^ LSlc A = AS r.r. = ^^^ ~ = ■ X = ^T ^ 4 = ^— .= 8 = ■■ . — > ; 3 = . >" , — 7 = y> 4 ^ _^ o 1 — —1 , -< 1 Leeds Concerning Printed Poison ^ THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES CONCERNING Peixted Poison. BY JOSIAH W. LEEDS EIGHTH THOUSAND. PHII.ADKLl'HIA: No. 828 WALNUT STREET. Pirri i>;iii i> ii'ii im: .Vlthoh 1S85. I A Concerning Printed Poison, Page 5 Of Local Happening, " 23 The Pernicious in Libraries, Concluding Remark, " 41 MEMORANDUM A considerable part of the little Essay which follows, appeared the first day of the present yeai- in the Public Ledger, of this city. The subject of which it treats has become a somewhat prominent one at this time, and, in the belief that the views Jiereiii presented may be both suggestive and helpful to not a few in other communities, this pamphlet edition of the exi)anded article (with some other matter appended), has now been printed, ft is commended to the serious consideration of the editors, pub- lishers, librarians, and others into whose hands it may come. In undertaking to lay the responsibility for the prevalence and continuous increase of the " printed poison" evil where it rightly i)elongs, a care has been exercised not to so far rest the blame on the shoulders of the purveyors of demoralizing prints and of pernicious literature generally, as to excuse the indifterence or negligence of very many parents respecting the character of the reading matter whicli falls into the hands of tlioir offspring. Neither, whilst referring to the laxity frequently shown by ofhcers of the law concerning pictured indecency, has the writer condoned the supineness of so many professing Christians in never letting it appear in their daily walk that they have any convictions upon the subject that are worth the trouble of upholding. Respecting liow best to deal with, and how far to tolerate, the liquor-drinking habit, there may be much honest difference of opinion, but, that /mlilic ilecencij is a valuable possession to be maintained with all Y • ^'^ ' ' ' "^ IV MEMORANDUM. vigilance, ought surely to be affirnu'd l)y every one of ordinary moral discernment — whatever his color, nationality or politics, his ethical views or religious belief. It scarcely need be added, however, that it will be of little avail to possess a right apprehension of the truth in this matter, if we never, as occasions arise, express and maintain it, or, il' we are fearful as to what our outspoken testimony is likely to cost us. The i)resident of a certain corporation, upon being requested to prohibit the sale of a paper of a confessedly scandalous character, replied, that although "heartily concurring with any princi])le which would correct the morals of our community, yet in our business we cannot afford tlie ill will of any one, more especially newspapers." The argument, or, rather, the linc^ of pleading, thus expressed, is doubtless a prevalent one. Nevertheless, I fail to perceive how we can be true to the Master whose name we take, or lay claim to that Christian manliness which ought to be ours, or ever cast away the abomination of demoralizing literature which is in our midst and all around us, if we are concerned to ])lace ourselves u}>on no liigher ])lanc than this. Philadelphia, Second Monili 10th, 1885. CONCERNING PRINTED POISON. There is a wise law of" this State — though it is a law which I am sorry to say is very much set at naught — which provides that the convicts in our penitentiaries shall be confined in separate cells. When visiting the peniten- tiary in this city several ^vcars ago, I remember to have geen in a certain cell a middle-aged man and a fair-haired youth. The former was teaching the latter — if I remem- ber aright — the art of basket making, yet at the same time he so rallied the lad in the language of recklessness and bravado, that it was easy to believe the boy would acquire much more of harmful knowledge than of that which would be helpful. Now, all the education in crime which a boy or girl might get from old and hardened law-breakers within a prison cell, may be freely obtained at hundreds of the news stands — the great nmjority of them, in fact — whi(^h are to be found ui)on our city sidewalks. "In the old story books," said a writer, quoted in the Ledger, perhaps two years ago, "it was assumed that truthful- ness, lionesty and obedience to })arents were virtues, and that the Christian religion was not wholly devoid of merit," but, in "tlu; dime and half-dime novels of the criminal school, which arc now read by all (?) our boys either openly or secretly, the pleasures of burglary The old reading and the new. 6 and liighwuv robbery, the manliness of gambling and fight- ing, anil the heroism of suoeessfnl lying are set