worn off, his pen became active again in the discussion of public men
and public questions. It was a period of bitter personal and political
feuds and animosities. The ancient Federal party was _in articulo
mortis_. The death-bed of a great political organization proves
oftentimes the graveyard of lifelong friendships. For it is a scene of
crimination and recrimination. And so it happened that the partisans of
John Adams, and the partisans of John Adams's old Secretary of State,
Timothy Pickering, were in 1824 doing a thriving business in this
particular line. Into this funereal performance our printer's apprentice
entered with pick and spade. He had thus early a _penchant_ for
controversy, a soldier's scent for battle. If there was any fighting
going on he proceeded directly to have a hand in it. And it cannot be
denied that that hand was beginning to deal some manly and sturdy blows,
whose resound was heard quite distinctly beyond the limits of his
birthplace. His communications appeared now, not only in the _Herald_,
but in the Salem _Gazette_ as well. Now it was the Adams-Pickering
controversy, now the discussion of General Jackson as a presidential
candidate, now the state of the country in respect of parties, now the
merits of "American Writers," which afforded his 'prentice hand the
requisite practice in the use of the pen. He had already acquired a
perfect knowledge of typesetting and the mechanical makeup of a
newspaper. During his apprenticeship he took his first lesson in the art
of thinking on his feet in the presence of an audience. The audience to
be sure were the members of a debating club, which he had organized. He
was very ambitious and was doubtless looking forward to a political
career. He saw the value of extempore speech to the man with a future,
and he wisely determined to possess himself of its advantage. He little
dreamt, however, to what great use he was to devote it in later years.
There were other points worth noting at this time, and which seemed to
prophecy for him a future of distinction. He possessed a most attractive