I had been trying in my letters to present the political
situation and issues fairly, and was beginning to feel that they
_must_ understand, when I received a copy of my paper from Copenhagen
and read there a "life" of General Butler, which condensed, ran
something like this:--
"Mr. Butler was an ambitious young lawyer, shrewd and full of bold
schemes for enriching himself. When the war with the South broke
out, he raised all the money he could and fitted out a fleet of
privateers. With this he sailed for New Orleans, captured the city,
and, collecting all the silver spoons it contained, freighted his
vessels with them, and returned to the North. Thus he laid the
foundation for his great fortune, but achieved lasting unpopularity
in the South, which will prevent his election to the Presidency."
I am not joking. That was how the story of the silver spoons looked
in Danish a quarter of a century after the war. Really, now, what
would you have done? I laughed and--well! made remarks by turns,
and in the end concluded that there was nothing else that could be
done except buckle to and try again; which I did.
Pages:
404
405
406
407
408
409
410
411
412
413
414
415
416
417
418
419
420
421
422
423
424
425
426
427
428