The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1896-02-22
MRS. NEWELL'S ADDRESS.
Before the "Hytheham Club" of Port
Deposit, Last Week.


may bring us.
To the members of the Hytheham l Civ,
most cordial greeting. May our inter
course be characterized always by boil
pleasure and profit. The pleasure tina
comes from social union, and the pleasure
too as well as the profit that invariably
attends the student, as with anxious, per
severing, ambitious effort she climbs highel
and higher the ladder of culture, or delve'
deeper and deeper into the mines of know
ledge. In the first place, | wish to con
graduate the members OF this club upor
the extraordinarily favorable circumstances
under which the club has entered upon its
existence. In the case of almost all Other
similar organizations with which | have
been connected, or about which l have
known, there have been heavy current
expenses in the way of room-rent, fuel
light and janitor's service, while we, the
Hytheham Club, have here, through the
generosity and interest of those whom we
know and love and honor, beautiful
"local habtation, " with all the concomi.
tant comforts and with, on every side, the
best inspiration for our efforts. Though
do not claim to be a prophet, | foresee for
this club an era of success and benefaction
but in order TO attain the success which is
our privilege, and to accomplish the good
which is in our power, two things, it seems
to me, are necessary unity OF action and
unity of purpose.
Unity of action we must have in order
that our club may prosper We are striv-
ing for the same goal; let there be no
diversity as 10 the routes we take. There
must he no disscnsion, no rivalry, no
jealously among us Such manifestations
can do uauGht but retard our intel
lectual as well as our spiritual growth.
Omitted we stand; divided we fall )" is an
axiom as true as it is old Churches, sec
ular organizations and political parties
have acknowledged its wisdom and felt its
force. With Omitted we stand; divided
we fall" emblazoned upon her coat OF
arms, Kentucky has risen to the proud
eminence of magnificent prosperity. Let
this be the spirit that prevails among us.
That we have unity of purpose is,
think, assured by our coming together in
an organization which has for its prime
object the reading and study of great mer
through Their written words. A taste fol
good reading, once acquired, will last fol-
life; will be available every day; will grow
by what it feeds on; will rob temptation o
half it's power by stealing half its oppor
tunities; will give keener zest to every
pure enjoyment; will be refuge ant
solace in time of adversely; will spreat
from individual to family, and will b
transmitted unto the third and fourtl
generation; will more and more ennobl
the individual, until, like the leavep, sh
shall affect the community, for
No life can be pure in its purpose and stron,
In its strife,
And all life not be purer and stronge
thereby.
Sages Of all times, the gifted of all lands
reveal themselves to us through books.
Through this medium we may imbib
the wisdom of the philosopher may reve
in the imagtnations of the romancer, ma,
stand upon the exalted height OF tn
dramatst, may share in the ecstatic rap
ture of the past. | 'ynow of few pleasure
SO unalloyed, SO varied, as the pleasure
that comes to us through reading gooC
books. They are the friends that comfor
without irritating us, the teachers tina
instruct without rebuking us, the monitor
that advise without reproachipg and ap
prove without fattering, the companion
that entertain without ever boring us
They level all social barriers, obliterate al
political and religious creeds, annihlat
differences of age and sex. unite for us tn,
wisdom of the ancients with the wit of tn
moderns, and bring learners together upol
the common platforms of inquiry and re
search.
All that men have been, or done, o
hoped or dreamed, is lying, as in magic
preservation, between the leaves of books
Here are the treasures which comes to u
without money and without price, tn
store-hOuses that stand no danger of ex
haustion, the wells, pure and undeliled
that no drought can affect
The value of good reading cannot h
exaggerated. Gibbon, England's creates
historian, declared, ''lf the crowns Of al
the Kingdoms upon earth were laid at III,
feet in exchange for my hooks and my low
of reading, would spurn them all
A taste for the best reading is of speca
value to women, because TO her is given t
shape the destiny of men and of nation
through the home The character of til
home, its power for good or ill to til
nation, will be determined by the chal
acter Of tie woman who makes it.
The woman who has for her associa
TIE noble women of literature: Cordelis
strong in the power OF silent endurance
Imogen, as modest as she was brave
Portia, strong in feeling and clear i
Judgment Romola, pure in heart an
spiritual in mind: Jeanne Deans, tende