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SJAJARA
VERITAS
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
SZE PLURIBUS PAYME
TUEBOR
SCIENTIA
OF THE
SI QUÆRIS PENINSULAM AMŒNAM
CIRCUMSPICE
KANNTE 15 ANOS 18 KO 18
ROTICISLER..
AGANO V
LGEDELASKENTELE
BORDER AND BASTILLE.
BORDER AND BASTILLE.
BY
THE AUTHOR OF "GUY LIVINGSTONE."
SECOND EDITION, REVISED.
....
LONDON:
TINSLEY BROTHERS, 18, CATHERINE ST., STRAND.
1863.
[The Right of Translation is Reserved.]
028
747 353
5:
LONDON:
BRADBURY AND EVANS, PRINTERS, WHITEFRIARS.
M[16-D- fi ©
Librarian
Na Ana
3.98.45
400646
L'ENVOI.
WHEN, late in last autumn, I determined to start
for the Confederate States as soon as necessary
preparations could be completed, I listened not
only to my own curiosity, impelling me to see at
least one campaign of a war, the like of which this
world has never known, but also to the suggestions
of those who thought that materials might be found
there for a book that would interest many here
in England. My intention, from the first, was, to
serve as a volunteer on the staff of the army in
Virginia, so long as I should find either pen-work
or handiwork to do. The South might easily have
gained a more efficient recruit; but a more earnest
adherent it would have been hard to find. I do
not attempt to disguise the fact, that my predilec-
tions were thoroughly settled long before I left
England; indeed, it is the consciousness of a strong
partisan spirit at my heart, which has made me strive
so hard, not only to state facts as accurately as
b
vi
L'ENVOI.
possible, but to abstain from colouring them with
involuntary prejudice.
To say nothing of my being afterwards backed
by the powerful Secessionist interest at Baltimore,
introductory letters furnished me by Colonel Dudley
Mann and Mr. Slidell, addressed to the most
influential personages-civil and military-in the
Confederacy, from President Davis downwards, were
such as could hardly have failed to secure me the
position I desired, though they benevolently over-
estimated the qualifications of the bearer. To the
first of these gentlemen I am indebted for much
kindness and valuable advice; to the second I am per-
sonally unknown; and I am glad to have this oppor-
tunity of acknowledging his ready courtesy. It was
Colonel Mann who counselled my going through the
Northern States, instead of attempting to run the
blockade from Nassau or Bermuda, as I had origi-
nally intended. In spite of the event, I am so
certain that the advice was sound and wise, that I
do not repent-scarcely regret-having followed it.
I need not particularise the precautions taken to
ensure the safe delivery of these credentials: it is
sufficient to state, that they were never submitted to
Federal inspection; nor had I ever, at any time, in
L'ENVOI.
vii
my possession a single document which could vitiate
my claim to the rights of a neutral and civilian.
Even Mr. Seward did not pretend to refuse liberty of
unexpressed sympathy, with either side, to an utter
foreigner while I was a free agent in the Northern
States, I was careful to indulge in no other.
Since my return, I hear that some one has been
kind enough to insinuate that I might have succeeded
better, if I had been more careful to prosecute my
journey South, with vigour, at any risk; or, if I had
been less imprudent in parading my object whilst in
Baltimore. I prefer to meet the first of these asser-
tions by a simple record of facts, and by the most
unqualified denial that it is possible to give to any
falsehood, written or spoken. As to the second-
really quite as unfounded-it may be well to say,
that before I had been a full fortnight in America, I
was posted' in the literary column of Willis's
Home Journal. I could not quarrel with the terms
in which the intelligence-avowedly copied from an
English paper-was couched: the writer seemed to
know rather more about my intentions-if not of my
antecedents-than I knew myself; but I can honestly
say, that the halo of romance with which he was
pleased to surround a very practical purpose, did not
-
viii
L'ENVOI.
in any wise compensate for the inconvenient publicity.
This paragraph soon found its way into other journals,
and at last confronted me-to my infinite disgust-
in the Baltimore Clipper, a bitter Unionist organ.
Perhaps this will answer sufficiently the accusation
of 'parade'; even had one been disposed to indulge
in an alarum and flourish of trumpets, the sensa-
tion-mongers would have anticipated the absurdity.
Besides this, my movements were not in anywise
interfered with up to the moment of my arrest, when
we were miles beyond all Federal pickets. My
captors, of course, had never heard of my existence
till we met. It is more than probable, that the report
just referred to did greatly complicate my position
when I was actually in confinement; but here my
person—not my purpose-suffered, and here, the real
mischief of that very involuntary publicity began and
ended.
After my plans were finally arranged, I had an
interview with the editorial powers of the Morning
Post; there, it was settled that I should communicate
to that journal, as constantly as circumstances would
permit, any interesting matter or incidents that fell in
my way, in consideration of which was voted a liberal
supplement to the sinews of war; but it was clearly
L'ENVOI.
ix
understood that my movements and line of action
were to be absolutely untrammelled. I could not
have entered into any contract, that in any way inter-
fered with the primary object I had in view. I had
no intention of commencing such correspondence
before I had actually crossed the Southern frontier;
so that one letter from Baltimore-afterwards quoted
-was the solitary contribution I was able to
furnish.
I have said thus much, because I wish any one
who may be interested on the point to know clearly
on what footing I stood at starting for the general
public, of course, the subject cannot have the slightest
interest.
:
Of all compositions, I suppose, a personal narrative
is the most wearying to the writer, if not to the reader;
egotistical talk may be pleasant enough, but-commit
it to paper-the fault carries its own punishment.
The recurrence of that everlasting first pronoun,
becomes a real stumbling-block, at last. Yet there is
no evading it, unless you cast your story into a curt,
succinct diary to carry this off effectively, requires a
succession of incidents, more varied and important
than befell me.
:
A failure-absolute and complete-however brought
X
L'ENVOI.
I
about, is a fair mark for mockery, if not for censure.
Perhaps, however, I may hope that some of my
readers, in charity, if not in justice, will believe, that
I have honestly tried to avoid over-colouring details
of personal adventure, and that no word here is set
down in wilful insincerity or malice, though all are
written by one, whose enmity to purely Republican
institutions will endure to his life's end.
A FOUL START
CONGRESSIA
CAPUA
•
FRIENDS IN COUNCIL
THE FORD
THE FERRY
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
CHAPTER II.
THE ROAD TO AVERNUS
CHAPTER III.
CHAPTER IV.
CHAPTER V.
CHAPTER VI.
CHAPTER VII.
FALLEN ACROSS THE THRESHOLD
CHAPTER VIII.
PAGE
1
22
42
59
77
105
127
147
ནོ་བཤད ་་ ་
xii
CONTENTS.
CAGED BIRDS
DARK DAYS
HOMEWARD BOUND
A POPULAR ARMAMENT
CHAPTER IX
CHAPTER X.
CHAPTER XI.
THE DEBATABLE GROUND
•
FEDERAL BATTLE-HORSES
CHAPTER XII.
•
CHAPTER XIII.
CHAPTER XIV.
•
PAGE
165
. 182
208
223
243
€ 260
BORDER AND BASTILLE.
CHAPTER I.
A FOUL START.
LOOKING back on an experience of many lands
and seas, I cannot recall a single scene more utterly
dreary and desolate than that which awaited us, the
outward-bound, in the early morning of the 20th of
last December. The same sullen neutral tint per-
vaded and possessed everything-the leaden sky-
the bleak brown shores over against us-the dull
grey stonework lining the quays—the foul yellow
water-shading one into the other, till the division-
lines became hard to discern. Even where the fierce
gust swept off the crests of the river wavelets, boiling
and breaking angrily, there was scant contrast of
colour in the dusky spray, or murky foam.
The chafing Mersey tried in vain to make himself
heard. Other sounds—a voice, for instance, two yards
from your ear-were drowned by the trumpet of
the strong north-wester. All through the past night,
B
-
in
2
BORDER AND BASTILLE.
we listened to that note of war; we could feel the
railway carriages trembling and quivering, as if
shaken by some rude giant's hand, when they halted
at any exposed station; and, this morning, the pilots
shake their wise, grizzled heads, and hint at worse
weather yet in the offing. For forty-eight hours
the storm-signals had
had never been lowered, nor
changed, except to intimate the shifting of a point
or two in the current of the gale, and few vessels, if
any, had been found rash enough to slight the
Admiral's warning.
It had been gravely discussed, we heard afterwards,
by the owners and captain of the Asia, whether she
should venture to sea that day; finally, the question
was left to the latter to decide. There are as nice
points of honour, and as much jealous regard for
professional credit in the merchant service as in any
other; only once, since the line was started, has a
Cunarder' been kept in port by wind or weather;
this was the commander's first trip across
across the
Atlantic since his promotion: you may guess which
way the balance turned.
'
We waited on the landing-stage, one long cold hour.
That huge square structure, ordinarily steady and
solid as the mainland itself, was pitching and rolling,
not much less lively than a Dutch galliot in a
sea-way; and the tug that was to take us on board,
parted three hawsers before she could make fast
alongside. It was hard to keep one's footing on
A FOUL START.
3
the shaking, slippery bridge; but in ten minutes all
staggered or tumbled, as choice or chance directed,
on to the deck of the little steamer. I was looking
for a dry corner, when an American passenger made.
room for me very courteously, and I began to talk to
him-about the weather, of course. He had a keen,
intellectual face, pleasant withal, and kindly, and in
its habitual expression not devoid of genial humour.
But, at that moment, it was possessed by an un-
utterable misery. No wonder.
<<
I was ill the whole way over from America," he
said, "and then we started with bright weather, and
a fair wind."
་
'
I was much attracted by the voice, betraying
scarcely any Transatlantic accent: it was quiet and
calm in tone, like that of a brave man on his way
to encounter some irresistible pain or woe, but sad-
dened by an agony of anticipation: he presaged, only
too truly, the burden of the atmosphere and the
wrath to come.'
C
Another struggle and scramble-and we are on
board, at last. It is some comfort to exchange that
wretched little wet tug for the deck of the Asia;
though a trifle unsteady even now, she oscillates
after the sober and stately fashion befitting a mighty
liner." Half an hour sees the end of the long
stream of mail-bags, and the huge bales of news-
papers shipped: then the moorings are cast loose;
there rises the faintest echo of a cheer-who could
B 2
4
BORDER AND BASTILLE.
be enthusiastic on such a morning ?-the vast wheels
turn slowly and sullenly, as if hating the hard work
before them; and we are fairly off.
The waves and weather grew rapidly wilder as we
neared blue water: just after passing the light-ship, we
saw a large vessel driving helplessly and--the sailors
said—hopelessly, among the breakers of the North
Sands. She had tried to run in without a pilot, and
ours seemed to think her fate the justest of judg-
ments; but to disinterested and unprofessional spec-
tators the sight was very sad, and somewhat dis-
couraging. So, with omen and augury, as well as
the wind, dead against us,
ï
The Sword went out to sea.
All that day and night the Asia staggered and
weltered on through the yeasty Channel waves, break-
ing in her passengers, rather roughly, for a conflict
with vaster billows. Thirteen hours of hard steaming
barely brought us abreast of Holyhead. The gale
moderated towards morning, and we ran along the
Irish coast under a blue sky, making Queenstown
shortly after sundown.
By this time I had become acquainted with my
cabin-mate, in which respect I was singularly for-
tunate. M.
was a thorough Parisian, and a
favourable specimen of his class. Small of stature,
and slender of proportion-a very important point
where space is so limited-low-voiced, and sparing
Ray
A FOUL START.
5
10
of violent expletives or gestures, delicately neat in
his person and apparel-one could hardly have
selected a more amiable colleague. Under circum-
stances of some difficulty, I can aver that he con-
ducted himself always with a perfect modesty and
decorum: he would preserve his equilibrium miracu-
lously, when his perpendicular had been lost long
ago: he never fell upon me but once (sleeping on a
sofa, I was exposed defencelessly to all such contin-
gencies), and then, lightly as thistle-down. On the
rare occasions when the mal-de-mer proved too much
for his valiant self-assertion, he yielded to an over-
ruling fate without groan or complaint; folding the
scanty coverlet around him, he would subside
gradually into his berth, composing his little limbs
with Cæsarean grace. His courtesy was invincible
and untiring; he was anxious to defer and conform
even to my insular prejudices. Discovering that I
was in the habit of daily immersion in cold water-
a feat not to be accomplished without much toil,
trouble, and abrasion of the cuticle-he thought it
necessary to simulate a like performance, though
nothing would have tempted him to incur such need-
less danger. His endeavours to mislead me on this
point, without actually committing himself, were
ingenious and wily in the extreme. Sitting in the
saloon, at the most incongruous hours of day and
night, he would exclaim-"J'ai l'idée, de prendre
bientôt mon bain"—or he would speak, with a remi-
-
6
BORDER AND BASTILLE.
niscent shiver, of an imaginary plunge taken that
morning. I don't think I should ever have been
deluded, even if my curiosity had not led me to
question the steward; but never, by word or look,
did I impugn the reality of that Barmecide bath.
To his other accomplishments, M. —————— added a very
pretty talent for piquet; the match was even enough,
though, to be interesting, at almost nominal stakes,
and so we got pleasantly through many hours-dark,
wet, or boisterous.
We were not a numerous company-only thirty-
three in all: few amateurs travel at this inclement
season. I knew only one other Englishman on board,
an officer in the Rifle Brigade, returning to Canada
from sick leave. Among the Americans, was Cyrus.
Field, the energetic promoter of the Atlantic Tele-
graph, then making (I think he said) his thirtieth
transit within five years. He was certainly entitled
to the freedom of the Ocean, if intimate acquaintance
with every fathom of its depth and breadth could
establish a claim: it rather surprised me, after-
wards, to see such science and experience yield
so easily to the common weakness of seafaring
humanity. Mr. Field told me that, through-
out the fearful weather to which the Niagara and
Agamemnon were exposed on their first attempt to
lay down the cable, he never once felt a sensation of
nausea; the body had not time to suffer till the mind
was relieved from its strain.
A FOUL START.
7
For three days after leaving Queenstown, the west
winds met us, steady and strong; but it was not till
the afternoon of Christmas-day, that the sea began
to rise in earnest, and the weather to portend a
gale. Then, the Atlantic seemed determined to prove
that report had not exaggerated the inclemency of a
winter passage.
It blew harder and harder all
Friday, and after a brief lull on Saturday—as though
gathering breath for the final onset-the storm fairly
reached its height, and then slowly abated, leaving us
substantial tokens of its visit, in the shape of shattered
boats, and the ruin of all our port bulwarks forward
of the deck-house. I fancy there was nothing extra-
ordinary in the tempest, and, in a stout ship, with
plenty of sea-room, there is probably little real
danger; but, about the intense discomfort, there could
be no question. I speak with no undue bitterness,
for of nausea, in any shape, I know little or nothing,
but-oh, mine enemy -if I could feel certain you
were well out in the Atlantic, experiencing for just
one week the weather that fell to our lot, I would
abate much of my animosity, purely from satiation of
revenge.
Unless absolutely prostrated by illness, the voyager
of course has a ravenous appetite; such being the
case, what can be more exasperating than having to
grapple with a sort of dioramic dinner, where
the dishes represent a series of dissolving views,—
mutton and beef, of mature age, leaping about with
{
8
BORDER AND BASTILLE.
a playfulness only becoming living lambs or calves-
while the proverb of 'cup and lip' becomes a truism
from perpetual illustration? Neither is it agreeable,
after falling into an uncertain doze, to feel dampness
mingling strangely with your dreams, and to awake
to find yourself, as it were, an island in a little Salt
Lake formed by distillation through invisible crevices.
Laith, laith were our gude Scot lords
To wet their cork-heeled shoon,
says the grand old ballad; so, I suppose, it is not
'unbecoming the character of an officer and a gentle-
man' to hold such midnight irrigation in utter ab-
horrence.
""
On one of these occasions, I abandoned a post no
longer tenable, and went into the small saloon
close by, to seek a dry spot whereon to finish the
night. I found it occupied by a ghastly man, with
long, wild grey hair, and a white face-striding
staggeringly up and down-moaning to himself in a
harsh, hollow voice-" No rest. I can't rest.' He
never spoke any other words, and never ceased re-
peating these, while I remained to hear him. Instantly,
there came back to my memory a horrible German
tale-read and forgotten fifteen years ago-of a certain.
old and unjust steward, Daniel by name, who, having
murdered his master by casting him down an
oubliette, ever haunted the fatal tower-first as a
sleep-walker, then as a restless ghost-moaning and
A FOUL START.
9
gibbering to himself, and tearing at a walled-up door
with bleeding hands. The train of thought thereby
suggested was so very sombre, that I preferred
returning to my cabin, and climbing into an un-
furnished berth, to spending more minutes in that
weird company. I never made the man out satis-
factorily afterwards. It is possible that he was one
of the few who scarcely showed on deck till we were
in sight of land; but rather, I believe, like other
visions and voices of the Night, he changed, past re-
cognition, under the garish light of day.
Then come the noisy nuisances, extending through
all the diapason of sound. One-the most annoying
to which the ear never becomes callous by use, is
the incessant wash, not only alongside, but overread.
At intervals-more frequent, of course, after our
bulwarks were swept away-the green water came.
tumbling on board by tons; and, being unable to
escape quickly enough by the after-scuppers, surged
backwards and forwards with every roll of the vessel,
as if it meant to keep you down, and bury you for
ever. Lying in my berth, I could feel the heavy seas
smite the strong ship one cruel blow after another on
her bows or beam, till, at last, she would seem to stop
altogether, and, dropping her head, like a glutton in
the P.R., would take her punishment sullenly, with-
out an effort at rising or resistance. Nevertheless, I
stand by the Asia as a right good boat for rough
weather, though she is not a flyer, and sometimes
10
BORDER AND BASTILLE.
could hardly do more than hold her own. Eighty-
one knots in the twenty-four hours, was all the
encouragement the log could give, one day.
I liked our commander exceedingly. He had just
left the Mediterranean station, and there still abode
with him a certain languid Levantine softness of voice
and manner when he came in to dinner, out of the
wild weather, the moral contrast with the turmoil
outside was quite refreshing. Report speaks highly
of Captain Grace's seamanship; I believe in him
far more implicitly than in one of those hoarse and
blusterous Tritons, who think roughness and readi-
ness inseparable, and talk to you as if they were
hailing a consort.
The library on board was not extensive, consisting
(with the exception of 'The Newcomes,') chiefly of
religious works of the Nonconformist school, and
tales which have long ago passed into surplus stock,
or been withdrawn from general circulation. But
there was one invaluable novel, which I shall always
remember gratefully. I never got quite through it;
but read enough to be enabled to affirm that its
principles are unexceptionable, its style grammatically
faultless, and its Purpose sustained (ah, how pitilessly!)
from first to last the few amatory scenes are con-
ducted with the most rigid propriety; and when there
occurs a lovers'-quarrel, the contending parties hurl
high moral truths at each other, instead of idle re-
proaches. But it is mainly as a soporific that I
:
A FOUL START.
11
would recommend Silwood:' on four different occa-
sions, under most trying circumstances, it succeeded
perfectly and promptly with me, for which relief- ·
unintentional, perchance-I render much thanks to
the unknown author, and wish more power to his
arm.'
'
Quite crippled for the time being by rheumatism,
I was in bad form for clambering about the sloping,
slippery planks; nevertheless I did contrive to crawl
up to the hurricane-deck just before sun-down, about
the crisis of the gale. I confess to being disappointed.
in the 'rollers': it may be, that their vast breadth
and volume takes off from their apparent height; but
I scarcely thought it reached Dr. Scoresby's standard
-from 25 to 30 feet, if I remember right, from
trough to crest. One realises thoroughly the abysmal
character of the turbulent chaos; and there is a sensa-
tion of infiniteness around and below you, not devoid
of grandeur; but, as an exhibition of the puissance of
angry water, I do not think the mid-ocean tempest
equal to the storm which brings the thunder of the
surf full on the granite bulwarks of Western Ireland.
It must be owned, that the conversational resources
of our small society were limited. Very often, some
selfishness mingled with my sincere compassion for the
prostrated sufferings of my Philadelphian friend of
the tug-boat; for, whenever his weary aching head
would allow of the exertion, he could talk on almost
any subject, fluently and well. He was returning
12
BORDER AND BASTILLE.
from a long visit to Paris, and a rapid tour through
Germany and Southern Europe. Most of the
countries that he had been compelled to hurry over,
I had loitered through in days past; I ought to
have been shamed by the contrast in our recollections
-his, so clear and systematical-mine, so vague and
dim. An intellectual American, travelling through
strange lands, does certainly look at nature, animate
and inanimate, after the practical business-like fashion
peculiar to his race; but it would be unfair to infer
that such minds are necessarily unappreciative. At
all events, the concentrative synthetical power, that
takes in surrounding objects at a single glance, and
retains them in a tolerably distinct classification, is
rather enviable, even as a mental accomplishment.
We did not speak much about the troubles beyond
sea, and the Philadelphian was somewhat reserved as
to his proclivities. My impression is, that his sympathy
tended rather Southward (all his early life had been
spent in Alabama), but he declined to commit himself
much, nor do I believe that he was a violent partisan
either way. On one point he was very decided:
Falkland himself could not have wished more de-
voutly for the termination of the Civil War-fatal,
he said, to the interests, present and future, of both
the combatant powers-ruinous to every class, with
two exceptions; the adventurers who, having little
to lose, gained, by joining the ranks of either army,
a social position to which they could not otherwise
A FOUL START.
13
have aspired; and the speculators, who, directly or
indirectly, fairly or unfairly, made gains, vast and
unholy, such as wreckers are wont to gather in time
of tempest and general disaster. He scarcely alluded
to the corruption and peculation prevalent in high
places, diluted in its downward percolation till sutlers
and horse-thieves would strive in vain to emulate the
fraudulent audacity of their superiors: it was well
he spared me then, for soon after landing my
eyes and ears grew weary with the repetition of
these ignoble details. To illustrate how heavily the
taxes were already beginning to weigh on the non-
militant population, my informant proved to me,
by very clear figures, that, if he individually could
secure permanent exemption from such burdens, by
the absolute sacrifice of one tenth of his whole
property, real and personal, the commutation would
be decidedly advantageous to him. True, he repre-
sented a class whose incomes exceeded a certain
standard, and therefore suffered rather more heavily;
but the same calculation, with very slight alterations,
applied to all other subordinate ones.
Grave and mild of speech was that Philadelphian
philosopher, without a trace of dogmatism or self-
assertion in his tone; nevertheless, I judged him to
be a man of mark somewhere, and I afterwards heard
that, albeit not a prominent politician, he had great
honour in his own country.
Strong head-winds and a heavy sea baffled us till
14
BORDER AND BASTILLE.
we had cleared the longitude of Cape Race; then the
weather softened, the breeze veered round till it blew
on our quarter, and we had clear sky above us all the
way in. We sighted the first pilot-boat on the after-
noon of January 3rd, and, as she came sweeping down
athwart us, with her broad white wings full spread,
our glasses soon made out the winning number of the
sweepstakes, "22." The dinner-hour was long past
when the beautiful little schooner rounded to, under
our lee; but all appetite just then was merged in a
craving for latest intelligence.
It was a caricaturist's study-the crowd of keen,
anxious faces round the gangway, as the pilot came
aboard. He was a stout man, of agricultural exterior,
looking as if he were in the habit of ploughing any-
thing rather than the deep sea; but it is the fashion
of his guild to eschew the nautical as much as possible
in their attire. The anxious inquirers' got little
satisfaction from him-he seemed taciturn of nature,
or sullen-and they came back to where the rest
of us stood on the hurricane deck, muttering discon-
C
tentedly, Gold at 46. No news. It seemed very
CC
>"
odd--such a complete stagnation of affairs military
and civil-but we fed, in spite of disappointment.
Before we rose from table, the truth began to ooze
out. One or two New York papers, that had slipped
on board with the pilot, were more communicative
than he would or could be.
Thousands of corpses, the full tale of which will
A FOUL START.
15
never be known till the Day of Judgment, lying rolled
in blood, with a handful of earth raked over them,
under the fatal Fredericksburg heights; the finest
army in Federaldom hurled back upon its entrench-
ments, nothing but darkness covering a disastrous, if
not shameful defeat; the papers crowded with dreary
funeral notices, showing how, to every great city of
the North, from hospital and battle-ground, the slain
are being gathered in, to be buried among their
own people; a wail of widows and orphans and
mothers, from homestead, hamlet, and town, over-
powering with its simple energy the bombastic war-
notes and false stage-thunder of the Press; rumours
of terrible battle in the far West, where, after three
days' hard fighting, Rosecrans barely holds his own;
and yet—“ No news!"
re
It is an excellent quality in a soldier not to know
when he is beaten, but whether blind obstinacy will
succeed when it influences the rulers and destinies of
a great nation, is more than questionable. Pondering
these things, I remembered how, four thousand years.
ago, a stiff-necked generation were brought to their
senses and on their knees: it was on the morning
after the visit of the Dark Angel, when Egypt awoke,
and found not a house in which there was not one
dead. If such fearful waste of life goes on here,
with no decisive or final advantage on either side
attained, that ancient curse may not be long in
recurring.
KA
16
BORDER AND BASTILLE.
7
•
I rose, when the sun ought to have risen, on the
following morning, intending to admire the famous
harbour which Americans love to compare with the
Neapolitan Bay. But long before we reached the
Narrows,
A blinding mist came up and hid the land
As far as eye could see.
Very soon we were buried in fog, dense and
Cimmerian as ever brooded over our own Thames or
the Righi panorama. More and more slowly the
paddles turned, till they stopped altogether; it was
dangerous to advance, ever so cautiously, when the
keenest sight could not pierce half a ship's length
ahead. So, there we lay at anchor for weary hours,
listening to the church-bells chiming drowsily through
the heavy air, till an enterprising tug ventured out
for the mails, and sent another for the relief of the
passengers.
The custom-house officers were not troublesome,
and I was soon at the Brevoort House, the Parisian
Pylades still faithfully following my fortunes. I was
far from entreating him to leave me; landing utterly
alone in a strange land, one does not lightly cast
aside companionship. For reasons easily understood,
I had declined to avail myself of many proffered
letters of introduction to New Yorkers.
That lonely feeling did not last long: the first.
object which caught my eye on the steps of the
A FOUL START.
17
C
Brevoort House was an honest English face-a face I
have known and liked right well, these dozen years
and more.
There stood the Colonel' (any Ch. Ch.
or Rifle Brigade man will recognise the sobriquet),
beaming upon the world in general with the placid
cheerfulness that no changes of time or place or for-
tune seem able to alter; looking just as comfortable
and thoroughly at home,' as he did, steering Horni-
blow to victory at Brixworth. I had heard that
my old friend was on his way to England to join the
Staff College, but had never reckoned on such a suc-
cessful nick' as this. By my faith, the turns of
luck beyond the Atlantic were not so frequent, as to
excuse forgetfulness, when they did befall.
C
<
So I had aid and abetment in performing the little
lionisation which is obligatory on a visitor to New
York; for the 'Colonel's
'Colonel's' comrade, my fellow-
voyager of the Asia, came to the same hotel.
Assisted by the Parisian, we made trial of the
esculents peculiar to the country-gombo soup, sweet
potatoes, terrapins, and canvas-backs-with much
solemnity and satisfaction, agreeing, that fame had
spoken truth for once, in extolling the two last-
named delicacies. We went to the Opera, and there,
in a brilliant salle of white and gold, spoilt, however,
by the incongruity of bonnets mingling everywhere
with full evening toilettes, assisted at a massacre—
unmusical and melancholy-of Lucrezia.' We drove
out through the crude, unfinished Central Park to
<
σ
:
18
BORDER AND BASTILLE.
Harlem Lane, whither the trotters are wont to resort,
and saw several teams looking very much like work
(though no celebrities); almost all of the lean, rather
ragged form, which characterises, more or less, all
American-bred 'fast horses.' The ground was too
hard frozen to allow of anything beyond gentle ex-
ercise; but, even at quarter-speed, that wonderful
hind-action was very remarkable. Watching those
clean, sinewy pasterns shoot forward—well outside of
the fore hoof-track-straight and swift as Mace's arm
in an upper-cut,' you marvel no longer at the mile-
time which hitherto has seemed barely credible.
Perhaps this same bitter weather may account for
our disappointment in the brilliancy of Broadway.
Several careful reviews of the sunny side, failed to
detect anything dangerously attractive in beauty,
equipage, or attire. It is probable, that most of the
lionnes had laid them down in their delicate dens,
waiting for a more clement season to renew external
depredations; though sometimes you could just catch
a glimpse of bright eyes and a little pink nose peer-
ing over dark fur wrappings, as a brougham or
barouche, carefully closed, swept quickly by. We
visited Barnum, of course. I think a conversational
and communicative Albino was the most note-worthy
curiosity in the Museum, chiefly, from his intense
appreciation of the imposture of the whole concern
originated and directed by the King of Humbugdom.
The sanguine popular mind was unusually depressed
A FOUL START.
19
just then. The President's emancipatory proclama-
tion had recently been issued, and seemed to adapt
itself, with wonderful elasticity, to the discontents of
all parties; not comprehensive enough for the ultra-
Abolitionists, it was stigmatised by the Democrats as
unconstitutional and oppressive; while moderate poli-
ticians agreed that, beyond irritating feelings already
bitter enough, it would be practically invalid as an
offensive measure. We shall see, hereafter, how
these prognostications were justified.
But the first word in all men's mouths, for a day
or two, at least, after my arrival, was-Monitor.
That same gale which had buffeted the Asia so
rudely on the high seas, had raged yet more savagely
shorewards: the Merrimac's antagonist, like a
drowning paladin of the mail-clad days, had sunk
under her mighty armour, and now, with half her
crew in their iron coffin, lay at rest in the crowded
burial-ground on which Cape Hatteras looks down.
Great discouragement and consternation-greater
than has often been caused by the loss of any single
vessel-fell upon all the North when the news came
in. Ever since her famous duel, which the Federals
never would allow was a drawn battle, they had
elevated the Monitor into a national champion, and
prophesied weeping in the South, if she and their
batteries should meet: few, then, dared to insinuate
a doubt about Charleston's certain fall, when once
the leaguer was fairly mustered
mustered for assault.
02
20
BORDER AND BASTILLE.
C
Grave doubts were now expressed as to the sea-
worthiness of all the new iron-clads, though their
advocates could point to a sister of the unhappy
Monitor, which had survived a great part of the
same storm. That they all must be more unsafe in
really rough weather than the crankiest of our old
coffin-brigs,' seems quite ascertained now: the fact
of their being unable to make headway through a
heavy sea, unless towed by a consort, speaks for itself.
The immediate cause of the Monitor's foundering
(according to Captain Worden's account, which my
informant had from his own lips) was a leak sprung,
where her protruding stern-armour, coming down flat
on the waves with every plunge of the vessel, became
loosened from the main hull; but, for some time
before this was discovered, she seems to have spent
more minutes under than above water, and nothing
alive could have stood, unlashed, for a second on her
deck. So great was the public disappointment, that
the tribe of false prophets, whose cry of Go up to
Ramoth-Gilead and prosper,' -usually not less loud in
defeat than in success-deafens us here, did for awhile
abate their blatancy; while Ericsson-most confident
of projectors-spake softly, below his breath, as he
suggested faint excuse and encouragement.
C
The news from the West-hourly improving, and
more clearly confirmed-were hardly welcomed as
they deserved, and scarcely counter-balanced the
naval disaster. It was not long, however, before
A FOUL START.
21
Rosecrans the Invincible came in for his full share
of credit-perhaps not more than he merited. Few
other Federal commanders can claim that epithet;
and, though some people persisted in considering
Murfreesburgh a Pyrrhic victory, it is certain that he
held his ground manfully, and eventually advanced,
where defeat, or even a retrograde movement, would
have been simply ruin.
On the fifth day our small company were scattered
-each going his own way, east, north, and south-
while the Parisian abode still in New York.
CHAPTER II.
CONGRESSIA.
Or two lines to Philadelphia, I selected the longest,
wishing to see the harbour, down which a steamer
takes passengers as far as Amboy; but the Powers
of the Air were unpropitious again; it never ceased
snowing, from the moment we went on board a very
unpleasant substitute for the regular passage-boat,
till we landed on the railway pier. My first experi-
ence of American travel was not attractive. The crazy
old craft puffed and snorted furiously, but failed
to persuade any one that she was doing eight miles an
hour; the grime of many years lay thick on her dusky
timbers-dust under cover, and mud where the wet
swept in,—while her close dark cabins were stifling
enough to make you, after five minutes of vapour-
bathing, plunge eagerly into the bitter weather out-
side. Indeed, there was not much to see, for the
track lies on the inner and uglier side of Staten
Island. The last few miles lead through marshes, with
nothing taller growing than reeds and osiers.
For an hour or so after leaving Amboy, you look out
on a country thickly populated, well cultivated, and
CONGRESSIA.
23
trimly fenced, bearing a strong resemblance to parts of
our own Eastern counties. We passed through onề
wood, in height of trees, sweep of ground, colour of
soil, and build of boundary-fence so exactly like a
certain cover in Norfolk similarly bisected by the
rail, that I could have picked out the precise spot
where, many a time and oft, I have waited for the
'rocketers.' But the character of the landscape soon
changed; loose sprawling' zigzags,' or snake-fences,
usurped the place of neat squared post-and-rails; the
stunted wood-land stretched farther afield, with rarer
breaks of clearing; and the low hill-ranges, behind
which the watery sun soon absconded, looked drearily
bare in the distance.
It was pleasant, from the ferry-boat, which was our
last change, to meet the lights of Philadelphia gleam-
ing out on the broad dark Susquehanna.
I can say little of that staid, opulent, intensely
respectable city not even if the imputation of
dullness, cast upon her by the more mercurial South,
be a slander; for the few hours of my stay there
were spent almost entirely with my Asiatic friend,
whose invitations and inducements to a longer sojourn
were very hard to resist. But I was impatient to get
on (as men will be who cannot see their arm's-length
into the future), and, at midnight, started again for
Washington.
J
My recollections of that journey are the reverse of
roseate. The atmosphere of the cars-windows her-
24
BORDER AND BASTILLE.
metic, and stoves red-hot-made one look back
regretfully on the milder inferno of the passage-boat;
the acrid apple-odour was more pungently nau-
seating; and the abomination of expectoration less.
carefully dissembled. Besides this, I was afflicted by
another nuisance, purely private and personal.
Whether there be any such thing as love at first
sight or no, is a question-grave or gay, as you choose
to discuss it—but, that instinctive antipathies exist, is
most certain. I was the victim of one of such that
night. Waiting for change in the ticket-office, my
eye lighted on a dark man, of African appearance,
standing unpleasantly near; and, for a second or two, I
could not get rid of a horrible fascination, compelling
me to stare. I say dark man' advisedly, for it
would have been hard to guess at his original colour,
unless his cast of feature had given a line. Now,
I have seen Irish squatters in their cabins, London
outcasts in their penny lodgings, and beggars of
Southern Europe in their nameless dens; but the con-
viction flashed upon me (and it has never since passed
away), that I was then gazing on a dirtier specimen of
healthy humanity than I had ever yet foregathered
with. I believe that, all the rains of heaven beating on
his brow would not have altered its dinginess by a
shade, nor penetrated one of the earthy layers that had
thickened there; a thunder-shower must have glanced
off, as water will do from tough, hardened clay. Rough
patches of hair, scanty and straggling, like the vegeta-
C
CONGRESSIA.
25
•
tion of waste, barren lands, grew all over his cheeks
and chin (a negro with an ample, honest beard is an
anomaly); and a huge bush of wool-unkempt, I dare
swear, from earliest infancy-seemed to repel the
ruins of a nondescript hat. Whether he was really
uglier than his fellows I cannot remember-I was
so absorbed in contemplating and realising his sur-
passing squalor-but the expression of the uncouth
face (if it had any whatsoever) was, I think, neither
ferocious nor sullen. There is generally a coloured
car' attached to every train; for you will find the
tender-hearted Abolitionist, in despite of his African
sympathies, when it is a question of personal contact
or association, quite as earnest in keeping those
'innocent blacknesses' aloof, as the haughtiest
Southerner. On the present occasion there was no such
distinction of races. I do not think the contraband
was conscious of the effect produced by his laidly pre-
sence; it was probably simple accident which brought
him so often in my neighbourhood; but, wherever I
moved through the crowded cars, seeking for a seat,
the loose shambling limbs and dull vacant eyes seemed
impelled to follow. At last I lost my béte noire, and
found a place close to the door, with nothing but a low
pile of logs in my front. I was tired, and soon began
to doze; but I woke up with a start and a shudder, as
a haunted man might do, becoming aware, in sleep, of
the approach of some horrible thing. There He sat,
on the logs close to my feet, in a heavy stertorous
M
26
BORDER AND BASTILLE.
slumber; his huge head rocking to and fro, and his
features hideously contorted, as he growled and
gibbered to himself in an unknown tongue, like some
dreaming Caliban. I arose, and fled away swiftly
from the face of my brother,' and, finding no other
available resting-place, did battle on the outside plat-
form with the keen night-wind.
(
I am indebted, however, to that honest contra-
band for a curious sight, which I should otherwise
have missed the crossing of the Gunpowder River.
There, the train rushes, on a single track, over three-
quarters of a mile of tremulous trestlework, without an
apology for a side-rail, so that you look straight down
into the dark water, over which you seem wafted with
no visible support beneath. The effect is sufficiently
startling, especially when it is seen as I saw it, under
a bright, capricious moon. From Baltimore, the cars
were less crowded, and I encountered my dusky tor-
K
mentor no more.
If there is much in first impressions, I was not
likely to be enchanted with Washington.
The snow, just then beginning to melt, lay
inches deep on the half-frozen soil; everything
looked unnaturally and unutterably dreary in the
bleak leaden dawn-light; and, as I drove down Penn-
sylvania Avenue (after rejection at the lodgings to
which I had been recommended), the first object that
caught my eye was a huge placard :—
EMBALMING OF THE DEAD.
CONGRESSIA.
27
These ghastly advertisements are not unfrequent in
that part of the city, and I was informed that the
trade occasionally does a very brisk business.
After waiting for two hours in the hall of the
Metropolitan, like a client in some patrician ante-
chamber, they did accord me a tolerable room on
the sublimest story.
I called that same afternoon on Lord Lyons, to
whom I brought an introductory letter. I have to
thank the British Legation for much courteous kind-
ness, and for two very pleasant evenings, on the first
of which I was the guest of the Chief, on the second,
of his secretaries. Here will (if I ever leave it behind
me) begin and end my agreeable reminiscences of
Washington. I disliked it cordially at first sight;
I was thoroughly bored before I had got through my
stay of seventy hours; I utterly abominate and
execrate the city,
From turret to foundation-stone,
o
at this moment, as I catch a narrow glimpse of its
outskirts through the rusty window-bars of the Old
Capitol. Should the southern Mazeppas, whose
banners have already floated in sight of Arlington
Heights, ever work their will here, I could name one
Briton, whose composure will not be ruffled by com-
passion at hearing the news. If there is anything in
presentiments, surely one of these, thus early in my
pilgrimage, whispered warnings to me, though I was
deafer than the adder just then.
W
28
BORDER AND BASTILLE.
There was in Washington, of course, the usual
crowd-official, political, and mercantile, with a
vast supplement of hangers-on and aspirants, that
always follows the meeting of Congress; and, besides,
the influx never ceased of all officers who could
get leave-of many who could not-from the army of
the Potomac. Speaking impartially for I scarcely
interchanged four words with an American during
my stay-I thought the military element the most
repulsive.
It would be unfair to cavil at the absence of a
martial bearing in men, who, having followed other
professions all their lives, so lately and suddenly took
up that of arms. In this singular war, whole regi-
ments have been sent into action (as at Antietam)
without even an hour's practice in file-firing, and
have stood their ground, too, manfully, though help-
lessly, the merest food for cannon. So it is not strange,
if the lawyers, merchants, clerks, stock-brokers, bar-
keepers, and newspaper-editors, who officer the volun-
teer-corps, should laugh 'setting-up' preliminaries
to scorn, and consider a few days of rough battalion-
drill, a satisfactory qualification for efficient service in
the field.
you
In spite of these disadvantages, it is indisputable
that the Yankee will fight right stubbornly, after his
own fashion, though rarely with the dash and fire of the
Southerner. Considering the raw and heterogeneous
materials out of which the huge armies of the North
CONGRESSIA.
29
have been formed, individual instances of personal
cowardice are creditably rare. Even in the cases of
disorderly retreats, I believe discipline, rather than
pluck, to have been wanting. Martinets and for-
malists would certainly be out of place here, and some
of the technicalities of the art of war may well be
dispensed with; nevertheless, all these palliations do
not alter my unfavourable impression of the Federal
officer on furlough.
Once out of the camp, and among familiar
scenes again, the recent centurion falls back, swiftly
and easily, into the slovenly habits and careless
demeanor that were natural to him before he was
called to command; his uniform begins to look like
a masquerade-dress hired for the occasion; of the
hard and, perhaps, gallant service of months past,
there is soon no other evidence, than an unnecessary
loudness of speech, and a readiness to seize on
any occasion to bluster or blaspheme. A friend
of mine once remarked (by way of excuse for
being detected in the most eccentric déshabillé) that
the British dragoon, under any circumstances, wast
a respectable and elevating sight.' I do not think, the
most amiable stranger would be inclined to concede
as much to an officer of Federal volunteers, encoun-
tering that warrior in his native bar or oyster-saloon.
On the whole, I prefer the real Zouave, en tapageur,
to his Transatlantic imitator; the former, at least
swaggers,-professionally.
<
30
BORDER AND BASTILLE.
It would hardly be honest, to take the 'loafers' of
Washington as fair representatives of their order:
there are, no doubt, better-if not braver—soldiers
in the front; and, perhaps, even the queer specimens
then before me might look decent, if not dignified,
under the earnest light of battle.
C
But, wherever I was brought in contact with por-
tions of the Federal army (I never saw a whole regi-
ment in review-order), I was forcibly struck, with the
entire absence of the smartness' which distin-
guishes our own, and much of the Continental,
soldiery. While I was at Washington, there were
three squadrons of regular cavalry encamped in the
centre of the city. These troops were especially on
home-service-guard-mounting, orderly-duty, &c.—
with no field or picket work whatever. There was no
more excuse for slovenliness than might have been
allowed to a regiment in huts, at Aldershott or
Shorncliffe. I wish, the critical eye of the present
Inspector General could light on that encamp-
ment; if he preserved his wonted courteous calm-
ness, it would be a very Victory of Suffering
the effect upon his predecessor would be instantly
fatal.
