OCR Text |
Show mottoes Oat e(! to Lincoln's Assassination, j An Editorial Written by "Brick" Pomeroy Revives Recollections Recol-lections of This Historical Subject. Another and different story of how Abraham Lincoln met his death now comes to light through T, B. Aldridge, a grocer of Denver, who read the two stories in the News recently on what caused John Wilkes Booth to assassinate assassin-ate Lincoln. Mr. Aldridge bethought himself of an old editorial of "Brick" Pomeroy, published in the La Crosse, Wis., Democrat in April, 1SS8, in which Pomeroy says he gives the exact story of what caused the great tragedy. It was a bold editorial, and was written in Pomeroy's best style. Mr. Aldridge believes the ?tory has not been republished repub-lished since 1S6S, and says that it differs dif-fers materially from those that have been recently published. The article is in part as follows: "Another of the characters of the war time was a wild, dashing, bee-brained bee-brained young man named John Wilkes Booth. From his father he inherited a. certain taint of frenzy under excitement excite-ment that was cousin-german to insanity. in-sanity. This Booth was a reckless, handsome fellow, whose delight was to dress well, feed upon female hearts and in mimicry mouth the utterances of men of creative genius. . His blood was hot and passions quick to kindle. In his loves and friendships he was erratic er-ratic and peculiar. He did not try to study himself and grew up wild and tumultuous. "Among the chosen friends of his boyhood was a dashing, chivalrous young man named John Y. Beal, whose home was in the beautiftil Shenandoah valley, not far from Winchester, as we know from having been there. Damon and Pythias were not more attached to each other than were Booth and Beal. They rode, walked,' dined, drank and Intrigued together. Beal was southern in his sympathies, and was to a certain cer-tain extent as much a martyr as was erratic John Rrown. who was taken in a raid, hung in the jail yard at Charles-, town. Va., by order of Governor Wise, and whose scaffold, as we write this, is now in our office. Beal planned raids on northern cities, and at last was cap- j turtd at or near -Buffalo, tried for piracy on northern lakes, and sentenced to be hung on Bedloe's island, in the harbor of New York. In prison, waiting wait-ing for his doom, we leave him for a lime. "Among the ladies who had fallen in love with Booth was the daughter of John Parker Hale. United States senator sen-ator from New Hampshire. Hale was originallv a Democrat, and as such was elected to the legislature of his state. In 1834 he was appointed United States attorney for the district of New Hampshire Hamp-shire by President Jackson. In 1834 he was elected to congress by the Democrats, Demo-crats, but soon took sides with the opponents op-ponents of slavery. In 1S43 he published pub-lished a letter against the annexation of Texas as a. slave state, and at once ran to eminence as an abolition agitator. agita-tor. "In 1S51 Hale was engaged as counsel coun-sel for the fugitive slave Shadrach. who was forcibly taken from the -United States marshal in Boston. Such was his conduct and ability that in 1852. he was, by the national convention of the Free Soil party- nominated for president- of the United : States in opposition opposi-tion to both Scott and -Pierce. "With the daughter of Senator John P. Hale, John Wilkes Booth was desperately des-perately enamored.- He wished and plead to marry -her.-but with her strict New England -' inheritance of propriety, she could not consent to become be-come the wife of an actor, especially one whose life was much given to dissipation. dis-sipation. Booth tried to break away from his habits, but could not. He did the best he could, however, and gave such promise of reform that Mr. Hale began to think kindly of him, and as the love between. Miss Hale and Booth grew, rather, than diminished, he gave his consent to the marriage whenever Booth should break clear away from the dissipation he was fearful fear-ful would bring sorrow to his child, once awav from parental care. "One afternoon in,,the city of Washington, Wash-ington, while Beal was under sentence j of death, there alighted from a carriage car-riage two men, who walked into the room occupied by Washington McLean of Cincinnati, who was at that time in Washington in the . interest of his business. These men who called were Senator Hale from New Hampshire and John Wilkes Booth,, with whom, through the Morgans of Kentucky, McLean Mc-Lean had become quite well acquainted. "Their errand was briefly told. Booth was anxious to save the life of Beal. his chum and confidential personal friend. He had interested Mr. Hale in his behalf, who, from his former identification iden-tification with the politico movement that had grown into-the elevation of Lincoln to the presidency, had come to ask at the executive the power - of mercy for a brave enemy, who-' had, in defense of his friends in the south, done no more than people in the north applauded their scouts and adventurers adventur-ers for doing or attempting. "They