“The quality of mercy is not strain’d
    It droppeth, as the gentle rain from heaven
    Upon the place beneath; it is twice blessed,
    It blesseth him that gives and him that takes: 
    ’Tis mightiest in the mightiest; it becomes
    The crowned monarch better than his crown:” 

and in performing an act of charity you bless yourself as well as the one who is benefited by such charity.

We shall now close our remarks with the hope that the reader will appreciate the motive which prompted the writing of this book.  As will be seen, it has no plot—­it never was intended to have any.  The Author intended merely to write a simple narrative when he commenced this work, and to place before the public in the most agreeable form of reading, a subject of vital importance to the Confederacy, and to impress upon the minds of the wealthy their duty to the poor.  He knows not whether he has succeeded in the latter hope, and he could have wished that some other pen had taken up the subject and woven it into a tale that could have had a better and more lasting effect than the foregoing is likely to have.  Nevertheless he trusts that all his labor is not lost, but that some attention will be paid to his words and a kinder feeling be manifested towards refugees and the poor than has hitherto been shown.  If this be done then nothing but the happiest results can follow, and the blessings of thousands, the heartfelt blessings of thousands on earth, will follow those who aid in the work of charity, called for by the present emergency, and from the celestial realms the voice of God will be heard thanking His children on earth for their kindness to their fellow mortals.

* * * * *

For the publication of this work the Author has to thank the kind proprietor of the “Atlanta Intelligencer,” Col.  Jared I. Whitaker.  To this gentleman is he indebted for being able to present the work to the public, and to him does the Author extend his sincere thanks.  In Col.  Whitaker the Confederacy has one son who, uncontaminated by the vile weeds of mortality which infest us, still remains pure and undefiled, and, not only the obligations due from the author are hereby acknowledged, but as one who has witnessed the whole souled charity of this gentleman, we can record of him the possession of a heart, unswayed by a sordid motive.  To this gentleman are the thanks of the author tendered, with the wish that he may live many long years to reap the reward due to those, who, like himself, are ever foremost in deeds of charity and benevolence.

END OF APPENDIX