:
The arms looked tolerably clean and serviceable ;
but bridle-bits, bosses, spurs, and accoutrements
were crusted with rust and grime; boots, buttons,
and clothing were innocent of the brush, as the
horses' coats of the curry-comb. The most careful
CONGRESSIA.
31
grooming could not have made the generality of these
animals look anything but ragged and weedy—rather
dear at the Government price of 115-120 dollars,-
and their housings were not calculated to set them
off to advantage. The saddle-a modification of
the Mexican principle of raw hide stretched over a
wooden frame-carries little metal-work: it is lighter,
I think, than ours, and more abruptly peaked,
but not uncomfortable; being thrown well off the
spine and withers, there is little danger of sore backs
with ordinary care in settling the cloth or blanket.
The heavy clog of wood and leather, closed in front,
and only admitting the fore-part of the foot, which
serves as a stirrup, is unsightly in the extreme :
its advantages are said to be, protection from
the weather, and the impossibility of the rider's
entanglement; but the sole has no grip whatever,
and, rising to give full effect to a sabre-cut, would
be out of the question. Besides a halter, a single
rein, attached to rather a clumsy bit, is the usual
trooper's equipment: to this is attached the in-
evitable ring-martingale, without which few Federal
cavaliers, civil or military, would consider themselves
safe.
I cannot conceive such an anomaly as a thorough
Yankee horseman. Given-one, or a span of trotters,
to be yoked after the neatest fashion, and to be driven
gradually and scientifically up to top-speed-the
Northerner is quite at home, and can give you a
32
BORDER AND BASTILLE.
wrinkle or two worth keeping. But the habit
of hauling at horses, which often go as much on the
bit as on the traces, is destructive to 'hands.' If
the late-lamented Assheton Smith were compelled to
witness the equitation here, he would suffer almost as
much, as Macaulay in the purgatory which Canon
Sydney imagined for the historian. I have discussed
that martingale-question with several good judges and
breeders of American blood-stock; but I never could get
them quite to agree in the absurdity, of tying down a
colt's head for the rest of his natural life, without
regard to his peculiar propensities-star-gazing, boring,
or neutral. The custom, of course, never could pre-
vail where men were in the habit of crossing a
country; but an American horse is scarcely ever put
at anything beyond the ruins of a rail-fence, and
there are few, north of the Potomac, that I should
like to ride at four feet of stiff timber. It is very
different in the South, where many men from infancy
pass their out-door life in the saddle: from what I
have heard, Carolina, Louisiana, and Georgia-to say
nothing of the wild Texan rangers-could show riders
who, when the first strangeness had worn off, would
hold their own tolerably in England, over a fair hunt-
ing country, in any ordinary run.
On the outbreak of the war, volunteers enlisted in
the Federal cavalry, who-far from being able to
manage a horse-could not bridle one without assist-
and a conscript, who could keep his saddle,
ance;
CONGRESSIA.
33
C
through an entire day, without taking a voluntary,'
was considered by his fellows as a credit to the
regiment, and almost an accomplished dragoon.
Such a thing as a military riding-school has, I
believe, never been thought of, away from West
Point; the drill is simply that of mounted infantry.
Things are better now than they were; a Federal
cavalryman can at least sit saddlefast, to receive and
return a sabre-cut there have been some sharp
skirmishes of late, and, allowing for exaggeration,
Averill's encounter with Fitzhugh Lee brought out
real work on both sides.
Looking at that squalid encampment, it was easy
to realise all one had heard of the mortality among
the horses in the army of the Potomac, where no
natural causes could justify it. Unless some sym-
pathy exists between the two-unless the trooper
takes some pride or interest in the animal he rides,
beyond that of being conveyed safely from point to
point-it is vain to expect that the comforts of the
latter will be greatly cared for. General orders are
powerless here, and the personal supervision of the
officers—even if stables' were as carefully attended
as in our own service-would only touch the surface
of the evil. That utter absence of esprit de corps
and soldierly self-respect has cost the Federal treasury
many millions; nor will the drain ever cease till
re-mounts shall be no more needed.
C
The foregoing remarks apply exclusively to the
D
34
BORDER AND BASTILLE.
tenue of the privates and non-commissioned officers;
those of superior rank, that I met, were tolerably
correct, both in dress and equipment; several, in-
deed, were mounted on really powerful chargers, and
rode them not amiss, though with a seat as unpro-
fessional as can be conceived.
The military loungers monopolise all the leisure
of Washington-by day at least; for, if all tales
are true, the legislators, in the evening and small
hours, are wont to unbend somewhat freely from their
labours; and the Senate acts wisely, in not risking
through a night-session the little dignity it has left to
lose. But, with few exceptions, every civic face meets
you with the same anxious, worried look of unsatis-
fied craving; there is hunger in all the restless, eager
eyes; the thin, impatient lips work nervously, as
if scarcely able to repress the cry, which the Children
of the Horse-leech have uttered since the beginning
of time. It is easy to understand this, when you
remember that, at such a season, there gathers here—
besides the legion of politicians and partisans, and the
mighty army of contractors-a vaster host of persons
interested in the private bills submitted to Congress,
and of candidates for the numerous pieces of prefer-
ment which are being vacated and created daily.
Before the smallest of these has lain open for an hour,
there will be scores of shrill claimants wrangling over
it, summoned from the four winds of heaven by the
unerring instinct of the Rapacidæ.
CONGRESSIA.
35
Every one, of any official or political standing, can
either influence or dispose of a certain amount of
patronage; to such, life must sometimes be made a
heavy burden. Human nature shrinks from the con-
templation of what each successive President must
be doomed to undergo. His nerves ought to be of
iron, and his conscience of brass, or a Gold Coast
governorship might prove a less-dangerous dignity.
The character best fitted for the post would be such
an one as Gallio, the tranquil cynic of Antioch.
Marking and hearing these things, I thoroughly
appreciated an anecdote told me on board the Asia.
At Mobile, in 1849, the Philadelphian met President
Polk, then on his way home from Washington, his
term having just expired. He took up office-a
cheery, sanguine man, quite as healthy as the gene-
rality of his compatriots at forty-five; he laid it down
a helpless invalid, shattered in body and mind,
past hope of revival. My informant, who knew him
well, was much shocked at the change, but tried to
console the Ex-President, by speaking of the impor-
tant measures that made his administration one of
the most eventful since that of Washington; hinting,
that such grave responsibility, and continual excite-
ment, might well account for exhaustion and reaction.
The sick man shook his head drearily, and put the
implied compliment aside; he was past such vanities
then.
"You're wrong," he said. "It isn't Oregon, or
D 2
36
BORDER AND BASTILLE.
Mexico, or Texas, but the office-hunters, that have
brought me where I am."
In that answer there was the simple solemnity, that
attaches to the lightest words of the dying. Sixty
days later, the speaker was 'sleeping down in Ten-
nessee,'-never more to be vexed by the clamour of
the cormorants, or waked by the clients keeping
watch at his door. Nor was he a solitary victim.
General Taylor did not live to see half his duty done,
and the atmosphere of the White House, in one
month, proved fatal to Harrison.
To a disinterested spectator-especially if he
chance to be of indolent temperament-there is
something very irritating in the ceaseless crowd, and
hurry, and din. From early morning till long past
midnight, you might search in vain, through any one
of the principal hotels, for a quiet nook to write or
read in, unless it were found in your own chamber,
where the appliances of comfort are more than
limited. All private sitting-rooms are instantly en-
gaged at fabulous prices, and, in the public par-
lours, the feminine element reigns with no divided
sway it is difficult to appreciate even a newspaper
'leader,' with a prattle and titter around, wherein
mingle tones, not quite so low and sweet as the voice
of Cordelia. Those energetic civilians never seem at
rest or at ease; they snatch their frequent drinks,
upstanding and covered, as if they were just a
minute behindhand for some appointment; bolting
:
CONGRESSIA.
37
their food, as if dinner were a necessary medicinal
evil.
Sooth to say, the edibles do not deserve much
better treatment: the whole commissariat arrange-
ments in the hotels is supremely uncomfortable.
The guests feed separately; but no dinner can be
served in the public rooms after five P.M.
You can
choose to any extent from a sufficiently ample, though
very simple, carte; but your repast arrives en masse,
no matter into how many courses it ought naturally
to be divided, and is set down before you in un-
covered dishes. Of course, when you arrive at the
last, it retains scarcely a memory of the fire. I saw
some of the indigènes obviate the inconvenience, by
taking fish, flesh, and fowl on their plate at one and
the same time, consuming the impromptu olla
with a rapid, impartial voracity; but so bold an
innovation on old-world customs would hardly suit
a stranger. All liquors are rather higher in price
and lower in quality than one would expect, consider-
ing the place and season; but the sum charged for
unstinted board and a tolerable bed (from two to
two and a half dollars per diem) is reasonable enough,
especially during the present depreciation of the
'
'
currency.
Out-door scenes were not much more attractive.
The three-months' reign of Jupiter Pluvius, which
has made this spring evilly notorious, had just begun
in earnest. In the main avenues, on either side of
WE
A
38
BORDER AND BASTILLE.
C
the rail-track of the cars, the mud was a trifle deeper
than that of a cross-lane, in winter, in the Warwick-
shire clays. To traverse the by-streets comfortably,
you require rather a clever animal over a country,
and especially good in dirt'; they are intersected
by frequent brooks, much wider and deeper than
that celebrated one which tested the prowess of le
bonhomme Briggs. There are rough stepping-
stones at some of the crossings, and the passage of
these, after nightfall, resembles greatly that of a
'shaking' bog, where the traveller has to leap from
tussock to moss-hag with agile audacity; the conse-
quences of a false step being, in both cases, about the
I began to think regretfully of certain rugged
continental pavés, execrated in days gone by; they
at least had a firm bottom, more or less remote.
same.
-
The public buildings of Washington do not
attempt architectural display: with scarcely an
exception, they are severely simple and square. But
there is a certain grandeur in the masses of white
marble, which is everywhere lavishly employed; the
Capitol stands right well-alone, on the crest of
a low, abrupt slope, with nothing to intercept the view
from its terraces, seaward, and up the valley of the
Potomac. The effect will probably be better when
wind and weather shall have slightly toned down
the sheen of the fresh-hewn stones, so dazzling, now,
as almost to tire the eye.
I lingered some time in the stranger-galleries of
CONGRESSIA.
39
C
Congress, but a plague on both their Houses'-
there was
no question of stirring interest before
either. I had hoped to see at least one represen-
tative committed to the custody of the Sergeant-at-
Arms; but, on that day, the hardly-worked official
had rest from his labours. Only a few hours later,
an irascible senator (from Delaware, I think) created
a temporary excitement by defying, first his political
opponent, and then, generally, all powers that be;
eventually displaying the revolver, which is the ratio
ultima of so many Transatlantic debates. I heard
some tall talking,' enforced by much energy of
gesture and resonance of tone; but not a period
verging on eloquence. The speakers generally
seemed to have studied in the simple school of the
'stump' or the tavern, and, when at a loss for an
argument, would introduce a diatribe against the
South, or a declaration of fidelity to the Union,-very
much as they might have proposed a toast or sen-
timent, supremely disregardful of such trifles as
relevancy or connection. The retort—more or less
courteous—seemed much favoured by these honest
rhetoricians, and appreciated by the galleries, who,
at such times, applauded sympathetically, in despite
of menace
or intercession of Vice-President or
Speaker. Nobody, indeed, took much notice of
either of these two dignitaries; and they appeared
perfectly reconciled to their position. You would
not often find orators and audience understand one
40
BORDER AND BASTILLE.
another more thoroughly: the easy freedom of the
whole concern was quite festive in its informality.
Having secured a portion of my English letters
(one or more were retained for the recreation and,
I hope, improvement of the post-official mind),
nothing detained me in Washington beyond the
fourth morning. I turned northwards the more
cheerfully, because it involved escape from a certain
chamber-maiden to whose authority I was sub-
jected at the Metropolitan-the most austere tyrant
that ever oppressed a traveller. That grim White
Woman might have paired with the Ancient Mariner
--she was so deep-voiced, and gaunt, and wan. On
the few occasions when I ventured to summon her,
she would hold me with her glittering eye' till I
quailed visibly beneath it, utterly scorning and reject-
ing some mild attempts at conciliation. I am certain,
she suspected me of meditating some black private
or public treachery; and I know, there was joy in
her granite heart when circumstances brought me, at
last, in my innocence, before the bar of her offended
country. On that fourth morning, however, the
mood of Sycorax seemed to change; there was a
ghastly gaiety in her manner, and on her rigid lips
an Homeric smile more terrible than a frown. Then
I pondered within myself-"If her hate be heavy to
bear, what-what-would her love be?" The un-
utterable horror of the idea gave me courage, that I
might otherwise have lacked, to confess my intentions
'
CONGRESSIA.
41
of absconding. But I avow that the liberality of
the parting largesse is to be attributed to the meanest
motives of personal fear.
On the railway platform, shaking the mud of Wash-
ington from my drenched boots, I purposed never to
return thither. But I reckoned without my future
hosts, MM. Seward and Stanton, who, though I have
trespassed on their hospitality, now for some weeks,
seem still loth to let me go.
CHAPTER III.
CAPUA.
THE Southward approach to Baltimore is very well
managed. The railroad makes an abrupt curve, as it
sweeps round the marshy woodlands through which the
Patapsco opens out into its estuary; so that you have a
fair view of the entire city, swelling always upwards
from the water's edge, on a cluster of low, irregular
hills, to the summit of Mount Vernon. From that
highest point soars skyward a white, glistening pillar,
crowned by Washington's statue. I have seldom
seen a monument better placed, and it is worthy
of its advantages. The figure retains much of the
strength and grace for which in life it was renowned;
if ever features were created worthy of the deftest
sculptor and the purest marble, such, surely, was the
birthright of that noble, serene face.
No one, that has sojourned in Washington, can be
ten minutes in Baltimore without being aware of a
great and refreshing change. You leave the hurry
and bustle of traffic behind at the railway station, and
are never subjected to such nuisances till you return
thither. Even in the exclusively commercial squares of
CAPUA.
43
the city there reigns comparative leisure, for, except
in the establishments of government contractors, or
others directly connected with the supply of the army
business is by no means brisk just now.
You may
pass through Baltimore Street, the main artery bisect-
ing the town from east to west, at any hour, without
encountering a denser or busier throng than you
would meet in Regent Street, any afternoon out of
the season; and, about the usual promenade-time, the
proportion of fair fláneuses to the meaner masculine
herd would be nearly the same.
I betook myself to Guy's Hotel, which had been
recommended to me as quiet and comfortable: for
many people it would have been too quiet. The black
waiters carried the science of 'taking things easy' to
a rare perfection; they were thoroughly polite and
even kindly in manner, and never dreamed of
objecting to any practicable order, but-as for car-
rying it out within any specified time-altra cosa.
After a few vain attempts and futile remonstrances,
a philosophical guest would recognise, resignedly,
the absolute impossibility of obtaining breakfast,
however simple, under forty-five minutes from the
moment of commanding the same; indeed that was
very good time; I positively aver that I have waited
longer for eggs, tea, and toast. I never tried abuse
or reproach; for I chanced, early in my stay, to
be present, when an impatient traveller voided the
vials of his wrath on the head of the chief attendant;
4.4
BORDER AND BASTILLE.
J
insisting, with many strange oaths, on his right to
obtain cooked food, of some sort, within the half-hour.
Years ago, I was amused, at the Gaietés, by a com-
mon-place scene enough of stage-temptation. Madelon,
driven into her last intrenchments by the sophistries
of the wily aristocrat, objected timidly, "Mais, Mon-
seigneur, j'aime mon mari." For a moment the
Marquis was surprised, and seemed to reflect. Then
he said, "Tiens, tu aimes ton mari? C'est bizarre:
mais-après tout-ce n'est pas defendu." As he
spoke, he smiled upon his simple vassal-evidently
wavering between amusement and compassion.
With just such a smile-allowing for the exaggera-
tion of the African physiognomy-did ‘Leonard' con-
template his victim, and me, the bystander; and then-
sauntered slowly from the room, without uttering one
word. It was a great moral lesson, and I profited by
it. But, in truth, there was little to complain of; the
quarters were clean and comfortable, and one got, in
time, as much as any reasonable man could desire.
The arrangements are on the European system, i.e.,
there are no fixed hours for meals, which are ordered
from the carte, and no fixed charge for board. I
should have remained there permanently, had it not
been for one objection, which eventually overcame my
aversion to change. The basement story of the house
was occupied by a bar and oyster saloon; the pun-
gent testaceous odours, mounting from those lower
regions, gave the offended nostrils no respite or rest;
K
CAPUA.
45
in a few minutes, a robust appetite, albeit watered by
cunning bitters, would wither, like a flower in the
fume of sulphur. Half-a-dozen before dinner have
always satiated my own desire for these molluscs;
before many days were over, I utterly abominated
the name of the species; familiarity only made the
nuisance more intolerable, and I fled at last,-fairly
ostracised. How the habitués stood it, was a mystery,
till I recognised the fact, that there is no accident of
pleasure or pain to which humanity is liable, no ante-
cedent of rest or exertion, no untimeliness of hour
or incongruity of place, which will render an apple
or an oyster inopportune to the American bour-
geois.
My first visit in Baltimore was to the British
Consul, to whom I brought credentials from a mem-
ber of the Washington Legation. I shall not easily
forget the many courtesies, for which I have never
adequately thanked Mr. Bernal: few English tra-
vellers leave Baltimore, without carrying away grate-
ful recollections of his pleasant house in Franklin
Street, and without having received some kindness,
social or substantial, from the fair hands which dis-
pense its hospitalities, so gently and gracefully.
On that same evening my name was entered as
an honorary member of the Maryland Club. It
would be absurd to compare this institution with the
palaces of our own metropolis; but, in all respects,
it may fairly rank with the best class of yacht-clubs.
1
46
BORDER AND BASTILLE.
You find there, besides the ordinary writing and
reading accommodation, a pleasant lounge from early
afternoon to early morning; a fair French cook, piti-
lessly monotonous in his carte; a good steady rubber
at limited points; and a perfect billiard-room. In
this last apartment it is well worth while to linger,
sometimes, for half an hour, to watch the play, if the
'Chief' chances to be there. I have never seen an
amateur to compare with this great artist, for cer-
tainty and power of cue: a short time before my
arrival, at the cannon game, on a table without
pockets, he scored 1015 on one break.
I went through many introductions that evening;
and, in the next fortnight, received ample and daily
proofs of the proverbial hospitality of Baltimore. There
are residents-praisers of the time gone by-who cease
not to lament the convivial decadence of the city;
but such deficiency is by no means apparent to a
stranger.
If gourmandise be the favourite failing in these
parts, there is surely some excuse for the sinners.
Probably no one tract on earth, of the same extent,
can boast of so many delicacies peculiar to itself, as
the shores of the Chesapeake. Of these, the most
remarkable is the terrapin: it is about the size of a
common land-tortoise, and haunts the shallow waters
of the Bay, and the salt marshes around. They say,
r
"he was a bold man who first ate an oyster;" a
much more undaunted experimentalist was the first
CAPUA.
47
taster of the terrapin. I strongly advise no one to
look at the live animal, till he has thoroughly learnt
to like the savoury meat; then, he will be enabled
to laugh all qualms and scruples to scorn. Com-
parisons have been drawn between the terrapin and
the turtle-very absurdly; for, beyond the fact of
both being testudines, there is not a point of resem-
blance. Individually, I prefer the tiny diamond-
back' to his gigantic congener, as more delicate and
less cloying to the palate. Then there is the superb
canvas-back, peerless among water-fowl - never
eaten in perfection out of sight of the sand-banks
where he plucks the wild sea-celery; and, in their
due season, soft-crabs, and bay-mackerel. Last of
all, there are oysters (woe worth the name !) of every
shape, colour, and size. They assert that the cherry-
stones are superior to our own Colchester natives
in flavour for reasons before stated, I cared not to
contest the point.
:
A dinner based upon these materials, with a saddle
of five-year-old mutton from the Eastern Shore as the
main pièce de résistance, might have satisfied the
defunct Earl Dudley, of fastidious memory. The
wines deserve a separate paragraph.
C
20
For generations past, there has prevailed a great
rivalry and emulation amongst the Amphitryons of
Baltimore. They seem to have taken as much pride
in their cellars as a Briton might do in his racing
or hunting stables; bestowing the same elaborate
4.8
BORDER AND BASTILLE.
The
care on their construction and management.
prices given for rare brands appear fabulous, even
to those who have heard, at home, three or four
'commissioners,' with plenipotentiary powers, dis-
puting the favourite bin of some deceased Dean or
Don. But, when you consider what the lost inte-
rest on capital lying dormant for seventy years will
amount to, the apparent extravagance of cost is easily
accounted for.
That is no uncommon age for Madeira. No
European palate can form an idea of this wonderful
wine; for, when in mature perfection, it is utterly
ruined by transport beyond the seas. The vintages
of Portugal and Hungary are thin and tame beside
the puissant liquor that, after half a century's sub-
jection to southern suns, enters slowly on its prime,
with abated fire, but undiminished strength. Drink
it then-and you will own, that from the juice of no
other grape can be drawn such subtlety of flavour,
such delicacy of fragrance passing the perfume of
flowers. Climate of course is the first consideration.
I believe Baltimore and Savannah limit, northward
and southward, the region wherein the maturing
process can be thoroughly perfected.
Madeira is their spécialité; but the wine-fanciers
here can produce rare specimens of almost every
vintage with the exception of Burgundy, which will
not endure the long, rough voyage. There is a cer-
tain 'blue-seal' Johannisberg of 1844, far transcend-
CAPUA.
49
ing any 'Schloss' wine that I have tasted; but the
stock is nearly exhausted, and it is quite priceless.
Those pleasant banquets began early, about 5 p.m.,
and were indefinitely prolonged; for cigars are not
supposed to interfere with the proper appreciation of
Madeira, and the revellers here, cherish the honest
old English custom, of chanting over their liquor.
Closing my eyes now, so as to shut out the dingy
drab walls of this my prison-chamber, I can call up
one of those cheery scenes quite distinctly I can
hear the Chief's' voice close at my ear, trolling
forth the traditional West Point ditty of "Benny
Havens," or the rude sea-ballad, full of quaint
pathos-
C
'Twas a Friday morning when we set sail:
C
then, deeper and fuller tones roll out Barry Corn-
wall's sonorous verses of King Death.' It is good
to look back on hours like these; though I doubt if
the ill-cooked meats, whereof I hope soon to par-
take-not unthankfully-will be improved by the
memory.
In spite of this large hospitality, instances even
of individual excess are comparatively rare. I have
seen more aberration of intellect and convivial eccen-
tricity after a Greenwich dinner, or a heavy 'guest-
night,' than was displayed at any one of these
Baltimore entertainments: a stranger endowed with a
fair constitution, abstaining from morning drinks,
E
-
50
BORDER AND BASTILLE.
.
and paying attention to the Irishman's paternal
advice- Keep your back from the fire, and don't
mix your liquors '-may take his place, with comfort
and confidence.
But my social recollections of Baltimore are by
no means exclusively bacchanalian. British Stock,-
lamentably at a discount in other parts of the Union,—
is, perhaps, a trifle above par here. The popularity
of our representatives-masculine and feminine-may
have something to do with this; at any rate, the
avenues of the best and pleasantest circles are easily
opened to any Englishman, of warranted position and
name.
If a traveller were to enter a drawing-room here,
expecting to be surprised at every turn by some
incongruity of speech or demeanour, such as book-
makers have attributed to our American Cousins,
he would not fill a page of his mental note-book. I
had no such prejudices to be disappointed: after
experience of society in many lands, I begin to think,
that well-bred and educated people speak and behave
after much the same fashion, all the world over.
Few Baltimorean voices are free from a perceptible
accent; it is more marked in the gentler sex, but
rarely so strong as to be disagreeable. The ear is
never offended by the New England twang or Con-
necticut drawl; while some tones rang true as silver.
You hear, of course, occasional peculiarities of ex-
pression, and words somewhat distorted from our
CAPUA.
51
Anglican meaning, but these are not much more
frequent or strange than provincial idioms at home.
I was only once fairly puzzled-in this wise.
'
It was at a public assembly.' I had just been
presented to the
Queen rose of a rosebud garden of girls,
a very Giselle, too, for litheness and grace; the music
of the Sirène had begun, and my arm had circled my
partner's willowy waist; when I felt her hang back,
and saw on her fair face a distressed look of penitence
and perplexity: "I'm so sorry," she murmured,
"but I can't dance loose." Perfectly vague as to
her meaning, I assured her that she should be
guided after as serrée a fashion as she chose; but
this evidently did not touch the difficulty. By the
merest chance, I observed, that all the cavaliers put
themselves, as it were, in position,-their left hand
locked in the right of their valseuse,-before making
a start, omitting the preliminary paces that get you
well into the swing. It was all plain sailing then,
and swift sailing too; the rest of the performance
being completed with perfect unanimity, much to my
own satisfaction, and, I trust, not to the discontent
of my fairy-footed charge.
The freedom, and independent self-reliance of the
Baltimorean demoiselles is very remarkable. At home,
they receive and entertain their own friends, of either
sex, quite naturally; and-taking their walks abroad,
E 2
52
BORDER AND BASTILLE.
or returning from an evening party-trust themselves
unhesitatingly to the escort of a single cavalier. Yet,
you would scarcely find a solitary imitation of the
'fast girls,' who have been giving our own ethical
writers so much uneasiness of late. It speaks well for
the tone of society, where such a state of things can
prevail, without fear and without reproach. Though
Baltimore breeds gossips, numerous and garrulous as
is the wont of provincial cities, I never heard a
slander or a suspicion levelled against the most
intrepid of those innocent Unas.
From the morale one must needs pass to the per-
sonnel. On the appearance of a debutante, they say,
the first question in Boston is, "Is she clever?" In
New York, "Is she wealthy?" In Philadelphia, "Is
she well-born?" In Baltimore, Is she beautiful ? '
For many years past, common report has conceded
the Golden Apple to the Monumental City; and I
think the distinction has been fairly won.
>>
(C
The small delicate features, the long, liquid,
iridescent eyes,—the sweet, indolent morbidezza, that
make Southern beauty so perilously fascinating,-are
not uncommon here, and are often united to a clear-
ness and brilliancy of complexion scarcely to be found
nearer the tropics. The Upper Ten Thousand by no
means monopolise these personal advantages. At the
hour of dress parade' you cannot walk five steps,
without encountering a face well worthy of a second
look. Occasionally, too, you catch a provokingly
:
CAPUA.
53
brief glimpse of a high slender instep, and an ankle
modelled to match it. The fashion of Balmorals and
kilted kirtles prevails not here; both maids and matrons
are absurdly reluctant to submit their pedal perfec-
tions to the passing critic: even on a day when it is
a question of Mud v. Modesty, you may escort an
intimate acquaintance for an hour, and depart, doubt-
ing as to the colour of her hosen. But-conceding
the justice of Baltimore's claim, and the constant
recurrence of more than a stata pulchritudo-I am
free to confess that, with a single exception, I saw
nothing approaching supreme perfection of form or
feature.
The exception was a very remarkable one.
I write these words, as reverently as if I were
drawing the portrait of the fair Austrian Empress, or
any other crowned beauty indeed, I always looked
on that face, simply as a wonderful picture, and so I
remember it now. I have never seen a countenance
more faultlessly lovely. The pose of the small head, and
the sweep of the neck, resembled the miniatures of
Giulia Grisi in her youth, but the lines were more
delicately drawn, and the contour more refined; the
broad open forehead, the brows firmly arched, without
an approach to heaviness, the thin chiselled nostril
and perfect mouth, cast in the softest feminine mould,
reminded you of the First Napoleon. Quick mobility
of expression would have been inharmonious there :
yet with all its purity of outline, the face was not
54
BORDER AND BASTILLE.
severe or coldly statuesque,-only superbly serene,
not lightly to be ruffled by any sudden revul-
sion of feeling; a face, of which you never realised
the perfect glory, till a pink-coral tint flushed faintly
through clear pale cheeks; while the lift of long trail-
ing lashes revealed the magnificent eyes, lightening
slowly up, to the full of their stormy splendour. It
chanced, that the lady was a vehement Unionist, and
'rose,' very freely, on the subject of the war; sincere
in her honest patriotism, I doubt if she ever guessed
at the real object of her opponent, in the arguments
which not unfrequently arose.
If there be any indiscretion in this pen-and-ink
sketch from nature, I should bitterly regret the invo-
luntary error, though its subject, to the world in
general, remains nameless as Lenore.
There is another peculiarity of Baltimore society,
which a stranger will only perceive when he has
passed withinside its porches. It is divided, not
only into sets, but, as it were, into clans. Several
of the leading families, generally belonging to the
territorial aristocracy that took root in the State
at, or soon after, its settlement, have so inter-
married, as to create the most curious net of
cousinship, the meshes of which are yearly becom-
ing more intricate and numerous. Yet there are
no especial indications of exclusiveness or spirit of
clique; rather it is the homely feeling of kins-
manship, which makes the intercourse of relations
CAPUA.
55
more familiar and unceremonious, than that of inti-
mate acquaintances or friends.
C
Cadets from many powerful houses in all the three
kingdoms, were among the early colonists of Mary-
land. It is good to mark, how gallantly the old
blood' holds its own, even here; how, the descend-
ants of soldiers and statesmen have already attained
the pride of place, that their ancestors won at home
centuries ago, by a like valiance of sword, tongue,
or pen. Take one family, for instance, with whose
members I was fortunate enough to be especially
intimate.
For generations past, the Howards have been men
of mark in Maryland. Wherever hard or famous
work was to be done, in field or senate, one, at least,
of the name was sure to be found in the front. The
present head of the family sustains, right well, the
reputations of the worthies who went before him.
A staunch friend and an uncompromising adversary-
valuing political honesty no more lightly than private
honour-liberal and unsuspicious to a fault in his
social relations-very frank and simple in speech-
in manner always courteous and cordial-it would be
hard to find, in Europe, an apter representative of
the Ancien Régime. I believe, that those who
really know General Howard, will not consider this
sketch a flattery or an exaggeration.
He was a
candidate for the Governorship at the last election,
and so powerful was his acknowledged personal
A
56
BORDER AND BASTILLE.
prestige, that, in despite of overt intimidation and
secret influences, which made a free-voting an absur-
dity, the Black Republicans exulted over his with-
drawal as an important victory.
Though ordinary business is so slack in Baltimore
just at present, almost every male resident, not en-
gaged in law or physic, has, or supposes himself to
have, something to do. Instances of absolute idle-
ness are very rare. So, by ten A.M., all the men
betake themselves to their offices, and there busy
themselves about their affairs, after a fashion ener-
getic or desultory, till after two o'clock. The dinner-
hour varies from three to half-past five. Post-prandial
labour is generally declined; wisely, too, for few
American digestions will bear trifling with; though
Nature must have gifted some of my acquaintance
with a marvellous internal mechanism. How, other-
wise, could they stand a long unbroken course of
free living, with such infinitesimal correctives of
exercise? The evening is spent after each man's
fancy, at the club, or at one of the many houses
where a familiar is certain to meet a welcome, and
more or less of pleasant company. The entertain-
ments are often more extensive and formal, embracing,
of course, music, and such are invariably wound up
by a supper. I have heard certain of our seniors grow
quite pathetic over the abolition of those social, if
unsalubrious, repasts. I wonder at such regrets no
longer, if I cannot share them. There is surely an
1
CAPUA.
57
C
hilarious informality about these media-nochi that
attaches to no antecedent feast; the freedom of a
pic-nic, without its manifold inconveniences: as the
witching hour draws nearer, the brightest eyes
that ever have shone' glitter with a more liberal
mirth; and
and the sweetest lips that ever were
kissed' sip the creaming Verzenay, or savour the
delicate 'olio,' with a keener honesty of zest. The
supper-tables are almost always adorned by some of
the pretty, quaint conceits of an artist, whose fame
extends far beyond Baltimore. Mr. Hermann's ice-
imitations of all fruits and flowers, are marvellously
vivid and natural: I have never seen them equalled
by any continental glaciers.
I have lingered, perhaps, too long over too trifling
details; and yet, I wish I had done my subject more
justice. Be it remembered, that I visited Baltimore
at a season of unusual social depression. I do not
speak of the stagnation in commerce, and the ruin of
Southern interests and possessions, from which many
have suffered heavy pecuniary loss: the effects of
the war come home to the Fair City yet more sharply.
The prime of manhood is almost as rare now in her
saloons, as it was in the Forum, when
Sempronius Atratinus
Was left in charge at home
With boys and with grey-headed men,
To keep the walls of Rome.
For months past, the best part of her jeunesse dorée
58
BORDER AND BASTILLE.
have been fighting,-as only the daintily born and
bred can fight, at bitter need,—in the van of Southern
armies.
Every fresh rumour of battle adds to the crowd of
pale anxious faces, and every bulletin lengthens the
list of mourners. There are few families, Federal or
Secessionist, who have not relatives-none that have
not dear friends-exposed to hourly peril, from dis-
ease, if not from lead or steel. The suspense felt in
England during the Crimean or Indian wars, cannot
be compared to that which many here are forced to
endure. We knew, at least, where our soldiers were,
and heard often how they fared: their sickness,
wounds, and deaths were all recorded. But the scenes
of this war's vast theatre are so often shifted, and com-
munication with the remoter parts of the South-West
is so uncertain, that months will elapse without a line
of tidings from the absent; the
the grass has grown and
withered again, over many graves, before the weary
hearts at home knew that the time was past, for
waiting, and watching, and prayers.
The last season in New York, they say, has been
the gayest known for many years. The nouveaux
riches have been spending their ill or well gotten
gains, right royally. But the temptations to exu-
berant festivity, are few indeed in Baltimore, just now :
with all that they have to endure and fear, it speaks
well for the hardihood of her citizens, that they can
maintain even a chastened cheerfulness.
Chin
CHAPTER IV.
FRIENDS IN COUNCIL.
I MAY not deny that I found the places in which
my lines were just then cast exceeding pleasant: if
no serious purpose had been before me, I could have
been contented to sojourn there, till spring had waned.
But it is some satisfaction now, to be able to think
and say--I do say it, in perfect honesty and sincerity
-that I did not lose sight of my journey's main
object for one single day, from first to last. Indeed, I
should have felt far more impatient of delay, had it
not been for the continuance of foul weather and
recurrence of heavy storms, which made armies, no
less than individuals, impotent to act or move. On
the morning following my arrival I took counsel with
One who was, perhaps, better able to advise me as
to my future course than any other resident in
Baltimore: certainly none could have been more
heartily willing to help, both in word and deed. I
owe to that man much more than a debt of ordinary
hospitality. To say that his courtesy and cordi-
ality were marked, where benevolence to a stranger is
the rule-would very faintly express the personal
60
BORDER AND BASTILLE.
trouble he undertook and the personal risk he
incurred, in his efforts to facilitate and further my
purposes. Up to this moment, I do not believe that
he has grudged one whit of all this, much as he may
have chafed at all having proved unavailing. I am
right sorry that prudence forbids my chronicling
here a name which will always stand high on my
muster-roll of friends; but the memory of almost
any Englishman who has visited Baltimore, will fill up
the blank that I must leave, perforce.
It seemed that there was a choice of two routes
into Secessia. The first-in many respects the easiest
and far the most travelled-lay through the lower
counties of Maryland: the narrow peninsula on
which Leonards-town is situated forming the starting
point, whence the blockade-runner attempted to cross
the Lower Potomac-there, from four to eight miles
wide. It was necessary to run the gauntlet of several
gun-boats and smaller craft; but traffic at that
particular time was carried on with tolerable regu-
larity, and captures, though not unfrequent, were, so
far, exceptions to a rule. On the land route, before
reaching the point of embarkation, lay the chief diffi-
culties. A horseman travelling with saddle-bags,
became at once a suspicious personage, liable every-
where to jealous scrutiny. The main roads were
already becoming so cut up as to be traversed only
with great toil and difficulty by ordinary vehicles,
while the cross roads were simply impassable by
-
FRIENDS IN COUNCIL.
61
wheels. The principal turnpikes still hard enough to
carry a 'stage,' such as that from Washington to
Leonards-town, were more carefully guarded, and
picketed at certain points, especially bridges. At
any one of these points, a search might be appre-
hended, and anything beyond the simplest necessaries
was liable to seizure as contraband of war; personal
arrest might possibly follow, but the Federal out-
posts were said to content themselves, as a rule, with
confiscation and appropriation, unless any documents
of a compromising nature were found: such a course
was obviously pleasanter for all parties, than sending
in prisoners-with their effects. Now it so chanced,
that in the modest-not to say scanty-outfit, which
I thought it worth while to bring out from home,
was a certain pair of riding-boots, by which I set
especial store. They were such as many of our field-
officers now in Canada are in the habit of wearing
-coming high up on the thigh, perfectly waterproof,
but very light, and pliant as a glove. I saw nothing
of American manufacture to compare with them.
Some of my duck-shooting acquaintance at Baltimore
were never weary of admiring their fair proportions;
nor did my sage counsellor, before alluded to, refuse
his warm approbation; but he urged very strongly
the hazard of my wearing them on my way to the
Lower Potomac to carry or transmit them otherwise
was simply impossible. Nevertheless, neither Bom-
bastes nor Dalgetty could have clung more obstinately
:
Fig
62
BORDER AND BASTILLE.
to his favourite chaussure than did I to mine. I
knew that in the South, where an ordinary pair of
cavalry boots commands readily seventy dollars or
more, they could not be matched, and I had not
Lived in the saddle for years a score,
C
without learning that, on a long march, the value of
thoroughly well fitting and comfortable nether inte-
guments is above rubies.' And they did carry me
right well and safely through many rough ways and
much wild weather-impervious alike to water, mud,
rain or snow. Honour, where honour is due:
Fagg, of Panton Street, was the architect.* So I
'set my foot down,' literally and metaphorically, on
this point; absolutely determined that boots and
saddle-bags should share my fortunes. Eventually
I compromised things, by investing in a colossal
pair of overalls, warranted to smother and obli-
terate the proportions of any human legs, however
encased beneath.
But, during this discussion, the other route came
naturally into question. It was the one most generally
attempted by horsemen, and during the last ten weeks,
had been traversed repeatedly with perfect success.
It led through Howard and Montgomery counties to
the banks of the Upper Potomac, between Sugar-loaf
* If this looks like an advertisement, I can't help it, and can only
say that it is a disinterested one: it may be long before I need
water-proofs again, and I owe their deserving manufacturer
nothing but-justice.
+
FRIENDS IN COUNCIL.
63
C
Mountain and Seneca Creek. In this neighbourhood
there were one or two fords, easily crossed at ordinary
seasons, and only impassable after continuous down-
falls of snow or rain. In fact, the chief obstacle
was not the river, but the Chesapeake and Ohio
canal, which runs close along the northern bank from
Cumberland to Washington. This is not broad, but
very deep, muddy, and precipitous, nor could I hear
of any one who had succeeded in swimming a horse
across it, or who had even made the attempt. The
only passages were by bridges over, and culverts
under, the water-way. These were of course jealously
guarded; but it was possible, occasionally, to attack
a picket with an irresistible silver spear;' and
several instances had lately occurred of sentinels
keeping their eyes and ears shut fast, during the
brief time required for a small mounted party to pass
their posts.
I would not insinuate that venality
was the general rule; so far from this being the
case, I understood that it was necessary to make
such overtures with great caution; the negotiation
involving certain delay and possible failure. Detach-
ments were constantly shifted from point to point,
and regiments from station to station. Some corps
were notoriously more accessible than others. Accord-
ing to common report, the recruits from New Eng-
land, Massachusetts, and Connecticut
were the
easiest to deal with, and the subalterns were said to
be usually open to a fair offer. But perhaps this was
64
BORDER AND BASTILLE.
a scandal after all; for the Marylander holds the
Yankee proper in such bitter dislike and contempt,
that he would miss no chance of a by-blow.
Once over the river at this point-you were compa-
ratively safe. There were no regular pickets or patrols
on the further bank; only scattered reconnoitering par-
ties of cavalry were to be evaded. Under cover of dark-
ness, with a good local guide, this was easily done; and
one long night's ride brought you fairly into Secessia.
To this route my Mentor and I did at last seriously
incline, for good and sufficient reasons.
The Southern trooper's horse fares, I believe, far bet-
ter in many ways than his Northern compeer. Besides
being more carefully groomed and tended, he carries a
rider better able to husband a failing animal's strength,
so as to nurse him home.' But the raiders travel
often far and fast through a country fetlock-deep on
light land, where provender is scanty and shelter
there is none. The daily wear and tear of horse-
flesh during this last bitter winter has been some-
thing fearful; even at the time I speak of the
difficulty of obtaining a really serviceable 'mount' in
Virginia could hardly be over-estimated. From 1000
to 1500 dollars were spoken of as ordinary prices for
a fair charger, and men willing to give that sum,
had been forced to go into South Carolina before
they could suit themselves. In my own case the
difficulty was increased; for-in hard condition,
without cloak, valise, or accoutrements-I draw
FRIENDS IN COUNCIL.
65
14 st. 10lb., in a common hunting-saddle. Now, an
animal well up to that weight, with anything like
action or a turn of speed, is right hard to find on the
Transatlantic seaboard. Even in Maryland, where
horse-flesh is comparatively plenty, and breeders of
blood-stock abound, such a specimen is a rarity:
among the stallions, I can scarcely remember
one coming up to the standard of a real weight-
carrier, with the exception of Black Hawk. I saw
hundreds of active, wiry hackneys, excellently adapted
for fast, light work, either in shafts or under saddle;
their courage and endurance, too, are beyond question ;
but-looking at them with a view to long, repeated
marches, where, if ever, you ought to have a few
pounds in hand-I decided that they were about
able to carry, the boots honourably mentioned above.
After mature consideration and long debate, it
was settled that I should, if possible, be mounted
before starting, instead of trusting to chance beyond
the Border. This, of course, decided the selection
of routes: no quadruped could cross the Lower
Potomac.
