Pawtucket tribune. (Pawtucket, R.I.) 1890-189?, 1895-04-05
An EVIL TENDENCY.
TREND Or MODERN BOOKS ANU The
DRAMA.

form Must f,e Sought FOR In tic Indi-
vIduai and the Home.
IL IL difficult 10 believe that literature
either I'm the form Of books or tho drama
can become worse than at the present day.
Nipc out OF ten new books Gcal with tho
social problem, and tho living pictures
which year ago shocked the United States
are now commonplace
The st. Louis Republic has interviewed
some prominent men and women or .!icsc
two questions The replies are interesting
and instructive. Abstracts arc appended:
am old fashioned enough 20 thin: that
all books arc evil that 10 not serve useful
purpose and that lead one away directly
or indirectly, TO sympathi2o with the
wropqdoer and the vicious, and 10 look
upon tho right, the pure, the rlrtuous, tho
religious, as antiquated cranks. That Is
the word they usc-cranks. And that IL
the tendency OF these books. IL Is the tend
ency, too, Of many OF the plays presented
on the stage The reader sympathizes In
every one OF these books / think, with
the wrongdoer, whether the wrongdoing is
through ignorance or passion or whether
1t Is deliberate. class all these almost all
Of them, under the head Of the "Trilby"
cult. Some Cnc, don't know who IL Is,
has given nm cpigram which occurs TO me
often in this connection. He says that the
einancpatiOa of women that IL now the
leading topic OF the dag seems the right to
discuss questionable subjects with the other
Sex And there Is q grain Of truth in that,
/ think
IL this be the prime motive OF this stir
in regard 10 woman's emancipation, i
think the author Of "Trilby" il to be con-
graduated as having done more than yeo-
mans work i'm this movement. There Is
no more significant proof Of this, 10 my
apprehension than that "Trilby," in the
altogether" which governs tho whole
thing, Is Il common subject of conversation
in mixed audiences, and that young wom-
EN- and young men take part in dramas Of
"Trilby," in "Trilby" dialogues and cs-
pecially in free discussion Of all the mooted
points introduced in "Trilby."
am very tired Of the inevitable scduc-
ton. l think tho interest of morality
would be subscrvcd and people amused or
interested by return to the old fashioned
abduction Of 100 years ago. l do not zee
that the world Is retrograding, and that
the evils SO much treated Of in books are
increasing in the world around us. think
Marion Harland.
The most sincere author may make a
mistake in his manner of presenting the
facts concerning an evil The most diff
| cult problem of today Is to learn to be
charitable to the sinner and at the same
| time to hate the sin. However much the
woman Of 1.-THE Manxman" was to be for
| given, do not think the question should
| be pressed upon the public attention, be-
| cause am sure the most marked result Is
leniency toward the sin rather than for the
sinner 1t would be better If the whole
thing could be cffaccd from literature for a
| generation. 1t is hard to say which Is
| worst, the sentimental attitude of many
toward women, the indifference to the vice
| of many others or the cruel and unjust
| criticism of the majority.
In regard to the presentation Of living
| pictures on the stage, think the study OF
| the human form should be part of the
education Of every human being. Without
| it no education is complete. This study
can be made without affecting in any way
the natural purity. Indeed it should cul-
| tivatc it. The very educational institu-
tions and cultured influences which should
protect this study have surrounded it with
| dangers. Through their careless and in
definite teaching the divine law upon this
| subject will never be expressed.-Mrs.
| Hy w. Stone, President St. Louis Novel
| Club.
The young are the sufferers from vicious
literature. We should guide them better
| than we do. There is SO much that Is
good and pure in the books of our best au-
thors that it Is worse than wasting their
| time further to read the trash that Is COM
ing out now. These books may be written
in an attractive style, but the effect is de-
grading.
Such glamour is thrown around these
| delicate subjects in the play that the
| young have not the keenness to detect the
| good from the evil. The tinsel and the
| glamour Of the stage make even the evil
attractive.-Mrs. George w. Allen.
To make literature or art the means of
preserving or prolonging what is ignoble,
vulgar, low or vicious and therefore should
| perish Is to abuse art and to ALLEVIATE 1t
from its true purposes.
AS to the remedy, I do not believe there
Is any royal road to such reform rs all
would like to sec. Tho only thing Is for
those who give their time to literature art
| and the drama to employ these for the
perpctuation Of the noble and good-Pro-
fessor +. l.. Soldan, ST. Louis High School.
We nre having a very weak attack Of
naturalism in this country. We have just
been vaccinatcd, as 1t werc, and 1 think
this vaccination will save us violent mt.
tack of tho disease.
Now, while Raphael has painted nude
Madonna which is free from even sug-
gestion Of lcwdness, it isn't every young
painter who Is able to do the same. Theme
Is plenty Of excuse for nudity In art, and
1t Is perfectly possible for work Of art to
be nude without being lcwd.
The same may DC said Of literature and
the drama. / think, however, that lcwd-
ness I'm the drama owes Its origin not to
the desire of the author to depict question
able characters and the vicious side of life,
but to produce something that will draw
money. Here the public is Mt fault, but