The Dallas daily herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1873-1887, 1884-05-07

and 30 powerful q factor In tbe
OF thought, that they should be-
by only the best OF n oountry's
citizens. Bat while thew should be AMI.
mated by u spirit Of justice and fairness
In the discussion vi measures and
men, PRINCIPLES aud policies, there
10 All equsl obligation upon thon TO treat
each other after the same fashion. In the
MOI long ago II was a reprosch against the
legal profession, that IT'S practitioners per-
mitted an exc M OF zeal for their clients
cause to over-leap the bonds OF discretion
for wrongful Indulgence OF abuse against
their brotner adversarles. That practice
has vastly been amended. But II 10 Is re-
proach to-day againet the newspaper that
they are not ouly too frequently lacking to.
ward one another In due degree OF
courtesy, but TOO open to the charge
OF vituperation ard censorious criticism.
The editor has but small excuse to per.
NIT hle passions TO subordinate his jndg
mept, TO permit prejudice to eunercede
equity. or even emenity Isolated AZ no 10
from the tumult OF reality, and protected
from impulses by the formslity Of his life,
he has nothing 10 plead ~ eAtenuation ior
tne wrongs OF rndeness. His method OF ex.
preston ia the permnncncy OF print, and
his phrases are formulated I'm the qniet OF
his sanctum, wish omple opportunity Tor
caution. He IS net private personality.
but he belongs TO the public generally,
and thus mis- ministry 10 broader
than that OF the pulpit preacher, the lee
turer or the political orator. His audience
fills all the residences. stores, hotels,
saloons, prisons, cars. Every where that
human feet trend and humau hearts beat
he enters, talks eud teaones. Nor has his
labor ceased with mis- life, but long after hts
pleading finEers are dust, his words are NJ
WORK tor veal or woe. II he forget that he
IL addressing on intelligent multitude aud
uses his columns rs spital In which To
empty his malice, his preiudices his
rsvenges, il he limit his scope to the
range OF his personal feelings he
not merely diseraceo his high vocation
nut will even fail TO secure the paltry aim
OF his forts: Tor never yet was mn enemy
injured by such means that the recoll was
not powerful against him who levtled aud
sped the shaft. The pablo Is too well edu-
Gated not to readily perceive the nnimus
and not 10 deprecate TO contempt thai sort
OF condemnation.
The polite and deliberate man OF letters
lives forever in human hearts. Alexander
the Great would be forgotten but for the
tho historian, and the record OF the Bona
parte would be without a chapter wee his
deeds not written by the literateurs.
The great Caesar WAS an editor and though
nearly oil bis cobquests have passed into
the obscurity OF tradition, save what his
own commentaries convey in that elegance
OF sty 10, that delights he scholar Of even
this era az he exslts the hand that traced
the lines. The flash OF his sword WAS OF
ephemeral effect, while the WORK OF his
pen IL OF permanent existence.
1t Is a mistake to assume that the extreme
or the excessive Is mos eihcacious. Niagara
roars and plunges with thunderous sound I,
vet never turns wheel OF usefulness.
Vesuvius and -E'na out roar even those
mighty falls, an YET their steam and other
contents are worthless iur ali good purpos-
SEES. The lightning tat hurts It's enraged,
lurid bolts all through the atmosphere
avails us nothing. But it is the quiet ana
regulated stream that sets in motion the
mills that turn ont for humanity clothing,
food, and sheltering material. IL is the
quiet prairie and the peaceful hills that
send forth from their prolific interiors. by
steady effort. al the requirements Of a
progressive civilization. So. too. IL IL
the electricity. tanned and harnessed
In the lab story, that does mans
bidding, and, under his control, traverses
the earth with messages Of love or business
import with feet as fleet as thought. Sledge-
hammer blows will not disturb the harden
ed rocks and ores but the quiet acid will
dIsintegra,e them to finest grains. The
csnsure of the chronicaliy censor ious bears
within itself the seeds OF its own dissOlu-
ton. while on the other hand the very ah-
ssnce of praise on the mart OF those known
delight In recording rather the agreeable,
Is felt and rec ,guized as seyefest trea ment.
Ii such a writer commend In courtly Ian
gusge he may lit his friend or cause high
as his intention goes. The lucubratioDs OF
Ben Franklin were more potent than
the rhodomontade OF the Jecobins.
He Elected ia his closet and they raved in
the commune, and out of the philosophers
. a.; la IN, Uod A m ~ n
lie, even while the gulllo.ino OF these
Jacobius brought forth y secoud dynasty
for France which it took Franklin's example
to destroy. Madame Roland understood
the power OF persuasiy. writing, and she
preferred PORE to Robespiers. And the
tyranny of the time, though 1t hushed her
sweet voice, found itself at last lhwarted
by the echoes Of its sentiments. The
writer is not az W inter- storm removing IN.
truding objects by force, but should be rather
as the gentler spring pushing away
with tender yet resislless might the decayed
leaves of the past, and robing he world
with newborn verdurc, with the revival
that nature loves and blesses. An angry
man cannot think correctly and thought
less one cannot write properly. But every
spring Of knowledge must be touched by
the editor, and not dscord but concord
should be the resultant effect. His tbemo
ia the world and oil that in it is, and his
ability should be equal TO the breadth Of
his enterprise. 1t Is no "pent-up Utica"
no middle fight" but ABOVE the
Aonian mount, and wide as, the
universe, yet calm as the inland lake,
deep but storness, as resolute as the
oceans roll yet clear as the crystal rivers
tide. What mighty man was Greeley
with his pen, yet how rsrenely gentle was
his might. He had The force of lion but
he used IL like dove and yet he overthrow
mountains. lie had the pplendid strength
of an intellectual giant but he exerted IL as
Christian.
The pen rsed in honoT's cause can con.
vert tho sword into harmless steel and send
its holder TO rot in dungeon. Every sli-
VERY sentence composed within the limits
OF logic is keen arrow penetrating
the thrice-arined fame OF bolstered error,
but the sentence blunted by raging words
IL u mere putty ball blown from tube OF
glass to nStten against the mail OF the ad.
versary. TIE FroGch duelist smiles and
bows on the ''fieid Of honor" only In the
c.rtsniy OF success which the serenity of
his nerve insures. The Italian fencer fur
iously fights the cir only TO foil foamipg, the
victim of his own reckless rage. In con-
ecientiOus industry the evel.hea1ed editor
la1orB at his noble task, and 30 let him,
like the tortoise, press his pastron and his
carspod together and uttsr no sound when
the dogs OF discomfort are barking about
him.
AS in oil other ayocations journalism
numbers all SORTS Of people. There are
charlatans, who steal the work OF the mas
tiers, but who when robed in hide Of the lion
are iud;crously discernible in their assumed
security and seli-satisfed complacency.
There are lachrymose writer's who weep
over the worlds folles, but overlook their
own. And while there are few genuine
wits. there are legions OF ,wouid-be funny
characters, whose joke3 are not unsafe
things to reflect on at q funeral and are
never known to dis urb decorum anywhere.
There are spiteiul photographers who love
to live In the shines of suspicion,
iaal nnav and anVr. End who antaYnniZR