Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER III. Despondencies?A Disconsolate Journey?Relentless Sufferings ?An Invigorating Change?The Walk to the College?Several Prospects for the Future?Mrs. McGee?A young Refugee from Alexandria?Substantial Objections to Exercise?The Heads of the College?Mountain Scenery?The Underground Railway. The day previous to that on which I left Eichmond was excessively warm for the beginning of October. Towards evening a thunder-storm occurred, the air was rapidly cooled, and the rain continued to fall in torrents. The daily report of the early engagement at Manassas, and the onward movement to Washington, that all the world was watching for, had received additional weight by an order, considered significant, from General Beauregard, to remove the sick and disabled from the camps. In the drawing-room was a party of the grumblers inveighing bitterly against the neglect of the Government in not providing accommodations for the sick soldiers, a whole train of whom had just arrived in the city, and were lying about on the sidewalks DESPONDENCIES. 89 and steps of the hospitals, in the pelting rain, while arrangements were being made to receive them. Government had to bear the blame for everything, whereas perhaps the chief cause of half the discomforts and miseries of the country might be attributed to the Institution, which renders labour derogatory, and the white, class dependent. It was heartrending to hear of those poor sufferers, many of whom never could, and never did recover from that untoward thunder-shower. Dismal as the great crowded hotel was, I was departing with many misgivings. Of all the letters that had been despatched, one could not be sure that any would reach their destination; nor could I tell the misery my absence might be causing t…
