Show READING this is appropriately termed the ageos age of books never has literature of any kind been n so cheap and plentiful as now only a comparatively short time ago most of the standard works were beyond the reach of all but the wealthy now they may be purchased by the poorest in such a condition of things one would naturally expect to see a great advance made beyond the literature ef our predecessors but it is not so on the contrary the moral tone of the present literature is lower and is continually lowering while the course of the current seems irresistible what is the cause of this retrogression A difficult matter to explain and more difficult still to cope with and check in the first place the abundance of reading matter does not necessarily denote an increase of moral and intellectual power this is very evident WO we may read a certain class clam of liter literature stul till the end of our lives and ba t practically as ignorant then as when we began it is not the amount but real the quality that shows our progress we may have a largo large A library at home and yet have ou our r heads empty there is a significance in the fact that men have produced greater results when books were few and scarce than we do ao with our abundance in the reign of elizabeth tho the average library consisted of scare ft a I 1 dozen works many row rose to literary J eminence with but a volume or two at their command he who PO possessed the bible and Shake shakespeare wor works was considered well supplied gitil wit here is 1 the reading material but principle of f their superiority over ov us what they read they mad read little and in d their own they reflected much different course boum one on we pursue a much like that of the butterfly we of r read just according to the whim the moment and when it change we turn at random to anything etee else at hand band and so we pass throng th fit ing into tai s life in way alp dipping p skimming over that and glancing ever the next but mastering not ing robertson bertson Bo says reading weakens the mind li smoking 11 he that reads a m A tude of books has haa but little knowli know edge that is of any value A certain author was once ridic ed because of his limited libao hwi N bah ah iah oll said he when I 1 jr book I 1 make it another writ aj afra afraid idOf 0 il J 1 says that he never felt 7 man with a large library L now for a few words upon dove 1 reading all must concede t 4 z to be one of the greatest edw of the age the habit ing trashing literature is 16 moat MOO t w t jurious for t e memory la Is beus 0 the al kofl 0 ed the mind perverted 1 l corrupted and above all our doe worse than wasted think of many hours that are frittered fritt ered it A in romance reading which coul X JS devoted to the acquirement of y knowledge we are acquiat A ed with some who evidently belbo t life is not worth living wiuf novels to read indeed it is w they would want to 1 smuggle a aAy fo dime novels into heaven if they f ever got there their idea of 0 ce W lence in literature is rather pal for instance the best boot book is pa 1 1 ly that in which the hero has bag A ft s i seventeen more hairbreadth hair br breadth wath esa tJ than the hero of any 0 other af ty asi haps the dark giulan te doom dooin in a fearful manner in chapter pter 64 in which case it becomes a tt iatter atter of imperative imperati ve necessity to obtain lt iain the details of the tragedy TWO is squandering of time and talent ent is lamentable we have boater aster ro ater th things liaga to do than this our une is barely sufficient to prepare ro f our coming duties remember ta toe advice of our beloved prophet get 81 thee from the best books words of wisdom we are a light to the world ww we e are progressive or should id be our motto is excelsior ue st us then discard all that is frivol alb and nd grasp the weightier things of the he kingdom for therein lies iles all that is 18 great and good D J W in wafe index |