spondence whatever with them, or with any persons in them, during the rebellion, without permission of the Secretary of War, and that I will in all things deport myself as a good and loyal citizen of the United States; and that I will not cause or commence any action or suit against the officers of any loyal State, or of the United States, for causing my arrest or imprisonment, at any future time, so help me God. Sworn to and subscribed before me, this day of "A true copy. J. J. MORAN, M. D. On the 11th of November, Judge Duff, of Benton, Illinois; Judge Mulkey, of Cairo, Illinois; David Sheward, of Fairfield, Iowa; and Dennis A. Mahony, of Dubuque, Iowa, were taken before Judge Advocate Turner, who, without giving them a trial or an examination, further than to question them as to whether they were members of the Knights of the Golden Circle, administered the oath to them, and discharged them. The discharge read as follows: "OLD CAPITOL PRISON, Washington, D. C., November 11, 1862. "To all whom it may concern: "This will certify that the bearer, Dennis A. Mahony, a prisoner of state, has been duly and honorably discharged from custody at this prison. "By order, Secretary of War. Captain B. L. HIGGINS, Similar discharges were given to the others. They returned to their room, tɔ pack up the few pieces of clothing that remained, and bid farewell to their fellow-prisoners. A leave-taking supper was prepared for them by the few remaining victims, to be partaken of in room No. 16, "the scene of triumphs, and the scene of pains." The room was lighted with candles, and the mess-tables drawn together and filled with such articles as the prisoners could procure. The Superintendent was invited to partake of the viands. IIe replied that it was against the rules for him to eat with the prisoners; but as the four gentlemen about to leave were no longer prisoners, he would accept the invitation, which he did, and appeared as much affected as the rest. The gentlemen about to leave had been the longest in prison. All the later arrivals looked up to them for counse and sympathy, and they were then about to separate, perhaps, forever. This and other reflections swelled their hearts with emotions which found vent only in tears. Forcing them. selves away, they waved adieu to their old companions, and took final leave of the Old Capitol Prison. CYRUS F. SARGENT. R. CYRUS F. SARGENT, the subject of this narra tive, was born in Yarmouth, Maine, in 1814, of highly respectable parents. When about nineteen years of age, he went to Louisiana to engage in business, and spent some two or three years in the employ of one of the most influential merchants of New Orleans. He subsequently located in Union County, Arkansas, as a merchant. The State was at that time in a prosperous and flourishing condition, and by strict attention to it, his business proved prosperous, and he acquired quite a fortune. Owing to sickness, he was compelled to leave the State, and removed North in 1856 or '57. But his old friends in Arkansas induced him to commence business in New Orleans in the fall of 1860, his family still residing in Yarmouth, Maine, which was his home. Hearing of the death of his wife in April, 1861, and having a family of helpless children at home, he closed his business in New Orleans and started for Maine. At this time the war had commenced. Soon after his return to Maine, he attended, with other Democrats, a Convention at Portland. The subject of the war being the topic of discussion, he was called upon for a state ment of the feeling of the Southern people. He told them that the people of the South felt that the war was forced upon them, and all they asked was that the Government should be administered according to the Constitution, and not as Abraham Lincoln said it should be, viz., on the Black Republican platform, for that platform was virtually a declaration of war against the Slave States of the Union. Mr. Sargent left Portland, Maine, for Boston, Massachu setts, on the morning of September 23, 1861. While seated in a car reading the morning paper, he was attacked four ruffians, shortly after reaching South Berwick Junction. One, a Deputy United States Marshal, came up behind him, and jumped upon him, crushing him down between the seats. The others got hold of him by the head and arms, three holding him, while a fourth handcuffed him. Immediately on being permitted to rise, he demanded their authority for thus acting, when the Deputy Marshal took from his pocket a paper, saying, "That is my authority.” Mr. Sargent asked permission to read it, but was refused. He then requested the Marshal to do so, but this he also declined. After ironing him securely, they searched his per son, when one of the four, a man named Goddard, drew his revolver, saying: "This is the thing we settle such fellows as you with." Sargent called him a contemptible coward to draw a revolver on a man in irons. The cars being full, the passengers collected around the scene, but no one had the manliness to raise his voice against the brutal manner in which the prisoner was treated. The Marshal and his minions then pushed him into a small saloon-room, and there detained him until the train arrived in Boston. He was taken in a coach across the city, and placed in the cars for New York, stopping only a short time in a room connected with the United States Marshal's office. Deputy United States Marshal Heald, who had him in confinement, refused to loose the handcuffs that he might have an opportunity of writing a few lines to his children and friends, in Yarmouth, to allay their anxiety at his absence. They did not eveo permit him to attend to the calls of nature. It was with great difficulty that Deputy Marshal Keyes induced Heald to unfasten the irons from one wrist, and that was replaced within half an hour. On arriving in New York, he was placed in a loathsome dungeon in the Tombs, and there compelled to pass the night amid a horrible stench. The next morning, September 24, he was taken to Fort Hamilton, Heald passing a receipt with General Knox, then in command of the Fort. Thence he was immediately transferred to Fort Lafayette, Lieutenant Wood in command. Here, he was placed in one of the casemates, which was crowded with other victims of Puritanical tyranny. He was without a blanket or mattress for several nights, and suffered much from the cold while lying on the damp brick-floored casemate. He was unable to cat the scanty food furnished him, but soon got a chance to take two meals per day in a mess made up among the prisoners. They employed a man connected with the Fort to furnish them with provisions, which were cooked in his apartments. The prisoners composing the mess paid the bills. The water, for the first ten days during his imprisonment, was filled with live, snakishlooking insects, and was so offensive that the prisoners had to close their nostrils while drinking it. The last of October, he, together with a number of others, was removed by steamer to Fort Warren, Boston Harbor. The suffering of the prisoners, while on this rotten, unseaworthy steamer, beggars description. The hold was crowded with Hatteras prisoners, kept without food for forty-eight hours; and, on arriving at Fort Warren, some of them were nearly dead, and survived but a few days. The treatment and accommodations at Fort Warren were much superior to those at Fort Lafayette, while the prisoners were not obliged to endure the uncalled-for abuse to which they had been subjected at the latter place. The reader will see details elsewhere. He was released in the latter part of November, after hav ing been in confinement about two months, without having any charges preferred against him. His friends went to Washington, stated the case to Mr. Seward, Secretary of State, who pretended ignorance of the matter, notwithstand ing the fact that Mr. Sargent's attorney saw a telegram from Seward, ordering his arrest by the Marshal, some two weeks before it was made. He had been arrested once before on the same telegram, but his friends had secured a writ of habeas corpus for him. |