Howells, William Dean, 1837-1920 -- Childhood and youth
credit; so that many years after, when I was at home, and my brother and
I were looking over an old file of the paper, we found it much better
printed than either of us expected; as well printed, in fact, as if it
had been done on an old hand-press, instead of the steam-power press
which it vaunted the use of. The wonder was that, under all the
disadvantages, the paper was ever printed on our steam-power press at
all; it was little short of miraculous that it was legibly printed, and
altogether unaccountable that such impressions as we found in that file
could come from it. Of course, they were not average impressions; they
were the very best out of the whole edition, and were as creditable as
the editorial make-up of the sheet.
VI
Upon the whole, our paper was an attempt at conscientious and
self-respecting journalism; it addressed itself seriously to the minds
of its readers; it sought to form their tastes and opinions. I do not
know how much it influenced them, if it influenced them at all, and as
to any effect beyond the circle of its subscribers, that cannot be
imagined, even in a fond retrospect. But since no good effort is
altogether lost, I am sure that this endeavor must have had some tacit
effect; and I am sure that no one got harm from a sincerity of
conviction that devoted itself to the highest interests of the reader,
that appealed to nothing base, and flattered nothing foolish in him. It
went from our home to the homes of the people in a very literal sense,
for my father usually brought his exchanges from the office at the end
of his day there, and made his selections or wrote his editorials while
the household work went on him, about and his children gathered around
the same lamp, with their books or their jokes; there were a good many
of both.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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