Rutland weekly herald. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1859-1877, 1866-08-09


April and there had In his possession a
considerable sum of money in gold; that
he left for Canada and returned again TO
Washington on the 18th of April, and
that his connection and completely with |
Booth In the assassination does not adj |
nit of doubt, and presents a mass OF
connected testimony duplicating DAVIS
directly In the assassination Of the Pre-
sident. which In an ordinary trial for
murder would 90 very far toward the
conviction of the person accused. IL Is
also a significant fact that Booth al the
time of the assassination had In his pos
session the same cypher which was used
by Benjamin, as appears in the testimony
given by Messrs. Dana and Eckert upon
the conspiracy trials, page 40. 1t -, 10
be sure, possible that Booth might have
obtained IL from some agent OF the rebel
State Department. But, connected as he
is by the testimony with Davis and Ben
iamin, directly by his own visits 10
Richmond, and Indirectly through Sur
raft the circumstance that he was in
possession of the cypher used by Benla-
min, in the office of Secretary Of State,
leaves no room to doubt that he oh
tanned it from Benjamin, or Davis, and
that il was the means by which the Sc
cret correspondence between the parties
was carried on. 1t is not unimportant
in this connection to quote the words
used by Davis when the dispatch OF
John c. Breckenridge, announcing the
assassination of President Lincoln, was
received by him.
Lewis F. Bates testified that Davis re-
marked: "Wen General, l don't know
if it were to be done at all it were bet
ter that it were well done, and il the
| same had been done to Andy Johnson,
the beast, and Secretary Stanton, the
lob would then be complete" These are
not the words of 4 man who was either
grjeved or surprised, but rather the uH-
premeditated declaration of one who
realizes that 8 crime which he antici-
ted has been committed, but in part only,
and at a moment too late to save q cause
already rendered desperate by the con-
ficts and disasters of war. The remark
made by Davis, upon the receipt OF the
intelligence that Mr.. Lincoln had been
assassinated is in harmony with the
conversation Of his agents, Thompson
Tucker and others, in Canada, as given
bv Richard Montgomery in his testt'
mony in the assassination trials. 1t Is
proper to say that Montgomery, in The
wear 1864 and the early part Of 1868
possessed the confidence OF Thompson
and others, and was frequently employed
in the secret service Of the rebel govern
ment.
He has been examined by the com
mittee. and they have entire confdenc
in his statements. He is now employed
= bv the government Of the United States
( and as far as the committee have bee
r able to ascertain, there is no reason t
/ question his integrity in all particulars
He says in his testimony: "In CONVEX
+ sation had with Jacob Thompson i
: the summer of 1865, he said he had hi
e friends (Confederates) all over the Nortf
ern States, who were ready and willin
$ to 90 any lengths to serve the cause
n the South; and he added that he COul
; at any time have the tyrant LinCOll
y and any other of his advisers that l.
h choose, put out of the way. He wOul
n have but to point out the man that
l. considered in his way, and his friend
e. as he termed them, would put him OF
s. of it, and not let him know anythir
ID about it if necessary, and that The
Of would not consider it crime when dol
for the cause of the ConfederaCy. Short
N after Mr.. Thompson told me what
c. was about to do, repeated the cOnve
h sation to Mr.. Clay, who said, That is s.
&c We are all devoted to our cause, al
r ready to go any lengths-dO anythil
III under the sun to serve our cause,
er Speaking Of events that occurred aft
in the assassination, Montgomery says:
to have been in Canada since the assassin
it, ton. A few days after, | met Bever
10 Tucker at Montreal he said gre
of deal about the wrongs that the Sou
ty had received at the hands of Mr.. Ii
MS coin and that he deserved his death, a
r. that it was pity he hadn't met with
he long ago. He said it was too bad tn
b. the boys had not been allowed to
he when they wanted to- His boys W
re- an expression applied to the CoRfedert
he soldiers and others in their employ, W
m had been engaged in raids, and who we
at to assassinate the President. | relat
he q conversation | had with Mr.. ThOn
he son TO Mr. W. C. Cleary, who is sort
it. confidential secretary to Mr.. ThOmpst
Of and he told me that Booth was one
mt the parties to whom Thompson b
ar reference, and he said, in reference to
ice assassination, that it was too bad
re- whole work had not been done, by wbi
es, understood him to mean that they
on tended to assassinate greater numl
he than they succeeded in killing. CleG
ng remarked, when speaking his regret
Ill the whole work not being done, I'll
ny had better look out; we have not dc
de- YETI and he added that they woI
The never be conquered, and would ne
nat give up. Cleary said that Booth
1at been there visiting Thompson twice
H. the winter he thought the last ii
he was in December; he had also been tn
he in the summer"
mt, In his testimony before the commit
the Montgomery says: "In almost ev
ew part of Canada ranging from Montr
les, to Niagara Falls, including both poir
an and almost daily while l was there
ur- heard Thompson, Tucker and Clay {
ret tainly use threats in general tel
Oes | against officers of the government,