The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1867-08-12

sired changes and necessary explanations
and instructions in writing, to enable them
to incorporate those c~hangesin their orici.
nal statements, without leading to confu.
sion or contradictions, it was found ncces.
sary for somebody else TO take my office OF
preccptor, &c. This, with slight hcsita.
ton, was done by Mr.. Ashley, on my assn.
rance that the parties were Radicals
"dycd in the WOOL and men of honor, in
whom he could safely rcpose confidence.
have learned both from Ashley and the
parties themselves what was said and done
by and betwce them in the matter. The
statements they were desired to make
were revised and corrected by Mr.. Ashley,
and they were assured by him that in case
it should be determined to examine them
before the committee they should be
"splendidly rewarded"
Ashley also discoursed to them on tho
propriety and business of the course it
was proposed to pursue to make certain of
the impeachment Of the President. He
declared that you were a traitor to your
party and country, &C., &c.; that there
was no doubt Of your completely in the
assassination conspiracy, but that the evi.
dence was in the hands of your friends,
and could not all be got at; that enough,
however, had been secured to satisfy most
reasonable men of his guilt, but that, in
order to satisfy the most exacting, the
statements of these persons before the
committee would be requisite that the
end fully justified the means, and that
every man who contributed in this way to
the impeachment of the President would
deserve we'll of the country, and that he
ashley would see them rewarded ten
fold when your successor should como into
power.
Subsequently, the parties were pre-
scntcd to Butler, and, after being inspect
ed and passed by him, were introduced
by him and Ashley to several Radical
members of the House, who, it was under
stood, had hitherto doubted the existence
Of evidence duplicating you in the assas-
~sination conspiracy, and who informally
Intercepted them as to the matters upon
which they had been instructed. al
Butler desired to have taken the deposi-
tlons Of these men at the time, but | would
not consent to it's being done until /
should be released, as at first agreed.
These facts can be proved by these three
persons, and also my wife, whose character
for truth and veracity is not inferior to Mr..
Ashlcy's; and I shall take pleasure, if at
liberty, in producing them before any COM
mittee or tribunal for the impeachment of
the impeachers.
But the evidence Of this conspiracy does
not depend entirely upon oral proof. The
letters from Ashley, herewith enclosed,
in themselves speak volumes. What state
,,a,s r y I frp,, mo could bn Go VI ,.ontnl
and for what purpose? Anything it was
in my power to state to him could have
been stated to him orally a dozen times
during his previous visits to me.
The statement he wanted was this, and
for this purpose There were many promi-
ncnt Radicals, and especially among his
own constituents, who were lukcwarm on
tho subject Of impeachment; who were
not prepared to believe that you were
privy TO the murder of Lincoln, and whose
cooperation was greatly needed. Ashley
therefore desired to be able to place be-
fore them assurances that the most unques-
tiouable evidence Of your guilt could be
produced. He therefore requested me to
prepare an elaborate paper, setting forth
that such and such persons could be pro-
duccd who knew and would testify to this,
that, and the other thing, including the
prctcnsions that Booth had been seen in
your room several times, that you had cor
responded with him and with parties in
Richmond; and that the persons who could
testify to these facts were Of the most re-
spectacle standing, and would come for
ward and tell all they knew, if protected
by the Government. He wished me to
- =. AL n-1 y~>, {Inf rnv1l IVA
| sure to carry conviction with it. He de-
sired that, in addition to the points of evil
dence we had conferred about, my state
mcnt should contain others; and he gave
me a memorandum of other points which
he requested me to incorporate in my state
mcnt [B]. This memorandum | enclose,
and it is, I believe, in Matchett's hand
writing [A]. After preparing the state
mcnt | sent it to him at Toledo, where he
wished to make use Of it [CI.
There is another note from Ashley en-
closed worthy of attention. 1t is in percil,
and was written at the office of Judge Cart
ter, IEFl. After the failure, through the
laundering of Matchett, to secure my re-
lease at the time promised, | became an
cry, and used pretty severe language to
Matchctt. He went to Ashley and Butler
in alarm, and reported that l was going to
expose the entire scheme to you.
After the persons l had sent for to New
York as witnesses had returned, Matchett
e%ndeavored, without my knowledge, to
persuade them to come here again, and in
his letters to two of them he thoughtlessly
suggested some additions that it was de-
sired they should make to their statements.
Ua made these suggestions by letter, as
his letters explained, because 1t was not
certain that he would be here when they
should arrive, or they might meet Judge
Bingham, or some Of the persons they had
been introduced to when previously here,
before he could SEQ them and give them
their points and he therefore wanted them
"posted."
After my talking to him so severely on
account of the failure to have me released
at the time promised I'd Fl, Matchett be-
came frightened, and seemed to get the
idea that I had his letters to those parties,
and had sent them, or copies of them, to
you. Possibly, in my anger, l threatened
as much. He therefore made known his
fears to Ashley and Butler, and Ashley
eudeavored by this note to obtain the
letters.
l havc Just been ordered to get ready
for the ~pcnitcntiary.
Very respectfully,
CHARLES A. DCNHAM.
FURTHER DEyELoPMESTs.-The Wash
ington Euening Express of Friday contains
the following singular expose:
--1 TD.IIs ,r1o ~ nnn-