forth in what is regarded by youthful readers as glowing eloquence, while the great truths that all parents are tyrants, that all religious people are hypocrites, and that disobedience to fathers and teachers is obedience to the nobler instincts of juvenile nature, are sedulously taught." A nc»tal)Ie elfect of indulgence in literature of this de- serij)tion, is to indispose the youthful mind to any reading which is not of the like pernicious quality. For instance, the librarian of the P^riends' Free Library, at Germantown, had a call not long ago from a fellow-librarian, who, hav- ing queried what method could be adopted for inducing the young to make choice of improving, or at least not harm- fully-entertaining books, gave the follow- ing as illustrating the drift; toward the simply sensational : He had assisted a lad to select a book, by recommending for his perusal a well-written work upon a very interesting and stirring period of English history. The boy, however, (piickly brought back the book, at the same time taking care to let his adviser know that he felt he had been imposed upon. He would like him to under- stand that he had no notion of giving up his time to a course of dull reading like that! There can be no mistaking the direct agency of the cheap and trashy reading matter of the day, taken in connection with variety theatre visitation, in turning out juvenile mis- demeanants and well develo])ed criminals, and that by the wholesale. Upon three lads arrested for highway robbery The drift toward the simply sensational. in Schuylkill county, this State, there were found four re- volvers, a number of photographs of actresses, and several dime novels. In one of our Philadelphia public schools, seven pistols were found in the possession of as many lads, whilst their stock of literature was made up of considerably over one hundred pernicious publications. The public were some months ago made acquainted with a Buffalo Bill organization among the lads of Milwaukee, a revelation which was stated to have alarmed the whole town and ne- cessitated an increase of the police force. And only yester- day came a telegram from Reading, telling of the arrest of several little law-breakers eight to ten years of age, and the further discovery of a gang of thir- teen who had been systematically robbing stores, factories and dwellings. On the east side of the city of New York similar bands of youthful desperadoes are a constant menace to the holders of movable property within the circuit of their depredations. The current Re- port of the Penna. Society to Protect Children from Cru- elty, referring to the evil effect of " flash" literature upon the young, says, that " the officers of the Society, in the prosecution of their work, have frequent occasion to notice the dreadful and pernicious influence of the cheap novels which abound in our midst.'' In Paris there must have been a rather uneasy state of aflairs recently to have prompted the sending of an ocean telegram telling of a suddenly developed and alarming in- crease of crime on the j)art of juvenile thieves, and the calling out of extra jiatrols of nigiit j)olicemen. Ihit in J Flash literature and \ juvenile law-breakers I 1 8 passing it may he said liero, as was stated by the Living Church, ill alluding to the remarks of a speaker at thf English Conference on Public Morality, "the worst litera- ture for hoys sold in Enc!:land consisted of reprints of American stories and of magazines imported from America. If we did our duty on this side of the water, these niaga- zines at least would he sup])ressed." The foregoing remarks have reference to that class of reading matter which, though exceedingly pernicious, and presenting altogether false views of life, is not necessarily tilthy. Of the latter character (in part) are the weeklies mainly devoted to police news, and an occasional daily w'hich does not stick at the surrender of decency, and, in- deed, of every moral principle, so it may add to its unhal- lowed gains. Said the San Francisco Chronicle some months ago : " The puhlication of a sensational story paper, which is equivalent to a liberal education in crime, seems to be very remunerative. One of the })roprietoi*s of a notorious weekly journal of this stamp died last week, leaving an estate which is valued at 81,500,000. It w^ould be in- teresting; to know how manv criminals now servinor out sentences, owe their first impulse to evil to this journal.'' Undoubtedly there is such a thing as courtesy of the press, to be observed in"^ most liberal and generous sj)irit between fellow publishers, but when any one of the latter er that complaisance and brotherly courtesy should give place to deserved rebuke. How do we look at this