Who, in the light of all the facts given in this testimony, which fulfills all the conditions, on down to the crucial test of credibility--that of the concurrence of three witnesses, who were entire strangers to each other, in the statement of all the essential facts--can doubt that all these men implicated in the charge and specifications preferred by the government were equally guilty with John H. Surratt and John Wilkes Booth of the assassination accomplished, and that attempted; as, also, of the others planned. It matters not that for good and sufficient reasons they were never called to account by the government, when it had it in its power to do so; they yet stand, and must forever stand, condemned by an intelligent and candid world. If their guilt is not proven I do not see how it would be possible to prove anything. CHAPTER XIII. A CRITICISM OF NICOLAY AND HAY. Nicolay and Hay in their "Life of Lincoln" (see _Century Magazine_ for January, 1890, p. 439), say: "The surviving conspirators, with the exception of John H. Surratt, were tried by a military commission sitting in Washington in the months of May and June. "The charges against them specified that they were 'incited and encouraged' to treason and murder by Jefferson Davis and the Confederate emissaries in Canada. This was not proven on the trial; the evidence bearing on the case showed frequent communication between Canada and Richmond and the Booth coterie in Washington, and some transactions in drafts at the Montreal Bank where Jacob Thompson and Booth kept their accounts. It was shown by the sworn testimony of a reputable witness that Jefferson Davis at Greensboro', on hearing of the assassination, expressed his gratification at the news; but this, so far from proving any direct complicity in the crime, would rather prove the opposite, as a conscious murderer usually conceals his malice. Against all the rest, the facts we have briefly stated were abundantly proved," etc. In a foot-note they add: "When captured by General Wilson he (Jefferson Davis) affected to think he cleared himself of suspicion in this regard by saying that Johnson was more objectionable to him than Lincoln--not noticing that the conspiracy contemplated the murder of both." From this there would seem to have been some doubt in the mind of the writer on the question of Davis's innocence. Again, they say: "Davis, in speaking to General Wilson about this charge, said that he regarded the charge of treason as likely to give him more trouble than this." Of course he relied on the sagacity of his co-conspirators in Canada for the destruction of all documentary evidence against him, and so he felt that his guilt could not be proven. The writer has the highest regard for these authors, and a very high appreciation of the manner in which they have handled their great subject. The history of several of the last years of the life of Abraham Lincoln is inseparably linked with the history of his country,