I Am A Living Member Of The

All Noble Enthusiasms Pass Through A Feverish Stage, And Grow Wiser And More Serene

It Is Chiefly Through Books That We Enjoy Intercourse With The Superior Minds, And These Invaluable Means Of Communication Are In Reach Of All. In The Best Books, Great Men Talk To Us, Give Us Their Most Precious Thoughts, And Pour Their Souls Into Ours. God Be Thanked For Books. They Are The Voices Of The Distant And The Dead, And Make Us Heirs Of The Spiritual Life Of Past Ages. Books Are True Levellers. They Give To All, Who Faithfully Use Them, The Society, The Spiritual Presence Of The Best And Greatest Of Our Race.

The Mind, In Proportion As It Is Cut Off From Free Communication With Nature, With Revelation, With God, With Itself, Loses Its Life, Just As The Body Droops When Debarred From The Air And The Cheering Light From Heaven.

A General Loftiness Of Sentiment, Independence Of Men, Consciousness Of Good Intentions, Self-oblivion In Great Objects, Clear Views Of Futurity; Thoughts Of The Blessed Companionship Of Saints And Angels, Trust In God As The Friend Of Truth And Virtue,--these Are The States Of Mind In Which I Should Live.

The Best Books For A Man Are Not Always Those Which The Wise Recommend, But Often Those Which Meet The Peculiar Wants, The Natural Thirst Of His Mind, And Therefore Awaken Interest And Rivet Thought.