The Hickman courier. [volume] (Hickman, Ky.) 1859-current, 1876-10-20
Olive ThO4n, in St. Nicholas

Do not lay out detailed "course of
reading" Probably you would not fol-
low it, and the moral effect o making q
plan and giving it up is injurious. But
there is another reason for my advice
Wk>n you become interested in a subject
then IS the time to follow il up, and
lead everything you can get hold Of
about it. What you read when thus
keenly interested you viii remember and
make your own, and that is the secret of
acquiring knowledge; to study thing
when your mind is awake and eager to
know more. No matter if it leads you
away from the books with which you set
out; and if it sends you to another sub
ject, 50 that you never again open the
original book. so much the better; you
are eager, you are learning, and the OBJ
ject of reading is to learn, not to get
through certain number of books.
What we read with inclination"
said wise old DR.. johnson, makes a
strong impression. What we read as
task is of little use'
Whea you read look that interests
you, you naturally wish to know more of
its author. That is the time to make
his acquaintance. Read his life, or an
of. .Rim in an encyclopedia; look
familiar with him. Then You have
really added something to your
knowledge. If you fettered yourself
with a course" you could not do
this, and before you finished a book,
you would have forgotten the special
points which interested YOU as YOU went
through.
You think that history is duh reading,
perhaps. I'm afraid that is because you
have dull way of reading it, not realiz-
ing that it is a series of true and wonder
ful stories of mems lives, beyond com
parison more marvellous and interesting
than the fictitious lives we read in
novels. The first pages are usually dry,
l admit, and advise you not to look at
them till you feel desire to do so; but
select some persons, and follow out the
story of his life, or some event, and read
about that, and 1 assure you, you will
find new life in the old books.
After getting, in this way, a fragmen-
tary acquaintan ce with a nation, its
prominent men and striking events,
you will doubtless feel anxious to know
its whole story, and then, reading it
with interest, you will remember what
you read
But there are other subjects il which
you may be interested. You wish first
TO know about the few great books and
authors generally regarded and referred
to as the fountain-head of the worlds
literature. 1t is impossible, in a little
" talk " like this, TO give definite direc-
tions for gaining knowledge of these
Needs vary in almost every case, and a
book that might wisely be selected for
one girl, might be a very poor choice for
another. Almost every one can turn to
some judicious relative or friend who, at
least, can start her in a good direction.
Once started, the way is delightful and
easy. There are many entrances into the
great temple of iterature-you need not
go in by all of them.
There are many well known and often
quoted authors, concerning whom you
will wish to be informed, even if you
never read their works. You want to
know when they lived and what they
wrote. The world of books is too large
for any one to know thoroughly; you
must select from the wide range what
suits your taste, and be content to have
an outside,or title-page, knowledge of the
rest.
Above all, in your reading you want to
avoid becoming narrow and onesided.
Read both sides of a question. If you
read a eulegistic biography of a person,
read also, if possible, one written from
an opposite standpoint. You will find
that no one is wholly bad, nor wholly
good, and you will grow broad in your
views