"Mrs. E., do you recognize the letter as yours?"
"And those are your sentiments, as therein expressed, toward our cause, Madam?" again said the General.
"The letter reads so, General, and it would be cowardly in me to deny, now under fear, what I then said without fear. I was frank then, and will not be less so now. Those were, and are, my sentiments; though little did I think, or intend harm, by the letter, to the Confederacy when writing it, and in forwarding it to friends in the North; as it was strictly a private letter to private friends, disconnected with any motive to inflict injury upon the country. Nor can I see or feel that the offense is a penal one in any sense, so long as I am found guilty of neither constructive nor actual treason, by aiding or abetting the enemy, furnishing him material aid or contraband information, nor of the possession of treasonable motives, expressed or implied, waiting the opportune moment to display themselves, or something more than mere feelings or convictions, which are certainly involuntary things, and hence without responsibility. Feelings and convictions, permit me to suggest, General, are like birds flying over one's head, for which one is not responsible. One is only responsible for willful action, in obedience to these feelings and convictions. I will not urge, General, the further consideration, that your prisoner is a woman, without pretension, whose sphere of action is confined exclusively to the domestic circle, including some little experience in literary matters. But of all this you must and will be the judge, of course, and I must submit to your judgment and consequent orders in the premises, but I would respectfully beg to be spared from sustaining damages, either corporal or incorporal, on the plain principle of justice, that where one has neither done nor intended damage to others, he should not be damaged himself."
The General replied, though not without some misgiving: "My dear Madam, you defend yourself capitally well, and I perceive you are not only an intelligent lady, and hence, on this score, we fear you in our cause all the more, if disposed on seeming occasion, to do damage, which is liable to come at any time by the accidents of war, but I feel bound to say that I believe that you are a well-meaning lady, though not patriotic toward the country of your adoption. But, Madam, occupying the responsible position I do, I am bound to discard personal feeling, and take notice of facts, both actual and possible, and not be a respecter of persons, but have my country's weal and prosperity before me, and remove with scrupulous care all obstacles thereto, even the least.