with most
+satisfaction, was the accursed river circumvented at last. The solitary
+green things I could find actually on the bank, were some sprigs of
+cypress: these I gathered with due formula of lustration; but the <i>absit
+omen</i> was spoken in vain.</p>
+
+<p>Then I wrote two or three letters, inclosing in each the cypress, token
+of partial success; but these never reached their destinations: they
+were prudently suppressed, three days later, by the person to whose
+discretion I trusted to forward them. My correspondence being cleared
+off, and Falcon thoroughly groomed, I fell back upon the resources of
+the little town for amusement, and lighted on one scrap of light
+literature, the fragment of a nameless magazine. In this there were some
+good, quiet verses, that I thought worth transcribing, were it only for
+the incongruity of the place in which I found them: perhaps they are
+already well known; but <i>I</i> am ignorant even of the author's name.</p>
+
+<p>MAUD.</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Yes, she always loved the sea,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">God's half uttered mystery;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">With the murmur of its myriad shells,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">And never-ceasing roar:<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">It was well, that when she died,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">They made Maud a grave beside<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The blue pulses of the tide,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">'Neath, the crags of Elsinore.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">One chill red leaf falling down&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Many russet autumns gone;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">A lone ship with folded wings<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Lay sleeping off the lea:<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Silently she came by night,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Folded wings of murky white,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Weary with their lengthened flight;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Way-worn nursling of the sea.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Eager peasants thronged the sands;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">There were tears and clasping hands;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">But one sailor, heeding none,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Passed thro' the churchyard-gate:<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Only "Maud," the headstone read,&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Only Maud, was't all it said?<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Why did <i>he</i> then bow his head,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Moaning, "Late, mine own, too late!"<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">And they called her cold&mdash;God knows,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Under quiet winter's snows,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The invisible hearts of flowers<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Grow up to blossoming:<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And the hearts judged calm and cold,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Might, if all their tale were told,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Seem cast in a gentler mould,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Full of love and life and spring.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>We were in the saddle again an hour before sunset, our next point being
+a log-hut on the very topmost ridge of the Alleghanies, wherein dwelt a
+man said to be better acquainted than any other in the country round,
+with the passes leading into the Shenandoah Valley. We ascertained,
+beyond a doubt, that a company was stationed at Greenland Gap, close to
+which it was absolutely necessary we should pass; but with a thoroughly
+good local guide, we might fairly count on the same luck which had
+brought us safe round Oakland. Night had fallen long before we came down
+on the South River, a mere mountain torrent, at ordinary seasons; but
+now, flowing along with the broad dignity of a swift, smooth river. My
+guide's mare wanted shoeing, and there chanced to be a rude forge close
+to the ford, which is the only crossing-place since the bridge was
+destroyed last autumn by the Confederates. It was important that the
+local pilot should be secured as soon as possible (he was constantly
+absent from home), so I rode on alone, with directions that were easy to
+follow.</p>
+
+<p>The smith, whose house stood but three hundred yards or so off, had told
+me that I had to strike straight across the ford, for a gap in the dense
+wood cloaked by the opposite bank. It was disagreeably dark at the
+water's edge, for the low moon was utterly hidden behind a thicket of
+cypress and pine; but I did make out a narrow opening <i>exactly</i>
+opposite; for this I headed unhesitatingly. We lost footing twice; but a
+mass of tangled timber above broke the current&mdash;nowhere very strong&mdash;and
+the water shoaled quickly under the further shore; the bottom was sound,
+too, just there, though the bank was steep; and Falcon answered a sharp
+drive of the spurs with a gallant spring, that landed him on a narrow
+shelf of slippery clay, hedged in on three sides by brush absolutely
+impenetrable. There was not room to stand firm, much less to turn
+safely; before I had time to think what was to be done, there was a
+backward slide, and a flounder; in two seconds more, I had drawn myself
+with some difficulty from under my horse, who lay still on his side, too
+wise, at first, to struggle unavailingly. If long hunting experience
+makes a man personally rather indifferent about accidents, it also
+teaches him when there is danger to the animal he rides; looking at
+Falcon's utter helplessness and the constrained twist of his hind legs,
+which I tried in vain to straighten, I began to have uncomfortable
+visions of ricked backs and strained sinews: I was on the wrong side of
+the river, too, for help; though even the rope of a Dublin Garrison
+"wrecker" would have helped but little then. Thrice the good horse made
+a desperate attempt to stand up, and thrice he sank back again with the
+hoarse sigh, between pant and groan&mdash;half breathless, half
+despairing&mdash;that every hunting man can remember, to his cost. It was
+impossible to clear the saddle-bags without cutting them; I had drawn my
+knife for this purpose, when a fourth struggle (in which his fore-hoofs
+twice nearly struck me down), set Falcon once more on his
+feet&mdash;trembling, and drenched with sweat, but materially uninjured. I
+contrived to scramble into the saddle, and we plunged into the ford
+again, heading up stream, till we struck the real gap, which was at
+least thirty yards higher up. It is ill trusting to the accuracy of a
+native's <i>carte du pays</i>. Another league brought me to the way-side hut
+where I was instructed to ask for fresh guidance.</p>
+
+<p>"Right over the big pasture, to the bars at the corner&mdash;then keep the
+track through the wood to the 'improvements'&mdash;and the house was close
+by." Such were the directions of the good-natured mountaineer, who
+offered himself to accompany me: but this I would by no means allow.</p>
+
+<p>Now, an up-country pasture, freshly cleared, is a most unpleasant place
+to cross, after nightfall: the stumps are all left standing, and felled
+trees lie all about&mdash;thick as boulders on a Dartmoor hillside; then,
+however, a steady moon was shining, and Falcon picked his way daintily
+through the timber, hopping lightly, now and then, over a trunk bigger
+than the rest, but never losing the faint track: we got over the high
+bars, too, safely, hitting them hard. The wood-path led out upon a
+clearing, after a while: here I was fairly puzzled. There was no sign of
+human habitation, except a rough hut, some hundred yards to my right,
+that I took to be an outlying cattle-shed: there was not the glimmer of
+a light anywhere.</p>
+
+<p>I have not yet written the name of the man I was seeking: contrasts of
+time and place made it so very remarkable, that I venture to break the
+rule of anonyms. Mortimer Nevil&mdash;who would have dreamt of lighting on,
+perhaps, the two proudest patronymics of baronial England, in a log hut
+crowning the ridge of the Alleghanies?</p>
+
+<p>While I wandered hither and thither in utter bewilderment, my ear caught
+a sound as of one hewing timber; I rode for it, and soon found that the
+hovel I had passed thrice was the desired homestead; truly, it was
+fitting that the possible descendant of the king-maker should reveal
+himself by the rattle of his axe.</p>
+
+<p>It is needless to say, that I was received courteously and kindly. The
+mountaineer promised his services readily; albeit, he spoke by no means
+confidently of our chances of getting through; the company of Western
+Virginians that had recently marched into Greenland, was said to be
+unusually vigilant; only the week before, a professional blockade-runner
+had been captured, who had made his way backwards and forwards
+repeatedly, and was thoroughly conversant with the ground. The attempt
+could not possibly be made till the following evening; till then, Nevil
+promised to do his best to make Falcon and me comfortable.</p>
+
+<p>I shall not easily forget my night in the log hut; it consisted of a
+single room, about sixteen feet by ten; in this lived and slept the
+entire family&mdash;numbering the farmer, his wife, mother, and two children.
+When they spoke, confidently, of finding me a bed, I fell into a great
+tremor and perplexity; the problem seemed to me not more easy to solve
+than that of the ferryman, who had to carry over a fox, a goose, and a
+cabbage; it was physically impossible that the large-limbed Nevil and
+myself should be packed into the narrow non-nuptial couch; the only
+practicable arrangement involved my sharing its pillow with the two
+infants or with the ancient dame; and at the bare thought of either
+alternative, I shivered from head to heel. At last, with infinite
+difficulty, I obtained permission to sleep on my horse-rug spread on the
+floor, with my saddle for a bolster; when this point was once settled, I
+spent the evening very contentedly, basking in the blaze of the huge
+oaken logs; if stinted in all else, the mountaineer has always large
+luxury of fuel. I was curious to find out if my host knew anything of
+his own lineage; but he could tell me nothing further, than that his
+grandfather was the first colonist of the family; oddly enough, though,
+in his library of three or four books, was an ancient work on heraldry;
+his father had been much addicted to studying this, and was said to have
+been learned in the science.</p>
+
+<p>At about ten, P. M., Shipley knocked at the door, fearfully wet and cold;
+the smith had accompanied him to the ford, so that he could not go
+astray, but his filly hardly struggled through the deep, strong water.
+Our host found quarters for him, in the log hut of a brother, who dwelt
+a short half-mile off.</p>
+
+<p>I spent all the fore-part of the next day in lounging about, watching
+the sluggish sap drain out of the sugar-maples, occasionally falling
+back on the female society of the place; for the Nevil had gone forth on
+the scout. It was not very lively: my hostess was kindness itself, but
+the worn, weary look never was off her homely face; nor did I wonder at
+this when I heard that, besides their present troubles and hardships,
+they had lost four children in one week of the past winter from
+diphtheria; it was sad to see how painfully the mother clung to the two
+that death had left her; she could not bear them out of her sight for an
+instant. A very weird-looking cummer was the grand-dame&mdash;with a broken,
+piping voice&mdash;tremulous hands, and jaws that, like the stage witch
+wife's, ever munched and mumbled. She seldom spoke aloud, except to
+groan out a startlingly sudden ejaculation of "Oh, Lord," or "O dear;"
+these widows' mites cast into the conversational treasury did not
+greatly enhance its brilliancy.</p>
+
+<p>The blue sky grew murky-white before sundown, and night fell intensely
+cold. The Nevil who guided us on foot had much the best of it, and I
+often dismounted, to walk by his side. If he who sang the praises of the
+"wild northwester" had been with us then, I doubt if he would not have
+abated of his enthusiasm. The bitter snow-laden blast, even where thick
+cover broke its vicious sweep, was enough to make the blood stand still
+in the veins of the veriest Viking. After riding about ten miles, we
+left the rough paths we had hitherto pursued, and struck, across
+country. For two hours or more we forced our way slowly and
+painfully through bush and brake&mdash;through marshy rills and rocky
+burns&mdash;demolishing snake-fences whenever we broke out on a clearing.
+Shipley led his mare almost the whole way; and I, thinking the saddle
+safest and pleasantest conveyance over ordinarily rough ground, was
+compelled to dismount repeatedly.</p>
+
+<p>It was about one o'clock in the morning of Sunday, the 5th of April: we
+were then crossing some tilled lands, intersected by frequent narrow
+belts of woodland. Our course ran parallel to the mountain-road leading
+from Greenland to Petersburg; the former place was then nearly three
+miles behind us, and our guide felt certain that we had passed the
+outermost pickets. It was very important that we should get housed
+before break of day; so we were on the point of breaking into the beaten
+track again, and had approached it within fifty yards, when suddenly,
+out of the dark hollow on our left, there came a hoarse shout:</p>
+
+<p>"Stop. Who are you? Stop or I'll fire."</p>
+
+<p>Now I have heard a challenge or two in my time, and felt certain at once
+that even, a Federal picket would have employed a more regular formula.
+The same idea struck Shipley too.</p>
+
+<p>"Come on," he said, "they're only citizens."</p>
+
+<p>So on we went, disregarding a second and third summons in the same
+words. We both looked round for the Nevil, but keener eyes would have
+sought for him in vain; at the first sound of voices he had plunged into
+the dark woods above us, where a footman, knowing the country, might
+defy any pursuit. Peace and joy go with him! By remaining he would only
+have ruined himself, without profiting us one jot.</p>
+
+<p>Then three revolver-shots were fired in rapid succession. To my question
+if he was hit, my guide answered cheerily in the negative; neither of us
+guessed that one bullet had struck his mare high up in the neck; though
+the wound proved mortal the next day, it was scarcely perceptible, and
+bled altogether internally. One of those belts of woodland crossed our
+track about two hundred yards ahead; we crashed into this over a gap in
+the snake-fence; but the barrier on the further side was high and
+intact. Shipley had dismounted, and had nearly made a breach by pulling
+down the rails, when, the irregular challenge was repeated directly in
+our front, and we made out a group of three dark figures about
+thirty-five yards off.</p>
+
+<p>"Give your names, and where you are going, or I'll fire."</p>
+
+<p>"He's very fond of firing," I said in an undertone to Shipley, and then
+spoke out aloud. (I saw at once the utter impossibility of escape, even
+if we could have found our way back, without quitting our horses, which
+I never dreamt of.)</p>
+
+<p>"If you'll come here, I'll tell you all about it."</p>
+
+<p>I could not have advanced if I had wished it; in broad day the fence
+would have been barely practicable. I spoke those exact words in a tone
+purposely measured and calm, so that they should not be mistaken by our
+assailants: I have good reason to remember them, for they were the last
+I ever uttered on American ground as a free agent. They had hardly
+passed my lips, when a rifle cracked; I felt a dull numbing blow inside
+my left knee, and a sensation as if hot sealing-wax was trickling there;
+at the same instant, Falcon dropped under me&mdash;without a start or
+struggle, or sound besides a horrible choking sob&mdash;shot right through
+the jugular vein.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VIII" id="CHAPTER_VIII"></a>CHAPTER VIII.</h2>
+
+<h3>THE ROAD TO AVERNUS.</h3>
+
+
+<p>Before I had struggled clear of my horse, Shipley's hand was on my
+shoulder, and his hurried whisper in my ear.</p>
+
+<p>"What shall we do? Will you surrender?"</p>
+
+<p>Now, though I knew already that I had escaped with a flesh-wound from a
+spent bullet, I felt that I could not hope to make quick tracks that
+night. Certain reasons&mdash;wholly independent of personal convenience&mdash;made
+me loth to part with my saddle-bags; besides this, I own I shrank from
+the useless ignominy of being hunted down like a wild beast on the
+mountains. So I answered, rather impatiently:</p>
+
+<p>"What the deuce would you have one do&mdash;with a dead horse and a lamed
+leg? Shift for yourself as well as you can."</p>
+
+<p>Without another word I walked towards the party in our front, with an
+impulse I cannot now define; it could scarcely have been seriously
+aggressive, for a hunting-knife was my solitary weapon; but for one
+moment I <i>was</i> idiot enough to regret my lost revolver, I was traveling
+as a neutral and civilian, with no other object than my private ends;
+the slaughter of an American citizen, on his own ground, would have been
+simply murder, both by moral and martial law, and I heard afterwards
+that our Legation could not have interfered to prevent condign
+punishment. But reason is dumb sometimes, when the instincts of the "old
+Adam" are speaking. I suppose I am not more truculent than my fellows;
+but since then, in all calmness and sincerity, I have thanked God for
+sparing me one strong temptation.</p>
+
+<p>Before I had advanced ten paces the same voice challenged again.</p>
+
+<p>"Stop where you are&mdash;if you come a step nearer, I'll shoot."</p>
+
+<p>I was in no mood to listen to argument, much less to an absurd threat.</p>
+
+<p>"You may shoot and be d&mdash;&mdash;d," I said. "You've got the shooting all your
+own way to-night. I carry no fire-arms,"&mdash;and walked on.</p>
+
+<p>Now, I record these words&mdash;conscious that they were thoroughly
+discreditable to the speaker&mdash;simply because I mentioned them in my
+examination before the Judge Advocate (after he had insisted on the
+point of verbal accuracy), and from his office emanated a paragraph,
+copied into all the Washington journals, stating that I had cursed my
+captors fluently. I affirm, on my honor, that this was the solitary
+imprecation that escaped me from first to last.</p>
+
+<p>So I kept on advancing: they did <i>not</i> fire, and I don't suppose they
+would have done so, even if they had had time to reload. I soon got near
+enough to discern that among the three men there was not a trace of
+uniform; they were evidently farmers, and roughly dressed "at that." So
+I opened parley in no gentle terms, requiring their authority for what
+they had done, and promising that they should answer it, if there was
+such a thing as law in these parts.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, if we ain't soldiers," the chief speaker said, "we're Home
+Guards, and that's the same thing here; we've as much authority as we
+want to back us out. Why didn't you stop, and tell us who you are, and
+where you're going?"</p>
+
+<p>By this time I was cool enough to reflect, and act with a purpose. For
+my own, as well as for his sake, I was most anxious that Shipley should
+escape. I knew they would not find a scrap of compromising paper on me;
+but he was a perfect post-carrier of dangerous documents, and a marked
+man besides&mdash;altogether a suspicious companion for an innocent traveler.
+So I began to discuss several points with my captors in a much calmer
+tone&mdash;demonstrating that from the irregularity of their challenge we
+could not suppose it came from any regular picket&mdash;that there were many
+horse-thieves and marauders about, so that it behoved travelers to be
+cautious&mdash;that it would have been impossible to have explained our
+names, object, and destination in a breath, even if they had given more
+time for such reply: finally, making a virtue of necessity, I consented
+to accompany them to the regular out-post of Greenland, stipulating that
+I should have a horse to carry me and my saddle-bags; for my knee was
+still bleeding, and stiffening fast.</p>
+
+<p>All this debate took ten minutes at least, during which time my captors
+seemed to have forgotten my companion's existence, though they must have
+seen his figure cross the open ground when they first fired. Long before
+we got back to the horses, Shipley had "vamosed" into the mountain,
+carrying his light luggage with him; only some blank, envelopes were
+lying about, evidently dropped in the hurry of removal.</p>
+
+<p>I knelt down by Falcon's side, and lifted his head out of the dark red
+pool in which it lay. Even in the dim light I could see the broad,
+bright eye glazing: the death-pang came very soon; he was too weak to
+struggle; but a quick, convulsive shiver ran through all the lower
+limbs, and, with a sickening hoarse gurgle in the throat, the last
+breath was drawn.</p>
+
+<p>My good, stout, patient horse! Few and evil were the days of his
+pilgrimage with me; but we had begun to know and like each other well. I
+cannot remember to have borne a heavier heart, than when I turned away
+from his corpse, half shrouded in a winding-sheet of drifting
+snow-flakes&mdash;seeing nothing certain in my own future, save frustrated
+projects and exhausted resources.</p>
+
+<p>I threw my saddle-bags across Shipley's saddle, and rode slowly down,
+three miles, into Greenland. The filly's head drooped wearily, as she
+faltered on through the half-frozen mud and water; but no one guessed,
+till daylight broke, that she had then got her death-wound.</p>
+
+<p>When we reached the hovel that was the headquarters of the detachment,
+only two or three soldiers were lounging around the fire; but the news
+of a capture roused most of the sleepers, and the low, dim room was soon
+filled, suffocatingly, with a squalid crowd, in and out of uniform:
+prominent, in the midst, stood the long, lank, half-dressed figure of
+the lieutenant in command. Neither he nor his men were absolutely
+uncourteous, when they once recognized that I was not a Confederate spy,
+or a professional blockade-runner; but they were exultant, of course,
+and disposed to indulge in a rough jocularity, during the necessary
+inspection of my person and baggage.</p>
+
+<p>The surgeon was a coarse edition of Maurice Quill; when he had examined
+my knee, and dressed it&mdash;not unskillfully&mdash;(the conical point of "the
+Sharp's" bullet had just reached the bone), he took great interest in
+the search of my saddle-bags; desiring to be informed of the precise
+cost of each article. When I declined to satisfy him, he became
+exceedingly witty&mdash;not to say sarcastic.</p>
+
+<p>"Here's a mighty curious sort of a traveler, boys; as don't know what
+nothing costs that belongs to him, nor how he come by it," &amp;c.</p>
+
+<p>Now I was getting tired, and bored with the whole business, and stifled
+with the close atmosphere&mdash;laden with every graveolent horror; besides,
+I had not escaped from London "chaff" and Parisian <i>persiflage</i>, to be
+mocked by a wild Virginian. So I said, quite gravely:</p>
+
+<p>"It's very simple; but I don't wonder it puzzles you. You have to pay,
+when you buy, out here, I dare say, <i>I</i> haven't paid for anything for
+twenty years. But, if I had known I was going to meet <i>you</i>, before I
+came away I would have&mdash;looked at the bills."</p>
+
+<p>Perhaps my face did not look like jesting; anyhow, he took every word
+for earnest, and remained silent for some time; ruminating, I suppose,
+on the grand simplicity of such a system of commerce.</p>
+
+<p>This occupied their attention for a considerable time; when a party
+<i>did</i> start in pursuit of my companion, under the guidance of
+Dolley&mdash;the man who had fired the last fatal shot&mdash;I reflected, with
+some satisfaction, that the fugitive had a long two hours' "law," The
+guard-room cleared gradually; and, before daybreak, I got some brief,
+broken rest&mdash;supine on the narrowest of benches, with my crossed arms
+for a pillow.</p>
+
+<p>In spite of wound, and weariness, and discomfiture, I have spent a
+drearier time than the morning of that same Sunday. After the first
+awkward feeling had passed off, my captors showed themselves civil, and
+almost friendly, after their fashion. They were very like big
+school-boys&mdash;those honest Volunteers&mdash;prone to rough jokes and rude
+horse-play among themselves, which the commanding officer not only
+sanctioned, but personally mingled with: good-fellowship reigned
+supreme, to the utter subversion of dignity and discipline.</p>
+
+<p>There were some lithe, active figures among them, well fitted for the
+long forced marches for which both the Northern and Southern infantry is
+renowned; and two or three raw-boned giants, topping six feet by some
+inches; but not one powerful or athletic frame: in many trials of
+strength, in wrist and arm, I did not come across one formidable muscle.</p>
+
+<p>About three o'clock&mdash;the weather had become bright and almost warm
+before noon&mdash;I was lounging about on the bank of the trout-stream that
+ran past the door, with my guard at my shoulder, when I saw a group of
+several figures approaching. When they came nearer, one man lifted his
+cap on his bayonet's point, and the others shouted. I could not catch
+the words; but I guessed the truth: they had run down Shipley, after
+all. He was so utterly exhausted, both in mind and body, when first
+brought in, that he could hardly speak: he was not of a hardy
+constitution, and he had undergone fatigue enough&mdash;to say nothing of the
+fearful weather&mdash;to have broken down a more practiced pedestrian.
+Dolley's party were not the actual captors, though they were hard on the
+fugitive's trail; another squad, sent to search for some Confederates
+supposed to be hidden in the neighborhood, had come upon some tracks in
+the snow, leading to a farm-house, and there discovered my unhappy
+guide, sleeping the sleep of exhaustion. This was twelve miles from the
+spot where we parted, and he had struggled on till strength would carry
+him no further.</p>
+
+<p>The lieutenant's face grew longer than Nature had left it, as he
+perused, one after another, the documents found on Shipley. Though his
+demeanor towards myself remained quite amicable, it was clear that he
+judged me, to a certain extent, by my associations; and his simple
+joviality was somewhat clouded by an uneasy sense of responsibility.
+Nevertheless, the evening passed quickly enough round the guard-room
+fire; the men sang some simple chants, and the deep, rough voices
+sounded not unmusically. Once more, I preferred a single plank to the
+nameless abominations of the bunks, above and below stairs; and
+consequently awoke with aching bones, but flesh intact.</p>
+
+<p>The next morning we bade farewell to the Greenland detachment, in no
+unkindness. I was really sorry when I read in the papers, a month later,
+of their capture by Imboden's division, after an obstinate defense in
+the church, which was burned over their heads before the survivors would
+surrender.</p>
+
+<p>New Creek, the headquarters of Colonel Mulligan's brigade, was our
+destination. We had a sufficient escort, and besides, the valiant Dolley
+accompanied us, in the character of chief witness, as well as chief
+captor. His "get up" was very remarkable, consisting of a pair of brown
+overalls, an old blue uniform coat, about three sizes too small for him,
+and the very tallest black hat, that, as I think, I ever beheld. Slight
+as my wound was, it had quite crippled me for the time; a farmer,
+however, for a moderate consideration, found me a pony that saved my
+legs, at much peril to its own: for it stumbled miraculously often.
+Shipley began by walking, but was glad to avail himself of a chance
+animal half way. Dolley and two of his friends were mounted; the
+soldiers kept pace with us gallantly on foot.</p>
+
+<p>When we started, I bore no sort of malice to that same Dolley; but,
+before we had got through the twenty-three miles that brought us to New
+Creek, I hated him intensely, as one hates the man&mdash;friend or foe&mdash;that
+bores you to death's door. That he should be puffed up with vainglory,
+was neither unlikely nor unreasonable. His own shots were the only ones
+he had ever seen fired in anger. It was natural, too, that he should
+over-estimate the importance of his capture; he had suffered from the
+war, in purse, if not in person, and had lost two sons in the Northern
+army from disease, one of whom had been imprisoned for six months by the
+Confederates. After his first excitement had passed away, he bore
+himself not unkindly towards me; though, at Greenland, he did greatly
+bewail the darkness that had caused him to take a costly life instead of
+a worthless one; Falcon would have fetched five hundred dollars in those
+parts; even at my own valuation, <i>I</i> could not have been appraised so
+highly. So I listened to him twice or thrice with great patience, while
+he told how well he had deserved of his country; but, when he persisted
+in repeating the same tale, not only to me, but to every creature he
+encountered, the iteration became simply "damnable." He spoke of his
+dead sons in the same pompous tones of self-exultation with which he
+reckoned all other items standing to the credit side of his patriotism.
+Fortunately for my equanimity, I was not present when he told his own
+tale at New Creek; it must have been a grand romance of history.</p>
+
+<p>Yet my poor Dolley made a bad night's work of it after all. His three
+days' fame in local papers cost him dear. Immediately on getting out of
+prison, I heard&mdash;not without a savage satisfaction&mdash;that Imboden's
+horsemen had harried his homestead thoroughly in their last raid; Dolley
+only saving his life by "running like a hare." The Southerners know
+everything that goes on near their lines, and are wonderfully regular in
+settling scores with any registered debtor.</p>
+
+<p>At New Creek I was confronted with Colonel Mulligan. His attire was
+anything but military; black overalls crammed into high butcher boots, a
+Garibaldi shirt of the brightest emerald green; but his bearing was
+unmistakably that of a soldier and gentleman. He treated me with the
+utmost courtesy. I also met with no small kindness from the adjutant of
+the artillery corps, an old Crimean. Unluckily, Colonel Mulligan could
+not deal with my case, so, after a brief examination, and liberal
+refreshment, Shipley and myself were forwarded by rail to Wheeling, two
+hundred miles further west, where the district Provost Marshal was
+stationed.</p>
+
+<p>We reached Wheeling in the early morning, and there were indulged with a
+most welcome bath, and breakfast. Soon afterwards we stood in the
+presence of the Provost Marshal, Major Darr.</p>
+
+<p>The figure of this functionary certainly resembles, in its square
+obesity, that of the great Emperor in his latter days. Possibly for this
+reason, Major Darr affects a Napoleonic curtness and decision of speech.
+Nevertheless, he was amenable to reason, and on my agreeing to pay the
+expenses of an escort, consented to forward me to Baltimore, to be
+identified. Shipley was committed at once to the military prison.</p>
+
+<p>It was a long, weary journey of twenty-three hours, and I was so
+harassed by want of sleep, that I scarcely appreciated some really fine
+scenery on the Laurel and Chestnut ranges. We reached Baltimore about
+three, A. M., and I dispatched two notes immediately, one to the British
+Consul, another to my most intimate acquaintance in the city.</p>
+
+<p>Both came down without delay, proffering all possible assistance. I had
+a regular <i>levee</i> before my guards conveyed me to the office of the
+Chief of Gen. Schenck's staff, to whose mercies I was consigned. Colonel
+Cheesebrough was civil enough; but, in his turn, professed himself
+unable to deal with my case, and referred it to the General. C&aelig;sar was
+not less dilatory than Felix. I never saw the potentate before whose nod
+Baltimore trembles (he was unwell, I believe, or unusually sulky), but I
+underwent a lengthened interrogatory at the mouth of a very young and
+girlish-looking aide-de-camp. In the midst of this, rather an absurd
+incident occurred. General Schenck's headquarters are at the Eutaw
+House. The fair daughter of a house at which I had been very
+intimate&mdash;was to be married that same day, and at that same house the
+bridegroom's party were staying. Suddenly, through an opening door, two
+or three of these my friends debouched upon the scene. They had not
+heard one word of my misadventures, so that they were naturally rather
+surprised at finding me there, in such company. I really think that the
+sympathy lavished upon me in that brief interview was not so refreshing
+as the palpable discomfort of the unhappy <i>aide</i>, under a galling
+glance-fire maintained by Southern eyes, not careful to dissemble their
+hatred and scorn.</p>
+
+<p>I was so perfectly used to being <i>ballotte</i> by this time, that it did
+not in anywise surprise me, to hear that I was to be sent down to
+Washington, to be examined by the Judge-Advocate-General. There was so
+much delay in making out commitment papers that we lost the afternoon
+train. No other started before eight, P. M., so that, by the time we
+reached Washington, all offices would have been closed, and we must have
+spent the night in the Central Guard-house. I had heard enough of the
+foul abominations of that refuge for the imprisoned destitute, to make
+me determined never to cross the threshold unless under actual coercion.
+I said as much to the cavalry sergeant who had me in charge; suggesting
+that, by taking the four A. M. train on the following morning, we should
+arrive hours before the Provost Marshal's or Judge Advocate's offices
+were open. He was civilly rational about the whole question, and, on my
+parole not to attempt escape, readily consented to accompany me to a
+house, where I was more at home than anywhere else in Baltimore. There I
+remained till long after midnight: though none of us were in the best of
+spirits or tempers, that brief return to social life was an
+indescribable rest and restorative. I mention this unimportant incident
+chiefly because one of the charges brought against me afterwards was
+founded on "my having bribed my escort, and spent the whole night at the
+house of a notorious Secessionist." The poor sergeant was reduced to the
+ranks for dereliction of duty; and I the more regret this, because his
+good-nature was <i>not</i> mercenary.</p>
+
+<p>We reached Washington about six, A. M. No offices were open before nine.
+I employed the interval, partly in breakfasting with what appetite I
+might, partly in a visit to Percy Anderson, whose slumbers I was
+compelled to break by the most disagreeable of all morning
+apparitions&mdash;a friend in trouble. I could only just stay long enough to
+receive condolences, and promises of all possible assistance&mdash;private or
+diplomatic; then I betook myself to the Provost Marshal's office, which
+I did not enter; thence to that of the Judge-Advocate-General.</p>
+
+<p>I look back upon that interview with feelings of unmitigated
+self-contempt, I confess to have been utterly deluded by that sleek
+official's sham <i>bonhommie</i>; so that when he prayed me to be frank and
+explicit&mdash;"Anything that you say, I shall receive with perfect
+confidence," &amp;c., &amp;c.,&mdash;I did strive, to the best of my powers, to
+forget no important incident or word relative to my conduct since I
+landed in America; only making reservations where confession might
+implicate others. An artless boy might easily have been gulled by the
+portly presence, the unctuous voice, and eyes that twinkled merrily
+through gold-rimmed glasses; but no man of mature age can remember such
+a gross mistake without a hot flush of shame.</p>
+
+<p>I have little cause to love the Federal Government; but I bear no grudge
+against any individual Unionist with the solitary exception of the
+Judge-Advocate, simply because to him alone can I trace deliberately
+unfair dealing and intentional discourtesy. While I was in prison I sent
+him two letters, at long intervals; though I again committed a gross
+error, in addressing him as one gentleman would write to another, I
+cannot think this wholly excuses his coolly ignoring both
+communications. On the 21st of May, Major Turner's duty brought him to
+Carroll place, and he remained there two full hours: the superintendent,
+who had conferred with the prison surgeon on the state of my health,
+pressed him strongly to see me. The Judge-Advocate refused, on the
+ground that the case was already decided, and would be settled in a day
+or so, at furthest; that same afternoon he departed on a fortnight's
+leave, knowing right well that no steps could be taken in the matter
+till his return. Officials are justified, I suppose, in avoiding all
+waste of time or trouble; perhaps it <i>was</i> more simple to lie to a
+subordinate than to risk the short discussion that an interview would
+have involved. I cannot guess at the especial reason which caused me to
+be honored by Major Turner's enmity; certain it is that he was <i>not</i>
+neutral or indifferent with regard to my case, but exerted himself very
+successfully to thwart any measures tending to its decision or
+adjustment.</p>
+
+<p>During the latter days of my imprisonment, I indulged more than once in
+a day-dream, not the less pleasant because it is wildly improbable.
+Should the changes and chances of this mortal life ever bring me face to
+face with that jovial Judge, on any neutral ground, by my faith and
+honor I will say in his ear five short words not hard to understand. On
+the steps of Carroll place, when the door opened to set me free, I sent
+Major Turner a message much to this effect. I devoutly hope it was
+delivered with the "verbal accuracy" of which he is so remarkably fond.</p>
+
+<p>At the conclusion of the long examination, the Judge-Advocate left me
+for a short time to obtain instructions&mdash;possibly a warrant&mdash;from
+Secretary Stanton; on his return he told me that nothing could be
+decided until Shipley's case had been inquired into; he assured me that
+the latter should be telegraphed for at once from Wheeling; and so, with
+the pleasantest of smiles, and a jest on his lips, handed me over to
+Colonel Baker, who was already in waiting. This official's overt
+functions are those of a District Provost Marshal&mdash;in reality, he is the
+Chief of Secret Police. There are legions of stories abroad, imputing to
+him the grossest oppression and venality; even strong Unionists shake
+their heads disparagingly, at the mention of his name.</p>
+
+<p>But of Colonel Baker, from my own knowledge, I can say nothing: I simply
+passed through his office to the Old Capitol; nor do I know that he in
+anywise influenced my after fortunes.</p>
+
+<p>It appeared that my quarters were to be, not in the main building of the
+prison, but in a sort of <i>depend&auml;nce</i>, a couple of hundred yards off,
+called Carroll place; thither I was at once removed, after a brief
+consultation with the officer on guard.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Wood, the head Superintendent, soon came to welcome the new arrival,
+and in his first sentence gave me a specimen of the <i>brusquerie</i> of
+address for which he has acquired a certain notoriety.</p>
+
+<p>"Mr. &mdash;&mdash;," he said, "I'm always glad to see your countrymen <i>here</i>. My
+father was an Englishman; but I've no sympathy with England. I was born
+and bred a plebeian, sir."</p>
+
+<p>As I felt no particular interest in Mr. Wood's proclivities or
+proletarianism, I simply shrugged my shoulders, and turned away without
+a reply. But when, on his first visit to my room, two days later, he
+repeated exactly the same formula, without variation of a syllable, I
+thought it better to assure him that the iteration was absolutely
+unnecessary, inasmuch as I had believed him on <i>both</i> points easily from
+the first. He was not at all disconcerted or offended, only we heard him
+mutter to his subordinate, when they got outside our door:</p>
+
+<p>"That's a pretty d&mdash;&mdash;d high-handed sort of a chap, anyhow."</p>
+
+<p>After half an hour's waiting, I was conducted to a room on the third
+story, No. 20, and in a few minutes experienced that great rarity of a
+"fresh sensation," finding myself&mdash;for the very first time in my
+life&mdash;fairly under lock and key.</p>
+
+<p>I had been so "harried" of late, that I felt a certain relief in being
+settled <i>somewhere</i>. The rest of the afternoon and evening was spent in
+making acquaintance with the Baltimorean blockade-runner, my room-mate,
+and in exchanging dreary prison civilities with the cells either side,
+through little tunnels pierced in the wall by former prisoners, which
+allowed passage to anything of a calibre not exceeding that of a rolled
+newspaper. A deep, narrow trough, ingeniously excavated in a
+pine-splinter, enabled us to pledge each other in mutual libations,
+devoted to our better luck and speedy release. The neighbors, with whom
+I chiefly held commune, were an Episcopal clergyman and a captain in the
+Confederate army. Of these, more hereafter. I breathed more freely when
+the temporary absence of my room-mate, for exercise, left me alone&mdash;for
+the first time since my capture&mdash;with my saddle-bags. They had been in
+Northern custody for four days, and subjected to the severest scrutiny:
+nevertheless, they still held certain documents that I was right glad to
+see vanish in the red heat of a fierce log fire.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IX" id="CHAPTER_IX"></a>CHAPTER IX.</h2>
+
+<h3>CAGED BIRDS.</h3>
+
+
+<p>The miserable first-waking&mdash;dreariest of all hours that follow a great
+loss or disaster&mdash;came late to me. I had gone through a certain amount
+of knocking-about&mdash;mental and bodily&mdash;in the last week; and, for eight
+nights, the nearest approach to a bed had been the extempore couch of a
+railway-car. So, on an unhappy emaciated palliasse, covered by a dusty
+horse-rug (it took me four days to weary the jailer into a concession of
+sheets), I slept, all noises notwithstanding, far into my first
+prison-day. It was provokingly brilliant and warm; indeed I must, in
+justice to the Weather Office, allow, that its benignancy has scarcely
+been interrupted, since I ceased to care whether skies were foul or
+fair. My recollections of that first day are rather vague; but my
+impression is, that I had a good deal to think about, and did not in the
+least know how to begin. I paced up and down, as long as my knee would
+allow; it was still stiff and painful, though healing fast. In a room
+twelve feet by eight, you square the circle much too often for pleasure;
+but it was a week before I had any other exercise. Then, I believe, I
+made some attempts to improve the acquaintance of my room-mate.</p>
+
+<p>He was not sullen, but, at first, somewhat saturnine and silent. The
+fact was that, for many days, he had been fasting from the luxuries
+dearest to every American heart&mdash;whisky and tobacco; for all money and
+clothes had been taken from him at the Provost Marshal's office, and
+never were returned: in these respects, after my arrival, he fared
+sumptuously, by comparison, and abated greatly of his discontent. I
+might have been much more unfortunate in my companion. He was not
+conversational, certainly, nor very amusing in any way; but he was
+cunning in all the small crafts of captivity, and kept our chamber swept
+and garnished to the best of his power. The way in which dust
+accumulated and renewed itself within those narrow limits, was little
+short of miraculous; you might brush till you were weary, and ten
+minutes afterwards things would look as though brooms had never been.
+Twining ropes out of sea sand, or any other of the tasks with which
+wizards have baffled fiends, were not more helpless than that on which
+my comrade busied himself each morning. The wood fire could not account
+for it; the nuisance increased when it became too warm to light anything
+but candles; so it must remain another of the physical puzzles
+concerning which we are perpetually wondering, where it all comes from,
+and are never likely to be satisfied.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. C&mdash;&mdash; seemed by no means sanguine as to his own prospects, and took
+an early opportunity of advising me not to buoy myself up with hopes of
+speedy release. I can say, truly, that from the very first I did not so
+delude myself. Some of my Baltimore friends would fain have persuaded me
+that, in the utter absence of criminating evidence, I should not be
+detained long; I forbore to argue, but my opinion remained always the
+same. I had heard how tenacious was the grasp of Federal officials,
+unless loosened by more golden oil than I could then command. I had
+heard, too, how slowly aid or intercession from the free outer world
+could penetrate these mock-bastilles, and how reluctantly the
+authorities would grant the supreme favor of a hearing, or trial, to any
+whose condemnation was not sure. So I was prepared to resign myself to
+anything short of a month's incarceration; but even thus, I
+under-estimated the hospitable urgency of my amiable entertainers.</p>
+
+<p>The return-wing of the main building in which we were confined, is
+occupied exclusively by the prisoners committed under a Secretary's
+warrant. These are much more closely guarded than the other inmates; but
+they have the advantage of being divided off into pairs, or threes at
+most, in their rooms, and their comforts are certainly better attended
+to. The regulations anent food and liquors are liberal enough; you can
+obtain almost anything by paying about twice its cost; but the privilege
+of having meals sent in, is not lightly valued by those who have once
+done battle with the boiled leather, called ration beef, contests in
+which passive resistance generally prevails.</p>
+
+<p>The barred window of No. 20 looks out on the narrow yard wherein
+ordinary captives are allowed to disport themselves for three half-hours
+daily. It is a very motley crowd. There are no Confederate soldiers
+here; all these are confined in the Old Capitol; but of every other
+class you may see specimens.</p>
+
+<p>I will try one or two sketches. It used to amuse me to guess at the
+profession of a captive from outward signs, and, after a little
+practice, one is rarely wrong.</p>
+
+<p>Those three, talking together apart, and gesticulating so vehemently,
+with the Hebrew stamp on every line of their dark, keen faces, are
+blockade-runners: they bewail their captivity more loudly than their
+fellows; but, be sure, they will wriggle out, soonest of all, if freedom
+can be purchased by hard swearing or gold. The profits of a single
+successful venture are simply fabulous; the smugglers are frequently
+captured with dollars on their persons by tens of thousands: they will
+part readily with a share of the plunder to any accommodating official,
+sooner than lose valuable time here; and, as for the oath, they swallow
+it without a pretense at reluctance.</p>
+
+<p>That group, with wild beards and long unkempt hair, clad in rough
+garments of every shade, from "butternut" to hodden gray, come evidently
+from the far uplands of Virginia. Looking at those rough-hewn faces and
+fierce eyes, you can easily believe that such men are not careful to
+dissemble their sympathies, and would not lightly forget an injury; the
+chastisement of this paternal Government will change sullen disaffection
+into savage animosity; they will all be sent South in time, and "it's a
+free fight there." I fancy one or two of those yeomen will see the color
+of Yankee blood, before they see the old homestead again.</p>
+
+<p>That pale Judas face, with scanty, hircine beard, and an expression
+changing often from spiteful to cunning, could belong only to a Yankee
+paymaster or commissary, detected in his frauds before he had made up a
+pile high enough to defy justice; for swindler is not <i>quite</i> safe till
+he is nearly a "milliner." (So, was my comrade wont to pronounce
+millionaire.) Such cases occur daily, and the unity of shabbiness here
+is always diversified by some trim criminals in dark blue. Putting
+apparel aside, these accessions do not seem greatly to improve the
+respectability of the life below-stairs.</p>
+
+<p>There is a very tall man, who generally manages to take his exercise at
+a different hour from the common herd: when he does mix with them, his
+well-cut clothes and spotless linen make a strange contrast with the
+squalor round him. He seems perfectly contented with his present lot; he
+is always humming snatches of song, or chanting right lustily: he speaks
+loud and freely with the few to whose converse he condescends; and there
+is a gay recklessness about his whole bearing almost too ostentatious to
+be natural. Before long you notice one peculiarity. Speaking or
+listening&mdash;sitting or standing&mdash;walking or resting&mdash;his long, white,
+lissom fingers are never still; they cannot handle the commonest object
+without betraying a swift, subdued dexterity. Look closer yet, and all
+his glib, sham-soldier talk will not deceive you. That gallant belongs
+to a great army, whose spoils&mdash;if not bloodless&mdash;must be won with knife
+and pistol, instead of rifle and sabre; to an order whose squires are
+often knighted with no gentle <i>accolade</i>&mdash;an order, the date of whose
+foundation neither herald nor historian knows, but which must last while
+Christendom shall endure&mdash;the Unholy Order of Industry.</p>
+
+<p>The professional gamblers, here, far outnumber the turfites of England,
+and they apply themselves to their business from early youth with far
+more exclusive pertinacity. The richest field for their talent is
+barren, now that the highroad of the Mississippi is closed; but still in
+every city of importance, North or South, he who would "fight the
+tiger," need not wander far without discovering his den. In Richmond,
+especially, the play never was so desperate and deep. It is unnecessary
+to say towards which side the sympathies and interests of the mercurial
+guild tend. The cunning Yankee was ever too prudent to risk much of his
+hard-earned gold on the chance of a card, fairly or unfairly turned: it
+is only the planter, on whom wealth flows in while he sleeps, that
+tempts Fortune with a daring, near which the recklessness of the Regency
+seems cautious and tame.</p>
+
+<p>It is not strange that the captive knight should accept his present
+position so cheerfully. Here, he enjoys every luxury that money can buy,
+and whithersoever he may be consigned, he is sure to fall on his feet;
+for it matters little to those cosmopolites on what spot of earth their
+vagrant tents are pitched. Neither is he of the stuff that is likely
+indefinitely to be detained: even this jealous Government need not fear
+to let such an enemy go free. My comrade&mdash;not innocent or unmindful of
+past losses at <i>faro</i>&mdash;contemplating the gay cavalier with no loving
+glance, growls out, "They won't bother themselves with that rubbish
+long."</p>
+
+<p>There is another figure, quite picturesquely repulsive, which will
+attract you more than if it were pleasant to look upon. A man,
+exceedingly old, stout, and lame, with red, savage eyes, and a scowl
+that never lightens or breaks: it would be an equine injustice to
+compare his head to a horse's; that of many a thoroughbred measures less
+in superficial inches. Clearly, a storekeeper from some remote village,
+where he has battened on the necessities of his neighbors for years,
+till he has got bloated like an ancient spider in its web. He hobbles up
+and down, never interchanging a word with his fellows, but unceasingly
+mumbling his huge toothless jaws; they say he never mutters anything but
+curses; if so, his daily expense in blasphemy is something fearful to
+contemplate. I think that cleanliness is as foreign to that horrible old
+creature's soul as godliness: he never shows a vestige of linen, and I
+am certain he sleeps in that rusty coat of bluish gray, and in that
+squalid cravat-rope, never untwisted since it was first donned. His
+offense must surely have been commerce, active and profitable, with
+Rebeldom, for he never can have sympathized with any living thing.</p>
+
+<p>One more picture, to close the list. I ought to know that figure, long
+and lanky, but sinewy withal, though the head, under the fur cap, is
+averted still.</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Mock me not, for otherwhere, than along the greenwood fair,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Have I ridden fast with thee.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>He turns now&mdash;I knew I was right&mdash;it is my cheery host of the White
+Grounds, who led us so gallantly through brake, and brook, and
+snowdrift, when the Federal dragoons followed hard on our trail: a broad
+light of recognition spreads over all his honest face as he waves a
+stealthy salute, and I straightway go through the pantomime of drinking
+to his health and quick deliverance.</p>
+
+<p>Women of all classes are confined here; but beauty alone beams on the
+prison-yard from the windows of its cell. At this moment of writing, I
+hear voices from a room immediately below me; fair, the speakers
+possibly may be, but&mdash;judging from the fitful scraps of conversation
+that rise hither&mdash;they are assuredly <i>very</i> frail.</p>
+
+<p>I think one of the most exasperating circumstances of this house of
+bondage, is the exceeding flimsiness of its defenses. Part of the
+inclosure of both yards consists of tall, thin boarding, full of cracks
+and crevices, that might be breached with no extraordinary exertion of
+foot or shoulder; and there is hardly any part of the stronghold out of
+which a man, of average ingenuity, armed with a common clasp-knife&mdash;if
+unwatched&mdash;could not make his way in a couple of hours. But, unwatched
+you never are. The passages are not more than thirty feet long, and
+there is a sentinel in each who can hear almost every sound from within.
+A State prisoner never stirs beyond his room, without an armed guard at
+his shoulder.</p>
+
+<p>I soon heard that my reverend neighbor on the right contemplated
+evasion, and, considering his opportunities, I rather wondered at
+finding him here. In every cell there is a small closet, corresponding
+with those on the floor above and below. In this especial one the
+ceiling had fallen away, or been removed by some former prisoner;
+nothing but plain boards intercepted a passage to the unoccupied
+attic-story, where dormer windows opened on to the shingle roof. But,
+with all this, it took the parson a full month to make up his mind and
+preparations. I often communed with him through the tunnel aforesaid,
+and he amused me not a little sometimes.</p>
+
+<p>He looked at all things through a magnifying glass of about eighteen
+power. I know that he was perfectly honest in the delusion of
+considering himself one of the most important State prisoners that had
+ever been confined here. He would have it that half Maryland was in
+mourning for him, and ready with ransom of untold gold, but was certain
+that the Government would never venture to set him free while the war
+should last. Upon the oath of allegiance being proposed to him, instead
+of simply declining, he defied the Judge to do his worst, expressing his
+readiness to confront either gallows or platoon. The risk of either was
+about equal to that of his being tortured at the stake, on the steps of
+the Capitol. In spite of all this simple vanity, and flightiness of
+brain, you could see that the parson had good strong principles, and
+held to them fast; and I believe that his nervous excitability would not
+have deterred him from encountering real danger. He appeared thoroughly
+courteous, generous, and good-natured; and my companion, to whose
+regiment he had been chaplain, told me that nothing could exceed his
+considerate kindness to the soldiers.</p>
+
+<p>Albeit afflicted by occasional fits of depression, the reverend, as a
+rule, talked very cheerily; but, ah! me, how sorrowfully he would sing!
+There was one psalm&mdash;penitential I presume&mdash;of about twenty-two verses,
+an especial favorite. This was probably, the most soul-depressing melody
+that has been chanted since the days of The Captivity. The mournful tone
+bore you down irresistibly; Mark Tapley would have subsided into
+melancholy gloom, before the slow versicles were half dragged through.
+But the parson was not the only musical culprit, nor the worse, by many
+degrees. It would be absurd to expect much cheerfulness here; a hoarse
+roar breaks out now and then at some coarse practical joke; but a frank,
+honest laugh&mdash;never. Yet I do wish that imprisoned discontent would vent
+itself otherwise than in discordant, dismal howling. At this minute a
+cracked voice is droning out,</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">A little more cider;<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>it might be a Sioux chanting his death-song.</p>
+
+<p>How well I remember, in what "stately home of England" I first listened
+to that pleasant ditty. I hear, now, the leader's rich, round tones, and
+I see quite plainly the fair faces of the youths and virgins that made
+up the choir. <i>Bast&aacute;!</i> it don't bear thinking about. If mine enemy were
+anywhere but round the corner, I would try if his music would stand a
+volley of orange-shot.</p>
+
+<p>For three days or so, I could scarcely take up a paper without seeing my
+own unlucky name paraded in one or more paragraphs. As they all varied,
+it was somewhat remarkable that, in all alike, facts should have been so
+absurdly distorted. They were not content with drawing my own fancy
+portrait&mdash;imagine, if you please, the caricature&mdash;but they built a
+little romance about poor Falcon's assassin, giving him credit for much
+suffering for his country's sake, particularly for long imprisonment at
+Richmond, since which time he had devoted himself as an Avenger. I was
+gratified to observe that his name was seldom, if ever, correctly spelt.
+I did think of sending a contradictory note to one of the local
+journals, but decided against wasting ink and paper. Besides, it is a
+pity to abase oneself unnecessarily. "I ain't proud, 'cos its sinful,"
+nor over careful with whom I try a fall; but I confess a preference for
+more creditable antagonists than American penny-a-liners. So, I let
+them&mdash;lie.</p>
+
+<p>On the fourth evening of my imprisonment, there was an unusual stir in
+the building soon after nightfall. Intercourse between the different
+rooms is prevented as much as possible, but the channels of covert
+communication are many, and not easily cut off. In ten minutes every one
+was aware that the iron-clads which were to annihilate Charleston had
+recoiled, beaten and wounded. My mate rejoiced greatly after his
+saturnine fashion, and I&mdash;the fullness of listlessness being not
+yet&mdash;felt a brief glow of satisfaction. Others were more demonstrative.
+Loud came the p&aelig;an of the warlike priest through our mural
+speaking-trumpet; while the sturdy soldier on the left, after hearing
+the news, and taking a trough-full of "old rye," expressed himself "good
+for two months more of gaol." Some one at a lower window began to sing,
+softly at first, the National Anthem of the South; then voice after
+voice joined in, in spite of sentinels' warnings, till the full volume
+of the defiant chorus rolled out, ringingly:</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">"Hurrah! hurrah! for Southern rights, hurrah!<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">One cheer more for the bonnie blue flag<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">That carries a Single Star."<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>On the whole, I think that Sunday evening passed more rapidly than any
+that I can chronicle here.</p>
+
+<p>The newspapers, for the next few days, were rather amusing. The
+well-practiced Republican apologists exhausted their ingenuity in
+endeavoring to explain away the reverse. It was an experiment&mdash;a
+reconnaissance on a large scale&mdash;anything you please but a repulse. But
+the facts hemmed them in remorselessly; at last, in their desperation,
+they fell fiercely, not only on their Democratic opponents, but on each
+other.</p>
+
+<p>The truth is, that the failure of the iron-clads was so complete, that
+it ought to furnish some useful hints for the future. With the exception
+of the Keokuk, whose construction differed slightly from that of her
+fellows, none were sunk or fairly riddled with shot; but scarcely one
+went out of that sharp, brief battle efficiently offensive. The starting
+of bolts might easily be remedied, but it is clear that the revolving
+machinery of the turrets is far too delicate and vulnerable; and that
+these are liable to become "jammed" by a chance shot at any moment. This
+objection is the more serious, when you consider how miserably these
+vessels seem to steer. Almost all were more or less "sulky" as soon as
+they felt the strong tideway, and the huge Ironsides lay a helpless,
+useless log, half an hour after going into action. Neither do they
+appear to be very formidable offensively. No reliable evidence proves
+Fort Sumter to have suffered material damage; yet the attacking force
+spent their strength exclusively on one of its sides and angles, and
+there was nothing to prevent their pouring in a concentric fire on any
+weakened point or possible breach.</p>
+
+<p>But a stranger soon ceases to be surprised at any trick or eccentricity
+of the American Press. The common courtesies and proprieties of the
+Fourth Estate are utterly ignored in the noisy Batrachomachia; the first
+step in editorial training here must be to trample on self-respect, as
+the renegade used to trample on the cross. Not only do the leading
+articles teem with coarse personal abuse of political opponents, but a
+rival journalist is often freely stigmatized by name; his antecedents
+are viciously dissected, and the back-slidings of his great-grandsire
+paraded triumphantly; though this is an extreme case, for such an
+authenticated ancestor seldom helps or hampers the class of which I
+speak. A year of such ignoble brawling must surely be sufficient to
+annihilate more moral dignity than most of these small Thunderers can
+pretend to start with.</p>
+
+<p>One is prepared for anything after seeing whole columns of journals,
+boasting no small metropolitan and provincial renown, filled by those
+revolting advertisements, that the lowest of our own penny papers only
+accept under protest.</p>
+
+<p>Upon one point, certainly, all agree&mdash;constant distrust and depreciation
+of England; and, all things considered, I know no one spot on God's
+earth, where the hackneyed old line can be quoted so complacently by a
+Britisher:</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Sibilat populus, mihi plaudo.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>It would be unfair, not to give the American Press credit for great
+energy and ability in collecting intelligence from the different seats
+of war. Considering the vast surface over which military operations
+extend, and the immense distances that often lie between the scene of
+action and the place of publication, it is really wonderful to see how
+copiously the New York journals contrive to minister to their readers'
+curiosity. The "Herald," in particular, has one or more correspondents
+wherever a single brigade is stationed, and according to their own
+accounts&mdash;which there is no reason to doubt&mdash;they frequently accompany
+the troops till actually under fire. All agents of the Press with the
+army of the Potomac are now obliged to sign their communications with
+their real name. This general order is of course intended to check the
+freedom of criticism, which has of late become rather too plain-spoken
+to be agreeable to the irascible Chief. But it is difficult to gag an
+undaunted "special;" so every morning the last intelligence streams
+forth&mdash;fresh, strong, and rather coarsely flavored&mdash;like new whisky from
+a still.</p>
+
+<p>The sobriety of the weekly journals contrasts refreshingly with the
+license of their diurnal brethren. Sporting papers are nearly the same
+all the world over; but, in the rest of these placid periodicals, there
+is little of violence or virulence to be found. They are enthusiastic
+about the war, of course, and occasionally querulous about the
+Copperheads; but they never quarrel among themselves, and are seldom
+thoroughly savage with any one or anything. They generally contain a
+chapter or two borrowed, with or without permission, from some English
+story in progress&mdash;"Eleanor's Victory" is the favorite now&mdash;the rest of
+the non-illustrated pages are filled with the very mildest little tales
+that, I think, ever were penned.</p>
+
+<p>These simple romancers in nowise resemble the vitriolic
+melo-dramatists&mdash;scarcely caricatured by <i>Punch</i> in "Mokeanna,"&mdash;who try
+to drug, in default of intoxicating their audience; the liquor they
+proffer in their pretty flimsy cups, if not exciting, is far from
+deleterious; not unfrequently you catch glimpses of an under-current of
+honest pathos, soon smothered by garish flowers of language; and
+sometimes the style sparkles into mild effervescence, redeeming itself
+from utter vapidity; these ephemerals, indeed, belong rather to the
+lemonade than the milk-and-water class; but, throughout, there is a
+woeful want of <i>verve</i> and virility.</p>
+
+<p>It was inexpressibly refreshing, after loitering through twenty such
+pages, to revert to the "History of the Crimean War:" the curt, nervous
+periods were a powerful mental tonic; and few of his many readers owe so
+practical a debt to Mr. Kinglake as the writer of these words.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_X" id="CHAPTER_X"></a>CHAPTER X.</h2>
+
+<h3>DARK DAYS.</h3>
+
+
+<p>So&mdash;heavier with each link&mdash;the chain of days dragged on. My room mate
+soon thawed into a stolid sociability, and was quite disposed to be
+communicative; but his narrative riches about matched those of the
+knife-grinder, and his military experience of one year only embraced one
+battle&mdash;that of Manassas. His ideas of English society were very
+remarkable. The works of Mr. G. W. M. Reynolds are much favored, it
+appears, by the class who believe in Mr. George F. Train's veracity and
+eloquence; from these turbid fountains mine honest friend's conceptions
+were drawn. I took some trouble to undeceive him, and partially
+succeeded, chiefly by insisting upon the fact that&mdash;of all living
+writers&mdash;the ingenious author of the "Mysteries of Everything" was
+probably the man least qualified, by personal experience, to discourse
+concerning the manners and customs of the upper, or even the educated,
+classes. Slowly and reluctantly, the Baltimorean abandoned his cherished
+ideal of the British aristocrat&mdash;a covert Caligula, with all modern
+improvements&mdash;varying the monotony of orgies with interludes of murder
+and rapine; the instrument of these pleasant vices being always ready in
+the shape of a Frankenstein-monster, whose mission it is to tyrannize
+perpetually over the guilty lordling or lady whose secret he holds;
+doing a steady trade of two assassinations or abductions weekly; and
+utterly inviolable by cord, shot, or steel, up to the final blue-fire
+<i>tableau</i> of the dreary drama. I believe that my mate is now prepared to
+admit, that a certain amount of piety and chastity is not incompatible
+with tenure of the highest dignities in the Anglican Church&mdash;that a
+youth need not necessarily be a savage Sybarite, because he happens to
+be heir to a dukedom&mdash;that matronly virtue may, with a struggle, be
+retained even by a Countess&mdash;and that a man may possibly be a kindly
+landlord, and even an honest farmer himself (that was the crowning
+triumph), though born a belted Earl.</p>
+
+<p>On the fourth day, I bethought myself of teaching my companion piquet
+(no purely transatlantic game is in the least interesting, if the stakes
+are nominal); he acquired it with the ready aptitude that seems natural
+to Americans, and I soon had to drop the odds of the deal. We played
+many hundred <i>parties</i> for imaginary eagles; eventually I got a run, and
+left off a good winner, which, as my opponent had not money enough to
+buy tobacco, was highly satisfactory to every one concerned.</p>
+
+<p>After a week's confinement to my room, I was allowed to take half an
+hour's exercise daily in a narrow strip of yard just twenty-one paces
+long; it was hedged in with kitchens and all sorts of disagreeable
+buildings, but the additional space was not to be despised. On the first
+evening after this concession, I was pacing up and down moodily (only
+inmates of the same room are allowed to descend together, so that you
+gain no social advantage), when just over my head, from a window on the
+first story, there broke out a burst of merriment, and a
+half-intelligible trill of baby-language; then a little round pink face,
+under a cloud of fair hair, peered out at me through the bars. The utter
+incongruity of the whole picture struck me so absurdly, that, I believe,
+I did indulge in a dreary laugh. Then the child began to talk again; and
+clapped its hands exultingly, as its mother caught an orange I threw up
+at her, when the sentinel's back was turned. So a sort of acquaintance
+began. Every day for a month, I saw that promising two-year-old (to
+whose sex I cannot speak with certainty); and I never heard it fretting
+or wailing. Whenever it saw me, it used to break out into a real
+uproarious laugh, as if our common imprisonment was the very best joke
+that had ever been presented to its infantile mind. I am ashamed to
+avow, that my own sense of the ridiculous was by no means so keen. The
+mother evidently pined far more than the baby; for her face grew, every
+day, more white and worn. What was the offense of either against the
+Government, I never heard; for no official or soldier will answer any
+question, and discourse between the prisoners is strictly forbidden.
+They went South, in the great exodus of the 20th of May. I contrived on
+that morning, with much cunning, to cast in six or seven oranges at
+their window, which, I hope, solaced those two Gentle Traytours through
+the burden and heat of the day.</p>
+
+<p>Till I got too sulky and savage to seek unnecessary intercourse with any
+one, I found occasional amusement in chaffing the sentinels. The orders
+against conversation with these were not rigidly enforced. Finding that
+they rose very freely to the bait of a strained ironical politeness, I
+used to beg them to tell off by sections, the victims of their red right
+hands&mdash;chickens and ducks not being counted; also, I was fain to learn,
+how many rebel standards and pieces of cannon each man had captured and
+retained? If they took no credit for any such feats, I would by no means
+believe them, imputing the denial solely to the modesty inseparable from
+true courage.</p>
+
+<p>Descending into the yard, one day, I found the sentry&mdash;an overgrown lad,
+with broad, crimson, beardless cheeks&mdash;in a perfect paroxysm of
+excitement, using great freedom of gesticulation and blasphemy. I had
+had immense success in bewildering this particular warrior a few days
+previously: so I went up to him at once:</p>
+
+<p>"My blood-stained veteran," I said, "what has raised your apoplectic
+valor?"</p>
+
+<p>I think he was rather ashamed at being caught; but he grumbled out,
+sulkily rough, something about&mdash;"If they don't keep their &mdash;&mdash; heads in,
+they'll get more than they ask for." I followed the direction of his
+eyes, and there, on the third story, sat two of the quietest-looking
+middle-aged women I ever beheld. They were evidently new arrivals, and
+had not heard of the injunctions against putting heads out windows: for
+they were staring down in blank astonishment, unconscious that the
+blatant threats were leveled at them. Now, the ingenious juggler who
+packed himself into a bottle, might possibly have succeeded in
+infringing the aforesaid rule: no other human being could have got his
+cranium through the bars. I suspect, it was simply an outbreak of the
+plethoric sentry's irrational ferocity (he had been sweltering under a
+burning sun for two hours) on the first helpless object that came across
+him; for I could not make out that the women had answered or aggravated
+him. I addressed to my friend many compliments on his prowess&mdash;trusting
+that his soldierly zeal would be appreciated in higher quarters.
+Nevertheless, I presumed to suggest that it would have been wiser to
+have begun with the baby: if he could frighten that into fits, his rapid
+promotion must have been insured. I believed that Brigadier Turchin
+would soon want an <i>aide</i>, and who knows? &amp;c.</p>
+
+<p>In a few minutes he waxed frightfully wroth; but he had already broken
+the non-conversation orders, and I would not allow him to fall back upon
+these now. At last he retreated to a part of his beat where I could not
+follow him, and there growled and ground his teeth till my time was up.
