The Great North-Western Conspiracy In All Its Startling Details
by
I. Windslow Ayer
Part 3 out of 3
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 ennobling 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 noble President, laid low by the hand of
the assassin, was never to give blows when words would answer,--never to
exact by force what might be attained by reasoning,--and never, under any
circumstances, 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 establishing among us secret orders, the aim of which is to educate men
of base passions 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 assassins' 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 bloody 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 assassins are trained, and prepared for their fiendish
mission. Henceforth let the people--the loyal people of the most glorious
country on which the sun shines--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 documents found was a
bill, offered in secret session of the rebel House of Representatives,
January 30th, 1865, establishing 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 hellish 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 assisting 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 assistance. 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
assistance. 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
assisted 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, \
CINCINNATI, O., Feb. 10, 1865. /
[_Extract._]
Mrs. Mary B. Morris, now in confinement at McLean barracks, in the city of
Cincinnati, O., charged with giving aid and comfort to the enemy,
assisting rebel prisoners to escape, and other disloyal practices, will,
on or before Monday the 13th inst., be sent south of our military lines,
under guard, into the so-called Southern Confederacy. Her sympathy with
those in rebellion can there find its natural expression, and a more
appropriate theatre of action. It is but just to our government and laws,
that the shield of its power should not be thrown over those who are
inimical to it, and are giving active aid and sympathy to its enemies. The
claim to protection by the government implies the reciprocity of fealty.
Mrs. Mary B. Morris, who was ordered sent out of our lines by paragraph 1
of this order, in consideration of her professions and promises, is
permitted to remain on the premises of her father, Edward M. Blackburne,
at Spring Station, Woodford county, Ky., on consideration that she
complies with the promises accompanying her confession, filed at these
headquarters, Feb. 5th, 1865. If such promises are not complied with, the
first paragraph of the order to be in full force.
By command of Maj.-Gen. HOOKER.
(Signed) C.H. POTTER, Assistant Adjutant-General.
The trial of the prisoner Cantril was deferred, owing to serious illness.
During the progress of the trial, Anderson committed suicide, and Daniels
escaped. [It will be remembered that H.H. Dodd, convicted of treason in
Indianapolis, some months ago, and sentenced to suffer the death penalty,
also escaped. Neither Daniels or Dodd have been recaptured.] The evidence
before the Military Commission elicited most of the important facts
embraced in this narrative, and therefore need not be reviewed.
In regard to several of the witnesses before the Military Commission, a
few remarks may not be uninteresting. It has been observed by the reader
who has carefully perused the foregoing statement, that there were two
distinct elements which made up the great conspiracy, viz: The
Copperheads, or Sons of Liberty, and Knights of the Golden Circle, and the
rebel emissaries both in the Northern States and in Canada. The discovery
of the designs, purposes and intents of the former, was made by the writer
of this work, who was aided by Robert Alexander. With such aid as we were
able to control, we obtained and imparted the information which resulted
in the total defeat of the devilish intent of our secret enemies--the
Copperheads; the purposes, movements, ends and aims of the _Rebels in
Canada_, were reported by Maurice Langhorn, aid by two others. The parties
in charge of observing and defeating the two distinct elements, were utter
strangers, and had never met or had any communication whatever.
In regard to the writer, it need only be said, that when it was announced
to Hon. I.N. Arnold, M.C., Governor Yates, and Brig.-Gen. Paine, that
there was a formidable conspiracy against the General Government,
embracing many thousand persons in its league, and that its purpose was
the subversion of our Government in aid of the rebellion, that their plots
were rapidly maturing, and the most alarming consequences might be
apprehended, if timely precautions were not observed, all of these
gentlemen gave to the matter their earnest and careful attention. It was
not the purpose of the writer to proceed with further investigations,
except by advice and direction, as it was a work for which he felt wholly
unqualified, from his tastes, disposition, professional, and social
position, but the arguments of Gen. Paine, which, at this time and place,
it is unnecessary to state, but which it is believed neither party will
soon forget, decided the matter, and the task was undertaken, and with
what success it was attended, let the history of the proceedings in
Cincinnati determine. For more than six months, the work was prosecuted
with unceasing vigilance, regardless of all other considerations, and
although, when he was called to the witness stand, he could not shield
himself from the malignant abuse of counsel, by stating _that he had been
acting under a commission received from his Government_, yet he then felt
morally certain, and that confidence _yet remains unshaken_, that when his
true relations to the Government and country, are finally known, his
motives, his acts, and his services, will be duly appreciated. He has not
been mistaken. The contemptible falsehood of the party who stated that the
writer's services had been compensated, or that a claim for compensation
had been made, is hereby hurled back into his teeth. Not a dollar, not a
dime, has been received, not even for _actual expenses incurred_, and _no
claim_ whatever has been made--no consideration whatever has been
proffered. The service was the result of a deep conviction of duty, a
feeling that no citizen should withhold personal sacrifice, even of life
and reputation, if the interest of his country demands it. We knew the
condition upon which we stepped aside from the agreeable and peaceful
avocations of life, and entered upon the task so distasteful, so
repulsive, and for a time so thankless. We had reason to know that the
shafts of fiendish calumny would assail, that friendship would be broken,
_that envy and jealousy would ply their innuendoes_, that the Copperhead
elements of a fraternity, claiming one of the offenders in its ranks,
would assail with bitterness and awaken poignant grief, but no regret,
that we should have the hatred of Copperheads, as long as that genus
(thank Heaven, short-lived), existed in our land, and be regarded with
distrust by those negative persons, who would be for the Union, had they
any independence of character; we knew all this would follow, if the
assassin's bullet or dagger did not execute the sworn purpose of the
Order, but with an abiding faith in the justice of Heaven, with an
approving conscience, and our earnest heartfelt prayer for our loved
country in her dark hours, we took our course, and our only regret is,
that we had not sooner entered upon the work, and thereby frustrated plans
which have contributed to our national suffering; for who shall say how
many have been its victims, how many homes has it made desolate, how many
hearts has it broken, and how many graves now enclose misguided men, and
misguided youths, who, educated in its fallacies, lured by its snake-like
influence, arrayed themselves against their country, and fell victims to
their fanaticism!
