The miners' express. (Dubuque, Iowa) 1849-1854, 1854-08-30

/ v0s1S AessaGs one Cvsyoo 0keeeAes ,!
] ". Bsnesy.
FoR there ~ hooks Of winch shs backs and sovsr
| ars By Ia ~ hsse parln
/. OLIVER TWIST.
| Here 10 another Of the thousand and ons
volumes Of trash which are being daily 10
sued from the press and flooded over the coun-
try, viliating and emassulating the taste of the
present and rising generation. For the sake o;
american literature, present aad fu.ure, it il
I pity that such stuff can find its publishers,
and it is III to be regretted that the ehrrvaed
| and diseased taste Of the public, made SO by the
| very character ut the literature Of which we
speak, conrcelfs our book sellers tn crowd their
shelves with such volumes as heads this notice,
To The al.n,,s, enIre exclusion of the best lera>
,ure Of the present aud past ages. Already has
he ameu, II .ur t. lie IS trash constandy issliny
from the American pres, become hyeword Of re.
proash aud a subject of ridicu.e TO usia foreign
lands Aud it is justly We cannot COM
plain OF il. What, let ask Ourselves
have We to expect of American literature and
h- taste Of our people, y hen such volumes as
:. OFF Hand ,akings and Csayon Sketches, are
Il ,oded over the country with esiravagant p itfs,
taking the place in our 5aok stores aud in the
hands of oar readers, Of Addison and Johnson,
Shakespeare aud Milton, Prescott and Irving,
aud the long list Of other classical aathors both
Of En- lland and America. Our literature instead
or advancing must r-trngrade, instead OF grow
ing better aud better, must grow worse aud
worse under such influences. Literature makes
the taste Of he people. The taste OF ,he people
in turn reacts up"a its literature
The volume heading this notice is an adn,ra>
BILE catch penny concern, Mr.. Bungay is as
good hambuy as P. T. Barnum, of whom h.
gives "sketch.' He parades before the pub
lie in his Ii le page and " contents" the names
Of seven y -four distinguished men and noticeable
characters Of the age, and like polite yankee,
DESTROYS Of doing the agreeable. promises To
introduce ycu-.far dollar osd quarter. But
having parted with your money, reader, you may
whistle Tor the shonor." You know a. little OF
the distinguished characters after You have read
the " takiags' (,r rather after you have been
saken liz, a. you did before. His skeches
ATE more properly caricatures. The poor sub
ject in his hands presents rather the appearance
Of galvanized corpse than a living being.
You, in vain look for the acts ana deeds OF life,
the throbbings of the heart, the ASPIRATIONS Of
the soul He knows nothing Of the analysis
of character. He can mar, but he cannot
make. He can daub but he cannot paint. Mr..
Bungay we take il 10 fond Of being smart. To
make pun, 10 Perpetrate \ wit,icism, to cut
antics in an,thises We should think delights him
exceedi. ely. Besides his tondness for The gem:
tlemen or ladies' "of COLOR we know no,
which, makes him az extravsgsnt with soft soap
on " woolly head as he is profuse in abuse
and blackguardsm when speaking Of = sup
porter Of the Constitution. But perhaps this is
right, a. the first may be as necessary to the
subject, rs the latter 10 natural to the au.
thur
There Is here and there few Sketches Dor
rowe6 from different pen, which are in strik
ing contrast with the ..takings' of the author.
II was bad policy in him to have inserted them.
We suppose the book will have a sale, as hum
buggery is the order Of The day and some peo-
pie will be humbugged though they have to
pay for it, Such we refer to aOF Hand Takings
and Cravon Sketches" for accommodation.
We wonder that our friend Rattray, wocld
keep such trash upon his shelves; bat like all
dealers, we suppose, he regulates his purchases
according to the taste Of every variety Of rea.
in view the one idea Of a quick
sale-and not according to his own taste.