WEDNESDAY, ,MAY 3, 1865
,
Who are 'Responsible for the 13plrit of
Lawless 'Violence:which Prevails ?
On the 15th day oflast November the
Express deliberately announced to its
xeaders, .that frOm that: day and date
that paper'would withdraw from the
arena of political strife, and devote itself
exclusively to -news, literature and busi
ness.. For, a .period of four months it
had:tried to :keep up a random fire at
the INTELLIGENCER; dealing almost
entirely in foul-mouthed slang, mali
•‘- Mous' misrepresentation and vulgar
abuse. It scarcely ever attempted an
argument On any of the great questions
'which agitated the public mind; and,
when it did showed such exceedingly
- feeble reasoning powers as to make all
. its attempts at logical writing the merest
laughable abortions. Its editor, evi
dently worried, was always out of hu
mor. Day by day he seemed to grow
more saturnine in disposition, and more
thin, gaunt and cadaverous in person,
until he bore the look of a man haunted
by the remembrance of some crime un
atoned for and un forgiven. To all ar
guments he had but one reply, to every
array of facts but a single answer.—
Whether he made an attack upon us,
or repelled au assault, he used but the
weapon of the blackguard—an assort
ment of foul words. His vocabulary
was not quite as extensive as that of
some of the celebrated " knocks " and
"goniffs," who can boast of having
graduated at more than one noted
prison. Indeed, it was to all appear
ance quite limited. He seemed to have
an idea that he could demolish the Ix-
TELLIGENCER, and the whole Demo
cratic party of Lancaster county, if not
of the State of Pennsylvania and of the
entire country, by constantly mouthing
the words treason and traitor. When
he could not meet an opponent in argu
ment, he hurled an opprobrious epithet
at his head, and seemed to think his
demolition secure beyond peradven
ture. With only such qualifications for
the position he presumes to occupy, we
do not wonder he grew wearied of po
litical discussion ; we do not wonder
that he should have withdrawn the
Exp, eBs. from the arena of politics.
From the 15th day of last November,
down to its issue of last evening, it
would have puzzled any man to dis
cover, from a perusal of the columns of
that paper, that there was such a thing
as a political editor about the establish
ment. But, either a substitute has been
hired cheap for the occasion, or J. M.
Willis Geist, for some time past sup
posed to be defunct in his capacity of
political editor of the Evening Repress,
has been galvanized into a life, which,
from the exhibition he makes, we pre
dict will be short-lived and spasmodic.
It has been so long since we saw any
thing original from his pen that we had
almost forgotten his peculiar style; but,
on glancing back over the file of the
Express, we think we are able to recog
nize his ear-marks in the leading edi
torial of last evening's issue. It is an
abusive and malicious attack upon the
INTELLW.ENCER, composed of garbled
extracts from our columns, mingled
with about his usual amount of slang
and personal abuse. To his attack, so
far as it is merely personal, we deign no
reply; to the charges against the paper
we shall respond as briefly as poss'qil
It is true there were many things in
the acts of the late President which we
could not and did not approve. - When
we thought him wrong we said so,
boldly and fearlessly. That was our
right, expressly guaranteed to us by the
Constitution of the United States, and
reassured to us by the Constitution of
Pennsylvania, in these most emphatic
words :
"The printing presses shall be free to every
person who undertakes to examine the pro
ceedings of the legislature, or any branch of
government; and no law shall ever be made
to restrain the right thereof. The free com mu
nicatffift of thought and opinions is one of the
Invaluable rights of men; and every citizen
may freely speak, write and print on any sub
.feet; being responsible for the abuse of that
liberty, In prosecutions for the publication of
papers investigati❑g the official conduct of offi
cers, or men in public capacities, or where the
matter published is proper for public informa
tion, the truth thereof may be given in evi
dence."
For every article, every line, and
every word published in the iIsZTELLI—
GENCER, since we have had control of
its columns, we have always held and
now hold ourselves prepared to answer
before any proper judicial tribunal, only
reserving to ourselves the right of giv
ing in evidence, by way of justification
both legal and moral, the truth of what
we have uttered.
Now that Abraham Lincoln is dead,
we have not one harsh word to say
against him, but rather those of charity
and kindness alone. He has gone sud
denly before the Judge of all men, to
render an account for the deeds done in
the body ; and his public life, now
ended, has passed into history. From
this hour henceforth we shall utter no
words in censure of him personally.
To the judgment of God and of im
partial history we leave him.
We have bitterly reprobated and
most strongly condemned " the vile
manner of his taking off." We have
done this from the impulse of common
humanity; but not from that alone.
We believe sincerely and truly that, in
the death of Abraham Lincoln, at this
time, the country has suffered a great
loss. No nation could contemplate
without fear of the consequences a sud
den change of rulers, through violent
means, in the midst of such a crisis as
is now upon us. While we could not
indorse and sanction all the acts and
the entire policy of Mr. Lincoln, we
felt that the best interests of the nation
would, in all human probability, be
safer in his hands than in those of the
man who is his constitutional succes
sor. The regret and the indignation of
Democrats at the brutal and cowardly
assassination of the late President was,
therefore, profound and sincere. If
there was rejoicing anywhere in this
land it.was, not among Democrats, but
among the extreme radicals whom Mr.
Lincoln had greatly offended by a wise
and decent show of moderation. These
were the men who rejoiced, if any such
there were anywhere—these, and the
fanatical war clergy, who, ever ready
with canting phrases and quotations of
Holy Writ twisted out of all recogniz
able shape, professed to see the hand of
God in the most fiendish and diabolical
murder which has ever blackened the
pages of history. If this was the work
tef God, will some of these canting and
hypocritical expounders of modern
_Puritanical religious belief be good
.enough to tell us what we should ex
fleet the works of the devil to be like?
Nay, if this were the work of God, was
not the assassin a sacred minister of
deity, rather tha,n a fiendish criminal?
Will the bloodthirsty reverend gentle
man; to whose defense the editor of the
Express comes so promptly, be good
:enough to enlighten us ,on this point?
it'll:Lis doctrine be true, and God directed
the doing of the infernal deed, will the
' , editor of-the Express, who, we believe,
:professes,great piety, be good enough to
inform us ,how either the INTELLI—
.O2,74WC.E.I, or anynther human agency,
can be held .responsible in the slighest
degree for the act. Is there not a thous
and fold greater condemnation of the
late President in the blasphemous sup
position that God blinself designed e.nd
decreed his death bp :tile assassin's
° hand than can possibly be found in any
thing ever uttered by any newspapei,
either in the North or the South?
,do•uot.believe any such doctrine, It
alike absurd and
criminala
piece with much ; but it f
teachings of 0- the religious.
our day.
Earth groans beneath relWon's iron age,
Oar priest dare babble of a God of peace,
Even whilst their handsnre red with ttiiman:
Murdering the while UprootingeverriguM;.
