Page:The poems of Edmund Clarence Stedman, 1908.djvu/26

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH whom he had two sons, one of whom survived him, and a daughter who died in infancy. With this act Stedman took his fate into his own hands; although only a boy in years, he had given hostages to fortune, and it was not in him to cry for quarter. In 1854 he sold out his interest in the "Tribune" and bought the Winsted "Herald." Of this venture Macdonough says, "The spirit and ingenuity with which Stedman conducted his journal and the novelty of the correct literary tone which he took pains to impart to it, earned him a high reputation through the State." In 1855 he sold out again and moved to New York, where he soon became a member of the "Tribune" staff, besides contributing to the magazines of the day. When the war broke out he went to the front for two years as special correspondent for the "World." He then became private secretary to Attorney-General Bates of Lincoln's Cabinet, combining the duties of this post with the study of law. This proved to be the end of his career as a journalist. At the age of thirty he went into Wall Street, and six years later became a member of the New York Stock Exchange. This he did with the avowed purpose of making it a stepping-stone to the literary life. To quote his own words, "There was no such market for literary wares at that day as has since arisen, and I needed to be independent in order to write and study."

This deliberate choice by Mr. Stedman of a twofold career, so divided in its interests and apparently so antagonistic in its claims as that of poet and banker, has given rise to some critical comment from a portion of his audience, who have chosen to see in it a species of spiritual retreat. To this it may be urged that Mr. Stedman was essentially a man of affairs as well as poet; he was endowed with unusual executive powers, and in becoming a financier he xvi