Something I've Wondered About....

[BettyO]

Quote:Fanny wrote about the assault in her diary a few weeks later.

"As we sat through those long dark hours the thoughts they brought were almost overwhelming. The thought that such cruel & inhuman beings, as the man who had attacked my father & brothers, existed, made me wish myself dead, & out of such a world, anywhere seemed better."

That is the enigma of Lewis Powell. How do we reconcile the "cruel and inhuman being" with the churchgoing, intelligent gentleman that Reverend Stryker describes?

Secretary Seward looked at the assassination attempt as something to be expected in a time of revolution.

"Waking suddenly from one of those dozes, when very weak, and only half conscious, his eye fell upon his daughter's face, and the impression that passed through his mind was that she was staring like a maniac, with a most horrible expression of terror upon her face. Next he saw what he thought the vision of a hand stretched toward him from the other side of the bed, and then an arm seemed to grow out from it, and while looking listlessly, he was saying to himself, 'What an elegant overcoat that arm has on?' Then he saw the figure of a man, as if coming out of the air where the arm was, first the bust appearing, then the lower part of the face, and then the whole figure leaning over him.
"He has no impression of seeing a knife, and yet his reflections at the moment would indicate that the purpose of the shadow (for he deemed it to be such) had been conveyed to his mind. These were as follows: 'We are engaged in a gigantic revolution. I have accepted it. Those who are attempting to overthrow the Government will shrink at nothing. Assassination has always attended revolution. There must be sacrifices of this nature in every revolution.' From this his mind turned to a contemplation of the face leaning over him, and he said to himself: 'That is a handsome face. How clean it is shaven! It is a very pleasant and attractive face.' Those who know Mr. Seward's habits, will at once perceive how natural it was that such thoughts should come into his mind. In regard to keeping himself close shaven, he is very particular, never allowing any sign of a beard to appear."

Quote:I distinctly also remember reading somewhere that Seward said he often wished he had died that night with Lincoln, as he had been intended to. He felt that the great task and work of his career had ended with the war. It's fascinating to read his exact thoughts as the assault was taking place...that this was a time of revolution, and that assassination was the natural consequence of it. He seemed resigned to his fate at that moment.

Thanks for this particular quote from the Cleveland Gazette, Linda - I've never seen that one before. I've seen a similar report - but never this one....

Yes, it's extremely tragic and hard to rectify Powell's almost seemingly "split personality" here - one moment a respectful, gentlemanly preacher's son and the other moment a vengeful, horrifying killer. But that is what has always intrigued me about him. I personally think that once he got into Seward's house and the gun missed fire (thank God!) that he panicked when he had to resort to a knife - all things aside it was a horrid thing for anyone to go through and I have the utmost respect and admiration for the Seward family. I have also never heard, Toia, of Seward wishing he had died that night. For him to be as lucid as he was and remember seeing Powell before he struck him, and then having to go through what he did, to me, commands the utmost courage. Fanny, too, frail as she was was a very courageous young woman.