Lewistown gazette. [volume] (Lewistown, Pa.) 1843-1944, 1867-08-07
The Surraft Trial,

The Surraft Trial.
i Mr.. Pierrepont, democratic attorney
from New York, in his closing speech fol
| the prosecution, makes some points against
Surratt and his mother, which those dem
ocrats who contend for the Innocence OF
these parties may be able to refute. In
reference to Surratt he saws:
Now let US come to one vital truth in
/ this case. Here it is: John Harrison en-
tered his name on April IS, 1868. iii the
/ register OF the st. Lawrence Hotel Mon
treai. The man is the prisoner at the bar.
/ There Is no dispute about that. A fter that
/ ne passed through the hotel. he made no
! blll, and he fled somewhere He fled to
! Ihe house OF man named Porterfield
! ana then two carriages came up, and two
men, both dressed alike, got into car
rage and were driven in different direc-
/ tlohs. Wen, then, he was fleeing, either
because he was in the conspiracy. or he
cause he was not. He went to a priest
the priest Boucher, who has not done his
church amy credit, for the Pope and Car
dlllal AhtohellI gave up this prisoner on
account of the hideOusness of his crime
anu boucher will hear from the Pope be-
fore another year. Here the prisoner re
malned concealed. Why concealed? 1t
was because he was innocent or because
'iS vas blllg. w men IL was the Jury
must determine. Well, Surratt was con
cealed until September, and then taken
on board steamer and introduced as Me-
Carty, ana the steamer starts upon the
sea for the Old World. He is not upon
the steamer thirty minutes before he fears
an American detective is on board. and
he tells Mcmillan he has done such things
as would make him AIcMillan1 stare. :
lie could not keep his secret to himself,
Il IA n 4, ,,,I l.. l.
talked to Mcmillan; he unburdened his
mind for relief. When he got on the lone
ocean he could not help telling the secret,
and he told it. He arrives at Ireland. He
heSltated whether he should land at Ire
land or England, and after concluding
first to land in England, he changed his
mind and landed in Ireland Before
landing he takes tunbler after tumbler of
rum and brandy until he is drunk. But
III Ireland his conscience pursues him.
ana we next find him wandering in LiV-
erpool; and he fled again to Rome, away
from his country and his kinsmen, and
enilsts, and changes his name To Watson
he supposes himself safe Safe! God
does not allow such things to be safe. It
must have been an awful hour when he
saw st. Marie's face. He then goes to St
Marie and tells him about his disguise
ana how he escaped and then he heard a
voice from the Vatican that the Pope's
domInlons had no place for him. He then
makes leap for his life and fees to NAL
tn, but he finds no security there and he
fices TO Egypt, that ancient land where
Joseph was a slave. There. amid the
grandest mOnuments-there even the CO.
lossal sphynX, looking through his stony
eyes, says that that darkemed land can
have no place for such treason and crime (
And thence he could flee no further, and
he is caught and brought over the long
sea and up the broad river to this city of
his crime, and he is here to be tried Now
this, Mr.. Merricl SAYS, was the flight of
an innocent. Does it look to the Jury
like the flight Of an innocent man? 1t is
mystery that an innocent man should
thus lice, and the mystery must be in
quired into.
Speaking of Mrs. Surratt, who was in
troduced by the defence as a murdered
woman, he submitted the following epi-
tome of facts:
But now we come to an extraordinary
witness in this case, John NJ. LlOvd. who /
testified in the most unwilling manner. /
Mr.. Bradley had said he believed Ilovd /
was in the conspiracy, and he had said he /
was drunkard. There is no doubt but
that he did drink, but he was not drunk
when he was on the stand, nor was he /
drunk when the detectives went by the I
morning after the murder He kept the /
tavern tor Mrs. Surratt, and was most
unwilling witness, and Mr. Bradley was I
no doubt correct when he said Lloyd was
one OF the c0nspiTators. He was lust the /
man to engage in such conspiracy, and I
just the man to assist at the assassination. /
lie was no doubt in the conspiracy But
that, MIR. PierrcpOnt contended, did not
make him the less truthful, nor did il give
less Importance to his testimony, for it /
was given too unwillingly, as the jury will .
remember. John NJ. Lloyd's testimony
was here read. In commenting upon
Lioyd's testimony, Mr.. Pierrepont reiter-
ated the remark that he believed Mr.
Bradley stated truly when he said Lloyd
knew all about the conspiracy. When I
Surratt put the arms in his keeping, he
knew that there was mischief He knew
enough to make him guilty, and TO make
him liable. This witness saws he met i
Mrs Surratt on the Tuesday before the
assassination, and he says she told him
that the shooting irons We're wanted that
night. How did Mrs. Surratt know that
her son had secreted the shooting irons in
that secret room behind the ioists OF the
house? Why did Lloyd speak of bury
ing the shooting irons? He spoke of it
as one would speak of burying a murder
ed corpse. Again Mrs. Surratt visited
Lloyd at Surrattsville on April IA, the
day of assassination, and she handed him
a package, which has been traced and
proven to be a neldglass. Mrs. Surratt
also tells Lloyd to have the guns ready and
two bottles of whisky, and give them to
whoever should call for them that night
What will you do with this testimony, gen
tlemen of the jury? Will you discard it?
If so, you will no doubt tell your fellow
citizens why when you come out. What /
was expected to be done that night, that
the guns and whisky would be needed
The assassinationoccurreda at 100 clock and
at twelve Harold was at LlOyd's, and the
jury will remember how reluctant Lloyd i
was to tell that Booth was with Harold.
Harold was impatient, and demanded in
haste the whisky and the guns, and Lloyd
strove all the time to keep Booth separated
from Harold. The jury will remember
the struggle to get from this witness who II
Harold's companion was. 1t will be re-
membered, too, how he persisted in not
answering the question as to when he
first heard of the assassination until the
Court compelled him to answer, and then
he drawled out that he heard it that night.
He does not remember who told him, but
he thought it was the man who had the
broken leg who said the President was
assassinated.