CHAPTER VIII.

NOVELS AND NOVEL-READING.

Definition of a Novel--A Vice of the Age--FOUR MAXIMS: 1. No Fiction if Little Leisure; 2. Only the Best; 3. Fiction to be but Small Part; 4. If any Harm results, Stop at Once--SEVEN REASONS AGAINST COMMON NOVEL-READING: 1. Wastes Time; 2. Injures the Intellect; 3. Unfits for Real Life; 4. Creates Overgrowth of the Passions; 5. Produces Mental Intoxication; 6. Lessens the Horror of Crime and Wrong; 7. Wars with all Piety--Disciplinary Rule, 121