Canton herald. (Canton, Miss.) 1837-1839, 1838-12-12
TASTE EOR READING

that you cannot dash 1t aside.
TASTE FOR READING.
If ] were to pray for taste which
should stand men in stead under eve
Iry variety of circumstance, and be a
source Of happiness and chcer(ulness
10 me through life, and q shield against
stills, however things might 90 omiss,
and the world frown upon me, it
would be taste Tor reading. 1spcak
OF it Of course only as worldly adj
vantage, and not in the slightest de-
gree superseding or dercgatlng from
the higher office and surer and strong.
er panoply Of religious principles
but as taste, an instrument, and a
mode of pleasurable gra,ifcation.--
Give a man this taste, and the means
Of gratifying it, and you can hardly
foil of making him happy man, IN.
less, indeed, you put into his hands a
most perverse selection oi books
You place him in contacts with the
best society in every period of hiSto-
ry-wlth the wlsest, the wlttleSt,-
with the tenderest, the bravest, and
the purest characters which have a.
dorned humanity. You make him
denlzen OF all natlous-a contempora,
ry of all ages. The world has been
created for him. 1t is hardly posi-
Bile but his character should take a
higher and better tone from the con-
slant habit of associating with q
class Of thinkers, to say the least of
it, above the average of humanity. 1t
ismorally impossible but that the man.
ners should take a tinge Of good bree
ding and civilization from having cor
stantly before ones eyes, the way in
which the best bred and best inform
ed men have talked and conducted
themselves in their intercourse with
each other. There is gentle, but
perfectly irresistible coercion in ha-
bit of reading well directed, over the
whole Of mans character and
conduct, which is notices. eflec.ual be-
cause IT works insenslbly, and because
it is really the last thing he dreams Of.
1t civilizes the conduct of men, and
suffers them n Il to remain barbarous.
Sir John HcrScheN.
A country schoolmaster in the
the neighborhood of Cockney, the
other day, after giving one Of his pu-
Ipils sound drubbing for speaking
bad grammar, sent him to the other
end OF the room TO inform another
boy that he wished to speak TO him.
and at the same time promised to re-
peat the dose if he spoke to him u
grammatIcally--the youngster being
satisfied with what he got, determin.
ed to be exact. and thus addressed his
fellow pupil: ''rhere is common
substantive, Of the ma >culine gender,
singular number, nominative case,
and in the angry mood, that sits per-
ched upon the eminence at the other
end of the room, wishes TO articulate
few sentences to you in the preser
tense. '--Londos paper.
"Mr. Sailor" said an old lady to
weather beaten old tar, who had cal.
led at her house for luncheon, "you
must see a great many curiosities at
sea7' "Oh yes" said Jack, and im-
mediately commenced telling of the
great leviaihans Of the deep. "But
how do these great fish live!" queried
the old lady. 40" said he, much as
the large fish live on land, by devour.
ing the small ones.' "But they don't
eat them raw, do theyW "Ono,' was
the reply, 'severy fish carries kettle
on his back for cooking"
What's a iawyri-A very learned
gentleman, who rescues your estate
from your enemy, and then keeps II