17 JUNE 1865, Page 2

Mr. Davis is indicted nominally for authorizing the invasion of

the District of Columbia in May, 1864. We suppose that this is 'the act selected in order to clear the question of the legal difficul- ties that might be raised on the hypothesis of State sovereignty. Of course the invasion of the District of Columbia was in fact a mere counter-irritant against the invasion of Virginia by General Grant, and the defence will turn on the asserted right of the Southern States to secede, no less than if the indictment were for resisting the armies of the Federal Government.