Printers' Pension, Almshouse and Orphan Asylum Corporation.

Manawatu Standard, Volume X, Issue 50, 27 July 1885, Page 4

Printers' Pension, Almshouse and Orphan Asylum Corporation.

Th- Rev. D. A. Doudncy, D. D., vicar of St, Luke's Bed minster, and Editor of tho Gospel Mavazine, Old Jonathan, and other journals, delivered a sermon on behalf of the' Printers' .Pension, Almshnnse, and Orphan Asylum Corporation at the church of St.. Andrew-l>y-the-Ward-robe, Blackfriars, on Thursday evening, April 9, the church b; ing wellfilled. Many London friends of Dp. Doudnoy, who had heard him preach to a crowded congregatim on- behalf of the Aged Pilgrims' Friend Society at St. Mary Woolnoth, invited the doctor, and appealed 1o the rector of St. Andrew-bv-the- Wardrobe (the Key. C. F. Chase, M.A- who kindly consented to the service being held m this church, rendered historical by the rec'orslnp of William Romaine, who was chaplain to the Lord Mayor (Sir D. FjambcrtJ m 171-1. There was something appropriate m the sermon, being preached ny Dr. Djuduey, as he was himself a printer, prior to tak.ng orders m the. Church of Eng-1-md. Amongst those present representing the Printers' Corporation,were the chairman (Mr. Yonng)^ Mr.W. Blades (a member of tho council), aud Mr. Hodsou (the sccretfar/). Mr. Judd, CO., and Mr. Key Hiirdey (churchwardensi,- aud many other friends were : also present. - ? Tho first part of the service was con ducted by the Rector : ( the Rev. C. F Chase), and ibe lesson whs read by tlieltev W. Saundera. M. A., I vicar of St. Silas, Bristol.',. : Dr. Doudney took foiv his text 2 Cor. xii. 9." And He .said unto me My grace is sufficient for theuj for My strength is ma-lo perfect m weak,ness,".which he proceeded to illustrate nnd enfoice will) considerable, effect. " At-the close of the sermon the doctor gave sonic interesting facts a'out the progress of prim ing. He said : Now, as a reason for setting before you the claims of the institution for which I plead to-night, permit me to 'oontrast tho past with tho pres- nt, m regard to the press. It is questionable whether the marvellous progress with respect to newspapers especially has arrested the public mind j»s other discoveries'have done. When I 'was first connected with a- provincial journal the price was 7d., and ■ the advertisement duty 3s. 6r1., for a sheet scarcely a third the size of the "ordinary papers of the present day, As an illustration of the woriclrous change between that time and this, I may- mention that at the 'passing of the Reform Bill the publishing of the result of the division within half-an-hour of the arrival of the stagecoach bringing the intelligence on. the Saturday evening was coufcidoml, a great achievement Contrast that \v;ith the lact of the minute details of various battles m connection with the preifont lamentable war being published 'in 'London within throe or four hours of their occurrence m that far-off land. Instead, moreover, of 200 impressions being struck off each hour, m the same opace of time by means of duplicate machinery, eighty lo one ; hiindred thousand of each of ;■ the leading papers are issued. ! The fact is astounding, that within a.few bundled yards of this church millions of sheets of the newspaper press iare day by day sent forth into tlietlphsjth and breadth of the habitable . globe. I have spoken; merely of -the .newspaper press. Permit me to call your ; attention for a moment: to what has beenacconiplishcd by the. British and Foreign Bible. Society, whose lvposi■tory occupies a site so near to 'this church. Since its formatiwn, m, 1804j its -nWrogate distribittion .'of the ; Sacred Word has amounted to upward of one hundred million.- copies. Think of 10,000 of Mie Penny New Testament 1 issued daily, and cdntrasf. it with the times when \ a load of straw was given for two leaves of the Bible > or suoh as wished, to read tho Sucred ."^Tord wore ob=li>ed to resort to the ci'ypts ofcei'tairi churches, there to availthemselves of the coj)'y chained to.- the spot for security; or when the* little Welsh maid had to walk sevon miles to and . fry fi'om her ho;ne to that "of ilie minister m order to read a" small portion of the Book of books. Contemplate, moreover/, the amount of literature so continuously issued from the neighbouring , Paternoster-row. "Within my recollection, it was considered, a. suprising fuct that two or three of the leading publishing houses,. .shoui,=l, towards the close of the rmptttb, receive 400 letters a-day. What would that lie thought of now, when twice that number are received by ordinary houses? But can such ends; be attained without- effort 1 ? Most certainly not. The wear and tear can scarcely be imagined. As having personally conducted one monthly ■ publication for five and forty years, and another for nine. and twenty, pei'haps, without the charge of egotism, I may be allowed to'state that the .said works are continuously and | almost unintenuptedly upon my mind; but what comparison will a monthly magazine hear to a daily newspaper ? It m the on 3 is involved weight and ere and responsihihty; how much more m the other? "When seated at his breakfast-table, or s'tc])ping into the omnibuf?, ihe tram, or the train of a morning, how little does. the ordinary reader think of the immense amount of thought and toil bestowed upon what he handles* as a simple matter of cours*. G-litace for a moment at the ordeal through which that newspaper has passed. From most remote' scources, by means of hundreds of telegrams, information is dnily obtained, but oftentimes m c nnection with the most pe.ilousof circumstances, and, as m severaKre--cc lit instance , even a': the s=a rifice ■of life !..-. Witness the ; case of th; se la minted corroppondents of the leading journals, whose remains how Jie m'oi i ! tiering beneath the surface of the lattle tied ! Or, to cma norer home, arid to contemplate, fo '•' a mom:n L , the responsibility <-f those who leport for the press*. In or about \ th • year 1826 or 1827, I happened to le m the Hou^e of Comnions,- uppi j th- 6 casion of O'Conrieli proposing . to riaign the pruter of the Times, at lie. bar of the House, for breach of I'iivi'e.ge, bis speeches not having been •rupo ted to his satisfaction.' At the c!os of the d. bale, Sir Robert Peel | rbs . andMn his own bUnd and mo 3 \. pew. a ive way, make a einark L,

