The Andrew County Republican. [volume] (Savannah, Mo.) 1871-1876, 1873-04-25
, ras ttrERaTURg OF THE bAf.

IRE ttTERATURB OF THE b4f. q
It is il faet to BIZ deplored that the
greater part Of the periodical Literature
Of the present day is ofthe, extreme sen.
sational school and it is still more to
be regretted that this so-called sensa.
ton" seems to be demaded by the popu'
lar taste. Evidently this is result Of
the peculiar pyosressior OF the age in
which we live. There is SO much excite.
ment in the practical portion Of ''our
lives SO many wonders bordering on
the miraculous constantly presenting
themselves to our notice-especially in
matters which our traditions had taught
us to believe i,abhangeabie-that the
ideal IN our taflire has gradually created
for itself anew standard of satisfaction,
ard requires stronger food than Of old.
TIE dox,eatiE novels and the moral tales
which 50 delighted our immediate ances-
tors are, indeed, among the things of the
past. Our mental craving now is not
for milk and water, but for spices
strong, sharp, and even bitter-which
will sting our intellectual palates when
first deFoured, and leave behind them a
tingling delight slow to fade away. runi
But while we regret the excess Of this
vitiatedt taste, ewouldnotresuscitate the
milk-and-water stories, even if we could.
Our intelleetual reqeptivity has grown
sinee 1t was fed ON this stood for babes,p
and it now requires meat ft for the
strong man. 1t is only. because our
mental growth has been SO narvelodsly
fapid that our taste has become, in .
measure, diseased In any case mis-
chief is done, and all that remains to do
ID to supply this excited tuental appetite
with food that shall not injure morally,
while it fully satisfies the craving for
stimulation. Elj sHI loo .5.' N..t IT
This, we firmly believe, is not at all
impossible, though one would suppose
that most modern authors thought it
was, from the meretricious dishes they
constantly serve at the public table.
We are quite aware that to write of life
as it is,. we must depict its sins as well
as its virtues, its evils as well as its
good. But there is no need whatever
nay, more, it is o crime-to paint those
sins SO that they shall look like virtues,
and the latter be left in forbiddins
shadow by the brillianee with which
their contrasts Efo% upon the canvas.
There is a grave responsibility ttssihs
upon the shining lights of the literary
world at the present day. If they con-
tinueon in the dangerous path which they
seem to have chosen, not only will they
lure the myriad Of their admirers in the
present to moral destruction, but many
future generations will suffer terribly
from their impure teachings. It is
much more easy to implant in the minds
of men desire for Sinful pleasure than
a desire for the practice Of atistefe VII
tue and it is an almost impossible task
10 eradicate the first desire when once
infamed. Man may readily deprave his
fellow-man-he even does it uncon-
scio',sly, through example, continually;
but God alone can regenerate fallen hui
manity, and We see every day how stub
born the sinner is in rejecting that grace.
Surely the mind of man. however it
Graves stimulus, has not been tutAlls
transformed into ghoul, to feed on
corruption always. Surely the story of
q truth can be as brilliantly told as the
story of lie; and the record of viz
tue bemade as fascinating and picturesque
As the history of the most dazzlingly |
tobed vice. Let the acknowledged !
leaders in modern authorship employ
tlfeir splendid talents, their vivid powers
'f description and analysis, upon subjects
hat shall refine, and not debase, our |
minds, Let them--as some among the
aoblest of them do, thank Heaven-mar-
,hal all their powerful forces to right
he wrongs os their fellow.men, and de-
END them from oppression while seclir.
ng them from sim Let them beware
hat they use not their mighty legiOns
IS low detectives to levy blackmail on
lideous sin, which at the same time they |
leck gorgeously in purple robes, to lure
'ther foolish victims into their net In
hort, let them portray, as wildly and
brilliantly as they can. the best, rather
han the worst, side of human nature.
The task will be all the easier that they
will no longer be obliged, to use the
ovely masks and gay apparel behind
which they hide the deformities of vice,
Tor the sophistries they are forced to
'mploy to render alluring the frightful |
ins they now depict. M aff y loul
THE Boston Globe takes lofty stand
md protests against such full sway of I
he inventive and descriptive powers as
he following idicates, and which we are
old originated in a Western paper
: The Mayor galooted up the church
isle, swashing and gyrating Like q COhi-
Iese Joss with the Jim jams" And this
JOIN Harper was arrested on Tuesday |
aHsHa
or attempting to lunatic Mrs. Green.
fortunately she lodged the shot and
scaped being lunaticked on this ooca-
ion." The American mind is equal to-
the meaning of all this, but