a proper and judicious system of reading is of the highest importance. two things are necessary in perusing the mental labors of others;—namely, not to read too much, and to pay great attention to the nature of what you do read. many persons peruse books for the express and avowed purpose of consuming time; and this class of readers forms by far the majority of what are termed the “reading public.” others, again, read with the laudable anxiety of being made wiser; and when this object is not attained, the disappointment may generally be attributed, either to the habit of reading too much, or of paying insufficient attention to what falls under their notice.
hints on reading
it is recorded of madame de st?el holstein, that before she was fifteen years of age, she had “devoured” 600 novels in three months, so that she must have read more than six a day, upon an average. louis xvi, during the five months and seven days of his imprisonment immediately preceding his death, read 157[81] volumes, or one a day. if this species of gluttony is pardonable in circumstances like those of louis, it is less so in those of a young lady of fourteen or fifteen. no one can have time for reflection who reads at this rapid rate; and, whatever may be thought, these devourers of books are guilty of abusing nature to an extent, as much greater than those who overcharge their stomachs, as the intellectual powers are higher than the animal propensities. thousands of young persons spend their time in perpetual reading, or rather in devouring books. it is true, the food is light; but it occupies the mental faculties for the time in fruitless efforts, and operates to exclude food of a better quality.
the manners of a people are not to be found in the schools of learning, or the palaces of greatness, where the national character is obscured or obliterated by travel or instruction, by philosophy or vanity; nor is public happiness to be estimated by the assemblies of the gay, or the banquets of the rich. the great mass of nations is neither rich nor gay: they whose aggregate constitutes the people, are found in the streets and villages, in the shops and farms; and from them, collectively considered, must the measure of general prosperity be taken.
w. p.
