The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1895-06-15


plunged the nat ION lm grief MN
resnit cha as 3 was the sas.
1 of y the previous plan, an d after
thou ht, put into execute ion 10 day ol
#tW1S after itsSconceptio This diary ot
I Y ooths was suppressed before the mill
stary comm ssidn, where fits appearance
! would have been destructive to- The
charge made against Mrs. Surratt 6f pos
Ssessing a knowledge of the nlurdero,1s
and traitprOus conspiracy = for, accord
fngSto this diary Of the dead assassin
there was no smurderous conspira Cyl o1
which she could have had q knowledge
H That diary was produced at the. trial s.ot
John III. Surratt, and it was not without
Its effect upon the jury. !. il
sa Tried at the same time with Mrs. Sur
raft and Tor the SAME crime.fof 1t MUST
be remembered that the governments
charge was s'murderous and traitorous
conspiracy and Its contention was that
all were eually guilty with Booth in the
assassination Of President Lincoln
were Lewis Payne, the assailant of Sec
rotary Seward; David e. Herold, the
companion Of Booth in his fight from
Washington; George A. Atzerodt, the
man charged with being assigned the
task of assassinating Vice. President An
drew Johnson; Edward Spangler, q
scene-shifter at Ford's theater, who had
been mental attendant on Booth; SAM
uel Arnold, a letter from whom had been
found among the effects of Booth; Mich
ael O'Laughlin, arrested as a friend OF
Booth and charged with "traitorously"
lying In wait to murder Gen. Grant, and
DR.. Samuel A. Mudd, the physician who
set Booths leg, who was charged, in
prosecution of the conspiracy, Of aiding,
advising, receiving, assisting, harbor-
ing and concealing Booth. Herold. Payne,
John H. :Surratt, O'l.aughlin, Atzerodt,
Mary p. Surratt, Arnold and their con-
federates. Payne. Herold and Atzerodt
persisted OH the. same scaffold with Mrs.
SurIatt; O'Laughlin, Mudd and Arnold
were exiled fer life to the Dry Tortugas,
where O'Laughlin died, his two assoc
ciates being eventually pardoned; Spang-
Ter was sentenced to six years imprison
ment. ~ r.
The fate of. Mrs. surratt is one of the
most melancholy episodes in American
history. That a woman of refinement
and Christian character, testified to by
clergymen who appeared at her trial
could be party to the conspiracy, with
which she was charged, seems as prepos-
ferrous as 1t does to think that men en-
gagged in such a. desperate enterprise
would trust the knowledge of their plans
to a woman. Particularly is this the
case where her son is alleged to be one of
the master spirits, for ordinary mother
love would stand against her at the
peril her son was inviting nor is. it con-
sistent with this maternal love that she
would give utterance to the statements
attributed to her by the informers
whose testimony sent her to the sca1old.
that Booth and others might have met
frequently at her house without the hos
tess being taken into confidence, is not
only natural but most reasonable; while
her failure to recognize Payne when he
came to her house in the guise of a la
borer, covered with mud and his face;
mainly concealed is not suggestive OF
untrnth OH her part. Nor should the
mere denial, even If il was made to dis
credit any knowledge Of the man, con-
rect her with any personal knowledge Of
the conspiracy in view Of the excited
state Of public feeling, and the fact that
her son, who was an acquaintance Of his,
might be encompassed in the official
drag-net. that was being so industriously
employed. Again she was charged with
q knowledge of the murderous and
traitorous conspiracy" while the diary
ssf Booth, which was at that time in the
possession of Secretary Stanton, but was
not permitted to figure in the trail,
showed that there was no such murder
Gus conspiracy with which she could
have been conversant, for the execu-
tion Of the latter followed too closely
upon the inception of the idea, nor was
1t within the bonds of reasonable con-
lecture that the secret of so desperate a
measure would be trusted to woman,
had there been the opportunity to do so.
These are the facts and conclusions to
be- drawn from them: Mrs. Surratt was
hanged, John n. Surratt had the good
fortune not to be tried until fairer scondi-
tions prevailed, and is alive. today and q
a free man. Need anything more be said?