, 1877-10-14
THE MODERN BALLAD.

CHOICE EXTRACTS FROM coSCERT~lIALL POETRY,
For the chr1go Tribune.
Rose street, New York, is hardly the place to
look for an Acalcmy OF Ethics, still there is pro-
duccd in that quarter Of tue city class Of lit
erature that is not altogether without a certain
appgcciablc value. Although not printed with
handsome type OIL toned paper, Or bound in tx
ira morocco gilt edges; although. in fact, the
paper is Of the must hi'nsy kind, anu the
Typography as squalid as the literature within
the gauiy and oftentincs indecent cover, the
comic song books issued iu this part OF the city
find ready market throughout the country.
During stay in New York few weeks ago
took the opportunity afforded to examine some
oil these books and observe the magnitude Of
the business. The facts that have brought to-
ecthcr form 4 mere fraction Of the evidence
waicl, might be collected against this exceeding
iy pernicious literature.
THE ORIGIN OF HALLAD-poETRT.
The origin Of bailai-poetry dates lar back in
history. Macaulay, in the preface to his s. Lays
OF Ancient Rome" tells us that the great
Homeric poems arc generica|Iy ballads, though
widely distinguished from nil other ballads.
laeltus informs us that songs were the only me-
u1oria1s of the past which the ancient Germans
possessed. We learn from Lucan and from
Ammauus Marccllinus that the brave astious Of
the ancient Gauls were commemoratcd III the
verses of bards. fact, for several centuries the
wandering ba}lad-singer retained great influence
over the Teutonic and Celtic race. The same may
be said with truth Of tue Scry1ans the people OF
Tnrkistan, and Of every village of Northern
Persia. The Sandwich Islanders have their
bards and ballads, and it is well-knowu fact
that Mungo Park found in the heart OF Africa q
class Of singng-mcn, who sang Of the achieve
nlcnts of negro Princes. Whether the latter
discovery led American citizens to b1acken their
faces with burnt cork, and with bone accom-
panimeuts intlict us with the exploits Of the
Yaller gals in l;almora1s
That love the ''Ginger Blues, "
hare not yet been able to discover. It IS GER
tain. however, that the ballad has Of late years
been very much on the decline both in England
aud this country, and any indication Of change
for the better will be heraldcd with great satis-
1action. 1t is not howcvcr, the ballad, properly
speaking, that wish at this time to call public
attention to, but rather to that
LOWER ORDER OF soSG
or musical pabulutn with which the youth OF
this country for the past ten years has been
nurtured and fed, and which all respectable peo-
most senscless dissipation. I ulludc Of course
to the music and song furnished by the music
halls and conccrt-rooms OF this and all other
cities a class Of ballad-sinsing which is ever
growing aud extending
THE CIRCLE OF IT'S CONTAMINATION,
until it bids fair to become one OF the special
vices Of the age. It has already struck the
rural districts in the shape Of "School Enter
tanmcnts," "Sociables,'' etc., at which 1 have
heard slug songs b., presumably respectable
girls and boys that should have caused their
parents to blush with shame. Not many wears
ago while attending sociable at the house Of
one OF the leading Baptists of the Town Of
A., must confess my astonishment on see
looking, black-eycd girl Of 1S sit down to
the organ, which few moments before had been
used for hylnn~singiug, and break forth as fol-
lows:
The infants are fed on whisky direct,
For liquor they all to their ma 70,
And the mn1ey COWS give. as man might ex-
poet,
aulk-panch in the Town o, Chicago.
The town with fast ladies and gay gambo,iers
Is ~ full as ship with her cargo.
And the very best men. It is truthfN1}y said,
Fight cocks IN the Town Of Chicago.
But the chorus Of this song was, if ANYTHING,
more vulgar and indecent than the above verse:
Oh, Sodoin was some, and Gomotrah was great,
And in Venice each man was IN {ago;
But nothing ont there can moment compare
With the sweet state OF things in Chicago.
Now the singing Of songs OF this stamp, with
out saying one word about their bad grammar
and dubious morality, III respectable society
ought never to be tolerated, aud yet have fre-
qucutly sat and listened to young ladies and
gentlemen who, perhaps untbinkingly, at church
and school entertainments, recitc this idiotic
doeecre1, which deals mainly with swindling,
carouslns, aud senseless jolly-loggisln,' aud
Of the '*bad tobacco, bad liquor, bad jokes bad
grammar, and dubious morality" of concert
halls, and should have no charms for the vast
army Of hardy, resolute, studious young people
growing up around us.
THE DISEASE
But it Is necessary before We can apply REM
edv to form diagnosis Of this disease. The
question is moral one and in order to arouse
public opinion to its importance it will onlf BE-
to present, as propose to do in this
fr%t,