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The constitutional convention met in conformity to the call of General Pope, on December 9th, in the city hall at Atlanta. When the temporary organization was effected the first day with J. L. Dunning as chairman and Walter L. Clift secretary, 130 delegates presented their credentials — 108 white and 22 colored. There were 140 delegates present on the second day. when J. R. Parrott was elected permanent chairman; P. M. Sheibly, permanent secretary, A. E. Marshall, assistant secretary; M. J. Hinton, sergeant-at-arms; William H. De Lyons (colored), doorkeeper, and a colored man of the name of Campbell, messenger. Colonel R. B. Bullock offered a resolution that a committee of seven be appointed by the president to wait upon General Pope and advise him that in obedience to general orders No. 89 the constitutional convention was assembled and organized, and invited him to address the body. General Pope was escorted into the hall by the committee and made a brief address on the requirements of the situation, and wishing the convention success in its responsible task. The speech was received with much applause.

On December 28th, 1867, General Pope was removed from his command, and Major-General George G. Meade, the Union commander at Gettysburg, appointed to succeed him. General Pope left Atlanta on the 2nd of January, 1868, accompanied by his family and two members of his staff. Quite a demonstration of friendliness on the part of the citizens attended his departure, several hundred people accompanying him to the depot and cheering as the train moved out. A band from the post, and all the post officers, helped to make the general's departure impressive. General Meade put in his appearance four days later, in the company of three staff officers — General R. C. Drum, Colonel George Meade and Colonel C. D. Emory. He was accorded as hearty a welcome as General Pope upon his arrival in Atlanta, and entered at once upon the discharge of his duties.

This change was made during the holiday adjournment of the constitutional convention. There had been much dissatisfaction with General Pope's methods of administration, and it was represented to President Johnson by some of the most influential citizens of Georgia that reconstruction could be accomplished more speedily and with much less friction under a different commanding officer. It was not urged against General Pope that he was tyrannical or unduly arbitrary by nature, but that he was too easily influenced by unscrupulous upstart politicians who had no interests or sympathies in common with the people of Georgia. The ring that Pope surrounded himself with was in the highest degree odious to the better element of citizenship. Still, much of the opposition to General Pope undoubtedly had as its basis opposition to the policy he had been sent south to enforce, and the prime movers who effected his removal were mainly the political enemies of the dominant national party. There can be no doubt but that President Johnson was in sympathy with the majority element of the states subjected to the harsh measures of reconstruction, and lent a compliant ear to the many complaints and charges brought against General Pope. When, at length, he transferred the obnoxious officer to a different field of service, there was much rejoicing in Georgia, and better things were predicted of the Meade administration. As has been stated, the constitutional convention which convened in Atlanta upon the order of General Pope, remained in session a very brief time before adjourning over the holidays, and in the interim the change of commanders was made. One of the last official acts of General Pope was to order State Treasurer John Jones to pay to N. L. Angier, disbursing officer of the constitutional convention, the sum of $40,000 which it had voted itself for the payment of its expenses. General Pope's order was dated December 20, 1867, and Treasurer Jones responded on the next day declining to pay the amount because he was "forbidden to pay money out of the treasury except on the warrant of the governor and the sanction of the comptroller-general, and having entered into heavy bonds for the faithful performance of the duties so prescribed." General Pope's removal came so soon after the issuance of the order that he took no action with reference to the matter, but left the settlement to his successor, General Meade.

This action of the constitutional convention was vehemently denounced by the conservative element in the state, and General Pope came in for a large share of the criticism. During the last few weeks of his administration he had been the target for much newspaper and forensic abuse, and to judge from the anathemas hurled at him, the Northern student of the Southern situation must have thought Georgia was about to draw her sword again in the defense of state rights. In Atlanta there was no little ill-feeling toward General Pope. On the 4th of January a number of citizens who were dissatisfied with the general's administration of his office met in mass meeting and adopted a preamble and series of resolutions with reference to the manner in which the duties of the commanding general of this military district should be performed, in part as follows: "His (General Pope's) indorsement of the action of the so-called State convention, and its attempts to draw from the public treasury $40,000 to defray the expenses of said unconstitutional assemblage, conceived as it was in fraud and brought forth in iniquity, is a direct violation of the act of Congress which prescribes the mode and manner of their payment, and at the risk of prostituting the credit, and to the dishonor of the State; and hence it is he was surrounded while in this city by evil counsellors in civil life to whom he lent a listening ear, and whose thirst for office influenced them to counsel to further oppression and degradation of our people, in order that they might fatten on the spoils thereof; therefore, be it

