f 'battle,
murder, and sudden death,' is fitting himself, as the records of our
juvenile courts show, for the penitentiary or perhaps the gallows. No
man can handle pitch without defilement. We may choose our books, but
we can not choose their effects. We may plant the vine or sow the
thistle, but we can not command what fruit each shall bear. We may
loosely select our library, but by and by it will fit us close as a
glove.

"There was never such a demand for fiction as now, and never larger
opportunities for its usefulness. Nothing has such an attraction for
life as life. But what the heart craves is not 'life as it is.' It is
life as it ought to be. We want not the feeble but the forceful; not
the commonplace but the transcendent. Nobody objects to the 'purpose
novel' except those who object to the purpose. Dealing as it does in
the hands of a great master, with the grandest passions, the most
tender emotions, the divinest hopes, it can portray all these spiritual
forces in their majestic sweep and uplift. And as a matter of history,
we have seen the novel achieve in a single generation the task at which
the homily had labored ineffectively for a hundred years. Realizing
this, it is safe to say that there is not a theory of the philosopher,
a hope of the reformer, or a prayer of the saint which does not
eventually take form in a story. The novel has wings, while logic
plods with a staff. In the hour it takes the metaphysician to define
his premises, the story-teller has reached the goal--and after him
tumbles the crowd tumultuous."

With the assistance of Rev. Dr. E. P. Tenney, I venture upon the
following lists of books in various lines of reading:

_Fiction_

"The Arabian Nights Entertainment."

"Stories from the Arabian Nights" (Riverside School Library), contains
many of the more famous stories. 50 c.

Irving Bachelder's [Transcriber's note: "Bacheller"?] "Eben Holden," is
a good book. 400,000 copies were sold.

J. M. Barrie's "Little Minister," a story of Scottish life, is very
bright reading.

Bunyan's "Pilgrim's Progress," is one of the most famous of allegories.

Cervantes' "Don Quixote" is so widely known that any well-read man
should know it. Its humor never grows old.

Ralph Connor's three books,--"The Man from Glengarry," "Black Rock,"
and "The Sky Pilot,"--have sold 400,000 copies.

Of George W. Cable's books, "The Cavalier," and "Old Creole Days" are
among the best.

Din