The daily morning journal and courier., 1896-12-07
PLACE AND POWER OF BOOKS
LECTURE BEFORE MEN'S CLUB BY
 WILLIAM 4. HATCHER.

Development of Free Libraries-Value of
 Books PrOportioned to Their Truthful
 ness--Next Lecture, by Charles Dudley
 Warner.
 At the meeting of the Mems club of the United church last evening MT. William I. Fletcher of Amherst college spoke on "The Place and Power of Books" He said, in part:
 'The first step in the development of the free public libraries is to be found in system of subscription libraries in- itiated by Franklin in Philadelphia. These libraries did a good work in edu- eating the people of that day. It is doubtful if the American people could have carried on the Revolutionary war to a successful issue had they not been educated up to ideas of social and po- litical freedom by these libraries. Another stage of progress was nec- essary before the present system of free public libraries was reached and the library became a missionary move ment to carry books and education to | the many.
 This stage came about the middle of | the present century and was contem- poraneous with the invention of the power printing press-an invention 1 hardly to be considered second to that | of the printing press itself. With the l invention of the power printing press came the movement for free libraries in both this country and in Europe. This 1 is pre-eminently the age of libraries, and I suppose I might say of books.
 "The question now is what these books are doing. One answer to the l question is that they are giving infor- nation and education to people, mak- l ing them wiser. We don't know, but we hope so Another answer is that it is making better citizens of people and | also making them better able to do l their respective duties in life.
 l The true power and influence of l books is well expressed in the words of scripture, He shall be like tree plant l ed by the river of life So we by read ing can keep in touch with the living l stream of human thought. Literature in it's highest and truest sense flows from the throne of God. To say it must be true is to say the same thing. l What we consider best in modern his- tory is that which gives us the true 1 philosophy of human events In the numerous philosophical histories of the Napoleonic era. we can already see the dawning of the judgment day.
 Books of travel are valuable just in proportion as they give us a true in- sight into the lives and institutions of the people visited.
 Science, criticism and poetry are also valuable in proportion as they are true. But it is to fiction that the ma jority of readers turn. In no other 1 form, with perhaps the exception of poetry, is the power to present life as l great as it is in fiction. May it also form a part of the river of life? A thousand times yes, Its duties are tc fix the relations of men in society and
 we may look for a large part of life | treated in connection with love. AS long as this love is self-saerificing and kind it is a part of the river of life, bu, if it is base and sensual it is false and evil
 The great writers of fiction have
 been in vital touch with the living thought of humanity. One of the req,
 uisites of reading is taste, and taste ir it's last analysis can mean nothing less
 than the desire for the true and good
 Turn away from all reading iron
 which you feel the worse; choose tha'
 which lifts you up and makes your life better. Choose the books which are fol the healing of the nations.
 MT. Charles Dudley Warner will ad
 dress the Mems club next Sunday even
 ing on Early Egyptian Civilization
 MT. Warmers recent travels in Egypf
 will lend added interest to his remarks upon this subject.