The Railway Libraries—by which generic1 term we mean single volumes, printed in small type on indifferent paper, and sold mostly at a shilling—are almost wholly devoted2 to novels, English or American. Whatever be the quality of the fiction so published, we may ask, without any general depreciation3 of such works, if the popularity of this class of reading has not a tendency to indispose for other reading, however attractive be the mode in which information, historical, critical, or scientific, be presented; and is it not a necessary consequence that books of another character than novels should be compelled to address themselves to a smaller class of readers, and must, therefore, of necessity be dearer? If this be true of the railway books, it is equally true of the weekly sheets. The demand for fiction amongst the largest class of readers has forced upon every weekly periodical the necessity for introducing fiction in some form or other. The writers of eminence5 cannot put forth6 their powers in this direction without charging a higher price for their numbers than those in which inferior writers are employed at low salaries. The higher price necessarily induces a smaller sale. The dealers7 in cheap {278} periodicals say, "you have no chance for a sale unless you give as much paper as the others give for a penny!" In this respect, some of the more extensively circulated of these sheets would appear to defy all reasonable competition. They are sold for 50s. per thousand; their paper and machine-work cost, at the very least, 45s. Out of this 5s. per thousand they have to pay their publishing expenses, their writers, their woodcuts, their composition, their stereotype8 casts. It is a neck-and-neck race for a very doubtful "plate;" and what may appear a slight addition to the weight of the "riders," in the shape of another halfpenny a pound upon their paper, would "distance" the greater number of them. When the popular estimate of a publication is that of the square inches which it contains of print, it requires no critical judgment9 to be assured that the amount of genius or knowledge engaged in its production is not very great. Hence, for the most part, a deluge11 of stories, that, to mention the least evil of them, abound12 with false representations of manners, drivelling sentimentalities, and impossible incidents. And yet they are devoured13 with an earnestness that is almost incomprehensible. The moralist may say—
"England, the time is come when thou shouldst wean
Thy heart from this emasculating food."
How is the weaning to be set about for this babyhood of the popular intellect?
The insuperable obstacle to a successful competition with the existing class of penny periodicals {279} is their pre-eminence in external cheapness. They were all founded upon the principle of attraction by low price alone. They employed the meanest "slaves of the lamp" in their production. Sheets came out double the size of any other penny sheet, badly printed on the thinnest paper, but nevertheless they were the largest sheets; their roots were thus planted in the popular earth. Some who bought them turned away from their filth15 and their folly16; others welcomed these qualities. Gradually the sense of the better class of artisans operated, whilst they continued their offences, to reduce their number of customers. They changed their style; they became decent, but they remained stupid. The weeds were kept down, though not rooted out, in that garden: a few gaudy17 flowers were planted; fruit there was little. They have maintained their hold, by their external cheapness, against any attempt to produce a higher literature, with better paper and print. They have beaten almost every competitor who has sought to address the same class of buyers with something higher, intrinsically as cheap, but not so cheap to the eye. The unequal war is still being waged.
