The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1863-09-05
For the Free Trder.

The chosen bicgrapher OF Horace Greedy
informs US that Horace came into this
world "aS Hack as chimney" and that
among the Scotch Irish emigrant to this
country was one Ezekiel Greedy, who, says
the biagropLer, was a black-eycd, black
haired man of a complexion almost as
dark rs an Indian, aid not unlike an In.
dian ia temper He died at the age OF
sixty FIVE years. with his teeth all sound,
and worth three hundred acres OF good
land, although he had never done a day 5
work in rs life. lie was as cunning as
Lucifer. His religion was nomnally Bap'
fist, but really to get money; he was said
TO be - a cross old dog, "a hard old knot"
Tbs man had a son named Iacheus; and
he had son who was also canned Zacheus.
This second Zacheus was the father Of our
hero Horace, and owned eighty acres of
land in Mortified, where the ancestors of
Horace raised their first potatoes, and mis-.
took the balls growing On the vines for the
real potato. Dust as Horace has always
mistaken the low cunning Of the political
demagogue, tor the wisdom of the states
MANI Horace spent most of his first
seven years on this land of his father,
which the biographer thus describes -
Il" The pine woods, the rock, the shade of
the side HILL the color of the soil-all were
dark, even in the brightest month of the
year" Now with this black beginning,
and all these dark surroundings IS is rot
to be wondered at that Horace " tumbed
up black abolilionst, at the age of thir-
teen years. But we find in parton's story
one cause of wonder The biographer
tells Us that the Scotch Irish round heads
from whom Horace was descended, and
from whom he received his first impress
sions were orthodox pre>byterians and
baptists; and were extremely tenacious of
their religion. The wonder is that under
such circumstances Horace should turn
up" an unmanageable Universalist, at the
tender age OF fourteen years. Yet Mr.
Parton asserts that such Is the fact. At
thifs time Horace had been spending aoout
five years on the farm with his father in
W esthaven, Rutland county Vermont
Fine only astonishing feat of Horace during
this interim, which the biographer has
noticed, was his attempt to yoke his faith
ers oxen, beginning with the near OK
This oil course was failure. Al an age
between fourteen and fifteen, our hero was
apprenticed 10 the printing business at the
office of the Northsra Spectator in East
Poul.ney, Vermont. The paper was an
Adams paper 1t was here that the pre-
cocious youth discovered that General
Andrew Jackson and Silas Wright were
sham Democrats. and that John q Adams
was the simon pure. Horace was only
fifteen years old when he maGe this m>
raculous discovery. so the Tribune told US
twenty yegTs afterwards. !Iorace's next
lift was in anti>masonry. During his APP
in the office of the Northern
Spectator he turned up Il violent anti mason.
This is neither strange or wonderful, be-
cause both the Iandlady aud landlord of
the tavern where he boarded in East Poul.
Trey, where he boarded, were antimasons
; dyed In the wool" Owing to some cause
unknown to US the Northern Spectator ex-
pred few months previous to the expi-
ration OF our heroes term of apprentice