There is need, also, that some men should keep a supervision of the
current literature of the day, as guardians, to warn others of danger.
For this purpose, it is more suitable for editors, clergymen, and
teachers to read indiscriminately, than for any other class of persons;
for they are the guardians of the public weal in matters of literature,
and should be prepared to advise parents and young persons of the evils
in one direction and the good in another. In doing this, however, they
are bound to go on the same principles which regulate physicians, when
they visit infected districts--using every precaution to prevent injury
to themselves; having as little to do with pernicious exposures, as
a benevolent regard to others will allow; and faithfully employing all
the knowledge and opportunities thus gained for warning and preserving
others. There is much danger, in taking this course, that men will
seek the excitement of the imagination for the mere pleasure it affords,
under the plea of preparing to serve the public, when this is neither
the aim nor the result.
In regard to the use of such works by the young, as a general rule,
they ought not to be allowed, to any except those of a dull and
phlegmatic temperament, until the solid parts of education are secured
and a taste for more elevated reading is acquired.
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