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THE FALL OF FORT SUMTER ; 
 
 OK, 
 
 LOVE AND WAR IN 1860-61. 
 
 "By The Private Secretary to , etc/ 
 
 NEW YORK: 
 FREDERIC A. BRADY, PUBLISHER, 
 
 No. 22 ANN STREET. 
 
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1867, 
 
 By J. B. NEWBROUGH, 
 
 In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the Southern District 
 
 of New York. 
 
THE FALL OF FORT SUMTER 
 
 LOVE AND WAR IN 1860. 
 
 A SORT OF PREFACE. 
 
 Just before the war, our country was almost without news. We were obliged 
 to make the most of everything, in order to have excitement enough to live on. 
 Many cultivated, rich, and ease-loving gentlemen used to spend their time in 
 the National Capitol, and, to while away that time, as the over-full enjoyment went 
 on, they were put to many straits for something to talk of. 
 
 In the summer of 1857, a party — myself among others — established a select 
 court, criminal, civil, and elite. The whole object and end, however, of this court, 
 was to amuse and interest ourselves. We had a definite organization, and seldom 
 varied from the established rules of an ordinary court. We had for our judge a 
 portly man of about fifty — the most eccentric, good-natured, well-informed kind of 
 fool you ever saw ; more of a gentleman than Falstaff — less a drinker ; more of a 
 wit — less a knave : and, as Jenkins says, about the same to America that Falstaff 
 was to England. 
 
 Jenkins, whose real name was Rumor, and who fashions the bulk of this history, 
 had been for many years a reporter ; but, having recently come into the possession 
 of a fortune, no longer followed his pursuit, except for amusement. Rumor had 
 it, too, that about the time referred to he was in love with the Judge's niece, after- 
 wards well known by the battles in the neighborhood of Loudon Heights. 
 
 The other members of our court constituted the jury, plaintiffs, defendants, wit- 
 nesses, et cetera. As you will perceive, if you read this history far enough, our 
 court had also to do with courtships and marriages, and did really have contact 
 with the outside world as much as was generally supposed at that period. I 
 continued a member of this court until the war broke out, and then, being a 
 Northerner, I withdrew, taking no further interest in the matter, only so far that I 
 always remembered with great joy the pleasant hours I had passed. During all 
 this long war, I was left entirely to my own conjectures about my former com- 
 panions, and of their whereabouts. Neither did I know who, since that time, 
 had taken charge of the marriages and courtships that were the life of Wash- 
 ington. 
 
 602892 
 
iv A SOPwT OF PEEFACE. 
 
 One day, not long ago, Jenkins, that is to say, Rumor, came into my office, and I 
 was right glad to see him. He said he was broke — dead broke — and indeed he 
 looked a good deal discouraged ; but I gave him wine, and he rallied rapidly. When 
 he was himself again, he said I was the cleverest man he ever knew, and that I 
 might as easily get a monument to my greatness as any one, if I would only fix 
 up his notes and publish them : for, he said, they contained not only the full his- 
 tory of the rebellion, but all the fashions, marriages, and courtships during the whole 
 four years. I gave him more wine, and he said I was a good-looking man, and 
 that no other should have the privilege in so great a work as that he was going to offer 
 me, and that was, that when I was dead and gone my picture should be in the 
 frontispiece. He unfolded a large bundle of papers and handed me a large basket- 
 ful beside. " Good Lord," said I, " must I rewrite all these, in order to be great ? " 
 But he smiled, and said, " You, sir, that have read all languages ; that have trav- 
 elled all over the world ; that have studied and labored for thirty years in literature ; 
 that know all men and value them so highly ; that look from your aerial posi- 
 tion ; (I am very tall) you, to talk of all these ? " 
 
 When he tumbled out the basketful, I saw that the manuscripts were in phono- 
 graphic characters, and told him I could not decipher them. But he said he would 
 furnish me an interpreter, and all I had to do was to write. I thought I would give 
 him another glass of wine, which, when he had finished it, he pronounced excellent, 
 and then he went on, 
 
 " Who wrote the best history of England ? Shakespeare. Who the best of 
 Scotland ? Scott. And we all know who wrote the best history of knight errantry. 
 They dealt in love affairs, and you know we prize them first. Now I will venture 
 to say that there is not a man or woman this side of Jersey who does not feel a 
 tingle of joy on learning the finale of some spirited amour ; and, for that reason 
 I want you to salt these things down." 
 
 With that he tossed them into my arms, saying, " You know one of the rules of the 
 club was that no member could refuse to do what was ordered by a superior." 
 I took them, and he immediately translated a portion to me, beginning with the 
 session of the Chicago convention. Now if you will be kind enough to read what 
 follows, you will learn the things that Jenkins wrote. 
 
CHAPTER I. 
 
 THE FRACAS IN THE TELEGRAPH OFFICE. JUDGE UNDERBILL OF LOUDON HEIGHTS, 
 
 AND ALSO SOME OF THE DARK LIGHTS. 
 
 About twenty of us were waiting in the 
 office, and about forty others outside. We 
 were waiting for news from the Chicago 
 Convention. I did not know at that time 
 who Khett was, but was told afterwards 
 that he was editor and proprietor of the 
 Charleston Mercury. Whilst the talk was 
 going on in the office, I heard a Mr. 
 Jones ask how far it was to Chicago. 
 The conversation turned on politics, and a 
 Mr. Smith became engaged in angry words 
 with Jones. The latter said he was in 
 favor of freedom in the Territories, and the 
 former thereupon accused him of saying " a 
 nigger is as good as a white man." It 
 was like all political rows, beginning in 
 calm argument, but ending in violence and 
 shame. Then came the flourish of weapons, 
 knives and pistols. 
 
 At this instant Rhett and Johnson 
 rushed upon them. Rhett said, " Gentle- 
 men, what would you do ? Must such 
 trifling words incite you to deeds of 
 blood ? " He took Smith, and Johnson 
 took Jones, and they were bearing them 
 back, when Smith said, " What, shall he 
 deride my native state ? " Jones replied, 
 " I did not." " You did ! " says Smith. 
 " You cast a slur on Breckenridge, and he 
 and I are Kentuckians." " That is too far- 
 fetched '' said Jones ; but thereupon Smith 
 tore himself away from Rhett, reiterat- 
 ing, " Coward, you say a nigger is as good 
 as a white man." He flew at Jones, but 
 the crowd interfered and forcibly ejected 
 him from the office. 
 
 As soon as quiet was restored, Rhett 
 said, " Did ever man take offence so easily ; 
 did ever man so hastily come to a base 
 conclusion. A dozen words, and then to 
 knives and pistols." He then called John- ! 
 son, and Johnson said, " Well sir." Rhett 
 being old, and somewhat excited, leaned 
 on Johnson's arm, his hand on his shoul- 
 der, and he facing the crowd, " This is 
 indeed approaching war," he continued ; 
 " all men, and on all occasions, meet now, 
 but to discuss North and South. Brooks 
 bled poor Sumner for this, and for as 
 trifling a matter as this between Jones and 
 Smith. Sumner spoke, Brooks took offence 
 — not for what Sumner said, but for what 
 
 he himself inferred might have been 
 spoken. Brooks loved offence more than 
 even justice, and so do we all. We have 
 had no war for fifty years, and we have 
 become chronic. The Creator designs 
 that there shall be a grand upheaval in 
 this nation. We have not learned to 
 govern ourselves with moderation and 
 reason, and the scourge of war is already 
 in embryo in every man's breast. These 
 trifles which we behold, are but its leak- 
 ings ; outbreaks preliminary to a mighty 
 revolution." 
 
 Now, when Rhett began to talk, we 
 were all silent ; for the wisdom of his 
 words showed us that we were in the 
 presence of a superior man. Up to this 
 time I did not know Johnson, but was 
 told who he was. He replied to Rhett by 
 saying, " This is through politicians, and, 
 like their fellows in all countries, they 
 have their hobby for electioneering pur- 
 poses. Like the Prussian king, who told 
 his subjects that the savages of England 
 and France were coming, and that they 
 should at once invest him with absolute 
 power ; and he promised that if the coun- 
 try would give him his desire, he w< ml' 1 
 fill every man's purse with gold, and his 
 stomach with beer. The opposite party, 
 however, wishing to retain the parliament, 
 often came to blows with the king's party, 
 who invariably retorted to them : a So, you 
 say a Frenchman, or an Englishman is as 
 good as a Dutchman." The king's party 
 however succeeded, and this style of argu- 
 ment is still the basis of all politics. In 
 England, a candidate electioneers by say- 
 ing he will fill the stomachs of his consti- 
 tuents; or by cautioning him that the 
 infidel French are coming ; or, that the 
 barbarous Americans need watching. In 
 the South, we say slavery is wealth, give 
 us more ; and our opposite party says a 
 " negro is as good as a white man." Now 
 this is all nonsense. These are extreme 
 and ultra views which no sensible man of 
 either party endorses. They are political 
 fabrications. False, for villainous party 
 purposes only. What we want, Mr. Rhett, 
 is concession." 
 
 " Concession ! dogs ! " said Rhett, " for 
 
 I 
 
6 
 
 THE FALL OF FORT SUMTER ; OR, 
 
 thirty years we have conceded all to the 
 North ; but, sir, till they get our slaves, 
 or we get the government, I swear by 
 heavens, as I am a man, this agitation 
 shall never cease. Men like you are as 
 detrimental to the whole country as to the 
 South." " Why, now, look you," said John- 
 son, " you are like Jones and Smith ; like 
 Brooks and Sumner. Because I said that 
 one word, concession, you infer that I am 
 on the opposite side, and might say some 
 ugly things." 
 
 " No, sir," said Rhett, " I infer nothing, 
 though the South shall have her rights. 
 We have done nothing but concede. We 
 have been battling like dogs for thirty 
 years to obtain even a decent footing in 
 the West. Sir, the Free States are usurp- 
 ing everything. The tide of these affairs 
 ■will soon rise, till three-quarters of the 
 States will be free, and then what becomes 
 of us ? We can thank our stars for poor 
 Pierce and James Buchanan ; but — suppose 
 a devil with some shrewd sense be elected 
 from the North ? That is the gist of our 
 forebodings. I tell you, Johnson, sooner 
 than have this country overrun with abo- 
 litionism, I would have every man, woman 
 and child in it annihilated." * 
 
 Johnson replied that he considered him 
 one of the greatest agitators in the coun- 
 try. Rhett denied it. He said he only 
 wanted the rights of the South guaran- 
 teed, though ere he replied in full, the 
 place was thrown into some confusion 
 by the entrance of Toombs, Floyd, Thomp- 
 son, Wigfall, Davis, Slidell, Mason, and 
 Yancey, "and immediately after them came 
 Gen. Scott leaning on the arm of Prescott. 
 Johnson said, good humoredly, " Here are 
 your disciples, only for Scott and Pres- 
 cott." When he said this, Rhett leaned 
 over the railing to look at Scott and Pres- 
 cott, and he asked who that was on whom 
 Scott was leaning ? " Prescott," said John- 
 son ; " young Prescott, the son of a wash- 
 erwoman.'' " The son of a washerwo- 
 man ! " said Rhett, and he drew down his 
 eyebrows and scowled. " The son of a 
 washerwoman ! Well, it is well that poor 
 men do well in this country ; and it is 
 ill that they do ill in others. But there 
 is a tide in the affairs of nations, and 
 when it is at the flood, why, it gets no 
 higher. 
 
 " Caesar rose from nothing, but the gods 
 were insulted, and so great Caesar fell, and 
 with him his countrv. Caesars rise out of 
 
 * Those words were thousrht to be too cood to be 
 lost, and afterwards appeared editorially in the col- 
 umns of the Charleston Mercury, and were copied into 
 the New Orleans True Delta, and with even worse 
 threats attached to them. 
 
 every dunghill in America, and they will 
 prove the death of us." 
 
 Johnson turned to him calmly and said, 
 " I, sir, am a tailor. I understand the 
 fashions of a cut. A goose, well tempered, 
 may smooth a thing, but if it be too hot. 
 it burns. I know also there may be sharp 
 things in a poor garment, and even a goose 
 may be made to feel the prick of them." 
 
 Rhett was thrown completely off his 
 bearings, and he looked at Johnson, sur- 
 prised at him ; but Johnson walked away. 
 Rhett stood for some time looking after 
 him, and then he said : " A tailor, a wash- 
 erwoman's son ; a pretty pass in this our 
 great republic. Am I, that am a fair gen- 
 tleman, bewildered with the things I Bee, 
 seeing double, both the false and true, as 
 truth ; or is my native country mad ? 
 Mad ! It follows now an ape — a common 
 ape must rise and set its nose for Congress, 
 learn to take offence and mimic gen- 
 tlemen. O heavens ! shall never beam the 
 star of glory on our fair land, and wills 
 majestic rise to consummate the Southern 
 Parliament ? Shall not my thirty years of 
 constant prayer reach up to Him who 
 notes a sparrow's fall, and answer bring 
 imperative — no North, no South, but one 
 united whole; a country's laws for all; 
 not one the sole inheritor, nor property 
 devoid of bond up North that is down 
 South employed ? No, never. Low ambi- 
 tion rules the land. The loudest clamor- 
 ing politician sways the universal mob ; 
 villainous poison is secreted under the 
 name of Liberty. O Liberty ! I sicken at 
 thy oft repeated tale ; from my very soul I 
 hurl thee into endless chaos." 
 
 I think he said more, but, at this time, 
 some bustle occasioned in the office by a 
 report coming from Chicago, I heard 
 Cobb say, " You are right, Mr. Rhett." I 
 have known Cobb for many years. He is 
 a stoutish man, and often repeats what 
 others say. He boasts a good deal for a 
 man of his worth. " You are right, Mr. 
 Rhett," said he, " those are my senti- 
 ments ; " and then he added some oaths 
 that I do not like to mention. Afterwards 
 he shook hands with Rhett, and con- 
 tinued, " Our few heads are more powerful 
 than were all the warriors and philoso- 
 phers of the Roman Empire. We need 
 but to rise and shake our fists in the face 
 of the world, and we shall be the mightiest 
 of nations. No one dares oppose us ; only JQ 
 let us stick together and get loose from ^? I 
 these dolts and plebeians that are eternally 
 robbing us of our rights under the sicken- 
 ing name of Liberty. They tell us we dare 
 not secede, what say you ? " and then he 
 made oath, adding, " It is all gammon," 
 
LOVE AND WAP. IN 1860. 
 
 using such language that even Rhett and 
 Davis looked ashamed.* 
 
 Despatches were now coming from Chi- 
 cago announcing Seward's rejection, and 
 the news interfered with the conversation. 
 We observed two persons, Madame Pon- 
 chard, and a man called Orsini entering 
 the place. They were a mysterious pair. 
 She was apparently a woman of great 
 wealth, and he a man of neat and plain 
 attire, as if he might be only an attendant. 
 Yet both were reserved, secluded, diffi- 
 dent. She recognized by nearly all of the 
 great men present by a polite bow ; he 
 unnoticed. As soon as they had passed 
 indifferently aside, as if to await the news 
 from Chicago, we were still further inter- 
 ested by the entrance of another person — 
 a woman of strange and noticeable mark : 
 a tall, serene person she was, and of an 
 age no man might question. She came in 
 so boldly, and looked around with such 
 commanding mien, that we all stood still 
 as if awaiting our doom. " Gentlemen," she 
 said, " why this silence ? Methought this 
 bustle and these murmuring voices were 
 indicative of something terrible, and that 
 within this noble structure, I heard oaths 
 so abominable, that the very foundation 
 of my woman's nature trembled in my 
 delicate form. But, lo ! how soon is peace 
 and quiet. How majestically sweet and 
 humble is man's nature, turned by the pre- 
 sence of modest, unassuming woman. I 
 thank my stars, gentlemen, that I have 
 been the innocent means of assuaging this 
 raging tumult. These missions are my 
 errands. I am to redress the wrongs of 
 woman, and to reform the uncultivated 
 faults of man's nature. My name is Miss 
 Lucy Tabiatha Stimpkins." 
 
 Thus saying, she drew from her pocket 
 a bundle of papers and distributed them 
 amongst us, giving every man one. Some 
 said it was Donna del Don Quixote ; but 
 she heeded nothing round her, and went 
 on speaking, " You will perceive, gentle- 
 men," she said, " I am just starting a paper 
 to be entitled ' The Journal of Progress,' 
 and I am to be the editress. I have long 
 beheld the down-trodden condition of my 
 sex, and am prepared for the direst slurs 
 you may heap upon me for my apparent 
 boldness. I have heard lectures by our 
 eminent women on this subject, and I have 
 resolved to devote the balance of my days 
 as the champion and adjuster of our 
 wrongs. You see, too, like the knight of 
 the Lion heart, as some one of you has 
 been good enough to compare me, I pitch 
 into all places of danger, that all men may 
 
 * From Cobb's speech at Mobile, 1860. 
 
 learn my power — my woman's power. But 
 not like that knight do I invoke the 
 power of my lover ; for I tell you frankly 
 I love no man, having been thrice married 
 and thrice divorced ; but I speak to Him 
 who has power to give to the meek and 
 lowly according as their just rights de- 
 mand. Though prayer is nothing without 
 work. I have put my shoulder to the 
 wheel. My talents are my arms ; my sex 
 is my shield ; my cause is my Rosinante. 
 By this prospectus, gentlemen, you will 
 see that I am the champion of freedom for 
 all men, and for all women too. You are 
 thankful for your freedom ; but you un- 
 doubtedly remember the women of the 
 days of Lycurgus, how they bared their 
 breasts and demanded the liberty of their 
 husbands and brothers, or death. Then 
 came the republic — the first republic. You 
 thank those women, and some day your 
 children and your children's children will 
 thank us. Not, sirs, that we will bare our 
 breasts ; " (here some of the crowd said, 
 " got none to bare ; " but she heeded not, 
 going on,) " we take a more noble method 
 of action, and, we trust, more powerful 
 than the sword. My object will be in the 
 ' Journal of Progress ' to show you that 
 the abolition of slavery is near at hand ; 
 to show you that if it be done by war 
 instead of peace, you have everything 
 to lose, and nothing to gain ; to show you 
 that Elihu Burritt, the learned blacksmith, 
 has demonstrated that you can sell your 
 slaves into freedom by the sale of western 
 lands ; to show you that woman comes 
 among you as a ministering angel, to carry 
 out the great principles of human liberty. 
 Now, gentlemen, with this brief statement 
 on my part, allow me to ask, will you sub- 
 scribe for the Journal ? " 
 
 We all laughed loudly, but she went on, 
 " Three columns shall be devoted to news 
 and letters, one to advertisements, twelve 
 to temperance, sixteen to the abolition of 
 slavery, and twenty to woman's rights." 
 When she had got thus far, the whole 
 office joined in roars of laughter ; but she 
 was still as calm as before. As soon as 
 quiet was restored, Rhett replied, " It is 
 strange, madam, that every person North 
 runs on these same topics — slavery, tem- 
 perance, and woman's rights. As soon as 
 a woman learns to read, she mounts the 
 rostrum with adjectives numerous, and 
 topics worn threadbare, not to elevate or 
 beautify rude man, but to disgust him with 
 the presence of woman. Miss Lucy Tabi- 
 atha Stimpkins, I pity you. You have 
 harped upon these subjects until you are 
 mad. You are indeed like Don Quixote. 
 These subjects have made you crazy, and 
 
s 
 
 THE FALL OF FORT SUMTER ; OR, 
 
 the result of your crazy-headed lecturing 
 (a great deal of exaggeration mixed with 
 a little truth) will make many, very many 
 unhappy persons, especially females. If 
 anything makes me hate the North more 
 than abolitionism it is your species of wo- 
 men. We have none such amongst us in 
 the South." 
 
 " Exactly so," said she, " and to educate 
 you to that higher sphere of life have I 
 come among you. I come to bear the 
 brunt of your reproaches, and I am happy 
 that my modesty and delicacy do not 
 quail before you. I belong to that class — 
 I may say race — of unselfish beings who 
 can view slavery, temperance, and woman's 
 rights from a holier point of view. Sir, 
 you pity me, allow me to reciprocate the 
 sentiment on your revered head." 
 
 This was so easily spoken that the crowd 
 set up another laugh, and some of them 
 clapped their hands. Rhett rallied, al- 
 though he showed an inclination to turn 
 away. " Pity devil," said he, " but, since 
 you have a face bold enough to argue, let 
 me tell you one thing as a principle in 
 philosophy — and that is, that so much 
 boldness of Northern women is proof posi- 
 tive that man's nature up there has eked 
 out into woman, and hence the dastardly, 
 cowardly character of all the members 
 they send to the national Congress. It is 
 also the best assurance in the world that 
 in a few years the South will be entirely the 
 master of the country." 
 
 " I don't argue sir," said she, " I main- 
 tain my rights. I am champion for others. 
 You may fight and conquer us, you may 
 extinguish an army of women, but, sir, 
 our doctrines, our woman's rights, shall 
 finally vanquish you. Little girls shall be 
 taught to know their rights, and, coming 
 to majority, they will maintain them. 
 They will make men sue, oblige them to 
 stand trembling, to know and do their 
 pleasure. I look far ahead, sir, to the time 
 when woman's voice shall ring in yonder 
 Capitol, and, too, when the black man, if 
 he has talent, shall grace the Senate with 
 his brilliant tongue." 
 
 Here a roar of laughter set in again, and 
 the poor woman turned and left, protesting 
 at the top of her voice, that she was but a 
 poor helpless woman, but that she would 
 meet them again in after times, with such 
 editorials as were never put to paper. 
 
 As soon as the laugh was over, Rhett, 
 somewhat excitedly, shouted out, " "Wel- 
 come war, thrice welcome bloody war. 
 Our land is stagnant with peace. Folly is 
 in the vision of Northern millions, and wel- 
 come, welcome war ! " Cobb rejoined, 
 " That is my prayer too. This couutry is 
 
 rotten," as Hamlet says, " it is rotten, sir. 
 Fanatics grow out of washtubs. Dyspepsia 
 is called a medium, a seer of spirits ; a fool- 
 ish tongue is loosest hung, and random 
 gab is set down for sound philosophy. 
 My heart is bent on war, as Shakespeare 
 says, ' for bloody war.' I want to see 
 every Southerner, like Coriolanus, ' all 
 smeared with smoke and blood,' emerging 
 from the putridity of these vile scenes to 
 bequeath to coming generations a purer 
 and holier stock of men. These are my 
 sentiments, Mr. Rhett, give us bloody 
 war." He then stalked about the tele- 
 graph office like a king, and said he had 
 seen that day the Prince of Wales, and he 
 thought the British government better 
 than ours. " For," he said, " there their 
 snobs and bootblacks have their ambition 
 checked, nipped in the bud, and it keeps 
 them in their proper places. " 
 
 But, when he had got thus far he was 
 confronted by Prescott, Scott having pre- 
 viously gone out. " Why, how is that, 
 Mr. Cobb ? " said Prescott, " you would 
 not quell ambition ? " 
 
 " Yes I would," said Cobb, " I would 
 wipe it out of human nature." 
 
 " Then," said Prescott, " I am happy 
 that you did not construct mankind. Am- 
 bition for wealth, knowledge, ease, or 
 even luxury, has lifted the common 
 people of this country to a higher point 
 of excellence than in any other." 
 
 " At the expense of people of higher 
 birth," said Cobb. 
 
 Prescott replied, " 1 cannot deal with 
 theory — only facts. But, sir, I never knew 
 before the cause of your own deterioration 
 in moral and mental acquirements." 
 
 When he put this witticism upon Cobb, 
 the latter said, " Do you say a nigger is as 
 good as a white man ? Must I stand and 
 hear a man blackguard my own State ? 
 You should know, sir, that we have such a 
 thing down South as chivalry, and it loves 
 liberty." 
 
 " Liberty ! " said Prescott. " Oh Liberty ! 
 how much men ask in thy poor name. 
 Why, sir, you have liberty. You make 
 your own laws, and you unmake them at 
 your pleasure. Even have you liberty to 
 enslave others and to use them at your 
 pleasure, and yet you plead for liberty. 
 You are indeed very chivalrous. You 
 come up North and make us catch your 
 runaway slaves and carry them to you. 
 You killed Northern men who entered 
 Kansas, because they brought no slaves 
 with them ; you killed John Brown, and 
 he was merely the foolish champion of 
 the rights of others. Now, sir, for you are 
 no child, you know that there is a crime 
 
LOVE AND WAR IN" 1860. 
 
 9 
 
 amongst you, and it is this that makes 
 you sensitive." 
 
 " So then," said Cobb, " you have turned 
 abolitionist too. Now I swear that of all 
 we most desire down South, the greatest 
 wish is for Abolition blood. We have 
 endeavored to abide by the constitution 
 of our land, but now are we sworn that 
 whoever meddles with our slaves shall die." 
 
 " Why sir, look you," said Prescott, 
 " Abolitionists are so plenty you might 
 drown yourself in their blood." 
 
 " A pretty boast," said Cobb, " and one 
 for which I'd have thee whipped in Sa- 
 vannah," and Rhett added, " or in Charles- 
 ton either ; " but Prescott said he was 
 glad he was in Washington, for such con- 
 duct as theirs was the result of the ac- 
 cursed institution amongst them. 
 
 When he said this Rhett and Cobb 
 came near him, and Rhett said, " Gentle- 
 men meet as gentlemen, but when a cur 
 comes in their company he must be kicked 
 out, 1 ' and therefore some of the bystanders 
 did kick at Prescott, but the crowd cried 
 " Shame," for Prescott was a small man 
 with a pleasant face. When he had with- 
 drawn a pace, he added, " Behold this 
 blood;" for in the scuffle some one had 
 touched him on the nose, and it bled a 
 little. " These gentle drops do rush to 
 the view of modern chivalry appalled, and 
 registering each a score of Southern wid- 
 ows, as the debt to come of your weighty 
 arguments ; and you, sir Cobb, for a little, 
 I would punch the pith out of you." And 
 then he seized him by the shoulder and 
 shook him until Cobb was nearly fright- 
 ened out of his wits. The crowd however 
 interrupted at this instant by crying, 
 " Shame ! shame ! can we not meet as 
 gentlemen without these eternal political 
 rows ? " We were also greeted at this 
 time with news from Chicago, and in an 
 instant, were as silent as a house of mourn- 
 ing. The operator read aloud, " Abraham 
 Lincoln of Illinois unanimously nomi- 
 nated." This was cold water on the 
 whole assemblage of us. The Southern 
 men were dumb with astonishment. 
 Rhett's eyes were set in their sockets. 
 Davis hung his head in silent wonder. 
 Yancey — straight-haired Yancey, was more 
 like a weather-beaten statae than a living 
 man. Cobb tossed his hands aloft, and, 
 trembling in every nerve, his bloodshot 
 eyes were riveted upward. The die was 
 cast. The great republic had thrown its 
 challenge to the world to stand or fall for 
 human rights. Not Northern rights, nor 
 Southern rights, but human rights, and, 
 sectional be the slur, still the issue was. 
 begun. 
 
 A fearful thing, oh, my countrymen ! to 
 oppose those who had always wielded the 
 power and who held ever their awful 
 threat against a Northern President on 
 freedom's platform. The North had now 
 but one object in view ; that hereafter 
 there should be no more slave territory 
 admitted into the Union, and the South 
 had at stake her ordinary interest. The 
 North stood for principle merely. These 
 ideas all ran through every man's mind 
 quicker than they can be spoken. Every 
 one knew what the others were thinking 
 in this assemblage. Rhett first broke the 
 silence, without sign or gesture ; for he 
 stood there as frozen as the poles, and as 
 pallid. 
 
 " Abraham Lincoln ! " " The freedom 
 of the Territories ! " Again all was silent 
 for a moment, and then he went on : 
 " Wealth and refinement, against the 
 plebeians. Which is most powerful, the 
 North or the South ? In England, wealth 
 rules ; in France, monkeys ; beggars, in 
 Italy ; ambition with a rag on its back is 
 king of Germany, Spain, and Ireland, and 
 now, do their descendants ascend over us. 
 The descendants of these emigrants, these 
 plebeians, have overpopulated the North, 
 and they have raised their heads to 
 demand that we of the South shall be 
 subservient to them. Indeed, then the 
 North is our enemy. I know this Lin- 
 coln, this boatman, this rail-splitter, this 
 hewer of wood and carrier of water. He 
 is to hold the poniard to our hearts and 
 say, ' your slaves or your life.' We must 
 knuckle to him. We must sit and see 
 these vermin undermine our houses, be- 
 cause we have comfortable beds. No, no, 
 by heavens ! " and then he moved around. 
 " In God's name strike out ; put all your 
 wits to work, in secret, in public, any- 
 where, everywhere, meet, combine the 
 elements of your power. Live in constant 
 effort. Let slumbering fires within your 
 breasts flame up. Strike out ! We must, 
 we will accomplish it ! We struck on the 
 tariff, but that gave way. We struck on 
 native Americanism, that lost. It might 
 have given us the balance of power for a 
 short period. Then came Mason and 
 Dixon's line; then Douglass and the 
 Missouri Compromise. But all, all have 
 failed. We have no more allegiance to 
 the Union, and must secede. We will go 
 by ourselves. Peaceably if we can : forci- 
 bly if we must." He then said Lincoln 
 was an unknown man, and consequently, 
 that his platform was his strength ; that 
 the whole fight would now turn on the 
 platform of the freedom of the Territories, 
 but not on the man. " This," said he, 
 
10 
 
 THE FALL OF FORT SUMTER ; OR, 
 
 " makes his election sure. This is the 
 whole reason the Republicans have taken 
 an unknown man, aud it is this will be 
 the death of us." He then said, " Davis, 
 what shall we do ? " 
 
 Davis said, " We shall lose this election, 
 God knows we shall lose it ; " and the 
 tears started to his eyes, and he added, 
 " Even the powers we now wield may be 
 turned against us." 
 
 Rhett replied, " That power must be 
 scattered to the winds beforehand," aud 
 Davis said " That might be." 
 
 Now, when they had said thus much, 
 they looked at each other for a moment, 
 as if there was a reflection going on in 
 each other's mind. Then Yancey clenched 
 his fist and said, " If they come against 
 us " — (I thought he meant Abolitionists ; 
 for he stopped there, and seemed to make 
 oath toward the heavens) — " South Caro- 
 lina will secede as sure as yonder sun goes 
 down," said Rhett. Cobb said, " So shall 
 Georgia," making a threat, and breathing 
 an oath. " Mississippi will, I am sure," said 
 Davis ; and then Yancey and Floyd both 
 made oath that the South would secede. 
 
 "Now, then," said Rhett, "must we 
 know the cue of Scott and James Bu- 
 chanan. Davis and Cobb, will you go 
 with me ? " And then they withdrew a 
 pace, and the latter remarked with a low 
 voice to Davis and Cobb, " This will be a 
 dangerous business for us. We must send 
 men to see them at once, and inform them 
 of this nomination. Hark you ! I know a 
 man, the most ingenious, sensible kind of 
 fool that ever lived. He is so inquisitive, 
 that he can ascertain every politician's 
 secret thoughts, and they all the while 
 heeding little what he says, and not 
 caring. This man we will* send to all 
 prominent men, and ascertain what part 
 they will play — particularly, Scott and 
 Buchanan. You know him. I mean 
 Judge Francis Underhill, of Loudon 
 Heights," and they all smiled and took 
 their departure. 
 
 Floyd then took Thompson's arm, and 
 whispered to him, " Our deadliest enemy 
 lies in the nation's offices, and it should 
 be scattered. I mean the specie, the Gov- 
 ernment securities, the national treasury, 
 sub-treasury, customs, and post-office 
 funds." And then Thompson said, " That 
 is a great power. Let us lay our heads 
 together in this matter," and they also 
 departed.* 
 
 * The danger to the national treasury was antici- 
 pated by the' New York Tribune and Cincinnati 
 Gazette, and the scheme concocted and here alluded 
 to was published prior to its transpiring, and yet no 
 action was taken by the Government to prevent it. 
 
 During this affair, the strangest of all 
 was that mysterious tall woman, who came 
 in silk and diamonds, with the long-faced 
 Italian Orsini. If you will be kind enough 
 to recollect the circumstances of the Na- 
 tional Hotel poisoning, nearly four years 
 ago, when James Buchanan nearly lost his 
 life, you will remember that at that time 
 there were three foreigners in the Hotel. 
 One of them died, leaving a widow — a 
 mysterious person of great fashion, and 
 that person was Madame Ponchard. She 
 was said to own a large plantation some- 
 where ; but she so seldom spoke to any 
 one, that no one seemed to discover who 
 or what she was. She was so constantly 
 in the society of Floyd, Thompson, and 
 Davis, and anon of Governor Wise's son, 
 and she seemed so greedily to devour the 
 words of Floyd and Davis. Many rich 
 men had made advances to her on account 
 of her supposed riches, but had all been 
 defeated. She had this day had an inter- 
 view with the Prince of Wales, and now, 
 during the scenes in the telegraph office, 
 she had steadily watched all that was 
 said — many of them looking at her to see 
 if she seemed to make note of it, and 
 which this dejjonent holds as evidence 
 that she and Orsini had some secret con- 
 nection with the origin of the great rebel- 
 lion. 
 
 Summing these affairs together — the 
 things which I had seen, and the things 
 which I had long known to be talked of, 
 I set myself about to look after the begin- 
 ning of what actually did result in one of 
 the greatest wars that ever occurred. Not 
 to be thwarted, however, in my endeavors 
 to search its most intricate purpose, I 
 resolved to inform the different members 
 of our private court of the points I had 
 gained, and of the end I had in view. My 
 object was, first, to acquaint the Judge of 
 the determination of Rhett, Davis and 
 Cobb to use him as their tool in the man- 
 agement of Scott and Buchanan. I had 
 also in view the employment of Miss Lucy 
 Tabiatha Stimpkins as an agent to expose 
 and frustrate, what I deemed the villainous 
 purpose of these would-be rebels. I also 
 mistrusted the deep conniving and secret 
 power of Madame Ponchard. She was so 
 mysterious and deep ; so much watched 
 by all parties, familiar with Washington 
 life, yet, so little was known of her, that 
 every person who knew her seemed to 
 harbor a great suspicion of her. 
 
 With this important disclosure, I now 
 close the first chapter of this important 
 history, relying on you to proceed with 
 the next for further information. 
 
LOVE AND WAR IN 1860. 
 
 11 
 
 CHAPTER II 
 
 When I had the foregoing history set 
 down, I told Jenkins that he must not 
 forget one of the most important rules of 
 all great authors, which was that the lead- 
 ing characters must be introduced in the 
 first chapter. But he replied by saying 
 that this book would be unlike any other 
 ever written, and not copied after any- 
 thing extant. 
 
 " In the present age," he said, " most of 
 us follow up a single narrative, and run it 
 to the end ; like a colonel in a battle man- 
 aging a single regiment. But we shall do 
 like great commanders, who divide their 
 army into many parts, all intent on a gen- 
 eral end, managing them in such harmony 
 that the lesser parts shall add to the glory 
 of the important whole." I told him that 
 we would get too much egotism in the 
 book, if we kept on at this rate. But he 
 said " That also must be so to be in the 
 fashion. Let us come to the work," and 
 he immediately uttered these very words, 
 to wit : 
 
 " I went, according to agreement to- 
 day, to have another court-sitting at our 
 Temple ; for I was anxious to tell the 
 Judge what Rhett, Davis and Cobb had 
 proposed of him in the telegraph office. 
 After waiting an unusual length of time, 
 and no one else coming, I ventured to ask 
 some good folks near by if they had seen 
 Judge Francis Underhill, of Loudon 
 Heights ? And they answered no, that 
 they had not seen him since yesterday 
 morning. I concluded then that some- 
 thing of a serious nature must have tran- 
 spired, and I immediately set out for the 
 Jackson House, where he resided. When 
 I arrived near, I heard him in the midst 
 of a speech which he was discharging in 
 the office to a promiscuous dozen of idlers. 
 He is an elderly man, and very stout in 
 the waist, always wearing rich but thread- 
 bare clothes. His low-topped shoes are 
 always neat, showing fine silk stockings. 
 He always takes off his soft hat when 
 talking, and bows through every sentence 
 he speaks. His politeness gains him 
 hearers, and his egotism and general in- 
 formation make his superiors, even, listen 
 to him with respect. He had been a Whig 
 in the days of Harrison, and he still 
 adhered to his doctrines, although the 
 
 party was extinct. When I came up, he 
 nodded to me, and I asked him why he 
 had not come to the Temple ? Said he, 
 "Some persons of importance are to 
 arrive soon, and I have been requested to 
 remain ; " but he refused to tell me who 
 they were, and he bade me wait. He then 
 resumed his speech, which was as fol- 
 lows : 
 
 " It is a fault in this country, as it is in 
 others, that parents study more how to 
 make rich matches for their children, than 
 to teach them how to earn riches for them- 
 selves. I remember when I discussed this 
 matter with Daniel Webster, he told me 
 that the fault of all governments was, that 
 they governed too much or too little. All 
 the avenues should be thrown open to the 
 people, and such branches of trade as are 
 easily injured by foreign importation, 
 should be protected by high duties on 
 imports. This would give all young men 
 and women useful enmployment. The 
 factories would give them homes, and 
 keep them at home, and the present 
 migration would be knocked in the head. 
 I do not mean to injure your hotel, sir, 
 but while this country boasts of having so 
 many and so fine hotels, and such a vast 
 patronage to them all, it also boasts that 
 such patrons are a host of idlers, and 
 worthless beings, travelling from place to 
 place to find profitable business. If we 
 made half the goods we consume, these 
 quack lawyers, and quack doctors, poli- 
 ticians, gamblers, clerks and idlers might 
 have something decent to do, and it 
 would open the road too for woman's 
 services. Women, instead of being bar- 
 tered off with their fits and infirmities to 
 wealthy old bachelors, or instead of auc- 
 tioneering themselves off in public 
 speeches, would find employment in which 
 they could be proud, independent, and 
 happy. But all this physical and moral 
 force is thrown to waste by lack of a 
 wholesome tariff. The money of the coun- 
 try is sent abroad for goods, and our 
 prodigal sons and daughters (the Judge 
 is an old bachelor), living at the top of the 
 fashion, fly from place to place, endeavor- 
 ing to better themselves by marriages or 
 strange adventures." 
 
 Here the crowd laughed so violently, 
 
12 
 
 THE FALL OF FORT SUMTER ; OR, 
 
 that he was in a measure interrupted, but 
 he retorted : 
 
 " I know it all. It is all very well. If 
 I have no sons or daughters, I might 
 have had, or may have yet. For twenty 
 years I have been chased by the women. 
 Anxious mammas have come to me with 
 no more concern for the welfare of their 
 darling daughters, than I value the toss 
 of a dice box, and they have told me how 
 ardently their dear children admired every- 
 thing I said or did. But no, as I said to 
 Henry Clay, these things show that there 
 is something wrong in this country. My 
 opinion is that these hosts of idlers can 
 never be exterminated but by a huge tariff 
 or a terrible war." 
 
 The Judge then turned to me and asked 
 if that was not the truth ? I told him 
 yes, and urged him once more to come to 
 the Temple ; but the clerk called out, 
 " No, not yet, for here they come," and 
 just then some new arrivals came to the 
 hotel, though what the importance of it 
 was, I yet knew not. There came in a car- 
 riage, an elderly-like man and woman, ac- 
 companied by a daughter — a fairylike 
 belle of seventeen — who dismounted and 
 entered the place. The gentleman regis- 
 tered his name as Mr. Edge, wife, and 
 daughter Victoria. The clerk distributed 
 them to their rooms, and we were left to 
 reflect upon the apparent richness of their 
 style, combined with their seeming awk- 
 wardness. 
 
 Some person present suggested that in- 
 asmuch as the Prince of Wales was in 
 "Washington, this Victoria might be some 
 relation. The Judge and I moved up to 
 the desk, and the clerk said to the Judge, 
 " Ah, Judge ! we have somebody at last 
 you do not know, and is no relation of 
 yours." 
 
 The Judge always pretended to know 
 all great persons, or, that they were distant 
 relations ; and this clerk knew his weak- 
 ness. 
 
 " I am not sure of that," said the Judge. 
 
 " Then why are you puzzled at the 
 name ? " said the clerk. 
 
 " Because it is a strange name. It seems 
 to me, however, I knew some people by 
 the name of Edge. Where are they from ? " 
 
 " From Ohio," said the clerk. 
 
 " Possibly I may know them," remarked 
 the Judge. " Be not too sure." 
 
 " Indeed ! have you begun already ? " 
 said the clerk ; and the Judge replied, 
 " 111 fortune on your tavern, that I have 
 supported for the last twenty years by a 
 constant stream of fast marriages, if ere 
 another day you do not tell this Edge 
 family that I am king of Washington." 
 
 " And may, your stars forgive you," 
 said the clerk, " for the big ones you have 
 made me tell in order to bring couples 
 together. Not a month since, you blew 
 riches into the ears of a couple that could 
 not pay their washerwoman. They really 
 thought each had a fortune, until they 
 were married. This you did, on a wager 
 of a bottle of Bourbon." 
 
 " No matter," said the Judge, " I will 
 lay the corn that this Edge has brought 
 his daughter here to marry her off, and, 
 what is more, we can have her at the 
 hymenial halter in a month." 
 
 He had no sooner said this, than, on 
 looking around, he saw entering the room 
 the business man, Mr. Edge. The porters 
 were carrying in his boxes. 
 
 " Now you shall see," said the Judge, 
 " how I shall quiz this old man. Stand 
 there boys. Be careful with those trunks. 
 You think a man's boxes are made for 
 battle, and you lam them and jam them 
 until every nail comes out. It puts me in 
 mind of a trip I took to Ohio several years 
 ago, in company with Daniel Webster." 
 
 " Indeed ! " said Mr. Edge. " Why, that 
 is my native State." 
 
 " Ah ! " said the Judge. " Then I sup- 
 pose you are acquainted with my excellent 
 friend, Tom Corwin." 
 
 " I have not that honor," said Edge. 
 
 " I used to know some of the Edges in 
 Ohio," said the Judge. " They were 
 literary people." 
 
 " Then," said Edge, " They were not 
 my relations. I am only a railroad builder. 
 But, if I am not too impertinent, what is 
 your name ? " 
 
 " Francis Underbill, sir. I am called 
 Judge of Loudon Heights." 
 
 When he said this, he stretched himself 
 to his most dignified length. 
 
 Edge looked at him with astonishment, 
 first, because he seemed so familiar, and 
 next, because he had so accidentally fallen 
 into the society of a man of such seeming 
 high rank ; for he deemed him at least in 
 possession of next to the highest office our 
 country had to give. 
 
 " Excuse me, sir," said Edge, " I would 
 not have been so familiar, only that I have 
 been all my life with plain, blunt men. I 
 was, sir, like Ben. Franklin, brought up a 
 tallow chandler ; but I deserted my busi- 
 ness. I have saved up a little, and now I 
 seek to see and to know the world." 
 
 " I admire your frankness, sir," said the 
 Judge. " I shall be most happy, at all 
 times, to give you the benefit of my most 
 distinguished acquaintanceship. Also, if 
 you please, you may say to your lady and 
 daughter that my carriage is at their ser- 
 
LOVE AND WAR IN 1860. 
 
 13 
 
 vice, and that I should be extremely happy 
 to introduce them into the highest circles 
 of society." 
 
 As he was going on in this strain, the 
 three important persons, Rhett, Cobb, and 
 Davis, came in and called the Judge, who 
 joined them. They all went out to the 
 sidewalk, where the three entered into 
 their entreaty to the Judge to call upon 
 Scott and Buchanan, which we will refer 
 to in a moment. It was, however, a great 
 mortification to me ; for I had determined 
 to acquaint the Judge with the designs of 
 Rhett, Davis and Cobb, before they came 
 together. Though for the present let us 
 turn to the interior of the house. 
 
 The clerk immediately told Mr. Edge 
 who the trio were, and Mr. Edge was more 
 pleased than ever to think that he had 
 already made the acquaintance of a man 
 who was counsellor and adviser for the 
 heads of the nation. He was yet busy 
 with his baggage when the clerk winked 
 to me. " Entre nous " said he, " he has 
 brought his daughter here to marry her 
 off. The Judge knows hundreds of young 
 bloods, and we must fix this thing up. 
 We will have a marriage in high life, good 
 times, and plenty of champagne." 
 
 But I checked him for making so light 
 of such matters, and withdrew a pace, and 
 sat down to await the Judge's return ; 
 for, indeed, we were interrupted by the 
 approach of Mr. Edge, who inquired what 
 kind of a man the Judge was. 
 
 The clerk pointed out the Judge as one 
 of the United States Judges, one of the 
 greatest men in America — told Edge, in 
 fact, that since the days of Jackson, no 
 man else held so great a sway over the 
 affairs of the Government. He had but to 
 say this or that must be done, and the 
 nation's treasury was at his service. The 
 clerk even went so far in his enthusiasm 
 in relating things of this worthless old 
 judge, as to say that the nation's purse 
 had got to be almost wholly his own. 
 " Why, sir," said he to Mr. Edge, " The 
 judge once said he must have some celes- 
 tial curiosities for the national museum, 
 and the next day a vessel sailed for China. 
 He has, indeed, only to say Build me a 
 post route to Oregon, or a railroad to New 
 Orleans, and it is lobbied right through 
 both houses of Congress, and the Presi- 
 dent signs the bill as a matter of course. 
 Only get the Judge's friendship, Mr. Edge, 
 and Washington is all yours." 
 
 Edge rejoined that he thought that the 
 Judge was no ordinary man, and that he 
 would be quite happy to have his wife 
 and daughter get acquainted with so 
 prominent a person. 
 
 The clerk told him the Judge was the 
 most easily approached of any man in the 
 world, and also that he knew everybody 
 in Washington that was of any import- 
 ance, which was, in fact, nearly true, 
 though it was equally true that the Judge 
 was tolerated in good society, mostly on 
 account of his eccentricities and monstrous 
 pretensions. 
 
 Edge was most pleased, however, to 
 learn that he had found a man who could 
 command money. He was himself a spec- 
 ulator. He liked to sell stocks ; to get 
 contracts put through ; was interested in 
 jobs that needed helping through Con- 
 gress. He had himself amassed a great 
 fortune by this kind of speculation, begin- 
 ning with one single thousand dollars — 
 and this thousand too, it was said, he 
 came into possession of improperly. His 
 father had placed it in his hands for safe 
 keeping ; but the son never returned it. 
 The old man failed, and became grieved 
 and the conduct of his son, endeavored 
 to better his remaining days by life in 
 California, but died on the way, thus giv- 
 ing the son full possession of the thousand 
 dollars. This money the son had invested 
 in building a railroad bridge on the 
 Miami. He cheated the contractors in the 
 grade of the bridge, and doubled his 
 money. He took another job on another 
 road ; again took advantage of the con- 
 tractors ; bribed the inspectors, and 
 doubled his money. By this kind of spec- 
 ulation, he had amassed a large fortune, 
 until, as he said, he had now set out to 
 see and to know the world. 
 
 His wife had coaxed him away to Wash- 
 ington, for the benefit of Victoria, their 
 daughter. The mother was one of that 
 good kind of women who are always 
 called an excellent wife and mother for a 
 common person. She was a farmer's 
 daughter, and had been taught to read 
 and write ; had worked hard to help save 
 her husband's money. For the past few 
 years, she had been relieved from manual 
 labor, and took to teasing poor dress- 
 makers and milliners, and trying to learn 
 to get into a carriage gracefully, instead 
 of climbing in as she would into a market 
 wagon. These things puzzled her wits so 
 much that she resolved that her daughter 
 Victoria should be better trained in early 
 days. Vickey had been sent to school in 
 Philadelphia, had acquired her education, 
 and already acted as tutor of the fashions 
 to her mother. 
 
 " Mother," she would say, " you always 
 begin your letters in that way — now I 
 take my pen in hand, et cetera. Do you 
 know it was wrong? Why, I forgot, I 
 
14 
 
 THE FALL OF FORT SUMTER ; OR, 
 
 should not have called you mother— I 
 should have said ma ! Now let me see, 
 where was I ? Oh ! Dear ma, we always 
 begin at the back of a letter in fashionable 
 society." Ilere she would lisp a little, 
 drop her chin, look interesting at her 
 mother, and smile. She said a great many 
 things about fashionable society, such as 
 she had learned in the Philadelphia board- 
 ing school, always beginning and ending 
 the sentence with " that is the way it is in 
 Philadelphia." She was. indeed, as sure 
 of how things were done in Philadelphia, 
 as was the New England clergyman, who 
 went to Paris several years ago, of the 
 fashions and wickedness of the French 
 nation. He only staid one night in Paris, 
 and, in the morning, on looking outy he 
 saw a red petticoat hanging near his 
 window. This was enough for him. He 
 construed it into some improper banter 
 from a French woman, and thereupon left 
 the country in disgust. On his return 
 home, he wrote an account of French high 
 life and immorality, condensed into two 
 royal octavo volumes. People who have 
 not been in France, say it was good. So 
 did Mrs. Edge say of her daughter's stories 
 about fashionable high life, and she had 
 now made Victoria chief of affairs in the 
 present adventure into high life in Wash- 
 ington. Vickey was so elated therewith, 
 that she was continually showing her 
 mother how things should be said and 
 done. 
 
 " Do you see, ma," she said, as soon as 
 they had entered their private parlor, 
 " we are at once looked upon as persons 
 of mark," and she drew her mother to the 
 window. They looked out, and beheld 
 on the sidewalk Rhett, Davis, Cobb, and 
 Judge Francis Underbill. The latter at 
 that instant happened to be looking up- 
 ward, less heedful of the rebellion than of 
 the pretty belle gazing out of the window. 
 Just as Mrs. Edge looked out, Judge 
 Francis dropped his glasses and smiled. 
 Vickey playfully kissed her hand to him 
 and ran away. 
 
 "Why, my child," said Mrs. Edge, 
 •' how can you do so to a stranger ? " 
 
 " Pshaw," said Vickey, " that is the 
 height of fashion — at least in Philadel- 
 phia." 
 
 Her mother was about to give her a 
 severe reprimand, but just then the clerk 
 appeared at the door to know if their 
 rooms were satisfactory, to which they 
 replied in the affirmative. The clerk then 
 also approached the window, showing 
 them the Capitol, the White House, and 
 the Potomac, adding, " Here is Pennsyl- 
 vania Avenue, where you can behold all 
 
 the costly fashions, and all the great 
 people of all parts of the civilized world." 
 He paused a moment, and again con- 
 tinued, " Well now, even here, here is 
 Judge Francis Underhill of Loudon 
 Heights," and they all looked down to 
 where the four were standing below talk- 
 ing. " That man," continued the clerk, 
 " that old gentleman with the silver spec- 
 tacles, is Judge Francis Underhill; one 
 of the most remarkable men of any age. 
 He is the boast of this country. He is a 
 man of literature, science, fashion, and 
 integrity, he is all that constitutes great- 
 ness." 
 
 " There mother," said Vickey, " you 
 thought he was just some common person ; 
 but I know what it is to see people of 
 rank." 
 
 " Indeed that is so," said the clerk. 
 
 " If the Judge were to have a procession 
 to-day, it would be far more proper than 
 a procession for the Prince of Wales; he 
 is so free, so jolly, and yet so grand. His 
 wealth too cannot be computed." 
 
 The ladies both expressed a desire to 
 become acquainted with so important a 
 person. Being informed that they could 
 by passing their leisure moments in the 
 general parlor, they both expressed a full 
 determination to do so. Alter some tri- 
 fling conversation about the Prince of 
 Wales, the clerk departed, having pre-* 
 cautioned them as to the style and charac- 
 ter of Judge Francis Underhill ; that it 
 was through him they would reach the 
 avenues to the good society of Washing- 
 ton. He also told them that the Judge 
 was very eccentric in his style ; that he 
 used very highfalutin language on the 
 most trivial occasions ; but that they were 
 to take no notice of it, and assume the 
 same style towards him as much as possi- 
 ble. 
 
 " Trust that to me," said Vickey. " We 
 did that to perfection in the Philadelphia 
 boarding school. We girls compared our- 
 selves to flowers, stars, rainbows, angels, 
 and congratulated each other on our non- 
 sense, in quotations that were never heard 
 of." 
 
 " Why, my dear child," said Mrs. Edge, 
 " how did you learn that stuff? " 
 
 " Learn it, mother ! " said Vickey ; " we 
 made it in imitation of those beautiful 
 novels I told you of. It is so easy. A 
 tear in the eye is a diamond ; a crony is 
 a satellite ; a love tickle, is an electric 
 thrill ; a plain compliment is an adaman- 
 tine pavement whereon our duller sense 
 trips in fear and trembling up to the 
 genius of the immortal speaker ; and then 
 we sigh — thus — our bosoms heaving like a 
 
LOVE AND WAR IN 1860. 
 
 15 
 
 cataract, or the billows of the ocean. At 
 least, that is the way we did in Philadel- 
 phia." 
 
 " Well, now, Vickey," said her mother. 
 " I never heard you speak so eloquent, 
 and I never until now felt so sure you 
 could maintain the due distortion of our 
 family." 
 
 " Discretion you mean, mother ; but, you 
 know, I always told you I never would be 
 myself until I got into high society." 
 
 And then she laughed, as the clerk said, 
 a mysterious laughter, and he further 
 added, " When I left them to their toilet, 
 I thought she was indeed the strangest 
 girl I ever saw, and the prettiest." 
 
 But here let us refer to the Judge's 
 interview with Rhett, Davis, and Cobb. 
 Having myself been stationed so near that 
 I could hear every word, and having also 
 heard the forty thousandth lecture on 
 Southern institutions, State rights, and all 
 that sort of constitutional nonsense — seces- 
 sion, war, annihilation, subjugation, — and 
 heard it with indifference to every threat ; 
 and as I said before, standing myself near 
 enough to hear this party addressing the 
 Judge in that manner, I quietly awaited 
 the full development of their plots and 
 plans with him. Now, when the Judge 
 was informed by them that they had 
 already organized, and that, as he con- 
 sidered himself a Southern man, and as he 
 had frequently expressed the same senti- 
 ments that they held, they had selected 
 him as one of a committee on very import- 
 ant business, he was not a little sur- 
 prised. 
 
 " We must know," said Cobb, " the line 
 of demarkation : who are friends and who 
 are enemies," and his position in Congress 
 gave importance to all he said. " We 
 have known you long," he continued, " and 
 the necessity of the case makes us plain 
 with you in all we say. Now it is not wise 
 to ask a man his sentiments ; but by conver- 
 sation we often learn what we desire to 
 know. It is thus that we hope to learn 
 who is for us and who is against us. You 
 have the advantage of long acquaintance- 
 ship, and men will say in your presence 
 what they would not in ours ; and you in 
 turn can say what you like without offence 
 or suspicion. You have that faculty." 
 
 " Yes, I know I have," said the Judge ; 
 and he stiffened his lips like a member of 
 parliament. 
 
 " Now then," said Cobb, " I want you, 
 as the news of Lincoln's nomination is still 
 fresh, to ply men well to the task, to 
 know what they will do in case the South 
 does secede. The whole thing must be 
 done between now and the 4th of March. 
 
 If Buchanan does nothing, we are safe : if 
 Scott goes with us, we are victorious." 
 
 " Ah ! I see," said the Judge, " you 
 want me to be a tool for you. Do you 
 think I am the town's fool ? You bellow 
 and blow awhile, and then it will all end 
 in smoke. It was so in Calhoun's time. 
 They came to me then ; but they would 
 not stick. It is all bosh : though I will 
 tell you this, if you would go in, us I used 
 to tell Henry Clay, tooth and nail, I could 
 take the administration whichever way I 
 like. But, I will be no tool to go around 
 peddling my opinions before such men as 
 Scott and Buchanan. I must first see the 
 coast clear, and then I will advise my 
 friends as I think best." 
 
 Cobb. — " You misunderstand us Judge. 
 I only want to know what these men's 
 predispositions are — to know if the thing 
 is so and so what course to adopt." 
 
 " Ah, well ! " said the Judge. " Ah ! I 
 see. But, for that matter I can soon 
 ascertain, but, I caunot lend myself to any 
 scheme that might compromise my well-' 
 known principles. You know I have been 
 a whig since 1840." 
 
 Cobb then assured him that they had 
 organized on the evening previous, and 
 that the most prominent citizens in the 
 Capital were bound together, and he also 
 pointed out the necessity of taking by vio- 
 lence if necessary, all the offices of the Gov- 
 ernment, and acknowledged also that if 
 Scott could be brought into the fold, the 
 whole thing could be fixed up in a week. 
 
 When he talked this way the Judge got 
 a little frightened, and also a little puz- 
 zled ; for he thought perhaps they were 
 playing a joke on him. So betwixt the 
 scare and the puzzle he abruptly withdrew, 
 and afterward assured me he was up to 
 the whole game. 
 
 The others were now in a perplexity to 
 think that they had discussed so great a 
 matter to one so heedless and unconcerned. 
 It was evident that their position rendered 
 it dangerous, as yet, to attempt any overt 
 act against the Government. The magni- 
 tude of their intended attempt to dissolve 
 the Union, made each one more backward 
 than his neighbor, and anxious for a fear- 
 less leader ; to know the position of Gen. 
 Scott, was at this time one of the most 
 anxious inquiries ever seated on a nation's 
 heart. That the South would secede was 
 now believed by all politically well-in- 
 formed men in the country, but the agents 
 of its success seemed to be depending 
 mostly on Scott and Buchanan. The 
 North was praying for Scott, but the 
 South was ready with its vengeance on all 
 who might oppose them. 
 
16 
 
 TEE FALL OF FORT SUMTER ; OR, 
 
 Rhett, Cobb and Davis were at this 
 period the head and front of the rebellion, 
 and they 'were restless, moving from place 
 to place, bent on every invention to fur- 
 ther their ends. Immediately now Judge 
 Francis had so equivocally promised them 
 they resolved on another and more ex- 
 peditious method of accomplishing it — 
 though more of that hereafter. And again 
 we will refer to the Judge, who had now 
 made up his mind to treat the matter as 
 one of second rate importance. At present 
 he was interested in seeing me, and I am 
 happy to say he found me in the office 
 anxiously awaiting him. 
 
 " Come, come," he says, " those royal 
 bloods have had me out in yonder burn- 
 ing sun, trying to cram me, and play some 
 game with me for my everlasting good 
 nature. But I understand the point of a 
 joke, you know. I am too old for them. 
 Wait, you shall see." 
 
 I then told him how they had spoken 
 of him in the telegraph office, and of the 
 tool they designed to make him. 
 
 " What ! " said he, " do they rate me in 
 such a manner ? Then, indeed, this has 
 been no joke. It was in earnest. They 
 wanted to send me to Scott and Buchanan 
 to make a fool of me. Indeed, this affair 
 promises mischief. Well, let's have it. 
 We need mischief and a grand surjjrise. 
 As I am a judge, I say this country needs 
 a surprise. It is the hardest up of any 
 place I ever heard of. We have no char- 
 acters, and no chance to make any. Our 
 best novelists and poets are played out. 
 Every body is a stick, a dolt, anything. 
 Let's have a war. We will then have 
 characters. For twenty years I have 
 visited this city, and God forgive me, I 
 have often been tempted to overstate the 
 truth of things, just in order to have a bit 
 of news ; but now it may be, we shall 
 have news sufficient to warrant us in 
 speaking truthfully. Yet, I do not believe 
 they will secede. It is all blowing. I am 
 a Southern man, I used to blow. I learned 
 that of John C. Calhoun, but, as for trick- 
 ing me, or making me a villain, why let 
 them go to Scott and Buchanan them- 
 selves. No. Mind you. I am almost 
 resolved to go and tell them a barefaced 
 falsehood ; that I have been to Scott and 
 Buchanan, and that Scott aud Buchanan 
 are both in favor of secession. But, wait. 
 I must study this matter. We shall see 
 who is fool for the other." 
 
 He then pulled me along, and we 
 marched into the general parlor, where we 
 had scarcely entered before we met Mrs. 
 Edge and Vickey. The former was an 
 excellent type of a plain, blunt woman, 
 
 attired in silk satin and diamonds. She 
 had a very substantial step. The daughter 
 was a pretty blue-eyed girl, with black 
 ringlets, and tall, thin, and straight up an 
 down. 
 
 " Now let me," ssid the Judge, — and he 
 turned toward them and bid them be 
 seated. " Now let me " — and he spoke to 
 me in a whisper. " I will show you 
 how to make them at home," — for really 
 he was as much at home in this house, as 
 if it were his own, having made it his 
 stopping place for the last twenty years, 
 and having also provided it with the 
 choicest wines from his own plantation. 
 He then turned toward the ladies. 
 
 "If I mistake not," said he, "this is 
 Mrs. Edge and her daughter Victoria." 
 They nodded assent. " Mr. Edge, the large 
 railroad contractor, is well-known by name 
 to myself, and, in fact, to every prominent 
 man of the Capitol. But, I believe, fortune 
 has not favored us with so large a knowl- 
 edge of his family, further than that they 
 are on a visit to lend the charm of their 
 accomplishments to this city. Excuse me ; 
 my gray hairs tell you that I am only 
 speaking things that give me more pride 
 than pleasure, and that I desire to make 
 you comfortable while you enjoy the hos- 
 pitalities of the place." 
 
 They smiled and bowed an affirmative, 
 feeling confident now that they were 
 indeed emerging into some of the upper 
 circles. The Judge, pleased with his own 
 style, went on. 
 
 " If you please, I will now take the 
 privilege of introducing my excellent 
 friend, Mr. Jenkins," upon which he smiled 
 and bowed, and they in turn smiled and 
 bowed to him, and Mrs. Edge, with a 
 square plain voice, said, " I hope you are 
 both quite well. I am glad to see you 
 and get acquainted. It is a nice spell of 
 weather." 
 
 Now I had indeed been astonished to 
 see how the ladies were puzzled at the 
 Judge's compliments, and I was still more 
 puzzled when Mrs. Edge answered him so 
 plainly, and we were both of us without 
 anything to say for a moment. 
 
 Vickey, seeing our predicament, and 
 bringing her boarding-school tactics to 
 bear on us, now rejoined : 
 
 " If I mistake not, you are Judge Fran- 
 cis Underbill of Loudon Heights ? " 
 
 The Judge bowed. 
 
 " The country at large acknowledge the 
 past and present ruler of its manifest des- 
 tiny. This other gentleman, whom I am 
 sorry to have had the misfortune to have 
 never know T n, I take to be one of the satel- 
 lites of your important glory. I am in- 
 
LOVE AND WAR IN 1860. 
 
 17 
 
 deed so happy with this adventure ; " and 
 again she smiled, she and the Judge 
 alternately bowing. 
 
 I was puzzled to know if she were not 
 poking tun at us, and I think the Judge 
 was too ; for he hesitated a moment as if 
 to say to me that, for once in his life, he 
 had found a more presumptuous fool than 
 himself, or else one who understood him 
 more than he had ever been before in his 
 life. After a moment, however, he re- 
 torted : 
 
 " Too much honor you give to one who 
 has ever esteemed himself scarcely better 
 than a Congressman, and yet I accept it 
 with more pride than had it been uttered 
 by any of the queens or potentates of any 
 other country under the sun." 
 
 He now thought he had sealed her up, 
 but she came in as fluently as if she had 
 been taught in a theatre : 
 
 " Not the compliment, sir," she said, 
 " when its source could come back to me 
 with so dear a fondness from the lips of 
 none other than the clearest-headed philo- 
 sopher that ever graced a nation. "We 
 have heard with unmistakable pleasure 
 the power you wield, and of the admira- 
 tion and brightness of your lustre in the 
 society of our most devoted countrymen, 
 and now chronicle it in our untutored 
 hearts — this happiest of all human events 
 — the meeting of one never to be for- 
 gotten." 
 
 I knew the Judge was nearly at the end 
 of his string, and was in hopes, too, that 
 I would get something to run on with him 
 afterwards, for being quashed by a green 
 country girl. 
 
 When I looked around to Mrs. Edge, I 
 saw that she was breathless and seemingly 
 scared by the eloquence of the speakers. 
 
 " Indeed ! " said the Judge — the hap- 
 piest of all human events to him, wdiose 
 hoary hairs have sprung from the dire 
 cause of its long withholding. " I am at 
 loss, not for your ultimate joy, but for the 
 part I am to contribute in every passing 
 moment you may sojourn in our city of 
 magnificent distances." 
 
 Again she replied. " Not so much your 
 loss in that, as will be ours to accept and 
 maintain with due discretion to our un- 
 cultured minds. You know, sir, we come 
 from Ohio. You, I am informed, are of 
 the first families of Virginia. We have 
 come amongst you to behold the greatness 
 of great men and women. Like pitiless 
 housewives, we make but an unseeming 
 part in the world of spectators around, 
 praying that the dazzling glory may so 
 gently fall on our unexpecting vision, that 
 its radiance lift us into the winning paths 
 
 2 
 
 where the heart of woman dallies in her 
 fondest dreams ; where she lingers in the 
 hope that some of her gentleness has 
 touched at the fount, the reciprocating 
 omen responsive to her far off sighs and 
 endless melancholy." 
 
 The Judge was now almost lost. He 
 had never heard so vast a strain before ; 
 but still he rallied : 
 
 " We hope," said he again, " only for 
 the relict of other days standing between it 
 and the consummation of an angel's wish." 
 
 " Not age, sir," said she, " but the heart 
 within makes the mighty difference, if 
 difference indeed there can be." 
 
 " Indeed," said he, " I tell you, young 
 hearts often live in old men ; but, in such 
 as have been married, or taken to politics, 
 in them the heart dies. By the by," said 
 he, turning to me — for he was entirely 
 played out, and longed for a change of 
 the subject — " By the by, do you know, 
 my excellent friend Buchanan told me this 
 morning he cannot remember having ever 
 loved anything in all the days of his life. 
 Remarkable — 'pon my word, remarkable." 
 
 " Indeed," said I, " he loves his party." 
 
 " Just as I told him," said the Judge, 
 " and, had he pursued the even tenor of 
 man's good nature, he had had a heart 
 full of love to this day. But, ladies, I had 
 forgot myself, not having the heart to 
 withdraw, I promised the senior member 
 of your family that my carriage should be 
 at your service during your sojourn in 
 Washington, and I shall take great pleas- 
 ure in introducing you into the highest 
 ranks of society." 
 
 He always offered his carriage to every- 
 body that stopped at the Jackson House. 
 He and his carriage, though both the 
 worse for wear, had both become fixtures 
 for the hotel — the carriage having for 
 several years degenerated into a kind of 
 public hack ; still it sounded liberal to 
 tender the use of it, and the ladies named 
 now thanked him cordially. Mrs. Edge 
 told me a moment afterwards that she had 
 been so transported with the foregoing 
 eloquence of her daughter and the Judge, 
 that she " could hardly tell whether she 
 was herself standing on her feet or on her 
 head." 
 
 The whole affair was now cut short by 
 the entrance of the mistress of Loudon 
 Heights — Miss Ann Underbill, niece of 
 the Judge. As she afterwards became one 
 of the greatest solicitudes of the country, 
 and as her jjerils, hardships, struggles, and 
 sterling worth may long be remembered 
 with kindly feelings by the whole country, 
 I must here tell you about her, how- 
 ever much I may be moved in so doing. 
 
18 
 
 THE FALL OF FORT SUMTER ; OR, 
 
 Ann Unclerhill was an orphan, brought 
 up by the Judge, and now in her twentieth 
 year. She had received excellent advan- 
 tages ; the Judge having spared no ex- 
 pense to develop her naturally attractive 
 qualities. He had her well educated, and 
 had also favored her with the best of 
 society in this and other countries : add 
 to this a fun-loving, frolicking disposition, 
 with due regard for reverence, backed by 
 an inherited fortune, and say that she was 
 a sweet girl with auburn hair, rosy cheeks, 
 plump person, and real, innocent, pleasing 
 beauty, who, seen but once, is ne'er for- 
 gotten. 
 
 As I said before, she now came into the 
 room, running in and calling out " Oh 1 
 uncle, uncle, come to the window — come 
 and see," and she flung her arms around 
 his neck and dragged him hastily towards 
 the street window. 
 
 We all looked out and now beheld a 
 crowd of boys, worthless fellows, coming 
 down the avenue. Whereupon we all 
 drew near the window to see the attrac- 
 tion, and we did behold a thing ; it had 
 a head, and cars, and such a tongue ! may 
 the stars bedim our vision if ever was such 
 a funny creature — a woman ! Good Lord, 
 a woman ! Miss Lucy Tabiatha Stimpkins 
 — in a bloomer ! She came and stood on 
 the porch near us, and began about her 
 journal. 
 
 Some one outside the hall asked her if 
 she was going to publish marriages in her 
 journal, and she answered by saying, 
 " Marriages, marriages in my journal ? I 
 hope I will fill it with better stuff." As 
 there were many boys and idlers near her, 
 we heard them laugh, and shout so that 
 the half she spoke was not heard by us. In 
 a little while, however, she told us she 
 liked to see us merry ; " but I am sorry," 
 said she, " you don't cultivate your minds 
 for more honorable ends." 
 
 Some one again shouted " Publish the 
 marriages ! " but she was becoming so 
 enraged as to not answer with sufficient 
 discretion to suit so base a crowd. 
 
 " I'll not publish such stuff! " she final- 
 ly screamed out ; when some one near said, 
 " Call marriages stuff ? " 
 
 " Yes," said she, " stuff," and she fairly 
 squealed. 
 
 Again some one said, " Very important 
 stufl ! " 
 
 " No, sir, poor stuff," said she, and 
 thereupon the laugh became so loud and 
 boisterous, that she stood still and became 
 immovable as formerly, angrily composed. 
 " I have been married," said she, " I know 
 what I say." (" Good ! good ! " from the 
 crowd.) " Ah ! indeed, you may laugh ; 
 
 but I say marriage is stuff. I go in for the 
 cultivation of the moral and intellectual 
 faculties. You may laugh. I am resolved 
 that marriages shall never be published in 
 my paper; it shall stand on fundamen- 
 tal principles. Reform, is my motto 
 (Laughter.) Well, laugh on ; I am not a 
 laugher myself; nor do I mean to be the 
 cause of laughter in others. When my jour- 
 nal shall have wiped out a thousand grog- 
 shops, then you may laugh ; when I have 
 overturned slavery, then I'll laugh. Ah, 
 go on ! go on ! You shall 6ee me laugh 
 then, and I'll make the whole country 
 laugh on the other side of their mouth 
 when I laugh. You and all your doctrines 
 shall be vanquished then." 
 
 Of course we laughed, and in a moment 
 she handed some palmers to a sort of con- 
 sort,— a thin-faced man, with long whis- 
 kers, who accompanied her, and whom she 
 called Professor, and who was called by 
 the crowd Pro-fusser Jackson ; and then, 
 with much sternness, she walked away, 
 followed by the uneasy crowd. 
 
 The Professor remained, and somewhat 
 abashed, approached our friend Prescott, 
 and asked him to subscribe to the Journal 
 of Progress. Prescott declined, and re- 
 ferred Lim to Judge Francis Underbill, 
 and sure enough the Judge subscribed. 
 
 The Professor thanked him, whereupon 
 the Judge said he was not aware that any 
 one was associated with Miss Lucy. The 
 Professor said in turn, " Neither there was 
 until this morning. I was most miracu- 
 lously thrown into her presence last even- 
 ing, and we discovered such an affinity of 
 ideas, as induced us to go into partner- 
 ship." 
 
 " What," said the Judge, " are you mar- 
 ried, then ? " 
 
 " Yes, if you term the contract between 
 man and woman marriage. Why, yes. 
 But we are married with freedom, under 
 protest, that whenever either is desirous 
 of dissolving partnership, we can do so. 
 We don't endorse the ancient scheme, 'for 
 better or for worse,' but, for better only, 
 and if we find it no better, why, like sensi- 
 ble creatures, we quit it." " An excellent 
 doctrine," said the Judge, " and, sir, may 
 I ask what the future name of our editress 
 is to be ? " 
 
 " The same as before," said the Pro- 
 fessor, " Miss Lucy Tabiatha Stimpkins. 
 We are not arbitrary. We keep our own 
 names. The harmonial system gives us 
 that privilege, especially when both names 
 are euphonious." 
 
 We all expressed our approval, with 
 which flattering indorsement the Professor 
 took his leave. 
 
GENERAL CASS. 
 
20 
 
 TOE FALL OF FOPvT SUMTER ; I IB, 
 
 " Now I will tell you," said the Judge, 
 '• the signs of the times betoken much dif- 
 ficulty to t'iis country. In all countries — 
 in all ages of the world, a long peace lias 
 ever given rise to these spurious philoso- 
 phies. Wise and unassuming men keep in 
 tlie background; l>ut self-conceited, brain- 
 less would-be philosophers, inconsiderate 
 of the facts of history which prove the 
 system of social and political life best 
 suite. 1 to the elevation of mankind; and 
 they start now with their foolish theories 
 as the foundation of something holy. 
 Spiritualism, free love-ism, magnetism. 
 Tut ! Such folly; such nonsense. It racks 
 my brain." 
 
 '• Why, indeed, Judge," said Vickey, 
 " you surely believe in magnetism '. " 
 
 M Oh yes ; that of a fair lady, who can 
 draw any man unto her." 
 
 " Yes,'* said she, " and that men can 
 magnetize one another.' 1 
 
 " Well, let them magnetize me ; they 
 will have a good time." 
 
 " Now 1 know a man," said Vickey, " a 
 Professor. He came on the same train 
 with us. and is stopping at this hotel. He 
 besought me, if I found a man, a sceptic, 
 to tell him of it, and he would magnetize 
 him." 
 
 " Then I am his man," said the Judge. 
 "Bring him on ; let him put me to sleep. 
 He shall put me into the magnetized 
 slumber." Here the Judge recollected 
 himself, and introduced his niece, Ann 
 Underbill, to Mrs. and Miss Edge, and he 
 and one of our friends, Mr. Prescott, whom 
 we will notice hereafter, took their de- 
 parture. 
 
 As the ladies had now turned to each 
 other, I took advantage of the opportunity 
 and withdrew to await the Judge's return ; 
 f»r he and I had an important charge in 
 reference to the Prince of Wales' proces- 
 sion, which was set down to take 2>lace on 
 the day following. 
 
 Now, it so happened that Vickey and 
 Ann Underbill were favorably impressed 
 with each other, and Mrs. Edge was not 
 ill pleased either. 
 
 But, I must say here, in consequence of 
 the many idle rumors afloat of the melan- 
 choly affair that followed, in reference to 
 Miss Underbill, that up to this time I had 
 never publishe I any attachment to the 
 Ju Ige's niece, nor had I by word or ges- 
 ture induced any one to think so. She 
 was indeed a pretty girl ; I had said the 
 same to myself fifty times a day, but 
 said nothing of it. I had seen now, 
 for the first time, Prescott look at her 
 with some earnestness, and he had also 
 with as much fondness seemed to look on 
 
 Vickey, whose greenness, or, in fashion- 
 able parlance, extreme innocence, together 
 
 with so good, natural wit had surprised 
 us; but that the Judge could be in love 
 with Vickey — that was the novelty, and 
 of its discovery you shall now hear. 
 
 <)n leaving the parlor, he called at the 
 oilier, saying to the clerk. " I am done 
 with all this nonsense. I have seen an 
 angel ; and I cannot be in any way acces- 
 sory to a trick on her. We have given a 
 lift to many stuck-up-faced young women, 
 and we have done so with a clear con- 
 science ; but, to this one— never ! No ! 
 never ! " 
 
 •• Well, now really," said the clerk, " if 
 you really are a great man, you have at 
 last betrayed a weakness." 
 
 ■• No. no," said the Judge, " T bid good- 
 by to all my folly. Yonder belle has 
 spoken such words as only could coine 
 from the lips of Nature's queen ; and I 
 caution you, if you ever speak of her, to 
 do it with such prudence as a well- 
 deserved person may attain." 
 
 At that the clerk laughed, immediately 
 saying. " Why. why don't you tell her 
 that you love her, and not come to me '. " 
 
 "Tut," said the Judge, "I am an old 
 man. I can admire beauty, intelligence, 
 and noble qualities, and esteem the per- 
 son, yet ; but I prate of love no more." 
 
 At that he sallied out of the office, in 
 company with Prescott — where, or for 
 what purpose, was yet unknown to me. 
 
 While I sat there, I mused on the com- 
 ing events of the country, and of the 
 probable future marked out for myself, 
 with anything but satisfactory conclusions. 
 That there would lie war between the 
 North and the South, bad been prophesied 
 for many years by many men. Andrew- 
 Jackson had, thirty years ago, by a single 
 message, set it off for an indefinite period. 
 James Buchanan could do tie same, but 
 would it result in much \ Sooner or later, 
 it must come. Then why not let it come 
 at once ? Has not the great power that 
 rules over the nations left the wayward 
 clamor of politicians to sway the people, 
 until the present imbecile President is the 
 tool — the lowest degrading point of party 
 love ? A thing to mark the zero of man's 
 most ungodly weakness. Can these isms — 
 these fanaticisms and follies go on, when 
 they thus spring from the idleness of man, 
 and from the corruptions of his mode of 
 obtaining a living \ 
 
 An editress ! A lecturer ! Magnetism ! 
 Quack doctors ! Quack lawyers ! Behold 
 what a host of idlers, contributing not so 
 much as one poor potatoe to theii fellows' 
 existence. Idlers! and then I said to 
 
LOVE AND WAR IX 1860. 
 
 21 
 
 myself, what am I ? A rich man's son, 
 VI it 11 nothing to do ! Indeed, I am not so 
 much in worth as yonder poor pert cr, who 
 carries trunks and boxes for these care- 
 worn travellers. And then I said to my- 
 self, I should marry, and convert the 
 balance of my days to some use ; but ever 
 and anon that hard-l'aced editress passed 
 before my vision. Had not some poor 
 fellow been once caught by her ? and 
 might not I be likewise caught ? The 
 sumach hath a tender, beautiful blossom, 
 but when its fruit ripens, even its smell is 
 death to the passer by. The sumach 
 makes us dread the hyacinth ; and one 
 Stimpkins strikes us with dread at the 
 approach of angels. Thus I mused, the 
 while taking notes of what was passing, 
 and which, in fact, interrupted me by the 
 strangeness of the scene. But a moment 
 before, the trio of ladies had been prome- 
 nading the parlor, apparently enjoying 
 themselves as all transient acquaintances 
 do in our magnificent hotels ; but now I 
 beheld only Ann, the others having left, 
 and she was seated near the piano, not 
 playing, but idly touching the keys. Near 
 her stood a tall and handsome young man, 
 with such long hair as told me at a glance 
 he was a Southerner. He looked on her, 
 but she looked not upward, and I heard 
 him gently going on in this strain. " We 
 have such mild breezes from the ocean, 
 and the vines and evergreen forests ever 
 nestling above us, shielding us from the 
 burning suns. Sometimes we rouse our- 
 selves to certain action, to prove the genial 
 things around be not in dreams but pres- 
 ent are. Sometimes from active sports, 
 we pensive tram ourselves to mete out the 
 deep devotion we owe for these endless 
 blessings." And then she replied, " O ! I 
 think 'tis beautiful to dwell in such a 
 place ! " 
 
 " Not always beautiful," said he, " for 
 even as we in the sunny South have that 
 which only bounteous nature can bestow 
 to make us appreciate all the joys and 
 glories that man can attain, so does the 
 contrast, with equal force, ply to soul, 
 if the highest of anticipations be not 
 achieved. The sadness then of an unap- 
 preciated nature, and the woe of a disap- 
 pointed affection, reverts upon his former 
 dreams but to make all things desolate." 
 From this on, his voice was inaudible to 
 me ; neither did I hear the frolicsome Ann 
 say another word. She seemed to dally 
 with the keys, as one absent in thought ; 
 her golden ringlets, like so much sunlight, 
 shielding from view even that which their 
 own beauty adorned. 
 
 Why dicl I not know this man ? How 
 
 was it that the Judge had never told me I 
 How was it that he seemed so well ac- 
 quainted with Ann, and yet she had never 
 mentioned him ? Who was he, and what 
 was his business? His language seemed 
 fine, but I could not catch another word. 
 Her answers were short, but only to give 
 me more uneasiness. He finally drew from 
 his pocket a splendid watch, saying, " The 
 time is indisputable, and though a mo- 
 ment is more prized than all the wealth 
 of Croesus, yet it flies from my grasp. 
 To-morrow, at ten." She nodded, but said 
 nothing; and then he bade her good-by 
 and left. I was nigh rushing ivp to her to 
 demand the meaning of this affair, but 
 hesitated for a moment, and she trill eel a 
 little on the piano, and then up and ran 
 out singing — 
 
 "A southern liome in endless summer,'' etc., 
 
 her voice so merrily sounding through 
 the hall, that I almost forgot what 
 had just passed. When he had said ten, 
 to-morrow, I knew that was the hour 
 the Prince of Wales procession was to 
 begin, and I fully expected he had offered 
 and was accepted as her companion for 
 the occasion. 1 had previously resolved to 
 be that companion myself, but now was 
 fully resolved to say nothing about it to 
 her. Thinking there would be uo court 
 to-day, I was about leaving, but on jiass- 
 ing out in the hall, that large, wide, out- 
 side hall, I saw just before me that ever 
 present Mrs. Lucy Tabiatha Stimpkins, 
 and her new-made husband, Professor 
 Jackson. They were rehearsing some- 
 thing, and did not see me ; I withdrew to 
 play a sort of eaves-d reaper. At the far 
 end of the hall were Ann and Vickey, who 
 were also playing eaves-dropper to the 
 scene. " You know," said Mrs. Lucy, " it 
 is the same eternal dread of woman's 
 power that makes men unwilling to give 
 us footing. But these things shall not 
 continue. I am resolveel to vanquish all 
 our enemies. I will attack them in even- 
 place, and I will prove that mind, even if 
 it be woman's, can and shall master all the 
 rudeness in man. To-morrow is to be the 
 pi-ocession in honor of the Prince of 
 Wales, and you shall see ; even boasting 
 Briton's scion shall knuckle to woman. 
 He shall stoop to know my will and 
 pleasure ; mine, even me, yet an unknown 
 woman; and I shall so berate the down- 
 trodden condition of the women of Eng- 
 land to him, that he'll never pass another 
 happy day on this continent. Now, I 
 want to know if in your opinion it would 
 not be wise to give him such a philan- 
 thropic lesson ? " " Certainly," said the 
 
LOVE AND WAR IN 18G0. 
 
 23 
 
 Professor, " certainly, it would be excel- 
 lent. It would be a valuable contribution 
 to the harmonial philosophy." " Well 
 then, hark you," she said ; " hear my plans. 
 We shall station ourselves somewere near 
 the route, in the midst of the crowd, and, 
 as the Prince draws near, I'll rush forward 
 and pretend to be knocked down by the 
 throng ; falling even at his feet. Of 
 course, he'll pick me up, and I'll cry out, 
 4 Where's the Prince ! Where's the Prince ! 
 Let me his horns behold ; that boy, so 
 unlike all men and boys, can draw to the 
 view of his august body this mighty 
 throng of free-born Americans ! Where is 
 that Prince ? Where's the Prince ? ' and 
 thus I'll rate until he, forsooth, tells me 
 he is himself the Prince, and then I'll 
 scorn, saying, ' You ! you the Prince ? I 
 thought you were a wandering country 
 boy, whose legs outran the body, coming 
 here alone with scarce a head to hold the 
 two together. Proud scion of ancient 
 Albion, I greet you with a woman's ten- 
 derness. Know, sir, that my name is Mrs. 
 Lucy Tabiatha Stimpkins, the champion 
 for the rights of down-trodden woman. In 
 olden times you had in your own country 
 knights errant to alleviate the horrors of 
 her sphere ; but now, alas ! you, too, even 
 as the men in this country, do seize upon 
 the light avocations suited to her, and you 
 drive her to the most wretched misery ! 
 And then I shall tell him such tales of 
 horrors about the poor women of England, 
 as shall vanquish all his remaining joys." 
 " Most excellent," said Professor Jackson, 
 " nothing could be more apropos. Its 
 effect will endure for ages ; it will teach 
 the world to know that woman's rights 
 must and shall be respected." " But now, 
 mark you," said she, " you must be near, 
 to see that when I throw myself at his 
 feet, no harm comes to me ; you know the 
 English are awful ill-mannered, and only 
 possessed of snail-like speed ; now you 
 must not let me be run over." " O ! I'll 
 look out for that ; I'll see to it." said he, 
 and she then showed him how she would 
 do, and the part he was to play. I could 
 not help smiling at such simple mockery, 
 and was all on fire to acquaint the Judge 
 and other members of our court with the 
 contemplated scene. The girls at the other 
 end of the hall were laughing, even so that 
 I feared Mrs. Lucy would hear them ; but 
 she did not. As soon as the way was 
 clear, I started. In the hall I picked up a 
 slip of paper on which was written " To 
 the most beautiful . Be happy ! " I 
 
 dropped it at once, lest the fair ones 
 might suppose that I myself wrote it. I 
 supposed Prescott wrote it, and it was 
 intended for Vickey ; but I knew not. As 
 I passed through the office, the clerk 
 called me. " Do you know," said he, 
 " there's going to be war ? Every corner 
 is blocked by men in cautious conver- 
 sation ? Such mutterings as I do hear, 
 and every man has so much a bull-dog 
 look. Even priests and other pious peo- 
 ple, in company and alone, do clench their 
 jaws ; and from every man's mouth, even 
 though he be silent, I do hear oaths ter- 
 rible ! Methinks the very air hath a 
 solemn sound, and the drum and fife, and 
 fierce rattle of musketry comes from 
 afar off. Nor am I alone in these horrors ; 
 for e'en while you waited yonder, strange 
 and active men have come and gone in 
 this hotel, as never men did before. Every 
 man has some great errand, some mission 
 that needs be done at once. Prescott 
 comes for Judge Francis; some one comes 
 for Prescott, and while they whisper and 
 nod, another comes, and they all hurry off 
 together." When he told me this, I was 
 being troubled lest the Judge might fall 
 in with the seceders, and, of course, leave 
 the city, taking with him his niece. With 
 a somewhat heavy heart I ventured out, 
 determined to go to every place but I 
 would find the Judge. I fancied I had 
 detected something of vast importance to 
 the whole nation respecting Floyd, Thomp- 
 son, Madame Ponehard, or the Prince of 
 Wales. Just as I came to the corner of J 
 Street, I met Judge Francis, who exclaim- 
 ed, " O ! such things as I have heard ! 
 Come, let us to the Temple ; we will as- 
 semble our happy dozen to con over the 
 strangest things ever heard of. Go, call 
 our friends together ; we've caught a 
 hare ! " Now I noticed, when he came 
 near, that he had something concealed in 
 his bosom, and it seemed very large ; so I 
 began to talk with him, drawing nearer 
 the while, till I got a peep, and I beheld 
 that it was a huge bouquet of flowers. 
 Then I told him we should at once go to 
 the Temple, but he said, " By and by ; go 
 you, I will come after." But I said, " Why 
 not let us go together ? " He hesitated a 
 moment, and then told me he had a little 
 business affair down at the hotel. I knew 
 then he was going to take the flowers to 
 Vickey ; but I said nothing about it. So 
 we each one set out to meet at the Temple, 
 where I was to give in my testimony — the 
 most important history ever heard of. 
 
24 
 
 THE FALL OF FORT SUMTER ; OR, 
 
 CHAPTER III 
 
 After I had finished the last chapter, I 
 looked back to the place where Miss Stimp- 
 kins was saying she would make the whole 
 country laugh on the other side of its 
 mouth, and I also laughed. The conse- 
 quence was, Jenkins saw me laughing, and 
 he asked me how I liked the book thus 
 far ? I told him every one of his charac- 
 ters seemed to have a good deal of self- 
 conceit ; and that he himself betrayed it a 
 little. " No matter," said he, " the book 
 must be a true history of the country ; if 
 we do manifest a little self-conceit, why, 
 you must remember that we are only two 
 hundred years back descended from the 
 English." I told him, too, that where 
 Victoria used such fine language, I thought 
 it was overdrawn ; but he said that there 
 are many country girls in his country as 
 green in their public behavior as she was, 
 and yet have all the brightness, fluency 
 and innocence that Vickey manifested. He 
 nays, moreover, that the same country girls 
 are the purest and best that can be found 
 in any part of the world. I told him I 
 would write it down so, though I feared it 
 would not be satisfactory for them to hear 
 of it. Then I urged him to tell me 
 whether he married Miss Ann Underbill, 
 and he said, " wait a little." 
 
 " No, no," said I, " before I write 
 another word of this great history, tell me 
 w T hether you or the Southern gentleman 
 got her ? " 
 
 He smiled a httle, and then began as 
 follows, to wit : 
 
 After returning to the Jackson House, 
 several of our members urged the Judge 
 to disclose his designs for our action, and 
 when we had seated ourselves around for 
 that purpose, he drew forth a paper, and 
 then vainly searched for his spectacles in 
 his pockets. Thinking they were lost, he 
 at last exclaimed, " Is it possible I have 
 lost my spectacles ! " 
 
 I told him to never mind it ; for he 
 ought to be furnished with something 
 better than silver spectacles. 
 
 " Silver ! " said he. " Indeed they were 
 gold ; fine guinea gold." 
 
 Several of us shouted, " O, Judge ! " and 
 lie replied, " Indeed they were ; they cost 
 me twenty dollars." 
 
 Some of us said, " O, Judge ! twenty 
 dollars ! " 
 
 "Well, no matter," said he, "I'll get 
 another pair ; but I cannot read this 
 paper." 
 
 " Please you," said Mr. Prescott, " I 
 found a pair of spectacles in the entrance 
 to the Temple. Will you try them ? " and 
 he handed them over to the Judge. We 
 all recognized them as his, and they were 
 silver, and had been broken and tied on 
 one side. 
 
 When the Judge put them on, he said, 
 " Why, most remarkable — why, I can see 
 with these old things first rate." We all 
 assured him they must indeed be his own, 
 but he said, " Of course they are since I 
 have them on. Mine had a flaw on one 
 side, and might easily be taken by a 
 casual observer to be the same." 
 
 " Now, Judge," said Prescott, " I am 
 sure these are your original spectacles, and 
 you are so much of a philosopher, you 
 don't often notice the things you wear. 
 You are like Governor Walpole of Ken- 
 tucky, who did not know his boots from 
 his wife's slippers." 
 
 " Well, I confess it is somewhat so," said 
 the Judge, being anxious to change the 
 subject. " What did you know of Gov- 
 ernor Walpole ? He was one of my most 
 intimate friends." 
 
 " Governor Walpole," said Prescott ; " I 
 knew him to be a scholar and a gentleman 
 of the first water, and he was undoubtedly 
 one of the finest linguists in the coun- 
 try." 
 
 " He was that," said the Judge, " and I 
 believe he was one of the most versatile 
 men I ever saw. Indeed, they were a 
 talented family. His father and my father 
 both graduated in the same college." 
 
 As he was going on in this style, we 
 began laughing, for we were posted in the 
 matter. 
 
 " Now, Judge," said Prescott, " why do 
 you make such pretensions ? I do not 
 know any Governor Walpole ; there never 
 was any Governor Walpole. I was only 
 drawing you out." 
 
 When we ceased laughing, the Judge 
 said, " Indeed there was a Governor Wal- 
 pole, and I knew him. — No, I mean Gov- 
 ernor Waldo. — Yes, Governor Waldo ; " 
 and he afcerwards adhered to it that there 
 was a Governor Waldo. That is the man- 
 ner in which he would always get out. 
 
LOVE AND WAR IN 1860. 
 
 25 
 
 "We could never make him own up to the 
 falsity of his great pretensions. 
 
 "We then arranged our business, and, as 
 the Prince of Wales' procession was to 
 take place on the day following, you may 
 well imagine the anxiety we had in mak- 
 ing the necessary preparations. Previous 
 to this I was to start out on my business, 
 with reference to the action of Floyd and 
 Thompson. This began business for me 
 early on the following morning, while 
 nearly all our members were allotted to 
 their various parts. 
 
 Accordingly, as soon as it was daylight, 
 I went to the Treasury to witness the 
 result. I had, in fact, barely stationed 
 myself, when Floyd and Thompson came 
 up and halted even as the latter spoke. 
 
 " Hold, Floyd, I would reflect awhile." 
 
 Floyd.— ■" Wherefore ? " 
 
 Thompson. — " If here were sentinels, as 
 are in France, passing to and fro to guard 
 the nation's gold : or, if here were a dog 
 — even a dog to watch it, some excuse 
 could I find warranting this deep design. 
 But it is like despoiling innocence un- 
 armed, with arms equipped for thunder- 
 bolts. I do revolt at it." 
 
 " Ha, ha ! read that," said Floyd, and 
 he pointed to an inscription above the 
 entrance, which was 
 
 " THE PROPERTY OF THE PEOPLE." 
 
