Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1865-06-06
THE CONSPIRACY TRIALS,
THE RESERVED.T TESTIMONY
COMPLICITY OFTHE REBEL AUTHOR,
ITIES.
NEW YORK CITY TO BE DESTROYED
BY FIRE.
THE YELLOW FEVER PLOT.
1T is AUTHORIZED BY THE REBEL
AUTHORITIES.

| OF the suppressed testimony before the court
Tor the trial Of the conspirators. The follow.
ing testimony In addition to that already pub.
hsned will be found interesting, and reveals
in clear light the devilish ramiticauons of
| this horrible plot.
| TESTIMONY OF RICHARD MONTGOMERY
T Witness has been to Canada since the assas.
sination of the President, and met Beverly
IucEer few days after the assassination at
Montreal, three or four times; he said a great
deal In conversation about the wrongs that the
| South had received from the hands of Mr..
Lincoln, and that he deserved his death hong
long ago, ana that it " as too bad that the bows
| had not been allowed to act as they wanted to,
meaning the Confederate soldiers who were up
there who had been engaged in their raids
Never saw Mr.. Booth in Canada. q. Did any
OF these men of whom you have spoken say
that Booth was one Of the men referred to by
Jacob Thompson who was willing to assassi-
nate the Presidentl a Yes, sir; a. H. Cleary
| told me; / related to him the con versation 1
had had, or portion of it, with Mr. Thomp-
son in January, and he said that Booth was
one OF the parties to whom Thom pson had re.
| ferred; he said in regard to the ASSASSINATION
| that it was too bad that the whole work had
not been done; inferred that they intended to
assassinate greater number than they sue
| ceeded in trying to. Mr.. Holcembe told me
would find Mr.. Cleary to be the confidential,
q sort OF secretary to Mr.. Thompson Mr..
! Thompson told me he was posted upon all his
| affairs, and that if 1 sought him at any time
that he might be away could state my bust
| ness to Mr. Cleary, and that it would be all
| the same, that could have perfect confidence
in him; that he was very close mouthed
man. Cleary when speaking of his regret that
| the whole work had not been done, said we
| had better look out, we are not done yet, and
| remarked that they never would be cong uer-
ed, never would give up. He said that
Booth had been there in the winter; that he
| thought that the last was In December; he
| had also been there in the summer. The
| parties knew very few days after the as
sassination that they were suspected OF It;
| they were destroying q great many papers:
| they also knew that they were going to be in
dicted in Canada for violation OF the neutrality
| dicted. In my interview with them assumed
as my proper name James Thompson, and
then leading them to suppose that that was
| it there SO as net to be identified by Federal
| spies. adopted other names at any hotel
might be stopping; l never registered Thomp.
| son on the book; led them to suppose that
| wished to conceal that name, but James
| Thompson was the name that they supposed
my %ae e. her IN a
| against the Government of the United States.
Witness frequently heard the subject Of the
| the burning OF our cities spoken of among these
eonspirators by Thompson, Clay, Cleary,
Tucker, Sanders and those men; know that
Mr.. Clay was one Of the prime movers in ths
| matter before the raids were started; they re-
| ceived the direct endorsement of Mr. Clement
Clay, Jr.; he represented himselft to me as being.
a sort Of representative of the War Depart
ment; do not think they would have entrusted
those dispatches to me unless they had the
fullest confidence in me; they represented
themselves as having full power TO act with.
out reference to them, they respectively told
me, both Mr.. Clay and Mr. Thompson, that
they had full power to act by their Govern.
Dent In anything they deemed expedient and
for the benefit of their cause.
TESTIMONY OF JAMES B. MERRITT
WIness is physician, and has been in Cana
da abou. year or nearly year; part OF the
time at Windsor, part OF the time at North
Bumfriee, Waterloo county. Was in Toronto
during the month Of October or November last,
and met there man by the name of George
Young; believe he was formerly OF Morgan's
command, Kentucky. Also a man named Ford,
OF hentucky, deserter, and man named
Graves, from % Louisville. Young asked me II
had seen Col. Steele before left Windsor
Col Steele, believe, is a Kenthckian; what
his given name is do not know. He had been
as understood, a Rebel in the service. Young
asked me il Col. Steele had said ANYTHING to me-
in relation to the Presidential election; I told
him that he had not; then he said we have
something on the tapis of much more import.
ance than any raid that we have made or can
make, or something of that character; asked
him what 1t was; he said ii was determined
that old Abe should never be inaugurated: If
understood it right that was his expression: I
asked him how he knew, he said he knew that
he would not be inaugurated; they had plenty
he spoke in relation to Mr.. Lincoln and used
some ungentlemanly terms; called him id
old tyrant OF something like that. 1 was in
Steele asked Colonel Steele what was ssina
to be done, or had he liked the prospects Of the
Presidential election? Col. Steele's express
will serve smother term if he is elected
MT. Saunders said he would keep himself
mighty close if he did serve another term
was in Toronto on Wednesday and Thurs
day, the 9Th and 9th Of April last, and in the
evening OF w Wednesday was on my way gong
tosAe theater when I met Harper and Ford;
they asked me to go with them and spend the
evening, and declined. as was going to the
theater; the next morning was around by the
Queens Hotel, and saw Harper, Caldwell
Randall, Ford, Charles Holt and aman called
Texas. Harper said that they were going to
the States, and that they were going to kick
up the damnedest row that was ever heard of
yet; there was some other conversation passed
among us; l do not now remember what 1t
course of an hour or two afterwards, met
Or II not OF the
Gen. DIX in ten days l might put him down
as a damned fool; the 5th, as find ION looking
at my visiting list, and this was on the 9Th I
think that Booths name was mentioned as
being IN Washington: but do not remember
Surratt AZ that time. They said they had plenty
Of friends here, and that there were some If
teen or twenty going to Washington. On the
Saturday afterward 1 was at Galt; Harper's
mother is living some or miles from Cali
between that and Paris; ascertained there
that he had been to the place where he had
been stopping, and Caldwell, too, had started
for the States. l went to q Justice Of the Peace
there for the purpose OF giving Information 70
when I gave him the Information he said that
| the thing was too ridiculous and absurd or
supremeIy absurd, to notice; that it would ap.
pear very foolish to give such information and
| cause arrests to be made on those grounds. as
itwas 80 inconsistent that no one would believe
it; he declined tr issue any process. have no
personal knowledge that Harper returned at
all; / was in the Gait on Friday again,
and / found there from Mr.. Ford that
he had been home on Thursday, and had
started to go pack to the States again that
WAS the Thursday after the assassination
Did you know while there one Colonel Ashley,
q rebel officer? A. 1 did not know that he was
q rebel sympathizer; he was broker at Wia-
cannot cali exactly what time, Colonel Ashley
handed me letter, which he said he had re-
ceived from Jacob Thompson, asking him for
funds for the benefit of the rebels to carry out
their objects in Canada, and he asked me if I
could not contribute; he read me the letter: my
understanding was that the purpose was to
raise means to pay the expenses of those who