VITALITY OF GREAT JOURNALS. 485 against these and other wrongs and abuses as from The Tribune? And if the farmers of our country, our workingmen, our factory boys and girls are more enlightened than they were, and animated by more noble aims, where in journalism did they receive so much to teach and guide them as in the paper founded by Horace Greeley? It has been the wisest exponent of the cause of Labour. There has been no statesman, there has been no party, so faithfully representative of The People, of their incorruptible integrity, of their virtue, of their longing for improvement and for progress,—as his newspaper. It was a beautiful pride of his, therefore, which caused him to desire to be chiefly remembered by posterity as the founder of The New-York Tribune. And he will be. This too, as one of the natural growths of his genius, joined, if I may so speak, with a law of journalism. In the teeming forests of South Africa, the stateliest tree, that which is greater in girth and towers high above all its compeers, is the mowana. This sublime pride of the forest has a vitality which is well nigh indestructible. Dr. Livingstone says of it: "No external injury, not even a fire, can destroy this tree from without; nor can any injury be done from within, as it is quite common to find it hollow. Nor does cutting down exterminate it; for I saw instances in Angola in which it continued to grow in length after it was lying on the ground." A great journal seems to have the almost imperishable vitality of the mowana. For this we shall. doubtless, some day discover the reason. It may be because of the greatness of the journal. Even great animals live long. Whatever may be the reason, there are facts plenty in support of my opinion. The death of James Gordon Bennett did not stop The Herald for an instant, nor change the great character which he had finally given it. And it would, no doubt, have been substantially the same if he had had no son. The Louisville Courier-Journal had in Mr. George D. Prentice an editor of unique genius; but no one can safely urge that he was more brilliant, more witty, more genial than is Mr. Watterson, at this time editor of that journal. The Chicago Tribune has stood the assaults of power, of money, of party, of devouring fire and flame, and gives every evidence of living, with even increased influence, after many assailing powers and parties shall have followed their predecessors to the tomb. The London Times is stronger than the British aristocracy; it will long outlive the British monarchy. Into The New-York Tribune Horace Greeley breathed the living soul of his benignant genius: a constant inspiration to his successor, the one of his own choice,-who has already won new triumphs in behalf of popular enlightenment, of enterprising, independent journalism, animated by a generous philanthropy, showing that the journal still labours for the moral, social, political good of the people, pursuing and improving the way of its illustrious founder. I need hardly add, I trust, that this is not said in compliment to him who succeeds the Great Editor, but in demonstration of the editorial judgment of Horace Greeley, and of the inextinguishable vitality of independent journalism. CHAPTER XXVI. THE AUTHOR OF BOOKS. Mr. Greeley in Permanent Literature- His Labours in Political Manuals -Edits a Life of Henry Clay-"Hints Towards Reforms "—"Glances at Europe"-"Overland Journey to California". "The American Conflict"-A Work Upon Political Economy- "Recollections of a Busy Life"-"What I Know of Farming"-Estimate of Mr. Greeley as an Author. LET us now briefly consider the facts of Mr. Greeley's life which show his connection with the permanent literature of his country. I here mean, simply, his writings which have taken the form of books, as distinguished from his writings in journalism. That which now constitutes a considerable proportion of the matter of works of which Mr. Greeley was the author did, indeed, originally appear in The Tribune or in other journals. He also wrote a great deal for his own journal, for others, for magazines, addresses, lectures, letters, which might properly and profitably be collected into books that might fairly receive the favourable judgment of criticism and the considerate approval of the world of letters. But at this time we can, of course, only consider him as an author by the writings which he himself composed as books, or supervised in that form. We have seen that Mr. Greeley very early in life became noted as a political statistician. In his "Recollections of Horace Greeley," published in The Galaxy magazine for March, 1873, Mr. Thurlow Weed says that The New-Yorker-Mr. Greeley's first journal--was distinguished not only by its judicious and interesting selections, but "remarkable for the extent and accuracy of its political statistics." It might appear that Mr. Greeley had a genius for political statistics. He was always at home with election returns, and probably there was not a year of his life, after he arrived at manhood, when he could not tell, on call, without reference to book or table, the exact vote of every State in the Union at the most recent election, and of very many of the Congress Districts, and even of counties. He recollected not only on which side the different States and Districts had voted, but exactly how they had voted. He compiled The Whig Almanac, afterwards called The Tribune Almanac, long before he became generally known as a journalist, giving it a value in respect of accurate political intelligence and statistics before quite unknown. The work, afterwards mainly done by others, has grown into the most complete and valuable compendium of political facts and figures that we have. Akin to this was "A Political TextBook for 1860," compiled by Mr. Greeley and Mr. John F. Cleveland. The design of the book was to present, in a compact and convenient form, the more important facts, votes, resolves, letters, speeches, reports, and other documents, elucidating the political contest of that year. It also contained many tables of election returns. I believe it was quite generally quoted as authority by speakers and writers of all parties during the campaign,--best test of merit in a work of that character. But long before this Mr. Greeley had published a number of "Tracts on the Tariff," much of the substance of which was afterwards embraced in his work upon Political Economy. In 1852 he edited Sargent's Life of Henry Clay, adding little, however, to the author's narrative, besides an account of the proceedings of Congress on the occasion of Mr. Clay's death and funeral. His description of his own last interview with his most admired and beloved statesman is worthy of insertion: "Learning from others how ill and feeble he was, I had not intended to call upon him, and remained two days under the same roof without asking permission to do so. Meantime, however, he was casually informed of my being in Washington, and sent me a request to call at his room. I did so, and enjoyed a half hour's free and friendly conversation with him, the saddest and the last! His state was even worse than I feared; he was already emaciated, a prey to a severe and distressing cough, and complained of spells of difficult breathing. I think no physician could have judged him likely to live two months longer. Yet his mind was 99 GLANCES AT EUROPE. 489 unclouded and brilliant as ever, his aspirations for his country's welfare as ardent; and, though all personal ambition had long been banished, his interest in the events and impulses of the day was nowise diminished. He listened attentively to all I had to say of the repulsive aspects and revolting features of the Fugitive Slave Law and the necessary tendency of its operation to excite hostility and alienation on the part of our Northern people, unaccustomed to Slavery, and seeing it exemplified only in the brutal arrest and imprisonment of some humble and inoffensive negro whom they had learned to regard as a neighbour. I think I may without impropriety say that Mr. Clay regretted that more care had not been taken in its passage to divest this act of features needlessly repul sive to Northern sentiment, though he did not deem any change in its provisions now practicable." In the preface to the volume, "Hints Towards Reforms," Mr. Greeley intimates that it will probably be his first and last appearance as an author. I have already spoken of this work at some length in preceding pages. A number of extracts therefrom also appear in the Appendix to this volume. It will he found a valuable study to those who would have a thorough knowledge of the constant growth in power and versatility of Mr. Greeley's mind and the vast improvement he made in the art of composition. ΤΟ THE GENEROUS, THE HOPEFUL, THE LOVING, WHO FIRMLY AND JOYFULLY BELIEVING IN THE IMPARTIAL TRUST THAT THE ERRORS, THE CRIMES, AND THE MISERIES, SHALL YET BE SWALLOWED UP AND FORGOT TEN, IN A FAR EXCEEDING AND UN- PURITY, AND BLISS, THIS VOLUME IS RESPECTFULLY AND AFFECTIONATELY INSCRIBED, BY THE AUTHOR. Such is the dedication of Horace Greeley's first book. Only a year afterwards, "Glances at Europe" was published. There have been few books of travel more original, or |