Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1881-02-02
"Why, When, How and What Shall
We Read p,

Dr. Palmer said: 81 have somewhere read OF |
man who thanked God for books. without them |
nations are heather Lacking an afuent litera-
ture, no nation can hope to take a high place In
civilization. Books exert an influence which any |
king might court An old maxim says: The |
pen Is mghtier than the sword" and this Is In |
deed true. The press is encroachlng on the pull |
pit and platform. One book sends Its influence |
down through the ages and exerts wonderful |
power. Those who use books but little fall be- |
hind in intellectual development II there had |
been only four or five per cent Of iterate people
in the south, instead Of twenty or twenty-five per
cent, the leaders Of the rebellion would not have
been able to carry on the war. The ku-klux out |
RACES are explained by the ignorance OF the
southerners. Lord Bacon says; Reading serves
for delight, for ornament and for ability Many
lonely houses are frightened by books. The Ice
landers read immensely and so relieve the tedium
OF their long, cold winters. Reading serves for
delight to invaids. mind well stored with in
formation gained from books is a continual foun-
tain OF pleasure. II is said that Scott dictated
Ivanhoe when Ill, drawing from the fund Of in
formation acquired when in health. The library
Is the lamp OF eternity. But reading serves not
alone for delight, but also for information. It Is
prolific source OF knowledge. Ruskin says that
it would be delight to catch glimpse Of poet,
or to ask half dozen questions Of a wise man
but society kngly and queenly is found on book
shelves, waiting not to grant but to gain a hear
ing In books we come to the best teachers in
their best moods. But information is not the true
end to be obtained by reading Books should not
be used as a delicious couch on which to repose,
but as a store-house from which to draw resources
for the good OF man. The true end Of reading is
the development OF truer moral state and prac-
teal wisdom Prussan education triumphed
over French ignorance at Sedan. Books are use
full for those whose lives are spent in the common
walks. Not the best professional men only are
great readers but the fathers and mothers. 1t is
said that little learning is dangerous; but it Is
not as dangerous as none at all. All danger is
passed when one learns his own ignorance and
| the more he reads the better he will appreciate
the vastness OF literature and the insignifcance
OF his own attainments. We should read to de-
velop that practical power which is kingly.
"When should we read Whenever there is a
spare moment. The man who snatches time to
read from other duties develops more power
than he whose time is all his own. To prove this,
compare Gibbon with DR.. Arnold, and Wendell
| Phillips with Edward Everett. We must bend
circumstances to our profit or they will bend MS
| to our ruin. The best attachments possible can
be required by reading one hour a day. Habit
helps immensely in this development 1t is never
crystalized but grows year by year like the stall
| actte in Mammoth Cave. Whoever makes great
progress in reading must sacrifice minor consider
| atoms
slow shall we read Dr. Watts says, Read
ing in its true sense is study, and 1t is true that
any reading which amounts to anything means
effort. We should read, first, thoughtfully II
is OF great use to pause after each paragraph and
| chapter to think 1t over. Second, intellgently
Aliases dictionaries and encyclopedias should be
| consulted, and all possible information obtained
concerning the men, places and epochs men
toned. Third, discriminatory, holding the mind
in an attitude to see the force OF what is being
read Reading as conducted by the average Of
people makes sieve Of the mind. Books thai
are worth reading at all are worth reading well
The best books cannot be read rapidly.
"what shall we read? taste for reading
cannot be created, but must be developed. To d,
this the books must be of character pleasing t.
the reader Ruskin divides all books into two
classes,-those for an hour, and those for life
l
sively and enjoy the-u Lish, iie1iasure serves U
| develop the imagination. But 1t never pays Il
read fiction simply for the story Read in thi
| manner it disspates the mind, and is sure to d.
harm Fiction is true to life in all but names an,
dates; and IL Ivanhoe is read with view to study
ing the influence OF the Norman conquest on tn
language, and Hawthornes analysis Of characte
in his best novels is made the object Of reading
| no nj Of hasa will ba nd
But even Pilgrims Progress and the parable o
the Prodigal Son, read merely for the story, woul'
not prove beneficial. We should also read work
concentric to our callings. In order to obtain in
formation one must dare to confess ignorance
1t is better to be ignorant Of the writings Of skep
ties and the corrupt literature so freely circulated
We cannot be better than the books which W
read. Great works are the cement of the ages
Poetry, which is written for all ages, is often un
derestimated. 1t is strong to purify the mind an
ennoble the sensibilities. Painting, sculpture AM
music should be studied but more attention give
to poetry, the prince of fine arts, and that whic
gives the widest expression to the most sublim
imagery, with or without rhyme and rhythm
The writings Of Isaiah, jeremiah, David, and tn
vision Of st. John on Patmos, are specimens o
the submest poetry ever written. The Bible /
both divine and human, and its celestial orgii
should not repel the reader. 1t is the store-hous
from which poets have drawn their best resources
and is the Oldest and most deathless work in Iii
erature 1t was older than Chaucer Is to-da.
when Homer was in his cradle. This greatest o
all books deserves careful study.
| Carlyle says that the reformation was judg
, ment day for Europe England accepted tn
, Bible and France took the writings Of Voltaire a
guide England's condition is as much bette
than that OF France as the Bible is superior Il
voltaire. Dsraeli, himself Jew, says that tn
prince OF the house OF David is the only one VIII
has given the Jews, as a nation, any prominenc
in the world traveller in Russia after beauti
fully describing the church of the Assumption a
Moscow with its grand choir Of men and boys
and pictures of prophets, apostles, and the Virgil
!, with the child, says during the service ray o
|, light stole through the stained windows and reste
upon the child's face The vast cathedral scenes
, lighted by the SURPRISING glory that radiate'
from that full face. So Jesus is the light of tn
world"