Benjamin's letter to Thompson -Mar. 1865

[John Stanton]

Some thoughts on this letter.
Item 1. No comment here, This is a necessary fund and a small dent in the bank Balance.
Item 2. What kind of a devilish scheme could the Rev. K. J. Stewart have proposed that would cause the Confederacy to pull out their support -completely. His proposal was approved in Richmond and he went to Canada to begin operation and oops! he's out the door.
Item 3. I have no idea who this might be. A little more research is needed.
Item 4. No comment - sensible.
Item 5. This one is the doozie. President Davis was very ill at this time and Benjamin ran the government without disturbing the Patient. Thus, he had a lot of confidential information to work with. Was he anticipating the fall of the Confederacy and setting himself up with a fortune. When Benjamin escaped from the South (which only he and Breckenridge managed to do) he had special pockets sewed into his clothes where he secreted GOLD. When he got to the other side of the Atlantic, he didn't go see his wife and daughter in Paris -who he hadn't seen in 5 years, he went to Liverpool to claim his nest egg. In reading about Benjamin's life, this is contrary to all he had done before. He was a Happy man who took good care of his sisters and their families. I wish I knew why the change.
Item 6. This appears to be an honorable effort. No comment
Item 7. Thompson called his wife to Canada and they toured Europe for two years before returning to the South. They lived in memphis. I have read the he SUPPORTED Davis for several years. Davis lived in Mississippi.
As for the "ad", I'm looking for it. I have a number that is purported to be the Balance, but it is in Pounds, pence, shillings, which I cannot decipher. (The amount is shown in one of Cameron's letters, IT HAS TO BE A BUNDLE.)
Have any questions? Is this all "News" to you?