He turned his hollow cheeks to Benjamin with no
attempt to mask the agony of his spirit, slowly rose and motioned him to
a chair.
The Secretary lifted his hand.
"I'm restless. If you don't mind, I'll stand. I have marked three
editorial attacks on you and your administration in three of the most
powerful newspapers in the South--the Richmond _Examiner_, the Raleigh
_Standard_ and the Charleston _Mercury_--read them please--and then I
have something to say!"
The President seated himself and read each marked sentence with care.
"The same old thing, Benjamin--only a little more virulent this
time--what of it?"
"This! The success of our cause demands the suppression of these reptile
sheets and the imprisonment of their editors--"
"Would success be worth having if we must buy it at the cost of the
liberties of our people?"
Benjamin stopped short in his tracks. He had been walking back and forth
with swift panther-like tread.
"We are at war, Mr. President--fierce, savage, cruel, it's going to be.
You have realized this from the first. The world will demand of us just
one thing--success in arms. With this we win all. Lose this and we lose
all--our liberties and a great deal more. Our coast is pierced now at
regular intervals to the mouth of the Mississippi River--at Fortress
Monroe in Virginia--the entire inland waters of North Carolina, Port
Royal, South Carolina, Florida's line has been broken.
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