Year: 1875

killing by gladiatorial combats, and tn
r hghting of all sorts of beasts. This exc
s else OF the savage instinct by fightin
IS and killing by deputy is one of the grea
e advances of civilization 1t has enliste
f nearly the whole animal kingdom, an
, has in former times largely filled up tn
S intermissions of war, by compelling pris
n oners of war to kill each other in singl
a combat in the amphitheater.


: All these bloody exhibitions have de
n clined because the progress of refnemen
! has found other outlets for the savag'
f nature. The chief of these is in preyinl
upon characters and regulations. Will
7 the growth of the complex relations o
7 civilized society, reputation becomes O.
: vital consequence. Therefore the say
ing is universally accepted that gooo
name is dearer than life So to the in
: stinct of human nature the sensation in
killing a good name must be as enjoyable
as in taking life 1t is the same carniv


orous nature, with only refinement in
fashion. We have reason to believe that
when the Roman fine lady had enjoyed


in the Coliseum, the spectacle of a score


of gladiators Staying each other in single


combat, and of lot of Christian dis


turbers of the orthodox faith torn in


pieces by wild beasts, the wants of her


nature were satisfied without preying


upon the characters of her neighbors.


In the pride of our refinement we look


upon these entertainments as barbarous,


but they had their use.


The satisfaction which men and women


take in tearing each others regulations !;


in hearing and repeating evil reports; in


listening to and swelling scandal which


kills character; and, on the other hand,


the lack of all relish in good report,
| Eo nfaIl 10


look down to the springs of human ma


ture, in our origin, to see that this keen


appetite with which we devour good


names is the same carniv orous instinct,


which in primitive society, felt raven


Gus joy in biting into their flesh and


sucking their blood.


By this we behold the use of the pug


nacities of the newspapers. OF all the


modern improvements for giving exer-


else to the british nature of mankind by


vicarious fighting, the daily newspaper is
equivalent, in moral effect, to daily
| cockpit. Three or four are equivalent


to the Roman amphitheater, with an


every day performance of gladiators, and


the tearing of uubelievers by wild beasts.


The daily paper seems to give almost


complete satisfaction to the fighting and


preying nature of the community. To


its pugnacities we are indebted for the


decay of the prize ring, and of the regular


spectacle of the fighting of dogs, cocks,


bulls, BEARS badgers, quails, and all other


forms of human and beastly combat.
Dueling is fast going out before it, and it
makes chance personal collisions con-
temptible Therefore, the quarreling of
editors, instead of being deprecated,
should be encouraged, upon the princi-
pie that newspaper broils conduce to de- |
mestic peace.


And it is encouraged. When men re-
buke it they talk sentiment contrary
to their nature. They would not be hu-
man if they did not enjoy it. The mas
culine Liam can not pass by two dogs |
fighting on the street, without stopping |
to see which whips.


The daily paper coming into the family |
with its daily faying and mangling of
the other editor, must give safety not
only to the grosser forms of the carniver-
Gus appetite, but to its refined forms such
as envy, hate, detraction, scandal, and
SANDER Individual talent in this line
stands abashed before the tremendous
power of the great moral engine.


The daily newspaper may not have
reached its perfect work; but this review
of our origin and of the course of our
civilization is a rational demonstration
that when its quarrelsomeness shall have
reached the ultimate of fierceness and
foulness, it will bring complete satisfac-
tion to the carnivorous nature in all its
forms, so that where the daily journal is
read there will be no more appetite for
devouring the characters. of our neigh
bors, than there was in Roman society
when it had the frequent bloody specta-
Gle of the amphitheater.


But besides this fine moral influence,
the quarreling of the daily paper has
moral side in the very act For while
each editor holds up to the world every
other editor as a monster of depravity
yet on the other hand he holds up the
of all the virtues in himself. j
He exhibits the hideous mien of vice {
in the other, and the loveliness of virtue
in his own person. He sets before them I
good and evil, purity and depravity, !
moral heroism and moral baseness, in I
such sharp contrast that they cannot
choose but love the good and hate the /
bad. This is the work of the great moral {
engine. {


All sorts of people discourse on the c
power of the daily journal, and tell how s
it should be conducted. Preachers are t
wont to preach on it so wisely as to per- v
,uade us that if they only had its direc- (
lion they would usher the millennium a
light in. Magazine writers treat of it. I
Platform lecturers read exhaustive essays c
lpon it. There is, however, one singular I
man that has created pub {
ic journal has delivered lecture or S
written an essay on the way to do it. v
There have been some notable creators v
IF newspapers in our country, but they t
lied without telling how they did it. 8
Perhaps it would not be we'll for the c
.pitaphs of some of them if they had. e


Every man seems to have a clear un- e
of the principles for con-
iucting daily paper. There is no capa- /
,ility so generally diffused as that of ed T
ting a newspaper. The rules have been G
20 publicly taught that any one can put /
hem in practice. l shall touch upon |
ome of the chief maxims which have |
,een laid down by those that have APP {
,eared in the magazines and upon the q
platform as professors of the art of jour C
lalsm.


But first l shall mention the grand c
ield which the newspaper has in this j
in the condition that here the e
,ress is free. This is blessing peculiar
o our country, for although they call the a
press free in England, yet the law of libel v
S a reality in that country, and any re- L
.lity in the law of libel in this country $
would be called the gagging of the press l.
N this glorious land of the eagle, the I
,ress and the pulpit are both free, Who P
hall set bounds to the moral elevation |
# people among whom such moral n
powers as these are let loose


The preacher is perfectly free. Like t
wise, under Professionalism, every member Il
n II L l. n