The west Tennessee star. (Bolivar, Tenn.) 1888-1888, 1888-06-29
The Body


And stripped of its lettering and glitangl . |
Lies here, food for worms. {:
Yet the work itself shall not be losS
For it will (as he believed) appear once EFVo
And more beautiful edition, +:
Corrected and amended
The Author. /:
That Providence intend the profession
of reporters to have a mighty share in the
worlds redemption is suggested by the
fact that Paul and Christ took d reporter
along with them, and he reported their
addresses and reported their acts luke
was a reporter, and he wrote not only the
Book of Luke, but the Acts of the
Apostles, and without that reporters
work we would have known nothing OF the
Pentecost, and nothing of Stephens
martyrdom, and nothing of Tabitha's
resurrection, and nothing of the failing
and unjailing of Paul and Silas, and noth-
ing of the shipwreck at Melita. Strike
out the reporters work from the Bible
and you kill a large part of the New
Testament. 1t makes me think thRt in
the future of the Kingdom of God the re-
pOrters are to bear mighty part.
About thirteen years ago representa-
tive of an important newspaper took his
seat in this church one Sabbath night,
about five pews from the front of this pull
pit. He took out pencil and reporters
pad resolved to caricature the whole
scene. When the music began he began
and with his pencil he derided that, and
then derided the prayer, and then de-ideS
the reading of the Scriptures, and then
began to deride the sermon. But, he says
for some reason his hand began to trem-
BILE, and he, rallying himself, sharpened
his pencil and started again, but broke
down again, and then put pencil and pa.
per in his pocket, and his head down or
the front of the pew and began to pray.
At the close of the service he came III
and asked for the prayers of others and
gave his heart to God; and though still
engaged in newspaper work he is AZ
evangelist, and hires hall at his own ex.
pense, and every Sabbath afternoon
breaches Jesus Christ to the people. And
the men of that profession are going to
come in a body throughout the country.
l know hundreds of them, and a more
genial or highly educated class of men II
would be hard to find, and, though the
tendency Of their profession may be to.
wards skepticism, an organized, COM
nonsense, Gospel invitation would fetcS
them to the front of all Christian en-
| deavor.
| Men of the pencil and pen, in all de.
| partments, you need the help of the Chris.
! tian religion. In the day when peopls
want to get their newspapers at three
! cents, and are hoping for the time when
| they can get any Of them at one cent, and
| as b consequence, the attaches of thu
| printing press are by the thousand ground
under the cylinders, you want God to
| take care of you and your families. Some
of your best work is as much unappreci
/ ated as was MiltOn's Paradise Lost" fol
/ which the author received twenty five
| dollars; and the immortal poem, "Hohen-
! linden" of Thomas Campbell, when he
/ first offered it for publication, and in the
/ column called ''Notices to Correspond
ents" appeared the words: ''To 7. c.
The lines commencing, 'On Linden, when
the sun was lOw,' are not up to our stand
ard. Poetry is not T. C.'s forte"
o men of the pencil and pen, amid your
unappreciated work you need encourage.
ment and you have it, Printers of all
! Christendom, editors, reporters, com
positors, pressmen, publishers and read
| ers Of that which is printed, resolve that
you will not write, set up, edit issue OF
read any thing that debases body, mind
or soul. In the name of God, by the lay
ing on of the hands of faith and prayer
ordain the printing press for righteous
ness and liberty and salvation. All OF
us, with some influence that will help in
| the right direction, let as put our hands
to the work impl lOring God to hasten the
consummatiOn. A ship, with hundreds o1
/ passengers approaching the, ,1oOuJn amer
lean coast, the man on the lookout
neglected his work. and in few minutes
the ship would have been dashed to ruin
on the rocks, But cricket on board the
vessel, that had made no sound all the
voyage, set up a shrill call at the smell o1
land, and the captain, knowing that habit
Of the insect, the vessel was stopped i
time to avoid an awful wreck. And so
insignificant means now may do wonders
and the scratch of a pen may save the
shipwreck Of a soul.
Are you all ready for the signing of th'
contract, the league, the solemn treaty
proposed between journalism anC
evangelism? Aye, let it be a Christian
marriage Of the pulpit and the printing
press. The ordination of the former OF
my head, the pen of the latter in my hand
it is appropriate that publish the banns
of such a marriage. Let them from thi.
day b. one in the magnificent work CT th'
worlds redemptiOn.
Let thrones and powers and Kingdoms be
| Obedient, mighty God, to Thee:
/ And over land, and stream and main,
Now wave the scepter OF Thy reign.
On let that glorious anthem swell.
Let host TO host the triumph tell,
TIL not one bel heart remains.
But over all the Saviour reigns.