 Thomj)son. — " And I behold in that 
 short sentence so much eloquence, that I 
 scarcely value less my own approaching 
 tears, than the boon you promise. That is 
 the nation's only guard, and must we 
 murder it ? " 
 
 Floyd. — " And such a guard ! Why, sir, 
 only a nation of fools would have such a 
 guard. It is a safeguard while we are all 
 fools, but only while we are fools. I tell 
 you, Thompson, babies believe the devil's 
 in the corner, and so behave themselves ; 
 but we are men." 
 
 Thompson. — " Not fear, dear Floyd, is 
 my incentive to halt awhile, but the 
 thought that I do betray a trust most 
 sacred — to rob my countrymen." 
 
 Floyd— •" Rob ! Ha, ha, ha ! Tell me 
 a ship at sea is foundering, and that he 
 who swims away with its gold to save the 
 gold is a robber ! Our nation totters to 
 the base ; it sinks forever ! Speed us, 
 then, before the ruin comes, to save that 
 which will found another on its ruins ! 
 Out with its coffers, god-like be our 
 deeds, that from this awful threatening, 
 on the part of a plebeian race, we bring 
 eternal harmony. Shall not we, who have, 
 by Providence, been placed in the door- 
 way to our own and to the nation's glory, 
 
 walk in ? or hesitate till the mighty trust 
 evade our grasp, and worth despoiled for- 
 ever censure our low-born conduct ? " 
 
 Thompson. — " But suppose this whole 
 thing miscarry ? " 
 
 Floyd. — " It cannot. It cannot. But 
 suppose it does, wdiat of it ? Every way 
 is our gain. Wealth at least is ours." 
 
 Thompson. — " But still, the trust be- 
 trayed ? " 
 
 Floyd. — " Why, see what Cobb has done 
 — to you the key3 and management. Now 
 I take it, if I am not a fool, that Cobb is 
 Secretary of this Treasury, and yet he is 
 fishing in the streets." 
 
 Thompson. — " And yet no other act is 
 done for benefit of the South ? " 
 
 Floyd. — " Nothing done ! Now, entre 
 nous, as I am Secretary of War, I have, 
 within two days, transferred one hundred 
 and fifteen thousand rifles and muskets 
 from the Springfield Armory and Water- 
 vliet Arsenal to five depositories in the 
 South.* Governor Gist, of South Carolina, 
 has called together his State legislature, 
 and hath already advised the organization 
 of an army. Is this not something done ? " 
 
 Thompson. — " I do remember now, Cobb 
 said not a dollar shall remain in the 
 National Treasury when he goes out." 
 
 Floyd. — " And yet you would parley 
 even at the door-way. Come, I pray. I 
 want the bonds." 
 
 Thompson.' — " And shall we still remain 
 in Washington ? " 
 
 Floyd. — " Amongst our friends, of course. 
 Let us haste ; this day is the Prince of 
 Wales' procession, and so, while fools to 
 Britons bow, we'll count the gains the 
 fools have hoarded, that they remember 
 now our nation dies. 
 
 'Our pageantry is gone. We've naught to love, 
 Yet, here, alas ! a foreigner's a dove. 
 Come, Briton, come — a country loving you 
 To human rights itself cannot be true.' " 
 
 After they had thus spoken, they entered 
 the Treasury, and I felt sure now that the 
 national funds were indeed at the mercy 
 of robbers. I was about to turn away 
 from the scene, when that very suspicious- 
 looking woman, Madame Ponchard, was 
 seen approaching. She seemed in trouble ; 
 wrapped in profound thought ; not notic- 
 ing me until she was within a few yards. 
 Whereupon she looked to the ground, as 
 if searching for something, and then turned 
 and retraced her course, joining, a little 
 distance off, the dark- eyed Orsini. 
 
 Thus the great cloud of the rebellion was 
 sending forth its scouts, its vultures, to 
 nibble at the feet and envelop a great, 
 
 * This was afterwards boasted of in the Richmond 
 papers. 
 
20 
 
 THE FALL OF FORT SUMTER ; OR, 
 
 unguarded, Christian people, and there 
 was no law, no arm of power to stay the 
 approaching scourge. We could but look 
 at the great fabric and weep, as we stood 
 so powerless to do it service. 
 
 Thus was I waiting, reflecting, and 
 watching, when who should approach, but 
 the Prince of Wales, and the Duke of New 
 Castle, for their morning walk. When 
 they had approached near me, they asked 
 what building that was ? I told them it 
 was the National Treasury. The Duke 
 said, " What ! has this country a Treas- 
 ury ? " And the Prince said, " It seems 
 so, and without soldiers to guard it. Let 
 us halt a while and contemplate the nov- 
 elty of this sign : 
 
 ' THE PROPERTY OF THE PEOPLE.' " 
 
 " Quite interesting, is'nt it ? " said the 
 Duke. 
 
 '• Do you know, my lord," quoth the 
 Prince, " that that sentence is the only 
 thing of all I have seen in this country, 
 that I admire ? " 
 
 " Really, I think it has some signifi- 
 cance. Ah ! but what significance ; that's 
 the puzzle — whether this property is 
 all the people have got, and needs this 
 sentence to prove the title, or whether this 
 sentence is to show foreigners the extent 
 of American enterprise, which is to say, 
 this young nation has already saved 
 enough to buy one house." 
 
 " My lord is jovial," said the Prince. 
 " As for myself, I feel serious. Do you 
 know there is not another country in the 
 world that leaves unguarded its national 
 bureaus ? And this it is touches me. It 
 is a kind of honor I looked not for ; it is 
 a glory outmatching all the armies of 
 France; it is an inward strength and full 
 composure ; like Hercules, unmoved when 
 the gods at common omens trembled." 
 
 " Indeed, so," said the Duke. " Why, 
 you are a metaphysician. Now, I took it, 
 the American boast was a fireman's parade, 
 wide streets, and wooden houses. This 
 building is something, to be sure ; but 
 where is that score of botanical gardens 
 and botanical colleges — those zoological 
 gardens, and their attendant lectures — 
 where are those mineralogical and geo- 
 logical colleges, with their gratuitous in- 
 struction ? where the astronomical observ- 
 atories for the instruction of ambitious 
 young men ? And this is the nation's 
 Capital ! I declare, it is very amusing, 
 very amusing indeed ! '' "I say, my lord," 
 said the Prince, " this nation is very 
 young ; it boasts that it is very young." 
 " Ah, but that is not so ; only young in 
 wisdom. It is nearly as old and nearly as 
 
 powerful as it ever will be. It has no 
 noble type of character. For the lack of 
 the places of instruction I spoke of, in its 
 National Capital, there is no place for the 
 wealthy and intelligent to assemble to form 
 a model of Americanism ; and, in conse- 
 quence, those classes fly to Europe to 
 unmake their nativeism by a smack of 
 foreign airs." "But how, my lord, is it, 
 possible to have these great public insti- 
 tutions in a republic ? The places to be 
 filled, would open only a new source for 
 politicians." " Very wisely said," replied 
 the Duke, " very wisely said ; and hence 
 it is, a republican government can never 
 raise the common people to a high state 
 of civilization. The more elevated are 
 constantly pulled down to the level of the 
 great multitude. Nature gives genius to 
 make it exclusive ; but a republic will not 
 sustain that which nature has designed 
 should mark the difference. Hence it is, 
 genius and refinement in this country is 
 burdened with the contact of ignorance 
 and slothfulncss ; it feels the burden ; it 
 inwardly revolts at it. And yet, a day 
 since, did I hear some Southern gentlemen 
 say that the national affairs are gradually 
 falling into the hands of the common 
 mob, and that the more elevated are 
 determined to cut loose, and establish the 
 supremacy they are entitled to. Add to 
 this the fact that American offices pay just 
 enough salary to attract common jockeys, 
 and. not enough to meet the demands of 
 the great, and good, and you have the 
 weakness of the Government in a nut- 
 shell." Now, as it so happened, while he 
 was speaking, Floyd and Thompson 
 emerged from the Treasury and concealed 
 themselves behind the pillars thereof, to 
 listen. " If not now," continued the Duke, 
 " it will soon follow that the men who 
 come into power, will be little better than 
 highway robbers. They will no more 
 regard that inscription on the Treasury, 
 than they would the morning dew. It 
 was so in the Roman republic ; men even 
 violated their solemn oaths, and often 
 took paltry bribes as an equivalent for 
 their influence. Finally, they became 
 themselves too great a corruption to live 
 together; and there was a general scramble 
 for the spoils, in the pretence, and in fact, 
 of the necessity of founding another gov- 
 ernment." Thompson knew the Duke, 
 and hated him, because he was English, 
 and because he and the Prince refused to 
 visit Richmond, on account of it being in 
 a slave State, and he spoke to Floyd in a 
 low voice, saying, " O, I am cursed ! O, I 
 am cursed ! Heaven has sent my enemy 
 to chastise me. Had I godliness in my 
 
LOVE AX I) WAR IX LS60. 
 
 27 
 
 cause, I would rush upon him and give 
 him a good thrashing These monarchical 
 prophecies oi our country are of long 
 standing, and it makes my blood boil to 
 see, alas, that they are true." " It is true, 
 a- you say," continued the Duke, "the 
 things the Americans boast of are all 
 foolish ; ami the honor and honesty you 
 infer from the absence of soldiers, is 
 indeed something worth while. That 
 Americans never steal, and that Ameri- 
 cans, in business habits, never tell un- 
 truths, are their only distinctions that are 
 good." "And they are good things, in- 
 deed," said the Prince. '"Such i^ the 
 boast of other nations — Jews, of gold; 
 French, of fun ; Britons, of banks, and 
 Americans of honesty." " Tis well, in- 
 deed," replied the Duke, '* that my lord 
 of Renfrew cannot be heard in this coun- 
 try ; he'd make the people vain." 
 
 Thompson. — " Great heavens ! Must I, 
 must I bear this ! " 
 
 Floyd.—" Sh ! sh ! " 
 
 Prhn-e. — " American citizen ! Glory in 
 the name ! it has honor, justice, peace, 
 and plenty ; it is guardian to the needy of 
 other countries ; it is the trust of man as 
 man ; it is the banishment of the arms 
 that menace thieves, and the welcome of 
 fellowship to all men. Glory be to thee, 
 O '. American citizen ! " 
 
 Thompson. — "I cannot, will not bear 
 this!" 
 
 Floyd. — '■ Sh ! sh ! they go ; hear me." 
 
 Duke. — ••* And yet these things will pass 
 away. Envious politicians will break 
 through this theme of glory ; they, and 
 they alone have despoiled every nation 
 since the foundation of the world, and 
 they will here. Even at present is the 
 deepest infamy accused to the party in 
 power." 
 
 Prince. — "No, no! I pray, don't per- 
 suade me so. Let me leave with the 
 thought that yonder inscription is glory, 
 the most hallowe 1 of all my memories of 
 this people ; to think that I, with my own 
 eyes saw a nation without soldiers; saw 
 people that truste 1 one another. And yet 
 this vow I nnk;' : it' ever Americans dis- 
 prove their present honesty, no joy more 
 will I take in seeing the face of man." 
 When he had finished speaking, he and 
 the Duke went their way, the latter 
 admonishing him that it was Friday 
 morning, and that whatever was done on 
 that day, would prove a failure; alluding 
 to the vow the Prince had made. Thomp- 
 son thought he meant Floyd and Thomp- 
 son's deeds, and he walked out and said 
 to Floyd, " You see, we are damned in the 
 verv onset. A base robberv ! " 
 
 Floyd, — " How now >. Have I not said 
 our ship of state is wrecked, and that we 
 are merely saving that which would other- 
 wise be lost '. Why, Thompson, you your- 
 self did first propose to Cobb to take this 
 stuff away." He held up gold bags and 
 paper bonds. " Is it better we throw it in 
 the river, or leave it here to burn, or take 
 it to our homes, or fly with it to Canada, 
 or pout and grieve that we took it at all '. 
 Methought the founders of a new nation 
 had more pluck. Is not the state dead ? 
 And — we the trustees :' " " So the state is 
 dead," said Thompson; "the state was 
 our mother, and we have rifled our dead 
 mother's pockets." 
 
 Floyd. — " Why, now, what frame of 
 mind is this ? Must we stand and parley 
 till our very actions give warning to every 
 passer-by? Come, let us go — ;" he 
 turned tin n to look if any one was near, 
 the while holding on to Thompson's sleeve, 
 ami he saw me, and said, " Hallo, fellow ! 
 what are you doing here ? " " Nothing," 
 said I, " only halted to hear the Prince 
 and the Duke." " Scoundrel ! " said he, 
 " you lie, you are an eaves-dropper," put- 
 ting therein a fierce oath. Now I had, all 
 the while the Prince and Duke were talk- 
 ing, been seated on the curb-stone, making 
 believe my boot hurt me, so I could hear 
 what was said. Floyd and Thompson 
 came up to me, even while I sat there, 
 and the former caught me by the collar. 
 •'What would you do?" said I, rising; 
 but Thompson caught me too, and I strug- 
 gled to get away, fearing bodily harm. 
 " You'll do no more harm to us ! " said 
 Floyd, and he swore again. They then 
 pulled me over backward, my feet catch- 
 ing against the curb-stone. " You dog ! " 
 he continued, '■ I know you, you are pok- 
 ing your nose into everything." But while 
 he was speaking, I seized Thompson by 
 the throat with one hand, and shook him. 
 He was very cowardly and broke loose, 
 standing aloof; and Floyd instantly drew 
 a knife. 
 
 I had, in the meantime, worked myself 
 into a better position, and now sprung up. 
 He was frightened — not daring to strike 
 me with his knife. 
 
 " Sir," said he. " we are more than two 
 hundred strong. Before two hours hence, 
 you shall be a marked man ; consider this 
 as you please." I made no reply, and they 
 started to walk off", and again he retorted, 
 " You cannot arrest us. The very officers 
 to whom you would apply, will put the 
 seal on you." 
 
 I stood there waiting for some tine, not 
 making any answer, and, in fact, until 
 they had disappeared. On my way back. 
 
I 
 
LOVE AND WAR IN 1800. 
 
 29 
 
 I stopped at the market-place, near the 
 outer posts thereof, where I heard a voice 
 which I recognized as the Judge's. On 
 drawing still nearer, I beheld him alone, 
 with flowers uplifted, evidently contem- 
 plating a rich interview with his Victoria. 
 In view of the novelty of the scene — to see 
 and hear the Judge, with such a bouquet, 
 and by himself rehearsing — I halted a 
 moment. 
 
 " Beautiful ! " said he, musing with a 
 low voice, " beautiful flowers ! Thou shalt 
 deck a fairy fonn. Thou shalt grace a 
 queen. Behold the lily and the rose, so 
 fair, so sweet, outmatched by the lady I 
 love ! Aye, ye precious little diadems ! 
 precious warblers on that bosom ! O ! 
 what tides in my emotion rise ! Beautiful 
 Victoria ! Victoria ! My angel of glory ! 
 Daisies, lily blossoms that warble on such 
 fairylike bosoms, do I love thee ? Oh 
 thou fairest of the fair, behold the tender- 
 ness of these ! inhale their fragrance ! com- 
 pare their exquisiteness with my fond ap- 
 preciation ! Old, thou hast made me a 
 child ! This heart, pure as adamant — it 
 is thine, and thine only. Ah, dearest ! 
 thou hast fear of my quality, and dreamest 
 that the tender of my love is but a 
 dream ! Dream on, blessed angel, these 
 blessed flowers shall make thee dream 
 forever ! Come, sweet flowers ! envious 
 mortals ! thou shalt play at the lips— press 
 on the heaving bosom ! Oh, that the 
 glory of coming hours were here 1 Now, 
 let me rehearse : — 
 
 " ' Madame, my carriage waits at the 
 door. Will you accompany us to the pro- 
 cession ? We have a place. Oh ! ah ! 
 shall I have the honor ? Will you sit by 
 me ? Ah ! allow me, my dear ! Here are 
 flowers. Take them, their natural perfume 
 evaporating toward the great expanse 
 above, like the lone heart never captured, 
 giving love to the imagery of an unheard 
 of beauty ! Take them, I pray you ! feed 
 upon their sweetness; no age is there. 
 Some of them are curled and wilted ; but, 
 ah ! the perfume is even as sweet as from 
 the infant bud. Ah, indeed, my lady 
 faints ; poor child ! The fatal deed is 
 done ; the battle fought and won ! Be 
 happy, oh thou, my dearest dear ! ' " 
 
 As he was still rehearsing to himself 
 and examining his flowers, and alternately 
 bowing and cramming them to his nose, 
 and then viewing them, I was myself so 
 much agitated, that it was almost impos- 
 sible to remain silent. On looking over the 
 way, I saw Miss Lucy Tabiatha Stimpkins 
 approaching directly toward the Judge, 
 and I saw too, that she beheld him in his 
 ecstasies with the flowers. Behind her, 
 
 and at a little distance, came Professor 
 Jackson. 
 
 When they drew near, she bid the Pro- 
 fessor halt. The moment that she had 
 approached near enough to the Judge to 
 hear his folly, and see his antics, it was 
 evident that she was enraged. After wit- 
 nessing it a short time, she suddenly stood 
 before him, face to face. 
 
 " Is it possible ? " said she. " Judge 
 Francis Underbill — a man of your years ? " 
 He started up, confounded. 
 
 " I am but a boy, madam," said he. 
 " My hairs are white, it is true ; but my 
 heart is like an infant's." 
 
 " I venture to say," said she, " if there 
 be war, your age would exempt you with- 
 out a jury. More should you think of 
 your grave than of a fair dulcinea." 
 
 "More the sexton seek, 
 Than this maiden meek,"' 
 
 said the Judge. " Nay, Miss Lucy, you in- 
 terpret from the frozen cinders of your own 
 impulses. But who that has felt the genial 
 flame, would not, for a single moment's 
 glorious ease with the lady of hia love, 
 confront the cold philosophy of a frowning 
 world. Oh madam ! I mean Miss Lucy 
 Tabiatha, when you feel and know the 
 fervency of a dear sweetheart ; to know 
 that its recipient is touched by the same 
 chord of matchless tenderness, and hath 
 but craped this mortal part to make one's 
 self reveal exquisite joys within its com- 
 pliment — too much, too much for the 
 nerves to bear — Ah ! you smile Miss Stimp- 
 kins ! Question you my love ? If ever man 
 for woman vowed, then I to mine am resi- 
 dent alway. Age is fire, and I have age, 
 hence, I am warm ; and these [touching 
 the flowers] gentle emblems shall decorate 
 her matchless beauty ; " and thus saying, 
 he walked away, not giving her a chance 
 to answer. 
 
 Miss Lucy was discomfited at this sud- 
 den departure, and immediately addressed 
 her consort, Professor Jackson. " Profes- 
 sor Jackson," said she, turning sharply to- 
 wards him, " heard you that attack upon 
 woman's rights ? Will you stand and 
 hear me vanquished ? What right has he 
 to meddle with the fundamental principles 
 of human love ? Where is the voice of his 
 fair one ? Is there none to warn her ? " 
 
 The Professor suggested that there 
 might be some misunderstanding about 
 the congeniality of the two persons. 
 
 " No, sir. No, sir," she replied. " I 
 neglected to be true to the rules of my 
 own doctrine. I let my feelings move me. 
 I was overcome. But yet, I shall vanquish 
 him. I shall show him these boasted 
 
30 
 
 THE FALL OF FORT SUMTER. 
 
 affections are but promptings of sin. I 
 shall teach his fair one to rely only on 
 moral and intellectual principles. I shall 
 teach her that this thing called love, is all 
 moonshine. Professor, I have more ad- 
 vantages than he ever dreamed of. Talk 
 of reclining on bosoms, I shall recline on 
 the Prince of Wales, and make my enemies 
 bite their fingers ; for I have enemies — so 
 had Bonaparte, and so had Caesar." " It 
 is so," said the Professor, and they left 
 together. 
 
 I had indeed been anxious to come 
 forth and personally witness the past con- 
 test; but, having my clothes soiled as 
 before mentioned, and being anxious to 
 return for a change, I waited a moment so 
 as not to be seen in my present condition. 
 Scarcely was quiet restored, when I heard 
 a noise as of some one weeping, and turn- 
 ing to look, I beheld there the identical 
 man who had been conversing with Ann 
 Underbill, on the previous occasion. He 
 was leaning against the Jefferson Arch- 
 way, twirling his little walking-stick in 
 his fingers, his head leaned backwards, 
 and the heel of his boot playing upon the 
 other. Half-way between song and speech, 
 he then turned and went on in this 
 fashion : 
 
 " I will away, away to th 1 wild lagoons 
 Of my own dear native State, 
 The jeers I've suffered and the scoffs endured 
 From these people I'll there relate. 
 Glorious and free, 
 Happy in liberty, 
 I will away, away to th' wild lasooDs 
 Of my own dear native State." 
 
 Diamonds glittered on his shirt bosom 
 and on his fingers ; he seemed like the 
 kind, intelligent, and darling son of more 
 than common folks. On the instant I 
 regarded him as a rival, but when I beheld 
 the deep solemness of his nature, I was 
 won over to him. " My friend," said I, 
 " I am moved with pity to the strangeness 
 of this melancholy." He looked up, and 
 when we faced each other, we recognized 
 that we were brothers of the same society, 
 though we had never before offered each 
 other any salutation. " My brother," said 
 he, " I am cast down. Such things run 
 through my brain as would move a world 
 to tears. I see the progress of events, and 
 I know that all the glory and peace of our 
 country is at end. Woe on me that I have 
 lived in this scourging period." I took 
 his hand and he rose up. " Though 
 nations fall," said I, "and religions perish 
 in envious broil, one thing alone will ever 
 endure, whereby men can faithfully rely 
 upon the confidence of each other. Tell 
 me, brother, what is this that wears so 
 heavily on your mind." 
 
 " This is the substance of my sorrowing," 
 said he : " Peace and respect no South- 
 erner now has, even in the Capital of this 
 great country. Everywhere am I pushed 
 into the pitiless storm ; abuse is heaped 
 upon me alway. This is a deeper grief 
 than you premise. When first I came to 
 Washington, I loved it as a Northern 
 romance, and, much in hope, my joys were 
 lifted up. Cares of home I banished, and 
 the luxury of ease I sought out. In all 
 cpneourse, I made free the confidence I 
 did expect from others, oft dilating with 
 right good will on my own good fortune. 
 For, till now I called it good, and now I 
 deem it not so. You may know, my dear 
 sir, I was born of wealthy parents in 
 Louisiana. My father was the largest 
 planter in that State ; he owned eight 
 hundred slaves, and his wealth was the 
 chief support in employment of three 
 thousand men. When I was a boy of 
 fourteen, my mother died. My father 
 being young, married again ; but, not 
 content with a woman of his own country, 
 took her from that ever-renowned land of 
 the poets, Italy. She was my tyrant ; 
 often after she came did I wish that I had 
 never been. These trials were not un- 
 known to my excellent father. He had 
 employed for my instruction the best 
 English and foreign teachers, who became 
 enamored of my future promise. My 
 father desired that I and my step-mother 
 shoidd be kept apart, and he resolved to 
 take her to Italy to live ; himself to spend 
 his time equally in the two countries. 
 When he acquainted me with this fact, 
 my sorrows knew no bound. My father 
 was a great and a good man ; he was all I 
 had in the world to love ; but I never said 
 him nay. No, I never ! Accordingly, 
 when I was in my eighteenth year, my 
 father having appointed all the necessary 
 officers of his estate, came to tell me 
 the time had come. The last words he 
 said were : ' More, I desire, my son, that 
 you be good than great. The good may 
 be crossed awhile, but in time their joys 
 will be eternal.' He folded me in his 
 arms — we separated ! I never saw him 
 since, although I have since spent many 
 years on the continent of Europe, and 
 searched eveiy conceivable place where 
 such a man could live." When he finished 
 speaking, the tears were fast falling on his 
 cheeks, and I knew not in what way to 
 comfort him. His appearance showed me 
 that I w 7 as in the presence of no ordinary 
 man, and one the most deserving sympathy 
 I ever met with. " Indeed," said I, " this 
 is worse than death ; for it is the burial 
 of aU peace of mind. Heard you never a 
 
32 
 
 THE FALL OF FORT SUMTER ; OR, 
 
 word that could lead to the whereabouts 
 of your father I " " Several limes, and in 
 several place- were they Been together, and 
 
 even for two or three years, all the way 
 from Paris to Naples. The last 1 ever 
 heard was that they left Europe for 
 America, more than lour years ago ; but 
 whether they ever arrived, I know not. ] 
 returned and took possession of the estate, 
 and have sine managed it. Now I have 
 more grief to add to it, it is the threat- 
 ened aspect of our country. As I said 
 before, I had only a father to love, and 
 when I lost him, I lost all. You must 
 know, sir, the position I was enabled (<> 
 take in foreign countries, and my most 
 remarkable mission threw me into the besf 
 of society, where, alas, 1 received the 
 seven st blows ever dealt to man. People 
 pitied me for the loss of my father, and 
 while they pitied, they sneered at the 
 slavery in my native land. They even 
 insinuated the death of such a man as my 
 father, was nothing more than the retribu- 
 tive justice of heaven. I plead my coun- 
 try's cause; its laws excused for the man- 
 ner of its long-standing custom, estates 
 descending with all appurtenances, and 
 content and comfort amongst the slaves in 
 full requirement. I could hear such goad- 
 ing sympathy, for I was in search of my 
 lather, until I had exhausted all hope of 
 ever seeing him more. Then, as I said, 1 
 returned. O ! what joys unspeakable 
 within my breast when again I reached 
 my native land ! All the castles of mon- 
 archies, the arts and sciences of Europe, 
 and all the elevated and noble people 
 
 whom I could have loved but for their 
 eternal sneers against this country ; all, all 
 I now gladly exchanged for my glorious 
 land of liberty ! I settled on my estate in 
 comparative joy, my heart so full that 
 even the greatest oJ Abolitionists would 
 have found me a kind and honorable 
 friend ; BO great was my joy to meet my 
 countrymen ; so much I hated the noble 
 families of France, England and Italy for 
 their abuse to me, for that which I could 
 
 not help, nor were the cause. But my 
 retirement could not last long; my ardent 
 nature sought enjoyment. 1 came here to 
 mingle with the choicest of my country- 
 nun, and I have given many compliments. 
 In return I am sneered at lor the slaves I 
 own and cannot get rid of. The conflict 
 of two terrible parties is about to begin. 
 Then will my former boasts of my country 
 in Europe be turned to mockery." "In- 
 deed, sir.'* said I, ••you have touched 
 something which would move all the 
 honest and great men of our country." I 
 then told him who I was, that I had been 
 a long time a local reporter, but that hav- 
 ing acquired a great fortune, I now 
 amused myself merely going about taking 
 notes, which I rehearsed before the courts 
 of Judge Francis Underbill. "Underbill '." 
 said he, and I told him yes. lie then said. 
 ''I have heard Miss Ann Underbill speak 
 highly of her uncle," but we thereupon 
 ceased to Speak more of the Lnderhills. 
 nor did anything pass between us tending 
 to show that either of us mistrusted the 
 rivalry, and we then returned to the Jack- 
 son House to get ready for the proces 
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 
 I told Jenkins I longed to bear more 
 about Mis- Ann Underbill, but still I was 
 not forgetful of the fact that he had 
 neglected to tell me whether he himself 
 married her. Said he, ; " I was telling you 
 as fast as I could, but you know it is 
 the fashion of modern authors to tell 
 anything except what they have to tell, 
 in order to make a book as large as pos- 
 sible. I know one author," he con- 
 tinued, " who took up the waste papers 
 that he had rejected from different books 
 of his own writing, and when he saw what 
 a huge pile there was, he said to himself, 
 ' what shall I do with it ? ' So, wishing 
 
 to make the most of his name, he si nt 
 them to a publisher, and had a book made 
 of them, and it had a good run. Another 
 man took his cue from it, got a history of 
 the sewers of Paris, and some police 
 reports, put them in a bag, shook them up 
 a few times, then took the papers out and 
 paged them for a book. Being at a loss 
 for a name for his book, he turned to his 
 publisher and said, ' Ah ! Les Miserables, 1 
 and then he went home determined to 
 abandon the project. But the bookseller 
 went on with it, and it is said that many- 
 people read it, and never discovered the 
 joke." 
 
LOVE AND WAR IN I860. 
 
 33 
 
 " "Well," said I, " well, Jenkins, you will 
 not try any such game as that ? " 
 
 11 Oh, no ! " said he, " but, in the lan- 
 guage of Falstaff, ' shall I not take mine 
 ease in mine own book ? ' " 
 
 When he said this, I made no further 
 argument, and told him to go on with the 
 transcription. He told me to begin, say- 
 ing : 
 
 " Having resolved to attend the pro- 
 cession, and fixed upon a ride with Judge 
 Francis, I immediately repaired to the 
 hotel to acquaint him with the determina- 
 tion. The Judge at once ordered out his 
 carriage and horses, informing us that 
 everybody was welcome in it. It was 
 more than twenty years old, and so were 
 his horses, and they were attended to by 
 the same servant that had done so for 
 more than twenty years. The carriage 
 had had many breakdowns, and was 
 pieced and patched in every side and 
 corner. Many painters for many years had 
 painted the various repaired parts, and it 
 was of many colors. Some of the silver 
 mounting was gone, some was loose ; and 
 the broken bolts had been replaced with 
 monstrous nails, splitting the boards 
 here and there, and bearing many gashes 
 withal. One horse had turned old faster 
 than the other ; one very fat ; the other 
 lean. The reins and harness had often 
 broken on a midnight ride, and been with 
 aopes made whole. The cushions of the 
 carriage had shed their stuffing, and the 
 cover thereof had been gone for many 
 years. And yet, to the Judge, the whole 
 concern was as perfect as on the -day he 
 bought it. It had, like a wife, grown old 
 by such slow degrees, that the owner 
 never knew it. Every part of it too had a 
 history ; the Judge could talk a month on 
 its scars. He would say, " Behold you 
 that dash board ? What a rent is there ! 
 That occurred one pleasant day in June, as 
 I was going in company with Henry Clay 
 to the races," and then he would fashion 
 out how it was done. " See that twisted 
 bolt ? " he would again go on. " Daniel 
 Webster had often urged me for a journey 
 to Mount Vernon. I shall never forget 
 that memorable day," and so he con- 
 tinued ; in all probability not the quarter 
 part was true. But he boasted so much 
 of his great associations, that he at last 
 believed them himself. So, when We had 
 expressed our desire to go to the proces- 
 sion with him, not knowing he was to 
 have many ladies, and when the carriage 
 was ready, and while the Judge was yet 
 in the hotel, not less than eight of our 
 court members climbed into it, determined 
 to have at least one more good time, 
 3 
 
 whether there be war or not. Now, while 
 we were climbing in, there came by that 
 everlasting Mrs. Stimpkins and Professor 
 Jackson, and they thought it was some 
 public conveyance, and that they might 
 avail themselves of the opportunity of 
 riding to the procession, where they could 
 then dismount. Accordingly, she jumped 
 upon the steps of the carriage, saying, " I 
 think a gentleman would at least give a 
 seat to a lady ! " and we all cried out, 
 " Certainly, madam, come in ! " and in 
 she came, followed by Jackson, the gifted 
 Professor. We were all wondering in our 
 own minds w r hat the Judge would say 
 when he came out and beheld no place 
 for himself. What was our astonishment, 
 however, at seeing him at last, with Vickey 
 and Ann Underhill on each arm, followed 
 by Mr. and Mrs. Edge. " Ah ! " said the 
 Judge, " nearly full ! " and he smiled ; 
 for there was not room for the smallest 
 thing more to get in. " Quite full, sir ! " 
 shouted Mrs. Lucy Tabiatha Stimpkins ; 
 " you can't get in here, sir ! Go ahead, 
 driver, crack up your old skeletons ! " 
 We, who had taken first possession of the 
 carriage, were about to leap out, and yet 
 trying to smother our laughter ; but the 
 Judge was too clever for us, and he said, 
 " Keep your seats, I pray ; I was never so 
 pleased in my life. Here comes another 
 carriage ; we are provided." He bowed 
 and laughed heartily, and so did many 
 of us. In a few minutes, he and his party 
 were in another carriage, and we were 
 started on. " I told you, Professor," said 
 Mrs. Lucy, " that the time would come 
 when I should vanquish that Judge. He 
 fancied he could overcome me on all oc- 
 casions as he did at the market-place." 
 Thus she went on for some time, but we 
 were brought to a change by meeting 
 Judge Walker, who motioned to me that 
 he would speak a word. So he got en 
 the step of the carriage and told me some 
 important matters he had for me, and then 
 he asked where we were going, and I told 
 him. " Why, have not you heard that ? " 
 says he, " it's not to be to-day ! " " How 
 so ? " says I. " Why," he said, " it is not 
 consonant with the feelings of the royal 
 family to go to receptions or any other 
 place on Friday. They fear there will be 
 no good come of it, and so the President 
 postponed it until to-morrow." When he 
 said this, he bid me good-day and left. 
 
 Now, Miss Lucy had been so earnestly 
 talking all the while to the Professor, that 
 she heard not a word of it. I told all my 
 companions of it, and told them to say 
 nothing ; that we would give our Lucy a 
 ride. We resolved at once to drive far 
 
34 
 
 THE FALL OF FORT SUMTER ; OR, 
 
 out of the city, and then discharge her 
 and the Professor, and let them have the 
 benefit of a walk back to the Capital. 
 
 As soon as we were clear of the street 
 crowd, I made the driver drive — (and he 
 did drive). In a few momenta we were 
 out of the city, on the Georgetown road. 
 Miss Lucy was alarmed, and shouted, 
 " Where are you going I What is the 
 matter { " But we heeded her not, and 
 urged our driver to go the faster, the 
 horses being kept at full gallop. Borne 
 of us would say, " Madam, you are right ; 
 it is a very fine day."' " How far did you 
 say you were going ? " and such like, as 
 if we did not hear what she was saying. 
 Thus we flew over hill and dale in break- 
 neck style, all of us laughing fit to kill. 
 Mra. Lucy and the Professor now began 
 to look terribly afraid ; soon, indeed, they 
 thought we were playing a sad joke at 
 their expense. After a while, we turned 
 up Miller's Lane, where all was dust and 
 hot sunshine ; poor Lucy, quite enraged, 
 shouted with all her power, " Where are 
 you going ? For heaven's sake, stop ! 
 This is the wrong stage ? Let us out ! " 
 After we were half a mile further on, 
 we succeeded in understanding her, and 
 halted to let the pair dismount. 
 
 " Gentlemen, I thank you," she said, as 
 soon as she reached terra firma ; " you 
 might have told us this was a country 
 stage. We took it for a carriage going 
 to the procession. You have no regard 
 for helpless woman. You are very smart, 
 gentlemen, I dare say. You can snicker, 
 and play the nice gallant to doll-faced 
 misses, but you don't see nor hear a 
 woman of sense." 
 
 She then turned and looked fiercely at 
 her consort, Professor Jackson, and stared 
 him out of countenance. 
 
 " Professor Jackson, I am astonished at 
 you ! Have you, too, no regard for the 
 rights of poor helpless woman ? " 
 
 But ere we had time to hear her full 
 lecture, and in the midst of our laughter, 
 we turned our carriage and began to re- 
 trace our course. What then was her 
 amazement; what her heart-burning anger 
 when she saw and knew that the whole 
 thing had been a joke on her and the 
 Professor. Here lay several miles between 
 them and the city, to be walked over in 
 the burning sun, and amidst clouds of 
 choking dust. We had little pity for her, 
 though, because she had so rudely come 
 into our carriage ; yet, we were heartily 
 sorry for the poor Professor, who now 
 must needs withstand her storms all the 
 way back. We also justified ourselves on 
 the ground that the day was a holiday, 
 
 and we were entitled to have some 
 sport. 
 
 What was our astonishment to find, on 
 our return, that an equally important joke 
 was being played upon the venerable 
 Judge. Tin- clerk and Prescott had laid a 
 wager mi tin- result of the Judge's being 
 magnetized. The wager consisted of a 
 dozen of sparkling Catawba, and the nature 
 of the wager was that no trick could I e 
 played upon the Judge, to make him 
 acknowledge that he was beaten in a joke. 
 The plan was, for the whole party, after 
 the Judge was seated in the parlor, to 
 withdraw and leave him sitting there. 
 It the Judge continued stilting an hour, 
 under the belief that the magnetizers were 
 standing behind him when they were not, 
 or if he would own up that he had been 
 sold in the matter, then the clerk lost. 
 The Judge knew nothing about the bet. 
 He agreed, however, to sit to be mag- 
 netized ; and at the end of the hour they 
 were to fire a pistol, and he was to get up 
 and show them that they had failed. The 
 magnetizer was promised something hand- 
 some for his services, but he had to agree 
 to the plans of the party. 
 
 So when all the party was in the parlor, 
 the magnetizer opened the affair by a short 
 lecture, beginning, of course, with the be- 
 ginning of the world ; passing through 
 the old fogyism of man in not believing 
 in magnetism, and blowing on its powers 
 and usefulness. He then told us that 
 everybody could be put in the magnetic 
 state ; that if it could not be done by one 
 person, it could be done by a number of 
 persons all acting on the same subject at 
 the same time. He then informed us 
 that, with this brief statement, he was 
 ready to begin. 
 
 The Judge smiled, and shook his head 
 to signify his disbelief. 
 
 If you never saw a magnetizer, I will 
 tell you how he does it : he makes down- 
 ward passes toward you and around you. 
 until you go to sleep, as it were, with one 
 eye open ; that is to say, some of your ex- 
 ternal senses are asleep, while your in- 
 ternal senses, or reflection, are in cognizance 
 of the magnetizer ; and so, losing con- 
 sciousness of yourself, you obey him. 
 
 When several persons magnetize a single 
 subject, one makes the passes upon the 
 subject, another stands behind the one, 
 withdrawing, as they say, the magnetism 
 from one source. Its merits, however, 
 and modus operandi, are generally de- 
 scribed by its adherents to be the with- 
 drawing of the electricity in the system. 
 It is also said that natural sleep is pro- 
 duced in exactly the same way ; that is to 
 
LOVE AND WAR IN 18G0. 
 
 35 
 
 say, the daily toil and the contact with 
 outside objects, -withdraw so much tire 
 from the system, in the course of a day, 
 that the person goes to sleep. 
 
 With animal magnetism, it is claimed, 
 the subject may be so reduced that there 
 is no communication with the sensitive 
 nerves, and that the motor system can 
 also be made as rigid as a frozen corpse. 
 One of the chief arts of magnetism is, 
 therefore, to impress fully some startling 
 facts upon the subject, before beginning 
 the operation. 
 
 As stated, therefore, the present lecture 
 of the Professor having partially (lightened 
 the Judge, and he being resolute to show 
 us that he could not be put to sleep, be- 
 came passive to our design. He was, 
 therefore, placed in the centre of the 
 parlor, his back toward the door. Be- 
 hind him we stood in single file, and be- 
 gan the downward passes — the Professor 
 being next the Judge. The Judge was 
 told to sit still until we had him in the 
 magnetic state, and that we would fire a 
 pistol and see if he could arise at the end 
 of the hour. 
 
 When we had given a few passes, we 
 one by one passed out into the hall, until 
 all of us were gone, leaving the Judge 
 sitting in the parlor alone. He thought 
 that we were still operating upon him, 
 and he was waiting for the signal. 
 
 The gong now sounded for dinner, and 
 if there was anything that the Judge 
 hated, it was to be kept from his dinner ; 
 but still he was determined to sit it out, 
 to show us that he had beaten us at our 
 own game. 
 
 We went to dinner and made a good 
 deal of merriment at the table. The 
 doors were thrown wide open, and we 
 could all sit at dinner and see the Judge 
 in the parlor, where he could hear our 
 noise and laughter. He envied the folks 
 at the table undoubtedly — not knowing 
 that so many of them were ourselves — 
 being himself of a merry disposition, 
 especially about the time the heavy wines 
 come around. So for one whole hour we 
 kept the Judge sitting there, and then, 
 after we had finished our dinner, desired 
 some one to fire off the pistol, and so 
 make the Judge own up that we had 
 played a joke on him. 
 
 Accordingly, the pistol was fired ; the 
 Judge rose up, turned around, saw us, 
 and, of course, realized at once the true 
 state of the case. We cheered him heart- 
 ily, and in he came, saying : 
 
 " If it had not been for that pistol, I 
 might have slept all day." 
 
 " Good ! " said the clerk, " he won't 
 own up ; I have won ! " 
 
 " Why, no ! " said Prescott, " we mag- 
 netized him ; so I have won ! " t 
 
 " Nonsense ! " said the Judge, " nobody 
 has won. I took my regular sleep, and 
 when the pistol was fired off, I awoke. 
 It was, indeed, my trick on you all. I 
 only sat there to take my usual sleep 
 while you were at your sports." 
 
 Although we knew he had not been to 
 sleep, Prescott did not wait for the laugh- 
 ter to subside, but ordered in the spark- 
 ling catawba. In a few moments, how- 
 ever, we were aroused by the solemn re- 
 alities of the great nation, of which we 
 were yet happy members. One, two, 
 three rapid shots of cannon rang in our 
 ears. The decanters started, and the 
 glasses, half raised, fell back. " What 
 was that ? " " What was that ? " 
 
 Prescott arose. " Ladies and gentle- 
 men," said he, " we are still free in 
 our light enjoyment. It is not so in all 
 countries, and it cannot be so long here. 
 I hope that we may ever esteem these 
 happy privileges, and never view the de- 
 parture of our present enjoyment. We 
 have no cause for rebellion, and yet this 
 very city is in the hands of men project- 
 ing one ; not against the city, but against 
 the freedom of man. One man alone, out 
 of so many millions, has the hardihood to 
 oppose them — I mean General Scott. He 
 foresees trouble, and yonder cannon are all 
 the few he can scrape together. I think 
 he is determined to keep the national 
 Capital, though only himself do stand to 
 battle. He has just had an interview 
 with the Cabinet, and these are his mes- 
 sengers." • 
 
 When he had said this, he turned and 
 left, and I myself followed. Several of 
 us who had charge of the Prince's pro- 
 cession, having been sent for to attend to 
 the arrangements. But as the whole affair 
 is related in the next chapter, the reader 
 is referred to that. 
 
86 
 
 THE FALL OF FORT SUMTER ; OR, 
 
 CHAPTER Y 
 
 In order that you may appreciate our 
 description of the Prince of Wales' pro- 
 cession, I must first introduce to you our 
 action in the Cabinet, which was, how- 
 ever, an informal meeting ; Prcscott, my- 
 self, and several others being among the 
 number. As you are all conversant with 
 the general form of cabinet meetings, I 
 will at once begin with the interview 
 with James Buchanan. He was, when we 
 approached, in the grounds in front of the 
 White House, but with us, immediately 
 retired within, when Prescott handed to 
 him some Charleston papers, saying, " Here 
 is something straight from Charleston ; 
 see, it smells something of gunpowder." 
 He then handed the Charleston Mercury 
 to the President, and added, " the South- 
 erners, you see, want some British royalty 
 here to sit on a Southern throne and wield 
 their affairs of state, where cotton is 
 king." 
 
 The President made no reply, took the 
 papers, and then passed them around to 
 several persons, Davis among the number. 
 Davis, however, being cunning, was anx- 
 ious, if possible, at that time, to make the 
 appearance of the projector of the rebel- 
 lion as insignificant as possible. He there- 
 fore replied to Prescott, " When we at- 
 tempt to muzzle the gas of newspapers, 
 we may suffocate ourselves. We have 
 indeed more important business on hand 
 than the discussing of editorials." 
 
 Mason. — " Something impoitant from 
 Charleston ? " 
 
 Prescott. — " Aye ! Beauregard has gone 
 to the coast to survey the forts and plan 
 out the mode of attack." 
 
 Davis. — " The merest balderdash." 
 
 Prescott. — " Assemblages throughout the 
 State, add fury to the fire. Here in this 
 paper is offered, by a planter, ten thousand 
 dollars in gold for Lincoln's head ! and 
 this advertisement is copied in many 
 Southern papers." 
 
 Davis. — " A mere electioneering trick, I 
 do assure you, Mr. President." 
 
 Prescott. — " But this administration 
 should take some note of it. This crime, 
 if it be a crime, is only to be accounted 
 for in the State of the criminal, and his 
 State, with all the Southern States, do 
 uphold the villain's offer." 
 
 Mason. — " That is what the North have 
 brought upon themselves by electing such 
 a man." 
 
 Davis. — " Indeed, gentlemen, shall we 
 not attend to more important business? 
 We protest that when our house is on fire, 
 it is not wise to discuss its original cause". 
 In all candor I w T ould ask, Does any man 
 suppose that there will be war, or even 
 secession ? Agitation may be dangerous, 
 but we have power, by concession, to heal 
 all grievances." 
 
 Buchanan. — " I hope so ! Oh, I j)ray 
 that it may be so ! " 
 
 Several questions were then brought up, 
 not, how T ever, relating to the most import- 
 ant affairs before the country ; and then, 
 after a little informal conversation, some 
 of the party left. Buchanan, however, 
 stood there alone. 
 
 " Oh, the mystery of these things ! " he 
 said, " the mystery and vague forebod- 
 ings ; a word is spoken, and men appear 
 and disappear but to fill me with unspeak- 
 able awe and dire confusion. Noth- 
 ing in this country now has a head or tail. 
 Men's actions are without meaning. They 
 stilt and stiltify one another, making me 
 their spectator for punishment. I am a 
 very stumbling block wdiere both parties 
 come and break their shins, myself getting 
 all the blows. Misshapen Richard com- 
 plained that dogs barked at him, but I 
 have all my countrymen, and yet I am 
 President of the United States. What 
 have I done ? Wherein is my fault ? 
 That I love my country too well ? That 
 I will not take sides ? Why, bless me, 
 have I not explained the Constitution ? 
 Will not my country understand me ? I 
 do protest these things shall not be. I 
 will write another message, and I will 90 
 illustrate the Constitution that no man 
 may gainsay me more." 
 
 This he spoke, in a great measure, to 
 himself, but somewhat toward Prescott 
 and myself. Prescott was anxious to 
 make a reply, but I checked him a little 
 out of respect to the position we were in, 
 and also because at this moment General 
 Scott approached and entered the place. 
 As soon as Scott had passed the salu- 
 tations of the morning, he at once broke 
 forth in plain English, telling him to re- 
 
38 
 
 THE FALL OF FORT SUMTER ; OH, 
 
 inforce the Southern forts; and telling 
 him plainly that it must be done. 
 
 But Buchanan wavered in assent, sug- 
 gesting that "it might at this time be 
 unnecessary." 
 
 •• Jt is necessary."' >aid Scott. M A small 
 lone of men sent there in time, would Bave 
 the country from Bhedding one drop of 
 blood.'' 
 
 "I take it that that would only be a 
 menace to the South," said Buchanan. 
 " Davis says so ; so does Cobb, and so 
 does Rhett." 
 
 Scott. — "Of course it would be a menace. 
 Jackson menaced them once before, and 
 even for that the South, in the end, took 
 sides with him. Wavering minds always 
 choose sides with the Government. There 
 are ten such wavering minds in the South, 
 at the present moment, to one secessionist. 
 If you keep silent, these minds will all fol- 
 low in the beat of their leaders." 
 
 Buchanan. — " Have you any evidence 
 that the South will secede, or that there 
 will be any disturbance '." 
 
 Scott. — " Governor Gist is already arm- 
 ing his State. All assemblages in the 
 South now gleam with swords and spark- 
 ling bayonets. To be even thought to 
 be a Republican, clown South, is now but 
 to meet certain death. Everywhere South 
 has the threat been made that if Lincoln 
 be elected, secession shall result from it ; 
 and, if need be, by force of arms. And 
 yet we sit in silence, even countenancing 
 the fall of our country by our inaction." 
 
 Buchanan. — " I find no precedent in 
 history of reinforcing the forts; neither 
 is there aught about it in the Consti- 
 tution." 
 
 Scott. — " The Constitution ! " And when 
 he said this, he looked so fiercely at the 
 President, that the latter turned pale. 
 " The Constitution ! I've brought down a 
 few guns to this city, and I shall fight for 
 it whether it is in the Constitution or 
 not ! " Scott rose up, and I saw he was 
 tilled with a deep, burning lire ; his mass- 
 ive brows fell, and like a lion to a lamb, 
 he gazed on the trembling President. 
 
 Buchanan. — " Do you think 1 could re- 
 inforce the forts with safety to the 
 South ? " 
 
 S:ott.— u The South ! The South ! Is 
 that your country ? Are not the forts, 
 the harbors, and custom-houses the prop- 
 erty of the nation ? Are you not bound 
 to protect them, whether any section likes 
 it or not ? " 
 
 Buchanan. — " If I had the consent of the 
 Cabinet — ' : 
 
 Scott. — " If you cannot get that, why, 
 get a Cabinet that will consent with you. 
 
 This should he done at once. Touccy is 
 Bending the navy off to foreign countries. 
 Floyd is Bending the army to the western 
 frontiers, and Cobb, through Floyd and 
 Thompson, ha8 sunken the treasury from 
 eighty millions to twelve, and now they 
 have stolen even the remainder. Really, 
 sir, this is no time to be reading the Con- 
 stitution." 
 
 Buchanan. — " Indeed, you arc right. I 
 am resolved to reinforce the forts at all 
 hazards." 
 
 Scott. — "It mu-t he done: only show a 
 little spirit, anil nine-tenths of the people 
 South will stand by us." 
 
 Buchanan. — "I believe so too; and we 
 will show them spirit. It shall be done. 
 Every fort shall he crammed with picked 
 men." 
 
 ,s'. -,,tf — •• But at once." 
 
 Buchanan. — " On the instant." 
 
 Scott. — " I hope so." 
 
 Buchanan. — " Oh, you can rely on it." 
 
 "When this was concluded, Scott seemed 
 much pleased, and took his departure. 
 
 •• Mr. Jenkins," said Buchanan, after 
 having hung his head awhile, and lingered 
 his vest button, "• Mr. Jenkins, I am going 
 to write a message, and I want you to be 
 my amanuensis. It shall be filled with the 
 soundest arguments. Everything in the 
 Constitution shall be laid down so plain a 
 child could understand it. Moreover, I 
 shall tell the South in plain words that 
 the election of a plain man like Lincoln, is 
 not cause enough to justify secession and 
 rebellion." 
 
 Just then, when he got thus far, Floyd 
 came in. and stood listening; Buchanan, 
 not seeing him, went on : 
 
 "Fort Moultrie shall have two hundred 
 men, and Sumter three huudred, and so 
 shall I garrison every place in the South. 
 And in some places I will put shrewd 
 detectives, to keep me well informed on 
 all dangerous doings among these fire- 
 eaters. Indeed, it shall so turn out to my 
 thankless countrymen that I am not only 
 a peaceful man myself, hut the cause of 
 peace among other folks. Come, Jenkins. 
 I will ask my Cabinet nothing; I am 
 going to stuff the Southern forts." 
 
 Right before him now stood the un- 
 flinching Floyd, the man of oaths, the 
 cunning Secretary of War. 
 
 "You will?" 'said Floyd. 
 
 BucJianan. — " Ha ! " 
 
 Floyd. — •' What now, Mr. President I 
 Are you planning the death of the nation, 
 and a gallows lor yourself?" 
 
 Buchanan,—" Why, indeed, sir ? " 
 
 Floyd. — •• Fear not, I mean no harm, 
 neither does any Southern gentleman. I 
 
LOVE AND WAR IN 1860. 
 
 39 
 
 am not only your friend, but the friend of 
 my country. Intimidate the South, and 
 all is lost. Compromise, give the South 
 plenty of time, and all will be well." 
 
 Buchanan. — " In this extremity, what 
 shall I do ? There is a mill-stone about 
 my neck, and I am to brave the ocean, or, 
 in failing, die. Two elephants are pulling 
 me in opposite ways, and I am half ripped 
 in the middle by their powerful tension. 
 I cannot go with one, for the other pulls 
 me away. One threatens eternal execra- 
 tion, and the other death. What have I 
 done that I must die ? Not my life do I 
 begrudge, though I don't want to die, 
 but to go by the Constitution, that's my 
 matter. Now, in truth, I have just prom- 
 ised Scott to reinforce the forts." 
 
 Floyd.—" You have ? " 
 
 Buchanan. — " I have." 
 
 Floyd,—" And will you ? " 
 
 Buchanan. — " Why not ? " 
 
 Floyd. — " I have nothing to say." 
 
 Buchanan — " I am aware that the Con- 
 stitution guarantees Southern rights. I 
 do not wish to menace those rights." 
 
 Floyd. — " And yet you will do what you 
 would not do." 
 
 Buchanan. — " I hope not. No, I am 
 resolved. I will not reinforce the forts. 
 Go tell my would-be murderers I shall 
 maintain the Constitution, though the 
 whole country perishes. I will." 
 
 Floyd.—" That is the talk ! Southerners 
 are the hottest blooded p-eople on earth. 
 Reinforce the forts, and every man, wo- 
 man, and child will be in arms. To in- 
 timidate such men, ay ! but to raise a 
 hand against them, is to destroy one of 
 the greatest nations ! We protest against 
 force ; we are sworn to the stand, to 
 demand a guarantee for our institution, 
 and we will have, it, peaceably, if we 
 can ; forcibly, if we must. Blood, blood 
 be on the head of him who dares trans- 
 gress the rights of these Southern sons of 
 chivalry ! " 
 
 Buchanan, — " You are right ! You can 
 demand your guarantees, by the Constitu- 
 tion. The Supreme Court will uphold 
 you, and so will all peaceable men. Come, 
 Jenkins, I am resolved to write a message. 
 I will show the whole country how the 
 matter stands ; that there is nothing 
 against secession in the Constitution, and 
 that there is no law empowering the Presi- 
 dent to make war against any section of 
 the country. I will also employ Bishop 
 Hopkins to write a sermon on slavery, to 
 prove its right and holy origin. I will 
 arouse the democratic party to rally round 
 the Constitution, and, if chance be that 
 Breckenridge be elected, this muddle will I 
 
 all blow over. Come, I am in humor for 
 it. Get me the decisions of the Supreme 
 Court, and bring in the Constitution." 
 
 When he said this, he hobbled up to a 
 mirror and did adjust his cravat, saying 
 to us, "Excuse me, gentlemen, a moment," 
 whereupon we withdrew, Floyd assuring 
 him that his remarks were just the right 
 sort of stuff for these times. In the hall 
 we met Cobb, Rhett, and Davis, though 
 when we told them Buchanan wanted to 
 adjust his cravat, they did not enter, but, 
 in company with Floyd, walked off. They 
 went clown the winding stairs toward the 
 lower grounds of the palace, and even as 
 they passed on the lower step, I heard a 
 voice of a woman, who said, " Go ; no 
 more : go at once." I turned to look, for 
 it had a sepulchral sound — dramatic and 
 touching ; and I beheld Madame Ponchard 
 and Orsini, with the papers in their hands 
 (newspapers), and I took them to be the 
 same that Prescott gave to Floyd and 
 Davis. The thought flashed over me in a 
 moment that they were reading of the 
 offer of ten thousand dollars reward for 
 Lincoln's head ; and when I mistrusted 
 what country people they were, I trembled 
 in breathless apprehension. 
 
 " That is short the mark," said he. 
 
 " Patience," said she, " patience, sir ; in 
 the name of all that is sacred, I charge 
 you say no more, but go at once." 
 
 " But if the place was known ? " said 
 he. 
 
 " Follow them," said she. " I am off to 
 the Senate. Remember, too, that admoni- 
 tion. Now, no more." 
 
 " I am yours to command," said he, and 
 he bowed and left ; but she came up and 
 entered the mansion, and passed through 
 the hall, but where, or for what purpose, I 
 at this time knew not. These were the 
 most words I had yet heard either her or 
 Orsini speak, though I had known them 
 by sight for several years, and had seen 
 them so constantly in company with the 
 most respectable people of Washington. 
 They had, in fact, become to me like a 
 cloud, coming and passing wherever good 
 or great people were assembled. On this 
 occasion I endeavored to follow her, but 
 she soon mysteriously disappeared. 
 
 A few minutes afterwards, I heard loud 
 rapping at a door— a most unusual sound 
 there — and I sought for the cause. It was 
 Prescott trying to get in Buchanan's room. 
 I told him the old man was fixing his cravat, 
 and that we bad better wait awhile. Just 
 then the door opened, and the man him- 
 self appeared before' us. Prescott intro- 
 duced his business at once, saying that 
 news had just been received from South 
 
40 
 
 THE FALL OF FORT SUMTER ; OR, 
 
 Carolina that three commissioners "were to 
 be appointed to come to Washington to 
 demand the State's withdrawal from the 
 Union, and to settle for the National prop- 
 erty within that State, and that, in the 
 ojjinion of Scott, the men in Fort Moultrie 
 and Fort Sumter should be at once rein- 
 forced, and furnished with supplies, as the 
 men already there could easily be starved 
 into a surrender. 
 
 Buchanan. — " Why, you astonish me ! 
 You frighten me ! " 
 
 Prescott. — " 'Tis enough to frighten all 
 men." 
 
 Buchanan. — " But I tell you, Scott's 
 going wrong end foremost about the 
 matter. He is a soldier, and he wants to 
 fight ; he knows no other way to settle 
 anything. Tell him I have reconsidered 
 the matter ; that reinforcing the forts 
 would precipitate us into war on the spot. 
 Also, go and telegraph all over the coun- 
 try that I will not do a thing against the 
 South. This will cpuiet them ; it will 
 satisfy them I am determined to stand by 
 the Constitution at all hazards." 
 
 Prescott. — " But suppose we wait till they 
 are in position to demand ; they will say, 
 1 Give us the forts, or we will starve the 
 garrison ? ' " 
 
 Buchanan. — " But they must give us 
 time to weigh the matter ; time to write 
 a message." 
 
 Prescott. — " Shall I, alas, put forth this 
 simple thing ? The watchman prays the 
 thief to hold awhile — till he writes a mes- 
 sage to justify the thief! " 
 
 Buchanan. — " Sir ! " 
 
 Prescott.— u Sir ! " 
 
 Buchanan. — " Who are you, sir ? " 
 
 Prescott. — " A man, a citizen of America. 
 I am one of the firm that has employed 
 you as our watchman. Before we em- 
 ployed you, you made solemn oath you 
 would take care of our common property, 
 and we look to you to fulfil your obliga- 
 tion. You have no right, sir, to barter off 
 the nation's things to any section, and yet 
 your inaction is the doing of it. There- 
 fore, to suffer it to be so, is to violate the 
 trust we gave you — to violate your oath ! " 
 
 Buchanan. — " This is abuse. You take 
 advantage of your privilege to enter here. 
 But, sir, I shall not be ruled by any party. 
 I go by the Constitution." 
 
 Prescott. — " If this is abuse, sir, you have 
 it in a milder form than you will in five 
 years hence. I am only one, but you are 
 doing wrong to millions. You are plung- 
 ing the country into war, and, if it once 
 begins, hundreds of thousands will be 
 butchered by your impotent criminality. 
 Say not that you know not how to avert 
 
 this dread calamity ; for General Jackson 
 showed you. Say not that you have no 
 one to help you ; for you can make your 
 own Cabinet. Bay not that you lack in 
 money ; when you put thieves to watch 
 over it." 
 
 Buclmnan. — " Would to God that you 
 were President ! " 
 
 Prescott. — " In faith, if I was not that, I 
 would, at least, be master of myself! " 
 
 Buchanan. — " You would find that there 
 were two powerful parties pulling at you, 
 and that a great Constitution was stuck 
 under your nose wherever you turned." 
 
 Prescott. — " Why, sir, the nation never 
 reads the Constitution. It has the sense 
 to tell what justice is, and it has feeling 
 to tell what dismemberment would lead 
 to. It is the bond of party, and the tech- 
 nicalities of law that have confounded 
 you." 
 
 Buchanan. — " Indeed, you almost con- 
 vince me ; almost am I resolved to join 
 the cause of bloody carnage." 
 
 Prescott. — " You have no chance. You 
 are here to do the country's will, and we 
 look to you to do it." 
 
 Buchanan. — " And I will. In fact, I was 
 right with Scott. Go, tell him I will rein- 
 force the forts at once ; a ship shall be 
 despatched to provision our soldiers there. 
 Oh, our poor soldiers ! " 
 
 When he said this, Prescott seized his 
 hands, and wished him many blessings, on 
 which he took his departure. " Now this 
 is the last time," said the President to 
 himself, " the last time I will change my 
 resolutions. I will be as firm as the ever- 
 lasting hills." 
 
 I saw that his cravat was not on 
 straight, and I turned him round a little, 
 and fixed it for him. Just then Davis 
 came in, but Buchanan kept on talking ; 
 not seeing the former. 
 
 " I will not move one jot from this, 
 though the heavens fall. The bloody 
 hand of Mars shall threat and cower these 
 fire-eating Southern bloods, till they trem- 
 bling pray me mercy. I will so engulf 
 them round with soldiers and large can- 
 non, that even a breath of wind will tame 
 them. Then shall come my message, and 
 Bishop Hopkins' sermon, like a clap of 
 
 thunder . Ah, Mr. Davis ! " And he 
 
 saw Davis, the latter smiling at him. 
 
 Davvt. — " Why, sir, what humor's this ? " 
 
 Buclmnan. — " Ah, indeed, what humor 
 is it ? " 
 
 Davis. — " To reinforce the forts ? " 
 
 Buchanan. — " I must ; the curses of the 
 country are on my head." 
 
 Davis. — " Why, now, indeed, you much 
 mistake the country. To reinforce the 
 
LOVE AND WAR IN 1860. 
 
 41 
 
 forts, is to arouse every manly feeling in 
 the South. It is to threaten with a straw 
 that they may laugh to scorn such mockery | 
 in us. They are the embryo of a great 
 nation, called into being by these woful 
 threats from an unrnannered and impotent 
 people. They may be led or pacified ; but 
 driven, never ! No, never ! Reinforce the 
 forts, and you, sir, ruin this great re- 
 public." 
 
 Buchanan. — " Woe, woe is me ! The 
 curse is on my head ! Take me to my 
 chamber. Send for Bishop Hopkins, ay, 
 and Wigfall. Excuse me, gentlemen, I 
 can bear no more." 
 
 Thus saying, be went out, having ap- 
 pointed a time for me to call and write 
 his message. 
 
 " Poor old man ! " said Davis, " he takes 
 these things entirely too serious for any 
 good. I'd lay a wager of fifty niggers at 
 a slap there will be no secession, no war, 
 nor no trouble of any kind." 
 
 I remembered, that he had told Judge 
 Francis that there would be secession, war 
 or not ; and that it was his determination 
 to keep the thing a little quiet, till they 
 had the cards shuffled. But I betrayed 
 nothing, merely adding that I knew of no 
 grievance nor any damage, either of prin- 
 ciple or property, that any State had 
 suffered, and that I could not believe meu 
 were so far forgetful of their country as to 
 seek its destruction. 
 
 " Of course not," said he, " it is the 
 merest balderdash, smoke, folly. But 
 what hint did he drop about the mes- 
 sage ? " 
 
 u Oh, many, many " said I, and I told 
 him how the President had been pulled 
 about by the two parties. 
 
 " Good ! good ! " said he. " I hope 
 thry'll keep him at it ; 'tis all we want." 
 
 Before he spoke more, Madame Pon- 
 chard passed through the hall, and he 
 addressed her, and they walked off to- 
 gether. Now I was alone. I had attended 
 a Cabinet meeting, and it was no meeting 
 at all. More than ever was I forced to 
 reconsider what the Duke of New Castle 
 told the Prince of Wales — we had no gov- 
 ernment at all. Every Cabinet member 
 came and left, as did any body else, and 
 Bnchanan was only tormented thereby. I 
 threw myself into an easy chair to con- 
 template the apparent coming horrors of 
 my country, and the real weakness of our 
 government. How much we need a man 
 of firmness for such an office as President, 
 and how little do the people weigh his 
 qualifications while he is a candidate. If 
 he be indeed the chieftain put forth by 
 some ignominious convention — the people 
 
 vote him in. But how could it be other- 
 wise ? Great men, that are well known, 
 can never be President here. They would 
 not put the convention into foreign mis- 
 sions, and fat jobs — and so, the convention 
 will not nominate them. It seemed evi- 
 dent to me also, that if there be secession 
 and war, it was not about slavery, more 
 than it was about the spoils of office. I 
 was familiar with the corruption of the 
 privileged class in England, where a single 
 landlord can interdict the privileges of a 
 railroad company, and menace a whole 
 county into his whims ; and this disgusted 
 me more than the other. But as for France 
 and Germany, I had only the spectacle of 
 Government living wholly on the extent 
 of its robbery of the people's rights. _ With 
 all these horrors before me, I still ac- 
 knowledged in my heart one great advan- 
 tage in our own government ; that was, 
 that a fool or a villain could only serve 
 four years. But while I thus pondered 
 over the affairs of State, I had taken from 
 the table before me a copy of the Consti- 
 tution, and the decisions of the Supreme 
 Court, a fact, no doubt, that accounted for 
 the nature of Buchanan's mind. On the 
 margin of a leaf was the following curious 
 poetry : 
 
 " Oh, so long and dreary pass the hours, 
 
 When my Peggy's gone ! 
 Oh, so cold and cruel seem these flowers, 
 
 When my Peggy's gone ! 
 I have a love so gay and fair, 
 
 A love, an angel ful 1 of the glee 
 That charms the heart of an old man ; 
 
 A love, that maketh so merrily, 
 
 What otherwise would not be." 
 
 The next verse explained it all : 
 
 " Long have I waited, O my fair one, 
 Long have I stormed the battle, 
 Almost faltering, almost fainting, 
 But you have come with your pretty prattle, 
 
 To tease and to tussle, 
 And now am I happy in glory, 
 Happy in glury, happy Victoria ! " 
 
 No doubt could be raised as to the 
 author of the letter, and I knew also that 
 it had been just written ; for the Judge 
 had occupied that seat when I entered the 
 mansion. Hastily I tore off the scrap and 
 pocketed it, intending it for futher exami- 
 nation before our private court, which was 
 to meet that very night. I then left, pass- 
 ing down the avenue. In a little wmile, I 
 fell in with young Wadsworth, my ex- 
 pected rival, who greeted me with much 
 cordiality and friendship, bidding me 
 come and see an object of commiseration 
 near by. He took my arm, and we passed 
 down toward the Treasury, where we 
 approached a man, indeed an object of 
 pity. He was sitting on the grass, leaning 
 
42 
 
 THE FALL OF FORT SUMTER ; OR, 
 
 over on one elbow, dusty, threadbare, and 
 apparently -wearied ; bis bat far down on 
 his eyebrows. 
 
 We asked him if we could do anything 
 for him, and what his misfortune was I 
 He slowly looked upward, and I recog- 
 nized him at once as Professor Jackson. 
 " Alas, alas ! " he said, "I do need pity. 
 I am an object of commiseration. This, 
 indeed, proves woman's greatness. She 
 picked me up and married me in a day ; 
 but I am no more in control of her affairs 
 than a thumb paper. She sets me down 
 on a corner, or lugs me all day through 
 different streets, and, moreover, since I 
 find her out, she is quite old and ugly. 
 Alas, alas ! I have dreamed for many years 
 of many maids, and now have I been 
 snapped up by one whose face reminds me 
 more of an abandoned tan-yard, than a 
 woman. And yet, why do I grieve ? Is 
 this not the cause and effect — that our two 
 genial natures ran together like water ! 
 Our money went the same way — all into 
 one purse — and that purse is hers. She 
 has my hard-earned hundred and sixteen 
 dollars. Alas, the day ! " 
 
 Even while he spake, his wife came 
 upon him, hearing his last words, " Ala9, 
 the day ! " and then she spake : 
 
 " Professor Jackson ! you are indeed a 
 perfect Sancho Pauza. That famous squire 
 was ever discouraged ; ever fearful that 
 the glorious promises of his master would 
 never be realized. So is it with you ; not 
 that I am your master, for I only hope to 
 stand on equal grounds with all men ; but 
 you, you cannot estimate what we have 
 already achieved. If we were overcome 
 at the market-place, did we not vanquish 
 the same opponent in crowding him out 
 of the stage ? Then, too, shall we not to- 
 morrow, at the procession, make the most 
 decided victory for woman's rights that 
 has been since the days of Lycurgus ? 
 Only a little while more, too, and the 
 • Journal of Progress ' will be out, which 
 will of itself strike terror to the heart of all 
 oppressors. The down-troddeu slaves of 
 the country shall have their liberty ; and the 
 bondage of woman will be torn asunder." 
 
 When she began to talk, Jackson rose 
 up, but still held down his head. 
 
 " I will tell you," says he, " as for van- 
 quishing the Judge by crowding him out 
 of the stage, my opinion is, we have been 
 vanquished ourselves by that rascally 
 driver. My eyes are so filled with dust, I 
 scarce can see, and I am almost overcome 
 with the heat. And for the ' Journal of 
 Progress ,' I know I am in a hundred and 
 sixteen dollars, else I would go take a 
 bath, and get a good dinner." 
 
 " Professor Jackson ] Is that so? Now am 
 I much mistaken, indeed ! You told me 
 you had been lecturing on woman's rights 
 for seven years; and now, when we are 
 near the pinnacle of fame, you needs must 
 grumble for a dinner ! I never eat but 
 one meal a day, and that consists only of 
 bread and water, at four o'clock in the 
 morning. And this is itself a great 
 triumph ; it shows the ascension of mind 
 over matter; it is the genius to which all 
 men must knuckle. Only be patient, and 
 you will have cause yet to be proud of 
 your wife. Methinks, when I see these 
 doll-faced women, that men chuck under 
 the chin, and call pretty and sweet ; what 
 a work is yet before us ! When man can 
 behold the eagle-like vigilance of the 
 woman of intellect, and love her for that, 
 instead of for the face she wears, or for 
 the idle love-talk she twaddles over, then 
 can we glory in our cause. Man shall be 
 taught to bow and smile to knowledge, 
 without regard to the form and features, 
 and woman, too, shall learn that a pretty 
 face and gentle voice are but silly items in 
 that greater day. But, air, we have work 
 to do ; there are sufferers, whose wrongs 
 are crying out to us, and we must not 
 tarry here. There is a law in this land 
 that taxes women, ay, widow women, 
 wonien of wealth, and yet deprives them 
 of voting. Shall we idly stand while 
 these women suffer ? " 
 
 He as-ured her over and over that she 
 was right, and that hereafter he would 
 complain no more till their great mission 
 was accomjjlished. 
 
 As soon as they went away, we resolved 
 ourselves into a committee to decide how 
 nearly they resembled Don Quixote and 
 Sancho Panza, and we found them to be 
 nearly identical ; so much so that it would 
 be impossible to write down their adven- 
 tures, without the writer being censured 
 for playing a caricature on those illustri- 
 ous personages. My friend Wadsworth 
 told me also that this was an excellent 
 illustration of the nature of the human 
 mind. " When it pursues one thread of 
 philosoj^hy," said he, " it invariably results 
 in monomania. This poor woman has 
 harped so much on woman's rights, that 
 she feels and sees nothing else, giving all 
 her energies to carry out a mere phantasy ; 
 neither does she suppose for a moment 
 that she is deluded. She imagines she 
 can turn the tides of man's imagination, 
 and make him love and idolize females of 
 her appearance. She has not the face nor 
 voice to gain admiration and love, and, 
 frantic with slight, she blows her horn, 
 to call man's attention to the attributes she 
 
LOVE AND WAR IN 1860. 
 
 43 
 
 does possess. I do really pity such a 
 woman." 
 
 " But Low is it," said I, " that sucli a 
 man as Jackson, who is not devoid of 
 knowledge, falls in with her and seems to 
 appreciate her ? " 
 
 " For two reasons," said Wadsworth : 
 " Firstly, nature never afflicts with a 
 malady, but she has also provided a 
 remedy. You shall see ; he will soon 
 become displeased with her, and his dis- 
 pleasure will either drive her into such 
 madness as will be her death, or she will 
 behold the folly of her conduct, and so 
 abandon it. Secondly, there is no one 
 else for either of them to love ; what he 
 lacks in manliness, she has ; and what she 
 lacks in modesty and backwardness, he 
 has, for he needs a leader ; and so, too, 
 are such people the end of the propaga- 
 tion of the species. They are the line 
 where nature has set her everlasting seal. 
 They feel this, and hence their wail and 
 cry of anguish. They feel that they are a 
 separate race, and hence their jealousy of 
 rights and privileges." 
 
 I told him I coincided with his views, 
 but ere I had time to say more, he inter- 
 rupted : 
 
 " But, as I was going to add, this mono- 
 mania is but a small part of that with 
 which the whole human family is afflicted. 
 What more is an Abolitionist ? What else 
 is a politician ? They are all Don Quixotes. 
 They harp on a certain topic, till they 
 want to bring all the world over to their 
 side. They take up their cudgels at the 
 sight of every windmill. Why should the 
 North meddle with the South ? Or the 
 South disturb herself about Lincoln ? 
 Lincoln could not harm the South if he 
 were elected, even if he tried. And yet 
 hereon are topics sufficient to drive a 
 nation to war ; to destroy a million men. 
 This is all a monomania ; a madness. It 
 is the folly of man ; he will not control 
 the reason he has. And this is a weakness 
 with which all men are afflicted ; it ex- 
 tends from the highest to the lowest of the 
 human race. Man cannot control himself. 
 Of all animals, he is the weakest in this. 
 God has given him reason, and it is an 
 engine that runs away with him. Only 
 one man in all the world is sane, and he it 
 is who can govern himself; but who will 
 find him ? " 
 
 Now, when I beheld that my friend was 
 inclined to reason, I felt that the strength 
 of soul within me, which mostly lies slum- 
 bering in all men, received a new impulse 
 of vigor ; for it is good, amidst all humor, 
 that the chords of sympathy are sometimes 
 touched by seriousness. I replied : 
 
 " How can such a man be ? Man loves 
 that thing most which is most in his 
 mind. He who has not travelled, values 
 his house greater than a king's palace ; 
 and his neighbors, he estimates, are above 
 all others. His house and his neighbors 
 are his scales, wherein he weighs all 
 things. So is it of sections and of nations. 
 The North and the South have learned 
 that their scales do not agree ; but who 
 shall say which is right ? Let them ex- 
 change their abodes, and the light of 
 humanity will be upon them. Glory be 
 to him who has travelled, for his fetters 
 are off, and he sees with a new vision. 
 Wherefore is the prejudice of religion ? 
 and who shall say which is right,, save 
 Him who knoweth them all ? Neither can 
 any man say he is a philosopher, or a 
 poet ; for time, and the judgment of others 
 prove all things." 
 
 Then he asked me how it was possible 
 for man to be happy, and I answered : 
 
 " Only by doing all that he has power 
 to do. He must work hard all the days 
 of his life and do all the good he can ; 
 but most of all his essentials, it is required 
 of him that he be not himself, and that he 
 be himself also ; for when he sees his fel- 
 lows, he must forget himself in the sym- 
 pathy he owes them ; but when he sees 
 the rain fall, he must remember himself in 
 the law he cannot govern, rejoicing in the 
 things he knows, and in the things he 
 knows not of. When his house is on fire, 
 he shall not grieve, remembering that not 
 a hair of his own head was burned. When 
 his wife is sick, he shall remember that he 
 has willing hands and a good understand- 
 ing ; and he shall thank God that he has 
 used them rightly, whereby he is enabled 
 to alleviate her suffering. When he reads 
 a tiresome book, he shall go to sleep ; but 
 when his boots pinch his feet, he shall sell 
 them, for they are not worth a curse ; 
 neither shall he curse anything under the 
 sun, for all things are of some good. 
 When he writes a book, he shall not write 
 to please others, but to inform them, and 
 to please himself; for his vanity, as well 
 as his stomach, loves a glorious feast — or 
 no temptation. All these things he shall 
 do, and as many more as there are stars in 
 heaven, else he cannot be happy." 
 
 So, when I ceased speaking, he said I 
 was more comfort to him than was any 
 other man he ever met. He said he could 
 almost be happy, were he always with 
 such a man. 
 
 " I have a great plantation," said he, 
 " in fact, I scarcely know how much I am 
 worth ; so vast are my possessions. But 
 you have drawn a black mark across it 
 
44 
 
 THE FALL OF FORT SUMTER ; OR, 
 
 all. You have, in a few sentences, shown 
 me the vanity of all earthly treasures, and 
 you have held up to my vision that price- 
 less boon in the human soul, which can 
 carry man over all the ills of life tri- 
 umphant. Long have I been oppressed. 
 I have neither mother nor father, sister nor 
 brother. I have had not one to love. My 
 heart is famished and broken. My grief 
 has become the bulk of my observance ; I 
 need to have it chased away. Herein is 
 the superiority of wisdom over riches ; for 
 the latter cannot comfort me. Now T 
 pray you that you speak more, and that 
 you teach me to forget my sorrows." Said 
 I, " No, this thing could not be ; to stand 
 and talk would not do." Then I told him 
 if he had no objection, I would compare 
 him to a lunatic ; and I told him it has 
 been proved, by facts, that lunatics, put 
 together, cure each other. The philosophy 
 is, that the constant diversion of the 
 mind, is its greatest strengthening power ; 
 that in life, as in a book, constant chang- 
 ing scenery is the style to which all men 
 pay homage. "With that I took his arm, 
 and we started down the avenue, but 
 scarcely started, ere we beheld approach- 
 ing Victoria Edge and Ann Underbill. 
 They were clothed in the richest attire 
 man could invent ; and their jewels were 
 without number, blazing in the evening 
 sun, so that we could scarcely behold their 
 smiling faces. Two such gems of beauty 
 never flattered man before : two such 
 queens as auburn Ann, and rosy-cheeked 
 Vickey. The latter swung in one hand a 
 huge bouquet of flowers, and with the 
 other managed her clouds of drapery, that 
 her satin gaiters were seen to pat most 
 saucily on the stones beneath her as she 
 moved along. But Ann no fixture had ; a 
 changing scene of mirth and good-humor, 
 playfully hiding that deeply seated soul 
 of sympathy, whereon but to gaze, is 
 paradise to man. Only one thing seemed 
 wrong — for Vickey to have so huge a 
 bouquet, with nearly all the flowers scarlet. 
 There could be no doubt in my mind who 
 gave her the flowers ; I had seen the 
 Judge with the same. 
 
 Now when two persons meet, they must 
 turn aside a little, otherwise they cannot 
 pass. So also, when two people meet two 
 others, there are two pairs face to face. 
 In this condition my friend "Wadsworth 
 came up to Vickey, and I to Ann ; and 
 every one of us seemed reluctant to turn 
 aside. Vickey said, " Behold the twin 
 Apollos ! " and Ann quickly added, " ver- 
 sus grace and beauty." 
 
 "Why not?" said Wadsworth, " why 
 not take upon ourselves that w T hich the 
 
 ancients did ; each one claiming to be 
 some figurative character, so that, in after 
 ages, visitors to Washington may say, 
 ' here indeed, they were ? ' Let this avenue 
 be the loitering place; let the Jackson 
 House be the mansion, at the windows of 
 wdiich we sigh for the fair ones within. 
 Then we have your uncle, who shall be a 
 grave and jealous protector, and you shall 
 at times steal from under his care, and we 
 shall attempt to fly with you, but become 
 thwarted in OUT endeavors." 
 
 " Now I do think that would be de- 
 lightful ! " said Ann, " only you might 
 never be thwarted. We might be forever 
 carried off', and our acknowledged pro- 
 tector might become despondent, and die 
 of a broken heart. We, too, might hear 
 of his misfortune, and we might grieve so 
 much as to make you miserable ever after : 
 to think that our protector had taken us 
 in infancy, shielded us from all harm, and 
 that he had taught us to love him in spite 
 of all his oddities. It is a subject too 
 sacred to jest upon." 
 
 Although she smiled, yet I had never 
 heard her speak so seriously before, and I 
 was thrown off my guard ; for I thought 
 she intended it as a hint to both of us. 
 On relating this afterwards in our court, 
 to the Judge, he said of her : " An excel- 
 lent girl, as I am a judge, she has no 
 superior on the face of the globe." 
 
 I never gave him any definite answer as 
 to the replies that we made, or the con- 
 versation that followed. Now, although 
 we paired off with the ladies, I endeavored 
 to persuade Miss Underbill to walk faster, 
 so that Wadsworth and Vickey could the 
 better converse with each other ; yet 
 I discovered that my persuasion was 
 entirely ineffectual. Perhaps Miss Un- 
 derbill liked to hear the sound of his 
 voice. 
 
 We were, though, presently diverted by 
 the most mortifying news ever given to 
 the country. Newsboys were running up 
 and down the streets, shouting out that 
 Floyd and Thompson had robbed the 
 National Treasury ; and I am sure that 
 there was no man, North or South, of all 
 the thirty millions, but felt ashamed. 
 Even the agitators of secession were hor- 
 rified, beyond expression, to learn that 
 two of their important leaders must ever 
 stand the brand of thieves. Cobb, Floyd, 
 and Thompson were the perpetrators ; yet 
 they walked the streets as usual, and not 
 an officer interrupted them. 
 
 Nor was this the end of the shame. 
 Wherever we looked, wherever we walked, 
 these boasters of ruin, these worthless 
 politicians thronged the Capital, to spit 
 
LOVE AND WAR IN 1860. 
 
 45 
 
 their virus in the face of good-natured, 
 honest people. You could not walk alone, 
 nor could you accompany a lady in the 
 streets but profane oaths saluted your ears 
 
 and these from the men that would presume 
 to destroy a nation, and found another. 
 And thus it was with us ; we longed to 
 leave the street. 
 
 CHAPTER VI 
 
 Before going further, I told Jenkins 
 it was essential that he should inform 
 me distinctly whether he married Ann 
 Underhill or not. He then said that he 
 had been telling me as fast as it was 
 possible for a matter of this kind to be 
 related, and to do it in a systematic way. 
 He then went into some further explana- 
 tions as to the secret of relating a serious 
 incident that had a very important con- 
 nection with the future misfortunes that 
 befell Ann Underhill and thereupon told 
 me to proceed as follows : 
 
 When it was nearly night, I promised to 
 call upon the President, whom I did really 
 pity, on account of his having been nearly 
 deserted by everybody. I had also to 
 complete arrangements for the reception 
 of the Prince of Wales. But yet another 
 more important matter, though yet un- 
 known to me, was to be accomplished 
 that night, and which was to throw every- 
 thing I had ever done into the shade. 
 And this it was : 
 
 On my way down to the Jackson House, 
 I was touched cautiously and quickly on 
 the shoulder, and, on looking around, I 
 beheld Prescott ; he was motioning silence, 
 even while he urged me to follow him. 
 When we had withdrawn a little, he asked 
 me to come to the Capitol grounds, where 
 no ear could hear, and he would there un- 
 fold the greatest secret plot ever formed 
 by man. " I cannot trust myself," he said, 
 " lest the very air I breathe inform other 
 men." He was pale, excited, and in earnest. 
 Indeed, jest and folly no more mingled in 
 the bombast of politicians. The thunder 
 seemed as if beginning to move the whole 
 earth. Prescott took my arm, and his 
 very touch was unlike it had ever been 
 before. Others passed us, and they too 
 had felt the approaching storm ; even like 
 wild men, and fierce with fear and firm- 
 ness, all coldly gazed one on another. 
 Even so short a while before one could 
 not walk the streets but he heard the 
 oaths and political harangue of Southern 
 fire-eaters ; but now, no more noise was 
 
 there. This it was gave it meaning ; that 
 put the seal of certainty on it. 
 
 "Believe what I say; question noth- 
 ing;" said Prescott, as soon as we had 
 seated ourselves in a lonely part of the 
 Capitol grounds. " We may be heard, 
 and if so, it is our death. In the basement 
 of the Capitol, where the statues are, I 
 discovered the plot. See ! listen ! I had 
 loitered there, beneath the caskets' base, 
 in view of Commerce, the w T hile in pensive 
 mood, when rumbling voices caught my 
 ear. I looked ; 'twas Rhett, Davis, Cobb, 
 Floyd, Thompson, and others I could not 
 see. So strange to see them there, I 
 dodged my head below the rim, and 
 waited. Soon they were beside me ; and 
 there they formed the solemn league, 
 pledging all, soul and body, to God, for 
 the performance. Some parts I caught, 
 and some I lost; a woman's voice I heard, 
 but I dared not move. They do suspect 
 Lincoln's election, and thus provide : All 
 their doings to be in secret ; no man 
 admitted, but those known beyond a 
 doubt. That the whole role is to be 
 played before the 1st of March ; that 
 every office North and South shall be at 
 once brought under their control. They 
 then resolved to meet to-night, to specify 
 their modes of action, and due appoint- 
 ments mark out. When they had con- 
 cluded, and decided where to meet, I 
 feared for my safety, lest they should dis- 
 cover me. They were then moving on 
 toward me; no more than half a dozen 
 yards distant. I sprang to my feet, and 
 ran toward the lower end to escape at the 
 eastern entrance. They wsere amazed at 
 first, but soon gave chase. The door w T as 
 locked, and I could not escape. For a 
 moment I was panic-stricken ; the flash 
 of knives was in the darkness, and earnest 
 whisperings rushing forth. Close in the 
 corner I backed, and outward fell a prop, 
 where the workmen had placed it for the 
 night. With a goodly spring, I leaped 
 over the side trench, and made my escape. 
 At once I Avent and told Scott, and he 
 
46 
 
 THE FALL OF FORT SUMTER ; OR, 
 
 told others. It is now urged on me 
 to play the spy ; to attend their meet- 
 ings, and there discover more. I am my- 
 self so small a man, and not having much 
 strength, I am afraid to do it." 
 
 '• My dear sir," said I, "I will go with 
 you. We will assume a good disguise. 
 You shall be Governor Wise's son, and I 
 ■will be Houston's adopted boy." I thus 
 told him how it had been with me when 
 I beheld Floyd and Thompson at the 
 Treasury ; also telling him that both Scott 
 and Cass had advised me to keep it secret. 
 
 We were not long in arranging our 
 plans of dress and mode of speaking, both 
 of us having been reporters for a long 
 time, were as familiar with the style of 
 language of other folks, as if we knew 
 none of our own. Accordingly, w r e started 
 for our separate places of residence, to 
 adjust our clothing ; but when we came 
 out of the Capitol grounds, near the gate- 
 way, we beheld that ever hideous-faced 
 Yancey. Like a sentinel, he seemed, as if 
 watching the face of every man that 
 passed. Prescott tightly gripped my arm, 
 but I, to divert the distended ears of him 
 who followed us, chattered and laughed 
 freely about ladies' hoops and length of 
 trail. In a little while we succeeded ; 
 Yancey fell back and retired near the gate 
 once more. It was evident now that the 
 man they had seen in the basement of the 
 Capitol was to be killed, if they could find 
 him. Their very first compact in secret 
 formed was thus discovered, and it will be 
 seen hereafter that every one of them now 
 believed a Judas was amongst their num- 
 ber, and that he had induced Prescott to 
 station himself in the aforesaid place. 
 Suspicion fell heaviest, of course, on 
 Toombs, Cobb, Floyd and Yancey, and so 
 great were the others' convictions, that it 
 was resolved none of these four should 
 ever hold any position of trust in the con- 
 templated rebellion.* 
 
 1 cannot say I was fearless in our pro- 
 jected spy business, for I knew every 
 Southerner would be armed, and that 
 death would surely follow the discovery 
 of us amongst them. And yet, my risk 
 was nothing compared to Prescott's. 
 One thing that made it more dangerous, 
 was the place of meeting ; which was, the 
 garret-floor, or dissecting room in the old 
 medical college. They would not trust 
 themselves to meet at either of their pri- 
 vate residences, lest the women ascertain 
 their business, and so betray them. In 
 the above place, however, they knew no 
 
 * History has since proved that this was true. They 
 were so false thai even false men would not trust 
 them 
 
 woman would enter. They therefore 
 called on the old negro janitor, and told 
 him they were doctors ; that they had a 
 body to dissect, and that it would occupy 
 several evenings. They told him also, that 
 the corpse was of a well-known person, 
 ami that it must be with the greatest 
 secrecy; that he died with a strange and 
 very dangerous disease ; that he himself 
 must not venture near the dissecting room 
 until they were through. They told him 
 they were so much afraid that somebody 
 would get the same disease, that he had 
 better give them the keys of the two upper 
 floors, while he guarded the lower ones 
 himself. So much they frightened him, 
 that he said, although v he had carried 
 many bodies up-stairs, he would not carry 
 this one up. They told him, however, 
 that they had a man hired to do it. Then 
 they told him what a vast number of 
 doctors had assembled to witness the dis- 
 section, but that they had decided only to 
 admit such as had tickets ; a rule he was 
 himself to strictly carry out : showing him 
 a three-cornered blank paper. All of this, 
 however, neither Prescott nor I knew of. 
 Accordingly, although we were disguised 
 very w r ell, when we applied at the college, 
 we were confronted by the negro. He 
 wanted to see our tickets, lie told us the 
 doctors were doing something up there, 
 and nobody else must come in, except 
 they had tickets. Prescott asked him 
 where the ticket office was ? " Don't 
 know ! " said he, " s'pose on the back of 
 this ; one of the doctors dropped his and 
 I picked it up and saved it for him." He 
 then showed the little three-cornered 
 paper ; it had been cut from some scrib- 
 bled piece of paper. Prescott detected at 
 once it was the shape that made it all right, 
 and he told the negro that he could tell 
 by the back w T here the office w T as, and that 
 we would go and get tickets at once. We 
 then withdrew, it being nearly nine o'clock, 
 fearing we should not get in that night ; 
 but we dreaded more than anything else, 
 that during the present evening some rules 
 and signs would be adopted which would 
 forever after exclude us. Now was our 
 time, before it had taken full form, to get 
 in. In a few moments we prepared our 
 tickets and went in. But what was our 
 astonishment, when applying at the third 
 story door, to be confronted by another 
 sentinel, who demanded, " Who sent you 
 here ? " We knew not what answer to 
 give ; for we saw that our answer would 
 betray us. Yet we knew from the manner 
 he spoke the sentence, it was a hailing 
 sign of a secret order, and that he was 
 new in his office. Prescott thought a 
 
LOVE AND WAR IN 18C0. 
 
 47 
 
 moment, hesitating, but replied, " I have 
 forgotten the right answer, but I know I 
 was sent by Ex-Governor Wise, whose son 
 I am." " Oh, all right ! Is this man all 
 right ? " Prescott told him that I was 
 Jim Houston, adopted son of the Gov- 
 ernor of that same name. " Go on up," 
 said he, " but remember the answer next 
 time ; you should have said, " I came to 
 dissect 'the body.' " " Oh, yes ! " said Pres- 
 cott. Thus we passed to the fourth floor, 
 where were two sentinels within hearing 
 of each other. It is needless to say, our 
 hair was on end. We were desperate. 
 The first sentinel said, " What is to be 
 done in the college to-night ? " His pro- 
 nunciation showed us it was also a sign. 
 Should we speak, or should we wave a 
 hand I We knew not. We trembled 
 from head to foot. One thing alone 
 could save us, and that was to presume 
 on the sentinel being new in office. 
 
 Prescott said — for he remembered he 
 was to imitate a Southerner — " Damn me 
 if I remember ; we had the three-cornered 
 tickets ; and then the next was, ' Who 
 sent you here ? ' 'I came to dissect the 
 body.' And then comes, ' What's to be 
 done in the college to-night ? ' D — d 
 if I remember ; but I know I am ex-Gov- 
 ernor Wise's son, and that this fellow is 
 Jim Houston, and that we don't care a 
 cursed damn about these signs and an- 
 swers, but we came here to play the devil 
 with the infernal d — d Black Repub- 
 licans." 
 
 " You can go up," said the sentinel, 
 laughing, shaking us both by the hands, 
 at the same time telling the sentinel 
 above to let us up — that he could vouch 
 for us. " But remember the answer," said 
 he, " the next time you come ; you should 
 have said, ' That body must be buried so 
 that no trace of it will remain in the mem- 
 ory of man.' The next question is, ' Will 
 you be coming down soon ? ' Your an- 
 swer is, ' Not till I have so provided 
 against its disease, that no other will ever 
 die of the same, I hope.' " * 
 
 " I told you," said Prescott to me, "you 
 and I could never learn that d — d lingo." 
 
