This trial necessarily aroused the passions and prejudices engendered by the war that gave occasion for the crime of the prisoner, and could not be conducted on a strictly judicial and legal basis. It was just as impossible now, almost two years after the close of the war, as it would have been at the time of the trial by a military commission of Surratt's fellows in crime; and a conviction by a jury in a civil court was just as impossible now as it would have been then because a jury of partisans embracing those of both sides politically can never be expected to come to an agreement in a case that appeals to their partisan feelings. This case was unique then, because it was the first case of a man on trial before a civil court for the murder of the civil head of the nation, the President of the United States, and although since that time another has been tried, convicted, and executed, for the murder of a President, the case of Surratt is still unique in this, that his crime was overshadowed by a higher crime out of which it grew--the crime of treason--of being engaged in a treasonable conspiracy to overthrow his government, and yet the circumstances surrounding the case were such that this could not be alleged in the indictment, but were of such a nature that this phase of his crime could not be excluded from view. On the day appointed for the trial of John H. Surratt a very large number of people assembled, and all were deeply interested in his case. The court house was crowded, and it was remarked by a most intelligent observer that the appearance and spirit of the crowd wore more of the air of a political convention than that of men assembled to participate in, and witness, the solemn scene of a fellow-being on trial for his life. The trial was before Judge Fisher of the Criminal Court of the county of Washington, and District of Columbia, a man of great legal ability, sterling patriotism, and high moral character. The trial was a very lengthy one, and was hotly contested at every point by counsel for and against the prisoner. He was defended by lawyers who had made an enviable local reputation for ability in their profession. The District Attorney and his assistant were aided in the prosecution by that pure patriot and eminent jurist, Judge Edwards Pierrepont, of New York, who had been retained for that purpose by Attorney General Stanbury and William H. Seward, Secretary of State, and also by A. G. Riddle, Esq.