Worcester daily spy. [volume] (Worcester [Mass.]) 1850-1888, 1857-01-30


THE DEATH or preston S. BRooKs.-The
announcement of the death of Mr.. Summers
assailant-for he is only known to the eoun
try in the character of lly- will be received
by varying emotions throughout the North.
By large class it will be regarded as a direct
judgment from Aeayen-a plain and palpable
exhibition of the Hand of Providence. 9th
ers will, consciously or unconsciously, be sat
isiied in long cherished spirit of revenge.
Others, still, will find, arising in their hearts,
a sentiment of pity for one, who, from a good
social position, threw himself into an immor.
tally of disgrace pushed thit. erward by bru-
tai passions and brutal advisers-and who has
now gone to his last account torn from life
by an invisible hand that violently throttled
him where he lay. lie died terrible death
a death well calculated by all lis associations.
to arouse feeling that will be judged to be
supersttious, or otherwise. according to
mans views of life and habits Of thought.
This death-so dark-so terrible-is the
closing scene Of great tragedy. Look where
we may, through all the realm Of fiction, and
the wide range Of dramatic poetry, we can
find nothing which will compare for a mo-
ment with that drama which opened with the
magnificent speech of Sumner, and closed
with the death Of Brooks. The speech in be-
half of human liberty and justice pronounced
to tingling ears and throbbng hearts in the
august presence of Senate; the conspiring
DULLES watching their oppoi tunity for attack,
the muIderous and cowardly assault, the ex-
citement following throughout a great coun-
try, the dennncation and laadation of an OPP
posing press, the stirring Of a million hearts
by the story Of the deed iii presidential cam
vas, the slow conyalescenee and patient suf.
terlng OF the victim among the mountains.
the agitations and couvulsions III Congress,
the shock upon the sentin ents and syfnpa-
thies Of the civilized world, the fresh houors
heaped upon him whose head had been smit-
ten by blows intended to be more cruel than
ignominy, and, at last, the death of him
whose arm had stricken down the brave aud
the good-a death which the same hand that
dressed the wounds Of his victim, was power
less to ayert-0h is this not tragedy which
in its associations of grandeur, yillainy, and
terror-in its wide field, in It's great effects
and It's awful eatastrophes, is beyond all the
creations of the Imagination
Into the grave we can follow nc man with
malediction, and indeed, if we are to believe
the accounts given OF Mr.. Brooks, he was
more the object of pity than of revenge before
he died He had lost his easy assurance, his
peace of mind, and his health of body for
months before his death. The once full and
graceful figure had gown thin, and the radi.
ant, good -natured face looked worn and hag-
gard, Conscience and the denunciation Of all
who were not the partizans of the foul inter-
est in whose behalf he had sacrificed himself,
were too much for him TO carry without stag
gering. That he has suffered intensely, we
have no doubt. Let him sleep, vi h no breath
of revenge to disturb the silence above him.
Let pity drop tear upon his bier, that one so
capable of enjoyment, and giving enjoyment
to others, could be tempted to a deed which,
living evermore in history, must be associated
with his name in infamous relations. Ii we
may not wholly forget him, let us forgive and
above all, let us take TO our hearts the lesson
which the great tragedy in which he has act
ed so prominent part, is SO we'll calculated
to convey. The spirit of liberty still lives,
and though wounded in the house of its
friends, will live on, and conquer. The spirit
of slavery iudictive sensitive, brutal, pas.
sionate, and reyengeful, still lives also, and
the very blows it administers in its blind
wrath, can but hasten its own destruction.
From the Boston Telegraph.
Much impression will be made upon the
community by the sudden stroke which has
deprived the man Of violence of his life. His
death might readily have been predicted at 10
distant day, but it was not to be expected SO
soon. Ever since the crime which he COM
mitted against Mr.. Sumner, he has been
marked and we may say a doomed man. So
dreadful crime could not long go unpunish-
ed. If we mistake not, it will be found that
the overwhelming weight of public opinion
of the civilized and Christian world has driv-
ell him into life of excess, to which his early
death must be directly attributed, and that it
is no eXaggeration or superstition to trace