74 



Report on General Literature. 



book although there's nothing in it," although begotten 

 in sarcasm, has been so liberally quoted, that to many per- * 

 ceptions, it has lost some of its original pungency, and now 

 presents itself with all the axiomatic wisdom of a proverb ; 

 until the larger portion of readers are ready to believe, that 

 almost every publication which does not happen to be 

 immoral has its value, and that there is no writing which 

 is not, in some respects, fitted to be placed within a library. 

 But the more critical mind learns to revolt at such leniency 

 of judgment — almost despairs as it sees how much of 

 what is published is merely useless repetition of that which 

 has gone before, and how much, besides, can tend merely 

 to foster crude and undeveloped tastes and theories — strives 

 to separate the few grains of wheat from the great mass of 

 chaff and would rigorously treat .the chaff with the fiery 

 destruction it deserves — and, as it looks upon the millions 

 of treatises that fill our public libraries, almost regrets that 

 the process of separation and destruction could not have 

 been carried further, recognizing, in all its fullness the 

 fact that a book is a book only as it properly cultivates or 

 instructs. Solomon sighed over the endless making of 

 books, and yet, in his time, there had been no prophetic 

 forewarning of the Alexandrian library. That storehouse 

 was in turn built up ; and, in turn, undergoing the certain 

 fate of all earthly things, perished. Now we affect to regret 

 the fact, as though it were a loss that could not be calculated ; 

 and yet it is possible that we have not sustained a very 

 great misfortune, after all. Possibly the great library may 

 have contained a few treasures, such as the missing books 

 of Livy, and a choice collection of now unknown classics ; 

 but doubtless, the greater portion of the parchment and 

 papyrus manuscripts were of such a character, as could 

 scarcely interest or instruct us — treatises upon the Arian 

 controversy, most likely, and other similarly heavy pole- 

 mical works of exceeding uselessness, and which would 