Resolved, That this meeting, composed of conservative citizens of Fulton county, do hereby tender their acknowledgments to President Andrew Johnson for the removal of Brevet Major-General John Pope from the command of the Third Military District.

Resolved, That while this meeting is unalterably opposed to the military acts of Congress, under which it is proposed to 'reconstruct' the Southern States, and while it disclaims any wish (were it possible) to influence the action of Major-General George G. Meade, politically or otherwise, yet it can but express its gratitude that our people shall have in him, as military commander of this district, a gentleman and a soldier, who, we have reason to believe, will uphold and not destroy the civil government of the state; who will respect and not trample underfoot the civil laws he may find in force, and who will restore those set aside by his predecessor, who will guarantee freedom from fraud and corruption in registrars, managers or voters, in any future elections, registrations that may be held under said military acts; and who will tolerate, in its fullest extent, freedom of speech and of the press in the discussion of the great questions affecting the present and future welfare of the people of Georgia.

"Resolved, That entertaining these views with reference to General Meade and the course he will pursue in the administration of this office, we welcome him to our city and trust he will continue his headquarters at Atlanta, as commander of the Third Military District."

The next resolution provided that a committee be appointed to formally welcome General Meade to Atlanta and present him with a copy of the resolutions. The resolutions provided for sending a copy to the president of the United States. The committee of seven provided for in the foregoing resolutions had a very pleasant interview with the new commander, and the impression he made on the people of Atlanta who met him the first few days was a favorable one.

On the 8th of January, the constitutional convention reconvened in the city hall, with a full attendance of delegates. There was a feeling that the removal of General Pope would have a tendency to make the body more conservative and more amenable to "old-line" influences. Delegate Clift introduced an important ordinance the first day, the object of which was to express the sense of the convention as to the relations of a state to the central government. The ordinance in question was as follows:

"Whereas, In times past the opinion gained currency that all persons residing in and subject to the laws of Georgia, owed allegiance to the government thereof, and that that allegiance was paramount and superior to any duty or obligation to support the government of the United States, and

"Whereas, Said opinion is incorrect, ruinous, and productive of evil, therefore, we, the people of Georgia, in convention assembled, do ordain and declare that our first allegiance is due to the government of the United States, and that no authority does exist, has ever existed, or can exist among us or in us, capable of dissolving us from our allegiance to the government of the United States."

Ex-Governor Brown was a leader of the conformist wing of true Georgians. On the 9th of January he was invited by resolution to address the convention, which he did with his characteristic eloquence and mental acumen. Among other things he said:

"The opposition is led by some of the most sagacious statesmen of this country, who will profit by any mistake you make. It is true, some of its assumed leaders are unprincipled, unscrupulous demagogues, who have great powers of declamation, but no judgment, and who have always led every party, which has followed them, to destruction. Such men, conscious of their own moral obliquity and dishonesty, naturally suppose all others as unprincipled as themselves, and denounce all who differ from them as knaves, fools or corrupt traitors. Such men will spare no pains, willfully, to mislead and deceive the people both as to your motives and your acts. Having been on all sides of all political questions, they have no pride of character, and no love of the truth, and care nothing for principle or for the peace of the country if they can but get office."

