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About Weekly constitutionalist. (Augusta, Ga.) 185?-1877 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 8, 1866)
iJDecklt) Constitutionalist. BY STOCKTON k 00. OCR TERMS. The following are the rates of Subscription and Ad vertising in the Cosstitctiosalist : TTiult-3 Months $ 75 6 Months 1 50 TERMS FOR ADVERTISEMENTS: $1 per Square for Ist insertion, and 75 cents for each additional time. Special Notices will be charged 25 per cent, on the above rates. [From the N. Y. Herald Corfespendence. The Conspiracy to Hang Jeff. Davis. My disclosure a few days ago of portions of the evidence educed by the Judiciary Commit tee of the House of Representatives developing the diabolical conspiracy of certain radicals to implicate Jeff Davis, by means of bogus wit nesses. in the assassination of President Lin coln, and procure his trial and conviction by a military tribunal, occasioned in diverse circles here a variety of sensations and exuberancy of expression, both serious and amusing. The little bout in the House to-day between Bout well, of Massachusetts, and Jack Rogers, of New Jersey, members of the said committee, resnlting from the refusal of the former to allow the latter access to the testimony and papers before the committee, because, as Mr. Boutwell declared, some important portions of them had been communicated tp and published in the New York Herald, has intensified the interest excited by my letter; and furnished “confirma tion strong as proofs of Holy Writ” that my disclosures, astonishing as they were, were per fectly correct. The secesh who sympathize with Davis and regard him as a martyr of a holy cause are highly incensed, and vow vengeance on the conspirators the moment theit names shall transpire. All honorable men—Republicans as well as Democrats—are indignant at the cow ardly attempt to murder Mr. Davis by a mili tary commission and false testimony, and de mand that the guilty parties shall be rigorous ly dealt with, if there is any law to reach their offense. The numerous Radicals who are ever ready to justify any excess committed by any of their faction are cbagrinned and grieved at the denoument, and affect to doubt, the guilt of their fellows, but declare that if they did as charged the end in view justified the means, and that it is sometimes necessary to do evil in order thatgood may come. The conspirators themselves, or such of them as are here, are in tensely alarmed, if one may judge from the long faces they wear and the extra attentions they bestowed on the members of the Judicia ry Committee for several days 6uceeeding-my disclosures, and are now daily bestowing on Mr. Boutwell. The committee itself, at least the Republican members thereof, are enraged at the unauthorized publication of their pro ceedings and the testimony aq'd papers before them, which Mr. Boutwell avers they used great efforts to keep secret, and declared that either “ The walls have ears ” or that the Her. aid employs spirit correspondents, who move about unseen in all their caucuses and com mittee rooms, appropriating their secrets, or else that somebody has outrageously betrayed their confidence. Several parties, reporters and others, have been suspected of perfidy, and severely questioned. But the suspicion of more than one member has fallen on Mr. Ro gers, who, from the beginning of the investi gation, has been satisfied of Mr. Davis’ inno cence, and endeavored, by a rigorous cross-ex amination of the witnesses to impair their tes timony. It is'quite pjobable that the zealous efforts of Mr. Rogers to acquit Davis, whom one of the committee has provokingly denominated his “ client,” has contributed in some measure to uuravel and break down the conspiracy ; but it is certain that the Herald is not indebted to the New Jersey gentleman for the informa tion it has promulgated apd is about to add in regard to this interesting and mysterious affair. JACK SOGERS IS NOT A HERALD REPORTER. The suspicion that Mr. Rogers had furnished the startling intelligence to tlm Herald , and bis subsequent einployament of a rebel phonogra pher to assist him in examining the testimony and papers, furnished Mr. Boutwell with a plausible pretext for refusing him access to the records, especially as some of the papers in cus tody of the committee were “ confidential papers of the War Department and could not safely be exposed to general examination.”, THE CONFIDENTIAL PAPERS OP THE WAP. DE PARTMENT. , The “ confidential papers,” however, I have high and unmistakable authority for stating, are nothing more or less than the depositions of “Campbell” and “Snevel,” already pub lished in the Herald , and of other bogus wit nesses made for the Bureau of Military Justice, and ot a stale letter found in the archives of the rebel War Department addressed by a soldier to Jeff Davis, proposing to dispose of Lincoln & Cos., if authority and means were furnished him by the Government to carry out his plans, together with a letter from Davis to Jake Thompson, rebel