Dr. Johnson said, "he always went into stately
shops;" and good travelers stop at the best hotels; for, though they
cost more, they do not cost much more, and there is the good company and
the best information. In like manner, the scholar knows that the famed
books contain, first and last, the best thoughts and facts. Now and
then, by rarest luck, in some foolish grub street is the gem we want.
But in the best circles is the best information. If you should transfer
the amount of your reading day by day from the newspaper to the standard
authors.--But who dare speak of such a thing.
The three practical rules, then, which I have to offer, are: 1st. Never
read any book that is not a year old. 2d. Never read any but famed
books. 3d. Never read any but what you like; or, in Shakespeare's
phrase,
"No profit goes where is no pleasure ta'en:
In brief, sir, study what you most affect."
Montaigne says, "Books are a languid pleasure;" but I find certain books
vital and spermatic, not leaving the reader what he was: he shuts the
book a richer man. I would never willingly read any others than such.
* * * * *
=_John Russell Bartlett, 1805-._=
From the "Personal Narrative of Explorations," &c.
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