New Orleans daily crescent. [volume] ([New Orleans, La.]) 1851-1866, 1854-03-08
NUMBER 3.
The Editor..

minute~ ne DeStoWs Kfnd OF cfvlnty. which .sS
emphatic but general, insinuating though NON
committal If he must know who man 10, he
says, ssLet me see, how do you spell your
name." And this sort of maneuYering is
strictly necessary For, consider---a young
gentleman who had piece Of poetry in the pa
per, the year before last, comes to the city and
calls upon the Editor. To that young gentle
man, the Insertion Of his IS Lines was an event
an era His soul bounded within him when he
saw them IN print He showed them exultingiy
70 ms mother sent q copy to his sweetheart.
anu handed them round on the sc stoop" of the,
village store, and has thought better Of himself
ever since. To the Editor the printing of those
lines was no event at ALL He has forgotten
| them and their author. Yet that voune een
tleman leaves the Office under the full conviction
that he is dear to the, editorial ewes. and.
worst mistake of an---welcome to the editorial
sanctum. This is brought about by no hypoc-
risy on the Editors part. Broad and general
ciyility does the business, and does it quickly
The Editor looks upon all things, subjects
events. and persons in the light Of material
for articles. A catastrophe which makes the
town shudder, is to him a Sc feature He says,
he regrets to learn,' or he is aspained to an
nounce," but he is not---as an editor---pained
in the least: no more than an undertaken is
panied to bury man in the highest style d.
fashiohable anguish. His business is with the
grave, and it is his business to do it gravely
The Editor, anon, is "rejoieed to be able t.
state,' or has had the "extreme satisfaction ii
ascertaining beyond doubt 3" and in such as
sertions his sincerity is perfect; for the pride
and joy and glory of the Editors heart is to b.
the g first to communicate" to the public an
important piece of intelligence Eagerly he
scans the rival sheets, to see if they have anJ
inkling of the matter, and how sure he is to lei
his readers know, that in &c our last number VIC
announced in advance of all our contempora.
ries !" and with what ferocity of delight ssall
our contemporaries are ssenabled auihorita
lively to contradict the statements which were
so ostentatiously paraded in morning paper. !.
Ihe Editor rather stumbled into his rpofession
than chose it. No man has been brought up to
the business. 1t is taught at no school. No
father says Lo! my son shall be an editor
Butas the duck takes to the water, as the Jew
takes to money lending, as the game cock take
to fighting, SO the predestined Editor takes ID
types and paragraphing and the impulse which
bore him into the profession, never ceases td
| act strongly upon him. He is full Of his occu
patton, and never ashamed of it. He perceiyes
the promise of a paragraph from afar off. HI
snuffs it in the air. He sees it in window
He catches it in the night, and prays Heaven
he may not forget it in the morning If ha
| takes pill, he thinks Pill Taking in the United
| States would be magnificent subject.'' ana
| so it would. If he cuts himself with razor, it
| suggests observations on the Beard movement
And he is prone to ask, whether you have any
objection to his giving publicity to that remark
able fact. Yet the Editor, desperate as he is IL
tell the public something it don't know, always
keeps back part of his information; and there
| is an under current of highly interesting in
| tellgence" that seldom gets into print. Edi-
tors of the audacious species have made their
| fortune by tapping this turbid, but fertilizing
| stream.
The Editor has his delusions as well as the
| sub-Editor He thinks he creates public opin-
ion i whereas he only reflects it. The man
who runs ahead Of an advancing throng seems
to lead it, and does lead it, as long as he rims
where they want to go; but let him turn a
corner which they do not want to turn, and he
| finds himself running alone No one conversani
4 with our political history can be ignorant that
In influencing votes, papers are signally impo
4 tent, and particularly the papers which are yer,
4 ably conducted. Another delusien Of the Edito
is,to suppose that the eyes of the country are upo
4 his paper He little thinks that the loudes
4 thunder that ever deafened New York died AVA
I among the Jersey hills, and was only heard Q
4 among the Highlands. The Editor, toe is sub
ject to delusions with regard to his circulation
He hugs the thought that if his circulation il
small, it is select, and that he goes freely in thu
| and lies on centre tables; which latter, per.
haps, he does occasionally.
| In the olden time, when Kings were as demi.
| gods. 'hedged about with spendor, which at once
\ revealed their consequence and concealed their
persons. it happened, now and then, that a peas.
ant became the inmate of o court, confronted
majesty face to face; saw him eat, drink. etc.
heard him talk, swear, snore, sneeze, etc Ex
| treme used to be the astonishment of the peasant
after he had overcome, in some degree, the aw,
inspired by the august presence, to discover tina
the puissant monarch of a realm, in who's,
hands were the issue of life and death, who's.
smile was wealth, whose frown was ruin, who's,
word moved armies, and whose whim decided
the fate of nations--was really, after all, very
much like people in general. Not less is thu
amazement of the s'constant reader" wher
Ifchance makes him intimate with a King of the
modern kind. the responsible Editor of lead.
ing newspaper.
There are but two Editors likely to achieve a
striking success. One is the man who in his
opinions, habits and tendencies, represents o
large class; and the other is he who can utterly
sink the man in the Editor, and devote his un,
divided attention to the study Of the public
whose prejudioes he fatters, whose desires he
| anticipates, whose opinions he echoes Do you
blame him How long would you continue You,
| subscription to paper which neither spared
| your prejudices, nor anticipated your desires
nor echoed your opinions, Upon the whole, the
Editor is good fellow. He has his faults, like
other men, But, generally speaking, he works
hard and late, does thousand obliging things
comes as near telling the truth as his readers
will let him, and, above all he produces what
| the world could not exist without---the News
paper. Then, refuse him not his favorite al
jectives, which are, " able's' genial %" public
| spirited and whole-souled ~ Home Journal
ACTING AND AcToRs.--Speaking of the ie al
ousy too often exhibited by some narrow mlndee
disciples of the Thespian art, Mrs Mowatt, il
her autobiography, observes that it may b
detected in various ways by an audience Til,
following she adduoes as enlightening hnts
One strong evidence of Jealousy makes itsel
! apparent when an actor 'sbacks up the stage,
as it is called, while another is delivering i'm
portant speeches addressed to him, thus com
pefng the speaker to turn his back to the eudi
ence, or talk over his shoulder to perso1
behind him, When the parties on the stage dt
not stand side by side, or in semi-circle, i
several chance to occupy the stage at the SAINT
time, the proper situation of the one who has
the most important passages to deliver che h,
star or the humbest subordnate) is a little il
retreat of the others, In this position he faces
| the audience, and yet looks towards those whom
he is addressing, Few are the leading actor
who will accord this privilege to an actor o
| inferior rank.
| Another straw by which the shrewd observe
may detect which way the wind eff envy blows