Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1894-02-06
uooks.



Rocks are In us what friends arr,-
ompaniouable---and even more than
friends, for good hook IL . tried aud
true friend, substantial and never-fail-
Ing, always the same, whilst human
friends often prove trcacherous or
dckle.
In thls era Of book making and Of
book-readIng, We little realize, and but
half appreciate, the vast amount OF
knowledgc or entertainment that u
gathered In Lifetime from b0oks-not
school books, hut the miscellaneous col
lectlons of libraries.
The social problem of come aGitator
scems beet lifted TO catch the public
eye In Q so-callcd novel, where .
fancled people ara made 20 talk and live
mp 10 some underlying theory Of the
authors. Thus we are uncousciously
learning more about the principle advo-
Gated than u Il werr written In . plain,
matter-of-fact way.
The Idea of socialism IL In some way
connected In our mind With anarchlsm,
but We can gather nothing but good
from reading the book In our grange
library entitled "Murvale Eastman, or
Christian socialism," where the teach
iugs Of Christ, "lIear We one another's
burdens" are rxempllhed, aud the In
nuence Of the Christ-splrit seems 10 lin.
ger long after the book IL laid on the
shelf. Thus the novel In these days of
book-making proves q means of educa-
tion giving us gllmpscs Of life, of places,
of conditions, We. In our quiet homes,
never dreamed Of.
Another hook In our grange library h
ION Horseback" where the reader IL In
vivid Imagination carried through the
poor region Of North Carolina aud Ten
nessee. The pen picture II ca vivid We
can almost fancy that We ourselves are
drawing rein aud seeking hospitality
from some "poor white trash's" DWELL
Ing, and partaklng Of the poor fare Of
hoe-cAke and bacon; where the thrift
lessDess and squalor bespcak woesome
Ignorance, aud souls seemingly on .
level With the brutcs; WHERE We are told
an itinerant preacher MAS once travel
Ing aud asked permission Ia make .
prayer, through which the woman gar
ed In establishment, then said, "say.
mister. what be you a-,ioin't That's the
way the man did that come and put my
girl that died. In the hole" DO We
need 10 send missionaries AfAr Oh when
q mission field 90 near at hand IL neg
iecteds Thus the train of thought en-
gendered 90 reading the woeful thrift
lessness and Ignorance, even that seen
on that Que ride on horseback, IL far
reaching. and carries us away In uncH-
plored fields ot thought.
In the "lAst Days of l'ompeii" time
IL unrolled ~ Q scroll aud we are living
In all the ease and luxurisnce 30 the
eastern city, With the public baths, the
reclining Ease At dining. the gsIety; can
almost se~ the smoke of Nesusius and
the shlnln. bay 81 Naples al its feet
and when the thunderous roar and the
suflocating fall of ashes, or the flowing
mass Of lava VAS o,erpo~erin. the once
happy citizens, We almost catch our
br,sih as the Instinct of fear compels
our flight back IN the pro.aic days Of
this Nineteenth century We have for
the time being, so lost ourselves In that
fsrsway period of the worlds history
that when We are fully swak. 90 the
realities % the present time, Il IL like
b-lDg born sgain Into strsnsene.s, and
We almost rub our eyes To .ce " we are
awake.
In books, In papers, with illustrations,
no one need bc Ignorant 90 the sights 81
the great worlds fair. Though mil
lions Of people saw With Oh. natural
eve, vet many more millions must zee on
paper the gatherings Of the nations,
aud trow not more Will give an
accurate description of much their
from the pen pictures than of those With
mn actual eye experience, so perfect has
the art of description become.
In books We cro.. the ocean, and cx.
periencc In Imagination the rolling, toss
Ing Atlantic. the life on shlpbosrd, the
sights % the continent. ,islt the ruin.
of crumbllng past, OF the gay cities
ot the present, see the grandeur 81 the
cathedral. or the museums of antiquity,
the grandeur 81 the Alp. or the vine
clad hill. of spain, thread the water
street. 10 Venice In q gondols or ,isit
the Holy Land. Al, yea. we never
need to stay at home, for books give IA
q FREE passport Ia any cline or nation,
The uncloudei mind cannot bc fcttered,
and what IL still better II grows on what
IL feeds on.
just az cool books are helpful, so are
bad books hurtful. Aud a. the rising
generation grssps blindly, sec % IL that
We teach them discretion In their CHOKE.
10 books, and lead the way 10 . love OF
reading.
Edward Everett Hale says. "ln the
first place We must make the business
agreeable. whichever avenue ~e take
into the mare must be- one of the pleas
ant avenues, or elss. la q world which
the Good God has made very beautiful,
the young people will 60 s-skating, or
A-h.hins, or s-swlmming. or s-,oysging,
and no blame To them" Give them
hooks of adventure equal to Robinson
Crusoe. Give them fairy tales that ex-
erci.e their Imagination, stories at
young life IN lawful aud honorable bat
tie With the world, and histories of self.
made m~p; by degrees reading will be-
come q pleasure. See that they arr
we'll supplied with hooks. foster In them
= love Of good books, aud you may b.
reasonably sure ~ your sou. BETTER
money spent for good book than hoard
cd In savings bank. Truly the wisdom
of all age. IL ours for the seeking, and
Ia these times ignorance IL Justly blame
able. Cowper says:
-sno-i~is, :. prosi thu, he Aa. 'earn~i 80
Wisdom /. ssnsl. ,A., he lpo.. no more"
To BE- SURF We can not drink deep
enough To be anything but superficial.
but we can know something of the
questions of the day, or the literature Of
the world. Lyman Abbott declares
that the home library IL ~ essential as
the dining room or Kitchen. OF the max.
Ing Of books there IL no end. and our
watchfulness must be- exercised that
only sound, wholesome aud elevating
books lind their way into our grange or
home library.
PENSIONS.