The Madisonian. [volume] (Washington City [i.e. Washington, D.C.]) 1837-1845, 1841-03-23
Erom lhs N. Y. COMMUNICATED Adss


aThe life ofsn editor i curious minglng Of con-
currence Ito adopt word from the French, foi which
we want an English equivslenf) and isolation shut
no In his little room with his perpetual flood Of books,
pamphlets letters and journals from every corner Of
the earth, he v always physically alone yet always
mentally in communion with his fellow men, and that
NOT only with them individuals but also comIau-
mites nations and races.
From his " loop-hole Of retreat" he watches and,
10 extent takes part In all thai the world Is doing
without stirring from his chair, without exricating
himself for moment from the heterogeneous mass OF
intelligence by which he 10 surrounded and which TO
him alone Is endowed with an incomprehensible spirit
ofmethod and regularity, he throws himself as u were
into the thousand conflicts Of interest," passion, policy
wisdom, folly, despair and hope, which make up the
business Of the world around him. He must remem-
bei all that has been DONE know all that il doing and
oresee all that is to be DONE He detect motives
correct errors promote good purposes and warn against
dangers, and all this not merely within narrow
circle Of city, or state, country, but throughout
sphere whose limits are eoextensive with the whole
Of While the lawyer Is turning over in his
mind the affairs Of his dozen or his hundred clients
while the physician Is making his round Of patients
while the member OF every other profession trade Is
in like manner devoting himself 10 objects and inter
ests that lie close around him and within his convent
reach, the editor is bordering upon the pro-
liabilities Of the next six months all over Europenow
tasking his intellect for Just oncusons respecting the
course of events in China-now considering some
great question OF home foreign polcy-now trying
to unite some Gordan knot like that of the Mcleod
case--and now discussing the merits Of somebody's
newly invented gimcrack
"Nor is this ALL His liabilities are as extensive
his labors paragraph from his pen may irca, upon
the toes of some individual whom he never heard Of
perhaps a thousand miles Off and il is not uncommon
Tor him 10 receive letters Of complaint threatening
from regions into which he is hardly aware that his
journal has ever penetrated Other men have only
keep good look out how they walk glancing their
syes just around them, but he must take observations
with apoweiful telescope,
Yet with all this extension Of laboI-this univer
salty of communion with mankind there is scarcely
an occupation the follower Of which passes much Of
his time alone, or bestows little thought upon mat
tiers personal 10 himself as member OF society. His
intercourse is with the thoughts and actions not with
the presence of other He talks with the pen,
mot with the voice; and while holding the most
larged communion with his fellow men every where
solitude is indispensable the fuIfment Of his voca
ton Although he utters his opinions with power
OF speech that attans the of thousand and
the same moment the small space, in the centre Of
which he is as it were Gagged, rests in deep and
broken silence while appealing to the reason the
feelings Of a multitude, and perhaps swaying their
passions or their judgment, with skill and effect
which even the greatest of orators might envy he
looks around him and sees only four walls and table
covered with fragments Of paper Present every where
and taking an active part in every public Transaction
the scissors and the pen are his only companions.