Commerce and trade are stimulated by never-ceasing
competition; and manufacturers are not free from the influence of
markets, and the necessity of variety, taste, and skill, in the
management of their business. If the larger share of the physical and
mental vigor of a man is given to business, his hours of leisure must be
hours of relaxation; and to most minds the study of history and of
kindred topics is by no means equivalent to recreation. Moreover,
society presents numerous claims which are not easily disregarded.
Fashionable life puts questions that but few people have the courage to
answer in the negative. Have you read the last novel? the new play? the
reviews of the quarter? the magazines of the month? or the greatest
satire of the age? These questions have puzzled many young men into
customary neglect of useful reading, that they may not admit their
ignorance in the presence of those whom they respect or admire.
But, everything valuable is expensive, and learning can be secured only
by severe self-sacrifice. With our ancestors, after religious culture,
historical and political reading was next immediately before them; but
the youth of this generation who seek such learning are compelled to
make their way without deference to the daily customs of society. There
is no fashionable or tolerated society that invites young men to read
the history of England prior to the time when Macaulay begins.
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