Lord Justice Fry, in giving away the prizes at Saltaire
on Monday, made a sharp attack on reading for mere amusement, and advocated reading societies for the special study of par- ticular authors, and also of particular subjects. Of course there are various kinds of reading for amusement, and some of them are more than unprofitable, really injurious ; but a good. many reading societies are unprofitable too, and are certainly a sad waste of time for quick and vigilant readers, who could learn four times as much in the same time in lonely reading as in the fruitless discussions of a miscellaneous club. Further, we would say, that hardly any reading which is undertaken merely for the purpose of self-instruction, and without the stimulus of some eager interest, is of much use. Books laboured through only because serious persons assure you that they ought to be read, hardly ever leave any impression at all —you must desire to know what is in a book, before you can really learn anything from it.
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