The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1903-04-12

Fl Comprehensive Woek WHICH The
il VIII he Hstosy of The "New Yosb

sorts Of abuses and he added wifh the
seIf-coradencc which always character
lied him. which shall be attended 10 a.
fast as possible.
self-couhdence Greeley had. ard plenty
OF il. else he would never have rads
an ante-beIum newspaper man. but the
second cJarse Of This quotation was more
probalI. rrsd bv that dry humor
which vas ore Of his strongest char
acterissias- 40 man with any sense Of
huHor whatever could have failed TO see
the absErditv IF expecting one news
psper. to Lecome the tool Of all the diff
Eerent reformers 9ho were at that time
convinced that the reformation OF So
eiety was only 10 be accomplished by
turning II topsy-turvy-
Greeley's Environment.
SIR Linn also appears 10 give TOO
little weight 10 the Influences which
made Greeley the trencnsnt. often ex-
travagant. writer that he was. and 70
attribute 100 much Of this 10 the edI-
tors own pecuIiarftIes. 1t is curious
fact, which many biographers of great
men would do well to note. that their
faults appear often TO be those Of their
time and place. or errors into which
/ they were forced by circumstances. wHi1s
their virtues are their own personal pro
perty.
! IN fact. it has sometimes happened
F.. that the great men Of one generation
/ have even been censured by. writer's OF
/ q later and. more enlightened age for
faults from which they we're really.
+ judged By the standards Of their time.
comparatively free.
Greeley cannot he justly condemned.
as a journalist. for ez1Tagaganee OF
+ phrase ard view: those faults were con-
/ mon to all journalists OF his day. and,
compared With the elder Bennett. or
with some Of the Southern editors Just
! before the war between the States,
Greeley in his editorials was even mild.
Should Not Be Blamed.
He could no more Re blamed for fight
ing with the weapons of his time than
could a knight Vi the Middle Ages for
not going into the field unarmored and
without Weapons. The qualities which
we're peculiarly his own. and for which
he deserves enormous credit. were the
+ untiring eHergJ, originality. sbrewd-<
ness and devotion to his work which
t characterized his whole life; the unseII-
! ishness which led him 70 take up any
cause which be believed right. even AZ
his own expense: the honesty which
would not permit him 10 defend any
cause which he thought wrong or mis-
taken, no matte how great the induce-
ment
ae WIS one Of the makers ol the tradi-
! ton Of an independent and democratic
/ American press. ard as such he merits
/ ali the homer which has been given aim
I The defects in Greeley-s character. and
+ particularly IN his estimate OF public
men and Of national forces. become more
prominent in that part OF the story
which deals with the war; but here
I again it should be remembered that that
was a time OF the unexpected. and that
the public men who judged Lincoln
I truly, or appreciated Grant, before
events had INDICATED these makers Of
/ history. were indeed few.
Invalid Criticism.
It is easy to LOOK back and wonder at
the blindness Of the past and 10 cen
sure the men who hight have led public
opinion in a different direction, but the
fact that they did not do it proves only
that the course Of Fate is beyond the
reach OF human wisdom TO toretelL The
blindness OF this generation IN regard 20
some overmasteriHg world force is quite
as likely to be made the subject OF dis
paragine comment by historians of the
twenty-frst century. New York: D.
Appleton & CO..