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Excerpts from Souvenir Submitted by David M. Waid |
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THE
BIBLE--BOOKS--NEWSPAPERS. THE BIBLE.
"It has God for its author,
salvation for its end, and truth, without any mixture of error, for its
matter. It is all pure, all
sincere, nothing too much, nothing wanting."
Locke. BOOKS. "Dreams, books, are each a
world; and books, we know, Are a substantial world, both pure
and good; Round these, with tendrils strong as
flesh and blood, Our pastime and our happiness will
grow."
Wordsworth. Of all the books in the world, if I were asked to name my choice, I would unhesitatingly claim the BIBLE; for in itself it has proved to me a complete library. My father possessed a library, and I always wished to have one of my own. I cannot say how many books were in my father's book-case, but this one book I know was there--the BIBLE. The old Family Book was perused perhaps more than any other, for my parents read from its pages daily. I love to look at that old familiar book and read it, for it always has a charm for me. In my father's library are some fifty or sixty volumes, in my own from seventy-five to eighty. In his library, besides the "Good Book," are some works on agriculture, school books, histories, "The Life of Christ," "Fox's Book of Martyrs," "The World Displayed," "The Universal Traveler," "Uncle Tom's Cabin," "Nelson on Infidelity,'' "History of Western Pennsylvania," "Life of U. S. Grant," "Conflict in America," "Military Heroes of the Mexican War and the War of 1812," Hale's "History of the United States," "Life in a Rebel Prison," "Parson Brownlow," "Lives of Great Men," Webster's Dictionary, and many others. One book I have just (evening of December 6, 1886) taken off the shelf from among these books, a volume I have not opened for many years, and in it I find this verse: TO THE YOUTH. Why should I say 'tis yet too soon To seek for Heaven or think of death, A flower may fade before 'tis noon, And I this day may lose my breath. July 4, 1852.
Francis C. Waid.
There are some things more than others which arrest our attention
as we pass on life's pathway. The
saved think of the unsaved--the perishing is the one we wish to rescue. Reader, if there is a single word or thought expressed in
this volume that may tend to lead you Heavenward, may you find that word
and profit by it.
As I have spoken of some of the books contained in my father's
library, the reader may wish to know what kind of books are to be found in
mine. As I have already intimated, when a boy I wished to be
possessed of a library, as I had the idea that so much could be learned by
having access to many books, but now at the age of fifty-three I find my
choice among the many books I have is the "Book of Books," which
is a complete library in itself. It
teaches us plainly the pathway of life.
It is the only book for which my love has constantly been on the
increase; hence you may see the reason for my comparison.
You will not wonder, then, in my selection of books, at my getting
those that teach us concerning the truths to be found in the Bible. On the shelves of my library, among other works, may be found
the following: "History
of the Bible," "Complete Analysis of the Holy Bible,"
"Bible Looking-glass," "Hand of God in History,"
"Testimony of the Ages," "Hold the Fort" (Moody, fifty
sermons), "Sayings and Sermons" (Rev. S. P. Jones),
"Johnson's Cyclopedia" (four volumes), "Dr. Gunn's Home
Book of Health," "History of the World," "Livingston,
Lost and Found," "History of the Rebellion," Webster's
Unabridged Dictionary, "The Royal Path of Life," "The
Nation and its Rulers," "History of Erie County, Pa.,"
History of Crawford County, Pa.," "Life of Garfield,"
"Life of U. S. Grant," "Daughters of America,"
"The Centennial Exhibition, 1876," and many others, "too
numerous to mention" (to quote from the auction sale bills), yet all
useful in their place, and I must not forget to mention the last book
added to my library, my SOUVENIR, 1886.
Before turning away from "books," I would like to speak
of a little work published by the American Tract Society, called "Dew
Drops," containing 365 verses of Scripture, one for every day in the
year. In this book one may
find some passage taken from the Bible adapted to his or her birthday; for
instance: January 1--I
will meditate in Thy precepts (Psalm exix:
15.) This one I love, April 23 (my birthday)--The Grace of God
that giveth Salvation hath appeared to all men (Titus ii:
11.) This little book I bought in 1850, and although the smallest
in my collection, yet its contents are beyond earthy value in my
estimation, and may others appreciate it as I do.
Each good thought conveyed in it has the virtue to "move the
dark world nearer to the sun," and, after reading the many selections
from the Bible, I feel within me a peace above all earthly dignities, a
still and quiet conscience. NEWSPAPERS.
The things we love, and which are our daily helpers in household
affairs and on the farm, we are not apt to be forgetful of.
I would be unwilling to let this opportunity pass without referring
to a source whence I have derived much pleasure and general information. I refer to newspapers, and it is not the quantity or number
one takes, but the quality that is to be considered in this connection.
We are now taking the following:
New York Weekly Tribune, Saturday Evening Post (a
Philadelphia paper), Knoxville (Tenn.) Weekly Tribune, The
Farm and Fireside (an Ohio monthly), The Sugar Bowl and Farm
Journal (Louisiana), Our Country Home ( a Massachusetts
monthly), The Chautauquan (a monthly ), Crawford Journal, The
Tribune, Weekly Republican, The Meadville Messenger and Crawford
Democrat, and The Pennsylvania Farmer, the last five being
printed in Meadville, Penn. (January 7, 1887.
I have just added a new journal to my list, the Meadville
Gazette, Col. G. W. Reisinger, Editor.--F.
C. Waid.)"
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