THROUGH LIBRARY WINDOWS 191 



mass of people do not need to be urged to rest. 

 After a hard day's work one does not always 

 feel like taking up the solidest kind of reading. 

 Hence the newspaper claims the larger atten- 

 tion. It surely ought to have a good portion, 

 but by no means all of our reading time. 



Too much newspaper reading is demoraliz- 

 ing. Many men read nothing but newspapers. 

 Best books rarely or never touched. It is not 

 wise to make of one's mind a common sewer 

 and turn all the stuff of the great dailies 

 through it. One needs only a fraction of it, 

 hence the art of skipping is a vital art in news- 

 paper reading. 



The literature of the best fiction of to-day 

 is as vital as its history or art or science. It 

 is fibred in the stronger social instincts. It is a 

 healer of its breaches, a corector of its faults, 

 an inspirer of its better ideals. It fronts the 

 great future with optimistic plans. It tugs away 

 at desperate evils. It has withering scorn for 

 wrongs and bendictions for good living and 

 heroic deeds. The fact is the modern novel is a 

 necessity in the life of the world. Life must 

 ever have fresh ideals. Must have them to 

 save itself from the deadening effect of a grind- 

 ing routine, to keep the faculties from being cal- 

 loused by the daily touch of taxing duties. We 



