The Great North-Western Conspiracy in All Its Startling Details Part 7

S.S. c.o.x, said:

"He had attempted in his own city, a few weeks since, to show, in a very quiet way, that ABRAHAM LINCOLN HAD DELUGED THE COUNTRY WITH BLOOD, created a debt of four thousand million of dollars, sacrificed two millions of human lives, and filled the land with grief and mourning."

A pious man, who had listened attentively to his remarks, sang out "G----d d----n him."

"For less offenses than Mr. Lincoln had been guilty of, the English people had chopped off the head of the first Charles. IN HIS OPINION, LINCOLN AND DAVIS OUGHT TO BE BROUGHT TO THE SAME BLOCK TOGETHER."

C. Chauncey Burr, editor of several Copperhead New York journals, said:

"And it was a wonder that they had a Cabinet and men who carried out the infamous orders of the gorilla tyrant that usurped the Presidential chair."

Capt. Koontz, of Pittsburg, an ardent McClellan leader, said:

"If Democrats catch Lincoln's b.l.o.o.d.y spies among them, they must cut their d----d throats, that's all. [Applause.] It is the duty of every American to vote for a peace candidate."

Baker, of Michigan, said:

"Let us hurl that usurper from power. Never till that day comes when the usurper and his victim meet at the judgment seat, can he be punished for his wrongs, for his conspiracy against American liberty."

Benjamin Allen, of New York, said:

"The people will soon rise, AND IF THEY CANNOT PUT LINCOLN OUT OF POWER BY THE BALLOT THEY WILL BY THE BULLET." [Loud cheers.] Mr. Stambaugh, a delegate from Ohio, said:

"That, if he was called upon to elect between the freedom of the n.i.g.g.e.r and disunion and separation, he should choose the latter." (Cheers.)

"They might search h.e.l.l over and they could not find a worse President than Abraham Lincoln."

Hon. Mr. Trainor, of Ohio, said:

"He would urge the people to be freemen, and HURL ABRAHAM LINCOLN AND HIS MINIONS FROM POWER."

Henry Clay Dean, said:

"In the presence of the face of Camp Douglas and all the satraps of Lincoln, that the American people were ruled by felons. Lincoln had never turned a dishonest man out of office, or kept an honest man in.

[A voice--'What have you to say of Jeff. Davis?] I have nothing to say about him. LINCOLN IS ENGAGED IN A CONTROVERSY WITH HIM, AND I NEVER INTERFERE BETWEEN BLACK DOGS."

"He blushed that such a felon should occupy the highest place in the gift of the people. PERJURY AND LARCENY WERE WRITTEN OVER HIM AS OFTEN AS WAS 'ONE DOLLAR' ON THE ONE DOLLAR BILLS OF THE BANK OF THE STATE OF INDIANA. (Cries of the 'old villain.') The Democracy were for peace."

W.W. O'Brien, of Peoria, also threatened "to try him as Charles the first was tried, as a tyrant and a traitor, and if they found him guilty to hang him."

The essential unity of Copperheadism with a.s.sa.s.sination, appears in the following remarks of Koontz, of Pennsylvania:

"Shall more wives be made widows, and more children fatherless, and greater hate be stirred up between children of the same glorious const.i.tution? IF NOT WE MUST PUT OUR FOOT UPON THE TYRANT'S NECK, and destroy it, The Democratic government must be raised to power, and Lincoln with his Cabinet of rogues, thieves and spies, be driven to destruction. What shall we do with him? [A voice--"Send him here, and I'll make a coffin for him, d----n him."]"

