Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1862-02-28
Floyd

This lively scoundrol has added new laurcls
to his already lush top.heavy chaplet, Hav-
ing exhausted all the possibilities cf the role
Of Autolycus, he has essaycd, with distn-
gushed success, that Of Fabius. lie found
the atmosphere Of Fort Donelson suliry.-
The smell of gore suited him not, nor eke
that Of gunpowder. Over against the sky,
seen now and again through volumes of
smoke, writhed in wrath the old flag whose
folds once sheltered him while he stole in
peace But It's stripes were no longer sym
bols Of protection or Of security to him
And so this stupendous thief, having nothing
else at hand to steal, stole a march aud re-
treated
A little thread Of comedy glimmers ever
through the darkest pail of tragedy The
pusillanimous felon, stealing away from the
beleagucred fortress during that night Of
dread and terror, is in very grotesQue contrast
TO the dark magnifcence of the rest of the
drama. 1t is to be hoped that he has put
numerous honest leagues between himself
aud peril, Cowardice 30 infinite and exhaust
less, united with iniamy so epical, are rarely
housed in the same individual When they
are, the person enyclopng them is not to be
needlessly exposed to danger Like dragon,
or hydra, he is to be tenderly cherished on
account Of the unique uglness of his moral
proportions If Floyd had remained he might
have been shot. lie would certainly have
been captured and his capturer might, in an
impulse Of mapiness, have hanged him. lie
would in either case have died with myriad
stolen muskets on his soul, and the soil
which contemptuous hands heaped over him
would have sprouted with rusty muzzles for
ever.
But this ndoscrbable scouudrol has escap-
ed and interposed certain days between him
and that ultimate reckoning Of which we
wish him joy. Even in the extremity OF
their disaster discomftcd, and
prisoned though they be-his fellows must
find the moral atmosphere surrounding them
rather more bracng for his absence. To
them we offer, sadly as beseems their condi-
tion, congratulations. II would needossly
have aggravated the disoomforts Of their cap
tivity 10 have been taken in such company as
that of Floyd. lie would have radmted a
sense Of burglary, arson. and other money
making misdemeanors throughout the fallen
fortress 1t may be that his escape was with
the connivauce of such of bis brother robels
as are untainted with personal inamy. Fore
seeing their fate, they may have chosen to
make respectable exhibit of effects as
practicable. In which case the instant ejec-
ton of Floyd was matter Of necessity
Whittier wanders the outlaw now I; Per-
haps he threads the lone and desolate savan-
nahs afar from men, aud holdeth wild dis
course with air-drawn professionals carrying
jimmies and skeleton keys-a predatory Lear,
wandering over heath aud fen, n,assailing the ee-
ments for that there were near no pockets to
be picked nor strong boxes to be rifed. -
Perhaps he sits upon the Shiny banks of the
Father of Waters, hailng gunboats fruitless-
ly, and holding d irious discourse with pass
iug aliigators We take it for granted that
he shuus the face of men, in the which he is
never likely to see aught but contemp. and
derision. and that his trivial endowment OF
reason has been disrupted by the perils which
attended his skulkng expedition. Five thou
sand men are said to have accompanied his
flight, but the instinct which led him to re-
treat from the fort doubtless led him to aban-
don his brigade as soon as he had cleared the
loyal outposts.
Let him go. He has earned a curious re-
uown. and if he can live upon such earning
let him live-unti justice brings his neck ac-
quainted with hemp. May his heel still fur
ther protect him from soldiers death
~ \. World