"  The  case  of  the  gentleman  just  mentioned  is  an  example  of
many  others,  and  it  meets  every  element  in  a  definition  of  despot-
ism. If  it  should  occur  in  England  it  would  be  righted,  or  it
would  overturn  the  British  Empire.  He  is  a  citizen  and  native
of  Kentucky.  As  a  member  of  the  Legislature,  Speaker  of  the
House,  Representative  in  Congress  from  the  Ashland  district,  and
Governor  of  the  State,  you  have  known,  trusted,  and  honored  him
during  a  public  service  of  a  quarter  of  a  century.  He  is  eminent
for  his  ability,  his  amiable  character,  and  his  blameless  life.  Yet
this  man,  without  indictment,  without  warrant,  without  accusation,
but  by  the  order  of  President  Lincoln,  was  seized  at  midnight,  in
his  own  house,  and  in  the  midst  of  his  own  family,  and  led  through
26


402      RISE   AND  FALL  OF  THE   CONFEDERATE   GOVERNMENT.
the  streets  of  Louisville,  as  I  am  informed,  with  his  hands  crossed
and  pinioned  before  him — was  carried  out  of  the  State  and  dis-
trict, and  now  lies  a  prisoner  in  a  fortress  in  New  York  Harbor,  a
thousand  miles  away.  .  ..
"  The  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  which  these  invaders
unconstitutionally  swear  every  citizen  whom  they  unconstitution-
ally seize  to  support,  has  been  wholly  abolished.  It  is  as  much
forgotten  as  if  it  lay  away  back  in  the  twilight  of  history.  The
facts  I  have  enumerated  show  that  the  very  rights  most  carefully
reserved  by  it  to  the  States  and  to  individuals  have  been  most
conspicuously  violated.  .  .  .     Your  fellow-citizen,

(Signed)  "John  C.  Breckinridge."

Such  was  the  "  neutrality  "  suffered  by  the  Confederacy  from
governments  both  at  home  and  abroad.
