The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1860-03-20
Aittntddo ,Y!sspatrh.
!, 7uEsDAY HoRNINo. J. MARuH "a ,sse.



sd q Newspaper HyPerbsir. -
y" The aN!uence OF our language in superlatives
is q serious misfortune, since they are prsssed
! .iuto service upon all occasions. without any
! regard 10 propriety. So far 10 this evtl car
5 ried, tha, the ordinary utternnce Of the press
= 10 perpetual ny periodic: And II Is guile impos.
eibie for tho reader Of newspaper 70 form
any satisfactory conclusion a. TO the impor-
lance ne shonid attach to its opinions. Exag.
gerasion IL the order Of the day. Not q speech
~ - delivered before a village Lyceum or ii q
ts@psns. mes.nE na. !. !: reported in the
model of eloquencc, at once feryid and cias.
Sic" and TO have been characterized by the.
most brilliant fancy, and replete with the lof-
test Sentimental ~+sf - ~. -
Not an examination Of female school takes
place, but We are duly informed by the "7.is-
sraph' that "the young ladies acquitted them
selves IN = manner which would have done
land" We are told that ",heir profound and
elegant &C scholarship reflected the highest posi-:
Ole credit upon the highly accomplished ana
learned Principal Of the school," that their
compositions would have adOrned the pages oil
the ablsst magazines of the day; and that
1.-THE skill Of the fair pupils in music, drawing,
painting, needle work and wax flowers. would
have rs tonished the most critical connotsseur
. IN the Fine Arts"
Not a sermon is preached upon AN occasion
of public interest, but it is pronounced by the
newspapers "a specimen of Theological
erudit zion and pulpit eloquence, rivalling the
finest productions OF Chalmers or Tlllot-
son"
We might swell our catalogue of instances
10 an exceeding length, but the few will suffice
for onr object, which will be obvious to the
Tessier. We would lift our voice. feeble as it
may he, against the indiscriminate use Of SUI
periatlyes, as being utterly subyersiye Of all
the dignity and force Of language and eq ualiy
OF the candor Of criticism. We may not, im-
probably, be met here with the suggestion that
the exaggeration is quite harmless. inasmuch
as it is generally understood TO mean nothing
At all, and is therefore estimated at its real
worthessness. To this we reply, that it is the
few only who understan ali this the many
are certainly and severely imposed upon. Their
judgment Is blinded, aud their STANDARD of ex-
/. celle3ce degraded. But even if we allow, for
the sake OF The argument, that the people see
through it all,' we would ask" Why, then,
Is constant juggle of words-a perpetual
talsehood, persisted in by the conductors OF
The press f's There Is q serious wrong in the
cxse, and 1t behooyes us to begin at once the
work Of reformation. We should resolve to
speak Of things AS they are, and while We
4. " Set down naught in MALICE
avoid eq ually the other extreme of magnify
ing the merits of things until the enormous
claims made for them shock even the over
credulous.
II the newspapers are to be relied upon, |
there are Academies in every village and |
neigh bOrhood of our land, affording unequal |
led advantages and producing scholars of |
whom Harvard or Brown might be proud |
This, and the kindred delusion that Patrick |
Henrys and Lord Chathams are "thick as |
leaves in Valambrosa y that every pulpit has |
its Massillion, or its Whitfield, that every |
new two-shilling novel which the bounty Of |
the publisher (O vonchsafes to the grateful |
editor rivals in brilliance and interest the |
finest production of Sir Walter Scott, or Sir |
Iy.ton Bulwer; in short, all the thousand |
forms Of meaningless and yet ingenious exag- |
geration should be banished utterly and for |
ever from the columns of respectable newspa- |
pers. They would then inquest ionably gain |
in dignity and popular respect more Than |
enough to compensate for all they would lose |
in BON baAt and senseless infation.-Pyorids ncs |
Press.