Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1866-10-05
PUBLIC LEDGER.
LINCOLN AND DAVIS.


diabolical act, and without parallel IN
this country. II was deliberately planned
and executed with the utmost dispatch
The courage ofthe assassin was equal to
his conception, and both were faultless
The place designated was Ford Thea
ter; the time when the victim should be
unguarded either by soldiers or by his
own presence of mind. His iavorlte
play was on the stage, and he was en-
ioying it with the zest of one who is fond
of an exhibition Of wit and humor. The
assassin. unawed BY the atrocious char
acter of the deed he was about to perpe-
trate, or by the personal danger that
might with reasonable certainty re-
suit to himself, in the presence
of thousand spectators, walked up to
his victim and shot him dead. 1t was
the boldest act Of modern times, and
contributed TO our history one of its
darkest chapters. The murdered man
vas President of the United States, and
al that time welded powers equal to
those Of any despOi in Europe The as
sAssinsiion was not The work Of an or.
Plantation, or a pariSAor any consider
Able number Of men. Ii was the act of
one man, who swiftly pursued his victim,
amid the enrses of mankind, into an
other world.
If the accounts we see from Fortress
Monroe be true, and we have no reason
10 doub; that they are, JEFFERSON DAVIS
IS being slowly put to death. Ii is not
tie work Of solitary man, Stung to ven
geanee by some real or fancied wrong,
bat the deliberate act of constituted au-
thoriiy. There is system in the manner,
and that system is adapted with the &C.
curacy Of mathematical demonstration
TO the constitution of the victim. 1t
strikes ike the knives of the Bohemian
virgin. TO every vital point Of his phys
ical, mental, aud moral organization. II
there is a point more sensitive than an
other, there the steel is thrust and there
the yictlm quiyers. If his eyes are weak
aud need the soothing effect of shadow
and darkness, light is kept glazing at
all hours into their depths. If his nerves
are feeble and silence is needed to allay
their irritation, the clatter Of sabres and
the tramp Of iron-shod heels are inces-
ant about his door. If he would Eneel
in silence TO pray to his Maker in his
great extremity, curious and malignant
eyes are fixed mockingly upon him.
Such a man cannot endure such system
Of torture. He must sink, IS sinking
under it, He is hardly now living
body. His great intellect remains over
the wreck of his mortal frame, gloriously
brighi-bright as a star remains over the
ruins of world He is not permitted to
be paroled, when il is admitted that he
would not forfeit his word of honor; norto
be bailed, when it is known that he could
offer millions 10 secure his attendance
at trial. The public opinion of the
world says, shame on his imprison-
ment, and demands, in the name Of
Justice that he be released, or if execu-
ted, be executed according to the forms
Of law and civilization. His death in
prison, or out of prison, resulting from
his long confinement and treatment, will
bring the nation into disgrace. What is
the difference between a swift and slow
assassination Both are death, and the
motive of taking life is the same. If it
was an Infamous crime to kill LINCOLN
with the ball OF pistol, would it not be
Infamous to kill DAVIS by a slower, but
no less certain process? One was the
representative Of millions So was the
other One presided over a union Of
States. So did the other. One com
manded great armies. So did the other.
One was the chief Of belligerency. So
was the other One Is dead The other
is said to be dying. Both will have been
the victims of outrage.