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FAC-SIMILE OF THE CONCLUDING PARAGRAPH OF A LETTER FROM GENERAL JACKSON, TO F. P. BLAIR, DATED "HERMITAGE, APRIL 9TH, 1845."

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THE INNOCENT CONVICT.

"AND were you really a prisoner ?" I said, "or was it only in your character of Visitor that you learned all these things."

"I was really a prisoner," replied Goodwin, "I served five years in the State Prison, and yet, I trust, I need not say to you that I was never guilty in my life of transgressing the law in the smallest degree.'

"No, you need not say so," said I, "I think I know you well enough to feel certain that you could never have committed an offence which would entail such a disgrace upon you. We all know that there are plenty of rogues who go unpunished, but I was not prepared to hear that innocent men are sent to prison. Pray, how did it happen ?"

66 If you have patience to hear, I will tell you, if you will promise never to allude to the subject again. You may well believe that it is extremely painful to me; but, beyond that, I have no desire for the notoriety which the knowledge of my singular misfortune would give me in the world."

I promised.

"You have always known me by the name of Goodwin, but my true name is Godspeed; this was the name of both of my parents. They were cousins, and I was an only child. The house in which I was born, my grandfather was also born in. It was built on the Merrimack river, by one of my ancestors, a few years after the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth. My father died when I was a child, and left my mother with but slender means for her support. But she was a prudent woman, though very ambitious, and I fear that she deprived herself of many comforts that I might enjoy the advantages of a collegiate education. It was her chief desire to see me a preacher of the gospel, and tenderly as she must have loved me, I believe that she hoped to see me a missionary in India. Poor fond old woman! My worthless Latin cost you many a pang, and I fear your life!"

Goodwin hesitated for a few moments, wiped his eyes, and went on with his story.

VOL. XVII.-NO. LXXXV.

44

"I had nearly finished my college course, when one of my class-mates lost a considerable sum of money; it was stolen from his room, which adjoined my own, and it was the first theft which had ever been committed in the College. His name was Dracut, and although a townsman of my own, I had never been on intimate terms with him, for he was of a trifling temper, and his habits were irregular. We never liked each other, and I had avoided his company when I could without rudeness. The news of the theft caused a very great excitement in the College, the more so from Dracut having told the President that he believed one of his class-mates had robbed him. But we repelled the imputation with scorn, and willingly submitted our premises to be searched. The president, a very good, but a very stern man, conducted the examination himself. To avoid all suspicion, we locked our doors and gave the keys of our rooms into the president's hands, but after I had done so, I remembered that I had, the night before, left the miniature of Fielia, the president's daughter, in my trunk. I had worn it next to my heart, suspended from my neck more than a month, but the hair chain by which it hung had parted, and I put it away until I could get it repaired. Fielia and myself had formed an attachment for each other which I had promised not to reveal, and she had given me her miniature, on the occasion of her going to visit a relation in a distant part of the state. When I thought that the sight of the miniature in my possession would reveal our secret to her father, I was very much agitated, and very imprudently asked permission to enter my room for a moment before it was searched, that I might remove it; for, in truth, the thought of suspicion resting upon me, had never entered my mind. The president looked sternly at me, and I, knowing that in a few moments he would be in possession of my secret, blushed and trembled.

"Be cautious, young man,' he said, as he shook his finger at me.

"I submit,' I replied, but said nothing more. But when he took hold of

my trunk I trembled violently, and tried to fortify myself against his wrath when he should discover the cause of my apprehensions. As the miniature lay on top, it was the first object that met his eye. 'How came you by this?' he said angrily; but I made no reply. I was choked with mortification, and fear of being expelled from college. He took up a cravat next. Something dropped out of the folds upon the floor. Professor Wilson, who is now President of a Western college, picked it up, and turning pale as he spoke, exclaimed, 'It's the lost money!' It was a small roll of bank bills. All eyes were turned upon me, and for a moment only I was dumb with amazement. The next, I dropped upon my knees and called Heaven to witness that I was innocent. But my agony and solemn protestations only gained me scornful looks, and a sharp reproof from the President, who now accused me of stealing his daughter's miniature. This, I knew, would soon be disproved, but as to the other, I was in despair. I begged with tears and prayers that my class-mates and the Professors would believe me innocent; or that at least, for my mother's sake, I might not be expelled from college. I made use of every argument that I could to convince the President of my innocence, but all without effect. I was expelled, but not prosecuted, and I had the mortification of being made the subject of a prayer-meeting, for there happened to be a revival among the students, held with special reference to my crime. I had one consolation. I knew that my mother would believe me innocent. But O, what a blow to her tender heart, to have me accused of theft, and to see me expelled from college, without the honors which she had hoped to see me obtain ! And then, Fielia! How could I ever hope to convince her of my innocence, or that she would ever listen to my addresses again. To add to my other miseries, I had not money enough to pay my travelling expenses home. I would not wait for a remittance from my mother, and I had no friend in the college of whom I could borrow. But I had an antiquated gold watch, of little intrinsic value, but a precious jewel to me, for it had been worn by my ancestors, and was bequeathed to me as a memento of affection. By pawning this precious

heir-loom and my books to the college bookseller, I raised money enough to take me home. I was nearly dead with grief, and if it had not been for thoughts of my mother, I think that I should have destroyed myself. On every side I encountered nothing but scornful looks. O, if some of these awakened people who had the goodness to pray for me, had taken me by the hand and whispered an encouraging word in my ear, I could have died for them. They would have made me happy beyond expression. But I had to weep in solitude; nobody spoke to me good or ill.

