Daily World - Saturday, December 14, 1895
This report was originally published in English. Machine translations may be available in other languages.
THE MORALS OF AUTHORS
OSCAR WILDE’S CASE DISCUSSED IN A RACY MANNER.
[…] Speak for Themselves - Filthy
Habits that Society Should Not Condone - Virtue in the Home and Nation.
[…] for The World by Lady Cook, nee Tennessee Claflin.)
[…] a melancholy fact that morals of […] and their writings have often […] at variance. A large number of distinguished authors, whose works have […] immortal, and whom it would be tedious to mention, have been men of different lives, and in some cases gross- […]ssolute and abandoned. Their work, […]ever, was better than themselves, […] has been preserved and valued for […] intrinsic merit. Genius and moral […]ty should be inseparable, but unfortunately it is not so. As a rule, men of […]t abilities have claimed for themselves a license denied to meaner mor[…] and on the whole it has been re-[…] fully conceded to them. For just as […] pardon the private follies and wickedness of those monarchs who have ruled well, so with these, the true kings of […] mankind have been lenient to their […]ts for the sake of their great public […]ulness. Strange to say, no matter what department of intellectual or ar[…] greatness we turn our eye, we ob-[…] that its most splendid members […] very frequently been distinguished […] eccentricity or recklessness, they soar […]er and fall lower than other men. […]eat wits to madness are allied," said […] poet, and thus brilliant abilities have […] too often united to moral worth-[…]ness. But by universal practice and […]ent, a distinction has been preserved […]een the worker and his work. Each […] been judged separately, and thus […] of the priceless intellectual and ar[…]c treasures of past times have come […] to us, whereas otherwise they […]ld have been lost. It was chiefly re[…]ed for this century, and notably since […] days of Weslet and Lord Byron, to […]mpt to measure a man’s work by the […]dard of his moral character. This […] , however, has never been so re-[…]loably exhibited as lately. And it appears to be opposed to sound sense and […]he public welfare, we desire to question its utility and therefore its morality. […]tely an author and playwright of […] considerable reputation was con[…] by a jury of infamous criminality, […] ore his conviction — indeed, as soon as […] was changed — his works were in some […] withheld from the public. Even a number of the Westminster Vestry gave […] to move "that they be withdrawn […] the two public libraries in Westminster, and that the other local authorities in London be requested to take the […] course in reward to the libraries under their control." Several libraries had already done this, perhaps without […]ent consideration. We have never had […] acquaintance whatever, beyond com-[…] repute, with the author in question […] his literary works. But these, we pre-[…]e, were good to have become so popular, and if they were good then they […]st be the game now. Here we regard […] the principle involved. This resolves […] into the query — Should we prohibit […] refuse good work because of the immorality of the author or doer? The absurdity of an affirmative to this question should be self-evident, and, if carried out, […] and us into endless difficulties. If […] baker bakes good bread, or our boot-maker makes good boots, we do not ask […] are the morals of these tradesmen […] eating the bread and wearing the boots. It would be agreeable to know that they are worthy people, and sad to […] them the reverse, but the usefulness of their handiwork would not be […] by their sentiment. Indeed one […] to be thankful to be able to get […] good thing at all without troubling […] the moral deficiencies of the mak-[…]. We do not inquire before buying a […]ure whether the artist is moral or otherwise. The quality of the work is […] we regard. If literature is to be an exception to this custom, there would be […] little left but that of inferior value, […] unfortunately, as we have said, the […] of highest genius have been too fre-[…]ntly of extremely shaky morals.
The virtuous vestryman of Westminster no doubt goes to church regularly […] enjoys the Psalms of David and the […] of his son Solomon. But the worst […] modern […] are the pinks of pro-[…] compared to those old poetic Jews […] perpetrated every villainy under the […]. However, we do not on that account move that these amorous and re-[…]ous effusions be withdrawn from Westminster Abbey and our other […]rohes. On the contrary, if their peru-[…] will do anyone any good, by all means let people read them. And let us thank God that it is possible to educe […] from the evil, and to paint the […]uty of the rose and the fairness of the […] from the ordure of the stable. It is […]prising how virtuous everybody is […] some one more unfortunate is […] out. Men have been practising an […] describable and abominable custom from […] immemorial. The greatest and most accomplished were frequently addicted to […] and thousands of well-born and high-[…] in our country to-day still follow it. […] the wave of indignation which has […] passed over the English-speaking nations demands that the intellectual work of its votaries be also condemned, them to be consistent, we must prohibit the choicest efforts of genius. Horace, and most of the rest of the ancient classics must be burnt, the Bible expurgated, and possibly even our own glorious Shakespeare himself would come under the ban. Are our great world to make room for some of the ruling and demoralizing novels of up-to-date writers, the giants to give way to pigmies? It would seem so if we permit vestrymen to decide.
If we are genuine in our desire to root out this immortality, we should attack the many instead of making scape-goats of one or two. We should check the growth of this abomination in our schools and colleges, where are youths are too often educated in the vice, and stamp it out in our army and navy as we did the leprosy. And our sense of virtue should impel us to lay hands upon that viler and far more important abuse, the seduction and ruin of innocent girls, for, unlike the other, this is followed by every evil, murder, infanticide, destitution, disease, or death.