SOME BOOKS OF THE WEEK.
[Undo. this heading les sours ouch Books of Um nub as ha. not bran roma for resins In other forms.] Religion at Home. By L. H. M. Soulaby. (Longmans and Co. 2d. net.)—The keynote of this little paper by Miss Soulaby is given in a sentence quoted from "a very clever woman": "Atmosphere and Tradition aro dying out, and they need to be replaced by Conviction." It follows in Miss Sonleby's judgment that mothers should take some pains to give their children sound religious principles which will stand the test of experience, and not rely, as mothers are apt to do, in the correction of faults, upon appeals to the child's affection :— "Emotion is a very uncertain and rather a weakening motive for doing right, and it leaves your claim at the mercy of any foolish friendship which outweighs it for the moment, and of any burst of temper which at the moment may obliterate it. You have no security unless you can make your child realize the idea of Duty and the necessity laid on him because right is right, to follow right?"
In the matter of teaching such religions principles, Miss Soulsby insists that the mother must not delegate her responsi- bility to schools or governesses, however humble may be the estimate she entertains of her own powers; because teaching by the mother makes a child feel that religion is a part of ordinary worldly life, and not a matter of lessons; and also home is so different from school, that school habits and school religion are apt to seem inapplicable at home. Moreover, mothers " underrate the tremendous extra force which God puts into the driving-power of every effort they make." For those who have a vague feeling that it would not do for them to give their children a Bible lesson, because the modern point of view is so different from that in which they were themselves trained, Miss Soulaby recommends a few books, which would save the mother from confusing the children. " The truth of Religion does not alter, but our modes of expression do, and we must use those which will be understood." Miss Soulsby has written a very wise little homily, and we hope it will be widely read.
Previous page
