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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/37795-8.txt b/37795-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..2d6e00d --- /dev/null +++ b/37795-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,7826 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The World's Best Books, by Frank Parsons + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The World's Best Books + A Key to the Treasures of Literature + +Author: Frank Parsons + +Release Date: October 19, 2011 [EBook #37795] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE WORLD'S BEST BOOKS *** + + + + +Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Matthew Wheaton and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + + + + THE WORLD'S BEST BOOKS + + A KEY TO THE TREASURES OF LITERATURE + + BY + + FRANK PARSONS + + + THIRD EDITION + + REVISED AND ENLARGED + + BOSTON + + LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY + + 1893 + _Copyright, 1889, 1891, 1893,_ + + BY FRANK PARSONS. + + UNIVERSITY PRESS: + + JOHN WILSON AND SON, CAMBRIDGE, U.S.A. + + + + +PREFACE TO THE THIRD EDITION. + + +At the request of the publishers the following statement is made as a +substitute for the former indefinite arrangement in respect to +authorship. + +The plan and composition of the book were mine; the work of my +colleagues, F. E. Crawford and H. T. Richardson, consisting of +criticism, verifications, and assistance in gathering materials for the +appendix,--services of great value to me, and of which I wish to express +my high appreciation. + +A few additions have been made in this edition, and the book has been +carefully revised throughout. + +FRANK PARSONS. + +BOSTON, January, 1893. + + + + +PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION. + + +The public and the critics have met us with a welcome far more cordial +than we had dared to expect, though not more so, of course, than we +hoped for. When did a thing such as that ever happen? We are glad to +discover that in forming our expectations we underrated their +discernment, or our own merit (probably not the latter, judging by the +remarks of two or three of our critics), and in real earnest we are +grateful for their high appreciation of our work. + +Some few--a very few--have found fault with us, and our thanks are due +to them also; for honest, kindly, intelligent criticism is one of the +most powerful means of growth. The fact that this little volume is not +intended as an _infallible_ guide, or as anything more than a _stimulus_ +to seek the best, and a _suggestion_ of the method of guiding one's self +and one's children, has been missed by some, though it appears +distinctly in various places through the book, and is involved in what +we deem the most useful part of our work,--the remarks following Table +V., wherein we endeavor to show the student how he may learn to estimate +the value of a book for himself. So far were we from wishing to _decide_ +matters which manifestly vary with the wants and capacities of each +individual, that we emphatically advised the reader not to accept the +opinions of any one as final, but to form his own judgments. + +Some have failed to perceive that, _in ranking the books, we have +considered, not merely their intrinsic merit, but also the needs and +abilities of the average English reader_, making a compound test by +which to judge, not the relative greatness of the books simply, but +their relative claims on the attention of the ordinary reader. This also +was set forth, as we thought, quite distinctly, and was in fact +understood by nearly every one, but not by all, for some have objected +to the order of the books in Table I., affirming, for example, that the +"Federalist" and Bryce's "American Commonwealth" are far _superior_ to +"Our Country," and should be placed above it. That would be true if +intrinsic greatness alone decided the matter. But the average reader +with his needs and abilities is a factor in the problem, as well as the +book with its subject and style. Now, the ordinary reader's time and his +mental power are both limited. "Our Country" is briefer and simpler than +the others, and its contents are of vital interest to every American, of +even more vital interest than the discussions of the "Federalist" or +Bryce; and so, although as a work of art it is inferior to these, it +must rank above them in this book, because of its superior claims upon +the attention of the average reader. In a similar manner other questions +of precedence are determined on the principles contained in the remarks +on Table V. It is not pretended, however, that the arrangement is +perfect even in respect to our own tests, especially among the authors +on the second shelf of Table I. The difficulties of making a true list +may be illustrated by the fact that one critic of much ability affirms +that Marietta Holley ought to head the tenth column, as the best +humorist of all time; another says it is absurd to place her above the +Roman wits Juvenal and Lucian; and a third declares with equal +positiveness that she ought not to appear in the list at all. We differ +from them all, and think the high place we have given Miss Holley is +very near the truth. + +Communications have been received from Oliver Wendell Holmes, Marietta +Holley, Senator Hoar, Phillips Brooks, Bishop J. H. Vincent, Brooke +Herford, Francis Parkman, ex-Gov. John D. Long, Gen. Benj. F. Butler, T. +W. Higginson, and many other eminent persons, bringing to us a number of +suggestions, most of which we have adopted to the great advantage of our +book, as we hope and believe. + +We have added a number of valuable works to the lists of the first +edition, and have written a new chapter on the guidance of children, the +means of training them to good habits of reading, and the books best +adapted to boys and girls of various ages. + +If any one, on noting some of the changes that have been made in this +edition, feels inclined to raise the cry of inconsistency, we ask him to +remember the declaration of Wendell Phillips, that "Inconsistency is +Progress." There is room for still further inconsistency, we do not +doubt; and criticism or suggestion will be gladly received. + +FRANK PARSONS. + +BOSTON, January, 1891. + + + + + CONTENTS. + + + INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. + + Purposes of the book briefly stated + + System in reading + + Purposes of reading + + Its influence on health and mind + + on character + + on beauty and accomplishments + + Its pleasures + + Quantity and quality of reading + + Selection of books + + Order of reading + + Method of reading + + Importance of owning the books you read + + Effect of bad books + + useless books + + good books + + ABBREVIATIONS USED IN THIS WORK + + NOTE OF EXPLANATION + + THE FIRST TWO SHELVES OF THE WORLD'S LIBRARY + (TABLE.) + + REMARKS ON TABLE I. + + Religion and Morals + + Poetry and the Drama + + Science + + Biography + + History + + Philosophy + + Essays + + Fiction + + Oratory + + Wit and Humor + + Fables and Fairy Tales + + Travel + + Guides + + Miscellaneous + + GLIMPSES OF THE GREAT FIELDS OF THOUGHT, + + Arranged for the purpose of securing breadth of + mind (Table II.) + + A SERIES OF BRIEF BUT VERY CHOICE SELECTIONS + from general literature, constituting a year's + course for the formation of a true literary taste + (Table III.) + + Groups I. and II., Poetry + + Group III., Prose + + Group IV., Wit and Humor + + A SHORT COURSE SUPPLEMENTARY TO THE LAST + (Table IV.) + + WHAT TO GIVE THE CHILDREN + + SPECIAL STUDIES + + THE DISTRIBUTION OF THE WORLD'S GREAT AUTHORS + in time and space, with a parallel column of contemporaneous + noted historic events (Table V.) + + REMARKS ON TABLE V. + + Definitions and divisions + + Eight tests for the choice of books + + Intrinsic merit + + Periods of English Literature + + The Pre-Shakspearian age + + The Shakspearian age + + The Post-Shakspearian age + + Time of Milton + + Dryden + + Pope + + The novelists, historians, and scientists + + The greatest names of other literatures:-- + Greece, Rome, Italy, France, Spain, Germany, + Persia, Portugal, Denmark, Russia + + The fountains of national literatures:-- + Homer, Nibelungenlied, Cid, Chansons, Morte + D'Arthur, etc. + + APPENDIX I. + + THE BEST THOUGHTS OF GREAT MEN ABOUT + BOOKS AND READING + + APPENDIX II. + + BOOKS USED IN THE BOSTON PUBLIC SCHOOLS + AS SUPPLEMENTARY READING, TEXT-BOOKS, + etc. + + + + +THE WORLD'S BEST BOOKS. + + + + +INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. + + +This book is the result of much reading and thought, teaching, +lecturing, and conversation, in the direction of its subject-matter. Its +purpose is fivefold: _First_, to call attention to the importance of +reading the best literature to the exclusion of all that is inferior, by +setting forth the benefits that may be derived from the former and the +injuries that are sure to result from the latter. _Second_, to select +the best things from all the literatures of the world; to make a survey +of the whole field of literature and locate the mines most worthy of our +effort, where with the smallest amount of digging we may find the +richest ore; and to do this with far greater precision, definiteness, +and detail than it has ever been done before. _Third_, to place the +great names of the world's literature in their proper relations +of time and space to each other and to the great events of +history,--accompanying the picture with a few remarks about the several +periods of English Literature and the Golden Age of literature in each +of the great nations. _Fourth_, to discuss briefly the best methods of +reading, and the importance of system, quantity, quality, due +proportion, and thoroughness in reading, and of the ownership of books +and the order in which they should be read. _Fifth_, to gather into a +shining group, like a constellation of stars, the splendid thoughts of +the greatest men upon these subjects. + +The book is meant to be a practical handbook of universal literature for +the use of students, business men, teachers, and any other persons who +direct the reading of others, and for the guidance of scholars in +departments other than their own. + +1. =System= in reading is of as much importance as it is in the business +of a bank or any other mercantile pursuit. + +2. =The Purposes of Reading= should ever be kept in mind. They are +the purposes of life; namely, health, mental power, character, beauty, +accomplishments, pleasure, and the knowledge which will be of use in +relation to our business, domestic life, and citizenship. Literature can +aid the _health_, indirectly, by imparting a knowledge of the means of +its attainment and preservation (as in works on physiology and hygiene); +and directly, by supplying that exercise of the mind which is essential +to the balance of the functions necessary to perfect health. A study of +literature will develop the _mind_--the perception, memory, reason +(especially true of science and philosophy), and the imagination +(especially the study of poetry and science)--directly, by exercising +those all-important faculties; and indirectly, by yielding a knowledge +of the conditions of their existence and strength. On the other hand, +the mind may be greatly injured, if not wholly destroyed, by pouring +into it a flood of filth and nonsense; or by a torrent of even the best +in literature, so rapid and long continued that it cannot be properly +absorbed and digested. The evil effects of cramming the mind are only +too often seen about us. + +Literature can build or destroy the _character_ both directly and +indirectly. Poetry, religion, philosophy, fiction, biography, +history,--indeed, all sorts of writings in some degree make us more +sympathetic, loving, tender, noble, generous, kind, and just, or the +opposite, by the simple power of exercise, if for no other reason. If we +freely exercise the muscles of the arm, we shall have more vigor there. +If we continually love, our power and tendency to love will grow. The +poet's passion, passing the gates of the eye and ear into our souls, +rouses our sympathies to kindred states of feeling. We