, 1882-04-28
A London Editor.

The editor OF the Morning Onronlcle
arring Mr.. Clemenst' proprietorship was
iohp Black, mall with the spirit. of a
nrawcansir and the habits of Car
tbnsian monk. He had in person, ac-
oordinr to James Grant, all the blunt
and bluff appearance OF thickset
farmer. He was never, during the many
nears of his editorship, to be seen on the
streets without being accompanied by q
large mastiff, and robust srick, which
no himself, called an honest, sturdy
cndcel, in his hand; and generally, ac-
cording to the recollections of another OF
bis stsff who knows him as well as Mr..
Grant, with couple Of books under his
arm, which he had picked up rs bar
cain at one of the secondhand book
Stalls that abounded at this time in the
Strand. All his habits were Of piece
Dressing, as he did, in the plainest pos
s;ble manner, he had an insuperable OBJ
;action to having his editorial sanctum
Eent tidy. This extended even to the
dnsting of his books; the dustier they
were the better. They lay, like DR..
Thirlwalls, in heaps all over the
aoor, and the whole room wa:
in glorious ooniuSioh P"PS' Pi.N'
upon papers, books upon books
The place was Chaos. Black found his
way about the room, it is said, by instinct
hnt he knew the place OF every book
and when chatting with visitor about
apy of the questions of the day he woult
walk across the room, take down vol
nme 10 prove his point, read the passage
and return the volume to its place with
ont removing more of the dust than the
operation absolutely required.
Henry Hunt was once asked, in cross
examination, in libel case against th,
Morning Chronicle. whether he had ever
been in Mr., Blacks room. Yes" sale
Hunt. "And how was the editorial
sanctum furnished -splendidly ?" asked
the counsel. II can hardly say that il
was" "Can you give the jury some idef
OF the interior? What do you suppos,
would have been the value of the furni
tnre?" said the counsel. II
should not think" was the answer,
"the whole of the furniture, il sole
at auction, would have fetched more
than sevenpence-halfpenny." "Are yor
serious, sir?" asked the counsel; ere.
member you are on your oath, sir" -
do remember that" said Hunt, land
remem bering it, have not put too ex
travagant price upon the furniture.
Then, please to explain, sir" replied
the counsel. "How do you arrive ut the
conclusion that the whole of the furni
ture in the editorial sanctum of the
Morning Chronicle is not worth more
than sevenpence-halfpenny? Explain
how you make that out" why" said
Hunt, amid the inextinguishable laugh
ter of the Court, "there was no furniture
chairs, and while the table would moi
have fetched sixpence, no one would
have given more than three half-pence
as the utmost, for the two chairs to
gether."
Yet, John Black, with the manners oi
bear, possessed the soul of q Saladin
and although he did not care sufficiently
for his best friend to walk across the
street to shake hands with him, he was
ready, at moments notice, to unlock
bis pistol case and fight duel with the
irst man who, like Roebuck, impugned
the honor of the fourth estate or its rep
resentatives. He was personally the
soul Of honor, and so proud, personally
and professionally, that, although II
constant communication with Her Maj
esty's ministers during the administration
OF the Wings, he never asked single
favor OF one of them.
You are the only man" said Lord
Melbourne to him on one occasion, wher
chatting with him in his study, "whc
forgets that am Prime Minister. "HoS
so, my lord?" asked Black, supposing,
for the moment that he had mad
yertently omitted to pay proper respect
to the rank of his visitor. We'll" said
Lord Melbourne, "you are the only man
l know who never asks favor OF me.
Il have no favoI to ask, my lord, " re
piled Black. II have no favor to ask OF
any one in the world. You are Prime
Minister of England, but 1 am editor oI
the Morning Chronicle, and / would moi
change places with the proudest mar
In England-not even, my lord, with
10. Pebody in English Jour