Clearfield Republican. [volume] (Clearfield, Pa.) 1851-1937, 1865-05-17
ASSASSINATION IN HISTORY

IL 'Ho'i magnitude and among
theSe' fortunately for the credit ofhumac
nature mat OF the assassination of rulers
10 one Oh The larest, as it is also one of the
s'ea'eS'' AS the mind glances backward
ihto the past, 1t sees but few instances in
mh'Cu the most atrocious Of all crimipali
NeS mas oeeh committed. Its occurrence
may te seen in the earlier history Of man.
hlhu' but as the race emerges from bar
Darism, II Is discovered a. longer intervals,
o tilI, as we approach the modern era of
Christian enlightenment, it disappears.
Ihe term assassin dates back TO the
days Of the crusades, and is the offshoot
OF some oi the western languages of Asia.
An association there existed whose
chief was named Hashshin. The memb-
efs oi TINS body were bound by the most
solemn oaths to execute the will Of their
leader, who, when he wished to s.imu-
late them TO state OF frenzy, gave them
on opiate known as hqsiesL, and from
which the name of the leader and term
assassin are derived. In this blood stain
ed association OF fanatics, driven to deeds
OF murder by the influences of fearful
stimulus, do we find an apt type of the
drunken maniac who, on Friday evening
April II, 1865, gave cowardly death
blow to the chief magistrate of this repub-
! lie.
In the earlier ages OF the world, when
fierce passions held sway in the human
breast, and thrones were open to all who
had the courage and strength to hold
them, the removal Of ruler by violence
was not uncommon.
Perhaps this occurred more often in
the history of Rome than in that of any
other country. Prominent among these
instances is the familiar one of Julius
Caesar slain 10y Junius Brutus and Cocoon
spirators. Even the disgusting mora
character of Caesar, the vast amount Of
misery he brought upon the world during
his conquests, and even his iuordinate
ambition, has not reconciled posterity TO
his fate, so repellant is the means by
which his existence was terminated. 1t
is only the charitable supposilion on the
part of the world that Brutus was actua-
ted 10y the purest patriotism tnat has
prevented his being execrated as n mons
ter of in iquty.
Among prominent instances in Roman
history is the case Of the efeminate but
infamous despot, HelioLaba!us. History
~ 80. r-,i- '-t---- 'L:---. A..
rants as murder, and at the same time
does not lift from righteous obscurity the
man who perpetrated the crime.
The successor of the detestable Heiog.
abalus, the virtuous Alexander Seyerus,
also fell victim to tho sword of lho as
sassin. and has added to hia other quail
ties which men admire, that Of martyr
dom.
Pompey the Great, after an eye1trul
! life, was, like our own President, treach-
( erously murdered in the presence of his
I met his death az 4 moment when defeat
instead Of victory had crowned his
life.
1t would be an endless task to attempt
to cnumerate even a small part Of the
number Of great men as-assinated during
the existence OF the Roman empire.
Leaving the dark days Of that period, we
ind that there are but few cases to claim
the attention cf the world.
In nli the long career Of England we
| find but one or two cases in which the as
sassination OF rulers is said to have occur
ed Apart from the smothering Of the
princess which enlightened Investigation
pronouuces bat barely probable, we have
only the case of Richard W. Even in the
case Of this unfortunate Plantagenet, Il Q
most that history ventures to say is that it
is supposed that he was murdered in
PRISON by Sir Piers Exon, his keeper.
Among the Borgia' of the sixteenth
century. the characteristics OF the old RO-
mans were faithfully preserved. The
brother of tho famous Lucrcri2 used the
dagger and the poison Unfortunately
upon the Italian Dakes who III the way
o. his ambition.
In the slmo century Darnley. the
handsome bnt proHiE'te husband Of the
unfortunate Mary, Queen OF Scots, was
killed by Bo,hwell and somo two cen
,uries latter Charlotte Corday relieved
tho world OF monster in the person OF
the blood stained Marat. The reverence
which poster'y Gccords to Coraly is more
perhaps on account of her sex than her
crime, and is much OF the same kind as
we regard the heroine in the romantic ac-
: count of Judith and ualoferenes.
There have been attempts to assassi-
: nate Napoleon III, and we believe some
crazy ould-be-murderer once fred a
muskeL at Queen Victoria; but it has re-
, NAMED for enlightened America to furn-
= ish the only well defined and successful
tragedy of assassination that has occurred
in modern times. In the nearly triple
! murder which took place at Washington
Ce have not only the only modern in
, stance of assassination in the cae Of high
: functionaries, but also the very greatest
crime Of the kind known to history
5 There is no parallel case in which there
. has been an attempt at such wholesale
! Slaughter The affair in Washington il
sui generous, and has no rival 1t is alon,
in its magnitude, its sauguinary results
horrifying iniqui.y,
. ee1YA Chicago minister, evidently spoil
ing tor fight, took occasion, some day
- since, in Il prayer, to insult neaVoh az
e follows: .,
) 90. God. if it is not right to visit loyal
t indignation upon Democrats IN the streels