Morris tribune., 1909-10-09
WHAT JOHNSON READ.
Interesting Letter that the Gov
ernor Wrote to Boy.

ernor Wrote to Boy.
A letter written by the late Cover
nor John A. Johnson to a young man
living in Northern Minnesota in re-
sponse to an inquiry as to what books
had influenced the Governors career,
was made public at the state capitol
Wednesday. tis thoroughly charac-
teristic of the man who began life as
drug clerk, and ended IL Governor
of Minnesota.
The Governors Letter.
It follows in full:
Dear Sir: have your letter and as
I am just leaving for another tour will
try to answer it, although the answer
must of necessity be brief. AS to books
which influenced my life When boy
I started to do some reading that Is
OF such books as generally come to
boys of the age was. A beDefactor
friend started me on course of read
ing, introducing as the first work
Prescott's Conquest of Mexico. The
book in itself influenced me only to
the extent OF encouraging me along
the line of better literature. This was
followed by Ivanhoe and then all Of
Scott's books, both poetry and prose.
This was followed by Dickens, Thacke-
ray and other masters in the realm of
fiction.
Then came Shakespeare. read all
of his plays, re-reading many. pre-
sumo the great dramatist exerted q
better influence than any other one
writer, because of the delineation of
so many sided characters. Out of him
came the inspiration to read more. His
historical dramas directed me to the
history of England, and Hume and
Macaulay naturally followed. Then I
went to France to study her romantic
history; from there to Germany, back
to Rome, Greece and the Egyptian
and Aryan regions. It would be i'm
possible to say whether any one single
book has been prominent in its in
fluence.
The tendency of the above and kim
dred books interested me in the lit
erature and history of my own coun-
try, and the growth of the appetite
for this food for thought doubtless
created a general desire to know more
of the institutions of government here
and abroad. All of my work in this
direction must have from time to time
fired me with ambition and exalted
my spirit of patriotic duty. In other
words, my increased knowledge of the
world and the men who made its his
tory and affairs fitted me in some
measure for the duties of life. I do
not know that any one book or set of
books could be chosen which would
mean for more opportunity or greater
success. 1t is the collection of books
which make for more general knoWl-
edge, and for this one must simply
cultivate the reading habit and con-
fine reading to the best books written.
The book shelves groan beneath the
volumes which have survived the
decades and centuries, and it would
be well to spend as little time IS pos
sible on the current literature, but
confine yourself to that which has
stood the test of years, when the
wheat was winnowed from the chaff.
I would not discourage light reading
or denounce all literature because it
was new, because you must know
about the things of which men are
thinking and doing today.
Yes, cultivate the reading habit, and
cultivate the art of communicating
what you know to others. With the
genius of hard work, directness of
purpose, success will come.
Very Truly,
JOHN A. JOHNSON.