Ashtabula telegraph. (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1874-1880, 1879-11-21
CINCINNAmLETTER.
The State fRslIgIOn-BoOk Publish
ing.

/ OF the Presbyterian churches in Cincin-
natl. the Third is the largest Next in
rank in that same line is the Fifth church,
of which Rev. A. B. MoreY is the pastor.
At this latter church on last Sunday even
ing, instead of the usual sermon, some
what novel services were held. Mr.. Sam
uel WOOdside is one Of the leading men,
bers of the church. He is an Irishman,
one of the north of Ireland men, the pos
seSsor Of some of that Scoteh-Irish blood
which has done so much for this country,
and although comparatively young man,
has for some years, been leading merchant
of the city. His firm, that of WoOdside
& Peyton, is engaged in the sale Of tea,
coffee and tobacco. Their store, down on
Walnut street, is in the part of town de-
voted to heavy wholesaling. Mr.. Wood
side commenced on his own hook at the
age Of fourteen. without resources or in
huential friends. He now occupies q po-
sitiOn Of comparative affiuenee, and is re-
garded by all the members Of the congre-
cation whose services he attends as the sol
i'd man of the church. As a representa-
tive business man he last Sunday made an
address on the ''Reasonableness Of Christi
anity." 1t was intended for young men.
II is true that there is too much theolO-
gy about ministers in general They are
looked upon as persons who have adopted
preaching as trade, and their utterances
even when most earnest and impressive
seem TO be considered as only the legitimate
result of the business they are pursuing.
On this evening a man stood up dressed In
a business suit. He was well known.
Half the young men IN the congregation
knew that that persons name on check
made it worth something, and when he
spoke of christianity it was worth listen
ing to.
One likes to hear a man talk business,
especially when he means it, and this is
what the speaker did on this occasion. II
business men-men who have been success
ful-Would only come to the front IN this
matter, it would not take long to change
the prevalent feeling among yodng men
that of Indifference, as it was called. 1t
is not an active belief, but only the lack of
one. In graduating class in one OF our
institutions, out of nineteen young men be-
tween the ages of eighteen and twenty-ene,
only two made any pretense Of positive be-
lief, and six were active opponents OF christ
ianty. In Woodward High School they
graduate as high as fifty young men some
years. l was told that in one Of these
classes but five recognized the claims OF
the christian religion. So much for the
state of passiveness among the rising gen
Grafton in Cincinnati. Seeing that this
place is fast becoming a center of educa-
tion, such condition algers i'll for the
moral status of the successors to those who
now occupy leading places. From Cincin-
matt the three leading professions receive
a large number Of aceessiOns. Here are
schools of law, medicine and the
ology. OF the medical colleges there are
half dozen. The Ohio is the leading one.
Tt is strictly old school, The Electic is the
private property of DIR. Scudder. Heowns
it body and soul. 1t is a good school nev-
although it is said to be run for
money more than anything else. DR..
Scudder is an able physician. He is the
author of most all the text books which are
used in his college, in fact, this is the great
source of income. All the students are re-
quired to buy the books which are published
BY the college, and, as the price is high, |
there is large profit, because the sale be- |
ing assured a large addition Of each book |
can be published and thus they are had at |
a cheap price. have been told by book |
sellers that the sale of the first thousand |
volumes of an ordinary sized book will pay |
all the expense of publishing, and leave the
whole price of the subsequent sales clear
profit.
1t may be thought strange, but There are |
not many books published of which more |
than the first edition is sold. An author |
whose book is thought worth buying by a
persons is generally heard from
again. Take "Pansy," for instance Mrs. |
6. R. Alden. She competed for prize of |
two hundred dollars for the best Sunday |
school book ever offered. Her manuscript |
was accepted, and on the anniversary of her |
iather's wedding she put under his plate at
Inner the volume written by her, and the |
money she had obtained for it. This was
IN agreeable surprise to him, as he had
not known at all of ever having attempted
anything in a literary way. Since that
ime ''Pansy" has become widely known
both as book and newspaper writer and
ome of her efforts haYe been rewarded with
sale of as high as ten thousand copies.
JUYENIs.
Cincinnati. Nov. II. 1879.