St. Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1845-1863, 1861-08-15

knew, were taken in charge by file Of
soldiers. aud all Of Us were confined To-
Re.hcr in the guard house. From that
70 the present. have been rigor-
o,,sly confined there without any CON-
fort. but the little my friends have hee"
allowed to supply me in the way OF pro-
visions from them. have never been
permitted to leave it. except for lev
minutes ut time. under the most ur-
gent circumstances. in custody OF an
armed sentinel. Ihave, in vain, applied
to Con. Banks and Col. Morris to inform
me un what charge l was held. l have
offered to waive the presumption OF inno-
cence, to which any criminal IS entitled,
and to assume the burden of accounting
satisfactorily to them. for any moment OF
my life to which they would say suspicion
attached. have told them that | was.
and 50 far a. | a,n infurmsed, am YET, an
officer Of The Government in the Custom
House-that have u large family. wife
and nine chiljrcn-cntircly dependent
Upon my labor for support, Ihavo offered
nay parole, or amy named security. that
| would be forthcoming. TO answer any
charge which mi ght hereafter be preferred
against me, but my appeals. have brought
me no relief nor the promise of any The
Grand jury of the Federal court was in
session for long time after my arrest
found many indictments against other
partics-but none against me. | have
no reason to suppose that any one had the
hardihood to attempt to inplicate me in
even the suspicion Of crime. but l am
still ANONYMOUSLY deprived Of my liberty
and my family left to the charity Of their
friends Col. Norris has iutilnatod to me
that if | would take an oath of allegiance.
prepared BY him, would bc released, as
others have been, who were arrested at
the same time. But although have not.
and have never had, aud never expect Il"
have. any purpose which woHIl be thwart-
cd by such an oath, my srlf-respect re-
bells against any mans right, however
high his position. to treat me like Il gull
tv or suspected ftlon. ! was arrested
without cause. claim a frceman's right
to b. discharged without conditions |
ann now an old man, and have never COM
mttcd or anticipated the commission of
any crime against the United States. At
the moment Of my arrest, was esteemed
worthy t. hold offica under the govern
ment. No one can truthfully charge
me-I believe no one has falsely charged
mc--witl being rccreant, in NY humble
sphere, to publict or private duty. Under
these circumstances, DO not permit my
self to doubt that you will forbid nay being
incarceratcd by the department under
your control, for refusing to take IN oath,
which no opc has right. legally or mo-
rally. to require of me.
"telyiug confidently on your s'nse Of
justice, and earnestly begging you to give
my case your early attention.
II am, very respectfully.
''Iuur obedicnt servant,
EDWARD JOHNSON"
The account which Mr. ALVEY gives of
his arrest We derive from his own lips, aud
it is as follows:
s.Mr Alvey wac, four -sr- -Hvc.. weeks
ago. engaged in his Office at aight, when
Il man entered and informed him that he
had brought him n communication from
General johnson, and ut the same time
handed him letter. Mr.. Alvey express
sed his surprise that General J"hnson
should have written to him, aud proceeded
to read the document. The bearer left
the Office, and in few minutes re-cntcred
with file Of soldiers and arrested Mr.
Alvey, with the letter in his hand, charg-
ing him with holding reasonable COR
rcspondence with the Confederate forces.
MIR. Alvey had not even finished read.
ing the letter purp"rting to come from
General johnson when he was seized. blu,
he was informed that the despatch had
Leeu taken from a messenger, who had
been intercepted in his passage from Vir-
GINA, and that the Commander Of the
Federal troops had placed it in the
hands of one Of his own soldiers, for the
purpose of cntrapping Mr.. Alvey. The
latter has every reason TO believe that the
letter was forgery. because he canno,
suppose that Gen. johnson ever wrote to
him, and he never has been able to dis.
cover that any bearer of dispatches fron,
Gen johnson was really ever arrested
But. be this as it may, Mr.. Alvey AYERS
that be has had no communication with
Gen. johnson, and that there never ha.
been the slightest foundation for any
charge against him. Notwithstanding
this, he was seized aud hand cuffed, aLd
dragged to Baltimore. 1t was alleged
that he had fallen into the cowardly trar
that had been set for him: and on tLi.
bald false pretence he has been i'm
prisoned for mahy weeks Not only ha.
the United States grand jury failed to in
dict him, but the United States Dis,rie
Attorney has certified to the Governmen
that the charge against Mr.. Alvey can
not be sustained. Nevertheless, he ba,
been refused redress or a hearing. II,
has been subjected to a Heightened con
Gnement in Government fortress here
and IS now removed to fort in a distan
State. No well-foundcd accusation ha
ever been preferred against him, mo-
can any charge whatever be supporte,
by one solitary witness Mr.. Alvey i
obnoxious to Mr.. Lincoln's adherents
and therefore he is subjected to indiguit,
and