With reference to negro suffrage and the fear that the negro would rule the State of Georgia, Governor Brown said: "But those who affirm that we are to have negro government, have not even the pretext of numbers to sustain them. Take the registered voters under the Sherman bill, and the whites have two thousand majority. There are from the best estimates we can make about five thousand to ten thousand disfranchised. Put these numbers together and you have about fifteen thousand majority of white men. Now, my friends, you say we have superiority of race, intellect, education, experience, property, that we are superior to the negro race in all the elements necessary to constitute the governing class. The reconstruction acts give them the right to vote, but not to hold office; then tell me we are to have negro government under the Congressional plan of reconstruction with all these advantages, sustained by fifteen thousand majority! The idea is simply ridiculous. The dishonest demagogues who use it are of the same class who denounce universal, indiscriminate white suffrage for having destroyed the peace and prosperity of the country, and saddled upon an innocent and unborn posterity burdens too grievous to be borne. The objection with them, when we look to the bottom of it, is not stronger against negro suffrage than it is against universal suffrage. They are opposed to both. Their doctrine is that the few — the true aristocracy — should rule, and that the ignorant mass, as they regard them, should have nothing to do with government but to obey its behests. It is the old doctrine, that only those born of the aristocracy should govern. It is the few supplying the government to the many. But in this era it will be a failure," etc.

In defense of General Pope, Governor Brown said that the general had not, as charged, "gerrymandered" the State so as to give it over to negro domination, and that the editors and speakers who had made so much fuss over that question, and who had done General Pope so much injustice, should put their heads together, and with the acts of Congress as their guide, which General Pope was obliged to obey, and the basis of representation established by the laws, and take the map of Georgia and lay the State off in the proper number of election districts composed of contiguous territory into anything like reasonable shape, and do more justice between the races than was done by General Pope, in adopting the senatorial districts as the election districts. His opinion was that it could not have been done.

How much of an improvement General Meade was over General Pope, in the estimation of the "anti-radicals." can be judged by his removal of the governor and treasurer of the State of Georgia from office, by virtue of the power of military law. The difficulty was over the old matter of paying the expenses of the constitutional convention. January 7th, 1868, General Meade addressed a letter to Provisional Governor Jenkins, requesting, or, rather, commanding him, to draw a warrant on the state treasurer for the sum of $40,000, to defray the necessary expenses of the constitutional convention, which Treasurer Jones had declined to do under the administration of General Pope, alleging as the reason for his refusal that the constitution under which he took his oath of office did not permit such action on his part, without a warrant from the governor, and the approval of the comptroller-general. Governor Jenkins answered the letter of the military commander on the loth, to the effect that after careful consideration, and the clearest conviction of duty, he must respectfully decline to comply with the request, for in complying he would be guilty of deliberately violating the state constitution of 1865, and the constitution of the United States as well General Meade replied tartly to Governor Jenkins, under date of the 13th, informing him that his action made it incumbent upon him to remove Governor Jenkins from his office, as his refusal to issue the necessary warrant, as requested, was palpably an obstruction of the reconstruction laws. At the same time he removed State Treasurer Jones. The order under which these two high officials were removed and their places filled by officers of the United States army, is as follows:

"Headquarters Third Military District.

"Dept. Ga., Ala. and Fla.,

"General Order No. 8: Atlanta, Ga., January 13, 1868.

"I. Charles J. Jenkins, provisional governor, and John Jones, provisional treasurer of the State of Georgia, having declined to respect the instructions of, and failed to co-operate with the major-general commanding the Third Military District, are hereby removed from office.

"II. By virtue of the authority granted by the Supplementary Reconstruction Act of Congress, passed July 19, 1867, the following named officers are detailed for duty in the district of Georgia: Brevet Brigadier-General Thomas H. Ruger, colonel Thirty-third Infantry, to be governor of the State of Georgia; Brevet Captain Charles F. Rockwell, Ordinance Corps, U. S. Army, to be treasurer of the State of Georgia.

"III. The above-named officers will proceed without delay to Milledgeville, Ga., and enter upon the discharge of the duties devolving upon them, subject to instructions from these headquarters.

By order of

General Meade. [Official]

R. C. Drum, Assistant Adjt. General.

George K. Sanderson, Capt. and Act. Asst. Adjt.-General.