We have heard the cry of our Union soldiers at the front, to protect the
helpless in the rear, and we have tried to comply. We have given our own
near and dear kindred to the bullet and the sword, a sacrifice to freedom,
and staunched the life-blood of a dearly loved brother, upon the field of
Antietam, and as we wiped away the dew of death, gathering upon his brow,
we pledged our life--our all--to the cause of the Union; and if better
service might be rendered in vanquishing the secret foe at home, than
meeting the more honorable enemy upon the field of battle, we were ready
for the work. Had it not been for the potent influence of Copperheads at
the North, the counsel, the sympathy, the comfort extended to the rebels,
the rebellion would have been put down long ago. Entertaining such views,
we shall, under any and all circumstances, and at all times, be a bitter
opponent of Copperheadism wherever found, and regard it as legitimate
warfare to arrest the assassin of our country, wherever and whenever we
can. If the disaffected find comfort in this, let them make the most of
it.
ROBERT ALEXANDER.--This gentleman, who is well known to the citizens of
Chicago, has held several positions of responsibility and trust, and has
ever been a consistent, earnest, devoted advocate of the Union. So
intensely Republican in sentiment is he, that the attempt to introduce him
into the Sons of Liberty, called forth such opposition that it was thought
we should fail in the attempt, and he finally, was only admitted, after he
and his sponsor (the writer) had been told, in plain words, accompanied
with an oath, that if he proved false to them, _both should die_. For
months he bore the opprobrium of a Copperhead, and suffered extreme
annoyances in sustaining the role it was his duty to assume.
Conscientious, earnest, persevering, patient, with keen perception, and a
remarkable power of reading human character, with the experience of an
excellent police officer, Mr. Alexander brought to his post of duty high
qualifications, and was a valuable, ready and willing assistant. It should
be remarked that Mr. Alexander had been informed in May, 1864, that he had
been appointed First-Lieutenant in the 53d U.S. Infantry, and supposed he
was in the service of the U.S. Government at the time of joining this
great undertaking, but the information, though coming from a high source,
proved incorrect, and this is one additional reason why the writer made
choice of Mr. Alexander. While we know that loyal men will appreciate Mr.
Alexander's valuable services, we have yet to learn that he has, thus far,
experienced any other satisfaction than the approval of his own heart, and
the sincere gratitude of the writer, for his hazardous undertaking, and
the able manner in which he performed his duty.
MAURICE LANGHORN, one of the principal government witnesses, was born in
Pittsburgh, Penn., and reared in Marysville, Ky. He is a lawyer, and a man
of ability. Like many other Kentuckians who were in the South at the time
the rebellion broke out, Mr. Langhorn committed himself to the doctrine of
secession. In 1861 he enlisted as a private in a Louisiana regiment of
heavy artillery. He was subsequently recommended for Colonelcy in the
rebel army, but failed to get the appointment. In 1861 he went to Bowling
Green, Ky., where he enlisted as a private in the 9th Kentucky Infantry,
Col. Thomas H. Hunt, of Louisville, and was transferred to the artillery.
He mounted the guns on the fortifications around Bowling Green, and seems
to have given great satisfaction. He ran as candidate for representative
to the rebel congress from Kentucky, but before the result of the canvass
was known, was captured and held eight months as a prisoner of war. Mr.
Langhorn subsequently took the oath of allegiance to the United States,
and was of great service in reporting the movements and designs of the
rebel emissaries in Canada to Col. Sweet. The information Mr. Langhorn
gave of those men was reliable, and upon it certain arrests were made. Mr.
