"The case was ordered to Mr. Wise for special consideration, which he cordially promised to give.
"As I left the committee-room I could not help congratulating myself over the ill-omened beginning, since it had resulted toward a relation of the work far more complete than had otherwise been the case.
"That day I saw the aged invalid for the first time. She is a most remarkable woman still. I heard from her own lips the story I knew so well, but rendered more thrilling than ever as thus repeated; and I had the happiness of telling her that I believed her case was now in safe hands.
"Not long after, through the unseating of Mr. Wise, of Virginia, Hon. Francis W. Rockwell, of this State, received the case as sub-committee. In view of this we ought to be even more hopeful, since his colleagues, Messrs. Hoar and Lodge, have put forth so many efforts in its furtherance.—Boston Sunday Herald, February, 1890.
Abby M. Gannett.
The Century magazine, which had been publishing an exhaustive account of "the men who fought and planned our battles," was appealed to in the name of historical verity to give an account of Miss Carroll's work. Having had the matter under consideration for more than a year and having convinced themselves of the truth of the claim, they published, in August of 1890, an open letter bringing the case to the attention of their readers. A public-spirited lady of Washington purchased copies and laid the marked article on the desks of Senators and Representatives, with the same invariable result. But though Congress disregarded the matter, not so the reading public, and inquiries began to be made for further information, which it was difficult to furnish for want of an easily attainable printed account. It was therefore determined to meet this demand, and the present relation is the result.
In consequence of the petitions continually received, friendly Senators and Representatives have again and again brought in bills asking for $10,000, or even $5,000, for Miss Carroll's relief (invariably neglected).
Such bills, though very kindly meant, seem to me a mistake. It is not a question of $5,000 or $500,000. It is—it always has been—a question of recognition.
Granted that this wonderful woman by the intense labor of heart and brain, by her whole-souled devotion of life and fortune, has saved the national cause—for the thousands upon thousands of precious lives laid down would have been of no avail had the plan adopted at the crisis of fate been an unwise one—this granted, a noble bill might be acted upon by Congress, but an ignoble one—never. Whatever may be our faults, we are at heart a proud and self-respecting people, and no paltry bill would be endured, and no bill which did not award military honor for pre-eminent military services could meet the case with justice and with dignity.
Although weighed down with an immense mass of obsolete law and custom, shall we say that England leads the van in integrity of principle and devotion to human rights? Although the doctrine of divine right was exploded long ago, England loyally holds to her Queen.