Wheeling times and advertiser. [volume] (Wheeling, Va. [W. Va.]) 1839-1849, 1848-10-19

NOVEL READING-ITS EXTENT-
ITSREMEDIES.

Il
the pains 10 enquire into the rsadiug habits
OF very considerable portion OF the COM
munity. OF bOih sexes. and IN nearly every
conditio OF lie. will readily discover. 10
what an amazingexient morbid love Tor me
miserable works OF ficti on that flood the land.
prevails. Intern erauce itself with dli us un-
ha lowed slisrs. has fewer devoted worship
pers. han this new aud gi.drd shrine, which
Mannmoh has Sc mp To guile and corrupt
60 where you Will. abroad or at hrme--on
steamboat, ia the rsilrosd. IN the counting
huuse-iu the psflor-in he chamber ni youf
sons ard daughters, the novel redderis omui-
present.
Like the influence Of every other gene
ral evil, the legitimate truifs Il this pTnl-
cious evil are Us pBlrBhle ard plain as the
habit ilseli--iu The society and department
OF the young-lH their intellectual i terCOurs',
IA ni3e slre9d ep,opbie deficiency am ngst
them Of moral courage aud power. in fine
IN that pFoueness and readiness for sheplicism
ond unsouud vieus If society, humanity aud
religion which the mental aud moral
imbccidty that results from long iudul
geuce of a morbid appetite Tor fiction, never
ldils 90 en.euatf.
Now We do not intend 10 tax the good seuse
Of any o.e. with an elaborate argument
"-atNA hNNtt ltdNttlH. 'ft dIt ANHSNlt
that in dpunnncing ii as serious aud
manifest evil, we will be borne out By The
common judgement. and deliberate convic-
tons Of the great majority OF our readers. Nc
por,rditure OF which our pen is capable, can
place ia more odious light, than IS plainly
evident to every unbiased observer, habit
which enters, with marvellous rApidity in the
syork OF dsessimg the Imagination aud peril
ing the moral impulses OF the heart. Especial
lyis this the case in an e, when,to those rare
and splendid works OF fiction, whose lterdry
excellence has thrown vel over their blight
ing moral nfue secs, there have succeeded the
filthy conceptions, the unmitisaied trash OF
some OF the most abandoned prof lgates. that
in the guise of literature, have dared To ava
ken AMI nourish every debasng lust We
leel, and hesitate MOI to assert, that no iather
will gains4y ns.when we proclaim his chiids
indulgence oil this morbid craving for the de-
grading licion oi the doy, as most deplorable
aud ruinous No merchant, who has re-
gard tor the intelligence and capacity OF bis
| employee, will hesitate TO unite with us in
| prescribing habit that ener9ates the minds *
cofrupls the hearts, ot the Young Men, Tor
whom he is, in measure, responsible.
Al the same time we are also conscious Of
| a general apathy in the presence OF an evil
so rilal--an apathy, which does no honor TO
| the candor. aud intelligence, aud responsible
llly OF the directors and guardians of the mind
Of the youth, and chiefly ol those. in whose
mower il is, 10 set and control the public taste
| We cannot for moment, behave in them.
| the conviction OF the pernicious influence Of
novel reading is not as completely settled, a.
automatic truth. Does II need any labored
rajioeination to show that the laws of the
mind. and the principles OF moral action are
| Is fixed and uniform in theig operation, as the
ply Biological action of The functions OF the
BODY Or that the vigor aud sanity OF the for
mer, NAV be az readily undermined and i'm
pared. bv the cultivation morbid, aud
false, and unnatural appetites as those OF the
latier? And what, pr3y, III the name OF all
that is good, is more exactly suited to deprave,
aud weaken intellectual strength, to deauch
aad dislort all moral force, than the wide
spread contact AMI commerce OF The youth Of
;hesiand. with that harof-horde, which pros
! tltuted intellect and vicious press, are, do !
BY day, sending tc the embraces Of your chill
dren Do you begin with The first dawnings
OF Intellect, 10 portray TO The tender and i'm.
pressible niud Of childhood, The CONSUMING
| fires the terrible penalties. of the intenpeF-
ance of The body? And have YOU no care,
that the same plastic. God given mind may
learn To sh1n the more terrible abasement
! that Follows an intellect and heart peryPrt-
ed, poisoned aud forever hatnp-Ied. by the
! false views OF life ami duty thu low stanl-
ards OF moral action. ant ii S mn instances,
! by the bldsphemes aud aoomiuable poiiu-
! lions, with which the n0ve-li erdture OF the
day teens To iulness SOUND the minds and
| hearts OF cur invetetatc novel-readerS. In
such an e xaminalion We venture 10 say, any
ma turSd aud healthy mind will soon discover
an imoeCiIlty III the Que, and looseness in
! the moral tone OF the ther, together cansti-
tuting humiliating spectacle OF perverted
prosltuted gifts Nor IS this marvel. We
were long ago told that be who handles pitch
must BE- deiied. Bat this is not all The
letters u habit 90 in aud cling about the soul.
| The habiluai novel-reader, proud though he
is. of what he imagiues 10 be his independent
thought, will as surely bow to his Deli
ah as the conf.iued drunkard TO the wi,Chery
OF hts sass-and SO surely Will ldll--not to
! an lsnomiulous grave OF the body. igdeed,
but into d living tomb, II may be, OF a lille OF
! lil-concealed disappOntments. o hopes des-
| troytd, OF conscious inbecliity, OF vacilaing,
unsteady, contemplate action Could we
| but here allude to these awful paths OF secret
sin, where many young man, hurried by
tnsts lntlamed by the exciting pa1es ol the
novel, have eaten of the ''app,es OF Sodom
we Were mol without the evidence Of man, a
! well-attes,ed case
i We do not, 1t seems to US, exaggerate. =
For each line and article of our denunciation
we appeal to every candid observer OF life -
The position Is undeniable, that human Ma
tuie must and will become assllniated vii
whatever constitutes its ruling passions. The
4 IS-r bprOuaFs no and s,trIt q 4. Il
bis groveling lost Tor lucre, is by its la for.
med 10 shape him. The long SHINING drum
kard snk- To the low and besotied thing the
fiery liqad he imbbes. is, in its very natnre
calculated to make him. And so the habitua
nnvel-reader is gradually moulded, mind and
heart, into the yapid and lmbecile being which
the false and cnervaung stimulus he hourly
devonrs, must III It's legitimate course pro-
duce.
lie DO not assert that every novel reader
rea ches this deplor. BILE slate. Neither does
every erring iuebriate 20 to the last dreg
OF his bitter cup OF woe. Bat W. do say
that to PROSTATE utterly for every good and
ma nly and energetic action, is the inevitable
teheeney OF habits of long continued novel
reading. Instances are not rare in cases OF
novel reading, OF even total insanity. sun
perveuing Ia minds naturally weak indeed.
hat hnatly by the excitement OF novel read
ing unsettled and precpitated into INSANITY.
Witness the report of the directors Of The
/ Asylum at Staun ton
Sach therefore is the legitimate tendency o.
this habit, and such its extent amongst US. Is
! II then no part oi the care of those whose duty
1t is To guard youth TO watch over aud pro.
tect The pubic taste from outra ge-io see TO
THIS dangerous habit--to ienouuce it, To pro.
scribe H. and by enlreaty, by earnest action
whtfesoerer aud huws ever il may brhooyr
them 10 acl-'os stay itl Ye patents, does il
rquire another consideration to move you?--