The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1891-09-23
PerniciOiis Literature.

The evils which affect our political
system are but the natural results OF
the corruption of society and the indi.
vidual members of the body polite.
; In all of our great cities are localities
which arc the breeding places of crime
-ccss-pools toward which the vice of
| the surrounding coulIlry drains--and
| from these sinks of iniquity arise the
, poisonS which cat out the moral life of
: the nation. Broadcast over the land
thick as dead leaves blown by the au-
/ tumn windS-fly printed leaves from
! the tree of evil knowledge. In them
crimes are gilded; lawlessness is
valor; murderers, thieves, and crimi-
| mails are the heroes. The man, or
woman, or child who peruses them,
goes TO the State prison, the gambling
! house and the brothel to find the COM
panions of his leisure hours, the per-
sonages who will dwell in his
thoughts when his hands are busy.
/ Courage, independence, herosm, and
a spirit Of set-sacrifice are qualities
! which have become Anticipated and Ob-
solete. Argosies of fancy and OF fact,
which w0ve spells of tenderness and
honor around the lives of the great
and good men and women of times
gone by, have been allowed to go down
into the abyss Of out-of-print; and in
their stead we have Babel of dia-
lects, a hodge-podge of criminals and
detectives, a pemmican of adventure
bear and Indian and scout and trap
per and cowboy boiled down to the
dregs of condensation.
a II thn rIui n and innO(pEpp pf
ehildhood-ils originality, It's tender
ness, its sprightful tricks, its Infinite,
unsconcious drollery, the serious ear
nestness of its fun, the natural relig-
ion of its plays, the delicious oddity of
its sayings-all, all disappear when
the child has fed its mind upon that
pernicious literature which the great
cities spread over the conntry.
1t is next TO impossible 10 reform
those who have lost all faith in the
sincerity, honor, or goodness of hu.
man nature-who believe that people
i'm general are all bad, who have
been taught that all criminals are he
r0es. III such hearts there Is a reser-
voir Of rage and vice, Invisible save
when some flame, hotter than usual,
bursts momentarily forth. And if our
national life is growing worse, If soele
ciety is growing more corrupt, 1t is be-
cause our young men and women, who
are entering into manhood and wOm-
anhood, have, in childhood, fed their
minds on pernicious literature.
Childhood is tho time when the
ideals of life are formed. In the
dreams of childhood are found the
germs of many a mans career. The
seeds Sown in the mind of the child
will germinate into the character of
the man and ripen into the pleasant
fruit of good deeds or the Dead-Sea ap
piles of sin. And so, if we would
have citizens capable, by voice and
vote, Of wisely governing and direct
ing the affairs Of the nation, we must
see to it that the children OF the land
are early taught to be manly and hon
est, pure and true.
But, apart from these considerations
Of the worldly power and prosperity
of the nation, there is Il higher duty
which we are called upon to fulfll-a
duty whose performance or omission
must be accounted for when the great
Judge of all men puts to US the ques-
tion, "Where is thy brother?" Think
you that the old, old answer with
which humanity has so long stifled its
conscience will suffice then? Shall
we be absolved from blame if we give
the answer of Cain, cam my broth
er's keeper?" When eyeballs glaze
and ears grow dull-when the golden
cord that binds the soul and body to-
gether is frayed and breaking, and life
is ebblng away-what will it matter to
us then that we have been clad dainti-
ly, that Science has been our guide, or
that Art has surrounded our lives with
all that is fair and pleasant? Better
far, if out of the darkness of the Val
ley of the Shadow Of Death, we hear a
voice speaking to us words like these
"Well done, thou good and faithful
servant, enter thou into the Joy of thy
LORD" ."-Arthur Dudley Vinton, in
The North American Review.