Mr. D. replied that he had no witnesses in the case, neither did he propose to offer himself nor his wife as a witness; that he substantially admitted all that had been said by the witnesses for the prosecution, except as to the severity of the punishment inflicted. In that, he thought, the witnesses had all exaggerated. In the excitement attendant upon the punishment of a servant, however, one might strike harder blows, and more of them, than he intended or knew of at the moment; but he certainly never had intended to punish either Mary or Jane to the extent they had described. His defence, he said, was that he had done nothing more than the laws of Virginia authorized. That, within maiming and death, the law gave to a master the authority to punish a slave to any extent he pleased. That ever since Federal troops had been in the city he had suspected Mary and Jane to be planning means of escape, and that it was to make them realize his right to them as their owner and master, and to keep them in wholesome dread of his authority, that he had forbidden them to go upon the streets, to look out at the windows, and had occasionally punished them in, as he thought, a very mild way. Besides, he thought a military court had no right whatever to interfere with the relations between master and slave, and hoped the court would think proper to dismiss the case. He spoke in a very pompous manner, and took his seat as one who had entirely demolished his adversaries. For a few moments there was an almost death-like silence in the court-room. No one spoke. You could almost have heard a pin drop on the floor. The Judge then ordered Mr. D. to stand up to receive the sentence of the court. Mr. D. stood up. The Judge then proceeded to say, "Sir: You are charged with assault and battery upon these two defenceless females, Mary and Jane. The evidence is clear that you committed such assault, not once only but several times. Indeed, you yourself admit it. Your defence is that they are your slaves, and that, according to the slave code of Virginia, you had the right to punish them to any extent you pleased within that of maiming or the taking of life. I am not familiar with the slave code of Virginia, and cannot say of a certainty that you represent it wrongfully, but I can say that if such authority exists upon any statute-book of any State, it is a disgrace to civilization, and the sooner it be expunged the better. But, sir, it matters not to this court what the laws of Virginia may be upon this or upon any other subject. This is a United States military court--a court of necessity, and 'necessity knows no law' is an old maxim--a court established because all other means of justice had fled from this city--a court governed by the principles of equity, rather than of law--a court established to protect the lives, the natural rights, and the property of every inhabitant of Alexandria, without regard to their