The Potter journal. [volume] (Coudersport, Pa.) 1857-1872, 1857-12-24
TERMS --$l,25 PER ANNUM.

30 N 49, hVhOal anu ulOTal grace
and beauty continually The great and
the good Of past ages will look down anon
you from their nights above with favor and
affection. You will be their associates, and
they yours. You will, toe, be becon,-
ing more and more, ever more and more,
like them, Franklin and Washingtgn,
Newton and Bacon, Shakespeare and Mil
ton, Montesquieu, Fcnelon, Madame DC
Stael, Socrates, aud the blind old Bard of
Samos, no less than those "holy men who
spake as they were moved by the Holy
Ghost" will then be your instructors and
friends; and in every lineament of your
, spiritual nature will be found the stroke.
and features of that Great Master Mind,
who first raised these men up to be your
teachers and kindred and companions for
ever.
One remark more, as to how you ought
to read. Do not read merely for the pres
ent pleasure and qualification of it. Have
high moral aim in it, that you may be
made by it, good and wise and if it
please God, great also. Read that you
may know how to benefit others, and nog
merely for self alone. Read that you may
become model of excellence in your own
person, wiser and better men and women
than those who have gone before you have
been and knowing God and His Universe
better than your predecessors. But in
all this be not proud, but humble, meek,
gentle, without guile, or deceit. Preserve
your innocence and always remember that
he that humbleth himself, in learning as
well as in society, shall be exalted Take
not then the uppermost room at the feast
Of intellect. Let politicians exalt them
selves and boast of their merits and
achievements. But be not like unto them.
Verify | say unto you, they have their
reward.
4th, | ought to say few words as to
HELPS IN READING. The greatest and
best help that know of is genuine ca
ger unquenchable Yankee curiosity-an
awakened mind, growing appetite
q The wish-the dream-the wild desire,
Delirious, yst divine, TO KNOW"
! If you have this, 1 had about said, you
have enough. But it is not quite SO.
There are certain books you ought to own
you must own them, and have them by
you and consult them perpetually. Let
me name some of these which you are not
to 60 to any library for, but to your owa,
however small that may be. First, then,
have reference Bible. Then a good
Dictionary of Words and Definitions
proper names, Geographical, Historical
and PERSONAL full vocabulary of them.
Then an Atlas of the World is indispen-
sable, A Biographical Dictionary, Die
tionary of Dates, (Haydon's is the best,
and it is almost unknown in this country
a Geographical Gazetteer, and a good
Outline History, are all needed. If, be-
sides th.sc, which | regard as indispcnsa-
bic to every one who would understand
what he reads, you can have in some Lii
brary near you, good Encyclopedia to
consult occasionally, l do not see what
would be lacking. And then, the books
have named are not expensive. They
would cost SO to SIS, perhaps, And On
how many centre-tables, in icy cold and
rarely seen parlors, do we meet with
trumpery in gold and blue, if not green,
which has cost twice that amount, and is
worth nothing either as matter of tasteful
ornament or literary excellence.
| One word to you, ladies and gentlemen
Of the Association, as to an ENCYcLopG-
OLA, of which | have spoken, and which
! it seems to me is we'll worthy of your at
tcntion A new Edition of the Encycto-
tppdia Britannica is now in course OF
publication in London and Edinburg. Il
will probably be completed within the
next two years, before 1860. Fifteen
volumes are already published. Twenty
one volumes complete it. Itis by far the
best work in existence in any language.
The first edition, Published fifty years ago,
was so, in the opinion of Wilberforce.
Stoutly and handsomely bound in cloth,
royal octave, it will cost here about S+
per volume. The whole In twenty-one
volumes will then stand you at SS4, which
you will be obliged to raise between this
and 1860. With the narrow resources
at my command, / should be glad to be
one of the twenty one persons who should
purchase this great and excellent work for
your Library--a volume apiece! Who
will buy the other twenty volumes? One
hundred and thirteen men in Chill, Eng
lish and Americans, had each of them
bought set of this Encyclopedias for his
own use, before left that country. And
cannot we in Potter County, all OF US, do
as much as to purchase one copy for our
selves See note q
9Th. 1t is fitting on an occasion like
this, tha something should be said on the
advantages Of reading, literary culture.
taste, aud refinement. Those present who
would best appreciate remarks upon this
subject, are the ones of all others who are
not in need of them. In this case it Is
/ iliterallr trua that athey that be whole