In reading, our judgment goes upon surer ground, because often our good
wishes for the speaker, or the applause bestowed on him, surprizes us
into approbation. We are ashamed to differ in opinion from others, and
by a sort of secret bashfulness are kept from believing ourselves more
intelligent than they are; tho indeed we are aware, at the same time,
that the taste of the greater number is vicious, and that sycophants,
even persons hired to applaud, praise things which can not please us;
as, on the other hand, it also happens that a bad taste can have no
relish for the best things. Reading is attended, besides, with the
advantage of being free, and not escaping us by the rapidity which
accompanies action; and we may go over the same things often, should we
doubt their accuracy, or wish to fix them in our memories. Repeating and
reviewing will, therefore, be highly necessary; for as meats are chewed
before they descend into the stomach, in order to facilitate their
digestion, so reading is fittest for being laid up in the memory, that
it may be an object of imitation when it is no longer in a crude state
but has been softened and elaborated by long meditation.