The Cheyenne daily leader. [volume] (Cheyenne, Wyo.) 1870-1884, 1876-11-25
journalism and the Clergy.

| During the recent meeting of the
Church Congress at Plymouth, a dis
cussion was devoted to the reported
dearth of the best kind of candidate for
holy orders. On this subject the exac-
tions of the bishops, of the congrega-
tions, and of society are apt to differ;
the qualifications thus severally demand
ed vary, and all combined form a COM
posite standard of a somewhat high
kind. Two other topics occupied the
congress-the stalienated classes'' and
newspapers. One speaker complained
that only five per cent. of the working
men went to church. Rev. H. Hugo
said that the mobs of Lancashire and
London were as heather as those de-
nounced by st. Paul in the first chapter
of the Epistle of the Romans. Some of
the denunciations thus hurled at the
humber classes in the metropolis and
In one of our greatest counties are too
strong for quotation--the mildest are
bad enough. If this clerical gentleman
speaks the truth, the masses of our peo-
pie are filed with all unrighteousness,
wickedness, covetousness, malicious
ness; full of envy, murder, debate, de-
ceit, ,malignity; back-biters, haters of
God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inven-
tors of evil things, disobedient to par
ents, without understanding, covenant
breakers, without natural affection,
implacable, unmerciful 1t is easy for
Mr.. Hugo to fling about such wild
charges, but we doubt much whether
his knowledge is equal to his zeal. He
gave as his ideal of sermon that it
must be "short and sharp If all his
are as sharp as this, little would GER
tainly go long way. No wonder that
after such an outburst the congress fell
to lamenting the defects of the modern
press. Nothing half as full favored as
Mr.. Hugo's diatribes appears in ordi-
nary journalism. 1t seems that the
secular press is not religious enough for
Mr.. Hugo and his friends; therefore
one gentleman proposed that "a penny
weekly newspaper for the millions''
should be subsidized by the Christian
knowledge Society to the extent of ten
thousand year. There is something
round and mouth filling in both propos-
ais; million readers is fine prospect
for any journalist; the subsidy of e1O,-
600 year is also solid and satisfactory,
But, in being entitled to speak with
some authority on this topic, and hay
ing no enmity to the clergy, we should
not advise them to desert their parson-
ages and pulpits for the editorial office
and desk. There is a certain mystery
about every craft, and we are not sure
that journal entirely supplied with
leading articles by persons formerly ac-
customed to writing sermons would he
either an interesting or influential pub
lication. We fear that it would re-
quire something more than the proposed
subsidy to keep it long afloat. The pro-
poser of this clericle expedition
into a new field denounced a
certain section of London papers as
Dissenting, Radical and Irreligious. -
Will this kind of vague denunciation be
the model of the new editor? Could not
the pious assailant be little more dis
tinctive in his attack? A "Radical'
may or may not be 'sirreligious;" a
''Dissenter" may or may not be "Rad-
ical." When however, a whole party of
men is described as at the same time
'dissentingo and ''irreligious," we fear
that the unfortunate gentleman who
narrow ideal church of his own, with
the notion that all outside are some
thing like the heather. If he has ap-
pointed to conduct the new church pa
per it will certainly be a formidable
| liNdl, uOt W llS ScCuldr contemporaries,
but to some of those clerical journals
that are now distinguished for vituper-
patton. But whether the Christian
knowledge Society will give him ten
thousand pounds year in order that
week after week he may denounce ''Dis-
senters' as ''irreligious" remains to be
seen. They will probably prefer to
spend the money as now on ''booksnovel-
cites and illuminated cards''- engines
of conversation which Canon Erskine
Clarke spoke of with some contempt.
London Telegraph.