+The corporal who was my immediate guard tried to excuse his comrade,
+hinting that "he wasn't quite right in the head." Possibly this may have
+been one of his "off-days." The jest of that afternoon was turned into
+bloody earnest before three weeks had passed.</p>
+
+<p>Not long after this I had a pleasanter incident to chronicle. As I
+entered the yard one day, my guard remarked with a broad grin:
+"Somethin' new up there, Colonel."</p>
+
+<p>The indiscriminate appropriation of military titles here, is, of course,
+proverbial, though common prudence made me very careful not to claim a
+fictitious rank, after leaving Baltimore, where I was well known. I got
+a brevet-step with almost every change of place or association;
+disclaimers were never listened to.</p>
+
+<p>Through the bars of a second story window that fronted each turn of my
+tramp, I saw&mdash;this. A slight figure in the freshest summer toilette of
+cool pink muslin; close braids of dark hair shading clear pale cheeks;
+eyes that were made to sparkle, though the look in them then was very
+sad, and the languid bowing down of the small head told of something
+worse than weariness.</p>
+
+<p>Truly, a pretty picture, though framed in such rude setting, but almost
+as startling, at first, as the apparition of the fair witch in the
+forest to Christabelle. Slightly in the background stood a mature
+dame&mdash;the mother, evidently. No need to ask what their crime had been;
+aid and abetment of the South suggested itself before you detected the
+ensign of her faith that the demoiselle still wore undauntedly&mdash;a pearl
+<i>solitaire</i>, fashioned as a single star. I may not deny that my gloomy
+"constitutional" seemed, thenceforward, a shade or two less dreary; but,
+though community of suffering does much abridge ceremony, it was some
+days before I interchanged with the fair captives any sign beyond the
+mechanical lifting of my cap when I entered and left their presence,
+duly acknowledged from above. One evening I chanced to be loitering
+almost under their window; a low, significant cough made me look up; I
+saw the flash of a gold bracelet and the wave of a white hand, and there
+fell at my feet a fragrant pearly rosebud nestling in fresh green
+leaves. My thanks were, perforce, confined to a gesture and a dozen
+hurried words, but I would the prison beauty could believe that fair
+Jane Beaufort's rose was not more prized than hers, though the first was
+a love token granted to a king, the last only a graceful gift to an
+unlucky stranger. I suppose that most men, whose past is not utterly
+barren of romance, are weak enough to keep some withered flowers till
+they have lived memory down, and I pretend not to be wiser than my
+fellows. Other fragrant messengers followed in their season, but, if
+ever I "win hame to mine ain countrie," I make mine avow to enshrine
+that first rosebud in my <i>reliquaire</i>, with all honor and solemnity,
+there to abide till one of us shall be dust.</p>
+
+<p>I heard from Lord Lyons about once a week. Though my letters were always
+answered most promptly, the replies never reached me within eight days.
+All correspondence, going or coming, passes the inspection of the
+Provost Marshal and the Superintendent, and letters are forwarded and
+delivered&mdash;sooner or later&mdash;the whole thing resolving itself into a
+question of official memory or convenience. I did not doubt from the
+first, that no intercession, that could properly be exercised, would be
+spared. If repeated applications and strong representations could have
+availed, I should have been free long ago. But many autocrats might take
+a lesson from the insolent indifference of this Administration, when an
+argument or a request is to be set aside; it is exactly in proportion to
+the pliancy they display when confronted with demands enforced by a
+substantial threat. Lord Lyons' reputation for courtesy and kindness of
+heart stands too high to need any testimony of mine; but I cannot
+forbear here expressing my sense of his good offices, and I am not the
+less grateful, because these words are written on the fifty-sixth day of
+imprisonment.</p>
+
+<p>To one member of the Legation, I am indebted for far more than official
+benevolence. On the second day after my committal, Percy Anderson
+brought up himself to the Old Capitol, a package containing cigars,
+books, newspapers, &amp;c., which, he was told, would be transmitted to me
+"right away." I trust that the contents satisfied the critical tastes of
+the officer on guard; for from his clutches no fragment emerged. I never
+even heard of the kind intention, till weeks had passed; and, of many
+papers afterwards forwarded by the same hands, only one packet reached
+me.</p>
+
+<p>All this time, my reverend neighbor was pressing on in earnest his
+preparations for escape. His room-mate was a young Marylander, who had
+served some time on the staff of the Confederate army; he was captured
+at his own home, whither he had returned for a hurried visit, and was
+now detained as a "spy;" this vague and marvelously elastic charge is
+always laid, when it is desirable to exclude a prisoner from the
+conditions of exchange. The plan of evasion was very simple. After
+passing through the floor into the attic, and thence out through the
+dormer-window, they had to crawl over about eighty feet of
+shingle-roof&mdash;not slippery at all, nor particularly steep&mdash;along the
+ridge, except where they had to descend a little to circumvent the
+chimney-stacks; this brought them to another dormer, giving admission to
+a house in the same block of building, but not connected with the
+prison. The parson believed this to be uninhabited; and the event proved
+either that he was right, or that the inmates were friendly. After
+several false starts, they decided on making the attempt on the 1st of
+May.</p>
+
+<p>In the twenty-four hours preceding, the reverend's excitable nerves had
+been wound up to something above concert pitch. He seemed to hold the
+real risk&mdash;discovery and the bullet of a sentinel&mdash;very cheap; but,
+magnifying imaginary difficulties after his own peculiar fashion, he had
+come to look upon the roof as a pass of peril, only to be accomplished
+by preterhuman agility and steadiness of brain. His fellow-adventurer,
+who from first to last bore himself with a gay recklessness good to
+behold, laughed all such forebodings utterly to scorn. I tried the
+gentler tone of grave argument, demonstrating that a <i>glissade</i> on
+shingles in dry weather was next to impossible, and that the ridge, once
+gained, was nearly as safe traveling as an ordinary mountain-path. The
+parson's armor of meek obstinacy was proof alike to reason and ridicule;
+he waxed not wroth, and was thankful for any suggestion; but, when asked
+to act accordingly, ever fell back on one plaintive formula&mdash;"I am no
+gymnast,"&mdash;after the fashion of that exasperating child who met all the
+Poet's questions and objections with the refrain of</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Master, we are seven.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>These visionary terrors would have been of little moment, if they had
+not induced his reverence to persist in the use of certain machines,
+which were more than likely to bring the whole adventure to grief. These
+were a sort of sandals, studded with sharp nails, that could be fitted
+either to hands or feet, and no words can describe the proud
+satisfaction with which they were regarded by their simple-minded
+constructor. Though I saw it was almost useless, I tried hard to
+persuade him that, for any sort of climbing (where neither ice nor sharp
+edges were to be feared), no engines could be so safe as bare feet and
+hands; that it would be much harder to recover himself, if a slip ensued
+from any strap giving way; finally, that if the contrivance answered
+perfectly in every other way, there was certain risk of what was most to
+be avoided&mdash;sharp, sudden noises, likely to strike strangely on the
+sentinel's ear. My friend heard me out quite patiently, thanked me very
+cordially, and then&mdash;took his own way.</p>
+
+<p>Everything was ready by midnight; but the start was not made till three,
+A. M., at which hour the moon was quite down. We could talk but little,
+as it was especially important not to arouse any suspicion among the
+sentries; as far as I could make out, the adventurers employed the
+interval very wisely, in taking in supplies of both creature and
+spiritual comforts, dividing their attention about equally between
+supper and devotional exercises. At last the moment came, and they bade
+us farewell; the good parson bestowing upon my unworthy self a really
+pathetic benediction. If my own "God-speed" was less solemn, I know it
+was not less sincere. Then I went to bed, and as another twenty minutes
+passed without my hearing a sound, I began to think the fugitives were
+well away. I was just dropping off to sleep, when I heard voices in the
+yard speaking loud and hastily, though I could not catch the words. Then
+there was a scuffle of feet above, and a scrambling fall beyond the
+right hand wall. After a few minutes silence, quick steps came along the
+passage, and the door of No. 22 was opened. The visitors soon went away;
+but we did not know what watch might be set, so essayed no communication
+with our unlucky neighbor till the morning was far advanced. The
+adventure had miscarried in this wise.</p>
+
+<p>When they mounted into the empty attic they found the window invitingly
+open, and, after waiting a few minutes to humor the moon, the soldier
+volunteered to reconnoiter. He reached the ridge without the slightest
+difficulty, and crawled along till he could see his way clear to the
+window they wished to attain. Then he returned undiscovered and reported
+progress. Now the first mistake was making a reconnaissance at all:
+<i>vestigia nulla retrorsum</i>, ought to have been the word that night, if
+ever. The second and graver error was, allowing the parson to go first,
+when they started in earnest. The light, lithe body of the soldier could
+glide over the roof with the silent swiftness of a cat "on the rampage;"
+the same animal, shod with walnut-shells, suggests itself as an apt,
+though irreverent comparison for the priestly fugitive. To use the
+narrator's own words&mdash;occasionally more forcible than elegant:</p>
+
+<p>"You might have heard him two blocks off, squattering and spluttering
+over the shingles."</p>
+
+<p>Those miserable machines, when put to the proof, made more noise than
+even we had imputed to them. The prisoners over whose heads the parson
+passed, heard the slipping and scratching quite plainly, though the
+attic floor was between them. Nevertheless he had time to reach the
+desired window, to let it slip once with a resonant bang, and to slip
+inside out of sight, before any alarm was raised. But the drowsy or
+careless sentinel awoke to a sense of his position just as the second
+fugitive turned the first chimney-stack, and challenged with a threat of
+shooting. The Marylander knew that the game was up, as far as he was
+concerned; if he went on and escaped the bullet, those below would have
+seen at what window he entered, and the start was hopelessly short: to
+persist would only have insured two recaptures. He certainly did the
+wisest thing in retracing his way as speedily as possible. When the
+guards came to No. 22, they found its solitary inmate in bed, sleeping
+apparently the heavy, stertorous sleep of a deep drinker: an empty
+whisky-bottle gave a color of probability to the picture. They could get
+nothing out of him then; and, afterwards, he took the line of having
+been insensibly overcome by liquor, and so prevented from accompanying
+his fellow-prisoner. The authorities could scarcely have believed the
+story; but perhaps they wished to keep the escape as quiet as possible;
+at any rate the Marylander was not more strictly guarded or severely
+treated than before. He took the mishap with wonderful pluck and
+good-humor, and spoke rather humorously than wrathfully of the whole
+affair. Yet, as far as he knew, he had come back to indefinite
+captivity. When he went South with the rest of them on the 20th of May,
+no man of the five hundred better deserved freedom.</p>
+
+<p>Some days afterwards we had news of the divine&mdash;safe so far, and many
+miles away. Certainly, had he possessed his soul in patience a fortnight
+or so longer, he would have been forwarded to his desired destination
+securely and at the expense of the enemy. Before he reaches it now, he
+will have paid away a sheaf of greenbacks, and run the gauntlet of a
+frontier blockade, closing in more tightly every hour. North of the
+Potomac there is no rest for the sole of his foot. So, many would say,
+that the escapade had far better have been deferred. Eight weeks ago I
+should have been of that same opinion, but now I doubt&mdash;I&mdash;doubt. The
+prospect outside ought to be very dark, and rife with peril, to induce a
+man to resign himself deliberately to another decameron here.<a name="FNanchor_2_2" id="FNanchor_2_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_2_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a></p>
+
+<p>On the 15th of May, my room-fellow was told that he was to be sent South
+immediately: he received the news very stolidly, and betrayed no
+impatience during the interval that elapsed before the exchange-steamer
+could be got ready. Truth to say, it is rather an equivocal
+advantage&mdash;to be turned loose in a city where famine-prices prevail,
+utterly penniless. But, if my mate did not exult in his prospects,
+neither did he in any way despond. He "supposed he'd get along somehow;"
+indeed, he had plenty of a very useful capital&mdash;solid, persevering
+self-reliance.</p>
+
+<p>There was great bustle in the yard on the morning of the 20th; all the
+men who had got the order of release were mustered there before ten
+o'clock. After many delays, each person passed out singly, as his name
+was called, and it was high noon when the last prize was drawn; leaving
+nothing but dreary&mdash;very dreary&mdash;blanks for us whose tickets were still
+in the wheel. There was no uproarious merriment, or even exuberant
+cheerfulness in the crowd below; the satisfaction was of the saturnine
+sort, such as people feel who have waited long for their just dues, and
+have extraordinarily little to be thankful for. Once more, in dumb show,
+I pledged mine honest host of the White Grounds, while he responded in a
+stealthy <i>duc-an-dhurras</i>; then, having furnished my mate with such
+provant as was available, I wished him, too, sincerely good-speed.</p>
+
+<p>I cannot say that I was sorry, at first, to find myself quite alone. I
+am ashamed to confess that I had been daily growing more sullen and
+unsocial; upon reflection, I think I had decidedly begun to tyrannize
+over my companion; some of his harmless peculiarities, which I hardly
+noticed at first, would, at times, irritate me savagely; besides every
+cubic inch of vacant space has its value in a low-browed room twelve
+feet by eight, when the thermometer means mounting in earnest. But, as
+the dreary time dragged on, and as the leaden listlessness settled down
+heavier hour by hour, I began to look back regretfully, if not
+remorsefully. There were moments, not few or far between, when I would
+have given much to hear the wire-drawn monotone that lately had been an
+offense to me; ay, even though each slow sentence should be punctuated
+by expectoration.</p>
+
+<p>Among those who were exempted from the gaol delivery was an Englishman,
+John Hardcastle by name, who had been arrested about a month later than
+myself, on the Lower Potomac, on his way homeward through the Northern
+States. He had, I believe, been employed by the Confederate Government
+in carrying out some inventions and improvements in armory. There was
+nothing remarkable about the little, round, ruddy man, except a
+joviality which never seemed to droop in the heavy prison air; when I
+wrote that an honest laugh was never heard here, I ought to have made
+that one exception; he had a fair voice, too, and a large collection of
+songs, which he chanted out merrily, instead of merging all tunes into
+one dolorous drone. He was confined at first on the floor immediately
+under me, but, on the 20th. of May, changed his quarters into one of the
+large rooms in the main building, with windows opening back and front
+into the yard and the avenue; these latter were without bars. All
+through the evening of Sunday, the 24th, I listened, rather enviously,
+to Hardcastle's noisy mirth; his voice never ceased to rattle&mdash;now
+bantering a fellow-prisoner with good-natured aggravation&mdash;now shouting
+out a verse of some popular song&mdash;now declaiming a sentence or so of
+exaggerated mock-oratory&mdash;yet he did not give me the idea of being
+uproarious with drink (I heard afterwards he was perfectly sober),
+rather, he seemed possessed by an exhilaration involuntary and
+irrational, like a person who has inhaled laughing-gas. It was not till
+next day that the Highland word "Fey" came into my mind. I am scarcely
+inclined now, wholly to deride that old superstition. Is it possible
+that the foreshadow of doom does, in some mysterious way, affect certain
+nervous systems, when the soul, within a few hours, must pass out free
+through the rugged doors of violent death?</p>
+
+<p>About eleven o'clock on the following morning I heard a rifle-shot, but
+took, little heed of it, as I knew that accidental discharges from
+careless handling of firelocks were not uncommon. Shortly afterwards,
+the officer of the keys asked me to visit the Superintendent in his
+room. It was natural that such a summons should conjure up certain faint
+hopes of approaching liberation; or, at least, of the "hearing" so long
+deferred. All such visions vanished instantly at the first sight of the
+official's face, as he met me in the door-way; no good tidings for
+anyone were written there; I knew that some grave disaster had occurred,
+before my eye lighted on the table, strewn with papers, letters, and
+bank-notes&mdash;all dabbled with the dull, red blots that marked the hand of
+Cain.</p>
+
+<p>In a very few words&mdash;spoken in a low hoarse voice, strangely changed
+from its wonted boisterous loudness&mdash;the Superintendent told me why I
+was wanted there. A British subject had just been shot by a sentinel for
+transgressing the window-order mentioned above; as eight hundred dollars
+in Confederate notes, besides other valuables, were found on his person,
+it was thought well that I should assist at the inventory and attest its
+correctness. It seemed that some hasty words of the Superintendent,
+reflecting on the remissness of the soldiers on duty, had been the
+proximate cause of the slaughter, I do believe that the death-warrant
+was unwittingly spoken. The man's bearing and demeanor are rough, even
+to coarseness, and his sensibilities probably blunted from having
+perpetually to listen to complaints and tales of wrong-doing, which he
+must perforce ignore; but I do not think his nature is harsh or cruel;
+the bark of Cerberus is much worse than the bite; and he is quite
+capable of benevolent actions, done in an uncouth way. The lips of the
+corpse, up-stairs were scarcely whiter than those that kept working and
+muttering nervously close by my shoulder, as I sat at my ghastly task. I
+was right glad when all was ended, and I had escaped from the small,
+close room, where the air seemed heavy with the savor of blood. All that
+day, there lay upon the prison-house a weight and a gloom, that came not
+from the murky, windless sky; the few faces that showed themselves in
+the yard looked more dark and sullen than ever; and men, gathering in
+knots instead of pacing to and fro, murmured or whispered eagerly. My
+unlucky head chanced to be more troublesome than usual; altogether, I
+cannot look back upon a more depressing evening.</p>
+
+<p>About noon on the following day, a tawdry coffin of polished elm, beaded
+and plated wherever there was room for a scrap of silvered metal, was
+laid on chairs in the prison yard; and, soon, all those who had access
+to that part of the building gathered round it&mdash;listening, uncovered, to
+the scanty rites, which the Old Capitol concedes to prisoners released
+by that Power, in presence of whose claims the <i>habeas corpus</i> is never
+suspended. A tall, lank-haired man, looking more like an undertaker than
+a divine of any denomination, read straight through, without a syllable
+of preface, the fifteenth chapter of the First Epistle to the
+Corinthians, and then, kneeling down, began a rambling, extemporaneous
+prayer, the main object of which seemed to be, to address the Deity by
+as many periphrastic adjurations as possible. The orator besought "that
+these melancholy circumstances might be blessed to us, the survivors;"
+and rehearsed several platitudes on the uncertainty of life; but, from
+first to last, there was not one single word of intercession or
+commendation on behalf of the dead man's soul. I was glad when it was
+over; our own simple service, read by the merest layman, would surely
+have been a more fitting obsequy.</p>
+
+<p>What followed was startling enough from its very suddenness. One of the
+assistants stepped forward, and, with a quick, careless motion, threw
+back two folding shutters, that formed the upper part of the coffin lid;
+the blaze of the vertical sun, on which no living thing could have
+looked unblinded, fell full on the heavy eyelids, that never shrunk or
+shivered, and on the bare, upturned features, blanched to the unnatural
+whiteness only found in corpses from which the life-blood has been
+drained away. Since then, I have tried to recall the face as I saw it
+often&mdash;round and ruddy, beaming with reckless joviality, and grotesque
+humor: it will only rise as I saw it once&mdash;white, and solemn, and still.
+When the crowd had satisfied their curiosity, the coffin was borne away,
+and everything fell back into the old groove of monotony.</p>
+
+<p>It will hardly be believed, that, though the victim had communicated
+more than once with the British Legation (an envelope franked by Lord
+Lyons was among the papers I examined), the Federal authorities did not
+deem it necessary to give any official notice of the slaughter. Percy
+Anderson was absolutely ignorant of what had happened, when he came to
+me on the following day. The fact, too, is significant, that the
+Washington journals, for whose net no incident is generally too small,
+made no allusion to the tragedy, till the Thursday morning; I presume
+silence was considered useless, when a member of our Legation must have
+been made acquainted with the details.</p>
+
+<p>The regrets of those who may have been interested in poor John
+Hardcastle's life and death, will scarcely be lessened by the knowledge,
+that he was not even in fault when he suffered. There were eight or ten
+prisoners confined in the same room; and it was one of his companions
+who had previously been twice warned back by the sentinel: he himself
+was shot almost instantaneously after his head was thrust forth, without
+a second challenge. The Washington papers stated that, when ordered to
+draw back, he refused with an oath. With such chroniclers, one would not
+bandy contradictions; I give this version of the facts, as I received it
+from the lips of the Superintendent.</p>
+
+<p>Late in the afternoon of Wednesday, the 27th, I was again summoned
+below. I found Percy Anderson waiting there: he had obtained from the
+War Office an order to see me alone, without limitation of time. I
+understood that there was no precedent for such a concession; the
+general rule being that prisoners should only receive their friends in
+the presence of an officer, who is bound to watch and listen jealously,
+while no interview can be extended beyond fifteen minutes. Never,
+surely, was a call better timed. I was at my very worst, just then;
+besides a couple of potatoes and a crust of dry bread, no solid food had
+passed my lips for seventy hours. Of my personal appearance, from my own
+knowledge, I can say nothing, (for my mate and I had agreed in
+considering mirrors superfluous luxuries); but, from the startling
+effect produced upon my visitor, I fancy that the dreary week of weeks
+had made wild work with the outward as well as inward man. I know that
+the kind diplomatist was more than pained at finding himself unable to
+give me any foothold of certain or substantial hope; it was impossible
+to hazard a reliable guess as to the termination of my confinement.
+Hitherto, the unceasing efforts of the Legation had spent themselves on
+the passive obstinacy of the Federal Government like bullets on a cotton
+bale; of a truth it was long before those unjust judges grew aweary.
+Nevertheless, the mere sight and sound of a frank English face and voice
+were more effectual restoratives than all the cunning tonics and
+incentives with which the prison surgeon had been striving to quicken an
+imperceptible pulse, and to revive a deceased appetite. I have always
+thought since, that the rest at that one conversational oasis, just
+enabled me to hold on to the hither verge of Sahara.</p>
+
+<p>The next eight days seem nearly blank to me now. I was past reading
+anything, for I could scarcely make out the capitals with which the
+journalists headed their daily bits of romance from Vicksburg and
+elsewhere. It was with great difficulty that I scrawled detached
+sentences at long intervals&mdash;a difficulty that, I fear, some unhappy
+compositor, doomed to decipher the foregoing pages, will thoroughly
+appreciate, though he may decline to sympathize with.</p>
+
+<p>I had one passage of arms with the Superintendent during that week. I
+have an idea that I spoke somewhat freely with regard to the
+Administration that he had the honor to serve, pressing him for a
+justification of its conduct in my own especial case.</p>
+
+<p>The official listened quite coolly and calmly, with a twinkle of
+amusement in his shrewd cynical eyes, and answered:</p>
+
+<p>"Well, we've had a good bit of trouble with England and English this
+year; and I reckon they think they've got a pretty fair-sized fish now,
+and mean to keep him, whether or no."</p>
+
+<p>"That's Republican justice, all over," I said; "to make the one that you
+can catch, pay for the dozen that you can't, or that you are afraid to
+grapple with."</p>
+
+<p>"I don't know about justice," was the reply; "but it's d&mdash;&mdash;d good
+policy."</p>
+
+<p>And so we parted&mdash;not a whit worse friends than before.</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Delicta, majorum, immeritus lues,<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>if memory had not failed me, I might have quoted that line often and
+appropriately enough. But every agent in the "robbery"&mdash;from the
+vainglorious Virginian, my chief captor, down to the smooth Secretary,
+whose velvet gripe was so loth to unclose&mdash;seemed provokingly bent on
+exaggerating the importance of their prize. Perhaps the very interest
+felt in my release, and the exertions unsparingly used&mdash;especially in
+Baltimore&mdash;to secure it, strengthened the false impressions or pretenses
+of the Federal powers. I write in the firm assurance that no Southern
+friend will deem these words ungracious or ungrateful.</p>
+
+<p>There is no stone, above or below ground, white enough to mark,
+worthily, in my calender, the fifth day of last June. I hereby abjure,
+for evermore, any superstitious prejudice against the ill luck of
+Fridays. Late in the afternoon, I was pacing to and fro in the narrow
+exercise-ground, speculating idly as to the delay of my dinner, which
+was overdue&mdash;not that I felt any interest in the subject, but it was a
+sort of break, and fresh starting-point in the monotony of hours&mdash;when I
+was summoned once more into official presence. They took me to the room
+on the ground-floor, where I had waited on the first day of my
+imprisonment while the cell above was preparing. I found there the
+lieutenant commanding the guard, and two or three more officers, one of
+whom, I understood, was a deputy of the Judge-Advocate. They read out a
+paper, of which the following is an exact copy, and asked if I had any
+objection to sign it:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>/P   <span class="smcap">District of Columbia</span>, <span class="smcap">County of Washington</span>.</p>
+
+<p><i>Old Capital Prison, Washington, D. C.</i>
+P/</p>
+
+<p>I, &mdash;&mdash;, of &mdash;&mdash;, in England, do solemnly swear on my Parole of
+Honor, that I will leave the United States of America, with as
+little delay us possible, and that I will not return there during
+the existing rebellion.</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">So help me God.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Signed, &mdash;&mdash;.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Sworn to and subscribed before me,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">this fifth day of June, A. D. 1863.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">John A. Lovell</span>,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Lieut. Comdg. Guard.<br /></span>
+</div></div></div>
+
+
+<p>Now, had I been offered a free passage South, I doubt if I should have
+accepted it, then; the aspect of things within the last two mouths had
+changed for me entirely. I could not hope to carry out one of my
+original plans; for all available resources were nearly exhausted, and
+procuring fresh supplies from home would have involved infinite
+difficulty and delay. Besides, a refusal gave at once to the Federal
+authorities the pretext for detention that they had sought so eagerly,
+and, so far, failed to find. I know no earthly consideration, excepting
+clear obligations of duty or honor, that would have persuaded me to
+incur ten more prison days. If, instead of being a free agent, I had
+been bound by an oath to penetrate into Secessia at all hazards, I
+should have held myself at that moment amply assoilzed of my vow. So,
+with the remark&mdash;"that, of all the places on this earth, the Northern
+States of America was the country I most wished to leave, and least
+cared to revisit"&mdash;I signed the parole, and confirmed it with an oath.</p>
+
+<p>Then, it appeared that my debt to the Union was paid, so that it had no
+further lien on my effects or me. The saddle-bags were soon packed; in
+another half-hour, I stood outside the prison-door&mdash;realizing, with a
+dull, dazed feeling of strangeness and novelty, that there was not the
+shadow of bolt, bar, or wall between me and the clear sultry skies.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XI" id="CHAPTER_XI"></a>CHAPTER XI.</h2>
+
+<h3>HOMEWARD BOUND.</h3>
+
+
+<p>Now that this personal narrative is drawing rapidly to its close, there
+is one point to which I must needs allude, at the risk of sinning
+egotistically. While under lock and key, I never ventured to grapple
+with the subject. Even now&mdash;sitting in a pleasant room, with windows
+opening down on a trim lawn studded with flower-jewels and girdled with
+the mottled belts of velvet-green that are the glory of Devonion
+shrub-land, beyond which Tobray shimmers broad and blue under the breezy
+summer weather&mdash;I shrink from it with a strange reluctance that I
+cannot, shake off, though it shames me.</p>
+
+<p>I speak of the effect&mdash;moral, intellectual, and physical&mdash;produced by
+those eight weeks of imprisonment.</p>
+
+<p>I do not wish to intimate that there were any actual hardships beyond
+the prevention of free air and exercise to be endured. More than this: I
+am ready and willing to allow, that certain privileges were conceded to
+me that I had no right to claim, which were granted to few, if any, of
+my fellows in misfortune. The Corporal of the Keys was a clerk in the
+house of Ticknor &amp; Field, the great Boston publishers, before he became
+a soldier; and was disposed to show every consideration and indulgence
+to one whom he was pleased to consider a brother of the Literate Guild.
+The under-superintendent&mdash;Donnelly by name&mdash;treated one with a
+benevolence quite paternal. The monotony of my solitary confinement was
+often broken by his rambling chat and reminiscences of a gambler's life
+in the Far West; for he liked nothing better than lingering in my cell
+for an hour or so, when his day's work was done. After the prison doors
+were opened, I lingered for ten minutes within them, to exchange a
+farewell hand-grip with that quaint, kind old man. There was a stringent
+curfew-order, enjoining the extinguishment of all lights at nine, P. M.;
+but on condition of vailing my window with a horse-rug, so as not to
+establish a bad precedent, I was allowed to keep mine burning at
+discretion. Now some readers of these pages may think that a
+confinement, such as I have described, wherein, there was to be obtained
+a sufficiency of meat, drink, tobacco, and light literature, is not,
+after all, a <i>peine forte et dure</i>; and that it is both weak and
+unreasonable thereanent to make one's moan. So, in bygone days, when a
+lazy fit was strong upon me, have I thought myself. I am not malicious
+enough to wish that the most contemptuously skeptical of such critics
+may be undeceived, at the price which I paid for the learning. It is
+possible that a person of settled sedentary habits, endowed not only
+with powerful resources within himself, but also with the ornament of a
+meek and quiet spirit, might hold out well enough for awhile, more
+especially if supported by the reflection that he was suffering for his
+country's good or for his own private advantage. But take the converse
+example of a man unsupported by any consolations of patriotism or
+peculation, of a temperament somewhat impatient, and prone to anger,
+accustomed, too, from youth upwards, to constant habits of strong
+out-door exercise, with such an one I fancy it will fare&mdash;very much as
+it fared with me. It is an established fact, that a few months'
+confinement within four walls, without stint of food or aggravation of
+punishment, will bring an athletic Red Indian to the extreme of bodily
+prostration, if not to mortal sickness.</p>
+
+<p>It is humiliating to confess, but I fear unhappily true, that in despite
+of all advantages of a civilized education, some of us, under like
+circumstances, will go down as helplessly as the noble savage.</p>
+
+<p>Would you like to hear of the process? It is not pleasant to look upon,
+or to tell.</p>
+
+<p>The first few days are spent in an uneasy, irritable expectation that
+every hour will bring some news&mdash;good or bad&mdash;from the world without,
+bearing on your own especial case; then comes the frame of mind wherein
+you allow that there must be certain official delays, and begin to
+calculate, wearily, how far the wire-drawn formalities will be
+protracted, making a liberal margin for unexpected contingencies: this
+phase soon passes away: then comes the bitter, up-hill fight of hoping
+against hope; how long this may endure depends much on temperament&mdash;more
+on bodily health; but in most cases it is soon over, and is succeeded by
+the last state, ten thousand times worse than the first: slowly, but
+very surely, the dense black cloud of utter listlessness settles down,
+never broken thereafter save by brief flashes of a futile, irrational
+ferocity. All your ideas move round like tired mill-horses, in the
+narrowest circle, with an unhappy Ipse Ego for its centre: all the
+passing events of the outward world seem unnaturally dwarfed and
+distant, as if seen through an inverted telescope: the struggles of
+stranger nations move you no more than the battles on an ant-hill; the
+only question of civil or religious liberty in which you feel the
+faintest interest is the unimportant one involving your own personal
+freedom. And throughout you are shamefully conscious that this
+indifference is not philosophical, but simply selfish.</p>
+
+<p>So much for the <i>morale</i>. Does the <i>physique</i> fare better.</p>
+
+<p>When you enter the gaol, there is probably laid up in your lungs a
+certain store of fresh, free air, which takes some time to exhaust
+itself; but soon you begin to draw your breath more and more slowly, and
+to feel that the atmosphere inhaled no longer refreshes you; no
+wonder&mdash;it is laden with compressed animal life. Then a dull, hot weight
+closes round your brows, as if a heavy, fever-stricken hand was always
+clasping them; there it lies&mdash;at night, when the drowsiness which is
+<i>not</i> sleep overcomes you&mdash;in the morning, when you wake, with damp
+linen and dank hair: plunge your forehead in ice-cold water; before the
+drops have dried there it is burning&mdash;burning again. The distaste for
+all food grows upon you, till it becomes a loathing not to be driven
+away by bitters or quinine: there is no savor in the smoke of
+Kinnekinnick, nor any flavor in the still waters of Monongahela.
+Physical prostration of necessity speedily ensues. Let me mention one
+fact&mdash;not in vaunting, but in proof that I do not speak idly. When we
+were trying those athletics at Greenland, the day after my capture, I
+could rend a broad linen band fastened tightly round my upper arm by
+bending the <i>biceps</i>: when I had been a month in Carroll place I had to
+halt, at least once, from absolute breathlessness and debility, on the
+stairs leading from the yard to the third story; my pulse was almost
+imperceptible. By this time my sight had become so seriously affected
+that I was absolutely unable to read the clearest print; even now, a
+month after my enfranchisement, though keen Atlantic breezes and home
+comforts have worked wonders, I cannot write five consecutive sentences
+without a respite.</p>
+
+<p>I am forced to quote my own experience; but I know that it could be
+matched, if not exceeded, by very many cases of equal or worse
+suffering.</p>
+
+<p>Long confinement falls, of course, intensely harder on a stranger than
+on a native. The latter, I suppose, can never quite divest himself of an
+interest in passing events, which the former, at the best of times, can
+but faintly share: besides which, most Americans&mdash;not purely political
+prisoners&mdash;have either a definite term of captivity to look forward to,
+or are, in one way or other, subject to the chances of exchange.</p>
+
+<p>If the Federal Government had avowed at once, that it was their
+sovereign pleasure to keep an Englishman in durance for a <i>certain</i>
+period, without attempting to excuse the arbitrary stretch of authority,
+one would have chafed, I suppose, under the injustice, but still
+submitted, as it is the duty of manhood to submit to any inevitable
+necessity. It was the doubt and indefiniteness of the whole affair that
+made it so inexpressibly exasperating. It was bad enough to have no
+palpable adversary to grapple with: it was worse to have no specific
+charge. As I had contravened a general order by crossing the Federal
+lines without a pass, the Legation did not apply for my unconditional
+release: it merely pressed for the inquiry and trial that, in most
+civilized countries, a criminal can claim as a right. I was never
+confronted with any judicial authority from the moment that I entered
+the prison doors till they opened to let me go free: I never received
+any official intimation of the reasons for my prolonged detention; and
+Lord Lyons' repeated applications were at last only met by a vague
+assertion that they "had reason to believe that an aide-de-camp's
+commission, signed by General Lee, had reached me at Baltimore." There
+was not, of course, the faintest scintilla of evidence to establish
+anything of the sort. While in America I received no communication
+whatever&mdash;written or verbal&mdash;from any person connected with the
+Confederate Government or army.</p>
+
+<p>I do honestly affirm that, in dilating on the several hardships of my
+own especial case, I have no idea of enlisting any sympathy, public or
+private. I simply wish to show what arbitrary oppression can be
+exercised upon British subjects with perfect impunity by a Government
+which will maintain quasi-friendly relations with our own just so long
+as it conforms the standing-ground of a tottering Cabinet. Perhaps, some
+day or other, as a last peace-offering to the Republican hydra, MM.
+Seward and Stanton will burn a bishop, and so bring our pacific Foreign
+Office to bay.</p>
+
+<p>Physical causes prevented my feeling very exhilarated or exultant during
+my earliest hours of freedom. It was pleasant though to meet an English
+face at the hotel where I meant to sleep. I had not seen Mr. Austin
+since we were contemporaries at Oxford; but on the 2d June I had
+received from him a very kind and courteous note, offering a visit, if
+it should be acceptable. I need scarcely say how welcome it would have
+been; but he did not get my written reply till the following Monday&mdash;not
+bad time, either, for the Old Capitol post-office. I dined with Mr.
+Austin, and at the same table sat General Martindale, military commander
+at Washington, and Senator Sumner. The former certainly recognized my
+identity; but he was not the less amicable for that. It was odd to find
+myself receiving suggestions as to my route, in case I visited Niagara,
+from the same man who three days before had granted a pass to my friend
+for his proposed prison visit. I sat some time after dinner in talk with
+Mr. Sumner. His face is much aged and careworn since I first saw it,
+some years ago, in England: but his manner retains the polished
+geniality which made him so great a favorite in most European <i>salons</i>.</p>
+
+<p>The rest of the evening I spent at Percy Anderson's. I much regretted
+that I could not see Lord Lyons, to express my sense of his unwearied
+exertions in my behalf; but he was dining out; and it was judged better
+that I should not risk an apparent infringement of my parole by
+lingering in Washington an unnecessary hour the next morning, so I was
+forced to trust my thanks to writing.</p>
+
+<p>I can never forget, while I live, the welcomes which waited me in
+Baltimore; welcomes much too cordial to be wasted on a discomfited
+adventurer. Still I was glad to find that those whose opinion was well
+worth having gave one credit for having deserved success. I was very,
+very loth to leave my kind friends, though we may perchance forgather
+again should I outlive my parole, and be enabled to carry out certain
+half-formed plans of hunting in the Far West. It was only the sternest
+sense of duty that impelled me to sacrifice to Niagara sixty hours that
+intervened before June the 13th, when the Inman steamer started, in
+which I had secured a berth by telegraph.</p>
+
+<p>Twenty-two hours of unbroken rail-travel&mdash;partly through the beautiful
+Susquehannah Valley; partly through the best cultivated lands (about
+Troy and Elmira) that I saw in the States, whose trim, loose stone walls
+reminded one of part of the Heythrop and Cotswold countries&mdash;brought us
+to Buffalo. The Company had here so contrived matters that it was
+absolutely impossible for the traveler to proceed farther that night, or
+to get at any luggage beyond what he carries in his hand: from Elmira it
+travels by a route of its own, to which your through-ticket does not
+apply: the baggage-agent hands it over to you at Niagara the next
+morning, with a cheerfully placid face, as if rather proud of the
+satisfactory correctness of the whole arrangement.</p>
+
+<p>I will not add a stone to the descriptive cairn heaped up by generations
+of tourists in honor of the King-Cataract; simply because it is
+presumption in any man to pass judgment on that famous scene till he has
+studied it for more days than I could spare hours. I do not think, the
+eye is disappointed, even at first sight: after being fully prepared by
+Church's vivid picture&mdash;a very triumph of transparent coloring&mdash;you
+still stand dumb in honest admiration of that one miracle in the midst
+of wonders&mdash;the central curve of the Horse-shoe&mdash;where the main current
+plunges over the verge, without a ripple to break the grandeur of the
+clear, smooth chrysoprase, flashing back the sunlight through a filmy
+lace-work of foam. But the ear is certainly dissatisfied: perhaps my
+acoustics were out of order, as well as other cephalic organs; but it
+struck me that Niagara hardly <i>made any noise at all</i>. Yet I penetrated
+under the Fall as far as there is practicable foothold; and listened at
+all sorts of distances for a <i>deafening</i> roar, which never came.</p>
+
+<p>I started eastward again by that same night's express. I cannot let
+this, my last experience, pass, without recording my vote on the
+much-mooted question of American railway travel. The natives, of course,
+extol the whole system as one of the greatest of their institutions; but
+I cannot understand any difference of opinion among strangers. The
+baggage arrangement&mdash;except when the Company suffers under an aberration
+of intellect, such as I have mentioned on the Niagara route&mdash;is really
+convenient, and the <i>commissionaires</i> attached to every train relieve
+you of all responsibility at your journey's end, by collecting your
+effects and transporting them to any given direction; but this solitary
+advantage does not counterbalance other <i>d&eacute;sagr&eacute;mens</i>. When the weather
+is such as to allow a true current of air to circulate through the car,
+the atmosphere is barely endurable; but with stoves at work, and all
+apertures closed, it soon becomes dangerously oppressive. The German
+element prevails strongly throughout Yankee-land: perhaps this accounts
+for the natives' dread of fresh air. Your only chance of escaping from
+semi-suffocation is to secure a seat next to a window, and keep it open,
+hardening your heart against all the grumbling of your neighbors, who
+run through a whole gamut of complaints, in the hope of softening or
+shaming the Hyperborean. Sometimes you will have to encounter menaces;
+but, in such a cause, it is surely worth while to do battle to the
+death; revolver and bowie-knife lose their terrors in the presence of
+imminent asphyxia. The advocates of the system chiefly insist on the
+sleeping-cars, and the advantage of passing from one end of the train to
+the other at your pleasure. On the first of these points, let me say,
+that few aliens, after one trusting experiment of those stifling berths,
+will be inclined to repeat it: the atmosphere of a crowded steamboat
+cabin is pure and fresh by comparison. As for the vaunted promenade&mdash;the
+man who would avail himself thereof, would, probably waltz with grace
+and comfort to himself on the deck of the Lively Sally in a sea-way: it
+requires some practice even to stand upright without holding on; the
+jolting and oscillation are such that I think you take rather more
+involuntary exercise than on the back of a cantering cover-hack. The
+pace is not such as to make much amends: from twenty to twenty-five
+miles an hour is the outside speed even of expresses: and on many lines
+you ought to calculate the probabilities of arrival by anything rather
+than the time-tables. Collisions, however, are certainly rare; the most
+common accident is when the train breaks through one of the crazy wooden
+bridges, or, obeying the direction of some playfully eccentric
+pointsman, plunges headlong over an embankment into some peaceful valley
+below. The steam-signals are very peculiar; the engine never whistles,
+but indulges in a prolonged bellow, very like the hideous sounds emitted
+by that hideous semi-brute, yclept the Gong-Donkey, who used to haunt
+our race-courses some years ago&mdash;making weak-minded men start, and
+strong-minded women scream with his unearthly roaring. When I first
+heard the hoarse warning-note boom through the night, a shudder of
+reminiscence came over me, for I used to shrink from that awful creature
+with a repugnance such as I never felt for any other living thing.</p>
+
+<p>All the weariness of the long night-journey will not prevent a traveler
+from appreciating the superb Hudson, along whose banks the last part of
+the road, from Albany, is carried. You are seldom out of sight of the
+Caatskill range&mdash;blue in the distance or dark in the foreground&mdash;but the
+crowning glory of the river are the old cliffs, where the rock soars up
+sheer from the water's edge, with no more vegetation on its face than
+will grow in the crevices of ancient walls.</p>
+
+<p>I had scarcely twenty-four hours left for the Imperial City before the
+Edinburgh sailed. This time I abode at the New York Hotel, where a
+Baltimorean had already secured quarters. This much, at least, must be
+conceded to the Yankee capital. In no other town that I know of can a
+traveler so thoroughly take his ease in his inn. These magnificent
+<i>caravanserais</i> cast far into the shade the best managed establishments
+of London, Paris, or Vienna, simply because luxuries enough to satiate
+any moderate desires, are furnished at fixed prices that need not alarm
+the most economical traveler. The <i>cuisine</i> at the New York Hotel is
+really artistic, and the attendance quite perfect. Also is found there a
+certain Ch&acirc;teau Margaux of '48: after savoring that rich liquid velvet,
+you wilt not wonder that the house has long been a favorite with the
+Southern Sybarites. Things are changed, of course, now, and many of Mr.
+Cranston's old patrons must now exercise their critical tastes on
+mountain whisky and ration beef; but the tone of feeling in the
+establishment remains the same. An out-spoken Republican or Abolitionist
+would not meet a cordial welcome from the present frequenters of the New
+York, nor, I think, from its jovial host. Likewise the Empress City can
+boast that her barbers and iced drinks do actually "beat all creation."
+After a long journey you are thoroughly disposed to appreciate these
+scientific tonsors, whose delicacy of manipulation is unequaled in
+Europe. Only the pen of that eloquent writer, who told the "Times" how
+he "thirsted in the desert," could do justice to the high-art triumphs
+of the cunning barkeeper.</p>
+
+<p>"Joe"&mdash;of the mirthful eye, and agile hand, and ready repartee&mdash;long may
+you flourish, mitigating the fierce summer thirst of many a parched
+palate; stimulating withered appetites till they hunger anew for the
+flesh-pots; warming the heart-cockles of departing voyagers till they
+laugh the keen breezes of the bay to scorn. With me, at least, gratitude
+for repeated refreshment shall long keep your memory green&mdash;green as the
+mint-sprays that, when your last "julep" is mingled, should surely be
+strewn, unsparingly, on your grave.</p>
+
+<p>I never felt quite clear of Federaldom till I set my foot firm on the
+deck of the good ship Edinburgh. I did not indulge in a soliloquy even
+then; so I certainly shall not inflict on <i>you</i> any rhapsodies about
+freedom; but, in good truth, the sensation was too agreeable to be
+easily forgotten.</p>
+
+<p>The homeward voyage was as great a "success," as unbroken fine weather,
+favorable winds, and company both pleasant and fair, could make it. On
+the thirteenth day, towards evening, I found myself in the familiar
+Adelphi, at Liverpool, savoring some "clear" turtle, not with a less
+relish because, in the accurately pale face of the waiter who brought in
+the lordly dish, there was not the faintest yellow tinge nor a ripple of
+"wool" in his hair.</p>
+
+<p>All of my personal narrative that could possibly interest the most
+indulgent public is told now; if the few words I have left to say should
+bore you&mdash;O patient reader!&mdash;they will at least be free of egotism.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XII" id="CHAPTER_XII"></a>CHAPTER XII.</h2>
+
+<h3>A POPULAR ARMAMENT.</h3>
+
+
+<p>It was ordained that the navy should reap all the boys and the men that
+were to be gathered in the warfare of this spring. The amphibious
+failures in the southwest involved no graver consequences than a vast
+futile expenditure of Northern time, money, and men; such waste has been
+too common, of late, to excite much popular disgust or surprise. In
+other parts, the keenest correspondent has been put to great straits for
+memorable matter; for a skirmish, or a raid, even on a large scale, can
+hardly carry much beyond a local interest.</p>
+
+<p>On the last day of April, the summer land-campaign began in earnest,
+when its truculent commander led the "finest army on the planet" across
+the Rappahanock, unopposed.</p>
+
+<p>If all other warlike music was prudently silent then, be sure, the
+General's own private trumpet flourished very sonorously; indeed, for
+many days past it had not ceased to ring. Few armaments have set forth
+under more pompous auspices. First came the great review, graced by the
+presence of the White House Court, who witnessed the marching past of
+the biennial veterans with perfect patience, if not satisfaction. The
+"specials" of the Republican papers outdid themselves on that occasion;
+magnificently ignoring his temporary dignity, they hesitated not to
+compare each member of the President's family with a corresponding
+European royalty, giving, of course, the preference to the
+home-manufactured article: it was good to read their raptures over the
+gallant bearing of Master Lincoln, as if "the young Iulus" (as they
+<i>would</i> call him) had shown himself worthy of high hereditary honors.
+One writer, I think, did allow, that the balance of grace might incline
+rather to Eug&eacute;nie the Empress, than to the President's stout,
+good-tempered spouse; but he was much more cynical or conscientious than
+most of his fellows.</p>
+
+<p>Thenceforward one became aweary of the sight, sound, and name of
+"Hooker." The right man was in the right place at last: had his counsels
+been followed in the Peninsula, when the caution or incapacity of
+McClellan threw the grand opportunity away, the Federal flag would have
+floated over Richmond last summer. Was there not the hero's own
+testimony to that effect, rendered before the War Committee, months ago,
+wherein, with a chivalrous generosity, he ceased not to exalt himself on
+the ruined reputation of his late commander? Even as Ajax prayed for
+light, the people cried aloud for one week of fair weather: no more was
+wanted to crush and utterly confound the hopes of Rebels, Copperheads,
+and perfidious Albion. Every illustrated journal was crowded with
+portraits, of Fighting Joe and his famous white charger; it was said,
+that horse and rider could never show themselves without eliciting a
+burst of cheering, such as rang out near the Lake Regillus, when
+Herminus and Black Auster broke into the wavering battle. No wonder. Had
+he not thoroughly reorganized the army demoralized by Burnside's defeat,
+till there was but one word in every soldier's mouth, and that
+word&mdash;"Forward!"</p>
+
+<p>There was joy, as for a victory, when it was known that the Falmouth
+camp was broken up, and that the eager battalions had left the
+Rappahannock fairly behind them: as to success, only fools or traitors
+could question it. Even the Democratic journals were carried away by the
+tide, and hardly ventured to hesitate their doubts. The hero's own
+proclamation, issued on the south bank of the river, was surely enough
+to reassure the most timid unbeliever.</p>
+
+<p>How vaunt and prophecy were fulfilled, all the world knows now. A more
+miserable waste of apparently ample means and material has seldom been
+recorded in the annals of modern war. General Hooker stands forth the
+worthy rival of that mighty monarch, who,</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i8">"With fifty thousand men,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Marched up the hill and then&mdash;marched down again."<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>But of the two, the exploit of the American strategist is much the most
+brilliant and memorable; his preparations and blunders were conducted on
+a vaster scale, and, Varus-like, scorning the triviality of a bloodless
+disgrace, he left sixteen thousand dead, wounded, and missing behind in
+his retreat.</p>
+
+<p>The defeated General may well pray to be saved from his friends: the
+strongest ground of condemnation might be drawn from the excuses of some
+of these injudicious partisans. Not more than a third of the Federal
+forces was, they say, at any one time engaged: yet Hooker's last words
+to his troops, before going into action, boasted that the enemy must,
+perforce, fight him on his own ground. The Federal commander recognized,
+perhaps not less than his opponent, the importance of the simple old
+tactic&mdash;bringing a superior force to bear on detached or weak points of
+the adverse line&mdash;which has entered, under one form or another, into
+most great military combinations since war became a science; but he
+appears to have been utterly incapable of reducing theory to practice.
+For the twentieth time in this war, a Northern general was
+outmanoeuvred and beaten, simply because his adversary&mdash;understanding
+how to husband an inferior strength&mdash;seized the right moment for
+bringing it into play.</p>
+
+<p>I do not mean to assert that the Confederates invariably advance in
+column, or to advocate this especial mode of attack: a successful
+outflanking of the enemy may turn out an advantage not less decided than
+the breaking of his centre; but, when half-disciplined troops are to be
+handled, concentrative movements must surely be safer than extensive
+ones. It would be well to remember that, among all the trained
+battalions of Europe, our own crack regiments are supposed to be the
+only ones that can be thoroughly relied on for attacking in line.</p>
+
+<p>If Hooker thought himself strong enough to cross the rear of Lee's army,
+and cut him off from Richmond, while a combined movement against the
+city was being executed by Dix and Keyes from the southeast, the delay
+of forty hours, during which he advanced about six miles, can scarcely
+be excused, or even accounted for. That the wary foe should be taken
+entirely by surprise, was a contingency too improbable to be calculated
+on by any sane tactician, however sanguine.</p>
+
+<p>To dispense almost entirely with the aid of the cavalry arm, on the eve
+of a general engagement, was certainly a bold stroke of strategy&mdash;too
+bold to be justified by any independent successes likely to be achieved
+by the detachment. Stoneman's exploits appear to have been greatly
+exaggerated; but, whatever were the results, they might clearly have
+been attained if he had crossed the Rappahannock alone with one
+horseman, leaving the main guard to attend more dress-parades in the
+Falmouth camp. To pretend that weather in anywise influenced Hooker's
+retreat is utterly absurd. No change for the worse took place till the
+Tuesday evening, when the army had fallen back on the river bank; the
+troops were actually recrossing when the rain began: then it did come
+down in earnest.</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Nocte pluit tota, redeunt spectacula mare&mdash;<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>a spectacle frequently repeated in this war&mdash;that of a Federal General
+"changing his base" in hot haste, without flourish of trumpet.</p>
+
+<p>At the most critical moment, Fighting Joe seems to have been afflicted
+with the fatal indecision, by no means incompatible with perfect
+physical fearlessness, which has ruined wiser plans than ever were
+moulded in his brain. Rumor hints broadly at a sudden fit of depression,
+not unnatural in one notoriously addicted to the use of stimulants; but
+this is, probably, the ill-natured invention of an enemy.</p>
+
+<p>At all such seasons, some subordinate must needs lift some of the
+dishonor from the shoulders of the chief. The non-arrival of
+reinforcements is much the easiest way of accounting for a foiled
+combination. The rout of Howard's corps was not to be considered, as it
+happened under the General's own eye: so Sedgwick was, by some, made the
+Grouchy of the day: but he seems to have fought his division as well as
+any of his fellows, and it was probably a superior force that checked
+his advance towards the main army, and eventually hurled him back upon
+the Rappahannock.</p>
+
+<p>Perhaps the Confederate organs do not greatly exaggerate, when they
+claim Chancellorville as <i>the</i> victory of this war: though there is a
+fearful counterpoise in the loss of the South's favorite leader. But the
+great Army of the Potomac, in its shameful retreat, could not console
+itself by the boast of having done to death the terrible enemy, at whose
+name they had learnt to tremble. A miserable mistake (so the Richmond
+papers say) slew Stonewall Jackson, in the crisis of victory, with a
+Confederate bullet, as he was reconnoitering with his staff in front of
+his line.</p>
+
+<p>Surely it is glory, sufficient for any one of woman born, that the news
+of his death should have sent a start and a shiver through thirty
+millions of hearts. I subjoin a funeral notice, which utters very simply
+and strongly the feeling of the country that the stern, pure soldier
+served so well: but a strange honor and respect attaches to his memory
+amongst those whom in life he never ceased to disquiet. Even the rabid
+Republican journalists rejoice&mdash;not coarsely or ungenerously&mdash;speaking
+with bated tones, as is fit and natural in presence of a good man's
+corpse.</p>
+
+<p>Let us return to our poor Hooker, who is sitting now, somewhat gloomily,
+in the shade. Human nature can spare so little sympathy for braggarts in
+disaster, that we may possibly have been too hard on his demerits. In
+this respect the Grim old Fighting Cox (as the historian of the Mackerel
+Brigade calls him) is absolutely incorrigible. Conceive a General&mdash;on
+the very morning after the reverse was consummated&mdash;proclaiming to his
+soldiers "that they had added to the laurels already won by the Army of
+the Potomac!" If a succession of defeats are equal to one victory&mdash;on
+the principle of two negatives making an affirmative&mdash;or if nothing
+added to a cipher brings out a substantial product, there may possibly
+be something in these words beyond the desperation of bombast,
+otherwise&mdash;&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>But, in justice to Joseph, let us ask&mdash;Are the materials at his command,
+or at that of any Federal commander, really so powerful or manageable as
+they seem?</p>
+
+<p>Probably no one civilized nation is composed of elements so difficult to
+mould into the form of a thoroughly organized army, as the Northern
+States of the Union. The men individually, especially those drawn from
+the West, are fully endowed with the courage, activity, and endurance
+inherent in the Anglo-Saxon race: they can act promptly and daringly
+enough on their own independent resources; but, when required to move as
+unreasoning units of a mass, directed by a superior will, they utterly
+fail. All the antecedents of the Federal recruit interfere with his
+progress towards the mechanical perfection of the trained soldier. The
+gait and demeanor of the country lads are not more shambling and
+slovenly than those of the ordinary British; but the latter from his
+youth up, has imbibed certain ideas of subordination to superiors, which
+make him yield more pliantly and implicitly to after discipline. Now,
+the American is taught to contemn all such old-world ideas as respect of
+persons. Even the All-mighty Dollar cannot command deference, though it
+may enforce obedience. The volunteer carries with him into the ranks, an
+ostentatious spirit of self-assertion and independence. He has always
+mixed on terms of as much equality as his purse would allow of, with the
+class from which his officers have emerged by election; and knows that,
+at the expiration of their service, each will resume his place as if no
+such distinction had existed. So he goes into action fully prepared to
+criticise the orders of his superiors, and even to ignore them if they
+clash too strongly with his private judgment; he has no intention of
+abating one iota of his franchise, or one privilege of an enlightened
+citizen. In the regular army, ceremonial is rather better observed; but,
+even here, you will observe the barriers of grade frequently
+transgressed, both in manner and tone: the volunteers will rarely salute
+even a field-officer, unless on parade, or by special orders.</p>
+
+<p>This spirit of independent judgment is by no means confined to the rank
+and file. The evidence before the War Committee shows how seldom a
+General-in-Chief can depend on the hearty co-operation of his Division
+leaders, and how unreservedly dissent was often expressed by those whose
+lips discipline ought to have sealed.</p>
+
+<p>The fact is, that a spirit of party impregnates all the military
+organization of the North: a Federal army is a vast political machine.
+State Governors have followed the example of the Administration in their
+selection of the higher officers: these, as a rule, owe their election
+entirely to their own influence, or that of their friends; all other
+qualifications are disregarded. It is idle to expect that such men can
+command the confidence of the soldiers by virtue of their rank; they
+have to win this by individual prowess.<a name="FNanchor_3_3" id="FNanchor_3_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_3_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a> The Confederates have been
+more just and wise. Some of these political appointments were made at
+the beginning of the war, but changes were made as soon as incapacity
+was manifest, and almost all posts of importance are now occupied by
+officers educated at West Point, or at one of many military schools long
+established at the South.</p>
+
+<p>An army of free-thinkers is very hard to handle either in camp or field.
+They do not grumble, perhaps, so much as the British "full private;"
+indeed they have little cause, for the commissariat arrangements, even
+in remote departments, are admirable, and the Union grudges no comfort,
+or even luxury, to her armies. But they become "demoralized" (the word
+is a cant one now) surprisingly fast, and recover from such, depression
+very, very slowly. When the moment for action arrives, such men get
+fresh heart in the first excitement, but they lack stability, and if any
+sudden check ensues, involving change of ground to the rear, a few
+minutes are enough to turn a retreat into a rout. You may send forth
+your volunteer, with all the pomp and circumstance of war, and greet his
+return with all enthusiasm of welcome; you may make him the hero of
+paragraph and tale (I believe it is treasonable to choose any other
+<i>jeune premier</i> for a love story just now); you may put a flag into his
+hand, more riddled and shot-torn than any of our old Peninsular
+standards; you may salute him "veteran," a month after the first baptism
+of fire; but the savor of the conscript and the citizen will cling to
+him still.</p>
+
+<p>What would you have? The <i>esprit de corps</i>, which has more or less been
+kept alive in civilized armies since the days of the Tenth Legion, is,
+perforce, wanting here. All military organization is posterior to the
+War of Independence. It is certainly not their fault if even the regular
+battalions can inscribe on their colors no nobler name than that of some
+desultory Mexican or Border battle. If Australia should become an
+empire, she must carry the same blank ensigns without shame. But when a
+regiment has no traditionary honors to guard, it lacks a powerful
+deterrent from self-disgrace.</p>
+
+<p>It is easy to deride martinets and pipe-clay: all the drill in
+Christendom will not make a good soldier out of a weakling or a coward;
+but, unless you can turn men into machines, so far as to make them act
+independently of individual thought or volition, you can never depend on
+a body of non-fatalists for advancing steadily, irrespective of what may
+be in their front; nor for keeping their ranks unbroken under a hail of
+fire, or on a sinking, ship. As skirmishers, the Federal soldiers act
+admirably; and in several instances have carried fortified positions
+with much dash and daring; it is in line of battle, on a stricken field,
+that they are&mdash;to say the least&mdash;uncertain. In spite of the
+highly-colored pictures of charges, &amp;c., I do not believe that, from the
+very beginning of this war, any one battalion has actually <i>crossed</i>
+bayonets with another, though they may often have come within ten yards
+of collision. This fact (which I have taken some trouble to verify) is
+surely sufficiently significant.</p>
+
+<p>The parallels of our own Parliamentary army, and of the French levies
+after the first Revolution, suggest themselves naturally here; but they
+will not quite hold good. The stern fanatics who followed Cromwell went
+to their work&mdash;whether of fighting or prayer&mdash;with all their heart, and
+soul, and strength, conning the manual not less studiously than the
+psalter, while their General would devote himself for days together to
+the minutest duties of a drill-sergeant. With all this, and with his
+"trust in Providence," it was long before the wary Oliver would bring
+his Ironsides fairly face to face,</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">With the bravos of Alsatia and the pages of Whitehall.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>It is true that the Revolutionary army of '93 was utterly different from
+those, wherein the Maison du Roi took the right of the line. It was
+hastily raised, and loosely constructed, out of rude material perilous
+to handle. But&mdash;putting aside that military aptitude inherent in every
+Frenchman&mdash;in all ranks there was a leaven of veterans strong enough to
+keep the turbulent conscripts in order, though the aristocratic element
+of authority was wanting. Traditions of subordination and discipline
+survived in an army, not the less thoroughly French, because it was
+rabidly Republican. The recruits liked to feel themselves soldiers; they
+were willing to give up for awhile the pageantry of war, but not its
+decorum; and, in that implicit obedience to their officers, there
+mingled a sturdy plebeian pride; they would not allow that it was harder
+to follow the wave of Colonel Bonhommne's sabre, than that of Marshal de
+Montmorenci's baton; or that the word of command rang out more
+efficiently from the patrician's dainty lips, than from under the rough
+moustaches of the proletarian.</p>
+
+<p>The regular army here does little to help the volunteer service, beyond
+giving subalterns as field-officers (a lieutenant would rarely be
+satisfied with a troop or a company); the rank is, of course, temporary,
+though sometimes substantiated by brevet. It is possible, that a few
+non-commissioned officers may be found, who have served in a similar or
+subordinate capacity in the regular army during the Mexican war; but
+such exceptions are too rare to affect the civism of the entire force.</p>
+
+<p>True it is, that the Federal levies have to face enemies not a whit
+superior in discipline. Indeed, Harry Wynd's motto, "I fight for mine
+own hand," is especially favored in the South. But when one side is
+battling for independence, the other for subjugation, there must ever be
+an essential difference in the spirit animating their armies. The
+impetuosity of the Confederate onset is acknowledged even here: on
+several occasions it has been marked by a wild energy and recklessness
+of life, worthy to be compared with the Highland charge, which swept
+away dragoon and musketeer at Killiecrankie and Prestonpans.</p>
+
+<p>I am not disposed to question the hardihood or endurance of the Yankee
+militant; nor even to deny that a sense of patriotism may have much to
+do with his dogged determination to persevere, now, even to the end: but
+as for enthusiasm&mdash;you must look for it in the romances of war that
+crowd the magazines, or in the letters of vividly imaginative
+correspondents, or&mdash;anywhere but among the Federal rank and file. Such a
+feeling is utterly foreign to the national character; nor have I seen a
+trace of it in any one of the many soldiers with whom I have spoken of
+the war. All the high-flown sentiment of the Times or Tribune will not
+prevent the Yankee private from looking at his duty in a hard,
+practical, business-like way; he is disposed to give his country its
+money's worth, and does so, as a rule, very fairly; but military ardor
+in the States is not exactly a consuming fire at this moment. The
+hundred-dollar bounty has failed for some time to fill up the gaps made
+by death or desertion: and the strong remedy of the Conscription Act
+will not be employed a day too soon. Perhaps those who augur favorably
+for Northern success expect that coerced levies will fight more fiercely
+and endure more cheerfully than the mustered-out volunteers. <i>Qui vivra
+verra.</i></p>
+
+<p>It is simple justice, to allow that the native soldiers have borne
+themselves, as a rule, better than the aliens. The Irish
+Brigade&mdash;reduced to a skeleton, now, by the casualties of two years&mdash;has
+performed good service under Meagher, who himself has done much to
+redeem the ridicule incurred in early days; but the Germans have not
+been distinguished either for discipline, or daring. The Eleventh
+Division, whose shameful rout at Chancellorville is still in every one's
+mouth, was almost exclusively a "Dutch" corps.</p>
+
+<p>But other difficulties beset a Federal General, besides the
+intractability of his armed material, and the jealousies of immediate
+subordinates. The uncertainty of his position is in itself a snare. When
+the chief is first appointed, no panegyric seems adequate to his past
+merit, and the glories are limitless that he is certain to win. If he
+should inaugurate his command with the shadow of a success, the
+Government organs chant themselves hoarse in praise and prophecy. But
+the popular hero knows right well, that the ground is already mined
+under his feet; the first reverse will drag him down into a pit of
+obscurity, if not of odium, deep and dark as Abiram's grave. Of all
+taskmasters, a Democracy is the most pitilessly irrational; it were
+better for an unfaithful or unlucky servant to fall into Pharaoh's
+hands, than to lie at the mercy of a free and enlightened, people.
