National Republican., 1883-10-12

III Montreal several t1mes, ~ one ul ltthe w
| vopatlors lie said proposition had hcen mmlS 10
him TO rid the world OF the tyrnt Lincoln, stan .
/ ton, Grant, and some Others. Tue men VINO llau
made the proposition, be sahl, hr anew were bSld
daring men, md able to execute anything they
wUulu undertake, without regard 10 tue cost, lie
said he was in layor of the proposition, but had
determined to defer his answer until lie hud CON
I suited with his governments at Richmond, and he
was then only waiting their approval ne added
that he thought 10 would he blessing TO the peo-
pie both north aud south, to have these men
have been in Cnnadn since the assassination
A lew days after met Beverly Tucker at Mon.
trpal lie suid great deal about Tie Wrgnss mat
the south had received at the hands OF Mt. ldu-
coln, and that he deserved his deah, anu ~ was
n pity he did not meet with 10 long go He snid
IL was too bad that the boys Ind not heGn allowed
TO act when they wanted to. Ihe " boys was an
expression applied TO The confederate s,ldierS and
Others in their employ who eugegtd in raids, aud
who were employed tu nssassinatv the Presidcnt
related portion Of the conytrsnuo'l had had
with Mr.. Ihoppson TO Mr. w. G.. Cleaiy WHO a
sort OF confidential secretary tn Mr.. Thompson,
and he told me tha' Booth was one OF tie parties
to whom ThomIson had references anu ne salG. ~
regard to thc assassination that 1t was too bad
that the whole work had not been done; by when
| unlcrstGod him 10 mean that they iriendod TO
nssasSiuaje greater humber Than they hnCCecdCd
In killing. CIeary remarked, when sgcnklhg OF
hiS regret that the whole work had not been done,
"Thcy had better look out; we are not done yet
And ne added that they would never bccOnquered
would never give UP,
Clcary said that BoUth had been there. visiting
Thompson twice n the winter he ethought the last
the summer.
Thompson told me that Ceary was posted upon
all his affairs and that II sought him lThompsonl
at any time and he was away. might state my
business to Nlr Ccary ana 1t would beal the same;
that could have perfect confidence III him sahd
that he vas n very cOsC.mnuthed man.
During my stay IN Canada was IN tile service
of the United states government, seeking TO nc
quire information In regard to the plans am pnr'
puScS of the rebels who were assembled there. TO
do this most cilcCtualy | adopted the name Of
James Thompson and, leading them TO suppose
this was my correct name, adopted some other
name at any hotel ut which | might Oc stopping.
WAS entrusted with dispatches from these con.
irderntcs To take To- Richmond. carried some to
Gordouville, with instructions to send them from
there. l received II reply TO those dispatches,
which | carried back 10 Canadd, bringing Them
through Washington aud making them known to
the United states government. took no dis
patches from the rebel government TO their
agent, in Canada without first delivering them
To the authorities In Washington.
! frequently heard the subject OF raids upon our
frontier aud the burning Of cities spoken of by
Thompson, Cmy, Cicary, Tucker, aud Sanders.
Mr.. Clement G. Glny was one Of the prime movers
IN a. mHtCr before the raids were started. They
received his direct Endorsement. He represented
himself 10 INC us being sort of representative Of
iAWr wgr department ut Richmond. The men
hyc rclriGnue 10, more esuccinlly Mr.. Clay aud
NJ. lhuhlp.un, ropraSYlied that they we're acting
uuder tau sanction Of their government, and MS
h wing inll powerto act with reference TO that;
thai they had full power to do anything that they
de.mvd cxpcdient and for the benefit Of their
CHiisp.
was in Canada when arrangements were made
to iirc the ci'y Of New York. / lett Cnunda iO
ring the news TO Washington ten days hcf tie
attempt wRs made. IL originated iii Canada, and
had the full sanction OF these men.