love when he +loves, and weep when he weeps; and all the while he is moulding our +characters, taking from or adding to the very substance of our souls. +Brave words change the coward to a hero; a coward's cry chills the +bravest heart. A boy who reads of crime and bravery sadly mixed by some +foul traitor to the race, soon thinks that to be brave and grand he must +be coarse and have the blood of villainy and rashness pulsing from his +misled heart. Not all the books that picture vice are harmful. If they +show it in its truth, they drive us from it by its very loathsomeness; +but if they gild it and plume it with pleasure and power, beware. +Literature, too, can give us a knowledge of the means for the +development of character, and the inspiration to make the best use of +these means. Books of morals, religion, biography, science, poetry, and +fiction especially hold these treasures. + +In the attainment and enrichment of _beauty_, literature has a work to +do. The choicest beauty is the loveliness of soul that lights the eye +and prints its virtue in the face; and as our reading moulds the mind +and heart to beauty, their servants at the doorways ever bend to their +instructions and put on the livery of their lords. Even that beauty +which is of the rounded form, the soft cheek's blooming tinge, the rosy +mouth, and pearly lip, owes its debt to health; and that, as has been +seen, may profit much by literature. And beyond all this we learn the +means of great improvement in our comeliness,--how crooked may be +changed to straight, and hollow cheeks to oval; frowns to smiles, and +lean or gross to plump; ill-fitting, ill-adapted dress to beautiful +attire; a shambling gait to a well-conducted walk,--and even the stupid +stare of ignorance be turned to angel glances of indwelling power and +interested comprehension. + +_Accomplishments_, too, find help in written works of genius, not merely +as affording a record of the best methods of acquiring any given art, +but directly as supplying the substance of some of the greatest of all +accomplishments,--those of inspiring eloquent conversation, and of +writing clear and beautiful English. + +_Pleasure_ manifestly is, by all these aids to beauty, health, and +power, much beholden to the books we read; but more than this, the very +reading of a worthy book is a delicious joy, and one that does not drain +but fills the fount from which the happiness of others comes. Plato, +Fénelon, Gibbon, and a host of others name the love of books the +chiefest charm and glory of their lives. + +3. =The Quantity and Quality= of what we read should have our careful +thought. Whoever lives on literary husks and intoxicants, when corn and +wheat and milk are just as easily within his reach, is certainly no +wiser than one who treats his physical receptacle in the same way, and +will as surely suffer from ill feeding in diminished vital force. +Indeed, he may be glad if he escapes acquiring intellectual dyspepsia or +spiritual delirium tremens. Even of the best of reading there may be too +much as well as not enough. More than we can assimilate is waste of time +and energy. Besides the regulation of the _total_ quantity we read, with +reference to our powers of digestion, we must watch the _relative_ +amounts of all the various kinds of literary sustenance we take. A due +proportion ought to be maintained by careful mixture of religious, +scientific, poetic, philosophic, humorous, and other reading. A man who +exercises but one small muscle all his days would violate the laws of +health and power. The greatest mind is that which comes the nearest to +attainment of a present perfect picture in the mind of all the universe, +past, present, and to come. The greatest character is that which gets +the greatest happiness for self through fullest and most powerful +activities for others, and requires for its own work, existence, and +delight, the least subtraction from the world's resources of enjoyment. +The greatest man is he who combines in due proportion and completest +harmony the fullest physical, emotional, and intellectual life. + +4. =The Selection= of books is of the utmost importance, in view of +their influence upon character. All the reasons for care that apply to +the choice of friends among the living, have equal force in reference to +the dead. The same tests avail in one case as in the other,--reputation +and personal observation of the words and deeds of those we think to +make companions. We may at will and at slight cost have all the great +and noble for our intimate friends and daily guests, who will come when +we call, answer the questions we put, and go when we wish. And better +yet, however long we talk to them, no other friends will be kept waiting +in the anterooms, longing to take our place. Our most engrossing +friendship, though we keep them _always_ with us, will produce no +interference with their equal friendship with all the world besides. We +may associate with angels and become angelic, or with demons and become +satanic. + +Besides the difference in the nature of books, the very number of them +commands a choice. In one library there are three million volumes; in +the Boston Public Library about three hundred thousand, or five hundred +thousand including pamphlets. In your short life you can read but a +trifling part of the world's literature. Suppose you are fortunate +enough to be able to read one book a week, in thirty years you would +read but fifteen hundred books. Use, then, every care to get the best. +If it were in your equal choice to go to one of two reputed +entertainments and but one, it surely would be worth your while to know +their character before selecting. One might be Beethoven's loveliest +symphony, the other but a minstrel show. + +5. =The Order of our Reading= must be carefully attended to. The very +best books are not always to be first read. If the reader is young or of +little culture, the _simplicity_ of the writing must be taken into +account, for it is of no use to read a book that cannot be understood. +One of mature and cultivated mind who begins a course of systematic +reading may follow the order of absolute value; but a child must be +supplied with easy books in each department, and, as his powers develop, +with works of increasing difficulty, until he is able to grasp the most +complex and abstruse. If you take up a book that is recommended to you +as one of the world's best, and find it uninteresting, be sure the +trouble is in you. Do not reject it utterly, do not tell people you do +not like it; wait a few months or years, then try it again, and it may +become to you one of the most precious of books. + +6. =The Method= of your reading is an important factor in determining +its value to you. It is in proportion to your _conquest_ of what is +worthy in literature that you gain. If you pour it into your mind so +fast that each succeeding wave forces the former out before its form and +color have been fixed, you are not better off, but rather worse, because +the process washes out the power of memory. Memory depends on health, +attention, repetition, reflection, association of ideas, and practice. +Some books should be very carefully read, looking to both thought and +form; the best passages should be marked and marginal notes made; +reflection should digest the best ideas, until they become a part of the +tissue of your own thought; and the most beautiful and striking +expressions should be verbally committed. If you saw a diamond in the +sand, surely you would fix it where it might adorn your person. If you +find a sparkling jewel in your reading, fix it in your heart and let it +beautify your conversation. Shakspeare, Milton, Homer, Bacon, Æschylus, +and Emerson, and nearly all the selections in Table III. should be read +in this way. Other books have value principally by reason of the line of +thought or argument of which the whole book is an expression; such for +the most part are books of history, science, and philosophy. While +reading them marks or notes should be made; so that when the book is +finished, the steps of thought may several times be rapidly retraced, +until the force and meaning of the book becomes your own forever. Still +other books may be simply glanced through, it being sufficient for the +purposes of the general reader to have an idea of the nature of their +contents, so that he may know what he can find in them if he has need. +Such books to us are the Koran, the works of the lesser essayists, +orators, and philosophers. Ruskin says that no book should be read fast; +but it would be as sensible to say that we should never walk or ride +fast over a comparatively uninteresting country. Adaptation of method to +the work in hand is the true rule. We should not read "Robert Elsmere" +as slowly and carefully as Shakspeare. As the importance of the book +diminishes, the speed of our journey through it ought to increase. +Otherwise we give an inferior book equal attention with its superiors. + +7. =Own the Books you Read,= if possible, so that you may mark them and +often refer to them. If you are able, buy the best editions, with the +fullest notes and finest binding,--the more beautiful, the better. A +lovely frame adds beauty to the picture. If you cannot buy the +best-dressed books, get those of modest form and good large type. If +pennies must be counted, get the catalogues of all the cheap libraries +that are multiplying so rapidly of late,--the Elzevir, Bohn, Morley, +Camelot, National, Cassel, Irving, Chandos, People's Library, World's +Library, etc.,--and own the books you learn to love. Use the public +libraries for reference, but do not rely on them for the standard +literature you read. It is better far to have an eight cent Bunyan, +twelve cent Bacon, or seven cent Hamlet within your reach from day to +day, and marked to suit yourself, than to read such books from the +library and have to take them back. That is giving up the rich +companionship of new-found friends as soon as gained. The difference +between talking with a sage or poet for a few brief moments once in your +lifetime, and having him daily with you as your friend and teacher is +the difference between the vales and summits of this life. The immense +importance of possessing the best books for your own cannot be too +strongly impressed upon you, nor the value of clothing your noble +friends as richly as you can. If they come to you with outward beauty, +they will claim more easily their proper share of your attention and +regard. Get an Elzevir Shakspeare if you can afford no other, but +purchase the splendid edition by Richard Grant White, if you can. Even +if you have to save on drink and smoke and pie-crust for the purpose, +you never will regret the barter. + +8. =Bad Books= corrupt us as bad people do. Whenever they are made +companions, insensibly we learn to think and feel and talk and act as +they do in degree proportioned to the closeness that we hug them to our +hearts. Books may be bad, not only by imparting evil thoughts, awakening +lust and gilding vice, but by developing a false philosophy, ignoble +views of life, or errors in whatever parts of science or religion they +may touch. Avoid foul books as you would shun foul men, for fear you may +be like them; but seek the errors out and conquer them. Spend little +time in following a teacher you have tested and found false, but do the +testing for yourselves, and take no other person's judgment as to what +is truth or error. Truth is always growing; you may be the first to +catch the morning light. The friend who warns you of some book's untruth +may be himself in error, led by training, custom, or tradition, or +unclearly seeing in the darkness of his prejudice. + +9. =Useless Books=. Many books that are not positively bad are yet mere +waste of time. A wise man will not spend the capital of his life, or +part with the wealth of his energies except he gets a fair equivalent. +He will demand the highest market price for his time, and will not give +his hours and moments--precious pieces of his life--for trash, when he +can buy with them the richest treasures of three thousand years of +thought. You have not time to drink the whole of human life from out the +many colored bottles of our literature; will you take the rich cream, or +cast that aside for the skimmed milk below, or turn it all out on the +pathway and swallow the dirt and the dregs in the bottom? + +10. =Good Books=.