The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1875-09-29
A Habit Worth Ten Thousand a Year.


One great fault and danger of the age is
reading for amusement. Hence the vera
cious appetite of the public for sensational
stories and novels, too many of which min
listers to the most groveling lusts of the hu-
man heart We do not affirm that reading
light literature for the purpose of relaxation
from severe study or business toll is neces-
sarily injurious, provided the works read
possess literary merit, and breathe the spirit
of Christian morality. But no man or wo-
man can read an immoral fiction without
contracting more or less moral defilement.-
Filth will make filthy. And even light lit
erature, though pure in character, cannot be
read constantly without injury to the mind.
By addressing the Imagination it beguiles
one into mental dream-land, where he
lasts delights which not only cost him no ef-
fort, but also indispose him to that vigorous
use of the higher powers of his mind on
which the richest intellectual enjoyments de-
pend. By acting powerfully upon the SEN
sibilities, under conditions which do not call
for their actual exercise in the form of ap-
propriate deeds, it subtilety transforms one
into sentimentalist, ready to weep over i'm
aginary woes, but hard, unfeeling, and re-
luctant to give when actual suffering stands
in his presence. He who makes such light
literature the staple food of his mind, feeds
on sweetmeats, which while they crafty his
taste, clog his stomach, make MIN dyspep.
tic, and shorten his existence.
Hume once said that habit of reading is
worth ten thousand year. This is no ex-
aggeration. Such habit affords more real,
profitable enjoyment than could be epurchased
with that income, provided, of course, the
books read be of the right sort. "BookS
that are book" s"-books of history, biogra-
ply, travel, philosophy, science, theology
books which impart knowledge and discuss
the great problems of human existence, in
the spirit of Christianity, must furnish the
reading which alone enlarges and strengthens
the mind, quickens the soul, refnes the char
acter, and imparts, next to spiritual exercis-
es, the most exalted pleasures fe.
Granting the truth Of az ~
which Cannot be successfcly
shall be said of those fatherS mothers
who, from sheer penuriousness, refuse to pro-
vide the books needful to the formation of
habits of reading by their children? Are
there not thousands of homes in this land of
many books, owned by men of means, in
which family library is minus quantity !?
The children, when weary with work or play,
look vainly round the vacant walls in search
of something to occupy their attention and
drive off ennui, that fend of the bookless
household and of the uneducated, empty
mind. Books--not story books, except for
the little ones-but entertaining books, deal
ing with the men of the past and the present,
descriptive of the great world beyond them,
exciting them to higher endeavor and true
nobility of character, would fill the "aching
void, and contribute to their happiness.-
Not finding these, they grow first restless,
then discontented with their home life. Dis.
obedience succeeds to discomfort and they
enter the academy of Satan at the street
corner. Bad leads to worse; and after
worse comes depravity of life, home for
saken, promising child ruined, and penu-
rious father sinking with gray hairs and sor-
row to a welcomed grave. A good, wisely
selected library, home made Intellectually
charming by the presence of books and con-
versaton respecting their contents, might
have prevented much of all of this. Surely
the penury which grudges the outlay for q
family library is as short-sighted as it is cruel!
Daniel Wise, ID. d., in Western Christian
advocate.