The subject of reading cannot be omitted in a work devoted to the interests of the home. Books have such a large share in developing and sustaining the home life, that their influence can hardly be exaggerated. At the same time it is not possible, in a comprehensive work like this, to treat of the subject as its importance demands. We can only throw out a few general hints, which may be suggestive to some.

In the first place, we would say to all young persons into whose hands this book may come, read something daily. And by this we mean, not the careless looking through a novel for the amusement of a leisure hour, but the faithful, thorough mastery of another’s thought. It is of less consequence that that thought should be new, or specially valuable, than that the habit should be formed of intelligent reading. A poor book well read will usually teach a young person more than a good one read carelessly. We are not saying, let it be understood, that a book should always be read from beginning to end; there is a habit of quick perception of the general tone and value of a book, which, to a student in search of facts for special use, is of the greatest assistance; but this comes later. The power of attention and concentration should first be gained. And for this purpose, secondly, it is important that you should form an opinion of what you have read. Never lay aside a book until you can state intelligibly the author’s purpose and meaning in it, and how far, as it appears to you, that purpose has been attained. It is an excellent plan to write a short abstract of the plot of a story, or the facts of a biography; but whether this is done or not, do not be contented to let what you have read pass through the mind like water through a sieve. Compel everything to yield you some tribute of suggestion, if not of direct instruction. Do not be satisfied with anything less than a definite opinion; if you are in the wrong, the correction of a maturer mind will help you to judge more truly the next time.

Do not confine yourself to one kind of reading. If you are fond of novels, that is no reason why you should read them exclusively. Perhaps acquaintance with a different class of books may develop a taste for them; at anyrate you cannot afford to read entirely for amusement. It is neither our province nor our wish to condemn novel-reading; the excessive practice of it will, we believe, be best checked by acquaintance with books of greater value. There are histories as varied in incident as any novel. There are books of travel which combine the romance of adventure with the instruction of facts. There is poetry in all its forms, without some knowledge of whose best examples your education cannot be considered even passable. The fact is rather that there is so much of each class, which a cultivated person is expected to be familiar with, that the great difficulty is in selection. In order that you may divide your time profitably among these different studies, it is well to take the advice of some competent person as to what is the best book for your purpose on a given subject. In this manner you will save much time and patience, while if you take up the first book on the topic in question which comes to hand, you may, by an injudicious choice, lose your interest in the whole matter. On any historical question, for instance, it is better to read at first an author who gives a concise and general view of the events of the period, and afterwards those entering more minutely into details. It is well, too, before intrusting yourself to the guidance of any historian, to ascertain the estimation in which he is held by competent critics, that you may thus understand how to separate the truth from exaggeration and special pleading.

Have several kinds of reading for every day. Do not give yourself up entirely to one class of books at a time, or you will either tire of them, or your judgment will become confused in regard to them. It is well to have some book of history, or travels, or metaphysics, another on religious subjects, and a third for entertainment simply—a good novel, if possible.

In this way much more knowledge is gained without fatigue, than when the mind is kept exclusively to one theme.

Committing to memory a few lines every day, is a habit which cannot be too strongly urged. It need not be made a tedious matter, by giving up one’s whole time and attention to it as a study; it can best be done when walking, or sewing, or engaged in household work, and will become, after a little, a pleasure instead of a task. Besides the daily acquisition of something worth remembering, there will be gained also a power quite as valuable, of observing the characteristics and style of various authors, the delicate differences of words, and the construction of sentences. It may safely be said that those writers who have been most celebrated for beauty and perspicuity of style, have owed this, in no small degree, to the early habit of committing to memory the works of the best authors.

In conclusion, we would beg our young readers to make friends of books. They will cheer many an hour that would otherwise be lonely; they are kind, ever ready, yet unobtrusive comforters in perplexity or sorrow; they represent that which is best and truest in all ages, and are the highest expression of itself, of which humanity is capable.