In June, 1846, the last number of 'The Penny Magazine' was published. Mr. Knight18, who had been its editor from the commencement, in 1832, thus writes in his concluding 'Address to the Reader,' after stating that there then were published 14 three-halfpenny and penny miscellanies, and 37 weekly sheets, forming separate books:—"It {280} is from this competition that the 'Penny Magazine' now withdraws itself. Its editor most earnestly wishes success to those who are keeping on their course with honesty and ability.... He rejoices that there are many in the field, and some who have come at the eleventh hour, who deserve the wages of zealous19 and faithful labourers. But there are others who are carrying out the principle of cheap weekly sheets to the disgrace of the system, and who appear to have got some considerable hold upon the less informed of the working people, and especially upon the young. There are manufactories in London whence hundreds of reams of vile20 paper and printing issue weekly; where large bodies of children are employed to arrange types, at the wages of shirt-makers, from copy furnished by the most ignorant, at the wages of scavengers. In truth, such writers, if they deserve the name of writers, are scavengers. All the garbage that belongs to the history of crime and misery21 is raked together, to diffuse22 a moral miasma23 through the land, in the shape of the most vulgar and brutal24 fiction." This is a curious and instructive record. 'The Penny Magazine,' popular as it once was, to the extent of a sale of 200,000, could not contend with a cheapness that was wholly regardless of quality; and it could not hold its place amidst this dangerous excitement. The editor had his hands fettered25 by the necessity of keeping up the purely26 instructive character of that journal. Without a large supply of fiction {281} it necessarily ceased to be popular. A French writer, who laments27 over the "immondices" of the literature of Paris in 1840, calls for romances "appropriés par10 une imagination souple et brillante au go?t des classes laborieuses;" and he suggests the principle upon which such works should be founded, viz. "L'étude des m?urs populaires, entreprise par un esprit pénétrant, et dirigée vers un but philosophique."[34] The "immondices" have for the most part vanished from our English penny literature. The host of penny Newgate novels, whether known as 'The Convict,' 'The Feast of Blood,' 'The Murder at the Old Jewry,' 'Claude Duval,' 'The Hangman's Daughter,' and so forth, may continue to be sold; but, as far as we can trace, there are no novelties in this once popular literature of the gallows28. Abominations, called 'Mysteries' and 'Castles,' still lurk29 in dark corners; but the bulk of single Penny Novels, and the novels which "drag their slow length along" in penny journals, are marvellously changed. The most prudish30 regard to decency31 presides over every sentence and syllable32. William the Conqueror33 has lost the brief ignoble34 title by which the old Saxons designated their oppressor, through a special interdict35 of the proprietor36 of one of these papers; and a lady of doubtful character must be mentioned by no more rugged37 name than that of a belle38 amie, which may be understood or not. But the "études des m?urs populaires," and the "but philosophique," {282} have not yet entered into the minds of the conductors of these elaborate works. Their scenes are invariably laid in the lord's palace or the right honourable's mansion39; marriages are made at St. George's, Hanover Square, and the diamonds are bought at Storr and Mortimer's. If a young lady, who has the slight misfortune to be connected by the filial tie with a convicted felon40, has a quarrel with her juvenile41 lover, she immediately rushes to the arms of an ancient baronet, who conducts her the next morning to the altar of his parish church. Boileau said of Mademoiselle Scudery, that she would never let her heroine get out of a house till she had taken an inventory42 of all the furniture. So, for the bewilderment of those who read these weekly novels by the one glimmering43 candle upon the deal table, their sick ladies recline in easy chairs, "astral" lamps diffuse their rich glow upon crimson44 curtains, and aromatic45 perfumes fill the air from pastiles burning in miniature castles of gilded46 porcelain47. The style of these productions is magnificent: with golden zones on the summits of the mountains, and roseate tints48 edging the canopy49 of heaven; plants drooping50 with voluptuous51 languor52, and shining insects skimming the air, as if borne on the wings of ardent53 passion. In all this we are speaking au pied de la lettre. Johnson described three sorts of unnatural55 style—the bombastic56, the affected57, and the weak. Most of these performances unite the three qualities, and are equally satisfactory {283} to the "love of imbecility," which Johnson thought was to be found in many. We have only seen one penny journal which places its incidents, and somewhat adapts its language, in consonance with the habits of the classes which these works seek to interest. In 'The Leisure Hour,' issued by the Religious Tract4 Society, we have an Australian story, with 'Sydney by Gaslight.' We are now amongst convicts, and hear drunken shouts come out from miserable58 huts. The success of this publication is considerable. Perhaps those who really understand such matters may say of the writer of these laudable attempts to imitate the homely59 style, something akin54 to what the great Pierce Egan said of a fashionable novelist twenty years ago—"Ah! he's very clever, but uncommon60 superficial in slang." Nevertheless, it is satisfactory to find that a mean has been sought, in the quarter where we might least have expected it, between the representations of humble61 and even of low life which are corrupting62, and those pretended pictures of society which exhibit no life at all. In the number of 'The Leisure Hour' for February 16, 1854, there is a clever woodcut of a night auction63 at Sydney, which is as suggestive of a congregation of real vulgar sellers and bidders64, with the necessary accompaniments of gin and tobacco, as might be connected with any of the exciting scenes of 'Life in London' at any