Langhorn is now a loyal citizen, in its broadest and best sense. Mr.
Langhorn is a young man not over twenty-five years of age, of quick,
nervous temperament, kind and generous impulses, a man of strong feelings,
warm friendship, bitter animosities, and whatever he undertakes, he
executes with a will. Of Mr. Langhorn it may be truly said, that while he
was a rebel, he was an earnest, active foe, but a true soldier, having a
high regard for honor and integrity, loving the State in which he was
reared, and ever jealous of her honor and fair name. Mr. Langhorn was a
rebel from principle--because he felt that the South was right--but when
convinced of his error, he made haste to repair it, and when he had once
taken the oath of allegiance, he went to work with all his might to aid
the cause of the Union. To Mr. Langhorn is due all the honor of
frustrating the designs of the _rebels from Canada_; and Col. Sweet being
advised by Mr. Langhorn of _this_ portion of the plot, and by the writer
of the _Copperheads' movements and intents_, the Colonel had the best
possible opportunity of acquiring important knowledge, and regulating his
conduct in accordance therewith. Mr. Langhorn is a true friend of the
Union, an admirer of our lamented President, and has rendered the citizens
of Chicago a service which should ever be held in grateful remembrance.
MR. SHANKS--Once a Rebel officer of distinction, but now a loyal man,
consistent in conduct, and of very great assistance to the Government, in
ferreting out Rebel officers and Rebel sympathisers, has the confidence
and respect of those who know him. He is a young man of signal ability,
and if he continues to serve the country as faithfully as he has in the
present case, will yet attain distinction.
CHRISTOPHER C. STRAWN--Was a valuable witness. He is a young man who has
taken an active part with the Democrats, and is well informed of the
incomings and outgoings, and the eccentricities and peccadilloes of the
managers in Chicago, although the _Post_ says, that "before his arrest he
was not worthy of notice, and after his arrest still less so." We think
the _Post_ man a little severe on Strawn, who has done all he could to
have the guilty Copperhead readers of that paper brought to justice. Mr.
Strawn, has bade his brethren, the Copperheads, an affectionate and, we
trust, final adieu.
JOHN MAUGHAN, an Englishman, born in Berkshire county, and about 22 years
of age. His family moved to Toronto, Canada West. He was always in Canada
regarded as a young man, with fine business qualities and promise. For
three years just before his connection with the rebels, and their Northern
conspirators, he occupied a very responsible position as a clerk and
teller, in one of the branches of the bank of Upper Canada, and was in
every way worthy the confidence reposed in him. During the spring and
summer of 1864, he however became acquainted with rebel soldiers in
Canada, earnestly espoused their cause, and left his position to go with
them to the Southern army. They, however, instead of going South, went to
Chicago, where he became acquainted with the conspirators, and also gained
their confidence, and on account of being an Englishman, and having his
papers with him, and being able to travel without fear of detection, he
was used by them to carry their correspondence and other communications,
which were of too dangerous a character to trust to the mails. This man
was truly a dangerous character. No one, except those who employed him,
knew him, or the character in which he was acting, and he was able,
frequently, to render the conspirators immense service in their desperate
schemes. He was captured in Chicago in November, and finally agreed to
turn State's evidence, when he saw that unless he did, his own life was
forfeited. After this agreement, he was treated with great leniency by the
Government, but upon being placed upon the witness stand, his old
sympathies and prejudices returned, and it is believed he distinctly
perjured himself, acting through the whole trial with bad faith toward the
Government which had treated him so generously.
THOS.E. COURTNEY--A Son of Liberty, and a leading Democrat of Chicago,
called a witness for _defence_, testified, among other things, as follows:
"_I was on a Committee of the Democratic party to receive, at the Alton
Depot, some bogus voters that were to be imported into Chicago to vote at
the Presidential election_; they were part and parcel of the tribe that
came from Egypt, and I was one of the _Committee appointed to escort them
to their boarding houses_."
OBADIAH JACKSON, JR., ESQ., Grand Seignior of the Temple, who had been
arrested and sent to Camp Douglas, and while there had written and signed
a "statement," was called for the defence, but it neither helped him or
the defendants.
COL.B. M. ANDERSON--Was born, reared, and educated in Kentucky. He was a
young man of education, ability, and fine personal appearance, and had he
not been a rebel would have been an accomplished gentleman. He possessed
many fine points of character, and was, in our opinion, a much better man
than any of the Northern Copperheads who have been arrested. He had been
in the Nicaraugua expedition, under the fillibuster, Walker. Col. Anderson
was the dupe of others. He committed suicide at the barracks in
Cincinnati, during the progress of the trial. He leaves a wife and many
friends to mourn his death. His history is a sad one. In any other
position than a rebel, he would have been a most useful member of society.
