Literature for Children. 13 



but said there were some things in them which Chaucer ou}3:ht 

 to have been asliamecl to write. Did it hurt the cliikl to read 

 those things and let her purity condemn tliemV Harriet 

 Martineau, to whose wisdom I have already appealed, says: 

 '• The last thintjc that parents need fear is that the younic reader 

 will be hurt by passages in really good authors, which might 

 raise a blush a few years later. Whatever children do not 

 understand slips through the mind and leaves no trace; and 

 whatever they do understand of matters of passion is to them 

 divested of mischief. Purified editions of noble books are 

 monuments of wasted labor; for it ought to be with adults 

 as it is with children — their purity should be an all-sufficient 

 purifier." 



But. believing as I do that, where it is possible, this brows- 

 ing habit should form a part of every child's education, it is 

 not everywhere, or in every case, possible. It is a rare excep- 

 tion to find a home with such a well-selected library. Most 

 homes have nothing worth the name. The public library in 

 most places does not permit free entrance to the shelves. The 

 book stall, which meant so much to a browser like Dr. Johnson, 

 has not become much domesticated in America. The child 

 cannot be taught to browse, because there is no pasturage. 



And more than this, such reading, while valuable as an 

 adjunct, is too desultory to give a full and rounded introduc- 

 tion to literature. It is the opinion of those who have most 

 carefully studied this subject that '" between the ages of six 

 and sixteen a large part of the best literature of the world 

 may be read if taken up systematically at school," and the 

 writer who makes this statement adds, '' that the man or woman 

 who fails to become acquainted with great literature in some 

 form in that time is little likely to have a taste formed later." 

 Such a wide acquaintance with literature cannot be obtained 

 by browsing; browsing must be accompanied by systematic, 

 developing courses of reading. 



At the risk of wearing out your patience, I must say a few 

 words about still another subject. What end shall we set be- 

 fore the child to be gained by reading'? No end at all, we can 

 say at once. Reading to the child ought to be an end in itself. 



" We get no good by being ungenerous even unto books, 

 And calculating profits, so much good by so much reading.'' 



