The Bolivar bulletin. [volume] (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tenn.) 1865-1888, 1866-09-08
A Dark Chapter in American History
The Infamy Of Judge Joseph Holt

The Intamy Of Judge Joseph Holt
From the Louisville Courier.i
No darker chapter IN our history, or one
more damaging to the national honor than /
that contained IN the report Of Mr. Rogers, +
from the minority of the committee to which 1
was referred the investigation as to the COM
plicity of Jefferson Davis and others in the /
assassination of Mr. Lincoln, was ever pre-
scented TO the American people. Though de- /
MED access to the greater part Of the docu- /
ments and testimony before IN possession Of /
the committee, Dir. Rogers was able TO Sc /
cure enough to show that it was sought by
the most astounding and incOmprehensible /
villainy, to establish the fact of criminalty
where it was clearly apparent that none ex-
listed, and by the bribery Of witnesses, sub /
ordination Of perjury, and all the other APP
pliances and arts by which false testimony
Is obtained, the attempt was made to fix upon
Mr. Davis participation IN a crime of which
he was innocent as a child unborn.
The assassination Of Mr.. Lincoln was a
shocking and CHASTITY crime, yet 1t was small
and excusable compared with that cOntem-
plated by some of the persons engaged in
this attempt to establish Mr. Davis compile
ity with that crime. lie who slew Mr. Lin
coin boldly assumed the responsibility Of his
crime. He committed 1t in the presence of
thousands, exposed himself to instant death
and ignOminy, and paid the penalty of .his
daring with the sacrifice Of his life. But
those who concocted this conspiracy against
the life Of Mr. Davis were at the same time
cold-blooded, unprineipled dastards, and
heartless assassins. They conspired against
the life Of a man whom they knew to be in
nocent and sought to convict him by the
testimony Of men whom they had paid to
swear to felsehOods they had manufactured
for them; with systematic diabOlism they
had drilled these men In the statements they
were to make before the jury as teachers
drill schOOl-children In their lessons. They
had paid them money IN advance for the
| preparation of the horrible crime, and prom
| ised more. With a malignity and delibera-
ton which only iends could rival, they work
ed day after day to perfect their devilish
! scheme, and only failed from the want Of
nerve in the agents they had selected, and
who, as the time approached for the perpe-
| tration of the horrible crime against God
and man to which they had pledged them
| selves, and for which they had been prepar-
! ed with so much care and paid with so much
| iberality, shrunk back appalled,, and broke
| down in their resolution at the very time
| when they were expected to act. The testi-
mOny of the witnesses to these sickening de-
/ tails is clear and unequiYocal and cannot be
doubted because they are confessions which
| criminate themselves. They also criminate
! a high officer of the Government in this dia-
| bolieal plot; a man whose character before
was above the suspicion Of such a crime, and
! whose connection with the Government, if
there were no other considerations, should
have kept him clear Of such a mOnstrous and
devilish attempt upon an innocent life.
That officer was Joseph Holt, the head and
chief of the Bureau of Military Justice BY
him the suborned witnesses were examined
by his agents they were employed, and
through him they received their pay.
Think of it Jefferson Davis, solitary
prisoner, in lonely cell at Fortress Monroe
denied all communication with his family !;
confined upon the charge of treason and
| awaiting his trial; helpless and almost hope
less; sustained only by the consciousness of
innocence and the rectitude Of his inten-
tons the object of an infamous and horrible
conspiracy involving his life; concocted by
officers Of the government in whose hands
he was a prisoner And so clear was his in
nocence of the crime which it was sought to
fix upon him that the conspirators were OBJ
liged to resort to a mOnstrOus and unheard-Of
system of perjury, sustained by bribery, and
paid for out of the public treasury.
Who can measure the extent of the in
fanny which should and will gather around
the names of the men engaged In this mon
strOus crime this perversion Of justice, this
COld-blooded and fendish purchase of men s
souls to commit the dreadful crime of per-
jury, In order that an innocent man might
be made to suffer a cruel death. The mind
recOils with horror and disgust from the
contemplation of so terrible an ofense against
the laws of God and man. There was a fear
less collaboration In the crime of Booth, and
bold assumption of personal responsibility,
which, while we condemn his bloody act, we
cannot help admire. But this recent plot
ting against the life Of Mr. Davis, this heart
less drilling of witnesses in their lessons OF
perjury, to convict him of crime with
which the conspirators knew he had no con-
nectiOn, this thirsting after innocent blood,
has not one single feature to lift it from the
prOfoundest depths Of infamy, or to palliate
in q single particular the horrible and das-
tardly crime of the cOnspirators.
In the history of civilized governments this
disgraceful affair has no parallel. Never be-
fore has a high officer, near the executive
chair of a'nation, been detected in suborn-
ing witnesses to commit murder through the
crime of perjury, and paying for both crimes
out Of the public purse. Never before has
a government shown such anxiety for the
conviction Of state prisoner as to Btoop t6
perpetrate crime to secure it. Such infamy
as that was left to our Government and tC
the heartless agents of the Congressional
JacObins. The honor Of the nation requires
that all the parties connected with this in
famous transaction should be brought tC
summary trial, and early and rigorous
J punishment They cannot avoid the execra
tiOns of mankind, and they should not bt
! permitted to escape the other responsible
ties of their crime.
! To Make C0acs Gre IEiIh-A writer who
saws his COW Uivos oil the mi II that u yUa0taC