Indiana American. [volume] (Brookville, Ind.) 1833-1861, 1857-08-21
VICIOUS LrrERArunr.

men are the invariable victims. Indeed.
so frequent have these lately become,
that one is lead TO conjecture whether
there are not certain diseases of the
mind just as epidemic and contagious in
in character as cholera. yellow fever.
plague, or any other ailmcnt Which az
fects the body. The journals for fort
night past have been the almost daily
record OF these fearful cases. They are
confined TO no particular latitude or Ion
gitude, but furnish the daily pabulrm of
Coroners, underalxers and newspaperrc-
porters, alike in New England, the Mid
die States and the far West,--and we
may add, IN the pure, fresh mir OF the
country, as we'll as amid the feculent
miasmas Of the pent up city.
In casting about for some admissible
reason for so melancholy manic, for
il really seems to have become mania
for self-destruction,-- is idle to halt at
any hypothesis Of mere dcstitution or
want,--inability TO procure employment
or food. or any Of the ordinary necessa-
ries or comforts of life. OF a dozen or
more cases of suicides of young women,
in various sections of the country, OF
which these columns have been the un-
welcome recorder, the few days past. it
does not appear that the unfortunate
victims, IN single instance even, were
urged 10 the hdeous crime Of self-mur-
der by an inability to procure The means
Of respectable support On the contrary,
the impelling motive for SO miserable
u termination Of existence. is to be
sought for in the mind--not in the body.
The corrupt and demoralzing literature
OF the day, in this respect, we appre-
hend, has fearful account to settle. The
country is literally deluged daily, with
what. under the generic name Of vel
low covered literature, operates upon the
weak heads OF those who deyour il "a
fatally and as ieaffully as the most dead
~ poison would upon the physical sys-
TEN, IL inhaled or imbibcd b, physical
appciites and tastes, equally morbid
Tales, romances, and thrilling narratives
of the intense school, all the threads
which twine serpent-like, around the
central idea OF sentimental passion, OF
illicit love, are found in every school
girls hand, They may be seen, TOO, in
the h'ndS Of the myriad young crea'
lures who may be seen every morning
vending their way down TO the Bowery
Chatham street aud Maiden Lane, to la
Dor Ia the factory or workshop. Tn,
notions of real e,---iis duties and obi
cations, lis tolls and sacrifices, which
lind their way into the last new tale. de
Yourcd after breakfast, ARE not sucl
as to send the reader home, anera day.
toll, happier or more contcnted will
her humble lot, These yellow covered
romancsls deal not with the actuAlite
Of every day lifc,--buI live, and move
and have their being In an imagnar,
sphere, where men and women are mad
TO figure. il is truv,--buI only In wild
and sickly dreams, with an atmosphere
of unreality all around. Vice and viz
tue ait hand in hand, In loving emtra
ccs across the stage. Seduction an,
adultery, scarcely drapsd, are ever prom
inent, behind and before the scenes
while jealousics, rcvenges and murder
alternately combine 10 make up the gran,
denouemont. This is the sort of high
seasoned food upon which thousands an'
thousands of sisters and daughters fee,
daily and weekly. and il is no wonder
therefore, that we are called upon 10 b
witnesses Of It's sad effects ubon the men
tai systems of those who so greedil
parlake Of IL. Men and women. VIII
will read and think Of nothing else, Blu
of libidinous r0ueS.-of Kings IA
J Queens, dukes and duchesses, count
and countessess,- who NATURAL
grow familiar with the picture
process Of love aud murder in lowe
lile,-sensuous portrayals Of artistic de
bauchery, and the whole art and mys
terry Of unlawful intercourse between III
sexes, which mainly constitute the sta
: pie material OF the most popular an
saleable literature Of the time, men an
women we say, who revel in such col
! ruplion, in the nature Of things, mus
themselves become corrupt "By the
fruits yo shall know them. and SON
of these fruits are visible In the wander
ing outcasts in our public thoroughfarel
after dark-in the cell of the madhous
! and in the suicides grave. Madelir
! Smith, is probably, the most illustrioV
type of fully developed victim Of ii
, vicious literature Of the day. She WI
: a novel reader; and what she read,
due time she seems to have come to b,
f, lieve. The duties and responsibilities
! Real Life came TO be ANONYMOUSLY lo
. sight of in the gilded aud glitterin
realms Of n sickly imagination Actin
upon the glowing temperament, commo
to all young persons Of her age and hal
lis, delusion was followed by destruction
Seduction first then revenge, deepa
next, and then murder-piIvato gri'
followed by public disgrace--a ehara,
ter cast away forever, with the prospect
of long life of remorse and misery an
woe unless, indeed, that miserable i'll
ut cut tHoIt Wy NhNt eoNtltltH IuuhNt
which tho nove.writer has Tor all III
, trials of his hero or heroine-in th
pistol. the poignard or the poisone
chalico
In the last generation, II WAS eommo
to find In the suicides pocket OF bosom
the "Sofrows of Woricr. or "Charlotl
remplo'-but nothing In "WerIer" 0
"Charlotto romple." is calculated b
turn the weak heads OF the "aensation
= reader, At the slekly, sentimental, maud
lin trash which Is nowadays disiillo,
from scores Of steam presses, and eager
" deyoured by thousands and thousand
Of young women, who turn away iron
reading Of more wholesome eharacte
with rs much aversion as mad do
turns away from pure water, There ar
some, indeed, who affect "phylosophy
higher than vulgar "love and murder.
and that afl'ectaIion leads them into tn
not less pestilent regions which go b,
a 4 20 g q