Page:Confederate Portraits.djvu/286

 242 CONFEDERATE PORTRAITS

ing and tumbling, hard, overcast skies, etc., gives me

Yet, in spite of age, of gray respectability, of undeni- able fine qualities, there is in Semmes a certain strain of the pirate, after all. About many of his utterances there is a violence not only fierce but coarse, a tone of offen- sive vituperation much more appropriate to Captain Kidd than to a Christian soldier. His own friends recognize this to the extent of apologizing for it. " Semmes's ver- bal and written utterances," says Sinclair, *' manifest a bitterness of feeling towards his foes which is calculated to mislead one respecting his real character. . . . He was uniformly just in his decisions. He respected pri- vate property and private feelings. And it was the rule, rather than the exception, that he provided in the best possible way for his prisoners, military and civil ; and we have often seen that he gave them boats and whatever their ships afforded of comfort and luxury to get away with. This was not the conduct of a malevolent partisan, but distinctly that of a generous and chivalrous foe. It is by his acts rather than by his utterances that a man like Semmes should be judged. He had a noble and generous soul." ^e Unfortunately our words sometimes go further than our acts, especially when we print them, and it is hard to reconcile all that Semmes wrote with perfect nobility or generosity.

It is true, he had much excuse. He was pursued with scorn and vilification which no one thought of bestowing

�� �