The miners' express. (Dubuque, Iowa) 1849-1854, 1849-08-22
DUBUQUE, IOWA, AUGUST %, 1s49.
Deacon Prescott and his Daug liter
OR, THE POWER OF FIcTINN.


Deacon Prescott and his Daughter
on 80, ,,, -. -
wv 80 " sAoAiNH'
{. Than Deacon prescott n more - e,d;no
opponent IF 6ction in mi ito rarr, Wy ~ 49, na
where 70 he found He dano,,naad III oaSs,, 80
ed histories 40 l,cs md rarsrrad ~ s;a;i :,
i this pa rtcuIar order of ,;,erai,ra ~ ~ rs
Of Lies II was I'm, rarely That naaaa,, De-.
colt had natience 10 reason with nv o,a -, ~
subject. To him the truth of h;s no inn ,yn !
so Clear. TINT he fell irritated whan nthnrs -
J tempted 10 sustain n onpos;te on;n;op Knooh.
! down arguments were his weanons. in 5deal;n,,
with the monster Of iniuuity. AZ he was nlnas 5,
cd to call e.
Unfortunately for the peace OF Den ron Pres
| colts household his sons and daughters hv n .
means a reed with him as to the sinfuness NJ
fiction. In snite Of his most watchfnl care M.
We Is and tale were obtained and read IN Them
in secret. with an ayidtv increased nv he fac,
that the pleasure was 4 stolen one Marv mi.
et thoughtful, loving Mary Prescott. who
from the time her sweet young month comb
take kiss from her father Inns, up to the ne
Rod when the bud of girlish bea ntv e panded
Into the lovely young woman, n had been nc.
knowledgcd by the Deacon as his most pre cions
! gift from Heaven -sayinp. always. her moth.
er-even Mary, in tho solitude Of her little,
chamber, long after all the household had re.
tired for the night. would often lose hCrself for;
hours inthe deep spell that lies id Ivanhoe
IWaverly. Kenilworth. and other masterpieces
of hctious history from the pen of gifted novel
lists. Often, as the light of morning came steal.
thily ia, and blending with. at length, DESTROY
ed the dim rays Of the feeble Iamp. has Mary
started with surprise to find that the mig hit was
past! and hiding away the fascinating book.
that had caused Ter to take not Of time thrown
herself upon the bed to catch an hours sleep
before Joining the family, and entering into the
regular duties or the day.
Sometimes Deacon Prescott would discover
n stray volume OF romance, and then came
trouble to the guilty one who had dared intro.
duce the ''moral poison.' But it all did not
do, Mrs. Radcliffe, Scott, Cooper, and dozens
Of others, were familiar names among tho
members of the family. The evil resulting
from Deacon Prescott's rigid views and prae
tice on the subj ect Of felton, was. that he ceas
ed to be the rational guide of his children
Had lie wisely Disseminated on this subject,
he would ha We understood that there was wide
difference between mere fictitious history,
in which ina ginary characters are made to an.
pear and ct out 10 their ultimate consequence
certain good or evil PRINCIPLES, and a de!iber
ale falsehood uttered with the end to DECEIVE
He would hive aaen that there was a power in
fiction that mipht he made to snbserve pood
"a vel, AZ evil nnrnoses: md instead or intor.
let q allied, a!tOTathar
have introduced that which was cleva};no r.
his ch;ldren. and Tins been th air ouidc wherc
one wa. 60 much needed But. instead Of this.
he condemned all as bad: and the inevitnbl,
consequence was, that his children. unahie to
see that he was right. obtained novels and 70.
mances, and read them IN secret. Two evils
were The result. In the FIRST place thov Disc.
bsved their father, and lost respect FOR bis
;,G,,rent: and, in the second place with M
1ui - selection Of hooks read the roo1 and
tbe h,d ;rd,so -;n,inute,v Nor was = r.rvor.
.Ho o%u m Lo1 boolJs woro ranJ ~.
s'o'' " 49, 81 'ar honI,, .l,e s"I
o",y .o"scquence. narJ r:tt;nn ,'n ,, vs. "
n;.I, 40 a,.s 1,yonr -,
aau o''s' III co:u .oon'' IT, ~ c,,;a -"
sna. S"o WIS 'p'e 10 oot.'n 'lo'i' onI source o.
"1s I''ous:y ''juLeu' ".o uIr parents
le'a' NGui WV. IT,, a"Hlc'I' ner uitercu appear
'" TL "'."'as s"o ..'st Suspuc,"s ''e cause.
l., nuS h,a,.c's Won' On u',,. la1y' 80 oee9'
o'eu oy ner I,ner, vas auaressca oya young
' Ma';,, 'a WYNN nea1.n en'ert'lnco
and IA of ct rb e rad or moves
; H"I Ia p -. ,ho unvo oh1ls-
"s Wv ;, ,o ID saw "''ar was
vas 49, a. .on ;f ,,,, ,,'"s ~ ms p,".y
shai i; o ,''. -, enos 1 ,h aga'n
4 snaL' eo4ues' nun not " lepcut INC vislt'
ss" tae on W.. oecas'on VI 1uwaro bald
a.ss .pt''a, vs. ~ IN ove'y .saiuen.
ea,s ~ sne ao ~ ano ot'ght
toa n ~ "a " I't I,oop.u, ulo her
sssa and q soon !. aassspeetaito do a
arose me ana 'en netia.nel pIssen !, 9 9,
lssoN.s Soms,ae.ea me Yer g
aesi.a ooe.
snS 60
ass not once
- ~, ~ sery 'act