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 The Suppressed Truth 
 
 ABOUT THE 
 
 ASSASSINATION 
 
 OF 
 
 ABRAHAM LINCOLN 
 
 J^ 
 
 Written and Compiled 
 
 BY 
 
 BURKE McCARTY 
 
 1 922 
 
 :5^5^%X%5^3C3^3^3(?^$CXX3^X5C%X5^3^3^5^%3^3CX^ 
 
sV 
 
 /"■^?- 
 
 The Suppressed Truth 
 
 ABOUT THE 
 
 Assassination 
 
 OF 
 
 Abraham Lincoln 
 
 Written and Compiled by 
 
 BURKE Mccarty 
 
 Lock Box 1618 Washington, D. C. 
 
 1 922 
 
u -t-or 
 
 
Dedicated to 
 The Voters of To-morrow. 
 
Copyright 
 
 -by- 
 Burke McCarty, 
 
 Lock Box 1618, Washington, D. C 
 1922. 
 
 ©C1.A677370 
 
 Mi 30 1922^ 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 Page 
 
 Introduction 9 
 
 Chapter I. Destruction of this Republic Plotted 
 
 by European Monarchists 11 
 
 Chapter U. The "Society of Jesus", the Engine of 
 
 Destruction 20 
 
 Chapter ni. "The Saint Leopold Foundation*' Spy 
 
 System 30 
 
 Chapter IV. The Turning Point in Lincoln's Life.. 43 
 
 Chapter V. When the Pope was King 64 
 
 Chapter VI. Lincoln Takes up the Burden 76 
 
 Chapter VII. Assembling the Chosen Assassins,... 97 
 
 Chapter VIII. The Blackest Deed in American 
 
 History .126 
 
 Chapter IX. The Trials of the Assassins by Docu- 
 mentary Evidence 140 
 
 Chapter X. The Trial of the Arch Conspirator- 
 John H. Surratt .167 
 
 Chapter XL The Trial of John H. Surratt 203 
 
 Chapter XII. Summing it all up: Two and Two. .231 
 
By the "Leaden Bullet" 
 April 14, 1865. 
 
 PRESIDENT ABRAHAM LINCOLN 
 
8 ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 
 
 ^^>- f ^ ^ r ^ e^^'-^vv*mf 
 
 ".r^^'.^^'Vi:. US:-i'>^i»* ..w/-^-"- .^^J^«" 
 
 LINCOLN MEMORIAL, POTOMAC PARK, WASHINGTON, 
 
 D. C. 
 
 One of the most magnificent monaments in the world, dedi 
 cated Memorial Day, 1922, to the great American the Jesuit* 
 thought they had destroyed on April 14, 1865- 
 
The Conspiracy of Silence on the Death 
 of Abraham Lincoln 
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 In all the bloody history of the Papacy, perhaps 
 in no one man, as in Abraham Lincoln, was there 
 concentrated such a mutitude of reasons for his an- 
 nihilation by that system. 
 
 In all the history of the political assassination 
 plots by the enemies of freedom, which for cold cal- 
 culation, malicious methods, relentless pursuit, subtle 
 cunning, and cowardly execution, nothing can exceed 
 the cruel murder of this greatest of all Americans, — 
 for President Lincoln was the living, breathing type 
 in which was fulfilled the triumph of the New Con- 
 cept of Popular Government, the central postulate of 
 which is, the consent of the governed. It was the 
 life of Abraham Lincoln which placed this form of 
 government forever outside an "experiment*' where 
 its enemies persisted in endeavoring to keep it. 
 
 That a barefoot, nameless boy on poverty's path 
 could, by his own efforts, reach the high{v,t offi'^e 
 in the gift of the American people, gave the lie to 
 the "Divine Right'* croakers, and merited iheir most 
 unceasing hatred. 
 
 Barring the martyrdoms of Jesus Christ and 
 Joan D* Arc, the methods used in Abraham Lincoln's 
 assassination will stand pre-eminent in point of 
 malice and cruelty, and strange as it may seem, the 
 same diabolical cunning which nerved the hand of 
 the assassin has pursued Lincoln beyond the grave, 
 and has been largely successful in hiding from the 
 public all details of his physical destruction, a crime, 
 in the eyes of the writer, which almost outstrips the 
 first, for by this conspiracy of silence on his death, 
 the youth of America are being deprived of the knowl- 
 edge of the details of the greatest tragedy in their 
 country's history. 
 
10 ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 
 
 This appalling fact has been the one big urge 
 which inspired the writing of this book, the contents 
 of which represent only a part of the result of leisure 
 hours spent in public and private libraries in the va- 
 rious cities, covering a period of the past seven years, 
 — gathering a fact here and one there, from books, 
 magazines, newspapers and court records, fihng them 
 away, and finally condensing the salient points be- 
 tween the covers which you now hold in your hf»iid. 
 
 I feel safe in stating that nowhere else can be 
 found in one book the connected presentation of the 
 story leading up to the death of Abraham Lincoln, 
 which was instigated by the "Black" pope, the General 
 of the Jesuit Order, camouflaged by the "White" pope, 
 Pius IXth, aided, abetted and financed by other "Di- 
 vine Righters" of Europe, and finally consummated by 
 the Roman Hierarchy and their paid agents in this 
 country and Canada on "Good Friday" night, April 
 14th, 1865, at Ford's Theatre, Washington, D. C. 
 
 I am convinced that if this knowledge can be 
 given adequate distribution and placed in possession 
 of the boys and girls of the public elementary schools, 
 for whom it is esDecially designed to reach, that the 
 wicked boast of the Jesuits and their lay agents, the 
 Knights of Columbus, to "MAKE AMERICA CATHO- 
 LIC" can never be accomplished. 
 
 THE GREAT SPIRIT OF THE MARTYRED LIN- 
 COLN WILL RISE UP AND DEFEAT HIS SLAY- 
 ERS AND THEIR SUCCESSORS! 
 
 In closing, I only ask each reader whose heart 
 beats in unison with those of us who love our country 
 and all that it represents, to assist in the sale of this 
 little book, by driving it all the publicity possible, there- 
 by joining in President Lincoln's expression of loyalty, 
 "If ever my country is destroyed, it shall be my proud- 
 est plume, not that I was the last to desert her, but 
 that I NEVER DESERTED HER!" 
 
 Yours Truly, 
 
 Burke McCarty 
 
Chapter I. 
 
 Destruction of this Republic Plotted by 
 European Monarchists. 
 
 The death of President Lincoln was the culmina- 
 tion of but one step in the attempt to carry out the 
 Secret Treaty of Verona, of October, 1822, a pact 
 entered into by the ''high contracting parties" of the 
 former Congress of Vienna, Austria, which had held 
 its sessions secret, covering the whole year of 1814-15. 
 
 Simultaneously with the calling of the Congress of 
 Vienna in 1814, Pope Pius Vllth restored the Society 
 of Jesus (Jesuit Order) which had been abolished by 
 Pope Clement IVth, July 21, 1773, on the grounds 
 that it was immoral, dangerous and was a menace 
 to the very life of the papacy. Clement was promptly 
 poisoned for his act. 
 
 With the restoration of this order, the execution 
 of the Secret Treaty of Verona was placed in their 
 keeping. 
 
 The Congress of Vienna was a black conspiracy 
 against Popular Governments at which the "high con- 
 tracting parties'" announced at its close that they 
 had formed a "holy alliance." This was a cloak under 
 which they masked to deceive the people. The par- 
 ticular business of the Congress of Verona, it de- 
 veloped, was the RATIFICATION of Article Six of 
 the Congress of Vienna, which was in short, a prom- 
 ise to prevent or destroy Popular Governments wher- 
 ever found, and to re-establish monarchy where it 
 had been set aside. 
 
 The "high contracting parties" of this compact 
 which were Russia, Prussia, Austria and the Pope, 
 Pius Vnth, king of the Papal States, entered into 
 
12 ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 
 
 a secret treaty to do so. That the reader may get 
 some idea of the villainy of these two Congresses 
 and their relation to our government, and to the 
 death of Abraham Lincoln, I quote excerpts from 
 that document below, as it appears on the Congres- 
 sional Record of April 25, 1916, placed there by Sena- 
 tor Robt. L. Owen and as it is recorded in the Diplo- 
 matic Code, by Elliott, page 179: 
 
 SECRET TREATY OF VERONA 
 
 The undersigned specially authorized to make 
 some additions to the treaty of the Holy Alliance, 
 after having exchanged their respective creden- 
 tials, have agreed as follows: 
 
 ARTICLE 1. The high contracting powers be- 
 ing convinced that the system of representative 
 government is equally as incompatible with the 
 monarchial principals as the maxim of the sov- 
 ereignity of the people with the divine right, 
 engage mutually, in the most solemn manner to 
 use all their efforts to put an end to the system 
 of representative governments, in whatever 
 country it may exist in Europe, and to prevent its 
 being introduced in those countries where it is 
 not yet known. 
 
 ARTICLE 2. As it cannot be doubted that 
 the liberty of the press is the most powerful 
 means used by the pretended supporters of the 
 rights of nations to the detriment of those of 
 princes, the hierh contracting parties promise re- 
 ciprocally to adopt all proper measures TO SUP- 
 PRESS IT, NOT ONLY IN THEIR OWN STATE 
 BUT ALSO IN THE REST OF EUROPE. 
 
 ARTICLE 3. Convinced that the principles of 
 religion contribute most powerfully to keep na- 
 tions in the state of passive obedience which 
 they owe to their princes, the high contracting 
 
ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 13 
 
 parties declare it to be their intention to sustain 
 in their respective states, those measures which 
 the clergy may adopt with the aim of amelior- 
 ating their own interests, so intimately connect- 
 ed with the preservation of the authority of the 
 princes; and the contracting powers join in offer- 
 ing THEIR THANKS TO THE POPE FOR 
 WHAT HE HAS ALREADY DONE FOR THEM, 
 AND SOLICIT HIS CONSTANT COOPERATION 
 IN THEIR VIEWS OF SUBMITTING THE 
 NATIONS. 
 
 ARTICLE 4. The situation of Spain and Port- 
 ugal unite unhappily all the circumstances to 
 which this treaty has particular reference. The 
 high contracting parties, in confiding to France 
 the care of putting an end to them, engaged to 
 assist her in the manner which may at least 
 compromise them with their own people and the 
 people of France by means of a subsidy on the 
 part of the two empires of 20,000,000 of francs 
 every year from the date of signature of this 
 treaty to the end of the war. 
 
 ARTICLE 5. In order to establish in ^he 
 peninsula the order of things which existed be- 
 fore the revolution of Cadiz, and to insure the en- 
 tire execution of the articles of the present 
 treaty, the high contracting parties give to each 
 other the reciprocal assurance that as long as 
 their views are not fulfilled, rejecting all other 
 ideas of futility or other measure to be taken, 
 they will address themselves with the shortest 
 possible delay to all the authorities existing in 
 their states and to all their agents in foreign 
 countries, with the view to establish connections 
 tending toward the accomplishment of the objecta 
 proposed by this treaty. 
 
14 ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 
 
 ARTICLE 6. This treaty shall be renewed 
 with such changes as new circumstances may g'.ve 
 occasion for, either at a new congress, or at the 
 court of one of the contracting parties, as soon 
 as the war with Spain shall be terminated. 
 
 ARTICLE 7. The present treaty shall be rati- 
 fied and the ratifications exchanged at Paris within 
 the space of six months. 
 
 Made at Verona the 22nd of November, 1822. 
 For Austria: Metternich 
 For France: Chateaubrand. 
 For Russia: Bemstet. 
 For Russia : Nesselrode." 
 
 When Senator Owen was questioned by members 
 of Congress upon the meaning of the Treaty, the 
 Record shows his reply in part as follows: 
 
 "This Holy Alliance, having put a Bourbon 
 prince upon the throne of France by force, then 
 used France to suppress the condition of Spain, 
 immediately afterwards, and by this very treaty 
 gave her a subsidy of 20,000,000 francs annually 
 to enable her to wage war upon the people of 
 Spain and prevent their exercise of any measure 
 of the right of self-government. The Holy Alli- 
 aiice immediately did the same thing in Italy, 
 by sending Austrian troops to Italy, where 
 the people there attempted to exercise a like 
 measure of liberal constitutional self-gov- 
 ernment; and it was not until the printing press, 
 which the Holy Alliance so stoutly opposed, 
 taught the people of Europe the value of lib- 
 erty that finally one country after another seized 
 a greater and greater right of self-government, 
 until now it may be fairly said that nearly all the 
 nations of Europe have a very large measure of 
 self -government. 
 
 However, I wished to call the attention of the 
 Senate to this important history in the growth 
 
ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 15 
 
 of constitutional popular self-government. The 
 Holy Alliance made its powers felt by the whole- 
 sale drastic suppression of the press in Europe, 
 by universal censorship, by killing free speech and 
 all ideas of popular rights, and by the complete 
 suppression of popular government. The Holy Al- 
 liance having destroyed popular government in 
 Spain, and in Italy, had well-laid plans also to de- 
 stroy popular government in the American Col- 
 onies which had revolted from Spain and Portugal 
 in Central and South America under the influ- 
 ence of the successful example of the United 
 States." 
 
 "It was because of this conspiracy against the 
 American Republics by the European monarchies 
 that the great English stateman, Canning, called 
 the attention of our government to it, and our 
 statesmen then, including Thomas Jefferson, who 
 was still living at that time, took an active part 
 to bring about the declaration by President Mon- 
 roe in his next annual message to the Congress 
 of the United States that the United States would 
 regard it as an act of hostility to the government 
 of the United States and an unfriendly act, it 
 this coalition, or if any power of Europe ever 
 undertook to establish upon the Aineri'^an con- 
 tinent any ccnfrol of any American republic, or to 
 acquire any ttiMtr.rial rights. 
 
 "This is the so-called Monroe Doctrine. The 
 threat under the secret treaty of Verona to sup- 
 press popular government in the American repub- 
 lics is the basis of the Monroe Doctrine. This se- 
 cret treaty sets forth clearly the conflict between 
 monarchial government and popular government, 
 and the government of the few as against the gov- 
 ernment of the many." 
 
 The above comments of our United States Senator 
 before Congress in 1916, clearly defines the object and 
 intent of these "Divine Righters" in Europe. 
 
16 ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 
 
 It wiU be well for the reader to understand that 
 the chuTch of Kome with its sixteen centuries of n- 
 +v,o-,ip nians fifty or a hundred years ahead. The ulti- 
 S^oToVlS GREAT SCHEME is to throw th^^ 
 
 SallrSr^^rL^htr^^^^^^^ o1 JJl e^l. 
 
 musf rec^ve their authority to rule, as during the 
 
 ^'"'rhf BIG n)EA of democracy, taught by Jesus 
 Christ when he proclaimed the spiritual equality of 
 Si men has Xays been hated and feared by the Je- 
 siit System, and made the target of their venom, de- 
 tn tP all their protestations of Christianity 
 '^ The n)EA of spiritual equality, logically and in- 
 evitably l^ds to social equality which has been made 
 
 nractical by Popular Governments. . 
 
 practical oy^^^^i ^^^^ ^^ ^^^^^^^ Government is con- 
 sent of the governed." .^ 
 
 The first real social freedom resulted .^^^^^J^ 
 Protestant Reformation, led by the little German 
 monk Martin Luther in 151\ This was an unpa^^^^^ 
 able sin,— this was the deatl- blow of the PaP^^y- 
 
 Protestant Germany. Protestant England and of 
 course, Protestant United States have been from the 
 beginning marked by them for <iestruction. Ex-Cath 
 oHc Italy and Ex-Catholic France are next m this 
 "rule or^ruin"' policy. In Protestant Denmark Sweden 
 and Holland, the same process .»« , .^«i* °f '^"id 
 within," is being pursued as it is m this country and 
 
 ^^°^The seeds of hate between Germany and England 
 were planted in those two glorious Protestant coun- 
 tries by the Jesuits so that they "ji^^ develop in 
 timi to block the celebration of the Protestant Refor- 
 SiTtlon on its four hundredth Anniversar,, an ev«^t 
 which was planned to surpass anything of the Kina 
 Ihe world has ever seen, a celebration which would 
 have set Protestantism fifty years ahead. 
 
 The Jesuits, anticipating this, staged the World 
 War which completely sidetracked it. 
 
ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 17 
 
 For over sixty years the Great Scheme the Vati- 
 can and its Jesuits have been working on is, in a nut- 
 shell, to form an ECCLESIASTICAL EMPIRE, unit- 
 ing French Canada with our Atlantic States, Maine, 
 New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachesetts, Rhode Is- 
 land and Connecticut. This is to be done by annexa- 
 tion, manipulated through corrupt pohticians at Wash- 
 ington, D. C, in much the same method as the annexa- 
 tion of Texas was accomplished, over sixty years ago. 
 
 The next big card being played by Rome is the 
 unification of the French Canadian and Irish-Catholic 
 vote in the New England States where the influx of 
 Catholic Canadians is of such proportion as to cause 
 serious consideration of loyal Americans right now. 
 
 The Church is meeting with some difficulty, owing 
 to the deep seated dislike between the French and 
 Irish Cathohcs. This, however, is being rapidly over- 
 come by two methods: intermarriage and through the 
 work of the Knights of Columbus which is by far the 
 most dangerous lay organization in this country. 
 
 The 'Tragedy of Quebec," a book written by 
 a Protestant Canadian, exposes the PLAN in detail, 
 and the facts and figures given by this writer who has 
 been a close student of the subject for many years are 
 startling. 
 
 It would be illuminating to the reader who is not 
 familiar with this book to read it. The full plan of 
 extending the Pope's empire on the Atlantic coast will 
 be done by Latinizing our Southern States, a process 
 which was begun very early in our history, prior 
 to the Civil War. 
 
 The big efforts of the Catholic Church to papalize 
 the negro in the South should not be overlooked where 
 great strides have been taken in that direction. 
 
 The next step in the Vatican's Great Scheme is 
 to make war between this country and Japan after 
 the latter country has been placed under full domi- 
 nance of the Jesuits. The priests, monks and nuns of 
 the Roman Church have been pouring into Japan from 
 
18 ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 
 
 all over the world now for many years with that 
 purpose in view. The writer was told by a Christian 
 Japanese minister in charge of a Protestant mission 
 in Los Angeles in reply to the question as to why the 
 Jesuits, who had been barred for years from Japan, 
 had now been permitted to enter. He answered that 
 the Roman church had gotten into his country under 
 the guise of Mohammedanism, and that after it was 
 well entrenched threw off its disguise, and his coun- 
 try learned to its astonishment that it was to the 
 Roman Church and its monastic orders it had opened 
 its doors. 
 
 That the Rom.an-Catholic-controlled trade unions 
 in California are at the bottom of most of the agitation 
 against the Japanese in that State is a fact; that the 
 Roman Catholic politician, James Phelan, was sent to 
 the United States Senate in 1913 by the solid Roman 
 vote, and has been the prime mover in the anti-Jap 
 agitation, is also a fact. 
 
 There are many Californians, of course, outside 
 the Roman church, who fear the Japanese menace on 
 account of their prolific propagation, and their non- 
 assimilative proclivities, but it is only since I have 
 realized the activity of the Jesuits to papalize Japan, 
 that the real horror of the ''yellow peril" has impressed 
 itself upon me. x\dd Romanism to Japan, and it cer- 
 tainly becomes terrifying in its aspect. 
 
 i am not presenting these things as a calamity 
 howler, but I believe v/ith careful consideration and 
 immediate intelligent activity, the danger can be avert- 
 ed. We must be alert and doing. And now we will take 
 up the Roman question which is the big, overshadow- 
 ing world question today, and it will continue to be un- 
 til the Papacy is finally uprooted. We will have to 
 take cognizance of it in Europe frequently through 
 these pages in order to get a clear view of the impend- 
 ing danger to ourselves. I ask the reader to be patient 
 and follow me closely in my hurdling of the Atlantic, 
 back and forth, at various times which I have been 
 obliged to do, I^ is a big and pQii)lexing question to 
 
ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 19 
 
 try to simplify sufficiently for the busy non-Romanist 
 who is so absorbed in his own affairs and who so little 
 understands that pernicious system. 
 
 The great mistake which the American non-Cath- 
 olic people make is that they judge the Papacy by the 
 Roman Church as they find it in this country. One can- 
 not gauge it from this standpoint, for we must re- 
 member that it is operating where more than five- 
 sixths of the people are non-Romanists — in a Prot- 
 estant country. In order to get an accurate estimate 
 one must survey it in its native state, so to speak, — 
 in Catholic countries where it has held sway for cen- 
 turies. On this side of the Atlantic, for instance, we 
 will have to contemplate it, as it is in Mexico, or Cen- 
 tral and South America, in order to get a true esti- 
 mate. 
 
 I shall quote through these pages copiously from 
 several books, some of which are out of print, in or- 
 der that their messages may not be entirely lost. 
 
Chapter II. 
 
 The "Society of Jesus'' the Engme of 
 Destruction. 
 
 The "Society of Jesus" the members of which are 
 referred to as the Jesuits, has absorbed the Papacy. 
 This Society was founded by a fanatic, one Ignatius 
 Loyola, in 1541; its object being to combat the Prot- 
 estant Reformation of Martin Luther of 1517. 
 
 Loyola was the son of a prominent Spanish family 
 who had distinguished himself as a soldier, and by the 
 immoral excesses of his private life, but who, owing 
 to an accident which maimed him, was supposed to 
 have become "converted," and during the illness which 
 followed, the Society of Jesus was conceived in his 
 brain, fertile with deviltry. 
 
 The Society of Jesus is under the strictest mili- 
 tary discinline. due to the military training and psy- 
 chology of its founder. It is absolutely commanded bv 
 the "General" its head, also known as the "Black" 
 Pope. The garb is always a plain black cassock. But 
 here permit me to present the definition of one of its 
 eminent "Generals" of the seventeenth century and 
 which aptly describes it today: 
 
 "The members of the Society are dispersed 
 in every corner of the world, and divided into as 
 many nations and kingdoms as the earth has lim- 
 its; divisions, however, marked only by distance 
 9f places, not of sentiment; by the differences of 
 lancruages, not of affections ; by the dissemblance 
 of faces, not of manners. In that famHy the Latin 
 
ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 21 
 
 thinks as the Greek, the Portugese as the Brazil- 
 lian, the Hibernian as the Sumatran, the Spanish 
 as the French, the English as the Flemish; and 
 amongst so many different geniuses, no contro- 
 versy, no contention, nothing which gives you a 
 hint, to perceive that they have more than one. 
 
 Their birthplace offers them no motive of 
 
 personal interest. The same aim, same conduct, 
 same VOW, which like a conjugal knot, has tied 
 them together. At the least sign one man, the 
 General, turns and returns the entire society and 
 shapes the revolution of so large a body. 
 
 "It is easy to move, but difficult to shape." 
 (Imago Primsaeculi Societas Jesu," published by 
 the authorisation of Mutto Vittelschi, General 
 in 1640.) 
 
 With the above authentic illumination you will 
 be able to somewhat grasp the reason that the execu- 
 tion of the mandate of the Holy Alliance and secret 
 treaty of Verona was entrusted to the members of the 
 Society of Jesus. God save the mark! 
 
 THE JESUIT OATH 
 
 As a further item of interest we quote the fol- 
 lowing excerpts of this oathbound organization. It is 
 the oath taken now by practically all priests of the 
 Church of Rome, and has been charged as the one tak- 
 en by the members of the Fourth Degree in the 
 Knights of Columbus. (See Confrressional Record, 
 House Bill 1523, Contested election case of Eugene C. 
 Bonniwell, against Thos. S. Butler, Feb. 15, 1913, 
 pages 3215-16.) 
 
 'T. , now in the presence 
 
 of Almighty God, the Blessed Virgin Mary, the 
 Blessed Michael the Archangel, the Blessed St. 
 John the Baptist, the Holv Apostles, Peter and 
 Paul, and all the Saints, sacred hosts of Heaven, 
 and to you. my ghostlv Father, the Superior Gen- 
 eral of the Society of Jesus, founded by St. Ig- 
 
22 ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 
 
 natius Loyola, in the Pontif ication of Paul the 
 Third, and continued to the present, do by the 
 womb of the Virgin, the matrix of God, and the 
 rod of Jesus Christ, declare and swear that his 
 holiness, the Pope, is Christ's Vice-regent, and is 
 the true and only head of the Catholic or Univer- 
 sal Church throughout the earth ; and that by the 
 virtue of the keys of binding and loosing, given to 
 his Holiness by my Savior, Jesus Christ, he hath 
 power to depose heretical kings, princes, states, 
 commonwealths and governments, all being illegal 
 without his sacred confirmation, and that they 
 may be safely destroyed. 
 
 "Therefore, to the utmost of my power, I 
 shall and will defend this doctrine and his Holi- 
 ness' right and customs against all usurpers of 
 the heretical or Protestant authority, whatever, 
 especially the Lutheran Church of Germany, Hol- 
 land, Denmark, Sweden and Norway, and the 
 now pretended authority of the Church of En- 
 gland and Scotland, the branches of the same, now 
 established in Ireland, and on the continent of 
 America and elsewhere .... I do now renounce and 
 disown any allegiance as due to any heretical king, 
 prince or state named Protestant or Liberals, or 
 obedience to any of their laws, magistrates or 
 officers. 
 
 "I do further declare, that I will help and 
 assist and advise all or any of his Holiness' agents 
 in any place wherever I shall be. and do my ut- 
 most to extirpate the heretical Protestant or Lib- 
 eral doctrines and to destroy all their pretended 
 powers, legal or otherwise. 
 
 "I do further promise and declare, that not- 
 withstanding I am dispensed with to assume any 
 relierion heretical, for the r»ropogatinpr of the 
 ' Mother Church's interest, to keep secret and pri- 
 vate all her aorents' counsels, from time to time 
 as they may instruct me, and not to divulge di- 
 rectly or indirectly, by word, writing, or cir- 
 
ASSASSIlNfS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 
 
 9;?. 
 
 cumstances whatever; but to execute all that shall 
 be proposed, given in charge or discoverea unto 
 me, Dy you, my ghostly lather 
 
 "1 ao turther promise and declare, that i will 
 have no opinion or wiu 01 my own, or any mental 
 reservation whatever, even as a corpse or cadaver 
 (perinde ac cadaver) but unhesitatingly obey 
 eacn and every command that 1 may receive trom 
 my superiors m the Militia ot the rope and Jesus 
 Christ. 
 
 *That I will go to any part of the world, 
 whatsoever, without murmuring and will be sub- 
 missive in all things whatsoever communicatea 
 
 to me I do further promise and declare, 
 
 that 1 will, when opportunity presents, make and 
 wage relentless war, secretly or openly, against 
 all heretics, Protestants and Liberals, as I am 
 directed to do to extirpate and exterminate them 
 from the face of the whole earth, and that I will 
 spare neither sex, age nor condition; and that 1 
 will hang, waste, boil, flay, strangle and bury 
 alive these infamous heretics ; rip up the stomachs 
 and wombs of their women and crush their in- 
 fants' heads against the wall, in order to anni- 
 hilate forever their execrable race. 
 
 'That when the same cannot be done openly, 
 I will secretly use the POISON CUP, THE 
 STRANGULATION CORD, THE STEEL OF THE 
 POINARD, OR THE LEADEN BULLET, RE- 
 GARDLESS OF THE HONOR, RANK, DIGNITY 
 OR AUTHORITY OF THE PERSON OR PER- 
 SONS WHATSOEVER MAY BE THEIR CONDI- 
 TION IN LIFE, EITHER PUBLIC OR PRIVATE, 
 AS I AT ANY TIME MAY BE DIRECTED SO 
 TO DO BY ANY AGENT OF THE POPE OR SU- 
 PERIOR OF THE BROTHERHOOD OF THE 
 HOLY FAITH OF THE SOCIETY OF JESUS/' 
 
24 ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 
 
 The late Edwin A. Sherman, a 33rd Degree Mason 
 of Oakland, Caliiornia, m his book entitled, *'The En- 
 gineer Corps 01 Hell,' quotes Chas. Sauvestre, whose 
 work he translated irom tiie Spanish, which says m 
 part: 
 
 "Such are ,the Jesuits. Always expelled, for- 
 ever returning, anci iiicie uy iitcie, cianaestmely, 
 and in the darkness, throwing out its vigorous 
 roots. Its wealth may be confiscated, its losses 
 cannot be detained tor they are covered. . . Con- 
 fessors, negotiators, brokers, lenaers, peddlers of 
 pious gew gaws, inventors oi' new devotions to 
 make merchandise. At times, mixing in pohtics, 
 agitating states j and making princes tremble up- 
 on their thrones, for they are terrible in their 
 hate. WOE UNTQ HIM WHEN THEY TURN 
 
 UPON HIM AS AN ENEMY! Its society 
 
 grows and increases in riches and influence by 
 all sorts of means; and no one can attack them, 
 for everywhere we. find men prompt to serve 
 them, to obtain from them some advantage of 
 position or pride . * . . For themselves, they are 
 nothing, not having pompous titles, no croziers, 
 no mitres, no capes of the prebendaries, but per- 
 tain to that one ORDER, everywhere governing 
 and directing . . . In. whatever place of the Catho- 
 lic world a Jesuit is insulted or resisted, no matter 
 how insignificant he may be, he is sure to be 
 avenged, — and this we know." 
 
 "The General is always surrounded by coun- 
 sellors, professors, novices and graduates," says 
 Michelet . . . 'prescribing friendship in the semi- 
 naries and being prohibited to walk two by two, it 
 is necessary to be alone, or three together, but not 
 less, for it is well known that the Jesuits never 
 establish any intimacy before a third, for the 
 third is a spy; for when there are three, which is 
 indispensable, there cannot be found a traitor." 
 
ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 25 
 
 THE JESUIT OATH TAKEN BY THE FIRST ARCH- 
 BISHOP OF BALTIMORE (1769) LEAVES 
 ITS IMPRESS 
 
 The papal church when expedient, follows the 
 rule of pagan Rome to hold a conquered country in 
 leash, and make it yield its pound of flesh, by placing 
 over it native rulers, which is the easy way to ap- 
 proach the people on their blind side. 
 
 In 1753 an American-born boy of eighteen, one 
 John Carroll, from Upper Marborough, Maryland, en- 
 tered the College of the Society of Jesuits at Watteau, 
 Flanders, to study for the Romish priesthood in that 
 Order. The time required ordinarily for the training 
 in that Society, is fourteen years, and, as John Carroll 
 was not ordained until he had served sixteen years in 
 preparation, it is safe to conclude that this American 
 born youth was an especially well grounded ^'Cadaver" 
 upon his return to the Colonies in 1769, and that his 
 Society was justified in feeling that its interests would 
 be competently administered. 
 
 John Carroll had taken the oath from which we 
 quoted some pages back, to. When opportunity pre- 
 sents, make and wage relentless war, secretly or openly, 
 against all heretics, Protestants and LiberaJs." 
 
 It is interesting to note that John Carroll was a 
 first cousin to Charles Carroll of Carrollton, the only 
 Romanist who signed the Declaration of Independence. 
 
 The officials of Maryland Colony sent a committee, 
 of which Beniamin Franklin was a member, to visit 
 French Canada to see if help could be had from that 
 source in the interest of the Colonies in the coming 
 conflict with England. 
 
 It was recommended by Congress that Charles 
 Carroll ask his cousin, John Carroll, the Jesuit priest, 
 to accompany them, hoping that he would use his in- 
 fluence in securing the assistance of the French priests 
 in the Cause of the Colonies, an act which showed the 
 
26 ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 
 
 lack of understanding of the fundamentals and disci- 
 pline of the Jesuit Society, by the Colonists. 
 
 Of course, the expedition utterly failed, owing to 
 the influence of the French priests and the people of 
 French Canada, over whom "Father" John Carroll was 
 supposed to have had the power of persuasion. Though 
 England was an ''heretical" country, the exceedingly 
 liberal and the independent spirit of defiance in the 
 American Colonies, was far more menacing, in the eyes 
 of the priests, to the interests of the church and the di- 
 vine righters, and Priest Carroll's Jesuit Oath pre- 
 cluded the possibility of his having any interest in his 
 native country, consequently he had to think in the 
 same channel as his French compatriots in religion. 
 That he, a few years later, merited the distinction from 
 his church to be made the first Archbishop of Balti- 
 more, and was permitted to live to the ripe old age 
 of four score years, is proof positive that he served 
 his church faithfully by strictlv adhering to his Jesuit 
 Oath. The first Archbishop of Baltimore left his indeli- 
 ble stamp on that diocese as was clearly demonstrated 
 during the Civil War, for every plot to assassinate 
 President Lincoln, and there were many, was hatched 
 in Baltimore. — in fact, Baltimore is the Vienna of 
 America. 
 
 The fact also must not be overlooked, that there 
 were less than 30,000 Romanists and 25 priests in 
 the Colonies at the breaking out of the Revolution. 
 This, of course, was a handicap to the Reverend Car- 
 roll. 
 
 The first Archbishop of Baltimore must have 
 been, however, thorou2*hly conversant with the 
 rumblings of the Revolution in Furope, for his Society 
 was having some "rough sledding" during the early 
 eighteenth century when he arrived in Flanders, and 
 its members were being driven out of first one country 
 and then another. 
 
 The great battle for nolitical freedom was beinp- 
 bitterly waged between the Jesuits on one hand and 
 Freemasonry on the other, just as in the final analy- 
 
ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 27 
 
 sis of the present irrepressible conflict in the United 
 States today, these two forces are lining up, a fact 
 which is becoming more obvious as time goes on. 
 
 They stand today as they have always stood, 
 these Jesuits, against every principle upon which 
 t'reemasonry is founded — upon which Americanism. 
 is based. 
 
 A group of French cyclopedists, led by Jean 
 Jacques Rousseau, had embodied a new concept of 
 governmentj^ in which the central postulate was, that 
 the only authority to govern should come from the 
 consent of the governed. This was whipped into shape 
 and published early in the eighteenth century and 
 boldly proclaimed to the world by Rousseau in his 
 "Social Contract" — contract of society. Eleven years 
 after, Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Paine and other 
 framers of our Declaration of Independence, incor- 
 porated it in that great chart of liberty, and when the 
 silver tones of our old Liberty Bell in Philadelphia 
 rang it out on July 4th, 1776, it reverberated around 
 the world and stirred the red blood of every divine- 
 right hater to its depths: 
 
 ''Gravely plain the good pen lined it, 
 And the Fifty Six all signed it; 
 Pledged their lives to seal and bind it, 
 
 True and w^ell! 
 Then sudden from the steeple, 
 
 Clanged the tocsin of the people, :,, 
 
 Spoke the sum of history's pages, 
 Pealed the thoughts of saints and sages, 
 
 Rang the keynote of the ages, — in the Bell." 
 ("The Liberty Bell" by Howard S. Taylor.) 
 
 It is difficult now for us to realize the boldness 
 and courage required of that little group of Colonial 
 ''Rebels" who gathered around the table in Indepen- 
 dence Hall in Philadelphia, to sign that document. It 
 was a grim joke, indeed, that Benjamin Franklin 
 sprung when he took up the pen to write in his 
 name, and said: "Gentlemen, we must now all hang 
 together, for if we don't, we will hang separately.*' 
 
28 ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 
 
 The success of the Revolution in the American 
 Colonies gave the stimulation to the French to revolt 
 in 1789. The triumphant conclusion of John Wilkes' 
 battle for a free press in England, the rumblings of 
 revolt m tne Jr^apal btates wnere tne pope was King, 
 all these held the cradle of Popular Government m 
 this country m security until the infant had dropped 
 its swaddling clothes, and got a fair start to grow. 
 
 John Carroll was studying in the Jesuit College 
 in Flanders when Rousseau's Social Contract set Eu- 
 rope ablaze with its message to the downtrodden 
 masses. The sensation precipitated by that revolu- 
 tionary proclamation can be but faintly imagined 
 now. Certain it is that the pope of Rome with the rest 
 of the crown heads of Europe saw the handwriting on 
 the wall, if the New Idea of government were per- 
 mitted to take root. 
 
 Four years later John Carroll was a full-fledged 
 Jesuit priest, and was returned to his native land where 
 he had an opportunity to get a **close-up" of the work- 
 ing out of the first Popular Government where the peo- 
 ple were the only source of authority. 
 
 In 1808 this Jesuit priest was created the first 
 Archbishop of Baltimore, by his ''Lord-God" the pope. 
 In receiving the pallium he took a more disloyal oath 
 of allegiance than that as a priest, to direct the work 
 of his Order and his church. 
 
 Verily, "The ways of God are wondrous strange." 
 Who would have thought that a few months later an 
 infant son would be born to a pioneer couple in the 
 backwoods of Kentucky, in a rude log hut, who was 
 destined to, fifty years later, with one blow, defeat the 
 cautiously laid plans of the Vatican, its Jesuits, the 
 Romanoffs of Russia, the Hapsburgs of Austria and 
 the King of Prussia! 
 
 I have often pictured the baby Lincoln playing 
 about the humble log cabin in the Kentucky woods, 
 whose life was no different from the infant life of 
 other children of the pioneers, except in the greater 
 degree of poverty, and wondered if by chance in her 
 
ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 29 
 
 day dreams, Nancy Hanks Lincoln could have 
 glimpsed the perspective in which her baby boy was 
 destined to become the savior of this Popular Govern- 
 ment; if, when she gathered him to her proud moth- 
 erly heart, quieting him to sleep with a crooning lulla- 
 by, which all mothers sing, the noble but storm-tossed 
 future of the child she snuggled might by chance, like 
 summer lightning, have flashed over her vision? And, 
 in my mind's eye, I pictured the meeting on the other 
 side of the Great Divide of this mother and son on the 
 morning of April 15th, 1865, and the happy look of 
 triumph in her glistening eyes as she beheld him in 
 the immortal garb of martyrdom which his enemies 
 had inadvertently placed upon him. 
 
Chapter HI. 
 
 'The Saint Leopold Foundation'' Spy 
 System. 
 
 Owing to the \ combination of circumstances 
 Europe just referred to, the autocrats did not 
 dare to "wage open war'* on this government since 
 the warning enunciated in the Monroe Doctrine. In 
 1828 an organization in Vienna was formed which was 
 called the ''Saint Leopold Foundation." The plan was 
 then, to operate under the mask of religion, 
 which would insure its safety from any governmental 
 and innuendo what could not be done by bullets and 
 and innuendo what could not be done by bullets and 
 bayonets. 
 
 The Hapsburg family of Austria was the most 
 powerful Roman Catholic ruling family in Europe and 
 consequently the most cruel, despotic and reactionary, 
 and had the American people not been so absorbed 
 in the upbuilding of the Republic, they would have 
 detected the hypocrisy of this "holy" fraud, — the 
 Saint Leopodine Foundation. 
 
 One of the Hapsburg brothers. Prince Rudolph, 
 was a member of the Roman Curia, the Cardinal Ru- 
 dolph Hapsburg, of Olmutz. It was easy for the Jesuits 
 of the Vatican to operate through him as the agent 
 for the foundation funds which poured into the United 
 States in a stream of gold. Nor did the Vatican furnish 
 all the funds. They were most likely furnished by the 
 "high contracting parties," of the Holy Alliance and 
 the "secret treaty of Verona." In short, the immense 
 sums distributed among the bishops and archbishops 
 of the Catholic church in this country in estaD- 
 
ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 31 
 
 lishing bishoprics in cities where none existed, were 
 used solely as gig-antic POLITICAL SLUSH FUNDS 
 to corrupt and ultimately destroy the government and 
 "set up a monarchial" one instead. 
 
 One year after the Saint Leopoldine Foundation 
 had been established, it received the recognition and 
 blessing of the pope. The wonderful generosity (?) 
 of the Hapsburg family was called to his attention. 
 The ''blessing" was conveyed at a political high mass 
 in Vienna, January, 1829, at which all of the royalty 
 was in attendance, and the happy occasion was closed 
 by a grand ball in the palace at night. 
 
 The scum of Catholic Europe, especially from 
 Ireland, then began pouring into this country from 
 every nook and cranny of that poverty stricken con- 
 tinent; in many cases, their passages being advanced 
 from this "slush fund." The Koman bishops of every 
 large city from New York to San Francisco, then be- 
 gan massing this foreign vote. 
 
 Tammany Hall had years before been organized, 
 and from its very inception began a system of po- 
 litical corruption which dominates New York's noil- 
 tics to this very day. This situation should have stag- 
 gered the world, but it failed to awaken the Ameri- 
 can people except in spots. 
 
 The massed Roman vote in the cities nlaced the 
 balance of nolitical nower in th^ hpnds of the Roman 
 bishops and priests. Intimidation has always been 
 the "bis" stick" used when any mpn in public office 
 presumed to onnose the advance of these ecclesiasti- 
 cal "bosses." With the rapidly increased foreign im- 
 migration, these agents of the divine righters of Eu- 
 rope operating through the Jesuits and their lay 
 agents have made pro.sTess beyond their wildest 
 dreams. City councils, state legislatures, and even 
 Congress have been brow-beaten and bribed. It was 
 boasted within a year that any seat in Congress can 
 be bought for one hundred thousand dollars! Not 
 only so, but some years ago when the Chicago Con- 
 
32 ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 
 
 gressman, Wm. Lorimer's seat was contested, it was 
 made a matter of record that this sum was the pur- 
 chase price. A forced resignation followed. It is in- 
 teresting to note that Mr. Lorimer's chief witness 
 was a Catholic priest of Chicago, who testified, ac- 
 cording to the Associated Press reports, that a peni- 
 tent of his, had acknowledged in the confessional, that 
 he had libeled Mr. Lorimer. The said penitent was not 
 named, of course. 
 
 A few months after Mr. Lorimer's resignation, 
 the press dispatches notified us that he "had been 
 received into the Catholic Church" with great ac- 
 claim. I cite this one case merely to emphasize my 
 point. 
 
 The Saint Leopoldine Foundation is a great Jesuit 
 Spy System which is not confined to the ecclesiastics 
 of the Roman church, but embraces every element of 
 society, from the private secretary of the President in 
 the White House, to the Catholic servant girl em- 
 ployed in the Protestant American families. Nor, in- 
 deed, is it restricted to Roman Catholics, for the Jes- 
 uits do not hesitate to use non-Catholic tools whenever 
 it is possible. In fact, they prefer them, for in this way 
 attention is distracted from them. In case of failure 
 it is always preferable to use non-Catholics. 
 
 The priest of every parish in this country is the 
 king-pin in this web of spying, and reports regularly 
 to his bishop every item of interest, directly or indirect- 
 ly and in turn, the bishop to his archbishop, the arch- 
 bishop to the cardinal and the cardinal to the pope. 
 The confessional box is the Roman clearing house, 
 whereby the Pope keeps his finger on the pulse of the 
 world. 
 
 It is a strange thing to know that no matter how 
 densely ignorant a Roman priest may be, that is on 
 any subject outside the things bearing on his church, 
 that priest knows perfectly the psychology of every 
 non-Romanist of apv prominence in his district. He 
 knows his mental attitude toward the Romish church ; 
 
ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 33 
 
 he knows what the man will think and do under cer- 
 tain circumstances; he particularly knows if he is 
 friendly or unfriendly to the Roman church ; he knows 
 the extent of his wealth, and if the party is of enough 
 importance in the community, he knows the most in- 
 timate details and conduct of his private life. The man, 
 on the other hand, knows little or nothing of the par- 
 ish priest. More than likely, if he was asked, he would 
 say that he was the Cathohc priest of such a parish. 
 If it happened to be in a town where the Catholic pop- 
 ulation was small and of no social or political impor- 
 tance, this would express the limit of his knowledge. 
 If, on the other hand, he was politically ambitious and 
 alert, the priest would be one of the first with whom 
 he would ingratiate himself, for most of the politicians 
 have learned to realize the political advantage of an 
 organized vote. 
 
 The sources of information which the Roman 
 priest can taD are almost unlimited and unknown to 
 the ordinary layman outside that corporation. The Le- 
 opoldines are honeycombed in every avenue of civic, 
 state and national life. There are, to begin with, the 
 police departments of the various cities, ninety per 
 cent of whom I may, I think, conservatively say, are 
 Fourth Deorree Knights of Columbus. Thev are always 
 at the beck and call of the heirarchy. Their chief duty 
 as "Catholic citizens'* is to obey their bishops and the 
 Holy See, "As God himself." (See Leo Xlllth's "Great 
 EncvHicale" page 192.) 
 
 Then there are their Jesuit college graduates in 
 every state, who are especiallv trained as expert spies. 
 
 If any man holding a political position refuses to 
 prostitute that position, by yielding to the demands 
 of the Romish nriests, and persists in his stand, thev 
 use their blackmail threats, if thev cannot accomplish 
 their nurpose in any other way, for, "Any means to 
 ar» end" is the Jesuit motto. If there is no such knowl- 
 edp-p in their Dosse^^sion hv which to discredit or 
 frighten him, thev do not hesitate to set their traps 
 for him, and should this fail, they are fortified to re- 
 
34 ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 
 
 sort to what is known in common parlance as a 
 "frame-up" which is an easy matter through their 
 "red-light" affiliations. Many a good man has been 
 driven from public life by this route. Many a man in 
 politics this moment, is a subservient tool of the Roman 
 priests, because he fears the physical violence of their 
 arson and murder gangs, or that they may drag out 
 some family skeleton to discredit him. 
 
 I am aware that these are harsh sayings, but 
 the truth is very often shocking. 
 
 The principal branches of the Leopoldines, still 
 operating in this country under various titles, are: 
 The German Catholic Central Verein, with headouar- 
 ters in St. Louis and Detroit; The Third Order of St. 
 Francis, which bids fair to supplant, outwardly at 
 least, the original organization ; The Catholic Laymen's 
 Council, the Lea^^ue of the Sacred Heart, and the Cath- 
 olic Women*s Council. These organizations are all 
 branches of the Leopoldines' Spy Svstem. 
 
 To name one incident in which the ramification of 
 this spy system may be seen, T call to the mind of those 
 of my readers who read the Menace, published at Au- 
 rora. Mo., some vears ago, when the editor of the Melt- 
 ing Pot, Mr. Tichener, accompanied by Mr. Marvin 
 Brown, editor of the Menace, located fifty thousand 
 cancelled envelopes which the Menace Publishing Com- 
 pany had sold to a junk dealer. — as is the custom of 
 publishers — in the offices of the German Catholic 
 Central Verein at St. Louis. Mo. 
 
 The Menace ran a cut made from the snanshots 
 which they had taken of these editors, inside the of- 
 fices of the SPY headquarters, surrounded by bales of 
 thp Menace envelopes w><ir»h Mr Prown was about to 
 appropriate, and succeeded in doing so. a fact which 
 demonstrated that the Jesuits have not a corner on 
 the market when it comes to cleverness. 
 
 The v^urora paper had f^r months been receiv- 
 ing complaints from its subscribers, to the effect that 
 thev were being persecuted, and if in business, boy- 
 cotted in their home towns by Roman Catholics, and 
 
ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 35 
 
 it had been puzzling the editors as to the avalanche of 
 complaints coming irom all directions until the dis- 
 covery of the big consignment of cancelled envelopes, a 
 large proportion oi which had the return addresses on 
 them, it was by this means that the list was procured, 
 lue puDliCity which the Menace gave to this matter at 
 the time, put a stop to the inquisition for the most 
 part. This was an attack upon FKEE PRESS which 
 tnese L,eopoldines were pledged to execute. 
 
 inis great bpy System penetrates every avenue of 
 social life. The field of journalism has been invaded 
 until a Roman Catholic sits at many important editori- 
 al desks 01 great newspapers, from coast to coast. 
 Tney fill the reportorial stalls and other departments 
 m the front offices and it goes without saying that 
 the presses, composing rooms and other mechanical 
 departments are dominated by them. 
 
 These Spies are members of ail the important coni- 
 missions, public works, school boards, library boards, 
 housing commissions, naturalization departments, and 
 are even active members of "Americanization" Commit- 
 tees. 
 
 Yes, I shall go farther and say, that I doubt if 
 there is ever an assemblage of the ministers of any 
 Protestant church in this country that meets without 
 the presence of the Leopoldines. Our state universities 
 and Protestant universities are honeycombed with 
 them. Roman priests hold professorships in several 
 state universities! On every text book committee se- 
 lected to pass on the books to be used in our public 
 schools, sits a Roman priest, or his personal representa- 
 tive. He is there for the purpose of seeing to it that 
 every truth derogatory to the Roman Catholic church 
 is eliminated and every thing that will in any way re- 
 flect credit upon that institution is incorporated. This 
 explains why it is that the extent of the knowledge of 
 the facts leading up to the assassination of Abraham 
 Lincoln has been carefully suppressed so that the ex- 
 tent of the knowledge about this greatest of all trag- 
 
36 ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 
 
 edies in the history of our country does not exceed 
 these words: 
 
 "President Lincoln was assassinated in 
 Ford's Theatre, April 14th, 1865, by an actor 
 named John Wilkes Booth. Andrew Johnson was 
 immediately sworn into office/' 
 
 The one paint upon which the Roman church is 
 and has always been exceedingly "broad" is in regard 
 to its members in the saloon and red-light districts of 
 the cities. 
 
 Have you ever asked yourself how it comes that 
 a large majority of the proprietors of the whiskey 
 places and brothels are members of that church in 
 good standing? Did you ever hear of a saloon keeper 
 being excommunicated by the church in Rome? Have 
 you any knowledge of any female member of the under- 
 world having had the anathemas of Rome hurled at her 
 head? I think not. I will tell you some of the reasons 
 why. A large part of the enormous income of the Cath- 
 olic church reaches it through these channels. 
 
 The church of Rome has for centuries been a 
 large manufacturer of wine, liquors and beers. The 
 most expensive European wines are made by the monks 
 and nuns of that church. The finest champagne, for 
 instance, is manufactured by the Carthusian Monks. 
 **Benedictine" that beverage of hell, the sole purpose 
 of which is intended to increase prostitution, was con- 
 cocted by a monk of the Benedictine order eleven cen- 
 turies ago. He was later created a cardinal by the Pope 
 for the valuable ''service" which he thereby rendered 
 his "Holy" church. 
 
 The cross is blown in the glass of every bottle of 
 Benedictine; the coat of arms of the order is im- 
 pressed upon the wax which seals it, and the Latin 
 motto dedicates it "To God, the purest and the best." 
 
 Fifty per cent of the wines manufactured in the 
 United States was made in California and about fifty 
 
ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 37 
 
 per cent of this was manufactured by the Roman Cath- 
 oUc church in its monasteries in that state. To illus- 
 trate: At Los Gatos the Jesuit Fathers "Novitiate of 
 the Sacred Heart" conducted a large winery in which 
 three special brands of wine were made, "Villa St.- 
 Joseph" was described in their advertising as "A dry 
 white wine, pleasant flavor, delicate taste." 
 
 "Novitiate" — a heavy bodied, sweet, rich, mellow 
 fragrance, does not need to be bottled. One hundred 
 gallons at $39.00. New Revenue tax ten cents a gallon, 
 or two cents per bottle." 
 
 "Retail store — Pure Altar Wine Company, East 
 Dubuque, Ills." 
 
 The above is from the advertisement which goes 
 on to tell us that its purpose is to "supply Reverend 
 clergy in the N. W. States and Mississippi Valley, Rev. 
 Walter F. Thornton, S. J. (Society of Jesus, or Slick 
 Jesuit) Rector of Novitiate of the Sacred Heart. Ap- 
 pointed F. M. Rhonberg, Agent on personal recommen- 
 dation of His Grace, Archbishop of Dubuque, Iowa." 
 
 The following letter is official and will explain it- 
 self: 
 
 "St. Mary's Cathedral, 1100 Franklin St. 
 San Francisco, California 
 
 To whom it may concern: 
 
 Having appointed the Rev. D. 0. Crowley Superior 
 of St. Joseph's Agricultural Institute, to superin- 
 tend the making of altar wines, I commend the 
 wine made under his supervision at the Beaulieu 
 Vineyard, and vouch for its absolute purity. 
 
 (Signed) Edw. J. Hanna, 
 
 Archbishop of San Francisco." 
 
