The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1872-06-10
JAMES GORDON BENNETT.
Tho Results and tho Lessons Of Mr. BENEFITS
.s,,.e Career a. Journalist. --,e.3 ~~-

Tho Results and tho Lessons Of Mf. Benefits
.s,,sa Career a. Journalist. -a3 er-
The lives Of public men are the property Of
thu world. and it ia just and desirable that the
lessons they contain should be studied and ex-
planned for the information and guidance OF
mankind. The peculiar gifts that nature
has bestowed upon the few who make
their marks on the pages Of history; the
qualitiss That have enabled them to distin-
guish themselves above their fellows; the
genius, industry, enthusiasm OF constancy
that may have won success; the errors or de-
hcisneies that may have caused failure, are all
alike legitimate subjects of examination and
discussion, to the end that they may be
brought into prominence as shining marks for
the emulati0nsof Others or az warning beacons
TO ipoint out the rocks and shoals which
threaten disappointment and destruction
Medical science uses the dissecting knife to
gathesr from, the dead the knowledge that
brings relief and preservation to the living.
Thd bodies Of those who have passed away are
thus made useful 10 humanity after the part
Ing. Of the soul has, reduced them to their
original clay, IN like manner intelligent and
honest criticism wisely seizes npon the lives of
men Of note after they have flied their allotted
timsp on earth, and points them out to the
living world o. examples for imitation OF
avoid1Hde. III Irr,,ss-o7 ssIAEadEG EoMa0E g
The death Of James Gordon Bennett, the
founder of the HzRAID, could not fail call
forth extensive and varied comments from Che
American press as well as from the pens Of
foreign writer's. =. The deceased has been 80
uniyeEsally recognized as the originator of the
present newspaper system, as the man whose
extraordinary genius and courage lifted up the
pres Of an infant nation out of the mire of
faction and dependence and raised it OF once
into giant power, that in his life he seemed to
stand as it were in blood relationship to all
thejournals of the United States, and his death
brings home to each of them the sense of
personal; loss. Ks We have transferred to the
pages Of the HBRALD many of the articles that
have Appeared in the columns Of our contem-
poraries, and it has been gratifying to observe
how entirely, with . very few unenyiable ex-
oeptions professional rivalry has been ignored
In the generous desire to do justice to the
memory. Of the deceased. Much, has been
written about Mr. Bennett during his lifetime
a. vnalas since his death, and errors of fact as
we'll as errors Of Judgment almost unavoidably
creep Into biographical sketches drawn from
unahthentic sources and into estimates of char
acter based thereon. One of the penalties of
celebrity Is the risk Of being painted in un-
faithful colors through carelessness or misin-
formation, and Of thus being imperfectly un-
derstood by the world. Mr.. Bennett was
exceptionally indifferent to criticism. He
lived much within himself, and was so con-
scious Of his own motives and his own strength
as TO. be- perhaps too careless Of the
opinions entertained of him by others.
Thus. when sensational writer's or those who,
possessing knowledge of the marked outlines
of his career thought proper to draw upon
their imaginations for the rest, published what
purported to be histories of his life and analy
ses of his character, he only smiled ct their
inaccuracies and misconceptions and suffered
them to pass without correction. Many Of the
biographies that appeared during his lifetime
bore the impress of the prejudices incident to
professional rivalry and of the jealousy too
often excited by extraordinary success, while
not one was entirely correct in its statements or
Its differences. It is natural, therefore, that in
the notices prepared since his death there
should be more or less Inaccuracies, especially
as, to many Of the writer's, Mr. Bennett was
only known by reputation, and for the main
incidents of his life they depended upon the
accounts already before the world. Neverthe-
less, the comments of all our contemporaries
are marked by spirit Of broad iberality, Of
generous appreciation and Of warm sympathy,
pleasing to those to whom the memory of the
deceased is precious and honorable to the
profession of which he was o member.
We say all for the very meagreness of the
exceptions conveys rebuke more severe than
words could administer. The record we are
thus enabled to lay up will prove the proudest
page in the HERALD's history should the
Journal survive it's founder hundred years.
The story of Mr.. BENEFITS life is one more
than ordinarily calculated to impress upon the
world some of those well-defned principles
without which no pursuit can, as q rule, be
successfully carried out 1t is history full
of interest and instruction from its opening to
It's close but it is our present purpose to
touch only upon such of its leading incidents
as connect themselves with the progress of
journalism in the United States, suffering them
TO illustrate, as far as they go, the mind and
character of the deceased. To properly under
stand Mr.. BENEFITS genius and services it is
necessary to carry the memory back to the
days when he first launched out upon his
eventful career as an Independent journalist.
If the republic was not still an experiment it
was at least struggling with difficulties of no
common magnitude. The fires of faction
burned with dangerous ferceness and we're