agent in Canada, expressing impatience that a certain project—not named, hut supposed by some tp be the assassination oi Lincoln and his Cabinet —bad not been car ried out, and urging immediate action in the matter. These are the only papers in the tody of the committee that by any construction or distortion can be made to bear in the slight est degree against Mr. Davis. BOGUS WITNESSES. Campbell and Snevel, who, it had been dis covered by the friends of Davis, had made lalse depositions for the Bureau of Military Justice, implicating the accused, were, by a splendid manmuvre—a sort of a flank movement —in- duced to go before the committee and acknow ledge that their depositions were a tissue of lies irom beginning to eud. Bnt the other witnesses for the said Bureau, who Campbell declares *ere bogus like himself, were not brought be mre the committee to sustain their depositions and submit to a cross-examination by Mr. Ro- Scrs ; and as Campbell had confessed himself to , e a perjured scoundrel, the committee have a n ?ht to reject his assertfcn that the other win- are bogus like himself, and to believe iteir depositions, which depositions form the important “confidential papers of the »ar Department” that the committee have in Land. BOGUB EVIDENCE OF JOHN PATTEN. . of these deposition makers are men call themselves John Patten aud F. B. Wright, ae former, in his deposition, says that he is a of Georgia, and is well acquainted with inf a . v ' s 1 that durieg the war he was engaged mrnishing provisions and stores fqr the rebel having been excused from militory ser 0n furnishing a substitute ; that la the lat -r part of June, 1863, an acquantance: of his 3ma ri also from the state of Georgia, him that he (Lamar) was about to Vri ?P on an enterprise which if successful oaid immortalize and enrich all who engaged !•: and at the same time invited deponent to AUGUSTA, GA., WEDNESDAY MORNING, AUGUST 8, 1866. join him ; tliat at deponent’s request Lamar ex plained the nature of the enterprise, which was to kidnap or kill President Lincoln ; that de ponent then inquired what plan had been de vised and whether the Government was cogni zant of or had authorized the preject; that La mar replied that several high officers of the Government were aware of and applauded it, and that he was assured by General Winder that Presideut Davis also approved it; that he (Lamar) was to have an interview with Davis the following day, when he would present his plans and learn his (Davis’) decision. That deponent promised to enter into the scheme if the President should sanction it, and on the next day accompanied Lamar and Winder to Davis’ office; that Lamar submitted a written plan for kidnapping Lincoln, and for killing him if it should be found impossible to carry him off alive; that Davis, after reading the plan; said he had never doubted that a small party of brave men could attack Lincoln in his strong hold and kill him, and perhaps make him prisoner and run him into the Confederate lines, but that he had felt some doubts whether such a proceeding would he recognized by the civilized world as honorable warfare ; and as the emergency had not in his judgment arisen for resorting to such extreme measures he had dismissed several similar propositions without serious consideration ; but that recent ly the enemy had committed the most barba rous outrages and shown an utter disregard of the laws of nations and the laws of war, and that he now felt not only justifiable in adopting the measure proposed, but that he would prove recreant to his duty to reject any scheme, how ever harsh, calculated to lay the enemy at his feet, or bring him to honorable terms of peace ; that he (Davis) further observed that since this subject was first mooted before him he had be come fully convinced on mature study and re flection that the President ot the United States being the commander-in-chief of the army, it would be as proper and as fully in accordance with the laws of war to send a small party within the enemy’s lines to capture or kill him as to do the samd by any of his officers or sol diers ; that he then complimented the plan submitted by Lamar and expressed the opinion that if it were resolutely, acted upon success would be certain ; that reference was then made to the subject of money to carry out the plot, when Davis said he would arrange that fiiatter with General Winder, who would furnish from time to time such sums as might be required ; that deponent and Lamar then left, and on the afternoon of the same day received a consider able sum of money from Winder and entered on the desperate business ; (hat they engaged a number of reckless, but reliable men, who were to work themselves through the Federal lilies and take quarters in Baltimore and Georgetown and wait until called upon for action ; that sev eral days after said interview with Davis one of the parties associated with deponent and La mar, named McCullough, was arrested on the charge of betraying their secret; that deponent and Lamar aud another associate