Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, Va. [W. Va.]) 1852-1859, 1859-07-15

WHEE
THE I'm EI. LII FSINC NCIFyR
AURENCE sTEI{.NTI5,,7

l1At5RENCE sTERNEs.
somegdays' agoswe.r received from . friend :
much valued present in the shape Of convs oI.
tne lie and writings Of Laurence Sternc win.
tue wromlse, on our part, that something shonld
appearsln the 1nte1ligencer atsan early c1,v g
inc way of comment upon the merits of.z ztbo.
great authors who5is quite favoritc with onr
friend s1.ss : :" oaf1
#1E 90 n not ofterso criticisms upon this.d;s.
t.ngntshed author withany expectation Of chan.
glogs the opinion of the readip blic in rsla.
ton to the merits of Sterne or his 5writjngs
ms name IS enrolled high among the wits Of
Eng.and = Chls country By adoption0; yet we
sh'nkslt may be safely said, that thezwheat
from these publications Should be winaowed.
and the chaff from time to time thrown awav. !"
no one can admire more than we do some
parts Of these writings; and as our admiration
IS greatsforsthe fine and beautiful parts. so our
aetestatlon for that which abounds with low
and indecent language is in the. sane ratio. Sir
koser de Coyerly was Of. the opinion that none
but men of splendid talents should be huno.
ana 't#capltal punishment had been awarded to
literary offenders Of this class Sterne must
have suffered the extreme penalty Of tho
law But such not having been the case his
punishment was inflicted in. the censure Of tbo
good and virtuous Of his own times. and the
nncnaSinSE re1rretse his a.l,nirers sinre i,osn
times When a=wrltcrsc rscondescendsz to low and
base language it is natural to suppose that his
stock of=what is decent and proper being ex-
hausted, he is partially obliged to have re-
course to something of this Kind to help him
such wasznot the case iii this instance, and that
furthermore we believe the moving cause was
determination to be wholly aud entirely origi-
nal, although he declares that hezhas never
dared towritc SO freely as Swift nor could he
except he We're Dean Of St. PatriclSs, he soon
snsnlts the common sense Of his readers with
the insinuation that candor impels him 10 wlitc
thus! As well might a honsclolte5 " no should
discover, while searching his garret, the dead
carcass of some pcsttlent animal, for such
thing may happen in the best regulated man
sions)-as well might he affirm, that candor
required thathe should bring forward this un.
slightly object toa shble richly spread for the
Entertainment Of his guests, and place beside
it=his choicest wines antl=most richly favored
meats
Hating this false candor, we mast rather
commend that u,an that woman who=uponz
upon the discovery of any nuisance in the house
they inhabit, should Immediately cause it to be
removed from sight, and cast into a PIT or mote,
where i might neverzmorc annoy zuan, woman
or child.
It's in vain to suppose that man can live
in=this. world Zofzours, especially lie =lningle
much in promiscuous society, without seeing
and hearing great deal that is degrading to hui
unanty, but must lie therefore, under pretcnse of
reforming abuses, overstep all bounds OF pro-
l.pTiety, and thus outrage our sense Of dcccncy?
We must bear in mindtoc Sterne's sacred office,
and that he was a watchman on the towers Of
Zion, and we are told that holiness becomeththe
house of the Lord, and that they who minister
about holy things should be examples to the
flock over which they preside. But our authors
Lone great aim seems to have been, eccentricity,
nDdsto thatwe think he has established unde
niu6!e clains. But then no must so much re-
gret the price at which it has been pnrchased
torit seems TO be but another instance of how,
with the talents Of an angela nan may be
fool.
Bingraphers have given such conflicting testi-
that we find ourselves obliged to compare their
several statements aud from then, to form
Judgement Of our.own. Some have. spoken with
contempt:of his attempts at moralizing, and
call his sentmentality sickly. etthem contin-
nc to do 50; for our part We choose to follow the
advice Of Sir Francis Bacon, in his treatise on
health, which tells US tozobserve what agrees
well with our own5constitution and peculiarities
of6ody, rather than conform too closely to that
which others recommend. However it may be
with others, We have felt ourstrength renewed,
and our heart co.nforted upon the perusal of
these same objectional writings. Some of the
passages have come to. US like the songs Of birds
from distant grove, or the far off murnur of
a#brook when we had thonghtita= sandy desert.
zNYho can read the character Of Uncle Toby
whether he contemplate him as. n soldier, broth
er, master, or friend, without feeling his whole
affections moved to kindness, aud his soul stirr-