VINDICATION
When Socola had finished his work developing the history and character
of Conover and his crew of professional perjurers there was a sudden
collapse in the machinery of the Bureau of Military Justice. Holt was
compelled not only to repudiate the wretches by whose hired testimony he
had committed more than one murder through the forms of military law,
but also to issue a long document defending himself as Judge Advocate
General of the United States from the charge of subornation of
perjury--the vilest accusation that can be brought against a sworn
officer of any court. His weak defense served its purpose for the
moment. He managed to cling to his office and his salary for a brief
season. With the advent of restored law he sank into merited oblivion.
The charge of murder having collapsed, the Government now pressed
against Davis an indictment for treason. Salmon P. Chase, the Chief
Justice of the United States, warned the President and his Cabinet that
no such charge could be sustained.
And still malice held the Confederate Chieftain a prisoner. Every other
leader of the South had long since been released. On the public exposure
of Holt and his perjurers the conscience of the North, led by Horace
Greeley and Gerrit Smith, demanded the speedy trial or release of Davis.
The Radical conspirators at Washington, under the leadership of Stevens
inspired by his dusky companion, were now pressing with feverish haste
their programme of revolution. They passed each measure over the veto of
the President amid jeers, groans and curses. They disfranchised
one-third of the whites of the South, gave the ballot to a million
ignorant negroes but yesterday taken from the jungles of Africa, blotted
out the civil governments of the Southern States, and sent the army back
to enforce their decrees. Stevens introduced his bill to confiscate the
property of the whites and give it to the negroes. This measure was his
pet. It was the only one of his schemes which would be defeated on a
two-thirds vote if Johnson should veto it. Stevens and Butler at once
drew their bill of indictment against the President and set in motion
the machinery to remove him from office--the grim old leader still
swearing that he would hang him.
In this auspicious moment Charles O'Connor marshaled his forces and
demanded the release of Davis on bail. Andrew Johnson had seen a new
light. He was now in a life and death struggle with the newly enthroned
mob to save the Republic from a Dictatorship. The conspirators had
already selected the man they proposed to set up on his removal from
office.
The President issued an order to General Burton at Fortress Monroe to
produce his prisoner in the United States District Court of Richmond.
On May fourth, 1867, the little steamer from the fort touched the wharf
at Richmond and Jefferson Davis and his wife once more appeared in the
Capital of the Confederacy.
The South had come to greet them.
All differences of opinion were stilled before the white face of the man
who had been put in irons for their sins. They came from the four
corners of the country for which he had tolled and suffered.
Senator Barton, his wife and daughter and all his surviving sons had
come from Fairview to do him honor. A vast crowd assembled at the wharf.
No king ever entered his palace with grander welcome. The road from the
wharf to the Spotswood Hotel was a living sea of humanity. His carriage
couldn't move until the way was forced open by the mounted police. The
windows and roofs of every house were crowded. Men and women everywhere
were in tears. As the carriage turned into Main Street a man shouted:
"Hats off, Virginians!"
Every head was bared in the vast throng which stretched a mile along the
thoroughfare. As he passed in triumph, the people for whom he had worked
and suffered crowded to his carriage, stretched out their hands in
silence and touched his garments while the tears rolled down their
cheeks.
They arraigned him for trial on a charge of high treason.
The indictment had also named Robert E. Lee as guilty of the same crime.
Grant lifted his mailed fist and told the Government he would fight if
necessary to protect the man who had surrendered in good faith to his
army. The peanut politicians dropped Lee's name.
When the tall, emaciated leader of the South stood erect before his
accusers in court he faced a scene which proclaimed the advent of the
new Democracy in America which must yet make good its right to live.
On the Judge's bench sat John C. Underwood, a crawling, shambling,
shuffling, ignorant demagogue who had set a new standard of judicial
honor and dignity. He had selected one of the handsomest homes in
Virginia, ordered it confiscated as a Federal judge, and made his wife
buy it in and convey it to him after warning other bidders to keep off
the scene. The thief was living in his stolen mansion on the day he sat
down beside the Chief Justice of the United States in this trial. When
Chase had warned the Government that no charge of treason could stand
against Davis, Underwood assured the Attorney General that he would fix
a negro jury in Richmond which could be relied on to give the verdict
necessary. He had impaneled the first grand jury ever assembled in
America composed of negroes and whites. A negro petit jury now sat in
the box grinning at the judge, their thick lips, flat noses and
omnipotent African odor proclaiming the dawn of a new era in the history
of America.
Salmon P. Chase with quiet dignity voted to quash the indictment.
Underwood with a vulgar stump speech to the crowd of negroes voted to
hold the indictment good. The case was sent to the Supreme Court on this
disagreement and the defendant admitted to bail.
Horace Greeley and Gerrit Smith, Cornelius Vanderbilt and Augustus
Schell, representing the noblest spirit in the North were among the men
who signed his bail bond.
When he was released and walked out of the court room cheer after cheer
swept the struggling crowd that greeted him. Senator Barton took the
driver's place on the box while thousands followed to the hotel shouting
themselves hoarse. For three hours he stood shaking the hands of weeping
men and women. No sublimer tribute was ever paid to human worth. It came
with healing to his wounded soul. The anguish of the past was as if it
had never been.
Jennie Barton gazed with astonishment when Socola grasped his
outstretched hand. She was standing near enough to hear his voice.
"I want to thank you, young man," he said gratefully, "for all you've
done for me and mine. Mr. O'Connor tells me that your services have been
invaluable. For myself, my wife and babies and my people, I thank you
again. I wish I might do something to repay you--"
"I've only done my duty," was the modest response. "But I think you
might help me a little--"
"If it's within my power--"
"You remember Miss Barton?"
"I've just shaken hands with her--she is here!"
"Would you mind putting in a word--"
"I'll do more, sir--I'm in command to-day. I'll issue positive orders--"
Jennie moved, he saw her and beckoned. She came, blushing.
"What's this, my little comrade?" he whispered, seizing her hands. "The
war is over. I've shaken hands with Horace Greeley and Gerrit Smith
to-day. There can be no stragglers in our camp, I owe my life to this
young man."
He took Jennie's hand, placed it on Socola's arm, and he led her silent
and blushing from the crowd to an alcove in the far corner of the hall.
She looked up into his face with tenderness.
"You've done a noble and beautiful thing in the gift of your life to our
Chief for these two miserable years--"
"They've been miserable to you?"
She smiled.
"But I knew you would come--"
"You'll not send me away again?"
She slowly slipped her arms around his neck and kissed him.
They stood on the balcony hand in hand and watched the crowds surging
about the carriage as the tall Chieftain left the hotel to take the
train to greet his children.
Socola uncovered his head and spoke reverently.
"He belongs to the race of giants who have made our Nation what it is
to-day. We owe a debt to the unflinching dignity and honesty of his
mind. He made hedging, trimming and compromise impossible--the issues
which divided us of Life and Death. A weaker man would have wavered and
we should have had to fight our battles over again. They have been
settled for all time."
Jennie lifted her eyes to his:
"What's your name, my sweetheart?"
He laughed softly.
"Does it matter now? Our country's one--my name is Love."