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Show CANT. (J buries Itcude'rt novel, "A Terrible Temptation," has been terribly criticized criti-cized by some snobbish and prudish scribblers, who having graduated seem to fill the measure given by Hums peaking of a university career: "Thy gang in foul and come out Reade has castigated and cauterized his critics through the same medium which made thoir strictures public the newspaper pre?. And now, because be-cause the English novelist has defended de-fended himself, there are others who attack him for his want of modesly! lie has said "The author of 'Hard Cash' is a public benefactor in a small way. V hoover, after this calls him a public crimiual, is a liar and a scoud-drel!" scoud-drel!" Which is plain language, but then it is true. Why should Mr. Reade be accused of want of modesty because he saya he has been a public benofactor? He has been ono. lie knows il; the reading world knows it; and is il any the leaa true because- he says it? His "Put yourself in his l'laee," "Hard Cash" and "Never too Late to Mend" all aided in accomplishing accomplish-ing important reforms in England. The lirst exposed the villainy oi' mnin-berfl mnin-berfl of traded unions, the locale oF -it being unquestionably Sheffield; tho second hold up to public reprobation tho infamous private asylum system; and the third dealt with the equally infamous in-famous "model prison" arrangement. This thing called modesty is too often hypocrisy. Why should Charles Keadc walk through the world playing- the ; hypocrite by saying, or tacitly admitting, ad-mitting, that his work a have failed of accomplishing their objects; and that he has not been a benefactor of his coimlrv and raee? fi is rieht and proper for a politician to foil how much he has aecumpli.-hcd for the good of his country or parly; lor a , clergyman to discourse eloquently of how he has been iuif ruiaienlal in snatehin souls from eternal horrors ; ( but il is in bad taste for an author, a literary man, to say ihil he has accomplished ac-complished any good. He may know il; the world may know it and say il; . but he must ignore the fact and play the hypocrite that he may be (homdit modest ! The whole suing of platitudes advanced ad-vanced in support of such a doctrine U sheer cant, worn-out, threadbare almost al-most fossilized cant, and excites only 1 contempt in the mind of every clearheaded clear-headed thinker and honest man. |
