Ashtabula telegraph. (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1874-1880, 1878-10-11
Whole Number 1901,
The Lesson Of Life.

William Marcy Tweed, the once ereas
political power, died a prematurelY old
man, Sithin the walls of prison. and
nus Life and punishment is an impressive
lesson, It is well to never speak other
WISE than good of the dead; to throw
Jne brOadest mantle of charity over
mem to forget, or at least to ignore
tnelr tallings, and remember only their
virtues. But the life and deeds of this
man We're so thrust upon the public.
made so much a part of its every dav
affairs for decade of wears. is so fr1if-
ful IN warning that it will be more tba8
| usually talked about and Commented nm
| on-let us hope for good, and the fiItl1rs
purity of official actions and relations.
In no sense was he great man, save
| it might have been, in the strength of 4
reckless will and the determination 70
rule, no matter at the cost Of how much
ruin. His bluff good nature and a GER
tam spice of Iiberality, and pompous and
lavish expenditures, made him popular
with the masses Of 4 Certain school.
whose hearts could be reached through
the animal rather than the intellectual;
who longed for possession, and never
questioned the how it was obtained.
t1ls control over men was gained BY
the most mercenary motives; his rule
was that of force and pandering to the
basest passions; he stopped to the lowest
means and used the lowest tools; his
henchmen were gathered from the Sans
CtglOttes; his successes at the polls, OBJ
of society, by fighting, revolving and
perjury. During his rule the debt of the
city was increased to an enormous
amount, and the treasury robbed to en-
rich himself and a chosen few. For a
time he haunted his ill-gotten wealth In
the face of the long suffering publie.
rioted IN unseemly luxury in Club and
sporting life, and made the name Of the
Americas" infamously famous; was de-
hant with the battle-cry of "solid men
to the 'front.'" laughed alike at morality
and justice, and openly sneered at relig-
ion and law.
But long doWn-trodden right and hon
esty at last raised themselves 10 acuOn,
and 2 mighty change came. The "Boss"
and his comrades tools rather ia guilt,
Sweeney, Ingersoll, CoWan, Woodward
and the rest, fled. The iron fingers
closed upon the leader, and he was
brought back to suffer ignominy and in
carceration. And there has been much
sympathy wasted upon him. He was
not entitled to the least iota. He court
ed what he received, deied it, and
maWkish pity was entirely out of place,
for the punishment was but ilI-propor-
tomato to what was merited. His suffer
ings were Just, and his lonely death with
in prison walls but retributive Justice.
He had dared the arm to strike,
and it was puorile to shrink from the
blow.
He died a yet comparatively young
man died almost deserted by those he
had befriended in the heydey of his
might and power. Few, very few, were
left to do him homage. The friends
fell away from him at the first blast Of
ruin, as autumn leaves in the breath of
the tempest. The sycophants who
fawned around him in the days of his
prosperity and triumph, forgot the poor,
broken old 1nan. All love died with the
vanishing of his delusive greatness.
William NJ. Tweed was not entirely
without virtues-no man is-but his
were so strictly of a private character
that the world knows next to nothing of
them. His generosity to the public was
the giving Of money belonging to others;
was for the sole purpose of self aggran-
dizement and the frmer grasping Of the
5EEDl6L
tons of coal he gave to the poor of his
ward during the bitterness of winter,
was prompted solely. by selfish ends, and
great city footed the bill, and he drew
upon it without stint, and without any
apparent pricks of conscience.
His life, looked at from any standpoint,
is sad story and miserable failure. He
threw away every opportunity for good
10 gain high name and unspOtted rep
dtatiOn, to gain wealth, to be of ser
vice to his fellows. His ambition was
not a pure one, and the workings of il
fatal. True, he did not die poor His
secreted wealth remains behind, but so
does TWENTY-FIVE millions of debts, never
to be satisfied; true, he won a name and
place and power, but they can
never be carved as an epitaph upon the
marbles that rise over his grave In
" Greenwood"
William NJ. Tweed is gone, passed as
from a palace to a prison; from luxury
and freedom to confinement; from be-
hind prison bars to the tomb. But the
sad and stern lesson of his life remains,
and win not soon be forgotten; is too
striking for that. 1t teaches most forci-
Div that the end of crime is punishment;
hat though the mills of God may grind
slowly, they are certain, and the grist
exceedingly small; that human justice
0nly slumbers, and its awakening terri
bly, vindictive. 1t teaches how much
better is poverty and honesty than
wealth and guilt; how brief the day OF
dishonest triumph, and fearful the ind
ng out.
Let every one ponder upon and profit
oy it. It is no new lesson, but an oft re-
Deated tale; ever proving its truth; ever
giving warning; and the death of him
whose name We have Just written but
adds another striking illustration of the
loom of him who breaks through law,
md attempts to trampls morality and
light under foot.