XXIV MEMOIR OF ISAIAH THOMAS. monize with those of the great body of the people, where every one could find his own feelings and principles reflected without the expositions of the learned. Such a paper was found in the Spy, and such an editor in Mr. Thomas. The ability, prudence, and fearless decision exhibited by him in this department, give to his character an elevation and dignity, that few only can attain. It is here his name stands out in bold relief, and claims the applause of mankind. Considering his youth, his limited means for acquiring learning, and the portentous state of the times, it must have required a mind of no ordinary bearing to sustain itself in so unequal a conflict. On one side, was most of the learning and wealth of the province, together with the patronage of the government in favor of the existing state of things, and branding, with the reproach of sedition and rebellion, every movement for liberty ; on the other, a people of staid and religious habits, enjoying most unlimited practical freedom, contending, not against any actual, ostensible oppression, but merely for principles and abstract right. Thus circumstanced, this youth- ful apostle of liberty took the field. Although his paper was the medium of communication for some of the ablest writers of the day, and was directed, in some measure, by the leaders of the popular party, yet all the responsibilities rested upon the editor and publisher, and a single act of imprudence, or even of indiscretion, might have involved him in serious conse- quences. It is apparent from an examination of the files of the Spy at that period, that the editorial matter came from his own pen. Matters of fact, without the tinsel of ornament, and plain argument, without the sophistry of the schools, were the simple instruments, by which the tempest of popular indig- nation was roused ; and a virtuous community required no other trident to set bounds to the swelling storm. In a review of that period, as he himself has justly observed, " common sense in common language, is as necessary to influence one class of