Some scores of miles up the country, there lived,
and, I trust, lives still, a certain small horse-dealer, a
firm Secessionist at heart, well versed in the time-
tables of the road southward; indeed, his house was,
as it were, a principal station on the Underground
Railway. He was reputed trustworthy, and fairly
honest in traffic. I can endorse this, conscientiously,
F
66
BORDER AND BASTILLE.
only hoping that such a remarkable characteristic as
the last-named will not identify the individual to his
hurt. I was at once put into communication with Mr.
Symonds-let us call him, for the sake of old
hippic memories. He spoke confidently as to my
ultimate prospects of getting across, without pretend-
ing to fix an exact day, or even week.
Shortly
before my arrival he had forwarded several travellers,
who arrived at their journey's end without let or
hindrance I suppose there is no indiscretion in
saying, that Lord Hartington and Colonel Leslie were
among the fortunate ones. Mr. Symonds" thought
he had something that would suit me; so a few
days later, the animal and the dealer paraded for
inspection in Baltimore.
:
I was much pleased with both. The man seemed
to understand his business thoroughly; without
making extravagant promises, he expressed himself
willing to serve my purpose to the utmost of his
power, at any reasonable risk to himself; and spoke
very moderately about the horse, asking for nothing
more than a fair trial of his merits. I liked the
animal better than anything I had seen, so far. He
was a dark-brown gelding, about 15.3, with strong
square hind-quarters, and a fair slope of shoulder ;
without much knee-action; but springy enough in
his slow paces; his turn of speed was not remarkable,
but he could last for ever, and, if the ground were not
too heavy, would gallop on easily for miles with a
""
FRIENDS IN COUNCIL.
67
long, steady stride; like most Maryland-bred horses,
he had wonderfully clean, flat legs; after the hardest
day's work I never saw a puff on them; he was not
sulky or savage, but had a temper and will of his
own; both of these, however, yielded, after a sharp
wrangle or two, to the combined influence of coaxing
and a pair of sharp English rowels; in the latter days
of our acquaintance we never had a difference of
opinion. Considering the scarcity of stanch horse-
flesh, the price asked was very moderate, and I closed
the bargain on the spot. I was assured that my new
purchase was of the Black Hawk stock, and he was
christened Falcon' that same day.
(
So Symonds departed, promising to set all possible
wheels to work, and to inform me of the earliest
opportunity for a start; the first desideratum being,
of course, a reliable guide.
I cannot say that the hours of my detention hung
heavily. The social attractions of the place were
ample enough to fill up afternoons and evenings right
pleasantly in the mornings, whenever the weather
was not pitilessly bad, I rode or drove through the
country round.
:
I think no one understands the full luxury of rapid
motion without bodily exertion, till they have sate
behind a pair of first-class American trotters. The
waggon, to begin with, is a mechanical triumph:
it is wonderful, to see such lightness combined
with such strength and stability. I saw one, after
F 2
68
BORDER AND BASTILLE.
:
five years' constant usage over fearfully bad roads it
was owned by a man noted for reckless pace, where
many Jehus drove furiously; not a bolt or joint had
started; the hickory of shafts and spokes still seemed
tough as hammered steel. These carriages are roomy
enough, and fairly comfortable, when you are in them;
but that same entrance is apt rather to puzzle a
stranger. The fore and hind wheels are nearly the
same height, and set very close together; even when
the fore-carriage is turned so that they nearly lock,
the space left for ascent between them is narrow
indeed; this same arrangement renders, of course,
impossible, a sudden turn in a contracted circle. But
the dames and demoiselles who put their trust in
these chariots, make a mock at such small difficulties.
You are shamed into activity, after once seeing your
fair charge spring to her place, with graceful con-
fidence, never soiling the skirt of her dainty robe.
The team that I used to drive constantly, were
fair, but not remarkable performers; their best
mile-time was a trifle under 3.20. Their owner had
not had leisure to keep them in steady exercise,
so at first they were very skittish, and prone to
break; but they soon settled down to their work,
and then did not pull an ounce too much for pleasure,
even when spinning along at top-speed, with their small
lean heads thrust eagerly forward, after the fashion of
the barbs called Drinkers of the Wind.' Once I
drove, in single harness, a trotter whose time was close
6
FRIENDS IN COUNCIL.
69
on 2.45; but this is not considered anything extra-
ordinary, and the outside price of such an animal
would be about 1000 dollars: once-inside the
the fancy prices begin, and go up rapidly
to 4000 dollars, or higher.
forties
,
It must be remembered that the roads in these
parts cannot be compared, either for level or metal,
with the highways over our own champaign; they
'cut up' fast in rough weather, and settle slowly;
while the ground generally sinks and swells too abruptly
to allow of a lengthened stretch at full speed. I
often wished that the whole turn-out of which I
have spoken could be transported, without the risk of
sea-passage, into one of our Eastern counties. I can
hardly conceive a greater luxury to a coachman,'
than sending such a pair along, on the road leading
into Norfolk from Newmarket.
I had been some time in Baltimore before I was
honoured by an introduction to the most renowned-
it is a bold word-of all its beauties. To many,
even in England, the name of Flora Temple will
not sound strange: her great feat of the mile in two
minutes nineteen seconds has never yet been equalled,
and for the last three years she has rested idly on
her laurels, in default of any challenger to dispute her
sovereignty of the turf. Her owner, W. Macdonald,
Esq., resides within a short distance of the city, and,
I doubt not, would receive any stranger with the
same courtesy that he extended to me. His stables
70
BORDER AND BASTILLE.
are well worth a visit, for, besides the fair champion,
they contain several other trotters of no mean repute,
(one team, the " Chicago Chestnuts," is a notoriety);
and the carriages exemplify every improvement of
American manufacture. The building itself is very
peculiar-perfectly circular, with a diameter of 100
feet, and a dome-roof rising to fifty feet at the crown.
In the centre is a large fountain of white marble,
round which is a broad tan-ride; outside this again
are the stalls, horse-boxes, harness, and carriage
apartments.
:
On the left-hand side of the entrance-arch is a large
chamber, rush-strewn, like the tiring-room of some
ancient châtelaine, but brilliant with polished wood
and metal, gorgeous with stained glass that is the
boudoir of the Queen of the Turf, and over the door-
way are her titles of honour emblazoned. The Great
Lady-as is the wont of her compeers-is somewhat
capricious at times, and disinclined to parade her
beauty before strangers; but she chanced to be in a
special good humour that day, and allowed me to
admire her points at leisure.
It is hard to fancy a more faultless picture of com-
pact activity and strength. Viewed from a distance,
and at first sight, her proportions deceive everyone;
you are surprised, indeed, when you come close to
her withers, and find that you are standing by a
veritable pony, barely touching 14-3. But look
at the long slope of shoulder the chest, wide
FRIENDS IN COUNCIL.
71
enough to give the largest lungs free play in their
labour-the flat, square quarters, the muscular
fulness of the upper-limbs, so perfectly 'let down '-
the clear sinewy legs, without a curb-mark or wind-
fall to tell tales of fearfully fast work and hard training
-and you will wonder less how the Championship was
won. They say that the Queen was never fitter than
now; yet, since her hot youth she has seldom rested,
and now, long past the equine climacteric, is far ad-
vanced in her teens.
This part of America is so constantly visited by my
compatriots, that it may be well, while we are on this
subject, to say a few words about the sporting resources
of Maryland.
There is very fair partridge-shooting in many dis-
tricts. As I crossed the country in mid-winter, I
could hardly judge of what the autumn cover would
be; but I heard that of this there was no lack;
in October the birds will lie right well, especially
in the weedy stubbles, and along the brushy
banks of water-courses. In many places a fair
shot may reckon on from ten to fifteen brace, and I
could name two guns that have not unfrequently
bagged from thirty to fifty brace on the Eastern
shore; but, I believe, they shot with unusually
straight powder. There is a good show of wood-
cock at certain seasons; but it sounds strange to
English ears when they speak of the season opening
in June: the bird is much smaller than ours, averaging
72
BORDER AND BASTILLE.
about seven or eight ounces, and it is found much
oftener in comparatively open ground than in thick
woodland.
C
The royal sport of Maryland is, the wild-fowl
shooting on the Chesapeake Bay. The best of the
season was passed long before my arrival; but in two
visits to Carroll's Island I saw enough to feel sure
that my Baltimore friends vaunted not its capabilities
in vain. I cannot remember having seen elsewhere
so promising a ducking-point.' Imagine a low,
marshy peninsula; verging landward into stunted
woods, full of irregular water-courses and stagnant
pools; tapering off seaward into a mere spit of
sand, on which reeds and bent-grass scarcely deign to
grow: towards the extreme point, just where the neck
is narrowest, are the blinds,'-ten or twelve in
number a long gun-shot apart, in which the
fowlers lurk, waiting for their prey. On either
side stretch the broad estuary of the Gunpowder
River, and the broader waters of the Chesapeake,
along whose shallows lie the banks of wild celery on
which the canvass-back loves to feed. Changing these
feeding-grounds soon after dawn and shortly before
sunset, the fowls naturally cross the neck of the little
peninsula they will never willingly pass over land,
unless they can see water close beyond. Occasionally
you may have fair shooting all through the day; but, as
a rule, the above-mentioned hours are those alone when
good flying' may be reckoned on.
When it is good,
:
(
FRIENDS IN COUNCIL.
73
the sport must be superb: it is the very sublimation
of 'rocketing.' You must hold straight and forward,
to stop a cock-pheasant whirring over the leafless tree-
tops, well up in the keen January wind; but a
swifter traveller yet is the canvass-back drake, as he
swings over the bar, at the fullest speed of his
whistling pinions, disdaining to turn a foot from his
appointed course, albeit vaguely suspecting the ambush
below. The height of the flying' varies, of course,
greatly. I saw nothing brought down, to the
best of my calculation, within forty-five or fifty yards,
and most were much beyond that distance. At first, you
let several chances slip, believing them to be out of
shot; but the mighty duck-guns, carrying five or six
drams of strong coarse powder, do their work
gallantly; and nothing can be more refreshing than
the aplomb, with which their victims, stricken down
from that dizzy height, strike water, reeds, or sand.
Among the many varieties of fowl-varying from
wild swan to widgeon-that are slain here, the
canvass-back holds, by common consent, the pre-
eminence for delicacy of flavour and tenderness of
meat; but I confess I have thought almost as highly
of an occasional 'red-head' in perfect condition.
This, the most celebrated of all ducking points on
the Chesapeake, is rented by a club, the members of
which are all resident in Baltimore, or its neighbour-
hood: the number, I think, is limited to twelve.
When they muster in force, the sleeping accommo-
'
74
BORDER AND BASTILLE.
dation must necessarily be limited, as Mr. Russell
describes it; but there is room and verge enough
in the quaint old homestead, for any ordinary
party. The burly host himself is quite in keeping
with the place, and bears his part right jovially
in the rough-and-ready revels, that contrast not
disagreeably, with the social amenities left behind
in the city. I spent some very pleasant hours of
sunshine and twilight at the Colonel's;' (he has as
good a right to the title as many more pretentious
dignitaries); though the flying was indifferent on
both my visits. On the first occasion, though several
varieties of fowl were bagged, we only secured one
canvass-back, which was courteous enough to tumble
to the stranger's gun. Sooth to say, the first inter-
view with the uncompromising contraband who
wakes you is a trial, and it is bitterly cold work for
feet and fingers, when you first come into your
'blind' under the early dawn; but the blood soon
warms up as the warning cries from the markers
become more frequent; the pulse quickens as the
dark specks or lines loom nearer, defined against the
dull red or silvery grey of the sky-line; chills and
shivers are all forgotten, as your first red-head'—
pioneer of a whole skein' from the river-crashes
down yards behind you, on the hard, wet sand that
fringes the bay.
C
In the genial October weather, during which
comes the cream of the flying, the sojourn at Carroll's
'
r
FRIENDS IN COUNCIL.
75
Island must be really delightful. But, much I
fear, that next autumn's prospects look brighter for
the fowl, than for their sedulous persecutors. Who
can say, what changes may not have been wrought in
the fortunes of some of those cheery sportsmen, before
next season shall open? Perhaps, ere that, the echoes
of the Chesapeake will be waked by an artillery that
would drown the roar even of the mighty duck-guns.
The sea-fishing in the bay is remarkably good, but it
is not greatly affected by amateurs; and very few
yachts are seen on its usually placid waters. Almost
all the streams round the Chesapeake, in spite of
their being perpetually thrashed,' and never pre-
served, abound in small trout; but farther a-field, in
North-western Maryland, where the tributaries of
the Potomac and Shenandoah flow down the woody
ravines of Cheat Mountain and the Blue Ridge, there
is room for any number of fly-rods, and fish heavy
enough to bend the stiffest of them all.
C
'
Before troubles began, they used to hunt, after a
fashion, in most of the upland districts; but the sport
can hardly be very exciting. The gravest of the
potterings' of ancient days, when our great-grand-
sires used to drag up to their fox while the dew
lay heavy on the grass, was a 'cracker,' compared to
one of these runs, as I heard them described. Three
or four couple of cross-bred hounds do occasionally
weary and worry to death their unhappy quarry, after
three or four hours 'ringing' through endless wood-
76
BORDER AND BASTILLE.
C
lands; unless, indeed, he goes earlier to ground, in
which case he is dug out to meet a quicker and more
merciful death. The fact, that a heavy fall of snow
is supposed greatly to facilitate matters, about settles
the question of sport. I should like to ask Charles
Payne, or Goddard, his opinion of pricking' a fox.
However, to ride straight and fast over such a country
would be simply impossible: the detestable snake-
fences meet you everywhere, with their projecting
'zigzags' of loosely-piled rails; you can hardly ever
get a chance of taking them in your stride, and they
are a fair standing-jump with the top bar removed,
which generally involves dismounting. The name of
poor Falcon has led me so far a-field, that I must
continue my own chronicle in another chapter.
CHAPTER V.
THE FORD.
IN about ten days I heard from Symonds. The
road was not yet open, but a party was waiting
to start. He had secured me a henchman, in the
shape of a private in an Alabama regiment who was
anxious to accompany any one South, without fee or
reward. The man was said to be well acquainted
with the country beyond the Potomac, besides being
really honest and courageous. I had no reason to
question these qualifications, though his tongue was
apt to stir too loudly for prudence, and too fast for
truth ; while over the manner of his release (he had
been for some months a prisoner of war), there hung
a mystery never cleared up satisfactorily. It was
necessary, of course, that my squire should be
mounted, and after some deliberation, it was settled
that I should furnish him with a steed. I was moved
thereto, partly from a wish to spare Falcon all dead-
weight in the shape of saddle-bags, partly from the
knowledge that superfluous horseflesh was a com-
modity easily and profitably disposed of in Secessia.
I did not trouble myself much about my second
78
BORDER AND BASTILLE.
horseman's mount, merely stipulating for a moderate
animal at a moderate price. I bought, indeed, in the
dark, and did not see my purchase till the day before
our first actual start. This last negotiation concluded
-I had nothing to do but to abide patiently till it
pleased others to sound boot and saddle.'
'
So day followed day till, in spite of all the social
attractions of Baltimore, I began to chafe bitterly
under the delay. I never could get rid of a half-guilty
consciousness that I ought to be somewhere else,
and that somewhere,-far away. On the morning
of 17th February, I was in the office of my friend and
chief-counsellor above mentioned, discussing the pro-
priety of throwing aside the upper route altogether-
selling back my cattle and making my way as
straight as possible to the shores of the Lower
Potomac. We were actually debating the point
when the door opened, and disclosed Symonds. He
had come down in hot haste, to tell us that a main
obstacle was removed. The water had been let out
of the Chesapeake and Ohio canal, so that it could
now be easily crossed at any unguarded point. The
picket was of necessity so widely scattered as to be
easily evaded. The small party that my squire and I
were to join meant starting, at latest on the following
Friday or Saturday night. Symonds had no re-
cent intelligence from the immediate bank of the
river; but he believed that, in despite of the heavy
rains and occasional snow-storms, we should find one
B
Gde
THE FORD.
79
T
crossing-place-White's Ford, to wit,-still barely
practicable.
I was already furnished with saddlery, etc., but
small final preparations and divers leave-takings filled
up every spare minute, till afternoon on the following
day. I was to sleep the first night at a house only a
few miles from Symonds's, so as to be in readiness
to start at two hours' notice, and my Mentor insisted
on seeing me so far on my way. It had been
snowing at intervals all the morning, and the flakes
were driving thick and blindingly as we drove out
of Baltimore: our team faced the heavy road and
frequent hills gallantly.; but the fifteen miles seemed
long, that brought us to the door of our quarters-
faces aching with the lash of sleet,-beard and mous-
taches frozen to bitterness.
M
As my hosts were in nowise privy to my plans, I
may venture to say, that for the next three days I was
more or less a guest at Drohoregan Manor. This
ancient homestead of the Carroll family is very well
described by Mr. Russell in his "Diary:" his visit
however, was to the late possessor, who died last year.
The law of primogeniture does not prevail here, and
it was only an accidental succession of single heirs,
that brought an undivided patrimony down to the
present generation. One cannot help regretting, that
the estate is to be cut up, now, into five shares or
more. Eleven thousand acres of fertile hill and dale,
sinking and swelling gently, so as to attract all the
80
BORDER AND BASTILLE.
benignity of sun or breeze, not more densely wooded
than is common on our own Western shores, and
watered to an ornamental perfection; truly, on any
civilized land, such is a goodly heritage.
The home-farm of Drohoregan Manor has long
been celebrated for the breeding of a high-class stock
of all kinds. I saw sheep there scarcely coarser than
the average of South-downs; and some fine, level,
clean-limbed steers. Here has stood, for a dozen
years past, the renowned Black Hawk, considered
by many superior to his sire, the Morgan stallion
of the same name. He realised my idea of a
thorough-bred weight-carrier, better than anything
I saw in Maryland; though if one of his stock-a
brown two-year-old colt-furnishes' according to
present promise, he will probably be surpassed in his
turn. There were a large number of colts and fillies.
well adapted for rapid road work; I was not
surprised to hear that at the sale which followed
quickly on my visit, they fetched more than average
prices. I did not think so highly of the cart stock,
principally the produce of a big grey Percheron horse.
Both he and Black Hawk remain in their present
quarters; for the late Colonel Carroll's eldest son
retains the Manor House, and proposes, I believe, to
continue both the farming and breeding establish-
ments on no diminished scale. I rode up to Mr.
Symonds's in the afternoon of the 19th; he was
absent, but his wife informed me, that it was
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81
possible, though scarcely probable, that our party
would start the following night. Then, for the first
time, I made acquaintance with my squire for the
nonce-' Alick,' he was called; I cannot remember
his surname he had a rugged, honest face, and a
manner to match; but I was rather disconcerted at
hearing, that he knew no more of riding or stable-
work than he had picked up in a fortnight's irregular
practice, in an establishment where horses as well as
men were taught to rough it in good earnest.
I liked my new purchase much worse than my new
acquaintance. The former was a raw-boned, leggy
roan, with a coarse head, a dull eye, and a weakish
neck, far too low in condition, as I saw and said at
once, for long travel through a country where a
horse must needs lose flesh daily, from pure
lack of provender. However, there was no time to
make a change, so I was fain to hope that easy
journeys at first, and a light weight on his back,
might gradually bring the ungainly beast into better
form. It appeared that he was just recovering from
the distemper and sore tongue,' which had followed
each other in rapid succession. These two diseases
are the terror of Virginian and Maryland stables.
An animal who has once surmounted them is sup-
posed to be seasoned, and acquires considerable
additional value, like a 'salted' horse in Southern
Africa.
So I returned to the Manor for that night, and
C
G
-
82
BORDER AND BASTILLE.
thither, early the next morning, came Symonds in
person. He informed me, that the start from his
house would not take place till after nightfall on the
following evening; so that I had thirty vacant hours
before me. I knew that the last English mail had
reached Baltimore, and it then seemed so uncertain.
when letters would reach me again, that I could not
resist the temptation of securing my correspondence.
My host was himself returning to the city; so I
accepted the offer of a seat in his waggon, and we
had a pleasant drive back through the clear frosty
weather.
The next day, having made the Post-office
part,' and said those few more last words that
are forgotten at every leave-taking,-I retraced my
steps, by the afternoon train, to Ellicott's Mills, where
I found a carriage from Drohoregan Manor awaiting
me. At this point, the Patapsco hurries through a
channel narrowed by embankments and encroach-
ments of the granite cliffs. Looking upon the yellow
water streaked with huge foam-clots, chafing against
its banks lip high-I could not but augur ill for
our chances of traversing a wider and wilder stream.
But it was too early then to think of desponding, so
casting forebodings behind, I drove up to our rally-
ing place, rattling over four long leagues under
seventy minutes: the black ponies tossed their
heads, and champed their bits gaily, as they made
best time over the last mile.
THE FORD.
83
I found that the party that purposed actually to
cross the Potomac, was, from one cause or another,
reduced to four, including myself and my attendant.
A cousin of Symonds's, hight Walter, with the same
surname there is a perfect clan of them in those
parts—was to accompany us only to our first resting
place, a farmhouse about eighteen miles off. Our
proposed companions were both Maryland men; one
had already served for some months in a regiment of
Confederate cavalry, and was returning to his duty,
after one of those furloughs-often self-granted-in
which the Borderers are prone to indulge; the other
was a mere youth, and had never seen a shot fired;
but a more enthusiastic recruit could hardly be
conceived.
Twilight had melted into darkness long before the
rest of the party arrived; then an hour or more was
consumed in the last preparations and refreshments.
It was fully nine o'clock on the night of February 21st,
when we started from Symonds's door-strengthened
for the journey with a warm stirrup-cup, and warmer
kind wishes from the family, including two very
sympathising damsels, who had come in from neigh-
bouring homesteads to bid the Southward-bound
good speed.
When we had ridden a mile, the Marylanders
turned off to a house where they were to take up
some letters, promising to rejoin us before we had
gone a league. But we traversed more than that
G 2
84
BORDER AND BASTILLE.
distance, at the slowest foot-pace, without being over-
taken, and at length determined to wait for the
laggards, drawing back about thirty paces off the
path, into a glade where there was partial shelter from
the icy wind that swept past, laden with coming
snow. There we tarried for a long half-hour (told on
my watch by a fusee-light), and still no signs of our
companions. Symonds, the cousin, who abode with
us still, began to mutter doubts, and the Alabama
man to grumble curses (he had ever a fatal facility in
blasphemy); I own to having entertained divers
disagreeable misgivings, though I carefully avoided
expressing them. At last, our guide thought it best
that we should make our way to a lonely farmhouse,
about seven miles short of our night's destination,
where, in any case, the party was to have called in
passing. So we wound on through the narrow wood-
paths in single file-sinking occasionally pastern-deep,
where the thin ice over mud-holes supplanted the safe
crackling snow-crust-traversing frequent fords,
where rills were swollen into brooks and turbid
streams. Some of those gullies must have been dark
even at noon-day, with overhanging cypress and pine;
they were so bitterly black now that you were fain to
follow close on the splash in your front, for no mortal
ken could have pierced half a horse's length ahead.
At length, we left the path altogether, and,
pulling down a snake-fence, passed through the gap
into open
fields. It was all plain sailing here, and a
THE FORD.
85
C
great relief after groping through the dim woodland ;
we encountered no obstacle but an occasional zigzag,
easily demolished, till we came to a deep hollow,
where the guide dismounted-evidently rather vague
as to his bearings-and proceeded to feel his way.
Somewhere about here there was a 'branch' (or
rivulet) to be crossed, and danger of bog if you
went astray.
At last he professed to have dis-
covered the right point; but neither force nor
persuasion would induce the stubborn brute he rode
to face it. There was nothing for it, but trying what
giving him a lead' would do. The place was
evidently a small one, but the landing absolutely un-
certain; so I put Falcon at it steadily, letting him
have his head. Then first my poor horse displayed
his remarkable talent for getting over difficulties in
the dark, a talent that I have never seen equalled in
any
other animal, and which alone made him invalu-
able. He took off--almost at a stand-out of clay
up to his hocks, exactly at the right time, and landed
me on firm ground without a scramble. A minute
afterwards there came a rush, a splutter, and a crash,
and a struggling mass rolled at my feet; gradually
resolving itself into a man, a roan horse, and two
saddlebags. So sped Alabama's maiden leap. It
was soft falling, and no harm beyond the break-
ing of a strap was done; but it was fully three
quarters of an hour before our united efforts got
Symonds's refuse across. We accomplished it at
86
BORDER AND BASTILLE.
last, by hurling the brute backwards into the branch
with main strength, and then wading ourselves through
mud that just touched the upper edge of my thigh-
boots. Once over, the track was easily found, and a
barking chorus, performed by half-a-dozen vigilant
mongrels, guided us up to the homestead we were
seeking, just as the snow began to fall heavily.
The stout farmer was soon on foot-men sleep
lightly in these troublous times-proffering food, fire,
and shelter. Our guide strongly advised our remain-
ing there, till we could gain some tidings of our lost
companions it seemed so unlikely that they should
have passed or missed us on the road, that he could
not but fear lest accident or treachery should have
detained them; he offered himself to retrace our
track, and make all inquiries, which he-alone-could
do safely. So it was settled; and, after making the
horses as comfortable as rude accommodation would
allow, my squire and I betook ourselves to rest, not
unwillingly, about 3 a.m.
Every traveller's first waking impulse leads him
straight to the window or to the weather-glass. I
turned away from the look-out in utter disgust; trees
a hundred yards off were invisible through the cloud of
driving snow-flakes; and a level white mantle, rising
up to the lower bars of the snake-fences, merged tillage
into pasture undistinguishably. I chronicled that same
day, as the dreariest of all then remembered Sabbaths.
Besides some odd numbers of an ancient Methodist
THE FORD.
87
magazine, there was no literature available; all
the letters that I cared to write, had been despatched
before I left Baltimore.
A visit to the shed which sheltered our horses, did
not greatly raise one's spirits. Poor Falcon was hardy
as a Shetlander, and in any ordinary weather I never
thought of clothing him; but no wonder he shivered
there, under a rug, coated inch-deep with snow; the
rough-hewn sides and crazy roof gaping with fissures
a hand-breadth wide and more, were scanty defence
against the furious drift, which swept through, not to
be denied. I tried to comfort my horse, by chafing
his legs and ears till both were thoroughly warm,
setting Alick at the same task with the roan; though
clumsy and apt to be obstinate, he worked with a will.
At last we had the satisfaction of seeing both animals.
feed, with an appetite that I, for one, could not but envy.
Our hosts were so cordial in their honest hospitality,
that one felt ungrateful in being so wearily bored.
In the afternoon we had a visit from a neigh-
bouring farmer, who, I believe, had been sum-
moned with the benevolent intent that he should
enlighten or entertain the stranger. He was one of
those stout, elderly men, who, by dint of a certain
portliness of presence, gravity of manner, and slowness
of speech, acquire in their own country much honour
for social or political wisdom. He was quite up to the
average rank of rustic oracles; nevertheless, our con-
verse dragged heavily; it was 'up hill all the way.'
88
BORDER AND BASTILLE.
-
There was a depressing formality about the whole
arrangement; my interlocutor sat exactly opposite
to me, putting one cut-and-dried question after an-
other; never removing his eyes from my face, while I
answered to the best of my power, save to glance at
the silent audience, as though praying them to note
such and such points carefully. I began to feel as
I did in the Schools long ago, when the vivá voce
examiner was putting me through my facings; and
was really glad when the one-sided dialogue ended.
The queries were very simple for the most part, rela-
ting chiefly to the sympathies and intentions of Great
Britain with regard to the war. On the latter point
I could, of course, give no information beyond vague
surmises, practically worthless; as to the former, I
thought myself justified in saying that the balance
of public feeling, in the upper and agricultural classes
especially, leant decidedly Southward. But here, as
elsewhere, I found it impossible to make Secessionists
understand or allow the wisdom, justice, or generosity
of the non-interference policy hitherto pursued by our
government. This is not the time or place to discuss
an important question of statecraft, nor am I pre-
sumptuous enough to assert that different and more
decisive measures would have had all the good effect
that their advocates insist upon; but, however justi-
fiable England's conduct may have been according to
theories of international law, I fear the practical result
will be, that she has secured the permanent enmity of
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89
one powerful people, and the discontented distrust of
another. It is ill trusting even proverbs implicitly;
that old one, about the safe Middle Course, will break
down, like the rest, sometimes. My pertinacious
querist stopped, I suppose, when he had got to the
end of his list, and apparently spent the rest of the
evening in a slow process of digestion; for he would
break out, now and then, at the most irrelevant times,
with a repetition of one of his former interrogations,
which I had to answer again, briefly as I might.
About sundown le Bon Gualtier returned, sorely
travel-worn himself, and with an utterly exhausted
horse. He had ascertained that our companions had
gone on, probably to our original destination of the
previous night; though, why they should have passed
our present resting-place without calling there, re-
mained a mystery; nor was that point ever satisfac-
torily explained. To proceed at once was impossible,
for a fresh horse had to be found for our guide; this,
a cousin of our host's offered to provide by the follow-
ing evening (we could not venture to stir abroad in
daylight); he also offered to make his way to the farm
where the missing men were supposed to be, early
in the morning, and to bring back certain intelligence
of their movements. This was only one instance of
the cordial kindness and hearty co-operation which I
met with at the hands of these sturdy yeomen. Not
only would they rise and open their doors at the
untimeliest of hours, and entertain you with their
90
BORDER AND BASTILLE.
choicest of fatlings, corn, and wine, but there was no
amount of personal toil or risk that they would not
gladly undergo to forward any southward-bound
stranger on his way; nor could you have insulted
your host more grossly, than by hinting at pecuniary
guerdon. Before midnight the snow had ceased to
fall; the next morning broke bright and sunny,
though the frost still held on sharply. Two or three
visitors, masculine and feminine, came in sleighs
during the day, and altogether it passed much more
rapidly than the preceding one. About 4 p.m. the
good-natured messenger returned: our comrades
had duly reached the spot originally fixed for the
Saturday night's halt, and had pursued their journey
on the Sunday evening to the farm which was to be
our last point before attempting the Potomac; their
written explanation was very vague, but they promised
to wait for us at the house they were then making
for. We at once determined to press on thus far that
night, though the score or more of miles of crow-flight
between would certainly be lengthened, at least a
third, by the détours necessary to avoid probable
pickets or outposts, and the deep snow must make
the going fearfully heavy. Walter's fresh mount
came down a powerful, active mare, in good working
condition; but with weak, cracked hoofs that would
not have carried her a day's march on hard, stony
roads.
Under the red sunset we started once more, with
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91
more good wishes; indeed, I had ridden a mile,
before my fingers forgot the parting hand-grip of my
stalwart host.
Now in thinking or speaking of these night rides
beforehand, one is apt to invest them with a slight
tinge of romance and excitement, which is not unat-
tractive. Let me say, that in practice nothing can
be more drearily disagreeable. I can fancy a
canter over the same woodland paths, under the
capricious light of a broad summer or autumn moon,
with one oľ more pleasant companions, being
both exhilarating and agreeable; but traverse the
same number of miles in a night of winter or early
spring; when you have to blunder on at a foot's pace
in Indian file, thankful, indeed, when the snow or
mud is only fetlock deep; where, if you are in mood
for conversation, you dare not often speak above a
whisper (I never could see the sense of this, far out
in the wilds, but the guides are imperative); where
the solitary excitement is found in the possible prox-
imity of a picket, or the probable depth of a ford.
I think you would agree with me, that the only
object in the journey on which your eyes or thoughts
delight to dwell, is the 'biggit land' that ends it.
On that especial night, we had one thing in our
favour; the reflection from the fresh white ground
carpet would have prevented darkness, even without
the light of a waxing moon. But it was slow and
weary travelling.
It would have been cruelty to
P
1
92
BORDER AND BASTILLE.
have forced the horses beyond a walk through snow
that in places was over their knees; besides
which, we dared not risk a jingle of stirrup or bridle-
bit, where an outlying picket might be within ear-
shot. Twice we passed within twenty yards, of
where the fresh track showed that the patrol had
recently turned at the end of his beat; but the
guide knew the country thoroughly, and professed
to have no fears. To speak the truth, I had heard
him, when in the ingle-nook, and warm with Old
Rye, vaunt so loudly his own sagacity and courage,
that I conceived certain misgivings as to how far
either was to be relied on. That night, however,
he fully maintained part of his character, by leading
us safely and surely through a perfect labyrinth of
tracks; sometimes diverging across the open country,
and occasionally plunging into woodland where there
was no vestige of a path.
I ought to be nearly weather-proof by this time;
but, in spite of a warm riding-cloak and a casing of
chamois leather from neck to ankle, I felt sometimes
chilled to the marrow; my lips would hardly close
round the pipe-stem; even while I smoked the
breath froze on my moustache, stiff and hard. My
flask was full of raw country whisky, fiery hot from
the still; but it seemed at last to have lost all
strength, and was nearly tasteless. I would have
given anything for a brisk trot or rattling gallop to
break the monotonous foot-pace; but the reasons
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93
before stated forbade the idea: there was nothing
for it, but to plod steadily onwards. Walter himself
suffered a good deal in hands and feet; the
Alabama man, utterly unused to the lower extremes
of temperature, only found relief from his misery in
an occasional drowsiness that made him sway help-
lessly in his saddle. The last league of our route
lay through the White Grounds. The valley of the
Potomac widens here towards the north, and 6,000
acres of forest stretch away-unbroken, save by rare
islets of clearings. There was no visible track; but
our guide struck boldly across the woodland, taking
bearings by certain landmarks and the steady moon.
It was not dark even here; but low sweeping boughs
and fallen trunks often hidden by snow, made the
travelling difficult and dangerous. I ceased not to
adjure Alick, who followed close in my rear, to keep
fast hold of his horse's head. I doubt if he ever
heard me, for he never intermitted a muttered
running-fire of the most horrible execrations that I
ever listened to, even in this hard-swearing country.
Whether this ebullition of blasphemy comforted him
at the moment I cannot say; but, if curses come
home to roost,' a black brood was hatched that night,
unless one whole page be blotted out from the register
of the Recording Angel.
C.
Both men and horses rejoiced, I am sure, when,
about 2 a.m., we broke out into a wide clearing, and
drew rein under the lee of outbuildings surrounding
94
BORDER AND BASTILLE.
the desired homestead. The farmer was soon aroused,
and came out to give us a hearty though whispered
welcome. It is not indiscreet to record his name, for
he has already 'dree'd his doom;' he was noted
among his fellows for cool determination in purpose
and action; truly, I believe that the yeomanry of
Maryland counts no honester or bolder heart, than
stanch George Hoyle's.
Our lost companions were sleeping placidly upstairs;
that was the best intelligence that our host could give
us. He laughed at the idea of fording the Potomac,
declaring that no living man or horse could stand,
much less swim, in the stream. Knowing the
character of the man, and his thorough acquaintance
with the locality, one ought to have accepted his
decision unquestioned; but I was not then so inured
to disappointment as I became in later days, and
wished to see for myself how the water lay. After a
short sleep and hurried breakfast, Hoyle took me to a
point whence we looked down on a long reach of the
river. At the first glance through my field-glasses,
every vestige of hope vanished. The fierce current
-its sullen neutral tint chequered with frequent
foam-clots-washed and weltered high against its
banks, eddying and breaking savagely wherever it
swept against jut of ground or ledge of rock; while
ever and anon, shot up above the turbid surface a toss-
ing trunk of uprooted alder or willow. Mazeppa's
Ukraine stallion, or the mightiest destrier that ever
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95
Paladin bestrode, would have been whirled away like
withered leaves, ere they had swam ten of the seven
hundred yards that lay between us and the Virginian
shore. I could hardly believe my eyes when Hoyle
pointed out to me the fording-place where, on the
23rd of last December, he had crossed without wetting
his horse's girth.
It was waste of time to look longer, so, in no
pleasant mood, I returned to the farm-house, and a
council of war was incontinently held. The Mary-
landers had already arranged their plan; they had a
vague idea of some ferry to the Northward, and
intended to grope their way to it somehow. Before
attempting this it was necessary to divest themselves
of any suspicious articles, either of baggage or
accoutrement; indeed, they left every scrap of
clothing behind, except what they carried on their
persons, and one change of under-raiment sewn up in
the folds of a rug. They meant to assume the
character of small cattle-dealers, and, as far as ap-
pearance went, succeeded perfectly-nothing more
unmilitary can be conceived. Their horses were
possibly hardy and active, but stunted, mean-looking
animals, while the saddle-gear would have been dear,
anywhere, at five dollars. The men themselves had
the lazy, slouching look, peculiar to the hybrid class
with which they wished to be identified. They were
civil and sorry enough about the turn affairs had
taken; but evidently quite determined that we
96
BORDER AND BASTILLE.
should part company. The elder of the two took
me aside, and spoke thus, as near as I can re-
member,-
"Look ye, Major, I'm right-down sorry about
this here; and I'd have liked well to have gone slick
through with ye, but it won't work in the parts we're
agoing to try. Four men and horses ain't so easy put
up as two, and there ain't many as'll venture it.
The sort o' your brown horse is kind'er uncommon
up along there; they'd spot him if they didn't
spot you, and you'd never get to look like a citizen,—
not if you was to shave and wear a wig. There's no
two words about it: it ain't to be done.”
:
I believe the man intended to gild the pill with a
rough compliment: in any case I was bound to
swallow it. There was no sort of contract between
us, nor any promise of remuneration; I only rode by
sufferance in that company. I felt, too, that he was
right it would be very difficult for any Englishman-
drilled or undrilled-to disguise himself as a Virginian
cattle-dealer, so that keen native eyes could not detect
the travestie. I do not think I should have pressed
the point, even had I been in a position to do so; as
it was, I yielded with good grace, only begging my
late companions to let me have the earliest informa-
tion as to the route, if they succceeded in getting
through. This they readily promised; so, with
the concurrence of the good Walter, I determined to
fall back, for the present, on my original base,'
'
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97
with the consoling reflection, that I was only imitating
the most renowned Federal commanders.
All this was scarcely settled, when our host hurried
in-rather a blank look on his bold face-to say
that one of his contrabands had just come in, after
an absence of two hours: he had taken one of his
master's horses without leave, and absolutely declined
to state where, or why, he had gone. As 1800
Federals, including a regiment of cavalry, occupied
Poolesville-only six miles off-it was easy to guess
in what direction the truant had wandered. There
was no time for argument; even chastisement was
reserved for a more fitting season: in fifteen minutes
more, we had ridden swiftly across the cleared
lands, and, with Hoyle for our pilot, were winding
through the ravines and glades of the White Grounds.
The day was dull and cloudy; so, having no sun to
guide us, we, the strangers, speedily lost all idea of
direction; even Walter, the confident, owned himself
fairly puzzled. But our host led on at a steady pace,
never pausing to consult landmarks or memory;
evidently every bush and brake was familiar to him;
there was not the ghost of a track, but we seemed
generally to follow the winding of a rapid shallow
stream, up whose channel we often scrambled for forty
yards or more.
We hadna ridden a league, a league,
O'leagues but barely three,
when we struck a path leading straight through the
H
98
BORDER AND BASTILLE.
1
woods to Clarksburg-the first point on the proposed
route of the two Marylanders: they meant to feel
their way, cautiously, thence in a north-westerly
direction; the elder had one or two acquaintances
in the neighbourhood of Frederick City that he hoped
would assist them. So, with leave-takings, hurried
but amicable, our party separated. We, the other
three, proposed to make for our quarters of the last
Sunday, and for ten miles further our kind host rode
in our company, absolutely refusing to turn back till
we were in a country that Walter knew right well,
and might be considered comparatively safe: then he
left us, proposing to return home by another and yet
more circuitous route, so as to baffle possible pursuers.
He did get home safe, but was arrested within the
same week,-not, I trust, before he had moderately
chastised that treacherous contraband--and we met,
two months later, in the Old Capitol.
Three hours' more riding brought us within sight
of the farm, where we intended to refresh ourselves
and our cattle, and, perhaps, to abide for the night.
We relied so implicitly on the hospitality we were
certain to find, that we had provided ourselves with
no food of any sort my flask, too, had been emptied
on the previous night. Fancy our disgust, when we
found the shutters closed, everything carefully locked
up, and no living soul about the place but two helpless
little coloured persons of tender age. The whole
family had gone out to a sledging frolic,' and would
*
THE FORD.
99
(- Fa
not return till late at night; it was then past 5 p.m. ;
we had breakfasted lightly at seven, and been in
the saddle ever since nine o'clock. We did discover
some Indian corn for the horses, and left them to feed
under their old shed, only removing bridles and
loosening girths.
About ten minutes later, we were sitting under
the house-porch-it was narrow and deep, as is the
fashion in those parts, and boarded up the sides
breast-high; I was lighting a sullen pipe, hoping to
deaden the hungry cravings which could not be satis-
fied, when I felt my arm pulled violently; a hoarse
whisper said in my ear,-" By G-d, they've got us,"
-turning, I met the good Walter's face, white and
convulsed with emotions which I care not to define
or remember. Alick was already crouching below
the boarding, and I stooped too, mechanically; as I
did so, I followed the direction of the guide's haggard
eyes. By my faith, just where the wood opened on
the clearing, about 180 yards to our front, there sat
on their horses six Federal dragoons, surveying the
landscape with some interest. It was very odd to see
them gazing straight down upon us, evidently uncon-
scious of our proximity; but they were looking from
light into the shadow of the porch: fortunately, too,
the horses were well under cover. It chanced that,
close to the gate in the outermost enclosure, there
was a watering-pond; around and from this, tracks
of all kinds of cattle crossed and diverged in every
H 2
100
BORDER AND BASTILLE.
:
direction as we entered we had remarked many hoof-
prints turning abruptly to the right, probably left by
the sleighing party. The dragoons halted five minutes
or so in consultation; then they turned and rode off
quickly along that same right-hand track. The house
was so evidently shut up, that I presume they thought
it would be wasted time if they searched it then.
Resistance would have been utterly out of the
question, even if the numbers had been more equal,
for the only arms in the party were my own—a long
hunting-knife worn in my belt, and a five-shooter
carried by Alick: so we prepared for escape instantly.
