BOOKS should be found in every house
To form and feed the mind;
They are the best of luxuries
'Tis possible to find.
For all the books in all the world
Are man's greatest treasure;
They make him wish, and bring to him
His best, his choicest pleasure.
BOOKS make his time pass happily
Through many weary hours;
Amuse, compose, instruct his mind,
Enlarge his mental powers.
BOOKS give to him the history
Of each and every land;
BOOKS show him human action's past--
The bad, the good, the grand.
BOOKS show him arts, laws, learnings, faiths
Of every time and place;
BOOKS show him how each thing is made
Used by the human race.
[Page 105--Value Of Books]
[Illustration: Song Of The Book Arcade--Second Half.]
BOOKS give to him descriptions of
The world in which we live,
Of the universe around us,
And better still they give.
BOOKS give to him the greatest thoughts
Of all the good and wise;
BOOKS treasure human knowledge up,
And so it never dies.
BOOKS show him all that men have done,
What they have thought and said;
BOOKS show the deeds and wisdom of
The living and the dead.
BOOKS show him all the hopes and fears
Of every race and clan;
BOOKS clearly prove beyond a doubt
The brotherhood of man.
BOOKS give him hopes beyond the grave
Of an immortal life;
BOOKS teach that right and truth and love
Shall banish every strife.
BOOKS teach and please him when a child
In youth and in his prime;
BOOKS give him soothing pleasure when
His health and strength decline.
BOOKS please him in his lonely hours,
Wherever he may roam:
BOOKS please when read aloud among
His loving friends at home.
BOOKS like _strong drink_ will drown his cares,
But do not waste his wealth;
BOOKS leave him _better_, drink the _worse_,
In character and health.
BOOKS therefore, are, of all man buys,
The choicest thing on earth,
BOOKS have, of all his household goods,
The most intrinsic worth.
BOOKS are the greatest blessing out,
The grandest thing we sell,
BOOKS bring more joy, BOOKS do more good
Than mortal tongue can tell.