The Arkansaw traveler., 1884-10-11
PREACHERS AND PRINTERS
American Journalist.

American Ioa:nalisi.
 An address. delivered s1ne tune since, by James 5 Bel, before the Deiax arc Press association, IS so fail of excellent thought. thought so well expressed. that | deserves puoncauon entiIe. = It would De impossible however for the /on,Ha!.sI 10 do thus, and iron. the manuscrip, copy before us, some of ih. best extracts will be taken.
 Mir. Bell starts wi.h the expression of the somewhat startling opinion .ha, the pulpit Is no longer 10 oe accorded the first place as teacher of the people The press. though yet iu IS infancy, IS giant by its side lt IS the press. nc holds, tha, gives form and color to our social structure, sharpens the very nature of our nationa, life and is fast modifying even the essential features oi revealed religion He says: -sz.s-z
 The press stands in the very fo,e- front of the advanced and aggressive var of the great army of progress, and IS even now ousily and unceasingly engaged io carving ee, sae road that will lead us n the near future 10 nlarvels of mental and matenal development of which, a, the present time, we have but the fa,ntes. conception. To its fostering aid we are indebted for the wonderful inventions ot Edison, Gray and Bell, and the no less wonderful phiiosophies of Darwin, Hux- Icy and Spencer. !; may be sad 10 have called into being the railroad, the ,ele- graph, the electric light. ,he telephone. ana aunoreds ef other Improvements over old ~ays of dolng things. It IS true that all these inveItions and discoveries have hcl ped .ae press, and without mos, of them, coupled with iha, spirit of en- terprise and inquiry which the,r existence has ensendeIea, .he press could never have reached it's present s:ate of advance ment, but on the other hand. the press has been to these products cf the srain what the sumEe, sunlight is to ;he flowers of the held wiIlou; 1t they would have withered and diei In a liberal sense then the press IS both creator and a creature.
 But what has the pulpi, -xhich a few years ago was in he lead-oecn doing meanwhiles Has i, kept fully abreast with the progress,se pace of its powerful rival!
 While the press has gone s,raish, on while has grown win a growth that seems almost mag,cai, and has extended iss influences into every recess of thought and mace its might felt m every corner of the hab,table globe, the pulpit has Jagged in the rear, and now hopeless ot ever again taking the lead. turns it's at tention to a second competition ID the field of moral inssrreton-ihe stage = with which it must dispute the palm ID the future. h saying that the press as a public teacher IS far in advance of the pulpit, l mean no disrespeet to the clergy, nor any laudalion of journalists, but simply state a fact tha; cannot be denied. Yet we mus, do the clergy the justice to say that they are not wholly to blame fir tke,r lack ot progressivepess. They have been hampered by circumstances of haoit-snd associations fron which the press has been comparatively free. Then. too, they are nor altogether agreed among themselves as ts precisely what they want. or as 10 ;he best way of get ting ii. Bu, journalists labor under no such disadvantage. They are qui:e cer- tain that they want the news-and good paying advertisemen,s-and they are generally agreed that the quickest way 10 get these two things honestly and get the most of them is the best way. This being their creed they do their best and the good follows as natural result of honest and persistent effort.
 
 The failure of the pulpit ;o hold its former place by the side Of the press as a teacher of the people, is largely due to the dissensions Of the clergy. Wnile they have been quarreling over their creeds and discxss;as the eu. of their catechisms, the press has been marching strzigh, ahead, preaching the universal sermon oi civilization unto every creature, and car ying the light of truth and justice into every home. Many of the more advanced ministers of the gospel see this, and are shaking themselves free from the sh ack'es that bind them to the sentiments of pas, with which they feel no sympathy and for which they are fast losing the last remnant of their respect They see fl they would preserve the essential beau ties and glories of the christian creed. they cannot longer adord to cling 10 the moss-gTown mile posts of dead cenlunes, while their congregations march pas, them, under the banner Of progressive press, with faces resoluse.y set toward the rising sun. The clergy nus. tall in iire or be left- h will be beffer for them 1t will be bes:er for all of us. and 1t viii be better for the cause of tue religion
 
 Nov, the chief difference, it appears 70 me, betveen the press and the pulpis in their distinctive spheres of public labor. is that one is all aim and but little effort of any really ef5e~siv~ sr--fc. :.s other is all sf r .ue criy general -=d ssGe-