Winchester journal. [volume] (Winchester, Indiana) 1862-1863, 1863-10-30

honestly to differ. Good men have
cherished bad doctrines, while bao
men have held the truth In unright
eousness:' and what has been will
be. But while no two saints or sages
have precisely similar conceptions
as to the nature and manifestations
of Virtue, no true man ever doubt
ed its existence. And that public
instructor who habitually sneers at
Virtue as an illusion or a pretense,
is a poisoner of public morals, and
should as such be Stunned and rep
rotated.
There is a fippant and fashion
able mode of journalism whereof
the drift is as follows: 'All men are
libertines, only awaiting opportuni-
ty; all women are lewd in thought
if not in act; piety is@a stIll-hunt
for place and peli; the banker and
the gambler use different dice, but
play for identical stakes; the mer-
chant cheats in cloth; the grocer in
weight and adulteration; the coun
terfeiter by false coin and spurious
notes-but all alike are rogues in
grain, only some are crafty, sly,
and respectable, willie others are
bold, reckless, and reprobate; but
the difference is wholly superficial ,
Such teaching is directly and pow
erfnIly calculated to corrupt and
deprave its pupils; and, though it
is currently said that nobody puts
any faith in the daily inculcatlons
of those who thus write, 1T is certain
that continual dropping viii! wear
away the firmest rock, and that
men are influenced by teachings
which they profess and ought to de-
spise. If they regarded such in
culcations as they ought, would they
habltually read them?
That newspaper personalities are
grossly iudecorous and lmpertinent,
the public is well aware. Here is
a journal which propounds some
doctrine, maintains some theory,
or advocates some policy, which is
calculated to affect for good or evil
the well-being OF mankind. Now
nothing can be more fit AMI liudl-
ble than the eflrt OF another Jour
nal to detect and expose any error
in that doctrine, flaw in the theory.
or public peril in the policy, thus
commended. If it be immoral,
unjust, or pernici Gus, let that, by
all means, be shown: if il be prop
ped up by sophistry or daect false
hood, do not mince the matter, but
proclaim the naked verify. Bat
what concern have You or the pub
lie with the personality Of the pro-
FOUNDER or champion? Suppose
him to.haye wry neck "a squint eve,
a bald head, a stlmmering tongue.
short leg, a limping gait. what
has hai to do with the merits OF
tie case in hand? Are you not
aware that any aliusion 10 that lir-
cumstance reduces you at once to
the level oc a biackguard? Do YOU
not realize that it is virtually con
fession and avoidance, an adnis-
sion that you have no solid ground
to stand upon, and no belief in your
own ability to maintain our posi-
ton by direct, pertinent. manly ar
gunent?
The introduction of the name Of
an editor or contributor into a con
troversy is rarely iustifiabIe. When
he gives that name to the public in
connection with his essay, saying
in effect, '.This is my view of the
maiter--regard it and treat il accor-
dingly,"--it may be proper TO dis
tingulsh it as his, and discuss it as
such. But your business is still
with the doctrine, not the propoun-
der; with the considerations bv
which it is sustained, not the indi-
vidual by whom they are urged
Refute the logic, and the logician
falls with it; but proving him 9th
erwise a rogue, fool. a cripple, a
hunchback. does not set you ahead
an inch. 1t rather tends to con-
vict you of a fondness for low
company and an adaptation 10 it.
If the reading public would but
realize and accept It's duty in the
premises--if it would DIT consider
the inevitably pestilent influence of
a foul and scurrilous sheet on the
minds of its hab:tual readers, es-
pecially of the young-a great re-
form would soon be effected. A
scofIing, vile, scurrilous journal has
no right to exist; yet il docs con-
tinue 20 exist through hepartiality
and indulgence Of readers who
laugh when they should frown, and
extend an easy toleratIon to that
which they should sternly reprobate.
Ii indiferently good men would
Systematically refuse TO take or buy
indisputably bad newspapers, the
class would soon cease to exist
Require of your journals the pro-
prieties, the courtesles, that you
demand OF your daily associate