The following is an extract from a letter by James Hudson Taylor to his younger sister, Louisa, whose spiritual welfare was much on his heart.
"There is one thing I would specially warn you against... one of the greatest curses I believe of the present day—the practice of novel reading. If you value your mind and soul, avoid it as you would a dangerous serpent. I cannot tell you what I would give to be able to forget certain novels I have read, and to efface their influence from my memory. And I firmly believe, though some would deny it... that no Christian ever did or ever will read them without injury, very serious injury too, if the habit is indulged in. It is like opium-smoking; it begets a craving for more that must be supplied.
"Better books are neglected, and no one can estimate the mischief that results.
"None, I believe, could honestly ask God's blessing upon the reading of a novel, and few would venture to assert that they read them to the glory of God.
-The only safety lies in avoiding them as one of Satan's most subtle snares."