He was not of the material of which the Sons of Liberty was made up, but
aside from that deadly fanaticism which ruined him, he won warm friends
wherever he went. Nature did everything for him, but the accursed doctrine
of Calhoun, consigned him to a suicide's grave, "after life's fitful
fever" of war upon the land of his birth.
CHARLES TRAVIS DANIELS--One of the prisoners, is a native of Harrison
County, Ky. A lawyer by profession, about 26 years of age and very
prepossessing in appearance. He is somewhat remarkable for a rather
strange and singular expression of his eyes. Belonged to John H. Morgan's
command, but never served in any other capacity than as an enlisted man.
He was captured with Morgan during his raid in Ohio, and confined in Camp
Douglas, from which he escaped; was captured at Charles Walsh's house, on
the 7th of November, and escaped again from the military authorities in
Cincinnati, Ohio, while being tried by the Commission. He has not been
recaptured, but has been found guilty by the Commission.
CAPT. GEORGE CANTRILL--Is a native of Scott County, Ky. Is about the same
age as Daniels. There is nothing remarkable in connection with him, and of
no more than ordinary intelligence. He also belonged to Morgan's command,
in which he served as Company commander; was in Morgan's last raid in
Kentucky, and at his defeat at Cynthiana escaped to Canada. He was with
the other rebels at Chicago during the Convention, and went with them to
Southern Illinois for the purpose of drilling Copperheads. He was captured
in the house of Charles Walsh, on the morning of the 7th of November last.
On account of severe sickness he was not tried with the other
conspirators.
RICHARD T. SEMMES--One of the prisoners, tried, convicted, and sentenced,
for being one of the Chicago Conspirators, is a young man--not over 23 or
24 years of age, a Marylander by birth, and a lawyer by profession. He is
a relation of the pirate Semmes (unfortunate in name,) said to be a
nephew. He graduated at Yale College with distinction, and his prospects
in Chicago were flattering till he connected himself with the Sons of
Liberty, and listened to the teachings of older and "wiser" men.
Of the witnesses for the defence we have nothing to say, further than most
of them were Sons of Liberty. Some of them so far perjured themselves,
that now a common lie to them is considered as good as the truth, if not a
little better. It is said of Judge H.L. Burnet, that he remarked, had he
known what witnesses the defence would have introduced, he would not have
called any witnesses for the _Government_--they would have been
superfluous. Rather severe, and we will hope he did not say it.
Space will not admit of a review of the evidence, and this will be
unnecessary for all who will read the sketch of the Judge Advocate's
argument.
CHAP XXI.
ARGUMENT OF THE JUDGE ADVOCATE IN THE CONSPIRACY CASES--CONVICTION OF THE
PRISONERS.
The evidence in the case before the military commission at Cincinnati,
having closed, the counsel who represented the prisoners made their
addresses--they cannot be called arguments--and the court adjourned to
Tuesday, April 18. As lawyers who have no valid defence, observe it as a
policy to attack the Government witnesses with great fury, so Messrs.
Hervey and Wilson, true to the ethics of their profession, made a grand
assault upon the principal witnesses. Counsellor Hervey, in his harangue,
used the following language, which illustrates the line of "argument" for
defence:
"Some two hundred years ago," said the learned counsel, "there was a man
in England who swore away the lives of his fellow citizens by wholesale.
His name was Dr. Titus Oates--the man who got up what was called the
Popish plot, and by perjury and villainy, consigned many an innocent head
to the scaffold. He was assisted by a man who has, as no other judge has,
disgraced the ermine--Jeffries, who drank himself to death in the tower,
when his co-worker in iniquities and evil deeds with dreadful and condign
punishment followed him. The effort of nature to produce so great a
monster was so terrible that it required a resting spell of two hundred
years before she could produce another such monster in the shape of Dr. I.
Winslow Ayer."
We forgive him, for he was obliged to seem to do or say something to earn
his "fee." There being no arguments for defence, but only such pathetic
appeals as only a lawyer, without the least hope, would make, feeling that
his clients would expect _something_, we need not take our space to report
their remarks.
On Tuesday April 18, Judge Advocate Burnet made his closing argument for
the Government. It was truly a master-piece, complete in every part. It
was such an effort as might have been expected, of one who has, during
this long tedious trial, shown himself a gentleman, a profound counsellor,
a true patriot and an advocate of justice, whose only aim has been to
elicit truth, and be the better enabled to serve the true interests of the
country. We would gladly present every argument and address he has made,
during the trial, but space will not admit, and we therefore invite
careful attention to the following sketch of his address:
The Judge Advocate, in referring to the accused, said:
There are two sides to this case; two sides for the manifestation of
sympathy. While here is an old, white-haired man before you, whose every
thing is at stake; while here is a father, a generous, open-hearted, and
impulsive man, whose all is at stake; and here is a soldier, who has
fought in every clime, and who has taken up his sword to destroy life in
every cause, whose everything is also at stake, yet there is, on the other
side, your Government at stake. If these men be guilty, justice to the
nation demands of you this day that you should convict them, and you must
not waver. In the consideration of this case, you must bring to your aid a
power, that may be a little more than is ordinarily given to human nature.
