A World on Fire_ Britain's Crucial Role in the American Civil War - Amanda Foreman [238]
Shortly after dawn the three conspirators awoke to find the Chapman surrounded by U.S. gunboats. The authorities had been keeping careful surveillance for several days. Rubery and Harpending had neglected to supply the local revenue officers with a cargo manifest, thereby piquing official interest in the mysterious boxes that were being loaded in such a hurry. The luckless three were taken to Alcatraz, where Rubery was soon visited by Consul William Lane Booker, who thought him to be a rather unsympathetic, cocky youth who fully deserved his punishment. “He has nothing to complain as to his treatment,” Booker reported to Lord Russell, “beyond being deprived of his liberty.”8 The evidence against Rubery was so overwhelming that Lyons made no attempt to intervene on his behalf. While searching through Rubery’s baggage, the Federals had found a plan for capturing San Francisco’s military forts, a proclamation to the people of California urging them to join the Confederacy, and a declaration of allegiance for those who did.
Rubery’s family could not accept that their little Alfred had played a central role in the conspiracy. For the past three months he had been spinning a tale to them about a mining venture in Mexico. Determined to prove his innocence, they showed the letters to Birmingham’s two MPs, John Bright and William Scholefield. Neither shared the Ruberys’ delusion: “They seem to be wholly unaware that he can have committed himself so as to justify his arrest,” wrote Scholefield pityingly.9 “[Alfred] must be wonderfully stupid to have engaged in any conspiracy,” decided John Bright, “and yet I hear that he is sharp and clever, and was educated at the London University.” The Rubery name and fortune carried sufficient weight in Birmingham to make it impossible for the MPs to ignore the family’s request for help. John Bright reluctantly wrote to Charles Sumner, “Is it too much for me to ask you to procure his liberation on condition that he shall at once return to England?”10 It was. Rubery remained at Alcatraz.
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Lord Lyons refused to let either George Lawrence or Alfred Rubery disrupt his enjoyment of the first days of spring. It was not only possible but also delightful to walk down streets abloom with flowering trees. The great drying-out attracted crowds of tourists and distinguished visitors to the city. Seward’s house became lively again, and nineteen-year-old Fanny Seward briefly relinquished her reserve to enjoy a brief flirtation with an English naval surgeon on leave from USS Commodore Morris.
Washington society turned out en masse, including President Lincoln, to watch the self-styled “youngest star in the world,” John Wilkes Booth, play Hamlet at Grover’s Theatre. Dr. Charles Culverwell observed Booth’s debut in the capital. Having heard that the lesser parts were open to audition, Culverwell took a leave of absence and auditioned under the name Charles Wyndham. To his great surprise, he won the part of Osric. On the handbills for the play, Culverwell was described as “Charles Wyndham: first appearance of a gifted young actor.” After the opening night on April 14, 1863, no one mentioned Osric, but Booth received praise from every quarter. Many years later, Culverwell still retained vivid memories of his brief encounter with Booth:
During my introductory rehearsal I wandered about the stage and finally chose an advantageous position at a little table where I could command a good view of all the proceedings. John Wilkes noticed me there and smiled.… The courtesy and kindness shown to me by John Wilkes made way for friendship between us, and we frequently were together after the play. He was a most charming fellow, off the stage as well as on, a man of flashing wit and magnetic manner. He was one of the best raconteurs to whom I have ever listened. As he talked he threw himself into his words, brilliant, ready, enthusiastic. He could hold a