The weekly clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1863-1882, 1870-06-30

= s Os
THE POWER OF THE PRESS
BY MRS. VIRGINIA FRANIz.
Written IN response to resolution Of the Press
Convention Of 1869.
When by Infinite pow'r this little world
Was launched upon the boundless sea Of space,
10 be the home of mortal man through life,
There was one law implanted in his soul,
And that unspoken, changeless mandate was,
Fer since Eve and Adam sewed
Their fig leaves meath the bowrs Of Paradise,
And passed through Eden's beauteous gates,
First blighting influence upon their lives,
10 eat the bread OF labor, this wise law
Has been in operation.
Creator stood upon the battlements
Of HeaV n, aud in His wisdom thought this
world,
While all the shining host had paused, and
ExpectAnt, watched to see what wond rOus
thing
He was about to do, when he pronounced
The words sublime, Let there be light and
A new variety of pure, sweet light,
Sprang forth within sphere 10 them unk nown,
The pow r creative then went out from God
And who may say ii is not moving still7
God hath bestowed on man o pow'r, that seems
Almost as great Al the creative pow'r
Itself: that is the pow'r TO search and know
me In, uses OF the vast, mysterious
1t matters not,
II God created earth, and all therein,
In six short days, or in six thousand years;
II is wond' rous miracle no less.
The seal Divine in stamped upon the work
And day by day, Jehovahs work goes on.
Day after day, some latent germ Of pow'r,
Some hidden thought of Deity bursts forth
And man with some discovery is blessed.
How wisely hath our God ordained all things /
Every necessity that doth arise
Is by our Fathers boundless bounty met.
a new Invention, He, TO us, reveals
Through some great mind, for the occasion
taught.
How gently God deals out our daily light
Ana knowledge Step by step the mind moves
BY evil often turned aside, because
Of man free agency, but by and by
The destined end is reached, and God = designs
Are never thwarted by the pow'r of sin.
Atfirst, when men were few upon the earth,
They needed naught by which to transmit
thought,
Gave the SWEEP speech That Tod had given them.
Then men lived heart TO heart, and soul TO soul
And told each other all they felt and knew;
But when they grew, and scattered Ger the
earth,
TO action, and how skillfully he planned
To find some way by which he could commune
With friends by distance separated far.
God knew in the beginning, man would need
The art of writing, and of printing, so
When FIRST the need was felt by him, the germ
Inventive in his mind sprang up and grew
And blossomed, and the idea matured
OF sending pictures rudely drawn, instead
OF verbal messages. This only served
10 make him feel his need the more because
lie could not thus express, one half he wished
TO tell. Imperfectly he could make known
simple fact, but could not thus convey
His thoughts and feelings to another mind.
This Geographic system very soon
Was changed, the characters were modified;
The mind had undertaken this great work,
And on il moved, studied, improved and plan
ned,
Until the alphabetic system was
Produced. Long and laboriOus was the work,
And we cannot the systems here recount
Through which this great invention moved,
before
The present perfect method was attained;
Nor can we here, the substances review
On which men rudely wrote, ere paper was
Brought out in all its perfect beauty.
We,
With such multiplicity of books, n
Can hardly comprehend they ever were
80 scarce, the very wealthiest alone
Could own so great treasure as a book.
But so il was until God saw that
Was ready to receive this wond rous art
Of printing; for before that time, so slow
And tedious was the process Of the soribes,
Ii was considered an achievement great
To get one copy of book complete.
The art Of printing is, indeed, the art
Preservative of art Oh who can tell
The power of the press? Who estimate
Its worth, or know its influence upon
The worldP Think not tits the man of wealth
And learning that the press befriends alone.
1t is the laboring man s most EARNEST friend.
The counsel and encouragement, the press
BestOws upon industrial pursuits,
Its eulogies so well deserved, all give
strength and dignity to labor which
1t otherwise would not possess. Whate'er
Is useful unto man, the press sustains.
1t is the press that hath advanced, and givn
An impetus increasing evermOre
To the prosperity, the wealth, the strength
OF the commercial world. The intercourse
OF nations aniGAhe bond of union which
Is brought about, by an exchange of their
Respective produce, is grand result,
OF the incessant, moving, working powr
OF this great engine Of the public good.
All manufactures feel its mighty force;
Their fourishing condition at this time,
Unto a very great extent, is due
To their cooperation with the press.
On agriculture, lavishly, the press
Hath eer bestowed its aid. Each triumph new,
Each new invention in this noble art,
Is published to the world, commented on,
So that mankind at large the benefit
May reap, of all improvements that are made.
The methods that are best are pointed out,
So that the poorest farmer in the land
Can have the same advantage with the rich
And great. We cannot estimate the vast
Improve ment in this art the press hath caused.
Look back few short years Then raising
fruit
Was thought but little Of throughout the South
Upon this point the Southern press hath been
Unanimous. 1t has cried out for fruit;
Ii has impressed upon the peoples minds,
How we'll our soil, and air so balmy, are
Adated to the growth of fruit, and now,
Where once waste fields, and barren hills APP
peared,
Orchards and vineyards sweetly blsOm, and
grow
In green, luxurious majesty. and hang
Their golden treasures on the Autumn's brow.
Been much enhanced Of late, by this same
pOw'r.
few years back, rich homes of elegance
And pride, stood forth in stony grandeur,
bright
And gay with everything save Floras smile.
Twas only here and there a garden filed
With lovely, blushing how'rs appeared. Be-
The change Now almost every home reserves
portion of its ground for this wise use
To hold sweet heavens fairest gifts to man.
Whist pow'r hath touched a chord Of purity,
And upward turned our mortal thoughts2
see
In fancy, far away among the years
Gone by, a sad and gloomy editor,
Musingly, leaning gainst garden fence.
The burthens Of the day had wearied him,
In body and in brain; and as he there
Reposed, a violet, little child
Had planted, sent q sweet perfume TO him.
The favor he accepted thankfully,