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    i226 The Publishers' Circular Oct. i 5 ,...

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    188 Fleet Street : October 15, 1886.

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    DANCING, novels, and the drama, have bee...

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  • Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.

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    I226 The Publishers' Circular Oct. I 5 ,...

    i 226 The Publishers' Circular Oct . i 5 , l 886 I

    188 Fleet Street : October 15, 1886.

    188 Fleet Street : October 15 , 1886 .

    Dancing, Novels, And The Drama, Have Bee...

    DANCING , novels , and the drama , have been approved by the recent Church Con ^

    gress as means of recreation and social improvement . This year the Congress assembled

    at Wakefield ; the sittings occupying four days , that is to say Vfrom the 5 th to the 8 th of

    October . As usual , matters of social interest were subjects for discussion , particularly those

    questions which clerical consideration and in-UU fluence & ltVC mi Ullf g * , ht II II be Kf \ J able UUIV to WV UIU advance . T UI 11 UV W on » l behalf KS *^>* . * . * - *>¦* - * . of V ^ J . the « i » v

    general welfare of the people . Last year The Church and the Printing Press ' was discussed

    among many other questions . A cognate discussion this year has been the duty of Hhe

    Church in respect to literature and recreation . The leading speakers in the debate were

    the Dean of ManchesterLord Brabazonand ^ , Miss C . M . Yonge . That the debate attracted

    an unusual degree of interest was noticeable by the hall being crowded to excess during its

    progress . The Dean of Manchester , who opened the discussion , was loudly applauded

    during the delivery of his eloquent address , which was strongly in favour of the drama

    and dancing as innocent recreations . Upon these subjects we have nothing to say , beyond

    remarking upon the large-hearted sympathy which the Dean displayed in speaking of the

    amusements of the people and the duty of the Church in relation thereto .

    Lord Brabazon \ s remarks took another direction . He referred particularly to the

    prospects of the Church availing itself of literature as an instrument for disseminating

    wholesome , moral , and ennobling thoughts . In the treatment of this wide and intricate

    subject , Lord Brabazon showed that his opinions had not been hastily formed , but were the

    fruitful result of sincere and discriminating meditations . Evidently his lordship holds the

    opinion that Churchmen can do a great deal more than they do in the employment of the

    press as a missioner . The written word , he said , is now more powerful - *¦ than the spoken JL

    word ; and it would be well if a portion of the episcopal — reserve were composed . « . of men ready

    --- with the pen as well as with the tongue , and if the special duty were assigned to them of

    using the influence of the press by anonymous contributions to local journals . The most

    gifted sons of the Church r might furnish contributions to high-class magazines . Positions

    of emolument might be reserved for men capable of doing literary work in the interests

    of religion . The amusernonts of an English town were few , and fewer those that could be

    called healthy or innocent . It was the duty of the Church to encourage every innocent

    «_ 9 «/ amusement which could conduce to health ,

    in-. . . ^ M ,

    No struc village tion , sociabili should ty be , bri without ghtness its , happin recreation e 8 a I I

    room ; no town without its working men ' s club I or insti tute , with at least one large room . 1

    As one might reasonably expect , the ad- I dress delivered by Miss C . M . Yonge was more I

    thorough >« . m in its . relation ^ • ¦ to literary ^ ¦ subjects _ Ifl I than any of the other papers . On this ques- I

    tion it is pleasant to read the earnest words of 1 one who herself has done so much for the I

    youth of the land by supplying them with I books which are pure in thought , exalted in I

    tone , and , to the core , thoroughly English in I expression . I

    Miss Yonge said the interest in literature I increased in proportion to its cultivation . Its I

    influence could be traced in many changes of I public opinion and social reforms . The popu- I

    lar ballad was extinct , and so was feudal I enthusiasm ; and literature remained to exer- I

    cise that influence on the imagination without I which patriotism could not be cultivated . I

    Want of imagination was a hindrance to I ' doing as we would be done by' ; and good I

    realistic fiction was one of the best modes of I awakening O the . sense that peop -LA le and animals I

    had feelings , that violence was not courage , I and that compassion was not cowardice . Mure I

    needful and more practicable was the instilling I of refinement and delicacy || among women and

    girls . More impressionable than men and I boysthey could be made through good fiction I

    , to imbibe ideas insensibly . Nothing was more I needed than to raise their standard of love , I

    courtship , marriage ¦ , and domestic propriety . The real difficulty was that those who wrote I

    circumstances books vjlx wva aiiu had vvvix Wk to ¦ ¦ / do of - ^ a . so the % / aa . in ** s ¦ factory * . * i -vv gnorance - < *^ v ^ * . j g * - » —— irls —"" of ' or the maid real - n ^

    servants' courtshi ¦ so that the ideal set up llil mi glil ght / be Pk ^ Vy ¦ impossible XIJI-L / V / UUX p , or XSA . unattractive wuww ^ ww v- . t ) ne ^_

    country parish ¦ that had had a lending library for ness ness fift o of t y mothers years ¦ ¦ thers was the the distinguished respectability rasmfic . tabilitv for of or the marriages niarrui careful - ^ - , ,

    and hopeless first requisite an ¦ ¦ indisposition indifference of , , literature and to regard acquiescence lied lapses to parishes . with l | ld I

    supp and was that idea ¦ it and should the books be absolutel should y pure ' in backea w «> w I

    by an ¦ authorit , y of our own . ' come Things LU u ¦ mig m ¦ iorli ht f do rlr » no r \(\ harm ViaT'in b Kv chance nhn . Ttr . P > . clia did actU « ^ .

    harm by ¦ ¦ bein w g hen included they appeared in y a library to be , under eiulcr soiik ^ thorit ¦ The composition of books i / h 1 ^ I

    ¦ ttumun au have ac y tual . . jLjio meri CHjiiijjuniLiMii t and interes um . t . Ifc 1 U ^ be U « J questioned V £ U tJ » l-lUXlt 3 U . ^ whether WHUtilUl the L . 1 IC weak " ^»» » P >¦ oUt t H I

    ¦ ¦ of of books h described but they as 4 goody likel ' were u () NV > v

    ¦ bo \ JM . muc illUOil the reverse use UOC 7 , , . UlAU Reward lilL Uy were W books Di C XJLi ^ v were -J y i ' lUC , ^ m i

    the neglected dispensers . Swarms -of of which books seemed were to » sU ^ ' M

• Citation
  • Publishers’ Circular (1880-1890), Oct. 15, 1886, page 1226, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/pc/issues/tec_15101886/page/4/