Anti-slavery bugle. [volume] (New-Lisbon, Ohio) 1845-1861, 1850-12-14
miscellaneous.
Literature and Life.

struggle-proftable to it, but costly to many
Of its turning on the proprieiy Of
excluding ,corks Of fiction from future pur-
chases for its replenishmcnt Precisely what
definition wos intended TO be given to the
phrase works of fiction was not stated /;
but we presume Bunyan's Pilgrims Pro-
Rress, Milton's Paradise Lost and the Para
bles of Christ were not among the works
marked for prescription had the anti-fiction
party prevailed, as il happened not to do.
Sill, the distinction between books of n
wholesome and those Of pernicious char
scter is badly drawn and badly comprehend
ed by great numbers aud we propose to
make il clearer IL possible.
The proper test of n books value is its
truth. Certainl. book might be written
which should he thoroughly true yet utterly
worthless, because setting forth no fact of
any moment not already known TO its read
ers. To impress the minds of those who
may pcruse il with important truth is the
only sufficient justification for adding anoth-
or to the oppressive multitude of books al
ready existing. But book may be made
up wholly of facts-important, essential
facts--yet so arranged and combined as to
mislead and harm its readers. Many VIII
ter of History whose statements are rarely
inaccurate has yet perverted and corrupted
thousands. A bad man, or even strongly
prejudced man, may write History with YER
bal accuracy, yet, by suppressng some facts
as of no Importance, while belittlng some
and magniiying others of those he narrates,
he may give a radically false and pcrnicious
view of the events he describes. On the
other hand, many work nominally of fic-
ton is truer to human nature and more be-
nefcent in its teachings than any literally
variable faerativo Nxrtttpn (lI nil lit
eratdre, Sacred or Proiane, the Parable of
the Prodigal Son is doubtless the pago which
the world could least afford TO lose, while
there nro volumes of perfectly reliable His
tory that might be annihilated and the world
be no whit the worse for it.
They who read novels without consider
ing the moral they scvcrally attempt TO con-
vey do equal injustice TO their authors and
themselves. The novel is teacher, some
dmes " good, often of evil; and is good or
bad according not TO its incidents but its ten
deneiee. The novel of our day-we speak
of course Of the half dozen works coming
out in tho course of year which are worth
mentioning at all-is a moro elaborate tract
an adroit and most efficient commendeI
of certain principles or idcas-a disguised
vermon-a sugared portion. Bulwer's last
CThe Caxtons0 for example, is the bes
word yet spoken in our age for Conservat
ism, 40 one Of his earlier works { Paul Cliff
ford J was in its day the most fiery, potent
startling utterance of Radicalism. The
Cations is not mere plea for State, Altar
and Home, as they were handed down by a
reverend and noble ancestry; it is a coun-
selor as well as champion, and indicates
wherein (according TO the iar-seeing adhc-
rent 10 the established order,) IL must con-
cede and revise in non-essentials in order to
bc more thoroughly adapted and fortified to
resist the pressure of the roaring tide of in
novation and destruction. If the adversa-
rfet Of the Radical spirit of our day were to
offer dukedom and fortune to the writer
of the most effective Conservative essay fol
popular circulation aud effect, they coult
procure nothing more forciblo than The
Cations
So Thnckeray is publishing story E Pen
dennis') which exhibits life from the point o
Wow Of the thorough man of the world
We do not like the spirit nor the moral of j
lit is written in a cynical, InisanthropiC
vein, and exhibits only the worse side Of llu
man Nature--yet il is n work of much pow
or, whence the wise may derive knowledge
though the unwise will not On the whole
We do not think its influence will be whole
some.
Dickens, in his David Copperfeld,' i
nobly maintaining and exalling his reputa
ton. lie has done nothing better than this
Pure in word and thought, and stern in il
morality, it's humanity is IFS noblest and mos
essential characteristic. Dickens is the mos
hearty and powerful champion who eve
yet pleaded the cause of tile lowy, the out
cast, the scorned and uodden upon. Tn,
orphan, tho destitute, the vngrnnt, tho des
pissed, have never before found so efIectv,
an ut,erance for their just complaints of tn,
harshness and cruelty of the prosperous an,
powerful. If they could all read Davi'
Copperfield,' the number driven by injustc,
and suffering into ouilnwry aud crime woult
be immensely diminished hereafter.
The popular writer's Of our nge are III
most influential teachers. Where the Col
lege President or Professor is moding one
mind, Dickens is forming the characters oi
thousands; and SO in less degree of others.
The Popular Press is the Peoples college,
their lecture-room, their tuition. Many n
man has grown in mental stature-is more
enlightened, liberal and humane-by virtue
Of the single journal which he has read
thoroughly and thoughtfuly through the last
ten or fifteen years. Many family of chill
dren is growing up to lives of greater use
ihlness and worth because of such journal
which has been read and thrown aside as
thing of no account-which the subscriber
has often half resolved TO stop, so as to save
something toward the proper education OF
his sonsl The difference in general inieli-
gence and ideas of life between a family
which has grown up regular readers of some
good Journals and another of equal natura
capacities in which no journal has been Ia
ken nor habitually read, is very remarkable
And thus thousands whose education is sale
to have been neglected-who have enjoyed
no privileges beyond those common TO tho
humblest--are growing up to fill response
r BILE positions, and ill them wortbiIy, by yir
Tue Of the hour or two per day that they
q have been able TO devote to judicious Sc
lection from the current Literature of the
time. Let none be discouraged, then, by
their lack Of opportunity or means for Lib.
efal Education, as il is called. Such educa.
tlnn, wisely directed, is desirable but not in,
tiihnannnhle. He Mhn sfendilv irnnra.os IL