Eureka daily sentinel. [volume] (Eureka, Nev.) 1871-1887, 1882-02-05
THE LOVE OF FILTH.

II will be remembered that a dispatch
came from London a few days ago, stat
ing that a hideously indecent expression
was i~nterpolated in the Times report OF
a speech by Sir William Harcourt last
Monday. The matter was made worse
by an apology the day afterward, and a
statement that the management OF the
Times hoped to bring the guilty parties
to Justice. This has increased the morbid
curiosity of the prurient, and copies OF
the issue referred to have been sold for
81 each. 1t is said that 20 compositors
and two proof-readers have been dis
charged from the Times Office. The low
weekly papers reprint the article YER
batim, and these papers are being sold
by thousands in the streets.
This is Sunday morning. 1t might do
no harm to supplement our ordinary
Sabbath devotions by a little introspec-
ton on what is suggested by the above
dispatch from England. 1t is not hard
to believe that the statement is true; in
fact, there is a something of unacknowl-
edged meanness in all of us that hinders
us from believing the story improbable.
1t is a strictly human phenomenon. The
desire for things forbidden is not Eng.
lish. nor American. nor French; it has
nothing local in it; it is not peculiar to
any land or people; it is a universal inn
pulse in the human breast. This in the
nature Of q confession. A denial would
not he proper, because it would not be
honest. II is not necessary to refer to
original and total depravity. 1t is not
necessary to refer for the origin OF this
sentiment to anything speculative, phil
osophical or scriptural. The longing for
that which Is unusual, or withheld, is
a fact in human experience and does not
need to be explained to be recognized.
The sudden and violent breaking over
the wholesome restraints imposed upon
its members by society at large is an
evidence Of its deep-seated laundering for
indulgence in that which is denied.
Starting out with q clean.breasted recog.
milton and avowal Of this innate pro.
pensity to grovel, to gloat. as our Eng
lish cousins have lately done, over some
foul scum that accidentally fioated to the
Understanding whatever there is in
as Of natural fondness for dirt, there is
no cause for despising the, English, our
selves. or mankind anywhere. The cynic
must answer the query. whether c~iviliza.
ton with all its vicious propensities ad.
mitted is not preferable to the aboriginal
condition, the state Of the natural"
man, the "ideal" of Rousseau. The
simplicity and innocence ascribed to..man
in his primeval state is an attractive but
false picture. Man is a creature born
for conflicts and wrestling-chieAy with
himself. The more advanced in refine.
ment and intellectual development he
becomes. the greater the enemy he finds
in himself. An occasional outburst in
volving a surrender Of the nobler in,
stincts to the baser, startles the world,
and its temporary ravages are repaired by
the heroic treatment Of universal cor.
demnation. A bursting away from the
bearings set about US by custom and
usage for an occasional wallowing in the
obscenity that crops out-an itch, the
scratching Of which is so luxurious that
it becomes q royal diseases itself an
argument for the general health and
vigor Of the system. Derangement and
degradation are incidental and occa.
%sional; order and moral worth are regular
and continuous in the history Of human
conduct. Such is the rule. Whatever
sins a man may be guilty of, whatever
vice o people may indulge in, it should
be remembered "a mans . man for a
that"