Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1893-05-26
BOOKS.


who is wen known in this section from
hi interest in Silver Lake, made brief
address the other evening at Utica. at
i, cepti,i in the Y. NJ. &. \ rooms, of
the 900, committee of which he l. the
chairman. lie said:
"iouug men form about one-thirG of
the population of these United States,
and into the keeping of twenty millions
of young men soon must be placed the
reins of our government With steady
and irresistible tread this mighty phaanX
is marching onward toward mature life,
aud not only the states but the church
must look to this advancing host for
future support. Enrolled as members of
the Ctica Young Mems Christian associa-
tion are some eight hundred young men,
for whom magnificent and beautifully
furnished building has been provided
at cost IN money q nearly one hundred
thousand dollars. Friends have done
noblv in making this provision for the
physical and spiritual necessities If our
young men. but in the management of
affairs connected with this work the
weak must combine with the strong in
the warfare against Satan. The arch
tiend has great army. for which recruits
are largely enlisted in cities. One of the
most formidable weapons with which to
arm young men for this fight is good
book. Thank God, says Claiming, for
books they are the voices of the distant
and the dead, and make us heirs of the
spiritual life Of past ages. They give
to all who will use them the spiritual
presence of the best and greatest of our
race. 1t is thro' books that we enjoy in
tercourse with superior minds, and these
Invaluable means of communication are
IN the reach of all In the best books
great men talk to us, give us their most
precious thoughts, and pour into our
minds their souls. Books are friends
and companions, teachers and CONSIDERS,
recreaters and amusers, and they are
always ready to respond to our wants.
We can take them with us in our wander
ings, or gather them around us at our
firesides. In the lonely wilderness and
the crowded city their spirit will be
with US, giving a meaning to the seeming
ly confused movements of humanity,
and peopling the desert with their own
bright creations. Books, says johnson,
have a secret influence on the under
standing, and he that reads books of
science without any desire of improve
ment will grow more knowing. lie that
entertans himself with moral Or religious
treatises will imperceptibly advance in
& Dodness. Books are not dead things,
for they contain life IN them as the
living intellects that create dhem. The
friendship of books never dies. 1t grows
by use and possesses an Immortality of
perpetual youth. They are the friend
ships of ever living souls they can never
be applied to in vain, and they can be
relied upon whoever else or whatever
else may fail Truly is it said that the
Bible is the best of all books. 1t is the
history of God, for 1t reveals all that is
needful to be known of the existence,
n ,ture, projections, relations, mind and
will of God. 1t discloses the whole his
tory of man, opening with his creation.
continuing with his present state and
closing with his eternal destiny. 1t lays
open the amazing love of God to man,
the plan of redemption, the means of
salvation, and the cleansing nature of
the blood of Christ. 1t points to a second
life, unveils eternity, speaks of the resur-
recton of the body, the immortality Of
the soul, Judgment to come, a heaven
the gift of redeeming love, hell the dire
desert of sin. 1t is an infalibe rule of
life, an immovabe ground of hope, an
everlasting spring of consolation, and the
only sure guide to eternal life. What is
there not in the holy Scriptures? Are we
poor? There is the treasury of riches.
Are we Christians? There is the star
of Bethlehem. Are we afflicted? There
is our solace. Are we prosecuted
There is our protection. Are we young
There is our beauty Are we oldi
There is our wisdom. Are we tempted
There is the sword for victory. Let this
book, young men, be to you what Milton
calls the precious life blood of a master
spirit, embalmed and treasured up on
purpose to life beyond. a large num-
Der of volumes have this day been receiv-
ed ; among them is one very small book
which will not take up much room in our
library. but when the poor widow cast
her mite into the temple treasury Jesus
said that the gift was greater than all
the rest"