THE HAMILTON ASSOCIATION. 7 1 



" They open the various avenues of all the Arts and Sciences ; they 

 " are never troublesome, but answer every question. In return for 

 " all their services, they only ask a convenient chamber in some 

 " corner, where they may repose in peace, and are more pleased 

 " with the tranquility of retirement than with the tumults of so- 

 "ciety." 



Many readers miss much of the pleasure of reading, by forcing 

 themselves to dwell too long on one subject continuously. If two, or 

 three, different subjects are kept on hand (one of them of an amus- 

 ing character) by changing as soon as a sense of weariness super- 

 venes, each can be again taken up with renewed zest ; but the wider 

 the field the more important it is that the reader should benefit by 

 the very best works in each class. Not that he should confine him- 

 self to them, but he should commence with them, and they will 

 naturally lead on to others. Lord Brougham used to say — " It is 

 " well to read everything of something, and something of every- 

 " thing." 



In this way only can we ascertain the bent of our own tastes, 

 and a young man's desultory reading will perhaps be one of the most 

 useful means for finding what his life's career should be. By his 

 own discursive reading he can learn what work for his peculiar abili- 

 ties is open for him in the world, and he will judge easily what line 

 of study he should first pursue. Then, following out this clue, he 

 can proceed to fulfil the requirements of education and the incli- 

 nation of his own mental disposition. The main practical question 

 of the selection and proper use of books rests not on what is good 

 in general, or in special literature, but what is best fitted for each 

 individual. The foundation of success in life is physical and men- 

 tal, nervous and moral aptitude, and from this condition future 

 capabilities may be to some extent foreseen. These capabili- 

 ties are the indicators of the course of reading required, and by 

 them a youth's career should be selected and decided on. It is 

 not in the means or the reach of all of us to travel, but the next best 

 thing to it, when it cannot be indulged in, is the reading descrip- 

 tions of voyages and travels, and some of them are so graphic, and 

 so ably depict scenes and places, that if the reader in after days 

 chances to visit them, his ideas are prepared for what he sees, and 

 he readily recognizes, almost like an old frequented spot, some at 