--=A Short Sermon=.--If you are a scholar, professor or +lawyer, doctor or clergyman, do not stay locked in the narrow prison of +your own department, but go out into the world of thought and breathe +the air that comes from all the quarters of the globe. Read other books +than those that deal with your profession,--poetry, philosophy, and +travel. Get out of the valleys up on to the ridges, where you can see +what relation your home bears to the rest of the world. Go stand in the +clamor of tongues, that you may learn that the truth is broader than any +man's conception of it and become tolerant. Look at the standards that +other men use, and correct your own by them. Learn what other thinkers +and workers are doing, that you may appreciate them and aid them. Learn +the Past, that you may know the Future. Do not look out upon the world +through one small window; open all the doorways of your soul, let all +genius and beauty come in, that your life may be bright with their +glory. + +If you are a busy merchant, artisan, or laborer, you too can give a +little time each day to books that are the best. If Plato, Homer, +Shakspeare, Tennyson, or Milton came to town to-day, you would not let +the busiest hour prevent your catching sight of him; you would stand a +half day on the street in the sun or the snow to catch but a glimpse of +the famous form; but how much better to receive his spirit in the heart +than only get his image on the eye! His choicest thought is yours for +the asking. + +If you are a thoughtless boy or silly girl, trying the arts that win the +matrimonial prize, remember that there are no wings that fly so high as +those of sense and thought and inward beauty. Remember the old song that +ends,-- + + "Beauty vanish, wealth depart, + Wit has won the lady's heart." + +Even as a preparation for a noble and successful courtship, the best +literature is an absolute necessity. Perhaps you cannot travel: +Humboldt, Cook, and Darwin, Livingstone, and Stanley will tell you more +than you could see if you should go where they have travelled. Perhaps +you cannot have the finest teachers in the studies you pursue: what a +splendid education one could get if he could learn philosophy with +Plato, Kant, and Spencer; astronomy with Galileo, Herschel, and Laplace; +mathematics with Newton or Leibniz; natural history with Cuvier or +Agassiz; botany with Gray; geology with Lyell or Dawson; history with +Bancroft; and poetry with Shakspeare, Milton, Dante, and Homer! Well, +those very teachers at their best are yours if you will read their +books. Each life is a mixture of white and black, no one is perfect; but +every worthy passage and ennobling thought you read adds to the white +and crowds out the black; and of what enormous import a few brief +moments daily spent with noble books may be, appears when we remember +that each act brings after it an infinite series of consequences. It is +an awe-inspiring truth to me that with the color of my thought I tinge +the stream of life to its remotest hour; that some poor brother far out +on the ocean of the future, struggling to breast the billows of +temptation, may by my hand be pulled beneath the waves, ruined by the +influences I put in action now; that, standing here, I make the depths +of all eternities to follow tremble to the music of my life: as Tennyson +has put it so beautifully in his "Bugle Song,"-- + + "Blow, let us hear the purple glens replying: + Blow, bugle; answer, echoes, dying, dying, dying. + + "O love, they die in yon rich sky, + They faint on hill or field or river: + _Our echoes roll from soul to soul_, + _And grow for ever and for ever_." + +How careful we should be of every moment if we had imaginative power +enough to fully realize the meaning of the truth that slightly differing +actions now may build results at last as wide apart as poles of opposite +eternities! Even idleness, the negative of goodness, would have no +welcome at our door. Some persons dream away two thirds of life, and +deem quiescence joy; but that is certainly a sad mistake. The nearer to +complete inaction we attain, the nearer we are clay and stone; the more +activity we gain, that does not draw from future power, the higher up +the cliffs of life we climb, and nearer to celestial life that never +sleeps. Let no hour go idly by that can be rendered rich and happy with +a glorious bit of Shakspeare, Dante, or Carlyle. Let us never be deluded +with the praise of peace, excepting that of heart and conscience clear +of all remorse. It is ambition that has climbed the heights, and will +through all the future. Give me not the dead and hopeless calm of +indolent contentment, but far rather the storm and the battle of life, +with the star of my hopes above me. Let me sail the central flow of the +stream, and travel the tides at the river's heart. I do not wish to stay +in any shady nook of quiet water, where the river's rushing current +never comes, and straws and bubbles lie at rest or slowly eddying round +and round at anchor in their mimic harbor. How often are we all like +these imprisoned straws, revolving listlessly within the narrow circle +of the daily duties of our lives, gaining no new truth, nor deeper love +or power or tenderness or joy, while all the world around is sweeping to +the sea! How often do we let the days and moments, with their wealth of +life, fly past us with their treasure! Youth lies in her loveliness, +dreaming in her drifting boat, and wakes to find her necklace has in +some way come unfast, and from the loosened ribbon trailing o'er the +rail the lustrous pearls have one by one been slipping far beyond her +reach in those deep waters over which her slumbers passed. Do not let +the pearls be lost. Do not let the moments pass you till they yield +their wealth and add their beauty to your lives. + +11. =Abbreviations=.-- + + R. means, Read carefully. + + D. means, Digest the best passages; make the thought and + feeling your own. + + C. means, Commit passages in which valuable thought or feeling + is _exquisitely expressed_. + + G. means, Grasp the idea of the whole book; that is, the train + of the author's thought, his conclusions, and the reasons for + them. + + S. means, Swallow; that is, read as fast as you choose, it not + being worth while to do more than get a general impression of + the book. + + T. means, Taste; that is, skip here and there, just to get an + idea of the book, and see if you wish to read more. + + e. means _easy_; that is, of such character as to be within the + easy comprehension of one having no more than a grammar-school + education or its equivalent; and it applies to all books that + can be understood without either close attention or more than + an ordinary New England grammar-school training. + + m. means _medium_; that is, of such character as to require the + close attention called "study," or a high-school education, or + both; and it applies to books the degree of whose difficulty + places them above the class e. and below the class _d_. + + d. means _difficult_; that is, beyond the comprehension of an + ordinary person having only a New England high-school education + or its equivalent, even with close study, unless the reader + already has a fair understanding of the _subject_ of the book. + In order to read with advantage books that are marked _d._, the + mind should be prepared by special reading of simpler books in + the same department of thought. + + + + +TABLE I. + +NOTE OF EXPLANATION. + + + +----------------------------------------------------------------+ + | Transcriber's note: The original format of the table exceeded | + | the width requirements for e-text. Therefore the table was | + | reformatted. It is now from top to bottom in the order of | + | importance. The first shelf and second shelf are arranged | + | side by side. | + +----------------------------------------------------------------+ + +TABLE I. contains a list of authors whose books, on principle and +authority, have the strongest claims on the attention of the average +reader of English. They are arranged from left to right in the order of +importance of the divisions of the subject matter regarded as wholes, +and from above downward in the order of their value in relation to the +highest standard in their own department. The _numbers_ have nothing to +do with the ranking, but refer to notes that will be found on the pages +following the table. There is also, at the head of the notes relating to +each column of the table, a special note on the subject matter of that +column. + +The upper part of the table represents the first shelf of the world's +library, and contains the books having the very strongest claims upon +the attention of all,--books with which every one should endeavor to +gain an acquaintance, at least _to the extent_ indicated in the notes. + +The lower part of the table represents the second shelf of the world's +library, and contains books which in addition to those of the first +shelf should enter into a liberal education. + +It must be always kept in mind that intrinsic merit alone does not +decide the position of a book in this table; for in order to test the +claim of a book upon the attention of a reader we have to consider not +only the artistic value of the author's work, and its subject matter, +but also the needs and abilities of the reader. Thus it happens that it +is not always the work of the greatest genius which stands highest in +the list. Moreover, no claim is made that the ranking is perfect, +especially on the second shelf. The table is an example of the +application of the principles set forth in the remarks following Table +V., to the case of the general reader. For every one above or below the +average reader the lists would have to be changed, and even the average +list has no quality of the absolute. It is but a suggestion,--a +suggestion, however, in which we have a good deal of confidence, one +that is based on a very wide induction,--and we have no hesitation in +affirming that the upper shelf represents the best literature the world +affords. + +In addition to Table I., there will be found in Tables III. and IV., and +in the remarks upon the Guidance of Children following Table IV., a +number of pieces of literary work of the very highest merit and value. +Some of the most important are Lowell's "Vision of Sir Launfal," one of +the very finest American poems; Browning's "Ivan Ivanovitch;" Guyot's +"Earth and Man;" Mary Treat's "Home Book of Nature;" Burroughs' +"Pepacton," "Signs and Seasons," "Wake Robin," etc.; Buckley's "Fairy +Land of Science," etc.; Ragozin's "Chaldea;" Fénelon's "Lives of the +Philosophers;" Bolton's "Poor Boys who became Famous;" Rives' "Story of +Arnon;" Drake's "Culprit Fay;" Dr. Brown's "Rab and his Friends;" Mary +Mapes Dodge's "Hans Brinker;" Andrews' "Ten Boys on the Road;" Arnold's +"Sweetness and Light;" Higginson's "Vacations for Saints;" and General +Booth's "In Darkest England, and the Way Out," a book of great power, +which sets forth the most practical method yet proposed for the +immediate relief of society from the burdens of pauperism and vice. + + + +TABLE I.--THE WORLD'S BEST BOOKS. + + +[See explanation on the preceding pages.] + + (first shelf) (second shelf) + + 1. Religion & Morals. + + Bible[1] Milton[11] + Bunyan[2] Keble[12] + Taylor[3] Cicero[13] + Kempis[4] Pascal[14] + Spencer[5] Channing[15] + M. Aurelius[6] Aristotle[16] + Plutarch[7] St. Augustine[17] + Seleca[8] Butler[18] + Epictetus[9] Spinoza[19] + Brooks[10] + Drummond[10] + + 2. Poetry & the Drama. + + Shakspeare[20] Spenser[27] + Homer[21] Lowell[28] + Dante[22] Whittier[29] + Goethe[23] Tennyson[30] + Milton[24] Scott[32] + Æschylus[25] Byron[33] + Fragments[26] Shelley[34] + Keats[35] + Campbell[36] + Moore[37] + Thomson[38] + Macaulay[39] + Dryden[40] + Collins[41] + Ingelow[42] + Bryant[43] + Longfellow[44] + Herbert[45] + Goldsmith[46] + Coleridge[47] + Wordsworth[48] + Pope[49] + Southey[50] + Walton[51] + Browning[52] + Young[53] + Jonson[54] + Beaumont & F.