RIGHT WAY OF READING.

King Country Chronicle, Volume V, Issue 372, 24 June 1911, Page 6

RIGHT WAY OF READING.

I remember no remark which was of more personal service to me than a few words used by the present Secretary of State for India, which I read years ago in his "Life of Richard Cobden." Speaking of that distinguished man Mr. Morley said that "'When he read a . book he read it as all reading should be done, with a view to life and practice, and not in the way cf refined self-indulgence." Thucydides had' very much the same idea when dedicating his "History of the Peloponnesian War"— "To those who desire to have a true view of what has happened, and of the like or similar things which in accordance with human nature will probably hereafter happen." What I think Thucydides and Mr. Morley both meant was, that to read in what may be called the ordinary way, even with a desire to accumulate some knowledge of facts, is of no practical use, unless it is coupled with an effort to apply what we read to the living facts around us. In this connection it is interesting to find that the Duke of Wellington told General Sir James Kennedy that even before he went to India, and throughout his life, he made it a rule of study by himself; some hours every day, and, in describing his daily life, said that he rose at six and used to write till nine, when he had breakfast ; that his business hours then lasted till three t , when he would ride till six, return to dinner, and write again from nine till midnight. What I wish to draw attention to is that the Duke does not use the word "read" but he states that he wrote, during these hours of private study. A few written pages, of analysis or reflection, upon one chapter of a book, are worth more than reading volumes in the ordinary way.-* Lord Esher.