It seems that he is a grandson of Emanuel Benjamin, our uncle, and is therefore second cousin to us. I have been very much pleased with him, and am greatly indebted to him for the unwearied kindness and attention with which he set himself to work to supply my numberless wants when I arrived at Nassau. He was the chief clerk of Mr. Heyliger, who was the agent of the Confederate government at Nassau, and is an excellent man of business, as well as a gentleman in manners, feelings, and deportment. Every one in Nassau spoke of him in high terms, and I beg, my love, that you give him a warm and cordial welcome for my sake. I am quite taken with him.

Since my arrival here, General Kirby Smith has arrived from Mexico, but is unable to give me any news of my dear Joe and Lionel. I am quite anxious to hear of them, and beg that you will not fail to give me any news of them, as well as of our poor forlorn sisters, by the very first mail for Liverpool. If you give your letters to Mr. Benjamin, he will know how to forward them without fear of their being intercepted. I trust that Sis and Hatty have been able to reach New Orleans in safety, and I take it for granted that they would return there as their best refuge. From what I have learned since my arrival here I have very strong reason for believing that I have saved about 600 bales of cotton, and in that event I will have no difficulty in providing for them so as to place them above

want.

I did not write you in my last of the narrow escape I had from water-spouts when in my little boat at sea. I had never seen a water-spout, and often expressed a desire to be witness of so striking a phenomenon. I got, however, more than I bargained for. On the night before I reached Bemini, after a day of intense heat, the entire horizon was black with squalls. We took in our sail, unstepped the mast, and as we were on soundings, we let go the anchor in order to ride out the squalls in safety. They were forming all around us, and as there was no wind, it was impossible to tell which of them would strike us. At about nine o'clock, however, a very heavy, lurid cloud in the west dipped down toward the sea, and in a single minute two large water-spouts were formed, and the wind began blowing furiously directly toward us, bringing the water

spouts in a straight line for our boat. They were at the distance of a couple of miles, and did not seem to travel very fast. The furious whirl of the water could be distinctly heard, as in a long waving column that swayed about in the breeze and extended from the ocean up into the cloud, the spouts advanced in their course. If they had struck us we would have been swamped in a second, but before they reached us the main squall was upon us with such a tremendous blast of wind and rain combined that it was impossible to face the drops of water which were driven into our eyes with such violence as to compel us instantly to turn our backs to it, while it seemed that the force of the wind was so great that it would press our little boat bodily down into the sea. The waves were not high, the strength of the blast being such as to keep the surface of the water compressed. On turning our backs to this tremendous squall, judge of our dismay on seeing another water-spout formed in another squall in the east, also traveling directly towards us, although the wind was blowing with such fury from the west. There must have been contrary currents at different heights in the air, and we had scarcely caught sight of this new danger, when the two spouts first seen passed our boat at a distance of about one hundred yards (separated from each other by about a quarter of a mile), tearing up the whole surface of the sea as they passed, and whirling it furiously into the clouds, with a roar such as is heard at the foot of Niagara Falls. The western blast soon reached the spout that had been coming toward us from the east and checked its career. It wavered and broke, and the other two spouts continued their awful race across the ocean until we lost sight of them in the blackness of the horizon. A quarter of an hour after, all was calm and still, and our boat was lazily heaving and setting on the long swell of the Bahama Sea. It was a scene and picture that has become photographed on my brain, and that I can never forget.

We are all in intense anxiety on the subject of our honored and noble chief, Jefferson Davis. By the last accounts there was every probability that those in power at Washington would succeed in getting rid of him by the tortures inflicted on him in prison, and that the delay in trying him was intended to give time for this moral assassination. No nobler gentleman,

no purer man, no more exalted patriot ever drew breath; and eternal infamy will blacken the base and savage wretches who are now taking advantage of their brief grasp of power to wreak a cowardly vengeance on his honored head.

On looking over the New Orleans papers I see that many of our old friends are returning, and I specially note that Payne, Huntington & Co. have resumed business. Don't fail to let me know if my dear friend Wash [Huntington] is in New Orleans, and if so, give him a thousand memories of love and friendship for me, and say that I will write to him from Liverpool. You can read to him those parts of my letters that don't refer to family affairs.

I long, dearest, beyond expression to see you all once more, and to have your darling chicks gathered round the knee of 'Uncle Ben.' You must write me fully about them all, as well as about your own health, and dear Kitt's health and purposes --whether he is going into business, etc., etc.

