The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1934-01-12
A PAGE FROM BAcHE's NOTEBOOK


While editor of the Aurora, Baehe used to lis
ten to the speeches in congress and take them
down himself for his newspaper. To pass away
the dull hours while sitting in the gallery he
made sketches such these. The sketch of his
grandfather, Benjamin Franklin, may be
ognized at the bottom of the page.
widespread publicity. There was tremendous ex.
element all over the country. But despite the
shrill cries Of Bache and the Republicans that
the Federalists had sold their country to Eng
land, the treaty ratified.
Then the French Directory, with it's buster
and its corruption, played squarely into the
hands of the Federasts, who almost succeeded
In embroiling America in with France
Bache's resistance had great deal to do with
averting that During this period of violent
political conflict he became one Of the most pow
erful men in the country and one of the most
bitterly hated. Even the mob, once Republican
and Jacobine, turned against him. He was in
constant danger Of bodily violence. But through
II all he persisted In fighting for what he thought
were the principles of true democracy, the prin-
ciples which he had learned from the lips of his
grandfather. During this period also he had re
chrfstened his newspaper the Aurora and on the
front page Of 1t he placed fairly and squarely
in the middle, the fine sign of rising sum-
President, at first Bache praised HMM a left
handed way, to be sure, by contrasting him with
Washington. But the editor of the Aurora
soon at outs with the new President and his
Federalist ways. 60 he carried on his of
vituperation against Adams as he had against
Washington. But the yellow fever which swept
Philadelphia every summer at last did what
none of his enemies had ever been able to do
1t silenced Benny Bache. On September 5, 1893,
he caught the yellow fever. For five days he
dragged himself down to his Office to get out
the Aurora On September 10 he printed his last
Issue and In that he called John Adams a liar.
He fought the Federalists to the last, for he
died at midnight.
AS for Bache's place in American history Fay
states 1t In these words In the epilogue of his
book "It was Benny Bache who led this Second
Revolution, that broke Federalism and the Eng
lish alliance He had not the genius of Jefferson,
or that of Washington, or that Of his grand
father But, like them, he loved bis country. and
to him. to them. life was really worth living
only when he could stir the people. when he
could merge himself into the warm mass of
mankind, into their passions, into their desires.
More than those other men. he suffered; for
short suffering with defeat is harder than long
suffering that finally blooms into the joy of sue
cess Benny Rache had died and died too soon.
In the annals of America, Benny Bache
remains as the who attacked Washington.
Historians have little to say about him; but
they mention him In passing rather as vicious
boy than as a man who lived his life.
"At the turn of page in the background of
a print. In a faded silhouette, you may catch a
glimpse of that face Of his, still pallid with
youth fever and self-sacrifce You may discern
in the shadow that graceful gauche figure of
the man who first gave its form to radical opin-
ion In the United States and fashioned the Demo
cratic party"
g By Western Newspaper Union