Fifty-Two Story Talks to Boys and Girls   By: Howard J. (Howard James) Chidley (1878-1966)

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 the future of the Church than that which seeks to enlist the children in the service of Christ. Mr. Chidley, by his gifts and experience as a pastor and a teacher of the young, is eminently fitted to contribute towards this most vital phase of Christian activity. His successful career in the Central Congregational Church of Brooklyn, where I shared the privilege of his valuable co operation, and in the Trinity Church of East Orange, New Jersey, of which he is now the beloved and honored pastor, bespeak the merits of this series of addresses to Boys and Girls. They are at once an efficient protest against the Protestant neglect of the young and a remedy for that neglect. Parents, instructors, and guardians of the juvenile members of our Churches will be wise to read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest the teachings and exhortations presented here. It is a book of absorbing interest, and the little folks and those of older years can not fail to be both profited and delighted by it. The revolution in Christian thought concerning the relation of children to the Church and the Kingdom of God is apparent on every page. Dr. Martineau averred that children do not require to be led so much as not to be misled, and in these "Fifty two Stories" we have a model application of his weighty aphorism. The receptive and expansive hours of child nature are admirably considered, and what is here written has a direct bearing upon its spiritual development and welfare.

S. PARKES CADMAN.

The Parish House, Central Congregational Church, Brooklyn, N.Y., March 2, 1914.

CONTENTS

PAGE INTRODUCTION xiii A BIBLE RIDDLE 3 CLOSED GATES 6 HIRING A COACHMAN 9 THE FIERCEST THING IN THE BIBLE 11 SACRIFICE HITS 13 THE LIBERTY OF OBEDIENCE 15 CUTTING CORNERS 18 HABITS 20 A LESSON IN COURTESY 23 LITTLE FOXES 25 A TRICKY OX 28 "SHINE INSIDE" 30 THE STORM KING EAGLE 33 A DOG WHICH ATE THE BIBLE 35 STEAM AND SAILS 37 A FISH STORY 39 OPPORTUNITY 41 GOD IS NOW HERE 43 DAVID LIVINGSTONE'S FAITH 45 THE HAPPY MAN 47 A SERMON FOR THE BOYS 49 TIRE TROUBLE 51 WATCHING FOR IDLE BOYS 53 CHRIST AND THE DOG 55 THE BOY WHO WAS TO BE MANAGER 58 A TALE ABOUT WORDS 61 SUFFOCATED TREES 64 ULYSSES AND THE SIRENS 66 POISON LABELS 68 LIES THAT WALK 71 WELLINGTON AND THE SOLDIER 73 ABRAHAM'S GUEST 75 ABOUT GENEROSITY 78 SUN AND WIND 80 THE BOY AND THE TURTLE 82 THE BOY AND THE NICKEL 84 THE THREE FATES 86 THE INCH WORM AND THE MOUNTAIN 88 THE FRENCH DRUMMER BOY 91 A KING IN THE STUFF 93 BREAD AND WINE 96 THE FIRST CHRISTMAS CAROL 98 A HINT FROM A CARIBOU 100 THE REPENTANCE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON 103 EASTER 105 THE WHISPERING GALLERY 108 THE HE SAID GIRL 111 ON DECK 113 THE TERROR BY NIGHT 116 THE BRAMBLE BUSH KING 119 WHERE IS HEAVEN? 122 THE CHRISTIAN ARMY 124

INTRODUCTION