SC1896_FF1_121

He appointed a distant day to afford the
prisoner time to get Counsel from Nashville.
Finally the day arrived. An examining
Court was convened, composed
of John W. Holder, James Keith, Thurman
Howard, Joseph Hilton & William Simons,
Esq. Felix Grundy, Wm. E. Anderson
& others, were Counsel for the Prisoner.
The trial lasted nearly a week, & resulted
in his being committed for final trial in
the Circuit Court-but they decided that
the case was bailable & he gave bail
accordingly. The facts were agreed before
this examining court at great lenghth
particularly by the able & eloquent counsel
for A. not for the purpose of getting him
bailed, for they knew, they had that fixed
before hand. Holder was a sensible man
a great personal friend to Mr. Campbell, & to
the Anderson family, & took the lead on
the bench. Keith was a weak old man
a member of the Presbyterian Church,
and so was Lawyer Grundy; Howard was
also a weak man, & allowed himself to
be operated upon, off the bench. He had
been right, but got wrong. Hilton pretended
to be on the right side, all the time
but I believed at the time then & still do, that
he was acting a deceptive part. Simmons
was an honest man, & had the
firmness to do his duty, he voted against
bailing the prisoner. Holder & myself
had been raised in the same neighborhood
in Kentucky, - had been acquainted
from our youth up, & had always been