" 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
