Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1865-06-29

last, that be was in search or agents 70 do the
and that in ibis speculation Arnold ana
OLA uRhlin bad joined as early A feoruAfyS
that then, and after, with Booth and .Snrratfs
they were In the soil business" which was
the business Of assassin auoa by contract - s.
speculation p If this conspiracy ON the part
OF OLanghlin with Arnold is esta blished even
prima face, the declarations and acts OF, Ar-
mold az d Booth. the other conspirators, In fur-
theranca OF the common design, is evidepce
aeainst O'Laughlin as we'll as againstiAr
niim.elf M or the other parties. The rule OF law
is mat the act or declasrtion OF one consprator,
oohe In pursuance or furtheraRce OF the com
Moh ueslgn, is the act or declaration Of al tho
eoTsp'iHsH,sc Tspe Isfs.r Wharton, 5o6 -
ne et'ef therefore OF his co.conepir&tor,
AIholu, 10 evidence against OLaughlin, be-
canse II III In an Act in the prosecution Of the
be done in order to max IL effeeti ve and vhich
suggestion, as has been stated, was followed
out Tne defence has attempted to avoid the
force ef this letter by reciting the statement
OF Arnold, made to Horner at the time be waa
arrested, IN which he declared, among other
things, that the purpose was TO a6ducr
was to be done at the tbeater by throwing the
President out OF the Dox upon The noor OF the
stage. when the accused was to eaten him.
The very announcement of this testimony e1-
cited defision that such tragedy meant only
10 take the President and carry him gently
away This plgmy to catch the giant as the
assassiBs hurled him TO the floor from an ele-
vaten of twelve feet! The Court has viewed
The theater, ant must oe satisfied that Booth,
in lesprg from the Presidents box, broke his
limb. The Court cannot fail 10 conclude tnas
this statement OF Arnold was but another silly
device, like that of 'sthe oil business" which,
for the time being, he employ tc hide from
the knowledge OF his captor the fact that the
purpose was to murder the President No
man can, for q moment, believe that any one
OF these conspirators hoped or desired, by
such proceeding as that stated by this priso-
ner, to take the President aliv IN the presence
OF thousands assembled in the theater after he
had thus been thrown upon the floor OF the
1Ho tn rlnh hA
city, through the lines of your army, and de-
liver him into the hands Of the rebels. No such
purpose was expressed OF limited by the CON
spirators in Canada, " no commissioned Booth
10 let these assassinations on contract.
Arnold does confess that he was q conspira-
tor with Booth in this proposed murder; that
Booth had a letter of intrOduc ton to DIR. NJ udd;
that Booth, OLaughIin, Atzerodt, Surratt, a
man with an alias, "Mosby," and another man
whom he does not know, and himself were
parties to this conspiracy, and that Booth had
furnished them ali with arms. He concludes
this remarkable statement to Horner with the
declaration that at that time, to wl., the first
to Fortress Monroe, he left the cons piracy, and
that Booth told him to sell his arms II he chose.
This is sufficiently answered by the fact that,
tour weeks afterwards, he wrote his letter 10
Booth, which was found in Booths possession
after the assassination, suggesting to him what
to do in order to make the conspiracy sue
cess, and by the further fact that at the very
moment he uttered these declarations, part OF
his arms were found upon his person, and the
rest not disposed OF, but at his fathers house.
party to a reasonable and murderous con-
spiracv against the government Of his country
cannot be held to have abandoned il because
he makes such declaration as this, when he
s In the hands OF the officer Of the law, arrested
for his crime, and especially when his decla-
ration is IN conflict with and expressly contra
dicted by his written acts, and unsupported by
any conduct Of his which becomes citizen
and a man.
If he abandoned the conspiracy, why did he
not make known the fact TO Abraham Lincoln
~ oI~rsa . thoft thnen
armed with the weapons OF assassination,
were daily lying in wait for their Hyesl To
pretend that q man thus conducts himself for
weeks after the pretended abandonment VOL
unteering advice for the successful prosecu-
ton Of the conspiracv, the evidence OF which
is in writing, and about which there can be NO
mistake, has, in fact, abandoned IL, is 20 insult
the common understanding of men,
That John H. Surratt, George a. Atzerodt,
Mary E. Surratt, David E. Herold and Louis
Payne, entered into this conspiracy WITH Booth,
is SO very clear upon the testimony, tnat little
time need be occupied in bringing again before
BY the testimony of Weichmann we find Atze-
rodt in February at the house Of the prisoner,
Mrs. Surratt He inquired for her or for John.
this and before the assassination he visited
there frequently, and at that house bore the
name of "Port Tobacco" the name by which
he was known in Canada among the conspi-
ratcrs there.
i Iudge Bingham recapitulated in clear terms
the points OF evidence bearing against Atze-
L.
nesses leaves no doubt that the prisoner, Geo.
A. Atzerodt, entered into this conspiracy with
Booth; that he expected to receive large COM
pensation fer the service that he would render
In its executions; that he had undertaken the
assassination of the Vice President for price;
that he. with Surratt and Herold rendered
the important service of depositing the arms
and ammunition to be used by Booth and his
copfederates as protection in their flight
after the conspiracy had been executed; and
Ina Ina ROMA Ss was careful to have ms intended VIC
pied in the hotel so that W6sn he eafae es oeco-
form his herrid work he would know pre-
cisely where to 90 and whom TO strike. His
confession In his defense is conclusive OF his
guilt
fessed in the defense made by his counsel, and
is also evident from the facts proved.
It is almost imposing upon the patlence or
the Court to consume time in demons rahng
the fact. which none con yersant with the testi-
mony of this case can for moment doubt, that
John H. Surratt and Mary Z. Surratt were as
deat as was John Wilkes Booth himself.
Arecapitulation of the evidence bearing upon
Surratt was given by Jndge Bingham.
That Mary E Surratt is as guilty as her SON
of having thus conspired, combined, and con-
federated to do this murder, in aid OF this re-
belhon, is clear First, her house was the
headquarters OF Booth, John H. Surratt, Atze-
rodt, Payne, and Herold she is inquired for
by Atzerodt she is inquired for by Payne !;
and she is visited by Booth. and holds private
conversations with him. His picture together
Win tnat OF the chlet ConsPitooots oeuo.e .eoh
Davis, is found in her house. She sends to-
Booth for a carriage to take her, on the 1lth Of
April to Surrattsville, for the purpose OF per-
tecting the arrangement deemed necessary to
the successful execution OF the conspiracy,
and especially to facilitate and protect the con-
spirators in their escape from justice. On that
occasion Booth, having disposed OF bis car
riage, gives to the agent she employed ten dol.
lars with which to hire a conveyance for that
purpose And yet the pretence is made that
Mrs. Surratt went on the l1th to Surrnttsville
n
business Can any one tell, if that be 50, how
it comes that she should apply TO Booth for a
conveyance, aid how it comes that he, OF MS
her should Id send her ten dollars with which to
procure itl There is not the slightest indica-
fiop that Booth was under any obligation to
| her. or that she had ally claim upon him, ex =
cent that he wss bound to contribute, bein &
the agent of the conspirators in Canada an q