The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1903-05-10

| loved author would be ready to subscribe
| toward the foundation OF such an aca-
DENY.
| Mr. Grahame, in his delightful Dream
! Days, has a Charming bit Of description
| of lad enamored of the costly book pre-
| cious enough TO be Kept upec its indiViG-
ual support, removing II II th= more colt
venient floor and proplias open tie spleh-
| did illustrations yith = lar Of COIL, as
| he lay prone before his idol. suppo, urg
himself upon his elbows. lbs brief stay
| in Paradise, and his inou"nful ard ig-
nominous departure from the house. are
| graphic enough TO maze one feel that
| they have seen and known the dear Of
| fender. At this moment / can see his
| dreamy little face gazing intcn- upon his
favorite page, and his small leSs stretched
out before the fire. The hearth rag VAS
so deep and soft-The loneliness OF the
big room was so fitting for his worship
his punishment for his dawitting slime
was so severe: the glimpse Of the illuni-
| mated page is 50 vivid; the incident Of the
useful bit of coal is s. cleveriy put. no
lover of children or books could fail 10
enjoy the delicately wrought page which
tells the tale.
ONLY those who have experienced in
childhood's days the intense and intimate
affection with which a child o. very yoilng
person. loves fa Eorite hero, and the
book that is his abiding place: Can tell
how enduring is this attachment. Ent TO
those who have so loved and adhered it
becomes an easy matte to see what vast
importance appertains 10 the choice CT
books for youthful readers.
1t is one Of the pecularities orly too
common among mature men Ct true inter-
airy tendencies, TO give their children, es-
peciaIly their boys, books which bear
great names upon their title pages WITH
out any remembrance of their contents
or of the moral tendencies wrought cut
in the characters portrayed. Bar out The
..nroblero' novel. and the decadent studies
Of depraved life which lie or the com
ters of any French bookseller, say they,
but let the young minds loose themselves
among sterling English and American
authors without restraint or any danger
signals by the way.
A very different aspect does Becky
Sharp wear to the father than to his
half grown, undeveloped son. The Drill
liant. sparkling, almost painfully clear
dissection of that notable woman Is to
the elder man a masterpiece, of the We
racitv of whose similitude he is well
aware. 10 his boy whose knowledge OF
women is circumscribed by acquaintance
with a good mother, a few indulgent re-
latives. his sister, and his little sweet
heart Becky is a mystery whom he
studies with curious interest and intense
very much alive, and father said that
it was one Of the greatest books in the
English language" The world looks less
fair to the lads eyes after he lays this bit
of bitter study of feminine falsehood
down, and his heart is not the better Ior
making this acquaintance. To his World-
wide elders who have walked the streets
of Vanity Fair 10 their souls cost, 1t is
book by which to measure ones self ana
ones fellows; an astoniShment through
its mower to remove the masks of those
we encounter by the way; to the youth
il is only door which opens into dark
chamber of imagery"
It is no more than an act Of justice to
our children, when they come to those
wears when such literature becomes their
proper study, to travel with them into the
unknown regions to which it gives them
entrance. Some of the highest efforts OF
human genius have been expended in de-
lneating the most loathsome forms OF
wickeduess and crime. and we whose
ears and eyes are dulled of perception by
what we have heard and seen. forget that
our children haveeas yet but heard the
sound of battle from afar. and that their
al which
they are ashamed TO remember We are
unfair to them when we give so httIe
time to the guidance of what they read
and take so little heed Of what we IN
troduce to them under the general utie
of great authors.
we alas. cannot set their dear feet on
the dusty high roads which they must
travel and expect them to wear the white
robes of their infancy, but as the good
mother of my story managed to make OF
the nursery volumes instruments by
which her children could test the value
of their own standards, so any wise man
can. if he will, make the disclosures OF
maturer and greater fiction means OF en-
lightenment and preparation for the com
MEX and terribly trying society OF men
and women. which will surround his son
as he natures. College, or even a great
nreparatory school. are worlds in minia-
ture for the contact with which we'll
SUPERVISED reading of good fiction ought
to act as a helpful guide.
II is well worth any thoughtful mans
while 10 discuss with his young sons their
first impressions of the so-called master
pIeces Of literature. and to use them as
faciIe KEYS 70 knowledge Of the real life
which they portray. The clarified lens
through which experience sees life can
make clear 70 young eyes things which
neither bear discussion as theories or
facts. when it is turned upon the life Of
fictitious character like SteeTforth's in
David Copperdeld.' or Arthur's in Pen
dennis Origin. progress. contamination
lie before him, as definitely as the de-
u,onstrator Of anatomy exposes the ply
steal machinery Of a mans body. 1t Is
easy to keep the light focused on the VI
tai teaching. If the parents hand is
steady. when. if left TO himself, the young
reader would be wholly absorbed in in
cident and eloquent description. \ great
hook so discussed as between equals. by
father and son. IS worth. as an influence,
"a thousand volumes Of advice. {.
NEW STANDARD OF HONOR.