Part 4 (1/2)

As I look back uponthe year and a half that I spent at Preston, the salient questions which stand out in my recollection are the war between Denmark and the Austro-Prussian allies, in which this country was so nearly involved, and the concluding struggles in the American Civil War, which ical assassination of Lincoln Itto say, and yet I believe that Lincoln's cruel death did oodwill, not only in the United States, but all over the world, after the close of the war, than anything else could have done It is certain that it produced a reland were, as I have said, alle person engaged in the great struggle whom they more persistently misunderstood and misrepresented than Abraham Lincoln Even now I feel a sense of shareat h theas it did in the moment of victory, and also at the monanimous in victory, opened the eyes of the world, and showed hilishmen who had hated him, in his true colours--one of the wisest and noblest men of our time

This revelation of the blunder which ”the classes” had coreater effect in softening the asperities which the war left behind it than had the exposure of the egregious lish statesth of North and South One lishmen too severely, however, for their lack of appreciation of Lincoln It is doubtful if even now he is appreciated at his true worth by Ae of taking in to dinner a char lady as Lincoln's direct descendant I said to her, ”You can hardly understand how pleased I am to have met you There is scarcely any man whose name is farandfather” The young lady opened her eyes in innocent amazement, and confessed subsequently that she had been very much surprised by randpapa” Lowell, however, has said soiac poetry of the world

My stay at Preston caed whilst staying there, and, feeling stronger in health, was anxious to obtain a more active position than the editorshi+p of a newspaper published only twice a week My wishes were realised when I received an offer from the proprietors of the _Leeds Mercury_ of a position on that journal, which had long been one of the most important of provincial newspapers I accepted the offer, and left Preston at the beginning of 1866 with feelings of nothing but goodwill and respect for my old chief, Mr Toulmin

CHAPTER V

WORK ON THE _LEEDS MERCURY_

My New Duties--Betrothal--The Writing of Leading Articles--The Founder of the _Leeds Mercury_--Edward Baines the Second--Thomas Blackburn Baines--Patriotic Nonconformists--Another Colliery Explosion: A Story of Heroism--An Abortive Fenian Raid at Chester--Reminiscences of the Prince of Wales's Visits to Yorkshi+re--Mr Bright and the Refor Speech at St James's Hall--The Tribune of the People Vindicates the Queen

I did not knohen I arrived in Leeds one wintry day in the beginning of 1866, how long my connection with that toas to last, and how closely I was to become associated with its public life Beyond one or two members of the _Mercury_ staff, I knew nobody in Leeds, so that once ers But whereas at Preston I had re the whole period ofin Leeds before I began to feel that I had found a second home This was, no doubt, due in part to the fact that old friends of h who the townspeople But I think that the sense of being at home which I acquired so soon was chiefly due to the character of the inhabitants of Leeds

Whatever may be the case now, at that time the Leeds people were typical representatives of the best characteristics of Yorkshi+re They were frank, outspoken, warm-hearted, and hospitable They were not, indeed, so refined in speech as they er their blunt utterances were at ti They criticised one's work freely, and never hesitated to say when they did not like it

They had strong prejudices and prepossessions, to both of which they gave free expression But if they never hesitated to criticise, they were just as ready, when they were pleased, to utter words of praise and encourageratification of finding that my humble efforts on the _Leeds Mercury_ had made for me many friends whoht of a first appearance in print, there is nothing that brings sowriter as the discovery that so which he has written has won the sympathy and secured for him the friendly approval of some unknown reader It is in this that there lies, after all, the highest reward of the journalist No honours, no e that bythe affections, of some at least of that vast unknown public whom it is his duty to address

A sheet of paper is but a fli, yet, as a rule, when used by the journalist it cuts off the electric current of sympathy which passes between speaker and auditor when they are visible to each other The discovery that it may sometimes be a conductor, instead of an obstruction, to the current war writer in a wonderful fashi+on, and is the best stimulus that he can have in the pursuit of his profession To ratitude, in remembrance of the fact that it was there that I first enjoyed this delightful experience

My duties on the _Leeds Mercury_ were, in the first instance, both varied andstaff, taking part s and important speeches I had to do all the descriptive work of the journal, and in those days more importance was attached to the work of the descriptive writer than appears to be the case at present Russell, of the _Times_, the illustrious ”pen of the war,” furnished the model for descriptive journalism in the 'sixties There was none of that slap-dash statement of bare facts, embellished by the more or less impertinent personal impressions and opinions of the reporter, to which we have become accustomed in recent times It was expected that a descriptive article should be in the nature of an essay, and that it should actually describe, more or less vividly, the scene hich it dealt If anyone cares to search the files of our leading newspapers between 1860 and 1870, he will co literaryas descriptive writer, I had, when required, to contribute leading articles to the _Mercury_ At first I did this at rare intervals It was an innovation for anyone connected with the reporting staff to contribute to the leading colunation of the older members of the staff when they learned that work of this character was to be entrusted toat Preston; I liked it (though ), and it was not long before I found that I had got into the regular leader-writer's stride I was barely four-and-twenty, and I had, therefore, a consu sense of the value of my lucubrations and the importance of my opinions It is emphatically true, as Sir Williaotisnificent editorial ”we,” and was able to back up reat daily newspaper, I felt that I, too, was soht live in s and possess but narrow means, I was not without a distinct place and influence of reat commonwealth Such are the illusions of the youthful leader-writer-- foolish, perhaps, but not ignoble

