B.C. FIR CEILING Just unloaded a carload of No. | Clear 'lI Fir, V Joints for ceilings, Wainscoting, etc. Excellent stock. : Also have on hand a full assortment of Spruce, V Joints, Siding and Flooring. For prompt service, telephone 1042. | ALLAN LUMBER C0. VICTORIA STREET.' "Phone 1042. THE DAILY BRITISH WHIG - Literature And Leisure By Prof. J. F. Macdonald, Queen's University, Kingston, in 'Social : Welfare," Toronto. BUY ADVERTISED GOODS The Sure Way To A Square Deal "A State of Mind has decreed, and possibly always decree, that the Bond Market must less active in summer than it is in winter. Write for our Current List of offerings. Wood, Gundy & Gompany fPoronto Montreal 86 King Strest West : Toropto "Studies serve for delight, for orna- ment, and for ability."--Francis Bacon One Friday evening years ago, be- fore the age of jazz and movies, a group of students, sprawled about in such comfortable postures as their host's bedroom permitted, had pretty well talked themselves out on the Dar- winian theory, higher criticism, the possibility of prohibition - and the chances of the hockey team. As they began to stretch themselves luxurious- ly, like the healthy young animals they really were, preparatory to leaving about 11 o'clock, the final year man, who had recently begun to realize how little he knew after four years' study and, as is usual his stage of educa- tion, was cynical about the use of it all, broke into passionate invective against the folly of Studies, in general and the study of literature in particu- lar, I can see him still propped on one elbow on the bed which he held by right of seniority, waving his curved pipe-stem as he-preached on the age old theme, 'this too is vanity and vex- ation of spirit." What did it do for you, he demanded. It just made you miserable. It put sand in your teeth when you heard some pretentious ig- noramus say "infer" whem he meant "imply" (even in the '90's editors un- derstood that these words were co-re- latives, and 'not synonyms as they seem to think to-day); it made you prefer "Tess of the D'Urbervilles to St. Elmo" - and be thought a little 'queer' and not quite 'nice' by your girls. friénds who "doted" on the "ldylls of the King." And we shook ourselves, wide awake\and joined in windy battle that lasted tll long after midnight. The battle we waged that night is fought again each restless springtime' in countless students' rooms at every university in Christen. dom. The protagonist of that debate has long ago learned that studies, the study of literature above all, serve 'for delight.' And of course there can be no enjoyment of literature without leisure. To spe Bacon's aphorism always con- jures up the vision of a pleasant room, a shaded light, an easy chair, and a plate of apples, for the limit of luxury a plate of Northern Spies. Then if a November wind raves outside and the rain beats in gusts on the window the setting is perfect. Only the proper book is lacking. Such evenings are too rare to be de- secrated by service to false gods. "This Freedom" lies invitingly at my elbow, much talked of and as yet unread. In the hope that it may prove better than. "If Winter Comes," I settle down to the opening chapter. It almost spoils my evening. But happily I have reach- ed the stage where, except titrough the necessities of my profession, I read what I like and not-what advertising publishers bawl about most loudly. "This Freedom" drops behind a stack of examination" papers, there to 'dry rot at ease till the judgment day' or at very least till the annual upheaval of housecleaning. Irritated by Hutchin- son's rhetoric and cheap appeal to sex antagonism I reach for "The Cloister and the Hearth" to travel again the winding roads of mediaeval Europe with that lovable scamp Denys of Bur. gundy, and hear once more his cheery hail of "Courage, camarade, le diable est mort." ne chapter soothes my ruffled feelings. My eye catches the title of a book that I had forgotten lay on my desk, "The Golden Hours of Kai Lung." The very title allures for these golden hours of my own. The luxury of being a college pro- fessor is that one has a group of friends with interests as wide as the inquiring spirit of 'man. One cannot help learning all manner of strange from the diameter of the star Betelgeuze a2 the significance of dreaming about snakes. My friend the lecturer in Hebrew has found Kai Lung's wisdom pleasant and wants to share it with me. One page and I know this is the book for tdnight. I pick up again' the apple whose flavour was spoiled by "This Freedom" and read on and on with many a quiet chuckle jand an occasional roar of laughter. The book is perfect of its kind and its kind is good. The wisdom, the whimsij- cality, the skill of the story-telling, the strange exotic flavor of the delightful love story are all beguiling. Consider power of gid® i T ary, scientific and political digest, and be up to the minute on all topics. It will make you popular, it will cause you to be admired and envied. Now as Bacon tells us in the second phrase of that famous' sentence, studies serve "for ornament" but Bacon had no il- lusions about short cujs to knowledge. 