The Abbeville banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1847-1869, 1859-06-23
THE DUTY OF READING MEN.

reading matter so cheap, SO abundant SO
varied, and in the main, SO excellent. q!
COURSE We do not take into account sucl,
countries us China, where, wo arc told,
books, such as they are, may be bought
for something less than Il penny u pound,
avoirlupois TrushuIyto as bad as;.ny-
thing the Chinese philosophers, poets, and
novelists ever produced may be had in this
country, and in any quantity; but this
trash, We would iai" bc!icye, does not form
the staple rcaliny Of The American public.
Indeed, while VIC have ample cause to de-
plorc that depravity which caters to the
low taste Of the "Lhoy" class for horrors
and villanies, we cannot be inscnsitIc To-
the fact that there must be u taste for infr-
rior reading before superior reading can.he
rc'i,hctl. As the wiScst Of us commence
with Jack-the Giant Killer, aud by grad
u'' Stages ascend to the pro:uundcst pro-
auctions of the human mind, so it is To be
hoped that the generation which DELIGHTS
III the Police Gazcttcc will be followed bv
a generation which shall take pleasure il,
porng over the pages Of the Foreign Quar-
tcrlcs. That this elevation of the public
taste is not only TO be expected, but has
been and is in actual progress, uo one can
deny who has attcntivcly watched the
course OF American literature during tl.,.
last ten years. \ marked improvement
has taken place in the tone and tem,cr of
the magazines and literary wceklics Il
purcr taste prcsiIes in their management,
am! hiy her order Of contribution, Oh
tamS. The demand for more solid rca,linr
for historical and scientific books, has
largely increased and is still rapidly incrca-
sing. These arc facts known to every
bookseller Of established Standing |, may
lc said with truth that the largest and best
paying audience which III author can COM
mand in all the world is to be found in
America.
But our purpose WAS not to dwell uim,!,
fact Of Which we may well be proud il
WAS to call attention to The duty Of read
ing men. In q country where every man.
woman and chile! reads. and reads :, ..re;,l
deal, :, high ami solemn nbi9a,inn r>.,
upon those whose duty it is to rurvcy the
reading matter. They arc bound to pro.
vide the best material. I;ut who ar. this.
r.'rveyors Answer will hc made "tlc
rr"prictors and editors Of newspapers and
magazines, the writers and The publishers
of the books" The answer is correct
Magazine and newspaper men, the book
publishers and authors arc indeed the pro-
'rSsonal purvcyors Of reading matter for
the public; aud, unfortunately, th. rrofcs-
sl"nal purvcyors are the only ones. We
say unfortunately" for whiL; those who
are directly interested in catering to the
literary appetite Of the people are hot
wanting: in thcr duty, it happens that they
are not those who are best prcparcdeao dis
charge it, Newspaper men are compcll Il
TO read so much of the waits and struys
of mere news that they have no time and
little inclination for better reading. Au-
th"Is write TOO much and publishers are too
busy publishing to attend properly to tic
public wants. 1t rests with reading
men, the men Of leisure and of literary
taste, to provide the public with the best
reading matter.
How shall this be done? Easily enough.
Let the very many gentlemen in the land
who have hitherto pcruscd books an. the
higher class Of periodicals in II lazy, selfish
way, depart from that scllishucss and that
Incidence. Let them read, pencil Ill hand
marking those passages where new IDEAS
new facts, beautiful sentiments, old truths
dressed III new attire, noble thoughts, occur
And when they have laid down the book
or the periodical from Which they have
derived SO much and such pure enjoyment
let them take pen in hand, and tran<cliLr
these noble thoughts, beautiful sentiments
and new ideas. and send them to the near
est newspaper, and thus to the great mass
OF mankind who cannot buy books and
are glad enough to get truth and noble
sentiment second hand, if indeed they can
ever be second hand. Editors will be clad
to publish such excerpts. The author,
whose thoughts have lain per1u and the
thickness of his volume will be glad to sec
them in print again, even in fragmcntary
form. Nor will they be less serviceaLle OF
SnlOVabie in this fnrp, rrln .,,lt,, No.. :,
things in book, the things Which deserves
to be remembered, will not of,cntimcs fill
more than one or two columns of n fair.
sized newspaper. The reading man, if he
have but ordinary taste and discrimination
need not fear that bis labor of transcriLiuo
will be thrown away by All editor over.
wlhelmed with excerpts.
But there are many men, not men o