Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1880-11-26
Books and Reading.

'i;ead none hut famed books; read no book
that is not at least a wear old read none but
books which you like In the first rule the
great philosopher refers of course TO books
acknowledged by general consensus as mas
terpieces of literature famed in the
narrow sense. st Elmo" is famed book;
and Sylvanus Cobb is famed writer; but
neither the one nor the other would rrol ably
meet the appreciation of the Sage OF Concord
But in the true sense the rule is sensible and
safe "A good book" says Milton, sis the
likelihood of mastcr-spirit embalmed and
treasured up on purpose for HE beyond
life Such books are the ones TO he read,
even as Il matter of hard. practical policy
for life is too shor; and time too flCcting for
such worse than waste of the flying hours
as the reading of second-claSs literature
involves The second rule is like unto the
first. for the worlds deliberate, enduring
decision on a book is seldom passed in the
narrow space of u tweivcmonth. Inc
verdict of day il set aside on the
morrow, and the brief immortality of year
is exchanged for an eternity of forGetfuncss.
The absence Of an international copyright
Law and the cheap Reprints of English books,
which have become almost as abundant here
as the iocusts ever wee in Egypt, have not
only to a large extent driven purely Ameri-
can literature ont Of the field but have visited
upon us perfect plague Of second and third
and fourth rate novels. The social conditions
of English life, its strongly marked divisions
OF society and its extreme artificiallty fur
nsh an ilimitahlc stock in trade 10 the
novelist, ready 10 his hand +; and the result
is a vast horde OF novel-writcrs AMI Il host
which no man can number of novels OF Eng
fish society-all Of them passably written
and more or less entertaining, but all, so far
as mental culture or any practical good is
concerned, totally worthless. To those to
whom literature is merely mental dissipa-
ton or whose only object in reading is to
While away time that would Otherwise hang
heavy on their hands. this sort OF
thing is well enough; to others we commend
in observance of Emerson's rules. Get the
best; is a motto good in other things than
dictionary buying.
The third ssRead none but books
which You likc"-is founded on sound
principle in human nature. The perfunctory
achievement of task is neither attended
with satisfaction in its performance nor
benefit in its result No one can read what
he doesn't Ike and get much good out of it.
There is a growing disposition, well express
ed in Nj James Payn's recent essay on
''Sham Admiration in Literature" TO allow
the great writers to stand upon their own
merits, instead of blindly praising them and
forcing them upon perhaps unwilling readers.
Because writer has great place in litera-
ture it is by no means necessary for an in
dividual reader 10 bow down and
worship at his shrine If he
finds 1" Paradise Lost dull and
Gil Bias" prosy and Tom Jones"
vulgar, We can, like the Archbishop, wish
him plenty OF good fortune and little more
taste, but refrain from committing him to
an Guto da .fs for his literary heresy. Of
course he ought to Ike these things; but if
he doesn't, the better way il to acknowledge
it and take something else and thus keep
his conscience clear and avoid helping the
sensclcss odulation Of fictitious literary
greatness. largely Gostered by people as ignor-
ant and insincere as himself 1t is only
when heart and intellect act in harmony that
the best results are attaincd-th that the print
ed page becomes instinct with life and its
thoughts are seen and treasured like apples
of gold in pictures of silver"
Books are cur browning privilege in
modern civilization. With taste for books
and music let every person thank God, night
and morning, that he was not born earlier in
history" So said Starr King, and rightly
said. Only few hundred years separate
us from an age when the price of n book was
a kings ransom when he who could read
and write was exempt from capital punish
ment, as the possessor of uncommon and
abstruse learning when all members of
society, from the terrible Lord of the Manor
with his power Of life and death down 10 his
humblest retainer We're alike ignorant and
unle.tcred. 4 few volumes were considered
a great library, and each book was chained
to its shelf Now the difficulty is reversed.
1t is not the scarcity but the abundance of
hooks thai troubles the rcadcr-t the difficulty
of a judicious selection from the vast mass
of printed literature, with the fresh augmen-
tations that daily pour from the press. 1t
could hardly he expected 10 give 4 detailed
course Of reading in the columns Of news
paper 1t is in the abstract and not the
concrete that such a question must he con-
sidcred But the rules given are in a general
way sufficient and by following
them in spirit if not in detail the
reader will gain both pleasure and profit.
Never before were books so cheap as today
Never before were public and private libraries
so numerous There is, then, no excuse for
ones not being so "well-read' as the more
active duties Of life will allow-cXcept (and
it is a pretty wide exception the absence Of
a taste for reading Incredible as it appears
TO Il bbliophile, this nevertheless largely
exists, and the an;idoic is yet to he found.
"Shikspur: Shikspur: Who wrote Sinks
rnr = an eighteenth century play wright
makes one Of his characters say and real
ignorance of books almost as gross as ever
Was conceived in dramatist's brain is very
pfcyalcr, The present generation we sup
pose may he dismissed &c incorrigiblc; but
it is ono Of their chiefcst duties to their chill.
'iron that they educate them in the reading
habit With habit will come taste and
liking; ard thus will he opened to them vast
fields Of enjoyment, Of culture and Of inn
pravcment for
81. q -un. ii.ntia world haih pure ana good
Louni these, with tenlrils strong - nesh ami
hi9al
pii pasti!a" and our Happiness w.il gov.
We do moi forget that words are the
daughters of earth, hut things the sons of
wen" We would not have everybody
Ih,,s,A become students. But we do
tnsai- h.ic j. room ia the duties and pur-
suils "f lille for literature, pure and simple
and tia. the literary taste is greatly lacking
We boast ourselves a nation of readers, and SO
We are, in one sense but we are not readers
Of books, as the statistics Of ool,-publishng
amply show. The news and story paper,
the magazine and the subscription book
lmost horrible outgrowth of our civilization
count for a great deal in our reading to the
exclusion of much real literature ard it is
to the claims OF the latter that we would now
call attention.
FoEIr NATE among States is Illinois 1t is
out OF debt, and its Indebtedness has been
paid without taxation. The Illinois Central
Railroad which connects Chicago and st.
Louis pays int the State treasury seven per
cent of its pross earnings in consideration of
exemption from local and State taxation,
and these payments in twenty five years have
amounted TO eight and a half millions of dol |
lars and these contributions in the future