The Iron Furnace, or Slavery and Secession Part 6

"No," replied the officer, in a jocular tone; "you have no more need for a blanket in this world."

On reaching the door, the soldiers separated, received the prisoners in their midst, closed up, and marching them across the railroad, shot them.

As the officers pa.s.sed Captain Bruce, he asked where the prisoners were going. They replied, "Going to be shot!" and showed him the warrant for their execution, having written across it, in red letters, "_Condemned to death!_"

Thus was perpetrated an act of cruel tyranny, which cries loudly to Heaven for vengeance. Two families, helpless and dest.i.tute, were thus each deprived of its head, on whom they were dependent for support, and abandoned to the cold charity of a selfish world. The wages they earned by a year's faithful service in behalf of the wicked, cruel, and vindictive Confederate States, was an ignominious death and a dishonoured grave. Will not G.o.d visit for this? The widow and the fatherless cry to Heaven for vengeance, and their cries have entered into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth.

On Tuesday morning, six young men, who had been arrested for their Union sentiments, resolved to escape. Their plan was to enlist in the Confederate service, then to desert on the first opportunity, and make their way to the Federal lines. They consulted me as to the propriety of taking the oath of allegiance under these circ.u.mstances. Such a step would give them another chance for life; but were they to profess adherence to their Union principles, they had no hope of living many days. If permitted to enlist, they thought there was little doubt of their escape in a few days; and should a battle take place, no Federal soldiers would be injured by them, and an opportunity to desert might occur during the engagement. I drew up a paper for them, requesting permission to enlist in a company which they specified. Their pet.i.tion was granted by the authorities, and they were removed from prison to the camp. I feel confident that ere this, they are safe in the Federal lines, for they knew the whole country, so as to be able to travel by night or by day, with little danger of detection.

They had all been arrested at their homes by the Rebel cavalry. They were bitter in sentiment against the military usurpation, self-styled the Confederate States of America.

This (Tuesday) evening, Colonel Walter called again, to give me a copy of the charges against me. He informed me that my trial had been deferred till Monday, the 15th inst. He also informed me in advance, that I must die, and that, doubtless, on the day after the trial. I asked and obtained permission to send for the Rev. Dr. Lyon, of Columbus, Mississippi, to be present at my execution. Dr. Lyon and I were co-presbyters, both being members of the Tombeckbee Presbytery. Colonel Walter was a renegade Yankee. Coming from Michigan to Mississippi, he married the daughter of a wealthy slave-holder. Obtaining through her the control of a large number of slaves, he became a very ultra advocate of the peculiar inst.i.tution, and a rabid secessionist.

Soon after Colonel Walter left, Colonel Ware came in, and asked me if I had been President of a Female College in Rienzi. I replied in the affirmative. 'Tis strange, said he, that one who has been so favoured, and one who has acc.u.mulated property in the South, should prove a traitor to the land of his adoption, and side with his enemies. I replied that I had given a fair equivalent for every dollar I had obtained from the citizens of the South; that for eleven years I had laboured faithfully as a teacher and minister of the gospel to promote the educational and spiritual interests of the Southern people; and that now I was receiving my reward in being chained, starved, and insulted; and that they intended soon to pay the last instalment by putting me to death ignominiously on the scaffold; I also denied being an enemy to the South. I regarded those who imperilled all her best interests, and plunged her into a protracted and desolating war, as the real enemies of the South. If my advice had been followed, the South and the whole country would now be enjoying its wonted peace and prosperity. He only replied with cursing and vituperation.

Believing my end to be near, I sat down upon the floor of my dungeon, and penned the following letter to my wife.

TUPELO MILITARY DUNGEON, July 10th, 1862.

MY DEAR MARY--The Confederate authorities announce to me that I have only a few more days to live. When you receive this letter, the hand that penned it will be cold in death. My soul will have pa.s.sed the solemn test before the bar of G.o.d; I have a good hope through grace that I will be then rejoicing amid the sacramental host of G.o.d's elect, singing the new song of redeeming love in the presence of Him who is the Chief among ten thousand, and the one altogether lovely.

