New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1881-09-22
NEw-yonk DAILY rRmUNE THURSDAY SEPTEMBER o. 1891


the others having concluded their performances
I before its reception, the effect upon the au-
dience was singulary impressive and as
/ The people slowly retired, hardly word was
spoken above a whisper. When the next
morning dawLed, and the public press
had confirmed the intelligence, an unwonted ser
ioCsness pervaded the city. Strong men stood
speechiess about the bulletins, making no con-
cealment Of their emotions, and unashamed OF
J tears Then the public feeling found its usual
expression. There was hardly Il house, however
! poor, which did not hang out its signll of sor-
! row. Often the signs OF mourning were slight,
aud all the more affecting because they were
SO. One of the most pathetic and interesting
l incidents of this time of mourning has been
1 the unexpectedly profuse display among the
|. poorer regions of the city. The East Side is
! in deeper black than the West Side. Fifth
ave-, whose residents are still, many of them,
out of town, is scarcely decorated at al, while
( the Bowcry and Grand-st. are one long picture
l OF hanging Grape. The tenement-houses es-
pacially have made a pathcticalv generous
showing, for them. The hearts of the poor
have evidently been touched perhaps in part
by the fact that the dead man was born Door
and did not die rich.
4 But these outward demonstrations we are
sure inadequately represent the popular feel
ing. Accustomed as we are to observe the eff
iect OF important events upon the public mind
we do not remember any which has made an
impression profound and genuine as the
death OF the President. This is partly to be
attributed to the prolonged suspense of nearly
three months which has awakened such min
glcd feelings Of hope and of despair. All this
I time The Presidents chances of life have been
\ the theme of constant thought and converse
J ton. What is so often suffered in the privacy
/ of a household, the hope deferred, the dull
apprehension, the trust awakened only to be
I blasted, has been shared by millions of men,
women and children, day and night in the
presence Of death, and asking Of Providence
that this single life might be spared After
such experiences, the end at last could only
] hrng the addition OF general disap-
pointment to natural sorrow. The peo-
1 pie might well begin to feel, however
1 cToneouslv, that there was only this
bcleaguered lie between them and the
! future veal wo of the Republic. Again,
4 the spectacle of a suffering wife and of chill
drcn menaced by bereavement gave to the
popular sentiment domestic tenderness, and
4 touched those susccptbilties of Our common
nature which, if the homcliest, are also the
4 finest. To other men in the high Office, death
!, has come suddenly and sharply. The terrible
i suspense of those who loved them has not
been prolonged. Bat we for months have
been hearing Of the agony, molly endured, of
4 her who is now Il widow; OF the pathetic dis
! iros5 of the venerable mot cr; Of the sorrow
20! children too young to be thus tried
7 and tortured. To many village 10 many a
I secluded farmhouse, and to Americans alone,
or nearly so. in all parts OF the world, the in
] tellgence brings tender and cnnoblng emo
tons; but III this great city there is the ag-
I gregaton of regrets shared by million OF
hearts, and quicllenod by an interchange of
private emotions. All that is best in our
Z heterogeneous population is appealed TO nor
J. is it appealed To in vain. There is enough
! IN the sad history which has just been
! 80 sadly concluded to soften the hard.
est heart and to refine, if only for
a moment, the coarsest character; enough to
! arrest the attention Of the most frivolous and
! 10 make the most coreless thoughtful. Even
! he terrible wrath with which the assassin of
he President has been regarded has been for
4 "A moment mitigated, and in the contemplation
Z of such death men have forgotten to hate,
however righteously. Tomorrow will be time
I enough to think of punishment. To-day, New
] York, which has received scant credit from its
/. sister cities for the cultivation of whatever
I things are lovely and OF good report yields to
none of them IN tie sincerity and the univer-
J salty OF her participation in the National sor-
arow.