^31 i Ts- SPIRIT OF THE SOUTH; .^ r Ji^RSECUTION IN THE NAME OF LAW AS ADMINISTKllED IN VIRGINIA. RELATED BY SOME VICTIMS TblEREOF. ITS EFFECTS UPON THE NATION GENERAL GOVERNMENT. WASHINGTON. D.C. : PUBLISHED FOR THE TRADE AND 'MfE i'EOPr.R. 1869. / SPIRIT OF THE SOUTH; Peesecution in the Name of Law, AS administered in VIRGINIA. BELATED BY SOME VICTIMS THEREOF. ITS EFFECTS UPON THE NATION GENERAL GOVERNMENT. WASmNGTON, D.C.: PUBLISHED FOR THE TRADE AND THE TEOPLE. 18C9. INDEX. f' ■2. \ ^- PAGE. Armstrong, Cater, & Co., r.i. Timberlake, Coak- lpy, anil othera ]0 A Ucmarkablo Manuscript 19 Brodribl), I-Mwnrd, a Writer . . . ! 34 Bureau, Freedman's .66 Braston, Major, Lawyer g Barton, District Attorney, very anxious to con- vict Tibbets jO Barton, Booby and Dunce 34 Ooakley, Jolin, a Virginia Judge and Landlord; Illegality of hi.s Proceedings; Xcw Method of getting Kent before due ; Distress War- rant to get Kent a Second Time , . 9-15 Colony, Plan of a 21 Court of Fredericksburg, its Arbitrary Proceed- >"g« 26 Court of Inquiry, Application for . . . 53 Colored I'eople, their Character and Aptitude in Learning 28 Chambers, W. P., a New- York Lawyer . . 27 Deposition of 45 Chaflin, Adjutant-General, Erroneous Indorse- ment of 59 Coleman, Paul, Letters of 56-04 Davies,F. W., Witness and Notary . . . 32 Ewen, John, President of the Pennsylvania Coal Company 45 Grcenough, Lieut j- Uerndon, Charles, Counsel, Witness, and False Witness in the same Cause . . .19-50 CandidaU^ for Legislature on Rebel Ticket . 26 The Foe and Moving Spirit against Tibbets 48 Howard, Gen q-j Uayden, N., President of the Chatham National Bank, New York 44 Jones, John Q., President of the Chemical Bank of New York 44 Judges, Unjust : a Daniel come to Judgment . 50 Johnston, Gabriel, Auctioneer; his Dishonest Jurors ; a packed Jury of twelve honest Men . 45 Ku Klux Letters of Warning .... 16 Leach, George, Correspondence of . . .20 Little A. Alexander, Judge, Editor, Beggar . 51 Mode of procuring Beef and Potatoes . . 52 Elegant Extracts 5o_56 Loyal Citizens, can they be Protected ? . . 05 How they are Spotted I7 Mayre, Jack, what he intends doing with the T> d Kadicals 17 Miller & Co. of Baltimore 7 " Niggers » not allowed to bid at Auctions . 15 Piatt Case, The jg Piatt, Isaac L., Author, &c 20 Proposes to purchase Land in Virginia . 21 Letter enclosing Check for thirty-five hun- dred dollars to use in consummating Contracts, &c 24 Second Letter, reiterating Instructions . 25 Third io part PAGE, A Forged Telegram not to use Check . . 29,30 Opposed by his Family .... 25 Specific Instructions to TibbetM . . . 35 30 Notices and Letters contrasted ', " Look upon this Picture, and on thl.s » . 35,88 His Sons' Victory over him .... 34 His Perjury og Spiritualism of his Family .... 44 His Treatment of his Friend George Leach 39 Piatt, John R., his Dream 25 Threatens his Father 04 Piatt, Samuel R., his unauthorized Mission to Fredericksburg 06 Makes a False Oath ..... 2(5 Pronounces his Father crazy . . .27 Piatt, Isaac S., Notices by 31 Sovereignty of the People; its Will thwarted . 71 Schofield, Gen., Letter to 3 Stoutenburgh, Mrs., Teacher of Colored School 18 Summons, J. B., his Interview with Isaac L. I"'a" 30 Unjust Seizure and Sacrifice of his Stock . 4 The American Nation Ingulfed in the Wake of the Old Countries . 69 Cost of seeking Justice 51 Cost of raising $162.50 59 Capital vs. Money 70 Cost of slaying one .another . . . . 73 U. S. FI.ag, How the Rebels love it . .05 Helplessness of 10,000 " Genteel Men " , 09 Law in Fredericksburg^ .... 4-51 License Law Labor us. Capital 70 Official Investigations, Worthlessness of . 62 Oligarchy vs. Democracy .... 74 The Money Power 71 The People must be educated into the Na- ture and Use of Money .... 73 Christian vs. Unbelieving Jew ... 68 Tibbets, Luther C, Land Agent; Superintend- ent of Colored Sabbath School ... 18 Furniture illegally seized .... 9 Family warned by Colored People . . 17 Obliged to flee from Fredericksburg . . 11 Grand Jury refuse to find a Bill against hini 10 Attempt to take his Life .... 6 Arrested and sent to Jail .... 9 Letter to Gen. Stoneman . . . .58,59 Destitution in Washington .... 66 Tibbets, Mrs., her Wound and Sufferings . . 6 Timberl.ake, John S.G., Deputy Sheriff; Ser- geant of the Court 4.15 Jury Packer 45 Seizing Goods without Authority . . 5 Underwood, Judge, an Opinion of . . .63 Usury, Jewish Statutes thereon .... 72 Violated National I'rinciplcs; Danger of Rc-ac- tlon gg Yankees, Digging a Grave for . . . .15 PERSECUTION IN THE SOUTH. PAET I. The following pages are put together, and circulated publicly, in order to call attention to the persecutions which Union men have to undergo in the Southern States, sanctioned and abetted by the administrators of the law there. For this purpose it is thought that a detailed circumstantial and someivhat moiute account, though in very general terms, of some of the sufferings of a family of ten persons, in the Town of Fredericksburg, in the State of Virginia, verified upon oath, together with a statement of their fruitless attempts to get redress, or obtain protection, through the channels expressly ordained for those purposes by Congress, may be the most fitting mode ; to fulfil which use, these pages are now given to the public, as also in the hope of assisting its enlighten- ment thereon, whereby it may form a more correct judgment. The following sworn statement, presented oflicially to the Secretary at "War, will best open the case : it is as follows, namely, — To Gen. Schofield, Secretary at War, &c. Luther C. Tibbcts, James B. Summons, Edward Brodribb, and Francis J. Tibbets, being duly sworn, say, each for himself, as it respects the particular circumstances applying to himself, and the Avhole together as it respects the com- mon facts known to them all, as alleged herein, — That the said Luther C. Tibbets hired a house and store of one John Coakley of Fredericksburg, Va., under a written agreement, for the term of one year or more, from the first day of May, 18G7, at the yearly rent of $700, payable monthly, — that is to say, by monthly payments of $58.33, — the first of which payments was to be made on the first day of June, 18G7, and a like payment on the first day of every subsequent month during the tenancy under said agreement : and that the said Luther C. Tibbets rented the store belonging to said house to the above said James B. Summons, his son-in-law, at the rent of $400 per annum ; and that the said Luther C. Tibbets assisted the said James B. Summons, his son-in-law, in the said store, and in the purchase of goods for the same ; and that he, said Tibbets, lived with his family in the house over said store, where the above said Francis J. Tibbets, his son, lived with him, and the said J. B. Summons and his wife, and the above said Edward Brodribb, boarded with him, the said Luther C. Tibbets. That the monthly payment of $58.33 for the house and store was duly paid by the said Luther C. Tibbets to the said John Coakley, on the first day of every mouth, except when that day fell ou a Sunday, when it was paid on the foUow- 8 iug Monday ; and lliat the reut was so paid up to Monday, the second day of December, 1HG7. That about the end of November, 18G7, a Baltimore house made a claim of S410 against the said J. li. Summons, to which claim said Summons had a just ground of resistance, of which he gave the parties making said claim due notice, .statiug that he should not pay it, and his reasons why, and that he should defend liimself against any action that may be brought against him on account thereof. That no action was brought, conseciuently that no judgment was obtained agaiost him, nor any execution sued out against him. That, notwithstanding this, on or ubout the thirtieth day of November aforesaid, the sheriff came into the store, and took possession of it, and of all the stock therein, without a moment's notice, and closed it all up preparatory to a sale by him under authority of au attach- ment sued out of the Corporation Court of Fredericksburg, on the aifidavit of >oaie one that the said Summons was contemplating to run away to defraud his creditors ; upon which attachment, sued out upon such affidavit, without any proof oi' the allegation contained therein being true, — the truth of Avhich allegation the said Summons altogether hereby distinctly and positively denies, — these summary proceedings were taken and executed. That to act uprightly and honorably, and to avoid all needless trouble and vex- ation, the said Summons consented, under a written agreement with claimants' attorneys, that the sheriff should proceed at once to the sale of the goods, without waiting for any decree of the Court therefor, on the condition that the said sheriff should hold the amount of claim and costs in his hands, after making such sale, until the action seeking recovery of the same should be decided. That in the mean time, while these proceedings were going on, said claimants had urged another house, to whom they had introduced said Summons, to draw upon him, at five days' date, for $102, although the claim for which said draft was made Avas not due for thirty days yet to come ; that not withstanding this, upon the said draft being presented at the store through the bank in Fredericks- burg, said SummoUvS signed it, as agreeing to pay the draft on its maturity which would be in two or three days ; and this draft, it was also agreed, should be paid out of the proceeds of said sale ; and the sheriff was authorized by said Summons to do so accordingly, although no legal proceedings whatever had been taken in this matter. Tiiis brought the claims, with costs, to be satisfied by the sheriff out of the proceeds of the sale of Summons's goods, to about $580 alto- gether. The sale under this agreement commenced on Wednesday, the fourth day of December aforesaid, carried on by deputy-sheriff and sergeant of the Corporation Court of Fredericksburg, John S. G. Timberlake, and his auctioneer, Gabriel Johnston ; and on that day enough proceeds to cover said amount of $580 were realized therefrom. On Thursday morning following, said J. B. Summons wrote to the complain- ants' attorneys a letter, in which he stated, that — as he saw clearly that he could obtain no justice from any court in Fredericksburg, and that he could trust no one there to defend liim (even if they would undertake it, which he did not think they would), except themselves (meaning claimants' attorneys), who were em- ployed against him, and whom he could trust — he should offer no further opposition to the claim of their clients ; and he therefore authorized the sheriff to settle the matter at once, without further trouble or costs, restoring to him possession of his store, and the remainder of his goods that were unsold. This was done, appar- ently in the most amicable manner, by the attorneys and sheriff, and legal dis- charge given by them of all claim on said Suijtimons ; after which, the same auctioneer, said Gabriel Johnston, was engaged by said J. B. Summons, at a commission of ten per cent, to finish the sale of the goods remaining in the store, on liis (J. B. Summons's) own account, and to pay the proceeds thereof over to himself or his order, and to no one else ; which engagement said Gabriel Johnston agreed to and accepted. A3 soon as this niTan^cment became knowTi, the landlord, said John Coakley, put in a claim to have said Lutlior C. Tibbefs's rent, to bi'.romc due np to May 1, amouiitiuir to $291. G7, collected out of said f;oorifl" Timberlake, then pushed them- .selves on to said Tibbets and tried to force him and his wife out of the store into the street, which brought James B. Summons into the scufHe, together with his wife and her sister, Joanna Tibbots, who had just then entered the store on hearing the disturbance there. After a struggle, the said Johnston and Timber- lake pushed them all out of the store into the street ; and said deputy-sheriff Timbcrlake locked the door of the store, and put the key iu his pocket (wliich lie has never siuce returned), Mrs. Tibbets .still haviti;,' hold of the wrist of her Jiusbund's baud that held the kuife, the blade of which was close to the fleshy part of her left baud, aud with her other hand trying to protect her husband iVoni the violence ottered to him by a mob of persons who by this time had collected around thcni. At this point, said Edward Brodribb, boarder iu Tib- Jjets's house, heard a j^reat noise iu the street, aud recognizing, as he thought, Mr. and Mrs. Tibbets's voices, ran out from the house into the street, and there found said Luther C Tibbets in the hands of several men trying to strangle him to death. He heard said Tibbets say that he would uot leave his wife, and saw her struggling in the midst of the crowd with the knife-part of the dagger in her hand, her hand being all bloody aud terribly cut. lie, said Brodribb, imme- diately made his way up to Tibbets and his wife, got hold of Tibbets's hand, aud tried to get the kuife from him. At tliis time Tibbets was black iu the face Willi strangulation, his tongue hanging out of his mouth, and he aud his wife being pushed about from side to side, and on all sides, by the mob of people present ; while his children had all gathered about him, trying to help him aud their mother. After a little pressure on the part of said Brodribb, the knife iu Tibbets's hand was yielded up by him to said lirodribb ; Mrs. Tibbets was disengaged from her husband, taken into the house bleeding terribly from her hand, in which was a cut into wliich you could lay your fore-Hnger, perJiaps your two lore-lingers ; aud said Luther C. Tibbets was taken by the mob to the mayor's ollice, his clothes almost torn ofi" his back. In the house, the wound iu Mrs. Tibbets's hand was sewu up by two doctors, from which she suffered a good deal, but still more from the re-actiou of her nervous system, to quiet which it was necessary to give her a very powerful dose of morphine. In the mean time said Luther C. Tibbets was at the mayor's office in charge of deputy-sheriff Timberlake ; and with him were J. B. Summons, and his son Francis J. Tibbets, the latter of whom came, at his father's request, for said Brodribb to go there to him, who, on going there, found said Tibbets charged before the mayor, by said deputy-sheriff Jolm S. G. Timberlake, with obstruct- ing an oflicer of the law iu the execution of his duty. The prosecutor offered what evidence he had ; and then said Tibbets's counsel, Major Braxton, the attorney who had been employed by the Baltimore House to collect the claim of S410, addressed the court on behalf of prisoner, said Tib- bets, declining to call any witnesses, but spoke of the prisouer as oppressed by laws, unjust, though they were laws, aud testifying to the court how honorably and honestly and uprightly he, said prisoner, had acted iu the claim against his son-in-law Summons, out of which these proceedings may be said to have grown ; addiug that, though he, the counsel, differed from him, the prisoner, iu politics, — as did oil in that court, — yet that he, the prisoner, had acted in all respects as an honest, upright, good citizen, — as even the deputy-sherili" Timber- lake testified, — until, goaded to madness by the fury of the oppression brought to bear against him, he drew his knife, for which he was now brought to answer to this court, to whom he, the counsel, appealed to deal as mercifully with the pris- oner, under all the circumstances, as the court may feel justitied iu doing. The result was, that the court bound said Tibbets over iu two bondsmen of S20U each, and himself in another bond of §200 to appear on the following Tuesday, the 12th of December, to answer any complaint which the grand jury may prefer against him, — to whom the court would send the case, — and also bound himself, said prisoner, iu a further bond of §200, to keep the peace for six mouths. After delivery of this decision by the court, two gentlemen, both of whom had been officers iu the Confederate army, viz., Mr. John Iloomes, and Mr. Koy Mason, offeretl themselves to go bail for said prisoner (Mr. Hoomes having seen the whole transactiuu in the street from the commencemeut) ; which being duly executed, the prisoner was liberated. Ou Thursday the 12th of December, accordingly, said Luther C. Tibbets ap- peared iu tlie court of tlie corporation of tiie city of Fredericksburpr, and was in- t'ormod that his trial, for obstructing an otliccr of the law in the execution of his duty, would come on in that court on the following day at eleven o'clock of the forenoon ; when and where he then appeared, and answered the complaint brought against him by the Di.'jtrict Attorney for the Conimoinvealth of Virginia, Judge IJartou ; which, after evidence and arguments on both sides, was given iu charge of the jury at three o'clock iu the afternoon: but who, being unable to agree at the time the court rose, — namely half-past four, — were allowed to go home under instructions from the court, with directions to re-assemble there in court the next morning at ten o'clock; which they did, when they were again remanded to their room ; and in about two hours after, they came into court, saying that they could not agree as to their verdict, and that there was no chance of their doing so. They were, however, ou the motion of the District Attorney, again re- manded to their room, Avhere they remained till three o'clock in the altcrnoon, when they again came into court, and stated the same thing ; upon which the court suggested that a juror be withdrawn, which being done, the court discharged the jury. The District Attorney for the Commonwealth then moved that the further trial be put otrtill the quarterly meeting of the court in March next ; but counsel for the prisoner moved that it be put off only till the next monthly meeting of the court, on the 14th of January next, which was assented to by the court. The District Attorney then moved to have prisoner bound over in a fresh bail of at least $200, if not more ; but prisoner's counsel moved that it be a very light amount of bail, such as to mark the opinion of the court as to its sense of the probability of prisoner's being found guilty. And after arguments ou both sides, the court directed §100 bail to be given ; which being done, prisoner was again liberated till Tuesday the 14tli of January next, then and there to answer the charge at another trial. On that day, said Luther C. Tibbets again surren- dered himself to trial: ou which occasion the jury, after a, retirement of about twenty miniues, came into court with a verdict of " not guiHy." This allidavit further shows and declares, that the said auctioneer Gabriel Johnston, has returned account of sales made at the store for said J. B. Sum- mons Dec. 4, 18G7, amounting to gross 8816.35, less commission «S;c., S8I.G0, net proceeds 6734.72, of which he paid over to the sheriff the sum of $731.88, leaving a balance in his hands now due said Summons of 82.84. Of the disbursement and payment of this sum of 8731.88, the sheriff has fur- nished to J. B. Summons's attorneys the following account, namely : — Miller & Co., Baltimore claimant. Debt $410.10 Interest 4.24 Costs 8.45 Total of Miller & Co's. claim and costs . . . $422.79 Sheriff's commission 17.42 Total paid sheriff on this account .... 8410.21 Amount collected for John Coakley on account of rent, to become due from Luther G. Tibbets vp to May 1, 1868 291.67 Total • .. . 8731.88 At the time the store and contents were taken possession of by the sheriff, there were about thrcG thousand dollars* worth of stock there, for which only the above $81G.35 have been returned to U3 : both the store and stock unsold renaain- iug in possession of the sheriff, who locked up the store and put the key in his pocket, on Friday the Gth December, as before stated : and after the sales were over, and the demands satisfied, tliere still remained in tiie store a large amount of goods unsold, and which are still in the possession of the sheriff, or of the auctioneer, unaccounted for in any way to us. Tims the sheriff appropriated the sum of 8291. G7 to John Coakley's rent, not one dollar of which was yet dne^ and none of which would become due till the first day of the next month, when only $58.33 would become due, and a like sum every first day of the next four months, which sum of $291.07 was collected by said sheriff without any legal authority whatever, as was admitted by his deputy, John S. G. Timberlake, in open court upon the aforesaid trials ; and at the same time said sheriff left unsatisfied and unpaid the draft for $102 pre- sented through the bank, payment of which, said Summons had agreed that the sheriff should make out of the goods to be sold on the said 4th of December, and which payment said sheriff had accepted and agreed to make, hut which he did not make, but instead thereof appropriated that sum with other funds thus ■illegally obtained by him, to the payment of the rent of said John CoaMcy^ who is one of the justices of the said Corporation Court of Fredericksburg, and who sat on the bench, as one of the judges of that court, at the first trial of said Tibbets on the \Wi December, 1867. This affidavit further shows and declares, that on the first day of January 1868, said J. B. Summons gave to said Luther C. Tibbets two orders on J. S. G. Timberlake sergeant for the Corporation Court of Fredericksburg, and deputy sheriff as aforesaid, — one order for $58.33 and the other for $233.34, together S291.67. In company that day with the said Edward Brodribb, said Luther C. Tibbets met said J. S. G. Timberlake in company with said Coakley in the former store of Mr. Baker on Maine Street, and gave to said Coakley said order of said Summons for $58.33 on said Timberlake, in payment of his, Tibbets's, month's rent due that day, which said Coakley accepted upon the promise of the deputy sheriff Timberlake to pay the same, and for which amount of rent, when paid, he, Coakley, promised to send said Tibbets a receipt, but rvhich he never did send. Said Tibbets then presented the other said order of said Summons for $233.34 to said Timberlake for payment to himself said Tibbets, which said order said Timberlake read, and said that he had the money in his hands, but could not pay it over to said Tibbets unless said Coakley consented. Said Tibbets then asked said Coakley if he would consent to said Timberlake's paying over the money, on said order of J. B. Summons, to said Tibbets, at the same time giving said Coakley said order, which he, Coakley, read, and to which he then replied, that he could not consent to said Timberlake's paying him, Tibbets, the money, unless he, Tibbets, gave him, Coakley, security. Said Cookley further said, at that time, in the presence of said Edward Brodribb, in reply to some remark of said Tibbets that he vms apprehensive he might have further trouble about this rent unless Coakley would then and there give him a receipt for the same tip to the first of May next, — said Coakley said that he would give him, Tibbets, no receipt for such rent now, but would take the money by monthly instalments from the sheriff as the rent became due, and would give the sherift' receipt for the same month by month as he received it ; but that, so far as said Tibbets was concerned, he need be tinder no apprehension whatever, as he, Coakley, would take no further action lohatever in the matter as against Tibbets, but ivould look to the sheriff for paytnent month by month as it became due, which payments Deputy Sheriff Tim- berlake then and there promised faithfully and regularly to make month by month on account of said Tibbets's rent as it became due, on which declaration and promise resting, as on those of honorable and truthful men, said Tibbets and Brodribb left said Timberlake and Coakley, and tvent their way. This affidavit further shows and declares that, the drawers of the said draft of $102 oa J. B. Summons, received by Armstrong, Cater, & Co., brou;,'ht action against said Timberlakc, Coakley, and others, to recover from tliem said amount of $102 out of the funds so misappropriated by tlicm to pay said rent to Coak- ley, and that on the twenty-eightli day of May, 18G8, at a circuit court held for the county of Spotsylvania, the said cause was licard, and the court ad- judged, ordered, and decreed " that whenever the plaintiffs or some one for them shall execute a bond with good and sulficient security, conditioned to save the defendant Coakley harmless from loss of rent due him from tlie defendant Tibbets, for the months of March and April, 1868, should said defendant Coak- ley be unable to make the same out of any property on tiie leased premises properly liable for such rent, then the sergeant Timbcrlake shall, out of the $175 retained in his hands to satisfy rent due Coakley, pay over to the plain- tiffs, Armstrong, Cater, & Co., or their attorneys, the sum of $102.2.3, with interest thereon from the 28th November, 18G7. And the court further directs that any balance remaining in the hands of the sergeant of the 8175, after satisfying the debt of Armstrong, Cater, & Co., shall be paid over to the de- fendant John Coakley." And this affidavit further shows and declares, that on the first day of June, 1HG8, the said Luther C. Tibbets paid to the said John Coakley the amount of $58.;5;3, being the amount due on that day for rent since the 1st of May last, up to xvliirh time the rent had been paid by the $291.67 retained in the hands of the sheriir tor that purpose. And this aindavit also further shows and declares, that on the afternoon of Tuesday the second day of June, 1868, a distress warrant was served on said Luther C. Tibbets, on behalf of said John Coakley, for $106 for rent alleged to be due to him previous to, and on the first day of May, 1868, which claim was for part of the same rent that said Coakley promised on the 1st of January last, in the presence of said Edward Brodribb, '' said Tibbets need be under no apprehension about it whatever, as he, Coakley, would take no further action whatever in the matter as against Tibbets, but would look to the sheriff for payment month by month as it became due." To satisfy this demand of S106, under this distress warrant, the officer serving the same informed said Luther C. Tibbets that lie, the officer, must take goods to secure it, and wished said Tibbets to give him a list of the same. Said Tibbets at once locked all the doors in the liouse, and told said officer that if he took the goods he must break open the doors, and if did that, he would do it at his peril : that he, Tibbets, should use no physical force, but that he should fight said Coakley, in law, inch by inch. The officer remained in the house for the space of tAvo houi's, and then left. On this the mayor, Charles E. Mallam, issued a warrant for the arrest of said Tibbets ; and on Friday, the 5th of June, put him under bonds of $100, to an- swer any charge which the Grand Jury may prefer against him. Said Tib- bets informed the mayor that he had no bondsmen to offer : on which the mayor ordered him to be locked up in the common jail, which was done accordingly ; but in nb(»ut three hours afterwards he was liberated, on bail being volunteered for him by some Union men, and accepted. On the following day, Tibbets sent for the officer, and arranged with him about the articles to be levied upon under the distress-warrant; and on Monday, the 8th of June, said officer came, and demanded said furniture, and removed it from the house ; and, on the 26th of Juno, said furniture was sold at public auc- tion by aforesaid Gabriel Johnston, and said distress-warrant satisfied by a great sacritice of said Luther C. Tibbets's household furniture, milking it indeed a distress- warrant. On Thursday the Uth day of July, the meeting of the Corporation Court, to which said Tibbets was again bound over, took place ; when it was announced in open court that the Grand Jury refused to find a '' true bill " against him on the indictment of Judge Barton, the District Attorney for the Commonwealth of 10 Virginia, to answer which the said Tibbets hud been bound