[55] + Marlowe[56] + Sheridan[57] + Carleton[58] + Virgil[60] + Horace[61] + Lucretius[62] + Ovid[63] + Sophocles[64] + Euripides[65] + Aristophanes[66] + Pindar[67] + Hesiod[68] + Heine[69] + Schiller[70] + Corneille[71] + Racine[71] + Molière[71] + Musset[74] + Calderon[75] + Petrarch[76] + Ariosto[77] + Tasso[78] + Camoens[79] + Omar[80] + Firdusi[81] + Hafiz[81] + Saadi[81] + Arnold[82] + Pushkin[83] + Lermontoff[84] + + 3. Science. + + Physiology and Hygiene[85] De Tocqueville[99] + "Our Country"[86] Von Holst[100] + Federalist[88] Smith[101] + Bryce[89] Malthus[102] + Montesquieu[90] Carey[103] + Bagehot[90] Cairnes[104] + Mill[91] Freeman[105] + Bain[92] Jevons[106] + Spencer[93] Mulford[107] + Darwin[94] Hobbes[108] + Herschel[95] Machiavelli[109] + Proctor[95] Max Müller[110] + Lyell[96] Trench[111] + Lubbock[96] Taylor[112] + Dawson[96] White[113] + Wood[97] Cuvier[114] + Whewell[98] Cook[115] + Tyndall[116] + Airy[117] + Faraday[118] + Helmholtz[119] + Huxley[120] + Gray[121] + Agassiz[122] + Silliman[123] + + 4. Biography. + + Plutarch[124] G. Smith[139] + Phillips[125] Bourrienne[140] + Boswell[126] Johnson[141] + Lockhart[127] Walton[142] + Marshall[128] Stanley[143] + Franklin[128] Irving[144] + Nicolay & H.[129] Southey[145] + Grant[129] Stanhope[146] + Carlyle[130] Moore[147] + Renan[130] Jameson[148] + Farrar[131] Baring-Gould[149] + Emerson[132] Field[150] + [100] Greatest Men[133] Hamilton[151] + Parton[134] Darwin[151] + Hale[135] Alcott[151] + Drake[136] Talleyrand[151] + Fox[137] Macaulay[151] + Grimm[138] Bashkirtseff[151] + Guerin[151] + Jefferson[151] + American Statesmen[151] + English Men of Letters[151] + + 5. History. + + Green[152] Creasy [155a] + Bancroft[153] Lecky[156] + Guizot[154] Clarke[157] + Buckle[154] Moffat[158] + Parkman[155] Draper[159] + Freeman[155] Hallam[160] + Fiske[155] May[161] + Fyffe[155] Hume[162] + Macaulay[163] + Froude[164] + Gibbon[165] + Grote[166] + Palfrey[167] + Prescott[168] + Motley[169] + Frothingham [169a] + Wilkinson[170] + Niebuhr[171] + Menzel[172] + Milman[173] + Ranke[174] + Sismondi[175] + Michelet[176] + Carlyle[177] + Thierry[178] + Tacitus[179] + Livy[180] + Sallust[181] + Herodotus[182] + Xenophon[183] + Thucydides[184] + Josephus[185] + Mackenzie[185] + Rawlinson[185] + + 6. Philosophy. + + Spencer[186] Mill[192] + Plato[187] Mansel[193] + Berkeley[188] Büchner[194] + Kant[189] Edwards[195] + Locke & Hobbes[190] Bentham[196] + Comte[191] Maurice[197] + Lewes Hume[198] + or Ueberweg Hamilton[199] + or Schwegler Aristotle[200] + or Schlegel Descartes[201] + on the Cousin[201] + History of Hegel & Schelling[202] + Philosophy. Fichte[203] + Erasmus[204] + Fiske[205] + Hickok[206] + McCosh[207] + Spinoza[208] + + 7. Essays. + + Emerson[209] Macaulay + Bacon[210] Leigh Hunt + Montaigne[211] Arnold + Ruskin[212] Buckle + Carlyle[212] Hume + Addison[212] Froude + Symonds + Steele + Browne + Johnson + De Quincey + Foster + Hazlitt + Lessing + Sparks + Disraeli + Whipple + Lamb + Schiller + Coleridge + + 8. Fiction. + + Scott[213] Rousseau[235] + Eliot[214] Saintine[235] + Dickens[215] Coffin[236] + Hawthorne[216] Reade[236] + Goldsmith[217] Warren[236] + Bulwer[218] Landor[237] + MacDonald[219] Turgenieff[237] + Thackeray[220] Sue[237] + Kingsley[221] Manzoni[237] + Wallace[222] Cottin[238] + Tourgée[223] Besant[238] + Hugo[224] Stevenson[238] + Dumas[224] Ward[239] + Defoe[225] Deland[239] + Hughes[225] Sewell[239] + Stowe[226] Bret Harte[239] + Cooper[226] Green[240] + Curtis[227] Mulock[240] + Warner[227] Disraeli[240] + Aldrich[228] Howells[240] + Hearn[228] Tolstoï[240] + Ebers[229] Sand[241] + Sienkiewicz[229] Black[241] + Austen[230] Blackmore[241] + Bronté[230] Schreiner[241] + Alcott[231] Bremer[242] + Burnett[231] Trollope[242] + Cable[232] Winthrop[242] + Craddock[232] Richardson[243] + Whitney[233] Smollett[243] + Jewett[233] Boccaccio[243] + Fielding[234] + Le Sage[234] + Balzac[234] + + 9. Oratory. + + Demosthenes Sumner + Burke Henry + Fox Otis + Pitt Jay + Webster Madison + Clay Jefferson + Phillips Beecher + Lincoln Brooks + Everett Choate + Bright Garfield + Ingersoll + Erskine + Sheridan + Gladstone + Cicero + Quintilian + Bossuet + Saint Chrysostom + + 10. Wit & Humor. + + Lowell[244] Ingersoll[248] + Holmes[245] Holley[249] + Dickens[246] Curtis[250] + Cervantes[247] Depew[251] + Twain[252] + Warner[253] + Edwards[254] + Hale[255] + Nasby[256] + Ward[257] + Jerrold[258] + Voltaire[259] + Byron[259] + Butler[260] + Swift[260] + Rabelais[261] + Sterne[261] + Juvenal[262] + Lucian[262] + + 11. Fables & Fairy Tales. + + Andersen[263] Bulfinch[268] + La Fontaine[264] Saxe[269] + Æsop[265] Florian[270] + Grimm[266] Kipling[270] + Goethe[267] Babrius[271] + Hawthorne[267] Hauff[272] + Ovid[273] + Curtin[273] + Fiske[273] + + 12. Travel. + + Cook[274] Marco Polo[277] + Humboldt[275] Kane[278] + Darwin[276] Livingstone[279] + Stanley[280] + Du Chaillu[281] + Niebuhr[282] + Bruce[283] + Heber[284] + Lander[285] + Waterton[286] + Mungo Park[287] + Ouseley[288] + Barth[289] + Boteler[290] + Maundeville[291] + Warburton[292] + + 13. Guides. + + Foster[293] Brook[303] + Pall Mall[294] Leypoldt[304] + Morley[295] Richardson[305] + Welsh[296] Harrison[306] + Taine[297] Ruskin[307] + Botta[298] Bright[308] + Allibone[299] Dunlop[309] + Bartlett[300] Baldwin[309] + Ballou[301] Adams[309] + Bryant[302] + Palgrave[302] + Roget's Thesaurus + Dictionaries + Encyclopædias + + 14. Miscellaneous. + + Smiles' Self-Help[310] Sheking[324] + Irving's Sketch Book[311] Analects of Confucius[325] + Bacon's New Atlantis[312] Mesnevi[326] + Bellamy[313] Buddhism[327] + Arabian Nights[314] Mahabharata[328] + Munchausen[315] Ramayana[329] + Beowulf[316] Vedas[330] + Anglo-Saxon Chronicle[317] Koran[331] + Froissart[318] Talmud[332] + Nibelungenlied[319] Hooker[333] + Icelandic Sagas[320] Swedenborg[333] + Elder Edda[321] Newton[333] + The Cid[322] Kepler[333] + Morte D'Arthur[323] Copernicus[333] + Laplace[333] + + + + +REMARKS ON TABLE I. + + + + +RELIGION AND MORALS. + + +Religion and Morals, though not identical, are so closely related that +they are grouped together. The books in Column 1 by no means exhaust +these subjects, for they run like threads of gold through the whole warp +and woof of poetry. Philosophy, fiction, and fable, biography, history, +and essays, oratory and humor, seem rather satellites that attend upon +moral feelings than independent orbs, and even science is not dumb upon +these all-absorbing topics. If we are to be as broad-minded in our +religious views as we seek to be in other matters, we must become +somewhat acquainted with the worship of races other than our own. This +may be done through Homer, Hesiod, Ovid, Confucius, Buddha, the Vedas, +Koran, Talmud, Edda, Sagas, Beowulf, Nibelungenlied, Shah Nameh, etc. +(which are all in some sense "Bibles," or books that have grown out of +the hearts of the people), and through general works, such as Clarke's +"Ten Great Religions." + +[1] Especially Job, and Psalms 19, 103, 104, 107, in the Old Testament; +and in the New the four Gospels, the Acts, and the Epistles. (m. R. D. +C. G.) + +[2] Next to the Bible, probably no book is so much read by the English +peoples as Bunyan's "Pilgrim's Progress," a simple, vivid, helpful story +of Christian life and its obstacles. No writer has so well portrayed the +central truths of Christianity as this great, untrained, imaginative +genius, pouring his life upon the deathless pages of his poetic allegory +during the twelve long years in the latter part of the 17th century, +when he was imprisoned, under the Restoration, merely because of his +religious principles. (e. R. D.) + +[3] Taylor's "Holy Living and Dying" is a wise, frank talk about the +care of our time, purity of intention, practice of the presence of God, +temperance, justice, modesty, humility, envy, contentedness, etc. Some +portions of the first hundred and fifty pages are of the utmost +practical value. Even Ruskin admits that Taylor and Bunyan are rightly +placed among the world's best. (Eng., 17th cent.--m. R. D.) + +[4] "Imitation of Christ" is a sister book to the last, written in the +15th century by Thomas à Kempis, a German monk, of pure and beautiful +life and thought. It is a world-famous book, having been translated into +every civilized language, and having passed through more than five +hundred editions in the present century. (m. R. D.) + +[5] Spencer's "Data of Ethics" is one of the most important books in +literature, having to the science of ethics much the same relation as +Newton's "Principia" to astronomy, or Darwin's "Origin of Species" to +biology. Note especially the parts concerning altruistic selfishness, +the morality of health, and the development of moral feeling in general. +(Eng., 19th cent.--d. R. D. G.) Spencer's "First Principles" is also +necessary to an understanding of the scientific religious thinking of +the day. In connection with Spencer's works, "The Idea of God" and the +"Destiny of Man," by Fiske, may be read with profit. The author of these +books is in large part a follower and expounder of Spencer. + +[6] The "Meditations" of M. Aurelius is a book that is full of deep, +pure beauty and philosophy; one of the sweetest influences that can be +brought into the life, and one of Canon Farrar's twelve favorites out of +all literature. (Rome, 2d cent.--m. R. D.) + +[7] Plutarch's "Morals" supplied much of the cream used by Taylor in the +churning that produced the "Holy Living and Dying." Emerson says that we +owe more to Plutarch than to all the other ancients. Many great authors +have been indebted to him,--Rabelais, Montaigne, Montesquieu, Voltaire, +Rousseau, Shakspeare, Bacon, and Dryden, among the number. Plutarch's +"Morals" is a treasure-house of wisdom and beauty. There is a very fine +edition with an introduction by Emerson. (Rome, 1st cent.--m. R. D.) + +[8] Seneca's "Morals" is a fit companion of the preceding six books, +full of deep thought upon topics of every-day import, set out in clear +and forceful language. The Camelot Library contains a very good +selection from his ethical treatises and his delightful letters, which +are really moral essays. (Rome, 1st cent.--m. R. D.) + +[9] Epictetus was another grand moralist, the teacher of Marcus +Aurelius. Next to Bunyan and Kempis, the books of these great stoics, +filled as they are with the serenity of minds that had made themselves +independent of circumstance and passion, have the greatest popularity +accorded to any ethical works. Epictetus was a Roman slave in the 1st +century A. D. (m. R. D.) + +[10] The little book on "Tolerance" by Phillips Brooks ought to be read +by every one. See Table III. side No. 23. The sermons of Dr. Brooks and +of Robertson are among the most helpful and inspiring reading we know. +Drummond's "Natural Law in the Spiritual World" is a book of ingenious +and often poetic analogies between the physical and spiritual worlds. If +read as poetry, no fault can be found with it; but the reader must be +careful to test thoroughly the laws laid down, and make sure that there +is some weightier proof than mere analogy, before hanging important +conclusions on the statements of this author. A later book by Drummond +entitled "The Greatest Thing in the World" is also worthy of attention. +(U. S., 19th cent.) + +[11] "Areopagitica." A noble plea for liberty of speech and press. +(Eng., early 17th cent.) + +[12] Keble's beautiful "Christian Year." + +[13] Cicero's "Offices" is a very valuable ethical work. It directs a +young Roman how he may attain distinction and the respect and confidence +of his fellow-citizens. Its underlying principles are of eternal value, +and its arrangement is admirable. Dr. Peabody's translation is the best. +(Rome, 1st cent. B. C.) + +[14] "Pensées." Pascal's "Thoughts" are known the world over for their +depth and beauty. (France, 17th cent.) + +[15] "The Perfect Life" and other works. (U. S., 19th cent.) + +[16] Ethics. (Greece, 4th cent. B. C.) + +[17] "Confessions" and "The City of God." (Rome, 4th cent.) + +[18] Analogy of Religion. (Eng., 18th cent.) + +[19] Ethics and