"The trial was made; the pressmen were ordered to wait, as fresh intelligence was expected from the Continent. At six in the morning, Mr. Walter went into the press-room, and to the astonishment of those men who would have crippled progress, who had conspired against steam machinery, he calmly said that the Times was already printed-that STEAM had TRIUMPHED!—that if they attempted violence, there was a force ready to suppress it; but that if they were peaceable, their wages should be continued to every one of them till similar employment could be procured. He then distributed several copies of the Times amongst the half-bewildered press

men.

66

Thus, Rudolphe, the most important enterprise ever under taken was successfully carried through, and

"PRINTING BY STEAM GIVEN TO THE WORLD.

"From the talent that was sought from all quarters-guided by a great mind-guided by the administrative power of John Walter-from his liberality to contributors-his large outlay to ensure the earliest and best intelligence, and from ever keeping in view his ONE object-the interests of the public, their rights and privileges-from seeking the suffrage of the humblest labourer, and the feeblest and most desolate pauper-from adopting the ABSOLUTE RULE OF HIS LIFE to MEASURE unreservedly the most plausible scheme, the most promising experiment, the most dominant parties, the most powerful Ministers, the most established reputations, the most inveterate usages, the most subtle advances, the most overbearing classes, the most formidable combinations— from the observant practice of all these, with unrivalled grasp of mind, and unrivalled administrative power, the Times rapidly rose in circulation,—so much so, that Mr. Walter soon experienced the same difficulty in supplying the increased demand for his

66

JOHN WALTER AS A HERO.

paper as he had done previous to his introduction of steam to the printing press. Increased power was required. Progress was not to be arrested. Sagacity suggests that the machine is in its infancy; that its power is not yet developed. Mr. Walter holds out premiums for mechanical skill, and thereby directs the mind of the ingenious upon the printing machine. Again we find him enduring sleepless nights, days of anxiety and toil, and disappointments; for each improvement in speed -in the addition of a cylinder-had its anxieties, its cares, its breakages, and its diappointments; added to which were Government outrages and galling implications, because he would not be bribed nor lend himself to any clique or class.

'Speak of a HERO, Rudolphe. The physical world, as it were, had conspired against him, and the immoral world, which was large and powerful, tried to crush him; but the invincible Walter withstood each shock, and waited wisely, and conquered bravely. Governments--factions—the vacillating and the pandering—were obliged to yield to truth, and Mr. Walter lived to see his principles confirmed by the most cogent historical demonstrations. He lived to see one of the strongest political factions that ever existed disbanded of necessity, and scattered to the winds. He lived to see Ministers, parties, journals, philosophers, all with one consent, confessing their errors, and, with more or less candour of acknowledgment, falling into the views for which he had struggled, and by which he was known. His consistency was thus proved to be the consistency of truth; and, excepting those subjects which are evidently under a law of development, and in which every man in the civilised world confesses to a gradual progress or illumination of mind,—not one point can be mentioned in which Mr. Walter has not proved more consistent, more sagacious, and more true than any of his political contemporaries. Nor is there one point in which the public opinion of England, in whatever way it can be ascertained, has not given ultimate and decided testimony to the soundness of Mr. Walter's views.

JOHN WALTER AS A HERO.

67

"His public spirit was not that of that exclusive or theoretical character which comprehends only a class or a constituency within the range of its affections,-which cares for nothing lower than a 40s. freeholder, a tenant-farmer renting at 50l., or a 101. householder. He considered every Englishman his fellow-citizen and friend, and sought the suffrage of affection from the humblest labourer and feeblest and most desolate pauper as anxiously as the vote and interest of the all-important elector. They only who knew Mr. Walter can be aware how much his feeling for the poor had been formed and cherished by the associations of his youth, and how much the bereavements, the separations, the denials, and indignities from which he sought to rescue the unprivileged and persecuted classes of this country, were those which he had PERSONALLY FELT, or WITNESSED, or BOTH. His private life and experience were deeply written in his political sympathies; and few are aware of the incessant toil, the discomfort, the utter neglect of health and comfort, not to say life itself, the perpetual combination of bodily and mental fatigue, which he went through for the sake of that people whose great organ of opinion it had been his glory to found, and which till death it was his chief pleasure to assist and advise.

