The passion of novel reading is intitled to a place here. In the present age it is one of the great causes of nervous disorders. The mind that can amuse itself with the love-sick trash of most modern compositions of this kind, seeks enjoyment beneath the level of a rational being. It creates for itself an ideal world, on the loose descriptions of romantic love, that leave passion without any moral guide in the real occurrences of life. To the female mind in particular, as being endowed with finer feelings, this species of literary poison has been often fatal; and some of the most unfortunate of the sex have imputed their ruin chiefly to the reading of novels.
Footnotes
Trotter T. A view of the nervous temperament, being a practical enquiry into the increasing prevalence, prevention, and treatment of those diseases commonly called nervous, biliary, stomach and liver complaints; indigestion; low spirits, gout, etc. London: Longman, Rees, and Orme,1807:90.
Submitted by Jeremy Hugh Baron, honorary professorial lecturer, New York