A protest went up from the "Conservative Democracy" that echoed throughout the length and breadth of Georgia. The newspapers and publicists of this faction turned upon General Meade with ah the fury of invective at their command — and such men as Hill and Toombs were at no loss for sulfurous adjectives. General Meade did not go out of his way to placate the anti-reconstructionists, but asserted in defense of his action that he had no alternative as a faithful public officer but to enforce the organic act of congress, so long as Georgia was not restored to her former place in the Union. Historian Avery, referring to the manner in which General Pope and Meade performed their unpleasant duties during the reconstruction period, says:

"To their credit be it said that generally they wielded their authority with respect to old usages and established rights; and where they broke over the conventional forms they did it under the soldiers' spirit of obedience to orders. They were directed to enforce the reconstruction measures, and they did it to the letter."

Governor Jenkins, upon his removal from office by General Meade, went to Washington, carrying the great seal of the State. and about $400,000 of money, which was placed in New York, to pay the public debt. He filed a bill complaining that Ulysses S. Grant of Illinois, George G. Meade of Pennsylvania, Thomas H. Ruger of Wisconsin, and C. F. Rockwell of Vermont, had illegally seized the State's property and imprisoned the State treasurer, and asked an injunction of said parties from further spoliation.

In the winter of 1867-8, at the height of the reconstruction excitement, a young men's Democratic club was organized in Atlanta, with Hon. E. F. Hoge as president. The movement attracted a representative and vigorous following, and the club was looked to by the old-school Democracy to keep the rising generation of Georgians free from radical contamination. There was no danger of perversion, however, to judge from the constitution and by-laws adopted by the organization. The club went enthusiastically to work to secure the best speakers and take practical, systematic measures to solidify the Democrats of Georgia against carpet-bagism and the wrongs of reconstruction.

The Young Men's Democratic Club held a meeting on March loth, 1868, in Davis Hall, at which Hon. B. H. Hill delivered one of his characteristic anti-radical addresses. Wallace P. Reed says of the speech: "At the beginning he employed a very fine analogy, comparing the current of politics to the Niagara river, calm and peaceful for a distance, then changing to the rapids, and at last to the precipitous descent." Mr. Hill said in part:

"The issue is wholly changed. It had ceased to be a constitutional question. The issue now pressing is one of actual political life and of social domination. Nothing more startles the man of thought, nothing more startles the reader of history, than the giddiness with which the people are riding the rapids to destruction, almost unconscious of what awaits them. The great difficulty of the times is this; The people have no regard for the truth. They have no love for it, not a particle. I rather think you think more of deception than you do of truth, and that is the reason why so much deception is practiced. The church and society are all at fault. The people are at fault upon this question. Why, it has not only grown into a habit, but it has become a maxim that it is no harm to tell a lie in politics. My friends, a political lie is the worst of all lies, and ought to be held more infamous than all others.

"I deny that the time has yet come when it is necessary for a man to stand up before an intelligent audience and argue the constitutionality of the question now sought to be thrust upon you. There is no man who does not need a guardian, but knows they are unconstitutional, and you know it. The question is not as to whether you understand it, but whether you have virtue enough to do what you know is right. And, people of Georgia, the issue is made. You are to be called upon to determine whether you will have truth or falsehood. I know that now, and indeed for many years back, the air has been full of policy, policy, policy; the making of this bargain, and that bargain I will venture now to say, and I hope I shall offend nobody, though indeed I do not care if I do, in telling the truth, that there are over fifty men this day in Atlanta, who have come here to see if they cannot have some office from one party or the other. I have been speaking to them for the past two days, and so many of them, too, that I begin to think I almost cease to be respectable. Belonging to no party, I support that party which I think is right, and that party today is represented by these young men — the Young Men's Democratic Club. I deem it my duty to come before you today, and put on record for posterity my views of the constitution, which is framed for your support, and the reasons why I deem it, and declare it, infamous, etc., etc.

