Lincoln's assassination
has reached me. It is enough for me to say that I am dissatisfied
with the result. I do not attempt to excuse the assassin. Yet
there will be men who will charge this act upon the chivalrous
South. This leads me to repeat a remark once before made by me in
this connection which has become justly celebrated. It is this:--
"It is usual, in cases of murder, to look for the criminal among
those who expect to be benefited by the crime. In the death of
Lincoln, his immediate successor in office alone receives the
benefit of his dying."
If her Majesty Queen Victoria were assassinated, which Heaven
forbid, the one most benefited by her decease would, of course, be
his Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, her immediate successor.
It would be unnecessary to state that suspicion would at once point
to the real culprit, which would of course be his Royal Highness.
This is logic.
But I have done. After having thus stated my opinion in favor of
the South, I would merely remark that there is One who judgeth all
things,--who weigheth the cause between brother and brother,--and
awardeth the perfect retribution; and whose ultimate decision I, as
a British subject, have only anticipated.
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