Show a yue THE bissio MISSION q OF or THE PRESS pruss AND anu THE new york kerald herald in a characteristic editorial article published a few days ago under the head of An ancient ancient clent elent and modern Preach preachers orcy describes describe athe the new agencies which live have been brought into operation for the dissemination of truth among the inhabitants of the earth the peculiar office of the oral i jt preacher is the herald says no longer what it was the printing press and the electric telegraph have far outstrip ped the human heart and voice in the power of preaching and were they as devoted in their work as the living preachers the horald herald thinks they would soon and altogether supersede them these agencies iu in the heralds opinion aro are now and henceforth fo to be the true evangeli of the world the kerald herald quotes the prediction of joel respecting the last days when god will wilt pour gul put his spirit upon all flesh so that our sons and daughters shall prophesy and the young men shall see visions and the old henshall men shall dream dreams and the servants and handmaids hand maids shall partake of the same influence and says that the telegraph the printing press and the locomotive must hasten forward t his time itaskas it asks duhow it tu bow how can it bo be believed that with oni only y bithe agencies employed in the past the y j christian church at its present rate of ofin orin inie ger xen berease rease easse shall within the next thirty years reach I 1 he the millen millennium gium which so many ap to be near at hand and which none have placed beyond the year yean AD 1900 in reply to this thia it says that it ia is plain that newer and more mone powerful agents of christianity must be applied to this work vork if this halcyon period is to c ome within this or the next century or I 1 indeed n at all after dilating upon the benefits which have followed the circulation of newspapers the berald herald informs its readers that it will continue to give the community from week to week that measure of moral and religious instruction st ruction tion tiou which it deems they are ent entitled to receive notwithstanding the egotistical tone of bof the heralds article there ia Is a strong vein of truth an and common sense running through it which entitles it to netice notice notice and consideration there is nothing more patent to the diced dicede reflecting mind than thau that so hlo called christianity ia is a great failure it is 13 not the infidel only who perceives that that system as at present taught and practiced can never bring about universal penca peace and the harmonization of the different races but men of orthodox faith are compelled to edge that to accomplish such grand results other agencies must be brought into operation and hence ohe the idea breathed iu the heralds ids article that the electric telegraph and the newspaper are these age noks let it be granted that modern christianity possessed the requisite authority and knowledge of the truth then the utilization of the press and the telegraph forth for thle th e achievement of its great ends might be successful but herein lies the difficulty A stream cannot rise higher than its fountain the press presa and the telegraph possess no inherent vir clr virtues tues bues in themselves to accomplish this work while used for the furtherance of christian civilization they carry on the work of evangelization upon the same principle as was done previous to their discovery the only difference being that they carry it on more extensively and with wider spread influence but the radical defects of the system which they are the agents in propagating p a t u g they do not correct so called ed gc christianity h ri ati sti anity aulty being a failure on a small scale and while confred to a limited field will be none the less a failure when carried on in a more extended sphere indeed its faults inconsistencies and shortcomings short comings will only be the more glaringly exemplified we are quite willing to endorse the general proposition contained jin xin n the heralds article that the printing press and the electrio electric telegraph can eiff effect much h more good in a shorter space than missionaries whose time is spent in 0 oral ral instruction also that these agencies can be made the handmaids hand maids of christianity but while the newspaper and the electric telegraph are influenced by the spirit and prompted by the knowledge and authority which actuate and direct so called christianity they are exposed to all the evils and are equally liable to all the failures that have attended that system as it has been propagated under the old method of missionary ry labor these discoveries can be made great instruments of good when properly guided and controlled but who can describe the dreadful mis chiefs an au irresponsible or corrupt preas press can accomplish many of the evils under which our republic groans today to day are directly traceable to corrupt journalism and since the discovery of the electric telegraph these evils have been aggravated rather than lessened thise ih use ise very considerate and reflecting mani mart m an ot or experience must admit if the press asi aag and ind the electrio telegraph are capable of accomplishing great good lood as all gust must must ira gra grant n t they are they are also cap capable ibie ible under improper management of effecting a vast amount of evil whenever these wonderful discoveries co veries shall be under the control of pure truthful influences and be used for the amelioration redemption and elevation of mankind then and not nob till then will their full power and usefulness as missionary nary agencies be fully estimated and understood that the day is not far distant when they will thus bo be used we do not doubt |