"It would be scarcely possible to enumerate or describe the whole of what, not only the Times, but all journals of the civilised world, owe to Mr. Walter. He first imparted to the daily press its vast range and celerity of information, its authentic accuracy, its universal correspondence, its lucid arrangement and marvellous despatch, and more than all, its dignity in the social scale, and its political position as

"THE FOURTH ESTATE OF THE REALM.

He was not only a GREAT TRIBUNE, but the founder of a great TRIBUNITAL RULE and AUTHORITY.

"It will be often inquired how it happened that in an age of wonders, when all the requisites of success in every branch of enterprise were widely diffused, one man was able to

68

JOHN WALTER AS AN INVENTOR.

leave all his fellows so far in the rear, and accomplish a triumph so entire as to be actually called a monopoly by those who are forced to recognise what they do not willingly admit? The SECRET of his SUCCESS is a lesson to the age. It was not attained so much by brilliancy of talent, although by no person was talent sought out with more delicacy and munificence than by the chief director of the Times, as by the more steady power of strict integrity, not only in himself, but in securing it in those whom he employed. A contemptuous rejection of corrupt proposals, and a thorough refusal of any boon a Minister could offer, excepting only that political information which it is the duty of a Minister to promulgate through the best channels,—a strict impartiality which courted no greatness and screened no offender,—and a persevering industry which shrank from no effort and neglected no detail,—achieved this great work.

"The Times prospered by

"PRUDENCE, NOT CHANCE.

"It has, indeed, been fortunate; but its fortune has been that which generally attends on

"THE BRAVE, THE GOOD, AND THE WISE.

"As the Times prospered by PRUDENCE, not CHANCE, steampress printing was perfected by judgment, by an accumulation of genius, drawn together from all countries, and guided by the powerful mind of Walter, who never ceased to improve on the original plan; by raising the speed of the first invention from 1,200 an hour to the incredible number of 16,000!"

"But he was not the inventor!"

"No, Rudolphe; but he was more. He gave life to a triple invention that no single man on earth could have invented. He was a great commander-greater than Alexander, than Washington, than Wellington,—and the battle in which he was engaged was greater than a Waterloo-for it leaves behind it no home sorrow, with glory and her sad attendants, tears and

JOHN WALTER AS A CONQUEROR.

69

blood;-but his was the battle that gave joy of mind, true liberty, and pure love ;—his was not a battle of blood, but one of mind, the mightiest battle of any age. It was the

BATTLE OF THE PRESS.

the

"And how did he accomplish that great victory? By wisdom and great sagacity-by energy and indomitable zeal and perseverance-by securing the services of not only the Martyns, the Koenigs, the Applegarths, and Howes as his engineering officers, whom he liberally paid, but also the Bennets, the Harrilds, Smiths, as aide-de-camps in the great enterprise. Each of these officers rendered important services to the great commander. Applegarth, with his staff, obtained two great victories—a 4,000 and an 8,000-for which his commander rewarded him with a pension to prevent him sharing the neglect of a cold world and finishing a life of ingenious labour in a house surrounded by white walls; then Howe, profiting by Applegarth's achievements, stepped forward, and his victory of 16,000 was proclaimed to the world. The Battle of the Press' was fought and won, and means were given to let loose the pent-up spring of intelligence over the face of the globe, and cheap and wholesome literature found its way into the abodes where food for the mind had never before entered. The battle was fought and won, and the weary and worn-out spirit of WALTER passed into eternity!

“Archimedes, Rudolphe, desired only a fulcrum of sufficient strength that he might move the globe. John Walter constructed a fulcrum which enabled him to MOVE, RAISE, and ELEVATE the MORAL WORLD,-give life and honour and dignity to the PUBLIC PRESS,-establish the Fourth Estate of the Realm, and leave behind him a promising progeny-the Telegraphs-the Household Words-the Mercuries-and the Suns and Stars, to carry out by pure means his lofty principlethat the objects of a pure Press are the INTERESTS of the PUBLIC, their RIGHTS, and their PRIVILEGES."