That he
was capable of conspiring to murder Abraham Lincoln was inconceivable.
That the charge should be made and pressed seriously by the National
Government was a disgrace to the country.
Charles O'Connor, the greatest lawyer in America, indignant at the
outrage, had offered his services to the prisoner. Socola hastened to a
conference with O'Connor and placed himself at his command.
The lawyer sent him to Washington to find out the master mind at the
bottom of these remarkable proceedings.
"Johnson the President," he warned, "is only a tool in the hands of a
_stronger_ man. Find that man. Stanton, the Secretary of War, is
vindictive enough, but he lacks the cunning. Stevens, the leader of the
House, is the real ruler of the Nation at this moment. Yet I have the
most positive information that Stevens sneers at the attempt to accuse
Davis of the assassination of Lincoln. Stevens hated Lincoln only a
degree less than he hates Davis. He is blunt, outspoken, brutal in his
views. There can be no question of the honesty of his position. Sumner,
the leader of the Senate, is incapable of such low intrigue. Find the
man and report to me."
Socola found him within six hours after his arrival in Washington. He
was morally sure of him from the moment he left O'Connor's office.
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