NINETEENTH CENTURY NOVELS.

Thames Star, Volume IX, Issue 3067, 13 December 1878, Page 1

NINETEENTH CENTURY NOVELS.

How very few books of the present day can'be placed in youthful hands! They mostly treat of indelicate subjects, however much, veiled in highly-coloured . language ; they are , spiced with double entendres, and seasoned with, innuendo; full of descriptions of fast life, of the habits, customs, manners, dresses, jewel-

lery, carriages, horses, and houses of questionable members of; society; of the entertainment's they^ give, the society they affect, the money^ they spend, the fashions they set, their friends, arid Atheir7friehd»' friends'—this is all part of the present day nbv^HsVs; : in;trade. It is almost impossible 'to"take up a novel without iindirig some mention of the class termed demi-monde, and the lives they lead. The heroes of fiction, too, now how intensely absurd ; they are!, What wonderful creatures.,' these ''stalwart guardsmen, with vast frames, clearly-cut features, handsome as those of Adonis or Antiqous,,. and, usually* compared. to .., the; bhe/or' the' other; answering to such soubriquets as "Baby," ''Curly," "Infant," " Pet," —• men crible with debt, fascinating; yet cruel, with the strength and coarseness of a bargee united to the polish and refinement of a finished gentleman. These worthies, too, are depicted with an astonishing taste for. man.- millinery, evinced by. their wearing seed-pearl trimmed dressing, gowns, and having their rooms furnished as luxuriously as the boudoir of a duchess. These are the men people are expected in these 1 days to read about with-interest! The most astonishing part of all being that the public do read such trash, and, in many instances, believe that the descriptions given in novels of such men and women are real. It would bb amusing, were it not shocking and revolting,' to think that people write, and read; such pernicious nonsense ; our, pity for those who read, and are entertained, i by: such Books -is only equalled by onr disgust and contempt"for thW who write them. than all is^'the fact that our lady nbreliatsl persistently—of course, there are many >■■ honourable exceptions— choose^ra</w# Subjdctsii'fitfd descant' on such topics 1 with! *a ininutenS&s 'of deml which is surprising. Many books^noif written by 'women are not fitfbr^^indiicriminate reading—•'■ sure test'they ban* not be read out loud in the home .circle;. "Why P- Because "■ of>: this fashionable folslowing; of-the- tastes of the day, t which catise^ [a flood-of refined immoral writing to emanate- from pens which should be used in'raisipg, instead of lowering,''the public inind.-J-Charing: Crpss Magazine. I