Many parents who have taken this course with their sons in early life,
believe that it has proved rather a course of safety than of danger.
Still, as there is great diversity of opinion, among persons of equal
worth and intelligence, a mutual spirit of candor and courtesy should
be practiced. The sneer at bigotry and narrowness of views, on one
side, and the uncharitable implication of want of piety, or sense, on
the other, are equally ill-bred and unchristian. Truth on this subject
is best promoted, not by ill-natured crimination and rebuke, but by
calm reason, generous candor, forbearance, and kindness.
There is another species of amusement, which a large portion of the
religious world formerly put under the same condemnation as the
preceding. This is novel-reading. The confusion and difference of
opinion on this subject have arisen from a want of clear and definite
distinctions. Now, as it is impossible to define what are novels and
what are not, so as to include one class of fictitious writings and
exclude every other, it is impossible to lay down any rule respecting
them. The discussion, in fact, turns on the use of those works of
imagination which belong to the class of fictitious narratives.
Pages:
410
411
412
413
414
415
416
417
418
419
420
421
422
423
424
425
426
427
428
429
430
431
432
433
434