Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1868-10-24

had begun, was taken from prison and
pat in the same ambulance with WEIGH
m an and Lloyd. Weichman bent toward
Lloyd and said to him:
testified yesterday that you ghis-
pered 10 Mrs. Surratt that day, when we
drove down there"
Lloyd turned aud Indignantly denied
! this assertion, in words that proved to me
that there had been no collision, or secret
conversation at all between him and
Mrs. Surratt at SurratIsville. II was
plain that such a precious piecs Of testi.
mony had been drawn from Weichmsn
by mere fright, and the necessity i'm
pressed upon him of saying something to
some point Imagine, again, the effect
| that the tergiversstion of man like this
bad in court which tried the mem bers
and alleged members Of the assassin alton
conspiracy
Payne, while in prison, protested
most earnestly that his going to Mrs.
| Surratt's house had not involved her in
the crime. He went there, he said, be-
cause he knew only two or three houses
in Washington, and because he knew
John Surratt so we'll. Once-as Payne
declare1-whep he and John Surratt
we're talking in Surratt's house, about the
proposed abduction, Surratt discovered
bis mother at the door, and admonished
Payne to hush As Payne related
| this little occurrence to his fellow-pris-
ouers, it would have been evidence to
any body that Mrs. Surratt had been kept
in ignorance by her son, Booth, Payne,
and the rest, of what was contemplated
II had TWO lives, said Payne, at an
other time, to Gen. Hartrauft, who was
in charge Of the prison, / would give
them both to save that woman"
Mr.. Ford proceeded to describe Mrs.
Surratt and her household:
Il is not very difficult to conceive one
aspect of situation like that at Mrs.
Surratt's, Here was widow, with full
grown soma young man of the world,
who might have had to do with his inti-
mate friends in some affairs, less Grim
inal or less serious than this, in which
be would never have thought of making
his mother confidant, and in which he
could not have dreamed Of making her q
party. Most young men of our day
would hesitate to tell their mothers of all
their wild scrspes, and would certainly
take good care not to inform them Of any
crime or desperate measures which they
should contemplate. Booth intimated
nothing to his mother; neither was it
supposed that any of his associates, ex-
cept Surratt, disclosed their plans to
theirs. Ii happened that the conspira-
tors used to meet at Surrstt's house, in
Washington, where his mother dwelt
But TO decide, upon the hmsy circum-
stantial evidence at the trial, that Mrs.
Surratt was cognizant of what was going
on because she was in the house, is a de-
cision becoming the blind passion of
the days of the vendetta, when all
the members of a family were held
amenable alike for the insult or misdeed
of single. party. Even this is not ade-
quate parallel, for in the days Of the ven-
delta the females of the house were ex-
pected from the feud. Mrs. Snrratt and
her daughter were devoted adherents of
the Catholic church. Though they may
have been strong sdherents of the rebel
cause, their character aud disposition
preclude the idea that either Of them
could have been party, would doubtless
have been exploded by Mrs Surratt's
deliberate common sense, if she had been
made acquainted with it. The proposal
to assassiuste the President would have
recoiled from her stern indignation, or
been melted in tears. The idea Of wo-
man like her acceding to or considering
q proposal like that for an instant, with
out fear, trembling, horror and discus
sion, is preposterous. John Surrstt and |
his friends knew that it was well TO trust |
her with hint of what they may have |
argued themselves into believing was the |
fair stroke in war of kidnapping Lincoln |
aud taking him down South Booth would |
have been mad, indeed. il be had, in Sur.
rats absence, gone to Surratt's mother
on the very eve of carrying out bis more
desperate resolve, and told her that be
was about to shoot President Lincoln.
MRS Surratt-of whom / had no more
knowledge than you had previous to her
imprisonment-bore no resemblance to
the ideal mother OF Brutus. Her man
ner was that Of matron bowed down by |
unexpected aud undeserved disgrace, =
and who depended on her religion for
some support under the load. Perhaps
you have not heard that she was ironed
during the trial She was ironed about
both her ankles-ironed with q ball
and chain. She stepped into the room
where the court sat with great difficulty,
and one Of her attendants behind was
to stoop and support the iron
burden with his hand.
"Her case deeply interested me, as it
did sthers. sHer sentence surprised and
stunned her. She had faith, as she bad
written Der son John in Canada, that I.
vas impossible for q court TO End her
zuilty Of what she vas guiltless Of To
hear herself condemned to be hung from
, gallovs must have been TO Der like
listening to some horrible, strange por-
ent conveyed in an unknown tongue.
The sound Of il changed against her
brain; the vague terror Of Il bruised her
leart Bat Il took some time for her 10
that il bad the distinct, GER
aio, fatal meaning which il hsd. And
,Bly q day aud q night we're left her
o digest re =sssisg and prepare for her
ieath. All sppeals for mercy 10 Der
vers Of no avail. I srois lsiisr 70 tbe
President orgipg hin % remit her ssu-
snos, and Jeff il si Mr.. Blairs houss the
loolnnasd On isurtA tAssl