Of truth, exierminating, spoiling all, - •
Making the earth a slaughter-honse,
They howl hideous praises to a Demon' dod ; 1
Such men are they who teach us. that'the God:
Of nature and benevolence hag'given . .
A special sanction to.the trtule'of
They could laugh to hear the bitter cry
Of millions butchered in sweet confidence
And unsuspecting peace, even when the bonds
Of safety, fast confirmed by wordy oaths,
Sworn in His dreadful name, ring through the
land.
'Whilst innocent babes writhe on the stubborn
spear
They could still laugh to hear the mother's
shriek
Of maniac gladness, as the burnished steel - -
Feels cold in her torn vitals."
For the true minister of the Gospel
of our Lord Jesus Christ; for him who
is pure in his life, and without guile on
his lips; for him, who, . following his
Divine Master, preaches peace on earth
and good will to men, we have, the
highest reverence and the most pro
found respect and regard. When such
a one stands up in the house of God,
and rebukes us for our sins, we feel that
we are rebuked indeed. But, for the
canting hypocrite, who comes down
from his high and holy position, to
bedraggle his raiz that should be
sacred, in the filth and mire of partisan
politics, and condescends to honeyfugle
round with pot-house politicians to see
who shall be elected to office—for such
a man we feel that we can never suffi
ciently express our scorn and contempt.
But, when, besides being willing tools
in the hands of designing politicians,
professing ministers of the Gospel of
the (iod of Peace become more bloody
in thought and expression than were
the priests of any barbaric faith this
world ever saw, we cannot
help wishing for a whip of scorpions
with which to lash the hypocritical
scoundrels naked through a scoffing
world, until piloried at last they should
stand as a fit object for the slow, un
moving finger of scorn, to be forever
pointed at. Whilst these wretches con
fine their blasphemies toi the walls of
their own conventicle ( s, we leave
them to the judgment of such as choose
to attend on their Ministrations; but,
when they obtrude themselves upon
public assemblages, outside of the walls
of their churches, their utterances be
came proper subjects of newspaper
criticism, and they will be dealt with
by us just as any other political speaker
would he.
From the commencement of this
government until the present hour the
Democratic party has always been a
party of law and of order. It has never
in any form, nor under any circum
stances, countenanced a violation of
law or a resort to violence. It was
always willing to abide by every com
proMise of the Constitution, and has
deprecated every departure from the
fundamental, well-established, written
laws of the land. During the past four
years, though its members have been
frequently subjected to the grossest pos
sible outrages, it has still appealed to
the people to preserve a spirit of moder
ation and forbearance.
How has it been with our opponents?
Withifi the past four years they have
not scrupled to violate the Constitution
of the United States, to trample under
foot State constitutions and State rights,
and toyender utterly insecure the most
sacreoand inviolable rights of the in
dividual citizen. Multitudes of men
have been arrested and thrown into
miserable dungeons without any offense
ever having been alleged against them,
and contrary to all forms of law known
to civilized nations. Nor is this all:
the Press of the party in power have
counselled mob violence, and counte
nanced every possible species of per
sonal outrage. Such papers as the Ex
press, and such preachers as from Sab
bath to Sabbath teach the gospel of
hate and pray for lust's kingdom to
come, have aroused the baser pas
sions of the masses, until deeds of
shame and horror have come to
be matters of every day occurrence
in our land. We could scarcely
be shocked in these days by the recital
of any murder, however horrid, unless,
as in the case of the late President, the
position of the victim should be such as
to make it a national calamity. Almost
every newspaper we pick up bears evi
dence of the wide-spread prevalence of
complete disregard for life and for law,
which is the legitimate result of the
brutal teachings of such papers as the
Express, and such preachers as are its
ministerial friends. Let no murdered
man shake his gory locks at the Demo
cratic party. The teachers of vio
lence and bloody deeds are to be found
in the editorial chairs of the party
now in power, and in the pulpits dese
crated by the war clergy.
We may take occasion, at some early
day, to make extracts from the columns
of the Express, to prove that it has, time
and again, countenanced and advised a
complete disregard of law, and a resort
to brutal violence, such as was sure in
the end to lead to the sad condition of
anirs which exist in this country to
day. Life has got to be considered very
cheap among us, in consequence of the
violent teachings of Republican editors
and preachers—as witness the brutal as
sault on Edward Ingersoll, Esq., in
Philadelphia yesterday, and quite a list
of cold-blooded murders which have
been perpetrated by mobs within a
week past. They are the men who
are responsible for the spirit of lawless
ness and violence which prevails, and
shows itself from day to day in the
rudest assaults and the most unpro
yoked and cold-blooded murders.
The Assassin Slain
Booth has paid the penalty of his
iorrid crime by a violent and bloody
death. No right-thinking man, even
in the South, will say that his fate was
too harsh. But all sensible men will
regret that he was not taken alive, and
granted an open trial, in order that the
whole secret history of his desperate
crime might have been fully laid bare.
If the assassination of Mr. Lincoln was
his own mad deed, it is but just that
others should be relieved from blameor
suspicion ; if he had accomplices they
richly deserve and should receive pun
ishment. The ends of justice would
have been better subserved in every
way if he had been captured alive, and
granted an open trial before the proper
judicial tribunal of the District of Col
umbia.
General McClellan In Europe
General McClellan receives distin
guished consideration at all points of
interest in his present F,uropean tour.
His eminent character as a patriot And
soldier has won no less praise abroad
than he deservedly enjoys at home. He
is now in the venerably city of Rome,
and we learn by the latest foreign news
that the Russian Ambassador there has
tendered him a brilliant banquet. Few
Americans now in Europe can represent
the honor and dignity of the nation
more befittingly than the illustrious
hero of Antietam.
Change of Fast Day
The 2.5 th of May, appointed by Presi
dent Johnson as a day of special hu
miliation and prayer in consequence of
the assassination of the late President,
being Ascension day, President John
son has ordered Thursday, June Ist, to
be observed in its stead.
dr is said that over one hundred persons
have been garested in Washington and the.
.vicinity, as accomplices of Booth upon dis
olosures made.b,k :Harrold.
n nn
g mon- vence.
Society is formed for the purpose of
protecting the lives, the liberty, And the
property of individuals. The hove en:7 !
acted, are the tees op_social order,
social Any injury done to the
person or thel)roperty of an individual
mem* of ti Pcditical come:mufti is very
propeity reiditdeci . 4 an offence against,
theWate. The dammorbaiealth of Penn=
sylvania, for. instance, is the party
which appears tis the complainant in
every criminal prosecution instituted in
our courts. Any injury done to the
person or to* . the :property of the indi
vidual citizen is, in the legal language
of an'indictment, &Scribed as an Offence
•" against the peace and the dignity of
the Comitionwealth of Pennsylvania."
Theeame form of expression is used in
indictments in all the States of the
Union. It is the State which is injured
in the person of the citizen, the State
which seizes the offender and arraigns
him for trial before the proper judicial
tribunals thereof, and the State which,
by its laws, prescribes the manner and
extent of the punishment, and enforces
the penalties attaching to it.