have never • forgotton". "So f.->r," he said, " from our fimling fault with tl.'e gentlemen of the pi ess, we ought 1o consider ourselves greatly inde t d to them, for who of us, as we s fc at our breakfast-table of a m<>nn:ipr, woul«l like to see our spepch of he previous night ivpoiiO'l verbalini?" If such a statesman and so great an orator .spoke m such terms m his day, what must bo th« responsibility of cpntributors ti> the pr«ss iu.o.nr day, when a .tenfold additional; weight is laid upon tli-^m 1 Consider., then, the c dnties of the editorial staff, who, m the opinion of the public ou^ht to be infallible, and incapab'e of error, either iv word or deed. Then follow the details of thecornposing-romn the reading closei, the stereotyping, ;md machine departments, and, finally, the dispa'ch tor the early newspaper trains. No impure utino^phere'fi'oni the almost overpowoi'iuyf gas or .lieatftl finiw ', «° sudden sicknods or ailments of any of the employes; n-> breakJo.vn of machinery ; no London fogs, or frosty, slippary streets, or blocked thorough lares, will .suffice as mi excuse for loss of post or train.' The hiibsciiber as na'-.iu-ully looks for liiV pit per ms for his letters, and is annoyed if, :»s a matter, of course, he faiis to find his morning journal on •the breakfast-table, lie unfolds, ho reads; but alas ! how rarely does he thiuk of the wear and tear, thfe rush and crush, at which, what he is perusing, has bern produced % A pressuie has l>eon bronglit to bear upon those engaged m tbeir.cmtinuous and unremitting toil, which commonly issues m one of three things — a lunatic asylum, jiiii; e.arly grave, .or premature old age, and corresponding loss of physical and men tar power. How, then, permit me. to ask, is .lu'eh a stale of things to be met ? How can some little compensation be offered for such a course of self- sacrificing services? By means, I venture to say, of such admirable institutions as that for which I plead this evening. Here such as have been engaged m the way I have briefly stated, or those who have been left widows m consequence o&t heir -husband's premature decay and death, are nourished and most kindly cared for during the evening of life. Amongst my most pleasing . -.an d> grateful memories is a' visit to tli<'ajuushouses at Wood Green, iv coin- , pany -wiih.jny friend, Mr Collmgridgp, and several members of his fktnih. It wasiny privilege to take part m the Sunday afternoon service, for which he has held himself responsible diiriug the last few-years. I know of .no. engagement upon which J look back with greater pleasure, during* my lengthened and imperfect ministry j than upon that occasion. Will you, my dear friends, enhance that pleasure this evening 1 Will you send me back to my wonted sphere of labour, with the grateful reflection that, m my old .age and fast-declining yeai s, I have not undertaken a long railway .journey and appealed to yon for nought? On the contrary, by your response to my plain and simple appeal to-night, give me to return to morrow to my home with the thought, that an old printer, who commenced his business career upwards of fifty years ago, m an upper room within a few hundred yards of where we are now assembled, and as a freeman of one of your ancient Oity companies, for woll nigh that lengthened .period, I havo not pleaded m vain for the Printers' Pension, Almsliouse, and Orphan Corporation. The hymns sung were "A Debtor to Mercy Alone " (Toplad v , " God Moves m a. Mysterious Way " (Cowper), and " Abba Father " (Hawker), an interesting sketch of the author being appended to each hymn.