Ashtabula weekly telegraph. [volume] (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1853-1873, 1870-08-20
Bad Books.

leading positions IN social, political and
professional life: who had drunk deep Of
almost every cup OF honor, that n few
davs before his death, after reading one
Of the volumes Of Sterne. he remarked 10
his friends who were with him: "IIad
read VoItaire less and Stefne more, while
Young. the world wouid have been wide
enough for Hamilton ahd mp.7
Sad and bitter reflection! but there
wan no remedy. Thd subtle. reasoning
Of the wilv Frenchmat had long been in-
etiled in his mind hah hccomp part and
parcel Of himself; and the great Tamii-
ton had bcen. for mord than quarter Of
a century. quietly sleeping with his faith.
ers, No stings Of conscience conld re-
vive his past, nor help 10 uulcarn and
undo the evil. M hitler vemorse could
recall that beautiful morning when. on
that picturesque little Island that seems
floating on tie bosom of the noble Hnd-
son, two of the foremost men of their
time meet IN mortal combat-when
Aaron Burr slew Alexandc, Hamilton.
II is well known that Barr was a mat
Of unscrupnlous ambition and unpov-
erned passion. To the crimes of murder
and treason he added 'hs' Of the liber-
tine. At his touch, virup and purity
sickened and died. lie m,rched through
the earth like a conquering Demon
spreading destruction where he went,
and leaving behind him in his path the
sacked, pillaged and bia'kenrd remains
Of what were once the temples of purity
and honor
On altars dedicated to false gods were
slain. tor the qualification ot his lust. the
the best and fairest beings the earth ev.
err knew.
A man who had lived thus could do
no less than die abhored and de,esred.
IT is said tha, tor many years after his
death no stone showed his burial place,
lest it should be the mark on which popu-
lar Indignation might vent itself
From his own mouth we know that
the great crime OF his life resulted from
reading one bad book, aud 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 iniquity derived from this source
confined TO him and the author whom he
read. The name of both tempter aud
tempted is legion. Go where you may
aud both will be found
Neither does the catalogue of bad
books end with those of infdel reason
ings; there is another class, no better,
but worse in their effect and influence,
because more widely circulated aud more
extensively read-we allude to the COM
mon, light, impure, and often obscene
literature of the day. ParadoXical as it
may seem, this species of literary pro-
ductions may always be known by the
outside clothing. The former class com
prises, in many instances, the reasonings
of enlightened, highly cultivated minds,
while the latter usually emauates 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 publica-
| ton ofthe lowest class of novels and OBJ
scene papers has reached, admonishes us
to be deeply concerned, If not alarmed.
for the welfare of the young.
Go about the shops and stores of our
towns and villages and see-see tie
gaudy cover; see and read the high
sends the crimson blood to the cheek OF
modesty, and you get but faint idea of
the bountiful repast spread out. Nor is
the market glutted the supply is gov
erned by the demand. 1t is scattered,
too, with an unsparing hand. In respec.
table Christian homes, as well as in the
lowest 6rothels OF corruption and vice
this same thirst tor tales Of disappointed
love, suicide, piracy and murder may be
seen.
The danger to be appreheuded is two
fold.
Those who have accustomed them
selves to read that which is trivial, seem
to lose, in a great measure, the retentlve
and reasoning facilities of the mind.
They read to be entertained, not lit
structed-or, ottener, what is infinitely
worse, TO skill time !" They find moth
ing desirable To rem, mber, nothing
sparkling with wit, no appeals 10 The
nobler impulses ot man. They find ne
food for reflection, and the result is the
mind becomes paralyzed by being sur
feited with trash of the lowest order
All taste for pure, elevated literature %
any kind is destroyed
The mind having long Travelled in thu
extravagant regions OF fancy, no longer
desires commonplace, matter-ot-tact ma
terial /; the natural appetite is vitialed
destroyed.
AS the human stomach, when over
loaded with indigestible viands, refuses
10 perform its duties and becomes dis
eased, SO the mind, when overcrowdec
with unnatural food, suffers like
arrangement. That it may possess
power, it must be fed on pure material
1t were better never to have learned
to communicate ideas to the immorta
part by means of the printed page, then
having done so, prostitute its nobl
faculties to SO base nse The mora
results are terrible beyond c0ncep:ion
False ideas of life are infused all th
baser passions are aroused. All faith II
the virtue aud goodness of mankind
destroyed. "Religion, love, patriotism
valor, devotion, constancy, amoltion-a
are to he laughed at, disbelieved in, an
despised and nothing is really good, s.
far as we can gather, but succession o