these could be made known only through the press. Of this great branch of business advertising is the grand motive power, the life of the trade. It is fortunate if it is not the death of those who buy as well as the life of those who sell. Barnum, the prince of humbugs, as he is called, was among the first to discover the wonderful virtue of advertising. The mermaid and woolly horse testify to its miraculous power. Archimedes said, give me whereon to rest my lever and I can raise the world. Some shrewd calculators of our day have come to the conclusion that given a sufficient amount spent in advertising, the result is sure and a fortune certain. One of the most notable instances of this species of success is to be found in the New York Ledger. When its proprietor commenced by filling column after column of the daily newspapers with the most startling announcements of the unheard of attractions of the Ledger and its original stories, the very conductors of the press, to whom he was paying such enormous sums, thought him insane, and well they might, but the result has proved that there was a method in his madness. No paper in the Union circulates so many thousand copies as the Ledger, the whole based upon advertising. The ancient description of eloquence is, firstly, action; secondly, action; and thirdly, action. In some branches of business, at least, the grand requisite for success may be considered firstly, advertising; secondly, advertising; thirdly, advertising. This is a secret no longer confined to the few, but known and practised by the many. But the press has higher uses in trade than to advertise quack medicines or impossible monsters. Not only the New York Ledger but the legitimate ledger find its advantage in the liberal use of advertising, which is now reduced to system, and has its separate agencies in all our large cities. Its use is not considered beneath the dignity of some of the learned professions, while the Drama, the Opera, and all public amusements depend on it for their success. The clergyman is about the only exception to the great advertising rule. Marriage and death are quite sure to find him, while sermons are not yet considered proper subjects of public announcement. Still we occasionally see a notice that the Rev. Mr. preach tomorrow at Chapel or at will Church. Among the Romans it was considered beneath the dignity of a lawyer to name a price for his services. The "quidam honorarium," or gift, was considered the proper reward for professional assistance or advice. Now, lawyers not only charge their fees but advertise for business. The physician, also, announces the place where he may be found. Newspapers puff and advertise themselves. Everybody advertises. All seek to augment their gains through the agency of the press, a mighty engine, that sends its messengers into every region and into every family. We have considered the press only in its lowest form of usefulness. It aims to amuse, to improve and to instruct as well as to increase our business and our wealth. The circulation of newspapers is more extensive and their influence greater in proportion to the existence of political freedom, and nowhere, therefore, so omnipotent as with ourselves. Here the press guides and moulds public sentiment on questions of politics, morals and religion to an extent hitherto unknown in the history of the world. Here every man can read, every man is a voter, and every man takes a newspaper, to which, next to his Bible, he looks for counsel and to be instructed in his religious or political duties. This is true of no other portion of the world, and suggests most forcibly the tremendous responsibility that rests upon the daily or weekly press. In France the press is fettered, and to millions the newspaper is unknown; in England the press is free, and to millions it is also unknown; with us the press is not only free, but newspapers are universal, and to be found in every log hut in the land. Here the influence of the press, for good or for evil, is incalculable and without limit. It is useful or dangerous in proportion as it addresses the conscience, reason and common sense of the great mass of readers, or as it appeals to their prejudices, their passions, their self-love, or the love of power. It is a mighty and all-pervading presence, like the sun, to give out light and heat, or, in the absence of genial rains, to wither and burn up all vegetation and every green thing. The press of this country is too often controlled by those who seek from it only a living, or regard it only as a profitable investment. Hence it sometimes seeks not so much to guide and instruct public sentiment, as to make itself popular, and of course to reflect the opinions or the prejudices of the day, whatever they may be. Instead of holding up a higher standard, it brings itself at once down to the standard of its readers and patrons. To be profitable it must be popular, and to be popular it must flatter the prejudices and passions of those who support it. It must trim its sails to catch the popular breeze, no matter from what quarter it blows, and whether it brings healing on its wings or pestilence and death. The press thus becomes not a guide, but a mere follower and echo of the fashion of the day. This description, it is to be hoped, will apply to no very large portion of American journalism, since, if such were the case, our daily press would be our daily reproach. The press holds in its hand our destiny as a nation, while it helps to mould the character and destiny of every individual member of the community. It has a great mission to perform, and one which involves the highest responsi |