Mary, meet me in heaven, where sorrow, and crying, and sin are not known, and where the wicked cease from troubling, and the weary are at rest. I will request your brother Ramsey, and cousin, Captain Tankersley, to convey my body to you. Bury me in the graveyard at Bethany. Plant an evergreen--a cedar--at my head, and one at my feet, and there let me repose in peace, till the Archangel's trump shall sound, calling the dead to the judgment of the great day, and vouchsafing to saints the long wished-for "redemption of the body."

As to my property, it has all been confiscated; and after years of incessant toil, I leave you penniless and dependent; but trust in G.o.d.

To his protecting care I commit you and our dear little Kate, who has promised that he will be the widow's husband, and the father of the fatherless. Rest a.s.sured, the Lord will provide. Only trust in him, and love him with your whole heart, and soul, and mind, and strength.

"I know that it shall be well with those that love G.o.d." Be not faithless, but believing, and though clouds and thick darkness surround you at present, a more auspicious day will dawn, and G.o.d will bring you safely to your journey's end, and our reunion in heaven will be sweet.

Our dear little daughter, Kate, bring up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Teach her to walk in wisdom's ways, for her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace. Her mind may be compared to wax, in its susceptibility for receiving impressions, and to marble, for its power of retaining those impressions. O that she may be satisfied early with the mercy of G.o.d, that she may rejoice and be glad all her days! Teach her to remember her Creator in the days of her youth, before the evil days come, in which she shall say, I have no pleasure in thee. Make the Bible her constant study, and let its words be as household words to her. Inspire her mind with a reverence for _the Book_ which is able to make wise unto salvation. See to it that the words of Christ dwell richly in her soul, that she may be filled with wisdom, and knowledge, and spiritual understanding. Pray for the Holy Spirit to bless your labours and instructions, without which all your efforts would be in vain, and pray that the Third Person of the adorable Trinity may take up his abode in her heart, and dwell with her for ever.

As my duties in regard to instructing our child, will devolve solely on you, take for your guidance, in this respect, Deut. vi. 5-9. Let your example be such as you would wish her to follow. Children are much more inclined to follow example than precept. Exercise care in this respect, for, "as is the mother, so is her daughter."

I regret my family will, from the force of circ.u.mstances, be compelled to remain in a land where my death will be considered disgraceful, but it cannot be avoided. The time may come when, even in Mississippi, I may be regarded as a patriot martyr. My conscience is void of offence, as regards the guilt attached to the charges made against me. I am charged with treason against the Confederate States. The charge and the specifications are true, except that I was not a Federal agent in the purchase of cotton. That was a private arrangement altogether. I am also charged with acting as a spy. The specifications under this charge are false. I think that this accusation was made to prevent retaliation by the Federal generals; and in the Rebel army they are not at a loss to prove any charge, however false. Ferdinand Woodruff is their tool to prove me a spy, and he will do it, though he knows his testimony to be as false as that of the suborned witnesses who bore testimony against the Saviour.

How long shall the wicked triumph? How long will G.o.d forbear to execute that vengeance which is his, and which he will repay sooner or later! I feel confident that the right cause will prevail, and though I will not live to see it, for my days are numbered, yet I firmly believe that the rebel power will be destroyed utterly.

"Truth, crushed to earth, will rise again; The eternal years of G.o.d are hers; But error, wounded, writhes in pain, And dies amid her worshippers."

I write this letter amid the din and confusion incident to a large number of men crowded into a narrow compa.s.s, and free from all restraint. This letter will be transmitted to you by friends. The names of those friends you will know hereafter. They will present your case to General Rosecrans or Nelson, who may obtain a pension for you.

My services heretofore in the Union cause are known to them, and I think they will see that you do not suffer; all my real estate will be restored to you if the Union cause triumphs, and I think there is no doubt as to its success. Give my love to all my friends. Remember that I have prayed for you unceasingly during my imprisonment, and my last utterances on earth will be prayers for your welfare.

Farewell. G.o.d bless you, and preserve you and our dear little Kate.

Your affectionate husband,

JOHN H. AUGHEY.

I next wrote my obituary, which I placed in the hands of a Union soldier who expected soon to be exchanged. By him it was to be sent to the editors of _The Presbyterian_, published in Philadelphia, with a request that it should appear in their columns.

