St. Cloud Democrat. [volume] (Saint Cloud, Stearns County, Minn.) 1858-1866, 1859-01-20
tact with which his own conduct ,v,yarIs

80. 're-!ss y sEa..tS&s
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tact with which his own conduct towards
them enabled them to command the respcct
Of his employees and the public !
Young girls, some beautiful, some edu-
Gated, and pretty and sentimental, did
their regular days work in the Office,
where there were dozens Of mon and boys
employed, without meeting word or look
to wound their self respect
Part of the time he printed the Tisiter
then he became part proprietor and Que Of
the editors. Then VIM. SwIssuE1M took
his place for some years and f;ually Mr..
RIDDLE purchased it, and gave us !. salary
for editing; but all the time it was d.
rectly opposed to him in politics, and on
many ques lions.
His AIM was to build up, ours to break
down the Wing party. Sometimes we de-
feated bis candidates; and sometimes we
publicly censured and ridiculcd himself;
but he never forgot to be ;gentlcman.
AT the time the Fugitive Slave Bill
was passed, he took the ground that it
was proper to obey it, because it was law.
We drew a bad picture of him as the tall
e'1itor Of the Journal giving chase, up one
OF our streets, to poor old woman with
baby in her arms, while her Southern
masters stood behind, crying, "Hiss, catch
her !"
We met him on the street just after.
He expostulated, protested, endeavored to
make us see the difference between ac-
knowledging the supremacy Of law; and
personally engaging in such business.
Ae declared We misunderstood, aggrieved,
distressed, injured him; and was so deep
ly troubled about it, that we, too, were
seriously panied; but we could not see
the difference between his acknowledging
the righteousness Of an action; and being
ready to aid in it, or that he could con-
Sistcntly recommend otl srs to do what
he felt would be degrading to himself:
We felt inlpclled to maintain our position,
would not retract-would not explain.
Yet he never forgot to be a gentleman.
With all the provocations we gave him in
our pertinacity in many things he disap-
proved, we never betrayed him into utter
ing rude word.
We never saw any man so entirely the
polished gentleman. Never saw any one
who regarded his wife with such uniform,
respectful, considerate, affection; and who
so commanded the respect and obedience
of his children. Some of the most beau
tiful family pictures we have ever seen,
were in his library when, in his invalid
times he sat at his late breakfasts, which
were always, in their appointments, a
model Of refinement and elegance Where
walls, tables, and floor, were nearly cover
ed with books, papers, and etceteras, min
gled with his children's toys, while his
wife, with her work-box, sat in the corner
Of the sofa.
During our acquaintance, two Of their
children died; one, BESSIE, his pet and
favoritc, aged about three years Soon
after her death he found THE Investigator
an in6del paper, among our exchanges;
and handing it to US, inquired with much
surprise,
is it possible you exchange with
that ?"
Eyes, why not ?"
"lIaye you no fear it will corrupt the
boys in the Office %
With a visible shudder he rose and
walked the office, e1claiming,
"My God for any man to tell me that
all Of my BESSIE lies in the cemetery; and
that I shall never meet her morep'
In the conversation which followed, we
saw moro Of the hidden spring, from which
flowed all the nobler traits of his charac-
ter, than We ever saw before or after,
saw that he, without any profession of re-
]igion, was living in the light Of an i'm
mortal hope through Saviour's love; and
in sense Of the presence Of the All See
ing, He had horror of cant; and would
rather have been esteemed reprobate