The weekly north Iowa times. [volume] (McGregor, Iowa) 1857-1867, 1861-01-09
McGREGOR IOWA WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 9, 1861

: ~ lCv1.
moral ,il,-on the lips of poor, fearfu
morta ity are ascriptions Of praise to tn
Physician whose skill has arrested Diseas
and driven Death back to his lair of worm
and putridity; honors without stint ar
shewered on the Lawyer who plsces tn
jewels of his brain in front of Innoccnc
and defends her from the attacks of Lust
Avaricc and Hate; laurels without numbc
bcdeck the brow of the Soldier who drive
back the minions Of foreign power ant
assures Us rest and peace in the heaven o
domestic tranquility; but with due respec
for the holmes Of the FIRST, the self.sacri
ficing character Of the second, the skill o
the third and the prowess Of the last-namet
character, I take It upon me to say that tn
ED1roR is superior to al Of them in tn
range of his influence and the value Of tn
results derived by society from his labors
BY an Editor do not mean time-serv
ing ninny who purchases a printing Office
to manufacture COMMERCIAL centres" on
Of ground evidently in.ended for the pro
duction Of cabbage-onc, owned, body and
soul by spectators in unapproachable wa
ter.ldts; or impossible railroad schemes
Nor is it lie Who points pen with malice
towards those who exercise the GOd-giver
right of condemning a craven like himself
nor yet is it the man (pardon f1e Human
ityD who sells the Independence of hi,
thoughts for tho paltry consideration o.
official position or the menial reward o.
party patronage. Such animals are moi
Editors in the true and original meaning o
the term. They are quill-driving shystsr,
who have crswled into the profession and
befouled the holy Of holes with the pollut
ing slime of their political villainies, Their
personal malcvolencc and, in the language
Of the classic Partington, their ''moral tur
pentine." julius Cesar Hannibal, the sable
orator of the N. Y Picayune called hi.
room by the cuphonious and odoriferous
title of '"Skunkto Skunktorum"-thet title
is quite expressive Of the den of an edito
rial blackguard Men of this stamp have
no more estimation of the place they oc.
cupy than had Speeds dog an appreciation
of the sacredncss of.Madame Silvia's par.
lor As we'll might the boor Of Central
Africa be entrusted with the easel Of a
Reynolds or the delicate workmanship oi
the finest chronometcr as such a man with a
press. a
An Editor is superior to all other pro.
fcssional men in the usefulness of his
labors and in the range of his influence
This proposition, even il it were indefensi-
bic, might be pardoned its apparent esotism
by our rivals, on the ground that having
exhausted panegyric in columns Of praise
for everybody else, we should be permitted
once year at least and on festive occasions
like the present to "puG" ourselves! But
the proposition can be maintained without
thus begging the question. What, pray
you, was society until tho types Of Ger
many began to click their monotone upon
the social and political systems Of Europe
True, there were orators, poets, patriots
and sagcs in Rome, in Greece, and in many
nations Of the middle and succeeding ages,
but they were almost invariably banishcd
or poisoned by the butcher-hcrocs who
more truly represented an uncultivated
people. Shakespeare puts into the mouth
Of one of his characters Learning comes
by instinct" but we fail to see any veri6-
cation of this Dogbcrrian axiom, in History
or in observation. Man, of all creatures,
knows the least at birth; in fact he seems
to have no sense at all-.thc grasping of a
fame or the rolling from four.story win
dow being as pleasant entertainment for an
embryo President of the U. S., as he is cap
able Of choosing At that period he is en-
phatically kno,o-notAing. His susccpti-
bilitcs mentally are, however, correspond
ingly that much in excess Of the instinct
race. These capabilities are valueless with
out instruction, and until printing was in
vented, the means Of thought.ntercommu
were too slow to be effective in
infuenccs-the great secret,
by the way, of the power Of the press.
A ship-load of bark manuscript contain
ing copy Of Hesiod or Of Homer. was too
and unwieldy to be sent about
the Mediterranean coast for pcrusal and
there were so few who could read at all
that a circulating library of the ancient
kind would have cooked more fish than it
would have evolved ideas. With the COM
ing of the types the shadows resting on the
rights of the masses began to fee. Discus
sion took the place Of Force. The growth
Of printing improvements set people to rea-
soning, because they were now supplied
with authoritative works on all subjects
which had occupied the minds of the bark
or papyrus editors. Newspapers followed
rs necessity, and, though they were gener-
lily venalized by the powerful, yet enough
ruth seized through to enable the oppressed
% get something Of an idea Of their condi-
ion and how to change it. Revolutions re-
suited. The press was muzzlcd or silenced
or brief periods, but at length the infant
prodigy became too gigantic to he throttled.
It gradually assumed the important station
. which it was entitled. and to-day it stands
IN Earth the maker and unmaker of all
'ther institutions which man controls.
IT'S not the talent of the editor that gives
lim superiority of influence IT'S not that
le knows more than the Divine or the Ju-
list. but it is because he is compelled to
inow something of every matter which af.
ects society. This it is which plants him
n the very front rank Of Learning-knowl-
dge is better word however, because edi-
Ors, in scholastic sense, are seldom learn.
d. But further; the influence of the editor
) greater in that he has more voices
han all other professions combined
inc blast from the buglo of Rodcr
OK Dhu brought hundreds Of clans.
aen to the frightened vision Of Fitz James
{ Stirling; but that bugle blast, though
otent in the range Of it's limited "circula.
ion," was ''small edition. when compar-
d with an editorial slogan reprinted on the
rain of Two HUNDRED THOUSAND readers
)ne issue Of the Times, the Herald, or the
Tribune, saying naught Of the colossal voice
{ the London "rhunderer," will tell more
pon public opinion than would all the
ugles that ever walked the hcaths and
aoors of Scotia. The Pass, gentlemen, is
he MASTER OF TIE WORLD! And he whose
myers prepare its matter may felicitate him
elf as one Of the Genii whose labors arc
cling for good or i'll upon the destiny Of
nan. BE careful, then, to have your minds
chooled to the importance Of your mission
nd yOur hearts imbucd with Kindness to-