I had to go round to the back of the house to get my
hunting-crop, which I had left there. When I came
out I found Walter already mounted
not in the same shed with our horses.
ried words, he explained that it would be best for him
to make off at once, and wait for us in the woods.
below, to which the clearing sloped down from the
homestead. Though I had before formed my own
opinion as to his vaunted valiance, I confess I was
rather disappointed; but he was not a hireling,
and I had no right to prevent him looking after
his own safety first; I only shrugged my shoulders
without replying, and went into the other shed to
help Alick saddle up. The Alabamian was much
less delicate or more determined than myself: when
he heard of Walter's intentions, his face darkened
threateningly.
:
his mare was
In a few hur-
THE FORD.
101
"By the!" he said, "he ain't going to quit
after that fashion; and, as he went out towards the
corner where Walter still lingered, I saw his hand
shift back to the butt of my revolver. Now, I was
too sensible of the guide's good intentions and dis-
interested kindness, to wish to press hardly on a
temporary loss of nerve: so I busied myself with
buckle and curb-link, and refrained from assisting
at the debate: it was very brief, nor can I say if
Alick's arguments were intimidating or conciliatory;
I rather suspected the former, from the expression
of his face when he returned, simply remarking:
"I've made it all right, Major. He stops with us
as long as we want him to."
Ten minutes afterwards we gained the shelter of
the woods, and, keeping always well down in the
gullies or hollows, were picking our way in a direction
nearly parallel to that taken by our pursuers. This
was our only course, as we dared not show ourselves
as yet across open ground or along travelled roads.
We might have ridden about a league and a half-it
is difficult to judge distance in thick cover and over
broken ground, with pace constantly varied-when
our guide's confidence returned, and, with it, his
weakness for self-laudation. He began once more
to recount his many narrow escapes, and was san-
guine as to his chance of pulling through this-
the closest shave of all. We were halting on the
bank of a muddy, swollen stream, in some doubt
""
102
BORDER AND BASTILLE.
whether we should try the treacherous bottom there
or higher up, when, looking over my shoulder, I
saw the figures of four horsemen, looming large
against the red evening sky as they passed slowly
across the sky-line, on the crest of some abrupt
rising ground about 300 yards to our right: soon
two more showed themselves, making the pursuing
party complete; they were evidently retracing their
steps-for what reason I know not. Almost at the
same instant the Alabamian caught sight of the
enemy; but before he could speak I touched our
guide on the shoulder with my hunting-whip, point-
ing in the direction of the danger. If you ever saw
a wing-tipped mallard's flurry when the retriever
comes upon him unawares, you will have a good idea
of how the valiant Walter'squattered' through the
ford. The twilight was darkening fast, and, in the
shadow of the ravine, we were almost safe from the
eyes of our pursuers; but I marvel that even at
such a distance their ears were not attracted by
the flounder and the splash. My squire and I
followed more leisurely; indeed, throughout, the
former had displayed a creditable coolness and de-
termination also, he seemed to take very kindly to
my own favourite motto, Festina lente-More haste,
worse speed.
That was our last look at the dragoons. We learnt
afterwards that, later in the evening, they searched the
farmhouse (the family had just returned), and not
:
THE FORD.
103
only struck our trail through the woods, but held it
within three miles of our resting-place for the night;
there the numerous cross roads, and the utter confu-
sion of many tracks, baffled our pursuers; probably
too, their horses by that time were in poor condition
for following up an indefinite chase.
Alick and I determined to push for our original
starting-point-the house of Symonds of that ilk.
Another two hours' riding brought us to where a
lane turned off towards Bon Gualtier's home. He
was evidently anxious to find himself a free agent;
this time, even the Alabamian did not seek to de-
tain him. The rest of the road we had traversed, on
the preceding Saturday, and we could hardly miss
our way. So there I parted from my honest guide,
with many kind wishes on his side, and hearty thanks
on mine. I rather repent having alluded to that
little nervousness: but, after all, it was hardly a
question of physical courage; we sought to avoid
imprisonment, not peril to life or limb.
My stout horse, Falcon, strode cheerily over the
last of those dark, tiresome miles without a stumble
or sign of weariness; but the roan's ears were
drooping, and he slouched along heavily on his
shoulders long before we saw the lights of Symonds'
homestead, where we met a hearty, if not joyful
welcome. We had not tasted food for thirteen hours,
during which we had scarcely been out of the saddle;
so even disappointment could not prevent our relish-
104
BORDER AND BASTILLE.
ing to the uttermost the savoury supper with which
our hostess would fain have comforted us.
Our talk was chiefly of the future, about which
Symonds did not despond, though he was disposed
to blame, somewhat sharply, our late companions, for
choosing to find their way South independently; I
thought he was unjust then, and since, I have had
ample evidence of their good intentions and good
faith.
The next morning I rode Falcon down into Balti-
more, there to await fresh tidings, leaving Alick and
the roan at Symonds', to await fresh orders.
CHAPTER VI.
THE FERRY.
I HAD not been in Baltimore three days when my
plans were somewhat altered by the introduction of
a fresh agent. The guide, who accompanied Lord
Hartington and Colonel Leslie, had returned unex-
pectedly, and Symonds pressed me strongly to secure
his services. He had made the traverse several times
successfully, and was thoroughly acquainted with
most of the ground on both banks of the Potomac.
He had now made his way on foot from the Shenan-
doah Valley, across the Alleghany Range, to Oak-
land; thence by the cars to somewhere near Sykes-
ville, on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. Here, the
day began to break, and he would not trust farther
to the short-sightedness of Federal officials; so he
looked out for a soft place in a snow-drift, and leapt
out, alighting without injury. The same reasons that
made reticence useless in Hoyle's case apply here: to
both men Republican justice has done its worst long
ago. My new guide's name was Shipley. He was
lying perdu in Baltimore when I first heard of him,
so there was no difficulty in arranging an interview.
-
BORDER AND BASTILLE.
106
After some hesitation, and not a little negotiation,
Shipley agreed to pilot me through by one route or
another. He was to ride my second horse, and keep
the animal as a remuneration for his services, so soon
as we should be fairly within Confederate lines. He
would not promise to start before the expiration of a
full week, as the clothes and other necessaries which
he had come specially to obtain could not be got
ready sooner. This new arrangement involved two
changes which did not please me, viz., the elimina-
tion of poor Alick from the party, and the shifting
of my saddlebags from the roan on to Falcon, for the
guide stipulated that each should carry his own
baggage. Symonds, however, was very urgent that
I should close with the conditions at once; he had
the highest opinion of Shipley's talents and trust-
worthiness, and insisted that such a chance should
not be let slip. He promised that Alick, if possible,
should be provided with a mount, so as to be still
enabled to accompany us. I could not, of course,
be expected to increase my already double risk in
horse-flesh.
So we struck hands on the bargain, and I resigned
myself pretty contentedly to another delay. The
days passed rapidly, as they always did in Baltimore.
On most afternoons I rode Falcon out for exercise
and 'schooling.' He soon became very clever at the
only obstacles you encounter in crossing this country
-timber fences, and small brooks with steep broken
THE FERRY.
107
banks; though, to the last, he always would hang a
little in taking off, he never dreamt of refusing.
Before the week was quite out, Alick came down
from Symonds', bringing tidings of our late com-
panions, the two Marylanders. They had succeeded
in crossing by a horse-ferry at Shepherdstown-a
small village not far from Sharpsburg, and about
seven miles from the battle-field of Antietam. The
letter was written from the south bank of the
Potomac, and furnished us with all the necessary
names and halting-points on the route. Now, every-
thing looked promising again. It was soon settled
that Alick and Shipley should make their way across
the country to Sharpsburg with the two horses: this
was the latter's own arrangement, and he, too, was
unkind enough to object to my un-citizenlike appear-
ance. I was to meet them there, at a certain house,
on a certain day, travelling by another route—
through Frederick City.
Thither I betook myself by the train leaving Bal-
timore, on the afternoon of March the 10th, arriving
at Frederick nearly two hours behind time, in con-
sequence of a difficulty between the wheels and the
rails, the latter having become sulkily slippery with
the sleet that came on in earnest after nightfall.
Very early the next morning I started for Petersville,
near which village, in the shadow of the South
Mountain, lay the country-house of the good-natured
friend who had offered to forward me to Sharpsburg.
108
BORDER AND BASTILLE.
I shall not easily forget that drive; the distance
was rather under fourteen miles, and it was per-
formed in something over four hours; yet the load
consisted simply of my driver, myself, and my saddle-
bags, in the lightest conceivable waggon, drawn by
a pair of horses specially selected for strength rather
than speed. We travelled on a broad turnpike, not
inferior, I was told, in ordinary times to the average
of such roads; in many places the mud literally
touched the axles, and more than once we should
have been set fast in spite of the struggles of our
team, if I had not lightened the weight by descending
into a quagmire that reached fully half-way up my
thigh-boots.
At last we struggled through, reaching my friend's
house with no other damage than some strained
spokes and a broken spring. There I found horses
ready caparisoned, and a faithful contraband to guide
me on my way. The ride was as pleasant as the
drive had been disagreeable. It was positive rest, to
exchange the jolting and jerking of the carriage for
the familiar sway of the saddle. I had a strong
hackney under me, a bright clear sky overhead, and
a companion who, if not brilliantly amusing, was
very passably intelligent. He was able to tell me all
about the South Mountain fight; indeed, our route
lay right across the centre of that bloody battle-
ground. Riding along the valley with the hills on
our left we soon came to Birkettsville: close above
THE FERRY.
109
was the scene of the most furious assaults, and the
most obstinate struggle. The quaint little hamlet—
reminding you of a Dutch village-looked cheerful
enough now, as the sun shimmered over the dark-
red bricks, and glistening roofs grouped round a
more glittering chapel-cupola; yet one could not
help remembering, that thither, on a certain after-
noon, in just such pleasant weather, maimed men
by hundreds, crawled or were carried in; and
that for weeks after, scarce one of those cozy houses
but sheltered some miserable being moaning his
tortured life away. The undulating champaign
between the Catoctin and South Mountains, that
forms the broad Middletown valley, seems to invite the
manœuvres of infantry battalions; but, climbing the
steep ascent in the teeth of musketry and field-
batteries, must have been sharp work. Indeed,
though the assailing force doubtless far outnumbered
the defenders, I think the carrying of those heights
one of the most creditable achievements in the
War.
The terrible handwriting of the God of Battles is
still very plainly to be discerned; all along the moun-
tain-side, trees-bent, blasted, and broken-tell where
round-shot or grape tore through; and scored bark,
closing often over imbedded bullets, shows where
beat most stormily the leaden hail. Near the crest
of the mountain, there are several patches of ground,
utterly differing in colour from the soil around, and
Ex
Un
110
BORDER AND BASTILLE.
evidently recently disturbed. You want no guide to
tell you that in those Golgothas moulder corpses by
hundreds, cast in pell-mell, with scanty rites of
sepulture. Beside these common trenches, there are
always some single graves, occasionally marked by a
post with initials roughly carved. It is good to see
that, after the bitter fight, some were found, not so
weary or so hurried, but that they could find time to
do a dead comrade-perhaps even a dead enemy-
one last kindness.
Kate
Descending from the ridge, we rode some way up
a narrow valley-where overhanging pine-woods, and
soft green pastures, traversed by rapid streams, re-
minded me often of the Ardennes-and then climbed
the Elk Range, beyond which lies the field of Antie-
tam. We soon crossed the Creek, along whose banks
was waged the fierce battle, that made men think as
lightly of the South Mountain fight as if it had been
but a passing skirmish; and I rode up to the ap-
pointed meeting-place in Sharpsburg, a few minutes
in advance of the appointed hour.
My first question, after making myself known to
the goodman of the house, was, naturally, of my
horses and men. Will you be kind enough to fancy
my feelings, when I heard that they were miles away,
and—the reason why? Three days before, the ferry-
boat had been carried away and shattered by the
floods; nothing but a skiff could cross till a cable
was rigged from bank to bank; there was no chance
THE FERRY.
111
K
of this being completed before the beginning of the
following week. The neighbourhood was too dan-
gerous to linger in; there was a provost-marshal
guard actually stationed in Sharpsburg: so my
men, hearing of the disaster on their road, had
very properly remained at their last halting-place,
about ten miles farther up the country. I was so
savagely disappointed that I hardly listened to my
new friend, as he proceeded to give some useful hints
on our route and conduct, whenever we should suc-
ceed in getting over the river. I only remember one
suggestion if I was stopped anywhere this side of
Winchester, I might give a fictitious name, and say
that I was going to visit my son, an officer in the
Federal army.' Now, as I have barely entered on
my eighth lustre, I can only suppose that the great
bitterness of my heart imparted to my face, for the
moment, a helpless-perhaps imbecile look of
senility. I had no alternative, however, but to re-
treat, as my men had done; the place was evidently
too hot to hold me: already, through the window, I
saw a shabby dragoon paying suspicious attention
to my horses, contraband, and saddlebags.
I was
greatly relieved, on going out, to find that the warrior
was too stupidly drunk to be actuated by anything
beyond an idle, purposeless curiosity. So, after
receiving directions as to where I was likely to rejoin
my companions, I set my face north-east again, and
rode out into the deepening darkness with feelings
-
112
BORDER AND BASTILLE.
not much less sullen than the black rack of clouds
massed up behind, that broke upon us, right soon,
with wind and drenching rain.
-
My horse, as well as I, must have been glad
when we reached the homestead we were seeking;
for throughout the afternoon I had ridden quickly
wherever there was level ground, calculating on a
night's rest in Sharpsburg. I had some difficulty in
convincing the farmer that I was a true man and no
spy; having once realised the fact, he showed himself
not less hospitable than his fellows. I was not sur-
prised to find my men gone; with all his goodwill to
the cause, their host had not dared to entertain such
suspicious strangers longer than twenty-four hours;
for keen eyes and ready tongues were rife all round,
(we had proof already, in poor George Hoyle's case,
how quickly and sternly the charge of harbouring
disaffected persons' could be acted upon :) he had
sent the men to separate secluded farmhouses, whence
they could be summoned at a few hours' warning.
He strongly advised me to wait elsewhere till the
horse-ferry was re-established, of which he promised
to give me the very earliest intelligence: so I at once
determined to take the Hagerstown stage to Frede-
rick next morning (the house stood not many yards
from the main road), and the rail from thence back
to Baltimore, leaving men and horses in their present
quarters. It was evident that the honest Irishman
(he was an emigrant of twenty years' standing) spoke
THE FERRY.
113
thus in perfect sincerity, from no lack of hospitality.
Though in poor mood for conviviality, I did strive
hard, all that evening, to meet his social overtures
half way; simply that I might not appear ungracious
or ungrateful.
The homestead nestles close to the foot of the
South Mountain, near Middletown Gap, some miles
north of the point where I had crossed that day. We
talked, of course, about the battles (they were within
sound, though not sight, of Antietam). I found that a
field-hospital had been established in the field im-
mediately adjoining the orchard, and that some of
the wounded, chiefly Confederates, who could not be
moved, had lain there for many days. I asked the
goodwife how she felt while the Southern armament
was marching past her doors.
r
Well," she said, "I wasn't greatly skeared; only
I thought I'd pull down the new parlour-curtains;
but they behaved right well, and didn't meddle with
nothin' to signify; not like them Yankees, who are
always pickin' and stealin'. But I'd like to get right
out of this country, anyhow; we'll never do no good
here while the war lasts."
I wonder how many voices, if they dared speak
out, would join in the dreary refrain of those last
few words?
No noteworthy incident marked my journey back
to Baltimore. I remained there till the following
Tuesday, and, in that interval, received a note from
I
114
BORDER AND BASTILLE.
Shipley, which both puzzled and disquieted me: it was
purposely vague and obscure; but, as far as I could
make out, the writer thought it would be better at
once to make for some point north-west of Cumber-
land-to retrace, in fact, the route that he had himself
recently traversed; I rather inferred that he meant to
move in that direction without waiting for me, leaving
me to make my way to a rendezvous which he would
appoint by letter. Now, of all parties concerned in
the expedition, the one whose safety I valued next to
my own was-Falcon. I had been loth to trust him,
even so far, to a rider about whose qualifications I knew
nothing, except that it was very unlikely he would
have good hands;' and had no notion of risking
the good horse, without me, on an indefinitely long
journey, where he might be indifferently cared for. I
wrote at once to stop any such movement; and with
this I was forced to be content.
(
Late on the Monday evening the expected summons
reached me-sent specially by train. The next morn-
ing I started for Frederick, whence I intended to drive
through Middletown to Boonesborough, near which
was the place of meeting. The first thing I saw in
the morning paper, which I began to read in the
cars, was a fresh general order, suggestive of most
unpleasant misgivings. General Kelly had just suc-
ceeded to the command of Maryland Heights, and
of the Division specially selected for picket duty on
the river. This-his first order-enjoined the seizure
THE FERRY.
115
of all boats of every description between Monocacy
Creek and St. John's (comprising the whole of the
Upper Potomac): no passenger or merchandise could
be conveyed from Maryland into Virginia without a
proper pass, and then only at two specified places
-Harper's Ferry and Point of Rocks: any one trans-
gressing this edict was liable to arrest and trial by
martial law.
Throwing down the ill-omened journal, I could not
forbear a muttered quotation: The day looks dark
for England.' Nevertheless, I drove on straight
from Frederick, determined to prove what the morrow
would bring forth. It was late when we reached the
small road-side hotel, on the ridge of the South
Mountain, where I had arranged to halt for the night;
but, late as it was, I had time to hear fresh evil
tidings before I slept.
The Shepherdstown ferry was in working order
at noon on the Monday. The same evening, soon
after dusk, four mounted men, with two led horses,
rode down, requiring to be set across instantly. The
ferryman objected, stating that his orders were im-
perative against putting any one over, after sun-
down, without a special pass. The men insisted,
stating that they bore despatches from Kelly to
Milroy, and enforced their demands with threats.
The unhappy ferryman was absolutely unarmed, and
only wished to escape. They shot him to death
without further parley, under the eyes of his mother
T
I 2
116
BORDER AND BASTILLE.
and sister, who saw all from their windows. Then
they ferried themselves and their horses across, and
left the boat on the Virginian bank, after knocking
out two or three of her planks. Naturally there was
a great revulsion of popular feeling in the country,
and there had been a real émeute round the murdered
man's grave, when they buried him, that day, in
Sharpsburg: no one, suspected of Southern sympathies,
could venture openly to appear. From all I could
learn, the authors of that butchery were not Con-
federate soldiers, or even guerillas, but purely and
simply horse-thieves, who had come over with the
sole object of plunder, tempted by the enormous
prices that horse-flesh could then command in
Virginia.
Very early the next morning I had a visit from the
Irishman, who lived hard by. Things did not look
less gloomy when I had heard what he had to tell.
To begin with, that unlucky tongue of Alick's had been
doing all sorts of mischief. He never touched strong
liquors, so there was not even that excuse for his im-
prudence. Instead of remaining quiet in the secluded
retreat to which he had been sent, he would persist
in hanging about in the immediate neighbourhood of
Boonesborough, and appeared to have spoken freely
about our projects, greatly exalting and exaggerating
their importance; indeed, he could scarcely have said
more if we had been travelling as accredited agents
between two belligerent Powers. Such garrulity
THE FERRY.
117
was not only intensely provoking, but involved
real peril to all parties concerned. I thought
the Irishman was thoroughly right in taking that
blundering bull by the horns, and acting decisively
on his own responsibility, inasmuch as there was no
time to communicate with me. He insisted that the
Alabamian should quit the neighbourhood without an
hour's delay, there had already been talk of his
arrest,-furnishing him with certain necessaries and
a few dollars on my account. In despite of the edict
aforesaid, there were still punts and skiffs concealed
all along the river bank, and a footman unincum-
bered with baggage could always be put over without
difficulty. Indeed, Alick had actually crossed into
Virginia, and returned safely, while he was loitering
about Boonesborough. I never saw the Alabamian
again he carried away with him my best wishes and
my revolver, and I hope they have profited him.
Where caution or diplomacy are not required, his
sterling honesty and dogged courage will always
stand him and others in good stead; if his superiors
can only tie up his tongue, I believe they will make
a man of him yet.'
C
-
As to Shipley, I found that it was not considered
prudent for him to await my arrival there, for a search
might be made over the Irishman's premises at any
moment. He had been sent back, on the previous
afternoon, to a house near Newmarket, a village some
thirty miles east of Boonesborough, so that we must
118
BORDER AND BASTILLE.
almost have crossed on the high road leading to
Frederick City; there, I was certain to find both him
and Falcon.
The Irishman was decidedly of opinion that to
persevere in our enterprise at the Shepherdstown
ferry, or anywhere in the immediate neighbourhood,
would be not only the height of rashness, but absolute
waste of time. He advised our striking northward
at once, by the Cumberland route, which then ap-
peared to be the only one offering possible chances of
success. Even on the Lower Potomac, the cordon of
pickets and guard-boats had been so strengthened of
late as to become well-nigh impervious, and captures
were of hourly occurrence.
Slowly-and I fear rather sullenly-I admitted the
justice of my friend's counsel, as I walked down to
his stable, where the roan had been standing since
Alick's departure.
Perhaps even while I write, the war-tide is surging
backwards and forwards once again past the doors
of that cozy homestead; but I trust its roof-tree is
still inviolate by fire or sword, and that no rude
hand has scorched or torn the 'new parlour cur-
tains,' in which my trim little hostess took an
innocent pride.
It was past noon when I bade farewell to my friends,
and mounted the roan, to strike Shipley's back-trail.
There was a bright blue sky overhead, though the wind
blew intensely cold, and hoofs on the hard-frozen
THE FERRY.
119
ground rang, as on pavement. For the first eighteen
miles or so, which brought us to Frederick, my horse
stepped out cheerily enough, though he carried far
more weight than he had yet been burdened with, in
the shape of myself and full saddlebags. Here we
baited, at an obscure inn which had been recom-
mended to me as 'safe'; and late in the afternoon
held on for Newmarket. I found the farm-house I
sought without any difficulty, but the owner
down in the village, a mile or so off. Without lis-
mounting, I asked to see the mistress, and a thin,
sickly-looking woman came to the door. At my first
question-relating of course to Shipley—a glimmer
of distrust dawned on her vague, white face-"There
was no one there except their own family, and she had
never seen or heard of a man on a brown horse. I
was too thoroughly inured to disappointment by this
time to feel angry-much less surprised-at anything
in that line. Evidently I had to do with one of those
impracticable yet timorous females—strong in their
very weakness-who will persist in bearing a meek
false-witness till the examiner's patience fails. So
my answer was quiet enough.
"Pardon me, I think your memory is treacherous.
You surely must, at least once in your natural life, have
seen or heard of a man on a brown horse.' But if
you have known nothing of such a remarkable pair
within-the last month for instance, I fear you can't
help me much. If you will tell me where to find your
>>
120
BORDER AND BASTILLE.
husband in Newmarket, and allow me to light my pipe,
I'll not trouble you any more.
These benevolences the pale woman did not withhold;
but she saw me depart with a wintry smile, and I heard
her distinctly mutter to a handmaiden-fearfully arid
and adust-who peered over her mistress's shoulder,
There's another on 'em, I know."
CC
I found the husband in Newmarket, easily enough—
at the store,' of course: this is invariably the centre
of all gossiping and liquoring-up, in such villages as
cannot boast a public bar-room. When I delivered
certain verbal credentials, he was disposed to be more
communicative than his spouse; but his information
was not very clear or satisfactory. It appeared that
on the previous morning, some hour before dawn, a
man had knocked at the door and asked for shelter:
from the description, I at once recognised my guide
and Falcon. For once, Shipley's over-caution told
against him he not only declined to give his name,
but would not state, precisely, whence he came or
whither he was going: there were many Federal
spies about, laying traps for Southern sympathisers;
so the farmer got suspicious, and, instead of wel-
coming the stranger, prayed him to pass on his
way. This solitary instance of inhospitality is thus
easily accounted for. I could not blame my in-
formant; but the state of things was enough to chafe
even a meek temper: the roan's long legs had
begun to tire under the unwonted weight before
:
W
THE FERRY.
121
I reached Newmarket, and he rolled fearfully in the
slowest trot. Yet I had sworn not to sleep before
I laid my hand on Falcon's mane, and I felt, with
every fresh check, more savagely determined to keep
the trail, as long as horse-flesh would last. I
knew there were few places in that country where
Shipley would dare to trust himself even for a night's
lodging some of his relations lived within half a
league of Symonds; if he meant fairly by me
and mine, he was certain to advise the latter of his
return so I resolved to push straight on for my old
quarters. Between me and the wished-for gite there
lay sixteen miles of hilly road-darkling every minute
faster.
I do not care to remember that dreary ride-or
rather, walk-for two thirds of the distance were
done on foot. For awhile I had pleasanter com-
panions than my own sullen thoughts: a pair of
blue-birds kept with me, for two or three miles at
least, fluttering and twittering along the fences by
my side, with the prettiest sociability-sometimes
ahead, sometimes behind-never more than a dozen
yards off; their brilliant plumage gleaming through
the twilight like jets of sapphire flame: I felt absurdly
sorry when they disappeared at last into the deepening
blackness. I had been warned of the probability of
encountering a cavalry picket somewhere on my road:
so I was not greatly surprised when the possible
peril became a certain one. I was riding slowly up
122
BORDER AND BASTILLE.
a low, steep hill, about ten miles from Newmarket
(I think the two or three houses are dignified by the
name of Rockville), when I saw the indistinct forms.
of several horses, and the taller figure of one
mounted man, standing out against the clear night-
sky on the very crest of the ascent. I drew rein
instinctively; but in that particular frame of mind,
I don't think I should have turned back, if the gates
of the Old Capitol had stood open across the road.
So I jogged steadily on, trying to look as innocently
unconscious as possible. Seven or eight horses were
picketed to some posts outside what I conclude was
a whisky-store; the troopers were all comforting
themselves within; the intense cold had probably
made the solitary sentinel drowsy, for his head
drooped low on his breast, and he never lifted it
as I rode past. I could not attempt to make a run
of it, so I did not quicken my speed, when the
danger was left behind: indeed I halted more than
once, listening for the sound of hoofs in my rear, in
which case I should have plunged into the black
woods on either side, so as to let the pursuit pass
by. Hearing nothing, I dismounted again, and
strode on rather more cheerfully.
The roan was not more glad than his rider, when
we groped our way up the lane, leading through
fields to Symonds' homestead. The goodwife came
out quickly, in answer to my hail, her husband being
absent, as usual.
THE FERRY.
123
"Oh, Major," she said, "I can't say how glad I
am to see you. Shipley's so anxious about you: he
hasn't been gone half-an-hour.
rr
And the brown horse "-I broke in.
>>
"He's in the stable; and looking right well."
With a huge sigh of relief, I flung myself out of
the saddle.
"That'll do, Mrs. Symonds. I don't want to
hear another word, unless it relates to-ham and
eggs."
Truly, I fear that the neat-handed Phillis must
have been aweary, that night, before she had satisfied
Gargantua. A messenger soon summoned Shipley,
and he was with me before midnight: he explained
all his movements satisfactorily, and I could not but
acknowledge he had acted throughout discreetly and
well. We sate
We sate far into the morning, discussing
future plans. Ultimately it was settled, that he
should start with the roan, so soon as the animal
should be rested and fit for the road, travelling by
moderate stages to some meeting-place near Oakland.
The rendezvous was to be determined by information
he would receive in those parts; and I was to be
advised of it by a letter left for me in Cumberland.
Shipley reckoned that it would take him ten days at
least to make his point. That interval I was to
spend in Baltimore; from which I was to proceed,
with my horse, to Cumberland, in the cars. This
plan had the double advantage of saving Falcon over
124
BORDER AND BASTILLE.
200 miles of march, and of enabling my guide to
make his way, more securely, as a solitary traveller.
He could not trust himself on the railroad, nor would
it have been safe to attempt the transport of two
horses.
So, on the following day, I made-anything but a
triumphant-entry into Baltimore. Kindly greetings
and condolences could not enable me during that
last visit to shake off a restless discontent-a dark
distrust of the future-a vague sense of shameful
defeat.
CHAPTER VII.
FALLEN ACROSS THE THRESHOLD.
EARLY on Monday the 30th of April, I addressed
myself to the journey once more, taking the cars to
Cumberland, whither Falcon had preceded me by two
days, and this time I bound myself by a vow—not
lightly to be broken-that I would not see Baltimore
again, of free will or free agency, till I had heard
the tuck of Southern drums.
The most remarkable part of the road is from Point
of Rocks to Harper's Ferry, inclusive, where the rails
find a narrow space to creep between the river and the
cliffs of Catoctin and Elk Mountains. The last-named
spot is especially picturesque; standing on a promontory
washed on either side by the Potomac and Shenan-
doah, with all the natural advantages of abrupt rocks,
feathery hanging woods and broken water. Thence-
forward there is little to interest, or to compensate for
the sluggishness of pace and frequency of delays. The
track winds on always through the same monotony of
forest and hill; plunging into the gorges and climbing
the shoulders of bluffs, with the audacity of gradient
and contempt of curve that marks the handiwork of
126
BORDER AND BASTILLE.
American engineers. I wonder that one of these did
not take Mount Cenis in hand, and save the monster
tunnel. The line was strongly picketed; everywhere
you saw the same fringe of murky-white tents, and
at every station the same groups of squalid soldiery.
What especially exasperated me was, the incessant
and continuous neighbourhood of the Potomac; if
you left it for a few minutes you were certain to come
upon it again, before the eye had time to forget the
everlasting foam-splashed ochre of the sullen current;
at each fresh point it met you undiminished in volume,
unabated in turbulency. Long before this, I had
begun to look at the river in the light of a personal
enemy. I think that Xerxes in the matter of the
Hydaspes* did wisely and well. With his resources of
men and money, I would fain do so and more likewise
to that same Potomac-subdividing its waters, till
the pet spaniel of my Mary Jane' should ford them
without wetting the silky fringes of her trailing ears.
Theoretically, a road passing through leagues of
forest-clad hills ought to be pleasant, if not interest-
ing; practically, you are bored to death before you
get half way through. There is a remarkable scarcity
of anything like fine-grown timber: the underwood
is luxuriant enough, especially where the mountain
laurel abounds; but in ten thousand acres of stunted
firwood, you would look in vain for any one tree fit
*I quote from memory here, and am rather vague about
nomenclature.
FALLEN ACROSS THE THRESHOLD.
127
C
to compare with the grey giants that watch over Nor-
wegian fiords, or fit to rank in the shadowy army of
the Unterwalden pines.'
We reached Cumberland shortly after sundown ;
my first visit was to the stables where I hoped to
find Falcon. Imagine my disgust on hearing that,
through an accident on the line, the unlucky horse
had been shut up for forty-six hours in his box, with
provender just enough for one day. He had been
well tended, however, and judiciously fed in small
quantities at frequent intervals, and, barring that he
looked rather tucked up,' did not seem much the
worse for his enforced fast.
I found Shipley's letter, too, where I had been told
to expect it; he had got so far without let or hin-
drance; the meeting-place was set about forty miles
north-west of Cumberland. I spent the evening, not
unpleasantly, partly at the house of a sympathising'
resident to whom I had been recommended; partly
in the society of the most miraculous Milesian I ever
encountered-off the stage or out of a book. No pen
could reproduce the torrent of his turgid eloquence;
no pencil could do justice to his grotesque mobility
of feature or to his unctuous wealth of far-flowing
hair, while before his magnificent brogue orthogra-
phic audacity quails. He was stationed in Cum-
berland on some sort of recruiting service, and,
from dawn to midnight, never ceased to oil his
already lissome tongue with caulkers' of every
128
BORDER AND BASTILLE.
imaginable liquor. I was told that at no hour of
the twenty-four had any man seen him thoroughly
drunk or decently sober. When we first met, his
cups had brought him nearly to the end of the belli-
gerent or irascible stage; he was then inveighing
against the dwellers in the Shenandoah Valley, where
he had lately been quartered, for their want of
patriotism in declining to furnish their defenders (?)
with gratuitous whisky and tobacco; threatening the
most dreadful reprisals, when he should visit thim
desateful Copperhids' again. Suddenly, without
warning, he slid into the maudlin phase; taking up
his parable of lamentation against 'this crule warr.'
"I weep, sirr," said he, "over the rrupture of mee
adhopted counthree-the counthree that resaved me
with opin arrums, when I was floying from the feece
of toyrants," &c., &c.
When he informed me that he belonged to Mulli-
gan's division, the words "I suppose so "escaped
me, involuntarily. Truly, if the rest of the brigade
resembled the specimen before me, only the mighty
Celt, whom Thackeray had made immortal, could fitly
command it. I shall never again look on the' stock'
Irishman as an exaggeration or caricature.
I waited, the next morning, till a heavy snow-storm
had resolved itself into a thin, driving sleet; then my
saddlebags were strapped on Falcon, and I set forth
alone; the good horse striding away, as strong under
me as if he had never heard of short commons. We
FALLEN ACROSS THE THRESHOLD.
129
baited at Frostburgh, a small village set on a hill
mined and tunnelled with coal-pits; fifteen miles or
so beyond this was the roadside inn where I proposed
to halt for the night. The sun had long set when I
rode up to a spectral-looking white house; remark-
ing, with no pleasant surprise, that not a vestige of
smoke rose from its gaunt chimneys. At the gate
there stood a cart laden with some sort of household
goods; near this, a man, who lounged up, seeing
me draw rein, to ask my business. It appeared that
a 'flitting' had taken place that very day, and that
he, the goodman, was then betaking himself, with
the residue of the chattels, to their new home, about
five miles back on the Frostburgh road, whither his
family had already gone. The next chance of a billet
was at Grantsville, two leagues farther on. Now that
sounds too absurdly short a distance to disquiet any
traveller; but neither is the fatal straw in the camel's
load a ponderous thing, per se. Both Falcon and I had
reckoned that our day's work was done when we
climbed the last hill; so it was in some discontent that
we set our faces once more against the black road,
and the stinging sleet, and the bitter north wind.
Amongst Mrs. Browning's earlier poems, there is
one, to my mind almost peerless, for sweet sonority of
verse-music and simplicity of strength. If it chance
that any reader of mine has not encountered 'The
Rhyme of the Duchess May,' this page, at least, has
not been written in vain. My saddle-bags held no
K
130
BORDER AND BASTILLE.
volume other than a note-book; but that ballad in
manuscript was nearly the last gift bestowed on me
in Baltimore. Never was mortal mood less romantic
than mine; so, I cannot account for the fancy which
impelled me, there and then, to recite aloud, how-
The bridegroom led the flight, on his red roan steed of might;
And the bride lay on his arm, still, as tho' she feared no harm,
Smiling out into the night.
"Fearest thou ?" he said at last. "Nay," she answered him in
haste,
"Not such death as we could find; only life with one behind,
Ride on-fast as fear-ride fast."
I found one listener, more appreciative than the
wild pine-barren, that surely had never been waked
by rhythmic sound since the birthday of Time. Falcon
pricked his ears, and champed his bit cheerily, while
he mended his pace without warning of spur. As for
myself the pure, earnest Saxon diction proved a
more efficient comforter' than the many-coloured
scarf round my neck, wrought by the same kind
'white hands beyond the sea;' hands that, even
now, I venture to salute with the lips of a grateful
spirit, in all humility and honour.
.
So the way did not seem so long that brought us
through the straggling, dim-lighted streets of Grants-
ville, up to the porch of its single hostelry; where,
after some parley, I found a fair chance of supper
and bed, and a heavy-handed Orson to help me in
racking up Falcon.
FALLEN ACROSS THE THRESHOLD.
131
It would be very unfair to draw a comparison
between an ordinary road-side inn in England, and
its synonym up in the country of America; a better
parallel is, a speculative railway tavern verging always
on bankruptcy. There is an utter absence of the old-
fashioned coziness, which enables you easily to dis-
pense with luxuries. You enter at once into a stifling
stove-heated bar-room, defiled with all nicotine abomi-
nations, where, for the first few minutes, you draw
your breath hard, and then settle down into a dull,
uneasy stupor, conscious of nothing except a weight
tightening round your temples like a band of molten
iron. That is the only guest-chamber, save a parlour
in the rear, the ordinary withdrawing-room and
nursery of the family, where you take your meals in
an atmosphere impregnated with babies and their
concomitants. The fare is not so bad, after all, and
monotony does not prevent chicken and ham fixings
from being very acceptable after a long, fasting ride.
It blew a gale that night from the N.W., and
the savage wind-laden with sheets of snow-
hurled itself against eaves and gable till the crazy
tenement quivered from roof-tree to foundation-
beams.
I went to my unquiet rest early, chiefly to
avoid an importunate reveller in the bar-room, who
'wished to put to the stranger a few small questions,'
troublesome to answer, that I had not patience to
evade.
It was high noon on the following day when I set
K 2
132
BORDER AND BASTILLE.
forth again. The snow had ceased to fall two hours.
before, but I wished to give it time to settle; besides,
any tracks would greatly help me over the rough
cross-country road I had to travel. My route-bill
enjoined me to call at a certain house where the lane
turned off from the highway, to obtain further in-
structions. These were duly given me by the
farmer, an elderly man, with a wild, grey beard,
vague, red eyes, and a stumbling incoherence of
speech. He repeatedly professed himself 'pure and
clear as the dew of Heaven.' These characteristics
applied probably to his principles, - patriotic or
private; they certainly did not to his directions,
which led me two miles astray, before I had ridden
twice that distance; no trifling error, when you had
to struggle back over steep, broken ground, through
drifts fully girth deep.
However, as evening closed in, I'made' Accident-
the point where I ought to have found Shipley. He
was a very good guide,—when you caught him—but
such a perfect ignis fatuus, when once out of sight,
that I was not at all surprised at hearing he had
gone on, the night before, to a farm house-more
safe and secluded, certainly-about sixteen miles off.
My informant offered to pilot me thither so soon as
it should be thoroughly dark. This offer I accepted
at once, only hoping that Falcon would, like myself,
consider it all in the day's work.'
I shall never forget my halt at Accident, if only on
FALLEN ACROSS THE THRESHOLD.
133
account of the martyrdom I endured at the hands of
some small, pale boys, children of the house wherein
I abode. I had just settled myself to smoke a medi-
tative pipe before supper, when they came in, with a
formidable air of business about all the three: they
drew up a little bench, exactly opposite to my rock-
ing-chair, fixing themselves, and me, into a deliberate
stare. Every now and then the spokes-boy of the
party he was the oldest, evidently, but his face was
smaller and whiter, and his eyes were more like little
black beads than those of either of his brethren-
would fire off a point-blank pistol-shot of a question;
when this was answered or evaded, they resumed
their steady, silent gaze. I was lapsing rapidly into
a helpless imbecility of fascination, when their mother
summoned me to supper: they vanished then, with
a derisive chuckle, to which they were certainly en-
titled, for they had utterly discomfited the stranger
within their gates.
One more long night-ride over steep, broken forest-
ground - enlivened by certain ultramarine reminis-
cences of my guide, who had been a land-buccaneer
in California-brought us to the farm, far in the
bosom of the hills, where I found Shipley, buried in
a deep sleep. The sole intelligence I heard that
night related to the roan: the enfeebled constitution
of that unlucky animal had given way under rough
travel and wild weather; he was reported to be dying;
hearing which, I could scarcely deny him great good
134
BORDER AND BASTILLE.
sense, however I might lament his lack of endurance.
The sooner it's over, the sooner to sleep,
applies, of course, to horses as well as hard-worked men.
My new host was a thorough specimen of the up-
land yeoman-half hunter, half farmer, and all over a
cattle-dealer. Deer and bears still abound in those
hills, though the latter are not so plentiful as they
were a score of years back, when B and his
father slew thirty-three in a single season: in one
conflict he lost two fingers, from his hunting-knife
slipping while he was locked in the death-grapple.
The next morning broke wild and stormy, but the
goodman rode out on the scout, to see how the land
lay round Oakland; while he was absent we talked
over our plans, and looked over his cattle to find a re-
mount for my guide. The roan's malady had not
been exaggerated; he was indeed in a miserable plight,
suffering, I thought, from acute internal inflam-
mation. After dinner we had some very pretty
rifle practice, at short distances, with huge clumsy
weapons. I saw a boy of sixteen put five consecutive
bullets into the circumference of a half-crown at
seventy-five yards.
Late in the afternoon our host returned, and we
came to terms for rather a neat four-year-old filly:
neither her condition nor strength was equal to the
work before her; but Shipley thought that, with
nursing, she would carry him through; and once in
Secessia, my interest in the purchase would cease.
-
FALLEN ACROSS THE THRESHOLD.
135
The roan was, of course, left behind, to be killed or
cured. His chances of life seemed then so faint
(though the hill-farmers are no mean farriers), that I
thought he was fairly valued in the deal at thirty
dollars. It appeared that there was increase of
vigilance throughout the frontier-guard; in Oakland
itself a full company was stationed, and strong pickets
were thrown out all around; but B felt confident
he could pilot us through these.
We started soon after nightfall, in the midst of a
sharp sleet-storm, not daring to delay to give the
weather time to clear; for a domiciliary visit from the
Federals was by no means improbable. The old hunter
had not boasted too much of his local knowledge. He
led on, through winding byeways and forest paths—
sometimes striking straight across the clearings-till
the lights of Oakland glimmered in our rear, and the
cordon of pickets was threaded; nor did he leave us
till we had reached a point whence a straight track
-well known to Shipley-would bring us down on
the North Branch of the Potomac. Thenceforward,
my guide and I rode on alone: the moon shone out,
broad and bright, in a cloudless sky, as we climbed the
wooded spurs that lie as out-works before the main
range of the Alleghanics; and the silvery transparent
shimmer of the frost-work on the feathery fir-sprays,
was one of the most remarkable effects of reflected
light that I can remember. The snow was more
than fetlock-deep where it lay level, and the filly tired
136
BORDER AND BASTILLE.
fearfully towards morning. She could not walk near up
to Falcon's long even stride, so I had to halt perpetu-
ally, to wait for my companion; but in the tenth weary
hour we sighted the crazy bridge that spans the North
Branch, and by 4 a.m. on Good Friday our steeds
Might graze at ease,
Beyond the broad Borysthenes.
