A course of English reading; adapted to every taste and capacity with literary anecdotes - Softcover

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1854 edition. Excerpt: ...--you may find, I say, that this kind of study is not too severe, if you read a little at a time. And should you only try, the course of reading I have to propose, or indeed any one of the volumes, can hardly fail to produce a very sensible effect upon your mind. Have you never observed, that certain of your acquaintance are remarkable for giving a very favourable impression of their good sense and understanding to any person with whom they happen to converse, although only for a few minutes, and that too upon some topic which gives scope neither for general reading nor deep learning? This mysterious influence, this weight of character, depends chiefly on the exact truth of our thoughts and the propriety of our words. " The truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth," should be the rule, even of the most casual of our daily remarks; and the degree of our conformity to this rule is the measure, mentally as well as morally, of our influence upon society. The world often pays homage to this truthfulness of thought and expression without knowing what it reverences. A certain plain and ssimple way of peaking, so generally admired, is nothing else but the language natural only to those who discern the exact truth of every question,--mean what they say, and say what they mean. To seek truth for truth's sake has therefore been the laudable object of those called philosophers, or lovers of wisdom, both in ancient and modern times. To paint the surface of the human figure, we must know anatomy, otherwise there will be a want of ease and true expression. To speak correctly on our feelings, we must know the real nature of our feelings, or, Moral Philosophy; to speak correctly of our thoughts, we must know the laws of thought, or, Mental Philosophy. On...