the guests, and, when Greeley
entered the room, was standing near the fireplace conversing with his
host. On observing that Bryant did not speak to Greeley, Gray asked him
in a whisper, "Don't you know Mr. Greeley?" In a loud whisper Bryant
replied, "No, I don't; he's a blackguard--he's a blackguard."[177]

In the numbers of people whom he influenced, Greeley had the advantage
over Godkin. In February, 1855, the circulation of the _Tribune_ was
172,000, and its own estimate of its readers half a million, which was
certainly not excessive. It is not a consideration beyond bounds to
infer that the readers of the _Tribune_ in 1860 furnished a goodly part
of the 1,866,000 votes which were received by Lincoln.

At different times, while Godkin was editor, _The Nation_ stated its
exact circulation, which, as I remember it, was about 10,000, and it
probably had 50,000 readers. As many of its readers were in the class of
Lowell, its indirect influence was immense. Emerson said that _The
Nation_ had "breadth, variety, self-sustainment, and an admirable style
of thought and expression."--"I owe much to _The Nation_," wrote Francis
Parkman. "I regard it as the most valuable of American journals, and
feel that the best interests of the country are doubly involved in its
success."--"What an influence you have!" said George William Curtis to
Godkin. "What a sanitary element in our affairs _The Nation_ is!"--"To
my generation," wrote William James, "Godkin's was certainly the
towering influence in all thought concerning public affairs, and
indirectly his influence has certainly been more pervasive than that of
any other writer of the generation, for he influenced other writers who
never quoted him, and determined the whole current of
discussion."--"When the work of this century is summed up," wrote
Charles Eliot Norton to Godkin, "what you have done for the good old
cause of civilization, the cause which is always defeated, but always
after defeat taking more advanced position than before--what you have
done for this cause will count for much."--"I am conscious," wrote
President Eliot to Godkin, "that _The Nation_ has had a decided effect
on my opinions and my action for nearly forty years; and I believe it
has had like effect on thousands of educated Americans."[178]

A string of quotations, as is well known, becomes wearisome; but the
importance of the point that I am trying to make will probably justify
one more. "I find myself