, 1865-07-13
WASHINGTON LETTER.
Lewis TDRFntnn Powell, IL, As eafafn
atur vf sir, Seward.

WAsulsGToSs JaiT !. lSd5.
The extreme JUDI sment of the law, " to be
hurg by tho neck till dead" has been e1eeu-
ted upon Mary +. SurTatt, Lewis Payne,
George 4. Atze.odt and D1vid Harold. rhs
Republic, "wi&h malice townrds none and
cl8 8ity fer all, has avenged the death Of
Abraham Lincoln, citizen and President,
uenceforth bad men and bad women will
walk more circumspectly- ly-hencefcr'h good
men snd good women will breaths Of purer
air. In that Justice has trod this maze OF
Circumstance and Doubt with feet 50 swift
md shure, Is encouragement for !it, aud
1t needs not nox that ops should question
the power o. e1pediencr Of that military COM
m{es,on 1t 1cqnira~ not that one should.
comment uy.s4 It's unusual method Of pro.
ccdult-eubstantaa1 justice Aas been done.
fid Of louf pessuns waonf every loot ena tz5a's
green earth loathed. and whom every c1e,r,
s5d hon,st @ spni under r. blue sky regard.
ed With horror; "Thanks be un-
TO N9 rbncn %1a ggsth foat =; " The s Gs';to5y
mtmory, who will go down into amazed
ard questioning history as Lewis Payne, was
The only one Of oil these prisoners WHOSE life
vas worth sasing. Go through the list Of
men and sou have Dr.. Samuel A. MuJd. q
common.plae village doctor, sly, secretiye
and passionate Samuel Arnold, 3 good ma.
tured young fellow VITO has some Alacrity,
and might, kept beyond temptation, proye
clever enough neiglbor and citizen Edward
Spangler, . poor, besotted wreck, in which
never was any noble manhood; Darid E.
Harold, a trId!. r Of low and vicious tenden-
cies, and therefore likely to be lod away BY
Mawle's and debauchcrs Michael O'Lauxh.
In, quiet and reserved +" Baltimore boy"
who prtded himself On Ills boot and lls mou@-
tachc; George A. Atzc1odt, mean and
1vt1ns srsatss q sauy noble
the men, Add tpe1eto Mrs. surtast, woman
whom nobody hew, aud who WAS cold, hard,
unrelentlng and strong with strength thtI
wns not good There Is no occasion to call
these all Williams, for they were neither bet
o,her men snd women who go through the
world and win Christian bul1ll. Booth, JEFF
fcrson Davla, the Rebellion, Slavery 1T the
last and primarily, made for them the oppo,-
runisy which never comes to other men and
women. Thereby they fell, and are thus set
aTart from men and women Of all past time
for elgcration and detrstation In all fusurc
time.
Lewis Tholnton Powell was Of different
mould. He was = mere boy In years, with
more than mans mental and physical
strength. Let us have no mawktsh sentt-
ment Tor him. He was a murderer, . mur-
derer ofAu old man, murderer of an old and
helpleea man who lay upon q sick bed that
had Just escRpec being q death bed. What.
ever circumstance strange providence could
add to simple murder to make 1t appalling,
dreadful, attcclous, WAS added to this. That
3lr. Seward still lives mitigates the crime In
no respect. His murderer deserved death
deserved it by hanging deserved 1t by other
mode, II one more Infamous were allowed our
civilization. let this boy Powell, called
Payne, was worth sav1ng-Torth the best OF
all that time and money and culture can give
my man.
His history is tcld in few words. He
was Torn In Alabama In 1916, went With his
father's family to Georgia in 1917. and then
TO Florida In 1870 or 1850. His father was
Baptist minister, who owned 8 large plauta-
tion md kept many slaves. When fourteen
size aud appearance. this boy became sort
Of general superintendent Of the place. The
btginning Of the war found him there and |
thus employed. With other young men Of |
the South, be enlisted into the army His |
regl0+pt was s,on sent North, and with 1t |
afterwa1d al tFrederieksburg anecllorsvillc
md Gettysburg. At this latter place he WAS |
wounded. and fell Ii our hands. This was In /
July, 1868. When he recovered from his |
wound, which was elight, he WIS detailed as
nurse In the hospital, and appears 70, time
October he deserted from the hospital, and
Valley, fell ii With one Of The Confederate
cavalry regiments and Joined himself thereto,
In this he served till December, 1864, when
be deserted, came into Alexandria, sold bis
The oath OF allegiance, md was allowed to
60 70 Baltimore. where he appears to hare
made bis headquarters during the three
months next preceding the assassination.
This story Is commonplace, enough, 4 and
furniahes little OF no foundation for romano
}rror tc1f4 Vnf ft, |
lies the germ Of the murder Of Abraham LIN
coin. Had there not been among Booths az
completes other material than such IS SpaDg-
Ter, Harrcld. Atzerodt, O'Laughlin mud Arm
old afforded, he ueTer could have undertaken
the work be did: In this runaway rebel sol
dfer was that other material.
He Was not the hardened. blood-thtrsty
wretch 90 many times painted. His proceed
ings at Mr. seEard'a, WAS SO extra.hnman
that men and women accustomed to tncon-
eIde1atc judgments, shallowly reasoned that
he must be e1tra.human, and therefore lnhu-
With such notions and preiudlees, It vas
easy to see in his great figure and uncommon
face, giant Hercules Of infamy and wicked
ness. Yet this boy'a soul Was cast in gentle I
mould. He loved quiet and meditation, and
he had rare composure
q spirit, and courtesy vas natural to him.
Inn and bony hand, but his speech was sim
pie and manly. He had vague and semisupcr-
st1tions notions and whims, bnt he carried a
ofty ideal Of duty aud Of beauty, and pas
sionate1y asplred toward grace and purity.
8e rcvernced God but his Divine Master :
Eas being born OF his teaching and expe-
ience, ard therefore one.sided. something
'!cious and wholly hateful Of the North aud ]
# the YANKEES. He WAS frank, honest, SIM
3le and. direct. He loved truth, and hated
'ecrecy and dissimulatlon. He had no brag-
docio, bnt held himself the natural equal Of
ny man. He mas reserved and very much !
,iTen to self fcommuninga. He was no reli- :
::ious fanatic, for he had no religion but be I
believed that Providence was very near unto
lin, aud spoke often to him. He coveted
THAT We best name Manhood, but saw his
say to it cnIy through such paths as wiser 6
onls know never could have led thereto, :
he one great fact concerning him is that he :
fas ignorant and one-eided. &c had ability, =
mt no culture. BE bad force, but 1t was :
n!edirected. Hc had deal Of what Is called 8
'haractcr, built had been perverted to wrong )
Ids. In intelligence, natural instincts,
ljginul tendencies, he Tas more than aver
eely good. Four years ago, nay, two years
and not inprobsbly, on the
cry day he died such deserved and ignomio- =
ous death, there was In him the making ofa '
IAN Of worth and stanAug-a man who
Tou1d have been lender in good things in | {