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BALZAC OR THE BIBLE?

"Hypocrisy," soliloquized I, as I strolled down the street, "where hast thou not a home?"

My attention was soon arrested by a conspicuous sign:-

"Borestown Public Library - open to all."

I strolled in; this was a Catholic institution. A jovial old padre, whose profile slightly exaggerated Hogarth's line of beauty, was absorbed in a new French breviary, and lit up every letter on the page by the radiance of his smiles.

"Padre Lippo," said I, "what can you find me to read for to-morrow?"

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"A blessing on you, my son," quoth he. "See here, - most interesting. Decameron, Heptameron, Balzac, Brantome, Paul de Kock, Zola, - all, except the Bible; it is enough to know the light, - you want not the lamp to see it by."

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