+Demagogues, and the crowds they sway, are just as impatient and
+impulsive now, as when the mob of the Agora cheered the bellowing of
+Cleon; neither is their wrath less clamorous because it has ceased to
+lap blood. A Federal chief must be very sanguine or very short sighted,
+who, beyond the glare and glitter of his new headquarters, does not mark
+the loom of Cynoscephal&aelig;. Conceive the worry, of feeling yourself
+perpetually on your promotion&mdash;of knowing, that by delay you risk the
+imputation of cowardice or incapacity, while on the first decisive
+action must be periled the supremacy, that all men are so loth to
+surrender. The unhappy commander, if a literate, might often think of
+Porsena's front rank at the Bridge, when</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Those in the rear cried, "Forward,"<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Those in the van cried, "Back."<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>To few minds is allotted such a temperate and steady strength as would
+enable a man, thus tried and tempted, to weigh all chances calmly;
+determined to strike, only when the time should come; disregarding the
+extravagant expectations alike of friend or foe; shrinking no more from
+the responsibilities of unavoidable failure, than from any other
+personal dangers. If such a chief could once fairly grasp the staff of
+command, a virtual dictatorship might work great things for the North.
+But whence is he likely to emerge? Hardly from the midst of this vast
+political and military turmoil, where every man is struggling and
+straining to clutch at the veriest shred of power.</p>
+
+<p>Hooker has fared better than his fellows in misfortune. The Washington
+Cabinet, usually ready enough to make sacrifices to popular indignation,
+still stand by their discomfited favorite with creditable firmness. Even
+before the army crossed the river, there appeared significant articles
+in the Government organs, begging the public to be patient and moderate
+in anticipation. The press-prophets, who indulged in the most
+magnificent sketches of what <i>ought</i> to be done, were those, with whose
+patriotic regrets over defeat, would mingle some exultation over a
+disgraced political opponent. So people in general seem content to give
+the Fighting One another chance.</p>
+
+<p>This unusual clemency may be easily accounted for. It would be almost
+impossible to pitch on any one with the slightest pretensions to fill
+the vacated path. If you except Rosecrans, and perhaps Franklin, there
+is hardly a Division leader who has not, at one time or another,
+betrayed incapacity enough to disqualify him from holding any important
+command. West Point may send forth as good theoretical soldiers as
+Sandhurst, or St. Cyr, while the practical experience of American
+Generals might equal that of our own officers before the Crimean war;
+but the best from West Point have gone southward long ago, and by the
+retirement of McClellan the North lost, probably, her one promising
+strategist. Cool and provident in the formation of his plans, though
+somewhat unready in their execution, and scarcely equal to sudden
+emergencies, if he achieved no brilliant success, he was likely to steer
+clear of grave disaster. The dearth of tacticians is made very manifest,
+by the list of candidates suggested in the event of Hooker's removal
+from command.</p>
+
+<p>There are horses, invariably beaten in public, which never appear
+without being heavily backed; and there are men, who contrive to retain
+a certain number of partisans, zealous enough to ignore all patent
+demerits, and to give their favorite credit for any amount of possible
+unproved capacity. Yet one would have thought the Republicans might have
+hesitated in bringing forward Fremont, who has already been removed for
+blunders hardly to be excused by ignorance; and though the name of
+Sickles is, unhappily, well known in Europe, it is somewhat startling to
+find him, so early in the day, aspirant to the highest military honors.
+His advocate admits that the latter hero's professional opportunities
+have been scanty, but, says he, placidly, "Neither was C&aelig;sar bred a
+soldier." If the sentence was written in sobriety, no praise can be too
+high for the audacity of that superb comparison. Another patriot was
+exceedingly anxious that General Halleck should be incontinently removed
+from the War Office, to make room for&mdash;Butler. We accept these things
+calmly now; for repeated proof has taught us, that world-wide infamy
+bars no man's road to profit and honor, when Black Republicans weigh the
+merits of the claimant. The Abolitionist organs of that same week
+contained glowing accounts of McNeil's exploits in Missouri, and
+announced with much satisfaction an accession to Negley's Brigade in the
+shape of Colonel Turchin. I quote the words: "He was received with great
+delight, and will, no doubt, do good service, if allowed. It will be
+remembered that he was court-martialed some time since, for punishing
+guerrillas."</p>
+
+<p>Atrocities have been so rife here of late, that even wholesale murder
+and ravishment have a chance of being lost in the crowd: in any other
+civilized land than this, that reminder might well have been spared.</p>
+
+<p>Surely the Confederates in the Southwest have two prizes now before
+them, well worth the winning; but in the front of battle Tarquin is
+seldom found, and in the rout they must ride far and fast who would
+reach his shoulders with the steel. The real perils of these men will
+begin when the war is done; the hot Southern vendetta will cool
+strangely, if all the three shall die in their beds.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIII" id="CHAPTER_XIII"></a>CHAPTER XIII.</h2>
+
+<h3>THE DEBATABLE GROUND.</h3>
+
+
+<p>There is one very vexed question, the importance of which, both in the
+present and for the future, can hardly be over-estimated. It does not
+depend on the vicissitudes, the duration, or even the termination of the
+war: rather it will become more gravely complicated as prospects of
+peace dawn clearer.</p>
+
+<p>In which direction do the sympathies and interests of the <i>Border</i>
+States actually tend? Let it be understood that the point to be decided
+is&mdash;not whether the Democrats in those parts are politically stronger
+than their Republican opponents; but whether the popular feeling
+identifies itself with North or South; whether an uncoerced vote of the
+majority would be in favor of or hostile to the Union; finally, on which
+side of the frontier-line, in case of separation, the State would fain
+abide.</p>
+
+<p>It seems to me that only personal knowledge and experience can enable an
+alien to form any accurate opinion on these points; even where the press
+is not forced to grumble out discontent with bated breath, under terror
+of martial law, party spirit runs so high as to render statements,
+written or spoken, barely reliable; sound, deeply as you will, into
+these turbid wells, it is a rare chance if you touch truth, after all.
+So, of Tennessee, Missouri, or Kentucky, I will not say a word, but for
+the same reasons I <i>may</i> venture to hazard more than a guess at the
+sympathies of Maryland.</p>
+
+<p>Notwithstanding her superficial extent is comparatively small, there can
+be no question which of the Border States enters most importantly into
+the calculations of both the belligerent powers; the weight of interests
+and wealth of resources that Maryland carries with her&mdash;to say nothing
+of her local advantages&mdash;are such that she cannot eventually be allowed
+to adhere to either side with a lukewarm or divided fidelity.</p>
+
+<p>The position I am about to advance will meet with a certain amount of
+dissent, if not of incredulity, and some one will probably point at
+recent events as furnishing an unanswerable contradiction to much that I
+affirm. I will only pray my readers to believe that I have tried hard to
+cast prejudice aside in listening, in marking, and in recording; my
+opportunities of forming a deliberate judgment on the sympathies of all
+classes in this especial State were such as have fallen to the lot of
+very few strangers; and my observations <i>ought</i>, certainly, to have been
+the more accurate, from their field having been necessarily narrowed.
+Perhaps I can hardly do better than reprint here the larger portion of a
+letter, written in the middle of last March, to the "Morning Post;"
+nothing that has occurred since induces me materially to modify any one
+of the opinions expressed therein. Though, in common with many others, I
+may have regretted the disappointment of our anticipations with regard
+to a general rising, in co-operation with the Southern invaders; I think
+it is easy to show that there were reasons sufficient to account for, if
+not excuse, this second apparent supineness.</p>
+
+<p>"I believe that at home people have a very faint&mdash;perhaps a very
+false&mdash;idea of how men think, and act, and suffer, in this same Border
+State. Your impression may be that a lethargy prevails, where, in
+reality, dangerous fever is the disease&mdash;a fever that must one day break
+out violently, in spite of the quack medicines administered by an
+incapable Government&mdash;in spite of the restrictions unsparingly employed,
+by that grim sick-nurse, martial law.</p>
+
+<p>"I fancy the world is hardly aware of the hearty sympathy with the
+South&mdash;the intense antipathy to the North&mdash;which animates at this moment
+the vast majority of Marylanders. I have heard more than one assert that
+of the two alternatives, he would infinitely prefer becoming again a
+colonial subject of England to remaining a member of the Federal Union.
+This sounds like an exaggeration; I believe it to have been simply the
+truth, strongly stated. I believe that the partisan spirit is as rife
+and as bitter in many parts of this State, as it can be in South
+Carolina or Georgia.</p>
+
+<p>"A remarkable instance of this popular feeling occurred last week, at a
+large sale in Howard county. The late proprietor, an Irishman by
+descent, belonging to one of the old Roman Catholic families that have
+been territorial magnates here for generations, had a great fancy for
+dividing his land into small holdings, rented by men of proportionately
+small means, so as to establish a sort of English tenant-system,
+involving, of course, much free labor. It would have been hard to select
+a spot in that country where the abolition feeling would be more likely
+to prevail. On the present occasion about six hundred farmers and others
+were assembled. They were Southerners to a man; at least, no one hinted
+at dissent when Jefferson Davis's health and more violent Southern
+toasts were drunk amidst a storm of cheers.</p>
+
+<p>"Twice has Maryland been taunted with her inaction, if not charged with
+deliberate treachery; first when, at the outbreak of the war, she did
+not openly secede; again, when she did not second by a general rising
+Lee's invasion of her boundary. It would be well to remember that for
+Maryland to declare herself, before Virginia had actually done so, would
+have been the insanity of rashness. She could hardly be expected to defy
+the vengeance of the North, while cut off by a neutral State from
+Southern aid, especially since Governor Hicks' measures of disarmament,
+by which not only the militia but private individuals were deprived of
+their firelocks. Virginia has fought so gallantly since then, that it is
+easy to forget her tardiness in drawing the sword; but it would be vain
+to deny that on the southern bank of the Potomac there does exist a
+certain jealousy, arising probably from conflicting commercial
+interests, which has led to suspicion and misconception already, and may
+lead to more harm yet. General Lee issued his proclamation inviting
+Maryland to rise only one day before he commenced his retreat&mdash;short
+notice, surely, for a revolution involving not only the temporary ruin
+of many interests, but the certainty of collision with a Federal army of
+one hundred and twenty thousand men then within the border of the State.
+Had Maryland joined the Confederacy a year ago, I believe her entire
+territory would be desolate now, as are most great battlefields. With
+the immense means of naval transport at the Federals' command, it would
+be easy for them to land any number of troops in almost any part of the
+western division, for the whole country is intersected by the creeks of
+the Chesapeake Bay and its tributary rivers. One glance at the map will
+show this more plainly than verbal description, and make it needless to
+remark on the still more exposed and isolated position of the Eastern
+Shore.</p>
+
+<p>"In spite of all this, men say that if the opportunity were once more
+given, the blade would be drawn in earnest, and the scabbard thrown
+away. It may well be so; there has been oppression and provocation
+enough of late to make the scale turn once and forever.</p>
+
+<p>"Meantime, Maryland has not confined herself to a suppressed sympathy
+with the South. We may guess, perhaps, but no one will ever know, the
+extent of the covert assistance already rendered by this State to the
+Confederacy. I am not referring to the constant reinforcements of her
+best and bravest&mdash;over twelve thousand, it is said&mdash;that have never
+ceased to feed the ranks of the Southern armies.</p>
+
+<p>"One significant fact is worth mentioning, drawn from the reports of
+Federal officers&mdash;viz., out of nine thousand Marylanders drafted into
+the service, there are scarcely one hundred now remaining in the ranks;
+they deserted, literally, by bands.</p>
+
+<p>"I speak of supplies of all sorts, especially medicines, furnished
+perpetually; of valuable information forwarded as to the enemy's
+movements and intentions; of Confederate prisoners tended with every
+care, and supplied with every comfort that womanly tenderness could
+devise; of a hundred other marks of substantial friendship that could
+not only be rendered by a nominal neutral, but a real ally. It would be
+hard, indeed, if any miserable jealousies were to prevent all this from
+being appreciated and rewarded some day.</p>
+
+<p>"The Federal Government, at least, does ample justice to the
+proclivities of Maryland. The system of coercion, hourly more and more
+stringent, speaks for itself. The State is at this moment subjected to a
+military despotism more irritating and oppressive than was ever
+exercised by Austria in her Italian dependencies; more irritating,
+because domestic interference and all sorts of petty annoyances are more
+frequent here; more oppressive, because it is considered unnecessary to
+indulge a political prisoner with even the mockery of a trial. Nothing
+is too small for the gripe of the Provost Marshal's myrmidons. There was
+a general order last week for the seizure of all Southern songs and
+photographs of Confederate celebrities. One convivial cheer for
+Jefferson Davis brought the 'strayed reveler' the following morning into
+the awful presence of Colonel Fish, there to be favored with one of his
+characteristic diatribes. The duties of that truculent potentate are
+doubtless both difficult and disagreeable, yet one would think, it
+possible for an officer to act; energetically without ignoring the
+common courtesies of life, and to maintain rigid discipline without
+constantly emulating the army that swore terribly in Flanders. The oath
+of allegiance&mdash;that is the touchstone whose mark gives everything its
+marketable value. The Union flag must wave over every spot&mdash;chapel,
+mart, institute, or ball-room&mdash;where two or three may meet together; and
+beyond the shadow of the enforced ensign there is little safety or
+comfort for man, woman, or child&mdash;for women least of all.</p>
+
+<p>"During the past week two ladies of this city have been arraigned on the
+charge of aiding and abetting deserters from the Federal army. In the
+first case, the offense was having given a very trifling alms, after
+much solicitation and many refusals, to a man who represented himself
+and his family as literally starving. The fugitive made his way to
+Canada, and thence wrote two begging letters, threatening, if money were
+not sent, to denounce his benefactress. Eventually he did so. This lady
+is to be separated from her husband and family, with whom she is now
+residing, and sent across the lines in a few days. In the second case I
+am justified in mentioning names, as from the peculiar circumstances it
+will probably become more public. Mrs. Grace is the widow of a Havana
+merchant, and a naturalized subject of Spain, to whose Minister she has
+since appealed. She was summoned before the Provost Marshal on the same
+charge, but was too ill to attend in person. Her daughter went to the
+office, and found that the evidence against her mother was an
+intercepted letter from some person (whose name was equally unknown to
+Mrs. Grace as to the officials), telling his wife 'to go to that lady,
+who would take care of her.' Miss Grace represented the extreme hardship
+of the case; they had no friends or connections in the South, and her
+mother's health was far from strong. Finally, she gave her own positive
+assurance that there was not the faintest foundation for the charge.
+Colonel Fish did not scruple to reply 'that he considered an anonymous
+document evidence' strong enough to bear down a lady's proffered word of
+honor. If, after this provocation, the spirit of the fair pleader was
+roused, and she spoke somewhat unadvisedly with her lips, few will be
+disposed to impute to her anything more than imprudence. The Provost
+Marshal closed the discussion very promptly and decidedly&mdash;'Your mother
+will go South within the fortnight; and you, for your insolence, will
+accompany her.' When women and weaklings are before them, the
+<i>argumentum bacculinum</i> seems favored by the Republican chivalry.</p>
+
+<p>"The country is not much better off than the city. The same system of
+espionage and coercion prevails there; especially since that fatal
+proclamation has sown distrust between master and slave, it is hard to
+say how many spies there may be in any man's household. Large landed
+proprietors, who have shown no sign of Southern proclivity, beyond
+abstaining from taking the oath, cannot obtain the commonest
+necessaries, such as groceries, &amp;c., without resorting to shifts and
+stratagems that would be absurd, if they were not so painful. Such
+trammels are far more galling to the purely agricultural class than they
+are to the inhabitants of a city like this, where commerce has
+introduced a large mixed element, embracing not only Northerners, but
+almost every European race.</p>
+
+<p>"But, in spite of all privations and annoyances, there is in the
+Marylander just now an honest earnestness of purpose, a readiness for
+self-sacrifice, a patient hardihood, a brave, hopeful spirit, quick to
+chafe but slow to complain, that might make Anglo-Saxons feel proud of
+their common blood. There is plenty of the stuff left out of which
+Buchanan, Semmes, Maffit (of the Florida), Hollins, and Kelso are
+made&mdash;Marylanders all&mdash;who are doing their <i>devoir</i> gallantly on the
+decks of Southern war-ships. I cannot believe that the day is far
+distant when both moral and physical energy will have free and fair
+play.</p>
+
+<p>"The ties of mutual interest that bind this State to the Confederacy are
+too obvious to need much explanation, but it may be well to touch upon
+them briefly. Her extensive water-power marks out Maryland as eminently
+adapted for the produce of all kinds of manufactures. That very
+accessibility from seaward, which is her weak point in war time, is her
+strength in time of peace. The Chesapeake and its tributaries are
+natural high roads for the transport of freight to the ports of
+Virginia, and thence into the interior. Before these troubles, the trade
+of Maryland was almost exclusively with the South; and, unless violently
+diverted, it must always remain so. The South is now straining every
+nerve to establish a formidable steam-navy. It is not too much to say
+that the adhesion of Maryland is absolutely indispensable if this object
+is to be attained. She can not only offer superb harbors, in which the
+South is palpably deficient, but her natural productions&mdash;ship timber,
+iron ore (the largest and toughest plates in the United States are
+hammered here), and bituminous coal, the best for steam purposes south
+of Nova Scotia&mdash;would be invaluable."</p>
+
+<p>With this State the South would retain all the material advantages that
+the restoration of the Union could offer; without her, neither would the
+territorial line be complete, nor the internal resources adequate to the
+requirements of a powerful nation. President Davis has repeatedly
+promised that the free vote of Maryland as to her future shall be one of
+the prime conditions of any treaty whatsoever, and the Southern Congress
+have confirmed this by a nearly unanimous vote. On this point there
+surely ought to be no doubt or wavering. A single concession to the
+arbitrary tendencies of Lincoln's Cabinet, so as to allow interference
+with the free expression of Maryland's will when the crisis shall
+arrive, would not only, I believe, crush the hopes of the vast majority
+of this State's inhabitants, but also betray the vital interest of the
+Southern Confederacy in days to come.</p>
+
+<p>If further proof were needed of the Southern sympathy prevalent in
+Baltimore, such would be found in the measures of coercion and
+prevention employed by General Schenck, when Lee's army was thought
+dangerously near. A private letter dispatched to me in the height of the
+panic, more than confirmed the accounts in public prints of the
+stringency of the martial law. The Federal officers were, perhaps, not
+sorry to have such a chance of repaying, with aggravated oppression, the
+tacit contumely which must have galled them for a year and more. The
+Maryland Club, whose members are Southerners to a man (for the Unionist
+element was eliminated long ago), is now the headquarters of a New
+England regiment, and even Colonel Fish may now wander at will through
+the cool, pleasant chambers that, before comparative liberty was
+stifled, he would have found not more accessible than the lost paradise
+of Sultan Zim. I greatly fear that some of those daring dames and
+damsels, so careless in dissembling their antipathies, may, ere this,
+have been made to pay a heavy price for the indulgence of past disdain.
+The position of a Federal officer, in Baltimore, was certainly far from
+enviable; many men would have preferred the lash of a cutting whip, or
+even a slight flesh-wound, to the sidelong glances that, when a
+dark-blue uniform passed by, interpreted so eloquently the fair
+Secessionists' repugnance and scorn. Neither were words always wanting
+to convey a covert insult. I heard rather an amusing instance of this
+while I was in prison.</p>
+
+<p>It was at the time when Brigadier-Generals were being created by scores
+(I myself counted over sixty names sent down by the President to
+Congress in one batch), when, according to some Washington Pasquin, a
+stone, thrown at a night-prowling dog in Pennsylvania avenue, struck
+three of these fresh-fledged eagles: a Baltimorian <i>lionne</i> entered one
+of the street railway cars, in which two or three Federal officers were
+already seated. An infantry soldier got in immediately afterwards, and,
+in taking his place, set his boot accidentally on the silken verge of a
+far-flowing robe. The lady gazed on the unconscious offender for a
+minute or so, and spake no word; then, looking beyond him as though he
+had never been, she addressed the conductor with the pretty
+plaintiveness affected by those languid Southern beauties:</p>
+
+<p>"Sir, won't you ask that Brigadier-General to take his foot off the
+skirt of my dress?"</p>
+
+<p>Which position was the most enviable at that moment&mdash;the "full
+private's" or that of his silent superiors?</p>
+
+<p>It was curious to remark how thoroughly the majority of clergymen, of
+all denominations, but especially Roman Catholic priests, identified
+themselves with the Southern sympathies of their flock. Arrests of these
+reverend men were very common; but they held their way undauntedly, and
+"kept silence even from good words" only under the pressure of actual
+coercion. Another anecdote is worth relating.</p>
+
+<p>One day there came forth an edict, peremptory as that which bade all
+nations and languages bow down to a golden image, enjoining that, on a
+certain day, Sabbath-prayers for the President should be offered up in
+every church, chapel, and meetinghouse in Baltimore. There was an
+ancient Episcopalian divine, who during nearly half a century had won
+for himself much affection and respect by a zealous and kindly discharge
+of his duties. A notorious Secessionist, he was wise and prudent withal,
+so that many were curious to hear how he would execute or evade the
+obnoxious order. He complied with it&mdash;in this wise:</p>
+
+<p>"My brethren," said he, "we are commanded this day to intercede with the
+Almighty for the President. Let us pray. May the Lord have mercy on
+Abraham Lincoln's soul."</p>
+
+<p>Did ever priest pronounce a blessing more grimly like a ban?</p>
+
+<p>Perhaps it was well that Lee did not advance near enough to Baltimore to
+bring things to a climax there, unless he could have succeeded in
+capturing the place by a <i>coup de main</i>, and have held it permanently.
+Independently of Schenck's avowed intention of shelling the town, on the
+first symptoms of disaffection, from the forts of Constitution and
+McHenry, there might have been wild work there in more ways than one. If
+the Secessionists had once fairly risen against their oppressors and not
+prevailed, it is difficult to say where the measures of savage
+retaliation would have ended. I do not like to think of the possible
+brutality that might have lighted on many hospitable households in
+blood-shedding or rapine.</p>
+
+<p>So much for the city. I have mentioned above some of the reasons that
+make an up-rising throughout the State so exceedingly difficult and
+dangerous to organize. That no active aid was rendered to Lee's army
+upon the last occasion of its crossing the frontier, is, I think, easily
+explained, when the peculiar circumstances of time and place are
+considered.</p>
+
+<p>Southern proclivity is by no means so general in the northwestern
+counties of Maryland as in the eastern region, or on the seaboard. The
+farmers in the former parts suffer greatly from the ceaseless incursions
+over the border. When cattle are to be driven away, it is feared that
+even regular "raiders" and guerrillas are not over-careful to ascertain
+the sympathies of the owner. The horse-thieves, of course, are
+absolutely indifferent whether they plunder friend or foe. Now, though
+the Marylander is far from being imbued with the exclusively commercial
+spirit of the Yankee, it is not unnatural that he should chafe under
+these repeated assaults on his purse, if not on his person. All such
+considerations vanish in the fierce energy of the thorough partisan,
+who, without grudging or remorse, casts the axe-head after the helve;
+but I speak, now, of men whose sympathies at the commencement of the war
+were almost neutral, and who began to suffer in the way above described
+before the bias of feeling had time to determine itself. It was surely
+natural that the first angry impulses should turn the wavering scale;
+more especially when the irritation was constantly being renewed.</p>
+
+<p>Beyond these northwestern counties, in neither inroad, did the
+Confederate army advance. I was not much surprised at reading in the
+able letter of the Times correspondent, how the Southerners were
+disappointed by meeting all along their brief line of march gloomy faces
+and sullen dislike, instead of a hearty welcome; for I knew that in the
+neighborhood of Hagerstown, Boonesborough, and all round South Mountain,
+the majority of the inhabitants were&mdash;to use my Irishman's
+expression&mdash;as "black as thunder."</p>
+
+<p>One glance at the field of the recent operations will show, that the
+isolated Secessionists in the southeastern counties could do little more
+than pray for the success of the Confederate arms: even detached bodies
+of such sympathizers could not have joined Lee, without running the
+gauntlet of the Federal forces lying right across the path.</p>
+
+<p>It should not be forgotten, that the stakes of the invader and of the
+insurgent differ widely The former, if worsted, can fall back on his own
+ground, with no other damage than the actual loss sustained. The latter,
+if foiled, must calculate on absolute ruin&mdash;if not on worse miseries.
+Even if he should himself escape scathless beyond the frontier, he must
+leave homestead and family behind&mdash;to be dealt with as chattels and
+kindred of traitors fare.</p>
+
+<p>Thus, though I am disposed to think more despondingly than before of
+Maryland's chances of aiding herself, for the present, with the armed
+hand, my conviction remains unchanged as to the proclivities of the
+majority of her population, both civic and agricultural. I do honestly
+believe that, in despite of the tempting geographical water-line, the
+natural place of the State is in the Southern Confederacy. And I do also
+believe, that the denial of a free vote as to her future, and a coerced
+adhesion to the Northern Union, would involve, not only the ruin of many
+important interests, political and commercial, but an exodus of more
+influential residents, than has occurred in any civilized land, since
+the Revolutionary storm drove thousands of patrician emigrants over
+every frontier of France.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIV" id="CHAPTER_XIV"></a>CHAPTER XIV.</h2>
+
+<h3>SLAVERY AND THE WAR.</h3>
+
+
+<p>Everyone in anywise interested, practically or theoretically, in the
+Great War, is just now prophesying of the future, simply because it
+looks vaguer and dimmer than ever. So I will hazard my guess at truth
+before all is done.</p>
+
+<p>I am no more capable of giving a valid opinion as to the chances or
+resources of the South than if I had never left these English shores.
+Proximity that is not positive presence, rather embarrasses one's
+judgment, for the nearer you approach the frontier-line, the more you
+become bewildered in the maze of exaggerated reports, direct
+contradictions, and conflicting statistics. Judging from individual
+cases, and from the spirit animating the "sympathizers" on the hither
+side of the border, I feel sure that the bitter determination of the
+South to hold out to the last man and the last ounce of corn-bread, has
+not been in the least overstated; but as to the aspect of chances, or as
+to the actual loss or gain achieved by either side up to this moment, I
+am no more qualified to speak, than any careful student of the
+war-chronicles. It is from consideration of the present and probable
+strength or weakness of Federaldom, that I should draw the grounds of
+any opinion that I might hazard.</p>
+
+<p>I think <i>both</i> are generally under-estimated. In spite of the resistance
+offered in many places to the Conscription Act, it is likely that for
+some time to come the North will always be able to bring into the field
+armies numerically far superior to those of her adversary; nor do I
+believe that she will have exclusively to depend on raw or enforced
+levies. Many of the three-year men and others, whose term of volunteer
+service has just expired, after a brief rest and experience of home
+monotony, will begin to long for excitement again, though accompanied by
+peril and hardship. To such the extravagant bounty will be a great
+temptation, and the Government may not be far wrong in calculating on
+the re-enlistment of a large percentage of the "veterans." Besides, it
+should always be remembered that if it comes to wearing one another out
+in the drain of life, the preponderance of twenty millions against four
+must tell fearfully, even though the willingness to serve on the one
+side should equal the reluctance on the other. Neither do I think that
+national bankruptcy is so imminent over the Northern States, as some
+would have it. Mr. Chase is, of course, a perilously reckless financier;
+but, on more than one occasion, audacity has served him well, when
+prudent sagacity could have been of little aid: the "Five-and-Twenty"
+Loan was certainly eminently successful, and the tough, broad back of
+Yankee-land will bear more burdens yet before it breaks or bends. I am
+speaking now solely of the resources which can be made available for
+<i>carrying on</i> the war: these, I think, will be found sufficient for its
+probable duration. With the commercial future or national credit of the
+Northern States this question has nothing to do; it is not difficult to
+foresee how both must inevitably be compromised by the load of debt
+which swells portentously with every hour of warfaring. But if we have
+been wont to undervalue the strength of Federaldom, latent and
+displayed, we have perhaps scarcely realized how very unsubstantial and
+slippery are its presumed points of vantage.</p>
+
+<p>First, take the North great battle or, rather,
+stalking-horse&mdash;Abolition.</p>
+
+<p>Let no reader be here unnecessarily alarmed. On that terrible slave
+question, over which wiser brains have puzzled, till they became lost in
+a labyrinth of self-contradiction, I purpose to speak only a few cursory
+words. It is beyond dispute that a vast extent of the richest land in
+the South can only be kept in cultivation by the Africans, who can
+thrive and fatten where the white man withers helplessly. No one that
+has realized the present state of our own West Indian colonies, will
+believe that the enfranchised negro can be depended upon as a daily
+laborer for hire. The listless indolence inherent in all tropical races
+<i>will</i> assert itself, as soon as free agency begins or is restored. With
+a bright sun overhead, and a sufficiency of sustenance for the day
+before him, money will not tempt Sambo to toil among cotton or canes,
+should the spirit move him to lie under his own vine or fig-tree; and he
+is unfortunately peculiarly liable to these lazy fits just when his
+services are most vitally important to the interests of his employer.
+From so much ground having been thrown out of cultivation in the West
+Indies, the supply of free negro labor is perhaps now nearly equal to
+the ordinary demand; but we all know how, in the early times of
+emancipation, the fortunes of our planters fared. There has been, in all
+ages, certain cases of apparent political necessity, hardly to be
+justified&mdash;sometimes hardly to be defended&mdash;on purely moral grounds.
+Whether the existence and maintenance of a slave population in the South
+be one of these huge dilemmas or paradoxes is a question that any
+English or Northern abolitionist is about as capable of determining, as
+he would be of legislating for Mangolian Tartary.</p>
+
+<p>The two blackest points in all the dark system&mdash;for dark it is, looking
+at it how you will&mdash;are first, the complication of sin and shame arising
+from the mixture of the races; and, secondly, the separation of husband
+and wife from each other, and from their infant families, by sale. I do
+firmly believe that the recurrence of the former evil becomes rarer
+every day, for advance of civilization only seems to strengthen the
+natural repugnance&mdash;with which moral sentiment has nothing to
+do&mdash;existing between the Anglo-Saxon and African blood.</p>
+
+<p>The subject is not a pleasant one to dilate upon, but that such a
+repugnance does exist, few that have been brought into actual contact
+with the "colored" element <i>en masse</i>, will be inclined to deny. I think
+some of those scientific philosophers who write volumes to prove that
+there is no physical difference between the races, would feel their
+theories strangely modified after such a practical trial. If this be an
+immutable fact, it may work in the South for the prevention of evil as
+well as of good; in the North it can only work for bitter harm. In
+Delaware, where the free negroes are found in unusually large
+proportions to the whites, they are notoriously more hardly treated than
+in any other State of the original Union; and fanaticism must be blind
+and deaf indeed if recent events in New York have not taught it to doubt
+whether the tender mercies of the Abolitionists are so gentle, after
+all. While things are so (and there is scant hope of their changing
+within many generations) the position of the black freedman in the North
+will never be much higher than that of the Chinese in California, where
+a scintilla of civil rights is the utmost that the unhappy aliens can
+claim. In the South, I do greatly fear, there is no alternative between
+suppression and subjugation.</p>
+
+<p>There is no reason why the second great evil&mdash;the separation of families
+(under a certain age) should not be entirely removed by proper
+legislation; and I believe measures to this effect have already been
+mooted in more than one of the slaveholding States. Putting these two
+points aside, I believe that the condition of the slave&mdash;especially
+where the "patriarchal" system prevails&mdash;is infinitely better than that
+of the coolies: the unutterable horrors and waste of life in the Chincha
+Islands have never been matched in Kentucky or Louisiana. I believe that
+the whole roll of authenticated cruelties exercised on the negroes in
+any one year would be outnumbered and outdone by the brutalities
+practiced within the same time upon the apprentices in our own coast
+trade, and upon seamen&mdash;white and colored&mdash;in the American
+merchant-service. With all this it should be remembered that the
+ordinary slave-rations far exceed, both in quantity and quality, the
+Sunday meal of an English west-country laborer; and that the comforts of
+all the aged and infirm, whom the master is, of course, obliged to
+maintain, are infinitely superior to those enjoyed by the like inmates
+of our most lenient work-houses.</p>
+
+<p>I think it is a mistake to suppose that the negroes, as a race, <i>pine</i>
+for freedom; though, when it is suggested to them, they may grasp at it
+with eagerness, much as they would at any other novelty. Many, no doubt,
+can appreciate liberty, and use it as wisely and well as any freeborn
+white: gradual emancipation would be one of the grandest schemes that
+could be propounded to human benevolence: it is rife with difficulty,
+but surely not impracticable. The indiscriminate and abrupt manumission
+of the negro would, I am convinced, turn a quaint, simple, childish
+creature&mdash;prone to mirth, and not easily discontented if his indolence
+be not taxed too hardly, susceptible, too, of strong affection and
+fidelity to his master, as many recent events have shown&mdash;into a sullen,
+slothful, insolent savage, never remembering the past, except as a sort
+of vague excuse for the present indulgence of his brutal instincts,
+conscious that every man's hand is against him, without the meek
+patience of a pariah; but only venturing to retaliate by occasional
+outbursts of ruffianism or rapine. Where a body of these men is
+subjected at once to military discipline, and overawed by the presence
+of white soldiers in overwhelming numbers, the same danger cannot exist;
+yet I doubt gravely as to the ultimate success, in any point of view, of
+those negro levies. It seems hard to say, but I do think it is better
+for us&mdash;even for the sake of Christian charity&mdash;to leave that Great
+Anomaly to be dealt with by God in His own time.</p>
+
+<p>Were the cause stronger than it is, it would be damaged, with many
+moderate thinkers, by the absurdities and violence of its moat zealous
+advocates. Ward Beecher, the great Abolition apostle, fairly outdoes the
+earlier eccentricities of Spurgeon; every trick of stage effect&mdash;such as
+the sudden display of a white slave-child&mdash;is freely employed in the
+pulpit of Plymouth Church, and each successful "point" is rewarded by
+audible murmurs of applause. One fact stamps the man very sufficiently.
+In the latter part of last May, he was starting for a four-months'
+absence in Europe; it was purely a pleasure trip, the expenses to be
+paid by "his affectionate congregation;" and the whole arrangements were
+thoroughly comfortable, not to say luxurious. The text of his last
+sermon was taken from Acts, chapter xx. 18-27&mdash;words that even an
+Apostle never spoke till, standing in the shadow of bonds and death, he
+said farewell to saints who should never look upon his face any more.</p>
+
+<p>Theodore Tilton, another shining light, much distinguished himself by
+announcing that there was no doubt that "the negroes were destined to be
+<i>The</i> Church of Christ:" he founded his discovery not so much upon the
+strong religious feeling prevalent among "colored" persons, as on that
+verse in the Songs of Solomon, where the Bride professes herself "black
+but comely."</p>
+
+<p>It would be well if such absurdities were all one had to record: some
+ebullitions of abolitionist zeal will hardly bear writing down. Take one
+instance. At a large Union meeting at Philadelphia, the <i>Reverend</i> A. H.
+Gilbert, speaking of the Proclamation, and its probable effects in the
+South, did not deny that it might entail a repetition of the San Domingo
+horrors on a vaster scale. "But," said he&mdash;"speaking calmly and as a
+Christian minister&mdash;I affirm that it would be better that every woman
+and child in the South should perish, than that the principles of
+Confederate Statesmen should prevail."</p>
+
+<p>In all that huge assembly, there was not one man found who&mdash;for the love
+of wife, or sister, or daughter, or mother&mdash;would rise to smite the
+brutal blasphemer on the mouth; nay, the Quaker brood cheered him to the
+echo.</p>
+
+<p>That same Proclamation has done less harm than was expected, after all.
+Maryland has suffered, perhaps, most: the whole Constitution is rendered
+null and void there now, without her gaining any European credit as a
+voluntary free State. The negroes stay or run away according to their
+fancy, and work as it suits their convenience; the chances against
+recapture being about 1000 to 1, so it says something for the system,
+that so many have chosen to remain: hardly any household or domestic
+servants are found among the fugitives.</p>
+
+<p>Putting abolition aside, let us examine the condition of the North's
+"second charger"&mdash;battle-horse&mdash;Restoration of the Union at any cost.
+The question of the right of the Southern States to secede has been
+discussed till every European ear must be weary of the theme; so we will
+let the justice of the case alone, and only look at the wild
+improbability of any such result being achieved. In the North, of
+course, there is a strong peace-party; in the South I do not think that
+any man would venture to suggest to his nearest friend any compromise
+short of the acknowledgment of the Confederacy as an independent nation.
+It is an utter mistake to suppose that, if the Emancipatory Proclamation
+were revoked, the road towards peace would be smoothed materially: it
+might have a good effect in displaying a spirit of conciliation on the
+part of the Federal Government&mdash;nothing more. The wedges that will keep
+the South apart from the North, forever, were moulded and sharpened long
+before they were driven home. For years far-seeing men, especially on
+the Border States, had provided, in their financial and domestic
+arrangements, for a certain disunion: not for the first time in history
+has an aristocracy grown up in the centre of a democracy, and, while the
+world shall last, such a state of things can never long endure without a
+collision, involving temporary subjugation or permanent disruption.</p>
+
+<p>The New Englander sees this just as plainly as the Virginian, and both
+have an equal pride in thinking that Cavalier and Roundhead are fighting
+the old battle once more. Disputes about tariffs and falsified
+compromises have only been specious pretexts for indulging in a spirit
+of antagonism, which was then scarcely dissembled, and can never be
+glossed over again. But the Federal Government are not only pursuing a
+<i>mirage</i>, in trying to enforce a Union which could scarcely be
+maintained if all the South country lay depopulated and desolate: they
+are risking, every day, more perilously, the cohesion of the States that
+still cling to the old Commonwealth. The Black Republican tendency to
+put down all political opposition with the armed hand, or with the
+<i>lettre de cachet</i>, is perpetually conflicting with the State rights,
+which many true-hearted Americans value no less highly than their
+allegiance to the Union. The Democrats are almost strong enough to defy
+their opponents, even while the latter are in power; and resistance to
+the Conscription may be only the beginning of a struggle that will
+terminate in a second solution of political continuity, not less earnest
+than the first. Listen to <i>The World</i>, of the 19th May, speaking of
+Vallandigham's arrest:</p>
+
+<p>"The blood that already makes crimson Virginian and Kentucky hill-sides,
+is but a drop to that which will flow on northern soil, when the
+American people discover that the battle has begun to save the
+Constitution from tyrants."</p>
+
+<p>Brave words, these! Yet, making allowance for editorial blatancy, they
+may contain a germ of bitter truth. When New York, the Empress City, has
+been threatened with martial law, it is fair to conclude that Federaldom
+may soon have other enemies to deal with than those who are vexing her
+borders.</p>
+
+<p>No Government can hope successfully to carry out the principle of
+arbitrary and irresponsible power, unless its standing ground be as
+unassailable, and its resolves as unanimous as those of any individual
+autocrat.</p>
+
+<p>Yet, no administration&mdash;civil, political, or military&mdash;can be otherwise
+than unsound to the core where no mutual confidence or reliance subsists
+among its constituent members. Mr. Lincoln's Cabinet do not even keep up
+the appearances of a Happy Family; in all the subordinate departments,
+scarcely a week elapses without the promulgation of some disgraceful
+scandal. For instance, last spring, before men had had time to discuss
+the gigantic Custom-house frauds, there appeared a quiet paragraph to
+the effect that one hundred and forty thousand dollars had disappeared
+mysteriously from the Navy Office on the eve of pay-day; a huge reward
+was offered for the discovery of the criminal, or recovery of the money;
+but even Unionists laughed openly at such an advertisement, which
+probably did not cause the real robber, whoever he was, to turn once
+uneasily in his gorgeous bed. Even in the Commissariat, which, in all
+ages and in all armies, has been the presumed headquarters of the
+Autolyci, no one has yet emulated the evil renown of the Butlers at New
+Orleans (it was openly stated in Congress, and scarcely contradicted,
+that the profits and plunder carried off by that noble pair of brothers,
+exceeded seven millions of dollars); but many of the contractors appear
+to have used their opportunities much as if they were scrambling for
+eagles, or robbing "against time." The corruption that has long
+prevailed in Congress, whenever a "private bill" is in question, has
+long been notorious; but this, at least, was shrouded with a thin vail
+of decorum which the peculators in military and civil high places
+disdained to encumber themselves with in these latter days.</p>
+
+<p>Instances of all this might be multiplied to weariness, but you have
+only to look at a week's files of any northern journal to be convinced
+of the existing state of things, which even the Black Republicans not
+unfrequently bewail.</p>
+
+<p>There is another sort of extra-horse that the Government, or its organs,
+are fond of riding for a short "spell," when the others have been hacked
+rather too hardly. They have christened it&mdash;"Perfidious Albion." To
+speak the truth, however, the Anglophobia is not confined to the
+Abolitionists or Republicans when anything occurs to make any particular
+journal cross or querulous, you are almost sure to meet, that same week,
+a sanguinary leader, with the threadbare motto&mdash;"<i>delenda est
+Britannia</i>." Lately, it has been suggested that the most certain fact to
+secure the adhesion of the South, would be an invitation to join in an
+internecine war with England and France, with Canada and Mexico for
+prizes.</p>
+
+<p>Truly Secessia has little cause to love us; for our practical sympathy
+with her in her dire strait has been confined to the furnishing of
+war-munitions at a moderate profit of three hundred per cent.; yet, I
+think, even in such a cause, Georgia, Carolina, and Virginia would stand
+aloof, rather than dress up in line with the Yankee battalions. The
+mobocracy are "all for a muss," of course, as they always are till they
+see the glitter of bayonets; but I cannot believe that the bellicose
+ideas they are so fond of mooting have ever been seriously entertained
+by the Government. The Federal navy is too utterly inefficient now, save
+for attack and defense along its own shores, to give cause for
+apprehension even to a second-class Power: it cannot even protect
+Northern commerce. For a year or more, the Florida and Alabama have
+laughed at the beards of all the cruisers, and carry on depredation
+still with a high hand. The only grave aggression must be made on the
+frontier of Canada; and there the invaders would be met by a militia
+quite as well drilled as themselves, who have held their own, once
+before, gallantly; to say nothing of the reinforcement of our own
+regular army; if the crack regiments of New York or Massachusetts should
+chance, in such a case, to find the Guards or Highlanders in their
+front, it is just possible that the "veterans" might have some fresh
+ideas as to the realities of a "charge in line."</p>
+
+<p>Reading these bellicose articles, you are perpetually reminded of the
+favorite national game of "Poker." In this, a player holding a very bad
+hand against a good one, may possibly "bluff" his adversary down, and
+win the stakes, if he only has confidence enough to go on piling up the
+money, so as to make his own weakness appear strength. That audacity
+answers often happily enough, especially with the timid and
+inexperienced, but the professional gamblers tell you mournfully that
+they sometimes meet an opponent with equal nerve and a longer purse;
+then comes the fatal moment when the cards must be shown, and then&mdash;<i>le
+quart d'heure de Rabelais</i>. I think, if ever Britannia is forced to
+"see" Federalia's "hand," the world that looks on will find that the
+latter has been "bluffing" to hide weakness.</p>
+
+<p>Nevertheless, I am far from undervaluing the actual strength of the
+northern land armies. They are composed of the most uncouth and
+heterogeneous materials; but they work well enough, after their own
+rough fashion, and certainly recover surprisingly fast from temporary
+discomfiture; it is difficult to believe that the troops who met Lee so
+gallantly at Gettysburg were the same who recrossed the Rappahannock in
+sullen despondency, after Chancellorsville. But the foreign element in
+the Federal forces must soon grow dangerously strong; it should never be
+forgotten that the foreigners, attracted by enormous bounty, even if
+they be of Anglo-Saxon blood, can be but mercenaries, after all; and, in
+history, the Swiss almost monopolize the glory of mercenary fidelity.
+Such subsidies can only be relied on when pay is prompt and work plenty:
+irregularity or inaction will soon breed discontent, followed by some
+such revolt as menaced the existence of Carthage.</p>
+
+<p>These are some of the causes which, as it seems to me, even now
+neutralize, to a great extent, the really vast resources of the North,
+and will some day imperil her very existence as a nation&mdash;united in her
+present form. Now, as to the event of the struggle.</p>
+
+<p>I believe amalgamation, or any other terms than absolute subjugation of
+the South&mdash;to be maintained hereafter by armies of occupancy&mdash;simply
+impracticable. This&mdash;not only on the grounds of political and social
+antagonism before alluded to; but because this contest has been waged
+after a fashion almost unknown in the later days of civilization. I do
+not speak of open warfare on stricken fields, or even of pitiless
+slaughter wrought by those who, when their blood is hot, "do not their
+work negligently;" but of bitter by-blows, dealt on either side, such as
+humanity cannot lightly forget or forgive&mdash;of passions roused, that will
+rankle savagely long after this generation shall be dust. There remains
+the chance of utterly quelling and annihilating the insurrection (I
+speak as a Federal) with the strong hand.</p>
+
+<p>On the one side is ranged an innumerable multitude&mdash;who can hardly be
+looked upon as a distinct nation, for in it mingles all the blood of
+Western Europe&mdash;doggedly determined, perhaps, to persevere in its
+purpose, yet strangely apathetic when a crisis seems really
+imminent&mdash;easily discouraged by reverses, and fatally prone to
+discontent and distrust of all ruling powers&mdash;divided by political
+jealousies, often more bitter than the hatred of the Commonwealth's
+foe&mdash;mingling always with their patriotism a certain commercial
+calculation, that if all tales are true, makes them, from the highest to
+the lowest, peculiarly open to the temptations of the Almighty Dollar;
+these men are fighting for a positive gain, for the reacquisition of a
+vast territory, that if they win, they must watch, as Russia has watched
+Poland.</p>
+
+<p>On the other side I see a real nation, numerically small, in whose veins
+the Anglo-Saxon blood flows almost untainted; I see rich men casting
+down their gold, and strong men casting down their lives, as if both
+were dross, in the cause they have sworn to win; I see Sybarites
+enduring hardships that <i>un vieux de la vieille</i> would have grumbled at,
+without a whispered murmur; I hear gentle and tender women echo in
+simple earnestness the words that once were spoken to me by a fair
+Southern wife&mdash;"I pray that Philip may die in the front, and that they
+may burn me in the plantation, before the Confederacy makes peace on any
+terms but our own." I see that reverses, instead of making this people
+cashier their generals, or cavil at their rulers, only intensifies their
+fierce energy of resistance. Here men are fighting&mdash;not to gain a foot
+of ground, but simply to hold their own, with the liberty which they
+believe to be their birthright.</p>
+
+<p>It may well be that darker days are in store for the South than she has
+ever yet known; it may be that she will only attain her object at the
+cost of utter commercial ruin; it may be that the charity of the
+European Powers is exhausted on Poland, and that neither pity nor shame
+will induce them to break a thankless neutrality, here; but in the face
+of all barely probable contingencies, I doubt no more of the ultimate
+result, than I doubt of the ultimate performance of the justice of God.</p>
+
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_1_1" id="Footnote_1_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_1"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> If this looks like an "advertisement," I can't help it, and
+only say that it is a disinterested one; it may be long before I need
+water-proofs again, and I owe their deserving manufacturer nothing
+but&mdash;justice.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_2_2" id="Footnote_2_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_2_2"><span class="label">[2]</span></a> Since writing the above, I have met the parson in England.
+I am bound to state that he gives rather a different account of the
+escapade, and intimates that the Maryland youth's "tightness" was rather
+real than shamed; that it was, in fact, the cause of his being left
+behind. It is possible that I may have been too hard on his reverence's
+nervousness&mdash;scarcely doing justice to his earnestness of purpose; but,
+as to the aforesaid infernal machines I decline to retract one word.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_3_3" id="Footnote_3_3"></a><a href="#FNanchor_3_3"><span class="label">[3]</span></a> It is well to remember, that, before the Committee for
+inquiring into the conduct of the war, Generals McDowell and Rosecrans,
+in the most explicit terms, attributed many disasters to the fact, of
+the soldiers having no confidence in the officers who led them.</p></div>
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+<pre>
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's Border and Bastille, by George A. Lawrence
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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Border and Bastille, by George A. Lawrence
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Border and Bastille
+
+Author: George A. Lawrence
+
+Release Date: November 3, 2006 [EBook #19705]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BORDER AND BASTILLE ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by David Garcia, Mary Meehan and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This
+file was produced from images generously made available
+by The Kentuckiana Digital Library)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+BORDER AND BASTILLE.
+
+BY GEORGE A. LAWRENCE
+
+THE AUTHOR OF "GUY LIVINGSTONE"
+
+New York:
+W. I. POOLEY & CO.,
+Harpers' Building, Franklin Square.
+
+WYNKOOP, HALLENBECK & THOMAS, PRINTERS,
+No. 113 Fulton Street, New York.
+
+
+
+
+L'ENVOI.
+
+
+When, late in last autumn, I determined to start for the Confederate
+States as soon as necessary preparations could be completed, I had
+listened, not only to my own curiosity, impelling me at least to see one
+campaign of a war, the like of which this world has never known, but
+also to the suggestions of those who thought that I might find materials
+there for a book that would interest many here in England. My intention,
+from the first, was to serve as a volunteer-aide in the staff of the
+army in Virginia, so long as I should find either pen-work or handiwork
+to do. The South might easily have gained a more efficient recruit; but
+a more earnest adherent it would have been hard to find. I do not
+attempt to disguise the fact that my predilections were thoroughly
+settled long before I left England; indeed, it is the consciousness of a
+strong partisan spirit at my heart which has made me strive so hard, not
+only to state facts as accurately as possible, but to abstain from
+coloring them with involuntary prejudice.
+
+To say nothing of my being afterwards backed by the powerful
+Secessionist interest at Baltimore, the introductory letters furnished
+me by Colonel Dudley Mann and Mr. Slidell, addressed to the most
+influential personages--civil and military--in the Confederacy, from
+President Davis downwards, were such as could hardly have failed to
+secure me the position I desired, though they benevolently over
+estimated the qualifications of the bearer. To the first of these
+gentlemen I am indebted for much kindness and valuable advice; to the
+second I am personally unknown; and I am glad to have this opportunity
+of acknowledging his ready courtesy. It was Colonel Mann who counseled
+my going through the Northern States, instead of attempting to run the
+blockade from Nassau or Bermuda, as I had originally intended. In spite
+of the events, I am so certain that the advice was sound and wise, that
+I do not repent--scarcely regret--having followed it.
+
+I need not particularize the precaution taken to insure the safe
+delivery of these credentials: it is sufficient to state that they were
+never submitted to Federal inspection; nor had I ever, at any time, in
+my possession, a single document which could vitiate my claim to the
+rights of a neutral and civilian. Even Mr. Seward did not pretend to
+refuse liberty of unexpressed sympathy with either side to an utter
+foreigner. While I was a free agent in the Northern States, I was
+careful to indulge in no other.
+
+Since my return, I hear that some one has been kind enough to insinuate
+that I might have succeeded better if I had been more careful to
+prosecute my journey South with vigor at any risk; or if I had been less
+imprudent in parading my object while in Baltimore. I prefer to meet the
+first of these assertions by a simple record of facts, and by the most
+unqualified denial that it is possible to give to any falsehood, written
+or spoken. As to the second--really quite as unfounded--it may be well
+to say, that before I had been a full fortnight in America, I was
+"posted" in the literary column of "Willis' Home Journal." I could not
+quarrel with the terms in which the intelligence--avowedly copied from
+an English paper--was couched. The writer seemed to know rather more
+about my intentions--if not of my antecedents--than I knew myself; but I
+can honestly say that the halo of romance with which he was pleased to
+surround a very practical purpose, did not however compensate me for the
+inconvenient publicity. This paragraph soon found its way into other
+journals, and at last confronted me--to my infinite disgust--in the
+"Baltimore Clipper," a bitter Unionist organ.
+
+Perhaps this will answer sufficiently the accusation of "parade," for
+even had we been disposed to indulge in an "alarum and flourish of
+trumpets," the sensation-mongers would have anticipated the absurdity.
+Besides this, my movements were not in anywise interfered with up to the
+moment of my arrest, when we were miles beyond all Federal pickets. My
+captors, of course, had never heard of my existence till we met. It is
+more than probable that the report just referred to did greatly
+complicate my position when I was actually in confinement; but here my
+person--not my plans--suffered, and here, the real mischief of that very
+involuntary publicity began and ended.
+
+After my plans were finally arranged, I had an interview with the
+editorial powers of the _Morning Post_; there it was settled that I
+should communicate to that journal as constantly as circumstances would
+permit, any interesting matter or incidents that fell in my way, in
+consideration of which was voted a liberal supplement of the sinews of
+war; but it was clearly understood that my movements and line of action
+were to be absolutely untrammeled. I could not have entered into any
+contract that in any way interfered with the primary object I had in
+view. I had no intention of commencing such correspondence before I had
+actually crossed the southern frontier, so that one letter from
+Baltimore--afterwards quoted--was the solitary contribution I was able
+to furnish.
+
+I have said thus much, because I wish any one who may be interested on
+the point to know clearly on what footing I stood at starting: for the
+general public, of course, the subject cannot have the slightest
+interest.
+
+Of all compositions, I suppose, a personal narrative is the most
+wearying to the writer, if not to the reader; egotistical talk may be
+pleasant enough, but, commit it to paper, the fault carries its own
+punishment. The recurrence of that everlasting first pronoun becomes a
+real stumbling-block to one at last. Yet there is no evading it, unless
+you cast your story into a curt, succinct diary; to carry this off
+effectively, requires a succession of incidents, more varied and
+important than befell me.
+
+A failure--absolute and complete--however brought about, is a fair mark
+for mockery, if not for censure. Perhaps, however, I may hope that some
+of my readers, in charity, if not in justice, will believe that I have
+honestly tried to avoid over-coloring details of personal adventure, and
+that no word here is set down in willful insincerity or malice, though
+all are written by one whose enmity to all purely republican
+institutions will endure to his life's end.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS.
+
+
+CHAPTER I. A Foul Start
+
+CHAPTER II. Congressia
+
+CHAPTER III. Capua
+
+CHAPTER IV. Friends in Council
+
+CHAPTER V. The Ford
+
+CHAPTER VI. The Ferry
+
+CHAPTER VII. Fallen Across the Threshold
+
+CHAPTER VIII. The Road to Avernus
+
+CHAPTER IX. Caged Birds
+
+CHAPTER X. Dark Days
+
+CHAPTER XI. Homeward Bound
+
+CHAPTER XII. A Popular Armament
+
+CHAPTER XIII. The Debatable Ground
+
+CHAPTER XIV. Slavery and the War
+
+
+
+
+BORDER AND BASTILLE
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+A FOUL START.
+
+
+Looking back on an experience of many lands and seas, I cannot recall a
+single scene more utterly dreary and desolate than that which awaited
+us, the outward-bound, in the early morning of the 20th of last
+December. The same sullen neutral tint pervaded and possessed
+everything--the leaden sky--the bleak, brown shores over against us--the
+dull graystone work lining the quays--the foul yellow water--shading one
+into the other, till the division-lines became hard to discern. Even
+where the fierce gust swept off the crests of the river wavelets,
+boiling and breaking angrily, there was scant contrast of color in the
+dusky spray, or murky foam.
+
+The chafing Mersey tried in vain to make himself heard. All other
+sounds--a voice, for instance, two yards from your ear--were drowned by
+the trumpet of the strong northwester. All through the past night, we
+listened to that note of war; we could feel the railway carriages
+trembling and quivering, as if shaken by some rude giant's hand, when
+they halted at any exposed station; and, this morning, the pilots shake
+their wise, grizzled beads, and hint at worse weather yet in the offing.
+For forty-eight hours the storm-signals had never been lowered, nor
+changed, except to intimate the shifting of a point or two in the
+current of the gale, and few vessels, if any, had been found rash enough
+to slight "the admiral's" warning.
+
+It had been gravely discussed, we heard afterwards, by the owners and
+captain of "The Asia," whether she should venture to sea that day;
+finally, the question was left to the latter to decide. There are as
+nice points of honor, and as much jealous regard for professional credit
+in the merchant service as in any other. Only once, since the line was
+started, has a "Cunarder" been kept in port by wind or weather--this was
+the commander's first trip across the Atlantic since his promotion; you
+may guess which way the balance turned.
+
+We waited on the landing-stage one long cold hour. The huge square
+structure, ordinarily steady and solid as the mainland itself, was
+pitching and rolling not much less "lively" than a Dutch galliot in a
+sea-way; and the tug that was to take us on board parted three hawsers
+before she could make fast alongside. It was hard to keep one's footing
+on the shaking, slippery bridge, but in ten minutes all staggered or
+tumbled, as choice or chance directed, on to the deck of the little
+steamer. I was looking for a dry corner, when an American passenger made
+room for me very courteously, and I begun to talk to him--about the
+weather, of course. It was a keen, intellectual face, pleasant withal,
+and kindly, and in its habitual expression not devoid of genial humor.
+But, at that moment, it was possessed by an unutterable misery. No
+wonder.
+
+"I was ill the whole way over from America," he said, "and _then_ we
+started with bright weather and a fair wind."
+
+I was much attracted by the voice, betraying scarcely any Transatlantic
+accent: it was quiet and calm in tone, like that of any brave man on his
+way to encounter some irresistible pain or woe; but saddened by an agony
+of anticipation, he presaged, only too truly, "the burden of the
+atmosphere and the wrath to come."
+
+Another struggle and scramble--and we are on board, at last. It is some
+comfort to exchange that wretched little wet tug for the deck of the
+Asia; though a trifle unsteady even now, she oscillates after the sober
+and stately fashion befitting a mighty "liner." Half an hour sees the
+end of the long stream of mail-bags, and the huge bales of newspapers
+shipped; then the moorings are cast loose; there rises the faintest echo
+of a cheer--who could be enthusiastic on such a morning?--the vast
+wheels turn slowly and sullenly, as if hating the hard work before them;
+and we are fairly off.
+
+The waves and weather grew rapidly wilder; as we neared blue water, just
+after passing the light, we saw a large ship driving helplessly and--the
+sailors said--hopelessly, among the breakers of the North Sands. She had
+tried to run in without a pilot, and _ours_ seemed to think her fate the
+justest of judgments; but to disinterested and unprofessional spectators
+the sight was very sad, and somewhat discouraging. So with omen and
+augury, as well as the wind dead against us.
+
+    "The Sword went out to sea."
+
+All that day and night "The Asia" staggered and weltered on through the
+yeasty channel waves, breaking in her passengers rather roughly for a
+conflict with vaster billows. Thirteen hours of hard steaming barely
+brought us abreast of Holyhead. The gale moderated towards morning, and
+we ran along the Irish coast under a blue sky, making Queenstown shortly
+after sundown.
+
+By this time I had become acquainted with my cabin-mate, in which
+respect I was singularly fortunate. M. ---- was a thorough Parisian,
+and a favorable specimen of his class. Small of stature, and
+slender of proportion--a very important point where space is so
+limited--low-voiced, and sparing of violent expletives or gestures,
+delicately neat in his person and apparel, one could hardly have
+selected a more amiable colleague under circumstances of some
+difficulty. I can aver that he conducted himself always with a perfect
+modesty and decorum: he would preserve his equilibrium miraculously,
+when his perpendicular had been lost long ago: he never fell upon me but
+once (sleeping on a sofa, I was exposed defenselessly to all such
+contingencies), and then lightly as thistle-down. On the rare occasions
+when the _mal-de-mer_ proved too much for his valiant self-assertion, he
+yielded to an overruling fate without groan or complaint: folding the
+scanty coverlet around him, he would subside gradually into his berth,
+composing his little limbs as gracefully as Caesar. His courtesy was
+invincible and untiring: he was anxious to defer and conform even to my
+insular prejudices. Discovering that I was in the habit of daily
+immersing in cold water--a feat not to be accomplished without much
+toil, trouble, and abrasion of the cuticle--he thought it necessary to
+simulate a like performance, though nothing would have tempted him to
+incur such needless danger. His endeavors to mislead me on this point,
+without actually committing himself, were ingenious and wily in the
+extreme. Sitting in the saloon at the most incongruous hours of day and
+night, he would exclaim, "J'ai l'idee de prendre bientot mon bain!" or
+he would speak with a shiver of recollection of the imaginary plunge
+taken that morning. I don't think I should ever have been deluded, even
+if my curiosity had not led me to question the steward; but never, by
+word or look, did I impugn the reality of that Barmecide bath. To his
+other accomplishments, M. ---- added a very pretty talent for piquet;
+the match was even enough, though, to be interesting, at almost nominal
+stakes, and so we got pleasantly through many hours--dark, wet, or
+boisterous.
+
+We were not a numerous company--only thirty-three in all. Few amateurs
+travel at this inclement season. I knew only one other Englishman on
+board, an officer in the Rifle Brigade, returning to Canada from
+sick-leave. Among the Americans was Cyrus Field, the energetic promoter
+of the Atlantic Telegraph, then making (I think he said) his thirtieth
+transit within five years. He was certainly entitled to the freedom of
+the ocean, if intimate acquaintance with every fathom of its depth and
+breadth could establish a claim. It rather surprised me, afterwards, to
+see such science and experience yield so easily to the common weakness
+of seafaring humanity. Mr. Field told me that throughout the fearful
+weather to which the Niagara and Agamemnon were exposed, on their first
+attempt to lay down the cable, he never once felt a sensation of nausea;
+the body had not time to suffer till the mind was relieved from its
+heavy, anxious strain.
+
+For three days after leaving Queenstown, the west winds met us, steady
+and strong; but it was not till the afternoon of Christmas day that the
+sea began to "get up" in earnest, and the weather to portend a gale.
+Then, the Atlantic seemed determined to prove that report had not
+exaggerated the hardships of a winter passage. It blew harder and harder
+all Friday, and after a brief lull on Saturday--as though gathering
+breath for the final onset--the storm fairly reached its height, and
+then slowly abated, leaving us substantial tokens of its visit in the
+shape of shattered boats, and the ruin of all our port bulwarks forward
+of the deck-house. I fancy there was nothing extraordinary in the
+tempest; and, in a stout ship, with plenty of sea room, there is
+probably little real danger; but about the intense discomfort there
+could be no question. I speak with no undue bitterness, for of nausea,
+in any shape, I know of little or nothing, but--oh, mine enemy!--if I
+could feel certain you were well out in the Atlantic, experiencing, for
+just one week, the weather that fell to our lot, I would abate much of
+my animosity, purely from satiation of revenge.
+
+Unless absolutely prostrated by illness, the voyager, of course, has a
+ravenous appetite; such being the case, what can be more exasperating
+than having to grapple with a sort of dioramic dinner, where the dishes
+represent a series of dissolving views--mutton and beef of mature age,
+leaping about with a playfulness only becoming living lambs and
+calves--while the proverb of "cup and lip" becomes a truism from
+perpetual illustration? Neither is it agreeable, after falling into an
+uncertain doze, to feel dampness mingling strangely with your dreams,
+and to awake to find yourself, as it were, an island in a little salt
+lake formed by distillation through invisible crevices.
+
+    "Oh, laith, laith were our gude Scot lords
+    To wet their cork-heeled shoon,"
+
+says the grand old ballad; so, I suppose, it is nothing "unbecoming the
+character of an officer and a gentleman" to hold such midnight
+irrigation in utter abhorrence.
