The southern enterprise. [volume] (Greenville, S.C.) 1854-1870, 1869-04-14


spend the holidays, j was walk
ing past the National Hotel at the
time, when a. person tapped me
on the shoulder, and, on turning
round, l. discovered it was the
gentleman i was introduced to at
the church about six weeks previ.
ously. He asked INC aside for a
moment, and said he desired an
Introduction to John II. Surratt,
with-,whomp he presumed L WAS
acquainted. l said that / was
= Surratt and. / became almost
necessarily acquainted from the
fact Of his living on tho road l
travelled SO often on my way to
Washington, and having the only
tavern on ,he way that I cared to
visit. Booth and / walked along
the avenue three or four blocks.
when we suddenly came across
Surratt and Weichman, and all
four having become acquainted,
we adjourned to the National Ho,
tel and had round of drinks
The witnesses in my case swore
that Booth and l moved to
corner of the room and were en-
gagged for an hour or so in secret
consultation. That was bare
faced lie. The whole four Of us
were in loud ard open conversa-
ton all the time we were toe ether,
and when we separated we four
never met again" aHaiA
| - You toldsthe soldiers, Doctor,
the course the iugitives pursued
after leaving yonr housc 2" ~
81 did. / told them the route
that Booth told me he intended to
take ; but Booth, it seems, changed
his mind after quitting here and
went another way. This was ma.
tural enough; yet I was straight.
way accused Of seeking to set the
soldiers astray, and it was urged
against me as proof positive of i'm,
plication in the conspiracy"
"" Gon must have felt seriously
agitated on being arrested in con-
nection with this matterr -
~" No, sir. l was Just rs self
possessed as l am now. They
might have hanged me at the time
and l sliould have faced death Just
as cymposedly as L smoke this
pipe" I, ~ ~ r., , - - -. % q
What did you think of the
military commission ~ g-t.
" WclI it would take. me too
long to tell you. Suffice it to say
that not man of tlicm sat on my
trial with an unbiased and unpre.
JUDGED mind. Before a word of
evidence was heard my case was
prejudged, and was already con-
demned on the strength of wild
rumor and misrepresentation. -
The witnesses perjured themselves,
and willie | was sitting here in
that dock listening to their mon-
strous falsehoods, | felt ashamed
of my species and lost faith forever
in all mankind. That men could
stand mp in that court and take
an oath before Heaven to tell the
truth and the next moment set
themselves to work to swear away
by downright perjury the life of a
fellow man, was a thing that l in
my innocence of the world never
thought possible. After / was
convicted aud sent away to the
Dry Tortugas confession was go!
up by Secretary Stanton, purport.
ing to have been made by me to
Captain Dutton "n board TIL c
steamer, and was afterwards ap,
pended to the official report of my
trial. This was one Of the most
Infamous dodges practiced against
me, and was evidently intended as
justification for the illegality ot
my conviction. Inever made sucl
confession, and never could have
made it, even If / tried" .
I" How did they treat you dowr
there to the Dry Tortugas 2"
"Well, l feel indlsposed to say
much on that head. If made
disclosures of matters with which
am acquainted certain officers in
command there might find them
selves curiously compromised"
/" You did good service during
the fever plague, Doctor 2" ,..,,.
-" "Well, | can say this, that as
long as ] acted as post physician
not a single life was lost. My
whole time was devoted to fighting
the spread of the disease and in
vestigating its specific nature.
found that the disease does not