AUSTRALASIAN HOME REAPING UNION.

A meeting for the purpose of establishing a branch of the Australasian Home Reading Union was held in the large room of the Y.W.C.A. building on Friday evening. Owing probably to the inclemency of the weather there was but a small attendance, only about '30 ladies and gentlemen being present. The chair was occupied by Dr William Brown. _ The Chairman, in the course of his opening" remarks, said that the proposed scheme provided opportunities for systematic culture on' the part of those who did not attend regular courses of instruction in scientific or literary subjects ; it would direct reading and prevent desultory waste of time. Those who had passed through a regular course of instruction had not to contend with any great difficulties in prosecuting their studies, but those who had not been so trained were very often at a lossjto know how to make the most of their time when reading. This Home Reading Union, he tojok it, was started mainly with the view of helping people of the latter class, and as it had^ been started under the auspices of the Association, for the Advancement of Science, it ieceived at its start the approval of a society which, he presumed, was not entirely dilettante in its character, so that they might reasonably look for something more than amusement Jin, carrying, out the scheme. Winter had come,' and this Home Reading Union would afford, very excellent means of improving the. time so that the winter evenings might pass profitably and pleasantly. He did not know whether they had been struck by the fact, but he believed it was a fact that those nations that had winters were the nations that were most gifted intellectually. People who lived all the year round in a sunny clime, in so-called perfect climates, were very apt to indulge in somewhat lazy habits both of body and mind ; whereas those forced by the rigours of ' a northern climate in the other hemisphere, corresponding to the southern climate in tins, were forced to spend a great deal of their time indoors, and were driven in upon such occupations as reading— some means of cultivating their minds,— and as a consequence the best intellectual work in the world had been accomplished in countries where people compulsorlly spent a certain portion of the time within the walls of their own houses or studies. Here <iv the south end of New Zealand they had thdse physical conditions better than in any otfyer part of Australasia, so that Dunedin ought ,to show very well in future in connection with this movement. The popular lecture which usedjto be the intellectual dissipation had somewhat lost its flavour. The fact of the matter was that in popular lectures an attempt was made to do too much. There was no royal road !to learning, and a popular lecture on a scientific subject aimed at giving in the course of one hour an amount of instruction such as most men took six months' hard reading to acquire. Obviously that was a failure. This union, however, did not aim at anythig so ambitious ; it presented work to bG done gradually and systematically under competent supervision, and to derive full advantage from it members must work hard : there would be no use in going in for it merely for amusement. There was plenty of diversity in the programme of courses. One admirable feature of the scheme was that there were no examinations ; for if anything were calculated to take the joy out of life or to kill interest in any subject. under the sun it was the prospect of a written, examination. He thought a written examination the abomination of the nineteenth century. — (Laughter and applause.) Then the course of study would be by no means extensive. If they ran through the list of books in the published syllabus they would find that the total slim for the books absolutely required was very small indeed; and if they took in the books suggested for further reading or reference they would find that they would, not come to anything like the price of the "Picturesque Atlas," for instance, or "All Round the World," or "The Life of Livingstone," or such books which they were in the habit of finding in out-of-the-way places — put on the tops of chests of drawers and covered with antimacassars. The price paid by foolishly confiding people to took canvassers for books like these would stock them with a library of , such books as were suggested in the syllabus. In this association they did not want drones, and he would venture to make the suggestion that they should not encumber the society with a host of useless officers— presidents, vice-presi-dents, and so on. What was the good of that ? If they had a good working secretary and a sensible committee they might let presidents and vice-presidents go. A newspaper had been put under his door, oleo le paragraph of which informed him that a sjciety had been started in Duuedin of 50 me.nbers, and that they had elected two presidents, several vice-presidents, and a committee of 12. 'lhare seemed to him a great waste of energy in this kind of thing, and he In ped tLey w uld n.-t go in for appointing a whole b -i^a le of honorary officers, but go into it in the realy true sense of the word as a demojiatic community.— (Applause.) The Rev. R. Waddell said that the chairman had introduced to them some of the objects of the Australasian Home Reading Union. The union took its origin, as they had been told, at the recent meeting of the Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science, and the idea, he presumed, was suggested from