+
+On one of these occasions I abandoned a post no longer tenable, and went
+into the small saloon close by, to seek a dry spot whereon to finish the
+night, I found it occupied by a ghastly man, with long, wild gray hair,
+and a white face--striding staggeringly up and down--moaning to himself
+in a harsh, hollow voice, "No rest; I can't rest." He never spoke any
+other words, and never ceased repeating these, while I remained to hear
+him. Instantly there came back to my memory a horrible German tale, read
+and forgotten fifteen years ago, of a certain old and unjust steward,
+Daniel by name, who, having murdered his master by casting him down an
+oubliettes, ever haunted the fatal tower, first as a sleep-walker, then
+as a restless ghost--moaning and gibbering to himself, and tearing at a
+walled-up door with bleeding hands. The train of thought thereby
+suggested was so very sombre, that I preferred returning to my cabin,
+and climbing into an unfurnished berth, to spending more minutes in that
+weird company. I never made the man out satisfactorily afterwards. It is
+possible that he was one of the few who scarcely showed on deck, till we
+were in sight of land; but rather, I believe, like other visions and
+voices of the night, he changed past recognition under the garish light
+of day.
+
+Then come the noisy nuisances, extending through all the diapason of
+sound. One--the most annoying--to which the ear never becomes callous by
+use, is the incessant crash, not only alongside, but overhead. At
+intervals--more frequent, of course, after our bulwarks were swept
+away--the green water came tumbling on board by tons; and, being unable
+to escape quickly enough by the after-scuppers, surged backwards and
+forwards with every roll of the vessel, as if it meant to keep you down
+and bury you forever. Lying in my berth, I could feel the heavy seas
+smite the strong ship one cruel blow after another on her bows or beam,
+till at last she would seem to stop altogether, and, dropping her head,
+like a glutton in the P. R., would take her punishment sullenly, without
+an effort at rising or resistance. Nevertheless, I stand by "The Asia,"
+as a right good boat for rough weather, though she is not a flyer, and
+sometimes could hardly do more than hold her own. Eighty-one knots in
+the twenty-four hours was all the encouragement the log could give one
+day.
+
+I liked our commander exceedingly. He had just left the Mediterranean
+station, and there still abode with him a certain languid levantine
+softness of voice and manner; when he came in to dinner, out of the wild
+weather, the moral contrast with the turmoil outside was quite
+refreshing. Report speaks highly of Captain Grace's seamanship; and I
+believe in him far more implicitly than I should in one of those hoarse
+and blusterous Tritons, who think roughness and readiness inseparable,
+and talk to you as if they were hailing a consort.
+
+The library on board was not extensive, consisting (with the exception
+of "The Newcomes") chiefly of religious works of the Nonconformist
+school, and tales, which have long ago passed into surplus stock, or
+been withdrawn from general circulation. But there was one invaluable
+novel, which I shall always remember gratefully. I never got quite
+through it, but I read enough to be enabled to affirm, that its
+principles are unexceptionable, its style grammatically faultless, and
+its purpose sustained (ah, how pitilessly!) from first to last. The few
+amatory scenes are conducted with the most rigid propriety; and when
+there occurs a lover's quarrel, the parties hurl high moral truths at
+each other, instead of idle reproaches. But it is mainly as a soporific,
+that I would recommend "_Silwood_:" on four different occasions, under
+most trying circumstances it succeeded perfectly and promptly with me,
+for which relief--unintentional, perchance--I tender much thanks to the
+unknown author, and wish "more power to his arm."
+
+Quite crippled for the time being by rheumatism, I was in bad form for
+clambering about the sloping, slippery planks; nevertheless I did
+contrive to crawl up to the hurricane-deck just before sundown, about
+the crisis of the gale. I confess to being disappointed in the
+"rollers:" it may be that their vast breadth and volume takes off from
+their apparent height, but I scarcely thought it reached Dr. Scoresby's
+standard--from 26 to 30 feet, if I remember right, from trough to crest.
+One realizes thoroughly the _abysmal_ character of the turbulent chaos,
+and there is a sensation of infiniteness around and below you not devoid
+of grandeur; but as an exhibition of the puissance of angry water, I do
+not think the mid-ocean tempest equal to the storm which brings the
+thunder of the surf full on the granite bulwarks of Western Ireland.
+
+It must be owned, that the conversational powers of our small society
+were limited. Very often some selfishness mingled with my sincere
+compassion for the prostrated sufferings of my Philadelphian friend of
+the tug-boat; for whenever his weary aching head would allow of the
+exertion, he could talk on almost any subject, fluently and well. He was
+returning from a long visit to Paris, and a rapid tour through Germany
+and Southern Europe. Most of the countries, that he had been compelled
+to hurry over, I had loitered through in days past, and I ought to have
+been shamed by the contrast in our recollections--his, so clear and
+systematical--mine, so vague and dim. An intellectual American
+travelling through strange lands does certainly look at nature, animate
+and inanimate, after a practical business-like fashion peculiar to his
+race; but it would be unfair to infer that such minds are, necessarily,
+unappreciative. At all events, that concentrative, synthetical power,
+that takes in surrounding objects at a single glance, and retains them
+in a tolerably distinct classification, is rather enviable, even as a
+mental accomplishment.
+
+We did not speak much about the troubles beyond sea, and the
+Philadelphian was rather reserved as to his proclivities. My impression
+is, that his sympathy tended rather southward (all his early life had
+been spent in Alabama), but he declined to commit himself much, nor do I
+believe that he was a violent partisan either way. On one point he was
+very decided: Falkland himself could not have wished more devoutly for
+the termination of a fatal civil war--fatal, he said, to the interests,
+present and future, of both the combatant powers--ruinous to every
+class, with two exceptions; the adventurers who, having little to lose,
+gained, by joining the ranks of either army, a social position to which
+they could not otherwise have aspired; and the speculators, who,
+directly or indirectly, fairly or unfairly, made gains vast and unholy,
+such as wreckers are wont to gather in time of tempest and general
+disaster. He scarcely alluded to the corruption and peculation prevalent
+in all high places, diluted in its downward percolation till sutlers and
+horse-thieves would strive in vain to emulate the fraudulent audacity of
+their superiors. It was well he spared me then, for soon after landing,
+my eyes and ears grew weary with the repetition of all these ignoble
+details. To illustrate how heavily the taxes were already beginning to
+weigh on the non-militant part of the population, my informant proved to
+me by very clear figures that, if he individually could secure permanent
+exemption from such burdens by the absolute sacrifice of one-tenth of
+his whole property, real and personal, the commutation, would be
+decidedly advantageous to him. True, he represented a class whose
+incomes exceeded a certain standard, and therefore suffered rather more
+heavily; but the same calculation, with very slight alterations, applied
+to all other subordinate ones.
+
+Grave and mild of speech was the Philadelphian philosopher, without a
+trace of dogmatism or self-assertion in his tone; nevertheless, I judged
+him to be a man of mark somewhere, and I afterwards heard that, albeit
+not a violent or prominent politician, he had great honor in his own
+country.
+
+Strong head-winds and a heavy sea baffled us till we had cleared the
+longitude of Cape Race; then the weather softened, the breeze veered
+round till it blew on our quarter, and we had clear sky above us all the
+way in. We sighted the first pilot-boat on the afternoon of January 3d,
+and, as she came sweeping down athwart us, with her broad, white wings
+full spread, our glasses soon made out the winning number of the
+sweepstakes, "22." It was long past dinner hour when the beautiful
+little schooner rounded to, under our lee, but all appetite just then
+was merged in a craving for latest intelligence.
+
+It was a caricaturist's study--the crowd of keen, anxious faces round
+the gangway--as the pilot came aboard. He was a stout man, of
+agricultural exterior, looking as if he were in the habit of ploughing
+anything rather than the deep sea; but it is the fashion of his guild to
+eschew the nautical as much as possible in their attire. The "anxious
+inquirers" got little satisfaction from him--he seemed taciturn by
+nature, if not sullen--and they came back to where the rest of us stood
+on the hurricane deck, muttering discontentedly, "Gold at 46. No news."
+It seemed very odd--such a complete stagnation of affairs, military and
+civil--but we went to dinner in spite of our disappointment. Before we
+rose from table the truth began to ooze out. One or two New York papers,
+that had slipped on board with the pilot, were more communicative than
+he would or could be.
+
+Thousands of corpses, the full tale of which will never be known till
+the day of judgment, lying rolled in blood, with a handful of earth
+raked over them under the fatal Fredericksburg heights; the finest army
+in Federaldom hurled back upon its intrenchments; nothing but darkness
+covering a disastrous, if not shameful defeat; the papers crowded with
+dreary funeral notices, showing how, to every great city of the North,
+from hospital and battle-ground, the slain are being gathered in, to be
+buried among their own people; a wail of widows and orphans and mothers,
+from homestead, hamlet, and town, overpowering with its simple energy,
+the bombastic war-notes and false stage-thunder of the press; rumors of
+a terrible battle in the far West, where, after three days' hard
+fighting, Rosecrans barely holds his own, and yet "_there are no
+news_!"
+
+It is an excellent quality in a soldier not to know when he is beaten,
+but whether blind obstinacy will succeed when it influences the rulers
+and destinies of a great nation, is more than questionable. Pondering
+these things, I remembered how, four thousand years ago, a stiff-necked
+generation were brought to their senses and on their knees. It was on
+the morning after the visit of the Dark Angel, when Egypt awoke, and
+found not a house in which there was not one dead. If such fearful waste
+of life goes on here, with no decisive or final advantage on either side
+attained, that ancient curse may not be long in recurring.
+
+I rose when the sun ought to have risen, on the following morning,
+intending to admire the famous harbor which Americans love to compare
+with the Neapolitan Bay. But long before we reached the Narrows,
+
+    "A blinding mist came up and hid the land
+    As far as eye could see."
+
+Very soon we were buried in fog, dense and Cimmerian, as ever brooded
+over our own Thames or the Righi panorama. More and more slowly the
+paddles turned, till they stopped altogether. It was dangerous to
+advance, ever so cautiously, when the keenest sight could not pierce
+half a ship's length ahead. So there we lay at anchor for weary hours,
+listening to the church-bells chiming drowsily through the heavy air,
+till an enterprising tug ventured out for the mails, and sent another
+for the relief of the passengers.
+
+The custom-house officers were not troublesome, and I was soon at the
+Brevoort House, the Parisian Pylades still faithfully following my
+fortunes. I was far from entreating him to leave me; landing utterly
+alone in a strange land, one does not lightly cast aside companionship.
+For reasons easily understood, I had declined to avail myself of many
+proffered letters of introduction to New Yorkers.
+
+That lonely feeling did not last long: the first object which caught my
+eye on the steps of the Brevoort House was an honest English face--a
+face I have known, and liked right well, these dozen years and more.
+There stood "the Colonel" (any Ch. Ch. or Rifle Brigade man will
+recognize the _sobriquet_), beaming upon the world in general with the
+placid cheerfulness that no changes of time or place or fortune seem
+able to alter, looking just as comfortable and thoroughly "at home" as
+he did, steering Horniblow to victory at Brixworth. I had heard that my
+old friend was on his way to England to join the Staff College, but had
+never reckoned on such a successful "nick" as this. By my faith, my
+turns of luck beyond the Atlantic were not so frequent as to excuse
+forgetfulness, when they did befall.
+
+So I had aid and abetment in performing the little lionization which is
+obligatory on a visitor to New York; for the "Colonel's" comrade, my
+fellow-voyager of the Asia, came to the same hotel.
+
+Assisted by the Parisian, we made trial of the esculents peculiar to the
+country--gombo soup, sweet potatoes, terrapins, and canvas-backs--with
+much solemnity and satisfaction, agreeing, that fame had spoken truth
+for once, in extolling the two last-named delicacies. We went to the
+Opera, and there, in a brilliant _salle_ of white and gold, spoilt,
+however, by the incongruity of bonnets mingling everywhere with full
+evening toilettes, assisted at a massacre--unmusical and melancholy--of
+"Lucrezia." We drove out through the crude, unfinished Central Park to
+Harlem lane, whither the trotters are wont to resort, and saw several
+teams looking very much like work (though no celebrities), almost all of
+the lean, rather ragged form which characterizes, more or less, all
+American-bred "fast horses." The ground was too hard frozen to allow of
+anything beyond gentle exercise; but even at quarter-speed, that
+wonderful hind-action was very remarkable. Watching those clean, sinewy
+pasterns shoot forward--well _outside_ of the fore hoof-track--straight
+and swift as Mace's arm in an "upper-cut," you marvel no longer at the
+mile-time which hitherto has seemed barely credible.
+
+Perhaps this same bitter weather may account for our disappointment in
+the brilliancy of Broadway. Several careful reviews of the sunny side
+failed to detect anything dangerously attractive in beauty, equipage, or
+attire. It is probable that most of the _lionnes_ had laid them down in
+their delicate dens, waiting for a more clement season, to renew
+external depredations; though sometimes you could just catch a glimpse
+of bright eyes and a little pink nose peering over dark fur wrappings,
+as a brougham or barouche, carefully closed, swept quickly by. We
+visited Barnum, of course. I think a conversational and communicative
+Albino was the most note-worthy curiosity in the Museum, chiefly, from
+his intense appreciation of the imposture of the whole concern,
+originated and directed by the King of Humbugdom.
+
+The sanguine popular mind was unusually depressed just then. The
+President's emancipatory proclamation had recently issued, and seemed to
+adapt itself, with wonderful elasticity, to the discontents of all
+parties; not comprehensive enough for the ultra-Abolitionists, it was
+stigmatized by the Democrats as unconstitutional and oppressive; while
+moderate politicians agreed that, beyond irritating feelings already
+bitter enough, it would be practically invalid as an offensive measure.
+We shall see, hereafter, how these prognostications were justified.
+
+But the first word in all men's mouths, for a day or two at least after
+my arrival, was--Monitor. That same gale which had buffeted the Asia so
+rudely on the high seas, had raged yet more savagely shorewards: the
+Merrimac's antagonist, like a drowning paladin of the mail-clad days,
+had sunk under her mighty armor, and now, with half her crew in their
+iron coffin, lay at rest in the crowded burial-ground on which Cape
+Hatteras looks down. Great discouragement and consternation--greater
+than has often been caused by the loss of any single vessel--fell upon
+all the North when the news came in. Ever since her famous duel, which
+the Federals never would allow was a drawn battle, they had elevated the
+Monitor into a national champion, and prophesied weeping in the South if
+she and their batteries should meet: few then dared to insinuate a doubt
+about Charleston's certain fall, when once the leaguer was fairly
+mustered for assault. Grave doubts were now expressed as to the
+seaworthiness of all the new iron-clads, though their advocates could
+point to a sister of the unhappy Monitor, which had survived a great
+part of the same storm. That they all must be more unsafe in really
+rough weather than the crankiest of our old "coffin brigs," seems quite
+ascertained now: the fact of their being unable to make headway through
+a heavy sea unless towed by a consort, speaks for itself. The immediate
+cause of the Monitor's foundering (according to Captain Worden's
+account, which my informant had from his own lips) was a leak sprung,
+where her protruding stern-armour, coming down flat on the waves with
+every plunge of the vessel, became loosened from the main hull; but, for
+some time before this was discovered, she seems to have spent more
+minutes under than above the water, and nothing alive could have stood
+unlashed for a second on her deck. So great was the public
+disappointment, that the tribe of false prophets--whose cry of "Go up to
+Ramoth Gilead, and prosper," deafens us here, not less, usually in
+defeat than in success--did for awhile abate their blatancy; while
+Ericsson--most confident of projectors--spake softly, below his breath,
+as he suggested faint excuse and encouragement.
+
+The news from the West--hourly improving, and more clearly
+confirmed--were hardly welcomed, as they deserved, and scarcely
+counter-balanced the naval disaster. It was not long, however, before
+Rosecrans the Invincible came in for his full share of credit--perhaps
+not more than he merited. Few other Federal commanders can claim that
+epithet; and, though some people persisted in considering Murfreesburg a
+Pyrrhic victory, it is certain that he held his ground manfully, and
+eventually advanced, where defeat, or even a retrograde movement, would
+have been simply ruin.
+
+On the fifth day our small company were scattered--each going his own
+way, east, north, and south--while the Parisian abode in New York still.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+CONGRESSIA.
+
+
+Of two lines to Philadelphia I selected the longest, wishing to see the
+harbor, down which a steamer takes passengers as far as Amboy; but the
+Powers of the Air were unpropitious again: it never ceased blowing, from
+the moment we went on board a very unpleasant substitute for the regular
+passage-boat, till we landed on the railway pier. My first experience of
+American travel was not attractive. The crazy old craft puffed and
+snorted furiously, but failed to persuade any one that she was doing
+eight miles an hour; the grime of many years lay thick on her dusky
+timbers--dust under cover, and mud where the wet swept in, and her
+close, dark cabins were stifling enough to make you, after five minutes
+of vapor-bathing, plunge eagerly into the bitter weather outside.
+Indeed, there was not much to see, for the track lies on the inner and
+uglier side of Staten Island. The last few miles lead through marshes,
+with nothing taller growing than reeds and osiers.
+
+For an hour or so after leaving Amboy, you look out on a country thickly
+populated, well cultivated, and trimly fenced, bearing a strong
+resemblance to parts of our own eastern counties. We passed through one
+wood, in height of trees, sweep of ground, color of soil, and build of
+boundary-fence, so exactly like a certain cover in Norfolk similarly
+bisected by the rail, that I could have picked out the precise spot
+where, many a time and oft, I have waited for the "rocketers." But the
+character of the landscape soon changed; loose, sprawling "zigzags"
+usurped the place of neat squared posts and rails; the stunted woodland
+stretched farther afield, with rarer breaks of clearing; and the low
+hill-ranges, behind which the watery sun soon absconded, looked drearily
+bare in the distance.
+
+It was pleasant, from the ferry boat, which was our last change, to meet
+the lights of Philadelphia, gleaming out on the broad dark Susquehanna.
+
+I can say little of that staid, opulent, intensely respectable city--not
+even if the imputation of dullness, cast upon her by the more mercurial
+South, be a slander; for the few hours of my stay there were spent
+almost entirely with my Asiatic friend, whose invitations and
+inducements to a longer sojourn were very hard to resist. But I was
+impatient to get on (as men will be who cannot see their arm's-length
+into the future), and at midnight I started again for Washington.
+
+My recollections of that journey are the reverse of roseate. The
+atmosphere of the cars--windows hermetic, and stoves red-hot--made one
+look back regretfully on the milder _inferno_ of the passage-boat; the
+acrid apple-odor was more pungently nauseating; and the abomination of
+expectoration less carefully dissembled. Besides this, I was afflicted
+by another nuisance, purely private and personal.
+
+Whether there be any such thing as love at first sight or no, is a
+question--grave or gay, as you choose to discuss it--but, that
+instinctive antipathies exist, is most certain. I was the victim of one
+of such that night. Waiting for change in the ticket-office, my eye
+lighted on a dark man, of African appearance, standing unpleasantly
+near, and for a second or two I could not get rid of a horrible
+fascination, compelling me to stare. I say "dark man" advisedly, for it
+would have been hard to guess at his original color, unless his cast of
+feature had not given a line. Now, I have seen Irish squatters in their
+cabins, London outcasts in their penny lodgings, and beggars of Southern
+Europe in their nameless dens; but the conviction flashed upon me (and
+it has never since passed away), that I was then gazing on a dirtier
+specimen of healthy humanity than I had ever yet foregathered with. I
+believe that all the rains of heaven beating on his brow would not have
+altered its dinginess by a shade, nor penetrated one of the earthy
+layers that had thickened there; a thunder-shower must have glanced off,
+as water will do from tough, hardened clay. Rough patches of hair,
+scanty and straggling, like the vegetation of waste, barren lands, grew
+all over his cheeks and chin (a negro with an ample, honest beard is an
+anomaly), and a huge bush of wool--unkempt, I dare swear, from earliest
+infancy--seemed to repel the ruins of a nondescript hat. Whether he was
+really uglier than his fellows I cannot remember--I was so absorbed in
+contemplating and realizing his surpassing squalor--but the expression
+of the uncouth face (if it had any whatsoever) was, I think, neither
+ferocious nor sullen. There is generally a "colored car" attached to
+every train; for you will find the tender-hearted Abolitionist, in
+despite of his African sympathies, when it is a question of personal
+contact or association, quite as earnest in keeping those "innocent
+blacknesses" aloof, as the haughtiest Southerner. On the present
+occasion there was no such distinction of races. I do not think the
+contraband was conscious of the effect produced by his lordly presence;
+it was probably simple accident which brought him so often in my
+neighborhood; but, wherever I moved through the crowded cars, seeking
+for a seat, the loose shambling limbs and dull vacant eyes seemed
+impelled to follow. At last I lost my _bete noire_, and found a place
+close to the door with nothing but a low pile of logs in my front. I was
+tired, and soon began to doze; but I woke up with a start and a shudder,
+as a haunted man might do, becoming aware, in sleep, of the approach of
+some horrible thing. There he sat, on the logs close to my feet, in a
+heavy stertorous slumber, his huge head rocking to and fro, and his
+features hideously contorted, as he growled and gibbered to himself in
+an unknown tongue, like some dreaming Caliban. I arose and fled away
+swiftly from the face of my "brother," and, finding no other available
+resting-place, did battle on the outside platform with the keen night
+wind.
+
+I am indebted, however, to that honest contraband for a curious sight,
+which I should have otherwise missed--the crossing of the Gunpowder
+River. There, the train rushes, on a single track, over three-quarters
+of a mile of tremulous trestle-work, without an apology for a side-rail,
+so that you look straight down into the dark water, over which you seem
+wafted with no visible support beneath. The effect is sufficiently
+startling, especially seen as I saw it, under a bright, capricious moon.
+From Baltimore, the cars were less crowded, and I encountered my dusky
+tormentor no more.
+
+If there is much in first impressions, I was not likely to be enchanted
+with Washington.
+
+The snow, just then beginning to melt, lay inches deep on the
+half-frozen soil; everything looked unnaturally and unutterably dreary
+in the bleak leaden dawn-light; and, as I drove down Pennsylvania avenue
+(after rejection at the lodgings to which I had been recommended), the
+first object that caught my eye was a huge placard:
+
+     EMBALMING OF THE DEAD.
+
+These ghastly advertisements are not unfrequent in that part of the
+city, and I was informed that the advertisers occasionally do a very
+brisk business.
+
+After waiting for two hours in the hall of the Metropolitan, like a
+client in some patrician antechamber, they _did_ accord me a tolerable
+room on the sublimest story.
+
+I called that same afternoon on Lord Lyons, to whom I brought an
+introductory letter. I have to thank the British Legation for much
+courteous kindness, and for two very pleasant evenings, on the first of
+which I was the guest of the chief, on the second, of his secretaries.
+Here will (if I ever leave it behind me) begin and end my agreeable
+reminiscences of Washington. I disliked it cordially at first sight; I
+was thoroughly bored before I had got through my stay of seventy hours;
+I utterly abominate and execrate the city
+
+     From turret to foundation-stone,
+
+at this moment, as I catch a narrow glimpse of its outskirts through the
+rusty window-bars of the Old Capitol. Should the Southern Mazeppas,
+whose banners have already floated in sight of Arlington Heights, ever
+work their will here, I could name one Briton whose composure will not
+be ruffled by compassion at hearing the news. If there is anything in
+presentiments, surely one of these whispered warnings thus early in my
+pilgrimage, though I was deafer than the adder just then.
+
+There was in Washington, of course, the usual crowd--official,
+political, and mercantile--with a vast supplement of hangers-on and
+aspirants, that always follows the meeting of Congress; and, besides,
+the influx never ceased of all officers who could get leave--of many who
+could not--from the Army of the Potomac. Speaking impartially--for I
+scarcely interchanged four words with an American during my stay--I
+thought the military element the most repulsive.
+
+It would be unfair to cavil at the absence of a martial bearing in men,
+who, having followed other professions all their lives, so lately and
+suddenly took up that of arms. In this singular war, whole regiments
+have been sent into action (as at Antietam) without even an hour's
+practice in file-firing, and have stood their ground, too, manfully,
+though helplessly, the merest food for cannon. So it is not strange if
+the lawyers, merchants, clerks, stock-brokers, bar-keepers, and
+newspaper editors, who officer the volunteer corps, should laugh at
+"setting-up" preliminaries to scorn, and consider a few days of rough
+battalion-drill a satisfactory qualification for efficient service in
+the field.
+
+In spite of these disadvantages, it is indisputable that the Yankee will
+fight right stubbornly, after his own fashion, though rarely with the
+dash and fire of the Southerner. Considering the raw and heterogeneous
+materials out of which the huge armies of the North have been formed,
+the individual instances of personal cowardice are creditably rare. Even
+in the cases of disorderly retreats, I believe discipline rather than
+pluck to have been wanting. Martinets and formalists would certainly be
+out of place here, and some of the technicalities of the art of war may
+well be dispensed with; nevertheless, all these palliations do not alter
+my unfavorable impression of the Federal officer on furlough.
+
+Once out of the camp, and among familiar scenes again, the recent
+centurion falls back, swiftly and easily, into the slovenly habits and
+careless demeanor that were natural to him before he was called to
+command; his uniform begins to look like a masquerade dress hired for
+the occasion; of the hard and, perhaps, gallant service of months past,
+there is soon no other evidence, than an unnecessary loudness of speech,
+and a readiness to seize on any occasion to bluster or blaspheme. A
+friend of mine once remarked (by way of excuse for being detected in the
+most eccentric _deshabille_) that "the British dragoon, under _any_
+circumstances, was a respectable and elevating sight." I do not think
+the most amiable stranger would be inclined to concede as much to an
+officer of Federal volunteers, encountering that warrior in his native
+bar or oyster saloon. On the whole, I prefer the real Zouave _en
+tapageur_, to his Transatlantic imitator: the former at least swaggers
+_professionally_.
+
+It would hardly be honest to take the "loafers" of Washington as fair
+representatives of their order: there are, no doubt, better--if not
+braver--soldiers in the front; and perhaps even the queer specimens then
+before me might look decent, if not dignified, under the earnest light
+of battle.
+
+But wherever I was brought in contact with portions of the Federal army
+(I never saw a whole regiment in review order), I was forcibly struck
+with the entire absence of the "smartness" which distinguishes our own
+and much of the Continental soldiery. While I was at Washington, there
+were three squadrons of regular cavalry encamped in the centre of the
+city. These troops were especially on home-service--guard-mounting,
+orderly duty, &c.--with no field or picket work whatever. There was no
+more excuse for slovenliness than might have been allowed to a regiment
+in huts at Aldershott or Shorncliffe. I wish that the critical eye of
+the present Cavalry Inspector-General could inspect that encampment; if
+he preserved his wonted courteous calmness, it would be a very Victory
+of Suffering: the effect upon his predecessor would be instantly fatal.
+
+The arms looked tolerably clean and serviceable; but bridle-bits,
+bosses, spurs, and accoutrements were crusted with rust and grime;
+boots, buttons, and clothing were innocent of the brush as the horses'
+coats of the curry-comb. The most careful grooming could not have made
+the generality of these animals look anything but ragged and
+weedy--rather dear at the Government price of 115-120 dollars,--and
+their housings were not calculated to set them off to advantage. The
+saddle--a modification of the Mexican principle of raw-hide stretched
+over a wooden frame--carries little metal-work; it is lighter, I think,
+than ours, and more abruptly peaked, but not uncomfortable; being thrown
+well off the spine and withers, there is little danger of sore backs
+with ordinary care in settling the cloth or blanket. The heavy clog of
+wood and leather, closed in front, and only admitting the fore-part of
+the foot, which serves as a stirrup, is unsightly in the extreme; its
+advantages are said to be, protection from the weather, and the
+impossibility of the rider's entanglement: but the sole has no grip
+whatever, and rising to give full effect to a sabre-cut would be out of
+the question. Besides a halter, a single rein, attached to rather a
+clumsy bit, is the usual trooper's equipment: to this is attached the
+inevitable ring-martingale, without which few Federal cavaliers, civil
+or military, would consider themselves safe.
+
+I cannot conceive such an anomaly as a thorough Yankee _horseman_.
+Given--one, or a span of trotters, to be yoked after the neatest
+fashion, and to be driven gradually and scientifically up to
+top-speed--the Northerner is quite at home, and can give you a wrinkle
+or two worth keeping. But this habit of hauling at horses, who often go
+as much on the bit as on the traces, is destructive to "hands." If the
+late lamented Assheton Smith were compelled to witness the equitation
+here, he would suffer almost as much as Macaulay in the purgatory which
+Canon Sidney imagined for the historian. I have discussed that
+Martingale-question with several good judges and breeders of American
+blood-stock, but I never could get them _quite_ to agree in the
+absurdity of tying down a colt's head for the rest of his natural life,
+without regard to his peculiar propensities--star-gazing, boring, or
+neutral. The custom, of course, never could prevail where men were in
+the habit of crossing a country; but an American horse is scarcely ever
+put at anything beyond the ruins of a rail fence, and there are few,
+north of the Potomac, that I should like to ride at four feet of stiff
+timber. It is very different in the South, where many men from infancy
+pass their out-door life in the saddle: from what I have heard,
+Carolina, Louisiana, and Georgia--to say nothing of the wild Texan
+rangers--could show riders who, when the first strangeness had worn off,
+would hold their own tolerable in England, over a fair hunting country,
+in any ordinary run.
+
+On the outbreak of the war, volunteers enlisted in the Federal cavalry,
+who--far from being able to manage a horse--could not bridle one without
+assistance; and a conscript, who could keep his saddle through an entire
+day, without "taking a voluntary," was considered by his fellows as a
+credit to the regiment, and almost an accomplished dragoon. Such a thing
+as a military riding-school has, I believe, never been thought of, away
+from West Point; the drill is simply that of mounted infantry. Things
+are better now than they were; a Federal cavalryman can at least sit
+saddle-fast, to receive and return a sabre-cut; there have been some
+sharp skirmishes of late, and, allowing for exaggeration, Averill's
+encounter with Fitzhugh Lee brought out real work on both sides.
+
+Looking at that squalid encampment, it was easy to realize all one had
+heard of the mortality among the horses in the Army of the Potomac,
+where no natural causes could justify it. Unless some sympathy exists
+between the two--unless the trooper takes some pride or interest in the
+animal he rides beyond that of being conveyed safely from point to
+point--it is vain to expect that the comforts of the latter will be
+greatly cared for. General orders are powerless here, and the personal
+supervision of the officers--even if "stables" were as carefully
+attended as in our own service--would only touch the surface of the
+evil. That utter absence of _esprit du corps_ and soldierly
+self-respect, has cost the Federal treasury many millions; nor will the
+drain ever cease till "re-mounts" shall be no more needed.
+
+The foregoing remarks apply exclusively to the _tenue_ of the privates
+and non-commissioned officers; those of superior rank that I met were
+tolerably correct, both in dress and equipment; several, indeed, were
+mounted on really powerful chargers, and rode them not amiss, though
+with a seat as unprofessional as can be conceived.
+
+The military loungers certainly monopolize all the leisure of
+Washington--by day at least; for, if all tales are true, the
+legislators, in the evening and small hours, are wont to unbend somewhat
+freely from their labors; and the Senate acts wisely, in not risking
+through a night session the little dignity it has left to lose. But,
+with few exceptions, every civic face meets you with the same anxious,
+worried look of unsatisfied craving; there is hunger in all the
+restless, eager eyes, and the thin, impatient lips work nervously, as if
+scarcely able to repress the cry which the children of the horse-leech
+have uttered since the beginning of time. It is easy to understand this,
+when you remember that, at such a season, there gathers here, besides
+the legion of politicians and partisans, and the mighty army of
+contractors, a vaster host of persons interested in the private bills
+submitted to Congress, and of candidates for the numerous places of
+preferment which are being vacated and created daily. Before the
+smallest of these has lain open for an hour, there will be scores of
+shrill claimants wrangling over it, summoned from the four winds of
+heaven by the unerring instinct of the Rapacidae.
+
+Every one of any official or political standing can either influence or
+dispose of a certain amount of patronage; to such, life must sometimes
+be made a heavy burden. Human nature shrinks from the contemplation of
+what each successive President must be doomed to undergo. His nerves
+ought to be of iron, and his conscience of brass, or a Gold Coast
+Governorship might prove a less dangerous dignity. The character best
+fitted for the post would be such an one as Gallio, the tranquil cynic
+of Antioch.
+
+Marking, and hearing these things, I thoroughly appreciated an anecdote
+told me on board the Asia. At Mobile, in 1849, the Philadelphian met
+President Polk, then on his way home from Washington, his term having
+just expired. He took up office--a cheery, sanguine man, quite as
+healthy as the generality of his compatriots at forty-five; he laid it
+down--a helpless invalid, shattered in body and mind, past hope of
+revival. My informant, who knew him well, was much shocked at the
+change, but tried to console the ex-President, by speaking of the
+important measures that made his administration one of the most eventful
+since that of Washington; hinting that such grave responsibility and
+continual excitement might well account for exhaustion and reaction. The
+sick man shook his head drearily, and put the implied compliment aside:
+he was past such vanities then.
+
+"You're wrong," he said. "It isn't Oregon, or Mexico, or Texas, but the
+office-hunters that have brought me--where I am."
+
+In that answer there was the simple solemnity, that attaches to the
+lightest words of the dying. Sixty days later the speaker was "sleeping
+down in Tennessee," never more to be vexed by the clamor of the
+cormorants, or waked by the clients keeping watch at his door. Nor was
+he a solitary victim. General Taylor did not live to see half his duty
+done, and the atmosphere of the White House, in one month, proved fatal
+to Harrison.
+
+To a disinterested spectator--especially if he chance to be of indolent
+temperament--there is something very irritating in the ceaseless crowd,
+and hurry, and din. From early morning till long past midnight, you
+might search in vain, through any one of the principal hotels, for a
+quiet nook to write or read in, unless it were found in your own
+chamber, where the appliances of comfort are more than limited. All
+private sitting-rooms are instantly engaged at fabulous prices, and, in
+the public parlors the feminine element reigns with no divided sway. It
+is difficult to appreciate even newspaper "leader," with a prattle and
+titter around, wherein mingle tunes, not _quite_ so low and sweet as the
+voice of Cordelia. Those energetic civilians never seem at rest or at
+ease; they snatch their frequent drinks, upstanding and covered, as if
+they were just a minute behindhand for some appointment, and bolt their
+food, as if dinner were a necessary medicinal evil.
+
+Soothe to say, the edibles do not deserve much better treatment: the
+whole commissariat arrangements in the hotels is supremely
+uncomfortable. The guests feed separately, but no dinner can be served
+in the public rooms after five, P. M.. You can choose to any
+extent, from a sufficiently ample, though very simple, _carte_; but your
+repast arrives _en masse_, no matter into how many courses it ought
+naturally to be divided, and is set down before you in uncovered dishes.
+Of course, when you arrive at the last, it retains scarcely a memory of
+the fire. I saw some of the _indigenes_ obviate the inconvenience, by
+taking fish, flesh, and fowl on their plate at one and the same time,
+consuming the impromptu "olla" with a rapid impartial voracity; but so
+bold an innovation on old-world customs would hardly suit a stranger.
+All liquors are rather high in price and lower in quality than one would
+expect, considering the place and season; but the sum charged for
+unstinted board and a tolerable bed (from two to two and a half dollars
+per diem), is reasonable enough, especially during the present
+depreciation of the currency.
+
+Out-door scenes were not much more attractive. The three-months' reign
+of Jupiter Pluvius, which has made this spring evilly notorious, had
+just begun in earnest. In the main avenues, on either side of the
+rail-track of the cars, the mud was a trifle deeper than that of a
+cross-lane, in winter, in the Warwickshire clays. To traverse the
+by-streets comfortably, you require rather a clever animal over a
+country, and especially good in "dirt;" they are intersected by frequent
+brooks, much wider and deeper than that celebrated one which tested the
+prowess of "_le bonhomme Briggs_." There are rough stepping-stones at
+some of the crossings, and the passage of these, after nightfall,
+resembles greatly that of a "shaking" bog, where the traveler has to
+leap from tussock to moss-hag with agile audacity; the consequences of a
+false step being, in both cases, about the same. I began to think,
+regretfully of certain rugged continental _paves_ execrated in days gone
+by; they, at least, had a firm bottom, more or less remote.
+
+The public buildings of Washington do not attempt architectural display:
+with scarcely an exception, they are severely simple and square. But
+there is a certain grandeur in the masses of white marble, which is
+everywhere lavishly employed, and the Capitol stands right well--alone,
+on the crest of a low, abrupt slope, with nothing to intercept the view
+from its terraces, seaward, and up the valley of the Potomac. The effect
+will probably be better when wind and weather shall have slightly toned
+down the sheen of the fresh-hewn stones, so dazzling now as almost to
+tire the eye.
+
+I lingered some time in the stranger galleries of Congress, but--"a
+plague on both their Houses"--there was no question of stirring interest
+before either. I had hoped to see at least one Representative committed
+to the custody of the Sergeant-at-Arms; but, on that day, the
+hardly-worked official had rest from his labors. Only a few hours later,
+an irascible Senator (from Delaware, I think) created a temporary
+excitement by defying first his political opponent, and then generally
+all powers that be, eventually displaying the revolver, which is the
+_ratio ultima_, of so many Transatlantic debates. I heard some "tall
+talking," enforced by much energy of gesture and resonance of tone; but
+not a period veiling on eloquence. The speakers generally seemed to have
+studied in the simple school of the "stump" or the tavern, and, when at
+a loss for an argument, would introduce a diatribe against the South, or
+a declaration of fidelity to the Union, very much as they might have
+proposed a toast or sentiment, supremely disregardful of such trifles as
+relevancy or connection. The retort--more or less courteous--seemed much
+favored by these honest rhetoricians, and appreciated by the galleries,
+who at such times applauded sympathetically, in despite of menace or
+intercession of Vice-President or Speaker. Nobody, indeed, took much
+notice of either of these two dignitaries; and they appeared perfectly
+reconciled to their position. You would not often find orators and
+audience understand one another more thoroughly; the easy freedom of the
+whole concern was quite festive in its informality.
+
+Having secured a portion of my English letters (one or more were
+retained for the recreation, and, I hope, improvement of the
+post-official mind), nothing detained me in Washington beyond the fourth
+morning. I turned northwards the more cheerfully, because it involved
+escape from a certain chamber-maiden, to whose authority I was subjected
+at the Metropolitan--the most austere tyrant that ever oppressed a
+traveler. That grim White Woman might have paired with the Ancient
+Mariner--she was so deep-voiced, and gaunt, and wan. On the few
+occasions when I ventured to summon her, she would "hold me with her
+glittering eye" till I quailed visibly beneath it, utterly scorning and
+rejecting some mild attempts at conciliation. I am certain she suspected
+me of meditating some black private or public treachery; and I know
+there was joy in that granite heart when circumstances brought me, at
+last, in my innocence, before the bar of her offended country. On that
+fourth morning, however, the mood of Sycorax seemed to change; there was
+a ghastly gayety in her manner, and on her rigid lips an Homeric smile,
+more terrible than a frown. Then I pondered within myself--"If her hate
+be heavy to bear, what--what--would her love be?" The unutterable horror
+of the idea gave me courage that I might otherwise have lacked, to
+confess my intentions of absconding. But I avow that the liberality of
+the parting largesse is to be attributed to the meanest motives--of
+personal fear.
+
+On the railway platform, shaking the mud of Washington from my drenched
+boots, I purposed never to return thither. But I reckoned without my
+future hosts, MM. Seward and Stanton, who, though I have trespassed on
+their hospitality, now for some weeks, seem still loth to let me go.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+CAPUA.
+
+
+The southward approach to Baltimore is very well managed. The railroad
+makes an abrupt curve, as it sweeps round the marshy woodlands through
+which the Patapsco opens into the bay; so that you have a fair view of
+the entire city, swelling always upwards from the water's edge, on a
+cluster of low, irregular hills, to the summit of Mount Vernon. From
+that highest point soars skyward a white, glistening pillar crowned by
+Washington's statue. I have seldom seen a monument better placed, and it
+is worthy of its advantages. The figure retains much of the strength and
+grace for which in life it was renowned, and, if ever features were
+created, worthy of the deftest sculptor and the purest marble, such,
+surely, was the birthright of that noble, serene face.
+
+No one, that has sojourned in Washington, can be ten minutes in
+Baltimore without being aware of a great and refreshing change. You
+leave the hurry and bustle of traffic behind at the railway station, and
+are never subjected to such nuisances till you return thither. Even in
+the exclusively commercial squares of the city there reigns comparative
+leisure, for, except in the establishments of government contractors, or
+others directly connected with the supply of the army, business is by no
+means brisk just now. You may pass through Baltimore street, the main
+artery bisecting the town from east to west, at any hour, without
+encountering a denser or busier throng than you would meet in Regent
+street, any afternoon _out_ of the season, and, about the usual
+promenade time, the proportion of fair _flancuses_, to the meaner
+masculine herd, would be nearly the same.
+
+I betook myself to Guy's hotel, which had been recommended to me as
+quiet and comfortable: for many people it would have been _too_ quiet.
+The black waiters carried the science of "taking things easy" to a rare
+perfection; they were thoroughly polite, and even kindly in manner, and
+never dreamed of objecting to any practicable order, but--as for
+carrying it out within any specified time--_altra cosa_. After a few
+vain attempts and futile remonstrances, the prudent and philosophical
+guest would recognize resignedly the absolute impossibility of obtaining
+breakfast, however simple, under forty-five minutes from the moment of
+commanding the same; indeed that was very good time, and I positively
+aver that I have waited longer for eggs, tea, and toast. I never tried
+abuse or reproach, for I chanced, early in my stay, to be present when
+an impatient traveler voided the vials of his wrath on the head of the
+chief attendant: insisting, with many strange oaths, on his right to
+obtain cooked food, of some sort, within the half-hour.
+
+Years ago, I was amused, at the _Gaietes_, by a common-place scene
+enough of stage-temptation. _Madelon_, driven into her last
+intrenchments by the sophistries of the wily aristocrat, objected
+timidly, "_Mais, Monseigneur, j'aime mon mari._" For a moment the
+_Marquis_ was surprised, and seemed to reflect. Then he said,
+"_Tiens--tu aimes ton mari? C'est bizarre: mais--apres tout--ce n'est
+pas defendu._" As he spoke, he smiled upon his simple vassal--evidently
+wavering between amusement and compassion.
+
+With just such a smile--allowing for the exaggeration of the African
+physiognomy--did "Leonoro" contemplate his victim, and me, the
+bystander, and then sauntered slowly from the room, without uttering one
+word. It was a great moral lesson, and I profited by it. But, in truth,
+there was little to complain of; the quarters were clean and
+comfortable, and one got, in time, as much as any reasonable man could
+desire. The arrangements are on the European system, _i.e._, there are
+no fixed hours for meals, which are ordered from the _carte_, and no
+fixed charge for board. I should have remained there permanently, had it
+not been for one objection, which eventually overcame my aversion to
+change. The basement story of the house was occupied by a bar and oyster
+saloon; the pungent testaceous odors, mounting from those lower regions,
+gave the offended nostrils no respite or rest; in a few minutes, a
+robust appetite, albeit watered by cunning bitters, would wither, like a
+flower in the fume of sulphur. Half-a-dozen before dinner, have always
+satiated my own desire for these mollusks; before many days were over, I
+utterly abominated the name of the species; familiarity only made the
+nuisance more intolerable, and I fled at last, fairly _ostracised_. How
+the _habitues_ stood it was a mystery, till I recognized the fact, that
+there is no accident of pleasure or pain to which humanity is liable, no
+antecedent of rest or exertion, no untimeliness of hour or incongruity
+of place, which will render an apple or an oyster inopportune to an
+American _bourgeois_.
+
+My first visit in Baltimore was to the British Consul, to whom I brought
+credentials from a member of the Washington Legation. I shall not easily
+forget the many courtesies, for which I have never adequately thanked
+Mr. Bernal: few English travelers leave Baltimore, without carrying away
+grateful recollections of his pleasant house in Franklin street, and
+without having received some kindness, social or substantial, from the
+fair hands which dispense its hospitalities so gently and gracefully.
+
+On that same evening my name was entered as an honorary member of the
+Maryland Club. It would be absurd to compare this institution with the
+palaces of our own metropolis; but, in all respects, it may fairly rank
+with the best class of yacht clubs. You find there, besides the ordinary
+writing and reading accommodation, a pleasant lounge from early
+afternoon to early morning; a fair French cook, pitilessly monotonous in
+his _carte_; a good steady rubber at limited points; and a perfect
+billiard-room. In this last apartment it is well worth while to linger,
+sometimes, for half an hour, to watch the play, if the "Chief" chances
+to be there. I have never seen an amateur to compare with this great
+artist, for certainty and power of cue. A short time before my arrival,
+at the carom game, on a table without pockets, he scored 1,015 on _one
+break_. I heard this from a dozen eye-witnesses.
+
+I went through many introductions that evening; and, in the next
+fortnight, received ample and daily proofs of the proverbial hospitality
+of Baltimore. There are residents--praisers of the time gone by, who
+cease not to lament the convivial decadence of the city; but such
+deficiency is by no means apparent to a stranger.
+
+If _gourmandize_ be the favorite failing in these parts, there is surely
+some excuse for the sinners. Probably no one tract on earth, of the same
+extent, can boast of so many delicacies peculiar to itself, as the
+shores of the Chesapeake. Of these, the most remarkable is the
+"terrapin": it is about the size of a common land tortoise, and haunts
+the shallow waters of the bay and the salt marshes around. They say he
+was a bold man who first ate an oyster; a much more undaunted
+experimentalist was the first taster of the terrapin. I strongly advise
+no one to look at the live animal, till he has thoroughly learnt to like
+the savory meat; _then_ he will be enabled to laugh all qualms and
+scruples to scorn. Comparisons have been drawn between the terrapin and
+the turtle--very absurdly; for, beyond the fact of both being
+testudines, there is not a point of resemblance. Individually, I
+prefer the tiny "diamond-back" to his gigantic congener, as more
+delicate and less cloying to the palate. Then there is the superb
+"canvas-back,"--peerless among water-fowl--never eaten in perfection out
+of sight of the sandbanks where he plucks the wild sea-celery; and, in
+their due season, "soft crabs," and "bay mackerel." Last of all, there
+are oysters (well worth the name!) of every shape, color, and size. They
+assert that the "cherrystones" are superior to our own Colchester
+natives in flavor: for reasons before stated, I cared not to contest the
+point.
+
+A dinner based upon these materials, with a saddle of five-year-old
+mutton from the Eastern Shore, as the main _piece de resistance_, might
+have satisfied the defunct Earl Dudley, of fastidious memory. The wines
+deserve a separate paragraph.
+
+For generations past, there has prevailed a great rivalry and emulation
+amongst the Amphitryons of Baltimore. They seem to have taken as much
+pride in their cellars, as a Briton might do in his racing or hunting
+stables--bestowing the same elaborate care on their construction and
+management. The prices given for rare brands appear fabulous, even to
+those who have heard at home, three or four "commissioners" at an
+auction, with plenipotentiary powers, disputing the favorite bin of some
+deceased Dean or Don. But when you consider, what the lost interest on
+capital lying dormant for seventy years will amount to, the apparent
+extravagance of cost is easily accounted for.
+
+That is no uncommon age for Madeira. No European palate can form an idea
+of this wonderful wine; for, when in mature perfection, it is utterly
+ruined by transport beyond the seas. The vintages of Portugal and
+Hungary are thin and tame beside the puissant liquor that, after half a
+century's subjection to southern suns, enters slowly on its prime, with
+abated fire, but undiminished strength. Drink it _then_, and you will
+own, that from the juice of no other grape can be drawn such subtlety of
+flavor, such delicacy of fragrance, passing the perfume of flowers.
+Climate of course is the first consideration. I believe Baltimore and
+Savannah limit, northward and southward, the region wherein the maturing
+process can be thoroughly perfected.
+
+Those pleasant banquets began early, about 5 P. M., and were indefinitely
+prolonged; for cigars are not supposed to interfere with the proper
+appreciation of Madeira, and the revelers here cherish the honest old
+English custom of chanting over their liquor. Closing my eyes now, so as
+to shut out the dingy drab walls of this my prison-chamber, I can call
+up one of those cheery scenes quite distinctly: I can hear the "Chief's"
+voice close at my ear, trolling forth the traditional West Point ditty
+of "Benny Havens," or the rude sea-ballad, full of quaint pathos:--
+
+     'Twas a Friday morning when we set sail;
+
+then--deeper and fuller tones, rolling out Barry Cornwall's sonorous
+verses of "King Death." It is good to look back on hours like these,
+though I doubt if the ill-cooked meats, whereof I hope soon to
+partake--not unthankfully--will be improved by the memory.
+
+In spite of this large hospitality, instances even of individual excess
+are comparatively rare. I have seen more aberration of intellect and
+convivial eccentricity after a Greenwich dinner, or a heavy
+"guest-night," than was displayed at any one of these Baltimore
+entertainments: a stranger endowed with a fair constitution, abstaining
+from morning drinks, and paying attention to the Irishman's paternal
+advice--"Keep your back from the fire, and don't mix your liquors"--may
+take his place, with comfort and confidence.
+
+But my social recollections of Baltimore are by no means exclusively
+bacchanalian. British stock, lamentably at a discount in other parts of
+the Union, is, perhaps, a trifle above par here. The popularity of our
+representatives--masculine and feminine--may have something to do with
+this; at any rate, the avenues of the best and pleasantest circles are
+easily opened to any Englishman of warranted position and name.
+
+If a traveler were to enter a drawing-room here, expecting to be
+surprised at every turn by some incongruity of speech or demeanor, such
+as book-makers have attributed to our American cousins, he would not
+fill a page of his mental note-book. I had no such prejudices to be
+disappointed. After experience of society in many lands, I begin to
+think that well-bred and educated people speak and behave after much the
+same fashion all the world over. Few Baltimorean voices are free from a
+perceptible accent; it is more marked in the gentler sex, but rarely so
+strong as to be disagreeable. The ear is never offended by the New
+England twang, or Connecticut drawl, and some tones rang true as silver.
+
+You hear, of course, occasional peculiarities of expression, and words
+somewhat distorted from our Anglican meaning, but these are not much
+more frequent or strange than provincial idioms at home. I was only once
+fairly puzzled in this wise.
+
+It was at a public "assembly." I had just been presented to the
+
+     Queen rose of a rosebud garden of girls,
+
+a very gazelle, too, for litheness and grace; the music of the _Sirene_
+had begun, and my arm had encircled my partner's willowy waist; when I
+felt her hang back, and saw on her fair face a distressed look of
+penitence and perplexity: "I'm so sorry," she murmured, "but I can't
+dance _loose_." Perfectly vague as to her meaning, I assured her that
+she should be guided after as _serree_ a fashion as she chose; but this
+evidently did not touch the difficulty. By the merest chance, I observed
+that all the cavaliers put themselves, as it were, in position, their
+left hand locked in the right of their _valseuse_, before making a
+start, omitting the preliminary paces that get you well into the swing.
+It was all plain sailing then, and swift sailing, too; the rest of the
+performance was completed with perfect unanimity, much to my own
+satisfaction, and, I trust, not to the discontent of my fairy-footed
+charge.
+
+The freedom and independent self-reliance of the Baltimorean
+_demoiselles_ is very remarkable. At home they receive and entertain
+their own friends, of either sex, quite naturally, and--taking their
+walks abroad, or returning from an evening party--trust themselves
+unhesitatingly to the escort of a single cavalier. Yet, you would
+scarcely find a solitary imitation of the "fast girls" who have been
+giving our own ethical writers so much uneasiness of late. It speaks
+well for the tone of society, where such a state of things can prevail
+without fear and without reproach. Though Baltimore breeds gossips,
+numerous and garrulous as is the wont of provincial cities, I never
+heard a slander or a suspicion leveled against the most intrepid of
+those innocent Unas.
+
+From the _morale_ one must needs pass to the _personel_. On the
+appearance of a _debutante_, they say, the first question in Boston is,
+"Is she clever?" In New York, "Is she wealthy?" In Philadelphia, "Is she
+well-born?" In Baltimore, "Is she beautiful?" And, for many years past,
+common report has conceded the Golden Apple to the Monumental city. I
+think the distinction has been fairly won.
+
+The small, delicate features, the long, liquid, iridescent eyes, the
+sweet, indolent _morbidezza_, that make southern beauty so perilously
+fascinating, are not uncommon here, and are often united to a clearness
+and brilliancy of complexion scarcely to be found nearer the tropics.
+The Upper Ten Thousand by no means monopolize these personal advantages.
+At the hour of "dress parade" you cannot walk five steps without
+encountering a face well worthy of a second look. Occasionally, too, you
+catch a provokingly brief glimpse of a high, slender instep, and an
+ankle modeled to match it. The fashion of Balmorals and kilted kirtles
+prevails not here; and maids and matrons are absurdly reluctant to
+submit their pedal perfections to the passing critic. Even on a day when
+it is a question of Mud _v._ Modesty, you may escort an intimate
+acquaintance for an hour, and depart, doubting as to the color of her
+hosen. But, conceding the justice of Baltimore's claim, and the constant
+recurrence of a more than _stata pulchritudo_--I am bound to confess
+that, with a single exception, I saw nothing approaching _supreme_
+perfection of form or feature.
+
+The exception was a very remarkable one.
+
+I write these words, as reverently as if I were drawing the portrait of
+the fair Austrian Empress, or any other crowned beauty: indeed, I always
+looked on that face, simply as a wonderful picture, and so I remember it
+now. I have never seen a countenance more faultlessly lovely. The _pose_
+of the small head, and the sweep of the neck, resembled the miniatures
+of Giulia Grisi in her youth, but the lines were more delicately drawn,
+and the _contour_ more refined; the broad open forehead, the brows
+firmly arched, without an approach to heaviness, the thin chiselled
+nostril and perfect mouth, cast in the softest feminine mould, reminded
+you of the First Napoleon. Quick mobility of expression would have been
+inharmonious there. With all its purity of outline, the face was not
+severe or coldly statuesque--only superbly serene, not lightly to be
+ruffled by any sudden revulsion of feeling; a face, of which you never
+realized the perfect glory till the pink-coral tint flushed faintly
+through the clear pale cheeks, while the lift of the long trailing
+lashes revealed the magnificent eyes, lighting up, slowly and surely, to
+the full of their stormy splendor. It chanced, that the lady was a
+vehement Unionist, and "rose," very freely, on the subject of the war.
+Sincere in her honest patriotism, I doubt if she ever guessed at the
+real object of her opponent in the arguments which not unfrequently
+arose. If there be any indiscretion in this pen-and-ink sketch from
+nature, I should bitterly regret the involuntary error, though its
+subject, to the world in general, remains nameless as Lenore.
+
+There is another peculiarity of Baltimore society, which a stranger will
+only perceive when he has passed withinside its porches. It is divided,
+not only into sets, but, as it were, into clans. Several of the leading
+families, generally belonging to the territorial aristocracy (let the
+word stand) that took root in the State at, or soon after, its
+settlement, have so intermarried, as to create the most curious net of
+cousinship, the meshes of which are yearly becoming more intricate and
+numerous. Yet there are no especial indications of exclusiveness or
+spirit of _clique_; rather it is the homely feeling of kinsmanship,
+which makes the intercourse of relations more familiar and
+unceremonious, than that of intimate acquaintances or friends.
+
+Cadets from many powerful houses in all the three kingdoms, were among
+the early colonists of Maryland. It is good to mark, how gallantly the
+"old blood" hold its own, even here; how, the descendants of soldiers
+and statesmen have already attained the pride of place that their
+ancestors won at home centuries ago, by a like valiance of sword,
+tongue, or pen. Take one family, for instance, with whose members I was
+fortunate enough to be especially intimate.
+
+For generations past, the Howards have been men of mark in Maryland.
+Wherever hard or famous work was to be done, in field or senate, one, at
+least, of the name was sure to be found in the front. The present head
+of the family sustains right well the reputations of the worthies who
+went before him. A staunch friend and an uncompromising
+adversary--valuing political honesty no more lightly than private
+honor--liberal and unsuspicious to a fault in his social relations--very
+frank and simple in speech--in manner always courteous and cordial--it
+would be hard to find, in Europe, an apter representative of the ancient
+regime. I believe, that those who really know General Howard, will not
+consider this sketch a flattery or an exaggeration. He was a candidate
+for the Governorship at the last election, and so powerful was his
+acknowledged personal _prestige_, that, in despite of overt intimidation
+and secret influences, which made a free voting an absurdity, the Black
+Republicans exulted over his withdrawal as an important victory.
+
+Though ordinary business is so slack in Baltimore just at present,
+almost every male resident, not engaged in law or physic, has, or
+supposes himself to have, something to do. Instances of absolute
+idleness are very rare. So, by ten, A. M., all the men betake themselves
+to their offices, and there busy themselves about their affairs, after a
+fashion, energetic or desultory, till after two o'clock. The dinner hour
+varies from three to half-past five. Post-prandial labor is generally
+declined; wisely, too, for few American digestions will bear trifling
+with; though Nature must have gifted some of my acquaintance with a
+marvellous internal mechanism. How, otherwise, could they stand a long
+unbroken course of free living, with such infinitesimal correctives of
+exercise? The evening is spent after each man's fancy--at the club, or
+at one of the many houses where a familiar is certain to meet a welcome,
+and more or less of pleasant company. The entertainments are often more
+extensive and formal, embracing, of course, music, and such are
+invariably wound up by a supper. I have heard certain of our seniors
+grow quite pathetic over the abolition of those social, if unsalubrious,
+repasts. I wonder at such regrets no longer, if I cannot share them.
+There is surely an hilarious informality about these _media-nochi_ that
+attaches to no antecedent feast; the freedom of a picnic, without its
+manifold inconveniences: as the witching hour draws nearer, the
+"brightest eyes that ever have shone" glitter yet more gloriously, till
+in their nearer and dearer splendor a Chaldean would forget the stars;
+and the "sweetest lips that ever were kissed" sip the creaming Verzenay,
+or savor the delicate "olio," with a keener honesty of zest. The
+supper-tables are almost always adorned by some of the pretty, quaint
+conceits of an artist, whose fame extends far beyond Baltimore. Mr.
+Hermann's ice-imitations of all fruits and flowers, are marvellously
+vivid and natural: I have never seen them equalled by any continental
+_glaciers_.
+
+I have lingered, perhaps, too long over too trifling details; and yet, I
+wish I had done my subject more justice. Be it remembered, that I
+visited Baltimore at a season of unusual social depression. I do not
+speak of the stagnation in commerce, and the ruin of Southern interests
+and possessions, from which many have suffered heavy pecuniary loss: the
+effects of the war come home to the fair city yet more sharply. For
+months past the best part of her _jeunesse doree_ have been fighting--as
+only the daintily born and bred _can_ fight, at bitter need--in the van
+of Southern armies.
+
+Every fresh rumor of battle adds to the crowd of pale, anxious faces,
+and every bulletin lengthens the list of mourners. There are few
+families, Federal or Secessionist, who have not relatives--none that
+have not dear friends--exposed to hourly peril, from disease, if not
+from lead or steel. The suspense felt in England during the Crimean or
+Indian wars, cannot be compared to that which many here are forced to
+endure. _We_ knew, at least, where our soldiers were, and heard often
+how they fared: their sickness, wounds, and deaths were all recorded.
+But the scenes of this war's vast theatre are so often shifted, and
+communication with the remoter parts of the Southwest is so uncertain,
+that months will elapse without a line of tidings from the absent; the
+grass has grown and withered again, over many graves, before the weary
+hearts at home knew that the time was past, for waiting, and watching,
+and prayers.
+
+The last season in New York, they say, has been the gayest known for
+many years. The _nouveaux riches_ have been spending their ill or well
+gotten gains right royally. But the temptations to exuberant festivity
+are few indeed in Baltimore, just now: with all that they have to endure
+and fear, it speaks well for the hardihood of her citizens, that they
+can maintain even a chastened cheerfulness.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+FRIENDS IN COUNCIL.
+
+
+I may not deny that I found the places in which my lines were just then
+cast exceedingly pleasant: if no serious purpose had been before me I
+could have been contented to sojourn there till spring had waned. But it
+is some satisfaction now to be able to think and say--I do say it, in
+perfect honesty and sincerity--that I did not lose sight of my journey's
+main object for one single day from first to last. Indeed I should have
+felt far more impatient of delay had it not been for the continuance of
+foul weather, and recurrence of heavy storms, which made armies no less
+than individuals, impotent to act or move. On the morning following my
+arrival, I took counsel with one who was, perhaps, better able to advise
+me as to my future course than any one then resident in Baltimore:
+certainly none could have been more heartily willing to help, both in
+word and deed. I owe to that man much more than a debt of ordinary
+hospitality. To say that his courtesy and cordiality were marked, where
+benevolence to a stranger is the rule, would very faintly express the
+personal trouble he undertook and the personal risk he incurred in his
+efforts to facilitate and further my purposes. Up to this moment I do
+not believe that he has grudged one whit of all this, much as he may
+have chafed at all having proved unavailing. I am right sorry that
+prudence forbids my chronicling here a name which will always stand high
+on my muster-roll of friends; but the memory of almost any Englishman
+who has visited Baltimore will fill up the blank that I must leave
+perforce.
+
+It seemed that there was a choice of two routes into Secessia. The
+first--in many respects the easiest, and far the most traveled--lay
+through the lower counties of Maryland: the narrow peninsula on which
+Leonardstown is situated forming the starting point, whence the
+blockade-runner took to cross the Lower Potomac--there, from four to
+eight miles wide. It was necessary to run the gauntlet of several
+gun-boats and smaller craft; but traffic at that particular time was
+carried on with tolerable regularity, and captures, though not
+unfrequent, were, so far, exceptions to a rule. On the land route,
+before reaching the point of embarkation, lay the chief difficulties. A
+horseman traveling with saddle-bags, became at once a suspicious
+personage, liable everywhere to jealous scrutiny. The main roads were
+already becoming so cut up as to be traversed only with great toil and
+difficulty by ordinary vehicles, while the cross roads were simply
+impassable by wheels. The principal turnpikes still hard enough to carry
+a "stage," _e. g._, that from Washington to Leonardstown, were more
+carefully guarded, and picketed at certain points, especially bridges.
+At any one of these points, a search might be apprehended, and anything
+beyond the simplest necessaries was liable to seizure as contraband of
+war; personal arrest might possibly follow, but the Federal outposts
+were said to content themselves, as a rule, with confiscation and
+appropriation, unless any documents of a compromising nature were found.
+Such a course was obviously pleasanter for all parties, than sending in
+prisoners--with their effects. Now it so chanced, that in the
+modest--not to say scanty--outfit, which I thought it worth while to
+bring out from home, was a certain pair of riding boots, by which I set
+especial store. They were such as many of our field-officers now in
+Canada are in the habit of wearing--coming high up on the thigh,
+perfectly water-proof, but very light, and pliant as a glove. I saw
+nothing of American manufacture to compare with them. Some of my
+duck-shooting acquaintance at Baltimore were never weary of admiring
+their fair proportions; nor did my sage counselor, before alluded to,
+refuse his warm approbation; but he urged very strongly the hazard of my
+wearing them on my way to the Lower Potomac--to carry or transmit them
+otherwise was simply impossible. Nevertheless, neither Bombastes nor
+Dalgetty could have clung more obstinately to this favorite _chaussure_
+than did I to mine. I knew that in the South, where an ordinary pair of
+cavalry boots commands readily seventy dollars or more, they could not
+be matched, and I had not
+
+     Lived in the saddle for years a score,
+
+without learning that on a long march the value of thoroughly well
+fitting and comfortable nether integuments is "above rubies." And they
+did carry me right well and safely through many rough ways and much wild
+weather, impervious alike to water, mud, rain, or snow. I _will_ give
+honor where honor is due. Fagg, of Panton street, was the architect.[1]
+So I "set my foot down," literally and metaphorically, on this point,
+absolutely determined that boots and saddle-bags should share my
+fortunes. Eventually I compromised things, by investing in a colossal
+pair of overalls, warranted to smother and obliterate the proportions of
+any human legs, however encased beneath.
