The Arkansaw traveler., 1886-04-03
PLEASURE OF READING.
By Sir John Lubbock.

With the grene leaves whispering overhede,
 Or the street eryes all about
 Where mac re0dc all ut my ease.
 Both of the neWc and olde,
 For Il joilc goode bookc whercon to looke
 Is better to me than golde.'
 The debt We owe to books is well ex- pressed by K. de Bury, bishop of Dur ham author of Philobiblon. published in liI13. and the earliest English treatise on the delights of literature: These are the masters who instruct us without rods and ferules, without hard words and anger without clothes or money If you approach them, they are not asleep if ycsti9ating you intcrrogate them they conceal nothing; if you mis- take them, they never gumble; if you are ignorant, they cannot laugh at you, This feeling that books are real friends is constantly present to all who love reading
 "l have friends, said Petmrch whose society k extremely agreeable tu mc; they of all ages, and oi every country. They have distinguished themselves both in the cabinet and in the field, and obtained high honor for their knowledge nj the suences II k easy to gain access a them, for they are always at my ScrVicc. and admit them 10 my company and dislniss them from it. when ever please. They are never troublesome. but immediately answer every question l ask them. Some relute to me the events of past ages while others reveal to me the secrets of nature. Some tcach me how to live, and others how to die. some. hy their vivacty, drive away my cares and cxhilarate my spirits; while others give fortitlc to my mind, and teach me the important lesson how to restrain my desires and to depend wholly on myself. They open to me, i'll short the Vari- ous avenues of all the arts and sciences. and upon their information may safely rely in ull emtr geneics. In return for nlll their services. they only ask me tonecominotate them with Il conHe- nicnt chamber in some corner of lny humble hab- itation, where they may reposc in peace, for these friends are more delighted by the tranquility ui retirement than with the tumults of onciety."
 He that loveth book, says Isaac Barrow, will never want d faithful friend, wholesome counsellor, a cheer ful companion, and an etiectual com iorter By study by reading by think ing, one may innoeently divert and pleasantly entertain himself, as in all weathers, 50 in all fortunes.
 Southey took d rather more melan- choly view
 " My day, among the dead arc pass Il,
 Around Inc behold.
 Mhert er These casual eyes are east,
 The mighty minds oi old;
 My never failing friends are they.
 With whom converse day by day '
 Imagine in the words of Akin that wv had il in our power to call up the shades ol the greatest ana wiScst men that ever existed, and ohiisc them to converse with on the most interesting topics what an iuestimabc privilege
 
 enJoymentSi But m n well furnished ittary wc, i'll fact possess this powcr. We can question NcnOphon and ta'>ar on their campaigns, make pcmoSthcncs ai,i Cicero plead before uS. join in the audiences ol socrates and Plato, and receive demonstrations from Euclid and Newton In books We have the choicest thoughts oi the ahlcst men Ill their hest dress.
 Books, says Jeremy Collier, are a guide in youth and an entertainment forage. They support Us under solitude, a,,l l. ourselves. They help us to forget the crossness of men and things compose our cares and our passions; and lay our disappointments asleep. When we are weary of the living, we may repair to the dead, who have nothing of peevishness, pride or design in their conversation.
 Cicero described room without books as a body without n soul But it k bv no means necessary to be a philosopher to love reading
 Sir John llerschel tells an amusing anecdote Illustrating the pleasure de. rived from book, not assuredly of the first order. In certain village the blacksmith had got hold of Rchardson's novel Pamela, or Virtue Rewarded" and used to sit on his anvil in the lon. summer evenings and read 1t aloud to large and attentive audience It is bv no means short book but they fairly listened to it all At length, when the happy turn of fortune arrived which brings the hero and heroine together. and sets them living long and happily according to the most approved rules, the congregation were so delighted as to raise great shout, and procuring the church keys, actually set the parish bells ringing
 The lover of reading, says Leigh Hunt, will derive asFetahe terror from sir Bertrm and the Haunted Chamber: will assent with de lighted reason to every sentence in Mrs. Bar hanld,s Essay; will feel himself wandering nto solitudes with Gray: shake honest hands with Sir Roger de Coverley; be ready to embrace l'arson Adams and to chuck Pouncc' out of Marco Polo and Mungo Park stay at home with Thompson; retire with 'Cowicy; be in. dustrious with lluton; Sympathilng with Gay and Mrs. lnchhad. laughing with (and au Buncle; melancholy and forlorn, and self-re. stored with the shiprccked mariner of DcFoe.'
 The delights of reading have been ap- preclated m many quarters where we might least expect it. Among the hardy Norsemen Runes were supposed to be endowed with miraculous power. There Is an Arabic proverh, that "a wise mans day is worth fools life,' and though 1t rather perhaps reflects the spirit of the califs than of the sultans. that the ink of science is more pre-. cious than the blood of the martyrs.'
 Confucius is said to have described himself as man who lin his eager pur- suit of knowledge forgot his food, who in the joy of it's attainment forgot his sorrows, and did not even perceive that old age was coming on"
 Yet if this could be said by the Chi nese and the Arabs, what language can be strong enough to express the grati- tude we ought to feel for the advantages we enjoy. We do not appreciate, l think, our good fortune in belonging to the nineteenth century. X hundred years ago many of the most delightful books were still uncreated. How much more interesting science has become es- .pecialiy, if were to mention only one