FAILURE OF PETITION—RECEIVES THE KINDEST TREATMENT WHILE IN PRISON.
Immediately after the sentence, the citizens of Mobile prepared and sent a petition to His Excellency, Governor Moore, of the State of Alabama, containing the signatures of over six hundred of the best citizens of Mobile, praying for the release of the defendant, but the Governor declined to grant the request because the petition was not signed by the presiding judge.
But the sheriff of the city, Hon. James T. Shelton, must not be overlooked. His conduct in behalf of the defendant was noble and magnanimous in the extreme. All that one man could do to alleviate the rust and monotony of confinement, was gracefully and cheerfully done by him. His friendship—his whole-souled treatment reached to an extent not to be surpassed by any. Hospitalities at his own mansion in profusion, a separate parlor well furnished with books of every description, and in everything else well fitted up in the utmost order of elegance and taste; no restraint whatever, beyond what the law required—having the whole limits, for exercise and recreation, of the prison boundaries; all such conveniences and comforts were freely and lavishly bestowed; and for which a lasting gratitude is due to the memory of the departed James T. Shelton.
Numerous other visitors, of both sexes, came to render all the comfort which humanity could afford. These visits were sincere, friendly, and consoling, indeed; in short, everything which could be done to remove dullness and make the time glide away agreeably, was done with cheerfulness and with truly natural fervor of heart. Time did not hang heavily; but passed away briefly—a time which can now be referred to with pride and satisfaction.