CIass______ Book D SOLD at 13 PARK ROW, and at all Democratic Newspaper Offices. MR. LINCOLN'S ARBITRARY ARRESTS. The Acts which the Baltimore Platform Approves. The Baltimore platform, on which Abraham Lincoln is presented to the people as a candidate for their election to the Presidency, approves all that he has done, specifically commending all his rurse. If elected on that platform, he will regard it as a distinct verdict of the people in his favor, and will perpetuate his course as part of the Amer- ican system of government. He will continue the same acts, will govern the country with the same autocratic will, and for years to come the constitutional guaranties of life, liberty, and prop- erty by which alone American Liberty exists, will be disregarded and trampled under foot. What are the acts which Abraham Lincoln has done, and which his party, by their Baltimore platform, propose to perpetuate in this country? When the war began, the people of the North rose as one man to the defence of their constitu- tion. There was no shadow of excuse for con- sidering the North, or any 6ne State in the North, as disloyal. On the contrary, Democrats and Republicans in every State poured out their money by millions and sent their men by crowds to the support of the flag. Yet, in the very be- ginning of the contest, the will of Abraham Lin- coln was made the only law of the citizens' liber- ty, and a system of arbitrary and despotic seizure and imprisonment was inaugurated, which has continued up to the present month of September, 1864. A calm review of the facts would astound every reader. Before the close of 1861 the name of American had become a scoff instead of an honor in all Europe. The people of Austria and Russia heard with indignant astonishment of a system of tyranny in existence in Amer- ica which rivalled all their own memories of the worst of their monarchs. While liberty was ad- vancing with gigantic strides in other parts of the world, sne veiled her face and left the West- ern continent. But not forever ! God grant not forever ! Four years of such oppression and wrong have been enough for a people educated in 1776, and blessed as we have been from that time to 1S60. True, there was civil war and rebellion in the land. But it is equally true that the violation of constitution and law by Southern rebellion was no excuse for the violation by Northern authority. Law makers ought never to be law breakers. If Mr. Lincoln had guarded constitution and law, exhibiting to rebels and to the world the grandeur of a free people observing their own laws while they exacted obedience from others ; if he had offered to the rebels in arms the firm, unsullied strength of the Constitution as the measure of their duty and his requirements, we might have expected to see them turn to it with longing, af- ter a vain experiment of war. Instead of .that, he crushed down the North to obedience of his own will, and then demanded of the South sub- mission to the same will, enunciated in autocratic proclamations. Read the simple words of the American Constitution : [From the Amendments.] Article the Fourth. The rigid of the people to be secure in their persons, homes, pagers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized. Article the Fifth. No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia, when in actual service in time of war or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb ; nor shall be com- Mcno^raph 2 • pelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or prop- erti/ without due proem of law ; nor snail private property be taken for public use, without just com- pensation. Article tiie Sixth. In all criminal prosecu- tions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State ami district wherein the crime shall have been com- mitted, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the na- ture and cause of the accusation; to be confronted totihlfte witnesses against km ; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, aud to have the assistance of counsel for his defence. Article the Eight. Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive lines imposed, nor cruel and uuusual punishments indicted. And now read a brief sketch of some of the acta of Abraham Lincoln. We say brief, for a library of volumes would be necessary to describe all the cases. We have preserved with great care all accounts which came under our notice ; and we have lying before us as we write (now in the hands of "the Democratic campaign committee) particulars of more than one thousand cases, and brief mention, without particulars, of more cases than we could count Without long labor^ of arbi- trary seizures and imprisonment of free citizens : From a careful record made up from Town- send's Cyclopaedia of the Rebellion— a work, con- taining, in some fifty volumes, a very full history of every event in the war— the following was com- piled for the N. Y. Mercury: Daniel Fish and Doctor Sabet, both of New York, were the first men arrested in the North by the order of the State Department, April 24, 1861, immediately after the fall of Fort Sumter. Up to November "30, 1861, a little more than seven months, 351 persons had been arrested and incar- cerated bv order of Mr. Seward, whose names are known and registered in Townsend's Encyclopedia of the Great Rebellion. In the same time, 150 are known to have been arrested at the instance of the name department, whose names have not been re- tained. Probablv we shall never know the num- ber of arrests made in the last three years. The record, if published, would be staggering. No usur- pation in the history of the world would exhibit such astounding statistics. In several places of Mr. Townsend's book long lists of names of persons released appear. In many cases upward of a hundred names being transcribed at once— and the names of none of these were ever published when arrested. Hence they must have been spirited away, locked up without any trial whatever, and their friends probablv knew nothing of their where- abouts, until, by one of Mr. Seward's arbitrary bulletins, they appeared out of jail. There cannot have been less than ten thousand State prisoners made by order of Lincoln and Seward since the opening"of hostilities, and the number is probably more uearlv three times that figure. How many of these ten thousand have had hearings ? Y\ ltd the privilege of the habeas corpus set aside, with the judges overawed by the marshals or the sol- diery, with Mr. Seward's' "little bell," standing at his right hand to incarcerate some wretched being at every touch, how many men have gone iuto dun- geons for a spite, a whim, or a lie? Has General Stone ever had a trial ? He is now battling for the Union ; but they have never taken the stigma of a long imprisonment from his name. Great numbers of females appear among the in- carcerated. In many cases there seems to have been no ground for the arrest, but an anonymous letter, some private gossip, or the allegation of a single office holder, whose severe ideas of loyalty would probably consign any political opponent to the penitentiary. This record does not include many cases In our own collections. Great secrecy was observed by the Administration, and it was not easy to procure information. All these seizures, in each and every instance, were made by order of Abraham Lincoln, with- out warrant, accusation, or authority of law, in the peaceful States of the North. In no one in- stance of all these has a man been brought to trial in any court. In no one instance has an accusation been filed, or an indictment obtained. The writ of habeas corpus was first violated, and obedience to it refused, by Mr. Lincoln, in the case of John Merryuan, in 1861. Mr. Lin- coln had no color of authority for this at that time. His own party admitted his usurpation long afterward, and after hundreds of like cases had occurred, by passing an act of Congress (ex post facto) to save him from the consequences of his arbitrary use of power. The Merryman case brought out a decision from the venerable Judge Taney, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, a loyal man of the best days of the Republic. Judge Taney, boldly, and with a majesty that will long be remembered in his- tory, announced his views as follows, from the bench : I ordered the attachment yesterday, because upon the face of the return the detention of the prisoner was unlawful, upon two grounds : First The President, under the Constitution and laws of the United States, cannot suspend the priv- ilege of the writ of habeas corpus, nor authorize any military officer to do so. , Second— A military officer has no right to ar- rest and detain a person, nor subject him to the rules and articles of war for an offence against the laws of the United States, except in aid of the judicial authority and subject to its control, and if the party is arrested bv the military, jt is the duty of the officer to deliver him over immediately to the civil authority, to be dealt with according to I forbore yesterday to state orally the provisions of the Constitution of the United States, which make these principles the fundamental law of the Union, because an oral statement might be mis- understood iu some portions of it, and shall therefore put my opinion in writing, and tile it in the office of the'Clerkof the Circuit Court, in the course of this week. The Judge added that the military authority was always subordinate to civil ; that, under ordinary circumstances, it would be the duty of the Marshal to proceed with posse comitate, and bring the party named iu the writ iuto court ; but from tne notoriously superior force that he would encounter this would be impossible. He said the Marshal had doue all in his power to discharge his duty. During the week he should prepare his opinion in the premises, and forward it to the President, calling upon him to perform his constitutional duty, and see that the laws be faithfully executed, and' enforce the decrees of this court. The radical press at once attacked this noble old judge with torrents of abuse. They called him traitor in every radical newspaper in the land. The court was vilified. The intent of the party to make their one-man law superior to Con- stitution and right, was then confessed. They determined to crush the Supreme Court. They declared its authority inferior to Mr. Lincoln's military power. The N. Y. Tribune, on the 1st June, 1861, thus ridiculed the writ of habeas cor- pus, and threatened with vengeance the defenders of that noble writ of personal liberty : The thin varnish of extemporized and lukewarm patriotism, with which two or three of our city co- temporaries attempt to conceal their chronic sym- pathy with treason and rebellion, is easily seen through by loyal eyes. Let them not flatter them- selves that anybody who knows them doubts for a moment that' they are as much friends of the Southern rebels now, as they were five, yea, even three months ago — only the North having risen al- most as one man to save the republic from utter wreck, those admirers of Davis, Hunter, Toombs, Mason & Co., dare not so openly exhibit it now as then. Among the most insidious of these sympathizers is Tits Journal of Commerce. It seems to be the special champion of Judge Taney and the writ of habeas corpus. It is evident that it does not un- derstand the character and objects of either of them. We pass over the writ. It can take care of itself. Last winter, when the rebellion began to assume formidable dimensions, some persons in and near Washington kept a strict watch upon certain sus- pected officials and prominent politicians. Among those thus carefully observed were some of the Judges of the Supreme Court of the United States. Facts are in possession of gentlemen of the highest character, which would authorize the prompt ar- rest of two or three of those Judges on charges of treason. The time not having arrived for proceed- ing in this matter, and, in fact the rebellion having gone on with such rapid strides as to get almost beyond the necessity of doing it, this serious mat- ter remains in statu quo. We tell the over-zealous champions of the Judges of the Supreme Court, that they had better be quiet.