+
+[Footnote 1: If this looks like an "advertisement," I can't help it, and
+only say that it is a disinterested one; it may be long before I need
+water-proofs again, and I owe their deserving manufacturer nothing
+but--justice.]
+
+But during this discussion the other route came naturally into question.
+It was the one most generally attempted by horsemen, and during the last
+ten weeks had been traversed repeatedly with perfect success.
+
+In this neighborhood there were one or two fords, easily crossed at
+ordinary seasons, and only impassable after continuous downfalls of snow
+or rain. In fact, the chief obstacle was not the river but the
+Chesapeake and Ohio canal, which runs close along the northern bank from
+Cumberland to Washington. It is not broad, but very deep, muddy, and
+precipitous, nor could I hear of any one who had succeeded in getting a
+horse across it, or who had even made the attempt. The only passages
+were by bridges over, and culverts under, the water-way. These were, of
+course, zealously guarded; but it was possible, occasionally, to attack
+a picket with an irresistible "silver spear;" and several instances had
+lately occurred of sentinels keeping their eyes and ears shut fast
+during the brief time required for a small mounted party to pass their
+posts. I do not mean to insinuate that venality was the general rule; so
+far from this being the case, I understood that it was necessary to make
+such overtures with great caution, while the negotiation involved
+certain delay and possible failure. Detachments were constantly shifted
+from point to point, and regiments from station to station. Some corps
+were notoriously more accessible than others. According to common
+report, the recruits from New England, Massachusetts, and Connecticut
+were the easiest to deal with, and the subalterns were said to be
+usually open to a fair offer. But perhaps this was a scandal after all;
+for the Marylander holds the Yankee proper in such bitter dislike and
+contempt that he would miss no chance of a by-blow.
+
+Once over the river at this point and you were comparatively safe. There
+were no regular pickets or patrols on the further bank, and only
+scattered reconnoitering parties of cavalry were to be evaded. Under
+cover of darkness, with a good local guide, this was easily done--one
+long night's ride.
+
+To this route my Mentor and I did at last seriously incline, for good
+and sufficient reasons.
+
+The Southern "trooper" fares, I believe, far better in many ways than
+his Northern compeer. Besides being more carefully groomed and tended,
+he carries a rider better able to husband a failing animal's strength,
+so as to "nurse him home." But the "raiders" travel often far and fast
+through a country fetlock-deep on light land, where provender is scanty
+and shelter there is none. The daily wear and tear of horse-flesh during
+this last bitter winter has been something fearful, and even at the time
+I speak of the difficulty of obtaining a really serviceable "mount" in
+Virginia could hardly be over-estimated. From one thousand to one
+thousand five hundred dollars were spoken of as ordinary prices for a
+fair charger, and men willing to give that sum had been forced to go
+into South Carolina before they could suit themselves. In my own case
+the difficulty was increased; for in hard condition, without cloak,
+valise, or accoutrements, I drew fourteen stone one pound, in a common
+hunting-saddle. Now, an animal well up to that weight, with anything
+like action on a turn of speed, is right hard to find on the
+Transatlantic seaboard. Even in Maryland, where horse-flesh is
+comparatively plenty, and breeders of blood-stock abound, such a
+specimen is a rarity. Even among the stallions, I can scarcely remember
+one coming up to the standard of a real weight-carrier, with the
+exception of Black Hawk. I saw hundreds of active, wiry hackneys,
+excellently adapted for fast, _light_ work, either in shafts or under
+saddle; their courage and endurance, too, are beyond question; but
+looking at them with a view to long, repeated marches (where--if
+ever--you ought to have ten "pounds in hand"), I decided that they were
+about able to carry--the boots honorably mentioned above. However, after
+mature consideration and long debate, it was settled that I should, if
+possible, be mounted before starting, instead of trusting to chance
+beyond the border. This, of course, decided the selection of routes: no
+quadruped could cross the Lower Potomac.
+
+Some scores of miles up the country there lived, and I trust lives
+still, a certain small horse-dealer, a firm Secessionist at heart, well
+versed in the time-tables of the road southward; indeed, his house was,
+as it were, a principal station on the underground railway. He was
+reputed trustworthy, and fairly honest in traffic. I can indorse this
+conscientiously, only hoping that such a remarkable characteristic as
+the last named will not identify the individual to his hurt. I was at
+once put into communication with Mr. ---- Symonds, let us call him, for
+the sake of old hippic memories. He spoke confidently as to my ultimate
+prospects of getting across, without pretending to fix an exact day, or
+even week. Shortly before my arrival he had forwarded several travelers,
+who arrived at their journey's end without the slightest let or
+hindrance. I suppose there is no indiscretion in saying that Lord
+Hartington and Colonel Leslie were among the fortunate ones. Mr. Symonds
+"thought he had something that would suit me," and, a few days later,
+the animal and the dealer paraded for inspection in Baltimore.
+
+I was much pleased with both. The man seemed to understand his business
+thoroughly; without making extravagant promises, he expressed himself
+willing to serve my purpose to the utmost of his power, at any
+reasonable risk to himself, and spoke very moderately about the horse,
+asking for nothing more than a fair trial of his merits. I liked the
+animal better than anything I had seen so far. He was a dark-brown
+gelding, about 15.3, with strong, square hind-quarters, and a fair slope
+of shoulder--without much knee-action--but springy enough in his slow
+paces: his turn of speed was not remarkable, but he could last forever,
+and, if the ground were not too heavy, would gallop on easily for miles
+with a long, steady stride; like most Maryland-bred horses, he had
+wonderfully clean, flat legs: after the hardest day's work, I never saw
+a puff on them; he was not sulky or savage, but had a temper and will of
+his own; both of these, however, yielded, after a sharp wrangle or two,
+to the combined influence of coaxing and a pair of sharp English rowels:
+in the latter days of our acquaintance we never had a difference of
+opinion. Considering the scarcity of staunch horse-flesh, the price
+asked was very moderate, and I closed the bargain on the spot. I was
+assured that my new purchase was of the Black Hawk stock, and he was
+christened "Falcon" that same day.
+
+So Mr. Symonds departed, promising to set all possible wheels to work,
+and to inform me of the earliest opportunity for a start, the first
+_desideratum_ being, of course, a reliable guide.
+
+I cannot say that the hours of my detention hung heavily. The social
+attractions of the place were ample enough to fill up afternoons and
+evenings right pleasantly. In the mornings, whenever the weather was not
+pitilessly bad, I rode or drove through the country round.
+
+I think no one understands the full luxury of rapid motion without
+bodily exertion, till they have sat behind a pair of first-class
+American trotters. The "wagon," to begin with, is a mechanical triumph.
+It is wonderful to see such lightness combined with such strength and
+stability. I have seen one, after five years' constant usage over
+fearfully bad roads. It was owned by a man noted for reckless pace,
+where many Jehus drove furiously; not a bolt or joint had started, the
+hickory of shafts and spokes still seemed tough as hammered steel. These
+carriages are roomy enough, and fairly comfortable, when you are in
+them, but that same entrance is apt rather to puzzle a stranger. The
+fore and hind wheels are nearly the same height, and set very close
+together; even when the fore-carriage is turned so that they nearly
+lock, the space left for ascent between them is narrow indeed; this same
+arrangement renders, of course, impossible a sudden turn in a contracted
+circle. But the dames and demoiselles who put their trust in these rapid
+chariots, make a mock at such small difficulties. You are shamed into
+activity after once seeing your fair charge spring to her place, with
+graceful confidence, never soiling the skirt of her dainty robe.
+
+The team that I used to drive constantly were fair, but not remarkable
+performers; their best mile-time was a trifle under three minutes twenty
+seconds. Their owner had not had leisure to keep them in steady
+exercise, so that at first they were very skittish, and prone to break;
+but they soon settled down to their work, and then did not pull an ounce
+too much for pleasure, even when spinning along at top-speed, with their
+small lean heads thrust eagerly forward, after the fashion of the barbs
+called "Drinkers of the Wind." Once I drove, in single harness, a
+trotter whose time was close on two minutes forty-five seconds; but this
+is not considered anything extraordinary, and the outside price of such
+an animal would be under one thousand dollars: once "inside the forties"
+the fancy prices begin, and go up rapidly to four thousand dollars, or
+higher.
+
+It must be remembered that the roads in these parts cannot be compared,
+either for level or metal, with the highways over our champagne, they
+"cut up" fast in rough weather, and settle slowly, while the ground
+generally sinks and swells too abruptly to allow of a lengthened stretch
+at full speed. I often wished that the whole "turn-out" of which I have
+spoken could be transported, without the risk of sea-passage, into one
+of our eastern counties. I can hardly conceive a greater luxury to a
+"coachman" than sending such a pair along on the road leading into
+Norfolk from Newmarket.
+
+I had been some time in Baltimore before I was honored by an
+introduction to the most renowned--it is a bold word--of all its
+beauties. To many, even in England, the name of "Flora Temple" will not
+sound strange: her great feat of the mile in two minutes nineteen
+seconds has never yet been equaled, and for the last three years she has
+rested idly on her laurels, in default of any challenger to dispute her
+sovereignty of the turf. Her owner, W. Macdonald, Esq., resides within a
+short distance of the city, and, I doubt not, would receive any stranger
+with the same courtesy that he extended to me. His stables are well
+worth a visit, for, besides the fair champion, they contain several
+other trotters of no mean repute (one team, the "Chicago Chestnuts," is
+a notoriety), and the carriages exemplify every improvement of American
+manufacture. The building itself is very peculiar--perfectly circular,
+with a diameter of one hundred feet, and a dome-roof rising to fifty
+feet at the crown. In the centre is a large fountain of white marble,
+round which is a broad tan-ride, and outside this again the stalls,
+horse boxes, harness and carriage apartments.
+
+On the left-hand side of the entrance-arch is a large chamber,
+rush-strewn, like the firing-room of some ancient chatelaine, but
+brilliant with polished wood and metal, gorgeous with stained glass:
+that is the boudoir of the Queen of the Turf, and over the door-way are
+her titles of honor emblazoned. The Great Lady, as is the wont of her
+compeers, is somewhat capricious at times, and disinclined to parade her
+beauty before strangers; but she chanced to be in a special good humor
+that day, and allowed me to admire her "points" at leisure.
+
+It is hard to fancy a more faultless picture of compact activity and
+strength. Viewed from a distance, and, at first sight, her proportions
+deceive every one; you are surprised, indeed, when you come close to her
+withers, and find that you are standing by a veritable pony, barely
+reaching fourteen hands three inches. But look at the long slope of
+shoulder--the chest wide enough to give the largest lungs free play in
+their labor--the flat, square quarters, the muscular fullness of the
+upper limbs, so perfectly "let down," the clear, sinewy legs, without a
+curb-mark or windfall to tell tales of fearfully fast work and hard
+training--and you will wonder less how the championship was won. They
+say that the Queen was never fitter than now; yet since her zenith she
+has seldom rested, and is now long past the equine climacteric, and far
+advanced in her teens.
+
+This part of America is so constantly visited by my compatriots, that it
+may be well, while we are on this subject, to say a few words about the
+sporting resources of Maryland.
+
+There is very fair partridge-shooting in many districts. As I crossed
+the country in mid-winter, I could hardly judge of what the autumn cover
+would be; but I heard that of this there was no lack, and that in
+October the birds would lie right well, especially in the weedy
+stubbles, and along the brushy banks of water-courses. In many places a
+fair shot may reckon on from ten to fifteen brace, and I could name two
+guns that have not unfrequently bagged from thirty to fifty brace on the
+Eastern Shore; but I believe they shot with unusually "straight powder."
+There is a good show of woodcock at certain seasons; but it sounds
+strange to English ears when they speak of the season opening in June;
+the bird is much smaller than ours, weighing, I believe, about seven or
+eight ounces, and it is found much oftener in comparatively open ground
+than in thick woodland.
+
+But the royal sport of Maryland is the wildfowl shooting on the
+Chesapeake Bay. The best of the season was passed long before my
+arrival; but in two visits to Carroll's Island, I saw enough to feel
+sure that my Baltimore friends vaunted not its capabilities in vain. I
+cannot remember having seen elsewhere so promising a "ducking-point."
+Imagine a low, marshy peninsula, verging landward into stunted woods,
+full of irregular water-courses and stagnant pools--tapering off seaward
+into a mere spit of sand, on which reeds and bent-grass scarcely deign
+to grow, towards the extreme point, just where the neck is narrowest,
+are the "blinds"--ten or twelve in number--a long gunshot apart, in
+which the "fowlers" lurk, waiting for their prey. On either side stretch
+the broad estuary of the Gunpowder River, and the broader waters of the
+Chesapeake, along whose shallows lie the banks of the wild celery on
+which the canvas-back loves to feed. Changing these feeding-grounds soon
+after dawn and shortly before sunset, the fowls naturally cross the neck
+of the little peninsula: they will never willingly pass over land,
+unless they can see water close beyond. Occasionally you may have fair
+shooting all through the day, but, as a rule, the above-mentioned hours
+are those alone when good "flying" may be reckoned on. When it _is_
+good, the sport must be superb: it is the very sublimation of
+"rocketing." You must hold straight and forward to stop a cock-pheasant
+whizzing over the leafless tree-tops--well up in the keen January wind;
+but a swifter traveler yet is the canvas-back drake, as he swings over
+the bar, at the fullest speed of his whistling pinions, disdaining to
+turn a foot from his appointed course, albeit vaguely suspecting the
+ambush below. The height of the "flying" varies, of course, greatly. I
+saw nothing brought down, to the best of my calculation, within
+forty-five or fifty yards, and most were much beyond that distance. At
+first you let several chances slip, believing them to be out of shot;
+but the mighty duck-guns, carrying five or six drams of strong coarse
+powder, do their work gallantly; and nothing can be more refreshing than
+the _aplomb_ with which their victims, stricken down from that dizzy
+height, strike water, reeds, or sand.
+
+Among the many varieties of fowl--varying from wild swan to
+widgeon--that are slain here, the canvas-back holds, by common consent,
+the pre-eminence for delicacy of flavor and tenderness of meat; but I
+confess I have thought almost as highly of an occasional "red-head" in
+perfect condition.
+
+This, the most celebrated of all ducking points on the Chesapeake, is
+rented by a club, the members of which are all resident in Baltimore, or
+its neighborhood; the number, I think, is limited to twelve. When they
+muster in force, the sleeping accommodation must necessarily be limited,
+as Mr. Russell describes it; but there is room and verge enough in the
+quaint old homestead of the proprietor for any ordinary party. The burly
+host himself is quite in keeping with the place, and bears his part
+right jovially in the rough-and-ready revels that contrast not
+disagreeably with the social amenities left behind in the city. I spent
+some very pleasant hours of sunshine and twilight at the "Colonel's";
+(he has as good a right to the title as many more pretentious
+dignitaries), though the "flying" was indifferent on both my visits. On
+the first occasion, though several varieties of fowl were bagged, we
+only secured one canvas-back, which was courteous enough to tumble to
+the stranger's gun. Sooth to say, the first interview with the
+uncompromising contraband who hakes you _is_ a trial, and it is bitterly
+cold work for feet and fingers, when you first come into your "blind"
+under the early dawn; but the blood soon warms up as the warning cries
+from the markers become more frequent; the pulse quickens as the dark
+specks or lines loom nearer, defined against the dull red or silvery
+gray of the sky-line; chills and shivers are all forgotten, as your
+first "red-head," pioneer of a whole "skeen" from the river--crashes
+down yards behind you, on the hard, wet sand that fringes the bay.
+
+In the genial October weather, during which comes the cream of the
+flying, the sojourn at Carroll's Island must be enviably delightful. But
+much I fear, that next autumn's prospects look brighter for the fowl
+than for their sedulous persecutors. Who can say what changes may have
+been wrought in the fortunes of some of those cheery sportsmen before
+next season shall open. Perhaps ere that the echoes of the Chesapeake
+will be waked by an artillery that would drown the roar even of the
+mighty duck-gun. The sea-fishing in the bay is remarkably good, but it
+is not greatly affected by amateurs; and very few yachts are seen on its
+usually placid waters. Almost all the streams round the Chesapeake, in
+spite of their being perpetually "thrashed," and never preserved, abound
+in small trout; but farther afield, in Northwestern Maryland, where the
+tributaries of the Potomac and Shenandoah flow down the woody ravines of
+Cheat Mountain and the Blue Ridge, there is room for any number of
+fly-rods, and fish heavy enough to bend the stiffest of them all.
+
+Before troubles began, they used to hunt, after a fashion, in most of
+the upland districts; but the sport can hardly be very exciting. The
+gravest of the "potterings" of ancient days, when our great-grandsires
+used to "drag" up their fox while the dew lay heavy on the grass, was a
+"cracker" compared to one of these runs, as I heard them described.
+Three or four couple of cross-bred hounds do occasionally weary and
+worry to death their unhappy quarry, after three or four hours "ringing"
+through endless woodlands; unless, indeed, he goes earlier to ground, in
+which case he is dug out to meet a quicker and more merciful death. The
+fact, that a heavy fall of snow is supposed greatly to facilitate
+matters, about settles the question of "sport." I should like to ask
+Charles Payne, or Goddard, their opinion of "pricking" a fox. However,
+to ride straight and fast over such a country would be simply
+impossible; their detestable snake-fences meet you everywhere, with
+their projecting "zigzags" of loosely-piled rails; you can hardly ever
+get a chance of taking them in your stride, and they are a fair standing
+jump with the top bar removed, which generally involves dismounting. The
+name of poor Falcon had led me so far afield, that I must continue my
+own chronicle in another chapter.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+THE FORD.
+
+
+In about ten days I heard from Mr. Symonds. The road was not yet open,
+but a party was waiting to start. He had secured me a henchman in the
+shape of a private in an Alabama regiment who was anxious to accompany
+any one south, without fee or reward. The man was said to be well
+acquainted with the country beyond the Potomac, besides being really
+honest and courageous. I had no reason to question these qualifications,
+though his tongue was apt to stir too loudly for prudence, and too fast
+for truth; while over the manner of his release (he had been for months
+a prisoner of war), there hung a mystery never cleared up
+satisfactorily. It was necessary, of course, that my squire should be
+mounted, and after some deliberation, it was settled that I should
+furnish him with a steed. I was moved thereto, partly from a wish to
+spare Falcon all dead weight in the shape of saddle-bags, partly from
+the knowledge that superfluous horse-flesh was a commodity easily and
+profitably disposed of in Secessia. I did not trouble myself much about
+my second horseman's mount, merely stipulating for a moderate animal at
+a moderate price. I bought indeed "in the dark," and did not see my
+purchase till the day before our first actual start. This last
+negotiation concluded, I had nothing to do but to abide patiently till
+it pleased others to sound "boot and saddle."
+
+So day followed day till, in spite of all the social attractions of
+Baltimore, I began to chafe bitterly under the delay. I never could get
+rid of a half-guilty consciousness that I ought to be somewhere else,
+and that somewhere--far away. On the morning of 17th February, I was in
+the office of my friend and chief counselor, above mentioned, discussing
+the propriety of throwing aside the upper route altogether--selling back
+my cattle--and making my way as straight as possible to the shores of
+the Lower Potomac. We were actually debating the point when the door
+opened, and disclosed Mr. Symonds. He had come all in hot haste to tell
+us that a main obstacle was removed. The water had been let out of the
+Chesapeake and Ohio canal, so that it could now be easily crossed at any
+unguarded point. The picket was of necessity so widely scattered as to
+be easily evaded. The small party that my squire and I were to join,
+meant starting at latest on the following Friday or Saturday night. Mr.
+Symonds had no recent intelligence from the immediate bank of the river,
+but he believed that, in despite of the heavy rains and occasional snow
+storms, we should find one crossing place--White's Ford to wit--still
+barely practicable.
+
+I was already furnished with sadlery, &c., but small final preparations
+and divers leave-takings filled up every spare minute till afternoon on
+the following day. I was to sleep the first night at a house only a few
+miles from Mr. Symonds', so as to be in readiness to start at two hours'
+notice, and my Mentor insisted on seeing me so far on my way. It had
+been snowing at intervals all the morning, and the flakes were driving
+thick and blindingly as we drove out of Baltimore. Our team faced the
+heavy road and frequent hills right gallantly, but the fifteen miles
+seemed long, that brought us to the door of our quarters, faces aching
+with the lash of sleet--beard and moustaches frozen to bitterness.
+
+As my hosts were in nowise privy to my plans, I may venture to say, that
+for the next three days I was more or less a guest at Drohoregan Manor.
+This ancient homestead of the Carroll family is very well described by
+Mr. Russell in his "Diary:" his visit, however, was to the late
+Professor, who died last year. The law of primogeniture does not prevail
+here, and it was only an accidental succession of single heirs, that
+brought an undivided patrimony down to the present generation. One
+cannot help regretting that the estate is to be cut up now into five
+shares or more. Eleven thousand acres of fertile hill and dale, sinking
+and swelling gently, so as to attract all the benignity of sun or
+breeze--not more densely wooded than is common on our own western
+shores, and watered to an ornamental perfection--truly on any civilized
+land, such is a goodly heritage.
+
+The home-farm of Drohoregan Manor has long been celebrated for the
+breeding of a high-class stock of all kinds. I saw sheep there scarcely
+coarser than the average of Southdowns; and some fine, level,
+clean-limbed steers. Here has stood, for a dozen years past, the
+renowned Black Hawk, considered by many superior to his sire, the Morgan
+stallion of the same name. As I before said, he realized my idea of a
+thoroughbred weight carrier, better than anything I saw in Maryland;
+though if one of his stock--a brown two-year-old colt--"furnishes"
+according to present promise, he will probably be surpassed in his turn.
+There was a large number of colts and fillies well adapted for rapid
+road work; and I was not surprised to hear that at the sale which
+followed quickly on my visit, they fetched more than average prices. I
+did not think so highly of the cart stock, principally the produce of a
+big gray Pereheron horse. Both he and Black Hawk remain in their present
+quarters, for the late Colonel Carroll's eldest son retains the Manor
+House, and proposes, I believe, to continue both the farming and
+breeding establishments on no diminished scale. I rode up to Mr.
+Symonds' in the afternoon of the 19th; he was absent, but his wife
+informed me that it was possible--though scarcely probable--that our
+party would start the following night. Then, for the first time, I made
+acquaintance with my squire for the nonce--"Alick" he was called; I
+cannot remember his surname--he had a rugged, honest face, and a manner
+to match; but I was rather disconcerted at hearing that he knew no more
+of riding or stable work than he had picked up in a fortnight's
+irregular practice in an establishment where horses as well as men were
+taught to "rough it" in good earnest.
+
+I liked my new purchase much more than my new acquaintance. The former
+was a raw-boned, leggy roan, with a coarse head, a dull eye, and a
+weakish neck, far too low in condition, as I saw and said at once; not
+fitted for long travel through a country where a horse must needs lose
+flesh daily, from pure lack of provender. However, there was no time to
+make a change, so I was fain to hope that easy journeys at first, and a
+light weight on his back, might gradually bring the ungainly beast into
+better form. It appeared that he was just recovering from the distemper
+and "sore tongue," which had followed each other in rapid succession.
+These two diseases are the terror and bane of Virginian and Maryland
+stables. An animal who has once surmounted them is supposed to be
+seasoned, and acquires considerable additional value, like a "salted"
+horse in Southern Africa.
+
+So I returned to the Manor for that night, and thither, early the next
+morning, came Symonds in person. He informed me that the start from his
+house would not take place till after nightfall on the following
+evening, so that I had thirty vacant hours before me, I knew that the
+English mail had reached Baltimore, and it then seemed so uncertain when
+letters would reach me again, that I could not resist the temptation of
+securing my correspondence. My host was himself returning to the city,
+so I accepted the offer of a seat in his wagon, and we had a pleasant
+drive back through the clear frosty weather.
+
+The next day--having made the Post-office "part," and said those few
+more last words that are forgotten at every leave-taking--I retraced my
+steps, by the afternoon train, to Ellicott's Mills, where I found a
+carriage from Drohoregan Manor awaiting me. At this point, the Patapsco
+hurries through a channel narrowed by embankments and encroachments of
+the granite cliffs, looking upon the yellow water streaked with huge
+foam-clots, chafing against its banks lip high. I could not but augur
+ill for our chances of traversing a wider and wilder stream. But it was
+too early then to think of desponding, so casting forebodings behind, I
+drove up to our rallying place, rattling over four long leagues under
+seventy minutes. The black ponies tossed their heads, and champed their
+bits, gayly, as they made best time over the last mile.
+
+I found that the party that purposed actually to cross the Potomac was,
+from one cause or another, reduced to four, including myself and my
+attendant. A cousin of Symonds', hight Walter, with the same
+surname--there is a perfect clan of them in those parts--was to
+accompany us only to our first resting-place, a farm-house about
+eighteen miles off. Our proposed companions were both Maryland men; one
+had already served for some months in a regiment of Confederate cavalry,
+and was returning to his duty, after one of those furloughs--often
+self-granted--in which the Borderers are prone to indulge; the other was
+a mere youth, and had never seen a shot fired; but a more enthusiastic
+recruit could hardly be conceived.
+
+Twilight had melted into darkness long before the rest of the party
+arrived; then an hour or more was consumed in the last preparations and
+refreshments. It was fully nine o'clock on the night of February 21st,
+when we started from Symonds' door, strengthened for the journey with a
+warm stirrup-cup, and warmer kind wishes from the family, including two
+_very_ "sympathizing" damsels, who had come in from neighboring
+homesteads to bid the Southward-bound good speed.
+
+Before we had ridden a mile, the Marylanders turned off to a house where
+they were to take up some letters, promising to rejoin us before we had
+gone a league. But we traversed more than that distance, at the slowest
+foot-pace, without being overtaken, and at length determined to wait for
+the laggards, drawing back about thirty paces off the path, into a glade
+where there was partial shelter from the icy wind that swept past, laden
+with coming snow. There we tarried for a long half-hour (told on my
+watch by a fusee-light), and still no signs of our companions. Symonds
+(the cousin), who abode with us still, began to mutter doubts, and the
+Alabama man to grumble curses (he had ever a fatal facility in
+blasphemy), and I own to having entertained divers disagreeable
+misgivings, though I carefully avoided expressing them. At last our
+guide thought it best that we should make our way to a lonely
+farm-house, about seven miles short of our night's destination, where,
+in any case, the party was to have called in passing. So we wound on
+through the narrow wood-paths in single file--sinking occasionally
+pastern-deep, where the thin ice over mud-holes supplanted the safe
+crackling snow-crests--traversing frequent fords, where rills had
+swollen into brooks and turbid streams; some of those gullies must have
+been dark even at noon-day, with overhanging cypress and pine; they were
+so bitterly black now that you were fain to follow close on the splash
+in your front, for no mortal ken could have pierced half a horse's
+length ahead. At length, we left the path altogether, and pulling down a
+snake fence, passed through the gap into open fields. It was all plain
+sailing here, and a great relief after groping through the dim woodland;
+we encountered no obstacle but an occasional "zigzag," easily
+demolished, till we came to a deep hollow, where the guide
+dismounted--evidently rather vague as to his bearings--and proceeded to
+feel his way. Somewhere about here there was a "branch" (or rivulet) to
+be crossed, and danger of bog and marsh if you went astray. At last he
+professed to have discovered the right point; but neither force nor
+persuasion could induce the stubborn brute he rode to face it. There was
+nothing for it but trying what "giving him a lead" would do. The place
+was evidently a small one, but the landing absolutely uncertain; so I
+put Falcon at it steadily, letting him have his head. Then first the
+poor horse displayed his remarkable talent for getting over difficulties
+in the dark, a talent that I have never seen equaled in any other
+animal, and which alone made him invaluable. He took off--almost at a
+stand--out of clay up to his hocks, exactly at the right time, and
+landed me on firm ground without a scramble. A minute afterward there
+came a rush, a splutter, and a crash, and a struggling mass rolled at my
+feet, gradually resolving itself into a man, a roan horse, and two
+saddle-bags. So sped Alabama's maiden leap. It was soft falling,
+however, and no harm beyond the breaking of a strap was done; but it was
+fully three-quarters of an hour before our united efforts got Symonds'
+refugee across. We accomplished it at last by hurling the brute
+backwards into the branch by main strength, and then wading ourselves
+through mud that just touched the upper edge of my thigh-boots. Once
+over, the track was easily found, and a barking chorus, performed by
+half a dozen vigilant mongrels, guided us up to the homestead we were
+seeking, just as the snow began to fall heavily. The stout farmer was
+soon on foot--men sleep lightly in these troublous times--proffering
+food, fire, and shelter. Our guide strongly advised our remaining there
+till we could gain some tidings of our lost companions; it seemed so
+unlikely that they should have passed or missed us on the road, that he
+could not but fear lest accident or treachery should have detained them;
+he offered himself to retrace our track, and make all inquiries, which
+he alone could do safely. So it was settled; and, after making the
+horses as comfortable as rude accommodation would allow, my squire and I
+betook ourselves to rest, not unwillingly, about three, A. M.
+
+The traveler's first waking impulse leads him straight to the window or
+to the weather-glass. I turned away from the look-out in utter disgust;
+a hundred yards off, through the cloud of driving snow-flakes, and a
+level white mantel, rising up to the tower bars of the snake-fences,
+merged tillage into pasture undistinguishably. I chronicled that same
+day as the dreariest of all _then_ remembered Sabbaths. Besides some odd
+numbers of an ancient Methodist magazine, there was no literature
+available, and all the letters that I cared to write had been dispatched
+before I left Baltimore.
+
+A visit to the shed which sheltered our horses, did not greatly raise
+one's spirits. Poor Falcon was hardy as a Shetlander, and in any
+ordinary weather I never thought of clothing him, but no wonder he
+shivered there, under a rug, coated inch-deep with snow; the rough-hewn
+sides and crazy roof gaping with fissures a hand-breadth wide and more,
+were scanty defense against the furious drift, which swept through, not
+to be denied. I tried to comfort my horse, by chafing his legs and ears
+till both were thoroughly warm, setting Alick at the same task with the
+roan; though clumsy and apt to be obstinate, he worked with a will. At
+last we had the satisfaction of seeing both animals feed, with an
+appetite that I, for one, could not but envy. Our hosts were so cordial
+in their honest hospitality, that one felt ungrateful in being so
+wearily bored. In the afternoon we had a visit from a neighboring
+farmer, who, I believe, had been summoned with the benevolent intent
+that he should enlighten or entertain the stranger. He was one of those
+stout, elderly men, who, by dint of a certain portliness of presence,
+gravity of manner, and slowness of speech, acquire in their own country
+much honor for social or political wisdom. He was quite up to the
+average rank of rustic oracles; nevertheless, our converse dragged
+heavily; it was "up hill all the way." There was a depressing formality
+about the whole arrangement; my interlocutor sat exactly opposite to me,
+putting one cut-and-dried question after another; never removing his
+eyes from my face, while I answered to the best of my power, save to
+glance at the silent audience, as though praying them to note such and
+such points carefully. I began to feel as I did in the schools long ago,
+when the _viva voce_ examiner was putting me through my facings; and was
+really glad when the one-sided dialogue ended. The queries were very
+simple for the most part, relating chiefly to the sympathies and
+intentions of Great Britain, with regard to the war. On the latter point
+I could, of course, give no information beyond vague surmises,
+practically worthless; as to the former, I thought myself justified in
+saying that the balance of public feeling, in the upper and agricultural
+classes especially, leant decidedly southward. But here, as elsewhere, I
+found it impossible to make Secessionists understand or allow the
+wisdom, justice, or generosity of the non-interference policy hitherto
+pursued by our Government. This is not the time or place to discuss an
+important question of statecraft, nor am I presumptuous enough to assert
+that different and more decisive measures would have had all the good
+effect that their advocates insist upon; but however justifiable
+England's conduct may have been according to theories of international
+law, I fear the practical result will be that she has secured the
+permanent enmity of one powerful people, and the discontented distrust
+of another. It is ill trusting even proverbs implicitly; that old one,
+about the safe middle course, will break down, like the rest, sometimes.
+My pertinacious querist stopped, I suppose, when he had got to the end
+of his list, and apparently spent the rest of the evening in a slow
+process of digestion; for he would break out, now and then, at the most
+irrelevant times, with a repetition of one of his former interrogations,
+which I had to answer again, briefly as I might. About sundown _le Bon
+Gualtier_ returned, sorely travel-worn himself, and with an utterly
+exhausted horse. He had ascertained that our companions had gone on,
+probably to our original destination of the previous night; though why
+they should have passed our present resting-place without calling there,
+remained a mystery; nor was that point ever satisfactorily explained. To
+proceed at once was impossible, for a fresh horse had to be found for
+our guide; this, a cousin of our host's offered to provide by the
+following evening (we could not venture to stir abroad in daylight); he
+also offered to make his way to the farm where the missing men were
+supposed to be, early in the morning, and to bring back certain
+intelligence of their movements. This was only one instance of the
+cordial kindness and hearty co-operation which I met with at the hands
+of these sturdy yeomen. Not only would they rise and open their doors at
+the untimeliest of hours, and entertain you with their choicest of
+fatlings, corn, and wine, but there was no amount of personal toil or
+risk that they would not gladly undergo to forward any southward-bound
+stranger on his way; nor could you have insulted your host more grossly
+than by hinting at pecuniary guerdon. Before midnight the snow had
+ceased to fall; the next morning broke bright and sunnily, though the
+frost still held on sharply. Two or three visitors, masculine and
+feminine, came in sleighs during the day, and altogether it passed much
+more rapidly than the preceding one. About four, P. M., our good-natured
+messenger returned; our comrades had duly reached the spot originally
+fixed for the Saturday night's halt, and had pursued their journey on
+the Sunday evening to the farm which was to be our last point before
+attempting the Potomac; their written explanation was very vague, but
+they promised to wait for us at the house they were then making for. We
+at once determined to press on thus far that night, though the score or
+more of miles of crow-flight between would certainly be lengthened at
+least a third, by the _detours_ necessary to avoid probable pickets or
+outposts, and the deep snow must make the going fearfully heavy.
+Walter's fresh mount came down--a powerful, active mare, in good working
+condition, but with weak, cracked hoofs that would not have carried her
+a day's march on hard, stony roads.
+
+Under the red sunset we started once more, with more good wishes;
+indeed, I had ridden a mile before my fingers forgot the parting
+hand-grip of my stalwart host.
+
+Now in thinking or speaking of these night rides beforehand, one is apt
+to invest them with a slight tinge of romance and excitement, which is
+not unattractive. Let me say, that in practice, nothing can be more
+dreary and disagreeable. I can fancy a canter through or canter over
+some woodland paths, under the capricious light of a broad summer or
+autumn moon, with one or more pleasant companions, being both
+exhilarating and agreeable, but traverse the same number of miles in a
+night of winter or early spring, when you have to blunder on at a foot's
+pace in Indian file, thankful, indeed, when the snow or mud is only
+fetlock deep, where, if you are in mood for conversation, you, dare not
+often speak above a whisper (I never could see the sense of this, far
+out in the wilds, but the guides are imperative), where the solitary
+excitement is found in the possible proximity of a picket, or the
+probable depth of a ford. I think you would agree with me, that the only
+object in the journey on which your eyes or thoughts delight to dwell,
+is the "biggit land" that ends it.
+
+On that especial night we had one thing in our favor--the reflection
+from the fresh white ground carpet would have prevented darkness, even
+without the light of a waxing moon. But it was slow and weary traveling.
+It would have been cruelty to have forced the horses beyond a walk
+through snow that in places was over their knees; besides which, we
+dared not risk a jingle of stirrup or bridle-bit, where an outlying
+picket might be within ear-shot. Twice we passed within twenty yards of
+where the fresh track showed that the patrol had recently turned at the
+end of his beat; but the guide knew the country thoroughly, and
+professed to have no fears. To speak the truth, I had heard him, when in
+the ingle-nook, and warm with Old Rye, vaunt so loudly his own sagacity
+and courage, that I conceived certain misgivings as to how far either
+were to be relied on. That night, however, he fully maintained part of
+his character by leading us safety and surely through a perfect
+labyrinth of tracks, sometimes diverging across the open country, and
+occasionally plunging into woodland where there was no vestige of a
+path.
+
+I ought to be nearly weather-proof by this time; but, in spite of a warm
+riding-cloak and a casing of chamois leather from neck to ankle, I felt
+sometimes chilled to the marrow; my lips would hardly close round the
+pipe-stem, and even while I smoked the breath froze on my moustache,
+stiff and hard. My flask was full of rare country whisky, fiery hot from
+the still; but it seemed at last to have lost all strength, and was
+nearly tasteless. I would have given anything for a brisk trot or
+rattling gallop to break the monotonous foot-pace, but the reasons
+before stated forbade the idea: there was nothing for it, but to plod
+steadily onwards. Walter himself suffered a good deal in hands and feet;
+but the Alabama man, utterly unused to the lower extremes of
+temperature, only found relief from his misery in an occasional
+drowsiness that made him sway helplessly in his saddle. The last league
+of our route lay through the White Grounds. The valley of the Potomac
+widens here towards the north, and six thousand acres of forest stretch
+away--unbroken, save by rare islets of clearings. There was no visible
+track; but our guide struck boldly across the woodlands, taking bearings
+by certain landmarks and the steady moon. It was not dark even here; but
+low sweeping boughs and fallen trunks often hidden by snow, made the
+traveling difficult and dangerous. I ceased not to adjure Alick, who
+followed close in my rear, to keep fast hold of his horse's head. I
+doubt if he ever heard me, for he never intermitted a muttered
+running-fire of the most horrible execrations that I ever listened to
+even in this hard-swearing country. Whether this ebullition of blasphemy
+comforted him at the moment I cannot say; but, if "curses come home to
+roost," a black brood was hatched that night, unless one whole page be
+blotted out from the register of the Recording Angel.
+
+Both men and horses rejoiced, I am sure, when, about two, A. M., we
+broke out into a wide clearing, and drew rein under the lee of
+outbuildings surrounding the desired homestead. The farmer was soon
+aroused, and came out to give us a hearty though whispered welcome. It
+is not indiscreet to record _his_ name, for he has already "dree'd his
+doom;" he was noted among his fellows for cool determination in purpose
+and action, and truly, I believe that the yeomanry of Maryland counts no
+honester or bolder heart than staunch George Hoyle's.
+
+Our last companions were sleeping placidly up-stairs--that was the best
+intelligence that our host could give us. He laughed at the idea of
+fording the Potomac, declaring that no living man or horse could stand,
+much less swim, in the stream. Knowing the character of the man, and his
+thorough acquaintance with the locality, one ought to have accepted his
+decision unquestioned; but I was not then so inured to disappointment as
+I became in later days, and wished to see for myself how the water lay.
+After a short sleep and hurried breakfast, Hoyle took me to a point
+whence we looked down on a long reach of the river. At the first glance
+through my field-glasses, every vestige of hope vanished. The fierce
+current--its sullen neutral tint checkered with frequent
+foam-clots--washed and weltered high against its banks, eddying and
+breaking savagely wherever it swept against jut of ground or ledge of
+rock, while ever and anon shot up above the turbid surface tossing trunk
+of uprooted alder or willow. Mazeppa's Ukraine stallion, or the
+mightiest _destrier_ that ever Paladin bestrode, would have been whirled
+away like withered leaves, ere they had swum ten of the seven hundred
+yards that lay between us and the Virginia shore. I could hardly believe
+my eyes, when Hoyle pointed out to me the fording-place where, on the
+23d of last December, he had crossed without wetting his horse's girth.
+
+It was waste of time to look longer, so, in no pleasant mood, I returned
+to the farm-house, where a council of war was incontinently held. The
+Marylanders had already arranged their plan; they had a vague idea of
+some ferry to the northward, and intended to grope their way to it
+somehow. Before attempting this, it was necessary to divest themselves
+of any suspicious articles, either of baggage or accoutrement; indeed,
+they left every scrap of clothing behind, except what they carried on
+their persons, and one change of under-raiment sewn up in the folds of a
+rug. They meant to assume the character of small cattle-dealers, and as
+far as appearance went, succeeded perfectly--nothing more unmilitary can
+be conceived. Their horses were passably hardy and active, but stunted,
+mean-looking animals, while the saddle-gear would have been dear
+anywhere at five dollars. The men themselves had the lazy, slouching
+look peculiar to the hybrid class with which they wished to be
+identified. They were civil and sorry enough about the turn affairs had
+taken; but evidently quite determined that we should part company. The
+elder of the two took me aside, and spoke thus, as near as I can
+remember:
+
+"Look here, Major, I'm right down sorry about this here; and I'd have
+liked well to have gone slick through with ye, but it won't work in the
+parts we're agoing to try. Four men and horses ain't so easy put up as
+two, and there ain't many as'll venture it. The sort of your brown horse
+is kind'er uncommon up along there, and they'd spot _him_ if they didn't
+spot you, and you'd never get to look like a citizen--not if you was to
+shave and wear a wig. There's no two words about it: it ain't to be
+done."
+
+I believe the man intended to gild the pill with a rough compliment; in
+any case, I was bound to swallow it. There was no sort of contract
+between us, nor any promise of remuneration; I only rode by sufferance
+in that company. I felt, too, that he was right: it would be very
+difficult for any Englishman--drilled or undrilled--to disguise himself
+as a Virginia cattle-dealer, so that keen native eyes could not detect
+the travestie. I do not think I should have pressed the point, even had
+I been in a position to do so; as it was, I yielded with good grace,
+only begging my late companions to let me have the earliest information
+as to the route, if they succeeded in getting through. This they readily
+promised; so, with the concurrence of the good Walter, I determined to
+fall back, for the present, on my original "base," with the consoling
+reflection that I was only imitating the most renowned Federal
+commanders.
+
+All this was scarcely settled, when our host hurried in--rather a blank
+look on his bold face--to say that one of his contrabands had just come
+in, after an absence of two hours: he had taken one of his master's
+horses without leave, and absolutely declined to state where, or why, he
+had gone. As 1,800 Federals, including a regiment of cavalry, occupied
+Poolsville--only six miles off--it was easy to guess in what direction
+the "colored person" had wandered. There was no time for argument, and
+even chastisement was reserved for a more fitting season: in fifteen
+minutes more, we had ridden swiftly across the cleared lands, and with
+Hoyle for our pilot, were winding through the ravines and glades of the
+White Grounds. The day was dull and cloudy: so, having no sun to guide
+us, we, the strangers, speedily lost all idea of direction; even Walter,
+the confident, owned himself fairly puzzled. But our host led on at a
+steady pace, never pausing to consult landmarks or memory; evidently
+every bush and brake was familiar to him; there was not the ghost of a
+track, but we seemed generally to follow the winding of a rapid, shallow
+stream, up whose channel we often scrambled for forty yards or more.
+
+    We had na ridden a league, a league,
+    O' leagues but barely three,
+
+when we struck a path leading straight through the woods to
+Clarksburg--the first point on the proposed route of the two
+Marylanders: they meant to feel their way cautiously thence in a
+northwesterly direction; the elder had one or two acquaintances in the
+neighborhood of Frederick City that he hoped would assist them. So, with
+leave-takings, hurried but amicable, our party separated. We, the other
+three, proposed to make for our quarters of the last Sunday, and for ten
+miles further our kind host rode in our company, absolutely refusing to
+turn back till we were in a country that Walter knew right well, and
+might be considered comparatively safe; then he left us, proposing to
+return home by another and yet more circuitous route, so as to baffle
+possible pursuers. He did get home safe, but was arrested within the
+same week--not, I trust, before he had moderately chastised that
+treacherous contraband--and we met, two months later, in the old
+Capitol.
+
+Three hours' more riding brought us within sight of the town, where we
+intended to refresh ourselves and our cattle, and, perhaps, to abide for
+the night. We relied so implicitly on the hospitality we were certain to
+find, that we had provided ourselves with no food of any sort; my flask,
+too, had been emptied on the previous night. Fancy our disgust, when we
+found the shutters closed, everything carefully locked up, and no living
+soul about the place but two helpless little colored persons of tender
+age. The whole family had gone out to a sledging "frolic," and would not
+return before late at night; it was then past P. M.; we had breakfasted
+lightly at seven, and been in the saddle ever since nine o'clock. We did
+discover some Indian corn for the horses, and left them to feed under
+their old shed, only removing bridles and loosening girths.
+
+About ten minutes later, we were sitting under the house-porch--it was
+narrow and deep, as is the fashion in those parts, and boarded up the
+sides breast high--I was lighting a sullen pipe, hoping to deaden the
+hungry cravings which could not be satisfied, when I felt my arm pulled
+violently; a hoarse whisper said in my ear, "By G--d, they've got us,"
+and turning, I met the good Walter's face, white, and convulsed with
+emotions which I care not to define or remember. Alick was already
+crouching below the boarding, and I stooped, too, mechanically; as I did
+so, I followed the direction of the guide's haggard eyes: by my faith,
+just where the wood opened on the clearing, about one hundred and eighty
+yards to our front, there sat on their horses six Federal dragoons,
+surveying the landscape with some interest. It was very odd to see them
+gazing straight down upon us, evidently unconscious of our proximity;
+but they were looking from light into the shadow of the porch:
+fortunately, too, the horses were well under cover. It chanced that,
+close to the gate in the outermost inclosure, there was a watering-pond;
+around and from this tracks of all kinds of cattle crossed and diverged
+in every direction; as we entered we had remarked many hoof-prints
+turning abruptly to the right, probably left by the sleighing party. The
+dragoons halted five minutes or so in consultation; then they turned and
+rode off quickly along that same right-hand track. The house was so
+evidently shut up, that I presume they thought it would be wasted time
+if they searched it then.
+
+Resistance would have been utterly out of the question, even if the
+numbers had been more equal, for the only arms in the party were my
+own--a long hunting-knife worn in my belt, and a fire-shooter carried by
+Alick; so we prepared for escape instantly. I had to go round to the
+back of the house to get my hunting-cup, which I had left there. When I
+came out I found Walter already mounted; his mare was not in the same
+shed with our horses. In a few hurried words he explained that; it would
+be best for _him_ to make off at once, and wait for us in the woods
+below, to which the clearing sloped down from the homestead. Though I
+had before formed my own opinion as to his vaunted valiance, I confess I
+_was_ rather disappointed; but he was not a hireling, and I had no right
+to prevent him from looking after his own safety first; I only shrugged
+my shoulders without replying, and went into the other shed to help
+Alick saddle up. The Alabamian was much less delicate or more determined
+than myself; when he heard of Walter's intentions, his face darkened
+threateningly.
+
+"By the ----!" he said, "he ain't going to quit after that fashion," and
+as he went out towards the corner where Walter still lingered, I saw his
+hand shift back to the butt of my revolver. Now, I was too sensible of
+the guide's good intentions and disinterested kindness to wish to press
+hardly on a temporary loss of nerve, so I busied myself with buckle and
+curb-link, and refrained from assisting at the debate; it was very
+brief, nor can I say if Alick's arguments were intimidating or
+conciliatory; I rather suspected the former, from the expression of his
+face when he returned, simply remarking, "I've made it all right, Major.
+He stops with us as long as we want him to."
+
+Ten minutes afterwards we gained the shelter of the woods, and, keeping
+always well down in the gullies or hollows, were picking our way in a
+direction nearly parallel to that taken by our pursuers. This was our
+only course, as we dared not show ourselves as yet across open ground or
+along traveled roads. We might have ridden about a league and a half--it
+is difficult to judge distance in thick cover and over broken ground,
+when the pace is so constantly varied--our guide's confidence began to
+return, and, with it, his weakness for self-laudation. He began once
+more to recount his many narrow escapes, and was sanguine as to his
+chance of pulling through this--the closest shave of all. We were
+halting on the bank of a muddy, swollen stream, in some doubt whether we
+should try the treacherous bottom there or higher up, when, looking over
+my shoulder, I saw the figures of four horsemen, looming large against
+the red evening sky as they passed slowly across the sky-line, on the
+crest of some abrupt rising ground about 300 yards to our right: soon
+two more showed themselves, making the pursuing party complete; they
+were evidently retracing their steps--for what reason I know not. Almost
+at the same instant the Alabamian caught sight of the enemy; but before
+he could speak I touched our guide on the shoulder with my hunting-whip,
+pointing in the direction of the danger. If you ever saw a wing-tipped
+mallard's flurry when the retriever comes upon him unawares, you will
+have a good idea of how the valiant Walter "squattered" through the
+ford. The twilight was darkening fast, and, in the shadow of the ravine,
+we were almost safe from the eyes of our pursuers; but I marvel that
+even at such a distance their ears were not attracted by the flounder
+and the splash. My squire and I followed more leisurely; indeed,
+throughout, the former had displayed a creditable coolness and
+determination; also, he seemed to take very kindly to my own favorite
+motto, "_Festina lente_"--"More haste, worse speed."
+
+That was our last look at the dragoons. We learnt afterwards that, later
+in the evening, they searched the farm-house (the family had just
+returned), and not only struck our trail through the woods, but held it
+within three miles of our resting-place for the night; there the
+numerous crossroads, and the utter confusion of many tracks, baffled our
+pursuers; probably, too, their horses by that time were in poor
+condition for following up an indefinite chase.
+
+Alick and I determined to push for our original starting-point--the
+house of Symonds of that ilk. Another two hours' riding brought us to
+where a lane turned off towards Ben Gualtier's home. He was evidently
+anxious to find himself a free agent, and this time even the Alabamian
+did not seek to detain him. The rest of the road we had traversed, on
+the preceding Saturday, and we could hardly miss our way. So there I
+parted from my honest guide, with many kind wishes on his side, and
+hearty thanks on mine. I rather repent having alluded to that little
+nervousness; but, after all, it was hardly a question of physical
+courage; we sought to avoid imprisonment, not peril to life or limb.
+
+My stout horse, Falcon, strode cheerily over the last of those dark,
+tiresome miles without a stumble or sign of weariness; but the roan's
+ears were drooping, and he slouched along heavily on his shoulders long
+before we saw the lights of Symonds' homestead, where we met a hearty if
+not a joyful welcome. We had not tasted food for thirteen hours, during
+which we had scarcely been out of the saddle; so even disappointment
+could not prevent our relishing to the uttermost the savory supper with
+which our hostess would fain have comforted us.
+
+Our talk was chiefly of the future, about which Symonds did not despond,
+though he was disposed to blame, somewhat sharply, our late companions,
+for choosing to find their way South independently; I thought he was
+unjust then, and since that I have had ample evidence of their good
+intentions and good faith.
+
+The next morning I rode Falcon down into Baltimore, there to await fresh
+tidings, leaving Alick and the roan at Symonds', to await fresh orders.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+THE FERRY.
+
+
+I had not been in Baltimore three days when my plans were somewhat
+altered by the introduction of a fresh agent. The guide, who accompanied
+Lord Hartington and Colonel Leslie, had returned unexpectedly, and
+Symonds pressed me strongly to secure his services. He had made the
+traverse several times successfully, and was thoroughly acquainted with
+most of the ground on both banks of the Potomac. He had now made his way
+on foot from the Shenandoah Valley, across the Alleghany Range, to
+Oakland; thence by the cars to somewhere near Sykesville, on the
+Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. Here, the day began to break, and he would
+not trust farther to the short-sightedness of Federal officials; so he
+looked out for a soft place in a snowdrift, and leapt out, alighting
+without injury. The same reasons that made reticence useless in Hoyle's
+case apply here: to both men Republican justice has done its worst long
+ago. My new guide's name was Shipley. He was lying _perdu_ in Baltimore
+when I first heard of him, so there was no difficulty in arranging an
+interview. After some hesitation, and not a little negotiation, Shipley
+agreed to pilot me through by one route or another. He was to ride my
+second horse, and keep the animal as a remuneration for his services, so
+soon as we should be fairly within Confederate lines. He would not
+promise to start before the expiration of a full week, as the clothes
+and other necessaries which he had come specially to obtain could not be
+got ready sooner. This new arrangement involved two changes which did
+not please me, viz., the elimination of poor Alick from the party, and
+the shifting of my saddle-bags from the roan on to Falcon, for the guide
+stipulated that each should carry his own baggage. Symonds, however, was
+very urgent that I should close with the conditions at once; he had the
+highest opinion of Shipley's talents and trustworthiness, and insisted
+that such a chance should not be let slip. He promised that Alick, if
+possible, should be provided with a mount, so as to be still enabled to
+accompany us. _I_ could not, of course, be expected to increase my
+already double risk in horse-flesh.
+
+So we struck hands on the bargain, and I resigned myself pretty
+contentedly to another delay. The days passed rapidly, as they always
+did in Baltimore on most afternoons. I rode Falcon out for exercise and
+"schooling." He soon became very clever at the only obstacles you
+encounter in crossing this country--timber fences, and small brooks with
+steep broken banks; though, to the last, he always would hang a little
+in taking off, he never dreamt of refusing.
+
+Before the week was quite out, Alick came down from Symonds', bringing
+tidings of our late companions, the two Marylanders. They had succeeded
+in crossing by a horse-ferry at Shepherdstown--a small village not far
+from Sharpsburg, and about seven miles from the battle-field of
+Antietam. The letter was written from the south bank of the Potomac, and
+furnished us with all the necessary names and halting-points on the
+route. Now, everything looked promising again. It was soon settled that
+Alick and Shipley should make their way across the country to Sharpsburg
+with the two horses (this was the latter's own arrangement, and _he_,
+too, was unkind enough to object to my un-citizenlike appearance). I was
+to meet them there, at a certain house, on a certain day, traveling by
+another route--through Frederick city. Thither I betook myself by the
+train leaving Baltimore, on the afternoon of March the 10th, arriving at
+Frederick nearly two hours behind time, in consequence of a difficulty
+between the wheels and the rails, the latter having become sulkily
+slippery with the sleet that came on in earnest after nightfall. Very
+early the next morning I started for Petersville, near which village, in
+the shadow of the South Mountain, lay the country-house of the
+good-natured friend who had offered to forward me to Sharpsburg.
+
+I shall not easily forget that drive; the distance was rather under
+fourteen miles, and it was performed in something over four hours; yet
+the load consisted simply of my driver, myself, and my saddle-bags, in
+the lightest conceivable wagon, drawn by a pair of horses especially
+selected for strength rather than speed. We traveled on a broad
+turnpike, not inferior, I was told, in ordinary times to the average of
+such roads; in many places the mud literally touched the axles, and more
+than once we should have been set fast in spite of the struggles of our
+team, if I had not lightened the weight by descending into a quagmire
+that reached fully half-way up my thigh-boots.
+
+At last we struggled through, reaching my friend's house with no other
+damage than some strained spokes and a broken spring. There I found
+horses ready caparisoned, and a faithful contraband to guide me on my
+way. The ride was as pleasant as the drive had been disagreeable. It was
+positive rest to exchange the jolting and jerking of the carriage for
+the familiar sway of the saddle. I had a strong hackney under me, a
+bright clear sky overhead, and a companion who, if not brilliantly
+amusing, was very passably intelligent.
+
+He was able to tell me all about the South Mountain fight: indeed, our
+route lay right across the centre of that bloody battle-ground. Riding
+along the valley, with the hills on our left, we soon came to
+Birkettsville: close above was the scene of the most furious assaults,
+and the most obstinate struggle. The quaint little hamlet--reminding you
+of a Dutch village--looked cheerful enough now, as the sun shimmered
+over the dark-red bricks, and glistening roofs grouped round a more
+glittering chapel-cupola; but one could not help remembering, that
+thither, on a certain afternoon, in just such pleasant weather, came
+maimed men by hundreds, crawling or being carried in; and that for weeks
+after, scarce one of those cozy houses but sheltered some miserable
+being moaning his tortured life away. The undulating champaign between
+the Catoctin and South Mountains, that forms the broad Middletown
+valley, seems to invite the manoeuvres of infantry battalions; but,
+climbing the steep ascent in the teeth of musketry and field-batteries,
+must have been sharp work indeed, though the assailing force doubtless
+far outnumbered the defenders. I think the carrying of those heights one
+of the most creditable achievements in the war.
+
+The terrible handwriting of the God of Battles is still very plainly to
+be discerned; all along the mountain-side trees--bent, blasted, and
+broken--tell where round-shot or grape tore through; and scored bark,
+closing often over imbedded bullets, shows where beat most stormily the
+leaden hail. Near the crest of the mountain, there are several patches
+of ground, utterly differing in color from the soil around, and
+evidently recently disturbed. You want no guide to tell you that in
+those Golgothas moulder corpses by hundreds, cast in, pell-mell, with
+scanty rites of sepulture. Besides these common trenches, there are
+always some single graves, occasionally marked by a post with initials
+roughly carved. It is good to see that, after the bitter fight, some
+were found, not so weary or so hurried, but that they could find time to
+do a dead comrade--perhaps even a dead enemy--one last kindness.
+
+Descending from the ridge, we rode some way up a narrow valley--where
+overhanging pine-woods and soft green pastures, traversed by rapid
+streams, reminded me often of the Ardennes--and then climbed the Elk
+Range, beyond which lies the field of Antietam. We soon crossed the
+creek, along whose banks was waged that fierce battle that made men
+think as lightly of the South Mountain fight as if it had been but a
+passing skirmish, and I rode up to the appointed meeting-place in
+Sharpsburg just a few minutes in advance of the appointed hour.
+
+My first question, after making myself known to the good man of the
+house, was naturally, of my horses and men. Will you be kind enough to
+fancy my feelings, when I heard that they were miles away, and--the
+reason why. Three days before the ferry-boat had been carried away and
+shattered by the floods; nothing but a skiff could cross till a cable
+was rigged from bank to bank; there was no chance of this being
+completed before the beginning of the following week. The neighborhood
+was too dangerous to linger in; there was a provost-marshal guard
+actually stationed in Sharpsburg: so my men, hearing of the disaster on
+their road, had very properly remained at their last halting-place,
+about ten miles farther up the country. I was so savagely disappointed
+that I hardly listened to my new friend, as he proceeded to give some
+useful hints on our route and conduct, whenever we should succeed in
+getting over the river. I only remember one suggestion: "if I was
+stopped anywhere this side of Winchester, I might give a fictitious
+name, and say that I was going to visit _my son_, an officer in the
+Federal army." Now, as I have barely entered on my eighth lustre, I can
+only suppose that the great bitterness of my heart imparted to my face,
+for the moment, a helpless--perhaps imbecile--look of senility. I had no
+alternative, however, but to retreat, as my men had done; the place was
+evidently too hot to hold me: already, through the window, I saw a
+shabby dragoon paying auspicious attention to my horses, contraband, and
+saddle-bags. I was greatly relieved, on going out, to find that the
+warrior was too stupidly drunk, to be actuated by anything beyond an
+idle, purposeless curiosity. So, after receiving directions as to where
+I was likely to rejoin my companions, I set my face northeast again, and
+rode out into the deepening darkness with feelings not much less sullen
+than the black rock of clouds massed up behind, that broke upon, us,
+right soon, with wind and drenching ruin.
+
+My horse, as well as I, must have been glad when we reached the
+homestead we were seeking, for throughout the afternoon I had ridden
+quickly wherever there was level ground, calculating on a night's rest
+in Sharpsburg. I had some difficulty in convincing the farmer that I was
+a true man and no spy; having once realized the fact, he showed himself
+not less hospitable than his fellows. I was not surprised to find my men
+gone; with all his good-will to the cause, their host had not dared to
+entertain such suspicious strangers longer than twenty-four hours: keen
+eyes and ready tongues were rife all around, and we had proof already,
+in poor George Hoyle's case, how quickly and sternly the charge of
+"harboring disaffected persons" could be acted upon: he had sent the men
+to separate secluded farm-houses, whence they could be summoned at a few
+hours' warning. He strongly advised me to wait elsewhere till the horse
+ferry was reestablished, of which he promised to give me the very
+earliest intelligence: so I at once determined to take the Hagerstown
+stage to Frederick next morning (the house stood not many yards from the
+main road), and the rail from thence back to Baltimore, leaving men and
+horses in their present quarters. It was evident that the honest
+Irishman spoke (he was an emigrant of twenty years' standing) thus in
+perfect sincerity, from no lack of hospitality, though in poor mood for
+conviviality. I did strive hard, all that evening, to meet his simple,
+social overtures half-way, simply that I might not appear ungracious or
+ungrateful.
+
+The homestead nestles close to the foot of the South Mountain, near
+Middleton Gap, some miles north of the point where I had crossed that
+day. We talked, of course, about the battles (they were within sound,
+though not sight, of Antietam). I found that a field-hospital had been
+established in the field immediately adjoining the orchard, and that
+some of the wounded, chiefly Confederates, who could not be moved, had
+lain there for many days. I asked the good wife how she felt while the
+Southern army was marching past her doors, "Well," she said, "I wasn't
+greatly skeared, only I thought I'd pull down the new parlor-curtains;
+but they behaved right well, and didn't meddle with nothin' to signify;
+not like them Yankees, who are always pickin' and stealin'. But I'd like
+to get right out of this country, anyhow; we'll never do no good here
+while the war lasts."
+
+I wonder how many voices, if they dared speak out, would join in the
+dreary "_refrain_ of those last few words?"
+
+No note-worthy incident marked my journey back to Baltimore. I remained
+there till the following Tuesday, and, in that interval, received a note
+from Shipley, which both puzzled and disquieted me; it was purposely
+vague and obscure; but, as far as I could make out, the writer thought
+it would be better at once to make for some point northwest of
+Cumberland--to retrace, in fact, the route that he had himself recently
+traversed; I rather inferred that he meant to move in that direction
+without waiting for me, leaving me to make my way to a rendezvous which
+he would appoint by letter. Now, of all parties concerned in the
+expedition the one whose safety I valued next to my own was Falcon. I
+had been loth to trust him, so far, to a rider about whose
+qualifications I knew nothing--except that it was very unlikely he would
+have good "hands." I had no notion of risking the good horse, without
+me, on an indefinitely long journey, where he might be indifferently
+cared for. I wrote at once to stop any such movement; and with this I
+was forced to be content.
+
+Late on the Monday evening, the expected summons reached me--sent
+specially by train. The next morning I started for Frederick, whence I
+intended to drive through Middletown to Boonesborough, near which was
+the place of meeting. The first thing I saw in the morning paper, when I
+began to read it in the cars, was a fresh general order, suggestive of
+most unpleasant misgivings. General Kelly had just succeeded to the
+command of Maryland Heights, and of the division specially selected for
+picket duty on the river. This--his first order--enjoined the seizure of
+all boats of every description between Monocacy creek and St. John's
+(comprising the whole of the Upper Potomac); no passenger or merchandise
+could be conveyed from Maryland into Virginia without a proper pass, and
+then only at the two specified places--Harper's Ferry and Point of
+Rocks; any one transgressing this edict was liable to arrest and trial
+by martial law.
+
+Throwing down the ill-omened journal, I could not forbear a muttered
+quotation: "The day looks dark for England." Nevertheless, I drove on
+straight from Frederick, determined to prove what the morrow would bring
+forth. It was late when we reached the small roadside hotel, on the
+ridge of the South Mountain, where I had arranged to halt for the night;
+but, late as it was, I had time to hear fresh evil tidings before I
+slept.
