Personal Description Quotes
This quotation appeared in the middle of an 1862 article on the Civil War written by the great writer, Nathaniel Hawthorne. The article had been mailed to the Atlantic Monthly editors in New York from Washington. There were a number of pages of descriptions of specific Cabinet Members and other politicians, their understanding of the issues in the war, and a description of how they spent their time, At the time, it was common for partisan newspapers and magazines to attack politicians of the other party. But the Atlantic, only 5 years old then was a very rare American publication. It was totally non partisan, artistic and literary as well as concerned with current and political events. It only ran articles of serious, (some argued elite) writers. Hawthorn’s material on the politicians was not very complimentary and would have been regarded by them and their supporters as a political attack. So the editors deleted the material that referred negatively to individuals, Their apology was as much to the author, Hawthorne—“our friend”—as it was to the readers. At the time, the New York Times, also non partisan, refrained from serious negative material about politicians and celebrities. This quotation shows us the journalistic and literary standards of the “better” publications of the time. To this day, even when running negative articles about politicians and celebrities, these publications will never use the extreme and sensational language of the New York Daily News, the Chicago Tribune, the New York Post, the National Inquirer, and many other “tabloid” type publications.