thing Manufacturing cri- minals a paying busi- ness. Where editorial cour- tesy should give way to censure. in an individual aspect? " An impure man, young or old, / poisoning society where he moves with his smutty stories {/ and impure example, is a moral ulcer, a plague spot, a leper, who ought to be treated as were the lepers of old, who were banished from society and commanded to cry ' Unclean,' as a warning to save others from the pestilence." Now if this judgment liolds good for a single person, who in his ordinary daily walk may poison or impurely affect the minds of fifty others, what is to be said of the paper — or, rather, the pul>lisher of a paper — who daily sends out an edition of (we will say) fifty or one hundred thousand copies of a sheet filled with all the passing scandal and vile- ness that he can rake together ? Possessed with, and ex- ercising, a power of contamination a thousand fold greater than the first, is not such a " moral ulcer" or " plague spot" to be far more dreaded in our midst than would have been those miserable Mongolian lepers whose rumored coming some six months ago so roused our health authori- ties into unwonted activity V* Having occasion to purchase, for the purposes of evidence, a few publications of the aforesaid character at several stands, the keeper of one of the latter said, when I spoke of the demoralizing character of the paper handed me: " Yes, l)ul wc sell a great many of them." Another re- |/ l>lied, defiantly : " People buy them eagerly, sir." A third : *The writer believes it proper to state, that the foregoing para- graph is one of those wiii( li difl not appear in tlie Ledger article at- originally jiriiitid. The zeal of the sowers of trash. 10 '' 1 sell more of them than any other, but it's a very im- nioral paper." Notice that well-dressed lad in the train, how he draws himself apart from the passenger on the seat beside him, lest the debasing page which he reads should be scanned by other eyes. Here is an errand boy linger- hvr alona:, absorbed in a flash narra'tive which he has folded four-square, that it may be quickly withdrawn from or re- placed in his pocket. There, at the entrances of the open squares in the heart of the city, or upon the great avenues of travel, may be seen at dusk, when crowds of artisans, mechanics, clerks and shop-girls are going to their homes, the givers away of these pernicious and sensational story papers. -Not so late in the day, when the single-session schools have dismissed, and at the time when market people are returning across the river, you may perchance see these same generous distributors at the Camden ferries, bestowing the papers upon those whom they expect to become their good cus- tomers of the future. Women busy with their household cares, and men with their merchandising, may be oblivious of these things, yet it is nevertheless true that the receptive minds of the youth of this day are being deeply sown with the tares of trashy and immoral reading matter, so that the effect must become evident in the lowering of the moral tone of the community at large, and its tolerance of forms of evil which would not have been endured by the genera- tion ])receding. In undertaking to define what is pernicious in literature, and, in addition to that, what is so unmistakably pernicious Defining the perni- cious in literature. 11 as to be fairly liable to legal inhibition, every one will be prepared to admit — with Postmaster Huidekoper of this city — that it is '' difficult to draw the line, which [never- theless] I concede should be drawn somewhere." As to papers of an obviously debasing character, such as are those of the police news stamp, the representative of the News Dealers' Association lately said to the writer, that he did not suppose he could find a dealer anywhere who would be willing to stand up before a Council's Committee and plead for a continuance of those publications. And yet, notwithstand- ing such prints as those named are thus by common con- sent condemned as absolutely pernicious, we will probably find, singularly enough, nearly as many apologists for the sale of them as there are dealers. The pleas offered in ex- tenuation of this inconsistency are : (1) That the dealers simply aim to accommodate those of their patrons who ask for the corrupting papers, and (2), that the dealers' wives and children must not be allowed to starve. To the latter sentiment I object (as one not indifferent to considerations of humanity), that the material welfare of several himdred dealers' families is thus made to appear of more moment than the moral well-being of the remaining one hundred and fifty thousand families resident in the city, and liable to be affected by the demoralizing