The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1866-12-07
John H. SurrRtt.

John H. SurrRtt.
~, m tie Tribune.
Nearly eighteen months have passed since the
death of the principal conspirators In the
assassination of Abraham Lincoln, and still the
plot remains mystery. bright theatre
0estD leaping on the sCene-a q wounded man at
bay in a Virginia barn, defying his pursuers,
a,id shot by the blunder of soldier-a sick
plm bed and the assassin with his knife at
his trroat-the secret consultations of mur.
dereIs, coming and going under various names
and dlsguses-these are the figures in that ter
rible picture, in which, like those of Rembrandt,
vast shadows enshroud fierce and lurid light.
The gallo US, with four corpses, and one OF them
a woman.-the Dry Tortugas, where four con-
yicts expiate in wretched solitude their crimes
a quiet grave far away in Illinois these are its
companion pictures, and yet there Is one more
teniD,e. 1t is that of man flying from the
land where he was born; flying from the aVenger
Death. nom the body OF his victim, from the
Corpse ri his mother on the sCatfold, seeking in
vain to lose himself in the great world, and to
blot his name from the memory OF man. This
is John Harrison Surratt, OF whose equal guilt
in the crime there is no doubt, and by whom,
it is believed, much that is hidden may be
revealed.
The evidence taken before the military COM
miss on IN June, 1865, proved John ID. Surratt
to be one of the principal conspirators. 1t was
at the house of his mother that the meetings
were held; up to the week of the assassination
he had been journeying between Richmond and
Monireal; Booth was his constant companion;
Mudd concealed him in the woods near his
house; Payne consulted with him. Atzerodt
confessed that Surratt induced HIM to join the
conspiracy; one Mott, Rebel, when he heard
OF the murder, it was sworn, exclaimed:-"My
God John Surratt knew all about this and do
you suppose he is going to stay in Washington,
and let them catch him .? His name was the
Hr-f in, ha inCi oh thor hnan
doubt Of his guilt, his flight would have re-
moved it, for though none of the principals
were more frequently seen up to the Sd of
April, on the afternoon of the l4h he was
seen tor the last time, booted and spurred,
ready Tor his escape. From that time the very
existence of John Surratt was a mystery; iJ
was believed he was dead; that he had re-
Vealed the names of his felioW-conspirators to
5he Government, and had been allowed to
escape; that he was secretly imprisoned 1t
was noted that no reward was offered for his
arrest. Yet, as time passed on, John Surratt
was iorg tten, till the other day came the
startling news that he had been arrested by the
American Consul-General in Egypt.
De Qumcey, in illustration OF the vast empire
and power OF the Romans, imagines a fugitive
tfom the VENGEANCE OF the Emperor vainly seek
5ng to escape his grasp. North, South. EAST. or
West, wherever the wretched man may fly, he
Breads WITH the circle of Rome, and her hand is
raised above him; though he fly to the uttermost
parts of the earth, Caesar will be before him.
In this age, jEstice is as hard to escape. The
great criminal hides in vain IN foreign lands,
changes his name or disguses his person. Sur
rats person was not very easy to disguise. A
tall man, with prominent forehead and very
large nose, with deeply sunken eyes and long
back hair. Thus he was described at the trial.
OF his wanderlngs little is known. 1t is said
that he was recognized on a Liverpool steamer
shortly after the murder. Then came the rumor
that he was serving as a private soldier in the
Pope's Guards at Rome. We know now that he
had been soldier in the Papal Zouaves at
VerolI, and served under the name of John
Watson. The fact became known to Mr.. Rufus
King, our Minister at Rome, who telegraphed
seCuie his arrest Mr.. King conferred with
Caldinal Antonelli, whe issued an order for his
sez~re Surratt was taken; he was imprisoned;
aIri ON removal from Jail, guarded by five
soiiiers, broke from their hands, jumped, 1T IS
SAID, over precipice more than one hundred
fee nieh, and escaped into the Italian territory.
M. Marsh, our Minister at Florence, obtained
telegraphic Instructions from the Italian Gov
PrI nent to have all the seaports OF Italy
we ched to prevent his escape.
lie was soon supposed to have embarked in
steamer for Malta, and despatch to that island
arrived too late to detain him; another was
sent 10 Alexandria, and when Surratt stepped
npon the shores of Egypt, he was selze& by the
strong, far-reachlng arm of America. United
States detectives, it is said, have watched him
since October. But long before this he must
have been oVertaken by speedier, surer foe.
Fear was ever at his back; from remorse he
could hardly escape, for even If he could forget
the crime he had committed, how could he
ever cease TO see the phantom of his mother on
the galows? Coward all the world believed
him, since that day when he fled and left her to
suffer; coward, 1t was said, she held him, and
in her last moments refused to hear his name.
There is true dramatic interest in this imper.
feet history. Tue escape and pursuit of no
other criminal in this century has so much to
excite the imae ination. No man, 1t is possible,
not even Booth, worked harder TO accomplish
the murder; and deeper interest is given to
his share in the conspiracy by his frequent jour
neys to Richmond Upon Surratts presumed
connection with the Rebel Government, Andre "
johnson charged Jefferson Davis with com
plicity in the assassination. New revelations
are expected from his trial; the public may be
could be induced to confess before the death
which is almost certain to be his fate, there i:
no reasonable doubt but that he mig ht tell the
whole story OF Lncolns assassination from the
beginning 10 the end.