taxed
mind, or unfavorable surroundings. Whatever may be this hindrance it
must be removed or overcome before one can enter into what he reads. A
thought is of no value until it registers itself and takes a room in the
mind. This is why we are told on every hand, that a few books well
read are worth more than many books poorly read. The secret of Abraham
Lincoln's power as a public speaker lay in his clear reasoning, simple
statement, and apt illustration. This secret was secured by Lincoln
through his habit of mastering whatever he heard in conversation or
reading. "When a mere child," says Lincoln, "I used to get irritated
when anybody talked to me in a way I could not understand. I don't think
I ever got angry at anything else in my life. But that always disturbed
my temper, and has ever since. I can remember going to my little
bedroom, after hearing the neighbors talk of an evening with my father,
and spending no small part of the night walking up and down, trying
to make out what was the exact meaning of some of their, to me, dark
sayings. I could not sleep, though I often tried to, when I got on such
a hunt after an idea, until I had caught it, and when I thought I had
got it, I was not satisfied until I had repeated it over and over; until
I had put it in language plain enough, as I thought, for any boy I knew
to comprehend. This was a kind of passion with me, and it has stuck by
me; for I am never easy now when I am handling a thought until I have
bounded it north, and bounded it south, and bounded it east, and bounded
it west." And so to enter into what one reads, means that he will master
the thought. The most that a university can do for one is to teach him
to read. Who has learned how to read has secured a liberal education,
however or wherever he may have learned it.

Then, one should learn to scan an author. This means to take a rapid
observation of his thoughts. Much of one's common reading matter should
be scanned. All local news, much magazine literature, and many books
should be used in this way. It is mental sloth and waste of time to pore
over a newspaper or a book of light fiction, as one would a philosophy
of history or a work of science. As Bacon aptly puts it, "Some books
are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and
digested; that is, some books are to be read only in parts; others to
be read, but not curiously; and some few to be read wholly, and with
diligence and att