FICTION : ITS USES AND ABUSES.

Evening Star, Issue 3169, 17 April 1873, Page 2

FICTION : ITS USES AND ABUSES.

The Rev. Mr Main, from Victoria, delC vered a lecture on “Fiction: its uses and abuses,” last evening, under the auspices of the First Church Young Men’s Christian Association, in the hall beneath the Church. There was a good attendance of members and others, and the rev. lecturer was introduced by Mr Charles Moore, President of the Aaso ciation. Mr Maiu commenced his address, the subject of which he had t >ken with fear and trembling, by stating that the advisability of novel-reading was still an undecided question; and that the undeniable evils which attended it, intensified the importance of a thorough investigation. In the days of his childhood, novels were not less strictly tabooed to the young, than whisky whilst now he estimated the number of this branch of literature published annually in Great Britain, independent of serials in magazines, at 500 or 600. Writers of fiction possess an immense power, for good or evil, over their fellow men : their works drawn upon and addressed to imagination, gave, v hen true to nature, a real and healthy enjoyment. The mind stood in need of relaxation at times, especially after hard study, and this might well be attained by the perusal of a simple story, or works of genuine wit. Some authors’ works were valuable as giving information of an instructive kind, as the vivid descriptions of Scottish life and character in Sir Walter Scott’s novels, and of the North American Indians in those of Fenimore Cooper. The lecturer commended “John Halifax, Gentleman,” by Miss Muloch, and “Mrs Halliburton’s Troubles,” by Mrs Henry Wood, as giving examples of a right order of living ; but was of opinion that the later writings of these two authoresses were not calculated to effect so much good. “Tom Brown’s Schooldays,” by Thomas Hughes, was of a class that imparted a healthy moral tone. Uf works written to expose abuses of various kinds, Charles Dickens’s “ Bleak House,” “ Nicholas Nickleby,” and “ Oliver Twist,” were specimens ; and Mrs Stowe caused an excitement and horror, world wide iu extent, by weaving together facts bearing on the foul blot of slavery, and reproducing them in the form of “ Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Turning to the abuses of the power authors possess, the lecturer denounced Schiller’s “The Robbers,” and Lord Lytton’s “Paul Clifford ” and “ What will he do with it?” as presenting vice under an alluring aspect. The witty, mirthful works of Charles Lever were hurtful, as fostering a spirit of dissipation, and as invariably shewing “gentlemen” and “gallant” officers in the full enjoyment of cheating their creditors. The most dangerous class of novels was the sensational, in which the feelings of the reader are excited to the highest pitch through untrue phases of life being represented as true, profane swearing indulged in, murder exhibited as a virtue, and, in too many instances, infringement of the vows qf married life upheld. There was no wonder that men had become incapable of astonishment at any occurrence, when one reads the works of Wilkie Collins and Miss Braddon. A great abuse committed by readers themselves was promiscuous novel reading, which was the cause of a profitless expenditure of feeling, a dissipation of mental energy, and a deterioration of character. Readers should consider quantity equally with quality, and not read to excess, or he should recommend the cure for a drunkard total abstinence. The ledlecturer concluded with a warning to parents, with regard to the solemn obligation under which they lay, to debar their children from reading works in which vice is held up as a virtue, but not fo stint them as far as regards sound literature. A vote of thanks to the lecturer, whose address was frequently applauded, was awarded on the motion of Mr A. C. Begg.