"I am not going over the old argument which I had the honor to present to an audience in this same hall, at an earlier period in our history, by which I proved that the authority which authorized this matter was originally unconstitutional and void. I say so still, and every man knows that it is. Everybody knows that the convention assembled here to frame a constitution for the people of Georgia, had no more authority to do so than had my young friend sitting here. But even if the original authority were absolutely valid, everybody knows that the convention was not called by an honest vote. I say it was falsely counted, and you know it. I say it was fraudulently managed, and you know it. But put all that by, a convention illegally called, and falsely authorized., is enough to justify an honest man in condemning its action, whatever that action may be."

On March 11th , 1868, the constitutional convention adjourned, but before it dissolved it resolved itself into a nominating convention and named Rufus B. Bullock as its candidate for gubernatorial honors. A grand ratification meeting was held by the "radicals" a few nights later, and the campaign was inaugurated with a bitterness of feeling never before equaled between opposing political parties in Georgia. The Democrats, or "Conservatives," nominated that gallant Confederate General, John B. Gordon, after first consulting General Meade as to his eligibility to hold the office, if elected. General Meade gave as his opinion that General Gordon was eligible, and he was accordingly nominated. Three days were occupied in the election — April 20, 21, 22. The vote in Fulton county (including Atlanta, the vote of which could not be ascertained), was, on the question of ratifying the constitution: for, 2,229; against, 2,019. For governor: Bullock, 1,914; Gordon, 2,357. For congressman: Adkins, 1,958; Young, 2,193. Bullock was declared elected, and the reconstructionists were in high feather.

Governor Bullock was inaugurated, with Georgia literally at the point of Federal bayonets, and his first official act was to issue a proclamation convening the legislature, as follows:

"Under authority granted by an act of congress, entitled 'An Act to Admit the States of North Carolina, South Carolina. Louisiana, Georgia, Alabama and Florida to Representation in Congress," which this day becomes a law, the persons who were elected members of the General Assembly of the State, at an election held on the 20th, 21st, 22nd and 23rd days of April last, and who are eligible to office under said act, are hereby notified to convene in the city of Atlanta, at 12 m. on Saturday, the 4th day of July next."

Wallace P. Reed gives the following interesting account of the first meeting of the legislature under the reconstruction regime:

"The legislature convened according to this proclamation, and on the 21st of the same month, Governor Bullock transmitted to them a message containing a communication from General Meade, stating that inasmuch as the two houses of the general assembly had complied with his communication of the 8th instant, with respect to the eligibility of its members, under the act of congress and the fourteenth article constitutional amendment, he had no further opposition to make to their proceeding to the business for which they had been called together. He said that he had considered the two houses properly organized since the 18th inst.

"Governor Bullock stated to the Legislature, that, according to the act of congress to admit certain states to the Union, passed June 25, 1868, the legislature was required to ratify the amendment to the constitution, proposed by the Thirty-ninth congress, and known as the fourteenth article, and by solemn public act to declare the assent of the state to that portion of said act of congress which makes null and void the first and third subdivisions of section seventeen of the fifth article of the state constitution, except the proviso to the first subdivision, before the state could be entitled to representation in congress as a state of the Union. Both houses of the legislature therefore passed the following resolution:

"Resolved, By the Senate and House of Representatives, that the amendment to the constitution of the United States, known as article fourteen, proposed by the Thirty-ninth congress, which is as follows, [here followed the amendment]: be and hereby is ratified by the State of Georgia. The vote upon this resolution was as follows: Senate, for, 28, against, 14; House, for, 89, against, 69.

On the next day, July 22, Governor Bullock was inaugurated in the hall of the House of Representatives. Governor Bullock said that through the clemency of the general government, under the fostering care and protection of which they had assembled, they were permitted to inaugurate a civil government that would supersede the military power, which had been supreme in this State since the failure of an attempt to establish the sovereignty of separate States in opposition to the constitution of the Union framed by the people of the United States. At the close of Governor Bullock's inaugural. Judge Erskine administered the oath of office, and then Benjamin Conley, president of the Senate, read the following proclamation:

"Know ye, know ye, that Rufus B. Bullock is hereby declared governor of the State of Georgia, for the term of four years from the date prescribed by the constitution, for the commencement of his term. God save the governor and the commonwealth of Georgia!"

