The Lake County star., 1877-11-15
BOOKS.
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tasf4f Ngu 1890 az-.r.,
This Il an aye OF hooks. The leaves
OF literature are falling all around uf
as thick ~ the snow. .flakes IN . winter
Storm Pick up, Islece ef paper, and
you will usually find That It Is printed
on both sides. There was = time, and
not far back, either. when the man
who could read, and hsd books, WAS q
wonder. He was classed with NEGRO.
niancers. Now, the man who cannot
read is the wonder. Hit
This Is not the age Of the q almighty
dollar.n 1t Is the age Of boOks--the
age Of the academy, the college, the
university, and everywhere intellect 10
acknowledged to be mightier far than
money. We will venture to say that
there Is not o person who reads these
lines who can name the six richest men
In the country, while there is scarcely
oneG who cannot name the leading
poets. When q millionaire, comes TO
these shores, who knows Of his arrival ?
But let Dickens come, with his humOr
and pathos or Tyndal, to talk to US
about light; or Proctor, to lecture on
"Other Worlds Than Ours" and every
newspaper In the land heralds their
advent. Why, there are men, In this
money-loving age, as IL Is called, who
could not be induced by money TO leave
their work and their books. When
Mr.. SpurgeOn was invited, D few years
ago. to crUss the Atlantic, and lecture
to American, audiences, he was offered
almost fabulous prices for his services,
but he promptly declined, saying his
+" Master had called him TO preach the
gospel. and that the work was 80 press
Ing he had no time to stop for money
making" And, when that disti,-
guished man, beloved by all students
Of science, Professor Agassiz was in
vited To lecture I'm Portland, Me-, and
reply was, have no time to make
money!, He was growing old. A
series of experiments in his museum
demanded his attention, and he put of
the mere making Of money for the
former, which he judged more import.
ant.
The aristocracy of birth and Of gold
is passing away, and that Of mind is
coming to the front. In the English
House Of Lords, Of the 400 peers. 800
date within hundred years. One
third of the present House, including
the Bench Of Bishops, have received
their rank from Victoria. Yes,
The pen shall supersede the sword,
And Right, not Might, shall be the
lord;
And worth, not birth, shall rule man.
And be acknowledged stronger:-
The proper impulse has been given,
Wait little longer u
Books are pleasant and Instructive
companions. What wonderful &C.
quaintance is the knowledge Of letters!
lf man only knows the English
alphabet, he possesses the key that
will open the gate to all knowledge.
And Ii he be o true student, he will
ever be willing to make the very best
use Of all available means for improve
ment. Just as Michael Angelo Is said
to have made some of his finest models
out of the Jumps of mortar with which
he worked just as rare old Ben John
son helped to build Lincoln's Inn with
q trOwel in his hand and book in his
pocket. and when he was not using the
one, he was reading the other just as
James Ferguson measured the uni
verse, and mapped off the heavens,
with string of beads stretched be-
tween his eyes and the armament +;
Just as Benjamin West, the American
painter, sketched some of his first pic.
lures on a piece of rough board, with
Jumps of chalk and charcoal Just rs
Stevenson, the inventor of railroads,
taught himself to read when over
eighteen years of age, by simply making
diligent use of the few short hours that
fell to his lot when the days toll was
ended.
What can. be more pleasant than to
spend one Of our dreary winter even
ings beside bright fire in pleasant
library whose shelves are filled with
the works of the best authors-with
history, biography, science, poetry and
fiction. You ask yourself, with
whom shall converse tO.night?"
And you summon up old Eusebius,
and listen to him as he traces the rise
and progress Of the Church Of Christ
through the first four centuries; or
Herodotus, the father OF history, as he
tells the histories Of nations long since
dead; or Gibbon, as he traces the "De-
cline and Fall of the Roman Empire;"
or with Agassiz you wander over the
glaciers. amid the awful sOlitudes of
the Alps or with Livingstone or Ba-
ker, you traverse "Afric's burning
sands: or the great Wizard OF the
North" the spell of whose fancy
causes YOU to weeo over his " Heart Of
Mid Lothian" or to shudder at his
"Astrologue," or rise to ecstacy at the
poetic beauty Of bis Fair Maid of
PERTH, or the Bible, that best OF
books, hich, as Locke has said, has
God for its author, salvation for Its
end, and truth, without any mixture
of error. for its matter" !" unfOlds to you
Gods wondrous plan of redemption
for fallen men, y mystery which even
angels desire to comprehend.
Books have q mighty influence for
good or evil. Robinson Crusoe has
sent more sailors to the sea than all
the press.gangs Of "old England.p II
was HOmer's Illiad that helped to
make Alexander the Great the whole.
sale robber and murderer Of mankind.
Benjamin Franklin tells us in one OF
his letters, that when he was q little
boy book fell into his hands, entitled :
Essays to Do Good, by Cotton Math.
err" "This book was tattered and
torn, several of its leaves were gone,
but, the remainder he says, "gave
me such turn for thinking that 1t had
an influence on my. whole life.n A lit.
tie tract fell into the hands Of Richard
Baxter, and was blessed to his c0nver-
sion. Baxter wrote the "6aint's Rest, y
which led to the conversion OF bod.
dridge. He wrote, 1.-THE Rise and
Progress of Religion In the Soul, !" and
that led TO the conversion Of the cele-
brated Wilberforce. He wrote little
book entitled, practical View Oi
Christianity, which led to the conver'
sion OF Leigh Richmond, and he wrote
the "Dairyman's Daughter which
has been translated into more than fifty
languages, and has been blessed to the
conversion OF thousands.
A large proportion of the books and
periodicals Of the present day are Inn
moral aud wicked. The number Ol
such publications Is about 10000, COX
per annuin, being more than the tota
t,.,,oa nf Tho Nh hviattau Kuow1odUS