+
+The Shepherdstown ferry was in working order at noon on the Monday. The
+same evening, soon after dusk, four mounted men, with two led horses,
+rode down, requiring to be set across instantly. The ferryman objected,
+stating that his orders were imperative against putting any one over,
+after sundown, without a special pass. The men insisted, stating that
+they bore dispatches from Kelly to Milroy, and enforced their demands
+with threats. The unhappy ferryman was totally unarmed, and only wished
+to escape. They shot him to death without further parley, under the eyes
+of his mother and sister, who saw all from their windows. Then they
+ferried themselves and their horses across, and left the boat on the
+Virginia, bank, after knocking out two or three of her planks. Naturally
+there was a great revulsion of popular feeling in the country, and there
+had been a real _emeute_ round the murdered man's grave. When they had
+buried him, that day, in Sharpsburg, no one, suspected of Southern
+sympathies, could venture openly to appear. From all that I could learn,
+the authors of that butchery were not Confederate soldiers, or even
+guerrillas, but purely and simply horse-thieves, who had come over with
+the sole object of plunder, tempted by the enormous prices that
+horse-flesh could then command in Virginia.
+
+Very early the next morning I had a visit from the Irishman, who lived
+hard by. Things did not look less gloomy when I had heard what he had to
+tell. To begin with, that unlucky tongue of Alick's had been doing all
+sorts of mischief. He never touched strong liquors, so there was not
+even that excuse for his imprudence. Instead of remaining quiet in the
+secluded retreat to which he had been, sent, he would persist in hanging
+about in the immediate neighborhood of Boonesborough, and appeared to
+have spoken freely about our projects, greatly exalting and exaggerating
+their importance; indeed, he could scarcely have said more if we had
+been traveling as accredited agents between two belligerent powers. Such
+vainglorious garrulity was not only intensely provoking, but involved
+real peril to all parties concerned. I thought the Irishman was
+perfectly right in taking that blundering bull by the horns, and acting
+decisively on his own responsibility, inasmuch as there was no time to
+communicate with me. He insisted that the Alabamian should quit the
+neighborhood without an hour's delay--there had already been talk of his
+arrest--furnishing him with certain necessaries and a few dollars on my
+account. In despite of the edict aforesaid, there were still punts and
+skiffs concealed all along the river bank, and a footman unencumbered
+with baggage could always be put over without difficulty. Indeed, Alick
+had actually crossed into Virginia, and returned safely, while he was
+loitering about Boonesborough. I never saw the Alabamian again, though I
+heard from him once, as will appear hereafter. He carried away with him
+my best wishes and my revolver; I hope both have profited him. Where
+caution or diplomacy are not required, his sterling honesty and dogged
+courage will always stand him and others in good stead; if his superiors
+can only tie up his tongue, I believe they will "make a man of him yet."
+
+As to Shipley, I found that it was not considered prudent for him to
+await my arrival there, as a search might be made over the Irishman's
+premises at any moment. He had been sent back on the previous afternoon
+to a house near Newmarket, a village some thirty miles east of
+Boonesborough, so that we must almost have crossed on the high road
+leading to Frederick city; there I was certain to find both him and
+Falcon.
+
+The Irishman was decidedly of opinion that to persevere in our
+enterprise at the Shepherdstown ferry or anywhere in the immediate
+neighborhood, would be not only the height of rashness, but absolute
+waste of time. He advised our striking northward at once, by the
+Cumberland route, which then appeared to be the only one offering
+possible chances of success. Even on the Lower Potomac, the _cordon_ of
+pickets and guard-boats had been so strengthened of late as to become
+well nigh impervious, and captures were of hourly occurrence.
+
+Slowly--and I fear rather sullenly--I admitted the justice of my
+friend's counsel, as I walked down to his stable, where the roan had
+been standing since Alick's departure. Perhaps even while I write, the
+war-tide is surging backwards and forwards once again past the doors of
+that cozy homestead; but I trust its roof-tree is still inviolate by
+fire or sword, and that no rude hand has scorched or torn the "new
+parlor-curtains," in which my trim little hostess took an innocent
+pride. It was past noon when I bade farewell to my friends, and mounted
+the roan, to strike Shipley's back trail. There was a light blue sky
+overhead, though the wind blew intensely cold, and hoofs on the hard
+frozen ground rang as on pavement. For the first eighteen miles or so,
+which brought us to Frederick, my horse stepped out cheerily enough,
+though he carried far more weight than he had yet been burdened with, in
+the shape of myself and full saddle-bags. Here we baited, an obscure inn
+which had been recommended to me as "safe;" and late in the afternoon
+held on for Newmarket. I found the farm-house I sought without any
+difficulty, but the owner was down in the village, a mile or so off.
+Without dismounting, I asked to see the mistress, and a thin,
+sickly-looking woman came to the door. At my first question--relating of
+course to Shipley--a glimmer of distrust dawned on her pale, vague face.
+"There was no one there except her own family, and she had never seen or
+heard of a man on a brown horse." I was too thoroughly inured to
+disappointment by this time to feel angry--much less surprised--at
+anything in that line. Evidently I had to do with one of those
+impracticable yet timorous females--strong in their very weakness--who
+will persist in bearing a meek false-witness till the examiner's
+patience fails. So my answer was quiet enough. "Pardon me, I think your
+memory is treacherous. You surely must at least once in your natural
+life, have seen or heard of 'a man on a brown horse.' But if you have
+known nothing of such a remarkable pair within--the last month for
+instance, I fear you can't help me much. If you will tell me where to
+find your husband, in Newmarket, and allow me to light my pipe, I'll not
+trouble you any more." These benevolences the pale woman did not
+withhold, but she saw me depart with a wintry smile, and I heard her
+distinctly mutter to a handmaiden--fearfully arid and adust--who peered
+over her mistress' shoulder, "There's another on 'em, _I_ know."
+
+I found the husband in Newmarket, easily enough--at the "store," of
+course: this is invariably the centre of all gossiping and liquoring-up,
+in such villages as cannot boast a public bar-room. When I delivered
+certain verbal credentials, he was disposed to be more communicative
+than his spouse; but his information was not very clear or satisfactory.
+It appeared that on the previous morning, some hour before dawn a man
+had knocked at the door and asked for shelter: from the description, I
+at once recognized my guide and Falcon. But, for once, Shipley's
+over-caution told against him: he not only declined to give his name,
+but would not state, precisely, whence he came or whither he was going:
+there were many Federal spies about, laying traps for Southern
+sympathizers; so the former got suspicious, and instead of welcoming the
+stranger, prayed him to pass on his way. This solitary instance of
+inhospitality is thus, I think, easily accounted for. I could not blame
+my "informant;" but the state of things was enough to chafe even a meek
+temper: the roan's long legs had begun to tire under the unwonted weight
+before I reached Newmarket, and he rolled fearfully in the slowest trot;
+yet I had sworn not to sleep before I laid my hand on Falcon's mane, and
+I felt, with every fresh check, more savagely determined to keep the
+trail as long as horse-flesh would last under me. I knew there were few
+places in that county where Shipley would dare to trust himself even for
+a night's lodging: some of his relations lived within half a league of
+Symonds; and, if he meant fairly by me and mine, he was certain to
+advise the latter of his return: so I resolved to push straight on for
+my old quarters. Between me and the wished for _gite_ there lay sixteen
+miles of hilly road--darkling every minute faster.
+
+I do not care to remember that dreary ride--or rather, walk--for two
+hours, at least, of the distance were done on foot. For awhile I had
+pleasanter companions than my own sullen thoughts: a pair of blue-birds
+kept with me, for two or three miles at least, fluttering and twittering
+along the fences by my side, with the prettiest sociability--sometimes
+ahead, sometimes behind--never more than a dozen yards off; their
+brilliant plumage shot through the twilight like jets of sapphire flame:
+I felt absurdly sorry when they disappeared at last into the deepening
+blackness. I had been warned of the probability of encountering a
+cavalry picket somewhere on my road: so I was not greatly surprised when
+the possible peril became a certain one. I was riding slowly up a low,
+steep hill, about ten miles from Newmarket (I think the two or three
+houses are dignified by the name of Rockville), when I saw the
+indistinct forms of several horses, and the taller figure of one mounted
+man, standing out against the clear night-sky on the very crest of the
+ascent. I drew rein instinctively; but in that particular frame of mind,
+I don't think I should have turned back, if the gates of the old Capitol
+had stood open across the road. So I jogged steadily on, trying to look
+as innocently unconscious as possible. Seven or eight horses were
+picketed to some posts outside what I conclude was a whisky store; the
+troopers were all comforting themselves within: the intense cold had
+probably made the solitary sentinel drowsy, for his head drooped low on
+his breast, and he never lifted it as I rode past. I could not attempt
+to make a run of it, so I did not quicken my speed, when the danger was
+left behind: indeed I halted more than once, listening for the sound of
+hoofs in my rear, in which case I meant to have made a plunge into the
+black woods on either side, so as to let the pursuit pass. Hearing
+nothing, I dismounted again, and strode on rather more cheerfully.
+
+The roan was not more glad than his rider, when we groped our way up the
+lane, leading through fields to Symonds' homestead. The good wife came
+out quickly, in answer to my hail, her husband being absent, as usual.
+
+"Oh, Major," she said, "I can't say how glad I am to see you. Shipley's
+so anxious about you: he hasn't been gone half an hour."
+
+"And the brown horse?" I broke in.
+
+"He's in the stable; and looking right well."
+
+With a huge sigh of relief I flung myself out of the saddle.
+
+"That'll do," I said, "Mrs. Symonds; I don't want to hear another word,
+unless it relates to--ham and eggs."
+
+Truly, I fear that the neat-handed Phillis must have been aweary that
+night before she had satisfied Gargantua. A messenger soon summoned
+Shipley, and he was with me before midnight; he explained all his
+movements satisfactorily, and I could not but acknowledge he had acted
+throughout discreetly and well. We sat far into the morning, discussing
+future plans. Ultimately it was settled that he should start with the
+roan, so soon as the animal should be rested and fit for the road,
+traveling by moderate stages, to some resting-place near Oakland. The
+rendezvous was to be determined by information he would receive in those
+parts; and I was to be advised of it by a letter left for me in
+Cumberland. Shipley reckoned that it would take him ten days at least to
+make his point. This interval I was to spend in Baltimore; from which I
+was to proceed, with my horse, to Cumberland, in the cars. This plan had
+the double advantage of saving Falcon over two hundred miles of march,
+and of enabling my guide to make his way, more securely, as a solitary
+traveler. He could not trust himself on the railroad, nor would it have
+been safe to attempt the transport of two horses.
+
+So, on the following day, I made--anything but a triumphant--entry into
+Baltimore. Kindly greetings and condolences could not enable me during
+that last visit to shake off a restless discontent--a gloomy distrust of
+the future--a vague sense of shameful defeat.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+FALLEN ACROSS THE THRESHOLD.
+
+
+Early on Monday, the 30th of April, I addressed myself to the journey
+once more, taking the cars to Cumberland, whither Falcon had preceded me
+by two days, and this time I bound myself by a vow--not lightly to be
+broken--that I would not see Baltimore again, of free will or free
+agency, till I had heard the tuck of Southern drums. The most remarkable
+part of the road is from Point of Rocks to Harper's Ferry, inclusive,
+where the rails find a narrow space to creep between the river and the
+cliffs of Catoctin and Elk Mountains. The last-named spot is especially
+picturesque, standing on a promontory washed on either side by the
+Potomac and Shenandoah, with all the natural advantages of abrupt rocks,
+feathery hanging woods, and broken water. Thenceforward there is little
+to interest or to compensate for the sluggishness of pace and frequency
+of delays. The track winds on always through the same monotony of forest
+and hill, plunging into the gorges and climbing the shoulders of bluffs,
+with the audacity of gradient and contempt of curve that marks the
+handiwork of American engineers. I wonder that one of these did not take
+Mount Cenis in hand, and save the monster tunnel. The line was strongly
+picketed; everywhere you saw the same fringe of murky-white tents, and
+at every station the same groups of squalid soldiery.
+
+What especially exasperated _me_ was, the incessant and continuous
+neighborhood of the Potomac. If you left it for a few minutes you were
+certain to come upon it again before the eye had time to forget the
+everlasting foam-splashed ochre of the sullen current, and at each fresh
+point it met you undiminished in volume, unabated in turbulency. Long
+before this I had begun to look at the river in the light of a personal
+enemy. I think that Xerxes, in the matter of the Hellespont, did wisely
+and well. Did I possess his resources of men and money, I would fain do
+so and more likewise to that same Potomac, subdividing its waters till
+the pet spaniel of "my Mary Jane" should ford them without wetting the
+silky fringes of her trailing ears.
+
+Theoretically, a road passing through leagues of forest-clad hills ought
+to be pleasant, if not interesting; practically, you are bored to death
+before you get half way through. There is a remarkable scarcity of
+anything like fine-grown, timber; the underwood is luxuriant enough,
+especially where the mountain laurel abounds; but in ten thousand acres
+of stunted firwood, you would look in vain for any one tree fit to
+compare with the gray giants that watch over Norwegian fiords, or fit to
+rank in "the shadowy army of the Unterwalden pines."
+
+We reached Cumberland shortly after sundown; my first visit was to the
+stables, where I hoped to find Falcon. Imagine my disgust on hearing
+that, through an accident on the line, the unlucky horse had been shut
+up for forty-six hours in his box, with provender just enough for one
+day. He had been well tended, however, and judiciously fed in small
+quantities at frequent intervals, and, barring that he looked rather
+"tucked up," did not seem much the worse for his enforced fast.
+
+I found Shipley's letter, too, where I had been told to expect it; he
+had got so far without let or hindrance; the meeting-place was set about
+forty miles northwest of Cumberland. I spent the evening, not
+unpleasantly, partly at the house of a "sympathizing" resident to whom I
+had been recommended; partly in the society of the most miraculous
+Milesian I ever encountered--off the stage or out of a book. He was
+stationed in Cumberland on some sort of recruiting service, and from
+dawn to midnight never ceased to oil his already lissom tongue with
+"caulkers" of every imaginable liquor. I was told that at no hour of
+the twenty-four had any man seen him thoroughly drunk or decently sober.
+When we first met, his cups had brought him nearly to the end of the
+belligerent or irascible stage; he was then inveighing against the
+dwellers in the Shenandoah Valley, where he had lately been quartered,
+for their want of patriotism in declining to furnish their defenders
+with gratuitous whisky and tobacco; threatening the most dreadful
+reprisals when he should visit "thim desateful Copperhids" again.
+Suddenly, without any warning, he slid into the maudlin phase, taking
+his parable of lamentation against "this crule warr."
+
+"I weep, sirr," said he, "over the rrupture of mee adhopted
+counthree--the counthree that resaved mee with opin arrums, when I was
+floying from the feece of toirants," &c., &c.
+
+When he informed me that he belonged to Mulligan's division, the words,
+"I suppose so," escaped me, involuntary. Truly, if the rest of the
+brigade resembled the specimen before me, only the mighty Celt, whom
+Thackeray had made immortal, could command it. I shall never again look
+on the "stock" freshman as an exaggeration or caricature.
+
+I waited, the next morning, till a heavy snowstorm had resolved itself
+into a thin, driving sleet; then my saddle-bags were strapped on Falcon,
+and I set forth alone, the good horse striding away, as strong under me
+as if he had never heard of short commons. We baited at Frostburgh, a
+small village set on a hill mined and tunneled with coalpits; fifteen
+miles or so beyond this was the roadside inn, where I proposed to halt
+for the night. The sun had long set when I rode up to the
+spectral-looking white house; remarking with no pleasant surprise, that
+not a vestige of smoke rose from its gaunt chimneys. At the gate there
+stood a cart laden with some sort of household goods. Near this, a man,
+who lounged up, seeing me draw rein, to ask my business. It appeared
+that a "flitting" had taken place that very day, and that he--the good
+man--was then betaking himself, with the residue of the chattels, to
+their new home, about five miles back on the Frostburgh road, whither
+his family had already gone. The next chance of a billet was at
+Grantsville, two leagues farther on. Now that sounds too absurdly short
+a distance to disquiet any traveler; but neither is the fatal straw in
+the camel's load a ponderous thing, _per se_. Both Falcon and I had
+reckoned that our day's work was done when we climbed the last hill, so
+it was in some discontent that we set our faces once more against the
+black road, and the stinging sleet, and the bitter north wind.
+
+Amongst Mrs. Browning's earlier poems, there is one to my mind almost
+peerless for sweet sonority of verse-music, and simplicity of strength.
+If it chance that any reader of mine has not admired "The Rhyme of the
+Duchess May," this page, at least, has not been written in vain. My
+saddle-bags held no volume other than a note-book, but that ballad in
+manuscript was nearly the last gift bestowed on me in Baltimore. Never
+was mortal mood less romantic than mine, so I cannot account for the
+fancy which impelled me, there and then, to recite aloud, how
+
+    The bridegroom led the flight, on his red roan steed of might;
+    And the bride lay on his arm, still, as tho' she feared no harm,
+        Smiling out into the night.
+    "Fearest thou?" he said at last. "Nay," she answered him in haste,
+    "Not such death as we could find; only life with one behind,
+        Ride on--fast as fear--ride fast."
+
+I found one listener, more appreciative than the wild pine-barren, that
+surely had never been waked by rhythmic sound since the birthday of
+Time. Falcon pricked his ears, and champed his bit cheerily, as he
+mended his pace without warning of spur. As for myself--the pure,
+earnest Saxon diction proved a more efficient "comforter" than "the
+many-colored scarf round my neck, wrought by the same kind white hands
+beyond the sea;" hands that, even now, I venture to salute with the lips
+of a grateful spirit, in all humility and honor.
+
+So the way did not seem so long that brought us through the straggling,
+dim-lighted streets of Grantsville, up to the porch of its single
+hostelry, where, after some parley, I found a fair chance of supper and
+bed, and a heavy-handed Orson to help me in racking up Falcon.
+
+It would be very unfair to draw a comparison between an ordinary
+roadside inn in England and its synonym up in the country of America; a
+better parallel is a speculative railway tavern verging always on
+bankruptcy. There is an utter absence of the old-fashioned coziness
+which enables you easily to dispense with luxuries. You enter at once
+into a stifling, stove heated bar-room, defiled with all nicotine
+abominations, where, for the first few minutes, you draw your breath
+hard, and then settle down into a dull, uneasy stupor, conscious of
+nothing except a weight tightening around your temples like a band of
+molten iron. That is the only guest-chamber, save a parlor in the rear,
+the ordinary withdrawing-room and nursery of the family, where you take
+your meals in an atmosphere impregnated with babies and their
+concomitants. The fare is not so bad, after all, and monotony does not
+prevent chicken and ham fixings from being very acceptable after a long,
+fasting ride. It blew a gale that night from the northwest, and the
+savage wind--laden with sheets of snow--hurled itself against eaves and
+gable till the crazy tenement quivered from roof-tree to foundation
+beams. I went to my unquiet rest early, chiefly to avoid an importunate
+reveler in the bar-room, who "wished to put to the stranger a few small
+questions," troublesome to answer, that I had not patience to evade.
+
+It was high noon on the following day when I set forth again. The snow
+had ceased to fall two hours before, but I wished to give it time to
+settle; besides, any tracks would greatly help me over the rough
+cross-country road I had to travel. My route-bill enjoined me to call at
+a certain house where the lane turned off from the highway, to obtain
+further instructions. These were duly given me by the farmer, an elderly
+man, with a wild, gray beard, vague, red eyes, and a stumbling
+incoherence of speech. He repeatedly professed himself "pure and clear
+as the dew of Heaven." These characteristics applied probably to his
+principles--patriotic or private; they certainly did not to his
+directions, which led me two miles astray, before I had ridden twice
+that distance; no trifling error, when you had to struggle back over
+steep, broken ground, through drifts fully girth deep.
+
+However, as evening closed in, I "made" Accident--the point where I
+ought to have found Shipley. He was a very good guide--when you caught
+him--but such a perfect _ignis fatuus_, when once out of sight, that I
+was not at all surprised at hearing he had gone on, the night before, to
+a farm-house--more safe and secluded, certainly--about sixteen miles
+off. My informant offered to pilot me thither so soon as it should be
+thoroughly dark. This offer I accepted at once, only hoping that Falcon
+would, like myself, consider it "all in the day's work."
+
+I shall never forget my halt at Accident, if only on account of the
+martyrdom I endured at the hands of some small, pale boys, children of
+the house wherein I abode. I had just settled myself to smoke a
+meditative pipe before supper, when they came in, with a formidable air
+of business about all the three; they drew up a little bench, exactly
+opposite to my rocking-chair, fixing themselves, and me, into a
+deliberate stare. Every now and then the spokes-boy of the party--he was
+the oldest, evidently, but his face was smaller and whiter, and his eyes
+were more like little black beads than those of either of his
+brethren--would fire off a point-blank pistol-shot of a question; when
+this was answered or evaded, they resumed their steady stare. I was
+lapsing rapidly into a helpless imbecility under the horrible
+fascination, when their mother summoned me to supper; they vanished
+then, with a derisive chuckle, to which they were certainly entitled:
+for they had utterly discomfited the stranger within their gates.
+
+One more long night-ride over steep, broken forest-ground--enlivened by
+certain ultra-marine reminiscences of my guide, who had been a sort of
+land-buccaneer in California--brought us to the farm, far in the bosom
+of the hills, where I found Shipley, buried in a deep sleep. The sole
+intelligence I heard that night related to the roan: the enfeebled
+constitution of that unlucky animal had given way under rough travel and
+wild weather; he was reported to be dying; hearing which, I could
+scarcely deny him great good sense, however I might lament his lack of
+endurance.
+
+"The sooner it's over, the sooner to sleep," applies, of course, to
+horses as well as hard-worked men.
+
+My new host was a thorough specimen of the upland yeoman--half hunter,
+half farmer, and all over a cattle-dealer. Deer and bears still abound
+in those hills, though the latter are not so plentiful as they were a
+score of years back, when B---- and his father slew thirty-three in a
+single season: in one conflict he lost two fingers, from his
+hunting-knife slipping while he was locked in the death-grapple.
+
+The next morning broke wild and stormy, but the good man rode out on the
+scout, to see how the land lay round Oakland; while he was absent we
+talked over our plans, and looked over his cattle to find a remount for
+my guide. The roan's malady had not been exaggerated; he was indeed in a
+miserable plight, suffering, I thought, from acute internal
+inflammation. After dinner we had some very pretty rifle practice, at
+short distances, with a huge, clumsy weapon. I saw a boy of sixteen put
+five consecutive bullets into the circumference of a half-crown at
+seventy-five yards.
+
+Late in the afternoon our host returned, and we came to terms for rather
+a neat four-year-old filly: neither her condition nor strength was equal
+to the work before her; but Shipley thought that, nursing, she would
+carry him through; and once in Secessia, my interest in the purchase
+would cease. The roan was, of course, left behind, to be killed or
+cured. His chances of life seemed then so faint (though the hill-farmers
+are no mean farriers) that I thought he was fairly valued in the deal at
+thirty dollars. It appeared that there was increase of vigilance
+throughout the frontier-guard: in Oakland itself a full company was
+stationed, and strong pickets were thrown out all around, but B---- felt
+confident he could pilot us through these.
+
+We started soon after nightfall, in the midst of a sharp sleet-storm,
+but we dared not delay to give the weather time to clear, for a
+domiciliary visit from the Federals was by no means improbable. The old
+hunter had not boasted too much of his local knowledge. He led on,
+through winding byways and forest paths--sometimes striking straight
+across the clearings--till the lights of Oakland glimmered in our rear,
+and the _cordon_ of pickets was threaded; nor did he leave us till we
+had reached a point whence a straight track--well known to
+Shipley--would bring us down on the north branch of the Potomac.
+Thenceforward, my guide and I rode on alone: the moon shone out, broad
+and bright, in a cloudless sky, as we climbed the wooded spurs that lie
+as outworks before the main range of the Alleghanies; the silvery
+transparent shimmer of the frost-work on the feathery for-sprays, was
+one of the most remarkable effects of reflected light that I can
+remember. The snow was more than fetlock-deep where it lay level, and
+the filly tired fearfully towards morning. She could not walk near up to
+Falcon's long, even stride. I had to halt perpetually, to wait for my
+companion; but in the tenth weary hour we sighted the crazy bridge that
+spans the North Branch, and by four, A. M., on Good Friday, our steeds
+
+        Might graze at ease
+    Beyond the brood Borysthenes.
+
+Rock, and wood, and water, were all looking their best, under a
+brilliant sun, when I rose, but the object on which I gazed with most
+satisfaction, was the accursed river circumvented at last. The solitary
+green things I could find actually on the bank, were some sprigs of
+cypress: these I gathered with due formula of lustration; but the _absit
+omen_ was spoken in vain.
+
+Then I wrote two or three letters, inclosing in each the cypress, token
+of partial success; but these never reached their destinations: they
+were prudently suppressed, three days later, by the person to whose
+discretion I trusted to forward them. My correspondence being cleared
+off, and Falcon thoroughly groomed, I fell back upon the resources of
+the little town for amusement, and lighted on one scrap of light
+literature, the fragment of a nameless magazine. In this there were some
+good, quiet verses, that I thought worth transcribing, were it only for
+the incongruity of the place in which I found them: perhaps they are
+already well known; but _I_ am ignorant even of the author's name.
+
+                 MAUD.
+
+    Yes, she always loved the sea,
+    God's half uttered mystery;
+    With the murmur of its myriad shells,
+      And never-ceasing roar:
+    It was well, that when she died,
+    They made Maud a grave beside
+    The blue pulses of the tide,
+      'Neath, the crags of Elsinore.
+
+    One chill red leaf falling down--
+    Many russet autumns gone;
+    A lone ship with folded wings
+      Lay sleeping off the lea:
+    Silently she came by night,
+    Folded wings of murky white,
+    Weary with their lengthened flight;
+      Way-worn nursling of the sea.
+
+    Eager peasants thronged the sands;
+    There were tears and clasping hands;
+    But one sailor, heeding none,
+      Passed thro' the churchyard-gate:
+    Only "Maud," the headstone read,--
+    Only Maud, was't all it said?
+    Why did _he_ then bow his head,
+      Moaning, "Late, mine own, too late!"
+
+    And they called her cold--God knows,
+    Under quiet winter's snows,
+    The invisible hearts of flowers
+      Grow up to blossoming:
+    And the hearts judged calm and cold,
+    Might, if all their tale were told,
+    Seem cast in a gentler mould,
+      Full of love and life and spring.
+
+We were in the saddle again an hour before sunset, our next point being
+a log-hut on the very topmost ridge of the Alleghanies, wherein dwelt a
+man said to be better acquainted than any other in the country round,
+with the passes leading into the Shenandoah Valley. We ascertained,
+beyond a doubt, that a company was stationed at Greenland Gap, close to
+which it was absolutely necessary we should pass; but with a thoroughly
+good local guide, we might fairly count on the same luck which had
+brought us safe round Oakland. Night had fallen long before we came down
+on the South River, a mere mountain torrent, at ordinary seasons; but
+now, flowing along with the broad dignity of a swift, smooth river. My
+guide's mare wanted shoeing, and there chanced to be a rude forge close
+to the ford, which is the only crossing-place since the bridge was
+destroyed last autumn by the Confederates. It was important that the
+local pilot should be secured as soon as possible (he was constantly
+absent from home), so I rode on alone, with directions that were easy to
+follow.
+
+The smith, whose house stood but three hundred yards or so off, had told
+me that I had to strike straight across the ford, for a gap in the dense
+wood cloaked by the opposite bank. It was disagreeably dark at the
+water's edge, for the low moon was utterly hidden behind a thicket of
+cypress and pine; but I did make out a narrow opening _exactly_
+opposite; for this I headed unhesitatingly. We lost footing twice; but a
+mass of tangled timber above broke the current--nowhere very strong--and
+the water shoaled quickly under the further shore; the bottom was sound,
+too, just there, though the bank was steep; and Falcon answered a sharp
+drive of the spurs with a gallant spring, that landed him on a narrow
+shelf of slippery clay, hedged in on three sides by brush absolutely
+impenetrable. There was not room to stand firm, much less to turn
+safely; before I had time to think what was to be done, there was a
+backward slide, and a flounder; in two seconds more, I had drawn myself
+with some difficulty from under my horse, who lay still on his side, too
+wise, at first, to struggle unavailingly. If long hunting experience
+makes a man personally rather indifferent about accidents, it also
+teaches him when there is danger to the animal he rides; looking at
+Falcon's utter helplessness and the constrained twist of his hind legs,
+which I tried in vain to straighten, I began to have uncomfortable
+visions of ricked backs and strained sinews: I was on the wrong side of
+the river, too, for help; though even the rope of a Dublin Garrison
+"wrecker" would have helped but little then. Thrice the good horse made
+a desperate attempt to stand up, and thrice he sank back again with the
+hoarse sigh, between pant and groan--half breathless, half
+despairing--that every hunting man can remember, to his cost. It was
+impossible to clear the saddle-bags without cutting them; I had drawn my
+knife for this purpose, when a fourth struggle (in which his fore-hoofs
+twice nearly struck me down), set Falcon once more on his
+feet--trembling, and drenched with sweat, but materially uninjured. I
+contrived to scramble into the saddle, and we plunged into the ford
+again, heading up stream, till we struck the real gap, which was at
+least thirty yards higher up. It is ill trusting to the accuracy of a
+native's _carte du pays_. Another league brought me to the way-side hut
+where I was instructed to ask for fresh guidance.
+
+"Right over the big pasture, to the bars at the corner--then keep the
+track through the wood to the 'improvements'--and the house was close
+by." Such were the directions of the good-natured mountaineer, who
+offered himself to accompany me: but this I would by no means allow.
+
+Now, an up-country pasture, freshly cleared, is a most unpleasant place
+to cross, after nightfall: the stumps are all left standing, and felled
+trees lie all about--thick as boulders on a Dartmoor hillside; then,
+however, a steady moon was shining, and Falcon picked his way daintily
+through the timber, hopping lightly, now and then, over a trunk bigger
+than the rest, but never losing the faint track: we got over the high
+bars, too, safely, hitting them hard. The wood-path led out upon a
+clearing, after a while: here I was fairly puzzled. There was no sign of
+human habitation, except a rough hut, some hundred yards to my right,
+that I took to be an outlying cattle-shed: there was not the glimmer of
+a light anywhere.
+
+I have not yet written the name of the man I was seeking: contrasts of
+time and place made it so very remarkable, that I venture to break the
+rule of anonyms. Mortimer Nevil--who would have dreamt of lighting on,
+perhaps, the two proudest patronymics of baronial England, in a log hut
+crowning the ridge of the Alleghanies?
+
+While I wandered hither and thither in utter bewilderment, my ear caught
+a sound as of one hewing timber; I rode for it, and soon found that the
+hovel I had passed thrice was the desired homestead; truly, it was
+fitting that the possible descendant of the king-maker should reveal
+himself by the rattle of his axe.
+
+It is needless to say, that I was received courteously and kindly. The
+mountaineer promised his services readily; albeit, he spoke by no means
+confidently of our chances of getting through; the company of Western
+Virginians that had recently marched into Greenland, was said to be
+unusually vigilant; only the week before, a professional blockade-runner
+had been captured, who had made his way backwards and forwards
+repeatedly, and was thoroughly conversant with the ground. The attempt
+could not possibly be made till the following evening; till then, Nevil
+promised to do his best to make Falcon and me comfortable.
+
+I shall not easily forget my night in the log hut; it consisted of a
+single room, about sixteen feet by ten; in this lived and slept the
+entire family--numbering the farmer, his wife, mother, and two children.
+When they spoke, confidently, of finding me a bed, I fell into a great
+tremor and perplexity; the problem seemed to me not more easy to solve
+than that of the ferryman, who had to carry over a fox, a goose, and a
+cabbage; it was physically impossible that the large-limbed Nevil and
+myself should be packed into the narrow non-nuptial couch; the only
+practicable arrangement involved my sharing its pillow with the two
+infants or with the ancient dame; and at the bare thought of either
+alternative, I shivered from head to heel. At last, with infinite
+difficulty, I obtained permission to sleep on my horse-rug spread on the
+floor, with my saddle for a bolster; when this point was once settled, I
+spent the evening very contentedly, basking in the blaze of the huge
+oaken logs; if stinted in all else, the mountaineer has always large
+luxury of fuel. I was curious to find out if my host knew anything of
+his own lineage; but he could tell me nothing further, than that his
+grandfather was the first colonist of the family; oddly enough, though,
+in his library of three or four books, was an ancient work on heraldry;
+his father had been much addicted to studying this, and was said to have
+been learned in the science.
+
+At about ten, P. M., Shipley knocked at the door, fearfully wet and cold;
+the smith had accompanied him to the ford, so that he could not go
+astray, but his filly hardly struggled through the deep, strong water.
+Our host found quarters for him, in the log hut of a brother, who dwelt
+a short half-mile off.
+
+I spent all the fore-part of the next day in lounging about, watching
+the sluggish sap drain out of the sugar-maples, occasionally falling
+back on the female society of the place; for the Nevil had gone forth on
+the scout. It was not very lively: my hostess was kindness itself, but
+the worn, weary look never was off her homely face; nor did I wonder at
+this when I heard that, besides their present troubles and hardships,
+they had lost four children in one week of the past winter from
+diphtheria; it was sad to see how painfully the mother clung to the two
+that death had left her; she could not bear them out of her sight for an
+instant. A very weird-looking cummer was the grand-dame--with a broken,
+piping voice--tremulous hands, and jaws that, like the stage witch
+wife's, ever munched and mumbled. She seldom spoke aloud, except to
+groan out a startlingly sudden ejaculation of "Oh, Lord," or "O dear;"
+these widows' mites cast into the conversational treasury did not
+greatly enhance its brilliancy.
+
+The blue sky grew murky-white before sundown, and night fell intensely
+cold. The Nevil who guided us on foot had much the best of it, and I
+often dismounted, to walk by his side. If he who sang the praises of the
+"wild northwester" had been with us then, I doubt if he would not have
+abated of his enthusiasm. The bitter snow-laden blast, even where thick
+cover broke its vicious sweep, was enough to make the blood stand still
+in the veins of the veriest Viking. After riding about ten miles, we
+left the rough paths we had hitherto pursued, and struck, across
+country. For two hours or more we forced our way slowly and
+painfully through bush and brake--through marshy rills and rocky
+burns--demolishing snake-fences whenever we broke out on a clearing.
+Shipley led his mare almost the whole way; and I, thinking the saddle
+safest and pleasantest conveyance over ordinarily rough ground, was
+compelled to dismount repeatedly.
+
+It was about one o'clock in the morning of Sunday, the 5th of April: we
+were then crossing some tilled lands, intersected by frequent narrow
+belts of woodland. Our course ran parallel to the mountain-road leading
+from Greenland to Petersburg; the former place was then nearly three
+miles behind us, and our guide felt certain that we had passed the
+outermost pickets. It was very important that we should get housed
+before break of day; so we were on the point of breaking into the beaten
+track again, and had approached it within fifty yards, when suddenly,
+out of the dark hollow on our left, there came a hoarse shout:
+
+"Stop. Who are you? Stop or I'll fire."
+
+Now I have heard a challenge or two in my time, and felt certain at once
+that even, a Federal picket would have employed a more regular formula.
+The same idea struck Shipley too.
+
+"Come on," he said, "they're only citizens."
+
+So on we went, disregarding a second and third summons in the same
+words. We both looked round for the Nevil, but keener eyes would have
+sought for him in vain; at the first sound of voices he had plunged into
+the dark woods above us, where a footman, knowing the country, might
+defy any pursuit. Peace and joy go with him! By remaining he would only
+have ruined himself, without profiting us one jot.
+
+Then three revolver-shots were fired in rapid succession. To my question
+if he was hit, my guide answered cheerily in the negative; neither of us
+guessed that one bullet had struck his mare high up in the neck; though
+the wound proved mortal the next day, it was scarcely perceptible, and
+bled altogether internally. One of those belts of woodland crossed our
+track about two hundred yards ahead; we crashed into this over a gap in
+the snake-fence; but the barrier on the further side was high and
+intact. Shipley had dismounted, and had nearly made a breach by pulling
+down the rails, when, the irregular challenge was repeated directly in
+our front, and we made out a group of three dark figures about
+thirty-five yards off.
+
+"Give your names, and where you are going, or I'll fire."
+
+"He's very fond of firing," I said in an undertone to Shipley, and then
+spoke out aloud. (I saw at once the utter impossibility of escape, even
+if we could have found our way back, without quitting our horses, which
+I never dreamt of.)
+
+"If you'll come here, I'll tell you all about it."
+
+I could not have advanced if I had wished it; in broad day the fence
+would have been barely practicable. I spoke those exact words in a tone
+purposely measured and calm, so that they should not be mistaken by our
+assailants: I have good reason to remember them, for they were the last
+I ever uttered on American ground as a free agent. They had hardly
+passed my lips, when a rifle cracked; I felt a dull numbing blow inside
+my left knee, and a sensation as if hot sealing-wax was trickling there;
+at the same instant, Falcon dropped under me--without a start or
+struggle, or sound besides a horrible choking sob--shot right through
+the jugular vein.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+THE ROAD TO AVERNUS.
+
+
+Before I had struggled clear of my horse, Shipley's hand was on my
+shoulder, and his hurried whisper in my ear.
+
+"What shall we do? Will you surrender?"
+
+Now, though I knew already that I had escaped with a flesh-wound from a
+spent bullet, I felt that I could not hope to make quick tracks that
+night. Certain reasons--wholly independent of personal convenience--made
+me loth to part with my saddle-bags; besides this, I own I shrank from
+the useless ignominy of being hunted down like a wild beast on the
+mountains. So I answered, rather impatiently:
+
+"What the deuce would you have one do--with a dead horse and a lamed
+leg? Shift for yourself as well as you can."
+
+Without another word I walked towards the party in our front, with an
+impulse I cannot now define; it could scarcely have been seriously
+aggressive, for a hunting-knife was my solitary weapon; but for one
+moment I _was_ idiot enough to regret my lost revolver, I was traveling
+as a neutral and civilian, with no other object than my private ends;
+the slaughter of an American citizen, on his own ground, would have been
+simply murder, both by moral and martial law, and I heard afterwards
+that our Legation could not have interfered to prevent condign
+punishment. But reason is dumb sometimes, when the instincts of the "old
+Adam" are speaking. I suppose I am not more truculent than my fellows;
+but since then, in all calmness and sincerity, I have thanked God for
+sparing me one strong temptation.
+
+Before I had advanced ten paces the same voice challenged again.
+
+"Stop where you are--if you come a step nearer, I'll shoot."
+
+I was in no mood to listen to argument, much less to an absurd threat.
+
+"You may shoot and be d----d," I said. "You've got the shooting all your
+own way to-night. I carry no fire-arms,"--and walked on.
+
+Now, I record these words--conscious that they were thoroughly
+discreditable to the speaker--simply because I mentioned them in my
+examination before the Judge Advocate (after he had insisted on the
+point of verbal accuracy), and from his office emanated a paragraph,
+copied into all the Washington journals, stating that I had cursed my
+captors fluently. I affirm, on my honor, that this was the solitary
+imprecation that escaped me from first to last.
+
+So I kept on advancing: they did _not_ fire, and I don't suppose they
+would have done so, even if they had had time to reload. I soon got near
+enough to discern that among the three men there was not a trace of
+uniform; they were evidently farmers, and roughly dressed "at that." So
+I opened parley in no gentle terms, requiring their authority for what
+they had done, and promising that they should answer it, if there was
+such a thing as law in these parts.
+
+"Well, if we ain't soldiers," the chief speaker said, "we're Home
+Guards, and that's the same thing here; we've as much authority as we
+want to back us out. Why didn't you stop, and tell us who you are, and
+where you're going?"
+
+By this time I was cool enough to reflect, and act with a purpose. For
+my own, as well as for his sake, I was most anxious that Shipley should
+escape. I knew they would not find a scrap of compromising paper on me;
+but he was a perfect post-carrier of dangerous documents, and a marked
+man besides--altogether a suspicious companion for an innocent traveler.
+So I began to discuss several points with my captors in a much calmer
+tone--demonstrating that from the irregularity of their challenge we
+could not suppose it came from any regular picket--that there were many
+horse-thieves and marauders about, so that it behoved travelers to be
+cautious--that it would have been impossible to have explained our
+names, object, and destination in a breath, even if they had given more
+time for such reply: finally, making a virtue of necessity, I consented
+to accompany them to the regular out-post of Greenland, stipulating that
+I should have a horse to carry me and my saddle-bags; for my knee was
+still bleeding, and stiffening fast.
+
+All this debate took ten minutes at least, during which time my captors
+seemed to have forgotten my companion's existence, though they must have
+seen his figure cross the open ground when they first fired. Long before
+we got back to the horses, Shipley had "vamosed" into the mountain,
+carrying his light luggage with him; only some blank, envelopes were
+lying about, evidently dropped in the hurry of removal.
+
+I knelt down by Falcon's side, and lifted his head out of the dark red
+pool in which it lay. Even in the dim light I could see the broad,
+bright eye glazing: the death-pang came very soon; he was too weak to
+struggle; but a quick, convulsive shiver ran through all the lower
+limbs, and, with a sickening hoarse gurgle in the throat, the last
+breath was drawn.
+
+My good, stout, patient horse! Few and evil were the days of his
+pilgrimage with me; but we had begun to know and like each other well. I
+cannot remember to have borne a heavier heart, than when I turned away
+from his corpse, half shrouded in a winding-sheet of drifting
+snow-flakes--seeing nothing certain in my own future, save frustrated
+projects and exhausted resources.
+
+I threw my saddle-bags across Shipley's saddle, and rode slowly down,
+three miles, into Greenland. The filly's head drooped wearily, as she
+faltered on through the half-frozen mud and water; but no one guessed,
+till daylight broke, that she had then got her death-wound.
+
+When we reached the hovel that was the headquarters of the detachment,
+only two or three soldiers were lounging around the fire; but the news
+of a capture roused most of the sleepers, and the low, dim room was soon
+filled, suffocatingly, with a squalid crowd, in and out of uniform:
+prominent, in the midst, stood the long, lank, half-dressed figure of
+the lieutenant in command. Neither he nor his men were absolutely
+uncourteous, when they once recognized that I was not a Confederate spy,
+or a professional blockade-runner; but they were exultant, of course,
+and disposed to indulge in a rough jocularity, during the necessary
+inspection of my person and baggage.
+
+The surgeon was a coarse edition of Maurice Quill; when he had examined
+my knee, and dressed it--not unskillfully--(the conical point of "the
+Sharp's" bullet had just reached the bone), he took great interest in
+the search of my saddle-bags; desiring to be informed of the precise
+cost of each article. When I declined to satisfy him, he became
+exceedingly witty--not to say sarcastic.
+
+"Here's a mighty curious sort of a traveler, boys; as don't know what
+nothing costs that belongs to him, nor how he come by it," &c.
+
+Now I was getting tired, and bored with the whole business, and stifled
+with the close atmosphere--laden with every graveolent horror; besides,
+I had not escaped from London "chaff" and Parisian _persiflage_, to be
+mocked by a wild Virginian. So I said, quite gravely:
+
+"It's very simple; but I don't wonder it puzzles you. You have to pay,
+when you buy, out here, I dare say, _I_ haven't paid for anything for
+twenty years. But, if I had known I was going to meet _you_, before I
+came away I would have--looked at the bills."
+
+Perhaps my face did not look like jesting; anyhow, he took every word
+for earnest, and remained silent for some time; ruminating, I suppose,
+on the grand simplicity of such a system of commerce.
+
+This occupied their attention for a considerable time; when a party
+_did_ start in pursuit of my companion, under the guidance of
+Dolley--the man who had fired the last fatal shot--I reflected, with
+some satisfaction, that the fugitive had a long two hours' "law," The
+guard-room cleared gradually; and, before daybreak, I got some brief,
+broken rest--supine on the narrowest of benches, with my crossed arms
+for a pillow.
+
+In spite of wound, and weariness, and discomfiture, I have spent a
+drearier time than the morning of that same Sunday. After the first
+awkward feeling had passed off, my captors showed themselves civil, and
+almost friendly, after their fashion. They were very like big
+school-boys--those honest Volunteers--prone to rough jokes and rude
+horse-play among themselves, which the commanding officer not only
+sanctioned, but personally mingled with: good-fellowship reigned
+supreme, to the utter subversion of dignity and discipline.
+
+There were some lithe, active figures among them, well fitted for the
+long forced marches for which both the Northern and Southern infantry is
+renowned; and two or three raw-boned giants, topping six feet by some
+inches; but not one powerful or athletic frame: in many trials of
+strength, in wrist and arm, I did not come across one formidable muscle.
+
+About three o'clock--the weather had become bright and almost warm
+before noon--I was lounging about on the bank of the trout-stream that
+ran past the door, with my guard at my shoulder, when I saw a group of
+several figures approaching. When they came nearer, one man lifted his
+cap on his bayonet's point, and the others shouted. I could not catch
+the words; but I guessed the truth: they had run down Shipley, after
+all. He was so utterly exhausted, both in mind and body, when first
+brought in, that he could hardly speak: he was not of a hardy
+constitution, and he had undergone fatigue enough--to say nothing of the
+fearful weather--to have broken down a more practiced pedestrian.
+Dolley's party were not the actual captors, though they were hard on the
+fugitive's trail; another squad, sent to search for some Confederates
+supposed to be hidden in the neighborhood, had come upon some tracks in
+the snow, leading to a farm-house, and there discovered my unhappy
+guide, sleeping the sleep of exhaustion. This was twelve miles from the
+spot where we parted, and he had struggled on till strength would carry
+him no further.
+
+The lieutenant's face grew longer than Nature had left it, as he
+perused, one after another, the documents found on Shipley. Though his
+demeanor towards myself remained quite amicable, it was clear that he
+judged me, to a certain extent, by my associations; and his simple
+joviality was somewhat clouded by an uneasy sense of responsibility.
+Nevertheless, the evening passed quickly enough round the guard-room
+fire; the men sang some simple chants, and the deep, rough voices
+sounded not unmusically. Once more, I preferred a single plank to the
+nameless abominations of the bunks, above and below stairs; and
+consequently awoke with aching bones, but flesh intact.
+
+The next morning we bade farewell to the Greenland detachment, in no
+unkindness. I was really sorry when I read in the papers, a month later,
+of their capture by Imboden's division, after an obstinate defense in
+the church, which was burned over their heads before the survivors would
+surrender.
+
+New Creek, the headquarters of Colonel Mulligan's brigade, was our
+destination. We had a sufficient escort, and besides, the valiant Dolley
+accompanied us, in the character of chief witness, as well as chief
+captor. His "get up" was very remarkable, consisting of a pair of brown
+overalls, an old blue uniform coat, about three sizes too small for him,
+and the very tallest black hat, that, as I think, I ever beheld. Slight
+as my wound was, it had quite crippled me for the time; a farmer,
+however, for a moderate consideration, found me a pony that saved my
+legs, at much peril to its own: for it stumbled miraculously often.
+Shipley began by walking, but was glad to avail himself of a chance
+animal half way. Dolley and two of his friends were mounted; the
+soldiers kept pace with us gallantly on foot.
+
+When we started, I bore no sort of malice to that same Dolley; but,
+before we had got through the twenty-three miles that brought us to New
+Creek, I hated him intensely, as one hates the man--friend or foe--that
+bores you to death's door. That he should be puffed up with vainglory,
+was neither unlikely nor unreasonable. His own shots were the only ones
+he had ever seen fired in anger. It was natural, too, that he should
+over-estimate the importance of his capture; he had suffered from the
+war, in purse, if not in person, and had lost two sons in the Northern
+army from disease, one of whom had been imprisoned for six months by the
+Confederates. After his first excitement had passed away, he bore
+himself not unkindly towards me; though, at Greenland, he did greatly
+bewail the darkness that had caused him to take a costly life instead of
+a worthless one; Falcon would have fetched five hundred dollars in those
+parts; even at my own valuation, _I_ could not have been appraised so
+highly. So I listened to him twice or thrice with great patience, while
+he told how well he had deserved of his country; but, when he persisted
+in repeating the same tale, not only to me, but to every creature he
+encountered, the iteration became simply "damnable." He spoke of his
+dead sons in the same pompous tones of self-exultation with which he
+reckoned all other items standing to the credit side of his patriotism.
+Fortunately for my equanimity, I was not present when he told his own
+tale at New Creek; it must have been a grand romance of history.
+
+Yet my poor Dolley made a bad night's work of it after all. His three
+days' fame in local papers cost him dear. Immediately on getting out of
+prison, I heard--not without a savage satisfaction--that Imboden's
+horsemen had harried his homestead thoroughly in their last raid; Dolley
+only saving his life by "running like a hare." The Southerners know
+everything that goes on near their lines, and are wonderfully regular in
+settling scores with any registered debtor.
+
+At New Creek I was confronted with Colonel Mulligan. His attire was
+anything but military; black overalls crammed into high butcher boots, a
+Garibaldi shirt of the brightest emerald green; but his bearing was
+unmistakably that of a soldier and gentleman. He treated me with the
+utmost courtesy. I also met with no small kindness from the adjutant of
+the artillery corps, an old Crimean. Unluckily, Colonel Mulligan could
+not deal with my case, so, after a brief examination, and liberal
+refreshment, Shipley and myself were forwarded by rail to Wheeling, two
+hundred miles further west, where the district Provost Marshal was
+stationed.
+
+We reached Wheeling in the early morning, and there were indulged with a
+most welcome bath, and breakfast. Soon afterwards we stood in the
+presence of the Provost Marshal, Major Darr.
+
+The figure of this functionary certainly resembles, in its square
+obesity, that of the great Emperor in his latter days. Possibly for this
+reason, Major Darr affects a Napoleonic curtness and decision of speech.
+Nevertheless, he was amenable to reason, and on my agreeing to pay the
+expenses of an escort, consented to forward me to Baltimore, to be
+identified. Shipley was committed at once to the military prison.
+
+It was a long, weary journey of twenty-three hours, and I was so
+harassed by want of sleep, that I scarcely appreciated some really fine
+scenery on the Laurel and Chestnut ranges. We reached Baltimore about
+three, A. M., and I dispatched two notes immediately, one to the British
+Consul, another to my most intimate acquaintance in the city.
+
+Both came down without delay, proffering all possible assistance. I had
+a regular _levee_ before my guards conveyed me to the office of the
+Chief of Gen. Schenck's staff, to whose mercies I was consigned. Colonel
+Cheesebrough was civil enough; but, in his turn, professed himself
+unable to deal with my case, and referred it to the General. Caesar was
+not less dilatory than Felix. I never saw the potentate before whose nod
+Baltimore trembles (he was unwell, I believe, or unusually sulky), but I
+underwent a lengthened interrogatory at the mouth of a very young and
+girlish-looking aide-de-camp. In the midst of this, rather an absurd
+incident occurred. General Schenck's headquarters are at the Eutaw
+House. The fair daughter of a house at which I had been very
+intimate--was to be married that same day, and at that same house the
+bridegroom's party were staying. Suddenly, through an opening door, two
+or three of these my friends debouched upon the scene. They had not
+heard one word of my misadventures, so that they were naturally rather
+surprised at finding me there, in such company. I really think that the
+sympathy lavished upon me in that brief interview was not so refreshing
+as the palpable discomfort of the unhappy _aide_, under a galling
+glance-fire maintained by Southern eyes, not careful to dissemble their
+hatred and scorn.
+
+I was so perfectly used to being _ballotte_ by this time, that it did
+not in anywise surprise me, to hear that I was to be sent down to
+Washington, to be examined by the Judge-Advocate-General. There was so
+much delay in making out commitment papers that we lost the afternoon
+train. No other started before eight, P. M., so that, by the time we
+reached Washington, all offices would have been closed, and we must have
+spent the night in the Central Guard-house. I had heard enough of the
+foul abominations of that refuge for the imprisoned destitute, to make
+me determined never to cross the threshold unless under actual coercion.
+I said as much to the cavalry sergeant who had me in charge; suggesting
+that, by taking the four A. M. train on the following morning, we should
+arrive hours before the Provost Marshal's or Judge Advocate's offices
+were open. He was civilly rational about the whole question, and, on my
+parole not to attempt escape, readily consented to accompany me to a
+house, where I was more at home than anywhere else in Baltimore. There I
+remained till long after midnight: though none of us were in the best of
+spirits or tempers, that brief return to social life was an
+indescribable rest and restorative. I mention this unimportant incident
+chiefly because one of the charges brought against me afterwards was
+founded on "my having bribed my escort, and spent the whole night at the
+house of a notorious Secessionist." The poor sergeant was reduced to the
+ranks for dereliction of duty; and I the more regret this, because his
+good-nature was _not_ mercenary.
+
+We reached Washington about six, A. M. No offices were open before nine.
+I employed the interval, partly in breakfasting with what appetite I
+might, partly in a visit to Percy Anderson, whose slumbers I was
+compelled to break by the most disagreeable of all morning
+apparitions--a friend in trouble. I could only just stay long enough to
+receive condolences, and promises of all possible assistance--private or
+diplomatic; then I betook myself to the Provost Marshal's office, which
+I did not enter; thence to that of the Judge-Advocate-General.
+
+I look back upon that interview with feelings of unmitigated
+self-contempt, I confess to have been utterly deluded by that sleek
+official's sham _bonhommie_; so that when he prayed me to be frank and
+explicit--"Anything that you say, I shall receive with perfect
+confidence," &c., &c.,--I did strive, to the best of my powers, to
+forget no important incident or word relative to my conduct since I
+landed in America; only making reservations where confession might
+implicate others. An artless boy might easily have been gulled by the
+portly presence, the unctuous voice, and eyes that twinkled merrily
+through gold-rimmed glasses; but no man of mature age can remember such
+a gross mistake without a hot flush of shame.
+
+I have little cause to love the Federal Government; but I bear no grudge
+against any individual Unionist with the solitary exception of the
+Judge-Advocate, simply because to him alone can I trace deliberately
+unfair dealing and intentional discourtesy. While I was in prison I sent
+him two letters, at long intervals; though I again committed a gross
+error, in addressing him as one gentleman would write to another, I
+cannot think this wholly excuses his coolly ignoring both
+communications. On the 21st of May, Major Turner's duty brought him to
+Carroll place, and he remained there two full hours: the superintendent,
+who had conferred with the prison surgeon on the state of my health,
+pressed him strongly to see me. The Judge-Advocate refused, on the
+ground that the case was already decided, and would be settled in a day
+or so, at furthest; that same afternoon he departed on a fortnight's
+leave, knowing right well that no steps could be taken in the matter
+till his return. Officials are justified, I suppose, in avoiding all
+waste of time or trouble; perhaps it _was_ more simple to lie to a
+subordinate than to risk the short discussion that an interview would
+have involved. I cannot guess at the especial reason which caused me to
+be honored by Major Turner's enmity; certain it is that he was _not_
+neutral or indifferent with regard to my case, but exerted himself very
+successfully to thwart any measures tending to its decision or
+adjustment.
+
+During the latter days of my imprisonment, I indulged more than once in
+a day-dream, not the less pleasant because it is wildly improbable.
+Should the changes and chances of this mortal life ever bring me face to
+face with that jovial Judge, on any neutral ground, by my faith and
+honor I will say in his ear five short words not hard to understand. On
+the steps of Carroll place, when the door opened to set me free, I sent
+Major Turner a message much to this effect. I devoutly hope it was
+delivered with the "verbal accuracy" of which he is so remarkably fond.
+
+At the conclusion of the long examination, the Judge-Advocate left me
+for a short time to obtain instructions--possibly a warrant--from
+Secretary Stanton; on his return he told me that nothing could be
+decided until Shipley's case had been inquired into; he assured me that
+the latter should be telegraphed for at once from Wheeling; and so, with
+the pleasantest of smiles, and a jest on his lips, handed me over to
+Colonel Baker, who was already in waiting. This official's overt
+functions are those of a District Provost Marshal--in reality, he is the
+Chief of Secret Police. There are legions of stories abroad, imputing to
+him the grossest oppression and venality; even strong Unionists shake
+their heads disparagingly, at the mention of his name.
+
+But of Colonel Baker, from my own knowledge, I can say nothing: I simply
+passed through his office to the Old Capitol; nor do I know that he in
+anywise influenced my after fortunes.
+
+It appeared that my quarters were to be, not in the main building of the
+prison, but in a sort of _dependaence_, a couple of hundred yards off,
+called Carroll place; thither I was at once removed, after a brief
+consultation with the officer on guard.
+
+Mr. Wood, the head Superintendent, soon came to welcome the new arrival,
+and in his first sentence gave me a specimen of the _brusquerie_ of
+address for which he has acquired a certain notoriety.
+
+"Mr. ----," he said, "I'm always glad to see your countrymen _here_. My
+father was an Englishman; but I've no sympathy with England. I was born
+and bred a plebeian, sir."
+
+As I felt no particular interest in Mr. Wood's proclivities or
+proletarianism, I simply shrugged my shoulders, and turned away without
+a reply. But when, on his first visit to my room, two days later, he
+repeated exactly the same formula, without variation of a syllable, I
+thought it better to assure him that the iteration was absolutely
+unnecessary, inasmuch as I had believed him on _both_ points easily from
+the first. He was not at all disconcerted or offended, only we heard him
+mutter to his subordinate, when they got outside our door:
+
+"That's a pretty d----d high-handed sort of a chap, anyhow."
+
+After half an hour's waiting, I was conducted to a room on the third
+story, No. 20, and in a few minutes experienced that great rarity of a
+"fresh sensation," finding myself--for the very first time in my
+life--fairly under lock and key.
+
+I had been so "harried" of late, that I felt a certain relief in being
+settled _somewhere_. The rest of the afternoon and evening was spent in
+making acquaintance with the Baltimorean blockade-runner, my room-mate,
+and in exchanging dreary prison civilities with the cells either side,
+through little tunnels pierced in the wall by former prisoners, which
+allowed passage to anything of a calibre not exceeding that of a rolled
+newspaper. A deep, narrow trough, ingeniously excavated in a
+pine-splinter, enabled us to pledge each other in mutual libations,
+devoted to our better luck and speedy release. The neighbors, with whom
+I chiefly held commune, were an Episcopal clergyman and a captain in the
+Confederate army. Of these, more hereafter. I breathed more freely when
+the temporary absence of my room-mate, for exercise, left me alone--for
+the first time since my capture--with my saddle-bags. They had been in
+Northern custody for four days, and subjected to the severest scrutiny:
+nevertheless, they still held certain documents that I was right glad to
+see vanish in the red heat of a fierce log fire.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+CAGED BIRDS.
+
+
+The miserable first-waking--dreariest of all hours that follow a great
+loss or disaster--came late to me. I had gone through a certain amount
+of knocking-about--mental and bodily--in the last week; and, for eight
+nights, the nearest approach to a bed had been the extempore couch of a
+railway-car. So, on an unhappy emaciated palliasse, covered by a dusty
+horse-rug (it took me four days to weary the jailer into a concession of
+sheets), I slept, all noises notwithstanding, far into my first
+prison-day. It was provokingly brilliant and warm; indeed I must, in
+justice to the Weather Office, allow, that its benignancy has scarcely
+been interrupted, since I ceased to care whether skies were foul or
+fair. My recollections of that first day are rather vague; but my
+impression is, that I had a good deal to think about, and did not in the
+least know how to begin. I paced up and down, as long as my knee would
+allow; it was still stiff and painful, though healing fast. In a room
+twelve feet by eight, you square the circle much too often for pleasure;
+but it was a week before I had any other exercise. Then, I believe, I
+made some attempts to improve the acquaintance of my room-mate.
+
+He was not sullen, but, at first, somewhat saturnine and silent. The
+fact was that, for many days, he had been fasting from the luxuries
+dearest to every American heart--whisky and tobacco; for all money and
+clothes had been taken from him at the Provost Marshal's office, and
+never were returned: in these respects, after my arrival, he fared
+sumptuously, by comparison, and abated greatly of his discontent. I
+might have been much more unfortunate in my companion. He was not
+conversational, certainly, nor very amusing in any way; but he was
+cunning in all the small crafts of captivity, and kept our chamber swept
+and garnished to the best of his power. The way in which dust
+accumulated and renewed itself within those narrow limits, was little
+short of miraculous; you might brush till you were weary, and ten
+minutes afterwards things would look as though brooms had never been.
+Twining ropes out of sea sand, or any other of the tasks with which
+wizards have baffled fiends, were not more helpless than that on which
+my comrade busied himself each morning. The wood fire could not account
+for it; the nuisance increased when it became too warm to light anything
+but candles; so it must remain another of the physical puzzles
+concerning which we are perpetually wondering, where it all comes from,
+and are never likely to be satisfied.
+
+Mr. C---- seemed by no means sanguine as to his own prospects, and took
+an early opportunity of advising me not to buoy myself up with hopes of
+speedy release. I can say, truly, that from the very first I did not so
+delude myself. Some of my Baltimore friends would fain have persuaded me
+that, in the utter absence of criminating evidence, I should not be
+detained long; I forbore to argue, but my opinion remained always the
+same. I had heard how tenacious was the grasp of Federal officials,
+unless loosened by more golden oil than I could then command. I had
+heard, too, how slowly aid or intercession from the free outer world
+could penetrate these mock-bastilles, and how reluctantly the
+authorities would grant the supreme favor of a hearing, or trial, to any
+whose condemnation was not sure. So I was prepared to resign myself to
+anything short of a month's incarceration; but even thus, I
+under-estimated the hospitable urgency of my amiable entertainers.
+
+The return-wing of the main building in which we were confined, is
+occupied exclusively by the prisoners committed under a Secretary's
+warrant. These are much more closely guarded than the other inmates; but
+they have the advantage of being divided off into pairs, or threes at
+most, in their rooms, and their comforts are certainly better attended
+to. The regulations anent food and liquors are liberal enough; you can
+obtain almost anything by paying about twice its cost; but the privilege
+of having meals sent in, is not lightly valued by those who have once
+done battle with the boiled leather, called ration beef, contests in
+which passive resistance generally prevails.
+
+The barred window of No. 20 looks out on the narrow yard wherein
+ordinary captives are allowed to disport themselves for three half-hours
+daily. It is a very motley crowd. There are no Confederate soldiers
+here; all these are confined in the Old Capitol; but of every other
+class you may see specimens.
+
+I will try one or two sketches. It used to amuse me to guess at the
+profession of a captive from outward signs, and, after a little
+practice, one is rarely wrong.
+
+Those three, talking together apart, and gesticulating so vehemently,
+with the Hebrew stamp on every line of their dark, keen faces, are
+blockade-runners: they bewail their captivity more loudly than their
+fellows; but, be sure, they will wriggle out, soonest of all, if freedom
+can be purchased by hard swearing or gold. The profits of a single
+successful venture are simply fabulous; the smugglers are frequently
+captured with dollars on their persons by tens of thousands: they will
+part readily with a share of the plunder to any accommodating official,
+sooner than lose valuable time here; and, as for the oath, they swallow
+it without a pretense at reluctance.
+
+That group, with wild beards and long unkempt hair, clad in rough
+garments of every shade, from "butternut" to hodden gray, come evidently
+from the far uplands of Virginia. Looking at those rough-hewn faces and
+fierce eyes, you can easily believe that such men are not careful to
+dissemble their sympathies, and would not lightly forget an injury; the
+chastisement of this paternal Government will change sullen disaffection
+into savage animosity; they will all be sent South in time, and "it's a
+free fight there." I fancy one or two of those yeomen will see the color
+of Yankee blood, before they see the old homestead again.
