New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1897-11-29
AS TO ACOrATNTANCES

Better not read" said Nlebuhr. books in
(which you make the acquaintance Of the
devil" The advice was given In an age when
men did read books. and when these. indeed,
formed the bulk of their reading In these days
proportionatcy fewer books appear 10 be read.
TO those that are. the same advice applies M
pertinenty as ever. For TIE number OF books
which serve ms letters OF introduction, II not 10
the devil. Mt least 10 his most characteristic
works. is large and, one may fear. growing.
There has been OF late n food OF problem
novels" In which the problem" Is that OF the
relations between the sexes, and the solution
sought Is almost Invariably TO make those re-
lations not pure natural and ennoblng, but I'M
clean, abnormal and dcbaslng, and TO find spe-
clous excuses or apologies therefor. The great
est and most puzzling problem In the whole
business H. however how Intelligent people OF
clean minds and lives can find pleasure or
profit in porting over such revolving stun. The
genius Of Il Rosett may invest Jenny" with
an unmeritcd but nevertheless fascinating in
tercst. But the bcdraggled denlzen OF the Ten
derloin, treated by some schoolgirl sister Of
Gifted Hopkins can never be anything more
than cheap and nasty.
Nor does the latter-day predominancc Of
newspapers over books in the least lessen the
force and value Of the philosophers injunction.
The vital truth in 1t Is universal applying to
the costliest tome In The bibliophilcs library
and to the penny paper with which the errand-
boy or the Scullery -mald regales n leisure hour
Better not read anything In which YOU make
the acquaintance Of evil. Ye:, In much Of the
current reading Of the day. how evil Is Haunted
and forced upon the public acquaintance Here
IL n wretched woman Of the town. illltcrate
drunken, dcbauchcd. Her whole life has been
given up to physical and moral filth There IA
not an honest shOpgrl In town who meeting
her upon the street. would not instnctvely
step aside, lest her skirts should brush against
the creature and be dcfled. The career OF
vice is, however, crowned with capital crime,
or with some participation In one. Instantly
that fact Is made the excuse for introducing the
woman personally to the entire public. Through
the medium of the press she Is brought into
the household, into the family circle Her hid
eous features are thrust before every eye Her
ignorant and vicious words are repeated to
every ear She Is made the subject OF psychic
logical studies" and every infection of her
voice as she tells her tale Of infamy is descant-
ed upon and interpreted" as though II were
the utterance Of an oracle.
The example Is only one Of an innumernble
multitude with which the readlng-matter OF
the day Is crowded. Those who read make
the acquaintance not only of the devil but Of
all the inha btants Of PandemOnium. If. then.
people are TO be known by their acquaintance,
what is TO be said Of the present or Of the on
coming generation Of readers? 1t Is n forbid
ding prospect. The daily saturation Of minds
and OF immature minds with all manner Of
filth inevitably cOnduces to unsoundness To
argue otherwise is to contradict common sense
When men sleep In masmatIc swamps to avoid
fever and ayue, and soak themselves in rum