The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1890-10-16

jective standpoint instead of from an
objective; !. e., as to its effects on the j; :
dividual himself instead IF its effects IN
his hearers, and his manner of proceeding
in order to render it effective. Let US
observe (a) the quality of the reading.
1t should be wholesome. As poisonous
food would either destroy or greatly i'm.
pair the body, 80 poisonous reading mat
ter will either destroy or greatly impair
that which is best and noblest in mind,
soul and character. ~ It should not
be in too great quantity. It is not what
we eat, but what we digest, that builds
up the body; so We should not read more
than the mind can digest. But ne
should remember that it is possible to
read too little as we'll as too much for
the proper development of the mind.
When We compare the bodily and the
mental digestive apparatus, we should
keep this distinction in mind: Bodily
digestion, or digestion of food in the body,
goes on without any direct volition of
the will, while it depends upon our wills
whether we digest what We read or not.
This brings US to observe (c) that ne
rnust digest we'll what ne read, else it
were better not to have read. II we were
to eat and then not to exercise our bod.
les at all after esting, but sit or lie all the
while, the food that we ate would soon
sour in our stomach, and gases would be
generated that would injure our digestive
organs, and the arrangement and weak
ening and suffering of the whole bodily
System would be the result; in like man.
ner, if we read aud do not exercise our
mental faculties, our minds will be weak.
ened instead of strengthened by our read.
ing. If food is thoroughly digested, the
body gets all the good from it that is
contained in it, and we know this from
the healthful and vigorous condition of
the body; and this is evident to others as
well as ourselves, so it is with our minds:
if they have we'll digested the matter
they have been exercised upon We should
be conscious of it, and it should be evi.
dent to others. AS the food is constantly
agitated and acted upon by the digestive
organs until it is thoroughly digested
and then taken up for the nourishment
of the body, so what ne read should be
constantly reyolyed and repeated in our
minds, and compared with our other
knowledge until it is made available and
useful. Keeping in mind Bacon's widely
known aphorism, Conference makes
ready man, reading full man, but writ
ing an exact man." it would be we'll for
us, in order that we may know that we
have an accurate mental grasp of wha.
wehave read, to go through the processes:
1. Ofrelating orally what wo have read
in well chosen words, aud in as clear and
concise manner as possible. 2. OF re.
ducing to writing all the thoughts con.
tained in the matter that we have read,
as near as possible, Of course having the
book closed. After we are done ne
should compare what we have repro.
duced with the original as contained in
the book, and note minor faults and de-
fects. We should not read what would
not be serviceable in some way. In this
connection we will quote a passage from
Ruskin, as we'll as we shall be able to do
so from memory: "a book that is not
worth much is not worth anything; and
book, to be of service, must be read and
re-read, and loved and loved again, and
its choice passages marked for future ref.
erence, so that we can seize upon and
use them, just as woman would seize
the spice she needs from the pantry, or
soldier the weapon he needs from the ar
mory." (d) Reading should be suffi-
ciently varied. As in the body, it is
not enough that food should be whole
some, but it should contain all the ele-
ments necessary for the building up of