named Powell (supposed to be Payne, Avho was executed with Mrs. Surratt) called at Gen. Winder’s of fice to learn the facts in the case, and were there informed that the General had just gone to Da vis’ quarters in regard to McCullough’s case, whereupon deponent and his companions also repaired to Davis office; that they found Winder there, with the detective who arrested McCul-’ lough, and that said detective was in the act of explaining to Davis the circumstances under Which he made the arrest: that Davis then said to deponent and Lamar that it was to be re gretted that they had associated with them in so important an enterprise a person of Mc- Cullough’s habits, and that he hoped they had confided in no more of the same character ; that the blockade runners who had heard M’Cul loiigh’s boasts might be Yankee spies, as many of their class were, and that he feared the pro ject might be communicated to the authorities at-Washington and frustrated ; that' the utmost haste must be used in putting the scheme into execution or failure would be certain ; that the blow should be struck at once; that General Winder, who was in a rage over the conduct of McCullough, added, “Yes, you must strike at once ; bring the d—d baboon here, dead or alive, as soon as possible; if you can’t fetch his whole carcass bring his d—d scalp that Davis, with a smile, interrupted Winder, observing, “Gen tlemen, you will not forget the directions I have already given you. I prefer that you should, if possible, capture Mr. Lincoln and bring him within our lines without harming a hair of his head; but if you find it impossible to capture him, it is your duty to destroy him if you can reach him the same as you would any officer or soldier in his service; and if you succeed in making him prisoner and find there is danger of his being recaptured, you will take care that he does not return to Washington alive; but let me again adjure you to lose no time; ifaknowl edge of your intentions reach Washington, your labors will be in vain ; and the surrender of Vicksburg to Grant, ahd the defeat of Lee in Pennsylv.fria, who is being driven back on our eapitol, render it necessary, as perhaps the only means of saving the country, that the enterprise should be carried out at once; go on, and if successful, you will be failed as the saviors of your country, add receive unbounded rewards;” that deponent then said that they were prepar ed to strike as soon as they could get North with the balance of their party, who were already engaged and eager to start, bnt that they should require more money for operations when they should get to Washington; Davis replied, “Yes, that is all right; that the General (referringto Winder) would see to that;” that on the same day Winder furnished them with a large sum of money, and deponent, Lamar, Powell and others, started for Washington ; that on arriving North they found that many of the men forwarded by them had been arrested and confined in the Old Capitol and other prisons, on suspicion of being spies, and that they were obliged to abandon their undertak ing- ' BOGUS EVIDENCE OF F. B. WRIGHT. The witness, Wright, in bis affidavit for the Bureau of Military Justice, deposed that he was a native of Nova Scotia; that in 1862 he went to the Confederacy, running the blockade into Wilmington ; that'for, a time he was engaged id speculating in provisions and military stores, but that in the beginning of 1863 he was em ployed by General Winder, in Richmond, as detective; that in .July, 1863, he learned from Winder that there was a project on foot to kid nap, and, if neeessiry, to kill President Lin coln ; that one evening shortly afterward, while passing a public house, he heard boisterous talking within, and on entering found a man named McCullough, half inebriated, boasting to some blockade runners that within a month the old rail splitter would be in Richmond eut tfng wood te cook the Yankee’'officers’ rations at the Libby; that knowing McCullough was betraying an important’ secret of the Govern ment he, as was his duty, arrested and confined him in Castle Thunder; that on the following dav he was informed by Winder that the Presi dent was exceedingly annoyed at the arrest of McCullough, as his father, a very wealthy and influential man, had interceded with the Presi dent in his behalf, and had represented that his son had been arrested maliqiously and without cause, and “that be (Winder) wished deponent to accompany him to Davis and explain pre cisely what he had heard McCullough say and all the circumstances under which he had made the arrest; that thereupon deponent and Win der called upon Davis, when deponent, at his Excellency’s request, made the desired expla nation ; that while they were talking on the subject three men named Patten, Lamar and Powell, called in relation to the arrest of Mc- Cullough. The deposition then proceeds to recount what was said and occurred by and between Davis and the other parties referred to, and corrobo rates in almost the precise language the account