Daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, Va. [W. Va.]) 1859-1865, 1863-06-29
Secession Women.


1t is related, in letter which we pub
4 flished the; other day, that the secessionis
women Of Baltimore are in the habit ofri
sing from their knees during worship ii
the Roman Catholic Cathedral at the in.
antiwhsnith priest reeites the prayer 70,
the President of the United States. The
phrase ended, these women resume the
posture Of devotion. as ..- - s.s.....s,.
When the rebel women carry to this
pitch the feeling of loathing and hatred
towards the government, they show. how
sincere is their adherence to the rebellion,
and how malignant is the spirit which
prompts the men whose cause they es.
pouse. From the beginning of the war
down to this day the southern women
have given unmistakable proof of alb
solute esrnestness, often degenera-
ting into disgracefnl exhibitions like
these in the Baltimore Cathedral, and not
unfrequeutly finding more disgusting ex-
preston in unwomanly acts of Violence
Yet General Butler has been censured at
home aud abroad for the measures he
adopted to reduce such women to order,
and northern women are asked by conser-
society which can offend the tender sensi.
biltties of the race known as the "copper"
heads" a ~
The reasons for the issue of the famous
"order No. 49," we may add, are excel
lently given in the last number of the
Atlantic Monthly, by an officer on General
Buffers staff, who was present in New
Orleans when the order was made and en-
enforced The writer shows that the ac-
tion of General Butler was not only re-
quired, but that its effect was salutary.-
We quote passage: -atfa
"That something was necessary to be
done to stop the insuItsFto which we were
continually subjected by the other seq, l
presume no one who is we'll informed as to
their frequene land humiliating character
will for moment doubt. Upon my ar
rival in the city fattered myself that such
demonstrations would excite in me no SEN
timent more serious than pity for the
childishness that prompted them; but !
confess, that, after day or two, the sueers
and coutortions of counteuance, the angry
withholding of the dress from contact
with my person, and the abrupt departure
from the sidewalk to the middle of the
street to. avoid even passing the hated uni
form, were too much for my philosophy,
and gave me a sense of humiliation more
painful than can express, and yet the in
suits received were slight compared TO
those offered to many of our officers and
men. = araa .ai Iss
''This condition of affairs continued
about two weeks, untilit became positive
~ intolerable. -
"Young officers, too gallant, aud too
deeply imbued with the American respect
for women, to resent by word or deed, the
indfguity, would come to the General with
their cheeks crimson with shame and the
effort torepress their just indignation, and
beg him to take some measure for the sup
preston of the evil. le
"Most men would have seen no other So
luton of the difficulty than the arrest and
punishment ofa few of the offenders as
warning to the rest. But Gen. Butler fore
saw, what was afterwards proved to be the
case of Mrs. Laure, that the arrest of WO.
men would invariably provoke street dis
turbance which might lead to bloodshed;
be therefore remembered an old ordinance
of the city of London, republished it in
the form Of the General order which has
gained so universal celebrity.
Scan 1 say anything stronger
in vtodicstion of the propriety of this or
der, or OF the generals sagacity in issuing
it, than that the frat tWenty.four hours
after its promulgatiou witnessed a com
plete, and, it seemed to us who were there,
almost miraculous, change in the deport-
ment Of the ladies of the Crescent Cityi
ltsuccess is the test of merit, then was it
one of the most meritorious acts of the
war" 'a2 !, ~ l,5aT-....sg
The women Of Baltimore seem to be OF
the same kind with the women of New Or
leans, and desire to render themselves
amenabls to similar discipline.