ng the heavy fall over the precipice that weakened Humboldt.
Books enable us to visit climes, cities, civilizations ancient and
modern, that without them could never be seen during man's years, so
few, and by man's strength, so insufficient. Great men and rich
increase their influence by surrounding themselves by servants who
fulfill their commands.

Each president and prime minister strengthens himself by a cabinet.
But what if the peasant or workman could surround himself with a group
of counselors and advisers that included a hundred of the greatest
intellects of his generation? What if some Herschel should approach
the youth to say, "You need your night's rest for sleep; but for you I
will give the years for studying the stars and their movements?" What
if some Dana should say, "For you I will decipher the handwriting upon
the rocks, trace the movement of the ice plows, search out the
influence of the flames as they turn rocks into soil for vineyards?"
What if some Audubon should say, "For you I will go through all the
forests to find out the life and history of the winged creatures, from
the humming-bird to hawk and eagle?" What if Niebuhr should say, "For
you I will decipher the monuments, all ruins and obelisks, all man's
parchments and manuscripts for setting forth man's upward progress
through the centuries?" But this is precisely what books do for us.

Saving man's time and strength, books also increase his manhood and
multiply his brain forces. With them, a man of fourscore years ends
his career wiser than, without them, he could have been, though he had
lived and wrought through ten thousand summers and winters. This is
what Emerson means when he says, "Give me a book, health and a June
day, and I will make the pomp of kings ridiculous." When the Athenian
youth, beloved of the gods, went forth upon his journey, one friend
brought him a wondrous armor, proof against arrows; another brought a
horse of marvelous swiftness; another brought a bow of great size and
strength. Thus armed, the youth conquered his enemies. But when books
have armed man against his foes, they go on to change his enemies into
friends; they shield him against ignorance; they free him from
superstition; they clothe him with gratitude. Thank God for books,
cheering our solitude, soothing our sickness, refining our passions,
out of defeat leading us to victory! That youth can scarcely fail of
character, happiness and success who, day by da