Cincinnati daily press. [volume] (Cincinnati [Ohio]) 1860-1862, 1861-03-23


intelligence, principle, elevated purpose,
force or ability, which characterizes the
newspaper press Of tho country, anton the
purely mercenary motives BY which IL is
generally governed and pnsits Weakness,
cowafdice ard total helplessness in any
emergency Of the country which demands
an expression of public opinion, he will find
that he has attributed to the DAfhy Pass the
highest virtues of practical religion. He
win agree with us that IL these could be
spresd, even 10 the religious press Of the
country, a great influence for good would
be created. - a..
But there is another necessity in this case
which our religious brethren, whose election
i, sure, do not consider at all. They know,
when they stop TO think, that institutional
religion is quite inadequate to the salvation
! Of the mass Of mankind. Denominations
turn their energies chiefly to narrowing the
circle of the saved, and hedging them about
by costly religious services, exclusive per-
sonal rights and places in that which is
called the House of God, and by abstruse
and multifarious doctrines, Of which nom
essential things are made most important.
We should do injustice did we not men,
tion the distinction, in this respect, between
the Protestant denominations and the Cath
ole Church, which seems to be successful in
saving most of those who are born into that
faith. But some of the best Professionals feel
and deplore the onstantly-nareowing circle
of religious profession, compared with the
moss of society.
We speak more particularly of the Pro-
testant religions, having been born into one
of them. We maintain costly church organ
i~zations and services; but our clergymen
reach but a small portion of the people.
The religious press follows the style of the
pulpit. 1t is very pious, very doctrinal,
very sectarian, very jealous, and very severe
toward evil doors; but the mass of the peo-
pie will not read it; and between exclusive
churches, and heavy religious papers, the
great body of our Protestant people are left
wandering without a shepherd.
These lost sheep the DAILY Pass reaches.
We must save these. Shall we adopt the
method of treating religious topics which
has so totally failed in the other means of
grace? Then the result would be the same;
we should not reach them they would not
read our paper; or, at most, its circulation
would be confined to q narrow sect, who
would take the paper as q religious duty,
which, of course, would make 1t disagreea-
BILE TO them.
We preach to forty or fifty thousand read
ers-a mighty congregation. We have a
grave responsibility on our hands. 1t will
not do to ignore God in the DAILY Press,
and neglect the question most vital to man
kind and which most occupies their
thoughts. So we preach a religion adapted
to the mass of mankind, and to the lost
sheep; q religion which ~enforces practical
Christianity in all the duties of life, both
private and political, while it makes the
doctrinal part interesting and attractive, so
as to attract the mind into the pursuit of such
matters.
We think our friend misunderstands US;
perhaps from the common impression that to
treat religious subjects in a cheerful way, is
levity, an idea that Christ very plainly pro-
nounced against. We think he will appreci-
ate our course now; and to show that
others do, and that pious families do find
enjoyment in the PRESS, we publish another
letter from a subscriber in similar circum-
stances, abiding to the same subject. We
deprecate, however, the comparison which
the writer draws between this and the
other city papers, which gives us a rank In
regard to our cotemporaries, that it would
be presumptuous in us to assume:
"To The Editors of the Daily Press!
"Please find 81, to pay for your WEEKLY
PRESS, for one year, commencing on the
4th of March. Send back numbers if you
have them. / have been taking your DAILY
Press, but as l have to go two miles to get
them, it is not convenient. / wish to say to
you, that if an old unlearned man, who has
been a pioneer in the great State of Ohio, and
who has been a subscriber to the Enquirer,
Gazette, and Commercial is a Judge of the
talents displayed in those papers, l must give
the PRESS the preference, so far as talent is
concerned and what is far better, l find by
your writings that you are pious, which is a
very essential requisite in the character of
an editor of a public journal"