Martinsburg gazette. [volume] (Martinsburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1833-1855, 1841-11-04
From the Philadelphia Inquirer.
THE NEWSPAPER PRESS AT HOME AND
I.

cuiated IN The American Union than in
any other country on the face Of the globe.
Thus-in Great Britain md ireland, the
number OF newspapers published is $50 !;
+ IN France $50; in the German States
305 !; in Holland $50; in Prussia o66 !;
and n the United States 1855 periodicals,
1850 of which are newspapers. Some Of
our weekli.s circulate as many as from
10000 TO $4,000 copies Of each number !;
and we believe that one OF the penny pa
pers Of New York issues more than 80.
900 copies daily. Ii will be seen, there.
fore, that the vast multitude read in this
country--that millions Of human beings
pore over the columns of our public jour
mails, and imbibe from them, either senti-
ments Of vice and virtue. The draymen
nj the corners of our streets, the fsh-wo-
men in our markets, the match boys and
apple girls who pass from day to day
through the various sections Of the city
all, or nearly all, seem to have some Ia ste
for newspaper literature. The press may
indeed be described as the great moral
engine of this country. l.reneirates INTO
every village and hamlet. The merchant
IL his counting room, the professor in his
study, the mechanic in his work shop
all gather from the newspapers some idea
of the progress of public effairs--some no.
ton Of men, morals and the great topics
Of public discussion. How important,
then, that the press should be in honest
hands-should be directed at least with
an eye to the "greatest good Of the great
est number" and should avoid every thing
| calculated to vitiate and depravc. Gene
| rally speaking, American newspapers, on
all proper occasions. inculcate sound les.
sons of morality. But there are excep-
tions-exceptions in which n vitiaied taste
is appealed 10 and pampered, and in which
a deliberate effort is made to undermine
| all tn should be held sacred n society
and religion. Mr.. Walsh, in one OF his
late letters, gives revolving picture OF
the condition Of French literature. The
popular novels of the French metropolis,
are said to be profliea,e 10 an extraordina.
ny degree. He adds:
The police of Paris employs many
agents and Incurs great expense in the
vain endeavor to suppress dissolute publ
cations for the popuIace, and the Socete
des Bonnes MGurs, established here, pur-
sues inquir, s and tries correctives in eve
ry quarter of France; but they cannot
touch the upper iountains-,hp consecrat-
cd springs-of corruption. The contem.
porary drama consists, three fourths, OF
farce and rlhaldry, and denominations of
demoniac crime and vice in the shape OF
| sentimental medley adapted to debauch,
in every sense, the working classes that
crowd the theatres Of the Bouleva DIS, and
especially to inname them with jealousy
and hatred Of all the higher or fortunate
classes, so deemed in what respect soever.
Two or three Of the largest play-houses
are mere schools Of universal Radicnlism.
1t has struck me, in many Of the pieces
which have witnessed or read, that i'm.
moral sub intrigues and incidental salIics
were introduced rs necessary seasoning
a sacrifice to the common deprnved taste
and loose domestic life; because they
were evidently super6uous or embarrass-
ing for the main plot or dialogue. The
official inquisitlon sometimes expnnges
such matter, and, especially obnoxious
political texts but the expurgated produc.
iion is soon printed as it was composed,
with marks showing the 'venomous bites
Of the censorship A still worse effect
comes from the unqualified eulogy plays
and books as corrective OF vice, which are
founded upon enormltes and doctrines 10
be rather held impossible or exceedingly
anomalous and rare, and which include
necessarily gross situations and illusions
thus rendered more familiar and venal.
A comedy entitled The School Of Young
Single Women by Md. Melame Waldor,
has obtained great favor and vogue rs a
most impressive lesson of virtue aud yet
its whole tenor is perversion Of true mo-
raj spirit and idea; and circumstances
which could never occur in any respecta-
BILE American sphere, form the plot and
details"
A New York contemporary, in COM
menting on the above, expresses an nppre-
hension that in some Of our large cities,
this vicious taste is increasing; that there
are those who with less ability than some
of the French writers, have the same dis
position TO render impure, the fountains OF
public opinion. Such persons assume q
dreadful responsibility. The press is not
only mighty for good, bu, when misdireci-
ed, i, is capable Of producing evils of the
most serious character. The greater the
power of mind brought into requisition,
the more the danger. The lofier the ge-
Mus, the greater the responsibility for its
misuse. An individual at the head Of an
influential and widely circulated journal,
possesses the power Of doing much good
TO his fellow men. Blu, if he abuse that
power--if he endeavor to defle what be-
fore was pure, If he strive to vitiote wha,
befnre was virtuous-sooner or later, he
will be held to a serious account. But
our objrct, when we commenced this ar
ticle, was to introduce an eloquent de.
scripton OF the newspaper press, recently
DELIVERED in jefferson College, Louisiana,
|. by Professor Everett. 1t is admirable.
:" An orator in the British parliament,
for example, finishes his speech at O..
clock in the morning, and at eight re-
ceives it in his newspaper with his morn
ing meal, reported in full, and ready to be
hurried on the wings Of steam--mors swift
than those OF the wind--to the remotest
corners Of the globe. Though his voice
is heard by only two or three hundred
| ner.nns he snaaks in fact 10 all his cOun-