s offers were tendered him to conduct
"The Great West," published at Cincinnati. In September, 1854, he
reached that city, and entered upon his duties. He continued in the
discharge of them about four months. In the meanwhile, he had become
associated with the American party; and induced by those promises which
politicians make freely, and perform rarely, he left the journal to
which he was attached, to establish a paper entitled "The American
Platform." But two numbers of this effort were published. Whilst his
writings were lively and flowing, he was sick at heart. The loss of his
son still weighed on his mind, and he was an easy prey to pestilence. He
was attacked by Asiatic cholera; and died on the 21st of July, 1855,
after twenty-four hours' illness, leaving a widow and three children to
mourn his early death. His remains were deposited in Spring Grove
Cemetery. There rests beneath the soil of that beautiful garden of the
dead, no form whose impulses in life were more honest, generous, and
noble, than those which guided the actions of Jonathan F. Kelly.

The writer of this short biography, who only knew Mr. Kelly by his
literary works, and whose narrative has been made up from the
information of friends, feels that he would scarcely discharge the duty
he has assumed, without a few words of reflection upon the fitful
career so slightly traced. For the useful purpose of life, it may well
be doubted whether a dull, plodding disposition is not more certain of
success, than lively, impulsive genius. Perseverance in any one calling,
with a steady determination to turn aside for no collateral inducements,
and a patience which does not become discouraged at the first
disappointment, is necessary to the ultimate prosperity of every man.
The newspaper business is one which particularly requires constant
application, a determination to do the best in the present, and a firm
reliance upon success in the future. There is scarcely a journal or
newspaper in the United States, which has succeeded without passing
through severe ordeals, whilst the slow public were determining whether
it should be patronized, or waiting to discover whether it is likely to
become permanently established. Mr. Kelly's wanderings in early life
seem to have tinctured his later career with the hue of instability.
Ever, it would seem, ready to enlist in any new enterprise, he was led
to abandon those occupations, which, if persevered in, would probably
have