The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1890-08-27
FAMILY WORSHIP.

The decline Of family prayers Is an evil
no less serious than the decline OF church
attendance. Family worship should be like
family life, free and unconstrained. The
austeritv and sombreness with which many
people conduct family. worship make the
children dread rather than love 1t. Here ts
one instance which I know to have occurred,
III strict Puritan household. The only SON.,
boy of eight or ten years, was following as
some startling and paradoNical expression,
he ventured to inquire: "Father, what does
that mean?' "Hold your gable, and study
your Bible" was the reassuring and edtfy-7
Ing answer he received.
And vet have no doubt that for the thirty
years that followed, in which that son took
no interest and saw TO beauty in religion,
the father was secretly praying all the time
for his conversion, md wondering why his
prayers were not answered. Our chlldren
must be taught the masculine religion OF
thought and outward expression, as well as
the feminine religion Of sentiment and in-
ward feeling, II they are to 60 out from our
homes to found Christian homes OF their,
own; II their religion Is to stand the wear
and tear of real life President Hyde ot
Bowdoin College.
THE MORAL RESULTS OF CURRENT FICTION.
It is undeniable that, outside of q certain
limited class of scholarly and thoughtful
people, the great majority OF all who read
anything except the newspapers, read books
aud circulating libraries show that seventy
five per cent. of all books taken out are
novels of recent production. A library for
the general public that did not furnish them
could not be sustained, whatever real treas.
ure of knowledge and literature 1t might
Offer Probably the most numerous readers
of novels are to be found among women,
perhaps because they have more time and
fewer other diversions than men.
In the large class Of them who derive tneir
ideas of life and Of the world from this
source. the result is seen in the enormous
and increasing business of the. divorce
courts, Of which they and their husbands
are the principal patrons. Aside from the
loose and vague notions Of morality that be-
come familiar to them, unconsciously, from
the books they read, they enter upon mar
ried life with ideas and e1pectat ons SO false
and theories so absurd that nothing but dis
appointment and unhappiness can follow,
Instead of the impossible and self-sacrihcinq
heroes Of their dreams, they awaken to ma
themselves married only 10 men, with tne
imperfections common TO humanity.
They perceive that the perfection they are
In search of is to be found In other women's
husbands not in their own; on which point
they would lie speedily undeceiyed If they
could exchange situntions with their ap.
parenty more fortunate sisters. It is rot
long before both parties to union that has
proved disappointment are ready to es-
cape from it; or. II not. one or the other is
determined to break away. Itis probable that
all other causes put together are not 50 pro.
lific Of divorce among the class in which it
commonly takes place, as the fact that It's
women are brought up on novels of a low
grade as their habitIal and almost only
reading.-[EIward J. Phelps In December
Scribner. -