, 1874-12-19

eocia! and moral qnosttons rathor thin Il tb!o
aootrinoa: leavo 1t for tllo clergy to aotlt Why
1t III not tholr ruSlnco to discuss groat socif and
'nornl question:; and how proachor who .t1n-
tatSe sao s"erea @ 'noo1s ean holp touchlns acl.
ag e ss Gn o txs anvesss Il nao t,n n Pss as
hon ~ 70 whlk along with oyost aud ears, ''nu
moutlls sll,'! to q Movofsthing which has not aaen
formulated jn the creed Of Ills soct, or prcacr focd
not behave facts wil! justify tho insertion Il as
Horulou-Nftntng tends to senRatonalsam or 1 9 lse
rhetoric. Tic Rontino coin with tic true rlu la
nETTEH KNOWN AND APPROPRIATED
than no are aF,t to think.
Tho domnnt fol, tho beat in roligion ans | In
rhetoric is not, rorhaps, Ao very far bolnnt 10
supply, Talmago's popularity 10 tho coutra =.
Evem TIC aear people are not 10 fond Of ch II
Hut tho sertnon-rondnrs Vhoao do,na d
creates tho sormon-column IN tho ecoular new ! +
paper-arc probably not tho lcast discrinlnati !;
entirely by sptr,t Of gossip and curiosity aOo
ratlgioua (2) qnarrola, or even wholly by tho ia.
nocont aud lawful doBro to know what Is goir q;
OIL in tho world Of religious thought althoue il
newspaper as is information concerning politics;
literature, a1t, ecionco, etc. The man Of nitc |
lareo aud meana Of information, shut up to !,
small library, mud romoto from or without rolls b.
escesrta which hts 5ourna.ist's aeiEao's fnrnis !
IRON iilcB Of exchanges and roviow-tnatoral, III /
simply as bits Of gossip, but for
] ,,o Tss MENTAL TONIC THEY AVE.
tue breath Of pure, invtgurattng, hrAcing mora |
atnosphero,;- thu sparkling vino Of thought.
| Eson though Tho breath is but Whit, and tho !
HfatEhs aoon guaIed, he feels tho bctter for IT,
go take IT to be IN regard to SERMONS. Conu-
yoicoH and country Congregations, moro tirod
still, must lind refroshment now mud then in
their alonday nowspapcr, with soma sttrriuE
thouRht ana ~ %ora , Of ono having tho gft Of
M <$trA1.x
| churcla-goera rarely hear q acr1non: for, Is
Cl,arloa Lamb says "lhore ara books which
arc no books. dictionaries, a1manacs, ec.,-so
there aro Eor'nonH-a'1d heranoua. II tho ncwa-
paper eau give ono that tB a sermon oncn Ia q
wi.i!o to some OF U.s. Oh Monday, It mny do
good acrsioo In The way OF supplemcutlng, it not
conntoracsing, Sundays.
But this brings MO to point Which, think,
is not unworthy Of noto by toso Interested in
tllo ethics Of odtorship, mud Of nomout to ncr-
mon-wrltols, as 1t certainly IL to scrmouroadolB.
I refer to
THE QUESTIONABLE MORALITY
Of hashing tip IF may bo pardoned the oxprcs-
eion) sort Of compound or mixture Of the
preachora and tho reporters ideas, Or, ns 1t nBu-
ally t,rns out, no intelsigiblo ideas ut nl. Tint
thoro may be q correct aud. for .nese PURPOSES
of information, satisfactory. report Of ! dis
course Eivon Ill tho words Of another, 10 not
deny. Indeed, think it IL something admira-
blo,--tlio Quiclsness with Which eo1no apt aud
trained reporters will ecze, md tho cloarness
with Which they will state, tic leading thoughts
Of o aormon, md put tho stun anl substance
Of lis idcns into dozcu lines, moro or
less Still. such reports nro, nftcr all,
ing tic ilnyor Of individuality, tho soul,
which 1urk1 under and lies in an ntlttorfs pccu-
liar atylo aud nlodo Of oxpreseion and refuses to
lend itBolf to my other form OF worla. Sucl,
1eporta, therefore, e--models though thoy bo Of
: thoir kind, ,-~aro valuable mainy from tho lower
| standpoint Of "rcligioua nowa; and sormouu
i'll Becu}ar newspapers might Justly bo charged
: with doteriorating and diaBipating Influence il
! they wero always sud only to bo Ind at Becond
hand. Tue Nants Of gormon-readers aud The
interests OF aernon-N riterB nre, think, better
served by verbatim reports Of occasional tinoly
able discoursos, tnan by stated synopHes or SUN.
, ! marca Of many sermons that llavo neither pon
. nor portinoucy, mud whose solo claim to appea
I III print is tho qualification Of q oonsituono,
, oagor to sec its minister's name mentioned.
10 recognize aud discriminate In favor OF
sormont Literature proper, apart from ant
!, | higher tllan nero technical and theological OF
3 pertncss to crafty and stmuato the pofula
tnsto for tho bust in this as In othor departments
OF thought lis, 1t seems to me, ono OF
THE APPROXIMATE OFFICES
of high-toncd journal. That tho genera
spirit aud touo Of newspaper arc inconggnou
with tho sentiments OF pure literature tha
{ tho aermon-coln.nn should bo robuko to til
!. ilippaucy, ribaldry, or profanity Of tho colum
- beside ills not tho worae for tho aormon. @
. any proof that 1t ia an iptorloper, unless We Of
prepared to admit TINT immortality md vice ar
to 1r;vo from tho field religion aud virtue, mn
to begin tLe work by haniahtug thom from tn
: secular newspaper s. L. B.