Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1919-01-15
THE BEST WAY To READ
told BY AUTHORITIES
Each Has Good Suggestion;
Doubtless All Are Worth
Knowing and Applying.

| allowing ana applying.
All the worlds reader, but how does
he read2 If for relaxation, the selection
of subjects or the method of reading are
unimpor tant, but at some point his read
ing must take on seriousness, and then
bqth require careful consideration.
As for selection, personal taste and re-
quirements must guide In general
as Plutarch tells us, 1--WE ought to regard
books as we do sweetmeats, not wholly to
aim Mt the pleasantest, but chiefly to re-
spect the wholesomest; not forbiding
either, but approving the latter most.
! Whatever We select if books mean to lis
what they should, it is likely to express
our personality as infalibly as IN the Sc
lection of our friends. For the book
possesses greater personality than any
other inanimate object of our daily life.
II have friends" says Petrarch, whose
society is extremely agreeable to me they
are of all ages and of every country.
they arc always at my service, and | ad
NIT them to my company and dismiss
them from it whenever | please They
are never troublesome, but immediately
answer every question | ask them. Some
relate 10 me the events of past ages, while
others reveal to me the secrets of nature.
Some teach me how to live. Some
by their vivacity, drive away my cares
an exhilarate my spirits while othersgive
forttude to my mind, and teach me the
important lesson how to restrain mv de-
sres and depend wholly on myself
We should learn to form our own con-
clusions as TO the value of any book to
ourselves There are many books,
says Richardson, (which are good in them
selves, and vet not good at all times for
all readers No book, indeed. Is of uni
versal value and appropriateness.
The individual must always dare To re-
member that he has his own legitimate
tastes and wants. and that it is not only
proper to follow them, but highly improper
to permit them to be overruled by the
taste and wants OF others.
1t hcing certain that in cur selection
We shall chocsn thCs, tiles which will sup
plemcnt the Shortcomings Of our other
education and trenrthcn the weaken,ss s
which we know TO exist in our intellectual
armor jesc why should We make the
selectlon?). the question naturally arises
as to the ultimate purpose for which We
read: Read not 10 contradict and con
flute, cautions Bacon nor 70 believe and
take for granted. nor to find talk and
discourse. but to weigh and consider
Some books arc 10 be tasted others to
be swallowed and some few 10 be chewcd
I and digestcd that Is. some books arc
to be read orIy in parts others to be read
but not curiolsly; and some few to he
read wholly and with diligence and at
tcntion
| Montaigne frankly admitted that read
ing 10 him was his surest remedy for
anxiety ITO divert myself from q
Troublesome Fancy he said "tis but to
run to my Books. they presently fix me
| t1I DIV ko ~ kor -
Thoughts: and donot mutiny to scffhat
have only recourse 10 them for want Of
other more real, natural, and lively Con-
yenicrccs. They always receive me with
the same kindness
There is a general feeling on the part
Of those to whom reading Is liked and
abiding habit. that skipping is an evidence
of a careless mind, vet Bacon, IN the
extract lust quoted. advises in favor of
this custom Nor is he the only one.
Richardson, whose charming essay on the
Choice of Books IS a ST guide and
constant inspiration. declares, 1t Is
right for enc to neglect entirely, or 10 slip
through pages which another should
s.udy again and again Let each reader
ask himself Why am | reading this?
What service vii it be 10 me- Am
neglecriag something which would lie mere
benefctal3 Here as in every ether quc>-
tion involved IN the choice Of books, tht
golden key To know ledge. key that Will
only fiji its proper doorS,s Is purpose.
Hamerton, also. insists that the art
Of reading is 70 skip Judiciously. Whole
libraries may be skipped In these days
and even cf the books We decide TO read,
there are almost always large port ons
which do not concern Us. and which we are
sure 10 forget the day after we have read
them The art is o skip all that does not
concern us. whilst missing nothing that
we really need No external guidance
can trech us tins, for nobody but ourselves
can guess what the needs Of our intellect
may be
For the Gentle Reader who is rejoicing
in the license which these quotations give
him, let me emphasize the words missing
nothing that We really need This IS
the test OF the reader who has the right to
| skip Indiscriminatc gymnastics OF the
eye upon the printed page convey no
lasting impressions, but the intelligent
selection OF what is of value 10 the reader
is an art in itself, we'll worth the labor Of
mastery.
In reading, few people realize the i'm
portance of being interrupted and by
the same token, the objectionable thought
lessness of interrupting. This same Hamer-
| ton, whom We nave alTeadE quotcu, Ic-
fers to this in his intellectual Life =
Suppose a reader perfectly absorbed
in his author" he remarks, AN author
belonging very likely to another age and
another civilization entirely different
from ours. Suppose that you are reading
the Defense of Socrates in Plato, and have
the whole scene before you in picture :
you are just beginning the splendid para
graph where Socrates condemns himself
to maintenance in the Pyrtaneum, and II
you can only be safe from interruption
till it is finished, you will have one of those
minutes Of noble pleasure which are the
rewards Of intellectual toll but if you are
rldely awakened from your dream,
and suddenly brought back into the COM
mon world the loss intellectually is greater
than any one who had not suffered from it
could imagine. People think that an
} interruption is merely the unlocking
of an electric chain, and that the current
will flow, when the chain is hooked on
tellectual and imaginative student an
interr1ntiOn is not that: il is the de-