Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1889-11-21
pEsuLToRY REAnlNn
Most sO-CaIIed Reading Course. arc Pref
Nearly Pure Idioey.

@SOA III tfEfNEitN>s
Most sO-CaIied Reading Course. arc Pretty
Nearly Pure Idioey.
Mr.. Balfour has recently stepped aside
from political ways To deliver an address
at the openingof new library, in which
he won the approval of all true book
lovers by saying a good word for what is
among the self-elect known by the con-
temptuons term of 'desultoly reading
1t is the solemn conviction Of the Grad
grinds of the world that there is no read
ing which is of any advantage to man
unless II is arranged in courses and de-
voted to some specific end; while equally
the true book lover, the man who is born
with the literary instinct and conyic-
tion, knows beyond paradyenture that
this reading which has been stigmatized
as desuitory is the most valuable of all,
and that it is only by the good which is
won by following it through the wind
ing ways in which il leads as through a
labyrinth that one is able to get from
formal reading any benefit whatever
The first principle of reading should
be that one is profoundly interested
therein. Ii is worse than useless TO force
ones self, or to force others, to go over
the pages OF any book which does not of
itself hold the reader 1t may be neces-
sary now and then to go through course
of reading upon special subject as one
does any other mechanical task, but he
labors under complete misunderstand-
ing who supposes that by SO doing he is
increasing his intellectual culture. He
may for a moment increase the unassim-
Hated facts in his mind, but this is al
ways hinderance to mental progress
rather than help.
The genuine love Of books IL perhaps
, a thing which one must be born with to
enjoy 1t in its fullness, and il can. after
all be largely cultivated. At least,
there are few people who can not inter
est themselves in some sort of reading
II they are but placed in position to
reach the books which are adapted to
their minds, and-what is quite as in
portant-to their temperanents. What
Is known as desultory reading is, after
all, If one only examines the matter
little closely, reading what is adapted to
the condition of the mind at the mo-
ment. 1t is taking the mental food
which one can digest instead Of dieting
the mind upon those indigestible things
which have some time and somewhere
been supposed to be good for minds of
different sort in different condition.
Most reading courses are pretty nearly
pure idiocy; stringing together Of good
books into perfectly arbitrary and I'M
wholesome composition. One might as
we'll weigh out the food TO be eaten
meal by meal for year TO come. The
appetite has more 10 do with it than
theories, and is better guide unless it
has been most fouly dealt with
The way to read is to read, and if
person turned into library can not bet
ter find out what to read than anybody
can tell him, he is either too young to
be trusted alone anywhere or mentally
diseased. The mind is its own gauge,
and if it does not work well it is very
seldom that any outside expedient can
be made to serve instead, If the at
tempt be made it results in something
which is not cuhure. at least. BOSTON
Courier.