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I inquired for Judge Bettes the Probate Judge to whom I had been referred as a very reliable and practical man.  He was not in town but his son sent to his plantation some four miles distant and the Judge immediately came in.  I found him to be all he was recommended. He had not seen Gen. Order No. 7 but upon reading it he immediately accepted its jurisdiction and pledged me the acceptance of the same by the two Justices of the Peace of Clarke Co.

I found a vast improvement in this County in respect to the restoration of civil authority. Their Officers are all qualified and at work.  A very respectable weekly paper is here published and the issue of the morning of my arrival contained Gen. Order No. 12 with editorial comments quite creditable and satisfactory.  I obtained a copy of the paper but it has become mislaid.

The statements of outrages upon freedmen which I had with me were chiefly confined to this County, and I was directed by the Provisional Governor of Alabama under whose orders I was in part acting, to turn over these cases to the civil authorities where in force.

The Circuit Court of this County sits on the 25th inst. Judge Bettes fully appreciated the enormity of many of the charges, and agreed to present to the Grand Jury each of the cases.  I gave the papers to him requesting a report of the action upon the same.  Informing


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