The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1892-01-24

Escaped unhurt from burning hotel Have
taken fictitious name 0ood-by."
During the evening. while he was wander
ing about in one Of the outlying districts Of
the city. he came across small brick church.
with q bill posted there with these words
printed on II:
Mechanics Club debate. All invited" He
saw people, apparently mainly Of the working
class. entering the place. and he followed and
took his seat 1t was an humble little
church. quite bare ss to ornamentation. It
had painted pews without cushions. and no
pulpit properly speaking. but IL had plat
form. On the platform sat the Chairman. and
by his side sat man who held manuscript
in his hand. and had the waiting look OF one
who is going to perform the principal part.
The church was soon filed with quiet and
orderly congregation Of decently dressed and
modest people. This Is what the Chairman
said:
Tho essayist for this evening 10 an old
member Of our club whom you all know. Mr..
Parker. assistant editor OF the Daily Democrat
The subject OF his essay is the American press.
and no will use as his text couple Of para
graphs taken from Mr.. Matthew Arnold's new
book. He asks me to read these texts for him.
The first is as follows:
Goethe says somewhere that "ths thrill of ave-" that
"Mr. Arnolds other paragraph Is as follows:
oh ,uld say that one were searching for the best
means to eface and kill . whole nation the dsei.
pine Of respect could not do better than take the
American newspapers"
Mr. Parker rose and bowed. and was received
with warm applause. He then began to read
in n good. round. resonant voice. with clear
annunciation and careful attention to his
,oho liz Inf "a
ceived with approval as he went on.
The esssyist took the position that the most
important function Of public journal In any
country was the propagation Of national feel
ing and pride in the national name-the keep
ing the people lin love with their country and
its institutions. and shielded from the allure
ments Of alien and inimical systems" He
sketched the manner in which the reverent
Turkish or Russian fulfilled this function-the
ono assisted by the prevalent discipline OF
respect" for the bastinado. the other for 81
beria- Continuing. he said:
The CHER function Of English journal IL that Of all
other journals the world 1t must keep the public
eye nxed admringy upon certain things and keep IL
diligently diverted from certain Others For instance
It must keep tho public eye xcd admirngly upon the
Rlores OF England. professional splendor stretchng
its receding limo down the hazy vistas OF time. with
tho mellowed lights OF thousand years gntng from
Its banners: and It must keep 1t diligently diverted
from tho fact that all these gores were for the en-.
richment agvrnndzement OF the petted and priv.
legged few at cost Of the blood and sweat and poverty
Of the unconsidored masses who achieved them. but
might not enter in and parake Of them. 1t must keep
tho public eye liked in loving and awful
the throne sacred thing, and diligently divert II
from the that throne set by the un.
hampered vote of q majority OF any nation and that
hence throne exists that has right to exist and
symbol Of It, flying from any flagstaff Is rightsousiy en-
titled any device but tho skull and crossbones
Of that kindred industry which differs from royalty
only business wise-merely retail differs from
wholesale. 1t must keep tho ctzens eye fixed in rev.
doclity upon that curious invention Of machine
politics. an established church. and upon that bald
tradiction Of common Justice hereditary nobility.
and diligently divert Il from tho fact that tho
damns him II he doesn't VICAR its collar and robs him
under the gentle o. taxation whether he It
or not tho other gets all the honors while he does
all the work.
The essayIst thought that Mr.. Arnold with
his trained eye and Intelligent observation.
ought to have perceived that tho very quality
which he so regretfully missed from our press
-respectfulness. reverence-was exactly the
thing which would make our press useless to US
II it had it-rob 1t OF the very thing which diff
ferentiates it from all other journalism In the
world and makes 1t distinctivey and precious
~ American. its frank and cheerful irrever-
ence being BY all odds tho most valuable OF all
its qualities. For its Neutrality-suspicious. by
Mr.. Arnold-is to stand guard over a nations
liberties. not its humbugs and shams." He
thought that II. during fifty years. the institu-
tions OF the old world could be exposed to tho
fire OF Haunting and scoffing press like ours.
monarchy and its attendant crimes would
disappear from Christendom. Monarchists
might doubt this: then why not per suade
the Car to give it trial In Russian"
Concluding he said:
"well. the charge is. that our press has but
little OF that old world quality. reverence. Let
us be candidly grateful that 1t is 80. With its
limited reverence it at least reveres the things
which this nation reveres. as rule. and that is
sufficient: what other people revere is fairly
and properly matter OF light Importance to u.s.
Our press does not reverence kings. 1t does
not reverence so-called nobilties. It does not
reverence established ecclesiastical slaveries.
1t does not reverence laws which rob younger
son to fatten an elder one. it does not rever-
ence any fraud or sham or infamy. howsoever
old or rotten or holy. which sets one citizen
above his neighbor by accident OF birth: it
does not reverence any law or custom. howso.
ever old or decayed or sacred. which shuts
against the best man In the land the best
place In the land and the divine right to
prove property and 60 up and occupy 1t. In
the sense OF the poet Goethe-that meek idola-
tor OF provincial three carat royalty and no.
bility-our press is certainly bankrupt In the
thrill OF awe'-otherwise reverence: rever-
ence for nickel plate and brummagem. Lot us
sincerely hope that this fact will remain fact
forever: for to my mind a discriminating ir-
reverence Is the creator and protector OF hu-
man liberty-even as the other thing is tho
creator nurse. and steadfast protector OF all
forms OF human slavery. bodily and mental"
Tracy said to himself. almost shouted to
himself. I'm glad came to this country.
was right. ! was right. to seek ont land
where such healthy principles and theories
are in mons hearts and ifpinds. Think Of
the innumerable slaveries imposed by mis-
placed reverence! How well he brought that
out. and how true 1t is. There's manifestly
prodigious force In reverence. II you can get
a man to reverence your ideals. he's your
slave. Oh. yes. in all the ages tho people Of
Europe have been diligently taught to avoid
reasoning about the shsms OF monarchy and
nobility. been taught to avoid examining them.
been taught to reverence them. and now, as
natural result, to reverence them 10 second
nature In order to shock them 1t 10 sufficient
to inject a thought OF the opposite kind into
their dull minds. For ages any expression
Of so-called irreverence from their lips has
81, Vhn nd nil Il Ia