Cedar Falls gazette. [volume] (Cedar Falls, Iowa) 1860-1895, 1867-11-22

The meadows with their lowing heards,
The woodbine on the cottage WALL
My heart stiil Fingers by them all;
Ye strangers on my native sill,
Step lightly, for love II stilli
An Age of Sensa tions. +
The remark make by Mr.. Davenport,
on one of his recent benefit nights in
Chicago, to dispiriting array of emp
ty benches, that hereafter he should
drop the legitimate drama aud make
his appearance before crowded audien-
ces with a banjo, although out Of place,
nevertheless contained a certain amount
of truth in its sarcasm. We undoubt-
edly live in an aye of intelligence and
progress. Our lecturers, our clergy
men, our politicians, omit no opportu-
nifty to inform us of that fact, and point
many glowing periods with the "glit.
tering generality" The announce
ment has come to US in 80 many differ
ent shapes, and from such excellent au-
thorities, that undoubtedly many Of us
have begun to believe it and to fiatter
ourselves that the sun has never shone
upon people so tremendously advan-
ced morally and intellectually rs our
selves. - E
Of the progress of the age there can
be little doubt.. OF the direction oi
that progress there can be much. 1t Is
exceedingly questionable whether we
are making any progress on the popu-
lar road toward a higher standard than
that of the last generation. On the
other hand, il Is not at all questionable
IL this be an age of Intelligence, that
the majority of the people do not give
the best tokens of that intelligence.
The market, whether for Goldfish or for
religion, is always adapted to the tastes
of its customers, aud its goods are al
ways marks of the character of the
buyers. Judging, therefore, from the
appearance of the market, we must
come to the conclusion that the quality
of the popular taste Is bad, and that
the popular progress is one of those
revolutions that ought 10 go backw ward.
The legitimate has been pushed from
its stool, and we are passing through q
period of sensations which cannot be
excused on the ground that the pro-
gress OF our age has carried us far be-
yond past ages that our tastes and NOR
ais are removed from danger of corrup.
tion. The rule has never held true.
The lion virtue of Cromwell did not
save the succeeding age from almost
universal harlotry. { George H., tho
stupid and plain, did not shield his sub
jects from the vices aud frippery of the
=" first gentleman of Europe" The
simple manners and infiexible honesty
of Abraham Lincoln did not save us
from the political baseness and person.
al immoralities of Andrew Johnson
The progress of the age Is not steady
We arc drifting into sensations In relig,
H.. L. s..@ al
aud the more sensational the religion.
list, tile moralist, the author or the ar
tist, the sooner he becomes lion. and
the more greenpacks he puts in his
pocket. ....
Everywhere the popular demand Is
driving the genuine and legitimate
from the market and supplying its
place with the spurious and illegiti.
mate. Mr.. Tupper, with his cheap
has forced Homer and
Milton into the dust of library back
shelves. Sylvanus Cobb's stories and
Beadle's Dime Novels have more circu.
lation in one day than Scott and Coop
er i'm year. The cheap sensations OF
Miss Braddon, and her familiar, Ba-
bington White, meet with acirculation
that would have astonished Washing
ton Irving. Put spice of adultery
and gambling into book let 1t deal
with the demi-Baonde In q patron izing
way, and its success IL pretty well as-
sured. Madame Aubray keeps her es-
tablishment. has her mornings at home
attends the opera, and steps very trip
pingly over the pavement, and Dumas
canonizes her at once and accepts her
reality i'm Adah Menken, and the peo.
pie applaud. There 10 not publisher
in the country to-day, who will go out
side of bis ring" to touch legiti-
mate book, by new author, unless the
writer advances the expenses of publ
cation. Let IL be understood that the
book is q sensation, and publishers will
outbid each other to obtain the lucky
manuscripts We are ready to admit
that General Grant Is the right man i'm
the right place, and equally as ready to
insist that General Grant, as a novel
writer, would be in the right place. Ii
General Grant should write n novel, n
would. In all probability, be the poor.
est one ever written, aud yet there Ii
not q publication house In the country
that would be able to supply the de-
mand for 10. His famc as q soldier
would be eclipsed by his fame as an au-
thor, just as Mr.. Beecher's poor novel
has pushed inUo obscUrity his excellent
sermons. The stage il no better i'm this
respect than literature. The woman
with large calves and little brains, the
man with much physical and little in
tellectual labor, the dramas with thin
virtue and model art, are the attrac-
tions, while the legitimate drama ia
played to empty benches. Shakespeare
holds the mirror up TO nature. but ma
ture does not care to see herself. The
cheap dramatists of to-day succeed by
holding the alluring sensual side of ma
turs up to the view OF the people.
. The last prize fighter who has bruis-
ed and battered his opponent, the last
woman who has exhibited herself to q
gaping crowd, the last preacher who
has turned theological somersault, the
last author who has produced sensa-
ton, the last man who displays the
most leg muscle for money, the last
precOcious infant who delivers a tenn
perance lecture, or plays piano solo.
when she should have been under the
discipline of the nursery, the last call
with three heads, the last female i'm
breeches the last champion in extract
ing D certain number of corns In q Civ
en- space Of time--these are the celebfi-
ties OF the day, of whom we make our
backs, while real merit, which is al
ways modest, takes the back seats and
must bide its time until tile people
have had q surfeit of the fooleries now
in vogue. IT is q consolation to know
that such o time will come, although
we are wading through = very sickly