The united opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1881-1970, 1898-02-25
TALMAGE'S SERMONS.
DISTINGUISHED DIVINE TELLS HOW
THEY ARE PUBLISHED BROADCAST.

Thousandth Full Publication of Sermons
Glowing Tribute to the Press-Trials and
Temptations of Newspaper Work.
copyright, 1893 by American Press Asso-
ciation.l
WASHINGTON, Feb. 20-For the first
time Dr. Talmage in this discourse tells
in what way his sermons have come to
a multiplicity of publication such as
has never in {, y other case been known
since the art of printing wac invented;
text Nahum ii, 4, "They shall seem
like torches; they shall run like the
lightnings
Express, rail train and Geographic
communication are suggested if not fore
told in this text, and from it | start to
preach a sermon in gratitude to God and
the newspaper press for the fact that
have had the opportunity of delivering
through the newspaper press 2, 600 SER
mons or religious addresses, so that
have for many years been allowed the
privilege of preaching the gospel every
week to every neighborhood in Chris
tendon and in many lands outside of
Christendom. Many have wondered at
the process by which it has come to
pass, and for the first time in public
place state the three causes, Many
years ago a young man who has since
become eminent in his profession was
then studying law in distant city. He
came to me and said that for lack OF
funds he must stop his studying unless
through stenography | would give him
sketches of sermons, that he might by
the sale of them secure means for the
completion of his education. positive
" declined, because it seemed to me an
impossibility, but after some months
had passed and l had reflected upon the
great sadness for such a brilliant young
man to be defeated in his ambition for
the legal profession l undertook to serve
him-of course free of charge. Within
three weeks there came a request for
those stenographic reports from many
parts of the continent.
Time passed on, and some gentlemen
of my own profession, evidently think
ing that there was hardly room for them
and for myself in this continent, began
to assail me, and became so violent in
their assault that the chief newspapers
of America put special correspondents
in my church Sabbath by Sabbath to
take down such reply as | might make
I never made reply, except once for
about three minutes, but those CORE
spondents could not waste their time,
and so they teIegraphed the sermons to
their particular papers.
Organization of the Syndicate.
After awhile DR.. Louis Klopsch of
New York systematized the work into
syndicate until through that and other
syndicates he has put the disoOurses
week by week before more than 20, O00,-
900 people on both sides the sea- There
have been so many guesses on this sub
iect, many of them inaccurate, that l
now tell the true story. have not i'm
proved the opportunity as l ought, but
/ feel the time has come when as a mat
ter of common Justice to the newspaper
press | should make this statement in
a sermon commemorative of the two
thousandth full publication of sermons
and religious addresses, saying nothing
of fragmentary reports, which would
There was one incident that might
mention in this connection showing
how an insignificant event might in
fluence us for lifetime. Many years
ago on a Sabbath morning on my way
to church in Brooklyn representative OF
a prominent newspaper met me and
said "Are you going to give us any
points today?' / said, "What do you
mean by 'points?' He replied, ANY
thing we can remember" l said to
myself, 1--WE ought to be making
points all the time in our pulpits and
not deal in platitudes and inanities.
That one interrogation put to me that
morning started in me the desire of
making points all the time and nothing
but points.
And now how can | more appropri
ateIv commemorate the two thousandth
publication than by speaking of the
newspaper press as an ally of the pulpit
and mentioning some of the trials of
newspaper men!
The newspaper is the great educator
of the nineteenth century. There is no
force compared with it. 1t is book, pull
pit. platform, forum, all in one. And
there is not an interest-religiOus, lit
erary, commercial, scientific, agricul
tnral or mechanical-that is not within
its grasp. All our churches, and schools,
and colleges, and asylums, and art gal
leries feel the quaking of the printing
press.
The institution of newspapers arose
in Italy In Venice the first newspaper
was published, and monthly during the
time Venice was warning against Soly-
man the second in Dalmatia it was
printed for the purpose of giving mill
tary and commercial information to the
Venetians The first newspaper pub
lished in England was in 1888 and
called The English Mercury. Who can
estimate the political, scientific, COM
mercial and religious revolutions reused
up in England for many years past by
the press?
The first attempt at this institution
in France was in 1851, by physician,
who published The News, for the
amusement and health of his patients.
The French nation understood fully
how to appreciate this power So early