light.

And then it chanced I took the book
Which she perused in days gone by;
And as I read, such passion shook,
That, I needs must surely cry.

For, here and there, her love was writ,
In old, half-faded pencil-signs,
As if she yielded--bit by bit--
Her heart in dots and underlines.

Ah, silvered fool, too late you look!
I know it; but let me here record
This maxim: Lend no girl a book
Unless you read it afterward!

--_F. S. Cozzens._

130

We should make the same use of a book that the bee does of a flower; she
steals sweets from it, but does not injure it.

--_Colton._

131

Be as careful of the books you read, as of the company you keep; for
your habits and character will be as much influenced by the former as
the latter.

132

BOOKS.

If thou art borrowed by a friend,
Right welcome shall he be,
To read, to study, not to lend,
But to return to me.

Not that imparted knowledge doth
Diminish learning's store;
But books, I find, if often lent,
Return to me no more.

--_Murphy._

133

BOOKS.

The feeling that books are real friends is constantly present to all who
love reading. "I have friends," said Petrarch, "whose society is
extremely agreeable to me, they are of all ages, and of every country.
They have distinguished themselves both in the cabinet and in the field,
and obtained high honors for their knowledge of the sciences. It is easy
to gain access to them, for they are always at my service, and I admit
them to my company, and dismiss them from it, whenever I please. They
are never troublesome, but immediately answer every question I ask them.
Some relate to me the events of past ages, while others reveal to me the
secrets of Nature. Some teach me how to live, and others how to die.
Some, by their vivacity, drive away my cares and exhilarate my spirits;
while others give fortitude to my mind, and teach me the important
lesson how to deport myself, and to depend wholly on myself. They open
to me, in short, the various avenues of all the arts and sciences and
upon their information I may safely rely in all emergencies. In return
for all their services, they only ask me to accommodate them with a
conven