The Life and Times of John Kelly, Tribune of the People
9781465685230
213 pages
Library of Alexandria
Overview
John Kelly is the best abused man in America. Fifty or sixty years ago Andrew Jackson was subjected to similar treatment. The hero of New Orleans lived down the slanders which were hurled thick and fast upon him by political opponents. Mr. Kelly will do the same thing, for the people, though easily imposed upon for the moment by artful men, soon correct their own misconceptions, and invariably render justice to public characters. The malice which invents slanders is incapable of transmitting them into history. Fugitive and imperfect sketches of John Kelly’s career have appeared from time to time in the newspapers. No detailed narrative of his life has hitherto been submitted to the public. The writer of these pages is conscious of the difficulty of portraying the character of a living man. Appreciation of merit should not run into panegyric; condemnation of faults should not be spared where faults are found. The advantages possessed by the present writer to discharge the task he has undertaken have been derived from an acquaintance with Mr. Kelly extending over thirty years, and from participation in public affairs in which that gentleman has been a conspicuous actor. Mr. Kelly has figured in transactions which will form an interesting chapter in the history of the present times. The testimony of a contemporary who preserves a distinct recollection of the events he describes will always be an aid to the historian of the next age, who must sift evidence in order to get at the truth, and who should reject whatever falls below that standard. There would not be so many fictions in American biography, if those who have participated in the scenes would record their honest recollection of them. The testimony of an eye-witness is in the nature of primary evidence, and the historian can have no more helpful auxiliary than such a reminiscent. The following pages are offered to the public as the contribution to American biography of one who has enjoyed unusual advantages of knowing the man he writes about. Mr. Kelly is one of the few remarkable men the present political generation has produced. The public has read so much about him both of pure fiction and coarse abuse, that an outline sketch of his life will no doubt prove acceptable to candid readers, and furnish, at the same time, a corrective of current misrepresentations. It might seem strange to those who do not stop to consider the causes of it, that a life-long citizen of New York, who has acted a prominent part in its affairs, should have come to be misunderstood by so many people. But to those who look into the matter more closely the explanation is not difficult to find. Mr. Kelly is a man of very positive character. He has antagonized powerful men, and on several memorable occasions thwarted their schemes of ambition and self-aggrandizement. He has thus excited resentments, and in their disappointment his opponents have sought revenge. Some of these gentlemen control great combinations of corporate wealth, and possess enormous private fortunes. They have not found it difficult to enlist a large section of the press into a species of anti-Kelly crusade. The weapons of partisan warfare are not very choice, and this crusade has been carried on without much regard to the amenities of journalism, but with a resolute and persistent attention to the main idea, namely, the elimination of Mr. Kelly as a political leader, by proclaiming him to be the representative of one of the worst elements of American politics.