Society lays duties upon every citizen,
which no one who has a proper view of
what is demanded of him by the terms
of the social compact can disregard. It
is the duty of every citizen not only to
obey the laws of the State in which he
resides, but to do all in his power to
prevent their violation by others.
These may sound like very trite
truesms, and one would suppose them
to be perfectly well understood by all
men. But, lie who will read the record
of outrages upon the persons of indi
viduals, which we are sorry to see
chronicled from day to day in the news
papers of the country, without a word
of condemnation from many, and with
a pointed or openly expressed approval
from others, will, if he be a thoughtful
man, conclude with us that we are in
danger of losing sight of the very first
and most fundamental principles upon
which society is founded.
The very saddest feature of:our times
is the disposition to violence, and the
daring disregard of law which prevails
in our cities and elsewhere. Mobs mur
der men, beat them, destroy their prop
erty, and commit outrages at will. Are
they promptly punished for such acts,
as the majesty of violated law an the
best interests of socieiy demand that
they should be? Not they. The fact
that the individual murdered or injured
is reported to be disloyal,in the parlance
of the passionate language of the day, is
generally accepted as an excuse for any
outrage that may be perpetrated. Some
. few of the newspapers and the public
speakers of the party in power have the
manliness and the good sense to dis
courage such acts, but a large majority
of them are either entirely silent or ap
prove them. Within a week past the
city of Philadelphia and other localities
have been the scene of outrages of the
grossest character ; yet we have looked
in vain for a single word of condemna
tion of mob violence from the Republi
can newspapers of that city. That they
approve of the crimes committed is
proven by the manner in which the an
nouncement of the disgraceful occur
rences has been made. It is the old
story. Some one has started the cry of
disloyalty, and a mob has set upon and
beaten unoffending citizens. If the al
legation were true. is there not a law for
the punishment of treason ? Are not the
courts of justice always open in this
State? Is there the slightest excuse for
assaults such as were made upon the
Ingersolls?
The men who approve of such acts
cannot have reflected upon the inevit
able tendency of such deeds of violence.
Is it possible that we are to see estab
lished as a principle of public action
the doctrine that men who may have
become obnoxious to the crowd are no
longer to be safe under the shelter of the
law? Are our laws to be regarded as
insufficient to protect our citizens from
popular violence'? Has it come to this,
that a man must walk the streets of our
cities and towns in danger of losing his
life, because it is whispered that he has
been guilty of a crime? Are mobs to
be substituted for juries? Is "lynch
law" to take the place of judicial trials
among us? Is society to resolve itself
back into its original elements, and
social chaos to come again? Is one party
among us to set up a standard of political
belief from which no man shall be al
lowed to differ, except on penalty of
outrage and brutal or murderous assault ?
Have we indeed come to such a con
dition under the boasted freedom of
republican institutions?
The country has no greater enemies
in its midst than the men and the news
papers which countenance such out
rages. Every such occurrence which
happens, without being followed by
summary punishment of the offenders,
weakens the respect of the community
for law, gives encouragement to such
as are disposed to violate it, and renders
the life and the property of every citi
zen, without respect to party, less se
cure than it should be. By every deed
of mob violence the public welfare
suffers an injury compared to
which the individual wrong and
outrage is but a little thing.—
No good citizen who understands his
duty to the community in which he
resides, and who is alive to his own best
interests, can remain silent while mobs
run riot in our cities and towns. These
things strike at the very foundation of
our social and politicel structure. They
ought not only to be universally repro
bated and condemned, but, if we are to
be preserved from the most terrible con
sequences of anarchy, they must be
promptly checked and forever crushed
out.
Var We see it stated that before the
war a person worked but half a day in
the week for the Government, and the
remaining five and a half days for him
self; but now, owing to the heavy taxa
tion, which the country will have to
bear for several years to come, and of
which the laboring classes will have to
bear their share, a man will have to
work two days for the Government,
leaving but four for his own benefit.
One's Native Land
President Johnson, although not
given much to poesy or blank verse,
has, nevertheless some taste for the
muses. In reply the other day to a
delegation from North Carolina, his
native state, he said :
"The name of North Carolina, God
bless her, is dear to me. In her bosom
rest the remains of my honored father,
lying in the east of the city of Raleigh.
North Carolina is my mother, though
not my Alma. Mater. Some may have
said that North Carolina is a good State
to emigrate from, but I do not share in
that belief. I feel as the poet said:
"Breathes there a man with soul so dead,
Who never to himself hath said,
This is my own, my native land?"
Who Booth's Reputed Mistress Was.
[From the Richmond Whig.]
Ella Turner—the reputed mistress of
J. Wilkes Booth, the assassin of the
President--once lived in Petersburg,
and subsequently in Richmond, since
the war, and then made her way North.
Her right name is Starr, and she is a
native of Baltimore. Her sister, at
whose house in 'Washington she at
tempted suicide, married a printer, and
moved to. Petersburg, where the conju
gal relation was dissolved, and the two
sisters, travelling about for a while
from Petersburg to Richmond, finally
returned to Washington.
Tliet. Jersey City Times says Edwin
Booth will petition the Maryland Legisla
ture ito change his name to Abraham M.
` 7 llitiftiethFOßrialgtiteTair
We regard the "Declaration of Senti
ment" adopted at the meeting44r Ili .
the Court House on last Saturday, as
nothing other than an expressin tilif the
peculiar
views of ' , Thaddeus ...Stevens
,
-
That :he should be wild, !dab:Only,
vengeful and fanatical to an extreme is
(oexpected. Whether from..,,the.
. .of .
nntnral decay age, or barn some other
caus e , it is sure that he is no longer re
garded by his party at large as a wise
or safe counsellor. During the last ses
sion of Congress he made himself the
laughing stock of the, whole- country
,
Though Chairman of the Committee of
Way's and Means, he proposednorsingle
important measure that' could be ap-•
proved even by his own side of the
House. His prestige is entirely gone,
everywhere else than in this county.
