The Highland weekly news. [volume] (Hillsborough [Hillsboro], Highland County, Ohio) 1853-1886, 1879-03-20

Watching the eortgut IN liTe9 Changing tide.
Waiting the boAtnan. and then to be,
/ taEded at lastuPOn the other sideI h sssr 81
Q q The lesson Of a Life. llEf
William Marcy Tweed, the once great
political power, died p bFetnaturely old
; man, within tie walls of a prison. and
/ his life and punishment is an Impressive
lesson. 1t is well to never speak other
wise than good Of the dead: to throw
the broadest mantle of charity oyer
them to forget or at least TO ignore
their failings, and remember only their
WRITES, But the life and deeds Of this
man were SO thrust upon the bdblic:
made SO much 2 part of It's every day
affairs for a decade of years; is so fruit
tul In warning that it will be more than
usually talked about and commented up
oR--let US hope for good, and the future
purity Of official actions and relations.
In no sense was he q gfeat man, save
it might have been, IA tie stFeRFth-Of Y
reckless viii and the determination to
rule, no matter at the cost of how much /
ruin. His bluff good nature and a GER
tain spice of libeTality, and pompous and
lavish eKpenditures, made him popular !
with the masses of @ 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. |
His control over men was gained BY |
ths most mercenary motives; his rule /
was that of force and pandering to the
bases passions; he stopped to the lowest L
means and used the lowest toolsi his
henchmen were gathered from the Sans
CHt9tesj his successes at the polls, OBJ
tanned by the aid of the worst enemies
Of E0Ciety3 by fighting, revolving and
perjury. During his rule the debt of the
city was increased to an enormous
and the treasury robbed to en-
rich himself and a chosen few. For a
Time he Haunted bis ikgotteh wealth in
the lace OF the long suffering public,
rioted in uhseemly luxury in Club and
sporting life, and made the name of the II
iAmericus" infamously famousj vas de-
liant with the battle-Cry of solid men
to the fontp laughed alike at morality (
and justice, and openly sneered at relig-
ion and law. ...
But long doWa-tT6dden right and hon L
ssty at last raised themselves 10 action,
and mighty change came. The Boss" {
and his com1ades, tools rather in guilt,
Sweeney, Ingersoll, Cowan, Woodward s
and the rest, fed, The iron fingers
closed upon the leader, and he. was
brought back to suffer ignominy and in {
And there has been much &
iympathy wasted upon, hihi He was 9
not entitled to the least IOta. He court.
I'd what he received, defied it, and '
pity was entirely out of place, a
"a -7vr-,1~I-,~-,A I,,-A / r
lonate to what was merited. His suffer I
ngs were Just, and his lonely death with I
a prison walls but rstributive Justice. Y
md it was pucrile to shrink from the t
llow. ~ Is
He died q vet comparatively young C
nan died almost deserted 10y those he Y
lad befriended In the heydey of his
night ana power; Few, very few. were
eft to do him homage. The friends /
ell away from him at the first blast of C
'uin as autumn leaves in the breath of h
he tempest. The sycophants who
awned around him in the days of his .
and triumph, forgot the DOOR, kc
lrOken old man. All love died with the La
Of his delusive greatness. a
D. William Tweed was not entirely a
without virtues-no man is-but bis a
we're 50 strictly of a private character
haS the world knows next to nothing Of
hem. His generosity to the public was r
he giving of money belonging to others; .
vas for the sole purpose Of self aggran- L
izement and the irner grasping Of the q
Cepter of misrule. The thousands of s
ons Of coal he gave to the poor of his
7ard during the bitterness Of winter, d
ras prompted solely by selfish ends, and a
ost him nothing. The treasury of b
Feat city footed the bill, and he drew Y
pom Il without stint, and without any D
pparent pTiczs Of conscience. I
His life, looked at from any stsndpoint, o
8 sad story and miserable failure. He Il
brew away every opportunity for good Ii
, gain high name and unspotted rep fl
tation, to gain wealth, to be of ser o
ice to his fellows His ambition was e.
IOt pure one, and the workings of Il G
ataL True, he did not die poor His p
ecreted wealth remains behind, but so Il
Oes twenty-five millions of debts, never 3
0 be satisfied true, he won a name and v
emporary place and power, but they can n
ever be carved as an epitaph upon the
marbles that rise over his grave in e.
Greenwood" a
William N. Tweed is gone, passed as a
rom a palace to a prison; from luxury
nd freedom to confinement; from be- a
ind prison bars to the tomb. But the b
i'd and stern lesson of his life remains, c.
nd viii not soon be forgotten; is too s.
.riking for that, It teaches most forci- Ii
ly that the end of crime is punishment; v
lat though the mills of God may grind Il
OWly, they are certain, and the grist p
ZCeedingly small that human justice o
My slumbers, and its awakening terri v
ly vindictive. It teaches how much Il
etter is poverty and honesty than Il
cath and guilt; how brief the day-o e
triumph, and fearful the find. c,
lg out. u
Let every one ponder upon and profit
y it. 1t is no new lesson, but an oft re- 81
eated tale; ever proving its truth; ever l.
wing warning; and the death of him s.
hose name we have just written but
dds another striking illustration of the Il
oOm Of him who breaks through law, E
nd attempts to trample morality and y
ght under foot. n