The Literary echo, and Pawcatuck advertiser. [volume] (Westerly, R.I.) 1851-1854, 1854-03-09
Westerly, March o, 1854.
/" Hot COrn.'

The following communication should
have been published two or three weeks
ago; but We have not had sufficient
room for thu. letter and the remarks
which we considered it entitled to. And
besides, it is one of those spicy commu-
nications the value of which does not
depreciate by keeping. This may be
our apology to our friend for an apparent
lack of attention to her case
To the Editors Of the Literary Echo -
WESTERLY, II. l., Feb. 81, 1854.
Gcntlemcn--I am greatly astonished
that you-claiming, as you do, to be
gentlemen and Christians--s should so far
lose the proper sense of morality-not
to say decency-as to recommend to the
public such an indecent publication as
g Hot Corn" On your recommends
ton ! purchased the book and read it !;
but | certainly should have been asham-
ed to have been caught doing 50, and |
always made it practice, while reading
| it, when heard some one coming, to
secrete the book, that they might not
see it. Now, as your paper is read by
most of the people of this vicinity, be-.
sides many copies circulated in other
places, and paper that is read always
exerts some influence on the reader,
especially if the editor is supposed to be
man of discrimination and judgment
coupled with a proper sense of propriety
and morality, l am much surprised at
the course which you have taken in
putting so demoralizing book as this.
| notice that many papers are speaking
of the book in very proper terms some
of them having pulled the book before
reading it-a very improper way Of doing
business-have had the manliness to re-
tract and to speak Of it in very strong
denunciatory terms but you havo not
had the moral principle even to speak
against the work after you had found out
what it really was-for | suppose you
have read it, as you state you have re-
ceived it, but instead, you mention it in
commendatory terms. Unless you dis
play little more honesty-for sup
pose you puffed the work for the sake
of obtaining a copy of it shall look
upon your Book Notices." but little,
if any, better than paid advertisements.
| have written to you plainly because l
think such a cause demands plain talk,
still l subscribe myself
Your friend, AMIE.
Our amieable friend is rather severe
on us, certainly, and we do not know but
we shall be obliged to plead guilty to a
little departure from the strict rule of
propriety in this Hot Corn matter, in
asmuch as we did publish notice Of the
book before we had read it. But we had
read a number of the pieces, and we had
read numerous commendatory notices o.
the work in our exchanges both religious
and secular. The pieces which we hac
read were such as could not call blush
to the cheek of the most fastidious anc
} though We must admit that we thinl
some Of it might have been written in {
style which would have been little bet
ter adapted to general circulation yet W.
think the sentiment of the English mottc
=" HOni soit qui NAL q pensc"-might
be very aptly applied to our yirtuously
indignant friend. 1t is generally sup
posed that editors know something abou
the books which they notice, and it is o
course perfectly proper that they should
and we supposed that We knew consid
cradle about this book, both from tn,
pieces which we he'd read and the notice
!, which we had seen in our exchanges
Although VIC have some objections to tn
hook, yet we doubt not that the autho