given in Patten’s affidavit of his second inter view with the rebel chief. Thus it will be seen that the aim of the con spirators was to lasten upon Davis a murder ous design ns far back as 1863, by making him a party to a plot at that time lor the killing of the killing of the President, a fact which, If es tablished, it was supposed-would, taken in con nection with the testimony the perfidions Campbell and Snevel were expected to give, leave no doubt in the minds of a court of the guilt of the accused. The affair was so In geniously contrived that it would be impossible to contradict these witnesses, Winder and Pow ell (Payne) being dead and Lamar being only a myth. Bnt Patten and Wright, as I have already re marked, were not brought before the commit tee to sustain their affidavits, aud the commit tee, or the Republican members thereof, have decided to believe their depositions, the “ con fidential papers ot the'War Department,” not withstanding “ Campbell's ” assertion before the committee that the deponents were hired bogus witnesses like himself. The depositions of these men, of which I have given you a yery full synopsis, furnish the only evidence against Mr. Davis in the hands of the committee, the two letters referred to, and other stuff called evidence, being of no importance whatever. Any lawyer would as soon think of putting “ the man in the moon ” on trial ou the strength of such evidence as of putting Mr. Davis, and the committee while it wil) profess to believe Davis guilty will fail to recommend that he be brought to trial. The Radicals, whose machinations have been un masked through the laudable treachery of Campbell and Snevel have abandoned their murderous designs, and are now employing the Judiciary Committee, piinut tools as could be desired, to hide the evidence of their iniquity and screen them from the opprobrium they deserqg. Mr. Rogers is not permitted to examine the testimony, because, in fact, that of Campbell discloses the names of some of the Radical conspirators ; he is not allowed to ex amine the papers because the depositions of Patten and Wright, upon which the committee have to found the opinion of Davis’ guilt, will not, on their face, hear legal scrutiny. These heartless Radicals, since they cannot have the pleasure of hanging the unfortunate rebel,len der him infamous in the eyes of honorable men. Mr. Boutwell, in his report, will admit, for he will be bound to notice and admit, that Campbell and Snevel, who made depositions for the Bureau of Military Justice of more im portance, supposing them to be true, than all the rest of the evidence in the case put togeth er, were induced to confess before the commit tee that they had sworn falsely from beginning to end, aud were engaged and paid for doing so by an agent of the Government; and all the ingenuity and skill of the learned gentleman will then be summoned to shield his Radical friends from responsibility .and blame, and render plausible the proposition that the lact these two scoundrels were suborned and sworn falsely in the matter furnishes no just grounds for rejecting or suspecting the testimony of the other witnesses; but let it not be forgotten that Lari pbell says the other witnesses were su borned also. Case of Jefferson Davis in Congress. THE REPORT ON THE SUBJECT. The Committee on the Judiciary, to whom was referred the resolutions of the House of Representatives of April 9th and April 30th, 1866, instructing the committee to inquire into the nature oi the evidence implicating Jefferson Davis and others in the assassination of Presi deut Lincoln, and nlso whether any legislation is necessary in order to bring such persons to a speedy and impartial trial, if it should appear that there was probable cause to believe that said persons, or any of them, are guilty of in citing’, concertina, or procuring the assassina tion of the late President of the United States, and also whether any legislatiofi is necessary in order to bring said persons to a speedy and im partial trial for the crime of treason, submitted a report to the House ou the 27th. as our tele grams have already announced. The report is very long, and contains a number of letters and documents belonging to the official records of the late Confederacy, now in possession of the War Department, relating to what was termed the “secret” service of the Confederacy. With regard to the trial of Davis, the com mittee are of the opinion that there are no ob stacles to a speedy and impartial trial, which can be removed by legislation. The evidence in possession of the committee connecting Jeff. Davis with the assassination of President Lin coln justifies the committee in saying that there is probable cause to believe that he was privy to tlie measures which led to the commission of the deed, but the investigations which have been made by the War Department, and by the committee have not resulted in placing the Government in possession of all the facts in the ease. The committee are of the opinion that a further investigation will result