New-York tribune., 1872-12-07
pEERLESs AMONG HIS PEERS.


With an unwilling pen that almost refuses
to do its Office. we tnd ourselves yalny at'cmpuns;
during these mourntu hours 10 lulh our e-aitorla, -
function of paying a parting tribute 70 Our beloved
friend Horace Greeley. Several times bafe we con
strained our thoughts away from thr OdGment ny tlt
unhuried FORM lllng to-day III ciuuke betP u@i @ ~
foyerstrewn PAIL and awaiting tomorrow IT'S Ddilal az
Greenwood but often rs we have dipped our pen 70
fas5inn something like the formal mOrtuary remarks
which newspaper custom rescrOcs NJ tue Ieceahe "l
celebrated man, often have We been chidden back
from cur public duty TO our private gret. Our dear
friends death weighs upon us win the heaViness OF
most intimate and personal a1ctlon ana tne morn oI
This sorrow IL aggravated keennesS when 1t plcks
us the duty OF pu9ic expression az uine Wneh' Ill
About three weeks ago Mr. Greeley said to Us clasp
ing our hand and holding II for the last tnel My dear
friend for 80 days and nights have not slept; shall
never sleep again pray for death" From that touch
ing Interview, retired AS II stunned by presccnce
nf rho coming calainty and narrang the incident
TO a friend we remarked, IL would moi De strange II
Nh. Greeley did not live three weeks Tine prediction
was an TOO sadly verified; the cruIRbng column fcl
n b,s conntrymen need to he told what manner
man we have LOST We have all known him well that
that il is hard 10 realize we have lost hi tnat we sha
we shall not agtln salute that shining and s0ulghted
face beaming all cOmers with characteristic nuOr
aDd goodwill; that we shall never more catCn ginle
and from The TRlBUN NJ building or the Union League
that have listened for the last time 70 tnat
Vel pthy and wise speaker who iavorte on every
rostrum received cheer nom every audience; anu
more than all. that are hereafter TO miss from our
dsiiy morning paper the homey yet elegant aud elo-
quent pen OF the chief journalist OF his time. .,,t
How shall we weigh him az his worth! To say IL al IN
word he was OF the abes minds one Of the p9rest
Characters one the hardest workers, and without
exception the most widely useful man ot the present
intellectually he giant--i king above princes
neerless among his professional peers His BRAIN was
large fine and tireless aud had the support O frame
OF uncommon fiber and strength His reasoning iaSn
ties were both powerful and acute ana always TOOK
heightened action from an enkindng moral nature IOr
a pure and noble spirit is itself an added mlrecudl hc
intellectual pungency, moral ferVOr ana nOthcf WIZ
these are the qualities which distinguish ms essays
Had the higher gliding Of imagination been added to
them finishing nser-auch oI ~ .h,'alce @ % r'es h
in Macauay and Ruskin-he w0uld cerlhhf nave
elipsed ali modern masters OF the Kings Enghsh aul
ha ave taken undsputed aud stately place OS the SHE
OF the prose volumes Oi John Milton
But the other hand had lie been thns gtteu, ne
might have narrowed himself down d" ~ audience
though few and II then could not have been said OF
him. as we nIsy Teyereutly say now, ANA without com
paring him with "a sacred name " The c0muiOn
people heard him gladly" No mars WOIus since FRANK
the level OF the plain, practical homely sense OF the
great mass of the American people. or.... -.
This is what made TIE WEEKLY TRBU NJ the most
influential newspaper ever printed in the worid-iar
ecpsing The London Times in It's power to touch ana
mold and move great masses OF men. Taking his
wrting 80 years, spread out on IT'S ample pages
to an average OF million constant readers II Is SAFE 10
saw that Mr. Greeley has instructed and influenced more
minds than any other writer mas done during the pres
We nave no sympathy with fatasm, and yet we are
free TO say that Mr. Greeley's destiny was on him and
me- could moi escape It. There inward that
guawed their way ward to this effect. He had pre-
IuDnifiODs Of 10 only few weeks nut many months
a,n DuT,ng some idle hours in Brooklyn early In the
campaig Ge said 10 with voice Of sudden ssdness
and n OF unwonted pathos Il have out one great
ambition and that ~ not the Presidency, Dut death
Later nm he Summer tor perhaps early in the Fa when
s0me friends were talking with HIM at merry supper
able, and when one OF us eayly asked how he eD-
Oyed being praised by one political party and damned
pV the other" hesimply answered that nothing would
crafty much 10 receive from some ceesal mes
.epgef an authoritative that he must die the
morning" About the middle OF October IN sunday
evening conversation with him. the same pIemOnltOry
ueditaiioDs death and Immortality broke forth from
his lips. - 1, ,.,.A 4, ,,,.
mfion for death, sci him al against hmself for
tuourh he was extremely anxious Tor political success
md srovr with might and main Ia achieve II, ana com
icttrd 20 the general phalanx Of his supporters the
o his enthusiasm and far hopes, yet 70 some
T Ls more confidential comrades he invariably touched
90 90 ~ ~ III Lours the same minor and EOlian cnord
i,t urinurrd Of hie rs failure. aud Of dealh as