The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1867-02-18

live, make the world live with the dry
morality which constitutes the whole OF their
And fnaily remember that Unitarlanism
cannot much longer balance herself on the
sharp and slippery ledge separating bold inf
deity from evangelical truth. Even now there
are two parties among the Unitarinns. the one
less and less orthodox sliding over towards
Theodore Parker, Strauss and Renan, and the
3ther rapidly gravitating towards the truth as
Another source of danger to young men Is TO
De round IN ihe impurity Of certain books and
hardly dare mention the names OF certain
books IN such place as this and yet on retlec-
ton, TINS is the very place to name and de-
nounce them, just as It Is the place to name and
threaten with the judgments of God the i'm
We are not referring to the literary scum
which is smuggled into railway cars, and
bought and sold with winlxs and whispers; but
to those books bearing the imprint of reputable
PPp90iHes3ntSers and the names of gifted authors
Reade, is coarse and brutal, not to say filthy.
NO man could write such book, at least soft
the spirit OF his story. From this high place, as
one OF the humblest guardians OF the nations
purity, we pronounce this book degrading to
the taste and unfit to be read, on the score OF
the moral faint contained in II. 1t is no more
fit for exposure to the public eye than the
dancing girls in the Black Crook-no more than
a human body that has died of smallpox is to
be brought out of the dissecting-room and
But if we speak thus of Mr. Reade what shall
we say of certain Mr.. Swinburne? If Eeade
shall be chastised with whips. then Swinburne
with scorpions. This Mr.. Swin0urne is said to
be quite young. He ought to be young-his ex'
treme folly would argue as much-and yet l.
seems almost impossible that young man of
only twenty -eight should have made Sucn at
tainments in bTazen lust, and succeeded so per
fectly in forgetting the very existence
modesty. 1t is one of the very worst lndlca-
lions for our popular literature thaI seVerai a. 0i
wrG;Cheu man among the great poets OF our lan-
guage. Their apologies for him show their own
looseness. They tell us he is evidently sincere.
Perhaps he is Even Satan puts darkness for
light, and, il may be. believes his own lie. They
allege that he is so constituted as, to have but
slight sense of morality. This is apologizing for
a man on the score of his being monster. 1t is
iiever in the Immortality of the soul. This
might help to explain his corruption, but will
hardly excuse it among those who believe that
life and immortality have been brought to light
in the gospel.
their mild censures their apologies, nor their
praise. In full three-fourths of what this new
poet nns & Te see nd
sprinkled over here and there with striking
metaphors, is used TO string together the swell
tering clotted filth of Imagination whose
every throb seems to be inspired by lust. Love,
as set forth by this man, is the love OF brothe,
most appropriately joined with blasphemy
against God and Christ. Lust is carried up to
the very gates of heaven; it is thrown in the
face of the Son of God; it riots upon the very
form of death; it breaks out everywhere in hot
kissing and painting, as if it came from crea-
tuge half swine and half serpent, inhabited by
tell you, my young brethren-I would fam
tell this Christian nation-I would tell the press
of the country, that the bare fact that such
book could find a respectable publisher, and
could be printed with the publishers name in
it, taken in connection with the still more ter
ribly significant fact that it has received indul-
gent treatment and distinguished praise from
the highest literary authorities, reveals the
greatest danger, not merely ahead, but already
here in our midst. 1t shows the strength OF the
corrupt element in our literature, together with
lax sentiment In our society. 1t portends an
inundation of libertlnism. 1t shows thatsociety
sits quiet, and that critics on the tallest of our
tripods applaud, while 1ndecency stalks nude
and in daylight along our streets. If
the nation and the Church would save
themselves from that "riot, and chambering
and wantonness," deprecated by an Apostle,
from that state in which. "being past feeling,
men are given over to lascivlousness, to work
ali uncIeanness with greediness," from those
things of which sit is a shame even TO speak,"
from that form of civilization in which intel
lect, and culture, and art, instead of following
reason, and linking us TO God and heaven, be-
come the mere ministers OF the animal passions;
in short, from the destruction OF all that is
Christian in our civilization. If, we say, the
nation and the Church would save themselves
from this ruin, so imminent, so menacing, they
must arouse themselves; they must look deeper,
and with purer eyes than do the mere book
makers and critics; they must see these evils in
the light of Scripture, and, If possible, with the
very eyes OF the holy Jesus.
But we are not yet done. Another source OF
danger is the levity with which both sin and
religion are frequently and almost daily spoken
of in the newspapers. Religion is sacred, and,
viewed Alright, sin is solemn, awful. To trihe
with either is irreverent and impious.
A good man can no more laugh at sin than at
the Cross. In the one case the authority of God
Is lnneu, IN Jue OLDer GOu t1lLuSGll' L nc
daily press is not, as matter OF course, a
religious institution; and part of its ordinary
business is to furnish reports of both
the virtue and the vice of the commu-
nifty, of the dolngs of religion ana OF
the outrages of crime. But IL often hap
pens thaurobbery, gambling, drunkenness, i'm
purity, and the like, are spoken of with the
utmost lightness, even coined into familiar
jests and sacred things, the holy words tnat
represent religion, are handled with the same
thoUghtess and irreverent familiarity. me
NEWSPAPERS are hourly in our hands, ana tnelr
familiar style is constantly liable to imitation
by us. Sin and religion frequently; nay col col
stantly seen in this familiar mode OF hand
ling; these forms of treatment, running througH
our minds and from our mouths, are III greaIS
danger of diminishing the horror OF SIN anu
the reverence due to the dlVlne. we 'oFS F Gin. ~
grow familiar with, and then tolerant OF SIN;
and then, are already half ruined II TeiigIoML ~
loses its sacred hue to our vision, noLhlhg 20
holy to us, and what is that soul for Whom @ Gne
world contains nothing sacreuE, Lev EadneSs us
guard the solemnity Of SIM and the sacreuness
of religion. 49,.
Nor should we forget to mention the fact InaC
the newspaper and periodical press are W. W.
stantly commanding, without stl nt, every vi uS
scription of famusement, win llIIle oI 10
of the theatre which take up 80 large " PaIves PotI
Of almost every days ISSUE present InelsT6r fro
frequently in the alluring ana preIentIotus ond
of discussions of art, thus giving presIlSo tho
respectability to the theatre AS arC, III nd TIiS
high and noble sense, tendS TO eieNaUo ma
purfy So il is insinuated, Will the stage ,,tr f
if there is an intmatnn against tn9 iIiOopned To
hear homilies upon the great Things Inat u Pu xt
Theatre might accomplish. MeahIlnei Un0 esf
listing theatre continues to be IeguiaIh III PIb tba
house as those who are entrappeu lAIo ~ ~ O
news papers find to their cost. ~
| W. n,rst not finish our list of cautions WlIn-
ont calling attention to the uoou Oh nofDi9
now dIIing the book and magazine tln1 hno m9" Of