in a full development of the whole transaction. The examination oi the captured rebel archives, though not complete, has gone far enough to throw light upon the general policy of the rebel authorities, which in many particulars involved a total disregard of international law and of the usages ot civilized war. The committee, in this connection, give a de-’ tailed history, of the course pursued by the Con federate Government towards slaves lound in the ranks of the Union army. Most of this is taken from the published orders of the rebel War Department. In summing up this part of the report, the committee says :• “ The declarations made, and the acts done in pursuance of the declarations, are conclusive proofs of the brutal and malig nant feelings by which the leaders of the rebel lion were controlled, and rendered it not only possible, but probable, that they would at once engage in projects for the destruction of the chief men of the Republic.” A considerable portion of the report of the committee is devoted to the evidence in the case of C. C. Clay. Jr. Clay’s letter to Presi dent Johnson, dated November 23d, 1865, is quoted wherein he denies having been iu Cana da at the time of the assassination. This the committee says is shown to be a falsehood, ac cording to evidence before them. They say the falsity of the statement goes far to show that* he has some reason for attempting to conceal the fact as .to the time when he left Canada ; and inasmuch as the statement was made in order to relieve himself from the charge con tained in the President’s proclamation, itjhas a strong tendency to connect hitn of complicity in the deed. A number of letters are produced to show that Clay was in Cuuada at the time, and also that he was the originator of the various raids on the northern border of the United States. The first allusion in point of time made to the presence of Clay in the South among all the papers in possession of th? Government yet ex amined, is a letter dated at Richmond,'March 8,1865, and written by H. L. Clay to C. C. Clay, Jr. The statement ol Clay that he has never known any of the persons accused and convicted of participating in the assassination of President Lincoln is shown to be false by the evidence before the committee. Clay, while in Canada, acted under the lollowing commission: Richmond, Va., April 21,1864. Hon. C. C. Clay, Jr., Stc., ire.; Sir—Confiding special trust in your zeal, discretion and patriotism, I hereby direct you to proceed at once to Canada, there to carry out such instructions as you have received from me verbally, in such manner as shall seem most, likely to conduce to the furtherance Os the in terest of the Confederate States of America, which have been entrusted to you. Very respectfully aud truly yours, Jefferson Davis. The committee say it is well established by letters and documents derived from rebel sources, that Clay; under this commission, was instrumental in organizing and executing, witli more or less success, the raids upon the cities and towns along the border, the plans for the introduction of pestilence, the organization of conspiracies to liberate the prisoners confined iu Camp Douglas, Chicago, to. destroy our commerce on the rivers, lakes and ocean, aud finally to thwart and Overthrow the Govern ment by inciting anew rebellion in the North. It is also ascertained' that Jacob Thompson, Beverly Tucker, George N. Saunders, W. C. Cleary, Bennett H. Young, aud R. J. Stewart, were all employed in Canada as secret agents for the Confederate authorities. In proof of this the committee produce a large number of letters, orders, and dispatches, which passed between these men and the offi cers of the Confederate Government at Rich mond, showing that they were acting directly under its authority, and that they received or ders to make the raids and other offensive de monstrations on the Northern border of the United Bta(es. Testimony taken at the trial of tbq assassins, together with that taken by the committee, jus tifies them in the inference that the murder ot President Lincoln waa procured by the use of money furnished by the Richmond Govern ment. The remarks said to have been made by Davis, on the rifteipt of the intelligence of the death of President Lincoln, is in harmony with the conversation of his agents, Thompson, Tucker aud others, ns given by Richard Mont gomery, a witness who was before the commit tee, and also a witness in the trial of the con spirators. Thompson told Montgomery, in 1864, that he could have the tyrant Lincoln piit out of the way at any time. He said he had his friends all over the Northern States, a,nd it required but his nod to have them do anything lie wanted, done. Clay is said to have talked in a similar vein about the assassination of Lincoln. The committee say there is substantial harmony be tween the evidence furnished by the official do cuments found in the bands of the rebel au thorities, and the testimony of the various wit nesses brought before the committee, as to the participation of