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. Paul's
Episcopal Church.
An Excellent Discourse on Interesting
Literary Subjects.
"0f Making Many Books There is No
End"-HOW, When and What
to Read.

II Inc heN. WI. armstrong, faSt0f Oh >
Paul's Episcopal Church, entertained
. large congregation last evening with a
interesting lecture on literature, which
given below in full
Z II Solomon thought in his day thai
6 "Of making many books there is no end,
.. what would he think now if We were t
take him through one of the grea
libraries OF the world. The Congressional
Library at Washington has 100000 vol
umes. There are many other ibrarie
as large and some much larger. Th,
2 Royal Library at Munich and the I'm
perial Library at st. Petersburg have eacl
, $780, 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 o.
Oxford was locked up in little iron box
In 1894 the library of the Bishop of Win.
chester had parts OF seventeen books
When he borrowed a Bible from st.
Swithen he had to give a 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 a 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 clear stream
full OF bass and salmon and trout, he
would not 60 to amud puddle and fish for
minnows and eels. 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
satlonal story papers, flee from them as
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 iudg-
ment, deadens the conscience and makes
the reader look at the world with a iaun-
diced eye. But, says one, we read these
books as We go into questionable places.
to learn life. One might just as well 90
into tigers cage to study zoology. To
love bad book because Of its beauty, is
like fondling the coils of a 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 so that you cannot see
them.
Several years ago | was with a COM
pany of young ladies and gentlemen
talking of books. I denounced certain
one mentioned as being most evil in its
tendency. Why" said one of the girls,
Il keep that book under my pillow, and
it has never hurt me-" But 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 a 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 a good deal in |
some of the daily papers which will do
us no good. A 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
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 a 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 ]
hey had to say. We should like to have
listened to Burke, or Southey, or Webster,
out we have their best speeches. We
IAN go INTO the presence of the great of :
earth. They will give us their wisest
"ords. we are not angered at their re- l
proofs. They furnish us the best amuse- !
nent; they give their rich experience; $
hey impart knowledge which is the :
rult OF LIES research they form our
.wn style of thinking and speaking, so /
hat after we have walked time together q
We catch step, and find ourselves learn |
ng the stately tread of DR.. Motley, or y
writing the simple Saxon of Irving. But a
GU will ask when shall We who make n
ur living at desk or counter find time to n
o such studying? That depends upon T
our habits. But am sure h
Ii can find time to read one n
nd think two hours every day. That .
'ould carry you through thirty or forty y
ooks year, and that is about as much ii
one wants to read. By two hours thus o.
1ent you will soon acquire the invaluable b
abit OF method, and qualify yourself to G
and among men OF culture and make a,
mark in the world. Some young men are b,
scouraged from course of reading be- O,
luse they have not had college edu- is
Ihon. We do not know the classics. ri
" they. Well, if by classics you mean
attn and Greek, l think most Young u,
EN- are just as we'll off without them rs at
ley are with them. They say physician h,
ust have Latin 10 write prescriptions pa
inch nobody else can read. A school a
acher must know the languages. A ii,
eacher must have Greek and Hebrew. he
1T l think there is a vast amount Of
ne wasted in teaching Latin and Greek
boys who intend to forget it as soon as
ey can. At any rate, | should saw.
mt be discouraged because YOU don't -,
low Latin. do not believe that one u. ~
mot speak good English without a TN
lowledge OF Latin. 1t will help. of WI
urse, but L know many who speak and ail'
lite well who know no Latin. believe AZ
our own language and literature.
tmnk 1t IS as much better than the l.,
clients, as the sun is brighter than the
Don. The moon rules the night. and
e classics the dark ages; but the mir
lglish tongue in the nineteenth century
the sun at its meridian.
MIR. Garfield once wisely said: ''Grecian
lIdren We're taught TO rererence the