After the conclusion of his term Governor Knott sought no other political honors, but the people of Marion county, mindful of his great capacity, chose him, unanimously, as their Delegate to the latest Constitutional Convention. In that body, he aimed to render, that service to the people of the state, that had ever been his high aim, but he was unable, it appeared, to stem the tide that set against him and the other wise men of that body. He was not a continuous speaker as were some others; he had no enemies to punish as had some others; he had no special interests to represent as had others; he was merely a representative of the sovereign people of Kentucky and was therefore high above the petty aims of lesser men, as were Buckner and a score of other good men whose voices were drowned by the noise of demagogues and self-seekers. Governor Knott settled in Frankfort to practice law, particularly in the Court of Appeals, but it was not long until he was called to the head of the Law department of Centre College at Danville. This was a position adapted to his attainments and his tastes. He was fond of young men and liked to have them about him. He spent several pleasant years at Danville, until rapidly advancing age told him that the time for rest had come. Retiring from the college, he went to his home near Lebanon where, in the company of his books

and with the friends of his boyhood, and their boys, about him he hoped to end quietly the days of a busy life. Unfortunately, this home was destroyed by fire and Governor Knott and his devoted wife went back to Lebanon where they had begun life together, and there, surrounded by troops of friends, beloved by all who knew him, this modest, brilliant and lovable man, but the other day, almost as these lines are written, laid down to pleasant dreams and passed into the Great Beyond leaving behind, it is believed, not one who was his enemy.

Governor Knott was a poet and an artist, but these were accomplishments never on public view; he kept them for his close friends. He wrote graceful verse and as an artist, he would have taken rank with the highest had he in youth, turned to sculpture rather than the law. A medallion in plaster of Paris of a beautiful lady executed by him as a gift for her gallant husband who was his friend, might well have been claimed as his handiwork by the proudest artist, as might also a pen and ink drawing of Hon. Jerry Black, which was an exact likeness of that distinguished man. These gifts, as has been stated, Governor Knott modestly kept for his friends only, as he also kept the warmest feelings for the select few whom he invited into his charming circle.

To write of the newspapers of Kentucky one's mind necessarily turns towards Louisville which for many years has sustained a press of National fame, but the first newspaper published in Kentucky was issued not in Louisville but in Lexington, where John Bradford, a brave old pioneer, issued The Kentucky Gazette, the first number being dated August II, 1787, less than a score of years after the first permanent settlement in the then District of Kentucky. It would be interesting to compare the linotype machine and the great perfecting presses of today with the small font of type and the little wooden hand press with which John Bradford issued the first number of the Gazette. He came down the Ohio from Pittsburg on a flatboat and it is related that the first number was set up before he had reached the settlement which he had chosen as the place of publication. The forms were taken to Lexington on a packhorse and printers and newspaper people will be interested in knowing that one of the forms was pied in transit which delayed publication for several days. The Gazette was small but ambitious. It was in quarto form and consisted of two pages. The people of Lexington knew nothing of Bradford's coming or his intentions. They had not been informed that "now is the time to subscribe," when the Gazette was issued with this pretentious motto at its editorial head:

"True to his charge

He comes, the herald of a noisy world, News from all nations lumbering at his back."

It is worthy of note that more than a cen- · tury and a quarter later, the Louisville Herald used the same quotation from Cowper in its advertising matter.

There was naturally not much local news of interest to Lexingtonians in this first issue set up on the Ohio river, but the Gazette was welcomed and if ever a paper filled "a longfelt want" it is probable that the Gazette was that paper.

John Bradford was immune from some of the ills which befall his successors. For instance, his printers never struck for higher wages and shorter hours of labor. The officeboy never stole away to witness a game of baseball. The reason was simple. He was editor, proprietor, compositor, pressman and office-boy all in one, and his paper never missed a mail for the good and sufficient reason that there were no mails. What an ideal life this first editor of Kentucky must have lived. John Bradford was honored by those among whom he lived and wrought wisely and well. He was the first Public Printer of the State chosen by the Legislature, and the author of this history was the last one so chosen in Kentucky. He was chairman of the Board of Trustees of Transylvania

University, and at the time of his death in 1830, he was Sheriff of Fayette county. For forty years he had published the Gazette and when he passed to the eternal steep after a life well spent in the service of his fellow men, he was still its proprietor. When its first issue was made, the forest was filled with wild and fierce animals and still wilder and fiercer savages; when he issued his last number, peace, prosperity and happiness prevailed.

Before the close of the century which saw the first issue of The Gazette, Lexington had a second paper, The Herald, and that beautiful city is fortunate in that today it still has a Herald. Bourbon county had also a Herald, Mason county a Mirror and Frankfort a Palladium.

In 1801, Louisville had its first paper published by Samuel Vail and called The Farmer's Library, which was succeeded in 1808 by the Gazette. The Western American was the third paper issued in Louisville but its brief candle was snuffed out in less than a year. The Western Courier followed in 1810 and was the first paper published in Louisville printed on paper of home production. In 1821, this newspaper became The Emporium and Commercial Advertiser under which title it bore up until 1832 when it ceased publication. The Louisville Correspondent was also established in 1810 but its life was fitful and ended in 1818.

