, 1864-01-30
A SDicv Letter.

letters, one from a soldier in one of the Cal
ifornia regiments in New Mexico to lady
Of San Jose, to whom he had been engaged
40 be married, but whom he left very uncer-
enormously, enlisted in the army, and never
sent word or note to his afianced for two
long years The lady is now, according to
the Mercury, resident of Sacramento. Her
answer, with a mere change of name is as
follows:
"SIR In your letter. just received by
me-after you have been more than two
years absent, you say: 4 would have writ
zen to you sooner, but we have been march
ing day and night since we left; therefore,
you must excuse me for delaying it so long
A day-and- night march Of two years dura-
tion is performance of such extraordinary
magnitude that you will not think me un
reasonable if, before excusing you, [ require
certificate of the fact from your command
ing officer. You congratulate yourself that
your ambition to 90 to the war makes up
for breaking your promise of marriage to
me. The pure patriotism Of a Union sol
dier is laudable, indeed but man who can
be false to woman is not very likely in my
opinion to be true to his country there
fore, | mistrust that when you enlisted in the
army you were actuated by quite other mo-
tives than laudable ambition to assist the
Government. | suspect that you have been
playing the hypocrite in the army, as you
did in your courtship; and it is only owing
to the fact that your regiment has been kept
among the Apaches that you have not
showed your true colors before this. ex-
pect that as soon as the opportunity occurs
you will desert to the rebels, with such army
secrets as you can take with you. A man
mean enough to desert woman, whom he
has cajoled into loving him, is quite fit to
divulge the love-secrets that were sacred to
her he deceived so, too, you can carry to
the rebels (who will -despise you for your
baseness) the secrets learned while pretend
ing to love and protect your afflicted coun-
try. r .ar a. o..
Your offer to send me four or five hun
dred dollars, 'to keep me until your return,
is probably as sincere as your offer of mar
riage, made so many years ago. What do
you suppose has kept me during the long
time that has elapsed since your deserton
But | need not ask this notwithstanding
that to such as you it must be matter Of
Indifference whether the orphan girl you
RI I'd to marry, has earned a scanty liv-
i'm y drudgery, Or made desperate by neg
lect aud want, soughC her bread by a life of
shame Don't offer money to me, you hypo-
crite; use it instead to pay your passage
back to Ohio, where, for your pas sake, l
trust you will soon return, "a wiser if not
happier man. JENNIE G. BARTON.
p. S.-You will perceive by the signature
that | am married. Your two years silence
does not indicate much anxiety concerning
my welfare yet, while am writing, | may
as well add that | am not only married, but
have baby, the father Of which, is so kind
husband so true to me- and in every way
so worthy Of my respect and affection, that
cannot think of him and you in connection
without deyouty thanking God that my
baby is not your baby" j. Z. B.
A REBEL COLONEL ON "PEAcE."--A
story was published in the New York pa
pers some days since, representing Col r.
G. Hill as telling Gen. Custer, under a flag
of truce at Fredericksburg, that "there
would soon be peace" adding certain rea-
sons in support of the prophecy. The
whole Of the statement, as was supposed at
the time, turns out to be false The Rich
mond Sentinel, of the 10Th ut., publishes
card from Col Robert G. Hill of the For
ty-eighth North Carolina Regiment, in
which he says he had an interview with
Gen. Custer, as stated, on the 18th of Au-
gust, but that it had reference to picket f.
ring opposite Fredericksburg, and nothing
at all was said as to peace Colonel Hill
adds i: al am opposed to peace on any
terms short Of a submission of the Federals
tosuch terms as we may dictate which, in
my opinion, should be Mason's and Dixon's
line as boundary, the exclusive navigation of
the Mississippi below Cairo, full indemnity
for all the negroes stolen and property de-
strOyed, the restoration of Fortress Monroe,
Jefferson, Key West, and other stronghods
which may have fallen into their possession
during the war If they are unwilling to
accede to these terms, propose an indefinite
continuance of the war until the now existing
fragments of the old Union break to pieces
from mere rottenness and want of cohesion,
when we will step in as the only frst-class
power on the western hemisphere, and take
possession OF the pieces as subJugated prov
nces."
FORCIBLE LETTERS. An ingenious person.
has discovered that the three most forcible
letters of our alphabet are N r c. that the
two which contain nothing are NJ T; that
four express great corpulence o B G T
that two are in a decline, D X that four
indicate exalted station, X L N G, and
three excite our tears, yet, when pronounced
together are necessary to a good understand
ing-L Z G.
Hawthorne says that in his Consular ex-
perience, the way he detected counterfeit
Yankees was by the pronunciation of the
word "been," which the English invaribly
made to rhyme with green, and the norther-
ners as invarbly pronounced bin"