Cooper's Clarksburg register. [volume] (Clarksburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1851-1861, 1854-04-26
THE NAPoLEoN AND THE caEyA
~ LIER BAAYRD or THE PRESS.

|
llH LIER BAAYRD OF7THE PRESS.
We transfer to our ooldmhs from one Of
our exchanges the following compliment
tary notices of two of our distinguished
editors, who so long adornsd the press of
lthe country Thomas Richie and John
I Hampden Pleasants. In politics they
were opposites. Their lot was for many
years cast Ct in the same city-each was. the,
leader of party. One has been called
the Chevalier Bayard Of the press. One
has been gathered With his fathers. the
other still remains, and We hope will long
remain among us. He has the affection
of many, tho confidence aud respect Of
all. 10 iEs't al' 's9Ret la1'.e9 ~.
Inthe course of Mr. GFfgsby' discourse,
delivered on The 10th ultitno, at the Athe-
Inaum, in Richmond, befors, the Histori-t
cal society, he touched Incidentally upon
the influence Of the preston the conven-
tion question in 1920, and drew the foi-
lowing picture of Mr.. Ritohie and Mr.
Pleasants, as they appeared at the clerks
table of the convention. ,ar.EE lo EHalsl
Il " And this leads me to say .thatathere
were sitting at the clerks table busily en-
gagged in taking notes of the proceedings,
ing NO civil Office, who then welded a
any other two men in the State, aud had
long favored, though with very different
ulterior views, change in the fundamen;
tai law. The elder of these, for a quar-
ter of a century had edited journal,
which was the leading organ of the domi-
nant party in the State, with zeal and
ability hitherto unknown in our annals,
and with corresponding success, He had
taug the people to think his own thoughts
to speak his own words to weep when he
wept, to wreath their faces with his smiles,
and, over and above all, to vote as be yo-
ted. rf ..rf yo gstI.fs b. Esea- yrI
A sovereignty SO complete over the
public mind was not likely TO pass UNI
contested. Boys, who had just laid aside
their satchel; statesmen who had lost Of
fee, or soughtit under new systems;
writer's of ever degree, dipping theirPens
in ink mixed with gall, sought to im''
pare it, and sought in vain. Popularity
running through a long lapse Of years, and
questioned at every step Of its progress,
is rarely an accident; and it is certain
there was an abiding conviction that such
influence was welded by its Possessor in
good cause, and that he was as honest as,
he was able. In person he was tall and
lean his profile so distinctly marked as
once seen, MOTTO be easily forgotten; quick,
| in all his movements and in his gait, he
leaned slightly forward. Nor did hespurn
the duties of the toilet. In this respect
at least he had no mark Of the profession.
al devil about him. In the relation of
| r., 4. ave ond
ciaI, and withal was the most laborous
man of his age. The editor of the daily
commercial paper aud q semi-weekly polt-
cal one must be n busy man. For many
years he drew largely on the small hour
of the morning. l have spoken OF his
tact as party manager. He never lost
! his temper. He may have acted unwise-,
ly, but never rashly OF. foolishly. If he
was sometimes seen to trip andfall, it was
only to raise again, like Antoehs, With re!
doubled strength, All parties have their
family troubles, 1t would happen at
times that a politician, who was pursua.
ded by his friends that he did rot enjoy
that consideration in the party to which
Ilc was entitled, would run restive; and
it was amusing to see the skill with which
our editor would reeve cord through
his nose and lead him costly about. But
it was mainly when politician abjured his
allegiance and Joined the opposite party,
that his full force was felt. The abuse OF
his quondam Parlinurus was the burden
of the rebels song, and il the abuse Of
enemies constituted moral wealth in the
eye of friends, he would have been the
richest man in the country, Nor did his
abuse effect his equanimity for in his
busy life it became matter of course,
and lie may be said never 10 have been
at peace but in state Of war-neVer out Of
trouble but when in it, But, as Thomas
Ritchie still lives, it is beyond our pur-
pose to say farther than that all the inau-
ence of such character was thrown on
the convention question into the scale Of
the west.
! :. The other person then sitting near
him was much younger in years, small in
statue. careless in his apparel, his face
bearing a weight,o of premature care-a pro-
| phctic face, which was redeemed by a
I brilliant eye. His intellectual endow-
ments were of a high order. In Wit. car
casm, seorn-in ready command Of the
choicest words and phrases--in knoWl-
edge Of men and things passing before,
and in those qualifications which make up
dashing editorial, he had no superior
! hardly an equal. His writings made a
new era in our newspapers literature. =
Some of his finest touches were beyond
the reach of Foublanque. He made ene-
| mics, as all men who, In exciting times,
bring positive qualities to bear on excl
ting topics, are prone 70 make yet there
were few Of hiS political opponents Who
did not occasionally relish his raiIery
even when played upon their own party
He sometimes fell into amusing mistakes;
for be had read history rather BY snatches