Boon's Lick times. [volume] (Fayette, Mo.) 1840-1848, 1846-12-05
LICENTIOUS PUBLICATIONS.

We copy the following excellent re-
marks from the Philadelphia North Amer
lean, at the came time expressing our hearty
concurrence in the sentiments Of the wri-
ter:
The literature Of u country makes its mind;
is mind makes its morals; and morals make its
destiny. 10 no subject Vi or eater mportanc than
tae corruption OF our literature, can the attention
OF our people be. directed The evil is actual: it
reaps ITS harvest OF crime and affection daily be-
fore our eyes; it is increa sing daily, and every
good man should unite in efforts to discourage and
suppress it. The literature Of a country is per-
haps, IN Its stricter sense, that which is &C.
knowedged as such by its men Of letters; but
IN its popular meaning, ind in its popular effect,
It is composed Of all those writings which con-
vey the largest mass Of ideas, sound or suliying,
by medium pure or pol!uting, to the minds Of
the greatest number.
The odious French reprints which we have
heretofore condemned claimed perhaps from their
universal circulgtiOn pre-einiuence in this light
| lhey We're common to our people for time, as
the air Of d pesl-hOuSe to its inmates and like
that bore moral death upon their wings. Thew
sowcd their poisonous seeds broad cast over the
land, and the country is gathering the harvest Of
protigacy and crime, RIGHTEOUSNESS and murder
Next to these il not equal, in influence, is that
portion of the daily press, which, being the cheap
C't' Hdr tilc stSt or good evil,
il is an engine of fearful power; and those who
pervert assume fearful responsibility. The char
acier OF that portion Of the press is worthy the
| serious attention Of the phanthropist. Truth
may be as cheaply dfused as error, virtue as vice:
bat it seems to be believed that the sheet which
ministers to q prudent curiosity for the details of
crime has the greatest attractions for The public
We accordingly find that the police department
| OF many OF them is swelled with full ana plowinr
details OF crimes, especially those of licentious-
| ness.
So great is tie demand for this species Of read
/ ing, that print is published in New York exclu-
siyeIy devoted to it, called the Police Gazette,
OF which murderers are the heroes and adulteresses
The herOnes, and which spares no detail calculated
to captivate the silly or corrupt the feeble This
taste for the particulars Of licentious and horrible
crimes, but the next neighbor to the crime ITSELF
Inc mind corrupted, its inward weakness, sough.
out fed and ostcred by such publications, is often
increased 10 actual nonomania.
Dangerous conceits are in their nature posons.'
The instances are not few nor unfamiliar, as
every one acquainted with the administration OF
criminal law will testify. The germ which might
under better influences have died away and left
gultiess life, Is stimulated; the poisonous infec-
tion Is thrown upon 1t until rises feafuly in the
heart, and overshaGows the nlind evil in all its
phases becomes familiar inmate of the imaginn-
tlon and little by little, though often with strange
rHpldIy the education Of crime and desperation *
perfected.
The commission OF the overt acts follows, as
of course. The process OF the system of demon.
alization is admirably described by Pope,
Vice is monster OF such hideous mien,
That 10 be hated, needs but to be seen;
But seen TOO oft, familiar with her face
We first endure, then pity, then embrace!
That such are and must be the effects Of famil
arty with crime, one would think no nteligeu,
man could deny. Were it otherwise, our dauch
;, teIs might be educated in the presence OF lhosC
} vices, the merest knowledge Of which brearhe
a mist upon that brightest and hottest mirror If
D which virtue is rehected-a womsn's heart
1 Were it otherwise our prisons should becom,
/ colleges of ethics, and goodness should STUDY
, itself in its opposite.