Telegram-herald. ([Grand Rapids, Mich.) 18??-1892, 1891-03-09


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,as alaraiaE - aes.s1 cFoe0 s~ser e.
4s.r II, AID a ~ 81. - sae C2rAsI-..4 Her
al s<rFlee ~ st-s Nee furz AeAssa4s q
M&ssc tie assrs lad - 10 closed l9as le-
toFe tue aour " ssFvss. tAegs o~lug no
space available aighia tbe bailatas fer
uaoFe hearers = lzTge Is Jhe aawter 4
laoss every ~eek disappointed u Eslnius
admission th4g lie pFu. seg u Elsias lie
s1s-dis9l ~lu&F~ tssgAea a4s sgaia beea re
Stsed oas cisiEsa Las offered = pay al
tas exp-as1s II tae tsaFIsn eSa ba secgfed
sud DF. IalgAage CA a-s induced 10 preAe1
ia l.. lhs tex IT the presA ler's alsca2rse
Slss taken from EN VIE O 2 And
the frogs came a. Aaa covered ths laid ~
Egypt And tue nAgiciSns did - With
tneiF eDehanImeuts, aud uroaght up tross
apoa tAs land of Egypt
There Is alnaoS, universal aversion 10
iogs and set with tbe Egg ptian they were
konogvei, ,hsy were s..erol. and they were
objects OF worship while alive. and alter
death they were enbalm@l aud today their
remains may DO found among the sepul-
,hras CT Thsbes. These creatures, 50 al
.gLetive once Ia the Egy ptlans, at divine
oehest became obnoxious and loathsome.
and they went crosking and hopping and
leaping into tho palace Of the king. and
into tac bread trays aud the touches OF the
people, and even the ovens, watch now are
upiftea above the earth and on The side 4
chimnrys, but then were small holes IN l.
earth, with sunken pottery. were filed
with frogs when tue housekeepers came 10
lcCk az them III a man ga. down u eat a
frog Ghghted on his plate. II he attempted
TO pat on a shoe il was preoccupied by a
frog II he attempted 30 put his head upon
pillow IL hal been taken possession OF by
frog.
Frogs high and low and everywhere;
loathsoRe frogs, Shiny frogs, besiegins
frogs, innunerable frogs, great plague Of
frogs " hat made the matter worse the
magicians said there was no miracle in
this, and they could by sleight OF hand
produce the same thing, and they seemed
10 succeed, for By sleight Of hand wonders
may DO wrought After Moses had thrown
down his staff and by miracle II became
serpent, and then he took hold Of it and by
miracle it again became a staff, the serpent
charmers ifnitated the same thing, and
knowing that there were serpents in
Egypt which by peculiar pressure on the
neck would become as rigid a stick Of
wood, they seemed TO change the serpent
into the staff, and then, throwing it down,
the staff became the serpent.
So likewise these magicians tried to imi-
tate the plague of frogs, and perhaps by
smell of food attracting great number of
them 10 a certain point, or 10y shaking
them out from hidden place, the ma
giciens sometimes seemed to accomplish
the same miracle While these magicians
made the plague worse, none of them tried
TO make it better. Frogs came up and
covered tho land of Egypt, and the ma
gicians did so with their enchantment, and
brought up frogs upon the land of Egypt"
TIE MODERN PLAGUE OF FROGS.
Now that plague OF frogs has come back
upon the earth. 1t is abroad today. 1t is
shifting this nation. l, comes in the shape
of corrupt literature. These frogs hop into
the store. the shop, the Office, the banking
house, the factory-intc the home, into the
cellar, into the garnet, on the drawing room
table, on the shelf of the library. While
the lad Is reading the bad book the teachers
face is turned the other way. One of these
frogs hops upon the page. While the young
woman is reading the forbidden novelette,
after retiring at night, reading by gaslight,
one OF these frogs leaps upon the page.
Indeed they have hoped upon the news
| - nd of ha FRY md al Of ba
postoflice shshe out in the letter trough
hundreds of them. The plague has taken
at different times possession of this coun-
try. II is one of the most oathsome, one
Of the most frightful, one of the most
CHASTITY Of the ten plaques Of our modern
cities.
There is a vast number of books and
newspapers printed and pa olished which
! ought never TO see the light. They are
filed with psstiience that makes the land
swelter with a moral epidemic. The great
est blessing that ever came to this nation
Is that OF an elevated literature, and the
greatest scourge has been that Of unclean
literature. This last has its victims in all
occupations and departments 1t has
helped to Gil insane asylums and peni-
teptiarics and alnshouses and dens *
shame The bodies of this infection lie in
the hospitals and In the graves. while their
souls are being tossed over into lost
eternity, On avalanche OF horror and dcs-
pair.
The London plague was nothing to 1t
That counted its victims by thousands, but
this modern pest has already shovcled its
millions into the charnei house OF the NOR
ally dad. The longest rail train that ever
ran over the Erie or Hudson tracks was
not long enough nor large enough to carry
the beastliness and the putretsction which
have been gathered up la bad books and
newspapers Of this Land in the last twenty
years. The literature of nation decides
the fate Of nation. Good books, good
morals Bad books. bad morals.
TIE LOWEST OF BAD LITERATrgK
begin with the lowest OF ali the litera-
turs. that W hich does not even pretend to
be respectable-from cover 70 cover bioteh
Of lspro~y. There are many whose entire
business it IL TO dispose Of that kind OF liz
.rsture. They display il before the school
boy on bis way home. They get the cata-
logues Of schools and colleges, take the
names and postoffice addresses. and send
their advertisements, and their circulars
and their pam plots, and their books to
every one of them
liz The possession Of these dealers In rad
literature were found nine hundred thoa-
ssnd names and posto6lce addresses. 70
whom & Vas tsoaghs i might oe profit
abe % send these corrupt things. II tie
rear 1873 there were one hundred and sirtv-
eve establishments engaged IN publishing
cheap. corrupt iterstu-e From oos pub