Ellsworth American., 1907-04-17
CHRISTIAN ENDEAvoR-
Prayer Meeting Topic For the Week
Beginning April 21.

Prov. iv, l-s.
We live in reading age. Tie Eas'
10 reaGing matter that comes ir5--.
khe press, from the daily neTFsitalVtl.
TO the most profound tre;Itises raoA X
ligion, science and philosophy las Ier-
er been surpassed. In the past he
chief difficulty was the absence oi
books. Today the great difficulty is tn
abundance of literature There Is
scarcely home without its GGll es
magazines and in many cases librafie:
ranging from few books to an il.-
mense number of volumes. In CAF-s
tian homes books of all character a:V
to be found. Christian libraries are Il
longer limited to Baxter's Saints
Rest Runyan's Pilgrims Progress
and Dojjridga's Holy Living AL
Hoy Ly..g' with an occasional vori.
of fi;;.on Ld.en away Ly the young
pes DE OF the home lest the eyes O.
parclts Should look upon it. Public Ii
bra.es xst by the hundreds and il
aln. os. every village and town Us wei.
as in the large c-t.es. Tie fact Is that
the lie as wei as the worst BOOKS o.
thu world are accessible to almost ev-
cry one who GesiFes to read them.
Tie abmJa.ice of reading matter alIu
its easy access today form one of the
greatest problems, SO far az reading Is
concerned The difficulty of selection
Is most serious one. 1t is folly T.
suppose that any one can read ali Il
books that are even worth realuinS
The wise reader who reads TO get WIS
dom viii make no attempt to sulpAs
In the quantity of reading Quality j;
always desirable to quantity. A few
books well mastered are more yaluaul,'
as a means of wisdom than libraries
fitted with beautifully bound volume
the covers of which are seldom if exc.
opened. Books are written to he rel'.
and not for ornan.ental purposes. /,
viii require no small amount of wis
dom to select the wise books that ar
to be wisely read, and most youag Ises
ple especially will need to be direetei
In their reading by some one who has
had wide experience in the selection OF
xhe best books to be read.
1t is safe to say, however, that some
books of all forms of literature should
be read. He is certainly an unw.s$
reader who reads nothing but poet.
or history or fiction Poetry, history
essays, science, philosophy, religion ana
even fiction should all have some place
In our reading The greatest DANCE.
lies in fiction. There is too much OF ii
tendency today to read too much tic
tion, to read it so lightly as to enerva:c
the mind and especially to read fictio.i
Of doubtful moral character. When ii
comes to fiction the popular taste of to-
day clanors too much for the selsa-
tional, the unreal and even the ilEilot.
al. Let it be known that modeg.
novel is little shady in character. an.s
1t is in great demand. as the librarians
at any public library can testify. 1nlS
is one of the ineidentals in life that
prove the perversity of tie human
heart. What we would not listen to
from the lips of another we are willing
to read in private. But there is re
more dangerous reading than this. The
soul of a young man or young won.a..
Auds pt SoiINo Dy ti1t IN>iesl.4s :
of one such book in lifetime, and Is
the constant indulgence in such lite.a-
ture the inward life may be made
wholly foul and unclean. Young PEG
pie, as you value u clean, pure heart
cut out such reading. 1t leads to i'm
pure thoughts and imaginations ana
even to impure deeds and should have
nars v,Io in, fha r,.A ,,e h.
desires by reading to be made better
and wiser. Moreover, there is an abuli-
dance Of good fiction not only in the
writings of the masters of the past
but In the modern books of fiction
Ihis II one Of the places where we are
70 avoid the very appearance Of evil"
What we should read should be de-
oermined largely by the purpose Of our
Soad1ng 1t is no longer considered Al
IN to read good fiction to while away
IN hour or simply for present enter
tainment. but we must guard against
spending too much time upon this kind
e reading. Nor is 1t necessarily I'M
wise to follow to some extent our per-
oonal tastes in reading. No law re-
Y0IeS uS 10 pOuuer over Su0keSpeare
md Browning if we do not care for
what they have written. nor does il
betray a lack Of literary taste to can
didly confess that they do not appeal
to us- II we prefer poetry and other
poets, let us follow our preference, but
no one should read nothing but poetry.
History Is one of the most profitable
forms Of reading But the cultivated
man or woman will want some knowl-
edge Of all the great authors and their
works, and II is amazing what can be
accomplished by little systematic
reading along these lines every day
and even at odd times and moments.
The only rule is to keep faithfully at it.
To Christian Endeavorers it is hardly
necessary to say that the Bible should
have the supreme place in our reading
There is no kind Of literature that il
does not contain-history, poetry. law.
science, philosophy, letters and even
rOmance-aQd above ALL rightly read