_Committing to memory a few lines every day_, is a habit which cannot be too strongly urged. It need not be made a tedious matter, by giving up one’s whole time and attention to it as a study; it can best be done when walking, or sewing, or engaged in household work, and will become, after a little, a pleasure instead of a task. Besides the daily acquisition of something worth remembering, there will be gained also a power quite as valuable, of observing the characteristics and style of various authors, the delicate differences of words, and the construction of sentences. It may safely be said that those writers who have been most celebrated for beauty and perspicuity of style, have owed this, in no small degree, to the early habit of committing to memory the works of the best authors.
In conclusion, we would beg our young readers to make friends of books. They will cheer many an hour that would otherwise be lonely; they are kind, ever ready, yet unobtrusive comforters in perplexity or sorrow; they represent that which is best and truest in all ages, and are the highest expression of itself, of which humanity is capable.
We cannot leave this book without giving a few simple rules for nursing the sick. Most of our young people, and many old, are ignorant of the commonest principles.
Never wear a rustling dress or creaking shoes in waiting on the sick. Be careful not to shake the bed, or fidget near it, so as to touch, disturb, and needlessly fatigue the invalid. Few noises are more irritating in sickness than noise from the grate. The startling effect of putting on coals may destroy the effect of an opiate. It is better to put them on one by one. In voice and manner be _gentle_, and in spirit _cheerful_ and _hopeful_. Do not depress by tears, but control looks, words, and actions. Say nothing in the room, or even outside the door, which you would not wish the sick to hear. Ask questions but rarely, and never occasion a needless effort to gratify your own curiosity. In giving nourishment with a spoon, be careful to raise the bowl of the spoon so as not to drop anything, or annoy the sick person by untidy feeding. Be sure to have cups, spoons, and glasses clean. Make everything as attractive as you can from the nicety and freshness of the dish. Do not allow jellies or rejected dainties to remain in the room. The time may come to any boy or girl when they may desire to watch by a sick bed of a parent or friend, and the above rules may assist them.