38 ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 
 
 1 wish to digress further by saying that the sale 
 of these wines was not confined to the clergy. Their 
 retail stores m all of the large cities were opened for 
 anyone to purchase from. At this St. Joseph's Agri- 
 cultural Institute near Napa, California, a large part of 
 the work was done by children — waifs, orphans and 
 naif -orphans. Priest D. 0. Crowley, the *'big" ecclesiasti- 
 cal boss of the politics of San Francisco, gathers in 
 through the Juvenile Court and elsewhere to his in- 
 stitution known as the "Catholic Youths' Directory" 
 which occupies one of the highest knobs overlooking 
 San Francisco in what is known as the Mission Dis- 
 trict. These boys, ranging from ten to eighteen years 
 old are shipped every so often up to St. Joseph's Insti- 
 tute where they are supposed to spend their ''vaca- 
 tion" helping to manufacture the wine. 
 
 Priest Crowley, bye the bye, has been for several 
 years president of the Public School Playground Com- 
 mission, appointed by Mayor Jas. Rolph, who is not 
 a Roman Catholic, but I am sorry to say, a member 
 of the Masonic Fraternity. I cite this example to show 
 how non-Romanists are utilized as Leopoldines. 
 
 Just one more instance of the connection between 
 **Wets" and the Roman Catholic church. Twenty-one 
 brewing, wineries and distilling companies of Chicago, 
 Hhnois, contributed twenty thousand two hundred and 
 fifty dollars as their last gift to the Roman Catholic 
 ''Charities" in a drive which Archbishop Mundelein 
 launched in 1918, just previous to the November 
 election Political Slush Fund — ("Charity' covers a 
 multitude of sins.") 
 
 ROME'S REPRESENTATION IN THE UNDER- 
 WORLD 
 
 The courtesan has always securely held her posi- 
 tion in the Roman church. In the Tenth Century two 
 infamous courtesans, one the mother of a Pope, held 
 sway in Rome where they helped to make and un- 
 make popes. The two most eminent Catholic modern 
 
ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 39 
 
 historians, the Rev. Doctors John Alzog and Ludwig 
 Pastor, are authority for startHng facts pertaining to 
 these women and their influence with the Papacy. Dr. 
 Alzog said ''Marozia, who was one of the infamous 
 daughters of the infamous courtesan, Theodora, the 
 Elder. Marozia had Pope John Xth thrown into prison 
 and put to death in order to have her son who reigned 
 as Pope John the Xlth, placed on the Pontifical throne. 
 Pope John the Xlth was throughout his whole reign, 
 subject to the baneful influence of either his mother 
 or brother." (See Alzog's Universal Church History, 
 Vol. 2, page 293 and 296.) 
 
 Vanozz-a, a married woman, the mistress of Pope 
 Alexander Vlth, the occupant of the pontifical throne 
 in 1492, when Columbus didn't discover America, was 
 the mother of his four children, Caesar, Juan, Jofre 
 and Lucrezia, who were afterward legitimatized by pa- 
 pal bulls. This documentary evidence found in the secret 
 archives of the Vatican and quoted by the above Cath- 
 olic historians. During" the early years of the pontifi- 
 cate of Alexander Vlth, Vanozza occupied a palace 
 close to the Latern palace, — the first Vatican^ — which 
 the Pope had built for her, and in this residence the 
 most brilliant social functions were held, presided over 
 by his recognized affinity. 
 
 JENNIE DALY—MADAM 
 
 It is not exaofgeratmg to say that there is not a 
 city in the United States today in which the members 
 of a larsre quota of its demi monde are faithful devotees 
 of the Romish church who ply their profession every 
 day in the week but who would not think of missing 
 mass on Sunday. 
 
 One of the most notorious women in Indianapolis, 
 some years ago. was "Jennie Daly" thp keeper of houses 
 of ill renute within a gun shot of the courthouse in 
 that city. 
 
 Her f las-rant association with ^. prominent lum- 
 'Derman, a man of family for years, Warren Tate, whose 
 
40 ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 
 
 business was close to the redlight district where this 
 coarse featured female held sway, and ultimately 
 separated him from his family. In the early eighties 
 Tate, who was a bad tempered, abusive man was 
 twitted about his affinity by a man named Love during 
 the progress of some litigation in which they were 
 engaged. The incident occurred in the court room. Tate 
 told Love he would "kill" him for that remark. He 
 hurried out, went to his mill nearby, got his revolver 
 and shot Love to death as he was coming down the 
 court house steps. 
 
 As the threat was made in the presence of wit- 
 nesses, Tate who was arrested for murder in the first 
 degree, had to use the bulk of his fortune during the 
 sensational trial which followed, to save his neck. 
 
 Public opinion, naturally was highly in the favor 
 of the prosecution and it was an open secret that Jen- 
 nie Daly spent ninety thousand dollars of her money 
 in Tate's defense, and that she finally threatened every- 
 one connected with the case that if he was convicted 
 she would,"ten all she knew." Strange as it may seem, 
 the murderer was allowed to go free. 
 
 During all these years Jennie Daly was a regular 
 attendant at the Koman Catholic church, and was a 
 generous donor. She finally, after amassing a large 
 fortune, "retired from business," Durchased a preten- 
 tious residence in a respectable part of the city, and she 
 and Tate married and lived there. At this time she was 
 a pew-holder in St. Joseph's Catholic church. After 
 some years Tate was taken ill. and faithful daughter 
 of the church th?^t she was. she called in the narish 
 Driest who formally received this man into its folds. He 
 was buried in a consmcious place in the Catholic ceme- 
 terv south of that city where his widow erected a beau- 
 tiful monument to his memorv. In a few years she fol- 
 lowed. She was given all the "consolations" within the 
 gift of the Romish church, and at the Requiem Mass at 
 which she wps buried the gr^at eulojrv which the 
 priest delivered over this notorious prostitute aroused 
 the indignation of many of the decent, respectable par- 
 
ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 41 
 
 MONUMENT OF NOTORIOUS "JENNIE DALY' 
 
 Keeper of "resorts" in Indianapolis in the early SO'a. "Faith- 
 ful daughter of the Holy Church". 
 
42 ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 
 
 ishioiiers. The dust of the righteous mingles with that 
 ot these two scandalous characters, for were they not 
 "obedient children of the Holy Mother Church?" The 
 only unforgiveable sin in tne Komish corporation is to 
 tell the truth about it. Jennie Daly proved herself to 
 have been a useful devotee, generous and faithful to 
 the end, and was so rewarded. 
 
 In San Francisco the ''Jennie Daly" happens to 
 be a Spanish woman in close proximity to one of the 
 large churches there, who may be seen hurrying to 
 early mass on almost any Sunday morning. In San 
 Francisco, however, I might say there are hundreds 
 of the demi monde devotees of this church. So I might 
 go on, ad lib, ad nauseum. 
 
 I wish my readers to get a true estimate of the 
 ramification of this wicked system which is responsi- 
 ble for the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. You 
 must remember that some of the most valuable in- 
 formation is poured into the listening ear of the Kom- 
 ish priest in the confessional box by this route. You 
 must know the real significance of what they mean 
 when they tell you that they intend to "Make America 
 Catholic." You cannot defeat an enemy which you do 
 not understand. You can never have a conviction 
 strong enough to stir you to fight this common enemy 
 of ours, unless you do, and this is the motive of the 
 writer. 
 
 The clean, pure, upright fife, public and private, 
 of Abraham Lincoln, was his protection from these 
 Leopoldines. There never was an act of his that would 
 have placed this great American in their power. This 
 fact alone was sufficient to merit their implacable 
 hatred, and it did. And now let us hasten on and 
 trace the soft footfalls of these Jesuits, step by step 
 as they shadowed the public life of our beloved mar- 
 tyr. 
 
Chapter W, 
 
 The Turning Point In Lincoln's Life. 
 
 While the Society of Jesus was organizing its de- 
 structive forces in Vienna under the title of the St.- 
 Leopold Foundation, in 1828, two boys from the tall 
 timbers of Spencer County, Indiana, in their teens, 
 guided their flatboat which they had spent weeks in 
 making, toward the wharf in New Orleans, Louisiana. 
 
 One was a tall, awkward youth, with frank gray 
 eyes, tanned skin, a mouth of generous proportions, 
 a shock of rather coarse black hair on a well-shaped 
 head, which was topped by a coonskin cap, commonly 
 worn by the men and boys from the "backwoods" of 
 the interior. When the boat holdin.Q: its small cargo 
 was within reach of the pier, the taDer lad climbed to 
 it with the agility of a cat, seized the rope, tied the 
 boat to the pier, and helped his thick-set companion 
 up. This done, the boys strode away, soon lost in the 
 crowd. 
 
 They attracted no special attention from the pedes- 
 trians for these pioneer young merchants frequently 
 visited the orreat southern metronolis. They were busy 
 taking in the sierhts of a real city for the first time 
 and it is not difficult to fancy the impressions and 
 wonderment at what they saw, and their exchange 
 of idpas while makiner their rounds. 
 
 There was one incident, however, which made a 
 lifelonpf impression and nroved to be the turning point 
 in the taller bov's life, this l^^d who measured six feet 
 two. Their attention was directed to a lar?>'e crowd 
 by the loud voice of a man tow^rine above it. He had 
 loner. blacV hair. loos<^ flowing tie. wore a large slouch 
 hat. was dressed in the garb of a city man, and was 
 
44 ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 
 
 calling out in the language of an auctioneer, empha- 
 sizing his points with the crack of a black snake whip. 
 
 The boys moved over, pushing their way through 
 the crowd made up of almost every type from the 
 gentleman in broadcloth down to the street urchin, 
 nor did they stop until they had reached the inside 
 of the circle around the large block upon which stood 
 a young negro, about the age of the two youths whose 
 curiosity had drawn them there. The colored lad was 
 ordered to display his teeth, the fitness of his mus- 
 cles, which stood out like great brown cords, demon- 
 strating his splendid physical strength. 
 
 The bidding was snappy, being worked up by the 
 expert tactics of the auctioneer, whose facetious re- 
 marks brousrht many a coarse guffaw from the by- 
 standers. Finally, the hammer banged down on the 
 table, which was the signal that the lad had been sold 
 to the highest bidder, the deal was closed. 
 
 A shrill cry rang out, followed by the stifled 
 sobs of a beautiful mulatto girl, whose refined fea- 
 tures, glossy black hair, hanging carelessly to her 
 waist, betokened the dominance of the white blood 
 in her veins. She was one of the "pacel'* of slaves who 
 was to be auctioned off the following morning, and 
 was the BRIDE of the boy who had just been dis- 
 posed of. 
 
 There was not the sliprhtest attention paid to 
 the incident for the details of the business transaction 
 in human souls were beiner completed bv the parties 
 of the first and second parts. The crowd ouickly dis- 
 persed as the "show" was over for th^t day. 
 
 The two boys from the "timbers" walked ouickly 
 away. Finally, as they were nearinpr the place v/here 
 their boat was secured, our tall friend turned quickly 
 to his companion and said: "John, if T ever eret a 
 chance to hit ^-hat thino^. bv God, I'll hit it. and I'll 
 hit it hard." He kept his oath, but no one but God 
 and the Anorels. as they looked down that ni^ht, knew 
 the time nor the place, but God knew then that the 
 deft brown hand which tossed the rope lightly into 
 
ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 45 
 
 that old flatboat, would one day sign the emancipa- 
 tion of three million slaves! 
 
 Permit me here to give a "close-up'* of our boy- 
 hero twenty-six years later, — a pen picture dispatched 
 by a reporter for the Boston Journal who covered the 
 debates between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Doug- 
 las, which made both of these men famous. 
 
 The State Convention had nominated Mr. Lincoln 
 for the United States Senate. The report was as fol- 
 lows: 
 
 "The men are entirely dissimilar. Mr. Douglas is 
 a thickset, finely built, courageous man and has the 
 air of self-confidence that does not a little to inspire 
 his supporters with hope. Mr. Lincoln is a tall, lank 
 man, awkward, apparently diffident, and when not 
 speaking, has neither firmness nor fire in his eye. He 
 has a rich, silvery voice, enunciates with great dis- 
 tinctness, and has a fine command of language. He 
 commenced by a review of the points Mr. Douglas 
 had made. In this he shows great tact and his retorts 
 though gentlemanly, were sharp and reached to the 
 core of the subject in dispute. (Lincoln) "My distin- 
 guished friend says it is an insult to the emigrants of 
 Kansas and Nebraska to suppose that they are not 
 able to govern themselves. We must not slur over an 
 argument of this kind because it happens to tickle 
 the ear. It must be met and answered. I admit that the 
 emigrants of Kansas and Nebraska are competent to 
 govern themselves, but (the speaker rising to his full 
 height) I deny the right to govern any other person, 
 without that person's consent." 
 
 The vast throng was as silent as death; every 
 eve was fixed upon the speaker. He then charged Mr. 
 Douglas with doing nothing for freedom : with dis- 
 regarding the rights and interests of the colored man, 
 and for about forty minutes he snoke with a power 
 we have seldom heard equaled. There was grandeur 
 in his thous^hts. a comnrehensiveness in his arpii- 
 ments, and binding* foroe in his conclusions, which 
 were perfectly irresistible ... He was the tall man 
 
46 ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 
 
 eloquent; his countenance glowed with animation, 
 and his eye glistened with an intelligence that made 
 it lustrous. He was no longer awkward and ungainly, 
 but graceful, bold, commanding. Mr. Douglas had been 
 quietly smoking up to this time, but here he forgot his 
 cigar and listened with anxious attention. When he 
 arose to reply, he appeared excited, disturbed and his 
 second eifoii: seemed to us vastly inferior to his first. 
 Mr. Lincoln had given him a great task, and Mr. Doug- 
 las had not time to answer him, even if he had the abil- 
 ity." 
 
 Thus we see that Mr. Lincoln made good on his 
 boyhood promise, '*to hit that thing hard.'' 
 
 As early as 1856, Mr. Lincoln availed himself of 
 his opportunity to ''hit that thing hard" when he en- 
 tered the political campai<m, after an absence of sev- 
 eral years, which he had been devoting to his law 
 practice in Springfield, Illinois, with the intention of 
 never leaving it again. He was drawn intoThe field by 
 the infamous Dred Scott Decision rendered by the 
 fanatical Romanist, Judge Taney, Chief Justice of the 
 United States Supreme bench. The Taney decision in 
 a nutshell was, that the "Negro had jio rights which 
 the white man had to respect." This virtually placed 
 the government endorsement on black slavery, and 
 aroused Mr. Lincoln to action. 
 
 In November, 1855, Abraham Lincoln drew down 
 upon him the fire of Rome when he answered a wire 
 from the Reverend Chas. Chiniquy, Catholic priest, of 
 Kankakee, Ills., who had been engaged in a series of 
 court suits with the bishoD of the Chicago diocese, 
 of which he was a "subject," asking his professional 
 services. Within twenty minutes the reply came to 
 Chiniquy : ''Yes, I will defend your life and your honor 
 at the next May term of the court at Urbana. A. Lin- 
 coln." 
 
 Promptly on May 19th, 1856. Mr. Lincoln appeared 
 at Urbana and consulted with Father Chiniquy, but I 
 will let him tell you of their meeting : 
 
 "He was a giant in stature, but I found him still 
 
ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 47 
 
 more a giant in the noble qualities of his mind and 
 neart. it was niipossioie to converse with mm Hve min- 
 utes, witnour loving mm, I'nere was sucn an expression 
 01 Kinaness and nonesty in his face, sucn an attractive 
 magnetism m the man, that alter a lew minutes con- 
 versation, one lelt as tied to him by all of the noblest 
 ahections of the heart. 
 
 When pressing my hand, he told me: "You were 
 mistaken when you telegraphed that you were unknown 
 to me. 1 know you by reputation, as the stern opponent 
 of the tyranny of your bishop, and the fearless pro- 
 tector 01 your countrymen in Illinois. I have heard 
 much of you from two friends, and last night your 
 lawyers, Messrs. Osgood and i^addock, acquamtea me 
 with the lact that your bishop employs some of his 
 tools to get rid of you. I hope it will be an easy thing 
 to defeat his projects, and protect you against his 
 machinations. He then askea me how I had been in- 
 duced to desire his services. 1 answered by giving the 
 story of that unknown friend, a lawyer*, who had 
 advised me to have Mr. Lincoln — for the reason that 
 he was the best and most honest man in Illinois. He 
 smiled at my answer with that inimitable and unique 
 smile which we may call the 'Lincoln smile' and repli- 
 ed: 'That unknown friend would have been more cor- 
 rect had he told you that Abraham Lincoln was the 
 ugliest lawyer in the country,' and he laughed out- 
 right." (Chiniquy's Fifty Years in the Church of 
 Rome.) 
 
 The defeat of Rome in this celebrated case by Mr. 
 Lincoln; his terrific arraignment of the "perjuring 
 gang of priests" who had left no stone unturned to 
 ruin Father Chiniquy by a false accusation against 
 him in which it was charged by the infamous 
 priest La Bell that Mr. Chiniquy had made an attack 
 upon the sister of the former. On the night before 
 the case was to go to the jury, Mr. Lincoln, himself, 
 had almost given up hope of an acquittal, notwith- 
 standing the fact that he was convinced of Father 
 Chiniquy's innocence. He frankly told Chiniquy of 
 
48 ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 
 
 his fears and his last admonition to the distressed 
 and persecuted man was: **My dear Mr. Chiniquy, 
 though I hope tomorrow to destroy the testimony of 
 LaBell against you, I must concede that I see great 
 danger ahead. There is not the least doubt in my 
 mind that every word he has said is a sworn lie, 
 but my fear is, that the jury thinks differently. I am 
 a pretty good judge of these matters, — I fear that 
 our jurymen think you are guilty — I have never seen 
 two such skillful rogues as those two priests. There 
 is really a diabolical skill in the plan they have con- 
 cocted to ruin you — the only way to be sure of a 
 favorable verdict tomorrow, i^ that God Almighty 
 would take our part and show your innocence! Go 
 to Him and pray, for He alone can save you." 
 
 Surely a more direct answer to prayer was never 
 received, for that very night Father Chiniquy spent 
 almost the entire time on his knees interceding that 
 his innocence might be exonerated, when at three 
 o'clock in the morning he answered a knock on his 
 door, and there stood Mr. Lincoln, ''his face beaming 
 with joy" as Chiniquy expressed it, — "Cheer up, Mr. 
 Chiniquy, I have the perjured priests in my hands. 
 Their diabolical plot is known, and if they do not 
 fly away before the dawn of day, they will sureiy 
 be lynched. Bless the Lord, you are saved!" 
 
 The wide publicity given the ca^e in Chicago 
 through the press had brought out the fact that Chini- 
 quy would probably be convicted. This was read by 
 the French Catholics and brought to light two wit- 
 nesses, two women who were present in priest La 
 Beirs house when he offered his sister two sections 
 of land if she would swear falsely against Father 
 Chiniquy. La Bell allayed her scruples by assuring 
 her he could forgive her sin if she would confess 
 to him. (Priests' relatives rarely ever confess to them, 
 if it can be avoided). One of these female witnesses 
 whose conscience was aroused by the unjust position 
 in which Father Chiniquy had been placed, came to 
 Springfield that night and told the facts to Mr. Lin- 
 
ASSASSINS OP ABRAHAM LINCOLN 49 
 
 coin. The priests left town early in the morning, 
 fearing the consequences as public opinion had been 
 strongly against them, and La Bell's lawyer asked that 
 the case be dismissed, which was granted. 
 
 Mr. Lincoln did not permit the priests to go un- 
 scathed, however, and in a most terrific scorching at 
 their audacious attempt to corrupt the courts, he 
 closed his rebuke as he towered above his auditors 
 with these words : 
 
 "May it please your honor, gentlemen of the 
 jury and American citizens, this conspiracy, I am 
 aware, has failed in its efforts, but I have a few 
 words which I wish to say." He then went on and 
 depicted the career of Father Chiniquy, how he had 
 been unjustly persecuted, and in conclusion said : "As 
 long as God gives me a heart to feel, a brain to 
 think, or a hand to execute my will, I shaU devote it 
 against that power which has attempted to use the 
 machinery of the courts to destroy the rights and 
 character of an American citizen.'" And this prom- 
 ise made by Abraham Lincoln in his maturer years 
 he also kept. That same year when he entered 
 the political field, tearing to tatters, as no other man 
 could, Taney's Dred Scott Decision, in favor of 
 black slavery, he fully understood the motive power 
 behind it was Rome. Whenever Lincoln ''hit a thing," 
 he ''hit it hard." 
 
 From that time on the black clouds of Jesuitism 
 were fast gathering about the life of Abraham Lin- 
 coln. These enemies followed his path as a shadow fol- 
 lows sunshine. From that moment his doom was writ- 
 ten in letters of blood. 
 
 A remarkable thing transpired, when, after the 
 trial, Mr. Chiniquy asked Mr. Lincoln for his bill. 
 While he was drawing up a note for $50.00, as his 
 client had requested, Mr. Lincoln said to him : "Father 
 Chiniquy, what are you crying for? You ought to 
 be the happiest man aliv^. You have beaten your 
 enemies and come out trimnphant; they have fied in 
 disgrace." To which the emotional Frenchman re- 
 
50 ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 
 
 plied : *'I am not weeping for myself, but for you, sir. 
 They will kill you ; and let me tell you this, if I were 
 in their place and they in mine, it would be my sole, 
 my sworn duty, to take your life myself, or to find 
 a man to do it." 
 
 Chiniquy was right. They found their man. 
 
 LINCOLN THE THIRD PRESIDENT ASSASSIN- 
 ATED. 
 
 The murder of five presidents of this republic, 
 by these enemies of Popular Governments in less 
 than sixty years, is a toll which is worthy, it would 
 seem to the writer, of the most serious consideration 
 of the American people. Five presidents of this re- 
 public in 59 years were assassinated ; two by the poison 
 cup and three by the leaden bullet. 
 
 Abraham Lincoln was the third president assas- 
 sinated; three before him had been given the "Poison 
 Cup." Indeed, poison had been administered to Presi- 
 dent Lincoln, according to the Chas. Selby letter to 
 Booth which was a conspicuous government exhibit in 
 the trials of Mrs. Mary E. Surratt and the other con- 
 spirators, which stated: 
 
 "The cup failed us once, and might again." 
 
 There were two things the ultra-pro-slavery 
 leaders of the South had been urging for years by 
 which they expected to make the breach for their 
 entering wedge. One was the invasion of Cuba; the 
 other, the annexation of Texas. The fine Italian hand 
 is easily discernible in both. 
 
 An invasion of Cuba would have meant war with 
 Catholic Spain, Catholic France, Catholic Austria, 
 Catholic Belgium, and, of course, Italy, where the 
 Pope was king of his dominion. What chance would 
 our young Republic have had in case they succeeded? 
 Disruption? Not only disruption but total annihila- 
 
ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 51 
 
 tion of Popular Governments and the setting up of 
 the monarchial institutions pledged at Congress of 
 Vienna in 1814, and ratified at Verona in 1822. 
 
 The PLAN of these imperialistic conspirators 
 was to wipe out the little Republic of Mexico where 
 the Liberals had succeeded, under the leadership of 
 Juarez, the half-indian, rebellious ex-priest, in throw- 
 ing off the Spanish and Papal yokes. Juarez had been 
 elected president of Mexico when Civil War broke out 
 in the United States. 
 
 During this time the new popular government 
 was progressing rapidly in Mexico. The first official 
 act, was the CONFISCATION of all the Roman church 
 property, which included over thirty-five per cent of 
 the most valuable and choicest land and holdings. 
 
 There was a certain line of policy which these 
 monarchical plotters were nursuing in this country 
 through the Leopoldines. The Slave question was be- 
 coming more acute all the time. The Jesuit-controlled 
 leaders only, were aware of the PLAN. The masses of 
 the Southern people had no real knowledge of it. They 
 were not permitted to have, but their nolitical leaders 
 had. The masses of any people cannot be corrupted. 
 The strong sense of iustice and ri^ht and fairness 
 which God has implanted in each human heart at birth, 
 unless destroyed by some evil influence, or system. 
 will invprfablv spring into action at a crisis, if they 
 are permitted to have a clear understanding of the 
 issue. As a matter of fact their very instinct of self- 
 preservation sharpens their judgment and strength- 
 ens their resolutions. The only instances of wronor de- 
 cisions, or actions at such times, comes from false, 
 wicked leaders. 
 
 I say again, that it was the evil, "Un-christian, 
 un-American influence of the Roman Church" that 
 dominated and controlled the ultra -pro-slavery leaders, 
 which led on to its own destruction. They carried on a 
 constant "Rule or ruin" policv in state and national af- 
 fairs. They were, in fact, the strong element in the 
 beginning but with the advent of the Abolitionists of 
 
52 ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 
 
 the North, a weakening of their hold began, for the 
 SLAVERY was thrust out in the open and could not be 
 further obscured. 
 
 In 1841 General Wm. Henry Harrison of Ohio, 
 was elected President by a large majority. The loyalty 
 to the Union of General Harrison was above ques- 
 tion, and it was out of the power of the Leopoldines 
 to defeat him. It was with his election that the "Big 
 Stick" of intimidation was first raised when political 
 intrigue had failed. 
 
 In his inaugural address, which was a masterpiece. 
 President Harrison clearly, definitely and finally cut 
 any ground for hope from under them, which these 
 enemies to the Union of States might have had when 
 he said: 
 
 "We admit of no government by divine right, 
 believing- that so far as power is concerned, the 
 beneficent Creator has made no distinction among 
 men; that all are upon an equality, and that the 
 only legitimate right to govern, is upon the ex- 
 press grant of power from the governed." 
 
 With these unmistakable words President Har- 
 rison made his position clear; he hurled defiance t-^ 
 the Divine Right enemies of our Popular Government. 
 Aye, he did more — for those were the words that 
 signed his death warrant. Just one month and five 
 days from that day. President Harrison lay a corpse in 
 the White House. He died from arsenic poisoning, ad- 
 ministered by the tools of Rome. The Jesuit oath had 
 been swiftly carried out: 
 
 "I do further promise and declare that I will, 
 when opportunity presents, make and wage, relent- 
 less war, secretly or openly, against all heretics, 
 Protestants and Liberals, as I am directed to do, to 
 extirpate them and exterminate them from the 
 face of the earth .... 
 
ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 53 
 
 Jesuit Oath Fulfilled Five Times in 
 Sixty Years. 
 
 'By the Poison Cup" 
 April 4, 1841 
 
 'By the Poison Cup* 
 July 5, 1850 
 
 President Wm. Henry Harrison President Zachary Taylor 
 
 By the "Leaden Bullet" 
 July 2, 1881 
 
 By the "Leaden Bullet", 
 Sept. 6, 1901 
 
 President James A. Garfield 
 
 President William McKinley 
 
54 ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 
 
 "That when the same cannot be done openly, 
 I will secretly use the poison cup regard- 
 less of the honor, rank, dignity, or authority of 
 the person or perisons .... whatsoever may be 
 their condition in" life, either public or private, 
 as I at any time may be directed so to do by any 
 agent of the Pope or Superior of the Brotherhood 
 of the Holy Faith of the Society of Jesus." 
 
 Allow me to quote for you from U. S. Senator 
 Benton's "Thirty Years View," volume 11, page 21, 
 regarding the death of President Harrison : 
 
 "There was no failure of health or strength 
 to indicate such an event or to excite apprehen- 
 sion that he would not go through his term with 
 the same vigor with which he commenced it. His 
 attack was sudden and evidently fatal from the 
 beginning." 
 
 And at the close of the chapter in Senator Ben- 
 ton's book, we read this significant bit of information 
 which should be well pondered : 
 
 "That the deceased President had been 
 closely preceded and was rapidly followed by the 
 deaths of almost all of his numerous family, sons 
 and daughters.*' 
 
 That is "extirpation" with a vengeance, is it not? 
 WHOLFSALE extirpation. In fact, there was but one 
 of his eight children, a son, permitted to live. 
 
 INTIMIDATION was the covert motive behind 
 this wholesale assassination of the Harrison family of 
 Liberal "heretics," whose distinguished father had 
 been martyred for his belief in the POPULAR GOV- 
 ERNMENT of which he had been made the highest 
 representative by the PEOPLE. 
 
ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 55 
 
 THE ASSASSINATION 01^^ THE TWELFTH PRESI- 
 DENT. 
 
 As these plotters against the Union had tried 
 President Harrison out on the annexation of Texas, 
 they used the invasion of Cuba as the test for Zach- 
 ary Taylor, and had their plans ready to launch their 
 nefarious scheme in the early part of his administra- 
 tion, but from the very beginning President Taylor 
 snuffed out all hope of its consummation during his 
 term. In his first message to Congress, he said.: 
 
 *'But attachment to the UNION of States 
 should be fostered in every American heart. For 
 more than half a century, during which kingdoms 
 and empires have fallen, this Union has stood un- 
 shaken In my judgment its dissolution 
 
 would be the greatest of calamities, and to avert 
 that should be the steady aim of every American* 
 Upon its preservation must depend our own hap- 
 piness and that of generations to come. Whatever 
 dangers may threaten it, I shall stand by it and 
 maintain it in its integrity to the full extent of the 
 obligations imposed, and power conferred on me 
 by the Constitution." 
 
 There was no quibbling in this. The pro-slavery 
 leaders had nothing to count on in Taylor, therefore 
 they decided on his assassination. While these poli- 
 ticians were not influential enough to name the Presi- 
 dent, they were cunning enough to be able to control 
 the nomination of the Vice President, and it goes with- 
 out saying that they always chose a man who was in 
 full sympathy with their plans. They pursued this as 
 the next best thing. It had become practically a 
 ''trade" between the two groups of pohticians. 
 
 John Tyler, a staunch pro-slavery man, strong for 
 the things his party wanted, was chosen as Vice 
 President for Taylor. The President, knowing the cal- 
 
56 ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 
 
 ibre of this running mate, had no sympathy, and as 
 httle to do with him as possible. The arch-plotters, 
 fearing that suspicion might be aroused by the death 
 of the President early in his administration, as in the 
 case of President Harrison, peraiitted him to serve 
 one year and four months, when on the Fourth of 
 July, arsenic was administered to him during a cele- 
 bration in Washington at which he was invited to de- 
 liver the address. He went in perfect health in the 
 morning and was taken ill in the afternoon about five 
 o'clock and died on the Monday following, having been 
 sick the same number of days and with precisely the 
 same symptoms as was his predecessor, President Har- 
 rison. I quote again from Senator Benton's 'Thirty 
 Years View:" 
 
 "He sat out all the speeches and omitted no 
 attention which he believed the decorum of his 
 station required The violent attack be- 
 gan soon after his return to the Presidential 
 mansion." (Vol. 11, P. 763.) 
 
 The Vice President, John Tyler, was immediately 
 sworn in as President, after the death of "Old Rough 
 and Ready" as Zachary Taylor's friends affectionately 
 called him. 
 
 Tyler, who had been approached by these assas- 
 sins previous to the death of President Taylor, had re- 
 plied to their interrogations on the annexation of Tex- 
 as question: 
 
 *Tf I should ever become president, I would 
 exert the entire influence of that office to ac- 
 complish it." 
 
 President Tyler made good his promise and the 
 tittnexation of Texas which was tricked through, 
 caused the resignation of every member of President 
 Taylor's Cabinet, with the exception of Daniel Webster, 
 
ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 57 
 
 PRESIDENT JAMES BUCHANAN 
 
 Given "Poison Cup" at the National Hotel, Washington, D. 
 C, February, 1856, but escaped in a wholesale poisoning in 
 which fifty were affected and thirty-eight died. 
 
58 ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 
 
 but let us again quote from Benton's ''Thirty Years' 
 
 View:" 
 
 "He (Webster) had remained with Mr. Ty- 
 ler until the Spring of 1843, when the progress 
 of the Texas annexation scheme carried on pri- 
 vately, not to say clandestinely, had reached a 
 point to take an official form, and to become the 
 subject of government negotiation, though still 
 secret. Mr. Webster, Secretary of State, was an 
 obstacle to that negotiation. He could not be trust- 
 ed with the secret, much less conduct the negotia- 
 tions. How to get rid of him was a question of 
 some delicacy. Abrupt dismissal would have re- 
 volted his friends. Voluntary resignation was not 
 to be expected .... A middle course was fallen 
 upon — that of compelling a resignation. Mr. Ty- 
 ler became reserved and indifferent to him. Mr. 
 Gilmer and Mr. Upshur, with whom he had few 
 affinities, took but little pains to conceal their 
 
 distaste to him Mr. Webster felt it and 
 
 told some of his friends. They said "resign." He 
 did and his resiornation was accepted with an 
 alacrity which showed it was waited for. Mr. Up- 
 shur took his place and quickly the Texas negotia- 
 tions became official, still secretly. (Thirty Years' 
 View, P. 562.) 
 
 Circumstances pointed to the Messrs. Gilmer and 
 Upshur, as being the actual assassins of Zachary Tay- 
 lor. Thus, at last, they accomplished, after years of 
 effort, one of their daring schemes — the annexation 
 of Texas. 
 
ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 59 
 
 THE ATTEMPTED ASSASSINATION OF THE 
 THIRTEENTH PRESIDENT 
 
 The Presidential election of 1856 was a hotly con- 
 tested one for the pro-slavery forces fully realized 
 that never again would they be able to dominate or 
 control the presidency. The newly AWAKENED SO- 
 CIAL CONSCIENCE of the North had animated PUB- 
 LIC SENTIMENT to such an extent that this would 
 be impossible, so they were ready to take the most 
 desperate chances to elect James Buchanan as the only 
 presidential possibility, in whom they could have any 
 hope. Not being absolutely certain of his dependable- 
 ness, they resorted to their old policy of being doubly 
 sure of his running mate and nominated John C. Breck- 
 enridge of Kentucky. 
 
 In order that the Dred Scott Decision should not 
 in any way hazard the chances of Buchanan's election, 
 these Jesuit schemers compelled Judge Roger E. Taney 
 to withhold his decision until after the election. It was 
 not published until two days after the Inauguration, 
 March 6th, 1857. 
 
 The new President proved himself a decided 
 ^Trimmer." Although he was a Northern man, he had 
 strongly courted the Southern leaders, and given them 
 to understand that he was "Wifh them heart and soul." 
 in short, he double-crossed them. He was invited to 
 deliver an address on Washington's birthday, and made 
 a reservation at the National Hotel, (which, by the 
 way, was the headquarters for the Jesuit traitors) for 
 himself and friends. The Southern leaders immediately 
 got in touch with him with the intention of ^ testing 
 him out and learning precisely whether he intended 
 to make good on his pre-election promises or not. 
 
 The gentleman had had his ear to the ground ev- 
 idently and heard the rumble of the Abolitionists' 
 wheels, and when the committee asked for a confer- 
 ence, he coolly informed them that he was President of. 
 the North, as well as of the South. This change of at- 
 titude was indicated by his very decided stand against 
 
60 ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 
 
 Jefferson Davis and his party, and he made known 
 his intention of settling the question of Slavery in the 
 Free States to the satisfaction of the people in those 
 States. 
 
 The following quotations from the New York 
 Herald and the Post at the time chronicled what fol- 
 lowed : 
 
 "The appointments favoring the North by the 
 Jeff Davis faction will doubtless be accepted, and 
 treated as a declaration of war, and a war of ex- 
 termination on one side or the other." (Feb. 25, 
 1857.) 
 
 "On Washington's birthday, Buchanan's stand 
 became known and the next day (23rd) he was 
 poisoned. The plot was deep and planned with 
 skill. Mr. Buchanan, as was customary with men 
 in his station, had a table and chairs reserved for 
 himself and friends in the dining room at the Na- 
 tional Hotel. The President was known to be an 
 inveterate tea drinker; in fact, Northern people 
 rarely drink anything else in the evening. South- 
 ern men prefer coffee. Thus, to make sure of Bu- 
 chanan and his Northern friends, arsenic was 
 sprinkled in the bowls containing the tea and 
 lump sugar and set on the table where he was to 
 sit. The pulverized sugar in the bowls used for 
 coffee on the other tables was kept free from the 
 poison. Not a single Southern man was affected 
 or harmed. Fifty or sixty persons dined at the 
 table that evening, and as nearly as can be 
 learned, about thirty-eight died from the effects 
 of the poison.'' 
 
 "President Buchanan was poisoned, and with 
 great difficulty his life was saved. His physicians 
 treated him understandingly from instructions 
 given by himself as to the cause of his illness, 
 for he understood well what was the matter." 
 
 "Since the appearance of the epidemic, the 
 tables at the National Hotel have been almost 
 
ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 61 
 
 empty. But more remarkable than the appear- 
 ance of the epidemic itself, is the supineness of 
 the authorities of Washington, in regard to it." 
 
 "Have the proprietors of the Hotel, or clerks, 
 or servants, suffered from it? If not, in what re- 
 spect did their diet and accommodations differ 
 from those of the guests (Northern) V 
 
 "There is more in this calamity than meets 
 the eye. It is a matter that should not be trifled 
 with." (N. Y. Post, March 18, 1857.) 
 
 Thus again, we see the Jesuits "found their man" 
 and kept their oath that : 
 
 "I do further promise and declare, that I will 
 have no opinion or will of my own, or any mental 
 reservation whatsoever, even as a corpse or cada- 
 ver, but I will unhesitatingly obey each and every 
 command that I may receive from my superiors 
 in the Militia of the Pope, and of Jesus Christ. ' 
 
 "That when the same cannot be done openly, 
 I will secretly use the poison cup . . . the steel of 
 the poinard, or the leaden bullet, regarflless of 
 honor, rank, dignity or authority, either public or 
 private, as I at any time may be directed to do." 
 
 The close call to death frightened and made James 
 Buchanan the most subservient tool the Jesuits ever 
 had. An old friend who visited him in Washington a 
 few months after, said he had "aged twenty-five 
 years.'" He had been the picture of health, robust and 
 straight as an arrow, when he arrived in Washington 
 for his Inauguration. After he had gotten his dose he 
 was emaciated and bent. An item from the Newark 
 News Advertiser of March 18th, 1857, said: 
 
62 ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 
 
 "SYMPTOMS OF THE ATTACK AND NAMES OF 
 SOME OF THE MURDERED DEAD." 
 
 "A persistent diarrhoea, in some cases accom- 
 panied by violent vomiting, and always with a 
 most distressing loss of strength and spirits in the 
 person. Sometimes the person for one day would 
 be filled with the hopes of recovery, then relapse 
 again to loss of spirits and illness." 
 
 "Elliott Eskridge, the nephew of President 
 Buchanan, died from the effects of the poisoning." 
 During the Buchanan administration seven States 
 seceded, headed by South Carolina, taking seven forts, 
 four arsenals and one Navy Yard, and the United 
 States Mint at New Orleans, with five hundred and 
 eleven thousand dollars. The total value of the govern- 
 ment property stolen at this time was TWENTY-SEV- 
 EN MILLION DOLLARS AND EIGHT MILLIONS 
 OF INDLVN TRUST BONDS ! 
 
 Allow me here to give the following graphic pic- 
 ture of the situation in 1850-60, taken from a eulogy, 
 delivered on Wendell Phillips in Boston, April 9th, 1884, 
 by the Rev. Dr. Archibald H. Grimke of Washington, 
 D. C, one of the most scholarly and eloquent thinkers 
 of his race: 
 
 "But when the year 1850 came and the slave 
 power hung its Black bill over the Free States, 
 non-resistance had no longer any place in the 
 conflict. The time for argument had passed; the 
 time for arms had arrived. On the first wave of 
 this momentous change Wendell Phillips mounted 
 to leadership. His speeches were the first billows 
 breaking in prophetic fury against the South. 
 They were the first blasts of the tempest; the 
 first shock on the utmost verge of the Civil War. 
 Forcible resistance of the Black bill was now 
 obedience to God . . . The passage of the Bill was 
 the actual opening of hostilities between two sec- 
 tions. The Union from that moment was in the 
 state of war. Of course there were not then any 
 
ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 63 
 
 of the visible signs of war, — no opposite armies — 
 two belligerent governments. ... It was none the 
 
 less real, however The peacable surrender of 
 
 a fugitive slave becomes now treason to freedom. 
 Wendell Phillips comprehended the gravity of the 
 situation. He refused to cry peace when there was 
 no peace. He answered the Southern manifesto 
 with the thunder of his great speech on the an- 
 niversary of the rendition of Sims. . .He is in com- 
 mand and has called for guns. . . He saw clearly 
 that the danger of the reform lay in the stupor 
 and indifference which repeated executions under 
 the law would produce. 
 
 "The South was united and highly organized, 
 impelled by a single purpose, and in possession of 
 the whole machinery of government. He saw the 
 North timid, irresolute, sordid, drugged by Whigs 
 and Democrats, and frozen with the fear of dis- 
 union. . . Peace was slavery, and sleep was death. 
 The only hope of freedom lay now in the finger 
 that could pull the trigger. This might beat back 
 the advancing apathy and save the citadel of lib- 
 erty. It is the glory of Phillips that he saw this. 
 .... He was an army in himself. His eloquence 
 poured out month after month, and year after 
 year, a kind of imminent presence. . . . the very 
 air of the Free States vibrated with the disembod- 
 ied soul of his mighty invectives. . . Shock after 
 shock has loosened the ice from the conscience 
 and courage of the North. The Republican party 
 is born, and then comes the first political freedom. 
 Abraham Lincoln has entered the White House, 
 and Jeff Davis has turned his back upon Washing- 
 ton forever. The trial morning is rising gloomiy 
 upon the republic. The gray light is haunted with 
 strange voices, winged portents, bloody appari- 
 tions. Right and Wrong, Freedom and Slavery 
 have reached the plains of *60 !" 
 Thus we have been given a glimpse of the decade 
 from the murder of Taylor to the Election of Lincoln. 
 
Chapter V. 
 
 When The Pope Was King. 
 
 That Pope Pius IXth conspired with Napoleon 
 nird to take advantage of the conflict between the 
 North and the South in this country and to with one 
 blow destroy both Popular Governments of Mexico and 
 the United States, is beyond question. 
 
 During the years from 1864 to '65 the activity of 
 these Jesuits in Europe was redoubled. There is no 
 doubt that they were not in close touch with every 
 step and phase of the Rebellion in this country. In 
 1856 Prince Maximillian of Austria, was called to Rome 
 where a marriage had been arranged through ecclesias- 
 tical and royal intrigue between himself and the Prin- 
 cess Carlotta, daughter of King Leopold Ilnd of Bel- 
 gium, thus uniting two of the strongest Catholic 
 powers in Europe. 
 
 The next step was the marriage of this royal 
 couple in the Cathedral at Vienna. In April, 1864, by 
 the orders of the Dope, they were crowned Emperor 
 and Empress of Mexico at Pontifical High Mass and 
 amidst great rejoicing. On April 14, 1864, just one 
 year to the day, previous to Lincoln's assassination, 
 this royal couple set sail in an Austrian ship of war 
 for Mexico. They put in at Cevita Vecchia, the port in 
 the Papal States, and were received at the Vatican by 
 the most elaborate ceremonies which had ever been 
 extended by a pope to rovaltv. After several days of 
 these honors and being loaded down with the papal 
 blessings they again resumed their journey across the 
 Atlantic. 
 
 Maximillian had been, during a previous visit to 
 Napoleon Illrd and his Empress Eugenia, assured of 
 the assistance of thirty thousand French and Belgium 
 troops for his invasion into Mexico, the -specific ob- 
 
ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 65 
 
 ject of which was the destruction of the young Repub- 
 lic already established under Juarez. These troops were 
 poured in and were being supported by the Mexican 
 people. It had been impressed upon Maximillian at the 
 Vatican that his first official act must be complete 
 restoration of all the church property and ecclesiasti- 
 cal "rights" of the clergy which had been confiscated 
 by the Liberal government. 
 
 After the conquest of Mexico the plan was for this 
 imperialistic commander "Emperor" Maximillian, to 
 join Jefferson Davis and Confederate troops at Rich- 
 mond, where they would sweep north and capture 
 Washington. 
 
 Davis had made a strong appeal in 1863 in a 
 letter to the Pope, and after the reply which he prompt- 
 ly received from "His Holiness" a wholesale desertion 
 of the Irish Catholic troops of the North to the Con- 
 federacy followed. In fact, the government figures are 
 that out of 144,000 Irish Romanists, but 44,000 re- 
 mained loyal. 
 
 We have seen and heard how the Roman priest- 
 hood the world over, is bending every effort to restore 
 the pope to the position which he occupied during the 
 Dark Ages. This is perhaps, an opportune time for the 
 reader to take a survey of the conditions which existed 
 in the Papal States prior to and during the Civil War 
 where the popes of Rome had been in supreme com- 
 mand for over fourteen hundred years. Certainly, four- 
 teen hundred years oucrht to be sufficient for a thor- 
 ough test of the merits of a system. Pius IXth was 
 elected in 1846. There had been three popes in the in- 
 terim between him and Pius Vllth who had restored 
 the Jesuits and called the Congress of Vienna in 1814. 
 There was no change in policy, however, nor any lax- 
 ness in re^^rard to the attitude of the church toward 
 its obligations to the "high contracting parties" of 
 the Holy Alliance and their Secret Treaty at Verona. 
 
 Of all of his predecessors Pius IXth was one of 
 the most reactionarv. His notorious Syllabus which 
 was proclaimed to a startled world in December, 1864, he 
 
66 ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 
 
 anathamatized every fundamental principle upon which 
 this Republic is based. The historians are inclined to 
 place all the blame of his mistakes, and they were 
 many, upon his Secretary of State, Cardinal Antonelli, 
 who was beyond doubt "the power behind the throne" — 
 the agent for the "Black" pope. Antonelli is far more 
 interesting as a character study than the "White" 
 pope, inasmuch as he was so deeply interested in the 
 affairs of this country during the war, I am taking 
 the liberty of reproducing some graphic pen pictures 
 by the distinguished French journalist, M. About, who 
 made a personal visit to the Papal States to learn, 
 firsthand, if the astounding reports from the Italian 
 Revolutionists which had been pouring into the Eu- 
 ropean nress for several years were correct. M. About's 
 book, "The Roman Question" is intensely interesting 
 and written in the peculiarly piquant style of the 
 brilliant Frenchman. It is long since out of print and 
 difficult to secure as the Leopoldines have bought un 
 every copy which comes under their WATCHFUL 
 EYE. It is a terrific arraignment, especially so, as the 
 author himself was a Roman Catholic. 
 
 His visit to the Papal States was made in 1859, 
 the same year you will remember that Abraham Lin- 
 coln was making his telling political campaigns for 
 the presidency, and immortalizing himself by his de- 
 bate with Judge Douglas, tearincr to tatters the Dred 
 Scott Decision, Judge Roger E. Taney. 
 
 The great Italian poet and patriot, Mazzini. was an 
 exile, living in a London attic, pouring out his soul's 
 most noble anneals to the Liberals of Europe. His large 
 property holdings in Italy had been confiscated by the 
 Pope^s government. The Carlysles had visited him in 
 his attic and through their friendship he was brought 
 from the miserable surroundings and ensconsed i^ 
 comfortable quarters, where the most distinguished 
 literati of London and Paris visited him and were cap- 
 tivated by his remarkable talents and his sincere na- 
 triotism and completely won over bv his irresistible 
 arguments for a FREE AND UNITED ITALY. 
 
ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 67 
 
 The exile Garibaldi, with his "Redshirted Legion" 
 had answered the call of his country after a sojourn 
 in the United States where he had also lived in an at- 
 tic in New York City, following the humble profession 
 of a candlemaker, saving up his money. 
 
 One day he suddenly closed his attic door and dis- 
 appeared as mysteriously as he had come. The great 
 soldier patriot returned to Italy by the way of London 
 and one of his most brilliant conquests was the capture 
 of the hearts of the people of London. The red-blooded 
 staunch Protestants not only of the city itself, but 
 from all over England, came to welcome the man who 
 had returned to offer his sword against the papal 
 yoke. They went wild with delight. Garibaldi with his 
 yellow flowing hair under his big slouch hat was lifted 
 to the shoulders of the crowd, mad with joy which 
 surged about him, and carried as though his great 
 form was but a feather's weight. 
 
 This was an insult, aye, it was the unforgiva- 
 ble sin in the eyes of the black-robed Jesuits, and the 
 Vatican, which aroused the deadly hatred for/ the 
 English Protestant nation, a hatred which has not 
 abated up to today. 
 
 One might presume under the circumstances that 
 the Pope would have been too occupied with his own af- 
 fairs to have meddled with the politics in the United 
 States, at such a time. 
 
 The clever Frenchman, M. Dupin, has said: 
 
 "Le Jesuitism est un epee dont la poingee est a 
 Rome, et la point partout." — Jesuitism is a sword whose 
 hilt is in Rome and its point everywhere. 
 
 Gladstone had visited the Papal States in 18^50 
 and on his return to England, had reported to his 
 government and the London Press that the Papal gov- 
 ernment was "The negation of God." 
 
68 ASSASSINS GP ABRAHAM LINCOLN 
 
 In the preface of his book, M. About says : 
 
 "It was in the Papal States that I studied the 
 Roman Question. I travelled over every part of the 
 country; I conversed with men of all opinions, ex- 
 amined things very closely, and collected my informa- 
 tion on the spot " 
 
 "The pressing condition of Italy has obliged me 
 to write more rapidly than I could have wished; and 
 this enforced haste has given me a certain air of 
 warmth, perhaps of intemperance, even to the most 
 
 carefully matured reflections I fight fairly and 
 
 in good faith. I do not pretend to have judged the 
 foes of Italy without passion; but I have calumniated 
 none of them." 
 
 "If," he continues, "I have sought a publisher in 
 Brussels, while I had an excellent one in Paris, it is 
 not because I feel any alarm on the score of the regu- 
 lations of our press, or the severity of our tribunals. 
 But as the Pope has a long arm that might reach me 
 in France, I have have gone a little out of the way to 
 tell him the plain truths contained in these pages." 
 
 And now for the "plain truths" about his Secretary 
 of State, the Cardinal Deacon, Antionelli. 
 
 "He was born among thieves His native place 
 Sonino, is more celebrated in the history of crime, 
 than all Arcadia in the annals of virtue. This nest 
 of vultures was hidden in the southern mountains, to- 
 ward the Neapolitan frontier. Roads, impractical to 
 mounted dragoons, winding through brakes and thick- 
 ets; forests impenetrable to the stranger; deep ra- 
 vines and gloomy caverns — all combine to form a most 
 desirable landscape, for the convenience of crime. 
 
 The houses of Sonino, old, ill built, flung pellmell, 
 one upon another, and almost uninhabitable by human 
 beings, were, in point of fact, little else than depots of 
 pillage and magazines of rapine. The population, alert 
 and vigorous, had for many centuries practiced armed 
 robberies, and depredation had gained its livelihood at 
 the point of the carbine." 
 
ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 69 
 
 "Newborn infants inhaled a contempt of the law 
 with the mountain air, and drew in the love of others 
 goods, with their mother's milk. Almost as soon as 
 they could walk, they assumed cioccie, or moccasins 
 of untanned leather, with which they learned to run 
 fearlessly along the ledge of the giddiest mountain 
 precipices. When they had acquired the art of pur- 
 suing and escaping, of taking without being taken, 
 the knowledge of different coins, the arithmetic of 
 the distribution of booty, and the principles of the 
 Apaches or the Comanches, their education was 
 rights of nations, as they are practiced among the 
 deemed complete. . . . 
 
 "In the year of grace 1806, this sensual, brutal, 
 impious, superstitious, ignorant and cunning race, en- 
 dowed Italy with a little mountaineer, known as Gia- 
 como Antionelli. Hawks do not hatch doves. This is 
 an axiom in natural history, which has no need of 
 demonstration. Had Giacomo Antionelli been gifted 
 with simple virtues of an Arcadian shepherd, his vil- 
 lage would instantly have disowned him. But the in- 
 fluence of certain events modified his conduct, al- 
 though they failed to modify his nature." 
 
 "If he received his first lessons from successful 
 brigandage, his next teachers were the gendarmerie. 
 When he was hardly four years old, the discharge of 
 a high moral lesson shook his ears ; it was the French 
 troops who were shooting brigands in the outskirts 
 of Sonino." 
 
 "After the return of Pius Vllth., he witnessed 
 the decapitation of a few neighboring relatives who 
 had dandled him on their knees. Under Leo Xllth., it 
 was still worse. The wholesome correctives of the 
 wooden horse were permanently established in village 
 
 square St. Peter's Gate, which adjoins the house 
 
 of the Antoinelli, was ornamented with a garland of 
 human heads, which .... grinned dogmatically enough 
 
 in their iron cages Young Giacomo was enabled 
 
 to reflect upon the inconveniences of brigandage, even 
 before he had tasted its sweets ... He hesitated for 
 
70 ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 
 
 some time as to the choice of a calling. His natural 
 vocation was that of the inhabitants of Sonino . . . 
 to live in plenty, to enjoy every sort of pleasure, to 
 rule others, to frighten them if necessary, but above 
 all, to violate laws with immunity." 
 