If this cvid encc has ever been confuted, in
whole or in part it is unknown to me. This
witness has never been tried for perjury or
accused of that crime in any legal proceed
ing, nur, so far as | know or believe, has his
character for veracity been questioned in any
judicial inquiry He stood before the Mill
tary ComnissiOn and stands now unim-
peachcd. The public has probably long since
determined the weight to which his stato-
ments arc entitled. IL is surprising that, in
the zeal with which he has pursued and
branded "the fellow" ConOver "the per-
.jurcr," Mr.. Thompson should have totally
lost sight Of Richard Montgomery, with whose
testimony he must DO familiar, since it was
published SO long aSo.
The other witness (Conover), also stranger
to me, was brought to the notice of the gov
crnment by gentleman of New York, who
represented him as having been former cor
respondent of the Tribune, and as altogether
reliable. His evidence was moro distinctly
crimnativc Of Mr.. Thompson than that of
Montgomery, but because of Subsequent ovents
yet to be stated, / forbear to quote it. Now
both these WITNESSES were summoned, attended,
and gave their testimony III the usual way,
and received the compensation allowed by law
for such services, and any averment or insin-
uation that they were bribGd or received any
money OF other consideration from mo or by
my authority for the purpose Of controlling or
in any manner affecting the testimony given
by them is us utterly false MS malignant.
In July, after the trial, Conover addressed
written communication to mo from New
York, of which the following is the opening
paragraph:
NEW YonK, July &c. 1s65-BRIG. GEN. HoLT.-
Dear Sir: Believing that can procure witnesses
IiYin a.. tn
JEFF. Davis hnn e. C. Clay Of completely III the as
sassInatiOn of the President, and that can also
find and seGmrG John ii. Surrdtt, beg leave TO
tender tie government, through YOU, my services
Tor these purposes
1t will not escape notice that no nllusion is
made to Mr.. Thompson. He then proceeded
to set out in detail what he thought could be
proved BY tho witnesses he proposed to pro-
duce On the second Of August following, an
other letter TO the sanio effect, but more
urgent, was received from him, and after n
conference with the Secretary ofWar, with his
full approval, the proposal was accepted, and
COnOvor entered upon the fulfillment of his
engagement. Some six or seven months were
occupied in this, and after all tho witnesses
produced by him-nOno of whom were known
to me--had been examined, and their deposi-
tons filed in the Bureau of Military Justice,
Conovcr, under tho supervision of the Secre-
tary of War, was allowed compensation,
which, with what he had previously re-
Coivud, was deemed just, and no
more, for his services such sums as were
required for the attendance of tho wit
neSscs themselves having been before
paid out from time to time. COnover himself
gave 10 deposition. lu this there was no de-
pdrture from the course habitually pursued
by all the departments Of the government
1t was TO this compensation that Mr.. Thomp-
son, with his customary looseness and rock-
lcssncss Of speech, alludcs when he says that
| 1t was proven on COnOvors trial that large
! sums of money had been given the perjurer
! by Holt my enemy" though no proof is Of
fcrcd to this effect; nor have | over heard be.
| fore, nor have ! now any reason to believe,
| that the matter was alluded to on that trial.
But be this rs it may, there could have been
no truthful representation on the subject at
| all different from what have made
AT this time nothing had occurred to excite
the slightest suspicion Of Conover's integrity
! i'll all that he had done, or in the crCdibility
of his witnesses, Some time aftorward two
of these witnesses, conscience stricken, came
and confessed that they had sworn falsely,
| having been subOrned to do SO by Conoyer
! Investigation satisfied me that they were sin
cCrc IN their aVOwals, and without delay APP
propriato action was taken. A prosecution
was set on foot against COnOVer, and he was
| convicted aud sent to the penitentiary Tor
! perjury and subornation of perjury and on
the margin OF all tho reports made by me
on the dcpositiOus of the witnesses he had
| produced, an Endorsement was made stat
ing that tho depositions woro with
drawn and had boon discrediod What
more could have been done? The antidotc
was in this manner brought in direct contact
with the poison, and SO destroying it at once
IN Rull 10, 4 -