Page:American Historical Review vol. 6.djvu/474

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464 C. H. Levermore line of steamers, and, adverting to the bad character of the Herald, began to allude to Mr. Collins's advertisements in that paper "Yes, yes," replied Mr. Collins, in his quick, decided tone, "yes yes, I understand. Charles," calling to a clerk in another room " how many advertisements have we in the Herald this morning? ' "Three, sir," answered the polite Charles. "Three, yes, yes Well, Charles, put in three more to-morrow morning." Then, turn ing to the committee, he said: "That is my answer, gentlemen good morning." Amid all the clamor Bennett as usual kept his temper, and re- plied only with jocose sallies. He generally referred to his oppo- nents as "The Holy Alliance," and gravely thanked them for giving him so much valuable advertisement. He was obliged to enlarge the Herald, and its circulation considerably exceeded that of all his enemies combined. The complete pecuniary success of both the Herald and the Sun proved to be an impregnable defense. The Holy Alliance gradually disbanded and a host of imitators of both the Sun and the Herald sprang up in New York and in other cities. Most of them met an early death, but a few repeated the history of their models, as the Herald in Boston, the Ledger and the Sun in Philadelphia, and the Siui in Baltimore. In connection with the Ledger and the Baltimore Sun, the Neiv York Herald established the famous pony express from Mobile to Montgomery during the Mex- ican War, by which all the details of that war appeared in those journals before they were received by the authorities at Washington. This exploit destroyed all that was left of the Holy Alliance, and its principal members were glad to join in 1849 to 185 i with the Herald in the combination for newsgetting which is now known as the New York Associated Press. That was Bennett's triuniph. The institution of the Press submitted then and there to the rule of Publicity and in her service acquired that irresponsible power which we can now neither restrain nor endure. The old fashioned party-organs accommodated themselves to the new gospel with varying fidelity and with varying success. The Courier and Enquirer lingered along in a semi-comatose state until 1 86 1, when it was buried in that mausoleum of dead newspapers, the New York JVorld. The Journal of Commerce, last of the blanket sheets, pursued the even tenor of its way among the count- ing-rooms, almost unnoticed by the large world, until its non-resistant ultra-Democratic doctrines in 1861 brought it some unprofitable notoriety. This was a strange fate for a paper which thirty years before, under the same proprietors, had been regarded as an Abo- lition sheet.