Page:TheYoungMansGuide.djvu/82

 " Good  books  are  not  only  our  friends;  they are  also  our  best  teachers.  But  bad  books are  a  curse  and  do  a  world  of  harm.  Evil men,  evil  lives,  evil  examples  spread  a  moral pestilence  openly  and  powerfully;  but  nothing spreads  falsehood  and  evil  more  surely and  deeply  than  a  bad  book.

"But what  of  the  novel?  Fulfilling  its proper  end  and  aim  at  elevating  the  reader and  enlarging  his  knowledge  of  man  and  of nature  and  its  mysteries,  captivating  the  wayward fancy,  arraying  salutary  knowledge with  true  wisdom  in  pleasing  garb,  arousing the  soul  to  strive  after  ideals  worthy  of  man;s mind  and  heart,  the  novel  would  play  a  most desirable  part  in  the  betterment  of  man.  We can  not  deny  its  immense  power,  the  greater because  it  reaches  many  unwilling  to  read more  serious  books.  Indeed,  many  masterpieces of  fiction  are  worthy  of  all  the  encomiums which  the  greatest  admirer  of  the novel  could  bestow  on  them.

"But the  tendency  of  to-day,  reflected  in the  popular  novel,  is  to  remove  all  thought of  the  claims  of  almighty  God,  to  substitute humanity  and  philanthropy  for  religion  and Christian  charity,  and  science  for  revealed truth.

"The other  day  I  was  reading  the  pastoral letter  of  one  of  our  bishops  on  '  Christian  Instruction.' This  is  what  he  wrote:  'Every doctrine  of  our  holy  faith,  from  the  existence of  God  down  to  the  least  Catholic  practice  of