St. Landry democrat. (Opelousas, La.) 1878-1894, 1886-04-24

An Underpaid Glass, rs Rule. and
Their Souls Nobody's Care.
Rev. T. Dewitt Talmage, In a recent
sermon, took up the cudgel for the news
paper men, illustrating their trials, temp
tations and almost ceaseless labors in the
fight for current news in forcible man
uer. He took for his text:
Behold flying roll!-[Zachariah W.. ~"~
DIR. Talmage said: This winged sheet OF
the text had on it prophecy. The flying
roll to-day is the newspaper. In calcu-
1ating the influences that affect society
you can no more afford to ignore it than
you can ignore the monday sun or the
Atlantic Ocean.
1t is high time that preach a sermon
expressing my appreciation of what the
newspaper press has done and is doing.
No man, living or dead. is or has been so
indebted to ID as l am, for it gives me
perpetual audience in every city, town
and neigk oorhood of Christendom, and I
take this opportunity before God aud this
people to thank the editors and publishers,
and compositors and type-setters the
world over, and give fair notice that
shall take every opportunity of charging
this field, whether by stenegraphic report
on the Sabbath, or gaiiey-proofs on Mon
day. or previous dictation. have said
again and again to the officers of this
church, whoever else are crowded, don't
sponsible and intelligent reporter is ten
f,.-sf A. = 4.
Ninety-five per cent. of the newspe.
pers are now my friends, and
do me full justics and more than justice,
and the other five of the hundred are such
notorious liars that nobody believes them.
1t was in elf-defense that sixteen years
ago employed an official stenographer of
my own because of the appalling misrep-
reservations Of myself and church. From
that things have miraculous1v changed,
until now it is just as appalling in the
marvellous opportunity opened.
The newspaper is the great educator of
the nineteenth century. There is no force
compared with it, It is book. pulpit, plat
form, forum, all in one. And there is not
an interest-religious, literary, CONNER
cial, scientific, agricultural or mechanical
chat is not within its grasp. All our
churches, and schools, and colleges, and
asylums, and art galleries feel the quak-
ing of the printing press.
The institution of newspapers arose In
Italy. In Venice the first newspaper was
published, and monthly, during the time
that Venice was warning against Solyman
the Second. in Dalmatia, it was printed
for the purpose Of giving military and
commercial information to tine Venetians.
The first newspaper published in England
was in 1888, and called the English Mer-
curry. Others were styled the Weekly Dis
couerer, the Secret O,cl, Heraclitus Ridens,
etc.
Who can estimate the political, scientific.
commercial and religious revolutions
reused up In England for many years past
by Belts Weekly Dispatch, the Standard,
the Morning Chronicle, the Post and the
London Times?
The first attempt at this institution in
France was in 1851, by physician, who
published the Netos for Che amusement and
health of his patients. The French nation
understood fully how to appreciate this
power. Napoleon, with his own hand,
wrote articles for the press, and SO early as
In 1929 there were In Pal '09 journals.
But in the United Slater ia. newspaper
has come to unlimited swa, Though In ITS
there were but thirty seven in the whole
country, the number Of published journals
Is now counted by thousands; and to-day
1--WE may as well acknowledge It as not
the religious and secular newspapers are
the great educators of the country.
find no difficulty In accounting for the |
worlds advance. -Four centuries ago, In |
Germany, in courts of justice, men fought |
with their fists to see who should have the |
decision of the court; and if the judges |
was unsatisfactory, then the |
Judge fought with counsel. Many Of the
ords could not read the deeds Of their own
estates. What has made the changer
"Books," you say.
No, siri The vast majority of citizens
10 not read books. Take this audience, or
my other promiscuous assemblage, and
many treatises on constitutional law, or
political economy, or works of science.
How many elaborate poems or books Of
ravel? How much Of Boyle, of De
Xenophon, or Herodotus, or
eercival? Not many.
In the United States the people would
lot average one such book year for each
Individual. s@
Whence, then, this 'intellig ca
,acity to talk about all themes, secular
md religioas-this acquaintance with
cience and art-this power to appreciate
he beautiful and grand? Next to the
bible the newspaper-swift-w winged and
present, flying over the fences,
hoved under the door, tossed into the
ounting- house, laid on the workbench,
awked through the. cars. All read il:
yhite and black, German, rishman, Swiss,