— June 1, 1861, A r . Y. Tribune. The madness which culminates in the Baltimore platform, took possession of them. Then followed countless instances of the refusal of Mr. Lincoln to allow the writ of liberty. Fort Lafayette, in New York harbor, a dismal, damp fortress, sur- rounded by water, was selected as the American bastile. Fort Warren, in Boston harbor, Fort McIIenry, at Baltimore, the old Capitol prison, in Washington, and numerous other dungeons, one often another, were crowded with victims. On the 20th day of July, 1861, Fort Lafayette opened its doors to the first political prisoner, Mr. E. S. Ruggles, of Fredericksburg, Virginia. Mr. Ruggles was alone for seven days, when Dr. Johnson, of Baltimore, joined him there. On the last day of July, seven persons had taken up their residence inside the fort, and from that time the number rapidly increased. The Evening Post, of Sept. 21st, 1861, contained a list of eighty- eight names of prisoners who had at that time been committed to the fort. Mr. Lincoln at length issued an order to all po- licemen in the country, commanding their servi- ces in his lawless seizures. Wherever they were under Republican officers they obeyed. State machinery was thus subjected to his will. The police of New York city lent willing aid. The police stations were crowded with prisoners. Men of every station in life were brought up, tortured in cell number four (of which we shall give a description), and hurried off to Fort Lafay- ette, or elsewhere. At once began the same system pursued in France under the Reign of Terror. A high official at Washington informed us that Mr. Seward had received many thousands of letters accusing individuals of disloyalty, and recommending their arrest. Every radical poli- tician seized the opportunity to persecute his Democratic neighbors. The same officer inform- ed us that one clergyman in central New York had written more than thirty letters within two months, each letter containing a list of Demo- crats in his neighborhood whom he wished ar- rested, and that his letters grew more and more frantic from day to day, begging that he might be authorized to arrest them himself. "Demo- crat" was considered synonymous with "traitor." Mr. Lincoln, Mr. Seward, Mr. Cameron, and subsequently Mr. Stanton, entered heart and soul into this crusade against political opponents. Men were seized at all hours of the day and night. The writ of habeas corpus wa3 refused. Exami- nations were refused. Then followed the most infamous order on record in a free government. Mr. Seward proclaimed and caused to be read to the prisoners in Fort Lafayette his ukase, that the employment of counsel by any prisoner would be regarded as a circumstance against him, and for- bidding any man to employ counsel ! Not only were the laws suspended, but the miserable vic- tims of tyranny were forbidden to enquire what the laws were, or had been in better days. We insert just here that most terrible record against Abraham Lincoln and his Secretary of State. It was read on the 3d of Dec. 1861, by the com- manding officer at Fort Lafayette, to the prison- ers there : TO THE POLITICAL PRISONERS IN FORT LAFAYETTE. I am instructed by the Secretary of State, to inform you that the De- partment of State of the United States will not recognize any one as an attorney for political prisoners, and will look with distrust upon all applications for release, through such channels ; and that such applica- tions will be regarded as additional reason for declining to release the prisoners. And further, that if such prisoners wish to make any commu- nication to Government, they are at liberty to make it directly to the State Department. Seth C. Hawley. And yet, in the face of this order, and this mer- ciful offer to hear the prayers of prisoners, their letters were returned unopened — all their appeals were utterly vain — and to-day, men are languish- ing in those prisons, who have lain for three years, forgotten by all the world except their mourning families ! Read the following, and compare it with Mr. Seward's promise to receive the communications of prisoners : War Department, October 4, 1881. Sir: I acknowledge the receipt of a communica- tion from Colonel Martin Burke, inclosing a letter from E. B. Schnabel, a prisoner at Fort Lafayette. The person referred to is the son of a very worthy gentleman, a citizen of Pennsylvania, known to me for many years. He was educated at Princeton College, where he exhibited considerable talent. He came back to Pennsylvania, and has been "living on his wits" ever since. He is a man, I am sorry to say, of no character, and I have no desire to open any communication from him: I therefore return the communication for- warded by Colonel Martin Burke, unopened. I have the honor to be, very rcspectfullv, SIMON CAMERON, Secretary of War. Lieut. -General W. Scott, General-in-Chief. Was ever a more tyrannical letter written, or one more cowardly ? All avenues of help seemed closed; even public appeal was denied, for in September, 1861, the following order was issued in New York by the Superintendent of Police, subject to a resolution passed at a meeting of the Board of Police Com- missioners : General Order No. 275. Jiesolvcd, That inasmuch as the publication of arrests and the attendant circumstances has caused serious embarrassment to the Departments, and has frustrated the attempts to arrest persons guilty of offences against the Government, that all infor- mation of arrests by members of the force, except such as is entered on the daily returns, be strictlv forbidden, and that anv violation of this rule will be deemed a cause for dismissal. — Sept. IS, 1301. The Cabinet was in high glee. The Wash- ington people, under' Mr. Lincoln's facetious ad- ministration, thought the whole system a good joke. They went into it as great fun. The radical press throughout the country was jovial over the new plan. For example : the New York Times (under the editorship of the chief manager of the Baltimore convention and chair- man of the Republican National Committee) gave this funny incident at Washington : AN UNEXPECTED ARREST. A singular instance of the adroitness of our au- thorities here in dealing with suspected persons occurred this morning at the Provost Marshal's office. A person, well known here as connected with a claim-agency broken up by the Government, presented himself, and desircu a permit to see some friends confined in the Old Capitol. Upon hearing the name, the clerk looked up and said, "Yes, cer- tainly " — proceeding at once to write it out. The gentleman received his permit, and upon presenting it at the Capitol, was ordered into a cell, and in- formed by the guard that he had brought with him an order for his own commitment. The following extracts from papers will show the manner in which the system was built up and carried on. The New York Tribune of April 19th, 1861, contained the following para- graph : MARK THE TRAITORS. There are a few as genuine traitors scattered over the country as ever went lurking among hon- est men. It is not proposed to hang this class of sympathizers with rebellion, but it is proposed to mark, and, so far as it is possible, to withdraw all intercourse and trade with them. In short, to leave them alone in their glory. This course has been adopted in Mount Vernon, Westchester County. A brawling secessionist tavern keeper heads the list which the patriots are rilling up as fast as the sen- timents of the wretches are discovered. As soon as it is complete it will be published as the " black- list of Mt. Vernon." Let the same plan be pursued in every town, village and neighborhood, and post the names in public places — so that the public may know who are open-mouthed shameless traitors, and let them be avoided by all patriotic citizens. * * Put their names on the " black list." It was not long before the plan of " letting traitors alone in their glory," was dropped. The Tribune of Sept. 4, 1861, contained the follow- ing paragraph : " FERRETING OUT TRAITORS. The system of detective police adopted by Gov- ernment" is bearing the happiest fruits. Every day, for some time past, we have recorded the arrest of Southern spies and agents, and the confiscation of rebel property. * * * Every day the authori- ties are flooded with communications, authenticated and anonymous, respecting transient or permanent Southern residents. Frequently, the denunciations spring from petty malice or personal hatred, and the officers, after following op supposed important cases, for days and rights together, have finally be- come convinced of the innocence and loyalty of the suspected persons. It should be considered the duty of all loyal citi- zans to aid in the discovery and arrest of real trai- tors by denouncing them to the United States Mar- shal. Marshal Murray has collected about him a number of the most intelligent, experienced, and shrewd detectives in the country — two of whom have recently ' worked up ' some of their cases with marvellous good judgment and dexterity." Two days after, Sept. 6, 1861, the Tribune announced, through its Washington correspond- ent, as follows : " FLIGHT OF TRAITORS. " While information by telegraph is lodged against suspected traitors with the State Department here, and replies framed and returned, and while the final orders for arrest are being made in Washing- ton, the guilty birds are often on the wing. The Government desires the cooperation of patriots all over the country. Arrests should be promptly made of the guilty, and by local action, without waiting for the motion from Washington." The same day the radical papers announce that— " Eight hundred names are entered on the books of the secret political police in New York, of per- sons suspected of treason, and many arrests will be made." The Hartford Courant of the same day says : "A large number of arrests are daily made at the North, the number averaging teu or twelve a day. These are made generally on complaints lodged with the Departments in Washington. The Government is somewhat annoyed and astonished that petty cases of treason should be sent there for consideration. Any military commander can com mit for treasonable acts, and the local officers should promptly act themselves, when there is ne- cessity for so doing." A few days before, the Courant had pub- lished the following: " Government is considering the propriety of or- fanizing a National Detective Police lorce. New ork, St. Louis, Chicago, and other cities, were represented in the conference. The plan is to have agents distributed through the country, forming a network of surveillance, through whose meshes se- cret traitors will find it hard to escape. The de- tective force >n Washington is largely increased by recruits from New York and Philadelphia. The results are daily becoming apparent." From the Tribune of Sept. 21st, 1861 : "impartial official vigilance. " So long as the ends of justice can be compassed, Marshal Murray seems to care little what work he prosecutes. A while ago he was ferreting out slave captains and crews, and made himself a terror to the guilty men, while for some weeks past he has hunted down traitors, seized the property of the disloyal, and effectually broken up the secret ca- bals and agencies engaged in furthering the dirty work of J. Davis and Co. The moral effect of his vigorous arrest of traitors has been wonderful. A real panic seems to have seized upon them, and there is not a secret sympathizer with the rebels who has not either fled the city, or, if remaining, is not trembling lest his turn should come next. We have reason to know that certain parties in very high station among us who were liable to at- tainder, and who were actually preparing (?) to send important intelligence to the enemy, have left the city between two days to escape arrest." From the Tribune, July 23d, 1862 : "caution to traitors in our midst. " Wilkes' Spirit says : ' We are informed that the Commissioners of Police have been industriously engaged for some time past in forming lists of all persons of secession principles and doubtful loyal- ty, who, at present, infest the community. The whole force of the Department has been secretly employed in this good work, and the use to be made of it will probably be to direct the Govern- ment when drafting shall commence, where to go for its first levy. Information as to disloyal per- sons is solicited by the Department from all good persons.' " The newspapers teemed with violent attacks on individuals. Meu, women, and children were accused in radical papers. Hundreds of good citizens, of Democratic principles, were thus at- tacked. Every encouragement was given to the business of denouncing and seizing all who op- posed the abolition policy. Every man who ven- tured to oppose that policy was at once accused of treason, or of discouraging enlistments, or of some other offence. Abolitionists were not in- terfered with. The Boston Liberator continued to flaunt its motto : " The Constitution is a league with death and a covenant with hell;" but Mr. Lincoln did not object to that. Abolitionists ad- vocated disunion, but were not arrested. CLERGYMEN WERE SEIZED WHILE AT PRAYER AT THE ALTAR, ON THE MORN- ING OF THE SABBATH DAY. TO THE PUBLIC. A scene occurred in St. Paul's Church, Alexan- dria, Virginia, on Sunday morning, February 9th, 1802, which has, perhaps, never had a parallel among civilized nations, certainly uot in the his- tory of this country. The officiating minister, Rev. K. J. Stewart, had just got through the Morning Prayer of the Episcopal Church as far as the Lit- any, the prayer for the President being omitted, but without anything in its place, and was proceeding with the Litany, when an interruption occurred of the character which the law designates as " brawl- ing " — that is, the intervention of noise and tumult by certain persons, who had come to