Rock, and wood, and water, were all looking their
best, under a brilliant sun, when I rose, but the object
on which I gazed with most satisfaction, was the
accursed River-circumvented at last. The solitary
green things I could find actually on the bank, were
some sprigs of cypress: these I gathered with due
formula of lustration; but the absit omen was spoken
in vain.
Then I wrote two or three letters, inclosing in each
the cypress-token of partial success; but these never
reached their destinations: they were prudently sup
pressed, three days later, by the person to whose
discretion I trusted to forward them. My corre-
spondence being cleared off, and Falcon thoroughly
groomed, I fell back upon the resources of the little
tavern for amusement, and lighted on one scrap of
light literature, the fragment of a nameless magazine.
In this there were some good, quiet verses, that I
thought worth transcribing, were it only for the
incongruity of the place in which I found them:
perhaps they are already well known; but I am
ignorant even of the author's name.
FALLEN ACROSS THE THRESHOLD.
137
MAUD.
Yes, she always loved the sea,
God's half uttered mystery ;
With the murmur of its myriad shells,
And never-ceasing roar :
It was well, that when she died,
They made Maud a grave beside
The blue pulses of the tide,
'Neath the crags of Elsinore.
One chill red leaf-falling dawn-
Many russet autumns gone-
A lone ship with folded wings
Lay sleeping off the lea:
Silently she came by night,
Folded wings of murky white,
Weary with their lengthened flight—
Way-worn nursling of the sea.
Eager peasants thronged the sands;
There were tears and clasping hands;
But one sailor, heeding none,
Passed thro' the churchyard-gate :
Only 'Maud,' the headstone read,—
Only Maud-was't all it said ?
Why did he then bow his head,
Moaning, "Late, mine own, too late!”
And they called her cold-God knows.
Under quiet winter-snows,
The invisible hearts of flowers
Grow up to blossoming :
And the hearts judged calm and cold,
Might, if all their tale were told,
Seem cast in a gentler mould,
Full of love and life and spring.
We were in the saddle again an hour before sunset ;
our next point being a log-hut on the very topmost
ridge of the Alleghanies, wherein dwelt a man said
138
BORDER AND BASTILLE.
to be better acquainted than any other in the country
round, with the passes leading into the Shenandoah
Valley. We ascertained, beyond a doubt, that a
company was stationed at Greenland Gap, close to
which it was absolutely necessary we should pass ;
but, with a thoroughly good local guide, we might
fairly count on the same luck which had brought us
safe round Oakland. Night had fallen long before we
came down on the South River-a mere mountain-
torrent at ordinary seasons; but now, flowing along
with the broad dignity of a swift, smooth river.
My guide's mare wanted shoeing, and there chanced
to be a rude forge close to the ford, which is the only
crossing-place since the bridge was destroyed last
autumn by the Confederates. It was important that
the native pilot should be secured as soon as pos-
sible (he was constantly absent from home); so I rode
on alone, with directions that were easy to follow.
B
The smith, whose house stood but three hundred
yards or so off, had told me that I had to strike
straight across the ford, for a gap in the dense wood
cloaked by the opposite bank. It was disagreeably
dark at the water's edge, for the low moon was
utterly hidden behind a thicket of cypress and pine;
but I did make out a narrow opening exactly oppo-
site; for this I headed unhesitatingly. We lost
footing twice; but a mass of tangled timber above
broke the current-nowhere very strong-and the
water shoaled quickly under the further shore; the
FALLEN ACROSS THE THRESHOLD.
139
bottom was sound, too, just there, though the bank
was steep; and Falcon answered a sharp drive of
the spurs with a gallant spring that landed him
on a narrow shelf of slippery clay, hedged in
on three sides by brush absolutely impenetrable.
There was not room to stand firm, much less to turn
safely; before I had time to think what was to be
done, there was a backward slide, and a flounder;
in two seconds more, I had drawn myself with some
difficulty from under my horse, who lay still on his
side-too wise, at first, to struggle unavailingly. If
long hunting experience makes a man personally
rather indifferent about accidents, it also teaches him
when there is danger to the animal he rides: looking
at Falcon's utter helplessness and the constrained
twist of his hind-legs, which I tried in vain to
straighten, I began to have uncomfortable visions of
ricked backs and strained sinews: I was on the
wrong side of the river, too, for help; though even
the rope of a Dublin Garrison wrecker' would have
helped but little then. Thrice the good horse made
a desperate attempt to stand up, and thrice sank
back again with the hoarse sigh, between pant and
groan-half breathless, half despairing-that every
hunting man can remember, to his cost. It was
impossible to clear the saddle-bags without cutting
them loose; I had drawn my knife for this purpose,
when a fourth struggle (in which his fore-hoofs twice
nearly struck me down) set Falcon once more on
140
BORDER AND BASTILLE.
his feet-trembling, and drenched with sweat, but
materially uninjured. I contrived to scramble into
the saddle, and we plunged into the ford again,
heading up stream, till we struck the real gap, which
was at least thirty yards higher up. It is ill trusting
to the accuracy of a native's carte du pays. Another
league brought me to the way-side hut where I
was instructed to ask for fresh guidance.
Right over the big pasture, to the bars at the
corner-then keep the track through the wood to the
improvements-and the house was close by.' Such
were the directions of the good-natured mountaineer,
who offered himself to accompany me: but this I
would by no means allow.
<
Now, an up-country pasture, freshly cleared, is a
most unpleasant place to cross, after night-fall: the
stumps are all left standing, and felled trees lie all
about-thick as boulders on a Dartmoor hill-side;
then, however, a steady moon was shining, and
Falcon picked his way daintily through the timber;
hopping lightly, now and then, over a trunk bigger
than the rest, but never losing the faint track: we
got over the high bars, too, safely-hitting them
hard. The wood-path led out upon a clearing, after
a while here I was fairly puzzled. There was no
sign of human habitation, except a rough hut, some
hundred yards to my right, that I took to be an out-
lying cattle-shed, nor a glimmer of a light anywhere.
I have not yet written the name of the man I was
FALLEN ACROSS THE THRESHOLD.
141
seeking contrasts of time and place made it so
very remarkable, that I venture to break the rule of
anonyms. Mortimer Nevil. Who would have dreamt
of lighting on, perhaps, the two proudest patronymics
of baronial England, in a log-hut crowning the ridge
of the Alleghanies?
While I wandered hither and thither in utter
bewilderment, my ear caught a sound, as of one
hewing timber: I rode for it, and soon found that
the hovel I had passed thrice was the desired
homestead. Truly, it was fitting that the possible
descendant of the King-maker should reveal himself
by the rattle of his axe.
It is needless to say, that I was received cour-
teously and kindly. The mountaineer promised his
services readily; albeit he spoke by no means con-
fidently of our chances of getting through: the
company of Western Virginians that had recently
marched into Greenland, was said to be unusually
vigilant; only the week before, a professional
blockade-runner had been captured, who had made
his way backwards and forwards repeatedly, and
was thoroughly conversant with the ground. The
attempt could not possibly be made till the follow-
ing evening till then, Nevil promised to do his best
to make Falcon and me comfortable.
How well I remember my night in the log-hut.
It consisted of a single room, about sixteen feet by
ten in this lived and slept the entire family-num-
:
142
BORDER AND BASTILLE.
bering the farmer, his wife, mother, and two children.
When they spoke, confidently, of finding me a
bed, I fell into a great tremor and perplexity: the
problem seemed to me not more easy to solve than
that of the ferryman, who had to carry over a fox, a
goose, and a cabbage: it was physically impossible
that the large-limbed Nevil and myself should be
packed into the narrow non-nuptial couch; the only
practicable arrangement involved my sharing its
pillow, with the two infants, or with the ancient
dame; at the bare thought of either alternative, I
shivered from head to heel. At last, with infinite
difficulty, I obtained permission to sleep on my
horse-rug spread on the floor, with my saddle for
a bolster when this point was once settled, I spent
the evening very contentedly, basking in the blaze
of the huge oaken logs: if stinted in all else, the
mountaineer has always large luxury of fuel. I was
curious to find out if my host knew anything of his
own lineage; but he could tell me nothing further,
than that his grandfather was the first colonist of the
family oddly enough, though, in his library of three
or four books, was an ancient work on heraldry; his
father had been much addicted to studying this, and
was said to have been learned in the science.
:
:
At about 10 p.m. Shipley knocked at the door-
fearfully wet and cold: the smith had accompanied
him to the ford, so that he could not go astray, but
his filly hardly struggled through the deep, strong
P
FALLEN ACROSS THE THRESHOLD.
143
water. Our host found quarters for him, in the
log-hut of a brother, who dwelt a short half-mile off.
I spent all the fore-part of the next day in lounging
about, watching the sluggish sap drain out of the
sugar-maples, occasionally falling back on the female
society of the place; for The Nevil had gone forth on
the scout. It was not very lively my hostess was
kindness itself, but the worn weary look never was off
her homely face; nor did I wonder at this when I
heard that, besides their present troubles and hard-
ships, they had lost four children in one week of the
past winter from diphtheria; it was sad to see, how
painfully the mother clung to the two that death had
left her; she could not bear them out of her sight
for an instant. A very weird-looking cummer was
the grand-dame-with a broken, piping voice-tremu-
lous voice and hands-and jaws that, like the stage
witch wife's, ever munched and mumbled: she sel-
dom spoke aloud, except to groan out a startlingly
sudden ejaculation of— Oh, Lord,' or—‘Oh dear':
these widows'-mites, cast into the conversational
treasury, did not greatly enhance its brilliancy.
The blue sky grew murky-white before sundown,
and night fell intensely cold. The Nevil, who guided
us on foot, had much the best of it, and I often dis-
mounted to walk by his side. If He who sang the
praises of the wild north-wester' had been with us
then, I doubt if he would not have abated of his
enthusiasm the bitter snow-laden blast, even where
C
:
144
BORDER AND BASTILLE.
thick cover broke its vicious sweep, was enough to
make the blood stand still in the veins of the veriest
Viking. After riding about ten miles, we left the
rough paths we had hitherto pursued, and struck
across country. For two hours or more we forced
our way slowly and painfully through bush and brake
-through marshy rills and rocky burns-demolish-
ing snake-fences whenever we broke out on a clear-
ing. Shipley led his mare almost the whole way
and I, who think the saddle the safest and pleasantest
conveyance over ordinarily rough ground, was com-
pelled to dismount repeatedly.
It was about one o'clock in the morning of Sunday,
the 5th of April: we were then crossing some tilled
grounds, intersected by frequent narrow belts of wood-
land. Our course ran parallel to the mountain-road
leading from Greenland to Petersburg; the former
place was then nearly three miles behind us, and our
guide felt certain that we had passed the outermost
pickets. It was very important that we should get
housed before break of day; so, we were on the point
of breaking into the beaten track again, and had ap-
proached it within fifty yards, when suddenly, out of
the dark hollow on our left, there came a hoarse shout:
Stop! Who are you? Stop, or I'll fire.”
Now I have neard a challenge or two in my time,
and felt certain at once that even a Federal picket
would have used a more regular formula. The same
idea struck Shipley too.
CC
FALLEN ACROSS THE THRESHOLD.
145
<<
Come on," he said, "they're only citizens."
So on we went, disregarding a second and third sum-
mons in the same words. We both looked round for
The Nevil; but keener eyes would have sought for
him in vain; at the first sound of voices he had plunged
into the dark woods above us, where a footman,
knowing the country, might defy any pursuit. Peace
and joy go with him! By remaining he would only
have ruined himself, without profiting us one jot.
Then three revolver shots were fired in rapid suc-
cession. To my question if he was hit, my guide
answered cheerily in the negative; neither of us
guessed that one bullet had struck his mare high up
in the neck; though the wound proved mortal the
next day, it was scarcely perceptible, and bled alto-
gether internally. One of those belts of woodland
crossed our track about 200 yards ahead; we crashed
into this over a gap in the snake-fence; but the
barrier on the further side was high and intact.
Shipley had dismounted and had nearly made a breach
by pulling down the rails, when the irregular chal-
lenge was repeated directly in our front, and we
made out a group of three dark figures about thirty-
five yards off.
"Give your names, and where you are going, or
I'll fire."
"He's very fond of firing," I said in an under-tone
to Shipley, and then spoke out aloud. (I saw at once
the utter impossibility of escape, even if we could
L
146
BORDER AND BASTILLE.
have found our way back, without quitting our horses,
which I never dreamt of.)
"If you'll come here, I'll tell you all about it."
I could not have advanced if I had wished it;
in broad day the fence would have been barely
practicable. I spoke those exact words in a tone
purposely measured and calm, so that they should
not be mistaken by our assailants: I have good
reason to remember them, for they were the last I
ever uttered on American ground as a free agent.
They had hardly passed my lips, when a rifle cracked;
I felt a dull numbing blow inside my left knee, and a
sensation as if hot sealing-wax was trickling there;
at the same instant, Falcon dropped under me-
without a start or struggle, or sound besides a
horrible choking sob-shot right through the jugular
vein.
CHAPTER VIII.
THE ROAD TO AVERNUS.
BEFORE I had struggled clear of my horse, Shipley's
hand was on my shoulder, and his hurried whisper in
my ear.
"What shall we do? Will you surrender?
Now, though I knew already that I had escaped
with a flesh-wound from a spent bullet, I felt that I
could not hope to make quick tracks that night.
Certain reasons wholly independent of personal con-
venience-made me loth to part with my saddle-bags;
besides this, I own I shrank from the useless ignominy
of being hunted down like a wild beast on the
mountains. So I answered rather impatiently—
"What the deuce would you have one do--with a
dead horse and a lamed leg? Shift for yourself as
well as you can.
Without another word I walked towards the party
in our front, with an impulse I cannot now define; it
could scarcely have been seriously aggressive, for a
hunting-knife was my solitary weapon; but for one
moment I was idiot enough to regret my lost revolver.
I was travelling as a neutral and civilian, with no
L 2
در
148
BORDER AND BASTILLE.
other object than my private ends; the slaughter of
an American citizen, on his own ground, would have
been simply murder, both by moral and martial law,
and I heard afterwards that our Legation could not
have interfered to prevent condign punishment. But
reason is dumb sometimes, when the instincts of the
'old Adam' are speaking.
are speaking. I suppose I am not
more truculent than my fellows; but since then, in
all calmness and sincerity, I have thanked God for
sparing me one strong temptation.
Before I had advanced ten paces the same voice
challenged again.
Stop where you are-if you come a step nearer,
I'll shoot."
ઃઃ
I was in no mood to listen to argument, much less
to an absurd threat.
"You may shoot and be d-d," I said. "You've
got the shooting all your own way to-night. I carry
no fire-arms"-and walked on.
Now, I record these words,-conscious that they
were thoroughly discreditable to the speaker,-simply
because I mentioned them in my examination before
the Judge Advocate, (after he had insisted on the
point of verbal accuracy), and from his office emanated
a paragraph, copied into all the Washington journals,
stating that I had cursed my captors fluently. I
affirm, on my honour, that this was the solitary
imprecation, that escaped me from first to last.
So I kept on advancing: they did not fire, and I
THE ROAD TO AVERNUS.
149
،
don't suppose they would have done so, even if they
had had time to re-load. I soon got near enough to
discern that among the three men there was not a
trace of uniform; they were evidently farmers, and
roughly dressed at that.' So I opened parley
in no gentle terms, requiring their authority for
what they had done, and promising that they should
answer it, if there was such a thing as law in these
parts.
r
Well, if we ain't soldiers," the chief speaker said,
we're Home Guards, and that's the same thing
here; we've as much authority as we want to back
us out. Why didn't you stop, and tell us who you
are, and where you're going?"
By this time I was cool enough to reflect, and act
with a purpose. For my own, as well as for his sake,
I was most anxious that Shipley should escape. I
knew they would not find a scrap of compromising
paper on me; but he was a perfect post-carrier of
dangerous documents, and a marked man besides-
altogether a suspicious companion for an innocent
traveller. So I began to discuss several points
with my captors in a much calmer tone-demonstrat-
ing that from the irregularity of their challenge we
could not suppose it came from any regular picket-
that there were many horse-thieves and marauders
about, so that it behoved travellers to be cautious—
that it would have been impossible to have explained
our names, object, and destination in a breath, even
150
BORDER AND BASTILLE.
if they had given more time for such reply: finally,
making a virtue of necessity, I consented to accom-
pany them to the regular out-post of Greenland,
stipulating that I should have a horse to carry me and
my saddle-bags; for my knee was still bleeding, and
stiffening fast.
All this debate took ten minutes at least, during
which time my captors seemed to have forgotten my
companion's existence, though they must have seen his
figure cross the open ground when they first fired.
Long before we got back to the horses, Shipley had
vamoosed' into the mountain, carrying his light
luggage with him; only some blank envelopes were
lying about, evidently dropped in the hurry of removal.
I knelt down by Falcon's side, and lifted his head
out of the dark red pool in which it lay. Even in the
dim light I could see the broad bright eye glazing:
the death-pang came very soon; he was too weak to
struggle; but a quick convulsive shiver ran through
all the lower limbs, and, with a sickening hoarse
gurgle in the throat, the last breath was drawn.
My good, stout, patient horse! Few and evil were
the days of his pilgrimage with me; but we had begun
to know and like each other well. I cannot remember
to have borne a heavier heart, than when I turned
away from his corpse, half shrouded already in a
winding-sheet of drifting snow-flakes-seeing nothing
certain in my own future, save frustrated projects and
exhausted resources.
(
THE ROAD TO AVERNUS.
151
I threw my saddle-bags across Shipley's saddle,
and rode slowly down, three miles, into Greenland.
The filly's head drooped wearily, as she faltered on
through the half-frozen mud and water; but no one.
guessed, till daylight broke, that she had then got
her death-wound.
When we reached the hovel that was the head-
quarters of the detachment, only two or three soldiers
were lounging round the fire: but the news of a
capture roused most of the sleepers, and the low, dim
room was soon filled, suffocatingly, with a squalid
crowd, in and out of uniform: prominent, in the
midst, stood the long, lank, half-dressed figure of the
lieutenant in command. Neither he nor his men
were absolutely uncourteous, when they once recog-
nised that I was not a Confederate spy, or a pro-
fessional blockade-runner; but they were exultant,
of course, and disposed to indulge in a rough jocu-
larity, during the necessary inspection of my person
and baggage.
:
C
The surgeon was a coarse edition of Maurice
Quill when he had examined my knee, and dressed
it-not unskilfully-(the conical point of the
Sharp's' bullet had just reached the bone), he took
great interest in the search of my saddle-bags;
desiring to be informed of the precise cost of each
article. When I declined to satisfy him, he became
exceedingly witty-not to say sarcastic.
"Here's a mighty curious sort of a traveller,
152
BORDER AND BASTILLE.
boys; as don't know what nothing costs that belongs
to him, nor how he come by it," &c.
Now I was getting tired, and bored with the
whole business, and stifled with the close atmosphere
-laden with every graveolent horror; besides, I
had not escaped from London chaff' and Parisian
persiflage, to be mocked by a wild Virginian. So
I said, quite gravely :
It's very simple; but I don't wonder it puzzles
you. You have to pay, when you buy, out here, I dare
say. I haven't paid for anything for twenty years.
But, if I had known I was going to meet you, before
I came away I would have-looked at the bills."
CC
C
Perhaps my face did not look like jesting; any-
how, he took every word for earnest, and remained
silent for some time; ruminating, I suppose, on the
grand simplicity of such a system of commerce.
This occupied their attention for a considerable
time; when a party did start in pursuit of my com-
panion, under the guidance of Dolley—the man who
had fired the last fatal shot-I reflected, with some.
satisfaction, that the fugitive had a long two hours'
'law.' The guard-room cleared gradually; and, before
daybreak, I got some brief, broken rest-supine on
the narrowest of benches, with my crossed arms for
a pillow.
W
In spite of wound, and weariness, and discomfi-
ture, I have spent a drearier time than the morn-
ing of that same Sunday. After the first awkward
M
-
THE ROAD TO AVERNUS.
153
feeling had passed off, my captors showed themselves
civil, and almost friendly, after their fashion. They
were very like big school-boys-those honest Volun-
teers-prone to rough jokes and rude horse-play
among themselves, which the commanding officer
not only sanctioned, but personally mingled with:
good-fellowship reigned supreme, to the utter sub-
version of dignity and discipline.
There were some lithe, active figures among them,
well fitted for the long forced marches for which both
Northern and Southern infantry is renowned; and
two or three rawboned giants topping six feet by
some inches; but not one powerful or athletic frame:
in many trials of strength, in wrist and arm, I did
not come across one formidable muscle.
About three o'clock-the weather had become
bright and almost warm before noon-I was lounging
about on the bank of the trout-stream that ran past
the door, with my guard at my shoulder, when I
saw a group of several figures approaching. When
they came nearer, one man lifted his cap on his
bayonet's point, and the others shouted. I could
not catch the words; but I guessed the truth:
they had run down Shipley, after all. He was so
utterly exhausted, both in mind and body, when
first brought in, that he could hardly speak: he was
not of a hardy constitution, and he had undergone
fatigue enough to say nothing of the fearful weather
-to have broken down a more practised pedestrian.
154
BORDER AND BASTILLE.
Dolley's party were not the actual captors, though
they were hard on the fugitive's trail; another squad,
sent to search for some Confederates supposed to be
hidden in the neighbourhood, had come upon some
tracks in the snow leading to a farm-house, and there
discovered my unhappy guide, sleeping the sleep of
exhaustion. This was twelve miles from the spot
where we parted, and he had struggled on till
strength would carry him no further.
The lieutenant's face grew longer than Nature had
left it, as he perused, one after another, the docu-
ments found on Shipley. Though his demeanour
towards myself remained quite amicable, it was clear
that he judged me, to a certain extent, by my
associations; and his simple joviality was somewhat
clouded by an uneasy sense of responsibility. Never-
theless, the evening passed quickly enough round the
guard-room fire; the men sang some simple chants,
and the deep, rough voices sounded not unmusically.
Once more, I preferred a single plank to the nameless
abominations of the bunks, above and below stairs.
and, consequently, awoke with aching bones, but
flesh intact.
The next morning we bade farewell to the Green-
land detachment, in no unkindness. I was really
sorry when I read in the papers, a month later, of
their capture by Imboden's division, after an obstinate
defence in the church, which was burned over their
heads before the survivors would surrender.
THE ROAD TO AVERNUS.
155
New Creek, the head-quarters of Colonel Mulli-
gan's brigade, was our destination.
was our destination. We had a
sufficient escort, and besides, the valiant Dolley
accompanied us, in the character of chief witness, as
well as chief captor. His 'get up' was very remark-
able, consisting of a pair of brown overalls, an old
blue, uniform coat, about three sizes too small for
him, and the very tallest black hat, that, as I think, I
ever beheld. Slight as my wound was, it had quite
crippled me for the time; a farmer, however, for a
moderate consideration, found me a pony that saved
my legs, at much peril to its own; for it stumbled
miraculously often. Shipley began by walking, but
was glad to avail himself of a chance animal half
way. Dolley and two of his friends were mounted;
the soldiers kept pace with us gallantly on foot.
When we started, I bore no sort of malice to that
same Dolley; but, before we had got through the
twenty-three miles that brought us to New Creek, I
hated him intensely, as one hates the man-friend or
foe-that bores you to death's door. That he should
be puffed up with vain-glory, was neither unlikely nor
unreasonable. His own shots were the only ones he
had ever seen fired in anger. It was natural, too, that
he should overestimate the importance of his capture;
he had suffered from the war, in purse if not in per-
son, and had lost two sons in the Northern army from
disease, one of whom had been imprisoned for six
months by the Confederates. After his first excite-
156
BORDER AND BASTILLE.
ment had passed away, he bore himself not unkindly
towards me; though, at Greenland, he did greatly
bewail the darkness that had caused him to take a
costly life instead of a worthless one: Falcon would
have fetched five hundred dollars in those parts;
even at my own valuation, I could not have been
appraised so highly. So I listened to him twice or
thrice with great patience, while he told how well he
had deserved of his country; but, when he persisted
in repeating the same tale, not only to me, but to
every creature he encountered, the iteration became
simply' damnable.' He spoke of his dead sons in
the same pompous tones of self-exaltation, with which
he reckoned all other items standing to the credit
side of his patriotism. Fortunately for my equa-
nimity, I was not present when he told his own tale
at New Creek; it must have been a grand Romance
of History.
Yet my poor Dolley made a bad night's work of it
after all. His three days' fame in local papers cost him
dear. Immediately on getting out of prison, I heard
-not without a savage satisfaction-that Imboden's
horsemen had harried his homestead thoroughly in
their last raid; Dolley only saving his life by 'running
like a hare.' The Southerners know everything that
goes on near their lines, and are wonderfully regular
in settling scores with any registered debtor.
At New Creek I was confronted with Colonel
Mulligan. His attire was anything but military;
THE ROAD TO AVERNUS.
157
black overalls crammed into high butcher boots, and
a Garibaldi shirt of the brightest emerald green; but
his bearing was unmistakeably that of a soldier and
gentleman. He treated me with the utmost courtesy.
I also met with no small kindness from the adjutant
of the artillery corps, an old Crimean. Unluckily,
Colonel Mulligan could not deal with my case, so
after a brief examination, and liberal refreshment,
Shipley and myself were forwarded by rail to Wheel-
ing, two hundred miles further west, where the dis-
trict Provost Marshal was stationed.
We reached Wheeling in the early morning, and
there were indulged with a most welcome bath and
breakfast. Soon afterwards we stood in the presence
of the Provost Marshal, Major Darr.
The figure of this functionary certainly resembles,
in its square obesity, that of the great Emperor in his
latter days. Possibly for this reason, Major Darr
affects a Napoleonic curtness and decision of speech.
Nevertheless, he was amenable to reason, and on my
agreeing to pay the expenses of an escort, con-
sented to forward me to Baltimore, to be identi-
fied. Shipley was committed at once to the military
prison.
It was a long, weary journey of twenty-three hours,
and I was so harassed by want of sleep, that I
scarcely appreciated some really fine scenery on the
Laurel and Chestnut ranges. We reached Baltimore
about 3 A.M., and I despatched two notes imme-
-
158
BORDER AND BASTILLE.
diately, one to the British Consul, another to my
most intimate acquaintance in the city.
Both came down without delay, proffering all
possible assistance. I had a regular levee before my
guards conveyed me to the office of the Chief of
Schenk's staff, to whose mercies I was consigned.
Colonel Cheesebrough was civil enough; but, in his
turn, professed himself unable to deal with my case,
and referred it to the General. Cæsar was not less
dilatory than Felix. I never saw the potentate before
whose nod Baltimore trembles (he was unwell, I
believe, or unusually sulky), but I underwent a
lengthened interrogatory at the mouth of a very
young and girlish -looking aide-de-camp. In the
midst of this, rather an absurd incident occurred.
General Schenk's head-quarters are at the Entan
House. The fair daughter of a house at which I
had been very intimate was to be married, that
same day, and at that same house the bridegroom's
party were staying. Suddenly, through an opening
door, two or three of these my friends debouched
upon the scene. They had not heard one word of
my misadventures, so they were naturally rather
surprised at finding me there, in such company. I
really think that the sympathy lavished upon me in
that brief interview was not so refreshing as the
palpable discomfort of the unhappy aide, under a
galling glance-fire maintained by Southern eyes, not
careful to dissemble their hatred and scorn.
THE ROAD TO AVERNUS,
159
I was so perfectly used to being ballotté by this
time, that it did not in anywise surprise me, to hear
that I was to be sent down to Washington, to be
examined by the Judge Advocate General. There
was so much delay in making out commitment papers,
that we lost the afternoon train. No other started
before 8 P.M., so that, by the time we reached
Washington, all offices would have been closed, and
we must have spent the night in the Central Guard-
house. I had heard enough of the foul abomina-
tions of that refuge for the imprisoned destitute, to
make me determined never to cross the threshold
unless under actual coercion. I said as much
to the cavalry sergeant who had me in charge;
suggesting that, by taking the 4 A.M. train on the
following morning, we should arrive hours before
the Provost Marshal's or Judge Advocate's offices
were open.
He was civilly rational about the
whole question, and, on my parole not to attempt
escape, readily consented to accompany me to a house,
where I was more at home than anywhere else in
Baltimore. There I remained till long after midnight:
though none of us were in the best of spirits or
tempers, that brief return to social life was an inde-
scribable rest and restorative. I mention this unim-
portant incident chiefly because one of the charges
brought against me afterwards was founded on my
having bribed my escort, and spent the whole night
at the house of a notorious Secessionist.' The poor
160
BORDER AND BASTILLE.
sergeant was reduced to the ranks for dereliction of
duty; and I the more regret this, because his good-
nature was not mercenary.
We reached Washington about 6 a.M. No offices
were open before nine. I employed the interval,
partly in breakfasting with what appetite I might,
partly in a visit to Percy Anderson, whose slumbers
I was compelled to break by the most disagreeable of
all morning apparitions-a friend in trouble. I could
only just stay long enough to receive condolences,
and promises of all possible assistance-private or
diplomatic; then I betook myself to the Provost-
Marshal's office, which I did not enter; thence to
that of the Judge Advocate General.
I look back upon that interview with feelings of
unmitigated self-contempt. I confess to have been
utterly deluded by that sleek official's sham bon-
hommie; so that when he prayed me to be frank and
explicit Anything that you say, I shall receive with
perfect confidence,' &c., &c.—I did strive, to the best
of my powers, to forget no important incident or
word relative to my conduct since I landed in
America; only making reservations where confession
might implicate others. An artless boy might easily
have been gulled by the portly presence, the unctuous
voice, and eyes that twinkled merrily through gold-
rimmed glasses; but no man of mature age can
remember such a gross mistake without a hot flush
of shame.
E
THE ROAD TO AVERNUS.
161
I have little cause to love the Federal Government;
but I bear no grudge against any individual Unionist,
with the solitary exception of the Judge-Advocate,
simply because to him alone can I trace deliberately
unfair dealing and intentional discourtesy. While I
was in prison I sent him two letters, at long intervals ;
though I again committed a gross error, in addressing
him as one gentleman would write to another, I
cannot think this wholly excuses his coolly ignoring
both communications. On the 21st of May, Major
Turner's duty brought him to Carroll Place, and he
remained there two full hours: the superintendent,
who had conferred with the prison-surgeon on the
state of my health, pressed him strongly to see me.
The Judge-Advocate refused, on the ground that the
case was already decided, and would be settled in a
day or so, at furthest that same afternoon he de-
parted on a fortnight's leave, knowing right well that
no step could be taken in the matter till his return.
Officials are justified, I suppose, in avoiding all waste
of time or trouble: perhaps it was more simple to
lie to a subordinate than to risk the short discussion
that an interview would have involved. I cannot
guess at the especial reason which caused me to be
honoured by Major Turner's enmity; certain it is,
that he was not neutral or indifferent with regard to
my case, but exerted himself very successfully to thwart
any measures tending to its decision or adjustment.
During the latter days of my imprisonment, I
:
M
162
BORDER AND BASTILLE.
indulged more than once in a day-dream, not the less
pleasant because it is wildly improbable. Should the
changes and chances of this mortal life ever bring me
face to face with that jovial Judge on any neutral
ground, by my faith and honour I will say in his ear
five short words not hard to understand. On the
steps of Carroll Place, when the door opened to set
me free, I sent Major Turner a message much to this
effect. I devoutly hope it was delivered with the
verbal accuracy' of which he is so remarkably fond.
At the conclusion of the long examination the
Judge-Advocate left me for a short time to obtain
instructions possibly a warrant from Secretary
Stanton; on his return he told me that nothing could
be decided till Shipley's case had been inquired into ;
he assured me that the latter should be telegraphed
for at once from Wheeling; and so, with the plea-
santest of smiles, and a jest on his lips, handed me
over to Colonel Baker, who was already in waiting.
This official's overt functions are those of a District
Provost-Marshal-in reality he is the Chief of the
Secret Police. There are legions of stories abroad,
imputing to him the grossest oppression and venality;
even strong Unionists shake their heads disparagingly,
at the mention of his name.
C
Jonatanant
But of Colonel Baker, from my own knowledge, I
can say nothing: I simply passed through his office
to the Old Capitol; nor do I know that he in any-
wise influenced my after fortunes.
THE ROAD TO AVERNUS.
163
It appeared that my quarters were to be, not in the
main building of the prison, but in a sort of depen-
dänce, a couple of hundred yards off, called Carroll
Place; thither I was at once removed, after a brief
consultation with the officer on guard.
Mr. Wood, the Head Superintendent, soon came
to welcome the new arrival, and in his first sentence
gave me a specimen of the brusquerie of address for
which he has acquired a certain notoriety.
"Mr." he said; "I'm always glad to see
your countrymen here. My father was an English-
man; but I've no sympathy with England. I was
born and bred a plebeian, sir."
As I felt no particular interest in Mr. Wood's pro-
clivities or proletarianism, I simply shrugged my
shoulders, and turned away without a reply. But
when, on his first visit to my room, two days' later,
he repeated exactly the same formula, without varia-
tion of a syllable, I thought it better to assure him
that the iteration was absolutely unnecessary, inas-
much as I had believed him on both points easily
from the first. He was not at all disconcerted or
offended, only we heard him mutter to his subordi-
nate, when they got outside our door :-
"That's a pretty d-d high-handed sort of a chap,
anyhow."
After half-an-hour's waiting I was conducted to a
room on the third story, No. 20, and in a few minutes
experienced that great rarity of a fresh sensation,'
M 2
164
BORDER AND BASTILLE.
finding myself-for the very first time in my life-
fairly under lock and key.
I had been so 'harried' of late, that I felt a
certain relief in being settled somewhere. The rest
of the afternoon and evening was spent in making
acquaintance with the Baltimorean blockade-runner,
my room-mate, and in exchanging dreary prison
civilities with the cells on either side, through little
tunnels pierced in the wall by former prisoners,
which allowed passage to anything of a calibre not
exceeding that of a rolled newspaper. A deep, narrow
trough, ingeniously excavated in a pine-splinter,
enabled us to pledge each other in mutual libations.
devoted to our better luck and speedy release. The
neighbours with whom I chiefly held commune, were
an Episcopalian clergyman and a captain in the
Confederate army. Of these, more hereafter. I
breathed freely when the temporary absence of my
room-mate, for exercise, left me alone for the
first time since my capture-with my saddle-bags.
They had been in Northern custody for four days,
and subjected to the severest scrutiny: nevertheless,
they still held certain documents, that I was right
glad to see vanish in the red-heat of a fierce
log-fire.
CHAPTER IX.
CAGED BIRDS.
THE miserable first-waking-gloomiest of all hours
that follow a great loss or disaster-came late to me.
I had gone through a certain amount of knocking-
about-mental and bodily-in the last week; and,
for seven nights, the nearest approach to a bed had
been the extempore couch of a railway-car. So, on
an unhappy emaciated palliasse, covered by a dusty
horse-rug (it took me four days to weary the jailor
into concession of sheets), I slept, all noises notwith-
standing, far into my first prison-day. It was pro-
vokingly brilliant and warm; indeed I must, in justice
to the Weather Office, allow, that its benignancy has
scarcely been interrupted, since I ceased to care
whether skies were foul or fair. My recollections of
that first day are rather vague; but my impression is,
that I had a good deal to think about, and did not in
the least know how to begin. I paced up and down,
as long as my knee would allow; it was still stiff
and painful, though healing fast. In a room twelve
feet by eight, you square the circle much too often
for pleasure; but it was a week before I had
166
BORDER AND BASTILLE.
any other exercise. Then, I believe, I made some
attempts to improve the acquaintance of my room-
mate.
:
He was not sullen, but, at first, somewhat saturnine
and silent. The fact was that, for many days, he had
been fasting from the luxuries dearest to every
American heart-whisky and tobacco; for all money
and clothes had been taken from him at the Provost
Marshal's office, and never were returned in these
respects, after my arrival, he fared sumptuously by
comparison, and abated greatly of his discontent. I
might have been much more unfortunate in my com-
panion. He was not conversational certainly, nor
very amusing in any way; but he was cunning in all
the small crafts of captivity, and kept our chamber
swept and garnished to the best of his power. The
way in which dust accumulated and renewed itself
within those narrow limits, was little short of
miraculous; you might brush till you were weary,
and ten minutes afterwards things would look
as though brooms had never been. Twining ropes
out of seasand, or any other of the tasks with
which wizards have baffled fiends, were not more
helpless than that on which my comrade busied
himself each morning. The wood-fire could not
account for it; the nuisance increased when it be-
came too warm to light anything but candles; so it
must remain, another of the physical puzzles con-
cerning which we are perpetually wondering, where
-
CAGED BIRDS.
167
never likely to be
it all comes from,' and are never
satisfied.
Mr. C seemed by no means sanguine as to
his own prospects, and took an early opportunity of
advising me not to buoy myself up with hopes of
speedy release. I can say, truly, that from the very
first I did not so delude myself. Some of my Balti-
more friends would fain have persuaded me that, in
the utter absence of criminating evidence, I should
not be detained long; I forbore to argue, but my
opinion remained always the same. I had heard,
how tenacious was the grasp of Federal officials,
unless loosened by more golden oil than I could then
command. I had heard, too, how slowly aid or inter-
cession from the free outer world could penetrate
these mock-bastilles, and how reluctantly the autho-
rities would grant the supreme favour of a hearing, or
trial, to any whose condemnation was not sure. So
I was prepared to resign myself to anything short
of a month's incarceration; but even thus, I under-
estimated the hospitable urgency of my amiable
entertainers.
-
The return-wing of the main building in which we
were confined, is occupied exclusively by prisoners
committed under a Secretary's warrant. These are
much more closely guarded than the other inmates;
but they have the advantage of being divided off into
pairs, or threes at most, in their rooms, and their com-
forts are certainly better attended to. The regula-
-
BORDER AND BASTILLE.
168
tions anent food and liquors are liberal enough;
you can obtain almost anything by paying about
twice its cost; but the privilege of having meals
sent in, is not lightly valued by those who have
once done battle with the boiled leather called ration
beef, contests in which passive resistance generally
prevails.
The barred window of No. 20 looks out on the
narrow yard wherein ordinary captives are allowed
to disport themselves for three half-hours daily. It
is a very motley crowd. There are no Confede-
rate soldiers here; all these are confined in the
Old Capitol; but of every other class you may see
specimens.
I will try one or two sketches. It used to amuse
me to guess at the profession of a captive from
outward signs, and, after a little practice, one is
rarely wrong.
:
Those three, talking together apart, and gesticu-
lating so vehemently, with the Hebrew stamp on
every line of their dark, keen faces, are blockade-
runners they bewail their captivity more loudly than
their fellows; but, be sure, they will wriggle out,
soonest of all, if freedom can be purchased by hard
swearing or gold. The profits of a single successful
venture are simply fabulous; the smugglers are fre-
quently captured with dollars on their persons by
tens of thousands: they will part readily with a share
of the plunder to any accommodating official, sooner
CAGED BIRDS.
169
than lose valuable time here; and, as for the Oath,
they swallow it without a pretence at reluctance.
That group, with wild beards and long unkempt
hair, clad in rough garments of every shade, from
'butternut to hodden grey, come evidently from
the far uplands of Virginia. Looking at those rough-
hewn faces and fierce eyes, you can easily believe that
such men are not careful to dissemble their sympa-
thies, and would not lightly forget an injury; the
chastisement of this paternal Government will change
sullen disaffection into savage animosity: they will
all be sent South in time, and it's a free fight
there.' I fancy, one or two of those yeomen will see
the colour of Yankee blood, before they see the old
homestead again.
That pale Judas face, with scanty, hircine beard,
and an expression changing often from spiteful to
cunning, could belong only to a Yankee paymaster or
commissary, detected in his frauds before he had
made up a pile high enough to defy justice; for a
swindler is not quite safe till he is nearly a 'milliner.'
(So, was my comrade wont to pronounce millionaire.)
Such cases occur daily, and the unity of shabbiness
here is always diversified by some trim criminals in
dark blue. Putting apparel aside, these accessions
do not seem greatly to improve the respectability of
the life below-stairs.
There is a very tall man, who generally manages
to take his exercise at a different hour from the
*******
170
BORDER AND BASTILLE.
common herd: when he does mix with them, his
well-cut clothes and spotless linen make a strange
contrast with the squalor round him. He seems
perfectly contented with his present lot; he is always
humming snatches of song, or chanting right lustily ;
he speaks loud and freely with the few to whose
converse he condescends; and there is a gay reck-
lessness about his whole bearing almost too osten-
tatious to be natural. Before long you notice one
peculiarity. Speaking or listening-sitting or stand-
ing-walking or resting-his long, white, lissome
fingers are never still; they cannot handle the com-
monest object without betraying a swift, subdued
dexterity. Look closer yet, and all his glib, sham-
soldier talk will not deceive you. That gallant
belongs to a great army, whose spoils-if not blood-
less-must be won with knife and pistol, instead of
rifle and sabre; to an Order whose squires are often
knighted with no gentle accolade-an Order, the
date of whose foundation neither herald nor historian
knows, but which must last while Christendom shall
endure the Unholy Order of Industry.
The professional gamblers, here, far outnumber
the turfites of England, and they apply themselves to
their business from early youth with far more exclu-
sive pertinacity. The richest field for their talent is
barren, now that the highroad of the Mississippi is
closed; but still in every city of importance, North
or South, he who would fight the tiger,' need not
C
CAGED BIRDS.
171
wander far without discovering his den. In Rich-
mond, especially, the play never was so desperate and
deep. It is unnecessary to say towards which side
the sympathies and interests of the Mercurial guild
tend. The cunning Yankee was ever too prudent to
risk much of his hard-earned gold on the chance of a
card, fairly or unfairly turned: it is only the planter,
on whom wealth flows in while he sleeps, that tempts
Fortune with a daring, near which the recklessness of
the Regency seems cautious and tame.
It is not strange that the captive knight should
accept his present position so cheerfully. Here,
he enjoys every luxury that money can buy, and
whithersoever he may be consigned, he is sure to
fall on his feet; for it matters little to those cos-
mopolites on what spot of earth their vagrant tents
are pitched. Neither is he of the stuff that is likely
indefinitely to be detained: even this jealous govern-
ment need not fear to let such an enemy go free.
My comrade-not innocent or unmindful of past
losses at faro-contemplating the gay cavalier with
no loving glance, growls out, "They won't bother
themselves with that rubbish long.
