“One reason, aside from insufficient or incompetent instruction in the schools, for the so often complained of illiteracy, so to speak, of students, is probably to be found in the mass of stories which the Carnegie and other libraries feed to them, and which they skim through at the double quick, getting no permanent impression. Their great-grandfathers read over and over and assimilated a handful of books. The little dingy or tattered home collection was often their school, college and university. * * * * * “Let us read over again Nicolay and Hay’s description of Abraham Lincoln’s boyhood studies: ‘His reading was naturally limited by his opportunities, for books were among the rarest of luxuries in that region and time. But he read everything he could lay his hands upon, and he was certainly fortunate in the few books of which he became the possessor. It would hardly be possible to select a better handful of classics for a youth in his circumstances than the few volumes he turned with a nightly and daily hand--the Bible, “Æsop’s Fables,” “Robinson Crusoe,” “The Pilgrim’s Progress,” a history of the United States, and Weems’ “Life of Washington.” These were the best, and these he read over and over till he knew them almost by heart.’” * * * * * “Almost by heart!” Fortunate is he who has lived with a few books. In a world of volumes swollen to intolerable dimensions there are still but a few real books. They are those we make our own; that shape the mind, store the memory, are the foundation and discipline of our intellectual life. * * * * * The purpose of The Mentor is to give the gist of knowledge to be found in the world’s best books, and to give that knowledge in a form that is easy to retain. A number of Mentors thoroughly absorbed--as we might say, “learned by heart”--what a mental equipment it would mean! And the practical side, too, should be considered. Most people haven’t time to read even the world’s best books. The Mentor can be read in a few minutes. [Illustration: GEORGE GORDON, LORD BYRON] FAMOUS ENGLISH POETS LORD BYRON Monograph Number One in The Mentor Reading Course “I awoke one morning and found myself famous,” said the great poet Byron. This was almost the very truth. A single poem, a long one indeed, “Childe Harold,” made him the most talked of man of his time. His fame grew in a night. And yet he is said to have been prouder of being a descendant of those Byrons who came into England with William the Conqueror than of having been the author of “Childe Harold.”