Some little applause followed this announcement, after which a voice from the end of the chamber was heard above everything else with the exclamation, "Go it, niggers!" which created quite a sensation.

Thus was Georgia restored to the Union. There was a meeting at the National Hotel that evening, at which Governor Bullock made a neat speech, and General Meade expressed his satisfaction that the State had been restored. It was on this day that the proceedings of the military commission were suspended, and the Columbus prisoners sent to Columbus.

It still remained to elect two representatives to the Congress of the United States, which was done on the 29th of July. The Hon. Joshua Hill was elected for the long term by a vote of no to 94 for Joseph E. Brown; and Dr. H. V. M. Miller was chosen for the short term by a vote of 119, to 73 for Foster Blodgett, 13 for Seward, and 7 for Ackerman. In commenting on this action of the Legislature, the Intelligencer said the results were glorious.

The city of Atlanta was full of excitement and congratulations over the selection of these two distinguished gentlemen to Congress. An immense crowd gathered in front of the United States Hotel, and were addressed by Hon. Joshua Hill, Dr. Miller, General John B. Gordon, Hon. Warren Akin, Colonel Cowart and Hon. A. W. Holcombe.

At the election held for president of the United States, November 3, 1868, the vote in Atlanta was as follows: For Horatio Seymour, 2,455; for U. S. Grant, 2,443. I" Fulton county the vote was: for Seymour, 2,812; for Grant, 2,474.

One of the episodes of the reconstruction era was the murder of G. W. Ashburn, of Columbus, Ga., in Columbus, March 31, 1868. Ashburn was a native of North Carolina, had been in Georgia fully thirty years, and was a member of the Constitutional convention. The murder created considerable excitement throughout the State. The military took the matter in hand, and arrested on suspicion William R. Bedell, Columbus C. Bedell, James W. Barber, Alva C. Roper, William L. Cash, William D. Chipley, Robert A. Funis, Elisha J. Kirkscey, Thomas N. Grimes, Wade H. Stephens, John Wells (colored), John Stapler (colored) and James McHenry (colored). All parties were released on bail in the sum of $2,500 each, some four hundred citizens of Columbus, of both races, going on the bond.

The military court organized to try them convened in Atlanta, June 29, 1868. McPherson Barracks being the place of the trial. The military court consisted of Brigadier-General Caleb C. Sibley, colonel Sixteenth Infantry; Brevet Brigadier-General Elisha G. Marshall, U. S. A.; Brevet Brigadier-General John J. Milhau, surgeon U. S. A.; Brevet Colonel John R. Lewis, major Forty-fourth Infantry; Brevet Lieutenant-Colonel Robert E. A. Crofton, captain Sixteenth Infantry; Brevet Major Samuel E. St. Onge, captain Sixteenth Infantry; Brevet Captain George M. Brayton, captain Thirty-third Infantry; Brevet Major-General William McKee Dunn, assistant judge advocate-general of the United States army, was appointed judge advocate of the commission. The council for defense was composed of Alexander H. Stephens, L. J. Gartrell, James M. Smith, J. N. Ramsey, Martin J. Crawford, H. L. Benning and R. J. Moses. The prosecution was conducted by Brigadier-General W. M. Dunn, ex-Governor Joseph E. Brown, and Major W. M. Smyth. Following are the charges and specifications upon which the prisoners were arrested and tried, but it will be seen that there were those named in the specifications who were not named as among those arrested and giving bonds, and some of those who were arrested were among those tried on the charge. Charges and specifications ..against Elisha J. Kirkscey, Columbus C. Bedell, James W. Barker, William A. Duke, Robert Hudson, William D. Chipley, Alva C. Roper, James L. Wiggins, Robert A. Wood, Henry Hennis, Herbert W. Blair and Milton Malon. Charge— murder. Specifications — In this, that the said (persons above named) on March 31st, 1868, in the city of Columbus, in the county of Muscogee, State of Georgia, in and upon one George W. Ashburn, then and there in the peace of the State, feloniously and willfully, did make an assault, and did then and there feloniously, unlawfully, and with malice aforethought, discharge pistols loaded with powder and leaden balls at said George W. Ashburn, and with said balls, discharged as aforesaid, did wound the said George W. Ashburn in the left leg above and near the ankle joint, and with said balls, discharged as aforesaid, did wound the said George W. Ashburn in the lower part of the nates; and with said balls, discharged as aforesaid, did wound the said George W. Ashburn in the forehead, and which said wound inflicted as aforesaid in the forehead was mortal, and of which said mortal wound inflicted in manner and form as aforesaid, the said George W. Ashburn did then and there die; and the said (persons named above), in manner and form aforesaid, feloniously, unlawfully, willfully, and of their malice aforethought, did then and there kill and murder, contrary to the laws of this State, good order, peace and dignity thereof. These charges and specifications were signed by W. H. Smyth, Captain Sixteenth Infantry, and Brevet Major-General U. S. A.