the church with the intention of interrupting the service, should it not proceed according to their wishes. These persons commenced the disturbance as soon as they found the prayer for the President omitted. One of them, Captain Farnsworth, of the Eighth Illi- nois Cavalry, who sat near the chancel, dressed in uniform, with some five or six of his soldiers near him, undertook to officiate in prayer (if prayer it can be called) by reading the prayer for the Presi- dent of the United States. How far he went in it does not appear in the confusion, but soon quit- ting his position as the offerer of prayer, he ad- vanced to the altar where Mr. Stewart was kneel- ing, still continuing the Litany, and ordered his arrest. Mr. Stewart was dragged from his knees by the soldiers. The ground of the arrest Capt.iiu Farnsworth distinctly avowed to be the omission of 6 the prayer for the President of the United States. Wiih this avowal, be said, "I arrest you by the au- thority of the United States, as a rebel and a trai- tor/' — "And I," responded Mr. Stewart, who by this time bad advanced to the chancel mils, toCapt. F., " summon you to answer at the judgment scat of the King of kings and Lord of lords for interfering;, by force of arms, with His ambassador, while in the act of presenting the petitions of His people at His altar." The solemnity of this appeal apparent- ly caused the parties to fall back and pause; but soon the soldiers were ordered to seize Mr. Stew- art, which two of them did with great violence, forcing the prayer-book from his hands, one of them drawing a revolver. Another revolver was presented to an old and venerated citizen within the chancel, when the officer ordered the soldier not to tire. Very soon a considerable number of armed soldiers appeared in the church. Mr. Stew- art, refusing to yield voluntarily, was dragged by force from the altar, and through the aisle, out of the church. He was in the surplice, which he wore through the streets, and at Col. Farnsworth's quarters, where he was taken. Capt. Farnsworth said that he went to church intending to arrest Mr. Stewart if he should offer any prayer for the Confederate States. Near him, in the same pew, sat Mr. Morton, the " detective" agent of the United States government, who there gave orders to Captain Farnsworth to make the arrest, which was executed as above described. Mr. Morton has declared that he was acting under authority from Washington. The scene in the church was such as may be imagined under such circumstances. Gentlemen were indignant and ex- cite. 1, and ladies giving utterance to their feelings of grief and indignation; but, of course, no serious effort was made to prevent the arrest. Mr. Stewart was taken away, and the congregation dis- persed. It is proper to state that these proceedings were without the knowledge of Gen. Montgomery, the Military Governor of the city, and were strongly condemned by him when they came to his knowl- edge. He telegraphed to Washington for instruc- tions from the government, which, when received, were of such a nature as to lead to Mr. Stewart's release, after a few hours' detention. The issues involved in the transaction, thus im- perfectly sketched, are too grave to admit of com- ment. It will, however, be well to state that Mr. Stewart only insists upon the rights of all ambas- sadors to communicate with their King, untram- melled by civil or military interference, and that in no case have any of the services of this church as- sumed a political aspect; no prayer has been offer- ed, and no sentiment advanced at any time that was calculated to offend even the most sensitive critic; but public worship is interrupted, soldiers invade the chancel, and with drawn revolvers drag the minister of religion from its altar, because he will not do their bidding. The undersigned were present in church, and testify to the facts as above stated. It may be proper to state that by request of the vestry, in the absence of their rector, the Rev. George A. Smith and ReV. Mr. Stewart have been officiating in St. Paul's Church for several weeks past, and that Mr. Smith was in the chancel at the time these occurrences took place. John West, George A. Smith, P. A. Clagett, Cassius F. Lee, James Green, Stoney G. Miller, Isaac Winston, Thomas W. Swann, James Entwistle, Lewis Hooff, Charles It. Hooff, J. I). Corse, Stephen A. Green, S. P. Gregory, John F. Dyer, George T. Baldwin, A. H. Currie, John A. Dixon, W. H. Marhury, Townsend I). Fendall, Albeit E. Bassford, Edward 0. Fletcher, George 11. Smoot, J. J. Wheat. W. A. Harper, Nathaniel Boush. Other clergymen, over one hundred in all, were seized, in many instances on the complaint of abo- litionist clergymen. We remind readers of a few cases : Rev. F. Mercer, Nov., 1SG3 ; Rev. F. Gibson, Sept., 1863; Rev. Mr. Martin, April, 1S63; Rev. Peyton Harrison, Aug., 1863) Rev. Lewis T. Jes- sup, Nov., 1802; Rev. Mr. Mitchell, Nov., 1861 (seized in church just before commencing service) ; Rev. T. N. Conrad, Aug., 1862 ; Rev. Mr. Brookes (Ohio), Julv, 186-2; Rev. Mr. Hovt (Ohio), July, 1862 ; Rev. J. W. R. Handy, July, 1863 ; Rev. Aug. McConnomy, Sept., 1S63 ; Rev. James O'Reilly, Sept., 1863 ; Rev. James L. Tallandigharo, July, 1863 (arrested on account of his name) ; Rev. J. J. Stein, Oct., 1862; Rev. Mr. Henkle, Dec, 1863; Rev. Geo. W. Henning, Oct., 1862 ; Rev. James D. Armstrong, March, 1864 (put to work on fortifica- tions by Butler) ; Rev. S. H. Wingtield, March, 1864 (put to cleaning streets by Butler); Rev. G. M. Baine, March, 1864 (put to bard labor bv But- ler) ; Rev. John H. Dashiel, Feb., 1863; Rev. C. A. Hall, Oct., 1862; Rev. Judson D. Benedict, Sept., 1862; Rev. Heurv M. Painter, Julv, 1861; Rev. I. M. Todd, Feb., 1864; Rev. Dr. McPheeters, March, 1863 (a case of almost unparalleled injus- tice and wrong. [We pause in this list only for want of room.] JUDGES WERE SEIZED AND IMPRISONED FOR JUDICIAL DECISIONS RENDERED ON THE BENCH. There is not on record in civilized nations a more clear and manifest attempt to destroy the purity of the bench by interposing the power of a tyrannical autocracy than was exhibited in the treatment of judges. We cite the case of Judge Constable, of Illinois, arrested for a calm and cor- rect judicial opinion, rendered in the court of which he is an honored judge. [From the Burlington Sentinel, March 27, 1S63.] THE ARREST OF JUDGE CONSTABLE. We do not propose to discuss the merits of this the latest evidence of the character of the times- .in which we-are living, and of the men who rule us. A simple statement of the facts in the case is suf- ficient to induce us to cast about us, and inquire if it be really in the American Republic rather than within tho realms of the Czar that such scenes are enacted. The facts to which we allude took place on the 13th inst. They are thus briefly set forth by a city cotemporary : " While the Circuit Court of Clark county, in Illinois, was in session, a woman appeared before a justice of the peace, and made oath that two per- 7 eons from Indiana were attempting to kidnap her Bon upon the charge that he was a deserter from the Federal army. The justice thereupon issued a warrant for the arrest of the accused persons. They were brought before him, and at the request of their counsel the case was carried before the Circuit Court. Judge Constable of that court heard the case. It was established that a commis- sion was in the possession of the accused authoriz- ino- two persons named ' to arrest deserters' in a certain district of the State of Indiana. It was not shown that the accused were the two persons named in this commission. Upon this, neither the question of desertion nor the persons of any alleged deserters being before him, Judge Constable held the accused to bail to answer for the crime of at- tempted kidnapping in the State of Illinois. "These proceedings having been taken, Major- General Wright, military commander in the Indi- ana district, sent an officer under his orders, with a force of two hundred men, into the State of Illinois, arrested Judge Constable, and conveyed him out of that State to answer to the charge of ' harboring and protecting deserters.' " This is the most serious outrage yet attempted upon personal freedom. The cour.ts of law have always been looked to by the people as the great shield and safeguard against wrong or injustice committed by the executive upon the people. When this great protection is withdrawn, when the decisions of the judiciary are set aside as naught, and the persons of our judicial officers become the victims of administrative tyranny and violence, we may well feel that not only the substance but the form even of republican 'spirit and government has fled from amongst us. We again say that this is but one instance among many. The attempt to suppress courts of law and justice by frightening judges was happily unsuccessful in the main, and we may point to a long list of able opinions of learned jurists, con- demning the administration, and pronouncing its acts lawless and revolutionary. But, alas for Americans ! the decrees of the courts were pow- erless, and they could not free the citizen from the grasp of radical persecution. Cases occurred, as in the instance of Rev. Mr. Benedict at Buffalo, where the United States Judge declared the ac- cused free from stain, and ordered his release ; but the United States Marshal, in the very pres- ence of the Judge, refused to discharge the pris- oner, seized him again in the court room, trans- ported him from prison to prison, till he finally lodged him in the Old Capitol prison at Wash- ington, under the very eye of Abraham Lincoln. Thus courts were defied, and law trampled on at the order of the President, who pretended to be enforcing the laws. Judge Andrew H. Duff, one of the Circuit Judges of Illinois, was seized and taken to Wash- ington, kept for months in prison, and finally dis- charged; no crime of any sort being found in bim. LADIES WERE SEIZED AND IMPRIS- ONED, SUBJECTED TO NAMELESS IN- SULTS, FORBIDDEN THE VISITS OP FRIENDS, HURRIED FROM PRISON TO PRISON, AND MOST FOULLY TREATED BY THE OFFICERS OF MR. LINCOLN. We recall the Brinsmade case. It has been almost forgotten in the rush of this fierce time. The following is from a statement made by her counsel to Simeon Draper, Esq., before the cir- cumstances were fully known. It is accurately true in every sentence : About two months since Mrs. Brinsmade, the wife of Dr. Brinsmade, a young lady of about twenty years of age, having a pass from Gen. But- ler, arrived in this city from New Orleans, having been placed by the father, Theodore A. James, Esq., a highly respectable merchant of that city, in the charge of Dr. Phelps, one of the surgeons of the steamer upon which he had secured her passage. She brought letters from her father to Messrs. J. D. Scott & Co., and other gentlemen of this city. Upon her arrival here she was accompanied to the Everett House by an invalid naval officer, who had been requested by Commodore Morris, at New Orleans, to protect and assist her. Mrs. Briusmade's object in visiting the North, was to reside with her uncles, one of them in Washington, the other in Troy. She remained a few days in this city and Brooklyn, and then went to Washington, where, after remaining four days, she was arrested by Marshal Baker, who kept her a close prisoner for four days, carefully guarded. Some ten days after she left this city for Wash- ington, a hackman called on one of her friends in New York, and said that a lady was brought on in the train of the previous night by a detective from Washington, and conveyed to the 47th street police station, and that her name was Mrs. Brins- made. An immediate application was made to Mr. Kennedy for the cause of her arrest, and for per- mission to see her. This was rudely refused by Mr. Kennedy, who threatened to lock up the ap- plicant if the inquiry was repeated. Another friend of Mrs. Brinsmade then saw a deputy marshal, and was informed that she could only be seen by permission of Mr. Kennedy, He stated that sho was confined in the 47th street sta- tion house; that she was a giddy, foolish, seecsh woman, who had been singing secesh songs ; that it was thought best to send her homo to her fa- ther, at New Orleans, and that sho would sail in a day or two, but that no one would be allowed to see her. With this assurance her friends were forced to be contented. Thirty-five days afterward a letter was received by one of her friends, stating that she was still a close prisoner in the 47th street station house. Application was at once made to you._ Her friends were informed that you knew nothing of her case ; that you would at once address the proper authority at Washington for information, and, if in your power, would release her. Fending this correspondence, two ladies, the wives of two of our most reputable merchants, who had been for many years the neighbors and friends of Mrs. Brinsmade, called upon Mr. Kennedy for permission to see her. 8 They asked " What were the charges against