There are several young officers who have sheathed the
sword, and propose to draw the pen in the civil service.
To-day I asked of the department a month's respite from
labor, and obtained it. But I remained in the city, and watched closely, still
hoping I might serve the cause, or at least prevent more injury to it, from the
wicked facility hitherto enjoyed by spies to leave the country.
SOURCE: John Beauchamp Jones, A Rebel War Clerk's
Diary at the Confederate States Capital, Volume 1, p. 119
