Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1883-12-07
Ts:EGUOp OFF NOVEL READING.
Nr. C0lIycrs EXpcrience-Ledt to 10 en-,
Sco,t by a Book AZ gainst Him.
tFfcm the New York Tribune

tFfom the New York Tiibune.l
In a sermon on "Novel Reading at the
Church of the Messiah recently the Rev.
Robert Collyer said: "If it be sin or q
disgrace to read novels, no matter what
may be their quality or purpose, then l
must confess myself to the disgrace and
the sin. He took the congregation into
his confidence and told how he first i'm
bibed his love for reading stories from his
good mother, who, though she read no
other book than the Bible, and had only
such knowledge as sprang from the "good
heart, yet had the true story-teller's in
sticpt, and the stories she told seemed to
him i'll after years to be the best lie had
ever heard. II WONDER" he said, "if the
mothers of our time who read so
many stories can tell stories to their chill
dron so that they will afterward seem to
he the very best His mothers stories
were always clean and bright and whole
some, so that when he began to read
stories himself lie found no bad things
among them. On leaving home he fell
into the hands Of some extremely pious
people, who regarded novel reading as q
sin. He found in the library ponderons
religious book in which the Waverly
novels We're strongly condemed. The
writer had quoted largely from those
novels to sustain his position, and he
had read the book for the sake of these
extracts. 1t reminded him of bad cake
with plenty Of good plums, and he picked
out all the plums. He then obtained the
novels and read them by stealth, "and," :"
he ssid, ''if it was IL sin l have since
found no time for repentance. Sir Wal
ter Scott made serts and beggars noble,
and this enabled him to discover noble
men and women engaged in humble work.
81 read the books still, he said, "with
more than boys delight, and they have
done me good all the days of my life. ;"
Referring to the Waverly novels, "The
Vicar Of Wakefield" and some of Feni-
more Coopers novels, lie said: "They
may well stand among the books that are
the inspiration OF our youth and the
solace OF our.old age" He had read with
great engerness the Bronte novels, but
they were mot 20 good, 30 healthy or
breezy as those Of Sir Walter" Still he
regarded them as admirable books.
"'Jane Eyre" he said sis one of the
books that touched the bell and sounded
the bugle for resolution. Charlotte
Bronte knew not what she was doing when
she put her great heart into that book. 1t
bHu"h thul WOilllu Is uOt unueVelOpeu
man, but diverse" Charles Kingsley e
novels, he said, cara as healthy as his
Devonshire boys and as bracing as o
clear winters day. They help you to be
great and clean and bright, and to look al
life il its sunny aspects. / know of nc
better companions in their time and place.
The rule for reading W rs that the books
read should be ''sweet and clean, such
books as you are not aiaid to leave arount
where your wife and children or sister
might see them" He would draw NJ
narrower lines then those, still, novels
could not take the place of text-b books o
education. Don't make your novel-read
ing, he said, "tle work of your life, bu
make it one OF the rclaxations and pleas
ant things of your life. Ii you want t,
have good companions about you don't b
afraid to count good stories among GOO
companions. They can teach you some
thing, can turn your heart toward bette
things and introduce you to a nobler an
trucr life