Rollo in Society A Guide for Youth

Excerpt

NOTICE TO PARENTS

Although this little book is primarily intended for the entertainment of youthful readers, it is hoped by the writer that it may also aid in accomplishing a number of useful purposes and may prove to be, in the hands of parents, a guide for the modern child through the devious paths which his or her feet must inevitably tread.

It is now many years since our little friend Rollo has appeared between the covers of a book. Readers of an earlier generation will recall that Rollo’s environment in their day was that of the farm, the woods, the fields, the brooks, and, at proper intervals and always under the care of Jonas, the village. Inevitably time has wrought changes with these simple elements of our social background and it was to be expected that Rollo’s family would, at some period, be swept by the current of events into closer contact with the life of the great cities which were growing up about them. Thus it is with no surprise that parents should see the little fellow in situations far removed from the woodshed and the hay-barn.

Rollo has much to learn in the City, much of cleverness, of politeness, and of knowledge of seemly behaviour amid surroundings to which he has been a stranger.

But it is the belief of the author that while Rollo may learn much, he too may teach. He, too, brings with him lessons which the writer feels may be studied to advantage by both children and adults in the City. Among certain useful purposes they may accomplish the following.

1. A cultivation of the amiable and gentle qualities of the heart. Wherever the scenes of this book are laid, Rollo’s character and conduct described are generally—with the exception of some of the ordinary exhibitions of childish folly—of a kind to be imitated; for it is far better in dealing with children, to allure them to what is right by agreeable pictures of it, than to attempt to drive them to it by repulsive delineations of what is wrong.

2. The instruction, especially of parents, in the temptations to which childhood is often thoughtlessly exposed, which in the guise of narrative are here explained and set forth so that the reader may be both improved and entertained.

3. The imparting of useful rules of conduct by which all ages may profit. It will be seen, for instance, how Rollo’s Parents are constantly endeavouring to teach him habits of thrift, honesty, and order. He is urged to take care of his things, his books, his pencils, his toys. Here is a lesson all may learn. Consider only the subject of books—let us say this book. It is your book because you have bought it with your own money. How wrong, then, to injure or deface it, to lose it or even to lend it. Nay, it is more unfortunate to lend it than to lose it for if you lose it you may easily buy another but if you lend it you not only deprive someone of the pleasure they might have had in making a purchase for themselves but you also take from the author’s pocket the few pennies he might have received from the printer had you not acted so thoughtlessly....