 With the view of attaining so lofty an end, 
 without endangering his life, for which he had ever 
 a most particular regard, he entered the great seminary 
 of Rome." 
 
 That's a beautiful picture of the next highest pre- 
 late to the Pope, is it not ? 
 
 So much for the early years of Antoinelli. 
 
 But permit me to quote again from the pen of 
 the author of 'The Roman Question," who, as we know, 
 was an eye witness : 
 
 No country in Europe is more richly gifted, or 
 possesses greater advantages, whether for agricul- 
 ture, manufacture or commerce .... 
 
 Traversed by the Appenines, which divide it 
 about equally, the Papal dominions incline gently on 
 one side the Adriatic, on the other the Meditteranean. 
 In each of the seas they possess an excellent porr; 
 to the east, Ancona to the west, Civita Vecchia .... If 
 Panurge had had these ports in his kingdom, he would 
 have infallibly built himself a navy ... The Phoenic- 
 ians and Carthagenians were not so well off. 
 
 A river tolerably well known under the name of 
 the Tiber, waters nearly the whole country to the 
 west. In former days it ministered to the wants of 
 internal commerce. Roman historians describe it as 
 navigable up to Perugia. At the present time it is 
 hardly so far as Rome ; but if its bed were cleared out, 
 and the filth not allowed io be thrown in, it would ren- 
 der greater service and would not overflow so often. 
 
 In 1847, the country lands subject to the Pope 
 were valued at about 34,800,000 pound? sterling . . . 
 the Minister of Public Works and Commerce admitted 
 
ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 71 
 
 that the property was not estimated at above a third 
 of its real value. If capital returned its proper interest, 
 if activity and industry caused trado and manufac- 
 tures to increase, the national income, as ought to be 
 the case, it would be the Rothschilds who would bor- 
 row money from the Pope at six per cent interest." 
 
 As a matter of fact the Papacy was heavily in- 
 debted to the Rothschilds upon which About throws a 
 high light further on. 
 
 "But, stay," he continues, "I have not yet com- 
 pleted the catalogue of possessions. To the munificence 
 of nature, must be addea the inheritance of the past. 
 The poor Pagans of great Rome left all their property 
 to the Pope who dam.ns ihem. 
 
 They left him gigantic aqueducts, prodigious sew- 
 ers and roads which we find still in use, after twenty 
 centuries of traffic. They left him the Coliseum, for 
 his Capuchins to preach in. They left him an exam- 
 ple of an administration without equal in history. 
 But the heritage was accepted without the respon- 
 sibilities. 
 
 "I will conceal from you no longer that this 
 magnificent territory appeared to me in the first 
 place most unworthily cultivated. From Civita 
 Vecchia to Rome, a distance of sixteen leagues, 
 cultivation struck me in the lieht of very rare 
 accident . . . Some pasture fields, some land in 
 fallow, plenty of brambles, and, at long intervals, 
 a field with oxen at the dIow: that is what the 
 traveler will see in April. He will not meet with the 
 occasional forest which he finds in the desert re- 
 gions of Turkey. It seems as if man had swept 
 across the land to destroy everything, ai^d the soil 
 had been taken possession of by flocks and herds 
 
 I used to walk in every direction, and 
 
 sometimes long distances . . • F'owever, in pro- 
 portion as I receded from the City of Rome, I 
 
72 ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 
 
 found the land better cultivated. On would sup- 
 pose that from a certain distance from St. Peter's, 
 the peasants worked with greater relish " . . . . 
 
 "I sometimes fancied that these honest la- 
 borers worked as if they were afraid to make a 
 noise, lest by smiting the soil too hard, too deeply, 
 too boldly, they should wake up the dead of the 
 past ages." 
 
 "St. Peter's is a noble church, but, m its 
 way, a well cultivated field is a beautiful sight. . . . 
 ... It seemed to me, that the activity and 
 prosperity of the subjects of the Pope were in 
 exact proportion to the square of the distance 
 which separated them from Rome ... in other 
 words, that the shade of the monuments of the 
 eternal city, was noxious to the cultivation of 
 the country, Rabelais says, *the shade of monas- 
 teries is fruitful' but he speaks in another sense." 
 I submitted my doubts to an old ecclesiastic, who 
 hastened to undeceive me. 'The country is not un- 
 cultivated," he said, "or if it be so, the fault is with 
 the subjects of the Pope. This people is indolent by 
 nature, thoujorh 21,415 monks are always preaching 
 activity and industry to them!" 
 
 That is a birdseye view, dear reader, of the i^a- 
 pal States in the early eighteentn century when we 
 were having our blind struggle with the Papacy for 
 our national existence in this country. 
 
 In his chapter on PLEBEIANS, M. About has this 
 to say: 
 
 "The subjects of the Holy Father are divided 
 by birth and fortune into three very distinct classes — 
 nobility, citizens, and people, or plebeians. 
 
 The Gospel has omitted to consecrate the inequal- 
 ity of men, but the law of the state — that is to say, the 
 will of the Popes — carefully maintains it. Benedict 
 XiV declared it honorable and salutary in his Bull of 
 January 4, 1746, and Pius IX expressed himself in 
 the same terms at the beginning of his Chirografo 
 of May 2nd, 1853.*' 
 
ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 73 
 
 Ponder these words well, dear reader, and add to 
 them the following quotation which I hfted from The 
 New World, the Official Organ of the Roman Catho- 
 lic Church in the Archdiocese of Chicago, 111., which 
 was a comment on the Federation of Catholic Socie- 
 ties held at New Orleans the previous November 1910 : 
 
 Human society has its origin from God and is 
 constituted of two classes of people, rich and poor, 
 which respectively represent Capital and Labor. 
 
 Hence it follows that according to the ordinance of 
 God, human society is composed of two classes, su- 
 periors and subjects, masters and servants, learned 
 and unlettered, rich and poor, nobles and plebians." 
 (The New World, Chicago, 111., Dec. 20-1910.) 
 
 It is astounding to know that Diomede Falconio, 
 the Pope's Legate to this countrv, who uttered the 
 above divine right treason on that occasion was at the 
 time a naturalized citizen of the United States ! ! ! 
 
 That is what the oath of a Jesuit amounts to. 
 
 Falconio, who has since died, was instructing the 
 subjects of the Pope in this country and there were 
 thousands of Catholics present at the New Orleans 
 Convention, that a government based as our POPU- 
 LAR Government is, is not worthy "favor or support." 
 (See Leo XIHth's Great Encycicles, page 126). 
 
 In a nutshell, the Roman Church in this country 
 has always taught and is still teaching its subjects a 
 separate citi<enship inimical to our Amerjcaa citizen- 
 ship that the sole authority to rule must come from the 
 consent of the ruled- 
 
 This is the same divine right IDEA which rent 
 this country from stem to stern in 1860, which gashed 
 its fair face with the Mason and Dixon Line I 
 
 This is th^ same identical teaching which swept 
 Abraham Lincoln from us at the most critical moment 
 in our country's history. 
 
 This is the concentrated treason which is today be- 
 ing inculcated in the minds of one million seven hundred 
 thousand boys and girls who attend the Catholic paro- 
 chial schools which we have wickedly permitted her to 
 
74 ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 
 
 erect in direct opposition to the Public Schools where 
 the fundamentals of POPULAR GOVERNMENT is in- 
 stilled. 
 
 This is the ROMAN QUESTION, the irrepres- 
 sible conflict, the same old question which the great 
 Lincoln understood and defined so thoroughly in his 
 campaign with Douglas — Douglas with the Roman 
 Catholic wife — Douglas, the Leopoldine, the defender 
 of slavery, who was chosen whether consciously or un- 
 consciously, I cannot say, but chosen just the same to 
 champion the doctrine of class distinction in this coun- 
 try with which they thought to destroy it. 
 
 "That is the issue that will continue in this coun- 
 try when the poor tongues of Judge Douglass and 
 myself shall be silent- 
 
 It is the eternal struggle between these two prin- 
 ciples — right and wrong — throughout the world. 
 
 They are the two principles that have stood face 
 to face from the beginning of time, and will ever con- 
 tinue to struggle. 
 
 The one is the common right of humanity and the 
 
 other, the divine right of kings it is the same 
 
 spirit that says: ''You work and toil and earn bread 
 and ril eat it.*' no matter in what shape it comes, .... 
 it is the same tyrannical principle." (Lincoln's Speech 
 at Alton, m., October 15, 1858.) 
 
 Abraham Lincoln was the living embodiment 
 of"the common right of humanity/ In his life the 
 perfection of the NEW IDEA had been materialized, 
 had become a living, breathing FACT which was un- 
 conquerable, yes, unassailable. 
 
 Lincoln knew the struggle v^ould go on, after 
 "these poor tongues of Judge Douglass and myself 
 shall be silent." 
 
 I believe that the prophetic, inimitable, words that 
 Charles Chiniquy attributes to him in his Fifty Years 
 In The Church of Rome were said by him. They have 
 the peculiar literary style of Lincoln, and could never 
 
ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 75 
 
 be confused with the effusive, emotional manner of ex- 
 pression of the Frenchman that Chiniquy had than 
 night with day. 
 
 The opening words : 
 
 "I do not pretend to be a prophet," ring with 
 the modesty which distinguishes many of Mr. Lin- 
 coln's greatest sayings. Listen: 
 
 "I do not pretend to be a prophet. But though 
 not a prophet, I see a very dark cloud on our ho- 
 rizon. That dark cloud is coming from Rome. It 
 will be filled with tears of blood. It will rise and 
 increase, till its flanks will be torn by a flash of 
 lightning, followed by a fearful peal of thunder. 
 Then a cyclone such as the world has never seen 
 will pass over this country, spreading ruin and 
 desolation from north to south. After it is over, 
 there will be long days of peace and prosperity; 
 for popery with its Jesuitism and merciless Li- 
 quisition, will have been forever swept away from 
 our country. Neither you, nor I, but our children 
 will live to see these things."— (Page 715, Fifty 
 Years In The Church of Rome, by Rev. Charles 
 Chiniquy) 
 
Chapter VI. 
 
 Lincoln Takes Up The Burden. 
 
 Certainly, no president of this Republic was ever 
 beset with so many staggering problems as President 
 Lincoln. The more we study those perilous years, the 
 more we wonder at his great wisdom, firmness and 
 boundless patience and charity- 
 
 The Ultra-Pro-Slavery leaders had sworn to pre- 
 vent the seating of Abraham Lincoln in the Presidental 
 chair. So certain were they of the success of their 
 plans that just as Buchanan was leaving the White 
 House, before the arrival of Mr. Lincoln, he turned 
 and said : "As George Washington was the first Presi- 
 dent, so James Buchanan will be the last President 
 of the United states." 
 
 Mr. Lincoln had no idea of the rottenness and 
 treason which were there to face him in Washington. 
 Almost every department in Washington was headed 
 by a traitor to the Government, for the arch-plotters 
 had been placing their trusted tools preparatory to 
 the final blow. 
 
 The first months of his administration were 
 spent in investigating these national assassins, and 
 replacing them with men who were true. This, in 
 itself, was a task that only the judgment of Lincoln 
 could have accomplished. 
 
 Mr. Lincoln had no idea of the dimensions of the 
 Secession Plot. He was later to find that his first 
 call for 75,000 volunteers was inadequate and was 
 amazed when the Governors of three Southern States 
 refused to send their (juota. 
 
 Another disillusionment was when he noted that as 
 he increased his calls for troops, Jefferson Davis did 
 not send out any call. From that on Lincoln becran to 
 realize something of the seriousness of the situation 
 
ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 77 
 
 and his last call was for "three years or during the 
 war." Southern leaders also realized the fact that they 
 were up against the real thing. 
 
 When President Lincoln reached Philadelphia for 
 his first inauguration, there was a plot discovered 
 and disclosed to General John Hancock at Washington 
 to assassinate Mr. Lincoln at Baltimore, where he was 
 to have stopped to address the citizens on his 
 way to the Capital. The full details had been planned. 
 An Italian barber well known in Baltimore, a Romanist, 
 was to have stabbed him while seated in his carriage, 
 when he started from the depot. 
 
 The son of Wm. H. Seward, who was at that time 
 Senator and afterwards Lincoln's Secretary of State, 
 was sent post-haste to Philadelphia to warn Mr. Lin- 
 coln of his danger. It was a difficult matter at first 
 to convince him of the seriousness of it. He flatly 
 refused to go to Washington immediately, as was 
 suggested by his friends, but promised that after he 
 had raised the flag on Independence Hall in Philadel- 
 phia, and delivered an address to the members of 
 the Legislature at Harrisburg, he would take an ear- 
 lier train to Washington, which he did, accompanied 
 by only one friend. Wade C. Lammon, one of his law 
 partners, and Wm. H. Pinkerton, head of the Detective 
 Agency of that name in Chicago. The party took the 
 six o'clock train out of Philadelphia, quietly without 
 attracting any publicity, and as Mr. Lincoln was sound- 
 ly sleeping, the train whizzed through Baltimore, and 
 got him to Washington early in the morning, where 
 he was taken in charge by the largest military and 
 Secret Service escort a president ever had been sur- 
 rounded with. Thus was the first of Rome's assassina- 
 tion plot thwarted. 
 
 The awakening of the President and the North 
 came on the morning of April 12, 1861 with the firing 
 on Fort Sumpter. This opening shot of the rebellion was 
 sent by General Beauregard, Jesuit leader of the mili- 
 tary operations. Beauregard was a professed Roman- 
 ist and sprung from a distinguished family of Jesuits. 
 
78 ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 
 
 The Cabin home where the baby Lincoln played about while 
 the ''Holy Alliance" was entered into to destroy the Govern- 
 ment he was to save. 
 
ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 79 
 
 The White House to which the People sent him Nov. 4, 
 1860, to "hit that thing hard". 
 
 m^'" 'mm 
 
 • m 
 
 m 
 
 
 The East R,oom where President Lincoln's body lay in state, 
 slain by the "leaden bullet". 
 
 In this room the bodies of five slain Presidents have rested. 
 
80 ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 
 
 The North was wholly unprepared for war. They 
 seemed not to have been able to realize that there 
 could ever be a conflict between the citizens of the 
 United States. This delusion was shot to pieces on 
 April 12th, and amidst the greatest consternation and 
 excitement preparations began in earnest. 
 
 That President Lincoln fully realized it was not 
 a Protestant South with which he was contending, 
 is clearly evident from his ov/n words on this sub- 
 ject in his conversation with the Rev. Charles Chini- 
 quy, ex-Catholic priest of Kankakee, 111., who called 
 once each year during his administration at the White 
 House to warn the President of his danger of assassina- 
 tion by these enemies of Popular Government and 
 their agents, the Jesuits, through their Leopoldines. 
 
 "THE COMMON PEOPLE HEAR AND SEE THE 
 BIG NOISY WHEELS OF THE SOUTHERN CON- 
 FEDERACY CARS, AND THEY CALL HIM JEFF 
 DAVIS, LEE, THOMPSON, BEAUREGARD, 
 SEMMES, OR OTHERS. THEY HONESTLY THINK 
 THAT THEY ARE THE MOTIVE POWER, THE 
 FIRST CAUSE OF OUR TROUBLES, BUT IT IS A 
 MISTAKE, THE TRUE MOTIVE POWER IS SE- 
 CRETED BEHIND THE THICK WALLS OF THE 
 VATICAN— THE COLLEGES AND SCHOOLS OF 
 THE JESUITS; THE CONVENTS OF THE NUNS, 
 THE CONFESSIONAL BOXES OF ROME." 
 
 "THERE IS A FACT WHICH IS TOO MUCH 
 IGNORED BY THE AMERICAN PEOPLE AND WITH 
 WHICH I AM ACQUAINTED ONLY SINCE I BE- 
 CAME PRESIDENT. IT IS, THAT THE BEST AND 
 LEADING FAMILIES OF THE SOUTH HAVE RE- 
 CEIVED THEIR EDUCATION IN GREAT PART, IF 
 NOT ALL, FROM THE JESUITS AND THE NUNS— 
 HENCE THE DEGRADING PRINCIPLE OF SLAV- 
 
ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 81 
 
 ERY, PRIDE AND CRUELTY, WHICH ARE AS SEC- 
 OND NATURE AMONG MANY OF THE PEOPLE." 
 
 And continuing Mr. Lincoln analyzed the Roman 
 psychology which played its part in his own murder, 
 when he said : 
 
 ''HENCE THAT STRANGE WANT OF FAIR 
 PLAY FOR HUMANITY; THAT IMPLACABLE 
 HATRED AGAINST IDEALS OF EQUALITY AND 
 LIBERTY, AS WE FIND THEM IN THE GOSPEi. 
 OF CHRIST— IT IS TRUE THAT WE BOUGHT 
 FLORIDA, LOUISIANA, SOUTH CAROLINA, NEW 
 MEXICO AND MISSOURI FROM SPAIN, BUT ROME 
 HAD PUT HER VIEWS OF HER ANTI-SOCIAL AND 
 ANTI-CHRISTIAN MAXIMS INTO THE VEINS OF 
 THE PEOPLE, BEFORE THEY BECAME AMERI- 
 CANS." 
 
 Surely, no clearer conception of the masked enemy 
 with which that great man was contending was ever 
 glimpsed. While other men studied books, Lincoln 
 STUDIED MEN, and the above interpretation of the 
 terrible conflict in which he was the Commander-in- 
 Chief is startHng in its accuracy. It is very simple now 
 for those of us who have the knowledge of an array 
 of facts before us, to see what Lincoln then saw, but 
 we must remember when he spoke those words, he 
 was the very storm-center and chief actor in the social 
 upheaval without the advantage of retrospect. Mr. 
 Lincoln had a prophetic sense almost uncanny, which 
 alone made him superior to any of his contemporaries 
 More than once he told his close friends that he had 
 a strong premonition that he would not outlast the 
 Rebellion, that his work would be finished with it. 
 
82 ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 
 
 ROMAN CHURCH ALWAYS HAS ADVOCATED 
 CHATTEL SLAVERY. 
 
 Disruption has always been the first motive of 
 the Jesuits, and black slavery was the rock upon 
 which they planned to rend this government. There 
 was no other principle, no ethics involved, never is, 
 so far as Jesuitism goes, except the fundamental prin- 
 ciples of the divine right rule of the popes of Rome 
 
 From the earliest times the Roman Church ad- 
 vocated human slavery. In the Middle Ages, when feu- 
 dal slavery flourished, the church fattened on the ex- 
 ploitation of the serfs who were bought and sold with 
 the land. These serfs were supposed to have no souls, 
 and were in precisely the same category as cattle- The 
 great monasteries and nunneries were among the larg- 
 est owners of serfs. For instance, had Joan D' Arc lived 
 four hundred years before her time, she and her fam- 
 ily would have been among the serfs attached to the 
 Monastery of San Ramey. In short, serfdom was the 
 basis of the wealth of the papacy. 
 
 It is true that in rare cases the church lifted out 
 of serfdom, a boy in whom it recognized some peculiar 
 native talent or personal trait which might be culti- 
 vated and turned to its own advantage, but the act 
 was simply the removal from the thralldom of serfdom 
 to that of ecclesiastical slavery for further and more 
 useful exploitation by more exacting task masters, for 
 the Roman church has ahvays enslaved the minds of 
 its victims. The Jesuit Oath exacts the obedience of 
 "cadavers." 
 
 In the ''Doctrine of the Jesuits" by Gury, trans- 
 lated into the French by that brilliant educator and 
 statesman, Paul Bert in 1879, we find the position of 
 the church and the Jesuits on black slavery quoted as 
 follows : 
 
 ''Slavery does not constitute a crime before any 
 law, divine or human. What reasons can we have for 
 undermining the foundations of slavery with the same 
 zeal that ought always to animate us in overcoming 
 
ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 83 
 
 evil? When one thinks of the state of degradation in 
 which the hordes of Africa live, the slave trade may 
 be considered as a providential act, and we almost re- 
 pudiate the philanthropy which sees in a man but 
 one thing — material liberty." 
 
 The above is the papal virus to which Lincoln re- 
 ferred and with which the youths of the best families 
 of the Southern Confederacy were inoculated, and 
 which made the leaders of the ultra pro-slavery forces 
 an easy prey to the Roman hierarchy and its priest- 
 hood in the great conspiracj^ or destruction which Lin- 
 coln visioned. 
 
 It was the virus which was let into the viens of 
 Mary E. Surra tt and was passed on by her to her son, 
 the arch-conspirator, John H. Surratt ; it was the opiate 
 which silenced the voice of conscience and kindness 
 of heart of John Wilkes Booth, and nerved his hand 
 to send the bullet into the great brain of Abraham 
 Lincoln; it v/as the deadly drug which made Lewis 
 Payne, the unfortunate, and the Happy-go-lucky 
 "Davy" Herold, the shiftless Edw- Spangler, and the 
 rest of the non-Catholic tools, wax, in the hands of the 
 arch-Leopoldines in this wicked conspiracy to wreck 
 this popular government. 
 
 This Jesuit virus that "Slavery does not constitute 
 a crime before any law, divine or human," was the 
 deadlv dru^ that set the BLOOD OF THE SLAVE 
 OWNERS ON FIRE, JUSTIFIED THEIR "CAUSE '' 
 distorted their vision, controlled their ethics and ap- 
 pealed so strongly to their economic interests, and it 
 was the one big urge underlying the whole progress 
 of the treason of secession. 
 
 In the "A Memoir" of Jefferson Davis, the leader 
 of the Southern Confederacy, pubhshed by his wife 
 after his demise, we find on page 445, this remark: 
 "Mr. Davis's early education had always inclined in 
 the Roman Catholics, friends who could not be alien- 
 ated from the oppressed." In chapter 2nd, that gen- 
 tleman is quoted as follows : 
 
g4 ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 
 
 "The Kentucky Catholic school called St. 
 Thomas College, when I was there was connected 
 with the church. The priests were Dominicans. 
 They held large property ; productive fields, slaves, 
 flour mills, flocks and herds. As an association they 
 were rich. Individually, they were vowed to pov- 
 erty and self-abnegation. They were diligent, in 
 the care, both spiritual and material, of their 
 parishoners' wants. When I entered the school, a 
 large majority of the boys belonged to the Roman 
 Catholic church. After a short time I was the 
 only Protestant boy remaining, and also the small- 
 est boy in the school. From whatever reason, the 
 priests were particularly kind to me. Father Wal- 
 lace, afterwards bishop of Nashville, treated me 
 with the fondness of a near relative." 
 
 It is very obvious from the above that the "kind- 
 ness" shown to Jefferson Davis as a child clung to him 
 and influenced his whole life- It bore fruit, and his 
 friendliness to the Catholic church was well repaid by 
 that institution which always, under such circum- 
 stances, rewards its tools. 
 
 When Mr. Davis had been arrested after the close 
 of the Civil War and was to be tried for treason, it 
 was the distinguished Catholic attorney, Chas. O'Con- 
 nor, of New York City, who offered his services, which 
 were accepted in Mr. Davis's defense. 
 
 On Sept. 25th, 1863, Davis addressed the follow- 
 ing letter to Pius IXth: 
 
 "Richmond, Va., Sept. 25, 1863. 
 Very Venerable Sovereign Pontiff: 
 
 The letters which you have written to the 
 clergy of New Orleans and New York have been 
 committed to me, and I have read with emotion 
 the deep grief therein expressed for the ruin and 
 devastation caused by the war, which is now being 
 waged against the States and the people who have 
 selected me as their president, and your orders 
 
ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 85 
 
 to your clergy to exhort the people to peace and 
 charity. I am deeply sensible of the christian 
 charity which has impelled you to this reiterated 
 appeal to the clergy. It is for this reason I feel it 
 my duty to express personally and in the name 
 of the Confederate States our gratitude for such 
 sentiments of christian good feeling and love, and 
 to assure Your Holiness, that the people threaten- 
 ed even on their own hearths, with the most cruel 
 oppression and terrible carnage is desirous as it 
 always has been, to see the end of this impious 
 war; that we have ever addressed prayers to 
 heaven for that issue which Your Holiness now de- 
 sires; that we desire none of our enemies posses- 
 sions, that we merely fight to resist the devasta- 
 tion of our country and the shedding of our best 
 blood, and to force them to let us live in peace 
 unrler the protection of our own institutions and 
 under our laws, which not only insure to everyone 
 the enjoyment of his temporal rights but also the 
 free exercise of his religion. 
 
 I pray your Holiness to accept on the part of 
 myself and the people of the Confederate States 
 our sincere thanks for the efforts in favor of 
 peace. 
 
 May the Lord preserve the days of Your Holi- 
 ness and keep you under His divine protection. 
 (Signed) Jefferson Davis." 
 
 It occurs to me that after perusing the above bit 
 of concentrated treason, any apologist for this leader 
 of the Rebellion would be out of order. 
 
 Here is the Pope's reply: 
 
 "Hustrious and honorable President, 
 Salutation. 
 We have just received with all suitable wel- 
 come the persons sent by you to place in our 
 hands your letter dated the 25th of Sept. last. 
 
g6 ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 
 
 Author of infamous "Syllabus" proclaimed December 8, 
 1864 which anathematizes the fundamentals of Representative 
 Governments and was aimed particularly at the United States 
 which stands in authority today precisely as it did the day it 
 was uttered as is attested by the Great Encycicles of Leo XII. 
 
ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 87 
 
 Not slight was the pleasure we experienced when 
 we learned from those persons and the letter, 
 with what feelings of joy and gratitude, illus- 
 trious and honorable President, as soon as you 
 were informed of our letters to our venerable 
 brother, John, Archbishop of New York and John, 
 Archbishop of New Orleans, dated the 18th of 
 October of last year, and in which we have with 
 all our strength exerted and exhorted those ven- 
 erable brothers that in their episcopal piety and 
 solicitude they should endeavor with the most 
 ardent zeal and in our name, to bring about the 
 end of that fatal Civil War which has broken 
 out in those countries in order that the Amer- 
 ican people may obtain peace and concord and 
 dwell charitably together. 
 
 It is particularly agreeable to us to see that 
 you, illustrious and honorable President, and your 
 people, were animated with the same desires of 
 peace and tranquilitty which we have in our let- 
 ters inculcated upon our venerable brothers. May 
 it please God at the same time to make other 
 people of America and their rulers reflecting 
 seriously how terrible is civil war and what 
 calamities it engenders, listen to the inspira- 
 tions of a calmer spirit and adopt resolutely the 
 part of peace. 
 
 As for us, we shall not cease to offer up the 
 most fervent prayers to God Almighty that He 
 may pour out upon all its people of America the 
 spirit of peace and charity, and that He will stop 
 the great evils which afflict them. We at the 
 same time beseech the God of Pity to shed abroad 
 upon you, the light of His Grace and attach you 
 to us by a perfect friendship. 
 
 Given at Rome, at St. Peters the 3rd day of 
 December, 1863 of our Pontificate Eighteen. 
 
 (Signed) Pius IXth." 
 
S8 ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 
 
 The reader will note the recognition by the Pope 
 of a divided country and also his recognition of Davis 
 as the President. It was on the publication of this 
 letter that the large desertions of Roman Catholics 
 from the ranks of the North began- 
 
 Mrs. Davis tells us: 
 
 "During Mr. Davis' imprisonment, the Holy 
 father sent a likeness of himself and wrote under- 
 neath it, with his own hand, attested by the seal 
 of the Cardinal Antonelli, 'Come unto me all ye 
 who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give 
 you rest.' '* 
 The lady further opines that: 
 
 *'The dignity and the man both illustrated 
 the meek and lowly Lord of us all, whose Vice- 
 Regent he was." 
 
 This remark leaves no doubt as to precisely 
 where she stood on the question. The writer was 
 amused to learn that Jeff Davis was a "Wet'* which 
 is also in keeping with his early education in the 
 Roman Church, and that his explanation upon an oc- 
 casion when he was pressed for his attitude upon 
 the subject is almost identical with that of the late 
 J. Card. Gibbons. He says in part in his defense of 
 the liquor traffic: 
 
 "To destroy individual liberty, and moral 
 responsibility, (Get that, dear reader) would be 
 to eradicate one evil by the substituticr- of an- 
 other, which it is submitted would be more fatal 
 than that for which it was offered as a remedy. 
 The abuse and not the use of stimulants, it must 
 be confessed, is the evil to be remedied" 
 
 Upon the whole, surely no one can deny that 
 Rome's fatal virus worked in the veins of this Ultra- 
 Pro-Slavery leader in the late Rebellion, and that 
 
ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 89 
 
 Lincoln was right when he recognized the "anti- 
 social and anti-christian views" of the foe with 
 which he struggled. The fact that Jefferson Davis 
 was not a professed Roman Catholic did not in the 
 slightest curtail his usefulness as a Leopoldine. 
 
 A sense of justice and gratitude should com- 
 pel every loyal American to remember the de- 
 cisive and correct attitude of the English govern- 
 ment nf the psychological moment in our Civil War. 
 It stands in sharp contrast with the meddlesome, 
 treacherous letter of the Pope, above quoted to the 
 "Honorable and Illustrious President*' of the Seceding 
 States, On page 476 in the "Memoirs" by Mrs. Davis, 
 quotes in full the ultimatum of England which was re- 
 ceived by Davis at Richmond through the British Con- 
 sul which says in part: 
 
 "After consulting with the law officers of 
 the Crown, Her Majesty's government have come 
 to the decision that the agents of the authorities 
 of the so-called Confederate States have been en- 
 gaged in building vessels which would be at least 
 partially equipped for war purposes on leaving 
 the ports of this country; that these war ves- 
 sels would undoubtedly be used against the 
 United States, a country with which this gov- 
 ernment is at peace; that this would be a viola- 
 tion of the neutrality laws of the realm ; and that 
 the Government of the United States would have 
 just grounds for serious complaint against her 
 Majesty*s Government, should they permit such 
 an infraction of the friendly relations subsisting 
 between the two countries. No matter what 
 might be the difficulty of proving in a court of 
 law that the parties procuring the building of 
 these vessels are agents of the socalled Confed- 
 erate States, it is universally understood through- 
 out the world that they are so, and Her Majesty's 
 Government are satisfied that Mr. Davis would 
 not deny that they are so. Under these circum- 
 
90 ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 
 
 stances, Her Majesty's Government protests and 
 remonstrates against any further efforts being 
 made on the part of the so-called Confederate 
 States, or the authorities or agents thereof to 
 build or to cause to be built, to purchase or to 
 cause to be purchased, any such vessels as those 
 styled as "Rams," or any other vessels to be used 
 for war purposes against the United States, or 
 against any country with which the United King- 
 dom is at peace or on terms of amity; and Her 
 Majesty's Government further protests against 
 all acts in violation of the neutrality laws of the 
 realms. 
 
 I have the honor to be your Lordship's obedi- 
 ent servant, 
 
 (Signed) Russell" 
 
 Those are the words with the "bark on/' No 
 recognition of "Your Illustrious and Honorable Presi- 
 dent." Only recognition of a UNITED STATES— 
 preservation of the Union — for which Abraham Lin- 
 coln was contending and gave his precious life. 
 
 The wobbly attitude of the past administrations 
 in Washington on the dangerous interference of the 
 Sinn Fein element in this country during the present 
 unpleasant attempt at disruption in the British Em- 
 pire on the so-called "Irish Question" which is not 
 Irish at all, but Roman question, makes one ashamed 
 and humiliated at the hemming and hawing of the 
 politicians in high office at Washington. 
 
 On July 26, 1862 in a letter to Reverdy Johnson, 
 who by the way was the attorney who afterwards 
 gave his distinguished services to Mrs. Mary E. Sur- 
 ratt, Mr. Lincoln said: 
 
 "I am a patient man, always willing to forgive on 
 the Christian terms of repentance, and also to give 
 ample time for repentance. Still, I must save the 
 government if possible. What I cannot do, of course 
 I will not do; but it may as well be understood, once 
 
ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 91 
 
 for all, that I shall not surrender this game leaving 
 any available card unplayed" 
 
 This was the same expression of sentiment which 
 had caused the death of William Henry Harrison, 
 the ninth President and Zachary Taylor, the twelfth 
 President, the preservation of the UNION and that 
 fact that Lincoln did it, was the grounds for his 
 physical death, by these wreckers. 
 
 Nor did the great Lincoln stop pouring out his 
 patriotic soul all during this trying four years. On 
 August 15, 1863, he gave his opinion upon the Draft 
 as follows: 
 
 ''Shall we shrink from the necessary means to 
 maintain our free government, which our grandfath- 
 ers employed to establish, and our own fathers have 
 already employed once to maintain it? Are we de- 
 generate? Has the manhood of our race run out?" 
 (Complete Works, Vol 11, p. 391). 
 
 The President spent the first months of his ad- 
 ministration feeling his way, so to speak. Delving into 
 the condition in the various departments, finding 
 traitors and carefully replacing them by those whom 
 he knew to be true. The lesson he was learning would 
 have staggered a man of It^ss couiage than Lincoln — 
 the steadfast, unyielding patriot, when any principle 
 of right was in the balance. 
 
 It was the sifting time with Lirscoln. In his letter 
 to Corning, June 1^88 he writes: 
 
 "The man who stands by and says nothing when 
 the peril of his count ly government- is discussed, can- 
 not be misunderstood. If not hindered, he is sure 
 to help the enemy; much more, if he talks ambig- 
 uously — talks for his country 'with buts and ifs and 
 ands.' " (Barrett, p. 632) 
 
 In addressing the members of the general as- 
 sembly Presbyterian Church, President Lmcoln said: 
 
 "As a pilot, I have used my best exertions to 
 keep afloat our ship of state; and shall be glad to 
 resign my trutt at the appointed time to another pi- 
 lot more skillful and successful than I may prove. 
 
92 ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 
 
 In every case and at all hazards the government must 
 be perpetuated." (Complete Works, Vol 2, Page 342.) 
 
 Thus almost daily was Lincoln telling of his Amer- 
 ican creed, adding fuel to the fires of hatred which 
 yi/ere burning in the wicked hearts of his country's 
 deadly enemies. Spurred on like a lot of demons, they 
 rounded up their hell hounds in and about Wash- 
 ington for the final perfidious act. 
 
 It finally became manifest tv Iies)dent Lincoln 
 that the presence of the foreign troops in Mexico waa 
 a menace to the safety of this country, and througn 
 our American Consul at Paris, this government 
 served notice on Napoleon, that Jesuit tool of the Pope, 
 that his troops must be removed from Mexico within 
 the time indicated by this country. 
 
 That there could be no misunderstanding con- 
 cerning the attitude of the Lincoln administration 
 toward the Republic of Mexico, was made plainly ev- 
 ident by the "note" sent through Secretary of State 
 Seward to our Consul at Paris to be delivered to 
 Napoleon nird which reads: 
 
 "The United States government does not de- 
 sire to suppress the fact that their sympathies 
 are with Mexico, that is to say with the Repub- 
 lic of Mexico nor does United States gov- 
 ernment, in any sense, for any purpose, 
 disapprove of the Republican government, 
 then in force in Mexico, or distrust the admin- 
 istration. Neither was there any disposition 
 apparently, to deny the Liberals of Mexico finan- 
 cial assistance/' 
 
 When President Lincoln submitted to the Senate 
 a Treaty granting a loan of $11,000,000 to the Repub- 
 lic of Mexico, although he made no recommendation 
 upon the subject, it was a sufficient hint which ex- 
 pressed his sympathy. 
 
 The demand that the French troops be removed 
 from Mexico was complied with to the letter, owing 
 
ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 93 
 
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94 ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 
 
 to complications in the situation in which France 
 at the time was involved in Europe she feared war 
 with the United States. 
 
 As can be imagined, this was a terrible blow to 
 the CONSPIRATORS in Europe, Canada and Mex- 
 ico, not to speak of their tools in this country. It 
 served to practically break the morale of the Confed- 
 erate army, and hastened the end oi the war with a 
 Victory for the right. 
 
 In the meantime events were shaping up in Mex- 
 ico in favor of the new Republic. 
 
 The Empress Carlotta within a few months after 
 their arrival in Mexico City, was sent to Rome by 
 Maximillian to explain in person that the strength 
 of Popular Government there had been underesti- 
 mated; that it was impossible to restore the church 
 property and the rights of the clergy. The important 
 part of her mission, however, was to ask for more 
 troops. 
 
 Her reception at the Vatican was simply 
 'withering;" the Pope was so chagrined and angry 
 at the failure of his designs and so severe in his re- 
 proach that the sensitive princess was carried out bodi- 
 ly in an unconscious state, upon which she recovered a 
 mental wreck. She was incarcerated in the Castle of 
 Bouchet near Brussels, Belgium, where she was placed 
 under constant surveillance, and was unaware that on 
 June 19th, 1867, Maximilian, her husband, was shot at 
 sunrise at Queretaro, Mexico, by the Revolutionists. 
 This is the tragic termination of what has always 
 been alluded to as one of the greatest love matches of 
 the royalty of Europe. 
 
 A victory for the North was not indicated un- 
 til the very last days of the War. The Leopoldines 
 left no stone unturned to defeat Lincoln*s renomi- 
 nation. They fully realized that if they did not, it 
 meant their doom. When the news of his re-election 
 was flashed over the wires, they did not give up — 
 far from it. They redoubled their efforts. They saw 
 
ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 95 
 
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96 ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 
 
 more clearly than ever before that Abraham Lincoln 
 was their Nemesis. They knew only too well that he 
 would be the stumbling block to their future plans, 
 for they felt that in Lincoln they would always en- 
 counter a powerful champion for the preservation of 
 the Union and all its institutions. They feared with a 
 deadly fear the influence of his able pen and voice, 
 They knew that to permit this calm, thorough, clear- 
 visioned man who had such a complete estimate ^ of 
 their perfidious designs to serve at the helm during 
 the RECONSTRUCTION PERIOD would mean their 
 ultimate rout in our political affairs. 
 
Chapter VH. 
 
 Assembling The Chosen Assassins. 
 
 One Sunday morning, during November, 1864, 
 as the congregation of the little Roman Catholic 
 Church of St. Mary's. Charles County, Maryland, was 
 filing out after high mass and stood about in groups 
 on the lawn talking in subdued voices about the news 
 from the "front" which was not far distant, a hand- 
 gome young man with dark, glowing eyes, jet black 
 curling hair, a swinging, graceful carriage, with the 
 grooming of a city man of culture and refinement, 
 sauntered out from the church and stood a moment 
 scanning the crowd; he finally made his way to a 
 group, the center of which was a Dr. Queen, a lead- 
 ing physician of that locality, and member of one 
 of the prominent families. The stranger presented a 
 card and the physician on glancing at it extended 
 his hand and gave the gentleman a most cordial wel- 
 come. The contents of the card must have borne a 
 magic password which admitted him to the confi- 
 dence and homes of these Romish devotees, every 
 one of whom was a strong secessionist. The doctor 
 introduced the stranger, who was none other than 
 John Wilkes Booth, son of the distinguished actor, 
 Junius Brutus Booth. John Wilkes Booth was the most 
 eminent young tragedian at the time in the coun- 
 try, by far the most talented of the Booth brothers. 
 He had accumulated by his profession some $25,000 
 which was ouite a fortune in those days for a young 
 man still in his twenties to accumulate. 
 
 Booth was what is known as a "traveling star," 
 having with great success played most of the big 
 cities in this country and Canada- He was exceedingly 
 popular with the members of his profession and up 
 
98 
 
 ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 
 
 nmi 
 
 ST. 
 
 MARY'S ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH, ON 
 BRYANTOWN ROAD 
 
 This is the Church where Booth attended Mass the Sunday, 
 middle of November, 1864 when he met Dr. S. A. Mudd and oth- 
 er Knights of the Golden Circle and tried to get in touch with 
 Surratt. This church marks the Catholic community to which he 
 fled and received protection. 
 
ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 99 
 
 until he was caught in the Jesuit web, his whole 
 thought and ambition was devoted to his art. 
 
 John Booth had chosen to work under the name 
 Wilkes until he gained recognition independent of 
 the family name, desiring to win on his own merits 
 his theatrical laurels. This in itself showed a principle 
 somewhat out of the ordinary. After a pronounced 
 success under the name of John Wilkes, he allowed 
 himself to be starred under his own name. He assumed 
 no airs, nor was he given to egotism as members of this 
 profession of lesser distinction and talent are prone to 
 be. There is no better way of estimating a man or wom- 
 an's disposition more surely than from the opinion of 
 those v/ith whom he comes in daily contact in his voca- 
 tion. I give the tribute paid to Booth before he fell under 
 the spell of the Jesuit psychology, at least before it 
 had taken a fatal hold of him. The witness is none 
 other than that queen of tragedy of two decades ago. 
 Clara Morris. She is quoted thus . 
 
 *'In glancing back over two crowded and busy 
 seasons, one figure stands out in clearness and beauty. 
 In this case so far as my personal knowledge goes, 
 there is nothing derogatory to dignity and manhood 
 in being called 'beautiful' for he was that bud of 
 splendid promise blasted to the core before its full 
 triumphant blooming, known to the world as a mad- 
 man and assassin, but to the profession as 'that un- 
 happy boy, John Wilkes Booth.' He was so young, so 
 aright, so kind. 
 
 'T could not have known him well ? Of course, too, 
 there are two or three different people in every man's 
 skin. Yet when we remember that Stars are not in 
 the habit of showing their brightest, best side at re- 
 hearsals, we cannot help feeling both respect and lik- 
 ing for the one who does. 
 
 "There are not many men who can receive a gash 
 over the eye at a scene at night without at least a 
 momentary outburst of temper, but when the com- 
 bat between Richard and Richmond was being re- 
 hearsed, John Wilkes Booth had again and again. 
 
100 ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 
 
 urged McCullom — that six foot tall and handsome 
 man who used to entrust me with the care of his 
 watch during such encounters, 'Come on hard, come 
 on hot, old fellow! Harder, faster! That he would take 
 the chances of a blow if only they could make a hot 
 fight of it. Mr. McCullom, who was a cold man at 
 night, became nervous in his efforts to act like a 
 fiery one. He forgot that he had struck the full num- 
 ber of hard blows and when Booth was expecting a 
 thrust, McCullom wielding his sword with both 
 hands brought it down with an awful force fair 
 across Booth's forehead. A cry of horror arose, for 
 in one moment his face was marked in blood, one eye- 
 brow was cut through. Then came simultaneously one 
 deep groan from Richard (Booth) and an exclamation 
 of *0h good God, good God!' from Richmond (McCul- 
 lom) who stood trembling like a leaf and staring at 
 his work. Booth, flinging the blood from his eyes with 
 his left hand, said as gently as a man could speak: 
 *That is all right, old man. Never mind me, only come 
 on hard, and save the fight.' which he resumed at 
 once. And although he was perceptibly weakened, it 
 required a sharp order from Mr. Ellsler to ring the 
 first curtain bell to force him to bring the fight to 
 a close a single blow shorter than usual. There was a 
 running to and fro with ice and vinegar, raw steak 
 and raw oysters, and when the doctor placed a few 
 .stitches where they were most required. Booth laugh- 
 ingly declared that there were provisions enough to 
 start a restaurant. 
 
 "McCullom came to try to apologize, to explain, 
 but Booth would have none of it. He held out his 
 hand saying, 'Why, old fellow, you look as if you lost 
 the blood. Don't worry — now, if niy eye had gone, 
 aild have been bad.' So, with light words he 
 turned to set the unfortunate man at ease, and though 
 he must have suffered much mortification and pain 
 from the eye, he never made a sign showing it. 
 
 "John Wilkes Booth, like his next elder brother 
 was rather lacking in height, but his head and 
 
ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN lUi 
 
 throat and the manner of their rising from his shoul- 
 ders were truly beautiful. His colormg was unusual, 
 the ivory pallor of his skin, the inky blackness of 
 dusky curly hair, the heavy lids of his glowing eyes, 
 were all oriental, and they gave a touch of mystery to 
 his face when it fell into gravity, but there was gener- 
 ally a flash of white teeth behind his black silky mus- 
 tache. 
 
 "Now it is scarcely exaggerating to say that the 
 fair sex was in love with John Wilkes Booth, or John 
 Booth as he was called, the name Wilkes apparently 
 being unknown to jhis family and! close triends. I 
 played with John Wilkes to my great joy, playing 
 'Player Queen' in the 'Marble Heart' I was one of 
 the group of three statues in the first act, then a girl 
 in my teens. 
 
 "With all my admiration for the person and 
 genius of John Wilkes Booth, his crime I cannot 
 condone. The killing of that homely, tender-hearted 
 father, Abraham Lincoln, a rare combination of cour- 
 age, justice, and humanity, whose death at the hands 
 of an actor will be a grief of horror and shame to the 
 profession forever. And I cannot believe that John 
 Wilkes Booth was the leader of a band of bloody 
 conspirators. 
 
 "Who shall draw the line and say, *Here genius 
 ends and madness begins? There was that touch of 
 strangeness, in Edwin it was a profound melancholy; 
 in John it was an exaggeration of spirit, almost a 
 madness. There was the natural vanity of the actor 
 too who craves a dramatic selection in real life. There 
 was also his passionate love and sympathy for the 
 South, which was easier to play upon than a pipe. 
 
 "Undoubtedly he conspired to kidnap the Pres- 
 ident; that would appeal to him. But after that I 
 truly believe he was a tool; certainly he was no lead- 
 er. Those who led him knew his courage, his belief in 
 fate, his loyalty to his friends, and because they 
 knew these things he drew the lot as it was meant 
 he should from the first. Then, half mad, he accepted 
 
102 ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 
 
 JOHN WILKES BOOTH 
 
 Horrible example of the degenerating effects of the Jesuit 
 psychology. 
 
ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 103 
 
 the part fate cast him for and committed the murder- 
 ous crime. 
 
 "God moves in a mysterious way 
 And His wonders to perform." 
 
 "And God shutteth not up his mercies forever in 
 displeasure/ 
 
 We can only shiver and turn our thoughts away 
 from the bright light that went out in such utter 
 darkness; poor guilty, unhappy, John Wilkes Booth." 
 
 John Wilkes was the only member of the Booth 
 family whose sympathy was with the Confederacy. 
 According to the "Great Conspiracy" a book published 
 in 1866 by Barclay Co., in Philadelphia, Pa., John 
 Wilkes Booth had been initiated into the Knights of 
 the Golden Circle in Baltimore in the fall of 1860, "in 
 a residence opposite the Cathedral." 
 
 The same writer is authority for the following 
 oath of the Knights of the Golden Circle, taken by 
 John Wilkes Booth: 
 
 "I , do swear by the blood 
 
 of Jesus Christ, by the wounds of the most Sacred 
 Body; by the Dolors of His immaculate Mother, 
 and in the name of the Holy and Undivided Trin- 
 ity, that I will solemnly keep all secrets of the 
 Golden Circle; that I will faithfully perform 
 whatever I may be commanded, and that I shall 
 always hold myself in readiness to obey the man- 
 dates of the said Circle whether at bed, or board, 
 at the festive circle, or at the grave, and if I shall 
 hesitate or divulge the secret may I incur the 
 severest penalties to which flesh is heir. 
 
 "May I be cursed in all the relation of my 
 life, in mind, body, and state, and may the pangs 
 of hell be my eternal portion. 
 
 "I feel honored fellov/ knights and compan- 
 ions of the Golden Circle that you have deigned 
 
104 ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 
 
 to admit me. No efforts shall be wanting on my 
 part to advance the interests of the organiza- 
 tion 
 
 "A distinguished Latin Author has justly re- 
 marked, that it is sweet and profitable to die tor 
 one's country. I have but one life and am ready 
 to give it should it be necessary 
 
 The President rises and says : 
 
 "Sir Knight you have just taken a most sol- 
 emn adjuration and believe me that you are known 
 to all members in every part of the country. The 
 Order is extensive and though the government 
 is zealous and would freely spend thousands to 
 unveil our designs, all efforts have hitherto been 
 fruitless. No traitor has yet appeared among us, 
 and inevitable ruin awaits the individual who 
 would play the part of a Benedict Arnold. No 
 public steps would be taken. He would disap- 
 pear and I leave it to you to judge his fate. "Dead 
 men tell no tales/' Ponder well on these things, 
 and remember you cannot escape us. 
 
 "Members give the hand of fellowship to our 
 new Knight. (The Great Conspiracy published by 
 Barclay 1865.)*' 
 
 The pass-word to this organization was "Rome. 
 Beware of the Negroes.*' 
 
 That the author of the book, "The Great Con- 
 spiracy," was thoroughly informed upon the details 
 which could scarcely have come from anything short 
 of actual membership in the organization is plainly 
 evident. Also that he had knowledge of the assassina- 
 tion of the former President Harrison, and Taylor, 
 we gather. The incident occurred just after the re-elec- 
 tion of President Lincoln. Booth, sitting in a hotel 
 lobby one day, appeared very dejected; he was aroused 
 by the following remark, which evidently was part of 
 the secret phraseology of the K. G. Cs. : 
 
ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 105 
 
 "It would be a queer thing were Lincoln to die and 
 Andy Johnson be President after all. 
 
 What makes you think so? 
 
 Why, you know that Harrison and Taylor and that 
 Fillmore and Tyler were presidents. Lincoln may take 
 it into his head to follow their example. 
 
 Perhaps, said the stranger ai Booth's elbow and 
 regarding him steadfastly, neither Lincoln nor John- 
 son will serve their terms out. 
 
 Do you mean that the President nnd the Vice- 
 President both will die? Such a thing has never hap- 
 pened before in the United Sates. 
 
 But it may occur nevertheless Lin- 
 coln and Johnson are both mortals .... I feel certain 
 that ere another month Lincoln will die ... . Yes, 
 he may die of some disease. 
 
 Booth's suspicions were aroused and he turned 
 suddenly around and asked: ''You said I believe, sir, 
 that the President might die of some disease?" 
 
 ''Yes sir, of such diseases as commonly prevail in 
 Home." 
 
 "What diseases are they?" asked Booth. 
 
 "All to which flesh is heir, the malaria from the 
 
 Pantine marshes carries off hundreds; the plague of 
 
 its day almost decimated the capitol of the Caesars 
 
 ...... but I tell you again that the President will 
 
 die of a disease from Rome. 
 
 Booth: "Sir, as you are well versed in history 
 perhaps you can answer me one question, which one 
 of all the sovereigns of all Italy had the most fickle 
 wife?' 
 
 "I am an indifferent guesser of conundrums, but 
 I suppose the Doge." 
 
 Ques. "Which Doge, he of Venice or Genoa?" 
 
 Ans. "He of Venice, because he wedded the sea 
 with a golden circlet. You remember Byron's oeautiful 
 lines?" After this "test" Booth was invited to the 
 gentleman's room where they conferred privately. 
 
 That John Wilkes Booth was initiated in this 
 Order as early as 1860, the same authority states. 
 
106 ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 
 
 The following letter is quoted from Booth to a brother 
 Sir Knight: 
 
 "Dear Sir: The K. G. C. had a meeting; I was 
 initiated. 'The die is cast and I have crossed the Rubi- 
 con' and can never return. They tell me that Lin- 
 coln, the damn chicken-hearted nigger lover, will per- 
 haps be inaugurated, but I most heartily wish, 'That 
 never shall sun that morrow see. I am devoted to the 
 South, mind and body, so that she gains her independ- 
 ence, I don't care what becomes of me. If I am sacri- 
 ficed, I know that my country will grant me immortal- 
 ity; if I escape, so much the better. I can serve her 
 in other ways. One thing is very clear to my mind, 
 the South must take some decisive step. She must 
 throw a bomb-shell into the enemy's hand that shall 
 spread terror and consternation wherever it goes. You 
 know what I mean, so don't be surprised. Sincerely 
 yours, John Wilkes Booth." 
 
 (See Page 26, The Great Conspiracy.) 
 
 The same authority gives a letter signed "Veritas" 
 (truth) to Booth, which one would be strongly in- 
 clined to believe might have been written by a priest 
 judging by the style and Latin quotations — ^possibly 
 his ecclesiastical sponsor. 
 
