Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1912-12-26


and the like. The presumption Is that
the tired business man will pluck up the
necessary courage when confronted by
a thin, small volume which can be dis
posed of in q few half-hours.
Experience, however. by no means
iustifies such conclusion 1T is no para
dox to state that, for the man who has
little time for reading, the only proper
book is the very big book; and II the
book consists of half-a-dozen volumes,
so much the better. In this connection
We may quote a sound bit of advice adj
mnistered the other day by President
Butler of Columbia to an audience made
up of men who. like the busy man of the
world, seem to find little time for read
ing namely, our college undergraduates
Resolve to pass the year. said DR.
Butler, Sin company with some one
high and noble character" And he went
on:
Let the year be made noteworthy by
passing it in company with the poetry
of Alfred Tennyson. Or, If in another
mood, pass the year in close and familiar
company with the essays of Emerson.
or with that masterpiece of biography,
Lord Morleys Life of Gladstone" The
nneteenth century left no nobler or more
inspiring life than that of Pasteur. Per-
haps you may prefer to pass the year in
company with that life as told by VAL
lery-Radot
The point brought out here is that a
man should choose a big book for conf
partnership, and, having made his choice,
should be content to spend a year in its
company. The speaker had in mind the
moral influence of such an exercise. But
that Ii has educational and recreative
/ demon
| same amount of time and attention to
invest, the casual reader Will derive
higher profit by making his investment
in one solid piece of work than in a doz-
en- scattered volumes
| We may take specific examples. Smith
eonfesses that, with a great fondness
for historical reading and with little
time to indulge his passion he chances
upon Bryces "Holy Roman Empire"
As it turns out, the press of business
eompels Smith to spend several months
even over that admirable example of
compact historical writing. Under such
circumstances what use is there in try
ing? But perhaps we shall find another
reason for Smiths slow progress with
Mr. Bryces book if we compare his
case with that of Robinson, a business
man like Smith, laboring under approx
imately the same disadvantages. Robin
sons choice fell upon the six volumes
of Caryle's "Frederics the Great 1t
was a stupendous task, but Robinson set
himself no daily stint and no time limit
He simply made Frederick the Great his
principal intellectual concern for an in
definite future. He real little at first
but gathered impetus as he went on. 1t
resulted in Frederick the Great and
Thomas CARLYLE and Robinson being
brought together in an intimate eompan-
ionship that constituted one of the deep
est sources of pleasure to the least cele-
brated man of the three 1t may be con-
fessed that Robinson was at times in
danger of becoming a nuisance to his
friends. His anecdotes were no longer
about his latest-born but about the man
who laid the foundations of modern Ger
many. Robinson seemed also in danger
Of losing all sense of proportion as be-
tween present and past Mr.. Bryan or
Mr.. Roosevelt interested him chiefly be-
cause they reminded ham of something in
those six heavy volumes by Carlyle.
We have spoken of history because
that is a field which, for obvious reasons
exercises a broader appeal than any
other form of literature outside of fiction.
Robinson chose Carlyle's Frederick the
Great as much, undoubtedly for the
sake of Carlyle as for the sake OF
Frederick This is proven by the fact
that after he had finished with Frederick.
Robinson passed on-and we are discus
sing an authentic case-to Carlyle's
Cromwell. Robinson would have chosen
well if he had taken Macaulayts England
in five volumes. He would probably have
Jared well with Gibbons Rome. He
might have done well with Grotes
Greece For Robinson had this great adj
vantage over Smith who began with Mr.
Bryce's "Holy Roman Empire: he
found in the array of volumes a breadth
of horizon, a dramatic sweep of narra-
tive, a world of human action and hu.
man character and human motive which
the most perfect handbook on history
can never hope to provide. In other
words, once Robinson had conquered his
initial awe of the vast stretch of pages
ahead of him, their very amplitude be-
came an attraction. He had made ac-
quaintance not with a book, but with a
world. His half-hour's reading at night
speedily ceased to be an exercise, and
became a habit aa. otl
So much for the ultimate ease with
which big books can be read. of their
value there can, of course, be no ques-
ton. No man can spend half year
with Gibbon or Macaulay or Carlyle
without finding his mental stature ex-
panding in that high company. Even If
Robinson had not passed on from Fred
erick to Cromwell. he would have gained
a great deal. For he would have ac-
eomplished what the best type of thinker
and writer tries to achieve he woulu
have attained, in degree. the ideal of the
true scholar namely, the mastery of one
small field of human knowledge With
Il mind trained in that one field, Robin
son, in his humble way is the better
prepared to approach life. men-and
other books.-N Y. Post
L ECEMn OE w AN III PIkIG IEAL