>>
There is another figure, quite picturesquely repul-
sive, which will attract you more than if it were
pleasant to look upon. A man, exceedingly old,
stout, and lame, with red, savage eyes, and a scowl
that never lightens or breaks: it would be an equine
injustice to compare his head to a horse's; that of
172
BORDER AND BASTILLE.
many a thoroughbred measures less in superficial
inches. Clearly, a storekeeper from some remote
village, where he has battened on the necessities of
his neighbours for years, till he has got bloated like
an ancient spider in its web. He hobbles
He hobbles up and
down, never interchanging a word with his fellows,
but unceasingly mumbling his huge toothless jaws:
they say he never mutters anything but curses; if so,
his daily expense in blasphemy is something fearful
to contemplate. I think that cleanliness is as foreign
to that horrible old creature's soul as godliness: he
never shows a vestige of linen, and I am certain he
sleeps in that rusty coat of bluish grey, and in that
squalid cravat-rope, never untwisted since it was first
donned. His offence must surely have been com-
merce, active and profitable, with Rebeldom, for he
never can have sympathised with any living thing.
One more picture, to close the list. I ought to
know that figure, long and lanky, but sinewy withal,
though the head, under the fur cap, is averted still.
Mock me not, for otherwhere, than along the greenwood fair,
Have I ridden fast with thee.
He turns now--I knew I was right-it is my
cheery host of the White Grounds, who led us so
gallantly through brake, and brook, and snow-drift,
when the Federal dragoons followed hard on our
trail a broad light of recognition spreads over all
his honest face as he waves a stealthy salute, and I
CAGED BIRDS.
173
straightway go through the pantomime of drinking
to his health and quick deliverance.
Women of all classes are confined here; but
beauty only beams on the prison-yard from the win-
dows of its cell. At this moment of writing, I hear
voices from a room immediately below me: fair,
the speakers possibly may be; but-judging from
the fitful scraps of conversation that rise hither-they
are assuredly very frail.
I think one of the most exasperating circumstances
of this house of bondage, is the exceeding flimsiness
of its defences. Part of the enclosure of both yards
consists of tall, thin boarding, full of cracks and
crevices, that might be breached with no extra-
ordinary exertion of foot or shoulder; and there is
hardly any part of the stronghold out of which a man
of average ingenuity, armed with a common clasp-
knife-if unwatched-could not make his way in
a couple of hours. But, unwatched you never are.
The passages are not more than thirty feet long,
and there is a sentinel in each who can hear almost
every sound from within. A state prisoner never
stirs beyond his room, without an armed guard at his
shoulder.
-
I soon heard that my reverend neighbour on the
right contemplated evasion; and, considering his
opportunities, I rather wondered at finding him here.
In every cell there is a small closet, corresponding
with those on the floor above and below. In this
174
BORDER AND BASTILLE.
especial one the ceiling had fallen away, or been
removed by some former prisoner; nothing but
plain boards intercepted a passage to the unoccupied
attic-story, where dormer windows opened on to the
shingle roof. But, with all this, it took the parson a
full month to make up his mind and preparations.
I often communed with him through the tunnel afore-
said, and he amused me not a little sometimes.
He looked at all things through a magnifying
glass of about eighteen powers. I know that he
was perfectly honest, in the delusion of considering
himself one of the most important state prisoners that
had ever been confined here. He would have it, that
half Maryland was in mourning for him, and ready
with ransom of untold gold; but was certain, that the
Government would never venture to set him free
while the war should last. Upon the Oath of alle-
giance being proposed to him, instead of simply
declining, he defied the judge to do his worst, ex-
pressing his readiness to confront either gallows, or
platoon. The risk of either, was about equal to that
of his being tortured at the stake, on the steps of the
Capitol. In spite of all this simple vanity, and
flightiness of brain, you could see that the parson
had good strong principles, and held to them fast;
and I believe that his nervous excitability would not
have deterred him from encountering real danger.
He appeared thoroughly courteous, generous, and
good-natured; and my companion, to whose regiment
-
CAGED BIRDS.
175
he had been chaplain, told me that nothing could
exceed his considerate kindness to the soldiers.
Albeit afflicted by occasional fits of depression, the
reverend, as a rule, talked very cheerily; but,—ah
me!-how sorrowfully he would sing! There was
one psalm-penitential I presume-of about twenty-
two verses, an especial favourite. This was, probably,
the most soul-depressing melody that has been
chanted since the days of The Captivity. The mourn-
ful monotone bore you down irresistibly; Mark
Tapley would have subsided into melancholy gloom,
before the slow versicles were half dragged through.
But the parson was not the only musical culprit, nor
the worse, by many degrees. It would be absurd to
expect much cheerfulness here: a hoarse roar breaks
out now and then at some coarse practical joke; but
a frank, honest laugh-never. Yet I do wish that
imprisoned discontent would vent itself otherwise
than in discordant, dismal howling. At this minute,
a cracked voice is droning out,
A little more cider :
-it might be a Sioux chanting his death-song.
How well I remember, in what stately home of
England' I first listened to that pleasant ditty. I
hear, now, the leader's rich, round tones, and I see
quite plainly the fair faces of the youths and virgins
that made up the choir. Bastà! it don't bear
thinking about. If mine enemy were anywhere but
176
BORDER AND BASTILLE.
round the corner, I would try if his music would
stand a volley of orange-shot.
For three days or so, I could scarcely take up a
paper without seeing my own unlucky name paraded
in one, or more paragraphs. As they all varied, it was
somewhat remarkable that, in all alike, facts should
have been so absurdly distorted. They were not
content with drawing my own fancy portrait-imagine,
if
you please, the caricature-but they built up a little
romance about poor Falcon's assassin, giving him
credit for much suffering for his country's sake, par-
ticularly for long imprisonment at Richmond, since
which time he had devoted himself as an Avenger.
was gratified to observe that his name was seldom, if
ever, correctly spelt. I did think of sending a con-
tradictory note to one of the local journals, but
decided against wasting ink and paper. Besides, it
is a pity to abase oneself unnecessarily. I ain't
proud, 'cos it's sinful,' nor over careful with whom
I try a fall; but I confess a preference, for more
creditable antagonists than American penny-a-liners.
So, I let them—lie.
I
On the fourth evening of my imprisonment, there
was an unusual stir in the building soon after nightfall.
Intercourse between the different rooms is prevented
as much as possible, but the channels of covert commu-
nication are many, and not easily cut off. In ten minutes
every one was aware, that the iron-clads which were
to annihilate Charleston had recoiled, beaten and
CAGED BIRDS.
177
wounded. My mate rejoiced greatly, after his satur-
nine fashion, and I-the fullness of listlessness being
not yet-felt a brief glow of satisfaction. Others
were more demonstrative. Loud came the paæan of
the warlike priest through our mural speaking-
trumpet; while the sturdy soldier on the left, after
hearing the news, and taking a trough-full of old rye,
expressed himself "good for two months more of
gaol." Some one at a lower window began to sing,
softly at first, the National Anthem of the South;
then voice after voice joined in, in spite of sentinels'
warnings, till the full volume of the defiant chorus
rolled out, ringingly :
Hurrah, hurrah! for Southern rights, hurrah!
One cheer more for the bonnie blue flag
That carries a Single Star.
On the whole, I think that Sunday evening passed
more rapidly than any that I can chronicle here.
The newspapers, for the next few days, were
rather amusing. The well-practised Republican
apologists exhausted their ingenuity in endeavouring
to explain away the reverse. It was an experiment
-a reconnaissance on a large scale-anything you
please, but a repulse. But the facts hemmed them
in remorselessly; at last, in their desperation, they
fell fiercely, not only on their Democratic opponents,
but on each other.
The truth is, that the failure of the iron-clads was
so complete, that it ought to furnish some useful hints
N
178
BORDER AND BASTILLE.
for the future. With the exception of the Keokuk,
whose construction differed slightly from that of her
fellows, none were sunk or fairly riddled with shot;
but scarcely one went out of that sharp, brief battle
efficiently offensive. The starting of bolts might
easily be remedied, but it is clear that the revolving
machinery of the turrets is far too delicate and
vulnerable; and that these are liable to become
'jammed' by a chance shot at any moment. This
objection is the more serious, when you consider how
miserably these vessels seem to steer. Almost all
were more or less sulky' as soon as they felt the
strong tide-way, and the huge Ironsides lay a help-
less, useless log, half-an-hour after going into action.
Neither do they appear to be very formidable, offen-
sively. No reliable evidence proves Fort Sumter to
have suffered material damage; yet the attacking
force spent their strength exclusively on one of its
sides and angles, and there was nothing to prevent
their pouring in a concentric fire, on any weakened
point or possible breach.
But a stranger soon ceases to be surprised at any
trick or eccentricity of the American Press. The
common courtesies and proprieties of the Fourth
Estate are utterly ignored in the noisy Batracho-
machia: the first step in editorial training here must
be to trample on self-respect, as the renegade used
to trample on the Cross. Not only do the leading
articles teem with coarse personal abuse of political
CAGED BIRDS.
179
opponents, but a rival journalist is often freely stig-
matised by name; his antecedents are viciously dis-
sected, and the backslidings of his great-grandsire
paraded triumphantly; though this is an extreme
case, for such an authenticated ancestor seldom helps
or hampers the class of which I speak. A year of
such ignoble brawling must surely be sufficient to
annihilate more moral dignity, than most of these
small Thunderers can pretend to start with.
One is prepared for anything, after seeing whole
columns of journals, boasting no small metropolitan
and provincial renown, filled by those revolting
advertisements, that the lowest of our own penny-
papers only accept under protest.
Upon one point, certainly, all agree-constant dis-
trust and depreciation of England; and, all things
considered, I know no one spot on God's earth,
where the hackneyed old line can be quoted so com-
placently by a Britisher :
Sibilat populus, mihi plaudo.
It would be unfair, not to give the American Press
credit for great energy and ability in collecting intelli-
gence from the different seats of war. Considering
the vast surface over which military operations ex-
tend, and the immense distances that often lie
between the scene of action and the place of publica-
tion, it is really wonderful to see how copiously the
New York journals contrive to minister to their
N 2
180
BORDER AND BASTILLE.
C
readers' curiosity. The Herald,' in particular, has one
or more correspondents wherever a single brigade is
stationed, and according to their own accounts-which
there is no reason to doubt-they frequently accom-
pany the troops, till actually under fire. All agents
of the Press with the army of the Potomac, are now
obliged to sign their communications with their real
name. This general-order is of course intended to
check the freedom of criticism, which has of late.
become rather too plain-spoken to be agreeable to the
irascible Chief. But it is difficult to gag an un-
daunted 'special; ' so every morning the last
intelligence streams forth-fresh, strong, and rather
coarsely flavoured-like new whisky from a still.
The sobriety of the weekly journals contrasts
refreshingly with the licence of their diurnal brethren.
Sporting papers are nearly the same all the world
over; but, in the rest of these placid periodicals,
there is little of violence or virulence to be found.
They are enthusiastic about the War of course, and
occasionally querulous about the Copperheads; but
they never quarrel among themselves, and are seldom
thoroughly savage with any one, or anything. They
generally contain a chapter or two borrowed, with or
without permission, from some English story in
progress Eleanor's Victory' is the favourite now-
the rest of the non-illustrated pages are filled with
the very mildest little tales that, I think, ever were
penned.
CAGED BIRDS.
181
<
These simple romancers in nowise resemble the
vitriolic melo-dramatists scarcely caricatured by
Punch in Mokeanna,'—who try to drug, in default of
intoxicating, their audience; the liquor they proffer
in their pretty flimsy cups, if not exciting, is far from
deleterious; not unfrequently you catch glimpses of
an under-current of honest pathos, soon smothered
by garish flowers of language; and sometimes the
style sparkles into mild effervescence, redeeming itself
from utter vapidity; these ephemerals, indeed, belong
rather to the lemonade than the milk-and-water class;
but, throughout, there is a woeful want of verve and
virility.
It was inexpressibly refreshing, after loitering
through twenty such pages, to revert to the History
of the Crimean War:' the curt, nervous periods
were a powerful mental tonic; and few, of his many
readers, owe so practical a debt to Mr. Kinglake as
the writer of these words.
C
CHAPTER X.
DARK DAYS.
So heavier with each link-the chain of days
dragged on. My room-mate soon thawed into a
stolid sociability, and was quite disposed to be com-
municative; but his narrative riches about matched
those of the knife-grinder, and his military expe-
rience of one year only embraced one battle-that of
Manassas. His ideas of English society were very
remarkable. The works of Mr. G. W. M. Reynolds
are much favoured, it appears, by the class who believe
in Mr. George F. Train's veracity and eloquence;
from these turbid fountains mine honest friend's con-
ceptions were drawn. I took some trouble to unde-
ceive him, and partially succeeded, chiefly by insisting
upon the fact that of all living writers-the inge-
nious author of the Mysteries of Everything' was
probably the man least qualified, by personal expe-
rience, to discourse concerning the manners and cus-
toms of the upper, or even the educated, classes.
Slowly and reluctantly, the Baltimorean abandoned
his cherished ideal of the British aristocrat-a covert
Caligula, with all modern improvements-varying the
،
DARK DAYS.
183
monotony of orgies with interludes of murder and
rapine; the instrument of these pleasant vices being
always ready in the shape of a Frankenstein-monster,
whose mission it is to tyrannise perpetually over the
guilty lordling or lady whose secret he holds; doing
a steady trade of two assassinations or abductions
weekly; and utterly inviolable by cord, shot, or
steel, up to the final blue-fire tableau of the dreary
drama. I believe, that my mate is now prepared
to admit, that a certain amount of piety and chastity
is not incompatible with tenure of the highest
dignities in the Anglican church-that a youth need
not necessarily be a savage Sybarite, because he
happens to be heir to a dukedom-that matronly
virtue may, with a struggle, be retained even by
a Countess-and that a man may possibly be a
kindly landlord, and even an honest farmer himself
(that was the crowning triumph), though born a
belted Earl.
On the fourth day, I bethought myself of teach-
ing my companion piquet (no purely transatlantic
game is in the least interesting, if the stakes are
nominal): he acquired it with the ready aptitude
that seems natural to Americans, and I soon had
to drop the odds of the deal. We played many
hundred parties for imaginary eagles; eventually I
got a run, and left off a good winner, which, as my
opponent had not money enough to buy tobacco, was
highly satisfactory to every one concerned.
184
BORDER AND BASTILLE.
After a week's confinement to my room, I was
allowed to take half-an-hour's exercise daily in a
narrow strip of yard just twenty-one paces long ; it
was hedged in with kitchens and all sorts of disagree-
able buildings, but the additional space was not to be
despised. On the first evening after this concession,
I was pacing up and down moodily (only inmates of
the same room are allowed to descend together, so
that you gain no social advantage), when just over
my head, from a window on the first story, there
broke out a burst of merriment, and a half-intelli-
gible trill of baby-language; then a little round pink
face, under a cloud of fair hair, peered out at me
through the bars. The utter incongruity of the whole
picture struck me so absurdly, that, I believe, I did
indulge in a dreary laugh. Then the child began to
talk again; and clapped its hands exultingly, as its
mother caught an orange I threw up at her, when
the sentinel's back was turned. So a sort of
acquaintance began. Every day for a month, I saw
that promising two-year-old (to whose sex I cannot
speak with certainty); and I never heard it fretting or
wailing. Whenever it saw me, it used to break out
into a real uproarious laugh, as if our common impri-
sonment was the very best joke that had ever been
presented to its infantile mind. I am ashamed to
avow, that my own sense of the ridiculous was by no
means so keen. The mother evidently pined far more
than the baby; for her face grew, every day, more
DARK DAYS.
185
white and worn.
What was the offence of either
against the Government, I never heard; for no
official or soldier will answer any question, and
discourse between the prisoners is strictly forbidden.
They went South, in the great exodus of the 20th of
May. I contrived on that morning, with much
cunning, to cast in six or seven oranges at their
window, which, I hope, solaced those two Gentle
Traytours through the burden and heat of the
day.
Till I got too sulky and savage to seek unnecessary
intercourse with any one, I found occasional amuse-
ment in chaffing' the sentinels. The orders against
conversation with these, were not rigidly enforced.
Finding that they rose very freely to the bait of a
strained ironical politeness, I used to beg them to
tell off by sections, the victims of their red right
hands-chickens and ducks not being counted-
also, I was fain to learn, how many rebel standards
and pieces of cannon each man had captured and
retained? If they took no credit for any such
feats, I would by no means believe them, imputing
the denial solely to the modesty inseparable from
true courage.
Descending into the yard, one day, I found the
scntry-an overgrown lad, with broad, crimson, beard-
less cheeks-in a perfect paroxysm of excitement,
using great freedom of gesticulation and blasphemy.
I had had immense success in bewildering this par-
·
186
BORDER AND BASTILLE.
1
ticular warrior a few days previously; so I went up
to him at once:
"My blood-stained veteran," I said, "what has
roused your apoplectic valour?
I think he was rather shamed at being caught;
but he grumbled out, sulkily rough, something about
"If they don't keep their
heads in, they'll
get more than they ask for." I followed the direc-
tion of his eyes, and there, on the third story, sate
two of the quietest-looking middle-aged women I
ever beheld. They were evidently new arrivals,
and had not heard of the injunction against putting
heads out of windows; for they were staring down
in blank astonishment, unconscious that the blatant
threats were levelled at them. Now, the ingenious.
juggler who packed himself into a bottle, might pos-
sibly have succeeded in infringing the aforesaid rule:
no other human being could have got his cranium
through the bars. I suspect, it was simply an out-
break of the plethoric sentry's irrational ferocity (he
had been sweltering under a burning sun for two
hours) on the first helpless object that came across
him; for I could not make out that the women had
answered or aggravated him. I addressed to my
friend many compliments on his prowess-trusting
that his soldierly zeal would be appreciated in higher
quarters. Nevertheless, I presumed to suggest that
it would have been wiser to have begun with the
baby if he could frighten that into fits, his rapid
>>
DARK DAYS.
187
promotion must have been ensured. I believed that
Brigadier Turchin would soon want an aide, and who
knows? &c.
In a few minutes he waxed frightfully wroth; but
he had already broken the non-conversation orders,
and I would not allow him to fall back upon these,
now. At last, he retreated to a part of his beat
where I could not follow him, and there growled and
ground his teeth, till my time was up. The corporal
who was my immediate guard, tried to excuse his
comrade, hinting that he wasn't quite right in
the head." Possibly this may have been one of
his 'off-days.' The jest of that afternoon was turned
into bloody earnest, before three weeks had passed.
CC
Not long after this, I had a pleasanter incident to
chronicle. As I entered the yard one day, my guard
remarked with a broad grin: Somethin' new up
there, Colonel."
CC
The indiscriminate appropriation of military titles,
here, is, of course, proverbial: though common pru-
dence made me very careful not to claim a fictitious
rank, after leaving Baltimore, where I was well
known. I got a brevet-step with almost every
change of place or association: disclaimers were never
listened to.
Through the bars of a second-story window that
fronted each turn of my tramp, I saw-this. A
slight figure in the freshest summer-toilette of cool
pink muslin; close braids of dark hair shading clear
188
BORDER AND BASTILLE.
pale cheeks; eyes that were made to sparkle, though
the look in them then was very sad, and the languid
bowing down of the small head told of something
worse than weariness.
Truly, a pretty picture, though framed in such
rude setting; but almost as startling, at first, as
the apparition of the fair witch in the forest to
Christabelle. Slightly in the background, stood a
mature dame-the mother, evidently. No need to
ask what their crime had been: aid and abetment of
the South suggested itself, before you detected the
ensign of her faith that the demoiselle still wore un-
dauntedly—a pearl solitaire, fashioned as a Single
Star. I may not deny, that my gloomy constitu-
tional' seemed, thenceforward, a shade or two less
dreary; but, though community of suffering does
much abridge ceremony, it was some days before I
interchanged with the fair captives any sign beyond
the mechanical lifting of my cap when I entered and
left their presence, duly acknowledged from above.
One evening, I chanced to be loitering almost under
their window; a low significant cough made me look
up; I saw the flash of a gold bracelet and the wave
of a white hand; and there fell at my feet, a fragrant
pearly rosebud nestling in fresh green leaves. My
thanks were, perforce, confined to a gesture and a
dozen hurried words; but I would the prison-beauty
could believe, that fair Jane Beaufort's rose was not
more prized than hers, though the first was a love-
DARK DAYS.
180
token granted to a king, the last only a graceful gift
to an unlucky stranger. I suppose that most men,
whose past is not utterly barren of romance, are
weak enough to keep some withered flowers till
they have lived memory down, and I pretend not to
be wiser than my fellows. Other fragrant messengers
followed in their season; but, if ever I 'win hame to
mine ain countrie,' I make mine avow to enshrine
that first rosebud in my reliquaire, with all honour
and solemnity, there to abide till one of us shall be
dust.
I heard from Lord Lyons about once a week.
Though my letters were always answered most
promptly, the replies never reached me within eight
days. All correspondence, going or coming, passes the
inspection of the Provost-Marshal and the Superin-
tendent, and letters are forwarded and delivered-
sooner or later-the whole thing resolving itself into
a question of official memory or convenience. I did
not doubt from the first, that no intercession, that
could properly be exercised, would be spared. If re-
peated applications and strong representations could
have availed, I should have been free long ago. But
many autocrats might take a lesson from the insolent.
indifference of this Administration, when an argument
or a request is to be set aside; it is exactly in propor-
tion to the pliancy they display when confronted with
demands enforced by a substantial threat. Lord
Lyons' reputation for courtesy and kindness of heart
190
BORDER AND BASTILLE.
stands too high to need any testimony of mine; but I
cannot forbear here expressing my sense of his good
offices, and I am not the less grateful, because these
words are written on the fifty-sixth day of impri-
sonment.
To one member of the Legation, I am indebted for
far more than official benevolence. On the second
day after my committal, Percy Anderson brought up
himself to the Old Capitol, a package containing
cigars, books, newspapers, &c., which, he was told,
would be transmitted to me 'right away.' I trust
that the contents satisfied the critical tastes of the
officer on guard; for from his clutches no fragment
emerged. I never even heard of the kind intention,
till weeks had passed; and, of many papers after-
wards forwarded by the same hands, only one packet
reached me.
A
All this time, my reverend neighbour was pressing
on in earnest his preparations for escape. His room-
mate was a young Marylander, who had served some
time on the staff of the Confederate army; he was
captured at his own home, whither he had returned
for a hurried visit, and was now detained as a
'spy' this vague and marvellously elastic charge
is always laid, when it is desirable to exclude a
prisoner from the conditions of exchange. The plan
of evasion was very simple. After passing through
the floor into the attic, and thence out through the
dormer-window, they had to crawl over about eighty
S
DARK DAYS.
191
feet of shingle-roof-hot slippery at all, nor particu-
larly steep-along the ridge, except where they had
to descend a little to circumvent the chimney-stacks ;
this brought them to another dormer, giving admis-
sion to a house in the same block of building, but
not connected with the prison. The parson believed
this to be uninhabited; and the event proved either
that he was right, or that the inmates were friendly.
After several false starts, they decided on making the
attempt on the 1st of May.
In the twenty-four hours preceding, the reverend's
excitable nerves had been wound up to something
above concert pitch. He seemed to hold the real
risk—discovery and the bullet of a sentinel-very
cheap; but, magnifying imaginary difficulties after
his own peculiar fashion, he had come to look
upon
the roof as a pass of peril, only to be accomplished
by preterhuman agility and steadiness of brain. His
fellow-adventurer, who from first to last bore himself
with a gay recklessness good to behold, laughed
all such forebodings utterly to scorn. I tried the
gentler tone of grave argument, demonstrating that
a glissade on shingles in dry weather was next to
impossible, and that the ridge, once gained, was
nearly as safe travelling as an ordinary mountain-
path. The parson's armour of meek obstinacy was
proof alike to reason and ridicule he waxed not
wroth, and was thankful for any suggestion; but,
when asked to act accordingly, ever fell back on
:
+3
192
BORDER AND BASTILLE.
""
one plaintive formula-"I am no gymnast,
after the fashion of that exasperating child who met
all the Poet's questions and objections with the
refrain of
Master, we are seven.
These visionary terrors would have been of little
moment, if they had not induced his reverence to
persist in the use of certain machines, which were
more than likely to bring the whole adventure to grief.
These were a sort of sandals, studded with sharp
nails, that could be fitted either to hands or feet, and
no words can describe the proud satisfaction, with
which they were regarded by their simple-minded
constructor. Though I saw it was almost useless, I
tried hard to persuade him that, for any sort of climb-
ing (where neither ice nor sharp edges were to be
feared), no engines could be so safe as bare feet and
hands; that it would be much harder to recover
himself, if a slip ensued from any strap giving way ;
finally, that if the contrivance answered perfectly in
every other way, there was certain risk of what was
most to be avoided-sharp, sudden noises, likely to
strike strangely on the sentinel's ear. My friend
heard me out quite patiently, thanked me very cor-
dially, and then-took his own way.
Everything was ready by midnight; but the start
was not made till 3 A.M., at which hour the moon
was quite down. We could talk but little, as it
was especially important not to arouse any suspicion
DARK DAYS.
193
6
among the sentries ; as far as I could make out,
the adventurers employed the interval very wisely, in
taking in supplies of both creature and spiritual
comforts, dividing their attention about equally be-
tween supper and devotional exercises. At last the
moment came, and they bade us farewell; the good
parson bestowing upon my unworthy self a really
pathetic benediction. If my own God-speed' was
less solemn, I know it was not less sincere. Then I
went to bed, and as another twenty minutes passed
without my hearing a sound, I began to think the
fugitives were well away. I was just dropping off to
sleep, when I heard voices in the yard speaking loud
and hastily, though I could not catch the words.
Then there was a scuffle of feet above, and a scram-
bling fall beyond the right hand wall.
minutes' silence, quick steps came along the passage,
and the door of No. 22 was opened. The visitors
soon went away; but we did not know what watch
might be set, so essayed no communication with our
unlucky neighbour till the morning was far advanced.
The adventure had miscarried in this wise.
After
After a few
When they mounted into the empty attic they
found the window invitingly open, and, after waiting
a few minutes to humour the moon, the soldier
volunteered to reconnoitre. He reached the ridge
without the slightest difficulty, and crawled along
till he could see his way clear to the window
they wished to attain. Then he returned undis-
O
194
BORDER AND BASTILLE.
covered and reported progress. Now the first
mistake was making a reconnaissance at all: vestigia
nulla retrorsum, ought to have been the word that
night, if ever. The second and graver error was,
allowing the parson to go first, when they started in
earnest. The light lithe body of the soldier could
glide over the roof with the silent swiftness of a cat
on the rampage;
the same animal, shod with
walnut-shells, suggests itself as an apt, though ir-
reverent comparison for the priestly fugitive.
use the narrator's own words-occasionally more
forcible than elegant-
To
>
"You might have heard him two blocks off, squat-
tering and spluttering over the shingles."
Those miserable machines, when put to the proof,
made more noise than even we had imputed to them.
The prisoners over whose heads the parson passed,
heard the slipping and scratching quite plainly
though the attic floor was between them. Never-
theless he had time to reach the desired window, to
let it slip once with a resonant bang, and to slip
inside out of sight, before any alarm was raised. But
the drowsy or careless sentinel awoke to a sense of
his position, just as the second fugitive turned the
first chimney-stack; and challenged with a threat of
shooting. The Marylander knew that the game was
up, as far as he was concerned if he went on and
escaped the bullet, those below would have seen at
what window he entered, and the start was hopelessly
•
DARK DAYS.
195
:
short to persist would only have ensured two re-
captures. He certainly did the wisest thing, in re-
tracing his way as speedily as possible. When the
guards came to No. 22, they found its solitary inmate
in bed, sleeping apparently the heavy stertorous sleep
of a deep drinker: an empty whisky-bottle gave a
colour of probability to the picture. They could get
nothing out of him then; and, afterwards, he took the
line of having been insensibly overcome by liquor, and
so prevented from accompanying his fellow-prisoner.
The authorities could scarcely have believed the story ;
but perhaps they wished to keep the escape as quiet as
possible; at any rate the Marylander was not more
strictly guarded or severely treated than before. He
took the mishap with wonderful pluck and good
humour, and spoke rather humorously than wrath-
fully of the whole affair. Yet, as far as he knew,
he had come back to indefinite captivity. When
he went south with the rest of them on the 20th
of May, no man of the five hundred better deserved
freedom.
Some days afterwards we had news of the divine—
safe so far, and many miles away. Certainly, had he
possessed his soul in patience a fortnight or so longer,
he would have been forwarded to his desired desti-
nation securely, and at the expense of the enemy.
Before he reaches it now, he will have paid away a
sheaf of greenbacks, and run the gauntlet of a frontier
blockade, closing in more tightly every hour. North
0 2
196
BORDER AND BASTILLE.
of the Potomac there is no rest for the sole of his
foot. So, many would say, that the escapade had far
better have been deferred. Eight weeks ago I should
have been of that same opinion, but now—I doubt—
I doubt. The prospect outside ought to be very
dark, and rife with peril, to induce a man to resign
himself deliberately to another decameron here.*
On the 15th of May, my room-fellow was told that
he was to be sent South immediately: he received the
news very stolidly, and betrayed no impatience during
the interval that elapsed before the exchange-steamer
could be got ready. Truth to say, it is rather an
equivocal advantage-to be turned loose in a city
where famine-prices prevail, utterly penniless. But,
if my mate did not exult in his prospects, neither
did he in anyway despond. He "supposed he'd get
along somehow;" indeed, he had plenty of a very
useful capital-solid, persevering self-reliance.
There was great bustle in the yard on the morning
of the 20th; all the men who had got the order of
release, were mustered there before ten o'clock. After
many delays, each person passed out singly, as his
name was called, and it was high noon when the last
* Since writing the above, I have met the parson in England.
I am bound to state, that he gives rather a different account of the
escapade, and intimates that the Maryland youth's tightness' was
rather real than assumed; that it was, in fact, the cause of his
being left behind. It is possible that I may have been too hard on
his reverence's nervousness-scarcely doing justice to his earnest-
ness of purpose; but, as to the aforesaid infernal machines—I
decline to retract one word.
DARK DAYS.
197
prize was drawn; leaving nothing but dreary-very
dreary-blanks for us whose tickets were still in the
wheel. There was no uproarious merriment, or even
exuberant cheerfulness in the crowd below; the satis-
faction was of the saturnine sort, such as people feel
who have waited long for their just dues, and have
extraordinarily little to be thankful for. Once more,
in dumb show, I pledged mine honest host of the
White Grounds, while he responded in a stealthy
duc-an -dhurras; then, having furnished my mate with
such provant as was available, I wished him, too, sin-
cerely good-speed.
I cannot say that I was sorry, at first, to find my-
self quite alone. I am ashamed to confess that I had
been daily growing more sullen and unsocial: upon
reflection, I think, I had decidedly begun to tyrannise
over my companion; some of his harmless pecu-
liarities which I hardly noticed at first, would, at
times, irritate me savagely: besides, every cubic inch
of vacant space has its value in a low-browed room
twelve feet by eight, when the thermometer means
mounting in earnest. But, as the dreary time dragged
on, and as the leaden listlessness settled down heavier
hour by hour, I began to look back regretfully, if not
remorsefully. There were moments, not few or far
between, when I would have given much to hear the
wire-drawn monotone that lately had been an offence
to me; ay, even though each slow sentence should be
punctuated by expectoration.
198
BORDER AND BASTILLE.
Among those who were exempted from the gaol-
delivery was an Englishman, John Hardcastle by
name, who had been arrested about a month later
than myself, on the Lower Potomac, on his way
homeward through the Northern States. He had, I
believe, been employed by the Confederate Govern-
ment in carrying out some inventions and improve-
ments in armoury. There was nothing remarkable
about the little, round, ruddy man, except a joviality
which never seemed to droop in the heavy prison-air ;
when I wrote that an honest laugh was never heard
here, I ought to have made that one exception; he
had a fair voice, too, and a large collection of songs,
which he chanted out merrily, instead of merging
all tunes into one dolorous drone. He was confined
at first on the floor immediately under me; but, on
the 20th of May, changed his quarters into one of
the large rooms in the main building, with windows
opening back and front into the yard and the
Avenue these latter were without bars. All through
the evening of Sunday the 24th I listened, rather
enviously, to Hardcastle's noisy mirth: his voice
never ceased to rattle-now bantering a fellow-
prisoner with good-natured aggravation-now shout-
ing out a verse of some popular song-now de-
claiming a sentence or so of exaggerated mock-
oratory; yet he did not give me the idea of being
uproarious with drink (I heard afterwards he was
perfectly sober); rather, he seemed possessed by
DARK DAYS.
199
an exhilaration involuntary and irrational, like a per-
son who has inhaled laughing-gas. It was not till
next day that the Highland word Fey' came into my
mind. I am scarcely inclined, now, wholly to deride
that old superstition. Is it possible, that the fore-
shadow of doom does, in some mysterious way, affect
certain nervous systems, when the soul, within a few
hours, must pass out free through the rugged doors of
violent death?
‘
About eleven o'clock on the following morning I
heard a rifle-shot, but took little heed of it, as
I knew that accidental discharges from careless
handling of firelocks were not uncommon. Shortly
afterwards, the officer of the keys asked me to visit
the Superintendent in his room. It was natural,
that such a summons should conjure up certain
faint hopes of approaching liberation; or, at least,
of the 'hearing' so long deferred. All such visions
vanished instantly at the first sight of the official's
face, as he met me in the doorway: no good tidings
for any one were written there; I knew that some
grave disaster had occurred, before my eye lighted
on the table, strewn with papers, letters, and bank-
notes-all dabbled with the dull, red blots that
marked the hand of Cain.
In a very few words-spoken in a low hoarse voice,
strangely changed from its wonted boisterous loudness
-the Superintendent told me why I was wanted there.
A British subject had just been shot by a sentinel
200
BORDER AND BASTILLE.
for transgressing the window-order mentioned above;
as 800 dollars in Confederate notes, besides other
valuables, were found on his person, it was thought
well that I should assist at the inventory and
attest its correctness. It seemed that some hasty
words of the Superintendent, reflecting on the
remissness of the soldiers on duty, had been the
proximate cause of the slaughter. I do believe, that
the death-warrant was unwittingly spoken. The
man's bearing and demeanour are rough, even to
coarseness, and his sensibilities probably blunted
from having perpetually to listen to complaints and
tales of wrong-doing, which he must perforce ignore;
but I do not think his nature is harsh or cruel; the
bark of Cerberus is much worse than the bite;
and he is quite capable of benevolent actions,
done in an uncouth way. The lips of the corpse up-
stairs were scarcely whiter than those, that kept
working and muttering nervously close by my
shoulder, as I sat at my ghastly task. I was right glad
when all was ended, and I had escaped from the small
close room, where the air seemed heavy with the
savour of blood. All that day, there lay upon the
prison-house a weight and a gloom, that came not
from the murky, windless sky; the few faces that
showed themselves in the yard looked more dark
and sullen than ever; and men, gathering in knots
instead of pacing to and fro, murmured or whispered
eagerly. My unlucky head chanced to be more
DARK DAYS.
201
troublesome than usual; altogether, I cannot look
back upon a more depressing evening.
About noon on the following day a tawdry coffin
of polished elm, beaded and plated wherever there
was room for a scrap of silvered metal, was laid on
chairs in the prison-yard; and, soon, all those who had
access to that part of the building gathered round it
—listening, uncovered, to the scanty rites, which the
Old Capitol concedes to prisoners released by that
Power, in presence of whose claims the habeas corpus is
never suspended. A tall lank-haired man, looking more
like an undertaker than a divine of any denomination,
read straight through, without a syllable of preface,
the fifteenth chapter of the First Epistle to the Corin-
thians, and then, kneeling down, began a rambling
extemporaneous prayer, the main object of which
seemed to be, to address the Deity by as many
periphrastic adjurations as possible. The orator
besought, that these melancholy circumstances might
be blessed to us the survivors;' and rehearsed several
platitudes on the uncertainty of life; but, from first to
last, there was not one single word of intercession or
commendation on behalf of the dead man's soul. I
was glad when it was over: our own simple service,
read by the merest layman, would surely have been a
more fitting obsequy.
What followed, was startling enough from its very
suddenness. One of the assistants stepped forward
and, with a quick careless motion, threw back two
202
BORDER AND BASTILLE.
folding shutters that formed the upper part of the
coffin-lid: the blaze of the vertical sun, on which no
living thing could have looked unblinded, fell full
on the heavy eyelids that never shrunk or shivered,
and on the bare upturned features, blanched to the
unnatural whiteness only found in corpses from which
the life-blood has been drained away. Since then, I have
tried to recall the face as I saw it often-round and
ruddy, beaming with reckless joviality and grotesque
humour it will only rise as I saw it once-white, and
solemn, and still. When the crowd had satisfied their
curiosity, the coffin was borne away, and everything
fell back into the old groove of monotony.
It will hardly be believed that, though the victim
had communicated more than once with the British
Legation (an envelope franked by Lord Lyons was
among the papers I examined), the Federal authorities
did not deem it necessary to give any official notice of
the slaughter. Percy Anderson was absolutely igno-
rant of what had happened, when he came to me on
the following day. The fact, too, is significant, that
the Washington journals, for whose net no incident is
generally too small, made no allusion to the tragedy,
till the Thursday morning; I presume silence was con-
sidered useless when a member of our Legation must
have been made acquainted with the details.
in
The regrets of those who may have been interested
poor
John Hardcastle's life and death, will scarcely
be lessened by the knowledge, that he was not
DARK DAYS.
203
even in fault when he suffered. There were eight or
ten prisoners confined in the same room; and it was
one of his companions who had previously been twice
warned back by the sentinel: he himself was shot
almost instantaneously after his head was thrust forth,
without a second challenge. The Washington papers
stated that, when ordered to draw back, he refused
with an oath. With such chroniclers one would not
bandy contradictions; I give this version of the facts,
as I received it from the lips of the Superintendent.
Late in the afternoon of Wednesday, the 27th, I
was again summoned below. I found Percy Anderson
waiting there he had obtained from the War Office
an order to see me alone, without limitation of time. I
understood that there was no precedent for such a
concession; the general rule being, that prisoners
should only receive their friends in the presence of an
officer, who is bound to watch and listen jealously,
while no interview can be extended beyond fifteen
minutes. Never surely was a call better timed. I was at
my very worst, just then; besides a couple of potatoes
and a crust of dry bread, no solid food had passed my
lips for seventy hours. Of my personal appearance,
from my own knowledge, I can say nothing (for my
mate and I had agreed in considering mirrors super-
fluous luxuries); but, from the startling effect produced
on my visitor, I fancy that the dreary week of weeks
had made wild work with the outward, as well as
inward man. I know that the kind diplomatist was
204
BORDER AND BASTILLE.
more than pained, at finding himself unable to give
me any foothold of certain or substantial hope; it was
impossible to hazard a reliable guess as to the termina-
tion of my confinement. Hitherto, the unceasing efforts
of the Legation had spent themselves on the passive
obstinacy of the Federal Government like bullets on a
cotton bale; of a truth it was long before those Unjust
Judges grew aweary. Nevertheless, the mere sight
and sound of a frank English face and voice were
more effectual restoratives, than all the cunning tonics.
and incentives, with which the prison-surgeon had
been striving to quicken an imperceptible pulse,
and to revive a deceased appetite. I have always
thought since, that the rest at that one conversational
oasis, just enabled me to hold on to the hither verge
of Sahara.
The next eight days seem nearly blank to me now.
I was past reading anything, for I could scarcely make
out the capitals with which the journalists headed their
daily bits of romance from Vicksburgh and elsewhere.
It was with great difficulty that I scrawled detached
sentences, at long intervals-a difficulty that, I fear,
some unhappy compositor, doomed to decipher the
foregoing pages, will thoroughly appreciate, though he
may decline to sympathise with.
I had one passage of arms with the Superintendent
during that week. I have an idea that I spoke
somewhat freely with regard to the Administra-
tion that he had the honour to serve, pressing him
DARK DAYS.
205
for a justification of its conduct in my own especial
case.
The official listened quite coolly and calmly, with a
twinkle of amusement in his shrewd cynical eyes, and
answered
"Well, we've had a good bit of trouble with
England and English this year; and I reckon they
think they've got a pretty fair-sized fish now, and
mean to keep him, whether or no.'
""
"That's Republican justice, all over," I said; "to
make the one that you can catch, pay for the dozen that
you can't, or that you are afraid to grapple with."
"I don't know about justice," was the reply; "but
it's d-d good policy."
And so we parted-not a whit worse friends than
before.
Delicta, majorum, immeritus lues,
if memory had not failed me, I might have quoted
that line often and appropriately enough. But every
agent in the robbery,'-from the vainglorious Vir-
ginian, my chief captor, down to the smooth Secretary,
whose velvet gripe was so loth to unclose,-seemed
provokingly bent on exaggerating the importance of
their prize. Perhaps the very interest felt in my
release, and the exertions unsparingly used-especially
in Baltimore-to secure it, strengthened the false im-
pressions or pretences of the Federal powers. I write
in the firm assurance that no Southern friend will
deem these words ungracious or ungrateful.
206
BORDER AND BASTILLE.
There is no stone, above or below ground, white
enough to mark, worthily, in my calendar, the fifth
day of last June. I hereby abjure, for evermore, any
superstitious prejudice against the ill luck of Fridays.
Late in the afternoon I was pacing to and fro in the
narrow exercise-ground, speculating idly as to the
delay of my dinner, which was overdue—not that I
felt any
interest in the subject, but it was a sort of
break and fresh starting-point in the monotony of
hours-when I was summoned once more into official
presence. They took me to the room on the ground-
floor, where I had waited on the first day of my
imprisonment while the cell above was preparing.
found there, the lieutenant commanding the guard, and
two or three more officers, one of whom, I understood,
was a deputy of the Judge-Advocate. They read out
a paper of which the following is an exact copy, and
asked if I had any objection to sign it :-
I
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA,
COUNTY OF WASHINGTON.
I,
2
Old Capitol Prison, Washington, D.C.
of
in England, do solemnly swear on
my Parole of Honour, that I will leave the United States of
America with as little delay as possible, and that I will not return
there during the existing rebellion.
So help me God.
Signed,
Sworn to and subscribed before me,
this fifth day of June, A.D. 1863.
