Beschreibung:

LINCOLN ASSASSINATION]. An archive, comprising four retained drafts of letters by Beverley Tucker, an ALS of James M. Mason (1798-1871) and two other letters addressed to Tucker, and a secretarial copy of Tucker's letter to Reverdy Johnson, Montreal, Liverpool and Mexico City, 1 February 1865 to 15 December 1865. Together 40 pages, 4to and 8vo. [With]: TUCKER. Address of Beverley Tucker to the People of the United States...Relating to President Johnson's Proclamation of 2nd May, 1865 . Montreal: M. Longmoore & Co., 1865. 44 pp., 12mo, self-wrappers, stabbed and sewn. . Howes T393. Rare. ACCUSED IN THE LINCOLN ASSASSINATION CONPIRACY: THE PLIGHT OF A CONFEDERATE AGENT IN CANADA An archive relating to Tucker's predicament at the end of the war. The unfortunate Confederate had gone to Canada in late 1864, ostensibly to negotiate the exchange of Confederate cotton for Canadian pork. But when exhaustive investigation into Lincoln's assassination uncovered a rumor that John Surratt had fled to Canada, several individuals including Tucker were publicly sought by Federal officials. In a proclamation of May 2nd, President Johnson offered rewards for a number of individuals linked to the assassination (including Jefferson Davis), and posted a $25,000 bounty on Tucker. Here, Tucker writes to George Biddle (on 1 Feb.1865), on the approaching end of the war: "this terrible conflict has aged [my heart] considerably...you are right in your estimate of the Southern race-- they will never submit to reconstruction , as an initial condition of peace." Shortly after Johnson's Proclamation, Tucker published his indignant Address...to the People of the United States , in which he vehemently refutes the charges against him, implying that Andrew Johnson had more to gain by Lincoln's death than anyone implicated in the plot. On 29 May, Confederate diplomat James Mason writes to Tucker from England: "The atrocious proclamation of Andrew Johnson shocked the moral sense of all of England, and the blow intended, recoiled with intense effect upon its author." He deplores "the indecent charge, that the Confederates, either in Canada, or at Richmond, had anything to do with the assassination." Mason goes on to assert that "If there are any proofs , I do not mean vague surmises, that Booth was an acquaintance of the new President, they should certainly be brought out. I think it highly probable that he was...that Booth was an habitué of the hotel-saloons at Washington, and was received with great favour, by the wives and daughters of public men from the North." He warns Tucker: "It would go hard with you...were the Yankees to accept your proffer to undergo a trial before one of their revolutionary tribunals." Mason vows that he will not return "under Yankee rule." A June 13 letter from "CKM," informs Tucker that "Andy Johnson had more to do with the murder than anyone else, but to charge him with it without proof is to do what he has done himself." He adds that "it is reported in France on the authority of a French police spy that Booth is alive & well without country and that the man who was shot was a poor wounded Confederate whose words, actions & papers were manufactured to suit Mr. J. while his body was quickly disposed of to escape recognition." Referring to Lincoln's death, he comments "the Yankee has killed the goose that was to have laid him golden eggs..." On 14 August, Tucker complains to Joseph Levey: "The infamous proclamation of President Johnson, charging me with complicity in the assassination plot...[has] shut-out for me all hope of returning to my native state for at least the next few years." His best hope, he adds, is to flee to Mexico pending his readmission. On 1 November, he writes from Mexico to Senator George Biddle whom he requests to urge Secretary Seward to declare "a nolle prosequi in my case," since "the Gov't, as well as the whole world believe now, to have been the vilest & most groundless of charges!" If this move fails