period. The pictures of the penny sheets which the masses now greedily buy {284} are quite genteel. This is something to reflect upon. Some of the members of the Tract Society may think that "Chaos65 is come again." We do not. This sort of subject will be attractive to the better portion of male readers amongst the artisans, and especially amongst the very large number who belong to "temperance societies;" but for the girls, who devour14 the novels of the other penny journals, certainly not. Those who have been watching the workings of the penny literature are unanimous in their conviction that very few men read these mawkish66 and unnatural fictions. The readers for the most part belong, in point of cultivation67, to the same class of females, who, half a century ago, gave up their whole leisure—if they did not neglect every domestic duty—for the ghosts and the elopements of 'The Minerva Press.' The intelligence of the readers is the same, however widened the attraction.
But, with all their bad taste, there is partial merit and manifest utility in some portions of the best of these penny journals. 'The Family Herald68' has constantly a serious article of great good sense and shrewdness. This paper, and one or two others, have pages of "Answers to Correspondents," which, for the most part, contain useful information and judicious69 advice. Real young ladies often pour their doubts into the ear of this "Family" oracle70, about love, and courtship, and marriage; and, as far as we can judge, receive very safe counsel. In the whole range of these things we can detect nothing {285} that bears a parallel with what used to be called "the blasphemous71 and seditious press." Neither, although these papers do not wholly abstain72 from comment upon what is passing in the world, can they be called newspapers. We see, however, that the new trump73 of war is calling up again one or two of the old class of unstamped violators of the law. In quiet times they cannot flourish. They may be difficult to suppress,
'Now all the youth of England are on fire.'
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1
generic
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| adj.一般的，普通的，共有的 | |
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devoted
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| adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的 | |
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depreciation
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| n.价值低落，贬值，蔑视，贬低 | |
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tract
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| n.传单，小册子，大片(土地或森林) | |
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eminence
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| n.卓越，显赫；高地，高处；名家 | |
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forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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dealers
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| n.商人( dealer的名词复数 )；贩毒者；毒品贩子；发牌者 | |
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8
stereotype
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| n.固定的形象，陈规，老套，旧框框 | |
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9
judgment
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| n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见 | |
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10
par
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| n.标准，票面价值，平均数量；adj.票面的，平常的，标准的 | |
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11
deluge
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| n./vt.洪水，暴雨，使泛滥 | |
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12
abound
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| vi.大量存在；(in，with)充满，富于 | |
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13
devoured
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| 吞没( devour的过去式和过去分词 )； 耗尽； 津津有味地看； 狼吞虎咽地吃光 | |
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14
devour
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| v.吞没；贪婪地注视或谛听，贪读；使着迷 | |
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15
filth
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| n.肮脏，污物，污秽；淫猥 | |
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16
folly
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| n.愚笨，愚蠢，蠢事，蠢行，傻话 | |
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17
gaudy
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| adj.华而不实的；俗丽的 | |
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18
knight
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| n.骑士，武士；爵士 | |
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19
zealous
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| adj.狂热的，热心的 | |
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20
vile
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| adj.卑鄙的，可耻的，邪恶的；坏透的 | |
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21
misery
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| n.痛苦，苦恼，苦难；悲惨的境遇，贫苦 | |
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22
diffuse
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| v.扩散；传播；adj.冗长的；四散的，弥漫的 | |
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23
miasma
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| n.毒气；不良气氛 | |
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24
brutal
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| adj.残忍的，野蛮的，不讲理的 | |
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25
fettered
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| v.给…上脚镣，束缚( fetter的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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26
purely
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| adv.纯粹地，完全地 | |
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27
laments
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| n.悲恸，哀歌，挽歌( lament的名词复数 )v.（为…）哀悼，痛哭，悲伤( lament的第三人称单数 ) | |
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28
gallows
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| n.绞刑架，绞台 | |
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29
lurk
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| n.潜伏，潜行；v.潜藏，潜伏，埋伏 | |
