will venture to assert
that even story books should not be founded on a principle directly
_contradictory_ to them, nay, totally _subversive_ of them. The Arabian
Nights, and other oriental books of fable, though loose and faulty in
many respects, yet have always a reference to the religion of the
country. Nothing is introduced against the law of Mohammed; nothing
subversive of the opinions of a Mussulman. I do not quarrel with books
for having _no_ religion, but for having a _false_ religion. A book
which in nothing opposes the principle of the Bible, I would be far from
calling a bad book, though the Bible was never named in it."

Lady Belfield observed, "That she was sorry to say her children found
religious studies very dry and tiresome; though she took great pains,
and made them learn by heart a multitude of questions and answers, a
variety of catechisms and explanations, and the best abridgments of the
Bible."

"My dear Lady Belfield," replied Mr. Stanley, "you have fully accounted
for the dryness and dullness of which you complain. Give them the _Bible
itself_. I never yet knew a child who did not delight in the Bible
histories, and who would not desire to hear them again and again. From
the histories, Mrs. Stanley and I proceed with them to the parables; and
from them to the miracles, and a few of the most striking prophecies.
When they have acquired a good deal of this desultory knowledge, we
begin to weave the parts into a whole. The little girl who had the honor
of dining with you to-day, has begun this morning to read the Scriptures
with her mother systematically. We shall soon open to her something of
the _scheme_ of Christianity, and explain how those miracles and
prophecies confirm the truth of that religion in which she is to be more
fully instructed.

"Upon their historical knowledge, which they acquire by picking out the
most interesting stories, we endeavor to ground principles to enlighten
their minds, and precepts to influence their conduct. With the genuine
language of Scripture I have taken particular care they shall be well
acquainted, by digging for the ore in its native bed. While they have
been studying the stories, their minds have at the same time been imbued
with the impressive phraseology of Scripture. I make a great point of
this, having often seen this useful impression effectually prevented by
a multitude of subsidiary histories and explanations, which too much
supersede the use of t