over by Mayor Mal- lam ; and on Fri(Uiy the 10th of July, the said District Attorney, notwitli.standing the refusal of the Grand Jury to find a true bill against him, moved the Court, that said Tibbets be called up fur trial lor impeding the oHicer of the law in the execution of his duty ; which was done accordingly, and to which said Tibbets pleaded " not guilty." After examination by the District Attorney of the otficcr J. A. Taylor and Mayor Mallani, the District Attorney announced to the Court that he was unable to sustain the cluirge, and therefore moved that the case be dismissed ; which was done accordingly. This allidavit further shows and declares, that on the 17th day of July, 1868, said Lulher C. Tibbets caused the following notice to be served on said John Coakley, by aforesaid ollicer J. A. Taylor, to wit : — Circuit Court of Sj)o(s)jhania Cozinty, Virginia. Armstrong, Cateu, & Co., against TiMBEELAKE, COAKLEY, & OtHERS. To John Coakley, Esq, Please to take notice, that upon the decree of this Court, rendered May 28, 1868, to wit, " that whenever the plaintiffs, or some one for them, shall execute a bond with good and sudicient security, conditioned to save the defendant Coak- ley harmless from loss of rent due to him from the defendant Tibbets for the months of March and April 1868." Now, therefore, the rent having been paid to you by said Tibbets, I demand of you said bond, assigned over to me unim- paired. (Signed) Luther C. Tibbets. On the back of which notice the officer has made the following return, to wit: — " Fredericksburg, July 17, 1868. " I hereby certify that a true copy of the within notice was delivered to John Coakley by me. '■^(Signed) James A. Taylor, D. S. " Mr. Coakley declaring there is no bond in his possession now, nor at any time previous to the service of the copy of the within notice." ''{Signed) J. A. Taylor, D. S. That consequently the issue of the distress-warrant on behalf of said Coakley on the 2d day of June, under which said Tibbets's household furniture was seized and sold, and he himself, as a consequence thereof, incarcerated in the common jail, and put upon his trial for a misdemeanor, was illegal, because said Coak- ley did not /rsUa/i-c ton(Z, as directed by the Court in its decree of May 28, which says that, " whenever the plaintiffs, or some one for them, shall execute a bond with good and sufficient security, &c., then the Sergeant Timberlake shall, out of the §175 retained in his hands to satisfy rent due Coakley, pay Over to the plaiiitiifs, Armstrong, Cater, & Co., or their attorneys, the sum of 8102.25, with interest thereon from 28tli November, 1867." And that therefore the Sergeant Timberlake had no legal right to pay over to said Armstrong, Cater, & Co., or their attorneys, the said sum of $102.25 and interest ; and that before the said Sergeant did lawfully 'pag over said sum to said plaintiffs or their attorneys, there ivas no rent due, even under this decree of the Court, upon which any distress- warrant could be legally sued out, and issued at the suit of said Coakley against said Tibbets. 11 And this affidavit further shows and declares, that therefore said Tibbcts con- sidered that said Coakley had got two mouths' rent, by seizure of iii^^ (Tib- bets's) goods, to which he was not entitled ; and that for this reason said Tibbets did not send to said Coakley (as had been hitherto his custom) on the days the rents became due, either the rent due on the 1st July, or on the 1st August ; nor was said Tibbets even applied to by said Coakley, or by any person in his behalf, for the rent due on cither of those days, until after said Tibbotts had, on the 1st September, sent to said Coakley the amount of rent duo on that day (viz., 858.33), when ho, said Coakley, for the first time, demanded the sum of $175 for tiie pre- vious three months of June, July, and August. But as the rents for the months of March and April had been collected by tiic sheriff from Summons's goods nnder the instructions of the said Coakley, who had told said Tibbets on the 1st Janu- ary, in the presence of said Brodribb, that he, Coakley, " would take no further action whatever in that matter as against Tibbets, but would look to the sheriff for payment month by mouth as it (the rent) became due," Tibbets considered that the distress-warrant issued on the 2d of June for SI 00, and Avhich had been satisfied by the sale of his furniture, had -paid for the months of June and July, due on the first of July and August respectively ; and therefore he declined to pay for those months over again, considering that, if he did pay for them as now demanded by Coakley, said Coakley Avould be paid twice, viz., once by the sale of Summons's goods, proceeds of which were left in the bauds of the sheriff by consent of Coakley himself to satisfy that rent ; and arjain by the sale of his (Tibbets's) goods under the distress-warrant of the 2d June for §106, to replace the §102 that the sheriff had UlejaUy paid over to the attorneys of Arm- strong, Cater, «fc Co., for the reason that Coakley did not comply with the condi- tions upon which the court had issued that order or decree. Said Coakley thereupon served said Tibbets, on the afternoon of Tuesday the 1st September, with another distress-warrant for $175, and under its authority took from his house, on the 10th of that month, goods to the amount of near $300, including a large trnnh of his wile's, out of which the ofiicers emptied her clothes for that purpose, and including also goods of his boarder, the said J. B. Summons, and also goods of his boarder, the said Edward Brodribb, notwith- standing that both served on him, the officer, a written notice that the goods iu question were their goods, and did not belong in any way to said Tibbets ; and further, the said officer did not leave in said Tibbets's possession what the law of Virginia allows under such circumstances: for he left only two bedsteads and a half, instead of four, whereby several of said family had to sleep on the floors ; said olliccr also neglected to leave the full complement either of chairs, plates, cups and saucers, or knives and forks, as allowed by law. All of said goods were removed by the sheriff to the store of the aforesaid auctioneer, Gabriel Johnston, and were not brought to sale within the time, and under the conditions, that the law prescribes, nor has any account ever been rendered to us of the aniDunt of sales realized therefrom. And such threats reached us, by public rumor, that those persons who had planned and executed all these proceedings wouUl drive us from the town, as they had repeatedly threatened during the last twelvemonths, that, together with certain indications and misgivings, we lelt our- selves so insecure there, both in our persons and our lives, that we prepared our- selves to leave there by night on Friday the 2Gth of September last ; which we did, arriving in the City of Washington on the following day as refugees from the injustice and oppression of the people of Fredericksburg, through the persecution of the courts of law there, and of theii- officers. While we were sending away, for this purpose, the few things tluit the law had left us, the officer Taylor seized some of them, and also some of our wearing apparel and bedding, tvithout any warrant, order, or authority tchatsoefor from any court, mayor, or justice of the peace ; anil when applied to by us to tell us under what authority ho had made the seizure, he gave us no information whatever. 12 Now, therefore, wc, the iindcrsijraed deponents hereto, request of yon, lliat you will cause au iavestip:ation to be made, in our presence (where we may give such evidence as we can of the truth of this statement and of these allegations), into the conduct of said Court of the Corporation of Fredericksburg, and into the con- duct of said Sergeant and Deputy-ShcrifT Timberlake, and of said auctioneer, Gabriol Johnston, and of said officer, J. A. Taylor, before a Military Court of Inquiry, as we are entitled to demand under the Act of Congress passev Trial at the sittings of the Court in October last, alter said Sum- mons hud left Fredrieksburg, the result of which was then comnuinicated by his 16 attorneys, Messrs. Bmxton and Wallace, on the 19th of that month, viz. : " la the suit of wSiimmons vs. Tiniberlake called at the term of our Circuit Court last week, the dcfiuulaiits insisted on a Trial, and the Court directed a Jury to be sworn : we then suffered a nonsuit, which preserves to Mr. Summons the right to brinuj suit aj^aiu at any time for the same course of action." Ou or about the 2'Jth July, the said J. 13. Summons received throu;^h the post a letter, of which the following is a copy, enclosed to him in an envelope bearing the post-office stamp of "Fredericksburg, Va., July 29," and addressed on the outside in a very peculiar but exceedingly wcU-writtea handwriting, looking much like a lawyer's hand, or one accustomed to copying legal papers : — TO J. SUMMONS, THE RADICAL, In Charge op the other Radical, L. C. Tibbets ; Fredericksburg, Va. And reading as follows : — Hole ix the Wall, No Place, July 29, '68. To J. Summons, THE Radical: You are hereby warned and notified to leave the County of Spotsylvania within ten (10) days from the receipt of this notification, or take the consequences of your remaining, and of disregarding the third warning which you have received from this commandery of our Order : there is not Yankee hounds enough on the soil of Virginia to turn the bullet from your heart if you remain. Your inveterate enemy for the Order of K. K. K. Lucifer. And on or about the 6th of August he received through the post, in an envel- ope bearing the post-office mark, " Fredericksburg, Va. ; Aug. 6," addressed in the same hand-writing as the other on the outside, SUMMONS THE RADICAL; Care of L. C. Tibbets (Rad.) ; Fredericksburg J Va. another letter, of which the following is a copy, viz : — The Hole in the Wall, No Place, Aug. 5, 1868. Summons, — As the time is drawing near when your limit w\\\ expire, I again caution you to leave the country : it is not our desire or our object to shed blood, and it is only done in extreme cases when assassination cannot be avoided in order to carry out our plans. Therefore this the fourth warning, although your enemy — warn you as a friend. My other communication was unofficial, being written by myself at the sugges- tion of some of the " Klan." You will observe that this bears our seal, and if you are not entirely bereft of reason you willrcgard it. ¥.'M¥iiyii^m^^.)i^^^^M^ By order of the G. C. ^ j UKATll'a HEAD J ^ G. L. * 5 AND < Q * 5 CUOS8-BONF.9. « g N. B. — The above letter is interspersed with lines and characters, among which are death's heads, coffins, hands, whips, &c. A copy of the first of these two letters was affixed by Mr. Summons at the 17 post-ofticc and on the door of the court-house iu Fredericksburg, for tlie informa- tion of the piil)lic. On Saturday the 8th of August we were warned by a colored person, who was working in the family of one of the rebels, and who heard there tlie matter talked over, that it had been platnied, to attack our house iu the daytime on Monday next the 10th, when a large number of the colored people would be absent from the town on an excursion to Washington, and at noon, when those colored persons remaining in town and who it was supposed might assist us were at their dinners, to drive us all out of the town. We had previously been warned several times, both by white persons as well as colored, that we were in great danger, IMr. Tibbets and Mr. (Summons especially, — the former on account of his politics, and the latter on account of his having served in the Union army, he having been in a New York regiment of infantry during the whole war, — and we were even told by a white person the very house wiiere they met night atlter night to plan these things : besides which Ave had heard of two or three per- sons hij )tamc who were said to have sworn among each other to take Tibbets's life, and that if he did get elected to the legislature (he had received the nomina- tion to the House of Assembly from his district) he should never live to sit there : iu addition to which we remembered that one of the most conspicuous rebels in Fredericksburg, a lawyer. Jack Mayre as he is familiarly styled, did, about three or four weeks previously, a little more or less, state in a public speech which he made at some Democratic gathering, that " he would take all the d d Radicals and put them, bag and baggage, on to a gunboat, and take them all down the river and so get rid of them," which sentiment was higlily applauded by his audience. And also, some months before this, as Mr. Summons and his wife were going into the Episcopal church to witness a wedding, they were assailed by cries of " there go the Yankees," and one young man, who drives Harnden's express wagon, of the name of Goldsmith, a son of Dr. Gohlstnith^ said to his companion, " there is Summons the Radical, — we will spoMiim : " and all this just as they wei*e entering the church. All these things put together, made us feel that it was our duty to apply to the Military Authorities again for protection, as we once had occasion to do before, though the application was fruitless : and therefore Luther C. Tibbets and Edward Brodribb waited rarlt/ on Monday morning upon Lieut. Greenough, the Military Commissioner at Fred- ericksburg, and laid the matter before him, asking fur military protection. He informed us that he could give us no Military aid 7uitil some overt act had been committed, notwithstanding that that act might result iu the murder of some member of the family, but he promised, when that did occur, to give us the aid we 710W sought for. As we had not expected any thing ipore than this, we were not disappointed, for we had prepared ourselves accordingly for any emergency that might arise : and we theretbre conteuted ourselves with a protest agaiust such a course of conduct, and left with him a written communication, of which the following is a copy, viz. : — To Lieut. Greenough, MiUtari/ Conwiissioyier 14ih Dist. itc. SiK, — I beg to inform you that my son-in-law, Mr. J. B. Summons, living in my house, has received three warnings from the K. K. Ks within the last ten or twelve days, ordering him to leave this county and the country ou pain of being himself shot, and his family murdered if the warnings be not complied with within ten days, which ten days from first notice expired on Saturday the 8th iust. Warnings of the same natiu-e given in diU'erent States of the Union, disre- garded as any thing of importance, treated as nuitter of joke, have resulted in such terible suiferings to thif j)crsons and families receiving the warnings, that I feel it my duty to place the matter before the Military Commander of the District, which, however, I should not perhaps have done, had it net been for 8 18 the secret and mo,«t reliable iritcllij^'ciiec that I have since received, namely, that to-day, jMonday, An;;. 