The Power of Kindness and Other Stories: A Book for the Example and Encouragement of the Young
1875
The Power of Kindness and Other Stories: A Book for the Example and Encouragement of the Young
1875
This 1875 collection opens with a boy at his wits' end. Charles Freeman is angry, restless, and certain that rules exist only to be broken, until he crosses paths with William Aiken, a student whose quiet principle and refusal to be baited start something impossible: introspection. Through a misadventure involving a spiteful ram and the inevitable reckoning with school authorities, Charles discovers that the world doesn't bend to hot temper and cunning. It bends to something older and simpler: kindness, freely given. The remaining tales expand this theme into a chorus of small moments, a generosity that costs something, a forgiveness that heals, a choice to do right when no one is watching. Arthur writes with the conviction of an age that believed literature could shape character, and his stories carry that faith without apology. For readers who appreciate Victorian moral fiction, or anyone curious about how kindness functions as force rather than mere sentiment, these stories offer both example and encouragement.