JOHN A. LOVELL,
-
Lieut. Comdg. Guard.
DARK DAYS.
207
Now, had I been offered a free passage South, I
doubt if I should have accepted it, then; the aspect of
things within the last two months had changed for me
entirely. I could not hope to carry out one of my
original plans; for all available resources were nearly
exhausted, and procuring fresh supplies from home
would have involved infinite difficulty and delay.
Besides, a refusal gave at once to the Federal authori-
ties the pretext for detention that they had sought so
eagerly, and, so far, failed to find. I know no earthly
consideration, excepting clear obligations of duty or
honour, that would have persuaded me to incur ten
more prison days. If, instead of being a free agent, I
had been bound by an oath to penetrate into Secessia
at all hazards, I should have held myself at that moment
amply assoilzied of my vow. So, with the remark,
-"that, of all the places on this earth, the Northern
States of America was the country I most wished to
leave and least cared to revisit,”—I signed the parole,
and confirmed it with an oath.
Then, it appeared that my debt to the Union was
paid, so that it had no further lien on my effects
or me. The saddle-bags were soon packed; in
another half-hour, I stood outside the prison-door,
-realising, with a dull, dazed feeling of strangeness
and novelty, that there was not the shadow of bolt,
bar, or wall between me and the clear sultry skies.
CHAPTER XI.
HOMEWARD BOUND.
Now that this personal narrative is drawing rapidly
to its close, there is one point to which I must needs.
allude, at the risk of sinning egotistically. While
under lock and key, I never ventured to grapple
with the subject. Even now-sitting in a pleasant
room, with windows opening down on a trim lawn
studded with flower-jewels and girdled with the
mottled belts of velvet-green that are the glory of
Devonian shrub-land, beyond which Torbay shimmers
broad and blue under the breezy summer weather,-
I shrink from it with a strange reluctance that I
cannot shake off, though it shames me.
I speak of the effect-moral, intellectual, and
physical-produced by those eight weeks of imprison-
ment.
I do not wish to intimate that there were any
actual hardships beyond the prevention of free air
and exercise to be endured. More than this: I
am ready and willing to allow, that certain privileges
were conceded to me that I had no right to claim,
which were granted to few, if any, of my fellows in
HOMEWARD BOUND.
209
misfortune. The corporal of the keys had been a
clerk in the house of Ticknor and Field, the great Bos-
ton publishers, before he became a soldier; and was
disposed to show every consideration and indulgence
to one whom he was pleased to consider a brother of
the Literate Guild. The Under-superintendent-
Donnelly by name-treated me with a benevolence
quite paternal. The monotony of my solitary con-
finement was often broken by his rambling chat and
reminiscences of a gambler's life in the Far West;
for he liked nothing better than lingering in my cell
for an hour or so, when his day's work was done.
After the prison doors were opened, I lingered for
ten minutes within them, to exchange a farewell
hand-grip with that quaint, kind old man. There
was a stringent curfew-order enjoining the extinguish-
ment of all lights at 9 P.M.; but on condition of
veiling my window with a horse-rug, so as not
to establish a bad precedent, I was allowed to keep
mine burning at discretion.
Now, some readers of these pages may think that
a confinement, such as I have described, wherein
there was to be obtained a sufficiency of meat,
drink, tobacco, and light literature, is not, after all,
a peine forte et dure; and that it is both weak and
unreasonable thereanent to make one's moan. So-
in bygone days, when the lazy fit was strong-have
I thought myself. I am not malicious enough to
wish, that the most contemptuously sceptical of critics
P
210
BORDER AND BASTILLE.
may be undeceived, at the price which I paid for
the learning. It is possible that a person of settled
sedentary habits, endowed not only with powerful
resources within himself, but also with the ornament
of a meek and quiet spirit, might hold out well
enough for a while, more especially if supported by
the reflection that he was suffering either for his
country's good or for his own private advantage.
But, take the converse example, of a man unsup-
ported by any consolations of patriotism or peculation;
of a temperament somewhat impatient and prone to
anger, accustomed, too, from youth upwards, to con-
stant habits of strong out-door exercise; with such an
one I fancy it will fare-very much as it fared with
me. Many will tell you that a few months' confine-
ment within four walls, without stint of food or
aggravation of punishment, will bring an athletic
Red Indian to the extreme of bodily prostration, if
not to mortal sickness. It is humiliating to confess,
but I fear unhappily true that, in despite of all advan-
tages of civilised education, some of us, under like
circumstances, will go down as helplessly as the Noble
Savage.
Would you like to hear of the process? It is not
pleasant to look upon, or to tell.
The first few days are spent in an uneasy, irritable
expectation that every hour will bring some news-
good or bad-from the world without, bearing on
your own especial case: then comes the frame of
HOMEWARD BOUND.
211
mind wherein you allow that there must be certain
official delays, and begin to calculate, wearily, how
far the wire-drawn formalities will be protracted,
making a liberal margin for unexpected contingencies:
this phase soon passes away: next comes the bitter,
up-hill fight of hoping against hope; how long this
may endure depends much on temperament-more
on bodily health; but in most cases it is soon over,
and is succeeded by the last state, ten thousand times
worse than the first: slowly, but very surely, the dense
black cloud of utter listlessness settles down, never
broken thereafter save by brief flashes of a futile,
irrational ferocity. All your ideas move round like
tired mill-horses, in the narrowest circle, with an
unhappy Ipse Ego for its centre; all the passing
events of the outward world seem unnaturally dwarfed
and distant, as if seen through an inverted telescope;
the struggles of stranger nations move you no more
than the battles on an ant-hill; the only question of
civil or religious liberty in which you feel the faintest
interest is the unimportant one involving your own
personal freedom. And throughout, you are shame-
fully conscious that this indifference is not philo-
sophical, but simply selfish.
So much for the morale. Does the physique fare
better?
When you enter the gaol, there is probably laid up
in your lungs a certain store of fresh, free air, which
takes some time to exhaust itself; but soon you begin
P 2
212
BORDER AND BASTILI E.
to draw your breath more and more slowly, and to
feel that the atmosphere inhaled no longer refreshes
you; no wonder-it is laden with compressed animal.
life. Then a dull hot weight closes round your brows
as if a heavy, fever-stricken hand was always clasping
them; there it lies-at night, when the drowsiness
which is not sleep overcomes you-in the morning,
when you wake, with damp linen and dank hair:
plunge your forehead in ice-cold water; before the
drops have dried there it is burning-burning again.
The distaste for all food grows upon you, till it be-
comes a loathing not to be driven away by bitters or
quinine; there is no savour in the smoke of Kinne-
kinnick, nor any flavour left in the stilled waters
of Monongahela. Physical prostration of necessity
speedily ensues. Let me mention one fact-not in
vaunting, but in proof that I do not speak idly.
When we were trying those athletics at Greenland,
the day after my capture, I could rend a broad linen
band fastened tightly round my upper arm, by
bending the biceps: when I had been a month in
Carroll Place, I had to halt, at least once, from
absolute breathlessness and debility on the stairs
leading from the yard to the third story; my pulse
was almost imperceptible. By that time my sight
had become so seriously affected that I was abso-
lutely unable to read the clearest print; even now,
a month after my enfranchisement, though keen
Atlantic breezes and home comforts have worked
HOMEWARD BOUND.
213
wonders, I cannot write five consecutive sentences.
without a respite.
I am forced to quote my own experience; but I
know that it could be matched, if not exceeded, by
very many cases of equal or worse suffering.
There is a very sad corollary to the foregoing state-
ments. Captain Wynne, S.F.G., was arrested shortly
before my arrival in America, on his way back to
Canada after a brief tour in the South: he was con-
fined in the main building of the Old Capitol; from
whence, after every effort to obtain his release had
failed, he eventually made his escape, with equal
adroitness and courage. But he carried away with
him the seeds of fatal disease: I believe I am justified
in asserting that his death, which occurred in London
about two months ago, is attributable to the effects
of imprisonment.
Long confinement presses, of course, infinitely
harder on a stranger than on a native. The latter
can never quite divest himself of an interest in
passing events, which the former, at the best of times,
can but faintly share: besides which, most Americans
-not purely political prisoners-have either a definite
term of captivity to look forward to, or are, in one
way or other, subject to the chances of exchange.
If the Federal Government had avowed at once,
that it was their sovereign pleasure to keep an
Englishman in durance for a certain period, without
attempting to excuse the arbitrary stretch of autho-
}
214
BORDER AND BASTILLE.
:
rity, one would have chafed, I suppose, under the
injustice, but still submitted, as it is the duty of
manhood to submit, to any inevitable necessity.
The doubt and indefiniteness of the whole affair,
made it inexpressibly exasperating. It was bad
enough, to have no palpable adversary to grapple
with it was worse, to have no specific charge. As I
had contravened a General Order by crossing the
Federal lines without a pass, the Legation did not
apply for my unconditional release: it merely pressed
for the inquiry and trial that in most civilised coun-
tries a criminal can claim as a right. I was never
confronted with any judicial authority from the
moment that I entered the prison doors till they
opened to let me go free; I never received any
official intimation of the reasons for my prolonged
detention; and Lord Lyons' repeated applications
were at last only met by a vague assertion that they
had reason to believe that an aide-de-camp's com-
mission, signed by General Lee, had reached me at
Baltimore.' There was not, of course, the faintest
scintilla of evidence to establish anything of the sort.
While in America I received no communication what-
ever-written or verbal-from any person connected
with the Confederate Government or army.
<
I do honestly affirm that, in dilating on the several
hardships of my own especial case, I have no idea of
enlisting any sympathy, public or private. I simply
wish to show what arbitrary oppression can be exer-
HOMEWARD BOUND.
215
<
cised upon British subjects, with perfect impunity,
by a Government which will maintain quasi-friendly
relations with our own, just so long as it confirms
the standing-ground of a tottering Cabinet. Per-
haps, some day or other, as a last peace-offering to
the Republican Hydra, MM. Seward and Stanton
will burn a bishop,' and so bring our pacific Foreign
Office to bay.
Physical causes prevented my feeling very exhila-
rated or exultant during my earliest hours of freedom.
It was pleasant, though, to meet an English face at
the hotel where I meant to sleep. I had not seen
Mr. Austin since we were contemporaries at Oxford;
but on the 2nd June I had received from him a very
kind and courteous note, offering a visit, if it should
be acceptable. I need scarcely say how welcome it
would have been; but he did not get my written
reply till the following Monday-not bad time,
either, for the Old Capitol post-office. I dined with
Mr. Austin, and at the same table sate General
Martindale, military commander at Washington, and
Senator Sumner. The former certainly recognised
my identity; but he was not the less amicable for
that. It was odd to find myself receiving sugges-
tions as to my route, in case I visited Niagara, from
the same man who three days before had granted a
pass to my friend for his proposed prison-visit. I
sate some time after dinner in talk with Mr.
Sumner. His face is much aged and careworn
216
BORDER AND BASTILLE.
since I first saw it, some years ago, in Eng-
land: but his manner retains the polished geniality,
which made him so great a favourite in most Euro-
pean salons.
The rest of the evening I spent at Percy Ander-
son's. I much regretted that I could not see Lord
Lyons, to express my sense of his unwearied exer-
tions in my behalf; but he was dining out; and it
was judged better that I should not risk an apparent
infringement of my parole by lingering in Wash-
ington an unnecessary hour the next morning; so I
was forced to trust my thanks to writing.
I can never forget, while I live, the welcomes which
waited me in Baltimore; welcomes much too cordial
to be wasted on a discomfited adventurer. Still I was
glad to find that those, whose opinion was well worth
having, gave me credit for having deserved success.
I was very, very loth to leave my kind friends;
though we may perchance foregather again should
I outlive my parole, and be enabled to carry out
certain half-formed plans of hunting in the Far West.
It was only the sternest sense of duty that impelled
me to sacrifice to Niagara, sixty hours that intervened
before June the 13th, when the Inman steamer
started, in which I had secured a berth by telegraph.
Twenty-two hours of unbroken rail-travel-partly
through the beautiful Susquehannah Valley; partly
through the best cultivated lands (about Troy and
Elmira) that I saw in the States, where trim
HOMEWARD BOUND.
217
stone walls reminded one of part of the Heythrop
and Cotswold countries-brought us to Buffalo.
The Company had here so contrived matters, that it
was absolutely impossible for the traveller to proceed
farther that night, or to get at any luggage beyond
what he carried in his hand: from Elmira, it travels by
a route of its own, to which your through-ticket does
not apply the baggage-agent hands it over to you
at Niagara the next morning, with a cheerfully placid
face, as if rather proud of the satisfactory correctness
of the whole arrangement.
I will not add a stone to the descriptive cairn
heaped up by generations of tourists in honour of the
King-Cataract; simply because it is presumption in
any man to pass judgment on that famous scene till
he has studied it for more days than I could spare
hours. I do not think the eye is disappointed, even
at first sight after being fully prepared by Church's
vivid picture—a very triumph of transparent colour-
ing-you still stand dumb in honest admiration of
that one Miracle in the midst of wonders-the
central curve of the Horse-shoe-where the main
current plunges over the verge, without a ripple to
break the grandeur of the clear, smooth chrysoprase ;
flashing back the sunlight through a filmy lace-work
of foam. The ear is certainly dissatisfied: perhaps
my acoustics were out of order, as well as other
cephalic organs; but it struck me that Niagara
hardly made any noise at all. Yet I penetrated under
218
BORDER AND BASTILLE.
the Fall as far as there is practicable foot-hold; and
listened, at all sorts of distances, for a deafening roar,
which never came.
Eastward ho! again-by that same night's ex-
press. I cannot let this, my last experience, pass,
without recording my vote on the much-mooted
question of American railway travel. The natives, of
course, extol the whole system as one of the greatest
of their institutions; but I cannot understand any
difference of opinion among strangers. The baggage
arrangement—except when the Company suffers
under an aberration of intellect, such as I have men-
tioned on the Niagara route-is really convenient,
and the commissionnaires attached to every train
relieve you of all responsibility at your journey's end,
by collecting your effects, and transporting them to
any given direction; but this solitary advantage does
not counterbalance other désagrémens. When the
weather is such as to allow a true current of air to
circulate through the cars, the atmosphere is barely
endurable but with stoves at work, and all aper-
tures closed, it soon becomes dangerously oppressive.
The German element prevails strongly throughout
Yankeeland; perhaps this accounts for the natives'
dread of fresh air. Your only chance of escaping
semi-suffocation is, to secure a seat next to a
window, and keep it open; hardening your heart
against all the grumbling of your neighbours, who
run through a whole gamut of complaints, in the
:
HOMEWARD BOUND.
219
hope of softening or shaming the Hyperborean.
Sometimes you will have to encounter menaces; but,
in such a cause, it is surely worth while to do battle
to the death; revolver and bowie-knife lose their
terrors in the presence of imminent asphyxia. The
advocates of the system chiefly insist on the luxury
of the sleeping-cars, and the advantage of passing
from one end of the train to the other at your
pleasure. On the first of these points let me say,
that few aliens, after one trusting experiment of those
stifling berths, will be inclined to repeat it: the
atmosphere of a crowded steamboat cabin is pure and
fresh by comparison. As for the vaunted promenade
-the man who would avail himself thereof, would
probably waltz with grace and comfort to himself on
the deck of the Lively Sally in a sea-way: it requires
some practice even to stand upright without hold-
ing on; the jolting and oscillation are such, that,
I think, you take rather more involuntary exercise
than on the back of a cantering cover-hack. The
pace is not such as to make much amends: from
twenty to twenty-five miles an hour is the outside
speed even of expresses; and on many lines you
ought to calculate the probabilities of arrival by
anything rather than the time-tables. Collisions,
however, are certainly rare: the most common acci-
dent is when a train breaks through one of the
crazy wooden bridges, or, obeying the direction of
some playfully eccentric pointsman, plunges head-
220
BORDER AND BASTILLE.
long over an embankment into the peaceful valley
below. The steam-signals are very peculiar: the
engine never whistles, but indulges in a prolonged
bellow, very like the hideous sounds emitted by that
hideous semi-brute, yclept the Gong-Donkey, who
used to haunt our race-courses some years ago-
making weak-minded men start, and strong-minded
women scream with his unearthly roaring. When I
first heard the hoarse warning-note boom through the
night, a shudder of reminiscence came over me; for
I used to shrink from that awful Creature with a
repugnance such as I never felt for any other living
thing.
All the weariness of the long night-journey will not
prevent a traveller from appreciating the superb
Hudson, along whose banks the last part of the road,
from Albany, is carried. You are seldom out of sight
of the Katskill Range-blue in the distance or dark
in the foreground-but the crowning glory of the
river are the Cliffs, where the rock soars up sheer
from the water's edge, with no more vegetation on
its face than will grow in the crevices of ancient walls.
I had scarcely twenty-four hours left for the Im-
perial City before the Edinburgh sailed. This time, I
abode at the New York Hotel, where a Baltimorean
had already secured my quarters. Thus much, at least,
must be conceded to the Yankee capital. In no other
town that I know of can a traveller so thoroughly
take his ease in his inn. These magnificent caravan-
HOMEWARD BOUND.
221
serais cast far into the shade the best managed esta-
blishments of London, Paris, or Vienna, simply
because luxuries, sufficient to satiate any moderate.
desires, are furnished at fixed prices that need not
alarm the most economical traveller. The cuisine at
the New York Hotel is really artistic, and the attend-
ance quite perfect. Also is found there a certain
Château Margaux of '48: after savouring that rich
liquid velvet, you will not wonder that the house has
long been a favourite with the Southern Sybarites.
Things are changed, of course, and many of
Mr. Cranstoun's old patrons now exercise their
critical tastes on mountain whisky and ration beef;
but the tone of feeling in the establishment remains.
the same. An out-spoken Republican or Abolitionist
would not meet a cordial welcome from the present
frequenters of the New York, nor, I think, from its
jovial host.
<
Likewise the Empress City can boast, that
her barbers and iced drinks do actually beat all
creation.' After a long journey, you are thoroughly
disposed to appreciate these scientific tonsors, whose
delicacy of manipulation is unequalled in Europe.
Only the pen of that eloquent writer, who told the
Times' how he thirsted in the desert,' could do
justice to the high-art triumphs of the cunning bar-
keeper.
'
<
C
་
'Joe,'-of the mirthful eye, and agile hand, and
ready repartee,-long may you flourish, mitigating
222
BORDER AND BASTILLE.
the fierce summer thirst of many a parched palate;
stimulating withered appetites till they hunger anew
for the flesh-pots; warming the heart-cockles of
departing voyagers till they laugh the keen breezes of
the Bay to scorn. With me, at least, gratitude for
repeated refreshment shall long keep your memory
green-green as the mint-sprays that, when your last
'julep' is mingled, should surely be strewn un-
sparingly on your grave.
I never felt quite clear of Federaldom, till I set my
foot firm on the deck of the good ship Edinburgh. I
did not indulge in a soliloquy even then; so I certainly
shall not inflict on you any rhapsodies about Freedom ;
but, in good truth, the sensation was too agreeable to
be easily forgotten.
The homeward voyage was as great a 'success,' as
unbroken fine weather, favourable winds, and company
both pleasant and fair, could make it. On the thir-
teenth day, towards evening, I found myself in the
familiar Adelphi, at Liverpool, savouring some clear
turtle ; not with a less relish because, in the accurately
pale face of the waiter who brought in the lordly
dish, there was not the faintest yellow tinge, nor a
ripple of 'wool' in his hair.
All of my personal narrative that could possibly
interest the most indulgent public is told now; if the
few words I have left to say should bore you-0,
patient reader!-they will at least be free of
egotism.
CHAPTER XII.
A POPULAR ARMAMENT.
It was ordained, that the Navy should reap all
the bays and the rue that were to be gathered in
the warfare of this spring. The amphibious failures
in the south-west involved no graver consequences,
than a vast futile expenditure of Northern time,
money, and men; such waste has been too common,
of late, to excite much popular disgust or surprise.
In other parts, the keenest correspondent has been
put to great straits for memorable matter; for a skir-
mish or a raid, even on a large scale, can hardly carry
much beyond a local interest.
On the last day of April, the summer land-cam-
paign began in earnest, when its truculent com-
mander led the 'finest army on the planet' across
the Rappahannock, unopposed.
If all other warlike music was prudently silent
then, be sure, the general's own private trumpet
flourished very sonorously; indeed, for many days
past, it had not ceased to ring. Few armaments have
set forth under more pompous auspices. First came
the great review, graced by the presence of the White
224
BORDER AND BASTILLE.
C
House Court, who witnessed the marching past of
the biennial veterans with perfect patience, if not
satisfaction. The specials' of the Republican papers
outdid themselves on that occasion; magnificently
ignoring his temporary dignity, they hesitated not
to compare each member of the President's family
with a corresponding European royalty, giving, of
course, the preference to the home-manufactured
article: it was good to read their raptures over the
gallant bearing of Master Lincoln, as if the young
Iulus' (as they would call him) had shown himself
worthy of high hereditary honours. One writer, I
think, did allow, that the balance of grace might
incline rather to Eugénie the Empress, than to the
President's stout, good-tempered spouse; but he was
much more cynical or conscientious than most of his
fellows.
<
C
Thenceforward one became aweary of the sight,
sound, and name of Hooker.' The right man was
in the right place at last had his counsels been fol-
lowed in the Peninsula, when the caution or incapacity
of McClellan threw the grand opportunity away, the
Federal flag would have floated over Richmond last
summer. Was there not the hero's own testimony to
that effect, rendered before the War Committee,
months ago, wherein, with a chivalrous generosity, he
ceased not to exalt himself on the ruined reputation of
his late commander? Even as Ajax prayed for light,
the people cried aloud for one week of fair weather:
A POPULAR ARMAMENT.
225
no more was wanted to crush and utterly confound
the hopes of Rebels, Copperheads, and perfidious
Albion. Every illustrated journal was crowded with
portraits, of Fighting Joe and his famous white
charger; it was said, that horse and rider could never
show themselves without eliciting a burst of cheering,
such as rang out near the Lake Regillus, when Her-
minius and Black Auster broke into the wavering
battle. No wonder.
No wonder. Had he not thoroughly reor-
ganised the army demoralised by Burnside's defeat,
till there was but one word in every soldier's mouth,
and that word-Forward'?
There was joy, as for a victory, when it was known
that the Falmouth camp was broken up, and that the
eager battalions had left the Rappahannock fairly
behind them as to success, only fools or traitors
could question it. Even the Democratic journals were
carried away by the tide, and hardly ventured to hesi-
tate their doubts. The hero's own proclamation,
issued on the south bank of the river, was surely
enough to reassure the most timid unbeliever.
How vaunt and prophecy were fulfilled, all the
world knows now. A more miserable waste of appa-
rently ample means and material has seldom been
recorded in the annals of modern war. General
Hooker stands forth the worthy rival of that mighty
monarch, who,
'With fifty thousand men,
Marched up the hill and then-marched down again.'
226
BORDER AND BASTILLE.
But of the two the exploit of the American strategist
is much the most brilliant and memorable; his pre-
parations and blunders were conducted on a vaster
scale, and, Varus-like, scorning the triviality of a
bloodless disgrace, he left 16,000 dead, wounded, and
missing behind in his retreat.
The defeated general may well pray to be saved
from his friends: the strongest grounds of condem-
nation might be drawn from the excuses of some of
these injudicious partisans. Not more than a third
of the Federal forces was, they say, at any one time
engaged yet Hooker's last words to his troops,
before going into action, boasted that the enemy
must, perforce, fight him on his own ground. The
Federal commander recognised, perhaps not less than
his opponent, the importance of the simple old tactic
-bringing a superior force to bear on detached or
weak points of the adverse line-which has entered,
under one form or another, into most great military
combinations since war became a science; but he
appears to have been utterly incapable of reducing
theory to practice. For the twentieth time in this
war, a Northern general was out-manoeuvred and
beaten, simply because his adversary-understanding
how to husband an inferior strength-seized the
right moment for bringing it into play.
I do not mean to assert that the Confederates
invariably advance in column, or to advocate this
especial mode of attack: a successful outflanking of
A POPULAR ARMAMENT.
227
the enemy may turn out an advantage not less
decided than the breaking of his centre; but, when
half-disciplined troops are to be handled, concentra-
tive movements must surely be safer than extensive
ones. It would be well to remember that, among
all the trained battalions of Europe, our own crack
regiments are supposed to be the only ones that can
be thoroughly relied on for attacking in line.
If Hooker thought himself strong enough to cross
the rear of Lee's army, and cut him off from Rich-
mond, while a combined movement against the city
was being executed by Dix and Keyes from the
south-east, the delay of forty hours, during which
he advanced about six miles, can scarcely be ex-
cused, or even accounted for. That the wary foe
should be taken entirely by surprise, was a con-
tingency too improbable to be calculated on by
any sane tactician, however sanguine. To dispense
almost entirely with the aid of the cavalry arm,
on the eve of a general engagement, was certainly
a bold stroke of strategy-too bold to be justified
by any independent successes likely to be achieved
by the detachment. Stoneman's exploits appear
to have been greatly exaggerated; but, whatever
were the results, they might clearly have been at-
tained if he had crossed the Rappahannock alone
with his horsemen, leaving the main-guard to attend
more dress-parades in the Falmouth camp. To pre-
tend that weather in anywise influenced Hooker's
F
Q 2
228
BORDER AND BASTILLE.
retreat, is utterly absurd. No change for the worse
took place till the Tuesday evening, when the army
had fallen back on the river-bank; the troops were
actually re-crossing when the rain began: then it did
come down in earnest.
Nocte pluit totâ, redeunt spectacula manè :
-a spectacle, frequently repeated in this war-that
of a Federal general changing his base' in hot haste,
without flourish of trumpet.
At the most critical moment, Fighting Joe seems
to have been afflicted with the fatal indecision, by no
means incompatible with perfect physical fearlessness,
which has ruined wiser plans than ever were moulded
in his brain. Rumour hints broadly at a sudden fit of
depression, not unnatural in one notoriously addicted
to the use of stimulants; but this is, probably, the
ill-natured invention of an enemy.
At all such seasons, some subordinate must needs.
lift some of the dishonour from the shoulders of the
chief. The non-arrival of reinforcements, is much the
easiest way of accounting for a foiled combination.
The rout of Howard's corps was not to be considered,
as it happened under the general's own eye: so
Sedgwick was, by some, made the Grouchy of the
day but he seems to have fought his division as well
as any of his fellows, and it was probably a superior
force that checked his advance towards the main
:
A POPULAR ARMAMENT.
229
the
army, and eventually hurled him back upon
Rappahannock.
Perhaps the Confederate organs do not greatly
exaggerate, when they claim Chancellorville as the
victory of this war; though there is a fearful counter-
poise in the loss of the South's favourite leader. But
the great Army of the Potomac, in its shameful
retreat, could not console itself by the boast of having
done to death the terrible enemy, at whose name they
had learnt to tremble. A miserable mistake (so
the Richmond papers say) slew Stonewall Jackson,
in the crisis of victory, with a Confederate bullet, as
he was reconnoitring with his staff in front of his
line.
Surely it is glory, sufficient for any one of woman
born, that the news of his death should have sent a
start and a shiver through thirty millions of hearts.
Not only was there grief and wailing throughout
the country that the stern, pure soldier served so
well; but a strange honour and respect attaches to
his memory, amongst those whom in life he never
ceased to disquiet. Even the rabid Republican jour-
nalists rejoiced--not coarsely or ungenerously—speak-
ing with bated tones, as is fit and natural in presence
of a good man's corpse.
Let us return to our poor Hooker, who is sitting
now, somewhat gloomily, in the shade. Human
nature can spare so little sympathy for braggarts
in disaster, that we may possibly have been too hard
230
BORDER AND BASTILLE.
on his demerits. In this respect the Grim old Fight-
ing Cox (as the historian of the Mackerel Brigade
calls him) is absolutely incorrigible. Conceive a
general-on the very morning after the reverse was
consummated-proclaiming to his soldiers that they
had added to the laurels already won by the Army of
the Potomac !' If a succession of defeats are equal
to one victory-on the principle of two negatives
making an affirmative-or if nothing added to a
cipher brings out a substantial product, there may
possibly be something in these words beyond the
desperation of bombast, otherwise
>
C
But, in justice to Joseph, let us ask-Are the
materials at his command, or at that of any Federal
commander, really so powerful or manageable as they
seem ?
Probably no one civilised nation is composed of
elements, so difficult to mould into the form of a
thoroughly organised army, as the Northern States
of the Union. The men individually, especially those
drawn from the West, are fully endowed with the
courage, activity, and endurance inherent in the Anglo-
Saxon race: they can act promptly and daringly
enough, on their own independent resources; but,
when required to move as unreasoning units of a
mass directed by a superior will, they utterly fail.
All the antecedents of the Federal recruit interfere
with his progress towards the mechanical perfection
of the trained soldier. The gait and demeanour of
A POPULAR ARMAMENT.
231
the country lads are not more shambling and
slovenly than those of the ordinary British; but the
latter from his youth up, has imbibed certain ideas
of subordination to superiors, which make him yield
more pliantly and implicitly to after-discipline. Now,
the American is taught to contemn all such old-world
ideas as respect of persons. Even the All-mighty
Dollar cannot command deference, though it may
enforce obedience. The volunteer carries with him
into the ranks, an ostentatious spirit of self-assertion
and independence. He has always mixed on terms
of as much equality as his purse would allow of, with
the class from which his officers have emerged by
election; and knows that, at the expiration of their
service, each will resume his place as if no such dis-
tinction had existed. So he goes into action fully
prepared to criticise the orders of his superiors, and
even to ignore them if they clash too strongly with
his private judgment; he has no intention of abating
one iota of his franchise, or one privilege of an enlight-
ened citizen. In the regular army, ceremonial is
rather better observed; but, even here, you will ob-
serve the barriers of grade frequently transgressed,
both in manner and tone: the volunteers will rarely
salute even a field-officer, unless on parade, or by
special orders.
This spirit of independent judgment, is by no
means confined to the rank-and-file. The evidence
before the War-Committee shows how seldom a
232
BORDER AND BASTILLE.
་ ་
General-in-Chief can depend on the hearty co-ope-
ration of his division-leaders, and how unreservedly
dissent was often expressed by those whose lips disci-
pline ought to have sealed.
The fact is, that a spirit of party impregnates all
the military organisation of the North: a Federal
army is a vast political machine. State Governors
have followed the example of the Administration in
their selection of the higher officers: these, as a rule,
owe their election entirely to their own influence, or
that of their friends; all other qualifications are dis-
regarded. It is idle to expect that such men can com-
mand the confidence of the soldiers by virtue of their
rank; they have to win this by individual prowess.
The Confederates have been more just and wise.
Some of these political appointments were made at
the beginning of the war; but changes were made
as soon as incapacity was manifest; almost all posts
of importance are now occupied by officers, edu-
cated at West Point, or at one of the many mili-
tary schools long established in the South.
An army of free-thinkers is very hard to handle,
either in camp or field. They do not grumble,
perhaps, so much as the British full private;' indeed
C
* It is well to remember, that, before the Committee for en-
quiring into the conduct of the war, Generals Mc Dowell and
Rosecrans, in the most explicit terms, attributed many disasters to
the fact, of the soldiers having no confidence in the officers who led
them.
A POPULAR ARMAMENT.
233
they have little cause, for the commissariat arrange-
ments, even in remote departments, are admirable,
and the Union grudges no comfort, or even luxury,
to her armies. But they become ' demoralised' (the
word is a cant one now) surprisingly fast, and recover
from such depression very, very slowly. When the
moment for action arrives, such men get fresh heart
in the first excitement, but they lack stability, and if
any
sudden check ensues, involving change of ground
to the rear, a few minutes are enough to turn a retreat
into a rout. You may send forth your volunteer,
with all the pomp and circumstance of war, and greet
his return with all enthusiasm of welcome; you may
make him the hero of paragraph and tale (I believe it
is treasonable to choose any other jeune premier for a
love-story just now); you may put a flag into his
hand, more riddled and shot-torn than any of our old
Peninsular standards; you may salute him' veteran,'
a month after the first baptism of fire; but the savour
of the conscript and the citizen will cling to him still.
What would you have? The esprit de corps, which
has more or less been kept alive in civilised armies
since the days of the Tenth Legion, is, perforce,
wanting here.
All military organisation is posterior
to the War of Independence. It is certainly not their
fault if even the regular battalions can inscribe on
their colours no nobler name than that of some de-
sultory Mexican or Border battle. If Australia should
become an empire, she must carry the same blank
234
BORDER AND BASTILLE.
ensigns without shame. But, when a regiment has
no traditionary honours to guard, it lacks a powerful
deterrent from self-disgrace.
:
It is easy to deride martinets and pipe-clay all
the drill in Christendom will not make a good soldier
out of a weakling or a coward; but, unless you can
turn men into machines, so far as to make them act
independently of individual thought or volition, you
can never depend on a body of non-fatalists for ad-
vancing steadily, irrespective of what may be in their
front, nor for keeping their ranks unbroken under a
hail of fire, or on a sinking ship. As skirmishers, the
Federal soldiers act admirably; and in several instances
have carried fortified positions with much dash and
daring; it is in line of battle, on a stricken field,
that they are to say the least-uncertain. In spite
of highly-coloured pictures of charges, I do not
believe that, from the very beginning of this war,
any one battalion has actually crossed bayonets with
another, though they may often have come within ten
yards of collision. This fact (which I have taken some
trouble to verify) is surely sufficiently significant.
The parallels of our own Parliamentary army, and
of the French levies after the first Revolution, suggest
themselves naturally here; but they will not quite
hold good. The stern fanatics who followed Crom-
well went to their work-whether of fighting or
prayer—with all their heart and soul and strength ;
conning the manual not less studiously than the
A POPULAR ARMAMENT.
235
psalter, while their general would devote himself for
days together to the minutest duties of a drill-
sergeant. With all this, and with all his trust in
Providence,' it was long before the wary Oliver
would bring his Ironsides fairly face to face,
With the bravos of Alsatia and the pages of Whitehall.
It is true that the Revolutionary army of '93 was
utterly different from those, wherein the Maison du
Roi took the right of the line. It was hastily raised,
and loosely constructed, out of rude material perilous
to handle. But-putting aside that military aptitude
inherent in every Frenchman--in all ranks there was
a leaven of veterans strong enough to keep the
turbulent conscripts in order, though the aristocratic
element of authority was wanting. Traditions of sub-
ordination and discipline survived in an army, not the
less thoroughly French, because it was rabidly Repub-
lican. The recruits liked to feel themselves soldiers;
they were willing to give up for awhile the pageantry
of war, but not its decorum; and, in that implicit
obedience to their officers, there mingled a sturdy
plebeian pride; they would not allow, that it was
harder to follow the wave of Colonel Bonhomme's
sabre, than that of Marshal de Montmorenci's bâton;
or that the word of command rang out more effi-
ciently from the patrician's dainty lips, than from
under the rough moustaches of the proletarian.
The regular army here does little to help the
.
236
BORDER AND BASTILLE.
volunteer service, beyond giving subalterns as field-
officers; (a lieutenant would rarely be satisfied with
a troop or a company); the rank is, of course, tem-
porary, though sometimes substantiated by brevet.
It is possible, that a few non-commissioned officers
may be found, who have served in a similar or
subordinate capacity in the regular army during the
Mexican war; but such exceptions are too rare to
affect the civism of the entire force.
-
True it is, that the Federal levies have to face
enemies not a whit superior in discipline. Indeed,
Harry Wynd's motto, I fight for mine own hand,' is
especially favoured in the South. But, when one side
is battling for independence, the other for subjuga-
tion, there must ever be an essential difference in
the spirit animating their armies. The impetuosity
of the Confederate onset is acknowledged even here:
on several occasions it has been marked by a wild
energy and recklessness of life, worthy to be compared
with the Highland charge, which swept away dragoon
and musketeer at Killiecrankie and Prestonpans.
I am not disposed to question the hardihood or
endurance of the Yankee militant; nor even to deny
that a sense of patriotism may have much to do with
his dogged determination to persevere, now, even to
the end: but as for enthusiasm-you must look for
it in the romances of war that crowd the magazines,
or in the letters of vividly imaginative correspondents,
or-anywhere but among the Federal rank-and-file.
A POPULAR ARMAMENT,
237
Such a feeling is utterly foreign to the national
character; nor have I seen a trace of it in any one of
the many soldiers with whom I have spoken of the
war. All the high-flown sentiment of the Times or
Tribune, will not prevent the Yankee private from
looking at his duty in a hard, practical, business-like
way; he is disposed to give his country its money's
worth, and does so, as a rule, very fairly; but military
ardour in the States is not exactly a consuming fire
at this moment. The hundred-dollar bounty has
failed for some time to fill up the gaps made by death.
or desertion and the strong remedy of the Conscrip-
tion Act will not be employed a day too soon.
Perhaps those who augur favourably for Northern
success expect, that coerced levies will fight more
fiercely and endure more cheerfully than the mus-
tered-out volunteers. Qui vivra verra.
:
It is simple justice, to allow that the native soldiers
have borne themselves, as a rule, better than the
aliens. The Irish Brigade-reduced to a skeleton,
now, by the casualties of two years-has performed
good service under Meagher, who himself has done
much to redeem the ridicule incurred in early days;
but the Germans have not been distinguished either
for discipline, or daring. The Eleventh Division,
whose shameful rout at Chancellorsville is still in
every one's mouth, was almost exclusively a Dutch'
corps.
But other difficulties beset a Federal general,
238
BORDER AND BASTILLE.
besides the intractability of his armed material, and
the jealousies of iminediate subordinates. The uncer-
tainty of his position is in itself a snare. When the
chief is first appointed, no panegyric seems adequate
to his past merit, and the glories are limitless that
he is certain to win. If he should inaugurate his
command with the shadow of a success, the Govern-
ment organs chant themselves hoarse in praise and
prophecy. But the popular hero knows right well,
that the ground is already mined under his feet;
the first reverse will drag him down into a pit
of obscurity-if not of odium-deep and dark as
Abiram's grave.
Of all taskmasters, a Democracy is
the most pitilessly irrational; it were better for an
unfaithful or unlucky servant to fall into Pharaoh's
hands, than to lie at the mercy of a free and en-
lightened. people. Demagogues, and the crowds they
sway, are just as impatient and impulsive now, as
when the mob of the Agora cheered the bellowing
of Cleon; neither is their wrath less clamorous
because it has ceased to lap blood. A Federal chief
must be very sanguine or very short-sighted, who,
beyond the glare and glitter of his new head-quarters,
does not mark the loom of Cynoscephala. Conceive
the worry, of feeling yourself perpetually on your
promotion-of knowing, that by delay you risk the
imputation of cowardice or incapacity, while on the
first decisive action must be perilled the supremacy,
that all men are so loath to surrender. The unhappy
A POPULAR ARMAMENT.
239
commander, if a literate, might often think of Por-
sena's front-rank at the Bridge, when
Those in the rear cried, Forward,
Those in the van cried, Back.
To few minds is allotted such a temperate and steady
strength, as would enable a man, thus tried and
tempted, to weigh all chances calmly; determined
to strike, only when the time should come; disre-
garding the extravagant expectations alike of friend
or foe; shrinking no more from the responsibi-
lities of unavoidable failure, than from any other
personal dangers. If such a chief could once fairly
grasp the staff of command, a virtual dictatorship
might work great things for the North. But whence
is he likely to emerge? Hardly from the midst of
this vast political and military turmoil, where every
man is struggling and straining to clutch at the
veriest shred of power.
Hooker has fared better than his fellows in mis-
fortune. The Washington Cabinet, usually ready
enough to make sacrifices to popular indignation,
still stand by their discomfited favourite with credit-
able firmness. Even before the army crossed the
river, there appeared significant articles in the
Government organs, begging the public to be patient
and moderate in anticipation. The press-prophets,
who indulged in the most magnificent sketches of
what ought to be done, were those, with whose
240
BORDER AND BASTILLE.
patriotic regrets over defeat, would mingle some
exultation over a disgraced political opponent. So,
people in general seem content to give the Fighting
One another chance.
This unusual clemency may be easily accounted
for. It would be almost impossible to pitch on any
one with the slightest pretensions to fill the vacated
post. If you except Rosecrans, and perhaps Franklin,
there is hardly a division-leader who has not, at one
time or another, betrayed incapacity enough to dis-
qualify him from holding any important command.*
West Point may send forth as good theoretical
soldiers as Sandhurst, or St. Cyr, while the practical
experience of American generals might equal that of
our own officers before the Crimean war: but the
best from West Point have gone southward long
ago, and by the retirement of M'Clellan the North
lost, probably, her one promising strategist. Cool
and provident in the formation of his plans, though
somewhat unready in their execution, and scarcely
equal to sudden emergencies, -if he achieved no
brilliant success, he was likely to steer clear of grave
disaster. The dearth of tacticians is made very
* It is somewhat remarkable, that General Grant, who lately
achieved a really important success at Vicksburg, was, throughout
the winter and spring, the object of the strongest animadversions
of the majority of the war-critics; it is true that he had once
narrowly escaped a court-martial: nothing but the strong bias of
the President in his favour prevented his dismissal from the com-
mand of the army of the Mississippi.
A POPULAR ARMAMENT.
241
manifest, by the list of candidates suggested in the
event of Hooker's removal from command.
There are horses, invariably beaten in public,
which never appear without being heavily backed ;
and there are men, who contrive to retain a certain
number of partisans, zealous enough to ignore all
patent demerits, and to give their favourite credit for
any amount of possible unproved capacity. Yet one
would have thought the Republicans might have
hesitated in bringing forward Fremont, who has
already been removed for blunders hardly to be
excused by ignorance; and though the name of
Sickles is, unhappily, well known in Europe, it is
somewhat startling, to find him, so early in the day,
an aspirant to the highest military honours. His
advocate admits that the latter hero's professional
opportunities have been scanty, but, says he, placidly,
"Neither was Cæsar bred a soldier." If the sen-
tence was written in sobriety, no praise can be too
high for the audacity of that superb comparison.