You must, for the time, sink all hatred, malice, even human sympathy; and
rise, God-like, to determine the truth and adjust the punishment.
That these accused would enter upon the commission of so heinous a crime,
I can scarcely permit myself to believe. They have made a strong appeal to
your sympathies. Each counsel has advocated the cause of his client with
an earnestness and an eloquence that does him honor; I shall always
respect them, and bear them in kindly recollection.
But there seems to have been something, during these four years of the
nation's trial, that has appeared to paralyze the native instincts of the
American heart. This phantom, this siren of secession, with her enticing
song, seems to have lulled to sleep the better part of human nature. At
the sound of her voice, and the flash of her eye, men have sprung to arms,
to grapple with the life of the nation, because it was free! They have
followed, at the beck of the siren, over desolated homes; they have
trampled over the dead corpses of murdered brothers, and innocent women
and children. They have blackened the land with desolation, and made it
the abode of moaning and woe. She has blinded, while she has demoralized
them. Old men, forgetting their white hairs, have joined in the conspiracy
at the beck of this phantom, who has taken out of the human heart its
heaven-born instincts, to plant there those of vengeance, and the thirst
for blood.
My tongue falters as I look over this country and see bereaved widows and
orphans, the white-haired patriots that mourn for the first-born, that
shall ne'er greet them, and those who sit at the desolate hearth, with
hands upraised, waiting for the knock that will be but the death-knell of
all their hopes; and think that the phantom of secession has caused all
this!
Men who were kind fathers, kind husbands and noble patriots, have
forgotten it all in a day, and have become traitors, and inculcated
doctrines that have, by the hands of fiends, stricken down that patriotic
and noble leader of the human race. There is something in it which no man
can comprehend. The doctrines which they inculcate harden the heart, and
nerve the arm to crime, enabling them to commit robbery, arson and murder,
for all is in her category; and as they commit those crimes, the appeal to
God for the justness of their cause. That is what has deceived these men;
it is this accursed phantom of secession that has blinded their eyes; that
has cooled their hearts and filled them with vengeance. It is this that
has changed and perverted the human instincts, that should have ruled in
their breasts.
Of this man Walsh, I have simply this to say: The evidence is as you have
seen it. I have briefly sketched it; I will not dwell upon much that ought
to be said; I can not. The testimony is voluminous, filling 2,000 or 2,500
pages. I have had but a few days to scan through it; I have given you only
the leading points, and you must judge. I would not say one word that
would take from this family their father; but if this man was guilty of
this crime, or has aided and abetted this conspiracy, you have but one
duty to perform. You must know no man, be influenced by no bias, betray no
sympathy, but must be firm in the performance of your stern duty. There
are thirty millions of suffering people in this land, and against these,
one man's life, if guilty, weighs little in the scale of justice. We have,
unhappily, in the history of this war, frequently seen sympathy manifested
for criminals, rebels and traitors--those who have brought this great
injustice upon the true and the loyal. It is not mercy to acquit those
guilty of cruelty to a people who are struggling for their very existence;
it would be cruelty to our brave soldiers, and to those who have been left
widows and orphans.
As to Judge Morris--for his white hair and old age, I have only respect.
For all that is worthy in him as a citizen, I do him reverence; but if
this white-haired old man has engaged in a conspiracy against my nation
and my country, I turn to the other side, and see white-haired patriots
who mourn in sadness because such as he have done these evil deeds,--and I
remember Justice!
As to this man Grenfel, I confess I have no sympathy with him; no sympathy
for the foreigner who lands in our country when this nation is engaged in
the struggle for human right and human liberty, and who takes part in the
quarrel against us, and arrays himself on the side of those who are trying
to establish tyranny and slavery. I have no sympathy for the man whose
sword is unsheathed for hire and not for principle; for whom slavery and
despotism have more charms than freedom and liberty. The motive of such a
one does not rise even to the dignity of vengeance. As has been said by
his counsel, his sword has gleamed in every sun, and has been employed on
the side of almost every nationality, and after this he engages in our
struggle, and, as testified to by Colonel Moore, desires to raise the
black flag against our prisoners; and after men have yielded as prisoners
of war, he rides up to one, and stabs him, coward like, in the back.
But he is not true to the cause he espouses. When in Washington he went to
the Secretary of War and betrays the very people with whom he had been
fighting; tells all he knows of the strength, position and designs of the
Confederates. He said he proposed to leave immediately for England, but he
breaks his faith, proceeds to Canada, and is found among the conspirators,
and is now here, charged with these crimes to-day. There is no throb of my
heart that beats in unison with such conduct as this. He was a fit
instrument to be used in this enterprise. What to him would be the wail of
women and little ones? What to him would be the pleadings of old men and
unarmed citizens?