theologico-political speculation. (Dutch, 17th cent.) + + + + +POETRY AND THE DRAMA. + + +The faculty which most widely distinguishes man from his possible +relatives, the lower animals, and the varying power of which most +clearly marks the place of each individual in the scale of superiority, +is imagination. It lies at the bottom of intellect and character. +Memory, reason, and discovery are built upon it; and sympathy, the +mother of kindness, tenderness, and love, is itself the child of the +imagination. Poetry is the married harmony of imagination and beauty. +The poet is the man of fancy and the man of music. This is why in all +ages mankind instinctively feel that poetry is supreme. Of all kinds of +literature, it is the most stimulating, broadening, beautifying, and +should have a large place in every life. Buy the best poets, read them +carefully, mark the finest passages, and recur to them many, many times. +A poem is like a violin: it must be kept and played upon a long time +before it yields to us its sweetest music. + +The drama, or representation of human thought and life, has come into +being, among very many peoples, as a natural outgrowth of the faculty of +mimicry in human nature. Among the South Sea Islanders there is a rude +drama, and in China such representations have existed from remote ages. +Greece first brought the art to high perfection; and her greatest tragic +artists, Æschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides, of the fifth century B. C., +are still the highest names in tragedy. The Greek drama with Æschylus +was only a dialogue. Sophocles introduced a third actor. It would be a +dull play to us that should fill the evening with three players. In +another thing the Grecian play was widely different from ours. The aim +of ancient playwrights was to bring to view some thought in giant form +and with tremendous emphasis. The whole drama was built around, moulded, +and adapted to one great idea. The aim of English writers is to give an +interesting glimpse of actual life in all its multiplicity of interwoven +thought and passion, and let it speak its lessons, as the great +schoolmistress, Nature, gives us hers. The French and Italian drama +follow that of Greece, but Spain and England follow Nature. + +_Mystery and miracle plays_ were introduced about 1100 A. D., by +Hilarius, and were intended to enforce religious truths. God, Adam, the +Angels, Satan, Eve, Noah, etc., were the characters. In the beginning of +the 15th century, _morality plays_ became popular. They personified +faith, hope, sadness, magnificence, conceit, etc., though there might +seem little need of invention to personify the latter. About the time of +Henry VIII., _masques_ were introduced from Italy. In them the +performers wore extravagant costumes and covered the face, and lords and +ladies played the parts. It was at such a frolic that King Henry met +Anne Boleyn. The first English comedy was written in 1540, by Udall; and +the first tragedy in 1561, by Sackville and Norton. It was called +"Ferrex and Porrex." From this time the English drama rapidly rose to +its summit in Shakspeare's richest years at the close of the same +century. At first the theatre was in the inn-yard,--just a platform, +with no scenery but what the imagination of the drinking, swearing, +jeering crowd of common folk standing in the rain or sunlight round the +rough-made stage could paint. + +On the stage sat a few gentlefolk able to pay a shilling for the +privilege. They smoked, played cards, insulted the pit, "who gave it to +them back, and threw apples at them into the bargain." Such were the +beginnings of what in Shakspeare's hands became the greatest drama that +the world has ever seen. + +The manner of reading all good poetry should be: R. D. C. G. + +If the reader wishes to study poetry critically, he will find abundant +materials in Lanier's "Science of English Verse" and Dowden's "Mind and +Art of Shakspeare" (books that once read by a lover of poetry will ever +after be cherished as among the choicest of his possessions); Lowell's +"Fable for Critics," "My Study Windows," and "Among my Books;" Arnold's +"Essays;" Hazlitt's "English Poets;" "English Men of Letters;" Poe's +"Essay on the Composition of the Raven;" Taine's "English Literature;" +Swinburne's "Essays and Studies;" Stedman's "Victorian Poets;" Shairp's +"Studies in Poetry;" Warton's "History of English Poetry;" Ward's +"History of English Dramatic Literature;" and Schlegel's "Dramatic +Literature." + +[20] Shakspeare is the summit of the world's literature. In a higher +degree than any other man who has lived on this planet, he possessed +that vivid, accurate, exhaustive imagination which creates a second +universe in the poet's brain. Between our thought of a man and the man +himself, or a complete representation of him with all his thoughts, +feelings, motives, and possibilities, there is a vast gulf. If we had a +perfect knowledge of him, we could tell what he would think and do. To +this ultimate knowledge Shakspeare more nearly approached than any other +mortal. He so well understood the machinery of human nature, that he +could create men and women beyond our power to detect an error in his +work. This grasp of the most difficult subject of thought, and the +oceanic, myriad-minded greatness of his plays prove him intellectually +the greatest of the human race. It is simple nonsense to suppose that +Bacon wrote the dramas that bear the name of Shakspeare. They were +published during Shakspeare's life under his name; and Greene, Jonson, +Milton, and other contemporaries speak with unmistakable clearness of +the great master. Donnelly's Cryptogram is a palpable sham; and to the +argument that an uneducated man like Shakspeare could not have written +such grand poetry, while Bacon, as we know, did have a splendid ability, +it is a sufficient answer to remark that Shakspeare's sonnets, the +authorship of which is not and cannot be questioned, show far higher +poetical powers than anything that can be found in Bacon's acknowledged +works. Richard Grant White's edition is the best; and certainly every +one should have the very best of Shakspeare, if no other book is ever +bought. (16th cent.) See Table III. No. 1. + +With Shakspeare may be used Dowden's "Shakspeare Primer," and "The Mind +and Art of Shakspeare," Abbott's "Shakspearian Grammar," Lanier's +"Science of English Verse," Hazlitt's "Characters of Shakspeare's Plays" +and "Age of Elizabeth," Lamb's "Tales from Shakspeare," Ward's "English +Dramatic Literature, and History of the Drama," Lewes' "Actors and the +Art of Acting," Hutton's "Plays and Players," Leigh Hunt's "Imagination +and Fancy," and Whipple's "Literature of the Age of Elizabeth." + +[21] Homer is the world's greatest epic poet. He is the brother of +Shakspeare, full of sublimity and pathos, tenderness, simplicity, and +inexhaustible vigor. Pope's translation is still the best on the whole, +but should be read with Derby's Iliad and Worsley's Odyssey. In some +parts these are fuller of power and beauty; in others, Pope is far +better. Flaxman's designs are a great help in enjoying Homer, as are +also the writings of Gladstone, Arnold, and Symonds. (Greece, about 1000 +B. C.) See Table III. No. 2. + +[22] Ruskin thinks Dante is the first figure of history, the only man in +whom the moral, intellectual, and imaginative faculties met in great +power and in perfect balance. (Italy, 14th cent.) Follow the advice +given in Table III. No. 5, and, if possible, read Longfellow's +translation. See note 24, p. 30. + +Among writings that will be found useful in connection with Dante, are +Rossetti's "Shadow of Dante," Lowell's Essay in "Among my Books," +Symonds' "Introduction to the Study of Dante," Farrar's "Lecture on +Dante," Mrs. Ward's "Life of Dante," Botta's "Dante as a Philosopher," +and Carlyle's "Heroes and Hero Worship." + +[23] Goethe is unquestionably the greatest German, and one of the first +six names in literature. His "Faust" is a history of the soul. Read +Bayard Taylor's translation, and the explanation of the drama's meaning +given in Taylor's "Studies in German Literature." "Faust" was the work +of half a century, and completed in 1818, when Goethe was past eighty. + +As a preparation for Goethe it is interesting to study the story of +Faust in Butterworth's "Zigzag Journeys," and read Marlowe's "Drama of +Faustus." The novel "Wilhelm Meister" has been splendidly translated by +Carlyle, and is full of the richest poetic thought, crammed with wisdom, +and pervaded by a delicious sweetness forever provoking the mind to +fresh activity. As a work of genius, it is preferred by some critics +even to Hamlet. See Table III. No. 15. + +[24] Milton stands in his age like an oak among hazel-bushes. The +nobility of his character, the sublimity of his thought, and the classic +beauty of his style give him, in spite of some coldness and some lack of +naturalness in his conception of the characters of Adam and Eve, the +second place in English literature. His "Lycidas" is a beautiful elegy. +His "Comus" is the best masque in English, and certainly a charming +picture of chastity and its triumph over temptation. It should be read +along with Spenser's "Britomart." His "L' Allegro" and "Il Penseroso," +on mirth and melancholy, are among the best lyrics of the world. His +"Paradise Lost" is the greatest epic in English, and the greatest that +any literature has had since Dante's "Divine Comedy." The two books +should be read together. Milton shows us Satan in all the pride and pomp +and power this world oft throws around his cloven Majesty. Dante tears +away the wrappings, and we see the horrid heart and actual loathsomeness +of sin. (Eng., 17th cent.) See Table III. No. 2. + +The writings of Stopford Brooke, Macaulay, Dr. Johnson, De Quincey, and +Pattison about Milton may be profitably referred to. + +[25] Æschylus was the greatest of the noble triumvirate of Greek tragedy +writers. Sublimity reached in his soul the greatest purity and power +that it has yet attained on earth. One can no more afford to tread in +life's low levels all his days and never climb above the clouds to +thought's clear-ethered heights with Æschylus, than to dwell at the foot +of a cliff in New Mexico and never climb to see the Rockies in the blue +and misty distance, with their snowy summits shining in the sun. Read, +at any rate, his "Prometheus Bound" and his "Agamemnon." (5th cent. B. +C., the Golden Age of Grecian literature.) See Table III. No. 4. + +The student of Æschylus will find much of value to him in Mahaffy's +"Greek Literature," "Old Greek Life," and "Social Life in Greece;" +Schlegel's "Dramatic Literature;" Donaldson's "Theatre of the Greeks," +and Froude's "Sea Studies." Following the "Prometheus" of Æschylus, it +is a good plan to read the works of Goethe, Shelley, Lowell, and +Longfellow on the same topic. We thus bring close the ideas and fancies +of five great minds in respect to the myth of Prometheus. + +[26] Many a selection in Table III. is of very high merit, and belongs +on the world's first shelf, although the poetic works of the author as a +whole cannot be allowed such honor. In the section preceding Table V. +also will be found a number of short writings of the very highest merit. +See explanatory note to Table I. + +[27] Edmund Spenser is the third name in English literature. No modern +poet is more like Homer. He is simple, clear, and natural, redundant and +ingenuous. He is a Platonic dreamer, and worships beauty, a love sublime +and chaste; for all the beauty that the eye can see is only, in his +view, an incomplete expression of celestial beauty in the soul of man +and Nature, the light within gleaming and sparkling through the loose +woven texture of this garment of God called Nature, or pouring at every +pore a flood of soft, translucent loveliness, as the radiance of a +calcium flame flows through a porcelain globe. Spenser was Milton's +model. The "Faërie Queen," the "Shepherd's Calendar," and the "Wedding +Hymn" should be carefully read; and if the former is studied +sufficiently to arrive at the underlying spiritual meaning, it will ever +after be one of the most