Spirit of Jefferson. [volume] (Charles Town, Va. [W. Va.]) 1844-1948, 1873-09-23
THE sURRATr SPECTRE.


the ghost of this unhappy, and, according to
General Butler. murdered woman is conjnred
up again to view? Why is it that the guess
tion of woman manaclng aud woman- hanging
is again discussed? Why has it become ma
terial that Holt should throw the blame of un-
to testify in. his behalf-and johnson come
all the way from Tennessee to Washington to
prove his innocence2 It seems to us about
as profitable as it would. be to show exactly
why Jim L me blew his brains out or Preston
King, with his pocket full of shot and
heavier load preying on his conscience.
threw himself into the icy Hudson. There
are some subjects, connected with the CHASTITY
period of our country's story. as to which we
never want to hear word. The whole series
of events. from the night Mr.. Lincoln was as
sassinated down TO the July day when Mrs.
Surratt was executed, is of this nature. II
does no good to think of it, No moral is to
be deduced from it. Mr. Lincoln's death was
base, cowardly, proftless assassination-the
attack on Mr.. Seward nor less so-and if Booth
had been, not pic'uresquely shot, diving like
q soldier in arms, but hanged like felon, as
Payne was, it would have passed into the re.
gion of remarkable homicides and consum>
mated criminal justice. That, however, did
not suit the powers that were. and according
ly, we had the minor tragedy, outraging in its
processes all sense of humanity and justice,
which ended in the murder-we again quote
the well>known case of Butler vs.. Bingham
of Mrs. Surratt. All this-both acts of
this drama-we repeat, for all the good it
does us to think of it, we are entirely content
to forget. But, it seems, for some reason
which We have failed to discover, we are not
allowed to, and again Mrs. Surratt's grave is
opened, and her dis1ccated corpse exposed to
view 1t was stated. the other day. in cad>
ing Radical journal of the North, that the
revival of this hideous matter was due to Mrs.
Snrratt's 'sfriends" Now, we ask, who are
they, and what interest can they have in fresh.
ening up these horrid memories It was a
roor household and meagre family at best.
There was a son, who had his share of trials
and proved his innoccnce-and a daughter,
against whom, in all the bitter passions of the
hour. 20 far as we know, no whisper of per.
s"nal reproach was ever uttered Governor
Hartranft seems proud to have earned this
poor girls thanks, and President Johnson and
Mr.. Holt are quarrelling as to who did not
deny her prayer for mercy. These two chill
dren of the murdered" woman have passed
away into cherished ohscuri,y, and can have
no object in reviving this discussion. There
is no evidence that they have done so. In
fact it originated on the other side. and to us
seems to prove how sure, even if very slow,
are the reproaches Of conscience Mr. Jose nh
Holt is not a man of quick impulses or tender
sensibilities. He went into this business of
hanging wholesale by military commission
with will. No one was so trncuent, no one
so arbitrary. Grants minister to japan,
Bingham, was a mere lackcy to him. All the
outrascs upon decency committed bv General
Hunters comn,iss,oD-the insults to counsel
the hrutslity generally, could have been
checked by word from the Judge Advocate,
and that word he never uttered. FL tho
roughly enjoyed it. lie never relished his
dinner more than when he heard that, mercy
for woman being frustrated, Governor Hart
ranf, had pulled the fatal bolt, and a .'rebel'
woman had gone to meet her Maker. But
time works wonders. and the American public
may well be amazed to find General Holt af-
ter nearly eight years silence, rushing into
print to vindcate himself from a charge of
inhumanity! Has the pallid figure of thai,
wretched woman disturbed his sumbers p
Have the memories of the tears of the poor
girl on whom the gates of mercy were rudely
closed haunted his waking thoughts t. il
not Tor us to answer the questions It is
enough to know that to him is due the rcvi>
val OF this hideous topic. aud that from some
motive, thus lato in the day, he has tried to
show he is not as cruel as he has been thought.
he calls as his witness the hangman who did
the deed, and here We are confronted bv an
odd conflict of testimony which we shall not
take upon ourselves to try to reconcile Gen.
eral Hartranft, put into the witness stand by
Holt. tes'fies that during the trial MIRA Sur>
raft was not manacled. In the New York
Tribune Of the 18th instant appears letter
from wei>known and respectable lady, Mrs.
Jane G. Swisshelm. of Pittsburgh Ga Repub-
lIcan, too, we take it. Us most such pron ced
women are), in which she afirms positively
that she sat near to Mrs. Surratt during the
trial. and that her legs were heavily manacled.
We cannot refrain in conclusion from giving
Mrs. sw'ssheln's own words descriptive of
what she saw and heard and if Hunter. Howe,
Holt, Ha'trantt & Co. can, in reading them,
find they have done themselves any service
by reviving the memory of this obsolete out,
rage, they are entirely welcome She saws: