The Pulaski citizen. [volume] (Pulaski, Tenn.) 1866-current, 1866-05-18
For the Pulaski citizen.


Yields so potent an influence in moulding,
correcting and refining public taste as
newspaper we'll and ably conducted. Nor
is there anything which so much strength
ems and improves the intellectual faculties
as written composition. Let not fear Of
criticism deter any one. It is only by
friendly interchange ofideas; each pointing
out to the other the errors committed, that
we can hope to arrive at anything like per-
fection. Il is in this spirit that allude to
the communications in your paper of Sd
instant.
"To Eudono'' and Memories are not
faultless, yet they are so beautiful, pure
and chaste in style, and there runs through
each so mueh= that is pure and Goods 50
much touching pathos, and lender feeling
of heavenly sweetness, that we rise up
from their perusal better creatures. and go
out to the stern duties of life satisfied that
woman can and does EOvs with depth and
disinterestedness that man can never feel,
and which the good and true, everywhere,
must admire. .t--- 1.'--
'.My Sabbath Morn Lesson is certainly
by boy; though he says no sehoOl-boy.
The faults of his effort are many; faults of
syntax, faults of ProsOdy, faults of Gram
mar generally.
"The same IS still reported
Among the Jews till yet''
contains repetition of ideaa hardly JUST
fed by the Decessity for ''rhyme. p for al
though .8Efis d
"Rhynes with reason may dispense
E And soand has right to goBersa ssass,'
still the correspondence Of sound is too
slight between ''yer' and taught" to war
rant the error in point. And the beginning
of his letter eff any worth or merritt are''
! &c, violates a plain rule of Grammar
| while the-fo frequent use Of abbreviatiohs
such as I'd. I'm, e'er, tits, &C., tend great
ly to lesson the merit Of any prose compO-
sition.
To 'aThaddeus'' we would say that pu-
rity of style is the first requisite of ali COM
position, and more especially of such as is
| intended for the general reader, and which
has so much to do in directing public taste
to ''nice and delicate perception Of beauty
and propriety in literature" One of the
means to be employed to attain this degree
| of excellence, consists in avoiding undigni-
fed expressions and employing only such
words as are authorized by good usage.
ely into passion ''grit your teeth, y
Swear = young buck" "Old Bach, =
''Reb,'' ''it ~ont pay" "old gal. - "spon-
dulix,' &C., &c., detract very much from
the effect and dignity of composition.
"Love is inate,'' ''eonseiencs Is inate;"
innate is it not7 Besides Kant and Locke
will pretty well satisfy you that there is no
such thing as an climate idea Love is a
/ passion and may Be Unborn 1--WE doubt even
that, thougb)s but conscience Is faculty
requiring an exercise of judgment and will.
and hence is the child Of Education, and
will never enlighten us as to the morality
or immortality of an act, till we are taught
1 by divine Revelation and the Church in
what Right and Wrong consist.
Again, he says Custom has perfected
our language and formed society" Gus
tom is frequent repetition; and viii only
tend to perpetuate thing as it finds it, OF
i a0ear It OUT; hence could have nothing to do
in perfeeting language OF forming society.
Mans eminenuy social nature and gregari-
Gus habits, together with Necessity, are the
great agents in both cases.
''Had I have BEEN" chad have belong
ed" chad have picked Ups" No authori-
ty for the combination chad have,''
have written this, Mr.. Editor, in nc
spirit of Oensure, oayil, q fault-hnding,
but with the hope that botA the spirit and
the object will be understood and appreci-
ated. The tone Of the literature Of the day
to meet approval must be good; not solidly
good, perhaps-super6c it may be, and
occasionally false; but still there must b.
more right than s0rong.
Phe study of literature. not yellow back
ed nonsense devouFed with so much avidi
ty by the young of both sexes. but History
Rhetoric. Belles-Lettres and Romance; th,
cultivation of refined taste by the stud,
of the fine arts, as poetry. music, painting
and sculpture; the development of higl
order of literary talent, and an untirinl
pursuit of knowledge it must BE- admitted
are not characteristics of our people. Tn
breadth, the number, so to speak, of squar
$ feet of learning is very great; the soil,
: contents. cubic feet, very small. A smaI
tering or superficial acquaintanee with tn
general truths of science, and Sigh
familiarity with the surface ideas Of a fev
of the great literary lights OF the past con
> stitute the sum-total Of the attainments G
nine-tenths OF our young men and ladie:
We are no ultraist; no fanatic, and henc
- are no advocate of the idea that every me
ment ct time should be devoted to labo
There is time to play" Both The min
and body require relaxation. rest and "a
T creation. An occasional social party,
drive, dance or picnic no liberal mind ca