Kirkwood House, and the balance of us were committed to the Old Capitol Prison.

ANDREW D. DUFF,

Judge 26th Judicial C. III.

P. S. Since this memoranda was made, I have received the affidavits of twelve respectable citizens of Benton, among whom are several Black Republicans, (stating themselves to be such) who all swear that I was at home all day on the 10th of August,

1862.

I will also state that I am forty-two years old-was born in Bond county, Ill.-spent my life in that State. A lawyer by profession, was elected Circuit Judge of the 26th Judicial Circuit in said State on the first Monday in June, 1861. The Circuit is composed of the counties of Franklin, Williamson, Johnson and Saline. That I have a wife and four little children-have been married seventeen years and served as a private soldier during the Mexican war in Col. E. W. B. Newby's Regiment of Illinois Volunteers. A. D. D.

The only parallel for the kidnapping of Judge Duff, of Illinois, in outrage to person and violation of law, was that of Judge Carmichael, of Maryland. Judge Duff relates as given above, the circumstances of his arrest and incarceration in the Old Capitol. When he arrived at that Bastile, he, with other gentlemen arrested at the same time, whom he names, were subjected to the worst treatment of the place. Among other outrages and indignities to which they had to submit or go hungry, was that of going with the throng of criminal prisoners, such as deserters, drunken soldiers, and soldiers under sentence of Court-Martial for offences committed, to feed at what was called the hog-pen-the place where several hundred prisoners rushed at meal

The first

time, to satisfy the cravings of hunger. interview between the writer and Judge Duff, and his companions from Illinois, was in the prison yard, where Judge Duff was standing with a piece of bread in one hand, and some meat in the other, the sickening atmosphere and disgusting sight of the hog-pen having compelled him to leave that place, and eat his rations in the open air.

Reader, if you be an American freeman, aye, or an American freewoman, picture to yourself the Judge of your Court kidnapped on the Bench of Justice by an arbitrary, illegal, tyrannical order, may hap a telegraphic dispatch, from a drunken old scoundrel at Washington, directed to a satrap of the Administration, and executed by him in the most insolent and malignant manner, and follow this Judge, accompanied by the Clerk of his Court, the District Attorney, a Judge of another court who happened to be in attendance, and several other gentlemen, follow this crowd of victims of despotism, some of them manacled, to Washington, and see them thrust into that Bastile, and then subjected to the outrages, indignities, and hardships of that prison, for the long, weary, almost interminable months of suffering, and realize in the presence of this picture, if you can, that you are still living in the United States of America; in that country which boasts of its Constitutional Government, free and liberal institutions, and where personal rights are sacred in the eye of the law.

"But did Judge Duff and his companions commit no crime, at least some offense," the reader may inquire.

None, whatever, except that of being a Democrat in politics. Judge Duff, as he states in his narrative, offered to not only disprove the allegations of his accusers in Illinois, but to bear the expense himself of the examination of witnessess for that pur

pose. So far was he from having committed any offense and so self-convicted of wrong to Judge Duff and others, was the Secretary of War, and his man Friday, L. C. Turner, who was made JudgeAdvocate for his servile and supple qualities, that an oath was exacted by them from Judge Duff, that on his being released, which occurred on the 11th of November, 1862, he would not prosecute them for having caused his arrest and imprisonment.

NARRATIVE OF THE ARRESTS OF J. BLANCHARD.

IN May, 1861, whilst riding in my buggy in the streets of Carbondale, Jackson county, Illinois, I was arrested by a captain of the U. S. A. and four privates, and the first intimation I had of being arrested was the order to halt. Immediately five revolvers were cocked and presented to my breast, and I was commanded to surrender. I inquired by what authority I was arrested. The captain presented a cocked pistol to my breast, and replied, There is the authority. I was immediately taken to Cairo, where I was kept four days. At the end of that time, three or four witnesses arrived, who stated they had heard me make speeches against the war and against the Administration, and they therefore considered me disloyal. I was then sent to Springfield, Ill., to D. S. Philips, U. S. Marshal for the Southern District of Illinois. Mr. Phillips would not receive me, nor have anything to do with the matter, but advised the officer having me in custody to take me back to Cairo. I was immediately conveyed back to Cairo, where General Prentiss, commandant of the post, discharged me from custody; first requiring me to sign an agreement that I would not bear arms against the Government of the United States, nor give aid to the rebellion.

I then returned home, where I was peaceably en

gaged in the practice of the law until August, 1862, when I was again arrested by a captain and four privates of the United States army. The captain showed me an order from D. L. Phillips, Marshal for the Southern District of Illinois, to arrest me and deliver me to his deputy, at Centralia, the next day, at 12 o'clock. I was taken to Centralia, and delivered to the Deputy United States Marshal. Here I found nine other citizens of Southern Illinois-to wit. Drs. Ross and Smith, of Tamaroa; Drs. McCarvier and Thermon; Mr. Newland, of Benton, Ill.; James Williams, of Spring Garden, Ill.; Mr. Haines, of Perry county, Ill.; and Mr. Hawkes, of Tamaroa, Ill.-under arrest. We remained at Centralia until midnight, when we were all handcuffed and put upon the train for Camp Butler. We were confined in Camp Butler twenty-four hours; at the end of which time, in charge of Marshal Philips, we were placed on board of a train bound for Washington City. When we arrived at Washington City, without any examination, or without knowing the reasons why, we were immediately locked up in the Old Capitol Prison.

I remained in the Old Capitol Prison about forty days. During this time, I wrote several letters to the Judge Advocate, the Provost Marshal, and the Secretary of War, asking them to inform me why I was arrested and confined in prison; to all of which no answer was ever returned. Finding inquiries to avail nothing, I then, in conjunction with several of my fellow-prisoners, sent a petition to the Judge Advocate, asking for an examination, or at least to be informed of the charges against us. The petition was as unsuccessful as my letters, and no answer to it was ever returned. At the end of forty days, I was taken before the Judge Advocate, where, by his Honor (?), I was asked the following questions:

i