National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1886-06-04
The Into John Kelly.

uhig hollCtb no bue lute JOnu nelly. Inc
press Of all parties and factions has re-
viewed his public career as well as his pri-
vate character IN that calm aud temperate
vein which is deemed becoming on such
occasions. OF course, these notices reveal
wide differences Of opinion as TO Kelly, the
politician, but when they come to speak OF
Kelly, the man, there is substantial unan-
unity in the tribute OF respect which they
pay him.
For example, so staunch defender Of
the Republican faith as the Troy Telegram
says: "John Kelly was thoroughly honest"
This is great deal to say OF any man who
has been so conspicuous figure In politics,
and especially the Tammany branch OF New
York politics, as was John Kelly. But we
sincerely believe our Troy contemporary is
right, and that no man can truthfully say
Of the ex-chef of Tammany that he was not
clean in all that pertains to personal In
tegrity.
Mr.. Kelly was a man OF wide and deep
literary research. 1t may be said OF him as
an English poet wrote of his hero, ellis
library, though large, was read till half It's
contents decked his head" He was large
hearted man, full of all kindly and gentle
sympathies, and in quiet way managed to
do deal Of good that was not trumpeted
abroad.
The New York Sun, while regretfuly re-
ferring to Mr.. Kelly's errors of Judgment,
declares that his death "affects the mind
with the sincerest sense Of a public loss,"
and says:
In qualities of character Mr.. Kelly was n
man OF breadth, truth, and flithfulness. Strong
in his attachments and strong in his resent.
ments, his actions were yet )ntrolled by n
high sense ofpatriotic duty and by constant
desire to promote the public veal He
was good man, a good citizen, good hus-
band, tender father, and, above all, II faith.
ful friend. Honor TO the memory of John
Kelly. The land that possesses many such
sons as he is fortunate indeed.
The New York Herald, between whom
and the "Tammany boss" there was intense
hostility, says that "he was a strong man,
capable of great usefulness" and expresses
the hope that If any considerable number of
Democrats in New York city are again to
obey boss "he may at least possess Mr..
Kelly's virtues"
The New York Tribune says Of Mr.. Kelly
that he "bore more than his share of sus-
picion, oensure, and abuse,n and adds:
It.is only reasonable to give John Kelly
credit for higher motive also. He believed
in his party. lie had no doubt that the gov
ernmcnt of New York rightly belonged to it.
and would be better exercised by that party
than by any other. There was no trace of the
donna n In .e al,
a,humbug; but John Kelly had profound
faith in the rights privileges, and virtues of
the class which is loosely called the common
people, and the sounding rhetoric in which
the true principles of Democracy" were
periodically deelalmed in Tammany Hall
seemed to him as automatic as the multiplied.
tion table. II is difficult for au outsider quite
to comprehend the mind Of man who be.
lieves that Tammany Hall Is the best hope of
the metropolis; but 1t Is n common mistake In
politics to underrate the sincerity of our oppo-
nents.
Concerning Mr.. Kelly'g private character,
the Tribune says:
His home life was always honorable. lie
was kind.heartCd, generous, devout, temper
ate, and singuarly truthful; and of the many
good men who enjoyed his acquaintance there
were few who did not learn to respect the sin.
ccrity and simplicity of his character as well
| as the sturdlness of his mind.
The New York Times, while pointing
out the mistakes of the dead Tammany
chieftain, doubts "whether there is an.
other citizen Of Now York whose death
would touch so many hearts with sense
Of personal loss" aud declares that "un-
questionably the sincere and widespread
sorrow occasioned by his death is due in
some degree to the generous and charitable
nature of the man." II thus continues
The consollng reflection that in all the strug.
giles and the tumults of his life, in all the
offices he held, and in his private relations
Mr. Kelly's personal character commanded the
respect of his bitterest political enemies will
serve as the comfort and solace of his near and
intimate friends amid the criticisms which II
is inevitable, and not to be regretted, that his
public career and services should undergo.
The New York Star, after quoting the
comments of the leading New York papers
on Mr.. Kelly's life, makes these remarks on
the treatment accorded him In life by the
illustrated newspapers;
Though Mr.. Kelly was often the object of SO.
we're denunoiation, the daily press OF this city
has always, except In moments of extreme pas.
sion, been governed in Its comments on him
by the knowledge Of his personal character SC
freely confessed in these tributes. This knowl.
edge has doubtless been, as the Times suggests,
'Ihe comfort and solace OF his near and intl-
mate friends" and even Of those nearer and
dearer than friends during the times when, as
the Tribune well says, Mr., Kelly was compelled
to bear 'much more than his share of suspicion
and abuse" But what consoling reflection can
come TO those who loved him when they re.
member the brutal caricatures of Mr. Kelly
that appeared constantly in the illustrated
newspapers How bitter must have been their
pain as they saw this man, whose truth, gem
tleness, simplicity, and loving kindness are
now acknowledged by friend and foe, repro.
sentcd to the whole people as a coarse, repul-
siye creature, but little above brute in ap-
pCarance and character Wit, carlcature, and
even ridicule have their place In politics, but
they have no legitimate place anywhere rs
the means of libel and defamation. Yet
they have been thus enlisted by weekly pub.
liCatlons laying claim 10 high respectabilty.
such libelous Misrepresentation as The most
reckless of daily newspapers would not put in
type have been scattered broadcast by illus
tTated journals, Men possessed OF neither pre-.
judices nor convictions concerning politics
have, for mere hire, dipped their pencils in
venom, and with coarse and rlbald wit, and
such skin as they possessed, engaged In crimi
nal defamation. No man has suffered more at
their hands than the one whose features, us
they now lie cold in death, refIte, even more
thoroughly than do these universal eulogles,
the base cGlumnics Of the miscreants who, as
respects human character, have made "mur.
der fine att TO use Dc Qulncey's startling