out to rebuke some boys who were trespassing upon his grounds
and jumping over his fences; but so boylike was his heart, that he
no sooner caught sight of their happy faces than he forgot his wrath
and joined their frohc. It is this youthful spirit of sympathy that
makes many of his books such healthy reading for boys and girls.
He is always true to a high standard of honor, fidelity and manhood.
It seems to me that there is no better way of guiding one's own or
others' children in the choice of books, than to look back upon our
own childhood, and trace the mental influences that formed our own
mind and character. If that does not show us what to choose, it
often shows us what to avoid. Wherever we see that a book, what-
ever its literary merits, did us harm, we should be careful not to put
it in the way of others. In looking back to our childhood, how often
can we distinctly see the ill effects of the first book that shook our
faith in religion or humanity! It set our minds doubting instead of
doing, and threw a haze of uncertainty upon the duties and hopes of
life at the very start. It might not have been so ten years later, but
destructive theories suddenly introduced to a wondering but trusting
and yearning mind have a disastrous effect upon the mental and
moral energies. To please God we must believe that he is, says
St. Paul, and the infidel writer who tells us he is 7iot, shakes our
trust in him, and wish to please him. Beside this, early scepticism
engenders the habit of universal scepticism, for which there is seldom
any cure on this side of the grave. Let us build up principles in the
minds of the young, not wantonly tear them down. I have no
yearning for the Inquisition, or the Roman " Index Expurgatorius,"
but, so far as happiness and singleness of heart in childhood are
concerned, I wish that the books of Robert Taylor and Tom Paine
had been burned. Terrible to many even now is the memory of the
double thinking at church, the secret misgivings when the Bible was
read to them, the sleepless nights, in which all that their parents held
sacred and true seemed as the baseless fabric of a vision. Next to
instilling doubt, however, in mischievous effects, is the cramming
children's minds with superstition. The reaction is sure to come.
THE LIBRARY IN THE HOME. T 29
They will first believe the fables taught them ; then disbelieve the
truth, because they had been once deceived. From believing too
much, they will believe too little, and often nothing at all.
Too many feel with a sharp sense of pain what the destructive in-
fluences in their childhood were. Let them try to recall the construc-
tive, strengthening and confirming ones. The sentiment of pity grew
apace within them, as they studied the healing deeds of Christ, and
they found religious reflection much stirred by his parables. Next
to these, perhaps, John Bunyan's " Pilgrim's Progress," and other
sacred allegories to a less degree had the most to do with serious
religious feeling and imagination. Religious allegories are good
reading in proportion as they are true to man's real experience of the
conflict of good and evil within him. The " Pilgrim's Progress" is a
true parable of life.
Page 78
Presented as published in 1883. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
out to rebuke some boys who were trespassing upon his grounds and jumping over his fences; but so boylike was his heart, that he no sooner caught sight of their happy faces than he forgot his wrath and joined their frolic. It is this youthful spirit of sympathy that makes many of his books such healthy reading for boys and girls. He is always true to a high standard of honor, fidelity and manhood. It seems to me that there is no better way of guiding one's own or others' children in the choice of books, than to look back upon our own childhood, and trace the mental influences that formed our own mind and character. If that does not show us what to choose, it often shows us what to avoid. Wherever we see that a book, whatever its literary merits, did us harm, we should be careful not to put it in the way of others. In looking back to our childhood, how often can we distinctly see the ill effects of the first book that shook our faith in religion or humanity! It set our minds doubting instead of doing, and threw a haze of uncertainty upon the duties and hopes of life at the very start. It might not have been so ten years later, but destructive theories suddenly introduced to a wondering but trusting and yearning mind have a disastrous effect upon the mental and moral energies. To please God we must believe that he is, says St. Paul, and the infidel writer who tells us he is not, shakes our trust in him, and wish to please him. Beside this, early scepticism engenders the habit of universal scepticism, for which there is seldom any cure on this side of the grave. Let us build up principles in the minds of the young, not wantonly tear them down. I have no yearning for the Inquisition, or the Roman " Index Expurgatorius," but, so far as happiness and singleness of heart in childhood are concerned, I wish that the books of Robert Taylor and Tom Paine had been burned. Terrible to many even now is the memory of the double thinking at church, the secret misgivings when the Bible was read to them, the sleepless nights, in which all that their parents held sacred and true seemed as the baseless fabric of a vision. Next to instilling doubt, however, in mischievous effects, is the cramming children's minds with superstition. The reaction is sure to come.
They will first believe the fables taught them ; then disbelieve the truth, because they had been once deceived. From believing too much, they will believe too little, and often nothing at all.
Too many feel with a sharp sense of pain what the destructive influences in their childhood were. Let them try to recall the constructive, strengthening and confirming ones. The sentiment of pity grew apace within them, as they studied the healing deeds of Christ, and they found religious reflection much stirred by his parables. Next to these, perhaps, John Bunyan's " Pilgrim's Progress," and other sacred allegories to a less degree had the most to do with serious religious feeling and imagination. Religious allegories are good reading in proportion as they are true to man's real experience of the conflict of good and evil within him. The " Pilgrim's Progress" is a true parable of life.