The delivery of Judge Burnett's argument occupied three and a half hours,
after which the Commission adjourned to meet at four o'clock P.M., to
deliberate on the findings and sentence. They accordingly met at the hour
appointed, and, after mature deliberation, finally recorded their verdict.
General Hooker issued General Orders No. 30, April 22, in which he
promulgates the finding of the military commission which, for three months
past, has been engaged in the trial of the alleged Chicago conspirators.
The commission have acquitted Buckner S. Morris and Vincent Marmaduke, and
they are to be discharged upon their taking the oath of allegiance. They
find Charles Walsh and Richard T. Semmes guilty of all the charges and
specifications, and sentence the former to five years' imprisonment at
hard labor from the 7th of November last, and the latter to three years'
imprisonment at hard labor from the same date, at such place as the
commanding general may direct. Gen. Hooker has named the State
penitentiary at Columbus, Ohio.
Cantrill's trial has been continued; Anderson committed suicide, and
Charles Travis Daniels escaped. The commission found a verdict against
Daniels, but it has not yet been promulgated. The findings against G. St.
Leger Grenfell have not yet been announced officially; but it is death, at
such time and place as Gen. Hooker shall designate. The commission has
been dissolved.
The Chicago _Tribune_, in speaking of the sentence, says:
The trial of the Chicago conspirators has ended, the sentences have been
pronounced and approved, and the court has adjourned. Buckner S. Morris
and Vincent Marmaduke are acquitted and Charles Walsh and Richard T.
Semmes were found guilty of the entire charges and specifications, to wit:
of conspiracy for the relief of the prisoners at Camp Douglas, and of
conspiring to "lay waste and destroy" the city of Chicago. Walsh is
sentenced to imprisonment for five years from November 7th, 1864, and
Semmes to imprisonment at hard labor for three years from the date of
sentence. The findings against G. St. Leger Grenfell have not been
officially promulgated, but it is stated that he is found guilty and
sentenced to death, at such time and place as Gen. Hooker shall designate.
The penitentiary at Columbus, Ohio, is designated as the place of
confinement of Walsh and Semmes. The trial has been long, mainly by reason
of the course pursued by the defense, whose aim has been to protract it,
so as to tire out the perseverance of the prosecution and the patience of
the court and people. The court have performed their arduous duties with
great ability and fairness. The result will doubtless be satisfactory to
the people. It is proved that this great crime was in all its naked
deformity and depravity actually committed. It follows that the Copperhead
statement, published in the rebel organ in this city, charging that the
entire plot and arrest of these Copperhead traitors and assassins were
invented by the Union Republicans of Chicago as an electioneering trick,
was the subterfuge of conscious guilt trying to cover up its tracks and to
rub out the stains of its own attempted crimes. The same organ now impugns
the "competency" of the Court. It may consider itself fortunate that it
has not had an opportunity to argue the question of jurisdiction on its
own behalf before a similar tribunal. Its opposition to such courts
originates in a feeling of uneasiness about its own safety. For
"Thief ne'er felt the halter draw
With good opinion of the law."
REV. DR. TIFFANY UPON COPPERHEADS.
At a public meeting held in Chicago, after the announcement of the
assassination, Rev. Dr. Tiffany, in an able and eloquent address said:
"God alone is great. At rare intervals he sends us a man beyond the limit
of our measure. Our attention has been directed to the excellences of the
character which belonged to our late President, and to the spirit of the
system which gave strength to the blow of the assassin. A more terrible
topic is now to be discussed--our relation to that spirit--our
responsibility for that blow.
We have been accustomed to say, "slavery is sectional, and freedom
national," let those who elect slavery take the results of slavery to
themselves; let them suffer, if their choice brings suffering; but as for
us, we wash our hands in innocency, and hold ourselves guiltless of
blood." And so we have been going on ever since the outbreak of slavery in
the form of armed rebellion. "They are the guilty parties, let them
suffer." But has all this been right? Have we had no responsibility? Is no
guilt ours? We may not have owned slaves, but we may have made a common
cause with men owners--may have brought condemnation upon ourselves by our
tolerance, by our compromises.
Sad and almost disgraceful is the record which exhibits our complicity
with this sin. We began by making free States wait at the door of the
Union until slavery had a counterpoise, or balance adjusted in the form of
slave State, to preserve the balance against freedom in the National
Senate. We compromised the territories west of the Mississippi, by
tolerating slaves there, and as one demand after another was made it was
granted, till we even allowed slave rule in free States, by submitting to
the Fugitive Slave law--these things could not have been done without our
votes. When they threatened and blustered we fawned and cringed, until
they knew and avowed their belief that the crack of a slave whip would
bring the north to its knees. All they asked we granted, more than they
demanded we offered. We held out our wrists for manacles. When we elected
the great good man, who embodied our idea of nationality and freedom; and
even after official announcement had been made of the position slavery
occupied in their proposed nationalism, we guarded their slaves, and kept
them secure to labor for the support of the masters who were fighting
against us. When these slaves, acting on an intuition of freedom, came
fleeing to us, we sent them back to chains and bondage. In all this we
showed our complicity with the sin which struck the blow which killed our
good President.
