Western Reserve chronicle. [volume] (Warren, Ohio) 1855-1921, 1858-02-10
ON ERADING FOR INSTRUCTION

/ stfuctlon. IL you 10 no' Sio" "iSe'' III
some way. by what you read.-that is,
if you are only amused. and not instruct
ed, by what you read.-you are throw
ing away the greater part of the time
spent ia reading. To gather instruc
lion from the pages Of a book. you must
understand them, and you cannot under
stand without consideration and thought.
While it is desirable that you should
selec,such books and publications as you
can master, il is indispensable that you
should exercise the powers of your mind.
and be determined to master them.
Do not complain ofihe words of many
syllables that writer uses, SO long as
he speaks to yon in fair and honest
English. 1t is better for you-better
q thousand limes-ihat you should come
upon a word or phrase, now and then.
the meaning of which you should have
to seek out by Inquiry. or by the
help of the dictionary, than that you
should be written to in such words and
forms of expression only as you are al
ready acquainted with. If authors were
to write down to the comprehension oil
the lowest intellects, they would never
succeed in raising them 10 respectable
standard; and instead of promoting the
popular improvement, :hey would retard
| il.
1t is an old saying. that if you wish to
make person Ounce, you have only
TO treat him as a Ounce, and he is sure
to become one. There is much truth in
this. and il is not less applicable to a
class thsa to an individual. II the unin-
structed classes are written down to,
be sure of one thing--they will be kept
down.
When a man or lad acquires taste
for reading. he makes great discovery
he enters upon new world-a world
as new 10 him as America TO Columbus
when he fist set his foot upon it-a
world full of marvels and mysteries, and
what is better that these. full of wealth
OF wisdom Of which he may help him.
self to as much as he can carry away,
and make il, honestly his own.
The great drawback is thai he finds
he can not carry much of it. The land
Of literature is to him a strange land,
and its language. to a considerable ex
tent, strange language. In this dilem
ma he is apt to make the mistake of sup
posing that if simpler language had
been used. he should have understood
the subject at once, and enriched HIM
self by new possession. In The present
day this idea is generally without found
alton.
There was a time when knowledge,
which was not thought good FOR the
common people, was boxed round with
! kind oflesrned pedantry which reader
ed it accessible only to few; but that
time has gone by, and the best writers
now address themselvee to the largest
class-for very sufficient reason, name
ly. that in these days. when books are
sold cheap it is only from the patronage
of the multitude that they can hope for
adequate remuneration. 1t lis the inter-
est of all popular writers TO simplify
their propositions, whatever they may
treat OF. as far as possible; but this prac-
tice of symply wing can only be carried
out TO a limited extent. after all, for a
reason which on a moments considera-
tion. will be obvious.
What are words! Words are nothing
more nor less than the names of ideas;
if any combination of letters of the alpha
bet suggest no idea to the mind, such
combination is mere gibberish. not a
word. All the words than an illiterate
man is acquainted with have their cor
responding ideas in his mind; and all the
ideas in his mind have their correspond
ing words in his memory.
Now, il he turn the faculties of his
mind to new subject. subject entirely
different from anything which has before
occupied his attention.-it is certain tha:
he will meet with new words as that he
will meet with new ideas; and, simply BY
as much as we may. it is not easy to
perceive how he is to make himself
master Of any new subject through bis
old stock of words. Thus, in order to
get new ideas, you must get new words;
and in the proportion that you master
their meaning will be your knowledge
of the subject to which you turn your
attention.
To profit by literature. then. you must
learn its language. All that has been
done, or can or will be done, in the SIM
plifying processes. will never do away
with that necessity. Remember that the
language you have to learn is your
mothers tongue; that the words whose
Specification puzzles you are on the lips
Of your fellow countrymen every day
and all day long; that you have living
dictionary in your teacher or parent.
who will help you; that you can buy a
Webster $ pocket dictionary for quar-
ter of a dollar; and remember, too that
every step you advance will render the
Hext step easier.