The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1893-08-27

unfsrrifed snd upright in his general
drift He never melted under the persua-
sicn Of friends or skulked and vithered
under the glance OF powerful foes
To the nervous irritsbility that al over
worked men suffer from may Be ascrihcd
mach Of the visnperstive quality and color
Of Grseley's writings, bat the spirit OF
moral and intellectual integrity Was under
ali this the ruling spirit Of the man. As
time rolls on his memory rises above the
low lying mist Of personal resentnents that
once survived his death, and in this odiors
ho4r Of contemplate, repulsive. irbeciie,
filthy, s'fakir" journalism. the nation rates
al its true worth this stout Yankee thinker.
whose scolding vas an education to bis
country, since he scolded % effectually
that ne lett his great profession q nobler
power than he found it; left thoughtful,
generous-minded men of al parties and
sections glad that he was born into the
nation. for whose enlightenment and eie-
walton of soul few men have succeeded in
doing 50 much.
He was not great man absolutely, like
Lincoln, 30 much as he was man OF many
great qualities. who was fortunate in his
opportunities of both time and location.
He has been compared TO Franklin, but
Franklin Was o far greater, many-sided
man, with qualities Of serenity, self-con-
troll. sagacity in searching ont, selecting
and using men, TO which Greeley was
stranger.
Greeley had . good deal Of impatient
egotism about him which he sometimes
persuaded himself was patriotism. Like
Sumner. Phillips. and even Seward and
Chase, his best work was done before 1860.
He was rather q thorn in Lincoln's side
all through the war and his leadership Of
the Tammany Democracy in 1872 marked
the decadence of strong mind prema-
turely worn out by his extraordinary work
for nearly forty years.
The genius of the man was for criticism.
not for leadership. He would have al
lowed the South TO 60 in peace in 1850; he
would have made peace without honor in
1854, 30 bitterly did he hate bloodshed. and
he so utterly failed TO comprehend the
greatness of Lincoln that he tried TO pro-
cure the selection Of another candidate to
supersede him in 1864 Nevertheless be
did justice to Lincoin's greatness after
death and uttered q famous stroke of wit
when he wrote: There have been ten
thousand attempts at the life of Abraham
Lincoln, whereof that of Wilkes Booth
was perhaps the most atrocious; yet it
stands by no means alone" He forced
the issues which forced the war. but when
war came he recoiled from the responsible
ity of such horror and he alternately
few the white flag of peace and the battle
flag Of war.
His great political work and his best
work was done when be helped nominate
and elect Lincoln in 1850, but he was
above all things the foe of flake" jour
nalism. Stupidity, ignorance, imbecility.
faisehood or sensational filth had no place
in Greeley's Tribune, and there was no
lack of wit and humor in the Tribune.
Charles T. Congdon was a. brilliant then
as Ike Bromley 10 today.
The traditions Of the old Tribune under
Greeley are seen In the New York San to-
day, which beyond all the newspapers In
the East sparkles with wit and humor.
In this day of disgusting ''fakir" journal
ism it Is well to recall with respect the
sturdy and sincere work of Horace Greeley.