The New York herald., 1922-12-03
VII. The Marvellous Boy.

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delphia was the best place to go
to make his living as printer. But when
over half century later William Cullen
Bryant left home in the hope of helping
to earn his living by his pen he thought
the most promising place was New York.
The future of the young immigrants
proved in several respects alike. Each
lived to be pointed out in the streets as
the leading citizen of his adopted city
and as almost the foremost citizen of all
America. Each enjoyed throughout his
life. uninterruptedly except for furries
of political strife. the respect and esteem
OF the entire nation. The successful ac-
tivities of both so widened on their hands
that they were forced to change the di-
rection of their early ambition, and they
found afterward. few moments of leisure
ly quiet in which to return to it. In both
instances we feel that their country was
greatly the gamer by this and that they
at the same time lost nothing in reputa-
ton. No achievement of Franklin as
scientist or inventor could have increased
his fame as much as his services in es-
tablishing the new nation. And though
Bryant found little freedom in his busy
newspaper life to write the meditative
highly polished poetry he could write so
well, he did enough to show that he could
never have surpassed the work of his
early days or even have changed the tone
of it, On the other hand. there was no
work more important 10 the nation or no
one else better ft;ed to do it than that
which he accomplished during his fifty
years editorship Of the New York Erenfno
Post. The tremendous Improvement in
the literary quality and the moral tone
of American journalism is due more 10
him than to any other single force in
America
In one respect. however. the boy emf
grants were as different as any emigrants
from Massachusetts, could well be. Frank
lin owed nothing TO his birthplace The
shrewd practically Of Boston was in no
way unlike that OF New York and Phila-
delphia. II was quality. indeed. which all
the Middle Staters shared in common with
all the New Englanders. But Bryant came
Of the oldest Puritan stock. He was de-
scended from John Alden and Priscilla
whose story you can read in "The Court
ship of Miles Standish," written by another
descendant of theirs. He had all the Puri.
tan in his blood. Franklin in Philadelphia
easily shook off, as we say, the dust of
Boston from his shoes; but when Bryant
went to New York he carried New England
with him.
Still. for all he was a Puritan. he was
born at the time when the Puritans had
given up for a while their endless disputes
about the nature of God and fits relations
to man. and had been swept with the rest
OF America. into equally endless disputes
about the nature Of the Government ant
its relation to home rule Every Tom. Dick
and Harry. as you have seen. felt perfectly
confident Of his ability to make a better
government than we had. SO did William.
Perhaps you could find no more anus
ing illustration Of this general confidence
than this little Bryant boy, aged 10, uI
there in a tiny hamlet in western Massa.
chusetts. writing his opinions to the coun.
try newspapers on how to run the Gov
ernment. At the ripper age of 13 he wrot,
a lengthy satire. not without poetical merit
calling upon President Thomas jefferson
to resign because he was incapable o.
managing the Government he had done 81
much to create a score of years ago. Ions
before the boy reached voting age he SPOKE
of President Harrison as "His Imbecility'
and advised open defiance of the Fedora
Government IL it went to war with Eng
land. and said that Massachusetts, ough
to organize a standing army as a defense