246 HENRY KIEKE WHITe's REMAINS. 



stead of making invidious comparisons between the two 

 institutions. 



TO MR B. MADDOCK. 



Winteringham, 31st Jan. 1805. 

 Dear Ben, 



I have long been convinced of the truth of what you 

 saj, respecting the eiFects of close reading on a man's 

 mind, in a religious point of view, and I am more and 

 more convinced that literature is very rarely the source 

 of satisfaction of mind to a Christian. I would wish 

 you to steer clear of too abstracted and subtle a mode of 

 thinking and reasoning, and you will so be happier than 

 your friend. A relish for books will be a sweet source 

 of amusement and a salutary relaxation to you through- 

 out life ; but let it not be more than a relish, if you 

 value your own peace. I think, however, that you ought 

 to strengthen your mind a little with logic, and for this 

 purpose I would advise you to go through Euclid with 

 sedulous and serious attention, and likewise to read 

 Duncan through. You are too desultory a reader, and re- 

 gard amusement too much ; if you wish your reading in 

 good earnest to amuse you, when you are old, as well as 

 now in your youth, j'ou will take care to form a taste for 

 substantial and sound authors, and will not be the less 

 eager to study a work because it requires a little labour 

 to understand it. 



After you have read Euclid, and amused yourself 

 with Locke's sublime speculations, you will derive much 

 pleasure from Butler's Analogy, without exception the 

 most unanswerable demonstration of the folly of infidelity 

 that the world ever saw. 



Books like these will give you more strength of mind, 

 and consistent firmness, than either you or I now possess ; 

 while on the other hand, the efiTeminate Panada of 

 Magazines, Tales, and the tribe of penny-catching pam- 