 " I do know it," said I ; " you have not 
 given me a chance," and I also put on an 
 oath. Again the sentinels laughed, and 
 we thanked them. Half a minute more, 
 and we were in the dimly-lighted hall. 
 Oh, what a blessing this was to us ! — a 
 few little untrimmed candles only. Eigh- 
 teen persons were in the room; we made 
 twenty. Three more came in afterward. 
 The meeting was organized ; Toombs 
 
 * These •were the correct questions and answers of 
 the then secret order which organized the rehellion. I 
 
 in the chair; Davis was speaking; 
 the others were seated on the dissect- 
 ing tables. Davis dwelt at some 
 length on the impossibility of ever har- 
 monizing the antagonistic principles of 
 the North and South, until one should 
 overcome the other. He said a pro- 
 tective tariff would build u\) the free 
 States ; every city and village in the 
 North would ultimately become a place 
 of manufacture, and consequently of capi- 
 tal. But, on the other hand, free trade 
 alone could develop the wealth of the 
 slave States. Next he referred to the 
 stigma of slavery. He said that we (the 
 slave-owners) were to blame for that. 
 Power and might make right amongst 
 nations. When Great Britain was the 
 most powerful nation, she took from the 
 weaker powers what she wanted, then 
 made a law for it. We can now do what 
 she used to do. We only need put our 
 hands forth, and the thing is done. All 
 the important offices of the United States 
 are ours. The navy is ours, and so is the 
 army. The money is ours, and the best 
 men of the country are ours. Now let 
 us see," he continued, " for we take it for 
 granted Lincoln will be elected ; we have 
 four months to accomplish this in. We 
 demand, that, as he is illegally elected, 
 in consequence of being sectional, the 
 constitutional obligations of the States 
 are violated. Therefore some other man 
 must fill the chair ; and the present in- 
 cumbent of that and other offices can 
 decide that, above the vote of the elec- 
 toral college. I will suppose, for in- 
 stance," said he, " that within a month 
 we decide upon officers to fill the coming 
 vacant seats. On the 15th of February 
 they are all installed ; everything warrant- 
 ing power throughout the whole country 
 is given into their charge. What folly,. 
 I would ask, would it be for Lincoln to 
 come here half a month afterward to> 
 claim the office of President ! You may 
 suppose, however, we shall meet with 
 opposition, feeble though it be ; yet that 
 very opposition shall be turned to our 
 advantage ; for it furnishes us with a 
 treaty power with each State in which 
 a revision of the Constitution will follow, 
 guaranteeing our rights to slavery through- 
 out the whole country, and forever after 
 apportioning the number of representa- 
 tives in Congress exactly equal between 
 the slave and free States. We can even 
 demand a revision of the suffrage law, 
 limiting the voters in each State to per- 
 sons of some considerable income. This 
 will give us a respectable governing class, 
 without the evils of monarchy ;, and it 
 
48 
 
 THE FALL OF FORT SUMTER ; OR, 
 
 will silence forever the harangue of un- 
 principled politicians." 
 
 When he ceased talking, there -were 
 several others tried to get the floor, each 
 one only asking the privilege to suggest 
 one word. Floyd succeeded, however, in 
 making the next speech. He recommmd- 
 ed that we pursue a strict line of justice 
 according to the Constitution ; that we 
 ever hold in reverence the high moral 
 character of our Revolutionary fathers. 
 
 Slidell spoke next. He understood the 
 thing very differently ; he thought the 
 Southern people of a better stock than 
 the Northerners, and he proposed, ac- 
 cordingly, that the Southern or slave 
 States withdraw from the Union. 
 
 Hardly had he said this, when up jump- 
 ed a dozen others, denouncing such a sug- 
 gestion as altogether at variance with their 
 designs. This confusion brought ujj the 
 chair — Toombs — who decided against any 
 new projects. He said : " We have formed 
 ourselves into a nucleus for a new govern- 
 ment on a new principle for the United 
 States of America. Every member ad- 
 mitted here is sworn to that. We will 
 not tolerate any dissent. Whoever speaks 
 on this floor, must understand that any 
 variance from our purpose is at his peril. 
 Speakers must confine themselves to the 
 fact, that we, ourselves, are the beginning, 
 the preliminary government spoken of, 
 and that the object of our meeting is to 
 determine the manner of effectually estab- 
 lishing the new government." 
 
 " That's the talk ! " " That's the talk ! " 
 shouted a number of others as soon as 
 Toombs took his seat ; and immediately 
 after Cobb presented the following well- 
 known resolutions : 
 
 " That companies of minute-men be 
 formed and drilled, to the extent of one 
 hundred thousand men, apportioned in 
 different Southern States according to 
 population. 
 
 " That, to carry out this organization, 
 a secret embassy be sent to every State. 
 
 " That such embassy be empowered to 
 form branches to this government. 
 
 " That it shall be in the power of this 
 government to call from said minute-men 
 twenty thousand, equipped for war, to the 
 city of Washington, to be used for any pur- 
 pose the president and secretary may direct. 
 
 " That, as fast as branches to this gov- 
 ernment are formed, they shall send and 
 maintain one member in the general body." 
 
 These were adopted by acclamation ; 
 but it was afterward decided that the 
 written signature of every one present 
 should be attached ; and that copies of 
 the resolutions should be furnished to the 
 
 travelling embassy. As soon as this de- 
 cision was made, Prescott and I began to 
 tremble for our safety ; for we were not 
 certain but some of the men present knew 
 Wise's son and Jim Houston. Besides 
 that, we would be forgers of these men's 
 names. In a few minutes the paper was 
 ready, ami three or four of the obscure 
 candle-; were brought near the desk, or 
 rather dissecting table, and quite a light 
 thrown on each signer's face. Toombs 
 signed it first, saying at the same time, 
 that this was the greatest thing ever done 
 by man ; that he would have even sold 
 his life for the privilege of putting the 
 first signature. 
 
 Then came Davis, remarking that he 
 was still watching over the dying body 
 of a great man, but that he christened 
 this infant government with his signature 
 with the greatest happiness ever known 
 to any one on earth. He felt that he was 
 indeed making a covenant with the Al- 
 mighty God. After him came Cobb, 
 Floyd, aud others, every one of whom 
 made some remarks. Not one was signing 
 in silence. Should we make a speech ? — 
 walk up before all these men and say noth- 
 ing ? Why, they would suspect us at once. 
 Then, too, Prescott stuttered a little when 
 excited, and many men knew him by that. 
 These fears came upon us with much force ; 
 and as we leaned together, rapidly coun- 
 selling on it, Prescott said he had a notion 
 to make believe he had a fit, and so get 
 carried out by me. I told him his whis- 
 kers and wig might come oft*; that we 
 had better come out and blow on the 
 whole concern. He said they could kill 
 us and sell us to the doctors, and no one 
 would ever know it ; that was the reason 
 they had chosen this place. lie told me 
 to look at the door ; and there, behold, 
 with sword drawn, stood that mysterious 
 Orsini ! We next observed that nearly 
 every one had on side arms. 
 
 Now it takes some rime for twenty-three 
 men to sign a paper, especially if each one 
 makes a few remarks beforehand ; and yet 
 the time on this occasion flew faster than 
 ever before. Already were different ones 
 looking at us, seeming not to know us. 
 We were almost desperate. We went for- 
 ward. Oh, if Prescott should stutter ! 
 All eyes were on us. Prescott took the 
 pen, saying, " Though the father set the 
 seal, the son with maddened heart puts 
 down the signature." He signed ; and 
 when they beheld his name, they shouted 
 loudly, " Good on John Brown ! " Toombs 
 remarked, " I am indeed so happy to see 
 you ! How you have changed ! I'd never 
 have known vou." 
 
LOVE AND WAR IN 1860. 
 
 49 
 
 Now I came, and I said, " May my god- 
 father rejoice ; for his son is at the zenith ! " 
 In a moment more I was hailed on all 
 sides : " How are you, Jim ? " " Why, 
 what's the matter ? " " What's come of 
 your big belly ? " Of course, I said but 
 little, laughed heartily, and cautioned 
 them to heed the grand object of the 
 meeting. Now, while I talked thus, 
 Floyd looked at me, and I thought he 
 knew me. I put one hand in my pocket, 
 as indifferently as possible, and seized a 
 huge knife which I had provided, in case 
 of emergency, and I fully resolved, if he 
 said aught, to strike it to his heart, and 
 shout out " Traitor ! " and in the melee 
 make good my escape. But he did not ; 
 he gradually ceased, and became absorbed 
 in the affairs of the meeting, and more 
 especially in giving in a report of his 
 affairs with the defunct republic. " I 
 have to report," said he, " the transfer 
 of one hundred and fifteen thousand guns 
 to Southern forts in order. Of the sale 
 of forty thousand muskets, at two dollars 
 each, to two depositories South. These mus- 
 kets were of approved patterns, and cost 
 the late United States Government twelve 
 dollars each. There are still at my dis- 
 posal twelve hundred cannon, besides a 
 number of other heavy ordnance, and I ask 
 you all what I shall do with them ? " 
 
 In less than five minutes it was resolved 
 to place them at the service of the min- 
 ute-men. This was the chief of all that 
 was said or done during our stay, but 
 occupied us until after one o'clock in the 
 morning. Prescott and I knew that when 
 the meeting broke up there would many 
 come to us to engage us in a good greet- 
 ing, and accordingly we resolved thac at 
 the first opportunity we would make our 
 exit. Just before closing, Toombs called 
 attention to the necessity of guarding 
 against traitors. He said that every man 
 should be vigilant, and, if he had any 
 suspicion, he should out with it at once. 
 That there had been an occurrence at the 
 Capitol which made it essential to look 
 out sharply. He would also state, with- 
 out any suspicion or imputation to any 
 one present, that there might be a Judas 
 amongst us, and that that Judas might 
 provide for our entire capture at the next 
 meeting. He proposed, therefore, that 
 the time and place of the next meeting 
 be not made known more than an hour 
 beforehand, and that it be made known 
 by members calling for each other ; and 
 that, when a person is called for and can- 
 
 not go, he shall not be told where the 
 meeting is ; neither shall the person so 
 calling go to the meeting himself, lest he 
 be followed. This would make it posi- 
 tively select and safe. And so his sug- 
 gestions were endorsed, and he and Davis 
 were appointed to make out the time and 
 place. Toombs then urged every mem- 
 ber to subscribe his address; and this, 
 too, was endorsed. The members now 
 went forward and put them down. Says 
 I to Prescott, " We'll put ours down, 
 Thirty-seven J street — that large board- 
 ing-house." " Agreed," said he, in a 
 whisper. It did not occur to us that the 
 proprietor of that house might be present. 
 I wrote the names myself. " Why, are 
 you at my house ? " said a rough voice 
 beside us. " Certainly," said I. " Why, 
 when did you come ? " said he. I an- 
 swered, " This evening." " Not before I 
 came here," said he ; " and I came here 
 since you ! " Prescott and I felt that our 
 time was near an end. I almost choked as 
 I replied, " That four-story brick — do you 
 keep that house 8 " " Which ?— oh ! ah ! 
 are you there ? That is Twenty-seven. 
 Ha ! ha ! ha ! Why, do you know what 
 kind of house that is ? " " Bah ! " said I, 
 and Prescott and I were drawing toward 
 the exit. All eyes were turned on us, and 
 some whispering began amongst the mem- 
 bers. Cobb shouted out, " Who brought 
 those men here ? How do you know they 
 have signed our compact ? Who knows 
 them ? Are they traitors ? " The word 
 traitor rang all over the house. " Trait- 
 ors ! Traitors ! " Toombs called out 
 " Order ! " but all was instant confusion. 
 Orsini stepped aside to see some sign 
 from either Floyd or Davis. We started 
 quickly outward, and in a twinkle Orsini's 
 sword flashed. I dodged, and the blade 
 shaved my crown, cutting quite through 
 my hat. Prescott was ahead. We cleared 
 the sentinels at a bound, one of whom 
 snatched at my coat-skirt. Pell-mell 
 they came ; the stairs and halls all dark. 
 Quicker than the breath of a frightened 
 dove we were in the street. And our 
 pursuers were locked in the college. The 
 old negro had been asleep in the hall, and 
 when we ran over him he woke and sprang 
 to the door, shutting himself inside, think- 
 ing that robbers were about to break into 
 the college. 
 
 Thus abruptly Jenkins ends this chap- 
 ter ; but he says there is more of the story 
 further on. 
 
50 
 
 THE FALL OF FORT SUMTER ; OR, 
 
 CHAPTER VII 
 
 By way of beginning where the last 
 chapter ended, Jenkins says that he and 
 Prescott wended their way to their homes 
 about as fast as could be reasonably ex- 
 pected of them. He then adds : 
 
 I was as much puzzled what to do with 
 our information as I was frightened about 
 our personal safety. Our Government was 
 so rotten at this time that there was no 
 one with whom we could trust our secret. 
 Scott and Cass were true to the national 
 Government, but their power was little. 
 Seward, Lovejoy, and others were true, 
 but they had no more power and in- 
 fluence over national affairs than they 
 had over the sun. 
 
 Now, when I returned to my room and 
 reasoned on the approaching crisis ; when 
 I beheld how entirely one-sided seemed 
 all the wealth and influence of the coun- 
 try ; when I remembered how surely the 
 Democratic party of the North would 
 take sides with the slave party of the 
 South, I did really feel that the glory and 
 power of the great republic was about fall- 
 ing forever. If so, what madness would 
 it be for Prescott and myself to tell the 
 things we knew ! This, you may be sure, 
 was not a condition to please, nor was it 
 such as would lull me to sleep ; and so I 
 rolled and tumbled until I thought it was 
 nearly dawn, when I began to doze ; and 
 then, alas ! I was aroused by still another 
 dreadful omen. 
 
 Voices, strange in that place, yet voices 
 familiar to my well-trained ear, were heard 
 in the hall, and in earnest accents. I knew 
 that they were the voices of Madame Pon- 
 chard and Orsini. I knew also that no 
 person had any business in that end of 
 the hall at that hour of the night ; and, 
 raising myself cautiously in bed, I lis- 
 tened. I heard her say, " No more ! no 
 more ! Trust me to do what I say, or in 
 my anger forth shall come the story of 
 the poisoned water." 
 
 And then he earnestly whispered, " Why, 
 Madame, by that you became possessed 
 of immense wealth ! You would impugn 
 yourself." 
 
 " I know my part," said she, " and that 
 you were the murderer." 
 
 " But, it was too " said he ; but she 
 
 cut him short by commanding " Silence ! " 
 and the mandate, " Do as I bid ! " 
 
 This conversation, though almost in 
 whispers, was distinct, yet I had not 
 heard sufficient to gather the thread of 
 their discourse. I then heard a slight 
 rustle outside, but did not hear thein 
 depart, though the sounds ceased. I 
 rose, went to the door and looked out, 
 but no one was there ; and as my boots 
 (having been placed in the hall in order 
 to have them polished) were still stand- 
 ing there, I could not conceive that the 
 intruders had been there for any purpose 
 of thieving. Again I returned to my bed, 
 but with breathless anxiety. After some 
 moments of uneasiness, I extended my 
 hands outward, and violently rang the 
 bell. In another minute the hotel ser- 
 vants were running to me. I threw open 
 the door, and we all sought to find the 
 said persons, but they were gone. The 
 clerk said somebody ran out of the hotel 
 by way of the ladies' entrance, but we 
 could ascertain no more. 
 
 It was now almost morning, but I re- 
 tired, weary and oppressed, and soon fell 
 asleep. When I awoke it was after sun- 
 rise, and I felt considerably refreshed. I 
 remembered now that this was the day 
 of the reception of the Prince of Wales, 
 and that I had many things to do ; that 
 I must go with Prescott to see Scott ; 
 that I had to re-read to the President his 
 own message ; that I wanted to see Ann 
 Underbill and Vickey, and also the Judge. 
 My servant told me the bootmaker had 
 sent home my new boots, and he wanted 
 to know which I would wear. I told him 
 the new ones, and I asked him if the old 
 ones were to be found ; and he said, " Yes, 
 I have just polished them." Again I was 
 puzzled about the scene I had heard dur- 
 ing the night, but I banished it, for I was 
 resolved to have a good time to-day, 
 whether I was to be killed or not. 
 
 Accordingly, I sallied forth, having 
 previously armed myself with a six-inch 
 Colt's revolver and an excellent bowie 
 knife. This was the first day of my life 
 I carried deadly weapons. But the con- 
 dition of society rendered life as insecure 
 as it is in Christian Italy or Spain. I 
 
LOVE AND WAR IN 1860. 
 
 51 
 
 knew plenty of criminals, but I dared 
 not report them to officers of Govern- 
 ment, for they were all in partnership. 
 So, I must need defend myself; and, 
 being withal a man of great physical 
 strength, I felt not at all inclined to 
 avoid a contest, just in order that I 
 might see what execution I could do. 
 When I entered the side-room for my 
 breakfast, I ordered the doors opened, 
 for it was quite warm. Right before me, 
 in the ladies' drawing-room, stood Wads- 
 worth and Ann Underbill ; she was again 
 at the piano, and he standing by her side. 
 He was certainly in grief for the deplor- 
 able prospects of the nation, and she was 
 more serious than common. " Can it be," 
 I said to myself, " she is so fond of him ? 
 To all others she is so gay and frolicsome, 
 but before him she is shorn of all the glit- 
 ter of earthly things. Her accomplish- 
 ments are gone ; her winning speeches are 
 finished, but more gentleness she hath. 
 Oh, what a comment is this on the frivo- 
 lous show that maidens sigh for ! So 
 powerless she droops, when once the 
 genial flame comes o'er her. And he, 
 too ; his rhetoric and philosophy, and 
 his foreign travels, are all blotted out. 
 As simple as doves and as harmlessly, do 
 the great and good in tenderness strip 
 themselves to the naked heart ; and when 
 once seen, all the world cannot cancel 
 their happiness. They may be crossed 
 and tossed and tried in all ways, but 
 never, never can the sweetness of their 
 joys grow less, or for a moment fade 
 from memory." As I pondered on this, 
 the while beholding the only idol I had 
 ever prayed for, the only one whose hapju- 
 ness I prized as highly as I did my own ; 
 and, too, beholding a man that had in so 
 short an acquaintance bound me to him 
 more sacredly than had any other I ever 
 met, I felt that it would matter little 
 whether I was killed in some street affray 
 or not. The darkest of forebodings swept 
 over me. Every way was my ill fortune 
 certain. Not that I would stand in the 
 way of two true lovers. Not that I would 
 kill myself. I would conceal my feelings, 
 or go so far away they would never hear 
 of me, all in order that they might not 
 be unhappy. But whether they do truly 
 love — that was my question. I said to 
 myself, when I was young, reading of 
 love affairs, Why do not lovers ask and 
 answer as they would for a pair of 
 gloves ? But I now feel the sacred bar- 
 rier the Almighty hand has before me. 
 It is a theme on which the tongue can- 
 not come. True love makes us all dumb ; 
 it has no explanation. The Great Unseen 
 
 moves us as if we were chess-men. If we 
 are stubborn, we fall ; but if we go as we 
 are moved, we come to glory. Tears 
 started to my eyes, but I banished them. 
 Why shall we weep ? to-day is a festival, 
 to-morrow we die* Shall my death make 
 others grieve ? No, 'tis better I live and 
 die a bachelor, for then I am in possession 
 of my whole self, and there is no loss when 
 I am gone. 
 
 But while I pondered thus, and thus 
 breakasted, there came up through the 
 hall Judge Francis. With his fingers 
 clutched round the necks of half a dozen 
 bottles of sparkling Catawba, and his hat 
 set up so trim and gay, he shouted, 
 " Glorious be the day ! " and he held up 
 the bottles and winked right merrily. 
 " Once in a while," said he, " the man is 
 bowed down, but ever follows a bright 
 morning's sun, and it has such a face, no 
 thought of grievance enters there. Say, 
 you Mr. Jenkins, some men are happy 
 before they become men, and some are 
 happy about that time, but others do 
 not receive their happiness till the show 
 of silver waves on the wise old head, and 
 then, all the stored-up energies of a long 
 life come rushing in a perfect torrent 
 through his every nerve and fibre. These 
 bottles — you see how dingy they are — I 
 have for five-and-twenty years kept stored 
 away, ever having bound myself that only 
 one thing in all the events of life could 
 induce me to bring them forth. And 
 now, behold, with what pleasurable 
 alacrity I wring their necks ! " 
 
 I burst out laughing, asking if he was 
 going to marry ; and he said, 
 
 " What ! a man of my age ? I would 
 not think of such a thing." 
 
 " I thought not," said I ; " your gray 
 hairs incline you more to the grave." 
 
 " Oh ! not that," said he, " for I am yet 
 quite young ; so young, indeed, that if 
 there were to be war I venture they would 
 have me on the roll. Do you know, Mr. 
 Jenkins, what a strange thing is love ? 
 When I was twelve years old, no higher 
 than to a lady's waist, I always fancied 
 girls of seventeen. Well, when I was 
 twenty-five my fancy went for girls of 
 seventeen also ; and now that I am almost 
 a middle-aged man, it still runs on seven- 
 teen. Indeed, I think love has more phi- 
 losophy in it than most men imagine." 
 
 When he said this he had come near 
 me, and, looking up, saw his niece and 
 Wadsworth in the parlor, and I thought 
 he was displeased, for he said, " I am sure 
 I care no more about that than you do. 
 But come," and he pulled me after him. 
 When we arrived in the ante-room we 
 
52 
 
 THE FALL OF FORT SUMTER ; OR, 
 
 met Mr. and Mrs. Edge, to whom lie [ 
 began about bis wines. I was anxious | 
 to get up to the White House, and tooki 
 this opportunity to leave them. I met 
 the clerk in the office, and told him to 
 have an eye and ear on the Judge, so he 
 could relate his affairs to me afterward. 
 He told me he would, but he directed me 
 to pass through the verandah and there 
 behold such another scene as I had never 
 dreamed of. I did so. Vickey was weep- 
 ing, and Prescott, having just left her, 
 was passing down toward the avenue, 
 where the great throng of visitors were 
 wending their way in the most smiling 
 confusion. I stood in this position for a 
 moment, thinking of Vickey weeping, 
 thinking what an eventful day this was 
 to Washington, and thinking of Prescott, 
 now limping on before me. In half a 
 minute more he halted, examined his 
 boot, then returned, still limping. " I 
 have something in my boot," he said, as 
 soon as he drew near, going to the other 
 end of tho verandah. I followed near, 
 and saw him seat himself and withdraw 
 his boot. He winced. The thought of 
 a poisoned boot came to mind at once. 
 We then examined the boot, and near 
 the ankle, where the leather is soft, we 
 found injected a small instrument, the 
 size of a pin's point. Could it be this 
 was charged with poison, and meant to 
 be an instrument of death ? Certain we 
 were that it was a manufactured instru- 
 ment. It was pointed at both ends ; it 
 looked like type metal. I then told Pres- 
 cott about the persons I heard in the hall 
 at night. He said he heard nothing of 
 it, but that his boots were also left stand- 
 ing in the hall. Again we entered the 
 hotel, and I rang for my servant, and 
 ordered him to bring my boots. As soon 
 as they were brought, Prescott and I went 
 into the ante-room, and there examined 
 them. Exactly in a similar part of the 
 boot was an instrument identically the 
 same. As we were examining these little 
 weapons, one of them came off at the 
 end, and a bluish water escaped. " Now, 
 I know a man, 1 ' said Prescott, " can tell 
 us what this is. He is an old man in 
 Mark's drug store, a German, who can 
 tell you the simples and the components 
 of all things. The object of these was, 
 no doubt, to be our death ; but my skin, 
 from having been a barefoot boy, requires 
 a stronger machine. Had that point en- 
 tered the skin, the top would have come 
 off, and this fluid would have entered." 
 
 We immediately repaired to the drug 
 store, and sought out the old man referred 
 to. He took it in his hand, then laid it 
 
 on a watch crystal and readjusted his 
 spectacles. He looked at us with some 
 amazement, saying, " Where did you get 
 it ? " We told him the nature of the 
 case made it necessary not to till at pres- 
 ent. " I have not seen one of those in 
 forty years," said he. " They are called 
 King's Capsules. It is an Italian inven- 
 tion, and is an excellent illustration of 
 wdiat degenerate nations busy their brains 
 with. Instead of steam and telegraph, 
 they take to these things." He then in- 
 verted another glass over it, stopping the 
 scam with a solution of iron and flowers 
 of sulphur. With a quick motion he 
 jarred the capsule asunder, and the 
 liquid that escaped turned to bright red 
 fumes. " The quarter of that," he con- 
 tinued, " injected in an abrasion of your 
 skin, would produce death in one hour. 
 It is concentrated hydrocyanic acid. You 
 should be given over to the authorities 
 for even having such a thing in your pos- 
 session." We told him how we found 
 them, and also asked him if there could 
 be any danger of Prescott having been 
 already poisoned ; but he said no ; that, 
 as it had not entered the skin, nor been 
 broken, he need take no trouble about it. 
 We told him, too, that we had no posi- 
 tive evidence who put them in our boots. 
 We were, of course, somewhat concerned 
 at this attempt at our destruction, and es- 
 pecially so since there was no way of re- 
 dress. Prescott had been already that 
 morning to advise with Scott about the 
 remarkable meeting we attended the 
 night before ; but he had obtained only 
 the same misfortunate suggestion, " No 
 power to do anything. Those in office 
 will do nothing. The President still 
 keeps the Secretary of War in his Cabi- 
 net, though he knows he is using the 
 nation's arms for the nation's overthrow." 
 And then Prescott went on, " We can do 
 nothing with them for their resolutions 
 last night. It is a free country. They 
 are free to speak wdiat they will, and they 
 are free to do what they will. Hence 
 there is no treason ; but even if there 
 was, there are no officers to try them. 
 So, why shall we grieve or bother our 
 heads about the matter ? See these 
 crowds of thoughtless people, flocking 
 here to see the Prince of Wales ; how 
 little they dream of the threatening wand 
 waving over them." 
 
 Shortly after this we separated, he for 
 his own affairs, and I for the Mansion, 
 where I arrived in a few minutes. The 
 President was waiting for me, and I saw 
 at a glance, as he rose to shake hands, he 
 was pale and fatigued. " Come," said he, 
 
LOVE AND WAR IN 1860. 
 
 53 
 
 after we took our seats at the desk, " you 
 that are gifted in the use of words and 
 the framing of sentences, see what I have 
 penned this morning, in a lonely hour. 
 Perhaps you can set it in a good shape, 
 and give it to the country at large, _ so 
 they will not torment me with their criti- 
 cisms for my official conduct." 
 
 I took the paper up, and read the fol- 
 lowing lines, which he said he thought 
 should precede the message : 
 
 " O bitter, bitter office of the great, 
 Why has no hand a star in thee implanted, 
 Showing the conscience how to steer— to hold 
 Together all the fragments of a State ? . 
 Or is it so, that we are instruments, 
 And nations perish, sans the will of man, 
 From the enormity of their own crimes? 
 Me seems to feel, however squelched this fire 
 On surface is, spontaneous smoulder lits 
 Deep sunken in our great republic, 
 Sooner or late 'twill blow, and burst in wrath 
 Upon the heads of these incendiaries. 
 However done : however not begun ; 
 However eniled, and by all my acts, 
 For good or bad, that I do play my part, 
 Even so by ail, and for all time to come 
 Shall I be cursed by my own countrymen. 
 I am a target twixt fcwu foolish parties, 
 Even as if heaven had chosen me for their martyr. 
 I've struggled hard ; my fault is not mine own, 
 But my country's ; they do not understand 
 The Constitution. All our grief is there, 
 And there we must seek out the panacea. 
 For, mark the point, the Constitution is, 
 And is for. But, if that for be not for, 
 Which they suppose — these my countrymen, 
 They are right unright in seeing as they do. 
 But, when the Constitution is and was, 
 And is and was for us, while the parties 
 Both misconstrued it to seem what is not, 
 Or is not for a purpose, then it follows, 
 They do not understand it. That's the matter, 
 So does it follow also I shall wiite 
 A message and explain these things to them." 
 
 He eyed me for some time, evidently 
 wishing me to say something appreciative 
 of this poetical feat, while I was as anx- 
 iously trying to discover some means of 
 withholding it from the public. I had no 
 doubt, however, now about the condition 
 of his mind. But I knew, if I disclosed 
 it to the country at large, it would be a 
 serious misfortune, if not result in the 
 entire destruction of the republic. I told 
 him it was certainly the truth, and but 
 for its arrangement it should be inserted 
 as a preface to his forthcoming message. 
 
 When I thus encouraged him, he started 
 up : "I tell you," said he, " even yet the 
 country may be saved, if it will hearken 
 to our counsel. I have here a letter from 
 Bishop Hopkins, and here a sermon from 
 Boyden, of Hopedale, Virginia, on the 
 ' Epidemic of the Nineteenth Century ; 
 the Sympathy for the Enslaved.' "With 
 these and the Constitution the country 
 must stand." I took the productions 
 spoken of, and was about to peruse them, 
 when in came the two reverend gentle- 
 men authors alluded to. Very cordially 
 Buchanan received them, and gave me an 
 
 introduction. Hopkins at once took up 
 his letter, remarking, " In this will you 
 find all the substance of the dispute ; and 
 1 have so argued it that I almost per- 
 suaded myselt black is white. The prim- 
 eval condition of the black man, the stig- 
 ma the Creator put upon him when he slew 
 Abel, have I so set down that all parties 
 cannot but see the wisdom of the All-wise 
 Ruler of the universe in giving them over 
 into eternal bondage to the white man. 
 I have shown the glory of God in the 
 elevation of the white man, whose tri- 
 umphs have been the only contribution 
 to civilization, religion, and liberty. I 
 have here pictured this same white man 
 in his glory and ease, seeking out the de- 
 generate African, and bringing him over 
 here and teaching him to toil, and to be- 
 hold the beauties of Christianity. I have 
 shown how the black man is to be en- 
 lightened ; and how, by doing the drud- 
 gery of life, he gives the white man time 
 and liberty to ascertain the laws of God. 
 In fact, I have so explained the degrada- 
 tion of labor, that even the men in the 
 free States must acknowledge the blessing 
 of our Divine institution of slavery." 
 And with much pride the reverend father 
 slapped the paper on the desk, and pouted 
 his lips as if the argument w T as finished. 
 
 " Truly has he spoken," said Boyden, 
 " and in the same chain of argument I 
 have here a sermon on the hardships of 
 the owner of the slave. I have shown 
 him, with all the cares of his slaves on 
 his own back, while the slave goes scot 
 free of all concern. The master I have 
 shown with Christian care watching over 
 his slaves, giving his whole life to their 
 service. In fact, I have proved him to 
 be the greater slave of the two ; and 
 proved also, tha.t, whoever meddles with 
 his property deserves an ignominious 
 death ; and, moreover, that all the hatred 
 against a slave-owner springs from the 
 fact that he can accumulate wealth easier 
 and faster than the man who hires his 
 labor done." And he smiled, as if his 
 triumph must go before the world for all 
 time. 
 
 "But have you proved that the poor 
 should be contented with their lot ? " said 
 Buchanan. " That too much freedom in 
 this country is what is doing all the mis- 
 chief? That such ignorant people should 
 not be taught to aspire to liberty till they 
 could understand the Constitution ? " 
 
 Both the divine gentlemen assured him 
 they had done so, and he seemed much 
 pleased. Soon after this the reverend 
 doctors left us. Buchanan then said he 
 intended to have these sermons both pub- 
 
54 
 
 THE FALL OF FORT SUMTER ; OR, 
 
 lished in every Democratic paper all over 
 the country.* The President then assured 
 me that he felt very much better and 
 stronger than he had for many weeks ; 
 and he told me that, since this was the 
 day of the reception, he had concluded 
 to do nothing further about the message 
 at present, signifying that I might leave 
 him. I told him I had important matters 
 to relate to him, bearing upon the condi- 
 tion of the country. " If you please," 
 said I, " we will sit awhile, and you shall 
 hear something terrible." He looked anx- 
 iously at me, for he was in a mood to be 
 frightened, and I then related to him all 
 I saw on the previous evening ; of the 
 resolutions ; the minute-men ; the deter- 
 mination to seize the whole Government ; 
 and then of our detection and final es- 
 cape ; and of the attempt to poison Pres- 
 cott and myself. When I finished, I saw 
 he was deathly pale, with large tear-drops 
 in his eyes, and he remarked, " Alas ! alas | 
 'tis done ! I am the last that will ever be 
 President of these United States." f He 
 bowed his head on my shoulder and 
 sobbed for a moment, then, raising him- 
 self upward, continued : " When I came 
 into office, it was reported that this same 
 party attempted to take my life by poison- 
 ing the National Hotel, in order that the 
 whole Government might come into the 
 control of my friend Breckenridge. I 
 never believed it in full till now." 
 
 " Then did Providence avert that fell 
 calamity to this nation," said I, " and it 
 now remains, with these warnings before 
 us, that we arm ourselves in time to pre- 
 vent the nation's overthrow.' 1 
 
 " No," said he, " no ! No more arming. 
 To arm against these men is but to give 
 them arms. Only one mode can avert 
 the coming storm ; we must concede to 
 the slave States their full and honest de- 
 mands." 
 
 This was the substance of all we said 
 about the matter on this occasion, it being 
 high time for me to leave. Accordingly, 
 without much form or ceremony, he hav- 
 ing told me that he should not mature 
 
 * Jenkins here handed me a slip which he had 
 pinned in the manuscript at this place, which is to 
 say, that I, the writer of this invaluable history, —am 
 obliged to shame the name of my country by stating 
 that Buchanan's purpose was carried oiit, and that 
 every democratic paper in the country published the 
 two sermon:- referred to ; many of them eulogizing the 
 articles as the ablest productions that ever came from 
 man. Though I do it, it almost draws forth tears of 
 blood. So degenerate is my country. Almost BE bad 
 as the British cramming opium down the heathen's 
 throats with their swords' points, and England's home 
 Christians the while, blinded by national gain, laud- 
 ing the act as a mission from Heaven. 
 
 t For several months prior to the termination of 
 Lie administration he frequently used those words. 
 
 the message until after the election, which 
 was to be in two days hence, I took my 
 departure, carrying orders to the different 
 diplomatic corps about the reception and 
 procession. I then hurried down to the 
 Jackson House, where we were to get 
 positions in the Judge's carriage, as much 
 for the purpose of seeing Mrs. Lucy Ta- 
 biatha Stinipkins as for seeing the Prince 
 and Duke. What was my surprise in not 
 finding Wadsworth or Prescott, though 
 we had all talked of going together. 
 The Judge, with new gloves and hat, was 
 promenading on the verandah with Mrs. 
 Edge, talking with more importance than 
 I had ever seen him before. The clerk 
 winked at me, called me aside, and told 
 me this story : " Do you know," said he, 
 " that old fool thinks he is engaged to 
 Miss Edge ? And that Miss Edge thinks 
 she is engaged to Prescott ? I crammed 
 her," he continued, " that Prescott so 
 understood it, and so did her father and 
 mother." I told the clerk to tell me all 
 about it. " Very well," said he ; " I found 
 her in the parlor a little while ago, and 
 asked her when her marriage was to come 
 off. She laughed, and seemed a little sur- 
 prised. Then, as I said before, I crammed 
 her — told her all the city was on tip-toe 
 about it. She said it was strange, very 
 strange, that she should be engaged and 
 not know 7 it. ' Why,' said I, ' who ever 
 heard tell of a gentleman of high rank 
 speaking plainer than he does ? And 
 you have yourself so virtuously answered 
 him, that all the city is alive with your 
 praises.' ' Well,' said she, ' that's not the 
 way I like it, nor is it the way they do 
 in Philadelphia.' ' Why,' said I, ' do you 
 know what Prescott's worth ? He is worth 
 half a million.' ' And does he,' said she, 
 ' really call this an engagement ? ' 'Of 
 course,' said I ; ' did he not so express 
 himself to you this morning ? ' ' Oh, 
 no ! ' said she ; ' he said nothing of love. 
 He talked only of the affairs of the coun- 
 try, and he did so fervently portray the 
 coming downfall, that I wept most bit- 
 terly. I never heard such fluent words in 
 all my life, and I was so charmed withal 
 I remember nothing he said. And then, 
 when he went away, I almost sighed that 
 he was gone.' And then I told her that 
 he told me he slept not a wink last night ; 
 that, as oft as he began to doze, her own 
 dear form appeared beside him, and he 
 thought the music of her voice came also. 
 ' Now,' said Vickey, ' this is strange — very 
 strange indeed ; ' and, half weeping, she 
 withdrew. In another moment Prescott 
 came in, and he spoke kindly to her, of 
 the promise of a fair day. Then she said, 
 
LOVE AND WAR IN 1860. 
 
 55 
 
 pleadingly and prettily, ' Did you tell the 
 clerk you did not sleep last night for those 
 roguish thoughts ? ' 'I did,' said Pres- 
 cott ; 'and they rest seriously on rny 
 heart ' — for he thought she meant the 
 affairs of state. Now, when he told her 
 this, the tears started afresh to her eyes, 
 and she, smiling the while, went out, say- 
 ing, ' You need not speak so coldly.' 
 Prescott knew not what to make of her 
 conduct, and so he asked me. I told him 
 she was in love with Wadsworth, and that 
 her sympathies were perhaps inclined to 
 consider that, if there is to be a national 
 conflict, he may suffer seriously. ' Does 
 she love him?' said Prescott; and I an- 
 swered I feared so. Thus the matter 
 stands," continued the clerk. " I have 
 made love for them all this morning, and 
 may the graces forgive me for the lies I 
 told." I told the clerk, that if I were 
 inclined to write the history of love and 
 war in Washington, I would hardly dare 
 to tell the truth, lest the perfect parallel 
 of these eccentric affairs might make 
 people call it a novel of the first water. 
 But I hope, I continued, that the Jackson 
 House will not acquire too much notori- 
 ety for making ill matches. Before I said 
 more, he stretched himself upward, look- 
 ing through the window. " As I am a 
 clerk, I do say ! " said he, " if yonder 
 does not go the Professor and Mrs. Lucy 
 Tabiatha Stimpkins. Say, I will follow 
 them, to learn the stand they make ; you 
 bring on the company. We shall see her 
 prostrate herself before England's king 
 expectant." And sure enough, he started 
 out and after them. I at once started for 
 the Judge, and found him in the out-hall, 
 standing face to face with Vickey. In 
 one hand his hat, and in the other a huge 
 bouquet of flowers. He was bowing, say- 
 ing, " As often as they perish, you see, I 
 am ready with another, fair accompani- 
 ments to the fair. Accept them, and in 
 every tinge of color, in all the mingled 
 fragrance, and in these promising buds, 
 behold how sweet a thing is the passing 
 moment, how kindly and tenderly must 
 we cherish that which from nature 
 springs ; for lo, a breath, a careless 
 breath, may soil and blemish it. Take 
 them, though I do envy them their 
 biding place." 
 
 " Why, really, Judge," said she, " one 
 would think you are in love, for the many 
 kind remembrances you give me. You 
 almost make me dream of such things 
 myself." 
 
 " Ah, indeed, dearest ! " said he. " I 
 hope we understand each other, and that 
 the idle talk of common lovers may not 
 
 find a place with us. We must conduct 
 ourselves in the true path of noble per- 
 sonages." 
 
 "Oh, forgive me ! M said she, taking 
 the flowers. " I could not be idle-spoken 
 to you ; " and she kissed him and ran 
 away, but, ere she went far, she returned, 
 saying, " Now, Judge, I tell you, these 
 flowers are beautiful, and I thank you 
 heartily. With these I shall indeed vie 
 with the Prince's mother, Victoria ! Oh, 
 would it not be an excellent joke, when 
 the Prince passes, I toss these flowers to 
 him, with the inscription, From Vic- 
 toria ! " 
 
 " Ah ! but, dearest, they were culled for 
 thee ! " 
 
 " But only for a joke, you know. You 
 could easily replace them with others, and 
 then I should prize the second ones higher 
 for having parted with these." 
 
 " Really ? Why, do you know that 
 over each of these tiny blossoms I have 
 in my dreams seen you pondering to 
 catch my lapsing thoughts, to dive to 
 the mysteries and richness of my heart ? 
 And would you toss them away so 
 thoughtlessly ? " 
 
 " Well, then, no — I would not ; I will 
 keep them as happy memories ; " and she 
 kissed at the flowers, and playfully ran 
 off. 
 
 " Oh, what a treasure she is ! " said 
 Judge Francis. " For fifty years I have 
 not known what it was to live. On, on 
 in my grovelling way for half a century, 
 ignorant of the joys of love till the spark 
 is turned to a flame by a rosy, romping 
 girl of seventeen. Glory be to the heav- 
 ens, to the stars, to the moon, the fates, 
 cupids, and all the blunderbusses of the 
 spiritual fire, to think that the little spark 
 in my breast lived so long without any- 
 thing to feed upon ! But oh, what a 
 rapid growth it has ! First it quickeneth 
 the breath when its idol speaks ; then it 
 fluttereth the heart, and hot burnings 
 come to the cheek ; then to the extreme 
 parts of the person it finds way, and 
 chords in full time all the elements of 
 the thing man, till his aged limbs are 
 quick, his mind vigorous to overflowing, 
 and needs must vent itself in squibs of 
 poetry, and a plentiful vent of flowery 
 romances." 
 
 Now, when I saw Vickey was gone, I 
 came up behind the Judge, even while he 
 was speaking, and I told him he seemed 
 to be discoursing on love. 
 
 " Oh, no ! " said he, " I was just speak- 
 ing of the growth of this country. What 
 a rapid growth it has had ! But, sir, I 
 fear me 'tis near an end now." 
 
56 
 
 THE FALL OF FORT SUMTER. 
 
 Just then the clerk came running in, 
 and told us to start at once, or the pro- 
 cession would be over before we could 
 arrive. So, accordingly, we were soon 
 ready for the Judge's carriage, but neither 
 Wadsworth nor Prescott came. Mr. and 
 Mrs. Edge, Vickey, the Judge, and myself, 
 were all. When we were out on the walk 
 waiting, I drew near to Ann, and, as a 
 faithful recorder of events, I will write 
 down what passed between us, that the 
 world may judge accordingly. She look- 
 ed at me roguishly, and, smiling, said, 
 
 " Mr. Jenkins, you come too near me — 
 entirely too near ! " 
 
 " Too near for what ? " said I. " Can- 
 not you breathe ? " 
 
 " Don't talk to me ; my head aches," 
 said she. But I replied that, to talk was 
 to divert ; that diversion was good for 
 headache. That, therefore, I must talk 
 to cure ber. 
 
 " No, I will not have it cured ; I love 
 headache," said she. " 'Tis good com- 
 pany when I am melancholy. I wish I 
 had a Prince for a beau, then I would 
 give him headache. You taught me ; 
 you aim at the heart, and that makes 
 headache. Now, I pray you, do not 
 stand so near me ; people will think I 
 am fond of you. But I have no heart 
 for anything but a Prince. You tease 
 me because you happen so much in my 
 company. Woful circumstance ! " 
 
 Then I told her, if she was not affecting 
 all this, she could herself step a little back, 
 because she stood as near me as I did to 
 her. 
 
 " Indeed, I would not humor you so 
 much," said she, pettishly, " as to step 
 back at your command. I might cherish 
 your regard too much. Anger shall be 
 my study, and you shall nurture it with 
 your presence." Then on the toe of her 
 little shoe she dotted with her parasol, 
 the while smiling beneath the auburn 
 curls that swung round her down-turned 
 face. For the life of me I could say no 
 more, for the rapidity of my thoughts 
 kept my tongue still. " Oh, but this 
 shoe hurts my foot ! " said she. " Do 
 you know, Mr. Jenkins, I want to have 
 a game of cards to-night. You shall be 
 my partner, and teach me how to cheat. 
 You shall teach me how to sit silent, so 
 as to hide my hand. When you play 
 hearts. I'll play spades to bury it with." 
 
 But before she got further with her run 
 on me, the carriage was drawn up before 
 us and we all got in and started. By this 
 time the streets were filled with people, 
 and we were with some difficulty con- 
 veyed down to the open lot opposite the 
 
 old Methodist church — the very spot, too, 
 cbosen by Mrs. Lucy Tabiatha Stimpkins 
 and her husband, Professor Jackson. The 
 former was dressed better than I had ever 
 seen her, but the latter, the real picture 
 of a downcast man, with his long, faded 
 beard and uncombed hair, his clothes 
 rather seedy, struck our attention most. 
 Only a few days married, and yet he was 
 going all to wreck. But no wonder, when 
 we remember what a wife he had. But 
 on this occasion we had no time for phi- 
 losophy. A loud huzza up the street told 
 us the Prince of Wales and Duke of New- 
 castle were coming. They had to pass 
 through this square to the street below 
 ere they could take carriages to the Man- 
 sion, and of course the crowd was im- 
 mense. Pretty soon a gang of police 
 opened the way, and the veritable heir- 
 apparent to the throne of Great Britain 
 appeared before us. Quickly now Mrs. 
 Lucy sprang in before a young little man 
 whom she took to be the Prince, but who 
 was really only a servant. She pretended 
 to stumble, and did fall at his feet, crying 
 out, " Save me ! save me ! " In a little 
 while the young man caught hold of her, 
 and in a blundering manner helped her 
 up. Ad was excitement ; the police 
 rushed to the spot to see that the Prince 
 should not be overcome with joyous 
 greetings. Mrs. Lucy shouted at the top 
 of her shrill voice, right in the face of 
 the chap that helped her up, " Which is 
 the Prince ? which is the Prince ? You 
 are so young, sir, and so noble in your 
 bearing, you make me bold of speech. 
 Pray you, sir, which is the Prince ? " 
 And the chap hesitated, and said, " Why, 
 madam, see, you are in the way ! " But 
 she continued right on, " I know he's a 
 thing divine, with huge horns, a donkey's 
 head, and rich robes round his body. 
 Quick, boy ! which is the Prince ? I'll 
 win a smile, a princely smile, a special 
 legacy to outboast other women with." 
 Again he was trying to say something, 
 but she heeded not. " No, sir, I am not 
 insensible to my assumed satire ; your own 
 nobleness has a voice to speak without 
 words. I congratulate you, sir, on your 
 exalted prospects. Here, sir, keep most 
 sacred this, the parting kiss, bestowed by 
 woman, independent woman. In this 
 great republic women are beginning to 
 speak ; they are rising above the slave- 
 bound women of your old, worn-out 
 monarchism. Again I kiss your hand, 
 that you may boast that this was done 
 by one whose fame shall reach round the 
 world, even Mrs. Lucv Tabiatha Stimp- 
 kins." 
 
58 
 
 THE FALL OF FORT SUMTER ; OR, 
 
 ''Stand back there, woman!" shouted 
 the police. " Make way for the Prince ! " 
 
 and in another moment the Prince and 
 suite were past. Mrs. Lucy was pushed 
 aside, beholding what a fall here had 
 been; for t lie police shouted to her, even 
 while she kissed his hands, "That's not 
 the Prince ! Let thai servant go!" And 
 the servant, too, tore his hand away from 
 her, and gave her a severe push out of the 
 way. As soon as she had extricated her- 
 self a little, she said, "<> insult profane! 
 "What lack of gallantry do men possess! 
 Calls cot the modesty of my poor sex 
 for a hand to shield me I O Effeminacy, 
 die! Genial, helpless, modest woman, 
 die! Rude man plants his stern muscle 
 on as, and we are dashed about as 1 leasts. 
 Professor Jackson, how dare you ! " 
 
 " Why, madam, I have done nothing!" 
 "I know that, to my sorrow," said she. 
 •' Why did you not point out to me which 
 was the real Prince '( What is the Prince, 
 that I should not go to him and speak as 
 I would to any one else '. Was I not cre- 
 ated by the same God ( Do I not live on 
 the same planet ? But you, Professor — 
 you have keen the stumbling-block to the 
 whole affair. I never heard that in our 
 new philosophy the husband was to de- 
 sert the wife i:i the hour of danger." He 
 endeavored to excuse himself, by Baying 
 that the police kept clearing the track. 
 1 r.t she told him she would not yield the 
 point ; that, had Jackson stood his ground, 
 the adventure had been a decided success. 
 " Cut I care riot,'' she added ; " the chap 
 I spoke to heard my speech, and I am 
 sure it is as much as he can digest at one 
 time. Of c< urse, he is a servant of the 
 Prince's suite, and he will carry it all 
 back to England, where, in due time, he 
 will discharge it to the utter amazement 
 of English women, who have not yet 
 awakened to their just rights." 
 
 We heard no more ; the procession was 
 past; the croud was flying on before, and 
 we ourselves had wheeled round, making 
 way for the President's mansion. Of 
 course, we had not been idle spectators 
 of all that had just passed before us. We 
 had laughed ourselves tired ; we had seen 
 the plain, unassuming Prince; too young, 
 of course, to show much signs of promise ; 
 and we had seen how he had -been seen 
 by American citizens. Yet some darker 
 visions passed before us. One young 
 lady, Avho, we knew r , once hoed corn in 
 the fields, but who was now rich through 
 the prosperous avenues of a republican 
 government, sighed as the Prince passed, 
 " Oh, I wish we had a privileged aristoc- 
 racy here ! " By her side stood a rude 
 
 Scotch woman, who retorted. " And if we 
 had. your nose wotdd be still at the grind- 
 stone instead of here. You know not. 
 young woman, what you sigh for." Then 
 there were plain farmers Btanding near; 
 and they -aid. "Is it possible the British 
 people wear the yoke of such a boyish 
 royalty : " Again another retorted, " And 
 why not ? They love BUCh a yoke, for it 
 is light, and -ives them rest from the 
 muddle of politicians." But now that 
 the procession was over, all were merry, 
 and scampering oil' in their several direc- 
 tions. Just as we rounded the corner he- 
 low the church, I heard some one calling, 
 and, on turning to look, saw Pre-cott. 
 lie was beckoning for us to stop, which 
 we did, and he came running up. Tears 
 were flowing down hi- cheeks, and so 
 hurried was his speech, and withal stut- 
 tering, I could hardly tell what lie want- 
 ed. But he told me for God's Bake to 
 excuse myself from the company, and 
 follow him. Ann, who had been till now 
 exceedingly merry, was frightened, and so 
 were Vickey and Mrs. Edge; but Judge 
 Francis asked tor some explanation. " Ex- 
 cuse me," said Prescott, "'this is neither 
 time nor place for me to explain myself. 
 In due time yon shall know all." 
 
 I at once dismounted, and followed him, 
 ever remembering the lingering look of 
 gentle Ann. When we reached the avenue, 
 only a few paces, in fact, from where I 
 joined him, he stopped short, saying, 
 
 ■'My cousin, James Udell, is killed — 
 murdered at the Planters' Club Rooms." 
 
 - What !" said I. " is it possible?" 
 and he assured me that it was even so; 
 that he had just come from viewing his 
 mangled corpse, and that the inquest was 
 about to take place, urging me to go with 
 him. "They mistrusted." said he. the 
 tears coursing down his cheeks, " it was 
 he who played eaves-dropper at the Capi- 
 tol. He has been killed instead of me."' 
 
 Xo doubt it was so. for the two were 
 alike— as nearly alike as possible. He 
 had been inveigled into a quarrel, and 
 then Blabbed. We took a carriage and 
 hastened to the spot called the Planters' 
 Club Rooms, in front of which was already 
 assembled a large crowd of people. In a 
 few moments we were in the presence of 
 the corpse — apparently a young man 
 twenty-five years of age. He was stretehei 1 
 on the floor, a pitiful and horrid sight, 
 except his face, which had all the in- 
 nocence and beauty of American youth. 
 The coroner's court was already in session. 
 The examination o'i the body had just 
 been commenced. First the pockets were 
 examined, and in them was found three 
 
LOVE AND WAR IN 1S60. 
 
 59 
 
 thousand dollars. What a comment was 
 this ! Americans kill Americans, but not 
 for money. Not in all the city was an 
 American who would have rifled these 
 pockets. Oh, most wrongly-imputed 
 money-making nation, what a libel is 
 this on the robbers of foreign lands ! 
 And yet, oh, what a boast if in one fell 
 moment man crosses the sacred threshold 
 of public opinion to meet with instant 
 death. But hear ye, ye electors of judges, 
 what a power party has ! 
 
 Now, when the evidence was rendered, 
 the verdict of the jury was given in these 
 words, to wit : 
 
 " That James Odell came to his death 
 by stabs inflicted on his person by sundry 
 gentlemen of the club of which he was 
 a member. The jury further declare 
 that the said James Odell used these 
 words : 
 
 " ' The Southern fire-eaters are bringing 
 mischief on the country, and if I had the 
 power I would hang every one of them ; ' 
 which words we deem so offensive, that 
 he met the death he deserved." 
 
 This was indeed as shocking as the 
 mock trial of Brooks for his attempt to 
 murder Sumner. It was no law at all, no 
 protection to life, and why not ? Because 
 the coroner's jury looked through their 
 party spectacles. What chance had Pres- 
 
 cott and I, if we should in any way be- 
 tray what we knew of the secret meetings 
 of the seceders ? 
 
 As fortune would have it, however, this 
 meeting had brought out Iverson and Wig- 
 fall. Even while the foregoing scene was 
 being enacted, I overheard the former say 
 to the latter, that if he would come to his 
 house at nine o'clock that night, he would 
 take him 
 
 Further than this I heard not, but sup- 
 posed it to be the secret meeting of the 
 seceders. At the time, however, I heeded 
 it little, having the sight of the unfortu- 
 nate victim before us. The coroner took 
 charge of the valuables, and ordered the 
 corpse to be buried properly, and then 
 the crowd dispersed. While on this sub- 
 ject I will state, that on the following day 
 Prescott and I alone followed the remains, 
 which were conveyed by the grave-diggers 
 to the final resting-place. But yet, though 
 his death was horrid, and our grief with- 
 out remedy, similar scenes were already 
 begun all over the Southern States. Every 
 paper teemed with notices of men being 
 shot or stabbed on the spot, for express- 
 ing their sentiments in the South. Vigil- 
 ance committees and minute-men had 
 sprung into existence in a day, and were 
 already visiting death on every one op- 
 posed to Southern sentiments. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 On our way back from the funeral, and 
 when near the railroad station, we saw 
 my friend Wadsworth, who came out to 
 meet us. On his observing our melan- 
 choly appearance, we told him of the 
 murder done. " Ah, indeed," said he, 
 " this was a horrid deed. And yet me 
 seems to feel this is but the beginning of 
 a reign of horrors greater than were ever 
 known. Oh, that the people North and 
 South knew each other ! Oh, that poli- 
 ticians were blotted from this fair land ! 
 Oh, that the South knew the North would 
 not harm their slavery ! Oh, that the 
 North knew the slaves were content ! 
 But, sirs, blindness, madness rules. They 
 have ears, but hear not ; eyes, but see 
 not." So saying, he took my arm and 
 walked into the station, pointing to thirty 
 or forty boxes of goods. " See here," said 
 he, " this is my winter's supply for my 
 
 slaves. Think you they will rebel against 
 me in order to get their freedom ? Here 
 are boxes of hats and bonnets ; boxes of 
 excellent cloth, for coats and trousers ; 
 and here is one of satin and silk, to 
 adorn them with when going to church, 
 or perhaps to the dance, or may-be to 
 play their pranks with Cupid's bower. 
 Why, sir, should you behold the greeting 
 they give me, and should you know their 
 own love of dependence instead of inde- 
 pendence, you would say, Man is foolish 
 j to grieve about such oppression. But 
 the vainest and simplest philosophy ever 
 broached by any politician is this mooted 
 secession. Under the General Government 
 we are protected in our slaves ; but if the 
 South secedes and forms a separate gov- 
 ernment, it will never be protected by the 
 North. It is throwing off protection, and 
 making an enemy on the border. As for 
 
60 
 
 THE FALL OF FOET SUMTER ; OR, 
 
 the grasp at the western Territories, it is 
 the table again of the dog crossing the 
 river with a mouthful of meat ; he saw 
 the shadow, and dropped the real to 
 catch that which was nothing." 
 
 " My dear sir," said Prescott, " you 
 speak with great judgment. I would tbat 
 your wisdom were common amongst South- 
 ern gentlemen." And when he said this, 
 he extended his hand as a friendly greeting. 
 
 Now when they had shaken hands, 
 Wadsworth said, looking at Prescott, " I 
 see you wear a ring of an exalted degree." 
 
 " Oh, I found this," said Prescott ; " it 
 was in the hall of the hotel where I live. 
 I supposed it was of little value, and be- 
 longed to some of the servants; but on 
 inquiry, I found such was not the case." 
 He then took it off his finger and handed 
 it to us, that we might examine it. It 
 was an exceedingly old ring, with sets of 
 precious stones to form an eye, and had 
 many signs engraved on it. 
 
 " That ring can be traced to the place 
 whence it came," said Wadsworth, and 
 then I too remarked that I could read 
 the meaning of all the characters. 
 
 " Then," said Prescott, " take the ring, 
 for it is nothing to me ; perhaps through 
 these mysterious characters you may re- 
 store it to its owner." 
 
 I then told them both that I believed 
 Madame Ponchard or Orsini had dropped 
 it the night before ; and if it had been 
 either of them, I doubted whether they 
 came to it by fair means. Wadsworth 
 then took it, saying that he would under- 
 take to unravel the mystery ; that, small 
 and insignificant as it was, this ring had 
 once come from persons of more than 
 ordinary standing among men. 
 
 Soon after this we parted, each taking 
 some separate course, and all under prom- 
 ise to meet at night at the Jackson House. 
 This promise I, however, made with a 
 mental reservation, secret in my own 
 breast. I resolved at once I would meet 
 with the secessionists even at the peril 
 of my life. I must say, however, as I 
 left Prescott and saw him turning up 
 toward the observatory, I really felt as 
 if it were doubtful whether w j e should 
 ever meet again. That we were known 
 to be the persons who entered the college 
 on the previous evening, and that the 
 leading secessionists had determined to 
 kill us or hire our killing, we had no 
 doubt. All they wanted was an oppor- 
 tunity, some sort of pretext ; and these 
 were just what we wanted to avoid. For 
 my own part, I resolved to be somebody 
 else, to play a deep disguise. But what 
 should I assume ? Whom should I per- 
 
 sonate ? Of course some foreigner. I had 
 it ; I would be the correspondent — Clark- 
 son — of the London Times. This thought 
 I matured at once, and, to complete my 
 arrangement, went to an old acquaintance 
 and purchased a fine pair of horses and 
 a carriage. Next I got a servant and dressed 
 him in livery, from Steinberg's clothing 
 store. By the time I had this all com- 
 pleted it was near night, and I hastened 
 to make my entree into Washington 
 effectual, by going out of it first. Ac- 
 cordingly, 1 drove up to Georgetown, and 
 telegraphed to the Jackson House that I, 
 James Clarkson, would be there with my 
 carriage and pair by eight or nine at 
 night, with letters to his excellency, the 
 President ; and a letter to Yancey also, 
 asking the proprietor to be good enough 
 to send word to the latter to meet me on 
 my arrival. I then, while in Georgetown, 
 forged a letter from Sir Edward Boyton 
 to Yancey, for I had known Boyton's son, 
 who had been on a year ago to visit some 
 cf his friends in America, and who had 
 also passed a short time with Yan- 
 cey. Thus equipped, and armed in every 
 pocket, I once more set out for the Jack- 
 son House, where I arrived exactly at 
 nine at night. Sure enough, Yancey was 
 on hand, and cifme and very cordially 
 assisted me out of my carriage. My 
 livery servant being too Dutch to tell 
 anything he knew, accompanied the 
 horses to the stable. But who should 
 accompany Yancey to receive me, but 
 Floyd, the man I hated most, and most 
 wished to avoid. Yet I was well dis- 
 guised. Instead of light sandy hair, I 
 now had jet black ; my whiskers were 
 shaved all off, save a bunch on each 
 cheek, English fashion ; and my nose I 
 had stained to a cherry red. 
 
 I shall never forget how kindly Yancey 
 and Floyd took me by the hand, and with 
 what fervency they welcomed me to the 
 Capital of the United States. They told 
 me I should have put up at Willard's, in 
 order to see the real hotel system of 
 America ; that they feared I should not 
 be as comfortable at the Jackson House 
 as one of my exalted position should be. 
 I assured them, however, that I had friends 
 coming in a few days, and that I was de- 
 sirous of being with them. I told them 
 also that the exorbitant prices of Wil- 
 lard's made me refrain from so great an 
 indulgence. 
 
 " That's just like you English ! " said 
 Floyd. " You are so very economical. 
 Why, do you know, in this country every 
 one of us must have the very best, even 
 if we become bankrupt next day." 
 
LOVE AND WAR IN" 1860. 
 
 61 
 
 " But, sir," said I, speaking slowly and 
 with some impediment, like a member of 
 the British Parliament, " but, sir, you-a 
 must consider-a that in Hingland we 
 'ave-a less-a hopportunity to replace-a-a 
 a fortune when we-a 'ave been so 'eedless 
 to 'ave spent it so thoughtlessly-a." Now, 
 when they saw how beautifully I got heed- 
 less and thoughtlessly in so close proxim- 
 ity, they were in ecstacies to know if I 
 were not a member of Parliament. I as- 
 sured them I was not, but that I had often 
 been there. Our conversation was, how- 
 ever, soon terminated ; the clerk touched 
 my arm, and signified that I might go to 
 my rooms, and I invited the others to 
 acconqjany me. Accordingly, after I had 
 given strict orders, English fashion, that 
 my horses must have all the attention and 
 care, and that anything would do for 
 myself, we all marched up to my beauti- 
 fully ventilated apartments. I then told 
 them, in the same parliamentary drag of 
 unmeaningly-connected words, that they 
 could not suppose any ordinary matter 
 would bring me to this country ; that I 
 was almost prepared to tell them about 
 the contemplated dissolution of the re- 
 public, and of the projected establish- 
 ment of a constricted republic on the 
 ruins ; that it had always been a thing 
 of pity, for the English to behold the 
 lawless character of the American Gov- 
 ernment ; that it was the most inexplica- 
 ble of all things, to think that in a coun- 
 try great as this, there were no men of 
 energy and talent to seize the helm of 
 state and wrench it from the vulgar mob. 
 
 Now, during all this time I had been 
 frequently touching my nose with my 
 handkerchief, and what was my horror 
 on seeing the red paint in spots all over 
 it. Could it be my nose was turning Yan- 
 kee ? Would these rascals .discover me ? 
 I kept on the shady side of the gas. 
 Yancey was astonished how much I knew 
 of the project of secession. I told him 
 there were any number of ways the Brit- 
 ish Government had of finding out things 
 abroad. First, it sends out spies ; then, 
 correspondents ; then, gas-blowers ; then, 
 bullets. " And I am on the second list," 
 said I, " for this new adventure." When 
 I said this, Floyd swore. All my prog- 
 nostications were true, he said. " This 
 country is about to change its form of 
 government to a limited republic ; but 
 here will be no pickings for the British 
 Government. We are now the sick old 
 man ; but let France and Britain joiu on 
 
 us, and you shall see " Then came 
 
 a furious oath. And even with more 
 fierceness did Yancey speak out. They 
 
 apologized to me, but warned Britain. 
 Though, when I disclaimed any desire 
 of the British Government to seize this 
 country, or any part of it, and, with 
 some authority, added, " Great Britain 
 only speaks in the cause of humanity." 
 " That's a hit at slavery," said Floyd. 
 " All the Abolition emissaries of the North 
 were taught by Britons." 
 
 I told him he was sadly mistaken ; that 
 the British Government recognized the 
 theory, that there must be in all countries 
 hewers of wood and carriers of water ; 
 and that we, the English people, would 
 sooner to-day see this Government with 
 slavery for its corner-stone, than to see 
 it emanate from a common mob. " This 
 is," said I, " one of the chief things for 
 which I am here to inform you, though 
 unofficially. And you may rest assured 
 that it is the doctrine we will ever main- 
 tain — first the Government, then the peo- 
 ple." 
 
 " And those are my sentiments too," 
 said Yancey. " We have tried universal 
 suffrage ; now we shall have it limited." 
 
 I then asked him in what way this 
 great desideratum was to be accomplish- 
 ed ; and he told me, if I ^vould have the 
 patience to wait a few minutes, he would 
 take me to a meeting of some of the 
 prominent leaders, where I could hear 
 and judge accordingly. And that he 
 would be pleased to have me state before 
 the meeting the probable position the 
 British Government would assume during 
 the troubles which must necessarily result 
 during the invportant change. Next he 
 ordered some sparkling Catawba, and we 
 sat and drank to each other for a good 
 while ; and I, meantime, wishing I had 
 Judge Francis here, to tell us a story of 
 his youthful days. 
 
 At a quarter past ten we left, arm in 
 arm, they having previously cautioned me 
 to be silent during our walk. Down the 
 avenue ; up L to Monroe Lane, and along 
 the lane — it should be called alley — till 
 we came to No. 76, a dingy sort of high- 
 stoop frame house, where all was dark- 
 ness. I was satisfied now, if I were de- 
 tected, I would be killed, and that no 
 one would ever know it ; and some fear 
 began to creep over me. Yancey touched 
 the door, and some one inside opened it, 
 when we walked in. All was dark. 
 
 " What are your names ? " demanded 
 the man in the dark. Yancey told him 
 for us all. The man dashed a lamp in 
 full glare in our faces, saying, " Pass on." 
 And we did pass. The house was an 
 unoccupied one, unfurnished, and every- 
 thing we touched or did seemed to make 
 
62 
 
 THE FALL OF FORT SUMTER ; OR, 
 
 a great noise. A dim light came down 
 from above after we got further in, and 
 we found and went up a long pair of 
 stairs, at the head of which stood a senti- 
 nel and Orsini, both with swords drawn. 
 My friends vouched for me, and we enter- 
 ed, having left our hats and walking-sticks 
 with the sentinel. In another moment I 
 remembered my name, Jenkins, was en- 
 graved on the gold mounting, but I was 
 already in the hall, and knew not what 
 to do. Half turning my head, I saw the 
 rascal looking at my cane, and I feared 
 he would call me to account. But he 
 was interrupted by some one else com- 
 ing in, though he kept the cane in his 
 hand. At the other end of the room — 
 if, indeed, a whole floor can be called a 
 room — were Toombs, Mason, Cobb, Rhett, 
 and Davis. As soon as we came up, I 
 was introduced as Clarkson, of the Lon- 
 don Times, and greeted warmly and 
 pleasantly. Rhett asked Floyd if he 
 had any good news to report to-night. 
 " I have," said Floyd. " I have this day 
 sent fifty thousand muskets to the arrnory 
 in Charleston ; also sent a good assort- 
 ment of munitions of war. But that is 
 not the best of it ; I have appointed the 
 Governor of your State to look after it." 
 This was followed by a laugh. In an- 
 other moment I saw the sentinel approach- 
 ing, bearing my walking-stick with him. 
 " Are you certain you know this gentle- 
 man ? " said he, pointing to me. Yan- 
 cey and Floyd said they were posi- 
 tive. " Orsini says he is a painted man, 
 and Orsini knows paint. Here is Jen- 
 kins' cane ! " " Ah ! " shouted — or hissed 
 rather — every one present. " Gentlemen," 
 said I, " I-a cannot receive-a this pleas- 
 antly. Is this the way- a statesmen- a build 
 up new States-a ? If you ave-a any 
 doubt, gentlemen-a, of my respectability, 
 1 will-a assure you I will do anything 
 'onorable to convince you-a your doubts-a 
 can be removed-a." This, being a rather 
 parliamentary-constructed sentence, won 
 over to me several voices from the mem- 
 bers. But Floyd and Yancey both spoke 
 out, saying they themselves doubted me. 
 Toombs said, " Demand any letters he may 
 have about him. See if they are to Clark- 
 son, and if post-marked England." 
 
 " Gentlemen," said I, " I have no let- 
 ters with me. I hope you will not make 
 it unpleasant for me to remain with 
 you." 
 
 "Do you know, sir," said Floyd, "I 
 think you are a spy ? Show us some 
 proof ! " 
 
 " I have nothing with me." 
 
 " Whence came this cane ? " 
 
 " I got it at the tavern ; I don't know 
 whose it is." 
 
 " Then let us examine your face, to see 
 if it is painted." 
 
 " I cannot allow this, gentlemen. You 
 brought me. If I am not welcome, take 
 me home again." 
 
 " No, sir ; not out of this house, till we 
 know who you arc" -aid Floyd. 
 
 They then came upon me, and I treated 
 them with backing toward the door, con- 
 tinually complaining of this indignity to 
 a British subject. In the meantime I had 
 taken my cane to look at it, but with the 
 full determination to use it, and also the 
 revolver and knife, if attacked. The 
 meeting was now nothing more than a 
 row, some for and some against me. 
 Floyd had me by the sleeve ; Orsini was 
 at my back with his uplifted sword. I 
 wheeled round, and knocked the sword 
 from his hand. With one bound I went 
 down the stairs, but lost my footing and 
 fell. For a moment all was darkness and 
 despair, made terrible by a wild scream 
 from a female by my side. I was in the 
 cellar ; fell through a hatchway, bruised 
 my hand, and was almost unconscious of 
 how badly I was injured. The female 
 passed aside, and darted out through a 
 cellar door into the lane above. I fol- 
 lowed, not knowing how soon my pur- 
 suers would be upon me. But the sounds 
 of the voices and the running party con- 
 vinced me they had mistaken my where- 
 abouts, and were pursuing me down the 
 stairway. A few minutes sufficed, how- 
 ever, to show me I had made my escajte 
 successful. The next great mystery was, 
 who was this thief of a creature hid in 
 the cellar ? Of course, her way of escape 
 had been matured, and if I followed her 
 I too was safe. She ran faster than I had 
 ever seen a woman run before, and I ran 
 nearly as fast as ever did man. Her 
 course was down the lane, across the 
 avenue, and to the grounds of the Smith- 
 sonian Institute. Curiosity led me to fol- 
 low so strange a woman, if for nothing 
 more than to assure her I meant no harm. 
 As soon as she was about fifty rods ahead, 
 she slackened her pace, ever and anon 
 looking back to see if I followed. On 
 several occasions she dodged a corner to 
 escape me, but I always found her course, 
 and pursued. When she entered the Smith- 
 sonian grounds, going even toward the 
 Institute, I saw she slackened her pace 
 still more, as if waiting, to be captured. 
 I walked briskly till near her, and then 
 slower. It was nearly a full moon, and 
 I saw, even before I approached her, she 
 was at least no beggar, or person of scanty 
 
LOVE AND WAR IN 1860. 
 
 63 
 
 cloth. Finally she halted and faced about, 
 waiting for me, and in another minute I 
 was face to face with her. 
 
 " Oh, sir, I beseech you," she said, " if 
 you can imagine a woman's fears, you will 
 pity me, and treat me kindly." She burst 
 out crying as it her heart was broken. 
 " Oh, in God's name, sir, let me go ! If 
 there is anything sacred in the name of 
 mother or sister, oh, I pray you, grant it 
 unto me ! I am yet a child, and my fears 
 will drive me to death." 
 
 All this she said while she was sobbing, 
 and before I was within a half a dozen paces. 
 So, when I halted, I assured her, over and 
 over, that I was no enemy ; that I would, 
 on the contrary, be. her friend, if it were 
 possible for me to do any good act for 
 her. 
 
 " Then are you not an officer ? " she 
 said, endeavoring to quiet herself a little, 
 at the same time tossing back her velvet 
 robe, and disclosing to my view her other 
 attire, which seemed of the richest qual- 
 ity. A hood she lifted back, and waving 
 ringlets of light auburn played on her 
 snow-white neck. She was pretty ; she 
 was bewitching, even while she stood 
 weeping and nearly overcome with fear. 
 I assured her I was no officer ; and then 
 I told her about being at a meeting with 
 some friends in the old house, and about 
 falling through the hatchway. And then 
 I assured her that mere curiosity had in- 
 duced me to follow her, because it seemed 
 so strange for a lady to escape from such 
 a miserable, deserted house. Now, when 
 she saw I was so frank, she replied, say- 
 ing, " Your words, sir, have done much 
 to assuage my fears. I would that you 
 knew me as I know myself, or as Heaven 
 knows me ; you would lend some assur- 
 ance to my heart-pangs, which it seems 
 can never heal. Oh, pity me ! pity me ! " 
 Said I, " Sentiments like these, madam, 
 cannot emanate but from one deserving 
 honorable pity. If you will be kind 
 enough to relate -to me what misfortunate 
 circumstance has crossed the path of one 
 so little able to battle with stern realities, 
 and also to tell me what I can do to extri- 
 cate you from your perils, you will, I do 
 assure you, find in me a reliable friend." 
 
 " I am indeed much pleased with your 
 proffered assistance," she said, becoming 
 calm, and deeply interested in eyeing me 
 from head to foot. " But were I to tell 
 you of the misfortunate circumstances that 
 have crossed my path, you would your- 
 self, man as you are, feel that fate had 
 forever closed the portals of justice to 
 me. My life has not been a happy one ; 
 and, were it day, you could see in my 
 
 young face such furrows as would tell a 
 sadder tale than words ever painted. 
 Now, sir, I pray you, if you will befriend 
 a helpless, virtuous girl, please leave, me. 
 I would retire to the place whence I came; 
 and I must so proceed, that no one will 
 suspect or molest me." 
 
 Said I, " My lady, you do impose a bur- 
 den on me. How can I leave ? This would 
 be the greatest burden of my life, to leave 
 you thus sorrow-stricken, with the thought 
 of your probable woes ever haunting me. 
 Can I nothing do that will give you a ray 
 of happiness ? Must I myself forever re- 
 main ignorant of the mystery that sur- 
 rounds you ? " 
 
 She then folded her handkerchief, and 
 sobbed for many minutes. I knew not 
 what to do or to say ; but after I lingered 
 awhile, I turned to go away, remarking 
 that, if my presence was not pleasant, I 
 would most unhappily take my leave of 
 one whose strangeness would ever be con- 
 stant in memory. But when I started, she 
 said, " Stay awhile ; I will be calm in a 
 moment." Then she snuffled a little, and 
 cleared herself, and put on some dignity. 
 " 'Tis well, sir," she said, " that a stranger 
 approaches me thus, and that I behave as 
 if I were ignorant of myself. You mis- 
 take me for some idle heroine, who has, 
 for a love-sick fever, imposed some hazard 
 on her future prospects. Such is not my 
 case, neither do I feel at liberty to tell my 
 grievance without first knowing to whom 
 I sjieak. For the telling of my woful pros- 
 pects may bring greater ones on me. Yet 
 I need a friend. Oh, sir, I do need a friend ! 
 So long I have prayed God to send me a 
 friend ! " 
 
 Her dignity again broke down, and she 
 sobbed as before. As soon as she quieted 
 a little, I said, " Madam, I do assure you, 
 if it be possible for me to prove myself 
 that prayed-for friend, you need but give 
 your commands, and I will obey them. 
 Nay, so much I am convinced of your vir- 
 tue and nobleness, you can impose what- 
 ever you will, and I will obey you. Take 
 courage, madam ; for, as Heaven witnesses, 
 I will be true." 
 
 " Take heed what you swear, man, for 
 there are things you know not of. Would 
 you, sir, to a strange woman — if indeed I 
 am at the age of womanhood — swear to 
 forswear your country's laws ? " 
 
 " Almost you put me to the test," said 
 I. " Whatever law could interdict your 
 seeming nobleness, seems not law, but 
 violence." 
 
 " A friend stands above all things, save 
 Him who formed us. If you cannot be 
 so to me, you are not the meet of my long, 
 
64 
 
 THE FALL OF FORT SUMTER ; OR, 
 
 loDg prayers. Go, sir ; I pray you, leave 
 me!" 
 
 " No, madam. Now I swear before 
 God I will ever stand at your command." 
 
 " Uplift your hand and speak to Him ! " 
 she said, as calmly as ever woman spake ; 
 and I held up my hand, and said, " God 
 witness ! " And then she came to me, 
 took my hand, and, pointing upward, she 
 said, " O Lord my God, receive my hum- 
 ble thanks, that Thou hast sent to Thy 
 heart-broken child a true friend. Aid 
 me, O God, to maintain my trials, and 
 bless this great, good man ! " She turned 
 to me then, and added, " Sir, however fair 
 you behold me, and with what freedom of 
 speech you may see I address you, know 
 that I am called a slave ; called a negress ; 
 called a fugitive, flying from my owner. 
 Five hundred dollars are offered for my 
 capture, and I am sought for by many. 
 Now, my friend, I have but to tell the 
 horrors in store for me, and you will carry 
 me safe to Canada ; for I know you would 
 not see one so young and helpless as I am 
 doomed to the fate hovering over me." 
 
 I was so astounded I scarcely knew if I 
 were not in a dream ; for I gazed full in 
 that snow-white face. Her eyes were large 
 and blue ; her lips thin, and a pretty dim- 
 ple rested in each cheek and on her chin. 
 Her hair was pale auburn, and nearly 
 straight ; her person full and round, but 
 she was tall and of ujDright form. I never 
 heard a sweeter voice, and her hand was 
 
 so small and soft to the touch She 
 
 could not be a slave ! To-morrow a con- 
 stable may say to me, " Come, sir, help 
 capture my slave, and carry her back, or 
 you, sir, shall to prison for refusing." 
 This noble-spoken girl, who hath all the 
 centres fine of genial worth, and outer 
 form of all, that hath each her several 
 parts compounded into that one excellent 
 being, woman — a slave ! Why droops my 
 soul, that but a moment since would have 
 challenged the world in her behalf? A 
 pristine love a moment since, and, Heaven 
 witness, so soon shocked and dead ! Even 
 while the same eloquent beauty clings so 
 prayerfully by my side. Away, away, ye 
 cavilling, doubting, carrolers of my peace ! 
 She is a woman, fair and virtuous ! I will, 
 will be true ! 
 
 All this passed through my mind quicker 
 than I can tell it ; so that, when she ceased 
 speaking but for a moment, I told her she 
 could rely upon me ; that I would provide 
 her safety out of the country. Moreover, 
 that I would make myself a special guard- 
 ian over her until she was comfortably 
 situated. She pressed my hand fervently, 
 the tears fast rolling down her cheeks as 
 she gazed piteously up into my face. It 
 could not be, I thought, from her resem- 
 blance to Ann Underbill, that I loved her 
 also ; yet, if outward form and a gifted 
 speech show off the heart and mind, why 
 not some noble worth in this poor slave ? 
 
 " Now tell me," said I, after she had 
 again thanked me for my many promises, 
 " tell me of the misfortunes you have en- 
 dured, and how you came to this unhappy 
 pass." 
 
 " Not yet," said she, " for even now 
 may I be pounced upon and captured. 
 Let us away to some secure place, and I 
 will then tell you all about it, and who I 
 am and whence I came." 
 
 " Then," said I, " 'tis well we take the 
 train for Canada even now." 
 
 " No," she said ; " I have a half-sister 
 who will be here to-morrow night. She 
 is out of money. I must wait till she 
 comes. Let me go now to my room in 
 the deserted house, and, if you like, you 
 can call to-morrow, and I will tell you the 
 story of my life." 
 
 But I urged her to go to a hotel. She 
 said they had her carte-devisite at all of 
 them ; that she should surely be captured. 
 I then asked her if she were not afraid to 
 go back to that house. " No," she said, 
 " no ; I trust in God ! See how He has 
 blessed me ! " Again she pressed my hand, 
 adding, " Go, now, go, though it breaks 
 my heart ; still I have more joy this night 
 than ever before came to poor woman. 
 Say you call to-morrow ? " I told her I 
 would, and she said, " God bless you ! " 
 She took my arm, and we walked together 
 till we arrived at the intersection of the 
 lane on Pennsylvania Avenue. " To-mor- 
 row, at twelve," said I, as we were part- 
 ing, and she again wept, saying, " God 
 bless you ! " And in a moment more she 
 disappeared up the dark lane, and I went 
 home. 
 
LOVE AND WAR IN 1860. 
 
 65 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 BEING PART OF THE MOST IMPORTANT niSTORY EVER PENNED ; WHEREIN IS SHOWN THAT, WHEN THE 
 TOTES OP THE ELECTORAL COLLEGE WERE COUNTED, THE AMERICAN COLORS, RED, WHITE, AND 
 BLUE, APPEARED ON THE NOONDAY SUN. 
 
 Although the election of Lincoln had 
 been known for a good while, still the 
 counting of the votes of the electoral col- 
 lege had not taken place, and a vain hope 
 was still entertained by some Southerners 
 that some Northern electors might prove 
 false, and yet elect some other President. 
 This was the most doubtful period of the 
 nation's history. The rumor was spread, 
 too, that Scott was wavering, and might 
 join the seceders ; in fact, in all the length 
 and breadth of the land there was no pub- 
 lic champion for the Union. The hearts 
 of millions were praying that God might 
 give them a leader for the cause of national 
 glory and justice, but all was sullen silence, 
 save the clamoring of the destroyers of 
 liberty. They had it all their own way. 
 Now the electoral votes were to be counted, 
 the die cast, the fall begun. Accord- 
 ingly, this day was a memorable one. All 
 the leaders of disorder were concentrated 
 in the Capitol, and countless curious spec- 
 tators rilled its every avenue. It was about 
 eleven o'clock when we started. I had for 
 my companion Miss Underbill, while Judge 
 Francis had Mr., Mrs., and Miss Edge. I 
 knew we were all well attired, but the 
 scenes around made it seem as if it were 
 all a dream. I had never seen the streets 
 so crowded. The air was fresh and pleas- 
 ant, and the leafy trees of the Capitol 
 grounds never looked so splendid. The 
 reveille sounded afar off. They were 
 Scott's troops. I saw a few galloping 
 horsemen. I knew America had few 
 troops, and feared this was the beginning 
 of a mighty revolution. Everybody was 
 full of emotion. Some men, old and 
 feeble, I saw in tears. When we passed 
 the gates one man said, " I fear the great 
 republic is no more." Another, drooping, 
 said, " Oh, that I had died ere this un- 
 happy period ! " The bells were ringing, 
 or rather tolling, in parts of the city, add- 
 ing more gloom to the awful affairs of 
 state. Anon hurried past us the votaries 
 of secession, with muffled-up cloaks a 
 few, and many in rich but scanty attire ; 
 and the heinous laugh and grin of demons 
 
 rested in complacent triumph in their 
 beautiful faces ; for, though devils all, 
 they were Americans. It was the saddest 
 day I ever saw, and every one else, save 
 the secessionists, seemed as if throwing 
 the awful burden of their souls at the 
 portals of Heaven. Not a breath of air 
 stirred ; no leaf had motion. When we 
 arrived at the steps of the Capitol, near 
 the lower fount, we faced about to see the 
 vast assemblage. Ourselves saying little, 
 for so solemn was the hour — as if a nation 
 was at prayer ; as if Liberty was in the 
 throes of death ; as if the voice of twenty 
 millions were in communion at the throne 
 of Almighty God ! My companion touch- 
 ed my arm, and we looked aside and be- 
 held Breckinridge ; he was with Rhett, 
 Floyd, and Davis. He was one of the 
 candidates for President ; he was going 
 in to count the votes himself. Soon we 
 all followed, and in a minute more were 
 standing in full view of the expected scene. 
 It was then twelve o'clock precisely. Pen- 
 nington called the House to order. Stock- 
 ton then prayed, the substance of which 
 was, " God bless the out-going Admin- 
 istration. May it close its labors without 
 further violence or more stain of blood. 
 We pray for the President elect. Thy 
 blessing rest upon him ; protect him 
 hitherward ; guide him with Thy coun- 
 sel, that he may administer the affairs of 
 state as a worthy example of civil and 
 religious liberty." 
 
 The House then sent a message to the 
 Senate, requesting them to enter, in order 
 to count the votes together. I never saw 
 such excellent order. You could have 
 heard a pin fall. When the Senate enter- 
 ed, the House arose to do them honor, 
 and provided them a circular line near 
 the Speaker's desk. Breckinridge, the 
 slaveholders' candidate, being Vice-Presi- 
 dent of the United States, and President 
 of the Senate, took his seat beside the 
 Speaker. In a moment all was order 
 again. Breckinridge then rose up, say- 
 ing, " We have assembled pursuant to 
 the Constitution, in order that the elee- 
 
6fi 
 
 TOE FALL OF FORT SUMTER ; OR, 
 
 toral votes be counted, and the result 
 declared for President and Vice-President 
 lor the term commencing March 4th, 18G1. 
 It is my duty to oj}en the certificates of 
 election, in the presence of the two Houses, 
 and I now proceed to the performance of 
 that duty." 
 
 When he ceased, the House was even 
 more quiet than before ; and as he took 
 each sealed package from each State, and 
 broke the seal, it seemed to send a death- 
 like shudder over every person present. 
 He handed the packages to the tellers to 
 be counted. Oh, what a terrible spell 
 now came upon us ! Six thousand of us 
 were present, and we all trembled for the 
 result. The Southern States were under 
 threat, if Lincoln be elected, they would 
 secede and destroy the nation. Even now 
 were they silently praying, nursing their 
 vainglory and hellish glee, for a cause to 
 show their foolish madness. This cause 
 would come of Lincoln's election. Oh, 
 that they could show how ugly they could 
 be, for the seeming menace against their 
 glut in human bondage ! Their prayers 
 were full of curses. They mocked the 
 God of Justice. Might w T as their king. 
 Like tigers they were, gazing at the tell- 
 ers, to tell them to say it if they dare. 
 And yet they feared. They had boasted 
 they would ; and conscience — for they 
 were Americans — still swept o'er them. 
 But the blindness of uncertain failure 
 had seized on them ; the rays of national 
 glory were being sealed to them forever. 
 Pitiful creatures ! what a bleeding shame 
 to the great republic ! For your madness 
 to damn your country. 
 
 Not less, though, were we prayerful the 
 while. We viewed the tellers in their 
 routine, with our hearts divided. Lincoln 
 was on the side of liberty, and most we 
 hoped he would be elected. But we loved 
 the opposite party — not for its principles, 
 but they too were our countrymen. Al- 
 most we hoped against our wishes, and 
 wished against our hopes. We would 
 not enrage our fellows. Yet, with silent 
 pledge, we said to Almighty God, Thy 
 will be done. Give us this day the result 
 of the voice of the nation. Thou hast 
 prospered us, and we know that Thy wis- 
 dom will ever guard us. If it be that the 
 voice of the great republic is for Lincoln, 
 so shall we stand trusting in Thy name. 
 
 Now, while we thus in silence sat, and 
 much feared, musing in awful mood, the 
 tellers fast told over all the States' de- 
 crees, as each State had by parts its 
 several parts proclaimed. Anon this 
 silence ceased. Then Breckinridge, with 
 trembling hand, held up a slip of pa- 
 
 per, reading, even while he grew deathly 
 pale : 
 
 " Douglas, twelve ; Bell, thirty-nine ; 
 Breckinridge, seventy-two; Lincoln, one 
 
 hundred and eighty."' 
 
 Every person present seemed as dead. 
 Even our breath had nearly ceased. Anon 
 a tgar from many an eye stole down. No 
 one looked on another. Countrymen — all 
 — the banter forth and challenge taken. 
 But fast the blood returned to Breckin- 
 ridge's face, and almost black he was 
 with choking madness. " Linroln has," 
 he said, " the majority of the whole vote. 
 He is elected President. Hamlin is elect- 
 ed Vice-President." He could say no 
 more ; the eyes of six thousand people 
 were gazing on him, and he was the van- 
 quished candidate. We piticcl him. He 
 was the slaveholders' choice, but not the 
 nation's. The law is, that the majority 
 shall rule ; but not so now, thought the 
 vanquished and his adherents. They swore, 
 though not aloud, they would not submit : 
 and this was the first treason formed 
 in the hearts of men on this continent. 
 
 Soon the senators took their departure ; 
 the House meanwhile had risen to their 
 feet in due honor. Such was the terrible 
 day — the hour of death. But darkness 
 was over us all ; the country was without 
 Heaven's sign ; like a clash of arms in a 
 midnight battle, the wail and war-whoop 
 was heard, but the end no man saw. 
 " The slave party is beaten ; will it yield 
 to the nation's ballot ? Will it try by 
 arms wdiat it failed by moral power ? 
 And will not the liberty party cringe to 
 them, and plunge the whole in chaos ? " 
 Thus we said, and thus mused, even from 
 the moment the Senate left. Then the 
 busy voice of maddened whispers ran 
 amongst the six thousand people. Louder 
 grew the hum, and order ceased. We 
 turned, amidst the throng that now be- 
 came a moving mass, and slowly made 
 way beneath the dome and thence toward 
 the upper porch that faces the grounds 
 above the Capitol. Quick now past our- 
 selves we saw Floyd, Madame Ponchard 
 on his arm, and Orsini near, all making 
 way to the open plot beyond, where 
 grouped a thousand men and women, 
 gazing upward. Before we cleared the 
 trees, we were near Washington's statue, 
 and then, in view full of the dim-like 
 sun, we gazed and saw the colors in their 
 brightest hue, the red, white, and blue.* 
 
 " See ! see ! " said Floyd, for he and 
 Yancey, and others, were just a pace 
 ahead, and as he pointed to the sun ; " I 
 
 * This was seen that day by sixty thousand people. 
 
LOVE AND WAR IN 1860. 
 
 67 
 
 care not, though Heaven curse, we can, 
 we will disprove such a foolish sign." 
 
 And then Yancey said, smiling, "This 
 is God's farewell to the Stars and Stripes. 
 He is with us." 
 
 " No, I will tell you," said Madame 
 Ponchard ; " for you see there are no 
 stars. This is a new flag for us. The 
 red is a challenge to our foes ; the white 
 is a white man's government ; and the 
 blue is the menial North." And then 
 they all laughed heartily, turning around to 
 see if others laughed at what they had said. 
 
 Not two yards distant was I, my face 
 shaved even as on the previous evening, 
 when I had imposed upon them in effect- 
 ing an entrance at the secret meeting. 
 They were astounded, but refrained from 
 violence, because I had a lady in my com- 
 pany ; though in low whispers they point- 
 ed me out to Madame Ponchard and Orsini. 
 The crowd meanwhile became so great that 
 I soon lost sight of them, but again en- 
 countered the Judge and Vickey. His 
 old silver spectacles were thrown high 
 upon his forehead, and be was alternately 
 looking at the sun and his fair one, to 
 whom he introduced nearly every one he 
 met. He only introduced them, though, 
 then kept on, as it were, with an inter- 
 rupted discourse on the planets and on 
 the rays of light. So he says to us, " Ha ! 
 ha ! Jenkins and Ann — fine day ! — Miss 
 Victoria Edge ! " and, before we had time 
 to say anything, he turns to Vickey : " As 
 I was saying, the parallax seems as it were 
 to conjoin, and the effect is more or less 
 transmitted to the rays of light within 
 the earth's atmosphere. Just as I told 
 Agassiz in the researches on spherical ac- 
 tion — ah ! " and he turns to Mr. Holt, 
 " ah, Mr. Holt ! strange phenomenon ! 
 Shall I introduce you to Miss Edge, of 
 Ohio ? " and again, not waiting for a 
 reply, he goes on to Vickey : " If you 
 comprehend me, I only allude to its pas- 
 sage through our atmosphere. Humboldt, 
 you know, seemed to doubt somewhat on 
 this point. Fine day, Mrs. Barrow ! Shall 
 I make you acquainted with Miss Victoria 
 Edge, daughter of the great railroad con- 
 tractor of that name ? " and he bow^, and 
 good-naturedly turns away, saying to 
 Vickey, " It is indeed, as you may im- 
 agine, a pity that our great authors dwelt 
 so little on this subject." 
 
 His style attracted attention. Those 
 who knew him not, wanted to ; and those 
 who knew him wished to hear him fur- 
 ther, and these desires pleased Vickey ; 
 for what girl would not love to walk 
 with a man that could so easily attract 
 attention ? 
 
 " See my uncle," said Ann, " sailing 
 away with that young girl. Don't an 
 old bachelor always act silly ? Indeed, 
 I believe a wife is a looking-glass through 
 which a man can learn to see himself." 
 
 " Then 'tis better," said I, " some men 
 never get wives, for some are blest in their 
 ignorance of not seeing themselves. Yet 
 I would that I could so see myself " 
 
 " Come," said she, pulling at my arm, 
 " come ; I fear this sun will give me head- 
 ache." 
 
 And thus she ever broke off the dia- 
 logue that I had so often ventured on. 
 She could playfully speak of marriage, 
 but the instant I took it up she found 
 something more important to talk of. In 
 this instance I was about to bring her to 
 account for her style, when w T e reentered 
 the Capitol, and passed under the dome, 
 where were congregated about a hundred 
 people. At the head, and spokesman for 
 the whole, was Rhett. Near him stood 
 Davis ; but Mason was skulked aside in 
 listening attitude. " Never ! never ! " I 
 heard Rhett say. " They may battle us, 
 they may beat us, but never, never can 
 they subdue us. 
 
 " The common mob has now outraged the state, 
 It has made fools of us, and libsrty. 
 Judgment is dead, and vagabonds, foul brained 
 By the base clamor of stump-orators. 
 Force on the state thtir low-bred bullies, 
 Regardless of all law and decency. 
 Our nature dues revolt at this hase stuff, 
 And we will banish it. So help me Heaven, 
 We shall despoil the whole, or have our rights. 
 In God's name Southerners rise to the work ; 
 Uncover this foul thing ; disembowel it, 
 Strip yourselves to the skin, and bathe your hands 
 In its sweet blood. Snivel and bow who will, 
 Gentemen have no choice but to strike out. 
 Before to-morrow's set tins sun my State 
 Shall rend the bunds ; we shall be, shall be free. 
 The government of Adams, Washington, 
 And Jefferson was that which we adjoined, 
 And it is gone, effaced— aye, dead and buried. 
 Government none has this republic now. 
 Forsooth a boatman, fresh from the deck, 
 And sun iking with the smell of pork, 
 His knuckles big with handling greasy barrels, 
 And such a foot — as flat as any nigger's ; — 
 What ! for h's very jackass qualities 
 Made President of these United States ! 
 No, no, no ! I am wrong ; this pretty pass 
 Is national glory. Any ass can. be 
 A President, and we'll go on our bellies 
 To him, as part of our religious bliss. 
 Now hark you. I'll go tin thousa d, Lincoln 
 Never reaches Washington. The thing's too dirty, 
 It will never be stomached by an intelligent people." 
 
