t unwarranted course of conduct of which any one could have been
guilty--no less than the deepest-dyed perfidy. When he closed his speech
he was cheered to the echo." Dr. Adams said: "This man Thomlinson was
a very brutal man in his instincts. He seemed also to have been out of
humor with his co-conspirators. He was certainly very angry and much
disappointed that his schemes had all failed. But how an intelligent
man could argue and justify assassination, as he seemed to do, I cannot
understand."

Col. Bush replied: "Doctor, you must see that this man, no matter what
he may have been in former years, had become a hardened, inhuman wretch.
Do you not remember that he was the same person who employed men to
gather poisoned clothes for the distribution of disease, as well as
his attempt to have our cities burned, but was thwarted by Divine
Providence, in my judgment?"

"Yes, I remember all this, and God knows that seemed the extreme of
barbarism and inhumanity; but his last proposition in his argument was
deliberate, cold-blooded murder in order to gain a political end; and to
think of Northern men listening at any time to such propositions without
remonstrance or disapproval in any way makes me shudder."

"They seemed to indorse it instead of manifesting disapproval," said
Ingelsby, "and I have no doubt they favored it, and in some way assisted
in trying to have it carried out."

"Yes, yes," said Uncle Daniel; "the half of the treachery and diabolical
deeds of many of our Northern men, now leaders, is not known or
understood; but, my dear friends, I will continue my story:

"When Thomlinson had concluded his remarks, Valamburg followed in a like
strain, and concluded with a 'so help him God' that he was ready for
any enterprise to serve-the Confederacy, no matter how dark nor how
desperate and bloody. This was received with a wild shout, as though
some rebel victory had been announced.

"Walters, of Arkansas, then addressed the assembly. He said he was
in favor of the first proposition; that there seemed to be something
practical in it. Since their last meeting he had been all over the
North, even in Washington city, and there was not the slightest
difficulty in passing to and fro without any questions being asked. He
said he saw the President riding out beyond Georgetown with only one
person accompanying him; that there would not have been the slightest
trouble in five men capturing him and crossing the river into