And after the slaughter of thousands in battle, and the death of as many
more in hospitals, of fever, starvation and wounds, still was our hatred
of the sin which caused them not deep enough. We talked of amnesty and
non-humiliation, and God has permitted the sad cup to come to each lip in
bitterness. Each one mourns to-day as if personally bereaved. The
blackness of darkness is in our homes, and the whole nation mourns its
first-born--its first-loved. May not--does not--a measure of
responsibility rest upon us for this last sad event? Have we not been
tolerant of the treason which has wrought this crime? Have we not been
apologists for infamy under the name of different political opinions? Have
we not spared when we should have punished--been merciful when mercy was
but cruelty? We seem to have believed that because there were more
serpents away from our homes, the few left here had no venom. We felt
secure because the loyalists were more numerous than the traitors. But of
the few who were here, and tolerated here, some plotted the escape of
rebel prisoners, some the burning of our city, some the conflagration of
New York, and some the murder of the Cabinet, while one has killed the
good President. Had they all been driven out, or put under strict
surveillance, there would have been none of these things from them. We
have lost our President by tolerating traitors in our streets.
Who was the assassin of the President? Not an armed rebel, clothed with
belligerent rights; not a political refugee, who had skulked into our
lines for rapine and for plunder; but the citizen of a free State, who
could visit and send his cards to the Vice-President with a flippant
familiarity, which his aristocratic slave-holding associates presume to
use,--a man allowed to go about the streets of Washington, breathing
treason and blaspheming God, without rebuke. He could command attention
from proprietors of houses and saloons, from owners of blooded stock, from
men who were called loyal, and the toleration of this killed our good
President.
He was a wretch, of whom a press said, but yesterday, that he was sincere
in thinking he should rid the earth of a tyrant, by slaying the President,
this sincerity must place him on a level with John Brown. [Hisses and
cries of _The Times_.] This was said yesterday, and read by thousands, and
I know of no steps taken to prevent the utterance of similar insult and
outrage to-morrow. For this tolerance we are responsible, and tolerance
like this killed the good President. When a far-seeing military commandant
ordered the suppression of published treason, there were men in high
places, and men all over the land, who outraged the loyal masses by
interfering to prevent the execution of that order, on the ground of
disturbing the freedom of the press; but when our ministers went into
Richmond they were muzzled, and the result has been that treason has been
littered, the good man called an _imbecile_--the generous man a _tyrant_--
the restraint of traitors has been referred to as, _usurpation_ of
power, and prisons have been called _Bastiles_. All this has been, and we
have tolerated it. This has given aid and comfort to treason in the South,
and traitors in the North, and this has killed the good President.
The measure of our responsibility is the amount of our connivance at these
things. No man is free from guilt who has winked at this wrong, who has
interfered to prevent the punishment of wrong-doers, who has apologies for
treason, who has not done all in his power to rebuke, denounce and punish
the foes of the nation, at home and abroad. We stand, to-day, as though in
the presence of the nation's dead, and here, on the tomb of our chieftain,
let us swear eternal enmity to treason and to traitors. Nor let us, when
the assassin shall be arrested and punished--oh! let us not then think we
have done our duty. I had rather the profane wretch who has done this deed
were never taken, than that his execution should relieve our minds from
one thought of our personal responsibility. No; rather let the wretch be a
fugitive and vagabond, with the mark of Cain upon him. Let none slay him,
for we ourselves are not guiltless. And as he flies from men, with hate in
his eyes and hell in his heart, let every home be an asylum from which he
shall be barred, and every honest, loyal heart a sanctuary where no
thought of complicity with him, or sympathy for him may enter. Let us bow
before God to-day in humble penitence; let us ask of Him forgiveness--
Father forgive us, for we knew not what we did--that His hand be stayed,
and the measure of our responsibility be canceled."
