The Portland daily press., 1878-01-22
Our New York Letter.
Samuel BOwles and Eis Career.

-~--~ ~SN AstiO CfCA AOk kCfiolO1s
He is oppressed with continual sense of the
necessity of being in hurry, and that very cir
cumstance tends to interrupt the current of his
thoughts, Considering the disabilities under
which they rest think the writer's OF the press
are entitled to very high rank in the Republic
of letters. But they are heard so much and
seen SO often, they encounter such hosts of ri
Vals and such myriads of critics, they are driv-
en- SO hard and called upon to deal with such
an infinitude of topics that they are at the dis
advantage of not having time to do justice to
their own capabilities.
Occasionally there appears upon the stage of
action man who seems especially endowed
with the m1ltiform gifts essential to SUCCESS In
this exacting vocation Mr.. Greeley will by gen.
eral consent be placed at the head of this class.
Besides the quaintness and originality which
made his style attractive there was directness
and pungency in his sinewy English that made
it equally relishable to the learned and the
unlearned. he knew just how to make up
paper SO that it should be readable in every
pars Under his tuition some remarkably able
journalists graduated from the Tribune estab-
lishment, as for example Henry J. Raymond
oha OhoAiCS a. Dauus IL 10 HUTbu uOLluX Qe16
that teacher and pupils seem to have continu-
ally cherished aspirations for public station,
which 1t is difficult to account for on any other
hypothesis than that they were all three un-
appreciative of the exaltstion and dignity of
the pursuit whence their fame was derived
AS might have been predicted by anybody bat
themselves, they did not gain any laurels dur
ing their brief periods of acting upon the polti-
cal stage, but their experiences simply serve to
point the moral that 1t is best for man to
stick to the occupation for which he has shown
aptitude. Thers is as broad a difference be-
tween an editor and statesman as there Is be-
tween critic and an author, and the two func-
tions are rarely compatible in either case To
be capable of attaining eminence in one or the
other ought to satisfy the desire of any mans
heart.
The praise of being exceptionally gifted in
the art OF managing newspaper will be ac-
corded to Mr.. Bowles without dissent. The
sphere Of his operations was a limited one, q
fact which adds very much to the lustre of his
achievements. That ne should have built up
in provincial town, journal which surpassed
all its contemporaries in New England, and
was equalled by few and exceeded by none In
the rest Of the states of the Union is an evil
dence of his power which does not admit of
dispute. A newspaper establishment is
like q complicated piece of machinery. IL
has many parts and they must dovetail
together with nice exactness or the whole
thing becomes failure. Mr. Bowles
showed himself master of organization, fitted
the right people to the right places made his
paper readable to dwellers in city and country
and discussed all great subjects of interest with
vigor of thought and felicity of expression
that made the Republican power in the land.
1t would have been well had his ambition
rested here. Seven years ago bis rank in his
profession was an enviable one; his opinions
were sought aud respected; his read ers believed
in him; his neighbors were proud of him; his
business was prosperous; the concern of which
he was the head had become valuable proper
ty and his title to an honorable niche In the
temple OF fame was assured beyond peradven-
ture. He had by this time grown Old enough
to need respite from the cares OF lfe albeit
still sufficiently young to enjoy Its pleasures
with hearty zest
1t was precisely at this point of his career
that he made the grave mistake which filed
the subsequent years of his life with feelings
of regret and modification which be never
could effectually conceal His completely In
the conspiracy against the Republican party
Injured him irratrievably. It diminished his
influence, impaired his fortune and humiliated
his pride. Before that he had been sort of
oracle among the people Of Western Massachu-
setts, but after the part he bore in the memora-
BILE campaign of 1872, his views upon questions
Of national concern were held in very little
account.
1t will always be q matter of uncertainty
among Mr.. Bowless friends as to what train
Of reasoning led him to ally himself with O
cabal whose chief motives of action were per-
sonal disappointments and petty hatredy. He
was one of the very few participants in that
prepesterous intrigue who had no grievances
to avenge, no selfish purposes to abst The
most plausible explanation OF his course Is
that he took umbrage at the utter indifference
with which Gen. Grant was in the habit of
treating the advice and suggestions of his
brethren Of the press. The soldier-Presdent
,ootild persist in spite OF remonstrance and OBJ
iurgation, in managing the government accord
ing to the dictates of his own Judgment. This
brought down upon his devoted head storm of
malediction from clique of the cleverest
editors in America, before which man Of less
nerve would have quailed. But he had too
long been accustomed to leaden bullets to be
disturbed by paper pellets and pursued the even
tenor OF his way with an equsnimity and un-
concern which were alike impervious to the
shafts of calumny and the darts Of misrepre-
sentation. Goaded to fury by his aggravAting
calmness, they resolved to visit their wrath
upon him by defeating his reelection. Find
ing that all efforts were unavailng to prevent
his denomination, they conceived the plan Of
bringing about division in the party and to
that end got up the Cincinnati convention. II
was emphatically a newspaper movement from
its incipiency to Its elimination, and very ap'
propriately one of the editorial fraternity was
designated for the equivocal honor Of leading
it. it had the benefit of enormous advertising,
and was made to present remarkably impos.
ing appearance-in type. Its originators mod
estly assumed that they were impelled by the
loftiest motives and the puress patriotism
They thanked God that they were not like Other
men, and summoned the country to decide be-
tween their Immaculate honesty and the cor
ruption and iniquity which they boldly charged
upon the organization from which they had
seeded. They incorporated into their creed
the astonishing doctrine that desertion was
honorable and unfaithfulness cardinal vir
tue. So far from excusing their treachery
to the party to which they had there
tofore professed allegiance they gloried il
it and were profuse in their denuneistionI
of everybody who kept the faith as e
thick and thin partisan. They DETAINED their
country so shockingly' that the echoes of their
ISLANDERS were heard in foreign lands and the
people of the old world who were waching anx
iously our experiment of self-government were
dismsyed at hearing from our own countrymen
that the young Republic of the west had faller
prey to the avarice and greed OF servants
| chosen to administer Its affairs, and the up