The Democratic sentinel and Harrison County farmer. [volume] (Cadiz, Ohio) 1851-1852, 1851-08-27
The Editor.
DT oxE WHO KNOWS.

The editor is the dupe of destiny. His
lot was knocked down to him bargain, and
lit turns out to be take in.
His land ofpromise is mountain stuffed
with thorns.
His laurel wreath is garland of nettles.
His honors resolve themselves into a capital
hoax, his pleasures are heavy penalties, his
pride is the snuff of candle, his power but
volumes of smoke.
The editoris the most ill-starred man a.
live. He, and he alone, thousand preten-
ders about town Notwithstanding, is indeed
the identical martyr commonly talked of as
the most ill-used individual.
He seems to govern opinion, and is, in re-
ality, victim to the opinion of others. He
incurs more than nine -tenths of the risk and
responsibility, and reaps less than one tenth
of the reward and reputation.
! The defects of his work are liberally as
signed to him, the merits are magnanimous-
ly imputed to his correspondents. If bad
article appears, the editor is unsparingly
condemned; if a brilliant article be inserted,
anonymous carries off the elogium.
The editorial function is supposed to con-
sist in substitutions of 'fit be- for it is, and
the insertion Oft the word however, here and
there, to impede the march of fine style.
Commas and colons are the only marks he
is reputed to take; his niche of fame is mere
ly parenthis; he is but a note of admiration
to genius; his life is spent in ushering clever
people into deserved celebrity; he sits as
Icharioter, outside the vehicle in which prodi-
'gious talents are driven to Immortality.
1t is his fortune to insert all his contribu-
tons in the temple of glory, and to exclude
himself for want ofspace. He always hopes
to 60 in, but expires unblessed at last
He bestows present popularity on thou
sands without securing posthumous renown
as his own share His career'in this life is 2.
tale of mystery "to be continued in our next
He is only thought of when things go
wrong in the journal. Curiosity then looks
out the cornere Of its eyes, and with brows
and lips pursed up, querulously calculated
twho is heY If by chance, praise instead of
censure should be meditated, the wrong man
is Immediately mentioned.
People are only certain Of their editor
when they are going to cowhide him. Is
there a bright passage or twoin an indihcr-
ent article, you may be sure that they are
not indebted for that polish to the editorial
pen.
Is there dull phrase or harsh period in
some favorite contribution? Oh! the editor
has altered it, or neglected to revise the
proof! But if the editor is abused for what
he inserts, he is twice abused for what he
,neglects. 1t isa curious feature in his des-
tiny that if he strikes out but a single line of
an article, whether in poetry or prose, that
very line is infallibly the crowning beauty of
the production. 1t is not little odd that
when he Declines a paper, that paper is sure
to be far the best thing the author ever
wrote.
Accepted articles may be bad; rejected
ones are invariably good. 1t is admitted that
judgment is the first essential for an editor
ship, and it is at the same time insisted on,
that Judgment is exactly the quality which
the editors has not An author is praised in
a review, he is grateful to an individual
writer, whose name he has industriously in
quired for; an author is condemned in re-
view, he is unspeakabIy disguised with the
editor.
Week after week. month after month, the
said editor succors the oppressed; raises up
the weak, applauds virtue, exalts talent; he
pens or promulgates the praise of friends of.
their books, pictures, acting, safety lamps
and steam paddles, but from the catalogue
of golden names his own is an eternal absen-