The weekly democratic statesman. [volume] (Austin, Tex.) 1871-1883, 1881-02-24

form bends over a romance. Tho
eyes fash fire. The breath Is quick
and irregular. Occasionally the
color dashes 10 the cheek and then
dies out. The hands tremble as
though guardian spirit were try
Ing to shake the deadly book out of
the grasp. Hot tears fall. She
laughs with a shrill voice that drops
dead at its own sound. The sweat
OF her brow is the spray dashed up
from the river of death. The clock
strikes a." and the rosy dawn soon
after begins to look through the
lattice upon the pale form that looks
like detained spectator ofthe night.
Soon in q mad-house she will mis-
take her ringlets for curling ser
pents, and thrust her white hands
through the bars of the prison, and
smite her head, rubbing 1t back as
though TO push the scalp. from the
skull, shrieking, "My brainl NV
brain" Oh, stand of from that.
Why will you go sounding your way
amidst the reefs and warning buoys,
where there Is such vast ocean in
whleI-you may voyage, all sails set2
There is one other thing l shall
say this morning before | leave you;
whether you want to hear. ii or not,
and that is that consider the
UNCLEAN PICTORIAL. LITERATURE
of the day as most tremendous for
rum. There is no one who can IKE
good po ures bet than I do. The
quickest and most condensed way
OF impressing the public mind Is by
picture. What the painter does by
his brush for a few 1avorites the en-
graver does by his knife for the mil
Lon. Whatthe author accomplished
by fifty pages the artist does by
flash. The best part Of painting
that cost $4,000, you may buy for
ten cents. Fine paintings belong to
the aristocracy OF art, engravings
belong to the democracy of art. You
do well TO gather good pictures In
your home. Spread them. before
your children when the tea hour is
past and the evening circle. is gath
cred. Throw them on the invalid's
couch. Strew them through the
railway train to cheer the traveller
on his journey. Tack them on the
walls of tlle-nursery. Gather them
in albums and portfolios. God speed
the good pictures ON their way with
ministries of knowledge and mercy.
But what shall say of the prosti-
tuition of this art to purposes of in
iquity. nav H.,
These .death-warrants Of the soul
are at every street corner. They
smite the vision Of tho young with
pollution. Many youngsInan buying
a copy has bought his. eternal dis
comtiture. There may be enough
poison in one bad picture TO poison
one soul, and that soul may poison
ten, and the ten fifty. and the hum
dreds thousands, until nothing but
the measuring-line Of eternity can
tell the height and depth of ghasili-
ness and horror OF the great undo
ing. The work Of death that the
wicked author does in o whole book
the. bad engraver may do on half a
side of a pictorial. Under the dis
curse of pure mirth, the young man
buys one of theses sheets. He un-
rolls it before his comrades, amidst
roars of laughter; but, long after
the paper is gone, thes result may
perhaps be seen in the blasted imagi-
nations of those who saw II. The
Queen of Death every night holds
banquet, and these periodicals are
the printed invitation to the guests.
Alas that the fair brow of Ameri-
can art should be blotchcd with this
plague spot, and that philanthropy
ists bothering themselves about
evils should lift up no unit
ed and vehement voice. against this
great calamity. Young mani buy
not this moral strychnine for your
soul Pick not up this nest OF
coiled adders for your pockett Pat
ronize no news stand that keeps
them" Have your room bright with
good engravings, bat for thsse out
rageous pictorials hayenot one wall,
not one bureau, not one pocket. a
lnan is no. better than the pictures
he loves to look at. Ifyour yes arc
not pure, your heart can not be. By
n news stand one canguess the char
acter of a man by the kind Of picto-
rial he purchases. When the devil
faIls to- get a. man to read, q bad
book, be sometimes succeeds In get
ting him to look at a. bad picture.
When Satan goesa fishing, he docs
not care whetherit is along line or
q short lime, -hc-on+y draws his
victim in. Beware of unclean pic
torials, young man.. in the name Of
Almity GOD, l. Icharge You. If have
this morning successfully laid down
any principles by which you may
fudge in regard 10 books and news
papers, then L have done something
f-w4tfeh-fshaA Bet-be ashamed on
the day which shall try every mans
work, OF what sort it Isl .lIts
CHERISH GOOD BOOKS AND News
PAPERS. ''''D'-
Be~Are Of the bad ones. One COLI
umn may save yourrsouE one para
graph may rqin it, BeHjasIin Franks
lin said that the reading of Cotton
Essay TO do good" nodded
his entire life. The assassin of Lord
Russell declared that he was led
into crime by reading one vicious
romance. 91he consecrated John
Angel James, than whom England
never produced a batter man, de-
cIared in his old days he never vet
got over the evil eiiects of having
Cor fifteen minutes once areadca bad
Go homo today. lay and look through
your .librsgy and tnen hsYlng looked
through your library, look on the
stand where you Keep your pictori-
ais and newspapers, and apply the.
Christian principles L Thagc laid
down. thisniorniDg. = If there is any
thing in your home, that cannot
stand the test, do not give 1t away
Yor it might spoil an immortal soul;
do not sch It, for the money you get
will be the price of blood; but rather
kindle u fire on Y our kitchen hearth
or in your back yard, and then drop
The poison in it, and keep stirring
the,biaze until from preface. to ap-
I.ondiY fhera,-nhnu NOT hn a ain0la