At the request of Mr. Stephens, a postponement was granted until June 30. On this day, the trial began by the filing by Mr. Stephens, for each of the prisoners, an answer in plea to the charge and specifications, each pleading that he was not guilty of the crime set forth in the charge and specification. But in putting in this answer and plea as in their statement, they said they had no personal objection to any member of the court before its organization, and they repeated that they did not wish to be understood as admitting the rightful jurisdiction of the court, constituted and organized as it was, under the rules and articles of war, to try offenses according to the customs of war, to take charge of the trial of offenses against the laws of Georgia. The trial, however, proceeded, and on the twentieth day thereof an order was received by the court from General Meade, suspending further proceedings until orders should be received. On July 25. 1868, the prisoners were taken to Columbus, Ga., under guard, and there turned over to Captain Mills. They were shortly afterward released on $20,000 bail, the bond being intended to secure their attendance at court, should any charge be brought up against them in the future. Nothing further was ever done in their case.

An incident in the history of Atlanta is worthy of preservation in this connection, as it belonged to the reconstruction era. It was what appeared to some as an earnest attempt to erect in or near the city of Atlanta, a monument to the memory of Abraham Lincoln, then lately murdered in Washington by John Wilkes Booth. On the 20th of September, 1867, J. L. Dunning, as president of the Lincoln National Monument Association, presented a memorial to the city council, together with a verbal explanation of what it was expected and intended to accomplish, with reference to the erection of a monument to President Abraham Lincoln in Atlanta. Richard Peters moved that the memorial be referred to a special committee to be appointed by the mayor. The motion prevailing, the mayor appointed as such committee Richard Peters, E. E. Rawson and A. W. Mitchell. At the next meeting of the council, which occurred on the 27th of the same month, the special committee, to whom had been referred the memorial of the Lincoln National Monument Association, submitted the following report:

"To the Honorable Mayor and Council:

"Your special committee, to whom was referred the memorial of the Lincoln National Monument Association, respectfully recommend the city to appropriate ten acres of land for the use of the association, and for a city park, so soon as the mayor and council shall be satisfied of the ability of the association to carry out in good faith, the erection of a monument, and the improvement of the grounds in accordance with the scale of expenditure, viz., $750,000 to $1,000,000, proposed in the verbal statement made to the council by J. L. Dunning, president of the association. Respectfully,

"R. Peters,

"E. E. Rawson,

"A. W. Mitchell,

"Committee."

A motion was then made to adopt the report of the committee, upon which Mr. Gullatt demanded the ayes and nays. The result of the aye and nay vote was as follows: Ayes, Richard Peters, A. W. Mitchell, E. E. Rawson, W. B. Cox, J. A. Hayden and E. W. Holland. Nays, Messrs. Gullatt, Anderson, Terry and Castleberry.

The council adopted the report not with the expectation that the monument would ever be erected, because they were fully satisfied in their own minds that the amount of money spoken of in connection with the enterprise, $1,000,000, could never be raised, but because, the question once having been brought to their attention, they preferred in this way to put a quietus upon the matter without subjecting themselves to harsh criticism from the friends of the reconstruction of the State of Georgia. Their judgment as to the ability of the association to raise money proved to be correct, and the troublesome question never was revived.