because one is uncertain what to
take up next. The waste of oppor-
tunity which leaves so many people
intellectually barren who ought to
be intellectually rich, is due to
neglect to decide in advance what
direction one's reading shall take,
and neglect to keep the book of the
moment close at hand. The bi-
ographer of Lucy Larcom tells us
that the aspiring girl pinned all
manner of selections of prose and
verse which she wished to learn at
the sides of the window beside which
her loom was placed; and in this
way, in the intervals of work, she
familiarised herself with a great deal
of good literature. A certain man,
now widely known, spent his boy-
hood on a farm, and largely educated
himself. He learned the rudiments
of Latin in the evening, and carried

[[26]]

p025 _ -chap- _ toc-1 _ p026w _ toc-2 _ +chap+ _ p027

v?