380 THE YOUTHS CABINET.
He

; object than to afford amusement.
Hard Reading. will aim to communicate useful knowl-
edge, to ‘Jlustrate valuable truth, or to
awaken pure and lofty feelings within the
youthful breast.

The young must read books on sub-
jects which cannot be made interesting —
that is, after the manner required by
John. Grave works on history, and on
subjects requiring reasoning, must be read
if they would have strong and well-dis-
ciplined minds. Those who read only
for amusement will have feeble minds.
Those who read thoroughly works which
compel them to fix the attention, and ex-
ercise their understanding to grasp the
meaning of the author, will have strong
minds. Robert Hall, before he was nine
years old, read some of the profoundest
works of the great Jonathan Edwards.

Children should ask their parents to
select for them such books as are best
adapted to promote the growth of mind.—
Selected.

  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
  
 
  
 
 
 
  
 

woutp not read such a hard book,”
said John to his friend David. “I
read easy books.”

“Pather says this will ymprove
my mind more than any of the story-
books,” said David.

«Jt, is not interesting, is it ”

“Tt grows interesting the more I read
‘t. I think I shall like it very much.”

“] tried to read a book a good deal
like that, and it was not at all interesting.
I could not keep my mind upon it at all.
When I got to the bottom of the page, I
could not tell what I had been reading
about. I want a book to be so interest-
ing that I cannot think of anything else
till I get through with it.”

“ Father says that if my attention wan-
ders when I am reading, | must go back
and read over again the portion that I do
not recollect. I have read some of the
pages of this book a great many times
before I could keep my attention fixed
upon the thoughts contained in them.”

«] do not wish to take so much trou-
ble when I read. It makes it too hard
work.”

The book that David was reading when
John spoke to him as above noticed, was
Watts on the Mind—a book which con-
tains a great many judicious rules for
mental culture. David’s father had given
it to his son, and requested him to read
it carefully. It is a book which all young
persons would do well to study. There
are too many young persons, who, like
John, read only for amusement. They
seldom derive much benefit from reading.
Books which were written merely to
amuse, should be avoided. No man who
loves the young will write with no higher

A Noble Boy.

poy was once tempted by some of
his companions to pluck ripe cher-
ries from a tree which his father
had forbidden him to touch.

“You need not be afraid,” said one of
his companions ; “ for if your father should
find out that you had them, he is so kind
that he would not hurt you.”

«That is the very reason,” replied the
boy, “ why [should not touch them. It
is true, my father would not hurt me;
yet my disobedience would hurt my fa-
ther, and that would be worse than any"
thing else.”