literature. Further, I believe that no true woman would consent to be supported by a traffic which she must certainly know — if she has really given serious thought to the subject — is working desolation in (we will say) the hundred homes of 12 those of her husband's patrons who take the objectionable papers. Similarly degradinc; is the excuse which under- takes to shift the responsibility upon those who see fit to ask for the j>apers. Now, it must be an unhealthily and Police newspapers morbidly excited, or a depraved, mind, indefensible. which will allow itself to waste precious time in the deliberate perusal of a low paper like the Police Gazette. But, a " patron" asks for the poison, and it is unhesitatingly handed him by one who very well knows it is unfit to be issued, and who will not have the hardihood to stand up and formally defend it. It may hence, with pertinency be asked, whether the dealers would not far better establish the sincerity of their acknowledged convictions hereupon, if, as a body, they would authorita- tively condemn and refuse to handle every paper of that character. This position, I think, was the one rightly taken by the newsdealers of the town of Newburyport, Mass., about two years ago. To the newsdealers' defence may be added the sentiment of those who, while opposed to the dissemination of per- nicious literature, are solicitous lest, by calling attention to the subject, a morbid interest should be excited therein, and perhaps more harm result than good. If sensational and otherwise injudicious methods be resorted to for the accom- plishment of the object aimed at, then the writer confesses himself as holding the like view respecting any agitation of the evil ; but, if endeavors to overcome this iniquity be undertaken in the fear of the Lord, and with a pure desire to save the souls of one's fellows, then I apprehend that 13 the accountability for any mischief incidentally arising from the publicity thus given will be very properly chargeable upon the " workers of iniquity," the originators and pro- moters of the mischief. As to the other class of pernicious literatsre — the dime and the half-dime novels, the sensational story papers, filled with talk of detectives, and the criminal exploits of cow-boys, and the like — these, though not usually indecent, are, as has been said before, unmistakably demoralizing in the strongest sense. Few people, perhaps, realize to what an extent the issue of these publications increases year by year, or have any conception of the sum of the mischief that they surely inflict. When, about eight years ago, J. T. Fields, in a lecture delivered at Boston, referred to an interview he had had with the boy-murderer, Pomeroy, in which the latter spoke of his vicious career as being largely due to the influence of the many sensational stories of adven- ture and violence he had read, the account was sent all over the country, producing a marked sensation. To-day, how- ever, such recitals are of so common occurrence as scarcely to excite remark. It was not many months ago that there appeared the statement, given on the au- thority of the chaplain of the Indiana State Prison, that of the 120 convicts lately in the prison enclosure, 76 per cent, attributed their downfall in great measure to the corrupting influence the vile and otherwise pernicious literature which tliev had read. In "drawing the line," therefore, ought not such pul)li- Flash story papers morally and legally condemned. ■J leir I •, of "J \J ^ 14 rations as the foregoing, to be subject to exclusion ? This is the view taken by some of tlie raih'oad corporations, one of the largest and best regulated of which, defining the " pernicious" which it will not permit on its trains, says : "The prohibition covers not merely what is indecent or obscene, but also all that class of trashy, sensational litera- ture which has wrecked the happiness of so many homes." Hut further, according to the Chicago Interocean (1882), "The Supreme Court has decided that ' the liberty of the })ress' guaranteed by the Constitution, was not intended to include the publication of articles injurious to the morals of the public, or advertisements of an immoral character. This decision was upon one of the Anthony Comstock cases, and it practically justifies the movement for the suppression of demoralizing as well as obscene literature."