Every-Day Religion

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1894 edition. Excerpt: ... "Whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report... think of these things." r I "he doctrine of the Apostle here is that it is better to look at truth than at falsehood; at what is noble than at what is mean; at purity, and not at impurity; at the beautiful, and not at the deformed; at goodness, not at wickedness. The reason of this is obvious. It is a law of human nature that men are influenced by their environment. Mr. Brace takes boys from the streets of New York, who, if they grew up there, would inevitably furnish a large addition to the vicious and criminal classes. He sends them out to farms in Illinois and Iowa, and they become useful citizens. These boys are many of them the children of vicious people and criminals. But environment is too strong for heredity. The bad tendencies in their blood are overcome by the purer influences around them. But beside the outward environment of good or bad influences which go to educate us, there is an inner environment which is much more powerful. This consists of our own thoughts, our mental habits, our intellectual associations. That which we love to think about reacts on our character, and surrounds the soul with a sort of Chinese-wall which other influences can with difficulty break through. You must have noticed that within the last year or two we have had many accounts of little bands of juvenile robbers, --of children who have procured revolvers and have set up as brigands. What can be the cause of this but the pernicious dime novels describing boy brigands, and making heroes of young fellows who have run away from home and have tried to be bandits? These...