Here he still has some little power . ; just
enough to enable him to have meetings
got up for the purpose of giving ex
pression to his wild and fanatical
ideas. The speeches of Saturday were
but echoes of his voice, and the reso
lutions adopted but a written statement
of his peculiar views. The doctrine of
State suicide, as set forth in the " Dec
laration of Sentiment" adopted by the
meeting, is not less an absurdity than
was the goldlaill which made Mr. Ste
vens an objet of ridicule to the whole
financial and business world. It can
never be adopted or acted upon. The
new President has too much sense to
countenance it for a moment. What
ever he may do, and we fear he will
allow himself to be separated to an in
jurious extent from the safer and more
conciliatory policy of his predecessor,
he will never be guilty of indorsing the
ridiculous policy of Mr. Stevens, as ex
pressed by the meeting held in the
Court House on last Saturday. We
give below a large portion of the speech
delivered by President Johnson to Gov
ernor Mor ton and the delegation from
Indiana. We omit the portions in
which he repeats his declarations
that treason must be punished as a
crime. What we wish to call attention
to is the plain and explicit repudiation
of the radical theory of "State suicide,"
as expressed in the resolutions of the
meeting held in this city on last Satur
day. Here is what Andrew Johnson
says on that subject:
"And while I say that the penalties
of the law,
.in a stern and inflexible
manner, should be executed upon con
scious, intelligent and influential trai
tors—the leaders, who have deceived
thousands upon thousands of laboring
men who have been drawn into the re
bellion; and while I say as to the lead
ers, punishment, I also say leniency,
conciliation and amnesty to the thous
ands whom they have misled and de
ceived. And, in reference to this, as I
remarked, I might have adopted your
speech as my own. As my honorable
friend knows, I long since took
the ground that this government
was sent upon a great mission
among the nations of the earth—
that it had a great work to perform,
and that in starting it, it was started
-into perpetuity. Look back for one
single moment to the articles of con
federation, and then come down to 1787,
when the Constitution was formed.
What do you find;' "That we, the
people of the United States, in order to
form a more perfect government," 8::c.
Provision is made for the admission of
new States to be added to the old ones
embraced in the Union. Now turn to
the Constitution. We find that amend.
ments may be made by a recommenda
tion of two-thirds of the members of
Congress, if ratified by three-fourths of
the States. Provision is made for the
admission of new States; no provision
is made for the secession of old ones.
The instrument was made to be good in
perpetuity, and you can take hold of it,
not to break up the government, but to
go on perfecting it more and more as it
runs down the stream of time. We
find the government composed of
integral parts. An individual is
an integer, and a number of individuals
form a state, and a state itself is an in
teger; and the various States form the
Union, which is itself an integer, they
all making up the government of the
United States. Now we come to the
point of my argument so far as concerns
the perpetuity of the government. We
have seen that the government is com
posed of parts, each essential to
the whole, and the whole essen
tial to each part. Now if an indi
vidual part of a State declare war
against the whole, in violation of the
Constitution, lie, as a citizen, has vio
lated the law, and is responsible for the
act as an individual. There may be
more than one individual. It may go
on till they become parts of States ; the
rebellion may go on increasing in num
bers till State machinery is overturned,
and the country becomes like a man
that is paralyzed on one side. But we
find in the Constitution a great panacea
provided. It provides that the United
States—that is, the greater integer—
shall guarantee to each State (the in
tegers composing the whole) in this
Union a republican form of government.
Yes, if the rebellion has been
rampant, and set aside the ma
chinery of a State for a time,
there stands the great law to remove
the paralysis and revitalize it, and put
it on its feet again. When we come to
understand our system of government,
though it be complex, we see how beau
tifully one part acts in harmony wi'tb
the other. Then we see ourgoverument
is to be a perpetuity, there being no pro
vision for pulling it down, the Union
being its vitalizing power, imparting
life to the whole of the States that
move around it like planets round the
sun, rceiving thence light,: and heat,
and motion. Upon this idea of
destroying States my position has
been heretofore well known and
I see no cause to chance it now ;
and I am glad to hear its reiteration on
the present occasion. Some are satis
fied with the idea that States are to be
lost in territorial and other divisions—
are to lose their character as States.
But their life breath has only been sus
pended, and it is a high constitutional
obligation we have to secure each of
these States in the possession and en
joyment of a republican form of gov
ernment. A State may be in the gov
ernment with a peculiar institution,
and by the operation of rebellion lose
that feature. But it was a State when
it went into rebellion, and when it
comes out without the institution it is
still a State. (Great applause.) I hold
it as a solemn obligation in any one of
these States where the rebel armies
have been beaten back or expelled—l
care not how small the number of Union
men, if enough to man the ship
of tate—l hold it, I say, a high
'duty to protect and secure to them
a republican form of government.—
This is no new opinion. It is ex
pressed in conformity with my under
standing of the genius and theory of
our government. Then, in adjusting
and putting the government upon its
legs again, I think the progress of this
work must pass into the hands of its
friends. (Applause.) If a State is to be
nursed until it again gets strength, it
must be nursed by its friends, not
smothered by its enemies. (Applause.)
Now, permit me to remark that, while
I have opposed dissolution and disin
tegration on the one hand, on the other
_lam equally opposed to consolidation—
(applause)—or the centralization of
power in the hands of a few. Sir,
all this has been extorted from
me by the remarks you have of
fered; and, as I have already re
marked, I might have adopted your
speech as my own. I have detained
you longer than I expected ; but Gov.
Morton is responsible for that. I scarce
ly know how to express my feelings in
view of the kindness you have mani
fested on this occasion. Perhaps I ought
not to add what I am about to say ; but
human nature is human nature. Indi
ana first named me for the Vice-Presi
dency, though it was unsolicited by me.
Indeed, there is not a man can say that
I ever approached him on the subject.
My eyes were turned to my own State. If
-I could restore her the measure of my
ambition was complete. I thank the
State of Indiana for the confidence and
regard she manifested toward me,
which has resulted in what is now be
fore you, placing me in the position I
now occupy. In conclusion, I will re- •
peat that the vigor of my youth has been
spent in advocating those great princi-•
ples as the foundation ofour government
and, therefore, I have been by many de
nounced as a demagogue: . I waS striv
ing to please the
' people. lam free to
say to. you that my lighOtat aiANtioti 1
v7tipTecA 7 ti - tr3 people ; for I believed
that when I pleased them I was pretty
nearly. right ; and, being in the right, I
did not care, who assailed me. But I
was going to say that I have always
advocated the principle'
.that govern
ment was made for man, not man for
government--even as the Good Book
says that the Sabbath was made for
man, not man for the Sabbath. So far
as in me lies, those principles shall be
carried out ; and, in conclusion, I ten
der, you my profound and sincere
thanks for your respect and support in
the performance of the arduous duties
now devolving upon me.
Views: of General - Robert E. Lee on the
Questions or the Day.
