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* BOOTH. 307 BOOTH. chiefly by fairs, as is still the case in many rt-gions. Then booths were set up in the main square of the town, or just outside the walls, in improvised streets. The term was afterwards applied to a fixed stand or shop in the market- place for the weekly market day, and also to the permanent shops or warehouses. The reli- gious and civil authorities gained considerable revenue from leasing the right to put up such booths. They must be distinguished from the shops that form a part of regular buildings. The porticoes and approaches of churches, the areas of ancient buildings, the spaces in public squares, and on bridges, were in time overcrowded with such booths, which, from being small, one- storied afl'airs, grew into real houses, with cel- lar storeroom, with rear workshop, and second- story bedroom. Thus a single apartment with a broad, unglazed show front, closed at night by a double wooden shutter, became the work- shop and dwelling of the craftsmen. They some- times began as 'squatters,' and eiTorts to dis- lodge them often led to troulde (e.g. at Bury Saint Edmunds, in 1192). In old London the mast famous line of booths was on Cheapside, in Edinbux-gh on High Street Cthe Boothraw'). As in the bazars (q.v.) of the East, the various trades were usually grouped together. In Italy this devoting of special streets to single trades still survives. The Ponte Vecchio at Florence has been given over to goldsmiths' booths ever since the Fourteenth Century. BOOTH. The name of the heroine's husband in Atiidia, a novel by Fielding. The character is vicious and petty, though somewhat auto- biographic. BOOTH, Agnes {184.3 — ). An American actress. She was born in Sydney, Australia, and first appeared there as a ballet-dancer, but came to California when she was about 14 years old (185S). Her maiden name was Marion Agnes Land Rookes. In 1861 she became Mrs. Perry, in San Francisco, where she continued till 1865, attracting attention especially for her Hermione in A Winter's Tale. She came to Xew York in 1865, and appeared at the Winter Garden. The same autumn, at Xiblo's Garden, she played with Edwin Forrest in a series of important roles, including those of .Julie to his Richelieu, and Dcsdemona and Ophelia. In 1866 she joined the Boston Theatre Company, of which she was a member for several years. In 1867 she was married to Junius Brutus Booth, Jr., its man- ager. Touring in 1874-76, she became well known as a star. In the spring of 1877 she made a great success as Cleopatra. From 1881 to 1891 she was with the Madison Square Com- )>any, among her popular parts being those of Xor'a in Esmeralda and Mrs. Kalston in Jim the I'enmon. Mr. Booth died in 18S3, and in 1885 she became Mrs. John B. Schoelfel. After 1891 she left the stage and went to Europe, but upon her return resumed her work for a time, ap- pearing from 1895 to 1897 in The Sporting Duch- ess and other pieces. Consult: Strang, in Mc- Kav and Wingate, Famous American Actors of To'dai/ (Xew York, 1896), and Clapp and Edgett, •Plavers of the Present," Dunlap Society Publi- (ation. (Xew York, 1899). BOOTH. BAI.I.INGTON- (1859—). The organ- izer and leader of the 'Volunteers of America' (q.v.). He was born in London, the second son of William Booth (q.v.), founder of the Salva- tion Army. In 1887 he was sent to the United States with his wife, Maud (born near London, in 1865), and had charge of the work in this country till 1896, when, disagreeing with his father's plan of operations in the United States and Canada, he withdrew from the Salvation Army and organized a similar body under the name of the Volunteers of America. In order to bring the work of the new organization into closer harmony with that of the various churches, he ob- tained ordination as a presbyter of tlie Evangeli- cal Chureli in Chic^igo, Both he and his wife are fluent writers and eloquent speakers. He pub- lished From Ocean to Ocean (1890). See Salva- tion Army ; Volunteers of America. BC)OTH, Barton (1681-1733). A celebrated English tragedian. He was of a Lancashire family, nearly related to Henry Booth, Earl of Warrington, and received a good education under the well-known Dr. Busby at Westmin- ster, where he attracted notice by his acting in a Latin comedy (Terence's Andria) . He was expected to enter the Church, but on being sent to Trinity College, Cambridge, he ran away in order to go upon the stage. Betterton (q.v.), to whom he applied, refused at first to help him, for fear of offending his family, and he went to Dublin, where he secured an engagement. Re- turning after some success to London, he Was now received by Betterton, and appeared in Lin- coln's Inn Fields as Maximus in Valentinian. He won immediate recognition. At Drury Lane, in 1708, he received immense applause as the Ghost in Hamlet, a part in which he is said never to have had an equal. April 14. 1713, he acted Cato in Addison's tragedy, upon which he became quite the rage among the nobility, who vied with each other in placing their carriages at his disposal ; and he frequently stayed over night at Windsor, where the Court was then held. This seems to have been in some degree due to the political conditions of the time, since Whigs and Tories both professed the most com- plete approval of the character of Cato; yet Booth Avon high critical commendation. Among his greatest parts were Brutus. Othello, and Henry VIII. In 1716 he published The Death of Dido: A Masque, and was the author of other poems. In 1728 he retired from the stage. He died at Hampstead, leaving a widow — his second wife, Hester Santlow, herself an actress of repu- tation. Consult: Victor, itemoirs of the Life of liarton Booth (London. 1733) : Genest, History of the Stage (Bath, 1832); Gibber, "Life and Character of Barton Booth," in Lives and Char- acters of the Most Eminent Actors Und Actresses (London, 1753) ; and Gait, Lives of the Players (London, 1831). BOOTH, Charles (1840—). An English sta- tistician and writer on social questions. He was born in Liverpool, ilarch 30, 1840, and now re- sides in London, though a member of the busi- ness firm of Alfred Booth & Co., Liverpool. His work entitled. Life and Labour of the People of London, published in 10 volumes (1891-97), is a storehouse of accurate social facts, dealing chiefly with the people of East London, and has won for him world-wide renown from men of science as well as from practical legislators. Mr. Booth is a Fellow of the Royal Society (F.R.S. ), and was president of the Koyal Sta-