ask that you borrow no more.The would-be borrower who finds these sentiments in the book he was about to ask for will scarcely be encouraged to do so, and for directness they are exceeded by only one example, in which the owner’s name is followed by the simple declaration, He does not lend books. The motto on the plate of the late George Ticknor—Suum cuique, To every man his own– was also calculated to discourage the borrower.
But some people do lend books, and have them returned too, – in good second-hand condition. And so it comes about that the proper use of books is made the subject of another class of mottoes.
My Friend! Should you this book peruse,
Please to protect it from abuse:
Nor soil, nor stain, nor mark its page,
Nor give it premature old age:
And, when it has effected all,
Please to return it ere I call.
The following verse is common property and is found on several plates: —
If thou art borrowed by a friend,
Right welcome shall he be
To read, to study, not to lend,
And to return to me.
Not that imparted learning doth
Diminish learning’s store,
But books, I find, if often lent,
Return to me no more.
Read slowly,
Pause frequently,
Think seriously,
Return duly with the corners of the leaves not turned down.
Neither blemish this book, nor the leaves double down,
Nor lend it to each idle friend in the town:
Return it when read, – or if lost please supply
Another, as good to the mind and the eye.
With right and with reason you need but be friends
And each book in my study your pleasure attends.
If through respect or love I lend
This book unto my worthy friend,
He must not soil, abuse, nor tear,
But read with diligence and care;
And when its contents you have learned,
Remember, it must be Returned.
On the plate of Samuel W. Francis appear the following lines: —
Any one may borrow,
But a gentleman returns.
If you borrow, freely use it,
Take great care and don’t abuse it:
Read, but neither lose nor lend it,
Then unto the owner send it.
Never open a book farther than to bring both sides of the cover on to the same plane. Never lend a borrowed book, but return it as soon as you are through with it, so that the owner may not be deprived of its use. You may think this a strange request, but I find that although many of my friends are poor arithmeticians, they are nearly all of them good book-keepers.
In strong contrast to all the preceding are those mottoes of generous souls who find no pleasure in withholding their treasures, but who wish to have it understood that they are for the use of all; not very many are bold enough to thus advertise their willingness to lend, but a few do so, and generally by the use of the Latin, Sibi et amicis, or et amicorum.
Sentiments in praise of books and reading are not uncommon, and quotations from classic writers both in prose and poetry do good service on book-plates. Pope’s well-known lines —
A little learning is a dangerous thing,
Drink deep or taste not the Pierian Spring;
Where shallow draughts intoxicate the brain,
But drinking largely sobers us again.
are found on an old American plate.
On a recent New York plate, —
Far more seemly were it for thee to have thy Study full of Books than thy purse full of money. Lilly.
On a Maine plate, —
Who learns and learns but does not what he learns,
Is one who plows and plows but never sows.—
Weigh well each thought, each sentence freely scan,
In Reason’s balance try the works of man.
Be bias’d not by those who praise or blame,
Nor, Servile, Yield opinion to a name.
On a recent Boston plate, —
Un bon livre est un bon ami.
On a recent Western plate, —
A jolly goode booke,
Whereon to looke,
Is better to me than golde.
On a recent Washington plate, —
A trusty villain, sir, that very oft when I am dull with care and melancholy lightens my humour.
The mottoes on the plates of those who have achieved distinction have a peculiar interest, especially when chosen by the owners themselves. The plate of Henry W. Longfellow bears the following line: —
Non clamor sed amor,
which is from an unknown author and is found in the following verse: —
Non vox sed votum,
Non chordas sed cor,
Non clamor sed amor,
Sonat in aure Dei.
Not voice but vow,
Not harp-string, but heart-string,
Not loudness but love,
Sound in the ear of God.
The motto of George Washington, —Exitus acta probat, is not given in the accepted lists as the family motto of his ancestors, but it may have been such. The meaning of it has brought out criticism recently because of its Jesuitical sound, – “The end shows the deed.” But this may also be taken as a patriotic utterance in view of the part of the illustrious owner of this plate in the Revolution.
On the plate of William Penn we see a motto most fitting for the character he sustained, Dum clavum rectum teneam– “While I hold to glory, let me hold to right.” In the plate the third word is omitted, as the engraver found the motto too long for the space reserved, and through some
blunder
