The Ocala evening star., 1915-04-17
WOMAN'S CLUB WORK
MRS. FRANK WETHERBEE
Editor for April
Good Literature in the Home

There are many ways IN which a
mother may influence legislation, even
in communities where she may not yet
cast a vote.
The famous English orator, John |!
Bright, was asked how he came to be
such master of the art of public |
speaking. He answered that the only
help he ever had in that direction he
got by listening to his mother read the |
Bible.
She was accustomed to read the
Bible aloud to the children, and he
was so fascinated, he said, by her way
of reading that he had tried ever since
to initiate it.
John Bright became a great states
man, who carried out the teachings of
the Bible in a noble and helpful life.
Such was the power of his eloquence
that he brought about great bene-
ficient changes in the laws of Eng
land.land.
His mothers Bible reading during
the years of his impressible childhood
influenced his whole life; the careful,
unhurried, reverent and expressive
way in which she read was the chief
influence in producing one of Eng
, lands greatest and noblest orators.
!, We all know that the Bible ranks
| first of all books, because it is Gods
word, and masterpiece of English lit
: erature. If we are lover of verse
we find in it poetry in its most beau
, tiful and most sublime form. 1t can
q not be equalled by any other book in
9 the world in its historical value and
even the ear of little child would be
= of music in many of its lines, which
n throb with emotion. And so the Bible
! furnishes the finest literature for the
o home that can be conceived.
Thinking people everywhere have
come to a fuller realization of the fact
that the future well being of the ma
ton depends upon the quality of the
little citizens that are everyday be-
ing prepared, either well or i'll, to
y take up the work of this great world.
\ idea clearly and concisely:
"Just one word on the future of the
r. countryside country as it will be
h twenty, or thirty years hence. A good
"a deal depends on how we handle busi-
n ness, how we do our great industrial
work, how we handle the farms and
N ranches; but what counts most are
,s the knid of men and women that there
a. are at that time in the country: Nc
10 nation rs safe unless in the average
II family there is healthy happy child
n rem. If these children are not brought
II up well they are not merely curse tC
8 themselves, but they mean the ruin OF
r the state in the future" And good
r literature in the home goes far toward
+ solving the problem of bringing up {
"A child well. Between the dark anC
1e the daylight, when the night is begin
er ming to lower, comes a pause in the
IN DAYS occupation that is known as the
n children's hour" If this hour is KEEP
nj sacred for our children and we bring
,0 into their lives lessons from the grea
u master writer's, we mold and fashion
r.. the minds and characters of our lit
g. tie ones to forms of beauty and of use
he Let the children have good literature
he which means for them high ideals an'
of noble aspirations.
or Did we ever stop to think that ;
ch good life is made up of good thoughts
es and a bad life is made up of ba,
OF thoughts? Many boy owes hi
downfall to the reading of bad books
so Corrupt books, make corrupt thoughts
ds as the great writer Kitto says of tn
,et Psalmist David, 'eHe was like the bir
,e- which once rose to heights unattain
ce ed before by mortal wing, filling tn
air with its joyful song, now lie
with manned wings, pouring forth it
doIeful cries to God"
This brings to our mind the littl
thought of
rv "The bird with the broken pinion
Kept another from the snare,
And the Life which sin had stricken
'tyI Raised another from despair.
as as each loss has its own compensa
as ton,
al There is healing for every pain,
le- But the bird with the broken pinto
Never scared as high again"
nd The girl or boy, who reads bad liter
~ ature is like the bird with the brol
he en- pinion, they may in after year
turn their thoughts into higher char
nels, but never can they soar aloi
with heart and mind untainted.
Thrice blessed is the child who find
IL in its home only the purest and be:
for the development of the mind. TT
Z. body is really the temple of the sou
an. So, in order that the soul may haV
n.y. fit abiding place it should be like
'rk cathedral, where peace comes over tt
ce, soul when one enters it! The staine
m glass softens the glare from withou
md the beauty of the interior decoration
DIR. DIeases the eve the swell of the migl