her, and who were her accusers ? " Mr. Kennedy, in his usual manner, answered, " I, madam, am her accuser. She is a general spy. From the moment she sot her foot in this city, my presence overshadowed her. I did not leave her a moment. She went to Brooklyn to visit her friends. I watched her, and when she returned to tho Everett House, I watched her there. She went to Washington, and when I got her In tho light place I arrested her and brought her back here, and put her where she is." In reply to the inquiry if there was no more proper place for the confinement of this lady than a police station, he said, " No, that was the place for her. That her whole conduct on board ship indicated that she was a spy, and that she ought to be hung ; — that a thoughtless, giddy thing like her, and the one who was arrested a few days since in Washington, who was making a wagon of herself, carrying quinine to the rebels, were the very ones to be employed as spies, and that they all ought to be hung." In reply to the inquiry as to whether she was to be kept shut up where she then was, and had been for five weeks, and her friends unable to see her, or know where she was, he replied, " That is with the Department." Through your kind intervention, after this long confinement, this lady was on Monday restored to her friends. Office of the Provost Marshal General of the War Department, New York, Nov. 10th, 1862. Dear Sir: — In reply to yours of the 8th inst., I can only state that up to the 29th ulto., I had no knowledge whatever with regard to Mrs. Brins- made's case. On that day Mrs. Elliott called and informed me that she was under arrest, and in- quired what was the cause. I on the same day wr*ote to Washington, di- recting inquiry to be made of the Judge Advocate- General. On the 1st inst., I was informed that the Judge Advocate-General knew nothing about the case. Upon this, I asked Mr. Kennedy upon what au- thority he held her as a prisoner. He replied, thrft she was arrested and held by order ot Col. Baker, the provost marshal of Washington. This I forwarded to Washington, and on the 3d inst,, received from Col. Baker and the Assistant Secre- tary of War, information by telegraph to the clfect that the arrest had been made by one of Mr. Ken- nedy's officers, and Mrs. Brinsmade was detained by him without authority from tho War Depart- ment. I then called upon Mr. Kennedy, received from him an order directing Mrs. Brinsmade's release, and went with it to tho station house, took her from it, and placed her in charge of her friends. The foregoing is all the information that I can give bearing on the subject. Your obedient servant, S. DRAPER, P. M. Gcn'l. It subsequently appeared, on the legal pro- ceedings which were instituted in this case, that Mrs. Brinsmade was subjected to infamous pro- posals as the price of her release. For forty days she was in the power of the scoundrels who held her, in secret — unknown to the world or to her own friends. Here is part of her own testimony : TESTIMONY OF MRS. ISABEL M. BRINSMADB. Q. Where do you reside? A. In New Orleans. Q. Born there? A. Yes. Q. When did you leavo it? A. On or about the 25th of August. Q. On what vessel? A. The Fulton. Q. For where? A. New York. Q. For what purpose? A. On purely personal business. Q. Who did you know on board ship? A. The captain and "his wife, the surgeon, the purser, and one or two others. Q. When did you arrive in New York? A. On the 25th of September. Q. Where did you go ? A. Jo the Everett House. Q. How long were you in New York ? A. Eight or ten days. Q. Where did you then go ? A. To Brooklyn. Q. Where did you there reside? A. With Mrs. 0. T. Downs, in Bed- ford avenue. Q. Did you go from there to Wash- ington ? A. Yes. Q. Where did you stop there ? A. With Mr. T. C. Downs, my father's uncle by marriage. Q. How long were vou there? A. Four days. Q. Were you arrested? A. Yes. Q. By whom ? A. By one Bowles and another officer. Q. What did Mr. Bowles say? A. That he arrest- ed me by order of the provost marshal of Wash- ington City, Col. Baker. Q. Did he take you away? A. Immediately. Q. Where? A. To Col. Baker's office. Q. Did he take your baggage? A. Yes, and papers, pictures, letters, and everything, and examined them. Q. What did Col. Baker say — what occurred on that examination when he ex- amined your letters ? Col. Baker told me he ar- rested me by order of the Secretary of War ; that I was accused of being a rebel spy, having treason- able papers in my possession. My papers wert examined and read, and he asked me what I came for. I told him private business. He then told me if I did not wish to go to New Orleans I should be sent to New York, and he pretended to the man Bowles, who had charge of me, that he would keep me as a prisoner at the St. Nicholas Hotel, as be had at Willard's, and that on Sunday he would re-- lease me. Q. Did he examine your private papers? A. Yes. Q. What did he say ? A. He said there was no evidence to hold me. Q. What did he say about your letters ? A. That they were very affec- tionate. Q. What did he say about your daguer- reotypes ? A. He said one or two were good-look- ing ; and he proposed to keep them because they were good-looking. He promised me I should ha\e my pictures the next day, because he had to show them to the Secretary of War before he gave them, to me (laughter). Q. Well, you came on to New York in charge of Mr. Bowles ? A. Yes ; he brought me to Broome street in a carriage. Q, Who was Mr. Bowles? A. He told me he was em- ployed in Mr. Baker's office, and would go back to the office in a few days. Q. What was Mr. Bowles's manner in escorting you to New York? A. He was exceedingly affectionate, and called me "My dear" and "Bella." Q. Had you ever seen him before ? A. No, I never saw him before. Q. You were brought here to this office? A. Yes, I was brought to this station house on this corner. Q. What then was done ? A. He got out of the car- riage ; he did not tell me what place it was, but said he must stop for some orders. The driver got down and I asked him wherever he drove me to tell nic where it was, and to take a message to one of my friends in New York. Q. Where were you 9 taken then ? A. To the Forty-seventh street sta- tion house. Q. You never saw Mr. Kennedy there, did you ? A. Never saw him in my life, sir ; I would notknow him if I was to see him. Q. How long did Mr. Bowles remain there? A. For a week or ten days, taking me regularly to my meals at the next house ; I saw the captain, policemen and sergeants in the house every day. Mr. Baker came after I had been in nearly two weeks, and told me be had come to release me. He said the Secretary of War and Mr. Kennedy had been very anxious to send me to New Orleans, but he had 6een the Secretary of War and persuaded him he need not do so. He said he had put Mr. Kennedy off from time to time merely to please him (Mr. Kennedy) in that way, saying he would put me on a vessel, but it was only to satisfy him, because he was so anxious to have me go. Then he told me Mr. Kennedy asked him, when he arrived in New York, whether he had brought an order for my removal. He told Mr. Kennedy no, he had brought an order for my release. Mr. Kennedy wanted to serve it; he said no, he preferred to serve it himself. Commissioner Bowen remarked that this was so important he would like to have it repeated for the better understanding of all. Mrs. Brinsmade. — When he (Mr. Baker) came to the station house he told me he had got my re- lease ; the Secretary of War and Mr. Kennedy had both been anxious to send me to New Orleans, aud he said he had persuaded the Secretary of War that it was not necessary, it was not worth while, or something of that kind ; Mr. Kennedy had written to him repeatedly requesting an order to send me to New Orleans; he had told Mr. Kennedy to make inquiries about some ships that were leaving, but it was merely to please Mr. Kennedy, who was very anxious to send me away. Then he told me I would be released the next day ; that he was going to Albany that night, and would be back at 9 or 12 ; when he came to New York, Mr. Kennedy asked him if he had brought an order to send me South. He (Mr. Baker) told him no, he had brought my release. Mr. Kennedy offered to serve it, but he (Baker) refused, saying he wanted to see me himself. He advised me to leave New York for a few days, because, if Mr. Kennedy knew where I was going, he would arrest me again (laughter). I asked this man Bowles, while I was in the station house, what was to be done with me. He said he did not know ; be had his orders from the War Department. I frequently asked the offi- cers for Mr. Kennedy, and the invariable reply was : " Mr. Kennedy can do nothing for you until he receives orders from Washington." Q. When Mr. Baker promised to let you out did he urge to re- main in New York ? A. He wanted me to go to Philadelphia with him. He said if I would go he knew where I could be safe. If I would go with him I would be safe, because then he could place me where neither Mr. Kennedy nor anybody else could arrest me again. Q. Who was captain in that station house ? A. Captain Sloat. Q. He knew, of course, of your confinement ? A. Yes. I always asked him when he went down to see if there was an order for my release. Q. Why were vou arrested ? A. Jiecause I was a rebel spy. Q. Well, were you a rebel spy? A. No, sir. Remark by Mr. Barlow. — She means because it was said she was a rebel spy. Mrs. Brinsmade. — Certainly. Q. Were you guilty of any charges whatever; any political offence? A. No. I had not meddled with politics at all. It was disagreeable to me to live in New Orleans, and I wanted to come North. Q. After you came. to New York, while you were in Brooklyn or Wash- ington, did you seud any message by telegraph or otherwise, or give any information to anybody whatever, having any bearing upon any political or military subject ? A. No, sir. Q. None, what- ever?- A. No, sir. Q. Who told you you were a rebel spy? A. Mr. Baker. Q. If he thought you were a rebel spy how could he let you out and take you to Philadelphia? A. I do not know how he could do it, only he said he would do it. Q. With whom are you residing here now ? A. With Mrs. John H. Elliot, in Twenty-third street. By Mr. Barlow. — Are you a friend of Mrs. Elliot ? Mrs. Brinsmade. — Yes. I knew her when I was a very little girl. She resided in New Orleans. Q. What other friends have you here? A. Mrs. Con- verse, who also lives in Twenty-third street. She knew me when I was a young girl. Q. And has taken care of you since ? A. Yes. Q. When you came away from New Orleans, did you come with permission of the Government ? A. Yes. I came from New Orleans with a pass from a military com- mander. Q. You were put in the charge of Dr. Phelps, surgeon of the ship ? A. Yes. Q. Had you letters V A. I had no letters with me ; they were sent in the ship to Mr. Elliot, and a member of the firm of J. B. Scott & Co., by my father. Q. Authorizing him to give you money ? A. Yes, authorizing him to give me any money that I need- ed. Q. When Mr. Baker asked you to go to Phil- adelphia, what did you reply? A. I told him it was not necessary for me to go with him, for I had friends of my own to take care of me. EXAMINATION RESUMED BY JUDGE DEAN. Q. You never knew Mr. Kennedy before? A. I never knew Mr. Kennedy. I never saw him dur- ing the time I was imprisoned. I just now asked Mr. Barlow to point out to me which of the gentle- men present is Mr. Kennedy. I have seen him to- day for the first time. Q. So far as you know, then, he had nothing to do with your imprisonment ? A, I always understood that Mr. Kennedy had no- thing to do with it. The officers who had me in charge said Mr. Kennedy could do nothing until he received orders from the War Department. Q. Then you understood yourself to be the prisoner of Mr. Baker ? A. Yes. I was the prisoner of Mr. Baker, lodged in the Forty-seventh street station house. Mr. Baker told me I was a prisoner by or- der of the Secretary of War, and that Mr. Kennedy was merely requested to hold me. Commissioner Bowen. — I am going to ask this question, not that it has any relevancy to the case, but merely for information : What was your treat- ment in the station house? A. I was treated with the utmost respect by all the officers, policemen, and captain. I was treated very rudely by Mr. Baker and Mr. Bowles. Examination continued by Judge Dean. — In what part of the station house were you kept ? A. In a little room separate from the policemen. Q. And were taken to an adjoining house for your meals ? A. Yes. Commissioner Bowen. — This room was comfor- table? A. Yes, it was tolerably comfortable, but very cold. It had no carpet when I first went there, butone of the officers, after I had been there some time, gave me a rug. Q. Then you were treated 10 respectfully? A. I was treated with entire res- pect, because they were convinced it was an out- rage—my being sent there without a charge. Q. This room was not a cell f A. Oh, no I they would not dare put me in a cell (laughter). By