Scope and Contents West responds to Stilson's letter of 24 December, above. Discusses the character of the regimental surgeon Benjamin Kneeland; speculates on the emergence of a military dictator ("I can very easily conceive of circumstances quite possible to us, when a Caesar would be welcome and necessary, viz: When the Government . . . shall have lost the confidence of the people and become weak and powerless, and it only is a question whether a Northern general or a Southern general shall conquer and rule...