I Only Wanted To Help My People.

Fortune Has Played Me A Sad Trick By Letting Me Live On And On.

The Secession Of The Southern States, Individually Or In The Aggregate, Was The Certain Consequence Of Mr. Lincoln's Election.

Meanwhile, My Residence Within The Federal Lines, And My Acquaintance With So Many Of The Officers, The Origin Of Which I Have Already Mentioned, Enabled Me To Gain Much Important Information As To The Position And Designs Of The Enemy.

If It Is A Crime To Love The South, Its Cause And Its President, Then I Am A Criminal. I Would Rather Lie Down In This Prison And Die Than Leave It Owing Allegiance To A Government Such As Yours.

I Firmly Believe That In This Fiery Ordeal, In This Suffering, Misery, And Woe, The South Is But Undergoing A Purification By Fire And Steel That Will, In Good Time, And By God's Decree, Work Out Her Own Independence.