The mirror. (Stillwater, Minn.) 1894-1925, 1894-10-11
LITERATURE OF TODAY.
A Belief That the Press of the Day is
Demoralizing


8
A Belief That the Press of the Day is
Demoralizing
Generally speaking, the literature of
today is inferior and unsatisfactory IN
quality, and is Onlv fit for light pas
time, or tame dessert after a season OF
labor, or after reading the authors of
more established reputation. The pro-
ductions of the pen are forced and un-
natural to such an extent as to be
Wearisome. Consider our fiction! In
stead of being spontaneous production
Of a fertile mind, bright and sparkling
in it's depths; or of a free and refined
intellect, pure and wholesome in its
tone: it is too often mass OF excltable
and senseless expressions, ground out
of forced imagination. Most OF it
arouses sensual and passionate emotions
which nature never intended to be so
awakened. The evils wrought upon
the heads of the youth of our land by
this class of fiction, should not be passed
unnoticed Corrupt ideas of virtue, OF
love, and of honor, are instllled into
the heart of the reader. He thrills the
fiber of his being with mass OF crude,
vulgar sensations. Walter Scott and
Charles Dickens are thrown aside for
something more exciting, something
more stimulating. The coarser is pre-
ferred because of a feeling of temporary
exhiliration. But, like all stimulants,
it has it's recurrent effect, leaving the
patient still weaker than before. True,
we often feel the need of light, moderate
reading, after season of study or labor;
something that does not call forth the
full exertion of the mental powers In
order to be easily grasped. But the
truth is, all our literature has become
light and trivial; and large part OF 1T
: is giddy and absurd. The effect OF
this degeneracy is always confused
memory, a hesitating Judgment, or
lack of concentration of thought upon
the more important questions of life;
/, and, in time, nothing satisfies save the
5 strongest and most exciting doses to
!, still the burning thirst of unruly pas
e sions. Such books cannot be beneficial,
3 and they represent SO much wasted
S time in their perusal. Among the poets
: who has taken the place of Lowell
/ Longfellow, or Tennyson? Some OF
u the rhymes that are thrown out on the
o public waves today, are worse than
G plague. They do not begin to compare
: with that produced twenty, or even fifty
e wears ago. Then, there are the news
n papers. Such conglomeratlon ol
l. "odds and ends, political gossip; ''snide'
vt romances, s'to be continued in our next
etc." all dumped together upon th'
!? pnblic in most unsavory style. u
le course, there is large number, and
S, great variety of subjects to be dali,
st touched: news of thousand differen
i'd species, which must needs be embel
r lished and polished and spread out int
d. as many columns as it will reach, an
,h clothed in such dress as to be attract
It, i've and salable. 1t is cheap financially
is but O! what perverted opinions, Wha
n, beguiling and insane ideas; what COZ
es tradictions and improbabilities are th
y, lot of the purchaser. Sit down an
ed commit to memory some OF the stu
9lf YOU read from day to day. What
,ss worth reading at all is worth remembe
is ing; and, after memorizing few &C
,b- umns of an ordinary newspaper, or
le- few pages of the latest novelette,, y(
f will find your brain all in whirl, al
On wonder what's it all about.
as, Such mass of unsubstantial readll
lily, disturbs the equanimity of the virtuor
est. distorts the moral; creates skeptlt
:. broadens the skepticism of some, a
of develops and expands the doubts a
Of fears of others; confuses the best OF
in tellects, until sensible opinion OF
# affairs of life is we'll nigh impossible
.tor Among the multitude of subJe
,on- which require daily consideration
tho the press, those of a criminal or sen
oto tional nature take the preferred sp'
,vor and are heralded by glaring head-ll
and heavy type. In fact, with
:, majority Of newspapers, sensatlo