, 1908-07-31

find that had any bearing on the theory
OF music. He was a born theorists but
had 50 little OF the practical in his
composition that he could play no in
strument save the guitar, and that
very badly.
Macaulay was an o~mnivorous reader,
and remembered all he had read. He
once said there was no history like
that OF Herodotus.
Byron was a Bible reader in his
youth; and later In life retained and
used many passages from the Scrip
lures in his poems.
Shakespeare must have been an ON
nivorous reader, for his plays show
odds and ends OF learning gathered
from every quarter.
Locke gave most OF his attention to
works Of philosophy. He said: 4
stand amazed at the profundity of
thought shown by Aristotle
Hume said that Tacitus was the
ablest writer that " lived, and him.
self tried to model his style on that Of
the Roman historian.
M~essonier was devoted to Cornei.le.
He said: "COrneille sketches character
as l paint; with the most scrupulous
regard to detail.'
Wesley's principal reading was the
Bible. He once declared that a Chris
tian should be "a man of M book, and
that book the Bible"
Charles Summer was a classical
scholar of rare attainments. Up to
the close of his life he preserved a
habit of classical reading.
Lamb was a Shakspearean reader
and fond of investigating the sources
whence the plots and tales utilized by
the Bard Of Avon were obtained.
Kant, the German philosopher, was
a master of all philosophical and math-
ematical information. His reading
rarely went beyond these lines.
Garrick's reading related almost en-
| tirely to his profession. He once said:
"The human face is my favorite book
and the sereet is my school,"
Jenny Lind was fond of history, but
preferred it when diluted with fiction.
She said that a historical romance
| suited her ideas exactly.
Boccaccio made a collection of the
| chap-book tales and folklore of his
time, and from these volumes collect
ed the material for his 'Decameron.'
Isaac Watts thought the world con
tanned no finer reading than the Psalms
of David. He paraphrased many If not
.-zz- 49, l., ~1ieh rv-r,n o.
Sir Joshua Reynolds greatly enjoyed
the old English plays. He said they
contained more real merit than all
other English literature combined.
Schiller delighted in the German
folk-tales; his head "a always full OF
them and they were poured forth in 8
stream TO- the entertainment Of child
rem.
Durer was a dabbler in alchemy, and
frequently spent half the night ir
studying books of alchemy in hope o.
discovering the philosophers stone.
George l. liked the German folklore
tales, but hated the trouble of reading
them. He usually preferred to have
them told in the form of anecdotes.
Mozart was never tired OF studying
the fugues Of Bach. His favorite wal
1.-THE fugue in E Major, in the first bool
OF the well-tempered clavichord.
Dante road the chap books OF hi
time. and from their pages ard. thos.
of the monkish homilies gathered the
lurid IMAGES found in the Inferno"
Cervantes was a constant reader o
the romances Of chivaly, and thus &C
quired tina. familiarity with them tina
enabled him to travesty these in 'Do1
Quixote."
Walter Scott was devoted to til,
DorSier tuies TINT, even In his tine
were very numerous Not a few Of hi
novels are p%atchworks of fragments
gathered from his reading.
Henry ~, the Great, of France, sait
that no better book had ever been wri.
ten than Caesars Commentaries
and that the next best was the "Ee
treat of the Ten Thousand"
Gerome read Roman antiquities Az
history. He studied with attention