importuned McLean to go with them to the president, as a Democrat as a friend of Booth as a man who had much influence with Mr. Lincoln, and to vouch with Mr. Hale for any promises Booth might make in return for this great favor to him. After a protracted interview McLean accompanied accom-panied Hale and Booth in the carriage to the residence of John W.' Forney, who w as then .in becl., the hour being late. Forney was awakened from his sleep and told the object of the call. His sympathies were enlisted, as he was always ready to serve his friends. "It was an hour or more past midnight mid-night when Hale, Forney. McLean and Booth were driven to the White House. The guards, at the request of Forney, admitted the carriage to the grounds. Mr. Lincoln was called from his sleep and there in the dead of night he sat and listened to the prayers of Booth and the endorsements of those who came with him to ask the favor of executive clemency. "That interview lasted until 4 o'clock in the morning. It was pne of tears, prayer and petition. There was not a dry eye in the room as Booth knelt at the feet of Lincoln, clasped his knees with his hands and begged him to spare the life of one man a personal friend, who, in serving the ones he loved, had come to the door of death. "Booth told all. He told how. long before, in a fit of passion to do some bold deed, he had joined in a conspiracy conspir-acy to abduct the president and to hold him as a hostage for the release of certain military prisoners, who were Booth's friend, and who. it was thought, were to be shot. He told of the meetings they, had held at the house of Mrs. Surratt, and that all of that plan bad fallen to the grourfd long before. "He offered his services at any time and in any place or capacity, free of cost or fearless of consequences. The eminent gentlemen who were there with him joined in the -request that the prayer of Booth be granted and that Beal should be pardoned. "At last. President Lirfoln. with tears streaming down his face took Booth by the hands, bade him rise and stand like a man. and gave him his promise that Beal should be pardoned. He asked the party to depart that he might gain rest, for the work of the morrow, and said that tbe official document doc-ument they asked for should be forwarded for-warded at once to United States Marshal Mar-shal Robert Murray, in New York,, and through him to the officers charged with the execution of Beal. "After breakfast, Lincoln informed Seward, secretary of state, what he had done or promised to do. Seward said it must not be. That public sentiment sen-timent in the north demanded that Real should be hung. He declared that to nardon Real would discourage cn- parUOU rll wuuiu uim uui ns, v.. listments, prolong the war. and insult the sentiment that called for blood. He chided Lincoln for making such promises without asking the advice of his cabinet, or advising with him (Seward) on state policy. As the arguments argu-ments grew contentious Seward declared de-clared that if the conduct of the war was to be trifled with by appeals for humanity, he should go out of the cabinet, cab-inet, and use his influence against the president, and should charge him with being in sympathy with the south. "Lincoln yielded and Beal was executed, exe-cuted, carrying out the sentence of the court. The reaction to Lincoln's nervous system was such that for days he was far from well. "The effect on Booth was terrible. He raved like a madman, and in his frenzv swore that Lincoln and Seward Sew-ard should both pay for the grief and agonv he had been put to. From the death of Beal. Both brooded vengeance venge-ance for that which he considered a personal affront. His rage took in Seward, and he engaged Harold, Azter-oldt, Azter-oldt, and others, -to avenge Seal's death by killing Seward, while he (Booth) wreaked human vengeance on the president. "At last came the hour. Booth killed the president. His friends and relatives rela-tives or the avengers of Beal tried their best to kill Seward, and when they left him stabbed, bleeding and limp as a cloth, as he rolled over he-hind he-hind the bed, whereon they found him, they supposed their work was completely com-pletely done. "Our Ptory is told. We have given the truth of history, and told exactly why Abraham Lincoln, tne nunidi president of the United States was killed. , a , . "He was not strong enough to defy the political enemies of his party. ITis good intentions were thwarted by the genus of evil, and the cold-blooded selfishness sel-fishness of Seward, who was all in all contempt. "The Democratic party had no hand in the blood of either of these men, no more than had the south. In the great contest between the great principles prin-ciples of creation and destruction, Lincoln Lin-coln fell before his proper time. He died before his work was finished. In his death the south lost a better friend than it has ever had in a president since, and the country at large, lost a man who will be admired and pitied the more his life is known and his acts are picked out of the debris of an unfortunate un-fortunate past." |