_Oct. 22, 1861._--When I came to breakfast this morning Rob was capering
over another victory--Ball's Bluff. He would read me, "We pitched the
Yankees over the bluff," and ask me in the next breath to go to the
theater this evening. I turned on the poor fellow: "Don't tell me about
your victories. You vowed by all your idols that the blockade would be
raised by October 1, and I notice the ships are still serenely anchored
below the city."
"G., you are just as pertinacious yourself in championing your opinions.
What sustains you when nobody agrees with you?"