0. General Information
Dear readers,
First Battles And How To Fight Them by Frederick A. Atkins was published in 1891.
This book has been digitalized and made available on Archive.org. The scanning process resulted in many strange characters, spelling errors, poor quality pictures, and other problems in the file. I have tried to correct as many errors as I could find, but you may still find other issues occasionally. I hope you'll accept the imperfections but still find value in reading this story.
The title image on this website is taken from http://openclipart.org/detail/180729/man-and-wife---war-by-j4p4n-180729.
K. C. Lee
Mobile Story Enthusiast
" We are like soldiers in a vast, widely-extended battlefield (wrapped in obscurity) of which we know not the phases, of which we seem utterly powerless to control the issues; but we are responsible for our own part - whatever goes on elsewhere, let us not fail in that. The changes of the world, which men think they are bringing about, are in the hands of God. With Him, when we have done our duty, let us leave them."- Dean Church.
Introduction
It falls to the lot of most persons to find life a conflict: to some it is a protracted and arduous campaign. This is only to say that, if we would come successfully through it, we must assume the attitude of soldiers, and be well accoutred for the fight. Much as there is in military life which we cannot but deplore, there is no illustration more frequently employed in Scripture to set forth the duties and the character of a Christian ; and, however much we may be out of sympathy with the profession, and lament the need for it, it cannot be denied that most of the personal qualities that make a good soldier are just those which go to constitute an exemplary Christian.
A man may be soldierly, no doubt, without possessing even a semblance of piety; but, all other things being equal, the more soldierly he is, the higher will be the type of his religion. If godly men in the army are rare, they are generally exceptionally good! They have the courage of their convictions, and are decidedly aggressive in their piety. Particularly valuable are the qualities referred to in the beginning of life, when temptations are most numerous and powerful. When St. Paul exhorted his young friend Timothy to be "a good soldier," he gave advice which all young men would do well to lay to heart; and never, perhaps, was it more needful than in an age like this,when the prevalence of luxury and the appetite for pleasure are so apt to take all the grit and manliness out of the rising youth of our land. Just as many a raw recruit has joined his country's service, tempted by the seemingly gay and easy life of a soldier, but has found, when called to active duty in the field, that the discipline was very different from what he expected, so it is with thousands of young men in their setting out on life; what promised to be almost a holiday proving a stiff conflict, and demanding a "hardness" they had not calculated upon. The first battles are therefore the most trying and crucial.
It is well that this should be understood and prepared for. Many a young man makes a moral collapse, because he did not know of the dangers he had to face, the enemies he had to conquer, and the special qualities he needed to possess; whereas, had he been duly warned and counselled, he might have come through victorious. Those are the best friends of youth who faithfully point out the perils that lie before them, and urge preparation for the fight. No living man better understands how to do this than the author of First Battles, and How to Fight Them. I think it was John Bright who happily remarked some years ago, when speaking of a popular nobleman, Lord Roseberry, that he had the face of a boy and the tongue of a sage; and it would be no extravagance to say of our author that his writings combine the vivacity of youth with the mellow wisdom of maturity. He is already favorably known by his little book. Moral Muscle, and How to Use It, and has secured a wide influence among the rising generation by his able editorship of The Young Man. First Battles is an admirable successor to Moral Muscle, the title in both cases being singularly felicitous.
One can scarcely fail to be struck with the unusual number of books that have been published within the last few years, specially addressed to young men. The press has clearly been alive to the growing need for this class of literature. At no period of the world, probably, have the claims of young men been so fully recognized, or so much attention been bestowed upon the temptations, difficulties and dangers that specially beset them. This is a hopeful feature of the age; and all the more so because, on the whole, the tone of these endeavors is bracing and invigorating in its character. It is no longer assumed that a young man of undoubted piety must be effeminate in his bearing, morbid and whimsical in his principles, and hostile to every species of physical culture and recreation.
On the other hand, thank God, it is coming to be generally recognized that Christianity aims at saving the whole man, " body, soul, and spirit;" and that genuine religion develops and ennobles all the powers. The author of First Battles is a recognized apostle of this doctrine. He is the sworn enemy of cant. He believes that godliness and manliness are close akin. He goes in for a religion that is bright and brotherly, courteous and unselfish, and whose invariable tendency is to elevate and refine, and to turn out true gentlemen. Well does he say, " One of the most remarkable characteristics of gentlemanliness lies in the fact that it is not so very far removed from womanliness. It has a sacred modesty, a tender regard and respect for weakness and loneliness and inferiority, a deep and genuine reverence for the innocence and purity of womanhood. But you say, How about manliness? I reply by asking another question. Do you know what manliness means? It means virtue. When Garfield said, ' I shall try and become a man; if I do not succeed in that, I shall be good for nothing,' he did not mean that his ambition was to be merely big and boisterous and robust - he desired to become gentle and strong and good."
The object of this little book, of course, is not to teach theology, but there is not a sentence in it that is not in harmony with healthy evangelical teaching. The writer is not forgetful of the Cross, with its wondrous mystery and its matchless power; but his special aim is to present to young men the living Christ, as at once the brightest example and the truest Friend. Leaving Christian doctrine to be handled by others, he shows what Christian practice is; and to all who, under cover of religion, allow in themselves anything that is false or cowardly or mean, he administers vigorous and merited castigation. The perusal of these pages cannot but be useful to all who are just entering on life's first battles; here they will find the wise counsels and cheering words they need. For young men who are leaving school and home, and going forth to push their own way in the world, a more suitable gift could hardly be selected than First Battles, and How to Fight Them.
J. Thain Davidson.