A. correspondent of the New York
Wergld .thus reports a protracted con
versation which he had with Gen. Lee
at Richmond,, on the 23d ult.:
GENERAL LEE, VIRGINIA AND THE RE
BELLION. ~
The General's at4ntion,was directed
to his' written and spoken deteraiina
tion to draw his sword in 6fer ae only
of his native State, and the inquiry .was
raised as to what he, considered the de
fense of Virginia, and what degree of
deliberation he had given to that ex
pression. He stated that, as a firm and
honest believer in the doctrine of State
rights, lie had considered his allegiance
due primarily to the State in which he
was born and had always resided. And,
although he was not au advocate of
secession at the 6'utset, when Virginia
seceded he honestV believed it his duty
to abide her fortune. He opposed seces
sion to the last; foreseeing the ruin it
was sure to entail. But when the State'
withdrew from the Union he had no
recourse, in his views of honor and pa
triotism, but to abide her fortunes. He
went • with her, intending to remain
merely a private citizen. When he re
signed his commission in the United
States army he had no intention of tak
ing up arms in any other service, and
least of all in a service antagonistic to
the United States. His State, however,
called for him, and, entertaining the
fixed principles he did of State sove
reignty, he had no alternative but to
accept the service to which he was
called. When he made use of the dec
larations that have been so extensively
quoted of late, he had accepted only a
commission from Virginia. Subse
quently, when Virginia attached her
self to the Southern Confederacy, the
same political impressions impelled him
to follow her, and when he accepted
service under the rebel government he
did so on the principle that he was de
fending his native State. And yet, by
the act of accepting such service he was
bound in honor to serve in any part of
the Confederacy where he might be
called, without reference to State lines ;
and the reconciliation with his former
avowal, if any were necessary, was
found in the fact that Virginia, stand
ing or falling with the other Southern
States, in defending them all he was
defending the one to which he con
sidered his allegiance primarily due.
THE SIGNIFICANCE OF HIS SURRENDER.
As to the effect of his surrender, he
was free to say it was a severe blow to
the South, but not a crushing blow. It
was of military,not political significance.
I asked, was not that a surrender of the
doctrine of State rights. By no means,
the General replied. When the South
shall be wholly subdued there will then
undeniably be a surrender of that doc
trine. But the surrender of a single
army is simply a military necessity.—
The army of Northern Virginia was
surrendered because further resistance
on its part would only entail a useless
sacrifice of life. But that army was
merely a part of the force of the South.
When the South shall be forced to sur
render all its forces, and returns to the
Union, it indisputably, by that act, sur
renders its favorite doctrine of secession.
That principle will then be settled by
military power.
STATE RIGHTS.
On this question of State sovereignty
the General contends that there exists a
legitimate cams belli. In the conven
tion that formed the organic law of the
land, the question of defining the re
lative powers of the States, and their
relation to the general government, was
raised, but after much discussion was
dropped and left unsettled. It has re
mained so unsettled until the present
time. This war is destined to set it at
rest. It is unfortunate that it was not
settled at the outset ; but as it was not
settled then, and had to be settled at
some time, the war raised on this issue
cannot be considered treason. If the
South is forced to submission in this
contest, it of course can only be looked
upon as the triumph of federal power
over State rights, and the forced anni
hilation of the latter.
THE SOUTH ANXIOUS FOR PEACE TWO
YEARS AGO.
With reference to the war in the
abstract, the General declared it as his
honest belief thatpeace was practicable
two years ago, and has been practicable
from that time to the present day when
ever the general government should see
fitto seek it,giving any reasonablechance
for the country to escape the consequen
ces which the exasperated North seem
ed determined to impose. The South
has,
during all this time, been ready
and anxious for peace. They have been
looking for some word or expression of
compromise or conciliation from the
North ,upon which they might base a
return to the Union. They were not
prepared, nor are they yet, to come and
beg for terms ; but were ready to accept
any fair and honorable terms, their own
political views beinr , '' considered. The
question of slavery did not lay in the
way at all. The best men of the South
have long been anxious to do away with
this institution, and were quite willing
to-day to see it abolished. They con
sider slavery forever dead. But with
them, in relation to this subject, the
question has ever been, " What will
you do with the freed people ?" That
is. the serious question to-day, and one
that cannot be winked at. It must be
met practically and treated intelligently.
The uegroes must be disposed of, and if
their disposition can be marked out, the
matter of freeing them is at once settled.
But unless some humane course is
adopted, based on wisdom and Christian
principles, you do a gross wrong and in
justice to the whole negro race in setting
them free. And it is only this consider.
ation that has led the wisdom intelli
gence and Christianity of the Sobtli to
support and defend the institution up to
this time.
TEE GENERAL A NATIONAL MAN.
The conversation then turned into
other channels, and finally touched
upon the prospects of peace. And here
a very noticeable form of expression
was used by the General. In speaking
of the probable course of the adminis
tration towards the South, the General
remarked that, "if we do" so and so.
I immediately called his attention to
the expression, and sought an explana
tion of the sense in which he used the
pronoun " we," but obtained none other
than a marked repetition of it. It was
noticeable throughout the entire inter
view that in no single instance did he
speak of the Southern confederacy, nor
of the Yankees nor the rebels. He
frequently alluded to the country, and
expressed most earnestly his solicitude
for its restoration to peace and tran
quility, cautiously avoiding any expres
sion that would imply the possibility of
its disintegration.
THE SOUTH NOT YET CONQUERED.
Throughout all the conversation he
manifested an earnest desire that such
counsels should prevail and such policies
be pursued as would conduce to an im
mediate peace, implying in his remarks
that peace was now at our option. But
he was particular to say that, should
arbitrary or vindictive or revengeful
policies be adopted, the end was not yet.
There yet remained a great deal of
vitality and strength in the South.
There were undeveloped resources and
hitherto unavailable sources of strength,
which harsh measures on our part
would call into aetion ; and that the
South could protra9t the struggle for an
indefinite period. We might, it was
true, destroy all that remained of the
country east of the Mississippi river by
a lavish expenditure of men and means ;
but then we would be required to fight
on the other side of that river, and, after
subduing theni there, we would be com
pelled to follow them into Mexico, and
thus the struggle would be prolonged,
until the whole country would be im
poverished and ruined. And this we
would be compelled to do if extermina
tion, confiscation and general annihila
tion and destruction are to be our policy.
For if a people are to be destroyed they
will sell their lives as dearly aspossible.
CONDEMNATION OF THE ASSASSINATION
OF PRESIDENT LINCOLN.
The assassination of the President was
then spoken of. The General considered
this event in itself one of the most de
plorable !that could have occurred. As
drinAlt,was nne.xanipled and beyond
ekeeration. was a crime that no good
Matt' could. approve from any conceiv-
. - .
able motive. Undoubtedly the effort
would be made to fasten the respon
sibility of it upon the South; but, from
his intimate acquaintance with the
leading men of the South, he was confi
dent there' was not one of 'them who
would sanction or approve it. ',The
scheme was wholly unknown in, the
South before its execution, and would
never have received the slightest en
couragement 'had it been known,; but,
on the contrary, the most severe execra
tion. I called the General's attention,
at this point, to a notice that had been
printed in the Northern papers, purport
ing to have been taken from a paper
published in the interior of the South,
proposing, for the sum of one million of
dollars, to undertake the assassination
of the President and his Cabinet. The
General affirmed that he had never seen
nor heard of such a proposition nor did
he believe it had ever been printed in
the South ; though if it had, it had been
permitted merely as the whim of some
crazy pexson that could possibly amount
to nothing. Such a crime was an ano
maly in' the history of our country, and
we had yet before its perpetration to
learn that it was possible of either earn
est conception or actual execution.
THE SOUTH NEVER HALF IN EARNEST
IN THE WAR.
