THE PRESS AND PULPIT.

Tuapeka Times, Volume V, Issue 254, 12 December 1872, Page 9

THE PRESS AND PULPIT.

A. lecture on the Press and Pulpit was delivered recently in the West Melbourne Presbyterian Church, by the Rev. A. Robertson. The lecturer, after urging that the Press and Pulpit, were co-operative, and not antagonistic forces, proceeded to remark as follows with respect to the former : —

The newspaper press in Great Britain originated in tbe 17th century. It wag well nigh- crushed under the iron yoke of the bigoted and infatuated Stuarts. But it revived again, like a giant refreshed with wine, with tbe Revolution of 1688. Still, even then, and for long afterwards, the press was not favoured by tnen in power. The statesmen of Anne's reign attempted I in every possible way to restrain and fetter ife, by a species of- Government surveillance, put forth to protect rulers from that open public criticism to which they are naturally averse, but to which, nevertheless they ought always be subjected in a free country. But it is wonderful how slow the official mind is to grasp this self-evident maxim : and how, even still, not a little remains to remind us of the past, in the reluc-

tance which is shown to relieve the press from all such deadweights and impediments as operate to check the free circulation of nowspaper critics m and intelligence, which ought, above all things, to be encouraged and promoted, especially in young and growing communities. However, the press has not much to complain of now, for the law of libel is no longer the gag which once choked its utterances, and sent so many brave and out-spoken writers to the gaol and pillory. No one can do without his paper. As the Duke of Argyle truly remarks: — "Most men would as soon be without their breakfast as their broadsheet." What a blank it would create were our newspapers withdrawn — a blank which would be felt by all classes. The flow of social talk would dwindle into puny rills of weary commonplace ; the sources of that varied information which imparts so much freshness and vivacity to our intercourse with each Other bein g abruptly closed. We pronounce the press, therefore, to be the best friend and companion which modern society has acquired ; the spreader of intelligence, the educator of the public mind, the benefactor of the whole civilised world. The press can never undertake the work of the pulpit, nor the pulpit that of the press. lam not particularly partial to professedly religious papers ; that is, papers started in the interest of religious parties. They seldom take well with the general public ; and, in too many instances the so-called religious press exceeds the secular in bitterness of invective, and in one-sided criticsm. The pulpit is a great gainer from the press by the varied and valuable information which ministers gather from its columns. The pulpit must be alive to what is passing. 'He who buvies himself in his books, or who is wholly immured in abstract studies, or in mere theological lore, can never adapt his administrations to the times, nor speak home to the hearts of men. The preacher must, at least, be abreast with hia au dience in acquaintance with men and things. The press is tha revealer of human nature, both in its fouler and fairer aspects. To use the language of Shakespear, which now applies with much more truth to the press than the stage. "It holds as 'twere the mirror up to Nature, and shows us the form and pressure, the very age and body of the time." The press acts likewise as the handmaid of the pulpit by tho reports which it circulates. The press cannot load its sheets with religious intelligence, or go beyond the laws of demand and supply ; but, to the extent to which it supplies religious matter, it is an auxiliary to the pulpit. Yet is it not the case, some may say, that the press often comes down upon the clergy, and that this is a kind of pastime in which it seems to take particular delight ? Well, every profession must lay ite account for this kind of badinage but it does us no harm. They love us while they smite us. If you take the press as a whole, the church has no reason to complain. X regard it not as a bane, but a benefit to tbe clergy that they have to confront the press. Ministers must come up to the mark, they must examine, think, and act independently. With reason and common sense upon their side, what have they to fear ? The pulpit without the press, would often be tempted "to beat the dream ecclesiastic " so as to stifle every sound but its own. Nothing can now succeed but what will abide the test of examination. Neither press nor pulpit is infallible. Truth alone will prevail. Nothing can be in danger but ignorance, misconception, prejudice, and error. The current of thought and feeling is bearing us on to a broader, deeper, and yet serener ocean, upon which the. bark of truth, carrying its priceless treasures, and with its prow pointing towards the haven of eternal rest, will yet spread wider its glorious canvas to the breeze.