The Earle family : Ralph Earle and his descendants

206 THE EARLE FAMILY [Seventh il
his future brother-in-law, Anthony Chase, and under the firm name of:
Earle & Chase, he opened a store on the northern corner of Main and
Thomas streets. Their' place of business was afterward removed if
farther south on Main street, and in 1823 they purchased the J/assa- i
chusetts Spy, to the columns of which John M. had previously been il
a contributor. For thirty-five years afterward, until 1858, he wasitlB
principal manager and editor, and during fifteen years of that time ,\
its sole proprietor. It was in the course of this period that the Daily I
Spy was established, the first number having been issued July 22, 1
1845.
His best years were given to editorial work, and in that work he 1
doubtless had greater influence than many men whose names were 1
more widely known. He was a careful and accurate writer, both as 1
to style and manner, invariably courteous and candid, making no 'J
random statements and never indulging in insinuation or innuendo. I
He was especially self-reliant, forming opinions and reaching con- I
elusions for himself; and when once he had taken a position it needed 1
a vast shining of the ' inner light ' to alter or change his views. But I
men knew where to find him, and always on the right side of every I
moral issue before the public. He wrote with the. grace and ele- I
gance born of native ability and the constant friction of weekly and |
daily duty. Seldom did he indulge in humor or playfulness, though 9
he loved and enjoyed the sharp encounter of harmless wit.
Though not a technical Garrisonian abolitionist, he was one of the I
earliest pioneers in the anti-slavery movement, making that sentiment I
always prominent in his political faith, even while an ardent whig. I
He was second only to the late Judge Charles Allen, at the time of
the Free Soil movement in 184S, in bringing about the great political
revolution which resulted in the election of George S. Boutwell as
Governor of Massachusetts, and Charles Sumner and Henry Wilson
as United States Senators. " This controversy was a most painful
event to him, because it brought him into opposition with men whom
he personally esteemed and who had been his political associates,
but he did not shrink from the strife, and, of course, there could be
no doubt, as he stood upon the parting of the ways, in which direc-
tion his convictions of duty would lead him." His influence through
the newspaper which he conducted did much to put Massachusetts
on the right side in the great struggle between slavery and freedom,
which was fought out within the next fifteen years, and especially to