New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1859-04-13
THE MILO DRAMATIC AMERICAN TRAGEDY

Wa rotiee the Wsshr ton Tragedy, ss tne nsrS
pspeIs eah it. rather for the way IN whicn u nae
coauented upon ard described, than for any otnei pc
cpRarity attending II. An injured nusoand I'm"
an sdcterer il 20 great novelty upbappiy III te da
rails Of human nature and toere - nothing IuS con-
duc: Of the guilty intrigue whes oee.,.sa esgeclM
comment. 1t VIII be generally ieis toa' sue sedu 'er
oeseryes, IL not his fate, but niue eclnmiseI stion
He wletehed partner in Sin viii reoeiye partly De-
cause she knorn and admired IA Eng ISL dra S1nS
rooup uuch consideration, II not sy npsthy thoosn
no, Of ns know on which tide-EedaCer or seduced-
there was the greater temptation TIE ayenger OF his
own honor in this herce and bloody way, wil be, 10
come csses, ap olsoded, and IN almost all conaohsd
And al this viii be Oh no particular gTounds. Inc
matter will be Settled By the prevalence OF TINS or that
vague end undscp iiaed feeling, not upon resson or
morality; but, As We know absolutely nothing aoo1t
the difficult and dresdful chaos which turned MIS-.
S0kles and Mr.. Key from friends to guilty lovers, or
how far the husbands neglecS or affection msy De
pleaded in mitigation or aggravation OF then gut, OF
Os bic saDguI AIRY revenge We shall no; dscoss quee
TORS for the solution Of shich no mstArAs exist ana
the examination Of which would lead 70 no important
conclusion. Still lees shall we morsllze on q case
which carries its own lesson vita 1t. m
What strikes us the evident delight and avldity,
and the prurient and curious felicity iDerary enec,
with which the case is detailed and co nDented upon
on both sides Of tie Atlantic. just as Pope seems 70
think that from high LIE high characters are drawn,
30 It appears to be held that muroer and adultery
among rpe people require corresponding amount OF
6pe writing Ali that happened, if had taker place
IN Whitecbspel or on the New. York qusys, and had
the parties been laborer and sailor, would have
been dismissed in sir gle coDtemp,uous paragraph.
As 10 js have the mole thing reported ana des-
cribed snalyzed and condensed ~riten and coron
iced again with an iteration tedious to every but
the profe sseIs Of dramatic description. What we
really went 10 know 10 how far al the incidents OF
the tragedy are due TO the imagination Of the report
err or are actual transcripts of fact 1t might give us
q hint as TO the materials Of history. We vehemenlty
suspect that the New-YOrk journalists have Ike the
German essayiss on the natural history Of tbs camel
a the and dlhlOg TOm
the ephs Of their consciousness III IL IS not 80, We can
Only observe that the American mind dwels 10 an at
mospheIe of thought and wears dramatic form oil e1'
preston, as well as beDtuaDy turns to dramatic
course of action which must in Itself I've serious 30
cal evil If Mr.. Sckles really did and said all the Gu
rOus things which reported OF him, we must say
that be must have keebly relished the dramatic OPP
pOrtuDities which the case presented for some bne
stage effects No novel or tragedy WAS ever mere re-
plete with startling hits, The grouping, With all its
happy Incidents and the condolences and the catas'
tOphe, just Themselves into most telling tableau
Had the whole thing been arranged for the French thea
ter IL could not more ably or completely hsve fulfilled
the accredited stage properties. The anonymous letter
delivered to the husband in the full spend0r OF his
senatorial triumph, scuslly at the moment when he ls
entertaining the President OF the United states al
dinneI-the guilty wife, all beauty and hypocrisy, at
one end of her gorgeous board and the husband con-
cealDg bis egonies under the conventional mask OF
ceived in the very spirit of nj. Alexandra Dumas.
