Page:Southern Historical Society Papers volume 17.djvu/389

 Prisoners of the Civil War, 381

of food which was also enjoyed by the lieutenant whom I mentioned in the first part of my letter.

R. H. Dabney. ZJniversity of Virginia, February 2, 1890.

The above letter, as you see, contains nothing polemical or one- sided on my part. I have, in fact, refrained from the expression of any opinion whatever, confining myself to quoting the opinions of others. The testimony is certainly worthy of notice, but The Nation wishes to suppress it, and I, therefore, appeal to The Times for a hearing.*

R. H. Dabney. University of Virginia, February 9, 1890.

JEFFERSON DAVIS.

In this connection the remarks on the subject made by Senator Daniel in his oration on January 25th will be of interest to recall. Senator Daniel said :

He would have turned with loathing from misuse of a prisoner, for there was no characteristic of Jefferson Davis more marked than his regard for the weak, the helpless, and the captive. By act of the Confederate Congress, and by general orders, the same rations served to the Confederates were issued to the prisoners, though taken from a starving army and people.

Brutal and base was the effort to stigmatize him as a conspirator to maltreat prisoners, but better for him that it was made, for while he was himself yet in prison the evidences of his humanity were so overwhelming that finally slander stood abashed and malignity recoiled.

Even at Andersonville, where the hot summer sun was of course disastrous to men of the Northern clime, well nigh as many of their guard died as of them.

With 60,000 more Federal prisoners in the South than there were •Confederate prisoners in the North, 6,000 more Confederates than Federals died in prison. A cyclone of rhetoric cannot shake this mountain of fact, and these facts are alike immovable :

I. He tried to get the prisoners exchanged by the cartel agreed upon, but as soon as an excess of prisoners was in Federal hands this was refused. .

months in prison.
 * The Editor has received like information from a friend who was several