Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1878-06-25
LINCOLN'S ASSASSIN.
Booths Alleged COurtshIp of a Sena.
tors Daughter.
Romantic, Very, but Robert Lincoln N
Makes Very Explicit Denial.

has published an article from Alex
ander Hunter narrating the chief
incidents in the social life of John
Wilkes Booth just prior TO the as
sassination of President Lincoln.
The story is supposed to be told by
one Mrs. Temple, who asserts that
Booth and Lincoln were mutually
acquainted, and that the latter Of
ten spoke of the former
BESSIE HALE.
She says: " "Among all of Bessie
Hale's admirers Booth was the most
ardent and devoted, distancing all
competitors, except one, and that
was the Presidents eldest son,
Robert Lincoln, who was madly in
love with Bessie. He courted her
again and again, and wouldn't take
no for his answer. He had a heavy
backing, for both the senator and
his wife, aware of the splendid ad-
vantages of the match, urged their
daughter to marry Robert Lincoln
and queen it at the White House,
which in those days was like the
palace of royalty itself. She would
have given in, l am confident, but
for Booth, who, with his charm of
person, manner and intellect, car
ried the day and won her heart, but
not her hand, for her parents
frowned down and most emphati
cally vetoed the intimacy between
their daughter and the actor. In
deed, both father and mother con-
sidered it great piece of presump-
ton for the player to make love
off the scenic stage, John Wilkes
Booth they considered divine in the
princely role of Hamlet, or wearing
the slashed doublet and habiliments
of the half prince, half peasant,
Melnotte, but as a son-in.law to the
first senator in the land, there the
charm ceased, and they commanded
the daughter never to think of him.
How much Bessie Hale really
cared for Booth none of us knew ;
probably not even he himself could
tell. No one was aware Of the alb
Sorbing, true, devoted affection that
Bessie had for him--a love great in
its purity and singleness, firm in its
attachment, as true as death itself,
and stronger than life and death
combined. Only in the fearful trial
and the awful times Of menace and
Of peril did this love shine out in
all its brightness, lighting the lurid
darkness with its beam, even as the
rays of the Lighthouse gleam out
across the waste Of angry waters,
"Bessie Hale was passion ately
fond Of seeing Booth assume the
character of Hamlet the Dane, and
often would make him repeat the
famous Soliloquy in the parlor.
BOOTHS JEALOUSY.
" Booths was the most Jealous
temperament / ever knew; he was
insane, sometimes, it seemed to me,
and, when Bessie accepted any at
tention from any other man, Booth
would act like patient just out of
Bedlam. One night can never
forget it-there was a large hop at
our hotel, and the saloons were
crowded with the wealth, the beau
ty, the bravery and the talent of
the land. The bench, the bar, trade
and the soldier were all represented,
and the scene in the ball room was
one calculated to excite the imagi-
nation and dazzle the eye.
X +
" The band had just commenced
to play one of Strauss waltzes, and
while | was standing by the door, a
looker-on in Vienna, | turned and
saw John Wilkes Booth. He had
but few moments before returned
from Ford's Thester, where he had
been acting. He came over to me.
| noticed that he looked very angry
and very much excited and | asked
him the cause. He pointed to a
couple circling in the rhythmic
measure of a waltz. They seemed
to be eblivious of everything iu the
world. Their movements were per-
feet, the maiden'S head almost
rested on the youths shoulder and
with her eyes half closed she list
ened to the earnest, tender words
that her companion was pouring
into her ear. 1t was Bessie Hale
and Robert Lincoln. AS he wit
messed this scene Booths white
teeth olinched over the mustache
and his face grew very white, while
his eyes blazed like fire. He caught
me by the arm with a grasp that
made me vince and caused me to
utter an involuntary cry, and Missed
into my ear:
"'Mrs. Temple, see that damned
villain? Oh, l could kill him, and
his father, too, and, by the Lord ol
Hostsl the sands Of his life are fast
running out