The good book of the hour is simply the useful or pleasant or pleasant talk of some person with whom you cannot otherwise converse, printed for you. Very useful often, telling you that you need to know, very pleasant often, as a sensible friends's present talk would be. These bright accounts of travels; god humoured and witty discussion of question; lively or pathetic story-telling in the form of novel; firm fact-telling, by the real agents concerned in the events of passing history; all these books of the hour, multiplying among us as education becomes more general, are a peculiar characteristics and possession of the present age; we ought to be entirely thankful for them, and entirely ashamed of ourselves of we make no good use of them to usurp the place of true books; for, strictly speaking they are note books at all, but merely letters or newspapers in good print. Our friend's letter may be delightful, or necessary, to-day: whether worth keeping or not, is to be considered. The newspaper may be entirely proper at breakfast time but assuredly it is not reading for all day. So, thought bound up in volume, the long letter which gives you so pleasant an account of the inns, and reals and weather last year at such a place, or which tells you that amusing story, however valuable for occasional references, may not be in the real sense of the world, a "book" at all, nor to the "read". A book is essentially not a talked thing, but a written thing and written, not with a view of mere communication, but of permanence. The book of talk is printed only because its author cannot speak to thousands of people to once; if he could, he would. You cannot talk to your friend in Europe if you could you would; you write instead: that is mere conveyance of voice. But to preserve it. The author has something to say which he perceives to be true and useful. He would fain set it down for ever; engrave it on rock, if he could.