OBITUARY.

Died, in Tupelo, Ittawamba county, Mississippi, July --, 1862, the Rev.

John H. Aughey. The subject of the above notice was executed on the gallows, by authority of the Confederate States, on the charges of treason and acting as a spy.

John H. Aughey was born in New Hartford, Oneida county, New York, May 8th, 1828; removed with his parents to Steubenville, Ohio, in 1837; is an alumnus of Franklin College, New Athens, Harrison county, Ohio; studied theology in Memphis, Tennessee, under the Rev. John H. Gray, D. D., President of Memphis Synodical College--also under the care of the Rev. S.

I. Reid of Holly Springs, Mississippi; was licensed to preach the gospel by the Presbytery of Chickasaw, October 4th, 1856; was ordained to the full work of the gospel ministry by the Presbytery of Tombeckbee, at its session in Winston county, Mississippi, in April, 1861. G.o.d blessed his labours by giving him many seals to his ministry. After labouring eleven years in the South as a teacher and minister of the gospel, having never injured a citizen of the South either in person or property, he suffered a felon's death for attachment to the Federal Union, because he would not turn traitor to the government which had never in a single instance oppressed, but had always afforded him protection. He rests in peace, and in the hope of a blessed immortality.

"Leaves have their time to fall, And flowers to wither in the north wind's breath, And stars to set; but all-- Thou hast all seasons for thine own, O Death!"

ADDRESS TO MY SOUL.

O my soul! thou art about to appear in the presence of thy Creator, who is infinite, eternal, unchangeable in his being, power, wisdom, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth. He cannot look upon sin. He is a sin-avenging G.o.d, and thou art stained with sin. Thy transgressions are as numerous as the stars of heaven, and the sand that is upon the sea-sh.o.r.e.

Thou art totally debased by sin, and thy iniquities abound. Thou art guilty of sins of omission and of commission. Justice would consign thee to everlasting burnings, to dwell with devouring fire, even to everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and the glory of his power.

Guilty, helpless, wretched as thou art, what is thy plea why sentence of eternal death should not be p.r.o.nounced against thee?

THE SOUL'S REPLY.

I plead the merits of the Lord Jesus Christ, whose blood cleanses from _all_ sin, even from sins of the deepest dye. I plead the sufferings of Him who bore my sins in his own body, on the tree, and wrought out a perfect righteousness, which I may obtain by simple faith. No money, no price is demanded. This I could not pay, for all my righteousness is as filthy rags, and I must perish, were any part of the price demanded.

Nothing in my hand I bring. My salvation must be _all_ of grace, or to me it would be hopeless. I trust that Christ will clothe me in the spotless robes of his own righteousness, and present me faultless before his Father. With this trust, I go to the judgment-seat, a.s.sured that the soul which trusts in Christ shall never be put to shame. G.o.d is faithful who has promised.

MILITARY DUNGEON, Tupelo, Ittawamba Co., Miss., July 11th, 1862.

DEAR PARENTS--"Life is sweet, and it is a pleasant thing to behold the sun." "All that a man hath, will he give for his life." "Having promise of the life that now is." "The life is more than meat." "They hunt for the _precious_ life." The above quotations from the Word of Life, show the high estimate that is placed upon life. My life is not "_precious_" in the eyes of the Secessionists, for their authorities declare that "my chances for living long are extremely slender." "Yet a few days, and me the all-beholding sun shall see no more in all his course." Mourn not for me, my dear parents, as those who have no hope.

"For me to live, is Christ; but to die, is gain." I fear not those who, when they have killed the body, have no more that they can do.

But I fear Him whose fear casteth out every other fear. When these lines are read by you, their author will be an inhabitant of the Celestial City, the New Jerusalem, and will be reposing in Abraham's bosom, in the midst of the Paradise of G.o.d. Next to G.o.d, my thanks are due to you, for guiding my infant feet in the paths of wisdom and virtue. In riper years, by precept, I have been warned and instructed.