Some of my early leaders pleased the proprietors of the paper, one of as also the editor It was arranged that I was to contribute regularly the chief article for Monday's paper Now, as I have said, I had becoed, and my cousin, Miss Kate Thornton, to whom I was betrothed, lived at Stockport, at a distance of more than two hours fro Stockport al tofor Monday's paper threatened to interfere with this arrangement

Fortunately for me, the proprietors of the _Mercury_--of whoreat reverence for Sunday The _Leeds Mercury_, indeed, had not becoe in its character was expected by the public, simply because an ordinary daily newspaper entailed a certain a it It was not until the proprietors had satisfied the's newspaper, and at the saht on Saturday till ht on Sunday, that they resolved to publish daily The arrangement was costly; it was vastly inconvenient to everybody concerned I a of the Sabbath, seeing that the compositors, ere not allowed to enter the office until ht of that day, were tempted to spend an hour or two in so their belated work

But with all its drawbacks, the plan had at least the advantage of keeping the office doors shut for the whole of the twenty-four sacred hours, and thus the appearance of evil, if not the evil itself, was avoided As a consequence of this systereater part of Monday's paper had to be set on Saturday, and the leader, in particular, was always furnished to the printers on that day So far, therefore, there was nothing to preventmy usual weekly visit to Stockport All that was necessary was that the editor should give

This, however, hat I could not induce him to do He was supposed to be at the office shortly after eleven o'clock, and my train for Stockport did not leave until half-past one If the editor had been punctual, and if he had given me my subject at once, I should have had ample time in which to write my leader But unfortunately he was not punctual, and too often when he ca aboutthe minutes until I was summoned to his presence Then, when at last I had received ested byat a corner of a table upon which I laid my watch, dashed off an my practice as a leader-writer I took from an hour and a half to two hours to write my fifteen hundred words; but, under the pressure of that terrible half-past one o'clock train, I gradually improved my pace, until at last, if I took more than an hour in the production of an article, I felt dissatisfied Mere speed in writing is a very small accomplishment It is not necessarily a virtue, and it may even be a vice; but it is undoubtedly an accoular tith I have named was from forty to fiftyaroundin the conversation I aard it as incredible that an article of fifteen hundred words could be written in from forty to fifty minutes All I can say is that it is a fact, and I attribute this speed in writing to the pressure of that half-past one o'clock train on Saturdays in the good old days of my first residence in Leeds

The story of the _Leeds Mercury_ is an honourable one in the annals of English journalisht, in the year 1718 In the editor's roo from the year 1727 This file is complete for more than 170 years, with one melancholy exception In the volu the second Jacobite Rising are omitted But in spite of this o a period, are of immense value and interest In its earliest days the _Mercury_, though published in a provincial town, sought to reproduce in its columns not so much the news of the locality as the hu article in the earliest volume preserved at Leeds bears the quaint title, ”To the Ladies who affect showing their stockings”

Coian era the _Mercury_ becauished for the excellence of its news, both local and general It was not, of course, a large newspaper in those days, but the four pages of which it consisted were full of ; but what could be e in such terht, Squire Brown of bumpkin Hall waslady with ten thousand pounds to her dowry”? We are much more florid nowadays, but by no means so precise The leader-writer did not spread hio Indeed, soon after the _Leeds Mercury_ gave up discussing the amiable weakness that it attributed to ladies ell-turned ankles, it ceased for a ti of the nineteenth century that it resu articles they were! Fine writing and redundancy of style were both discarded, and when the news of Waterloo arrived, the editor's co victory was expressed in a dozen lines One sighs at the thought of theprimer” that would be expended if we had the opportunity of co upon such a theme to-day Yet the twelve-line article in the _Leeds Mercury_ of June, 1815, really said everything that was to the point on the subject hich it dealt

It was in the year 1800 that the _Mercury_ took that new stand in its history which was to place it in the front rank alish provincial journals Three or four years earlier a young journeyman printer, named Edward Baines, had tra line between Lancashi+re and Yorkshi+re, and after walking the whole distance fro office in which the _Leeds Mercury_ was produced Edward Baines, the first, was undoubtedly a reat ability and rean his humble work as a compositor in Leeds he attracted the attention not only of his eentry of the town He was seen to be a person of uncority, and distinct political sagacity The _Leeds Mercury_, at the close of the eighteenth century, was still ano opinions of its own, and consequentlyno atte party in the West Riding felt that they needed an organ of their own to support their cause in that great district Accordingly, they subscribed funds sufficient to acquire the _Mercury_ and to provide capital for carrying it on, and they placed the paper in the hands of Edward Baines, the young printer who, but a few years previously, had made his first appearance in Yorkshi+re

