Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1861-06-28


Its apT eals aroused he nation to arms
Its Judlcious exhibitions of public hop
and danger, its discreet display or SUP
preston OF news from the approachin.
enemy, Its use of the arts By which tn,
popular mind is affected. fred the npbli,
heart and awakened the public cneroies
The throne was surrounded bv defend
ers. The seaports we're thronged witt
soldiers from the plov and workbench
Ieoman crowded to the shores to rapc
the invaders. In our own day alone, wher
the integrity of cur government has beer
assailed by rebels, and the very porch o
our temple of liberty has been polluted
by the tread Of treason, has such a IA
tlonal uprising formed chapter in civilized
history. But one vast and cunning minC
IN the English nation possessed the tact
and power to accomplish this result. The
rumors Of the time, the evidence left in
the columns Of the Lierc1nie, the effect
wrought, mark the use of the newspaper
to control the public temper as original
with the wise and polite Burleigh, and as
trophy of the gifted Statesman that
during his life was the best counsellor and
right arm Of the great Elizabeth The
Armada was destroyed by tempest, and
tie AercaTie fer the 24th of November,
in that year, contained an order for a GEN
eral thanksgiving. And Ike the few scat
tered and broken sail that returned to the
ports from which they started, with flying
pennants and in time away, few torn
and sneake-d -discolored copies of tie Eng
lish MercaTie have found lodgment and are
preserved in the stalls Of the British AIu-
scum.
The alarm of the English nation sub
sided as the danger passed, but an insti-
tuition was established. The newspaper
become from that time part of our lit
erature. 1t entered into mems business,
into the course of political events and the
current of every day life. The various
parties found their newspaper organ indis-
pensable. The trade found reported in it
the events of commerce. The statesman
found it better chronicle of the times
than the dispatches of his ministers. The
General found it more correct detail of
the vicisstudes of battle than the bulletin
Of his subalterns. They became the source
of the popular information, and solemn old
Burton, the author of the Anatomy of
Melancholy, complained few years later
that nobody read anything hut play-books
and newspapers. The approaching civil
wars made their mission one of still great
er Importance. They were started in the
principal towns of England, and when
open hostilities commenced, printers and
printing presses were attached to each of
the armies, from which were issued news
of the struggle as it advanced, and ap-
peals to the people for the support of either
party.
Among the men of these times who as
sumed the ostensiblc editorship of news
papers, was Sir John Birkenhead He
was born about 1915, and obtained elias
steal education at Oxford University. His
abilities were not remarkable, and he would
have obtained eminence as a writer only
in an age when few men could write at ALL
30 was satirist and pamphleteer of great
industry He was sturdy, consistent
and faithful loyalist. In the worst re-
verses of the King, and in spite Of power
ty, danger and confscation, he never falt-
cred in his devotion. He was frequently
prosecuted and imprisoned. But after
each release, or ESCAPE, his pen became
active in the support of the exiled King,
and in invectives against the puritan dy-
nasty. His style was the hearty, coarse
vernacular of the times, and his cotempo-
raries expressed the highest admiration for
his satirical powers. | cannot say that
their taste was indisputably correct, if we
judge by the exhibitions of his talents
that have survived him. He was the au-
thor of several works more pretentious
than his editorial productions, and his
biographer says that bis poetical talents
were of no mean order. He wrote sat
ire on the vices and follies of the times.
Paterson, an obscure critic, pronounced it
worthy the pen of Butler, But Hucfri-
bras has been read with delight during two
hundred years, while St PaM's Church.
gard has been as long forgotten. It is
also noted that the loyal Knight and Edi-
to- cked out the meagre rewards Of his
literary toll by furnishing for triflng
compensation to the gay beaux of his ac-
quaintance, sonnets and madrigals to their
ministers, By such means, aud the con-
tributions of the loyal politicians, he OBJ
tanned precarous subsistence, living some
times in brilliant and luxurious profusion,
but generelly in extreme indigence. At
therestoration of Charles H. his long ser
vices and labored devotion were rewarded
with the Office of Master Of Bequests, worth
5000 a yer, But he proved base and
ungrateful. Many benefactors who had
relieved the necessities of his poverty, and
who were languishing in such want as he
had suffered appealed to him for aid
A word from him would have bro lght them
to the notice, perhaps to the patronage Of
the grateful King. But that word was
rarely spoken. He exhausted his munif-
cent income in life of idle and licentious
pleasures He died in 1919 Adversely
has been rarely suffered with greater for.
titude than he exhibited. In want, and
poverty, and amid enmity, and persecu
tion, he sternly kept his faith with his
conscience and with his King in exile He
withstood the prosecutions of victoriou:
and rioteus party, and preserved through
years of distress and danger, an upright
purpose and an honorable equanimity 0
temper. Prosperity alone disturbed tht
sober gravity of lis zeal for principle, an(