 He then turned to leave, and many men 
 present shouted huzzah at the top of their 
 voices. Mason, who was downcast, his 
 hands deep-crammed in his pockets, now 
 came to Rhett, and said he would like to 
 talk to him about these affairs, stating also 
 that, as the Government had really ceased 
 to live, it was necessary something should 
 be done to save the country from coming 
 to civil war, and perhaps entire destruc- 
 
68 
 
 THE FALL OF FORT SUMTER ; OR, 
 
 tion. Rhett burst into tears, saying, " My 
 dear sir, I cannot. I cavil no more. This 
 day I leave Washington, never to return. 
 An ungrateful country has turned the 
 South out of doors. I go now to draw 
 my sword against ingratitude. I shall 
 only hereafter pull down the tottering 
 edifice, to make way for something sound 
 and noble. Go, tell Buchanan this — to- 
 morrow one star shall be ripped from the 
 American flag." 
 
 " God bless you ! My heart is with 
 you," said Mason, and he shook hands 
 with him. " Tell Thompson and Ste- 
 phens their doctrine's frail ; that, in try- 
 ing to take the whole country, they will 
 not take even their own States. South 
 Carolina will go alone." 
 
 Again they shook hands, each prophe- 
 sying that war Avould in all probability 
 prevent them from ever meeting again. 
 Hardly had they separated, both nearly 
 overcome with the affairs of state, when 
 a loud, uncouth laugh directed our atten- 
 tion toward the lower steps. " I tell you 
 they are vanquished. I tell you, Pro- 
 fessor, they are vanquished ! " and again 
 the laugh rang out, and we distinguished 
 Mrs. Lucy Tabiatha Stimrjkins and Pro- 
 fessor Jackson. " You see," she con- 
 tinued, " Lincoln's election has knocked 
 these fellows. Thanks to the Harmonial 
 philosophy, this is a triumph of Liberty 
 — a triumph for human freedom — a tri- 
 umph of the genial power of woman. I 
 well remember when these fellows, not 
 long since, run me out of the telegraph 
 office by their unseemly laughter. Now 
 I can laugh — ha ! ha ! Professor Jack- 
 son ? " 
 
 Jackson. — " Indeed, it is the first triumph 
 I have enjoyed." 
 
 Mrs. Lucy. — Oh, no, Professor ! the honor 
 is not mine, but my principles. A New 
 York paper has for years claimed that it 
 always elected the Presidents. But now 
 let that editor look, and see what woman 
 has done. To see those fellows, those 
 dealers in human flesh, wdth tears in their 
 eyes, and w T hining at the giant power of 
 woman ! " In another moment she darted 
 through the crowd, Professor Jackson try- 
 ing to follow, even while roars of laughter 
 sprang from the throats of thousands. 
 
 For my part, I rather enjoyed it, but 
 gentle Ann turned away her face, saying, 
 " Oh, for shame ! Take me home, I pray 
 you." 
 
 " Why, no," I said ; " let us follow a 
 little, and see what more she says." But 
 my companion hid her face with her fan, 
 and pulled at me to go the other way, and 
 T went. I saw other ladies do so too, and 
 
 I wondered at it, for the men all longed 
 to follow Mrs. Lucy, to hear the style of 
 her enjoyment. 
 
 After we came below the Capitol, we 
 looked at the sun again, and the colors 
 were still there — a fact which I remarked 
 to my companion ; whereupon she sug- 
 gested that we should seat ourselves be- 
 neath the trees, and await the issue. But 
 I told her I was under the necessity of 
 hastening home, because I was to carry 
 the result of the vote to the President. 
 
 "You - have never a moment to spare 
 when we walk out," said she. I told her 
 then we would linger awhile if she liked, 
 though she said, "No; when I bethink 
 me, now, I have no time either." And so 
 we started homeward. I often wondered 
 why it was that I did not seize upon the 
 opportunity she offered. When we reach- 
 ed the gate we were met by the clerk, who 
 had anticipated our weariness, and brought 
 the Judge's carriage to take us home. He 
 had the best joke of the season, he said, 
 and he longed to tell it to me in full, al- 
 though he further said that the joke was 
 not yet fully completed. At that instant 
 Wadsworth came up, and got into the car- 
 riage ; whereupon the clerk winked to me, 
 as much as to say I should come near him, 
 and leave Miss Underbill to the care of 
 Wadsworth. Before I reflected, I agreed 
 to it ; but, I have ever since considered it 
 a very weak thing on my part. 
 
 In a little while we were all safely en- 
 sconced in the Jackson House. The clerk 
 asked me to w ? ait in the office a little while, 
 and he would tell me the joke he had on 
 foot. Just then the Judge, with the Edge 
 family, came up, and the clerk, seeing them, 
 shouted, " Oh, indeed ! now is to be en- 
 acted the other part of the joke ; " and 
 at that he broke away, and thereupon took 
 the Judge and the Edge family in by an- 
 other way. I waited a while, to hear wdiat 
 it was that he should be so excited about, 
 and presently I saw him through the scut- 
 tle window, looking in toward the parlor. 
 He was laughing to himself fit to kill. 
 This made me uneasy, for I wished also 
 to enjoy what he was laughing at, but 
 still I remained a long while a spectator. 
 Finally he broke away, and ran to where 
 I was, exclaiming, " It's took ! egad, it's 
 took ! Oh, the best joke ! " and he 
 slapped his thighs and laughed heartily. 
 As soon as he quieted a little I told him 
 to tell me the joke. 
 
 " I have just completed the greatest 
 feat," said he, and he took me aside ; 
 " the very greatest feat you ever heard of. 
 You know," said he, " the Judge is dead 
 in love with Vickey, and believes she is 
 
LOVE AND WAR IN 1860. 
 
 69 
 
 going to marry him. And, would you 
 think it ? I've got an old maid dead in 
 love with the Judge. You know Mrs. 
 Edge — kind-hearted old woman ! She 
 wonders why the Judge is always round 
 them. So, a week ago, I sat down and 
 talked the matter over with her. I told 
 her the Judge admired her more than he 
 did any woman he ever saw. She believed 
 it— felt wonderfully flattered ; whereupon 
 I told her that any of the Edge family was 
 an angel to the Judge. 
 
 " ' Indeed, do you think so ? ' said she. 
 
 " Said I, ' I know so. He told me he 
 never saw so fair and noble a woman as 
 you. He is tired of fashionable follies. 
 He says that you are not ashamed to own 
 that you once made candles and soap for 
 a living, and he loves you for it.' 
 
 " ' Well, really,' said she, ' I kind of 
 thought so. I admire him for it, too. 
 But, you know such things must not be 
 talked of. I will tell you,' she added, in 
 a whisper, ' I have a maiden sister, the 
 very picture of me (only, some folks say I 
 was a little— just a little — handsomer than 
 she is), and she has three thousand dollars. 
 Now, what is your opinion ? If I send for 
 her, do you think he would take her ? ' 
 
 " ' Of course he would,' said I. ' He 
 would marry any one related to you ; I 
 know he would.' 
 
 " ' Well, now, really ! ' said she, smiling. 
 1 They are just about the same age, only 
 I must say she may look a little older of 
 the two ; but then, you know women al- 
 ways get to looking old sooner than men.' 
 
 " I told her to lose no time, but send for 
 her sister at once. When this conversation 
 was ended the old woman became so 
 anxious about it, that she immediately 
 wrote and posted a letter to her 
 sister. So now, to-day, while all of you 
 were off to the Capitol — in fact, all the 
 Edges, too, being absent — the old maiden 
 sister came, all breathless and dirt, fearing 
 some of the Edge family were dying, be- 
 cause they had sent for her to come. She is 
 the strangest old creature I ever saw — so 
 tall and thin, and leaned away over, and 
 as harmless seeming as an angel. I don't 
 think she is exactly in her right wits, but 
 it may come from her old age. Well, as 
 I was going to say, you were all absent 
 when she came. I met her at the door, 
 and she asked me for the landlord. I 
 told her I was the man ; and she smiled 
 enough to show me she had not a tooth 
 in her head, as she said, 
 
 " ' Indeed, sir, you are a youngdooking 
 man to have a tavern like this. Can you 
 tell me, sir, what is the matter ? My name 
 is Peggy Van Dorn.' 
 
 " I knew, then, who she was, and I put 
 my hand on my breast, sighing, 
 
 " ' Ah, indeed, my lady, there's matter 
 enough ! ' 
 
 " 'What ! are they dying ? ' said she, 
 and she pulled out her awful long hand- 
 kerchief, and eyed me with great solem- 
 nity. 
 
 " ' Worse than death, I fear,' said I. 
 ' Did they send for you ? ' 
 
 " ' They did, and I hurried with all my 
 might ; the trains are so slow I thought 
 I'd never get here.' 
 
 " ' Well indeed,' said I, ' you might 
 hurry. You are the only hope ; it rests 
 with you.' 
 
 " She then got her long handkerchief 
 to her eyes, and began to snuffle a little. 
 I told her that none of them were sick, 
 but if she would step into the parlor I 
 would tell her all about it. She at once 
 went in, I having told her you were all 
 off to the Capitol. When she got in she 
 took off her bonnet and laid it down on 
 the floor beside her with much care, fre- 
 quently stopping to wring her nose and 
 wipe away the tears. 
 
 " ' You must know, then,' I began, ' here 
 in Washington is one Judge Francis Un- 
 derbill, of Loudon Heights, the wisest 
 man that ever lived, and the handsomest. 
 He is worth two millions of dollars. Well, 
 now, mind you, you must not blame a man 
 for what he cannot help, nor must you 
 think hard of Washington society for 
 what you yourself might do. You are 
 aware, also, of the beauty and nobleness 
 of your sister, Mrs. Edge, and of her ten 
 thousand pleasing charms. This Judge, 
 this millionnaire, has formed a powerful 
 attachment to her, and he is well-nigh 
 distracted to learn that she is already 
 married. The wisest counsel of this city 
 has been in session, to determine what to 
 do about it, not wishing to see so great 
 a man throw himself away in such a man- 
 ner. Many of them having been ac- 
 quainted with you, and knowing the 
 striking resemblance between you and 
 your sister, it has been decided that in 
 this emergency you should consult with 
 the Judge, in hopes that your excellent 
 judgment may devise a means to win his 
 affections away from her.' 
 
 " She looked steadily at me a moment, 
 and then said, ' How old is he ? ' 
 
 " I told her he was about sixty. 
 
 " ' I'm afraid he's too old for me,' said 
 she, and again slie wiped her eyes, seem- 
 ing lost in reflection. ' I am but fifty-one, 
 past since last 4th of July.' 
 
 " ' That's nothing,' said I ; ' you cannot 
 be insensible to the fact vou are both at 
 
70 
 
 TEE FALL OF FORT SUMTER ; OR, 
 
 least old enough to marry. You do not 
 wish to live to be an old maid ? ' 
 
 " She shook her head in the negative, 
 and then changed her bonnet over to the 
 other side. ' How much did you say he's 
 worth ? ' said she. 
 
 " ' He's worth a million of dollars,' 
 said I. 
 
 " ' I thought you said two millions,' 
 said she. 
 
 " ' Well, I dare say,' said I, ' he is 
 worth two millions. It is almost impos- 
 sible to estimate his wealth.' 
 
 " Again she shook her head in the 
 negative, and looked straight out another 
 way. 
 
 " ' You are aware, also,' said I, ' that 
 there are plenty of instances where men 
 have fallen in love with other men's 
 wives, resulting in the most fearful con- 
 sequences. I must not name them, but 
 the history of this city is not clear of 
 such stains ; and if we go to England, 
 France, and Italy, we find high life full 
 of it. In all countries, in the highest 
 walks of life, the marriages are always 
 planned out by proxy, the persons them- 
 selves being merely children to the wise 
 counsels of their best friends. In many 
 countries it has been found necessary to 
 make a law governing the marriages of 
 the heirs of royal and imperial families. 
 In this country, of course, we have no 
 such law ; but then, you know, the same 
 thing is done in other ways. We find 
 we must protect the truly noble. You 
 and the Edge family have risen from can- 
 dle-makers and soap-boilers to be persons 
 of the highest quality. Nobleness is yours 
 by nature.' 
 
 " ' I have always felt that,' she said, and 
 she seemed to see a ray of happiness beam- 
 ing on her withered future. 
 
 " ' It is, therefore, thought meet and 
 proper that we bring you and the Judge 
 face to face, to see if indeed such a mar- 
 riage might not be not only a thing of 
 necessity, but a pleasurable consumma- 
 tion. He has already given his consent, 
 and longs to be presented to you.' 
 
 " I feared I was getting it on too thick, 
 and so I waited a moment to see what 
 reply she would make. Having taken 
 her bonnet up and set it down on the 
 other side, and flourished her handker- 
 chief a little, and brushed awaj r some 
 imaginary specks from her dress, she 
 finally ventured to ask, ' What kind of 
 looking man is he ? ' and I answered and 
 said, ' One of the most noble you ever laid 
 eyes on. He is, to be sure, rather stout 
 and fleshy, but he is so fair and so fresh, 
 like a ripe apple. He is not tall, nor is 
 
 he short ; and he carries his head con- 
 siderably in the rear of his abdominal 
 viscera, iu real royal fashion. His fore- 
 head is so large, and extends so far over 
 the top of his head, you would almost 
 think him bald; but this comes of his 
 princely blood. Such feet and hands ! 
 they arc like a lady's, so soft and delicate.' 
 
 "Again I waited a moment to see the 
 impression I made on her, and she replied 
 that she had read somewhere that oppo- 
 site figures made even numbers; that, as 
 she was tall, she needed a stout man ; that 
 her hands and feet were large, and so she 
 had always admired Bmall ones most. 
 
 " Now, while we talked thus, I was ap- 
 prised the Judge might return any mo- 
 ment, and I might be caught in a rather 
 meddlesome business. Accordingly I as- 
 sured her that the Judge's mind was made 
 up ; that she must take it for granted that 
 every one was expecting her to reciprocate 
 his affection, and never to cast a doubt in 
 the way. * You have, therefore,' I con- 
 cluded, ' nothing more to say, when you 
 meet him, than that the proposed mar- 
 riage is your extreme pleasure. But if 
 you, when you see him, do not like him, 
 you can tell him that you oppose the mar- 
 riage, and it will end there.' I rose up 
 then to go, and she rose up too, dangling 
 her bonnet by the strings, and with some 
 hesitancy she asked, ' You think he's got 
 the money ? ' I assured her there was no 
 doubt about that at all, and then told her 
 to keep her seat till I brought in the Judge. 
 She looked both pleased and scared, and 
 complied with my request. Then I sallied 
 out to meet the Judge, and to post him 
 on the part he was to play. Fortunately, 
 I met him near the gate, and called him 
 aside, leaving Mrs. Edge, Mr. Edge, and 
 Vickey viewing the rainbow round the 
 sun. 
 
 " ' Now, Judge,' said I, as soon as I 
 got him alone, ' I have more to tell you 
 about your expected marriage than you 
 ever dreamed of.' 
 
 " ' Pooh ! ' said he ; ' about my mar- 
 riage ? ' 
 
 " ' There is no use making long words 
 about it, Judge,' said I ; ' I know you and 
 Vickey are dead in love with each other, 
 and I know, too, that a great obstacle is 
 in the way, which will probably prevent 
 you from ever marrying. No joking, 
 Judge ; I want a fashionable wedding at 
 our hotel, and I want everything to go 
 off smoothly; but I tell you there is a 
 cat in the bag, and it will scratch like 
 fury if you don't look out.' The Judge 
 thought there might be some truth in it, 
 and he merely told me to go on, to say 
 
LOVE AND WAR IN 1SG0. 
 
 71 
 
 what I had to say. ' Now,' said I, ' Judge, 
 you know Mrs. Edge has never given her 
 consent, and she is really the master over 
 Vickey's affections. She can, by the mere 
 crook of her finger, turn her daughter's 
 love all over to Prescott, for whom the 
 girl has a great admiration. Now, there 
 is one way in which the old woman can 
 be wou over, and that is through her old 
 maiden sister. This is a poor, old, 
 dwindled creature, not worth a pinch of 
 snuff. And yet Mrs. Edge does whatever 
 this old half-witted maid bids her; she 
 looks to her, in fact, as a master, ruling 
 spirit. Now I come to the joke : I put 
 up Mrs. Edge to send for this old maid 
 (so we could have the thing in our own 
 hands), in order to let her see high life 
 in "Washington. The maid has come, and 
 is now at the Jackson House. I want you 
 to soft-soap her up — in fact, to court her 
 a little, no matter how distasteful it may 
 be, in order that she may buy over Mrs. 
 Edge's goodwill to us. I have had a long 
 talk with her. Her name is Peggy Van 
 Dorn ; and I told her that you and Vickey 
 were in such great hopes that her influence 
 would overcome Mrs. Edge, that she had 
 been sent for for that very purpose. And 
 I promised her that, for her good influence 
 in this, we would all put our heads to- 
 gether and secure a husband for herself 
 in the bargain. She is in great glee, and 
 I do hope we can keep it up ; perhaps 
 some fun will come of it.' 
 
 " ' Now, as I am a Judge,' said he, ' you 
 are the cunningest rascal I ever heard of! 
 But say, you, can we not get up some old 
 fool to marry her ? I w T ould enjoy it so 
 much ! Why, I can make an old woman 
 like that believe she is a perfect angel. 
 But how could you invent such a thing 
 for such an old person ? Oh, you rascal ! ' 
 
 " ' Oh, we'll marry her off to somebody,' 
 said I ; ' we'll pay her off some way ; only 
 vou play well your part.' 
 
 " ' Trust me to that,' said he. ' I'll do 
 such wonders on her affections as makes 
 Cupid tremble for his profession. You 
 leave that to me.' 
 
 ■• We then returned to the carriage, and, 
 with our company, proceeded to the Jack- 
 son House. On the way up I told them 
 all of the arrival of Miss Peggy Van Dorn, 
 and of her desire to see them all. 
 
 " As soon as we alighted, Mrs. Edge and 
 Vickey hastened in to see her ; Mr. Edge 
 •went into the office to examine his papers 
 in reference to some new railroad project. 
 With the Jud^e I lingered outside till the 
 
 common greetings between the ladies 
 should be over, and then we entered the 
 parlur. Of course, the Judge was intro- 
 duced, and a general free conversation 
 ensued about the result of the doings at 
 the Capitol. In a little wdiile, however, 
 Mrs. Edge called Vickey, being anxious 
 to leave the Judge with her sister for a 
 moment, promising that she would return 
 to the parlor in one minute. The Judge 
 then told her of his extreme happiness in 
 getting acquainted with the Edge family, 
 and added that there was only one link 
 to fasten, before the chainwork would be 
 completed, which would be the happiest 
 event of his life. ' It seems as though I 
 still have another consent to win, and 
 that is yours.' She was silent, and pull- 
 ing furiously at the bonnet strings. ' You 
 know, at your time of life, which, like my 
 own, is well-nigh spent, a little encourage- 
 ment is a thing of great joy. You are yet 
 capable of feeling those warm emotions, 
 and you know, too, that a brighter day 
 awaits your happy decision.' 
 
 " I don't believe she knew a word he 
 said, and I thought she had foi'gotten 
 what I said ; so I kept near her back, 
 digging her old ribs, telling her to say, 
 ' I admire you, sir ; I consent to the mar- 
 riage, sir ; ' but she was so frightened, 
 and withal had so much fuss with her 
 bonnet strings, and I feared every mo- 
 ment some one else would come in, that 
 I was nearly frantic with anxiety. 
 
 " ' You have been apprized of Mrs. 
 Edge's decision ? ' asked the Judge. 
 " ' Oh, yes, sir ; I — I — ' she replied. 
 
 " ' Well,' said he, ' I trust we understand 
 each other ? ' 
 
 " ' Tell him you consent,' said I ; and, 
 before she thought, she said, 
 
 " ' Oh, yes ; I — I consent to the mar- 
 riage.' 
 
 " The Judge then took her withered 
 hand in his, saying, ' I say, now, you are 
 a very queen, an angel. I never saw such 
 majesty. You have performed your part 
 like a princess of the royal family of 
 Britain ; ' and he danced about, dragging 
 her after him in greater glee than I had 
 seen him in a dozen years ; and she 
 herself danced a little. Just then Vickey 
 and her mother came in, exclaiming, ' Well, 
 did I ever ! ' I turned, and told them the 
 Judge was so anxious to meet one that re- 
 joiced in Lincoln's election, that he danced 
 like a child. They then took her out, and 
 I returned to the office." 
 
 Thus ended the clerk's story. 
 
72 
 
 THE FALL OF FORT SUMTER ; OR, 
 
 CHATTER X 
 
 Short sentences, I said to Jenkins, are 
 easily understood. We can always dis- 
 cover in them the author's meaning. Re- 
 ferred him to many authors, naming even 
 some of our greatest modern citizen wri- 
 ters. But, he said, for his part he liked 
 long sentences the best, and maintained 
 that they left the sweetest and most im- 
 pressive influence, referring me to one of 
 our great American poets, quoting this 
 beautiful verse : 
 
 " I laid on my back and viewed the setting sun, 
 And, as the radiance laded out, 
 I sucked the sky to keep it there." 
 
 And, as a proof of its elegance, he told 
 me that that poet had been named after 
 the famous cotton mills of Massachusetts 
 simply for having sucked the sky. He 
 smiled in triumph, and, taking up his 
 notes, proceeded as follows : 
 
 I had no more time to spare than to 
 hear the clerk's story, but hastily took 
 leave of gentle Ann and Wadsworth, 
 whom I most reluctantly had to leave 
 together while I departed to acquaint the 
 President with the result of the election. 
 This was only a few minutes — at most not 
 an hour — after we were at the Capitol. 
 But what was my surprise, on going to 
 the door of the Jackson House, to behold 
 Floyd, Davis, Mason, Madame Ponchard, 
 and Orsini flying past in a carriage drawn 
 by two spirited horses in the direction of 
 the White House. I determined to be 
 there before them, and ordered my driver 
 accordingly ; being well armed, and fully 
 determined that, if Floyd gave me any 
 justifiable ground at all, I would be a full 
 match for him. In fact, I even hoped that 
 he would shoot at me, or stab me, or in 
 some w r ay give me an excuse for ending 
 his career. It could not be gainsaid that 
 he had bartered himself, and his oath, and 
 his office. He had forfeited still more 
 sacred trusts, and even publicly challenged 
 God to grind his body into dust if he ever 
 again yielded to his former obligations ; 
 that not a vestige of this country should 
 ever be governed by States prohibiting 
 slavery. He revoked all his former life, 
 and now stood sworn the opposite way, 
 even while he was Secretary of War. 
 Davis was more silent and cunning, using 
 
 him as a cat's-paw to his deeper-laid 
 schemes. Rhett, Davis, and Toombs 
 were, in fact, the master spirits; while 
 the more profane and weaker instru- 
 ments, Cobl), Yancey, Floyd, Mason, 
 Slidell, Hunter, Thompson, Iverson, Breck- 
 enridge, Wigfall, Miles, and others, were 
 barking bloodhounds sent out to start the 
 game. 
 
 Buchanan was waiting in the hall to 
 receive me ; for, though he had heard 
 from the general election that Lincoln 
 was elected, he still clung to the hope 
 that in the electoral college some of the 
 minority candidates might come over, 
 and, through their united votes, beat 
 Lincoln. There was scarcely a shadow 
 of difference between Douglas, Bell, and 
 Breckinridge. They had all run on the 
 slaveholders' platform, only the former ran 
 it blind in deceiving the people. They 
 had merely lent themselves to a pretended 
 difference, but all for a Southern, sectional, 
 slave purpose. Lincoln ran against all 
 these men, and on a platform to settle all 
 the national troubles by a constitutional 
 amendment. He beat them all. The na- 
 tion decided to amend the Constitution, 
 so as to prohibit slavery where the other 
 party wanted to introduce it. The ques- 
 tion was settled. The election made it 
 law in the hearts of the American people. 
 All it needed was execution. Now, this 
 being so, the beaten party would never 
 have hereafter a clue for arguments, 
 whereby they could obtain office. This 
 election made their political death. 
 
 As I stated before, the President was 
 waiting for me, apparently very much 
 downcast, and he hardly saw me ere he 
 feebly said, 
 
 " Tell me, sir, oh, I pray you, is it true ? 
 Has he indeed the majority of all the 
 votes ? " ■ 
 
 " He has," said I ; "it is certainly true ; 
 Lincolu is elected to be the next Presi- 
 dent," 
 
 " That can never be ! " he said ; " no 
 man shall ever be President of these 
 United States after me. What say Davis, 
 Toombs, and Rhett ? " 
 
 " Rhett has gone home," said I, " and 
 he gave strict orders that you be informed 
 
LOVE AND WAK IN 1860. 
 
 73 
 
 that, ere tomorrow's setting sun, one star . 
 shall be ripped from the American flag." 
 
 "I told the people this," replied Bu- 
 chanan. " They would not go according 
 to the Constitution. They have voted to 
 rob the South of the vast "West, and the 
 South will never stand it. That great 
 unsettled territory was as much intended 
 by the Constitution to be for the South 
 as for the North. But this vote has used 
 the liberty of voting the national domain 
 over to the free States. If there be war, 
 the North have themselves to blame. I'll 
 never raise a hand in their behalf. If 
 there is any justice at all, it is all on the 
 other side. Come in ; I shall write such 
 a message, and you shall pen it for me, 
 that the very reading of it shall overturn 
 this whole affair. Take my word for it, 
 if there be ever another President for the 
 whole of the States, it will be either Davis 
 or Toombs, Lincoln's election to the con- 
 trary notwithstanding." 
 
 Hardly had we turned to enter the Man- 
 sion t when Prescott came uf> on a full run, 
 shouting, 
 
 " South Carolina has already passed the 
 ordinance of secession. It was passed 
 unanimously, immediately on receipt 
 of the news, by telegraph, from Rhett, of 
 the result of the electoral vote." 
 
 We were astounded. It had been sus- 
 pected, but not to take place so suddenly. 
 Buchanau nodded his head a little aside, 
 saying, 
 
 " I told them so ; I told them so." 
 
 He then took us both in, and we all 
 seated ourselves to weigh the matter at 
 our ease. Just then Davis and Floyd 
 came in, even without any ceremony, the 
 doors being open, and affording a free 
 passage. 
 
 " I know the meaning of this," said 
 Floyd, as soon as we were all squarely 
 face to face. He eyed me. " It is the 
 furtherance of that dastardly election ; it 
 is a hurried dodge to sway a Christian 
 President from his constitutional obliga- 
 tions." 
 
 I told him I was ordered by the Presi- 
 dent to be here at this time for his special 
 purposes, and that I could hear no per- 
 sonal insinuations. " I know, too," said 
 I, " all the plans and purposes of the se- 
 cessionists ; it is my duty, as a citizen, to 
 inform the President of what I know." 
 
 "And how did you gain your in- 
 formation ? " said he. " As a spy ? Ay, 
 worse ! as a British subject — the most 
 abject of all falsity. You have more 
 shamed the name of American than could 
 any living man. Any falsity but this, 
 this base assumption. Tell all you know 
 
 of us, and, when it is known that you put 
 on the garb of an Englishman, no Ameri- 
 can will believe a word you say. A man 
 so mean cannot speak the truth." 
 
 Now, I must confess I felt a little 
 shame, and was at some loss for a reply, 
 so suddenly had he blown upon me. Yet 
 I comanded myself a moment, and said 
 that I considered any deception whatever 
 would be justifiable, if it should succeed 
 in exposing such a villainous scheme for 
 extending the power of human bondage 
 by usuqnng a government founded on 
 civil and religious liberty. " You must 
 be aware now," I said, " that my deter- 
 minations are not to be baffled by bluster. 
 The whole country knows you robbed the 
 national Treasury. Your name will ever 
 be branded as thief." 
 
 Buchanan had stepped aside, scared for 
 his life, and Prescott and myself were in 
 full attitude for an attack. Davis, too, 
 seemed to shrink back, cowardly ; but 
 Floyd, thief as he was, showed no signs 
 of fear. He was armed with a bowie 
 knife and revolver ; so was I, and so was 
 Prescott. 
 
 " Were it not for the place, I would cut 
 you in two," said Floyd ; and I retorted 
 that he could take any other place he 
 chose, either by notice or without warn- 
 ing. " Only too glad will I be," said I, 
 " that you may fall upon me in ambush 
 or in public or by appointment. If you 
 have no conscience other than to perjure 
 yourself, I will teach you." 
 
 " Oh, gentlemen, for God's sake ! " said 
 Buchanan, his knees shaking so he could 
 hardly stand, " will you leave me ? will 
 you retire ? " 
 
 " Only this message have we," said 
 Floyd, " to tell your Excellency, that 
 commissioners are to be appointed to call 
 on you to negotiate for the sale of the 
 forts, arsenals, and Government property 
 in South Carolina, and that they must be 
 received and treated as emissaries of a 
 foreign country." 
 
 Buchanan was so frightened he knew 
 not what to say, and stood there trem- 
 bling, till Floyd and Davis bowed them- 
 selves out. " Oh, sir," he then said to 
 me, "if there should be blood shed in 
 this house ! If I should be killed ! What 
 have I done ? God knows I have stood 
 by the Constitution ! " 
 
 * " I think you have not," said Prescott. 
 " You have stood by the South. You 
 now stand by the South. You see them 
 rob the nation ; see them plotting trea- 
 son ; see them doing in South Carolina 
 what Jackson stopped them from doing ; 
 see the election of Lincoln in a constitu- 
 
74 
 
 THE FALL OF FORT SUMTER ; OR, 
 
 tional manner, and you declare it is un- 
 constitutional. You crouch and tremble 
 here, while these common traitors dictate 
 to you the terms you shall yourself sub- 
 scribe to. In cases of emergency you can 
 call out the national forces, but you creep 
 into technicalities to avoid enforcing the 
 constitutional laws you have sworn to 
 protect." 
 
 " Oh, sir, I am in no humor for this. I 
 know I seem so to everybody, but it is 
 not so — I am no child ; I can speak ; I 
 will show these fellows what I can do. I 
 will never, so help me Heaven ! never sell 
 these forts and arsenals. But I pray you 
 both, leave me awhile. I am a little ex- 
 cited — I fear I am." 
 
 Before we had time to leave, he had 
 himself withdrawn. In a minute more 
 we weuded our way out. When in the 
 hallway I touched Prescott's arm, and 
 with one hand drew forth my bowie knife, 
 remarking, " This had most assuredly been 
 Floyd's death, had he raised a hand on 
 me." 
 
 Right before us, outside the Mansion, 
 and near the upper step, was Madarae 
 Ponchard. She saw the knife, which I 
 instantly sheathed, and I heard her pat 
 distinctly with her foot on the stone — a 
 signal, I thought, to some one — and I 
 left my hand still resting on the handle 
 of my knife. A few paces brought us to 
 the outside door. To the left, and below, 
 there stood Orsini, both hands in his 
 pockets, and he was apparently in a 
 sleepy attitude. He had been stationed 
 there, no doubt, to stab me ; but her sig- 
 nal was to Avarn him that a witness was 
 by, and one that would perhaps fall on 
 him. Perhaps the showing of my knife 
 saved us, yet this was merely conjecture. 
 We passed out unharmed, and were soon 
 in our carriage on the way back. 
 
 " Oh ! " says Prescott, as soon as we 
 were seated, " oh, do you know I believe 
 I have found your fugitive ? I am almost 
 certain I have." 
 
 Now I had previously told Prescott 
 about the slave girl ; that I had lost 
 trace of her, although I had searched the 
 city over and over. He then told me 
 that, if I had no objection, we would 
 drive that way, and he would show me 
 the place where he was confident he had 
 seen her on a previous occasion. 
 
 Accordingly we proceeded over to the 
 east side of town, down Clay to Mont- 
 gomery street, and then down Park Ave- 
 nue. Here we encountered a dusky-look- 
 ing washing and ironing establishment, 
 where a pug-nosed old woman kept her- 
 self half hidden behind poles, tubs, and 
 
 clothes. " This is the spot," said Pres- 
 cott, as he was about halting. " Let us 
 call and ascertain. I am sure I saw just 
 such a person here at the break of day 
 this morning." I told him, however, to 
 drive on, for we would probably only 
 frighten her, and not succeed in getting 
 an interview. He acceded to this, and, 
 after we had passed a square further on, 
 I bid him excuse me ; that I would re- 
 turn, while he proceeded homeward ; 
 cautioning him, too, that, as it was get- 
 ting late, he should make good speed, 
 keeping an eye out for assassins. 
 
 In a few minutes afterwards I was 
 before the washerwoman, endeavoring 
 to gain the required information. She 
 was Irish, and spoke in exceedingly 
 broad accents, and was stubborn to all 
 my queries, seeming to know nothing 
 about what I meant. She was, she said, 
 an honest, hard-working woman, and 
 hoped that other folks would do the 
 same as she did. She was sure, she said, 
 that I was not such a fool as to think 
 that two persons could live in a shanty 
 as small as hers. I told her I was a friend 
 of the missing girl. What had she to do 
 with that ? she said. Surely, if she washed 
 and ironed her clothes like an honest wom- 
 an, I should not come there and bother 
 her with my tomfoolery. 
 
 For a long time I talked with this old 
 woman, who persisted to the last that she 
 never saw nor heard of the slave girl I was 
 seeking. Yet, she betrayed such signs as 
 made me sure she was playing false. I 
 could do no better, however, than reluc- 
 tantly to turn away, saying, " In half an 
 hour I will pass here again. If the said 
 girl is here, bid her secrete herself where 
 she can see me as I pass. If she knows 
 me to be her friend, bid her speak. If 
 she does not, let her keep secreted. I will 
 never trouble you more." Again she per- 
 sisted it was nonsense to talk such stuff to 
 her ; that I might pass the shanty a hun- 
 dred or a thousand times if I liked, pro- 
 vided I did not trouble her with my non- 
 sense. I left, and strolled round awhile, 
 and then, in about half an hour, started 
 back. Ere I reached the place, however, 
 and in passing some plaster and boards 
 where the builders had been at work, 
 some one called my name. I turned, and 
 faced the sound. 
 
 " It is, then — it is indeed my friend ! " 
 
 I heard the voice behind the boards, 
 while plainly before me rose up the fair 
 one, bursting into tears. I knew her at 
 once, and expressed my happiness in find- 
 ing her. 
 
 " Oh, sir, pardon me that I act so un- 
 
LOVE AND WAR IN 1860. 
 
 75 
 
 becomingly ! I hardly know if this be 
 life, or if it be death ; exposure, fear, and 
 hoped-for joys nearly distract me. Scarce 
 I know where I am, and yet too clearly 
 do the vivid scenes appear." 
 
 I had gone near her, seeing that she was 
 in fact a little bewildered. " Be calm," 
 said I ; " you have nothing here to fear. 
 Let trust in me give you time to collect 
 your presence. Your speech betrays a 
 soul strained to the utmost. If this do 
 continue, your blood will take improper 
 roads, and so derange you fully." 
 
 " Yes, yes, I will be calm ; but first let 
 me weep. Oh, blessed vent to woman's 
 bursting heart ! Oh, sir, that I could 
 waste myself away in tears ! I know 
 that God has sent me a friend." 
 
 She then caught my hand in both hers 
 — two small and delicate hands, the sight 
 of which, so fair, like swords fell on the 
 boasted name of American, to hew from 
 us at a dash the stain on liberty. 
 
 " With me, sir, it is life, or it is death," 
 she continued. " The sea of agony is over- 
 flooded ; desperate is my hunger for kind 
 words, and in the surge betwixt two con- 
 trary tides I seem the fool. Please, sir, I 
 will not weep long. Oh ! oh ! " She 
 started, looked up the avenue, and again 
 composed herself. " A sound of common 
 things. You see that carriage ? I am 
 half unhinged. Why ! did you go to 
 the old place to find me ? " 
 
 I told her I did. 
 
 " No wonder," said she. " I was barred 
 out. I ran away that very night, God 
 knows where — I don't ; but I walked 
 nearly all night, and then I came to yon- 
 der new buildings, and laid me down on 
 the shavings to sleep. Praise Heaven, I 
 slept so sweetly ! I dreamed I flew, with 
 a friend, from my native country — that I 
 was free. How did you find me, sir ? " 
 
 I then told her it was through Pres- 
 cott ; that I had, however, previously 
 searched all over the city in vain. 
 
 " I throw myself all on you," she inter- 
 rupted. " I know you will take me safe 
 to Canada ; that you will shield me from 
 every danger. Oh, sir, if you knew my 
 suffering, you would ever regard my fer- 
 vency and freedom with due allowance. 
 But come, I w T ill take you to the old 
 washerwoman's shanty, and there relate 
 my ills and threatened barbarous treat- 
 ment. 'Tis not well we talk long in this 
 place. Have you ever been in Georgia ? 
 Oh, we have pretty places there ! But 
 cold, cold be the hearts, where summer's 
 radiance ever is ; to balance fair majestic 
 Nature's parts, the winter is all in human 
 bosoms. The lily springs where burning 
 
 suns pour down ; and shadows, too, ap- 
 pear cooler and darker there, but not iu 
 wild nature. Oh, no ; only in man is 
 death ! I could tell you such tales of 
 Georgia and Virginia, you would call me 
 mad. Who was this Prescott with you ? 
 Do you know he is your friend ? Many 
 men, for the reward of five hundred dol- 
 lars, would betray me." 
 
 As she ran on in this way we were 
 slowly wending our way back to the 
 shanty, and I observed that nearly every 
 moment she started and looked about, 
 as if suffering with great fear and anxiety. 
 
 " And why should I not be ? " she said. 
 " Six times have I run off, and six times 
 captured been, bound, and carried back. 
 On the seventh Bruce succeeded, and so 
 will my pursuers. My vigilance is but 
 the desperation of all my powers. Every 
 nerve hath an eye, an ear, an action. Oh, 
 that I could quiet them — that I could still 
 myself to rest ! My aching head, my burst- 
 ing heart, my soul that pleads for power 
 from above ! — all in struggle, all grap- 
 pling for the feeble force I have, each to 
 wield in front extreme its own importance 
 first. 'Tis the grasp of a drowning soul 
 on the sea of life ; breakers and foul 
 winds blind me, even while on the furious 
 surge I catch the glimpse of a far-off shore. 
 But no ; I gasp, I rouse to see, to feel, to 
 prove each separate sense by another, that 
 I am past all danger, landed clear from 
 the billows, and in my hand the rod of 
 liberty. Then why, whence this shaking 
 form, to gain the world, and quiver still ? 
 But dark forebodings come, and imps of 
 treachery steal from every corner ; the 
 clank of chains hath its echo in every 
 spear of grass. Oh, my native country ! 
 what a chattel am I ! A fool that I love 
 thee still ! " 
 
 Thus she continued, till we had seated 
 ourselves in the shanty, where she was 
 interrupted by the old washerwoman, who 
 accused her that she had said she had no 
 friend — that every one was an enemy — -that 
 on no account was her concealment to be 
 divulged. To all of this, however, the 
 young girl gave a satisfactory answer. 
 
 It was now quite night, and we had no 
 fear whatever of being discovered. I 
 asked her what her name was, and she 
 said Lizzie ; she knew no other. I asked 
 her if the washerwoman knew of the re- 
 ward offered for her capture. She an- 
 swered, No. " I took care to conceal 
 that," said Lizzie. " I told the old wom- 
 an that all the trouble was about a 
 forced marriage. She does not mistrust 
 I am a slave. She says she knows I am 
 some great lady." 
 
76 
 
 THE FALL OF FORT SUMTER ; OR, 
 
 Now it happened that, while we con- 
 versed thus, the old woman packed up 
 some clothes and got ready to carry them 
 home. I feared Lizzie would dislike to 
 have me stay with her alone, and I sig- 
 nified the same to her. 
 
 " Oh, sir, you much mistake me," she 
 said. " Had I no more confidence, you 
 had never found me here. I feel that a 
 Higher Power guards over me. This is 
 my last attempt to fly from slavery — to 
 fly from a new-fouud master, whose de- 
 signs I can never forget, for the deep 
 horror of his boasted might. Welcome 
 all hazard ! I am resolved. These poor, 
 frail parts, these hands and limbs, given 
 me as instruments of adornment and pro- 
 tection to the spirit within, shall first ex- 
 haust themselves to carry me sale to a 
 foreign shore ; but when they fail, and 
 all the avenues on earth are closed to me, 
 I will, to keep the soul unsj^otted, o})en a 
 vent and wing myself to the imperial 
 throne above ! " 
 
 She half choked at her own words, 
 drawing a bowie knife, and then smiling 
 in anticipated triumph. 
 
 " And this is my vow, when man no 
 more protects me ; Lucretia will end her- 
 self before Sextus comes. Think not, sir, 
 I speak of you, but of the home I dread." 
 
 Now, while she showed this desperate 
 resolution, I involuntarily recollected that 
 her nature was at variance with a large 
 portion of the American women, who, 
 when failing to win their point with man, 
 kill him, and that's the end — so unlike 
 Lucretia's death, that aroused the city of 
 Rome and overswept the kings. And so, 
 too, this poor fugitive had hit the vein 
 that most moves man in her behalf. 
 
 As soon as the washerwoman left, I 
 bade her relate to me all her trials and 
 hardships, and to depict more plainly the 
 dangers that awaited her. 
 
 " Oh, how r can I tell you — how collect 
 myself when thus excited ? And you 
 know, too, I have a half-sister, who has 
 not yet arrived. I fear she has been cap- 
 tured, and carried back to slavery. Ever 
 comes before me the vision of her gentle 
 wrists and ankles encased in iron ; and I 
 fancy I hear her suppressed sobs pleading 
 in my ear— to help her. She is so fair, so l 
 gentle— only fifteen. Such a form as storms 
 the noblest heart, as tempts the ruffian. 
 Aud she unprotected ! Oh, how can I tell I 
 you my long misfortunes, while my sister 
 is away ? Sit near me, sir, for now it is ' 
 growing dark, and I need something tan- 
 gible to remind me I am safe the while." 
 She smiled a little, and looked up with 
 much modesty, adding, " You know you ! 
 
 are in Heaven's sight my protector, while 
 I, like a drowning child, catch at the shore 
 in the name of ail that's holy." 
 
 Now, when she had laid her hand over 
 into mine, she entered upon her history, 
 winch I have here in brief set down, to 
 wit : 
 
 " When I was about four or five years 
 old, I lived with a planter by the name 
 of Palmer, in the State of Georgia. Of 
 the still earlier part of my life I knew 
 nothing, nor do I know now. I do not 
 know who was my father, nor who was 
 my mother. When I was very young, an 
 old colored woman took care of my sister 
 and me. We called her Mammy, but I 
 never thought her my mother. Until I 
 was nine or ten, I never thought about 
 who I was or where I came from. I was 
 brought up under the belief that I was a 
 negress. I and my sister had more ljrivi- 
 leges than any other of his slaves. We 
 slept in our master's house, and always 
 ate at the second table. But, as I hinted 
 before, at about nine years of age I began 
 to surmise some on my unknown ancestry. 
 I could not account for my lack of color, 
 though I was despised by the genuine 
 blacks, partly for my whiteness, and 
 partly for the privileges I had. I mean 
 also my sister; for we were treated the 
 same. These surmises about my origin 
 led me to watch the conversation of older 
 folks, from whom I learned that I was a 
 favored slave because I had a nose and 
 hair the very style of Palmer's. My curi- 
 osity became greater. For weeks, for 
 months, ay, for years I stationed myself 
 in byways, in chimney-corners, garrets — 
 anywhere, everywhere — to see, to hear, 
 and, in the language of my master, to 
 know whence I came and whither I was 
 travelling. But I gained no information. 
 Only once I heard him tell our mistress 
 he had ordered a teacher for Lizzie and 
 Kate, and that he intended they should 
 be well brought up, and finally sent to 
 France. Of course, I kept this a secret, 
 only I told my sister Kate. The nature 
 of our lives gave us no familiars. We 
 occupied a position between the blacks 
 and our master. My sister and I often 
 prayed, when we laid down to sleep, that 
 God might change us into genuine blacks 
 by morning. We wanted some one to love, 
 to be familiar with. 
 
 " When I was eleven, we were put to 
 our lessons under the promised teacher. 
 But this was kept a secret, on account 
 of the law of the State forbidding slaves 
 being educated. Soon, then, our inter- 
 course with other slaves was nearly ex- 
 tinguished. Our teacher was a gentle- 
 
LOVE AND WAR IN 1860. 
 
 77 
 
 man, a small, lean man, very pious and 
 good. He it was who taught me first 
 the road to happiness ; taught me to 
 subdue my passions, and to trust in a 
 Higher Power. Blessings rest upon that 
 man ! He showed me the finger of God, 
 which has ever pointed me to the narrow 
 path. 
 
 " At about twelve I was instructed by 
 an excellent artist from Savannah, in cut- 
 ting and making ladies' wearing apparel ; 
 and, according to my instructor's report, 
 learned quickly all the intricacies of 
 changing models. 
 
 " At about that time my master was 
 elected to the United States Senate. He 
 had previously held several high posi- 
 tions under Government, but never so 
 high as senator. One term he served, 
 bringing Kate and me with him, as ser- 
 vants to our mistress' toilet ; and he then 
 resigned on account of ill health. At his 
 home in Georgia he had much company, 
 and I am forced to believe that his com- 
 pany ruined him. He gambled. Our 
 mistress died. She was the purest and 
 best woman I ever knew. She was a de- 
 fenceless little creature, and whenever she 
 addressed us, 'twas with such a voice and 
 gentle sentence as only Heaven inspires. 
 This was the beginning of our darkness. 
 Our master mortgaged his plantation, and 
 went to Savannah. Here he lost all his 
 money, and was reduced so low that he 
 moved to a cheap cottage in the suburbs. 
 He had no servants but Kate and me, and 
 the old negro woman who took care of 
 us when we were children. One faithful 
 negro man he brought with him, who now 
 agreed to hire out for the support of our 
 master. But the latter got intoxicated 
 one day, and sold him. That money was 
 soon gone. We had nothing more. One 
 day he came to me, in the cottage, and, 
 taking my hand, said, ' Lizzie, what shall 
 I do — shall I sell Mammy ? ' I answered 
 him, saying, ' No, master, no ; for then 
 would soon come the end. 'Tis better 
 that we work for you. I think I can 
 turn the talents and the culture you have 
 bestowed on me to a good advantage. 
 There are many rich ladies here, who, when 
 they know my capacity to cut their 
 dresses and to adorn their persons, will 
 soon reward me handsomely on your ac- 
 count. Besides, I think Mammy, and 
 Kate and I, and perhaps yourself, would 
 die if we were separated. You cannot be 
 ignorant of the fact, that you are in very 
 feeble health ; that you are, in fact, likely 
 to be called at any moment.' 
 
 " He burst into tears, and told me to 
 leave him a moment. I did so. In half 
 
 an hour I returned. He was kneeling 
 down by the sofa, praying and weeping. 
 In one hand was a miniature of his loved 
 wife ; in the other was this trifling jewel 
 — see, sir ! — a thing, I had heard him say, 
 that had been presented to him many 
 years ago in some foreign country. He 
 ceased grieving only by falling on the 
 floor exhausted. I ran to him, but he 
 was insensible. I took the jewel and 
 miniature, lest some accident befall them, 
 and then hastily summoned Mammy and 
 Kate to help him. After some difficulty 
 we got him aroused and assisted to a bed, 
 when we summoned a doctor. For many 
 days now we were in great trouble. We 
 had not money to buy medicine with. 
 Mammy ironed to earn a little. Our 
 master was very low, speechless. I then 
 went out to get work. Fortune smiled 
 on me. I knew not what to charge for 
 my work, and the ladies I worked for 
 were so ignorant, and, being rich, valued 
 me according to my prices. Consequently 
 I deemed it just — for I was vain of my 
 capacity — to charge at least ten times as 
 much as would any other person. This 
 soon became notorious, which helped me 
 still more. I ceased doing anything my- 
 self, only visiting wealthy and fashionable 
 belles. On my arrival they would send 
 for their regular dressmaker, who had to 
 cut and trim according to my direction. 
 Often I got fifty dollars for a single visit. 
 My accomplishments and ease of speech 
 elicited much curiosity, for I always 
 represented myself as a slave, stating 
 who my master was, and what misfortune 
 had befallen him. Sometimes the money 
 was given to me, sometimes sent to my 
 master. One day I was sent for to visit 
 a fashionable actress ; but as I knew 
 nothing about that style of costume, I 
 declined going. The next day she called 
 on me. I declined again. I did not like 
 her. She was called beautiful. She re- 
 peated her call, but I still declined, hop- 
 ing within my heart I should never see 
 her more. She had not harmed or in 
 any way treated me rudely, but I felt 
 that she carried an awful fate before her. 
 Oh, that I had never tried to banish these 
 intuitive impressions ! Forgive me, sir, 
 I weep when I remember. Well, our 
 little caste in life rapidly improved, but 
 my master long lay in feeble health. One 
 whole year he lay there, my little sister 
 Kate ever by his side, Mammy ever pre- 
 paring him some of her thousand fancy 
 feats for his nearly-exhausted palate, and 
 I, I am happy to say, toiling to the full 
 support of all. Nay, more, in one year I 
 saved six hundred dollars. My master 
 
78 
 
 THE FALL OF FORT SUMTER ; OR, 
 
 would not touch this money. Though, 
 when it had been sent to him for my 
 services, he would hold it in his. hand till 
 1 came to his bedside, and then give it 
 me, ever saying, ' God bless you ; save 
 this, Lizzie ; I will some day make you 
 happy ! ' 
 
 " How long this course of things would 
 have run I know not, only that Fate 
 changed the scene. In my visits one 
 day to the house of a wealthy and honor- 
 able citizen, when I withdrew something 
 from my pocket, this jewel fell on the floor. 
 The gentleman of the house picked it up, 
 saying, ' What's this, young woman ? ' I 
 told him it was my masters; that it was 
 something he valued very highly, and that 
 always, on leaving home, I carried it in 
 order that it might not be stolen or lost. 
 lie eyed me with some suspicion, and then 
 asked where my master lived. I told him. 
 He then put it in his pocket, and went off 
 to see my master. I was nearly frantic, 
 for I feared I would be accused of theft, 
 when Heaven knew with what a loved 
 and honorable purpose I had done it. 
 When I came home my master called me 
 to his side, haying ordered all others out. 
 He was then propped up in bed. After 
 asking how I came by it, and why I car- 
 ried it, and, having heard me all through, 
 he said I had clone well. ' Some day that 
 jewel shall be yours,' he said, with some 
 emotion. ' You shall discover something 
 which shall make you and your half-sister 
 happy through life. Should ever any mis- 
 fortune overtake me, keep you this jew 7 el. 
 How I came by it I cannot tell you at 
 present. But it was first presented to 
 your father. Whenever harm comes near 
 you, tell men that such was your father's 
 jewel, and no man will harm you.' 
 
 " I was certainly pleased at this, but 
 feared that, if indeed my master believed 
 in such a charm, he had lost some of his 
 reason. Though I was more anxious to 
 learn something about my own father, 
 and yet I dared not be so impertinent as 
 to ask him more. He bid me take the 
 jewel and keep it till he called for it, 
 and then told me that I should order a 
 feast of simple things that night ; that his 
 friends had discovered his wdiereabouts, 
 and would visit him at nine o'clock. 
 
 " True enough, many men called on 
 him, but they w T ere strangers to me. 
 From that time on my master regained 
 rapidly in health. Society cheered him 
 up, but he was a changed man. He drank 
 no more, nor did he ever gamble after 
 that. 
 
 " One bright spring morning he called 
 me to him, for he had entirely recovered 
 
 now, and frequently took a walk or a 
 drive, saying, ' Lizzie, you must go out 
 no more to work. You have been a good 
 girl, now rest yourself by preparing for a 
 journey to the interior.' He told me 
 nothing of his plans, nor of his business. 
 I had seven hundred dollars in gold, 
 which I often offered him, but he invari- 
 ably answered, ' God bless you, Lizzie, I 
 have plenty of money; keep yom own.' 
 I knew then that the gentleman who dis- 
 covered his whereabouts by haying Been this 
 jewel, must have provided him \\ it li money. 
 One day, when I was absent, getting 
 things for our journey, the actress called 
 again for my services. My master bid 
 her wait till I returned. Oh, woful day ! 
 Dread Fate, why did I stay so long ? 
 He, whom I should have guarded, was 
 in the snares of the evil one. Yet I tar- 
 ried, so heedless of the woful future. 
 Excuse me, sir, my tears are the fruit of 
 untimely joys. But I must tell all. My 
 master smiled on this woman. All men 
 have a failing part, but some are never 
 touched upon it, and so, pass apple uded 
 for their virtue. The pure never throw a 
 stone, and the untried are great boasters 
 and full of vain glory. My master was 
 good and great, but even these can be 
 overcome. We excuse those that steal to 
 appease a starving stomach. But who, 
 with a heart of love and tenderness, can 
 feel the desolation of a noble man whose 
 house is stripped of conjugal joys, and 
 not pity him for catching at something 
 whereon to cling in good companionship ? 
 I adjusted the style the actress desired, 
 and she paid me handsomely. 
 
 " Soon after this my master informed 
 me that he had redeemed the mortgages 
 on his plantation, and that we must re- 
 turn. Oh, how happy I was to get away 
 from Savannah ! — To get away from that 
 actress ! But I was happy in ignorance. 
 The anticipated horrors came. We had 
 hardly got settled on the old planta- 
 tion, when my master returned to Savan- 
 nah, married the actress, and brought her 
 out to the plantation. This was the re- 
 newing of wdnter to my own life. Though 
 I was but a slave, the new wife was jealous 
 of me. But she concealed it well, for she 
 was a woman of great comprehension. I 
 never asked what countrywoman she was, 
 but thought she was Spanish. She was 
 very dark, with dark eyes, and she spoke 
 with so much deliberation on all occasions, 
 though ever saying little, I was positive 
 from the first that she would in some way 
 prove treacherous. But it came sooner 
 than I expected. She ordered a magnifi- 
 cent ball. All the choicest liquors were 
 
LOVE AND WAR IN 1860. 
 
 79 
 
 provided. Guests, the first in the State, 
 were present. That night my master 
 drank. Next day he took sick and died." 
 
 For a moment my fail companion could 
 say no more. I read at once her surmise, 
 that her master had been murdered. But 
 she soon went on. 
 
 " The widow became the owner of us 
 all. We were all advertised for sale. My 
 beauty and accomplishments were asserted 
 in the advertisements in all the Savannah, 
 Atlanta, and Charleston papers. Can any 
 one conceive the meaning ? Can any one 
 know the horrors within my soul ? 'Tis 
 now nearly three years since, and yet no 
 minute has passed to give me joy. I was 
 sold, with my sister, to a neighboring 
 planter, where I was kept as lady's ser- 
 vant. My sister had nothing to do. But 
 he announced that he would sell all his 
 slaves at the end of the following year, 
 and this kept me in continual dread. 
 Many men called to see me, and often 
 tried* various means to purchase me. I 
 became frightened, and ere the year roll- 
 ed round I ran away. When seventy miles 
 from home I was seen by an acquaintance, 
 and arrested and carried back. I had four 
 hundred dollars then, having given my 
 sister the balance, with instructions to fol- 
 low me soon after. They took my money, 
 and never returned it. On the next day I 
 was home again, where I received a severe 
 reprimand, with the threat that I should 
 now be sold without consulting my wishes 
 in regard to a buyer. Again I repeated 
 the attempt, and was again excused with 
 a reprimand. He then changed his pur- 
 pose, to not sell for still another year. 
 Before this appointed time arrived I had 
 been selected and bargained for by a gen- 
 tleman from Charleston. The sight of him 
 was almost death to me. His eye had not 
 the mark of avarice, and yet it made me 
 pray for death. It had more terror to me. 
 Under the guise of something else I was 
 bound by a chain to my sister, and taken 
 into Virginia. We loved to go North ; 
 slaves always fear going further South. 
 We were then put into the fields to hoe 
 tobacco. In a few days after, when we 
 
 were at work, my Charleston purchaser 
 came up to us. He was on horseback. I 
 shuddered at his approach, and at the 
 words he uttered. 
 
 " ' Which do you choose ? ' said he, 
 after he had smiled and bid us cease our 
 work, ' you are no longer ignorant of my 
 will nor my power. Obedience will give 
 you ease and enjoyment ; its opposite will 
 entail upon you toil and sorrow.' 
 
 " ' By sending me here,' I said, ' you 
 have given me my choice. I pray you, sir, 
 leave me to toil here all the days of my 
 life, and I am content.' 
 
 " He then made an oath that he would 
 tame me or be my death; and, bidding 
 my sister and the other slaves to leave, 
 he then attempted to dismount from his 
 horse, but his foot tangled in the stirrup, 
 and the horse ran off, dragging him some 
 distance, and leaving him helpless on the 
 ground. We took advantage, and Kate 
 and I ran away. Several times I have 
 been captured and carried back ; but, ere 
 he recovered from his bruises, we ever 
 escaped. For the last year we have been 
 running and hiding. A few months ago 
 we were, near Columbus, Ohio, captured 
 and carried back. My master had entirely 
 recovered, and then paid the captors three 
 hundred dollars. We were so overcome 
 that we were both taken ill. We pretend- 
 ed to be worse than we were, in order to 
 prevent violence. A few weeks since we 
 fled again. At night we w T ere pursued ; 
 but we had matured our course, and the 
 place of our meeting in this city. All 
 the advertisements in the papers stated 
 that Kate and I were so attached to each 
 other we would most likely be found to- 
 gether. For that we separated. And now, 
 alas, I fear we meet on earth no more ! 
 She has no money, and I know not how 
 she can live. Oh, that she were here ! 
 Send her to me, O Heaven, or I must die ! " 
 She burst into a new flood of tears, ending 
 thus her story of life in a land of liberty. 
 
 In two hours after I had her in boys' 
 clothes, with a short black head of hair, 
 registered at the Jackson House as Joe 
 Travers, of New York. 
 
80 
 
 THE FALL OF FOET SUMTER ; OE, 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 " Now Cupid strode up in his bright array, 
 Even to the side of tne great ancient Mars, 
 And smiled, and tipped his toe for a footrace, 
 Holding his arrow right to th' other's nose, 
 And hearts abundant casting in the path, 
 While Mars, in grim and frowning majesty, 
 Whetting his rusted sword with thoughts of blood, 
 Kicked at poor Cupid, falling by the way 
 On Cupid'8 battlements— the hearts of course, 
 And Cupid shot him through. And so, love rules." 
 
 The night passed most unpleasantly to 
 me, for the tale that Lizzie told brought 
 vivid pictures of horrors to my vision. 
 The threat of war, too, brought clouds 
 and darkness and blood and death. The 
 threats of Floyd and Davis sent the frenzied 
 blood to my every nerve : the imbecility 
 of Buchanan enraged me. But these fevers 
 passed. 
 
 And pleasantly soon Fancy pictured 
 peace and harmony and love. For, 
 even on the verge of mighty war kind 
 nature comes with gentle consolations ; 
 for man's power, exhausted by conjuring 
 evil, is lulled to sleep with visions more 
 than mortal. Yet, when he wakes, how 
 all-forgetful is he ! 
 
 Thus I moralized till the bright morn- 
 ing came, and then sallied forth. No 
 more the thought of war ; no more con- 
 cerning secession. Hardly had I come 
 down to the office of the Jackson House, 
 when a rough, burly-looking customer met 
 me, with a paper in his hand. Pointing 
 to it, he said, 
 
 " I say, sir, do you live here ? " 
 
 I told him I did. 
 
 " Then," said he, " read this. Eve lost 
 some niggers." 
 
 I took the paper which read as follows : 
 
 A runaway slave known as Lizzie, formerly owned 
 by the late ITon. John Palmer of Georgia. Five 
 hundred dollars reward offered for her. Also three 
 hundred dollars offered for the girl Kate, a young sister 
 of Lizzie. They are both nearly white, with light hair, 
 blue, eyes, well dressed. Kate is fifteen, and Lizzie eigh- 
 teen or nineteen. Both are good-looking girls, and 
 might readily pass for white. They have been traced 
 to this citv, and are supposed to be here at present. 
 Apply to Wm. H. Kussel, office, Jay Street, Washing- 
 ton. 
 
 Scarcely had I scanned the advertise- 
 ment, when, tripping down the stairs 
 came the identical Lizzie, now and here- 
 after known as Joe Travers — a modest, 
 beardless boy. The fevered excitement 
 was at its flood on my nerves. What 
 
 could be done ? In she came square 
 before us ere she saw the hated face of 
 him whom, more than all things on earth, 
 she dreaded. 
 
 She the slave to such a man ! 
 
 She started, almost frozen at the glance, 
 and then walked away. He, ashamed of 
 his profession, seeing the boy, as he sup- 
 posed, approach me, took the paper 
 from my hand, and it fell on the floor. 
 So, when the slave started, he was the 
 while scrambling after the fallen paper, and 
 thus most providentially failed to fully see 
 her. Yet so much had he seen, that, when 
 we were again alone, he said, " Had my nig- 
 gers brothers, I'd swear that boy was one 
 — the very dimples in his cheeks and chin, 
 and the sprightly step — I swear, I would 
 that he too were my slave." 
 
 " That boy ! " said I. " His father had 
 better hear you talk that way." 
 
 " Oh, not "for the world ! " said he. " I 
 was only joking ! And then he asked me 
 to go and drink with him, promising me 
 that he would give me such a description 
 of his fugitives as would enable me to 
 capture them, and obtain the reward ; 
 stating also that he had been told that I 
 knew more about the city of Washington 
 than did any other man, and would be 
 likely, in consequence, to aid him in an 
 effectual manner. " I will tell you, stran- 
 ger,' said I, and I wondered the while 
 to see so coarse a man all hung with 
 jewelry. An immense gold chain of choice 
 workmanship dangled weightily on a 
 rich silk vest, the "breast of which, being 
 open, showed a splendid cluster of large 
 and small diamonds, so set as to resemble 
 the ice-tipped branches of the wild orange 
 tree. Golden leaves tried to hide the 
 brilliancy, but anon, as the wearer moved, 
 waved aside to show some secret gem. 
 On his fingers were rings. One was of 
 native gold, and rudely made ; others, 
 
LOVE AND WAR IN 1860. 
 
 81 
 
 set with choice stones, seemed so rare- 
 ly carved and chased as it had been 
 a jeweller's lifetime to contrive them. 
 Strangely, too, this man's boots, unpol- 
 ished, outside the trousers, were poor 
 and common. On his head was a soft 
 wool hat, large in the brim, and seem- 
 ing to rest on his heavy, dark side whis- 
 kers, while the points of a coarsely twisted 
 moustache, like horns, stood far out, dis- 
 playing a lofty Roman nose piled high up 
 between two as sensual eyes as ever were 
 in the face of man. A little walking-stick 
 with a gold handle he twirled in one 
 hand, between the fingers of which was a 
 half-smoked and badly chewed cigar, and 
 the advertisement 1 mentioned was in the 
 other. " I will tell you, stranger," said I, 
 " if you will excuse me for calling you 
 such, " 
 
 " My name is John Russel, sir, descended 
 from the ancient family of that name in 
 England." 
 
 " Ah ! then, Mr. Russel. In these days 
 it is useless to seek for a run-away slave. 
 They get to Canada by steam, and I hope 
 yours may soon be there too." 
 
 " What," said he, " you too talk so ? " 
 I made no answer and we parted, he to seek 
 his slaves, and I toward the girls in the par- 
 lor. I saw him go to the door. He 
 seemed still to look after Joe Travers. I 
 feared he did. I looked for Joe. Not 
 to be seen. I then went fnto the parlor. 
 Vickey came to me and asked me for a 
 good dentist. I told her where to go. Asked 
 her if she had tooth-ache ? " Oh, no," she 
 said, laughing. She then excused herself, 
 and went out. I was about to leave, when 
 in came Mrs. Edge and the clerk, who 
 seemed very polite to her. He winked at 
 me to keep still ; so I sat down, unob- 
 served, by Mrs. Edge. " I know it will 
 make a great difference with her," said 
 Mrs. Edge to the clerk ; " her face is so 
 sunken in, and then she can't half eat. I've 
 been telling her so for a long time, but she's 
 so close with her money. Now, she's not 
 like me in that at all ; I go in for any ex- 
 pense according to one's station, you know, 
 and I tell her she's getting so old it need not 
 make much difference now no more with 
 her as long as she's got to live." 
 
 " Why, certainly," said the clerk ; " you 
 have just my views exactly, and so has 
 Vickey." 
 
 " And I wish Mr. Edge was the same," 
 said she ; " he's gone after railroad con- 
 tracts ever since we came. His soul is all 
 in a railroad — poor, dear man ! — Always 
 into his papers ; he hears nothing you say 
 to him no more, unless it is about rail- 
 roads. Only the other day I called his 
 
 attention to our accomplished daughter as 
 she passed so lovingly before us. ' See,' 
 said I, ' what a beautiful train she has ; ' 
 and he started, and said, ' What road's 
 that on ? ' for he thought I was talking 
 about a train of cars. Poor, dear soul, he 
 started up, and says he, ' What road's that 
 on ? ' and I thought I'd a-died a-laughing ; 
 and then he got up and went out, for he 
 said it was nonsense to call Vickey's coat 
 tails a train. ' What road's that on ? ' he 
 said so funny." 
 
 The clerk laughed a little then, and he 
 turned to her, saying, " Excuse me, Mrs. 
 Edge, but I am in a hurry, and I will be 
 pleased to hear what you have called me 
 here for ? " 
 
 " Oh," said she, " yes, yes. Well, what 
 I was going to say is this, for you see I 
 am a plain-spoken, honest woman, and I 
 always speak my mind, and I always think 
 it is best for folks to understand each 
 other as they go along, and then they will 
 always remain good friends. I'm laugh- 
 ing at what Mr. Edge said ; says he, 
 ' What road's that on ? ' But, as I was 
 about to say, you know we don't make 
 much pretensions ourselves — that's Mr. 
 Edge and me — but we have spared no 
 expense on our daugther. She has a 
 fiuished education. She went to Phila- 
 delphia. Every one who sees her 
 knows she's prepared for the best of 
 society and people of the highest rank. 
 Only the other evening I noticed, when a 
 promiscuous crowd was in the parlor, and 
 one of the ladies there said something or 
 other not just according to genteel society, 
 and Vickey spoke right out and said, ' We 
 are taught differently in the high society 
 in Philadelphia,' and that made them all 
 stare pretty straight, I tell you. Indeed 
 she's smart, if she is my own daughter, 
 and I say it myself, and she knows what's 
 proper for a real lady." 
 
 " No question of that," said the clerk ; 
 ' she is the belle at this house at least. 
 Every one speaks of her in the highest 
 praise." 
 
 " Just so I say, if I am her mother ; 
 and what I was coming at is this — that is 
 to say, I have not decided yet who Vickey 
 shall marry. But I understand that you 
 have been instrumental in encouraging an 
 attachment between her and Prescott, and 
 that's what I was going to speak of, for I 
 could not entertain such a marriage at all. 
 Who is this Prescott? He's nobody — a 
 penny-a-liner ! How could he provide for 
 such a lady ? " 
 
 " Oh, indeed, Mrs. Edge, you much mis- 
 take me, I have not been instrumental, 
 only so far as to speak of the virtues of 
 
82 
 
 THE FALL OF FOPvT SUMTER ; OR, 
 
 each. Prescott is an excellent man. He 
 is not rich to be sure, but you have your- 
 self told me that you and Vickey did, in 
 former years, work not only at soap-boil- 
 ing, and candle-making, but in the fields 
 hoeing corn." 
 
 " But we have proved ourselves ; we are 
 now universally acknowledged to be the 
 very head of society. Judge Francis Un- 
 derbill, of Loudon Heights, told me with 
 his own mouth he considered Vickey the 
 most perfect lady he ever saw. He is too 
 old to flatter ; he speaks wisely. Now, 
 then, shall we turn backward from our 
 attainments to help up this fellow by the 
 way ? No, no ; far from it. Excelsior, as 
 Vickey says, is our motto. Then, too, you 
 must know that Vickey has many suitors. 
 There is Wadsworth, so rich and hand- 
 some. To be sure, he is an owner of 
 slaves, but my niind has changed on that 
 score since we came to Washington. 
 There's nothing like the lowly being con- 
 tented with their lot. There must be dis- 
 tinctions in society ; persons of rank 
 always will hold this, and I don't know 
 as we could make a better choice than in 
 this young man. But there are others. 
 Only this day a finely-dressed man linger- 
 ing at the street corner, seeing her rare, 
 ladylike appearance, slipped a card into 
 her hand, and desired to walk with her. 
 I tell you, and I make due allowance for 
 my vanity for my own child, but she can 
 say with pride who she will or will not 
 choose. Now, all I have to say is, that I 
 do hope you will discourage this young 
 Prescott off. Indeed, I know you will, for 
 you know he's no match for our Vickey." 
 
 " Certainly so, Mrs. Edge. Why, of 
 course I will, rest assured — indeed — Oh, 
 yes ! " 
 
 "You know," she interrupted, "I'm a 
 little afraid she takes to him a little, only 
 don't say nothing, you know ; you under- 
 stand ? " 
 
 Again and again the clerk gave assur- 
 ance that her wishes should be carried 
 out, and then they went out of the parlor, 
 for some one had been calling the clerk. 
 I was about to follow, but the clerk re- 
 turned alone. 
 
 " Oh, I have such a joke ! " said he, and 
 he laughed heartily. " Oh, such a joke ! 
 Do you kuow, these fool Edges believe 
 everybody is in love with them. Sure as 
 fate, they believe the Judge is going to 
 marry the old maid, and she is gone off 
 with Vickey to get a new set of false and 
 big plumpers." Again he laughed. " You 
 see, they observed that the Judge was not 
 very attentive to the old maid, and sug- 
 gested that they ought to fix her up a 
 
 little. Mrs. Edge got some patent breasts 
 for her last night, and now Vickey is off 
 to the dentist to get her mouth filled up 
 with teeth and plumpers, and the poor old 
 thing is half raced to death with battling 
 the huge pads and hoops and whalebones. 
 Oh, I decJare, 'tis an excellent joke ! " 
 
 1 told him I was real sorry for the old 
 maid, and also for Vickey, who were both 
 so innocent and well meaning. 
 
 " Nonsense ! " said he, " I'll get Vickey 
 to marry the Judge, you shall see. I vow 
 I shall have a wedding at his hotel, some- 
 how or other." 
 
 At this instant came a violent scream 
 from the stairs above. We ran ; I thought 
 of Joe, the fugitive, and feared she had 
 been detected and captured. I felt under 
 obligation not to suffer her to be wronged 
 to the value of anything by another if in 
 my power to prevent ; and with these 
 vivid fancies flying through my mind, I 
 rushed to the spot. Here I was startled 
 afresh, to see, not the fugitive, but my own 
 gentle Ann, reclining on the stairway, pale 
 and helpless. Below her, on the stairway 
 of the lower floor, and leading into the 
 street, was a rude crowd, pushing and 
 jamming furiously to make an exit. From 
 the noise I could tell nothing, nor no 
 word distinguish. Only gentle Ann, al- 
 most frenzied, cried out, " Stop them ! 
 Oh, for God's sake, save her ! O Heavens, 
 is all my labor 'lost ! " In a moment the 
 crowd was gone, save the lingering ser- 
 vants, who, half-affrighted, peered from 
 every corner. " Dear, gentle Ann, what 
 is the matter ? " said I, and I raised her 
 up, and she leaned her head over on my 
 breast and sobbed aloud. Again and 
 again I urged her to tell the cause of all 
 this ; but she clung fast to me, and seem- 
 ed as if her heart would break. " Oh, 
 urge me no more ! " at last she stammered. 
 " The things whereof I weep I cannot, 
 must not mention. Take me, oh, I beg 
 of you, take me to my room, and leave 
 me ! Oh, how can I — how can I ? " and 
 I never saw so near a death with weep- 
 ing. I then took her to her room, even 
 to the doorway, where she turned and 
 warmly pressed my hand, saying, " How 
 lonely, lonely now ! I scarce can enter. 
 Leave me, my heart is broken." She then 
 went in, and I came away, not being able 
 to guess the cause of such great sorrow. 
 When I encountered the servants, I in- 
 quired the cause of the confusion on the 
 stairs, and they told me somebody was 
 taken prisoner — a woman, a young wom- 
 an, a girl of about fifteen ! " Can it 
 be," I thought to myself, " that such was 
 the fate of Joe's sister, Kate ? Captured 
 
LOVE AND WAR IN 1860. 
 
 83 
 
 here ? " I then remembered that for a 
 week past my gentle Ann had seemed so 
 cast down and sad, and I thought per- 
 haps she had been secreting this fugitive. 
 I made some cautious inquiries accord- 
 ingly, but gained no evidence to substan- 
 tiate my theory ; but I resolved to linger 
 about the hotel till I could get an^inter- 
 view with Ann, and then ascertain, if pos- 
 sible, the whole mystery. I then repaired 
 to the office to await and to reflect awhile, 
 but was instantly hailed by a newsboy 
 shouting into my face, " Buy a paper, sir ? 
 buy a paper, sir ? Beauregard in Charles- 
 ton building batteries. General Scott 
 burnt in effigy all over the South. Davis 
 or Toombs to be made President and in- 
 stalled in Washington before Lincoln gets 
 here." Of course I bought a paper, and 
 I read it, too. The boy's statements were 
 true. Active treason against the estab- 
 lished government was on foot. The 
 party beaten at polls had resolved to 
 carry their point by the sword, to place 
 themselves in office. Yet I called it 
 vanity ; called it boasting ; for I, nor any 
 other man, could be convinced that so 
 great a folly could be attempted by an 
 intelligent people. Some one touched 
 my arm, after I had read and reread the 
 paper for a good while, and, looking 
 round, I beheld Professor Jackson. " Lend 
 me the paper ? " said he ; and I answered, 
 u Certainly, sir, I am done with it." He 
 looked rather cast down, and his clothes 
 were certainly the worse of the wear. 
 When he had taken the paper, he pulled 
 out one from the ragged pocket of his 
 coat, and said, " I can exchange with you. 
 I am one of the editors and publishers of 
 the Journal of Progress, devoted chiefly 
 to literature." I thought, when he said 
 devoted to literature, he meant it as a 
 pun on the thousands of illiterate pamph- 
 lets and magazines that claim the same 
 heading at the top of their title page, and 
 are published in all the cities and towns 
 all over the country, and so I said, " In- 
 deed ! Literature is cheap now-a-days, 
 especially in the name. Had Humboldt 
 lived here, he need have taken less trou- 
 ble. After he had spent thirty years in 
 study, he was urged to prepare some liter- 
 ary work, but he replied, that, as nearly 
 as he could computo the time, he had 
 forty years more to study before he could 
 prepare himself to write on a literary sub- 
 ject, but if the society would wait until 
 that time, he would be happy to make 
 an effort to please them. I wish he had 
 lived in this country." 
 
 " Ah, sir," said the Professor, " it was 
 well indeed when man depended on mun- 
 
 dane evidence, to ask for time to prepare 
 a literary work ; but now, you will, I am 
 sure, admit that knowledge is beginning 
 to be intuitive. Appreciation and con- 
 fidence is all that is needed. But, sir, a 
 journal like this of ours is in advance of 
 the times. People go in for trash, — novels, 
 picture papers, caricatures. That's the 
 trouble ! " and he looked over the paper 
 I gave him, while I glanced at the one he 
 gave me, but I read it not. My mind had 
 other matter ; I cared not for literature. 
 Several times I observed the Professor 
 casting glances toward me, and at last he 
 ventured to ask me if I was not a con- 
 tributor myself to some paper. I told 
 him, not at present. He then asked me 
 if I would not like to take a share in the 
 Journal of Progress ? I said, no. He next 
 asked if I would not like to buy him out ? 
 Again I said, no. But he persisted, ask- 
 ing if I would not lend money on the es- 
 tablishment, taking charge of the income 
 till I got my money back, with a hundred 
 per cent, profit ? " No," said I, " I cannot 
 engage in business. I have retired from 
 all business, save what pleases my fancy. 
 If you want to borrow money, go to 
 your banker." " We have none," said he. 
 " Then go to a broker," said I. " We 
 have been," said he, " but they said they 
 would not lend money on literary estab- 
 lishments. They don't go in for literature. 
 You might as well ask a monkey to ap- 
 preciate our Journal, as to ask a broker." 
 " Have, you not funds enough to carry it 
 on ? " I asked : and he answered, " No ; 
 we're out entirely. If we could only get 
 started rightly, I am sure it would be a 
 success. I have put all I had in it. I put 
 in a hundred and sixteen dollars. And 
 my wife has put in rather more than that. 
 I am now delivering lectures every night, 
 and so is my wife, for the benefit of the 
 Journal." " Well," said I, " can't you 
 raise funds sufficient?" "No, sir, there 
 is hardly anybody goes to literary lec- 
 tures. The first night I took in eleven 
 dollars above expenses ; but the last two 
 evenings I hardly came out even, and we 
 are getting in considerable of a strait. 
 For economy sake we took a room in a 
 shanty and went to housekeeping, and, 
 if you will believe me, sir, we live on 
 bran bread and water, eating only one 
 meal a clay." " You are certainly very 
 persevering," said I, " but if you have not 
 money enough to carry it on, I think the 
 better way is to sell out the whole con- 
 cern." " We have tried that, too," said 
 he, " but every one says just as you did ; 
 they don't want to buy. They think 
 there is going to be war in the country, 
 
84 
 
 THE FALL OF FORT SUMTER ; OR, 
 
 and they won't invest ; "whereas, in my 
 opinion, this very Journal, rightly man- 
 aged, could avert the -whole danger of the 
 country. If I only had my own money 
 back, I would not care." 
 
 Just then Joe Travers came in, and 
 I excused myself to the Professor, and 
 followed Joe into the hall beyond, and 
 there told her how best she could avoid 
 her pursuer, John Russel ; that I had not 
 the slightest doubt but he would know 
 her if he came near her, and fairly 
 looked on her. She promised in every 
 particular to follow- my advice, but cau- 
 tiously urged me to go with her to the 
 Quarters, which is the place where slaves 
 are kept preparatory to buying or hiring 
 or sending off when changing owners. 
 That she feared indeed her sister Kate 
 had been captured, for she heard of some- 
 thing to that effect just a few minutes 
 since. I agreed to go with her. I am 
 confident no one heard us talking. "We 
 went out the back way. In the garden 
 was the Judge, lounging on a bench be- 
 neath the trees. He Avas sound asleep. 
 Beside him lay a piece of fool's-cap on 
 which was written the following lines. I 
 took the paper ; did not consider it steal- 
 ing ; he had often taken my manuscript 
 notes himself, and then returned them. I 
 intended to return these. The words he 
 had written were as follows, to wit : 
 
 " I go for the girl of seventeen. 
 Go for the gentlest age of a gentle queen, 
 
 Ere she's fraught with evils taught, 
 Or cunning made by love's parade, 
 In innocence so rare, as never a man can dare, 
 O so sweet, the girl of seventeen, 
 O so sweet, so sweet my youthful queen. 
 
 Though I flirt with all that's rare, 
 Never my heart was captured fair, 
 But by the girl of seventeen — 
 Though I dally with the cold unseemly things of state, 
 Though I've power to unmake and make the great, 
 — I throw them all away, 
 And never do I prattle nor play, 
 Never do love but the girl of seventeen. 
 
 I'm called the ruse and ruin of the past, 
 With never a heart to love me at last, 
 But O, a secret, all killing with joy, 
 Tells me though old, I'm ever the boy, 
 Ever the boy for the girl of seventeen, 
 O for the gentlest age of a gentle queen. 
 Ere she's fraught with evils taught, 
 Or cunning made by love's parade, 
 In innocence so rare, as never a man can dare, 
 O so sweet my girl of seventeen, 
 O so sweet, so sweet my youthful queen. 
 
 When we got outside the gate, we halted 
 till I read it over, and thereupon Joe re- 
 marked, " I rather like that old man, sad 
 as I am, for it is so humorous in him to 
 love so young a girl." I then told her 
 about the Judge, and about his eccentrici- 
 ties ; his egotism ; his good nature, and 
 his present love adventure. We were then 
 going toward the Quarters, and I took a 
 
 good while in telling the Judge's life to 
 her, but when I finished ehe heaved a sigh, 
 saying, " Oh, sir, tell me more ! My every 
 breath of life holds upon a thread when 
 you speak of the ties of the human heart. 
 To be so free, to love and never fear the 
 bond by mortals torn asunder. Oh, please, 
 >ir, till me more! Tell me of this Vickey. 
 Oh, what joy is hers — to feel that even one 
 so old has proffered to the craving of her 
 warm devotion ! " I told her I thought it 
 was rather ridiculous for so old a man to 
 suffer himself to fall in love with one so 
 young. " Oh, indeed, sir, it is not. Who- 
 ever is not thirsty can wait for a gourd, 
 but the others can dip with a leaf and 
 drink to Heaven's praise. Oh, sir, what 
 pain is it to famish, to be alone in the 
 world ! I do hope she may love him in 
 return." 
 
 As we walked along, she frequently 
 asked me if I thought any one could 
 detect her ? and I assured her that with 
 due caution and presence of mind, she 
 might forever pass unknown. She heeded 
 my advice and manifested considerable 
 resolution, saying that she believed she 
 could go even to the Quarters, and if her 
 sister was there, still maintain her com- 
 posure unobserved. But when we neared 
 the place, at that low spot of ground just 
 in front where the Irish exile sighed to 
 have a house, so the clank of niggers' 
 chains might lull him to sleep, so forgetful 
 that for liberty he had himself rebelled — 
 when we neared this memorable spot, and 
 beheld there assembled some fifty or a 
 hundred people, and in the crowd what 
 seemed to be the fugitive, Kate, marching 
 amidst a throng of police and the curious 
 populace, Joe siezed my arm, exclaiming, 
 " What is yonder ? See ! a charge in 
 double breast of full a score against that 
 poor, helpless girl. Oh, I cannot, cannot 
 further go ! 'Tis my sister — no, it cannot 
 be ! Oh, what shall I do ! " and she burst 
 into tears, holding me that I might pro- 
 ceed no further. Said I, "Be resolute, 
 dear girl, imagine nothing. Look with 
 indifference ; 'tis not your sister, I am sure. 
 At all events study more what you can do, 
 and waste your power less on idle sym- 
 pathy." 
 
 Very soon I saw that she could go no 
 further without herself becoming a mark 
 of observation, and persuaded her to halt 
 by the way until I inspected the tumult. 
 This was the occasion on which I gave her 
 a cigar. She did not smoke, and it was 
 not lighted, but simply held it in her 
 mouth to assist in disguising her as a 
 boy. I then proceeded alone, leaving her 
 standing on the sidewalk. Many persons 
 
LOVE AND WAR IN 1860. 
 
 85 
 
 passed, but no one seemed to notice us. 
 The attention was all on the tumult. I 
 could not tell at first what it was about, 
 but the crowd was very dense, and I saw 
 coming on a full run Mrs. Lucy Tabiatha 
 Stimpkins, and Professor Jackson. I knew 
 then that it was the party with the fugi- 
 tive, and that a rich scene was about to 
 be enacted. I ran as fast as I could, and 
 when I reached the place, Mrs. Lucy rushed 
 in before the officers, looking, indeed, 
 almost a maniac. 
 
 " I protest ! " she said. " In the name 
 of Heaven I protest ! You shall not rein- 
 slave that child ! " and she seized hold 
 and forced a halt. But the officers pushed 
 her aside, saying, " Now we want none of 
 that sort of stuff. Let go. Let go, I say." 
 But the woman said, " Never but by vio- 
 lence. I will hold on as long as my feeble 
 grasp has power, and when that fails I 
 will cast myself upon the points of your 
 daggers. Hew me in pieces who dares ! 
 Here ! I will bare my breast ! Dogs ! 
 Beasts ! She shall be free ! " 
 
 " Away, away, foolish woman ! " said the 
 officers, and then the owner came forward, 
 saying that whoever claimed his slave was 
 a thief and an Abolitionist. " I want 
 nothing of you, you are opposing the law. 
 Away, away ! " And then the crowd 
 surged forward, and the mutterings of 
 many voices made confusion. But soon 
 the woman's shrill voice broke forth again. 
 " Halt ! Halt, I say ! This thing shall 
 never be ! She is no slave ; she's white ! 
 Carry me, drag me, tear me hence who 
 can ! " And I now looked far into the 
 crowd, and beheld Mrs. Lucy clinging fast 
 upon the poor slave, who, though fright- 
 ened, told me in her fairy-like face she 
 was the identical sister, Kate. The men 
 were endeavoring to pull Mrs. Lucy away, 
 but as often as they tore her hands off she 
 again laid hold. The sympathy of the 
 crowd was with the poor slave, who, all 
 dust, with clothes rent by violence, and 
 her pale auburn hair dishevelled and dan- 
 gling on her pallid features, wet with 
 tears, and eyes dilated with fears terrible, 
 but now an instrument of contention, pull- 
 ed both ways as a child between two furi- 
 ous bears. All the while nearer to the 
 Quarters they surged. But yet awhile, 
 and the dire confusion broke ; some blows, 
 a squall, a scream. I saw it not, but heard, 
 and then beheld a part and parcel of the 
 crowd tear loose and run. And then 
 an opening. There stood Mrs. Lucy 
 Tabiatha Stimpkins, some scratched and 
 bruised, but worse her clothes the con- 
 test held. Kate was dragged off with 
 the flying crowd. Alone stood Mrs. Lucy, 
 
 and thus after her vanquishers held 
 forth : 
 
 " Now curses on ye, O ye cruel monsters : 
 And bide ye yet, but this is Heaven's spoil. 
 Die, Liberty ! All that is holy die ! 
 Satan come on, to thee I do bequeath 
 My countrymen and laws of equal rights ! 
 The right to choose pursuit, forsooth, alas, 
 A constitution faced for Heaven, but planned 
 For Satan's vilest purposes. Fly ! Fly ! 
 Ye dogs of plunder ! Gloat on your fair flower, 
 Drink deep the sin ! Long live the angel girl 
 To satiate your hellish appetites. 
 No, never, death ! I swear, as 1 am woman, 
 Never shall villains walk that sacred road. 
 She shall be free, or meet her prayed for death ! " 
 
 She said more, but it was all after that 
 style, and then she turned abruptly away 
 and was soon lost to view. I followed the 
 crowd up to the Quarters. It was a brick 
 house, rather old and shabby. On the 
 front w r as the following sign : 
 
 " Slaves bought and sold here. Highest price paid 
 for fugitives. Guard room ; keep a night-watch. 
 Slaves boarded for their owners. Money advanced on 
 slaves. Slaves procured on short notice, and war- 
 ranted. William Filmore, Ksq., proprietor. 
 
 Besides this were many posters for 
 " Runaway slaves." " Rewards." " Over- 
 seers to go South, wanted." " This house 
 has connection with all first-class slave- 
 traders in the South." " Established eigh- 
 teen years." " References of the highest 
 respectability." "Fugitives captured." "We 
 keep several first class detectives to ferret 
 out runaways." 
 
 I read all these notices before I could 
 make way through the crowd to the house. 
 Heard much laughing. Many of the men 
 joked about the fugitive. The words they 
 said cannot be written. Hard words were 
 also used about Mrs. Lucy. No man cried 
 " shame." I know that if any man had 
 showed disa23proval to the dragging of 
 the slave to the Quarters, he would have 
 been shot or stabbed on the spot. One of 
 the officers, the one who most pulled at 
 the fugitive's arm, was a United States 
 Marshal. I did not see him kick her. He 
 gripped her arm so tightly she cried. It 
 was not the Marshal that seized her by the 
 hair. It was an assistant. Heard him say 
 it was fine wool, and he added an oath to 
 his words. She offered no resistance dur- 
 ing the foregoing melee ; she was pale 
 with fright. She did not moan. Large 
 tear-drops flowed down her cheeks. I 
 could not see her fairly in the crowd. She 
 had chains on both wrists ; also on her 
 ankles. She could not go as fast as the 
 Marshal, and that was why he gripped 
 and jerked her arm so cruelly. 
 
 In the Quarters she was placed in the 
 front room ; could be seen from the street. 
 The window was open ; the day was 
 warm. I saw her sitting on a bench. Two 
 
8G 
 
 THE FALL OF FORT SUMTER ; OR, 
 
 others were sitting at her left hand side. 
 They quite dark ; I think they were mula- 
 toes, or half breeds, as they are commonly 
 called. One of them seemed contented ; 
 that one was a man. The other was a 
 woman, about fifty years of age. When 
 Kate was pushed into the room, the old 
 woman rose, saying, " O Lord, my God ! " 
 and she burst into tears. The keeper hit 
 her lightly with his cane. The slaves then 
 sat down and the keeper went out. Many 
 others beside myself lingered in front of 
 the house to look upon Kate. She saw us 
 not. She looked downward ; never raised 
 her eyes toward Heaven. Once or twice 
 she gazed at her arm, now black and blue 
 from the Marshal's grip, but instantly her 
 eyes again fell to the floor. She moved 
 not ; sat upright, pale as death, a beautiful 
 American slave ! 
 
 While we looked on, Russel came ujx 
 He clapped a man on the shoulder, saying, 
 " That's the chalk ! Your money's ready." 
 Some of the crowd set up a cheer for the 
 secession of South Carolina. They said 
 Cotton was king. Many of them boasted 
 that the Government of England would 
 be on the side of slavery ; that if the 
 Southern States would found a govern- 
 ment, based on slavery, that the British 
 Government had assured them they should 
 meet every encouragement it was possible 
 to give. Many of the crowd gave groans 
 for Lincoln, and for Abolitionists, and then 
 they gradually dispersed. I returned to 
 my companion, Joe. She was still at the 
 lamppost with her cigar. I feared to tell 
 her her sister was indeed the person, for I 
 thought she would betray herself by cry- 
 ing or fainting. She asked me, " Is it 
 really my sister ? Tell me, for I am dying 
 with suspense." 
 
 " No," said I, " it was only a common 
 culprit. A little thief girl." 
 
 " Oh, indeed ! really ? " 
 
 " Ay, really ! " 
 
 " Then I am so hajjpy. Oh, what a 
 burden it has been to me ! and now I am so 
 relieved. Indeed I would like now to see 
 the girl, thief as she is, that has given me 
 so much concern. Come, take me to the 
 prison, I will see the thief, or drunken 
 woman, that I may laugh at my foolish 
 fears." 
 
 " No," said I, " a prison is no place for 
 a youth like you, let us return to the 
 Capital." 
 
 " Why, now, indeed, you frighten me. 
 It was my sister, and you fear to tell 
 me V " 
 
 " On my word, dear girl, can you think 
 I would wrong one I have sworn to be- 
 friend ? " 
 
 " Now, I objure you, if you are my 
 friend indeed, tell me if it were my sis- 
 ter ? " 
 
 " Why, I am your friend, and wishing 
 to save you, for you might be overcome ; 
 I told you wrongly." 
 
 " Alas, my sister ! Poor Kate ! Take 
 me, sir, I honor you, oh noble citizen ! " 
 
 I then told her to take my arm, and we 
 walked awhile, she drooping and weeping 
 the while. I knew not how to comfort 
 her ; I had no plan to rescue her sifter. 
 After we had gone two or three squares, 
 she stopped short, saying, "No, no, what 
 am I about ? Why do I not go to my 
 sister ? Come, I will share with her ; take 
 me ! " and she looked up into my face, her 
 tears were gone and she seemed resolute. 
 " You see, I am older and grown in more 
 independence, but my sister looks for some 
 one to look out for her. If I go back with 
 her, Providence may show us yet some 
 way of escape, but if I stay here, I know 
 my sister will pine and die. Therefore I 
 must go. Come, take me ! " 
 
 " Rather say you will help provide your 
 sister's rescue, and I am not long in yield- 
 ing. After we have failed in all things, 
 your proposition is still good. Russel will 
 undoubtedly keep Kate here for several 
 days, while he searches for you. During 
 this interval we can counsel on all the 
 plans we may invent. Let us hence now, 
 using our judgment more, and our sym- 
 pathy less." To this she assented, and we 
 started back. In front of the flower gar- 
 dens we encountered that ever crazy pair, 
 Mrs. Lucy Tabiatha Stimpkins and Pro- 
 fessor Jackson. 
 