* So, Chief Justice Story, adverting to the (first) constitu- tional amendment, guaranteeing the liberty of the press, declares : " To admit that this amendment was intended to secure to every citizen an absolute right to speak, or write, or print whatever he might please, without any responsibility there- for, is a sup])Osition too wild to be indulged in by any reasonable man." With which agreeth the dictum of Jus- tice Blackstone, that, as " A man may be allowed to keej) poisons in his closet, but not publicly to vend them as cor- dials" — "so true will it be found, that to censure licen- tiousness is to maintain the liberty of the press." * General Circular No. 5 of the American Railwaj' Literary Union and Pure Literature Bureau, pj). 14 and 20. Suppressingtheper nicious is not " muz zling the press." 15 While it may not he that this city of Penn is destined to reach the low moral plane of the Niimidian city of Sicca Veneria, or of ancient Antioch in the days of its luxury and infamy, yet the tendenc}- since (and as a legacy of) the civil war, has been downward, rather than the reverse. Hence, though there is obvious need of a more diligent exe- cution of the laws against vice and immorality, there is not less a call to more faithfulness on the part of citizens indi- vidually as stimulating thereto. When those charged with the execution of the laws are conscious that, as touch- ing matters pertaining to public morals, the community at large don't care, the officers also will, almost surely, be cor- respondingly indifferent. To illustrate : The writer of this, not many weeks ago, observing a policeman gazing with a good deal of apparent interest at a large and decidedly in- decent show bill across the street, asked him whether he thought the law permitted an exposure of that character. He remarked in reply that he was "just wondering whether it wasn't 'most too bad," yet did not offer to do anything in the way of relief In a second case an appeal to a simi- lar poster-struck officer elicited the response that the Dis- trict Lieutenant had better be spoken to. He did not pro- pose to do anything himself In a third instance, where complaint was made to a Lieutenant, no result followed; so that, though these and other debasing show bills were eventually removed by the Mayor, such action was only effected through the personal attention of tiie citizen, and not of the officer charged with and paid to attend to the duty. Indecent posters and apathetic patrolmen. 16 While speaking ot" tliis phase of my subject, it may be pertinent to quote from a hite paper which, referring to a recent removal of some immoral pictures by the Mayor of the city of Richmond, rcimarks : " Tiiere are few worse temptations to vice and immorality than immodest pictures and to have such thrown in our eyes as we walk the streets is an outrage. '.Citizen' tells us that our Mayor ordered some such to be destroyed when his attention \vas called to them. But why was it necessary that the Mayor should have his attention called to a matter that he had the same eyes to see that other citizens had? It is the duty of our civil officers to attend to all matters of public decency with- out having to be urged on by others. We hope our Mayor will hereafter need no advice from others about such mat- tere, but of his own accord, and because it is his bounden duty, forbid all nasty and immodest pictures to be cast in our faces, as has been done in this city." It may be remarked here that the Mayor of Philadelphia exjiresses a willingness, and, indeed, a wish to effect the re- moval of all debasing pictures visible from the sidewalks as soon as the measure now under consideration by Councils, / and which shall confer fuller power than he believes he now possesses, shall have been passed. Meanwhile, how- ever, "an indecent show-bill," as was aptly said by the Record, very lately, " means an indecent show." By closing the latter — to do which there is unquestionable and ex- plicit power — the issuance of the obnoxious posters will be stopped absolutely. Without any doubt, these lewd posters An indecent show bill means an inde- cent show. ^' 17 are designed to stir up lascivious thouglits, and to draw all \vho incline that way to the chambers of death. The annual report (1884) of the "Midnight Mission," of this city, after stating that the fearful increase of the social evil is almost incredible, says, in speaking of the causes therefor: "The vile, flashy literature, sown broad- cast over the land, containing narratives of elopements, betrayals and seductions, depicted in a sensational, spicy, romantic manner, must also be held responsible. Our city authorities deserve the greatest censure for allowing the sale of this fatal poison, as well as the display of obscene ^^ and sensuous show-bills, which greet the eye in almost every direction." The " individual faithfulness" referred to above, should, T believe, impel those who have any pronounced convic- tions against the demoralizing literature of the news stands, not to patronize any of such stands where the police news- papers