Page 135 - Cornelius Hedges Story

For This And Succeeding Generations Gardiner 122

Another time he lamented, “Never accomplish the reading I
expect to do on Sunday.”399 On February 28, 1870, after not writing
in his journal for 15 days, he wrote:

“Business has been so dull that I have had nothing to note -
Have been occupied with reading the new books of the library
and I have accomplished much in mental discipline and am
determined to do more -Have slept better of late by using my
mind till I was tired out.”400
His concern for the development of his mind continued through
the years. On April 1, 1875, he wrote, “Reading hard all day enjoying
it very much. Am doing it more thoroughly than ever before -Using
my encyclopedia and Atlases to good purpose.” And on May 26,
1875, he further commented “Reading most of the time-trying to
devour the Encyclopedia.”401 In June, 1880, he remarked that he
was trying to refresh his “acquaintance with Greek.”402
To fully appreciate Hedges’ insatiable hunger for knowledge, it
is helpful to realize the immensity of his reading diet. As an example,
he read the following books in the first eight months of 1875:
Orations of Cicero; Great Events of History) Lechy on Rationalism)
Vol. I of Bancroft, Pacific Coast History) DeSenectute; Dictionary
of American Ideas; a book about the Jesuits) a book about School
Architecture) several early American histories) John Stuart Mill on
Representative Government; Life of Hannibal; History of Rome;
two different biographies of Julius Caesar; Plutarch on Cicero and
Demosthenes; a book on Mythology) a book on Jewish History)
Draper’s Conflict of Science and Religion) histories of Switzerland,
Germany, and Scandanavia) Protestant Revolution) Chamber’s
Book of Days) English Geography) Social Life in Greece) Bartlette’s
Danube) something entitled Bric-a-brac; Hopkin’s Law of Love)
Allibone’s Prose Quotations) and the Odyssey. The variety of
topics is as outstanding as the number of books.403
His reading was not confined to just books. On August 6, 1880,
he called attention to his extensive newspaper reading with the
comment, “Think I give too much time to newspapers, but how else
can one keep up with affairs.” 404 Periodicals, too, had an integral
place in Judge Hedges’ reading.