The Newberry herald. [volume] (Newberry, S.C.) 1865-1884, 1872-02-21
The Fate Of Fisk.
From the New York World.

the repuse ef Stokes, the assassin, and
the repute Of Fisk, the assassinated, in
New York, vas difference rot Of kind
but Of degree, The victim had made his
doings matters of newspaper comment
and his person popularly known, as the
murderer bad never been able, or it may
be had never been inclined, to do. But
the bullet which ended the career Of Fisk
invested his memory in moment with
q kind Of popular sympathy and pity
which will infallbly be imputed if not to
him ior righteousness, at least for scan.
dal and n shame to his slayer. The cir
cumstances in which james Fisk, j.,
was done to death were Of themselves so
base and brutal that nine men in ten, in
reading Of them, will infer from the tale
not only an distinctive compassion for
the fallen man, which will make them
deaf to all morslizing upon his past ca,
reer, but also an instructive contempt
and loathing for the man who killed him,
which will make them deaf to all pleas in
mitigation Of his crime drawn from the
wrongs he had suffered and theprovocstion
he had received. Was this the object Of
Stokes when he gathered up all the fac
ulties Of his nature to that sly and wolf
ish pursuit Of the foreman?
The poor creature, confronted with
social and financial ruin, by the superior
art aud cunning Of bis antagonist, doubt
less fancicd that in tsking the life Of
Fisk he should more than balance the
long account between them. But what
was such life as the life Of James Fisk,
Jr.? 4 life Of low successes, Of vulgar
gains, OF silly and indecent ostentation,
OF dishonest financiering-a life alike
empty of the romance of passion and Of
the reality Of principle-was that so
much to lose? In the ordinary course Ct
nature it must have come to an end
sooner or later. 1t was life to be en-
yied only by simplctons or scoundrels
q life without one solitary charm for
men with hearts in their bosoms, or
brains in their heads, or manhood in
their wills; lie compact Of impotence,
of impudsnce, and of noise. In the not
wholly improbable course, we will not
say Of nature but OF law and Of society,
it was to be expected that this life might
terminate in poverty and in chastiSement
in the poor-house or the prison. Had
it so ended, Fisk himself would doubtless
have suffered pangs enough to satiate
even the wrath OF Stokes; for obscurity
and penury would have had real terrors
for this prosperous charlatan, who bssk
ed in publicity and in the pomps OF
wealth like goldfish in his sunlit bowl
of glass. But from such a dcnouement
of his lifes brazcn comedy, the hostile
hand Of Stokes has saved him.
Truly the revenge Of Stokes was the
pleasure Of a fool.
But it was moro than this. 1t was a
crime not only against the statute law OF
the land ard the decaloguc, BY both Of
which the killing even Of such fantastical
and offending members Of the body poll
tic as James Fisk, Jr., is pronounced an act
uncomfortable and worthy Of punish
ment, but also against the moral infu-
cnces by which q community is trained
and bred either to honor things honora-
blc or to 90 astray after gods OF brass
and clay: The career Of such man as
James Fisk, Jr., was NIT only q stand
ing disgrace to the generation in which
he lived, but an example Of evil omen to
the generation which is to come.
From the n. Y. Evening Post.
Ii is deeply to be regretted, for the
sake of example, that ho did not live 10
be overtakcn by the inevitable disgrace
which was pressing at his heels. In the
midst of our regret and Indignation for
the decd Of blood which has struck him
down, public opinion has no more impcra-
tive duty than that Of avoiding all SYM
pathy with his character and life.
Speak nothing but good Of the dead,
is maxim in manners which must give
way when morals are at stake. The
man whose frail virtue has not always
been proof against temptation. but whose
life has been i"conspituous, will easily
find in death oblivion to his errors, and
may sleep under his plausible ep'taph
among the just without provoking a
whisper of his name in answer to the
simple child who inquiries, in wonder.
"Whcre are the bad people buried ?
But when a nan has been reckless in
,rampling all the obstacles which law,
honor, and conscience put in the way oi
self indulgence; when lie has seized
great trusts in order to betray them
when he has thrust himself into pro-
minet,ce before the continuity as an
example Of corruption; when he has oo-
tanned wealth aud power by robbery,
anl ou!; used tIs.m to insult public
morals, the grave is for tiw no refuge
from the Judgment which truth must
,,r,nn,,;,,.c IDOu his cur:cr