having. No other American writer has been so
inspiring, so invigorating as this thinker of Concord. One cannot read
his essays without having a desire to _get up and do_. It is like a
breath of fresh air ... a tonic ... a stiff morning walk. It stirs the
mind to action and inspires us to lift ourselves out of the rut into
which we have fallen. One returns to them time after time, each reading
opening up new vistas of thought, new lines of mental development.

[Illustration: _A Scene from "His Picture in the Papers"_]

_As a man's stomach is what he eats, a man's mind is what he reads._ It
goes without saying that no healthy, active mind could exist without the
companionship of Shakespeare. Nowadays it is possible to secure the
entire works of the immortal poet in one volume. There is a special
Oxford University edition which can be had for a small sum. The type is
large, the paper good and there are many notes to help one over the
rocky places. There is no doubt of the truth of the saying that a man
who reads Shakespeare consistently and with understanding needs no other
education. Like the philosopher Emerson he boiled down the world's
thoughts into terse sentences and one goes into a new universe when
reading any of the plays. It is a good thing to learn parts of them by
heart so that we can apply them to our own lives. They strengthen the
mind ... their beauty lifts us into a great realism of splendid thought
... and they fill the heart with a longing to do something great. Such
books should become steady companions through life. No matter where our
duties call us we should see to it that we do not leave behind the
thoughts of this master mind of Shakespeare. The very fact that we have
them near us lifts us out of the monotony of nothing to do.

Among the books about America for Americans perhaps Roosevelt's "Winning
of the West" is among the best. Not only has he thrown the whole vigor
of his interesting personality into the writing of it, but he has given
us a vivid picture of the conquest of the States by the settlers. No man
could read it without being thrilled at the dangers our forefathers
faced ... at the great courage they possessed ... at their hardihood ...
their bulldog tenacity. The reading of such a book is like going back
over the years and living with them, sharing their troubles and their
enthusiasms. The man who contemplates gathering a small library could
not afford to do without the inspiration o