Davis, Thompson, Clay, Cleary aud others iu the scheme for the assassination of the President. With reference to the testimony in possession of the bureau of military justice, taken by Judge Holt, and on which President Johnson based his proclamation, the committee makes the following statement: “ W’hen the commit tee entered upon this investigation In April last, the evidence in the War Department, if accepted as true, was conclusive ns to the guilt of Jefferson Davis. The Judge Advocate Gen eral had taken the affidavits of several persons who professed to have been in the service of the rebel Government, and who had been pre sent at an interview between Surratt and Davl* and Benjamin. “Those affidavits were taken by the Judge Advocate-General in good faith, and in the full belief that the persons making them were sta ting that only which was true. The statements made by these witnesses harmonize in eveey important particular with facts derived from documents and other trustworthy sources. The committee, however, thought it wise to see and examine some of the persons whose affidavits had been taken by Judge Holt. Several of the witnesses, when brought before the committed, retracted entirely the statements which they had made in their affidavits, and declared that their testimony, as given originally, was false iu every particular. They failed, however, to state to the committee any inducement or con sideration which seemed to the committee a reasonable explanation for the course they have pursued. The committee are therefore not at this time able to say, as the result of their investigation, whether the original statements of these wit nesses are true or false. But the retraction made by some of them deprives them of all claim to credit, and their statements so far im peach or throw doubt upon the evidence given by other witnesses whose affidavits were taken by Judge Holt, that the committee iu the inves tigation which they have made, and in this re port, have disregarded entirely tlie testimony of all those person? whose standing has been so impeached. On the other hum), the committee have relied very largely upon documents found in the rebel archives, and have introduced only the testimony of those persons whose reputa tion for truth and veracity has not been im peached by any of the investigation* that have been made. Nor has it been the purpose of the committee to draw unnatural or forced in ferences from the trustworthy testimony which they have examined, but rather to present a truthful statement of facts.” The report concludes With .in expression of opinion on thepart of the committee that it is the duly of the Executive Department of the Government, for a reasonable time, and by the proper means, to pursue the Investigations for the purpose of ascertaining the truth. If IJavis and his associates are innocent of the great crime with which they were charged in the President’s proclamation, it is due to them that; a thorough investigation should be made, thats they may be relieved from the suspicion which now rests upon them. If, on the other hand, they arc guilty, it is duejustice, to the coun try, and to the memory of him who was the victim of a foul conspiracy, that the originators should suffer the just penalty of tile law. The committee are, therefore, oi’ the opinion that the work of investigation should be further prosecuted. A convention of cotton planters will bs held! n the city of Macon, Ga., on the 12th o! Au gust. Every county in the State should be re presented by two or more of the most intelli gent planters. VOL. 24. NO. 32. Georgia Hews. >jj Rains and Crops.— ln the conntry lying above this point, we have reason to bslieve that the late rains have greatly benefltted the com crops. Below here early corn waa too far spent. . In this section the oat crop has been remark ably good. Never before have wc seen such a yield per acre on the same ground. Cotton looks much better than we expected to find it—low, it is true; but strong, healthy and vigorous in appearance. On some plantations wheat has turned out tolerably well, but the general yield has fallen very short of what waa expected.— Athene Watchman. Eclectic Medical Convention.— We are requested to state that the Eclectic physicians oi Georgia will hold a Medical Convention at Atlanta, on the first day of October next. Will the press of the State do them the fevor to circulate this notice.— lbid. Going the Rounds.— We notice that the Co lumbus Enquirer has given circulation to an old story, in anew form, of a lady being taken into the woods by a negro, and kept two days, without food, etc. The locality of this pew version is now in Merriwether county—before it was in Floyd county. It traveled around awhile and was finally contradicted by the Rome Courier, as a sensational article—skinning and all—without any shadow of truth iu the story. Such Items of news should be well attested be fore pul llcatlon, ta It will fhrnlsh all the am munition wanted by the Radicals to keep up the war against us as unreconstructed rebels and barbarians.