Another patriot was exceedingly anxious that General
Halleck should be incontinently removed from the
War Office, to make room for-Butler. We accept
these things calmly now; for repeated proof has
taught us, that world-wide infamy bars no man's road
to profit and honour, when Black Republicans weigh
the merits of the claimant. The Abolitionist organs
of that same week contained glowing accounts of
McNeil's exploits in Missouri, and announced with
R
242
BORDER AND BASTILLE.
much satisfaction an accession to Negley's brigade in
the shape of Colonel Turchin. I quote the words :
"He was received with great delight, and will, no
doubt, do good service, if allowed. It will be remem-
bered, that he was court-martialled some time since,
for punishing guerillas."
Atrocities have been so rife here of late, that even
wholesale murder and ravishment have a chance of
being lost in the crowd in any other civilised land
than this, that reminder might well have been spared.
:
Surely the Confederates in the South-west have
two prizes now before them, well worth the winning
but in the front of battle Tarquin is seldom found;
and, in the rout, they must ride far and fast who
would reach his shoulders with the steel. The real
perils of these men will begin when the war is done;
the hot Southern vendetta will cool strangely, if all
the Three shall die in their beds.
[It is almost needless to say that this chapter was written in the
Old Capitol. Nothing has occurred since to induce me to alter any
of its contents; except that, since Hooker's resignation, I have
regretted one or two remarks applied to him, on the old English
principle of 'Never hit a man when he's down.']
CHAPTER XIII.
THE DEBATABLE GROUND.
THERE is one very vexed question, the importance
of which, both in the present and for the future, can
hardly be over-estimated. It does not depend on the
vicissitudes, the duration, or even the termination of
the war; rather it will become more gravely compli-
cated as prospects of peace dawn clearer.
In which direction do the sympathies and interests
of the Border States actually trend?
Let it be understood that the point to be decided is
-not whether the Democrats in those parts are poli-
tically stronger than their Republican opponents; but
whether the popular feeling identifies itself with North
or South; whether an uncoerced vote of the majority
would be in favour of or hostile to the Union; finally,
on which side of the frontier-line, in case of separa-
tion, the State would fain abide.
It seems to me, that only personal knowledge and
experience can enable an alien to form any accurate.
opinion on these points; even where the Press is not
forced to grumble out discontent with bated breath
under terror of martial law, party spirit runs so high
R 2
244
BORDER AND BASTILLE.
:
as to render statements, written or spoken, barely
reliable sound, deeply as you will, into these turbid
wells, it is a rare chance if you touch Truth, after all.
So, of Tennessee, Missouri, or Kentucky, I will not
say a word; but, for the same reasons, I may venture
to hazard more than a guess at the sympathies of
Maryland.
.
Notwithstanding her superficial extent is com-
paratively small, there can be no question which of
the Border States enters most importantly into the
calculations of both the belligerent powers; the
weight of interests and wealth of resources that
Maryland carries with her to say nothing of her
local advantages are such that she cannot eventually
be allowed to adhere to either side with a lukewarm
or divided fidelity.
The position I am about to advance will meet with
a certain amount of dissent, if not of incredulity, and
some one will probably point at recent events as fur-
nishing an unanswerable contradiction to much that I
affirm. I will only pray my readers to believe, that
I have tried hard to cast prejudice aside in listening,
in marking, and in recording; my opportunities of
forming a deliberate judgment on the sympathies of
all classes in this especial State were such as have
fallen to the lot of very few strangers; and my obser-
vations ought, certainly, to have been the more accurate
from their field having been necessarily narrowed.
Perhaps I can hardly do better than reprint here the
THE DEBATABLE GROUND.
245
larger portion of a letter, written in the middle of
last March, to the "Morning Post; " nothing that has
occurred since induces me materially to modify any
one of the opinions expressed therein. Though, in
common with many others, I may have regretted the
disappointment of our anticipations with regard to a
general rising, in co-operation with the Southern
invaders, I think it is easy to show that there were
reasons sufficient to account for, if not excuse, this
second apparent supineness.
"I believe that at home people have a very faint-
perhaps a very false-idea of how men think, and
act, and suffer in this same Border State. Your im-
pression may be that a lethargy prevails, where, in
reality, dangerous fever is the disease-a fever that
must one day break out violently, in spite of the
quack medicines administered by an incapable Govern-
ment-in spite of the restrictions unsparingly employed
by that grim sick-nurse, martial law.
"I fancy the world is hardly aware of the hearty
sympathy with the South-the intense antipathy to
the North-which animates at this moment the vast
majority of Marylanders. I have heard more than
one assert that of the two alternatives, he would
infinitely prefer becoming again a colonial subject of
England to remaining a member of the Federal Union.
This sounds like an exaggeration; I believe it to have
been simply the truth, strongly stated. I believe
that the partisan spirit is as rife and as bitter in
246
BORDER AND BASTILLE.
many parts of this State, as it can be in South
Carolina or Georgia.
CC
A remarkable instance of this popular feeling
occurred last week, at a large sale in Howard
County. The late proprietor, an Irishman by
descent, belonging to one of the old Roman Catholic
families that have been territorial magnates here for
generations, had a great fancy for dividing his land
into small holdings, rented by men of proportionately
small means, so as to establish a sort of English
tenant-system, involving, of course, much free labour.
It would have been hard to select a spot in that
country where the Abolition feeling would be more
likely to prevail. On the present occasion about
600 farmers and others were assembled. They were
Secessionists to a man; at least, no one hinted at
dissent when Jeff. Davis's health and more violent
Southern toasts were drunk amidst a storm of cheers.
"Twice has Maryland been taunted with supineness,
if not charged with deliberate treachery; first when,
at the outbreak of the war, she did not openly secede ;
again, when she did not second by a general rising
Lee's invasion of her boundary. It would be well to
remember, that for Maryland to declare herself, before
Virginia had actually done so, would have been the
insanity of rashness. She could hardly be expected to
defy the vengeance of the North, while cut off by a
neutral State from Southern aid; especially since
Governor Hicks's measures of disarmament, by which
THE DEBATABLE GROUND.
247
not only the militia but private individuals were de-
prived of their firelocks. Virginia has fought so
gallantly since then, that it is easy to forget her tardi-
ness in drawing the sword; but it would be vain to
deny that on the Southern bank of the Potomac there
does exist a certain jealousy, arising probably from con-
flicting commercial interests, which has led to suspicion
and misconception already, and may lead to more harm
yet. General Lee issued his proclamation inviting
Maryland to rise only one day before he commenced
his retreat-short notice, surely, for a revolution
involving not only the temporary ruin of many
interests, but the certainty of collision with a Federal
army of 120,000 men then within the border of the
State. Had Maryland joined the Confederacy a year
ago, I believe her entire territory would be desolate
now, as are most great battle-fields. With the immense
means of naval transport at the Federals' command, it
would be easy for them to land any number of troops
in almost any part of the western division, for the
whole country is intersected by the creeks of the
Chesapeake Bay and its tributary rivers. One glance
at the map will show this more plainly than verbal
description, and make it needless to remark on the
still more exposed and isolated position of the eastern
shore.
C
"In spite of all this, men say that if the oppor-
tunity were once more given, the blade would be
drawn in earnest, and the scabbard thrown away.
248
BORDER AND BASTILLE.
It may well be so; there has been oppression and
provocation enough of late to make the scale turn
once and for ever.
.
Meantime, Maryland has not confined herself to
a suppressed sympathy with the South.
We may
guess, perhaps, but no one will ever know, the
extent of the covert assistance already rendered by
this State to the Confederacy. I am not referring to
the constant reinforcements of her best and bravest-
over 12,000, it is said that have never ceased to
feed the ranks of the Southern armies. (One signi-
ficant fact is worth mentioning, drawn from the
reports of Federal officers-viz., out of 9,000 Mary-
landers drafted into the service, there are scarcely
100 now remaining in the ranks; they deserted,
literally, by bands.)
"I speak of supplies of all sorts, especially medicines,
furnished perpetually; of valuable information for-
warded as to the enemy's movements and intentions ;
of Confederate prisoners tended with every care, and
supplied with every comfort that womanly tenderness
could devise; of a hundred other marks of substantial
friendship that could not only be rendered by a
nominal neutral, but a real ally. It would be hard
indeed if any miserable jealousies were to prevent
all this from being appreciated and rewarded some
day.
CC
The Federal Government, at least, does ample
justice to the proclivities of Maryland. The system
THE DEBATABLE GROUND.
249
of coercion, hourly more and more stringent, speaks
for itself. The State is at this moment subjected to
a military despotism more irritating and oppressive
than was ever exercised by Austria in her Italian
dependencies; more irritating, because domestic in-
terference and all sorts of petty annoyances are more
frequent here; more oppressive, because it is con-
sidered unnecessary to indulge a political prisoner
with even the mockery of a trial.
-
#
Nothing is too small for the gripe of the Provost-
Marshal's myrmidons. There was a general order last
week for the seizure of all Southern songs and photo-
graphs of Confederate celebrities. One convivial cheer
for Jefferson Davis brought the strayed reveller' the
following morning into the awful presence of Colonel
Fish, there to be favoured with one of his charac-
teristic diatribes. The duties of that truculent poten-
tate are doubtless both difficult and disagreeable, yet
one would think it possible for an officer to act
energetically without ignoring the common courtesies
of life, and to maintain rigid discipline without con-
stantly emulating the army that'swore terribly in
Flanders.' The Oath of allegiance-that is the touch-
stone, whose mark gives everything its marketable
value. The Union flag must wave over every spot—
chapel, mart, institute, or ball-room-where two or
three may meet together; beyond the shadow of
the enforced ensign there is little safety or comfort
for man, woman, or child-for woman least of all.
W
250
BORDER AND BASTILLE.
2
"During the past week, two ladies of this city have
been arraigned on the charge, of aiding and abetting
deserters from the Federal army. In the first case,
the offence was having given a very trifling alms,
after much solicitation and many refusals, to a man
who represented himself and his family as literally
starving. The fugitive made his way to Canada, and
thence wrote two begging - letters, threatening, if
money were not sent, to denounce his benefactress.
Eventually he did so. This lady is to be separated
from her husband and family, with whom she is now
residing, and sent across the lines in a few days. In
the second case I am justified in mentioning names,
as from the peculiar circumstances it will probably
become more public. Mrs. Grace is the widow of an
Havana merchant, and a naturalised subject of Spain,
to whose Minister she has since appealed. She was
summoned before the Provost-Marshal on the same
charge, but was too ill to attend in person. Her
daughter went to the office, and found that the
evidence against her mother was an intercepted letter
from some person (whose name was equally unknown
to Mrs. Grace as to the officials), telling his wife 'to
go to that lady, who would take care of her.' Miss
Grace represented the extreme hardship of the case;
they had no friends or connections in the South, and
her mother's health was far from strong. Finally,
she gave her own positive assurance that there was
not the faintest foundation for the charge. Colonel
THE DEBATABLE GROUND.
251
Fish did not scruple to reply, that he considered an
anonymous document evidence strong enough to
bear down a lady's proffered word of honour. If,
after this provocation, the spirit of the fair pleader
was roused, and she spoke somewhat unadvisedly
with her lips, few will be disposed to impute to
her anything more than imprudence. The Provost-
Marshal closed the discussion very promptly and
decidedly— Your mother will go South within the
fortnight; and you, for your insolence, will ac-
company her.' When women and weaklings are
before them, the argumentum baculinum seems
favoured by the Republican chivalry.
(
CC
The country is not much better off than the city.
The same system of espionage and coercion prevails
there; especially since that fatal Proclamation has
sown distrust between master and slave, it is hard to
say how many spies there may be in any man's house-
hold. Large landed proprietors, who have shown no
sign of Southern proclivity, beyond abstaining from
taking the Oath, cannot obtain the commonest neces-
saries, such as groceries, &c., without resorting to
shifts and stratagems that would be absurd, if they
were not so painful. Such trammels are far more
galling to the purely agricultural class than they are
to the inhabitants of a city like this, where commerce
has introduced a large mixed element, embracing not
only Northerners, but almost every European race.
"But, in spite of all privations and annoyances, there
252
BORDER AND BASTILLE.
is in the Marylander, just now, an honest earnestness
of purpose, a readiness for self-sacrifice, a patient
hardihood, a brave, hopeful spirit, quick to chafe but
slow to complain, that might make Anglo-Saxons feel
proud of their common blood. There is plenty of
the stuff left out of which Buchanan, Semmes, Maffit
(of the Florida), Hollins, and Kelso are made-
Marylanders all-who are doing their devoir gallantly
on the decks of Southern war-ships. I cannot believe
that the day is far distant, when both moral and
physical energy will have free and fair play.
"The ties of mutual interest that bind this State to
the Confederacy are too obvious to need much expla-
nation, but it may be well to touch upon them briefly.
Her extensive water-power marks out Maryland as
eminently adapted for the produce of all kinds of
manufactures. That very accessibility from seaward
which is her weak point in war time, is her strength
in time of peace. The Chesapeake and its tributaries
are natural high roads for the transport of freight
to the ports of Virginia, and thence into the interior.
Before these troubles, the trade of Maryland was
almost exclusively with the South; and, unless
violently diverted, it must always remain so. The
South is now straining every nerve to establish a
formidable steam-navy. It is not too much to say
that the adhesion of Maryland is absolutely indispen-
sable if this object is to be attained. She can not
only offer superb harbours, in which the South is
-
THE DEBATABLE GROUND.
253
palpably deficient, but her natural productions—ship
timber, iron ore (the largest and toughest plates in
the United States are hammered here), and bitumi-
nous coal, the best for steam purposes south of Nova
Scotia would be invaluable.
With this State the South would retain all the
material advantages that the restoration of the Union
could offer; without her, neither would the territorial
line be complete, nor the internal resources adequate
to the requirements of a powerful nation. President
Davis has repeatedly promised that the free vote of
Maryland as to her future shall be one of the prime
conditions of any treaty whatsoever, and the Southern
Congress have confirmed this by a nearly unanimous
vote. On this point there surely ought to be no
doubt or wavering. A single concession to the arbi-
trary tendencies of Lincoln's Cabinet, so as to allow
interference with the free expression of Maryland's
will when the crisis shall arrive, would not only, I
believe, crush the hopes of the vast majority of this
State's inhabitants, but also betray the vital interest
of the Southern Confederacy in days to come.'
If further proof were needed of the Southern
sympathy prevalent in Baltimore, such would be found
in the measures of coercion and prevention, employed
by General Schenck, when Lee's army was thought
dangerously near. A private letter, despatched to me
in the height of the panic, more than confirmed the
accounts in public prints of the stringency of the
>>
254
BORDER AND BASTILLE.
martial law. The Federal officers were, perhaps, not
sorry to have such a chance of repaying, with aggra-
vated oppression, the tacit contumely which must have
galled them for a year and more. The Maryland
Club, whose members are Southerners to a man (for
the Unionist element was eliminated long ago), is now
the head-quarters of a New England regiment, and
even Colonel Fish may now wander at will through
the cool, pleasant chambers that, before comparative
liberty was stifled, he would have found not more
accessible than the lost paradise of Sultan Zim. I
greatly fear that some of those daring dames and
damsels, so careless in dissembling their antipathies,
may, ere this, have been made to pay a heavy price
for the indulgence of past disdain. The position of a
Federal officer, in Baltimore, was certainly far from
enviable; many men would have preferred the lash of
a cutting-whip, or even a slight flesh-wound, to the
sidelong glances that, when a dark-blue uniform
passed by, interpreted so eloquently the fair Seces-
sionists' repugnance and scorn. Neither were words
always wanting to convey a covert insult. I heard
rather an amusing instance of this while I was in
prison.
It was at the time when Brigadier-generals were
being created by scores (I myself counted over sixty
names sent down by the President to Congress in one
batch); when, according to some Washington Pasquin,
a stone, thrown at a night-prowling dog in Penn-
THE DEBATABLE GROUND.
255
sylvania Avenue, struck three of these fresh-fledged
Eagles. A Baltimorian lionne had entered one of the
street railway cars, in which two or three Federal offi-
cers were already seated: an infantry soldier got in
immediately afterwards, and, in taking his place, set
his boot accidentally on the silken verge of a far-
flowing robe. The lady gazed on the unconscious
offender for a minute or so, and spake no word; then-
looking beyond him as though he had never been-
she addressed the conductor with the pretty plaintive-
ness affected by those languid Southern beauties:
"Sir, won't you ask that Brigadier-general to take
his foot off the skirt of my dress ?"
Which position was the most enviable at that
moment the 'full private's' or that of his silent
superiors?
A g
Add
It was curious to remark how thoroughly the ma-
jority of clergymen, of all denominations, but especially
Roman Catholic priests, identified themselves with the
Southern sympathies of their flock. Arrests of these
reverend men were very common; but they held on
their way undauntedly, and kept silence even from
good words' only under the pressure of actual coercion.
Another anecdote is worth relating.
One day there came forth an edict, peremptory as
that which bade all nations and languages bow down
to a Golden Image, enjoining that, on a certain
Sabbath, prayers for the President should be offered
up in every church, chapel, and meeting-house in
256
BORDER AND BASTILLE.
Baltimore. There was an ancient Episcopalian divine,
who, during nearly half a century, had won for him-
self much affection and respect by a zealous and kindly
discharge of his duties. A notorious Secessionist, he
was wise and prudent withal; so that many were
curious to hear, how he would execute or evade the
obnoxious order. He complied with it-in this
wise:
"My brethren," said he, "we are commanded, this
day, to intercede with the Almighty for the President.
Let us pray. May the Lord have mercy on Abraham
Lincoln's soul."
Did ever priest pronounce a blessing more grimly
like a ban?
Perhaps it was well, that Lee did not advance near
enough to Baltimore to bring things to a climax,
unless he could have succeeded in capturing the place
by a coup de main, and have held it permanently.
Independently of Schenck's avowed intention of
shelling the town, on the first symptoms of disaffec-
tion, from the forts of Constitution and McHenry,
there might have been wild work there in more ways
than one.
If the Secessionists had once fairly risen
against their oppressors and--not prevailed, it is diffi-
cult to say, where the measures of savage retaliation
would have ended. I do not like to think of the
brutality that might have lighted on many hospitable
households, in blood-shedding or rapine.
So much for the city. I have mentioned above
C
THE DEBATABLE GROUND.
257
some of the reasons, that make an up-rising through-
out the State so exceedingly difficult and dangerous
to organise. That no active aid was rendered to Lee's
army upon the last occasion of its crossing the fron-
tier, is, I think, easily explained, when, the peculiar
circumstances of time and place are considered.
Southern proclivity is by no means so general in the
North-western counties of Maryland as in the Eastern
region, or on the sea-board. The farmers in the
former parts suffer greatly from the ceaseless incursions
over the border. When cattle are to be driven away,
it is to be feared that even regular 'raiders' and
guerillas are not over-careful to ascertain the sympa-
thies of the owner. The horse-thieves, of course, are
absolutely indifferent whether they plunder friend or
foe. Now, though the Marylander is far from being
imbued with the exclusively commercial spirit of the
Yankee, it is not unnatural that he should chafe
under these repeated assaults on his purse, if not on
his person. All such considerations vanish in the fierce
energy of the thorough partisan, who, without grudg-
ing or remorse, casts the axe-head after the helve;
but I speak, now, of men whose sympathies at the
commencement of the war were almost neutral, and
who began to suffer in the way above described,
before the bias of feeling had time to determine
itself. It was surely natural, that the first angry im-
pulses should turn the wavering scale; more especially
when the irritation was constantly being renewed.
8
258
BORDER AND BASTILLE.
Beyond these north-western counties, in neither
inroad, did the Confederate army advance. I was not
much surprised at reading in the able letter of the
Times correspondent, how the Southerners were dis-
appointed by meeting all along their brief line of
march gloomy faces and sullen dislike, instead of a
hearty welcome; for I knew that, in the neighbour-
hood of Hagerstown, Boonesborough, and all round
South Mountain, the majority of the inhabitants
were to use my Irishman's expression-as' Black as
thunder.'
One glance at the field of the recent operations will
show, that the isolated Secessionists in the south-
eastern counties could do little more, than pray for the
success of the Confederate arms; even detached
bodies of such sympathisers could not have joined
Lee, without running the gauntlet of the Federal
forces lying right across the path.
It should not be forgotten, that the stakes of the
invader, and of the insurgent differ widely. The
former, if worsted, can fall back on his own ground
with no other damage than the actual loss sustained.
The latter, when foiled, must reckon on absolute ruin
-if not on worse miseries. Even if he should him-
self escape scathless beyond the frontier, he must
leave homestead and family behind-to be dealt with
as chattels and kindred of traitors.
Thus, though I am disposed to think more despond-
ingly than before of Maryland's chances of aiding
THE DEBATABLE GROUND.
259
herself, for the present, with the armed hand, my
conviction remains unchanged as to the proclivities
of the majority of her population, both civic and
agricultural. I do honestly believe that, in despite of
the tempting geographical water-line, the natural
place of the State is in the Southern Confederacy.
And I do also believe, that the denial of a free vote as
to her future, and a coerced adhesion to the Northern
Union, would involve, not only the ruin of many
important interests, political and commercial, but an
Exodus of more influential residents, than has occurred
in any civilised land, since the Revolutionary storm
drove thousands of patrician emigrants over every
frontier of France.
8 2
CHAPTER XIV.
FEDERAL BATTLE-HORSES.
EVERYONE in anywise interested, practically or
theoretically, in the Great War, is just now pro-
phesying of the future, simply because it looks vaguer
and dimmer than ever.
So I will hazard my guess at
truth, before all is done.
I am no more capable of giving a valid opinion, as
to the chances or resources of the South, than if I had
never left these English shores. Proximity that is not
positive presence, rather embarrasses one's judgment;
for, the nearer you approach the frontier-line, the more
you become bewildered in the maze of exaggerated
reports, direct contradictions, and conflicting statistics.
Judging from individual cases, and from the spirit
animating the sympathisers' on the hither side of the
border, I feel sure that the bitter determination of the
South to hold out to the last man and the last ounce
of corn-bread, has not been in the least over-stated ;
but, as to the aspect of chances, or as to the actual
loss or gain achieved by either side up to this moment,
I am no more qualified to speak than any other
careful student of the war-chronicles. It is from
consideration of the present and probable strength or
FEDERAL BATTLE-HORSES.
261
weakness of Federaldom, that I should draw the
grounds of any opinion that I might hazard.
I think both are generally under-estimated. In
spite of the resistance offered in many places to the
Conscription Act, it is likely that for some time to come
the North will always be able to bring into the field
armies numerically far superior to those of her adver-
sary; nor do I believe that she will have exclusively
to depend on raw or enforced levies. Many of the
three-year men, and others whose term of volunteer
service has just expired, after a brief rest and experience
of home monotony, will begin to long for excitement
again, though accompanied by peril and hardship.
To such, the extravagant bounty will be a great temp-
tation, and the Government may not be far wrong in
calculating on the re-enlistment of a large per-centage
of the veterans.' Besides, it should always be
remembered that, if it comes to wearing one another
out in the drain of life, the preponderance of twenty
millions against four must tell fearfully, even though
the willingness to serve on the one side, should equal
the reluctance on the other. Neither do I think that
national bankruptcy is so imminent over the Northern
States, as some would have it. Mr. Chase is, of
course, a perilously reckless financier; but, on more
than one occasion, audacity has served him well, when
prudent sagacity could have been of little aid: the
'Five-and-Twenty' Loan was certainly eminently suc-
cessful, and the tough, broad back of Yankee-land will
'
262
BORDER AND BASTILLE.
bear more burdens yet before it breaks or bends. I
am speaking now solely of the resources which can be
made available for carrying on the war: these, I think,
will be found sufficient for its probable duration.
With the commercial future or national credit of the
Northern States this question has nothing to do; it
is not difficult to foresee, how both must inevitably be
compromised by the load of debt which swells porten-
tously with every hour of warfaring. But, if we have
been wont to undervalue the strength of Federaldom,
latent and displayed, we have perhaps scarcely realised
how very unsubstantial and slippery are its presumed
points of vantage.
First take the North great battle-or, rather-
stalking-horse-Abolition.
Let no reader be unnecessarily alarmed. On that
terrible Slave question, over which wiser brains have
puzzled, till they became lost in a labyrinth of self-
contradiction, I purpose to speak only a few cursory
words. It is beyond dispute, that a vast extent of the
richest land in the South can only be kept in cultiva-
tion by the Africans, who thrive and fatten where
the white man withers helplessly. No one, that has
realised the present state of our own West Indian
colonies, will believe that the enfranchised negro can
be depended upon as a daily labourer for hire. The
listless indolence inherent in all tropical races will
assert itself, as soon as free agency begins or is
restored. With a bright sun overhead, and a suffi-
S
-
I
FEDERAL BATTLE-HORSES.
263
!
ciency of sustenance for the day, before him, money
will not tempt Sambo to toil among cotton or canes,
should the spirit move him to lie under his own vine
or fig-tree; and he is unfortunately peculiarly liable
to these lazy fits, just when his services are most
vitally important to the interests of his employer.
From so much ground having been thrown out of
cultivation in the West Indies, the supply of free
negro labour is perhaps now nearly equal to the
ordinary demand; but we all know how, in the early
times of emancipation, the fortunes of our planters
fared. There have been, in all ages, certain cases of
apparent political necessity, hardly to be justified—
sometimes hardly to be defended-on purely moral
grounds. Whether the existence and maintenance of
a slave population in the South be one of these huge
dilemmas or paradoxes, is a question that any English
or Northern abolitionist is about as capable of deter-
mining, as he would be of legislating for Mongolian
Tartary.
The two blackest points in all the dark system-
for dark it is, look at it how you will-are, first,
the complication of sin and shame arising from the
mixture of the races; and secondly, the separation of
husband and wife from each other, and from their
infant families, by sale. I do firmly believe that the
recurrence of the former evil becomes rarer every day ;
for advance of civilisation only seems to strengthen
the natural repugnance-with which moral sentiment
264
BORDER AND BASTILLE.
has nothing to do-existing between the Anglo-Saxon
and African blood.
The subject is not a pleasant one to dilate upon ;
but, that such a repugnance does exist, few that have
been brought into actual contact with the coloured'
element en masse, will be inclined to deny. I think
some of those scientific philanthropists, who write
volumes to prove that there is no physical difference
between the races, would feel their theories strangely
modified after such a practical trial. If this be an
immutable fact, it may work in the South for the pre-
vention of evil as well as of good; in the North it
can only work for bitter harm. In Delaware, where
the free negroes are found in unusually large propor-
tion to the whites, they are notoriously more hardly
treated than in any other State of the original Union
and fanaticism must be blind and deaf indeed, if
recent events in New York have not taught it to
doubt, whether the tender mercies of the Abolitionists
are so gentle, after all. While things are so (and
there is scant hope of their changing within many
generations) the position of the black freed-man in the
North will never be much higher than that of the
Chinese in California, where a scintilla of civil rights
is the utmost that the unhappy aliens can claim. In
the South, I do greatly fear, there is no alternative
between suppression and subjugation.
;
'
There is no reason why the second great evil-the
separation of families, under a certain age-should
FEDERAL BATTLE-HORSES.
265
I
not be entirely removed by proper legislation ;
believe measures to this effect have already been
mooted in more than one of the slave-holding States.
Putting these two points aside, I believe that the
condition of
of the slave - especially where the
patriarchal' system prevails, is infinitely better
than that of the coolies: the unutterable horrors and
waste of life in the Chincha Islands, have never
been matched in Kentucky or Louisiana. The
whole roll of authenticated cruelties exercised on the
negroes, in any one year, would, probably, be out-
numbered and out-done by the brutalities practised
within the same time upon the apprentices in our own
coast-trade, and upon seamen-white and coloured-
in the American merchant-service. With all this, it
should be remembered that the ordinary slave-rations
far excced, both in quantity and quality, the Sunday
meal of an English West-country labourer; and that
the comforts of all the aged and infirm, whom the
master is, of course, obliged to maintain, are infinitely
superior to those enjoyed by their coevals in our
most lenient workhouses.
I think it is a mistake to suppose, that the negroes,
as a race, pine for freedom; though, when it is
suggested to them, they may grasp at it with eager-
ness, much as they would at any other novelty. Many,
no doubt, can appreciate liberty, and use it, as
wisely and well as any free-born white: gradual
Emancipation would be one of the grandest schemes
266
BORDER AND BASTILLE.
that could be propounded to human benevolence: it
is rife with difficulty, but surely not impracticable. The
indiscriminate and abrupt manumission of the negro
would, I am convinced, turn a quaint, simple, childish
creature-prone to mirth, and not easily discontented,
if his indolence be not taxed too hardly, susceptible,
too, of strong affection and fidelity to his masters, as
many recent events have shown-into a sullen, sloth-
ful, insolent savage; never remembering the past,
except as a sort of vague excuse for the present
indulgence of his brutal instincts; conscious that every
man's hand is against him; without the meek patience
of a pariah, but only venturing to retaliate by occa-
sional outbursts of ruffianism or rapine. Where a
body of these men is subjected at once to military
discipline, and over-awed by the presence of white
soldiers in overwhelming numbers, the same danger
cannot exist; yet I doubt gravely as to the ultimate
success, in any point of view, of those negro levies.
It seems hard to say, but I do think it is better
-even for the sake of Christian charity-to leave
that Great Anomaly to be dealt with by God in His
own time.
Were the cause stronger than it is, it would be
damaged with many moderate thinkers, by the absur-
dities and violence of its most zealous advocates.
Ward Beecher, the great Abolition apostle, fairly
outdoes the earlier eccentricities of Spurgeon; every
trick of stage effect-such as the sudden display of
FERERAL BATTLE-HORSES.
267
a white slave-child-is freely employed in the pulpit
of Plymouth Church, and each successful 'point' is
rewarded by audible murmurs of applause. One fact
stamps the man very sufficiently. In the latter part
of last May, he was starting for a four-months'
absence in Europe: it was purely a pleasure trip, the
expenses to be paid by his affectionate congrega-
tion;' and the whole arrangements were thoroughly
comfortable, not to say luxurious. The text of his
last sermon was taken from Acts, ch. xx. vv. 18-27
-words that even an Apostle never spoke till, stand-
ing in the shadow of bonds and death, he said fare-
well to saints who should look upon his face no
more.
Theodore Tilton, another shining light, much dis-
tinguished himself by announcing, that there was
no doubt the negroes were destined to be The
Church of Christ' he founded his discovery not so
much upon the strong religious feeling prevalent
among coloured' persons, as on that verse in the
Songs of Solomon, where the Bride professes herself
'black but comely!'
C
It would be well if such absurdities were all one
had to record: some ebullitions of abolitionist zeal
will hardly bear writing down. Take one instance.
At a large Union meeting at Philadelphia, the
Reverend A. H. Gilbert, speaking of the Proclama-
tion, and its probable effects in the South, did not
deny that it might entail a repetition of the San
(
268
BORDER AND BASTILLE.
(
Domingo horrors on a vaster scale. But,' said he,
-speaking calmly and as a Christian minister-I
affirm that it would be better that every woman and
child in the South should perish, than that the prin-
ciples of Confederate statesmen should prevail.'
In all that huge assembly there was not one man
found who for the love of wife, or sister, or daughter,
or mother, would rise to smite the brutal blas-
phemer on the mouth: nay, the Quaker brood cheered
him to the echo.
→
That same Proclamation has done less harm than
was expected after all. Maryland has suffered, per-
haps, most the whole institution is rendered null
and void there, now, without her gaining any European
credit, as a voluntary Free State. The negroes stay
or run away according to their fancy, and work as it
suits their convenience; the chances against re-capture
being about 1000 to 1, it says something for the
system that so many have chosen to remain hardly
any household or domestic servants are found among
the fugitives.
:
Putting Abolition aside, let us examine the con-
dition of the North's second charger'- Restora-
tion of the Union at any cost. The question,
of the right of the Southern States to secede, has
been discussed till every European ear must be weary
of the theme; so we will let the justice of the case
alone, and only look at the wild improbability of any
such result being achieved. In the North, of course,
FEDERAL BATTLE-HORSES.
269
there is a strong peace-party; in the South, I do not.
think that any man would venture to suggest to his
nearest friend any compromise, short of the acknow-
ledgment of the Confederacy as an independent
nation. It is an utter mistake to suppose that, if the
Emancipatory Proclamation were revoked, the road
towards Peace would be smoothed materially: it
might have a good effect in displaying a spirit of con-
ciliation on the part of the Federal Government—
nothing more. The wedges that will keep the South
apart from the North, for ever, were moulded and
sharpened long before they were driven home. For
years far-seeing men, especially on the Border States,
had provided, in their financial and domestic arrange-
ments, for a certain disunion: not for the first time
in history has an aristocracy grown up in the centre
of a democracy; and, while the world shall last, such
a state of things can never long endure without a
collision, involving temporary subjugation or perma-
nent disruption.
KON
The New-Englander sees this just as plainly as the
Virginian, and both have an equal pride in thinking
that Cavalier and Roundhead are fighting the old
battle once more. Disputes about tariffs and falsified
compromises have only been specious pretexts for
indulging in a spirit of antagonism, which was then
scarcely dissembled, and can never be glossed over
again. But the Federal Government are not only
pursuing a mirage, in trying to enforce an Union
270
BORDER AND BASTILLE.
which could scarcely be maintained if all the South
country lay depopulated and desolate: they are risk-
ing, every day more perilously, the cohesion of the
States that still cleave to the old Commonwealth.
The Black Republican tendency to put down all poli-
tical opposition with the armed hand or with the
lettre du cachet, is perpetually conflicting with the
State rights, which many true-hearted Americans
value no less highly than their allegiance to the Union.
The Democrats are almost strong enough to defy their
opponents, even while the latter are in power; and
resistance to the Conscription may be only the begin-
ning of a struggle that will terminate in a second
solution of political continuity, not less earnest than
the first. Listen to The World, of the 19th May,
speaking of Vallandigham's arrest:
"The blood that already makes green, Virginian
and Kentucky hill-sides, is but a drop to that which
will flow on Northern soil, when the American people
discover that the battle has begun to save the Consti-
tution from tyrants.
""
Brave words, these! Yet, making allowance for
editorial blatancy, they may contain a germ of bitter
truth. When New York-the Empress City-has
been threatened with martial law, it is fair to
conclude, that Federaldom may soon have other
enemies to deal with than those who are vexing her
borders.
No Government can hope successfully to carry out
FEDERAL BATTLE-HORSES.
271
the principle of arbitrary and irresponsible power,
unless its standing-ground be as unassailable, and its
resolves as unanimous as those of any individual
autocrat.
Yet, no administration-civil, political, or military
-can be otherwise than unsound to the core where
no mutual confidence or reliance subsists among its
constituent members. Mr. Lincoln's Cabinet do not
even keep up the appearances of a Happy Family;
in all the subordinate departments, scarcely a week
elapses without the promulgation of some disgraceful
scandal. For instance, last Spring, before men had
had time to discuss the gigantic Custom-house frauds,
there appeared a quiet paragraph to the effect that
140,000 dollars had disappeared mysteriously from
the Navy Office on the eve of pay-day; a huge
reward was offered for the discovery of the criminal,
or recovery of the money; but even Unionists
laughed openly at such an advertisement, which pro-
bably did not cause the real robber, whoever he was,
to turn once uneasily in his gorgeous bed. Even
in the Commissariat, which, in all ages and in all
armies, has been the presumed head-quarters of the
Autolyci, no one has yet emulated the evil renown
of the Butlers at New Orleans (it was openly stated
in Congress, and scarcely contradicted, that the
profits and plunder carried off by that noble pair
of brothers, exceeded seven millions of dollars); but
many of the contractors appear to have used their
272
BORDER AND BASTILLE.
opportunities, much as if they were scrambling for
eagles, or robbing against time.' The corruption
that has long prevailed in Congress, whenever a
'private bill' is in question, has long been noto-
rious; but this, at least, was shrouded with a thin
veil of decorum, which the peculators in military and
civil high places disdained to encumber themselves
with, in these latter days.
Instances of all this might be multiplied to weari-
ness; but you have only to look at a week's files of
any Northern journal to be convinced of the existing
state of things, which even the Black Republicans
not unfrequently bewail.
There is another sort of extra-horse, that the
Government, or its organs, are fond of riding for a
short spell,' when the others have been hacked
rather too hardly. They have christened it- Perfi-
dious Albion.' To speak the truth, however, the
Anglophobia is not confined to the Abolitionists or
Republicans; when anything occurs to make any par-
ticular journal cross or querulous, you are almost sure
to meet, that same week, a sanguinary leader, with
the threadbare motto - Delenda est Britannia.
Lately, it has been suggested that the most certain
means to secure the adhesion of the South, would bean
invitation to join in an internecine war with England
and France, with Canada and Mexico for prizes.
Truly Secessia has little cause to love us; for our
practical sympathy with her in her dire strait, has
،
FEDERAL BATTLE-HORSES.
273
been confined to the furnishing of war-munitions at
a moderate profit of 300 per cent. ; yet, I think,
even in such a cause, Georgia, Carolina, and Vir-
ginia would stand aloof, rather than dress up in line
with the Yankee battalions. The mobocracy are 'all
for a muss,' of course, as they always are till they see
the glitter of bayonets; but I cannot believe that the
bellicose ideas they are so fond of mooting, have
ever been seriously entertained by the Government.
The Federal navy is too utterly inefficient now, save
for attack and defence along its own shores, to give
cause for apprehension even to a second-class Power:
it cannot protect Northern commerce. For a year
or more, the Florida and Alabama have laughed
at the beards of all the cruisers, and carry on depre-
dation still with a high hand. The only grave aggres-
sion must be made on the frontier of Canada; and
there, the invaders would be met by a militia quite
as well drilled as themselves, who have held their
own, once before, gallantly; to say nothing of the
reinforcement of our own regular army; if the crack
regiments of New York or Massachusetts should
chance, in such a case, to find the Guards or High-
landers in their front, it is just possible that the
'veterans' might gain some fresh ideas as to the
realities of a charge in line.
<
Reading these bellicose articles, you are perpetually
reminded of the favourite national game of Poker.'
In this, a player holding a very bad hand against a good
T
274
BORDER AND BASTILLE.
one, may possibly 'bluff' his adversary down, and
win the stakes, if he only has confidence enough to
go on piling up the money, so as to make his own
weakness appear strength. That audacity answers
often happily enough, especially with the timid and
inexperienced; but the professional gamblers tell you,
mournfully, that they sometimes meet an opponent
with equal nerve and a longer purse; then comes the
fatal moment when the cards must be shown, and
then-le quart d'heure de Rabelais. I think, if ever
Britannia is forced to 'see' Federalia's hand,' the
world that looks on will find, that the latter has been
'bluffing' to hide weakness.
Nevertheless, I am far from undervaluing the actual
strength of the Northern land-armies. They are com-
posed of the most uncouth and heterogeneous mate-
rials; but they work well enough after their own rough
fashion, and certainly recover surprisingly fast from
temporary discomfiture: it is difficult to believe, that
the troops who met Lee so gallantly at Gettysburg
were the same, who recrossed the Rappahannock in
sullen despondency, after Chancellorsville. But the
foreign element in the Federal forces must soon grow
dangerously strong: it should never be forgotten that
the foreigners, attracted by enormous bounty, even if
they be of Anglo-Saxon blood, can be but merce-
naries, after all; and, in history, the Swiss almost
Such
monopolise the glory of mercenary fidelity.
subsidies can only be relied on when pay is prompt
40
FEDERAL BATTLE-HORSES.
275
and work plenty irregularity or inaction will soon
breed discontent, followed by some such revolt as
menaced the existence of Carthage.
:
These are some of the causes which, as it seems to
me, even now neutralise to a great extent the really
vast resources of the North, and will some day im-
peril her very existence as a nation-united in her
present form. Now, as to the event of the struggle.
I believe amalgamation, on any other terms than
absolute subjugation of the South-to be maintained
hereafter by armies of occupancy-simply impractic-
able. This
This not only on the grounds of political
and social antagonism before alluded to; but because
this contest has been waged after a fashion almost
unknown in the later days of Civilisation. I do not
speak of open warfare on stricken fields, or even of
pitiless slaughter wrought by those who, when their
blood is hot, do not their work negligently'; but of
bitter bye-blows, dealt on either side, such as
humanity cannot lightly forget or forgive-of pas-
sions roused, that will rankle savagely long after this
generation shall be dust. There remains the chance,
of utterly quelling and annihilating the insurrection
(I speak as a Federal) with the strong hand.
C
On the one side, is ranged an innumerable multi-
tude-which can hardly be looked upon as a distinct
nation, for in it mingles all the blood of Western
Europe-doggedly determined, perhaps, to persevere
in its purpose, yet strangely apathetic when a crisis
276
BORDER AND BASTILLE.
A
seems really imminent-easily discouraged by re-
verses, and fatally prone to discontent and distrust of
all ruling powers-divided by political jealousies,
often more bitter than the hatred of the Common-
wealth's foe-mingling always with their patriotism
a certain commercial calculation, that, if all tales are
true, makes them, from the highest to the lowest,
peculiarly open to the temptations of the Almighty
Dollar; these men are fighting for a positive gain;
for the re-acquisition of a vast territory, that if
they win, they must watch, as Russia has watched
Poland.
On the other side, I see a real nation, numerically
small, in whose veins the Anglo-Saxon blood flows
almost untainted; I see rich men casting down their
gold, and strong men casting down their lives, as if
both were dross, in the cause they have sworn to
win; I see Sybarites enduring hardships that un vieux
de la vieille would have grumbled at, without a
whispered murmur; I hear gentle and tender women
echo in simple earnestness the words that once were
spoken to me by a fair Southern wife-"I pray that
Philip may die in the front, and that they may burn
me in the plantation, before the Confederacy makes
peace on any terms but our own; I see that
reverses, instead of making this people cashier their
generals, or cavil at their rulers, only intensify their
fierce energy of resistance. These men are fighting-
not to gain a foot of ground, but simply to hold their
>>
FEDERAL BATTLE-HORSES.
277
own, with the liberty which they believe to be their
birthright.
It may well be that darker days are in store for
the South than she has ever yet known; it may be
that she will only attain her object at the cost of utter
commercial ruin; it may be that the charity of the
European Powers is exhausted on Poland, and that
neither pity nor shame will induce them to break a
thankless neutrality, here; but, in the face of all
barely probable contingencies, I doubt no more of the
ultimate result, than I doubt of the performance, in
His own season, of the justice of God.
THE END.
BRADBURY AND EVANS, PRINTERS, WHITEFRIARS,

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