The daily phoenix. [volume] (Columbia, S.C.) 1865-1878, 1866-06-21
"A. Sterling. Exnosure.

"A Sterling Exposure.
The Clearfeld Pennsylyanis} Re.
p16lacan copies, the following from
one Of its exchanges: =
1t will be remembered that at the.
trial Of the acoomplices of Booth
before military commission at
Washington, on the charge Of COM
picity with the assassination Of
President Lincoln, q certain James
y. Merritt was the principal witness,
Tor the Government. On his testi-
mony Mrs. SurFatt was convicted and
hanged, and on his testimony it wss
shown that Jefferson Davis. G. G.
Clay and George N. Sanders, were
directly implicated in the asassina-
tion. TO outsider the testimony of
thus man, Merritt, read strangely at
the time Of the trials. His state
ments did not appear. reasonable.
Mrs. Surratt's daughter, after the
execution of her mother, pronounced
them utterly false from beginning to
end; and so indignant was Clay when
he heard what this witness had said,
that he voluntarily surrendered him
self to the Government authorities.
and asked for trial. Davis and
Sanders, too, pronounced his testinlo-
ny perjury. Indeed, his entire stock
before the illegal military court had
the appearance Of manufactured tes-
timony.
1t now appears that this villain 5
evidence was peuured from begin
ming to end. He has recently been
before the Committee on the Judici-
ary, of the House Of Representatives,
and his examination there showed
that his testimony in the trial of the
conspirators was totally void of truth;
that he really knew nothing connect
ing any persons with transactions not
recognized by the usages of war;
that his attempt to connect Davis,
Clay, Sanders and others with The
assassination of Lincoln was pure
fabrication. One very remarkable
fact was elected in his examination.
wherein he admitted that the Secre-
tary of War, Edwin M. Stanton, had
pad him between five and six thou
sand dollars for his services us n wit
ness before the military commission
which tried the conspirators. This
was the pitiful price of his infamv.
Such is the testimony upon which
Mrs. Surratt, Harold, Atzerodt and
Paine, were hanged, and Mudd,
Arnold, OLau9hin and Spangler,
were imprisoned on the Dry Tortu-
gas. Out of the mouth of this man,
who sold his soul to Stanton and the
devil for tivc thousand dollars. a
Republican committee are trying to
establish the completely of Jefferson
Davis with the assassination of
Abraham Lincoln. With Stanton to
suborn the witness at five thousand
dollars head, there is no telling
what they may not be able to prove.
GOLD RISING. Gold is on its march
towards fifty, and may not stop there.
The causes are numerous, apart from
the facts that a speculatingr ring COM
blnes to advance il, and that the
Treasury is temporarily ont of the
field Of competition. The depression
and panic in England still continue.
and no one can say that it will not
affect this country to some extent.
The loss produced by the fall of
cotton must fall upon American ship
pers to 4 great extent. The effect of
the impending European wor may be
more damaging to European finance
and commerce kthan we have sup
posed, and the apprehension of it
prolonSs the money disturbance in
England. Only 15,00O,OOO of our
Government securities have been re-
turned for sale since May last; but
upon the occurrence Of war there
may, for 4 time, be further return
Of them. They will be readily taken
up here at panic prices; that is, at a
less rate in gold, perhaps, than we
took for them.
Gold must advance for still another
reason. The public know that this
Congress Will do nothing to reduce
the volume of irredeemable paper
currency below nine or ten hundred
millions. - .NutiouH Mtellipencey-, l6fA.
FASHIONABLE WEDDING. G.-The mar
riage of Mr.. Cushing, of Boston,
with Miss GrinHll, daughter Of NJ.
II. Grinnell, of this city, took place
yesterday. \ special train was en-
gagged for the occasion, which left the
Hudson River Railroad depot at five
minutes past p. NJ. The train
! comprised six cars, all loaded with
guests, including II largo representa-