Ashtabula weekly telegraph. [volume] (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1853-1873, 1872-01-27
Flgk's Vagarien.

l: Is TO the vagaries Of his private life
however-F Fisk can be said 10 have
had any private lile-that the ewes of
the vulgar have been turned with tho
greatest Interest. The troupes Of dane.
ing girls and opera. bouffe singers whom
he supported at his theatres, exhibited
in his box, aud paraded in public places
on his arm ; the splendor of his eGuip.
ages; the glory OF his toilet; the ru.
mored luxuries OF his bauquetino rooms
and his buffet; his lavish generosity III
giving and his ingenuity in never paw
lngi his insolence and his wit; his VIII
dictiveness and his good nature: his
thirst for notoriety and lis unparalleled
contempt for public opinion; bis bold.
ness III detying laws and courts, coupled
with comical sort Of cowardiee in tho
face of physical danger-these things
have been the talk OF New York for
four years, and have made the name OF
James Fisk, jr., notorious from London
to San Francisco. And no doubt thew
have been admired. Ed, gross, sensual,
w gar as he was, he had not only troops
OF associates, but hundreds of admirers.
Young men saw i'll the career of this
poor roue the road TO wealth aud pleas.
ure. He was chosen Colonel of a reri-
nent of militia, nrch it to Boston in
defiance OF the unwllingness of the
people Of that city, encamped with il at
Long Branch, was cheered sometimes il.
the streets, and when he serenaded the
Grand Duke Alexis was admitted to an
introduction with that imperial young
man. He ran away disgracefully during
the Orange riots in July, but that did
not seem to diminish his popularity even
in his own regiment. The courts have
rung with the shames OF his domestic
relations but he bore his head higher
than ever. 1t is the worst Of his offenses
that by the briliancy Of his rapid career
and tile rude 6Oah0mie Of his manner he
did so much 10 tasOiuate the weak and
blunt the moral sense Of the young. He
and his associates did more than anv
other man except Tweed TO corrupt the
bench and bar-more even than Tweed
himself to defile the judi:ial ermine il
the public sight, and degrade in general
estimation names once honored in the,
roll Of advocates. He did his best to de-
stroy what honor there was left in the
stock market. He found speculationa
sort Of gambling, and he made it notlr-
ing better than treeboting. lie dafled
a stage that was bad enough already.-
He popularized sins that common decen-
cy used 10 conceal. But worse than all
this was thl ir3.di- us :nfua-ce by wLica
he relaxed business morality, and taught
young men ju.t starting ia the race Of
life, that any uEeducated Goor could get
off peddler's cart and steal railroad
without going TO Jail or being Kicked out
Of so-called respectable houses. The aA
ly way to get on in the Fisk philosophy,
WAS to cheat friends and enemies alike,
bribe, lie, cheat, seal, and have a good
time. Perhaps 1t is the mercy of God
that the end OF his career has furnished
such startling and dramatic contTadic-
ton TO the lesson OF his past success.
Two of the must conspicuous vices of
his lite-his iucon,nence, and his prosti-
tuition of the courts to schemes of rob-
berry and vengeance-have led directly
TO his murder.