The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1902-01-03

married sister Of Joseph Gales, be
came connected with the Intelligencer
and it was published by Gates Il Sea
ton from that time until the 3lst o1
December, 1864, when the greatest ol
all our public journals during the early
part of the last century perished in the
tempest of civil war.
Joseph Gales, like his father, had
practiced tho printer S craft in Phila'
lelphia, where he became a master in
the art OF stenography, and his high
standard of intellectual vigor and cul'
ture made him one of the ablest politi.
cal lisputants of the nation. Mr.. Sea
ton, his partner, had also acquired pro.
ficien"y in shorthand reporting, and
they made the only reports of the tie
bates in Congress that approached &C.
curacy until official reports became
recognized as a necessity. Mr.. Gales
reported the proceedings in the Senate
and Mr.. Seaton reported them in the
House. 1t was only 10y Mr.. Gales
shorthand report that Webster's reply
to Haync, accepted as the abiest ex-
position of constitutional rights ever
given hy an American statesman, was
preserved precisely as it was delivered.
His notes were carefully preserved,
ma . efficiently bound, and are yet held
by some of the Webster descendants
as one of the most valuable OF the many
relics of The great eNpounder.
met Joseph Gales many times, but
only in a casual way, and have no
claim to intimate acquaintance with
him, but rs | had read the weekly
National Intelliypncer with the aid of
tallow dip when an apprentice, ard
highly enjoyed its great editorials, un-
surpassed in purity and dlcti"n and
forceful expression. | was always in
ter, stcd in the man. and was specially
gratitied on my later rare visits to
Washington of those days to got even
a glimpse of the great American edi-
tor. He was most accomplished ger
tleman of the old school. always cour-
teous and delightfully."- genial in the
circle OF his home and intimate friends.
He possessed Il commanding personal
ity, and the strongly marked intellect
uality of his features, with bis perfect
grace of manner, attracted all who came
within the range of his movements.
INFLUENCE OF ITS EDITORIALS.
Mr.. Gales became connected with
the National Intelligencer during the
last term of the Jcffersonian admins
tration, and from that time until the
advent of Jackson, in 1929, the Intelli-
gencer. under his direction, was what
might be called the organ of the ad-
ministrations of Jefferson, Madison.
Monroe. and John Quincy Adams. 1t
was not an organ in the sense in which
the term is generally accepted now.
The government had no favors which
it was compelled to seek. 1t CON-
manded the limited patronage of the
government solely 10y reason of its ex-
ceptionally strong position as a Wash
ington and national public journal,
and while it rarely had occasion to
criticse the public policy Of those ad-
ministrations, it often took the lead in
clearing the political pathway when
grave problems were presented to the
government.
The editorials of the Intelligencer
before and during the war of 1912 were
regarded as ranking with the teach
ings of Clay in the House and Craw-
ford in the Senate, who were the recog.
niz d oracles Of the war sentiment of
the country. In the meantime the
telligencer had grown to be a widely
circulated daily for that period, with
semi-wcekly and weekly editions which
reached every State in the Union. II
was the most dclrctalle IF all the
great papers ever published in this
country. 1t had all the dignity of the
London Times. tempered and embel-
llshed with a degree of v.gor and
progress which made it quite as highly
respected in the New World as was
the London Times in the Old World.
There were no telcgraphs or telephones
and most of he time no railways to
| crowd news into the editorial sanctum
and beyond the editorials of the lead
ing newspapers the chief labor of such
a journal was the intelligent use ol
scissors and paste. The paper was
most studiousIy edited from the frs,
to the last column, and its news and
selections were given the most inviting
form. | have often seen the Daily
National Intelligencer, when Gales
was in the zenith of his greatness
issued with less than half column ot
editorial matter. Editorials were not
then regarded as a daily necessity, bu,
when occasion demanded elaborate dis
cussion of any public question a leader
would appear in the Intelligencer fill
ing two or three columns, and some
times even full page. They were
essays rather than editorial l"aders
and as polished as if they came from
the pen of a Macaulay. The idea O
nything even approaching sensation
alism in presenting the news was never