Better than men and women, friend,
That are dust, though dear in our joy and pain,
Are the books their cunning hands have penned,
For they depart, but the books remain....
When others fail him, the wise man looks
To the sure companionship of books.--R. H. STODDARD.
P. 5. _Southey_ ('A heavenly delight').--See p. 320.
P. 5. _Southey_ ('The best of all possible company').--Castanheda died
in 1559, Barros in 1570, Osorio (da Fonseca) in 1580. They were
Portuguese historians.