The Portland daily press., 1900-01-02
HORACE GREELEY AND THE
TRIBUNE.

fE. L Goblin IN N. Z. fcsA)
on my rstusn 20 New York, In tbs
early spring, I occupied myself In prepar-
ing for admission 70 the bar and 10 writ-
ing letters for.the London Daily News.
As regarded American affairs, was
sirsply n very intsresssd obssrver. The
Trituns, In particular. excited my warm
admiration. The staff was composed OF
men like Charles A. Dana, .oenrgs
Ripley, George William Curtis, and Bay
ard Taylor. whose travels. though dull,
were In evsrybody's hands at time when
"soins abroad" was comparatively rare.
In fact. the paper was an institution
more like the Comedie Franosise than
any thing have evss known In the Jour
palistio Id. Ths writer's were all. ~
IL were. partners In = common enterprise.
and Gresley, though sli-powerfsl, was
simply looked upon % primus inter
pares. He was, however. adored By the
farm ers In New England and In the West
ern Reserve, who believed ns wrote every
wcrd OF the Tribune. not excepting the
advertisements. a The influences Of such
journal was deservedly high. Greeley
from the very outsst had supplied the
spirit which made the paper an authority
in the land, for he ssoriiiced everything.
advertisers, suts ribsrs, and all else, 20
what he considered prinoiple. Ihs papsr
would probably have suffered from bis
want of education and general knowlsdgs
II he had not surrounded himsrf WI tn
writer's who made ample amends for bis
defeots.r Il must be ADDED. however, that
as the years rolled by, self-oonceit grew
upon him, and made the end OF bis
career, in some sort. tragedy. but this
was not until the anti-slaysry osuss had
won Its final triumph, and she blasts on
his bugie-horn had lest their old off oacy.
During tbs three or four yesrs be fore
the war, to get admission to the col
umns Of the Tribune almost gave the
young writer patent Of literary nobility,
ana Greeley In those years welcomed tai.
and In every field. But did not become
fully aware how much of his infiu srce
and success he owed to the anti-slavery
oar So until 1864. when the war was nearly
over. In the early spring Of that year
was invited to u breakfast BY the lats MT;
John A. g. Gray. found there Wendell
Phillips. Bryant. the poet, and one or
two other men. As am now tho s>le
survivor of the party. I may reiats what
occurred without indiscretiou. Greeley
entered n few minutes after me, and Ap-
preached the host. who was standing near
t06 uFepthoo uouvoEnAb8 Wten 4ts Dsy 80,
Bryant took no notice Of him. The host
asked In whisper. but In my hearing.
"Don't you know Mr.. Greeley Si' The
ans wer, In Q still louder whisper. was.
"No, don't: he's blackguard-hs,s q
blaokguard." This. 1 thought, wes due
to one OF Greeley's striking peculiArities,
his treating every opponent with sort
of ferooious ooptempt. A not uncommon
heading of his arti oles IVES "Another Lie
Nailed to the Counter" and q not un-
common beginning TO his discussions
was piaintise inquiry, "whethsr there
was to be no end OF lying" and not
uncommon designation Of an Antagonist
We that ne was "a liar, knowing him
self to be q liar, and lying with naked
intent to deceive" l concluded that
Mir. Bryant, who was man OF refine
ment ana cultivation, had met with 5 ,me
of this mauliug at Greeley's hands But
at the breakfast table Greeley revealed
more srious defects In his chara cser than
addiction to rough language. The talk
turned on the war. and more particularly
or, the defence OF Washington On this
subject he poured forth opinions SO con-
ically absurd that they might have hg-
ured IN the "Grande Duchesse." They
were received bv the rest Of the company
In a silence which, fear, was not respect
full, 1alEiug after breakfast, over our
cigars, of the Republican nomination of
tbs successor to lincoln, Greelsy's one
tributiou to the discussion, frequently
repeated, wss "Anyto1y you please; but
not old Abe" About this time his tntiu-
ence had begun to deniine, until at last
he finished II by accepting she Demo-
cratic nomination for the Presidency.