The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1876-05-25

who are the public; that he go not down
because of your lethargy or your distrustI
No doubt you recall the sweet sad words
of Dryden: "My errors, Ihope, are only
those of charity to mankind and such
as my own charity has caused me to COM
NIT, that of others may more easily ex-'
cuse." May it be thus with all of us.
South Carolina, as newspaper read
ing State, is far behind New England
and the Northwest. This is misfortune.
Each one of you can do something to
remedy it; not for the sake of the news
paper, but for yourselves. By reading
and digesting the well.considered views
of others, you will enlarge and ripen your
own. By knowing what Others around
you have done, you will learn what best
to do yourselves. By looking across tn
mountains and over the waters of Soutf
Carolina; by watching those whose field
in art, in commerce, and in agriculture,
is broader than our own; you will extend
your horizon, strengthen your mental
vision, and become insensibly higher,
better, and more liberal men. So can
you, and shall you, embrace what is best,
cling to what is most worthy and noble
and true.
Gentlemen of the State Press Associa-
ton, my last words are to you. None
deny the importance of the work that, as
body, we do; and "the degree of esti-
nation in which any profession is held
becomes the standard of the estimation
in which the professors hold themselves"
Cicero has said that "there is not a mo-
ment without some duty" and it becomes
US, it is incumbent upon u.s. in every duty
of every moment, to act in such manner
that we shall honor and respect ourselves
in deserving the honor and respect of our
public. This, at least, we can do. 1t is
charged, I know, that we sometimes
abuse our power and neglect our oppor-
tuuities. This may be so and yet I am
confident that, when the great account
shall be closed when the good and evil
shall be weighed, and the debit and credit
of Journalism shall be counted up, the
balance will be in favor of the universal
press, as having sought after and striven
for the right, and having, in the midst of
doubt and trial and peril, in the very
shadow of the Valley of Darkness, done
what it could. Some such hopeand faith
as this is needed for, of honor here and.
public fame, the journalist has little
The greater the authority and the wider
the sphere of the newspaper of which he
is q part, the less is his need of public
praise. No fumes of incense rise before
him, as before the popular preacher; no
plaudit comes to him as that which swells
the breast and lights the eye of orator and
actor. What the journalist says is said
to thousands, enters into thousands of
hearts and is pondered in a thousand
brains; and he who says it is unseen, if
mot unknown. The press makes thou
sands famous while its conductors are
unhonored and unsung. The work that
journalists do is bread cast upon the wa
ters that seldom cometh back, even after
many days. 1t matters little Fame"
in Pope's words, "can never make Us lie
down contentedly on a deathbed." !"
Nor are the substantial rewards of
journalism in proportion to the wear and
tear of body and brain, which whiten the
hair and dim the eye of the working men
of the daily press. While Others sleep
we must work on. Abuses which escape
the attention of the public, must not es-
cape ours. What every other agency
fails to accomplish, the press is expected
to do, and do it we'll. In the public
blundering and negligence and indolence
seem to be no serious fault-in the press
they are objectionable. And, at last,
when the sleepless vigilance, the keen
criticism, the caustic humor, the sarcasm
and invective, the loyalty and yalor have
done their work, when purity ofgoyern-
ment, public intelligence, and public
prosperity have been won, the journalists
fee and recompense is-whaSf To enjoy
their blessings equally with those to whom
they came, as the blessed dews and rains
come, without toll or cost. The laborers
in the vineyard who were employed at
the eleventh hour were paid penny, as
were those who had borne the heat and
burden of the day. So it is with the all
day journals and the eleventh hour pub
lie. Nay we might go further, and say
that they who 60 not into the vineyard
at all are paid as much as those who
labor from dawn to setting sun. Know,
ing this, feeling this, should we hesitate
or halt7 No! a thousand times no ] Let
not him who putteth his hand to the
plough look back, until he has reached
the end of the furrow! m : 75re,l
In the pursuit of our profession Let us
strive to be liberal, conscientious, and
lust. mo liberal man." says Cicero,
"would impute charge of unsteadiness
to another for having changed his opin-.'
ion." And Tillotson reminds .us that, !,
"Our belief or disbelief of a thing does
not alter the nature ofa thing" Butwe
need to be constant in our aims and pur-
poses-"to write for or againstsomething;
for or against an idea; for or against 9
party" Nor should we be alarmed if
those around US taunt US with inconsist-
ency. "It is q mere idle defamation
about consistency" says Archbishop
Whatley, "to represent it as a disgraceto
man to confess himself wiser to-day
than yesterday" The only consistency
we need regard is that which is preserved
by varying the means to secure the unity
of the end. Be patient, be steadfast be.
truel And when the race is run, wheth-
er good or evil fortune shall have crowned !,
our labors, we shall be restful and con-
tent if we only have within US the sweet.
sweet knowledge that, with voice and
pen, we have stricken with all our
strength, while life lasted, at the impos.
lures, the follies, and the vices of the
times.
A SINGULAR DREAM.-An Amesbury