The Hillsdale standard. [volume] (Hillsdale, Mich.) 1851-1909, 1877-12-04
Assassination as a Historical
Factor.
BY BIoN wHELAN, OF Hn.LsDALE.

The Geologist finding on some in'
land plain sea-shell, tells US these
plans were once old oceans bed, but
that by the building OF corals and
heayings of the waters for years
aud ages, continents came into exist
ence; then looking where rugged
peaks aud hills tower in their grandeur
he tells OF some convuIsion of Nature
by which meadows were changed TO
mountain heights, and strata marking
the growth OF years, were mingled in
one grand conglomerate.
Like this history of the earth has
been the history OF man. We can
trace his course slow and gradual, as
families and tribes became blended in
to nations, and slow progression seem
ed TO be the tenor of historic writ. -
Then comes some startling event that
has changed the course of history and
made the record of day more potent
for the good or i'll Of humanity than
the dull chronicle OF years. and on OH
how many Of these days has the hand
of the assassin appeared-a bloody
signal of the downfall OF kings, the
crumbling OF empires, or the birth of
nations.
Wheh sudden death enters the fami-
ly, the living ever vow 10 observe the
wishes and precepts OF the dead. In
nations when some great leader OF hu-
manity is murdered, the assassin will
find n thousand swords unsheathed to
avepge the horrid deed. n million trus-
ty souls ready to devote their lives TO
the cause OF their fallen leader. He,
whose living words found but dull re-
sponse in their hearts. dead makes his
cause a sacred legacy to be cherished
for all time.
where words are scarce, they're seldom
spent In vain.
For they breathe truth, who breathe their
words In pain.
The. annals OF history are replete
with startling changes following like
shadow the advent OF the assassin. A
jagger-stroke changes some champion
Of progress into n martyr; his radical
ideas which the slow hand of Time
would take years to weave into the
warp OF history, becomes in an instant
the rallying cry of nations.
Let us look at some Of those events
that mark great epochs in the records
Of humanity. Behold Caesar murder
ed in the Senate chamber in order to
save Rome her Republic; murdered be-
cause he was ambitious; because he
wished to wear the royal purple as well
as WELD the royal power. Time rolls
ON aud what do its changes show? We
see Rome her Republic lost, while such
monsters as Nero and Caligula are per-
mit:ed to rule because they bore the
name OF Caesar.
When William the Silent was mur-
dered by the hand of Spanish assas-
sin, that arch plotter, Phillip the Sec
ond, dreamed that the Netherlands
would again become the willing slave
of Spain and Popery; dreamed of an
other Duke OF Aiya with his carnival
OF blood; dreamed OF terrible Gnto da
fe among the bitches of Holland, when
tho proudest blood of the land should
furnish food for the flames.
In the kaleidoscope Of history we
may see how the assassins' bullet
changed the crystals of success and
power in the array of nations. The
stout Dutch burghers won their inde-
pendence beating back the proudest
chivalry of Spain on Nieuport 'Jbloody
sands, while Phillip the Second, his
crown robbed of its fairest gem, died
alone in the gloomy Escurial at Madrid.
"Hls fate unp,Ied and his rites unpaid"
While No friends complaint no kind do
mestic tear
Pleased bis pale ghost or graced his mournful
bier"
Doubt you the power Of the assassin?
Have you forgotten that April night
twelve short years ago, the sharp crack
Of the pistol as il rang out upon the
air, the "sic semptr tyrdnRis" OF Booth
as be leaped upon the stage, the tolling
OF funeral bells from the Atlantic to
the Pacific, the emblems of mourning
that decked every household in the
land? IL you've forgotten these you
may well doubt the power OF the assas-
sin; though the full effect OF Lincoln's
assassination is TO be found on the pa
ges Of yet unwritten history. Booth
thought 10 bring priceless guerdon
of peace and prosperity TO the South
be loved 50 we'll. How well he sue
ceeded you can tell as you look at the
South still sitting in her sorrow and
desolation: her fields barren; her treas
uries bankrupt; anarchy supreme over
law--snoh vision OF peace aud pros
perity, mortal man may we'll wish new
er TO see again.
These few specific instances
gathered from pages that are bristling
Nlth thousands. The assassin has
been found an every age, in every ma
ton; his hapdiwork is found on the
records Of every land; he has stood
beside the death-bed of kings; he has
chanted a requiem over the grave of
many an empire; his deadly work has
changed the ideal longings Of one CEN
tury into the living realities of the
next. The stream of history rolls on
at first calmly aud peacefully, urged
little faster by the hurrying course OF
events thl it trembles upon the brink
Of the precipice; then behold the as
sassin's work. the mighty flood, Mag
ara-like, is lost in clouds Of spray and
mist that rise from the rocks Lelow;
the falling waters seek out new and
tortuous channels for their onward
progress; then come the foaming and
the seetbing and the rushing OF the
angry. river until at length il spreads
out into a broad Ontario OF radical
ideas able Ia bear upon its bosom the
floating thoughts OF all futnrity.