 "My dear Booth : Since you left us, the Circle has 
 held another meeting. The members are all exceed- 
 ingly dissatisfied and if something be not speedily 
 done, the southern cause is lost forever. Important 
 dispatches have been received from Canada. They spoke 
 out almost too plainly to be sent by mail, but as there 
 was no signature and addressed to a feigned name, 
 I do not suppose there was any danger. There is to 
 be a ball or party at the White House and the Ape I 
 suppose will be there in all his glory retaihng his 
 filthy anecdotes and pointless jests till they fall on 
 the ear, usque ad naseum. Did you see what is the 
 determination of the Lincoln Cabinet ^bout confisca- 
 
ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 107 
 
 tion ? There is a clerk by the name of Charles Morton, 
 who is employed in one of the government offices. He 
 is gentlemanly but vain and exceedingly soft. I am 
 told he drinks. Anyhow, make his acquaintance and 
 see what can be got out of him. Handle him tenderly 
 and you will be sure to catch your fish. Should you 
 want any more money you will know where to send for 
 it. An idea has struck me ; you know in the correspond- 
 ence between Sir Henry Clinton Arnold and Andre the 
 whole matter was treated in a mercantile way. We 
 for the sake of safety and to make assurance doubly 
 sure, must do the same. I will not detain you any 
 longer, but give you an opportunity to read about our 
 friends in Canada. Whatever be the results, rely on 
 me. Sincerely your friend, Veritas." 
 
 The statements made by his professional friend, 
 John McCullough of a visit he paid Booth at the 
 National Hotel, showed the deadly influence when 
 he said: At another time I came over suddenly 
 from New York, and being in the habit of go- 
 ing right into Booth's room without knocking, 
 I turned the knob and pushed right in. At the first 
 wink I saw Booth sitting behind a table on which was 
 a map, a knife and a pistol. He had gauntlets on his 
 hands and spurs on his boots, and a military hat of 
 a slouch character on his head. As the door opened 
 he seized the knife and came for me. Said I, 'John, 
 what in the name of sense is the matter with you — 
 are you crazy?' 
 
 He heard my voice and arrested himself, and 
 placed his hands before his eyes like a man dissipating 
 ^ dream, and then said: *Why, Johnny, how are you?* 
 When I heard that it was he who killed Lincoln, I 
 thought that he had been at the time I describe ready 
 to carry out his purpose." 
 
 In answer to a request by the writer for a state- 
 ment of his acquaintance with John Booth of Rear 
 Admiral Geo. W. Baird, U. S. A. retired, of Washington, 
 
108 ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 
 
 1^ 
 
 GEORGE ATZERODT 
 
 Delegated to assassinate Vice-President Always known 
 as a Catholic prior to the assassination. 
 
ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 109 
 
 D- C, who is probably the only living witness who 
 helped to identify the body of John Booth, who was 
 shot to death in the tobacco barn on the Garrett plan- 
 tation, near Port Royal, Va., April 26, 1864, I received 
 the following: 
 
 1505 Rhode Island Avenue, 
 Washington, D. C, November 29, 1921. 
 Miss Burke McCarty, 
 
 Grace Dodge Hotel, 
 Washington, D. C. 
 My dear Miss McCarty: 
 
 Your letter of the 25th was received last night: 
 I will try to answer it categorically, and, to avoid 
 errors. I must go back to my diary. 
 
 My acquaintance with John Wilkes Booth was not 
 at all intimate. I met him in New Orleans in the 
 winter of '63 and '64, when he was playing in the 
 theatre there in "Marble Hearts" and he was splendid 
 in his part. My acquaintance was what may be called 
 a bar-room acquaintance. Was introduced to him by 
 a young officer of my ship the "Pensacola" whose name 
 was Fitch and who afterwards married the eldest 
 daughter of General Sherman. Booth seemed to be a 
 congenial fellow with a sense of humor and I thought 
 was very temperate in his habits, not like his father 
 in that respect. The War was at its height and was 
 freely discussed, but Booth did not seem to be much 
 interested in it. He was from Maryland, whose pop- 
 lation was divided, though men as a rule believed it 
 proper to side with their state. My ship went north 
 in the spring of 1864 and I was assigned to my duty in 
 the navy department. 
 
 In 1850 when I was seven years of age, I went to 
 school in Washington to two reverend gentlemen Cox 
 and Marlot, who taught in the lower story of the Ma- 
 sonic Hall, Virginia Avenue and Fourth Street East. 
 The boy who sat by me about my own age was David 
 Herold, a little round headed, round eyed, round bodied 
 boy, whose general rotundity was completed by a 
 
110 ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 
 
 voice that rolled his R's. I envied David his disposi- 
 tion in that he got along with the big boys so well. 
 When a big boy imposed on David, he would escape 
 with a funny remark which was called witty, which 
 generally got a laugh, and David was called popular. 
 When a big boy imposed on me, I hated him; I hate 
 him yet. David's father, Mr. George Herold, and my 
 father were members of Naval Lodge of Masons. The 
 Herolds were members of Christ Church Episcopal. 
 My people were members of the Baptist Church. 
 
 When I left that school about a year later, I lost 
 sight of David. I heard he became a drug clerk. 
 
 Now I quote from my records : 
 
 "On the night of the 14th of April, 1865 I went to 
 call on a young lady and about 10:30 her brother 
 came in and said Abe Lincoln is dead. He had been to 
 the theatre to see Laura Keene in "Our American 
 Cousin" and during a play a man had got into the box 
 where the President was, and had shot the President, 
 jumped out of the box on to the stage, and escaped 
 from the back of the stage- I left at once ; saw police- 
 man at the corner whom I interrogated and he con- 
 firmed the story. I inquired as to the appearance of the 
 assassin and he not only gave a description that fitted 
 but said he resembled me, and I thought that I had 
 better hurry to my boarding house. On arriving at 
 my boarding house Dr. Ludlam and Mr. Fitch in- 
 quired if I had heard the news and suggested that we 
 go down town and get the latest "bricks" but nothing 
 could induce me to appear on the streets again that 
 night. 
 
 "The people were wild with excitement. I never 
 heard such threats of vengeance. Before 10:00 o'clock 
 the next morning almost every house was draped in 
 mourning. People had exhausted the stores here and 
 wired Baltimore for black crepe and cambric. Dan 
 Ballauf , the model maker, was standing leaning on the 
 lower box in the theatre and saw it all. He denied 
 the report that Booth had uttered the words 'sic 
 semper tyranis," but the newspapers had printed it. 
 
ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 111 
 
 The newspapers had the story very early, that John 
 Wilkes Booth was the assassin and David Herold was 
 the accomplice.'* 
 
 '^Though never intimate with John Wilkes Bootn, 
 I admired him, his voice, power of declaiming. I took 
 drinks with him at the Franklin House, Custom House 
 Street, a place frequented by army and navy officers. 
 He seemed to me to have no interest in the war. It 
 was hard to understand. I had not seen him but once 
 in Washington and that about three weeks before 
 the murder of the President. It was on Sunday when 
 he was coming out of Saint Aloysius Catholic Church 
 Vesper Service — great crowds of various creeds used 
 to go to that vespers where the music was good. I 
 think Mme. Kretzmayer was the attractive soprano." 
 
 A large reward was offered for Booth's arrest 
 and conviction. The War had practically ended and 
 our troops were at liberty to travel in any state with- 
 out molestation. 
 
 I was detailed to make a series of experiments 
 in the Navy Yard, and after Booth's body was brought 
 to the Navy Yard and lay on board the *'Montauk" this 
 happened : i 
 
 I was called on board the Montauk by Leut. W. 
 W. Crowninshield, to identify the body of John Wilkes 
 Booth, which I did. I noticed a piece of cord about the 
 size of a cod line on his (Booth's) neck and invited 
 Crowninshield's attention to it, who pulled it out and 
 on it was a small Roman Catholic medal. Surgeon 
 General Barnes arrived at that moment and probed 
 the wound in Booth's neck. 
 
 I got a horse and buggy and drove down to Sur- 
 rattville the following day. The house they saia 
 belonged to Mrs. Surratt and had been leased 
 to John M. Lloyd whom I knew. He was a 
 policeman at Washington during all of Buchan- 
 an's administration and bore an excellent repu- 
 tation. I inquired of some boys whom I found very 
 communicative. One boy said that Mr. Jenkins, broth- 
 er of Mrs. Surratt, and Mr- Griffith and Mr. Wylie (or 
 
112 ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 
 
 MRS. MARY E. SURRATT 
 
 Who "kept the nest that hatched the egg," —(President 
 Andrew Johnson). 
 
ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 113 
 
 Wyville) and Mr. Lloyd were all out that night listen- 
 ing for the horses coming, that when the two men 
 came, fresh horses were brought out of the stable, 
 saddles transferred from the tired horses to the fresh, 
 and the men rode on. 
 
 On May 22, 1865, I went to Baltimore on duty in 
 connection with the "Pensacola." 
 
 The 'Washington Star" of May 12, 1865 gives 
 Lloyd's testimony as follows : 
 
 "Sometime ago two carbines and some pistols were 
 left at my house. The Friday before the assassina- 
 tion Mrs. Surratt came to my house and told me to 
 have the carbines and pistols ready as two men would 
 call for them. At the night of the assassination Booth 
 and Herold rode up to the house; Herold dismounted, 
 went in, and took a carbine and the pistols. Booth 
 would not take his carbine on account of his lame 
 ankle." 
 
 The "Washington Star" of the 15th said: 
 
 "Lloyd testified that it was John Surratt who 
 brought the carbines. Watchman saw Mrs. Surratt, 
 Booth, John Surratt, and Dr. Mudd together on Sev- 
 enth Street, and that Booth was a frequent visitor at 
 the house of Mrs. Surratt, and their interviews were 
 always apart. 
 
 I was retired from active duty by law 
 
 in 1905 but continued on duty until 1906. The next 
 year I passed some days at Poland Springs, Maine. 
 Among other Washingtonians was Mr. Crosby Noyes, 
 principal editor of the "Washington Star," who told 
 me he was the reporter for the "Star" at the trial of 
 the conspirators, and he was satisfied that Mrs. Sur- 
 ratt and all the rest of them were guilty. 
 
 I was at sea when John Surratt was tried. My 
 information on that trial was that printed in the 
 "Washington Star." Surratt was poor, but Mr. K. T. 
 Merrick, a Roman Catholic Lawyer, was his principal 
 counsel and it was commonly reported that he paid 
 the entire expense of the trial. His associate counsel 
 was Mr. Jos. Bradley, a famous criminal lawyer, who 
 
114 ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 
 
 rarely, if ever, lost a case, and to whom the bad cases 
 usually came. 
 
 Quoting from the "Evening Star" of September 
 23, 1868: 
 
 "Judge Wylie on the bench, Messrs. Merrick and 
 Bradley argued on a demur to the plea of the amnesty 
 proclamation which had been issued by the government 
 m favor of the Confederates who had been in arms 
 against the government. Their purpose was to make it 
 apply to the case of John Surratt who had been tried 
 for conspiracy to murder the President, and in whose 
 case a year ago the jury had hung. 
 
 Merrick said the court was not technically a 
 Court of the United States, wherein the judge held 
 that the Court held that the Circuit Court of the 
 District of Columbia was not on the same footing as 
 the United States District Courts, though the judges 
 of such Courts were vested with the same power. 
 
 He would submit in view of the double character 
 of the Court that to except a person of some felony 
 he must be indicted for felony in some Circuit Court of 
 the United States. He referred to the Bankrupt Act. 
 
 Mr. Bradley referred the Court to several au- 
 thorities. The Court suffered counsel to amend the 
 plea ' ''-'^'iti 
 
 *From the "Evening Star'^ of Septembei- 24, 1858, 
 Page 4, Column 2, viz: 
 
 "A NEW MOVE BY THE DEFENSE, STATUTE 
 OF LIMITATION, DISCHARGE OF THE PRISONER. 
 
 "Mr. Merrick stated that he had presented a new 
 plea. He claimed the indictment defective in that it 
 did not aver that Surratt had not fled from Justice/' 
 
 The paper stated that he walked out of the court 
 urimolested. 
 
 I saw the medal when it was taken off Booth's 
 neck and I saw it afterwards in the War Department. 
 It was kept in a safe of the Judge Advocate General. 
 It was in a Httle tin box which also contained a news- 
 paper scrap referring to it with the bullet from Booth's 
 neck, and I think the derringer also. 
 
ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 115 
 
 When I became superintendent of the S W. and 
 Navy Department in 1895, I asked the messenger at 
 the Judge Advocate General's door if the relics were 
 still on exhibition as I wanted to show them to some 
 friends, and he said that they were all there but the 
 medal, that the Secretary of War, (Mr. Lamont) had 
 sent for them to show some friends and forgot to re- 
 turn them, and they remained on his desk four months, 
 and when returned the medal was missing. 
 
 John M. Lloyd, the Washington policeman in 
 1857-9-60 bore a good reputation. I think the claim 
 that he was intemperate or a sot as Mr. Brophy called 
 him was all propaganda. A policeman knows how to 
 testify and he knows the penalty. I was reluctant to 
 believe Lloyd a conspirator until the boys at Sur- 
 rattville told me of the story of Lloyd, Jenkins, Wylie, 
 et al listening for the coming of Booth that night, and 
 his testimony confirmed it. One of the propaganda 
 writers says that Lloyd had to be awakened from a 
 drunken stupor that night when Booth arrived, 
 when the boys, who had no purpose to serve, told me 
 that Lloyd was wide awake on the ro^d listening for 
 horses. They said that when the horses were plainly 
 heard, that Lloyd, et al, went into the stable and 
 brought out the fresh horses as if in a hurry. Lloyd 
 and his wife (whom I also knew) were Roman Catho- 
 lics, and I beheve members of St. Dominic's Congre- 
 gation. The testimony shows Lloyd drunk but once; 
 it was when he met Mrs. Surratt in Uniontown, now 
 called Anacostia, and that was on the eve of the fright- 
 ful tragedy and he might have needed "Dutch courage." 
 My impression was that the effort to damage Lloyd's 
 character was for the sole purpose of imneaching his 
 testimony. I always thought he found himself in se- 
 rious trouble and told the truth to save his neck. 
 Yours sincerely, 
 
 G. W BAIRD." 
 
116 ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 
 
 Post mortem of Booth's body as it lay on the Monatuk, 
 April 27, 1865. 
 
 U. S. troops under Lieutenant Baker, surrounded 
 the barn and ordered Booth to surrender, which he 
 refused to do. "Davy" Herold, however, asked to sur- 
 render and was allowed to come out. He was hand- 
 cuffed and placed in charge of a squad of cavalrymen. 
 The barn was finally fired by Colonel Conger. 
 
 Booth, who could be now plainly seen by the light 
 of the flames was peering out, when a bullet from the 
 revolver of Sergt. Boston Corbett whizzed by and 
 Booth crumpled up on the barn floor. He was dragged 
 out by the soldiers and lay on the grass, apparently 
 dead, but was revived by a dash of cold water in the 
 face. The bullet had entered almost at the same spot 
 in which his own bullet had pierced President Lincoln's 
 head. He was carried and laid upon the porch in front 
 of the Garrett house where he suffered several hours 
 of the most intense agony. Noting his lips moving, 
 an officer stooped down and heard him whisper : "Tell 
 
ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 117 
 
 my mother — tell my mother — I died for my country — 
 and did what I thought best." Indicating a desire that 
 his paralyzed arms be held up, which was done, con- 
 templating them, he murmured, "useless, useless." 
 These were his last words. 
 
 The body was taken by wagon to the river and 
 placed on board the Gunboat Montauk and brought to 
 Washington, and Armiral Baird was one of the men 
 who made positive identification. 
 
 FVom Adm. Baird's letter one would gather that 
 as late as the winter of *64, only a few months previous 
 to Booth's coming to Washington, he was indifferent 
 on the subject of the war. The fact that he was in New 
 Orleans where he would have been very safe in express- 
 ing his opinion in favor of the South would seem to 
 indicate he had no great feeling on the subject. 
 
 There is no doubt in the writer's mind but that 
 Clara Morris was perfectly right in her statement 
 that John Wilkes Booth was the victim chosen from 
 the beginning and that he "Drew the lot" after his 
 New Orleans engagement where Adm. Baird had seen 
 him. PVom the time he registered at the National Ho- 
 tel in November, 1864, it is plainly evident that he 
 became obscessed with the idea, and the working of 
 the vims is traceable in his every act from that time 
 on. He lost all interest in his profession, — a thing 
 in itself most remarkable, for which we can only ac- 
 count in the one way. 
 
 John Harrison Surratt, the nineteen-year-old son 
 of Mrs Mary E. Surratt, who was chosen by the Jesuits 
 as the arch conspirator in the assassination o^ Abra- 
 ham Lincoln, had studied three years in preparation 
 for the Roman priesthood at the Sulpician Fathers 
 monastery, at Charles County, Maryland, previous to 
 the breaking out of the Civil war. The Sulpician Fath- 
 ers is a branch of the Jesuit order. In 18'62 young Sur- 
 ratt was called to his home in Surrattville, a crossroads 
 village 18 miles south of Washington, by the death 
 of his father. The elder Surratt had been a railroad 
 contractor, and had accumulated some money 
 
118 ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 
 
 which was partly invested in slaves and in plantation 
 and tavern at Surrattville where he served as post- 
 master at the time of his demise. 
 
 The family consisted of Isaac, the eldest son, a 
 civil engineer, who enlisted in the Southern Cause at 
 the very beginning of the war and who the last heard 
 of him had joined Max*imilian's forces in Mexico; 
 Anna, the only daughter, a girl in her early twenties, 
 and John H., the youngest. 
 
 The Surratts were all ardent secessionists and fa- 
 natical Roman Catholics. Mrs. Surratt was, early 
 in life, perverted to Romanism from the Protestant 
 faith. Her children were Romanists from birth. 
 
 That John Harrison Surratt, was cool, clever, cal- 
 culating and crafty, far in advance of his years, is 
 shown by the fact that at the very beginning of the 
 Rebellion he was selected to do important work in the 
 southern secret service, bearing the most important 
 dispatches from Jefferson Davis at Richmond to his 
 agents at Washington and to the members of his 
 "kitchen cabinet" in Montreal, Canada. On his return 
 home from the monastery near Baltimore, John Sur- 
 ratt was sworn in as twstmaster in his father's place 
 at Surrattville. His Jesuit training enabled him to 
 lift his hand and swear undivided allegiance to the 
 United States. So much for a Jesuit's oath. To get 
 a complete estimate of John Surratt's part in the dia- 
 bolical conspiracy to murder President Lincoln and 
 other heads of this government we must fully consid- 
 er the preliminary training he received. 
 
 This boy, (for we must remember that he was 
 but in his teens, at his entrance into this plot,) was 
 never free from the espionage and evil influence of 
 the Romish church from his baptism in infancy to the 
 day of his death at the age of seyenty-two years. When 
 he was but twelve years old he was placed in Gonzaga 
 College, Washington, DC, a Catholic preparatory 
 school, under the tutorage of Priest Wiget, who was 
 the confessor for years of both himself and his moth- 
 
ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 119 
 
 er. After leaving Gonzaga College he spent two years 
 at Georgetown m the Jesuit (Jollege beiore leaving 
 tor the iSulpician Fatners monastery. I am calling the 
 attention oi the reader to this fact when you come to 
 pass judgment on this young man, that you may 
 place the blame for his conduct where it belongs — 
 on the Jesuit psychology inculcated by the priests of 
 the Roman Church.. 
 
 That he was a leader and a dependable one, in 
 this conspiracy of wholesale assassination, is shown 
 by the fact that the object of John Wilkes Booth's 
 first visit to St. Mary s Cathohc Church in Howard 
 County, Maryland, was to learn the whereabouts in 
 Washington of John Surratt. 
 
 Young Surratt, had then, never the slightest 
 chance or desire to escape from the deadly virus. This 
 virus stultified every noble aspiration, every natural 
 affection, every personal ambition, even the strongest 
 instinct in the human mind, — self-preservation is 
 thrust aside when the victim hears the call of duty 
 to "the holy mother church." Then, mother love, 
 father love, brother love — all, all, must yield to this 
 cursed thing This complete mental control which 
 Rome exercises over its dupes whom it per- 
 mits to have no more will of their own, nor resistance, 
 than that of a cadaver. Terinda ac cadaver." (as a 
 corpse) to be moved here, or there, at the will of the 
 manipulator. The Roman Catholic child is thus handi- 
 capped at birth, yes, there is a prenatal influence as 
 the study of these two characters in this tragic drama 
 will disclose. The mother, Mary E. Surratt, the inti- 
 mate associate of priests, her soul deadened by the 
 fatal virus of the Jesuit training, passed on to her son 
 the terrible inheritance which made him wax in the 
 black hands of the Vatican intriguers, to mold as they 
 would. 
 
 During Surratt's theological training he had 
 studied St. Thomas Aquinas, who justifies the assas- 
 sination of heretics, or any one who apostacises from 
 the Romish church. It was a significant and eloquent 
 
120 ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 
 
 fact that the Jesuits released from time to time during 
 the war the report that President Lincoln had been, in 
 his infancy, baptized by Catholic priest. On one of 
 his visits to the White House of the Rev. Charles 
 Chiniquy to warn President Lincoln of his danger in 
 assassination, Mr. Lincoln is quoted by Chiniquy in 
 his book "Fifty Years in the Church of Rome" as 
 follows : 
 
 "Father Chiniquy, I want your views about a 
 thing which is exceedingly puzzling to me and you 
 are the only one to whom I would like to speak on 
 the subject. A great number of Democratic newspapers 
 have been sent me lately, evidently written by Roman 
 Catholics, publishing that I was born a Roman Catho- 
 lic and baptized by a priest. They called me a renegade 
 and apostate on account of that, and they heaped upon 
 my head mountains of abuse. Now, no priest of Rome 
 has ever laid his hand on my head. But the persist- 
 ency of the Romish press to present this falsehood to 
 their readers as gospel truth, must have a meaning. 
 Please tell me, as briefly as possible, what you think 
 about it." 
 
 This, Mr. Chiniquy answered, was done solely to 
 incite and justify the act in the minds of some of 
 their fanatics to assassinate the President. It was the 
 equivalent to a command, as it afterward proved. 
 
 From their first meeting Booth and Surratt busied 
 themselves selecting their associates. David Herold was 
 undoubtedly the choice of John Surratt who had known 
 him from his college days, evidently, at Georgetown 
 University. The testimony of Louis J. Weichmann, 
 college chum of Surratt and the State's chief 
 witness, at the trials of the conspirators shows 
 that Surratt had introduced him to David Her- 
 old as one of the members of the Washington Ma- 
 rine Band which had serenaded the Surratt Tavern at 
 midnight on one occasion when Weichmann was spend- 
 ing the week-end there. This was a year before Booth's 
 
ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 121 
 
 MICHAEL O'LOUGHLIN. 
 
 Delegated to assassinate General Grant. Died in Dry ToT- 
 tugas after serving three years, of yellow fever epidemic. 
 
122 ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 
 
 appearance in Washington. There is no doubt but that 
 all the conspirators were members of the Knights of 
 the Golden Circle; there is also no doubt that while 
 some of them were nominal Protestants they were whol- 
 ly papalized, certainly they were not Protestants. All 
 through the testimony we see that Booth and Aster- 
 odt were at *'mass." It is morally certain that Booth 
 himself had been secretly taken into the Roman 
 Church when he was given the "Agnus Dei" meaai 
 which was taken from his neck. The significance of 
 this medal is: The translation of "Agnus Dei" is 
 "Lamb of God ; it indicates sacrifice, — the shedding of 
 blood. The writer is informed by an ex-Romanist who 
 examined the medal that it was made m Rome, proba- 
 bly sent direct from the Pope as was the Pope IXth's 
 letter to Jeff Davis, a distinction which would tend to 
 flatter the vanity of John Wilkes Booth. 
 
 Michael O'Loughlin, another conspirator, was 
 from Baltimore and was, as his name would indicate, 
 a Roman Catholic Irishman. 
 
 Sam Arnold, it appears, had attended the same 
 school with John Wilkes Booth in their childhood and 
 was a nominal Protestc-.nt. 
 
 George Asterodt was the "rough" man, that is the 
 uneducated and uncultured one, who was probably an 
 Austrian Catholic, but not over religious. He attend- 
 ed Mass with Louis Weichmann at the Piscataway 
 Church and St. Patrick's church in Washington. 
 
 Lewis Payne, the atheletic young giant who was 
 delegated to murder Seward, Secretary of State and al- 
 most accomplished this deed, really showed more 
 strength of character and less cowardice than any of 
 the other conspirators. As far f^s is known he was the 
 son of a Protestant minister. He refused to tell any- 
 thing about himself, but when he went to his death 
 he was courageous to a deirree that astonished the 
 newsnaper correspondents and other spectators. 
 
 Edw. Spangler, another conspirator, was a roust- 
 about employee at Ford's Theatre, much given to 
 drink- He had great admiration for John Booth and 
 
ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 123 
 
 was a decided Southern sympathizer with a pronounced 
 dislike for Abraham Lincoln, which he had often ex- 
 pressed. 
 
 About November 1st, 1863, Mrs. Surratt and her 
 family moved to their residence at 541 H. St., Wash- 
 ington, D. C, where she opened a select boarding 
 house. Select to the extent that there were no "her- 
 etics" among her boarders. The first to come was 
 Louis J- Weichmann, who had been for three years a 
 classmate of John Surratt's at the Sulpician Monas- 
 tery where Weichmann also was preparing for the 
 Roman priesthood. From the very first Weichmann 
 and Surratt were bosom friends. Weichmann was born 
 in Baltimore in 1843 and was the son of a merchant 
 tailor who was a staunch Lutheran. The wife was a 
 devout Roman Catholic. The family consisted of two 
 boys and three girls, all of whom were brought up in 
 the faith of their mother. Both boys, Louis, and the 
 second boy, Frederick, were studying for the Roman 
 priesthood. 
 
 With the breaking out of the Civil War Louis 
 Weichmann's college studies were interrupted and he 
 came to Washington where he obtained a position as 
 professor at Gonzaga College, when John Surratt first 
 learned of his presence in Washington. 
 
 During the Spring vacation of '63, young Weich- 
 mann proposed that he and Surratt pay a visit to their 
 Alma Mater near Baltimore. They were received with 
 warm cordiality by both professors and students 
 who were eager to learn the progress of the 
 war,etc. During this visit, according to documentary 
 evidence to be introduced later on, both young men 
 freely express their pro-Southern views. Before 
 leaving the institution Louis Weichmann announced 
 his intention of going to Little Texas, or Ellengown, 
 where he had taught the parochial school for the Cath- 
 olic priest there, before entering college. The Rev. 
 Denis, prefect of the Sulpician Monastery told him that 
 the teacher at that time in Little Texas was Henri de 
 St. Marie, who had been a former pupil of Denis in 
 Montreal; that he was a fine young man who spoke 
 
124 ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 
 
 French and Italian fluently. He asked Weichmann if 
 he would hand him an ItaHan paper when he called up- 
 on him. On reaching Little Texas, Mr. Weichmann de- 
 livered the paper and introduced his friend Surratt to 
 the young Canadian. This was the beginning of an 
 acquaintance which was to end very disastrously for 
 Surratt. 
 
 A few days before Christmas, 1864, young Weich- 
 mann invited Surratt to go with him over to Pennsyl- 
 vania Avenue to select some Christmas gifts for his sis- 
 ters in Philadelphia. As they were nearing the Avenue 
 on 7th Street, Weichmann said, ''John, someone is call- 
 ing you," and Surratt, turning, saw Dr. Mudd of Bryan- 
 town and a younger man with him, whom he intro- 
 duced as John Wilkes Booth. After the introductions 
 were over Booth invited the party up to his room at 
 the National Hotel, where he ordered wine and cigars 
 for the group. From this meeting on John Booth was 
 a constant visitor at the Surratt home on H Street, 
 which was the rendezvous of the conspirators up to 
 the very day of the assassination. It was also the 
 mecca of various Roman Catholic priests, among 
 whom were the Reverends Walters and Wiget of St. 
 Patrick's Church, 10th and G Streets, of which the 
 Surratts were members. 
 
 Before closing this chapter in reference to the 
 religion of John Wilkes Booth I might say that his 
 family were members of the Episcopal church in 
 Baltimore. 
 
 Edwin A. Sherman, Past Grand Registrar of the 
 Grand Consistory of the Thirty-second of the Ancient 
 and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry of the 
 State of California, in his book entitled "Engineer 
 Corps of Hell" on page 213, has this to say: 
 
 "It has been told to us, coming from what 
 we believe to be true authority, that Booth, about 
 three weeks before he committed the crime, was 
 admitted to the Roman Cathohc church, and pri- 
 vately received the sacraments from no less a 
 
ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 125 
 
 personage than Archbishop Spaulding himself, 
 which he did to silence any conscientious scruples 
 that he might have in taking Abraham Lincoln's 
 life, and that he might have the whole influence 
 and sympathy of persons in that faith in pro- 
 tecting and concealing himself when the act was 
 done, to aid him in it. He certainly had that aid 
 and influence in planning and accomplishing his 
 helhsh work and in making his escape, and it 
 could not have been more cheerfully and faithful- 
 ly rendered than it was, even if he had been a 
 Jesuit priest himself. We believe the statement 
 to be true; and it was but a short time after thai 
 Archbishop Spaulding received a donation of 
 funds for the specific purpose which was to uni- 
 form and equip a military body in the same man- 
 ner and style as the Papal Guard at Rome. 
 
 **The uniforms, muskets, cartridge boxes and 
 belts all bearing the Papal coat of arms and con- 
 secrated by the Pope himself, were sent to Arch- 
 bishop Spaulding at Baltimore; and when he died 
 he was buried with military honors and his re- 
 mains escorted by the same military bodyguard. 
 The entire diocese of Archbishop Spaulding was 
 rebel to the cor^ and fierce in its hatred of Lin- 
 coln. 
 
 In a recent book written by one of Rome's apol- 
 ogists, we find that John Wilkes Booth was by "re- 
 ligion a Roman Catholic ; by politics a Democrat.'* 
 
Chapter Vm. 
 
 The Blackest Deed In American History. 
 
 And now we come to that darkest day in the histo- 
 ry of our RepubHc, April 14th, 1865. The Surrender of 
 Lee, April 3rd, to the ''Little Smoking General" Grant, 
 came like a thunderbolt out of a clear sky, and was 
 a terrific blow to the hopes of the South, as well as 
 unexpected victory to the North. The people were wild 
 with enthusiastic joy. We can get some conception of 
 that word after four years of the bitterest civil war, 
 we, who have the news of the Armistice still fresh in 
 our memories in the recent World War which was sev- 
 eral thousand miles away. 
 
 The figure of Abraham Lincoln will ever stand 
 out on the page of our history, never to be effaced, 
 not only in the minds of the people of his own country, 
 but in those of the Peoples of the World, as the savior 
 of the New Concept of Government! 
 
 Lincoln, that great, sad-faced man, with his 
 shoulders drooping under the terrible burdens which 
 he had patiently carried for four long years, breathed 
 a sigh of relief when he arose this bright balmy April 
 morning and gazed at nature's gay spring garb. 
 
 During breakfast with his family he had suggested 
 to his good wife Mary, that they two alone should take 
 a long drive in the country which called so strongly 
 to this heavy laden man. Accordingly, after a few pre- 
 liminary office duties were gotten out of the way, 
 the President returned to the White House, and he and 
 Mrs. Lincoln got into their carriage and drove out 
 through the city over the Potomac River bridge into 
 the country. The fruit trees were white with blossoms, 
 the roadsides green, and the very birds fjitting in and 
 
ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 127 
 
 Ford's Theatre, Washington 
 D. C. U. S. Government property 
 as it appears today. Exterior un- 
 changed. _, 
 
 House on Tenth St. 
 where President Lincoln 
 died April 15, 1865. Now 
 Lincoln Memorial Collec- 
 tion. 
 
 out through the hedges seemed to surpass them selves 
 with their songs. *^^*^illH 
 
 President Lincoln began to talk of their future. 
 He confessed to her that he would welcome the day 
 when his administration would be over, and they could 
 return to private life, never to leave it again. "I have 
 managed, my dear, by strict economy, to save a little 
 nest egg out of my salary, so we will go back to 
 Springfield to live, and I hope not have to work quite 
 so hard. We can visit with our friends and neighbors 
 and enjoy life a bit. Then he unfolded to her his plans 
 to take up his law practice again and the threads of 
 life where he had left them when he came to Washing- 
 ton, a little over four years ago. After driving several 
 
128 ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 
 
 hours, and being rested by the quiet of the country 
 and sweet breath of spring, this great simple-hearted, 
 plain man and his wife returned to the White House. 
 
 I cannot but contrast that last morning on earth 
 of Abraham Lincoln and his modest plans, with the 
 conduct of Woodrow Wilson and his dozens of trunks, 
 which carried the elaborate wardrobes of himself and 
 wife to Europe. The sinful extravagance of this peda- 
 gogical upstart! It seems almost sacrilegious to men- 
 tion him in the same paragraph with Lincoln. 
 
 The day began for John Wilkes Booth with his 
 usual trio to Graves Theatre where he received his 
 mail. This morning he had several letters, and after 
 chatting pleasantly with the members of the cast 
 present for rehearsal, as was his custom, he sauntered 
 away toward the Kirkwood house, now the Raleiffh, 
 where the Vice President was stopping. He sent ut> the 
 following card to Mr. Johnson, which is still, and per- 
 haps, always will remain a mystery: 
 
 "For Mr. Andrew Johnson: 
 
 Don't wish to disturb vou : are yon at home? 
 John Wilkes Booth." 
 
 After his call at the Kirkwood House, he went 
 to the livery barn of J. Pumnhreys on C Street, back 
 of the Nationf^I Hotel. Here he engaged a horse to be 
 ready that afternoon at four thirty o'clock. He had 
 been in the habit lately of hirine his horses here after 
 he had sold his own a few weeks previous. Ur^on this 
 occasion he asked for a particular sorrel horse which 
 he preferred, but was told it was out at that time, 
 so he took instead a small bav mare. Booth was an er- 
 T)ert horseman and fencer, and spent a crreat deal of 
 his time in horseback riding and the latter amuse- 
 ment, when he found a man who was skillful enough 
 fo interest him. After his arrane^ement for the horse 
 was completed- he spent a larere part of the day con- 
 ferring with the other conspirators, who were in the 
 
ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 129 
 
 city, Mrs. Surratt, John Surratt, O'Laughlin, Herold, 
 Spangler and Atzerodt. 
 
 The evening of this same day, April 14, 1865, on 
 which Mr. Lincoln and his wife went for their last 
 drive in the country, the managers of Ford's Theatre 
 featured the fact in the local press that the President 
 and Gen. U. S. Grant would attend the performance 
 of "Our American Cousin" at that theatre in the even- 
 ing. This would have been the first public appearance 
 of General Grant since the surrender of Lee, and the 
 word that the people would have an opportunity to 
 greet their hero that night at Ford's Theatre made 
 a rush on the box office, and the performance openea 
 with a packed house. 
 
 The Presidential party did not arrive until nine 
 thirty- When the tall, gaunt figure of the tired- 
 eyed President made its appearance in the flag-draped 
 box the house went wild with delight, and the orches- 
 tra struck up "Hail to the Chief;" the house arose as 
 one body, and enthusiasm was inspiring. For several 
 minutes the cheering continued and the President bow- 
 ed and bowed his acknowledgements. 
 
 The absence of General Grant was soon noticed, 
 but this did not dampen the welcome for the great 
 man who had sent out, but a few days previous, the 
 most wonderful — the most extraordinary message to 
 a conquered enemy the world had ever heard, namely, 
 for them to return to their homes, and help in the re- 
 construction of the Republic. No punishments, no crit- 
 icisms, no bitterness, but just simply to return to 
 their homes and set about rebuilding what they had 
 tried to destroy, in a spirit of "With charity for all 
 and malice toward none." 
 
 The President and Mrs. Lincoln, upon receiving 
 the regrets of General Grant and wife, who had been 
 called to the bedside of their daughter, Miss Nellie, 
 who was ill at a private boarding school in New Jersey, 
 had invited Mai or Rathbone, lately returned from the 
 front, and his fiance, Miss Harris, daughter of Senator 
 Harris, to accompany them. The party seated them- 
 
130 ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 
 
 selves after the long ovation given the President, and 
 turned their whole attention to the pastoral comedy of 
 which Mr. Lincoln was very fond. 
 
 Miss Laura Keene was playing the star lead that 
 evening, assisted by a cast of prominent and capable 
 actors, and the play went with a zest, thv3 audience 
 receiving it with a gale of laughter as one funny scene 
 after another passed- The President chuckled quietly 
 in his own peculiar quizzical manner .While this bril- 
 liant scene was taking place inside, a most unusual 
 play was transpiring on the outside. 
 
 Sergt. Dye, a member of the government service 
 was sitting in front of the restaurant next door to 
 the entrance of the theatre on Tenth Street, talking 
 with some other men who were enioying the warm 
 evening and their cigars, when a tall young man well 
 dressed, stepped to the front of the theatre on the 
 sidewalk, and in clear tones called the time. This did 
 not attract any particular attention until he had re- 
 peated it at an interval of every fifteen minutes for 
 the third time, at ten fifteen. He disappeared and Sgt. 
 Dye's curiousity was aroused by his strange conduct. 
 He got up and started to walk in the direction the 
 young stranger had taken, when wild cries and con- 
 fusion within the theatre reached the street. "The 
 President is shot," "The President is killed," finally 
 was clearly heard- The entrance doors burst open, and 
 men, insane with fright bolted out driving the call to 
 those on the pavement, then rushed back in. It all hap- 
 pened quicker than it takes to write it. 
 
 At a moment before the last call of the time in 
 front of the theatre, John Wilkes Booth, the popular 
 young tragedian, stepped out of the bar-room attached 
 to the theatre on Tenth Street, where he had called for 
 several brandies, walked rapidly into the front lobby, 
 passed the doorman at the center aisle with a genial 
 nod, calling him familiarly by name, which was 
 answered in the spirit which John Booth's greet- 
 ings generally were. He passed over to the side 
 aisle and started down when his passage was 
 
ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 131 
 
 • .4 
 
 
 V. 
 
 
 
 ./■ 
 
 
 ."^j 
 
 JOHN WILKES BOOTH FIRING THE FATAL BULLET 
 
 barred by the arm of the head usher, who happened 
 to be talking with friends in the aisle. Booth put his 
 arm across the shoulder of the man who had his back 
 to him and peering into his face said, "Why you 
 don't' want to keep me out, do you, old boy?" This was 
 in the melodious Booth voice, once heard, never to be 
 forgotten. The usher, swinging around said, **No, in- 
 deed, Mr. Booth. Allow me to present you to my 
 friends." Booth acknowledged the introduction gra- 
 ciously and turning, sauntered down the aisle toward 
 the box occupied by the Presidential party, intent on 
 the most cruel, cowardly murder in all the world's 
 history. 
 
132 ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 
 
 He passed the man on guard, who for the monr'ent 
 left the door of the box and was watching the play 
 from a seat nearby. 
 
 Booth entered the box, stealthily placing the 
 board in the socket on the inside which had been made 
 ready that day, by Spangler, the stage carpenter. 
 
 Booth's entrance was so quiet that it attracted 
 no attention from any of the party, all of whom had 
 their eyes fixed upon the stage where only two people 
 were, — Laura Keene and Harry Hawks as Asa Trench- 
 ard. The lines and situation were exceedingly funny 
 and the house was uproariously enjoying the comedy. 
 
 Booth, after securing the door from any inter- 
 ference from the outside, crept panther-like close to 
 the back of the President's chair, whipped out his der- 
 ringer with his right hand and a dagger with his left, 
 placing the revolver just above the back of the chair. 
 There was a muffled report, a whiff of smoke, and 
 the President's head dropped upon his breast. The in- 
 truder darted toward the railing in front of the box, 
 but before he reached it, Major Rathbone, horror- 
 stricken, but not really knowing just what had hap- 
 pened, bounded to his feet. He reached out to grab the 
 assassin, who, dropping his revolver, slashed viciously 
 at him, warding him off by an ugly stab which cut his 
 sleeve from shoulder to wrist from which the blood 
 spurted. With the agility of the skilled athlete that 
 he was. Booth sprang over the balustrade of the box 
 onto the stage twelve feet below, but his stirrup, for 
 he was in riding habit, caught in the large American 
 flag which had been draped around Stuart's 
 Washington on the front of the box, and he fell to 
 the stage, breaking a small bone in his leg. He bounded 
 to his feet instantly and darted away from the stage 
 past the petrified actors, out through the rear door, 
 where he mounted his horse which he had gotten the 
 candy butcher, called "Peanuts" to hold for him just 
 before he entered the front door a few moments pre- 
 vious. Jos. B. Stewart, a man from the audience, 
 who had taken in the situation before others in the au- 
 
ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 133 
 
 dience had recovered from their horror, scrambled to 
 the stage yelling ''Stop that man" and rushed after 
 the assassin, but just as Booth darted through the 
 alley door someone in the dark slammed it shut before 
 Stewart reached it and before he could get it opened, 
 the man mounted his horse and dashed madly away 
 in the darkness. 
 
 Spangler, the stage carpenter, the testimony de- 
 veloped, was the man who had slammed the door. 
 He had been heard to promise his assistance to Booth 
 earlier in the evening when he had dismounted from 
 his horse. For this and disloyal statements about the 
 President which he had been heard to make, he re- 
 ceived a sentence of six years at the Dry Tortugas 
 prison. 
 
 The gaunt body of the dying President was tender- 
 ly carried out of the theatre on the door of the box, 
 which had been hastily pressed into service as a 
 stretcher, across the street to the three story brick 
 house of a man by the name of Peterson, who let 
 his rooms furnished to the business men employed at 
 the stores and nearby theatres. 
 
 The stretcher-bearers carried him to the bedroom 
 in the rear of the hall on the first floor and into a room 
 occupied by a returned soldier, William Clark by name. 
 The bed was a single bed and the body of the Presi- 
 dent had to be laid diagonally across on account of his 
 great height. 
 
 The pitiful scene here can scarcely be portrayed 
 by words. The hysterical sobs of Mrs, Lincoln and h3r 
 constant cry of "Oh, why did they not take me Why 
 did they take him?" was heart-breaking. 
 
 Capt. Robert Lincoln just returned from the front 
 a few days before, was immediately summoned from 
 the White House, where he was entertaining a college 
 classmate, to the bedside of his dying father. He spent 
 the time alternately trying to comfort his mother in 
 the front parlor and watching at the bedside of his 
 dying father- 
 Soon the members of Mr. Lincoln's cabinet had 
 
134 ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 
 
 gathered in the sick room and Dr. Gurley, Protestant 
 minister, and Surgeon General Barne-i, came as soon 
 as possible from the bedside of the Secretary of State 
 Seward, the Surgeon having been called there after 
 Mr. Seward had been stabbed by L">uis Payne. Mr. 
 Seward was now hovering between life and death. 
 General Stanton, the cold, severe, dignified man, who 
 had never been known to show any emotion, dropped 
 on his knees at the foot of the President's 
 bed, buried his face in the covering and sobbed 
 like a child. Charles Summer, who, perhaps, loved Lin- 
 coln with the deepest and most ardent love of them 
 all, never stirred from his place at the bed, holding his 
 hand, and aiding the physicians, and watching with 
 bated breath for the slightest sign of returning con- 
 sciousness. But the wounded man never for one in- 
 stant recovered, and died without knowing what had 
 occurred. From the moment the physicians first reach- 
 ed him and found the wound, they knew he was 
 doomed. 
 
 The President never regained consciousness and 
 died a few minutes after seven the next morning. 
 Charles Sumner as he watched the life of the great 
 man go out, turned to those in the room and said: 
 "And now, he belongs to the angels!'' 
 
 At the same time that Booth assassinated the 
 President, Louis Payne, known as the "Florida Boy" 
 an athletic young giant, who some months before 
 joined the Conspiracy, rode up to the front of the res- 
 idence of the Secretary of State, William Seward, and 
 tied his horse to the hitching post. 
 
 Mr. Seward had been ill for three weeks, suffering 
 from a fractured jaw, the result of the running away 
 of his team, and was under the constant care of male 
 nurses. 
 
 Payne rang the bell and it was answered by the 
 colored butler. He told the latter that he had been sent 
 with some medicine which he must take to the sick 
 room. The butler refused to allow him to enter, saying 
 that he had orders to allow no one to go to Mr. Sew- 
 
ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 135 
 
 WILLIAM H. SEWARD, 
 Lincoln's Secretary of State who was stabbed' by Louis Payne. 
 
136 ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 
 
 ard's room. The stranger, after a short struggle, 
 knocked him down, and went bounding up the stairs. 
 He rushed into the sick chamber, after felling each 
 of the two sons of the Secretary, one of whom had 
 been in the service, the blow fracturing the skull of 
 the younger man from which he never fully recovered- 
 He then sprang upon the sick man and seriously 
 stabbed him three times. By a superhuman effort the 
 latter struggled out of the bed with his assailant who 
 left him in a heap on the floor, bleeding from the 
 wounds he had inflicted. After his murderous assault 
 on Secretary Seward, the ruffian rushed down the 
 stairs, yelling at the top of his voice, "I am mad, I am 
 mad," and he very probably was. He was entirely un- 
 der the control of the hypnotic influences of the wicked 
 people in whose power he had allowed himself to be. 
 
 It was part of the plan that Michael O'Laughlin 
 one of the conspirators from Baltimore, was to have 
 murdered General Grant that night. This was not 
 possible, owing to the change in the General's plans- 
 
 To Atzerodt, it fell to assassinate Vice President 
 Johnson, but he became frightened and spent the day 
 riding into the country on a horse from the livery 
 barn in Washington, where he was found several days 
 after with relatives of his below Washington. He made 
 a written confession before he was executed which 
 confirmed the presence of Surratt in Washington that 
 day a fact, which nine reputable witnesses had sworn 
 to 
 
 Booth familiarized himself with every road leading 
 out of Washington to the south, and had studied and 
 planned his escape with careful attention. It is not 
 likely that he would ever have been caught, had h? 
 not broken the small bone in his left leg in his jump. 
 This was the providential handicap which hampered 
 not only himself and Herold, but those of his friends 
 who were ready to assist him. There is not the slight- 
 est doubt but that every mile of that wild ride had 
 been planned in advance, — weeks in advance- 
 
ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 137 
 
 THE SURRATT HOUSE ON H. STREET, APRIL 1922. 
 
 Recently sold for $10,500. Is occupied by owner. Supposed 
 to be **haunted" by Mrs. Surratt's ghost. Stoop and steps re- 
 moved by recent purchaser. 
 
138 ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 
 
 The intense agony which Booth suffered every 
 moment from the time he first met with the accident 
 when jumping from the box doomed his chances of 
 escape. 
 
 The little bay mare dashed madly along under the 
 cruel urge of his spurs as he sped over the bridge 
 which spanned the Potomac to the Bryantown road. 
 He passed the soldier at the bridge, after having told 
 him his name, and was swallowed up in the blackness 
 of the night. The moon was veiled behind a huge bank 
 of clouds. Presently the guard at the bridge heard 
 the clatter of another horse's hoofs approaching and 
 the horse and rider soon hove in sight onto the bridge. 
 The guard stopped him and asked an account of him- 
 self before allowing him to go on. This was Herold 
 and in explanation he gave a false name saying that 
 he had been in bad company which delayed him from 
 returning home before sundown. He was permitted 
 to pass. He cut his spurs into his horse and sped along, 
 finally catching up to the first rider. Booth, be- 
 fore they reached Surrattville, whither they were 
 expected by the tenant Lloyd who had been visited 
 by Mrs. Surratt that afternoon who had instructed 
 him (Lloyd) to "Have those shooting irons" and other 
 things ready, that they would be needed that night. 
 
 Herold drew up to the tavern, sprang from his 
 horse and dashed madly into the bar-room, saying: 
 **Lloyd, for God's sake, make haste and get those 
 things." 
 
 Lloyd testified at the trials that he gave the car- 
 bines which had been left six weeks before with him 
 to be called for later on; that Mrs. Surratt had been 
 driven down from Washington on Friday (the 14th) 
 to his house by Weichmann; that he met them on the 
 road on his way to Washington ; that he got out of his 
 buggy and went over to the side of their buggy and 
 after a few moments of conversation she told him to 
 "Have those shooting irons ready; that they would 
 be called for soon." 
 
ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 139 
 
 Weichmann also testified that he overheard this 
 order by Mrs. Surratt. 
 
 Mrs. Surratt brought with her on this trip (the 
 day of the assassination) a package containing Booth's 
 field glass, to be handed out when called for. Herold took 
 a bottle of whiskey out to Booth, who, owing to his suf- 
 fering, did not come in. They only took one of the revol- 
 vers, so Lloyd testified. Herold turned as he was about 
 to drive off and said: "I'm pretty sure that we have 
 assassinated the President and Secretary Seward. 
 
 The two riders put their spurs into their horses 
 and set off down the road to the little village of T. B. 
 at full speed. The next stop was made at the resi- 
 dence of Dr. Samuel A. Hudd, where they arrived at four 
 o'clock on Saturday morning. This conspirator housed 
 them and set the bone in Booth's leg. He bound it up 
 in splints improvised from pieces of a cigar box, after 
 which Booth was helped upstairs to bed where he re- 
 mained until the afternoon of the same day. 
 
 O'Laughlin had come to Washington on Thursday, 
 the day before the assassination, with three of his 
 co-religionists and prepared to make a perfectly good 
 bullet-proof alibi for their friend O'Laughlin, v/hich is 
 the rule with Roman Catholic criminals. They were so 
 solicitous in this intent that they over-reached them- 
 selves and spoiled it. 
 
 The great grievance of the Catholic church is that 
 Mary E. Surratt was brought before a Militar.7 tri- 
 bunal, instead of a civil court. The real basis of this 
 complaint, was however, that there could be no po- 
 litical influence brought to bear on a military court, 
 which the hanging of four conspirators and life sen- 
 tences of the three others bears out. As it is not with- 
 in the power of the writer to present the facts in any 
 simpler or more readable language than that used in 
 the closing argument of the special Judge Advocate, 
 John A. Bingham, I shall rely on excerpts from that 
 document to give the facts. 
 
Chapter IX. 
 
 The Trials Of The Assassins By Docu- 
 mentary Evidence. 
 
 ARGUMENT OF JOHN A. BINGHAM, Special Judge 
 Advocate. 
 
 IN REPLY TO THE SEVERAL ARGUMENTS IN 
 DEFENSE OF MARY E. SURRATT AND OTHERS, 
 CHARGED WITH CONSPIRACY AND THE MUR- 
 DER OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN, LATE PRESIDENT 
 OF THE UNITED STATES, ETC. 
 
 May it please the Court: The conspiracy here 
 charged and specified and the acts alleged to have been 
 committed in pursuance thereof, and with the intent 
 laid, constitute a crime, the atrocity of which has sent 
 a shudder through the civilized world. All that was 
 agreed upon and attempted by the alleged inciters and 
 instigators of this crime constitutes a combination of 
 atrocities with scarcely a parallel in the annals of 
 the human race. Whether the prisoners at your bar are 
 guilty of the conspiracy and the acts alleged to have 
 been done. . . as set forth in the charge and specifica- 
 tion, is a question, the determination of which rests 
 solely with this honorable court, and in passing upon 
 which, this court are the sole judges of the law and 
 the fact. 
 
 In presenting my views upon the questions of law 
 raised by the several counsel by the defense, and also 
 on the testimony adduced for and against the accused, 
 I desire to be just to them, just to you« just to my 
 
ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 141 
 
 country, and just to my own convictions. The issue 
 joined involves the highest interests of the accused, 
 and, in my judgment, the highest interests of the whole 
 people of the United States .... A wrongful and ille- 
 gal conviction, or a wrongful and illegal acquittal 
 upon this dread issue, would impair somewhat the se- 
 curity of every man's hfe, and shake the stability of 
 the Republic. 
 
 The crime charged and specified upon your record 
 is not simply the crime of murdering a human being, 
 but it is a crime of killing and murdering on the 14th 
 day of April, A. D. 1865, within the Military Depart- 
 ment of Washington and the entrenched lines thereof, 
 Abraham Lincoln, then President of the United States, 
 and Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy there ; 
 and then and there assaulting with intent to kill and 
 murder, Wm. H. Seward, then Secretary of State of the 
 United States; and then and there lying in wait to 
 kill and murder Andrew Johnson, the Vice President 
 of the United States, and Ulysses S. Grant, then Lieu- 
 tenant General and in Command of the Army of the 
 United States, in pursuance of a treasonable conspir- 
 acy entered into by the accused with one John Wilkes 
 Booth, and John H. Surratt, upon the instigation of 
 Jefferson Davis, Jacob Thompson, Clement C- Clay, 
 George N. Sanders and others, with intent thereby to 
 aid the existing Rebellion and subvert the Constitution 
 and laws of the United States. 
 
