Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-04-20

Head TO me! Read 10 me! nat Shall
1 read, sir?" asked Lockhart. How can
you ask" said the maker Of books, There
is now but one book"
Other men have found it so, and in bitter
that there was but one book and they had
not learned it.!
Mr.. Meyer says: 1.-THE whole Of Christian
living, in my opinion, hinges on the way
in which Christian people read the Bible
for themselves. All sermons and addresses,
all Bible readings and classes, all religious
magazines and books can never take the
place of our own quiet study of GODS
word. We may measure our growth In
grace by the growth Of our love for private
Bible study; and we may be sure there Is
something seriously wrong when we lose
our appetite for the bread Of life"
And after the Bible there come other
books. First religious books, books that
will help us the better to read and under
stand the great book. These we should
read and treasure and reread to recall
mark carefully, and then lend. There
are many of these books that are perfect
treasures in themselves. First among them
would put a number by F. b. Meyer as
being the most practical. simple. spiritual
and helpful Of any such books. The
Secret of Guidance" Light on LAe
Duties" "A Castaway'' and a number OF
others. Everything that Mr.. Meyer has
written is helpful. and, you will doubtless
find, will touch your own experience most
marvelously. These books are all to be
found in the cheap paper binding for 10
cents each in the Moody Colportage Ii
brary and their cheapness makes it quite
possible for you to send them on their
way to help others when you know them
we'll yourself Then there is The Christians
Secret of Happy Life" by Hannah
Whitall Smith; My Best Friend by DR..
Floyd Tomkins Those wonderful heavenly
helps. Addresses" by Henry Drummond,
and if you have time and inclination toward
a little deeper study. which yet Is practical
in daily Christian living. read Drummonu's
Natural Law in the Spiritual World"
Every Christian should read the delight
full missionary biographies-at least some
Of them-that are written today. and
notable among these, for thrilling adven-
ture and wonderful experiences in provi-
dental guidance, are the Life Of David
Livingstone and the Life of John g.
Paton,' also thrilling story entitled Our
India Mission" by Andrew Gordon, pub
lished by the United Presbyterian Press,
but most marvellous tale and reading like
the most wonderful romance.
OF course one writer in limited space
can mention only few precious books in
each group, and there are hundreds of
others that are helpful as well. l am
mentioning those which have been par
ticularly helpful to me and which / have
studied over and over again. There is one
other which fell into my hands from my
fathers theological library, but which
proved a great find to me. and that is an
old book called Keith on the Prophecies"
More modern and equally helpful are many
of the volumes of the EXpositor's Bible,
especially those written by Marcus Dods
and Alexander Maclaren.
But the tendency Of the day is toward
fiction, and because we have little time
and bring wearied brains to our reading,
fiction is often helpful. And there are
stories that are most delightful, as well as
helpful. giving one incidentally but truly
good idea Of other parts of the country
and other peoples than his own. For in
stance, an easterner who has had little
opportunity for travel in the west may
get a most interesting idea of it through
Owen Wistars The Nirginian.' and In
cidentally breathe in the strong primitive
air of the cowboys and get things sifted
down to their true values In the books
of Ralph Conner, while we are laughing
and crying over the stories of the foot
hills, we cannot help finding many lesson
that touches our weak points keenly. Every
Pilot The Man From Glengary" and
The Doctor" Another gem of book
whose depths of pathos and beauty are
only rivaled by its naturalness and pos
Stuart Phelps Ward. And side by side with
these rank, to my mind. the books of
George Macdonald, Malcolm" The Mar
quis of Lossie,' Sir Cibbie" and Snow
and Heather ene last not so generally
known the others. Then Maarten Maar-
tens has written another gem OF story
called Gods Fool and Mrs. A. d. T.
Whitney's stories show simple. everyday
HE with neart culture ana growth III Il
way that is most helpful.
There are also some historical novels that
will bear rereading. The critics would
take these away from Us, but nevertheless
they give us most vivid views of times that
are not own.
Now most of these books mentioned have
been of modern make and can scarcely
as yet be called classics. Nevertheless they
are books that do the soul good and bring
t closely in touch with nature and with
God and cause the brain 10 think. One who
wishes to become wise will, of course, read
the classics as he has opportunity
Herbert Spencer in his essay on "Edu-
cation says: Men dress their children's
minds as they do their bodies, IN the pre-
vailing fashion. But we that have
but span-iong lives must ever bear in mind
our limited time for acquisition. And, re-
membering how narrowly this time is linn
tied, not only by the shortness of life, We
ought to be especially solcitous to employ
what time have to the greatest advan-
tage Before devoting years to some sub
ject which fashion or fancy suggests, it is
surely wise to weigh with great care the
worth of the results as compared with the
worth of various alternative results which
the same years might bring II otherwise
applied
When one considers the shortness of life
is it worth while to spend time upon books
which merely stir the emotions and awaken
no good, true impulses in the heart and
give no new knowledge to the brain?
The lives of great men should be studied.
for there is a wide education in knowing
other men, and every one should read
some poetry. A great man in his own line
once said that if he had his life to live over
he would read some poetry and hear some
good music every week, for he felt that he
had left one side of the nature God had
given him uncultivated, and therefore the
use of it had been taken away from him.
He realized that he had missed much by
not being able to enjoy either poetry or
music. A taste for these may be cultivated
Poetry is to the mind what a flower is to
the world of nature. the sweetness and
breath of heaven, with many strong, deep
lessons III it's dainty form.
Ruskin says: The first use of education
is to enable us to consult with the wisest
and the greatest men on all points of
earnest difficulty. To use books rightly Is
TO go to them for help; to appeal to them
when our own knowledge and power of
thought fail; to be led by them into wider
sght-purer conception-than our own and
receive from them the united sentence of
the judges and councils of all times, against
our solitary and unstable opinion" 1t will
also repay you to study the writings of
John Ruskin.