Border and Bastille

BORDER AND BASTILLE.
BY GEORGE A. LAWRENCE
THE AUTHOR OF "GUY LIVINGSTONE"
New York: W. I. POOLEY & CO., Harpers' Building, Franklin Square.
WYNKOOP, HALLENBECK & THOMAS, PRINTERS, No. 113
Fulton Street, New York.

L'ENVOI.
When, late in last autumn, I determined to start for the Confederate
States as soon as necessary preparations could be completed, I had
listened, not only to my own curiosity, impelling me at least to see one
campaign of a war, the like of which this world has never known, but
also to the suggestions of those who thought that I might find materials
there for a book that would interest many here in England. My
intention, from the first, was to serve as a volunteer-aide in 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 predilections 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 possible, but to
abstain from coloring them with involuntary prejudice.
To say nothing of my being afterwards backed by the powerful
Secessionist interest at Baltimore, the 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 personally unknown; and I am glad to have this
opportunity of acknowledging his ready courtesy. It was Colonel Mann
who counseled my going through the Northern States, instead of
attempting to run the blockade from Nassau or Bermuda, as I had
originally intended. In spite of the events, I am so certain that the
advice was sound and wise, that I do not repent--scarcely
regret--having followed it.
I need not particularize the precaution taken to insure 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 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 vigor at any risk; or if I had been
less imprudent in parading my object while in Baltimore. I prefer to
meet the first of these assertions 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' 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 however
compensate me 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," for
even had we been disposed to indulge in an "alarum and flourish of
trumpets," the sensation-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 plans--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