JUDAH P. BENJAMIN TO MISS BENJAMIN

[From "The Life of Judah P. Benjamin,' by Pierce Butler, in the American Crisis Biographies. Copyright, 1906, George W. Jacobs and Company, Philadelphia. Used here by permission.]

LONDON, August 10, 1872.

I HAVE had high professional promotion lately. A number of the judges united in recommending to the Lord Chancellor that I should have a 'patent of precedence,' which gives me rank above all future Queen's Counsel and above all Sergeants at Law (except two or three who already have such patents), and Her Majesty upon the transmission of this recommendation by the Lord Chancellor, who endorsed it, was pleased to issue her warrant directing that such a patent should be granted to me.

I have received it in person from the Lord Chancellor at his own house, and he gave it to me with some very flattering expressions. I need hardly say that as the law journals and the Times have contained some articles on the subject it will be of immense value to me in my profession in various ways, both in increased income and in greater facility of labor; for you must know that a 'leader' who has a patent of precedence

has not half as hard work as a 'junior,' because it is the business of the junior to do all the work connected with the pleadings and preparation of a cause, and the leader does nothing but argue and try the causes after they have been completely prepared for him.

As the ladies always want to know all the details of ceremonies, I will say for the gratification of the feminine mind that my patent of precedence is engrossed on parchment, and to it is annexed the great seal, which is an enormous lump of wax as large and thick as a muffin, enclosed in a tin box, and the whole together contained in a red morocco box highly ornamented. As nothing of this kind is ever done under a monarchy without an endless series of charges, etc., it cost me about £80, or $400, to pay for stamps, fees, presents to servitors, etc., etc. Now for the reverse side of the medal.

I have now to wear a full bottomed wig, with wings falling down on my shoulders, and knee breeches and black silk stockings and shoes with buckles, and in this ridiculous array, in my silk gown, to present myself at the next levee of Her Majesty to return thanks for her gracious kindness. In the same dress I am also to be present at the grand breakfast which the Lord Chancellor gives to Her Majesty's Judges and to the leaders of the bar every year in October (at the end of the month), when the Michaelmas Term begins. Fortunately, I have three months. for bracing up my nerves to the trial of making myself such an object, and as it is usual to have photographs made of one's self on these occasions I will send some to enable you all to laugh at 'how like a monkey brother looks in that hideous wig.'

Before I forget it, I must just mention that I don't want anything of this sort that I write for the family to get into the papers, for if it were repeated here, it would be known that such details must have originated with me, and I should be suspected, to my great mortification, of writing puffs of myself, than which nothing is deservedly regarded with more contempt. Of course, the fact of my promotion being announced could do no harm, but none of the details which could come only from me must get into the papers.

THOMAS HART BENTON TO JAMES P. PRESTON

[From The Life of Thomas Hart Benton,' by Wm. M. Meigs. Copyright, 1904, 1906, J. B. Lippincott Company. Used here by permission.]

MY VERY DEAR FRIEND:

ST. LOUIS, Nov. 14th, 1819.

Our fine country here is becoming a New Virginia. Vast numbers are arriving from the Parent state; but it would not seem like Virginia to me without some Prestons in it; and happily our friend William Campbell has just consummated an event which determines his happiness, and fixes his fate on the banks of the Missouri. I shall hope to see many follow him, even yourself, at least for a visit, which may be easily made with the help of steam boats, now swarming on the Ohio and Mississippi, or in a carriage which would find in our prairies plains for rolling over, more beautiful and extended than Asia itself could boast.

You know what I told you when I parted from you in that temple dedicated to Felicity on the summit of the Allegheny, that I was going forth as an adventurer to begin on a new theatre, and to endeavor to lay with my own hands some foundation of character and fortune. I did so. I crossed the Mississippi on a Sunday evening, four hundred dollars in my pocket, and nobody ahead that I had ever seen before, my law reading to revise and the French language to learn. Heaven has been kind to me for it has given me health to perform in my office, and in the circle of my wants, the labors of a galley slave, and in four years I am comfortably established. If I had brought with me twenty or thirty thousand dollars; I should have been worth to-day from a quarter to half a million. For I had seen enough of the world to see things as they were, and as they would be. I came among people who could not believe it possible that ground about St. Louis, then selling for thirty dollars an acre, should sell at this day for two thousand; but I did believe, nay knew it, and daily saw splendid fortunes passing in review before me, and falling into the hands of those who look a few days ahead. Nor have these times entirely passed away. Our country still presents the finest theatre in America. Our lands are yet cheap, and advance in price while sinking everywhere else. Our towns flourish while so many