'Distilted hooks,' as he calls them, are 'flashy (that is flat, insipid) things.' Moreover he warns 'us that 'to use studies t00 much for drnament.' as the well-groomed young man in the picture seems to be doing, 'is affecta- tion. The 'ornament,' the distinction of word and phrase and thought that is born of much reading, comes, like chdracter, as a by-product. Aim at pro- ducing it by direct methods and you get "affectation" just as you get a self- conscious. prfg when you set out to "form character" in a boy. But the ornament comes of itself to the one who reads good books. Often one sees it sparkle in .a single word like 'the sudden gleam of a jewel. A friend said to me recently of a rather ponderous critic of our acquaintance, "He kept me shifting from one foot to the other for half an hour while he pontificated on Babbitt." One doesn't learn that choice of words from a monthly men- tor. Literature, like Bacon's studies in general, serves 'for ability' if one stretches a little the meaning he gave to "ability." The wide reading of li- terature brings "wisdom" in the Bibli- cal sense of that word, the knowledge and power to gujd® one's life so that he finds peace to his soul. I have never managed, save at rare moments, to be a Christian, that is, as I understand it, to feel such a glow of affection for my dearly as I do myseli. No, thaf comes seldom and soon grows cold -or at best lukewarm; but most of the time I can manage to be a fairly good pagan, supported by the fables of Aesop, the maxims of Epictetus, and the Medita- tions of Marcus Aurelius. The morning prayer of the Great Emperor keeps one calm even if his heart is not running over with love, till at last the long hard day nears to eventide. Yes, and' when middle age begins and the days fly faster past like posts séen from the window of a train that is gathering speed, it is well to have even the pagan philosophy of a mod- ern poet to fall back on: "Look thy last on all things lovely Evéry hour. Let no night Seal thy sense in deathly slumber Till to delight Thou have paid thy, utmost blessing) Since that all things thou wouldst praise Bedlity took from those whe loved them In other days." For as: Andrew .Matvell put it long; ago: > "At my back I always hear Time's winged chariot hurrying near; And yonder; all before me, lie Desqrts of vast eternity." But before the chariot comes up abreast I hope to spend a little more leisure in the delights that come from literature. "The Wallett of Kai Lung" is still to read. I am saving it for some rainy night in late November when thé Northern Spies have grown mellow, . ~J. F. MACDONALD, Queen's University, eet Mrs. George Clarke and Master Ellard, Renfrew, are guests of her sister, Mrs. William Rockburn, Mab- erly. They left on Tuesday for Smith's Falls and other points. Allan Bdward Coates dled in Brockville on Wednesday, aged thirty-four years. He was with his father fi the jewelry business. non « no fellow men that I love each of them | MONDAY, AUG. 18, 1028. ICED? i TEBE.aA, A A' is always delightfully refreshing. ' The coolness of the mountain top is in every glass. So easily made I. HAD A FISH DINNER. -- An Enjoyable Outing Recently Af ... Point Traverve. Bongard's, Aug. 10. -- Quarterly Sacremental Service will be held at Bongard's church on Sunday after- noon at three o'clock. The Ladies' Ald members "with their husbands, Were entertained at the parsonage at a social evening om Friday ev- ening. Mr. and Mrs. C. B. Piarce and family motored to Trenton, on Bun- day, and spent the day. Mr. and Mrs. D. T. McCornack, Picton, are, this week visiting friends here. 'Mr. and Mrs.' L. Will and Miss Bloecker, Syracuse, N.Y. were re- cert guests at Allan Harrison's. Miss Gladys Bongand has returned to To- ronto. Mr. and Mrs. V. Storms at- tended the funeral of the latter's father," Irvin Allison, at Selby, on Sunday last. Miss 8. Plerce is visit- ing with friends at Cressy. Mr. and Mrs, J. B. Lucas, accom- panied by Mr. and Mrs. J. Gordon, attended camp meeting at Oak Lake, on Sunday. F. Graham and broth- er, "Bancroft, wore recent visitors at W. J. Hawker's. Misses Blanche and Helen Shepard, LilMan Thurs- lon and Helen Bongard are camping at Indian Point. <A number from here attended the fish dinner at Point Traverse on Thursday. H. A. Powers, a former resident of Picton, passed away at his home in Toronto, an Aug. 6th, aged s'sty- one years. Deceased had been ill for some time, due to paralysis. The remains were brought to Picton. The tileral took place from--the home of his brother, Albert Powers. Born to Mr. and Mrs. Henry Van Gesen, a daughter, ~~ Mary Helen, only daughter of Mr. and Mrs. J. E. Scott, Smith's Falls, Ont, and Mr. Jarvis Cunningham, youngest son of the late Rev. T. B. and Mrs. Cunningham, Montreal, were married on Aug. 8th at Smith's Falls, and" vitality . . Ready to package, with cream wee Try it, | YOU BUY-WE DELIVER v Cu .34e, 1b. Choice Dairy Butter . .. 300 Windsor Bacon. machine sliced Breakfast Bacon, machine sliced New Potatoes 5 lbs 25 Old Potatoes, good, dry cookers, 3c ny 6dc 1 Special blend Tea, guaranteed Oranges 23c. 30a peci C: each Watch our outside market for fresh Vegetables and Fruits. Prices best in the city. Special offer to our patrons: Aer Lory Soap, 1 ox Lux, 1 Mack's O-3ub, 1 pkg. Gold Dust--regular 3Sc, SPECIAL « 28¢ Anything purchased in our store car. ries a guarantee of satisfaction op your money. back. P S. J. SMITH Barrie and Colborne Streets. Phones 1317 and 1331F. CASH AND CARRY CanaiAn Namowat Rawr Harvest Help Excursions August 13th and 22nd to Winnipeg--$15.00 Plus 3 'cent per mile beyond. ABSOLUTBLY DRY ---- SOFT WOOD AND SLABS 187-141 CLERGY STREET ------ mo EVERSHARP PENCILS REPAIRED We are equipped to make any repairs to above pencils, We carry a supply of parts, J. R. C. 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