Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1877-11-09

How Men BECOME DEMoRAIIzED -Famil-
iarity with evil destroys sensibility. and with
sensibility, safety. A man that sits in our
courts day after day hearing cases of slander.
or scandal, or wickedness, or that gluts day
after day over carrion literature Ill his news
paper wears out his sensibility. and although
such a man may not fall into wicked passions
because it takes a great deal more force to
be wicked than some men have got-he will
not appreciate virtue. and will lose his hor-
ror at vice.
So, if a young man wants to see the world
and goes over to some State Senator's saloon,
and sees the gamblers and hears their talk,
and enters into the spirit of their lives, al
though he may never gamble he loses his
purity in thus seeing life, or If he goes into
other places less nameable but more common
and more dangerous If men go into those
places, as they profess because they want TO
see human life, want to know what goes on,
| can tell them what is going -disintegra-
tion is going on inside of them, moral deteri-
oration, want of sensibiiity and horror at
evil
There Is another class of men that is III
danger, and those are the men who find
pleasure IN an impure or highly sensational
literature men who enjoy novel that is
ten men that like novels of the French
school To gloat over such things is to
awaken hell IN your own soul. The newspa-
per is becoming one of the great institutions
of modern civilization, and Its experience
has been as human character has been, to
come up through mistakes and blunders.
All We can ask OF these great perlpqtetic
legislators of public opinion is that they
should conform to disclosures of right as
they got along. | think that they are con-
forming gradually to the experience of the
world and gone through process of evolu-
tion towards II more perfect state. Formerly
the reguant idea of Il newspaper was news,
and that whatever was news should 90 IN /;
but there is a news that springs from the top
of the head, from the intellectual faculties
and news which comes from the physical III
dustries OF life as the result OF the will. and
news which springs from the strife OF the
passions, in which quarrels and all sorts of
violence are developed. There is news which
springs from the affections, and news which
springs from the appetites, and news which
springs from each and every thing IN their
highest forms. IN their intermediate iorms
and i'll their lowest forms. There are many
OF our great Journals that are steadily every
year sorting their news, refusing TO put IN
as news very startling things but which are
below the equatorial line OF propriety. II
the newspaper OF to-day is at fault the Inult
is with you. | do not blame the editor alto
gether, although his blame IL something,
but you that take that paper, because you
like to see whut is i'll 1t You that don't like
to let it 20 into your families, but will read 1t
at your places of business you that disdarn
the man that conducts it, and would not
touch him-you 1t is that gives the power to
the newspaper. What would You think OF
the man that should take his nightly ride on
II muck cart and should keep opening the lid
and smelling of the garbage but here this
picking and prying and stewing in the drip
pings of mems passions and nppetites goes
on day after day. and you like /; you talk
about it, and damn the man that puts 1t be
fore You. Is this manly? Is this right
When the market iails the goods wont be
manufactured any longer.-NT. Bcecher'S
sermon last !SudIg.