Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1889-12-16


number George Law, when boy on his
fathers farm, came in possession of an old.
unknown book which told the story of
a farmers son who went out in the
world 10 seek his fortune, and after
years of absence returned home rich man.
From that moment he became restless he
took the hero of the story as his example,
left home, and after while returned q
millionaire, paid his fathers debts and
lived in affiuence. Dante, in his imaginary
| journey through perdition, describes an
Italian lord and lady, and they ascribed
the loss of their souls to the reading of a
bad book.
20, the worldwide, notwithstanding
influence of book. 1t may be the leaves
placked from the tree of life for the heal
ing of the nations, or it may be the DEATH
warrant in the hands of relentless execu-
| toner.
what can we do to direct in the right
channel this mighty tide of influence?
The fist thing to do is to put the heel
on the head of the monster of pernicious
literature. Ifyour boy or girl had an adder
or viper for plaything you would wade
through : ire to stamp out its life and
these vile scorpions of moral poison hide
away. all of the out-of-the-way places.
They Turk in the barn managers and in the
hay-loft and in the inside coat-pocket.
Search for them, and let no stone be IN
turned in the search.
The question has been asked me many
times, What do you think of novel read
ingP That depends upon the kind. There
are novels that make the life happier and
the heart purer; novels which inspire to
greater exertion; that are the drum and
fife in the march Of life. The world owes
| Aabf of Iaf II
Zie, Holland and Harriet Beecher Stowe
which it will never pay. Dickens gives
good, lively exercise in every day life.
Scott carries US back through the otherwise
almost-forgotten past. James Fenimore
Cooper keeps bright the picture of the
primeval American forest and a score of
others give lively exercise to the mind and
are salt and spice. rendering more nutri-
tious the stronger literary feast. But the
| light, trashy novel, brainless as it is soul
| less, is full of the strychnia and corrosive
sublimate of society, and unstrings the
nerves and pales the cheek, so that there is
discord in the music of life. In this class
| OF books life is SO overdrawn that the COM
mon, everyday life of reality becomes al
most unbearable. The women are either
angels or demons, and the men are heroes
or villains.
women are only women, and men are
only men; and while all men are he
roes and all women are heroines who fulfill
their mission in life, they are not of the
kind in the novelette,, and the reader goes
up and down the earth in vain search for
their ideal. How small the four walls of
the humble home appear, how mean the
| furniture, how tasteless its life. Oh, for
| some prince in disguise, some thrilling TO-
nance. Life is not fairy land, but work
| a III h.
chisel and mallet knocking off the rough
corners, before he or she can polish
the statue of perfect character. Life
is real, life is earnest and the nov
elette makes it all a mirage In crossing
the desert, the weary and thirsty traveller
sees just a little way ahead a beautiful
river, or lake, or a grove of
palms, where there must be a
spring, and would hasten toward
it. but the guide knows too well the de-
fusion. The novelette, reader is always
seeing air-castles and dreaming day dreams
But you say there are great many good
things even in these light novels, a great
many good lessons. That may be true, but
there is too much poison. The mind is
too much like filter, the pure, clear drops
of truth pass through and the debris is re-
tanned. II you go through a swamp to
gather rare flower which do you get the
most of, beauty or mire? There are so
many rare gardens of literary beauty, filled
with rich exotics, that there is a great
waste of time wading into a marsh for
few imperfect blossoms.
81 once entered bookstore to purchase
Tom Paine's Age of Reason AS l stood
looking at the book friend came in.
What book have you p he asked 'Paine's
Age of Reason l answered. Did you
ever read it?' Yes, and it did me do good.
1t is full of poison. 1t may not hurt you,
but it is a waste of time. You might be
reading something better laid the book
down and went away without it. One of
the best rules to follow is never read any
thing that can do you no good. Books
should be chosen, as good companions,
with reference to their influence. We may
have for our companions the best and
wisest men of all ages. In good books
great men talk to us and give US
their most precious thoughts, and pour
their souls into ours. We may dream of
Paradise with Milton, or learn wisdom of
Franklin. And what a wonderful piano.
rama may unfold before US. We may
breathe the morning air of the world with
| the scent of Eden's roses yet upon it. We
may view the pyramids and the great
| Sphynx burning Moscow and sacked Je-
rusalem, and buried Pompii and Hercu-
| lanea the Persian hosts of five millions at
Thermopyles, and the brave band of Spar
| tan defenders; the arcophagus at Athens,
where Paul declared the ur known God
the Roman amiphitbeater, with its gladla-
torial contests; the cOnqueror returning
triumphant, with captives chained to his
| chariot wheels; the Swiss villages, Sleep
| ing among the Alps; the Alhan bra, the
| Vatican; all are brought before US, and we
may enjoy foreign travel in our own homes.
II believe the press is to do much in the
evaugelizatiou OF the world. Mark the in
creasing tendency for good. Very little of
| infidelity or skepuicism in the daily papers,
but many sermons and much Christian
| thought There is an increasing demand
for this kind of reading. A sermon from
the pulpit may reach a thousand or TWO,
but the bread of life is broken among the
millions through the press May God
hasten the day when the spirit of Christ
shall pervade the literature of our country,
and blot out all pernicious book and papers.
The first national library in Egypt seems
to have been placed under the protection of
the deities for their statues adorn the
building. Upon the front was the inscrip
ton, The Nourishment of the Soul or. &C.
cording to Diodorus, The Medicine of the
Mind Let all our libraries be dedicated
to the God of all gods, and let there be in
into our home 'Nourishment of the Soul
There is one more book of which we
wish to speak-a book in which all may have
an interest. o. you say, that is the Bible.
No, not the Bible; but The Lambs Book
of Life In China, the names of all per-
sons who have been tried for crime are
written in one of two books, which are
called respectively The Book of Life and
The Book of Death Those who are
acquitted may be found in the Book of
| Life, and those who are found guilty in
the Book. Of Death Daniel says, Every
one was saved whose name was found writ
ten in the book And Paul speaks Of
those whose names are written in the
book Is your name there, my brother
Is your name there, my sister? Send in
your request. for He has said Him that
cometh unto me will IN no wise cast out.
We may know down here whether our
names are there or not"