The weekly pioneer and Democrat. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. Territory) 1855-1865, 1861-12-13
AN AFTERNOON WITH THE SECES-
SIONISTS.
A TALK WITH TIE REBEL PRISONERS At
WASHINGTON.

Correspondence of the N. Y. Evening Post,
WASHINGTON, Nov. q, 1861.-One of
the memorable Incidents of recent visit to
Washington was an afternoon with the Sc.
cessiOnist prisoners in the old Capitol. The
visit was arranged for US by the very kind
Offices of Mr.. Steele, of the House OF Rep
resentatives, from New Jersey. We were
accompanied by young friend from the
North, whom, as type of the gentleman,
we were not afraid to bring into compari
son even with "the chivalry." "Gentlemen,"
as Governor Morris used to say, "are the
same everywhere" frank, courteous, cult.
waited in intellect and kind of heart by
certain indefnable affinities and sympathies
they know one another as quick and in
fallible as freemasOns We acknowledge
the force of charm in that name--a gen.
tleman whereby we mean a man, true,
noble and generous, who has had the ad.
vantages of mental culture and social pol
ish. The man is to the gentleman what
the marble is to the statute, the gold to the
coin The marble has a true and high
value even before the chisel has touched it,
and the gold before it has passed through
the mint. But Canova himself could not
have chiselled noble bust out of pumice
stone, nor would the impression of the
American eagle with the stars and glory
overhead convert bit of base metal into
a valuable coin. You cannot make gen~
tlenaGn without mGG to begin with. A d.
erosion so wide that we shall not attempt
to show its connection with our starting
point, but pass directly to
THE PRISONERS.
They were of all grades, from the colonel
downwards. The officers of higher rank
were confined in separate room up stairs.
We received at our introduction cordial
| greeting. We have always been sensible
of peculiar grace and charm in the man.
ners of southerners, both male and female.
1t is not the effect of slavery. How can
anything graceful come out OF that which is
utterly base and abominable? No; it is
the impression of the bland, bounteous,
sunny South, and is found, to some extent,
on all her children, whatever be its social
and political concomitants. Slavery has
shaded it in our southern brethren with
certain dark and barbarOus tints of jealousy
and ferocity, which will pass away when
that vile system shall itself have becone
like the plague of Florence, the press
gang of England, or the Inquisition of Spain
"a matter of history.
| CAUSE OF THE QUARREL.
The warmth and kindness OF their greet
ing somewhat surprised and disarmed US.
"Why, gentlemen" said we, for what
possible cause are you and we-talking the
same language, sprung from the same an
cestors, protesting the same faith, glorying
in the same histOry-this day clutching at
one another's throats, and striking at one
another's hearts?'
"Why," said one of them, "you have
come down upon us with great army, in.
vading our soil, threatening our homes with
fire and our fields with desolation. What
could we do less than meet war with war ?"
You struck the first blow" we replied.
eve were all living in profound peace a
few months ago. That peace it was the
wish and the interest of the North to per-
petuate. Perhaps we were willing to make
even too large sacrifice to avoid COLI.
sion. All OF a sudden, without the shadow
of prOvocatiOn from the North, except the
quietly putting their votes into the ballot
box and electing Abraham Lincoln, you
severed the federal bond and seized on eve>
ry ship, fort, mint and arsenal belonging
equally to US both, within your reach. Even
that-so inert add averse to hostilities was
the North-was passively endured. The
world began to think us poltroons- we
half suspected it ourselves. At that hour
there was undoubtedly great party at the
North-perhaps the majority, who were
willing to say Go in peace-we will wait
till you come to better mind, or do with.
out you But few scores of brave men
were left in one fort, who still held fast to
their allegiance'to the old and whole repub.
lie. They bought their daily food in your
market till you denied them the privilege.
The Government then sent an unarmed ves-
sci with supplies to them. You fred on
that unarmed vessel and on the national
flag that waved over it. Even yet, the
North trembled and shrunk back as it Iook~
ed down into the fiery abyss of civil war.
But you went further. You girdIed that
fortress with batteries. Without the dis.
charge of gun to provoke an attack, you
assaied that handful of brave men with
odds OF hundred to one, and poured in
shot and shell upon them till the glorious
flag of our country went down on mass of
blackened ruins. Then the nation awoke.
The tall OF Sumpter, like the shock of an
earthquake, shook the republic to its GEN.
tire. Every feeling of reluctance, every
partisan division, vanished like dream. A
stern determination to put the old flag back
on every fort, ship and arsenal whence it
had been taken down, to reconstruct the
old Union just as it was, took possession of
the American people with a unanimity
which there is nothing like in the history of
nations. And rely upon it, gentlemen, the
sword that was drawn then will never be
sheathed till the old flag is restored to all its
honors, and the old Union counts again its
thirty-three States"
"Well,'' was the answer, "you may rest
assured that you can never conquer the
South. You may shut up our ports, you
may cut off our trade, you may compel us
to wear plain clothes, but subdue us-nev-
erw
The maker of this last remark was Colo
mel Boone, veritable descendant of the