The San Francisco call., 1896-02-22
GREELEYlS EARLY LIFE.
Went to School at the Age of Two and
Knew Shakespeare at Eleven.

Went to School at the Age of Two and
Knew Shakespeare at Eleven.
Like Lincoln, Greeley was born in pov-
erty; both were thoroughly American and
both striking examples of development
under the new republic. Greeley came
from an ancestry that was toughened in
the old Queen Anne wars and the battles
OF the Revolution. He got his intellect
from his mother, who was an attentive
and omniVorous reader. He said in
after life that his mind was stimu-
lated by his mother to an un-
usual degree. "She awakened in me a
thirst for knowledge" Mr.. Greeley used to
say, and fostered the spirit of precocity so
early manifested in the young Greeley.
He went 10 school when he was only 2
years old and surprised his instructors by
his aptitude for studies far beyond one of
his tender years.
The traits which marked Mr.. Greeley's
childhood characterized him throughout
life. His career as boy outlined his ca
reer as man. In maturity he retained all
his weakne sses, and his sympathies would
ever overrule his judgment. When a boy
he was never afraid of ghosts nor the
graveyard by night, but nothing could get
him to stand up in Il fight with another
boy. AS man, when he was attacked by
n Congressman, he stood and took his
punishment without fighting back
Greeley had an Unsuitable thirst for
knowledge. He read the newspaper which
his father took, but which only served as
stimulus to his intellectual appetite. He
secured the country for seven miles around
for books, and read everything he could
borrow. He chung to his book at all times
whether on an errand 10 the cellar. the
woodpile or a neigh boris. Like Lincoln,
many thousand miles away, he filed the
fireplace with pine knots and spent long
evenings reading. When IL years old he
read Shakespeare thoroughly. At this
time he was very poor, living on a half
cleared farm in Vermont and working with
his father clearing the land. With his
brothers and sisters, he made the principal
meal of the day on bean porridge, the
children sitting on the floor around five
quart pan, eating from the same dish. His
mother testified that it cost not more than
So year to clothe Horace.
The turning point in his life came when
he was 13 years old and entered the print
ing office OF Amos Bliss at Poultney, VT,
as an apprentice. He was bound out for
five years, during which he worked hard
at his case, improving his mind the while
and sending his meager earnings to his
father, who was now struggling to clear
another farm in the woods OF Pennsyl-
vania. He derived much pleasure and
benefit from the Public Library at Poult-
ney, and exercised his taste for compost
ton by setting UP original paragraphs for
the paper. His dominating intellect
downed all base passion and kept him
from the allurements of life of pleasure
at this time. There was one thing about
the young apprentice, however, habit
which stuck to him all through Iife-he
was luridly and picturesquely profane.
At the beginning of the fifth year of his
apprenticeship the paper for which he
worked failed, and he started for Pennsyl-
vania, where he remained at his fathers
house to recover from an illness. The next
few months were hard times for young
Greeley, as work was scarce in that portion
of the country and the pay was poor. FL
nally he gave up the effort there and
started for the metropolis, going down the
Hudson River on a towboat. He landed at
the Battery in New York with Just $40 in
his pocket and engaged board in saloon
at SZ 80 per week. His first few months in
New York City was period of struggle,
and marked by poverty and privation.-
Lecture by Congressman Cummings.