precious of books. (Eng., 16th cent.) See Table +III. No. 6. See also Lowell's "Among my Books," Craik's "Spenser and his +Poetry," and Taine's "English Literature." + +[28] Lowell is one of the foremost humorists of all time. No one, except +Shakspeare, has ever combined so much mastery of the weapons of wit with +so much poetic power, bonhomie, and common-sense. Every American should +read his poems carefully, and digest the best. (Amer., 19th cent.) See +Table III. Nos. 12 and 24. + +[29] Whittier is America's greatest lyric poet. Read what Lowell says of +him in the "Fable for Critics," and get acquainted with his poetry of +Nature and quiet country life, as pure as the snow and as sweet as the +clover. (Amer., 19th cent.) See Table III. No. 11. + +[30] Tennyson is the first poet of our age; and though he cannot rank +with the great names on the upper shelf, yet his tenderness, and noble +purity, and the almost absolutely perfect music of much of his poetry +commands our love and admiration. Read his "In Memoriam," "Princess," +"Idylls of the King," etc. (Eng., 19th cent.) See Table III. No. 11. + +[31] Burns is like a whiff of the pure sea air. He is a sprig of +arbutus under the snow; full of tenderness and genuine gayety, always in +love, and singing forever in tune to the throbs of his heart. Read "The +Jolly Beggars," "The Twa Dogs," and see Table III. No. 11. (Scot., 18th +cent.) + +[32] Probably nothing is so likely to awaken a love for poetry as the +reading of Scott. (Scot., 19th cent.) See Table III. No. 7. + +[33] Byron is the greatest English poet since Milton, and except Goethe +the greatest poet of his age in the world. His music, his wonderful +control of language, his impassioned strength passing from vehemence to +pathos, his fine sense of the beautiful, and his combination of passion +with beauty would place him high on the first shelf of the world's +literature if it were not for his moral aberration. Read his "Childe +Harold." (Eng., 1788-1824.) See Table III. No. 13. + +[34] Shelley is indistinct, abstract, impracticable, but full of love +for all that is noble, of magnificent poetic power and marvellous music. +Read "Prometheus Unbound," and see Table III. No. 13. (Eng., 19th cent.) + +[35] Keats is the poetic brother of Shelley. He is deserving of the +title "marvellous boy" in a far higher degree than Chatterton. If the +lives of Shakspeare, Milton, and Wordsworth had ended at twenty-five, as +did the life of Keats, they would have left no poetry comparable with +that of this impassioned dreamer. Like Shakspeare, he had no fortune or +opportunity of high education. Read "Hyperion," "Lamia," "Eve of Saint +Agnes," "Endymion," and see Table III. No. 13. (Eng., 19th cent.) + +[36] Campbell clothed in romantic sweetness and delicate diction, the +fancies of the fairy land of youthful dreams, and poured forth with a +master voice the pride and grandeur of patriotic song. Read his +"Pleasures of Hope," "Gertrude of Wyoming," and see Table III. No. 12. +(Eng., 19th cent.) + +[37] Moore is a singer of wonderful melody and elegance and of +inexhaustible imagery. Read his "Irish Melodies." (Eng., 19th cent.) See +Table III. No. 11. + +[38] Thomson is one of the most intense lovers of Nature, and sees with +a clear eye the correspondences between the inner and outer worlds upon +which poetry is built. Read his "Seasons" and "The Castle of Indolence." +(Eng., 18th cent.) + +[39] Read Macaulay's "Lays of Ancient Rome." "Horatius" cannot fail to +make the reader pulse with all the heroism and patriotism that is in his +heart, and "Virginia" will fill each heart with mutiny and every eye +with tears. (Eng., 19th cent.) See Table III. No. 12. + +[40] Dryden's song is not so smooth as Pope's, but doubly strong. His +translation of Virgil has more fire than the original, though less +elegance. He was the literary king of his time, but knew better _how_ to +say things than _what_ to say. (Eng., 17th cent.) See Table III. No. 14. + +[41] Collins was a poet of fine genius. Beauty, simplicity, and sweet +harmony combine in his works, but he wrote very little. Read his odes, +"To Pity," "To Evening," "To Mercy," "To Simplicity." See Table III. No. +14. (Eng., 18th cent.) + +[42] Jean Ingelow's poems deserve at least tasting, which will scarcely +fail to lead to assimilation. (Eng., 1862.) See Table III. No. 14. + +[43] Bryant's "Thanatopsis," written at eighteen, gave promise of high +poetic power; but in the life of a journalist the current of energy was +drawn away from poetry, and America lost the full fruitage of her best +poetic tree. He is serene and lofty in thought, and strong in his +descriptive power and the noble simplicity of his language. (Amer., 19th +cent.) See Table III. No. 13. + +[44] Longfellow's poetry is earnest and full of melody, but _as a whole_ +lacks passion and imagery. Relatively to a world standard he is not a +great poet and has written little worthy of universal reading, but as +bone of our bone he has a claim on us as Americans for sufficient +attention at least to investigate for ourselves his merits. (Amer., 19th +cent.) See Table III. No. 10. + +[45] Lowell says that George Herbert is as "holy as a flower on a +grave." (Eng., 1631.) See Table III. No. 13. + +[46] Goldsmith's "Deserted Village" and "Traveller" will live as long as +the language. They are full of wisdom and lovely poetry. His dramas +abound in fun. Read "The Good-Natured Man" and "She Stoops to Conquer." +(Eng., 18th cent.) See Table IV. + +[47] Read Coleridge's "Christabel," and get somebody to explain its +mysterious beauty to you; also his "Remorse," "Ode to the Departing +Year," "Ancient Mariner," and "Kubla Khan." The latter is the most +magnificent creation of his time, but needs a good deal of study for +most readers to perceive the beautiful underlying thought, as is the +case also with the "Mariner." Coleridge is difficult reading. He wrote +very little excellently, but that little should be bound in gold, and +read till the inner light of it shines into the soul of the reader. The +terrible opium habit ruined him. Read his life; it is a thrilling story. +(Eng., 1772-1834.) Table III. No. 11. + +[48] Lowell says, in his "Fable for Critics," that he is always +discovering new depths + + "in Wordsworth, undreamed of before,-- + That divinely inspired, wise, deep, tender, grand--bore." + +Nothing could sum up this poet better than that. His intense delight in +Nature and especially in mountain scenery, and his pure, serene, +earnest, majestic reflectiveness are his great charms. His "Excursion" +is one of the great works of our literature, and stands in the front +rank of the world's philosophical poetry. Its thousand lines of blank +verse roll through the soul like the stately music of a cathedral organ. +(Eng., 19th cent.) See Table III. No. 13. + +[49] Pope is the greatest of the world's machine poets, the noblest of +the great army who place a higher value on skilful execution than on +originality and beauty of conception. The "Rape of the Lock" is his most +successful effort, and is the best of all mock-heroic poems. "The +sharpest wit, the keenest dissection of the follies of fashionable life, +the finest grace of diction, and the softest flow of melody adorn a tale +in which we learn how a fine gentleman stole a lock of a lady's hair." +Read also his "Essay on Man," and glance at his "Dunciad," a satire on +fellow-writers. (Eng., 1688-1744.) See Table III. No. 13, and Table IV. + +[50] Southey had great ideas of what poetry should be, and strove for +purity, unity, and fine imagery; but there was no pathos or depth of +emotion in him, and the stream of his poetry is not the gush of the +river, but the uninteresting flow of the canal. Byron says, "God help +thee, Southey, and thy readers too." Glance at his "Thalaba the +Destroyer" and "Curse of Kehama." (Eng., 1774-1843.) + +[51] Walton's "Compleat Angler" is worthy of a glance. (Eng., 1653.) + +[52] Browning is very obscure, and neither on authority nor principle a +first-rate poet; but he is a strong thinker, and dear to those who have +taken the pains to dig out the nuggets of gold. Canon Farrar puts him +among the three living authors whose works he would be most anxious to +save from the flames. Mrs. Browning has more imagination than her +husband, and is perhaps his equal in other respects. (Eng., 19th cent.) + +[53] Read Young's "Night Thoughts." + +[54] Jonson, on account of his noble aims, comparative purity, and +classic style, stands next to Shakspeare in the history of English +drama. Read "The Alchemist," "Catiline," "The Devil as an Ass," +"Cynthia's Revels," and "The Silent Woman." The plot of the latter is +very humorous. (Eng., 1700.) + +[55] The dramas of Beaumont and Fletcher are poetically the best in the +language except those of Shakspeare. Read "Philaster," "The Fair Maid of +the Inn," "Thierry and Theodoret," "The Maid's Tragedy." (Eng., 17th +cent.) + +[56] Marlowe's "Mighty Line" is known to all lovers of poetry who have +made a wide hunt. His energy is intense. Read "The Tragical History of +Dr. Faustus," based on that wonderfully fascinating story of the doctor +who offered his soul to hell in exchange for a short term of power and +pleasure, on which Goethe expended the flower of his genius, and around +which grew hundreds of plays all over Europe. (Eng., 17th cent.) + +[57] For whimsical and ludicrous situations and a rapid fire of +witticisms, Sheridan's plays have no equals. Read "The School for +Scandal" and "The Rivals." (Eng., 18th cent.) + +[58] Carleton's poetry is not of a lofty order, but exceedingly +enjoyable. Read his "Farm Ballads." (Amer., 19th cent.) + +[60] Virgil is the greatest name in Roman literature. His "Æneid" is +the national poem of Rome. His poetry is of great purity and elegance, +and for variety, harmony, and power second in epic verse only to his +great model, Homer. (Rome, 1st cent. B. C.) Read Dryden's translation if +you cannot read the original. + +[61] The Odes of Horace combine wit, grace, sense, fire, and affection +in a perfection of form never attained by any other writer. He is +untranslatable; but Martin's version and commentary will give some idea +of this most interesting man, "the most modern and most familiar of the +ancients." (Rome, 1st cent. B. C.) + +[62] Lucretius is a philosophic poet. He aimed to explain Nature; and +his poem has much of wisdom, beauty, sublimity, and imagination to +commend it. Virgil imitated whole passages from Lucretius. (Rome, 1st +cent. B. C.) + +[63] Ovid is gross but fertile, and his "Metamorphoses" and "Epistles" +have been great favorites. (Rome, 1st cent. B. C.) + +[64] The "Antigone" and "OEdipus at Colonus" of Sophocles are of +exquisite tenderness and beauty. In pathos Shakspeare only is his equal. +(Greece, 5th cent. B. C.) + +[65] Euripides is the third of the great triumvirate of Greek +dramatists. His works were very much admired by Milton and Fox. Read his +"Alcestis," "Iphigenia," "Medea," and the "Bacchanals." (Greece, 5th +cent. B. C.) + +[66] Aristophanes is the greatest of Greek comedy writers. His plays are +great favorites with scholars, as a rule. Read the "Clouds," "Birds," +"Knights," and "Plutus." (Greece, 5th cent. B. C.) + +[67] Pindar's triumphal odes stand in the front rank of the world's +lyric poetry. (Greece, 5th cent. B. C.) + +[68] Hesiod's "Theogony" contains the religious faith of Greece. He +lived in or near the time of Homer. + +[69] Heine is the most remarkable German poet of this century. He has +written many gems of rare beauty, and many sketches of life unmatched +for racy freshness and graphic power. + +[70] Schiller is the second name in German literature; indeed, as a +lover of men and as a poet of exquisite fancy, he far excels Goethe. He +was a great philosopher, historian, and critic. Read his "Song of the +Bell," and his drama of "Wallenstein," translated by Coleridge. +(Germany, 18th cent.) + +[71] Corneille, Racine, and Molière are the great French triumvirate of +dramatists. Their object is to produce one massive impression. In this +they follow the classic writers. A French, Greek, or Roman drama is to a +Shakspearean play as a statue to