As we review the events which have transpired during this war, we are strikingly impressed with the magnanimity, the forbearance, the humanity of the loyal States in their relations to the rebels in arms, and we are also impressed with the great lack of the exhibition of these qualities--the most enn.o.bling in national character--on the part of the so-called Southern Confederacy. From the hour of firing upon Fort Sumter to the present moment, the war has not been waged by the rebels as if in defense of the great principles of truth and justice, but with the malignity, the cruelty and barbarity which would, in many instances, put to blush the savages upon our western borders. In our dealing with them, the honor, integrity, fidelity and dignity of the nation have never been forgotten; and the policy of the n.o.ble President, laid low by the hand of the a.s.sa.s.sin, was never to give blows when words would answer,--never to exact by force what might be attained by reasoning,--and never, under any circ.u.mstances, to forget those qualities which make a nation truly great, the first and chief of which is charity. How has our enemy failed to appreciate this? The manner in which the warfare has been waged by the South will be mentioned by historians as cruel, dishonorable and disgraceful to people of a Christian nation. Failing of success upon the field, we find the Davis Government countenancing guerrilla warfare, burning bridges, murdering unarmed citizens, and desolating the homes of unoffending people, and committing piracy upon the high seas. Still failing of success and losing ground daily, but driven to desperation by the apparent hopelessness of their cause, they sink to the depth of infamy by establis.h.i.+ng among us secret orders, the aim of which is to educate men of base pa.s.sions to deeds of dark dishonor and unmeasured infamy; men who receiving such instruction will concoct schemes for the burning of cities, for the liberation of their prisoners; and, lastly, they have sunk so low in the mire of dishonor, impelled by savage ferocity and hate, that it would appear folly, if not downright criminality to longer deal with them on the principles of liberality and gentleness, which has marked our conduct hitherto. It was our generosity, our mildness, our spirit of conciliation that moved the hand of the demon who slew the country's truest friend. Let it be so no longer! Let rebels feel that we are terribly in earnest. Let heavy blows be struck, and struck without delay, and let there be no exhibition of concession or conciliation, till the enemy sue for peace upon the terms the country proclaims. As well make Copperheads Christians or honest men, as to attempt by gentleness longer to subdue rebels, whose weapons are firebrands and a.s.sa.s.sins' daggers. It is futile; try it no longer.

Said the great French advocate of justice, when he was charged with being sanguinary, because he so frequently punished murder with death, "You tell me that it is b.l.o.o.d.y work, and sinful in the sight of Heaven to execute men; so it is, and I am disposed to desist, and I will, the moment men stop the crime of murder." So will we show clemency, when our enemy has laid down his arms, and not before.

Another measure by our people would be attended with salutary results--the extermination of Copperheadism at home. Who helped to form secret societies of Sons of Liberty and kindred organizations, so industriously and so efficiently as editors of Copperhead publications.

It is in these orders that a.s.sa.s.sins are trained, and prepared for their fiendish mission. Henceforth let the people--the loyal people of the most glorious country on which the sun s.h.i.+nes--swear by the memory of our much loved and deeply lamented President, that henceforth no paper shall print, no man shall utter sentiments of treason, under the penalty of incurring that summary punishment, the righteous indignation of a sorrowing, long suffering people may inflict. If the people resolve to endure the curse of home treason no longer, and let Copperheads know that they can no longer co-operate with Jeff. Davis in any part of our land, we shall never again be called upon to aid in suppressing or exposing a North-Western Conspiracy, or any plot against our country, in any section of our land.

CHAP. XX.

TRIAL OF THE CHICAGO CONSPIRATORS--THE WITNESSES AND THE TESTIMONY.

When our troops entered Richmond, among other rebel doc.u.ments found was a bill, offered in secret session of the rebel House of Representatives, January 30th, 1865, establis.h.i.+ng a Secret Service Bureau, for the employment of secret agents, "either in the Confederate States, or within the enemy's lines, or in any foreign country," and authorizing the chief officer "to organize such a system _for the application of new means of warfare approved_, and of secret service agencies, as may tend best to secure the objects of the establishment of the bureau."

The trial, conviction, sentence, and execution of Capt. Beall, for piracy on the lakes, and of Kennedy, for incendiarism in New York, are still fresh in the recollection of our readers. That these men were acting under instructions from the bureau of secret service of Jeff.