By example I have been led, until my habits were fixed, and then, accompanied by your parental blessing, I sought a distant home, to engage in the arduous duties of life. Whatever success I have met with, whatever influence for good I may have exerted, are all due to your pious training. I owe you a debt of grat.i.tude which I can never repay. Though I cannot, G.o.d will grant you a reward lasting as eternity. It will add to that exceeding and eternal weight of glory which will be conferred on you in that day when the heavens shall be dissolved, and the elements melt with fervent heat. I die for my loyalty to the Federal Government. I know that you would not have me turn traitor to save my life. Life is precious, but death, even death on the scaffold, is preferable to dishonour. Remember me kindly to all my friends. Tell sisters Sallie, Mary, and Emma, to meet me in heaven.

I know that _my_ Redeemer liveth. Dying is but going home. I have taught many how to live, and now I am called to teach them how to die.

May G.o.d grant that as my day is, so may my strength be, and that, in my last moments, I may not bring dishonour upon my Master's cause, but may glorify him in the fires!

My dear parents, farewell till we meet beyond the river.

Your affectionate son, JOHN H. AUGHEY.

TO DAVID AND ELIZABETH AUGHEY, Amsterdam, Jefferson Co., Ohio.

The following letter was written to the Hon. William H. Seward in behalf of the Union men in prison and within the rebel lines.

CENTRAL MILITARY PRISON, Tupelo, Ittawamba Co., Mississippi, July 11th, 1862.

Hon. William H. Seward:

DEAR SIR--A large number of citizens of Mississippi, holding Union sentiments, and who recognise no such military usurpation as the so-called Confederate States of America, are confined in a filthy prison, swarming with vermin, and are famishing from hunger--a sufficient quant.i.ty of food not being furnished us. We are separated from our families, and suffered to hold no communication with them.

We are compelled, under a strong guard, to perform the most menial services, and are insulted on every occasion by the officers and guards of the prison. The nights are very cool; we are furnished with no bedding, and are compelled to lie down on the floor of our dungeon, where sleep seldom visits us, until exhausted nature can hold out no longer; then our slumbers are broken, restless, and of short duration.

Our property is confiscated, and our families left dest.i.tute of the necessaries of life; all that they have, yea, all their living, being seized upon by the Confederates, and converted to their own use. Heavy fetters are placed upon our limbs, and daily some of us are led to the scaffold, or to death by shooting. Many of us are forced into the army, instant death being the penalty in case of refusal; thus constraining us to bear arms against our country, to become the executioners of our friends and brethren, or to fall ourselves by their hands.

These evils are intolerable, and we ask protection, through you, from the United States Government. The Federal Government may not be able to release us, but we ask the protection which the Federal prisoner receives. Were his life taken, swift retribution would be visited upon the rebels by a just retaliation--a rebel prisoner would suffer death for every Federal prisoner whom they destroyed. Let this rule hold good in the case of Union men who are citizens of the South. The loyal Mississippian deserves protection as much as the loyal native of Ma.s.sachusetts. We ask, also, that our confiscated property be restored to us, or, in case of our death, to our families. If it be destroyed, let reparation be demanded from the rebels, or the property of known and avowed secessionists sequestered to that use.

Before this letter reaches its destination, the majority of us will have ceased to be. The writer has been informed by the officers that "his chances for living long are very slender;" that he has confessed enough to cause him to lose his life, and the Judge Advocate has specified Tuesday, the 15th inst., as the day of his execution. We have, therefore, little hope that we, individually, can receive any benefit from this pet.i.tion, though you regard it favourably, and consent to its suggestions; but our families, who have been so cruelly robbed of all their substance, may, in after time, receive remuneration for their great losses. And if citizens of avowed secession proclivities, who are within the Federal lines, are arrested and held as hostages for the safety of Union men who are and may be hereafter incarcerated in the prison in Tupelo and elsewhere, the rebels will not dare put another Union man to death.

Hoping that you will deem it proper to take the matters presented in our pet.i.tion under advis.e.m.e.nt, we remain, with high considerations of respect and esteem, your oppressed and imprisoned fellow-citizens,

JOHN H. AUGHEY, BENJAMIN CLARKE, JOHN ROBINSON, and thirty-seven others.