Steps to the Temple of Happiness : Thirty True Moral
Stories for the Young. By Henry Smith. (Swan Son.nenschein and Co.)—Mr. Henry Smith belongs to the class of people who think that to tell a child a fairy-story is to teach it falsehood. For fairy-stories are not true. It would be interesting to hear how he would defend the Parables. How the author can think that children's happi- ness can be increased by stories like the one called "The Loving Brother" it is difficult to imagine. This is the story of a little boy called Charlie, whose relations expire one by one until he is left in the guardianship of a very kind aunt. But instead of taking up his life bravely, Charlie goes and lies in a snow-storm on the grave of his sister, and is frozen to death. Such morbid sentimentality is far worse for children than the untrue stories of " Jack-the-Giant-Killer " and "Cinderella," though the example of the successful villainy of "Puss in Boots" may be thought too dangerous a precedent for the nursery diplomatist.
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