legal, it is not
for me to question the expediency of degrading one who has served
laboriously from the commencement of the war on this frontier, and
borne a prominent part in the only great event of that war, for the
benefit of persons, neither of whom has yet struck a blow for this
Confederacy.

"These views and the freedom with which they are presented may be
unusual, so likewise is the occasion which calls them forth.

"I have the honor to be, most respectfully,
Your obedient servant,
J. E. Johnston, _General_."

With a curve of his thin lips and a look of mortal weariness on his
haggard face, the man on whose shoulders rested the burden of the lives
of millions of his people seized his pen and wrote this brief note:

"Richmond, Va., September 14, 1861.

"General J. E. Johnston:

"Sir:

"I have just received and read your letter of the 12 instant. Its
language is, as you say, unusual; its arguments and statements utterly
one-sided, and its insinuations as unfounded as they are unbecoming.

"I am, etc.,
Jefferson Davis."

While the Commander of the victorious Confederacy was sulking in his
tent on the field of Manassas, playing this pitiful farce about the date
of a commission, and allowing his army to go to pieces, George B.
McClellan with tireless energy and matchless genius as an organizer was
whipping into shape Lincoln's new levy of five hundred thousand
determined Northern men.

To further add to his embarrassment and cripple his work the Vice
President of the Confederacy, Alexander H. Stephens, developed early
into a chronic opponent of the administration. Much of this opposition
was due to dyspepsia but it was none the less effective in undermining
the influence of the Executive. Mr. Stephens' theories were the
outgrowth of the most radical application of the dogma of States'
Rights.

Before secession he had bitterly opposed the withdrawal of Georgia from
the Union. His extreme advocacy of the Sovereignty of the States now
threatened the unity and integrity of the Confederacy as a Republic.

He proclaimed the remarkable doctrine that as the war was one in which
the people had led the politicians into a struggle for their rights,
therefore the people could be absolutely relied on by the administrators
of the Government to properly conduct the war. The people could always
be depended on when a battle was to be foug