Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1900-07-21

| Dogma, quite makes THIS point
think. What l am speaking of is mis-
cellaneous reading. After a while one
wearies Of the endless repetition. the
"damnable iteration" contained in the
great mass of books. You will finally
come to care for nothing but the Bible.
vShakespeare. the Rubaiyat and Burns.
All others are .twice-told tales in
deed.
| OF course, one must read the great
scientific productions They are an
addition to positive knowledge. and are
thing quite apart from ordinary
literature. Our scientific books are the
only literature worth while that is be-
| ing produced at present: they are the
only creative literature
Include in all your daily prayers the
supplication to be delivered from the
analytic. the critical in your mental
tendency and habit. Nothing is worth
while for the full grown man but the
synthetic. the constructive. Not that
we do not need scavengers and scourg-
ers and destroyers; but he is unfortu-
| nate to whom Nature has appointed
such a task of disintegration. 1T is
impossible but that offenses Will come;
but woe unto him through whom they
come You see how impossible it is
to get away from the Shrewd old He
breWS. My recommended ton of the
Bible. in this paper. is not on account
of its spiritual or religious influences
at all ] am advising it from the ma
terial and even the business view
point. By far the shrewdest practical
wisdom contained in literature is in
the Bible, and put in terms SO apt and
so condensed. too, that their very
brcvity proves their inspira tion-is an
inspiration to You | carry the Bible
with me as "A matter of literary re-
taxation. The tellers of the Bible sto-
ries that tell the stories and stop. He
bulded him city"-"He smote the
Philjstines' took her to his moth
er's tcnt"-you are not wearied to
dc ath by the details. Go into any au-
dierce addressed by Il public speaker.
and you viii perceive that his hearers
interest depends on whether he is get
ting to the paint. Well. why doesn't
he set to the point" is the common ex-
preston in public assemblages. The
Bible gets to the point" And it has
something for everybody. If you are
politician. or even a statesman. no
y
read with profit several times year
the career Of David. the cleverest
politician ana one of the greatest
statesmen who ever lived. If you are
a business man, the proverbs of Solo
mon will tone you up like mountain
air. II you are a woman read Ruth
A man of practical life. great man,
but purely a man of the world once
for all the young women of America. il
would be that each of them should
read the book of Ruth once a month"
But the limits of this paper do not per-
nit a dissertation on the Bible
Shakespeare, of course you cannot get
along without. And the Rubaiyat. A
convenient pocket edition of these i'm
mortal quartrains ought to be carried
in the pocket of every man who meets
emergencies. 1t supplies serenity.
MacMonnieS. the greatest sculptor in
the world, and one of the most brill
liant NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. proud
we are that he is an American)-once
said To me:
Il have learned to do my best, and
then. if tine whole universe collapses.
sit down on the curbstone and laugh at
the absurd finale
That is what Omar Khayyam does
| for you. Read him and you will do
Your duty regardless of consequences.
| The disciple of the tentmaker cannot
possibly lose his perspective, his sense
Of the proportion of things. one reads
| a single Verse-the corrective has done
| the work, and one no longer regards
| today as eternity, no longer looks at
| the world and the universe from him
| self as a center. Let & man do his
| duty. let him have the courage Of his
| thought. and do his deed and walk off
with the old fataliSts verses soothing
| his soul and BRAIN and let the dis
| turbed ones clamor. The clamor will
| cease in time and turn to applause.
| And whether it does or not is matter
| Of absolutely no Importance if You
| have done right. Burns. of course, we
| must keep reading. We must have
| him to keep the milk of human kind
ness flowing in our veins. to keep sweet
and sincere and loving. Put your
Bible. your Shakespeare, your Rubaiyat
and your Burns in your bundle when
you 50 for a journey. and you are in
| teleCtually and spiritually equipped 49,
Senator Albert J. Beverage, in Satur-
dav Evening Post.