Page:The battle of the books - Guthkelch - 1908.djvu/81

 either by themselves or their representatives, for passengers to gaze at, from whence the chiefest and largest are removed to certain magazines they call libraries there to remain in a quarter purposely assigned them, and from thenceforth begin to be called Books of Controversy.

In these books is wonderfully instilled and preserved the spirit of each warrior, while he is alive, and after his death his soul transmigrates there to inform them. This, at least, is the more common opinion: but I believe it is with libraries as with other cemeteries, where some philosophers affirm that a certain spirit, which they call brutum hominis, hovers over the monument, till the body is corrupted and turns to dust or to worms, but then vanishes or dissolves; so we may say a restless spirit haunts over every book, till dust or worms have seized upon it, which to some may happen in a few days, but to others later; and therefore Books of Controversy, being of all others haunted by the most disorderly spirits, have always been confined in a separate lodge from the rest, and for fear of mutual violence against each other, it was thought