Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1890-06-27

1sSiVI
sI am glad I did not lives in those
times" said a boy the other day as he
looked up from his book. The book
was Charles Dickens "Child's History
of England" some of the early chap
ters of which are chiefly occupied with
crimes and cruelties.
The boy had derived the impression
that the people Of Great Britain who
lived in the early Norman centuries
were generally crnel and %depraved, II
that nothing particular was then going
on except a bloody struggle for power
and plumber.
Many older people haye thought the
same; and, indeed, it is quite true, as
Professor Fisher remarked the other
day in the Century Magazine, that
'"Immoralitv and crime make up a great
part of the annals of mankind"
Yes, the annals: but not the life and
character. The ordinary life Of human
beings is not recorded at all. AS a rule,
nothing is recorded at much length, or
in an interesting way, except what is
unusual or exceptional, like crime, acct
dent and disaster. Our daily papers do
not tell us, on any morning of the year.,
that fifty thousand houses in Boston did
not burn down last night. Fhey only
tell us about the oneor two houses that
acre burned. They say nothing about
the twenty thousand business men who
paid their notes yesterday. It is only
the few unfortunate persons who failed
to pay who find their anne in print.
In relating the history of William L.,
King of England, Charles Dickens
could only tell his readers the sub
stances of the record Of that bloody
reign, and he could find little in the
record but battles, conspiracies, trea-
sons, massacres, and intrigues, mostly
the work of the small ruling class.
He was obliged to relate the horrid
events of many years in half. a dozen
pages, and to pass we in silence the
lives and deaths of tens of thousands
of virtuous and careful families. All
this gives us an impression.
Our poor boy, who was reading with SO
much interest his new birthday book,
evidently thought that, about the year
1000, tie chief employment Of the
Northern nations of Europe was to
fight, invade, steal and murder. The
truth is, they were chiefly employed in
tilling the soil and rearing their fami-
lies.
A young lady wrote to a newspaper a
year or two ago, asking the editor why
he did not fill his paper with news of
good actions, instead of filling columns
upon columns with the details of crime.
He made the usual reply, that he gave
the news of the day just as it came
along, good actions or bad actions; his
business being to record the history OF
the day, not as he would like to have it,
but as it actually was.
Some journalists make a point OF
looking out for good deeds, and never
fail to give them fair publicity. But a
good deed is very soon told, while a
crime may necessarily occupy a vast
amount Of space. A judicious gift to a
college, for example, a be duly stated
and amply commended in half a column
but the robbery Of a bank, with the de-
tails of its discovery, the pursuit and
arrest of the perpetrators, their trial
and conviction, may require writing
enough to fill q large book.
We therefore advise our young
readers not to be deceived by "the
annals of mankind" but always to bear
in mind, as they read their history OF
their newspaper, that the ordinary life
of communities is not usually recorded.
Exceptional events are recorded; partly
because they can be, and partly be-
cause we all like to read about them
Youths Companion.