10, dnrinir the absence on an excnr.sion, of tlie lar^je body of coloied men whom the K K Ks know to be onr friends, and fear as snch, they, the K K Ks, have plotted to attack ns in onr house. Firmly believing this to be the case, I hereby apply to you for further protectioQ under these condi- tions. If attacked I shall most certainly make the best defence in my ])ower, and whatever human lives are sacrificed therein, will lie at your responsibility if you I'ail to afford me the protection which as a peaceable and loyal citizen, I claim at your hand. Yours very respectfully, LUTIIEU C. TiBBETS. In the course of the morning the Commissioner sent a messenger to our house requesting to see Mr. Summons, to which Mr. Tibbets replied, by writing him the following note, viz : — tSiu : — Permit me to say that the nature of the warnings and threats have been sucli, that Mr. Summons's wife cannot be persuaded to consent tliat Mr. Summons shall leave the house for one moment to-dat/, as she is well convinced from all that has passed during the last six weeks, that his life is in imminent danger. Therefore, if you have any instructions or propositions to offer to Mr. Summons, will you please oblige us either by writing them, or sending them by trusty messenger. Yours respectfully, Luther C. Tidbets, for himself and J. B. Summons. This note the aforesaid Edward Brodribb took to the Commissioner, who in- formed him that he wished to see the letters which Mr. Summons had received from the K K Ks. These letters Mr. Brodribb obtained Irom Mr. Summons, and delivered to the Commissioner in their original envelopes as they came through the post-oflice ; — and at his request Mr. Brodribb left with him the letter and envelope dated Aug. 5, 18G8 ; — the Commissioner repeating, iu substance, just what he had stated in the previous interview, adding that he did not believe there was any such society in the town. The day, however, passed off subse- quently very quietly, but we could not help attributing it to the fact of our ap- plication, and of its becoming pretty generally known in tbe town, as well as its being equally generally known that we were well armed and prepared for any attack that might be made on us. It may be as well to state here, that one special source of dislike to Mr. Tib- bets arose from the fact of his acting as Superintendent of a Sabbath School for colored people, old and young, held in the colored church of the Baptist de- nomination. A school mistress, a Mrs. Stoutenburgh, had for the last two years, under the auspices of and supported in great part by a Baptist Church iu the North, taught the colored children on the week days iu this their own church, and a sabbath school was held there every Sunday mm-ning for about two hours previous to the morning's service, with which from the commencement Mr. Tibbets had been connected, and which Mr. Brodribb had also joined on his coming to Fredericksburg about a year afterwards. This especially excited the wiath of the rebels and ex-slave holders and slave dealers ; but, it had one good efiect, namely, of forcing the white people in connection w-ith the Episcopal Church to open a similar school in self-defence for the " poor white trash," as they saw that very soou the " nigger " would otherwise be better intbrmed than his white superior : and well they might think so ; for \\'c can testify, and do testify witli pleasure, to the fact of the readiness and aptitude of the colored children, both male and female, to learn their lessons in all branches of common school 19 education. There were several exceUenf reaflcrfl nmonjr^t those rhildron, who sliowcd by the intpUirjent manner in which they read that tliey fully Hnrhrstood what tliey were readintr about: and the I'uldic Examinations of these children, at Christmas and at midsummer, exhibited results tliat would have done credit to any vltife schools. Their powers of siiiLnni]^ were hcyond tiiose of any school of white chihlren wc ever hoard : it seemed to be literally the breathing forth of the affections into sound, which is the very soul of true music, — and no music like that of the human voice, which is the instrument of all instruments, because God-inspired, — God-breathed. PAET n. THE PLATT CASE. This case already alluded to in the foregoing pages, we shall endeavor to be as concise with as is consistent with an intelligible presentation of the whole sub- ject, illustrating as it does, in connection with the foregoing, the title of our pamphlet, viz., Pkrsecution in the name of Law, at the sacrifice of every principle of justice. Mr. Brodribb, who boards in Mr. Tibbcts's family, and who came to this country in the fall of 18G3, and declared his intention of becoming a citizen of the United States in March 18G6, became acquainted with Mr. George Leach of New York through his correspondence with other parties in P^ngland. Mr. Leach is well known to the musical profession through the works he has pub- lished, namely, The Church and Home, and Laus Domino, two of the best col- lections of church music, of their class, now extant. On his arrival in New York Mr. Brodribb called on Mr. Leach, and about two mouths after that, Mr. Isaac L. Piatt, living then at No. 7 "West 20th Street New York city, sent Mr. Brodribb an invitation through Mr Leach to spend an evening with him at his, Mr. Piatt's house. This they did ; and conversation was almost immediately directed by Mr. Piatt to a MS. Avhich Mr. Brodribb had brought over with him from England, and which Mr. Leach had brought uuder the notice of Mr. Piatt, and in which he expressed himself greatly interested, and said that a vorv large portion of it obtained his full belief. This MS. was one of a spiritual character, commenced in the year 1817, and terminating with the year 1840, when the author of it, a poor laboring man, named James Johnston, a native of Scotland, was removed into the other life. This visit begat a strong sympathy on this and similar subjects between the three of us ; Mr. Piatt informing us of two pam- phlets of kindred views which he had himself published, one entitled^! Compara- tive View of the Gospels : luith an Introduction intended to furtlier aid their Illustra- tion : the Law of Nature, of Society, and of God, including the Innate Principhs of Preservation, Propagation and Perpetuation, considered : and the other entitled. The Ilehreio : and whenever Mr. Brodribb visited New York, if Mr. Piatt was aware of it, he was favored with an invitation through Mr. Leach to spend an evening with him at 3Ir. Piatt's house. This produced a general confidence be- tween the three, and interchange of views on most subjects aftccting the welfare of society : and when it was proposed to publish a pamphlet giving some account of this ••Remarkable Manuscript" which is entitled Intercourse with Angels, Mr. Piatt subscribed the sum of §150 himself towards it. All this brought Mr. Leach into more frequent communication with Mr. Piatt than had before existed between them, and led to Mr. .Leach's frequent allusion to Mr. Piatt in the correspondence which he, Mr. Leach, kept up with Mr. Brodribb. To this correspondence it is necessary now to refer, as it will show how naturally Mr. Piatt should propose, 20 m company -with Mr. Leach, to visit Virginia, and Fredericksburg especially where Mr. Brodribb then was, and how gradually Mr. Platt'.s arrangements for that purpose were made and cai'ried out ; all which is very important in their bearings upon tl»e subscfpicnt suit, entitled Isaac L. Piatt against Luther C. Tib- bets, Aviiich grew out of this visit. In addition to which it should also bo named lierc, lliat Mr. Leach brought before Mr. Tlatt, at Mr. Brodribb's suggestion, who knew from the conversations he had had witii Mr, Piatt, tliat he looked favorably upon such efforts, a Plan for Colonizing a part of \'irginia in small farms, put fortli by Mr. Tibbets in a circular which he had largely distributed, and to wliidi reference will be furtlicr made in these pages, and which was another object which I\Ir. Phitt liad in visiting Fredericksburg where Mr. Tibbets lived, and with whom Mi-. Brodribb Avas then boarding. The extracts from this correspondence are the following : New York, Jan. 24, 18G8, I saw Mr. Piatt to-day. He was much interested in your last letters ; he said he iuul.an idea of going througli the South this summer, and intimated he would like me to go with him, Jan. 25. — !Mr. Philt wished me to inquire about tobacco — to what end or use, or particular inversion does it belong. I told him I would send it on to you. Jan. 30. — I was with Mr. Piatt to-day, and in quiet conversation he said, he had from early childhood been conscious of the influence of a female, one year younger than himself, who had spiritually been with him through life, and always exercised tliat influence for good to him. She is constantly in his thoughts even now. They were separated when young, or he probably would have mar- ried her. She married: and her husband — a worldly man — is worth three millions. She has been in the spirit-land twenty years, I told him I thought it probable he may hear of her by and by : so I send it on. Feb. 9, — I will take care to express to Mr, Piatt all you say, and as soon as the message is to hand will hand it to liim. It rejoices me much to know what is coming for him. I will lay before him the printing matter, of which I wotUd say for myself, that you know pretty well what my ideas have been on this mat- ter, as we have often talked it over. Fch. 11. — Have seen Mr, Piatt who was much pleased, and believed it also. If in order, he would be glad to have a direct message from the lady in question. He was not very well, and I read it to him while he was in bed. Feb. 20, — Mr. Piatt did not wish tlie message to be sent direct to himself, as you seem to understand ; but a something especially to him from that lady, sent through me. However, his address is No. 7 West 20th Street, so you can send as you please, Feb. 21. — I wrote you yesterday from the city ; after which I saw Mr. Piatt. Enclosed you have a message from him to the lady, written by himself as you will see, which I trust will be responded to with her earth name attached to it. lie docs not wish you to forioavd any thing to his address, but to send it through me. He proposes being in Fredericksburg on the 5th of April, his 75th birthday, and wishes me to accompany him to and from, paying all my expenses. He told mo that all he had he considered devoted to the Lord's service. His children being all provided for, he is at perfect libei-ty to do as he is moved. That message, as you will see by the enclosed, he said was most wonderful. Not a soul but myself has he ever breathed this subject to. Feb. 2^. — I sent you on Friday a very beautiful and important commiuiica- tion from Mr. l^latt, which I trust will have reached you to-day, so that a speedy reply may come. But doubtless all will be in order. This message was written on tiie 12th, as you will see, — but I was prevented from going to see him, so did not get it till Thursday evening last. Be sure you send the next message through 21 me^ as he does not want his family to get hold of i7, which they maij do if sent to his address. I told yon in substance what he said. I sec the 5th of April is on a Sunday, the 4th month, the 7")th year of his a.Lre. Arc not these numbers good? JTch', 24. — If it be tlie will of the Divine Providence, I hope to have the pleasure of seeing you with Mr. Piatt, and spending a few days with you. Yours of the 22(1 and 21th to" hand : I shall at once proceed to fulfd your request with Mr. Piatt. Feb. 27. I saw Mv. Piatt, and as soon as he gets his message he will decide. If I can get away I supjjose we shall go the last of next week : if not then, the following week, of which I will advise you. March 2, Monday. — As there was none from you on Saturday, I came down to the city yesterday, where I got yours with Mr. Piatt's message, &c. I have just come" from him, and we purpose leaving liere on Friday next, should nothing prevent : the precise time of which I will let you know. You must arrange about our sleeping out, or leave it till we arrive, either of Avhich you please. He expects to go to the hotel, as he asked me about it. He will also, probably, go on to Kichmond, as he is a friend of Governor Picrpoiut, who married his niece. If it were not for arriving in the night, we should go by day-train ; but I am going to inquire, and will let you know. March 5. — "We purpose leaving here to-morrow (Friday) evening, to be Avith you on Saturday morning. On Saturday morning, March 7, wc received a telegram fro'm Mr. Leach, stating that Mr. Piatt and himself would be in Fredericksburg the next day, they being detained in "Washington through missing the boat ; and on the following day, March 8, they both arrived safely and well. They remained in Fredericks- burg, boarding at the Exchange Hotel, till the 17th, when they left for Richmond, on a visit to Governor Pierpoint and family. Every day after their arrival (Sundays excepted), up to the day of their departure, Mr. Piatt was occupied with INIr. Tibbets in looking about the country, Mr. Tibbets understanding from Mr. Piatt that he intended to purchase a large tract of land: indeed, at a hotel at Port Royal, which place Mr. Piatt visited in company with Mr. Tib- bets, stopping there one night, and returning next day, Mr. Piatt stated at the public table, in presence of many persons strangers to him, both at supper the evening we arrived there, and at breaktast the following morning, that he intended to make a very large investment in land in Virginia, if he could purchase at prices which met his ideas, which he said he had been informed he could do. Ilere we learnt of several farms or plantations that could be bought. AVithin two or three days of his arrival, Mr. Piatt discussed with Mr. Tibbets the subject of the colony before referred to, which had beeu projected by Mr. Tibbets on the following plan and estimate, viz. : — '•'■That thirty thousand acres of land he purchased and divided up into the following farms, lots, etc., viz. : 100 Farms of 100 acres each, 100 Farms of 5 acres each, 100 Farms of 7') acres each, 300 Lots of one acre each, and 100 Farms of oO acres each, 500 Lots of one-half acre each — 27,050 acres. 