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ABOUT PEOPLE.

endeavor, that almost any attempt toward expression of truth is sure to offend, unless couched in scientific terminology; but noble propriety, founded on the relations of things and not on the conventionalities of society, demands that impropriety should be recognized, spoken of, branded and remanded, not to oblivion, but to the most earnest efforts of adult men and women for its cure. Evil lurks in "society," leads an open life "in the lower ranks," and constitutes the raison d'être of many philanthropic schemes; yet there is a terrible indifference to the subject, though annual reports, wretched newspaper stories, and the highest class of novels deal with it. To bring it into a work of fiction, unless the book has a distinct moral purpose, is both inartistic and injurious, as familiarizing the mind with evil, the existence of which should only be dealt with under the plea of truth, duty, or benevolence. As most light reading is manufactured for entertainment rather than for the

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