government at Richmond, and in this department of the service Jacob Thompson seems to have been Secretary of the Treasury. He kept his deposits largely in the Ontario Bank of Montreal, and his credits there arose from Southern bills of exchange on London. The object of the writer in this introductory chapter has been to place clearly before his readers the formidable character of the conspiracy, which, with the President of the Confederacy at its head, and organized by his Canada Cabinet, was intended to throw the loyal North into a state of chaotic confusion and bring to the aid of their sinking cause the disloyal element all over the North, by a series of assassinations which would leave the nation without a civil and military head and without any constitutional way of electing another President, and at the same time would deprive the armies of the United States of a lawful commander. This was the last card of the political leaders of the rebellion, the last desperate resort to retrieve a cause that had been manifestly lost in open warfare. It may seem like temerity in the writer to make such a charge involving a total disregard of the laws of civilized warfare, and such utter moral depravity on the part of these conspirators, and to claim for their wicked project the approval of Jefferson Davis, but the evidence in the possession of the government and adduced before the Commission, it will be seen, fully justified the government in making this charge. The persons brought before the Commission, though in full sympathy in sentiment with their employers, were merely the tools and hired assassins of the Canada Cabinet, acting under the advice and sanction of their chief. I shall now proceed to bring before my readers the denouement of their plot, and, from the evidence given before the Commission, show that the origin, scope and purpose of the conspiracy have been truly indicated above.

CHAPTER II.

PREPARATIONS FOR THE EXECUTION OF THE PLOT.

The evidence which will be hereafter referred to shows that John Wilkes Booth and John H. Surratt had, as early as the latter part of October, or early in November, 1864, entered into a contract with Davis's Canada Cabinet to accomplish the assassinations they had planned, and that they immediately entered upon their work of preparation. It would seem from the evidence, that at that time the purpose was to execute their designs at a much earlier date than they did; and that this delay was occasioned by the Canada conspirators.

J. WILKES BOOTH.

Surratt and Booth, however, were busied from that time on in making their preparations. The first step was to enlist in the conspiracy a sufficient number of competent and reliable assistants, to each one of whom was assigned the part he was to take in it, and to train, equip, and prepare him for the part assigned him. The assassination of President Lincoln had fallen to Payne by lot; and to him was entrusted the task of making all needed preparations. Payne had visited Canada during the fall of 1864, and probably there made the acquaintance of Booth. To a man of Booth's sagacity, a mere glance at Payne would be sufficient to impress him with the idea that he was one of the helpers he wanted; and as we find him as early as February, 1865, transplanted to Washington City by Booth and Surratt, and from that time on associating with them very intimately but very secretly, and without employment, or visible means, passing back and forth between Washington and Baltimore, and finally provided with quarters in Washington by Surratt, there can be no doubt that he was early enlisted in the conspiracy, and supported by the Canada Cabinet through their agents in Washington—Booth and Surratt. The author is led to conclude from studying the evidence that Booth and Surratt were acting under a considerable latitude of provisional instructions, and that to them was entrusted the selection of the time and place for the accomplishment of their purpose. There were a number of persons in Canada, members of the conspiracy, who were expected to take an active part in its execution; and it is altogether probable that the original plan contemplated the accomplishment of these assassinations as opportunities could be found or made, and that for each one a man had been assigned.

John Wilkes Booth and John Harrison Surratt were the leaders of the conspiracy in Washington, they having proposed to their co-conspirators in Canada to accomplish for them the assassinations they had planned.

They were stimulated by their intense hostility to the administration of President Lincoln and desire for the establishment of the Southern Confederacy, and also by the delusive idea of winning enduring fame and the lasting gratitude of their countrymen of the South for being thus the instruments of retrieving the fortunes of their dying cause. But in addition to these considerations, they had large promises of pecuniary reward. They were, in fact, the hired assassins of Jefferson Davis and his Canada Cabinet.

These two men had been engaged for months in making their preparations for the assassination of the President, Vice-President, Secretary Seward, and General Grant. They visited and conferred with the Canada conspirators from time to time during the summer and fall of 1864, and early winter of 1865. They traversed the counties of Prince George, Charles, and St. Mary's, Maryland, lying along the north side of the Potomac below Washington, to prepare the way for escape by securing confederates along the contemplated route who would assist in facilitating their flight by aiding them in their progress, or by concealing them if necessary. Booth had spent some time in this work during the fall and early winter, making himself familiar with the geography of the country, roads, etc., under the pretence that he desired to purchase lands in Maryland. He found in Charles County Dr. S. A. Mudd, who sympathized with his plans, and entered into them at least so far as to pledge him any assistance he could give him in making his escape. Mudd also visited Booth two or three times in Washington during the winter, introducing him on the occasion of his first visit to John H. Surratt; and in the course of these visits he was always found in company with Booth and others of the conspirators who were to take an active part in its accomplishment, and was no doubt kept well informed of the progress of their preparations, and of the time when it would be attempted after that had been determined upon. Surratt also spent much time during the winter in this part of Maryland, in preparation for the work. Being at home there, he could render Booth valuable assistance by procuring friends who would aid him in his flight, and in getting him across the Potomac at the selected point. As this was on the line of a regular underground mail route between Washington and Richmond, with which Surratt was familiar, he, of course, had no difficulty in making satisfactory arrangements, the great mass of the population in all of these counties being intensely disloyal.

They had selected and arranged with Payne, Atzerodt, O'Laughlin, Arnold, Herold, Spangler, and numerous other parties who were never made known, to take an active part in the work of assassination, or to aid them in their escape. Booth and Surratt had provided horses for the occasion, and, with Atzerodt and Herold, were known to a number of liverymen of whom they were liberal and frequent patrons.

Surratt provided quarters for Payne at the Herndon House, representing him to be a delicate gentleman,