well, we heard earlier about cipriano ferendini. indeed he was believed to be one of the ring leaders for the plot to assassinate lincoln. he's shown here standing. and this is a quote that pinkerton wrote down after meeting him for the first time on february 15th of 1861. said ferendini "never never shall lincoln be president. his life was of no consequence. he was willing to give it for lincoln's. he would sell it for that abolitionist. he was ready to die for his country and the rights of the south, said ferendini, we shall all die together, we shall show the north we fear them not. every captain will on that day show himself a hero. the first shot fired the main traitor lincoln dead and all maryland will be with us and the south shall be free. and the north must then be ours. lincoln shall die in this city. i find this report interesting and probative for a couple of reasons, probably the most significant it makes reference to orsini, who is felice orsini, who was a radical in italy that attempted to assassinate napoleon iii a f

at one point he's introduced to a man named cipriano ferendini, an immigrant from corsica, who had a barbershop in the basement of the barnum hotel. in spite of that background, he was a fire-breathing secessionist who declared out loud and at just about every opportunity, it seems, that the only way for the south to be free was for abraham lincoln to die. and the man that introduced pinkerton to him was george cane, who was the baltimore chief of police. so you have this partnership that i love. the chief of police and the loony corsican barber. and they're all out to get lincoln. and as pinkerton is putting all these pieces together and the other detectives are contributing their parts of the puzzle, it's now time to warn the lincoln party. remember he's making his way slowly from springfield down to d.c. so we're now in february, 1861. february 21st he's in philadelphia. pinkerton goes to philadelphia and he talks first to norman judd, lincoln's friend and political associate, who is also in charge of the itinerary at this point. and strongly suggesting that they alter the route.