Arkansas true Democrat., 1861-12-19
4 Letter Worth Reading.

! hlS hat ana give LII eG Ni'00i' '"'
 Groeuhow. he must be cold blooded' undemonstrative man indeed /
 The Richmond Whis, in which pay r the letter was first published, int'nT'' I that when Seward read it the musP, 2 his face twitched and the coward t'"' p''''
 America may yet have her Cha'0'''
 day. oe.hoaos. The letter is graphic acc9f" 1' .1' ""s \, tardly tyranny ot Bomba N'H'o'' ! ssn,nont IT should be ,eserved as |" tes timonv of the infamy en0rther" rulers n, 4, yble woman, whose spirit imprisonmcp could not tame, and dd who boldly tel the tyrant the truth
 -" .ha ,..l,As may be her doom.
 '''nOo 1r| ',.. z is a copy ol the letter the o:-:a,l as /hich was put in the hand oi William 4 Seward:
 IVY ANoToE. Nov. 1Tth, 1881,
 "A 36S 10th Street.( 7, z Hon I'm. 4. Ss~ord, Secretary 9 , / ttote.
 sIR-For nearly three months l have [ been confined, a close prisoner, shut out 1 .om air and exercise, and denied all com
 munication with family and friends.
 "Patience is said to be q great virtue, and l have practced 1t, to my utmost ca ! pacity ot endurance.
 ! am told sir, that upon your ipse dira,
 the late of citizens depends, and that the
 sirn-mannal of the >linlnters ot Louis the
 Fourteenth and Fifteenth was not more
 potential in their day, than that of the Sec letary of State in 1861.
 1 IthnreloIe most respectfully submit, that on Friday, August 23i, without warrant 1 or other show of authority, l was arrested by the detective police, and my house taken in charge by them; that all my private i letters, and papers of a life time, were read i and examined by them; that every law oi
 decency was violated in the search ot my
 house and person, and the surveillance ovet i me.
 We read in history, that the poor Maria ! Antunette had paper tom from her b0s-
 om hv lawle>s hanI>, and that even
 rl.ar4e of linen he'd to be effected in ighI
 ot her brutal captors It k my sad erperi- eRcp to lecOr,i even more rcvoltlnS Outra 5r
 than that for during the first days ot my 1 imp,oonment, Whn,cVer nccesS"fy forced Iii
 to seek my chamber. d detective stood sem
 tincl at the open door. And thus for
 period Of seven days, l, with my little, 1 child. was placed absolutely at the meicI i of men without character or >ponSlblilty; ! that during the first evening, a portion oi i these men became btutally drunk. ant ] boasted in my hearing of the "nite hmes' 1 they expected to have, with the female ! prisoners; and that ru3o vi"lonce was used i toward, d colore servant girl during that evening, the extent of which 1 have not been able to learn. For any show of deco rum afterwards practiaed toward me. l was , indebted to the detective called Capt Den n'is.
 , the careful analysis of my papers l denv ee existence ol a line 1 had not ,,arta.t ri, -ht to have written. or to hay" racoivoa ~eedom of speech and oI oPln- ion is the birtri Int of Americans, gna'an- toel to US by Cur charter of I''eFfS. the constitution of the United States have exercised my prerogatiye, and nave oPe"'y avowed my sentiments. rurins tie DO Iitical struggle, opposed youi republican party with every instinct of sell pre.erVa tion. I believed your success a N'ft"a' notification of the constitution, and til&' it would entail upon us tine dlreInl con seoucnces " hich have en>ued. These sen t;ments have doubtless seen found Ieeofde" among my papers, and ho!d them a. rather a proud record of my SsSaciiy
 1 must be permitted to quote from letter of vouis, in regard to Russell of the London Timos, which you conclude with these admirable words: "Individual CT TOTS of opinion may be toleIa.ed, so long as good sense is left to combat then.' By way of illustrating Mcory ant prGct'ce, here am |, q prisoner in sight of the executive mansion, in sight of the Capitol where the proud statesmen of our land have Snng their paans to the blessings oi oui free m stitut.on.. Comment is idle. Freedom of sp,ecb freedom of thought, every rlght ,ertaininp to the citizen, has been Suspend- ed by what, suppose, the President calls 'nsutary necessity." A blow has been stru. k, by this total disregard ot all cl'ii rights, against the present system oi gov ] trnment, far greater in its effects than the 1 severance of the Southern States. OH 1 peonle have been taught 10 contrmn the 1 supremacy of the law, 10 which all have ! hitherto bowed. and 10 look to the militia i " power for protection against ifs darreeS
 4 military spilit has been developed. which 1 ,pill nniy be subordinate to Nattory Dtc- tq,1 rsa5D. Read history, and you will find, ,ho+ ;,. causes which bring about rev olntinn varoiv pfelominate at its close, and ro noo,1a i,ave ever returned to the point t-.om which they started. Even Shonld the Sa"Ibe'n s,a 'e~ be Nubdued and forced lack into the III, jvn (w,.'rh 1 regard a> impo>,illr with tul' ktio~'e 'go 'i '"e'' lcsource~} }, different forn' of gove' "'''e'' will be found neel'nl To meet the new de velopmcnts of national chala ter l'lc k no class of society, no branch of m 'ns' try. which this change has not -eached' and the dull, plodling. methodi''al i'aDitS of the poor can never be resumed.
 You have heli me sir, to mans ac- countabili!ty, and therefore claim the right to speak on subjects usually consider el bevon a woman's ken, and which yon may class as errors of opinion.' | offer no excuse for this long Aggression, as a three months imprisonment. without formula