Page:The collected works of Theodore Parker volume 7.djvu/206

202 a "high social position, and consequent political power: They use this triple form of influence—pecuniary, social, and political—in the spirit of commerce, not of humanity, not for the interest of mankind; thus the spirit of trade comes into the State. Hence it is not thought wrong in politics to buy a man, more than in commerce to buy a ship; hence the rights of a man, or a nation, are looked on as articles of trade, to be sold, bartered, and pledged; and in the Senate of tho United States we have hoard a mass of men, more numerous than all our citizens seventy years ago, estimated as worth twelve hundred millions of dollars.

In most countries business comes mere closely into contact with men than the State, or the church, or the press, and is a more potent educator. Hero it not only does this, but controls the other three forces, which are mainly instruments of this; hence this form of evil is more dangerous than elsewhere, for there is no power organized to resist it as in England or Rome; so it subtly penetrates everywhere, bidding you place the accidents before the substance of manhood, and value money more than man.

Notwithstanding the good qualities of the press, the books it multiplies, and the great service it renders, it also has certain, vices of its own. From the nature of the thing, the greater part of literature represents only the public opinion of the time. It must therefore teach deference to that, not deference to truth and justice. It is only the eminent literature which can do more than this; books, which at first fall into few hands, though fit, and like the acorns sown with the mulleins and the clover, destined to germinate but slowly, long to be overtopped by an ephemeral crop, at last, after half a hundred years, shall mature their own fruit for other generations of men. The current literature of this age only popularizes the thought of the eminent literature of the past. Great good certainly comes from this, but also great evil.

Of all literature, the newspapers come most into contact with men—they are the literature of the people, read by such as read nothing else ; read also by such as read all things beside. Taken in the mass, they contain little to elevate men above the present standard. The political journals have the general vice of our politics, and the spe-