The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-12-17

continues, the treadmilll goes around. He is a cog in the wheel. a slave in the grind, but if he has gotten glimpse of the vision splendid, and Is on his way attended by @ love of higher things, this interest will manifest It. self perhaps by a sportive but yet very profitable delight in the thoughts and fancies, the meditations, the argu- ments and philosophizings of the great and good men of the past. And whether it be a hasty snatch of the book at lunch time or dinner time. or rnaype a' bed time, or perhaps in bed; in short, wherever these bits and fragments can be taken in. by and by the accu- mutation amounts to much and one ceases to be a Philistine and be- comes one of the chosen people, with heart turned towards sweetness and light.
 But I must repeat that the delight of reading may become very serious temptation. The pleasures of litera- ture, indeed. may come to interfere with ones true education, or even with the discharge of ones duty. It may turn one into a meye dreamer or man of inaction, like the melancholy Dane, whose native hue of resolution IS sick lied over with the pale cast of thought whose mental energies are consumed Tn BpllIllnB UftEb anu HI thAAAAhS IOo precisely on the event, while the thing to be done remains to do. h. deed, 1t is not an uncommon sight to see a student even in college ruin the systematic training of his prescribed studies, by an omnivrous, indiscrimi- nate reading.
 And so, perhaps, should say that while we may read for pleasure, for recreation. for charm, still the prtnci- nIa ta at haat and method of reading for educational re- suits are identical with those of good course of education.
 The End of Education.
 Now we know that the end of educa- tion Is not merely to give information alone. but also to give training-that is, to bring about a change in the methods and habits and strength of one mind, to give 1t an ability to think closely and consecutively. An ounce of education is worth ton of information; and so, to get the best results from the library, we must read books that make us think. book that Is not worth reading with a pen cil in hand is not worth reading very long. By nothing short of exactine study can we understand our. great writers. those whose every thought is a note from the sounding sea that brought us hither. We must read and re-read our truly great authors if their music and their spirit become part of our nature. We must steer our souls in them in order to gel their essence: and this, of course, Is not merely mental dissipation or pure ly recreation, but requires labor and effort, and this brings development and elevation and education.
 The great ColeridGe has well saiC that there are four kinds of readers Sponges, who absorb all they read anC return all they read in the same state only a little dirtied: sandglasses, who retain nothing and are content to gel through a book for the sake of get ting through time: strain bags. who retain merely the dregs of what they read: and still others. who are like tho slaves in the Golconda mines. who re- tains the gold and gems, but casts aside the dust and drosS. MT. Freder- ick Harrison. the great apostle of cult ure, says eloquently that every book that we read might be a round in g ladder by which our soul might climt to that high estate whence 1t is saic to have fallen. Every book which wt take up without purpose Is an oppor- tunity lost to take up one with pur- nose, "I never see one consume time and energy upon frivolous ephmereal printed stuff," he says, that I do not recall the old man told of by Bunyan who stood raking in the hay and straw crown of shining gold. If we give our spare moments to playing with the flower girls. we must lose the company of the immortals." All of which Is perhaps a rather strenuous view of reading, and would seem to eliminate the feature of play and spontaneous delight, but I am quite
 kknf fr al fiVanr and the use of libraries as an educa- tional force it is necessary rather to make this emphasis upon the necessity of discrimination and regular system atic habits. The immense Niagara like cataract of printed matter pour ing out of the press every year really is overwhelming us and is sweeping away the great literary landmarks of the ages. Water, water everywhere and not a drop to drink" The re- turns from our great library centers, like Boston and New York and Chi cago, indicate the necessity of careful oversight and wise direction on the part of the library authorities. We find ourselves in a break-neck hurry. We care altogether too little for the gospel of thorough. A rapid reading fronts of our daily papers. a glimpse at the social news from the smart set, a snatch at the current magazines with a ricochet through the latest thing out in the way of a novel: |: these, I fear, might make the cata- logue of the daily reading of most of us Petty events, highly seasoned scandals, barbarous tragedy and taint- ed fiction are imortalized in type and stand ready to allure us along the primrose path of dalliance.
 Truly, danger lies in that direction, and so I say to secure the best educa- tional results we must husband our re- sources, we must pursue our reading with some degree of restraint and with definite end in view, and not spread our intellectual powers in too thin a layer. have always felt that the fine intellectual life and intellect uai predominance of the men of our old-time South was largely due to those small but select collections of books and periodicals in every cultur- ed home, whose lessons and ideals were so carefully absorbed and so digested and assimilated amid that dignified quiet and repose whose serene atmosphere pervaded the old-time Southern life.
 Books Are Real Things.
 Books are indeed very real things, and when gotten at in the right way they are very powerful things. They really are the rAenrd of all the past.