The Lancaster gazette. [volume] (Lancaster, Ohio) 1863-1886, 1865-07-20
Correspondence Cincinnati commerclal1
THE NATIONAL AsSAssINs.

Olu HdNO uCCh HupS ny 'llO bVOh uhlli
dead" for "maliciously. unIawfdlly and
traitorously, and in aid Of the armed
rebellion against the United States Of
America, combining, confederating
and conspiring to kill and murder"
Abraham Lincoln, Andrew johnson,
William II. Seward and Ulysses s.
Grant, there is new assurance that
though
'God's ways seem dark, yet, soon or late,
They touch the shining hills of day.
For our full national purifcation,
for the complete overthrow of slavery,
for the utter downfall Of Southern caste,
for final proofof the strength of our in
siitutions, for the sublimest evidence
Of the good common. sense of our peo
pie, for the complete and ridiculous
abasement fcrcign maligners--wasit it
necessary to the accomplishment of
these things that the good citizen and
wise President be shot down by q
stealthy assassin, and that an attempt
should be made to assassinate the three
or four who stood next to him in place
and power? There is no need to ques-
ton the purposes of Providence. at
must need be that offcnses come, but
wo unto him through whom they
come" And in that the direst and
EXTREMIST and most ignominious woe
that human law can infict and human
hands can execute has come unto these
tour persons, is cause for tho heartiest
and most reveront thanksgiving that
human hearts can feel. a Ga a'H
OF the guilt Of Payne, Hcrold and
Atzrodt, there is not now, and there
never can be hereafter, the least posi-
Bile question. 1t was proven by every
known form of direct and circumstan-
tial evidence, and in each case, cor
roborated by confession direct. This
form of expression must not lead to
the inference that there is doubt about
the guilt of Mary f. Surratt. Much
of the evidence brought forward by
the Government was of questionable
character. Very littlo of that which
was even most questionable, was di-
rect as to her guilt. Her counsel and
friends have resortcd to every iustifia-
bic, and some unjustifable efforts, to
establish her innocence. The weight
of the Catholic social organization of
the city has been, from the first, and
continuously, kept in the scale in her
favor. Able pens and influential pa
pcrs have urged her innocence. And,
finally, the sleepless and passionate,
yet modest and womanly, devotion OF
the daughter, has moved the hearts Of
men into pitiful feeling for her mother
Yet, IN spite of all this, her guilt. has
beenEestablished by almost every pos,
! sible form of circumstantial evidence
--of indirect evidence, which only
lacks q hairs breadth of being direct
! evidence. 1t is not to be denied that
there are many persons living hero
who profess to sincerely believe that
she was wrongly condemned and mur'
derously executed but it must be ad
|, ded that such of them as have not beer
! rebel sympathizers, are members of he
, church. who, to every fact and every
! argument, oppose only the answer
"she was such a good Christian tina
she could not have been guilty OF thi
: thing, ..rn.-tf y..L -,,...,.. u
= OF these four persons, whose pinion
q ed, and passionlcss, and repclIant, ant
q gaze compelling bodies swung for hal
+ an hour yesterday, derthe lurid, ,an'
= glaring, and unhealthy sun-swuni
= under the heated and brassy sky, with
a in the worlny and widowed walls {
the yard of tho gloomy and ghostl
Pcnitentiary, by the filthy and treach
y erous banks of the unclean and pest
). lential river-of these four persons
d two had brains and character, and tw
y y had not; two will be dismissed b
- history with dozen words each, an
Il Il two will excite inquiry and much COL
V lecture. a.-f a' .
d Herold was frivolous trifler,
/. whom lying, and trickery, and idle
% ness were meat and drink There wa
IT in him the making OF small forger an
Of a successful pickpocket. His simpel
<. ing indifference during the trial wa
=. only less shocking than his whimpel
l. ing puerility on the gallows. 1t WI
y as impossible to pity him as it was
respect him. His death is neither loi
NJ to tho world nor gain to the grave
i. Natural inclinations made him read
il for mischief, and Booth was the fir
os man who happened to need him. d
lacked capacity for any great indepel
,s dent scheme of rascality. and ther
II fore might, but for this bold, bad ma
v. have lived years without achievingMr
yye thing moro than local notoriety, y
r. infamy would surly have caught hi
,ic in the end.
ed Atzerodt had low cunning and Il
If manner of a sncak-thief, He was
,o- coward mentally, morally%and phys
tn cally. He chewed tobacco and,kept
ly quiet tongue, when sobcr-he carrie
sh q dirk knife, and boasted OF bra
en- deeds when in liquor. He liked nigh
rs filthy holes and dark corners. In Il
'al country, he would have robbed he
va, roosts, and nurscd unhealthy hatr
al, for things good and pure. In the cit J t
u he sought to keep out OF the way ofd
cent people, and aspirod to live wit
d. out labor. Booth bought him with
in promise, and that was moro than
IN, was worth. He was poor, miserat
,se creature, to whom high longings a
90 noble purposes probably never came
"o who was incapable of doing any notl'
ent ably good thing, and who hoped to