 The Government in preferring this charge, does not 
 indict the whole people of any State or section, but 
 only the alleged parties to this unnatural and atrocious 
 crime. The President of the United States in the dis- 
 charge of his duty as Commander-in-Chief of the Army 
 and by virtue of the power invested in him by the Con- 
 stitution and laws of the United States, has consi- 
 tuted you a military court, to hear and determine the 
 issue joined against the accused, and has constituted 
 you a court for no other purpose whatever. To this 
 charge and specification the defendants have pleaded 
 first, that this court has no jurisdiction in the prem- 
 ises; and, secondly, not guilty. 
 
142 ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 
 
 After a careful covering of every point raised by 
 the defense, embellished with numerous citations of 
 legal authorities and court decisions as to both of the 
 points raised by the defense, the Judge Advocate con- 
 tinues : 
 
 "It only remains for me to sum up the evidence 
 and present my views of the law arising upon the facts 
 in the case on trial. The questions of fact involved 
 in the issue are: 
 
 First, did the accused, or any two of them, con- 
 federate and conspire together as charged ? — and 
 
 Second, did the accused, or any of them, in pur- 
 ance of such conspiracy, and with the intent alleged, 
 commit either or all of the several acts specified ? 
 
 If the conspiracy be estabhshed, as laid, it results 
 that whatever was said or done by either of the parties 
 in the furtherance or execution of the common design 
 is the declaration or act of all the other parties of 
 the conspiracy; and this whether the other parties, 
 at the time such words were uttered, or such acts 
 done by their confederates, were present or absent — 
 here, within the entrenched lines of your Capitol, or 
 crouching behind the entrenched lines of Richmond, 
 or awaiting the results of their murderous plot 'against 
 
 their country, in Canada The same rule obtains 
 
 in cases of treason- . A conspiracy is rarely if ever 
 proved by positive testimony. When a crime of high 
 magnitude is about to be perpetrated by a combination 
 of individuals, they do not act openly, but covertly and 
 secretly. The purpose formed is known only to those 
 who enter into it -Unless one of the origixial con- 
 spirators betray his companions and give evidence 
 against them, their guilt can be proved only by circum- 
 stantial evidence." 
 
 During the course of Judge Advocate Bingham's 
 address the influence of the Jesuit theology showed 
 
ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 143 
 
 THE OLD CAPITOL PRISON, WASHINGTON, D. C. 
 Court room where conspirator trials were conducted in July, 
 1865. 
 
 up in his reference to Jacob Thompson, one of the con- 
 spirators referred to, who was a leader in the group 
 of Confederates of Montreal, when he said: 
 
 "In speaking of this assassination of the Presi- 
 dent and others, Jacob Thompson said that it was 
 only removing them from office, that the killing of a 
 tyrant was no murder/' 
 
 Emanuel Sa, a Jesuit authority, said, "The tyrant 
 is illegitimate; and any man whatever of the people 
 has a right to kill him. (Uniquis - que de populo potest 
 occidere.) But note this bit of evidence referred to by 
 the distinguished lawyer: 
 
 "Dr. Merritt testified further that after this meet- 
 ing in Montreal he had a conversation with Clement 
 
144 ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 
 
 C. Clay in Toronto about the letter from Jefferson 
 Davis which Sanders had exhibited and in which con- 
 versation Clay gave the witness to understand that 
 he knew the nature of the letter perfectly and re- 
 marked that he thought, "The end would justify the 
 means." The witness also testified to the presence of 
 Booth with Sanders in Montreal last fall and of SuiTatt 
 in Toronto in February last. 
 
 The above is certainly proof positive of Jesuit in- 
 fluence. Continuing below record shows: 
 
 "John Wilkes Booth having entered into this con- 
 spiracy in Canada, as has been shown, as early as 
 October, he is next found in the City of New York 
 on the 11th day, as I claim of November, in disguise, 
 in conversation with another, the conversation disclos- 
 ing to the witness, Mrs. Hudspeth, that they had some 
 matter of personal interest between them; that upon 
 one of them the lot had fallen to go to Washington. . . 
 upon the other to go to Newbern. This witness upon 
 being shown the photograph of Booth swears that 
 "the face is the same" that of one of the men, who, she 
 says, was a young man of education and culture, as 
 appeared by his conversation, and who had a scar like 
 a bite near the jawbone. It is a fact proved here by 
 the Surgeon General that Booth had such a scar on 
 the side of his neck." 
 
 It was this witness that found the letter on the 
 floor of the car which Booth dropped and which was 
 transmitted from her to the War Department on No- 
 vember 17th, 1864. The letter was delivered to Presi- 
 dent Lincoln, who after having read it wrote the word 
 "Assassination'* across it, and filed it in his office 
 where it was found after his death and was placed in 
 evidence as a court exhibit. The letter read as follows : 
 
ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 145 
 
 "Dear Louis: 
 
 The time has come at last that we have all 
 so wished for, and upon you everything depends. 
 As it was decided, before you left, we were to cast 
 lots, we accordingly did so, and you are to be the 
 Charlotte Corday of the Nineteenth Century- 
 When you remember the fearful solemn vow that 
 was taken by us, you will feel there is no draw- 
 back. Abe must die, and now. You can choose 
 your weapons, the cup, the knife, the bullet. The 
 cup failed us once and might again. Johnson who 
 will give this has been like an enraged demon 
 since the meeting, because it has not fallen to him 
 to rid the world of a monster ..... You know 
 where to find your friends. Your disguises are so 
 perfect and complete that without one knew your 
 face no police telegraphic despatch would catch 
 you. The English gentleman, Harcout, must not 
 act hastily. Remember, he has ten days. Strike 
 for your home; strike for your country; bide your 
 time, but strike sure. Get introduced ; congratulate 
 him; hsten to his stories (not many more will 
 the brute tell to earthly friends;) do anything but 
 fail, and meet us at the appointed place within 
 the fortnight. You will probably hear from me 
 in Washington. Sanders is doing us no good in 
 
 Canada. ^, o iu > 
 
 Chas. Selby. 
 
 And we quote again from Judge Bingham: 
 
 "Although this letter would imply that the 
 assassination spoken of was to take place speedily, 
 yet the party was to bide his time. . . . The let- 
 ter declares that Abraham Lincoln must die and 
 now meaning as soon as the agents can be em- 
 ployed and the work done. To that end you will 
 bide your time." 
 
 "Even Booth's co-conspirator, Payne, now on 
 his trial says Booth had just been to Can- 
 
146 ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 
 
 ada, 'Was filled with a mighty scheme and was 
 lying in wait tor agents' Booth asked the co- 
 operation of the prisoner and said,' I will give you 
 as much money as you want; but you must swear 
 to stick to me. It is in the oil business.' This 
 you are told by the accused was early in March 
 
 last In the latter part of November, 1S64, 
 
 Booth visits Charles county, Maryland, and is in 
 company with one of the prisoners, Dr. Samuel 
 E. Mudd, with whom he lodged over night, and 
 through whom he procures oi Gardner one of the 
 several horses which were at his disposal and used 
 by him and his co-conspirator in Washington on 
 the night of the assassination." 
 
 "Some time during December last it is in the 
 testimony that the prisoner Mudd introduced 
 Booth to John H. Surratt and the witness Weich- 
 mann; that Booth invited them to the National 
 Hotel ; that when there in the room to which Booth 
 took them, Mudd went out into the passage, called 
 Booth out and nad a private conversation with 
 him, leaving the witness and Surratt in the room- 
 Upon their return to the room, Booth went out 
 with Surratt and upon their coming in all three — 
 Booth, Surratt and Samuel A. Mudd went out to- 
 gether and had a conversation in the passage, 
 leaving Weichmann alone. Up to the time of this 
 interview it seems that neither the witness or 
 Surratt had any knowledge of Booth as they were 
 then introduced to him by Dr. Mudd. Whether 
 Surratt had previously known Booth it is not im- 
 portant to inquire. Mudd deemed it necessary, 
 perhaps a wise precaution, to introduce Surratt 
 to Booth; he also deemed it necessary to have a 
 private conversation with Booth shortly after- 
 wards. Had this conversation, no part of which 
 was heard by Weichmann been perfectly inno- 
 cent, it is not to be presumed that Dr. Mudd, 
 who was an entire stranger to the witness, would 
 have deemed it necessary to hold the conversation 
 
ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 147 
 
 
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148 ASSASSIN^ OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 
 
 secretly, nor to have volunteered to tell the wit- 
 ness, or rather pretend to tell him what the conver- 
 sation was . . . And if it was necessary to with- 
 draw and talk by themselves secretly, about the 
 sale of a farm, why should they disclose the fact to 
 the very man from whom they had concealed it?" 
 
 As a matter of fact the above conversation about 
 the purchase of Mudd's farm by Booth was merely a 
 ruse to deceive Weichmann. The whole conversation 
 was talking over the shortest and safest route for 
 flight from the Capitol by which to reach their friends 
 south of Washington. 
 
 A number of Dr. Mudd's slaves testified that he 
 was absent from his home at this time which corrob- 
 orated Weichmann's testimony. 
 
 We quote from the summing up of the evidence at 
 the trials by Judge Advocate Bingham referring to 
 O'Laughlin as follows: 
 
 "Michael O'Laughlin had come to Washington on 
 the 13th of April, 18'65, the day preceding the assas- 
 sination, had sought out his victim, General Grant, at 
 the house of the Secretary of War, that he might be 
 able with certainty to identify him, and that at the 
 very hour when these preparations were going on, was 
 lying in wait at Rullman's on the Avenue, keeping 
 watch, and declaring as he did, at about ten o'clock P. 
 M. when told that that fatal blow had been struck by 
 Booth, "I don't believe Booth did it." During the day 
 and night before he had been visiting Booth, and doubt- 
 less encouraging him, and at that very hour was in po- 
 sition, at a convenient distance to aid and protect him 
 in his flight, as well as to execute his own part of this 
 conspiracy, by inflicting death on General Grant who 
 happily, was not at the theatre, nor in the city, hav- 
 ing left the city that day." 
 
 "Who doubts that Booth ascertained in the course 
 of the day that General Grant would, not be present 
 
ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 149 
 
 at the theatre. 0*'Laughlin who was to murder Gen- 
 eral Grant, instead of entering the box with Booth, was 
 detailed to lie in wait, and watch and support him." 
 
 "His declarations of his reasons for his changing 
 his lodgings here and in Baltimore, so ably, and so in- 
 geniously presented in the arguments of his learned 
 counsel (Mr. Cox), avail nothing before the blasting 
 fact, that he did change his lodgings and declared: 
 *He knew nothing of the affair whatever.' " 
 
 0*Laughlin who said he was in the ''oil business'* 
 which Booth, Surratt, Payne and Arnold, have all de- 
 clared meant this conspiracy, says he ''knew nothing 
 of the affair" O'Laughlin, to whom Booth sent the 
 despatches of the 13th and 27th of March, — O'Laugh- 
 lin who is named in Arnold"s letter as one of the con- 
 spirators, and who searched for General Grant on 
 Thursday night, laid in wait for him on Friday, was 
 defeated by that Providence "which shapes our ends," 
 and laid in wait to aid Booth and Payne, declares, he 
 "knows nothing about the matter." Such a denial is 
 as false and inexcusable as Peter's denial of our Lord." 
 
 While these preparations were going on, Mudd was 
 awaiting the execution of the plot, ready to faithfully 
 perform his part in securing the safe escape of the 
 murderers. Arnold was at his post at Fortress Monroe, 
 awaiting the meeting referred to in his letter of March 
 27th, wherein he says they were not to "Meet for a 
 month or so,' which month had more than expired on 
 the day of the murder, for his letter and testimony 
 disclose that this month of suspensions began to run 
 from about the first week in March. He stood ready 
 with the arms with which Booth had furnished him, to 
 aid the escape of the murderers by that route, and 
 secure their communication with their employers. He 
 had given the assurance in that letter to Booth that 
 although the Government "suspicioned" them, and the 
 undertaking was becoming "complicated" yet a time 
 "more propitious would arrive," for the consummation 
 of this conspiracy in which he "was one" with Booth. 
 
150 ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 
 
 and when he "would be better prepared to again be with 
 him". 
 
 It was upon the above evidence for which O'Laugh- 
 lin and Arnold were convicted and sentenced to the 
 Dry Tortugas. 
 
 And now I will quote from the same document 
 the summing up of the evidence against Mary E- 
 Surratt, for as a matter of facts tersely stated noth- 
 ing could surpass that of the Judge Advocate, John A. 
 Bingham. 
 
 'That Mary E. Surratt is as guilty as her son, as 
 having thus conspired and combined and confedera- 
 ted, to do this murder, in aid of this rebellion, is clear. 
 First, her house was the headquarters of Booth, 
 John Surratt, Atzerodt, Payne and Herold; she is in- 
 quired for by Payne, and she is visited by Booth, and 
 holds private conversations with him. His picture, 
 together with the chief conspirator, Jefferson Davis, 
 is found in her house. She sends to Booth for a car- 
 riage to take her on the 11th of April to Surra ttville, 
 for the purpose of perfecting the arrangement deem- 
 ed necessary to the successful execution of the conspir- 
 acy, and especially to facilitate and protect the con- 
 spirators in their escape from justice. On that occas- 
 ion. Booth, having disposed of his carraige, gives to 
 the agent she employed (Weichmann) ten dollars with 
 which to hire a conveyance for that purpose- And 
 yet the pretense is made that Mrs. Surratt went on 
 the 11th of April to Surrattville on exclusively her 
 own private and lawful business. Can any one tell, if 
 that be so, how it comes that she should apply to 
 Booth for a conveyance? And how it comes that he, 
 of his own accord, having no conveyance to furnish 
 her, should send her ten dollars with which to procure 
 it?" 
 
 "There is not the slightest indication that Booth 
 was under the slightest obligation to her, or that she 
 had any claim upon him, either for a conveyance, or for 
 the means with which to procure one. except that he 
 
ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 151 
 
 was bound to contribute, being the agent of the con- 
 spirators in Canada and Richmond, whatever money 
 might be necessary to the consummation of this in- 
 fernal plot. On that day, the 11th of April, John H. 
 Surratt had not returned from Canada with the tunas 
 furnished him by Thompson." 
 
 ''Upon that journey of the 11th, the accused, Mary 
 E. Surratt, met with the witness, John M. Lloyd at 
 Uniontown (her tenant at Surrattville) . She called 
 him; he got out of his carrigae and came to her; she 
 whispered to him in so low a tone that her attendant 
 could not hear her words, though Lloyd to whom they 
 were spoken, did distinctly hear them, and testifies that 
 she told him he should have those ''shooting irons" 
 ready, meaning the carbines, which her son, and Her- 
 old and Atzerodt had deposited with him, and added 
 the reason, "for they would soon be called for." On 
 the day of the assassination, she again sent for Booth, 
 had an interview with him in her own house, and im- 
 mediately again went to Surrattville, and then, about 
 six o^clock in the afternoon, she delivered to Lloya a 
 field glass and told him to "Have two bottles of whis- 
 key and the carbines ready, as they would be called 
 for that night." Having thus perfected the arrange- 
 ment, she returned to Washington to her own house at 
 about half past eight o'clock, to await the final result. 
 How could this woman anticipate on Friday afternoon 
 at six o'clock, that these arms would be called for, 
 and would be needed that night, unless she was in the 
 conspiracy and knew the blow was to be struck, and 
 the flight of the assassins attempted and by that 
 route. 
 
 *'Was not the private conversation with Booth 
 held with her in her parlor on the afternoon of the 
 14th of April, just before she left on this business in 
 relation to the orders she should give to have the 
 shooting arms ready?" 
 
 "An endeavor is made to impeach Lloyd. But the 
 Court will observe that no witness has been called who 
 contradicts Lloyd's statement in any material matter; 
 
152 ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 
 
 neither has his general character for truth been as- 
 sailed. How, then, is he impeached? Is it claimed 
 that his testimony shows that he was a party to the 
 conspiracy? Then, it is conceded by those who set up 
 any such a pretense that there was a conspiracy. 
 A conspiracy between whom? There can be no con- 
 spiracy without the co-operation, or agreement, be- 
 tween two or more persons. Who were the other par- 
 ties to it? Was it Mary E. Surratt? Was it John H. 
 Surratt? Was it George Atzerodt, David Herold? 
 Those are the only persons so far as his own testimony, 
 or the testimony of any other witness discloses, with 
 whom; he had any communication whatever on any 
 subject immediately or remotely touching this con- 
 spiracy before the assassination. His receipt and con- 
 cealment of the arms, are unexplained evidence that 
 he was in the conspiracy." 
 
 'The explanation is, that he depended on Mary E. 
 Surratt; was her tenant, and his declaration, given in 
 evidence by the accused, himself, is that: "She had 
 ruined him and brought this trouble upon him." But 
 because he was weak enough, or wicked enough, to 
 become the guilty depository of these arms, and to 
 dehver them on the order of Mary E. Surratt, to the 
 assassins, it does not follow, that he is not to be be- 
 lieved on oath. It is said, that he concealed the fact 
 that the arms had been left and called for. He so 
 testifies himself, but he gives the reason, that he 
 did it only from apprehension of danger to his life. 
 If he were in the conspiracy, his general credit being 
 unchallenged, his testimony being uncontradicted in 
 any material matter, he is to be beheved, and cannot 
 be disbelieved if his testimony is substantially cor- 
 roborated by other reliable witnesses." 
 
 "Is he not corroborated touching the deposit of 
 arms by the fact that the arms are produced in 
 court, one of which was found upon the person of 
 Booth at the time he was overtaken and slain, and 
 which is identified as the same which had been left 
 with Lloyd, by Herold, Surratt and Atzerodt? Is he 
 
ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 153 
 
 SURRATT TAVERN AT SURRATTVILLE, APRIL, 1922. 
 
 Now the residence of Mrs. William Penn who has a linen 
 handkerchief with "John H. Surratt" embroidered in corner, pre- 
 sented to an aunt of Mrs Penn who attended school taught by 
 him. 
 
154 ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 
 
 not corroborated in the fact of the first interview with 
 Mrs. Surratt by the joint testimony of Mrs. Offut 
 (his sister-in-law), and Louis J. Weichmann, each of 
 whom testified, (and they are contradicted by no one) 
 that, on Tuesday, the 11th of April, at Uniontown, 
 Mrs. Surratt called Mr- Lloyd to come to her, which 
 he did, and she held a secret conversation with him? 
 Is he not corroborated as to the last conversation 
 on the 14th of April by the testimony of Mrs. Offut, 
 who swears that upon that evening, April 14, she 
 saw the prisoner, Mary E. Surratt, at Lloyd's house, 
 approach and hold conversation with him? Is he not 
 corroborated in the fact, to which he swears that 
 Mrs. Surratt delivered to him at that time, the field 
 glass wrapped in paper, by the sworn statement of 
 Weichmann, that Mrs. Surratt took with her on that 
 occassion two packages, both of which were wrapped 
 in paper, and one of which he describes as a small 
 package, about six inches in diameter? The attempt 
 was made, by calling Mrs. Offut, to prove that no 
 such package was delivered, but it failed; she merely 
 states, that Mrs. Surratt delivered a package wrapped 
 in paper to her, after her arrival there, and before 
 Lloyd came in, which was laid down in the room. But 
 whether it is the package about which Lloyd testifies, 
 or the other package, of the two about which Weich- 
 mann testifies, as having been carried there that day by 
 Mrs. Surratt, does not appear. Neither does this wit- 
 ness pretend to say that Mrs. Surratt, after she had 
 delivered it to her, and the witness had laid it down 
 in the room, did not again take it up, if it were the 
 same, and put it into the hands of Lloyd. She only knows 
 that she did not see that done; but she did see Lloyd 
 with a package like the one she received in the room 
 before Mrs. Surratt left. How it cam.e in his possession 
 she is not able to state ; nor that the package was that 
 Mrs. Surratt first handed her ; nor which of the pack- 
 ages she afterwards saw in the hands of Lloyd-" 
 
 "But there is one other fact in this case that 
 puts forever at rest the question of the guilty partici- 
 
ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 155 
 
 ST. PATRICK'S ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH 
 
 The Surratt household were attendants of this church at 
 10th and G. streets. 
 
156 ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 
 
 pation of the prisoner, Mrs. Surratt, in this conspiracy 
 and murder; and that is, that Payne who had lodged 
 four days in her house — who, during all of that time 
 had sat at her table, and who had often conversed with 
 her — when the guilt of his great crime was upon him, 
 and he knew not where else he could go so safely, to 
 lind a co-conspirator, and that he could trust none, 
 that was not hke himself, guilty, with even the knowl- 
 edge of his presence, under the cover of darkness, after 
 wandering for three days and nights, skulking be- 
 fore the pursuing ofricers, at the hour of midnight 
 found his way to the door of Mrs. Surratt, rang the 
 bell, was admitted, and upon being asked, ''Whom do 
 you want to see?" Replied, ''Mrs. Surratt." He was 
 then asked by the officer Morgan, what he came at that 
 time of night for, to which he replied, "To dig a gut- 
 ter in the morning." that Mrs. Surratt had sent for 
 him. Afterwards he said that Mrs. Surratt knew he 
 was a poor man and came to him." Being asked where 
 he last worked, he rephed: ''Sometimes on I street;" 
 and where he boarded, he replied, that he had no 
 boarding house but was a poor man who got his liv- 
 ing with the pick, which he bore upon his shoulder, 
 having stolen it from the entrenchments of the Cap- 
 ital. Upon being pressed why he came there at that 
 time of night to go to work, he answered that he sim- 
 ply called to see what time he should go to work in the 
 morning. Upon being told by the officer who fortunate- 
 ly had preceded him to this house, that he would 
 have to go to the Provost-Marshal's office, he moved 
 and did not answer, whereupon Mrs. Surratt was ask- 
 ed to step into the hall and state whether she knew 
 this man. Raising her right hand, she exclaimed : "Be- 
 fore God, sir, I have not seen that man before ; I have 
 not hired him; I do not know anything about him." 
 The hall was brilliantly lighted" 
 
 "If not one word had been said, the mere act 
 of Payne in flying to her house for shelter, would 
 have borne witness against her, strong as proofs from 
 Holy Writ. But, when she denies, after hearing his 
 
ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 157 
 
 declarations that she had sent for him, or that she 
 had never seen him, and knew nothing of him, when, in 
 point of fact, she had seen him four consecutive days, 
 m her own house (that same house) in the same cloth- 
 mg" which he wore, who can resist for a moment, the 
 conclusion that these parties, were ahke, guilty?" 
 
 And this is the woman whom the Roman hierarchy 
 in this country is trying to make a martyr of! Con- 
 template tnis female Jesuit, this Leopoldine, without 
 being asked to swear to her denial, volunteered to 
 hft her hand and in the name of her God, perjure 
 herself in the presence of those witnesses! Do you 
 douDt tnat she was a lay Jesuit V Listen. Let me 
 quote the ''Doctnne of the Jesuits" upon this point: 
 
 Under ''Of Lying and False Swearing'' in JUICIO 
 TEOLOGICA, Basnedi, Jesuit authority, page 278, we 
 find: 
 
 '*If you believe in an inconvertible manner, 
 that you are commanded to lie, then lie." 
 
 Again we quote from the Jesuit Father Stoz in 
 *'0f the Tribunal of the Penitent:" 
 
 **When a crime is secret, the culpability of 
 the crime may be denied; it being understood: 
 publicly." 
 
 Mary E. Surratt knew the command of her church 
 at that moment, and in order to save it from scandal 
 and culpabihty in this great crime, as well as her own 
 life and safety, she was dispensed to lie, and so with- 
 out any hesitancy she raised her right hand and swore 
 to this lie. 
 
 Continuing, Judge Bingham said: 
 
158 ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 
 
 ''Mrs. Surratt had arrived at home from the com- 
 pletion of her part in the plot, about half past eight in 
 the evening. A few minutes afterwards she was called 
 to the parlor, and there had a private interview with 
 someone unseen, but whose retreating footsteps were 
 heard by the witness, Weichmann. This was doubt- 
 less the secret, and last visit of John H. Surratt to 
 his mother, who had instigated and encouraged him 
 to strike this traitorous and murderous blow at his 
 country. 
 
 ''Booth proceeded to the theatre about nine o'clock 
 in the evening, at the same time that Atzerodt and 
 Payne and Herold were riding the streets, while Sur- 
 ratt, having parted with his mother at the brief in- 
 terview in her parlor, from which his retreating steps 
 were heard, was walking the Avenue (Pennsylvania) 
 booted and spurred, and doubtless consulting with 
 O'Laughlin. When Booth reached the rear of the thea- 
 tre, he called Spangler to him and received from Span- 
 gler his pledge to help him all he could, when, with 
 Booth, he entered the theatre by the stage door, 
 doubtless to see that the way was clear from the box 
 to the rear door of the theatre, and to look upon their 
 victim, whose erect position they could study from the 
 stage. After this view Booth passes to the street in 
 front of the theatre, where on the pavement, with 
 other conspirators, yet unknown, among them one de- 
 scribed as a low-browed villain, he awaits the ap- 
 pointed moment. ... Presently, as the hour of ten 
 o'clock approached, one of his guilty associates calls 
 the time; they wait; again, as the appointed time 
 draws nigh, he calls the time; and finally when the 
 fatal moment arrives, he repeats in a louder tone "Ten 
 minutes past ten o'clock, ten minutes past ten o'clock.'* 
 .... The hour has come when the red right hand of 
 these murderous conspirators should strike, and the 
 dreadful deed of assassination be done" 
 
 Booth at the appointed moment entered the theatre, 
 ascended to the dress circle, passed to the right, paused 
 
ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 159 
 
 fU -m^--^' 
 
 INTERIOR OF FORD'S THEATRE ON NIGHT OF MURDER. 
 
 JOHN WILKES BOOTH'S ESCAPE AFTER DEED. 
 
160 ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 
 
 a moment looking down, doubtless to see if Spangler 
 was at his post, and approached the outer door of the 
 closed passage leading to the box, occupied by the 
 President, pressed it open, passed in, and closed the 
 passage door behind him. Spangler's bar was in its 
 place and was readily adjusted by Booth in the mor- 
 tise, and pressed against the inner side of the door, 
 so that he was secure from interruption from without. 
 He passed on to the next door, immediately behind the 
 President, and stoppinpr, looks through the aperture in 
 the door into the President's box, and deliberately ob- 
 serves th*^ nrecise position of his victim seated in the 
 chair, which had been prepared by the conspirators, 
 as the altar for the sacrifice, looking calmly and quietly 
 down upon the glad and grateful people, whom by his 
 fidelity he had saved from the peril which had threat- 
 ened the destruction of their government, and all they 
 held dear, this side of the grave, and whom he had 
 come, upon invitation, to greet with his presence, with 
 the words still lingering upon his lips, which he had 
 uttered with uncovered head and uplifted hand, be- 
 fore God, and his country, when on the fourth of last 
 March, he took aerain the oath to preserve, protect and 
 defend the Constitution, declaring that he entered upon 
 the duties of his great office "With malice toward 
 none and charity for all" 
 
 In a moment more, strengthened by the knowl- 
 edge that his conspirators were all at their posts, 
 seven at least of them present in the city, two of them, 
 Mudd and Arnold, at their appointed places, watching 
 for his coming, this hired assassin moves stealthily 
 through the door, thp fastening of which had been 
 removed to facilitate his entrance, fires upon his vic- 
 tim, and the martyred spirit of Abraham Lincoln as- 
 cends to God. 
 
 "Treason has done his worst ; nor steel nor poison 
 Malice domestic, foreign levy, nothing 
 Can touch him further." 
 
ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 161 
 
 Now, I will let Judge Bingham pick up the thread 
 of evidence by which Booth and Herold were left at the 
 home of Mr- Mudd : 
 
 ". . . They arrived early in the morning before day, 
 and no man knows at what hour they left. Herold rode 
 towards Bryantown wuth Mudd, about three o'clock 
 that afternoon, in the vicinity of which place he parted 
 with him, remaining in the swamp, and was after- 
 wards seen returning the same afternoon in the direc- 
 tion of Mudd's house, a little before sundown, about 
 which time Mudd returned from Bryantov/n towards 
 his home. This village, at the time Mudd w?^s in it, 
 was thronged with soldiers in pursuit of the murder- 
 ers of the President, and althonorh great care had been 
 taken by the defense to deny that anvone said in the 
 presence of Dr. Mudd. either there or elsewhere on thai 
 day, who had committed this crime, yet it is in evi- 
 dence by two witnesses, whose truthfulness no ma a 
 Questions, that upon Mudd's return to his own house 
 that afternoon, he stated that Booth was the murderer 
 of the President, and Boyle, the murderer of Secre- 
 tary Seward, but took care to make the further re- 
 mark that Booth had brothers, and that he did not 
 know which one of them had done the act*' 
 
 "When did Dr. Mudd learn that Booth had broth- 
 ers? And what is still more pertinent to this inquiry, 
 from whom did he learn th^t either, John Wilkes or 
 any of his brothers, had murdered the President? 
 
 "It is clear that Booth remained in his housp until 
 some time in the afternoon of Saturdav; that Herold 
 left the house alone, as one of the witnesses states, 
 being seen to pass the window; that he alone of these 
 two assassins was in the company of Dr. Mudd on his 
 way to Brvantown. It does not appear that Herold re- 
 turned to Mudd's house. It is a confession of Dr. Mudd 
 himself, oroven by one of the witnesses that Booth 
 left his house on crutches and went in the direction of 
 the swamp. How long did he remain there, and what 
 became of the horses that Booth and Herold rode to 
 
162 ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 
 
 his house and which were put in his stable, are facts 
 nowhere disclosed by the evidence- The owners testify 
 that they have never seen the horses since." 
 
 As a matter of fact, it afterward developed, Herold, 
 while he and Booth skulked in the timbers near the place 
 of Thomas Jones, not a great way from the road on 
 which they could see the soldiers and searchers riding 
 up and down feared the horses might, by neighing, at- 
 tract the attention of the riders and be betrayed, so 
 he led the horses a safe distance away and shot them. 
 
 The late Brig. General T. M. Harris, a member 
 of the military commission which convicted the con- 
 spirators, in his great book on the Conspiracy Trials, 
 page 80, describes Dr. Mudd as follows: 
 
 "Mudd's expression of countenance was that of a 
 hypocrite. He had the bump of secretiveness largely 
 developed, and it would have taken months of favora- 
 ble acquaintanceship to have removed the unfavorable 
 impression made by the first scanning of the man. He 
 had the appearance of a natural born liar and deceiver. 
 Mudd was a physician living on a farm. He had a con- 
 siderable number of slaves at the breaking out of 
 the Rebellion, most of whom had left him during the 
 previous winter. His father, also living in the neigh- 
 borhood, was a large land and slave holder, and Mudd's 
 disloyalty was, no doubt, of the rabid type. His home 
 was a place for returned Rebel soldiers and recruiting 
 parties, and he had a place of concealment in the pines 
 near his house, where they were sheltered and cared 
 for, the doctor sending their food to them by his 
 slaves; and if at any time any of these parties ven- 
 tured to his house to take their meals, a slave was al- 
 ways placed on watch to give notice of the approach 
 of anyone.'* 
 
 Mudd not only entertained Booth a week-end in 
 November, but he was known to have made several 
 trips to Washington that winter, and each time was in 
 conference with both Booth and Surratt. There is no 
 
ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 163 
 
 doubt that Booth's Knight of the Golden Circle sig- 
 nals and signs did not give him entree to the Roman- 
 ists in the community south of Washington, in which 
 St. Mary's Catholic Church was the center, and to 
 which he and Herold fled after the deed committed in 
 Ford's Theatre. 
 
 The next damaging evidence against Dr. Mudd 
 was, when the officers visited his house on the trail 
 
 LOUIS J. WEICHMANN. 
 
 Student for priesthood with John 
 H. Surratt at Sulpician Monastery- 
 near Baltimore, Md. State's chief 
 witness. 
 
 of the two fugitives he emphatically denied that he 
 had any strange visitors. It was not until the third 
 visit, when the officers, fortified by definite facts in- 
 formed him that they would have to search the house, 
 that he admitted the presence of the two men, one 
 wounded, who had been there the Saturday after the 
 assassination. Mrs. Mudd disappeared and in a few 
 minutes came in bringing the bootleg which Mudd had 
 
164 ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 
 
 cut from Booth's boot when he bandaged his leg. On 
 the bootleg were the initials "J. W. B." written in 
 India ink inside. Even then neither Mudd nor his wife 
 told an accurate story. Both denied that they had any 
 idea it was Booth, notwithstanding the fact that they 
 were well acquainted with him, and notwithstanding 
 that his was a personality with voice and manner that 
 once known could never be forgotten- 
 
 When Mudd was being taken to the Dry Tortugas 
 after his conviction, he admitted to the officers who 
 had him in charge, that he recognized Booth and 
 Herold the morning after the murder when he came 
 to have his leg dressed. 
 
 Mudd only served three years' imprisonment and 
 was liberated with Spangler, as was Arnold. O'Laugh- 
 lin died of the Yellow Fever in an epidemic in the pris- 
 on, and Dr. Mudd rendered his professional services 
 so efficiently, that it was on this ground he received 
 his discharge from President Johnson, who had prom- 
 ised he would do so before retiring from office. The 
 liberation of these assassins of President Lincoln by 
 his successor, caused much sharp comment and criti- 
 cism from Lincoln's friends. It seems almost unbe- 
 lievable that any sort of leniency should have been 
 shown to these criminals who were guilty not only 
 of the murder of the most distinguished American, 
 but of high treason to their government! 
 
 It may be interesting to the reader to know that 
 in the book written by Dr. Mudd's daughter, she 
 proudly boasts of the fact that her mother is a grad- 
 uate of the Visitation Convent at Georgetown and 
 that on graduation her diploma was presented to her 
 class by "Cardinal Bodini, who was the first papal Le- 
 gate to the United States/' 
 
 The lady does not state, perhaps she did not know, 
 that Cardinal Bodini, prior to his elevating to the papal 
 Legate was known all over Italy as the ''BUTCHER of 
 Bologna," because of the many Italian patriots he 
 ordered put to death and that he gave the order that 
 the Revolutionary priest, Ugo Bassi, who was the 
 
ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 165 
 
 devoted follower of Garibaldi, should be tortured three 
 hours before his execution; 
 
 She neglects also to state that this was the same 
 Cardinal Bodini, who was made to leave this country 
 between suns by the "KNOW NOTHINGS'^— God bless 
 them, and all their kind! 
 
 Spangler, broken in health, returned with Dr. 
 Mudd and made his home with him until his death in 
 1875- He is buried in the cemetery, two miles from the 
 Mudd residence, near St. Peter's church. Dr. Mudd lies 
 buried in the Httle country graveyard connected with 
 St. Mary's church where he first met Booth on that 
 bright November morning in 1864. 
 
 The body of John Wilkes Booth was given to his 
 brother, Edwin, who had it removed from the old pen- 
 itentiary in the Arsenal grounds, where it had been 
 since the burial of the other four of his fellow con- 
 spirators, by a Baltimore undertaker, assisted by a 
 local Washington undertaking firm, Harvey & Marr, to 
 Baltimore, and buried in the Booth family lot at beau- 
 tiful Greenmount cemetery. 
 
 The army box labeled with Booth's name at the 
 time of the burial was somewhat decayed but the body 
 was identified by the dentist who had filled several 
 teeth, and who had no difficulty in identifying it as 
 that of Booth. The skull had become detached but 
 the jet black hair hung in long black ringlets. Edwin 
 Booth did not view the body but remained close by un- 
 til notified of the complete identification. He ordered 
 the body placed in a casket which had been provided 
 by him and shipped to Baltimore. 
 
 The mother of Michael O'Laughlin was given the 
 boy of her son, which was shipped from the prison 
 burial ground and placed in the Catholic cemetery 
 in Baltimore. 
 
166 ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 
 
 GARRETT TOBACCO BARN, PORT ROYAL, VA. 
 
 Booth being dragged out after he fell from bullet fired by 
 Sergt. Boston Corbett April 26, 1865. 
 
Chapter X. 
 
 The Trial Of The Arch Consph^ator- 
 John H. Surratt. 
 
 Now, we will take up the trail of the arch-con- 
 spirator and assassin, John Harrison Surratt, the man 
 who called the time in front of Ford's Theatre the 
 night of the murder of President Lincoln, and track 
 him, step by step, to the very shadow of the Vatican, 
 whose protection he sought and received, until a for- 
 mal demand was made by the United States govern- 
 ment for his return to this country for trial for the 
 murder of Abraham Lincoln. 
 
 In order to nail the Roman church to the cross 
 in this great treason plot, the writer asks your patience 
 and careful reading of this subject which has lain for 
 over a half century buried in the oblivion where the Jes- 
 uits placed it and from which we have resurrected it 
 and pieced it together, in what we hope may prove a 
 readable shape, to be understood and the information 
 passed on. 
 
 It is safe to say that the escape of this tool of 
 the Roman priesthood was one of the most spectacular 
 in all history. It began the very night after the tragic 
 scene in Ford's Theatre. 
 
 It will probably never be known positively by 
 what means Surratt made good his escape from Wash- 
 ington that night, or early the next morning, for he 
 has passed to his eternal accounting and did so, so far 
 as is known, without having revealed it. But this is 
 certain; he succeeded in making his escape safely to 
 Montreal, Canada, and was lodged securely in the house 
 
168 ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 
 
 of the parents of the Roman priest, La Pierre, who 
 was waiting and ready to receive him, close by the 
 papal ''palace" of the Archbishop to whom he was 
 secretary. 
 
 Then began in the United States what was one of 
 the most extraordinary man hunts for Surratt that 
 ever occurred, before or since, in the history of this 
 country. The rewards by the government amounted 
 to twenty-five thousand dollars, and every detective 
 in the government secret service, every detective of 
 the private agencies, and every amateur sleuth en- 
 gaged in this drive to recover this nineteen year old 
 boy, leader of the gang of laymen who were instigated, 
 aided, urged and abetted by the priests of the church 
 of Rome, to complete the destruction of this Republic, 
 which had recently been recovered from the awful 
 cataclysm which our foreign enemies had precipitated 
 four years previous. 
 
 The government secret service, under the direc- 
 tion of the War Department, sent out the following 
 letter: 
 
 "Headquarters Department of Washington, 
 
 Washington, D. C, April 16th, 1865- 
 Special Orders, No. 68, 
 
 Special officers, James A. McDevitt, George 
 Holohan, and Louis J. Weichmann, are hereby 
 ordered to New York on important government 
 business, and, after executing their private or- 
 ders, to return to this city and report at these 
 headquartens. The Quartermaster's Department 
 will furnish the necessary transportation. 
 
 By command of Major-General Augur, T- In- 
 ^raham. Colonel and Provost-Marshal-General. 
 Defenses North of Potomac." 
 
 These officers after leaving Washington, arrived 
 in Montreal on April 20th, and registered at the St. 
 James Hotel. They searched the registers of the hotels 
 in that city, and found that Surratt had arrived at 
 
ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN ley 
 
 the St. Lawrence Hall Hotel on April 6th, and checked 
 out on the 12th of that month; that he had returncid 
 on the 18th and left a few hours later. They learned 
 on further investig'ation that he had stayed at the 
 home of a man by the name of Porterfield, a Secession- 
 ist from Tennessee, who was one of the agents for the 
 Confederacy in that city, and that Surratt had left 
 that house with another man dressed exactly hke 
 himself, each taking a carriage and being driven in 
 different directions. At this point the trial ended un- 
 til the government learned of his sailing on the Peruvi- 
 an, an English steamer, plying between Quebec and 
 Liverpool. 
 
 The Secretary of State received the following 
 code telegram from our Consul in Montreal, J. F Pot- 
 ter: 
 
 "No. 236. (Mr. Potter to Mr- Seward) 
 
 U. S. Consul, B. N. A. F. 
 Montreal, Oct. 27, 1865. 
 Sir: Have just had a personal interview with 
 Dr. L. J. McMillan. He informs me that just be- 
 fore the Steamer Peruvian sailed, a person wilh 
 whom he was acquainted, asked him if he was 
 willing that a gentleman who had been somewhat 
 compromised by the recent troubles in the United 
 States, should pass as his friend on board on 
 the passage out. The Doctor refused to acknowl- 
 edge the person as his friend, until he should 
 know who he was. Subsequently, the same oerson, 
 accompanied by a party (Priest La Pierre — Ed.) 
 came on board before the ship left port, whom 
 he introduced to the surgeon as Mr. McCarthy. 
 During the voyage McCarthy made himself known 
 to the Doctor as John H. Surratt, and related to him 
 many of the particulars of the conspiracy. He said 
 he had been secreted in Montreal most of the time, 
 with the exception of a few weeks, when he was 
 with a Catholic priest down the river. He also stat- 
 ed that Porterfield of this city, formerly of Tenn- 
 
170 ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 
 
 essee, assisted in secreting him. The Doctor also 
 informed same that Surratt had dyed his hair, 
 eyebrows and mustache, blackstained his face, and 
 wore glasses. He landed in Londonderry, Ireland, 
 fearing he might be watched and detected in Liv- 
 erpool. 
 
 He told him he was obliged to remain until 
 he could receive money from Montreal. He re- 
 quested the Doctor to see his friend in this city, 
 and bring him funds. After the return of the 
 Peruvian, the Doctor was transferred to the No- 
 va Scotian. When I saw him he had just had an 
 interview with his friend who had introduced him 
 to Surratt, as McCarthy, who told him he was 
 expecting funds from Washington, D. C, bui that 
 they had not come yet. 
 
 The Doctor says that Surratt manifests no 
 signs of penitence, but justifies his action, and was 
 bold and defiant, when he speaks of the assassi- 
 nation of Abraham Lincoln. To illustrate this : He 
 told me that Surratt remarked repeatedly, that he 
 only desired to live two years longer, in which 
 time he would serve President Johnson as Booth 
 served Lincoln. The Doctor said he felt it his 
 duty to give me this information for he regarded 
 Surratt a desperate wretch, and an enemy to so- 
 ciety, who should be apprehended and brought to 
 justice." (Signed) John F. Potter." 
 
 To this important information, our Consul re- 
 ceived no reply from the War Department, as he had 
 expected and the next day he followed it with a tele- 
 gram, also in code, printed below : 
 
 "No. 236. (Mr. Potter to Mr. Seward) 
 
 U. S. Consul General, 
 Montreal, Can-, Oct. 28th, 1865. 
 Sir: — I sent you a telegram in cipher with 
 information to the Department that John H. Sur- 
 
ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 171 
 
 ratt left Three Rivers, in September, for Liverpool, 
 where he now is, awaiting the arrival of the Nova 
 Scotian, which sails on Saturday, next, by which 
 he expects to receive money from parties in this 
 city by hand of Ship Surgeon. . I have information 
 from Dr. McMillan, Surratt intends to go to Rome. 
 He was secreted at Three Rivers by a Catholic 
 priest, with whom he lived, I have requested in- 
 struction in my telegram, but hearing nothing yet, 
 I scarcely know what course to take. 
 
 If an officer could proceed to England on 
 this ship, no doubt, Surratt's arrest might be ef- 
 fected, and this, the last of the conspirators 
 against the lives of the President and Secretary 
 of State be brought to justice. If I hear nothing 
 from Washington tomorrow, I shall go to Quebec 
 to see further on the subject. 
 Respectfully, etc. 
 
 (Signed) Potter." 
 
 And now a most peculiar phase of this remarka- 
 ble case presents itself to us. The U. S War Depart- 
 ment with the full knowledge of the exact whereabouts 
 of that arch-criminal, who not only assisted, but led 
 in, and actually directed the murder of the President 
 of the United States and Secretary of State, William H. 
 Seward, refuged to make the least attempt to arrest 
 the said John H. Surratt, which the following cable 
 to our Consul in Liverpool shows: 
 
 "(Mr. Hunter to Mr. Wilding) 
 
 Dept. of State, Oct. 1st, 1865. 
 Sir: Your dispatches 541-543 inclusive have 
 been received. 
 
 In reply to your No. 538, I have to inform 
 you, that upon consultation with the Secretary 
 of War and Judge Advocate General, it is thought 
 advisable that no action be taken in regard to the 
 
172 ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 
 
 arrest of the supposed John H Surratt, at pres- 
 ent. 
 
 W. H. Hunter, 
 
 Acting Secretary*' 
 
 Then in less than three weeks from that date, 
 the following order was sent to the War Department 
 from Andrew Johnson, President of the United States, 
 and successor to Abraham Lincoln: 
 
 "(General Order No. 164) 
 
 War Department 
 Adj. General's Office, 
 Washington, Nov. 24, 1865. 
 
 All persons claiming reward for the appre- 
 hension of John Wilkes Booth, Lewis Payne, G. A. 
 Atzerodt, David E. Herold, and Jefferson Davis, 
 or either of them, are notified to file their claims 
 and their proofs with the Adj. General for final 
 adjudication by the special commission appointed, 
 to award and determine upon the validity of such 
 claims before the first day of January next, after 
 which no claims will be received. 
 
 The reward for the arrest of Jacob Thompson, 
 Beverly Tucker, George W. Sander, Wm. G. Cleary, 
 and John H. Surratt. are hereby revoked. 
 
 By order of the President of the United 
 States- 
 E. D. Townsend, 
 
 Ass't. Adj. General." 
 
 Naturally, with the revoking of the reward for 
 the arrest of Surratt, his chances for his safety from 
 expiating his crime were multiplied many fold. 
 
 On September 30th, 1865, our Consulate at Liver- 
 pool, sent the following cable in Code to the Secretary 
 of State at Washington: 
 
ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 173 
 
 *'(Mr. Wilding to Mr. Seward) 
 No. 539. U. S. Consulate, Liverpool, 
 
 Sept. 30, 1865. 
 Sir: Since my dispatch No. 538, the supposed 
 Surratt has arrived in Liverpool and is now stay- 
 ing at the Oratory of the Roman Catholic Church 
 of the Holy Cross. His appearance indicates him 
 to be about 21 years of age, rather tall and toler- 
 ably good looking. According to the reports Mrs. 
 Surratt was a very devout Roman Catholic, and 
 I know clergymen of that persuasion, on their 
 way to and from America, have frequently lodgea, 
 while in Liverpool, at that same Oratory, so that 
 the fact of this young man going there, some- 
 what favors the belief, that he is the real Sur- 
 ratt. I cannot, of course, do anything further in 
 the matter without Mr. Adams' instructions, and 
 a warrant. If it be Surratt, such a wretch ought 
 not to escape. 
 
 Yours respectfully. Your obedient serv*ant, 
 
 H. Wilding." 
 
 The Oratory of the Holy Cross was the Roman 
 Catholic Clearing House through v/hich the ecclesiasti- 
 cal agents passed between this country and the Vati- 
 can, during their activites through the Civil War. 
 
 And now, with the official correspondence to show 
 us Surratt's moves, let me chink up the open spaces. 
 
 When Surratt left the home of Porterfield, he 
 was taken under the wings of the French priests from 
 under which he never departed until they had seen 
 the ship surgeon on the Peruvian and arranged for 
 his safe passage as we have seen. The facts brought 
 out at the two trials of Surratt, after he had finally 
 been returned to the United States, showed that the 
 fugitive had gone to the little vil^a^e of St. Liboire, 
 some sixty miles out of Montreal, skirtincr the pine 
 woods, and an ideal place for the purpose. Tbe parish 
 priest^s name was La Pierre. Here he secreted Surratt 
 for several weeks, when the hunt got too hot in Mon- 
 
174 ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 
 
 treal which was being combed thoroughly for him. 
 St- Liboire was out of the way of the general traffic, 
 and the inhabitants, French Catholics, who worked 
 for the most part in the lumber camps, and were by 
 their location, as well as their lack of education, cut 
 off from the rest of the world and its doings, as if 
 they were people of another planet. They were sub- 
 survient to their priest, so much so, that they would no 
 more have thought of criticising his acts, than they 
 would of God Himself. Consequently, when a strange 
 young man appeared at the parish house nothing was 
 thought of it, or if, perchance, some one with just 
 a drop of rebelhous blood in him, might have asked 
 himself, "Is this another mouth to feed?" he would 
 whisper it so softly that even his guardian angel could 
 not hear it, and would quickly ''bless" himself, for 
 daring to criticise or find fault with what his '*Bon 
 Pierre" should take it into his head to do. 
 
 After several weeks of this life in the Canadian 
 village, Surratt became restless, no doubt, and anxious 
 to hear from the States, for we must remember that 
 all his mail and the newspapers were censored by his 
 priestly guardians, as he afterwards told in his Rock- 
 ville lecture. Each time the ''Holy Mother Church" 
 would step in and allay his anxiety and he received al- 
 most weekly visits from that other "Valued and trusted 
 friend," Priest La Pierre of Montreal. Once when he in- 
 sisted. Priest La Pierre took him back to Montreal, him- 
 self, in citizen's clothes, and Surratt disguised as a 
 hunter. 
 
 You will note the solicitude of these French 
 priests concerning this American youth who had a 
 price of Twenty-f^ve Thousand Dollars on his head, 
 "dead or alive." Is it not an eloquent fact of, not only 
 their personal guilt, but the guilt of their church, that 
 they never thought of surrendering him and receiving 
 the reward, notwithstanding the inordinate love of 
 money which characterizes Rome's priests? 
 
 Do you think for one moment that these priests 
 in Canada, or the priests in Washington, would have 
 
ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 175 
 
 dared to have become parties in this conspiracy, there- 
 by involving their church, without the full knowledge 
 of the Roman hierarchy? Priests receive all their or- 
 ders from the Pope through their Bishops. 
 
 Would this obscure, native born American boy 
 have been so carefully protected and cared for as he 
 v/as by these priests, without the command of the 
 Vatican ? 
 
 You must remember that this government had 
 sent broadcast the warning that anyone who would be 
 found ''aiding, abetting, protecting, comforting," or in 
 any way assisting any of the conspirators, would be 
 held as co-partners in the crime with them, and dealt 
 with accordingly. 
 
 There is not a record that I have been able to find, 
 wherein there is one word of criticism, one word of 
 disapproval, one word of regret officially, or otherwise, 
 on the part of the Roman Catholic Hierarchy for the 
 participation of the Romanists connected with this 
 conspiracy, which consummated in the murder of 
 Abraham Lincoln! 
 
 THERE IS NOT IN THE LARGE COLLECTION 
 OF OFFICIAL CONDOLENCES RECEIVED BY 
 THIS GOVERNMENT UPON THE DEATH OF 
 ABRAHAM LINCOLN, COMING FROM EVERY 
 CIVILIZED COUNTRY IN THE WORLD, ONE WORD 
 FROM THE POPE OF ROME. AND THIS IN VIEW, 
 MARK YOU, OF THE FACT THAT THE POPE WAS 
 KING OF THE PAPAL STATES AND HAD MORE 
 SUBJECTS IN THIS COUNTRY THAN ANY OTHER 
 RULER IN EUROPE! 
 
 Pius IXth by his silence at this time, made a con- 
 fession of his guilt written in letters of fire — un- 
 quenchable fire — which brands him and his Jesuits 
 with the brand of Cain in the hearts and minds of the 
 AMERICAN PEOPLE, when they shall have been 
 given a full knowledge of their (the Jesuits) responsi- 
 
176 ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 
 
 bility in the CONSPIRACY OF DESTRUCTION OF 
 THIS POPULAR GOVERNMENT ON THAT GOOD 
 FRIDAY NIGHT IN FORD'S THEATRE, APRIL 14th. 
 1865; 
 
 Who, among the government detectives from this 
 country, would have thought to search the houses of 
 the priests for their fugitive? How much chance 
 would they had to secure a search warrant for such 
 search in French Canada if they had? The Roman 
 Catholic SYSTEM operates in safety through its in- 
 stitutions in this country and Canada. It is only in 
 Catholic Mexico, where the people who have been 
 burdened by the Papal yoke, have been progressive 
 enough to make laws and operate them that a search 
 warrant can be obtained with which these hell-holes 
 of the Pope of Rome in their country can be reachea. 
 
 Do you realize that in Mexico a Roman priest 
 or nun has not the right of suffrage ? That they cannot 
 vote or enjoy any of the rights or privileges which 
 accompanies the ballot box? And yet we supposedly 
 intelligent Americans, not only permit them to vote, 
 but they are today the dominating force in politics 
 of every large city in the United States. THINK OF IT! 
 
