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 86 BOOTES BOOTH the depredations continued on the Bengal frontier, the Hon. Ashley Eden was sent as an ambassador to the two rajahs in 1803. He was violently maltreated on the route, and at the capital, Poonakha, and only allowed to return after signing on compulsion a treaty ceding the Assam Dooars. This treaty was at once repudiated by the British government, war was proclaimed (1864), and in a short campaign (1864-'5) the forts commanding the passes were reduced, and the Dooars, 150 m. long and 30 to 40 m. wide, were annexed by treaty^ to the British possessions. BOOTES, in astronomy, a constellation in the northern hemisphere. The name is derived from the Greek [love, an ox, and means an ox- driver. The modern figures represent Bootes as a man with a club in the right hand, and in the left the leash which holds two hunting dogs. It contains Arcturus, a star of the first magnitude. BOOTH, Barton, an English actor, born in Lancashire in 1681, died in London, May 10, 1733. His father was a near relative of the earl of Warrington. The son ran away from the university of Cambridge and joined a com- pany of strolling players. He appeared in Dublin in 1698 with great success in the char- acter of Oronoko, and was afterward engaged at the Drury Lane theatre, London, under the management of Betterton. He was the favor- ite tragic actor of the day, gaining especial celebrity as Cato in Addison's play, and as the ghost in " Hamlet." He was highly esteemed for his attainments and character. BOOTH, Sir Felix, an English manufacturer, born in 1775, died in 1850. He was head of the firm of Booth and company, distillers in London, and gave 20,000 in 1827 to aid the arctic expedition under Sir John Ross. For this public-spirited act he was made a baronet in 1834. Ross's expedition resulted in the dis- covery of the true position of the north mag- netic pole, and of a large tract of country which was named Boothia Felix. BOOTH. I. Juntos Brutus, a tragedian, born in London, May 1, 1796, died on the passage from New Orleans to Cincinnati, Dec. 1, 1852. His father was a solicitor, his mother a descen- dant or relative of John Wilkes. He entered the navy at an early age, but soon changed from this to a printing office, afterward began the study of law, made some creditable at- tempts as a painter and sculptor, and finally went upon the stage, his first appearance being Dec. 13, 1813. After playing at minor thea- tres in England and on the continent, he made his debut at Covent Garden theatre in October, 1815. He afterward played in provincial thea- tres, and having made a hit as Sir Giles Over- reach, he was reengaged at Covent Garden, where he appeared, Feb. 12, 1817, as Richard III. Edmund Kean, ten years his senior, had just made his appearance at Drury Lane thea- tre, the manager of which induced Booth to leave the rival house, and appear at his own on the same nights with Kean. In " Othello " each took alternately the characters of Othello and lago. This engagement was brief. Booth returned to Covent Garden, where he met with an unfriendly reception, but soon gained great favor, especially as Richard III., Sir Giles Overreach, and Lear. In 1820 he again ap- peared as leading actor at Drury Lane. He afterward went to Amsterdam, and then to Madeira, whence he suddenly sailed to Amer- ica, arriving at Norfolk, Va., in July, 1821. His residence was thereafter in the United States, and for a period of 30 years he played in nearly every theatre in the country. In 1824 he purchased a farm at Belair, 20 m. from Baltimore, where he resided when not occupied by professional engagements. His range of characters was limited, embracing only those which he had studied in early life. Richard III., lago, and Sir Giles Overreach were his favorite parts, although he excelled in Othello, Lear, Shylock, Hamlet, and Sir Ed- ward Mortimer. His personifications were marked by an intensity which placed him in the first rank of tragedians, but his irregular habits very often interfered with his success. Notwithstanding this, he retained much of his vigor to the close of his life. II. Edwin, an American actor, son of the preceding, born at Belair, Md., in November, 1833. He was edu- cated for the stage, supporting his father in in- ferior parts from his boyhood, and made his first regular appearance at the' Boston museum in 1849 in a minor part in "Richard III." On occasion of his father's illness in 1851, he took his place and performed Richard III. at the Chatham street theatre, New York. In the following year he went to California and en- gaged for "utility business," and in 1854 made a visit to Australia, stopping at the Sandwich Islands on his way. He returned in 1857 and appeared at Burton's, theatre, New York, in leading tragic parts. At the same theatre, under its new name of the Winter Garden, he gained a high reputation in 1860 for his delineation of Shakspearian characters. He visited England in 1861, appearing at the Hay- market theatre, London, and passed a year on the continent in studying his art. Returning to America in the fall of 1862, he entered upon a brilliant dramatic career, gaining great celeb- rity by his impersonation of Hamlet, Othello, lago, Richard III., and other Shakspearian parts, and of Richelieu in Bulwer's drama of that name. In 1869 he built a theatre in New York, which has become celebrated for the presentation of standard dramas with great perfection of detail. HI. John Wilkes, brother of the preceding, an actor and the assassin of Abraham Lincoln, horn at Belair, Md., in 1839, died near Bowling Green, Va., April 26, 1865. He appeared on the stage at an early age, but with inditferent success. During the civil war he passionately sympathized with the South, and near its close entered into a conspiracy to assassinate President Lincoln, the vice presi-