 " I never heard of a husband," said she 
 to him, " if indeed husband means a wo- 
 man's partner — that loitered by the way 
 nursing ever the woes of a lost purse. 
 Why have you not followed me ? Were 
 you true to our glorious cause, we would 
 now have been champions in one of the 
 greatest affairs of the age. With my sin- 
 gle hand I encountered a hundred men, 
 who were mad with the capture of a fugi- 
 tive little slave, and full exultant, flying 
 with their game, and boasting of their 
 clutch on the frail creature. But I was 
 overcome. Brute force overrun woman's 
 moral power. And I have to thank you. 
 You were not on hand." 
 
 " Indeed, my dear, you much mistake 
 these matters. We are in advance of the 
 age. The tide is against us. In all our 
 adventures we fail. Had I been there, 
 they had murdered us. You, being a wo- 
 man, was spared." 
 
 " Is that indeed your courage in the 
 cause of human rights ? Have you been 
 
LOVE AND WAR IN 1860. 
 
 8T 
 
 really lecturing for years on the cause of 
 Woman's Rights, and now, when we put 
 our doctrine into practice, and have almost 
 accomplished the glorious result, do you 
 eternally wail over that hundred and six- 
 teen dollars? Did we not carry the late 
 election ? Did we not exult over the Sen- 
 ate, and the members dared not lay hands 
 on us ? You say you cannot live on one 
 meal a day ; you do not like water and 
 bread. Are you a glutton ? Do the tem- 
 poral things of life most concern you ? 
 Now I tell you, I am seriously considering 
 about reducing our food to one meal a 
 week. I have carefully estimated the wear 
 and tear of the human body, and I find it 
 cannot exceed a pound a week. Whoever 
 eats more than that, is not conversant with 
 or obedient to the laws of Nature. If we 
 raise money enough to publish another 
 edition of our Journal of Progress, I in- 
 tend to have in it an editorial on eating. 
 You shall see then where you stand. 
 Have you been here all day ? " 
 
 " No ; I have been very busy." 
 
 " Well, what have you done ? " 
 
 " Nothing, nothing." 
 
 " Professor Jackson ! There are four 
 million slaves in this country ; do you 
 know that ? " 
 
 " Yes, I do." 
 
 " Well, do you know that the Southern 
 States wish to extend their slave institu- 
 tion, and that to accomplish their purpose 
 they are about to separate from the Free 
 States ? " 
 
 " Yes, I do." 
 
 " Do you know the British Government 
 encourages them in it, in hopes to destroy 
 this nation ? " 
 
 " Yes, I do." 
 
 " And will you sit and remain silent 
 while these evils are being carried out 3 " 
 
 " I don't want to, but how can a man 
 work without tools ? " 
 
 " Tools ! Professor ? Had you seen the 
 helpless girl — the poor child I just saw — 
 you would not talk of tools. When I 
 have nails on my fingers' ends, I have 
 tools for such work. When I have a 
 tongue, I am provided. Ay, any power 
 left, I cin use it, and will. Come on, let 
 us march hand in hand. I have work 
 aboard. The law, feeble as it is, and in 
 as vile hands as it is, may be used." 
 
 " Well, as for this business, I know 
 nothing. But I am sure of failure. It 
 will be a loss of time and loss of money. 
 I think I can do more good going round the 
 country lecturing, than I cau in this busi- 
 ness. If you will pay me back my hundred 
 and sixteen dollars, I shall like it better." 
 " Now, I tell you, unless you arouse 
 
 yourself up to more action, you shall never 
 have a cent. I shall turn you adrift alto- 
 gether. You shall learn to treat me as a 
 lady, or I will have done with you. So, 
 there now." 
 
 " Oh, indeed, I meant nothing ! I am 
 willing to do anything reasonable. Only 
 lead the way, and I will follow." 
 
 " Come on then, we'll have no more of 
 this." 
 
 He signified his entire consent, and 
 they got up and walked off together, her 
 tongue on the continual clatter, but we 
 heard no more. 
 
 " Oh, that she is not ashamed ! " said 
 my companion as soon as we started on, 
 " to let herself become so foreign to the 
 retiring sweetness of woman, which so 
 charms and pleases all men. And that he 
 is shameless in the presence of such a 
 creature, who has so seemingly entailed 
 grief on him till he has no power to shake 
 her off. Why, now, I thought indeed, 
 where laws protected marriage, marriage 
 was the heaven of a lifetime. Truly, it 
 seems where trouble is not forced on us, 
 we ourselves seek it out and adopt it as a 
 desirable thing to live with. But we, that 
 are bound by others, to others whom we 
 abhor, we have real woe. My poor sister 
 Kate, in all this dread while must loiter 
 there, alone in spirit, thought, feelings. 
 Pondering ever on her horrid prospects. 
 Nothing, save the soul within her, feeds 
 her pleading, bleeding power. Even time 
 must linger to wear her patience out. Oh, 
 my poor sister ! my poor sister ! " 
 
 Again and again she asked herself what 
 she could do for Kate. " Oh, is there 
 nothing I can do ? Can I not break open 
 the door and provide her exit ? Can I not 
 even speak to her ? Shall I desert her 
 now she is in prison ? O God, show me 
 what I shall do ? Is there no penance 
 worthy of this ? Teach me, O my Father 
 in Heaven. Impose upon me that the 
 tearing of the flesh from my arms will free 
 my sister. Take hence an arm, a foot, or 
 shut up my ears, but O, burst the fetters 
 of that helpless child ? Give her freedom ! 
 O give her freedom ! " 
 
 I told her she should desist in this idle 
 talk, for it amounted to nothing ; urging 
 her to use her judgment only. I knew, 
 too, it would not answer for her to see 
 Kate, for she would be sure to betray her- 
 self. " Have you no way," said I, " you 
 can send word to Kate ? " 
 
 " Ah ! Why, certainly ! Have I forgot- 
 ten myself? We had it planned. I am 
 to write on a thin paper, send it her in a 
 piece of tobacco. A glorious thought ! 
 See ; but no ! Well, I can at least com- 
 
88 
 
 THE FALL OF FORT SUMTER ; OR, 
 
 fort her." I was much teased by her ex- 
 citability, for many people passed us, and 
 some of them frequently turned to look at 
 us. If it should be proved that I was ac- 
 cessory to her disguise, I was safely in for 
 a year's imprisonment myself. Knowing 
 this., I cautioned her every few paces, and 
 hurried as fast as I could to the Jackson 
 House. I was anxious to see Ann Under- 
 bill, to learn all about her concealing Kate, 
 and to learn too if she had a plan matured 
 for Kate's rescue. In turn I had resolved 
 to tell her all about Lizzie, or, as now 
 called, Joe Travers. I will not deny that 
 I hoped the similarity of our actions would 
 enlist her more in my favor. 
 
 Washington was becoming dangerous 
 for me ; men were murdered every day for 
 their political sentiments, if opposed to 
 the slave sentiment of the South. Boasts 
 were common and bets frequent, that Lin- 
 coln would never reach Washington alive. 
 At the Planter's Restaurant was an open 
 book on the counter, where men subscribed 
 their names, and the amount they would 
 
 give to any body who would kill Lincoln. 
 Books of the same kind were opened in 
 nearly all the hotels in Charleston, South 
 Carolina. But this was all called mockery ; 
 nonsense; political scare-crow. The threat- 
 ened aspect called together a body of poli- 
 ticians, nearly all of whom were proslavcry 
 men, under the name of a Peace Congress. 
 I was selected as a member of that body, 
 and was now pressed for time in which to 
 accomplish my purposes. The secessionists 
 still held their meetings in the deserted 
 house where Joe was first found by me, 
 and I determined too that Joe, knowing 
 all about the house, should secrete herself 
 on the premises and learn all about their 
 proceedings. Of course, I could not spend 
 much time in trying to free Kate from the 
 Quarters. The affairs of the nation were 
 becoming too serious. 
 
 The writer of this most remarkable his- 
 tory is here ordered to say, that the next 
 chapter is already written, and that who- 
 ever looks a little further ahead will dis- 
 cover that fact. 
 
 CHAPTER XII 
 
 BEING A VERY IMPORTANT PART OF EVIDENCE ENTIRE, THE RELATIONSHIP OF WHICH CAN ONLY BE 
 DISTINGUISHED BY THOSE MYSTERIES OF WHICH THE WHOLE COUNTRY WILL FOREVER REMAIN 
 IGNORANT. 
 
 After viewing the heading to this 
 chapter, the writer asked Jenkins if it 
 was selected from Everett, and he repli- 
 ed by way of explanation, saying, " While 
 I was travelling in a country where were 
 wealthy peers of State, a nobleman re- 
 marked of a steamer, ' Its confluence is the 
 traverse of two bivalves set in motion, like 
 the mist in the Valley of the Nile, where 
 inundations so frequently interrupt the 
 pleasure of travellers, with which I pre- 
 sume everybody in this age is perfectly 
 familiar ; ' and this was called an eloquent 
 sentence. It was indeed with some pride 
 that I remembered the literature of my 
 own country. But I want the men and 
 women to read, and regardless of an au- 
 thor's name, give him his due ; and I 
 wish to wake up my countrymen not to 
 boast of the things here written, or niy 
 blunders, but to show them that wit and 
 humor lives in every head, only it is some- 
 times lost in the stately style of tasteless 
 authors." 
 
 I told Jenkins that he spoke well, but 
 he had not yet told me of the most im 
 portant part of this history, and that was 
 whether he married Ann Underhill ; neither 
 had he told me how it came out with the 
 Judge and Vickey. I never saw Jenkins 
 look so sad ; for the manner in which I 
 spoke, made it seem as if I was joking. 
 
 " Wait," said he ; " I am only telling what 
 was at that time a too oft repeated tale, 
 and which must now and forever be pre- 
 served as one of the most prominent inci- 
 dents connected with the early history of 
 the great rebellion — I mean the mysterious 
 disappearance of Miss Underhill, one of the 
 leading belles of the Capital. At any 
 other time in our country's history, such 
 an occurrence would have created the most 
 intense excitement ; but the threatened 
 aspect of political affairs had cast its deep 
 shadow over all other things, and made 
 them comparatively trivial. Still, the sud- 
 den departure, the mysteriously secret na- 
 ture of this lady's whereabouts was only 
 
LOVE AND WAR IN 1860. 
 
 89 
 
 eecond in importance to all else in the 
 Capital." 
 
 First there were whispers about the 
 hotel ; then from house to house, until in 
 all the avenues of the city her name be- 
 came a theme of every tongue. The causes 
 were discussed, and the probable results 
 questioned. Was she dead ? Had she 
 eloped ! Had she anything to do with 
 the fugitive that was captured at the 
 hotel ? Every person acquainted with her 
 told of her beauty, her fame, her fortune. 
 Those unacquainted with her grieved that 
 they had not seen her and known her. 
 Her uncle, Judge Francis, always so cheer- 
 ful and gay, was now downcast and de- 
 pressed beyond measure. The joy of many 
 years was now clouded and full of woful 
 suspense. The flower of his life, the theme 
 of his soul's devotion for so many long years, 
 was, without a moment's warning, now 
 gone, no one knew where, and the pangs 
 of a broken heart were his. By day and 
 by night he sat there weeping and saying 
 little, and those who joked him so often 
 before, now respected his tears ; for this is 
 one of the most excellent traits of our 
 countrymen. 
 
 On the day following her disappearance, 
 the newsjsapers were full of notices of her. 
 In New York, Philadelphia, and other 
 cities, the papers called for information of 
 her whereabouts, or anything that would 
 lead to information of her. Large sums 
 of money were offered, but nothing came 
 of that. Days passed by, but still nothing 
 was heard. This was the time that the 
 South Carolina Commissioners came to 
 treat with James Buchanan for the separa- 
 tion of that State from the Union, and the 
 whole country was wrapped up in the in- 
 terest of the approaching ultimatum. We 
 were all of us at fever heat, for the signs 
 of the times predicted the probable fall of 
 a great and good government. 
 
 The Commissioners, too, longed for the 
 Presidential reception for the crowning of 
 their pet scheme ; the consummation of 
 which would have backset the rights of 
 man for many ages. But even while these 
 were their woful prayers, the President iu 
 turn was weeping for the inevitable fall of 
 his party, and this it was that bore so 
 heavily on his soul. 
 
 The whole country was in commo- 
 tion. The storm was seen approaching 
 and near at hand, but, where first it 
 would burst, was the study and whis- 
 per of many millions. Omens, signs, and 
 rumors. The South did most their glory 
 boast, and would they fall to with bloody 
 hands ? But should they by Lincoln be 
 outdone ? Dread deeds, and terrible to 
 
 the peaceful, great republic. A nation's 
 life or death within the grasp of politi- 
 cians ; for ere our country's fate was settled, 
 thousands and hundreds of thousands must 
 take a soldier's diadem. In the midst of 
 these approaching terrors, how can I give 
 importance to the theme of a single broken 
 heart ? How can I show you the eccentric 
 but venerable Judge in tears, forgetful of 
 all around him ? And the belle of the 
 Capital, who shall search for our sorrows 
 in the awful mystery of the disappearance ? 
 
 Now be it known that, owing to my 
 anonymous character, I am now about to 
 reveal one of the most remarkable at- 
 tempts at human destruction ever planned 
 on this continent. 
 
 The attempts to head off the threatened 
 war were so feeble by all our Government 
 officers, that some of us felt justified in 
 anything that would avert the coming 
 storm. To this end it was proposed by 
 Prescott that we blow up the secessionists 
 during their secret meeting. Accordingly, 
 we procured a keg of powder, and put it 
 under the deserted house, but owing to a 
 former faithful promise, I will not divulge 
 who all were accessory to the dread deed. 
 My fugitive Joe was employed, and had a 
 hazardous part to play, of which you shall 
 hear by and by. The fuse was attached 
 to the keg and extended into the back 
 yard, and was calculated for six minutes 
 from the time of ignition until the keg of 
 powder would blow up. The time for 
 ignition was set down at about fifteen 
 minutes before eleven. This was on pur- 
 pose to meet the railroad train going 
 North at eleven. We had also bribed the 
 door-keeper to let the slave-girl, Kate, out 
 at fifteen minutes before eleven. Prescott 
 and I were to remain in Washington, but 
 the two fugitives, owing to the expected 
 excitement, were to start for Canada. So 
 much for the design, now for the execu- 
 tion. Joe, my fugitive, was horrified when 
 I proposed it to her, but finally did, to all 
 appearance, give consent and even praised 
 the invention. We trusted her implicitly. 
 And she also agreed to remain in an ob- 
 scure place within the house until just 
 before the explosion, in order to tell us 
 who all were sure to die. 
 
 Now, when the night had come, Pres- 
 cott and I retired near the place to await 
 the awful moment ; our fugitive having 
 effected an entrance and secreted herself 
 within the house. She also awaited the 
 result. In a short time strangers to her 
 came in, amongst whom, as I since learned, 
 were Cobb, Floyd, Thompson, and others. 
 
90 
 
 THE FALL OF FOET SUMTEE ; OE, 
 
 She, however, goes on to state that she 
 afterwards distinguished Cobb, having seen 
 him in the South on a previous occasion. 
 Fearing that she might be detected in her 
 hiding place, and that she might be sud- 
 denly despatched as a spy, she had pro- 
 vided herself with a pistol to be used as a 
 signal to Prescott and myself. 
 
 In due time the meeting was called to or- 
 der. Toombs first addressed the members, 
 and, on this occasion, he said he was reluc- 
 tantly compelled to admit that the firmness 
 of Scott for the Union made it too danger- 
 ous an affair to try to change the govern- 
 ment of the whole country ; but that the 
 South might safely set up for itself, and 
 that, for his part, he was now in favor of 
 hazarding nothing greater than such a 
 design. He then apologized for having, 
 on a previous occasion, prevented other 
 members from advocating the scheme 
 which he now espoused himself. It was 
 on this occasion that a letter was produced 
 informing the members of the meeting 
 that Mr. Russel of the London Times would 
 soon visit the Southern States. Davis and 
 Toombs then advised the selection of 
 Squire Larramie of Virginia, and also one 
 Dr. Thornton of the same place to be sent 
 to England to open a direct communica- 
 tion through the London Times and Post 
 with the people of England, in regard to 
 the rights and demands of the people of 
 the South.* 
 
 "While these harangues were going on, 
 Joe, the spy-fugitive, was watching them, 
 and, in order that she might hear better, 
 she leaned forward a little ; for the wind 
 blew through the cracks of the boards 
 where she was holding her ear, and she 
 had not heard all that had been said. 
 Though there were about forty members 
 present, yet Toombs aud Davis did nearly 
 all the talking. In thus leaning forward, 
 however, she was enabled to j)erceive to 
 her chagrin, that the door was guarded by 
 a man with a drawn sword. This person 
 she recognized on the instant. It was 
 Orsini. He was the companion, about a 
 year previous, of an actress in Savannah. 
 That actress was the woman to whom her 
 own master was married. She looked upon 
 him as the murderer of her master, and 
 she involuntarily screamed outright. But 
 having sufficient presence of mind to com- 
 pose herself, she sat perfectly still. The 
 members of the meeting, however, all start- 
 ed to their feet, immediately mistrusting 
 that a spy was present. They took candles 
 
 * Subscriptions to he used for this purpose were 
 started during the time the Southern Commissioners 
 were in Washington, and the amount of money raised 
 for that object was six hundred aud fifty thousand dol- 
 lars ($650,000). 
 
 and went about to examine the apartments. 
 As before stated, she sat behind some loose 
 boards, where the wind was blowing, and 
 she feared that the tumult in the house 
 would cause the persons in the yard to 
 anticipate her escape, and so blow them 
 all up together. Still she was compelled 
 to sit quietly as the candles were passed 
 from place to place, toward every corner, 
 until they approached even to the very 
 boards where she was sitting. But with 
 perfect coolness she blew out the candles 
 as fast as they were thrust behind the 
 boards, even on several occasions, and the 
 person having the light in charge simply 
 said " Confound the wind ! " Suffice it to 
 say, however, they all came to the conclu- 
 sion that they had heard no scream at all, 
 but that it had been the wind whistling, 
 and so they resumed business. 
 
 On this occasion Davis stated that it 
 was the determined policy of every one of 
 the members present, that Buchanan should 
 not receive the South Carolina Commis- 
 sioners. He hoped that not a week would 
 elapse before the batteries of Charleston 
 would open fire on the forts and garrison 
 of Anderson's soldiers. He had heard with 
 joy that Anderson had removed to Fort 
 Sumter, and he considered this of itself an 
 overt act against the South. It was, he 
 said, a menace to the city of Charleston. 
 
 Cobb then wished to know what action, 
 if any, had been taken, in regard to the 
 merchant ship sent out by the Government 
 carrying food to Anderson's garrison. 
 Thompson answered, saying, " The Star 
 of the West — our friends are apprized of 
 her coming to Charleston ; our guns will 
 be ready for her reception." * 
 
 About this period of time, also, Toombs, 
 Davis, and others publicly expressed the 
 wish that Southern members of Congress 
 should not all leave Washington. They 
 feared that the opposition might pass laws 
 to interfere with their designs ; and urged 
 the Southern members to keep their seats 
 as long as possible. These are the facts in 
 detail, perhaps somewhat tediously told, 
 of the plot in the origin and carrying out 
 of the great rebellion. The opposition to 
 the instigators, and the evidence against 
 them was, at the period referred to, of so 
 small moment that to speak of it in any 
 manner was only to elicit ridicule. 
 
 But there were also at this period pa- 
 
 * Thompson publicly made these boasts even while 
 he held his Secretaryship. 
 
 Toombs in turn said that twenty-five thousand min- 
 ute men were already armed and equipped in Virginia 
 ready to march at a given signal into Washington. 
 Many newspapers of the country detailed all the above 
 facts, and the facts wire believed to be true, even by 
 the President himself, and yet no action was taken by 
 the Government to prevent the coming destruction. 
 
LOVE AND WAR IN 1860. 
 
 91 
 
 triots — men firm and determined to use 
 every means, no matter how dreadful, to 
 thwart these apparently wicked designs, 
 and amongst these means was the affair 
 referred to of blowing up the house that 
 contained the leaders. And to do this 
 effectually, we had used every precaution ; 
 we had waited till such an hour as would 
 surely catch all the chief leaders ; and we 
 could even now, while stationed at the 
 fuse with well-tried matches, hear the tierce 
 murmuring of their villainous tongues. 
 Here for two long hours we sat waiting, 
 watching, wearing, trembling, praying, and 
 justifying the deed before God. All the 
 chances did we weigh, whether we should 
 escape, or whether be caught and hanged, 
 and our heartfelt answer was, God's will 
 be done ! Yet withal, most terrible were 
 our convulsions of thoughts, counting the 
 minutes of life and death for our well- 
 caged felons. But then came a new mys- 
 tery ; instead of our fugitive returning to 
 us as we expected, she lingered, she tar- 
 ried so long. We heard the scream refer- 
 red to ; we heard a rustling in the build- 
 ing ; could she have been killed ? This 
 troubled us ; it set us all on fire. An hour 
 passed ; Joe came not. Yet another long 
 hour and she had not come. The time 
 was almost up to light the fuse. What 
 should we do ? Who can imagine what 
 an awful suspense was ours ? We whis- 
 pered together, still as the midnight air, 
 and we advised, but heeded not. Yet 
 patience gave us victory. Our fugitive 
 approached us, even a few minutes before 
 the fatal moment. Now was our time. By 
 sign and motion all was made ready. The 
 fatal match was lighted ; we saw it burn, 
 and then we leisurely walked away. Our 
 escape was good, orderly, effectual. But 
 how long we waited for the explosion ! 
 Six minutes ! We waited twenty. Ay, 
 an hour ! And no explosion. What could 
 it mean ? We dared not return. We had 
 no chance. We needs must go home dis- 
 appointed. Perhaps might be detected 
 and made to suffer, not for what we did, 
 but for what we attempted. Prescott was 
 downright mad. Joe was mysterious, and 
 seemed discomfited. Neither Prescott nor 
 myself mistrusted but she was heart and 
 soul with us. Though now that the fail- 
 ure was manifest, we needs must look 
 about for our other fugitive, Kate ; she 
 had not ap])roached the place designated, 
 and here too were we disappointed. For 
 we traced every street, alley, and lane 
 near the Quarters ; but could not find 
 her. Thus, with disappointment on all 
 sides, and the fear of detection too, 
 we wended our way back to lodgings, 
 
 but not to rest, for the play was scarce 
 begun. 
 
 I cannot now, when reviewing these 
 long past scenes, describe with what as- 
 tonishment and discomfiture I learned on 
 the following morning of the house having 
 been blown up, and of the escape of the 
 fugitive. My plans and schemes and plots 
 were all frustrated. I set about discover- 
 ing the cause of what was passed, and to 
 devise something for the future. Bearing 
 strictly in mind, too, that I was the chief 
 suspected person and that a price was set 
 on my head. Added to my distress was 
 also the mysterious disappearance of 
 Miss Underbill. My first desire was to 
 seek such information of her as I could 
 best obtain. 
 
 To do this, I encountered Joe, who was 
 apparently as much discomfited as myself, 
 and at about as much loss how to account 
 for the past occurrences. She then went 
 on to give me a description of such things 
 as might lead me to discover something in 
 relation to Miss Underbill's whereabouts ; 
 and related things to me which made it 
 apparent that she might have possibly, in 
 some unguarded moment, consented to an 
 elopement. 
 
 " Only on the evening previous," said 
 Joe, and she came close to me and told me 
 quietly of the apparent attachment be- 
 tween the two. "Only on the evening 
 previous to this," said she, " Wadsworth 
 spoke to her of the beauties of his South- 
 ern home, and of his own loneliness. She 
 was attending to all he said. As if to 
 urge him to cure his maladies with some 
 congenial fair one, she assured him any 
 one might be happy with such a home, 
 and almost hinted that the dreams of such 
 a spot had consoled her own lone heart. 
 Yet not quite did either one speak that 
 which I most wished to hear, and which, 
 too, I thought each of them wished to say 
 but dared not. And thus it ran from day 
 to day. At times he spoke of his intended 
 departure, but still he lingered. At times 
 he spoke of the dreadful aspect of the 
 country. He told her that his fortunes 
 were in the South, and if war came he 
 feared his ruin. And then he thought if 
 ruin came, he could not think of entailing 
 that ruin on another. Thus by indirect 
 hints, and by apparent backwardness be- 
 tween the two, I could only discover that 
 their attachment was guarded by serious 
 affairs." Joe. was quick at thought, and 
 turning to me, she added : " But see, 
 Wadsworth, you know, is not gone. Now, 
 were he gone, we could be content ; for 
 then we could say They are truly eloped. 
 This pair has flowm together : but while he 
 
92 
 
 THE FALL OF FORT SUMTER : OR, 
 
 is here, and himself overcome by the course 
 of things, all my conjectures are eclipsed ; 
 they are not gone together." And so, in 
 fact, it was with us all. No one to whom 
 this fair lady was attached had disappear- 
 ed with her. Her dearest and best mends, 
 and her most ardent admirers were still in 
 Washington. 
 
 Now, it so happened a few days after 
 her disappearance, and when Joe and 
 Judge Francis Underbill and myself were 
 returning from a place where we had been 
 making inquiries regarding recent inci- 
 dents of Miss Underbill, Ave came to a 
 corner of Pennsylvania Avenue, where we 
 met, at diverse angles, Victoria Edge and 
 her aunt. There could not have been a 
 better or more opportune occurrence to 
 divert the melancholy of us all. Vickey 
 was gay and joyful, to all appearances; 
 but the aunt was so strange and so seem- 
 ingly out of place, that we were complete- 
 ly astounded and not displeased with the 
 difference in style. 
 
 The Judge braced himself backward a 
 moment on his walking-stick, ejaculating, 
 " Ah, indeed, these happy moments ! Never 
 winter came,, but smiling summer follow- 
 ed ; never sorrow lingered, but bountiful 
 nature sent a joy to outmatch it. Welcome, 
 you who, more than all the world beside, 
 can fill the place of gentle Ann. You, the 
 pride and joy of a broken-hearted old man 
 — the pride, the joy, the reciprocal tie to a 
 heart-broken old man ! " And then with 
 a handkerchief all doubled up, he cleared 
 his face. Vickey, not thinking but his ad- 
 dress was delivered to her aunt, wist not 
 what to say, but smiling, turned toward 
 the ancient maid, who was indeed the 
 strangest figure. Alack, I must tell you, 
 she had been to the dentist, and her mouth 
 was stuffed with a double set of teeth, and 
 plumpers stretching her withered cheeks 
 to the utmost. Tightly she clenched her 
 jaws to hold the awful contents, and not 
 a word could speak. 
 
 " You must excuse her," said Vickey, 
 " she's just got a new set of teeth, and she 
 cannot talk. Meantime I am happy to 
 reply in her behalf and for myself also, 
 that your bereavement has also well nigh 
 distracted me. Since your niece disap- 
 peared, I have not had a moment's happi- 
 ness. I am indeed so miserable I can only 
 add to your own affliction." She then 
 turned to Joe and me and very cordially 
 greeted us. In a minute more we were 
 walking all on together. But as five can- 
 not walk abreast, so the Judge and Vickey 
 got ahead, and in spite of myself I was 
 obliged to be the arms-bearer to the old 
 maid. Joe, in spite of all the horrors and 
 
 woful scenes she had passed, now hung 
 her head and screened off the oft recurring 
 laugh. Again and again the old maid at- 
 tempted to speak, but her teeth and plump- 
 era so stretched her mouth she always 
 failed. Two or three times they got loose 
 and well nigh made their escape from her 
 mouth, but she caught them and crammed 
 them back. People were passing us and 
 continually turning to look at her ; and 
 she walked so limpy and slow, so proud 
 of her patent bosom and high-topped bon- 
 net, the latter all tipped and tinselled with 
 gold, and such hoops ; my legs tilted them 
 a yard high on the other side. It was the 
 fashionable hour on Pennsylvania Avenue, 
 and even the leisurely promenading ladies 
 and gentlemen of fashion walked faster 
 than we. Those who came along on t lie 
 other side, from behind, and passed us, 
 having seen the old maid's fine bonnet and 
 fine dress, beneath whose up-tilted skirt 
 hung common flannel half down her wrin- 
 kled stockings, turned, when just ahead, 
 to see the face of so strange a woman. 
 Here, behold — they did behold a face like 
 a famished squirrel's full of nuts. Next 
 they looked at me and then at Joe. They 
 were astonished ; nudging and grinning all 
 the way. I wished seriously I was at home. 
 It seemed to me that always when I went 
 anywhere, I got the oldest and ugliest 
 girls. The hotel was yet so far off. And 
 then, too, if that mischievous clerk 
 should be watching for us ; and he should 
 see me with the old maid 8 I sighed for 
 an interruption. If only Floyd would 
 come, or Orsini, and challenge me, or if 
 some special messenger should call me. 
 Doomed to walk with the most foolishly 
 dressed old maid ; with a face for the 
 grave, and a frock for a flirting girl of 
 fifteen. Fortunately, however, a change 
 occurred, and I was relieved. A man 
 came galloping down the avenue, and 
 seeing me, halted just opposite where we 
 were. He beckoned for me to approach 
 him, and I did so. I had never seen him 
 before, and though under other circum- 
 stances I might have hesitated, yet now, 
 being so anxious to get rid of the old 
 maid, I gladly accepted his invitation to 
 proceed in another direction, leaving Joe 
 without any instructions as to what she 
 should do ; only saying that I should be 
 at the Jackson House ere long. 
 
 At this important part of the history, 
 the writer is obliged to strike off from the 
 main column, to deal with one of the wings 
 thereof. It must be remembered that here- 
 tofore this history has been written in 
 subsequent time ; the reader has been fol- 
 
LOVE AND WAR IN 1860. 
 
 lowing the story ; but from this point on- 
 ward, the prospective will bear a very im- 
 portant part, What is to be said now is 
 selected from Jenkins' notes in advance of 
 the place here stopped at, and it begins 
 in this fashion, to wit : 
 
 Not long after Ann Underbill became 
 acquainted with Wadswortb, she took 
 to the habit of promenading on the outer 
 porch of the hotel, and frequently alone. 
 Those who are acquainted with this house 
 know that the porch alluded to is very 
 pleasant in the afternoon, and is often the 
 resort of persons of fashion. To see a lady 
 walking there is nothing strange ; one 
 would hardly question whether she be in 
 love or in quest of a lover ; he would 
 hardly straighten himself up and walk 
 with a brisker step at the sight of her ; 
 hardly put the squint-glasses on his nose ; 
 hardly pull out his chronometer, or even 
 twaddle his walking-stick against his leg. 
 Thus could she loiter there, as others often 
 did, and scarce a person noticed it. The 
 excitement in Washington at this time 
 was very great ; the rebels had made con- 
 stant threats to take the city, and many 
 of the residents of the place apprehended 
 serious trouble. Many foreigners were in 
 the city, and inasmuch as they were never 
 accustomed to see young ladies unattended 
 in the streets, they could not now, and be- 
 lieve them to be as chaste and holy as 
 angels. American young ladies do not 
 like to have fops turn their squint-glasses 
 full in their faces at every corner. They 
 are little rebels against such impertinence. 
 They are not ignorant of the motives of 
 such men, and know how to judge them. 
 And this is the chief reason that ladies 
 ceased to promenade alone. The prospect 
 of war had brought " men on leave " from 
 foreign navies and armies, and their con- 
 ceptions of America, formed on the basis 
 of their own countries, had polluted the 
 social air. Many young ladies would not 
 call on their friends, unless attended by 
 one or two companions. So, when cut 
 short the old way, they must seek exer- 
 cise by some other. Thus it was our gen- 
 tle Ann took relief on many an afternoon 
 on the outer porch. Vickey had been for 
 a good while engaged in fitting up her 
 aunt for fashionable life, and was neces- 
 sarily absent much of the time. Accord- 
 ing to the clerk's story, Vickey fully be- 
 lieved the Judge would marry the old 
 maid ; but the clerk had cautioned the 
 Edge family to keep it an entire secret 
 from Ann, lest the latter should break off 
 the match ; for the clerk knew that, how- 
 ever eccentric the Judge was, yet his niece 
 
 would not tolerate any advantage to be 
 taken of him. She loved him dearly. 
 She was without any other near relative ; 
 and he had ever been with her and watch- 
 ed over her. She was his only sister's 
 child, bequeathed to him as the last of 
 the Underbill children. The Judge claim- 
 ed to be descended from persons of the 
 highest quality, and he ever esteemed his 
 neice as of a superior race. He had pro- 
 vided her the best teachers ; he had taken 
 her constantly into the very best society. 
 Of course, he petted her ; he had made 
 her his ruler ; she was his guiding angel. 
 She was mistress of Loudon Heights. 
 Whatever was required by her, was fur- 
 nished at once. Yet she was not spoiled. 
 She had good, sound sense. She knew 
 her uncle's eccentricities, his egotism, and 
 his boasting, but she never mentioned 
 them, or, if so, only to please him. She 
 never found fault, never complained ; but 
 she pleased him till he made himself as 
 her child, yet she commanded not — for 
 such is woman's chiefest power. Nor 
 had she stateliness nor much to awe with 
 at first beholding ; but more by mirth 
 and backwardness calling out all that is 
 noble in man in her behalf; for what 
 man, though he crush the blooming this- 
 tle, would not fondly hold the violet and 
 therewith join his heavenly converse ? 
 Nor was she silent, nor pleading with 
 pretended faintness of voice ; but frolic- 
 some with due demeanor, and ever at a 
 game of harmless mischief, as makes man 
 ever remember and treasure each passing 
 moment. Nor ventured she her wit on 
 persons, nor passed a pun that ever pain- 
 ed another ; only on things did her wit 
 and humor tell. And such decorum had 
 she when you spake your sorrows, she 
 seemed to pray to Heaven in your behalf; 
 though mostly is she described as a merry, 
 good-hearted girl and everybody's favorite. 
 Every one who knew her was kind to the 
 Judge, for none would do aught to grieve 
 her. She was likely to become heir to her 
 uncle's estate, and of course had many in- 
 quiring friends. Lovers had been after 
 her since she was a child, and, as in her 
 childhood she had valued them, so now 
 the serious part thereof seemed not to 
 disturb her. There had been acquaint- 
 ances with whom she played in infancy ; 
 with whom she danced and walked now 
 in her youth. One of those was a young 
 man by the name of Perkins. The Judge 
 had cautioned her three years before that 
 Perkins was a fast young man, and so she 
 knew it and was cautious. They had been 
 much together when little children, and 
 she knew that he was a brave, adventur- 
 
94 
 
 THE FALL OF FORT SUMTER ; OR, 
 
 cms person. Now it so turned out that, 
 when this boy grew up to the size of a 
 man, he became a gambler and a poli- 
 tician, being a wealthy man's son, and 
 not provided with any trade or profes- 
 sion. It was said he came to Washington 
 as a lobby-man — that is, to help at outside 
 pressure to get bills through Congress ; 
 that he was paid for such services by 
 large contractors and by railroad com- 
 panies. Be that as it may, he was often 
 without money, though his father always 
 provided him well. Now it is a principle 
 in society, long established, that such men 
 are always ready to marry any sort of wo- 
 man for money, and especially if she be 
 young and handsome. This man — if a 
 person of twenty -one years be a man — 
 had proposed marriage to Ann Underbill 
 a year since, and had been rejected. Yet, 
 according to his personal appearance, he 
 was an excellent match ; and he would 
 also some day inherit a fortune by his 
 own father. He had not openly proposed 
 marriage, nor had she positively denied 
 him. He had merely ventured in the 
 neighborhood, and she had tossed up her 
 hand. He despaired, because he feared her 
 uncle knew too much about him, and he 
 ventured only so far as to satisfy himself 
 that it would be hopeless ; though he 
 hoped still, and often came near about 
 her, but not to give offence, for he was 
 an accomplished gentleman. He had no- 
 ticed her apparent attention to Wads- 
 worth, and he inwardly resolved— at least 
 it afterward seemed so — that by some 
 means or other he would carry off the 
 prize. 
 
 Accordingly, he watched her, and often 
 he saw her promenading on the porch as 
 before mentioned, and then he would ac- 
 cidentally, so seeming, endeavor to come 
 there himself. Sometimes he would wait 
 to see if her promenading there had any- 
 thing to do with Wadsworth. Once he 
 ventured to ask her why she walked there. 
 She told him there was so much excite- 
 ment in the streets, and so many of those 
 foreign squint-glasses, she could not go 
 out so well as before, and that she loitered 
 here in consequence. But he believed her 
 not. An evil mind doubteth everybody. 
 So he watched her more. One evening 
 he observed her looking over the banis- 
 ter at a lady passing on the sidewalk. 
 He saw the latter toss a paper on the 
 porch, and Ann picked it up. 'Twas 
 nearly night. The lady, or girl rather, 
 who threw up the paper was veiled, and 
 quickly disappeared. Ann turned the 
 paper toward the light, and read it. Her 
 hands fell ; she was astonished. She 
 
 looked over the side ; the person was 
 gone. Again she read the paper, and 
 now pressed her hand on her forehead. 
 Perkins was puzzled, and determined to 
 await the result. In a moment, however, 
 she was gone. He sought her, but was 
 told she had gone to her room. Still he 
 doubted, and lingered near. And, for- 
 tunately for him, Mr. Edge came in. He 
 had had much to do for Edge; Edge 
 used him as a pump-handle, in Congress. 
 Judge Francis Underbill was a fine gentle- 
 man — very fine for women ; but, in Edge's 
 eyes, he was nothing for business. Edge 
 was smart. He could soon find out his 
 man, and he liked those best who would 
 buy and sell. Perkins suited him exactly, 
 because Perkins would sell his word, his 
 honor, his friend, or anything else, to the 
 highest bidder. So these two cronies sat 
 to talk, but sat where Perkins could ob- 
 serve. Long they waited there ; talked 
 over all the stocks ; all the railroads, the 
 canals, steamships, steamboats, etc., etc., 
 peculiar to politicians and stock brokers. 
 At once, however, Perkins starts, excuses 
 himself, and so Edge goes away. This 
 was Perkins' time. Ann came down ; 
 looked at her watch ; hesitated a mo- 
 ment, and then went out on the porch. 
 It was quite dark. No one else was 
 there, Perkins mistrusted. Soon, from 
 the lower steps, a lady came up, and, at 
 near approach to Ann, halted, and entered 
 into conversation. No one else heard 
 them, only Perkins — suspicious man ! — 
 who had slipped beneath the curtains, 
 and was listening to catch the words. 
 Oh, villainous man, eaves-dropper to such 
 tender ones ! Suspicious mortal ! A. hush, 
 a caution ! He heard the words, " Starved 
 — lost — sister — must die ! " But he heard 
 no more. This was enough. Sharp man, 
 he knew she must be one of the runaway 
 slaves. 
 
 Now stealthily Ann and the fugitive 
 entered the hotel and passed from view. 
 A paper fell as they passed the door, and 
 Perkins eagerly sought and seized it. Now 
 to the light, and thus he read : 
 
 " Dear stranger ; I am almost starved. I am young, 
 like you, but 1 am flying for life and liberty. You 
 look so swet t, I know you will befriend me. Please, 
 when it is dark, bring'me some bread to this porch, 
 and throw it me. God bless you I Kate." 
 
 Perkins knew it all. Three hundred 
 dollars were ready to be picked up, and 
 he resolved to do it. On went his hat, 
 and off he started ; but ere he reached 
 Russel's house he thought of the other 
 fugitive, the sister for five hundred dol- 
 lars. To make the greater sum certain, 
 he resolved to wait a lew days, believing 
 
LOVE AND WAE IN 1860. 
 
 95 
 
 that the other fugitive would come to this 
 one. Here now became his special watch, 
 and he was often seen loitering round the 
 hotel for hours, ay, and for days. 
 
 Ann was much affected by the tale that 
 Kate told her, and became more secluded 
 and less mirthful. The fugitive she kept 
 in a secret room nearly all the time, only 
 at early morn or in the evening late did 
 she permit her to go out. She had re- 
 solved that, as soon as Kate found her 
 sister, she would herself conduct them 
 safely off to Canada. After a few days 
 had passed, however, they both began to 
 believe that the fugitive Lizzie had gone 
 ahead. Ann applied to the Judge for 
 money, and of course he gave it her. 
 She had only to mature some plan of' 
 action, and to set it on foot. The two 
 girls often weighed the matter together, 
 and as often formed some new plan of 
 reaching Canada. Finally, though, they 
 fixed upon a time — the evening train of 
 a certain day. But how to travel to ex- 
 cite no suspicion, that was the matter, 
 and thus was their woman's invention 
 planned. They were to travel as moth- 
 ers. But, not having babies, they resolved 
 to get two monstrous dolls, and have them 
 dressed in the finest embroidery, with long 
 trails ; to keep them muffled up, as if very 
 solicitous of the little dears' welfare. Of 
 course, conductors and private detectives 
 would treat them kindly. Accordingly, 
 the dolls were purchased, and Kate entered 
 upon the work of adorning them. Two 
 whole days and nights they provided the 
 things ; sometimes so merrily congratu- 
 lating themselves on the surety of their 
 enterprise. At last the affairs were all 
 completed ; they had only to wait for 
 the night to come. But lo ! foolish girls, 
 vain hopes ! The Old Boy had his snares 
 around you ! He had a shrewd instru- 
 ment watching over you, and that was 
 Perkins. He despaired of the other fugi- 
 tive coming, and he resolved to make good 
 the first. On a fair morning he sent the 
 marshal, and Kate was taken to the Quar- 
 ters. Ann was nearly distracted. The 
 toilet was there, and so were the dolls ; 
 but gone was the gentle youth with whom 
 she had longed to fly. This was her day 
 of weeping, but not of despair. She saw 
 Perkins when the capture was made, but 
 f apposed him innocent. On the afternoon 
 < f the same day she saw him again at the 
 iotel, and she resolved to bribe him to get 
 the fugitive's escape. Accordingly, she 
 placed herself on the outer porch, and 
 waited till he came up. He was every 
 inch a gentleman in appearance and style, 
 and, after saluting her, he hoped she had 
 
 recovered from the fright in the morn- 
 ing. 
 
 " Indeed I have not," said she, " and I 
 fear I never shall. The awe of that mo- 
 ment, and the contemplated horrors await- 
 ing that poor girl, have sent a chill to me 
 that will never, never cease." 
 
 " Oh, I do think it was dreadful," said 
 he. 
 
 " And yet you opposed it not ? " said 
 she. 
 
 " I dared not ; 'twould have sent me 
 up for three years. Indeed, I abhor such 
 things ; but I must preserve my own 
 liberty first, and then to others give it." 
 
 " Had you known that girl, and the life 
 that awaits her, you would have saved 
 her." 
 
 " I would without knowing her, if I 
 could. But the law must be carried out, 
 and, of course, there are such as would 
 always, for the reward of three hundred 
 dollars, betray a fugitive. But as you 
 have spoken of her and of the life that 
 awaits her, I should be pleased to learn 
 it myself from one who would be pleased 
 to tell it. Perhaps I might yet meliorate 
 her condition." 
 
 " No one would be pleased to tell it. 
 No one can meliorate her condition. 
 Money is of little value, and brave hearts 
 are scarce. Her owner will not sell her, 
 or I could save her. She is iu chains, 
 and you can do her no good." 
 
 " Now, that is strange, you tell me this. 
 Do you remember ever a thing I tried, and 
 failed in ? Do you know a thing that 
 money cannot get ? Now, I will wager 
 you to the value of a fine bonnet that I 
 can get that girl's chains off before to- 
 morrow morning's sun for one hundred 
 dollars." 
 
 " How ? " 
 
 " Will you wager ? " 
 
 " I will ; and I will furnish the money." 
 
 " Done ! " said he ; and " Done ! " said 
 she. 
 
 Now, it followed that she told him all 
 she knew about the fugitive, and of their 
 plan to escape to Canada, and he seemed 
 much affected by it, often exclaiming, 
 " Oh, had I known this ! Oh, what 
 monsters some men are ! Poor, poor girl ! 
 But now, hark you ! you shall yet carry 
 out your purpose. To-morrow morning 
 shall you start for Canada. I ask no 
 favors ; I want no money. It is a most 
 holy cause, and highly honorable." 
 
 She believed him ; thought he had still 
 a noble nature, and she would fain clap 
 her hands with joy at the coming pros- 
 pect. He told her to hold herself in 
 readiness on the following morning, be- 
 
96 
 
 TflE FALL OF FORT SUMTER ; OR, 
 
 fore the break of clay, and then he left 
 her. She -was much pleased ; was never 
 so happy before. Thus did she while 
 away the time ; having worked herself 
 up to such a nervous pitch about it she 
 had no rest. Poor girl, Low simple and 
 childlike in human discernment ! Thou 
 hast been talking with a devil. The old 
 maid with the plumpers, whom thou 
 wouldst laugh at, were it not for thy 
 better manners, is an angel. She rises 
 at the early cock-crowing of the morn- 
 ing, because, forsooth, she never learned 
 the fashions. She walks before the break 
 of day to taste the morning air. But hold 
 ye yet ! the future is known to no mortal. 
 There is a purpose in all the habits of man 
 that safely leads conception on to their holy 
 origin. 
 
 Perkins resolved to use the other hun- 
 dred dollars as a bribe, and then to make 
 a stronger and more lasting hold upon 
 gentle Ann. To get her captured with 
 the fugitive, as herself a fugitive, and then 
 to have 
 
 The writer of this great history is 
 obliged to apologize for this abrupt ter- 
 mination to Jenkins' notes on this sub- 
 ject. And he will also apologize for what 
 is coming immediately after, to wit : 
 
 Ere the morning came, gentle Ann arose 
 and left the Jackson House. In her arms 
 were the dolls, and she had thick shawls 
 over them. She was too impatient to wait 
 for Perkins, and so repaired to the Quar- 
 ters, or near there, and watched and wait- 
 ed. Two men, disguised, opened the door, 
 and out came the fugitive. Ann followed, 
 fearing at first, and ever keeping in the 
 rear. When they had walked so she could 
 see them fairly, so she could make sure 
 they were the right persons, they halted, 
 having met a third man WTapped in a 
 cloak. To him the slave was confided, 
 and the other two started, of course for 
 the Jackson House. Ann would have 
 called them, but she was too much fright- 
 ened, and so stood there. In a little while 
 there was a loud report. The guard ran 
 away, but the slave stood firm. Then 
 Ann came up and greeted her, each well- 
 nigh overcome at so unexpected a meet- 
 ing. Thence they flew for the railway 
 station fast as possible, or at least fast as 
 two young women with very young babies 
 could. What was their surprise, however, 
 ere they had gone far, to be accosted by a 
 man in deep disguise, and demanded to 
 halt. " I know you ! " he said ; " you are 
 the fugitives, Lizzie and Kate. Here, you 
 wretches, I will cowhide you ? " and he 
 
 seized them, and was beginning to handle 
 them roughly, when lo! the simple old 
 maid came near, being even before day- 
 light out to take her morning walk. 
 " What on earth's the matter?" said she. 
 " Here, police ! soldiers ! watchmen ! " an< i 
 she screamed as if her throat were of braa& 
 The villain ran off. But he had so fright- 
 ened the poor girls, and had withal thrown 
 away their dolls, that they feared to go to 
 the railway station. Not knowing what 
 to do, however, they ran, and the old 
 maid then got frightened, and she ran 
 too. But she was so slow she soon lost 
 sight of the others. Two men then came, 
 and, overtaking her, asked for the two 
 girls, assuring her that they were friends. 
 She told them the direction, and they 
 pursued. The old maid then went home, 
 and told what she had seen, assuring 
 everybody that she would never take 
 another walk at so early an hour in the 
 morning. The girls ran toward the Po- 
 tomac, anon beholding their pursuers and 
 again avoiding them. In a short time they 
 neared the river bank, and coming to a 
 rickety old boat, they just succeeded in 
 getting into it and shoving off from shore, 
 when the men, to them unknowm, came 
 up. Ann at once resolved to cross the 
 river, she herself pulling on the oars, 
 with a full determination to get on the 
 first train for some indirect route to Can- 
 ada. She never knew before how strong 
 she was, or what resolution a little fear 
 could give her. But this was in fact a 
 feat of much magnitude, and must result 
 in nothing short of failure. 
 
 With what triumphant feelings they 
 shot out upon the river. The discom- 
 fited pursuers were amazed. No other 
 boat was there, and the girls felt so com- 
 pletely master of the attempt that they 
 would have shouted to them in derision 
 had not their lives been in peril by the 
 unsafe vessel they were in. But their joy 
 was soon brought to a close. Some idle 
 sailors were passing, and they saw and 
 heard their pursuers beckon to them. 
 The girls put forth all their power, for 
 they next beheld approaching from the 
 shore the sailors' boat, with the two men 
 in it.. The sight appalled them. The 
 distance to be rowed was yet very great, 
 and all odds were against them. Not 
 strength, but weakness, came over them, 
 though they pulled with all their might. 
 It was now sunrise, and they were exactly 
 between their pursuers and the sun. Again 
 they heard another explosion, or a not far- 
 off cannon. Kate felt the awful danger to 
 her, and she now seized the oars and took 
 them from Ann, who was astonished how 
 
LOVE AND WAR IN 1860. 
 
 97 
 
 strong the slave was. Their frail boat 
 took a new start. Hope again lived, and 
 for half an hour they sped forward with- 
 out doubt. But then uncertainty revived. 
 The boat of the stalwart men came after 
 them like a steamer, casting the shining 
 water in flaming wings on either side. 
 The tears involuntarily flooded the eyes 
 of the poor girls as the dread fate began 
 to appear. Nearer came the long-desired 
 shore, but still nearer the never-faltering 
 boat behind. Soon they hailed the girls, 
 who made no answer. They were then 
 near the shore, but the impossible could 
 not be. Kate saw it, and she dropped 
 oars. " Oh, my God ! my God ! " said 
 she ; " I am forever doomed ! You see — 
 you see, they are here ! Now I will drown 
 myself. I will never be taken alive, so 
 help me Heaven ! " " Hold ! hold ! " said 
 Ann ; " Heaven save her ! " and she caught 
 hold of her, but she jerked loose, exclaim- 
 ing, " No, never ! Let go ; I'll die ! Here ! 
 if "ever you find my lone sister, give her 
 this pin ; say it was from Kate, even while 
 the perils of slavery were stripped of every 
 hope, and the darkest crimes of licentious 
 man found refuge in American law. Tell 
 her that my constant prayers to heaven are 
 but the folly of vain hopes ; but yet with- 
 in my breast is a natural flame that burns 
 forever chaste and pure, and so I die ! " 
 Ann was then holding her, but the other 
 broke loose, being almost frantic and wild. 
 Then, standing up, she leaped overboard, 
 but did not sink at once. With her mouth 
 full of water, she shouted, " God bless 
 you ! " and then she went down. But 
 she could not sink well. Ann was fright- 
 ened. Both men saw her ; they were at 
 once alongside. One of them, the smaller 
 of the two, caught her dress, and they 
 pulled her into their boat. This was the 
 first time Ann looked at their faces ; both 
 were strangers. One of them said, " Now 
 for the other ! " and he seized Ann's boat. 
 The girls were then only the breadth of a 
 street from the other shore. Ann did not 
 know if Kate was alive or dead, but ask- 
 ed, and one of the men said, " Stop your 
 mouth, girl, or I'll cowhide you ! " She 
 was frightened. He did not say she was 
 a fugitive till they got ashore on the other 
 side, and they would not let her speak. 
 The men took a tie rope off the boat, and 
 tied them together. After about ten min- 
 utes Kate was able to walk, but she looked 
 more like one dead than alive. The men 
 then ordered the girls to march. Their 
 hands were fastened behind their backs. 
 The men swore fearfully, and, if Ann at- 
 tempted to speak, they beat her. She 
 knew they mistook her for a slave, but 
 7 
 
 she had no way to prove herself, and was 
 crying ; but Kate did not cry. One of 
 the men said that, before six months, they 
 would wallop such wenches in the streets 
 of New York and Boston. The other said, 
 " It takes us to do it ! When we strike 
 out, the world will go with us. The Lon- 
 don Times and Post, and all the nobility, 
 will be with us." And then they would 
 say, " Trot along there, runaway ! You'll 
 get it good when you get home ! " but 
 they used words that cannot be mention- 
 ed, though they were very merry. Ann 
 would say, " I am no slave ; I am Miss 
 Underhill^ of Loudon Heights ; " but they 
 said, " Hush up, wench ! we've heard that 
 sort of stuff before ; " and then they kicked 
 her. She soon became quite faint, but ex- 
 pected every moment something would 
 turn up to release her. After a while 
 they came to a road, and some people 
 passed them. Ann screamed out to them, 
 and told them who she was, but got se- 
 verely bruised for it. One of the men said, 
 if she opened her mouth again, he would 
 put the gags on her. This was before they 
 came to the cabin. The cabin is about 
 half a mile, perhaps more. The cabin is 
 a railway station, and is small, with only 
 one door and one window, and a bench 
 in front. They were compelled to sit 
 here, but hardly had taken seat, when 
 they heard a yell near by, and, on look- 
 ing over the way, saw a crowd of a dozen 
 men hanging a man to a tree. One of the 
 captors said, " There goes another Aboli- 
 tionist ! " and he ended with an oath. A 
 train of cars then came alongside, and 
 halted. The girls were ordered aboard. 
 Again Ann protested against her capture, 
 and assured them of her uame ; but they 
 would not hear her. " I can prove my- 
 self," said she ; " I have money. In my 
 pocket is a purse of six hundred dollars." 
 The men all laughed, and one of them 
 put his hand in her pocket and took the 
 money, saying, " I know, now, we're right. 
 The elder of the fugitives had money. 
 This is the person. Not another word 
 
 now, you ! " and he thrust them into 
 
 the cars, swearing at them all the time. 
 He got into the cars also, but his com- 
 panion did not go with the train. Kate 
 was very ill, even as if she might die. 
 Dark purple sat in round her eyes, and 
 she had lost her senses, for she spoke not, 
 and hardly ever looked at any one. The 
 train then started, but the girls knew not 
 where they were going. They were taken, 
 however, to Montgomery, South Carolina, 
 and put in the Quarters there. Word 
 was then sent to Russel to come on and 
 pay charges and take his slaves ; but he 
 
98 
 
 THE FALL OF FORT SUMTER. 
 
 was two days coming. In the meantime 
 the girls were kept locked up, and no one 
 whatever, save a simple old negress, ever 
 saw them. There was great excitement 
 in Montgomery at this time. Secession 
 delegates had arrived from all parts of 
 the South, for the purpose of electing a 
 President. Some of them were continu- 
 ally making stump speeches ; some de- 
 claring that their President would be for 
 the Southern States alone, but others said 
 they were determined to rule over the 
 whole country. They said they would 
 give the New England States to England, 
 Mexico to France, and Central America to 
 Spain. They openly avowed tbat Squire 
 Larimie was already off to Europe to carry 
 out these plans ; that they had money 
 enough to buy up all the foreign news- 
 papers, and that in that way they would 
 rule Europe itself. The people were all 
 enthusiastic. Business of all kinds was 
 suspended ; no courts or tribunals were 
 at post. Nearly every day some one was 
 murdered for Abolitionism. Parties of 
 ten, twenty, or fifty men roved about in 
 quest of victims ; any one suspected of 
 opposition to slavery or secession was 
 seized, and marched with a tether rope 
 around his neck to the nearest tree, and 
 there hanged. Women became infatu- 
 ated with the excitement. Seventy first- 
 class ladies formed themselves into a 
 vigilance committee, and often paraded 
 the streets of Montgomery in a body. 
 On one occasion they were jeered at by 
 a carman, because they interfered with 
 his horse and wagon by their unseemly 
 marching. They at once accused him of 
 being an Abolitionist, and surrounded him. 
 With the lines of the harness they en- 
 tangled him, and would have slain him 
 on the spot but for his agility. But, 
 when he broke loose and ran, a gentle- 
 man shot him. The ball took effect in 
 his neck, and he fell, and expired in a 
 few minutes. The ladies all dipped their 
 hands in his blood, and swore they would 
 not wash it away till every Abolitionist 
 in the country was annihilated. This 
 occurred on the very day that Russel 
 came for his slaves. Many people in the 
 city knew Russel. He was a large dealer 
 in slaves, having a plantation in Virginia 
 for growing them, and often visiting all 
 parts of the South to sell them. He re- 
 paired immediately to the Quarters, but 
 no sooner beheld gentle Ann, than he 
 denied that she was his slave. He did 
 not believe she was a negro, but he verily 
 believed she looked like the Abolition 
 wretch that tried to steal his slave Kate. 
 He could not let her out of the Quarters 
 
 without an order from the constable, and 
 the constable could not do it without a 
 voucher as to who she was. They there- 
 fore took a leisurely stroll to consider the 
 matter, and finally resolved to telegraph 
 to Perkins, at Washington, to learn the 
 truth of the girl's story. In a few min- 
 utes they got a reply, stating that they 
 were to keep her confined till he came 
 down ; that dreadful suspicions were 
 afloat about her. Already was there such 
 vigilance on the cars, and so much watch- 
 ing for Abolitionists, that the cars ran at 
 only half their usual speed. The conse- 
 quence was, that the poor girls had re- 
 mained in all seven days in the Quarters 
 when Perkins arrived. The Quarters 
 here were in the suburbs of the city ; it 
 was merely a large log cabin, without a 
 window, and having only one door. At 
 one extreme end were the necessary clos- 
 ets, with water, etc. ; but the slaves were 
 all unchained, being seven in number. 
 There were five different open spaces be- 
 tween the logs, about the size of a man's 
 arm, which answered for windows. At 
 one side was a plentiful pile of hay to 
 sleep on, but there was no other bedding. 
 The negress kept to feed them passed the 
 food through the open spaces mentioned. 
 Most of the time the slaves sat or lay on 
 the hay, indifferent to any casual observer 
 who might chance to be curious enough 
 to look through the cracks to see them. 
 When Perkins came to look in, gentle Ann 
 was seated on the hay, beside the others. 
 She was pale and silent, her head resting 
 against the rude logs, and her feet drawn 
 up underneath her. She had been stripped 
 of her hoops, and her clothes were in evil 
 trim ; her golden ringlets were fizzled and 
 faded, and frowning wrinkles had already 
 seared her fair forehead. She was not 
 asleep, but fixedly gazing aside, and see- 
 ing nothing, nor heedful of the noise near 
 the door; but much swollen were her 
 eyes, and her fair bosom still heaved with 
 the latent fire of noble blood. Beside her 
 lay the fugitive, Kate, sound asleep. She 
 had not changed since first her capture, 
 save that she had nearly recovered her 
 health. Long abuse had hardened her. 
 Now, when Perkins came up and looked 
 in the Quarters, and beheld the ruin he 
 had purposely made, he fancied the girl 
 before him would never detect the man- 
 ner of his mischief, and that, by pretend- 
 ing to be her rescuer, he would be sure 
 to get her acknowledgment in marriage. 
 So, after he had looked in a moment, he 
 said, 
 
 " Oh, Miss Underhill ! what sad mis- 
 fortune is this ? " She started, and turned 
 
100 
 
 THE FALL OF FORT SUMTER : OR. 
 
 toward him. "Is it possible," be con- 
 tinued, '" that this sad late lias ionic upon 
 yon '. " 
 
 "Oh, Mr. Perkins, I thank God that 
 you are here," said die. springing up, and 
 running to him. " It seemed no one would 
 ever come, and I am almost dead. Qi i me 
 out of this! Oh, I cannot live! What 
 horrors I have undergone I " an 1 she made 
 such eccentric ejaculation-, tiiat he almost 
 lcared she was Losing her wits, wringing 
 her hands all the while, and crying at a 
 furious rate. As SOOn a- die gave him an 
 opportunity, he replied very kindly to her. 
 
 "Oh, that I could have had your pains 
 and bruises myself!" said he. "Ever 
 since last I saw you, I have been well-nigh 
 distracted about you. Not a day, not an 
 hour, not a minute have I ceased to seek 
 tor you. Why did you not await at the 
 Jackson House till I called for you 8 And 
 yet I have heaped constant abuse on my- 
 self for letting you think of such an under- 
 taking in the first place. Oh, that I had 
 told you to stay at home, and I had taken 
 the fugitive to Canada myself! Can you 
 ever forgive such great neglect ? Oh, I 
 have died a thousand deaths!" and he, 
 too, rubbed hard upon his eyes. 
 
 "Oh, sir, grieve not!" said she; "I 
 know it was all my fault. You are a most 
 kind and noble man. I can never repay 
 you for coming so far to rescue me from 
 this cruel fate. Oil, I am so thankful that 
 you have come ! Go, please, at once, to 
 the constable, and get me out. May 
 Heaven aid me to repay you ! " 
 
 Again he made protestations of his own 
 suffering in her behalf; and then, duly as- 
 suring her that he would soon get her out, 
 he took his leave. All this while Kate lay 
 asleep, and Ann knew not whether to 
 awaken her or not, thinking it would 
 perhaps be better to go away silently, 
 than to take a farewell of one who was 
 doomed to slavery forever — of one whom 
 she would never see more, and -whom she 
 could never benefit. Kate was yet ill 
 from the effects of attempted drowning, 
 and now seemed more of a resigned, 
 heart-broken Christian, fit to be taken to 
 a bed of death, than a slave to work in 
 the cotton fields. But such could not 
 be ; for, even while gentle Ann gazed on 
 the pallid, sleeping slave, the voice of the 
 Christian white man was heard in the 
 street', exu.tant singing, 
 
 '• Away down South in the land of cotton, 
 Cinnamon seeds ami sandy bottom, etc., etc." 
 
 Perkins soon returned, and in much 
 haste informed her that the story was 
 spread abroad that she was an Abolition- 
 ist, and tli at the constable had kept her 
 
 there fir safety, to herself; that every- 
 body concerne I believed she would Lose 
 her life it taken out publicly ; that she 
 should have some one to vouch for her 
 and take cure of her; that as for himself, 
 he was engaged in affairs of Mate, and 
 diil not wish to compromise himself; bat 
 that, it she had reliable friends in Wash- 
 ington, he would send word for them to 
 come after her. While he spake thus -In 
 was almost frozen with his words, for he 
 
 kept continually affecting to weep. 
 
 "Indeed, it seems to me," she at last 
 ventured in a pleading manner, "that you 
 can get me out, if you will try as hard for 
 me as I would for another situated as 1 
 am." 
 
 "You tried to save Kate," said he, 
 " but what have you gained by it ,' Shall 
 I entangle myself to save you, and be 
 thereby brought, with yourself, to an un- 
 timely end 1 Nay, say that you demand 
 this risk of me, and I will venture on it. 
 Yet, in all candor, I ask, why I shall be 
 put upon such an ordeal, when there are 
 others with whom you would so much 
 prefer to hazard the fate? Could I take 
 your place, and send you safely to Wash- 
 ington, I would most gladly do it. But. 
 we must not put aside our judgment ; we 
 know the streets are all in riot; what shall 
 we do?" 
 
 "Oh, I know not. I do not wish to 
 endanger you. But cannot you buy me 
 out? Offer the city here a mountain of 
 money — anything — if the authorities will 
 only give me safe conveyance back to 
 Washington. Ask anything, and I will 
 give it." 
 
 " I want no money, nor does any one I 
 know of. Xor can I hazard now what I 
 could have before." 
 
 " I do not understand ! " 
 
 " You grieve me. You blame me be- 
 cause I do not throw my life away for 
 you, and, in turn for the risk I run, you 
 offer me money." 
 
 "Oh, how much you mistake me ! Ha 1 
 I a friend, nay, even an enemy in prison 
 thus, so wrongly, T would wade through 
 fire to open the doors. I would make 
 even my enemy love me for the deep inter- 
 est I took in it." 
 
 " If I could do that too, why, I would." 
 
 " You are so strange ! " 
 
 " Must I then explain ? Yes, though 
 my heart break, I will speak. "When I 
 was in some show of adversity, and the 
 evil tongue of others injured me, while 
 you were surrounded by vain flatterers, I 
 was cancelled from my childhood dreams. 
 Now, when the tide of my fortune is at 
 its flood, when I stand at the proper age 
 
LOVE AND WAR IN 18G0. 
 
 101 
 
 of virtuous discretion, and penitent for 
 the idles of other days, you, and yourself 
 with a city against you, must knock at 
 the door of my generosity Alas, I can- 
 not, cannot say more ! " and then he wept, 
 while she, in much amazement and sorrow, 
 looked on, trying to think what to reply. 
 
 M I believe you are truly noble," at last 
 she timidly spake, " and that I have been 
 too neglectful. But oh, you cannot, must 
 not compromise me in this evil plight ! 
 How can I live till another come for me ? 
 — and if the communication should be 
 closed ? You know I am but a child yet 
 before the law. I have a guardian who 
 is master of me. If I disobey him, I will 
 be turned out on the world — with no- 
 thing ; and, with nothing, I ask you in 
 all candor, what would be my attractions 
 to any man ? Now I pray you, that, as 
 I regard you nobly for having come so 
 far for me, that in my heart I feel that I 
 can never repay your kindness, ask no 
 more of me now, but give me my 
 liberty." 
 
 " If your liberty were in my hand, I 
 would give it you. But, as to your at- 
 tractions, with nothing else to aid you, 
 they are more to me than all the world 
 beside ; they have usurped my every other 
 joy, and hold me desolate from all things. 
 I know your uncle, and all else you allude 
 to, and I acknowledge your wisdom in 
 the mention of it. But you forget one 
 great affair; which is, that the Govern- 
 ment of the country is in a transitory 
 state, and that now is the founding of 
 something new, the very tone of which 
 forbids that ever be the name of Aboli- 
 tion attached to my name. If I go out 
 with you, I am ruined in the affairs of 
 state ; if I go not, my fortune and name 
 are built up. One way I will win for 
 certain ; the other way I may lose both." 
 
 " Why, then, have you come so far to 
 see me ? " 
 
 " Because I loved you— because I wished 
 to state my position — because I would 
 willingly be branded an Abolitionist, or 
 anything else, and forfeit all my prospects 
 in the new government, for you." 
 
 Gentle Ann held down her head, the 
 large teardrops rolling down her cheeks. 
 Yet in all her sadness and fear a ray of 
 eternal light began to appear to her ; for 
 the thought of being forced into a prom- 
 ise of marriage made her doubt his sin- 
 cerity. Summoning all her courage, she 
 at last spake out, 
 
 " Oh, sir, I beseech you that you re- 
 member my situation ! I have told you 
 I could not be neglectful of your generos- 
 ity if you set me free. If I should be, 
 
 why, then I am, in cold ingratitude, unfit 
 so good a man." 
 
 " Yet you make no promise ? " 
 
 " Oh, how can I ? I am free to tell 
 you, any man of noble actions might win 
 my admiration. I pray you that you urge 
 me no more." 
 
 " What ! and leave you ? " 
 
 " Oh, say not so ! Shall I, must I stay 
 here, while you rove so free ? " 
 
 " Too lightly you weigh your chance 
 of escape. It is at the peril of your life ; 
 and if I go with you, it is at the peril of 
 mine also. The roads are lined with 
 vigilance committees ; none can pass or 
 repass without military permission. I can 
 send for your uncle, but he may never 
 reach this place alive. I may conduct 
 you safely to Washington ; but shall not 
 rather he who is to be your husband run 
 the risk ? " 
 
 " Oh, sir, I can bear no more ! " said 
 gentle Ann, and she sobbed bitterly. 
 
 " Think not, dearest," he then began, 
 " that I would compromise you, or bar 
 your liberty to choose. If all my acts are 
 not most noble, I would hold no bond 
 over you. But I ask you in all serious- 
 ness, if I am not right in pursuing the 
 object of my love even in desperation ? 
 Can so urgent a lover ever do a thing to 
 give you one unhappy thought ? I have 
 already a good commission in the new 
 government, and, if you will be my wife, 
 I am at the portals of fame and fortune. 
 I tell you frankly, too, that I cannot act 
 on uncertainties. You are at liberty to 
 choose ; your uncle or some of ycur friends 
 can come for you — that is, if they are not 
 murdered on the way." Coldly now he 
 surveyed the object of his passion ; a girl 
 untutored to the craft of gay men. 
 
 " You have taught me to fear you," she 
 faintly said in broken sobs ; " for, had you 
 sought only my liberty, it would have been 
 a weighty argument in your behalf." 
 
 Here she halted, for she cried so she 
 could not speak. He answered her in 
 irony: 
 
 " Then I am feared, and my arguments 
 betray an evil design ! I hope you will 
 not rue this ; and I hope, too, you may 
 be happy." 
 
 He then started to walk away, and she 
 began to despair of her situation, and so 
 she called to him, saying, 
 
 " Oh, do not leave me ! Tell me, will 
 you not indeed do anything to get me 
 liberated without I promise to marry 
 you ? You know I must have my uncle's 
 consent." 
 
 " I must have your positive answer," 
 said he, halting, and looking back at her. 
 
102 
 
 THE FALL OF FORT SUMTER ; OR, 
 
 " But I have not myself to give away." 
 
 " Why not ? You are now mine ; I can 
 take you to church at once ; or I can — 
 turn yonder pack against you." 
 
 Now, while he spoke, there appeared 
 in the distance the female vigilance com- 
 mittee, together with about one hundred 
 little boys, with drums and fifes playing. 
 Ann knew who they were, for the old 
 negress had before told her about them. 
 
 " One promise will I make," she re- 
 plied, " that, if my uncle give his con- 
 Bent, you have mine." 
 
 " That is no promise at all. Nor will 
 I urge you more. I would not marry one 
 who is hot willing to it, and so I take my 
 final leave." 
 
 " Oh, do not go, and leave me here ! 
 Say, what would you ? What shall I do ? " 
 
 " Now, indeed, I pity you, and I love 
 you for your consistency. No, I will not 
 bind you thus. I will set you at liberty, 
 and carry you safely back to Washington, 
 and you shall there state my conduct to 
 your uncle ; and if he decide against me, 
 I will not murmur, choose whom you 
 may." 
 
 " Why, now, that is nobly spoken ! Oh, 
 how thankful I am ! God bless you ! " 
 
 " But hark you," he replied, drawing 
 again near the doorway, " it is not as easy 
 us walking in a street. We must have 
 strategy. You are known here as an 
 Abolitionist. Russel has told the people 
 you stole his slave. Now, if you are set 
 out here alone, you will be either murder- 
 ed, or caught and locked up in some 
 prison till the country is made again 
 quiet, or you may be incarcerated all 
 your life. There is only one mode of es- 
 cape ; I have studied every plan whereby 
 I can get you back to Washington. I 
 will apprise the constable, and you shall 
 be set at liberty just at dusk. I wall have 
 cars provided, and then conduct you safely 
 in some byways and unsuspected places 
 to avoid the mob." 
 
 " Oh, that is excellent ! Now speed 
 the time ; make sure every course. Oh, 
 that night were come ! How can I ever 
 repay you ? Excuse my crying ; you know 
 not what I have suffered. But I will tell 
 you all — oh, such horrors as I have passed ! 
 could you believe the half? Oh, that I 
 had ever kept under the eye of my uncle ! 
 My foolish, foolish undertaking ! He will 
 never forgive me — O Heavens ! " 
 
 Her feelings well-nigh overcame her, 
 for the confidence she felt in Perkins re- 
 moved her restraint, and her long-pent-up 
 anguish and overstrung nerves now gave 
 way, and, quite exhausted, she sank down 
 on the hay and hid her face. 
 
 Have you ever been in Montgomery on 
 a winter's eve, and felt the genial air ? 
 Could you an Italian sky surpass, and 
 free from banditti roam in the light of an 
 early evening moon, and treasure evil in 
 one single thought ? Have you seen a 
 country maid from home on a lone road, 
 miles away with one man, and never 
 thanked your God you were an Ameri- 
 can '{ Or was it possible that virtue and 
 honor were so common here you knew 
 not of them ? Possibly you have never 
 been in other countries. Possibly you 
 do not know that the avenues to employ- 
 ment in a republic are a greater incentive 
 to virtue and honor than all the edicts 
 and soldiers of any of the kings or poten- 
 tates on earth. A republic is a book on 
 the rights of man, and the citizens are 
 taught to read it ; but a monarchy is a 
 game of grab-all with a whip in the hand 
 of the mighty. A man that opposes or 
 rebels against the former, rebels against 
 himself, and must be mad. Only destruc- 
 tion could come on such. But the phi- 
 losophy of all things is fixed, and no man 
 may change them. The vigorous body 
 is neglectful, and foul disorders prey upon 
 its vitals ; then stern nature sickens and 
 purges the whole. The surfeit in spots 
 appears, and the wise man trembles ; for 
 these are the signals, and the Almighty 
 points at the nation's fall. Treasure it, 
 O ye mighty men of earth, for the law 
 of equal rights amongst men is in the 
 care of Him who rules the heavens ! Jus- 
 tice is in the firmament with an uplifted 
 sword ; wdio would not fall, let him be- 
 hold. It is the guiding star to the mind, 
 and the footstool to the climbing genius. 
 Vain politicians heed it not, but cavil on 
 the meaning of words, and their own in- 
 genuity blinds them. Heaven shall strike 
 them down, and their party with them. 
 They will not heed equal rights before 
 the law T , and they shall be ruined. They 
 have long been told of this, and the wis- 
 dom of the prophecy makes them fear its 
 truth, and they are enraged thereat. They 
 are mad. They are given up to all man- 
 ner of profanity and wickedness. They 
 make oaths to Heaven, then violate them, 
 and even Heaven itself do they defy. 
 
 Of this party was Perkins. Once plan- 
 ning rebellion against liberty, had fitted 
 his soul for all wickedness. He knew his 
 own impurity, and that no good act of 
 his could ever win her guardian uncle's 
 will. Some things we can forgive in a 
 man, and welcome to his arms our fair 
 ones ; but there are others that seal a 
 separation forever — things that make a 
 grave more welcome than a husband. 
 
LOVE AND WAR IN 1860. 
 
 103 
 
 Perkins was intelligent and sensitive, nor 
 could be brook to be denied. His victim 
 was a beart-broken girl, far from borne, 
 in prison, and be led ber out at night. 
 She was all joy for berself, but nearly 
 overcome with grief for tbe poor slave 
 Kate, left bawling in tbe Quarters, whence 
 tbe pleadings and prayers were screamed 
 till gentle Ann was lost in the distance. 
 Closely now on bis arm she bung, all con- 
 fident, and nearly crazy with ber hurried 
 thoughts, nor noticing where she travelled, 
 till full out in tbe open country road, by 
 tbe light of the evening moon, he bade 
 her bait. 
 
 " Tell me, now," be spake, in slow and 
 solemn voice and determinedly, 
 " Tell me, now, has this night no charm 
 
 for you, 
 To cancel all the past, and bless tbe future ? 
 Will ever this most glorious scene occur 
 To you in after time — and me forgotten ? " 
 
 Ann. — " Oh, never ! never ! But why 
 halt you here ? 
 For now, amid the joys I feel, I fear 
 A cloud may mar the dear, tbe beautiful 
 
 scene. 
 Shall we not go on ? " 
 
 Perkms— " Whither ? " 
 
 Ann. — " You frighten me ! " 
 
 Perkins. — " If frightened now, I fear you 
 shall be more." 
 
 Ann.— " Why ! you will not proceed to 
 Washington ? " 
 
 PerTcins. — " No, not at present." 
 
 Ann. — " But you promised me ! " 
 
 Perkins. — "I thought so then, but not 
 now. 
 
 Here I stand, 
 To be accepted or denied by you ; 
 And all these beauties witness this my vow : 
 That more I hope to never live in heaven, 
 Than to deceive so innocent a girl, 
 And that in all attest I love none else, 
 Nor ever shall misuse your confidence. 
 Will you be mine ? " 
 
 Ann. — " My uncle, I have promised, shall 
 know all, 
 And, if he give consent, you need no more." 
 
 Perkins. — " Out with your uncle ! Only 
 you I ask ! " 
 
 Ann.— " Indeed, then, I cannot answer." 
 
 Perkins. — " You shall ! " 
 
 Ann. — " Since ever I was a child, and 
 for nearly every day of my life, I have 
 promised my uncle, nay, called Heaven to 
 witness it, that I would never promise any 
 man without my uncle's approval first. 
 Shall I forswear myself? " 
 
 Perkins. — " Promises like those to an 
 uncle or a father are nothing in the sight 
 of Heaven. They are idle, toy-like, chil- 
 dren's words." 
 
 Ann. — " Oh, say not so ! Who promises 
 before high Heaven, be it even on a pin's 
 head, is not released for all time. Now, 
 I pray you, that as you esteem my feelings, 
 keep me not here, but take me to the sta- 
 tion." 
 
 Pa-kins. — "Never! I am denied. I am 
 scoffed at. I am a tool to help others to 
 their joys, and left to feed on my own 
 bitter thoughts. Your uncle will never 
 consent ; nay, though I lifted you from 
 the water's edge, or though from a 1 turn- 
 ing housetop I bore you safely, be would 
 point bis finger, and say, Unclean ! Had 
 I, with the promises of my fortune, lived 
 in Britain or Europe, and been the father 
 of a dozen children and still unmarried, 
 tbe bond of equal rank would not have 
 been yet broken. Here has a sentimental 
 philosophy sprung up, and I would join 
 hell itself for its overthrow. You know 
 what I mean. There is a time when all 
 ceremonies cease, and love can wait for no 
 more speeches. You shall be mine ! " 
 
 Instinctively now she withdrew her 
 hand froin his arm, and he turned to 
 face her. She drooped with fear and 
 trembling, and then with much craft 
 made answer, 
 
 " Oh, say not so ! for my own unhappi- 
 ness might ruin yours. Please take me to 
 the station, or back to the Quarters, or 
 where you will, but do not more for which 
 you impugn yourself ; for yet you are pos- 
 sessed of a noble soul that may long live 
 in happiness. Too gloomily you view the 
 things whereof you complain, and in too 
 much haste you urge tbe final course. If 
 not I may be yours, there may be one 
 never knowing to tbe things you accuse 
 yourself better suited to bless you." 
 
 Perkins. — " You forget — I say you shall 
 be mine ! " 
 
 Ann. — " Why, now, how could that be ? 
 for tbe priest will ask me if it be my wish, 
 and if, perchance, I say him no, what 
 then ? I should not be your wife ? " 
 
 Perkins. — " You jest ; but I will teach 
 you in plainer words, that, if you do not 
 consent before the law, I will not be bound 
 by the law, and yet you shall rue that you 
 fill tbe place never sanctioned by cere- 
 mony." 
 
 Ann. — " I know not what you mean ; 
 but I pray you, that, as I esteem you for 
 your kindness so far, you take me to the 
 station. When we were little children 
 together, you would take me by the band 
 and lead me ; are you less gallant now ? 
 Now I pray you, tease me no more, for I 
 am sick and faint with long suffering." 
 
 She then took him by both bands, and 
 looked up into his face, now so cold and 
 
101 
 
 THE FALL OF FORT SUMTER ; OR, 
 
 silent. Long he stood, motionless, and 
 then teardrops rolled down his cheeks. 
 Down he hung his head, and she herself 
 saying nothing, for it is in silence the soul 
 reaches up to God. 
 
 Perkins. — " O Innocence Immortal ! 
 whence this might, 
 To shear the villain's craft and long-laid 
 
 schemes, 
 And purity embolden by its pureness, 
 As standing here, and powerless I am, 
 So helpless, and in an angel's grasp. 
 Never, no, never can you know my heart, 
 Nor the dread mystery, why you are here ; 
 Nor aught of all your woes and suffering — 
 Save that even he you do refuse — is guilty. 
 I never knew a woman's moral worth, 
 And was taught evil by my rights in slaves. 
 Pity me, and forgive. Here is my death, 
 My life, my liberty, my all in this, 
 A bowie-knife ! " 
 
 He stepped back from her, and swung 
 his hand with the shining steel, while she 
 in terror stood, uplifting both hands and 
 gasping, pale as in death. 
 
 " Now go, I charge you here, 
 And by this instrument am sworn to Heaven, 
 Or else you die ! Go, go ! And when you're 
 
 gone, 
 And only yonder pale moon may witness, 
 — I'll die ! You are too pure for me, and I 
 So much admire your nobleness I am dead 
 To all ambition. Here, on this lone spot, 
 Will I undo the body organized 
 Ever with lire ungovernable — ever 
 The blur and ruin to my own pure spirit." 
 
 Ann. — " Though I die, but hear me 
 speak one word — — " 
 
 Perkins. — " Silence ! Begone ! I hold 
 commune with none, 
 Nor would you feel nor see the work of this 
 Dread instrument, begone ! I am re- 
 solved ! " 
 
 Ann. — " I shall not go, God witness, I 
 shall not, 
 Here, I come on the blade, now strike me 
 
 down — 
 That promised little to so true a love." 
 
 Perkins. — " Begone, vain woman ! " 
 
 And he pushed her back, and sternly 
 stood clear. 
 
 " You could not be mine 
 In honor, and in shame you never shall. 
 I sent you here ; I had you dragged in 
 irons, 
 
 Even as a slave — and now have led you 
 
 here — 
 For nothing noble. Go from me, I say ; 
 One must die — two need not, or the crime 
 
 is yours." 
 Ann. — " Ah, indeed ! Can no voice of 
 
 entreaty '' 
 
 Perki/if. — " Nothing ! Begone ! " 
 Ami.—" O Heaven ! what shall I do ? " 
 She then cried hitterly, for he was bo 
 determined she had no more hope, and, 
 half praying and pleading, she sank down 
 even at his feet. In a moment now the 
 scene changed. A vigilance committee 
 of a dozen men were returning from the 
 hanging of a neighboring farmer, and, 
 turning the bend in the road, came full 
 upon Perkins even as gentle Ann lay at 
 his feet. The persons all gathered around, 
 and in much earnestness looked to Perkins 
 for an explanation. " She is sick and weary," 
 said Perkins ; " will you help me take her 
 to the city ? " and then the weeping, faint- 
 ing girl was raised up. One of the vigil- 
 ance committee exclaimed at once, with 
 an awful oath, " Why, this is that Aboli- 
 tion wretch Russel spoke of ! Hang him 
 and her ! " and then he called her by an 
 evil name. The crowd was inclined to 
 make quick work of it, nearly every one 
 shouting out, " Up with her ! " " Hang 
 her ! " and such like words ; but Per- 
 kins stoutly denied she was an Abolition- 
 ist, and kept the crowd at bay for some 
 time. One of the men then said, " He is 
 an accomplice of hers. I do suspect both 
 are Abolitionists. I would rather hang a 
 dozen innocent ones, than let one. Aboli- 
 tionist escape. Let us hang both, and 
 that is the end of it." After some parley, 
 however, it was concluded to postpone the 
 hanging till next day. Gentle Ann was 
 so w r eak and so frightened she realized 
 little of what was going on. The mob 
 then tied her and Perkins together, and 
 marched them back to Montgomery, one 
 of the pleasantest cities in the South. 
 
 Jenkins informs me that it is the better 
 way to say nothing more in this chapter 
 on the above subject, for there are other 
 things of great moment connected with 
 this invaluable record which may be found 
 in the next chapter by simply reading it 
 once over. 
 
LOVE AND WAR IN 1860. 
 
 105 
 
 CHAPTER XIII 
 
 THE COURTS OF JUDGE FRANCIS. THE FOUR STYLES OF TELLING A THING. — THE PLOT TO KILL LIN- 
 COLN ; AND THE OTHER THINGS, WHEREIN ARE ILLUSTRATED MANY OF THE HIDDEN MYSTERIES OF 
 NEWSPAPER ACCOUNTS ABOUT MADAM PONCHARD, PUBLISHED AS SOON AS THEY OCCURRED AFTEE 
 THE WOFUL IMPRISONMENT OF MISS UNDERBILL, AND OF PRESCOTT'S ATTEMPT TO SUBVERT THE 
 THREATENED WAR BETWEEN THE NORTH AND SOUTH IN ITS INCIPIENT STAGE, BY AN INDIRECT PUB- 
 LICITY THROUGH SCOTT AND BUCHANAN, BUT WHOLLY ON HIS OWN RESPONSIBILITY AND IN IMMI- 
 NENT DANGER, AND APPROVED BY THE AFORESAID COURTS. 
 
 When I read the heading over, I told 
 Jenkins an excellent scholar could per- 
 ceive that a few words inserted in it at 
 various places would make it quite plain. 
 " Well," said he, " let him perceive it. 
 We must be diplomatic, no matter what 
 comes of it." I made no more argument, 
 but signified my readiness to proceed. 
 He then handed me a bundle of reapers, 
 saying, " These are Prescott's ; take them, 
 and write them out." I then asked by 
 what right Prescott claimed notes before 
 our exalted courts. " He has no right," 
 said he ; " we granted it him. He had 
 long knocked at the Temple and cast in 
 morsels of learning. We let him in, in 
 order to show him by our wisdom how 
 much he lacked. We put him in the 
 box, and he gave in the following testi- 
 mony, which, by our court, was pro- 
 nounced upon. The approaching war 
 had reduced the number of members of 
 our court to a fraction. Prescott had 
 never been in the box before ; the Judge 
 scarcely had his old spectacles adjusted, 
 when the former began, and these were 
 his words before the court, to wit : 
 
 " It is hardly possible for the people of 
 any period to place a correct value on 
 their own transpiring events, or to con- 
 ceive the verge, whereby they walk so 
 near to life or death. On the morning 
 before Caesar's death the great Roman 
 empire was all joy and gratitude for the 
 seeming changeless glory and peace that 
 awaited their mighty nation ; but yet 
 they were on the verge of a fall that will 
 be awful to contemplate for thousands of 
 years to come. The Trojans hoped and 
 believed in their power and glory, even 
 till they were destroyed. The Lacedse- 
 mons, the Carthaginians, and the people 
 of all countries and kingdoms under the 
 sun have boasted of their power and 
 
 safety even to the day of their fall. For 
 five-and-thirty times has France set up 
 the boast, and every several time come 
 to ruin. Great Britain thought she had 
 hit on the noblest and most enduring 
 form ; but her distant colonies have 
 gradually alienated and stripped the pa- 
 rent stem, till, standing there, she is only 
 a helpless show, commanding by the 
 shadow of what was once a great power. 
 In olden times she could raise four hun- 
 dred thousand men ; but in the late war 
 with Russia she could raise but six-and- 
 twenty thousand. Like an old man, she 
 acknowledges not her weakness, nor will 
 she while a crown can hold the helm. 
 She has passed the verge, like an old 
 farmer whose sons have gone away from 
 the old homestead, leaving only a few 
 old maids, as harmless as doves, to mark 
 the fall that has been so gradual as not 
 to be felt by the people. All other na- 
 tions have fallen by war or by internal 
 dissension and general disintegration ; 
 and, strange to say, every nation's fall 
 has been previously predicted by its 
 wisest men, and scoffed at by the general 
 citizens even till the day of trial came ; for, 
 what men do wish to believe, though the 
 verge ripens to their every sense. 
 
 " But what of ourselves ? Is our na- 
 tion at the verge where all men pass? 
 First the childhood, with only wild na- 
 ture pleased, and all-absorbent with rural 
 joys. Then the age of admiration and 
 self-love, where the mirror and the boast 
 hold command over all else. Next, fol- 
 lowed by the goal of disappointment, and 
 turned to battle with the unruly members 
 within itself, and in despondency commit 
 suicide, or in triumph conquer matchless 
 glory. Who that thinks of these things 
 is not solicitous for the welfare of his 
 country ? And who can, in an approach- 
 ing crisis like the present, stand idly 
 
106 
 
 THE FALL OF FORT SUMTER ; OR, 
 
 while the poniard is raised to his Caesar's 
 breast ? It is not deserving of praise to 
 fight for one's country, for it is natural ; 
 though, when an officer is given a sword, 
 and himself swears to keep the peace by 
 it, and then himself will stand and do 
 nothing, he is indeed a criminal fit for 
 the trap and craft of any design against 
 his life. A very dog in the manger, hold- 
 ing back the guard while murderers plunge 
 their swords and bayonets in the hearts of 
 innocent millions. An officer loving more 
 his party than his country ; a man to for- 
 swear his oath before God ; to set bloody 
 war afoot, and gloat on poor widows and 
 orphans, rather than see his own party 
 turned out of power. What man, know- 
 ing such a man to hold the chief office of 
 a nation, would not feel that his country 
 was at the verge of its own greatness ? 
 Nor could any one blame a citizen for 
 trying to counteract the evils of so vile 
 and perjured a wretch. Was ever so poor 
 a person put in office ? Was ever a Con- 
 stitution so distorted ? Was ever a man 
 of so low a mind raised to so high a sta- 
 tion ? " 
 
 Judge. — " Is your name Prescott ? " 
 
 Prescott.— u It is." 
 
 Judge. — " Well, Mr. Prescott, you are 
 oft* your subject. You remind me of my 
 ancient French friend, Victor Hugo, and, 
 if you were not handsome, I should banish 
 you also to some lone island. Always, 
 when he begins to tell a story, he tells a 
 good many others first. We want noth- 
 ing with ancient Rome or Greece, but 
 Washington. If you cannot give in ycur 
 testimony without running abroad for 
 illustrations, or without ambiguous refer- 
 ence to men in office, you are not suited 
 to this court. If you allude to James 
 Buchanan, say so. If you have any affair 
 between him, Madam Ponchard, and Jeff. 
 Davis, why, say so. We want no Romes 
 here." 
 
 Prescott felt the rebuke, and would 
 have gladly shut out the comparison to 
 the Fiench author had it been possible; 
 but remembering that in earlier days, be- 
 fore he had arisen to fame, he had played 
 in the minstrels, and learned to say plain 
 things under color which he never could 
 have without paint, he rubbed his face 
 now to make believe the blush was hid- 
 den, and then struck out in the following 
 most remarkable words, to wit : 
 
 Prescott. — " Then, now, of a solemn 
 voice I speak, and I speak as my heart 
 moves me. I stand not, sir, on legal 
 forms or etiquette, but use such plain, 
 blunt words as best apply to this eventful 
 period. For, even while gloomy winter 
 
 I overhangs this city, while rains and storms, 
 thaws and freezings alternate changes play, 
 and suns and clouded heavens vie for the 
 mastery ; while covered lies the withered 
 leaf of autumn, and budding green in em- 
 biyo yet is sleeping, wrapped in the folds 
 of fruitful and never-denying earth, and 
 the birds to their holes or to their south- 
 ern homes, albeit devotional all for the 
 glorious bounties in an early spring, 
 changes far on in the world's history and 
 magnitude of human events are about to 
 be borne into the presence of an unguard- 
 ed people. The toil of labor for the scene 
 and coming convulse stirreth now in the 
 heart of millions, and the mutterings of 
 its thunders hide all that is on the face 
 of the earth. Like a newly-kindled fire, 
 over which lies endless food for the de- 
 vouring flames, its yet almost unnotice- 
 able sparks and smoke have more terror 
 to more people than did ever before the 
 threatened war in any age. Millions of 
 people, honest and virtuous, unarmed and 
 unprotected by soldiery, now behold the 
 bloody Mars galloping forth with sword 
 uplift, while bayonets in the hands of mil- 
 lions are pointing to the breasts of count- 
 less women and children." 
 
 Judge. — " This court cannot receive such 
 testimony, Mr. Prescott. It is neither his- 
 tory nor philosophy ; " and the Judge 
 winked at various members. 
 
 Prescott was excited, but firm, and thus 
 went on, to wit : 
 
 " While many men and women, here in 
 Washington, are engaged in trying to 
 plunge the whole country into war, or, 
 by their threats, to maintain in power the 
 party that has just been defeated by vote, 
 it will be, no doubt, to future generations 
 a great mystery why somebody does not 
 nip the thing in the bud. And it will be, 
 too, no doubt, said, owing to the imbe- 
 cility of Buchanan, that nothing was 
 done to avert so great a calamity. But 
 such is not the case. There are many 
 men, unofficials, who are knocking at 
 every door, communicating and urging 
 everything possible to arouse a patriotic 
 action, but who as signally fail in every 
 attempt." 
 
 Judge.— •" Come to the point, Mr. Pres- 
 cott; this court is waiting for the testi- 
 mony." 
 
 Prescott. — " On a fair winter's day, amid 
 the mixed multitude thronging the streets 
 of Washington, was to be seen one of the 
 busiest men you ever heard of, hurrying 
 hither and thither in the show and fash- 
 ion, his hands clenching a bundle of pa- 
 pers, his brow all sweat, and snarled with 
 alternate hope and anguish in every fea- 
 
LOVE AND WAR IN 1860. 
 
 107 
 
 ture. He seemed but a boy in step and 
 action, but his fixed features, loug experi- 
 ence, and some adversity, marked him full 
 thirty or forty ; and his hesitance "was like 
 a woman's. He seemed to notice none, 
 and few, indeed, noticed him ; but yet he 
 had ventured upon a part in the great na- 
 tional drama that will ever signalize him as 
 the first active patriot of the present pe- 
 riod." 
 