America by the University Extension Scheme and Home Reading Union. It was deemed desirable that something should be done for the colonies, arid the result was shown in the programme -that had been circulated, and in the present effort to start a branch union here, The objects of the union were to develop a taste for recreative and instructive reading among all classes of the community, and directing home study to definite "ends ; and its proposed methods— (l) To draw up and publish courses of reading adapted to the tastes and requirements of different classes of readers. (2) To publish a chrap monthly journal giving help for each course of reading, such as introductions to the prescribed books and answers to questions, and also giving information with regard to the proceedings of all branches of the union. (3) To promote the organisation of assemblies at the different centres, the delivery of lectures, social gatherings, and excursions. Its plan included courses of reading and study in science and general literature, sufficiently popular to be easily intelligible to those who have not had the advantage of university or school education, and yet sufficiently thorough to instruct or interest the more learned. The books chosen for the courses of reading are divided into two classesT-(l) required, (2) recommended. The former, which constitute the prescribed course, are chiefly elementary, and of moderate price. Then coming to methods, the union sought to carry on its work so that an isolated individual might take up a course and read by himself, but where practicable reading circles should be formed under a leader for mutual help. Any set of two or three readers may form themselves into a "circle" for joint study; all circles in the same town or suburb would combine to form a "group," holding periodical meetings for interchange of thought upon their common studies. The group would be controlled by a board chosen by its members, who would elect their own chairman and secretary-treasurer, and the groups in each colony would be organised into a "section" of the Australasian Home Reading Union. The subscription would be half-a-crown a year ; but for those readers who belonged .to a group the subscription, including the subscription to the union, would be 3s 6d. Every member would be entitled to a copy of each issue of a journal which would be published in Sydney, which would contain introductions and rules to various courses prescribed, aud be of great utility to members. Other liberal provisions were made to meet the case of circles desiring a programme different from the one provided, so as to suit the tastes and idiosyncrasies of all. The first work was the formation of circles, and this might be effectively undertaken by the young men's associations in connection with churches iv the city and suburbs and by others, but it was desirable that each circle should have a leader selected to give a head to it, so that the group might be established and a secretary appointed, who would undertake all correspondence with the officials of the section.

Miss Fbeesian moved — "That this meeting approves generally of the scheme outlined in the Australasian Home Reading Union, and that the necessary steps be now taken to form a group of the union in Dunedjn." In speaking •to the * motion, Miss Freeman said she fancied the majority of those present knew as much, and possibly a great deal more, about books than she did, and equally well understood the advantages to be gained from them, ,not ; only as a means of instruction, but of recreation. They all knew how, the perusal of books lightened labour in this, hard and fast nineteenth century. This union would apply most of all to those who were not in connection with schools or universities. It seemed to her that it would be a great privilege to those who were busily engaged all day in hard toil to get into a group engaged in reading some delightful work, the thought of which would afterwards make labour light. A great Englishman had said, "As good kill a man as kill a book " ; and she thought so too. Books were very much more than men sometimes. " Who kills a man kills a reasonable being — God's image," said Milton, "but. who kills a book kills reason itself." 'Carlyle, another great writer, said : ." These .bits of rag paper with ink upon them, how much they have done ! They are the embodiment of thought that has moved the world ; the thoughts of nations now in the dust is .moving the world to-day." This union could not fail to be beneficial to its members, epecially if they got a magazine belonging to the union and saw its suggestions and read the books prescribed in the various courses. It might be said that as a rule people sought out their own line of reading, that they followed the bent of their own minds ; but surely it was well to give direction, for even here was the bad and the good, and people were apt to read trivialities, leaving the glorious beauties of literature unexplored and unthought of. * Mr War. Hutchison, M.H.R., made an eloquent speech, the closing sentences of which were as follows : — I feel that this union is for the young and for the strong, for those who are thirsting .after knowledge; for those entering the race of life with high hopes, generous aspirations, and patriotic aims. If we can secure these and get them into this sort of thing, then it doeß not matter for old fogies like myself, who may sit in their corners and read anything they like. The young, the hope of the church and of the State, we want to get into, this union, and into all sorts of unions where learning can be got and good done. I like'it on that account, as I like almost any sort of thing that tends to bring books and wisdom to the mosses of the people ; for if you or I can get a single person who has not cared to read up to this time, to read books and to talk about them, we have given that person a boon that will continue with him or her to the last day of life.

The motion on being put was carried unanimously. . •

■ On the motion of Mr D. White, Mr J. A. Johnston,' M.A., was unanimously appointed provisional secretary for the purpose of creating circles. It was agreed that ministers and others should be written to respecting the union, -and several gentlemen present volunteered to represent its claims to the young men of various societies.

The Rev. Mr Waddell intimated that the address of the provisional secretary was Garden Terrace, Walker street, and the meeting closed with a cordial vote of thanks to the chairman.