Year: 1866

lDlS


Judge Harrison stated to gentleman
a short time since that he had been to
Washington, had had an interview with
General Grant, and explained to him the
condition of affairs in Monroe county
that General Grant thought there should
be troops there, and accordingly sent
them. The President by proclamation
long since declared the war at IN end
and withdrew martial law. What,
then, has happened in that county,
which at this late day requires the
presence of troopsa Within the last
month two persons have been shot in
Union, the one countryman, the other
a small negro boy. Since the first oc-
currence. the public and the press he
lieving that the facts fthat case would
be investigated and developed in the
Circuit Court, have prudently refrained
from expressing an opinion, as to
the guilt or innocence of the perpetra-
tor of the deed, but as the grand jury
failed to take any notice of the otlense,
it is but just to al. that the facts, the
bare facts, concerning which there can he
no question, should lie made public.
Cyrus Newlin and William Shircy, with
several others, werc in Smiths Hotel;
they had been drinking, and the latter
was very much under the influence OF
liuuor. He and Newlin were soon en-
gagged in n quarrel, and after the inter
change of harsh epithcts, Shirey told
Newlin that if he would 20 ont of the
hotel he would whip him, and started
out, Newlin following. When they
reached the door the former turned; as
he did so Newlin drew his pistol, an
army six-shooter, and commenced firing
The first shot struck Shirey in the body,
passing through the lower lobe of the
lung. He jumped towards his antaGo-
mist and seized his pistol, his thumb
falling over the barrel; rs he did so
Newlin fired again; the ball tore off his
thumb. Several persons then inter,
fered. There was considerable excite
ment, and threats on the part OF lew


Newlin was taken and imprisoned by
the citizens, as and because there was nc
Justice within six miles of the place
Newlin is an extreme Radical whom
Judge Harrison met with in Washing
ton, and not only unnecessarily but III
direct violation of the Constitution OF
the State, which requires that an office
holder shall be a voter, appointed At
torney for the State, in all the counties
composing his circuit. He has no pc
culiar professional qualifications for the
position, and in temper and conduct il
altogether unSuited TO the people of thi:
portion of the State, being ha5itually
incorporate i'll his language and going
so far as to say that "rcbels occupy the
position of penitentiary cOnvicts." A
States Attorney he should have beer
law-abiding and cOnscrvator of the
peace, vet he WAS constantly in the hab
! il of wearing concealed weapons, ant
was sober at the time of the difficulty
Shirley was plain countryman
and has always been regarded n:
4 law-abiding, good, quiet citizen, ant
has never been known to veal
arms. He was so much nnder the
influence Of liqnor, that he could not b'
! formidable, and one who did not desire
difficulty with him, even though h'
were the aggrcssor. might have avoided
it on the ground that he was drunk, in
stead of shooting him for mere wordj
spoken.


The facts of the second aflray are
these: A party of young men we're on
sercnading, and Il number of of negro
BOYS, attracted by the music, were fol
lowing them from house to house, some
what to their annoyance. They hat
been told several times not to follow
and finally one of the party said he
thought he could frighten them of, ant
drawing a very small pocket plsto
fired several times, not at the boys, Du'
at tree, a small negro boy who hap
pened to be behind the tree with hi:
arm thrown around it, which could not
be seen for the darkness, received &
slight flesh wound in the arm. How
did Judge Harrison explain these oc
currences to General Grant! We know
something of General Grant and We are
satisfied that upon fair statement OF
| the facts he never would have sent
troops to Monroe and thus unjustly faster
rcproach upon the people of that
county as disloyal. 1t is known thai
Judge Harrison represented to Genera
Grant, that civil officer, because ht
was endcavoring to execute the laws o
the State, was seized by the citizens
of Union and imprisoned; that negro
boy had been shot maliciously and with
ont any provocation, and that he re
garded the people of Monroe as now il
open rebellion against the civil authors
| ty. The troops were sent rs we have
said and with orders to report to the
civil authority, so that this Judge Is
now the military ruler of his circuit
Judge II. commenced term Of hi:
court in Monroe, on Monday, the 18th
ult.; as soon as court was opened New.
lin was permitted to appear and attend
| to his business as attorney. Late in the
evening of that day he was admitted tC
bail. His Honor instructed the jury sub
stantially, that persons should be presen
| ted who pronounced any laws ofthe State
unconstitutional, that editors of nows
papers should be indicted for the same
| or similar offences. that all were now
equal before the law and that the interest
ofthe negro should he tenderly cared for
that he had been informed by reliable
gentlemen that secret association eX'
listed for the purpose of asSassinating
the Judge of this circuit, and directed
the Jury to investigate the matter, &c
As to this secret society no witnesses
could be fonnd who knew anything OF
its existence. the reliable gentleman al


luded to by his Honor was not called
for rs he certainly would have been


had any such information ever beer
given, and as we give the Judge credit
for some shrewdness, and no integrity
we very naturally and easily arrived al
the conclusion that the story about q
reliable gentleman, &c, was manutac


tured out of the whole cloth. The
Grand Jury, which was composed en-
tirely of those who had taken the test
oath, not only refused to present New
lin, but refused to permit witness who
was before them to make any statement
with regard to this unlawful shooting
Yet in the other case, although none OF
the witnesses could state who fired the
pistol, an indictment was found
against young gentleman and a
warrant issued for his arrest The
shooting with intent to kill, of a South