Mr. Harlow. — During this time that you were there were you allowed to send any letters or hold any communication with the outside world, or dur- ing that time was any one allowed to call upon you? A. No; I was not permitted to send any letters. I asked permission to send a letter to my friends, and it was refused, consequently I pitched it out of the window, and a man picked it up and put it in the post ollice. That was the last week I was there ? Q. Had you asked permission to write let- ters? A. I had asked permission to write letters, subject to the inspection of the officers, but they said they had no authority to do so. I held no corri- municat'ion with my friends. None were allowed to see me. I told Mr. Baker, when I came, I was anx- ious to see Mr. Draper. Mr. Baker said Mr. Draper could do nothing for me, that he was a man of no influence or power, and could do nothing for me (laughter), Q. Until this did yon have any means of communicating with your friends, or counsel, or any one else? A. No. By Commissioner Bowen. — How long before your final release did Col. Baker call on you ? A. nearly two weeks. Q. When was the last time Bowles was there ? A. About five or six days before I was released I saw Bowles, who expressed extreme as- tonishment that I was still a prisoner. He said Mr. Kennedy would see me the next day, and I would have a hearing before the Board of Police Commis- sioners (laughter). [From the World.] Another instance of the seizure of females was the case of a poor girl in New York. A very beau- tiful and very honest servant girl lived for three years at domestic service in a family on Ninth ave- nue. For two years of the time she lived very happily, but unfortunately for her comfort, during the last year of her stay the head of the family en- deavored to ruin her. This was the cause of her leaving his employ. She went to service in Madison street, but her former employer followed her there, visiting her frequently, and making overtures that she could not consent to receive. One day he es- sayed to take liberties which made her indignant, and which she resented by throwing a basin of dirty water over him. From her presence he went directly to the special provost-marshal, charged the poor t;irl with treason, stating that she had uttered disloyal sentiments. Among others, that she had hurrahed for Jeff. Davis, said she hoped President Lincoln would be hung, aud as for Pro- vost-Marshal Kennedy, she would like to haug him herself. She was immediately sent for, had a pre- liminary examination, and was then removed to the bedroom occupied by the detectives, just be- yond " Number Four." Here she gave vent to her grief in cries and sobs. She was detained among $blons and vile characters, aud finally discharged, no one knows how. In connection with these cases, we quote the World's remarks on New York arrests under Kennedy : The case of Mrs. Brinsmade is by no means the most flagrant example of the abuse of power made by this man. Since his advent to office the suffer- ers at his hands may be numbered by scores and hundreds, and to such an extent was the business carried after his appointment as special provost- marshal, that upon the arrival in this city of the. Hon. L. C. Turner, Judge Advocate General of the United States, to investigate into certain abuses existing here relative to prisoners of state, he found the station houses swarming with these unfortu- nates, who had been taken for no crime that they had been aware of, and who had been allowed no hearing either at the time of their arrest or subse- quently. It is now stated that there are others still confined in the various station houses in the city, whose cases are of a character to call the blush <>f shame to the face of every man and woman in the community who has any regard for their liberties as residents of a republic under republican rule. nOW ARRESTS WERE MADE. It may not be generally known how arrests were made by the provost-marshal. Citizens were taken off Broadway and hurried before the Government otlicial without a word of warning, or a whisper of what they were arrested for. Others were taken from their beds at midnight, and compelled to visit police headquarters, there to learn, for the first time, the nature of the charges preferred against them. No warrants were exhibited by the officers, no explanation given, nothing but the announce- ment : " The provost-marshal has ordered you to be brought to his office." It was useless to resist or ask questions. The officers were dumb, but they were powerful, and could listen to no expostu- lations, or make answer to any inquiry. These parties were usually held at headquarters over night; sometimes, however, the cells would be full, and the floor of the officers' room also covered with the sleeping victims. In such cases the parties were sent to some of the station houses adjacent to Broadway, and not unfrequently these would be full also, to such an extent was the business of ar- rests carried. The nearest station house to the police headquarters is that located in the Four- teenth precinct, in Spring street, near Marion. Two parties, whose names can be obtained at this office, were arrested by Provost-Marshal Ken- nedy on the broad charge of disloyalty. They had been guilty of offering a resolution, at a public meeting, calling upon Government to make some compromise, upon the basis of which a peace could be effected. They were taken to the police head- quarters, and interrogated after the style in vogue at that place, and from there were sent to the Four- teenth precinct station house, where they were put in solitary confinement in a cell. On Friday, the 19th of September, the following letter was receiv- ed from one of these parties by a prominent busi- ness man in this city, a personal friend of the pris- oner, and was the first intimation he was able to obtain of the locality in which his friend had been confined, although fourteen days had elapsed since his arrest. The letter was hardly legible, having been written in a dark cell with a pencil : Fourteenth Precinct Station Iloi'ss, ! In Cell, Sept. 17, 1869. j To 1 My Dear Sir: You no doubt will think it curi- ous to receive a correspondence from this place. I ] and a friend of mine were arrested on a charge of disloyalty on the oth inst. We proposed a resolu- tion "at a meeting, which appears to have given offence to some persons. "VY e were arrested with- 11 out a warrant, have had no hearing or trial, nor does there appear to be as yet any prospect of one. We are not permitted to utter a syllable in our de- fence. My brother prisoner is —7-7. 1 snou a very much like to have a personal interview with vou You will excuse this style of correspondence, as it is written hastily and stealthily, and in a da rk cell, by your friend, • ■ • P. S.—It may be necessary for you to get an order from Kennedy to see me. This letter, by a little financiering, was sent out rif the station house, and in the course of two whole days and one night, arrived at the place of destina- tion in Fulton street. The very day after it was received the party was discharged from custody by some process not fully explained. THE PROVOST-MARSHAL THREATENS THE LAWYERS Abont two weeks after the establishment of the provost-marshal's office, a sailor, a British subject, was arrested on a charge that he was a citizen ot the United States about to leave the country lie protested that he was a British subject, but it was alleged that he had once vsted in Baltimore He was seized and locked up in the 1- ifteenth W aid station house. His cousin applied to a well-known member of the bar in this city to act as the prison- er's counsel in the matter. This gentleman called upon Provost-Marshal Kennedy, and made a state- ment of the facts concerning the case, adding that he was to act as counsel for the accused party, and desired an interview. The provost-marshal, who was resting from the labors of the day, with his heels upon the tab!e t and himself almost lost in the huge chair he occu- pies, sprang to his feet with all the energy of his nervous nature, aud exclaimed : " I know vou, sir. I too*- you. ]So, sir! I cm can't see him, sir! Are you aware, sir, that the writ of habeas corpus is suspended in this city.'' The gentleman was thunderstruck, but replied, mildly : , , " 1'have said nothing about the habeas corpus. I simply called here to "say I had been engaged to act as counsel for this man, and as such counsel requested the liberty of seeing my client. Provost-Marshal : " Well, sir, if you come here again to interfere with my business, 1 11 send ym down below." , , Here he raised his voice almost to a pitch ot fury, and advancing toward the gentleman, con- "Now sir, I give you personal notice that if you or any other lawyer comes to interfere with my business, I'll lock him up. That's all, sir. Of course that was all. The gentleman could not resent the insult, for he knew the man he was dealing with well enough to know that he would not scruple to incarcerate him on the spot it he should utter the words that burned in his bosom. In this case the British consul was appealed to, investigated the matter, and obtained the man s release, he being proven a British subject. ANOTHER CASE, Illustrating the treatment extended to parties ap- plying to see relatives and friends shut up in sta- tion bouses, was developed a day or two since. On the 15th of August an Irish laborer, named Hu^h Boyle, was arrested for discouraging enlist- ments. He was placed in the Fifteenth W aid sta- tion house. A wife and two children were depend- ent upon him for support. In this case his wife makes a statement to the effect that her husband was willing to take the oath of allegiance immedi- ately after being arrested ; that after his arrest she went to the provost-marshal with a letter from Gen. Corcoran, and upon a subsequent occasion with letters from other parties, but that they proved of no avail. She states that on the l'Jth ot Septem- ber she took another letter to the official from Archbishop Hughes. The letter was in behalf of the prisoner. She states that the answer returned was that the man would not be released if all the bishops and gentlemen of New York should inter- cede for him ; and further, that he wondered that the old gentleman (the archbishop) should interfere with his business. This man had been confined over a month with- out a hearing, although the third section of the order issued from the War Department authorizing arrests, expressly provides that cases shall be tried by military commission as soon as possible after the arrest of parties. Catharine Boyle, the wife of the prisoner, declares that the provost-marshal I treated her and all the letters she took to him with the utmost scorn. She applied to every one whom she thought could have the slightest influ- ence with the provost-marshal, and as a last resort, to have her husband restored to his family, which was actually suffering for the comforts ot life in his absence, she was advised to request Archbishop Hagtaes to present the case to the War Department. This is only one of a long list of cases of a similar character, which, for all the great public may ever know, may teem with a myriad more disgusting details. MOURNERS WERE SEIZED AT FUNERALS WHILE BURYING THEIR DEAD. [From the Baltimore News, Aug. 12, 1S63.] THE ATTENDANTS OF A FUNERAL ARRESTED. "Yesterday afternoon the funeral of the late Capt William D. Brown took place atGreenmount Cemetery, and was attended by the relatives and friends of the family. Mr. Brown, the lather ot the deceased, stated 'that he had called on the mili- tary authorities aud was told that there would be no objection to the funeral, and the body might be buried anywhere. The people assembled at the grave, the funeral ceremony was performed and the body interred. A portion of those who had at- tended left the cemetery, shortly after which a de- tachment of soldiers appeared and arrested all who stood about the grave, numbering some eighteen or twenty persons, whose names are withheld at the instance of the military authorities for the present. After reaching the Gillmore House they were placed in Gen. Tyler's room, where subsequently Col Chesebrough, of Gen. Schcnck's start, made Ins appearance. He stated that information had reached Col. Don Piatt, Chief of Maj.-Gen. Schenek's staft, that the bodv of Capt. Brown had been dressed in a new Confederate uniform for burial, aud upon that, information the arrest of the parties was ordered. The superintendent of the cemetery declared that since the bodv was deposited in the vault it had not been touched. What was done with it before it reached the cemetery he knew not, but nothing ot the kind had since occurred. After some conversa- tion Col. Chesebrough released the whole ot the par- 12 ties to report at Maj.-Gen. Schenck's headquarters at niue o'clock this morning." Dr. Samuel II. Bundy, of Marion, 111., was seized, Aug. 18, 1862, while burying his little child, and carried oft* from his weeping family to the Old Cap- itol prison, a thousand miles distant. No charge was ever made public against him. YOUNG CHILDREN WERE ARRESTED AND IMPRISONED FOR MONTHS, AND EVEN YEARS. On Dec. 13, 1862, among the prisoners discharged from Fort Lafayette, was a boy of 17. No one could ascertain on what charge he had been im- prisoned. He was poor and unknown. It was suspected that he was the son of a poor but ardent Democrat in Connecticut, whose political enemies had procured the arrest of his son as a means of persecuting him. George Hubbell, a news-boy on the Naugatuck Railroad, was arrested Sept. 20,1861. A poor, hump-backed boy, the only support of his mother. He was complained of by Connecticut abolitionists for selling Democratic newspapers on the cars. He was taken by a file of soldiers, carried under a large military guard to Brooklyn, received at Fort Latayette bythe Colonel in command with all the pomp of a dangerous rebel, and was there plunged into a military dungeon. The arrest of this poor boy was hailed with shouts of delight by the Con- necticut radical party. Civilization was never more foully disgraced. [From the Columbus Crisis, Dec. 24, 1S62.] " A little boy thirteen years old, belonging to Gallipolis, Ohio, was for* months kept in Camp Chase garrison during the summer and early fall, whose only crime was that being on a boat, he owed a loyal woman, in Western Virginia, fifteen cents, a balance on washing she did for him while the boat laid at the wharf where she lived on the Ohio River. For this debt of fifteen cents he was reported to the military authorities as disloyal, Was seized and sent to this political prison, where he was kept for months." In Kentucky a school of boys was seized. The little fellows were required to take an oath pre- scribed by the provost marshal, including various arbitrary provisions. Most of the frightened boys submitted. Two little fellows about twelve years old, brothers, named Woolsey, stoutly refused. They were sent to jail. For more than two years they have remained in jail. They are there now. We repeat that wo are only giving a few in- stances to illustrate hundreds which occurred. There have been scores of young children seized and incarcerated by the authority of Abraham Lincoln, young frames broken down in dungeons, young hearts broken, young eyes dimmed forever by the cruelty of this American tyranny. Fathers, mothers, think of this, and pray God to forgive this poor President. lie needs forgiveness ! THE VICTIMS OF MR. LINCOLN'S AR- BITRARY SEIZURES IN NUMEROUS IN- STANCES WERE DRIVEN TO MADNESS AM) TO SUICIDE, OFTEN DIED UNDER THE CRUELTY OF THE TREATMENT THEY RECEIVED. Capt. J. E. Elwood, confined on a false charge, forbidden to see any one but the man who bronght him his meals, worn down by anguish, at length destroyed himself. [From tho N. Y. Timofi, Dec. 4, 1862.] "SnicinE of Capt. Elwood. — A good deal of ex- citement is caused by the suicide last night of Capt. J. E. Elwood, ail inmate of tho Carroll Prison, adjoining the Old Capitol. Capt. Elwood was an officer of the regular army, and was for some time Mustering and Disbursing Officer, but about a month preceding his arrest, wan relieved and placed on duty in New York. While there he was select- ed as Colonel of one of the New York Regiments, but shortly afterwards was arrested by order of the Secretary of War, and committed to this prison, in which he has been kept in close confinement for about three months, lie was a native of Pennsyl- vania, known to a large circle of acquaintances, and very popular among his friends, and great com- plaint has been made in consequence of the rigor of his confinement upon unknown charges. The suicide was committed by severing the jugular vein with a pocket knife, and he was this morning found dead in his cell. military inquest waa held <>n the body." MELANCHOLY RESULTS OF AN ARBITRA- RY ARREST. [From the N. Y. Express.] ONE OF THE ACCUSED PARTIES LOSES IIIS P.EASON. A brief paragraph appeared in the Express of yesterday, headed "Cheering for Jeff. Davis," in "which it was stated that Alexander Hutchings, a Scotchman, and Henry Kerner, had been arrested for cheering for Jeff. Davis in a public bar-room and restaurant. Further particulars in regard to the case have since transpired, and as from the se- rious illness of one of the accused parties, fatal re- sults may attend the arrest, we deem it proper to lay all the facts before the public. It appears that three parties named Alexander Hutchings, Henry Kerner and John Marsh were in a drinking saloon and eating house down town, and that a wager was laid by one of the parties that he could drink the contents of a quart bottle of cham- pagne at a draught. The champague was opened and poured into a pitcher. The party who had made the wager, upon taking up the pitcher, ex- claimed, "If this was Jeff. Davis himself, I could take it at a draught," and he swallowed the cham- pagne and won die bet. Mr. Hatchings and his companion applauded the drinker lor his success in gaining the wager. Two parties named Charle3 A. Meigs and James W. Warren, catching the words "Jeff. Davis," and hearing the applause, almost immediately afterward concluded the parties were uttering treasonable and disloyal sentiments and hurried off to inform the police. The trio were taken to the Police Court and from thence before Major-Gen. Wool, who, upon the affidavits of Meigs and Warren, gave the orders for the parties to be sent at once to Fort Lafayette. They were locked up over night, and in the morning taken to the of- fice of U. S. Marshal Murray, preparatory to going down the bay in custody of one of the Marshal's officers. Fortunately, friends appeared in time, counter affidavits were made, the accusers them- selves, upon being examined, were not quite sure of the facts stated, and the parties were paroled un- til orders could be had from the War Department. 13 The indignities to which these gentlemen were subjected could easily have been borne by them but more serious results are likely to follow. Mr. HutEs now lies in his house, a nearly hopeless £Sc During the whole of last night he was wild- ^de ir'ious talking incessantly of the prison bars, and haS horrid visions of dungeons and racks, that would make him scream out in agony. He is attended by the best physicians and may recover The nrobabilities are, however, that he will entirely lose Eis reason. So that for a trilling word, imper- fectly understood by his accusers and not uttered bv himself this young man may be the inmate of a S asylum for aVe-time, while his accusers go unmolested, and still possessed of the power to niake other indiscreet affidavits, and subject other, of their fellows to the terrible experiences that have fallen upon Mr. Hutchings. FURTHER PARTICULARS.— KENNEDY'S DOINGS IN THE MATTER. We have received, from the friends of the parties interested, some further particulars in regard to the arrest' of Messrs. Hutchinson (not Hutchings as erroneously printed on Saturday), Kerner and Marsh the gentlemen falsely charged with cheer- ins for Jeff. Davis" in Schultz's restaurant last S which we deem of sufficient interest to ay before our readers, and thus enable them to see the arbitrary and cruel manner in which arrests are made by the police of this city. It appears that, Mr Marsh, who had been discharged shortly after his arrest on that day, when standing before he New York Hotel the same evening, was accosted bv Captain Caffrey, of the 15th Precinct who, hav- hfg asked for his name, told him that he had orders from Superintendent Kennedy to arrest him. Mr Marsh asked for Capt. Caffrey's warrant, to which 5he C ptain replied tLt he had none, that there was no necessity for any warrant, and that he had Ken- nedv's peremptory orders to bring Mr. Marsh to h&uKs fin fine, to use the Captain's own wo-ds : " You must come, sir." Mr. Marsh seeing here was no way of escape, followed he .Captain to headquarters, where he was detained all night, without any ch'arge being brought against him. He of course, was, with the remainder of his friends discharged the next morning. It being : ascertained ?he same evening, by the friends of Mr •Hutchin- son that the latter was detained at the Hrs>t rre- cinct Station House several Bremen among whom was Mr. John Collins, Jr., son of E. K. Collins Esq., called upon the Superintendent to induce him to release his prisoner. They told Kennedy that Se charge brought against Hutchinson was based upon error, and that llr. Hutchinson had such a nervous temperament that a night's incarceration would certainly work to such an extent upon his mind as to endanger his life. Mr. Kennedy's only Response to the enleaties.of these highly respecta- ble Gentlemen was, " a night's lodging in the sta- tion g house is the best cure for such temperaments, much better than the assistance of all the ». Y doctors " Mrs. Hutchinson ^wife of the prisoner] soon after called upon Mr. Kennedy and begged entreated, aye, even almost prayed to him, to per- mit her to visit her husband in rfts cell, but ' no, you can not," was the cruel, cold reply of our "Fouche." Poor Mrs. Hutchinson was so over- come with the coarse brutality of Kennedy, that on leaving headquarters she fainted, and had to be taken home in a carriage. "Mr S H. Barry, released in December, 1862, became a helpless lunatic upon his release. Repeated attempts to obtain an examination and learn what was the accusation against him having failed, he sank into hopeless melancholy, and broke down in body and mind." " Death of a Political Prisoner.— Mr. A. L. Fessenden, of Wisconsin, was ordered to be releas- ed from the military prison in St. Louis, uncondi- tionally, on the 16th inst., 'the charges against him not having been sustained.' The order for his re- lease arrived at the prison hospital on the same day of but a few hours subsequent to, his death. — l>u- buque Herald, Nov. SO, 1862. "Another Arbitrary Arrest and Death.— It is with profound sorrow that we announce the death of Hon L. W. Hall, of Bucyrus, Ohio. He died last Sunday at his home in that place, aged about 50 years. Last fall, while in delicate health, he was arrested, taken to Camp Mansfield, and there incar- cerated as a political prisoner. He was iv neon di- tionally released some time ago, and went home to die— his death doubtless having been hastened by what he endured while in durance. He was tor some years a Common Pleas Judge, served a term in Congress, and was.a man of acknowledged abd- ity."— Columbus (of. Under no circumstances are they per- mitted to leave their cells, and before the iron grated door of their prison house, securely fasten- ed, armed sentries, day and night, watch them. One prisoner, who came here sound in body and mind, for some days was insane through the effects of his confinement. Who two years ago would have anticipated that such am-sts would have been made? Who would have thought two years ago that the President would have brought all the people of the United States under martial law, to he administered at his own discretion, and that in oiinn iguificcnt Post-office building, in a State loyal to the Government and in which the administra- tion of the civil law has never been obstructed, seventeen of its citizens would be confined, de- prived of all their civil lights? [From the New York World, Sept., 1862.1 THE PROVOST-MARSHAL AND CELL NO. 4. Wc rather tire of Secretary Stanton and Fort La Fayette ; — will our readers excuse us if we put them off this morning with Provost-Marshal Kennedy and Cell No. 4 ? A glimpse of these remarkable objects is offered in another column. They are not an agreeable picture, we admit. And yet there can be no understanding of the full depths of the infamy to which our good cause has been sunk by official folly and wickedness, if we leave the Pro- vost-Marshal and his methods out of view. Now it is generally imagined that torture was done away with, among the English-speaking race, a good many hundred years ago, even in the case of convicted offenders. The common law discouraged it; positive statutes prohibited it. The tenth ar- ticle of the Bill of Rights under the Restoration, provided against " cruel or unusual punishments." The coronation oath imposes it as an everlasting obligation upon English sovereigns to execute jus- tice with mercy. Inquisitorial torture, inflicted before the guilt is established, has been even more opposed to the Anglo-Saxon spirit. It has been treated almost from time immemorial as an utterly barbarous and unconscionable resort. Even the old Roman pagans had enough of the same spirit to confine the criminal quaestion, as it was emphati- cally styled, to slaves ; and as long as the faintest remembrance of the national dignity was kept alive, they would never consent to violate the sacred person of a citizen, till they possessed the clearest evidence of his guilt. But American citi- zenship, in these days, has no immunities. There is no ignominy to which, in these parts at least, it is not exposed. We are simply indebted to the sovereign grace of the