100 Farms of 25 acres each. The balance, viz., 2,'J50 acres, for Streets, 100 Farms of 10 acres each. Roads, and Parks. This land to be laid out in squares so far as possible. The village in the centre, and the 100 acre farms on the outer side, the 75 and 50 acre farms inside, and so on until we come to the one-half acre lots, which are to comprise the village. This laucl is situated in the vicinity of Fredericksburg, Va. ; it has a navigable river I'ront, and beautiful hills, sloping into fine i'ertile valleys, with winding streams of water, sutUciently large lor mechanical purposes. It will also contain from fifty to si.\ty dwelling-houses, some of them very large and handsome, likewise a 22 lar^'c number of uegro cabins, burns, sheds and out-biiildiugs. It will also have a large variety of fruit trees, vines, and garden plots. On this land could be raised, with ease, all kinds of berries, grapes, fruit, grains and roots ; it is also most excellent for grazing, either sheep or cattle. Winters short ; climate soft and genial ; convenient to market, either by rail, steamboat, or vessel. The timber comprises oak, hickory, birdseyc maple, 'black Avulnut, ash, pine, &c. Estimated cost and expenses, etc. 30,000 acres, to cost $15 per acre $450,000 00 Expenses to survey and cut up said farms ..... 2.000 00 Teams, utensils, &c., to open streets, build roads, &c. . . 2,000 00 Labor on the same 2,000 00 One steam portable saw-mill, say 20-horsc power, delivered on ground, 3,000 00 One steam planing machine ....... 3,000 00 Two patent machines to make brick, with steam engine complete, 5,000 00 Advertising, agent's salary, expenses, and incidentals . . . 20,000 00 Amount of cost of land, etc. To interest on $450,000, say two years Estimated sale and profit, viz. 33 Farms ,100 icrcs, each $16 33 " 100 u 32 34 " 100 u 50 33 " 75 (( 17 33 " 75 " 34 34 " 75 u 55 33 " 50 ii 20 38 " 50 C( 40 34 " 50 " 60 33 " 25 (( 25 33 " 25 " 60 34 " 25 li 75 83 " 10 u 30 33 " 10 u 60 34 " 10 " 90 33 " 5 ii 40 33 " 5 li 80 34 " 5 it 100 100 Lots u 100 100 " " 200 100 " a 300 100 " " 100 100 " u 200 100 " i It 300 26,950 acres in all. 3,050 acres for roads, parks, and streets. 6487,000 00 54,000 00 $541,000 00 $52,800 00 105,600 00 170,000 00 41.745 00 83,590 00 140,250 00 33.000 00 66,000 00 102,000 00 20,625 00 41,250 00 63,750 00 9.900 00 18,800 00 30,000 00 6,600 00 13,200 00 17.000 00 10.000 00 20,000 00 30.000 00 10,000 00 20,000 00 30,000 00 30,000 $1,136,710 00 23 Amount brou;;;lit forward, Si, 130,710 00 There would also be 3, (JOG acres of Timber that could be cut o{/\ thai would be worth on the stump $i) por 1,000, aud average lO.UOU feet to tlie acre . . 150,000 00 One-half the value of steam saw-mill, after using it two years, 1,")00 00 One-half value of i)laning-maehine, itc. . . . 1,.J'J0 00 " briek-machines and engines . . 2J)00 00 " teams aud utensils .... 1,000 00 $1,293,210 00 Less — Cost of laud and expenses 541,000 00 Net profits 6752,210 00 It is proposed to sell every third Farm at about the cost, including expenses of surveying and putting in order. After the first one-third is sold, then sell the next one-third at double the cost ; and the last one-third at the rate speeilied. This would induce parties to purchase quickly the first one-third ; the second one- third would be very cheap, and the last one-third would not be high. To idtimato this plau it is proposed to sccin-e two hundred thousand dollars in cash, in siuires of one thousand dollars each, one hundred and fifty thousand of which to be paid down on the land ; leaving two-thirds of the purchase money on bond and mortgage. The fifty thousand dollars to be used lor expenses herein named, and as a contingent fund. Should the above sum be subscribed for, a meeting of the subscribers to be then called together, to choose olficers and directors. Ten per cent, of the subscrip- tion to be then paid down, in order to contract, for the land ; after which such further action as the subscribers may determine upon, to carry out the above plan. The timber would be cut off from the farms, roads and streets to put them in order, and the expenses of cutting, sawing, &c., together with the §5 per thou- sand on the stump, would be added to the price of lumber in the following man- ner, viz. : Stumpagc . . . . $5 00 Cutting and hauling to mill . 2 00 Cost of sawing . . . 1 50 Labor in stacking up, «S:c. . 50 su 00 Suppose this lumber is sold at $10 per thousand to those purchasing lands, it would pay a profit of oue dollar per thousand, in addition to the live dollars for stumpage. The steam-planing machine would pay for itself in a short time, besides being a great accommodation to the neighborhood. The two machines to make brick can be worked with oue engine, and the new method of makiug brick will enable us to sell them at about half of the usual price; hence tiie lumber and brick furnished at such a cheap I'ate will enable people to build for about one half the usual <'Ost. The main object of originating this plan is to bring into use a section of the State now comparatively unproductive; thus, not only to enrich our common country by increased production, but also to supply homesteads, ou easy terms, to a people capable of infusing new life aud energy into our present dead aud stnfj}ia)it State. It is proposed to throw it open to all, irrespective of color ; and we have rea- 24 son to believe that a large number of the African people are ready to come in to labor or purchase land." Such were the plan, estimates, and reasons that had been put forth in circu- lars by Mr. Tibbcts, distributed principally in riiiladclphia, New York, and IJoston. This was the plan now discussed by Mr. I'latt with Mr. Tibbcts ; and Mr. Piatt proposed to Mr. Tibbets, that all should be given into his, Mr. Piatt's hands, promising that he would furnish all the money necessary to cairying out ilic settlement of said colony, and that he would appoint Mr. Tibbcts as his agent for the accomplishment of said enterprise. Mr. Piatt also proposed and agreed to sec two or throe other capitalists with whom ho was acquainted, and if they would join him in the investment, he said they could raise some nine hundred thousand dollars for the purpose of purchas- ing large quantities of land on both sides of the Rappahannock River for the purposes of said colony, Mr. Piatt also represented to Mr. Tibbcts that his family were very much opposed to him in any business that he might do : that he had given to each of his children a suflicicnt sum to place them in independence, and, indeed, equal to the amount he had reserved for himself. For this reason he felt free to do and act with his own means as he thought proper, independent of his sous, unless they were Avilling to co-operate with him. With this view Mr. Piatt gave to Mr. Tibbets specific instructions, both verbal and in writing, to purchase and contract for certain properties, not to exceed, for the present, one hundred thousand dollars, with the understanding that, as soon as he could see other parties, he would give further instructions to purchase largely. Mr. Tibbets was also instructed by Mr. Piatt to purchase a house in the town of Fredericksburg for his use and benefit, that he may live in it, and to where he should remove his effects, he said, and come himself as soon as he could settle up and close out his property in New York, Mr. Piatt reached New Y'ork, in company with Mr. Leach, on the evening of the 21st March, and on the 23d of that month wrote Mr. Tibbets the fol- lowing letter, which was proved in court, with other two letters of his, on the trial of Piatt vs. Tibbets before spoken of, and which were all admitted by Piatt's counsel : New Y^ork, Mar. 23, 18G8. Luther C. Tibbets, Fredericksburg, Va., Dear Sir, — We arrived at New York ou the 21st at 6 o'clock, and I was at home in my own house before seven. But there was a storm when I this morning met ray eldest son ; he even made thrcatfi, and demanded to know what I had boon doing, and even refused to give mo a blank chock until I had informed him, which I did not. I now enclose a check to your order for $3500 ; $1500 for your use in consummating contracts, and S1500 for Violet in consummating her purchases with our sister at Baltimore, and $500 more should she find it necessary for her purpose ; if not, to be used by you for carrying out my instructions. The property which we looked at opposite Petersburg,* for which the sum of §35,000 was asked, seems to have advantages that could at once bo turned to use, and if it could be secured at that, or an advance of 810,000, would meet my views, but trouble, more or loss, is evidently before me. Respectfully, Isaac L. Platt. * Tliis should be Fredericksburg, and refers to Major I. Horace Lacy's estate on tlie Stafford side of tlio Rappahannock River, upwards of 700 acres. Tliis Major Lacy once warned Mr. Tibbets, on account of his political sentiments, in a gentlemen's office in Frederickslung where tlicy met, not to go onTiis estate or he would repent it : if he did so, he would do so at his peril. 8 25 The breastpins Mr. Leach will advise about. To this letter Mr. Tibbots wrote the following reply : Fredeuicksbuug, Mar. 21, 1868. Isaac L. Platt, Esq., Dear Sir, — Your letter, enclosing check for 83500, has just come to hand. I have agreed and made a purchase of 707 acres of land on the river, at 820 per acre, 8-1000 cash down, the balance in one, two, and four years. Tliia I consider a very great bargain,* the best bargain 1 know of; it is, liowever, sub- ject to be confirmed by the court. It is twelve miles from this place. I have also the refusal of the 527 acres, of which 225 acres are timber, at 86,500; 81,000 cash, balance three years; or $7,000, one-third cash, and balance one, two, and three years. It is a great bargain, and I hope you will conclude to take it at once. I have also chance to purchase some town lots at a very cheap rate, and I think it well to invest in some of tliem. I write you this in great haste, in order to go by this day's mail. Yours with much respect, Luther C. Tidbets. On the 26th inst., Mr. Platt wrote to Mr. Tibbets the following letter, viz. : — Thursday Morning, March 26, 1868. My son, on my first interview with him on my return home, was evidently under the excitement of a dream, in Avhicli he saw his mother, who, amongst other things, told him that our destination was Fredericksburg, that she disap- proved of the proceedings, that my property was well invested in New York, and should not be disturbed, and much more that he would not disclose ; but as things wore tending what she stated was leading to a consummation, and he awaited further disclosures, where he would not say, but observed that I had peculiar views, and I inferred his impressions were that hidden things were intended that were not disclosed. Last night my son-in-law attempted a series of assaults, courteous and guarded, but nevertheless not misunderstood by me. Mr. Leach's and Mr. Tib- bets's standing and antecedents had been gone into, so far as the mercantile agencies could disclose them and such other facilities as mercantile ingenuity devised to thoroughly sift character and standing. INIr. Leach's employment at the present time, and what his present occupation, was anxiously cared for. My family are evidently united in opposing me, and my son-in-law evidently communicates with them, so that they constitute a solid body ; this renders great discretion necessary on my part, and caution on the part of those who communi- cate with me. All communications to me should be made formal in their char- acter, and strictly of a business character ; and from appearances my movements are likt-ly to be delayed. Tlie (Iwellinfj-housc I wish purchased. It was suggested by my son-in-law, that the land titles of Virginia might be vitiated by the acts of the owners during the rebellion, where liabilities were imposed upon them : this should be carefully looked into, as well as all other matters pertaining to land titles. To avoid all suspicion, if practicable, let every tiling be done in my own name. As my niovi-ment lias created so much opposition, I have said nothing to any one in reterence to joining me. If any one approaches me, I shall of course note what they have to say, and act accordingly. Tlie payments referred to for cash, I suppose iinplies at the delivery of the * This property, Ijctwccn Fretlcricksburg and Port Roval, nnmcil Spring Hill Farm, has since been sold lor 815,000. 