Lincoln, the unknown

28In 1863 a group of Virginia slave barons formed and financeda secret society the object of which was the assassination ofAbraham Lincoln; and in December, 1864, an advertisementappeared in a newspaper published in Selma, Alabama, beggingfor public subscriptions for a fund to be used for the samepurpose, while other Southern journals offered cash rewards forhis death.But the man who finally shot Lincoln was actuated neither bypatriotic desires nor commercial motives. John Wilkes Boothdid it to win fame.What manner of man was Booth? He was an actor, and naturehad endowed him with an extraordinary amount of charmand personal magnetism. Lincoln's own secretaries describedhim as "handsome as Endymion on Latmos, the pet of his littleworld." Francis Wilson, in his biography of Booth, declaresthat "he was one of the world's successful lovers. . . . Womenhalted in the streets and instinctively turned to admire him ashe passed."By the time he was twenty-three, Booth had achieved thestatus of a matinee idol; and, naturally, his most famous rolewas Romeo. Wherever he played, amorous maidens delugedhim with saccharine notes. While he was playing in Bostonhuge crowds of women thronged the streets in front of the TremontHouse, eager to catch but one glimpse of their hero ashe passed. One night a jealous actress, Henrietta Irving, knifed205