TRIAL OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN - American Memory

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with the brand of 'TYRANT' upon your brow. They^will
hereafter inflict upon you that penalty which justice de-
mands, while history will pronounce its judgment upon the
infamous acts of your Administration."
When he had pronounced these words of condemnation,
the voices of the spirits of the departed rose in one grand
chorus of approval.
Thus ended the midnight trial of the last successor of
Washington. One by one the spirits disappeared, the bril-
liant lights went out, and the form of the great culprit was
lost in the gloom and darkness. Then all was still, and
no sound broke upon the ear but the footfall of the sentry
• as lie kept guard over the Presidential mansion and the
Presidential life, and that sentry was in himself the saddest
and most melancholy commentary on the condition of the
country, that rendered it necessary for its chief magistrate
to seek protection and safety in the military power.