a picture, as an idea carved out of +Nature and rendered magnificently impressive by its isolation and the +beauty of its modelling, to Nature itself. The historical and ethical +value of the French plays is very great. Corneille is one of the +grandest of modern poets. Read "The Cid" ("As beautiful as the Cid" +became a proverb in France), and "Horace" (which is even more original +and grand than "The Cid"), and "Cinna" (which Voltaire thought the best +of all). Racine excels in grace, tenderness, and versatility. Read his +"Phèdre." Molière was almost as profound a master of human nature on its +humorous side as Shakspeare. He hates folly, meanness, and falsehood; he +is always wise, tender, and good. Read "Le Misanthrope," or "The +Man-Hater," and "Tartuffe," or "The Impostor." (17th cent.) + +[74] Alfred de Musset is a famous French poet of this century, and is a +great favorite with those who can enjoy charming and inspiring thoughts +though mixed with the grotesque and extravagant. + +[75] Calderon de la Barca is one of the greatest dramatists of the +world. His purity, power, and passion, his magnificent imagination and +wonderful fertility, will place him in company with Shakspeare in the +eternal society of the great. Read Shelley's fragments from Calderon, +and Fitzgerald's translation, especially "Zalamea" and "The +Wonder-Working Magician," two of his greatest plays. (Spain, 17th cent.) + +[76] Petrarch's lyrics have been models to all the great poets of +Southern Europe. The subject of nearly all his poems is his hopeless +affection for the high-minded and beautiful Laura de Sade. His purity is +above reproach. He is pre-eminent for sweetness, pathos, elegance, and +melody. (Italy, 14th cent.) + +[77] Ariosto is Italy's great epic poet. Read his "Orlando Furioso," a +hundred-fold tale of knights and ladies, giants and magicians. (Italy, +1474-1533). + +[78] Tasso is the second name in Italian epic poetry; and by some he is +placed above Ariosto and named in the same breath with Homer and Virgil. +Read his "Jerusalem Delivered," and "Aminta," and glance at his minor +poems composed while in confinement. (Italy, 16th cent.) + +[79] Camoens is the glory of Portugal, her only poet whose fame has +flown far beyond her narrow borders. Read his grand and beautiful poem, +the "Lusiad," a national epic grouping together all the great and +interesting events in the history of his country. (16th cent.) + +[80] Omar Khayyám, the great astronomer poet of Persia, has no equal in +the world in the concise magnificence with which he can paint a grand +poetic conception in a single complete, well-rounded, melodious stanza. +Read Fitzgerald's translation. (12th cent.) + +[81] Firdusi, the author of the "Shah Nameh," or Poetic History of the +great deeds of the sultans. Hafiz, the poet of love, and Saadi are other +great Persian poets deserving at least a glance of investigation. +(11th-14th cents.) + +[82] Arnold's "Light of Asia" claims our attention for the additions it +can make to our breadth of thought, giving us as it does briefly and +beautifully the current of thinking of a great people very unlike +ourselves. (Eng., 19th cent.) + +[83] Pushkin is called the Byron of Russia. Russian songs have a +peculiar, mournful tenderness. "They are the sorrows of a century +blended in one everlasting sigh." (19th cent.) + +[84] Lermontoff is the Russian Schiller. (19th cent.) + + + + +SCIENCE. + + +The most important sciences for the ordinary reader are Physiology, +Hygiene, Psychology, Logic, Political Economy, Sociology and the Science +of Government, Astronomy, Geology, and Natural History; but an +elementary knowledge of all the sciences is very desirable on account of +the breadth of mind and grasp of method which result therefrom. The +International Scientific Series is very helpful in giving the brief +comprehensive treatment of such subjects that is needed for those who +are not specialists. The best books in this department are continually +changing, because science is growing fast, and the latest books are apt +to be fuller and better than the old ones. The best thing that can be +done by one who wishes to be sure of obtaining the finest works upon any +given subject in the region of scientific research, is to write to a +professor who teaches that subject in some good university,--a professor +who has not himself written a book on the subject,--and get his judgment +on the matter. + +[85] Physical health is the basis of all life and activity, and it is +of the utmost importance to secure at once the best knowledge the world +has attained in relation to its procurement and preservation. This +matter has far too little attention. If a man is going to bring up +chickens, he will study chicken books no end of hours to see just what +will make them lay and make them fat and how he may produce the finest +stock; but if he only has to bring up a few children, he will give no +time to the study of the physical conditions of their full and fine +development. Some few people, however, have a strange idea that a child +is nearly as valuable as a rooster. There is no book as yet written +which gives in clear, easily understood language the known laws of diet, +exercise, care of the teeth, hair, skin, lungs, etc., and simple +remedies. Perhaps Dalton's "Physiology," Flint's "Nervous System," +Cutter's "Hygiene," Blaikie's "How to get Strong," and Duncan's "How to +be Plump," Beard's "Eating and Drinking," Bellows' "Philosophy of +Eating," Smith on Foods, Holbrook's "Eating for Strength," "Fruit and +Bread," "Hygiene for the Brain," "How to Strengthen the Memory," and +Kay's book on the Memory, Walter's "Nutritive Cure," Clark's "Sex in +Education," Alice Stockham's "Tokology" or "Hygiene for Married Women," +and Naphy's "Transmission of Life" will together give some idea of this +all-valuable subject, though none of these books except the first are in +themselves, apart from their subject, worthy of a place on the first +shelf. + +[86] Dr. Strong's little book, "Our Country," is of the most intense +interest to every American who loves his country and wishes its welfare. +(U. S., 19th cent.) + +[88] The "Federalist" was a series of essays by Hamilton, Jay, and +Madison, in favor of the Federal Constitution, and is the best and +deepest book on the science of government that the world contains. +(Amer., 1788.) + +[89] Bryce on the American Commonwealth is a splendid book, a complete, +critical, philosophic work, an era-making book, and should be read by +every American who wishes to know how our institutions appear to a +genial, cultured, broad-minded foreigner. Mr. Bryce has the chair of +Political Economy in Oxford, and is a member of Parliament. His chief +criticism of our great republic is that it is _hard to fix +responsibility_ for lawlessness under our institutions, which is always +an encouragement to wrongdoers. His book should be read with De +Tocqueville. (Eng., 19th cent.) + +[90] Montesquieu's "Spirit of Laws" is a profound analysis of law in +relation to government, customs, climate, religion, and commerce. It is +the greatest book of the 18th century. Read with it Bagehot's "Physics +and Politics." + +[91] Mill's "Logic" and "Political Economy" are simply necessities to +any, even moderately, thorough preparation for civilized life in +America. (Eng., 19th cent.) + +[92] Read Bain on the "Emotions and the Will," "Mind and Body," etc. +(Eng., 19th cent.) + +[93] Herbert Spencer is the foremost name in the philosophic literature +of the world. He is the Shakspeare of science. He has a grander grasp of +knowledge, and more perfect _conscious_ correspondence with the external +universe, than any other human being who ever looked wonderingly out +into the starry depths; and his few errors flow from an over-anxiety to +exert his splendid power of making beautiful generalizations. Read his +"First Principles," "Data of Ethics," "Education," and "Classification +of the Sciences," at any rate; and if possible, all he has written. +Plato and Spencer are brothers. Plato would have done what Spencer has, +had he lived in the 19th century. + +[94] Darwin's "Origin of Species" stands in history by the side of +Newton's "Principia." The thought of both has to a great extent become +the common inheritance of the race; and it is perhaps sufficient for the +general reader to refer to a good account of the book and its arguments, +such as may be found in the "Encyclopædia Britannica." (Eng., 19th +cent.) + +[95] Read Herschel and Proctor in Astronomy, to broaden and deepen the +mind with the grand and beautiful conceptions of this most poetic of the +sciences. Proctor's books are more fascinating than any fiction. (Eng., +19th cent.) + +[96] For a knowledge of what has been going on in this dim spot beneath +the sun, in the ages before man came upon the stage, and for an idea +about what kind of a fellow man was when he first set up housekeeping +here, and how long ago that was, read Lyell's "Geology;" Lubbock's +"Prehistoric Times," "Origin of Civilization and Primitive Condition of +Man," and Lyell's "Antiquity of Man" (Eng., 19th cent.); and Dawson's +"Chain of Life." (U. S., 19th cent.) + +[97] Read Wood's beautiful and interesting books on Natural History; +especially his "Evidences of Mind in Animals," "Out of Doors," +"Anecdotes of Animals," "Man and Beast," "Here and Hereafter." (Eng., +19th cent.) + +[98] Whewell's "History of the Inductive Sciences" is a very broadening +book. + +[99] De Tocqueville's "Democracy in America" is one of the great books, +and is superior in depth and style even to Bryce. The two books +supplement each other. See note 89: (France, 18th cent.) + +[100] "Constitutional History of the United States." (Ger., 19th cent.) + +[101] "Wealth of Nations," "Moral Sentiments." (Eng., 18th cent.) + +[102] "Principles of Population." One of the most celebrated of books. +(Eng., 18th cent.) + +[103] "Principles of Social Philosophy." (Eng., 19th cent.) + +[104] "Essays on Political Economy," "Leading Principles of Political +Economy." (Eng., 19th cent.) + +[105] "Comparative Politics." (Eng., 19th cent.) + +[106] "The Theory of Political Economy," "The Logic of Statistics." +(Eng., 19th cent.) + +[107] "The Nation, the Foundation of Civil Order and Political Life in +the United States." (U. S., 19th cent.) + +[108] "Leviathan." See note 190. (Eng., 16th cent.) + +[109] "The Prince." (Italy, 1469-1527.) + +[110] "Chips from a German Workshop," and various works on Philology. +(Ger., 19th cent.) + +[111] "Study of Words," etc. (Eng., 19th cent.) + +[112] "Words and Places." (Eng., 19th cent.) + +[113] "Natural History of Selborne." (Eng., 19th cent.) + +[114] "Animal Kingdom." (France, early 19th cent.) + +[115] "Voyages." (Eng., 18th cent.) + +[116] "Heat as a Mode of Motion," "Forms of Water," etc. (Eng., 19th +cent.) + +[117] "On Sound." (Eng., 19th cent.) + +[118] "Scientific Researches." (Eng., 19th cent.) + +[119] "Conservation of Energy." In a book on this subject edited by E. +L. Youmans. (Ger., 19th cent.) + +[120] "Man's Place in Nature." (Eng., 19th cent.) + +[121] Botany. (U. S., 19th cent.) + +[122] "Methods of Study in Natural History." (U. S. 19th cent.) + +[123] Physics. (U. S., 19th cent.) + + + + +BIOGRAPHY. + + +Biography carefully read will cast a flood of light before us on the +path of life. Read Longfellow's "Psalm of Life," and try to find the +teachings he refers to in the lives of great men. The world still lacks +what it very much needs,--a book of _brief_ biographies of the greatest +and noblest men and women of every age and country, by a master hand. +The aim should be to extract from the past what it can teach us of value +for the future; and to do this biography must become a comparative +science, events and lives must be grouped over the whole range of the +years, that by similarities and contrasts the truth may appear. Smiles's +"Self-Help" is a partial realization of this plan. + +The manner of reading should be: R. D. + +[124] Plutarch's "Lives" comes nearer to a comparative biography than +any other book we have. He contrasts his characters in pairs, a Greek +and a Roman in each couplet. It is one of the most delightful