The Washington herald., 1909-10-26
LITERARY INFLUENCES.
Ones FavOrite Authors Are Good
Gauge OF HIS Mind and Morals.

Gauge OF HIS Mind and Morals.
From the Baltimore Sun
a close student OF human nature once
said: Give me the making Of a nations
ballads. and care not who make its
laws" He might have said the same
with equal truth not only OF nations
ballads. but OF its literature generally.
Among the influences that affect our
lives most powerfully-that tend 70 make
or mar character-few are more active or
dominant than reading And II this is
true Of the average man or woman. It
applies much more forcibly 70 those who
are naturally susceptible OF Impression
able. To many persons, especially those
endowed with a vivid Imagination. the
heroes and heroines Of fiction seem al
most as real and tangible as II they
We're living realities. They are the pat
terms after which the admIring reader en-
deavors 10 shape his views and conduct.
Hence the transcendent Importance. par
ticularly for these latter. Of choosing
none but the best and eschewing. above
all, the silly novels that trade in mawk-
ish sentimentalism.
Ones favorite, habitual reading matter
IS pretty safe gauge OF his mental and
moral caliber, and we cannot be very far
astray In judging ones character by his
literary ideals. Persons Of noble minds
and high aims have no relish for trash.
Some. Of cOurse-such as book reviewers
and those who are called upon 10 direct
others-are obliged by their Office or duty
to wade through lot Of this filthy stuff
and In their case II is 10 be presumed
! that they have sufficient sense and. judy
ment 10 keep them from contamination.
Their position Is Ike that OF the ply
sic!an or surgeon who must Of necessity
come in contact with things corrupt and
revolving. and who endures them. not be-
cause he likes them. but in order 20 DO
away with them eventually and promote
purity and cleanliness.
For the rest. II they value their moral
welfare, IL IS not only advisable, but absO-
| lUtely necessary 20 beware OF the literary
sewage OF free love and unbridled licen-
| tiousness- The sacred Scriptures inform
us that he who loves danger shall perish
! in IT," Those who put their hands in the
/ fire must expect 20 be burned. He who In
/ dulges in immoral reading may escape for
a time. but sooner or later he Is sure 70
/ be caught IN the meshes Some one has
/ Is bound 10 stick" And certainly those
who wallow and reveI in the mire must
I inevitably be smirched by #. il IS fool
! hardy in the extreme 70 count on emery
/ ing spOtless from such moral cesspOOlS
/ as the obscene. degrading novels that
| have como TO Us in the past few years
/ from across the water. Prudence de-
mands that we refrain from even naming
/ the wretched productions we have ir
mind lest the bare mention OF then
| arouse curiosity and incite TO then
/ perusal- The wonder is that their de-
] generate authors-those apostles Of dirt
those corrupters Of youth. and would
be destroyers Of domestic purity-are no
In the penitenuary. They are worse thar
/ ordinary murderers. for they Kill human
souls. It's pity the law has not mad,
/ 10 a gravely criminal offense 70 write
| publish. or sell these wantonly sugges
/ tive works. which tend 20 undermine an,
| sap the moral life Of the reader.
They want 20 depict life as it Is. for
sooth-the actual. the real. instead of III,
ideal But Is IL necessary to 20 into tht
sewers and cutters end brothels 10 I'm,
real life2 The truth IS that far from
painting life as II is. they invariably civ,
70 20 us IN its most abnormal and morbl,
phases.
Bacon tells US that some books ar,
20 be tasted, others 70 be swallowed. an,
some few 10 be chewed and dlgested.
Had De known or forcseen the product,
OF the modern school OF filthy realism b,
might have added; And some are to b
cast into the flames unopened. and th'
sooner the better"
However. there Is another and a bright
or side 10 the literary picture. For. I
the literature OF the deCadents works IN
calculable evil. so, too. high-class. sound
healthy literature IS a source OF Untol
good Presenting morality not in IN
abstract merely. but in the concrete, per
sonifying or embodying II IN character
who live up % high ideals. It is interest
ing as well as profitable. and thereby ha
! q decided advantage over the set mora
discourse. and frequently accomplish
as much. If not more. good. In the even
Of a doubt as 20 the wholesome or Uu
wholesome influence Of a book the poe
Southey gives US a fairly safe guide
Would Won know whether the tendenc
OF a book Is good or evil? Examine
what state OF mind you lay II down i
, other words, judge OF it by its effect
Il is the test given rs by the Master Ion
ages since: The tree is known by Il
fruits"