loo CONFEDERATE PORTRAITS
Chancellor Sully, three centuries ago, sat by and heard his secretary chant his master's astonishing glory to his face. But the Roman-Beauregard partnership takes in- contestably the lead of all of them. In an introductory paragraph the general guarantees all his biographer's statements — except those complimentary. The excep- tion might really have been dispensed with.
As one brief specimen of the way the method works take an extract from a letter addressed to the commander- in-chief in regard to Shiloh. " An order was sent quickly along the lines, informing the men that you should ride in front of them and that no cheering should be indulged in. You passed in front of the lines, and never was an order so reluctantly obeyed as was this order, ' No cheer- ing, men ! ' which had to be repeated at every breath, and enforced by continuous gesture. General Johnston's prestige was great, but the hearts of the soldiers were with you, and your presence awakened an enthusiasm and confidence magical in its effect." ^^
Pages and pages of this sort of thing, with the vivid image of the subject of it smiling and nodding his modest approval, produce the most singular impression on the reader's nerves.
In much the same way, Beauregard's own little book on the first battle of Bull Run is written throughout in the third person, perhaps with the genuine intention of being more modest, but with the practical result of being much less so.
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