26 deed, as in such cases a few days may be necessary to prepare, of all of which give nic due notice. Ihave sketched this he/ore my fumihj were 7tp, and will let it go forward. I. L. P. On the very day on which this letter was written, namely the Tvxnt)/-si.rth day of March, 18G8, a son of the aforesaid Isaac L. Tlatt, namely Samnd IL Piatt, visited Frederickshnrj^ (withont any anthority Avhatevcr from his father to do so, and withont his even having communicated to his father in any way his intention of doing so, as he himself testifies in his sworn deposition read on behalf of plaintiii" at the trials) and attached, in the hands of Mr. Tibbets's Bankers, by virtue of an order from the Corporation Court of Fredericksburg, the aforesaid sum of $3,500 sent to Mr. Tibbets by said Samuel R. Piatt's lather only three days before, and thereupon commenced suit against said Tibbets in the name and on behalf of the aforesaid Isaac L. Piatt his father, which attachment was sued out and issued by the said Corporation Court on the following allidavit of said Samuel R. Plait, namely : — Statt; of Viuginia. Corporation of FrcdericJcshurg, to wit : — . • This day personally appeared before me, Samuel R. Piatt, who made oath that Luther C. Tibbets is justly indebted to Isaac L. Piatt in the sum of $3,500 : — that there is present cause of action therefor, that the affiant believes the above claim to be just, and that the defendant Luther C. Tibbets intends to remove his own estate or the money he has received of the plaintiff, or the proceeds of the sale of his property, or a material part thereof, out of this State, so that process of execution on a judgment in said suit, when it is obtained, will be ■unavailing, unless an attachment issues. {Teste) R. S. Chew, D.C. 26th March, 1868. Upon this affidavit, without any proof or attempt at proof that the allegation contained therein is true, — namely that Luther C. Tibbets intends to remove himself or his property out of the State, — an attachment issues, and the funds in said Tibbets's banker's hands are come down upon and shut up upon the mere belief o( a stranger known to no one in Fredericksburg, acting not in his own business or in his own name, but in the business and name of his father from whom he not only does not produce any authority therefor, but expressly declares that he has no such authority therefor, — and on the strength of this, and under these circumstances, the Corporation Court of Fredericksburg puts in motion the most arbitrary and peremptory proceedings known to the law and within its power. Coupled with the arbitrary and illegal proceedings belbrc set forth in these pages under cover of similar attachments, — and in Coaklcy's case, a justice of the court, even without that cover, — and coupled too with the fact that the attorney who advised and carried out those proceedings, namely Charles Ilerudon, Avas attorney also for Coakley in some of his proceed- ings, — and coupled too with the fact that said Ilerndon was running, in the interest of the rebels, on the ticket opposed to that which contained said Tibbets's name as candidate for the legislature, — and coupled too with the fact that said Tibbets had been denounced by name, and held up to the execration and abhor- rence of all the rebel population of that place, by a justice of that Corporation Court of Fi-ederieksburg, namely A. Alexander Little, editor of The Frcdericks- hurtj N^ews, on account of his politics and his sympathies with the colored peo- ple, — taking all these things into consideration we ask, is it too much to suppose that the stream of justice was poisoned at its very soui'ce, and that what 27 was ordiiinetl for the benefit aud protection of a citizen under n jnst administratiou of the hiw, was turned into an instrument of oppression and persecution, anJ to further the very ends of a party who, if llie hnvs enacted by Congress were fairly carried out in that State, would not only have no right to sit on the bench at all, but would not have the right even of a vote of any kind whatsoever. And as it was well known that said Tibbets was a supporter of the Congress of the United States in its policy towards the rebel States, docs not this personal perse- cution of one iaithful Union man amount to a defiance of, aud a rebellion against, the authority of that very power which has so recently overthrown the rebels iu open wari'arc, but which has not yet extinguished their spirit, nor deprived them of the power of doing further mischief, even, if circumstances are favorable, to the inauguration of a civil war that shall be more terrible in its horrors than all the sufferings of the late Rebellion? It may be as well to give here a short account of the intercourse that took place on this 2Gtli day of March, at Fredericksburg, between this said Samuel II. riatt and Tibbets. Learning from the visitor's book at the Excluuige Hotel that Samuel R. Piatt was iu town, Mr. Tibbets called on him, aud introduced himself, saying to him that as his father had been here and was much pleased with the country, and had concluded to invest some money iu lauds about here, aud had told him that he should lay the matter before his family on his return home aud that he thought they might conclude to join him in the enterprise, that he (Tibbets) supposed he had done so, and that he (Samuel R. Piatt) had come to Fredericksburg in order to investigate and invest. In reply to this, Samuel R. Piatt said that his father had informed them of it, and that he had come to see about it. He then made an appointment for Mr. Tibbets to meet him at the hotel at eleven o'clock, in order to have an interview in regard to the purchase of lands about Fredericksburg. At the hour appointed Mr. Tibbets went to the hotel, and was there introduced by Mr. Samuel R. Piatt to Mr. Wil- liam P. Chambers, attorney-at-law from New York, and to Mr. Charles Hern- don, attoruey-at-law at Fredei'icksburg. Mr. Piatt commenced at once to ask Tibbets if he had received a check for $3,500 from his father, which Tibbets said he had ; aud Piatt then asked Tibbets if he had made any contracts for property here, to which Tibbets replied that he had. Piatt then asked what con- tracts he had made : in reply to which Tibbets asked him zchom lie represented in asking these questions. Piatt then stated that he was the son of Isaac L. Piatt, and Avished to know about the contracts. Tibbets asked him if he had any written authority from his lather. Piatt answered that he had not. Tibbets then replied that he could not answer his questions, and did not wish to give him any facts until he had received instructions from his father to make such inquiries. Samuel R. Piatt then said that his father was a very old man, that he was crazy, very infirm, and was not expected to live but a few months, and that he, Samuel R., had come to Fredericksburg with his attorney from New York to investigate the matter. Charles Ilerudou and the attorney from New York then both indorsed all that Plait had said respecting his father, and also stated that the father was imfit aud incompetent to do business, but that out of regard lor him and his family they did not want to take steps to have him put iuto au asylum, or to make the matter public. Tibbets then expressed a wish to have au attorney present, on his own behalf and on behalf of his principal Mr. Isaac L. Piatt, seeing that they had two attorneys, and ho felt that uuder such circiunstauces ho had uot a fair chance to refute any arguments which they made to show old Mr. Piatt crazy. This was assented to, and it was agreed to meet there again at half-past twelve o'clock that day: at which hour Mr. Tibbets met them iu company with Mr. Braxton, aud stated to them that ho brought 3Ir. Braxton there not only as his attorney but also as the attorney of Isaac L. IMatt, whose interests ho deemed it his duty to defend in this matter, seeing that his son had no authority whatever from his father to prosecute these inquiries. Mr. Ilcru- 28 don then repcatcil in substance wliat liad been said before as to Samuel R. Piatt's object in cominn^ here, and as to his father beinir an old man retired from busi- ness a number of years, and that lie was infirm and crazy, and could not live but a few mouths, and that his son Samuel K. Piatt wished to learn wliat had been done here, and have it cancelled and settled up. To all this Mr. Tibbets refused to give any intbrmation rcspectinj,^ Mr. Isaac L. Piatt's business, on (he ground that Mr. Piatt senior had not sent any word to liim to that effect, and that his son had not produced any authority from his father, but had expressly stated (hat he had no such authority: and upon the ground also that he would not furnish evidence to prove his principal insane. Upon this Mr. Braxton left, stating that he could be of no use; and then Mr. Tibbets left also: and sliortly afterwards Mr. Braxton offered, as coming from Mr. Samuel K. Piatt, 82.r)0() to Mr. Tibbets to settle and give up all the papers. This Mr. Tibbets refused to do, on the ground that it would be selling his principal to his own private fraiu and benefit. Mr. Samuel R. Piatt also offered to give Mr. Tibbets bonds to any amount he might require as an indemnification to hold Mr. Tibbets harmless from any action his father may bring against Tibbets for breach of contracts and against any damages that Tibbets may sustain thereby. This too Tibbets refused, stating that he believed Isaac L. Piatt to be a man of perfectly sound mmd, of good judgment, of acute perceptions, and perfectly able and winin"- to carry out and complete any instructions that he had given him, and upou which he had acted: and that until he had instructions from Mr. Isaac L. Piatt him- self, he should make no one acquainted with the state of the business that Mr. Piatt had intrusted to his care, but should proceed to execute it to the best of his abilities, according to Mr. Piatt's own instructions to himself. The result was that said Samuel R. Piatt made the foreiroing affidavit, and thereupon sued out the aforesaid attachment against the 83,500^ and commenced suit against Tibbets for 84,000. That same night, namely the 26th of March, Mr. Samuel R. Piatt returned to New York, and by the same train Mr. Tibbets sent his son-in-law to New York also to see Mr. Isaac L. Piatt. On (he very day after all these hostile proceedinirs of Samuel R. Piatt, in the name of his father Isaac L. Piatt, that same Isaac^L. Piatt his father writes to Mr Tibbets a letter thus : — ^, ,^ _ New York, March 27, 1868. LiCTHER C liBBETS, Petersburg,* Va. Dear Sir, — I am in receipt of your two communications of the 2ith and 25th inst., and note their contents. But the opposition which has arisen here against my projects are so powerful that I am compelled to abandon thLin, and instruct you to cancel every thing that has been done in 'reference to lands of every sort as far as practicable. If in any case you are so absolutely committed as to be unable to withdraw, that I will sustain and consummate ; biit the bitter feelings against you and Mr. Leach, — as bitter as any (hing you have ever en- coun(ercd in Petersburg.* It is probably (he same ; fbr, (hrouirh the commercial agency, the same feeling that existed there has ibnnd its way h^ere. So much of the check as was by me directed to a special purpose for my accommodation with others I do not divert from that object, for if I cannot live there, I may perhaps be enabled occasionally to visit it. But not at present. In reference to land titles in Virginia this is all important, more than I was aware when my instructions were f/inn, for I am informed (here are many complications and dilliculties in perfecting them : do not fail in any of these paHiculars if any thing is carried out. With my kind remembrances to your family and friends, with consideration and respect, Isaac L. Platt. • Should be Fredericksburg. 29 Does this letter look like the letter of a man who but yesterday attached the meaus he had sent to carry out all tiic purposes xindcracorcd above, and who com- menced suit lor S1,'H)(J a;;ainst tiiis a;;eut of his iu consequence? Docs it not rather prove that the suit commenced in his name was done without any au- thority from him, and witliout any kuowlediic on his part, and in direct opposi- tion to his wishes ami desires. And does it not place, beyond all power of contradiction, the conduct and action of Samuel R. Piatt in direct opposition to the wishes and intentions of his father in whose name he pretends to speak and to evoke the action of the law, — evokin;^ it thus against his own father's deliberate and rrpeittid acts in his instructions and transmission of money to his agent the said Tibbets? And Avhat too, can be concluded of the Court that will grant and continue, upon such grounds and under such circumstances as these, an attach- ment against Mr. Tibbcts's money iu his banker's hands, but that the Court is actuated by motives other than those of justice, and that therefore, those sitting there iu the seat of justice, where they have sworn to do o?2?