The Fairfield herald. [volume] (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1849-1876, 1872-12-18
IS PUBLISHED WEEKLY RY

square.
Remarks on the OF Death Horace Gree le
III the CirCuit Court at WinnsbOrO. b
his Honor T. J. MaCkcy Judge, 9Th, Cir
cult Of South CurOlina.
The motion made by the learned
Counsellor (Col. j. H. Rion) on 90
half of the Bar Of the sixth Circuit
ands the terms in which that motion
was so eloquently prefaoed meet with
hearty response in tho breast Of the
presiding Judge.
The achievement Of mcn who have
by their we'll predicted efforts, exten
ded the area of human knowledge, or
diminished the sum of human suffer-
ing arc the property Of their country.
When such a man dies, the light of
his great virtues is reflected upon his
countrymon, and in paying tributary
honors to him, they honor thom-
selves.
Horace Greeley the distinguished
American, to whose death the m otion
relates, died after brief illness, at
Tarrytown, New York, on the night
of the 29ih ultimo. His career fur
nishes an impressive example of the
bencioient nature of our free iDstitu
tions, which accord to- all men, how
ever humble, their origin, an equal
chance in the race of life. lie
sprang from the loius of the
people. Born sixty ono years
ago Of parents who belonged to the
hardy and independent yeomanry
of New Hampshire, his early life was
passed in poverty among the hard
handed tillers of the soil. He gradu-
ated in q country common school, an
institution which is the enduring bul
wark of the State, and to which New
Englan owes much of her great and
deserved rcnown as the leader Of
American civilization. He entered
upon his manhood as a printer, and
after years Of arduous effort he aroso
to cminencc as a journalists among
people whose intellectual standard
ofjournalism, was of the very highest.
For many years, and up to the Pc
riod when he died in the full ripencss
Of his intellect, he was the reoogniz-
ed lender of the American press.
That was no common distinction.
The press in our day is great mental
force, which guides and controls the
public opinion which it only seems to
reflect. as the cord bonds tho bow,
which it seems only to obey. Indeed
. the influence Of the newspaper press
upon events, and upon the progress of
society, may be compared to that ex
erted by the great laws of attra action
and gravitation upon our planeta-
ry system, silently restraining, while
irresistibly impelling each orb in its
appointed sphere.
The great editor of the New York
Tribune knew that influence, and
welded it with matchless power and
skill. Sir Edward Coke has we'll
said, that "sparks of all science may
be gathered up in the ashes of the
law" This is especially the case
with the profession of the editor. IL
is the true Encyclopedias.
Editori.lly, MIR. Greeley was the
most elegant writer and formidable
debatcr Of his time. Whenever occa
sion required, the most extraordinary
array of facts and figures followed the
march of his splendid diction, just az
the baggage wagons and the ordinance
and supply trains, of great army
novel in rear of it's waving plumes and
glittering standards. He did not OBJ
tain his vast and varied knowledge
from the schools.
That he possessed and so utilized
. such extensive learning, suggests tt
the mind of the scholar, the fablet
ring of king Pyrrhus, which is said tt
have borne upon the face of tho stone
that formed its setting the figures u
the Nino Muses. engraved by the
hand of Nature. He claimed alway,
to maintain what he believed to bt
right, and he sometimes struck for il
with pitilcss intolerance.
Yet, although often fierce parti.
san, it cannot be said Of him rs was to-
truly said of the illustrious Burke Il
whoae genius his own was closel.
alliod, that he
kind"
Ills benovolence was wide as the hab
table globe itself. Man, wherever h
c.woll in sorrow, was its subjct.
Although an ardent patriot wh'
looked with tho eye of devotion upo
our great Republic whose advancin
glory and power ho did so much t
promote, yet he loved his race as
he had no country. Flo was alway
upon a voyage of discovery for object
Of Charity. He loathed even the sem
b'ance of oppression with an uttcrabl
/ athing. Whenever man in bondag
srhgglod or hoped for liberty ther
he gave the free service of his powerful
pen. lie stood up for the Greek
when they rose against the mercifu