Southern shield., 1840-03-28
THE BENEFITS OF BOOKS, ( fESPECIALLY TO THE GREAT
 MASS OF THE PEOPLE)
BY CLAIMING.


 snen salk to us, give us their most precious thoughts, and pour their soui into ours God be thanked for books They are the voices of the distant and the dead and make us heirs of the spiritual life of past ages Books are the true Jewellers. They give to all who will fadifully use them the society, the spiritual greatest of our race No matter how poor am. No mat ter though the prospereBs of my own time, will not enter my obscbe dwelling. If the sacred Writers will elrr and take up their abode under my roof,5 Milton will cross. my threshold to singt ne of paradise, and Shakespeare to openlp me the worlds ot imagination, and thevorkings of the human heart, and Franklino enrich me with his praetical wisdom -Lshall not pine for in- tellectual companioship, andl may be- come an intellectuaIman, though excluded from what is caledhe best society in the place where 1 live
 To make this mems of culture eTectual; a man must selectgood books, such as have been writer by right minded and strong minded menreal thinkers, who, in- stead of diluting by repetition what others say, have somethig to say for thenselves, and write to give rilef to full earnest souls; and these works gust not be skinned oy- er for amusementbut read with fixed at tention and reverntial love of truth In selecting books, w may be aided much by those who have stllied more than ourselves But after all; it is)est to be determined in this particular, a good deal by our own tastes. The besbooks for a man are not always those whh the wise. recommend, but oftener thos which meet the peculiar wants, the naturi thirst of his mind, and therefore awakei interest and rivet thought And here it mg be well to observe, not only in regard abooks, but in other res poets that self allure must vary with the individual Almeans do not equally suit us all. A man must unfold himself free y, and should aspect the peculiar gifts or biasses by whih nature has distinguished him from other l-Self culture does not de- mand the sacrice of individuality It does not regularly Jply in established machine ry, for the sale of ftorturing every man into one rigid shaF called perfection. As the human counteiance, with the same features in us all, is diversified without end in the race, and is lever the same in any two individuals; so the human soul, with the in- finite varity offorms, and would be woful- ly stinted by nodes of culture requiring all men to learn the same lesson, or to bend to the same rules.
 1 know hoW1har ii is to some, espe- CIdITy 10 tIiJse WnO Sfoor1Sa- {, rSIrs l,l fl <h..,,. l. -1,7 Let them strive to overcome the difficulty, by choosing subjects of deep interest, or by reading in company with those whom they love. Nothing can supply the place of books, They are cheering or soothing companions in solitude, illness, affiic- tion.-The wealth of both continents would not compensate for the good they impart. Let every man, if possible gather some good books under his roof, and ob- tain access for himself and family to some social library. Almost any luxury should be sacrificed to this
 One of the very interesting features of our time, is the multiplication of books, and their distribution through all conditions of society. At a small expense, man can lO" PoSoCoo ihihSCii oi tiie HioSl PiCClOuo treasures of English Literature Books, which were formerly confined to a few by their costliness, are now accessible to the multitude; and in this way change of ha- bit is going on in society, highly favorable to fine culture ofthe people, Instead of descending of casualrumor and loose con- versation for most of their knowledge and objects of thought, instead of forming their judgments in crowds, and receiving their chief excitement from the voice of their neighbors, men are now learning to study and reflect alone, to follow on continuous ly, to determine for themselves what shall engage their minds, and call to their aid the knowledge, original views and reasoning of men of all countries and ages: and the re- suits must be deliberateness and independ ence of judgment, and thoroughness and extent of information unknown in former times. The effusion of these silent teach CTS, books, through the whole community, is to work greater effects than artillery, machinery, and legislation. Its successful agency is to supercede stormy revolution. The culture, which is to be spread, whilst an unspeakable good to the individu al, is also to become the stability of na- lions.
 In the year 1914, the Editor of the Rich mond Enquirer spoke of General Harri- <l~ f,l 1,,,~ L