The Sumter watchman. [volume] (Sumterville, S.C.) 1855-1881, 1870-08-03
Of REXDING.1 Z
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sss "a & Bi III s,isss. ssss sssF
is The osly friend who never changes.
Take IL up whom you like, putt aside
when you choose, cherish 10 or Degleet
M.Ind II II still the same; always pre-.
ssnting a5smiliug face, and never re-
tpSoaekipg you for any fancied slight or
insult. Other friends rnay grow cold,
or fall away, or,die, but your book Is q
fiisnd that is always faithiqlAnd true /;
aud hs-whe has . genuine love Of read.
ing possesses taiisman to charm away
sofrou-.-a companion, a lawyer, q ply.
sician, o philosopef, who never grows
weary, asks no fee, demands no
homage, resents no wrong, but is ever
ready to instruct, to console and to de-
The Amusement Of: Reading, says Sir
Edgerton Bridges, ais among the great
est consultations OF life it is the nurse
Of virtue, the upholder Of adversity, the
prop of independence, the support Of
4 just pride, the strengthoner Of elevat.
ed opinions; it is shield against the
tyranny Of all the petty passions it 10
the repeller of the FOOLS scoff and the
kn.vs's poison"
off" says Sir John Herschol, "I we're
to pray for taste which would stand
mo in stead under every variety Of oir-
cumstance, aud be source Of happi-
ness and cheerfulness to me through
life, and shield against its ills, how
ever things may go amiss and the world
frown upon me, it would be Taste for
Reading. speak of it, of course, only
as worldly advantage, and not in the
slightest degree as supersed;ng or deroga
ing from tho higher Offices, and surer and
stronger panoply of religious principles,
but as taste, an instrument and mode
Of pleasurable qualification. Give man
this taste aud tho means Of gratifying it,
and you CON hardly, fail of making a
happy man, unless, indeed, you put in
his hand a perverse selection of books
You place him in contact with the best
society, in every period of history; with
tho wisest, wittiest, with the tenderest,
the bravcst, and the purest characters
who have adorned humanity you may
make him denizen of all nations, a
contemporary of all:ages. The world has
Doen Creat6u IOr Dltn.
"a book, love Of reading, and edu-
cation u.s." says Macaulay, ga companion
which no misfortune can depress, no
cline destroy, no enemy ALLEVIATE, no
despotism enslave. AT home, a friend !;
abroad, an introduction !; in solitude, q
solaoe I; 10 society, an ornament. It
shortens vice, it guides virtue, it gives
at once grace and government to genius
Without it, what is man 2 A splendid
slave ! a reasoning savagol va 'illating
between tho dignity Of an intelligence
derived from God and the degradation
ofbrutal passion"
Poetry and music are but expressions
of that intense love of the beautiful
which grows out of communion of
mind with mind. can inmost things,"
says Carlyle, care meiodious, and nat
urally utter themselves in song. The
meaning ofsong goes deep. The Greeks
fabled of sphere harmonies it was the
feeling they had of the inner structure
Of nature, that the soul of all her voices
aud utterances was perfect music. Poetry
therefore, we call musical thought The
poet is he who thinks in that manner
It turns still in on powers of intellect !;
it is mans sincerity and depth of vision
that makes him poet. See deep enough
and you see musica!ly--the heart of na-
ture being everywhere music if you can
only reach it."
1t is not necessary, however, that
your reading should be exceeding di-
verse better that, like other friends,
your books should be select and choice
"IIe that reads muob," observes Lord
Iytton, "should have powerful organs of
intellectual digestion !; he will other.
wise receive but little nutrimont into
his mind, and, what is worse, will de-.
range the healthy functions of his men.
tai system The ingenious Mr.. Hobbies
did not much value large library, and
used to remark, though with singular
vanity, that had he read as much as
other men, he would have been as igno-
rant as they"
"Some books" remarks the great Sir
Francis Bacon, care to be tasted, others
to be swallowed, and some few to be
chewed and digested and there are,
says Charles Lamb, "books that arc no
books" by which he meant books not
worth reading, Of which in these latter
days, there are unfortunately too many !;
but, then, is not the Book Of Books to
counteract the ovil influence of idle read.
ing? The volume, than which, says
Sir Walter Scott, 'twcre
"Better had thoy ne'er been born,
Who read to doubt, or read to scorn /"
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