 All the powerful machinery of the Hierarchy of 
 the Roman Catholic Church was set in motion from 
 the moment after the murder of Mr. Lincoln to shield 
 Surratt and defeat justice for his awful crime, and 
 we have public documents with which to brand these 
 ecclesiastical plotters. Notwithstanding the fact that 
 the U- S. War Department knew exactly every step 
 taken by the young fugitive, from the day he sailed 
 for Europe, no effort was made to airest him. The 
 startling knowledge, however, came to the attention 
 of certain members of Congress, and the matter was 
 brought up in that body, and a committee appointea 
 to investigate same. I herewith give the report of 
 this committee in full: 
 
ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 177 
 
 OFFICIAL REPORT ON JOHN H. SURRATT ISSUED 
 Bi SECRETARY OF STATE FOR CONGRES- 
 SIONAL RECORD. 
 
 39th Congress House of Representatives Report 33 
 2nd Session March 2, 1867 
 
 REPORT OF JUDICIARY COMMITTEE. 
 
 That John H. Surratt sailed from Canada about 
 September fifteenth, 1865, for Liverpool; that infor- 
 mation was received by Secretary of State, Wm. H. 
 Seward, from Mr. Wilding, Vice-Consul at Liverpool, 
 by communication, dated Sept, 27th, 1865; that Sur- 
 ratt was at that time in Liverpool, or expected in a day 
 or two. 
 
 By dispatch, from Wilding Sept. 30th, 1865, the 
 supposed Surratt had arrived and was staying at the 
 Oratory of the Roman Catholic church of the Holy 
 Cross, and that he, Wilding, could do nothing in tne 
 matter without instructions from our Minister in Eng- 
 land, Mr. Adams, and a warrant. 
 
 The Secretary of State, received a dispatch from 
 Mr. Potter, our Consul General at Montreal, Canada, 
 October 25th, 1865, informing him that Surratt left 
 Canada for Liverpool, the September previous, and 
 was there waiting the arrival of a steamer by which 
 he expected money, which steamer had not yet lett 
 Canada, and that he was intending to go to Rome. 
 
 Upon November 11th, 1865, Mr. Potter received 
 a dispatch from the Department of State, that the 
 information in his dispatch had been properly availed 
 of, and that on the 13th day of November, the Secre- 
 tary of State, requested the Attorney General of the 
 United States, to procure indictment gainst Surratt, 
 as soon as convenient, with a veiw to demand his 
 surrender. 
 
 Our Minister, Mr. Rufus King, at Rome, com- 
 menced as early as April 25th, 1865, stated in his 
 
178 ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 
 
 dispatch, that information of Surratt, under the name 
 of ''Watson" had enhsted in the Papal Zouaves, then 
 stationed at Sezzes. 
 
 In a dispatch, August 8'th, 1865, said he repeated 
 information communicated to him, to Cardinal An- 
 tonelli, in regard to Surratt; that his Eminence, was 
 greatly mterested by it, and intimated that if the 
 ximerican government desired the surrender of the 
 criminal, there would probably be no difficulty in the 
 way. 
 
 REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE 
 
 "1st. That the Executive did not send any de- 
 tective or agent to Liverpool to identify Surratt, or 
 trace his movements, notwithstanding there was am- 
 ple opportunity, for doing so, as appears in the com- 
 munication from Potter. 
 
 2nd That the Executive did not cause notice to 
 be given to our Minister at Rome; that Surratt in- 
 tended going there, when the government had every 
 reason to believe, such was his intention. 
 
 3rd. That on November 4th, an order was is- 
 sued from the War Department, revoking the reward 
 offered for the arrest of John H. Surratt. 
 
 4th. That from the reception of the communi- 
 cations of Mr. King, Aug. 8th, 1866, to October 16th, 
 1866, no steps were taken, either to indentify or pro- 
 cure the arrest of Surratt, then known to be in the 
 Military service of the Pope. 
 
 The testimony of the Secretary of State, Secre- 
 tary of War, and others which is herewith submitted, 
 tending to justify acts of the government in the prem- 
 ises, does not, in the opinion of your committee, excuse 
 the great delay in arresting a person charged with 
 complicity in the assassination of the late President 
 Abraham Lincoln- 
 
 They are constrained from testimony to report 
 that, in their opinion, due diligence in the arrest of 
 
ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 179 
 
 John H. Surratt, was not exercised by the Executive 
 Department of the government. 
 
 Respectfully submitted, 
 (signed) F- E. Woodbridge, 
 For Committee." 
 
 So ends the report of that splendid, fearless group 
 of men, chosen by the House of Representatives to 
 look into the matter. 
 
 It seems almost incredible that the memory of 
 Abraham Lincoln, could have been so soon forgotten. 
 That the virus of which he had such a clear knowledge 
 should have been making its deadly inroads in the 
 veins of his successor and the Secretary of State, 
 William H. Seward, whose life hung in the balance for 
 days, caused by the hand of one of the assassins under 
 the personal direction of this same Surratt! 
 
 I now call attention to the communication from 
 our American Consul at Rome, at the time. General 
 Rufus King: 
 
 No. 33 Regarding Sainte-Marie 
 
 Ames (Gen. Rufus King to Mr. Seward) 
 
 2nd Session 
 
 Legation U. S.. Rome 
 
 April 23rd, 1866- 
 Sir: 
 
 On Saturday last, the 21st, Henry de Saint-Marie, 
 called upon me for the purpose, as he said, of com- 
 municating the information that John H. Surratt. who 
 is charged with complicity in the murder of President 
 Lincoln, but made his esca^^e at the time, from the 
 United States, had recentlv enlisted in the Papal 
 Zouaves, under the pa me of "Jo^n Watson," and is 
 now stationed with his compa^v at Sezze. 
 
 My informant said th^t he had known Surratt 
 in America; that he recoernized him as soon as he 
 saw him at Sezzes: that he called him by his proper 
 name, and that Surratt acknowledfr^d that he partici- 
 pated in the plot against Lincoln's life. . . • 
 
IgO ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 
 
 He further said that Surratt seemed to be well supplied 
 with money, and appealed to him, Sainte Marie, not to 
 reveal his secret. Sainte Marie, expressed an earnest 
 desire, that if any steps were taken toward reclaiming 
 Surratt as a criminal, that he (Sainte Marie) should 
 not be known in the matter. 
 
 He spoke positively, in answer to my questions 
 as to his acquaintance with Surratt, and he certainly 
 thinks this was the man, and there seemed such an 
 entire absence of motive for any false statements on 
 the subject, that I could not very well doubt the truth 
 of what he said. 
 
 I deemed it my duty, therefore, to present the 
 circumstances to the Department, and ask instruc- 
 tions. 
 
 Respectfully, 
 (signed) RUFUS KING" 
 
 SURRATT ENTERED ENGLISH PAPAL COLLEGu: 
 
 AT ROME. 
 
 An affidavit from an Irish Romanist. Edward 
 O'Conner. a book dealer there, gives this illumination 
 upon that young criminal's movement: 
 
 "About twelve months ago Mr. Surratt came to 
 Rome under the name of "Watson" In Canada he pro- 
 cured letters from several priests to friends in Eng- 
 land. Having left England for Rome, he got betters 
 for some people here, among others for the reverend 
 Dr. Neane, Rector of the Enghsh College. Being de- 
 tained some days in Cevita Vecchia, and having no 
 money to pay his expenses, he wrote the reverend T)r. 
 Neane, from whom he received fifty francs. On his 
 arrival here, he went to the English College, where 
 he lived for some time; after that he entered the 
 papal service. 
 
 Rome, Nbv. 25th, 1866.** 
 
ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 181 
 
 O^Gonnor also turned over to our Minister, whicii 
 is included in the other official papers in the archives 
 of this government, a better received by him from 
 Surratt as follows: 
 
 "Edw. O'Connor, Esq., 
 
 Rome, Italy. 
 Dear Sir: 
 
 Will you be so kind as to send me a French and 
 English grammar, the best method you have. I think 
 Ollendorf's is the most in use. When I come to Rome 
 I will settle with you. Shall be in, in the course of 
 two or three weeks. If you should have time to re- 
 ply to me, please give me al the news you can. By 
 so doing, you will greatly oblige. 
 Your friend, 
 
 John Wats(vn, Co. 3.'' 
 
 Surratt's handwriting was identified in this letter. 
 It is preceptible that O'Connor knew the nature of the 
 "news" wanted by his friend Watson. The statement 
 of O'Connor shows that Surratt had evidently related 
 to him about his letters of reference, and his pecuniary 
 embarrassment would indicate some confidence in that 
 gentleman. 
 
 I wonder if the non-Romanist reader gets the full 
 im-Dort of a Roman nriest in the City of Rome, at that, 
 advancin.er a sum of money to a foreign vouth, as the 
 reverend Dr. Neane did? This, itself, without anv of 
 the other tremendous facts showinpi- the aid that this 
 younp" traitor received from the nriests in Washing- 
 ton. Canada, England and Italv. was suflicient to have 
 held them as the a^'tual conspirators and to have 
 brought them to justice hy hanging them on 
 the same scaffold with their dupes. Had this 
 been done, it might have saved the assassina- 
 tion of the other Presidents of this Republic, 
 Garfipld and McKinlev! 
 
 To those of us who know the coldness of the char- 
 
182 ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 
 
 ity of the priests of Rome, the conduct of the reverend 
 Dr. Neane speaks volumes. 
 
 I now produce another communication in this gov- 
 ernment correspondence, which speaks for itself: 
 
 No. 43. Mr. Seward to Mr. King 
 
 (Extracts — Confidential) 
 
 Department of State 
 Washington, Oct. 16, 1866 
 Sir: ■'''■■ ^m^, 
 
 Mr. King's private letter written from Hamburg 
 has just been received. It is accompanied by a letter 
 from Sainte Marie of the 12th of September, to Mr. 
 Hooker. I think it expedient that you do the follow- 
 ing things: 
 
 1st- Employ a confidential person to visit Velle- 
 tri, and ascertain by comparsion with the photo sent 
 whether the person indicated by Sainte-Marie, is 
 really John Surratt. 
 
 2nd. Pay Sainte Marie to get his release in con- 
 sideration of the information he has already communi- 
 cated on the subject. 
 
 3rd. Seek an interview with Cardinal Antonelli 
 and referring to an intimation made by him to Mr. 
 King's letter No. 62 Ask the Cardinal wheth- 
 er his Holiness would now be willing in an ab- 
 sence of extradition treaty, to deliver John H. Sur- 
 ratt upon an authentic indictment, and at the request 
 of the Department, for complicity in the assassination 
 of the late President Lincoln, or whether, in the event 
 of this request being declined, his Holiness would 
 enter into an extradition treaty with us, which would 
 enable us to reach the surrender of Surratt. 
 
 4th. Ask as a favor of this government, that 
 neither Sainte Marie nor Surratt be discharged from 
 the papal army, until we have had time to communi- 
 cate concerning them, after receiving a prompt reply 
 from you to this communication. 
 
 Sainte Marie should be told confidentially, that 
 
ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 183 
 
 the subject of his communication to Mr. Hooker is 
 under consideration here. 
 
 Yours respectfully, 
 
 (signed) W. H. Seward" 
 
 The fol' owing from General King gives further 
 light: 
 
 "No. 59. (Mr. King to Mr. Seward) 
 
 Legation U. S- Rome, 
 
 July 14, 1866. 
 Dear Sir: 
 
 Henri de Sainte Marie's deposition. In compliance 
 with instructions heretofore received, I have obtained 
 and herewith transmit, an additional statement, 
 sworn and subscribed to, by Sainte Marie, touching 
 John H. Surratt's acknowledged complicity in the as- 
 sassination of the late President Lincoln. 
 
 Sainte Marie again expressed to me his great 
 desire to return to America and give his evidence in 
 person. He thinks his life would be in danger here, 
 if it would be known. . . .that he betrayed Surratt's 
 secret. 
 
 I have the honor to be with great respect, 
 
 Rufus King." 
 
 Again we hear from General King after a visit 
 to Cardinal Antonelli. That cunning old fox, who was 
 the real pope, saw that to attempt to refuse to sur- 
 render their protege would have been a dangerous 
 move. There was, for instance, more than a billion 
 dollars worth of church property in the United States, 
 and the temper of the great masses of red-blooded 
 American people was not to be trifled with. There 
 were thousands of priests and nuns here, and a re- 
 fusal, or further protection to this young monster 
 might precipitate such a revulsion of feeling, if the 
 inner facts were to become known, as to jeopardize 
 not only the property, but start a religious war, to 
 which there was no question as to the outcome. 
 
184 ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 
 
 I deem this a proper place to quote again from 
 that valuable little book, 'The Roman Question," the 
 description of Antonelli's personal appearance: 
 
 "In this year of grace, 1859, he is fifty-three 
 years of age. He presents the appearance of a 
 well preserved man; his frame is shght but 
 robust; his constitution that of a moun- 
 taineer. The breadth of his forehead, the 
 briUiancy of his eyes, his beak-like nose, and all 
 the upper part of his face, inspire a certain awe. 
 His countenance, of almost Moorish hue, is at 
 times lit up by flashes of intellect. But his heavy 
 jaw, his long fang-like teeth, and his thick lips 
 express the grossest appetites. He gives you the 
 idea of a minister grafted on a savage. When he 
 assists the Pope in the ceremonies of Holy Week, 
 he is magnificently disdainful and impertinent. He 
 turns from time to time in the direction of the 
 diplomatic tribune, and looks without a smile at 
 the poor ambassadors, whom he cajoles from 
 morning to night. You admire the actor who 
 bullies his public. But when at an evening party he 
 engages in close conversation with a handsome 
 woman, the play of his countenance shows the 
 direction of his thoughts, and those of the imagin- 
 ative observer are imperceptibly carried to a 
 roadside in a lonely forest, in which the principal 
 objects are prostrate postilions, an overturned 
 carriage, trembling females, and a select party 
 of the inhabitants of Sonnino! 
 
 He lives in the Vatican, immediately over 
 the Pope. The Romans ask punningly, which is the 
 uppermost, the Pope or Antonelli? All clashes of 
 society hate him equally He is the only living 
 man concerning whom an entire people is agreed. 
 ....... He wishes to restore the absolute 
 
 power of the pope, in order that he may dispose 
 of it at his ease He returns to Rome and 
 
ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 185 
 
 GIACOMO ANTONELLI 
 
 CARDINAL AND SECRETARY OF PAPAL STATES. 
 PIUS IX. 
 
 Mouthpiece of the "Black Pope"— the General of the "So- 
 ciety of Jesus". On death of Cardinal Antonelli his two at- 
 tractive daughters by a court decision were awarded his vast 
 fortune to the amazement and scandal of Europe. 
 
186 ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 
 
 for ten years continues to reign over a timid old 
 man and an enslaved people, opposing a passive 
 resistance to all the counsels of diplomacy, and 
 all the demands of Europe. 
 
 "No. 62. Mr. King to Mr. Seward 
 
 Legation U. S., Rome 
 
 Aug. 8th, 1866. 
 Sir: 
 
 T availed myself of the opportunity to repeat to 
 the Cardinal the information communicated by Henri 
 Sainte Marie in regard to Surratt. His Eminence was 
 greatly interested and intimated that if the American 
 government desired the surrender of the criminal, 
 there would probably be no difficultv in the way. 
 
 Rufus King." 
 (Mr. King to Mr. Seward) 
 
 (Extracts) 
 Sir: 
 
 He added, that there was indeed no extra- 
 dition treaty between the two countries, and that to 
 surrender a criminal, where caoital punishment was 
 likely to ensue, was not exactly in accordance with the 
 spirit of the napal government, but. that in so grave 
 and so exceptional a case, and with the understandinc' 
 that the United States under parallel conditions wouM 
 do as they desired to be done by. and that he thought 
 that the reouest of the United States department for 
 Surratt's surrender would be granted." 
 
 Do you get the entering wedge there to make 
 Surratt's surrender on condition that would save his 
 neck? Since when did the "spirit" of the papal gov- 
 ernment become so compassionate? The massacre of 
 St. Bartholemew, the burning at the stake of Bruno, 
 Savanarola, John Huss, Joan D'Arc. and thousands 
 of others who dared to oppose the papacy, still cries 
 to Heaven for vengeance, but with this young criminal 
 who was perinde ac cadaver in the haijds of Pius IXth 
 
ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 187 
 
 and his Jesuits, how very solicitious they are, going 
 just as far as they dare, to save him! 
 
 What cowardly and reprehensible conduct the 
 men at the head of the United States government 
 were guilty of in the case of Henri de Sainte Marie, 
 who took his life in his hands when he informed Gen- 
 eral King of John Surratt's identity. They dilly dallied 
 along for months and kept him sweating while he 
 awaited some action, and then it took a Congressional 
 investigation and a stinging rebuke and order from 
 Congress before the proper steps were taken to bring 
 this young scoundrel, Surratt, to time. 
 
 We have here the sequel of the communication 
 from Mr. King from Hamburg, which the Secretary 
 of War, Seward, referred to in the letter above: 
 
 "(Private) 
 
 Hamburg, Sept- 23rd, 1866. 
 My dear Governor: 
 
 I enclose a letter forwarded from Rome a few 
 days since, in which Sainte Marie related his griefs 
 to Mr. Hooker. He thinks, of course, that too little 
 notice has been taken to his statements about Sur- 
 ratt; but would be satisfied, I have no doubt, if his 
 discharge from the Pontificial Zouaves were procured, 
 and the means furnished him to pay his passage home 
 to Canada, where his old mother is still Hving. His 
 discharge, I could obtain without difficulty, if desir- 
 able. 
 
 Faithfully yours, 
 
 (signed) Rufus King." 
 
 The telegraph lines and mail service in the pontifi- 
 cal states, were of course, entirely in the hands of the 
 prelates of the Pope, and under the strictest censor- 
 ship. 
 
 It goes without saying that no state papers passed 
 through the mails in the pontifical states from our 
 consuls to their government, that were not read by the 
 priestly spies and reported to "His Eminence," copied 
 
188 ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 
 
 and filed away for future reference, if they so desired. 
 The following letter gives us an interesting high light 
 on the Jesuit system, and the credulity of a Protestant 
 American's psychology. 
 
 "Legation U- S., Rome, 
 
 July 14, 1866. 
 My dear Governor: 
 
 As you will learn from the accompanying dis- 
 patch, the missing documents from the btate Depart- 
 ment arrived ail right today. I cannot imagine now, 
 or where they have been delayed. 
 
 I will act forthwith upon the instructions in re- 
 gard to Sainte Marie. He is willing and anxious to 
 return to the United States, and can get his release 
 from the Pope's army, by paying fifty dollars, or so. 
 I should judge his parole evidence would be much more 
 desirable than any certified statement. He would ex- 
 pect to have his expenses paid and some compensation 
 for his time. 
 
 Faithfully yours, 
 
 Rufus King." 
 
 The reader will recall that Sainte Marie was cut 
 otf from any reward which the government had ofi:er- 
 ed by a revocation which President Johnson ordered. 
 President Johnson was a drunkard. He came from a 
 disloyal State. His revocation of a reward for the ar- 
 rest of John H. Surratt is conclusive proof to the 
 mind of the writer, to say the least he was playing 
 politics, which under the gravity of the circumstances 
 would make his conduct criminal. Andrew Johnson, 
 the drunkard, had nothing in common with Abraham 
 Lincoln. Lincoln's pure, sober, honorable life was a 
 rebuke to such a man as Johnson. At the first op- 
 portunity, the latter dared to take advantage of, to 
 show his disHke, which amounted to downright dis- 
 respect to the memory of Lincoln. It was President 
 Johnson that paralyzed the arm of the Department of 
 
ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 189 
 
 State in regard to Surratt's arrest. The whole official 
 inertness amounting to treason it would seem, should 
 be laid at Johnson's door. 
 
 That the Roman Catholic spirit may be truly 
 demonstrated in the pontifical army, a perusal of the 
 following document will be enhghtening: 
 
 **No. 72. Mr. King to Mr. Seward 
 
 Legation U. S., Rome, 
 
 Dec. 17, 1866- 
 Sir: 
 
 I hasten to acknowledge receipt of the dispatches 
 Nos. 44-45-46-47,of the State Department .... rela- 
 tive to the affair of John H. Surratt. ■ ... It will 
 give me pleasure to convey to Cardinal Antonelli, the 
 assurance of the President's sincere satisfaction with 
 the prompt and friendly actions of the papal court. . . 
 Sainte Marie, who first informed me of Surratt being 
 in the corps of Zouaves, has been discharged from the 
 papal service, at my request. 
 
 Threats had been made against him by some ot 
 his comrades, and thinking that his life might not 
 be altogether safe, and that he might be wanted at 
 Alexandria as a witness to identify Surratt, I put him 
 in charge of Captain JefFers, and he sailed on the 
 Swatara on Friday last. His great desire seems to be 
 to return to America, and aid in bringing Surratt to 
 justice. I have seen, as yet, no reason to doubt his 
 good faith, or question the truth of his statements. 
 
 Rufus King." 
 
 Surratt, one of the murderers of our great Lincoln, 
 was the hero and Sainte Marie, the traitor! The dif- 
 ference in sentiment of the papal troops and the 
 PEOPLE of Italy, the Revolutionists, who were 
 struggling for a free and united Italy, under Gari- 
 baldi, and Victor Emmanuel, can be appreciated if 
 the reader will peruse the letters of condolence which 
 were received by the government after they learnea 
 
190 ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 
 
 of the assassination of Mr. Lincoln. Every working- 
 men's organization of Italy sent the most beautiful 
 messages, and their intimate knowledge of the life 
 of Lincoln astonished the writer. The bold frankness 
 in many of them in placing the blame on the Jesuits 
 was most edifying. I know of nothing that will give 
 the reader the mental attitude of the difference of 
 sentiment, and show up the venom of the Pope's si- 
 lence on President Lincoln's murder, than a perusal of 
 these messages. 
 
 After an extended diplomatic dickering which 
 covered several months after its initiation, the order 
 for Surratt's arrest was given by the Secretary of 
 State, Cardinal Antonelli. The official papers are ex- 
 ceedingly interesting and educational. We give them 
 in full. They are all official translations of the orig- 
 inals, in Italian. The Lieutenant Colonel in charge at 
 the time was an Austrian, whom the patriotic Ital- 
 ians greatly hated. 
 
 ''Enclosure *'C" (Translation) Kausler to Lieut. 
 Col. Allet. 
 
 November 6, 1866- 
 
 Col: — Cause the Zouave Watson to be arrested 
 and to be conveyed under safe military escort to 
 the military prison at Rome. It is of much importance 
 that this order be scrupulously fulfilled. 
 
 The Gen. Pro-Minister, Kausler. 
 To Lieut. Col. Allet, Com. Battalion of Zouaves, Vel- 
 letri.'^ 
 
 The French Lieut. Allet acknowledges the order 
 as follows: 
 
 "Allet to Kausler (Enclosure ''D" Translation) 
 
 Velletri, Nov. 7, 1866. 
 No. 463 
 
 General: — I have the honor to inform you that 
 the Zouave Watson (John) has been arrested at Ve- 
 
ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 191 
 
 roli, and will be conducted tomorrow morning under 
 a good escort to Rome. 
 
 I have the honor to be General, your most humble 
 subordinate, 
 
 Lieut. Col. Allet. 
 
 Pontifical Zouave Commander of Battalion." 
 
 And now comes the surprise, by the way of : 
 
 "(Enclosure ''E" Translation) 
 
 Presented at Velletri, Nov. 8, 1866, 8:35 A. M. 
 Arrived at Rome, Nov. 8, 1866, 8:50 A- M. 
 
 His Excellency, Minister of Arma, Rome. 
 
 I received the following telegram, dated 4:30 A. 
 M. from Zambilly: 
 
 At the moment he left the prison and while sur- 
 rounded by six men as a guard, Watson threw himself 
 into a ravine, about a hundred feet, perpendicular in 
 depth, which defends the prison. Fifty Zouaves in 
 pursuit of him. 
 
 Zambilly. 
 
 I will transmit your Excellency the intelligence 
 I may receive by telegram. 
 
 Allet, Lieut. Col." 
 
 It was now up to the Austrian commander to 
 flimflam the American Consuls and State Department 
 by giving this opera buffet the semblance of genuine- 
 ness to cover the investigation which they knew was 
 sure to follow. 
 
 **Kausler to Cardinal Antonelli. 
 
 Ministry of Arms, Cabinet of the Pro-Minister, 
 Nov. 8, 1866. 
 
 Most Reverend Eminence: 
 
 I have the honor to transmit to your most rev- 
 erend Eminence, the accompanying documents on the 
 arrest and escape of the Zouave Watson, of the 3rd 
 Co., and I shall not fail to communicate such further 
 
192 ASSASSINS OF ABRSHAM LINCOLN 
 
 information as I may receive, as the result of the pur- 
 suit of this individual. 
 
 Bowing to kiss the sacred purple, I am proud to 
 subscribe myself with profound devotion, your most 
 Reverend Eminence's most humble and obedient ser- 
 vant- 
 
 His most Reverend Eminence Kausler 
 
 The Cardinal Antonelli, Secretary of State." 
 
 There you are, my dear reader, how do you like 
 the picture? That is a glimpse of what will happen in 
 this country if we allow the Jesuits to "Make Ameri- 
 ca Catholic!" 
 
 Surratt Given Warning By His Ecclesiastical 
 Protectors. 
 
 "Lieut. Col. Allet to Kausler. 
 
 My General: — Following out your Excellency's 
 orders, I sent this morning to Veroli, Lieut. De Farnel, 
 to make an examination of the escape of Zouave Wat- 
 son. I have learned some other details of this unfor- 
 tunate business. Watson, at the moment he was ar- 
 rested, must have been on his guard, having obtained 
 knowledge of a letter addressed which con- 
 cerned him probably. This letter was sent by mistake 
 to a trumpeter named .... was opened by him and 
 shown to Watson, because it was written in English- 
 I have sent it to your Eminence, with a report from 
 Captain Zambilly. 
 
 I am assured that the escape of Watson savors 
 of a prodigy. He leapt from a height of 23 feet on a 
 narrow rock, beyond which is a precipice. The filth 
 from the barracks accumulated on the rocks, and in 
 this manner the fall of Watson was broken. Had he 
 leaped a little further he would have fallen in an 
 abyss. 
 
 I am, etc, etc.'* 
 
ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 193 
 
 We have below a description of the arrest of 
 Surratt given in the report from Lieut. Col Allet. 
 
 ". . . . Then, the prisoner was awakened, who 
 arose and put on his gaiters and took his coffee with 
 the calmness and phlegm quite English. The gate of 
 the prison opens on a platform which overlooks the 
 country, situated at least thirty feet below the win- 
 dows of the prison. 
 
 Beside the gate of the prison are the privies of the 
 barracks. Watson asked permission to halt there. 
 Corp. Warrin who had six men with him as guards, 
 allowed him to stop, very naturally, not doubting, 
 neither he, nor the Zouaves, present, that the prison- 
 er was going to try to escape at a place which seemed 
 quite impossible to us, is quite clear. In fact, Watson 
 who seemed quiet, seized the ballustrade, made a leap, 
 and cast himself into the void, falling on the uneven 
 rocks where he m^'ght have broken his bones a thous- 
 and times, and gained the depth of the valley below. 
 
 Patrols were immediately organized, but in vain! 
 We saw a peasant who told us he had seen an un- 
 armed Zouave going towards Commari which is the 
 way to Piedmont. . Lieut. Mosley and I have been 
 to examine the localities, and we asked ourselves how 
 one could make such a leap without breaking arms 
 and legs? 
 
 DeZambilly, Com. of Detachment." 
 
 That Surratt was given his warning by some em- 
 issary of the Pope's government is beyond a doubt. 
 Do you think for one moment if Surratt's crime, for 
 instance, had been the murder of a priest, he would 
 have escaped? 
 
 This government, through General King, demand- 
 ed a report of the affair, and his request was com- 
 plied with by Cardinal Antonelli and the above trans- 
 lations were made and sent to Washington where 
 thev are now with the data pertaininor to the affairs 
 of Surratt. Mr. King sent the following letter to Mr. 
 Marsh, our Consul at Florence, Italy, by courier: 
 
194 ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 
 
 '*Mr. King to Mr. Marsh. 
 
 (Enclosure '*A" Confidential) 
 
 Dear Sir: — I send to you under very peculiar cir- 
 cumstances and as bearer of these dispatches, my 
 friend, Mr. Robert McPherson. He will tell you the 
 story which the accompanying dispatches will help to 
 illustrate. 
 
 Rufus King- 
 On November 13th.'' 
 
 The dispatches referred to above are the ones 
 given here, pertaining to the arrest and ''escape" of 
 Surratt. We see now the pontifical government ma- 
 neuvered to permit Surratt to be taken on condition 
 that he be not condemned to death; we see by some 
 friendly advance information he was prepared for his 
 arrest and took it with perfect calmness and noncha- 
 lance, notwithstanding the fact he was aroused from 
 his sleep and that "he put on his gaiters and took his 
 coffee, with a calmness that was quite English." We 
 see that his arrest was a farce and that he was per- 
 mitted to escape.'' We see Antonelli assuring our Con- 
 sul that he had undoubtedly "made good his escape" 
 and was in Italian territory." 
 
 After the order of Cardinal Antonelli for the ar- 
 rest of Surratt from the Papal Guard had been given 
 the official wires of this country were busy. The fol- 
 lowing orders were telegraphed to the officers of 
 our Fleet in the Mediterranean : 
 
 "Rome, Nov. 16, 1866, 11:50 A. M. 
 His Excellency, Mr. Harvey, American Minister, Lis- 
 bon. 
 
 Inform Adm. Goldsborough that very important 
 matters renders the immediate presence of one of our 
 ships-of-war necessary at Vecchia. 
 
 Rufus King.'' 
 
 Mr. Harvey's reply was: 
 
ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 195 
 
 "As Rear Adm. Goldsborough is not now in port, I 
 sent immediately for Commodore Steedman, who ar- 
 rived here some days ago, and who is now the superior 
 officer present, in order to consult as to the proper 
 measures to be adopted. 
 
 The U. S. Steamer Swatara, left here yesterday 
 for Tangier, Gibraltar, and other ports in the Mediter- 
 ranean, and if the Rear Admiral who is believed to 
 have left Cherbourg for Lisbon, within the last few 
 days, does not appear as soon as expected. Commodore 
 Steedman will intercept and order the Swatara by tel- 
 egram to proceed to Civiti Vecchia. 
 
 Harvey" 
 
 On November 17, 1866, a telegram from Minister 
 Harvey announced that the Swatara had been ordered 
 to Civiti Vecchia, which arrived in due time, but Sur- 
 ratt had made his escape on a steamer which left Na- 
 ples for Egypt and Henri de Sainte Marie was placed 
 on board the Swatara, and held awaiting word from our 
 Consul at Alexandria. The vessel upon which Surratt 
 sailed put in at Malta. Our American Minister there 
 who had been notified to be on the alert for that 
 young fugitive, found that he was on board and 
 cabled our Consul at Rome. This message was sent on 
 to our Minister at Alexandria, Egypt, so that when 
 the ship arrived at that port, it found Mr. Hale, the 
 U. S. Consul General, waiting for him. I will let the 
 official wire to the United States War Department 
 describe his arrival. 
 
 "(Extract) 
 
 It was easy to distinguish him, (Surratt) from 
 among the seventy-eight third-class passengers by 
 his Zouave uniform and scarcely less easy, by his 
 almost unmistakable American type of countenance. I 
 said at once to him: "You are the man I want; you 
 are an American?" He said "Yes sir." I said, "You 
 doubtless know why I want you ? What is your name ?" 
 He said, promptly, "Walters " I said, "I believe your 
 
196 ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 
 
 name is Surratt," and in arresting him I mentioned 
 my official position as United States Consul-General. 
 
 The Director of Quarantine speedily arranged 
 sufficent escort of soldiers, by whom the prisoner 
 was conducted to a safe place within the Quarantine 
 walls. Although the walk occupied several minutes, 
 the prisoner close at my side, made no remark what- 
 ever, displaying neither surprise nor irritation. 
 
 Arrived at the place prepared, I gave him the 
 usual magisterial caution, that he was not obliged to 
 say anything, and that anything he did say would be 
 taken down in writing. He said ''I have nothing to 
 say. I want nothing but what is right" He declared 
 he had neither transportation nor luggage, nor money, 
 except six francs. His companions confirmed his state- 
 ment. They said he came to Naples, a deserter from 
 the Papal army at Rome. I find he has no papers, no 
 clothes but those he is wearing. The appearance of 
 the prisoner answers very well the description given 
 by witness Weichmann on page 116 of Pittman's Re- 
 port, sent me by the government. 
 
 Hale." 
 
 Here, again, we see Surratt, under the most try- 
 ing circumstances under which an innocent man would 
 have broken, taking his arrest with amazing coolness, 
 the same, in fact, which he displayed previously, when 
 he was taken at Velletri, although, so far as is 
 known, that was the first time that he had ever been 
 arrested. He was beyond doubt, fortified by the as- 
 surance that under the protection of the Vatican, 
 and he had, like all Jesuits, a clear understanding of 
 all that fact guaranteed. He was clever enough to re- 
 alize that with his inner knowledge of this whole sor- 
 did, treasonable transaction, his "holy church" would 
 be compelled to continue its protection as their inter- 
 ests were inseparable. His confidence must have been 
 further intensified by the fact that he would not have 
 to face a military tribunal, as had his mother, and the 
 rest of his co-conspirators, who were executed, and 
 

 &H 
 
 JOHN HARRISON SURRATT, IN PAPAL UNIFORM AT TIME OF 
 HIS ARREST AND RETURN TO THE UNITED STATES. 
 The above is reproduced from the only photo taken at the tinje, 
 which is the property of Col. O. H. Oldroyd of Washington, D^C., who 
 kindly gave permission to reprint it here. It is taken from Oldroyd s 
 Lincoln Memorial Collection. (Col. Oldroyd is himself author of an in- 
 teresting book on Lincoln's Assassination.) 
 
198 ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 
 
 that the political influence of the Jesuit machine al- 
 ready had reached the presidential chair, so recently 
 occupied by his victim, Abraham Lincoln. 
 
 Taking stock of the above facts, the young mon- 
 ster had good and sufficient reason to be philosophical 
 about his present condition. He was probably rather 
 relieved when he found himself a manacled prisoner, 
 with his face turned homeward to the country of his 
 nativity, to the country he had so miserably and wick- 
 edly betrayed. He knew many staunch friends await- 
 ed him, — friends, who, like himself, hated the gov- 
 ernment. 
 
 Before going further we present another offi- 
 cial communication of this matter which throws added 
 light upon the situation in Italy when the POPE WAS 
 KING. 
 
 *'Mr. Marsh to Mr. Seward. 
 
 Legation of U. S. Florence, Italy, Nov. 18, 1866. 
 
 Sir: — On my arrival from Venice on Tuesday 
 morning, I found the papers, copies and translations, 
 of which marked respectively, A B C D and E, are 
 hereto annexed. Mr. McPherson introduced by a letter, 
 marked A, had gone to Leghorn, and I had no other 
 information on the subject of his mission, than such 
 as the papers referred to above have furnished. 
 
 I lost no time in seeing the Secretary of the Min- 
 ister of Foreign Affairs. I stated to him such facts as 
 I was possessed of, and enquired whether he thonght 
 his government would surrender Surratt to the United 
 States for trial, if he should be found in Italian ter- 
 ritory. He replied, he thought the accused man would 
 be surrendered on proper demand and proof, but prob- 
 ably, only on stipulation on our part, that the punish- 
 ment of death, should not be inflicted on him. 
 
 Having no instruction on the subject, and knowing 
 nothing of those Mr. King might have received, and at 
 that time having no reason to suppose that Surratt 
 had escaped into the territory of the King, I did not 
 pursue the discussion farther. .. . I doubt whether in 
 
ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 199 
 
 case of surrender of Surratt, a formal stipulation to 
 exempt him from punishment by death, will be m- 
 
 '^'*1nX"famous LaGala escape, Mr. Viscount Venos- 
 to then as now, Minister of Foreign Affairs refused 
 enter into such a stipulation, on the extradition of 
 the offenders, but nevertheless, the government 
 yielded to the intercession of the Emperor of France 
 arid the sentences of those atrocious criminals, though 
 conU't'eltfTumerous ™-<^ers robberies and even 
 cannibalism, were commuted, and I suppose tne gov 
 ™ent of Italy, would strongly oppose capital pun- 
 fshment and recommend Surratt to mercy, if he sur- 
 
 ''""^The public sentiment of all classes in Italy, is de- 
 cidedly averse to the infliction of capital punishment 
 and I shin not go too far, if I add, to any severe or 
 adequate punishment for grave o^^'^^^^'j^^^gh." 
 
 There is a psvchological reason for the innate en- 
 mitv in ?he hearts of Romanists for severe punih- 
 ment. It is traceable to the long dark centuries of un- 
 S atrocious cruelties of the i«i«™le which th^Wal- 
 ans endured, under the reigns "f the Popes of Rome 
 Snnnression of any peoples continued for ages, will 
 Sl^Z^e a strong tendency to -fke government 
 of anv sort resented and distasteful to them. 
 
 4rratt did not overestimate the iDrotection of his 
 church for from the moment he landed in this coun^ 
 
 £^c=/w1^^U1riT»f^^^^ 
 
 (hTstStsSSe ^^^r^P^^^ 
 
 SL features of the'sessions. Although he dec^red 
 
 himself a bankrupt, he was f"'-"i*«^^i^!^'?^\urnish 
 the best lawyers. When it became necessary to lurnisn 
 bail for WsXal release, it was immediately presented 
 
200 ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 
 
 by an Ii'ish woman he did not even know, to the amount 
 of thirty thousand dollars. According to press reports 
 this stood there until his death in 1916. That is some 
 friendship, is it not ? 
 
 AFFIDAVIT OF HENRI de Sainte Marie. 
 
 Aims report, House of Representatives, 39th session 
 Congress, Page 15, Ex. Document No. 9. 
 Rome, July 10, 1866. 
 
 "I, Henri de Ste Marie, a native of Canada, Brit- 
 ish America, age 33, do swear and declare under oath, 
 that about six months previous to the assassination 
 of Abraham Lincoln, I was living in Maryland, at a 
 small village called Ellangowan, or Little Texas, about 
 25 or 30 miles from Baltimore, where I was engaged 
 as a teacher for a period of pbout 5 months. I there 
 and then got acquainted with Louis J. Weichmann and 
 John H Surratt, who came to that locality to pay a 
 visit to the parish priest. At that first interview a 
 great deal was said about the war and slavery, the 
 sentiment expressed by the two individuals being more 
 than strongly secessionist. In the course of the conver- 
 sation I remember Surratt to have said that Presi- 
 dent Lincoln would certainly pay for the men that 
 were slain during the war. About a month afterward I 
 removed to Washington at the instigation of Weich- 
 mann and got a situation as tutor at Gonzaga Col- 
 lege where he was himself engaged. Surratt visited us 
 weekly, and once he offered to send me South, but 
 I declined. 
 
 I did not remain more than a month at Washing- 
 1-on, not being able to agree with Weichmann and en- 
 listed in the army of the North as stated in my first 
 statement in writing to General King. 
 
 I have met Surratt here in Italy at a small town 
 called Velletri. He is now^ known under the name of 
 "John Watson.'* T recocrnized him before he made him- 
 self known to me and told him privately, ."You are 
 
ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 201 
 
 John Surratt, the person I have known in Maryland. 
 He acknowledged he was and begged me to keep the 
 thing secret. After some conversation we spoke of 
 the unfortunate affair, of the assassination of Presi- 
 dent Lincoln, and these were his words: 'Damn tne 
 Yankees, they have killed my mother; but I have 
 done them as much harm as I could. We have killed 
 Lincoln the nigger's friend.' He then said, speaking of 
 his mother, 'Had it not been for me and that coward 
 Weichmann, my mother would be living yet. It was 
 fear made him speak. Had he kept his tongue, there 
 was no danger for him ; but if I ever return to Amer- 
 ica or meet him elsewhere I shall kill him." 
 
 He then said he was in the secret service of the 
 South. And Weichmann, who was in some department 
 there, used to steal copies of the dispatches and for- 
 ward them to him and thence to Richmond. Speaking 
 of the murder he said, they had acted under the or- 
 ders of men who were not yet known, some of whom 
 are still in New York and others in London. 
 
 I am aware that money is sent to him yet — from 
 London . 
 
 'When I left Canada,' he said, 1 had but little 
 money, but I had a letter from a party in London. I 
 was in disguise, with dyed hair and false beard; that 
 party sent me to a hotel, where he told me to remain 
 until I heard from him. After a few weeks he came to 
 me and proposed to me to go to Spain, but I declined, 
 and he asked me to go to Paris. He gave me seventy 
 pounds with a letter of introduction to a party there 
 who sent me here to Rome where I joined the Zouaves.' 
 He says he can get money in Rome any time. I be- 
 lieve he is protected by the clergy and that the murder 
 is the result of a deep^ laid plot, not only against the 
 life of President Lincoln but against the existence of 
 the republic, as we are aware that priesthood and roy- 
 altv are and always have been opposed to liberty." 
 
 "That such men as Surratt, Booth, Weichmann 
 and others^ of their own accord planned and executed 
 the infei;nal plot which resulted in the death of Presi- 
 
202 ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 
 
 dent Lincoln is impossible. There are others behind 
 the curtain who have pulled the strings to make these 
 scoundrels act 
 
 "He says he does not regret what has taken place 
 and he will visit New York in a year or two, as there 
 is a heavy shipping firm there that had much to do 
 with the South, and he is surprised that they have not 
 been suspected. 
 
 This is the exact truth of what I know about Sur- 
 ratt. More I could not learn, being afraid to awaken 
 his suspicion and further I do not say." 
 
 Sworn and subscribed before me at the American 
 Legation in Rome, this tenth day of July, 1866, as 
 witness my hand and seal. 
 
 Signed : Henri de Ste Marie 
 Rufus King, Minister Resident." 
 
Chapter XI. 
 
 The Trial Of John H. Surratt. 
 
 From the very moment the Swatara, the espec- 
 ially chartered warship, reached this country with 
 John H. Surratt, bound hand and foot on board, all 
 the wheels of the Roman Catholic political machine 
 were set in motion for his certain release. The intense 
 excitement which had enveloped the trials of the con- 
 spirators two years previous had naturally subsided 
 perceptibly, this, of course, being an advantage to 
 the prisoner, and the smallest details were looked af- 
 ter by the array of high-priced lawyers who fought 
 the two legal battles for this penniless young traitor 
 and assassin. 
 
 His attorneys, Messrs. Merrick, Bradley and 
 Bradley were Romanized, the former professed a Cath- 
 olic, and the other two, by strong sympathy, left no 
 stone unturned in the building of his defense, although 
 his alibi, so carefully planned and presented, was soon 
 shattered by a number of reputable witnesses who 
 could not be shaken by the unprofessional tactics 
 which these lawyers resorted to. 
 
 The first step in the proceedings was a motion 
 filed by the State's lawyers from which we quote in 
 part: 
 
 IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE DISTRICT 
 OF COLUMBIA, UNITED STATES AGAINST JOHN 
 H. SURRATT, INDICMENT: MURDER. 
 
 "And now, as this day, to-wit, on the 10th day of 
 June, A D., 1867, come the United States and the said 
 John H. Surratt, by their respective attorneys and 
 
204 ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 
 
 the jurors of the jury, impanelled and summoned also 
 come; and hereupon the said United States by their 
 attorney challenge the array of the said panel, because 
 he saith, that the said jurors comprising the said panel, 
 were not drawn according to the law, and that the 
 names from which said jurors were drawn, were not 
 selected according to law, wherefor, he prays judg- 
 ment, and that the said panel may be quashed. 
 
 This motion, if your Honor please, is sustained 
 by an affidavit which I hold in my hand, and which, 
 with the permission of your Honor I will now proceed 
 to read. We think after this affidavit shall have been 
 read it will not be found necessary to introduce any 
 oral testimony/' 
 
 The reader will note that the two charges made 
 were that the names were not drawn according to law ; 
 and that they were not selected according to law. 
 
 The law required that the registrar of the City 
 of Washington should make out a list of four hundred 
 names on or before the first day of February; the 
 City Clerk of Georgetown was to make out a list of 
 eighty names to be selected : and the Clerk of the Levy 
 Court of the County of Washington was to make out 
 a list of forty names to me selected ; and that such lists 
 should be preserved, and any names that had not been 
 drawn for service during the year, might be trans- 
 ferred to the lists made up for the subsequent year. 
 After this had been done the officers should meet 
 and jointly select their respective lists of the number 
 specified; the names being written by each officer on 
 a separate paper, folded or rolled un, so that no one 
 could see the name, and then deposited in a box pro- 
 vided for that purpose. The box was then to be thor- 
 oughly shaken and officially sealed, and then by these 
 three officers, given into the custody of the clerk of 
 the County Court of Washington City for safe keep- 
 ing. 
 
 These same officers were to meet in the City 
 Hall. Washington City at least ten days .before the 
 
ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 205 
 
 commencement of each term of the Circuit Court, or 
 Criminal Court, and there the Clerk of the Circuit 
 Court was to publicly, and in their presence, break the 
 seal of the box and proceed to draw out the number of 
 names required. If it were a Grand Jury Court, the 
 next twenty-six names drawn, were to constitute the 
 petit jury, for that term. This having been done, the 
 box was to be sealed and returned to the clerk for 
 safe keeping. 
 
 The clerk of the circuit court at that time was a 
 Samuel E. Douglas, registrar of the City of Washing- 
 ton. His examination showed that no such lists had 
 been made out as required; that no joint action had 
 been had by these three officials, but that each one 
 had written his own required Hst, and deposited it In 
 the box independently of the others. 
 
 It was also brought to the attention of the court 
 that these officers had not sealed the box as requir- 
 ed, but had delivered it to the clerk to be sealed by 
 him. It was also shown that the namea had been 
 drawn, not by the clerk of the circuit court, but by the 
 clerk of the City of Georgetown. 
 
 There was nothing to prevent the Georgetown 
 clerk from carrying any of the names of the jurors 
 whom he might have seen fit, and who might have 
 been "fixed,* in his hand, and when he put his hand 
 into the box, which was a perfectly illegal act, to have 
 withdrawn the very names he held in his hand. 
 
 The whole procedure was so infamously bold and 
 irregular that the Court said: "My order is that the 
 marshal summon twenty-six talesmen. This occupied 
 several days. After the jury had been selected, Sur- 
 ratt's attorneys filed the following to be made the 
 basis of carrying the case up on a writ of error : 
 
206 ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 
 
 "IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE DISTRICT 
 OF COLUMBIA, THE UNITED STATES VS. JOHN 
 H. SURRATT, IN THE CRIMINAL COURT MARCH 
 TERM 101, 1867. 
 
 And the said Marshal of the District of Colum- 
 bia, in obedience to the order of the Court, made in 
 this case on the 12th of June, this day makes return 
 that he hath summoned, and now hath in court here, 
 twenty-six jurors, talesmen, as a panel, from which to 
 form a jury to try the said case, and the names of 
 the twenty-six jurors, so retained being called by the 
 clerk of said court, and they having answered to their 
 names as they were called, the said John H. Surratt, 
 by his attorneys, doth challenge the array of the said 
 panel, because, he saith, it doth plainly appear by the 
 records and the proceedings of the court in this case, 
 that no jurors have ever been summoned according to 
 law, to serve during the present term of this court, 
 and no names of jurors, duly and lawfully summoned, 
 have been placed in the box, provided for in the fourth 
 section of the Act of Congress, entitled: "An act pro- 
 viding for the selection of jurors to serve in the sev- 
 eral courts of the District" approved, sixteenth day of 
 June, 1862, on or before the first day of February, 
 1867, to serve for the ensuing year; wherefore, he 
 prays judgment, that the panel now returned by the 
 said Marshal, and now in the court here, be quashed, 
 Merrick, Bradley & Bradley, 
 Attorneys for Surratt" 
 
 It is a notable fact that there were sixteen Ro- 
 manists out of the twenty-six in the first panel drawn 
 in that irregular manner. 
 
 The answer filed in the motion of Surratt's at- 
 torneys was the first step in this bitterly contested 
 case and while the prisoner was, according to his own 
 statement, absolutely penniless, he was representea 
 by an expensive array of legal talent and where the 
 money came from reimbursing them remains a mys- 
 tery today. 
 
ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 207 
 
 Georgetown — ^Jesuitized Georgetown — was con- 
 stantly in evidence at the trial. The priests from the 
 Jesuit college were there, and the students who were 
 just dismissed ior their vacations, were on hand and 
 would always make it a particular point to greet Sur- 
 ratt who had been a student of that institution for 
 two years, most cordially, and he was scarcely ever 
 without a priest at his side. It is small wonder that 
 the priests of Rome gave every assistance to the pris- 
 oner at the bar. Their interests were inseparable. The 
 interest of the Roman church in this country was 
 deeply involved and no one appreciated this more than 
 Surratt. He was confident and defiant all through the 
 weeks, of what would have been to most young men 
 an unendurable ordeal, stimulated by the knowledge 
 that all of the powerful machinery of his church was 
 being used in his defense and that his liberty was 
 guaranteed. 
 
 John Surratt was a bold, cold-blooded, unscrupu- 
 lous, unrepentant criminal, who had been steeped in the 
 immoral teachings of the Doctrines of the Jesuits 
 from his earhest childhood when his misguided mother 
 had placed him under the guidance of priest Wiget 
 at the Boys' Preparatory school at Gonzaga College, 
 a fact which was testified to by that gentleman at Sur- 
 ratt's trial. 
 
 Surratt's lawyers presented the following peti- 
 tion at the beginning of the trial: 
 
 'To the Honorable, the Justice of the Supreme 
 Court of the District of Columbia, holding the Crim- 
 inal Court in March Term, 1867. 
 
 The petition of John H. Surratt shows that he has 
 been put upon his trial in a capital case in this court; 
 that he has exhausted all his means, and such further 
 means as have been furnished him by the liberality of 
 his friends, in preparing for his defense, and he is 
 now unable to procure the attendance of his witnesses. 
 He therefore prays your Honor for an order that 
 process may issue to summon his witnesses, and to 
 
208 ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 
 
 compel their attendance at the cost of the government 
 of the United States, according to the statute in such 
 cases made and provided." 
 
 This petition was granted by the court. 
 
 From the very beginning, duplicity and innuendo 
 were used, and unprofessional conduct of the most fla- 
 grant character was resorted to. The States' witnesses 
 were baagered, abused and bulldozed, so much so tnat 
 tne Judge had to interfere more than once. Especially 
 was tnis the tact m tne case of Dr. McMillen, the ship 
 surgeon of tne Peruvian, to whom priest La Pierre 
 mtroduced Surratt under the name of ''McCarthy." 
 ihe physician made a splendid witness and refused to 
 be confused, but the attorney for the defendant was so 
 abusive that the witness gave an angry response in 
 pure self-defense. 
 
 The papal venom showed itself all through the 
 trials of Surratt in the never-ceasing effort of his at- 
 torneys to stab the memory of Lincoln and througn 
 their contention that the Military Court which had 
 convicted Surratt's mother, had been an usurpation 
 of power by President Johnson, and the act of a ty- 
 rant. When one reads the records of those trials, one 
 marvels that in so short a time after the passing out 
 of that great man, these tools of the ecclesiastical mur- 
 derers would dare to venture so far out in the open, 
 with their treasonable utterances. 
 
 When court was called to order in the John H. 
 Surratt trial. Judge Fisher, presiding, said: **Gentle- 
 men, this is the day assigned for the trial of John H. 
 Surratt, indicted for the murder of Abraham Lincoln, 
 late president of the United States. Are you ready to 
 
 proceed? Surratt's lawyer, Bradley, answered: 
 
 'The prisoner is ready, sir, and has been from the 
 first." This unnecessary falsehood was a beginning 
 quite in keeping with the life and action of the prison- 
 er, and his Jesuit attorney brazenly tried to implant 
 in the minds of the jury the innocence of his client 
 who had fled to Canada, then put the Atlantic ocean 
 
ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 209 
 
 between him and his pursuers and when arrested at 
 Velletri, Italy, dashed himself down an unscalable 
 precipice to evade being returned to his native land! 
 Nothing less than Roman effrontery could have prof- 
 fered such an answer to that question, "Are you 
 ready?" DESPERATE FLIGHT HAS NEVER BEEN 
 USED AS AN ARGUMENT FOR READINESS BE- 
 FORE, I will wager, and it gives the keynote of the 
 conduct of the defense. This is just a sample of one of 
 those little Jesuit jokes. No doubt his attorney had a 
 mental reservation when he assured the court that 
 his client had "been ready from the first," — to skip 
 again, if the slightest opportunity offered itself. Men- 
 tal reservation is one of the ethics of the Jesuit theol- 
 ogy. 
 
