The Wilmington daily Republican., 1901-10-29
HALF-HOUR'S DAILY READING.
1t Has a Wonderful IuA Auence in Help
ing a Man to Grow Old
Gracefully.

1t is curious fancy that educa-
ton is thing to acquire in lump
and have done with as soon as possi-
BILE, as il it were measles. In nine
eases out of ten the child leaves
scholastic associations on leaving
schoola When the graduates, in white
dresses or their best coats, are read
ing essays on the art of government
and the relation of the passages in
the pyramids to The astronomic the
ories of the Chaldeans, it would seem
/ to sympathetic observer as if the
work of the school has but just be-
gun. 1t is too bad that in many cases
it not only ceases, but that the schol-
) ar goes backward. This does not
mean simply that he forgets what
has been taught, for much that we go
through in schools is for training,
not remembrance; but he forgets the
influences that have surrounded him,
forgets the lessons of history he has
learned, forgets to follow those sub
jects which have been to him sources
of pure pleasure and profitable re-
search, says the Philadelphia Satur-
day Evening Post.
One does not do so when he enters
TIE business world with fixed pur-
pose. He knows that his preparation
is never complete; that he must al
ways study, examine and inquire;
that he could not know all that is to
be known of subject If his life
time were doubled. That man may
well be alarmed who discovers that
he has ceased to grow; that he no
longer profits by new experiences;
that he can no longer address him
self with energy and interest to new
subjects; for such a man has come to
the end of his life, even though the
day of his death may be far distant.
After falling into business habits
not one person in thousand tries
to fall out of them. The easy way is
the usual way, though it is not al
ways the way of the higher profit
If one were to take but half an hour
out of the 24-though whole hour
would be little enough for profitable
reading-he would before long be
master of theme, and would be a
man of note in his specially. He
could command language, or
science. or an art, and double his use
fnlness, and happiness. And that is
the main thing, to increase content.
There is mean satisfaction in stag
nation. but there is high satsfac-
tion in the knowledge that we are of
use to our fellows, and that our lives
are not in vain.
We can then associate with our
seniors when we are young, and with
our juniors as our hair grows gray;
for as we age our minds will broaden
instead Of harden, our views and sym
pathies will grow warmer and mel |
lower. and our place in the world will !
be higll." than il we had merely |
dropped our books at the end of
school.
Michael Angelo carried his books
with him SO long as he could read, |
and spoke of himself as a schoolboy.
Newton said that his great discovery
was but as a single pebble on the
shore of the ocean of truth. We who |
are not Angeles or Newtons can at
least copy their example, and at the
end we may, through our humble, un-
watched studies, give to the world
some fact, some thought, some fan
cy that will fix itself in the men,
ories of generation to come, and |
will make us the happier that we
have shown this result of living.