at least
have 'my crust of bread and liberty.' But with five thousand pounds a
year, I may dread a ring at my bell; I may have my tyrannical master in
servants whose wages I can not pay; my exile may be at the fiat of the
first long-suffering man who enters judgement against me; for the flesh
that lies nearest my heart, some Shylock may be dusting his scales and
whetting his knife. Every man is needy who spends more than he has; no
man is needy who spends less. I may so ill manage that, with five
thousand a year, I purchase the worst evils of poverty,--terror and
shame; I may so well manage my money that, with one hundred pounds a
year, I purchase the best blessings of wealth,--safety and respect."

CHAPTER LXII

A COLLEGE EDUCATION AT HOME

"Tumbling around in a library" was the phrase Oliver Wendell Holmes used
in describing in part his felicities in boyhood. One of the most
important things that wise students get out of their schooldays is a
familiarity with books in various departments of learning. The ability
to pick out from a library what is needed in life is of the greatest
practical value. It is like a man selecting his tools for intellectual
expansion and social service. "Men in every department of practical
life," says President Hadley of Yale, "men in commerce, in
transportation, or in manufactures--have told me that what they really
wanted from our colleges was men who have this selective power of using
books efficiently. The beginnings of this kind of knowledge are best
learned in any home fairly well furnished with books."

Libraries are no longer a luxury, but a necessity. A home without books
and periodicals and newspapers is like a house without windows. Children
learn to read by being in the midst of books; they unconsciously absorb
knowledge by handling them. No family can now afford to be without good
reading.

Children who are well supplied with dictionaries, encyclopedias,
histories, works of reference, and other useful books, will educate
themselves unconsciously, and almost without expense, and will learn many
things of their own accord in moments which would otherwise be wasted;
and which, if learned in schools, academies, or colleges, would cost ten
times as much as the expense of the books would be. Besides, homes are
brightened and made attractive by good books, and children stay in such
pleasant homes; while those whose education has been neglected are
anxious to ge