or the trashy story papers in quantity are exposed tor sale. And yet I am bound to certify that, in the mile's distance between the newspaj)cr publication offices which cluster about Seventh and Chestnut streets, and the railroad depot which the writer regularly uses, he does not know of a single news stand or shop for the sale of newspapers whereat either the so-called " blood and thunder" literature (jr the immoral papers of the police news stamp are not kept. It may not be altogether convenient ^,,.,,,^^, ,3,,,„, or pleasant to dispense at times with one's "®^® *'^® S""®^* "'*'*• fiivorile morning or afternoon paper, but what is a person's testimony for the truth, in any connection, worth if it -\ IH aiK'sn't new and then briiiji' with it a greater or less degree of inconvenience or trouble-taking or even hardship? Asking indulgence for citing personal experiences in point, 1 will say that one day during the past summer, being in Trenton with some friends who were going the round of one of the extensive pottery works at that place, the writer desired to obtain a daily paper to* read during the hour whilst he awaited the return of his companions. He walked half a mile or more, passing several news-dealers' shops, but, as papers of the immoral or highly sensational sort were displayed in the windows of all, he made no pur- chase. A little later, being at a large town on the Hudson, and wishing to obtain a certain book which was to be had of one dealer only, on the busy tnain street of the place, he entered, and was about to ask for the volume, when, notic- ing the obnoxious police newspapers disposed in piles on the counter before him, he had to say that though ])urpos- iuff to ask for a book, he did not feel at liberty to deal where literature so hurtful to the community was sold. As instancing what watchfulness is called for on behalf of the voung, I will state that, not long since, when speak- ing to a friend upon the topic of pernicious literature, I stated this fact : that, being in a barber's shop several years ago, I had observed his son come in, and, while waiting to be served, that he had picked up for perusal a Police Gazette from among several other papers lying on the table. I had not' forgotten the painful impression, together with the feel- ingof solicitude, which the little incident had then awakened. He rejoined, that he, himself, was in the habit of patroniz- Watchfulness on behalf of the young. 19 JDg the same shop, ami that the last time he was there, there were no others but police newspapers upon the table. If that be so, was replied, my two little boys who occasion- ally go to the same place, will have to be hioked after, for they have reached an age M'hen they may be susceptible to danger from such things. In a very few days the duty was attended to, several of the papers named being found upon the table, as stated. The proprietor, averting his face, said he had not thought anything seriously on the subject — he would not to be sure, have such papers go into his own family — and ho certainly didn't want to do anything to injure any of his customers. But, it was replied, thou dost keep them, notwitlistanding, where they may work moral damage to ^^/ the children of other peoples' families. I went away, but. upon revisiting the place some weeks later, was gratified to (tbserve that the objectionable papers had disappeared, — the ])roprietor, this time, squarely meeting ray gaze as I expres.sed my approval of his action. Evidently, he had not seriously. considered the full measure of the accounta- i)ility win'ch he incurred through the exposure of such vile pajiers. But, the same Book of Truth which assures a bless- ing to "the pure in heart — for they shall see God," has also resentment, to call public attention to the sub- ject of pernicious papers and posters. Special reference was therein made to the news-stand within the new City Hall — not, indeed, because it was an offender beyond most others, but owing to the fact of its being upon the city's inimee also earnestly desire that you will ' with jiromptitude devise some luejisure for abating the alarm- ing and growing evil referred to.' " Meanwhile, two bills upon the subject have been i>rought Memorial from the Baldwin Locomotive L^ Works. Relief measures be fore Councils. 