Western Reserve chronicle. [volume] (Warren, Ohio) 1855-1921, 1870-08-10
From Packard's Monthly.
RAn ROCKS.

many a hard-fOught field who had
occupied leading positions in social,
political and professional life; who
had drunk deep OF almost every cup
Of honor, that a few days before his
death, after reading one Of the vol
umes of Sterne, he remarked to his
friends who were with him: Had
read VOltaire less and Sterne more
while young, the world would have
been wide enough for Hamilton and
me.n
Sad and bitter rehectiOnl but there
was no remedy. The subtitle reason
ing of the willy Frenchman had long
been instilled in his mind had be
come part and parcel Of himself; and
the great Hamilton had been, for
more than a quarter Of a century
quietly sleeping with his fathers Nc
stings OF conscience could revive his
past, nor help to unlearn aud undo
the evil. No bitter renOrse could
recall that beautiful morning when,
on that picturesque little island that
seems floating on the bosom Of the
noble Hudson, two OF the foremost
men of their time meet In mortal
combat-when Aaron Burr slew Al
exander Hamilton.
1t Is well known that Burr was q
maR Of unserupulOus ambition and
ungoverned passion. To the crimes
Of murder and treason he added that
of the ibertine. At his touch, virtue
and purity sickened and died. He
marched through the earth like q
conquering demon, spreading destrue-
ton where he went, and leaving be
hind him in his path the sacked,
pillaged and blackened remains OF
what were once the temples Of purity
and honor.
On altars dedicated to false gods
were slain, for the qualification Of his
lust, the best and fairest beings the
earth ever knew.
A man who had lived thus could
do no less than die abhOrred and
detested. 1t is said that for many
years after his death no stone showed
his burial place, lest it should be the
mark on which popular indignation
might vent itself.
From his own mouth we know that
the great crime Of his life resulted
from reading one bad book, and who
shall say that all his faults did not
emanate from the same fountain OF
evil? Indeed, that they did is more
than probable. Nor was the ini-
guilty derived from this source con-
fined to him and the author whom
he read. The name Of both tempteF
and tempted is legion. Go where
YOU may and both will be found.
Neither does the catalogue Of bad
N1,,aa % ~ a HaT vaas-
onings; there is another class, no
better, but worse in their effect and
influence, because more widely eircu-
lated and more extensively read-We
allude to the common, light, impure,
and often obscene literature of the
day. Paradoxieal as It may seem,
this species Of literary productions
may always be known BY the out
side clothing. The former class COM
prises, in many instances, the reas-
onings of enlightened, highly culti-
waited minds, while the latter usually
from the minds Of those
who love to pamper lust and passion.
The first is read only by the few, the
second by the many.
The great extent to which the pub
lieation Of the lowest class Of novels
and obscene papers has reached, ad-
US to be deeply concerned,
II not alarmed, for the welfare Of the
young.
Go about the shops and stores Of
our towns and villages and see-see
the gaudy cOVerj see and read the
high-sOunding title-see the lewd pic
ture that sends the crimson blood 10
the cheek Of mOdesty, and you get
but a faint idea Of the bOuntiful re-
past spread out. Nor Is the market
glutted; the supply is governed by
the demand. It Is scattered, too,
with an unsparing hand. In respec-
table Christian homes, as well as in
the lowest brOthels Of corruption and
vice, this same thirst for tales Of dis
love, suicide, piracy and
may be seen.
The danger to be apprehended is
two-fold.
Those who have accustomed them
selves to read that which is trivial,
seem to lose, in a great measure, the
retentive and reasoning faculties Of
the mind. They read to be enter
tanned, not instructed-Or, Oftener,
what is infinitely worse, to "kil
timew They find nothing desirable
to remember, nothing sparkling with
wit, no appeals to the nObler i'm
pulses of man. They find no food
for reflection, and the result is the
mind becomes paralyZed by being
with trash Of the lowest
order. All taste for pure, elevated
literature of any kind is destroyed.
The mind having long travelled in
the extravagant regions Of fancy, no
longer desires commonplace, matter
Of-fact material; the natural appetite
IS vitiated, destroyed.
As thehuman stomach, when over
loaded with indigestible viands, re-
fuses TO perform its duties and be
comes diseased, so the mind, when
with unnatural food,
suffers a like arrangement. That it
may possess power, it must be fed on
pure material.
1t were better never to have learned
% communicate ideas to the immortal
part by means Of the printed page,
han, having done so, prostitute its
lOble faculties 20 so base a use ! The
moral results are terrible beyond
False ideas Of life are
all the baser passions are
lroused. All faith in the virtue and
GOODNESS of mankind is destroyed.
! Religion, love, patriotism, valOr,
levotion, cOnstancy, ambition = all
ire to be laughed at, disbelieved in,
md despised! and nothing is really
rood, so far as we can gather, but
succession OF dangers to stir the
Hood, and Of banquets and intrigues
o sOothe it again 20
The fair-haiped boy, whose spark
ing eyes and brow indicate intelli-
-ence, whose integrity and honor
an be read in every act and word,
mbibes the dreadful pnlsnn. With |
miserly care he boards up his 4
pennies to obtain the coveted vol |
lme. When obtained, schemes and |
ntrigues are resOrted to that the |
ecret shall not be revealed, He con-
caIs it beneath his desk at school, in |
he barn, wOOdhOuse, or chamber at |
iome, and when the teachers face is /
urned, or the parents attention with
.raWn, he eagerly sucks therefrom
he aceursad venom. his body and /
oul art aosolD Deu ~ - SyA-sS -. 10
7hole life is one Of imagination. He
eads the tale Of bold adventure, Of
airing capture, Of midnight assassi-
ation and blOOdshed. The school
Iouse, the shop and the farm no
onger furnish scope for the exercise
+ his faculties. The society Of home
J too tame for his heated tempera-
lent, and breaking loose frOm them
II, he plunges madly into the world,
D live life Of Wretehedness and
rime.