of telling her that I believed
her case was now in safe hands.

"Not long after, through the unseating of Mr. Wise, of Virginia,
Hon. Francis W. Rockwell, of this State, received the case as
sub-committee. In view of this we ought to be even more hopeful,
since his colleagues, Messrs. Hoar and Lodge, have put forth so
many efforts in its furtherance.--_Boston Sunday Herald,
February, 1890._

ABBY M. GANNETT.

The _Century_ magazine, which had been publishing an exhaustive
account of "the men who fought and planned our battles," was appealed
to in the name of historical verity to give an account of Miss
Carroll's work. Having had the matter under consideration for more
than a year and having convinced themselves of the truth of the claim,
they published, in August of 1890, an open letter bringing the case to
the attention of their readers. A public-spirited lady of Washington
purchased copies and laid the marked article on the desks of Senators
and Representatives, with the same invariable result. But though
Congress disregarded the matter, not so the reading public, and
inquiries began to be made for further information, which it was
difficult to furnish for want of an easily attainable printed account.
It was therefore determined to meet this demand, and the present
relation is the result.

In consequence of the petitions continually received, friendly
Senators and Representatives have again and again brought in bills
asking for $10,000, or even $5,000, for Miss Carroll's relief
(invariably neglected).

Such bills, though very kindly meant, seem to me a mistake. It is not
a question of $5,000 or $500,000. It is--it always has been--a
question of _recognition_.

Granted that this wonderful woman by the intense labor of heart and
brain, by her whole-souled devotion of life and fortune, has saved the
national cause--for the thousands upon thousands of precious lives
laid down would have been of no avail had the plan adopted at the
crisis of fate been an unwise one--this granted, a noble bill might be
acted upon by Congress, but an _ignoble_ one--never. Whatever may be
our faults, we are at heart a proud and self-respecting people, and no
paltry bill would be endured, and no bill which did not award military
honor for pre-eminent military services could meet the case with
justice and with dignity.

Although weighed down with an immense mass of