all that he read. At the age of fourteen he could repeat from memory all
of Watt's Hymns and Pope's "Essay on Man." When but a youth, Henry
Clay read books of history and science and practiced giving their contents
before the trees, birds, and horses. Says a biographer of Lincoln, "A book
was almost always his inseparable companion."

Then, read for enjoyment. Fortunately, a habit so valuable as reading
may grow to become a pleasure. So that as one is gathering useful
information and increasing in knowledge, he may have the keenest
enjoyment. Such an one sings as he works. He has learned to
convert drudgery into joy; duty has become delight. But even for
such an one a portion of his reading should be purely for rest and
recreation. If one has taught school all day, or set type, or managed
a home, or read history, or labored in the field, or been shopping,
heavy, solid reading may be out of the question, while under such
circumstances one would really enjoy a striking allegory or a well-
written novel. Or, if one is limited in knowledge, or deficient in
literary taste so that he may find no interest in history, science,
philosophy, or religion, still he may enjoy thrilling books of travel,
of biography, or of entertaining story. In this way all may enjoy
reading. "Of all the amusements which can possibly be imagined
for a hard-working man, after his daily toil, or in its intervals, there
is nothing," says Herschel, "like reading an interesting book. It
calls for no bodily exercise, of which he has had enough or too much.
It relieves his home of its dullness and sameness, which, in nine cases
out of ten, is what drives him out to the alehouse, to his own ruin and
his family's. It accompanies him to his next day's work, and, if the
book he has been reading be any thing above the very idlest and
lightest, gives him something to think of besides the mere mechanical
drudgery of his every-day occupation, something he can enjoy while