Semi-weekly standard. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1853-18??, 1860-01-11
IOo semi-WceEiy StaQSaFe.
N EDITORS LIFE.

7. ,rouId reouire a master hand to sketch with
fidelity. that poor aud abused class, known as cdi-
,ors He must have ready pen, remarkable versa
tiItv OF knowledge, Il correct Judgment, and con
Siderable nerve If you intrude upon him you dis
cover him writing, reading, sci>>Oring. He will
t but his pen does not stop; lie Spatters the ink;
h. f,mbIes over books; he hunts among new$pa-
mars. he grows savage in 4 leader" or learned in
= ,.rrvieW." Politicians want to buy him; needy
,i,ts ask his favorable notice; inventors have moi
al. to shpw him. lie is addressed Oh more subjects
than It WAS ever intended single mind should COM
rr.beaj. and, while his journal is called by some,
..nfuentia" "val,allr, etc, there are others who
b,uutlv rromorncc it "ScuTrllouS and poor.
Swimming upon floods of excitement battling, cha
tin aro,ljpr conScntine cXating friends and crush
inE foes thinking working, Is the sum and sub
stance of an editors career. Ut home, he writes
tb his wife ar his elbow and his child on his knee;
in tbe Street; he wcayrS ont those IDEAS which,
tpO, ho!1rs will Startlr the men who now joStc and
crowd him; in his >an"tUm, he makes ready thun-
drr-bolt>, moulded with pen, but more powerful
than any ever hurled with Jovc. He delivers lee
tureS: he is 4 politicln; he holds office; he Is
traveller; he gives verdict upon manuscripts which
arr more precious than the apple of their eye 10 as
pirng authors he pleads Cor the poor, he SnuhS the
rich he conclliateS he dciic< he nations,
he dethroneS kings; he is the guardian of liberty,
and omnipotent.
Tn in rarrrctS in out-ofthe way piaceS-SOme-
times furnished like par.or. sometimes worse than
a rir-pcn-S his %crtam %'Hr'Oiplm, the holy of
hoIic<" Are YOU partial to troWn: DO You wish
to hear gr0wl. D> cyard the notices of - Edi-
tors Room" Private. " No AimIttancc, and cn
ter the den; YOU observe the contracting brow ;
YOU do not know whether you are Salutcd or insult
ed YOUR tongue proposes to speak, and legs incline
Won to run away; head lifts itself; worn pen
and linked fingers point vOu Il scat which takes you
all instant to reach. but ere yOu have done so, the
moScr has his clutches deeply in idea that he
has forgotten your existence. There you sit; you
try 10 count the pyramids Of newspapers, and Won
der if TO he editor it is necessary to hc savage
You books AMI maps; hut you would as soon
me!le with the cub of bear anything in which
the wild animal before YOU has interest. Dele
cations of devils from the printing office come
for copy, and great many things are going on
which are strange to y"u. Other gentry come in,
who glance COntemptUuii>lv at yourself They seat
themselves. and You hear nothing but scratch
scratch, with gold pens steel pens and goose quiS
they pull at their whiSkc$; they clear their thrOatS
they look up at the ceiling, they help each other
when their ideas aground; they write and re-
write; they expungc and amend; they become
cheerful if their productions pie Use them and crus-
ty ii they do not. Now, remember that this mental
toll must go on by day and by night, when the head
Is dizzy by sickness ami the heart weary with sad
ness that it entails study. research and thought
that the themes suggested and discussed within
the hour; and yOu will understand why you are not
wanted in an editors Sanctum. Presently. how
ever; he will talk to you; he will cut short your
long speeches; he will bring you at once to your
business; he will dispatch it. and YOU will at once
discover that necessity if not inclination urges him
to resume his pen.
In SUMMER, when the flowers are so tempting
at atndnight, with the glare of artificial light pour
ing upon him. there he i~-a tong slave lie
writes Of Your pleasures adds to your Joys DO
You ever think Of his exhausted brain, his fading
HE his premature death: Literature was, perhaps
passion of his bOyhood, and he pursued the wick
ca phantom from year to year. finding in the graft
hcauon OF Il refined taste small! reward for his
painful mfatuation-Rich H-kfq.