Fifty-Two Story Talks

TO BOYS AND GIRLS

BY

REV. HOWARD J. CHIDLEY, B.D.

PASTOR TRINITY CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH,

EAST ORANGE, NEW JERSEY

GARDEN CITY, NEW YORK

DOUBLEDAY, DORAN & COMPANY, INC.

Copyright, 1914 by

GEORGE H. DORAN COMPANY

PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

TO

MY DAUGHTER

Elizabeth

FOREWORD

No department of Christian literature is of more importance for thefuture of the Church than that which seeks to enlist the children in theservice of Christ. Mr. Chidley, by his gifts and experience as a pastorand a teacher of the young, is eminently fitted to contribute towardsthis most vital phase of Christian activity. His successful career inthe Central Congregational Church of Brooklyn, where I shared theprivilege of his valuable co-operation, and in the Trinity Church ofEast Orange, New Jersey, of which he is now the beloved and honoredpastor, bespeak the merits of this series of addresses to Boys andGirls. They are at once an efficient protest against the Protestantneglect of the young and a remedy for that neglect. Parents,instructors, and guardians of the juvenile members of our Churches willbe wise to read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest the teachings andexhortations presented here. It is a book of absorbing interest, andthe little folks and those of older years can not fail to be bothprofited and delighted by it. The revolution in Christian thoughtconcerning the relation of children to the Church and the Kingdom of Godis apparent on every page. Dr. Martineau averred that children do notrequire to be led so much as not to be misled, and in these "Fifty-twoStories" we have a model application of his weighty aphorism. Thereceptive and expansive hours of child nature are admirably considered,and what is here written has a direct bearing upon its spiritualdevelopment and welfare.

S. PARKES CADMAN.

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