Plots  against  His  Life.  221

declares,  a  plot,  the  extent  and  ramifications  of  which
have  never  yet  been  fully  made  known,  had  long  been
formed  to  assassinate  the  President  and  the  prominent
members  of  the  Cabinet.  "  Originating  in  the  Con-
federate Government,  this  act,  with  others,  such  as  the
attempt  to  fire  New  York,  .  .  .  was  confided  to  an
association  of  army  officers,  who,  when  sent  on  these
errands,  were  said  to  be  on  '  detached  service/ "
There  is  direct  proof  of  Booth's  actual  consultation
with  officers  known  to  belong  to  this  organisation,
during  Lee's  retreat  from  Gettysburg.  The  assassina-
tion of  the  President  was  a  thing  so  commonly  talked
of  in  the  South  as  to  excite  no  surprise.  A  reward
was  actually  offered  in  one  of  the  Southern  papers  for
"the  murder  of  the  President,  Vice-President,  and
Secretary  Seward."  Now  when  such  an  ofTer  is
followed  by  such  an  attempt,  few  persons  would  deny
the  connection.  It  is  true  that  there  were,  even
among  the  most  zealous  Union-men  at  this  time,
some  whose  desire  to  acquire  political  influence  in  the
South,  and  be  regarded  as  conciliators,  was  so  great,
that  they  hastened  to  protest,  as  zealously  as  any
rebels,  that  the  Confederate  Government  had  no  know-
ledge of  the  plot.  Perhaps  from  the  depths  of  Mr.
Jefferson  Davis's  inner  conscience  there  may  yet  come
forth  some  tardy  avowal  of  the  truth.  When  that
gentleman  was  arrested,  he  protested  that  he  had
done  nothing  for  which  he  could  be  punished ;  but


Life  of  Abraham  Lincoln.
