The patron of husbandry. (Columbus, Miss.) 1875-1883, 1882-02-18
Tarmage's Opinion.
Some Points from His Recent Sermon on
the Printing Press and Newspaper.

There IS nothing tnat uespoStiSm
SO much fears as the printing press.
It has too many eyes. Russia,
which, considering the circumstan-
ces is the meanest and most cruel
despotism on earth to-day, keeps
the printing press under espionage
A great writer in the south of Eu-
rope declared that the King of Ma
Piles had made it unsafe for him to
write on any subject but natural
history. Austria could not bear
Kossuth's journalistic pen piled for
the redemption of Hungary. Ma
polean first wanting to keep his
iron heels on the neck of his ma
tons, said that newspaper was re-
gent of Kings, and that the only
safe place to keep an editor in was
a prison.
Thomas Jefferson said: eff l
had to chose between government
without newspapers and new spa
pers without government | would
employ the latter.
| give you those overwhelming
statistics. That in the year 1870
the number of copies of literary and
political newspapers published in
this country was I 600, 100000.
| tell you, my friends, that a
good newspaper is the grandest
blessing that God has given to the
country grandest temporal
blessing.
The theory is abroad that any,
body can make a newspaper with
the aid of a capitalist. The facts is
that-fortunes are swallowed up ev
cry year in the vain effort to estab-
lish newspapers:
We have 1000 dailes and week
lies in the United States and Can
ada, and only SO are half a century
old
The average life of a Newspaper
is only five years. Most of them
die of cholera infantum. (Laugh-
ter.) 1t is high time to have it I'M
derstood that the most successful
way to sink fortune and keep it
sunk is to start a newspaper.
A man with an idea starts the
Universal Gazette or the millennium
Ad0ocate. Finally the money is all
spent and the subscribers wonder
why the papers do not come.
Let me tell you that if you have
an idea either moral, social, politi
cal, or religious, you had better
charge on the world through the
columns already established.
To publish newspaper requires
the skill, precision, vigilance, STRAIT
gy, and boldness of a commander.
in chief
To edit newspaper one needs
to be a statesman, a geographer, a
statistican, and SO far as all acquisi-
tons are concerned, an encyclopa-
dia. If you have a notion to start
and publish newspaper. take it
for granted that you are threatened
with softening of the brain. Take
your pocketbook and throw it into
your wife's lap. Rush to the insane
asylum and surrender yourself be-
fore you do something desperate.
Our newspapers are repositories
of knowledge and are constantly
lifting the people into the sunlight,
If one should see in a life, moth
ing in the way of literature but
Bible, Shakespeare, dictionary,
he would be fitted for all the duties
of this life and for the opening of
the next.
A good Newspaper is mirrow of
life as it is.
Complaints are made because the
evil is reported as well as the good
But newspaper that merely pre-
sents the fair and beautiful side of
society is misrepresentation.
Complaint is sometimes made
that sin is set up in great primer
type and righteouness in nonpareil.
Sin is loathsome; make it so. Vir-
ture is beautiful; make it so.
1t would add poetry to articles to
see articles signed.
1t seems to me that no honorable
man would write an article that
he would be ashamed to put his
name to.
1t seems to me that it would be a
great advantage to the literature of
this country if men could get the
credit for the good they write, and
be held responsible for the evil they
write.
No profession requires more Gull
ture and education than that of
journalism, there must be editorial
professorates in our colleges.
The newspapers serve an impor-
tant function as the chronicles of
passing events.
They are the reservoirs of his
tory.
The cylinders of the Christian
printing press will be the from t
wheels of the chariot.
The music that it makes I mark
not in diminuendo, but in crescen-
do"