It was a most singular and remarka
ble expression to escape the lips of such
a man as Gen. Lee that " the South was
never more than half in earnest in this
war." I cannot attempt to translate
this remark or elucidate it. Its utter
ence conveyed to me the impression
that the South was most heartily sick
of the war, and anxious to get back into
the Union and to peace. The General
added that they went off after political
leaders in a moment ofpassion and under
the excitement of fancied wrongs, hon
estly believing that they were entering
a struggle for an inalienable right and a
fundamental principle of their political
creed. A man should not be judged
harshly for contending for that which
he honestly believes to be right. Such
was the position of the vast majority of
the Southern people now. And now
that they are defeated they consider that
they have lost everything that is worth
contending for in the government.
They have sacrificed home, friends, pro
perty, health, all on this issue. Men do
not make such sacrifices for nothing.
They have made the sacrificefrom honest
convictions.
EXPATRIATION SCHEMES.
And now that they have lost in the
?issue, they feel that they have no in
terests left in this country. It is the
opinion of General Lee that unless
moderation and liberality be exercised
towards them the country will lose its
best people. Already, he says, they
are seeking to expatriate themselves,
and numerous schemes are started to go
to Mexico, to Brazil, to Canada, to
France and elsewhere. He is called
upon frequently to discountenance and
suppress such undertakings. The coun
try needs these young men. They are
its bone and sinew, its intelligence and
enterprise, its hope for the future, and
wisdom demands that no effort be spared
to keep them in the country and pacify
them.
GENERAL LEE'S STANDPOINT
It was a most noticeable feature of the
conversation that Gen. Lee, strange as
it may appear, talked throughout as a
citizen of the United States. He seemed
to plant himself on the national plat
form, and take his observations from
that standpoint. He talked calmly,
deliberately and earnestly, but with no
show of interest other or different from
what might be expected from an honest
believer in hie peculiar opinions.
THE TERMS OF PEACE.
The conversation, which had been
greatly protracted, so much so that I be
came uneasy for fear of trespassing on
time that I had no . right to claim, ter
minated with some allusions to the
terms of peace. Here there was, per
haps naturally and properly, more re
ticence than on any other topic. But it
was plain from what transpired that
the only question in the way of immedi
ate peace was the treatment to be ac
corded the vanquished. Everything
else, by implication, seems to be sur
rendered. Slavery, State rights, the
doctrine of secession, and whatever else
of political policy may be involved in
the strife is abandoned, the only barrier
to an immediate and universal suspen
sion of hostilities and return to the
Union being the treatment the national
anthorities may promise those who have
been resisting is power and paramount
authority. It is proper to say that this
was not so stated by General Lee, but is
simply an inference from the conversa
tion that took place on that topic. On
the contrary, the General seemed very
cautious in regard to terms. In order
to get at his views, if possible,
I suggested the conservative sell-
Gent of the North, which proposed
neral amesty to all soldiers and mili
tary officers, but that the political lead
ers of the South be held to a strict ac
countability. "Would that be just?"
he asked. What has Mr. Davis done
more than any other Southerner, that
he should be punished? It is true he
has occupied a prominent position as
the agent of a whole people, but that
has made him no more nor less a rebel
than the rest. His acts were the acts of
the whole people, and the acts of the
whole people were his acts. He was
not accountable for the commencement
of the struggle. On the contrary, he
was one of the last to give in his ad
herence to the secession movement,
having strenuously opposed it from the
outset and portrayed its ruinous conse
quences in his speeches and by his writ
ings. Why, therefore, should he suffer
more than others ?" Of course, it was
not my province to discuss these ques
tions, and as this illustration disclosed
the bent of General's mind it was all
that I desired to know.
GENERAL LEE'S PERSONAL WISHES FOR
In taking leave of the General, I took
occasion to say that he was greatly re
spected by a very large body of good
men , at the North, and that as a soldier
he•as universally admired, and that it
was earnestly hoped that he would yet
lead an army of United States troops in
the enforcement of the Monroe doctrine.
He thanked me for the expression of
Northern sentiment toward himself, but
as for more fighting he felt that he was
getting too old ; his only desire now be
id to be permitted to retire to private
life and end his (lays in seclusion. It
was, I thought, an evidence of painful
sadness at heart that prompted the added
expression that he would have been
pleased had his life been taken in any
of the numerous battle fields on which
he had fought during this war.
THE CUSTIS SLAVES
While talking on the subject of the
abolition of slavery I remarked that it
had lately been charged in some of the
newspapers of the North that the Custis
slaves, some two hundred in number,
who had been left in Gen. Lee's custody
for emancipation, had not been emanci
pated. The General said this was a mis
take. As executor of the will he was
required to emancipate these slaves at
a certain time. That time had not ar
rived when the war broke out. It did
arrive one or two years afterwards. At
that time he could not get to the courts
of the county in which Arlington is
located to take out the emancipation
papers as prescribed by law. But he
did take out papers from the Supreme
Court of the Statein this city, liberating
them all, and they are so recorded in
the recordsof that court. He sent word
of their freedom to Arlington, and the
necessary papers were sent to those at
the White House, and to all others that
could be reached, and they were all thus
liberated, together with a number who
were either the General's or Mrs. Lee's
private property.
The Rebel Ram Stonewall on a Cruise.
Information has been received that
the rebel ram Stonewall, Captain Page,
arrived at Teneriffe on the 31st of March,
in three days from Lisbon. She was
allowed to take coal and provisions, but
was required to leave port at the expira
tion of twenty-four hours. She took on
board one hundred and thirty tons of
coal, and left April 1, at 6 o'clock P. M.,
and steamed rapidly to the southward.
Our Consul at Teneriffe, Mr. Dabney,
could hear nothing of her probable des
tination. The Stonewall rolled very
much while at anchor. At sea this
would be a serious difficulty in the suc
cessful management of her guns.
In view of the possibility of this for
midable vessel visiting our coast, the
Navy Department is distributing iron
clads all along the coast, and preparing
all the torpedo vessels for service.
Reported Death of John Bell.
[From the Naahvtlle Timee.l
A report hasreached hereof the death
of John Bell, in Alabama, about a fort
night ago. The intelligence comes
through channels of the highest respect
ability. It was comumnioated at Mur
freesboro' to a gentleman by a lady
whose family are In froguent comma-f
nication with the South. , ,
The Last Roars of Booth.'
The correspondent of the New York
Herald gives the following account of
the last hours of J. W. Booth :
Proceeding to the barn, Lieut. Baker
wassent forward, and called upon Booth
to come out, give up his arms and sur
render, and that young Garrett won]. •
come into the barn to receive his arms'.
Upon his entering the barn Booth said
to the young man, " Get out of here ;
you have betrayed me."
Under the direction of Col. Conger, a
colloquy then took place between Lieut.
Baker and Booth, of which the follow
ing is the substance :
Lieut. Baker—You must give up your
arms and surrender. We have come to
take you a prisoner ; and will treat you
as a prisoner. We will give you five
minutes to surrender, or we will burn
the barn.
