The weekly pioneer and Democrat. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. Territory) 1855-1865, 1865-06-16
THE COURT MARTIAL.
Graphic Picture Of Secretary Sew
ards Assailant.
From the New York World.
PAYNE


On the soldiers other hand is figure which
makes the centre and cynosure of this thrilling
scene. Taller by whole head than either his
companions or the sentries, Payne, the as sas-
sin, sits erect, and filings his barbarian eye to
and fro, radiating the tremendous energy of
his colossal physique.
He is the only man worthy to have murdered
Mr.. Seward. When against the delicate organ.
ization, the fine, subtle, nervous mind of the
Secretary of State, this giant, knife in hand,
precipitated himself, two forms of civilization
met as distinctly as when the savage Gauls in
vaded the Roman Senate. Lawlessness and in
telligenee, the savage and the statesman, body
and mind fought together upon Mr.. Stewards
bed.
The mystery attending Payne's hcme and
pareRtage still exists to make him more in
comprehensive. Out of the vague dim ultima
thule, like those Asiatic hordes that came from
nowhere and shivered civilization Payne sud-
denly appeared and fought his way to the sane
tuu sanctorum of law. / think his part in the
The latter's crime was shrewdly plotted, as by
one measuring intelligence with the whole gov
eminent. But Payne did not think-he only
struck!
With this mans face before me as write,
am reminded of some Maori chief waging war
from the lust of blood or the pride of local do
minion. His complexion Is bloodless, yet so
healthy that passing observer would after
ward speak of it as ruddy. His face is broad,
with character nose, sensual lips, and very
high cheek bones; the Uranium is full and the
brow speaking, while the head runs back to
an abnormal apex at the tip of the cerebellum.
His straight, lustreless black hair, duly parted,
is at the summit 80 disturbed that tufts of it
rise up like Red Jackets or Tecumseh's; but
the head is kept well up, and rests upon
wonderfully broad throat, muscular as ones
thigh, and without any trace as he sits, of the
prOtuberance called Adams apple. Withal,
the eye is the man Payne's power. 1t is dark
and speeches., and rolls here and there like
that of a beast in cage which strives in vain
to understand the language of its captors. 1t
seems to say, if anything, that it has no sym
patty with anybody approximate, and has sub
mitted, like a lion bound, to the logic of con-
yiction and of chains. Payne looks at none of
his fellow prisoners: assassins caught seldom
care to recognize each other; for while there
is faithfulness among thieves, there is none
among murderers His great white eyeball
never roves to anybody's in the dock, nor
theirs to HIS He has confessed his crime, and
they know it; so they have no mutual hope:
they listen to ne evidence because 1t concaDs
them; he LOOKS at it only, because it canIBt
save him. He is entirely beardless. yet in his
boysh chin more of man physically than the
rest combined.
While l watch this man / am constantly re-
peating to myself that stanza of Bryants
Upon the market place he stood
man of giant frame.
Amid the gathering multitude
That shrank to hear his name;
All proud of step and firm OF limb.
His DARK eye on the ground
And silently they gaze on him,
As on lion bound
His dress, which we scarcely notice in the
grander contrast of his pose and stature, is an
Old shirt of wooden blue, with n white nap at
the button. holes, and upon his knees OF black
cloth he twirls, as if for relaxation, between
his powerful manacles, soiled white hand
kerchief-if from his mother, we conjecture, a
Gift to bloodhound from his dam. His heavy
handouts make his broad shoulders more mar.
row. Yet we can see by the outline OF the
sleeves what girth the muscle has, and the
hand at the end of his long and bony arm is
wide and huge, as if it could WELD claymore
as we'll as dirk. He also wears carpet Slip
pers. but his ankles are clogged with so heavy
irons that two men must carry them when ne
enters or leaves the dock. For this man there
can be no sentiment-no more than Tor Dull.
The flesh of his face is hard, as if cast, rather
than generated, and while we see how he
towers above the entire court, We watch him
in wonder as if he were some maniac denlzen
of a zone where men without minds grow 10
the stature and power OF fiends.
The face of Payne is not OF the tradltional
southern peculiarities. He resembles rather
Pennsylvania mountaineer than kentucky
rustic.
Three weeks ago gave, in an account OF the
conspiracy which many gainsayed, but which
the trial has fully confirmed, sketch OF this
man, to which l still adhere. He was fur
nished to Booth and John Surratt from Can
ada; sent upon special service with his life in
his hands; and he faced the murder he was to
commit like any prize-fghter. l pity Beall,
who died intelligently for wretched essay
against civilians, that his biography and fate
must be matched by this savage's!
DIR. Mackey, a steadfast Union man of
haa hoan aY1n0infad