Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1873-04-30
"reminiscences of Horace Greeley.


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labor. was frank at the start, and grew
closer aud more precious with every year
Ia all my experience Of men, have never
found one whose primitive impulses reveal.
cd themselves with such marvellous purity
and sincerity. Ills nature often seemed tc
me as crystal clear as that Of a child. In
my younger and more sensitive days he
often gave mo transient wound but
such wounds healed without a scar, and
always found aferward, that they came
from the lance Of physician, not the knife
Of a. enemy.
Grst saw Mr. Greeley 10 June, 1874
whel was q boy Of nineteen. applied
to him for an engagement to write letters
to the Tribune from Germany. His re.
ply was tere enough. " No descriptive
letters ~ he said " am sick Of them
Whel you have been there long enough to
know something, send to me, aud, if there
is anything in your letters, ! will publish
them" waited nearly year, and then
sent seventeen letters, which were publish
cd They were shallow enough, | suspect;
but what might they not have been without
his warning
Towards the end Of 1917, while was
engaged in the unfortunate enterprise Of
trying to establish a weekly paper in Ph@-
nixyi.c, Penn, wrote to him-loroseoiug
the failure Of my hopes asking his assist
ance in procuring literary work in New
York. He advised me las suspect he has
advised thousands Of young mem TO stay
in the country. But | had stayed in the
country, and a year too long so another
month found me in New York, in his Office,
with my story Of disappointment, and my
repeated request for his favorable influence.
think you are mistaken" he said !
but will bear you In mind, If hear Of
any chance
Six weeks afterwards, to my great SUR
prise tor | supposed he had quite forgot
ten me- he sent for me and offered me a
place on the IftbH7e. worked hard and
in'essantly during the summer Of 1913,
never hearing word OF commentator or
encouragement but one day in October he
suddenly came to my desk, laid his hand
upon my shoulder, aud said "fou have
been faithful; but now you need rest.
Take a weeks holiday and 90 into New
England. ! obeyed, aud found on my re-
turn, that he had ordered my salary to be
increased.
l think none Of bis associates, at that
time, ever wrote a line which he did not
critically read. Ills comments sometimes
seemed rough, but they were always whole
some and almost invariably Just. Once he
called mo iulo his room, pointed to poem
oil mine which had just appeared in lit
erary magazine, and abruptly asked "Why
dld you publish that gassy stun : My ln'
dignation was even greater than my aston
lshment. retoried hereby "Mr. Gree
ley, should ieel hurt by your question II
had any respect whatever for your Judg-
ment IN regard TO poetry" lie smiled q
sad, iorgivIDg smile ana said nothing.
ears afterwards, l saw That he was right
the poem was only piece OF sounding
rhetoric, Tor which gassy was perhaps q
coarse but certainly not an inappropriate
eplthet. In this, as IN other respects, the
discipline to which he subjected me was ex'
cellent; II not the result OF his intellect
ual perception, 1t manifested an instinct
'N'N
Two pictures, equally Illustrative OF the
man, remain with me from that first year
One, an afternoon in the little editorial OF.
fee under the roof; Mr.. Greeley bending
over the yellow transier-paper on which
the telegraph dispatches were written. The
light from the window fell upon the top OF
his bald head, which presented its full cir.
cumference to me as he leaned down.
was looking at it, vacantly, when | saw a
iirey scarlet flush rise from his neck and
temples like wave, aud Hood the white
crown. The next moment he rose, threw