— Georgia Citizen. Cotton Factory in Bartow.—The Car tersvUle Express informs its readers that a oot toq fiietory enterprise is about to be Inaugu rated In Bartow county, a meeting of all Inter ested being called for a consideration of the subject at Cartorsville, on the first Tuesday in August. McClatchy’s mills, just below the railroad bridge, on the Etowah river, is said to afford an admirable sight for the factory.— Nothing like it. Go ahead and prosper. Would that there were now fectorles enough in Geor gia to manufacture into yams and fabrics every pound of cotton grown, or to be grown in the State from this time, henceforth. This is the only, true policy. Columbus Mail High School.—We are pleased to learn that Rev. Professor T. B. Rus sel, late of this city, is to take charge of the Columbus Male High School on the 24th of September. :We congratulate the good people of that city op the accession to their corps of Teacher* of a gentleman of such high qualifica tions as those possessed by Prof R .—Citizen. Encouraging.— The Griffin Star makes the following extract from a private letter from the western part of the county: “We have had fine seasons, .which make prospects very encourag ing. I have cotton nearly five feet high. Yes terday I counted 150 squares and hoes on one stalk of cotton; and this cotton, you must re member, is net done growing.” Commendable Sensitiveness.—We are glad to tee that some Northern men are sensitive on the subject of the spoils obtained in the pi under of the South. A dispatch in the Louisville Courier, dated St. Louis 25th says: General Frank P. Blair to-day took the first steps In two suits for damages for libel; one against Hon. J. Lindsay, of fronton, Mo., Radi cal candidate for Congress from the Third dis trict for a letter published in the Democrat on the 17th, and charging Blair with having bought a plantation down South with the proceeds of cotton plundering, and the other against tho Missouri Democrat for the lollowing, contained in a Washington special of the 23d iustant : “Frank Blair, In his Missouri speeches, having palpably charged that the members of tho Missouri delegation now in Congress, who serv ed in the Union army, were a set of horse thieves, facts will,soon he published to show that Blhlr, when campaigning in South Carolina, did not hesitate to appropriate silver-ware and china to his own private use.” —I * Buddbn Death of a Distinguished Gen tlkman.—Gen. Martin Luther Smith died sud denly on Sunday morping in Romp, Ga, He was attacked the day previous with inflamma tion of the bowels, and the disease raged so violently that his system, somewhat enervated by intense heat and fatigue, was incapable of bearing the shock. His remains passed through this city yesterday, in charge of Dr. Wm. I). Hoyt, of Rome, to be delivered to his relatives and frieuds at Athens for interment. General Smith was a graduate of West Point, and served in the Mexican war. He was recog nized as a man of distinguished ability. Du ring the late war he was at the head of the En gineer Corps of the Confederate States army, and among other prominent performances du ring that eventful period, he planned and con structed the defences ot Vicksburg. At the time of bis death, General Smith was Chief En gineer of the system of railroads which is to connect Seima, Ain., and Dalton, Ga., of which General Johnston Is President, and WMeh are now being constructed. General Smith, we be lieve, was connected with the N«sWt and Hull families of this State.— Atlanta Intelligencer. Mr, Doolittle Writes a Letter to a Southern gentleman, who is one of the dele gates elect to the Philadelphia Convention Notice how the principles of the call are reit erated at the close of the epistle. There is to be a grand live feast, and all that sort of thing, but only “ upon the principle* eet forth in the call for the Convention.” Here is the letter as found in an exchange: Washington, July 16,1868. Dear Sir : Inclosed I send yon the circular letter of our Committee on Organization. It contains the views of the National Union Ex ecutive Committee. We expect to see a great Convention at Philadelphia, a real union of the patriotic heart and brain of the country, and of the whole country, East, West, North and South, to bless AJmigbty God that war is over, tbit peace has come, and come to stay once more under the old flag,- with not a star ob scured, to shake hands together as friends, In social and political action, pledged to maintain a true allegiance upon the principles set forth in the call for the Convention—the Constitu tion, the Union, and the Government of our common country. Respectfully yours, J. R. Doolittle, Chairman. The New York Tribune, in discussing the modesty of crinoline, innocently asks: “Do . we not delight to see the feet and shapely little limbs oi children, and adorn, decorate and ex hibit them with commendable pride? Is there any thing indecent in that ? and are not the lully developed legs of perfect women quite as at tractive and admirable ?”