+
+That pale Judas face, with scanty, hircine beard, and an expression
+changing often from spiteful to cunning, could belong only to a Yankee
+paymaster or commissary, detected in his frauds before he had made up a
+pile high enough to defy justice; for swindler is not _quite_ safe till
+he is nearly a "milliner." (So, was my comrade wont to pronounce
+millionaire.) Such cases occur daily, and the unity of shabbiness here
+is always diversified by some trim criminals in dark blue. Putting
+apparel aside, these accessions do not seem greatly to improve the
+respectability of the life below-stairs.
+
+There is a very tall man, who generally manages to take his exercise at
+a different hour from the common herd: when he does mix with them, his
+well-cut clothes and spotless linen make a strange contrast with the
+squalor round him. He seems perfectly contented with his present lot; he
+is always humming snatches of song, or chanting right lustily: he speaks
+loud and freely with the few to whose converse he condescends; and there
+is a gay recklessness about his whole bearing almost too ostentatious to
+be natural. Before long you notice one peculiarity. Speaking or
+listening--sitting or standing--walking or resting--his long, white,
+lissom fingers are never still; they cannot handle the commonest object
+without betraying a swift, subdued dexterity. Look closer yet, and all
+his glib, sham-soldier talk will not deceive you. That gallant belongs
+to a great army, whose spoils--if not bloodless--must be won with knife
+and pistol, instead of rifle and sabre; to an order whose squires are
+often knighted with no gentle _accolade_--an order, the date of whose
+foundation neither herald nor historian knows, but which must last while
+Christendom shall endure--the Unholy Order of Industry.
+
+The professional gamblers, here, far outnumber the turfites of England,
+and they apply themselves to their business from early youth with far
+more exclusive pertinacity. The richest field for their talent is
+barren, now that the highroad of the Mississippi is closed; but still in
+every city of importance, North or South, he who would "fight the
+tiger," need not wander far without discovering his den. In Richmond,
+especially, the play never was so desperate and deep. It is unnecessary
+to say towards which side the sympathies and interests of the mercurial
+guild tend. The cunning Yankee was ever too prudent to risk much of his
+hard-earned gold on the chance of a card, fairly or unfairly turned: it
+is only the planter, on whom wealth flows in while he sleeps, that
+tempts Fortune with a daring, near which the recklessness of the Regency
+seems cautious and tame.
+
+It is not strange that the captive knight should accept his present
+position so cheerfully. Here, he enjoys every luxury that money can buy,
+and whithersoever he may be consigned, he is sure to fall on his feet;
+for it matters little to those cosmopolites on what spot of earth their
+vagrant tents are pitched. Neither is he of the stuff that is likely
+indefinitely to be detained: even this jealous Government need not fear
+to let such an enemy go free. My comrade--not innocent or unmindful of
+past losses at _faro_--contemplating the gay cavalier with no loving
+glance, growls out, "They won't bother themselves with that rubbish
+long."
+
+There is another figure, quite picturesquely repulsive, which will
+attract you more than if it were pleasant to look upon. A man,
+exceedingly old, stout, and lame, with red, savage eyes, and a scowl
+that never lightens or breaks: it would be an equine injustice to
+compare his head to a horse's; that of many a thoroughbred measures less
+in superficial inches. Clearly, a storekeeper from some remote village,
+where he has battened on the necessities of his neighbors for years,
+till he has got bloated like an ancient spider in its web. He hobbles up
+and down, never interchanging a word with his fellows, but unceasingly
+mumbling his huge toothless jaws; they say he never mutters anything but
+curses; if so, his daily expense in blasphemy is something fearful to
+contemplate. I think that cleanliness is as foreign to that horrible old
+creature's soul as godliness: he never shows a vestige of linen, and I
+am certain he sleeps in that rusty coat of bluish gray, and in that
+squalid cravat-rope, never untwisted since it was first donned. His
+offense must surely have been commerce, active and profitable, with
+Rebeldom, for he never can have sympathized with any living thing.
+
+One more picture, to close the list. I ought to know that figure, long
+and lanky, but sinewy withal, though the head, under the fur cap, is
+averted still.
+
+    Mock me not, for otherwhere, than along the greenwood fair,
+        Have I ridden fast with thee.
+
+He turns now--I knew I was right--it is my cheery host of the White
+Grounds, who led us so gallantly through brake, and brook, and
+snowdrift, when the Federal dragoons followed hard on our trail: a broad
+light of recognition spreads over all his honest face as he waves a
+stealthy salute, and I straightway go through the pantomime of drinking
+to his health and quick deliverance.
+
+Women of all classes are confined here; but beauty alone beams on the
+prison-yard from the windows of its cell. At this moment of writing, I
+hear voices from a room immediately below me; fair, the speakers
+possibly may be, but--judging from the fitful scraps of conversation
+that rise hither--they are assuredly _very_ frail.
+
+I think one of the most exasperating circumstances of this house of
+bondage, is the exceeding flimsiness of its defenses. Part of the
+inclosure of both yards consists of tall, thin boarding, full of cracks
+and crevices, that might be breached with no extraordinary exertion of
+foot or shoulder; and there is hardly any part of the stronghold out of
+which a man, of average ingenuity, armed with a common clasp-knife--if
+unwatched--could not make his way in a couple of hours. But, unwatched
+you never are. The passages are not more than thirty feet long, and
+there is a sentinel in each who can hear almost every sound from within.
+A State prisoner never stirs beyond his room, without an armed guard at
+his shoulder.
+
+I soon heard that my reverend neighbor on the right contemplated
+evasion, and, considering his opportunities, I rather wondered at
+finding him here. In every cell there is a small closet, corresponding
+with those on the floor above and below. In this especial one the
+ceiling had fallen away, or been removed by some former prisoner;
+nothing but plain boards intercepted a passage to the unoccupied
+attic-story, where dormer windows opened on to the shingle roof. But,
+with all this, it took the parson a full month to make up his mind and
+preparations. I often communed with him through the tunnel aforesaid,
+and he amused me not a little sometimes.
+
+He looked at all things through a magnifying glass of about eighteen
+power. I know that he was perfectly honest in the delusion of
+considering himself one of the most important State prisoners that had
+ever been confined here. He would have it that half Maryland was in
+mourning for him, and ready with ransom of untold gold, but was certain
+that the Government would never venture to set him free while the war
+should last. Upon the oath of allegiance being proposed to him, instead
+of simply declining, he defied the Judge to do his worst, expressing his
+readiness to confront either gallows or platoon. The risk of either was
+about equal to that of his being tortured at the stake, on the steps of
+the Capitol. In spite of all this simple vanity, and flightiness of
+brain, you could see that the parson had good strong principles, and
+held to them fast; and I believe that his nervous excitability would not
+have deterred him from encountering real danger. He appeared thoroughly
+courteous, generous, and good-natured; and my companion, to whose
+regiment he had been chaplain, told me that nothing could exceed his
+considerate kindness to the soldiers.
+
+Albeit afflicted by occasional fits of depression, the reverend, as a
+rule, talked very cheerily; but, ah! me, how sorrowfully he would sing!
+There was one psalm--penitential I presume--of about twenty-two verses,
+an especial favorite. This was probably, the most soul-depressing melody
+that has been chanted since the days of The Captivity. The mournful tone
+bore you down irresistibly; Mark Tapley would have subsided into
+melancholy gloom, before the slow versicles were half dragged through.
+But the parson was not the only musical culprit, nor the worse, by many
+degrees. It would be absurd to expect much cheerfulness here; a hoarse
+roar breaks out now and then at some coarse practical joke; but a frank,
+honest laugh--never. Yet I do wish that imprisoned discontent would vent
+itself otherwise than in discordant, dismal howling. At this minute a
+cracked voice is droning out,
+
+    A little more cider;
+
+it might be a Sioux chanting his death-song.
+
+How well I remember, in what "stately home of England" I first listened
+to that pleasant ditty. I hear, now, the leader's rich, round tones, and
+I see quite plainly the fair faces of the youths and virgins that made
+up the choir. _Basta!_ it don't bear thinking about. If mine enemy were
+anywhere but round the corner, I would try if his music would stand a
+volley of orange-shot.
+
+For three days or so, I could scarcely take up a paper without seeing my
+own unlucky name paraded in one or more paragraphs. As they all varied,
+it was somewhat remarkable that, in all alike, facts should have been so
+absurdly distorted. They were not content with drawing my own fancy
+portrait--imagine, if you please, the caricature--but they built a
+little romance about poor Falcon's assassin, giving him credit for much
+suffering for his country's sake, particularly for long imprisonment at
+Richmond, since which time he had devoted himself as an Avenger. I was
+gratified to observe that his name was seldom, if ever, correctly spelt.
+I did think of sending a contradictory note to one of the local
+journals, but decided against wasting ink and paper. Besides, it is a
+pity to abase oneself unnecessarily. "I ain't proud, 'cos its sinful,"
+nor over careful with whom I try a fall; but I confess a preference for
+more creditable antagonists than American penny-a-liners. So, I let
+them--lie.
+
+On the fourth evening of my imprisonment, there was an unusual stir in
+the building soon after nightfall. Intercourse between the different
+rooms is prevented as much as possible, but the channels of covert
+communication are many, and not easily cut off. In ten minutes every one
+was aware that the iron-clads which were to annihilate Charleston had
+recoiled, beaten and wounded. My mate rejoiced greatly after his
+saturnine fashion, and I--the fullness of listlessness being not
+yet--felt a brief glow of satisfaction. Others were more demonstrative.
+Loud came the paean of the warlike priest through our mural
+speaking-trumpet; while the sturdy soldier on the left, after hearing
+the news, and taking a trough-full of "old rye," expressed himself "good
+for two months more of gaol." Some one at a lower window began to sing,
+softly at first, the National Anthem of the South; then voice after
+voice joined in, in spite of sentinels' warnings, till the full volume
+of the defiant chorus rolled out, ringingly:
+
+    "Hurrah! hurrah! for Southern rights, hurrah!
+    One cheer more for the bonnie blue flag
+      That carries a Single Star."
+
+On the whole, I think that Sunday evening passed more rapidly than any
+that I can chronicle here.
+
+The newspapers, for the next few days, were rather amusing. The
+well-practiced Republican apologists exhausted their ingenuity in
+endeavoring to explain away the reverse. It was an experiment--a
+reconnaissance on a large scale--anything you please but a repulse. But
+the facts hemmed them in remorselessly; at last, in their desperation,
+they fell fiercely, not only on their Democratic opponents, but on each
+other.
+
+The truth is, that the failure of the iron-clads was so complete, that
+it ought to furnish some useful hints for the future. With the exception
+of the Keokuk, whose construction differed slightly from that of her
+fellows, none were sunk or fairly riddled with shot; but scarcely one
+went out of that sharp, brief battle efficiently offensive. The starting
+of bolts might easily be remedied, but it is clear that the revolving
+machinery of the turrets is far too delicate and vulnerable; and that
+these are liable to become "jammed" by a chance shot at any moment. This
+objection is the more serious, when you consider how miserably these
+vessels seem to steer. Almost all were more or less "sulky" as soon as
+they felt the strong tideway, and the huge Ironsides lay a helpless,
+useless log, half an hour after going into action. Neither do they
+appear to be very formidable offensively. No reliable evidence proves
+Fort Sumter to have suffered material damage; yet the attacking force
+spent their strength exclusively on one of its sides and angles, and
+there was nothing to prevent their pouring in a concentric fire on any
+weakened point or possible breach.
+
+But a stranger soon ceases to be surprised at any trick or eccentricity
+of the American Press. The common courtesies and proprieties of the
+Fourth Estate are utterly ignored in the noisy Batrachomachia; the first
+step in editorial training here must be to trample on self-respect, as
+the renegade used to trample on the cross. Not only do the leading
+articles teem with coarse personal abuse of political opponents, but a
+rival journalist is often freely stigmatized by name; his antecedents
+are viciously dissected, and the back-slidings of his great-grandsire
+paraded triumphantly; though this is an extreme case, for such an
+authenticated ancestor seldom helps or hampers the class of which I
+speak. A year of such ignoble brawling must surely be sufficient to
+annihilate more moral dignity than most of these small Thunderers can
+pretend to start with.
+
+One is prepared for anything after seeing whole columns of journals,
+boasting no small metropolitan and provincial renown, filled by those
+revolting advertisements, that the lowest of our own penny papers only
+accept under protest.
+
+Upon one point, certainly, all agree--constant distrust and depreciation
+of England; and, all things considered, I know no one spot on God's
+earth, where the hackneyed old line can be quoted so complacently by a
+Britisher:
+
+    Sibilat populus, mihi plaudo.
+
+It would be unfair, not to give the American Press credit for great
+energy and ability in collecting intelligence from the different seats
+of war. Considering the vast surface over which military operations
+extend, and the immense distances that often lie between the scene of
+action and the place of publication, it is really wonderful to see how
+copiously the New York journals contrive to minister to their readers'
+curiosity. The "Herald," in particular, has one or more correspondents
+wherever a single brigade is stationed, and according to their own
+accounts--which there is no reason to doubt--they frequently accompany
+the troops till actually under fire. All agents of the Press with the
+army of the Potomac are now obliged to sign their communications with
+their real name. This general order is of course intended to check the
+freedom of criticism, which has of late become rather too plain-spoken
+to be agreeable to the irascible Chief. But it is difficult to gag an
+undaunted "special;" so every morning the last intelligence streams
+forth--fresh, strong, and rather coarsely flavored--like new whisky from
+a still.
+
+The sobriety of the weekly journals contrasts refreshingly with the
+license of their diurnal brethren. Sporting papers are nearly the same
+all the world over; but, in the rest of these placid periodicals, there
+is little of violence or virulence to be found. They are enthusiastic
+about the war, of course, and occasionally querulous about the
+Copperheads; but they never quarrel among themselves, and are seldom
+thoroughly savage with any one or anything. They generally contain a
+chapter or two borrowed, with or without permission, from some English
+story in progress--"Eleanor's Victory" is the favorite now--the rest of
+the non-illustrated pages are filled with the very mildest little tales
+that, I think, ever were penned.
+
+These simple romancers in nowise resemble the vitriolic
+melo-dramatists--scarcely caricatured by _Punch_ in "Mokeanna,"--who try
+to drug, in default of intoxicating their audience; the liquor they
+proffer in their pretty flimsy cups, if not exciting, is far from
+deleterious; not unfrequently you catch glimpses of an under-current of
+honest pathos, soon smothered by garish flowers of language; and
+sometimes the style sparkles into mild effervescence, redeeming itself
+from utter vapidity; these ephemerals, indeed, belong rather to the
+lemonade than the milk-and-water class; but, throughout, there is a
+woeful want of _verve_ and virility.
+
+It was inexpressibly refreshing, after loitering through twenty such
+pages, to revert to the "History of the Crimean War:" the curt, nervous
+periods were a powerful mental tonic; and few of his many readers owe so
+practical a debt to Mr. Kinglake as the writer of these words.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+DARK DAYS.
+
+
+So--heavier with each link--the chain of days dragged on. My room mate
+soon thawed into a stolid sociability, and was quite disposed to be
+communicative; but his narrative riches about matched those of the
+knife-grinder, and his military experience of one year only embraced one
+battle--that of Manassas. His ideas of English society were very
+remarkable. The works of Mr. G. W. M. Reynolds are much favored, it
+appears, by the class who believe in Mr. George F. Train's veracity and
+eloquence; from these turbid fountains mine honest friend's conceptions
+were drawn. I took some trouble to undeceive him, and partially
+succeeded, chiefly by insisting upon the fact that--of all living
+writers--the ingenious author of the "Mysteries of Everything" was
+probably the man least qualified, by personal experience, to discourse
+concerning the manners and customs of the upper, or even the educated,
+classes. Slowly and reluctantly, the Baltimorean abandoned his cherished
+ideal of the British aristocrat--a covert Caligula, with all modern
+improvements--varying the monotony of orgies with interludes of murder
+and rapine; the instrument of these pleasant vices being always ready in
+the shape of a Frankenstein-monster, whose mission it is to tyrannize
+perpetually over the guilty lordling or lady whose secret he holds;
+doing a steady trade of two assassinations or abductions weekly; and
+utterly inviolable by cord, shot, or steel, up to the final blue-fire
+_tableau_ of the dreary drama. I believe that my mate is now prepared to
+admit, that a certain amount of piety and chastity is not incompatible
+with tenure of the highest dignities in the Anglican Church--that a
+youth need not necessarily be a savage Sybarite, because he happens to
+be heir to a dukedom--that matronly virtue may, with a struggle, be
+retained even by a Countess--and that a man may possibly be a kindly
+landlord, and even an honest farmer himself (that was the crowning
+triumph), though born a belted Earl.
+
+On the fourth day, I bethought myself of teaching my companion piquet
+(no purely transatlantic game is in the least interesting, if the stakes
+are nominal); he acquired it with the ready aptitude that seems natural
+to Americans, and I soon had to drop the odds of the deal. We played
+many hundred _parties_ for imaginary eagles; eventually I got a run, and
+left off a good winner, which, as my opponent had not money enough to
+buy tobacco, was highly satisfactory to every one concerned.
+
+After a week's confinement to my room, I was allowed to take half an
+hour's exercise daily in a narrow strip of yard just twenty-one paces
+long; it was hedged in with kitchens and all sorts of disagreeable
+buildings, but the additional space was not to be despised. On the first
+evening after this concession, I was pacing up and down moodily (only
+inmates of the same room are allowed to descend together, so that you
+gain no social advantage), when just over my head, from a window on the
+first story, there broke out a burst of merriment, and a
+half-intelligible trill of baby-language; then a little round pink face,
+under a cloud of fair hair, peered out at me through the bars. The utter
+incongruity of the whole picture struck me so absurdly, that, I believe,
+I did indulge in a dreary laugh. Then the child began to talk again; and
+clapped its hands exultingly, as its mother caught an orange I threw up
+at her, when the sentinel's back was turned. So a sort of acquaintance
+began. Every day for a month, I saw that promising two-year-old (to
+whose sex I cannot speak with certainty); and I never heard it fretting
+or wailing. Whenever it saw me, it used to break out into a real
+uproarious laugh, as if our common imprisonment was the very best joke
+that had ever been presented to its infantile mind. I am ashamed to
+avow, that my own sense of the ridiculous was by no means so keen. The
+mother evidently pined far more than the baby; for her face grew, every
+day, more white and worn. What was the offense of either against the
+Government, I never heard; for no official or soldier will answer any
+question, and discourse between the prisoners is strictly forbidden.
+They went South, in the great exodus of the 20th of May. I contrived on
+that morning, with much cunning, to cast in six or seven oranges at
+their window, which, I hope, solaced those two Gentle Traytours through
+the burden and heat of the day.
+
+Till I got too sulky and savage to seek unnecessary intercourse with any
+one, I found occasional amusement in chaffing the sentinels. The orders
+against conversation with these were not rigidly enforced. Finding that
+they rose very freely to the bait of a strained ironical politeness, I
+used to beg them to tell off by sections, the victims of their red right
+hands--chickens and ducks not being counted; also, I was fain to learn,
+how many rebel standards and pieces of cannon each man had captured and
+retained? If they took no credit for any such feats, I would by no means
+believe them, imputing the denial solely to the modesty inseparable from
+true courage.
+
+Descending into the yard, one day, I found the sentry--an overgrown lad,
+with broad, crimson, beardless cheeks--in a perfect paroxysm of
+excitement, using great freedom of gesticulation and blasphemy. I had
+had immense success in bewildering this particular warrior a few days
+previously: so I went up to him at once:
+
+"My blood-stained veteran," I said, "what has raised your apoplectic
+valor?"
+
+I think he was rather ashamed at being caught; but he grumbled out,
+sulkily rough, something about--"If they don't keep their ---- heads in,
+they'll get more than they ask for." I followed the direction of his
+eyes, and there, on the third story, sat two of the quietest-looking
+middle-aged women I ever beheld. They were evidently new arrivals, and
+had not heard of the injunctions against putting heads out windows: for
+they were staring down in blank astonishment, unconscious that the
+blatant threats were leveled at them. Now, the ingenious juggler who
+packed himself into a bottle, might possibly have succeeded in
+infringing the aforesaid rule: no other human being could have got his
+cranium through the bars. I suspect, it was simply an outbreak of the
+plethoric sentry's irrational ferocity (he had been sweltering under a
+burning sun for two hours) on the first helpless object that came across
+him; for I could not make out that the women had answered or aggravated
+him. I addressed to my friend many compliments on his prowess--trusting
+that his soldierly zeal would be appreciated in higher quarters.
+Nevertheless, I presumed to suggest that it would have been wiser to
+have begun with the baby: if he could frighten that into fits, his rapid
+promotion must have been insured. I believed that Brigadier Turchin
+would soon want an _aide_, and who knows? &c.
+
+In a few minutes he waxed frightfully wroth; but he had already broken
+the non-conversation orders, and I would not allow him to fall back upon
+these now. At last he retreated to a part of his beat where I could not
+follow him, and there growled and ground his teeth till my time was up.
+The corporal who was my immediate guard tried to excuse his comrade,
+hinting that "he wasn't quite right in the head." Possibly this may have
+been one of his "off-days." The jest of that afternoon was turned into
+bloody earnest before three weeks had passed.
+
+Not long after this I had a pleasanter incident to chronicle. As I
+entered the yard one day, my guard remarked with a broad grin:
+"Somethin' new up there, Colonel."
+
+The indiscriminate appropriation of military titles here, is, of course,
+proverbial, though common prudence made me very careful not to claim a
+fictitious rank, after leaving Baltimore, where I was well known. I got
+a brevet-step with almost every change of place or association;
+disclaimers were never listened to.
+
+Through the bars of a second story window that fronted each turn of my
+tramp, I saw--this. A slight figure in the freshest summer toilette of
+cool pink muslin; close braids of dark hair shading clear pale cheeks;
+eyes that were made to sparkle, though the look in them then was very
+sad, and the languid bowing down of the small head told of something
+worse than weariness.
+
+Truly, a pretty picture, though framed in such rude setting, but almost
+as startling, at first, as the apparition of the fair witch in the
+forest to Christabelle. Slightly in the background stood a mature
+dame--the mother, evidently. No need to ask what their crime had been;
+aid and abetment of the South suggested itself before you detected the
+ensign of her faith that the demoiselle still wore undauntedly--a pearl
+_solitaire_, fashioned as a single star. I may not deny that my gloomy
+"constitutional" seemed, thenceforward, a shade or two less dreary; but,
+though community of suffering does much abridge ceremony, it was some
+days before I interchanged with the fair captives any sign beyond the
+mechanical lifting of my cap when I entered and left their presence,
+duly acknowledged from above. One evening I chanced to be loitering
+almost under their window; a low, significant cough made me look up; I
+saw the flash of a gold bracelet and the wave of a white hand, and there
+fell at my feet a fragrant pearly rosebud nestling in fresh green
+leaves. My thanks were, perforce, confined to a gesture and a dozen
+hurried words, but I would the prison beauty could believe that fair
+Jane Beaufort's rose was not more prized than hers, though the first was
+a love token granted to a king, the last only a graceful gift to an
+unlucky stranger. I suppose that most men, whose past is not utterly
+barren of romance, are weak enough to keep some withered flowers till
+they have lived memory down, and I pretend not to be wiser than my
+fellows. Other fragrant messengers followed in their season, but, if
+ever I "win hame to mine ain countrie," I make mine avow to enshrine
+that first rosebud in my _reliquaire_, with all honor and solemnity,
+there to abide till one of us shall be dust.
+
+I heard from Lord Lyons about once a week. Though my letters were always
+answered most promptly, the replies never reached me within eight days.
+All correspondence, going or coming, passes the inspection of the
+Provost Marshal and the Superintendent, and letters are forwarded and
+delivered--sooner or later--the whole thing resolving itself into a
+question of official memory or convenience. I did not doubt from the
+first, that no intercession, that could properly be exercised, would be
+spared. If repeated applications and strong representations could have
+availed, I should have been free long ago. But many autocrats might take
+a lesson from the insolent indifference of this Administration, when an
+argument or a request is to be set aside; it is exactly in proportion to
+the pliancy they display when confronted with demands enforced by a
+substantial threat. Lord Lyons' reputation for courtesy and kindness of
+heart stands too high to need any testimony of mine; but I cannot
+forbear here expressing my sense of his good offices, and I am not the
+less grateful, because these words are written on the fifty-sixth day of
+imprisonment.
+
+To one member of the Legation, I am indebted for far more than official
+benevolence. On the second day after my committal, Percy Anderson
+brought up himself to the Old Capitol, a package containing cigars,
+books, newspapers, &c., which, he was told, would be transmitted to me
+"right away." I trust that the contents satisfied the critical tastes of
+the officer on guard; for from his clutches no fragment emerged. I never
+even heard of the kind intention, till weeks had passed; and, of many
+papers afterwards forwarded by the same hands, only one packet reached
+me.
+
+All this time, my reverend neighbor was pressing on in earnest his
+preparations for escape. His room-mate was a young Marylander, who had
+served some time on the staff of the Confederate army; he was captured
+at his own home, whither he had returned for a hurried visit, and was
+now detained as a "spy;" this vague and marvelously elastic charge is
+always laid, when it is desirable to exclude a prisoner from the
+conditions of exchange. The plan of evasion was very simple. After
+passing through the floor into the attic, and thence out through the
+dormer-window, they had to crawl over about eighty feet of
+shingle-roof--not slippery at all, nor particularly steep--along the
+ridge, except where they had to descend a little to circumvent the
+chimney-stacks; this brought them to another dormer, giving admission to
+a house in the same block of building, but not connected with the
+prison. The parson believed this to be uninhabited; and the event proved
+either that he was right, or that the inmates were friendly. After
+several false starts, they decided on making the attempt on the 1st of
+May.
+
+In the twenty-four hours preceding, the reverend's excitable nerves had
+been wound up to something above concert pitch. He seemed to hold the
+real risk--discovery and the bullet of a sentinel--very cheap; but,
+magnifying imaginary difficulties after his own peculiar fashion, he had
+come to look upon the roof as a pass of peril, only to be accomplished
+by preterhuman agility and steadiness of brain. His fellow-adventurer,
+who from first to last bore himself with a gay recklessness good to
+behold, laughed all such forebodings utterly to scorn. I tried the
+gentler tone of grave argument, demonstrating that a _glissade_ on
+shingles in dry weather was next to impossible, and that the ridge, once
+gained, was nearly as safe traveling as an ordinary mountain-path. The
+parson's armor of meek obstinacy was proof alike to reason and ridicule;
+he waxed not wroth, and was thankful for any suggestion; but, when asked
+to act accordingly, ever fell back on one plaintive formula--"I am no
+gymnast,"--after the fashion of that exasperating child who met all the
+Poet's questions and objections with the refrain of
+
+    Master, we are seven.
+
+These visionary terrors would have been of little moment, if they had
+not induced his reverence to persist in the use of certain machines,
+which were more than likely to bring the whole adventure to grief. These
+were a sort of sandals, studded with sharp nails, that could be fitted
+either to hands or feet, and no words can describe the proud
+satisfaction with which they were regarded by their simple-minded
+constructor. Though I saw it was almost useless, I tried hard to
+persuade him that, for any sort of climbing (where neither ice nor sharp
+edges were to be feared), no engines could be so safe as bare feet and
+hands; that it would be much harder to recover himself, if a slip ensued
+from any strap giving way; finally, that if the contrivance answered
+perfectly in every other way, there was certain risk of what was most to
+be avoided--sharp, sudden noises, likely to strike strangely on the
+sentinel's ear. My friend heard me out quite patiently, thanked me very
+cordially, and then--took his own way.
+
+Everything was ready by midnight; but the start was not made till three,
+A. M., at which hour the moon was quite down. We could talk but little,
+as it was especially important not to arouse any suspicion among the
+sentries; as far as I could make out, the adventurers employed the
+interval very wisely, in taking in supplies of both creature and
+spiritual comforts, dividing their attention about equally between
+supper and devotional exercises. At last the moment came, and they bade
+us farewell; the good parson bestowing upon my unworthy self a really
+pathetic benediction. If my own "God-speed" was less solemn, I know it
+was not less sincere. Then I went to bed, and as another twenty minutes
+passed without my hearing a sound, I began to think the fugitives were
+well away. I was just dropping off to sleep, when I heard voices in the
+yard speaking loud and hastily, though I could not catch the words. Then
+there was a scuffle of feet above, and a scrambling fall beyond the
+right hand wall. After a few minutes silence, quick steps came along the
+passage, and the door of No. 22 was opened. The visitors soon went away;
+but we did not know what watch might be set, so essayed no communication
+with our unlucky neighbor till the morning was far advanced. The
+adventure had miscarried in this wise.
+
+When they mounted into the empty attic they found the window invitingly
+open, and, after waiting a few minutes to humor the moon, the soldier
+volunteered to reconnoiter. He reached the ridge without the slightest
+difficulty, and crawled along till he could see his way clear to the
+window they wished to attain. Then he returned undiscovered and reported
+progress. Now the first mistake was making a reconnaissance at all:
+_vestigia nulla retrorsum_, ought to have been the word that night, if
+ever. The second and graver error was, allowing the parson to go first,
+when they started in earnest. The light, lithe body of the soldier could
+glide over the roof with the silent swiftness of a cat "on the rampage;"
+the same animal, shod with walnut-shells, suggests itself as an apt,
+though irreverent comparison for the priestly fugitive. To use the
+narrator's own words--occasionally more forcible than elegant:
+
+"You might have heard him two blocks off, squattering and spluttering
+over the shingles."
+
+Those miserable machines, when put to the proof, made more noise than
+even we had imputed to them. The prisoners over whose heads the parson
+passed, heard the slipping and scratching quite plainly, though the
+attic floor was between them. Nevertheless he had time to reach the
+desired window, to let it slip once with a resonant bang, and to slip
+inside out of sight, before any alarm was raised. But the drowsy or
+careless sentinel awoke to a sense of his position just as the second
+fugitive turned the first chimney-stack, and challenged with a threat of
+shooting. The Marylander knew that the game was up, as far as he was
+concerned; if he went on and escaped the bullet, those below would have
+seen at what window he entered, and the start was hopelessly short: to
+persist would only have insured two recaptures. He certainly did the
+wisest thing in retracing his way as speedily as possible. When the
+guards came to No. 22, they found its solitary inmate in bed, sleeping
+apparently the heavy, stertorous sleep of a deep drinker: an empty
+whisky-bottle gave a color of probability to the picture. They could get
+nothing out of him then; and, afterwards, he took the line of having
+been insensibly overcome by liquor, and so prevented from accompanying
+his fellow-prisoner. The authorities could scarcely have believed the
+story; but perhaps they wished to keep the escape as quiet as possible;
+at any rate the Marylander was not more strictly guarded or severely
+treated than before. He took the mishap with wonderful pluck and
+good-humor, and spoke rather humorously than wrathfully of the whole
+affair. Yet, as far as he knew, he had come back to indefinite
+captivity. When he went South with the rest of them on the 20th of May,
+no man of the five hundred better deserved freedom.
+
+Some days afterwards we had news of the divine--safe so far, and many
+miles away. Certainly, had he possessed his soul in patience a fortnight
+or so longer, he would have been forwarded to his desired destination
+securely and at the expense of the enemy. Before he reaches it now, he
+will have paid away a sheaf of greenbacks, and run the gauntlet of a
+frontier blockade, closing in more tightly every hour. North of the
+Potomac there is no rest for the sole of his foot. So, many would say,
+that the escapade had far better have been deferred. Eight weeks ago I
+should have been of that same opinion, but now I doubt--I--doubt. The
+prospect outside ought to be very dark, and rife with peril, to induce a
+man to resign himself deliberately to another decameron here.[2]
+
+[Footnote 2: Since writing the above, I have met the parson in England.
+I am bound to state that he gives rather a different account of the
+escapade, and intimates that the Maryland youth's "tightness" was rather
+real than shamed; that it was, in fact, the cause of his being left
+behind. It is possible that I may have been too hard on his reverence's
+nervousness--scarcely doing justice to his earnestness of purpose; but,
+as to the aforesaid infernal machines I decline to retract one word.]
+
+On the 15th of May, my room-fellow was told that he was to be sent South
+immediately: he received the news very stolidly, and betrayed no
+impatience during the interval that elapsed before the exchange-steamer
+could be got ready. Truth to say, it is rather an equivocal
+advantage--to be turned loose in a city where famine-prices prevail,
+utterly penniless. But, if my mate did not exult in his prospects,
+neither did he in any way despond. He "supposed he'd get along somehow;"
+indeed, he had plenty of a very useful capital--solid, persevering
+self-reliance.
+
+There was great bustle in the yard on the morning of the 20th; all the
+men who had got the order of release were mustered there before ten
+o'clock. After many delays, each person passed out singly, as his name
+was called, and it was high noon when the last prize was drawn; leaving
+nothing but dreary--very dreary--blanks for us whose tickets were still
+in the wheel. There was no uproarious merriment, or even exuberant
+cheerfulness in the crowd below; the satisfaction was of the saturnine
+sort, such as people feel who have waited long for their just dues, and
+have extraordinarily little to be thankful for. Once more, in dumb show,
+I pledged mine honest host of the White Grounds, while he responded in a
+stealthy _duc-an-dhurras_; then, having furnished my mate with such
+provant as was available, I wished him, too, sincerely good-speed.
+
+I cannot say that I was sorry, at first, to find myself quite alone. I
+am ashamed to confess that I had been daily growing more sullen and
+unsocial; upon reflection, I think I had decidedly begun to tyrannize
+over my companion; some of his harmless peculiarities, which I hardly
+noticed at first, would, at times, irritate me savagely; besides every
+cubic inch of vacant space has its value in a low-browed room twelve
+feet by eight, when the thermometer means mounting in earnest. But, as
+the dreary time dragged on, and as the leaden listlessness settled down
+heavier hour by hour, I began to look back regretfully, if not
+remorsefully. There were moments, not few or far between, when I would
+have given much to hear the wire-drawn monotone that lately had been an
+offense to me; ay, even though each slow sentence should be punctuated
+by expectoration.
+
+Among those who were exempted from the gaol delivery was an Englishman,
+John Hardcastle by name, who had been arrested about a month later than
+myself, on the Lower Potomac, on his way homeward through the Northern
+States. He had, I believe, been employed by the Confederate Government
+in carrying out some inventions and improvements in armory. There was
+nothing remarkable about the little, round, ruddy man, except a
+joviality which never seemed to droop in the heavy prison air; when I
+wrote that an honest laugh was never heard here, I ought to have made
+that one exception; he had a fair voice, too, and a large collection of
+songs, which he chanted out merrily, instead of merging all tunes into
+one dolorous drone. He was confined at first on the floor immediately
+under me, but, on the 20th. of May, changed his quarters into one of the
+large rooms in the main building, with windows opening back and front
+into the yard and the avenue; these latter were without bars. All
+through the evening of Sunday, the 24th, I listened, rather enviously,
+to Hardcastle's noisy mirth; his voice never ceased to rattle--now
+bantering a fellow-prisoner with good-natured aggravation--now shouting
+out a verse of some popular song--now declaiming a sentence or so of
+exaggerated mock-oratory--yet he did not give me the idea of being
+uproarious with drink (I heard afterwards he was perfectly sober),
+rather, he seemed possessed by an exhilaration involuntary and
+irrational, like a person who has inhaled laughing-gas. It was not till
+next day that the Highland word "Fey" came into my mind. I am scarcely
+inclined now, wholly to deride that old superstition. Is it possible
+that the foreshadow of doom does, in some mysterious way, affect certain
+nervous systems, when the soul, within a few hours, must pass out free
+through the rugged doors of violent death?
+
+About eleven o'clock on the following morning I heard a rifle-shot, but
+took, little heed of it, as I knew that accidental discharges from
+careless handling of firelocks were not uncommon. Shortly afterwards,
+the officer of the keys asked me to visit the Superintendent in his
+room. It was natural that such a summons should conjure up certain faint
+hopes of approaching liberation; or, at least, of the "hearing" so long
+deferred. All such visions vanished instantly at the first sight of the
+official's face, as he met me in the door-way; no good tidings for
+anyone were written there; I knew that some grave disaster had occurred,
+before my eye lighted on the table, strewn with papers, letters, and
+bank-notes--all dabbled with the dull, red blots that marked the hand of
+Cain.
+
+In a very few words--spoken in a low hoarse voice, strangely changed
+from its wonted boisterous loudness--the Superintendent told me why I
+was wanted there. A British subject had just been shot by a sentinel for
+transgressing the window-order mentioned above; as eight hundred dollars
+in Confederate notes, besides other valuables, were found on his person,
+it was thought well that I should assist at the inventory and attest its
+correctness. It seemed that some hasty words of the Superintendent,
+reflecting on the remissness of the soldiers on duty, had been the
+proximate cause of the slaughter, I do believe that the death-warrant
+was unwittingly spoken. The man's bearing and demeanor are rough, even
+to coarseness, and his sensibilities probably blunted from having
+perpetually to listen to complaints and tales of wrong-doing, which he
+must perforce ignore; but I do not think his nature is harsh or cruel;
+the bark of Cerberus is much worse than the bite; and he is quite
+capable of benevolent actions, done in an uncouth way. The lips of the
+corpse, up-stairs were scarcely whiter than those that kept working and
+muttering nervously close by my shoulder, as I sat at my ghastly task. I
+was right glad when all was ended, and I had escaped from the small,
+close room, where the air seemed heavy with the savor of blood. All that
+day, there lay upon the prison-house a weight and a gloom, that came not
+from the murky, windless sky; the few faces that showed themselves in
+the yard looked more dark and sullen than ever; and men, gathering in
+knots instead of pacing to and fro, murmured or whispered eagerly. My
+unlucky head chanced to be more troublesome than usual; altogether, I
+cannot look back upon a more depressing evening.
+
+About noon on the following day, a tawdry coffin of polished elm, beaded
+and plated wherever there was room for a scrap of silvered metal, was
+laid on chairs in the prison yard; and, soon, all those who had access
+to that part of the building gathered round it--listening, uncovered, to
+the scanty rites, which the Old Capitol concedes to prisoners released
+by that Power, in presence of whose claims the _habeas corpus_ is never
+suspended. A tall, lank-haired man, looking more like an undertaker than
+a divine of any denomination, read straight through, without a syllable
+of preface, the fifteenth chapter of the First Epistle to the
+Corinthians, and then, kneeling down, began a rambling, extemporaneous
+prayer, the main object of which seemed to be, to address the Deity by
+as many periphrastic adjurations as possible. The orator besought "that
+these melancholy circumstances might be blessed to us, the survivors;"
+and rehearsed several platitudes on the uncertainty of life; but, from
+first to last, there was not one single word of intercession or
+commendation on behalf of the dead man's soul. I was glad when it was
+over; our own simple service, read by the merest layman, would surely
+have been a more fitting obsequy.
+
+What followed was startling enough from its very suddenness. One of the
+assistants stepped forward, and, with a quick, careless motion, threw
+back two folding shutters, that formed the upper part of the coffin lid;
+the blaze of the vertical sun, on which no living thing could have
+looked unblinded, fell full on the heavy eyelids, that never shrunk or
+shivered, and on the bare, upturned features, blanched to the unnatural
+whiteness only found in corpses from which the life-blood has been
+drained away. Since then, I have tried to recall the face as I saw it
+often--round and ruddy, beaming with reckless joviality, and grotesque
+humor: it will only rise as I saw it once--white, and solemn, and still.
+When the crowd had satisfied their curiosity, the coffin was borne away,
+and everything fell back into the old groove of monotony.
+
+It will hardly be believed, that, though the victim had communicated
+more than once with the British Legation (an envelope franked by Lord
+Lyons was among the papers I examined), the Federal authorities did not
+deem it necessary to give any official notice of the slaughter. Percy
+Anderson was absolutely ignorant of what had happened, when he came to
+me on the following day. The fact, too, is significant, that the
+Washington journals, for whose net no incident is generally too small,
+made no allusion to the tragedy, till the Thursday morning; I presume
+silence was considered useless, when a member of our Legation must have
+been made acquainted with the details.
+
+The regrets of those who may have been interested in poor John
+Hardcastle's life and death, will scarcely be lessened by the knowledge,
+that he was not even in fault when he suffered. There were eight or ten
+prisoners confined in the same room; and it was one of his companions
+who had previously been twice warned back by the sentinel: he himself
+was shot almost instantaneously after his head was thrust forth, without
+a second challenge. The Washington papers stated that, when ordered to
+draw back, he refused with an oath. With such chroniclers, one would not
+bandy contradictions; I give this version of the facts, as I received it
+from the lips of the Superintendent.
+
+Late in the afternoon of Wednesday, the 27th, I was again summoned
+below. I found Percy Anderson waiting there: he had obtained from the
+War Office an order to see me alone, without limitation of time. I
+understood that there was no precedent for such a concession; the
+general rule being that prisoners should only receive their friends in
+the presence of an officer, who is bound to watch and listen jealously,
+while no interview can be extended beyond fifteen minutes. Never,
+surely, was a call better timed. I was at my very worst, just then;
+besides a couple of potatoes and a crust of dry bread, no solid food had
+passed my lips for seventy hours. Of my personal appearance, from my own
+knowledge, I can say nothing, (for my mate and I had agreed in
+considering mirrors superfluous luxuries); but, from the startling
+effect produced upon my visitor, I fancy that the dreary week of weeks
+had made wild work with the outward as well as inward man. I know that
+the kind diplomatist was more than pained at finding himself unable to
+give me any foothold of certain or substantial hope; it was impossible
+to hazard a reliable guess as to the termination of my confinement.
+Hitherto, the unceasing efforts of the Legation had spent themselves on
+the passive obstinacy of the Federal Government like bullets on a cotton
+bale; of a truth it was long before those unjust judges grew aweary.
+Nevertheless, the mere sight and sound of a frank English face and voice
+were more effectual restoratives than all the cunning tonics and
+incentives with which the prison surgeon had been striving to quicken an
+imperceptible pulse, and to revive a deceased appetite. I have always
+thought since, that the rest at that one conversational oasis, just
+enabled me to hold on to the hither verge of Sahara.
+
+The next eight days seem nearly blank to me now. I was past reading
+anything, for I could scarcely make out the capitals with which the
+journalists headed their daily bits of romance from Vicksburg and
+elsewhere. It was with great difficulty that I scrawled detached
+sentences at long intervals--a difficulty that, I fear, some unhappy
+compositor, doomed to decipher the foregoing pages, will thoroughly
+appreciate, though he may decline to sympathize with.
+
+I had one passage of arms with the Superintendent during that week. I
+have an idea that I spoke somewhat freely with regard to the
+Administration that he had the honor to serve, pressing him for a
+justification of its conduct in my own especial case.
+
+The official listened quite coolly and calmly, with a twinkle of
+amusement in his shrewd cynical eyes, and answered:
+
+"Well, we've had a good bit of trouble with England and English this
+year; and I reckon they think they've got a pretty fair-sized fish now,
+and mean to keep him, whether or no."
+
+"That's Republican justice, all over," I said; "to make the one that you
+can catch, pay for the dozen that you can't, or that you are afraid to
+grapple with."
+
+"I don't know about justice," was the reply; "but it's d----d good
+policy."
+
+And so we parted--not a whit worse friends than before.
+
+    Delicta, majorum, immeritus lues,
+
+if memory had not failed me, I might have quoted that line often and
+appropriately enough. But every agent in the "robbery"--from the
+vainglorious Virginian, my chief captor, down to the smooth Secretary,
+whose velvet gripe was so loth to unclose--seemed provokingly bent on
+exaggerating the importance of their prize. Perhaps the very interest
+felt in my release, and the exertions unsparingly used--especially in
+Baltimore--to secure it, strengthened the false impressions or pretenses
+of the Federal powers. I write in the firm assurance that no Southern
+friend will deem these words ungracious or ungrateful.
+
+There is no stone, above or below ground, white enough to mark,
+worthily, in my calender, the fifth day of last June. I hereby abjure,
+for evermore, any superstitious prejudice against the ill luck of
+Fridays. Late in the afternoon, I was pacing to and fro in the narrow
+exercise-ground, speculating idly as to the delay of my dinner, which
+was overdue--not that I felt any interest in the subject, but it was a
+sort of break, and fresh starting-point in the monotony of hours--when I
+was summoned once more into official presence. They took me to the room
+on the ground-floor, where I had waited on the first day of my
+imprisonment while the cell above was preparing. I found there the
+lieutenant commanding the guard, and two or three more officers, one of
+whom, I understood, was a deputy of the Judge-Advocate. They read out a
+paper, of which the following is an exact copy, and asked if I had any
+objection to sign it:
+
+     DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, COUNTY OF WASHINGTON.
+
+     _Old Capital Prison, Washington, D. C._
+
+     I, ----, of ----, in England, do solemnly swear on my Parole of
+     Honor, that I will leave the United States of America, with as
+     little delay us possible, and that I will not return there during
+     the existing rebellion.
+
+     So help me God.
+     Signed, ----.
+
+     Sworn to and subscribed before me,
+     this fifth day of June, A. D. 1863.
+     JOHN A. LOVELL,
+     Lieut. Comdg. Guard.
+
+Now, had I been offered a free passage South, I doubt if I should have
+accepted it, then; the aspect of things within the last two mouths had
+changed for me entirely. I could not hope to carry out one of my
+original plans; for all available resources were nearly exhausted, and
+procuring fresh supplies from home would have involved infinite
+difficulty and delay. Besides, a refusal gave at once to the Federal
+authorities the pretext for detention that they had sought so eagerly,
+and, so far, failed to find. I know no earthly consideration, excepting
+clear obligations of duty or honor, that would have persuaded me to
+incur ten more prison days. If, instead of being a free agent, I had
+been bound by an oath to penetrate into Secessia at all hazards, I
+should have held myself at that moment amply assoilzed of my vow. So,
+with the remark--"that, of all the places on this earth, the Northern
+States of America was the country I most wished to leave, and least
+cared to revisit"--I signed the parole, and confirmed it with an oath.
+
+Then, it appeared that my debt to the Union was paid, so that it had no
+further lien on my effects or me. The saddle-bags were soon packed; in
+another half-hour, I stood outside the prison-door--realizing, with a
+dull, dazed feeling of strangeness and novelty, that there was not the
+shadow of bolt, bar, or wall between me and the clear sultry skies.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+HOMEWARD BOUND.
+
+
+Now that this personal narrative is drawing rapidly to its close, there
+is one point to which I must needs allude, at the risk of sinning
+egotistically. While under lock and key, I never ventured to grapple
+with the subject. Even now--sitting in a pleasant room, with windows
+opening down on a trim lawn studded with flower-jewels and girdled with
+the mottled belts of velvet-green that are the glory of Devonion
+shrub-land, beyond which Tobray shimmers broad and blue under the breezy
+summer weather--I shrink from it with a strange reluctance that I
+cannot, shake off, though it shames me.
+
+I speak of the effect--moral, intellectual, and physical--produced by
+those eight weeks of imprisonment.
+
+I do not wish to intimate that there were any actual hardships beyond
+the prevention of free air and exercise to be endured. More than this: I
+am ready and willing to allow, that certain privileges were conceded to
+me that I had no right to claim, which were granted to few, if any, of
+my fellows in misfortune. The Corporal of the Keys was a clerk in the
+house of Ticknor & Field, the great Boston publishers, before he became
+a soldier; and was disposed to show every consideration and indulgence
+to one whom he was pleased to consider a brother of the Literate Guild.
+The under-superintendent--Donnelly by name--treated one with a
+benevolence quite paternal. The monotony of my solitary confinement was
+often broken by his rambling chat and reminiscences of a gambler's life
+in the Far West; for he liked nothing better than lingering in my cell
+for an hour or so, when his day's work was done. After the prison doors
+were opened, I lingered for ten minutes within them, to exchange a
+farewell hand-grip with that quaint, kind old man. There was a stringent
+curfew-order, enjoining the extinguishment of all lights at nine, P. M.;
+but on condition of vailing my window with a horse-rug, so as not to
+establish a bad precedent, I was allowed to keep mine burning at
+discretion. Now some readers of these pages may think that a
+confinement, such as I have described, wherein, there was to be obtained
+a sufficiency of meat, drink, tobacco, and light literature, is not,
+after all, a _peine forte et dure_; and that it is both weak and
+unreasonable thereanent to make one's moan. So, in bygone days, when a
+lazy fit was strong upon me, have I thought myself. I am not malicious
+enough to wish that the most contemptuously skeptical of such critics
+may be undeceived, at the price which I paid for the learning. It is
+possible that a person of settled sedentary habits, endowed not only
+with powerful resources within himself, but also with the ornament of a
+meek and quiet spirit, might hold out well enough for awhile, more
+especially if supported by the reflection that he was suffering for his
+country's good or for his own private advantage. But take the converse
+example of a man unsupported by any consolations of patriotism or
+peculation, of a temperament somewhat impatient, and prone to anger,
+accustomed, too, from youth upwards, to constant habits of strong
+out-door exercise, with such an one I fancy it will fare--very much as
+it fared with me. It is an established fact, that a few months'
+confinement within four walls, without stint of food or aggravation of
+punishment, will bring an athletic Red Indian to the extreme of bodily
+prostration, if not to mortal sickness.
+
+It is humiliating to confess, but I fear unhappily true, that in despite
+of all advantages of a civilized education, some of us, under like
+circumstances, will go down as helplessly as the noble savage.
+
+Would you like to hear of the process? It is not pleasant to look upon,
+or to tell.
+
+The first few days are spent in an uneasy, irritable expectation that
+every hour will bring some news--good or bad--from the world without,
+bearing on your own especial case; then comes the frame of mind wherein
+you allow that there must be certain official delays, and begin to
+calculate, wearily, how far the wire-drawn formalities will be
+protracted, making a liberal margin for unexpected contingencies: this
+phase soon passes away: then comes the bitter, up-hill fight of hoping
+against hope; how long this may endure depends much on temperament--more
+on bodily health; but in most cases it is soon over, and is succeeded by
+the last state, ten thousand times worse than the first: slowly, but
+very surely, the dense black cloud of utter listlessness settles down,
+never broken thereafter save by brief flashes of a futile, irrational
+ferocity. All your ideas move round like tired mill-horses, in the
+narrowest circle, with an unhappy Ipse Ego for its centre: all the
+passing events of the outward world seem unnaturally dwarfed and
+distant, as if seen through an inverted telescope: the struggles of
+stranger nations move you no more than the battles on an ant-hill; the
+only question of civil or religious liberty in which you feel the
+faintest interest is the unimportant one involving your own personal
+freedom. And throughout you are shamefully conscious that this
+indifference is not philosophical, but simply selfish.
+
+So much for the _morale_. Does the _physique_ fare better.
+
+When you enter the gaol, there is probably laid up in your lungs a
+certain store of fresh, free air, which takes some time to exhaust
+itself; but soon you begin to draw your breath more and more slowly, and
+to feel that the atmosphere inhaled no longer refreshes you; no
+wonder--it is laden with compressed animal life. Then a dull, hot weight
+closes round your brows, as if a heavy, fever-stricken hand was always
+clasping them; there it lies--at night, when the drowsiness which is
+_not_ sleep overcomes you--in the morning, when you wake, with damp
+linen and dank hair: plunge your forehead in ice-cold water; before the
+drops have dried there it is burning--burning again. The distaste for
+all food grows upon you, till it becomes a loathing not to be driven
+away by bitters or quinine: there is no savor in the smoke of
+Kinnekinnick, nor any flavor in the still waters of Monongahela.
+Physical prostration of necessity speedily ensues. Let me mention one
+fact--not in vaunting, but in proof that I do not speak idly. When we
+were trying those athletics at Greenland, the day after my capture, I
+could rend a broad linen band fastened tightly round my upper arm by
+bending the _biceps_: when I had been a month in Carroll place I had to
+halt, at least once, from absolute breathlessness and debility, on the
+stairs leading from the yard to the third story; my pulse was almost
+imperceptible. By this time my sight had become so seriously affected
+that I was absolutely unable to read the clearest print; even now, a
+month after my enfranchisement, though keen Atlantic breezes and home
+comforts have worked wonders, I cannot write five consecutive sentences
+without a respite.
+
+I am forced to quote my own experience; but I know that it could be
+matched, if not exceeded, by very many cases of equal or worse
+suffering.
+
+Long confinement falls, of course, intensely harder on a stranger than
+on a native. The latter, I suppose, can never quite divest himself of an
+interest in passing events, which the former, at the best of times, can
+but faintly share: besides which, most Americans--not purely political
+prisoners--have either a definite term of captivity to look forward to,
+or are, in one way or other, subject to the chances of exchange.
+
+If the Federal Government had avowed at once, that it was their
+sovereign pleasure to keep an Englishman in durance for a _certain_
+period, without attempting to excuse the arbitrary stretch of authority,
+one would have chafed, I suppose, under the injustice, but still
+submitted, as it is the duty of manhood to submit to any inevitable
+necessity. It was the doubt and indefiniteness of the whole affair that
+made it so inexpressibly exasperating. It was bad enough to have no
+palpable adversary to grapple with: it was worse to have no specific
+charge. As I had contravened a general order by crossing the Federal
+lines without a pass, the Legation did not apply for my unconditional
+release: it merely pressed for the inquiry and trial that, in most
+civilized countries, a criminal can claim as a right. I was never
+confronted with any judicial authority from the moment that I entered
+the prison doors till they opened to let me go free: I never received
+any official intimation of the reasons for my prolonged detention; and
+Lord Lyons' repeated applications were at last only met by a vague
+assertion that they "had reason to believe that an aide-de-camp's
+commission, signed by General Lee, had reached me at Baltimore." There
+was not, of course, the faintest scintilla of evidence to establish
+anything of the sort. While in America I received no communication
+whatever--written or verbal--from any person connected with the
+Confederate Government or army.
+
+I do honestly affirm that, in dilating on the several hardships of my
+own especial case, I have no idea of enlisting any sympathy, public or
+private. I simply wish to show what arbitrary oppression can be
+exercised upon British subjects with perfect impunity by a Government
+which will maintain quasi-friendly relations with our own just so long
+as it conforms the standing-ground of a tottering Cabinet. Perhaps, some
+day or other, as a last peace-offering to the Republican hydra, MM.
+Seward and Stanton will burn a bishop, and so bring our pacific Foreign
+Office to bay.
+
+Physical causes prevented my feeling very exhilarated or exultant during
+my earliest hours of freedom. It was pleasant though to meet an English
+face at the hotel where I meant to sleep. I had not seen Mr. Austin
+since we were contemporaries at Oxford; but on the 2d June I had
+received from him a very kind and courteous note, offering a visit, if
+it should be acceptable. I need scarcely say how welcome it would have
+been; but he did not get my written reply till the following Monday--not
+bad time, either, for the Old Capitol post-office. I dined with Mr.
+Austin, and at the same table sat General Martindale, military commander
+at Washington, and Senator Sumner. The former certainly recognized my
+identity; but he was not the less amicable for that. It was odd to find
+myself receiving suggestions as to my route, in case I visited Niagara,
+from the same man who three days before had granted a pass to my friend
+for his proposed prison visit. I sat some time after dinner in talk with
+Mr. Sumner. His face is much aged and careworn since I first saw it,
+some years ago, in England: but his manner retains the polished
+geniality which made him so great a favorite in most European _salons_.
+
+The rest of the evening I spent at Percy Anderson's. I much regretted
+that I could not see Lord Lyons, to express my sense of his unwearied
+exertions in my behalf; but he was dining out; and it was judged better
+that I should not risk an apparent infringement of my parole by
+lingering in Washington an unnecessary hour the next morning, so I was
+forced to trust my thanks to writing.
+
+I can never forget, while I live, the welcomes which waited me in
+Baltimore; welcomes much too cordial to be wasted on a discomfited
+adventurer. Still I was glad to find that those whose opinion was well
+worth having gave one credit for having deserved success. I was very,
+very loth to leave my kind friends, though we may perchance forgather
+again should I outlive my parole, and be enabled to carry out certain
+half-formed plans of hunting in the Far West. It was only the sternest
+sense of duty that impelled me to sacrifice to Niagara sixty hours that
+intervened before June the 13th, when the Inman steamer started, in
+which I had secured a berth by telegraph.
+
+Twenty-two hours of unbroken rail-travel--partly through the beautiful
+Susquehannah Valley; partly through the best cultivated lands (about
+Troy and Elmira) that I saw in the States, whose trim, loose stone walls
+reminded one of part of the Heythrop and Cotswold countries--brought us
+to Buffalo. The Company had here so contrived matters that it was
+absolutely impossible for the traveler to proceed farther that night, or
+to get at any luggage beyond what he carries in his hand: from Elmira it
+travels by a route of its own, to which your through-ticket does not
+apply: the baggage-agent hands it over to you at Niagara the next
+morning, with a cheerfully placid face, as if rather proud of the
+satisfactory correctness of the whole arrangement.
+
+I will not add a stone to the descriptive cairn heaped up by generations
+of tourists in honor of the King-Cataract; simply because it is
+presumption in any man to pass judgment on that famous scene till he has
+studied it for more days than I could spare hours. I do not think, the
+eye is disappointed, even at first sight: after being fully prepared by
+Church's vivid picture--a very triumph of transparent coloring--you
+still stand dumb in honest admiration of that one miracle in the midst
+of wonders--the central curve of the Horse-shoe--where the main current
+plunges over the verge, without a ripple to break the grandeur of the
+clear, smooth chrysoprase, flashing back the sunlight through a filmy
+lace-work of foam. But the ear is certainly dissatisfied: perhaps my
+acoustics were out of order, as well as other cephalic organs; but it
+struck me that Niagara hardly _made any noise at all_. Yet I penetrated
+under the Fall as far as there is practicable foothold; and listened at
+all sorts of distances for a _deafening_ roar, which never came.
+
+I started eastward again by that same night's express. I cannot let
+this, my last experience, pass, without recording my vote on the
+much-mooted question of American railway travel. The natives, of course,
+extol the whole system as one of the greatest of their institutions; but
+I cannot understand any difference of opinion among strangers. The
+baggage arrangement--except when the Company suffers under an aberration
+of intellect, such as I have mentioned on the Niagara route--is really
+convenient, and the _commissionaires_ attached to every train relieve
+you of all responsibility at your journey's end, by collecting your
+effects and transporting them to any given direction; but this solitary
+advantage does not counterbalance other _desagremens_. When the weather
+is such as to allow a true current of air to circulate through the car,
+the atmosphere is barely endurable; but with stoves at work, and all
+apertures closed, it soon becomes dangerously oppressive. The German
+element prevails strongly throughout Yankee-land: perhaps this accounts
+for the natives' dread of fresh air. Your only chance of escaping from
+semi-suffocation is to secure a seat next to a window, and keep it open,
+hardening your heart against all the grumbling of your neighbors, who
+run through a whole gamut of complaints, in the hope of softening or
+shaming the Hyperborean. Sometimes you will have to encounter menaces;
+but, in such a cause, it is surely worth while to do battle to the
+death; revolver and bowie-knife lose their terrors in the presence of
+imminent asphyxia. The advocates of the system chiefly insist on the
+sleeping-cars, and the advantage of passing from one end of the train to
+the other at your pleasure. On the first of these points, let me say,
+that few aliens, after one trusting experiment of those stifling berths,
+will be inclined to repeat it: the atmosphere of a crowded steamboat
+cabin is pure and fresh by comparison. As for the vaunted promenade--the
+man who would avail himself thereof, would, probably waltz with grace
+and comfort to himself on the deck of the Lively Sally in a sea-way: it
+requires some practice even to stand upright without holding on; the
+jolting and oscillation are such that I think you take rather more
+involuntary exercise than on the back of a cantering cover-hack. The
+pace is not such as to make much amends: from twenty to twenty-five
+miles an hour is the outside speed even of expresses: and on many lines
+you ought to calculate the probabilities of arrival by anything rather
+than the time-tables. Collisions, however, are certainly rare; the most
+common accident is when the train breaks through one of the crazy wooden
+bridges, or, obeying the direction of some playfully eccentric
+pointsman, plunges headlong over an embankment into some peaceful valley
+below. The steam-signals are very peculiar; the engine never whistles,
+but indulges in a prolonged bellow, very like the hideous sounds emitted
+by that hideous semi-brute, yclept the Gong-Donkey, who used to haunt
+our race-courses some years ago--making weak-minded men start, and
+strong-minded women scream with his unearthly roaring. When I first
+heard the hoarse warning-note boom through the night, a shudder of
+reminiscence came over me, for I used to shrink from that awful creature
+with a repugnance such as I never felt for any other living thing.
+
+All the weariness of the long night-journey will not prevent a traveler
+from appreciating the superb Hudson, along whose banks the last part of
+the road, from Albany, is carried. You are seldom out of sight of the
+Caatskill range--blue in the distance or dark in the foreground--but the
+crowning glory of the river are the old cliffs, where the rock soars up
+sheer from the water's edge, with no more vegetation on its face than
+will grow in the crevices of ancient walls.
+
+I had scarcely twenty-four hours left for the Imperial City before the
+Edinburgh sailed. This time I abode at the New York Hotel, where a
+Baltimorean had already secured quarters. This much, at least, must be
+conceded to the Yankee capital. In no other town that I know of can a
+traveler so thoroughly take his ease in his inn. These magnificent
+_caravanserais_ cast far into the shade the best managed establishments
+of London, Paris, or Vienna, simply because luxuries enough to satiate
+any moderate desires, are furnished at fixed prices that need not alarm
+the most economical traveler. The _cuisine_ at the New York Hotel is
+really artistic, and the attendance quite perfect. Also is found there a
+certain Chateau Margaux of '48: after savoring that rich liquid velvet,
+you wilt not wonder that the house has long been a favorite with the
+Southern Sybarites. Things are changed, of course, now, and many of Mr.
+Cranston's old patrons must now exercise their critical tastes on
+mountain whisky and ration beef; but the tone of feeling in the
+establishment remains the same. An out-spoken Republican or Abolitionist
+would not meet a cordial welcome from the present frequenters of the New
+York, nor, I think, from its jovial host. Likewise the Empress City can
+boast that her barbers and iced drinks do actually "beat all creation."
+After a long journey you are thoroughly disposed to appreciate these
+scientific tonsors, whose delicacy of manipulation is unequaled in
+Europe. Only the pen of that eloquent writer, who told the "Times" how
+he "thirsted in the desert," could do justice to the high-art triumphs
+of the cunning barkeeper.
+
+"Joe"--of the mirthful eye, and agile hand, and ready repartee--long may
+you flourish, mitigating the fierce summer thirst of many a parched
+palate; stimulating withered appetites till they hunger anew for the
+flesh-pots; warming the heart-cockles of departing voyagers till they
+laugh the keen breezes of the bay to scorn. With me, at least, gratitude
+for repeated refreshment shall long keep your memory green--green as the
+mint-sprays that, when your last "julep" is mingled, should surely be
+strewn, unsparingly, on your grave.
+
+I never felt quite clear of Federaldom till I set my foot firm on the
+deck of the good ship Edinburgh. I did not indulge in a soliloquy even
+then; so I certainly shall not inflict on _you_ any rhapsodies about
+freedom; but, in good truth, the sensation was too agreeable to be
+easily forgotten.
+
+The homeward voyage was as great a "success," as unbroken fine weather,
+favorable winds, and company both pleasant and fair, could make it. On
+the thirteenth day, towards evening, I found myself in the familiar
+Adelphi, at Liverpool, savoring some "clear" turtle, not with a less
+relish because, in the accurately pale face of the waiter who brought in
+the lordly dish, there was not the faintest yellow tinge nor a ripple of
+"wool" in his hair.
