The truth
is, that to the studious man, the desultory is not desultory. The only
difference with him is that he has two _attitudes_ that he may
assume--the severe and the easy-going; the one is most associated with
systematic works on leading subjects; the other with short essays,
periodicals, newspapers, and conversation. In this last attitude, which
is reserved for hours of relaxation, he skips matters of difficulty, and
absorbs scattered and interesting particulars without expressly aiming
at the solution of problems or the discussion of abstract principles.
There is no reason why an essay in a periodical, a pamphlet, or a speech
in Parliament, may not take a first place in anyone's education. All the
labour and resource that go to form a work of magnitude may be
concentrated in any one of these. Still, they are presented in the form
that we are accustomed to associate with our desultory work, and our
times of relaxation; and so, they seldom produce in the minds of readers
the effect that they are capable of producing. The thorough student will
not fail to extract materials from one and all of them, but even he will
scarcely choose from such sources the text for the commencement of a new
study.
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