Booth's Letter to Dr.
Stuart
To: Dr Richard H. Stewart
(sic)
"Cleydael," King George County, Virginia 24 April 1865
Dear Sir:
Forgive me, but I have some
little pride. I hate to blame you for your want of hospitality: you
know your own affairs. I was sick and tired, with a broken leg, in
need of medical advice. I would not have turned a dog from my door in
such a condition. However, you were kind enough to give me something
to eat, for which I not only thank you, but, on account of the
reluctant manner in which it was bestowed, I feel bound to pay for
it. It is not the substance, but the manner in which kindness is
extended that makes one happy in the acceptance thereof. The sauce to
meat is ceremony; meetnig were bare without it. Be kind enough to
accept the enclosed two dollars and a half (though hard to spare) for
what we have received.
Yours
respectfully,
Stranger
April 24, 1865
Notes: Booth had
Charlie Lucas deliver the note after returning from the Port Conway
ferry. When Dr. Stuart received it, he was reportedly very insulted,
crumpled the letter up and was on the verge of tossing it into the
fireplace until either his son in law (Sholto Turberville Stuart) or
future son in law (Robert W. Hunter) persuaded him not to, as it
might be helpful evidence. It turned out they were right. The letter
proved that Dr. Stuart had not materially abetted Booth and perhaps
saved Dr. Stuart from being sent to the Dry Tortugas like Dr. Mudd
and others.
Always the thespian,
Booth's note quotes "The Scottish Play", Act 3, Scene IV. The line is
spoken by Lady Macbeth, after the First Murderer reports that the
evil deed has been done and just before Banquo's ghost makes his
appearance.
"My royal lord,
You do not give the cheer: the feast is sold
That is not often vouch'd, while 'tis a-making,
'Tis given with welcome: to feed were best at home;
From thence the sauce to meat is ceremony;
Meeting were bare without it."
Was this all too aposite
allusion unwitting or had Booth been reflecting on his deed begun to
regret it after finding that the public reaction was not what he'd
hoped? Had he begun to see himself as a Macbeth, or Macbeth's hired
murderer, rather than the modern Brutus, the slayer of tyrants, he'd
envisaged? Perhaps this is reading too much into it and it was simply
a good quote about hospitality that readily came to mind to a
Shakepearian and he couldn't resist using it.
Return to Sources & Documents Main Page