+
+All of my personal narrative that could possibly interest the most
+indulgent public is told now; if the few words I have left to say should
+bore you--O patient reader!--they will at least be free of egotism.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+A POPULAR ARMAMENT.
+
+
+It was ordained that the navy should reap all the boys and the men that
+were to be gathered in the warfare of this spring. The amphibious
+failures in the southwest involved no graver consequences than a vast
+futile expenditure of Northern time, money, and men; such waste has been
+too common, of late, to excite much popular disgust or surprise. In
+other parts, the keenest correspondent has been put to great straits for
+memorable matter; for a skirmish, or a raid, even on a large scale, can
+hardly carry much beyond a local interest.
+
+On the last day of April, the summer land-campaign began in earnest,
+when its truculent commander led the "finest army on the planet" across
+the Rappahanock, unopposed.
+
+If all other warlike music was prudently silent then, be sure, the
+General's own private trumpet flourished very sonorously; indeed, for
+many days past it had not ceased to ring. Few armaments have set forth
+under more pompous auspices. First came the great review, graced by the
+presence of the White House Court, who witnessed the marching past of
+the biennial veterans with perfect patience, if not satisfaction. The
+"specials" of the Republican papers outdid themselves on that occasion;
+magnificently ignoring his temporary dignity, they hesitated not to
+compare each member of the President's family with a corresponding
+European royalty, giving, of course, the preference to the
+home-manufactured article: it was good to read their raptures over the
+gallant bearing of Master Lincoln, as if "the young Iulus" (as they
+_would_ call him) had shown himself worthy of high hereditary honors.
+One writer, I think, did allow, that the balance of grace might incline
+rather to Eugenie the Empress, than to the President's stout,
+good-tempered spouse; but he was much more cynical or conscientious than
+most of his fellows.
+
+Thenceforward one became aweary of the sight, sound, and name of
+"Hooker." The right man was in the right place at last: had his counsels
+been followed in the Peninsula, when the caution or incapacity of
+McClellan threw the grand opportunity away, the Federal flag would have
+floated over Richmond last summer. Was there not the hero's own
+testimony to that effect, rendered before the War Committee, months ago,
+wherein, with a chivalrous generosity, he ceased not to exalt himself on
+the ruined reputation of his late commander? Even as Ajax prayed for
+light, the people cried aloud for one week of fair weather: no more was
+wanted to crush and utterly confound the hopes of Rebels, Copperheads,
+and perfidious Albion. Every illustrated journal was crowded with
+portraits, of Fighting Joe and his famous white charger; it was said,
+that horse and rider could never show themselves without eliciting a
+burst of cheering, such as rang out near the Lake Regillus, when
+Herminus and Black Auster broke into the wavering battle. No wonder. Had
+he not thoroughly reorganized the army demoralized by Burnside's defeat,
+till there was but one word in every soldier's mouth, and that
+word--"Forward!"
+
+There was joy, as for a victory, when it was known that the Falmouth
+camp was broken up, and that the eager battalions had left the
+Rappahannock fairly behind them: as to success, only fools or traitors
+could question it. Even the Democratic journals were carried away by the
+tide, and hardly ventured to hesitate their doubts. The hero's own
+proclamation, issued on the south bank of the river, was surely enough
+to reassure the most timid unbeliever.
+
+How vaunt and prophecy were fulfilled, all the world knows now. A more
+miserable waste of apparently ample means and material has seldom been
+recorded in the annals of modern war. General Hooker stands forth the
+worthy rival of that mighty monarch, who,
+
+            "With fifty thousand men,
+    Marched up the hill and then--marched down again."
+
+But of the two, the exploit of the American strategist is much the most
+brilliant and memorable; his preparations and blunders were conducted on
+a vaster scale, and, Varus-like, scorning the triviality of a bloodless
+disgrace, he left sixteen thousand dead, wounded, and missing behind in
+his retreat.
+
+The defeated General may well pray to be saved from his friends: the
+strongest ground of condemnation might be drawn from the excuses of some
+of these injudicious partisans. Not more than a third of the Federal
+forces was, they say, at any one time engaged: yet Hooker's last words
+to his troops, before going into action, boasted that the enemy must,
+perforce, fight him on his own ground. The Federal commander recognized,
+perhaps not less than his opponent, the importance of the simple old
+tactic--bringing a superior force to bear on detached or weak points of
+the adverse line--which has entered, under one form or another, into
+most great military combinations since war became a science; but he
+appears to have been utterly incapable of reducing theory to practice.
+For the twentieth time in this war, a Northern general was
+outmanoeuvred and beaten, simply because his adversary--understanding
+how to husband an inferior strength--seized the right moment for
+bringing it into play.
+
+I do not mean to assert that the Confederates invariably advance in
+column, or to advocate this especial mode of attack: a successful
+outflanking of the enemy may turn out an advantage not less decided than
+the breaking of his centre; but, when half-disciplined troops are to be
+handled, concentrative movements must surely be safer than extensive
+ones. It would be well to remember that, among all the trained
+battalions of Europe, our own crack regiments are supposed to be the
+only ones that can be thoroughly relied on for attacking in line.
+
+If Hooker thought himself strong enough to cross the rear of Lee's army,
+and cut him off from Richmond, while a combined movement against the
+city was being executed by Dix and Keyes from the southeast, the delay
+of forty hours, during which he advanced about six miles, can scarcely
+be excused, or even accounted for. That the wary foe should be taken
+entirely by surprise, was a contingency too improbable to be calculated
+on by any sane tactician, however sanguine.
+
+To dispense almost entirely with the aid of the cavalry arm, on the eve
+of a general engagement, was certainly a bold stroke of strategy--too
+bold to be justified by any independent successes likely to be achieved
+by the detachment. Stoneman's exploits appear to have been greatly
+exaggerated; but, whatever were the results, they might clearly have
+been attained if he had crossed the Rappahannock alone with one
+horseman, leaving the main guard to attend more dress-parades in the
+Falmouth camp. To pretend that weather in anywise influenced Hooker's
+retreat is utterly absurd. No change for the worse took place till the
+Tuesday evening, when the army had fallen back on the river bank; the
+troops were actually recrossing when the rain began: then it did come
+down in earnest.
+
+    Nocte pluit tota, redeunt spectacula mare--
+
+a spectacle frequently repeated in this war--that of a Federal General
+"changing his base" in hot haste, without flourish of trumpet.
+
+At the most critical moment, Fighting Joe seems to have been afflicted
+with the fatal indecision, by no means incompatible with perfect
+physical fearlessness, which has ruined wiser plans than ever were
+moulded in his brain. Rumor hints broadly at a sudden fit of depression,
+not unnatural in one notoriously addicted to the use of stimulants; but
+this is, probably, the ill-natured invention of an enemy.
+
+At all such seasons, some subordinate must needs lift some of the
+dishonor from the shoulders of the chief. The non-arrival of
+reinforcements is much the easiest way of accounting for a foiled
+combination. The rout of Howard's corps was not to be considered, as it
+happened under the General's own eye: so Sedgwick was, by some, made the
+Grouchy of the day: but he seems to have fought his division as well as
+any of his fellows, and it was probably a superior force that checked
+his advance towards the main army, and eventually hurled him back upon
+the Rappahannock.
+
+Perhaps the Confederate organs do not greatly exaggerate, when they
+claim Chancellorville as _the_ victory of this war: though there is a
+fearful counterpoise in the loss of the South's favorite leader. But the
+great Army of the Potomac, in its shameful retreat, could not console
+itself by the boast of having done to death the terrible enemy, at whose
+name they had learnt to tremble. A miserable mistake (so the Richmond
+papers say) slew Stonewall Jackson, in the crisis of victory, with a
+Confederate bullet, as he was reconnoitering with his staff in front of
+his line.
+
+Surely it is glory, sufficient for any one of woman born, that the news
+of his death should have sent a start and a shiver through thirty
+millions of hearts. I subjoin a funeral notice, which utters very simply
+and strongly the feeling of the country that the stern, pure soldier
+served so well: but a strange honor and respect attaches to his memory
+amongst those whom in life he never ceased to disquiet. Even the rabid
+Republican journalists rejoice--not coarsely or ungenerously--speaking
+with bated tones, as is fit and natural in presence of a good man's
+corpse.
+
+Let us return to our poor Hooker, who is sitting now, somewhat gloomily,
+in the shade. Human nature can spare so little sympathy for braggarts in
+disaster, that we may possibly have been too hard on his demerits. In
+this respect the Grim old Fighting Cox (as the historian of the Mackerel
+Brigade calls him) is absolutely incorrigible. Conceive a General--on
+the very morning after the reverse was consummated--proclaiming to his
+soldiers "that they had added to the laurels already won by the Army of
+the Potomac!" If a succession of defeats are equal to one victory--on
+the principle of two negatives making an affirmative--or if nothing
+added to a cipher brings out a substantial product, there may possibly
+be something in these words beyond the desperation of bombast,
+otherwise----
+
+But, in justice to Joseph, let us ask--Are the materials at his command,
+or at that of any Federal commander, really so powerful or manageable as
+they seem?
+
+Probably no one civilized nation is composed of elements so difficult to
+mould into the form of a thoroughly organized army, as the Northern
+States of the Union. The men individually, especially those drawn from
+the West, are fully endowed with the courage, activity, and endurance
+inherent in the Anglo-Saxon race: they can act promptly and daringly
+enough on their own independent resources; but, when required to move as
+unreasoning units of a mass, directed by a superior will, they utterly
+fail. All the antecedents of the Federal recruit interfere with his
+progress towards the mechanical perfection of the trained soldier. The
+gait and demeanor of the country lads are not more shambling and
+slovenly than those of the ordinary British; but the latter from his
+youth up, has imbibed certain ideas of subordination to superiors, which
+make him yield more pliantly and implicitly to after discipline. Now,
+the American is taught to contemn all such old-world ideas as respect of
+persons. Even the All-mighty Dollar cannot command deference, though it
+may enforce obedience. The volunteer carries with him into the ranks, an
+ostentatious spirit of self-assertion and independence. He has always
+mixed on terms of as much equality as his purse would allow of, with the
+class from which his officers have emerged by election; and knows that,
+at the expiration of their service, each will resume his place as if no
+such distinction had existed. So he goes into action fully prepared to
+criticise the orders of his superiors, and even to ignore them if they
+clash too strongly with his private judgment; he has no intention of
+abating one iota of his franchise, or one privilege of an enlightened
+citizen. In the regular army, ceremonial is rather better observed; but,
+even here, you will observe the barriers of grade frequently
+transgressed, both in manner and tone: the volunteers will rarely salute
+even a field-officer, unless on parade, or by special orders.
+
+This spirit of independent judgment is by no means confined to the rank
+and file. The evidence before the War Committee shows how seldom a
+General-in-Chief can depend on the hearty co-operation of his Division
+leaders, and how unreservedly dissent was often expressed by those whose
+lips discipline ought to have sealed.
+
+The fact is, that a spirit of party impregnates all the military
+organization of the North: a Federal army is a vast political machine.
+State Governors have followed the example of the Administration in their
+selection of the higher officers: these, as a rule, owe their election
+entirely to their own influence, or that of their friends; all other
+qualifications are disregarded. It is idle to expect that such men can
+command the confidence of the soldiers by virtue of their rank; they
+have to win this by individual prowess.[3] The Confederates have been
+more just and wise. Some of these political appointments were made at
+the beginning of the war, but changes were made as soon as incapacity
+was manifest, and almost all posts of importance are now occupied by
+officers educated at West Point, or at one of many military schools long
+established at the South.
+
+[Footnote 3: It is well to remember, that, before the Committee for
+inquiring into the conduct of the war, Generals McDowell and Rosecrans,
+in the most explicit terms, attributed many disasters to the fact, of
+the soldiers having no confidence in the officers who led them.]
+
+An army of free-thinkers is very hard to handle either in camp or field.
+They do not grumble, perhaps, so much as the British "full private;"
+indeed they have little cause, for the commissariat arrangements, even
+in remote departments, are admirable, and the Union grudges no comfort,
+or even luxury, to her armies. But they become "demoralized" (the word
+is a cant one now) surprisingly fast, and recover from such, depression
+very, very slowly. When the moment for action arrives, such men get
+fresh heart in the first excitement, but they lack stability, and if any
+sudden check ensues, involving change of ground to the rear, a few
+minutes are enough to turn a retreat into a rout. You may send forth
+your volunteer, with all the pomp and circumstance of war, and greet his
+return with all enthusiasm of welcome; you may make him the hero of
+paragraph and tale (I believe it is treasonable to choose any other
+_jeune premier_ for a love story just now); you may put a flag into his
+hand, more riddled and shot-torn than any of our old Peninsular
+standards; you may salute him "veteran," a month after the first baptism
+of fire; but the savor of the conscript and the citizen will cling to
+him still.
+
+What would you have? The _esprit de corps_, which has more or less been
+kept alive in civilized armies since the days of the Tenth Legion, is,
+perforce, wanting here. All military organization is posterior to the
+War of Independence. It is certainly not their fault if even the regular
+battalions can inscribe on their colors no nobler name than that of some
+desultory Mexican or Border battle. If Australia should become an
+empire, she must carry the same blank ensigns without shame. But when a
+regiment has no traditionary honors to guard, it lacks a powerful
+deterrent from self-disgrace.
+
+It is easy to deride martinets and pipe-clay: all the drill in
+Christendom will not make a good soldier out of a weakling or a coward;
+but, unless you can turn men into machines, so far as to make them act
+independently of individual thought or volition, you can never depend on
+a body of non-fatalists for advancing steadily, irrespective of what may
+be in their front; nor for keeping their ranks unbroken under a hail of
+fire, or on a sinking, ship. As skirmishers, the Federal soldiers act
+admirably; and in several instances have carried fortified positions
+with much dash and daring; it is in line of battle, on a stricken field,
+that they are--to say the least--uncertain. In spite of the
+highly-colored pictures of charges, &c., I do not believe that, from the
+very beginning of this war, any one battalion has actually _crossed_
+bayonets with another, though they may often have come within ten yards
+of collision. This fact (which I have taken some trouble to verify) is
+surely sufficiently significant.
+
+The parallels of our own Parliamentary army, and of the French levies
+after the first Revolution, suggest themselves naturally here; but they
+will not quite hold good. The stern fanatics who followed Cromwell went
+to their work--whether of fighting or prayer--with all their heart, and
+soul, and strength, conning the manual not less studiously than the
+psalter, while their General would devote himself for days together to
+the minutest duties of a drill-sergeant. With all this, and with his
+"trust in Providence," it was long before the wary Oliver would bring
+his Ironsides fairly face to face,
+
+    With the bravos of Alsatia and the pages of Whitehall.
+
+It is true that the Revolutionary army of '93 was utterly different from
+those, wherein the Maison du Roi took the right of the line. It was
+hastily raised, and loosely constructed, out of rude material perilous
+to handle. But--putting aside that military aptitude inherent in every
+Frenchman--in all ranks there was a leaven of veterans strong enough to
+keep the turbulent conscripts in order, though the aristocratic element
+of authority was wanting. Traditions of subordination and discipline
+survived in an army, not the less thoroughly French, because it was
+rabidly Republican. The recruits liked to feel themselves soldiers; they
+were willing to give up for awhile the pageantry of war, but not its
+decorum; and, in that implicit obedience to their officers, there
+mingled a sturdy plebeian pride; they would not allow that it was harder
+to follow the wave of Colonel Bonhommne's sabre, than that of Marshal de
+Montmorenci's baton; or that the word of command rang out more
+efficiently from the patrician's dainty lips, than from under the rough
+moustaches of the proletarian.
+
+The regular army here does little to help the volunteer service, beyond
+giving subalterns as field-officers (a lieutenant would rarely be
+satisfied with a troop or a company); the rank is, of course, temporary,
+though sometimes substantiated by brevet. It is possible, that a few
+non-commissioned officers may be found, who have served in a similar or
+subordinate capacity in the regular army during the Mexican war; but
+such exceptions are too rare to affect the civism of the entire force.
+
+True it is, that the Federal levies have to face enemies not a whit
+superior in discipline. Indeed, Harry Wynd's motto, "I fight for mine
+own hand," is especially favored in the South. But when one side is
+battling for independence, the other for subjugation, there must ever be
+an essential difference in the spirit animating their armies. The
+impetuosity of the Confederate onset is acknowledged even here: on
+several occasions it has been marked by a wild energy and recklessness
+of life, worthy to be compared with the Highland charge, which swept
+away dragoon and musketeer at Killiecrankie and Prestonpans.
+
+I am not disposed to question the hardihood or endurance of the Yankee
+militant; nor even to deny that a sense of patriotism may have much to
+do with his dogged determination to persevere, now, even to the end: but
+as for enthusiasm--you must look for it in the romances of war that
+crowd the magazines, or in the letters of vividly imaginative
+correspondents, or--anywhere but among the Federal rank and file. Such a
+feeling is utterly foreign to the national character; nor have I seen a
+trace of it in any one of the many soldiers with whom I have spoken of
+the war. All the high-flown sentiment of the Times or Tribune will not
+prevent the Yankee private from looking at his duty in a hard,
+practical, business-like way; he is disposed to give his country its
+money's worth, and does so, as a rule, very fairly; but military ardor
+in the States is not exactly a consuming fire at this moment. The
+hundred-dollar bounty has failed for some time to fill up the gaps made
+by death or desertion: and the strong remedy of the Conscription Act
+will not be employed a day too soon. Perhaps those who augur favorably
+for Northern success expect that coerced levies will fight more fiercely
+and endure more cheerfully than the mustered-out volunteers. _Qui vivra
+verra._
+
+It is simple justice, to allow that the native soldiers have borne
+themselves, as a rule, better than the aliens. The Irish
+Brigade--reduced to a skeleton, now, by the casualties of two years--has
+performed good service under Meagher, who himself has done much to
+redeem the ridicule incurred in early days; but the Germans have not
+been distinguished either for discipline, or daring. The Eleventh
+Division, whose shameful rout at Chancellorville is still in every one's
+mouth, was almost exclusively a "Dutch" corps.
+
+But other difficulties beset a Federal General, besides the
+intractability of his armed material, and the jealousies of immediate
+subordinates. The uncertainty of his position is in itself a snare. When
+the chief is first appointed, no panegyric seems adequate to his past
+merit, and the glories are limitless that he is certain to win. If he
+should inaugurate his command with the shadow of a success, the
+Government organs chant themselves hoarse in praise and prophecy. But
+the popular hero knows right well, that the ground is already mined
+under his feet; the first reverse will drag him down into a pit of
+obscurity, if not of odium, deep and dark as Abiram's grave. Of all
+taskmasters, a Democracy is the most pitilessly irrational; it were
+better for an unfaithful or unlucky servant to fall into Pharaoh's
+hands, than to lie at the mercy of a free and enlightened, people.
+Demagogues, and the crowds they sway, are just as impatient and
+impulsive now, as when the mob of the Agora cheered the bellowing of
+Cleon; neither is their wrath less clamorous because it has ceased to
+lap blood. A Federal chief must be very sanguine or very short sighted,
+who, beyond the glare and glitter of his new headquarters, does not mark
+the loom of Cynoscephalae. Conceive the worry, of feeling yourself
+perpetually on your promotion--of knowing, that by delay you risk the
+imputation of cowardice or incapacity, while on the first decisive
+action must be periled the supremacy, that all men are so loth to
+surrender. The unhappy commander, if a literate, might often think of
+Porsena's front rank at the Bridge, when
+
+    Those in the rear cried, "Forward,"
+    Those in the van cried, "Back."
+
+To few minds is allotted such a temperate and steady strength as would
+enable a man, thus tried and tempted, to weigh all chances calmly;
+determined to strike, only when the time should come; disregarding the
+extravagant expectations alike of friend or foe; shrinking no more from
+the responsibilities of unavoidable failure, than from any other
+personal dangers. If such a chief could once fairly grasp the staff of
+command, a virtual dictatorship might work great things for the North.
+But whence is he likely to emerge? Hardly from the midst of this vast
+political and military turmoil, where every man is struggling and
+straining to clutch at the veriest shred of power.
+
+Hooker has fared better than his fellows in misfortune. The Washington
+Cabinet, usually ready enough to make sacrifices to popular indignation,
+still stand by their discomfited favorite with creditable firmness. Even
+before the army crossed the river, there appeared significant articles
+in the Government organs, begging the public to be patient and moderate
+in anticipation. The press-prophets, who indulged in the most
+magnificent sketches of what _ought_ to be done, were those, with whose
+patriotic regrets over defeat, would mingle some exultation over a
+disgraced political opponent. So people in general seem content to give
+the Fighting One another chance.
+
+This unusual clemency may be easily accounted for. It would be almost
+impossible to pitch on any one with the slightest pretensions to fill
+the vacated path. If you except Rosecrans, and perhaps Franklin, there
+is hardly a Division leader who has not, at one time or another,
+betrayed incapacity enough to disqualify him from holding any important
+command. West Point may send forth as good theoretical soldiers as
+Sandhurst, or St. Cyr, while the practical experience of American
+Generals might equal that of our own officers before the Crimean war;
+but the best from West Point have gone southward long ago, and by the
+retirement of McClellan the North lost, probably, her one promising
+strategist. Cool and provident in the formation of his plans, though
+somewhat unready in their execution, and scarcely equal to sudden
+emergencies, if he achieved no brilliant success, he was likely to steer
+clear of grave disaster. The dearth of tacticians is made very manifest,
+by the list of candidates suggested in the event of Hooker's removal
+from command.
+
+There are horses, invariably beaten in public, which never appear
+without being heavily backed; and there are men, who contrive to retain
+a certain number of partisans, zealous enough to ignore all patent
+demerits, and to give their favorite credit for any amount of possible
+unproved capacity. Yet one would have thought the Republicans might have
+hesitated in bringing forward Fremont, who has already been removed for
+blunders hardly to be excused by ignorance; and though the name of
+Sickles is, unhappily, well known in Europe, it is somewhat startling to
+find him, so early in the day, aspirant to the highest military honors.
+His advocate admits that the latter hero's professional opportunities
+have been scanty, but, says he, placidly, "Neither was Caesar bred a
+soldier." If the sentence was written in sobriety, no praise can be too
+high for the audacity of that superb comparison. Another patriot was
+exceedingly anxious that General Halleck should be incontinently removed
+from the War Office, to make room for--Butler. We accept these things
+calmly now; for repeated proof has taught us, that world-wide infamy
+bars no man's road to profit and honor, when Black Republicans weigh the
+merits of the claimant. The Abolitionist organs of that same week
+contained glowing accounts of McNeil's exploits in Missouri, and
+announced with much satisfaction an accession to Negley's Brigade in the
+shape of Colonel Turchin. I quote the words: "He was received with great
+delight, and will, no doubt, do good service, if allowed. It will be
+remembered that he was court-martialed some time since, for punishing
+guerrillas."
+
+Atrocities have been so rife here of late, that even wholesale murder
+and ravishment have a chance of being lost in the crowd: in any other
+civilized land than this, that reminder might well have been spared.
+
+Surely the Confederates in the Southwest have two prizes now before
+them, well worth the winning; but in the front of battle Tarquin is
+seldom found, and in the rout they must ride far and fast who would
+reach his shoulders with the steel. The real perils of these men will
+begin when the war is done; the hot Southern vendetta will cool
+strangely, if all the three shall die in their beds.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+THE DEBATABLE GROUND.
+
+
+There is one very vexed question, the importance of which, both in the
+present and for the future, can hardly be over-estimated. It does not
+depend on the vicissitudes, the duration, or even the termination of the
+war: rather it will become more gravely complicated as prospects of
+peace dawn clearer.
+
+In which direction do the sympathies and interests of the _Border_
+States actually tend? Let it be understood that the point to be decided
+is--not whether the Democrats in those parts are politically stronger
+than their Republican opponents; but whether the popular feeling
+identifies itself with North or South; whether an uncoerced vote of the
+majority would be in favor of or hostile to the Union; finally, on which
+side of the frontier-line, in case of separation, the State would fain
+abide.
+
+It seems to me that only personal knowledge and experience can enable an
+alien to form any accurate opinion on these points; even where the press
+is not forced to grumble out discontent with bated breath, under terror
+of martial law, party spirit runs so high as to render statements,
+written or spoken, barely reliable; sound, deeply as you will, into
+these turbid wells, it is a rare chance if you touch truth, after all.
+So, of Tennessee, Missouri, or Kentucky, I will not say a word, but for
+the same reasons I _may_ venture to hazard more than a guess at the
+sympathies of Maryland.
+
+Notwithstanding her superficial extent is comparatively small, there can
+be no question which of the Border States enters most importantly into
+the calculations of both the belligerent powers; the weight of interests
+and wealth of resources that Maryland carries with her--to say nothing
+of her local advantages--are such that she cannot eventually be allowed
+to adhere to either side with a lukewarm or divided fidelity.
+
+The position I am about to advance will meet with a certain amount of
+dissent, if not of incredulity, and some one will probably point at
+recent events as furnishing an unanswerable contradiction to much that I
+affirm. I will only pray my readers to believe that I have tried hard to
+cast prejudice aside in listening, in marking, and in recording; my
+opportunities of forming a deliberate judgment on the sympathies of all
+classes in this especial State were such as have fallen to the lot of
+very few strangers; and my observations _ought_, certainly, to have been
+the more accurate, from their field having been necessarily narrowed.
+Perhaps I can hardly do better than reprint here the larger portion of a
+letter, written in the middle of last March, to the "Morning Post;"
+nothing that has occurred since induces me materially to modify any one
+of the opinions expressed therein. Though, in common with many others, I
+may have regretted the disappointment of our anticipations with regard
+to a general rising, in co-operation with the Southern invaders; I think
+it is easy to show that there were reasons sufficient to account for, if
+not excuse, this second apparent supineness.
+
+"I believe that at home people have a very faint--perhaps a very
+false--idea of how men think, and act, and suffer, in this same Border
+State. Your impression may be that a lethargy prevails, where, in
+reality, dangerous fever is the disease--a fever that must one day break
+out violently, in spite of the quack medicines administered by an
+incapable Government--in spite of the restrictions unsparingly employed,
+by that grim sick-nurse, martial law.
+
+"I fancy the world is hardly aware of the hearty sympathy with the
+South--the intense antipathy to the North--which animates at this moment
+the vast majority of Marylanders. I have heard more than one assert that
+of the two alternatives, he would infinitely prefer becoming again a
+colonial subject of England to remaining a member of the Federal Union.
+This sounds like an exaggeration; I believe it to have been simply the
+truth, strongly stated. I believe that the partisan spirit is as rife
+and as bitter in many parts of this State, as it can be in South
+Carolina or Georgia.
+
+"A remarkable instance of this popular feeling occurred last week, at a
+large sale in Howard county. The late proprietor, an Irishman by
+descent, belonging to one of the old Roman Catholic families that have
+been territorial magnates here for generations, had a great fancy for
+dividing his land into small holdings, rented by men of proportionately
+small means, so as to establish a sort of English tenant-system,
+involving, of course, much free labor. It would have been hard to select
+a spot in that country where the abolition feeling would be more likely
+to prevail. On the present occasion about six hundred farmers and others
+were assembled. They were Southerners to a man; at least, no one hinted
+at dissent when Jefferson Davis's health and more violent Southern
+toasts were drunk amidst a storm of cheers.
+
+"Twice has Maryland been taunted with her inaction, if not charged with
+deliberate treachery; first when, at the outbreak of the war, she did
+not openly secede; again, when she did not second by a general rising
+Lee's invasion of her boundary. It would be well to remember that for
+Maryland to declare herself, before Virginia had actually done so, would
+have been the insanity of rashness. She could hardly be expected to defy
+the vengeance of the North, while cut off by a neutral State from
+Southern aid, especially since Governor Hicks' measures of disarmament,
+by which not only the militia but private individuals were deprived of
+their firelocks. Virginia has fought so gallantly since then, that it is
+easy to forget her tardiness in drawing the sword; but it would be vain
+to deny that on the southern bank of the Potomac there does exist a
+certain jealousy, arising probably from conflicting commercial
+interests, which has led to suspicion and misconception already, and may
+lead to more harm yet. General Lee issued his proclamation inviting
+Maryland to rise only one day before he commenced his retreat--short
+notice, surely, for a revolution involving not only the temporary ruin
+of many interests, but the certainty of collision with a Federal army of
+one hundred and twenty thousand men then within the border of the State.
+Had Maryland joined the Confederacy a year ago, I believe her entire
+territory would be desolate now, as are most great battlefields. With
+the immense means of naval transport at the Federals' command, it would
+be easy for them to land any number of troops in almost any part of the
+western division, for the whole country is intersected by the creeks of
+the Chesapeake Bay and its tributary rivers. One glance at the map will
+show this more plainly than verbal description, and make it needless to
+remark on the still more exposed and isolated position of the Eastern
+Shore.
+
+"In spite of all this, men say that if the opportunity were once more
+given, the blade would be drawn in earnest, and the scabbard thrown
+away. It may well be so; there has been oppression and provocation
+enough of late to make the scale turn once and forever.
+
+"Meantime, Maryland has not confined herself to a suppressed sympathy
+with the South. We may guess, perhaps, but no one will ever know, the
+extent of the covert assistance already rendered by this State to the
+Confederacy. I am not referring to the constant reinforcements of her
+best and bravest--over twelve thousand, it is said--that have never
+ceased to feed the ranks of the Southern armies.
+
+"One significant fact is worth mentioning, drawn from the reports of
+Federal officers--viz., out of nine thousand Marylanders drafted into
+the service, there are scarcely one hundred now remaining in the ranks;
+they deserted, literally, by bands.
+
+"I speak of supplies of all sorts, especially medicines, furnished
+perpetually; of valuable information forwarded as to the enemy's
+movements and intentions; of Confederate prisoners tended with every
+care, and supplied with every comfort that womanly tenderness could
+devise; of a hundred other marks of substantial friendship that could
+not only be rendered by a nominal neutral, but a real ally. It would be
+hard, indeed, if any miserable jealousies were to prevent all this from
+being appreciated and rewarded some day.
+
+"The Federal Government, at least, does ample justice to the
+proclivities of Maryland. The system of coercion, hourly more and more
+stringent, speaks for itself. The State is at this moment subjected to a
+military despotism more irritating and oppressive than was ever
+exercised by Austria in her Italian dependencies; more irritating,
+because domestic interference and all sorts of petty annoyances are more
+frequent here; more oppressive, because it is considered unnecessary to
+indulge a political prisoner with even the mockery of a trial. Nothing
+is too small for the gripe of the Provost Marshal's myrmidons. There was
+a general order last week for the seizure of all Southern songs and
+photographs of Confederate celebrities. One convivial cheer for
+Jefferson Davis brought the 'strayed reveler' the following morning into
+the awful presence of Colonel Fish, there to be favored with one of his
+characteristic diatribes. The duties of that truculent potentate are
+doubtless both difficult and disagreeable, yet one would think, it
+possible for an officer to act; energetically without ignoring the
+common courtesies of life, and to maintain rigid discipline without
+constantly emulating the army that swore terribly in Flanders. The oath
+of allegiance--that is the touchstone whose mark gives everything its
+marketable value. The Union flag must wave over every spot--chapel,
+mart, institute, or ball-room--where two or three may meet together; and
+beyond the shadow of the enforced ensign there is little safety or
+comfort for man, woman, or child--for women least of all.
+
+"During the past week two ladies of this city have been arraigned on the
+charge of aiding and abetting deserters from the Federal army. In the
+first case, the offense was having given a very trifling alms, after
+much solicitation and many refusals, to a man who represented himself
+and his family as literally starving. The fugitive made his way to
+Canada, and thence wrote two begging letters, threatening, if money were
+not sent, to denounce his benefactress. Eventually he did so. This lady
+is to be separated from her husband and family, with whom she is now
+residing, and sent across the lines in a few days. In the second case I
+am justified in mentioning names, as from the peculiar circumstances it
+will probably become more public. Mrs. Grace is the widow of a Havana
+merchant, and a naturalized subject of Spain, to whose Minister she has
+since appealed. She was summoned before the Provost Marshal on the same
+charge, but was too ill to attend in person. Her daughter went to the
+office, and found that the evidence against her mother was an
+intercepted letter from some person (whose name was equally unknown to
+Mrs. Grace as to the officials), telling his wife 'to go to that lady,
+who would take care of her.' Miss Grace represented the extreme hardship
+of the case; they had no friends or connections in the South, and her
+mother's health was far from strong. Finally, she gave her own positive
+assurance that there was not the faintest foundation for the charge.
+Colonel Fish did not scruple to reply 'that he considered an anonymous
+document evidence' strong enough to bear down a lady's proffered word of
+honor. If, after this provocation, the spirit of the fair pleader was
+roused, and she spoke somewhat unadvisedly with her lips, few will be
+disposed to impute to her anything more than imprudence. The Provost
+Marshal closed the discussion very promptly and decidedly--'Your mother
+will go South within the fortnight; and you, for your insolence, will
+accompany her.' When women and weaklings are before them, the
+_argumentum bacculinum_ seems favored by the Republican chivalry.
+
+"The country is not much better off than the city. The same system of
+espionage and coercion prevails there; especially since that fatal
+proclamation has sown distrust between master and slave, it is hard to
+say how many spies there may be in any man's household. Large landed
+proprietors, who have shown no sign of Southern proclivity, beyond
+abstaining from taking the oath, cannot obtain the commonest
+necessaries, such as groceries, &c., without resorting to shifts and
+stratagems that would be absurd, if they were not so painful. Such
+trammels are far more galling to the purely agricultural class than they
+are to the inhabitants of a city like this, where commerce has
+introduced a large mixed element, embracing not only Northerners, but
+almost every European race.
+
+"But, in spite of all privations and annoyances, there is in the
+Marylander just now an honest earnestness of purpose, a readiness for
+self-sacrifice, a patient hardihood, a brave, hopeful spirit, quick to
+chafe but slow to complain, that might make Anglo-Saxons feel proud of
+their common blood. There is plenty of the stuff left out of which
+Buchanan, Semmes, Maffit (of the Florida), Hollins, and Kelso are
+made--Marylanders all--who are doing their _devoir_ gallantly on the
+decks of Southern war-ships. I cannot believe that the day is far
+distant when both moral and physical energy will have free and fair
+play.
+
+"The ties of mutual interest that bind this State to the Confederacy are
+too obvious to need much explanation, but it may be well to touch upon
+them briefly. Her extensive water-power marks out Maryland as eminently
+adapted for the produce of all kinds of manufactures. That very
+accessibility from seaward, which is her weak point in war time, is her
+strength in time of peace. The Chesapeake and its tributaries are
+natural high roads for the transport of freight to the ports of
+Virginia, and thence into the interior. Before these troubles, the trade
+of Maryland was almost exclusively with the South; and, unless violently
+diverted, it must always remain so. The South is now straining every
+nerve to establish a formidable steam-navy. It is not too much to say
+that the adhesion of Maryland is absolutely indispensable if this object
+is to be attained. She can not only offer superb harbors, in which the
+South is palpably deficient, but her natural productions--ship timber,
+iron ore (the largest and toughest plates in the United States are
+hammered here), and bituminous coal, the best for steam purposes south
+of Nova Scotia--would be invaluable."
+
+With this State the South would retain all the material advantages that
+the restoration of the Union could offer; without her, neither would the
+territorial line be complete, nor the internal resources adequate to the
+requirements of a powerful nation. President Davis has repeatedly
+promised that the free vote of Maryland as to her future shall be one of
+the prime conditions of any treaty whatsoever, and the Southern Congress
+have confirmed this by a nearly unanimous vote. On this point there
+surely ought to be no doubt or wavering. A single concession to the
+arbitrary tendencies of Lincoln's Cabinet, so as to allow interference
+with the free expression of Maryland's will when the crisis shall
+arrive, would not only, I believe, crush the hopes of the vast majority
+of this State's inhabitants, but also betray the vital interest of the
+Southern Confederacy in days to come.
+
+If further proof were needed of the Southern sympathy prevalent in
+Baltimore, such would be found in the measures of coercion and
+prevention employed by General Schenck, when Lee's army was thought
+dangerously near. A private letter dispatched to me in the height of the
+panic, more than confirmed the accounts in public prints of the
+stringency of the martial law. The Federal officers were, perhaps, not
+sorry to have such a chance of repaying, with aggravated oppression, the
+tacit contumely which must have galled them for a year and more. The
+Maryland Club, whose members are Southerners to a man (for the Unionist
+element was eliminated long ago), is now the headquarters of a New
+England regiment, and even Colonel Fish may now wander at will through
+the cool, pleasant chambers that, before comparative liberty was
+stifled, he would have found not more accessible than the lost paradise
+of Sultan Zim. I greatly fear that some of those daring dames and
+damsels, so careless in dissembling their antipathies, may, ere this,
+have been made to pay a heavy price for the indulgence of past disdain.
+The position of a Federal officer, in Baltimore, was certainly far from
+enviable; many men would have preferred the lash of a cutting whip, or
+even a slight flesh-wound, to the sidelong glances that, when a
+dark-blue uniform passed by, interpreted so eloquently the fair
+Secessionists' repugnance and scorn. Neither were words always wanting
+to convey a covert insult. I heard rather an amusing instance of this
+while I was in prison.
+
+It was at the time when Brigadier-Generals were being created by scores
+(I myself counted over sixty names sent down by the President to
+Congress in one batch), when, according to some Washington Pasquin, a
+stone, thrown at a night-prowling dog in Pennsylvania avenue, struck
+three of these fresh-fledged eagles: a Baltimorian _lionne_ entered one
+of the street railway cars, in which two or three Federal officers were
+already seated. An infantry soldier got in immediately afterwards, and,
+in taking his place, set his boot accidentally on the silken verge of a
+far-flowing robe. The lady gazed on the unconscious offender for a
+minute or so, and spake no word; then, looking beyond him as though he
+had never been, she addressed the conductor with the pretty
+plaintiveness affected by those languid Southern beauties:
+
+"Sir, won't you ask that Brigadier-General to take his foot off the
+skirt of my dress?"
+
+Which position was the most enviable at that moment--the "full
+private's" or that of his silent superiors?
+
+It was curious to remark how thoroughly the majority of clergymen, of
+all denominations, but especially Roman Catholic priests, identified
+themselves with the Southern sympathies of their flock. Arrests of these
+reverend men were very common; but they held their way undauntedly, and
+"kept silence even from good words" only under the pressure of actual
+coercion. Another anecdote is worth relating.
+
+One day there came forth an edict, peremptory as that which bade all
+nations and languages bow down to a golden image, enjoining that, on a
+certain day, Sabbath-prayers for the President should be offered up in
+every church, chapel, and meetinghouse in Baltimore. There was an
+ancient Episcopalian divine, who during nearly half a century had won
+for himself much affection and respect by a zealous and kindly discharge
+of his duties. A notorious Secessionist, he was wise and prudent withal,
+so that many were curious to hear how he would execute or evade the
+obnoxious order. He complied with it--in this wise:
+
+"My brethren," said he, "we are commanded this day to intercede with the
+Almighty for the President. Let us pray. May the Lord have mercy on
+Abraham Lincoln's soul."
+
+Did ever priest pronounce a blessing more grimly like a ban?
+
+Perhaps it was well that Lee did not advance near enough to Baltimore to
+bring things to a climax there, unless he could have succeeded in
+capturing the place by a _coup de main_, and have held it permanently.
+Independently of Schenck's avowed intention of shelling the town, on the
+first symptoms of disaffection, from the forts of Constitution and
+McHenry, there might have been wild work there in more ways than one. If
+the Secessionists had once fairly risen against their oppressors and not
+prevailed, it is difficult to say where the measures of savage
+retaliation would have ended. I do not like to think of the possible
+brutality that might have lighted on many hospitable households in
+blood-shedding or rapine.
+
+So much for the city. I have mentioned above some of the reasons that
+make an up-rising throughout the State so exceedingly difficult and
+dangerous to organize. That no active aid was rendered to Lee's army
+upon the last occasion of its crossing the frontier, is, I think, easily
+explained, when the peculiar circumstances of time and place are
+considered.
+
+Southern proclivity is by no means so general in the northwestern
+counties of Maryland as in the eastern region, or on the seaboard. The
+farmers in the former parts suffer greatly from the ceaseless incursions
+over the border. When cattle are to be driven away, it is feared that
+even regular "raiders" and guerrillas are not over-careful to ascertain
+the sympathies of the owner. The horse-thieves, of course, are
+absolutely indifferent whether they plunder friend or foe. Now, though
+the Marylander is far from being imbued with the exclusively commercial
+spirit of the Yankee, it is not unnatural that he should chafe under
+these repeated assaults on his purse, if not on his person. All such
+considerations vanish in the fierce energy of the thorough partisan,
+who, without grudging or remorse, casts the axe-head after the helve;
+but I speak, now, of men whose sympathies at the commencement of the war
+were almost neutral, and who began to suffer in the way above described
+before the bias of feeling had time to determine itself. It was surely
+natural that the first angry impulses should turn the wavering scale;
+more especially when the irritation was constantly being renewed.
+
+Beyond these northwestern counties, in neither inroad, did the
+Confederate army advance. I was not much surprised at reading in the
+able letter of the Times correspondent, how the Southerners were
+disappointed by meeting all along their brief line of march gloomy faces
+and sullen dislike, instead of a hearty welcome; for I knew that in the
+neighborhood of Hagerstown, Boonesborough, and all round South Mountain,
+the majority of the inhabitants were--to use my Irishman's
+expression--as "black as thunder."
+
+One glance at the field of the recent operations will show, that the
+isolated Secessionists in the southeastern counties could do little more
+than pray for the success of the Confederate arms: even detached bodies
+of such sympathizers could not have joined Lee, without running the
+gauntlet of the Federal forces lying right across the path.
+
+It should not be forgotten, that the stakes of the invader and of the
+insurgent differ widely The former, if worsted, can fall back on his own
+ground, with no other damage than the actual loss sustained. The latter,
+if foiled, must calculate on absolute ruin--if not on worse miseries.
+Even if he should himself escape scathless beyond the frontier, he must
+leave homestead and family behind--to be dealt with as chattels and
+kindred of traitors fare.
+
+Thus, though I am disposed to think more despondingly than before of
+Maryland's chances of aiding herself, for the present, with the armed
+hand, my conviction remains unchanged as to the proclivities of the
+majority of her population, both civic and agricultural. I do honestly
+believe that, in despite of the tempting geographical water-line, the
+natural place of the State is in the Southern Confederacy. And I do also
+believe, that the denial of a free vote as to her future, and a coerced
+adhesion to the Northern Union, would involve, not only the ruin of many
+important interests, political and commercial, but an exodus of more
+influential residents, than has occurred in any civilized land, since
+the Revolutionary storm drove thousands of patrician emigrants over
+every frontier of France.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+SLAVERY AND THE WAR.
+
+
+Everyone in anywise interested, practically or theoretically, in the
+Great War, is just now prophesying of the future, simply because it
+looks vaguer and dimmer than ever. So I will hazard my guess at truth
+before all is done.
+
+I am no more capable of giving a valid opinion as to the chances or
+resources of the South than if I had never left these English shores.
+Proximity that is not positive presence, rather embarrasses one's
+judgment, for the nearer you approach the frontier-line, the more you
+become bewildered in the maze of exaggerated reports, direct
+contradictions, and conflicting statistics. Judging from individual
+cases, and from the spirit animating the "sympathizers" on the hither
+side of the border, I feel sure that the bitter determination of the
+South to hold out to the last man and the last ounce of corn-bread, has
+not been in the least overstated; but as to the aspect of chances, or as
+to the actual loss or gain achieved by either side up to this moment, I
+am no more qualified to speak, than any careful student of the
+war-chronicles. It is from consideration of the present and probable
+strength or weakness of Federaldom, that I should draw the grounds of
+any opinion that I might hazard.
+
+I think _both_ are generally under-estimated. In spite of the resistance
+offered in many places to the Conscription Act, it is likely that for
+some time to come the North will always be able to bring into the field
+armies numerically far superior to those of her adversary; nor do I
+believe that she will have exclusively to depend on raw or enforced
+levies. Many of the three-year men and others, whose term of volunteer
+service has just expired, after a brief rest and experience of home
+monotony, will begin to long for excitement again, though accompanied by
+peril and hardship. To such the extravagant bounty will be a great
+temptation, and the Government may not be far wrong in calculating on
+the re-enlistment of a large percentage of the "veterans." Besides, it
+should always be remembered that if it comes to wearing one another out
+in the drain of life, the preponderance of twenty millions against four
+must tell fearfully, even though the willingness to serve on the one
+side should equal the reluctance on the other. Neither do I think that
+national bankruptcy is so imminent over the Northern States, as some
+would have it. Mr. Chase is, of course, a perilously reckless financier;
+but, on more than one occasion, audacity has served him well, when
+prudent sagacity could have been of little aid: the "Five-and-Twenty"
+Loan was certainly eminently successful, and the tough, broad back of
+Yankee-land will bear more burdens yet before it breaks or bends. I am
+speaking now solely of the resources which can be made available for
+_carrying on_ the war: these, I think, will be found sufficient for its
+probable duration. With the commercial future or national credit of the
+Northern States this question has nothing to do; it is not difficult to
+foresee how both must inevitably be compromised by the load of debt
+which swells portentously with every hour of warfaring. But if we have
+been wont to undervalue the strength of Federaldom, latent and
+displayed, we have perhaps scarcely realized how very unsubstantial and
+slippery are its presumed points of vantage.
+
+First, take the North great battle or, rather,
+stalking-horse--Abolition.
+
+Let no reader be here unnecessarily alarmed. On that terrible slave
+question, over which wiser brains have puzzled, till they became lost in
+a labyrinth of self-contradiction, I purpose to speak only a few cursory
+words. It is beyond dispute that a vast extent of the richest land in
+the South can only be kept in cultivation by the Africans, who can
+thrive and fatten where the white man withers helplessly. No one that
+has realized the present state of our own West Indian colonies, will
+believe that the enfranchised negro can be depended upon as a daily
+laborer for hire. The listless indolence inherent in all tropical races
+_will_ assert itself, as soon as free agency begins or is restored. With
+a bright sun overhead, and a sufficiency of sustenance for the day
+before him, money will not tempt Sambo to toil among cotton or canes,
+should the spirit move him to lie under his own vine or fig-tree; and he
+is unfortunately peculiarly liable to these lazy fits just when his
+services are most vitally important to the interests of his employer.
+From so much ground having been thrown out of cultivation in the West
+Indies, the supply of free negro labor is perhaps now nearly equal to
+the ordinary demand; but we all know how, in the early times of
+emancipation, the fortunes of our planters fared. There has been, in all
+ages, certain cases of apparent political necessity, hardly to be
+justified--sometimes hardly to be defended--on purely moral grounds.
+Whether the existence and maintenance of a slave population in the South
+be one of these huge dilemmas or paradoxes is a question that any
+English or Northern abolitionist is about as capable of determining, as
+he would be of legislating for Mangolian Tartary.
+
+The two blackest points in all the dark system--for dark it is, looking
+at it how you will--are first, the complication of sin and shame arising
+from the mixture of the races; and, secondly, the separation of husband
+and wife from each other, and from their infant families, by sale. I do
+firmly believe that the recurrence of the former evil becomes rarer
+every day, for advance of civilization only seems to strengthen the
+natural repugnance--with which moral sentiment has nothing to
+do--existing between the Anglo-Saxon and African blood.
+
+The subject is not a pleasant one to dilate upon, but that such a
+repugnance does exist, few that have been brought into actual contact
+with the "colored" element _en masse_, will be inclined to deny. I think
+some of those scientific philosophers who write volumes to prove that
+there is no physical difference between the races, would feel their
+theories strangely modified after such a practical trial. If this be an
+immutable fact, it may work in the South for the prevention of evil as
+well as of good; in the North it can only work for bitter harm. In
+Delaware, where the free negroes are found in unusually large
+proportions to the whites, they are notoriously more hardly treated than
+in any other State of the original Union; and fanaticism must be blind
+and deaf indeed if recent events in New York have not taught it to doubt
+whether the tender mercies of the Abolitionists are so gentle, after
+all. While things are so (and there is scant hope of their changing
+within many generations) the position of the black freedman in the North
+will never be much higher than that of the Chinese in California, where
+a scintilla of civil rights is the utmost that the unhappy aliens can
+claim. In the South, I do greatly fear, there is no alternative between
+suppression and subjugation.
+
+There is no reason why the second great evil--the separation of families
+(under a certain age) should not be entirely removed by proper
+legislation; and I believe measures to this effect have already been
+mooted in more than one of the slaveholding States. Putting these two
+points aside, I believe that the condition of the slave--especially
+where the "patriarchal" system prevails--is infinitely better than that
+of the coolies: the unutterable horrors and waste of life in the Chincha
+Islands have never been matched in Kentucky or Louisiana. I believe that
+the whole roll of authenticated cruelties exercised on the negroes in
+any one year would be outnumbered and outdone by the brutalities
+practiced within the same time upon the apprentices in our own coast
+trade, and upon seamen--white and colored--in the American
+merchant-service. With all this it should be remembered that the
+ordinary slave-rations far exceed, both in quantity and quality, the
+Sunday meal of an English west-country laborer; and that the comforts of
+all the aged and infirm, whom the master is, of course, obliged to
+maintain, are infinitely superior to those enjoyed by the like inmates
+of our most lenient work-houses.
+
+I think it is a mistake to suppose that the negroes, as a race, _pine_
+for freedom; though, when it is suggested to them, they may grasp at it
+with eagerness, much as they would at any other novelty. Many, no doubt,
+can appreciate liberty, and use it as wisely and well as any freeborn
+white: gradual emancipation would be one of the grandest schemes that
+could be propounded to human benevolence: it is rife with difficulty,
+but surely not impracticable. The indiscriminate and abrupt manumission
+of the negro would, I am convinced, turn a quaint, simple, childish
+creature--prone to mirth, and not easily discontented if his indolence
+be not taxed too hardly, susceptible, too, of strong affection and
+fidelity to his master, as many recent events have shown--into a sullen,
+slothful, insolent savage, never remembering the past, except as a sort
+of vague excuse for the present indulgence of his brutal instincts,
+conscious that every man's hand is against him, without the meek
+patience of a pariah; but only venturing to retaliate by occasional
+outbursts of ruffianism or rapine. Where a body of these men is
+subjected at once to military discipline, and overawed by the presence
+of white soldiers in overwhelming numbers, the same danger cannot exist;
+yet I doubt gravely as to the ultimate success, in any point of view, of
+those negro levies. It seems hard to say, but I do think it is better
+for us--even for the sake of Christian charity--to leave that Great
+Anomaly to be dealt with by God in His own time.
+
+Were the cause stronger than it is, it would be damaged, with many
+moderate thinkers, by the absurdities and violence of its moat zealous
+advocates. Ward Beecher, the great Abolition apostle, fairly outdoes the
+earlier eccentricities of Spurgeon; every trick of stage effect--such as
+the sudden display of a white slave-child--is freely employed in the
+pulpit of Plymouth Church, and each successful "point" is rewarded by
+audible murmurs of applause. One fact stamps the man very sufficiently.
+In the latter part of last May, he was starting for a four-months'
+absence in Europe; it was purely a pleasure trip, the expenses to be
+paid by "his affectionate congregation;" and the whole arrangements were
+thoroughly comfortable, not to say luxurious. The text of his last
+sermon was taken from Acts, chapter xx. 18-27--words that even an
+Apostle never spoke till, standing in the shadow of bonds and death, he
+said farewell to saints who should never look upon his face any more.
+
+Theodore Tilton, another shining light, much distinguished himself by
+announcing that there was no doubt that "the negroes were destined to be
+_The_ Church of Christ:" he founded his discovery not so much upon the
+strong religious feeling prevalent among "colored" persons, as on that
+verse in the Songs of Solomon, where the Bride professes herself "black
+but comely."
+
+It would be well if such absurdities were all one had to record: some
+ebullitions of abolitionist zeal will hardly bear writing down. Take one
+instance. At a large Union meeting at Philadelphia, the _Reverend_ A. H.
+Gilbert, speaking of the Proclamation, and its probable effects in the
+South, did not deny that it might entail a repetition of the San Domingo
+horrors on a vaster scale. "But," said he--"speaking calmly and as a
+Christian minister--I affirm that it would be better that every woman
+and child in the South should perish, than that the principles of
+Confederate Statesmen should prevail."
+
+In all that huge assembly, there was not one man found who--for the love
+of wife, or sister, or daughter, or mother--would rise to smite the
+brutal blasphemer on the mouth; nay, the Quaker brood cheered him to the
+echo.
+
+That same Proclamation has done less harm than was expected, after all.
+Maryland has suffered, perhaps, most: the whole Constitution is rendered
+null and void there now, without her gaining any European credit as a
+voluntary free State. The negroes stay or run away according to their
+fancy, and work as it suits their convenience; the chances against
+recapture being about 1000 to 1, so it says something for the system,
+that so many have chosen to remain: hardly any household or domestic
+servants are found among the fugitives.
+
+Putting abolition aside, let us examine the condition of the North's
+"second charger"--battle-horse--Restoration of the Union at any cost.
+The question of the right of the Southern States to secede has been
+discussed till every European ear must be weary of the theme; so we will
+let the justice of the case alone, and only look at the wild
+improbability of any such result being achieved. In the North, of
+course, there is a strong peace-party; in the South I do not think that
+any man would venture to suggest to his nearest friend any compromise
+short of the acknowledgment of the Confederacy as an independent nation.
+It is an utter mistake to suppose that, if the Emancipatory Proclamation
+were revoked, the road towards peace would be smoothed materially: it
+might have a good effect in displaying a spirit of conciliation on the
+part of the Federal Government--nothing more. The wedges that will keep
+the South apart from the North, forever, were moulded and sharpened long
+before they were driven home. For years far-seeing men, especially on
+the Border States, had provided, in their financial and domestic
+arrangements, for a certain disunion: not for the first time in history
+has an aristocracy grown up in the centre of a democracy, and, while the
+world shall last, such a state of things can never long endure without a
+collision, involving temporary subjugation or permanent disruption.
+
+The New Englander sees this just as plainly as the Virginian, and both
+have an equal pride in thinking that Cavalier and Roundhead are fighting
+the old battle once more. Disputes about tariffs and falsified
+compromises have only been specious pretexts for indulging in a spirit
+of antagonism, which was then scarcely dissembled, and can never be
+glossed over again. But the Federal Government are not only pursuing a
+_mirage_, in trying to enforce a Union which could scarcely be
+maintained if all the South country lay depopulated and desolate: they
+are risking, every day, more perilously, the cohesion of the States that
+still cling to the old Commonwealth. The Black Republican tendency to
+put down all political opposition with the armed hand, or with the
+_lettre de cachet_, is perpetually conflicting with the State rights,
+which many true-hearted Americans value no less highly than their
+allegiance to the Union. The Democrats are almost strong enough to defy
+their opponents, even while the latter are in power; and resistance to
+the Conscription may be only the beginning of a struggle that will
+terminate in a second solution of political continuity, not less earnest
+than the first. Listen to _The World_, of the 19th May, speaking of
+Vallandigham's arrest:
+
+"The blood that already makes crimson Virginian and Kentucky hill-sides,
+is but a drop to that which will flow on northern soil, when the
+American people discover that the battle has begun to save the
+Constitution from tyrants."
+
+Brave words, these! Yet, making allowance for editorial blatancy, they
+may contain a germ of bitter truth. When New York, the Empress City, has
+been threatened with martial law, it is fair to conclude that Federaldom
+may soon have other enemies to deal with than those who are vexing her
+borders.
+
+No Government can hope successfully to carry out the principle of
+arbitrary and irresponsible power, unless its standing ground be as
+unassailable, and its resolves as unanimous as those of any individual
+autocrat.
+
+Yet, no administration--civil, political, or military--can be otherwise
+than unsound to the core where no mutual confidence or reliance subsists
+among its constituent members. Mr. Lincoln's Cabinet do not even keep up
+the appearances of a Happy Family; in all the subordinate departments,
+scarcely a week elapses without the promulgation of some disgraceful
+scandal. For instance, last spring, before men had had time to discuss
+the gigantic Custom-house frauds, there appeared a quiet paragraph to
+the effect that one hundred and forty thousand dollars had disappeared
+mysteriously from the Navy Office on the eve of pay-day; a huge reward
+was offered for the discovery of the criminal, or recovery of the money;
+but even Unionists laughed openly at such an advertisement, which
+probably did not cause the real robber, whoever he was, to turn once
+uneasily in his gorgeous bed. Even in the Commissariat, which, in all
+ages and in all armies, has been the presumed headquarters of the
+Autolyci, no one has yet emulated the evil renown of the Butlers at New
+Orleans (it was openly stated in Congress, and scarcely contradicted,
+that the profits and plunder carried off by that noble pair of brothers,
+exceeded seven millions of dollars); but many of the contractors appear
+to have used their opportunities much as if they were scrambling for
+eagles, or robbing "against time." The corruption that has long
+prevailed in Congress, whenever a "private bill" is in question, has
+long been notorious; but this, at least, was shrouded with a thin vail
+of decorum which the peculators in military and civil high places
+disdained to encumber themselves with in these latter days.
+
+Instances of all this might be multiplied to weariness, but you have
+only to look at a week's files of any northern journal to be convinced
+of the existing state of things, which even the Black Republicans not
+unfrequently bewail.
+
+There is another sort of extra-horse that the Government, or its organs,
+are fond of riding for a short "spell," when the others have been hacked
+rather too hardly. They have christened it--"Perfidious Albion." To
+speak the truth, however, the Anglophobia is not confined to the
+Abolitionists or Republicans when anything occurs to make any particular
+journal cross or querulous, you are almost sure to meet, that same week,
+a sanguinary leader, with the threadbare motto--"_delenda est
+Britannia_." Lately, it has been suggested that the most certain fact to
+secure the adhesion of the South, would be an invitation to join in an
+internecine war with England and France, with Canada and Mexico for
+prizes.
+
+Truly Secessia has little cause to love us; for our practical sympathy
+with her in her dire strait has been confined to the furnishing of
+war-munitions at a moderate profit of three hundred per cent.; yet, I
+think, even in such a cause, Georgia, Carolina, and Virginia would stand
+aloof, rather than dress up in line with the Yankee battalions. The
+mobocracy are "all for a muss," of course, as they always are till they
+see the glitter of bayonets; but I cannot believe that the bellicose
+ideas they are so fond of mooting have ever been seriously entertained
+by the Government. The Federal navy is too utterly inefficient now, save
+for attack and defense along its own shores, to give cause for
+apprehension even to a second-class Power: it cannot even protect
+Northern commerce. For a year or more, the Florida and Alabama have
+laughed at the beards of all the cruisers, and carry on depredation
+still with a high hand. The only grave aggression must be made on the
+frontier of Canada; and there the invaders would be met by a militia
+quite as well drilled as themselves, who have held their own, once
+before, gallantly; to say nothing of the reinforcement of our own
+regular army; if the crack regiments of New York or Massachusetts should
+chance, in such a case, to find the Guards or Highlanders in their
+front, it is just possible that the "veterans" might have some fresh
+ideas as to the realities of a "charge in line."
+
+Reading these bellicose articles, you are perpetually reminded of the
+favorite national game of "Poker." In this, a player holding a very bad
+hand against a good one, may possibly "bluff" his adversary down, and
+win the stakes, if he only has confidence enough to go on piling up the
+money, so as to make his own weakness appear strength. That audacity
+answers often happily enough, especially with the timid and
+inexperienced, but the professional gamblers tell you mournfully that
+they sometimes meet an opponent with equal nerve and a longer purse;
+then comes the fatal moment when the cards must be shown, and then--_le
+quart d'heure de Rabelais_. I think, if ever Britannia is forced to
+"see" Federalia's "hand," the world that looks on will find that the
+latter has been "bluffing" to hide weakness.
+
+Nevertheless, I am far from undervaluing the actual strength of the
+northern land armies. They are composed of the most uncouth and
+heterogeneous materials; but they work well enough, after their own
+rough fashion, and certainly recover surprisingly fast from temporary
+discomfiture; it is difficult to believe that the troops who met Lee so
+gallantly at Gettysburg were the same who recrossed the Rappahannock in
+sullen despondency, after Chancellorsville. But the foreign element in
+the Federal forces must soon grow dangerously strong; it should never be
+forgotten that the foreigners, attracted by enormous bounty, even if
+they be of Anglo-Saxon blood, can be but mercenaries, after all; and, in
+history, the Swiss almost monopolize the glory of mercenary fidelity.
+Such subsidies can only be relied on when pay is prompt and work plenty:
+irregularity or inaction will soon breed discontent, followed by some
+such revolt as menaced the existence of Carthage.
+
+These are some of the causes which, as it seems to me, even now
+neutralize, to a great extent, the really vast resources of the North,
+and will some day imperil her very existence as a nation--united in her
+present form. Now, as to the event of the struggle.
+
+I believe amalgamation, or any other terms than absolute subjugation of
+the South--to be maintained hereafter by armies of occupancy--simply
+impracticable. This--not only on the grounds of political and social
+antagonism before alluded to; but because this contest has been waged
+after a fashion almost unknown in the later days of civilization. I do
+not speak of open warfare on stricken fields, or even of pitiless
+slaughter wrought by those who, when their blood is hot, "do not their
+work negligently;" but of bitter by-blows, dealt on either side, such as
+humanity cannot lightly forget or forgive--of passions roused, that will
+rankle savagely long after this generation shall be dust. There remains
+the chance of utterly quelling and annihilating the insurrection (I
+speak as a Federal) with the strong hand.
+
+On the one side is ranged an innumerable multitude--who can hardly be
+looked upon as a distinct nation, for in it mingles all the blood of
+Western Europe--doggedly determined, perhaps, to persevere in its
+purpose, yet strangely apathetic when a crisis seems really
+imminent--easily discouraged by reverses, and fatally prone to
+discontent and distrust of all ruling powers--divided by political
+jealousies, often more bitter than the hatred of the Commonwealth's
+foe--mingling always with their patriotism a certain commercial
+calculation, that if all tales are true, makes them, from the highest to
+the lowest, peculiarly open to the temptations of the Almighty Dollar;
+these men are fighting for a positive gain, for the reacquisition of a
+vast territory, that if they win, they must watch, as Russia has watched
+Poland.
+
+On the other side I see a real nation, numerically small, in whose veins
+the Anglo-Saxon blood flows almost untainted; I see rich men casting
+down their gold, and strong men casting down their lives, as if both
+were dross, in the cause they have sworn to win; I see Sybarites
+enduring hardships that _un vieux de la vieille_ would have grumbled at,
+without a whispered murmur; I hear gentle and tender women echo in
+simple earnestness the words that once were spoken to me by a fair
+Southern wife--"I pray that Philip may die in the front, and that they
+may burn me in the plantation, before the Confederacy makes peace on any
+terms but our own." I see that reverses, instead of making this people
+cashier their generals, or cavil at their rulers, only intensifies their
+fierce energy of resistance. Here men are fighting--not to gain a foot
+of ground, but simply to hold their own, with the liberty which they
+believe to be their birthright.
+
+It may well be that darker days are in store for the South than she has
+ever yet known; it may be that she will only attain her object at the
+cost of utter commercial ruin; it may be that the charity of the
+European Powers is exhausted on Poland, and that neither pity nor shame
+will induce them to break a thankless neutrality, here; but in the face
+of all barely probable contingencies, I doubt no more of the ultimate
+result, than I doubt of the ultimate performance of the justice of God.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's Border and Bastille, by George A. Lawrence
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