Democratic enquirer. [volume] (M'arthur, Vinton County, Ohio) 1867-1873, 1870-08-17
Death of Abraham Lincoln
Anew View of the Case.
From the Crawford County Foruml

There is a profound mystery
surrounding the death of Abra
ham Lincoln, late President o
the United States.
That he was assassinated il
Ford's Theater, on Good Fri
day night, 1855, by j. Wilkes
Booth, is a fact no one doubts
OF denies. But at that point
certainly stops, and speculation
commences.
What was the motive which
impelled him to the perform
ance of that historic tragedy ?
There are three several mo
tives alleged to,wit :
1. Booths sympathy with
the Southern Confederacy.
This conclusion is not war
ranted by the facts. He was
in no way affiliated with the
Confederate Government, its
army OF navy. If his sympa-
thies had been strong for the
Confederacy, in preference tc
the Federal Government, they
would have manifested them,
selves by words and acts, dur,
ing the continuance of the war.
II. Booths desire for a ia.
nous immortality.
This is more probable. He
was an actor, the son of one Of
the greatest actors in the old
and new world. His brother,
Junius Brutus Booth, is the
greatest master of tragedy in
the United States to-day. By
inheritance and profession, he
was keenly sensitive to human
applause. The Devil of ambi-
tion, may have whispered in
''his ear Your father was a
"great actor, and yet, by the
'world he is comparatively for,
"gotten. Your brother out,
franks you in popular favor
"but he too will share the fate
"reserl ed to tho vntarioo Of tho
"drama. "Here is your oppor,
"tunity to make fame that will
"coeval with time itself. There
lis Abraham Lincoln, the con.
"querer of the South. A single
"shot, will send your name
''ringing around the world, and
"you will be hailed in the after
cages as a second Brutus."
The time chosen, the place,
the great audience, the shot,
the leap from Lincoln's box to
the stage, the memorable words
"Sic semper tyrannis," spoken
in a theatrical attitude, all
powerfully tend to confirm this
view of the case.
III. Booths personal re-
venge for plighted faith.
Under the caption of Gun,
yelling the Statute" Brick
Pomeroy in his New York
Democrat, publishes some I'M
portant historical facts never
made public before, which
gives this theory great plausi-
bility. 1t will be remembered
by those who are familiar with
the history of that period, that
j. Y. Beall, captain of the G.
S. A. was charged by the Con-
federate authorities with the
duty of capturing the United
States Steamer Michigan, and
reScuing the prisoners, over
$4,000 Of them, on Johnson's
Island in Lake Erie. Beall was
captured, after making an un-
successful attempt, and not be-
ing recognized as a soldier, was
tried, and sentenced to be
hung. J. Wilkes Booth for
many years had been the firm,
fast friend of John Yates Beall.
"They had drunk from the
same cup-slept in the same
bed-spent convivial nights to,
gether, and so ran their social
lives into each, that like Da-
men and Pythias, they were
more than Brothers" Booth,
resolved to save the life of his
and to keep hope alive
communicated this to him in
his cell.
The plan was this, Booth
was the accepted lover, and
expected to be the affianced
husband of the beautiful daugh.
ter Of John p. Hale, the dis
t;no,,;sbnd Reni1hlican Sen ator