 At this point the Judge interrupted 
 Prescott, by declaring his style too much 
 like a parson's novel, or the romance of a 
 schoolgirl. 
 
 Jenkins then took up the subject, and 
 thus related it himself, to wit : 
 
 For a long time there had been threats 
 made by many secessionists that Lincoln 
 would never reach Washington alive ; and 
 even Buchanan had said that Lincoln 
 should never be President. Offers for 
 Lincoln's destruction, for his head, for 
 his body and for his skin, were now 
 made in nearly all the hotels of Washing- 
 ton, and in many cities throughout the 
 South. Most of the American people 
 could not — would not — believe the coun- 
 try was at the verge of its own fall. These 
 offers and bribes for Lincoln's death were 
 laughed at — considered merely a politi- 
 cal boast, that would vanish by the com- 
 ing March. Yet the evidence to the con- 
 trary was true beyond all question, to 
 persons acquainted with the whisperings 
 and low cunning manifest in all Washing- 
 ton society. Two persons, Madame Pon- 
 chard and Orsini, mysterious in all their 
 doings a: d actions, had weighed the offers 
 for Lincoln's death, and found a profitable 
 balance on murder's side. These, in a re- 
 mote corner, secluded by some leafless 
 winter trees, in an unguarded moment let 
 fall some strong words, the which reached 
 Prescott's attentive ear. It was late in the 
 evening when he observed them to halt 
 and to prejsare to hide something. " See ! 
 barken, now, Orsini ! " she said in rather 
 audible whispers, " lest some woful for- 
 tune turn on us and us betray, beneath 
 these stones we'll hide these scraps, and 
 so hide the evidence to convict us, if 
 caught." " Agreed ! " said he, and then, 
 in some indistinct mutterings, agreed they 
 both to keep this spot as the hallowed re- 
 ceptacle of their designs. Prescott watch- 
 ed with eager eye these would-be hired 
 murderers, in hopes, in part for fame and 
 notoriety, but more to thwart so foul a 
 purpose, till they were gone ; and then, 
 repairing to the spot, upturned the stones, 
 and, in the broken column of a fallen 
 lamp-post, found crammed certain papers. 
 
 It was too dark — being at night — to read 
 or guess with certainty what was there- 
 on, and so, to make all safe, thinking 
 they would return to deposit more or call 
 for these, he returned them, resolved that, 
 with the first gleam of the morning light, 
 he would return and read them. He did 
 so, even while he thought all the city 
 asleep, supposing no one was fool enough 
 to rise so early ; but ot that anon. The 
 papers were a collection of subscriptions 
 for Lincoln's death, and were so plainly 
 written as to be unmistakable. Hastily 
 he ran over the amount, and found that 
 it footed the enormous sum of two mil- 
 lions. Aside from this, there were others, 
 offers for the heads of many other men. 
 When he had satisfied his curiosity, and 
 safely replaced the papers, he left. Orsini 
 left Washington the next day, and travel- 
 led South. For six days and nights Pres- 
 cott watched the hidden papers, but no 
 one seemed to come near the spot ; yet, 
 ere he had gone far from it, one morning 
 at the break of day, he met Mrs. Stimp- 
 kins, the famous lecturer and editress. 
 " Ha ! " she said, " I'll know now, Mr. 
 Prescott, why it is you frequent this sjjot 
 so regularly. Are you, indeed, too, con- 
 spiring against the life of the in-coming 
 Administration ? Are you, indeed, to re- 
 ceive two millions of dollars for simply 
 killing one man ? Has man wronged you 
 also ? Is, also, man's fickleness your ruin ? 
 Know you that you have laid a trap for 
 your neck ? Know you that for six days 
 and nights I have seen you come here to 
 count over your expected gains ? " 
 
 Thus saying, she tightly clenched her 
 long thin lips, and hand over hand rubbed 
 her large knuckles, eyeing him with the 
 fierceness of a very tiger. 
 
 " Madam," he said, " you much mistake 
 me. I have been also watching this spot, 
 in hopes to acquire evidence and power 
 to convict the would-be criminals doing 
 this." 
 
 For a moment an incredulous smile 
 overspread her half-starved face, the while 
 her eyes piercing still, and she slowly, 
 firmly said, 
 
 " So, indeed ! Am I to be forever un- 
 armed by plausible stories ? Am I to be 
 again balked by the cunning of man ? to 
 disbelieve my own senses, and all faith 
 bestow on a race whose every word and 
 action have ever galled me with disap- 
 pointment ? " 
 
 He told her he knew not what she 
 meant. 
 
 " You don't ? " said she, satirically. 
 " Then hark you — I will tell you ; and, 
 little can I ask you to believe, if indeed 
 
108 
 
 TEE FALL OF FORT SUMTER ; OR, 
 
 you have found, as I have, all men and 
 women to be false ; but I speak in justice 
 to myself. First, then, I don't believe 
 you ; you are a dough-face, a man to be- 
 tray the liberties of your fellow-creatures 
 for money. Such is man's nature, and 
 you, bearing the semblance of a man, 
 must be false to human rights. You 
 smile ! Sir, I have been many times mar- 
 ried — have dived into the deepest recesses 
 of man's heart, and I speak only the 
 things I do know. For gold, for gain, 
 for self in any sense, man, this would-be 
 lord of ereatiou, will sell virtue, honor, 
 love, and kindred. Benevolence, moral- 
 ity, and religion will he use as masks for 
 his selfish purposes. Give him an oppor- 
 tunity to better his fortune, and he will 
 fall in love with a bundle of bones or a 
 bag of meat ; add another opportunity 
 to his view, and he will cast the same 
 bones or meat into a gutter. Give him 
 adversity, and his love is like a snow in 
 harvest, a fancy to melt away ere 'tis seen. 
 Such has been my experience, such my 
 evidence. The joining together of a few 
 hundred dollars has ever been the cause 
 of my marriages ; and my every husband 
 has painted out sure prosperity in the 
 prospect ; but when failure came, a want 
 of congeniality was discovered, and I was 
 cast aside, or perhaps opportunely 1 cast 
 them aside. Thus have many husbands 
 failed me ; but my last one, the celebrated 
 Professor Jackson, for the most trivial 
 cause, because I limited him to one meal 
 a day, has left me the worst of all, or 
 rather I did not cast him off soon enough. 
 Again I take the field alone, a champion 
 once more for woman's rights. But, sir, 
 Professor Jackson wrongs me still. He 
 lectures on the same subjects I do, there- 
 by even robbing me of my own profes- 
 sion. But I am resolute ; I have learned 
 man's selfishness, though it cost me dear, 
 and I am sworn to make my mark on every 
 man I meet. I don't believe your story ! " 
 " Indeed, madam, you much mistake 
 me," said he, " and much abuse us all. 
 There are strange coincidences in nature. 
 You may have five or seven husbands, and 
 all of them selfish and bad, and yet, were 
 you to take another, he might prove a very 
 angel." 
 
 " Sir ! sir ! " she almost screamed, 
 " would you offer yourself to me ? Must 
 here begin another course, to end in fail- 
 ure — to tear hence still another vital part ? 
 Oh, curses, curses on thy sex ! Even while 
 you lay hands on a murderer's bribe, you 
 talk of marriage ! " 
 
 He then assured her that these papers 
 were not his, but Madam Ponchard's. 
 
 " Then do I know," she said, " you are 
 false. If 'tis but to curoe a woman you 
 lay this trap, if but to send some woman 
 to prison, then you act verily a man's good 
 part. Yes, I believe you ; you are not 
 the villain to murder Lincoln, but still 
 you are a man, and, as such, woman's ene- 
 my. Were these would-be murderers of 
 Lincoln men, you would not stir a hand ; 
 but, since 'tis woman, verily how noble 
 you are ! Now, I shall see to it, and, if 
 it be indeed a woman, I swear I will 
 thwart you, though the heavens fall ! " 
 
 He called her, for, when she closed her 
 speech, she started onward, and he en- 
 deavored to tell her the importance of 
 keeping the matter a secret. She would 
 not heed him, and strove to appear as if 
 she had vanquished an enemy. 
 
 Prescott knew not what to do, but im- 
 mediately left the place, and sought me, 
 and disclosed all his discovery, with par- 
 ticulars about a Mr. Russel, of Baltimore, 
 being engaged in the plot. 
 
 Our plans were at once submitted to 
 Judge Francis, and we were directed to 
 assume the responsibility of procuring the 
 aid of two trusty officers to make, at the 
 proper time, the arrest of Madame Pon- 
 chard and Orsini. Prescott was despatch- 
 ed to Baltimore, to appear before Russel 
 as a man from Alabama or Mississippi, and 
 to convince, if possible, the would-be mur- 
 derers of Lincoln that he was also in the 
 ring with them, and by this means obtain 
 all the information possible of the numbers 
 and designs of the gang. This affair was 
 managed well by Prescott. On arriving 
 at a tavern in Baltimore, he came across 
 the said Russel, to whom he represented 
 himself as the leader of a similar plot from 
 Louisiana. The bait took exceedingly, 
 and several Baltimore gentlemen were in- 
 troduced to help mature the plans. Pres- 
 cott informed them that he was not only 
 acquainted with, but a partner in carrying 
 out the plot. Russel was a crafty man, 
 and had a straight and honest-looking 
 eye, even when telling downright false- 
 hoods, and could so laugh, talk, and fill 
 up the time, that no other could edge in 
 a word. Yet, in apparent candor, like a 
 child fond to learn, Prescott led him on, 
 and some suggestions made that won him 
 to value highly his every plan. In course 
 of time, Prescott asked, then urged, then 
 commanded him to come to "Washington, 
 to help consummate the plans for Lincoln's 
 death. To this he acceded, and the trap 
 for his capture and conviction seemed sure. 
 On the following day he and Prescott 
 reached Washington. This was the day 
 on which Lincoln left his home in the far 
 
LOVE AND WAR IN 1800. 
 
 109 
 
 West for the Capital. Already Lad Scott 
 the whole city guarded, but the assassins 
 had resolved to commit the murder in 
 Baltimore. 
 
 What was our sunrise to learn that this 
 same Russel was a member for the Peace 
 Congress, and that he professed such a 
 warm attachment for ex-Presidents Fill- 
 more and Tyler, and that he so honestly 
 believed Lincoln's death would settle all 
 the trouble between the North and South, 
 by giving the South supreme power ever 
 after. 
 
 Immediately after Prescott and Russel 
 arrived in Washington, and when they 
 had proceeded a short distance together 
 and then halted to part, they were met by 
 the little thin-faced man Stephens, and 
 Jeff. Davis. The former walked on slowly, 
 but Davis spoke with Russel, and sug- 
 gested to him, withiD the hearing of Pres- 
 cott, that the proposed assassination of 
 Lincoln would not amount to much unless 
 a hundred others were killed the same 
 day ; and this, he said, would be the 
 most humane way of settling the matter. 
 Russel replied that the whole of the lead- 
 ers of the Black Republican party could 
 be disposed of within a week. Shortly 
 after this Prescott left, and so also did 
 the others, each one going his own way. 
 
 All the above information was now 
 communicated to the selected officers, 
 and all of us were assigned a part to per- 
 form, either for evidence or the arrest. 
 Scott ordered two agents off to meet Lin- 
 coln and inform him of the dangers await- 
 ing him, and to plan out some mode of 
 reaching the Capital without passing 
 through Baltimore. On the same day 
 of the departure of these two agents, we 
 had another interview with Buchanan. 
 He was pale and distressed, and, when 
 we told him about the two agents sent to 
 meet Lincoln, he really trembled with 
 rage. " Shall Scott transcend his pow- 
 ers ? " he said. " The whole thing is 
 bosh ; it is unconstitutional. I know 
 Madame Ponchard and Orsini, and I do 
 suspect this whole thing to be a consjura- 
 cy against them in hopes to aggravate the 
 South." 
 
 He was inconsolable. We left him 
 fevered with rage, fearing that he might, 
 in fact, betray us, and so frustrate all our 
 intentions. 
 
 Now it became necessary to guard the 
 place where the prize papers were con- 
 cealed, but we needs must guard them in 
 such a way that we could get witnesses 
 and that we remain unsuspected our- 
 selves. To do this, we resolved to 
 open a news-stand near by, and to put 
 
 the fugitive Joe there as salesman. To 
 this she readily assented, not knowing, 
 however, our object. But I myself had 
 i some unpleasant conjectures about her. 
 For several days past she had failed in 
 appearance, looking really depressed and 
 broken down. And whenever I inquired 
 after her anxieties, she seemed to avoid 
 me ; seemed as if the spell of her former 
 open-heartedness was at an end. At pres- 
 ent, however, I accounted for it by the 
 disappearance of her sister Kate. As it 
 was only for a few days we desired her 
 services, I urged her to brave the task, 
 and in hopes the better to catch the eye 
 of her sister, should she pass that great 
 thoroughfare, she herself seemed at first 
 enraptured. 
 
 On the evening of the third day, when 
 I called at the news-stand, she was in 
 tears. It was then about seven in the 
 evening, and she was greatly agitated. 
 No one else was near, and I insisted on 
 knowing all her trouble. She leaned on 
 my arm a moment, and sobbed bitterly. 
 " Oh, say not all," she replied, " say not 
 all my trouble, for it would break the 
 stoutest heart. But come ; I am a child — 
 provide me safety at once. I do forget, 
 but I must fly. I am detected. That 
 murderer, Orsini, passed here, and he 
 pointed to a friend even as he passed. 
 He was in comjjauy with the actress who 
 married my master." 
 
 " What ! Madame Ponchard ? " said I. 
 
 " The lady," said she, " so richly attir- 
 ed, in black, jewelled. Oh, I know she 
 and he murdered my good master. They 
 are now after me. I must leave in an in- 
 stant. Tell me where to go — what to 
 do ! " 
 
 For a moment I was shocked and con- 
 fused, but, on regaining my presence of 
 mind, I told her to wait but a moment 
 and I would call Prescott. She clung 
 hard upon my arm and looked most 
 piteously into my face. In a moment 
 more I released her hold, and she sat 
 down, while I hastened fast as I could 
 walk to the Jackson House. In a little 
 while I found Prescott, and solicited him 
 to come and help provide safety for the 
 news-stand till we could quietly and surely 
 wait on the fugitive's requirements. 
 
 What was our astonishment and morti- 
 fication, though, to find, on our return, 
 that the poor girl was gone ! Not a 
 vestige of her could we find. No note — 
 nothing. Thinking that perhaps Orsini 
 and Madame Ponchard had returned and 
 had frightened the fugitive off, we now 
 sought for the hidden papers ; but here 
 too were we confounded. They were 
 
110 
 
 THE FALL OF FORT SUMTER ; OR, 
 
 gone ! Our object was, as has often been 
 told in the newspapers, to get the would- 
 be assassins arrested, and to keep them so 
 until Lincoln should reach the Capital. 
 But this little slip was likely to frustrate 
 all our designs. Of course we informed 
 the detectives of what had happened, and 
 this iu a measure made them distrust us. 
 The consequence was, on the following 
 day a sort of wholesale arrest was ad- 
 vised, and to have Russel taken up at 
 once. Now it so happened that, when 
 the detectives passed near the place where 
 the papers had been hid, our veritable 
 Mrs. Lucy Tabiatha Stimpkins was look- 
 ing for the valuables, and iu a quan- 
 dary about their disappearance. They 
 approached her, mistaking her, in fact, 
 for Madame Ponchard, though really they 
 looked as much unlike as any two ladies 
 could. 
 
 " Madam," said they, " we are sorry, 
 but our duty compels us to demand your 
 presence at headquarters this morning ; " 
 and they smiled, and signified for her to 
 come along. 
 
 " What fool effrontery is this ? " she 
 said, scowling with her deep, sunken eyes, 
 and bracing herself in the most upright 
 position. " Know you that I am woman ? 
 Independent woman ! Independent ! I 
 have, sirs, a duty to perform, and I will 
 perform it though a world opposes me ! " 
 
 The officers smiled a little, and told her 
 she was all right — it was all very well, but 
 there was a little affair which made it 
 necessary for her to appear at the police 
 court, hoping she would pass along so 
 quietly as not to attract attention. 
 
 "Do you know," she said, looking ter- 
 ribly fierce, " do you know to whom you 
 speak ? Have the inalienable rights of 
 woman sunken to this low ebb ? Is this 
 the sphere of intellectual woman ? — to 
 knuckle to man ; to go to police head- 
 quarters ; to go quietly ! Quietly ! I 
 would, sirs, make my voice ring louder 
 than the thunders. I have felt the tyranny 
 of man, and, sirs, my heart bleeds for the 
 manner in which woman is crushed ; but 
 this low degradation shall never come on 
 me — never ! never ! You may defraud us 
 of the ritjht to vote ; you may tax us with- 
 out letting us hold office, but you shall 
 never tie woman's tongue. Never ! " 
 
 This did attract attention, and already 
 were a few beginning to collect around. 
 One of the officers stepped up to her and 
 took her arm, smiUng, and saying, 
 
 " Oh, ve3, vou are all right ; but come 
 on ! " 
 
 " Hence ! " she said, snatching loose. 
 " Begone, inferior mortal ! From all that 
 
 was perfect, was most perfect woman 
 made. But, sirs, you have robbed us of 
 our affections — of our souls ; you have 
 turned us into barren skeletons and wea- 
 zen-voiced orators, and you mock at us 
 for the wreck you have made. But when 
 you say ' March oil* quietly,' there's the 
 mark, quietly ; you have then come to the 
 place where you can go no further. March 
 off quietly ! I'll make my voice rattle 
 more than all the devils in pandemo- 
 nium ! " 
 
 The crowd began to assemble rapidly, 
 and many of them began to laugh, and 
 this, too, still attracted more attention — 
 the officers following her up gently, and 
 she as violently stepping back and lectur- 
 ing them, to the amusement of the by- 
 standers. Fortunately, however, in a lit- 
 tle while Prescott came up, and, seeing 
 the mistake that had been made, succeed- 
 ed in setting all right, so that the officers 
 retired, leaving her master of the field. 
 Here she held forth in a speech on wom- 
 an's rights in earnest ; but we cannot 
 relate her speech, owing to more impor- 
 tant matter. 
 
 It was on the day after the fugitive's 
 disappearance, and immediately after a 
 court silting before Judge Francis, when 
 I had come down from the Temple, and 
 meeting Wadsworth even at the columns 
 thereof, and seeing him in apparent dis- 
 tress, I halted, and engaged him in the 
 source of his reveries. He had never 
 before, to me, looked so ill — never before 
 so melancholy and downcast. At first 
 thought I inwardly rebuked myself for 
 not having heretofore tried more to min- 
 ister to his apparent sorrows. Another 
 thing that flashed over me for the mo- 
 ment was, he had talked for a long time 
 past of going home to his plantation ; 
 and now, why did he linger still in Wash- 
 ington ? With tearful eyes he gazed into 
 mine, taking my hand, in such assurance 
 as sacred made the word of each to the 
 other, saying, " I have waited for you," 
 and he seemed at loss whether to say 
 more. But I assured him, in my gentlest 
 manner, that I was anxious to do him 
 service, and that I could perceive that 
 something more than common was prey- 
 ing on his mind. " You are right," said 
 he ; " I am almost distracted. I hardly 
 know whether I am living or dead." 
 With this expression he half turned his 
 face away, so fair and noble, and the 
 tears flooded his cheeks. Drawing a card 
 from his pocket, and cautiously turning 
 it over, he passed it to me, remarking, 
 " You know not how desolate is all the 
 world, with no one to love ! " I looked 
 
LOVE AND WAR IN 1860. 
 
 Ill 
 
 on the card, and, while I read the words 
 on it, I was nearly palsied. 
 
 " God bless thee ! With no mishap, 
 thy dear one will soon return." 
 
 I knew who it was, and, although I 
 stood as motionless as a statue, a torrent 
 of emotion well-nigh caused me to sink 
 to the ground. Oh, that I had never 
 lived to see this — to feel that the dearest 
 one I ever knew had so kindly written to 
 my most excellent friend ! Oh, the rack- 
 ing in my brain, the flood of gudhing 
 thoughts and strange imaginings ! The 
 dread of long mistrust, but long con- 
 cealed and curbed by my best judgment, 
 had now, in an unexpected moment, had 
 the veil lifted, and doubt settled forever. 
 Visions sad and lonely then spread out 
 before me, and my course through the 
 long future loomed up as mountains of 
 darkness perpetual in the clouds, while 
 my own isolated self appeared in the dis- 
 tant future vainly trying to achieve that 
 happiness which all men covet on earth, 
 but no one has ever attained. " Vain, 
 vain man," I mused to myself, " see you 
 not the higher law, and acknowledge it, 
 that the aspirations and fond desires of 
 the full-grown man are dependent too 
 on the independent will of others, and 
 that yourself in obedience here must find 
 exaltment in the things that goad and 
 murder you ! " Bitter, bitter bane this, 
 to an unprovoking man ! But why of 
 myself? Thus, in a second of time, I 
 measured a world in thought, and con- 
 founded stood, with the little card half 
 hidden by the clouds of mist gathering 
 in my eyes, till Wadsworth, more col- 
 lected but weeping more, urged me to 
 tell him if I knew some misfortune to 
 her. 
 
 " I see it in your eye, your face, and 
 whole expression," he said ; " you have 
 ill news for me. Oh, tell me, I pray, what 
 evil tidings make you fear to break it to 
 my sensitive ear ? I know your kindness 
 to me, and your gentleness to her. You 
 fear we are separated forever ? Oh, speak ! 
 why are you silent ? " 
 
 He seized me by the hand, and earnestly 
 peered into my face ; but I was so con- 
 fused, for his innocent construction of my 
 sorrow overpowered me, that I found no 
 utterance at first, and then he added, 
 quickly : 
 
 " You know not what I have been do- 
 ing ? I have searched all the North, and 
 even Canada, but I tell you the newspaper 
 stories of her flight are all false. She has 
 not absconded, but some great misfortune 
 has befallen her. Now I charge you, and 
 you know by what injunction I crave aid 
 
 in my distress, if you know aught of her 
 that will give me either peace or sorrow, 
 speak it — in Heaven's name speak ! " 
 
 " I know nothing of her," said I, " and 
 you astound me beyond measure. So 
 much credit has been put in the stories 
 about her having been seen travelling 
 North, that no one doubted. Besides, 
 also, has not the Judge received letters 
 from her in Canada ? " 
 
 " Those letters are forged ! " 
 
 I was thunderstruck, and still silently 
 waited while he resumed: 
 
 " I traced those letters out. The Judge 
 gave me the said-to-be address, and urged 
 me to go to Canada and see her, keeping 
 it quiet, until such time as we should be 
 married and she could return in safety." 
 
 Here was another shock ; the Judge 
 had given his consent, and I had never 
 known it. 
 
 " The Judge knows not, but believes 
 the letters are genuine. He will die if I 
 unfold the truth to him ; but oh, sir, 
 what fate must hers be ! Some deep and 
 cursed villainy is afoot. That lady never 
 left Washington, at least on a Northern 
 railway or steamer." He then minutely 
 described all the manner of inquiry he 
 had instituted, and related the sad result. 
 I listened to his adventures, myself much 
 moved by the tenderness of his style, and 
 when he had finished, he gave a length- 
 ened sigh, and pressed my hand warmly, 
 saying, " I know of no one to whom I 
 can so well unfold my sorrows, or who 
 would so much excuse my weakness a^ 
 you, and for that reason have I cast my 
 history before you. Pray, sir, do not let 
 your sympathies too much my troubles 
 bear, but rather counsel and advise me 
 with what I shall do to regaiu my life- 
 treasure in that gentlest one of all I ever 
 knew. My day-dreams, my night-dreams, 
 my hours of ceaseless thought have only 
 life in her, and her absence is my living- 
 death. Oh, sir, in Heaven's name, tell 
 me, what shall I do ? Give me a thought, 
 or a dreamed-of prospect, and I will fol- 
 low it to the end of the world. For I 
 have fashioned out all conjectures and 
 hopes, and pursued them to the very utter- 
 most end, and failed. Give me some clue, 
 some possible hope, whither she is gone, 
 and I will fly. My admiration for you, 
 and my love for your intelligence and 
 nobleness, have sent me here to meet you. 
 Thus have I loitered near the Temple, that 
 I might eagerly devour your first conjec- 
 ture." 
 
 He then waited for me to reply, and I 
 summoned all my powers to act the noble 
 part ; although, had a dozen swords' 
 
112 
 
 TIIE FALL OF FORT SUMTER ; OR, 
 
 points pierced me through, I had suffer- 
 ed less than what was now galling me to 
 the very soul. And he so innocent of 
 what was moving me ! 
 
 " My friend," I said, with some caution, 
 " too much we value things so mortal, and 
 too hastily surmise the coming end. Take 
 less to heart, and more control on the feel- 
 ings keep, while sterner judgment and 
 time and sure events work out these mys- 
 teries. Think you no one else has ever 
 borne such woful loss, and yet controlled 
 and hidden it from even a friend's sus- 
 picion ? " 
 
 Wadsworth.— " Oh, that could not be! 
 When two souls so tenderly love, they 
 will speak though Heaven frowns. Oh, 
 say not that mortal ever so loved fair 
 woman, and concealed it, for it is in the 
 nature of things impossible — impossi- 
 ble ! " 
 
 " I think 'tis possible— quite possible ! 
 Indeed, I have heard it so said, the deep- 
 est love in silence lives, and bides the 
 powers above. Know you all the history 
 of this gentle lady ? " 
 
 Wadsworth,— " Oh ! indeed, I know it 
 well. But no, perhaps not all ; for so 
 gentle and kind a one has a history in 
 every hour's thought, and since she has 
 passed some twenty years, of course I 
 cannot know it all, though much 1 trace 
 it back, of what she was by what she is, 
 and so do full acquit myseif I know the 
 whole. What of her? For if in any- 
 thing past you can unravel something 
 leading on to the time present, it may 
 much mystery explain." 
 
 " Well, then — for my attachment to you 
 is quite equal to your admiration of him 
 whom you have sought to comfort you — 
 let me tell you of this fair one, who has 
 no superior in this world. She was once 
 a child, and, as such, played as children 
 do, wore short dresses, and at times went 
 out in the sun without her bonnet. Friv- 
 olous, this, to tell ; but no, you shall hear. 
 Along with her, and with other children, 
 too, was a little boy, called by the others 
 Freckle-face, always in mischief, always 
 teasing all the other children. Only gentle 
 Ann he never crossed, but kindly treated. 
 When she lost her bonnet, he brought it 
 her, and playfully tied it on, and she re- 
 garded him well. Anon the other chil- 
 dren teased them both, because of their 
 affections, and this nearer brought the 
 primitive loves to each other, till, though 
 in almost infant years, they betrothed 
 themselves. Long they lived so — one, 
 two, three, four long years — and their 
 affection became a type of purity and 
 nobleness to all the neighbors. The par- 
 
 ents of each were about equal in rank, 
 wealth, and culture, and much approved 
 the intended marriage. But, as all peo- 
 ple are subject to die, so the hoy's parents 
 both died, leaving him heir to a great 
 fortune. The boy was taken by an uncle, 
 to be educated and cared for till he came 
 to maturity. This uncle had a daughter, 
 cousin to the boy, who was now set upon 
 by several indirect methods, of which he 
 knew nothing, to be won over to marry 
 the cwusin, and so forsake gentle Ann. 
 He was then in his seventeenth year, and 
 needs must remain with his uncle four 
 years, according to the will and testa- 
 ment of his own father. He was forced 
 into the society of his cousin, but no 
 mutual love ever sprang up between them ; 
 and, on the other hand, he was told falsely 
 about his dear, gentle Ann ; that, as she 
 was only a child of thirteen, she had since 
 discarded him, and taken up with other 
 lovers. He did not believe it, however, 
 but rested his faith in the All-ruling 
 Power above to restore him, some day, 
 to the dear one of his choice. After he 
 had been absent two years, he fled from 
 his uncle's house, and over the mountains 
 of Virginia travelled on foot two hundred 
 miles to see his long-absent love. And he 
 saw her, and they renewed their pledges 
 with more warmth than ever ; but were 
 scarcely done greeting each other, when 
 the rude uncle came upon them, and, bid- 
 ding him remember the will and testament 
 of his father, succeeded in carrying the 
 boy back again to his place of abode. 
 Not long after this the young man— for 
 he was no longer a child — heard that 
 Judge Francis Underbill had gone to 
 Europe, and that the dear one had totally 
 abandoned him. He became depressed 
 and isolated, but at maturity, coming into 
 possession of a great estate, he came to 
 this city, where he again met his long-lost 
 one, but they met coldly. The stories told 
 to each of the other had chilled the love 
 between them, and neither one would ven- 
 ture again in the sacred channel. At times 
 tbey would walk together, or playfully al- 
 lude to the days of childhood, but a power 
 more than mortal ever seemed to stand be- 
 tween them. A thousand times did he try 
 to overcome the awful barrier, and a thou- 
 sand opportunities did she offer, but 
 whither the recollection of the malicious 
 stories told, or whether Heaven itself in- 
 tervened, I know not ; but their broken 
 hearts both felt the loss of a world, and 
 were silent in it. But hers was not a heart 
 of love to love in vain ; her charms fell 
 upon one of the noblest men I ever saw — 
 one of the most innocent and virtuous ; 
 
LOVE AND WAR IN 1860. 
 
 113 
 
 and he gave her a warmer and dearer love I heart asunder ; you have laid bare every 
 than the other ever could— and you are portal whereon lived my happiness ! But 
 that man ! " I tell me — tell me of the young man ! ! ' 
 
 " In mercy's name, you have torn my I " I am he ! " 
 
 CHAPTEE XIV 
 
 BEING A PART OF THIS GREAT HISTORY WHICH WAS NEVER BEFORE WRITTEN, ABOUT THE SPECIAL 
 DOINGS OF SOME OF THE GREATEST MEN OF THE AGE, AND APPROVED BY THE COURTS OF JUDGE 
 FRANCIS UXDERII1LL, OF LOUDON HEIGHTS, AND WITH THE APPROVAL OF THEIR AUTHORS. 
 
 I told Jenkins that, although the above 
 heading was quite Congressional^ I could 
 not see exactly what the meaning was. 
 
 " Why, I'll tell you," said he, " for you 
 must know that every sentence of a great 
 author is weighed by critics, and judged 
 accordingly. We, you know, must have 
 our style. Every one his own way. One 
 man sets out to tell you a story with a be- 
 ginning as follows, to wit : ' Two mysteri- 
 ous beings were seen at early morning in 
 a boat in the river Thames, in coarse ha- 
 biliments, in close proximity and earnest 
 attitude, in silence rowing. One was a 
 female figure in the bloom of youth, in the 
 stern of the boat, in a loose old gown in 
 reduced circumstances. The other was 
 that of a male companion, in a drowsy 
 slouch hat, in bending form, with silvery, 
 uncombed locks, in the middle of the 
 boat, rowing, and pulling something that 
 looked like it might be something ' — and 
 so on. Now, you know our style would 
 be : ' An old man and his daughter by the 
 name of Smith searched for dead bodies 
 in the Thames. One morning, having 
 found the corpse of some unfortunate, 
 they took it in the boat and rowed down 
 the river ' — and so on. The style is every- 
 thing. The weary man, the business man, 
 the active mind of this age can fill in ; 
 give them the points, and tease not with 
 such worthless stuff." 
 
 1 told Jenkins that the reader of this 
 history would be too much interested in 
 the fate of some, and not enough in the 
 fate of others connected with it. 
 
 " I want no Lucy Dashwoods," said he, 
 " for my model. The interest was there 
 kept back, and it made an accidental 
 glory ; it was, in fact, an Eva's death to 
 the book, and made it live." 
 
 Said I, " Do you suppose you can make 
 a sweet young girl halt here and read Bu- 
 chanan's politics, or about a peace conven- 
 tion ? Would she not be skipping over to 
 
 see how it came out with the Judge and 
 Vickey, and Prescott, and gentle Ann and 
 Wadsworth and the old maid and your- 
 self? Then there are Madame Poncbard 
 and Orsini ; will not the writers of history 
 skip over your love affairs, to ascertain the 
 part they played in the beginning of the 
 great rebellion ? " 
 
 " No, indeed ! " said he. " If you will 
 be patient, I shall here read you such a 
 chapter as you never dreamed of." He 
 then took up his glass, and smiled. I 
 asked him what he smiled at. 
 
 " At wit," said he. " I smile at wit. 
 Only a short time since a man wrote a 
 poem, stating in the preface that he wrote 
 so funnily, that, when he took it to the 
 publisher, the latter laughed from ear to 
 ear, and that all the buttons flew off the 
 poor fellow's coat with laughter. The au- 
 thor then goes on to state, that after that 
 he never dared to write so funny as he 
 could. Very witty, was it not ? " 
 
 Being anxious to get on with the his- 
 tory, I urged him to proceed with the 
 translation ; and he immediately took up 
 his notes, and began with these very- 
 words, to wit : 
 
 My position as reporter had made me 
 quite an important person in the estima- 
 tion of many people. Slave-hun ters always 
 came to me, and also to Prescott, to learn 
 all the hiding-places of Washington, and, 
 in fact, of many other cities. Now it so 
 happened, that the man who came down 
 the avenue when I had been gallanting 
 the old maid with ber new plumpers, was 
 Russel, the slave-catcher. As soon as we 
 were alone, he began. Said he, "lama 
 Baltimorean, and live in Jefferson street, 
 that city. Two ladies have taken a house 
 next door to me, and have acted so mys- 
 teriously about it, that I do suppose them 
 to be Abolitionists, and that they keep, in 
 fact, a depot for the underground rail- 
 
114 
 
 THE FALL OF FORT SUMTER ; OR, 
 
 road. My business has been for many 
 years to assist in capturing runaways, and 
 I scarcely ever err in my judgment of 
 people. The stories circulated about, that 
 the fugitives Kate and Lizzie arc off to 
 Canada, or are captured and sunt home, 
 are all false. I am too cunning for that. 
 I have long heard of you, Mr. Jenkins. 
 You have figured a good many years as a 
 writer ; our occupations are nearly the 
 same." 
 
 I did not feel flattered by so rough a 
 comparison, but made no answer; for, in 
 fact, he talked so fast I could not. He 
 called a man to take his horse to the 
 Jackson House, and then he urged me to 
 accompany him, having in a single sen- 
 tence informed me he was a member of 
 the Peace Congress, the originator of the 
 Bureau of Detection and Capture Bill, 
 and that neither ex-Presidents Pierce, nor 
 Tyler, nor Fillmore could claim it. What 
 he was aiming at I could not foresee, nor 
 could I imagine the cause of so great fa- 
 miliarity of words at first meeting. But 
 I soon beheld his mistake ; for he, in the 
 midst of his ceaseless talking, informed 
 me that the clerk of the Jackson House 
 had told him I could be relied upon as 
 all right on the secession and slavery ques- 
 tions, because I was an Englishman. He 
 did not even let me have time to deny it, 
 but talked, talked all the time himself, 
 till we neared the turn leading up toward 
 the Patent Office. " Well, I do say," said 
 he, stopping short and looking at a lady 
 who had just passed, and whom I knew 
 to be Madame Ponchard, " if there is not 
 one of my dearest friends ! I'll stick by 
 her till doomsday, and I'll leam all the 
 particulars." And then he turned abruptly 
 away, looking back, and saying, "Meet me 
 at the Peace Congress in half an hour, and 
 such things as I shall there tell you, you 
 shall see ; for I do suspect we shall have 
 an uphill time of it. You Englishmen 
 are better skilled in the accomplishment 
 of destroying nations, and you shall have 
 plenty of work, my word, as you say in 
 England." 
 
 There I stood, looking after him, and 
 he going away and talking every moment 
 as fast as he could. In fact, I pitied him, 
 for his ideas seemed to come much faster 
 than he could talk. But such strange con- 
 duct in a stranger to me left me bewildered 
 as to who he was and what he wanted with 
 me. He followed after the Madame, anon 
 looking back to me and shaking his finger 
 and smiling like a horse-jockey. He was 
 a stout, good-looking, middle-aged man, 
 and seemed a man of business and many 
 jokes, and inclined to say everything him- 
 
 self. Of course I was left alone, and a lit- 
 tle embarrassed about receiving such treat- 
 ment from a stranger ; but he seemed so 
 good-humored, that I entertained only the 
 best of feeling toward him. Not daring 
 to go back to the Jackson House lest that 
 mischievous clerk should bore me about 
 the old maid, I loitered slowly along till 
 I came to the halls of the Peace Congress, 
 whereat it has been prophesied there shall 
 never, to the end of all time, stand a 
 monument. Near the doorway, outside, 
 stood Floyd and young Wise. They were 
 looking at a photograph ; it was of the 
 usual size called carte-de-visite. I did not 
 look at it, but saw enough to recognize it 
 as Madame Ponchard. Floyd wished to 
 avoid me, and he went in the house. Wise 
 seemed suspicious of me, but he remained 
 in the same place. Ex-President Tyler 
 then came up and spoke to Wise, and they 
 both went in together. 
 
 The hall was very large, and ingress 
 only permitted to the officials. You can- 
 not imagine my surprise at seeing my 
 stranger friend already in the hall. I 
 had left him following Madame Pon- 
 chard, going in an entirely different direc- 
 tion, and now found him as a member of 
 the Peace Congress, safely and quietly 
 smiling at everybody, and propjjed up 
 near the doorway, ears and eyes for every- 
 thing present. I doubted, at first, if he 
 were the same man ; but he saw me look- 
 ing at him, and he tossed up his finger, 
 and nodded and smiled as if he had 
 known me for years. Thinks I to myself, 
 this Peace Congress is a curious conglom- 
 eration ; for I beheld the venerable Crit- 
 tenden, and others equally honest in their 
 endeavors to compromise the trouble be- 
 tween the North and South, here silting 
 beside the most rampant fire-eaters of the 
 South. A man near me then touched my 
 shoulder, saying, " Why, have they got 
 Buchanan's statue here ? " and he pointed 
 toward the left-hand chair, whither I cast 
 my eye, and there saw, to all appearance, 
 a marble figure like our present President. 
 But while we looked at it, it raised its 
 hand, and my friend said, " What ! is it 
 he ? " For it was, and he beckoned for 
 me to come over to him. He was as pale 
 and death- like as a corpse. All eyes were 
 now turned on me, and I felt somewhat 
 embarrassed as I went forward. He raised 
 up to receive me, and, bursting into tears, 
 exclaimed, 
 
 " Oh, Jenkins ! Jenkins ! come to my 
 relief ! 
 I am so harassed by these partisans, 
 Ice would not melt in my most fevered 
 blood. 
 
LOVE AND WAR IN 1860. 
 
 115 
 
 Think you that I am dead, or living ? 
 For really, there comes such a flood of 
 
 doubt 
 O'er my palsied vision, I am lost, 
 And live, alas ! but live in reveries." 
 
 I was at loss to reply, for the house was 
 not organized, and I knew every one was 
 looking for me to say something excellent. 
 " I know no man," said I, " since first 
 the world began, 
 That ever had such heads to battle with. 
 Giants are boxing with a new-born babe, 
 The which this nation feeds with choicest 
 
 food, 
 And promises of blood and priceless treas- 
 ures, 
 But the child calls not, and the giants 
 
 crush it. 
 "We pity you— we pity James Buchanan, 
 Sworn to defend the Constitution, 
 Though incapacitated for the work, 
 Not by your own weakness, sir, but others' 
 strength." 
 Buchanan. — " Ay, that's the point ; I 
 can't cope with such odds. 
 I am so tied to the Constitution — 
 There is the matter — and these court de- 
 cisions. 
 Methinks, sometimes, when I read Justice 
 
 Taney, 
 That angels might be profited by him, 
 And made more constitutional in heaven. 
 There is such seeming random in men's 
 
 minds 
 Of late, and they shoot out such wicked 
 
 notions 
 About the Constitution, I do think, 
 Christian as I am, Satan roves scot free 
 All o'er the country." 
 
 Jenkins. — " And it behooves us 
 To guard ourselves, sir, Mister President, 
 Lest we mistake the devil for true angels." 
 Buchanan. — " And how are we to know, 
 forsooth, but by 
 The Constitution ? " 
 
 And he smiled in triumph, while many 
 of the ultra pro-slavery men winked and 
 smiled to each other, and whispered aside, 
 " That's it ! " " Keep him on that track ! " 
 I pretended not to notice what was pass- 
 ing, and was relieved from further reply- 
 ing by the sound of the gavel. 
 
 Ex-President Tyler was made Chairman 
 of the Peace Congress, and, as soon as 
 order was restored, he handed the secre- 
 tary a recommendation, signed by nearly 
 all the Democratic party of the State of 
 Massachusetts. This was read at length ; 
 and the document reflects severer on the 
 American character than anything of the 
 kind ever signed by a civilized people. 
 It was while this document was being 
 read, that the police appeared at the door 
 
 with Madame Ponchard. I knew, but I 
 now think no one present knew, what the 
 outside row was about. The commotion 
 in the Peace Congress was greater than I 
 ever before beheld. We would fain rush 
 to the door, for Madame Ponchard's arrest 
 was deemed almost equivalent to a declar- 
 ation of war ; yet we were so intent on 
 knowing what the document held forth, 
 we dared not move. Six or seven mem- 
 bers left, the balance of us remained. 
 
 The document was said to be signed by 
 half a million people of Massachusetts. 
 But was it genuine ? — that was the ques- 
 tion ; or was it gotten up by Fillmore, and 
 Davis, and Toombs, as a make-believe for 
 peace ? It proposed to please the South 
 by disenfranchising a large portion of the 
 people of Massachusetts on account of the 
 color of their skin ; it proposed to let 
 slave-owners bring their slaves into Mas- 
 sachusetts, and to jirotect them while 
 there ; it proposed to establish in every 
 township a whipping-post for runaway 
 slaves ; it proposed to pay the slave- 
 owner for every slave coming into Massa- 
 chusetts, if not captured ; it proposed to 
 make it lawful to buy and sell slaves in 
 Massachusetts, if not to remain there ; it 
 proposed to divide all the Western terri- 
 tory, half and half, for slavery and free- 
 dom ; it proposed to keep up the balance 
 of power for the slave States, by purchas- 
 ing or taking by force Central America 
 and the West India islands ; and all that 
 this great State of Massachusetts asked 
 in return, was summed up in four words 
 — Pray don't fight us ! 
 
 Hardly had this, the most remarkable 
 document ever signed by a Christian peo- 
 ple, been read, when up jumps a little fel- 
 low with a whining voice, holding up a 
 paper not two yards in front of me, shout- 
 ing out, " Mr. President ! Mr. President ! 
 
 if it be in order " and he stretched 
 
 himself up and smacked his lips, smiling, 
 and he slapped on the paper with his 
 band, " I will read you a brief answer to 
 that." Again he smiled, and twisted his 
 lips like a member of Parliament. I saw 
 the writing, and knew it to be in Toombs' 
 hand ; it was written on foolscap. It was 
 twenty pages ; the substance of it was : 
 " We, Southern members of the Peace 
 Congress, have heard the propositions of 
 Massachusetts, and we reject them, be- 
 cause she does not give as much as we 
 want, and because we do want what we 
 are determined to have." 
 
 " Like a love-sick belle, never satisfied ! " 
 said a voice in a far-off corner, whither I 
 looked, and now beheld Judge Francis 
 Underbill, of Loudon Heights, spreading 
 
116 
 
 THE FALL OF FORT SUMTER ; OR, 
 
 himself, and adjusting his old silver spec- 
 tacles. " 'Tis ever the plight of a girl of 
 seventeen. Her ardent lover tells her he 
 gives his whole heart, his wealth, his mus- 
 cle, his name, his very soul, if she will but 
 let him love her. Then she proudly asks, 
 ' Will you not give more ? ' Here is a 
 leading State offering you everything — 
 even promising to rob her own citizens to 
 please you. Hardly are her proposals 
 read, when your heir-expectant jumps up, 
 and reads a previously written speech, 
 saying, ' Give us more ! Give us a good 
 deal more ! ' Massachusetts offers to make 
 a heathen of herself rather than have any 
 trouble with you. She is a cowardly cur, 
 and the South is a greedy hog." 
 
 Before he said more, the Chairman call- 
 ed him to order, but all the while were 
 others rising, shouting out, " Mr. Presi- 
 dent ! " " Mr. President ! " and trying to 
 get the floor. Finally the small man with 
 the whining voice got ahead, and sharply 
 demanded w r ho the Judge was ? " An 
 Abolitionist ! " " an Abolitionist ! " shouted 
 out several others, some of whom roared 
 out, " His niece and he run the under- 
 ground railroad ! " Buchanan then pulled 
 my arm, and bade me sit beside him, say- 
 ing to me, "Do you think there'll be a 
 row ? Oh, for God's sake, I wish I were 
 home ! " and he was even paler than be- 
 fore ; but I cheered him up, and urged 
 him to remember that, as long as he stood 
 by the Constitution, he was safe. 
 
 "Oh, I have had such a time ! " said 
 he, in a whisper, and he pulled my head 
 over to him, shaking badly all the while. 
 " Those Commissioners have been to see 
 me ! Oh, what shall I do ? They might 
 come in here ! "When I told them I could 
 find no law in the Constitution empower- 
 ing me to sell all the Southern forts and 
 arsenals, they said I must read it again, 
 and find it, or they would wring my neck. 
 For two days and nights I have read it, 
 and I can't find the place. Oh, what shall 
 I do if this Peace Congress miscarry ? 
 Where shall rest the head of the last of 
 the American Presidents ? " 
 
 I thought indeed the old man's fears 
 had deranged his judgment, and I longed 
 for some interruption, to put a stop to his 
 earnest whisperings. But while he was 
 thus pleading to me, the little whining 
 man was talking about the North agi- 
 tating the slave question, and hoping they 
 would continue at it till they fired every 
 Southern heart. He was happy to hear 
 they were stretching cables across the Mis- 
 sissippi, and that suspended Abolitionists 
 were ornamenting every Southern forest. 
 He went in for the Union as much as did 
 
 any other man ; the Constitution was 
 framed by the wisest men in the world, 
 and he revered it. He deprecated seces- 
 sion ; it would bring sure ruin on the 
 South. But he was sworn to fight to the 
 last for Southern rights — and for State 
 rights, too ; and when he could find no 
 one South ready to fight with him against 
 these Abolition usurpers, he would go 
 single-handed. He would take the torch 
 in one hand and a bowie knife in the 
 other, and wade through blood and fire 
 till he had vanquished the whole mudsill 
 race of the North. 
 
 This was Stephens. His braggadocio 
 made the house quiet, for we longed to 
 hear what all he could say ; though Bu- 
 chanan kept continually whispering in 
 my ear, and I heeded little more than the 
 tenor of the speaker's speech. When he 
 ceased, Crittenden presented his resolu- 
 tions, the substance of which was— all 
 the new States hereafter added on the 
 Western frontier should be slave States, 
 if south of a certain line ; or free, if north 
 of the line ; that there should be incor- 
 porated in the Constitution a fixed law 
 to prevent future generations, as well as 
 the present, from ever interfering with the 
 growth and moral influence of slavery. 
 After his resolutions he made a speech, 
 and we all saw in him the heart of an 
 honest man. He wept while he spake, 
 and Fillmore and others also shed tears. 
 But his resolutions were too much against 
 the North, and not enough in favor of the 
 South. He, too, beheld the inadequacy, 
 and then his good, honest heart gave way. 
 Exhausted, and beholding the insurmount- 
 able end, he finished his speech by implor- 
 ing aid from on High, even while covering 
 his face with both hands, and falling into 
 his seat. And when he sat down, it was 
 like the going out of a lone star in the 
 dark night ; he had failed to carry his 
 measures, and now were five-and-thirty 
 millions of people without a ray of hope. 
 Compromise was buried ; Mars, muffled 
 yet, but clad in armor, strode o'er all 
 America, and with the craft of long ex- 
 perience ; for this was not the end of the 
 Peace Congress, but it lingered many 
 weeks, though as a tool in aid of the fire- 
 eaters. Though we saw the end in the 
 outset, we had not measured strategy with 
 Davis, Toombs, and Stephens. Their craft 
 must hold out a hope, by pretended love 
 for the Union, while their armament was 
 being put in trim to destroy it. Even 
 Crittenden was blinded by them, and 
 made to hope against hope. And far 
 down South did all the newspapers and 
 hired speakers berate the non-conceding 
 
LOVE AND WAR IN 1860. 
 
 117 
 
 terms of the North. Miles was hired for 
 five thousand dollars, and all expenses 
 paid, to lecture South, and to tell the 
 people that the Northerners would con- 
 cede nothing ; and that Massachusetts de- 
 manded the unconditional abolition of 
 slavery ; and the people South believed 
 him. Cobb was hired for two thousand 
 dollars, for the same purpose, and the 
 people of Georgia believed him. Iverson 
 was hired for six thousand to employ 
 General Twiggs to betray his part of the 
 national army over to the Southern cause, 
 and Twiggs did it ; but his soldiers, good, 
 brave hearts, deserted their traitorous 
 leader. 
 
 These subjects were discussed in the 
 Peace Congress, and immediately after 
 Crittenden's speech. And these things 
 caused him to fear for the result ; and, 
 thus despairing of the nation's cause, he 
 had put forth his eloquence but to bleed 
 his own heart. Not so with Fillmore and 
 Davis. They wept because they beheld 
 the prospective downfall of an old party. 
 So, when the floor was clear, they were 
 ready with threats of vengeance, some of 
 tneni declaring that a raid of a thousand 
 men could decapitate the President and 
 Cabinet in two hours' time. I saw that 
 Buchanan was excited, and he pulled me 
 over to him again, asking if they meant 
 him, or Lincoln. I told him Lincoln. 
 " O God, I hope so ! " said he ; " no— I 
 mean, I hope they may not decapitate me, 
 nor Lincoln neither. Is not this terrible 
 — terrible ! " and he cried like a child. 
 
 " It appears to me," said a voice, " there 
 is unnecessary quibbling here. These are 
 demonstrations denoting anything but a 
 Peace Congress. Do you not behold what 
 unnecessary pain you give his Excellency, 
 the President ? These vituperations are, 
 in my humble opinion, at variance with 
 the designs of this Congress, and wholly 
 unnecessary and uncalled-for." 
 
 I turned to look at the speaker, for the 
 word unnecessary, coming in so often, made 
 me fear I had really gotten into the British 
 Parliament. I did not know the man ; he 
 w T as past the middle age, a little bald, with 
 a flushed face. 
 
 " It appears to me, if I may add," he 
 continued, " that an assemblage of this 
 sort is unnecessarily resorting to the ad 
 captandum on one side, and quite as un- 
 necessarily resorting to the nil ad captan- 
 dum on the other, and that no end will 
 come of it, unless it is in strict adherence, 
 which it ought necessarily to be in order 
 to achieve the called-for objects." 
 
 As he was going on in this style, I heard 
 some one whisper that he was one of the 
 
 Russels, a correspondent of a paper pub- 
 lished in England called the London 
 Times. The other Russel was there, but 
 I could see no family resemblance, nor 
 could I imagine what business such a 
 man had in our Peace Congress. He 
 spoke for half an hour, and the substance 
 of his remarks, translated in English, 
 was : 
 
 " You are very foolish. We great states- 
 men on the other side the water have long 
 told you you would come to pieces, and 
 now you see it. We pity you, and are 
 ready and willing to advise you in your 
 distress ; and we trust, too, you are such 
 a young people, while we are so old and 
 full of experience, you will heed what we 
 say to you. You may be, to be sure, sixty 
 or seventy years, but still you are very 
 young. We may be only sixty or seventy, 
 but then we are a very old people. You 
 must remember that we once attempted 
 to coerce your colonies, and that we fail- 
 ed. All the colonies, at that time, were 
 not half as powerful as are your present 
 dissatisfied States, and the result is mani- 
 fest to the weakest mind. Still, I can 
 assure you we are on friendly terms with 
 you both, and should remain, in the con- 
 test, your neutral well-wisher." 
 
 I then asked several gentlemen if the 
 man was William H. Russel of the Lon- 
 don Times ; but I failed to learn for cer- 
 tain, neither had I any evidence that said 
 Russel had been imported for the seces- 
 sion cause. Stephens told me that South 
 Carolina had already sent over emissaries 
 to England and France, but he said he 
 knew not who they were. When the 
 speaker resumed his seat, my stranger 
 friend then came forward and greeted 
 him very cordially, many of the people 
 expressing their surprise at such a pro- 
 ceeding in a Peace Congress. Tyler did 
 not call order then, but leaned over, talk- 
 ing to Stephens. Many of the people 
 were whispering, or rather muttering with 
 one another. My stranger friend and the 
 last speaker then started for the door. 
 Toombs was about to speak, but at that 
 instant we heard a voice at the door say, 
 " That is the man — arrest him ! " I look- 
 ed out, and beheld Prescott. Two police 
 were with him, and they advanced to my 
 stranger friend, whom they took prisoner. 
 He swore violently, and demanded the 
 reason. Floyd and others then sprang up 
 and rushed lor the door. When I started, 
 Buchanan pulled at my coat, and I dragged 
 him a little. " Oh, Jenkins ! Jenkins ! 
 don't leave me ! don't leave me ! " he 
 said, and he stared wildly out of the 
 door. " The South Carolina Commission- 
 
118 
 
 THE FALL OF FORT SUMTER ; OR, 
 
 ers are coming ! They'll wring my neck ! 
 They said they would ! It is not in the 
 Constitution. Oh, don't leave me, for 
 Heaven's sake ! they \\ ill wring my neck ! " 
 Had he not been so pale and frightened, 
 I should have laughed ; but he clung to 
 me as close as Sancho Panza did to Don 
 Quixote when they heard the fulling 
 mills, and I did not know but the like 
 consequences would result from the fright. 
 At that moment, however, Tyler declared 
 the Congress adjourned till next day at 
 twelve o'clock, and he and Toombs and 
 Davis joined arms and walked off to- 
 gether. Buchanan would not go himself, 
 nor let me. I urged him to believe there 
 was no danger ; I told him it was another 
 affair altogether, outside the house ; but 
 he stared with great consternation toward 
 the door, frequently saying, " It is not in 
 the Constitution. Oh, those Commission- 
 ers ! What shall I do ? " I then started 
 with renewed force, most of the crowd 
 having gone out, the President still cling- 
 ing to me with one hand, and with the 
 other pointing toward the door in the 
 most abject fear, and I really dragged 
 him out with me. However honored I 
 was to support the American President 
 to his carriage, I felt full as much shame 
 with the burden as did Dr. Johnson with 
 his drunken woman. 
 
 " I tell you, Jenkins," said he, as we 
 stood waiting for the carriage, " you can- 
 not imagine the terrors around me. Only 
 
 a few days ago, that imperturbable Pres- 
 cott crammed such arguments down my 
 throat, and, sir, sir, he said, if I sold the 
 forts, I would commit perjury before God. 
 Yes, sir ; and he did so enforce his views 
 on me, that a deliriousness of mind has 
 made me more the tool of other folks than 
 I was before. Oh, sir, such a fire as he 
 placed me in — God and heaven on one 
 side, and my party on the other ; aud thoy 
 threaten me so terribly, that I can neither 
 walk ahead nor stand still for the danger 
 of them." The tears rolled down his 
 cheeks as he spoke, and he had no more 
 color than the driven snow. I then helped 
 him into the carriage, and he pulled me 
 after him, saying, " For God's sake, come 
 in — see me safe home ! " and I did so ac- 
 cordingly. 
 
 Here the writer of this remarkable his- 
 tory waited for Jenkins to proceed, but, 
 on looking up, beheld him penning this 
 line, "End of this Chapter." "Now," 
 said I, " Jenkins, whether are you to be 
 the author of this book, or am I to be ? " 
 And he said, " You." " Well, then," said 
 I, " what literal truth is there in this chap- 
 ter ? " " Things cannot always be in lit- 
 eral se..:>e," said he. " Things plain and 
 simple may be, but things and times of 
 great importance never can be. You will 
 remember Richard the Third said, 'I want 
 a horse — quick ! ' but the historian wrote 
 it, ' A kingdom for a horse ! ' " 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 FIFTEENTH SITTING OF THE COURTS OF JUDGE FRANCIS UNDERBILL, OF LOUDON HEIGHTS, WHEREIN 
 ARE UNFOLDED THINGS OF AN UNUSUAL CHARACTER ABOUT THE NOW ALL-ABSORBING TOPIC OF WAR 
 AND THE LOVE AFFAIRS OF DIAMOND WEDDINGS WITH A RAINBOW IN THE HEAVENS. 
 
 " Now," said I, after I had read the 
 above heading, " now, Mr. Jenkins, that is 
 carrying things too far ! One would think 
 you w T ere making a speech at the Tuileries, 
 or fitting up yourself for a foreign minis- 
 ter." 
 
 " What one ? " he asked ; and I told 
 him I knew not who, for I saw that even 
 in my criticism I had blundered. Now it 
 so happened that I had been, years ago, 
 the principal witness at the courts of 
 Judge Francis, and that Jenkins was only 
 admitted to the box at the time of build- 
 ing the new Temple ; consequently my 
 
 words were now constructed into sentences 
 under his approval, which accounted for 
 his greater vigilance. 
 
 " All right ; go ahead ! " said I, and he 
 uplifted his huge manuscript and read off 
 the following, to wit : 
 
 The second thing in importance, now, 
 to the contemplated war between the 
 North and South, was the prospect of a 
 diamond wedding. It was in all the news- 
 papers ; it was issued from everybody's 
 tongue ; but, true to propriety, the names 
 of the parties were withheld. One was 
 
LOVE AND WAR IN 1860. 
 
 119 
 
 mentioned as the wealthiest and noblest! 
 citizen of Washington— a man somewhat! 
 advanced, to be sure, but still as vivacious 
 and hopeful as a boy of twenty. He was 
 no less a person than the Judge of that 
 mysterious court of etiquette and learning 
 which has so long been the nucleus of men 
 of great wealth and literary attainments ; 
 he was one of the oldest inhabitants ; he 
 had travelled farther and learned more 
 than any other man. He had been so long 
 and ardently watching over the affairs of 
 the nation, that he had neglected himself; 
 but, just in the nick of time, he had cast 
 his glories before one of the most enchant- 
 ing, amiable beauties that ever appeared 
 in the Capital. She was also a millionnaire, 
 and of course the envy of her sex ; she 
 ruled the fashions ; she was the belle, the 
 queen of the city of queens, and her 
 beautv as rich and rare as ever the sun 
 shone" on. Thus read all the papers ; thus 
 said all the ladies; thus talked all the 
 gentlemen, and rumor and curiosity exag- 
 gerated the stories till the like was never 
 seen before in any age. But, strange to 
 sav, no one knew who the lady was ; no 
 one, save one, knew who wrote the articles 
 for the newspapers, and every one guessed 
 hard and guessed often to ascertain who 
 the noble parties were. A few knew who 
 the gentleman was; but gentlemen were 
 too much engaged about war to attend to 
 such idle matters; and ladies were the 
 more put to their wits' ends because the 
 gentlemen wouldn't. Now, the truth of it 
 was, that ever mischievous clerk was at 
 the bottom of it all; writing all those 
 stories for the papers, concealing just so 
 much as should deceive both the old maid 
 and Vickey as to which was the intended 
 bride, for he would have them both believe 
 they were both alluded to, but both to be 
 the recipient of a different kind of hus- 
 band. This he did by stating at the end 
 of the newspaper articles, " also two of the 
 relatives of the same parties, and also 
 wealthy, will be married the same day." 
 So craftily had he managed the matter, 
 that Vickey now placed herself on the 
 list of the betrothed, believing, through 
 the clerk's stories, that Prescott was the 
 millionnaire alluded to, and that the other 
 match was between her aunt and the 
 Judge. One thing troubled Vickey, and 
 that was the style of courtship. She had 
 had her love adventures in a small town 
 in Ohio, and out there the lovers courted 
 in closer proximity. For a long time this 
 had preyed on her mind, and she feared 
 that she might, indeed, be the victim of 
 some mistake or ill-fortune ; but she 
 dared not counsel with her money-mak- 
 
 ing papa, and she had learned so much 
 of "fashionable life while in a Philadelphia 
 boarding school, that it were useless to 
 apply to her less-informed mother. One 
 day she resolved to have the matter clear- 
 ed up, and accordingly set herself about 
 it. Prescott had also taken rooms at the 
 Jackson House— a fact that should not be 
 omitted in a work like this— but he sel- 
 dom lingered about the place, his arduous 
 duties as reporter calling him hence most 
 of the time. Occasionally, however, he 
 would pass through some of the elegant 
 parlors or drawing-rooms, nodding to one 
 and another, bidding the time of day. 
 passing only a few words, and then pass- 
 ing himself out. Thus he had often met 
 Vickey, often said something pleasing, 
 and often most abruptly left ; for, though 
 he was the son of a washerwoman, his con- 
 tact with his fellows had polished him a 
 little, and his duties had made him abrupt 
 to business. He was sharp to view his 
 friends, and read their character and 
 standing at a glance. In Vickey he saw 
 the heart of a good and virtuous girl ; but 
 he saw the vanity and folly of a boarding- 
 school education. Her diction was train- 
 ed, her affectation assumed, and her posi- 
 tion in fashionable life painful to herself. 
 And she, too, felt it all ; and felt, too, that 
 a man of so sharp a vision as Prescott 
 could see and know her prison bounds. 
 Of her aunt and her mother she was 
 ashamed, not for any fault of theirs, but 
 because she had drunken at the Pierian 
 spring just enough to unfit her for spheres 
 of high or low, and because she loved them 
 too dearly to break from their ungainly 
 ways. Gradually did this light dawn 
 upon her, and gradually, too, did she be- 
 come unhappy, and suspicious that every- 
 body noticed* hers and her family's green- 
 ness. And then she grieved ; she grieved 
 that she had ever improved in intelligence, 
 for it was robbing her noble woman's scul 
 of the objects to love. She could speak 
 fluently, for the boarding-school taught 
 ladies to read and speak in public ; taught 
 ladies that a bold utterance was learning ; 
 taught that the modulations of voice 
 made woman great, commanding, queenly ; 
 taught that a smattering of many books 
 could gild the mind, so that it would pass, 
 on the unthinking mortal who should 
 marry her, as the store-house of an angel's 
 literature. But now, alas, she found that 
 the short period of polishing off at board- 
 ing-school was but an external polish ; 
 and, too, she found that, to be in the so- 
 ciety she had entered, she had needed to 
 have been in it all her life, and to have 
 been ever studying with diligence, to 
 
120 
 
 TIIE FALL OF FORT SUMTER ; OR, 
 
 make it now a place of enjoyment. Her 
 attractions were not lasting ; she could 
 play you on the piano ; but could not in- 
 form you on the difference between Bee- 
 thoven and Mozart ; she could talk you on 
 the Constitution and our great, free coun- 
 try, but she had never heard of ancient 
 republics — nor did she know Cato from 
 Plato ; she could talk you on Byron and 
 Milton, but she could not tell you the dif- 
 ference between acatalectic and catalectic. 
 She had heard of iambic, trochaic, anapestic, 
 and (lacti/Uc, but she knew so little about 
 thein, that, when you talked to her of 
 them, she sat in painful silence, or cun- 
 ningly talked of something else. And 
 thus it was on all subjects and things 
 whereof fashionable life amongst a liter- 
 ary people abounds. The consequence 
 was, young gentlemen, and even ladies, 
 of genuine worth and information, who 
 were at first attracted by Vickey's pretty 
 face, prettily-set speeches, pretty playing, 
 queenly grace, soon discovered she was 
 only plated ware, plated by a boarding- 
 school; and so, for lack of learning she 
 was cast aside. That is to say, every new 
 arrival at the hotel was captured by 
 Vickey first, but first, too, would she get 
 the cold shoulder, and then, plainer ones, 
 perhaps, became the greater lights and 
 glory. But this young lady had a heart, 
 a good, honest heart, and she had been 
 told that she was accomplished, and "fit 
 for the best of society." People had told 
 her that her voice was a second Jenny 
 Lind's, and she knew no better ; to en- 
 courage her in learning, her boarding- 
 school teachers had told her that she was 
 excellent, aud that all she needed was a 
 little more brass ; and so she got brass. 
 But now, alas ! she had learned that there 
 were to be found giants in learuing and 
 accomplishments, and that she herself, the 
 pampered and flattered, was but the vic- 
 tim of a boarding-school polish. And she 
 grieved ; she grieved bitterly. She griev- 
 ed in particular for herself; she grieved 
 in the burden she had with her aunt and 
 mother. Then she became unhappy ; and 
 then she became distant and watchful, 
 nay, suspicious. She weighed too heavily 
 all things, and cast them all against her- 
 self. This made her weep ; ay, at times 
 she wept bitterly. She thought no one 
 loved her; she thought some of them 
 loved her very ardently. The Judge told 
 her every day she was the fairest queen 
 he ever saw ; he was ever telling her what 
 glorious times they would have after their 
 maniage, and she thought he meant her 
 aunt and she and Prescott ; but she was 
 too much afraid to try to find out, and 
 
 she would only answer; "Oh, I shall be 
 so happy ! all of you are so attentive ! " but 
 it was all so muddled and confused she 
 knew not what to make of anything. 
 Though, as before stated, she finally re- 
 solved to have things cleared up ; and 
 she resolved, too, that she would inquire 
 from some other than that ever-mischiev- 
 ous clerk. So, who should she apply to 
 but her own intended ? But how could 
 she do it ? Ask him if he really meant 
 to marry her? ask him if he was a mil- 
 lionnaire ? ask him where he intended to 
 take her on their wedding trip? Oh, 
 how could she ask such questions ? But 
 then she remembered that her boarding- 
 school teachers had ever told her she 
 needed brass ; that brass and a fluent 
 tongue would make all things pass. So, ac- 
 cordingly, she set to work to invent some 
 plan to meet Prescott alone — to break 
 through all barriers, and to throw herself 
 into his arms, with a full protest against 
 fashionable courtships, and to entreat him 
 to court her hereafter in close proximity, 
 in country fashion ; that they might look 
 each other in the eyes, and be as tender 
 as they pleased. Now, she knew of no 
 way to meet him thus alone, unless by 
 rising early in the morning, and catching 
 him in the drawing-room before he had 
 finished his morning papers. This, too, 
 she resolved on doing ; and after haying 
 been for weeks maturing her plans and 
 her set speeches, the morning came on 
 which she was to make the attack. Now 
 it happened, also, that that morning Pres- 
 cott was late, and that she was herself the 
 first in the drawing-room, and was first 
 apparently engaged with the morning pa- 
 pers. Not long bad she been there, when 
 in came Mrs. Lucy Tabiatha Stimpkins, 
 between whom there was no further ac- 
 quaintance than that each knew who the 
 other was. This occurred at sunrise, and 
 Vickey was not a little astonished to see 
 Mrs. Lucy out so early, for she knew the 
 latter lived at least a mile off; so she bade 
 her good morning, adding, " I thought I 
 was the first lady up this morning ! " 
 
 " Why, indeed," said Mrs. Stimpkins, 
 " I have been up nearly four hours ! I 
 have written out an hour's lecture, and 
 walked a mile. But that is nothing for 
 me ; though I am astonished to see you 
 up so early. Most peojfle lose the best 
 part of the day in bed. Though I see by 
 your looks that something is the matter ; 
 have the doctors ordered you to rise early ? 
 You look horrid ! " 
 
 Vickey shook ; Prescott might come in. 
 
 " As I remarked in my lecture last 
 
 night," Mrs. Stimpkins continued, " these 
 
LOVE AND WAR IN 1860. 
 
 121 
 
 hot-beds of fashion destroy more consti- 
 tutions, and more effeminate woman's na- 
 ture, than do everything else under hea- 
 ven. It makes my heart bleed. Pampered 
 pride and foolish courtships, on which, 
 through the fickleness of man, are wreck- 
 ed more hearts than were ever joined by 
 all the foolish cupids this side of eternity. 
 I'm done with such stuff, and I wish every 
 woman in the land was awake to that 
 higher progression of human indepen- 
 dence. How long have you been sick, 
 Miss Edge ? " 
 
 " Oh, I am not sick ; I am quite well, 
 thank you." 
 
 " Then you must be in love, for, God 
 knows, you look a perfect fright— I don't 
 mean your clothes, but your haggard face. 
 Don't mind what I say ; I am a plain, 
 blunt woman, and have discarded all de- 
 ception ; I speak the truth, and I tell you 
 plainly, by the look of your face you have 
 either had the ague a month, or have been 
 a month crying your eyes out over some 
 foolish man's pretended love. Is it not 
 so?" 
 
 Vickey's eyes began to cloud ; her head 
 hung down, and her hands picked about 
 excitedly, but she also smiled the while. 
 
 " Indeed, you may smile ; but, as for 
 me, I am not the smiling kind, nor will 
 you be, when you shall have passed 
 through what I have. I tell you, this 
 world is all wrong ; society is turned up- 
 side down ; progression is hooted at ; the 
 same old theories of a hundred years ago 
 are more prized now by the great multi- 
 tude than are the truths of our newly- 
 discovered harmonial philosophy. It is 
 the disobedience to Nature's laws makes 
 you sick ; it is an infringement upon the 
 mental and physical constitution makes 
 you scowl and yawn at the approach of 
 day. It is ignorance that makes all the 
 mischief. The fool puts his finger in the 
 fire, and burns it ; the fool sits in the 
 draft, and gets a sore throat ; the fool 
 wears tight boots, and gets corns. Look 
 at my shoes, Miss ." Here she dis- 
 played her large feet. " Those are sensi- 
 ble. Ah, again you smile. Well, let us 
 go on a bit. The foolish girl sits wearily 
 at night to pen a love-letter ; she dotes on 
 the expected joys ; she teases herself with 
 foolish jealousy ; she makes herself sick 
 from the tediousness of marriage ; but 
 some day she wakes from ber folly, to find 
 that she has been a fool. The joys she 
 expected never come ; her jealousy is 
 folly, too ; for, when she has tried mar- 
 riage, she is willing her husband may go 
 to the dogs ; but she is too foolish to get 
 rid of him, and so she lives and dies a 
 
 fool ; and her folly has burdened her with 
 a world of mental and physical pain. So, 
 you see, when I see a face scarce above 
 twenty, and see its pain deep and deaden- 
 ing, I can surmise the rest. I wish to see 
 a Mr. Prescott ; have you seen him this 
 morning ? " 
 
 " I have not ; perhaps he is not forth." 
 Mrs. Lucy. — " Oh, yes, he is ; he is 
 always early. But no matter; I have a 
 good deal to do to-day, and so I must be 
 jogging on. Now, mark you, if ever you 
 take a moment's trouble over man, you 
 will find that you are making a fool of 
 yourself. The dreams of congeniality are 
 all folly. When you marry — but God for- 
 bid you ever do ! — you will find that your 
 husband is a stick, only a stick, and not 
 worth a moment's consideration. And so 
 I charge you, if any such foolish matter 
 ails you, banish it at once and forever. I 
 was once as handsome as you are, but the 
 husbands I have had have given me much 
 grief and anxiety, and now, behold my 
 wrinkles and haggard looks ! Think you 
 I am fair ? Could man have ever bowed 
 and sued to win such a face ? Could such 
 a face have ever had its surface moistened 
 with tears of tenderness for a man ? And 
 is this the wreck they have given me ? 
 You think, because I am a lecturer on 
 woman's rights, I am a heathen ; but I 
 tell you it is not I that speaks ; it is the 
 injury and misery burning in my soul, aud 
 my mouth is their vent-hole. You'll come 
 to it ; every woman, sensitive and refined, 
 comes to it. Only the dull sluggards of 
 slaves of soggy fat women escape, and they 
 only because they are too stupid to see 
 their own misery. If you have a lover— 
 or rather I should say a hyena— I tell you 
 to drop him ; he's false, all false. I know 
 what I say— he's false. Only a few months 
 since, I married a man, a real handsome 
 man, with a beardy face, and all that — I 
 mean no less a person than Professor Jack- 
 son, the celebrated lecturer on psychom- 
 etry and woman's rights, and he, too, 
 proved to be but a stick. He says he lost 
 a hundred and sixteen dollars by it, and 
 now he wants me to return the money. It 
 makes my blood boil ! He harped on that 
 hundred and sixteen dollars till I was 
 worn out, and so I turned him adrift. 
 But mind you, we had no ridiculous di- 
 vorce suit. We married ourselves, and, 
 when we found we were uncongenial, we 
 separated ourselves, and that's the nearest 
 heaven I ever got. But the joke of the 
 matter was, I was no sooner out of the 
 scrape, than up jumps another suitor, this 
 young Prescott, and spreads himself to 
 win my heart. Fudge ! He has no 
 
122 
 
 THE FALL OF FORT SUMTER ; OR, 
 
 money, and wants to ride into fame on 
 my talents. But I am too old for such 
 
 stuff " At this juncture Prescott came 
 
 in. " Ah, Mr. Prescott, I was waiting for 
 you." Prescott bowed, and bid them good 
 morning ; but Mrs. Lucy kept on talking. 
 " The messengers sent on to warn Lincoln 
 of his danger have met him in Philadel- 
 phia, and been told by his important Ex- 
 cellency that he don't consider himself in 
 aDy danger at all, and that he intends to 
 come through on his own account. Now, 
 what I have to say to you is, that last 
 night, after I had delivered my lecture on 
 the Germ of Psychometry, on my way 
 home, it being late, I ran afoul of that 
 mysterious couple for whom we are both 
 under bonds, and this much I abstracted 
 from them by playing eaves-dropper : That 
 sixty men, known as Roughs, from Rich- 
 mond, Virginia, have gone up to Balti- 
 more with Russel, and that in that city 
 they are to join with the so-called Dead 
 Rabbits and Plug Uglies, and that they 
 are to institute a formal riot, when Lin- 
 coln passes through that city, and during 
 the riot Orsini is to stab Lincoln and be 
 borne off by the crowd. The other part 
 of the drama — the seizing of this city and 
 the killing of the Cabinet — you know as 
 well as I do. This information I wish to 
 communicate to General Scott ; but, know- 
 ing the barriers against my sex, I would 
 not wish to presume so much as to go in 
 person to him." 
 
 Prescott. — " This is most important, in- 
 deed. Not a moment must be lost ; but, 
 to make the matter impressive, I wish you 
 to accompany me to Scott, and in your 
 own manner tell it him." 
 
 Mrs. Lucy. — " That, too, is my desire ; 
 and knowing your intimacy with him, and 
 your energy against secession, I applied to 
 you at this early hour." 
 
 Prescott. — " We should go at once." 
 
 Mrs. Lucy. — " On the instant. It is the 
 shaking off of old theories that moves 
 this nation ; and even now does the har- 
 monial philosophy stand out like a rain- 
 bow in the heavens." 
 
 Prescott. — " I will provide an umbrella ; 
 for the morning looks like rain." 
 
 Mrs. Lucy. — " No matter ; I have one 
 large enough for both." 
 
 Prescott. — " These signs are ominous, 
 Miss Edge. Let war once get afoot in 
 this unprotected country, and we shall 
 have great work. You look not well ! " 
 
 Yickey. — " Oh, I am quite well, I thank 
 you ; but the threats against Lincoln 
 frighten me — that's all." 
 
 Prescott.—" Oh, is that all ? Well, don't 
 take it seriously ; sadness unfits so fair a 
 
 face for the joys in store. Oh, those mis- 
 chievous newspapers ! " Thereupon Pres- 
 cott smiled knowingly, and he and Mrs. 
 Lucy went out arm in arm. Poor Vickey 
 would have been willing to sink into non- 
 existence, but motionless a while she sat 
 there, big tear-drojjs rolling untouched 
 down as pure and innocent a face as ever 
 the sun shone on. 
 
 When Jenkins got thus far, he halted, 
 and I looked up. Said he, 
 
 " You will need to make a break here." 
 
 " How so ? " said I. 
 
 " The annals must be uniform," said he ; 
 " keep the horse before the cart.*' 
 
 " What do you mean ?" I asked. 
 
 " Wait," said he, " and you shall see." 
 
 " See what ? " said I. 
 
 Now, when Jenkins saw that he had 
 used the word " see " when he should have 
 said " learn," he bit his lips a little, and 
 then, without making any further answer, 
 commenced again with his monstrous 
 manuscript, and these words he uttered 
 unto me, to wit : 
 
 A galloping horseman in military dress 
 was a strange sight in Washington ; but 
 an officer in full uniform, with a sword 
 dangling by his side, made us all look, 
 and watch with anxiety. Americans, 
 whose avocations had ever been in peace, 
 could hardly believe the evidences of their 
 own senses. Yet these things were begin- 
 ning to appear. Throughout all the South 
 the secessionists had seized the national 
 forts, arsenals, and post-offices. National 
 officers everywhere were committing open 
 perjury, and turning from their sworn al- 
 legiance to the nation, and even robbing 
 it, for the benefit of their particular part, 
 a State. They repudiated the doctrine of 
 republics, that the minority shall yield to 
 the will of the majority, and were by their 
 own example instituting a principle of dis- 
 integration inimical even to themselves ; 
 it was the principle that, whoever likes 
 not a law, need not obey it ; but still they 
 called it liberty ; like the Indian denuding 
 himself in the city, because he wanted 
 liberty. And so general had this fault be- 
 come, the treasonable doings down South, 
 that nearly half the nation lost sight of 
 the fact that we had a Government, a Con- 
 stitution and laws, and the actions of the 
 conspirators were so common, and even so 
 criminal, that the attention could only be 
 aroused by some deed of more than an 
 ordinary character. And one of these 
 occasions is that of which we speak, 
 when who should gallop through the 
 streets of Washington but Iverson, pro- 
 
LOVE AND WAR IN 1S60. 
 
 123 
 
 claiming the fact that General Twiggs 
 had betrayed the national army over to 
 the cause of the South. This was like 
 the shock of an earthquake in this coun- 
 try. Not that Twiggs, nor his army, was 
 of much value, but the thought of what 
 countryman he was. To him it was not 
 much ; for, when he is dead, bis infamy is 
 at an end ; but the stain on the American 
 name will never die. Our countryman, of 
 high trust in office, had perjured himself 
 — had been bought for five thousand dol- 
 lars ! This was the blow, and it shook 
 the confidence of us all. Now, while this 
 man galloped the streets, himself exulting 
 at the infamy of Twiggs, how could we 
 restrain our indignation, or even sit in 
 calmness, knowing that Buchanan sat 
 cowering, and praying to his party for 
 their forgiveness, inasmuch as he could 
 not, owing to his position, go to the full 
 extremity. 
 
 Here Jenkins became so moved that he 
 could not read for a few moments, and 
 the writer of this remarkable history had 
 to wait a little. Jenkins then took an- 
 other glass of wine ; the glass was not 
 more than two- thirds full, and, when he 
 had put it safely down his neck, he ejacu- 
 lated the following : 
 
 Buchanan ! Infamy be thy name, 
 And hatred everlasting to thy kindred ; 
 Followers, thine applauders, and all men 
 Whoever speak thee well, take them this 
 
 curse, 
 Whence goodness is, and honored country- 
 men 
 Most justly do full merit to the brave, 
 That thou, the opposite, for cowardice 
 And love of party passively played death 
 On millions, take the milllions' death, and 
 
 die 
 In torture of their many million pains, 
 And ceaseless death of mental agony ; 
 And when thou'rt dead and gone, and yet 
 
 remembered, 
 Be't only to receive another curse. 
 
 " Why," said I, " Jenkins, you were his 
 friend ; why curse you thus ? " 
 
 He put up his finger, and then went on : 
 
 Aroused one morning by the clash of 
 horses' feet, I beheld Iverson, and heard 
 the story of his joys no sooner, than off I 
 put for Buchanan to acquaint him there- 
 with. I found him in bed, but with some 
 persistence forced my way in, just as he 
 had arisen. He was pale and excited, 
 but I waited not, and so told my story. 
 At first he ejaculated, " Is it possible ! 
 Twiggs 1 " Again I assured him, and 
 
 again he replied, " Is it possible ? Is 
 Twiggs a Democrat ? " 1 told him I 
 knew not, and that I could see not why 
 that should make any difference. 
 
 " All the difference in the world," said 
 he ; " all the difference in the world ! 
 Don't you know, if I do a thing against 
 him I will only exasperate the South ? 
 Rather would I flay the other party alive, 
 for then I would pacify these fire-eaters. 
 Toombs told me this. Besides, is not 
 Twiggs a free man ? If the Republican 
 party chooses to draw their throats across 
 Twiggs' sword, is that my fault ? " 
 
 Said I, and I looked him fair in the eye, 
 " Buchanan, you are aware that the na- 
 tional soldiers in Fort Sumter are about 
 to starve for lack of food, and that Scott, 
 endeavored to provision them on the sly, 
 but that, through your connivance, the 
 secessionists were informed of that fact ; 
 and so, to-day, the soldiers are out of 
 food." 
 
 " Don't call it connivance," said he ; " it 
 was my extreme friendliness to both par- 
 ties ; besides, it was not me, but Thomp- 
 son, that telegraphed them." 
 
 " Zounds ! " said I, " who is Thompson, 
 but your right-hand man ? Why do you 
 keep him in the Cabinet ? " 
 
 I had scarcely uttered the words, when 
 a messenger arrived and communicated 
 the important intelligence that the seces- 
 sionists had opened fire on the Star of the 
 West, the steamer referred to. Said he, 
 " Mr. President, it is true what I tell you ; 
 the South Carolinians have fired on an 
 unarmed steamer that was carrying food 
 to the national soldiers, and the vessel 
 was obliged to put back." Buchanan 
 then sat down and cried like a child ; and 
 when I asked him the cause thereof, he 
 said, " Because such conduct will ruin the 
 Democratic party. Had they waited till 
 the fourth of March, they had had cause 
 enough ; but now, alas ! alas ! Why have 
 they heaped this thing on my head ? 'Tis 
 thus those Commissioners wring my neck. 
 O my God, my God ! what shall I do ? " 
 and again he cried as if his heart would 
 break. The messenger and I then turned 
 to leave him, but he called me, saying, 
 " Wait here, Jenkins ; I want you to take 
 my message to the House to-day." I told 
 him I would, and I returned and sat down, 
 but the messenger left. Seeing that Bu- 
 chanan was so agitated, I took up the un- 
 finished message, and began to read it, but 
 was interrupted by the unceremonious en- 
 trance of Jeff. Davis, who, laughing, rein- 
 formed us of the firing on the Star of the 
 West. Said he, " I laugh, because no 
 longer ago than yesterday I made a speech 
 
124 
 
 THE FALL OF FORT SUMTER ; OR, 
 
 to prove that there would not be a gun 
 fired on either side. But I see I made a 
 mistake, and I think 'tis laughable." 
 
 Buchanan. — " I think it is no laughing 
 matter." 
 
 Davis. — " "Why, no, not the firing, but 
 the speech I made. It will go in history, 
 that the head and front of secession made 
 a speech in Congress to prove all would 
 be done in peace, while even on the day, 
 and in the same hour thereof, the guns of 
 the chivalrous South began the woful 
 thunder." 
 
 Buchanan asked him if he had heard 
 of Twiggs' conduct. 
 
 " Oh, yes," said Davis ; " but that was 
 looked for. It had been boasted at 
 the Peace Congress that it would take 
 place." 
 
 Buchanan then asked me to read the 
 message to Davis, and I complied there- 
 with, and thus it ran : 
 
 " To the Senate and House of Representa- 
 tives assembled : 
 
 " Americans and citizens of this free 
 land, behold ! The hour of trouble and 
 the fall of an empire is at your doors. 
 Arouse ye, and heed the moral precepts 
 of your fathers, or perish all. Arouse to 
 the danger hanging over your heads, and 
 your best reason manifest ; for the peril 
 of civil war hath sent forth his lightning 
 tongue, and his thunder resounds on the 
 wild ocean. Behold the tenets of the Con- 
 stitution and the doctrine of State rights, 
 for they are threatened from the great 
 North, and about to be renovated by the 
 imperial South. Hear me, hear me, in 
 Taney's name hear me, for I am the last 
 of the American Presidents. Hear me, O 
 my countrymen, and then judge ye. Cer- 
 tain Commissioners appeared before me, 
 and threatened the nation — nay, the head 
 of the nation. Am I to have my neck 
 wrung for fault of the Constitution ? How 
 could I sell the forts, when there is no law 
 for it ? How could I protect the forts, 
 when there is no law for that neither ? 
 Are not forts built and manned for the 
 purpose of protecting the nation ? Was 
 our nation built merely to protect the 
 forts ? Nay, verily. It is not in the Con- 
 stitution, and is that my fault ? I have 
 cried out, Peace ! and I have, showed 
 them my example ; but my countrymen 
 are becoming refractory, and are stirring 
 each other up to deeds of blood. But 
 they are freemen, and, although the as- 
 cendency of Lincoln is repulsive to many, 
 it is not unconstitutional ; neither do I 
 value it a sufficient cause for a general 
 
 civil war ; and these my sentiments I now 
 reiterate for the twentieth time. 
 
 " Therefore, hear yc, O my countrymen, 
 and fight who may. To you of the Booth, 
 whom more I love than I do my Bible, I 
 proclaim peace; and I do full assurance 
 give, as I am a Democrat, I will not rein- 
 force any of the Southern forts without 
 your consent ; neither will I give the sol- 
 diers, who are now in the forts, any mor- 
 sel of food during my term of office, for 
 it is not so ordained in the Constitution. 
 And if said soldiers starve, it is their own 
 fault, for they need not remain so long. 
 
 " To you, citizens of Charleston, I warn 
 you not to fire on the national forts in 
 your harbor during my term of office ; 
 but if you see proper to build batteries, 
 and to get all things in readiness for that 
 purpose — and though the building of said 
 batteries is not within itself treason, yet 
 the whole thing must be carried on at 
 your own expense. 
 
 " To you, my countrymen of the North, 
 who have too much agitated this question, 
 peace be unto you ; and I ordain, by this 
 my special message, that you must not 
 hurt the South during my term of office. 
 
 " Lastly, my countrymen, pray for me, 
 for the ills I have to bear. 
 
 " Given under my hand and seal," etc. 
 
 When I had finished reading it — though 
 the above is but a brief of it — Davis jump- 
 ed up, and, cramming both hands down 
 his pockets, exclaimed : 
 
 " Mr. President, that is neither fish nor 
 flesh.* It is the message of a child spoken 
 to babies. Ere another morning sun I 
 shall be President of this country. You 
 may wriggle and squirm for yet a short 
 while, but the inevitable truth, that the 
 Southern people shall rule this nation, 
 will force itself upon the public mind be- 
 fore another month. If there be w r ar, you 
 will be, through all time, cursed by both 
 North and South. Had you been firm to 
 either, you might have saved the shedding 
 of blood ; but you have done the worst 
 you possibly could." 
 
 Buchanan. — " Why, Davis, why is this ? 
 Have I not ever hearkened to your coun- 
 sel ? " 
 
 Davis.— " And therefore I curse you, be- 
 cause you have been my tool to carry out 
 my purposes ; but now, as I need you no 
 more, you are in the way, and so my ene- 
 my. You have been false to your oath of 
 office to protect the national property, and 
 so you are false to the whole country. And 
 
 * The remarks here made by Davis are almost iden- 
 tical with his speech in the Senate, neither are they 
 any plainer or more abusive. 
 
LOVE AND WAE IN 1860. 
 
 125 
 
 now all men shall oppose you and curse 
 you. The sooner you get out of this place, 
 the better it is for you." 
 
 Buchanan looked pitifully at him, pale 
 as death, with big tear-drops rolling down 
 his face, but Davis continued : 
 
 " Your every action calls forth hate ; 
 your every message is so much disgust ; 
 your whole life, your person, nay, the 
 clothes on your back, can only be remem- 
 bered for all time with curses for your last 
 four years of infamy. You are unworthy 
 the name of man, if, indeed, you have the 
 outward semblance ; and you are too des- 
 titute of sense and cunning to be by will 
 a devil, and yet your imbecility has made 
 you more the tool of the infernal regions 
 than has been any other living thing since 
 the foundation of the world. For God's 
 sake, leave Washington at once ; go hide 
 yourself in the mountains, and live the life 
 of a toad ; or, better still, tie a stone to 
 your neck and swim the Potomac, that 
 your hideous person may be lost to the 
 sight of man forever. Lincoln will never 
 reach Washington ; a grand coup d'etat is 
 on the tapis, and no man knows what an 
 infuriated mob may do. Take my advice 
 now ; go away — go anywhere ; but leave 
 at once, or the threat of the Commission- 
 ers will fall ori you ere you suspect." 
 
 Buchanan grew even paler still, and his 
 knees knocked like one about to die of 
 fear. " Oh, Davis ! Davis ! " he cried, 
 '' why this unsuspected blow ! Give me 
 a moment's leave. Merciful Heaven ! what 
 have I done to merit this '{ Oh, pity me, 
 sir ; you know not what I have passed 
 through," and he sobbed so much he could 
 say no more. 
 
 Davis retorted, " I have no pity. I'm 
 not the pitying kind, and, in the language 
 of the ancient chivalry, I love blood more. 
 A man's life is but so much dirt, and, when 
 it is in the w T ay, it must be brushed off. 
 We are done with you, and you are in the 
 way. Some humanity has prompted me 
 to warn you to leave Washington, but the 
 choice is yours. If you quit at once, sur- 
 render all the affairs of Government, you 
 may pacify the demands of the injured 
 South ; but no less an act of yours will 
 ever subvert the coming civil war." 
 
 Buchanan. — "What! before my term is 
 out ? " 
 
 Davis. — " This very hour." 
 
 Buchanan. — " Impossible ! " 
 
 Bavis. — " Talk not of impossibles. Go 
 at once, and we are friends ; stay, and we 
 are enemies to the death." 
 
 Buchanan.—" O God ! what shall I do ? " 
 
 Bavis. — " I must have an answer at once." 
 
 Buchanan sank down into a large arm- 
 
 chair, breathing as if his lungs would 
 burst. " I'll have to stay, though I die ! " 
 he gasped, and then Davis sneered, and 
 curled his lijj in fiendish anger. " All 
 right," said he ; " you are a Democrat, 
 and free to choose what you will ; and you 
 have death — for we are sworn that every 
 Northern occupant of this mansion shall 
 die, though it be for years to come. 
 Should war miscarry, or any deed the 
 time defer, still this thing shall be, though 
 we hire a thousand men to ply the assas- 
 sin's knife." He turned aw T ay and strode 
 out without saying another word. 
 
 Buchanan was speechless, and I knew 
 not what to say, lest I might give him 
 more pain ; but I suggested that that was 
 merely one of the sparks out of a fire-eat- 
 er's mouth. 
 
 " Had you not better go and ascertain 
 the truth of these things ? " said he. 
 
 Said I, " I will." I then rose up to leave 
 him, but he rose up too. 
 
 " Oh, Jenkins ! Jenkins ! " said he, and 
 he put his arms around me, and really 
 bawled aloud. I kind of laughed a little, 
 and pulled him loose, saying, " Oh, don't ; 
 come, now, it will be all right, I hope," 
 and so I released myself and left, just as 
 I saw him fall back into his large arm- 
 chair. 
 
 Here the writer of this invaluable his- 
 tory is obliged to forerun the statements, 
 not in imitation of Shakespeare, but be- 
 cause a combination of annals is history. 
 That is to say, that immediately after the 
 above remarkable interview, Jeff. Davis was 
 elected President of the Southern confed- 
 eracy. A few men had assembled at 
 Montgomery, and formed a plan of com- 
 bination for the Southern States, and thus 
 put a man at the head of their govern- 
 ment ; the full plan was, however, to as- 
 sume the Government of the whole United 
 States. Lincoln was to be killed in Balti- 
 more, and the Virginia roughs were to 
 kill Buchanan, all the Cabinet, and such 
 men as were deemed dangerous to the 
 South. The next day after the murders, 
 Jeff. Davis and his cabinet were to enter 
 Washington, and so assume the whole na- 
 tional affairs. 
 
 Now, with this explanation, we again 
 refer to Jenkins' notes, beginning with 
 these words : 
 
 But before I tell you more of what I 
 did, let me now turn back to the young 
 girl we left at the Jackson House, so full 
 of tears and disappointment — I mean 
 Vickey. Turning her face toward the 
 front window, to hear what Iverson said, 
 
120 
 
 THE FALL OF FORT SUMTER ; OR, 
 
 she attracted his attention. He reined in 
 his horse and rode near, while she threw 
 open the window. Searching then in his 
 pockets, he inquired if she were not the 
 same lady who formerly promenaded so 
 much with Miss Ann Underbill, and also 
 asking if she knew one Wadsworth. 
 Vickey replied in the affirmative, and at 
 once brightened up, thinking she should 
 hear good news from poor gentle Ann. 
 
 "Tell me," said Iverson, "if you please, 
 w r here is Wadsworth ? I have private 
 word for him, which I am sorry I cannot 
 communicate to you." 
 
 Vickey told him she could not tell, and 
 that she knew not how he could be found, 
 unless by applying to one Mr. Jenkins, 
 who was his sincere friend. 
 