From the Memorial History of Louisville by that accomplished writer and gentleman, Colonel J. Stoddard Johnston, the following is taken:

"The next paper, which became the first daily published in Kentucky was The Public Advertiser, the advent of which marked a new epoch in the history of the state as well as the city. Prior to this time, Lexington had overshadowed Louisville in everything except the commerce which the Ohio river made possible. But in political prominence and control of the offices, State and Federal,

in population, in literary and educational progress and in manufactures, Lexington had a supremacy over Louisville in which she felt equal pride and security from a tenure dating back to its foundation. With the exception of the Speakership of the Senate and the office of Lieutenant Governor-filled during the first twelve years by Alexander Scott Bullitt of Jefferson county, and the Speakership of the House-held for the first four years by General Robert Breckinridge of the same county-Louisville had had no other State officers. The Govenors, Lieutenant Governors and Speakers, Judges of the Appelate Court and Attorney-General had all come from Central Kentucky, or counties to the east of Louisville. The same was true of the United State Senators. Even as to members of Congress, Louisville had up to that time, only furnished one in Stephen Ormsby from 1811 to 1817. The great names in civil life which gave prestige to Kentucky had been from elsewhere. Lexington had a University already famous, together with a law and medical school equally well known for the eminence of its professors and graduates. It had manufactories of paper, nails, bagging, hats, rope and woolen fabrics. In Louisville, some progress had been made in the matter of foundries for steamboat machinery, but failure of the Tarascons in their effort to utilize the water power of the falls for the manufacture of flour on a large scale, had given a set-back to the establishment of similar industries. Now, however, the outlook was better. The steamboat, as a vehicle of commerce, was no longer an experiment and Louisville began to feel the good effects of her eligible position as a commercial city. The standing of The Advertiser emphasized this and at once attracted attention to its advantages as a business point.

"The founder of the paper was Shadrach Penn. He came from Scott county and originally from Maryland and had had editorial experience before coming to Louisville.

He

was a politician of the Jeffersonian school and during his long service as editor of The Advertiser, adhered strictly to the tenets of his faith. The paper was started as a weekly with five columns of matter to the page. Two pages were given to editorials and other reading matter and two to advertisements. The paper on which it was printed was strong and of better texture than that of its predecessors. * * * On the 27th of January, 1819, it was changed to a semi-weekly and published on Wednesdays and Saturdays with no reduction in size. Its editorials were generally short with very few local items, but its selections and communications were frequently very long, the latter being chiefly political and generally marked with acrimony. In the issue of May 10, 1819, John J. Audubon, the naturalist, then residing in Henderson, Kentucky, advertises for sale his undivided one-half interest in the Henderson Flouring Mill and several choice lots, on account of his proposed visit to Europe. In 1826 The Advertiser became a weekly. In 1838, it was published by Penn and Elliott as a large seven column paper. * * * The feature which strikes one in looking over all the newspapers of this period is the compactness of the matter, the absence of head-lines, and of any attempt of the sensational. Paper was costly then and no space was wasted."

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George D. Prentice, who was later to become one of the noted editorial writers of the country, came to Louisville, in the time of Penn, and being of a different political school, the journalistic battles fought by the two were of a thrilling character. Col. Johnston in his Memorial History, writes as follows: "Notwithstanding the fact that Prentice and Penn, for eleven years sustained a fierce and frequently personal warfare, all reports tend to show that their social relations were friendly and that, off duty, they were 'hail fellows well met.' In 1841, when Penn removed to St. Louis, Prentice parted with him in an edito

rial replete with good wishes and an expression of regard. It has been said that Penn left on account of the unequal contest but this is hardly to be accepted as true, after a rivalry so long and so well sustained by one who had for twenty-two years conducted a paper of such merit and influence."

The Focus, established in 1826 was in 1831 merged into The Louisville Journal which paper still exists in the Courier-Journal. The object of the founders of the Journal was to fight General Jackson and support Mr. Clay and it fully lived up to this purpose. George D. Prentice, a native of Connecticut, came to the West in 1830 to write the life of Henry Clay. So vigorous was his style, so virile and full of sarcasm were his writings that those responsible for the Journal selected him as its editor and his after career fully justified the selection. He had newspaper experience in his native state and was quite prepared to put on the editorial harness when the opportunity presented. The Journal appeared as a daily, neatly printed and very ably edited. It was in after years derisively termed by the Democrat as the "Whig Bible" and certain it is that every Whig swore by it, while every Democrat swore at it. That was the day of editorial "leaders" which sometimes filled two or more columns of space. The Journal had these, of course, but it had also, short, sharp paragraphs with a sting in every one of them. In his day, there was no competitor to Mr. Prentice as a paragrapher. Not until he had passed from the eyes of men, did his equal in that line of editorial work appear in Kentucky journalism. It is the opinion of the writer and of many other persons, that Emmett G. Logan, so long the editor of the Louisville Times, was the most accomplished editorial paragrapher Kentucky journalism. has ever known.

When the coming of Mr. Prentice to Louisville was announced, Shadrach Penn in The Advertiser, gave him a welcome torrid in