Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1899-05-26
Books in the Home.

| Almost all families have books: few
| families have library. | put in here
plea for a library in every household.
and | place in order of importance in
the family, for its literary food. in the
| formation of a library, the articles of
| diet as follows:
First--A Bible
Second-A dictionary. get the un-
abridged if you can afford it. but a
smaller edition is better than none
Third-A good weekly newspaper
that gives. comprehensively and fairly,
| the news of the week
Fourth-A cyclopedia.
| After these are purchased you may
properly consider the purchase of other
| books. but not before.
All families that will read this ar
ticle have il is safe to assume. the first
three. Suffer a word as to the fourth
| The advantages Of the cyclopedia is
| that il is a library, already arranged
for you. The volumes of the "Ency-
clopedia Britannica" stand before me
| as | write. They contain 25 or 80
treatses. and a host of magazine and
newspaper articles. The topics treated
! cover the whole range of useful and
4 lttuttl lliDi liid plllibSp-
| ply, theology. science, art. travels.
The only ingredients wanted are fic-
| ton. poetry and belles-lettres. and
these are abundantly furnished by the
| newspaper and the magazine: they
j constitute the element which most
| abounds in every household and is
| least necessary to its welfare. With
| this library before me, | can investi-
gate any topic of the times. Reading
of the South African war. | can find
out who the Beers are and why they
| are fighting the English reading of
| the Irish disturbances. | can get in an
evening the light thrown on the pres
ent by the history of the past.
| Such a library is an inexhaustible
| source OF instruction and entertain
ment to the younger members of the
family: | say, advisedly. entertain
ment 1t is true that when a boy has
| had his taste depraved by the sensa-
| tional weekly. he will find a 5 little that
is palatable in an encyclopedias as 4
drunkard would find TO stimulate him
in a glass of milk. Nevertheless. the
| boy or girl who has been brought up
TO use an encyclopedia will find more
endowment in 1t than his companion In
the Robbers of the Black Forest, or
the Mysterious Maid of the Metrop-
oils.
| | remember in one of my father
earlier volumes his account of the en-
cyclopedia as an educator. | remem-
her almost as well his own use of IL in
the household, which he portrayed IN
the form Of a story for the instruction
IF others. The book-the old "Ency-
tclopedia Americana''-is on my shelves
TODAY. long since superseded by more
modern works, but sacred from its
history and association. the boy was
SET for one hour of his daily home
| study. with the encyclopedia before
HIM he was allowed to select any sub
iect he chose, but, having chosen II. he
was required to master it. and. II l
| recollect right, to write an abstract or
II and to pass an examination upon IL
when his work was done.
know the objection of expense. a
good encyclopedia-at least the pest
costs from $50 to 800 A large sum-
) Int if YOU will figure up your dinners
for ten years you will be amazed to
!, find how large sum they also Cost
} YOU. He that will invest ten dollars
wear in literature-and there are ie"
} Americans who cannot AFFORD 10 ~
that if they will-may have in iive Oh
ten wears a library which. estimated d!
: its intellectual results. is simply IN
valuable: and that for the same ex-
nenditure which has been frittered
away by his neighbor in gilt bindings
chaap pictures. and temporary, ana
a sometimes even trumpery, books, none
| of which perhaps have been read more
than once. and some OF when VIII no.
: have deserved even Il single reauiiis'-
> Rey. LYMAN Abbott, d. d.