Martinsburg gazette. [volume] (Martinsburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1833-1855, 1838-02-07

have seen and felt it, to what cares,
both of body and mind, he is subjected
how tedious are bis yIgiIs; how anx.
iously he sits by his solitary fire, in
the depth of the night, listening for the
returning footsteps Of the poor Devil
who is bringing him back the proofs Of
the manuscript, which with the spiders
ingenuity he had been compelled to
spin out Of his own brain.
And where is the compensation
which he reaps for SO many sacrifices
for so severe and laborious an exer.
else of so important profession r.
You must have been more fortunate,
gentlemen, than have been, if you
have acquired the treasures Of Cre-
sus, or the purse of Fortunatus.
have served as long an apprenticeship
as any Of you but can lay claim to
no such acquisition. We are rich on.
Iy in our Ledgers. We never are
t" but always TO be blessed" We are
the martyrs to that expanded system
Of indiscriminate credit, which has
overspread our country-but no other
class of society has suffered as much
by it as we have. Our Cornucopias
are filled (; but not with gold and silver,
nor even with bankrupts, but with our
subscribers bills.-It is time for us to
change the system and correct the
evil. This is one of the great objects
for which we are convened here to.
day. We must adopt some measures
to prevent the multiplication, or pro-
mote the collection Of the debts with
which our offices have been so sorely
taxed. We must do that justice to
ourselves, which so many others refuse
to us. We have not met here, gentle.
men, to combine against Society. by
raising our wages, but to compare our
respective situations, to examine the
evils under which we are all laborlng,
to devise some measures Of relief, to
advise each other, and to come to some
arrangements for the collection of our
debts.
But this is not all, gentlemen-nor
is it the most important duty which We
have to perform. The press is not on.
ly useful to society, but it should be
profitable to its own conductors-and
may not add, that it should be honor.
able to lis conductors. 1t should be
source both of fortune and distinction.
1t is so in Europe. In Paris, whose
journals cannot compare with our own,
either in dimension, in ability, or in in.
dependence, some Of her principal jour-
nalists are among the highest dignita.
ries of the Government. The Press
is indeed a passport to power.
The profession is rising in England,
not only in emolumenl, but in dignity.
One Of the most distinguished journals
in the world is "ihe Examiner" of
London, and you may recollect in the
last July No. of the Edinburgh Re-
view," that the high character Of its
Editor, Mr.. Fonblanque, has obtained
for him the honor OF long and CON-
plimentary article in the first PERIOD.
cal Of the age. The Reviewer pro-
nounces "his style TO be clear as Swifl's
and sometimes as graceful as Add.
sons, whilst it is more fgurative in
expression and much richer in anecdote
and nllusion."
And why is it, gentlemen, that our
profession does not occupy that station
in our own society, TO which it is enti-
tied I Let US not disguise the fact.
Ii is our own fault. No maxim is
more true, than that he who would
have the respec: Of others, must show
that he respects himself We have
descended to abuse each other in a
manner, that has lost the respect OF
the world. We msrepresent each
others motives-we heap opprobrious
epithets upon each others heads-we
do not recollect that violence is not
energy, and that virulence is any thing
but dignity. How can we expect to
be treated as gentlemen, if we do not
conduct ourselves as gentlemen p
Each one says, indeed, that it is not
his fault. He tries to justify himself
by pleading self-defence. But whoseso.
ever be the fault, the effect is undenia-
BILE, that in this eternal warfare of at.
tack and Of recrimlnation, the press
has lost much of its dignity, and much
ofthat moral influence which it would
have right to claim, and would un.
questionably command, in free and
enlightened country. The mischief
does not stop here. The liceniious-
Among the laborers 10 the literary vine
yard, there none, whom class. il is more
desirable TO raise. by due sympathy and favour,
from the obscurity and discomfort Of life of lit
erary adventure, than those who devote their
talents to the service Of the public presses
Good feeling and good policy are equally viola
ted BY an opposite course. The evil Of which
the fasidious, and people who are far from be-
sng so, complain. is that newspapers are fire.
quently wanting in the self respect good faith