ost irrepressible rage, and his fists tight-clenched, as
if to violently restrain himself from visiting the guilty wretch with
summary and retributive justice. Disposed about the room, in various
attitudes, but all exhibiting in their countenances the same mingling
of horror and indignation, were other members of the staff--while near
the door stood three or four house-servants, who were witnesses in
the case.

To the charge of having administered the inhuman castigation, Landry
(the owner of the girl) pleaded guilty, but urged, in extenuation,
that the girl had dared to make an effort for that freedom which her
instincts, drawn from the veins of her abuser, had taught her was the
God-given right of all who possess the germ of immortality,--no matter
what the color of the casket in which it is hidden. I say "drawn from
the veins of her abuser," because she declared she was his daughter;
and every one in the room, looking upon the man and woman confronting
each other, confessed that the resemblance justified the assertion.

After the conclusion of all the evidence in the case, the General
continued in the same position as before, and remained for some time
apparently lost in abstraction. I shall never forget the singular
expression on his face. I had been accustomed to see him in a storm of
passion at any instance of oppression or flagrant injustice; but on
this occasion he was too deeply affected to obtain relief in the usual
way. His whole air was one of dejection, almost listlessness; his
indignation too intense, and his anger too stern, to find expression
even in his countenance.

Never have I seen that peculiar look but on three or four occasions
similar to the one I am narrating, when I knew he was pondering upon
the fatal curse that had cast its withering blight upon all around,
until the manhood and humanity were crushed out of the people, and
outrages such as the above were looked upon with complacency, and the
perpetrators treated as respected and worthy citizens, and that he was
realizing the great truth, that, however man might endeavor to guide
this war to the advantage of a favorite idea or a sagacious policy,
the Almighty was directing it surely and steadily for the purification
of our country from this greatest of national sins.

But to return to my story. After sitting in the mood which I have
described at such length, the General again turned to the prisoner,
and said, in a quiet, subdued tone of vo