Provost-Marshal if we breathe this upper air at all. " In the palace lives a man who can cut my head off," said Quenay, describing the guarantees of Louis Fifteenth's monarchy. At the corner of Elm and Broome Streets sits a man wlw can put us 'in Number Four, sums up our own condition. Provost-Marshal Kennedy, some fine summer morning, sends his detective commanding you to repair to his presenee. Useless to question. Your busiuess is to go. You accompany the officer. Ushered in, you find yourself called to account for some thoughtless word or act that may or may not have come" from you. Be careful how you bear yourself. Answer promptly and humbly. Don't let any of vour father's blood in your veins ruffle you. Though you are not wont to be catechised in this curt, imperious style, you must forget all that. This is a Provost-Marshal, remember, Try to be meek. Study to please. Help him to mag- nify his office. Perhaps he will be good to you, and, when he has finished, graciously bow you off to a room t'hat a Christian man can manage to live in for a few days and nights. If, on the_ other hand, you chafe 'under his questionings, or in any wise fail in deference, or if you do not confess up to his expected mark, he will probably make short work of you. You are booked for Number Four. You need not expostulate. " That 's all, Sir." A wave of the hand ; a word to the officer ; and there you are, a subterranean. Well, the iron door closes upon you. Now grope. You can't go foul. Three feet by six is all tho measure. Don't trouble yourself about the furni- ture. A plank shelf for a' pallet, a pine block fqr a a pillow, a dipper and a water waste— that is the sum total. Are you alone ? You are in luck. You should know that there have been as many as three men of your size— and you know you are 20 several sizes larger than tlio Provost — accommoda- ted here lit oho and this same time, two sitting on the plunk, and the tliird face downward on the floor. Now you have a elianee to reflect upon the glorious blessings of constitutional government and the inscrutable dispensations of Provost-Mar: (dials. No you haven't. Oh horrors ! The swarms arc upon you. Your flesh quivers. Your blood burns with poison. You are driven halt' mad with agony. You taint with heat. You gasp for air. Ah ; you begin to understand now what meant that last vindictive look Y'ou are getting a glim- mer of what it, costs to cross the humor of a Pro- vost-! Marshal. No danger now but that you will please hint. To go from that den you would creep to his very feet. .But lie not impatient. Endure as you can. There will be no hurry to release you. You have not only to learn your le>son, but vou have a little penalty to pay for your contumacy. Men no worse than you have been kept here for hours, nay days. Provost-Marshals are hot so easily propitiated. We may talk us we please of the thumb-screws, jack boots, wheels, racks, pinchers, and all the paraphernalia of mediaeval persecution — they were all an influitely more respectable means of propa- gating the true faith than this unntterublo abom- natiou which is used against political heretics, or those suspected to be such, in this so called land of freedom. Torqucmada tortured, but he did it in a clean, gentlemanly way. lie was content with ingenious applications of wood, and iron, and fire, and water. Fanatic as he was, he never de- graded his cause by in king loathsome vermin the ministers of its vengeance. It has been reserved for Provost-Marshal Kennedy to bring into requi- sition this new sort of peine forte et dure — the old anguish made all the more intolerable by an over- powering disgust. hi the name of American civilization, we protest against it. It calls for the execration, we will not say of every loyal but of every decent man. It is bad enough that we should be subjected to the arbitrary will of an officer unknown to the laws, however discreetly that will might be exercised : bad enough, at best, that we are hourly exposed to summary arrests, and commitments, and im- prisonments, without bail, without trial, anil even without offence : — but when it comes to this, that American manhood is made the prey of the vilest of creeping things, deliberately and expressly for inquisitorial purposes, it is lidding to the lowest deep of ignominy a yet lower deep, which wo are worse than slaves if we endure, Consent to such treatment forfeits not only our claims as freemen, but our titles as men. ANOTHER ACCOUNT OF CELL NUMBER FOUR. [From the World, September 12th, 1863.] REFUSING TO GIVE A NAME. Upon another occasion an individual was brought in for refusing to give his name to an enrolling offieer. Provost-Mausual — "What is your name, sir?" Unknown — " Well, I decline I to give my name there, and 1 think I shall hero." Provost-Marshal— " Ob, you think so. Now I'll tell you what I think. I think you'll give it before you've been here a great while. lie sprung the bell again. " Here is a man who won't crive bis name. Tuko him down and givo him number four. lie will probably give his name before many hours." The young man, who was not above twenty years of age, seemed liko a person hardly cmn- piia. He was pale-faced, and gaunt-looking, was seed ily dressed, and had the appearance of having just come otf a night's, debauch. lie was taken down to the detective office, again interro- gated, and again declined to give his name. "Oivc him number four," said the officer in charge, and he was at once seized and hurried off to the fated locality. NUMISER FOUR. Horror of horrors. Possibly no place since tho black hole of Calcutta or the prison hulks of the Revolution could compete with cell number four at police headquarters. Under the reign of tho provost-marshal it be- came part and parcel of the machinery of the of- fice, and was used as occasion called to hold fast the worst class of the prisoners arrested, or such as were, considered the most flagrant cases. Passing through the outer room of tho detect- ive office in the basement, you come into the sit- ting room — a close, badly ventilated chamber — tho larger half of which is underground. Midway in the room at the right is a small half glass door cut in a partition, through which you enter upon a narrow corridor facing four small cells. These are numbered, beginning at the south end, one, two, three, four, the latter being at the extreme ri.'ht as \ on enter the corridor, which is scarcely wide enough to admit the passage of a man. The sides of cell number four are ceiled up with boards to the top. It is about three feet wide by six in depth. A stationary board fifteen inches wide is put up on the right hand for a sleeping pallet, and "a three-cornered pine block, fastened at one end of the board, serves as a pillow — thcro being neither bed clothes, mattress or straw. A water waste and dipper in one corner completes the I'm-' it are of the cell. The sides of the place are thickly coated witli whitewash in the vain ef- fort to purify it. The door is composed of iron '■ars about one inch in width, and a quarter of an inch in thickness, arranged c rosiwise, so as to in- tersect each other at every two and a half inches. At the top is a small aperture eight inches square. The entire place swarms with vermin. Tn dog- davs. when the cell door was shut, and the door and windows leading to the outer apartment wero closed, theatmosphcre was Btifling in its character, while the vermin ran riot over the unfortunate victims, who could neither lie down nor sit down from very agony, sometimes imploring in heaven's name to be let out. if only for a few moments. In tho hottest weather of the season three persons have been confined in this cell at once, t wo of them sitting on the board and the third lying at full length on his face upon the floor, and all eviden- cing untold horror and misery. Sergeant t*Oung has often civen directions to have the prisoners taken out at night, and allowed them to lie around on tho floor of the outer room. nOW THE UNKNOVTN FARED. The individual above alluded who would not give his name, wos.put iu No. 4. The door of the 21 cell was shut and bolted and the outer door was closed also, although it was one of the hottest days of the season. In fifteen minutes his cries were heard, the door opened and he was found in a profuso perspiration with the vermin orawliug over and tormenting him. "For God's sake" let mo out of this," he said, "and I will do anything you want." The man or beast that Number 4 cannot tamo 13 beyond the reach of the most injurious torture. Every delinquent who is alluded to as an atrocious villain, is wished no worse fate than incarceration within its walls. " Number 4" is a by-word among the officers and frequenters of headquarters, and is promised as a sort of bugbear to such inmates of the detective office as behave themselves unruly. One of the individuals who had been arrested for some criminal offence, upon reading an account in the paper of a Rebel victory, laid the paper down as if in disgust, and remarked, " That's the way with our boys, just prick 'em and they run." The words were reported up stairs and the order came down. " Place him in number four. He will be pricked tvhere he can't run." The history of this awful receptacle for prison- ers can never probably be fully told; and wo have only briefly sketched it to show some por- tion of the machinery used in conducting the bu- siness of the provost-marshal's office. From the Rochester Union. "\ AN ARBITRARY ARREST. On Thursday last, a citizen of Canandaigua was riding from this city home in the cars, when he engaged in a political discussion. Being a Democrat, and disapproving of the policy of the Federal Administration in some particulars, he expressed his opinion freely, as he had a right to do. He did not say that President Lincoln was a traitor and deserved hanging — he did not want to push home the charge of treason upon the Presi- dent — in fact his language in expressing his views of the policy of the Federal Administration was not personal upon the President or calculated to beget disrespect for the man — as is that of the radicals toward Governor Seymour. But the in- dignation of two men wearing shoulder straps was aroused. They had heard about the suspen- sion of the habeas corpus and concluded that they had a right to arrest a citizen, if they thought he ought to be arrested, and lock him up. So they took the gentleman aforesaid into custody and carried him to Geneva. He made no resist- ance, and when he reached Geneva was ready to be locked up or otherwise disposed of as his cap- tors might think proper. He presumed that they were acting under Lincoln law — which has dis- placed all others — and to resist would be rebel- lion and tend to anarchy, which, as a loyal Union man, he could not engage in. At length some- body advised these military chaps that they had been too fast in making the arrest, and might get into difficulty. Thus alarmed them — as it natur- ally would men who had taken the course they had — and they sought to get rid of their prisoner. They gave him an opportunity to run away, but 1 he would not do anything of the kind. If he was a prisoner he would remain so till legally dis- charged. He would not go home a fugitive from custody or by stealth. These fellows, finding that their prisoner would not escape, resolved to run away from him, which they did. They went with him to a saloon to take a drink before taking him to the guard house of the camp, while he was there they skedaddled. The prisoner made diligent in- quiry for his custodians, and remained on the spot where they left him until he became satisfied that they had given him the slip, and then he returned by cars to Canandaigua. American citizens of the State of New York must hear the Executive of this great State de- nounced as a traitor and threatened with death by the friends of the National Administration, but if a friend of the Governor, elected by a majority of the people of the State, only a year ago, ven- tures to express an opinion adverse to the policy and some of the acts of the President, he is lia- ble to summary arrest and punishment without the benefit of trial by jury or the habeas corpus. Is not this humiliating, and is there a people any- where but in this country, who would submit to this humiliation? The fact that our people will bear such indignities — such oppression and injus- tice — proves that they are capable of self-govern- ment, and ought to make every man contend still more for the preservation of the Union and the Republican form of government under our Con- stitution as it is. — Sept. 1863. THE PRISONERS AT FORT LAFAYETTE. THE DOCTRINE OF NON-INTERCOURSE. Lieutenant-Colonel Burke, the efficient com- mandant of Forts Hamilton and Lafayette, thoroughly understands his duties respecting the strict guardianship of the rebels and traitors under his charge. A day or two since a gentle- man of this city went down to Fort Hamilton with a note from an official source, asking the Colonel " if his duties would permit " to allow the bearer to