 The Roman Catholic religion was first dragged 
 in by Surratt's own lawyer, R. T. Merrick, when they 
 called attention to a telegraph dispatch to the New 
 York Herald, in which the fact that the State had de- 
 manded a new jury impanelled because there were six- 
 teen Romanists out of the twenty-six jurors called in 
 the first panel. 
 
 The district attorney interrupted by showing that 
 the news came from Washington and as afterwards 
 proved that it was but one of many press dispatches, 
 which were instigated by the defense to prejudice the 
 public in Surratt's favor. If there were no other signs 
 to indicate that the hand of Rome was the guiding one 
 in the trials of Surratt, this alone would be sufficient 
 to the esoteric. 
 
 A most convincing presentation of the charges 
 against the prisoner was made by assistant district 
 attorney Nathaniel Nelson who made the opening ad- 
 dress. It ran in part as follows: 
 
 "May it please your Honor, and gentlemen of the 
 jury, you are doubtless aware that it is customary in 
 criminal cases, for the prosecution at the beginning 
 of the trial, to inform the jury of the nature of the 
 offense to be inquired into, and of the proof that will 
 
210 ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 
 
 be offered in support of the charges of the indict- 
 ment. 
 
 The Grand Jury of the District of Columbia has 
 indicted the prisoner at the bar, John H. Surratt, as 
 one of the murderers of Abraham Lincoln. It has be- 
 come your duty to judge whether he is guilty or in- 
 nocent of that charge, — a duty, than which more sol- 
 emn or momentous, was never committed to human in- 
 telligence. You are to turn back the leaves of history, 
 to that red page, on which is recorded in letters of 
 blood the awful incidents of that April night on which 
 the assassins' work was done on the body of the chief 
 Magistrate of the American Republic, — a night, on 
 which for the first time in our existence as a nation, 
 a blow was struck with the fell purpose, not only to 
 destroy a human life, but the life of the nation, the 
 life of LIBERTY itself. 
 
 "Though more than two years have passed by 
 since then, you scarcely need witnesses to describe to 
 you the scene at Ford's Theatre, as it was visible in 
 the last hour of the President's hfe. . . .Persons who 
 were present will tell you that about twenty minutes 
 past ten o'clock, the 14th of April, 1865, on that night, 
 John Wilkes Booth, armed with pistol and knife, pass- 
 ed rapidly from the front door of the theatre, ascend- 
 ed to the dress circle, and entered the President's box. 
 By the discharge of a pistol he inflicted a death wound, 
 then leaped upon the stage, and passing rapidly across 
 it, disappeared into the darkness of the night. 
 
 "We shall prove to your entire satisfaction, by 
 competent and credible witnesses, that at that time, 
 the prisoner at the bar was then present, aiding and 
 abetting that murder; and that at ten minutes past 
 ten o'clock that night, he was in front of the theatre in 
 the company of Booth. You shall hear what he then 
 said and did. You shall know that his cool and calcu- 
 lating malice was the director of the bullet that 
 pierced the brain of the President, and the knife that 
 fell upon the venerable Secretary of State. You shall 
 know that the prisoner at the bar was the contriver 
 
ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 211 
 
 of that villainy, and that from the presence of the 
 prisoner, Booth, drunk with theatric passion and 
 traitorous hate, rushed directly to the execution of 
 their mutual will. We shall further prove to you, that 
 their companionship upon that occasion was not an 
 accidental or unexpected one, but that the butchery 
 that ensued was the ripe result of a long premeditated 
 plot, in which the prisoner was the chief conspirator. 
 
 It will be proved to you that he is a traitor to 
 the government that protected him: a spy in the em- 
 ploy of the enemies of his country in the years 1864- 
 65; he passed repeatedly from Richmond to Washing- 
 ton, from Washington to Canada, weaving the web 
 of his nefarious scheme, plotting the overthrow of 
 this government, the defeat of its armies, and the 
 slaughter of his countrymen ; and as showing the ven- 
 om of his intent, as showing a mind insensible to ev- 
 ery moral obligation and fatally bent on mischief — we 
 shall prove his gleeful boasts, that during these jour- 
 neys he had shot down in cold blood, weak, unarmed 
 soldiers, fleeing from rebel prisons. 
 
 It will be proved to you that he made his home in 
 this city, the rendezvous for the tools and agents in 
 what he called his "bloody work" and that his hand 
 deposited at Surrattville, in a convpnient place, the 
 very weapons obtained by Booth while escaning. one 
 of which fell, or was wrenched from Booth's death 
 grip, at the moment of his capture. 
 
 While in Montreal. Canada, where he had crone 
 from Richmond on the 10th dpv of April, on the Mon- 
 day before the assassination, Surratt received a sum- 
 mons from his co-consnirator. Booth, reouiring his 
 immediate presence in this city. Tn obedience to that 
 pre-concerted siornal. he at once left Canada and ar- 
 rived here on the 14th. By numerous. I had almost said 
 a multitude of witnesses, we shall make the proof to be 
 clear as the noonday sun. . . . that he was here during 
 ^■he day of that fatal Friday, as well as present at the 
 theatre that night. . . . We shall show him to you on 
 
212 ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 
 
 Pennsylvania Avenue, booted and spurred, awaiting 
 the arrival of the fatal moment. 
 
 "We shall show him in confenerce with Herold in 
 the evening; we shall show him purchasing a contriv- 
 ance for disguise an hour or two before the murder. 
 When the last blow had been struck, when he had done 
 his utmost to bring anarchy and desolation upon his 
 native land, he turned his back upon the abomina- 
 tion he had wrought, he turned his back upon his 
 home and kindred and commenced a shuddering flight. 
 We shall trace that flight, because in law, flight is 
 the criminal's inarticulate confession, and because it 
 happened in this case, as it always happens. . . . that 
 in some moment of fear or elation, or of fancied se- 
 curity, he too, to others, confessed his guilty deeds. 
 He fled to Canada. We will prove to you the hour of 
 his arrival there and the route he took. . . He found 
 there safe concealment and remained there several 
 months. . . In the following September, he took his 
 flight. . . . Still in the disguise and with painted face, 
 painted hair, painted hand, he took ship to cross the 
 Atlantic. In mid-ocean he revealed himself and related 
 his exploits, and spoke freely of his connection with 
 Booth in the conspiracy relating to the President. He 
 rejoiced in the death of the President, he lifted his im- 
 pious hands to heaven, and expressed a wish that the 
 might live to return to America and serve Andrew John- 
 son as Abraham Lincoln had been served. He was hid- 
 den for a time in England, and received there sympa- 
 thy and hospitality. . . . From England he went to 
 Rome and hid himself in the ranks of the papal army 
 in the guise of a private soldier. Having placed almost 
 the diameter of the globe between himself and the 
 dead body of his victim, he might well fancy that pur- 
 suit was baffled. . . but he was discovered by an ac- 
 quaintance of his boyhood. When denial would not 
 avail, he admitted his identity and avowed his guilt 
 in these words: "I have done the Yankees as much 
 harm as I could. We have killed Lincoln, the niggers' 
 friend!" 
 
ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 213 
 
 The man to whom Surratt made this statement 
 did as was his high duty to do — he made known hi« 
 discovery to the American Minister. . .Having him ar- 
 rested, he escaped from his guards by a leap down a 
 precipice. . . He made his way to Naples and then took 
 passage on a steamer that carried him across the Med- 
 iterranean Sea to Alexandria, Egypt. . . . The inexora- 
 ble lightning thrilled along the wires that stretch 
 through the wasted waters which roll between the 
 shores of Italy and Egypt and spake in his ear its word 
 of terrible command; from Alexandria. . . manacled, 
 he was made to turn his face towards the land he had 
 polluted by the curse of murder. He is here at last to 
 be tried for his crime." 
 
 In his closing argument attorney Carrington 
 for the Prosecution referring to Surratt's mother in 
 connection with him said: 
 
 "Now, gentlemen of the jury, let us view the con- 
 nection of Mrs. Surratt with this assassination. I feel 
 the delicacy of the ground upon which I stand. I know 
 the situation. I know that you dislike to consider this 
 question which has been forced upon you. I do not 
 want to do it. My duty is to prosecute the prisoner, 
 but one of the counsel has said she was murdered, and 
 another that she was butchered, and it becomes my 
 duty to trace her connection with this crime, and then 
 leave it to you, to say whether she was guilty. ... of the 
 crime for which she suffered. 
 
 "First, I call your attention to the fact to which we 
 have already adverted; that her house, 541 H Street, 
 was the rendezvous for these conspirators. Now, gen- 
 tlemen, will you pause for a moment and reconcile that 
 with innocence? You remember the law, that it is not 
 how much a party did, but whether she had anything 
 to do with it. Can you, I say, reconcile it with inno- 
 cence that this woman's house should have been the 
 rendezvous of Booth, Lewis Payne, Atzerodt, Herold 
 and John Surratt? Would you not know by intuition? 
 
214 ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 
 
 Would you not know by their conversation? Would not 
 your judgment and your hearts tell you who they 
 were and what they contemplated ? 
 
 Secondly, who furnished the arms with which this 
 bloody deed was done? . . . According to the testimony 
 of John M. Lloyd, this is shown. Do you believe him, 
 or disbelieve him? My friend, Mr. Bradley, said he 
 was a common drunkard; but, mark you, he was an 
 attendant and friend of Mrs. Surratt." 
 
 (Mr. Bradley) "Who says so?" 
 
 (District Attorney) "I will prove it. When I was 
 examining that witness and proposed to ask him cer- 
 tain questions in reference to Mrs. Mary E. Surratt, 
 he said, 'Mr. Carrington,' for he knew me personally, 
 *I do not wish to talk about Mrs. Surratt, for she is 
 not on trial.' I said *Go on, Mr. Lloyd.' I applied to 
 the court and he said it was his duty to answer. He 
 saw her continually. He lived in her house; he drank 
 hier liquor. Why, this evidence shows that John H. 
 Surratt, Herold and John M. Lloyd played cards and 
 drank together. But, says the friend and companion 
 (Lloyd) of the prisoner at the bar, (Surratt) unwill- 
 ing to testify against her, when put on solemn oath. . . 
 he says certain arms were furnished him by the pris- 
 oner at the bar who showed him where they could be 
 safely concealed. ... he (Lloyd) protesting that it 
 might get him into personal difficulty. The mother 
 knew about the transaction, for on the 11th of April 
 we have Lloyd's own testimony that she asked him 
 where those shooting arms were, and said that they 
 might be needed soon. I say, first her house is the 
 rendezvous : secondly, she furnished arms or knows 
 of their being furnished. 
 
 On the night of the 14th of Anril, Booth and Her- 
 old are leaving Washincrton in flight for their lives. 
 At Surrattville they call for whiskey from the agent 
 (Lloyd) and friend of the prisoner and his mother. 
 She gives them a home, gives them arn;s, gives them 
 
ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 215 
 
 whiskey, not to nerve them, but to refresh them after 
 the commission of the horrid crime. 
 
 But Booth, in malcmg his escape, needs something 
 more tnan whisliey and arms. . . He needs a field glass, 
 and has it delivered for him by his friend, Mrs. Sur- 
 ratt. Witn the defense, no witness told the truth whose 
 testimony went to convict their client, whilst the 
 stories of the most infamous men, self-confessed 
 scoundrels and accomplices, after the fact, if not be- 
 fore the fact, such as Fathers Boucher and Cameron, 
 must be taken as gospel truth! (See testimony of 
 Father Boucher, trial of Surra tt, page 859. Also Rev. 
 Stephen Cameron, page 793.)" 
 
 There were some eight or nine reputable witness- 
 es who testified to having seen John Surratt in Wash- 
 ington on the day of the murder. Sergt. Dye positively 
 identified him as the young man who called the time 
 before Ford's Theatre on the evening of the murder. 
 A colored cook who had been engaged by Mrs. Surratt 
 during John's absence testified that Mrs. Surratt had 
 ordered her on the day of the assassination to bring 
 a pot of tea and some toast into the dining room for 
 Jonn. While serving it to him, Mrs. Surratt said, 
 "This is my son John; don't you think he looks like his 
 sister Anna?" 
 
 I am herewith giving the testimony of David C. 
 Reed, a tailor, who had known John Surratt since he 
 was fourteen years old, whose evidence could not be 
 questioned. His professional critical eye was naturally 
 more attracted to the up-to-date cut of Surratt's cloth- 
 ing. 
 
 Testimony of David C. Reed, June 3rd, 1867. 
 
 "The last time I saw John H. Surratt was about 
 half past two o'clock on the day of the assassination, 
 April 14th last I was standing on the stoop of Hunt 
 and Goodwin's military store. Mr. Surratt was going 
 
216 ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 
 
 past the National Hotel. I noticed his hair was cut very 
 singularly, rounding away down on his coat collar. I 
 did not notice whether he had whiskers or a mustache 
 as I was more attracted by the clothing he had on. His 
 appearance was very genteel, remarkably so. He did 
 not look like a person from a long journey. I cannot 
 say I ever had any connection with Mr. Surratt since 
 he was quite a child ; I knew him by sight and we had 
 just bowing acquaintance. (Surratt Trial) 
 
 TESTIMONY OF SHIP SURGEON DR. L. J. McMIL- 
 LEN, THE PERUVIAN. 
 
 Washington D. C. Tuesday, June, 1867 
 
 Question. Did you know John H. Surratt? 
 
 If so state where and under what circumstances. 
 
 Ans. I became acquainted with John H. Surratt in 
 the month of September, 1865. I did not know him 
 under the name of Surratt. He was introduced to 
 me under the name of "McCarthy*' by a gentle- 
 man in Montreal who kept him in secrecy after the 
 assassinatiion of Mr. Lincoln. I was then ship 
 surgeon of the Steamship Peruvian plying be- 
 tween Quebec and Liverpool. He came on board 
 on September 11, 1865. I never suspected who he 
 was until after we left. One day he inquired of 
 me, "Who is that gentleman?" pointing to a pas- 
 senger. He said he believed he was an American 
 detective and that he was after himself. "But," 
 said he, "if he is (he put his hand in his pocket 
 and drew out a revolver) that will settle him." 
 Then I began to suspect — not that he was Surratt 
 but that he had been connected with the Rebel- 
 Hon here in some way. After that he would be con- 
 tinually with me every day, because I was the 
 only person on board he knew, having been in- 
 troduced to him by my friend, and he seemed 
 
ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 217 
 
 not to care for being in the company of any one 
 else. He used to come to me when I was alone and 
 ask me to walk with him on deck; and he would 
 always talk about what happened here during the 
 war. He told me that he had been from the begin- 
 ning in the Confederate State's service, carrying 
 dispatches between here and Richmond, and also as 
 far as Montreal; that he and Booth had planned 
 at first the abduction of President Lincoln; that, 
 however, they could not succeed in that way and 
 they thought it necessary to change their plan. 
 After this, before the assassination, Surratt was 
 in Montreal when he received a letter from Booth 
 ordering him immediately to Washington; that 
 it was necessary to act and act promptly and he 
 was to leave Montreal immediately for Washington. 
 He did not tell me he came here, but he told me he 
 came as far as Elmira, N. Y. and from that place 
 telegraphed to New York to find out whether 
 Booth had already left for Washington and was 
 answered that he had. He did not tell me that he 
 had gone any farther than Elmira. The next 
 place he spoke to me was St. Albans, Vermont, 
 where he said he arrived early one morning about 
 breakfast time and went to a hotel there for 
 breakfast. When he was sitting at the table he 
 heard several talking about the assassination and 
 he inquired, "What was up?" They asked if he 
 did not know President Lincoln had been assassi- 
 nated. He said, "I do not believe it, because the 
 story is too good to be true." On that a gentle- 
 man pulled out a newspaper and handed it to him. 
 He opened it and saw his own name as one of the 
 assassins. He said this unnerved him so much 
 that the paper fell out of his hands and he im- 
 mediately left the room. As he was going out 
 throucrh the house he heard another party say, 
 that Surratt must have been or was at the time 
 in St. Albans, because such a person (mentioning 
 that person's name) had found a handkerchief 
 
218 ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 
 
 on the street with Surratt's name on it. He told 
 me he actually looked in his pocket and found 
 that he had lost his handkerchief. From that 
 place he went to Canada and was concealed there 
 from April to September. 
 
 There were a great many things he told me 
 that I had forgotten, or at least are not fresh in 
 my memory. At the time I paid particular attention 
 to what he said, and when I first made a deposi- 
 tion in Liverpool, everything was fresh in my 
 memory. 
 
 The first time I was sure he was Surratt was 
 on the day he was talking about his mother hav- 
 ing been hung. He did not call her Mrs. Surratt 
 or by any other name, but just spoke about his 
 mother having been hung; of course I knew well 
 enough that there was only one woman that had 
 been hung in connection with the assassination 
 so I was pretty certain he was her son. He also 
 asked me who did I believe he was. I was not 
 
 sure who were the parties that escaped so 
 
 I answered that I believed he was either Surratt 
 or Payne. He gave me no reply but only laughed. 
 
 But the last day he was on board he called 
 me aside and began to talk of the assassination. 
 It was in the evening and we were alone together 
 and he took out his revolver which was always 
 kept in his pocket, pointed it at the heavens and 
 said, "I hope and wish to live just a few years 
 more — two will do me — and then I shall go back 
 • to the United States and I shall serve Andy 
 Johnson as Abraham Lincoln has been served." 
 I asked him why? "Because he has been the 
 cause of my mother being hung." I then said. 
 "Now who are you ?" I was pretty sure then who 
 he was but still he had not given me his name 
 himself. He looked around to see whether any 
 one was near us and said: "I am Surratt." 
 
 I made this afl^davit September 25th in Liv- 
 erpool. Next day would be Wednesday the 26th. 
 
ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 219 
 
 SCAFFOLD AND EXECUTION OF FOUR CONSPIRATORS. 
 
 "Davy" Herold, Louis Payne, Atzerodt and Mary E. Surratt, 
 July, 1865. 
 
220 ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 
 
 I told Mr. Wilding, United States Counsel, he would 
 bg in Liverpool in a day or two. On Wednesday 
 the 26th, Surratt came to my boarding house 
 
 but I was absent 
 
 He returned in the evening and wanted me to 
 go with him to a place he had been recommended 
 to go, but he could not find the place, so 1 went 
 with him. Mr. Wilding, I think had sent a de- 
 tective to watch us for I saw a man follow us from 
 the time we left my house until I left Surratt 
 and he went to that house to which he had been 
 recommended. (Oratory of the Holy Cross Church) 
 He promised to see me next day but didn't. I 
 got a short note stating he intended to go to 
 London but when he got to the station there were 
 several Americans there and he was afraid of 
 being recognized, and did not go any farther. In 
 a few days again I saw him and he gave me a 
 letter to bring back to the party who had taken 
 care of him in Montreal. He expected some mon- 
 ey because when he got to L,iverpool he had 
 very little money He told me he ex- 
 pected a remittance from Washington but it 
 would come through his friend in Montreal, and 
 that I would very likely be charged with it when I 
 returned. 
 
 Testimony of F. L. Smoot, June 2nd. 
 
 (Conversation with Mr. Jos. T. Nott occurred in 
 the bar-room of the Surratt Tavern, at Surrattsville 
 on April 15th.) 
 
 Mr. Nott said: "He reckoned John was in New 
 York by this time." I asked him why he thought so 
 and he said, "My God ! John knows all about this mur- 
 der. Do you suppose he is going to stay in Washing- 
 ton and let them catch him V I pretended to be much 
 surprised and said, 'Is that so?' He replied, "It is, 
 by God! I could have told you that this thing was 
 
ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 221 
 
 coming to pass six months ago." Then, putting his 
 hand on my shoulder, "Keep that in your own skin, 
 my boy. Don't mention it; if you do, it will ruin me 
 forever-" 
 
 (See Surra tt trial) 
 
 Joseph T. Nott was Lloyd's bar-tender at the 
 Surratt Tavern. 
 
 General Harris in his ''Assassination of Lincoln" 
 on page 280, says: 
 
 "Mr. Merrick then went on to meet the argument 
 that Surratt had confessed his guilt by flight, by de- 
 claring that the mad passions of the hour and tyranni- 
 cal usurpations of the government in its methods of 
 dealing with those charged with this crime, by send- 
 ing them before a military court instead of a civil 
 court for trial, justified him in his flight. He (Mer- 
 rick) then went on to vindicate the Catholic church, 
 which he claimed had been assailed in this matter. 
 The only reference to the Catholic church in connec- 
 tion with this trial had been made in the public press. 
 The prosecution had carefully abstained from any as- 
 sault on that church, and had tried to exclude relig- 
 ious prejudices from the minds of the jurors Mr. Mer- 
 rick, however, seized the occasion to pass an eulogium 
 on that church, in which he showed as much disregard 
 for facts of history, as he did for the proven facts 
 in this case. Perhaps, he felt this vindication^ to be 
 called for from the fact, that most of the conspirators 
 were Catholics in religion, and the further fiact that 
 the friends who waited and watched for the return of 
 his client, to Montreal, after the assassination, and 
 who on his return, spirited him away (priests La Pierre 
 and Boucher) and kept him secreted five months, and 
 then helped him off to Italy, where he was found in 
 the ranks of the Pope's army, and who voluntarily 
 came before the court on his trial to testify, and to 
 procure testimony in his behalf, were priests of that 
 church/' 
 
222 ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 
 
 Continuing, General Harris comments : 
 
 "In his eulogium on that church he forgot to men- 
 tion the fact that the pope, during the progress of the 
 war, acknowledged the Southern Confederacy, and 
 wrote a sympathizing letter to Jefferson Davis, in 
 which he called him his dear son, and by implication de- 
 nounced President Lincoln as a tyrant. 
 
 "He could have scarcely forgotten that the pope 
 of Rome had sought to take advantage of the arduous 
 struggle in which our government was engaged for the 
 preservation of its hfe, to establish a Catholic empire 
 in Mexico, and had sent Maximilian, a Catholic prince, 
 to reign over, at the time, unhappy people, under the 
 protection of the arms of France, lent to the further- 
 ance of this un-holy purpose, by the last loyal son 
 of the church, that ever occupied a throne m Europe." 
 
 "Perhaps, he did not realize that it was God who 
 frustated the last grasp of the drowning man at a 
 straw that eluded his grasp, by preparing for his 
 holiness, the pope, and for Louis Napoleon, just at 
 that moment, the Franco-Prussian War, which re- 
 sulted in the final loss of his temporal power to the 
 pope, and with it, his grip on the world and his em- 
 pire and crown, to the last servile supporter of his 
 temporal pretensions, — Napoleon Hlrd!" 
 
 "To proclaim for that church, as Mr. Merrick did, 
 friendship to civil hberty, respect for the rights of con- 
 science and of private judgment, and love for our re- 
 publican institutions, is to ignore or set at naught, 
 all the dogmas of that church on the above questions 
 and all the claims of the papacy. Mr. Merrick mani- 
 festly thought that the attitude of the Catholic clergy 
 toward the assassination of the President could be 
 hidden from public view, by his fulsome eulogy." 
 
 "The appeals made by the eminent counsel for 
 the prisoner, to the politcal and religious prejudices 
 of jurors, was ably seconded, all through the trial by 
 the Jesuit priesthood of Washington City and the 
 vicinity. It will be recalled by scores of people who 
 attended the trial, that not a day passed, but that 
 
ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 223 
 
 some of these were in the court room as the most in- 
 terested spectators That they were not idle spectators, 
 may be inferred from the fact, that whenever it seemed 
 necessary to the prisoner's counsel to find witneses to 
 contradict any testimony, that was particularly damag- 
 ing to their cause, they were always promptly found, 
 and were almost always uniformly Catholics in re- 
 ligion, as shown by their own testimony upon cross- 
 examination." 
 
 "It was a remarkable fact also, that these wit- 
 nesses were scarcely ever able to come from under 
 the fire of Judge Pierrepont's searching cross-exami- 
 nation, uncrippled, and also, that when they took the 
 risk of bringing two witnesses in rebuttal, of the 
 same testimony, their witnesses uniformly killed eacn 
 other off, before they got through the ordeal, that tests 
 the truthfulness of witnessess — cross-examination." 
 
 "Other outside influences were brought to bear on 
 the jurors, such as these: Father J. B. Menu, from 
 St. Charles College, (Sulpician Monastery) spent the 
 day in the courtroom, sitting beside the prisoner all 
 day, thus saying to the 1ury: "You see which side I 
 am on." A great manv of the students from the same 
 college also visited the trial, it being vacation, and 
 they uniformly took great nains to show their sym- 
 pathv with the prisoner by shaking hands with him." 
 
 "The press also was nrostituted almost daily by 
 nublishing cunningly devised paragraphs imt)UGrninfir 
 the motives of the govemTnent in the nrosecution and 
 management of the case. Thuf? wpre the preiudices of 
 the jurors annealed to and efl^orts also made to per- 
 vert public opinion." 
 
 The above from General Harris who was present 
 at the trials of Surratt. and who was also one of the 
 Military Commission which tried and convicted Mrs. 
 Surratt and the other three conspirators, recommend- 
 ing the death penalty, and sentences to the Dry 
 Tortugas to four others, gives the reader a concise 
 picture which correctly photographs the "fine Italidn 
 
224 ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 
 
 hand" which directed Surratt's attorneys in their line 
 of action. Nothing could be clearer. 
 
 And now permit us to quote from the closing ad- 
 dress of Judge Pierrepont, which is a masterpiece 
 from a legal standpoint and a classic in pure English, 
 superb in its logic, impregnable in its TRUTH: 
 
 *'May it please your honor, and gentlemen of the 
 jury, I have not in the progress of this long and tedi- 
 ous case, had the opportunity as yet of addressing to 
 you one word. My time has now arrived. Yea, all 
 that a man hath, will he give for his life! When the 
 book of Job was written, this was true, and it is just 
 as true today. A man, in order to save his life, will 
 give his property, will give his liberty, will sacrifice 
 his good name, and will desert his father, his mother, 
 his sister. He will lift up his hand before Almightv 
 God, and swear that he is innocent of the crime with 
 which he is charged. 
 
 He will bring perjury upon his soul giving all 
 that he hath in the world, and be ready to take thie 
 chances and jump the life to come and so far as 
 counsel place themselves in the situation of their 
 client, and just to the degree that they absorb bi?^ 
 feelings, his terror and his purposes, just so far will 
 counsel do the same. 
 
 I am well aware, gentlemen, of the difficulties un- 
 der which I labor in addressing you. The other coun- 
 sel have all told you, that they know you. and that 
 you know them. Thev know you in social life, ann 
 they know you in political affairs. Thev know your 
 sympathies, your habits, your modes of thought, your 
 prejudices, even. They know how to address you, and 
 how to awaken your svmpathies, whilst I come before 
 you a total strane-er. There is not a face in those seats 
 that I have ever beheld until this trial commenced, 
 and yet, I have a kind of feeling pervading me, that 
 we are not strangers. 
 
 I feel as though, we had a common origin, a com- 
 mon country, and a common religion, and that on many 
 
ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 225 
 
 grounds we must have a common sympathy. I feel as 
 though, if hereafter, I should meet you in my native 
 city, or a foreign land, I should meet you not as strang- 
 ers, but as friends. It was not a pleasant thing for me 
 to come into this case. They had, perhaps, the right 
 to ask, and so asking, I give you the answer. I was 
 called into it, at a time ill-suited in every respect. 
 I had just taken my seat in the convention called 
 for the purpose of forming a new constitution for 
 my State, and I was a member of the judiciary com- 
 mittee. The convention is now sitting, and I am ab- 
 sent, wihere I ought to be present. I feel however, that 
 I had no right to shirk this duty. 
 
 The counsel asked whether I represented the At- 
 torney General in this case . . . and so asking, I will 
 give my answer. There is no mystery about the matter. 
 The District Attorney feeling the magnitude of this 
 case, felt that he ought to apply to the Attorney 
 General for assistance in the prosecution of it, and 
 he accordingly made the application. I have known 
 the Attorney General for more than twenty years. 
 Our relations have been most friendly, both in social 
 and professional point of view. The Attorney General 
 conferred with the Secretary of State, who is. as 
 you know, from my own State, and thev determined 
 to ask me to assist in the prosecution of this cause. . . 
 This is the way I happened to be engaged in this 
 case 
 
 When the President of the United States was 
 assassinated, I was one of the committee sent on by 
 the citizens of New York, to attend his funerai. 
 When standing, as I did stand, in the East room by 
 the side of that coffin, if some citizen sympathizing 
 with the enemies of my country had, because my 
 tears were falling in sorrow over the murder of the 
 President, there insulted me. and I had at that time 
 repelled the insult with insult. I think my fellow cit- 
 izens would have said to me, that my act was deserv- 
 ing of condemnation; that I had no right in that 
 solemn, holy hour, to let my petty passions or my 
 
226 ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 
 
 personal resentments disturb the sanctity of the 
 scene. To my mind, the sanctity of this trial is far 
 above that funeral occasion, solemn and holy as it 
 was, and I should forever deem myself disgraced, if 
 I should ever allow any passion of mine, or personal 
 resentment of any kind, to bring me here into any 
 petty quarrel over the murder of the President of the 
 United States. I have tried to refrain from anythmg 
 like that, and God helping me, I shall so endeavor to 
 the end. 
 
 To me, gentlemen, this prisoner at the bar is 
 a pure abstraction. I have no feeling toward him 
 whatever. I never saw him until I saw him in this 
 room, and then it was under circumstances calculated 
 to awaken only my sympathy. ,.. To me he is a 
 stranger. Toward him I have no hostility, and I shall 
 not utter one word of vituperation against him. 1 
 came to try one of the assassins of the President of 
 the United States, indicted before you ... so far as 
 I am concerned, gentlemen, I believe that what you 
 wish to know in this case is the truth. . . . My duty 
 is to aid you in coming to a just conclusion. I believe 
 that it is your honest desire to find out whether the 
 accused was engaged in this plot to overthrow this 
 )?overnm/^nt. ^nd assassinate the President the Presi- 
 dent of the United States. When this evidence is re- 
 viewed, and when it is honestly and fairly presented, 
 when passions are laid aside, and when other people 
 who have nothing whatever to do with the trial are 
 kept out of this case, you will discover that in the 
 whole history of jurisprudence, no murder was ever 
 proved with the demonstration with which this has 
 been proven before yon. The facts, the proofs, the cir- 
 cumstances, all tend to one point, and all prove the 
 case, not only beyond a reasonable doubt, but beyond 
 any doubt. 
 
 This has been, as I have already stated, a very 
 protracted case. The evidence is scattered. It has come 
 in, link by link, and as we could not have witnessees 
 here in their order when you might have seen it in 
 
ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 227 
 
 its logical bearings, we were obliged to take it as it 
 came. I shall not attempt, gentlemen, to convince you 
 by bold assertions of my own. I fancy I could make 
 them as loudly and as confidently as the counsel for 
 the other side, but I am not here for that purpose. 
 The counsel are not witnesses in the case. We have 
 come here for the purpose of ascertaining whether, 
 under the law, and on the evidence presented, this 
 man arraigned before you, is guilty as charged. . . . My 
 business is to prove to you from the evidence that 
 this prisoner is guilty. If I do that, I shall ask your 
 verdict. If I do not do that, I shall neither expect nor 
 hope for it. 
 
 I listened to the two counsels who have address- 
 ed you for several days without one word of interrup- 
 tion. I listened to them respectfully and attentively. 
 I know their earnestness, and I know the poetry that 
 was brought into the case, and the feeling and the 
 passion, that was attempted to be excited in your 
 breasts, by bringing before you the ghost trailing her 
 calico dress and making it rustle against these chairs. 
 I have none of these powers which the gentlemen seem 
 to possess, nor shall I attempt to invoke them. I have 
 come to you for the purpose of proving that this party 
 accused here, was engaged in this conspiracy to over- 
 throw this government, which conspiracy resulted in 
 the death of Abraham Lincoln, by a shot from a pis- 
 tol in the hand of John Wilkes Booth. That is all there 
 is to be proven in this case. 
 
 I have not come here for the purpose of proving 
 that Mrs. Surratt was guilty, or that she was inno- 
 cent, and I do not understand why that subject was 
 lugged into this case in the mode that it has b§en; 
 nor do I understand why the counsel denounced the 
 Military Commission which tried her, and thus indi- 
 rectly censored in the severest manner, the Presidetnt 
 of the United States. The counsel certainly knew, 
 when they were talking about that tribunal, and when 
 they were thus denouncing it, that President Johnson, 
 the President of the United States, ordered it with his 
 
228 ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 
 
 own hand; that President Johnson, President of the 
 United States, signed the warrant that directed the 
 execution; that President Johnson, President of the 
 United States, when that record was presented to him, 
 laid it before his Cabinet, and that every single mem- 
 ber voted to confirm the sentence, and that the Presi- 
 dent with his own hand, wrote his confirmation ol 
 it, and with his own hand signed the warrant. I hold 
 in my hand the original record, and no other man, as 
 it appears from that paper, ordered it. No other one 
 has touched this paper; and when it was sug- 
 gested by some of the members of the Commission, 
 that in consequence of the age, and the sex, of Mrs. 
 Surratt, it might possibly be well to change her sen- 
 tence to imprisonment for life, he signed the war- 
 rant for her death with the paper right before his 
 eyes — ^and there it is (handing it to Mr. Merrick) . My 
 friend can read it for himself. 
 
 My friends on the other side have undertaken to 
 arraign the government of the United States against 
 the prisoner. They have talked very loudly and elo- 
 quently, about this great government of twenty-five 
 or thirty millions of people, being engaged in trying 
 to bring to conviction, one poor young man, and have 
 treated it as though it was a hostile act, as though 
 two parties were litigants before you, the one trying 
 to beat the other. 
 
 Is it possible that it has come to this, that, in the 
 City of Washington, where the President has been mur- 
 dered, that when under the form of law, and before a 
 court and jury of twelve men, an investigation is 
 made, to ascertain whether the prisoner is guilty of 
 this great crime, that the government is to be charged 
 as seeking his blood, and its officers as lapping their 
 tongues in the blood of the innocent? I quote the lan- 
 guage exactly. It is a shocking thing to hear. What is 
 the purpose of a government ? What is the business of 
 a government? 
 
 According to the gentlemen's notion, when a mur- 
 der is committed the government should not do any- 
 
ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 229 
 
 thing towards ascertaining who perx)etrated the mur- 
 der, and if the government did undertake to investi- 
 gate the matter and endeavor to find out whether the 
 man charged with the crime is guilty, or not, . . . tne 
 government and all connected with it, must be expected 
 to be assailed as 'bloodhounds of the law,' and as 
 seeking to 'lap their tongues in the blood of the inno- 
 cent/ Is that the business of the government, and is 
 it the business of the counsel, under any circumstances, 
 thus to charge the government? What is government 
 for? It is instituted for your protection and my protec- 
 tion, for the protection of us all. What could we do 
 without it ? Tell me, my learned and eloquent counsel 
 on the other side, what would you do without govern- 
 ment ? What would you do in this city ? 
 
 Have you ever heard, my dear reader, a more di- 
 rect, explicit analysis of Roman Catholic anarchy por- 
 trayed than the above presentation of Judge Pierre- 
 
 POnt? . ,,;V^ 
 
 There were eighty-five witnesses and ninety-six 
 in rebuttal, called by the government and Surratt 
 called ninety-eight witnesses in chief and twenty-three 
 in rebuttal. 
 
 The hearing began June 17th, 1867, and closed 
 July 26th, 1867. The arguments of the attorneys cov- 
 ered twelve days. The case went to the jury August 
 7th, three days later. The jury brought in a report 
 that they stood about even for conviction and acquit- 
 tal, with no prospect of reaching an agreement. Surratt 
 was remanded to jail. 
 
 His attorneys asked that he be released on bail 
 which was refused by the court. The following Sep- 
 tember the case was nolle prosequi. He was then in- 
 dicted on the charge of engaging in rebellion. He was 
 admitted to bail on this charge in the amount of $20,- 
 000, which still stands. 
 
 A second indictment was found against him, but 
 the district attorney entered a nolle prosequi on this. 
 The prisoner was finally released and permitted to go 
 
230 ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 
 
 free on a technicality — an omission of the three woros 
 in the indictment, viz. : **Was a fugitive." 
 
 All of the above proceedings in the face of the 
 burning facts brought out by his two trials, and that 
 every charge of his guilt of the murder of Abraham 
 Lincoln was proven beyond the peradventure of a 
 doubt. 
 
Chapter XII. 
 
 Summing It All Up: Two And Two 
 
 The aim of the Jesuits in this country is to ulti- 
 mately extricate the Roman Church from its responsi- 
 bility in the murder of Lincoln by exonerating Mary 
 E. Surratt and her son John by placing the whole 
 blame on John Wilkes Booth — the "Protestant." (?) 
 
 The recent activity in this direction of these Leo- 
 poldines, — the Knights of Columbus, — is most signifi- 
 cant and interesting to observe. Wide publicity was re- 
 cently given through the official press of the Knights 
 of Columbus of an offer of five thousand dollars to 
 "any one who can prove that John Wilkes Booth was 
 a Roman Catholic" is one move in the plan. 
 
 The Surratts must be white-washed before the 
 Catholic Church can clear its skirts. The documentary 
 evidence pertaining to this tragedy has been so care- 
 fully and completely removed from the public eye 
 that they feel it safe now to openly refer to the death 
 of Lincoln. But for years his name never passed the 
 lips of either the priests or the press of Rome ! 
 
 With a desire to get at the truth we have made a 
 study of these two characters. 
 
 There is much to convince the fair-minded inves- 
 tigator that John Wilkes Booth had been a pervert to 
 the Roman Church. The evidence in both the trials of 
 the conspirators and John H. Surratt shows that Booth 
 was frequently at "Mass" in various Roman Churches. 
 The fact that he wore an "Agnus Dei" bronze medal 
 at the time of his death which was taken from his neck 
 by Surj^eon General Barnes as his body lay on the Mon- 
 tauk which had become corroded from the moisture of 
 his body showed long wear. Only three weeks prior to 
 
232 ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 
 
 the murder as Rear Admiral Baird tells us, he met 
 Booth coming out of a Vesper Service at a Roman 
 Church in Washington. This alone of course would not 
 be conclusive, but taken together with other evidence 
 strengthens the conclusion, that he was not only a pro- 
 fessed Romanist, but that he was a devout one. 
 
 The close associates of Booth from his arrival in 
 Washington from Montreal the middle of November, 
 17th, 1S64, until his flight after the murder, were fana- 
 tical Romanists. His first visit the next day after he 
 registered at the National Hotel was to the little Ro- 
 man Church at St. Mary's near Bryantown. He had at- 
 tended "Mass" and presented his credentials to the Ro- 
 man CathoHcs, Drs. Queen and Mudd; was entertained 
 by them and enquired for the whereabouts of John Sur- 
 ratt on that occasion, whom he met shortly afterwards 
 in Washington and became a constant, almost daily, 
 visitor at the Surratt home on H street which was 
 the meeting place of the Romish priests of Washington 
 and vicinity. 
 
 The complete confidence which existed between 
 Booth and the Surratts, in the mind of the writer, is 
 sufficient evidence that these schemers were taking 
 no chances on any "Heretic." The fact that every mem- 
 ber of this household was a Romanist, and undoubted- 
 ly a member of the Knights of the Golden Circle fur- 
 ther confirms this belief. Having absorbed the Jesuit 
 psychology during my early girlhood training, and un- 
 derstanding the peculiar tie that binds all devout Ro- 
 manists together, there is not the slightest doubt in my 
 mind that John Booth was not a full-fled cred pape. 
 
 Add to this the fact that Booth himself had taken 
 the Jesuitized oath of the Order of the Knights of the 
 Golden Circle, given in full in this book, which no hon- 
 orable or sincere Protestant's conscience would permit 
 him to blacken his soul with, and we have another Mnk 
 in the chain of circumstantial evidence He was under 
 the influence of the small groun of Confederate leaders 
 in Montreal, who in turn were the most abject tools and 
 associates of the French priests in that city. Consider- 
 
ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 233 
 
 ing these and other things we will be justified in con- 
 cluding that if John Wilkes Booth was not a professed 
 Komanist, he might as well have been and most cer- 
 tainly he was nothing else. 
 
 There is no protessed Catholic assassin in ail his- 
 tory, within the writer's knowledge who was a more ef- 
 fectual dupe of the priests of liome and their lay 
 agents than this once orilliant, care free, talented young 
 man whose most distinguishing characteristic, barring 
 his kindly courtesy, was his reverence and devotion to 
 his mother. 
 
 Without wishing to excuse or condone the cruel, 
 cowardly act which snatched Abraham Lincoln away 
 from us at the moment when his great wisdom, kind- 
 liness, and broad charity would have guided the re-con- 
 struction as no other could, but the aim is to call at- 
 tention to the instigators, higher up — the priests of 
 Rome who were accessories both before and after the 
 fact, and who have always escaped without even cen- 
 sor or suspicion, leaving their tools to pay the price ! 
 
 Booth was chosen for this bloody deed with keen 
 discernment and fine discrimination by these ecclesi- 
 astical plotters against this government. That he was a 
 young man without much depth of character is 
 to be conceded, for they do not seek strong 
 characters to execute these wicked and dangerous 
 deeds. No doubt the Jesuits followed Booth for 
 months, studying him, finding his most vulnera- 
 ble point, delving into his very soul, before they decid- 
 ed to cast on him the leading role. There were many 
 advantages in his selection. His profession and the 
 well known loyalty of the Booth family to the Gov- 
 ernment, placed him almost above suspicion. His knowl- 
 edge of changing his appearance, his expertness in the 
 use of firearms, horsemanship, fencing, etc., his pro- 
 nounced personal magnetism and easy graceful manner 
 and above all his childlike vanity without egotism, all 
 tended to, from their standpoint make him an ideal vic- 
 tim of their subtle influence. One other point. Booth, 
 even if he had no previous idea of the responsibility or 
 
234 ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 
 
 knowledge of the oath he was to take when he entered 
 the Golden pircle, must have fully reahzed after, that 
 had he failed to carry out instructions after he had 
 drawn the fatal blank, it meant his own certain 
 death. 
 
 Geniuses are usually so absorbed in the line of 
 work in which their gift inclines them, that they are 
 often easy victims of stronger designing or unscrupu- 
 lous minds, and the dramatic instinct in this unfortu- 
 nate young man would tend to make him particularly 
 susceptible to the wierd ceremonies, garbs, etc., of 
 the Roman Church and its psychology. 
 
 Booth, by several authors, is charged with enter- 
 ing this conspiracy of murder and destruction from 
 a monetary object. The value of a dollar does not go 
 hand in hand with talent nor genius. If so, it is the 
 exception to the rule and John Wilkes Booth was not 
 an exception. Actors make their money easily and 
 quickly and the rule is that they let it go as easily; 
 their improvidence is proverbial. I believe it is unjust 
 to attribute Booth's part in this affair to a mercenary 
 motive and am inclined to think that he very probably 
 used much of his own money during his operations. 
 The several genuine Oil speculations in which he was 
 the loser, shows him to have been short on business 
 qualifications and the E Z mark in that respect which 
 characterized the member of the profession in his day. 
 
 That John H. Surratt on the contrary, was mer- 
 cenary and that money held a high place in his esti- 
 mation is plentifully evidenced. He talked about the 
 large sums of money he expected to get and repeatedly 
 boasted to Weichmann and displayed the large bills 
 and twenty dollar gold pieces in his possession while 
 carrying on the Secret Service work in his trips be- 
 tween Richmond, Washington and Canada He be- 
 gan to dress expensively and it was because of his 
 ultra-fashionable appearance that the attention of 
 the tailor, Reed, was attracted to him on the fatal 
 Good Friday as he walked down Pennsylvania Avenue 
 from the National Hotel. 
 
ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 235 
 
 It was his habit to show his money and talk of it 
 to his friends in a boastful way. The testimony of 
 Ste Marie shows that he was still given to this while 
 a member of the Pope's Army. 
 
 The difference in the filial devotion and the lack 
 of it is very pronounced between these two young men. 
 Surratt's immediate flight to Canada the morning after 
 the tragedy at Ford's theatre, where he had directed 
 and "called the time," where he remained in safety un- 
 der the care of the Roman priests La Pierre and Bouch- 
 er, during his mother's arrest, trial, conviction and exe- 
 cution; his heartless desertion of his mother and only 
 sister, is unparalleled as the most concentrated sel- 
 fishness and base ingratitude and the only charitable 
 thing to be said, is that it was due greatly to his theo- 
 logical training — or it might have been owing to the 
 espionage of his priestly "protectors." 
 
 GEN. T. M. HARRIS "NAILS" PRIEST WAL- 
 TERS' ATTEMPT TO WHITE-WASH MRS. SUR- 
 RATT. 
 
 The review of the Trial of John H. Surratt made 
 by Gen. T. M. Harris who was a member of the Mili- 
 tary Court Martial which tried and convicted the four 
 conspirators and sentenced four others to the Dry 
 Tortugas, was written in response to the charges of 
 Mrs. Surratt's confessor, the pastor of St. Patrick's 
 Roman Church, Washington, D. C, who had dared 
 to raige his voice in defense of this woman twenty- 
 seven years after her execution. General Harris, whose 
 book, the only one of its kind, has so effectually and 
 completely "nailed" the ecclesiastical liar, that it has 
 been removed from most of the Public Libraries 
 throughout the country on account of its contents. Be- 
 cause it has gone out of print and because it is not ac- 
 cessible to the readers I am incorporating the whole 
 chapter on "FATHER WALTER" page 204, for the 
 benefit of my readers, below : 
 
236 ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 
 
 "From the time of the trial of the conspirators by 
 a military commission, and of the execution of Mrs Sur- 
 ratt by the order of President Johnson, Father Walter* 
 a secular priest of Washington City, has made him- 
 self conspicuous by his efforts to pervert public opin- 
 ion on the result of the trial of the conspirators by the 
 Commission. Whilst rebel lawyers, editors and politi- 
 cians have boldly assailed the lawfulness of the Commis" 
 sion and have denounced it as an unconstitutional tri- 
 bunal, and have characterized the trial as a "star 
 chamber" trial, as a contrivance for taking human life 
 under a mockery of a judicial procedure, with no pur- 
 pose of securing the ends of iustice. Father W?ilter and 
 other priests whose sympathies were with the Southern 
 Confederacy have earnestly seconded their effortvS 
 by the invention and circulation of cunningly devised 
 falsehoods. 
 
 "Father Walter has every now and then bobbed up 
 with the assertion of Mrs. Surratt's entire innocence. 
 Knowing that not one in a thousand of our people has 
 ever read the testinionv on which shp was?, convicted. 
 
 he feels that he can boldlv assert, "There was not 
 enough evidence against her to hang a cat." He has 
 also become bold enough to state as facts what the pvi- 
 dence shows to be falsehoods. As an example of this: 
 In an article in the "Catholic Keview'' he asserts in re- 
 gard to Mrs. Surratt's trip to Surrattville on the after- 
 noon of the dav of the assassination that she had or- 
 dered her carriage for the trip, which was purelv on 
 private business, on the forenoon of that day. and be- 
 fore it was known that the President would go to the 
 theatre. Why, if this was true was it not proven in ^er 
 defense? There was no such testimony produced. The 
 tovstimony on this point against her was that shortly 
 aftf^r two o'clock on that afternoon she went upstairs 
 to Weichmann's room, tanned at the door, and when it 
 was opened she said to Mr. Weirhmann, "I have iust 
 received a letter from Mr. Calvert that makes it neces- 
 sarv for me to go to Surrattvipe todav and see Mr. No- 
 they. Would you be so good as to get a conveyance and 
 
ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 237 
 
 SURRATT HOUSE, 541 "H" STREET, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C, 1865. 
 
 "The Nest where the Egg was hatched." Presi- 
 dent Johnson's reply, when he was asked to com- 
 mute her sentence to life imprisonment "because 
 of her age (46) and sex," 
 
238 ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 
 
 drive me down? Upon Weichmann's consenting to do 
 so, she handed him a ten dollar bill with which to pro- 
 cure a conveyance. Surely, there is no evidence here 
 that a carriage had been ordered already, as Weich- 
 mann was left free to procure a conveyance where he 
 might see fit. 
 
 Weichmann went down stairs, and as he opened 
 the front door he saw John Wilkes Booth, who was In 
 the act, as it were, of pulling the front door bell. Booth 
 entered the house. 
 
 When young Weichmann returned, after having 
 procured the buggy, he went up to his own room after 
 some necessary articles of clothing, and as he again 
 descended the stairs and passed by the narlor doors he. 
 observed that Booth was in the parlor conversing 
 with Mrs. Surra tt. In a little while Booth came down to 
 the front door steps and waved his hand in token of 
 adieu to Weichmann, who was standing at the curb. 
 
 When Mrs. Surratt came and was in the act of get- 
 ting into the buggy, she remembered she had forgotten 
 something, and said, "Wait a moment, until I go and 
 get those things of Mr. Booth's." She returned from 
 the parlor with a nackage which was done un in brown 
 D'aner, the contents of which the witness did not see, 
 but which was afterwards shown to have been the 
 field glass which Booth carried with him in his flight. 
 This glass Booth sent to Llovd by Mrs. Surratt, with 
 a message to have it, with the two carbines and two 
 bottles of whiskev, where thev would be handy, as thev 
 would be called for that nie^ht. Llovd swore that this 
 was the message delivered to him by Mrs. Surratt in 
 the nrivate interview she soucrht with him in his back- 
 yard on his return home that evening, and that in ac- 
 cordance with these instructions he delivered them 
 to Booth and Herold about midnieht that night. 
 
 Now, let us see about the private business on 
 which she nrofessed to be going, pnd on which she 
 claimed at her trial that she went. T'he letter from Mr. 
 Calvert was a demand for money that she owed him, 
 and was written at Bladensburg on the 12th of April. 
 
ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 239 
 
 On the afternoon of the fourteenth she presented her- 
 self to Weichmann and claimed that she had just re- 
 ceived it. It would seem very strange that it took this 
 letter two days to reach her at a distance of only six 
 miles. She claimed that she must go and see Mr. iMothey 
 who owed her and get money from him to pay her debt 
 to Mr. Calvert. Mr. Nothey lived five miles below Sur- 
 ra ttsville, and as she claimed that she had just receiv- 
 ed Mr. Calvert's letter, it was impossible that she could 
 have made any arrangement with Nothey to meet her 
 at Surrattsville that day. She did not meet him there, 
 neither did she go to his house to see him. When she 
 arrived at Surrattsville she took Weichmann into the 
 parlor at the hotel and asked him to write a letter for 
 ner to Mr. Nothey, which he did at her dictation; and 
 this she sent to Mr. Nothey by Mr. Bennett Gwinn, a 
 neighbor of his who happened to be passing down. 
 
 Now, in view of all these facts, can any one see how 
 her private business was in any way subserved by her 
 trip to Surrattsville on that afternoon? She could as 
 easily have written to Mr. Nothey from Washington 
 as from Surrattsville. A postage stamp, a sheet of pa- 
 per and an envelope would have saved her six dollars, 
 the cost of her trip, and would have served her busi- 
 ness just as well. The truth is that this talk of going on 
 private business of her own was all a fabrication, first 
 to deceive Mr. Weichmann as to the object of her trip, 
 and then to be used, should it become necessary, in her 
 defense. We have already seen what her real business 
 was. 
 
 Father Walter falsifies again in the article re- 
 ferred to saying that she did not see Lloyd on that af- 
 ternoon, but delivered the things to his sister-in-law, 
 Mrs. Offutt. Both Lloyd and his sister-in-law testified 
 to her interview with him in his backyard, and Lloyd 
 testified as to what passed between them on that occa- 
 sion. 
 
 (See testimony of John M. Lloyd, Trial Conspira- 
 tors, PP. 85-86 and Testimony Mrs. E. Offutt and Trial 
 of Surratt, P. 281.) 
 
