New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1871-05-14
HORACE GREELEY.

Our earliest associations with newspape
literature were connected with the Ney
York Tribune 1t was the uade necunp O
our youth, the chief source of information
on the current events of the day the pc
litical pulpit to whose teachings we lis
tened with youthful reverence the "tri
bune" from whose decisions we felt NJ
inclination to appeal Age and experienc,
have, of course, tended to do away will
the implicitness of our respect for this
venerable sheet, but have not in any de
gree diminished the sentiment of admira
ton with which we regard its distinguished
editor.
Horace Greeley is emphatically a man
of principle, man of character. AS an
editor-a calling for which he is eminently
fitted-he has always regarded public
questions from the standpoint of morality,
not Of expediency His paper, the New
York Tribune, has consequently always
held the position of political pioneer,
far in advance of both time-serving and
violently partisan sheets, actively sup
porting all social reforms, whether popu-
lar or unpopular, until overtaken by the
slower-paced public mind, it has passed
on, still forward and upward, to new
fields of exertion. The history of the
great anti-slavery movement is contempo-
&,>f< ~
More than a third of century has
elapsed since the awakening of the public
attention of reformers at the North to the
evils and dangers, especially to the intol-
Grant character and encroaching tendency
OF what was then euphemistically called
''the peculiar domestic institution of the
South" For the greater portion of that
time (the Tribune being now thirty-one
years old) Mr.. Greeley has braved the
odium of supporting cause which, until
comparatively lately, was generally de-
as revolutionary, unpatriotic, and
even reasonable. There were times dur
ing that long period when Mr.. Greeley
could not have made the visit to our sec
ton of the country which is now hailed
with welcome by the very men who would
hen have denounced it as audacious, but |
happily those times are past The |
virtues of the man are now weighed |
against the faults of the editor;
md even the most prejudiced of |
Judges are ready to acknowledge the |
ormer and to forget for the time, if
hey cannot altogether, condone the lat
er. There is no doubt that the magnan-
nous course adopted by Mr.. Greeley
With regard to Mr.. jefferson Davis has
much to do with the present good feeling
for him throughout the South
jharity covereth multitude of sins, and
or a man in Mr.. Greeley's position, the
supporter of the government
n its most extreme war measures, the
Ife-long opponent of the principles of
yhich Mr.. Davis was the chosen repre-
to come out, as he did, and
rave the disapprobation of his warmest
'iends by signing the bonds of man
HON the public sentiment of Mr.. Gree
'y's section of the country regarded as !.
u unconvicted criminal, to be guided in
} important a matter solely by his own
,nse of right and the dictates of his own
enevolent nature, this was, indeed, an
# fitted tO diSarm the mnSt rapcoro,c |
limosity. 1t was, however, perfectly
,nsistent with Mr.. Greeley's whole
,urse of conduct. He never was afraid
be in minority, confident that, if in
lie right, the majority would sooner or
ter come over to his side, and that, in
e meanwhile, it was SO much the worse
T the majority.
Coming South at the most delightful
ason of the year, and meeting a hearty
elcome from oil classes of our citizens
ose directly opposed to him on almost
cry question upon which he has ever
pressed himself as well as those who !
gard him almost as an oracle-Mr.
'eeley's visit to the South will, we trust,
as pleasant to himself as it will be
,lcome to his Southern friends and ad- :
rers.