he power he exerts, and his funeral is publicly
attended by his associates. This is as it should be. Journalism has now
taken its place as one of the most important of the liberal professions.
Next to statesmanship, next to the actual conduct of public affairs, the
editor of a leading newspaper fills, perhaps, the most important place
in the practical daily life of the community in which he lives; and the
influence of the office is likely to increase, rather than diminish.

Mr. Delane was probably the first individual who was ever educated with
a distinct view to his becoming an editor. While he was still a boy, his
father, a solicitor by profession, received an appointment in the office
of "The Times," which led to young Delane's acquaintance with the
proprietors of the journal. It seems they took a fancy to the lad. They
perceived that he had the editorial cast of character, since, in
addition to uncommon industry and intelligence, he had a certain
eagerness for information, an aptitude for acquiring it, and a
discrimination in weighing it, which marks the journalistic mind. The
proprietors, noting these traits, encouraged, and, I believe, assisted
him to a university education, in the expectation that he would fit
himself for the life editorial.

Having begun this course of preparation early, he entered the office of
"The Times" as editorial assistant soon after he came of age, and
acquitted himself so well that, in 1841, when he was not yet
twenty-five, he became editor-in-chief. He was probably the youngest man
who ever filled such a post in a daily paper of anything like equal
importance. This rapid promotion will be thought the more remarkable
when it is mentioned that he never wrote an editorial in his life. "The
Times" itself says of him:--

"He never was a writer. He never even attempted to write anything,
except reports and letters. These he had to do, and he did them well. He
had a large staff of writers, and it was not necessary he should write,
except to communicate with them."

His not being a writer was one of his strongest points. Writing is a
career by itself. The composition of one editorial of the first class
is a very hard day's work, and one that leaves to the writer but a small
residue of vital force. Writing for the public is the most arduous and
exhausting of all industries, and cannot properly be combined with any
other. Nor can a man average more than two or three editorial articles a
week