Litchfield enquirer., 1860-02-16
! For the Litchfield Enquirer.
 C0UNEELE TO YOUNG MEN.

s5gss :.
 ss For the Litchfeld Enquirer.
 s GoUNEELS TO YOUNG MEN. ! NUMBER SEVEN.
 You we'll remember that in my last nun
 Der, Iurged you to enrich your minds by vide range of general reading. is But do not forget, that your circum stances and pursuits ia life, a:e and are like ly to be so various, that 3 considerable par
 of your reading should have particular refer ence to your profession or particular brancl of business. Every young man, setting ou
 in life, should read the best writers he cai find, upon his own profession or employ
 ments. If those of you who are, or who ex
 pect to be merchants or manufacturers, hay, time to read sone of the best treat;ses ol other branches of business, very well bul don't neglect standard writers in your owl line of things, for the sake of smatterine l in every thing. You will find excellent guides in whatever path you prefer to take and I advise you to avail yourself of theil better knowledge, while others, in like man ner, follow their best gnides4 This is. sthe fway 70 rise 10 the head of yonr craft or pro fession. The young man, whatever his tal tents or calling may be, who despises book learning, and trusts wholly to his own inge' unity aud experience, will never do himself nor the public justice. Other men have had more talent and much longer experi- ence and how great his folly and self-con- ceit, if he does not study the books which tb n,, ko yo ,,, ,;t c,, f,v b;c 1,nunff "All this," seem to hear some of you say, may be very good advice but how shall We get the books They cost money, of which we have very little. Tell us how to get tine books, and we will read to your hearts content" We'll then, my young friends, if that is all the difficulty, will try to tell you how
 In the first place, settle it in yonr mind. that you must have private library of choice books Lay by part of what you have probably Lc, rin the habit of expend- ing upon shows aud concerts, and other in- dnlgelces which you can very well do with out, and you will sodh have enough to make a beginning. I am afraid that some of you spend money enongh for cigars, every year, to purchase many volumes What filthy indulgence think if you will make n It. tie calculation, you will be astonished, and ! hope delighted to fud how many. At any rate, books are now very cheap. Purchase them from time to time, us your means will nent value and in this way, much sooner than you HOW think it practicable, you will find yourselves in possession of 9 respectable private library. Every young man of ordi- nary health and industry, eau do it beforr he is thirty. This is one, aud secure way, to furnish yourselves with good reading. You eau also, by associating together, make up fer any deficiency, by forming associa tions adequate to all the wants of larger or smaller population, at a trifing expense to each subscriber. But not to exhaust your patience. young gentlemen, you must read great deal. You must read works of solid merit. You must have each his own private library; ahd in one way or ahother, must have access to social library in your own town.
 You have been expecting, no doubt, ifnot wishing, that should say something abou, reading mcreis, and perhaps l ought not to disappoiut you. l am painfully aware, however, that if yon have already yielded yourselves up to a vorncious appetite for such deleterious garbage, in the room of wholesome nu,rn,ent, might just about as we'll try to reason confirmed inebriate into Q sober man. Possibly the half-aedged gor- mandizer of the putrid shambles of London and Paris, might, out of respect to an old man. hear what l have to offer. But how can he deny himself nn indulgence that fills up so many vacant hours. and affords him so much enjoyment And then he turns round upon me, and asks what harm there can be in reading some of the best written romances, if shun and reject, us l intend to do, every thing of a prarient aud immor- al tendency? Why would you cut me of from such a delicious source of enjoyment, by prescribing all those fascinating volumes, which so admirably dissect and dclincate hu- man nature P
 As briefly as can, I will tell you why, Human nature is not fit to be dissected, tut with closed doors and from sheer profession. al necessity. Whether in gorgeous saloons or dens of infamy. it is putrid eorse, dug up by the prurient novelist, aud tricked out "Nu SsSA auoiuucut " ueSSasC 0uu Ca- snare. The Mysteries of Paris, of London, of New York, and every other great city, are orgies of revel, and lust, and blood which ought never to be revealed to any but the wrathful eye of Heaven. And as for the great mass of fictitious publications, which crowd the shelves of circulating libraries, and are thrnst into onr faces on steam bOntS and rail cars, not one in fifty of them is ot such a character, that judicious and pi- ous mother, would be willing to have young son or daughter read it. At best, they give false or distorted views of human life. They are calculated, if not intended, to under mine the principles, corrupt the morals. de prave the taste. and inaame the passions ol the youthful reader. I therefore earnestly warn you against their seductions. You cant turn over the pages of these birthstone abomihations, without serious in. |jury to the noble attributes of your intellec tual and moral being And if there was nc other objection to reading novels and roman ces. than that it creates Q morbid appetite
 tor unhealthy stimulants, and disrelish fol
 wholesome nutriment. it ought strongly to determine you against the indulgence. Il
 yen y'eid to its cravings. you can no more
 relish ,sonnd and profitable. reading. than q
 child, whose appetite is pampcred witl
 sweetmeats. and sngar-plums, aud highly
 scasoned condiments, can relish plain anc
 substantial food, so essential to health and
 vigor. You must give up one or the other Yon cannot yield tO the Witcherles of noye