The progress., 1905-03-04

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read enthusiastically, but that At the
foot Of every page he read he stopped
and obliged himself to give an account
Of what he had read on that page. At
first he, had to read 1t three or four
times before he got his mind firmly
fixed. But he vigorously compelled him
self TO conform to the process, until
now, he says, after he has read book
through once, he can almost recite 1t
from beginning to end. 1t Is very
simple habit to form early In life, and
is invaluable for acquiring accuracy
and thorough knowledge Of The mate
rial with which man has to deal"
1t is recorded that Macaulay, the
great English historian and essayist,
adopted similar plan Of reading in
his youth.
Harriet Martineau said Of herself: II
am the slowest of readers-sometimes
page an hour is all l read"
Il never knew but one or two ia,
readers, or readers Of many books.
whose knowledge was worth any
thing" observes Rev. F. W. Robertson.
Il read hard or not at all, never skim
nRns never turning aside to merely
inviting books;-. and the thoughts of
Plato, Aristotle. Thucydides, Sterne and
Jonathan Edwards have passed, like
the iron atoms of the blood, into my
mental constitution"
my mother compelled me to learn,
by daily toll, long chapters of the Bible
by heart says Ruskin, "and to his dis
cipline I owe not only my knowledge
of this work, but also much of my gen.
eral power for taking pains and the
best part of my taste in literature"
| II men and women whose intellectual
pre-eminence has made them guide
posts for future generations, had to be
so patient and labor:ous in forming
correct reading habits, can the average
boy or girl of the twentieth century
afford to take less pains?
Wealth of Reading a Snare.
The fact that the majority of people
to-day are less thorough in their read
ing than were their grandfathers and
grandmothers is largely owing to the
bewildering mass Of books, magazines
and newspapers at their command in
libraries, clubs and reading rooms, and
to be obtained for few cents at book
stalls, or in department stores.
We usually appreciate advantages
according to the difficulty of obtaining
them, and it frequently happens thai
it is not the boy who is brought up in
an atmosphere of books, who has easy
access to immense libraries and read
ing rooms, and who has perhaps a
score of magazines coming to his home
each month, who gains most from his
opportunities. How often is it the
country lad, to whom books are lux
ury, who may never have seen a
library, but who devours the few vol
umes he can borrow as If he would
never see them again, who is heard
from in after life. Lincoln got more
to which he had access as a youth than
many a modern boy ever gets out OF
the great city libraries and reading
rooms which are constantly open to
him.
Busy people complain that they have
not time to reed carefully that their
reading must be done ION the fly," on
the trains, on cars or ferryboats, or on
their way to and from store or office
or not at all. Others say that they
cannot reserve any special time for
reading. and that it is impossible, in |
the midst of household duties or other |
distractions, to seize odd intervals of |
leisure and read connectedly or with |
any degree of profit
All May Have Culture.
1t is not necessary to have pre-.
scribed time for reading, or a certain |
number of hours a day to devote TO it in
order III becUmv -eii rv-,J.-Hs- i.s-.suDf,
of concentration has been fixed in boy
hood and girhood we can read to ad-
vantage, no matter what our environ
ment or how limited or broken the time
at our disposal. 1t would, of course, be
greatly in our favor 10 have an hour or
two each day which we could count
upon absolutely for mental culture
But because we have not is 10 reason
why we should not be cultured if We
desire to be- If the desire be there we
will make the most of our opportunities,
as did Elihu Burritt, the learned black
smith," who acquired many languages
and solved difficult n2tAc.., atical prob
lens during the pauses of his work ct
the forge.
Examples are not wanting to show us
what may be done by the earnest-mind-
ed
Standing in line with his fellow errand
boys at the post Office in Amsterdam,
the eminent Greek explorer DR.. Schle-
mann, with open book in hand, utilized
the moments of waiting in laying the
of his future greatness.
Amid the constant distractions OF
household cares, which were never neg
lected, Mary Somerville completed her
Mechanism of the Heavens" which
gave her rank as one of the foremost
scientists of her day
1t is not lack of time or opportunity,
so much as lack of heart and earnestness,
that prevents most of us from becoming
well-informed readers.
IT, like Robert Louis Stevenson. one
carries notebook and PEN
Ill in one pocket and book in another;
and if, like Gladstone. always is pre-
pared to turn TO account the moments
while waiting for train. car or
ferryboat, he will not only find time to
read, but will also read with profit.
Copyright. 1908 BY Joseph b. Bowles)
Everything Here Short.