The sun., 1902-06-29
The History OF . Religious Paper.

"'N-Ns W hlkN hB
nisCencs~ Of religious journalism in this
country aud ofthe division that disturbed
-o long the peace of the Presbyterian
/ Church. Of the stanrhe~t school of which
hat paper was the earliest and most
. consistent organ.
In ls?S when the Obserrar was e,s-
tahlshcd. Pr.,byterianism was the most
pow.riII religious influence in New York
\ very great part of the bar Of the
/ most substan, business element and OF
/ he most notable intellectual and social
{ circles uf our society was connected
with thH, Church The Roman Catholic
/ population Of New York was then small.
both relatively and actually; in 1927
/ u was estimated by q Bishop OF that
church NJ only about twenty-five thou
,and though It had increased largely
during the decade by reason Of the Irish
immigration The whole population OF
the town WAS in 1890 abou, two hundred
thousand and It had increased by nearly
one hall since 1890
When IN lN,'s the Trinity Corporation
began the building of 81 Johns Church
IN Narlck street there was surprise at
he spending of So much money To put up
a church IN that marshv region on the
outskirts Of the town. Those were very
primitive dav- for New York In ls22
the year before the establishment of the
OhSsn,r. came vlr1Ilent visitation ~
yellow fever. the mortality from which
was more than twelve hundred betw
July ami November, and the panic
stricken inhabitants moved helter-skel-
tor to hastily constructed refugees In
Greenwich village. or the then open part
of the island In 1928 the epidemic
ragged still more violently and the tenn
pprarv emigration TO the northward wa-
repeated In Broadway at that time
there wcrr only scattered buildings above
Canal street
In 1894 SIDNEY EDWARDS MORSE came
Ia New York for the purpose Of starting
a religious paper and. with his brother.
RICHARD CARY MORSt, founded the 90
ssrrcr The t-o were brothers of the
iilu,trious MoRsF 20 whom we owe
practical telcgraphy. and were sons Of
the Rev JEDlDIAH MORSE. who studied
theology under the famous JONATHAN
EDWARDS and Wa a lifelong assaIlan,
of the I nitarianism which had invaded
~" Puritan preserve 81 New England
SrpNFY 'ame TO New York after a sue
cc-sful experience IN establishing and
conducting AZ Boston the first religious
newspaper published in America, IN"
Boston Recorder founded IN 1918. 7, u
an interesting Circumstance that he had
been induced to undertake that earlier
task bv JEREMIAH EvARTs. notable tor
his connection with the great Congrega-
tional foreign missionary society and
also ~ the father of the late and dis
tinguishcd WILLIAM M,xwEI.L EvARrs
In 1865 the Rev Or SsMUEL IRENFt
PRINk became a par owner of the Oh
strrsr. which then had grown into
valuable property. and a. its editor.
before and Gfterward. he gave dtstlnc-
tion to the paper Or PRIME was a man
~ an engaging personality into whose
genial nature little of the iron " Calvin
I'm seemed to have entered though that
Il was IN hls head the long leadership by
hl~ PAPER Of the >tricte,, school ~ Pres
byterianism demonstrated. A. this time
The Obssrrcr had a very large patronage
at the south, for IL was the target for
Abolition assault It's Southern Prss-
bvterian patrons may not have been
prompt pay. hut their accounts were
good, even II they had nun unpaid for
half a generation. and by tho collection
of those past dues when the cotton crop
Wa especially rich. the Obsorrsr got a
handsome revenue. OF course. the Civil
War shut OF that source Of profit hut
when the terrible conflict was over. many
Of these old debts were paid under the
impulse 81 the stern Presbyterian con-
science of the South Dr. PRIME was q
volIminous author and one Of his many
books, The Power of Prayer" which
gave the history Of the great religious
revival in lss!. or The Great Awaken
ing. n " is called. was translated into
French and into dialect of the Fast
indies and vas sold by the hundred
thousand.
The time of the editorship of DR..
PRIME was the most prosperous period
in the long history Of the Observer. Of
recent years that paper has shared the
is'c Of our religious newspapers gener-
ally. III. d~cline Of religious faith. or
of religious partisanstip. together with
the increasing preference of the reig-
ious public Tor so-called secular papers,
ha- drained very much Of the iif. out
Of them. In the old days the Observer
had two distinct departments. -Reiig- |
i,,,. and Sas,tlar and sn arv.na.-l
that the paper could be sharply divided
for SUNDAY and for week day reading.
respectively. In the one, tho world Ia
some was the theme. in the other. this
world Of fact and scnse and sc,f-seeking.
In the search after lost prosperity |