The Pulaski citizen. [volume] (Pulaski, Tenn.) 1866-current, 1877-05-03
For the Citizen.l
The Printing Press.

more prolific of evil than good
This class of men being unable tc
keep step in the grand march O.
progress, should be elected from the
ranks and sent far in the rear
where they can quietly nurse theil
fossilized ideas.
1t is an incontr9vertlble fact thai
the pr, is she l. 3dium through
which Intelligence is disseminated
Its pow5sS,,ss pot exaggerated, nei
Their is its influence In the affairs OF
life and in the operations of gov
eminent magnified.
The press imparts mighty i'm
pulse to the arts of peace, the pro
gress of science and to the freedom
of mankind. In order to form a
clear and impartial conclusion on
these points, we must go back over
the tide of centuries and revert to
that antecedent period when print
ing press and type were unknown,
and when the pen and manuscript
were the only mode of communica
ting written thought.
The ancient Roman in the morn
ing repaired TO the market place to
gathor news from the provinces and
the report of events within the city,
scantily CLEANED from the meagre
source of chance acquaintance
here and there.
Cicero Numbered against Gaia
line, or charmed the senate with his
rhetorical periods, and has great
orations were embalmed in papyrus
like the mummies in the catacombs,
until their cerements were with
drawn, and their inspiring thoughts
reclothed with life by the printing
press.
What were the statues and foun-
tains, the architecture and the APP
plan way, the baths and temples,
the arts and arms, the orators,
statesmen, heroes and poets of an
cient Rome-what was the forum
even, to one of Hoes Mammoth
Cylinders, with corps of able edi-
tors to animate it with thought, and
skillful press gang to give to their
thoughts ga local habitation and a
name" II the immortal and elo-
quent Cicero had been armed with
such an agency, how might he not
have spread the patriotic FIRE until
it found Judgment in every Ro-
man heart. If Brutus could have
hurled its thunderbolts, how more
potent than the dagger might he
have found it to avenge his country
and secure Rome her freedom.
The Eternal City had her
sculptures and her monuments, mar
vels of art and genius; her orators
swayed and subdued the multitude
by the magic of their matchless elo-
quence; her invincible legions con-
quered distant provinces and re-
turned with captive thousands as
the trophies of their valor; but it
was reserved for the intellectual
Titans of our age to WELD the print
ing press, and for our own beloved
country to bring this bulwark of
constitutional liberty to perfection.
The press is a high tribunal, to
which right appeals for redress. 1t
relieves justice from the oppression
of power, and teaches authority to
be circumspect. 1t is the heart of
a nation, whose mighty throbs
throw out life blood to the farthest
extremities and give vitality to the
body polite.
All classes concerned in its man
agement become important agents
in forwarding the interests of man
kind and their country, from the
editor to the carrier-boy. Even the
"devil' becomes a good angel when
engaged in its service.
By listening to the teachings of
great intellectual lights we may OBJ
tain knowledge of the arts and
sciences; by close and earnest OBJ
servation of men and manners we
may acquire a deep knowledge of
human nature and society, and learn
much of the beauties and mysteries
of nature by communion with its
visible forces, but from the press we
are supplied with an inexhaustible
fund of intelligence suited to the
development of our higher faculties.
Under the skillful manipulations
of the printers fingers the chaotic
mass of thought embracing art, sci
ence and philosophy, are marshaled
into lines representing ideas that
may convulse a continent from cen
tire to circumference.
The press employs its functions
in righting wrong; smoothing and
making plain the varied intrlcacies
of political dogmatists; exposing
error; denouncing corruption and
maintaining right. Its imperson
atty is rigidly preserved as being
one of the secrets Of its power and
the sure guaranty of its impartial
ity. It's steadfast aim being to i'm
prove, elevate and enlighten, that
society may be purified and justice
exalted. These are its prerogatives,
by which its mission is fulfilled and
its influence perpetuated. d.
Bradshaw, April 10th, 1877.
The Free Press says: aThe sala-