Booth—Who are you, and what do
you want?
Instructions had been given to Lieut.
Baker not to disclose the character of
those who were in pursuit.
Lieut. Baker—We want you. We in-
tend to take you prisoner.
Booth—This is a hard case. It may
be that I am to be taken by my friends.
After some further colloquy of this
sort Booth, seemingly convinced th'itt
he was in the coils of Federal soldiers,
said :
"Give me a chance for my life. I
am a cripple, with one leg. Withdraw
your men one hundred yards from the
barn and I will come out and fight ,
you."
Lieut. Baker—We did not come here
to fight, but to take you prisoner. You
must give up your arms and surrender.
Booth—Let me have time to con
sider.
A conversation in the barn between
Booth and Harold then took place,
which was not overheard by the party
outside. In about fifteen or twenty
minutes Booth called out, "Who are
you? I could have picked off half a
dOzeu of your men while you were
talking. I could have shot you two or
three times, but don't want to kill an
Lieut. Baker—Then give up your
arms and surrender. We have come
here to take you.
Booth—l will never surrender. I will
never be taken alive.
Lieut. Baker—lf you don't do so im
mediately we will set fire to the barn.
Booth—Well, my brave boys, prepare
a stretcher for me.
After this a conversation took place
inside between Booth and Harold, dur
ing which Booth was heard to say:
" You damned coward, will you leave
me now ? But go—go. I don't want
you to stay with me."
He then addressed the party outside,
and said : "'There is a man here who
wants to come out."
Lieut. Baker—Let him hand out his
arms and come out.
Another talk here occurred between
Booth and Harold, in which it appeared
that the latter was begging to be al
lowed to take out some arms with him,
and Booth was heard to say, "Go away
from me. I don't want anything more
to do with you."
Harold then came to the door, and
asked to be let out. Lieut. Baker said,
" ; hand out your arms." Harold
replied, " I have none."
Lieut. Baker—Yes, you have; you
carried a carbine when you came here.
You must hand it out.
Booth—He has no arms. They are
all mine. Upon my word as a gentle
man, he has no arms. All that are here
belong to me.
Lieutenant Baker then approached
the door. Harold thrust out his hands
and was pulled from the door, tied, and
placed in charge of a guard.
When Harold had come out, Colonel
Conger was satisfied that further parley
with Booth was vain ; that he would
not surrender ; and, passing to the other
side of the barn he pulled out a whisp
of hay from one of the crevices, and
lighting it by a match, thrust it back
among the hay. Within a few minutes
the blazing hay lighted up the in
side of the barn. Booth, who was at
first discovered leaning upon a crutch,
threw it down, and with the carbine in
his hands, came towards the side where
the fire had been applied. But the
light of the fire inside prevented him
from seeing who was on the outside.—
He paused, looked at the fire for a mo
ment, and then started towards the
door.
When about the middle of the barn
he was shot by Sergeant Corbett, who
had, meanwhile, crept up to the barn,
and fired through a crevice of the
boards. It is the opinion of Colonel
Baker's officers that if this shot had not
been fired, they would in a few minutes
more have had the assassin in their
custody alive.
Booth fell on the floor of the barn.
Colonel Conger and Lieutenant Baker
immediately entered, and with the as
sistance of two of the soldiers, removed
the wounded man and placed him on
the grass outside of the barn. He ap
peared to be insensible, but in a few mi
nutes partially revived, and made efforts
to speak. By placing his ear close to
Booth's mouth, Col. Conger heard him
say," Tell mother I die for my coun
try."
He was then carried to the porch of
Garrett's house. Col. Conger sent to
Port Royal for a physician, who, on his
arrival, found Booth dying. Before the
moment of final dissolution he repeated :
" Tell mother I died for my country.
I did what I thought was for the best."
When an effort was made to revive
him, by bathing his face and hands in
cold water, he uttered the words, " use
less—useless."
He was shot at about fifteen minutes
past three a. m., and died a little after
seven a. m. on Wednesday.
When it was ascertained that he was
dead, the body was placed upon a cart
—the only conveyance that could be
procured—and brought to Belle Plain,
where it was placed upon the steamer
and conveyed to the Navy Yarid at
Washington. After it was de-
- - -
posited there it was identified by
Doctor May, of this city, who had
on one occasion cut a tumor from
Booth's neck, and recognized the scar
thus made. It was also identified by
some thirty others, who wree familiar
with Booth during his lifetime. The
body was somewhat bruised on the
back and shoulders by the ride in the
cart from Garrett's farm to Belle Plain
but the features were intact and per
fectly recognizable.
After the identification, by order of
the War Department the body was pri
vately interred, in the clothing which
was upon it at the time Booth was shpt.
Previous to being landed at the navy
yard the body of Booth was for a time
placed upon a gunboat in the harbor,
and sonic. of the officers availed them-
_ .
selves of the opportunity to secure locks
of the hair of the murderer.
Circumstances of the Arrest of Junius
Brutus Booth
[From the Philadelphia Ledger, April 29.]
There were peculiar circumstances
connected with the arrestof Junius Bru
tus Booth in this city. After his arrest
by Detective Krupp he was taken to the
Provost-Marshal's office, to await the
departure of the train for Washington.
While in the office, he was in charge
of two men as a guard. He engaged in
very little conversation, but was
smoking a cigar, and during this time
he frequently took from his pocket what
appeared to be scraps of paper with
which to light his cigar. The guard
did not attach any importance to the
act, but it afterward transpired that
these were letters and envelopes which
were thus destroyed. After he had
been sent away, the attention of Capt.
Lane and Commisssioner Barrett was
called to the fact ; they gathered to
gether the fragments, but the letters
were so effectually destroyed that
nothing can now be gained from them.
The corner of all envelope showed the
printed inscription, "British Province,"
and a small remnant of the letter inside
of this envelope contains only the words
"your brother." 1
While in the office Junius Booth was
engaged in looking over the Bible on the
table. When he had finished this he
took a narrow slip of paper and wrote
what now appears to have been a letter.
It was written on both sides ' • but as
soon as finished he tore them into small
pieces and threw them into the spit-box
or on the floor. After he was gone an
attempt was made to collect the frag
ments of this letter, but without success.
Enough was found to show that the
letter was intended for his sister, and
referred to the fact that he was waiting
in the Marshal's office for the cars. He
bade her be of good cheer. There is
also a reference to grandma," but the
rest of the sentence is gone. Attention
is called to two psalms ; one can be made
out—the forty-ninth ; the other is not
decipherable, as a part of the numerals
are torn off and lost.
--At leteet.acxsounte the guerrillas were
in quiet possession of Uniontown, Ky.
order . 'Or the '*ar Depart-
following itnportant order has
been -issued- by. the War, Department :
WAR DEPARTMENT, ADJ'T GENER
AL'S OFFICE, WASHINGTON, April 28,
18 65—General Order, No. 77.—For re
ducing the expenses of the military
establishment.