 " Well, then, tell me where I can find 
 Jenkins," said he. 
 
 " Most likely at the President's Man- 
 sion," said she. " But pray, sir, have you 
 any news of Miss Underbill ? Can you 
 tell me where she is ? " 
 
 " I would that I could tell you," said he. 
 
 " Oh, so much I would love to hear from 
 her — where she is, and bow r she fares ! " 
 
 " Perhaps you may, some time," said he. 
 
 " Then it must be soon ; for if Lincoln 
 and Buchanan, and all the officers of the 
 Government, are to be killed to-morrow, 
 we must pack up at once and leave Wash- 
 ington." 
 
 He laughed, and then inquired, " Is 
 there anything new afoot ? " 
 
 " Oh, sir, indeed there is ; but the whole 
 thing has leaked out, and two of my 
 friends have gone down to acquaint Scott 
 with the designs of the conspirators." 
 
 Iverson wanted to hear no more. The 
 conspiracy was discovered; something 
 must be done to outwit Scott, if, indeed, 
 that were possible. Iverson laughed again 
 to Vickey, and told her to believe the 
 whole thing was as groundless as a wom- 
 an's fear, and that not a drop of blood 
 would be shed. " But I forget, I must 
 go find Jenkins," he added, and then gal- 
 loped off. 
 
 Poor Vickey had a world of trouble 
 before, but now she had curiosity to bat- 
 tle with — a thing at all times burdensome 
 to woman ; and in her fevered excitement 
 she got up and walked toward the veran- 
 da, where she beheld that mischievous 
 clerk calmly smoking his cigar. He was 
 so near by that he had evidently seen all 
 and heard all that had bee:i said, and had 
 no doubt seen her intended husband walk 
 off with that strong-minded woman. He 
 rose up to meet her, and came forth smil- 
 ing, bidding her good morning, and call- 
 ing it a very fine day. 
 
 " Too well, indeed, Miss Edge, do I di- 
 vine the cause of your discomfort. But 
 bear a wdiile ; heed nothing you see. It is 
 the course of fashionable society. Young 
 men try their intended wives by every pos- 
 sible manoeuvre, to see if they are unsus- 
 pecting and constant. Prescott is desper- 
 ately in love with you, but he needs must 
 put you to this severe test. It was for 
 that purpose I was stationed here, and 
 you may rest assured I will tell him you 
 were as joyful and unconcerned as if you 
 cared not whether he returned or not. 
 You see, he fears you are after his vast 
 fortune." 
 
 " Really ! " said she. 
 
 " Of course," said he. 
 
 " Well, now," said she, " Mrs. Stimp- 
 kins says he is not worth a farthing in 
 the world." 
 
 " Certainly. And did she not say Pres- 
 cott was after her ? " 
 
 " She did ; and she signified she would 
 not under any circumstances accept him." 
 
 " Just so ; that was their programme. 
 It is done in order to see if you really 
 love the man and honor him, or if you 
 are after money. You notice that ever 
 since his proposal he has kept aloof? " 
 
 " Indeed, to my sorrow I have." 
 
 " Keep you aloof also. Leave it all to 
 me." 
 
 " But how am I to know he intends 
 marrying me ? He is so distant, and I 
 tell you, for you and the Judge are the 
 only real friends I have here ; but I am 
 at a loss wdiat to do. My mother urges 
 me to fix the marriage day at once, for 
 she is afraid it is not all right. And Mr. 
 Prescott treats inc as indifferently as he 
 does the other ladies. Already it is in 
 the newspapers, and every one looks at 
 me so, my heart almost breaks ! " She 
 sobbed right heartily, and the clerk bade 
 her compose herself. " You know," she 
 continued, " father says we must leave 
 Washington in a few days, because there 
 wnll be war, and I don't know what all, 
 on the day of Lincoln's arrival. Oh, 
 dear ! oh, dear ! " and she renewed her 
 sobbing. 
 
 " Miss Edge," said the clerk, " now, if 
 you please, leave the matter in my hands. 
 I am used to this sort of thing, and I am 
 stern in my course. You are excited, and 
 may make a blunder of it." 
 
 " Oh, sir, I thank you. Y x ou are so 
 kind ! " she said, and the clerk replied, 
 
 " Oh, I will write him such a letter — 
 no, that will not do ; love affairs should 
 never be w 7 ritten down. I'll go talk to 
 him. You should have been married a 
 month ago, and I'll tell him so. Indeed, 
 
LOVE AND WAR IN 1860. 
 
 127 
 
 I shall tell him he will lose you altogether 
 if he don't look out." 
 
 " And that is true, too. But see, my 
 aunt comes ! " 
 
 In another moment the old maid came 
 in, but Vickey dodged her, and so went 
 out. The old maid held her teeth and 
 plumpers in one hand, and her bonnet in 
 the other." 
 
 " Good morning, Mr. Jackson," said she 
 — she always called the clerk Mr. Jackson ; 
 " it*s a nice morning this morning. Wasn't 
 that my niece, Vickey ? " He also said 
 good morning, but told her he did not 
 know who the lady was that just went 
 out. " I wanted her to help me fix up a 
 little, and I thought that was her. These 
 patent teeth and plumpers, I don't know 
 yet how to put 'em in, and I've been to 
 Vickey's room, and she isn't in. She's a 
 darling, good girl ; " and away the old 
 maid mosiecl out. 
 
 " Now, let me see," said the clerk, in 
 soliloquy ; " I am afraid the Judge will 
 never take that old creature ; and I am 
 afraid Prescott will never marry the gay 
 Vickey with all her diamonds. Vickey 
 would not marry the old Judge, that's 
 certain. Now, what's to be doue ? If I 
 could put myself in Prescott's place, why 
 I'd marry Vickey, that's more certain than 
 anything I know of. But I would not 
 inarry her while she is so fond of Prescott. 
 Here's work. I swear I'll marry her. I'll 
 go tell her with all the cunning I can 
 invent, that Prescott wouldn't give a pinch 
 of snuff for her ; that he values one of 
 Mrs. Stimpkin's big shoes more than he 
 does the whole Edge family. Then I 
 shall weep for Vickey ; if possible kiss 
 away her tears. Tell her how I too once 
 lost an intended, which will be all false, 
 and then I will offer her my mighty heart, 
 which in my own estimation is not bigger 
 than a pin's head. Perchance I'll get her 
 father's fortune. I must first publish my- 
 self as heir to some great estate, and now 
 and henceforth wear fine new cloth " 
 
 The clerk then went out elated beyond 
 measure, confident that no one knew his 
 intentions. Though his soliloquy was not 
 that of a novelist, but a real one, he had 
 spoken, and he was heard. An ear unused 
 to stratagem, an ear not stationed to hear, 
 but as pure and noble as ever passively 
 received an unholy thought, now caught 
 the tenor of a designed love. The owner 
 was chilled and frozen by the thought 
 that a man for a fortune would prey on so 
 fair and thoughtless a girl, and all horrors 
 traced in tales of fiction came up to shock 
 and terrify. Who was there, at so early 
 an hour ? Where was a hiding-place ? 
 
 There were no closets. Parlors on one 
 side ; a hall on another ; veranda on 
 another ; and an office on the fourth. 
 And yet there was a person concealed — a 
 person nearly starved. For several days a 
 noise had been occasionally heard, but the 
 plainness of the walls dispelled all concep- 
 tion. In earlier days, when room was less 
 a consideration than now, the Jackson 
 House office extended across the hall ; but 
 some ingenious landlord saw that, by ex- 
 tending the hall at the other end, and 
 moving the folding doors about six feet 
 nearer the middle side of the large parlors, 
 an additional room could be constructed 
 nearer the yard, which room is now called 
 the bridal room. When the folding doors 
 doors were moved, the opening behind had 
 to be either boxed up and papered or built 
 up with brick and mortar. As it was 
 done by contract the opening was never 
 filled in ; so that, by coming from the cel- 
 lar upward, a small, thin person could 
 stand within the wall, resting the feet on 
 the short ends of boards that extended 
 into the hollow. But a person could not 
 get up into the hollow space without 
 springing the boards upward, and, when 
 once inside, the boards would spring 
 downwards, rendering it altogether im- 
 possible for the person to ever get out 
 alone. But as a full description of this 
 accidental trap was published at the time 
 referred to, no further reference need be 
 made to it here. Suffice it to say, in this 
 death-like closet was the fugitive Lizzie, 
 alias Joe Tavers ! And now let us see how 
 this thing came about. You will remem- 
 ber that she kept the newspaper stand for 
 a while, and that she very unceremoni- 
 ously disappeared. The cause of it was. 
 she feared she was discovered. Persons 
 had been to buy papers and had eyed 
 her so carefully that she became fright- 
 ened ; and well for her that she did. She 
 had become identified. She ran to the 
 Jackson House, to hide herself. Here she 
 lingered for some time, in order to see 
 me especially, but, while watching on the 
 veranda, she beheld the murderer Orsini. 
 who ran for her, and she ran down 
 into the back cellar. He saw her go 
 clown the cellar stairs, and quickly fol- 
 lowed. She ran then into the front cellar 
 for a moment, seeking a hiding-place be- 
 hind the Judge's wine-barrels, but her 
 pursuer came too quickly on, and she fled 
 up in the corner by the kindling-wood, 
 just as the light from the now groping 
 detective's lamp cast a ray on the space 
 in the wall. It was full twelve feet up, 
 and a huge plank rested on the edge. Up 
 the plank she scrambled with all her 
 
128 
 
 THE FALL OF FORT SUMTER ■ OR. 
 
 power, with the agility of a squirrel, to 
 find alas! that the hole was too small. 
 But no ; she felt the boards spring up- 
 ward. Quick — 'twas freedom, or endless 
 slavery ! Her head and tapered shoulders 
 passed through — the plank fell — and out 
 went the light in the detective's hand. 
 In a few moments more she drew herself 
 up, through, and stood within the hollow 
 wall. The detective got another light ; 
 carefully searched every crook and corner, 
 and finally concluded she had escaped 
 some other way. The servants were all 
 on hand, and were given a full description 
 of the fugitive, and promised, within her 
 hearing, that whoever found her, and 
 caught her, should have a hundred dollars. 
 Then they left — left the cellar, left Lizzie 
 in the darkness ; left her in the hollow 
 wall, a beautiful American slave, who now 
 vowed to heaven she would remain, and 
 starve, ere she would more hazard her 
 liberty. But resolutions, like all other 
 things, can be overcome, and so were 
 hers. Three days and nights in total 
 darkness, in an immoveable position, with 
 nothing to eat, with an active mind, a 
 mind awake to all the glories of liberty, 
 had by slow degrees gradually overcome 
 her determination to die, had little by 
 little invented yet other means of gain- 
 ing a life of freedom. The sounds of 
 voices in the parlors during the day had 
 aroused her feelings, filled her with envy, 
 with remorse, hatred, love, and with a 
 slow, burning fire. Little by little her 
 tiny fingers had picked at plaster, till a 
 hole was through the wall, whither came 
 a ray of light. Then the curious eye 
 sought the outward group — fashion, 
 glory ! Lace aud diamonds, gold and the 
 genial smiles of a free people in the parlors 
 she then beheld. They, too, were Ameri- 
 cans. Only one, a red-faced man, with 
 bald head, who nibbled the head of a gold 
 cane ; he had a foreign twang, and he 
 boasted that, in the coming war, his coun- 
 try would at least sympathize with the 
 South. Then she picked the hole larger, 
 but yet no more than the size of a pea, to 
 see if any face she knew. But no ; all 
 were strangers. Oh, that she could see 
 a friend, to look once more on one she 
 knew was true, and then with the happy 
 view, to die ! Only one person had ever 
 cared much to save her ; that was Jenkins, 
 and Jenkins she would see. But would 
 he ever come ? Had he ever stayed so 
 long from those parlors before ? Might 
 he not devise some way to get her away — 
 to get her something to eat ? But day 
 after day she lingered, waiting, watching 
 for Jenkins or for death. So weak, so 
 
 frail, so persecuted, almost a maniac. 
 Poor girl ! And yet to make and to keep 
 slaves like thee, my own countrymen are 
 rebelling against the great republic ! 
 
 But here 1 must refrain ; history should 
 not have the style of romance or fiction. 
 It will be borne in mind that after I left 
 Buchanan, I sought for Prescott and such 
 others as would be able to give me def- 
 inite information regarding the expected 
 attack on the city of Washington. Well, 
 as I came down the avenue, and meeting 
 a friend, I halted for a moment's word. 
 when who should gallop up but Iverson, 
 shouting, " Ha ! Is your name Jenkins ? " 
 I looked round, and when he saw me he 
 knew me, and for reasons which I care not 
 to mention, he dreaded me. He had sup- 
 posed that Jenkins was some person he 
 did not know, but now he saw me, he was 
 taken aback, he would not tell me or ask 
 of me what he wanted. I saw his embar- 
 rassment as soon as I turned round, but he 
 quickly retorted by saying, " I merely 
 halted to say, go, you, and boast of 
 Twiggs ! " and then he wheeled his horse, 
 and galloped off. Without boasting of 
 myself, I must say I knew too much of 
 human ingenuity to be deceived by such a 
 turn ; and I must also acknowledge I was 
 not a little interested to know what the 
 mistake was. But this I would not per- 
 haps have ever found out, had it not 
 been for the remarkable events that im- 
 mediately followed at the Jackson House, 
 which, though talked of so much at that 
 time, have never been published till now. 
 The particulars of the whole affair were as 
 follows : 
 
 As I was passing through the parlors I 
 heard a voice say " Stay, Jenkins ! " At 
 that instant the Judge met me and 1 said, 
 " Certainly Judge, what is it ? " He 
 looked at me from head to foot, retorting, 
 ' ' What is what ? " 
 
 Said I, " you said, ' Stay, Jenkins ! ' " 
 
 " Then I'm not sober." 
 
 " You certainly did ! " 
 
 " I certainly am a fool." 
 
 " Then there is a ventriloquist in this 
 house. I heard those two words once 
 before and not an hour since." 
 
 "Tut," said the Judge* "'tis that Mrs. 
 Stimpkins' spirit. The yowl of her voice 
 infects the house, the furniture, the very 
 air. AVhoever sees her once, or hears her 
 nasal twang, will ever after hear and see 
 her when he chances to pass the same spot 
 where she has been. These strong-minded 
 women remind me of horrors ; as, for ex- 
 ample, a person is murdered in a forest, 
 the strongest man will dread to visit the 
 dire spot — on a dark night. Thought, 
 
LOVE AND WAR IN 1860. 
 
 129 
 
 that divine principle in man, beholds the 
 thing in a thousand times more revolting 
 form. So, likewise, is ever the memory 
 troubled by the thought of these misfor- 
 tunately organized creatures. Once having 
 seen them, we see them ever after ; when 
 we are asleep, when awake ; in company 
 and in solitude. We first see her in argu- 
 ment ; then in the lecture-room ; then 
 with a cowhide or a pistol ; then married, 
 then single ; then deserted ; then haggard ; 
 a living skeleton or a thing of lust ; 
 shunned by true women, hated by true 
 men ; sinking into her tomb the most 
 wretched of anything on earth. Nay, 
 verily, God save me from an intellectual 
 ■woman ! " 
 
 " No, I understand ; you go for the 
 girls of seventeen ? " 
 
 " Did you see that ? " the Judge asked. 
 
 " I did ; who was it to ? " said I. 
 
 " Why, how do I know ? Am I account- 
 able for every love- sick swain's poetry ? " 
 
 Now, while we thus pleasantly talked a 
 few minutes, pacing back and forth 
 through the parlor, the clerk came and 
 told the Judge that Mr. Edge wanted to 
 speak a word with him in the office, and 
 so the Judge went out. I followed, passing 
 near the folding doors, intending to ring 
 for my man-servant. Again I heard that 
 voice, " Stay, Jenkins ! " The hair of my 
 head stood on end. I was not super- 
 stitious, but the voice was that of Lizzie, 
 only it was so hollow and death-like. 
 Almost palsied in my tracks, I halted. 
 " Fear not ! " I sat down. " In God's 
 name speak not ! " My eyes were flooded 
 with tears, and the blood coursed in tor- 
 rents to my fevered brain. In a moment 
 more the clerk came in, and began to tell 
 me a new-laid scheme for another wedding ; 
 but I heard not. I was more like one 
 dead than alive, and yet I had confidence 
 enough to dissemble before the clerk. 
 Merely saying, " yes " or " no " to him, I 
 withdrew my note-book and pretended to 
 be writing, hereupon he cleverly with- 
 drew. For one or two minutes I waited, 
 but never before did my mind travel so 
 fast. 
 
 " Oh, Jenkins ! " Again I felt the im- 
 mortal stroke. " Your poor fugitive, 
 Lizzie, is hid in these walls ! Keep still, 
 or all is lost ! I am not a ghost, but am 
 hidden here, and am almost dead." Her 
 voice was indeed weak, and I waited in 
 great pain, the blood now almost freezing 
 in my person. " I can't get down. Come 
 into the cellar, and help me. I think, if 
 you help me down, I will die in your 
 arms, for it seems heaven has so ordained 
 it!" 
 
 9 
 
 " Oh, I am glad to find you ! I will be 
 with you in one moment," said I. 
 
 " Oh, do come ! " said she ; " but come 
 with caution." 
 
 I then went down into the cellar, tell- 
 ing the steward the Judge wanted me to 
 examine his wine-barrels. After groping 
 about for some time, I found the neighbor- 
 hood, and, then, by drawing matches, 
 succeeded in getting a view of the place, 
 or at least of the hole through which she 
 had crept, and the crevice was no larger 
 than my two fists. Fortunately, indeed, 
 for her, or she could never have entered 
 the place but for wearing boy's clothes. I 
 called to her, but got no answer. My 
 matches went out, and I had to go get a 
 candle. Thus provided I again sought 
 and found the place, but my calling 
 brought forth no answer. I became a little 
 nervous, for the thought moved me that her 
 relaxation from secrecy might have caused 
 her death. After some considerable diffi- 
 culty I erected the plank before men- 
 tioned, and then ascended and examined 
 the crevice. Far along, at one end, I 
 touched her foot ; it was warm. Again 
 I called " Lizzie ! Lizzie ! Joe Travers ! " 
 but no answer came, and my own blood 
 turned cold as I pressed her little warm 
 foot. What to do I knew not. I pressed 
 against the two spring-boards, but could 
 not raise them up, for she herself was in 
 the way. I renewed the calls, but all w r as 
 silent. Almost chilled to death myself 
 with the thought that one of my poor fel- 
 low-creatures had died so suddenly in so 
 miserable a place, I then came and re- 
 flected a moment on what to do. Per- 
 haps she had only fainted away, and, if I 
 betrayed her, on her coming to, she would 
 be again sent into endless slavery. Per- 
 haps she was dead, and I might get my- 
 self in trouble by not giving the coroner 
 due notice. Who should I apply to ? 
 Not a servant could I trust. Not that 
 blabbing, mischievous clerk. Prescott or 
 Wadsworth ? But where find them ? 
 
 Once more I ascended the plank, and 
 pressed her foot, calling, Lizzie ! Lizzie ! 
 Joe Travers ! " but all was silent. I could 
 not get my finger up to feel her pulse. 
 Down I came, almost dead with perplexity. 
 But what was my horror, the Judge and 
 the clerk were coming for wine ! They 
 exclaimed simultaneously, " What, Jen- 
 kins ! " " Oh, in heaven's name," said I, 
 for I instantly resolved to tell it all ; " see 
 you here, what horrors. That fugitive 
 Lizzie is hid in the wall, and nearly, if 
 not quite dead ! " 
 
 " Lizzie ? Why, she's been gone a 
 week," said the Judge. 
 
130 
 
 THE FALL OF FORT SUMTER ; OR, 
 
 " No matter," said I, " she is here ; come, 
 and I will show you." 
 
 " Is it possible ! " said the clerk ; and I 
 now saw in that mischievous face the 
 glimpse of a pure and noble heart. In a 
 moment more the clerk ran up the plank, 
 and called her, but he, too, got no answer. 
 Down he came, saying, " Stay you here ; 
 I will go for the old Dutch doctor in 
 Mark's drug-store. He can raise the dead. 
 Fear not, fear not ; if she come to life, she 
 shall never be a slave' ! " 
 
 Out he went, and we remained there to 
 ponder on the sad scene. But we were 
 startled by a death-like moan. Up I went 
 again, calling her by name. " Water ! 
 water ! " she whispered, and then moaned 
 a little. The Judge then went into the 
 ante-cellar, and called aloud for a saw and 
 an axe. Soon now the cellar was full of 
 folks. Then came the old doctor. Then 
 we sawed off the boards ; bent them, pried 
 them, pulled them, and finally extricated 
 the pale, and almost lifeless slave girl. 
 We laid her on a straw mattress ; the old 
 doctor examined her, but spoke not. Once 
 he held up his hand to us all, saying, " Sh ! 
 sh ! " Then he ordered us to carry her up- 
 stairs and into a quiet room. The curious 
 crowd then dispersed, but we bore her to 
 
 a dear, sweet room and moistened her lips 
 with water. Serene and calm she lay 
 there, the orphan child, alike our sister in 
 the sight of the Almighty! She was in- 
 sensible ! I fanned her with a newspaper, 
 and on its page I saw, great God ! a 
 Southern Confederacy, based on the corner- 
 stone of slavery. In another column was a 
 letter from Wm. II. Russel, eulogizing the 
 Southern cause. And he was an English- 
 man. But Lizzie saw them not ; only the 
 eye of Him who governs all she sought 
 in her death-bed visions ! Long we 
 waited with her ; long we watched her 
 every symptom. Some little drugs the 
 doctor gave her, and then he ordered not 
 a word to be spoken. How long we sat 
 in silence I know not ; but we saw her face 
 take more a living form and her breath- 
 ing was like one asleep. Then we left ; 
 only the old doctor and a negro girl re- 
 mained with her. On the day following, 
 all the city papers had it published ; told 
 the whole story. 
 
 Here Jenkins bade the writer to end 
 this chapter, for he assures me that that 
 which follows is so deeply absorbing to 
 the mind that historians will refer to it 
 for a thousand years to come. 
 
 CHAPTER XYI 
 
 BEING SO IMPORTANT THAT IT NEVER OCCURRED WHILE THE UNFORTUNATE YICKEY AND THE MISFOR- 
 TUNATE WADSWORTH WERE SO UNCEREMONIOUSLY AND SO UNCONSCIOUSLY SEPARATED FROM THEIR 
 LOVES BY THE VERY MEANS THAT MOST OF ALL THEY SUPPOSED WOULD LEAD TO THE HAPPY CON- 
 SEQUENCE, BEFORE ANY OVERT ACT OF WAR SHOULD BE COMMITTED AGAINST THE NATIONAL GOV- 
 ERNMENT by Lincoln's entrance into Washington and his inauguration, now the all-ab- 
 sorbing TOPIC IN EVERYBODY'S MIND. 
 
 The writer here informed Jenkins that 
 the above sentence was rather more parlia- 
 mentary than Congressional. 
 
 " Why ? " said he. 
 
 " Why," said I, " if parliamentary is 
 derived from the French, signifying talk- 
 ing testament, the above is wilful and 
 jDlain to be seen. Had you used the word 
 of, instead of in, in the last line, you had 
 made sense out of " all-absorbing," and 
 
 rendered it " But he interrupted, " All 
 
 right ! all right ! Begin — begin ! " And 
 thereupon he turned to the notes and read 
 the following, to wit : 
 
 SCENE IN MR. EDGE'S PARLOR. MRS. AND 
 MR. EDGE. 
 
 Mr. Edge. — " Think you this has not 
 been successful ? " 
 
 Mrs. Edge. — " Oh, certainly — very suc- 
 cessful ! " 
 
 Mr. Edge. — " I am as thankful as I can 
 be. Taking the season through, I can't 
 put it short of sixty thousand dollars ; and 
 when I count in the new contracts, I make 
 it upward of seventy thousand." 
 
 Mrs. Edge.— "Oh, I didn't allude to 
 money ; I only felt worried a little, on 
 
LOVE AND WAR IN 1860. 
 
 131 
 
 account of my sister's coming and spend- 
 ing so much, and not seeing much of* a 
 prospect for anything favorable coming 
 out of it." 
 
 Mr. Edge.—"- Pshaw ! that's nothing. 
 Besides, who knows, may be that old rat 
 will stick to his bargain when it comes to 
 the pinch." 
 
 Mrs. Edge.— "Why ! you call him a 
 rat!" 
 
 Mr. Edge.— "The old Judge? Well, 
 we'll call him a cat's paw ; no matter. 
 Still I can't complain ; the old devil has 
 button-holed many a Congressman to get 
 jobs through for me. I can't be ungrate- 
 ful to those who help me." 
 
 Mrs. Edge. — " Here comes Vickey." 
 [Enter Vickey.] 
 
 Mr. Edge.—"- 1 was just saying, I can't 
 be ungrateful to those who help me, and 
 I put you in that catastrophe." 
 
 Vickey.— ■" Category, pa. But what 
 for ? " 
 
 Mr. Edge.—" Why, you see the Judge 
 takes a Congressman by the button-hole, 
 and you take him by the heart, and be- 
 tween you, you make him lobby the big- 
 gest kind of bill through. Nothing like 
 baiting a trap with plenty of cheese. I've 
 stuck them to the tune of at least sixty 
 thousand this season." 
 
 Vickey. — "Indeed, have you made so 
 much ? " 
 
 Mr. Edge.—" I have ; and if I take in 
 the contracts, I'll put it at seventy thou- 
 sand. Enough to buy you a new set of 
 jewelry." 
 
 Vickey. — " Oh, of course, enough ; but 
 will it do it ? " 
 
 Mr. Edge.—" To be sure ; you shall have 
 jewels immensurate with your services." 
 
 Vickey. — " Commensurate, pa. But I 
 have nearly lost all fancy for fine jewels, 
 and, in fact, for every thing else fine." 
 
 Mrs. Edge.—" Why, my daughter, how 
 unpetuous you talk ! We have been dis- 
 cussing on our success, and your pa and I 
 have concluded to give a grand reception, 
 and we are going to pectorate you off in 
 the finest jewels we can muster up." 
 
 Vickey—" Why this is news to me ! 
 But ma you mean decorate, not pectorate. 
 When did you resolve on this ? " 
 
 Mr. Edge.—" Just now. We're going 
 to give Washington a histe in the recep- 
 tion business. I'm going to have the old 
 Judge to manage the machine, and you've 
 got to lay the ropes ; and I want you to 
 conflumux everything got up by Mrs. 
 Davis or Miss Lane, or any other of these 
 political whangdoodles. We must make 
 our farewell sensation something to mellow 
 down the whole Capital." 
 
 Vickey. — " Why, now, that will be per- 
 fectly splendid ! " 
 
 Mr. Edge. — " You see, I've seen a little 
 of this far-off gemillikeu, but it's not the 
 stuff. If Prescott wants you, he's got to 
 hit the nail square on the head. We want 
 none of this how-come-you-so kind of 
 courtship. Your mother and I sit slap up 
 'longside when we courted, and we said 
 the thing we thought. None of your out- 
 side leggers-in for us ! We're going to 
 show what we can do when Ave try ; and 
 if that suits him, all right— eh, mother ? " 
 [Vickey hangs Iter head abashed.] 
 
 Mrs. Edge.—" Oh, of course, we go in 
 for the reception, and we will certainly 
 make a big thing of it." 
 
 Mr. Edge. — " 1 know you will, especially 
 if our Vickey takes it in hand. Come 
 here, daughter." [He kisses her x and bids 
 her set about making all provision for the 
 great event, and she leaves in the greatest 
 apparent joy. ,] 
 
 We'll follow her. We care little for Mr. 
 Edge ; he goes to his railroad contracts ; 
 he studies all the rules of economy and 
 intrigue. Mrs. Edge, too, she is burdened 
 about Prescott's intentions ; and also about 
 her old maiden sister. She fears her 
 sister will make blunders in fashionable 
 life ; she sees not herself, neither does any- 
 body else. And so we leave Mr. and Mrs. 
 Edge a while, turning to the good girl 
 Vickey, whose smattering inception of cul- 
 ture was her misfortune. 
 
 The clerk feared the Judge would come 
 in the general parlor, and so he stationed 
 himself near Vickey's private parlor, in 
 order to have his love adventure unknown 
 to the Judge. He had, therefore, no 
 sooner been apprized of Vickey leaving 
 her mother and father's presence, than he 
 fell back a pace, and waited to assail her 
 affections. 
 
 " O joy ! joy ! " said he, as soon as she 
 approached him. " Never fair lady looked 
 on so happy a man! Behold me— look 
 what a wondrous change ! Am I noble ? 
 Am I vain ? fortunate ? wealthy ? zealous ? 
 ambitious ? proud ? commanding ? here 
 mark you my lordly bearing ! And so 
 many fools bow down to me. My dear sir ! 
 My very considerate sir ! Shall I speak 
 to your honor ? Oh, isn't it glorious !— to 
 be drunk with joy ! to have a fortune 
 thrust upon one ; to be one day a clerk, 
 with every guest calling and growling in 
 one's ears, and the bitter-smiling snarl to 
 bear in the name of hired man ; and then 
 in a day to be transformed into a very 
 prince o'f fortune, and feel the soft caress 
 and deep solicitude that the natural noble- 
 
132 
 
 THE FALL OF FORT SUMTER ; OR, 
 
 ness has so long sought for ! Oh, Miss 
 Edge, Miss Edge, be joyful ! Sing me 
 your sweetest songs ; play me your tenderest 
 music ! For really I am intoxicated with 
 the happiness of the present hour." 
 
 Vickey was a good, unsuspicious girl, 
 and knew not what to make of so sudden 
 a burst of joy ; but she urged him to tell 
 her, for she said, there was nothing in 
 man's nature so winning to woman's heart 
 as this capacity to be happy. But he 
 feigned not to hear her for a while, rub- 
 bing his hands together, and ejaculating 
 with great warmth : 
 
 " Oh, I shall go to Europe— to the royal 
 courts of Britain, France, Germany, Italy ! 
 Oh, land so classic to classic ears, I come ! 
 The dreams of my earlier days have come 
 upon me like a thunder-cloud in summer, 
 to electrify and set on fire my ever out- 
 bursting soul of royal emotion, and I know 
 no quiet, no rest. Come, sing ! Come, 
 play ! Romp with me, play me your 
 choicest jokes ! Say, you, I have just 
 come in possession of my grandfather's 
 fortune. He was Earl of Standburgh, 
 England. I have the title — the money — 
 Four millions sterling ! And I shall have 
 a seat in the British Parliament ! Say 
 nothing, keep it quiet. But come, I have 
 a word for you, and you know you have 
 received many introductions through me ; 
 there are many ladies here, who have be- 
 come very desirous for my company for 
 the past few days ; the very ones, too, who 
 would not deign to treat me civilly as 
 clerk, and now " 
 
 Vickey. — " I thought of that, and noticed 
 something of it." 
 
 " And now," he continued, " only to 
 those who treated me well, will I even 
 speak. I will be the lord I am. To those 
 who spoke me kindly, I will be a lord." 
 
 Vickey. — " Did I not ever treat vou 
 well ? " 
 
 " Oh, most kindly, Miss Edge — most 
 kindly, indeed. And I admire you for it. 
 I esteem you above all others for your many 
 pleasantries. And for that reason am I 
 come to you, for I have now to speak to 
 you in your adversity." He stopped short 
 and looked down a moment. 
 
 Vickey. — " Of my adversity ? What 
 do you mean ? You frighten me ! " 
 
 " Of your adversity, indeed. But be- 
 lieve me, Miss Edge, of all I have ever 
 done, to try make you happy here or pro- 
 mote your best interest in good society, I 
 have done it with as noble a heart as ever 
 rested in the bosom of man. "When you 
 came here first, I beheld in your match- 
 less beauty — nay, wince not, for as I shall 
 soon be in foreign lands never to return 
 
 here, and never to see you more, it be- 
 hooves me to speak you honestly— I be- 
 held in your beauty, your grace, and nat- 
 urally royal accomplishments, the charms 
 to win from any source, no matter how 
 exalted, the hearts of many men. In some 
 measure I guarded you, bringing into your 
 presence only those whom I knew to be 
 truly worthy. One by one I have seen them 
 take up with you, and if I found them 
 unworthy, I drove them off. You,' poor, 
 bashful creature, fancied they dee 
 you." _ 
 
 Again he stopped a moment as if weigh- 
 ing the delicacy of his subject. 
 
 Vickey. — " You give me great joy. I 
 fancied I lacked in accomplishments for 
 I was not blind to those apparent Blights." 
 
 " Not at all ; I was at the bottom of it all. 
 And yet not all. And it is that of which 
 I would speak ; for as I am a nobleman 
 by title, I will play the part by action. 
 Oh, villainous, villainous man, what vain 
 conceits and crafty measures thou would'st 
 palm off on unthinking woman ! Oh, 
 what corruptions and base desires this 
 world's made of! But say, you know 
 how light and trifling I have been ; well, 
 I saw your worth and loveliness. I intro- 
 duced to you some good men that they 
 might win the prize I was unable to sup- 
 port in the glory she was wont. Amongst 
 those men was Prescott. The rest you 
 know, — only this, that he is false ! He 
 says he would not marry you if you were 
 owner of a mountain of diamonds. He 
 says, moreover, he was only taking his 
 wag off you. I declare it makes my blood 
 boil. For a mere song, ay, for a song, I 
 would go shoot this fellow. By heavens ! 
 that he should so badly treat so fair and 
 innocent a woman ! Excuse, I weep with 
 madness. But these things shall not be 
 known in Washington. It is published 
 here you are soon to marry, but fortu- 
 nately this villain's name is not in the jJa- 
 pers. But now come you a little aside ; it 
 shall not be said you were jilted. You 
 shall marry another, and that other shall 
 pass as having been thewone." 
 
 He rested here a moment to give her 
 time to speak, but she merely replied, 
 
 " So vast and varied have been your 
 points of converse, I am bewildered ; I 
 know not what to reply to so fair and 
 good a man." 
 
 " Then let me suggest, for you must 
 ascertain that of which I speak. Go you 
 to Prescott, and ask him if he intends to 
 marry you. If he say no, then remember, 
 that in that same hour of your adversity, 
 there is in waiting for you the hand, 
 heart, fortune, title of one who will ever 
 
LOVE AND WAPw IN 18G0. 
 
 133 
 
 love and protect you with a most sacred 
 and holy care." 
 
 She leaned her head on his breast, and 
 cried bitterly, saying, 
 
 " Oh, sir, I have no one to love me. 
 For weeks and months I have suffered a 
 world of pain, of anguish." 
 
 He patted her a little on the back, 
 stroked her black curls, kissed her on the 
 forehead, and pretended also to weep, and 
 to comfort her. 
 
 But just at that moment the old doctor 
 came along, having returned from the sick 
 fugitive, whom he declared to be very 
 much better, and desirous, he said, of 
 communicating something of importance 
 to Miss Edge. Mr. and Mrs. Edge then 
 came in, and the clerk put off in short 
 order, leaving Vickey to dry up her tears 
 as best she could. In a few minutes she 
 was off to see the fugitive, and to hear her 
 story of so much importance. The clerk, 
 was, however, much elated with the pros- 
 pect of marrying the heiress, believing 
 that with one more interview he could 
 have it all fixed up. Though, in passing 
 along the hall, whom should he meet but 
 Judge Francis, who had another bouquet 
 of flowers stuffed under his vest, and ready 
 with a well-timed speech to meet the same 
 fair one. 
 
 " Oh, clerk," said he, " is it you that 
 capers ever at the door of Miss Edge's par- 
 lor ? As I am proprietor of Loudon 
 Heights, I do say you have the fairest girl 
 I ever saw." 
 
 " Indeed, I'm in no favor there ; but I'll 
 venture, with a fortune in my hand, I 
 would make you tremble in vour boots for 
 her." 
 
 "Tut!" said the Judge; "I'm old 
 enough to be her father ; but do you 
 know, I think you have some knowledge 
 of the affair between us ? " 
 
 " Not at all," said the clerk ; " what is 
 it?" 
 
 " Entres nous" said the Judge, " I'm 
 engaged to marry her, and the happy hour 
 is appointed here. Do you see — and I 
 trust you will mention it to no one — the 
 last time I saw her, which was last night, 
 I urged her to appoint the time ; but she 
 said she was resolved to leave it all to her 
 intended husband. I named to her Sun- 
 day next ; but she said she would decide 
 nothing herself ; that she had given away 
 her heart, and she felt as if, in so doing, 
 she had given away the w r orld. There- 
 upon she took a fit of crying, and seemed 
 to feel so badly about it that I urged her 
 no more. Now you see I have it all my 
 own way, and so I appointed Thursday 
 night. It is here written down, and you 
 
 shall carry it to her, for she is tenderly 
 affected by it." 
 
 Having said this much, the Judge with- 
 drew a paper, and handed it to the clerk, 
 and these words were upon it, to wit : 
 
 " Dearest of all on earth, your intended 
 has consented to your desire, to appoint 
 the time for our marriage, and herewith 
 names next Thursday evening. I have 
 waited about the office and general parlors 
 all day, to meet you, and to make the ap- 
 pointment to you in person. But your 
 gracious majesty has not been seen, and I 
 am obliged accordingly to send it by my 
 excellent friend, the clerk. I would add 
 also, that I took my usual pretended nap 
 in the garden to-day, watching your win- 
 dow to get a glimpse, but I watched in 
 vain. Some important affairs of state call 
 me hence this night and to-morrow, and 
 perhaps longer ; but as soon as I do return, 
 I will call. Till then I remain as usual, 
 your ever loving Judge." 
 
 " Oh, how fortunate ! " exclaimed the 
 clerk, " she will be so delighted ! And to 
 think I, the clerk — why, it is excellent ! 
 I tell you, Judge, I never heard of any- 
 thing that pleased me so well." 
 
 " Come, now," said the Judge, " let us 
 into the bell-wing, and crack a bottle of 
 Catawba ; " and so, laughing, they walked 
 off together. 
 
 Here the writer of this invaluable his- 
 tory was interrupted by the entrance of 
 our friend, a translator, who very cordially 
 greeted Jenkins, whereupon the latter 
 held up his finger, and motioned silence. 
 I saw in his face that some serious matter 
 was brewing in his soul. " Speak ! " said 
 I, " speak, Jenkins ! Go on with the 
 story." 
 
 But he smiled not, only looked at me as 
 if words were too small for his vast emo- 
 tion. At last he spoke out : 
 
 To me he had no kindness done, but yet 
 he had me won. I mean Wadsworth. 
 We were as like as very brothers. Both 
 young, both tall, both brave ; but he the 
 more melancholy. For, indeed, he had 
 more cause ; his heart was bigger. Of all 
 that between us passed, no matter. But 
 we kindly changed canes. Mine was very 
 crooked and large, his was like a whip- 
 stock. But now he had the larger, and I 
 the other one. Had you, in a lone night, 
 seen him, you had sw r orn by that ungainly 
 gold-headed stick he was me. Now it 
 had been resolved by divers persons that 
 many men should die on the self-same day 
 that the fatal knife of Orsini should pierce 
 
134 
 
 THE FALL OF FORT SUMTER. 
 
 Lincoln's heart in Baltimore. Amongst 
 the doomed I was myself marked out. 
 Behold you now, that near the river's edge 
 my priceless friend had, by long research, 
 traced the course of gentle Ann. Here, at 
 times, in melancholy humor he came to 
 muse and dream of her, who, he had heard 
 had been drowned in crossing the river. 
 Unguarded, alone, he seats himself on the 
 bare ground, and so, amidst tears and the 
 dim light of the waning day, traces first 
 the ripples where all is gloom and death, 
 then visions noble grasp from the heaven 
 above, whither time our sorrows soon 
 must heal. What all he feels, what little 
 speaks, it matters not. A stealthy tread 
 from behind approaches more silent lhan 
 the whispering leaves, and deadly. 
 Crouched, hatless, and with a devil's grin, 
 a very bludgeon uplift, Orsini springs, 
 and falls the blow on poor Wadsworth's 
 head. Falling then, and his innocent 
 blood for me flowing — he was cast into 
 the river ! Orsini ran, nor man nor 
 woman knew yet who he was. But all 
 things conspire against sin, and Heaven 
 has so ordered it that even walls, trees, 
 and dumb earth bear evidence. Though 
 suffice it here, on the day following all the 
 newspajters announced that a supposed 
 murder had been committed ; that the 
 body had been dragged into the river, 
 and had been most probably carried away 
 by the tide. The knowledge came to me, 
 and I knew by the cane and hat who the 
 victim was. So I mourned. I mourned 
 as I had never before mourned. But 
 more of this anon. For the present we 
 must turn to that mortal saviour of the 
 republic — Scott ! 
 
 Swiftly now did he despatch Colonel 
 Lamon and Fred. Seward to meet Lincoln, 
 and bring him through to Washington in 
 disguise. They met Lincoln in Harris- 
 burg. They cut the telegraph, and start- 
 ed, passing through Philadelphia at night, 
 and, taking a sleeping-car, rode through 
 to Washington unknown and unsuspected. 
 A carriage was in readiness, and conveyed 
 Lincoln to Willard's Hotel. Here it was I 
 first saw him ; and I own that, when I 
 looked at him, I feared for the great re- 
 public. However honest he appeared, he 
 was, evidently, very short of being the 
 owner of a giant intellect ; though his 
 qualities were more the type of an Ameri- 
 can, more the manner of man that Amer- 
 icans love, than any other that was ever 
 made President. He was not a Kentucki- 
 an, nor an Illinoisian, nor Southern nor 
 Northern, nor Eastern nor Western, but 
 an American. His aspiration and love 
 were not for a county, nor for a State but 
 
 for a country. So unlike Toombs, Yancey, 
 and Davis, who loved more a clan than the 
 great republic ; who reversed the order of 
 national progression, by setting States and 
 factions against each other. The one was 
 unity, power, and glory. The other was 
 division, weakness — death ! 
 
 One was a terror to foreign powers ; the 
 other was inviting them to feast on our 
 funeral. For herein is the philosophy — 
 if a State can secede, so can a party ; and 
 if a party, so can an individual ; and there 
 is the end ; for no law could be binding. 
 The national Government must command, 
 and each State be dependent ; for, even as 
 three men do build three houses conjointly, 
 the one in the middle shall not pull his 
 part down without the consent of all. 
 Such a man would be a criminal, and the 
 other two should punish him. 'Twas thus 
 that honest Lincoln spoke, but in homelier 
 phrase. His style was weak ; character he 
 had none. He was a blank sheet of paper 
 whereon the nation should write its will, 
 and he was an honest judge, to sift and 
 do their full desires as fairly as if he w r ere 
 God's decree. He was an American. 
 Pomp he had not, nor command, nor ex- 
 planation. Reserved, wise with his little 
 wisdom, and so inviting strength from all 
 his countrymen that loved their country, 
 and not dividing them by his self-esteem 
 or arrogance. God never made a better 
 man for such a season. Was he weak — 
 'twas just enough to make the nation feel 
 its own need of doing ; w r as he slow — 
 'twas just enough to fire the nation with 
 speed ; was he conscientious — 'twas that 
 silenced his enemies ; 'twas that that made 
 the nation exacting. Thus he seemed 
 when first I saw him, and he seemed 
 always so afterward, nor did he ever prove 
 otherwise. To forerun this history I must 
 add, he was a stick of circumstance ; the 
 happiest choice, the wisest placed, and as 
 noble a type of an American as ever God 
 made. Now he had come to Washington 
 — come to be inaugurated President of one 
 of the wealthiest of nations — President of 
 five and thirty millions of people. 
 
 He had come unknown, unexpectedly 
 to the secessionists. Scott did it. This 
 little thread, this little nucleus was pre- 
 served by Scott. Oh, Scott, immortal 
 Scott ! While all the nation slept, thy 
 vigilant heel stunned the viper's head. 
 This little act all hell o'erawed, and the 
 devils South, dismayed, in silence stood. 
 This was the first balk the great rebellion 
 had ; but even as villains more by craft 
 than bravery win, so now the secessionists 
 yet another fatal plan marked out, which 
 was, that inasmuch as Lincoln had foiled 
 
136 
 
 THE FALL OF FORT SUMTER; OR, 
 
 them in Baltimore, it was threatened that 
 he should die at his inauguration. But 
 more of this anon ; Buffice it here, Lincoln's 
 
 arrival sprca 1 like wild-fire. People 
 meeting at the corners stopped to tell it, 
 and neighbors went to tell one another. 
 Never was such another time in Washing- 
 ton. Private citizens, ay, the commonest 
 man and child was drunken with excite- 
 ment, was conscious of the near advent of 
 the awful day. Not a moment's peace or 
 rest had any man, and the highest in office 
 were taxed with tenor, were prostrate, 
 were weeping in despair. But most who 
 suffered was Buchanan. He had not only a 
 dread for a great war, and fear for his own 
 life, but his conscience, even Ins small 
 conscience, had at last turned against him, 
 and was now battering his thin soul to 
 atoms. Like a timorous woman when the 
 ship's on fire, he could only wail, and ask 
 every passer-by what the prospect was. 
 And if passers-by came not frequently, he 
 would sally forth and halt by the way to 
 ask any one he chanced to meet, " Are you 
 sure, where the commissioners are ? Do 
 you think they will carry out their threats ? 
 Oh, that Lincoln's time would come ! 
 Welcome 4th of March ! Oh, sir, 1 never 
 thought it would come to this, or I had 
 left my party ! I cannot pray. My God, 
 who will pray for me ? Is there a man in 
 America can pray for one so neglectful as 
 I have been ? Through me, hundreds of 
 thousands of men shall die. Countless 
 widows and orphans — O heavens! how 
 can I ask forgiveness! The Constitution 
 was made to hold the nation, but I let it 
 bend, and now, alas, it is broken ! Pity 
 me, pity me, ye gods! I am mad, I am 
 mad ! Say, you sir, if Lincoln comes, 
 will I not lie in less danger? I think so. 
 Oh, indeed 1 think so ! They would not 
 wring my neck." 
 
 Thus would he go on whenever he found 
 a person to listen to him, hoping thereby 
 to gain a little sympathy. 
 
 Now r , if you please, we shall refer back 
 to the Jackson House, and you shall hear 
 of such a strange adventure as no man 
 could invent were he not to follow true 
 history. 
 
 As the Judge and the clerk returned, I 
 met them in the hall. " Ha, Jenkins ! " 
 said the Judge, seizing me by the arm, 
 " I'm so glad to see you ! Come up — 
 come up ! " He always said so when he 
 took anyone to his private drawing-room. 
 It was not up, but on the same floor. His 
 whole suite of rooms were on that floor. 
 He had occupied the same rooms for up- 
 
 ward of twenty years, save the time in 
 each year he spent ;it his plantation, Lou- 
 don Heights. The furniture of said rooms 
 was twenty years old, much mended, and 
 out of fashion. He never took common 
 folks t<> his drawing-room — only digni- 
 taries, save on special occasions. When 
 he told me to ••come up." I knew it was 
 for some important purpose, though he 
 showed little, if any, excitement. He 
 did not pull me, hut rather walked with 
 me, one hand resting on my arm and the 
 Other on the clerk's shoulder. He is very 
 fat and short; 1 am tall, and so is the 
 clerk. We could look each other in the 
 face over the Judge's head. The clerk 
 winked at me to keep mum, and at the 
 same time motioned the paper to me. As 
 we thus marched toward the drawing- 
 room, and while the Judge was assuring 
 us of the quality of his newly-opened 
 wine-barrel, we met that almost ever-pres- 
 ent Prescott, who had told us on many 
 occasions that he was preparing himself 
 to write history, so that the name of Pres- 
 cott might go down to future generations. 
 
 "Ha, Prescott !" said the Judge, "come 
 up ; I will unfold to you such matters as 
 will make a greater history than you ever 
 dreamed of." 
 
 " Things are getting warm," said Pres- 
 cott. 
 
 "But I say they are getting hot," said 
 the Judge; "and yet you don't know the 
 hottest part of it. Come up." 
 
 We went up. This drawing-room was 
 furnished just as it had been twenty years 
 ago, save the wear and tear. To me the 
 Judge shoved up an old arm-chair, say- 
 ing. 'Jenkins, to you the chair of honor. 
 Sir, the greatest men of America have sat 
 in that chair. The last who occupied it 
 was my bosom friend and companion, 
 Henry Clay. I shall never forget that oc- 
 casion. It was soon after his defeat for 
 President. Webster sat yonder, on that 
 slap-jack stool. Some less important 
 friends had seats here also. After we 
 drank awhile, Clay hained over the table 
 — so— taking my hand and Webster's in 
 his, and he said : ' My esteemed friends, 
 this is the finale to my ambition. Long 
 have I labored to attain the Presidency, 
 to carry out these great principles; fir I 
 see far in the future, after I am dead and 
 forgotten, that the clash of factions will 
 ultimately come upon our fair land. There 
 are, afar off, now kindling two small fires, 
 which will some day envelop this nation 
 in flames. I have labored a long while to 
 pave a new road whereby we could all 
 walk over the devouring element. But 
 even my own State would not hear, nor 
 
LOVE AND WAR IN 1860. 
 
 13 1 ! 
 
 can the populace of many States believe 
 in it. Though they -will some day learn, 
 and my only prayer is, that future gener- 
 ations may learn by these things that 
 reason and justice should guide them in 
 voting for any party. Now I leave for 
 Ashland, and to Washington return no 
 more.' These words," continued the 
 Judge, " were the last words he ever 
 spake in that chair ; and he spake with 
 that tone of voice, that, hearing once, is 
 ne'er forgotten. People ask me to repair 
 my furniture, to trade it off and get new 
 stuff. Ha, the gods ! I'm made of better 
 mettle. Sit you here, Mr. Prescott," and, 
 suiting the words, he then placed us all 
 comfortably, and we, almost jointly, thank- 
 ed him for such exalted kindness. 
 
 Now, as you are aware, the left-hand 
 side of his drawing-room is next the lat- 
 tice-falls of the outer porch, where a large 
 window opens out into the vine-covered 
 corner. Hardly had we got stationed in 
 the room, having only taken one turn at 
 the wine, when we heard a sepulchral 
 voice from some person out on the porch, 
 and, ere we got an insight to the Judge's 
 story, we found ourselves in a listening 
 posture to catch the words of the out- 
 sider, whom we mistrusted as Buchanan. 
 
 His speech ran as follows : 
 u Weak, weak device ! most paltry, paltry 
 
 part ! 
 This is more foolish than the others. 
 Ignoble now, but noble when devised, 
 And so each scheme some fairing finds at 
 
 last, 
 Though seeming first so fair to reconcile. 
 What next ? Did ever thief devise excuse 
 That seemed to others just ? There is the 
 
 rub. 
 Others judge us, and with their own judg- 
 ment. 
 Were't not for this ; but no — no matter 
 
 now. 
 Life is a scene of ceaseless trials, 
 And we must fail, or nature death would 
 
 lose. 
 From low estate have I worked my way up, 
 And many rubs and jeers and insults 
 
 borne, 
 In the vain hope that, when I reached the 
 
 top 
 Of my ambition, nothing more would 
 
 grate 
 Or gnaw on my too sensitive nerves. 
 But now, alas ! alas ! they come, like flies 
 Round a strong-smelling carcass, and I'm 
 
 hot ; 
 By thousands stung, by millions hated, 
 
 shunned. 
 Their varied adder-tongues are darting 
 forth 
 
 At every turn — but some are worse than 
 
 others. 
 At first I did indulge those common men, 
 To hear their speech to please them ; they 
 
 were sugared 
 Over at first, but gradually sour'd, 
 Till now their every word is biting acid. 
 That Davis turned ! My God, it cannot be ! 
 But most that biting Prescott do I feel. 
 
 Death, where is thy sting or victory, 
 But to stand off and goad me with long 
 
 life? 
 
 1 am but rubbish, feeling most myself 
 The curse of my own worthlessness. O 
 
 Death — 
 But what of death ? I'm so unfit to die, 
 And, not having the soul of prayer in me, 
 I'm cursed by earth and heaven for all I 
 do." 
 
 We thought we knew the voice, and Pres- 
 cott whispered, " Buchanan ! " Though, 
 when the speaker mentioned Prescott, we 
 all turned to look on him, and he listened 
 with renewed vigilance, almost breathless. 
 After a little while the voice on the porch 
 became inaudible, and Prescott spoke out, 
 saying, " 1 never knew where the money 
 came from, nor why it came ; but I will 
 know now," and with a rush he threw 
 open the window. There sat, as we 
 thought, Buchanan, pale and weeping. 
 
 " We have heard your soliloquy," said 
 Prescott, " and I now demand an explana- 
 tion." 
 
 Buchanan sprang up, shouting out, 
 
 " No — no, sir. Dare you insult me ! I 
 made no soliloquy. What do you mean ? " 
 
 " Sir," said Prescott, " we have heard 
 such words here as move me with no com- 
 mon feeling." 
 
 Buchanan. — " What impertinence is this ? 
 I sought out this retreat, where, in days 
 long gone by, I did so often sit with our 
 Mend here, the Judge. Here I come to 
 forget the cares of office — to find a mo- 
 ment's rest ; nor can I imagine why my 
 solitude is disturbed." 
 
 " Say you not you spoke in soliloquy 
 here ? " 
 
 " Never ! I never did so foolish a thing 
 in all my life." 
 
 Prescott. — " What say you, Judge — were 
 those words Buchanan's ? " 
 
 Judge. — " Perhaps he was asleep, and 
 dreamt aloud ? " 
 
 Buchanan. — " No, sir ; I never dream 
 such stuff. It is all malice and slander. 
 I am an innocent, long-suffering man, and 
 I curse the day I was ever made President. 
 It shall be said I was the death of the 
 Democratic party, and that's what's kill- 
 ing me. What do I care for you or your 
 mother ? Must all men be slandered, 
 
138 
 
 THE FALL OF FORT SUMTER ; OR, 
 
 merely because they have some fault ? 
 Pray, sir, cast nothing more than my sins 
 upon me, for I have that which you never 
 felt — a conscience." 
 
 " Well spoken," said the Judge ; but 
 what more he said none of us knew, for 
 at that instant were heard out of doors 
 countless voices shouting out, 
 
 " Lincoln has come ! Lincoln's in Wash- 
 ington ! He ran through in disguise ! " 
 
 Buchanan said, " Thank God, I'm safe 
 at last ! I have preserved the great re- 
 public, and can now hand it down to my 
 successor in all its integrity and glory. 
 Heaven save me till I get out of Washing- 
 ton, and the devil take the country then." 
 
 When he spoke so irreverently, I re- 
 marked ironically, that all the country 
 would thank him for his well wishes. 
 
 " What ! you, too ? " said he, and he 
 glared at me as if he were indeed none 
 too sound in mind, and in fact I almost 
 doubted if I had not mistaken the person. 
 "I had thought," he continued, "that at 
 least one man would continue true to so 
 devoted an adherent of the Constitution." 
 
 Said I, " I buy no friendship, and, if I 
 must speak plainly, I know why you ab- 
 sent yourself from your Mansion. You 
 have no longer a face for your faults, and 
 timorously hide from those you suffered 
 to betray you. I am as grieved to turn 
 against you as you can be by it ; but I am 
 aware you had solemn warning from Scott, 
 Seward, and Cass. Had you sided with 
 them, your any blunder had been excused 
 in consequence of their eminence and 
 patriotism ; but you chose to aid and 
 abet those who repudiated patriotism, 
 those who violated their oaths of office, 
 and you knew it at the time. Ay, you 
 not only knew it, but you made me write 
 messages to excuse it." 
 
 He made no reply, but curled his lip, 
 trembling from head to foot. This was 
 the occasion on which Prescott spoke, and 
 the following is an abstract of his famous 
 irony, which soou became the household 
 words for millions : 
 
 " You have preserved the Union in all 
 its integrity and glory. You have pre- 
 served freedom, for you have given men 
 freedom to build batteries for the destruc- 
 tion of Sumter and Pickens. You have 
 given Anderson freedom to surrender or 
 starve. You have left Lieutenant Slem- 
 mer free to behold his enemies erecting 
 abattis and breastworks, and mounting 
 
 cannon for his destruction. You have 
 preserved the custom-houses and post- 
 offices, by giving them over into the 
 hands of secessionists. You have given 
 Floyd, Thompson, Cobb, Toombs, Davis, 
 Iverson, and even criminal Yancey, free- 
 dom to abuse the sense of the Southern 
 people by their falsehoods, that the North 
 was about to make a raid on slavery, and 
 you never gave them an official contradic- 
 tion. Hand it over in all its integrity and 
 glory ! Your official inaction and reti- 
 cence has left the people free indeed — but 
 free with blindness, with madness. Poli- 
 ticians have run away with the Govern- 
 ment, and the people are free to cut each 
 other's throats. Why, indeed, should you 
 sigh for the 4th of March — why long for 
 a full retirement ? Behold you not how 
 many millions will weep ? See you not 
 those rivers of tears from a grateful peo- 
 ple, whose liberties you have preserved ? 
 Oh, I wonder not that half insane you 
 wander here, to ruminate on your coming 
 praise and glory ! 'Tis too much for a 
 common mortal." 
 
 " Sir, had you not a heart in it, you 
 could never speak so cruelly. Your part 
 you paint so well, I remember now no ex- 
 cuse. But oh, sir, such threats and abuse 
 as I have had from the other side ! God 
 knows how earnestly I have tried to go 
 by the Constitution ! " 
 
 He sobbed violently even while he spoke, 
 and then, with some apparent madness, 
 started for the door, and escaped outward, 
 
 "Zounds," said the Judge, "I almost 
 question w T hether that be Buchanan or 
 Buchanan's ghost. Or are we drunk on 
 my new wine ? " Thereupon we shook 
 ourselves to see, but we decided that we 
 were sober. Just then a delegation ar- 
 rived from Scott, demanding my imme- 
 diate presence. 
 
 Thus was our affair with the Judge 
 broken up, and we tasted but a glass of 
 wine, nor heard his great secret. For my 
 own part, I hurried off to Scott, who 
 greeted me cordially, and briefly informed 
 me that I was to go to Montgomery forth- 
 with, as it was necessary to have some 
 definite knowledge of the expected at- 
 tack on Washington. 
 
 Here Jenkins closed this chapter, inti- 
 mating that, as everybody knows about 
 gentle Ann being in Montgomery, it is 
 not necessary to mention anything new 
 before it occurs. 
 
OHAPTEK XVII. 
 
 BEING THE BEGINNING OF THE SO-CALLED CONFEDERATE GOVERNMENT AFTER ITS ORGANIZATION, 
 WITH ALL THE NECESSARY OFFICERS FOR A GENERAL NATIONAL GOVERNMENT ON THE CORNER- 
 STONE OF SLAVERY, CHARACTERIZED BY EARL RUSSELL AS A NATION STRUGGLING FOR LIBERTY, 
 AND BY THE BRITISH AND MOST OF THE EUROPEAN GOVERNMENTS ACKNOWLEDGED AS A BELLIGERENT 
 POWER, WHILE ONLY FORTY MEN COMPRISED ITS ORGANIZATION, AND ELECTED DAVIS FOR PRESI- 
 DENT AND STEPHENS FOR VICE-PRESIDENT, STYLING THEMSELVES, " WE THE PEOPLE OF SEVEN 
 SOUTHERN STATES ASSEMBLED," ETC., AND THE SOUTHERN PEOPLE BELIEVED THEM J AND SHIFTING 
 SOON OVER TO THE HEROINE OF THIS MOST REMARKABLE PERIOD, AND HER ADVICE TO ROMANTIC 
 YOUNG LADIES. 
 
 " That's a long sentence," said I. 
 
 " Yes," said Jenkins ; " that's just the 
 mystery of this great book. You can find 
 a "Cicero and a Bacon on its every page, 
 with now and then a little sea-room for 
 Quackenbos." 
 
 " All right," said I ; " let it pass." He 
 then turned to the translator, and asked 
 him to read to me from the notes, stating 
 that he wanted a day off, and he then 
 added, " We must finish the book to-mor- 
 row. Five days are enough in which to 
 write a book. Otherwise it will be a long 
 time ere we are done writing the Courts 
 of Jud^e Francis Underhill." At that he 
 left. The translator then took up the 
 notes, and read as follows, to wit : 
 
 The excitement in Washington knew 
 no bounds 
 
 " Stop ! " I said ; " substitute for ' knew ' 
 the word ' had,' and let it pass." 
 
 He smiled, and read on : 
 
 Life and property were no longer safe. 
 Every man was suspected to be a spy, 
 either for the national Government or for 
 the rebels. Scott had found a man to join 
 him in the preservation of the country — 
 Joseph Holt, now Secretary. By their 
 management a slight hope had begun to 
 be entertained throughout the country 
 that the national Government would be 
 maintained till Lincoln's inauguration. 
 The rebels, on the other hand, were be- 
 ginning to fear that their golden oppor- 
 
 tunity would pass unimproved. At first 
 they designed usurping the whole national 
 Government ; next they resolved upon es- 
 tablishing a Southern government, and of 
 reducing the Northern States to provinces. 
 Now, however, they had evidence that to 
 secede and establish a Southern confed- 
 eracy would be all they were able to ac- 
 complish. To do this effectually, it was 
 necessary that Washington should be cap- 
 tured and destroyed. It was described by 
 the Southern newspapers as a "pest for 
 the Northern scum to congregate in." 
 
 Scott and Holt, on the part of the na- 
 tion, had but a small army, and were 
 obliged to do what they could unknown 
 to Buchanan. For this purpose a vast 
 number of private detectives were de- 
 spatched to gather in all evidence of the 
 conspirators' designs. Thus it was I was 
 despatched to Montgomery, again in dis- 
 guise, again to outwit the men who had 
 heretofore outwitted me. 
 
 I shall never forget the look Scott gave 
 me ere I took my departure. I told him 
 I knew not what disguise to assume, nor 
 how I could possibly escape with my life, 
 were I to undertake this adventure. 
 
 "Life has nothing to do with these 
 things," said he. " It must be done, and 
 I know no fitter man." 
 
 The next day I arrived in Montgomery. 
 But as the following is taken from my 
 report before the courts of Judge Francis 
 Underhill, they are substituted here, as 
 being entirely satisfactory to everybody. 
 
140 
 
 THE FALL OF FORT SUMTER ; OR, 
 
 Judge. — " What took you to the prison ? " 
 Jenkins. — " An order had been issued 
 by the rebel government offering a full 
 pardon to all the convicts who would en- 
 list as soldiers. It seemed remarkable that 
 a government just established by such 
 boasting men should, in the onset, fill the 
 rank and file in this manner. I went, 
 with others, to see if the convicts would 
 volunteer. The prison had three apart- 
 ments ; only one was opened. Thirty-one 
 male prisoners were let out, and they all 
 volunteered. I was curious to know who 
 the convicts were in the other parts of 
 the prison. Some one said there were 
 some women and some political prisoners 
 still left in. The crowd all left then, and 
 I also left, for I wanted to see what dis- 
 posal would be made of the newly-made 
 volunteers. This was on the 24th day of 
 February. Two days previous to this 
 Davis had issued an edict declaring all 
 vessels in Southern harbors foreign ves- 
 sels. Duties, embargoes, and press money 
 were demanded, and Southern custom- 
 houses were established in a day. A 
 chain-cable was stretched across the Mis- 
 sissippi, so that not a vessel from the 
 North could pass down without first halt- 
 ing to pay duty. Volunteers were there- 
 fore in great demand, for there were 
 already upward of a thousand prominent 
 points in the South needing a military 
 force. But the place most likely to en- 
 gage in battle was Charleston, and to this 
 place a vast army was being concentrated. 
 The convict volunteers I speak of were 
 started off for Charleston in less than two 
 hours after they were liberated. They 
 were mustered into a regiment called 
 ' Bloody Dogs.' The regiment left Mont- 
 gomery at fifteen minutes past six in the 
 evening. Nearly all the town had come 
 to see them off. It was here I heard 
 Russel compare the army South with 
 what the North would be likely to raise." 
 Judge. — " Can you give his words ? " 
 Jenkins. — " Yes, sir. He pointed to the 
 convict volunteers, saying to Davis and 
 Stephens, ' Those are the lads for soldiers ! 
 Always give me your devil-may-care man 
 for a good soldier, and for a great army 
 give me men that have known and ac- 
 knowledged their superiors. It is this, 
 gentlemen, that puts you ahead of the 
 North. Up North there is no authority. 
 Even little boys are taught hberty in the 
 North, and many of them think nothing 
 of arguing and disputing with even their 
 own fathers and mothers ; so that, when 
 they have become men, it is impossible 
 for them to ever be soldiers. They would 
 not obey their officers. On the other hand, 
 
 the nature of your Southern institutions 
 has built up a class of superior men, who 
 will be most cheerfully obeyed." 
 
 Judge. — "You know those were his 
 words ? " 
 
 Jenkins.— •" Exactly, only I have culled 
 out the useless words. He also wrote a 
 letter embodying the same, and it was 
 published at length in a newspaper called 
 the London Times. It was called a very 
 ably written letter, with much philosophy 
 in it." 
 
 Judge. — " Was he drunk when he spoke 
 or wrote those sentiments ? " 
 
 Jenkins. — " I think not. Some said he 
 was a little mad at the North, because, 
 one Sunday, he went shooting birds in 
 Illinois, and was fined for it ; on which 
 occasion he spouted rather violently 
 about his august position, when before 
 that Court in Illinois he delivered to the 
 magistrate these very words, to wit : 
 
 1 You Western suckers, you, how dare 
 you presume to assume to make and estab- 
 lish and lay down laws on morals, and reli- 
 gion, and virtue, and observing Sunday, as 
 no proper and good day on which to shoot 
 birds ? The meaning of the word England 
 is law and gospel, and whenever we go 
 outside of England, we mean to take a 
 little recreation in worldly sports, and 
 pastimes, and amusements, and hunting 
 birds, and shooting ; and, sir, it is the 
 height of presumption for any country in 
 the world to presume to assume to make 
 and establish and lay down laws for gov- 
 ernment of the Sunday conduct and pleas- 
 urable amusements of one of her Britan- 
 nic Majesty's most honored subjects. 
 Morals out here in Illinois ! ' These, his 
 words before the court, which were con- 
 sidered by the London Post to be excel- 
 lent argument, and such as would be likely 
 to arouse the American people to higher 
 notions of liberty, were here laughed at. 
 This enraged him, and hence the senti- 
 ment before mentioned, regarding North- 
 ern degradation." 
 
 Judge. — " What were the replies of Davis 
 and Stephens when this neutral corre- 
 spondent made this comparison ? " 
 
 Jenkins. — " They said nothing, but 
 smiled, and winked to each other on 
 the sly. They then walked off together, 
 but had not gone far when the despatch 
 came announcing Lincoln's arrival in 
 Washington. Davis threw up both hands, 
 saying, ' My God ! can this be true ? ' 
 Stephens merely said ' Damnation I ' I 
 apprehended no more demonstration that 
 day, and did not, therefore, follow after 
 them. They went toward the Exchange 
 Hotel, where they sojourned. I conversed 
 
LOVE AND WAR IN 1860. 
 
 141 
 
 with many people, and became almost con- 
 vinced myself that the destruction of the 
 American Government and the substitution 
 of the slave confederacy would be accom- 
 plished in a grand, jolly spree. It did not 
 look, from that standpoint, as if any 
 formidable opposition could be raised 
 against the new government. It was no 
 wonder at all that everybody became an 
 enthusiastic Confederate. The leaders kept 
 the people blind on that subject — kejjt 
 them intoxicated with excitements." 
 
 Judge. — " But what of the prison, Mr. 
 Jenkins ? " 
 
 Jenkins. — " I was coming to that. When 
 the crowd dispersed, I walked leisurely 
 along, without any design. It was then 
 nearly dark ; you could not distinguish 
 your friend more than twenty paces. 
 When near the prison, I sat down to rest, 
 and to reflect on the awful affairs ap- 
 proaching the country. Not long had I 
 been there, when I saw skulking along, 
 behind the old .rubbish of brick and 
 stones, a form that seemed not much 
 larger than a fox, and yet I was sure it 
 was some person. It looked like a little 
 girl with her clothes closely tucked in 
 about her. Up, down, round, off, it was 
 gone. What could it be ? Had I rushed 
 up at once, I had discovered all about it ; 
 but I lingered long in astonishment, and 
 then got up and followed slowly after. 
 Nothing of it could I discover, nor could 
 I see a place of exit, unless the thin little 
 creature had passed into the walls of the 
 prison. On coming over, however, near 
 the wall, I observed a small opening that 
 led into a vacant and half-finished cellar, 
 where some builder had no doubt not long 
 since designed erecting a habitation, but 
 had abandoned it on account of the com- 
 ing war. I sat down to muse again on 
 the varied woes of our fair land ; and 
 while I sat there, seeing, passing and re- 
 passing, the fine, noble young men who 
 were hurrying forth with swords and mus- 
 kets, preparing to battle alike noble young 
 men of the North who esteemed them as 
 brothers, I could not but weep for the 
 abuse of their minds. They had been 
 told that the North were bound to destroy 
 slavery, and hence their fury. Even intel- 
 ligent America must fall by politicians' 
 lies. Then I remembered my friend 
 Wadsworth ; and the fair, gentle Ann. 
 I almost wept, for I thought them both 
 dead. And. in musing, I thought Heaven 
 sent me sweet sounds to still my deep 
 emotions. For, like the gurgling water 
 in a cavern, hollow, sweet music lived as 
 in depth beyond, and nestled in echo most 
 sublime 'neath the prison or in the ragged 
 
 wails around. I thought my melancholy 
 had some respite found, but then again I 
 thought I heard a voice — the voice of 
 gentle Ann ! And lo ! I never wept so 
 much, or more suspense suffered. Breath- 
 less sat I there, and gushing tears rolling 
 down my cheeks — the voices were so low 
 and sweet. Must I burst this silence, and 
 madly rush to the awakening scenes of 
 my vivid fancy ? Reason most command- 
 ed, and I burned even while the tempest 
 held. Again the sound of that voice, and 
 then a long silence — like the fevered suns, 
 when seldom comes the life-like air, and I 
 perishing there, but could not move. First 
 in minutes treasured, then an hour, then 
 two. three. But no, not more than three ; 
 for then I heard a stone, as if falling, and 
 steps secretly passing, gliding like a 
 zephyr. Quick I start and downward 
 look, in the low, rude aisle, amongst rub- 
 bish ; cbimbing, mounts the little thin 
 form — and out on the plain speeds from 
 my sight. Again I was alone, but, after 
 some hesitation, went down into the ex- 
 cavation, and found my way to the prison 
 wall — a thing of brick and logs, and 
 rudely shaped. Here I found a crack, 
 and, hesitating some, seeing nothing in 
 the darkness round me, I knocked against 
 the opening. What followed, hark, and 
 you shall learn. 
 
 " As in the dark night the timid sparrow 
 lone sits trembling for the danger near, 
 herself her frailness knowing, and her 
 little spirit enduring the awful suspense 
 of uncertainty — so, in the confederate cell, 
 sat our sweet, our gentle Ann. Watchful, 
 weary, with imagination wild, to start at 
 even a cricket's sound, and the long-hair- 
 ed, snarling faces of confederate soldiers 
 seeing in the shadows, hearing their hiss 
 and scowl as they roared out to her sensi- 
 tive ear, ' Abolitionist ! ' And thus she 
 thought, but spoke not : ' Give me a trial ! 
 Give me into the hands of any justice ! 
 Go to Washington — nay, at my expense 
 hire you a hundred witnesses, to prove 
 me good or bad ; pick you of those who 
 most do hate an Abolitionist, only let 
 them ascertain who I am, and I am con- 
 tent with your disposal.' Thus, at times, 
 she had spoken to the curious crowd 
 gazing at her, but the only reply she ever 
 received was, ' Abolitionist ! ' Then came 
 the ' Ladies' Regiment ; ' and, when they 
 looked in, they said, ' Ha, jailer, let her 
 out ! " and they whetted their butcher- 
 knives on the ground. Some of them 
 mimicked her weeping, and others said, 
 ' We know Perkins. He gives you a good 
 character.' But this was irony ; for Per- 
 kins, having professed to join the confed- 
 
142 
 
 THE FALL OF FORT SUMTER ; OR, 
 
 erate army, was above suspicion. He had 
 accused her, on the evening when they 
 were both taken prisoners. He told her, 
 on that occasion, that if she would marry 
 him, he would not only liberate her, but 
 return with her to Washington ; but that, 
 if she denied him, she should stand ac- 
 cused. This was before they were put 
 into prison, he having obtained the privi- 
 lege to speak to her privately. But she 
 answered him, saying, ' Accuse me ! ' 
 ' Then will you suffer, and perhaps die ! ' 
 said he ; ' but I shall volunteer, and so 
 be liberated. You will be hanged for an 
 Abolitionist, if no one protects you.' ' I 
 know that One will save me ! ' she said, 
 and she pointed upward. 'Indeed!' he 
 said ; • now for your purity and faith I 
 curse you ! ' and he turned to the crowd, 
 saying, ' Seize her ; she is an Abolition- 
 ist ! She was caught in the act of run- 
 ning away with a slave. I was with her 
 because I loved her fair face, but the foul- 
 ness of her heart has turned me against 
 her. Take her, and cast her in prison.' 
 The crowd then bore her to prison, but 
 Perkins started for "Washington as fast as 
 he could, to get a written consent from 
 the Judge to marry her. The crowd of 
 people then brought the slave-girl Kate 
 before her, and they asked her if this 
 young lady was an Abolitionist, and if 
 she had tried to run away in her com- 
 pany. The slave girl answered, ' Yes ; 
 she tried to run away with me, but we 
 were caught.' They took them then to 
 prison, and gentle Ann was put in a lone 
 cell. But Perkins was no more around. 
 Though, as in all human affairs, God hath 
 so much His Spirit implanted, the trumpet 
 of Divine power had sounded to the bot- 
 tom of that slave-girl's soul. In a short 
 time she, herself a prisoner and a slave, 
 was taken to the cotton-fields, but only 
 to fly again for freedom, and to repay the 
 godlike attempt for her own liberty by 
 gentle Ann. For such is nature. Com- 
 ing now by stealthy means to the prison 
 where gentle Ann was bound, she espied 
 through the crevices in the cell — and so, 
 at night, unobserved, the nearest part ap- 
 proached. Tapping lightly, lest at the 
 hour of night the sparrow die for terrible 
 fear, she announced her name and mission. 
 ' I am Kate, the slave girl. I have again 
 run off, but I have come for you. Tell 
 me — for you are wise — what I shall do 
 to liberate you ? ' 
 
 Almost like death the words had 
 fallen, and the fair lady most her very 
 life suspected for its transit into heaven. 
 For this was the first kind voice for many, 
 many long weeks. Leaning then close 
 
 against the wall where wa9 found the 
 crevice, she timorously asked if it were 
 indeed her own dear Kate. Of this she 
 was assured, and then an interchange of 
 thought went on, till Kate proposed to 
 go to Washington for assistance. For 
 this journey she had no money, and many 
 difficulties were before her. She would 
 be obliged to walk all the way, and to 
 live by begging her bread from the 
 slaves by the route of her passage. She 
 might be captured as a runaway slave, or 
 even as a spy. But she resolved upon the 
 task, even though gentle Ann reluctantly 
 gave consent that she should risk so much. 
 The two girls then kneeled down, the one 
 in prison and the other out, and they pray- 
 ed for that guidance and protection which 
 Divine Wisdom alone can give. 
 
 Thus left our Kate for Washington — 
 to see and to tell the Judge all about his 
 niece ; but ere she left, she provided a 
 little slave-girl to visit the prison nightly, 
 to see if anything could be done for the 
 comfort of gentle Ann. This little crea- 
 ture, ere the hour of locking up slaves, 
 would steal across the vacant lots, down 
 by the way mentioned before, and, with 
 three gentle knocks on the door, call to 
 the crevice the fair prisoner, and at times 
 putting through the crack in the wall 
 some choice food which had no doubt 
 been stolen on her account. Thus from 
 day to day watched and waited the acused 
 Abolitionist, without proof or trial — for 
 how could it be otherwise ? Military 
 always supersedes civil courts on political 
 prisoners. But one course was left where- 
 by she could hope for succor — could Kate 
 reach Washington, find the Judge, and he 
 get here before war actually commenced. 
 
 Many days the slave had been gone, 
 and the prisoner was almost despairing, 
 her only comfort being in speaking to the 
 child that brought her something at night. 
 As for the day, it brought only the hiss 
 and scowl of 'Abolitionist!' or the wretch- 
 ed yearning of the ' Ladies' Regiment ' to 
 butcher her. She knew her weakness, and 
 hence her fear. Those ladies had threat- 
 ened over and over again to come on the 
 sly and kill every Abolitionist in the 
 prison. • Ann watched for them at every 
 moment, day and night. Her visitor 
 gave three knocks — loud, soft, loud. Who 
 gave not these knocks, must be an enemy, 
 a would-be murderer." 
 
 Judge. — " How, then, came you, Mr. 
 Jenkins, to an understanding with her ? " 
 
 Jenkins. — " As I said before, I knocked 
 on the wall, but I knocked on the wrong 
 place, and I knocked four or five times 
 instead of three." 
 
LOVE AND WAR IN I860.. 
 
 143 
 
 Judge. — " "Well, what was the result ? " 
 Jenkins. — " There was no result. I then 
 knocked louder than before, and a good 
 deal more. Some one seemed to sigh 
 within. ' Will you tell me who is in this 
 cell ? ' I asked. All was silent again. In 
 another moment I knocked louder and 
 harder. Again I heard the sigh — a deep, 
 heavy sigh — and again I spoke, saying, 
 ' Tell me, poor prisoner, who you are, and 
 what fate awaits you. I am no enemy, 
 but a friend. While sitting just above 
 here, on the embankment, I thought I 
 heard the voice of a long-lost and dear 
 one, and I now knock on the prison-wall 
 to satisfy this burning thought, to learn 
 at least who it is that has another such 
 sweet voice.' Long I waited for an an- 
 swer — so long, indeed, I almost feared I 
 had been speaking to the barren walls. 
 Just then I heard a slight knock from 
 within, with the question, ' Who is here ? ' 
 I was certain I knew the voice, but I still 
 used discretion, saying, ' One from Wash- 
 ington, a friend to Judge Francis Under- 
 bill, of Loudon Heights. I was a school- 
 mate of his niece. She is lost, or perhaps 
 dead ; but I thought I heard her voice in 
 this prison.' ' Oh, is it possible ' ' said 
 she. ' To know of this ! To know of 
 this. What could have severed that di- 
 vine chain whereby I was bound, and now 
 reverts me back to it ? Verily a pledge 
 to Heaven, though by children, is watch- 
 ed over and cared for by God Himself! ' 
 Said I, ' It seems, indeed, as if I had been 
 sent by Providence ; for, must I tell you, 
 though my heart breaks, our friend Wads- 
 worth is no more ! ' ' Oh, say not so ! ' 
 ' I would it were possible to say otherwise. 1 
 This was all that was said for some time ; 
 I heard her crying, and I was myself much 
 moved, for I felt I was venturing on the 
 most hallowed scene ever known to mortal. 
 After a while we so far conversed as to 
 make some amends for the long-lost love 
 between us ; and I assured her I would 
 rescue her at once from prison, and con- 
 duct her safely back to Washington. With 
 these assurances from me, and with a thou- 
 sand tender thanks from her, we parted, I 
 
 to the jailer, she to solitary 
 
 " To be brief, I found the jailer, and 
 opened my business with him at once. 
 His name was Randolf, and he looked so 
 carelessly gotten up, I involuntarily com- 
 pared him, in my mind's eye, to a tow- 
 string half twisted. He was a little in- 
 toxicated, and his conversation was a 
 volume of oaths, with a few chance words 
 in it. The word ' Abolitionist ' was, from 
 his mouth, an island in an ocean of oaths, 
 whereon he strove to manifest the bitterest 
 
 hate that could be invented. To this man 
 — if, indeed, such profanity could emanate 
 from a man — I spoke in this wise : ' The 
 prisoner is not an Abolitionist. I have 
 known her from infancy up ; she is mis- 
 tress of Loudon Heights. There are be- 
 longing to her uncle's estate two hundred 
 slaves. She has been falsely accused for 
 some other purpose ; she is indeed an 
 estimable Southern lady.' Over and over 
 did I repeat this to him, and he ever an- 
 swered me with the word ' Abolitionist ! ' 
 ever joining thereto the usual oaths. But 
 I continued, denying with all my ability 
 that she was now, or ever had been in any 
 way, an Abolitionist. At last he ventured 
 to suppose my statement true, wanted to 
 know what I would do with the prisoner, 
 and how, above all things, she could be 
 gotten out of confinement. Said I, ' If I 
 were jailer, and your daughter confined 
 under a false accusation in my jail, I would 
 liberate her, trial or no trial.' ' I have no 
 daughter,' said he, swearing worse than 
 before. And then he twitted me on the 
 fact that I had not treated to the whiskey. 
 Hereupon I took the thought that my 
 liberality might turn to advantage, and 
 accordingly I took him into an inn near 
 by, and gave him a good many drinks. 
 Now, after we had taken much whiskey, 
 and discussed the troubles North and 
 South pretty freely, and had each of us 
 told many humorous stories, he told me 
 that we had better return to the prison ; 
 ' for,' he added, ' if I get much drunker, 
 a fellow might, on the way to the prison, 
 drop fifty dollars into this pocket, and 
 take this key out of that pocket, and so 
 liberate a prisoner, and I would never 
 know how it was done.' We got up, 
 then, and walked toward the prison, and 
 fifty dollars went into his pocket, and im- 
 mediately thereafter the key came into my 
 hand. By some means w y e got separated, 
 then, and I reached the prison a little be- 
 fore him. Strange to say, the mistress of 
 Loudon Heights was there waiting for me, 
 and she came and leaned on my shoulder, 
 and cried piteously. I said many kind 
 things to her, and she repaid me only with 
 weeping. Soon after this we lifted up 
 our feet, and stood on something, and it 
 carried us very fast. It was something 
 that was leaving Montgomery, and might 
 have been a freight car. But the funniest 
 of it w r as, the next morning the Mont- 
 gomery papers noticed the fact that a 
 prisoner endeavored to escape last night, 
 but was captured by the citizens, and 
 hung. I wrote those notices, to put peo- 
 ple off the track ; I had done such things 
 before." 
 
144 
 
 THE FALL OF FORT SUMTER ; OR, 
 
 Judge. — " Now, Mr. Jenkins, you have 
 done well ; but bear me at tbe otber end, 
 and tben take note." 
 
 The Judge then adjusted his old silver 
 spectacles, and told us this story, to wit : 
 
 " Scott kept me on the run. It was 
 Judge this and Judge that on everything. 
 My opinion, my knowledge, my advice 
 must forerun everything that was to be 
 done for the preservation of the great re- 
 public. In fact, it reminds me of Mrs. 
 Howard at the ball, being teased to dance. 
 ' Here, Sal,' says she, ' hold my baby, till 
 I trot that fellow through with the yellow 
 breeches.' I had to save the nation, and 
 needs must trot these fellows through 
 with yellow breeches, only I had no baby, 
 but something else, as you all know, of 
 much more value. Now, as I am a Judge, 
 and as I hope to live to see established a 
 high protective tariff, to make every vil- 
 lage in America into a Sheffield and a 
 Birmingham, but the weight of these 
 great affairs had somewhat told on my 
 too sensitive nerves ; and it seems to me 
 now, when I remember it, with the rebels 
 in arms five thousand strong organized to 
 come from Harper's Ferry on the day of 
 Lincoln's expected inauguration, while on 
 that same expected eve I should venture 
 that great change in life which I can never 
 mention but in awe ; for, though I am not 
 old, I am not young, and it seems that the 
 approaching affairs were more terrible than 
 ever before one man withstood. For you 
 see, one might upset the other. If Wash- 
 ington be taken, and sacked and burned, 
 as they do things in war, what kind of 
 jubilee can we have that night ? I tell 
 you — for you are not unacquainted with 
 my expected adventures — with these 
 weighty affairs to bear, what more could 
 harrow the soul, to hide them in oblivion ? 
 Now drooping, but still in haste, the man 
 absorbed in 'proaching war, and betimes 
 forgetful only for the fairest of the fair. 
 I had a niece, and, though she was the 
 purest and sweetest that e'er the sun shone 
 on, I was forgetful of her. Alack, my 
 frenzied brain ! Torment me not, O ye 
 harrowing swords of justice, till this I do 
 confess ! Forged missives, not like her 
 hand at all, were given me, to teach me 
 she was in Canada ; and I believed them 
 — for I was mad. I read them not. Oh, 
 fool, fool— cruel fool ! My niece ? Had 
 I, in mine own expected joys, forgotten 
 the mistress of Loudon Heights — scarcely 
 took a thought where she was ? But 
 blind deviltry will out. ' Say ! say ! ' 
 some one spoke to me as I hurried up 
 the Avenue, and, turning, there I beheld 
 that villain Perkins. ' Say,' said he, ' your 
 
 niece is in prison down south for Aboli- 
 tionism.' I was thunderstruck, but silent ; 
 but he went on— oh, the cold villain ! 
 ' The letters you have received are all 
 forged. She is locked up. I can free 
 her, but I will not, unless you give your 
 consent for me to marry her. Neither 
 will I tell where she is. She sent me to 
 you for your consent, and told me to say 
 that she prayed in God's name she might 
 lie in prison as long as she lives, if you 
 refuse us.' This was the sort of stuff he 
 put on me ; and he spoke so fairly, look- 
 ing me so tenderly in the eye — for a snake 
 may own a passive eye — and I was con- 
 founded with the burden of my own 
 thoughts. Reluctantly to this villain's 
 plea I did consent, and we drew writings 
 on it, whereby I portioned out for them 
 quite a fortune. Soon then he left, and I 
 mused with much unhappiness on what I 
 had done. I was almost distracted ; for, 
 though one be slow to passion, it is more 
 terrible. Days passed, but time was out 
 of joint. I hoped Heaven might avert 
 the dread fate to my dear niece. One 
 day a young lady, with a negro servant 
 in attendance, accosted me on the street, 
 saying, ' Excuse my forwardness, sir, but 
 is not your name Judge Francis Under- 
 bill ? ' I told her ' yes,' and she imme- 
 diately replied, ' Then, sir, I am sorry to 
 say your niece is in Montgomery jail for 
 Abolitionism. She sent me to see you, 
 and to tell you to come to her assistance, 
 as she is in great distress.' I was more 
 astounded than ever, and much pained 
 with the uncertainty of what I heard. 
 To know if these things be true, for a 
 moment I prayed to Heaven — and you 
 know it comes tough for me to pray ; but 
 the lady, seeing my embarrassment, con- 
 tinued : ' Make no doubt of my words, 
 but haste you in silence to her assistance, 
 or she must die. 1 am the slave girl Kate, 
 with whom she ran off. She told me to 
 come right to you, and make a clean 
 breast of it, and you would not only 
 understand, but protect me. I have no 
 servant ; this one I brought as a disguise ; 
 she is also a runaway.' I feared some 
 trick was being played on me ; I am 
 naturally suspicious about some things, 
 and I replied, ' My niece is too fair and 
 too gentle to be spoken of in this manner. 
 Whoever plays a joke on her, knows not 
 the sacredness of a pure heart ; and as for 
 myself, in God's name, trifle not with me 
 about such a woman ! ' ' Sir,' said she, 
 ' as I am living, I tell the truth. Behold 
 you this fine apparel ; think you it is be- 
 coming the slave girl Kate ? Now see, 
 what a stock is here ! ' Saying this, she 
 
LOVE AND WAR IN 1860. 
 
 145 
 
 so spread her dress that I saw she had on 
 rags underneath. ' Fine ladies, who sport 
 a servant, generally wear better under- 
 clothes. As for me, this servant stole a 
 dress, and so made me a lady.' She was 
 so pert, and did so prettily turn her head, 
 I could not but remember the wife of my 
 late lamented friend, General Andrew 
 Jackson. His wife, when a girl, was a 
 little spoiled pet, and her father opposed 
 her marriage with Jackson. One day, 
 after he had admonished her for some 
 time, she said, ' Now, father, do you know 
 I think you are a mighty smart man, and a 
 good man, but you are nothing 'longside of 
 Andy Jacksou. Bet you anything he'll be 
 great, some day.' I always, as the old Gen- 
 eral used to tell me of her, tried to picture 
 out what kind of a girl she was ; and as 
 I am Judge of Loudon Heights, I had 
 made her in my mind's eye just like this 
 snub-nosed beauty. I could hardly be- 
 lieve she was an American slave, nor 
 could I doubt, in case of war here, but 
 the British Government would take posi- 
 tive side with freedom. I had seen the 
 slave-girl Kate, but in common duds she 
 was common ; now she was in a nice frock, 
 and looked a chirp little queen. 
 
 " Having satisfied myself with her story, 
 I ordered her and the servant to the Jack- 
 son House, and immediately started for 
 Montgomery. How I met you on the way, 
 you know quite well. My poor niece, 
 weary, sick, and disconsolate — she that 
 was so mirthful and sweetly wild, to come 
 and fall in my arms like one at the briuk 
 of death ! Do you know what she said ? 
 ' Oh, uncle, forgive me ! I was so little ac- 
 quainted with the world ! ' And then, 
 after a while, you know, she said, ' Girls 
 of romance are girls of inexperience.' 
 Everything she said made me think she 
 was dying. But most I was moved when 
 she said, ' Take me back to Loudon 
 Heights.' This had been her home, where 
 I had watched over her as if she were a 
 tender flower. Poor, poor, dependent 
 girl ! Who would not love dependent 
 woman ? But her grief was too quiet. 
 Something within was sapping her life- 
 chords. Perhaps she loved Wadsworth ; 
 for I know, when I told her he was dead, 
 she turned pale, and her eyes, though filled 
 with tears, had no motion. ' How far is 
 it to Washington ? ' she said, after a 
 pause ; and I knew she was weary for the 
 small conception I had of her full, burst- 
 ing heart. Nor did she know mine. Nor 
 do any of you know. I have given Per- 
 kins a bond, and he may come here to 
 demand her, to torment her to death. 
 We have her safe in Washington, but this 
 
 thing works hard on my too sensitive 
 nerves ; for I shall not refuse him but by 
 this heavy forfeit." 
 
 Here the Judge exhibited the duplicate 
 bond, and then sat down ; but as the reader 
 of this history ■will be curious to know the 
 particulars of my own affair witli gentle 
 Ann, I will here state that, ere we had 
 reached Washington, an understanding 
 was come to, whereby, on the eve of the 
 inauguration, we were to be made man 
 and wife. So, therefore, when we had, in 
 the court of Judge Francis Underhill, 
 each one given in his evidence, I had 
 nothing more to do than to inform the 
 Judge it was all right. This being the 
 end of the sitting, we were all soon en- 
 gaged in congratulating one another on 
 the apparently happy issue, and then, as 
 soon as the Judge had given the following 
 charge to the jury, we dispersed : 
 
 " Gentlemen of the Jury : You have now 
 the case before you. We may never meet 
 again, and I charge you to govern your- 
 selves accordingly. To-morrow is Inaugur- 
 ation Day ; I cannot be with you. Since 
 the days of Thomas Jefferson I have been 
 the hey-day man on these great occasions. 
 You know the peril of that office. I must 
 hold Lincoln's hat while he is sworn in. 
 It is to be on the portico of the Capitol. 
 Buchanan and Lincoln will be taken in a 
 carriage from Willard's Hotel. The mem- 
 bers of our court will be the honorary 
 guard. Two thousand seceders are armed 
 with knives and pistols, to mix with the 
 vast assemblage, and then to fall on us 
 and murder us. Scott has an army so 
 portioned out he can sweep the streets at 
 a given signal. Five thousand seceders 
 are expected from Harper's Ferry. They 
 are already crying out for vengeace, be- 
 cause Lincoln was not killed in Baltimore. 
 This is their desperate day. Though it is 
 to be inauguration, they are resolved to 
 make it disorganization day. If we fail, 
 the nation perishes. If Lincoln is in- 
 augurated, all will be well ; and, to glorify 
 that great event, I will myself, on the 
 evening thereafter, so astonish this court 
 by what I shall do, that all the country 
 cannot contain your joy and merriment. 
 But look you well to it ; to-morrow we 
 shall have some rich adventure." 
 
 Now it so happened that none of us 
 knew for certain that the Judge was con- 
 templating marriage on the next evening ; 
 and, being gentlemen, we dared not be 
 inquisitive as to exactness, though we 
 were much interested in querying one 
 with another, to ascertain his meaning. 
 For my own part, I took his arm (not he 
 mine, as many of the newspapers had it), 
 
140 
 
 TIIE FALL OF FORT SUMTER ; OR, 
 
 and we walked down from the Temple to- 
 gether, on the way to the Jackson House. 
 Not far had we gone, when whom should 
 we meet but Professor Jackson, who stood 
 shyly at the roadside for lack of good 
 clothes, and called to me as we drew near, 
 saying, 
 
 " How are you, Sir. Jenkins, and Judge 
 Underbill ? " 
 
 We halted a moment, and he advanced 
 to shake hands, holding his knees close 
 together, for he had a rent in his trowsers 
 that made us look another way. 
 
