Page:History of Journalism in the United States.djvu/292

266 my object. Fame, public good, usefulness in my day and generation; the religious associations of female excellence; the progress of true industry,—these have been my dreams by night and my desires by day.

"In the new and holy condition into which I am about to enter, and to enter with the same reverential feelings as I would enter heaven itself, I anticipate some signal changes in my feelings, in my views, in my purposes, in my pursuits. What they may be I know not—time alone can tell. My ardent desire has been through life, to reach the highest order of human intelligence, by the shortest possible cut. Associated, night and day, in sickness and in health, in war and in peace, with a woman of this highest order of excellence, must produce some curious results in my heart and feelings, and these results the future will develop in due time in the columns of the Herald.

"Meantime, I return my heartfelt thanks for the enthusiastic patronage of the public, both of Europe and of America. The holy estate of wedlock will only increase my desire to be still more useful. God Almighty bless you all."

A distinguished journalist, Oswald Garrison Villard, in his criticism of the Bennetts, speaking from the vantage ground of social superiority and of impeccable morality, sees in the elder Bennett only a lack of moral fiber. He admits that the Bennetts, father and son, were the most remarkable news men this country has ever produced. "The father revolutionized the whole science of news-getting, and the son outdid him by creating exclusive news." Even this adverse critic finds that in the