visit Mr. , one of the most distinguished guests of the nation at Fort La- fayette. The Colonel knew his visitor to be as loyal as need be, read the note, and then said: " My dear sir, I would give twenty dollars to see Mr. myself. He was formerly an old and esteemed friend of mine, and I should be delighted to pass an hour with him ; but my official posi- tion and my orders forbid such an interview. The only communication I have had with him has been through one of my officers. .Only yes- terday his sister came here with a priest and begged permission to see him. The family is Catholic, and I am a Catholic myself, but I was obliged to refuse their application. JVo one, ex- cept the proper officer in charge, can have any intercourse with my prisoners. Just then the mail from the city was brought 22 into Colonel Burke's office. There were twenty or thirty letters addressed to the prisoners. Colonel Burke looked them over and picked out one. " There is a letter for Mr. , and I know the hand which addresses it; the letter is from his sister, but I cannot send rt in to him. As you know the family, you may open and read it. I shall be obliged to ; as I open all letters which come to or from the prisoners. Their family letters I glance at, and if there is anything important to communicate, the purport of the letter is sent to the person to whom it is addressed. My orders with regard to the prisoners are very strict, and I obey them." " May I leave my card for Mr. ?" said the visitor. " Certainly, you may write him a note, if you wish. The visitor wrote a note, merely stating that he had called, &c, and Colonel Burke sent it by a sergeant. " It must be very much like state prison over there." " Oh, no," said the Colonel, " the pris- oners have nothing to do, plenty to eat, plenty of air and exercise. They have the run of the fort at proper hours. Do you see that man leaning against the doorway?" " Yes." " Well, let me get the glass, I think that is Mr. " He looked, handed the glass to the visitor, and it was Mr.^ . The visitor returned to the city, with the following consolation from the Colonel : " Well, you came down to see Mr. and you have seen him." Aud the Colonel bade his visitor a courteous farewell. — Evening Post, September, 1861. A GOOD DEAL DEPENDS ON YOUR COLOR. In the Senate of the United States a few days ago, Mr. Saulsbury, of Delaware, a Democrat, offered a resolution, calling on the Secretary of War to inform the Senate whether Dr. John Lane and Mr. Meredith (white men) citizens of Delaware, had been arrested and imprisoned, what charges were made against them, and all the papers relating to their arrest, &c. This resolution was " laid oyer," which means it Was REJECTED. On the same day, Mr. Sumner, of Massachu- setts, a Republican, offered a resolution that the Secretary of War be requested to furnish the Senate with any information which he might possess with reference to the sale into slavery of freemen (black men) captured or seized by the rebel forces, and state what steps have been taken to redress this outrage on human rights. This resolution was adopted. — Dec. 16, 1862, Hart- ford Times. LIVING IN FORT LAFAYETTE. Rats are abundant in Fort Lafayette. It is stated that as the unfortunate prisoners lie in their uncomfortable cribs, at night, they are lit- erally covered with the disgusting vermin. One case is reported, in which the unhappy occupant of one of the cells was aroused by a nightmare, to find six of them revelling upon his breast, and of another who felt something nibbling at his pedal extremities, and, immediately kicking a rat was thrown to the ceiling, and fell with a thud to the floor. This is a part of the punish- ment inflicted By a paternal government upon those who incur its suspicion or the enmity of its subordinates, not a single prisoner of that for- tress has been confronted by his accuser, or tiled by his peers. Many have languished there al- most from the beginning of the war. — Boston Courier. The President and Liberty. — The Evening Post favors the country with the following astounding piece of intelligence, which the "order" of .Mr. Stanton, this day published, partially confirms: " The President is fully convinced that the sense of the country is overwhelmingly against anything savoring of tyranny or of a military despotism." Is he, indeed ! After eighty years of American liberty and independence, a lawyer from Illinois, elevated to the chair of Washington, has actually learned that "the sense of the country" faTors freedom, and is not altogether indifferent to justice and the laws ! Had an enemy put this scorn upon us it had been easier to bear. But that an Ameri- can journal should thus, in the language of a court flunkey, record the shame of the land, is almost too much for mortal patience. Quite too much for mortal patience, a trial be- yond all imagined for Job, is the same journal's ex- planation of the process through which this light has reached the presidential mind : "Some of the arrests made have been unneces- sary and unjust, and the Administration has suffered for its mistakes." The " Administration has suffered," mark you— not the American citizens " unnecessarily and un- justly arrested ;" not American liberty indecently outraged ; not the American name made a laughing stock and scandal of the world, but the " Adminis- tration !" The temporary servants of the people have been made to tremble for their wages ; the intriguers of party for the success of their schemes. Can the force of bland unconscious baseness further go?— World, Mv. 24, 1S62. The growth of this monstrous system of des- potic power in America has astonished the world. To the disgrace of the American name, Mr. Seward, Secretary of State, boasted to a foreign minister, an Englishman, that he had but to touch his little bell and arrest- a man in any part of 23 America. This boast, from an American to an Englishman, will live in history as an evidence of the debasement to which radicalism can bring a people once proud and strong in throwing off a British yoke to establish free institutions. We have given the faintest outline of the his- tory of despotism in America. The particulars of hundreds of cases might be given, showing the atrocity of the whole system, men were often called from their beds in the middle of the night, to the front door, dragged into carriages, and t aken away, without being allowed to communi- cate with wife or children, leaving their families in total ignorance of their fate. During all these years the courts were open, and justice might have been administered ac- cording to the Constitution. There was no pos- sible excuse for substituting the will of the Presi- dent for the arm of the law. However guilty a man was, he could and should have been dealt with according to the Constitution and laws of his land. The fact that of these thousands of men seized and imprisoned, no one was ever in- dicted, no one ever confronted with the witnesses against him, no one ever tried by a jury, this fact abundantly shows the innocence of the suf- fers, and the gross violence done the Constitution by one who had sworn to support it. But lest our opinion be called partisan, we quote the letter of a distinguished jurist of New York, a Republican in politics, with which we conclude this tract : LETTER OF A REPUBLICAN JUDGE. LETTER FROM JUDGE GOULD, OF NEW YORK. The letter following sufficiently explains itself. It was sent to the President two days after its date by a friend of his, who afforded the first op- portunity that could be relied on to insure the de- livery to the President in person, and it was so delivered. It was read, and a verbal reply that the case would bo investigated was given. Bnt no pretence was made that the cause for the arrest was not correctly stated in my letter. Though the claim to " investigate " by means of an arbitrary arrest, personal duress, and what- ever secret appliances a Cabinet inquisition might see fit to resort to, was reasserting the right so to arrest for such causes, and thus was a claim as ut- terly at variance with all law, as would have been the similar arrest of a man who (in New York) had picked the Secretary's pocket, still steps were taken to present the case again to the President and the Secretary, through their personal and Eolitical friends (and they in high position), in the ope of obtaining redress without publicity. But as up to this time (after nearly three weeks) nothing has resulted, except an infamous- ly rigorous imprisonment of Mr. Tracy, forbear- ance has reached its limit. It is highly important that the people should thus and now have a speci- fic statement, showing the enormity of actual op- pression exercised in this case, as a warning to them and to the Administration. Yours, &c, GEO. GOULD. Troy, N. Y., Dec. 4th, 1862. JUDGE GOULD TO MR. LINCOLN. New York, Nov. Uth, 1S62. To his Excellency Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States ; Sni : — On my arrival in this city, from my resi- dence in Troy, N. Y., I find that a cousin of mine, G. Golden Tracy, a broker of this city, has been, first, arrested and sent to Fort Lafayette ; and sec- ondly, to-day taken as a prisoner to Washington. The newspapers say— and so far as I can learn by all inquiries of authorities, I can hear nothing dif- ferent—that 4 he cause of the arrest is some deal- ings he had had in contractors' drafts on govern- ment officers for moneys ; and, it is said, some frauds were committed in or by the drafts, and lie is charged with complicity therewith. If this be so, it is a crime cognizable by the courts, and only by the courts. And I am amazed at the fatuity of public officers who can take no warning from the distinctly uttered voice of a free people. I am, and always have been, an unwavering enemy of this rebellion — (cursed in its origin, most, accursed in its progress)— and a supporter of the Administration. I am a judge of the high- est court of this State. And if no honest voice has yet reached the ears of our Government. I wish to say, and to be heard in saying, that Star Cham- bar process and Secretary's warrants are danger- ous instruments to play with, and that, among us, the true, staunch supporters of the Government, who would crush treason with the iron heel, but who know the law, are compelled to hang their heads in silence at the mention of cases which have occurred in our midst. Spies are hardly cautioned when they are where they can do infinite harm ; but a powerful band, and an oppressive one, is laid on a person here, who is not in a position for doing mischief if he would, and who is supposed to have no friends. In this respect, I thank God, there has been a mistake. It is true that he is a young man, of not much means or influence; it is also true that he has a young wife (married not long since) ; and for no assigned cause, and for no assignable cause that those in power dare to give breath to, he is taken away from home, without giving to his wife an m- stan't's interview or a chance to see him. Is this country the France of a century ago ? The young man is the grandson of that Uriah Tracy, who lived and died a Senator of the United States from Connecticut, who was the first man buried in the Congressional burying ground at Washington, and whose ashes are insulted by this atrocious invasion of the liberties of the people in the person of his descendant. I am not speaking merely my own opinion of such arrests. I know the opinions and the feelings of many of my brethren of the bench. And if the Government is desirous of so proceeding as to 24 make it our duty to mnko public our opinions, they will bo hoard, not merely in the writ of habeas corpus, but in open declaration to the world. Had I been a few hours earlier inndo aware of this case, I should not have troubled you with a word ; bat 1 would have seen that the process of the Supreme Court of this State wns bo executed «s to protect is citizens accused of such offences from arrest, other than under the appropriate pro- cess of the court. I beg again to assure you, in all sincerity, that this kind of proceeding has gone too far already, and, that, while to the hist of our men and our means we nre ready and determined to sustain the luw and tho Government in enforcing the law over thiB whole Uud us one country, we are also determined to be judged by the law, and not by any Secretary or any one who is not commissioned for that purpose. We know and acknowledge the rules of war, where the necessity of the case re- quires the existence of martial law. But we know also, the common law of liberty, and tho broad' great charter of the Constitution. I write warmly, zealously, because I cannot bear to think of our cherished government's taking any course to injure itself; at a time, too, when our only iope of escaping the eternal disgrace and humiliation of letting the cause of human liberty periBh in our hands, is to sustain this government ot this Union, and to have it a government worth sustaining. With great respect, yours, & c GEOKGE GOULD. S '12