Why do they still dodge the truth? They are so anxious because
of a dim consciousness of the fact, which they did not distinctly
face, that at least a million of the free inhabitants of the United
States would have rejoiced if it had succeeded. They at most only
criticise the tacties. Though we wear no crape, the thought of that
man's position and probable fate is spoiling many a man's day here
at the North for other thinking. If any one who has seen him here
can pursue successfully any other train of thought, I do not know what
he is made of. If there is any such who gets his usual allowance of
sleep, I will warrant him to fatten easily under any circumstances
which do not touch his body or purse. I put a piece of paper and a
pencil under my pillow, and when I could not sleep I wrote in the
dark.
On the whole, my respect for my fellow-men, except as one may
outweigh a million, is not being increased these days. I have
noticed the cold-blooded way in which newspaper writers and men
generally speak of this event, as if an ordinary malefactor, though
one of unusual "pluck"- as the Governor of Virginia is reported to
have said, using the language of the cockpit, "the gamest man be
ever saw"- had been caught, and were about to be hung.
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