Democratic messenger. [volume] (Snow Hill, Md.) 1869-1973, 1896-03-28

The worid VIII have 10 learn that IA news
paper j. .~ much II an institution rs the
Bark ut l-n.and or Yale college and Is
uot au cntrrl ri~c II you have the aforo-
+ said Il. riculiural or scientific or religious
or political id. ItoNeniilatc, you had better
charge upon the world through the col
unus already established. IL is folly for
( any one who cannot succeed at anything
4 else to try news ,apcrdom II you cannut
/ climb the hill back OF your house, IL Is folly
I 10 try tbs sides Of the Matierhorn.
Near To the People.
To publish newspaper requires the
! skill, the prcri ion, the huldncss. the vigil
I lance, the strategy of "A commander in chief
{ To edit newspaper requires that one be
! statesman, an csSayist, "a ge0graphcr,
Z statis;ieian and, in acquisition, cncyClope-
I diac. To man. 10 govern, To prupei "a news
I paper until it shall lie "a fixed institution
( a national fact, demands more qualities
/ than any business on earth II you feel
/ like starting any newspaper, secular or re-
/ ligioas. understand that you are being
I threatened with softcning of the brain or
I lunacy. and throw ing your puckcibook into
your wiic's lap start for some insane asy-
lum before you do something desperate.
T Meanwhile rs the dead newspapers week
after week are carried ont To burial all the
I living newspapers give respectful obitu-
airy telling when they We're born and
I when they died The best printers ink
should giycat least one stickful Of epitaph.
! If IL WAS Il good paper. say. Peace TO its
/ ashes " II 4: was bad paper, | suggest
Z the cpitaph written for Francis Char
/ trcusc: Here coniinuoth To rot the body
I OF Francis Chart reuse, who. with an in
1 flexible consistency and uniformity Of life,
/ persisted in the practice of every human
/ yicc excepting prodigallty and hypocrisy.
4 His Unsuitable avaricc exempted him from
/ the first his matehless impudencc from
/ the second | say this because want
/ you To know that u good, healthy, long
/ lived, entertaining newspaper Is not an
I easy blessing, but one that comes TO US
through the fire
First Of all, newspapers make knowledge
4 democratic and for the multitude. The
/ public library is haymow so high up
that few can reach II. while the newspaper
throws down the forage 10 our feet. Pub
/ lie libraries are the reservoirs where the
great floods are stored high up and away
/ of Tho newspaper Is the tunnel that
brings them down to the pitchers of all
/ the people Tho chief use Of great libra
rirs is To make newspapers out of. Great
4 libraries make few men and women very
wise. Newspapers III; whole nations into
the sunlight Better have 50, 600, 600 pco-
/ pie moderately intelligent than 100000
solons.
\ false impression Is abroad that news
paper krnwledgc is ephemeral because
/ periodicals are thrown aside, and not one
ont Of 10000 people files them for future
reference. Such knowledge. so far from
l..
turc Of the worlds heart and brain and de-
cidcs tho destiny Of churches and nations.
| knowledge on the shelf is Of little worth.
1t i knowledge afoot, knowledge harness
cd, knowledge in revolution, knowledge
winged. knowledge projected, knowledge
thuudcrb, ltc:i ~ far from being cphem-
cral nearly all the best minds and hearts
have their hands on the printing press to-
! day and hayu had since 1t got cmancipGted.
4 Adams and Hancock and otis used to go
- the Boston Gazette and compose articles
on the rights If the people. benjamin
Franklin. De Witt Clinton. Hamilton,
Jefferson, Quincy, were strong in ncwspa-
pcrtlon Many Of the immortal things
that have been published in book form
0rs; appeared in what you may call the
I cphcmcrnl periodical All Macaulay's es-
say- first appeared in "a review. All Car
lylc's all RuSkin's, all Mclntosh's, all
sydney SMITHS, all IIazliits, all Thack-
I cr,ys MI The elevated works Of fiction in
orr day, are reprints from periodicals in
which they appeared rs serials. Tenny-
sons poems. Burns poems, Longfcllow's
poems, Emerson ; poems, Luwcll's poems,
I Whittier poems were once fugitive pieces.
4 You cannot find ten literary men in Chris
tcndum with strong minds aud great hearts
but are or have been somehow connected
with the newspaper printing press While
I the book will always have lis place, the
I newspaper Is more potent. Because the
/ latter is muliitudinous do not conclude Ii
/ Is necessarily superficial. II man should
! from childhood to old age see only his
/ Bible Wchstors Dictionary and his news
paper, he could be- prepared for all the du
tr, ~ this life and all tho happiness of
the next