panions, for they stimulate thought, and hold a man to his purpose.-Essays, Poems, and an Elucidation of the Bhagavat Gheeta and "The Choice of Books." PHILIP JAMES BAILEY. b. 1816 [Living]. Are not companions-they are solitudes; We entreat Thee, that all men whom Thou Hast gifted with great minds may love Thee well, And praise Thee for their powers, and use them most Humbly and holily, and, lever-like, Act but in lifting up the mass of mind About them; knowing well that they shall be If not to Thee, to those they influence : Grant this we pray Thee, and that all who read, To compass. Grant us, All-maintaining Sire! That all the great mechanic aids to toil Man's skill hath formed, found, rendered,-whether used Let them not Be forced to grind the bones out of their arms FREDERICK WILLIAM ROBERTSON. 1816-1853. Festus. It is very surprising to find how little we retain of a book, how little we have really made our own when we come to interrogate ourselves as to what account we can give of it, however we may seem to have mastered it by understanding it. Hundreds of books read once have passed as completely from us as if we have never read them; whereas the discipline of mind got by writing down, not copying, an abstract of a book which is worth the trouble, fixes it on the mind for years, and, besides, enables one to read other books with more attention and more profit.-Life and Letters of Fred. W. Robertson, M.A.; edited by Stopford A. Brooke, M.A. JOHN G. SAXE. b. 1816. Ah! well I love these books of mine That stand so trimly on their shelves, (Fat "quartos" jostling modest "twelves" The poorest ranking with their betters, That this I take, and that refuse; Among these peaceful book relations, I call these friends, these quiet books, (What living friend has done the same?) As these, my cronies ever present, Of all the friends I ever knew Have been so useful and so pleasant? Poems by John Godfrey Saxe, LL.D., Boston. ARTHUR HELPS. 1817-1875. So varied, extensive, and pervading are human distresses, sorrows, short-comings, miseries, and misadventures, that a chapter of aid or consolation never comes amiss, I think. There is a pitiless, pelting rain this morning; heavily against my study windows drives the north-western gale; and altogether it is a very fit day for working at such a chapter. The indoor comforts which enable one to resent with composure, nay even to welcome, this outward conflict and hubbub, are like the plans and resources provided by philosophy and religion, to meet the various calamities driven against the soul in its passage through this stormy world. The books which reward me have been found an equal resource in both respects, both against the weather from without and from within, against physical and mental storms; and, if it might be so, I would pass on to others the comfort which a seasonable word has often brought to me. If I were to look round these shelves, what a host of well-loved names would rise up, in those who have said brave or wise words to comfort and aid their brethren in adversity. It seems as if little remained to be said; but in truth there is always waste land in the human heart to be tilled. There is another view of reading which, though it is obvious enough, is seldom taken, I imagine, or at least acted upon; and that is, that in the course of our reading we should lay up in our minds a store of goodly thoughts in well-wrought words, which should be a living treasure of knowledge always with us, and from which, at various times and amidst all the shifting of circumstances, we might be sure of drawing some comfort, guidance, and sympathy. We see this with regard to the sacred writings. "A word spoken in due season, how good is it!" But there is a similar comfort on a lower level, to be obtained from other sources than sacred ones. In any work that is worth carefully reading, there is generally something that is worth remembering accurately. A man whose mind is enriched with the best sayings of his own country, is a more independent man, walks the streets in a town, or the lanes in the country, with far more delight than he otherwise would have; and is taught by wise observers of man and nature, to examine for himself. Sancho Panza with his proverbs is a great deal better than he would have been without them; and I contend that a man has something in himself to meet troubles and difficulties, small or great, who has stored in his mind some of the best things which have been said about troubles and difficulties. Moreover, the loneliness of sorrow is thereby diminished.-Friends in Council. CHARLES KINGSLEY. 1819-1875. Except a living man, there is nothing more wonderful than a book!—a message to us from the dead-from human souls whom we never saw, who lived, perhaps, thousands of miles away; and yet these, on those little sheets of paper, speak to us, amuse us, vivify us, teach us, comfort us, open their hearts to us as brothers. I say we ought to reverence books, to look at them as useful and mighty things. If they are good and true, whether they are about religion or politics, farming, trade, or medicine, they are the message of Christ, the maker of all things, the teacher of all truth. |