From the Richmond Dispatch, 10/7/1861, p. 2, c. 4

Humor of Prison Life. – A few days ago a number of the fellow-prisoners of Congressman Ely, in this city, desirous of bestowing upon that ex-honorable some token of personal respect and veneration, procured a wooden sword, to which they attached a rope sash, and presented the trappings of war to him with due form and ceremony. The recipient of the unexpected honor is said to have been quite overpowered by the demonstration; but, soon recovering his mental equilibrium, he mounted “the stump” and made a speech, in which there was a good deal of fun and a lingering shadow of the American flag, but nary trace of Black Republicanism, so far as we can learn. The affair passed off with éclat, and the whole party subsequently partook of the usual hospitalities of the prison. The committee appointed to request a copy of the speech for publication have not yet reported.

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