The Cadiz sentinel. [volume] (Cadiz, Ohio) 1864-1911, 1868-10-07
The suzfatt Case-Mother and

ed Tor the arrest Of he young man known
as John X. SuFIait.< 1t was made the sub
iect of grave communications from our Sec
retary of State TO our diplomatic agents
abroad. Secret detectives in abundance
were placed on his track. Large rewards
we're offered for his apprehension. So
great were the efforts made to capture bim,,
that in NO part Of the civilized world, D6t
even in its most inaccessible corners, was
he in position of the slightest safety.
Knoy ing that the bloodhoun1s were on his
scent, and remembering the fate Of his in
nocent and unfortunate mother he fed
from one quarter of the globe to the other
from America to Europe, from Europe
TO Asia, from Asia to Africa, and from Afs
rica back TO Europe There. while in dis
guise in the Papal service in Italy, he was
betrayed to the detectives by a pretended
friend in whom he bad reposed confidence,
but who was willing to sacrifice him, to sell
his heart blood for the Government re-
ward. by the bksest act Of treachery, and
the announcement Of this vilest of informs
ers, the Administration affected his arrest,
and brought him In triumph ona Governs
ment vessel to the United States. Hiscap-
ture was considered great National event
--one upon which we shoald telicitate our
selves. The charge against ham was being
one Of the murdefers OF President lincoln,
and the whole country, almost as one man,
took it for granted that the accusation was
true. Had he been brought before that
tyrannical mockery known as q military
eo,nnission, be- woaad have had a short
shrift TO the galloWs. as'
Bat the fiation had recovered, in some
deareefaTom the deadly stupor which afflict-
ed it in 1865, and the reign of law was par
tally re established. He was at first treat
ed with extreme severity, thrown irto a
dungeon, and heavily iroued,s But his tri
! al, aftera@ long delay at last came. His
innocence was made perfectly manifest, de-
spite the bold and aadacious efforts Of wit =.
nesses of the Conover stamp to swear his
| life away. Bat, he proved, by irreproacha>
| BE. testimony that he was hundreds Of
miles from Washington when the pistol Of
Booth pat an end to the career of Mr. Lin
coIn Booth conceived The idea OF assass-
mating lincoln that very day, after he
heard that ire was going to the theatre, and
4 it was certainly improba Bile that he could
| have been aided, either before or after the
| crimes by a man who was. then at a great
distance away, and with whom he could
have had no communication whatever lela-
ittive TO the murder. Y Bat ne was not &C.
4 Quilted although he n1ade'a plain case Of
Innocence. There were nae on the Jury
with whom it was a part Of their politics "a
take the life Of Surrata. "A disagreement
was the result. Ji.f SO ~ - .a"a'3
The Government, however, ashamed Of
the frauds anlperjuries that had charac'
tcrized the murder trial, dropped it, and
/ = i Z
/ criminal conspiracy" which was the easi
er to establish py loose and reckless testi
mony. But fortunately for the ends o.
justice, they delayed the Gaze so long as tt
bring it within the statne Of limitations
and under 1t, the prisoner. for whom w
traversed the earth, and whom we haC
brought home in special National vessel
| was discharged. ... "''
''T The result Of this case against the son on
,ly exhibits in blacker colors the iniquity O
the proceedings which led TO the murder o
the mother under pretended judicial form,
solcmnities. The evidence on the trial o
John Fl. Sprratt, proved conclusiyely wha
all intelligent and ldispassionata iiien were
convinced of before, that Mrs. Anna Sur
ratt had nothing to do in the. murder o
Lincoln. The case against her would no
have gone 10 a Jury before any fairly con
stituted court in ChrtsteRdom i But sht
was before that which was infinitely worse
than mob, a tribunal existing in de6anc,
Of law, and governed by none, of the rale
Of ordinary courts, and which was organ
lied solely to convict. Among les men, ter,
| were such men as General Hunter, Genera
Lew Wallace base parasites Of power
who, fit for nothing in the army, were con
venient tools for tyranny to. use III sticl
i.objects as it desired to effect outside O
legitimate military duty. They we're ,iet
who would recoil from, nothing, which the,
We're ordered to do by Stanton and Holt
no matter how repugnant it might be t,
Justice AMI humanity. @ s1.d Gla q
1 For sixty days or more this ctnclave con
tinued to assemble in Washington. Ii con
i tipued TO assemble right in the seat of tn,
law whose majesty it was its special bur
pose 10 outrage and violate There it helt
its pri.oHefsin 10 its iron grasp in the face OIL
hmbeas corpus snd of all the exertions Of th,
Il Courts for their releaseg q II we had Pres
4 ident who dared to take his just responsi
bihty, he would have dismissed this infam
Gus commission instanter, instead of whicf
he gave lis countenance to its Illegal action
4 gArrayed in military toggery with all til,
insignia Of, despotism, this moustrous mill
tary court was the great feature of Wash
ingtoh during; the spring and sun,me
monthsof 1865. IL had for j udge- Advo
cate the hardeteatured, RELENTLESS and crue
Bingham, OF Ohio, who il admirable oualii
4 ed to have been the Prosecuting Attorne,
under such aJ0dge as the infamous Jeffries
}of England, and who only wanted littl
experience to hare even rivaled that Jude,
himselfin his worst traits of character. TIL,
4 Jack ketch service was so captivating t,
by some men, that General Burnett, O
this city, into the case as an assistant O
volunteer Before such d tribunal, ant
with perured witnesses like Conover, back
ed up and sustained BY all the power O
Station and Holt it would have been mira
Gle if Mrs. Surratt had escsred. Pale ant
trembling helpless and defanceless wo
man. she was every day, for months
brought 10 the august presence OF the nigh
7 ty Hunter and Wallace, encased with irons
letters and shackles. They condemned he
to die by strangulation on the scaffold, ant
with rcfnemeTt p'0f cfNety not befor,
khown in this generation, they only allow
ed her twelve hours between the announce
n,ent Of the sentence and its dread exeeu
ti0n. They were apparently afraid THAT i
a reasonable time was allowed, the passions
of the hour would tsubside-~that ther,
would be an Executive interference, ant
\ that their prey would escape them. Henc
they hurried it on with indecent hast,
to its consummatiany The tragedy wa
accordingly flushed, and no cilcumstanc
was omitted to increase its atrocity. Yer,
| few believed at the time that the womal
4 would be executed. A reprieve or pardon
was looked for at the last moment, and th
details, therefore, of the proceedings upoi
the scaffold were read with surprise an,
Z horror. The actors in this bloody dram
| did not have long to wait fyr popular judg
nieht upon them. Within two Years fron
the commission Of the deed, even a mai