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Books, books, books!

I had found the secret of a garret room
Piled high with cases in my father's name;
Piled high, packed large,-where, creeping in
and out

Among the giant fossils of my past,

Like some small nimble mouse between the ribs
Of a mastodon, I nibbled here and there
At this or that box, pulling through the gap,
In heats of terror, haste, victorious joy,
The first book first. And how I felt it beat
Under my pillow, in the morning's dark,
An hour before the sun would let me read!
My books!

At last, because the time was ripe,

I chanced upon the poets.

E. B. BROWNING-Aurora Leigh. Bk. I. L. 830.

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In you the FUTURE as the PAST is given-
Ev'n in our death ye bid us hail our birth;-
Unfold these pages, and behold the Heaven,
Without one grave stone left upon the Earth.
BULWER-LYTTON-The Souls of Books. St. 5.
L. 11.

11

Some said, John, print it, others said, Not so; Some said, It might do good, others said, No. BUNYAN Apology for his Book. L. 39.

12

Go now, my little book, to every place
Where my first pilgrim has but shown his face.
Call at their door: if any say "Who's there?"
Then answer thou "Christiana is here."
BUNYAN-Pilgrim's Progress. Pt. II.
(See also SOUTHEY)

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Some books are lies frae end to end. BURNS-Death and Dr. Hornbook.

14

'Tis pleasant, sure, to see one's name in print;
A book's a book, although there's nothing in't.
BYRON-English Bards and Scotch Reviewers.
L. 51.

15

In the poorest cottage are Books: is one Book, wherein for several thousands of years the spirit of man has found light, and nourishment, and an interpreting response to whatever is Deepest in him.

CARLYLE-Essays. Corn-Law Rhymes.

16

If a book come from the heart, it will contrive to reach other hearts; all art and authorcraft are of small amount to that.

CARLYLE-Heroes and Hero Worship. Lecture

17

II.

All that Mankind has done, thought, gained or been it is lying as in magic preservation in the pages of Books. They are the chosen possession of men.

CARLYLE-Heroes and Hero Worship. Lecture

18

V.

In books lies the soul of the whole Past Time; the articulate audible voice of the Past, when the body and material substance of it has altogether vanished like a dream.

CARLYLE-Heroes and Hero Worship. The Hero as a Man of Letters.

19

The true University of these days is a collection of Books.

CARLYLE-Heroes and Hero Worship. The Hero as a Man of Letters.

20

"There is no book so bad," said the bachelor, "but something good may be found in it." CERVANTES-Don Quixote. Pt. II. Ch. III.

21

It is chiefly through books that we enjoy intercourse 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 their souls into ours.

CHANNING-On Self-Culture.

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