--Yesterday, at 12 o'clock, the examination of
Mrs. Patterson Allan, on the charge of treasonable correspondence, was renewed before Confederate
Commissioner Watson;
Mr. P. H. Aylett representing the
Government in the prosecution, and
Messrs. Lyons and
Randolph appearing for the defence.
The principal part of the testimony turned upon establishing the handwriting of
Phillips, comparing a book in possession of the counsel for the accused with the "
Santa Trinita" letter, which is alleged to have been handed a servant of
Mrs. Allan's in the market, and which, with another letter, was sent by her to
Dr. Powell to be transmitted North.
A bundle of letters and papers were submitted, obtained from
Phillips's correspondence by Detective Cashmeyer.
These letters and papers
Mr. Aylett desired to introduce to establish the character of said
Phillips, and to prove his loyalty to the
South.
Mr. Lyons opposed the admission of these letters as testimony.
He made no objection to the introduction of the letters to prove the handwriting of
Phillips.
Geo. F. Scammel, proprietor of the
Powhatan Hotel, was sworn, and testified as to the signature of
Phillips written upon the hotel register in July, 1861. Witness did not pretend to be familiar with the handwriting of
Phillips.
A lame man named
Phillips had contracted with witness for board in July, 1861; had boarded at the house once before; there was another man named
Phillips boarding at the hotel, who was a conductor on the Central railroad.
During the summer another man of the same name boarded with him, whose first name he did not know.
He could not say positively that the signature on the register was that of the lame man
Phillips.
It might be the signature of one of the other gentlemen of the same name.
[The signature on the register proved to be that of
Mr. Wm. F. Phillips, of
Fauquier county.
The counsel for the accused offered the following paper, which he proposed should be sworn to by her before the
Commissioner.
She desired that it might be received.
The
Commissioner stated that whilst he did not recognize his right to receive such a paper, yet as the accused requested it, he would take her affidavit to the paper and receive it:
The affidavit of
Mary Caroline Allan, now under examination been
Commissioner W F
Watson, made before the said
Commissioner:
This affiant doth solemnly declare upon her oath that she has never written or sent a letter to the
Rev Morgan Dix, or received one from him, and hath never seen at her residence in
Goochland county, or had in her possession there or elsewhere, any letters addressed to herself signed "M
Dix," and has no knowledge of any such letters, and that she is not guilty of the charge now here alleged against her of having corresponded, or attempted to correspond, with him directly or indirectly, or of adhering to the enemies of the
Confederate States, giving them aid and comfort.
Mary Carolina Allan.
This statement was sworn to before
Commissioner Watson.
Judge Regan,
Postmaster-General was sworn, and stated that he had some correspondence with
Phillips, but had not that familiarity with his handwriting that would enable him to distinguish it when presented.
This concluded the testimony in the case, when
Mr. Lyons, counsel for the defence, asked the discharge of
Mrs. Allan upon the ground that the evidence submitted in the case failed utterly to prove that the letter signed "
Santa Trinita" was written by
Mrs. Allan, or that she had any knowledge of its contents.
Mr. Aylett replied briefly.
The questions for the
Commissioner were first, had the offence of treason been committed, and was there probable cause to suspect the accused of having committed the offence.
There was no question that the letter was treasonable, and whether the accused wrote it or not, if she sent it, with a knowledge of its contents, she was guilty.
The fact that the letter was intercepted did not change the character of the offence.
The
Commissioner was not to try the question of guilt or innocence, but of "probable cause." There could be no conviction without two witnesses to the overt act, but the constitutional protection had reference to the trial by jury of the issue of innocence or guilt.
At the conclusion of
Mr. Aylett's remarries,
Commissioner Watson read the following decision:
Opinion of the Court
The
Confederate States of America
vs.
Mary Caroline Allan.
This Court is one of limited functions; true, it has the right to discharge a party accused of crime, if it believes there is not
probable cause for charging the accused.
In most cases it has the power to bali; but where, in the opinion of this Court, there is
probable cause to believe that the party charged is guilty, the duty of the
Court is to send the party on for trial before the tribunal recognized by the law. For this Court to adopt any other course would be usurping rights strictly pertaining to a judge and to a jury.
In this case the accused is charged with treason in adhering to the enemies of the
Confederate States of America, in giving them aid and comfort by writing and sending, or attempting to send, a letter of advice and intelligence to the enemies store said sometime during the month of June, 1863.
That such a crime has been committed by some person; that such a letter was written and intended to be sent to the enemy, and was intercepted, the testimony establishes.
It did not reach the enemy's hands, but the sending of it in order that it should be delivered to the enemy, whether delivered or not, will, I suppose, be regarded in law as giving aid and comfort to the enemy, and as an overt act of treason, if established upon "the testimony of two witnesses to the same overt act, or on confession in open court."
The questions are, who wrote this letter?--who contemplated sending it to the enemy, having the knowledge of its contents?
If there was not in the mind of the
Court probable cause to implicate the accused in the charge against her, it would be my duty to discharge her. But that this letter came from her hands and was attempted to be communicated by her to the enemy, is proved by the testimony.
But did the write the letter?
and if not, did she attempt to send it to the enemy, she having a knowledge of the contents?
These are questions not for me to solve; for me there is developed in their attempted solution that probable cause of guilt, which Impale me to send on the accused for final trial, and I accordingly commit her for that purpose.
This decision was received by the accused with evident emotion, and she left the
Court-room bitterly weeping.
She was left in the custody of the
Marshal, who was ordered to bring her before
Judge Halyburton at 11 o'clock this morning.
