At the present day, when books are so easily obtained, there is no need
of the excuse of inability to procure them. Circulating libraries are
easy of access,--though caution should be used in selecting from
them,--and each Sabbath school has a library open for all. There has
been much said, and much written about books of fiction, whether they
may be read with safety by the young. Fiction as such need not be
condemned, though works of fiction should be sparingly read. But if read
at all, let them be selected by persons of experience. There is much in
the current fiction of the day that is pernicious and unfit for
publication.

But if we set aside the light reading, there are standard works enough
to furnish reading for one generation. The better newspapers of the day
should be carefully read. The newspapers of this week are the history of
the world for this week. In each particular branch of literature there
are books without number, not only worthy of perusal, but deserving of
careful study. In history we have Rollin, Hume, Smollet, Prescott,
Macaulay, and Robertson. Philosophy, theology, and science, each in its
turn, brings names as illustrious.

But there is one book above all others. Never complain for want of
reading while we have such historians as Moses, poets before whom
Shakspeare dwindles into insignificance, philosophers of a higher and
holier school, and truths that exceed the most astonishing fictions.
Where has Scott a heroine that can compare with Ruth? Grand as are the
beauties of the Bible, life-giving as is its wisdom, and imperishable as
are its truths, it is too frequently left unread.

As a general thing, too much is read; more than can be well retained.