, 1891-05-10

confidential secretary, who assisted him in
the preparation of his books ireland I'm
der Coercion" and France and the Re
public" Murray introduced Miss Evelyn
to him as a friend for whom he wished to
get a position on the stage. He undertook
to prove an alibi for specific occasions when
Miss Evelyn declared he was in her com
pany Murray's handwriting was similar
10 his own, and he m that certain
letters which the plaintiff said were writ
ten by him, and which the attorney gen
eral who defended the well known journal
list said il he really wrote them he was
the vilest and most debased wretch who
ever lived" were forged by Murray. A
great deal of testimony was admitted to
show the easy virtue of the plaintiff, who
acknowledged certain irregularities in her
life prior to her acquaintance with Mr..
Hurlbert. The jury concluded that her
case was not proven and rendered a verdict
of acquittal on the ground that there had
been no offer of marriage.
Mr.. Hurlbert, who has lived in Europe
since 1888, when Mr.. Pulitzer bought the
New York World, was for twenty-five
years one of the brightest, most prolific
and best known writers for the m]etropoli
tan press. He is the son of a Unitarian
clergyman in Charleston, S. c., and his
mother was a Randolph Of New Jersey.
He was born in the summer of 1927 and
educated at Harvard, graduating with the
class of 1877. He then entered the divinity
school and staid two years. For the next
three years he had charge of a Unitarian
church in Rhode Island. During this time
he wrote several very beautiful hymns,
some of which are still in the song books
used by the Unitarians. In 1855 he vent
to New York and began writing for Put
mans Magazine. His ability was acknowl-
edged at once, and Mr.. Raymond gave him
the place of chief editorial writer on the
New York Times
1t was while he was in this position that
there appeared in the editorial page of the
New York Times that famous editorial
called The Elbows of the Mincio." Mr..
Hurlbert vas in charge Of the paper for
the time being, and had had some. words
with the head p~roofreader. The tproof-
reader was admonished to follow Mr.. Hurl-
bert's copy exactly, and never to take any
liberties with it under pain of dismissal.
In the afternoon Mr.. Hurlbert wrote sew
eral pages of an article about some diplo-
matte feature Of the Crimean war. He
went to dinner, and upon returning APP
peared to have forgotten about his incom-
plete article and started another on some
social topic. In sending his copy to the
composing room the two articles got mixed.
The proofreader followed instructions ex-
oSAA9f AAN AA1AS AiHNAANN ~ Wv hNAk NhN =
paper the most remarkable editorial on
record.
In 1854 Mr.. Hurlbert bought The Com
mercial Advertiser, but he and his asso-
ciates did not get along smoothly, SO it was
sold to Thurlow Weed.
In 1876, with the assistance Of Colonel
Thomas Scott, OF the Pennsylvania rail
road, he bought The World from Mr.. Mar
BILE and controlled it for seven years. Mr..
Hurlbert always had the faculty of getting
on the unpopular side OF every question OF
moment, He really despised public opin-
ion, and therefore he was poorly fitted to
edit a Democratic newspaper. As a bust
ness man Mr.. Hurlbert was a curiosity.
He seemed TO nave no comprehension of
commercial methods, and while the paper
was under his control his publishers had a
lard time indeed.
In 1884 Hurlbert had diplomatic aspira-
tions. He asked Mr.. Cleveland to appoint
him minister to Rome. Mr.. Cleveland de
clined, and Mr.. Hurlbert was very iudig-
nant. This broke up the lifelong friend
ship between Secretary Bayard and Hurl-
bert, and Hurlbert has generally been
credited with having written the famous
Arthur Richmond letters about Mr.. Bay
ard in The North American Review.