Dr. Mudd voluntarily confessed to Captain Dutton, who had charge of the convicts who were sent to the Dry Tortugas, whilst on their voyage thither, that he knew Booth when he came to his house on the morning of the 15th of April; and said that he denied it because he was afraid of endangering his own life, and the lives of his family. He also admitted that he went to Washington by appointment to introduce Booth to Surratt, and that Wiechmann's testimony on this point was true. Why, if innocent, should he have been afraid to let it be known that Booth and Herold called at his house on that morning, and what he had done for them? This fear could only have come from a consciousness of guilt, and shows that he not only knew what they had done, but, also, that he was implicated in their guilt by his previous knowledge of what they were going to do. John H. Surratt, after he had been set at liberty, delivered a lecture at Rockville, Maryland, in which he denied that he ever knew of the plot to assassinate, but admitted that he was a member of a conspiracy to capture President Lincoln and carry him a prisoner to Richmond. He asserts that this was Booth's purpose whilst he was co-operating with him, and that they had spent a great deal of money ($10,000) in preparations to effect their object. He claims that neither the Richmond government, nor its agents in Canada, knew anything about their scheme, and that they alone were responsible for it. Where then did they get their $10,000 to spend on it? They were both without means of their own, and without employment. The Rockville lecture is simply a plausible tissue of falsehoods, well put together, but altogether inconsistent with the whole tenure of the evidence in the case. It is contradicted at almost every point by the testimony we have had under review. Yet its admissions are important, as they establish the theory of the conspiracy which we have maintained. He admits that he was engaged in the secret service of the Confederate government almost constantly from the time he left college in the summer of 1861, and that he enjoyed that service greatly, and was very active in it. He claims that he was entrusted with dispatches for the agents of that government in Canada, and that he passed from the one place to the other frequently. He admits that he reached Montreal on the 6th of April with dispatches from Davis and Benjamin to Thompson. Of course he does not say that he also carried Bills of Exchange on Liverpool at the same time for $70,000, or that he carried funds at any time; but we have had the proof of this fact. He admits that he went from Montreal on the 12th of April, to Elmira, New York, and claims that he remained there until after the assassination.
This we have seen was proven to be a falsehood, yet his purpose in going to Elmira, as claimed by himself, confirms our theory that the plan of the conspirators was in connection with the assassinations which they had planned to get up a Northern rebellion in aid of that of the South, through the agency of the secret disloyal organizations with whom they were in correspondence throughout the Northwestern and Middle States, and to liberate all the rebel prisoners held in Northern prisons to augment their forces, and in the state of anarchy and confusion, consequent upon the deprivation of the government of a civil head, and the army of a lawful commander, they thus intended inaugurating a reign of terror throughout the North that would make a further prosecution of the war impossible, and by this means establish the Southern Confederacy. Surratt says in his lecture that he went to Elmira for the purpose of preparing for the release of the more than five thousand rebel prisoners that were held at that place. The author, after a very careful scrutiny of all the evidence relating to the question of Surratt's presence in Washington on the night of the assassination, and of his participation in it, has not hesitated to express the opinion that this was proven. By all legal rules the plea of an alibi failed as the vast preponderance of evidence went to prove his presence as charged. But even if we admit that he was at Elmira, as claimed, on the night of the assassination, and that he remained there until the 16th of April, he is not by this admission disconnected with the conspiracy, but was by his own admission acting there in the interest of its purposes by setting at large the five thousand rebel prisoners held there by the government. The effort to aid the rebellion by this step was contingent upon the accomplishment of all of the assassinations that had been planned. The failure to do this rendered his mission there useless. If he was there, he was there in the interest of the conspiracy. That he had all of its guilt upon his conscience is shown by the facts of his flight and concealment.
Thompson and his gang claimed, in the fall of 1864, it will be remembered, that they had eight hundred men hid away in Chicago for the purpose of liberating the rebel prisoners held in Camp Douglass. They were only waiting for a safe opportunity, for which they were planning to secure an opportune moment. Why did Vallandigham break his parole in the summer of 1864 and return to Ohio to become a candidate for the governorship of that state? It was no doubt in the interest of this new rebellion that had been planned, and that he might be in a position to carry out the details of these nefarious schemes. It will be remembered that he had been elected Supreme Commander of the order of American Knights at their annual meeting in February, 1863. During Vallandigham's enforced absence, Robert Holloway acted as Lieutenant-General, or Deputy Supreme Commander, and Doctor Massey of Ohio was Secretary of State. The organization was a military one, of which Vallandigham was recognized as General, and had a complete army organization, and was, in 1864, arming, drilling, and preparing for a Northern rebellion, and the accomplishment of the assassinations that were planned and arranged for was no doubt to have been the signal for a general uprising. It may be asked, why, if this theory be correct, was not this purpose carried out? We answer simply because that God who planted, and has hitherto watched over our nation, frustrated the scheme. He so ordered the events of his providence that the carrying out of this wicked scheme became manifestly impossible. The plan to deprive the government of a civil head and the army of a lawful commander failed. The collapse of the rebellion was precipitated so rapidly that it was manifestly useless to attempt to give it aid. The valor, prowess, skill, and loyalty of our victorious legions was a menace to copperheadism. This secret army concluded that discretion was the better part of valor, and sought safely in seclusion, but not quite in silence. They still continued to hiss.
To God's over-ruling and protecting care we owe our thanks for the preservation of our government, and for the peace and prosperity with which we have been blessed, and it is in Him alone that we can found our hopes for the future. Let us reverently study and learn the lessons of our great civil war, that we may learn to avert future judgments by putting away all our idols, and all the abominations of our national life, remembering that it is righteousness alone that exalteth a nation, and gives to it peace and prosperity, and that sin is not only a reproach to any people, but that national sins, if persisted in, justified and incorporated into national policy, will inevitably call down the judgments of a holy, righteous, and just God.
[APPENDIX.]
[PREFACE TO APPENDIX.]
In presenting the great argument of the Hon. John A. Bingham, Assistant Judge-Advocate, on the trial of the assassins, the author feels that he does not need to offer an apology to his readers, notwithstanding its length.