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This has always been the view of the most judicious masters of study. Dr. Watts again observes,—‘A well-furnished library -and a capacious memory are indeed of singular use toward the improvement of the mind; but if all your learning is nothing but a mere amassment of what others have written, without a due penetration into its meaning, and without a judicious choice and determination of your own sentiments, I do not see what title your head has to true learning above your shelves.’ On the Improvement of the Mind, ch. i. Thus again Mr. Locke—‘Reading furnishes the mind only with materials of knowledge; it is thinking that makes what we read ours. We are of the ruminating kind; and it is not enough to cram ourselves with a great load of collections.—There are indeed in some writers instances of deep thought, close and acute reasoning, and ideas well-pursued. The light these would give would be of great use, if their reader would observe and imitate them—but that can be done only by our own meditation.’ Conduct of the Understanding, § 43. Lord Bacon’s directions on this matter, are replete with admirable wisdom:—‘Do not read to contradict and refute, nor to believe and take for granted, nor to find talk and discourse; but to weigh and consider. Some books are to be tasted, others are to be swallowed, and some few are to be chewed and digested; that is, some books are to be read only in parts; others to be read, but not curiously; and some few are to be read wholly, and with diligence and attention. Some books also may be read by deputy and extracts of them that are made by others. Reading makes a full man; conference makes a ready man: and writing makes an exact man: and therefore if a man writes little, he needs to have a good memory; if he confers little, he needs much cunning to appear to know what he does not.’ Mason observes—‘that some books better deserve to be read over ten times, than others once, and recommends the examination of important discussions within the book, as a test of its solid or superficial character.’—Perhaps the periodicals of the present day may prove ensnaring to the studious mind. Though many of them are replete with valuable matter, yet from their slight and discursive character, they should be connected with hours of relaxation rather than with hours of study.