The times., 1898-09-23
FOR CHILDREN.
Home Teaching More Effective Thau
That of Schools
(From the Baltimore SUM-

(From the Baltimore SUM-
In the current number of the North
American Review Richard Burton dis
cusses that familiar but always instruc-
i've and ever-important subject. ..Lftera-
ture for Children" Mr. Burton believes
mat the influence of the home t4a hing
Is enormous, and that "aIl the school can
DO pales before it At the hcrna children
can be Initiated into the joys of great fic-
ton and masterpieces of poetry; the won
ders OF science and thrilling scenes and
splendid personalities of history can be
unfolded to them, and with tactful guild
ance boys and girls may become sensitive
TO literature long before they know what
the word means Mr. Burton does not
believe in the ''didactic. Soody-goody
stuff. which made the old-tIme Sunday
school library too often a place OF tears
and penance for heaithy-minded young
folks The day is clean gone by for the
tales wherein the bad boy who goes
a-fishing on the Sabbath gets not fish, but
fiogging. to be triumphed over in a most
unchristian way by the good little boy
who didn't go-prObably because he
darent." The literature which Mr. Bur-
ton recommends is lovely and inspfra-
tional; literature in which the artistic
and ethical are recognized for the kins-
men that they are. linked by the subtlest,
strongest and sweetest of ties" At the
very head and front of such books Mr..
Burton places the Bible. in judiciOUs Sc
lections. not gulped down whole" IL
should have its place in the schools along
with other great literature
Mr.. Burton contends. ''as a quickener Of
the sense of beauty and sense OF right
and not as a theoretical textbook. for IL
its daily presence among the pupils
meant UNCONVENTIONAL teaching OF propa-
gandism. we would have have none OF
it." The Bible as a composite, a Won
derful repository OF history, prophecy.
song. story, drama, and naive people
science can be made very fascinating
TO children, regarding It purely as a
work Of literature. John Ruskin's moth
er made him memorize some OF the no
blest chapters in the Bible, and in after
years ne declared Of this experience that
he counted it very confidently the most
precious and on the whole the one es-
sential part of my education
Mr.. Burton thinks a child should be
given masterpieces OF literature as a
whole. and not in scraps. but the moral
aspect Of the editing OF such literature
must not be overlooked He quotes ap-
prOvingly in this connection from Mr..
HOwells, who has expressed the hope that
the time will come when the beast-man
will be so subdued in US that the memory
that what is Iewd and ribald in the great
poets shall be left out of such editions
as are meant for general reading and
that the pedant pride which now per-
petuates ii as an essential part of those
poets shall no longer have its way" IN
view of the preparation of standard writ
ings for the young. Mr. Burton says there
is no excuse for putting children OF with
secOnd-best and well-enough" literature
for the best is not too good.
There is however. considerable choice
within the category of great literature
of what is wisest TO use. The objective
literature Of action. character. and pic
turesqueness will be chosen by the
youthful mind in preference 70 that
which is subjective, the fiction Of Wal
ter Scott and Stevenson rather than
that of George Eliot and Thaekeray.
In poetry the epic. the ballad. and the
lyric OF simple song viii prove better
than reflective OF descriptive verse
History on the purely personal side is
good for them, and Dickens's Child His
tory Of England" whatever its faults.
says Mr.. Burton. has the shining merit
of grasping this fact Mr.. Burton does
not expect children to be prigs: on the
contrary. he concludes that "a child
who liked Charles Lambs papers needed
10 be sent out into the open with orders
TO ride a wheel or play golf or tennis"
Such children may exist as do three
headed pigs and other abnOrmaIities. but
they are not the healthy. normal. mat
ter-Of-fact children who like literature
that is alive, wholesome. having senti-
ment not senumentality. and some mar
ratiye human interest"