One of the three, who settled in Augusta; a skilled doctor and surgeon, behaved himself so well in every respect—on all occasions exhibiting a winning and an affable deportment—everybody’s friend with the most lavish of generosity—sparing no exertions to gain the confidence and admiration of those in power and of influence; this is the man who proposed to the sheriff the plan to save the life of James Copeland. This proposition was made betwixt the time of his conviction and execution. The particulars are as follows:—The doctor to the sheriff: “There is now a fine opportunity of making one thousand dollars in gold, providing that you will act in concert with me in permitting certain things to be done before the execution of Copeland.” There was something so bland, so expert, and so graceful in the conduct of the strange doctor as to make him friends wherever he went. He insinuated himself into the confidence of the sheriff; and when the proposition was made for certain things to be done before execution, for and in consideration of a thousand dollars, the curiosity of the sheriff could not be otherwise than powerfully excited to learn all particulars of the plan in contemplation, and, accordingly, so far indulged or humored the beginning so as to obtain the whole of what was then behind. The doctor continued, and gave the name of him who had a thousand dollars to pay for the preservation of the life of Copeland; and to be done in the following manner, secure from exciting any suspicion whatever. The doctor to the sheriff: “Allow me about half an hour before the time arrives for your taking him out of jail to the place of execution, to go in under the pretence of shaving and dressing him suitably to the solemnity of the occasion, during which time I will perform an operation in tracheotomy by inserting into the trachea, or wind-pipe, a small silver tube sufficient for the admission of air into the lungs to keep up some degree of respiration, so that when he shall have hung the allotted time, he can be cut down and by an extension of the tube, he can be so buried as to prevent the extinction of life; which, as soon as convenient, he can be disinterred and so cared for by artful means until the recovery so far progress as will enable him to successfully escape.” The sheriff listened to all this with a smile, and treated the whole as rather a plausible romance than a possible reality; but firm to the duties of his office, he yielded not to the temptation; yet to maintain good faith as to what transpired before the proposition was fully made, and for prudent considerations in regard to his own safety, he has refrained from publishing this narrative at an earlier date, because conscious that the public interests, though delayed, would best be served by so doing in the long run.