Page:Southern Historical Society Papers volume 29.djvu/87

 The Trials and Trial of Jefferson />///'*. 71

so Ions: as Davis was to be a prisoner. The government did not gratify him. He was relieved from duty on the first of September, as ordered, mustered out of the volunteer service, and relegated to the regular army with the rank of colonel. This paper, therefore, need notice his career no further.

Mr. Davis was not relieved from captivity on the first day of Oc- tober, as General Miles anticipated. He remained in imprisonment until his term had extended its slow length through t;vo whole years, but during the second year he was treated as a State prisoner, and except that his trial was so long delayed, there was no just ground for complaint.

This practically closes so much of this paper as refers to the trials of Mr. Davis. It will be noted that nothing has been quoted from, the writings either of Mr. or Mrs. Davis, nor from any Confederate source, not even from Dr. Craven or other Federal sources charged with the crime of sympathy ; sympathy for the suffering of an old and feeble gentleman, who, though he had once held a sceptre, was treated as a common felon. References have been made only to official documents, published as such by the United States Govern- ment. No deduction has been drawn which they do not justify. If the conclusions are unpleasant, and yet are justified by the official evidence, those who surfer in public estimation from the bare recital of their acts, have none to blame but themselves.

On the first day of the May term, 1867, Judge Underwood opened the Circuit Court of the United States at Richmond, when Mr. George Shea, of New York, as counsel for Mr. Davis, filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus. It was granted, and on the loth was served on Brigadier-General Henry S. Burton, successor of General Miles as commandant at Fort Monroe, who, after obtaining the per- mission of the President, brought Mr. Davis to Richmond.

Deep anxiety was felt about the trial, which, it was believed, would begin on Monday, the I3th day of May. On that day the streets were filled with nervous people, and great crowds surrounded and packed the stairway ajid passages of the Custom House, where the court room is situated. Mr. Davis, his counsel, and General Burton and his staff were at the Spotswood Hotel. The court was to sit at 1 1 o'clock, but long before that time many persons had se- cured positions in the court-room by permits issued by the marshal. In this way seats were secured for a few ladies, the reporters, and a number of distinguished visitors.