The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1895-07-13

by man. many % whom have lost large
sums IN bind Dependence upon ihoS.
physical gifts which be had not the gooi
fortune 20 regulate by . decent seii-coh-
troll. Is perhaps no answer 20 the obvious
criticisms that must Re made o. CARE.
boistsrous ard unhappy. Yet the regard
with which this man Is Still received ~
men cynical enough and void Of Illusions
seems 70 Us NOT ar unworthy thing
II shows that there IS 4 public Tnicn
ciinzs 10 an old favorfte from whatever
cause degeuerase6 or debased. II enows-
too. that foolish as Sullivan has been.
there IS still perception IN the pontse
mind that amid great temptations 70
which he easily succumbed. and IN spite
OF brutsIitiss with which he has been cred
tied Justly or uniUstiy. there was some
rude elemental Kindness in his spirit
We don't say this % excuse his eN-
cesses or 70 maintain that they were IN
evttable- Corbett r. as quick 10 save as
Sullivan has been 70 spend. II is matter
OF temperament first and then OF habit,
and the saving habit makes good citizens.
in SO faS. and the wealth and safety Of the
states But look among the graduates OF
the colleges or the youths most prudently
educated. privately or abroad. and say
how many ~ them could have borne the
strain put upon this Boston boy IN me
twentfes could have endured a Sudden and
surprising prosperity with an even heart-
And he ala not have the sducation which,
small as Il is. is supposed or hoped 10 save
the rapid young gentlemen In the colleges
from ruin. He knew baseball, but nor
history and there was nothing in his ante
cedents or his surroundings 20 preserve
him from the 'eIation Of success that
made him more famous. for the hour. than
Pasteur or Koch. and richer in his own
natural idea OF his money-making posi-
bilities than the Rothschilds. He sprang
at one bound into fame and The possibility
OF riches. No chilfless old rich man or
the Rome Of the decadence had more re-
tanners and fiatterers and sycophants- He
made money without effort. and ne sduan-
dered IL like Coal Oil Johnny. He was the
victim OF impulses which have brought
thousands Of other men 10 perjury and dis
grace-men without his temptations, men
conyivial and too social. and not too choice
Of their amusements. THE gulf and the
grave of Maginn and Burns engulfed and
buried this man OF purely physical dis
tinction. who had had no training and no
aptitude for intellectual pursuits or for
the ways of business. He earned and
threw away hundreds OF thousands OF
dollars. He was for few brief years
barbarian prince. His revenues. his glory
and hts constitution are no more.
There could be no easier subject with
which to point a moral or adorn tale.
Yet IL seems TO US that there is something
not altogether unworthy In the surviving
kindness 10 Sullivan OF old admirers whom
he has done so much to estrange. There
were and are primitive instincts OF gen.
crosby and kindness In this man. and they
are not forgotten by persons whose man
ners and morals may sorely need mending.
but In whom the struggle for a doubtful
livelihood, won upon the test OF adventure.
has left certain sentimentality not incon-
sistent with doubtful practices not de-
serving OF praise. perhaps. In the sight OF
lofty moralists. but no conscious humbug.
and Its intentions a virtue There are
plenty of other persons In the staider
walks Of life who remember when John
Sullivan was the great dynamic swatter
Of the world, the hardest plant and finest
flower Of physical superiority.