242 UNPROFITABLE READING. her, that it was neither safe for her to read, nor, having read it, could she either modestly confess it, or conscien- tiously deny the perusal, if questioned. Her virtue conquered her curiosity ; she sent away, unread, a book which may now be seen lying openly on the tables of many who would be shocked at .the slightest imputation on the delicacy of their minds or the scrupulousness of their morals. But to limit the evil of idle reading to the single article of time :-It is, perhaps, not too much to assert, that if the hours spent by the higher and middle classes in this profitless perusal could be counted, they would, probably, far exceed in number those spent by the gay in more ostensible and public dissipation. Nay ; we are almost tempted to say, that if, to the account of time dissipated by the latter, were added the hours spent by both classes in acts of devotion and serious reading, perhaps the total aggre- gate would be exceeded in number by
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