t away from home, and drift off and fall into all manner of
snares and dangers.

It is astonishing how much a bright child will absorb from being brought
up in the atmosphere of good books, being allowed to constantly use them,
to handle them, to be familiar with their bindings and titles. It is a
great thing for children to be brought up in the atmosphere of books.

Many people never make a mark on a book, never bend down a leaf, or
underscore a choice passage. Their libraries are just as clean as the
day they bought them, and, often, their minds are just about as clean of
information. Don't be afraid to mark your books. Make notes in them.
They will be all the more valuable. One who learns to use his books in
early life, grows up with an increasing power for effective usefulness.

It is related that Henry Clay's mother furnished him with books by her
own earnings at the washtub.

Wear threadbare clothes and patched shoes if necessary, but do not pinch
or economize on books. If you can not give your children an academic
education you can place within their reach a few good books which will
lift them above their surroundings, into respectability and honor.

Is not one's early home the place where he should get his principal
training for life? It is here we form habits which shape our careers,
and which cling to us as long as we live. It is here that regular,
persistent mental training should fix the life ever after.

I know of pitiable cases where ambitious boys and girls have longed to
improve themselves, and yet were prevented from doing so by the
pernicious habits prevailing in the home, where everybody else spent the
evenings talking and joking, with no effort at self-improvement, no
thought of higher ideals, no impulse to read anything better than a
cheap, exciting story. The aspiring members of the family were teased
and laughed at until they got discouraged and gave up the struggle.

If the younger ones do not want to read or study themselves, they will
not let anybody else so inclined do so. Children are naturally
mischievous, and like to tease. They are selfish, too, and can not
understand why anyone else should want to go off by himself to read or
study when they want him to play.

Were the self-improvement habit once well established in a home, it would
become a delight. The young people would look forward to the study hour
with as much anticipation as to playing.

Were it possible for ev