The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1910-07-09
A GREAT MAN
Though Defeated in Politics, Horace
Greeley Was a Great
Heart.
All his Life Long his Voice Was
Raised in the Cause of
Freedom.

Writing in the July issue Of the
National Monthly, John Sayles reviews
! the presidential campaign of 1872 and
offers an eloquent tribute to the de-
feated candidate of that memorable
campaign when he says:
Successful or defeated, let no man
despise Horace Greeley. For no mans
place in American history is surer
than his. Greeley's services to the
people cannot be measured by his
vote-getting ability. No honors that
might be bestowed, or withheld in the
way of public office, could add to or
take away from his splendid charac-
ter.
Horace Greeley was a man of brains.
Like that other illustrious printer,
Benjamin Franklin he was self ed
ucated. Everything he acquired in
tellectually came by hard and prodig-
Gus efforts. Thought to be not over
bright in early boyhood, he neverthe-
less persistently pursued knowledge
until his was a consummate mental
mastery.
Born in poverty and obscurity he
faithfully worked at whatever came
to his hands and never relaxed until
| things more profitable and congenial
came into his life.
The New York Tribune, which Gree
ley founded, was his supreme oppor-
tunity. Here he made the editorial
anvil ring and here he sert his
intellectual sparks outward and up
ward in veritable shower. Other
men have owned newspapers in Amer
lea; others have welded the pen Tor
themselves and employed the pens Of
others for the enrichment of the COL
umns of their papers; but only one
Horace Greeley ever passed this way,
with him the glory of his beloved New
York Tribune
Horace Greeley was a Great Heart
Every good cause had a champion in
him. The poor the sick, the despisad
and the unfortunate never appealed
to him in vain. A lover of his coun-
try. when the war was over he plead
ed as earnestly for justice to the
South as he had periodically labored
for the North when the Civil War was
on. Nothing pleased him more than
to learn that his enemy of yesterday
had become his friend today. He could
fight and forgive and forget. Though
a reformer by nature he happily avoid
ed the spirit which seeks victory ra,h-
er than truth. To the glory of Horace
he never crucified an adversary on the
specious theory that he was laboring
for the public veal.
A better Democrat in the true usage
of language than Horace Greeley never
lived. On one occasion he wrote:
Above all, be neither afraid or
ashamed of honest industry; and If
you catch yourself fancying anything
more respectable than this, be ashamed
of it to the last day Of your life Or,
If YOU find yourself shaking more cor
daily the hand of your cousin, the
Congressman, than of your uncle, the
Blacksmith, as such write yourself
down as an enemy to the principles of
our institutions and traitor to the
dignity Of humanity" Nobody hated
injustice more than he. All through
his life he battled against those wno
practiced persecution. Tyranny in ey-
cry form was repugnant to him. His
voice was ever raised in Freedoms
cause even unto the uttermost corners
of the earth. He passed out of this
world eternally true in heart.