The Union and journal. [volume] (Biddeford, Me.) 1858-1882, 1868-06-26
Misfellaueuas.
THE B.4LTLNORE PLOT
To AssAssINArE LINCOLN.

The veil OF mystery has never yet been
lifted from the evidence disclosing the plot
to assassinate Abraham Lincoln, on his con-
templated passage thro' Baltimore, on the
cd Of February, 1861. Considerations nj.
fec,ing the personal safety OF those by
whom the conspiracy was detected prevent
cd disclosure at the time. The subse.
quent assassination oi Mr.. Lincoln, and the
disclosures connected with the trial and
conviction Of Booths associates, removed
any doubt in regard to the real existence OF
tho plot.
Tho truth may now bc disclosed, and tho
public desire to know the cSnct facts upon
which MrLincoln acted may now be graft
iied. The circumstances detailed in this
article arc tnken from the records Of Allan
Pinker,on, the Chief Detective, and are So.
lected from the reports written out daily ut
the time, by y'those engaged in the investiga-
ton, and they are believed by the writer Of
this article to be true.
The election Of Abraham Lincoln to the
Presidency was Immediately seized upon
by the reckless conspiratop, who had
long been plotting tho overthrow OF the
Union, rs prctext upon which to consu.
mate their designs. They at once employed
all the machinery Of popular agitation to
create public opinion and "iire the South.
cn heart" 50 that il would sanction the
deeds Of violence and outrage which they
contemplated. Through the press. by pop.
ular meetings, public speeches. and in social
intercourse, and in every possible way they
painted the alleged wrongs Of the South,
n ...l Antn e.I M
North, to inflamc and excite the infiama-
ble Southern temperament until the slave
holding Stntes became great seething vol.
cano. Especial efforts were ma,lcto render
Mr.. Lincoln personally odious and con-
temp,ible. No ialsehood was too gross, no
lie too Infamous, no statement too exagger-
ated to bc used for this purpose. These
means were resortodto with systematic con-
cert, until the mass Of people in the slave
States were mado to believe that this pure,
patient, humane, Christian statesman was q
monster. whose vices and passions made
him odious, and whose habits made him an
object OF just abborcnce.
MARYLAND, border State, occupied po-
sition Of peculiar importance, and great eli.
forts weIe made to bring her within the
control Of secession. EmissaricS were sen,
10 her from South Carolina and elsewhere,
and nothing lett undonc to secure her coop
eu,ion in their revolutionary movements.
These efforts ~ere too successful; still iheru
were many bold spirits who gathered
around that intrepid leader. Henry Winter
Davis resolved to stand by the Union at oil
hazards. But majority Of the wcalthicr
classes, and those in of6ce, with few excep'
tons. were in sympathy with the rebellion,
and the spirit Of treason for timo swcp'
like a tornado over the Statc.
On Ilth Of Feb. Mr.. Lincoln, with lew
personal friends, leit his quiet, modest home
TO enter upon TINT tempessnous political ca
reer which carried him to martyrs Grave:
With dim, mysterious iorsshadowins OF
tho future, he uttered to his friends and
neishbors his sad farewell. Ito seemed to
be conscious that no might scc tho placc,
which had been his home for quarter o'
. 6a,ury, whero his chillron were bom'
and where one ofthem lies buried, no moro
Conscious Of the great duties which devc'v'
cd upon him, greater than those dcvolving
upon any President since Washington, nc
humbly expressed his relience upon sR'
vine Providence, and asked his frieods 70
lPray that he might receive the assistance oi