^ justice between man and man, are thoroughly corrupt, thoroughly unjust judges, and ought to be removed from that scat which they so much dishonor, and from that ollice which they so much abuse, degrade, and profane? It may be necessary to state here, that on the 24th of March, the day on which we received the check for the $3,500, we received about two hours afterwards a tele- gram, purporting to come from Isaac L. Pledt, to the following effect, " Don't nse check till you hear furUier from me." Belbre, however, this telegram reached us, we had paid the check into the Bank at Fredericksburg for collection. We telegraphed therefore at once to New York to know the meaning of this, and received in reply the following, " Use at once ; " and the next day we were informed that Isaac L. Piatt had never sent such a telegram to us, nor authorized any one else to do so, but that his wishes were, that the money should be used at once for the purpose for which it was sent. This is confirmed in his letter of the 27th of March given above where, after acknowledging receipt o/Mr. Tibbets's letters of 24;th and 25th iust., he says, " So much of the check as was by me directed to a sjierial purpose for my accommodation with others, I do not divert from that object, for if' I cannot live there, I may j^erhaps be enabled occasionally to visit it. But not at present." At the time of the interview which Samuel R. Piatt had with Mr. Tibbets, this check had not been collected, and Samuel R. said of it, " it Will not be paid," yet ou the same day, within a few hours after, he makes oath and swears '' that Luther C. Tibbets is justly indebted to Isaac L. Piatt in the sum of three thousand live hundred dollars, — that there is present cause of action tlierefor, that he believes the above claim to ha just." Here is an oath at direct variance ivith Avhat he kneiv to be fact ; for he knew that Mr. Tibbets had not received the money for that check : and here is an oath at direct variance too with what he believed to be the fact if he spoke the truth, when he said of that check " it will not be paid." So that, 07i his own showing, this man Sainucl It. Piatt is cither a perjured man, or a liar, or both. The com- mercial world may ap]daud this as smartness, as speaking by anticijxtdon : but we leave it to the judgment oi' honest men of plain common sense, who are neither steeped in the tricks of trade nor iu the chicanery of the law, and wc feel that they will come to the first conclusion whether they express it or not. "What too, we ask, can be thought by honest men, of a profession and its practice, Avhere such an eminent and illustrious member of it as Charles llerudon of Fredericks- burg, candidate for Senator to the State Legislature in the rebel interest, can, with a knowledge of all tiiese farts iu his possession, advise his client to take such an oath, and thus to j)erjure himself? And wc ask what is the value of such a man's belief as this alfiant's, as to Mr. Tibbets's intention " to remove his own estate, or the money he has [not !] received of the plaintiff, out of this State, &.C.?" And we ask too, where is the protection of a man's rights, as to security of property and life, iu a State where a court of justice can and docs, upon the 30 Jlimsy pretext of such an oatli of such a man, arrest tlio whole course of an upright and honorable, and hiw-abiding citizen's entire business, and thereby cut oil" the entire support of his family, and throw them all into a state of destitution and consequent starvation? Is this the boasted freedom of the American Repub- lic, we a-fjoiu ask ; and is thi^ the protection of life and property witli wliicli all Europe has been made to ring for now so many years past, and by whicli so many emigrants have been allured from her shores only to be deceived and be- trayed? AVe could not have believed it, had we been merely told so : but, from our own personal experiences, we are compelled to say, in the name of Truth itself, (hat it is even so ! f As stated before, Mr. Tibbets sent his son-in-law, James B. Summons, to New York, on tlic evening of the 2Gth of March, to see Isaac L. Piatt in respect of the suit which his son Samuel R. had commenced against Mr. Tibbets, and especially to learn from haxic L. Piatt himself whether he had given any author- ity to bring said suit. Said vSummons arrived in New York City on the evening of the 27thj and next day, Saturday the 28th March, called at said Piatt's house, No. 7 West SOtli Street, where he saw him in tlie dining room, and going up to him to address him, said Piatt started up from his chair to shake hands with Summons, upon Avhich Piatt's daughter stepped up beside her father and said to him, *' Father, — you know that the boys don't want you to have any thing to do with that matter, but will attend to it themselves." Mr. Summons asked him if he had any instructions to send to Mr. Tibbets, and waited a few minutes for him to reply, — which upon his not doing, Mr. Summons, under the circum- stances in which he found himself placed, turned to leave, upon which old Mr. Piatt started up and said, " Stop ! " Upon this he put his hand into his coat pocket, as if he were going to give Summons some pajier which he had there, Avhen his daughter again stepped up to him and whispered something to him. lie then sat down, and Summons again turned to leave, wiien up jumped Mr. Piatt, and said to Summons that he wished to speak with him. He then carne up to Summons, and taking him by the arm walked with him into the front parlor. His daughter followed them : and when her father saw her, he told her to remain where she was, — that he wanted to speak to Mr. Summons. Upon this he spoke to Mr. Summons in a very low tone of voice, asking him if Mr. Tibbets were in town. Summons replied that he Avas not ; and then told Mr. Piatt about his own son Samuel R., having come to Fredericksburg. Upon this Mr. Piatt asked if Mr. Tibbets had received the money : and then Summons told him about the telegram which Mr. Tibbets had received purporting to come from him to hold on to the check till he, Tibbets, heard further from him. Piatt then said that he never sent such a telegram, nor ever authorized any person to send such for him. He said also, that he did not know that his son was going to Fredericksburg, and that he had not given him any authority to commence any action against Mr. Tibbets. He then stated that he was in the power of his sons, and could not do any thing : but he told Mr. Summons to tell Mr. Tibbets to cancel all the contracts he could, and that those which he could not cancel he, Piatt, would sec that Mr. Tibbets did not lose by. Piatt further said to Sum- mons, that he wanted to keep quiet till the matter should blow over, and that he would make his sons believe he had given the matter up, when he would make all right with !Mr. Tibbets. Summons then told him about his son Samuel R. having oiFered Mr. Tibbets $2,;jOU if he would give up all the papers he had in liis hands : and also that his son said that he, his father, was crazy. This seemed to make the old man feel quite bad. After this Mr. Summons left. On the day that Mr. Tibbets received by mail Piatt's letter of the 27th of IMarch, viz., on or about the 28th of March, he called on Charles Ilerndon with it, and showed it to him, and said that noivXxc was ready to compromise in that matter so as to bring it to a settlement. Ilerndon asked Tibbets what he would take? Tibbets told Ilerndon to write to the sons to consult Avith their father, and what- 31 ever their f;itlicr snid he ought to have, that he would take : Tihbets mado this oll't-r iu lull laith, tluit the old inau's sense of justice would lead him to do what was ri;.'ht, and he wanted notiiing more. Some ten days after this, or more, Ilerndon called on Tibbcts and again asked him what he would take. Tibbets told him as before, and asked him if he had written to the Tlatts as agreed upon. " Oh," said llenulon, " they will do nothing of that kind." After some conver- sation he said to Tibbets that they would not now give him more than S'jOO. Tib- bets replied that he would not now take even the sum they had oflered him before, viz., $L'oOU. At last, at Ilerndon's pressing request to Mr, Tibbets that he would name a sum that he Avoidd take, Tibbets consented to consider it and let him know : and after due deliberation and consultation with his family, «S:c., he told Ilerndon that he would not take less than §10,000. This determined the matter so i'ar as a present settlement was concerned, and the result of the suit had to be waited for in due process of law. In the mean time, between ]\Ir. Summons's interview with Mr. Piatt and this, Mr. Tibbets had drawn on Mr. Piatt, as arranged by him, two drafts, one for $4,000 being the cash to be paid down on the purchase of the 707 acres advised by Mr. Tibbcts iu his letter of 24th March, and the other for $5,250 being the purchase-money for the house which Mr. Piatt had instructed him to buy when in Fredericksburg, and of which he wrote to Mr. Tibbets, in his letter dated March 2Gth, " the dwelling house I wish purchased.'^ These two drafts were both dishonored, and returned to Mr. Tibbets ivotcsted, the answer on the protest being, " o»< o/ ^ottvi,'" while Piatt's eldest son John R., swears in his deposition read by plaintiff in court that the reason was, because his father told him that he had never authorized Mr. Tihhets to draw on him at all for any sum whatever. At the meeting of the cmirt in April Mr. Tibbets moved by Counsel to quash the attachment, but Piatt's Counsel, Ilerndon, objected on the grounds that Tibbets's attorney had not given him sutUcieut notice to enable him to get evidence from New York to meet the motion. This the Court held sufficient, and ordered it, at the request of Ilerndon, Piatt's Counsel, to be put over to the meeting of the Court in May next, for that purpose, then to be heard. At the meeting of the Court in May the motion to quash the attachment was renewed on the part of Tibbets's Counsel, when Piatt's Counsel, Ilerndon, oftered no evidence to meet the motion, as he said at the last coiu-t he wanted to do, but objected only to the jurisdiction of that Court, although he himself had moved its reference to it on the ground that it was only a Monthly Meeting of the Court, and that the Court could not hear such a motion except at a Quarterly Meeting : this objection the Court held to be good, and the motion to quash the attachment was postponied iu consequence to the Meeting of the Court in July ; then the trial itself would come on, so that the motion would be useless : the Court however allowed Tibbets to receive the 63,500 on his giving two good and sufficient Bondsmen, in 87,000 each, to abide the result of the Trial ; as effiictually keeping thereby Tibbets's money, practically, out of his own hands as did the attachment itself; thus per- petuating the gross wrong and oppression of seizing a man's Banking Account ui)on the lucre affiulavit of another without any proof of its allegations, and this too of a man who had no authority to make it iu the name of the Plaintiff in the action, and who had so evidently sworn to what the Court must see Avas utterly untrue. Here was another jiersecution in the name of Law, of which we have already proved so many, and which seems to be the very life of those Courts and of all concerned in them. About the end of March or early part of April there appeared iu the Fredericksburg papers, three in number, namely the Herald, the Ledijtr, and the Neics, a NoTicio to the public with the subscription of Isaac S. Piatt, the name of another of Piatt's sous : this subscription, however, in the subsequent issues, was altered to Isaac L. Piatt. Upou examination of this document iu its origi- nal writing and with its original signature, we came to the conclusion that it 32 was not okl Mr. Piatt's signature, nor his liandn'riting at all, and we publicly dcuounccd it as such, and called it a forgery. This led to its being attested to by a Notary Public, which attestation and notice itself are ou file in court, i'rom Avhich we take the following copy, — viz. : — Notice is hereby given that Luther C. Tibbets is not my agent, and never has been, and has no authority, nor never has had, to purchase, or contract for the purchase, of any laud or other property on my behalf, nor to act as my agent in any respect or manner whatever. IsAA£; L. Platt. Dated March SOth, 1868. ,,.., i F. W. Davis. Witnesses I j^^^^^^^^.^ State of New Yokk, ) ^ ^ Co. OF Duchess. | " ' On this 7(h day of April ^ a.d. 18G8, came before me Isaac L. Platt person- ally known to me to be the person described in and who executed the above instrument and acknowledged that he executed the same. F. W. Davis, Notary Fnhlic, Residing in the City of Poughkeepsie. This document neither gains any more of our assent to its genuineness than did the former : we do not believe, on examination of the writing and signature, that either of them is the hand-writing of old Mi-. Platt. "Why, we ask, if witnessed to by the notary public, F. "VV". Davis, as to its signature on the SOth March^ was not the acJcnoxvlcdgnient of the same taken by him ou the same day and at the same time f The achioiohdgment is delayed for eight days after the signature, though one of the witnesses to the signature is the same person who, eight days after, received the acknowledgment as a notary public. Why is this? There is no evidence on the document itself that the witnesses' names attesting the signature were signed to it before the date of achnoxdedgmcnt. The signature of old Platt purports to have been put there on the SOth March, but there is no evidence on the document that the signatures of the witnesses F. W. Davis and Isaac Vary were placed there on that day : but the presumption is, from the face of the document, that being called upon to take the acknowledgment, and receiv- ing the achnowledgment from old Platt that he did sign it, that then the subscribing witnesses put their names to the signature of old Platt already and before written there. This is no proof that old Platt himself si(7?ie(Z that name of his there writ- ten, — but simply that he acknoivledged it to be his signature : and what the worth is of such an acknowledgment, by such a man, for such a purpose as this was to serve, will appear pretty clearly by and by. This is no moral proof, even if it be legal proof, that the signature to that notice is the genuine signature of old Platt, with his own hand, in a state free from compulsion, which are necessary conditions to a genuine signature. And for these, and other reasons, we do not now hesitate to declare our belief that it is, and to pronounce it to be, a fougkuy in every respect, as we did in open court upon the trials : and this explains the question we asked, namely, — Why luas not the acknowledgment of the signature taken by the notary at the time he signed his name as a ioitness to that signature? to which we add, — Why ivas it delayed for eight days after the notary himself witnessed it? Here it is necessary to revert to what Ilerndon and Chambers told Tibbets at the Exchange Hotel on the 2Gth March when they wanted him to sell old Platt to his sons for $2,500, to be paid, by the by, out of the old man's 8^',500 scut to Mr. Tibbets, and which the son had no more right to offer or to touch than any other person had, and which in any other person would have been