The e1tOted confession and the demand for the we'd
ding-ripg by frenzied husband from gutstricken
wife, il nely conceived or if true is in the letter as
well the spirit Of the story books SO is the Incl
dent Of the lover making bis signals TO his mistress in
the very eight Of the vindctive and too weDtorned
husband. 81 non zero bea tr0r0t0. Mr.. Butter
worth--Mr Sickes's friend and coDfdant- evidently
dwels on the whole affair with a historiographers
minute love of his subject, and pstient elaboration
Of particulars which shows that his artistic taste
was ssifed with his share in the affair MIR. Sickess
first communication to Mr.. ButterwOrth is graphic
I'D INV rr1at IN act g.
"me right away" Mr.. Butterworth equally diomatic
and concise. At first he judciousy takes to reason.
ing, and counses prudence IN happy and metsphoroal
language" MIR. Sickes, you must be calm, aud look
this matter square in the face" But the spirit CT
the friend and American citizen soon prevails. Mr.
Siokles Gays " II is already the town talk " then
said," deposes Mr. Butterworth, 80 Ii that be So
there is but course left for you as man OF honor;
you need DO advice Mr.. Sicbles accordingly arms
himself with pistols and revolvers; and Mr. Butter
worth engages in conversation on the weather With
the doomed VICTIM and is thus the instrument OF
handing MIR. Key over 10 the furious husband. Now
comes the climax, in that fine burst which we have
we think, heard on the Adelphi boards: You have
dishonored my bed and family, you scoundrel-you
must die" Then followed three balls delivered in
rapid succession into Keys body, with two other bar
res actually snapped at the dead or at least dyir s.
mans BRAN. Enter gadrds-the curtain falls on the
group. -
Considering that all this could only have occupied
two minutes we are led to admire, in the classical
sense Of the word the fine GOODNESS which enabled the
Witnesses to note and chronicle these telling details
The minute attention which seized and stored up
the hurried language, the murdereIs arguments and
elaboration his hands casped in agony, and his head
buried in the pillow, the ground on which be vindica
ted and which his friend accepted his vindcaon OF
the premeditstsd mulder-sll this looks very like a
complete acceptance Of the transaction. Nor is the
conclusion Of the rsgedy by any means out OF keeping
with this meodrsmatic Wilderness. Mrs. Sickles is re-
ported es connecting that her husband had done
right She is reported as very ANXIOUS to get back
her wedding ring, and utterly careless of her lovers
fate. Mr. Sickles observes the transaction was
unavoidable" or, as he expresseses it in finer
language, Satisfied as was OF her guilt, we could
not hive on the same planet All the family friends
isi the comforts Of which hardly come up to his ex
pectstions; though with fine touch Of professional
irony the jsilor is made to observer " This ls the
best place you members OF Congress have afforded
u.s. with pretty classical aluSon, we suppose 10
Perllus and mis- bun; whereppOn, we are informed,
MIR. Sickles oaved "a verb, neu'er OF the Ameri-
can language the exact meaning OF which We profess
our inability to discover.
"Our Own Correspondent of Tie Times, We must
do him the Justice 20 Bsy is fully equal to the tine &C.
caeion HIS has given us the msrrog Of the American
reports in language quite bis own In order 10 show
how largely oonemporaneous history msy vary, he re-
ports TIE death. denouncing sentence, not as on
have dshonored my bed, you scoundrel, &c, but
more briefly "Vilain, prepare to die;" to which, in
Porte 81. Martin language the reply ought to have
been "Catf avaunt /" and perhsos was IN some re-
port The Times writer has some characteristic
beauties of syle peculiarly bis own. "Cick goes one
% pistol Don't Kill me, prays the unarmed msni
the marches finger m0ces, ard the victim falls. The
now useless pistol is throsn away and the revolver
drawn Z" click goes the hammer, and the pistol
has missed fire." And not content with all this,
leader dishes up al the cold cabbage again. famous
hand in leader of the accredited type, goes through
all the screams of the wife, and the death grapple;
and We are asked to be eoi6ed by all this.
We must unhesitatiugy demur TO the edthcsron Is
fhy A ma