, 1899-12-04

without a passport, he was more than
a match for the emperor on his throne.
By the aid of his pen alone he aveng-
ed the imprisoned and assassinated
cause of human liberty. He dragged
the usurper, emperor though he was, to
the bar of public judgment and there
scourged him into contemplate inslg-
nificance for his crimes against the
chartered rights of the French people.
The poems of VIM. Lloyd Garrison and
Harriet Beacher Stowe did more than
battalions of bayonets to cut the throat
of the slave power in America. They,
indeed, made the %battalions possible.
The keen pen of a New York journalist
pierced the Tweed ring to the heart
and let in the light of day upon the
writhing nest of the worst political
thieves and scoundrels in American
history. What an unrivaled blessing
the pen and the press would be to man
kind, if their keen-edged blade were
raised in menace only against tyranny
and wrong, and even in defense Of lib
erty and truth!
First and foremost today the influ-
ence of the pen is felt in the daily
newspaper press. Newspapers are the
glory and the shame of America. We
have the best and the worst newspa-
pers published in the world, and the
constant reading of newspapers has
much to do with the shaping of our ma
tional character. In many respects
the influence of much Of daily press is
not benign. OF course the newspaper
editor might say that he knows more
about running the newspaper than the
preacher, but the newspapers are often
giving advice to the pulpit about SER
mons and preaching. I do not see why
we might not be mutually helpful. The
newspaper editor and proprietor have
tremendous responsibilities for the
morals of their readers which they do
not always appreciate.
A man is judged more by what he
reads than by the company he keeps.
form our opinions from u favor
lite newspaper or book. "As a man
thinketh in his heart, so is he" There
is a terrible amount of bad literature
and vile pictures circulating among the
youth that would startle their parents
if konwn. They have blood-poisoning
in every line. Herod's murder of the
has its parallel all over the
land among the circulators Of pernic-
ious literature. What we read leaves
its eternal impression upon us for good
or i'll.
What shall we read? is a question OF
fundamental Importance. Those who
make their mark in the world are read
ers. Books furnish to thousands the
best society the world has ever known,
All men of power hav been readers OF
the worlds masterpieces. Cotton
Mather's Essay to Do Good inf1u-
enced the whole OF Franklin's life
The entire career of Tyndall. the Eng,
lish scientist, was influenced by Emer-
sons book on Mature" No person
can read Carlyle or Ruskin and be the
same again.
The question what shall We read? Is
not an embarrassing or difficult one
like that of amusements. 1t is like
having an unlimited snupply Of the bes'
apples when you are apple hungry. Nc
one need to tell you what to do. Yor
simply fall to and take the best. The
worm-eaten, wind-blistered and rotter
you will pass by without advice. Som'
people enjoy a funeral, and some ma!
enjoy rotten apples and the garbag'
from a swill-barrel, but their numbe,
is few and their appetites diseased
What we ought ITO read is as simple a
what we ought to eat. All immora
literature and unclean novels and peri
odicals we pass by as We pass by
garbage tub. Novels of the best kint
we will only read in limited quantities
just as we take spices, condiments ant
ice cream. Excessive novel reading |:
a great evil and waste of time. W.
read novels only as we take a vacation
land relaxation from hard work. Il
must be a novel that will create in u:
high ideals and make us more cheer
Eul, amiable, sympathetic and more ap
breciative Of what is beautiful, more
resolute to follow what is true ant
noble. There are only a few novels
that come up to this test, but they ar
enough to last our lifetime. They are
represented by such names as Charlie!
Dickens, George Eliot, Thackaray
Hawthorne, j. F. Cooper. Mrs. Stowe
Scott, Victor Hugo, Balzac, Auerbach
charlotte Bronte, Lew Wallace, Georg'
cable, Charles Kingsley, George Ebers
George Macdonald, Howells, Bulwer
Black, Sheldon, Tan Maclaren, Robert
Ii Stevens, Zangwill. Kipling, Sienkie'
wfrz. Incessant novel reading, even o
thd best, is a disease like smallpox.
The A~nglo-Saxon who is not thor
odghly acquainted with the English