The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1886-03-19
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BOYS BOOKS,

Tho Best RoadlAs for Our Young PEG.
Etw YORK Tribune,
Out oil the talk caused by Sir John Lub-
books hundred best books there has
arisen discussion about the kind OF read,
ing adapted to boys, 1t is an old subject,
but it ia an interesting one, for the educa-
ton Of our boys must always be mSttsrior
anxious consideration, and II is quite GER
tain that what they read for their amuse-
ment may exert "a marked an influence
upon their character as what they read Tor
instruction. Au illustration OF this has
Just occurred in the case of the boy Her.
bert HepwOrth, now under arrest charged
with series OF robberies daring and ex,
tsnsiVe enough 10 make record for pro.
iessional thief, Young HepWorth is the
son Of respectable parents. He read
book about hoy thief who lived dual
life, No doubt the crimes OF the hero
were SO described as to appear fascinating
to the immature mind OF the reader. He
was ut the age when nature impela the
rapidly growing body 10 action, aud when
the moral sense Is seldom sufficiently de.
Yeloped TO be safe guide, Seducsd by
the vicious narrative oil the "boy bandit
the boy determined to initiate the story,
and poasesaing remarkable nerve he
quickly became what Inspector Byrnes
calls "a very dangerous thiet," because, as
the Inspector ahTeWdly observes, This love
Of excitement furnishes him far more
nerve than the house sneak usually pos
sesses."
There is no ground for supposing that
this boy was naturally more inclined to
crime than the average of his age. All
healthy boys yearn for action, for excite.
moAt, for opportunity to exercise their
muscles, organs and limbs, But as the
body develops quicker than the mind
they need constant guidance in the adol.
esCent period to keep them out OF mis-.
chief. Ii young Hepwonh had been nour-
ished upon generous diet OF wholesome,
high.Class fiction, his super.abundAnt en-.
ergy would have found Innocent employ.
ment, Following the stirring adventures
with which the pages OF Scott and Cooper
TEEN, he would insensi6ly have acquired
q taste for sound moral purpose, honor.
able ambition and worthy principle. And
we doubt ii any boy VINO has once
been taught to appreciate good fiction will
descend 10 batten upon the poisonous
rubbish which fills the "penny dTeadiulsn
and the base literature which corresponds
to those publications OF all modern Coun.
tries. The cultivation Of sound, healthy
literary taste is the best preventative
against such stuff as perverted this poor
boy. Nor Is there any danger that q boy |
will fail to appreciate and enjoy the best
class OF fiction. They are us capable as
their seniors OF COmprehending the mas.
terB, and it is an impeachment Of any
novelist to say that he IL beyond the grasp |
OF an intelligent boy from u years up.
ward.
The advantage Of a thorough grounding
in hIst'claSs fiction Is great in after life.
Bad novels swarm, and though there are
extant enough good ones to sOlaCe the
leisure OF all who know what TO read, there
is not much probability that any one who
has reached manhood without acquiring
that knowledge will find time to learn the
principles OF selection subsequently. As
to the vicious reading which never appears
in libraries, public or private, which no
decent bookseller keeps in stock, yet
which, has been got and greedily devoured
by boys whose parentsuegleC theirduly, IL
would not be- easy to speak too severely
of 1t. Tho books which make immortality
and crime heroic, which arc intended to
pander to all that besets the tendencies
Of Callow youth, arc in no
rhetorical or lguratlvo sense crimes
against society. The father who
learned that his son was Consorting
with thieves and moral lepers would bs |
mortified and indignant, yet this in effect
to the company 10 which some infamous
books introduce bOYs, and the CONTAINING.
ton reDulting is frequently as real as OBJ.
jective familiarity with criminals could |
produce. The lesson oiexperienCe, there.
fore, Is that none but tho best fiction |
should DO put before boys, and they should |
be encouraged to read that and not be told
that they are wasting their timo in read. |
ing novels. For il driven away from
healthy intellectual pasturage then will
wander of into tho deserts OF vicious
literature, and once there they arc liable
to 'assimilRte more evil in q twelvemonth
than will BIZ got rid Of in life time.