The trust they reposed in Mr Baines was more than justified Under his direction the _Mercury_ becaland The money that had been advanced to him for its purchase he speedily repaid, and by the ti his death-blow at French Imperialism, Edward Baines had made himself a power, not only in Leeds but in Yorkshi+re I re told by very old men that when the news of Waterloo reached hiate to the street, where an eager crowd had gathered Mounting upon this chair, Mr Baines read the despatch announcing the great victory to his enthusiastic fellonsht by the side of the Liberal leaders both with his pen and his tongue during the long struggle for Parlia elected to represent Leeds in the House of Coained friends, influence, wealth, in the town he had entered as a penniless workman But, better than all, he witnessed the triureat political and socialrepresented his fellonsmen in three successive Parliae, in 1848, with a public funeral, which people in Leeds still recall as a unique deratitude and esteem In Yorkshi+re, where his career was better known than elsewhere, the naeneration that followed hilish Benjaood fortune to leave behind him in his sons men orthy to succeed him His eldest son, Matthew Talbot Baines, went to the Bar After his father's death he entered Parlia eventually a Cabinet Minister under Lord Pale, and it ell known to the initiated that, if he had not died thus young, it was the intention of the Government to propose him for the Speakershi+p The second son of the man who really founded the fortunes of the _Leeds Mercury_ was, like his father, called Edward He, too, attained distinction in the public service From his youth he was his father's chief assistant in the editorshi+p of the _Mercury_, and by his enterprise, sagacity, and fine abilities as a journalist he greatly extended the influence and reputation of the paper As a boy he was present at the so-called Battle of Peterloo--the riot which took place at Manchester in 1819, when a politicalheld on the site of the present Free Trade Hall Young Edward attended theas a reporter for the _Mercury_ He observed everything that happened, and it was his evidence, given subsequently at Lancaster assizes, that saved many innocent persons, who had been hunted down by the cruel authorities of the day, from the punishment of transportation

Edward Baines the second edited the _Mercury_ down to 1859, when, on the death of his brother, he was chosen by his fellonsmen to succeed him as their representative in Parliament He had there a most honourable career He was, like his father, a Nonconformist, and he was also a strict teetotaller When he entered the House of Coenerous and cultured ood, he succeeded during his Parlia the respect of the House, not only for himself personally, but for those Nonconformist and teetotal principles which Society, at that ti advocate of temperance reforh an outburst of teetotal fanaticism on the part of the advocates of the Permissive Bill As he refused to vote for that measure, they ran an inteainst hihtieth birthday, in 1880, he was knighted by Queen Victoria in recognition of his life-long devotion to the public service

I a the story of the Baineses I have not even referred to it at such length merely because I feel it to be an honourable and instructive chapter in English local history, but because it throws light upon the peculiar position and authority enjoyed by the _Leeds Mercury_ when I first became connected with it in 1866 At that time, the son of the second Edward Baines, Thomas Blackburn Baines, was editor of the paper, but his father took as active a part in its political direction as was consistent with the performance of his duties in Parliaement was in the hands of his uncle, Frederick Baines, aof the affection and respect of a son for a father The paper, it will be seen, was thus the exclusive possession of the Baines fa so tenaciously froan of Nonconforlish Press, and it was at the sah not an extreme, Liberalisreat, but no small part of that influence was due to the fact that the character of its conductors was known to the world, and that they were everywhere recognised as high- more than a trade It was, indeed, a fortunate accident that brought me, whilst still in h-minded a family

They had their peculiarities I have spoken already of their strict regard for the Sabbath In otherto eneration They never allowed the _Mercury_ to publish betting news, or to pander to the national passion for gaood thing for the Englishman of to-day if, in this respect, their action, instead of being the exception, had been the rule a which has had so bad an effect upon the national character during the last thirty years would have been greatly curbed if other newspaper proprietors had been as mindful of their responsibilities as were the Baineses As it was, they met with no reward for the heavy sacrifice theypopulace

Another peculiarity which h founded upon equally admirable motives, was not so happy in its character as this exclusion of betting news Edward Baines the second regarded the theatre from the old Nonconformist point of view He looked upon it, as so ent for the de, and he refused to allow any notice of it to appear in the coluer and ridicule of a large section of the public, ere not insensible to the change that was gradually taking place on the British stage But no arguments and no ridicule couldwith him for some relaxation of this rule He heard all I had to say with courteous attention, but when I had exhausted uments he delivered himself as follows: ”My dear Mr Reid, I feel sure that you are quite sincere and conscientious in the views you hold, but you do not know the theatre as I do I speak from personal experience when I say that both in itself and in its surroundings it is ihast at this utterance I knew that I went to theatres occasionally, but until then I had believed that Edward Baines had never crossed the threshold of a playhouse He saw my look of surprise, and continued, ”Yes, I am sorry to say that between the years 1819 and 1822 I attended the theatre frequently in London, and I can never forget the shocking i the audience” Dear, sih-principled, and ainst his sixty-year-old memories