The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1895-12-20

Works of Many Writers Are Better
Than Themselves.
VALUED FOR INTRINSIC MERIT
Without Regard to the Authors Morals.
The Quality OF the Hook the aIain Com
sldsruhon-Any Other Course, " Eol-
lowed oat, would Laad U, In Endlss,
plmemric,,


Lady Cook, nee Tennessee clallln, In
London Letter,
1t is a melancholy fact that the
morals OF writer's and their writings
have often been ut variance. A large
number bt distinguished authors, whose
works have become immortal, and
whom II would be ~lnvidious to mention,
have been mon Of indifferent lives, and
In some grossly dlssolute and
abandoned. Their work, however, was
better than Themselves, and has been
preserved and valued for Its intrinsic
merit, Genius and moral purity should
be insepRrable, but unfortunately II Is
not so, As "A rule, men OF great abilities
have claimed for themselves u license
denied to meaner mortuls, and on the
whole II has been rogretfully conceded
TO them.
For Just as we pardon tho private fol-
lies and wlckedness OF those mOnarchs
who have ruled well, 81 with these. the
true kings OF men, mankind ms been
lenient To their faults for the sake Of
their great public usefulness. Strange
TO say. no matter to what department.
OF intellectual or artistical greatness
We may turn our cyo, We Observe thai
its most splendid members have very
frequently been DISTINGUISHED Tor ec-
c%cntriclty or recklessness; they soar
higher and fall lower than other men.
Great wits 10 madness are allied said
the poet, and thus brilliant abilities
have been tOo often unified To moral
worthlcssness, But by universal pruc-
tice and consent. u distinction has been
preserved between the worker and his
work. Each hasibcGn judged separate.
~. and thus some of the priceless INTEL
lectual and artistic treasures OF past
times have come down 10 us, whereas
otherwise they would have been lost, II
IVES chiefly reserved for this century,
and notably since the days OF Wesley
and Lord Byron, to attempt to measure
n mans work by the standard OF his
moral character, This spirit, however,
has never been so remarkably exhibited
us during the last Few weeks. And m Il
appears to be opposed to sound sense
and 10 the public welfare. we desire TO
question It's utility and therefore It's
morality.
Lately an author and playwright Of
some considerable reputation has been
convicted by q Jury OF Infamous crlml-
nallty. Before his conYictiOn-lndeed,
as soon as he was charged-his works
were in some places withheld from the
public. Even n member OF the West
minister Vestry gave notice to move
''thnt they be withdrawn from the two
public libraries In Westminster, and
that the other local authorities In Lon
don be requested to take the same
course in regard to the libraries under
their control" Several libraries have
already done this, perhaps without
sufficient consideration. We rave
never had any acquaintance whatever,
beyond common rcputc, with the author
in question or his literary works. But
these. we presume. were good TO have
become so popular, and II they were
good then they must be the same now.
Here we regard only the principle In
VOWED. This resolves itself into the
qu~ery-Should we prohibit or refuse
good work because OF the immortality or
the author or dOer?
The absurdity OF NJ affirmative to
this question should be- s~elf-evident,
and, II carried out, would land us Into
endless difficulties. II u baker bakes
good bread, or our bOotmaker makes
good boots, we do not ask what are the
morals OF these tradesmen before eating
the bread and wearing the boots. II
would be agreeable 10 know that they
are worthy people. and sad to think
them the reverse, but the usefulness OF
their handlwork would not be affected
by either sentiment. Indeed one ought
10 be thankful 20 be able to get n good
thing at all without troubling about the
moral deficiencies OF the makers.
We do not inquire before buying n
picture whether the artist Is moral or
otherwise. The quality OF the work Is
ali va regard. II literature is to be an
exception to this custom, there would
be very little left but that of inferior
value, for, unfortunately, as we have
| said, the men Of highest genius have
been too frequently Of extremely Shaky
morals.
The virtuous vestrymnn OF Westmin-
stcr no doubt goes to church regularly
and enjoys the Psalms OF David and the
song OF his son Solomon; But h g worst
OF modern authors are the plnks OF pro-
priety compared to those old poetic
Jews who perpetrated every villainy
under the sun. However. we do not on
TINT account move that these amorous
and religious effusions be withdrawn
from Westminster Abbey and our other
churches. on the contrary, II their
pertRGi will do anybody any good. by
All means let people read them. And
let us thank God that Il Is possible TO
educe good from evil, and to paint the
beauty Of the rose and the fairness OF
the lily from the ordurc OF the stable.