 " Excuse me," said he, " I understand 
 you have been to Montgomery, and I 
 wanted to make some inquiries about 
 matters and things down South." 
 
 " Certainly," said I. " Proceed." 
 
 Said he, " Do you think there will be a 
 conflict ? Do you believe the South are 
 really mad enough to carry this thing to 
 a trial of arms ? " 
 
 " I do, " said I. " The South is all in 
 one fever of delusion. Their political 
 leaders have persuaded them that the 
 whole North — twenty millions of people 
 — are determined on the extinction of 
 slavery. Those leaders told the truth of 
 about half a dozen leading Abolitionists, 
 but their hearers credited it for twenty 
 millions. No longer can reason approach 
 them. A conflict is certain." 
 
 " I'm not. so sure of that," retorted the 
 Professor. " I have here a project which 
 I think would end the matter without one 
 drop of blood being shed." Saying this, 
 he displayed to our vision a circular, read- 
 ing, " Professor Jackson, the celebrated 
 lecturer and psychologist, being on a 
 travelling tour throughout the South, will 
 
 deliver a course of lectures at " — 
 
 (here was a blank to be filled in) — " where- 
 at he hopes to convince the people that 
 their entire ignorance of psychological 
 laws is the chief and only cause of all the 
 trouble between North and South. He 
 will also show them the beauties of the 
 Harmonial Philosophy, and appeal to that 
 higher quality of the human soul, the con- 
 geniality of the sexes, and point out the 
 only true road to happiness. The Pro- 
 fessor has also a project for establishing a 
 great national library, in Washington, and 
 a general publishing house, where men of 
 limited means may obtain aid from the 
 Government to have their knowledge set 
 before the world, thereby eradicating the 
 ignorance and low passions of wdiich we, 
 as well as the people of all other coun- 
 tries, are afflicted. These famous lectures 
 are divided into a series of four. Ticket 
 to one lecture, ten cents, or four tickets 
 for a quarter." 
 
 " Cheap enough," said the Judge. 
 
 " Dirt cheap ," said I. 
 
 "The question is," rejoined the Pro- 
 fessor, " will it pay ? Is the South pre- 
 pared for exalted lectures of this sort? 
 You have been down South; now, what 
 is your opinion ? " 
 
 " Oh, excellent ! " said I, nicking the 
 Judge's foot. 
 
 " Just the thing ! " said the Judge, and 
 he nicked my foot a little ; " a very for- 
 tune to a man of courage." 
 
 " Oh, I have the courage ! " said Jack- 
 son, " and I believe I have some ability ; 
 but, do you know, I am rather short to- 
 day. I sold my newspaper stand, but it 
 took every cent of it to get these circulars 
 printed. If it would not be asking too 
 much, I would like to get. a loan of two 
 dollars of each of you. I would go at 
 once to Montgomery, and begin my course. 
 As soon as I shall have paid all necessary 
 expenses, I will remit it to you." 
 
 " The best thing in the world ! " we 
 both replied, and thereupon opened our 
 purses and gave the poor fellow two dol- 
 lars each. Just then that woman, who 
 was always on the street, came up — I 
 mean the veritable Mrs. Lucy Tabiatha 
 Stimpkins — and she saw us give the 
 money. 
 
 " Guess you are satisfied now ! " she 
 sneeringly said to the Professor. " You 
 thought you could do better for yourself 
 than I could do for you ; but it is nowhere 
 laid down in the Harmonial Philosophy, 
 that a husband shall have aught but what 
 is the wife's. I don't begrudge you those 
 four dollars." 
 
 " Mrs. Stimpkins," said he, " I have 
 done you no harm. Why is it I can't 
 walk the streets of Washington but I 
 meet you, and that you must tantalize me 
 at every turn ? You caused me to lose 
 one hundred and sixteen dollars, and that 
 ought to satisfy you." 
 
 " I caused you ! Must you ever harp 
 on that hundred and sixteen dollars ? 
 Now, if ever you mention that again, I 
 will have you searched, and I will take 
 every cent out of your pockets." 
 
 He looked a little scared, and he sheep- 
 ishly said, " Eh ? " 
 
 " What circular is that ? " said she, and 
 she took it and read it. " I could make 
 money out of that, but it is not in your 
 breeches to do it.' 
 
 " Eh ? " said he. 
 
 The Judge and I turned to go away, 
 but pretended to be inattentive, lingering 
 a little. 
 
 " Professor Jackson," said she, turning 
 square before him, " give me half the 
 
LOVE AND WAR IN 1860. 
 
 147 
 
 profits, and I'll join you in that. And 
 more, too — I'll repay you every cent of 
 that hundred and sixteen dollars." 
 
 " Eh ? " said he ; " you nearly starved 
 me once." 
 
 " There, now throw that up," said she. 
 " But I don't care ; you may eat as many 
 meals a day as you like, and I'll do the 
 same." 
 
 We heard no more, for we had gone too 
 far ; though, when we got a hundred paces 
 off, we turned to look back, and we saw 
 them starting off together, as a living il- 
 lustration of an independent woman, a 
 dependent man, the Harmonial Philoso- 
 phy, and the congeniality of a foolish 
 theory. 
 
 That night the Judge and I sat alone, 
 with our sparkling Catawba before us. 
 He told me then all about his engagement 
 with Vickey — to be married on the follow- 
 ing evening ; but owing, he said, to the 
 great disparity of their ages, they had 
 kept it almost a total secret. But, as you 
 are aware, I heard little of what he was 
 saying to me, for on that same evening I 
 was myself to be married, and, at present, 
 my intended was very ill. In fact, I hardly 
 know if it be possible to pass a more tor- 
 menting time ; that ever-incessant thought, 
 marriage, rising in a thousand aspects, 
 crowding off every other thought as chaff 
 before a hurricane. The Judge, however, 
 talked well and talked incessantly, till 
 about midnight, when some one tapped 
 at our door. I opened it, and there stood 
 Kate, crying. I urged her to tell the 
 cause, and, after she quieted a little, she said, 
 
 " I wish you would come to my sister. 
 She is indeed very ill." 
 
 I looked at my watch, saying, 
 
 "Fear not now, poor child; the fatal 
 hour is past." 
 
 We then got up and followed her to the 
 room. Lizzie was propped up a little, and 
 the old doctor and the clerk, and a Mrs. 
 Owens, were standing near. She then 
 tossed up 01^ hand, signifying for me to 
 approach. I did so, and she spoke and 
 said : 
 
 " I have much to thank you for. I shall 
 not live to enumerate them. I shall die 
 before the morning sun is here. Some 
 things I must tell you." We then gave 
 her a little water, and she asked to sit up 
 in bed. 
 
 Said I, " You must not talk of dying. 
 You are only discouraged." 
 
 " The life-blood is blocking up in my 
 veins and arteries. In some parts I am 
 already numb. Treasure what I say, but 
 do not interrupt me. Madame Ponchard 
 killed my master. This jewel I stole 
 
 from her. She is young Wadsworth's 
 step-mother ! This jewel was given me 
 by my master; he said it was once my 
 father's. Take them, and keep them as 
 long as you live." 
 
 I took them, and read, on the one she 
 said she stole from Madame Ponchard, 
 "S. N. Wadsworth, P. Miss. 67;" but 
 some of it had undoubtedly been erased. 
 I knew also that the other was a part of 
 the same jewel found in my hallway. 
 Said I to the Judge, " This must have 
 been young Wadsworth's father. And 
 this Madame Ponchard is indeed the Ital- 
 ian stepmother." 
 
 The Judge said, " She was suspected of 
 poisoning the National Hotel ; but in this 
 lenient country she got off scot free, be- 
 cause she was a woman." 
 
 Again Lizzie went on, saying to me : 
 
 " Do you remember the place you chased 
 me to, in the Smithsonian grounds ? " 
 
 " I do," said I. 
 
 " The exact spot ? " 
 
 " Ay, the very spot." 
 
 " Well, go there to-morrow ; I will be 
 dead then. Even where I stood, beneath 
 a flat stone the size of your hand, you 
 will find something which will astound 
 you beyond measure. But oh, sir, as I 
 shall be dead when you have found it, 
 speak, nay, think gently, and blame not 
 this bursting heart." She then let go my 
 hand, but looked quietly at me a moment, 
 adding, " Heaven bless so good a man ! " 
 Tears started to her eyes, and she asked, 
 " May I kiss your hand, before I die ? " 
 Next, she called, " Kate, my sister, come 
 here ! " But Kate was crying bitterly, 
 and the doctor told her to come. Now, 
 when she had come to her side, Lizzie 
 said, " Take comfort, Kate ; these men 
 will endeavor to have you never a slave 
 again. Oh, that I could know, before I 
 die, that you shall be free ! I pray for 
 war, for, in the conflict, justice will arise. 
 If the national Government is too weak, 
 Great Britain and France will join in 
 crushing out these cruel slave-owners. 
 Oh, glorious England ! The friend of 
 the bond, I know that thy dogs of war 
 will be let loose on our vi'e oppressors ! " 
 
 After resting a moment, in much pain, she 
 again went on : " Remember, Kate, modesty 
 and virtue are woman's holiest gifts. Re- 
 member it. Of Miss Underbill, who has 
 taken so much on herself for you, I know 
 nothing. I have never seen her. They 
 tell me she is too ill to come to my room. 
 This is the hardest blow of all. O Heaven, 
 can I never see so sweet and dear a face ! " 
 Here she sobbed out violently, whereupon 
 some one suggested that Miss Underhill 
 
H8 
 
 THE FALL OF FORT SUMTER ; OR, 
 
 was not so ill but she might be brought 
 in. " No, no," said Lizzie, " I see her 
 now; my soul comes and goes at the 
 beckoning, and I see in the distance as 
 if near by. Come, now, I am nearly done. 
 How numb my temrjles " 
 
 This was the last she ever spoke ; for, 
 even while sitting there and speaking, she 
 smiled, and died. 
 
 On the following morning I repaired, 
 with a sad heart, to the place in the 
 Smithsonian grounds she had designated. 
 
 Beneath a stone no larger than my two 
 hands I found this most touching note, 
 safely sealed in a bottle : 
 
 " To whom God showeth this : — I 
 am a fugitive slave, and must soon die. 
 Here, on this spot, even where lies this 
 small stone, I met a true friend. He did 
 all for me that man could. He planned 
 the destruction of a band of conspirators 
 by intent to blow up the house where they 
 assembled. I was employed by him to 
 bear a part ; but, O my God, I proved 
 him false ! I could not do the just but 
 horrid deed, and so I cut the fuse. The 
 conspirators all escaped, and I behold that 
 they are about to destroy the nation. I 
 
 have prayed for forgiveness, but I am 
 dying with despair. And my true friend, 
 to whom I was false, is so noble I cannot 
 even mention my own perfidy. Heaven 
 knows I wish I were dead. 
 
 " Lizzie." 
 
 Poor girl, her woman's heart overleaped 
 justice. And she died in remorse, with- 
 out my knowing her awful agony. Pass 
 on, poor soul ; sad tears shall be our les- 
 sons to teach us the good heart of a true 
 woman. 
 
 I saved the letter, but was never able 
 to unravel the mystery of her having 
 buried it in the place referred to, unless 
 it was indeed because she visited the 
 place in remembrance of having there 
 found a friend. Scarcely had I got back 
 to the Jackson House, when I met Russel, 
 the owner of both fugitives. He was 
 weeping because of Lizzie's death ; he 
 had been up to view her corpse, and he 
 seemed much broken down. Judge Fran- 
 cis offered to buy Kate, but Russel said 
 he no longer cared for Kate, now that 
 Lizzie was dead. Thereupon he gave us, 
 for her, a bill of freedom, and he departed 
 for the South. 
 
 CHAPTER XYIII. 
 
 BEING OF THINGS WHICH DID NOT OCCUR TILL LONG AFTERWARDS, AND WHEREIN, OWING TO THE 
 NATURE OF THE STUFF, IF INDEED IT CAN BE CALLED STUFF, THE ORIGINATOR OF THESE NEVER - 
 BEFORE-HEARD-OF NOTES WAS TEMPTED, FOR A HEADING TO THIS PART OF THIS 8REAT HISTORY, TO 
 SUBSTITUTE THESE MOST REMARKABLE WORDS, TO WIT, THERE IS SOMETHING IN THIS, AND IT HAS 
 SADNESS AND HUMOR MORE THAN I EVER SAW IN SO SMALL COMPASS. 
 
 After the translator read me the above 
 heading, I ordered him to wait a moment, 
 till I ascertained, if I could as a learned 
 man, who Jenkins meant, but the transla- 
 tor replied, " Cervantes and Shakespeare." 
 
 " Well, then," said I, " it is at fault." 
 
 " Why so ? " said he. 
 
 " Because, if Sir Walter be not in, Scotch 
 critics will condemn it." 
 
 He laughed a little and was about to 
 proceed, when who should come in but 
 Jenkins himself. Said he, 
 
 " I am too excited about this great 
 work, to enjoy myself at any other thing 
 till this volume is done." 
 
 We then told him to come in, and sit 
 down, and he did so, whereupon I ordered 
 my men-servants to bring up from the 
 
 wine vaults another basket of sparkling 
 Catawba, the which, when it had come, 
 we drank freely of; for it^is of that 
 peculiar quality which sobers a man when 
 he hath too much natural fire in him, and 
 it makes everything look drunk but the 
 man who drinks it. When we had thus 
 quenched our thirst, Jenkins, having ex- 
 amined how far we were, began the 
 mystery of his notes to unfold. 
 
 Whether Lincoln was to be inaugurated 
 or to die, those were the questions in 
 Washington. Knots of conspirators clus- 
 tered near every corner ; every boot con- 
 cealed a bowie knife, every vest a pistol. 
 Cautiously and so silently were the tongues 
 at work, and such oaths as those seceders 
 
LOVE AND WAR IN 1860. 
 
 149 
 
 swore against this great republic, against 
 the law of freedom, and so gently were 
 they tapped on the shoulder by foreign 
 emissaries, that breathless stood the whole 
 of one of the most powerful nations on the 
 globe. It stood in fear and trembling, 
 seeming to have no head ; but the con- 
 sciousness of right inspired the people to 
 believe a way for safety and glory would 
 be pointed out by the finger of Almighty 
 God. Only an answer to the prayer of so 
 many millions could shield the coming 
 President from common slaughter. As 
 terrible as for Daniel to enter the lions' 
 den, was it for Lincoln to mount the steps 
 of the Capitol ; and more, for the lions 
 were God's subjects, but the seceders had 
 repudiated Him, and sung His name in 
 blasphemy. They had defied Him. They 
 had covenanted with one another that, ere 
 the 4th of March, Davis should be installed 
 in Washington. They had armies every- 
 where, and were armed ; but the national 
 Government had been sold by James 
 Buchanan, and now stood there penniless 
 and unprotected. Yet, no, not unprotect- 
 ed. Scott was there, and Holt — instru- 
 ments and nuclei, whereto the Almighty 
 would build up the most powerful armies 
 ever assembled. But they took not His 
 name in vain, nor party nor schism sought 
 — only the rights of man by God's will. 
 And there they stood, invincible Scott and 
 honest Holt. They saw that morning 
 sun, that 4th of March, and felt a higher 
 approval than by the tap of a foreign 
 emissary, or by the puff of an adventur§us 
 correspondent. But their position, and 
 ours, and all men's who loved the great 
 republic then, was mocked at by nearly 
 all European governments. What ! ten 
 millions of conspirators, and Scott and 
 Holt to dare oppose them ! Only a thou- 
 sand men to guard Washington, against 
 the threatened approach of thirty thousand 
 rebels ! Surely Heaven is in this, or 
 Southern chivalry is a coward — why didn't 
 they come, and not blow so ? There was 
 the Capital, defenceless — why not take it ? 
 Who held them back ? Verily, not Scott 
 and Holt with a thousand men. Why, 
 when Csesar fell, he had a guard, an army, 
 a million strong. Were those conspirators 
 bolder than these ? Lincoln goes un- 
 guarded ; yet not so, his shield is from 
 Heaven. Conscience pricks those con- 
 spirators, and they have not heart to 
 butcher a lamb. And why all their bluster 
 and fury ? Washington is like a city on 
 fire, but it burns out. The peojne rush to 
 and fro ; they cluster here and there ; 
 whisper, pass on, and point to the Capitol. 
 Men do clench their jaws, and do feel for 
 
 their concealed weapons, all expectant, to 
 hear the bloody deed is done. Scott and 
 Holt calmly wait the rising sun, that 
 never-to-be-forgotten brilliant sun, their 
 troops at times galloping up and down 
 the streets, and the bugle in far-off places 
 denoting solemn tidings for the coming 
 hour. Both Scott and Holt were calm. 
 So unlike Buchanan. He had that day 
 thrice his wrong clothes put on. His 
 trowsers the wrong side before, and his 
 vest inside out. To the window he often 
 ran, shouting to himself, " O God, if only 
 this day hold out ! But if it miscarry, and 
 Lincoln is killed, good Heavens what 
 shall I do ? " Again he would return, and 
 sit down, burying his face in his hands, 
 saying, " God knows, I have stuck to my 
 party, if they do tear me in pieces. I've 
 stuck to the Constitution, too. Oh, those 
 Commissioners." Then he would sob 
 awhile, and then again look out of the 
 window, really wearing himself out with 
 bodily fear and a stinging conscience. 
 He had ordered, for several days past, that 
 no one should be admitted into his pres- 
 ence, except such as came by invitation. 
 From affairs of state he had entirely with- 
 drawn, existing merely as rotten debris 
 of the government he had destroyed, and 
 his own rottenness was a stench to his 
 nostrils, his conscience a coal of fire to a 
 perjured soul. Thus moaned and groaned, 
 thus pined, feared, and trembled the 
 great politician that was, this shadow that 
 is. But, shadow though he be, he must, 
 for form's sake, hand over the sceptre to 
 the great rail-splitter. Thus it was I came 
 to him ; thus I paid him my last visit — to 
 lead him to the Capitol to get rid of him. 
 And thus, too, I found him, weeping and 
 wailing, " Oh, Jenkins, is it you, dear ? 
 They told me never more you'd cross my 
 threshold, dear. But, safe at last, you are 
 come, and the morning's come, and Lin- 
 coln too is here. Heaven knows, who 
 says I suffer, flatters me with little knowl- 
 edge of my pain. I'm wild ! I'm mad ! 
 Tear me off here an arm ! These shrivelled 
 legs crush up ! Such pain would be com- 
 fort. I'll knock this breast in pieces ! 
 Oh, I know what it is to suffer ! This 
 day a man told another, I was the death 
 of the Democratic party. I pray Heaven 
 it is not so ; but if it is so, may God never 
 give me another happy day." I observed 
 his vest was on wrong side out, and urged 
 him to change it, for it was near time to 
 start. He then changed it, but be put on 
 his gown, and I urged him again that he 
 should wear his coat. Said I, " You 
 know, Caesar was killed in a gown. I 
 pray you, wear your coat." He then 
 
150 
 
 THE FALL OF FORT SUMTER ; OR, 
 
 pulled it off and put on his coat. Said I, 
 " Your valet has not looked after your 
 toilet this morning." " Why so ? " said 
 he. " Why," said I, " your shoes are not 
 polished, nor are they laced." " I suspect 
 my valet," said he, "of having left the 
 Democratic party." He then tried to 
 stoop down to fasten his shoes himself, 
 but he could not bend so far. Said I, 
 " These things -would try any constitution." 
 Said he, " What ! is that in the Constitu- 
 tion too ? " 
 
 I saw that he was not of sound mind, 
 and so I then tied his shoes with my own 
 hands, for which he looked very grateful. 
 I told him I considered it an honor to do 
 such service to so true a Democrat. This 
 touched him a little, and he burst into 
 tears, saying he had not had any one speak 
 so kindly to him for many long months. 
 I knew that in a few short hours the coun- 
 try would be rid of him officially, and I 
 cared not to harass his troubled mind 
 with further censure ; but I did not, as 
 many of the newspapers had it, caress him 
 for any purpose whatever. I spoke only 
 as I consider any one ought to speak to 
 another in distress, and it was merely my 
 speaking to him in this manner that made 
 him whimper and cling so close to me. 
 Neither was it at the Mansion, but in the 
 carriage, before we reached Willard's, 
 that he said to me, " Now Jenkins, stand 
 by me. For God's sake, stand by me 
 at the Capitol ! you are so large and 
 powerful, and I am such a feeble, nerv- 
 ous person. If there be a row at the 
 Capitol, for God's sake pick me up, and 
 run away with, me ! " I told him I would, 
 and he replied that I was the only one, he 
 believed, in America, who would turn a 
 hand to save his life. He said, also, that 
 he hoped the country would be more 
 grateful to Lincoln than it was to him ; 
 but he still thought the time would come 
 when his administration would be revered. 
 We were near Willard's ere he ceased 
 talking, and then he turned quite round 
 in the carriage, and looked back toward 
 the Mansion, crying, u Can these things 
 be, and all the horrors of a four years' 
 strife at end ? Fare thee well, thou hole 
 of hell !• Farewell, farewell — a long fare- 
 well ! " 
 
 In a few minutes we were in Willard's, 
 in the presence of that man of destiny, 
 Lincoln, who received us with a hearty 
 laugh ; but as I had many things to ar- 
 range I left them together, in company of 
 a few friends, and hurried off to find the 
 Judge and members of our court, who 
 were to have entire charge of the etiquette 
 of the inauguration. On arriving at the 
 
 Jackson House, I found no one I was 
 acquainted with, and, so, to reflect a mo- 
 ment, I sat down on the outer porch. In 
 an instant my attention was directed to per- 
 sons ensconced behind the lattice shades. 
 No mistaking it, — it was protestations of 
 love on the part of some man, and the 
 tender doubts of some young girl. As 
 often as he praised her beauty and love- 
 liness, she would sigh, and reject it as 
 proof that his attachment was from an im- 
 mature season. Of course I was too much 
 of a gentleman to look in, and I must not 
 listen to other folks making love ; but my 
 curiosity so far mastered me, that I raised 
 up till my ear stood opposite the opening 
 in the window, and then I discovered it 
 to be the clerk and Vickey. " Then 
 why," she gently remonstrated, " did you 
 so deceive me, in saying you were heir to 
 such great possessions ? " 
 
 " Because I loved you," said he. " I 
 saw that you had a good heart, and I de- 
 termined to win you. If I took a bad 
 course, it was my head., and not my heart 
 at fault." 
 
 M But that was deception," said she. 
 
 " Certainly ; we all deceive one another 
 in these times. The young man pretends 
 to a fonune ; the young lady pretends to 
 education and accomplishments, the young 
 lady with half a dozen years at a female 
 college kept by an overgrown egotist, 
 gets a smattering of French, German, 
 music, and gets also a diploma for having 
 a finished education, albeit she has not 
 re*d Henriade nor Tasso but in the trans- 
 lations. Penelope, Homer and Quintilian 
 are fools to her ; but her parents would 
 palm her off on a gentleman as an accom- 
 plished lady. Is this not deception ? " 
 
 Now, when he began to talk in this 
 style, she cried bitterly, for she felt that 
 she merited the rebuke. But he con- 
 tinued : " If this deception is just, why 
 shall not a man make believe he has a for- 
 tune ? Anything for getting the best of 
 the bargain. The lady wants a husband 
 more elevated than herself, and he wants 
 a wife wealthier and more accomplished. 
 Anything to win on. A few dashing tunes 
 on the piano, or a loud set speech at a 
 lady's feet. Miss Edge, I am done with 
 this sort of stuff. I am only a clerk at a 
 thousand dollars a year. You have, or 
 will have, a large fortune. If I were to 
 marry a really accomplished lady, I could 
 not support her ; if you were to marry a 
 proper gentleman, you would be in con- 
 stant pain by the society he would take 
 you in. Think you, would you enjoy your 
 husband having with another woman a 
 little chit-chat in French on Fenelon and 
 
LOVE AND WAR IN 1860. 
 
 151 
 
 Lamartine ? Bethink you, they make 
 quotations from Virgil, and ask your 
 opinion ! Would you hold up your 
 boarding-school diploma ? Now, enough 
 of this ; I would not see you weep. I am 
 myself no scholar ; but my place here has 
 shown me those who were ; and I admon- 
 ish you, as I am a true friend to a good- 
 hearted and innocent girl, never think of 
 using your accomplishments, or your 
 father's money, to catch a husband your 
 much superior. I have tried to make you 
 comfortable at the Jackson House, and I 
 have seen, too, how frequently you have 
 been mortified." 
 
 For some time I heard no more, and 
 I knew not but they had both left ; and 
 so, thinking I was losing much of the time 
 in which I ought to be getting the court 
 together, I raised up, and looked into the 
 parlor. There she sat, and there he sat, 
 and both looking another way. Every 
 little while she passed her handkerchief 
 upward. Whether to wait and see the 
 result, or to go about my own business — 
 those were the questions. Pretty soon, 
 however, I saw him rise and stand before 
 her, but she turned her face away. Said 
 he, " Have I abused you ? " 
 
 No," she answered, faintly. 
 
 " Shall I thus abruptly leave you, weep- 
 ing ? " 
 
 " As you like." 
 
 " Bid me what you will, and I will do 
 it." 
 
 She gave no answer. 
 
 " To-night," he resumed, " you give a 
 reception, and you are to marry ! " 
 
 " What ! " she whispered, looking up. 
 
 " Not to Prescott. I know all about it. 
 To the Judge." 
 
 " Ha ! " 
 
 " Ha ! I know, 'tis not all a joke. You 
 call it a joke, and so do others, but the 
 Judge told me all about it." 
 
 " Oh, sir, do not trifle thus." 
 
 " I am not trifling. I tell you, though, 
 I know all about it ; and I tell you, too, 
 it is the most foolish thing you ever un- 
 dertook. He is old enough to be your 
 grandfather. I always thought it was 
 nonsense, till this morning, when the 
 Judge gave me a card." 
 
 "A card!" 
 
 " Ay, a. wedding card ; very pretty in- 
 deed of you to invent these covers ! " 
 
 Here she straightened herself upright — 
 and she is very tall and thin ; but ere her 
 astonishment had gone further, he gave 
 her the card. For a moment she perused 
 it, and then she cried out, " Oh, why am I 
 thus abused ? " and she cried piteously. 
 He asked her what was wrong about it. 
 
 and she, sobbing, told him there was no 
 truth in it whatever. The clerk assured 
 her it was true. She denied it ; said the 
 Judge was engaged to her aunt. The 
 clerk told her it was in the papers. She 
 said it had been in the papers about Pres- 
 cott and herself. Thus they discussed the 
 matter, explaining and complaining, till 
 he, seeing she was partly recovered from 
 her blues, bade her remember that he 
 must go to the office. 
 
 " Now," said he, " you see they have 
 been using your name as if you were a 
 stick. Your father and mother half be- 
 lieve you are engaged to Prescott ; but 
 Prescott knows nothing of it, nor did he 
 ever make pretensions of love for you. 
 The Judge, on the other hand, professes to 
 love you, and you have returned it. You 
 accepted all his presents, and you have 
 boasted he was to give you a large present 
 on your wedding day. So, you see, I 
 know that it is all true." 
 
 " It is not true ! " she retorted sharply. 
 
 " What ! not true that you will marry 
 the Judge ? " 
 
 " Most certainly not. I never thought 
 of such a thing." 
 
 " Just so ; and yet in your innocence 
 you favored his every advance." 
 
 " Oh is it possible ! Has it come to 
 this ? " 
 
 " Well, you have gone so far now you 
 will need stick to it." 
 
 " I won't ! " 
 
 " But you must ! " 
 
 " I will not ! Those old silver specta- 
 cles ! " 
 
 At that they both laughed right hearti- 
 ly, but she hushed quickly, for the 
 thought was so unpleasant to her taste. 
 
 " Why," said the clerk, " I am really 
 very sorry for you. The guests, to-night, 
 will all say you have treated the Judge 
 baclly, to have encouraged him and then 
 thus denied him. There is only one way 
 in which you can avoid shame and an ill 
 name by this. You will be hooted at by 
 every one in Washington. You can elope 
 with me, and save your honor. Nay, start 
 not ; I mean what I say. You are a dear, 
 good girl, and about my own equal in the 
 general getting up, and I will make you 
 an excellent and appreciative husband." 
 She began to pull and twist her handker- 
 chief at a furious rate, and then he went 
 to her, and took her hands in his, adding, 
 " Don't mind what I say, but judge of my 
 former conduct if I will not be kind and 
 dutiful. I may have much mischief in 
 me, but I assure you my heart is as warm 
 as anybody's, and pretty much the same 
 size. I know you need some one to love 
 
152 
 
 THE FALL OF FORT SUMTER ; OR, 
 
 you, to speak kindly and fondly to you. 
 Pray you, let me be that one." 
 
 I could not hear what she said, but she 
 leaned over on his shoulder, and cried and 
 clung fast to 'him and I was afraid they 
 might turn round and see me looking ; so 
 I dodged down a little, but I heard him 
 kiss her. Soon after that he took a hasty 
 leave, having conducted her to the door, 
 and bade her meet him again at the same 
 place, in two hours hence. From this I 
 concluded they had provised an elopement, 
 but I had no evidence when it was to take 
 place. Not being disposed to waste more 
 time in looking after them, I immediately 
 started in search of the Judge, whom I 
 found in the garden, on his lounge, sound 
 asleep. Beside him lay a paper and pen- 
 cil. He had evidently been writing, but 
 fallen asleep at it. On the paper was the 
 following : 
 
 " To the tall, fair girl with the shining 
 
 black hair ; 
 To the dear, sweet girl with the hazel 
 
 blue eye : 
 Come, haste to the garden ; come, haste to 
 
 the wedding ; 
 A vacuum in store and love running o'er, 
 
 Is waiting for you." 
 
 Evidently his mind was turned, or he 
 had been reading Tennyson, and I ejacu- 
 lated, " Ha, Poet Laureate ! " Thereupon 
 he awoke, and I admonished him it was 
 time to go to the Capitol. 
 
 " Indeed ! " said he, moving his specta- 
 cles and brushing up his thin hair, " I slept 
 so little, last night. Let me see, what is 
 the programme ? Ah, I remember. I am 
 hey-dey man. Come on." 
 
 So, accordingly, we went, he having 
 told me that Scott had despatched Pres- 
 cott to Charleston to report on the threat- 
 ened rebellion. I did not like to tell the 
 Judge what Vickey said, nor did I con- 
 sider it my business. If she would not 
 have him. he would find it out in due 
 season ; and if she and the clerk eloped, 
 that was their matter. Now it was so 
 arranged between us, for we feared a col- 
 lision of arms on the part of the rebels 
 with the law abiding people, that we 
 made no exertion to have ladies attend 
 the inauguration, choosing to let them 
 come or stay away, as best they might 
 decide for themselves. We had, however, 
 decided to have thirty-four carriages 
 representing thirty-four States, and each 
 one carrying a beautiful lady, to precede 
 the President's carriage, and to alight and 
 assemble on or near the portico of the 
 Capitol before Buchanan and Lincoln made 
 
 their appearance. To obtain the aforesaid 
 young ladies, we had already spent a 
 week, and, now that the time was up, four 
 States were unrepresented — South Caro- 
 lina, Georgia, Mississippi and Arkansas. 
 Not but those States had plenty of pretty 
 representatives in Washington, but there 
 were few who would accept of wearing 
 the red, white and blue, unless, indeed, 
 we chose homely, scrawny-nicked ones. 
 One lady, a beautiful girl from Georgia, 
 by the name of Emerson, -we finally coaxed 
 into the programme; but after she was 
 dressed, and about to start, her mother, 
 then stopping at the Washington Hotel, 
 caught her on the steps, and tore the dress 
 in pieces. The girl's father, however, re- 
 placed it with another, whereupon the 
 enraged mother rushed into the house for 
 a pistol, vowing she would rather see her 
 daughter die. The father, though, took 
 care of the girl, and after a while the old 
 woman got over it. The one we got to 
 represent Arkansas was a lean, crooked- 
 shanked old maid, with a coffee-colored 
 face, and such a mouth as made you think 
 of the Mississippi river. For Mississippi 
 State we were obliged to take a little 
 hunch-backed widow, deaf as a door nail, 
 and she grinned incessantly. But for 
 South Carolina there was the rub. We 
 had raced in vain all over Washington ; 
 we had offered five presents — everything 
 we could think of — but only one lady from 
 that State would agree to go. She was a 
 lump of a woman, so fat that her eyes 
 were almost hid from sight, and her dark, 
 grizzly-looking eyebrows grew clear across 
 her forehead, which forehead was about 
 half an inch high and broad as your two 
 hands. A dirty, sweaty-looking mustache 
 she had, and a fatty-like WTinkle hanging 
 down from the corners of her low fat 
 nose ; a double chin a hand-breadth deep, 
 and such a sickening scowl I never saw on 
 woman. Now, on the morning of the in- 
 auguration, we received from said beauty 
 the following letter, directed to the Judge 
 and the members of the court of etiquette : 
 
 " Miss Sowsy begs to decline her engage- 
 ment. She thinks it is incompatible with 
 her dignity to longer wear the red, white 
 and blue. 
 
 "Lillie Sowsy." 
 
 What was to be done ? We had not a 
 moment to lose, this despatch having been 
 received just as we came out of the garden. 
 As every lady was to carry a flag with the 
 name of her State on it, the one from South 
 Carolina would be the most observed of all. 
 After a little consultation, we concluded 
 
LOVE AND WAR IN 1860. 
 
 153 
 
 again to go and see Miss Sowsy, and urge 
 her to it. We did so ; but what was our 
 surprise at seeing her with a Palmetto flag, 
 and hearing her say, " Anything but this 
 is Abolition." 
 
 On our way back we fell in with Mr. 
 Palmer, of Charleston, and told him about 
 it. 
 
 He said his daughter would go, provid- 
 ed we could get a dress ready in time. 
 
 It was then a quarter past eleven 
 o'clock, and I urged the Judge to go at 
 once and see the young lady, while I 
 would proceed to have in readiness not 
 only our own carriage, but those bearing 
 the young ladies. Thereupon we separat- 
 ed, each to his own duty ; but I neglected 
 to state that we had agreed that, if there 
 was any difficulty about getting the car- 
 riages, we would take the ladies in a 
 triumphal car. On my way back to the 
 Jackson House I observed many of the 
 people wore pins and plates engraved pal- 
 metto. It was almost impossible to get 
 through the crowd, nearly all of whom 
 were men, the gentle sex thinking, no 
 doubt, a collision would occur at any mo- 
 ment. When I arrived at the Jackson 
 House, I had only fifteen minutes left in 
 which to get the Judge's horses and car- 
 riage in readiness and drive to Willard's. 
 We were, accordingly, in much haste, and 
 frequently being annoyed by having to 
 seek for remnants of harness and bridles. 
 The carriage had not been used for many 
 weeks, nor had it been oiled, and it now 
 squeaked and squealed and barked most 
 horridly, and some boys had been cutting 
 stone-slings out of the carriage cover, so 
 it looked like a riddle. Finally, however, 
 we got in readiness ; but the Judge had 
 not come. Here was a predicament. He 
 was so fat and so old, and he walked so 
 slow, he might not be here for an hour. 
 I then came out and looked down the 
 avenue. It was one solid mass of human 
 beings. Their meaning and purpose was 
 doubtful, and much to be dreaded. Again 
 and again I pulled out my watch, and I 
 was in intense agony because the Judge 
 came not. Only a few minutes, and I 
 must be at Willard's. I thought perhaps 
 the Judge would go in Palmer's carriage. 
 I could wait no longer. Mounting now 
 the carriage, with only my driver and 
 footman for companions, I started on at a 
 rapid rate. On nearing Willard's, I de- 
 cided to dispense with so many carriages 
 for the ladies of state, but to pile them 
 into the triumphal car in advance, and in 
 rear of the two Presidents. In a little while 
 the state ladies made their appearance, all 
 showing more or less nervousness on ac- 
 
 count of the importance of the occasion. 
 In vain I looked for a representative for 
 South Carolina. In vain I looked for the 
 Judge. Whispers and jeers, but low and 
 derisive, went up from the vast assemblage, 
 that South Carolina was not there. Over 
 and over I surveyed the ladies, but all to 
 uo purpose. Many of them were the 
 fairest that man e'er laid eyes on. Miss 
 Hendricks, of Missouri, — Lord, what a 
 sweet and noble face ! Her ringlets were 
 like pure gold, and her large, blue eyes ' 
 had in them an angel's purity and love. 
 Her form, so noble and full matured, now 
 adorned and adorning the red, white and 
 blue. Miss Haslett, of Michigan, a bru- 
 nette grace, with two and thirty jet black 
 curls a yard in length, hiding half the 
 rotund chest now swelling like a bird 
 affrighted, as downward some she meekly 
 held her blushing face, at times her 
 heaven-lit eves glancing o'er the crowd 
 around. Miss North, of Massachusetts, 
 whose jolly, fun-loving eye all things 
 turned to jokes and merriment ; whose 
 smile a dimpled chin and cheek did envy 
 but to strive, as proudly, with a coquet- 
 tish air, she now and then tossed up the 
 red, white and blue. Miss Hawthorne, of 
 Pennsylvania, an unconscious beauty, not 
 light, not dark, but rosy and life-like, in- 
 nocent of all things around and child-like, 
 whose heart no room had left for indepen- 
 dent thought, and made her thus the 
 most perfect counterpart of man ; made 
 her like a fair flower, innocent of her own 
 beauty and sweetness. 
 
 And so it was of all the others, — all so 
 many beauties, only from the seceded 
 States we had to take them as we could 
 get them. And those were pretty fair, 
 only the lean one from Arkansas, and the 
 little widow of Mississippi. The lady for 
 Georgia would do, but her mother had 
 scratched her face some. For South Car- 
 olina, though, there was no one present. 
 May-be the Judge would go direct to the 
 Capitol with her. It was the only chance, 
 the only hope. The time had come, we 
 must start. I now sent a messenger in to 
 announce to Buchanan and Lincoln our 
 readiness to receive them and conduct 
 them to the Capitol. They were soon at 
 the door, and, although it was supposed 
 they had no guard provided, yet such was 
 not the case. Scott had ^for the occasion 
 two hundred picked men in citizen's dress, 
 well armed with private arms, who were to 
 proceed before, behind, and, in fact, all 
 round the carriage, to the Capitol and back 
 again. They were provided with white 
 ribbons concealed, which, in case of a row, 
 were to be uncovered, and the men were 
 
154 
 
 THE FALL OF FORT SUMTER ; OR, 
 
 to sail into everybody and everything 
 that displayed not the color. In a few 
 minutes now the Presidents came down 
 and entered their carriage, Lincoln getting 
 in first, and Buchanan taking a seat at 
 his left hand. Many of us smiled at this 
 little innovation, but were startled by a 
 slight hurrah from some one near the car- 
 riage. I looked and there beheld Orsini ! 
 It was as if a viper had sprung out of the 
 earth. In an instant did civilians crowd 
 him back, and those civilians were the pick- 
 ed guard. Again and again did I inwardly 
 thank Winfield Scott; for what man else 
 could have invented so great protection 
 with so few men ? As yet, however, the 
 public knew it not. We had all heard it 
 said, over and over, that Lincoln should 
 never reach the Capitol alive. But words 
 cannot tell the flight of thought, nor can 
 it show the checkered fear and emotion at 
 such a time. We saw Orsini, and we ex- 
 pected thousands of men on the instant to 
 run into bloody riot. Upward, and where 
 a fair view was had, stood Madame Pon- 
 chard, waving her handkerchief. In the 
 vast assemblage did two voices cheer ; but 
 ere the sound had passed around, the tri- 
 umphal car was under way. No more 
 now we feared till near the Capitol. But 
 here, too, had Scott provided for any 
 tumult. Thus we moved along, and thus 
 to the portico, passing by the way full 
 sixty thousand men. On the grounds, 
 above and below, all round the Capitol, 
 were assembled such a concourse of people 
 as were never before in Washington. 
 More than half of them had come to see 
 the portico washed with Lincoln's blood. 
 More than half of them were armed with 
 bowie knives and pistols, with their hands 
 resting on the concealed pockets. Yet 
 amidst this vast assemblage had thousands 
 and thousands of fair women come, to see 
 and to be seen, trembling for their lives 
 the while. Close around the Presidents, 
 and everywhere that danger most ap- 
 peared, were Scott's two hundred unknown 
 vigilants. No one, save Scott, knew their 
 number or authority, but they were each 
 a man among ten thousand, powerful and 
 resolute, men who felt that they held the 
 great republic on their shoulders and no 
 one apart his own life valued. And yet, 
 withal, another side this adventure had, 
 and full of danger. Davis and Toombs 
 had more than the two hundred, and bet- 
 ter armed, but untutored for the deed 
 designed. For this is God's will, a crimi- 
 nal never weighs the chance of failure but 
 with a mortal instrument. They thought 
 in half-concerted riot to kill the President. 
 A woman, Madame Ponchard, and her con- 
 
 sort, Orsini, two common assassins of 
 foreign birth, for hire, were to do this great 
 deed of state; and the planners and per- 
 petrators, Toombs and Davis, afar off, to 
 escape uncensurcd and free, to ultimately 
 fly to the Capitol as the chosen rulers of 
 the nation. So now, as our unornamental 
 pageantry neared the portico, that same 
 mysterious woman, and that same oft-ac- 
 cused and oft-released villain, Orsini, must 
 needs rush to the front, waving the stars 
 and stripes, both bent on the treacherous 
 deed. Again that unthought-of two hun- 
 dred press them backward, as calmly all 
 as if it were a time of prayer. Now 
 merg forth the four and thirty fair ladies, 
 virgin emblems of the independent States 
 of the great republic, bearing each her 
 flag triumphant — but no — South Carolina 
 is not there ! Over and over we read the 
 flags, and over again we bleed at the 
 thought that a star is gone ! Fifty thou- 
 sand eyes look for that flag — ay, a hun- 
 dred thousand eyes ! A murmur begins 
 to arise — such a half-suppressed murmur as 
 was never before since the foundation of 
 the world. It was the midnight hour of 
 human liberty. Come at once, or free- 
 dom is dead ! Come, and long lives the 
 great republic ! But oh, the terrible hour, 
 the second that measured more than the 
 lapse of centuries. Coming here are noAv 
 the Presidents, and a moving discontent 
 makes manifest the fell omen. Tears of 
 disappointment stream from countless 
 patriot eyes, while the opposite, the foes 
 of freedom, now smile and curl their lips 
 in goading triumph. But lo ! What 
 sound is that, and greetings ! They move 
 — make way, and on the portico fall back ! 
 — the flag is coming ! South Carolina ! 
 South Carolina ! Now look the eager 
 eyes, to see what lady this temerity has. 
 Then, tall, and fair, and smiling, comes 
 the maid of seventeen — our sweet Vic- 
 toria ! Few, so very few did know her, 
 and they thought she was a South Caro- 
 linian. She was clothed in red, white, 
 and blue, and so prettily bore her little 
 flag that only in her praise sang all the 
 crowd ; yet sang, but breathless held their 
 voices while they surveyed her queenly 
 beauty, and praised her from their very 
 souls as an angel, a symbol come at the 
 final hour to marshal peace and liberty. 
 Now here it was, and at this trying mo- 
 ment, Douglas spoke. He had been 
 obliged to take the Judge's place, to act 
 as hey-dey man ; and close to my side 
 had all the while remained to be prompt- 
 ed in the part he must fulfil. The Judge 
 had been to Mr. Palmer's, but the daughter 
 would not go. She snubbed him ; called 
 
LOVE AND WAR IN 1860. 
 
 155 
 
 hiin an old fool ; told him South Carolina 
 was out of the Union, and so sent him otf. 
 But inasmuch as he had the appointment 
 to furnish the ladies and manage the 
 etiquette, he had no other way left but 
 to call on Victoria, and persuade her to 
 relieve him in this € great hour of distress. 
 Accordingly, having, as he passed Mrs. 
 Hamil's silk store, provided himself -with 
 a quantity of red, white, and blue silk, he 
 hastened to the Jackson House, where he 
 found Vickey crying severely about the 
 clerk, and the Cupid exasperations between 
 them. She told the Judge she was crying 
 because nobody would take her to the in- 
 auguration. Hereupon the Judge exhibit- 
 ed the silk, and expostulated much on her 
 appearance, and so struck a bargain at 
 once, whereby she was to go as a South 
 Carolinian. She was in just such des- 
 perate state of mind as makes a woman do 
 anything ; and so, between madness and 
 love of adventure, at once assumed the part. 
 Dashing on the colors in more profusion 
 than any other lady would be clothed, she 
 and the Judge and Mr. Edge hastened on 
 foot to the Capitol, and, as before stated, 
 just arrived at what was likely to have 
 been a fatal moment to the Government. 
 Thus coming on the portico, where she 
 expected to be merely as any other of the 
 number, was a signal for greetings she lit- 
 tle thought of. South Carolina was really 
 the only State of much interest, and her 
 representative was the very queen of queens. 
 The eyes of the many thousands were all 
 turned on her, and she in turn looked on 
 them all as innocently happy as if she 
 were in a Philadelphia boarding-school. I 
 knew her, and so did some of my friends, 
 and we were all afraid she would speak, 
 and so betray the whole thing ; but this 
 showed only how little we knew of the 
 capacity of a green country girl under 
 excitement. Scarcely had she ventured 
 forth, her father and the Judge standing 
 near, and many of the people exultant 
 over her coming, while many, even enemies 
 to the country, were captivated with her 
 beauty, when Douglas stepped forth — to 
 hold Lincoln's hat, and to make some 
 preliminaries preparatory to the oath of 
 office. 
 
 " Again are the representatives," said he, 
 " of our several States assembled, as tokens 
 of love for the principles which have made 
 you (to Lincoln) the people's choice. To 
 you (to the ladles), the fair representatives 
 of these United States, I assume the re- 
 s])onsibility of bestowing a nation's thanks, 
 and a nation's love. To you (to Vickey), 
 the gentle representative of South Carolina, 
 may the incoming Administration be the 
 
 inspiration to peace and quietude to your 
 State as yourself over us all holds com- 
 mand, by purity and nobleness of pur- 
 pose." 
 
 Here he halted a moment, and she 
 thought he wanted her to reply, and so she 
 said, 
 
 " Our hopes are manifested by myself 
 being here. I would not speak in public ; 
 but I love my State, and more, I love my 
 country. This, I do presume, for American 
 laches, will ever be their highest joy ; while 
 noble hearts their lords maintain toward 
 the great republic, to ever decorate their 
 persons with the red, white, and blue." 
 She then smiled, and waved her little flag, 
 striving hard to hide her deep emotion. 
 But as firmly did the people control theirs, 
 for her voice, by its sweetness and purity, 
 had rendered her sentiments most sublime, 
 and to be treasured as one of the most 
 comprehensive and feminine speeches on 
 record. It was a sentiment to make man 
 manly, and this is a rare sentiment in 
 woman's public sjieeches. 
 
 Baker, of Oregon, then came forward, 
 and introduced Lincoln, and thus ran Lin- 
 coln's inaugural, to wit : 
 
 " This is an occasion of painful joy and 
 solicitude. We all do know the questions 
 upon us. We are all countrymen of one 
 country. But we can never separate. A 
 man and wife may separate and go away, 
 but we must remain, even if separated. If 
 we make ourselves aliens to each other, 
 still we gain nothing. Friends can make 
 laws better than aliens can treaties. Sup- 
 pose we go to war ; after many of us have 
 fallen, the question would still arise. I am 
 called by the people, according to the laws 
 of the country. Only will I execute those 
 laws; and the Constitution shall be pre- 
 served. The property of the Government 
 must be protected. In your hands, my 
 countrymen, is the issue. The Government 
 will not assail any State, or the laws of 
 any State. H' you assail the Government, 
 that is your matter. You take no rightful 
 oath to destroy our country, but I take 
 one simply to protect it. We are friends. 
 Passion may have strained the cords of 
 our affection, but it must not break our 
 ties of national brotherhood. The chords 
 of memory, from every battle held, from 
 every patriot grave, to every living heart 
 in this land will sing in chorus for this 
 Union when touched by the angels of our 
 purer nature." 
 
 Hereupon Taney came forward, bearing 
 the Holy Bible and Constitution, and di- 
 rected Lincoln to lay his right hand on 
 them, and to raise the left to Heaven, and 
 they repeated these words, 
 
15G 
 
 TflE FALL OF FORT SUMTER ; OR, 
 
 " I, Abraham Lincoln, do solemnly swear 
 before thee, Almighty God, that I will 
 protect the Constitution, defend the na- 
 tional property, and execute the national 
 laws for the term of four years from this 
 date. Help me, God, and make me right- 
 eous to do Thy will." 
 
 Such was the end. The vast concourse 
 of people were in confusion, every one 
 turning his own way. every one expressing 
 opinions on the occasion. But the secret 
 guard still kept on duty, still kept beside 
 Lincoln and Buchanan. The former firm 
 and much overcome by the trying scene, 
 the latter pale as death, and trembling, 
 ejaculating to himself continually, " O 
 dear ! O mv God ! O Heaven ! My God ! 
 My God ! * Oh, dear ! Oh, dear ! " At 
 times he would look toward the people as 
 if lost to comprehend what was going on, 
 and then again he would look downward, 
 in the most mortified melancholy that ever 
 man exhibited. Twice or thrice Lincoln 
 spoke to him, but got no answer, only 
 heard the low wailings and sighs of the 
 almost dying politician, who, like a mis- 
 creant, now fully beheld the crime of his 
 imbecility. He realized, at last, that of all 
 the five-and-thirty millions of people, not 
 a single one would ever more mention his 
 name but in shame and hatred. He real- 
 ized that he was not a man ; that he had 
 been discovered to be merely a bogus 
 piece of worthless flesh and bones, with 
 none of the spirit or soul of a genuine 
 mortal. Thus, in agony and shame, did we 
 lift his trembling form into the carriage, to 
 take the last ride he would ever take at 
 Government expense. Downward, though, 
 he held his head ; he knew no more where 
 we were taking him, nor of what was pass- 
 ing, than does the delirious maniac, when 
 all things seem as devils for his torture. 
 He had had his day, and this was his last. 
 North and South both said, " 'Tis good, 
 this is his last." Farewell, Buchanan ; thou 
 wert a whale in the ocean, and we took 
 thee for dry land ; but thou didst dive 
 and leave us at the mercy of the waves. 
 Good for thee that we laugh at our folly 
 and some the fall assume, or we had 
 
 harpooned thee ! Away, imbecile Presi- 
 dent ! 
 
 The writer of this great work here halted 
 a moment, for Jenkins became too excited 
 to continue ; but when I told him Buchanan 
 was gone now, he said, " No, not yet ! 
 One other view of him you shall yet have, 
 and then he is done." 
 
 In a little while Jenkins reverted to the 
 history as follows, to wit : 
 
 On our way back we changed the pro- 
 gramme, all of us accompanying Lincoln 
 to the Mansion, when we alighted, and 
 rather unceremoniously made ourselves 
 quite welcome. Lincoln shook hands 
 with the girls, and was quite humorous ; 
 paving no more attention to Scott, Holt, 
 or Seward, than to any one else. Now, 
 although the day was so fair, it was chilly, 
 and Lincoln called a colored chap and 
 ordered him to tell the cook to fire up, or 
 we would all come down in the kitchen. 
 The cook was a Southern man, and, having 
 heard much said about Lincoln's green- 
 ness, and having been used to the words 
 " fire up," which means, down South, to 
 pass round the whiskey, what does he do, 
 but, filling a two-bushel basket with 
 choice bottles, conies right before the new 
 President, saying, M Here you are, here's 
 fire for the whole Mansion. We've run 
 the machine pretty fast down in the 
 kitchen to-day, and, considering as when 
 a fellow gets anything new he must ' wet 
 it,' we saved this lot for your Excellency." 
 Down he threw the basket, and we won- 
 dered what Lincoln would say ; but he 
 was never at a loss for a word, and he 
 said, " Oh, excuse me sir, it is the outside 
 w r e would warm. For four years, terrible 
 as it may seem, this house shall indulge in 
 water." He did not laugh, nor was he 
 moved more than had he been looking at 
 the moon. But the joke is told to this 
 day in the kitchen of the "White House. 
 The next chapter will be after this ; but 
 as this is the last chapter before the last 
 except one, the last word of this one shall 
 be last. 
 
LOYE AND WAR IN 1860. 
 
 157 
 
 CHAPTEE XIX 
 
 NINETEENTH SITTING, WHEREIN IS GIVEN THE EVIDENCE, WHICH HAS BEEN HERETOFORE WITHHELD 
 FROM CERTAIN PERSONS NOT NAMED, IN CONSEQUENCE OF THE FEARFUL RUMORS PERVADING 
 WASHINGTON, AND THE SHAPING OF THE END OF THE FIRST PART OF THIS REMARKABLE HISTORY. 
 
 Without waiting for an explanation, 
 the writer of these annals informed his in- 
 former that the above heading was suffi- 
 ciently confused to be mistaken for an 
 emanation from that great philosopher 
 who compared Paris to a wheel full of 
 fishes. 
 
 " Why," said Jenkins, " that's not con- 
 fused at all. Fishes swallow one another, 
 and they turn round and get swallowed in 
 turn ; and so if they turn round they are 
 like a wheel." 
 
 " But why," said I, " does it apply more 
 to Paris than to any other city ? For the 
 people in all civilized countries live on 
 one another." 
 
 " The philosopher did not say so," said 
 he ; but ere I had time to speak further on 
 this weighty matter, he took up his notes, 
 and thus began, to wit : — 
 
 [Scene. — Court of Etiquette and Moral Phi- 
 losophy. Judge Francis Underhill of 
 Loudon Heights ; in the chair; various 
 members of tlie court assembled ; Jenkins 
 in the witness 1 box ; papers in hand, read- 
 ing despatches. Judge has his spectacles 
 thrown up on his forehead — his old silver 
 spectacles. Time, late in the afternoon.] 
 
 Jenkins. — First despatch from Charles- 
 ton : " The soldiers in Fort Sumter are 
 starving. The rebels will not let in pro- 
 visions. The soldiers petition the rebels 
 not to fire, for in three days they— the 
 rebels — can take the fort without resis- 
 tance. Soldiers seventy-five strong, men 
 all told. Rebels twenty thousand strong, 
 all told. Rebels won't wait ; want a 
 spree, to spill blood. Ladies in Charles- 
 ton circulate a petition for signature, to be 
 presented to Lincoln, praying for no coer- 
 cion, and warning him that their chival- 
 ric twenty thousand will assuredly attack 
 the seventy-five men if he dare to raise his 
 finger in menace, or to bring them food." 
 
 Second despatch, from Montgomery: 
 " Beauregard is considered by the South 
 as the greatest of American generals. 
 
 Bragg ranks next. They talk of eating 
 up the whole nation." 
 
 Third despatch : " Lord Dundreary, 
 the notorious correspondent, has just com- 
 pleted a letter to the English people, 
 wherein he says the Southern people all 
 wish they had an English Prince or Prin- 
 cess to rale over them. It is unknown 
 whether he wrote it from malice or igno- 
 rance." 
 
 Fourth despatch, from the South, West, 
 and North : " The Mississippi river is be- 
 ing fortified by the rebels for upward of 
 one thousand miles in length. Rebel 
 armies are assembling on the frontiers of all 
 the slave States. All goods being sent 
 South must prepay a duty. Custom-houses 
 for that purpose are established in Phila- 
 delphia, New York, Cincinnati, Chicago, 
 and St. Louis. A secession paper is pub- 
 lished in Philadelphia called the Palmetto 
 Flag. The so-called Democratic papers 
 all over the country embrace the cause of 
 secession. Mayor Wood, of New York, 
 urges the city to secede." 
 
 Fifth despatch: "All the frontiers of 
 Virginia, even in sight of the city of 
 Washington, are being crowded with 
 rapidly concentrating rebel armies." 
 
 Sixth despatch : " The national Govern- 
 ment as yet is doing nothing for defence. 
 Lincoln organized his Cabinet in a day. 
 All is in harmony on our side." 
 
 Judge. — " Whether this comes to war or 
 not, it is yet peace; and we, the Judge 
 of this court and proprietor of Loudon 
 Heights, are resolved to have a good time 
 while we may. Just as I said to Lincoln 
 to-day, while I held his hat at the Capitol, 
 we have too much pleasure in this country 
 to be meddling with war. What more, 
 Mr. Jenkins ? " 
 
 Jenkins. — " I thought Douglas held Lin- 
 coln's hat ? " 
 
 Judge.— "But that blow of Wood, to 
 talk of New York seceding ! Will he be 
 remembered with adoration ? " 
 
 The Judge wiped his spectacles. I saw 
 
158 
 
 THE FALL OF FORT SUMTER : OR, 
 
 he saw I had seen, and wished the court 
 meddle not about the hat. Nor did I 
 presume to disturb the harmony of the 
 court, and was favored by one of the 
 most fortunate incidents that ever oc- 
 curred. The report of two or three pistol- 
 shots on the street started every member 
 in the temple to his feet. Judge Francis 
 adjourned at once, and we all rushed to 
 the door, where, in looking down the 
 Avenue, we beheld some two dozen per- 
 sons in citizen dress, surrounding Madame 
 Ponchard and Orsini. They were prison- 
 ers, and the people bound them with a 
 rope. We then came down from the por- 
 tico of the Temple, halting near the pillars 
 thereof, till the Judge charged us all to 
 be in readiness for any summons he might 
 from the nature of events be oblged to 
 issue. We then shook hands, little think- 
 ing what would intervene before we as- 
 sembled together again. The Judge and 
 myself then walked together to the before- 
 named crowd of citizens, but the other 
 members w r ent another w r ay ; for several 
 pistols were fired, and many of us feared 
 we might be shot. The citizens said to 
 one another, " We know these two per- 
 sons, Madame Ponchard and Orsini, con- 
 spired against Lincoln's life ; w T e will have 
 them lodged in prison until the facts 
 are examined into, and, if they are guilty, 
 they must be punished ; nor can any man 
 pardon them for such an offence but Lin- 
 coln himself." Yet some few others said, 
 " Nay, let them go. If you harm a hair 
 of their heads, this city shall on the in- 
 stant be laid in ruins. 1 ' The captors were, 
 however, much more numerous, and they 
 marched off with the prisoners, even 
 though many knives and pistols were 
 used on them. In a little while they 
 reached the prison, and the two prisoners 
 were put in and secured. By this time, 
 however, the citizens had increased in 
 number to upward of three or four hun- 
 dred. A large majority were undoubtedly 
 in favor of retaining the prisoners, but a 
 forcible rescue was threatened all round. 
 In this predicament — for civil law was 
 nearly powerless — a number of men went 
 to see Lincoln, to lay the case before him, 
 and to urge him at once to declare martial 
 law in the District of Columbia, and to 
 caution him on the dangers that would 
 otherwise arise. Now, when they had 
 come to the President's Mansion, it was 
 closed against them, and hence arose the 
 saying that Lincoln was so glad of his 
 election that he got drunk. But this was 
 false ; for, as stated in the previous chap- 
 ter of this invaluable history, Lincoln had 
 made it a law for the White House, that, 
 
 during four years, any one could indulge 
 in water as much as he liked. What he 
 was doing, though, that he would not 
 receive the above-named committee, this 
 deponent knoweth not. He knew, though, 
 that the committee resolved to follow the 
 matter up, and that, by careful research, 
 they discovered that he would most prob- 
 ably visit one of the richest of American 
 citizens. As soon as this was ascertained, 
 some of the committee went their way, 
 but others of them waited in the grounds 
 of the Mansion; for not only Madame 
 Ponchard and Orsini were to be feared, 
 but many rebels, made mad by Lincoln's 
 success so far, now declared openly that 
 they would not raise a hand to keep an 
 assassin's knife out of Lincoln's heart. In 
 this state of affairs Scott ordered a small 
 guard, disguised a little, to keep a distant 
 watch over the new President, and the 
 consequence was, friends and guard were 
 alike suspicious of one another, and of 
 known rebels. The arrest of Madame 
 Ponchard and Orsini was really a danger- 
 ous proceeding, not so much on account 
 of Orsini, but Madame Ponchard. The 
 American people had been taught so much 
 charity to woman, that any crime she 
 could commit was forgiven. Women 
 could defame the pulpit by preaching 
 holiness, even while in male attire their 
 wantonness boasted pride to have no 
 shame ; they stalked the clinique and dis- 
 secting room, and, like parrots, learned a 
 choice of w T ords, not for good, but love 
 of notoriety ; they clamored for their right 
 to do these things by public harangues 
 which they called speeches and lectures; 
 and these, their bad examples, were seized 
 upon by women of lower grade, who, for 
 notoriety, would horsewhip or shoot a 
 man. Yet, were she arrested and tried, 
 she was always acquitted ; nay, she was 
 applauded and encouraged in it, for it 
 was her right ; for suppose she horse- 
 whipped a man or shot him — poor, dear 
 thing, it pleased her ! Suppose she 
 studied medicine in order to practise sin 
 with good skill : no matter — poor thing, 
 she wanted to ! Suppose she vented her 
 grievances in the rostrum, calling it a lec- 
 ture, poisoning the happy daughter's 
 dreams of the future, by sowing there 
 the leprosy of her own perverted thoughts 
 — no matter ; 'tis a free country, and the 
 poor, dear tiling had a right to do so ! 
 Thus had woman attained a right, where- 
 in she was sapping the foundation of all 
 that is pure and holy between the sexes, 
 establishing a preeminence for herself that 
 obliterated all law, that gave her the full- 
 est liberty to any crime. It was almost 
 
LOVE AND WAR IN 1860. 
 
 159 
 
 impossible to punish her. No matter what 
 the crime, people everywhere, and nearly 
 everybody cried out, Shame ! if she were 
 even arrested to be tried. Thus it was 
 when Madame Ponchard was taken. The 
 rebels made capital of it. They called it 
 Lincoln's attack on the women. And be- 
 cause a few men kept guard round the 
 Mansion, the rebels said he was a coward ; 
 that he stayed at home, and sent out vigil- 
 ants to capture women. These stories were 
 seized upon and sent by telegraph all over 
 the country, and the opinions of news- 
 papers in far-off cities were returned to 
 Washington with such exaggeration as 
 pleases best the fancy, to move more than 
 ever the latent fire now kindling there. 
 
 Now it is a good thing in a republic to 
 have a judge to suit you ; for, if you are 
 on his side, he'll be on yours also, and, no 
 
 matter for what you are bound up, he can 
 give you an injunction or habeas corpus, 
 and set you free in an instant. 'Tis a 
 blessed thing to be a judge, or to be on 
 the judge's side, and for this reason look 
 out whom you elect. 'Twas so in Wash- 
 ington. The secession party had their 
 judge in Washington. The vigilants 
 knew this ; knew that, for the asking, 
 he would have the body of Madame Pon- 
 chard. But they selected one of their 
 number to go to the judge and take him 
 out riding, and so it was arranged. 
 
 Now, with this brief statement on my 
 part, I will revert to the Judge and my- 
 self, which is to say, we separated, he go- 
 ing directly to the President's Mansion, 
 and I following the beforementioned crowd 
 of people engaged with Madame Ponchard 
 and Orsini. 
 
 CHAPTER XX 
 
 THE MARRIAGES THE DISPERSION — THE FLIGHT OF MADAME PONCHARD THE RECEPTION THE FALL 
 
 OF FORT SUMTER — THE CALL FOR SEVENTY-FIVE THOUSAND MEN. 
 
 Miss Underbill had now been back 
 some time, but was still quite unwell. 
 The torture had been hard for her, and 
 yet her own remorse was harder. The 
 thought that she had been engaged in 
 such a foolish adventure mortified her 
 feelings. This made her backward and 
 diffident. Mostly she kept her room, and 
 did converse but little. None of us ever 
 mentioned her adventure. We forgot it. 
 We remembered only that she had been 
 on a long visit, and that we had no joy 
 while she was away. In distant strains 
 and on distant themes we conversed ; and 
 of all the guests at the Jackson House, 
 only the Judge, myself, and the slave Kate 
 knew what had been, and why so long 
 away our summer flower had ceased to 
 bloom. Yet there was one so close and 
 intimate — I mean Vickey. So kind and 
 true this girl waited near, and all wants 
 supplied. 1 almost wept that Vickey was 
 so good ; for, for her vanity and greenness 
 I had valued her so low, and now must I 
 so much her naked, pure heart acknowl- 
 edge, I almost did wish it were not so ; 
 but most I grieved that society could so 
 spoil and spot such an angel-like creature. 
 
 My part I can never write, of what I 
 said or did, or of what to me was said. 
 The mistress of Loudon Heights was the 
 
 purest and best I ever knew ; and with 
 this belief, I assure you, words can never 
 be of light character. Ignorance of things 
 around may lead to mischief, but not the 
 heart will. Listen, and you shall hear. 
 But let us back. 
 
 About daybreak there did appear before 
 our servant a man so lean and tattered, 
 with sickly cast and melancholy, not one 
 above a thousand had noticed him. With 
 voice from sickness hollow, and full of 
 woe, he thus began : 
 
 " Tell me, sir, is this where Judge 
 Underbill lives ? Scarce my sight this 
 house can compass, for loug I have lain 
 in a dark room, and am some bewildered. 
 Judge Underbill, does he live here, sir ? " 
 
 Surveying him from head to foot, our 
 servant thus gave answer : 
 
 " Yes, sir ; the Judge lives here, and so 
 does his niece. Shall I ascertain if he is 
 at home ? " 
 
 In some confusion the invalid rejoined, 
 " Did I mistake you, sir ? " 
 
 Servan t. — " No, sir ; the Judge lives 
 here. Shall I ascertain if he is at home 
 for you ? " 
 
 Stranger. — " That part I understand, 
 sir ; but what said you of his niece ? She 
 is dead ! " 
 
 Servant. — " Why, sir, then she has died 
 
160 
 
 THE FALL OF FOKT SUMTER ; OR, 
 
 since breakfast. I carried breakfast to her 
 door this morning, and, if I am not blind, 
 I saw her smile right merrily at the sight 
 of it." 
 
 In pensive mood, and almost choking 
 with emotion, the pale man gazed on his 
 informer, speechless, and sat himself down. 
 To and fro the servant walked, as if, per- 
 chance, he thought this were a poor rel- 
 ative, or a culprit abashed, and seeking 
 audience with great and good people. 
 And so, to give him further hint that this 
 was no time to call, he thus went on : 
 
 " Miss Underbill and her uncle are both 
 quite busily engaged. Report has it that 
 she is to marry this night, and I am in- 
 clined to believe so ; for, even while I 
 stood with the breakfast things, I saw 
 such dazzling robes of white, and such 
 golden head-gear, I am myself convinced. 
 I don't think they would see company." 
 
 Almost the stranger froze, but spoke 
 not. 
 
 Servant. — " The Cabinet, and, I believe, 
 the Presidents, are to be here, and the 
 foreign ambassadors. The Judge is a 
 man of great wealth, and very eccentric, 
 and he has presented his niece, for the 
 occasion, some costly jewelry and service 
 in silver and gold. Mr. Edge, the great 
 railroad contractor, is tendered the free- 
 dom of the house, and his daughter, to 
 blind the public from believing the mar- 
 riage is to be, calls the event her reception 
 for this season. But we, the confidential 
 servants of the house, know and under- 
 stand these sort of things. We have 
 been there before." 
 
 Again in silence walks the servant, 
 again in silence almost dies the stranger, 
 nor words— for the wild torrent of thoughts 
 was rushing there — could come to rescue. 
 At last he asks : 
 
 " Can this be the same — Miss Ann 
 Underbill, of Loudon Heights ? Was she 
 not long since supposed to be dead ? " 
 
 Servant. — "The very same. Oh! ay, 
 she was smitten after a planter down 
 South, and her uncle sent her off till the 
 chap should leave." 
 
 Oh, burning, burning thoughts, that 
 now in deadening blast swept through 
 the pale man's fevered brain ; and yet 
 speechless sat he there, trying to master 
 the flow of grief. The servant saw, but 
 seemed not to notice it, for he, too, was 
 an American, and delicate in feeling ; but 
 he mistook the cause, and deemed him a 
 poor relative, who, by the marriage, must 
 lose something of the old bachelor's es- 
 tate, and thus he tried to comfort him : 
 
 " But the Judge will never give them 
 anything. The young man is rich enough. 
 
 I only wish I were a forty-second cousin 
 to the Judge ; his niece might go, for the 
 old man can be wheedled into the good 
 graces of anybody who will try. A thou- 
 sand or two is nothing to him— only take 
 him on the soft spots. A rich old bachelor 
 must be flattered ; you must drink his 
 wine, you must call him and all he lias 
 the all that is worth having. lie, having 
 never been caressed by a wife, falls in love 
 with you, and so gives you his money." 
 
 " Who is his niece to marry ? " ventures 
 now the stranger, with as much indiffer- 
 ence as he could master. 
 
 8t riant. — " The grandson of one of 
 those would-be Virginian rulers, whose 
 speech-making and writing made his name 
 notorious." 
 
 The stranger knew, for everybody knows 
 that to this day it is a saying, " As Jen- 
 kins says, notorious shall ever be the name 
 of Jenkins, and the things that Jenkins 
 says." 
 
 So still they were, you could hear the 
 ticking of a w T atch, as the servant paced 
 to and fro, as the stranger, speechless, sat 
 there. But it must have an end, and so, 
 in time, this was concluded. 
 
 Stranger. — " Sir, I am that Southern 
 planter. My name is Wadsworth. The 
 things you tell me are more than I can 
 bear, for I cannot weep like other men. 
 I thought this lady dead, but I am glad 
 that it is not so. You seem to be a man 
 of much discretion and good feeling, and 
 when you tell me she is to marry another, 
 you almost murder me with the sound of 
 your voice. The man she is to marry is 
 my best-loved friend. Alas! so isolated 
 I have lived, I never had many friends. 
 My life has been one continued scene of 
 trial and deprivation on the ground of 
 affection. I have lived where, and by 
 travelling from place to place, the fruit 
 of my love has had no recipient — till, 
 alas, I crossed this beautiful flower ! To 
 tell me that she was sent away, till I 
 should leave, oh, what a dagger is in thy 
 words ! Is my nature wrong ? And are 
 all the parts whereof I am made unsuited 
 to the world, that all persons do shun my 
 love ? Oh, tell me not that this is so, or 
 lo, in fell despair, I rend in pieces the 
 earthly part that gains no favor ! " 
 
 Tears came not, but, heaving high his 
 breast, as one of noble spirit unfairly tried, 
 he much smothered and awhile iu silence 
 weighed the matter. 
 
 " Say, my friend," he then resumed, " pro- 
 vide me a room adjoining the ballroom, 
 where I can view the evening's doings, but 
 tell no one that I am there concealed. I 
 will see all this gaudy display, and see the 
 
LOVE AND WAE IN 1S60. 
 
 161 
 
 marriage, and, if I deem it true that Bhe 
 loves liin>, and he her, 1 will rejoice that I 
 
 saw so goii.l a wedding; and on the morrow 
 1 will quit this city. Oh, fear not, sir; I 
 have plenty of money, though I am in rags. 
 I have been confined in an obscure hospital, 
 daily writing letters to my friends the 
 Judge and Jenkins, but, getting no an- 
 swer, I did suspect foul treatment ; and 
 so, having regained a little strength, I 
 climbed over the walls and ran away." 
 
 Thus they struck a bargain, and the 
 servant sent him to the room, to the 
 pantry where the scuttle window looks 
 into the ballroom. Now, some servants 
 betray confidence and let their fellows 
 know their bonds in trust ; but this one 
 was an American. 
 
 Peggy Vandorn, Vickey's aunt, was sick. 
 The Judge had not courted her for a long 
 time, and she was heart-broken. The 
 patent whalebone and straps did not work 
 well on so old a form. Her ribs got sore 
 and lame. Gaiters did not well in place 
 of thick shoes ; her feet were galled. The 
 bosom pads had heated her, and her skin 
 was smarting with prickly heat. The false 
 teeth and plumpers had stretched her 
 mouth so much that it was all cankered ; 
 and thus, in great pain, she denuded her- 
 self of the things of fashion, and went to 
 bed. She w T as sick. She got thin. She 
 was thin before, but now she got much 
 thinner. She got so thin that her false 
 teeth lost their suction. She could not 
 keep them in her mouth. She felt that 
 they were a useless expense. So Avere the 
 pads and the whalebone. She and 
 Vickey concluded to take them all back 
 — the whalebone and pads to the store, 
 and the teeth to the dentist — and try to 
 get the money back. So they went, the 
 poor old maid and the gay young belle. 
 But they failed to get the money back. 
 So they told it — told how badly they had 
 been treatc!. Many people heard of it, 
 heard of their foolish, penurious conduct, 
 and so they were laughed at. Only a few- 
 did not laugh. These were the Judge's 
 friends. The Judge w T as a good man, al- 
 though he had many foolish eccentricities. 
 His friends resolved to cure and to prevent 
 his foolish adventure. Thus they ctmsjnr- 
 e 1 against 1dm, to be his friend, for they 
 reasoned and said to one another, >l This 
 E.lge family, however educated, and how- 
 ever kind and true, are possessed with 
 notions too low to ever pass long in good 
 society unscathed. Therefore we must 
 prevent the marriage." 
 
 On the morning of the day in mention, 
 11 
 
 a carriage and pair of beautiful bays ap- 
 proached the Jackson House, and was 
 driven to the stables. The carnage was 
 mounted with pearl and silver, and the 
 harness was studded with gold. No one 
 seemed to know whose they were. The 
 driver would not tell, and it had no other 
 occupant. Every one supposed it was the 
 Judge's, and that, ere midnight, lie pur- 
 posed bearing hence in it his young bride. 
 The melancholy and non-committal char- 
 acter of Vickey made many believe she 
 was engaged. 
 
 In a separate room some friends of the 
 Judge now held counsel with the clerk 
 — that ever-mischievous clerk — and they 
 told him Vickey did not w T ant the Judge, 
 but that now was his time, to take her in 
 the extremity of trouble; and she would 
 elope and marry him. And they pointed 
 to the carriage, assuring him that they 
 would make him a present of that if he 
 w r ould thus cut out the Judge. The sus- 
 picious clerk feared it was a trick — leased 
 they did not own the carriage. Thry tol 1 
 him to encounter Vickey during the fore- 
 part of the evening, and that they would 
 have the carriage at the door, wdiich he 
 was to tell her was his own, and a present 
 to her. Thus they persuaded the clerk, 
 and he in turn assured them. 
 
 But at about that same hour of the day 
 the Judge called on me to say that Vickey 
 had agreed to elope with him that night ; 
 that her father would undoubtedly oppose 
 the match, and she had herself proposed 
 the elopement. The Judge was calm then. 
 He never seemed more calm. Thrice he 
 took off his old silver spectacles, wiped 
 and readjusted them, and I knew by his 
 earnestness to clear them of every speck 
 of dirt that he was at that time perfectly 
 composed. Said I, 
 
 " If it is your w ill and hers, I am with 
 you. - ' 
 
 Said he, " I have said." 
 
 I then told him I thought a man of his 
 wealth and position should not elope. 
 
 " But, you see, she's under age," said 
 he, " and, if I wait, she may back out. 
 Better strike while the iron's hot." 
 
 To this we both agreed. I am sure it 
 was a perfect understanding between us. 
 He did not ~.ay he had purchased the car- 
 riage, but he told me it was for that pur- 
 pose, and he asked me only to witness his 
 departure, not to urge Vickey in any way, 
 and I was then to return into the ballroom 
 and publicly announce the elopement. No 
 hour was set down, only it was agreed to 
 be in the forepart of the evening. He 
 told me where they would drive to, who 
 
' The old maid wouldn't wear her false teeth. She was taking them hack to the dentist." 
 
LOVE AND WAR IN 1860. 
 
 163 
 
 would marry them, and by whom I should 
 send word to them of tho effect produced 
 in the ballroom. We then talked over 
 some matters in relation to myself and his 
 niece — matters that I do not care to have 
 inserted in this history, although I state 
 that most of the newspaper accounts of 
 this whole affair were without truth, and 
 were merely the guessings of those busy- 
 like penny-a-liners. One thing, however, 
 was true — that at about five o'clock I call- 
 ed on Lincoln and invited him to be at 
 the Jackson House at about eleven at 
 night, and that I told him that most of 
 the officials in Washington were to make 
 an informal call at that hour at that place. 
 I did not tell him to keep it secret, or to 
 make believe it was an accidental call. 
 But it is true, too, that, when I called on 
 Lincoln, he was eating a dish of mush and 
 milk. It was then he told me of the story 
 of the log-rolling, which was no stery at 
 all. That is to say, as all Western men 
 know, at a large log-rolling the men fre- 
 quently divide themselves into parties of 
 six to ten men. He was eating his mush 
 and milk at the time, and he said the se- 
 cession of those States put him in mind 
 of a log-rolling where the men got drunk, 
 who, instead of piling up the logs, divided 
 themselves into groups for the purpose of 
 pulling them down. " Now," said he, " I 
 am captain of this log-rolling, and I am 
 not drunk, nor can you make me drunk 
 on mush and milk. I don't see any differ- 
 ence between thirty-five drunken men at 
 loggerheads — speaking of log-rolling — 
 than I do with thirty millions of people 
 at war. There is just as much danger at 
 a log-rolling as there is here ; and the 
 position of the captain of the one and the 
 President of the other is exactly the same. 
 Through my specs they are just the same 
 size. If those fellows at Charleston pull 
 down our heaps, we'll knock them. You 
 see, the clearing is fenced, and the corn is 
 sprouting, and whoever pulls down the 
 fence will let in stray cattle. Did you see 
 Piussel's letter — about the South sighing 
 for a foreign prince ? By heavens ! let 
 them open the gap to foreign cattle, the 
 fur will fly ! " 
 
 He set down his bowl with firmness, 
 and then shook his head good-humoredly. 
 " Jenkins," said he again, " I'll come to 
 your wedding to-night ; only don't keep 
 me waiting, for I must run the machine 
 on double time for a while." 
 
 I thanked him, and then left. 
 
 Now it was arranged by Mr., Mrs., and 
 Vickey Edge that the house should be 
 opened at exactly nine o'clock. The two 
 former had, by degrees, come to the con- 
 
 clusion that no one was to marry Vickey 
 or the old maid, but they were resolved to 
 make this the greatest reception of the 
 season, partly, no doubt, in spite, to show 
 how gorgeously they could do things. To 
 do this effectually, a suitable line of eti- 
 quette officers were appointed, to super- 
 intend the invitation cards, the dress, the 
 wine, the toasts, the music, and all things 
 belonging to a magnificent display. To 
 Hon. James Hamilton was awarded the 
 honor of devising the cards, which for 
 neatness were never surpassed in this coun- 
 try. The coat of arms, which were a soap- 
 boiler, candle moulds, and railway, were so 
 arranged that, at a casual glance, you 
 would call it the American eagle ; but it 
 had a deeper significance : for round the 
 edges, the name Edge was arrayed in gold 
 and diamonds. The dresses for ladies 
 were optional with reference to material, 
 but the trail was specified, and so were 
 the neck and the extent of lace. Gentle- 
 men were to wear coats of either jmre 
 black or pure blue, and must be either 
 wool or silk, and not mixed. White 
 gloves were to be presented at the door. 
 The music was to begin at fifteen minutes 
 before eleven. The wine had been left 
 entirely to the Judge, to be provided as 
 he saw proper. 
 
 Now, as* all persons are aware, a ball, a 
 reception, a wedding, and a funeral are 
 always behind time ; so, on this occasion, 
 everything was two hours out of joint. It 
 was nine o'clock ere the Judge had order- 
 ed the barrels to be tapped. It was half- 
 past nine before the house was lighted. 
 A few carriages came, and the guests also. 
 One couple, a lady and gentleman, were 
 seen to leave. No one knew who they 
 were. They entered the magnificent vehi- 
 cle seen during the day, and were now 
 gone. In came the guests ; the place was 
 soon one sparkling scene of gold and dia- 
 monds ; but the lady Vickey, who gave 
 the reception, came not in. Messengers 
 were despatched to her room, which was 
 locked, and from which often and often 
 came the answer, " Tell the guests I will 
 soon come clown." And so the guests were 
 told, but she came not. The committee 
 waited at her door, but the same voice 
 answered, " Tell them I am coming this 
 moment," and they went and told it. But 
 the house was all in confusion ; it was 
 looking like a farce. Informal introduc- 
 tions took place ; the time for music was 
 now come, but what should be done ? In 
 the hall, through the hall, out and in again 
 went the Judge, his old silver spectacles 
 stored high on his forehead. Mr. and Mrs. 
 Edge, arrayed in all their glory, were alike 
 
164 
 
 THE FALL OF FORT SUMTER. 
 
 confounded at the conduct of Vickey. To 
 all their coaxing, to all their scolding, 
 came that only answer, " I'm coming in 
 a few moments." 
 
 But the guests could not wait ; they 
 must dance, and so they danced. But 
 Edge became passionate ; he declared he 
 would burst open the door if Vickey 
 came not forth. The door was opened. 
 Vickey was not there, only a little girl 
 she had hired to repeat those words. To 
 all their questions she was non-committal. 
 She knew nothing of the belle of the 
 evening. Mr. Edge became enraged. 
 " Give me the keys," said he. " Go, tell 
 the clerk I want the keys. I'll search 
 every room in the house. Off ! off ! " 
 He made everybody his servant. Every- 
 body ran for the clerk, but no one found 
 him. The clerk was gone. Whisperings 
 now went round, and rapidly, of the elope- 
 ment. Mr. Edge was astounded. Could 
 his daughter elope with the clerk of a 
 hotel? Mrs. Edge knew there had been 
 foul play. Their daughter had been 
 forced off. Thus they raved, and thus 
 were the assembled guests astonished. 
 The Judge became agitated, but he re- 
 membered that it might all be a trick, 
 and so he told them all. " 'Twas just as 
 he once remarked to Daniel "Webster : a 
 young girl of seventeen is a slirjpery thing 
 — too slippery for a king. I'd never trust 
 a girl of seventeen." 
 
 But now, as came the midnight hour, 
 and merriment went on, in came a mes- 
 senger, and told us all that Vickey and 
 the clerk were married, and that they 
 craved pardon and the right to return to 
 their presence as man and wife. By deceit 
 the messenger was ordered to tell them to 
 return, and all would be forgiven, and so 
 he left. Now, about this hour, when, in 
 fact, were assembled there the highest 
 officers of state, even Lincoln and Scott, 
 the sad announcement was made of the 
 beginning of the battle of Fort Sumter. 
 Full particulars were expected in a few 
 minutes by Prescott himself, who was 
 announced to have arrived in the city 
 with despatches to the President. Mixed, 
 now, was the pleasure of the hour, and all 
 were horror-stricken. Yet the saddest 
 part is not told. 
 
 In another part of the Jackson House, 
 arrayed in snow-white lace, was the lady 
 of my choice, the dearest, purest, and yet 
 the saddest fair one I ever knew. At 
 eight in the evening Ave were to have 
 been married in the orange parlor, and to 
 have attended the reception soon after. 
 At that early hour only a dim light was 
 in the hall. The guests of the affair were 
 
 already waiting us, and I was awaiting 
 the approach of gentle Ann, when, in 
 looking down the dim-like hall, and ob- 
 serving a lady in white, I heard a violent 
 scream, and saw her fall against the par- 
 tition to support herself. 1 rushed to the 
 spot, and, turning to the gaze of her fixed 
 eyes, there beheld at the window the face 
 of Wadsworth. Scarce could I move, and 
 my head was giddy from emotion. Fixed 
 she was, and so was Wadsworth. I took 
 her hand, and, turning to him, exclaimed, 
 " My God ! Wadsworth, is that you ? " 
 
 " Oh, sir ! " he said, and burst into 
 tears ; but poor, gentle Ann could bear 
 no more. Even at my feet she sank down, 
 and no syllable uttered. " Come ! " said 
 I to Wadsworth, " come ! " I could say 
 no more. But he came, and we raised 
 her up, and put her on the hall sofa. I 
 then left him with her, and ran to the 
 orange jjarlor and briefly told what had 
 happened, and they were all sympathy 
 and kindness, coming even every one of 
 them to where she lay. In a little while 
 she revived, and looked up, and recog- 
 nized us, holding one of my hands and 
 one of Wadsworth's. Said I to him, and 
 I took his other hand, " By the laws of 
 Heaven this is your wife. We thought 
 you were dead. I renounce all claim to 
 her, though, in so doing, I lose a world. 
 You are more noble, and she loves you 
 more." 
 
 Now, when I had thus spoken, the per- 
 sons present were greatly surprised, for 
 they knew T not of Wadsworth's love nor 
 of hers ; and when they beheld him in 
 such evil plight, so ragged, and so pale 
 and sickly, they mistook him for a very 
 common person. But, though he was 
 much overcome by the scene, he trem- 
 blingly replied, even while the fair one, 
 her face and eyes downcast, drooped be- 
 tween us : 
 
 " Of all my life's bitterness this is the 
 bitterest hour. Were it not wicked to 
 wish to die, I would so pray Heaven ! " 
 
 The clergyman, who was to have mar- 
 ried us, then said, 
 
 " God's will be done ! " 
 
 I then withdrew a pace and halted a 
 moment, when thus Wadsworth explained : 
 
 " Long have I been confined in a private 
 hospital, but all my letters to friends ap- 
 pear to have miscarried. I know r not how 
 I came to the hospital. I have been told 
 I was nearly killed by somebody, and 
 thrown into the river. Somebody rescued 
 me and put me in the hospital. Gradually 
 my senses returned, and so, too, my strength 
 of body. At early dawn this morning I 
 escaped from the hospital, and came here. 
 
166 
 
 THE FALL OF FORT SUMTER ; OK, 
 
 I heard then that this lady was alive, and 
 to be married this night. The man of 
 her choice was the best and truest friend 
 I ever found. I wanted to see them both, 
 and then, when I knew theywere married, 
 I would depart forever. I am here for 
 that purpose, and I pray you, reverend sir, 
 perform that service, even though by it 
 you be my death !" 
 
 " As I live," said I, " that shall never 
 1 i s| 1 know you are both true and noble, 
 and so much I value your peace and har> 
 piness, I will forfeit mine own." 
 
 Clergyman. — "Now Heaven witness, 
 these are Nature's noblemen, and this 
 silence of hers is woman's greatest power. 
 Say lady, which of the two is your 
 choice ? " 
 
 But all was silent ; none of us knew 
 what more to say. After a moment, how- 
 ever, the clergyman spoke and said : 
 
 "Might it not be well to postpone the 
 matter for a few clays, till you have all 
 had time to consider the great importance 
 it may have on your coming lives ? " 
 
 "No!" said Wadsworth. " No," said 
 I ; " this must be settled at once. This 
 ennui cannot, must not last." 
 
 Still she held to Wadsworth's hand, and 
 the clergyman, seeing this, said, 
 
 " Is it your will and choice that this 
 man be }our husband?" and she said, 
 '• Yes ! " The clergyman then said to 
 Wadsworth, " Though informal it be to ask 
 you afterward, I now ask if you choose 
 her for your wife." And he said, " I do ! " 
 
 Clen gyrnav. — " Then, in the name of God, 
 I declare you married — man and wife ! " 
 
 We then all went into the orange parlor, 
 some of the ladies assisting gentle Ann to 
 walk ; and when we were got inside, we 
 called the Judge, and became and wished 
 us all much happiness. Wine and cake 
 was then served, ami I am sure I never 
 felt happier in my life. In a little while, 
 however, the Judge and I withdrew, both 
 of us nearly distracted with the sudden 
 and unexpected turn of affairs. The 
 Judge sympathized with me ; told me, he 
 feared I concealed the grief I had within, 
 and assured me over and over that it was 
 the most unaccountable. And as for him- 
 self, he said he never did, nor never would 
 trust a girl of seventeen. 
 
 While the guests were agitated over the 
 news from Fort Sumter, in came Vickey 
 and the clerk, some of the Judge's friends 
 having kept him entertained elsewhere 
 for fear of trouble. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Edge met Vickey at the 
 ■ door, and the clerk introduced her as his 
 wife. 
 
 Mrs. Edge. — " Your wife ! You scoun- 
 
 drel ! How dare you run off with my 
 child ? She's under age. Girl, go yon to 
 your room! To-morrow wo return to 
 Ohio. You have disgraced the name of 
 VA^v. Ungrateful girl ! " 
 
 '.. — " You sent word that you would 
 acknowledge the marriage, and forgive U8." 
 
 Mr. Edge. — " 1 did not. nor do 1 now." 
 
 Mrs. Edge. — "I am bewildered witl 
 shame ! " 
 
 Clerk. — " But we are married ; I can 
 claim and hold her." 
 
 Mr. Edge. — "And if I portion her only 
 one dollar, you would not have her. 1 am 
 master of my own house. Go to your 
 room, daughter : and see you, sir, only one 
 condition will change my will. After one 
 year of penitence, if she wants you, it shall 
 sole; but it not, this marriage shall be 
 null and void." 
 
 He then marched off with his daughter, 
 but the cleik followed also. Now it was 
 soon after this that I met the Judge, and, 
 as before stated, heard him say. " The girl 
 of seventeen is a slippery thing," etc. ; and 
 it now became my turn to offer him sym- 
 pathy, but he repudiated it. " I tell you," 
 he said, "the whole thing was a joke on 
 my part. I would have showed you the 
 whole plan of it, but thought I'd better 
 only make the assumption. Oh, no; the 
 clerk owes it all to me." Hereupon the 
 guests began to smile, but were interrupt- 
 ed by the entrance of the vigilante, who 
 immediately told Lincoln that the seces- 
 sion Judge had liberated Madame Pon- 
 chartl and Orsini, and that they would 
 soon be here. 
 
 " You see," said Lincoln, " I must de- 
 clare martial law.*' 
 
 But before another word was spoken, 
 came Madame Ponchard and Orsini. 
 Wadsworth stepped forward and laid 
 hands on Orsini, saying, "Murderer! 
 'Twas you who tried to murder me." 
 
 Orsini withdrew a pace, and Madame 
 Ponchard sprang in between them. 
 
 Wadsworth started and gazed in aston- 
 ishment, exclaiming, " Good Heavens ! my 
 stepmother." 
 
 Quicker than it can be told, there was 
 now a flash from a pistol in Orsini's hand. 
 Many men rushed forward, and Madame 
 Ponchard and Orsini were in an instant 
 ejected from the house. The excitement 
 was now at the highest pitch. The even- 
 ing's entertainment was spoiled, and we 
 were all about to disperse in confusion, 
 when who should come in but Prescott. 
 
 " Ha, Prescott," said Lincoln, and he 
 and Scott drew near. " What of the bat- 
 tle of Fort Sumter ! Out with it at once." 
 
 Preseott.—" Oh, sir, it is true indeed. 
 
LOVE AND WAR IN 1860. 
 
 167 
 
 Twenty thousand rebels fought and beat 
 seventy-five soldiers. Even at the dawn 
 of day their batteries burst forth, to try 
 the nation's power. On Sumter's parapet 
 like hail the fifty-pounders fell, all red 
 with the fire-lighted dust as the crumbling 
 wall gave way. The Union men long re- 
 mained in silence beneath the certain ruin ; 
 but when Canning's Point and Mount 
 Pleasant shot forth their deadening thun- 
 ders, our brave men came forth and an- 
 swered to the battle. Anderson first, and, 
 in support, Snyder and Doubleday, and 
 next the three-and-seventy men. Each as 
 a target stood, each for safety midst the 
 fiery balls and bursting shells his trust 
 had placed in Almighty God ! Now toil- 
 ing at the huge cannon, sweating and 
 faint with toil, those few men the whole 
 nation's battle fought. Beneath them, 
 behind them, all around them was an 
 ocean of powder, and over it and through 
 it fired the rebels their red-hot shot, and 
 
 it burned not. The floating battery, the 
 forts around, and the far-off batteries, thus 
 for six-aud-tbirty hours, all day and all 
 night, the roar of battle held ; while, suf- 
 focating with smoke, and all the wood- 
 work of Sumter on fire, our men, muffled 
 in wet cloths, still to their dangerous call 
 stood forth. But on the far-off places 
 around was the most sickening sight of 
 all. Ladies sat on the housetops and on 
 the distant hills, exultant at the unequal 
 battle, waving their fairy-like hands at the 
 prospect of blood ! Thus fought our men, 
 till all things round them were shot away 
 or on fire, and then the rebels came and 
 took the Fort. Even Wigfall, who much 
 had boasted in Congress of what he could 
 do, now came and tore down the nation's 
 flag." Thus ended Prescott's story, and 
 Scott burst into tears. Lincoln turned 
 quite round, saying, " As you say, General, 
 we'll try if we can fight. Call me out 
 seventy-five thousand men ! " 
 
 THE END. 
 
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