LEARNING TO CONVERSE. "I HAVE read them all, uncle! I have read them all!" cried out Edmund Archer No. 73. JAN. 1844. B to his uncle, as the latter entered the room where he was sitting with his books on the table; so now, according to promise, you must teach me to converse." 66 Edmund Archer, being left an orphan, was brought up by his uncle, who spared neither time nor pains to instruct him properly. Knowledge, Edmund," he used to say, "rightly directed, renders its possessor a blessing to all around; but it is not what we know, but the good use to which we apply it, that makes it valuable: he who does no good with his knowledge had better be without it lest it should lead him to do evil. If ignorance be weakness; knowledge abused is wickedness." The little books on the table contained papers on "Learning to Think," "Learning to Feel," and " Learning to Act," and Edmund, during the last week, had been diligently reading them; for his uncle had promised that, when he had made himself master of their contents, he would try to teach him to converse. Vastly pleased with the plan, he read the books with equal attention and pleasure; and having finished the last page of “ Learning to Act,” just as his uncle entered the room, he cried out, as before related, "I have read them all, uncle! I have read them all! so now, according to your promise, you must teach me to converse." |