Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1867-08-15

OF the United States
In applying to your exeellency for
pardon, had not Intended to offer any
disclosures concerning the plotting Of
your enemies against you, which could
be regarded as an inducement for grant
ing my application. / instructed my
wife, in presenting the petition, to
refer to the conspiracy of Ashley d
Co., so far only as might appear neces-
sary to remove any unfriendly feeling
| that might have been engendered within
you toward me by the newspaper
reports, that had engaged to assist your
enemies in their nefarious designs. l
adopted this reserve in the belief that
the services had rendered the govern
ment, as certified by Judge Holt, the
Hon. Mr.. Riddle and Mr.. Ashley, would
in your view and judgment, render me
| deserving executive clemency, and be-
| cause desired that it should appear on
! the record, and on the face of my par
don, that clemency had been extended
| to me solely in consideration of my ser
vices to the government, and exclusively
on the recommendation of prominent
radicals, to the end that when l should
| come to expose the atrOciOus plot Of Ash
! ley & Co., the radicals would not be in
! position or able to charge me with doing
so in consideration of a pardon, or that
| the president had pardoned me on con-
dition of my duplicating his enemies in
an infamous conspiracy.
| From the moment l was forced into
association with these traitors and con-
spirstors, 1 determined, as soon as l
/ should be released, 10 place in the hands
of your eXcellency, or lay before the
public a complete exposure Of their dia-
| bolical designs and most astounding pro-
ceedings. This, / believed, would Ue my
sacred duty, for although accused of
/ crime, I am not so destitute of honor
and patriotism as not to feel some interest
in and obligations TO my country.
The interest these persons have felt,
| and the efforts they have made, (which
would have succeeded ere this but for the
bIunder of one of them, } aud which they
| still propose to make for my release, F..
! g. know were prompted by the most
selfish motives, in order that they might
use me as an instrument to accomplish
their devilish designs, and / shall not
| therefore be guilty Of ingradtude in
4 abandoning and exposing their villainy.
My wife has, believe, explained to
you how Ashley, first through his man
Friday, Mstchett, and afterward in per-
son, managed TO make known to me his
| wishes, aims, and purposes, and enlist
| meas far as forced promise would
go-in his enterprise. ] shall, therefore,
only advert to some things which have
been said and done by the couspiratOrs,
which are susceptible of being proved
against them by the most irrefragable
evidence.
| After obtaining my promise to render
| all the assistance in my power, Mr.. Ash
| ley explained to me the kind of evidence
| he thought it most advisable to present
against you. Il must be very brief)
He thought it would be very plausible to
| prove:
/. That Booth had on several occasions
/ paid you familiar visits at the kiTkwOod.
/ This, it was hoped, might be able to
| induce some of the old f male servants
| to testify to. II this could not be done,
| then il should be proved by some of my
| friends who happened to be at the house
at the time, who knew Booth, ETC., and
| saw the visits.
! 3. That you cOrrespOnded with Booth
which should be shown by one or more
persons who had taken notes from Booth
| TO you, and your replies contents un-
| known thereto to Booth. The witness
! ses should be persons who profess to have
| been intimate with Booth, and to have
been enlisted by him to the part in the
| assassination.
! 8. That the placing Of AtZerOdt with
weapons at the KirkwOOd was only a
| sham-although AtzerOdt vas not aware
| Of ito make il appear that you were
! intended as q victim, and thus distract
ali suspicion from you Of CODniving at
/ Iincoln's murder. This also, it was
| suggested, could be proved by persons
! who could testify that they had been in
I 70 far inf vrrTfh
| Booth, and had performed part in or
ganizing it, etc., which persons, it was
/ to be understood, were induced to testify
under an assurance from the government
! that they should not be prosecuted for
any part they had taken.
! The resolution under which Buffers
| committee was appointed, it will be OBJ
served, provides for the protection Of
such persons-who are furnished with
! good excuse for not coming forward be
! fore-by offering immunity to all who
| were connected with the conspiracy who
will now come forward and disclose their
| knowledge on the subject.
l. That Booth, just after the 4th Of
March, stated to intimate friends in New
York, whom he endeavored to enlist ia
the conspiracy that he was acting with
the knowledge of the vice president; that
| it had been arranged to kill Lincoln on
the day Of the Inauguration, which
! would account for Mr. JohnsOn's strange
conduct on that occasion, which had
provoked so much comment in the press;
| that you expected the tragedy to be en-
acted then, and had taken several pOta-
tions to compose and nerve yOn for the
event; and that you were not so much
| intoxicated as nervous and excited.
/ feel much dslicacy in referring to
such topics, but l cannot inform you of
| your enemies plan and projects without
! being plain, and | am obliged TO write in
too great haste to be choice in my Ian
gusge.
/ assured Ashley that l should have no
| difficulty in finding persons of good
standing and moral character to prove
these matters, and 1t was agreed that
| l should do so as soon as released,
| IA, F, G.l
ability to do what | engaged and in
order to satisfy some of their party who
| doubted the existence Of evidence 10 con-
meet YOU with the assassination con-
| spiracy, Ashley and Butler desired and
pressed me to send fer two or three per
sons of whose intelligence and qualiica-
tions they could satisfy themselves, and
| whom they could parade before their in
credulous friends.
I consented, and Ashley supplied the
| facts IL was desired they should know
and repeat, and l forwarded them to a
trusty friend, with secret explanations as
to NV own purposes, and instructions for
him to procure two other friends to COM
NIT to memory the statements enclosed
| to him, and when sent for to come here
and repeat them (but not ulder OATH TO
such persons as L should indicate.
After allowing my friends sufficient
time to learn their parts, the Rev. Mr..
Matchett [B1 was sent for them, in order
that it might be said that he, agent for
the impeachers, had found the witnesses,
snd that their character for veracity was
above suspicion.
On arriving here, these persons were
inspected by Ashley and Butler, and
| were found to possess the requisite quail
fications as TO intelligence and personal
| appearance; but, unfortunately for the
| impeschers, it was deemed necessary to
make some chsnges-mOdificatio in
/ some, and additions TO other portions OF
their rstatements-betorep presenting them
to the lukewarm radicals it was intended
to infiame. IL being impraotieable for
the men to see me at the jail on such
business, and equally so for me to COM
| municate TO them the desired changes
and necessary explanations and instruc-
tions in writing, to enable them to incOr-
porate those changes in their original
statements, without leading 10 confusion
or contradictions, it was found necessary
for somebody else to take my office OF
preceptOr, etc. This, with slight hesita-
ton, was done by Mr.. Ashley, On my
assurance that the parties were radicals,
"died in the WOOL" and men Of honor,
in whom he could safely repose conf
dence.
1 have learned, both from Ashley and
the parties themselves, what was said
and done by and between them in the
matter. The statements they were de-
sired 10 make were revised and corrected
by Mr. Ashley, and they were assured
by him that In case il should be deter
mined to examine them before the
committee, they should be splendldly
rewarded"
Ashley also diseOursed to them on the
propriety and justness Of the course it
) was proposed to pursue TO make certain
Of the impeachment of the president.
He declared that you were traitor to
your party and country, etc, etc. that
there was no doubt of your completely in
the assassination conspiracy but that
the evidence was in the hands of your
friends, and could not all be got at; that