The Pulaski citizen. [volume] (Pulaski, Tenn.) 1866-current, 1882-11-30
Daath Of Thnrlow We'd.

marian occurred last Wednesday.
At the ripe age of eighty-five
Thurlow Weed has passed from
Garth He combined in rare union
the best qualiioa atoms of the politi-
clan and the journalist. Refusing
office for himself, he was the power
in New York for upwards of half
! century that disposed Of Office. In
the days of the wing party he was
a more potent factor in its manage
ment than William ii. Seward him
self Seated in his office of the AL
bany Evening Journal, Mr. Weed
dictated the policy of the party and
arranged the state ticket. No man
in the empire state was so great
that he did not consult with the ed
itor, whose influence was felt while
his hand was never idle in political
management.
AS a journalist, Mr.. Weed was
terse and concise He rarely ex-
ceeded half column on any sub
ject. He found it possible to say
all that he had to say on any sub
ject wi hin those limits. But what
he said carried weight with it, and
was usually decisive.
There was nothing demonstrative
in what Mr.. Weed either wrote or
said. He was not much given to
public speaking, but when he did
speak it was with the same clear
and terse reasoning that he en-
plOyed in written articles.
The Albany Evening Journal as
he managed it would seem antigua
! ted now. 1t rcsembled except in
| the length Of editorial articles the
| National Intelligencer when under
! the control of Gales d. Seaton. 1t
was the exponent of sound Wing
doctrine, and one would look in
vain through its columns flor any
deviation from the policy of the
party. 1t was reliably partisan,
but always moderate in its tone.
1t is probable that no other edi-
tor in the United States had so con-
fidently the ear of public men of
| his own party. They trusted in his
| discretion. He would not blab
merely for sensation. His journal
istic instincts were subordinate to
his instincts as a politician, and he
knew as well how to conceal as to
reveal. Hence it was that the poll
ticians freely consulted with Thur
low Weed and made cOnfidant OF
him.
1t is said Mr.. Weed has left a
biographical sketch of his own life,
which will include a large CORES
pondence with the public men of
his time. Doubtless, when pub
iished, it viii contribute much light
to the history of the past half cen
tIry or more OF American politics.
Bat we doubt whether ianything
will be found in it that betrays the
confidence reposed in him by his
great contemporaries
Dir. Weed was very tenacious in
his opinions. This was shown in |
the card he recently dictated on
the subject OF civil service reform.
1t WIS impossible for him to com |
pfehend how party interest could be
5ubscrved without the distribution
d spOils or 4 reward for partisan
services. He had been educated in
hat idea, and was like the planters
If the south after the emancipation
II the slave, who coulI not under
stand how the blacks could he made
o work without the crack of the
masters whip to stimulate them to
Had Mr. Weed seen a better way
lie would undoubtedly have adop-
ed it, for his aspirations were high
nd his political views shaped by !
N enlighted patriotism. But he
lad been educated in the old
chool Of politics, which, whether
Thig or democratic, believed in the
polls system, and the right of the
iotor to dispose of the spoils to
rs best advantage. He never out
rev this idea, and dwelt upon it in
he last moments of his life
Mr.. Weed was one of the last
links that bound the pres
mt to his generation of ante -6eLIun
'ublic men. What a host of them
ave passed away since the tocsin OF
var sounded and the people rose in
esponse to the guns that were di-
ecte d upon Fort Sumter. Lincoln,
'eward, Cha Stanton, Thad. Ste
ems, Morton, Fessenden, Andrew,
ireeley, Raymond, Bennett, Bryant
what n multitude of statesmen,
journalists, and politicians, have
oined tina innumerable caravan
nd taken their place in the silent
al of death, since Thurlow
' eed retired from active duty as
he editor of the Albany Evening
ouruali he lesson is impressive
( the brevity of life as well as OF
he fading influence VIII CHI men
Ncrt upon those who follow them.