The southern sentinel. (Winnfield, La.) 1883-1910, 1904-12-29

books a man reads the more he knows
Tho less Il man reads the less he vii
know Reading said Lord Bacon
.nakes full man. .
Am | wrong? I believe today tina
one Of the curses OF this age is to
much reading and too little thinking
Aten aud women cram themselves wit
Z Tot ~ mentally unligested Hteratur
IN the same way that many people be
cone eonmanas at q dining table.
IS not the amount of food you put int
your stomach that makes you q stronl
man. it is the amount of food you iii
geSt. We should think man yer,
silly who said. II want to make my
sell a physical giant. | am therefor
going TO cat enough food for ten men
IT breakfast | will have the cool
bring 90. me- three pounds OF beefsteal
;.s3d a dozen eggs and half bushel ot
saasliesi potatoes. ana ] Will sit there
AHA grr to eat them all When dinner
comes around viii try to eat ;fWholt
Ter OF mutton. ana when supper comes
a great big roast OF beef" What
would happen. His digestive organs
woald revolt His body would be rack
Ell with pain. Perhaps perltonitis
would set in. and death would be the
result o. his folly.
Literary Commands.
Now, as some ;eornlands abuse their
stomachs with too much eating. SO
some eornapds for mental food abuse
their brains with too much reading.
They stnl their minds with whole
piles uf indigestihIe literary food. They
read ana they read and they read.
They keep on reading and never think
or care about what they are reading.
They read until at last their brains ab--
soluteiy refuse 70 90 any independent
Their brains become Ike a
great sponge flicd with water. sodden
and heavy aud inactive. Of no earthly
use 10 anybody or anything. What you
o1ght 10 DO e lot 10 see how many
books you can skim through. but how
Ia0y books yoa can master.
Lock OUT" SAYS the old adase, ''for
he man who Is master OF one. book \
Look out say !. for the master OF i
ew great books. Too much reading
rnly becomes q Neariness TO the flesh.
'fr Sturgeon IL one of his sermons
quotes the invecssye which Lueian IN
9israeli's 'Guriossties OF Literature
naAss against those men whose pride
! In II large library which they never
properly reed and therefore cannot
lrait by. Such 4 man Is like pilot
rho las never learned the art OF navi-
.ation or q cripple who wears emhroid-
rcd slippers and cannot stand upright
Il them. Why Do sou buy 50 many
soosss You have no hair and you pur-
.lase q coinb. You are blind, and you
must need buy fine mirror. You are
Leaf. and you will have the best music
il Instruments But the foolishness Of
,uying library OF books FOR the shelf
% that you can look upon their hand
oma bindings is not TO be compared In
T. evil effects TO the sin against the
,rain BY too much promiscnous read
NJ. I protest against the ''cramming''
processes we have in our public schools. |
protest against the examining. proc
sses we have In our colleges. / protest
gainst the lightning rapidity with
shicii men and women gallop through
heir books in an evenings reading. |
'uy fewer books. Master those books. /
.ead them over and over again and I
make them integral parts of your
elves. The discordant voices around
be tower OF Babel could not have /
cen more helpless to do good than are
he habbline tongues of many books |
-hich have been hastily read. Better.
ar better, master few great books
ian have mere speaking acquaint-
ice with thousand different books.
Myriads of books are coming forth
18th ousstreteLe1 hands. claiming our
-elcome. We can only afford to take
few to our hearts. How important,
lerefore, it Is for us not to invite into
II sanctuary bad book. How I'M
1rtant it is for us not 10 let our chill
real read any bad books. And, above
!. how important 1t is not to have
~ bad books at all upon our library
ielves or our sitting room table. But,
lough al of ms are very careful never
have a bottle of arsenic or stryeh-
ne ca laudanuni or carbolic acid In
II medicine closet unless It is con-
'icuously and clearly labeled s.Poi-
~ yet many will allow the most
.adly Of all mental. moral and spirit
u poisons to come into our homes In
e shape Of lad book, unlabeled with
y danger signal. We will suffer the
Il virus Of TINT poisonous book not
u to be inocnlated into our own
arts. but also into the hearts OF our
red ones.
The Influence Of Book.
How many men have been ruined for
ne aud eternity By the Influence OF
e bad book. Am l describing the
perience of any of you when imag- :
} q scene Of denoniac siege and con-
est? For many years Satan was
ing to batter down the doors OF
ur fathers Christian home. Again
d again he had charged upon that
Fefully guarded stronghold to cap
e your heart. blst again and again
had failed. Satan would come PIP :
TINT front door and he would bear Q
family singing at evening ara 2
ming pray ers, and be could not get II
=