Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1876-05-10
What we Read.

The people Of New England are pre-emi-
nently reading people, but their minds are
treated in the same manner as their stom-
achs-by process Of cramming and they
are mental dyspeptics in consequence. News
papers form a large proportion Of our read
ing, and il is a good thing for all classes to
be informed on current topics and events f,
but they are read in a manner far too super
fetal The anecdotes and continued stories
are read and the rest goes unnoticed This
is like making a dinner Of pastry, and leay-
ing untastcd the moro substantial and neces-
saiy dishes.
There are scientific discoveries and i'm
proyements which should interest everybody.
Scientific books are cheap, and present sci
ence in an attractive manner, easy to be un-
| derstood. Books Of travel are numerous and
interesting, aud there is poetry for all, from
the severe, classic Browning" style, TO the
IIeathen Chince sort, Works Of fiction
are also good reading, for variety, and for
leisure hour when the body and mind are
too tired for a more substantial mental ali
ment, bat they should not be read to the ex-
clusion Of every other kind. The taste for
novel reading seems TO be the predominant
one just now. Even Sunday-schools furnish
fiction for sunday reading, aud many books
Of this sort are mo- better than the newspaper
stories for such a purpose. We are thor
oughly sick Of them, and it is time for warn.
ing TO be uttered against them. We have
often seen books in a Sunday-school library
which are mere love tales, with the religious
element for a flayorng and a child had far
better read Dickens, or Shakespeare, and
know what he is reading, than deyour such
sentimental stun, and can it religious reading.
There is another class of reading which
cannot be too severely let alone, but which
may be found in the possession Of almost
every young woman. refer to those books
advertised as Guides 30 Health" -" Woman's
Friend, or adviser, or some such title. They
are the most unsafe Of advisers. and abound
in suggestions Of evil. But few would buy
them, did they carefully examine them first
The historical novels, so called are quite
popular, but we do not ike them. 4 Young
reader knows not what TO accept as fact, or
what to call fiction. II one has not sufficient
interest in history 10 read 10 unauthorized,
better let il alone than to take it sugar
coated. We skim over and skip through
great many books but how many do we
thoroughly read
When books we've few, they we're read
through carefully many times, and were sub
jccts for thought and conversation, aud many
times were a source of lasting comfort We
remember one or two books of q religious
character, owned by our mother, which she
had read tin she could repeat chapter after
chapter Of them. One was Bunym's Pill
grins' Progress, book which, though hc-
ton really, is one that has comiorted and
cheercd thousands Of Christian readers. In
her last sickness she was constantly referring
TO it, aud in hours OF delirium she was pass
ing the "chaiued lions, and was having yis-
ions Of the shining ones on the other shore,
even to the last moment. Could we have
works Of fiction that would be To MS what
that book has been to many readers, we
should do well to read them. Hymns, or
sacred poems, are useful sort of reading,
and almost everybody has favorites which
are often repeated. Could we own but few
books, part OF them should be books of
hymns. They used TO form large part OF
the reading of our ancestors, and We're a
source of pleasure and consolation. In choos-
ing gift book for friend, book of hymns
OF a varied character can hardly fail to please,
and to most persons would be most acceptable
We have books of every sort in abundance,
but we thoroughly read but few. A per
sons character can be told by knowing what
books he or she reads, without a chance Of
mistake; and books, in turn, do much in
forming character,