Sidebilder
PDF
ePub

us the most remarkable exhibition of this quality. There are, it is true, some things in it that have a local application, some that have a special application for the time in which they were written; but in the main, its history, its prophecies, its precepts, its exhortations, its promises, are alike applicable, and should be alike precious, to all mankind. He who created man, knew how, through inspiration, to give him a book that would meet his wants in all times, and in all conditions.

In books of mere human production it is hard, until time has tested them, to tell which will find a permanent place in literature. It is safe to say, however, that books deficient in the quality of universality must be short-lived. Many of them are instructive and useful during their day, but they pass away with the necessity that called them forth. They are good current literature, but have no permanent value. Books of this ephemeral character may be a commercial success, but do not increase the stores do not add to the real wealth literature.

of

DISTINCTIONS IN GOOD LITERATURE.

Literature may be classified in many ways, but we will here consider only two classes. These may be suggested by the terms Knowledge Literature and Power Literature. The chief aim of the one is to instruct; of the other, to rouse. There are, however, intermediate writings that partake of the nature of both these classes. For instance, an article whose chief purpose is to impart knowledge may have a certain power of inspiration in its manner of teaching. On the other hand, an article, or a book, whose leading object is to stimulate

thought and strengthen motive may incidentally impart useful knowledge.

The Knowledge Literature includes technical teaching of all kinds. Such works are dry to most people, and are pursued either from a sense of duty or for the benefit they are thought to confer. They aim to instruct and direct in a definite way. They make no appeal to the moral or emotional nature. They are mechanical, accurate; but they exercise the intellect only. They may be termed the Literature of Science-naked science at that. As a treasure-house of facts, they are convenient for reference, and therefore useful in their way; but they are not, as some suppose, the only useful books. There are men, who, having spent the best part of life in storing up facts, have become walking encyclopedias. Such people are honored for their attainments, and have a certain value, like books of reference; but it is often the case that they exert little or no influence in raising their fellow men to a higher plane of thought and action.

[ocr errors]

The Power Literature has a more exalted office,— that of inspiring and quickening the whole man. It gives play to the intellect, but not to that alone. It works most powerfully on the moral and emotional nature of man. It teaches, enlightens, convinces ; but it does more. It has power to make men feel,- and not only to feel, but to act. It touches the heart, and thus creates motives. It shows man his relation to God, to his fellow men, and to nature, inspiring in him a love for all. Thus it gives him the highest power for usefulness; since love is the only real power for good. It continually calls into action the best attributes of his nature, and through this exercise they are strengthened

and disciplined. Nothing can reach its highest development except through its own action. It is by use that the hand and the eye gain strength and skill. It is by use that the judgment becomes quick and reliable. Just so it is with love, generosity, truthfulness, gratitude, and all the finer faculties of our moral being. They, too, must be developed through their own action, and any book that calls them into healthy exercise, imparts power for good. Such writings must of necessity possess the quality of universality, since the attributes upon which they work are common to mankind in all ages; and it may be safely assumed that all literary productions rise in the scale of excellence just in proportion to the amount or degree which they possess of this power.

There is, however, a power literature that works upon the baser nature of man, stimulating and strengthening his evil passions. Just as the better kind elevates and ennobles him, so does this pernicious kind debase and brutalize him. This species of writing, however, should never be classed as literature, except in the broadest and lowest sense. The harm it has done is incalculable. The characters it has ruined are without number.

USEFUL READING.

What reading is most useful is the important question to be considered in the study of literature. As already shown, useful writings are not confined to a mere compilation of facts. One of the best tests of any piece of writing is the state it leaves us in when we have finished reading it. If it leaves us with a deeper reverence for the Creator; a tenderer feeling toward mankind as a whole; with a warmer admiration for the

works of God in nature, both animate and inanimate;

if it leaves us with a keener sense of our obligations to God and to our fellow men; with a more profound feeling of gratitude for the benefits we enjoy; with a stronger desire for some part in the work which the Savior of the world has undertaken for man; with a more gentle, tolerant, and generous spirit,— it has been a good thing for us to read.

But perhaps a still better test is the permanent impression it makes on us. Sometimes one feels that he needs time before deciding upon the merits of a book. It may have been so exciting that he must wait for his feelings to subside into a normal state, before he can decide with respect to the permanence of the impressions which he has received.

But there is an all-important test which may be applied to literature, as well as to everything else in life, the test of permanent value. The question to be asked in regard to any production is this, Will it be useful hereafter?- not simply in this life, but in the life to come.

It is generally believed by good men that we may secure attainments here that will enhance our happiness in the future life. The better we learn to love God now, the greater power we shall have for loving him then, and the more perfect will be our happiness; for unselfish love is the spring from which the highest happiness flows. The more fervently we enter into the work of doing good, the more fully will we be able to enter into the joy of our Lord, when he shall welcome home those who have been saved through him. The more we delight ourselves in admiring the works of God

in nature, the more we shall, to all eternity, enjoy the wonderful creations which he has yet to make known to us. It is in this way that we may all be laying up treasures in heaven, and the kind of reading that aids most in this work is the most profitable.

The knowledge, the literature, the training, which teaches us how to gain a competency here, how to succeed in business, how to gain a title to respectability, is useful in its way, and should not be neglected; but that which fits us to take a loving part in our Master's work, is better. It is part of that higher culture which prepares us to stand in the presence of God and the angels, and to share in the exalted joys prepared for us by the Author of our being. This is a practical education in the truest sense, and the literature which tends to promote it is as much higher in usefulness than that with a lower aim as heaven is higher than the earth.

« ForrigeFortsett »