considered theft and 33 rohhcrj^ and conscqucutly ought to be considered so in Jiim. These parties stated iu the presence of his son and with his son's express sanction, tliat ohl Phitt was unfit and incompetent to do business, but out of re;;ard for liina and his family they did not want to take steps to have him put into an asylum, or to inake the matter public : intimating that under certain conditions, they miglit do so. Indeed Samuel R. Piatt expressly stated that they should do so if they could not stop him by other means, ami said that he was rvatchcd by them, intimating that he could not get away from them. This was confirmed by old Piatt himself in his letter of the 27th of March to Mr. Tibbets on the 28th of March, where he writes, " The opposition which has arisen here against my projects is so powerful, that / am compelled to abandon them : " and in his own house iu New York he told Mr. Summons that, " he was in the power of his sons and could not do any fliinrj : (hat he ivanled to keep quiet till the matter should blow over, and lliat lie icoxdd make his sons believe he had given the matter np." Tins is (he hey to all his apparent chauge iu his relations towards Mr. Tibbets from this time forth : and at this period there is turning round on his part to a direction exactly opposite to that in which he had stood and acted before. This key has two wards to it ; — one of compulsion on the part of his sons, and one of pretence on his own part to deceive his sons. Let us examine this a little. It was on the evening of .Saturday, the 21st of March, that old Piatt arrived at home in New York from Virginia. On Monday, the 23d, he writes thus to Mr. Tibbets : — ^^ There teas a storm when I this morninrj met my eldest son, he even made threats, and demanded to hiow what I had been doing, and even REFUSED to give me a blank check until I had informed him, which I did not." Ou Wednesday the 2oth Mr. Tibbets's letter of the 24th would arrive, and would be read by his eldest sou Johu R., if not by the rest, but most probably by all. In that letter Mr. Tibbets ackuowledges the receipt of the 63.500, which his sons telegraphed to Mr. Tibbets ou that day in old Piatt's name to •• hold on to check till you hear further from me." On that day also, by the evening train from New York, Samuel R. Piatt, in company with his lawyer Chambers, leaves New York for Fredericksburg, arriving there the next morning, viz. Thursday the 26th. On tltis day old Piatt writes another letter to Tibbets iu which he says, '• Last night (that is, the evening of the 2oth, the day on which Tibbets's letter was received, and on which Samuel R. left for Fredericksburg,) my son-in-law commenced a series of assaults, courteous and guarded, but nevertheless not mis- understood by me. My family arc evidently united in opposing me, and my son- in-laio evidently communicates ivith them, so that they constitute a SOLID body : this requires great discretion on my part, and caution on the part of (hose who communicate toith me. From appearances my movements are likely to be de- layed." 77(i'.s»was the day when Samuel R. sued out the attachment against the ?3,500, and commenced suit iu old Plafl's name against Mr. Tibbets. The next day, Friday the 27th, old Piatt writes Mr. Tibbets, " The opposition u:hich ]ias arisen here against my projects are so powerful, that I am compelled to abandon them and instruct you to cancel every thing that has been done in refer- encc to lands of every sort." Ou the evening of this day Samuel R. reached New York ou his return from Fredericksburg : the next day was Saturday fol- lowed by Sunday, which gave time for consultation amongst themselves, aud oa the following day, Monday March 30th, the notice, already alluded to, was drawn up and signed in old Piatt's name, but not then acknowledged. It took a iDtigertimc than those two days of Saturday and Sunday to coerce the old niai> from the state he was iu on the 27th (when he wrote the letter of that date to Tibbets) to s}vcar to aud acknowledge that signature as his own: it took nine days, — from Samuel R. Piatt's arrival from Virginia to the date of the acknowl- edgment before the 7iotary, — to do this: and any one who knows the obstinacy of old Piatt will well understand this, as well as un«Ierstaud too, how, with all the appliances at their disposal, his sons could, iu that lime, work upon the scljisk 6 34 nature of (he old lUiiii, aii-l so arouse liis fears as to compel him to surrendei to them, especially under i/ic sclf-ddasion wilh which he flattered his own con- rci(, '■' (h(i( he vKiidd male his sons believe lie had fjiccn the matter tip." Here was a contest between /orrc on the one hand, and deceit on the other; the young and strong sons trying to force their old, intirni, and imbecile father, (according to their own reports of his condition) and the old father, fox-like, trying by deceit to turn '■'•the sharp corner" of his sons' opposition to him. Had not the old man been so conceited of his own ability to outmanoeuvre everybody else, we think it very probable he would have succeeded ; but like other foxes, overcuuuing, he has been caught in his own trap. But once having made up his mind to bolt the oath, and so turn "ii6-directiug iinger. On the second trial, — this boohy — detiued by Webster to be a du7ice — asked the same witness what was the definition of a " Writer" and when the witness gave Noah Webster's several meanings to that term, the sapient counsel ex- claimed, '"'• very clear indeed!" — looking himself much like a not very wise looking kind of wild fowl looks, when it has been shot, especially as to the eyes. This Solon of the law perhaps has, — nay, doubtless had, his own client's, — old riatt and I'amily, — versatility and nimbleuess of fingers in this respect before his peering eyes, when he gave utterance to that wise suggestion. However it is 35 all satisfactorily accounted for now^ and with it wc dismiss its author to his own barton. We will now examine in what light old Piatt's forced acknowledgment that that paper was " in his own handwriting written hy his own hand, in his own genuine handwriting, the whole article iu his own handwriting," — we will examine in what light this declaration places him and those who forced him to make it. For this purpose we shall let old Piatt speak for himself, following the direc- tion of what Christ himself said in one of those gospels of which old Piatt wrote and published so recently as 18G0, A Comparative View, as before stated : Christ's words are as follows : — " For ht/ thy rvords thou shalt be justified, and hij thif words thou shalt be condemned." Matt. xii. 37. In order to make old Piatt's self-contradiction and solf-stultification more plain and evident, so that there can be " no miatake" about the matter, and no mystification horn nay *■' mystic" source, wc shall place his notice, '■'' the -whole article" which is, as he says, " i'/i my own handwritinrj" in juxtaposition with his letters to Mr, Tibbets, copies of which have been already given in full in these pages, aud which were proved in court, and admitted by the counsel of old Piatt to be in " his oivn genuine handwriting." Here they are : — Platt's Notice. Platt's Letters. Notice is hereby given that Mr. Tib- March 23 : — I now enclose a check bets is not my agent, an(Z «ei;er/tas 6een; to your order for §3,500: Fifteen and Arts no authority to act as my agent hundred dollars for ijour use in con- in any respect or manner whatever. summating contracts : to be used by you for carrying out my instructions. Isaac L. Platt. 3farch 2G : — All communications to me should be made formal in their char- acter, and strictly of a busi7icss charac- ter. It was suggested by my son-in-law the land titles in Virginia might be viti- ated by the acts of the owners during the rebellion, where liabilities were im- posed upon them. This shoidd he care- fully looked into, as well as all matters pertaining to titles. To avoid all sus- picion, if practicable, let every thing be done in my own name. The payment referred to for cash, I suppose implies at the time of the delivery of the deed, as iu such cases a few days may be necessary to prepai-e, of all tohich give me due notice. I. L. P. March 27 : — I am com|ielled to abandon them [my projects] and in- struct you to cancel every thing that has been done in reference to lands of every sort as far as practicable. If iu any case you are so absolutely committed as / to be unable to withdraw, that I will sus- tain aud consummate. So much of the check as was by me directed to a spc- 36 cial purpose for my accommodation with others, / do not divert from that ohject. In rerercncc to land titles iu Virj^inia, this is all important^ more than 1 was aware ivlieji my instructions ivcrc given, for 1 am infoi-med there arc many com- plications and dilficultics in perfect- ing them : do not fail in any of these PARTICULARS, if any thing is carried out. With my hijid remembrances to your family and friends, with consideration and respect. Isaac L. Platt. And has no authority, nor never has March 23. — I now enclose a check to had, to jmrchase, or contract for the fur- your order for $3,500 : Fifteen hundred hase,ofany land, or other property on dollars for your use in consummating )i>y hehalf. Isaac L. Platt Dated Marcfi 30th, 1860. contracts. jf'Ae property wliich we looked at opposite Petersburg, for which $35,000 Avas asked, seemed to have ad- vantages that could at once be turned to use, and if it could he secured at that, or an advance of ten thousand, avould MEET MY VIEWS. Respcctftdhj Isaac L, Platt. March 26. — The dwelling-uouse / wish purchased. If in any case you are so absolutely committed as to be fin- able to withdraw, that i will sustain and consummate. I. L. P. "Look here, upon this picture, — and on this." "A good mouth-filling oath." " False as dicer's oaths." " This looks bad : — But worse remains behind." And before we proceed to exhibit that " toorsc," we would ask where is the jury of twelve honest men in all the world who, after reading, or hearing read, the.se two proven and attested documents, would receive the testimony of this false sivearer in any cause whatever? or, in ivhat suit would they listen to, and accept, the evidence of this perjured old Isaac L. Platt f "Would they do it in his oivn rase as plaintiff? And yet one of two juries in Fredericksburg did this unhesi- tatingly, and found a verdict for him upon it : and the court refused every facil- ity requested of it that would enable the matter to be reviewed or carried else- where. But we do not consider that these ivere honest men. We come now to deal with old Piatt's (lc;^:)sition taken in New York on the 23d April last : and we will see first what it says in flat contradiction of the aforesaid notice, for which purpose we again put them iu juxtaposition. Platt's Notice. Platt's Deposition. Notice is hereby given that Luther C. About the middle of IMarch 1868 I Tibbcts is not my agent, and never has was at the house of Luther C. Tibbets been, and has no authority, nor never of Fredericksburg, — the day before has had, to act as my agent in any re- leaving there I think, — and described to sped, or manner whatever. him the kind of landed property in refer- 37 ence to which I wished iii/ormalion. One hundred thousand dollars %cas I think referred to : this teas informally u-ritten down hif liiin as a ineniorandiiin occupy- ing three or four lines, I think not more, at the bottom of a page of foolscap paper : THIS I SIGNED. On my return to New York I sent to Mr. Tibbets tlic sum of thirty-live hundred dollars ($3,o00) as a deposit : two thousand to be used as occasion might requiro/or tlie purposes of coitsum- mating such agreements as I might my- self make, based upon specific informa- tion furnished by him for this purpose as directed by the memorandum. The other fifteen Iiundred dollars ivas suJtjcet to the same conditions, or in other words to be used in furnishing rooms or otherwise as I might advise or direct. Tibbcts was a land-broker he said. I told him to make inquiries for me and report. I never authorized him to buy a sixpence worth of land for me, nor any thing else. I gave him no binding pow- er. / never even gave sucii powek to my SOX. Comment on the above is unnecessary, except (in answer to Piatt's remark that he never authorized Tibbets to buy a sixpence xoorth of LAND/<;r him), to remind the reader, and himself, of that property of Lacy's opposite Fredericksburg, for tchich in his letter of the 2'3d March he authorized Tibbets to give §45,000 : and also of the house and lot in Fredericksburg, of which in his letter of the 26th March he says *' The dwelling-house I icish purchased : " and for payment of which Mr. Tibbets dreiu on him for 65,250, which draft the Flatts let go to protest, and be returned to Mr. Tibbets dishonored. These two pieces of land alone amount to fifty thousand two hundred and fifty dollars, a sum that contains a mighty lot of " SIXPENX-ES." So much for this old man's regard for truth ! and so much for the value of his oath ! We will now proceed to show from old Piatt's deposition, the restraint under which lie is held by his sons as to the management and free use of his own property: a restraint amounting to the depri- vation of all liberty therein, and to the imposition of a strait icaistcoat in respect thereof: to throw off which, and regain his liberty in the control of his own property, we need not wonder at his wishing " most devoutly," to purchase at once li dwelling-house in Fredericksburg; or elsewhere. He thus speaks, and swears to it, in his deposition : " My son John K. Piatt, now here present, was intrusted with my business, lie had acted in that capacity from before my retirement from business, but specially so Irom the time of my retirement from business : he acted ior me and in my place in my absence in the city, or when I was disqualified in any way from attending to my concerns myself: was ju the habit if opening my letters and answering tliem without consulting me, hul rt}\)or\'in