Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1876-04-18

vi Oedrs, prayer anu petltiOn. Ihefe
was not a dry eye in the room as
Booth knelt at the feet of Lincoln,
clasped his knees with his hands,
and begged him to spare the life of
one mana personal friend who,
in serving the ones he loved, had
come to the door of death.
Booth told all. He told how,
long bofore, in a fit of passion to do
some bold deed, he had Joined in a
conspiracy to abduct the President
and to hold him as hostage for
the release of certain military pris-
oners who were Booths friends, and
who, it was thought, were to be
shot. he told of the meetings they
had held at the house of Mrs. Sur
ratt, and that all OF that plan had
fallen to the ground long before.
He offered his services at any
time, and in any place or capacity,
free of cost or fearless of conse-
quences. The eminent gentlemen
who were there with him joined in
the request that the prayer of Booth
be granted, and that Beal should
be pardoned.
At last, President Lincoln, with
the tears streaming down his face,
took Booth by the hands, bade him
rise and stand like a man, and gave
him his promise that Beal should
be pardoned. He asked the party
to depart that he might gain rest
for the work Of the morrow, and
said that the official document they
asked for should be forwarded at
once to United States Marshal
Robert Murray, in New York, and
through him to the officers charged
with the execution of Beal.
After breakfast Lincoln in
formed Seward, Secretary of State,
what he had done or promised to
do. Seward said it must not be.
That public sentiment in the North
demanded that Beal should be
hung. He declared that to pardon
Beal would discourage enlistments,
lengthen the war and insult the
sentiment that called for blood.
He chided Lincoln for making such
promises without asking the advice
of his Cabinet, or advising with
himself, Seward, on State policy.
AS the argument grew contentious,
Seward declared that if the conduct
of the war was to be trihed with
by appeals for humanity, he should
go out Of the Cabinet and use
his influence against the President,
and should charge him with being
in sympathy with the South.
Lincoln yielded and Beal was
executed to the carrying out of the
sentence of the court. The reaction
to Lincoln's nervous system was
such that for days he was far from
well.
The effect on Booth was terrible.
He raved like a madman, and in
his frenzy swore that Lincoln and
Seward should both pay for the
grief and agony he had been put
to. From the death of Beal Booth
brooded vengeance for that which
he considered a personal afrront.
His rage took in Seward, and he
engaged Harold, Atzerodt and
others to avenge Beal's death by
killing Seward, while he (Booth)
wreaked human vengeance on the
President.
At last came the hour. Booth
killed Lincoln. His friends and
the relatives or avengers of Beal
tried their best to kill Seward, and
when they left him stabbed, bleed
ing and limp as a cloth, as he
rolled over behind the bed whereOn
they found him, they supposed their
work completely done.
Our story is told. We have
given the truth Of history, and told
exactly why Abraham Lincoln, the
humane President of the United
States, was killed.