"On my return to my mother's house, I had to pass through the town of P, where, in consequence of a heavy fall of snow, I was compelled to remain all night. At the stage-house I met an old acquaintance, some three or four years my senior, who had recently established himself in the town as a lawyer. He was a graduate of my college, but he had not heard of my disgrace; he asked me a thousand questions about the professors and students, and at last invited me to his room. I was glad to accept his invitation, but I determined before I left him, to tell him of my expulsion from college, and the cause of it.

"He had a box of segars and a basket of champagne in his room, but I could not smoke, and I had never tasted of champagne. Indeed I had never before seen a champagne bottle. He brought me a couple of slender wine-glasses and a basket of small cakes, and pressed me to drink. I drank one glass full of the champagne, and felt quite happy. The sparkling liquor produced a temporary insanity. Never before had I experienced in the slightest degree the sensation of drunkenness. The wine sparkled charmingly, my friend was pressing, and I drank again and again. I was mad with delight. I laughed, and shouted, and danced. I forgot all my troubles, and in my delirium of joy behaved, I fear, in a very improper manner. Whilst we were engaged in boisterous revelry, another young lawyer came in, the friend of my friend. We were introduced to each other, and soon after I discovered the two lawyers whispering together.

"I suppose you are talking about me?' I said.

"Yes, you thief, we were,' replied

my friend; how dare you impose yourself upon me, when you knew that I had not heard of your villany?'

"I had been treated with cold contempt by my class-mates, but no one had dared to call me a thief. My blood was on fire, and stepping up to my friend I struck him in the face with all my might. I have no distinct recollection of what immediately followed, but I know that I fought hard for a while, and at last found myself lying in a snow bank in the street. The cold air revived me in a degree, but I was still in a state of derangement. My head seemed like a balloon, and I ran yelling through the streets until I came to a house where I heard music, and I forced my way through the door into a room where a party of soldiers were dancing to the music of a fife and drum. It was a rendezvous for enlisting men to go to Florida. I was thirsty and called for drink; what they gave me I do not know, nor what happened afterwards. But I shall never forget my feelings when I awoke the next morning and found myself lying upon the floor in a dirty room surrounded by drunken recruits in their ill fitting dresses. My head was bursting with pain, and my throat was burning with thirst, while my limbs were so stiff that I could scarce stand upon my feet. It was very cold, and I looked round for my hat but could not find it. I felt in my pockets, and they were empty. I woke up one of the men who was asleep on a bench, and learned from him that I was in a rendezvous for enlisting soldiers, and that I had enlisted myself in the service for five years. I was alarmed and called for the sergeant, who not only confirmed what the man had told me, but refused to allow me to leave the house. I told him my trunk was at the stage-house, and that I must leave that morning for home. He still refused to allow me to leave his house, unless I repaid him the bounty which I had received, but I had no money to return, neither could I get any. I sent to the stage-house for my trunk, and found that it had been carried away in the stage at daylight. I was in a strange town, without a cent in my pocket, or a hat upon my head, and in the depth of winter. The sergeant swore that I had received the bounty and had spent it at the bar, and he produced a receipt which certainly had something like my name signed to it. I could do nothing but

submit to my fate, which I did with as good a grace as possible, for I supposed that I should meet with no difficulty in getting free as soon as I saw the commanding officer of the station. After having a gill of raw whiskey served out to me, a piece of pork and a loaf of bread, I was marched off to a fort in the neighborhood in company with two or three other miserable men who had been driven by misfortune or crime to enlist for soldiers. It is a singular anomaly in a country where every man boasts himself a patriot, that only the most degraded and worthless citizens are willing to fight in defence of their country. The soldier, instead of being the most honored man in the commonwealth, is considered the most degraded and good for nothing. I did not know that I could avoid enlistment by swearing that I was drunk when I received the bounty which they said I had taken, and therefore I suffered the surgeon of the fort to examine me and afterwards signed the recruiting papers, and before I could collect my scattered senses, I was dressed in the uniform of a hired soldier. I shed a few bitter tears as I thought of my mother, and my altered prospects; but I had no fears of the final result of my misfortune, for I thought that a simple statement of my case to the commanding officer of the fort would procure my release. But in this I was greatly mistaken.

"When I applied to him for a discharge, he treated me with lofty disdain, and pretended not to believe a word that I uttered. I had no friend to whom I could apply for aid, and I was loth to inform my mother of my condition. I therefore resolved to write to the Secretary of War at Washington, and request him to send an order for my discharge; but in reply to my letter an order came for my arrest, and I was placed in confinement for breaking the army regulations, in writing to Washington without the permission of my commanding officer. I was confined in a little cell in company with two other unfortunates who had been condemned to wear an iron ball attached to their ancles, for some crime similar to my own. Here I was shut up every night at dark, and was released in the morning to assist in doing the drudgery of the fort. If an officer, who had been fed, clothed, and educated at the public expense at West-Point, had been guilty

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