The Opelousas journal. [volume] (Opelousas, La.) 1868-1878, 1870-01-15

There are few themes more hacknied ant
utterly sacked of all originality, than the on
chosen by the eloquent speaker on Thursday
night.
Lecturers by the legion have handled it
Books AID essays, hayetrodden, and re-trod
den the old groued until all its great truths
have become common place truisms. We
had not supposed it possible that new
lights could be thrown upon a subject o
which we knew every vantage ground, anc
"point d'appui."
But we were greeted by so many move
and graceful combinations Of old material
such logical sequence in arrangement, ane
above. all, such earnest conviction Of thu
vital necessity Of the truths: advanced
that we left the lecture room with the pleas
ant conviction Of having gained some new
ideas upon a very pleasant subject.
Mr.. Wilkinson divided his discourse in
to three parts. The uses of reading, what
to re ad, and how to read
Not having the MS. at hand, we must
call upon our memory for a rapid glance
at the substance of his lecture. The mani
fold uses of reading he pointed out with
clearness and force. Large broad views
of Humanity grow out of the comparisons
the reading mind is enabled to make be
tween The Past and the Present. Where
the same passions, the same virtues, the
same errors belong alike to the people OF
remote ages, and the civilization of the
10Th century, the reader comprehends the
sameness Of the needs and. nature of HUI
manity under all its changes.
Therefore no great reader could be a
narrow minded bigot, or an intole' ant
thinker. From the standpoint ofthe ages
the survey is too grand for the narrow
grooves of prejudice.
The lecturer dwelt upon the ubiquity
of reading like the wandering Jew visiting
all the corners of the earth. 1t penetrates
into the hidden mysteries of Egypt. and
lifts the veil of the fearful statue at Sais.
Now among the the sacred mango groves
of India with the seekers of Nirvana, and
then by a rapid transition into the Mitgard
of the war.like Scandinavians. Sometimes
at the feet of the old Masters of eloquent
speech, and then singing the idyls of Theo-
critus and Bion BY the waters of the Med,
~teranean. a." ~. 1911. .
The reader ponders for himself the hid
den language Of the eternal rocks, and the
phenomena Of plants. He follows iassthe
track of the wind and lightning, and even
the submarine forests are no " terra incog-
nitat" to him. He looks up at the spheric
dance of the boundless worlds above him,
and eomprehends their nature, and their
distances. He has won the freedom of the
Universe y his studies, and it keeps no
secrets from him.
The lecturer in contra distinction to
this order Of intelligence, gave a witty
picture ola non reading nan or
The vapid weak commonplace, the i'll
natured gossip, the trivial details making a
man just one remove from the cattle which
Craze in the fields, and the woman a Flora
M~cFlimsey with literally no decent mind
covering. 5
The portion of the discourse recommend
ing "what to read" was too lengthy for
ouI limited space. Books of immoral tend
ency were pointed out as more dangerous
tRaH shameless companions. Sensational
literature injurious to goo d taste, and right
views Of life. .ey..s.
We differ from the lecturer in one or
two minor points he touched upon in con.
nection with this branch Of his subject
We believe that each reader should Judge
of the injury or benefit of a book to him
self by its effects upon his own mind.
The subtle poison Of Gibbon which might
sap the christian faith of some men, is so
to others, that though they read
and profit by his works, they pass over with
contempt his harsh and prejudiced
judgments. The confessions Of st. Au-
have z,ade many self denying an
chorites, but there are men who class them
with the libertine revelations Of Rousseau.
We could i'll spare Humboldt from our
libraries, and yet the gloom Of a fixed pnbe-
over his views of nature. Shakespeare
S full Of indscencies, yet wLo can resolve
lay his glorious genius aside? These
books will be read as long as the language
n which they are written endures, with
more or less injury to the human race.
How to read formed the final clause of
he lecture
Omniverous readers who swallow all
and digest none, were warned
against their bad habit. A parallel drawn
overlooking the body, and over
eeding the mind. Habits Of careful, slow,
recommended, and that a written
ynopsis should be made of books immedi.
tely after reading them.
The lecturer closed his address by en-
the people of Opelonsas to turn
heir attention to these means of self Gull
,ure. Out Of a community Of three thou
and souls there would be no foreshadow-
az Of greatness, unless the comprehension
# greatness should come to them through
ultivation of intellect.
The little library, for the increase of
Ehich his lecture was Intended, he hoped
would be the nucleus around which would
luster all that could raise a community to