Davis, no rational person can doubt. These acts were but incidents in the grand conspiracy at the North; the guilty parties, who suffered death, were but the instruments of others, and the members of the secret organizations, who were cognizant of these acts and purposes, though yet unwhipped of justice, are more guilty, in the sight of Heaven, than the wretches who undertook the execution of the h.e.l.lish design, and for which they suffered ignominious death.

After the discovery of the purposes and acts of the leaders of the Sons of Liberty in Illinois, in co-operation with rebels, and the arrests detailed in a former chapter, a Military Commission was convened in Cincinnati for the trial of the prisoners, Morris, Walsh, Grenfell, Anderson, Daniels, Cantril, Marmaduke and Semmes, upon a charge of conspiring to sack and burn Chicago, and to liberate the prisoners in Camp Douglas.

The Commission consisted of the following named officers:

C.D. Murray, Colonel 89th Indiana Volunteers, President Commission.

Ben. Spooner, Colonel 83d Indiana Volunteers. N.C. Macrae, Major United States Army. P. Vous Radowitz, Lieutenant-Colonel United States Army.

S.P. Lee, Major 6th Regiment Veteran Reserve Corps. M.N. Wiswell, Colonel Veteran Reserve Corps. B.P. DeHart, Colonel 128th Indiana Volunteers. S.H. Lathrop, Lieutenant-Colonel, A.I.G. Albert Heath, Lieutenant-Colonel 100th Regiment Indiana Volunteers.

CONFESSION OF MRS. MORRIS, B.S., AND HER SENTENCE.

CINCINNATI, Feb. 13.

The following is Mrs. Morris' confession:

McLEAN BARRACKS, CINCINNATI, Feb. 5, 1865.

To Maj.-Gen. J. Hooker, Commanding Northern Department, Cincinnati, O.:

General--I was arrested in Chicago, on the 11th day of December, by the United States authorities, charged with a.s.sisting rebel prisoners to escape, and relieving them with money and clothing; also, with holding correspondence with the enemy. I desire to state the facts of the case, to confess the truth, and to ask such clemency at your hands as may be consistent with your duty as an officer of the government. I was born and reared in Kentucky. My home was in the South till within the last ten years, my connections and friends all being there. I had sympathy with them, though I was as much opposed to the secession movement as any one could be. Having a large acquaintance in Kentucky, I was charged with the distribution of a great deal of clothing and money among the prisoners in Camp Douglas, Chicago, sent to them by their friends, and which was done under the supervision of the proper officers of the camp.

This I continued to do up to the time of my arrest, and in this way I made the acquaintance, and was understood to be the friend of the prisoners in camp.

In the early part of last winter, an escaped prisoner named John Harrington, came to me and asked for a.s.sistance. He stated that he was going to Canada for the purpose of completing his education. I gave him money to the amount I believe of $20. Some time in the summer of the past year, a rebel prisoner named Charles Swager, a young man who had escaped from the cars while being conveyed to Rock Island, came to me for a.s.sistance. I gave him a coat, a pair of boots, and some money, to the amount I believe, of $15. There were two or three others that I had reason to believe were escaped prisoners, whose names I do not know.

These I a.s.sisted with money, and to one of them I gave some clothing.

There were some others to whom I gave money and clothing, that I did not at the time know were rebel prisoners, but who afterwards I had reason to believe were such.

I received letters from Capt. J. B, Castleman of the rebel army, and sent him verbal messages in return. He called at my house, and remained for a little while. Capt. Hines, also of the Confederate army, called and ate at my house once during last summer.

I beg to be released from my present imprisonment, and promise that, if my prayer is granted, I will henceforth conduct myself as a truly loyal woman, without in any way interfering with the government or aiding its enemies.

Witness my hand and seal, this 5th day of February, 1805. MARY B.

MORRIS.

The following is Gen. Hooker's order relative to Mrs. Morris:

HEADQUARTERS NORTHERN DEPARTMENT,