and takes shelter behind the back of another person.
I would rather see a man stand up like Homer s
heroes, or a North American Indian, and tell all his
deeds of valour and the deeds of all his ancestors
even back to the tenth generation, than this.
I despise this contemptible little wishy-washy editorial u we." The truth is, it is ten times more pompous than the bold naked soldier-like "I." Besides, it has the disadvantage of being a falsehood ; a slight, slight disadvantage in this age, it is true, but still a disadvantage.
I edited a little paper once for a brief period. I was owner, editor, and proprietor. This was dis tinctly stated at the head of the first column of the paper. It would have been clear to all, even had I desired to take shelter under the editorial u we," that its use was a naked and notorious falsehood. I was young then. I knew nothing of civilization. My education had been greatly neglected, and I could not lie. I stood up the great big pronoun on the paper as thick as pickets around a garden fence. The publication died soon after, it is true, but this proves nothing against the use of the great and popular pronoun.
Winter now was approaching ; and while I should have been welcome with the Indians to the end, I preferred to consider my stay with them in the light of a visit, and decided to go on to Yreka (a mining camp then grown to the dignity of a city), and try my fortune in the mines.
