ennoble his spirit, to improve his judgement, to strengthen his will, to
subdue his baser passions, and to fill his soul with the breath of life.
It is only upon truth that the soul feeds, and by means of knowledge that
the character grows. "It cannot be that people should grow in grace,"
writes John Wesley, "unless they give themselves to reading. A reading
people will always be a knowing people." Reading makes one mighty
in action when it gives one knowledge, since "knowledge is power," and
since power has but one way of showing itself, and that is, in action.
Knowledge takes no note of hardships, ignores fatigue, laughs at
disappointment, and frowns upon despair. It delves into the earth,
rides upon the air, defies the cold of the north, the heat of the south; it
stands upon the brink of the spitting volcano, circumnavigates the globe,
examines the heavens, and tries to understand God. With but few
exceptions, master-minds and men of affairs have been incessant
readers. Cicero, chief of Roman orators, whether at home or abroad,
in town or in the country, by day or by night, in youth or in old age, in
sorrow or in joy, was not without his books. "Petrarch, when his friend
the bishop, thinking that he was overworked, took away the key of his
library, was restless and miserable the first day, had a bad headache the
second, and was so ill by the third day that the bishop, in alarm, returned
the key and let his friend read as much as he liked." Writes Frederick the
Great, "My latest passion will be for literature." The poet, Milton, while
a child, read and studied until midnight. John Ruskin read at four years
of age, was a book-worm at five, and wrote numerous poems and dramas
before he was ten. Lord Macaulay read at three and began a compendium
of universal history at seven. Although not a lover of books, George
Washington early read Matthew Hale and became a master in thought.
Benjamin Franklin would sit up all night at his books. Thomas Jefferson
read fifteen hour a day. Patrick Henry read for employment, and kept
store for pastime. Daniel Webster was a devouring reader, and retained