Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1865-05-01
C..enizati.n Of B.s,h .

Cansnizatisn Of Bssth.
The reportoriel Jenhins, OF New York
newspaper. has entdone himself in disguanng
and consemptible efforts TO elevate vile ana
despicable assassin TO the rank Of hero We
expect next 70 hear OF the canoniz4tion OF
Booth and Of his occupying an exalted rank
among tne saints IN the Rebel Calendar. As .
epecimeh OF tne correspondentg accent into
the realms OF poesy, plain prose not being good
enough for such splendid embodiment OF
hie d. toned nobility as Wilkes Boom. We nre-
sent our readers an extract
"Ere he ceased speaking, Col. Oonger, slip
ping around to the rear, drew souie1 1ooee strnws
through crack, and lit match among theu:
they were dry and blazed up in an instant,
carrying a sheet OF smoke and narne through
the ported planks, and heaving in twinkling
a world of light and heat apon the magazine
within The blaze lit up the black recesses OF
the great barn till every wasp's nest ana cob
web in the roof was luminous, hingtng sreafs
Of red and violet across the tumbled farm gear
in the corner, plows, harrows, rakes, hoes,
sugar mills, and making every grain In the
high bin adjacent gleam like amote OF precious
gold. They tinged the beams, the upright col-
umns, the barricades, where clover and timo-
thy. piled high, held toward the hot incendiary
their separate straws for the funeral pile.
They bathed the murderer's retreat in beau
tiful illumination, and while in bold outline
his figure stood revealed, they rose like an i'm
penetrable wall to guard from sight the hated
enemy who lit them. Behind the blaze, with
his eye to a crack, Conger saw Wilkes Booth
standing upright upon a crutch He iikens
him at this instant to his brother Edwin,
whom he says he so much resembled that he
half believed for the moment the whole pur-
suit to have been mistake. At the gleam Of
the fire Wilkes droppedhis crutch and carbine,
the incendiary and shoot him dead. His eyes
were lustrous like fever, and swelled and
roll ed in terrible beauty, while his teeth were
calmness before frenzy. In vain he peered
with vengeance In his look; the blaze that
made him visible concealed his enemy. A
second he turned glarng at the fre, as II to
leap upon ii and exiting uish it, butithad made
such headway that this was futile impulse
and he dismissed it. As calmly as upon the
battle field veteran stands amidst the haiI OF
ball and HELL and plunging iron, Booth turned
at mans stride, and pushed for the door. ear
bine in poise, and the last resolve Of death,
which we name despair, set on his high blood
less forehead As so he dashed, intent to ex.
pire rot unaccompanied, disobedtent SER
geant at an eye-hole drew upon him the fatal
bead. The barn was all glorious with confia-
grafton and in the beautiful ruin this outlawed
man strobe like all that we know Of wicked
valor, stern in the face of death. A shock,
shout, gathering up of his splendid figure, as
If to outtip the stature God gave him. and John
Wilkes Booth fell headlong to the floor, lying
there in a heap, a little life remaining"
1t is greatly to be regretted that Booth came
to his death by a musket ball instead of a rope;
that instead of being ANONYMOUSLY executed
On the scaffold be made his exit amid the blaze
OF impremptu pyrotechnics; that any eolsr
romantic school for such ineffable bosh as has
already been foisted upon the public. II in
stead of being overtaken finally and COM
pletely by avengipg Justice he had been spared
AS he might have been and should have been
spared by his captors-to comply with the re-
quirements of the law, his trial and execution
would not have afforded so many details for
poetic establishment. These sensational scrib-
blers would not have found In the qualities OF
hemp the same amount OF material for the man
ufacture of false sentiment to per vert the minds
of morbdly susceptible people. and to west
q scoundrel with q mock halo Of virtues and
graces W hich he never possessed In his best
moments, and never dreamed Of in his life.
We complain justly Of such an unwarr antabIe
inf1iction upon our patience. There is nothing
either In the life or the death OF this assassin
to admire. His whole history is q history Of
nbertinism, baseness and dishonor. Any at
tempt to illumine lifetime OF shame and mis-.
conduct is wretched sham If he had had
any redeeming qualities, he has swamped them
all by crime whose magnitude is not par
allelled in the annals Of human events. II
there is a curse here or hereafter worse than
that of Ernulphus or Kehama, he is entitled to
it. He has left name infamous beyond ex-
preston.
"Dowered with the hate of hate, the seorn Of
scorn,r
and any apology for his damning nisdeeds
should be crushed forever. Let him take his
place where he belongs; let the evil he has
done live after him; and let not those whom he
has SO foully wronged the good and true and
loyal men Of the whole nation, be sickened
with pitiful attempts to make q martyr OF q
villain, to array in the garb Of hero a mon
flowers and rainbow colors the exit Of one who
died like dog, and whose dishonored remains
are consigned to nameless grave.-BalamoTe
american.