"I have seen a great many men who have gone through--not one has
talked fight. A stand cannot be made in this country! Do not be
induced to try it. As to the trans-Mississippi, I doubt if at first
things will be straight, but the spirit is there, and the daily
accretions will be great when the deluded of this side are crushed
between the upper and nether millstones. But you have not tried the
'strict construction' fallacy. If we are to require a Constitution,
it must be much stretched during our hours of outside pressure if
it covers us at all.
"Be careful how you go to Augusta. I get rumors that Brown is going
to seize all Government property, and the people are averse and mean
to resist with pistols. They are a set of wretches together, and I
wish you were safe out of their land. God bless you, keep you. I
have wrestled with Him for you. I believe He will restore us to
happiness.
"Devotedly,
"Your Wife."
"Kindest regards to Robert, and thanks for faithful conduct. Love
to Johnson and John Wood. Maggie sends you her best love."
The President and his party reached Abbeville on May first, only to find
that his wife had left for Washington, Georgia.
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