Wewantsomesharperdisciplinethanthatofreading;but，atallevents，beassured，wecannotread。Noreadingispossibleforapeoplewithitsmindinthisstate。Nosentenceofanygreatwriterisintelligibletothem。ItissimplyandsternlyimpossiblefortheEnglishpublic，atthismoment，tounderstandanythoughtfulwriting，——soincapableofthoughthasitbecomeinitsinsanityofavarice。Happily，ourdiseaseis，asyet，littleworsethanthisincapacityofthought;itisnotcorruptionoftheinnernature;weringtruestill，whenanythingstrikeshometous;andthoughtheideathateverythingshould\"pay\"hasinfectedoureverypurposesodeeply，thatevenwhenwewouldplaythegoodSamaritan，wenevertakeoutourtwopenceandgivethemtothehost，withoutsaying，\"WhenIcomeagain，thoushaltgivemefourpence，\"thereisacapacityofnoblepassionleftinourhearts’core。Weshowitinourwork——inourwar，——eveninthoseunjustdomesticaffectionswhichmakeusfuriousatasmallprivatewrong，whilewearepolitetoaboundlesspublicone：wearestillindustrioustothelasthouroftheday，thoughweaddthegambler’sfurytothelabourer’spatience;wearestillbravetothedeath，thoughincapableofdiscerningtruecauseforbattle;andarestilltrueinaffectiontoourownflesh，tothedeath，asthesea—monstersare，andtherock—
eagles。Andthereishopeforanationwhilethiscanbestillsaidofit。Aslongasitholdsitslifeinitshand，readytogiveitforitshonour（thoughafoolishhonour），foritslove（thoughaselfishlove），andforitsbusiness（thoughabasebusiness），thereishopeforit。Buthopeonly;forthisinstinctive，recklessvirtuecannotlast。Nonationcanlast，whichhasmadeamobofitself，howevergenerousatheart。Itmustdisciplineitspassions，anddirectthem，ortheywilldisciplineit，oneday，withscorpionwhips。Aboveall，anationcannotlastasamoney—makingmob：itcannotwithimpunity，——itcannotwithexistence，——goondespisingliterature，despisingscience，despisingart，despisingnature，despisingcompassion，andconcentratingitssoulonPence。Doyouthinktheseareharshorwildwords？Havepatiencewithmebutalittlelonger。Iwillprovetheirtruthtoyou，clausebyclause。
（I。）Isayfirstwehavedespisedliterature。Whatdowe，asanation，careaboutbooks？Howmuchdoyouthinkwespendaltogetheronourlibraries，publicorprivate，ascomparedwithwhatwespendonourhorses？Ifamanspendslavishlyonhislibrary，youcallhimmad——abibliomaniac。Butyounevercallanyoneahorsemaniac，thoughmenruinthemselveseverydaybytheirhorses，andyoudonothearofpeopleruiningthemselvesbytheirbooks。Or，togolowerstill，howmuchdoyouthinkthecontentsofthebook—shelvesoftheUnitedKingdom，publicandprivate，wouldfetch，ascomparedwiththecontentsofitswine—cellars？Whatpositionwoulditsexpenditureonliteraturetake，ascomparedwithitsexpenditureonluxuriouseating？Wetalkoffoodforthemind，asoffoodforthebody：nowagoodbookcontainssuchfoodinexhaustibly;itisaprovisionforlife，andforthebestpartofus;yethowlongmostpeoplewouldlookatthebestbookbeforetheywouldgivethepriceofalargeturbotforit？Thoughtherehavebeenmenwhohavepinchedtheirstomachsandbaredtheirbackstobuyabook，whoselibrarieswerecheapertothem，Ithink，intheend，thanmostmen’sdinnersare。Wearefewofusputtosuchtrial，andmorethepity;
for，indeed，apreciousthingisallthemoreprecioustousifithasbeenwonbyworkoreconomy;andifpubliclibrarieswerehalfsocostlyaspublicdinners，orbookscostthetenthpartofwhatbraceletsdo，evenfoolishmenandwomenmightsometimessuspecttherewasgoodinreading，aswellasinmunchingandsparkling：
whereastheverycheapnessofliteratureismakingevenwisepeopleforgetthatifabookisworthreading，itisworthbuying。NobookisworthanythingwhichisnotworthMUCH;norisitserviceable，untilithasbeenread，andre—read，andloved，andlovedagain;andmarked，sothatyoucanrefertothepassagesyouwantinit，asasoldiercanseizetheweaponheneedsinanarmoury，orahousewifebringthespicesheneedsfromherstore。Breadofflourisgood;