Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1899-02-19

~ ~ LA L.
day and the books have their nar,s-or,v
there was no good fairy '''''
| KNOW hni not worthy 10 advisa In
this matter. put do know OF few
springs whose waters are sweet and heal
ha s 70 sIhioss e'.ry human III. | do not
De"oVe III sioa' zeal Of reading. There
49, 80 ,, oe as drinking too much
| ohta. "a nB water. My mother
In from running game. mo not ar,nis
much water while you ara 40 no, and
| thirsty." she says. a very good nrsscrt,-
| tion is, Drink a little az H. H. ga
drink II slowly" OF booke-vou carnor
read them all-read few Of tho hest
cannot give full list. and besides.
| ones taste should guido b,r, an nor,
only remembering that hitter water Is
sometimes the best ana viii become
sweet aiter awhile Here are some books,
though' whlch 1 have found delightful
Ivuli '"ihs oi h'ihg water TO drink OF:
ol"heSpeaie anu lennyson. who make
| you think; Longfellow. az whom 7 heard
schoolgirl say the other dav IT go 10
Longfellow when am SAD. DavId CON
perfield. Of Dickens fullest source of pure
aspiration that l know Of. and the sweet
tale OF the Old Curiosity Shop. Vanity
Fair. Of Thackeray; thrilling Ivanhoe:
Rienzi, Of Bulwer-Lvtton ard Uarold.
Last Of the Saxon Kings. Adam Rede. OF
George Eliot. Then ever I'm mind are the
heart-to-hcart Reveres of n Bachelor.
and Dream Life Of Donald G.. MITCHELL
sesame and Lilies OF Ruskin, and his
Crown of Wild Olives
| have mentioned these hooks because
there are two classes which do not in
clude them. Of which, I am willing TO say,
drink as much of them as you choose;
only drink slowly, and you will grow
strong and noble. They are histories Of
nations and the biographies of the good
men who stand out in every national his
tory. Read OF them and think OF them
without measure, being Of yourself, but
like them.
Then. how? John Ruskn. in that same
Sesame and Lilies, says one might read
all the books In the British Museum, IL
he were 20 live long enough. and then
not be educated; and vet he could read
less than a dozen; ard in n true sense be
educated. He was right. So then stand
ing alongside the question. what shall
readY" IS another II equal importance,
How shall | read?"
/ do not mean, OF course, how TO read
well aloud. That is nothing. but so to
muse and think upon the what the author
Is saying, as your eye rests upon the
words as to get from them his true
meaning. If the writer Is a wise one and
feels deeply the truth OF what he writes,
he will come very nearly putting on pa
per the thought Of his mind-he can never
do il quite. And, for me. ] must so think
on what his words mean, one by one, that
|, too. catch the thought. The first thing
| must do when | read Is 20 place myself
as nearly as / can in the same frame OF
mind as the author himself at the time
Of the writing. This must be true also.
OF the more common thing Of reading let
tiers. Who has not experienced the dis
comfort ceming Of letter because one
could not know or had not from review
ing the antecedents Of It, succeeded in
learning the state Of the writer? 1t is
true. indeed. that lovers and sweethearts
have been separated for years by just this
thing, and even parents and children. If
such is the case, then how important,
when one thinks OF the shortness of life,
and what a misunderstanding between
wilful people means-how important,
say. is II TO learn TO read.
Well, how then? l should try as far
as / am able TO know the mental sur
roundings Of the writer, and when /
have gotten my mind tuned, as II were,
to his, when each chord Of my nature Is
responsive to each chord Of his, to read
slowly and thoughtfully. II the author
IS worth reading at all, he means some
thing by every word he uses; then l must
learn the true meaning Of each word, re-
ceiving its true light in the light OF the
words about it. As Ruskin says, If l
read a book and find nothing I'm IT but
the things | have thought OF myself, and
no opinions different from mine, then /
am throwing away my time. The au-
thor is no wiser than J. But when he
does say the things ] never thought or
before, or holds up for my acceptance
views much unlike mine, | must stop
when l come 10 them, and think calmly
and slowly about them. No doubt they
are better and truer than mine, and L
will be wiser 20 have them for my own.
but II they shall be mine I must think
on them, ask Of them all sorts OF queS-
lions. and If they stand the test, then l
can receive them as a part or my own
Intellectual body. a thing Is suggested
here that men are very careless about
the adoption Of opinions or views on
matters as important as life itself. what
man would not shudder at seeing a pure
and lovely woman walking down the |
street with q man whose character she !
was ignorant Of, yet whom he knew 10 DO |
vile as men can be vile, impure OF thought |
and act a thief and roDDeT, or now !
he would dlsdan such companionship for |
himself? Yet he will take an idea with |
out examining II al all, associate IL with |
his sacred notions Of God and good, with |
he love of mother and the purity or /
woman. while all the time 1t Is wholly |
4 vile and noisome thing.
We sometimes call such things our
)rejudices.
when. therefore, the authors thought
"a approved and is ours, we may pass
IN. but never till then, bearing always in
mind that the sweetest kernels are some
line hidden under thickest and hardest
shells. and that the golden apples are at
he top OF the tree, where all day long
hey ripen in the blessed light OF the
sun.
Papa Was Much Too Smart.