Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1881-12-07

cruelty and oppression. till now Gin my eyes,
her once bright red stripes look like bloody
gashes on the face of heaven. l look now upon
my early admiration of her glories as a dream
My love is now for the south alone. and to her
side go penniless. Her success has been near
my heart, and / have labOred faithfully to
further an object which would have more than
proved my unselfsh devotion. Heart sick and
disappointed turn from the path which l had
been following into bOlder and more perilous
one. Without malice | make the change.
have nothing in my heart except sense of duty
to my choice. If the south is to be aided it
must be done quickly. 1t may already be too
late When Caesar had conquered the enemies
OF Rome and the power that was his menaced
the liberties of the people, Brutus arose and
slew him. The stroke of his dagger was guided
by his love for Rome. 1t was the spirit and am
bitiOn Of Caesar that Brutus struck at.
30 then that we could come by Caesars spirit,
And not dismember Casar But alas!
Caesar must bleed for i'll"
l answer with Brutus.
He who loves his country better
than gold or life,
JOHN W. BOOTH.
STORY OF JOHN MATTHEW'S, THE ACTOR.
Following Mr.. Booths signature" Mr..
Matthews continued, (which was evidently
written in great haste, were the names OF Payne,
Harold and AtZerodt, all in Booths own hand
writing, given as the men who would stand by
him in executing his changed plans Booth
wrote John s. Clarke, the actor, his brother-in-
law law, In the November preceding the assassina-
ton a letter identical in many respects with the
one he left with me as justication for his act.
The arguments were all the same, the changes
in the letter l destroyed being those which
would naturally follow the change of plan from
kidnapping to assassination. The material
alterations are in the first part of the letter,
where he indicates the change in his purpose
The most striking difference between the letter
ne gave to me- and the one he wrote to Mr.
Clarke is his reference to Brutus and the quota
ton from Julius Caesar The body of the let
tiers were identical. OF course there NAV be
some lmmaterial omissions. but you may mag
Inc how such letter, carefully read under the
circumstances which surrounded me when
perused it. would impress itself upon ones
mind. My profession has, of course, trained
my memory to retain great deal of matter
without much study SO that l feel justified in
saying that the letter have given you is prac-
tlcaily a correct copy of the one poor John
handed to me in the streets of Washington upon
that fearful night. L am glad to say that it is
positive evidence that the murder of the Presi-
dent was neither born of malice or even con-
templated until within very few hours of the
time the fatal shot was fred
''How did the fact that Booth left such a
letter become knOwn?'
when John was killed dairy was taken
from his person containing the entry that he had
the time OF the impeachment of President john
son the other Washington papers made an assault
upon the National Iltelligencer calling it the
organ of John Wilkes Booth, and rather insnu-
ated that President Johnson was in some way
cognizant of the letter, if not Of the killing
before it occurred. / felt compelled then to
speak out and announce that it was l who
received the letter from Booth and destroyed it.
had at the time of it's destruction, as a Cath
olc, told the Reverend Father Boyle, of Wash
ingtOn, all about the letter and the circum-
stances under which received it,
''Were Booth and you often together during
the winter preceding the murder?'
"a great deal. He and l were boys together,
you know, having both been born and raised in
Baltimore. Often during the winter he had
the President, but never confided to me any of
his plans. He often seemed to me to be brood
ing over the war. and seemed to have his heart
set upon the relief and exchange of the con-
federate prisoners. He once told me that if he
could capture the President, carry him within
the confederacy and hold him as ransom, it
would compel the exchange of prisoners man
for man. By that he meant white man for
white man, not recognizing the negroes as SOL
diers. That was his plan and aim until within
a very few hours of the time he fired the fatal
500 you know when his plans for the alb
ductiOn of the President were formed?"
A REMARKABLE STORY.
"Yes, sir, very well. The elder Wallack. the
late E. L. Davenport and /, walked into my
room one day, and found Booth lying upon my
bed studying the part of Marc Antony in
Julius Caesar By-the-by it was in the same
room and ON the same bed upon which MIR. Lin
coin died. Mr.. Davenport and Mr. Wallack be-
gan talking OF the war. They had been to visit
some of the hospitals about Washington. and
both OF them seemed very much affected by the
scenes they had witnessed, Booth Joined them
in the talk about the conflict, and all of them
more or less feeling against the war.
1t was feeling not of bitterness but of sor-
row, that brothers should be engaged in killing
each other. The pathOs and power with which
both Davenport and Wallack expressed their
desire for peace is beyond description. It
made great impression upon my mind as l
know it did upon Booths. It had been ar
ranged that Mr.. Walack, Mr.. Davenport. N.Y.
self and some others were to go out to the
Soldiers Home to play for the benefit of the
soldiers and this subject was discussed. Booth
he would be one of the audience. He knew
Mr.. Lincoln intended to be present. and at once
set to work arranging his plans for to capture
him after the play was over. We played Still
Waters Run Deep At the last moment Mr.
Lincoln was detained bya pressure of business
and did not attend the performance. Boothwas
very much disappointed, as afterwards learned.
The minuteness with which every detail of Mr..
Lincoln's transportation within the confederate
lines had been arranged and the care and atten-
ton which Booth intended to bestow upon him
after his capture can be read from transaction
which unwittingly HAD something to do. A few
days before we played at the Soldiers Home
was going overto baltimore, Booth asked me To
carry trunk which he would have at the depot
and deliver 1t to gentleman living in Baltimore
whom / knew. I took the trunk with me to
Baltimore and delivered it to the gentleman
named by Booth. / did not see him in person
and left the following note:
"sMY DEAR Mr..
sPleaSe deliver this trunk to Mr.. -. who
will see that it Is delivered to Mr. - who VIII
have II safely shipped to its destination OF which
he Is Informed. Be careful
every truly, JOHN MATTHEws.n
i do not I'LL the blanks In that note for the
reason that the gentleman to whom it was adj
dressed, as Wen as those who were to handle
the trunk, are still living
This trunk was filed with ported meats.
klaa Aaaxan& Ind