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30
prudish
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| adj.装淑女样子的，装规矩的，过分规矩的；adv.过分拘谨地 | |
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31
decency
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| n.体面，得体，合宜，正派，庄重 | |
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32
syllable
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| n.音节；vt.分音节 | |
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33
conqueror
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| n.征服者，胜利者 | |
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34
ignoble
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| adj.不光彩的，卑鄙的；可耻的 | |
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35
interdict
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| v.限制；禁止；n.正式禁止；禁令 | |
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proprietor
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| n.所有人；业主；经营者 | |
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rugged
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| adj.高低不平的，粗糙的，粗壮的，强健的 | |
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belle
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| n.靓女 | |
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39
mansion
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| n.大厦，大楼；宅第 | |
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40
felon
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| n.重罪犯；adj.残忍的 | |
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41
juvenile
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| n.青少年，少年读物；adj.青少年的，幼稚的 | |
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42
inventory
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| n.详细目录，存货清单 | |
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43
glimmering
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| n.微光，隐约的一瞥adj.薄弱地发光的v.发闪光，发微光( glimmer的现在分词 ) | |
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44
crimson
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| n./adj.深(绯)红色(的)；vi.脸变绯红色 | |
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45
aromatic
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| adj.芳香的，有香味的 | |
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46
gilded
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| a.镀金的，富有的 | |
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porcelain
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| n.瓷；adj.瓷的，瓷制的 | |
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48
tints
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| 色彩( tint的名词复数 )； 带白的颜色； （淡色）染发剂； 痕迹 | |
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49
canopy
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| n.天篷，遮篷 | |
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50
drooping
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| adj. 下垂的，无力的 动词droop的现在分词 | |
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51
voluptuous
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| adj.肉欲的，骄奢淫逸的 | |
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52
languor
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| n.无精力，倦怠 | |
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53
ardent
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| adj.热情的，热烈的，强烈的，烈性的 | |
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54
akin
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| adj.同族的，类似的 | |
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55
unnatural
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| adj.不自然的；反常的 | |
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56
bombastic
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| adj.夸夸其谈的，言过其实的 | |
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affected
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| adj.不自然的，假装的 | |
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58
miserable
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| adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的 | |
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59
homely
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| adj.家常的，简朴的；不漂亮的 | |
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60
uncommon
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| adj.罕见的，非凡的，不平常的 | |
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61
humble
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| adj.谦卑的，恭顺的；地位低下的；v.降低，贬低 | |
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62
corrupting
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| （使）败坏( corrupt的现在分词 )； （使）腐化； 引起（计算机文件等的）错误； 破坏 | |
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63
auction
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| n.拍卖；拍卖会；vt.拍卖 | |
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64
bidders
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| n.出价者，投标人( bidder的名词复数 ) | |
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65
chaos
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| n.混乱，无秩序 | |
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66
mawkish
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| adj.多愁善感的的；无味的 | |
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67
cultivation
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| n.耕作，培养，栽培（法），养成 | |
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68
herald
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| vt.预示...的来临，预告，宣布，欢迎 | |
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69
judicious
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| adj.明智的，明断的，能作出明智决定的 | |
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70
oracle
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| n.神谕，神谕处，预言 | |
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71
blasphemous
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| adj.亵渎神明的，不敬神的 | |
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72
abstain
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| v.自制，戒绝，弃权，避免 | |
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trump
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| n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭 | |
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