The Portland daily press., 1865-06-24
From the N. 7. Evening Post, june "a.
The Revelations of the Trial.


The public interest Ia the assassination
trial, which has tagged under the rather te-
dions examination of what Whittier calls ;
"weary lawyers with endless tongues"
will suddenly be revived by the startling revel-
atoms made yesterday by the counsel for the
defence In the cases Of Payne and Atzeroth.-
Nothing In the entire government prosecution
has been SO thoroughly convincing as this So
called defence. 1t fastens hopelessly ON the
accused that certainty of guilt which arises
from practical profession Of Il. Sl1ksis1
Ooionoi Dvccs~s5 -s-----s--11i q g. p,.s -. !,
Atzeroth, took up their cases separately In
the former case he began by admitting ssbe-
yond cayii or dispute" that Payne was the
man who attempted to murder Mr. Seward |:
that he was not inssne, and that he (Payne)
believed that he was right in making the as
sAults With such facts and knowledge, 1t will
be readily supposed that there was very little
GA which to build defence, and Col Does ter
therefore took the ground that Payne, by his
early southern education aud slaveholding sur
roundings, was so imbued with southern pIin-
cipies that his punishment deserves some miti-
CATION. He also maintained that to hang
Payne would be to make martyr of him.
However unsatisfactory this argument may
be to the prisoners friends. il is certain that
If 1t be at all accepted, it is one OF the most
bitter denunciations against the slavery sys.
tenn that could be devised. 1t proves that that
system actuates young man of but twenty
years, the son Of 3 clergyman, to deliberately
commit one Of the most frightful crimes on re.
cord-nurdering sick man lying helpless on
his own bed in his own house. The most "fa-
naticap abolitionist Of the old times before the
war never went SO far as this in his de-
nunciatons. Yeton these teachings south
ern empire was to be built which England were
ready to recognize and adopt.
In regard to this man Payne there has been
studied effort to excite factitious sympa-
thy Rumors we're started that his parentage
was unknown--that astrange mysteryIenvel-
oped his connectlo3s-that he was a son of
Jefferson Davis-that he was brave and un-
flinching hero. Now this thin mask is torn
of, and he is revealed as an INSCRIPTIONS MUIR
derer, who only failed ia his great crime be-
cause Providence saw fit that the final
plot OF dying rebellion should nnmber but one
martyr. H rfT -
La the case Of Atzeroth, the prisoner himself
sends In "a statement which is practically
confession, and which serves his counsel as q
text.g In this confession the prisoner admits
that he was selected as the conspirator who
was to kill Vice-President johnson, while
Booth was TO slay both Lincoln and Grant.
Atzeroth further declares that he backed
out Of this scheme being willing to aid in cap,
turing but not In killing the federal officials.
He, however, took no measures to apprise the
authorities Of the intended murder; and when
arrested after the assassination, he sought to-
ouy bis life by pointing out the route he
thought Booth had taken. r.
~ la all this Booth seems to have been the
master-mind Of the infamous cabal. How
far he was aided BY the leading rebels remains
yet TO be seen. he served his employers well.
and kept their secret till death. s'ss