Ordered First. That the chiefs of the
respective 'bureaus of this department
proceed immediately, to reduce the ex
penses of their respective departments
to what Is absolutely necessary, in view
of an immediate reduction of the forces
'in the field, and garrisons, and the
speedy termination of hostilities, and
that they severally make out statements
of the reduction they deem practicable.
Second. That the Quartermaster Gen
eral discharge all ocean transports not
required to bring home troopsin remote
departments. All river and inland
transportation will be discharged, ex
cept that required for the necessary sup
phes to troops in the field. Purchases
of horses, mules, wagons, and other
land transportation will be stopped; also
purchases of forage, except what is re
quiredforim mediate consumption. All
purchases for railroad construction and
transportation will also be stopped.
Third. That the Commissary General
of subsistence stop the purchase of sup
plies in his department, for such as 'nay,
with what is on hand, be required for
the forces in the field to the Ist of June
next.
Fourth. That the Chief of Ordnance
stop all purchase of arms, ammunition
and material therefor, and reduce the
manufacturing of arms and ordnance
stores in Government arsenals as rapid
ly as can be done without injury to the
service.
Fifth. That the Chief of Engineers
stop work on all field fortifications awl
other works, except those for which
specific appropriations have been made
by Congress for completion or that may
be required for the proper protection of
works in progress.
Sixth. That all soldiers in hospitals
who require no further medical treat
ment be honorably discharged from
service, with immediate payment. All
officers and enlisted men who have
been prisoners of war, and are now on
furlough or at parole camps, and all re
cruits in rendezvous, except those for
the regular army, will likewise be hon
orably discharged. Officers whose duty
it is under the regulations of the service
to make out rolls and other final papers
connected with the discharge and pay
ment of soldiers, are directed to make
them out without delay, so that this
order may be carried into effect imme
diately.
Seventh. The Adjutant General of
the army will cause immediate returns
to be made by all commanders in the
field, garrisons, detachments and posts
of their respective forces, with a view
to their immediate reduction.
Eighth. The Quartermasters of Sub
sistence, Ordnance, Engineers and Pro
vost Marshal Generals Departments
will reduce the number of clerks oil
employees to that absolutely required
for closing the business of their respec
tive departments, and will without
delay report to the Secretary of War
the number required of each class or
grade. The Surgeon general will make
similar reduction of surgeons, nurses
nd attendants in his bureau
Ninth. The chiefs of the respective
bureaus will immediately cause property
returns to be made out of public prop
erty in their charge, and a statement of
property in each that may be sold upon
advertisement and public sale without
prejudice to the service.
. -
Tenth. That the Commissary of Pri,-
oilers will have rolls made out of the
name, residence, time and place of cap
ture, and occupation of all prisoners or
war who willtake the oath of allegiance
to the United Sties, to the end that
such as are disped to become good
and loyal citizens of the United States,
and who are proper objects of execut i ce
clemency, may be released upon terms
that to the President shall seem lit and
consistent with the public safety.
By order of the Secretary of War :
W. A. NicHoLs, A. A. G.
(Official.) T. M. ViNclixT, A. A. G.
Booth's Burial Place
The correspondent of the New York
World, atthe conclusion of a most inter
esting account of the capture of Rooth
gives the following account of the dis
posal of his remains :
The Secretary of War, without in
structions of any kind, committed to
Colonel Lafayette C. Baker of the se
cret service, the stark corpse of .1.
Wilkes Booth. The sect et service
never fulfilled its volition more secret
ively. "What have you done with the
body ?" said I to Baker. "That is
known" he answered "to only one
man living beside myself. It is gone.
I will not tell you where. The only
man who knows is sworn to silence.
Never till the great trumpeter collies
shall the grave of Booth be discovered."
And this is true. Last night, the _7th
of April, a small row boat received the
carcass of the murderer; two intm
were in it ; they carried the body
off into the darkness, and out of
that darkness it will never return. In
the darkness, like his great crime, may z.
itremain forever, impalpable, invisible,
nondescript, condemned to that worse
than damnation, annihilation. The
river bottom may ooze about it hider/
with great shot and drowning manacles.
The earth may have opened to give it
that silence and forgiveness which man
will never give its memory. The fishes
may swim around it, or the daisies grow
white above it; but we shall never
know. Mysterious, incomprehensible,
unattainable, like the dim times through
which we live and think upon as if we
only dreamed them in perturbid fever,
the assassin of a nation's head rests
somewhere in the elements, and that is
all ; but if the indignant seas or the pro
faned turf shall ever vomit this corpse
from their recesses, and it receives
humane or Christian burial from sonic
who do not recognize it, let the last
words those decaying lips ever uttered
be carved above them with a dagger, to
tell the history of a young and once
promising life—useless ! useless!
John Wilkes Booth's Last Letter to Ilk
Mother
A letter written by John Wilkes Booth
to his mother, dated on the morning of
the 14th of April, the day of assassina
tion, has fallen into the hands of the
government authorities. It is directed
to " Mrs. M. A. Booth, No. 28 East
Nineteenth street, New York, N. V.,'
and hears a Washington, D. C., Post
al-ice stamp dated Aprill4. it bears the
appearance of having been written in
considerable haste, and is contained on
one side of half a sheet of note paper .
APRIL 14-2 A. M
. .
DEAREST MOTHER—I know you ex
pect a letter from me, and am sure you
will hardly forgive me. But indeed I
havehad nothing to write about. Every
thing is dull; that is, has been till last
night. (The illumination.) Every
thing was bright and splendid. More
so in my eyes if it had been a display
in a nobler cause. But so goes the
world. Might makes right. 1 only
drop you these few lines to let you know
I am well, and to say I have not heard
from you. Excuse brevity, I am in
haste. Had one from Rose. With best
love to you all, I am your affectionate
son ever, JOHN.
Lo, the Poor Brigadier.
We will suppose the war over and
peace declared. To do so is only look
ing a little way Into the future. Peace
being declared, and all things having
resumed their old time routine, what is
to become - of the caravan of the politi
cal Brigadier Generals, two-thirds of
whom have loafed and lived, and
liquored up at the expense of Uncle
Samuel. Where will the poor Briga
diers go to find comfort, not to say
salary? On training days, in times
gone by, a Brigadier was au enormous
b e i ng , and a matter of awe, and cocked
hat, spurs, gold lace to the gaping crowd,
and fearfully and majestically wonder
ful. Now a Brigadier is regarded in
most instances as a joke, a political sar
casm upon the military. Not much
more respect is paid his title, in com
mon conversation, than to that of an
Orderly Sergeant or a Drum Major.
Alas for theJigadier Brindles.—S'undog
Mercury. -
VW - The Tribune says, that had Presi
dent Lincoln lived, there would have
been no armed force in the field, at
farthest, in thirty days ; and that the
war would by that time have been fin
ished forever ;--but that now, no mortal
can foretell the limit or duratioh of the
. . .