In this connection, we may with propriety, introduce the following extract
from President Johnson's recent speech to the Indiana delegation:
"We are living at a time when the public mind had almost become oblivious
of what treason is. The time has arrived, my countrymen, when the American
people should be educated and taught what crime is, and that treason is
crime, and the highest crime known to the law and the Constitution. Yes,
treason against a State, treason against all the States, treason against
the Government of the United States, is the highest crime that can be
committed, and those engaged in it should suffer all the penalties. It is
not promulgating anything that I have not heretofore said, to say that
traitors must be made odious; that treason must be made odious; that
traitors must be punished and imprisoned. [Applause.] They must not only
be punished, but their social power must be destroyed. If not, they will
still maintain an ascendency, and may again become numerous and powerful;
for, in the words of a former senator of the United States, when traitors
become numerous enough, treason becomes respectable. And I say that, after
making treason odious, every Union man and the Government, should be
remunerated out of the pockets of those who have inflicted the great
suffering upon the country. [Applause.] But do not understand me as saying
this in a spirit of anger; for, if I understand my own heart, the reverse
is the case; and, while I say that the penalties of the law, in a stern
and inflexible manner, should be executed upon conscious, intelligent, and
influential traitors,--the leaders who have deceived thousands upon
thousands of laboring men, who have been drawn into the rebellion; and
while I say, as to leaders, punishment, I also say leniency, conciliation,
and amnesty, to the thousands whom they have misled and deceived, and, in
relation to this, as I have remarked, I might have adopted your speech as
my own."
* * * * *
LIST OF PROMINENT MEMBERS OF THE "SONS OF LIBERTY" IN ILLINOIS.
List of names of prominent members of the "Sons of Liberty" in the several
counties of the State of Illinois, as reported by Col. J.B. Sweet.
Names. County.
James W. Singleton ............................................Adams.
Thomas P. Bond................................................. Bond.
Harry Wilton....................................................Bond.
Thos. Hunter....................................................Bond.
Martin Brooks..................................................Brown.
C.H. Atwood....................................................Brown.
Fred Rearick ...................................................Cass.
Allen J. Hill...................................................Cass.
David Epler.....................................................Cass.
James A. Dick...................................................Cass.
Samuel Christey.................................................Cass.
T.J. Clark................................................Champaigne.
James Morrow .............................................Champaigne.
H.M. Vandeveer.............................................Christian.
J.H. Clark.................................................Christian.
S.S. Whitehed..................................................Clark.
H.H. Peyton....................................................Clark.
Phillip Dougherty..............................................Clark.
A.M. Christian..................................................Clay.
Stephen B. Moore...............................................Coles.
Dr. Wickersham .................................................Cook.
G.S. Kimberly...................................................Cook.
S. Corning Judd...............................................Fulton.
Charles Sweeny ...............................................Fulton.
L. Walker...................................................Hamilton.
M. Couchman..................................................Hancock.
M.M. Morrow..................................................Hancock.
J.M. Finch...................................................Hancock.
Dennis Smith.................................................Hancock.
J.S. Rainsdell.............................................Henderson.
A. Johnson.................................................Henderson.
Ira R. Wills...................................................Henry.
Chas. Durham...................................................Henry.
Morrison Francis...............................................Henry.
J.B. Carpenter.................................................Henry.
J. Osborn....................................................Jackson.
G.W. Jeffries.................................................Jasper.
G.H. Varnell...............................................Jefferson.
Wm. Dodds..................................................Jefferson.
J.M. Pace..................................................Jefferson.
James Sample..................................................Jersey.
O.W. Powell...................................................Jersey.
M.Y. Johnson...............................................Jo Davies.
David Shean................................................Jo Davies.
M. Simmons.................................................Jo Davies.
Louis Shisler..............................................Jo Davies.
Thomas McKee................................................... Knox.
J.F. Worrell..................................................McLean.
E.D. Wright...................................................Menard.
Edward Lanning ...............................................Menard.
Robert Halloway ..............................................Mercer.
Robert Davis..............................................Montgomery.
Thomas Grey...............................................Montgomery.
W.J. Latham...................................................Morgan.
J.O. S. Hays..................................................Morgan.
J.W. McMillen.................................................Morgan.
D. Patterson ...............................................Moultrie.
Dr. Kellar..................................................Moultrie.
G.D. Read ......................................................Ogle.
W.W. O'Brien..................................................Peoria.
Peter Sweat...................................................Peoria.
Jacob Gale....................................................Peoria.
P.W. Dunne....................................................Peoria.
John Fuller...................................................Peoria.
John Francis..................................................Peoria.
C.H. Wright.................................................. Peoria.
John Oug......................................................Putnam.
M. Richardson.................................................Shelby.
M. Shallenberger...............................................Stark.
J.B. Smith.................................................Stevenson.
J.L. Carr.................................................Vermillion.
John Donlar...............................................Vermillion.
Wm. S. Moore...............................................Christian.
B.S. Morris.....................................................Cook.
W.C. Wilson.................................................Crawford.
L.W. Onell..................................................Crawford.
Dickins ..................................................Cumberland.
J.C. Armstrong ...............................................Dewitt.
C.H. Palmer...................................................Dewitt.
B.T. Williams................................................Douglas.
Amos Green.....................................................Edgar.
R.M. Bishop....................................................Edgar.
W.D. Latshaw.................................................Edwards.
Levi Eckels..................................................Fayette.
Dr. Bassett..................................................Fayette.
T. Greathouse................................................Fayette.
Chas. T. Smith...............................................Fayette.
N. Simmons......................................................Ford.
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