"No," said the girl, "I do not know as I wish to read about religion. I get that in the church and the Sunday School. But there must be some good books of other kinds—can't you tell me of them?"
"What would you think of a course of reading in history?" asked the pastor. Her face brightened somewhat, and she answered, "Why, I think that I might like to read history. What would you recommend for me?"
The minister glanced at his own shelves, thought a moment, and then said, "Well, I can't all at once name a course on such an important subject as history. Come next Wednesday, and I'll have a list of good books for you."
She came, and he showed her a formidable catalogue of books, saying:
"I have done the best that I could do, but the list is longer than I had expected. It includes eighty volumes. I wrote down one hundred and twenty volumes at first, but cut it down to eighty, and it cannot be made shorter, not by a single volume. In fact, it is not as complete as it should be. You will begin with the greatest book of history in all literature—Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, in nine volumes!"
The young lady was appalled, and never went through the first chapter of Gibbon's mighty work. This was before the Chautauqua Home Reading Course was evolved. After that had been launched any intelligent minister, or helpful librarian, would simply have said to the enquirer, "Send for a circular of the C. L. S. C.; that will give you exactly what you need."
Pioneer Hall: Class of 1882. C. L. S. C.