PREFACE. 
An intelligent little girl, well known to the author, having read a story, said she did not 
believe it was true ; and being asked why she did not believe it, replied, that it was in a book, 
and that there was nothing true in books. 
This unbelief did not arise from any neglect on the part of her parents to furnish the little 
girl and her brothers with Sabbath School books; but from her having read, or heard her 
brothers read, many stories from these books, which on enquiry she found not to be true, and 
hence she came to the conclusion, that nothing was true that was said in a book. 
Who, that is acquainted with the contents of our Sabbath School Libraries, does not see 
the bearing of this little anecdote. The extensive circulation of works of fiction from these 
Depositories, threatens to root out narratives of truth, for the instruction and entertainment of 
juvenile minds. All pious persons, who have made the moral and religious education of youth 
a subject of interest and attention, cannot but deeply deplore the great and increasing diffu¬ 
sion of books of this kind. Fictitous stories, however seriously told, and however moral in 
their design, carry to the minds of children, little knowledge that is either lasting or useful. 
It is the story, only, or such parts of it as are most interesting, that is remembered. If it is cal¬ 
culated to impress the mind with the consequences that result from disobedience to the com¬ 
mands of God, the inquiry is instantly raised whether it is true or not. A judicious instructor 
will never tell the child that a fictitious story is a true one, and when he learns that it is false, 
the effect of the moral is not only, in a great measure lost upon him, but a worse consequence 
follows,—for he is then prepared to believe, that most, if not all other stories, are also untrue. 
This incredulity may be extended before parents are aware of it, to truths of the greatest im¬ 
portance, and even to the Scriptures themselves. 
The study of Nature presents no such objection. It is always the study of truth; and 
under proper restrictions, it is beleived that the juvenile mind cannot understand too much 
concerning the works of Creation. Besides, there is hardly any subject which more interests 
the minds of youth, than that of Natural History, particularly when it is illustrated by pictures. 
The moral and religious influence arising from this kind of knowledge, it is true, depends 
very much on the direction given to the youthful mind, during the period of instruction. The 
proofs of the wisdom and power of God, as exhibited by the works of Creation, require to be 
pointed out, before they become obvious to the child. But when this is done properly, and 
repeatedly, he soon learns to attribute the actions, and qualities ol animated nature, to their 
true source. He looks beyond Nature, to Nature’s God. This is also the case, when the child 
studies the works of inanimate creation, under suitable directions. He learns to see in the 
beauties of a flower, or a mineral, the marks of uncreated wisdom and power. 