30 l)efore Councils: otic by Select Councilman John H. Gra- ham (introduced bv request), and the other, by Common Councilman Thomas Meehan, by whom it was prepared. Both were referred to the Committees on Law-, before whom a hearing of the favorers and the opposers (in whole or in part) of the proposed legislation was had. It is not im- probable that an ordiiianee embodying portions of each bill may be eventually recommended by the Committee. The '' Graham bill," as its special feature, provides that a permit (uncharged) shall be required to be taken out by every per- son who shall open or maintain "any news-stand, stall or shop for the sale of newspapers, magazines, story papers and similar printed matter on any public street or passage-way of the city;" that every person so intending as above, shall subscribe in writing to the contract not to sell, lend, give away, or offer to give away, or keep, or exhibit to the view any immoral or pernicious prints or other productions of the character specified in the bill ; that the permit shall receive the signa- ture of the Mayor in addition to that of the responsible pro- prietor of the news-stand, tracts : "It is farther agreed that no obscene, profane, vul- ' gar, or improper literature, prints, pictures, or publications of any kind, shall be kept, sold, or offered for sale on the trains or premises of said company ; nor shall any newspaper or other publication be sold on the trains or premises of said company which is prohibited by the [superintendent] or any other officer of said company in charge of this department." The " permit bill" finds no favor with the publishers and dealers generally. It would probably have to be altered in several respects to be technically luiassailable ; but should its passage be not now pressed in this city, a like measure may, nevertheless, afford a means of relief for some other place or places where a sti-onger right sentiment prevails. With this helpful purpose in view, it has been somewhat fully referred to here. Another plan of relief which should not be lost sight of, is that to which allusion is made in the latter part of the preceding article, to wit : A Board of Ex- aminers or Censors (men and women), to be appointed by the judges, from lists furnished the latter by the representa- tive bodies of the several religious denominations. (See page 22 ante.) Further, there needs lu Ijc mure attention given, and care exteiide(l relative to the character of the prin(e(I nuitler 32 The home protec- tion that is laclii|iils' roali<'ly a'.'itMtol. 88 l)y experience that those which are the most sensational, those which most deal in the follies and rank vices of men and women, are most in demand. The temptation to win present favor by this means, and an easy return for their toil, is one which most authors, struggling for a mere liv- ing, find it hard to resist ; whilst publishers, on their part, can dispose of an average edition of almost any novel they bring out, to the public libraries ! "'To give an idea,' continues the writer \n i\\Q Inter- national Review, 'of what the ordinary novel of the day is, I will take from a leading English journal, the Spectator, which happens to lie on my desk as I write, the notices of the novels of the week. They are seven in number. The first has for a heroine a woman who con- fesses that under certain circumstances she would set love above law. The hero is created to show in what a refined way he can fall in love with another man's wife. The object of the book is to introduce some very indifferent scoffs at religion and relig- ious people. The next is a dull story not wholly free from vulgarity. In the third there is a horrible element' — and so on. He does not find one of the seven which could be called good and proper reading, even for a novel-reader, and yet such publications as these are placed by thousands upon the shelves of all the large libraries, and are sought for by the readers more greedily than are any others of the books. A free public library, managed upon such princi- ples as these, would seem to be the worst enemy that any community could set in its midst. The Divorce evil pro moted by public libra ries. 39 " It would therefore appear that, to this pernicious leaven, constantly workino; in a section of our countrv notably better provided with free libraries than an}"^ other, to the same influence working through the trashy publi- cations of the news-stands, and to the play-houses whence people are drawn in droves awa;( from the houses of wor- ship, may be found several active causes ever operating against the unity and peace of the family, and ever tending to make the occasion for divorce more and more frequent."* Having set out with the conscientious purpose of candidly resting the responsibility for the prevalence of the j)rinted poison evil where it properly belongs, the writer in conclu- sion offers the following paragraph upon Sabbath School libraries as in many cases fostering (alas, that it should be said!) the popular craving for the untrue, trashy, super- ficial, and pernicious. The sentences appended arc those of the well-informed editors of the Guifleto IIolinet