Who Said This?

[RJNorton]

I think I will give the answer as I feel I may not have asked a fair question. Please forgive. The answer comes from p. 134 of Henry Mallon's Henry and Clara. The words were allegedly written by Henry Rathbone in a letter to Clara Harris written March 29, 1862. Mallon's book is historical fiction. At the end of the book Mallon writes, "Nearly all the extracts from letters and journals that appear in the text are made up, but in places quotations from actual material are included. So did Mallon make up Rathbone's words or did he use actual material? I do not know with absolute certainty. Because of all the research Mallon did for this book, I think these were most likely Rathbone's real feelings. I tend to doubt Mallon made it up from scratch as I am thinking Mallon must have learned of Rathbone's feelings toward Willie Lincoln's death somewhere in the literature he studied in preparation for writing his book.