Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1898-02-25

nalI OF lub lIteuDiu VI -. tltl LcuBtA >
Gazette in America, and when Erskine
made his great speech in behalf Of the
freedom to publish Paine's "Rigbts Of
Man" in England. Those were the Mar
athon and the Thermopyle where the
battle was fought which decided the
freeom of the press in England and
America, and all the powers of earth
and hell will never again be able to put
upon the printing press the handouts
and the hopples of literary and political
despotism.
1t is remarkable that Thomas Jeffer-
son, who wrote the Declaration Of indie
pendence, also wrote these words, IF l
had to choose between a government
without newspapers and newspapers
without a government, would prefer
the latter Stung by some new fabri-
cation in print, we come to write or
speak about an "unbridled printing
press. " Our new book ground up in un-
Just criticism, we come to write or
speak about the unfair printing press.
Perhaps through our own indistinctness
of utterance we are reported as saying
Just the opposite Of what we did say,
and there is small riot Of semicolons
and hyphens and commas, and we come
to write or talk about the laundering
printing press, " or we take up news
paper full of social scandal and Of cases
of divorce, and we write or talk about
Filthy, scurrilous printing press.
But this morning / ask you TO consider
the immeasurable and everlasting bless
ing Of a good newspaper
find no difficulty in accounting for
the worlds advance. What has made
the change? Books, you say. No, sir.
The vast majority Of citizens do not
read books. Take this audience or any
other promiscuous assemblage, and how
many histories have they read: How
many treatises on constitutional law or
political economy or works Of science?
How many elaborate poems or books OF
travel? Not many. In the United States
the people would not average one such
book year for each individual. Whence
then this intelligence, this capacity to
talk about all themes, secular and reli-
gious; this acquaintance with science
and art, this power 10 appreciate the
beautiful and grand; Next to the Bible,
the newspaper, swift winged and every
where present, flying over the fence,
showed under the door, tossed into the
counting house, laid on the work bench,
hawked through the cars. All read it
white and black, German, lrishman,
Swiss. Spaniard, American, old and
young, good and bad, sick and well, be-
fore breakfast and after tea, Monday
morning, Saturday night, Sunday and
weekday. now declare that | consider
the newspaper TO be the grand agency
by which the gospel is to be preached,
ignorance cast out, oppression dethron-
ed. crime extirpated, the world raised,
heaven rejoiced and God glorified. In
the clanking Of the printing press as
the sheets fly out, hear the voice OF
the Lord Almighty proclaiming to all
the dead nations of the earth, Lazarus,
come forth" and to the retreating
surges Of darkness, "Let there be light y
In many Of our city newspapers, pro-
Tossing no more than secular informa-
ton. there have appeared during the
past 80 years some Of the grandest ap-
peals in behalf Of religion and some OF
the most effective interpretations OF
Gods government among the nations
Good and Bad Newspapers.
There are only two kinds Of newspa-
pers-the one good, very good the
other bad, very bad. 4 newspaper may
be started with an undecided character
but after it has been going on for years
everybody finds out just what it Is, and
it is very good or it is very bad. The
one paper is the embodiment Of news
the ally Of virtue, the fee Of crime the
delectation of elevated taste, the might
est agency on earth for making the
world better. The other paper Is brig
and among moral forces it is be
sinner Of reputation, it is the rieh
arm Of death and hell it is the mightles
agency in the universe for making th'
world worse and battling against thu
cause of God-the one an angel Of ID
telligence and mercy. the other a iieuC
of darkness. Between this archanee
and this fury is to be fought the eroa
battle which is to decide The fate OF th'
world. If you have any doubt a. t'
which is TO be victor, ask the prophecies
ask God. The chief batteries wiki whicl
he would vindicate the right and thun
der down the wrong are now unlimber
ed. The great Armagoddon Of the na
tions is not to be fought with swords
but with steel pens; not with bullets
but with type: not with cannon, bu
with lightning perfecting presses AM
the Sumters and the Moultries and tn
Pulaskis and the Gibraltars Of that con
hiot will be the editorial and reportorla
rooms Of our great newspaper establish
ments. Men of the press, God has put
more stupendous responsibility upo
Won than upon any other class OF pei
sons What long strides your professio
has made in influence and power sine
the day when Peter Shelter inyente
cast metal type, and because two book
were found just alike they were ascrlbe
TO the work Of the devil, and books Wer
printed on strips of bamboo, and Rev
Jesse Glover originated the first Amerl
can printing press, and the commo
council Of New York in solemn resolu
tion offered $500 to any printer VIII
would come there and live, and whel
the speaker Of the house Of parliamen
in England announced with indignatio
that the public prints had recognize
some of their doings, until In this day
when we have in this country man.
thousands Of skilled stenographers AM
newspapers sending out copies by To
billion. The press and the telegrap
have gone down into the same grea
harvest field to reap, and the telegrap
saws to the newspaper, "Ill rake Will
Won bind. and the ircn teeth of th
telegraph are set down at one end OF tn
harvest field and drawn clean across
and the newspaper gathers up tf
sheaves, setting down one sheat on u