mistaken piety--is another peculiar manifestation of the effects of
this vicious practice. The victim is observed to become transformed,
by degrees, from a romping, laughing child, full of hilarity and frolic,
to a sober and very sedate little--Christian, the friends think, and
they are highly gratified with the piety of the child. Little do they
suspect the real cause of the solemn face; not the slightest suspicion
have they of the foul orgies practiced by the little sinner. By the
aid of friends he may soon add hypocrisy to his other crimes, and find
in assumed devotion a ready pretense for seeking solitude. Parents will
do well to investigate the origin of this kind of religion in their
children.