It is evident that there are, in this Commonwealth at least, two
parties, becoming more and more distinct- the party of the city, and
the party of the country. I know that the country is mean enough,
but I am glad to believe that there is a slight difference in her
favor. But as yet she has few, if any organs, through which to express
herself. The editorials which she reads, like the news, come from
the seaboard. Let us, the inhabitants of the country, cultivate
self-respect. Let us not send to the city for aught more essential
than our broadcloths and groceries; or, if we read the opinions of the
city, let us entertain opinions of our own.
Among measures to be adopted, I would suggest to make as earnest
and vigorous an assault on the press as has already been made, and
with effect, on the church. The church has much improved within a
few years; but the press is, almost without exception, corrupt. I
believe that in this country the press exerts a greater and a more
pernicious influence than the church did in its worst period. We are
not a religious people, but we are a nation of politicians. We do
not care for the Bible, but we do care for the newspaper. At any
meeting of politicians- like that at Concord the other evening, for
instance- how impertinent it would be to quote from the Bible! how
pertinent to quote from a newspaper or from the Constitution! The
newspaper is a Bible which we read every morning and every
afternoon, standing and sitting, riding and walking.
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