The morning star and Catholic messenger. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1868-1881, 1874-12-06
Good Taste Among Catholics.
Liverpool Catholic Times |

| We should be sorry to see Catholics run
| after sensation in the newspapers department
of the Press. II would be quite possible to
gain large circulation for any Catholic pa.
per we might start, provided we wouId stoop
| to employ those arts which are sure to entrap
| the vulgar.
SALE because its effect il to drteriorate, not TO
raise aud most of the Sunday papers are sold
to hundreds of thousands, because they keep
their readers down in the cutters. Between
coarseness and refinement there numerous
stages such as the eqnivocal, the conventional,
| the dd cdptandnn nor have We the right to
expect that all Catholic papers should come
up to o very high standard. But We have the
right to expect that Catholics should propose
such standard az is at least in good taste !;
because good taste is much matter of re-
ligion, as it is of mere social propriety. R-li-
gon is injured by the drapng OF its truths in
toilet which Is positively meretricions for
that is to drag down what is highest to the
level of what is lowest-t0 write of both in
identical strain, Catholics ought TO be su-
perior to those who are not Catholics in tone
well as in Faith else Protestants may very
reasonably remark "See here are men who
profess to have religion the most intellec-
tual which the world has ever known; o
devotional spirit moro exquisite than we
Protestants can hope to even realize in abb
stract yet they unite in tone which sug-
gests clay pipes and porter, and certainly does
not SAVIOUR of education" We could imagine
a newspaper, of really Catholic bent, putting
headings TO articles which would be simply quite
gross anu SENSATIONAL advertisements,
and so bringing dishonor, of at least a literary
kind, on the reputation of educated Catholics.
We should deprecate this line of speculation. |
We should like to see the Catholic poor, even |
those who have least education, nurtured in |
the taste for whatever il refined, well as |
for whatever is true. The education of the |
poor rests mainly with the rich and example |
is as much followed in the indusrtrial classes,
as in those which titled or wealthy. If
the humber classes ere trained in good tone,
they would much prefer good tone TO bad 1t
is entirely question of habit. As with liter
allure, 80 with popular amusemeDts, it is the
who create the ideal. That detest-
able vulgarity which distinguishes most music
halls, and not few of our theatrical enter
tain ments, is solely the result of q pre-deter-
mnation to keep q class down in the depths.
Nonsense to say that any class of our country
men IL not capable of approaching what is
high. Our poorest classes have rs much ma
ural refinement as the classes whose business
g to teach and they always show a willing
less to rise to standard which approves
tself by reason taste. 1t is the fault of the
aterer if the audience applaud coarseness, be-
ause it is the caterer who has taught them
rad taste. IfproprietoTs of theatres, of music
Hlls, of concert rooms, were to combine to
levate public tOne-to eliminate every ele!1 q
1ent, every gesture, every dress, which are s
opposed to Jrne dignity and Refinement with
O six mouths bad taste would be hisssd, and
groaned off the boards. So it is I
nth our literature. There il no need to be :
1bich has been already created by the con-
ucCors of popular journalism. Let Catholics I
void the snare. 1t is better to be slow in g
aiming the confidence of readers, to be
bought even dull aud prosaic, than have TO
curt large calculations by pandeEing to an c
ppetite which ia incOnsistent with Catholic
ofnement.