Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1879-08-09

meant lndt ne nau enough lo wv Will
reading written documents, newspapers,
the faces and characters OF men, and
listening to their conversation to find
out what thew meant-perhaps quite
as often what they did not mean. Some
I persons need reading much more than
others. One of the best preachers /
have known read comparatively little,
But he talked and listened, and kept his
mind sufficiently nourished, without
Overburdening it. On the other hand,
one Of the most brilliant men | have
known was always reading. He read
more than his mind could fairly digest,
and brilliant as he was, his conversation
had too much the character OF those
patchwork quilts one sees at country
cattle shows, so variegated was it with
all sorts Of quotations. The first time |
ever visited Theodore Parker he was
not quite 80 years old, and | own that
his reputation as a scholar had not
reached me. In looking round his
library, | saw upon his shelves the great
series of quartos-which / knew by
their title only, ii at all-Brucker's
Historic Critica PhilosophG.' You
have hardly read that, suppose |
said, not thinking that any student, in
these degenerate days, grappled with
these megatherial monsters of primitive
erudition. oh, yes, | have, he an
swered very quietly; and then l, who
thought | was dealing with modest
young divine OF the regulation pattern,
took another look at the massive head
of the young man, whom Mr.. Wendell
Philips has lately spoken OF as the
Jupiter of the pulpit. Somewhere
between these two entremes most OF US
find ourselves. But we must remem-
Der the French saying: 'L'appetit UieTt
IN ndpgednt, or, as Hamlet would phrase
it, increase Of appetite grows by what
il feeds on; and If we do not love books
enough naturally, we must acquire the
habit of loving them, if possible, as peo-
pie acquire bad habits, that OF intOxica-
ton or opium eating, beginning with a
little, and trusting that by and by we shall
thirst for more.
40. What shall we read? | am very
thankful that it does not fall to my lot to
answer this question. | do honestly
assure you | had rather ask this ques-
ton of the ladies and gentlemen who
have undertaken. TO direct the home
studies of those who are fortunate
enough TO be under their guidance,
than to answer il. What infinite waste
OF labor might not such guidance have
saved me, could have had it, and have
had wisdom and good sense TO profit by
it at certain period OF my life. con-
graduate YOU most sincerely and deeply
that the thoroughly cultivated intelli-
gence of the scholars who surround me
has been made tributary TO your adj
vancement in sound knowledge and
wholesome training 1t is task OF
great difficulty to point out the proper
course for SO many minds of different
natural aptitudcs and different stages of
education. I'm this inundation of liter
allure ! have spoken of most young
minds will be overpOwered by some
flood or other. The daughters Of
Danaus arenot all dead yet, on the contra
nv, their number is legion. All those
Young women who pass their days and
nights in reading endless story-books-
novels, so-called, doubtless from their
want OF nOvelty-what are they doing
but pouring water into buckets whose
bottoms are as full of holes as Il cOlan-
der, and which would have nothing to
show ii Niagara had been emptied into
them?
IS. How shall we read? | must an
swer this question very briefly. | be.
lieve in reading, in a large proportion,
by subjects rather than by authors.
Some books must be read tasting, as it
were, every word. TennysOn will bear
that as Milton would, as Gray would
for they tasted every word themselves,
as, Tide or Carame would taste a pOtGge
meant for King or a Queen. But, once
became familiar with a subject, so as to
know what you wish to learn about it,
and you can read a page as flash OF
lightning reads it, Learn a lesson from
Houdin and his sons practice OF looking
i'm shop window and remembering all
they saw. Learn to read page in the
shortest possible time, and to stand a
thorough examination on its contents"