Salt Lake evening Democrat. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1885-1887, 1886-10-18
TO YOUNG MEN.
The Third Lecture Delivered by the
Rev. Mr.. Armstrong, Of st. Pau's
Episcopal Church.
An Excellent Discourse on Interesting
Literary Subjects.
"Of Making Many Books There Is No
End"-How, When and What
to Read.


given below in full:
If Solomon thought in his day that,
"Of making many books there is no end"
what would he think now If we were TO
take him through one OF the great
libraries OF the world. The Congressional
Library at Washington has 27O, 900 vol
umes. There are many other libraries
as large and some much larger The
Royal Library at Munich and the Inn
peral Library at St. Petersburg have each
0000 900 volumes. The National Library
OF France and the British Museum have
each | 100000.
All this has been done in modern
times. AS late as 1900 the library OF
Oxford was locked up in a little iron box.
In l494 the library OF the Bishop OF Win
chester had parts of seventeen books.
When he borrowed Bible from st.
| Swithen he had to give heavy bond
that he would bring it back safe Then
one could easily "read, mark, learn and
inwardly digest all the books in reach.
But now it would take life time to look
over the books written in single year.
What must we do? Why we must choose
our books Read as many OF the good as
we can, and that we may do this we
must let the bad entirely alone.
| Ii fisherman knew OF a clear stream
| full of bass and salmon and trout, he
would not go to mud puddle and fish for
minnows and cells. So, give your reading
time to the great books. Never read a
poor book Never read trash" | sup
pose there are about 200 good novels in
this world which anyone may read with
| profit Most of the rest are trash. But
200 novels are certainly enough for life
time. think it will not hurt anyone to
read from three to five novels year But
as you are going to read but 200, be very
careful how you choose them. Don't
read any trashy novels; and as for SEN
sational story papers, flee from them as
a pestilence. 1t is really almost enough
to make one despair of our race to see a
strong, able-bodied young man hiding
behind the folds OF cheap wood-cut
paper, concentrating the whole of his
mighty genius upon some sensational
romance OF love and blood Such read
ing is poison. 1t weakens the mind, in
flames the imagination, warps the judy
ment, deadens the conscience and makes
the reader look at the world with jaun-
diced eye. But, says one, we read these
books as we go into questionable places,
to learn life. One might just as well go
into tigers cage to study zoology. To
love bad book because of its beauty, is
like fondling the coils ola serpent because
they are bright, or caressing the hand OF
an assassin because it is jeweled. You
may think these books do not hurt you,
but they do hurt you; they are poison
they not only fill you with ulcers, but
blind your eyes 50 that you cannot see
them.
Several years ago / was with COM
pany OF young ladies and gentlemen
one mentioned as being most evil in its
tendency. why" said one OF the girls,
az keep that book under my pillow, and
it has never hurt me-" Put not very long
after, this very girl ran off with another
woman's husband, who was known
| to be one of the most worthless
and dissolute men in the community
| | am sure it is good rule for every aspir-
| ing young man to make, that he will
read no doubtful literature, no dime nov
| els, no novels which we do not know TO
! be truly great books, and no story papers,
and might add there is Il good deal in
| some of the daily papers which will do
us no good \ book, after all, is but the
companionship OF an absent author. And
surely no one would prefer to sit down
| and listen to an obscure fellow spin an
imagined story from his sickly brain than
to hear Bayard Taylor tell of his travels
or Prescott relate the marvellous story OF
| the conquest OF Mexico. What privi-
| lege to be admitted into the company OF
the mighty dead and to hear them talk
| We should like to have known old
Chaucer and Shakespeare and Milton,
but We have on our book shelves the best
they had to say. We should like to have
listened to Burke, or Southey, or Webster,
but we have their best speeches. We
can 90 into the presence OF the great of
earth. They will give us their wisest
words We are not angered at their re-
proofs. They furnish us the best amuse-
ment; they give their rich experience +;
they impart knowledge which is the
fruit OF a life's research; they form our
own style of thinking and speaking, so
that after we have walked time together
we catch step, and find ourselves learn
| ing the stately tread OF DIR. Motley, or
writing the simple Saxon OF Irving. But
you will ask when shall we who make
our living at desk or counter find time to
do such studying? That depends upon
your habits. But am sure
all can find time to read one
and ! think two hours every day. That
would carry you through thirty or forty
books year, and that is about as much
as one wants to read. BY two hours thus
| spent you will soon acquire the invaluable
habit OF method, and qualify yourself to
stand among men OF culture and make
a mark in the world. Some young men are
discouraged from u course of reading be-
cause they have not had college edu-
cation. We do not know the classics,
say they. Well, if by classics You mean
Latin and Greek, | think most young
men are just as well off without them as
they are with them. They saga physician
must have Latin to write prescriptions
which nobody else can read. A school
teacher must know the languages. A
preacher must have Greek and Hebrew.
But think there is a vast amount OF
time wasted in teaching Latin and Greek
to boys who intend to forget it as soon as
they can. At any rate, | should say,
don't be discouraged because YOU don't
know Latin. do not believe that one
cannot speak good English without Il
knowledge Of Latin. 1t will help, OF
course, but know many who speak and
write well who know no Latin believe
in our own language and literature. |
| think il is AZ much better than the
ancients' as the sun is brighter than the
moon. The moon rules the night, and
the classics the dark ages but the
| English tongue in the nineteenth century
is the sun at its meridian
Mr.. Garfield once wisely said ''Grecan
children were taught to reverence the
virtues Of their ancestors, but our edu-
Cational forces are so nodded as to teach