240 ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 
 
 It would seem that Father Walter is going on the 
 theory that we have gotten so far past the time, and 
 that the testimony has been so far forgotten that he 
 can foist upon the public any statement that he may 
 please to fabricate. We would kindly remind the rever- 
 end Father that no ultimate gain can be derived from 
 an effort to suppress the truth. Neither can it be ob- 
 literated by our prejudices. We may misconstrue facts, 
 but we cannot wipe them out by a mere stroke of a 
 pen; and a fact once made can never be recalled. But J 
 am not done yet with this Father. He prefaces this 
 article in the "Review" with the statement that he 
 heard Mrs. Surratt's last confession and that whilst his 
 priestly vows do not permit him to reveal the secrets 
 of the confessional, yet from knowledge in his posses- 
 sion he is prepared to assert her entire innocence of this 
 most atrocious crime. He means that we shall under- 
 stand that were he at liberty to give her last confes- 
 sion to the world, he would say that she then and there 
 asserted her entire innocence. 
 
 Will Father Walter deny that under the teachings 
 of the Roman Catholic church he had an absolute right, 
 with her consent, to make her confession public on this 
 point? Nay, more, could not Mrs. Surratt have com- 
 pelled him to do so in vindication of her good name, 
 and of the honor of the church of which she was a 
 member? And having this consent, was it not his most 
 solemn duty to proclaim her confessed innocence jn 
 every public way through the press and even from the 
 very steps of the gallows? 
 
 Why was not that confession made public ? 
 
 Why was it not reduced to writing and signed with 
 her own hand? 
 
 Why has it not, in its entirety, been given to the 
 world ? 
 
 Why must the public wait twenty-seven years, 
 and instead of having the full confession, be required 
 to content itself, in so great a case, with a mere asser- 
 tion from the reverend Father, based on his alleged 
 knowledge? Aye, just there's the rub! 
 
ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 241 
 
 JOHN H. SURRATT at 72. 
 
 The above is the ilast picture taken 
 of John H. Surratt who died in Balti- 
 more, Md., April 23, 1916, surrounded 
 by his wife and grown family. At his 
 request he was buried in the Surratt 
 lot at Mt. Olivet, Washington, D. C. 
 at left side of his mother's grave. He 
 was auditor of a large corporation 
 until his death. 
 
242 ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 
 
 That confession of Mrs. Surratt's would have 
 proved very interesting reading, and might have let 
 in a flood of light on some of tne places that are now 
 very dark; it would, indeed, have shown how far Mrs. 
 Surratt was involved in the abduction and assassination 
 plots and to what degree she was the willing or unwill- 
 ing tool of her son, and o± John Wilkes Booth, inai 
 confession woujd have shown the object of Booth's 
 visit to her on the very day and eve of the murder. It 
 would have explained what she had in her mind when 
 she carried Booth's field glass into the country and 
 told Lloyd to have the "shooting-irons" and two bot- 
 tles of whiskey ready on that fatal night of the four- 
 teenth of April. And if she did not explain satisfacto- 
 rily every item of testimony which bore so heavily 
 against her, then her last confession was worth noth- 
 ing. 
 
 Father Walter never had at any time Mrs. Sur- 
 ratt's consent to make her confession public, and he 
 dare not do so now after twenty-seven years have 
 elapsed since he shrove his unfortunate penitent. 
 
 Why did Father Walter not do this ? He was inter- 
 esting himelf very much in her behalf in trying to get 
 her a reprieve ; why did he not use this as an argument 
 with the President in her behalf, that in her final con- 
 fession she asserted her innocence? Why did he wait 
 until the sentence had been confirmed by the Presi- 
 dent and a full Cabinet without a dissenting voice, 
 and then had been carried into execution, before he 
 put into circulation the story of her confessed inno- 
 cence? And why does he refer to his priestly vows as 
 his excuse for this conduct, when he knows full well 
 that having gained Mrs. Surratt's consent to make her 
 confession public as an entirety, these vows imposed 
 upon him no such restrictions? In vindication of the 
 Commission and also the Court of Review — the Presi- 
 dent and his Cabinet — we submit that the evidence 
 shows her to have been guilty, no matter what she 
 might have said, in her final confession. 
 
 Perhaps she had been led to believe that President 
 
ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 243 
 
 Lincoln was an execrable tyrant, and that his death 
 was no more than that of the "meanest nigger in the 
 army." Her remarks to her daughter the night her 
 house was searched indicate the views she took of 
 the subject. "Anna, come what will, I am resigned. I 
 think that Booth was only an instrument in the hands 
 of the Almighty to punish this wicked and licentious 
 people." 
 
 To one who could have taken this view of the case, 
 Booth's act could not have been regarded as a crime; 
 and she w^ho rendered him all the aid she could would 
 feel no guilt. They were only co-operating with the Al- 
 mighty in the execution of vengeance. On the trial of 
 John H. Surratt, Mr. Merrick brought Father Walter 
 on the stand and asked him if he heard the last confes- 
 sion of Mrs. Surratt, to which the Father answered, 
 "I did, I gave her communion on Friday and prepared 
 her for death." 
 
 Mr. Merrick in his argument before the jury said: 
 "I asked him *Did she tell you as she was marching to 
 the scaffold that she was an innocent woman?* I told 
 him not to answer that question before I desired him 
 to. He nodded his head, but did not answer that ques- 
 tion, because he had no right, as the other side od- 
 jected." 
 
 Now, what was the object of all this? Mr. Merrick 
 brought the Father on to the stand and asked him 
 a question that had not the slightest relevancy to any 
 issue before that jury. He knew, of course, that the 
 prosecution would object, and that the ouestion could 
 not be answered. It was n direct question and could 
 have been answered by "She did." or "She did not." 
 Why does not the Father answer at once? He had been 
 cautioned not to do so until desired, and so he waits 
 for the prosecution to obiect and estop him from an- 
 swerinor the question. Mr. Merrick, however, in his ar- 
 crument, assumes that the Father stood ready to say 
 that: "She solemnlv declared her innocence to me in 
 her last confession," and throws the responsibility on 
 the Qther side for not getting this answer. The argu- 
 
244 ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 
 
 nient was this: "You see that Father Walter stood 
 ready to testify to this fact, but the prosecution object- 
 ed, and so he could not do it." 
 
 Now, what has become of the Father's priestly 
 vows, behind which he has always been hiding? Or 
 was all this a mere piece of acting, to give the counsel 
 a point from which to denounce the government, the 
 Commission, and all who were concerned in visiting 
 justice uponJ:he assassins? 
 
 We believe it to be true that the laws of his church 
 do not forbid him to make public, with her consent or 
 command, her last confession on this point, and that 
 the Father in making the statements he does at this 
 late day is simply practicing slight of hand upon the 
 public. It is a very strange circumstance, too, that 
 whilst Payne, Arnold, O'Laughlin, Atzerodt, and even 
 John H. Surra tt, admitted their connection with one or 
 the other of the conspiracy plots, Mrs. Surratt has not 
 left one word or line after her to explain away the in- 
 criminating evidence brought against her. The reason 
 is plain; she could not have explained anything without 
 involving herself and her son and giving away the 
 whole case. 
 
 For twenty-six years Father Walter and his rebel 
 coadjutors have kept a paragraph going the rounds of 
 the papers, stating as a fact that all the members of 
 the Commission, but one, are dead, and that they died 
 miserable deaths which marked them as the subiects 
 of heaven's vengeance and that some of them -perished 
 from the violence of their own hands, being crazed 
 with remorse. 
 
 The truth is that at this writine. Anril. 18^)2. all 
 the members of the Commission are alive except Gen- 
 eral Hunter and General Ekin. General Hunter lived 
 to over four score years and General Ekin to seventy- 
 three. The present writer is nearly spventy-nine and 
 is still able to vindicate th^ truth in the interest of a 
 true history of his nerind Is it not hifrh time that the 
 American people shorld be fully informed as to this 
 most important episode in their history, in order that 
 
ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 245 
 
 they may not be misled by men who were not the 
 friends, but the enemies, of our government in its 
 struggle for its preservation and perpetuation." (See 
 page 204) 
 
 The above statement of facts is sufficient to refute 
 the lying priest Walter and block the Roman Church's 
 mad efforts to subvert this damning evidence of 
 its own participation in Lincoln's murder. 
 
 OTHER TESTIMONY OF THE SURRATTS' CATH- 
 OLIC FRIENDS. 
 
 Testimony of Miss Anna Ward, for the Defense, 
 June 3rd. 
 
 I reside at the Catholic Female Seminary on Tenth 
 Street, Washington. I have been acquainted with Mra 
 Surratt six or eight years. I have not been very inti- 
 mate with Mrs. Surratt. She always bore the charac- 
 ter of a perfect lady and a christian, as far as my ac- 
 quaintance with her extends. 
 
 I received two letters from John H. Surratt post- 
 marked Montreal, Can., for his mother. I received the 
 second the day of the assassination. ... I answered 
 his letters to me, and left them with his mother as 1 
 supposed that she would be glad to hear from him. I 
 have not seen him since, (See Conspirators Trial, page 
 134.) ^W» 
 
 This Miss Ward, by the way, was twice brought 
 into the trial sufficient participation it might seem to 
 involve her in conspiracy. Mr. Weichmann testified 
 that in March 1865, Surratt invited him to accompany 
 him to the Herndon Hotel to see about securing a 
 room. When they arrived Surratt called for the 
 housekeeper, a Mrs. May Murray, and asked her to 
 have the room in readiness for the man, not mentioning 
 the name, whom Miss Ward a few days previous, had 
 
246 ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 
 
 spoken to her about. The housekeeper seemed not to 
 remember until Surratt further reminded her that it 
 was "For a delicate gentleman" who was to have his 
 meals served in his room. With this refreshing she 
 remembered. Surratt then told her that the gentle- 
 man would occupy the room on the following Monday. 
 Later on, Weichmann met Atzerodt coming along 
 Seventh Street, who told him in answer to his ques- 
 tion as to where he was going, that he was going to 
 the Hemdon House. Weichmann then said "Is that 
 Payne that is at the Hemdon House?" Atzerodt ans- 
 wered, "Yes." 
 
 Then Miss Ward, this Catholic school teacher, was 
 +be on*> who prior to the crime, had been delegated, 
 to establish an alibi for John H. Surratt by calling at 
 the Surratt house on the day of the assassination with 
 a letter which she had purported to have received that 
 day from John Surratt in Canada. She proffered this 
 information to Lonis Weichmann, who happened to be 
 at home. Weichmann did not read the letter which dis- 
 appeared and was never introduced into the evidence. 
 
 Surely, it was a fact worth noting from the 
 amount of evidence, that Mrs. Surratt. a woman impov- 
 erished by the war with no special social standing 
 should have had the privilege of intimate acquaintance 
 with so many priests. I give below the verbatim testi- 
 mony of these reverend gentlemen as the records 
 show: 
 
 REV. B. F. WIGET FOR DEFENSE, MAY 25th. 
 
 I am president of Gonzaga College, F Street be- 
 tween Tenth and Eleventh. 
 
 It is about ten or eleven years since I became ac- 
 quainted with Mrs. Mary E. Surratt. I know her very 
 well, and I have always heard everyone speak very 
 highly of her character as a lady and as a christian. 
 During all this acouaintance nothing has come to my 
 knowledge respecting her character that could be 
 called un-christian. 
 
ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 247 
 
 I have a personal knowledge of her character as 
 a christian, but not as to her character for loyalty. My 
 visits were all short and political affairs were never 
 discussed; I was not her pastor. I first became ac- 
 quainted with Mrs. Surratt from having her two sons 
 with me. I have seen her perhaps once in six weeks. I 
 cannot say that I remember hearing her utter a dis- 
 loyal sentiment, nor do I remember hearing anyone 
 talk about her being notoriously disloyal before her 
 arrest. (See page 135.) 
 
 REV. FRANCIS E BOYLE FOR THE DEFENSE, 
 MAY 25th. 
 
 I am a Catholic priest. My residence is St. Peter's 
 Church. I made the acquaintance of Mrs. Mary E. Sur- 
 ratt eight or ten years ago. . . .Have always heard her 
 well spoken of as an estimable lady. I do not undertake 
 to say what her reputation for loyalty is. (See page 
 136.) 
 
 REV. CHAS. H. STONESTREET, FOR THE DE- 
 FENSE, May 26th 
 
 I am pastor of Aloysius Church in this city. I first 
 became acquainted with Mrs. Mary E. Surratt twenty 
 years ago. I have only seen her occasionally since. At 
 the time of his acquaintance there was no question 
 question of her loyalty, (page 136.) 
 
 By the bye, on a recent trip which the author took 
 through the Jesuit University at Georgetown in the 
 cloister of one of the buildings there are a number of 
 paintings of Jesuit priests connected with the institu- 
 tion, among whom I noted one labeled. Rev. Chas. H. 
 Stonestreet. The reverend gentleman testified that at 
 the time of his acquaintance there was no question 
 about the lady's loyalty. Certainly not. The question of 
 loyalty had not arisen twenty years before the war, — 
 evidently this is an example of "Mental reservation" of 
 a Jesuit priest. All of them could have said: "I never 
 
248 ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 
 
 questioned her loyalty. — Mental reservation — (To 
 the Holy Mother Church.) 
 
 REV. PETER LANIHAN, DEFENSE, MAY 26. 
 
 I am a Catholic priest. I reside near Beantown, 
 Charles County, Md. 1 have been acquainted with Mrs. 
 Surratt, prisoner at the bar, for about thirteen years; 
 intimately so, for about nine years. In my estimation 
 she is a good christian woman and highly honorable. 
 Have never on any occasion heard her express disloyal 
 sentiments. I have been very familiar with her, staying 
 at her house, (page 136.) 
 
 In "The Doctrine of the Jesuits" by Gury, in the 
 Eighth Precept of the Decalogue, page 156, 442-1. Is 
 it not permitted to make use of the purely and proper- 
 ly mental restriction? 443-2. It is sometimes permitted 
 to make use of the restriction largely; that is to say, 
 improperly mental ,and also of equivocal words, when 
 
 the meaning of the speaker can be understood 
 
 Besides, the good of society demands that there should 
 be a means to lawfully hide a secret; now there is no 
 other way than by equivocation or restriction, .... One 
 is permitted to use this restriction even under oath. . . 
 444: A culprit interrogated judicially, or not lawfully, 
 by the judge, may answer that he has done nothing, 
 meaning: "About which you have the right to ques- 
 tion me." 
 
 The canon law of the Roman church does not con- 
 cede the right of any civil authority to question or 
 cross-question a priest. Not only so, but the canon 
 law of the Roman church automatically excommuni- 
 cates any Catholic layman who would bring a priest 
 into a civil court. Consequently none of these priests' ' 
 testimony was worth the paper it was written on in 
 the matter of truth, and they were at perfect liberty to 
 swear to anything they chose, or to whatever would 
 seem best for the interest of the prisoner and their 
 church. 
 
 - Gury in a foot note quotes Bessius, a Jesuit au- 
 thority as follows: 
 
ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 249 
 
 MONUMENT OF PRJEST JACOB WALTER 
 
 Pastor of St. Patrick's Church, Washington, D. C, friend, 
 and confessor of Mrs. Surratt, who, as such must have been fully 
 cognizant of the woman's knowledge and participation in the 
 conspiracy and murder. After Gen. T. M. Harris brought Wal- 
 ter to time by his book he ceased to "break into print." 
 
250 ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 
 
 "If a judge interrogates on an action, which must 
 have bpen committed without sin, at least a mortal 
 one, the witness and the culprit are not obliged to an- 
 swer according to the judge's intention." 
 
 REV. N. D. YOUNG, DEFENSE, MAY 26. 
 
 I am a Catholic priest. I reside at the pastoral 
 home of St. Dominick's church on the Island and Sixth 
 Street, Washington City. I became acquainted with 
 Mrs. Mary E. Surra tt eight or ten years ago. My ac- 
 quaintance has not been very intimate. I have occa- 
 sionally seen her and visited with her. I had to pass 
 her house about once a month, and I generally called 
 there, — sometimes stayed an hour. I have heard her 
 spoken of with great praise. She never uttered any 
 disloyal sentiments to me. 
 
 Certainly the above testimony makes the posi- 
 tion of Mrs. Surratt and her church beyond question, 
 but to say that any one of these nriests did not know 
 that she was DISLOYAL TO THE UOSriON and enter- 
 tained a deep hatred for President Lincoln, to whom 
 she. like many others, attributed the loss of her wealth, 
 might be acceptable to non-Romanists who do not un- 
 derstand the relation of such a woman to her priest, 
 but certainly no ex-Romanist could be deceived by it. 
 
 TESTIMONY OF THE REVEREND B. F. WI- 
 GET. 
 
 Washington, February 28, 1867. 
 
 Question: State your residence and profession. 
 
 Answer I am connected with the Gonzaga Col- 
 lege on F. Street. Washington, between Ninth and 
 Tenth. 
 
 Question: How long have you resided in Wash- 
 ington ? 
 
 Answer: With an interruption of four months I 
 have resided here four years. 
 
ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 251 
 
 Question: Look at this photo (marked exhibit 
 G) and state whether you have known this person 
 from whom it was taken. 
 
 Answer: John H. Surratt, I should think. 
 
 Question : Have you known Surratt many years ? 
 
 Answer: Many, many years, yes, sir. I knew 
 him when he was about 12 years old. He was one or 
 two years under my tuition. 
 
 EXTRACTS FORM THE TESTIMONY OF LOUIS 
 J. WEICHMANN. 
 
 Mrs. Surratt and her family are Catholics. John 
 H. Surratt is a CathoUc and was a student of divinity 
 at the same college as myself. I met the prisoner, Dav- 
 id E. Herold at Mrs. Surratt's house on one occasion. 
 I also met him when we visited the theatre when Booth 
 played Pescara; I met him at Mrs. Surratt's in the 
 country in the spring of 1863 when I first made his 
 acquaintance. 
 
 I met him (Herold) in the summer of 1864 at the 
 Piscataway (Roman CathoUc) church. These are the 
 only times to my recollection I ever met him. . . .1 gen- 
 erally accompanied Mrs. Surratt to church on Sunday 
 Surratt never intimated to me nor to anyone else 
 to my knowledge that there was a purpose to assas- 
 sinate the President. He stated to me in the presence 
 of his sister shortly after he made the acquaintance 
 of Booth that he was going to Europe on a cotton 
 speculation. That three thousand dollars had been ad- 
 vanced to him by an elderly gentleman whose name he 
 did not mention, residing somewhere in the neighbor- 
 hood, that he would go to Liverpool and remain there 
 probably two weeks to transact his business; then he 
 would go to Nassau and from Nassau to Matamoras, 
 Mexico and find his brother Isaac. . . , His character 
 at St. Charles College, Maryland, was excellent. Oil 
 leaving college he shed tears and the president ap- 
 proaching him told him not to weep, that his conduct 
 had been excellent during the three years he had been 
 there, and that he would always be remembered by 
 those in charge of the institution. . , I had been a com- 
 
252 ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 
 
 panion of John H. Surratt for seven years (in answer 
 to a question) No, 1 did not consider that 1 forfeited 
 my friendship to him m mentioning my suspicions to 
 Oapt. Gieason. Me forieited nis friendship to me by 
 placing me in the position m which I now stand, testi- 
 fying against him. I think i was more of a friend to 
 him than he was to me. He knew 1 had permitted the 
 blockade runner at the house without informing upon 
 him, because 1 was his friend, but I hesitated for three 
 days; still when my suspicions of danger to the gov- 
 ernment were aroused, 1 preferred the government to 
 John Surratt. My remark to Captain Gieason about the 
 possibihty of the capture of the President was merely 
 a casual remark. He laughed at the idea that such a 
 thing could happen in a city guarded as Washington 
 was. .^ij^MJJSi 
 
 Mr. Weichmann also testified that on the night of 
 the arrest he answered the doorbell when the detec- 
 tives rang it for the purpose of demanding admittance 
 so that they might search the house. He rapped at Mrs. 
 Surratt's door and informed her who was at the door 
 and what they had come for. Her answer was: "For 
 God's sake, let them come in; I have been expecting 
 them." (See page 394, Trial of Surratt ; also supplemen- 
 tal affidavit of L. J. Weichmann.) 
 
 Other comments by Gen. T. H. Harris are as fol- 
 lows: 
 
 When they inquired for her son, she said, "He is 
 not here; I have not seen him for two weeks." This 
 was a sufficient answer, but her guilty conscience 
 would not let her stop here, she had to add, "There are 
 a great many mothers who do not know where their 
 sons are." Let us ask ourselves at this point, how many 
 mothers in Washington City at that hour of that 
 eventful night were lying awake expecting their houses 
 to be searched by detectives ? Our inner consciousness 
 will; unerringly dictate the answer, "Not one who was 
 innocent of crime." It is only necessary to say further. 
 
ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 253 
 
 in regard to this defense set up of an alibi that al- 
 though there is no more common defense resorted 
 to by criminals, because there is none more easy of es- 
 tablishment, there was never perhaps m ali the his- 
 tory of jurisprudence a weaker and more unsuccess- 
 ful effort made to estaoiish it, than in this defense. 
 
 Probably no witness had ever been subjected to the 
 severe grilling which Louis Weichmann received dur- 
 ing these trials, his testimony at Jonn H. Surratt's tri- 
 al being precisely the same, and he could not be shak- 
 en by the badgering which the defense's lawyers re- 
 sorted to. A lifelong persecution followed in conse- 
 quence. ^^5^ 
 
 During a recent interview the writer had with a 
 relative of his who was with him during his last ill- 
 ness said : *'No one will ever know the sadness of Lou's 
 life nor dream of how he was persecuted for simply 
 telling the truth. The day before he died he motioned 
 for a pencil and paper and before a witness wrote : *To 
 All Lovers of Truth, I, Louis J. Weichmann, being of 
 sound mind and memory do declare that everything 
 that I testified to at the trials of Mary E. Surratt and 
 John H. Surratt, was the truth, the whole truth and 
 nothing but the truth, so help me God. (Signed) Louis 
 J. Weichmann.' He died the next day." 
 
 The "persecution" was that they accused him of 
 swearing away the life of an innocent woman who 
 had been a kind friend to him. For many years Mr. 
 Weichmann was under the protection of the govern- 
 ment where he held a public position in Philadelphia. 
 He was practically excommunicated from the church 
 although he in later years attended. On the other hand 
 John H. Surratt, conspirator and assassin was protect- 
 ed and helped by the priests up until his death April 
 22, 1916. 
 
 After Surratt's release from prison on a techni- 
 cality he went to Rockville, Md., where he delivered a 
 lecture which he prepared with the ostensible purpose 
 of going on the lecture platform. He only deUvered it 
 once. The public sentiment, even in the South, was 
 
254 ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 
 
 strong against him. He then secured a position in the 
 pubhc school at Montrose, near KockviUe, where he 
 taught several years. The writer in making the picture 
 of the Surratt house produced here, had a talk with 
 the present tenant, a Mrs. Wm. Penn, whose step- 
 mother was a pupil of John Surratt's while he taught 
 at Montrose. Mrs. Penn has a linen pocket handker- 
 chief, hemstitched, with the name '^Surratt" embroid- 
 ered in large script letters across the corner of it, 
 which her step-mother, a Mrs. A. M. Higgins, was 
 given by the owner, John H. Surratt. Some years later 
 secured a lucrative position with a Baltimore steam- 
 ship company where he remained until just a short 
 time before his death. He left a widow and several 
 grown children, one of whom, William, is an attor- 
 ney in the "Monumental" city. 
 
 On looking up the death notices some months ago 
 when the writer was in Baltimore for that purpose, the 
 protection of the Catholic church was shown by the in- 
 formation that a High Requiem Mass was to be said for 
 the deceased and that the funeral would be private, 
 interment would be at Bonnie Brae. As a matter of 
 fact, the body was brought quietly to Washington and 
 buried in the family lot at the left side of his mother. 
 
 The significance of this probably is that some day 
 in the future the Roman Catholic church plans to erect 
 a memorial to John Surratt and his "Martyred" moth- 
 er. In a talk with the superintendent of Mt Olivet cem- 
 etery as we stood by the graves, he proffered this infor- 
 mation, he being himself a Catholic. "The hanging of 
 this woman was one of the greatest crimes ever com- 
 mitted. We would erect a monument to her in a min- 
 ute, if we could." I asked him why they did not do it. 
 He said: "We wouldn't dare now. The feeling for Lin- 
 coln is too strong." On pressing the matter further 
 with him, I found that he had no personal knowledge of 
 the case and knew nothing but what he had been told 
 by his church. 
 
 Before closing this chapter I cannot but call your 
 attention to God's "Wondrous ways" of just retribu- 
 
ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 255 
 
 "MRS. SUR,RATT" 
 
 The small headstone with but two words on it, "Mrs. Sur- 
 ratt*' which marks the lonely grave in the outskirt of Mt. Olivet 
 Catholic Cemetery, Washington, D. C. That the body lies in 
 "consecrated" ground is significant. 
 
256 ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 
 
 tion. Contemplate the smell lonely headstone, labeled 
 merely; "Mrs. Surratt" on the outskirt of the Ro- 
 man Catholic Cemetery in Washington, the scene of 
 her wicked work and within a gun shot the magnifi- 
 cent white marble Lincoln Memorial as it stands over- 
 looking the Potomac river, erected to the memory of 
 the great American whom she and her priestly spon- 
 sers had tried so energetically to destroy because he 
 was the living type of the triumph of Popular Gov- 
 ernment and every act of his beautiful, clean, upright 
 public life was a stinging rebuke to the tyrannical, 
 corrupt System, of which Mary E. Surratt, her son 
 and the other papal assassins were legitimate products ! 
 
 EXECUTING THE SECRET TREATY OF VERONA. 
 
 Reverting to the Secret Treaty of Verona, we 
 recall that the high contracting parties, on bein? con- 
 vinced that the system of representative government 
 is . . . incompatible with monarchial principles . en- 
 gaged mutually in the most solemn manner, to use 
 all their efforts to put an end to the system of repre- 
 sentative government . . . and to prevent it from being 
 introduced in those countries where it is not yet 
 known. 
 
 Article 2. As it cannot be doubted that the liberty 
 of the press is the most powerful means used by the 
 pretended supporters of the rights of nations, the 
 high contracting parties promise reciprocally to adopt 
 all proper measures to suppress it. 
 
 The process of destruction has gone on steadily 
 from the assassination of the five presidents in the 
 United States, which begun in 1841, and has continued 
 at intervals, which finds us without a semblance of 
 a free press. 
 
 After sixty years of activity by these foreign 
 enemies within our borders what do we find? 
 
 We find a subversion of free speech ; a subversion 
 of a free press; we find a denial of the right of the 
 American people to peaceable assemblage; we find the 
 
ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 257 
 
 complete separation of Church and State the very- 
 basis of our form of government being a dead letter; 
 we find the freedom of conscience being attacked; 
 we find our great IDEA of public education being 
 viciously undermined and sapped by a great system 
 of parochial schools wherein are taught the prin- 
 ciples of the old concept of monarchial institutions. 
 
 And by whom is this concerted plan of destruc- 
 tion being carried on, principally? 
 
 By the priests and lay meriibers of the Roman 
 Catholic Church. Upon what authority is this work 
 of subversion being operated? By the ex-cathedra 
 mandates of the Popes of Rome, conveyed to their 
 "subjects" in this country through Encyclical Letters. 
 We find that the Roman Catholics who comprise less 
 than one sixth of the population, have been the domi- 
 nating power in our political affairs and of late years 
 have headed almost every national, state and munici- 
 pal office from the President down to the Dog Catcher. 
 
 During the Wilson administrations the Army, the 
 Navy, the Treasury, the Secret Service, the Post Of- 
 fice, the Emergency Fleet, Transports, Printing, Air- 
 craft and dozens of others were presided over by 
 Fourth Degree Knights of Columbus! 
 
 The PLUNDERS of Hog Island and the Emer- 
 gency Fleet under E. N. Hurley are matters of Con- 
 fifressional Record which mounted up into the mil- 
 lions. 
 
 Mr. Hurley is a Roman Catholic and Knight of 
 Columbus. 
 
 The "Aircraft Scandal" under the supervision of 
 John M. Ryan, ardent Roman Catholic and Fourth 
 Degree Knight of Columbus ran into the billions and 
 was also subject of investigation. 
 
 Admiral Benson who was advanced in a most 
 unusual and peculiar way bv his sponsor Woodrow 
 Wilson is a Fourth Degree Knight of Cohimbus and 
 violated the spirit and the letter of this Republican 
 Government by accepting a foreign title from the 
 Pope of Rome, Admiral Benson is a member of the 
 
258 ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 
 
 "Household" of this alien ruler, who never has ceased 
 to claim his right to temporal power for one moment 
 since he was forced to relinquish it by the Italian 
 People, Sept. 20, 1870. 
 
 This disloyal act has never been rebuked by the 
 American people whom Admiral Benson is sup 
 posed to represent. "Knighthood" is not a spiritual 
 acquisition, nor was it bestowed as such. It is a foreign 
 title given in recognition of his service to the Pope 
 of Rome who claims temporal sovereignity and allegi- 
 ance from his subjects in every country. One of the 
 aims of the Knights of Columbus is to restore the 
 temporal power of the Pope. 
 
 The presence of these laymen of the Romish 
 Church in our public offices is not accidental or in- 
 cidental. They are there by the express command of 
 their Pope, whom they are obliged to Obey as God 
 Himself." (See Leo IlIrd Great Encyclicals, Dage 192) 
 
 Roman CathoHcs are serving under a Citizenship 
 diametrically opposed to American citizenship. 
 
 American Citizenship is based upon the contention 
 that the only authority to rule must come from the 
 consent of the governed. 
 
 Roman Catholic citizenship is based upon the 
 negation of this. Leo XIII has this to say: 
 
 The sovereignity of the people, however ... is 
 held to reside in the multitude; which is doubtless 
 a doctrine exceedingly well calculated to flatter and in- 
 flame the many passions, but which lacks all reasonable 
 proof, and all power of insuring public safety and 
 preserving order, (page 123) 
 
 LIBERTY OF SPEECH AND PRESS 
 
 So too, the libertv of thinking, and of publishing 
 whatsoever each one likes, without hindrance ... is 
 the fountain head and origin of many evils (page 123) 
 
 The unrestrained freedom of thinking and open- 
 ly making known ones thoughts is not inherent in 
 
ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 259 
 
 the rights of citizens, and is by no means reckoned 
 worthy of favor or support, (page 126) 
 
 We must now consider briefly liberty of speech, 
 and liberty of the press. It is hardly necessary to say 
 that there can be no such right as this. . . . (page 151) 
 
 If unbridled license of speech and writing be 
 granted to all, nothing will remain sacred and in- 
 violate, (page 152) 
 
 So you see the Pope denies today the right 
 to think. The Romanists of this country are obliged 
 to obey and; inculcate these treiasonable principles. 
 It is because of this citizenship that the Roman Church 
 has established its gigantic parochial school system. 
 
 ATTEMPTING TO DESTROY THE FREE PRESS 
 
 FITZGERALD BILL (H. R. 6468) 
 
 On December 17, 1915, Roman Catholic Repre- 
 sentative John J, Fitzgerald, Knight of Columbus, of 
 Greater New York introduced the following Bill: 
 
 "Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Repre- 
 sentatives of the Onited States of America, in Con- 
 gress assembled. That whenever it shall be established 
 to the satisfaction of the Postmaster General that 
 any person is engaged, or represents himself as en- 
 gaged the business of publishing any obscene or im- 
 moral books, pamphlets, pictures, prints, engravings, 
 lithographs, photographs, or other publicatons, matter, 
 or thing of an indecent, immoral, or scurrilous charac- 
 ter, and if such person shall, in the opinion of the 
 Postmaster General, endeavor to use the postoffice 
 for the promotion of such business, it is hereby de- 
 clared that no letter, packet, parcel, newspaper, book, 
 or other things sent or sought to be sent through 
 the Postoffice, or by or on behalf, of or to, or on behalf 
 of such person, shall be deemed mailable matter, and 
 the Postmaster General shall make the necessary rules 
 and regulations to exclude such non-mailable matter 
 from the mails." 
 
260 ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 
 
 The Record shows that Holy Names Societies of 
 the Roman Cathohc Church immediately became active 
 and sent to their Representatives many petitions urg- 
 inng the enactment of these measures into laws. 
 
 Liberty, then, as we have said, belongs only to 
 those who have the gift of reason or intelligence. 
 (Leo Xni the Great Encycicles, page 137). 
 
 And the priests claim the right to be the judge 
 of those who would have the **Gift of reason or in- 
 telligence." 
 
 Roman Catholic citizenship is inimical to Ameri- 
 can citizenship. Roman Catholc citizenship is repre- 
 sented by the confessional box. American citizenship 
 is represented by the BALLOT BOX. 
 
 ATTEMPTING TO DESTROY THE FREE PRESS 
 
 GALLIVAN BILL (H. R. 13778) 
 
 On March 27, 1916, Roman Catholic Representa- 
 tive James A. Gallivan of Boston, introduced the fol- 
 lowing : 
 
 "Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Repre- 
 sentatives of the United States of America, in Congress 
 assembled, that the Postmaster General shall make the 
 necessary rules and regulations to exclude from the 
 mails those publications, the avowed and deliberate 
 purpose of which is to attack a recognized religion, 
 held by the citizens of the United States or any 
 religious order to which citizens of the United States 
 belong." 
 
 In January, 1915, Representatives Fitzgerald 
 and Gallivan had each introduced a Bill substantially 
 identical with the Fitzgerald Bill hereinbefore set out. 
 At the hearing on those Bills before the House Com- 
 mittee on the Post Office and Post Roads, Roman 
 Catholic Representative James P. Maher, of Greater 
 New York, stated frankly that the Bills had been in- 
 troduced to shield sixteen million Roman Catholics 
 
ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 261 
 
 and twenty thousand Roman Catholic priests from 
 public criticism, by excluding," The Menace," the "Yel- 
 low Jacket" and similar publications from the mails. 
 
 The above un-American citizens sponsored these 
 Bills on the explicit instructions of their Church. 
 Leo Xlllth commands them thus: 
 
 Furthermore, it is in general fitting and salutary 
 that Catholics should extend their efforts beyond this 
 restricted sphere (Municipal politics) and give their 
 attention to national politics. . . While if they hold 
 aloof . . this would tend to the injury of the Catholic 
 religion, forasmuch, as those would come into power 
 who are badly disposed towards the Church, and those 
 w^ho are willing to befriend her would be deprived of 
 all influence, (page 131) 
 
 These laymen, tools of the Romish Church would 
 strangle our Press to prevent criticism of their religion 
 and 20,000 bachelor fathers! 
 
 LEO XIU ON LIBERTY OF CONSCIENCE 
 
 Another liberty, is widely advocated, namely the 
 liberty of conscience. If by this is meant that every 
 one may, as he chooses, worship God or not, it is 
 sufficently refuted by the arguments already adduced, 
 (page 155) 
 
 Hence follows the fatal theory of the need of 
 separation of Church and State, (page 148) 
 
 From this teaching, as from its source and prin- 
 ciple flows that fatal principle of the separation of 
 Church and State, (page 159) 
 
 From what has been said, it follows, that it is 
 quite unlawful, to demand, to defend, or to grant un- 
 conditional freedom of thought,of speech, of writing, 
 or of worship, (page 161 
 
 And now let us see how well the Roman Catho- 
 lic Church requires its members to observe and ac- 
 cept the above concentrated treason to our POPULAR 
 GOVERNMENT. 
 
 The strangulation of a Free Press in this country 
 
262 ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 
 
 HON. JOHN J. FITZGERALD, 
 Who introduced one of the postal bills. 
 
 is to be completed through legislation. We call your 
 attention to the three Bills which the Knights of 
 Columbus have been trying to engineer through for 
 the past seven years under the photographs of the 
 Pope's Catholic Citizens, Messrs, Fitzgerald and Galli- 
 van and the papalized Hebrew, one, Isaac Siegal. 
 
ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 263 
 
 HON. JAMES A. GALLIVAN, 
 Who introduced two of the postal bills. 
 
 PEACEABLE ASSEMBLAGES DENIED IN THE 
 UNITED STATES BY ROMAN CATH- 
 OLIC MOB RULE 
 
 . That the right of peaceable assemblage is almost 
 a thing of the past in this country is proven by the 
 numerous mobs'instigated and led by the pr.ests and 
 Knights of Columbus and their hoodlums m the 
 various cities from coast to coast. 
 
264 ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 
 
 The reader has seen from the foregoing quota- 
 tions from the Great Encyclicals of Leo Xnith that 
 the right to think and to speak and liberty of con- 
 science is absolutely prohibitive in CATHOLIC citizen- 
 ship. In order to prove to you the existence of this 
 divine right citizenship; and in order to prove to you 
 that the members of the Roman Catholic church can- 
 not and do not grant liberty of conscience to Romanists 
 who have left the church, I call your attention to the 
 following table of mobs and riots carried on by them : 
 
 June 12th, 1913, the Protestant people of Oelwein, 
 Iowa, invited Jeremiah J. Crowley, ex-priest and author 
 of the "Parochial School; A Curse to the Church and 
 a Menace to the Nation," to address them in the theatre 
 of that town on the subject of the public school ques- 
 tion. At the instigation of the Roman Catholic priest 
 of that city who delivered his sermon the Sunday be- 
 fore the Crowley lecture, some two thousand Roman- 
 ists led by the Knights of Columbus and their hood- 
 lums, mobbed Mr. Crowley as he was leaving the 
 theatre with some of his friends, and beat him severely. 
 
 April 14th, 1914, the Rev Otis Spurgeon of Iowa, 
 who had been called to deliver a course of lectures 
 by Protestant Americans at Denver, Colorado, was 
 kidnapped from the Pierce Hotel in that city at eight 
 o"clock in the evening, bound hand and foot, gagged 
 and a strap placed around his neck, was thrown into 
 an automobile, parked in front of the hotel, whisked 
 out into the country and beaten into unconsciousness. 
 En route his captors told him they were Knights of 
 Columbus and repeatedly during the trip when he 
 refused to answer or did not answer as they wished, 
 he was choked by the strap. ("Strangulation cord") 
 
 The Rev. Spurgeon was finally rescued, taken to 
 a hospital where he was found to have sustained in- 
 ternal injuries and lay very ill for three weeks. The 
 Rev. Spurgeon was a "heretic" and a "Mason." 
 
 On Feb. 4th, 1915, Rev. Wm. Black, ex-priest, 
 at that time a Congregational minister, was deliver- 
 ing a course of lectures, enroute to the California 
 
ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 265 
 
 Coast, where he was to have testified that while he 
 was a Roman priest and a Knight of Columbus he had 
 taken the Jesuit oath on the Congressional Record . . . 
 cited heretofore. The reverend Black had reached Mar- 
 shall, Texas, where he was to deliver two lectures. He 
 gave his first lecture on the public school question in the 
 auditorium of the City Hall at Marshall, Feb. 3rd. 
 About five o'clock in the evening on Feb. 4th, Mr. 
 Black and his body guard, a Mr. J. A. Hall, ex-soldier 
 and expert shot whom he took with him on his trip 
 were returning from a walk about the city. On reach- 
 ing his door four men standing at the end of the 
 corridor nearby approached him. They asked if he 
 was Mr. Black and permission to come in and speak 
 with him a few minutes. The Rev. Black opened the 
 door and invited them in. The visitors first of all in- 
 formed him that they were members of the Knights 
 of Columbus Council of Marshall; that they under- 
 stood that he intended to deliver another lecture 
 "against their church'* that night. Mr. Black assured 
 them that they were correct. Then the spokesman, 
 a prominent attorney, Ryan by name, said, "No you 
 won't. We will give you just fifteen minutes to pack 
 your suitcase and get out of town." Mr. Black coolly 
 informed them that he intended to deliver his lecture ; 
 that he would rehnguish his American constititional 
 rights for no man. On rising from a shoeblacking case 
 where he had been sitting, John Rogers, a leading 
 architect of that vicinity who had drawn up plans of 
 the hotel in which they now were, sprang toward him, 
 pinioned his arms and in shorter time than it takes to 
 tell it. Black's body was riddled with bullets, and in 
 the melee John Rogers' body fell across that of Black's, 
 being also instantly killed. Copeland, a leading banker 
 the third Knight of Columbus, — Catholic citizen — re- 
 ceived a wound from which he will never fully recover 
 and promptly received the consolations of his church 
 in the corridor, outside the room where they carried 
 him. It may be of interest to know that the priest 
 was in the lobby of the hotel when Black and Hall 
 
266 ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 
 
 entered to go to their room. Through political influ- 
 ence, these surviving K. C. participants in this coward- 
 ly assassination went free. 
 
 April 6th,1915, the Rev Dr. Joseph and Mary 
 Slattery, ex-priest and ex-nun, of Boston, Mass. were 
 called by Protestant Americans to deliver some lectures 
 in Chicago, 111. They were lecturing in a Masonic hall 
 on the south side of the city. In the early part of Dr. 
 Slattery's talk a mob of Roman Catholic hoodlums 
 and members of the Knights of Columbus left their 
 hall which was just across the street, entered the 
 Slattery meeting and proceeded to start a riot in true 
 Roman style, by calling Dr. Slattery **a liar." At a 
 signal from a man wearing a Roman collar from which 
 he drew a handkerchief which had concealed it, the 
 riot started in earnest. Chairs and furniture were 
 smashed, men and women were beaten indiscriminately 
 and disfigured by the use of brass knucks and black 
 jacks. The telephone wires in the hall and even the 
 nearby drugstores had been cut and it was fully three- 
 quarters of an hour before they had any response from 
 the Fourth Degree Knights of Columbus policemen. The 
 speaker and his wife made a miraculous escape. The 
 windows of the automobile in which they were driven 
 were shattered by bullets. These Roman thugs entered 
 street cars, attacked the passengers who had not been 
 at the lecture and knew nothing about the riot. They 
 pulled the trolleys off the wires and derailed and de- 
 molished several cars. So much for Roman Catholic 
 citizenship in the great city of Chicago. 
 
 In Haverhill, Mass., April 4th, 1916, these Knights 
 of Columbus and their hoodlums being summoned lor 
 the occasion from neighboring cities and towns, forced 
 their way into the City Hall where a meeting was 
 being held by Thos. E. Levden, who was speaking 
 upon the political activities of the Roman church in 
 American politics. I will quote the headlines from 
 some of the Massachusetts papers : 
 
ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 267 
 
 Boston Post, 
 
 BIG RIOT RAGES IN HAVERHILL 
 
 MANY BEATEN 
 MILITIA IS CALLED 
 
 CITY HALL STORMED BY ANGRY MOBS 
 
 WHILE REV. THOS. E. LEYDEN WAS HIDDEN IN 
 THE ALDERMAN'S CHAMBER 
 
 10,000 IN WILD HAVERHILL RIOTS— MILITIA 
 
 CALLED OUT TO SUPPRESS MOB THAT 
 
 GETS BEYOND POLICE 
 
 City Hall and Police Station Attacked With Missiles 
 
 Torn from Streets. National Club Wrecked and 
 
 Officer and Civilian Badlv Beaten 
 
 EDITORIAL FROM THE CHRISTIAN SCIENCE 
 JOURNAL, BOSTON, APRIL 21, 1916 
 
 MOB LAW 
 
 The question of free speech is one of such funda- 
 mental importance to humanity that it is easy to un- 
 derstand the commotion which has been caused,, in 
 the State of Massachusetts, by the recent riots in 
 Haverhill. The contention that a mob with or without 
 cause, is at liberty to usurp the prerogatives of the 
 courts, and to substitute lynch law for official iustice, 
 constitutes, indeed, a precedent destructive of all popu- 
 lar liberty. The history of liberty is very largely the 
 effort of authority to restrain license. When the 
 human passions are roused license is always apt to 
 come to the top. 
 
268 ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 
 
 There is no rhyme or reason in the attack of a 
 mob. It is just as willing to smash a great invention 
 like the spinning- jenny, for fear of the displacement 
 of labor, as it is to stuff the mouth of a Foulon witn 
 straw. It is just this that makes the case of the mob 
 in Haverhill so important. If its action is overlooked, 
 if it is connived at, worse still if it is justified today, 
 there is no length to which it may not go tomorrow, 
 and the example set, in Haverhill, may be repeated 
 elsewhere at the expense of the very views which 
 the Haverhill exhibition was intended to support. 
 
 The simple fact is that the Haverhill mob out- 
 raged in the frankest and most indefensible way the 
 common right of free speech. It is not of the slightest 
 importance who Mr. Leyden was, what he was going 
 to say, or what the effect of his words might be. He 
 was entitled to speak, or he was not entitled to speak. If 
 he was entitled to speak no mob had any right to pre- 
 vent him. If he was not entitled to speak no mob had 
 any right to decide the question and to enforce its 
 own decision. In each event it outraged entirely the 
 rights of free speech, the only difference is that in one 
 case it outraged it rather worse than in the other. 
 
 RESOLUTIONS OF BAPTIST MINISTRY 
 
 The Protestant clergy of greater Boston have 
 resristered their protest against the outrage in no un- 
 certain tones. Perhaps the most notable of these were 
 the resolutions adopted by the Baptist ministers of 
 greater Boston on April 10th. Thev were read by 
 Professor F. L. Anderson of Newton Theological Sem- 
 inary and were, in part, as follows: 
 
 "The plain, significant and undisputed fact is that 
 an American citizen was denied the right of free 
 speech, guaranteed by the constitution of Massachu- 
 setts, and that the authorities failed to protect him. 
 That the mob was the result of a premeditated plan 
 
ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 269 
 
 appears clear from the fact that the lecturer was not 
 permitted even to begin. 
 
 "We want to know whether this sort of thing is 
 to continue, whether it is possible that we are 
 entering upon an era of Catholic tyranny in this 
 state, whether henceforth in this state criticism of 
 one church, and only one, is to be indulged in only 
 at the risk of life and limb. We demand of the cardi- 
 nal that he publicly state his attitude and enforce his 
 authority in such a manner as shall make Catholic 
 mobs impossible in this state. If the cardinal fails to 
 accede to our demand, we shall know how to interpret 
 his continued silence and shall act accordingly. 
 
 "We demand that the public authorities bring to 
 justice the leaders of the mob and that the courts 
 Impose suitable punishment. A failure here will prove 
 the constitution and laws of Massachusetts mere 
 scraps of paper, and will forever debar our state, 
 the nursery of liberty, from criticising those Common- 
 wealths where lynching goes unavenged. We say this 
 advisedly, for, according to the beliefs of both our 
 fathers and ourselves, liberty of speech is more pre- 
 cious than life. 
 
 "But more than this is required. The only adequate 
 reparation which can be made for this public outrage 
 is a public atonement. This, to our mind, should take 
 the form of an arrangement with Mr Leyden by the 
 citizens of Haverhill, by which he shall speak in 
 Haverhill on the topic already advertised, and shall be 
 protected in his rights by the city and state at any 
 cost. If he then transgresses the laws against slander or 
 incendiary speech, let him be proceeded against by due 
 process of law." 
 
 PROTESTANT MINISTERS SPEAK 
 
 The entire body of the Protestant clergy of Hav- 
 erhill, thirteen in number, appeared before Mayor 
 Bartlett and Commissioner Hoyt, on April 7, to pro- 
 test against the outrage, the inefficiency of the police 
 
270 ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 
 
 and the equally disgraceful failure of the department 
 of justice to ferret out, arrest and punish the ring 
 leaders of the mob. 
 
 The Rev. Nicholas Van der Pyl acted as spokes- 
 man for the ministerial body. In the course of his 
 address he thus voiced the sentiments of the unitea 
 Protestant ministry of Haverhill: 
 
 *I speak in behalf and by the authority of the 
 entire Protestant clergy of the city of Haverhill. 
 
 "We deplore, and we feel indignant about the 
 lawlessness which overran this city last Monday night. 
 Our city has been disgraced before the country, and 
 only the people of this city can remove the disgrace 
 which is ours today. 
 
 "We are not bigots. We have the highest charity 
 for all who worship God in their own way and according 
 to the dictates of their own conscience. 
 
 "But we are also American citizens, and we are 
 the accredited representatives of the morals and re- 
 ligious interests of this city. We hold inviolable the 
 great principles of freedom of speech and freedom 
 of the press, subject to the laws of libel and incendiar- 
 ism, after the fact, which have been estabhshed by 
 all the people, and which only the people can abrogate. 
 
 A mob has overrun our city. Churches have been 
 broken into and desecrated by that mob. The homes 
 of unoffending and innocent citizens have been stoned. 
 In some cases lives have been threatened and placed in 
 jeopardy. We cannot forget so long as the mob is 
 permitted to be victorious, and its leaders glowing in 
 the fact that they have trampled under their feet 
 the most sacred rights of all our people. We will not 
 forget until the principle of free speech has been im- 
 pressively vindicated by the law-abiding element of 
 this community itself." 
 
 In point of fact the condition is this, that no 
 ex-Romanist now in the field in this conflict in this 
 country is granted his or her constitutional rights 
 by the priests and prelates of the Roman Cath- 
 
ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 271 
 
 olic church. There is not an ex-Cathohc lecturer 
 in the field today who does not take his or her 
 life in their own hands every time they appear be- 
 fore an audience. Speaking from personal experience 
 the writer has had several mobs, one of which was in 
 the Pioneer Congregational church in Chicago, Illi- 
 nois, where the following subjects were advertised: 
 
 "The Enemy within our borders." 
 "The Public vs. Parochial schools." 
 "The Suppressed Truth about the Assassination of 
 Abraham Lincoln." 
 
 The church early in the evening was surrounded 
 by a mob of about 2,000 Catholics some of whom 
 forced their way in and filled up the auditorium. After 
 listening for about three quarters of an hour, at a 
 whistle from the leader of the mob which was the 
 signal to begin, windows were broken, chairs were 
 smashed, literature torn and scattered all over the hall. 
 In response to a riot call from the down town station 
 (pohce at that precinct there would not respond) two 
 wagon loads of officers stepped out, all of whom but 
 one were Knights of Columbus. I know this because 
 they admitted it to me. Such wide publicity has been 
 given by the local and anti-Roman press of K. of C. 
 mobs in San Francisco, Sept. 22nd and Sept. 26th, 1921, 
 that it is not necessary to dwell on them. 
 
 Only a few weeks ago we read of the mobs of the 
 meetings of the Baptist minister, ex-Monk Eli M. 
 Erickson in Chicago, EL, who speaks upon his con- 
 version from Romanism to Protestantism. But again 
 the priests of Rome denied Rev. Erickson his Ameri- 
 can rights. This mobbing is not confined to ex-Ro- 
 manists. That splendid patriotic worker and eloquent 
 lecturer, Wm. Lloyd Clark, of Milan, Illinois, has, in 
 spite, of Rome's vicious mobs, time without number, 
 held the torch of American patriotism up for the last 
 thirty-five years. For the most part he was almost sin- 
 gle handed and alone. Mr. Clark has been rotten-egged, 
 
272 ASSASSINS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 
 
 shot at, arrested and jailed, dozens of times, 
 but he has never ceased to batter at these assassins 
 of Liberty. 
 
 In closing I will leave it to my reader to decide 
 whether I have proved my contention in the beginning 
 of this book that the assassination of Abraham Lin- 
 coln and four other presidents is but a part of the 
 great conspiracy which was outlined in the Secret 
 Treaty of Verona to destroy this Republic. 
 
 That the execution of this conspiracy in Lincoln's 
 case, was delegated by the Pope of Rome to the Jesuits 
 in the United States and their lay agents, the Leopol- 
 dines. 
 
 That instead of the use of bullets and bayonets, 
 their method has been and is to destroy from within 
 by the subversion of all of the free institutions upon 
 which this Republic is based. 
 
 That the church of Rome has established a sepa- 
 .rate citizenship to promote its teachings and by its 
 ^enormous wealth a large proportion of which has been 
 obtained by unconstitutional and illegal appropriations 
 from public funds; that with this wealth (over two 
 and a half billion dollars worth of church and other 
 religious property, for the most part exempt from 
 taxation) it has by a system of intimidation and brib- 
 I ery corrupted our free press and is in control of every 
 avenue of publicity, so that the American people re- 
 main in almost total ignorance of its pernicious activi- 
 ties, which, if not curbed, will succeed in accomplishing 
 Sts object in these United tates. 
 
 For the further information of the reader, allow 
 me to impress it upon you, that the present Pope, 
 Pius Xlth, is the Cardinal Ratti, whom the late Pope 
 sent to Poland on the express mission of inducing the 
 makers of the new constitution to restore the Roman 
 church as the State church, a feat which the gentle- 
 man covered himself with papal glory, by accompHsh- 
 ing, an act no doubt, which earned him the Pontifical 
 throne. Also remember that Pius XI stands for just 
 what air Popes have stood. 
 
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