of books, +and among those most universally read by cultured people of all nations. +Dryden's translation revised by Clough is the best. (Rome, 1st cent.) + +[125] In Wendell Phillips's oration on "Toussaint L'Ouverture," there is +a fascinating comparison of the noble negro warrior with Napoleon. (U. +S., 19th cent.) + +[126] Boswell's "Johnson" is admittedly the greatest life of a single +person yet written. (Eng., 18th cent.) + +[127] Lockhart's "Life of Scott" is a favorite with all who read it. +Wilkie Collins especially recommends it as finely picturing genius and +nobility of character. (Eng., 19th cent.) + +[128] Marshall's "Life of Washington" is an inspiring book. Gladstone +said to Mr. Depew: "Sixty years ago I read Chief-Justice Marshall's +'Life of Washington,' and I was forced to the conclusion that he was +quite the greatest man that ever lived. The sixty years that have passed +have not changed that impression; and to any Englishman who seeks my +advice in the line of his development and equipment I invariably say, +'Begin by reading the Life of George Washington.'" (U. S., 19th cent.) + +Franklin's "Autobiography" is brief, philosophic, and delightfully frank +and clear. (U. S., 18th cent.) + +[129] "The Life of Lincoln," by Nicolay and Hay, is a book that has very +strong claims to the attention of every American, and every lover of +liberty, greatness, nobility, and kindliness. (U. S., 19th cent.) + +Grant's "Memoirs" deserves reading for similar reasons. The great +General lived an epic, and wrote a classic. (U. S. 19th cent.) + +[130] Read Carlyle's "Life of John Sterling," "Oliver Cromwell's +Letters and Speeches," and "Heroes and Hero Worship." (Eng., 19th cent.) + +Renan's "Life of Christ." (France, 19th cent.) + +[131] Canon Farrar's little "Life of Dante" is, considering its brevity, +one of the best things in this department. (Eng., 19th cent.) + +[132] Emerson's "Representative Men" most strongly stirs thought and +inspires the resolution. (U. S., 19th cent.) + +[133] "The Portrait Collection of the Hundred Greatest Men," published +by Sampson, Low, & Co., 1879. + +[134] Read Parton's "Sketches of Men of Progress." (U. S., 19th cent.) + +[135] "Lights of Two Centuries." (U. S., 19th cent.) + +[136] "Our Great Benefactors." (U. S., 19th cent.) + +[137] "Book of Martyrs." (Eng., early 16th cent.) + +[138] "The Life and Times of Goethe," and "Michaelangelo." Most +interesting books. (Germany, 19th cent.) + +[139] "English Statesmen." (Eng., 19th cent.) + +[140] "Life of Napoleon." (France, 19th cent.) + +[141] "Lives of the Poets." (Eng., 18th cent.) + +[142] Walton's "Lives." (Eng., 17th cent.) + +[143] "Life of Dr. Arnold." (Eng., 19th cent.) + +[144] "Life of Washington." (U. S., 19th cent.) + +[145] "Life of Nelson." (Eng., 19th cent.) + +[146] "Life of Pitt." (Eng., 19th cent.) + +[147] "Life of Byron." (Eng., 19th cent.) + +[148] "Lives of Female Sovereigns and Illustrious Women." (Eng., 19th +cent.) + +[149] "Lives of the Saints." (Eng., 19th cent.) + +[150] "Memories of many Men." (U. S., 19th cent.) + +[151] "Reminiscences." (U. S., 18th cent.) + +The Life and Letters of Darwin, Talleyrand, and Macaulay; the Journals +of Miss Alcott, Marie Bashkirtseff, and Eugénie de Guerin; the +Autobiography of Joseph Jefferson; the "American Statesmen" series, +edited by John T. Morse, Jr., and the "English Men of Letters" series +are all valuable books. The Journals of Miss Alcott and Marie +Bashkirtseff are stories of heart struggles, longings, failures, and +triumphs, and are of exceeding interest and great popularity. The +Journal of Eugénie de Guerin deserves to be better known than it is, for +the delicate sweetness of feeling that fills its pages. + + + + +HISTORY. + + +Remarks may be made about History very similar to those in the special +remarks concerning Biography. The field is too vast for an ordinary +life, and there is no book that will give in brief compass the net +results and profits of man's investment in experience and life,--the +dividends have not been declared. Guizot and Buckle come nearer to doing +this than any other writers; but _the_ book that shall reduce the past +to principles that will guide the future has not yet been written. The +student will be greatly assisted by the "Manual of Historical +Literature," by C. K. Adams. It is an admirable guide. Putnam's series, +"The Stories of the Nations," and Scribner's "Epoch" series are very +useful, especially for young people. + +The manner of reading the best history should be: R. D. G. + +[152] Green's "History of the English People" has probably the first +claims on the general reader. (Eng., 19th cent.) + +[153] Bancroft's "History of the United States" should be read by every +American citizen, along with Dr. Strong's "Our Country." (U. S., 19th +cent.) The only trouble with Bancroft is that he does not bring the +history down to recent times. Hildreth for the student, and Ridpath for +practical business men supply this defect. Doyle's "History of the +United States" is perhaps the best small book, and his "American +Colonies" is also good. McMaster's "History of the People of the United +States" is a brilliant work, given largely to an account of the social +life of the people. + +[154] Guizot's "History of Civilization" and "History of France" +(France, 19th cent.) are among the greatest books of the world; and with +Buckle's "History of Civilization" (Eng., 19th cent.) will give a +careful reader an intellectual breadth and training far above what is +attained by the majority even of reading men. + +[155] Parkman is the Macaulay of the New World. He invests the truths of +sober history with all the charms of poetic imagination and graceful +style. His literary work must take its place by the side of Scott and +Irving. Read his "France and England in North America," "Conspiracy of +Pontiac," and "The Oregon Trail." + +Freeman, Fiske, and Fyffe are also great historians, who require notice +here. Freeman's "Comparative Politics," "History of the Saracens," +"Growth of the English Constitution," "History of Federal Government," +and "General Sketch of History" are all great works,--the last being the +best brief account of general history that we possess. (Eng., 19th +cent.) + +Fiske's "Civil Government," "War of Independence," and "Critical Period +of American History" are standard books. (U. S., 19th cent.) + +Fyffe's "Modern Europe" is called the most brilliant picture of the +Revolutionary Period in existence. It is certainly one of the best of +histories. + +[155a] "Fifteen Decisive Battles of the World." (Eng., 19th cent.) + +[156] "History of England in the 18th Century," "History of European +Morals." These books take very high rank in respect to style, accuracy, +and completeness. (Eng., 19th cent.) + +[157] "Ten Great Religions," by James Freeman Clarke. (U. S., 19th +cent.) + +[158] "Comparative History of Religion." + +[159] "Intellectual Development of Europe." A work of great power. (U. +S., 19th cent.) + +[160] "Middle Ages." (Eng., 19th cent.) + +[161] "Constitutional History of England." Bagehot's "English +Constitution" should be read with the works of Hallam, Freeman, and May +on this topic, because of its brilliant generalizations and ingenious +suggestions. (Eng., 19th cent.) + +[162] "History of England." (Eng., 18th cent.) + +[163] "History of England." (Eng., 19th cent.) + +[164] "History of England." (Eng., 19th cent.) + +[165] "Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire." (Eng., 18th cent.) + +[166] "History of Greece." (Eng., 19th cent.) + +[167] "History of New England." (U. S., 19th cent.) + +[168] "Conquest of Mexico," "Peru," "Ferdinand and Isabella," etc. +Prescott's style is of the very best, clear, graphic, and ever +interesting. (U. S., 19th cent.) + +[169] "Rise of the Dutch Republic." (U. S., 19th cent.) + +[169a] "Rise of the Republic of the United States." (U. S., 19th cent.) + +[170] "Ancient Egyptians." (Eng., 19th cent.) + +[171] "History of Rome." (Eng., 19th cent.) + +[172] "History of the Germans." (Ger., 1798.) + +[173] "Latin Christianity." (Eng., 19th cent.) + +[174] "History of the Papacy in the 16th and 17th Centuries." Ranke is +one of the strongest names in history. (Ger., 19th cent.) + +[175] "Italian Republics." (France, 1773-1842.) + +[176] "History of France." (France, 19th cent.) + +[177] "French Revolution." (Eng., 19th cent.) + +[178] "History of France," "Norman Conquest of England." (France, 19th +cent.) + +[179] "Germania." His "Life of Agricola" is also worthy of note for the +insight into character, the pathos, vigor, and affection manifested in +its flattering pages. (Rome, 1st cent.) + +[180] "History of Rome." (Rome, 1st cent. B. C.) + +[181] "The War of Catiline." (Rome, 1st cent. B. C.) + +[182] History of nearly all the nations known at the time he wrote. +(Greece, 5th cent. B. C.) + +[183] "Anabasis, the Retreat of the Greek Mercenaries of the Persian +King." (Greece, 5th cent. B. C.) + +[184] "History of the Athenian Domination of Greece." (Greece, 5th cent. +B. C.) + +[185] "History of the Jewish Wars." (Jerusalem, 1st cent.) + +Mackenzie's "History of the Nineteenth Century" is the best English book +on the subject. + +Rawlinson's "Five Great Monarchies" is strongly recommended. + + + + +PHILOSOPHY. + + +There have been, since the waters of thought began to flow, two great +streams running side by side,--Rationalism and Mysticism. Those who sail +upon the former recognize Reason as king; those upon the latter enthrone +some vague and shadowy power, in general known as Intuition. The +tendency of the one is to begin with sense impressions, and out of these +to build up a universe in the brain corresponding to the outer world, +and to arrive at a belief in God by climbing the stairway of induction +and analogy. The tendency of the other is to start with the affirmed +nature of God, arrived at, the thinker knows not how, and deduce the +universe from the conception of the Divine Nature. If this matter is +kept in mind, the earnest student will be able to see through the mists +sufficiently to discover what the philosophers are talking about +whenever it chances that they themselves knew. Spencer, Plato, Berkeley, +Kant, Locke, are all worthy of a thorough reading; and Comte's +philosophy of Mathematics is of great importance. + +The manner of reading good philosophic works should be: R. D. G. + +[186] Spencer's Philosophy is the grandest body of thought that any one +man has ever given to the world. No one who wishes to move with the tide +can afford to be unfamiliar with his books, from "First Principles" to +his Essays. He believes that all ideas, or their materials, have come +through the avenues of the senses. (Eng., 19th cent.) + +[187] Plato and Socrates are a double star in the sky of Philosophy that +the strongest telescopes have failed to resolve. Socrates wrote nothing, +but talked much. Plato was a pupil of his, and makes Socrates the chief +character in his writings. Ten schools of philosophy claimed Socrates as +their head, but Plato alone represented the master with fulness. +Considering the times in which he lived, the grandeur of his thought, +the power of his imagination, and the nobility, elegance, originality, +and beauty of his writings, Plato has no superior in the whole range of +literature. With Plato, ideas are the only realities, things are +imperfect expressions of them, and all knowledge is reminiscence of what +the soul learned when it was in the land of spirit, face to face with +ideas unveiled. Read his dialogues, especially "Phædo" and the +"Republic." (Greece, 429-348 B. C.) + +[188] A most acute idealist, whose argument against the existence of +matter is one of the great passages of literature. (Eng., 18th cent.) + +[189] Kant argues that the _forms_ of _thought_, _time_, and _space_ are +necessarily intuitive, and not derived from sensation, since they are +prerequisites to sensation. Read the "Critique of Pure Reason," +"Critique of Practical Reason," in which he treats moral philosophy, and +"Observations on the Sublime and Beautiful." (Germany, 18th cent.) + +[190] Locke bases knowledge on sensation. His "Essay on the Conduct of +the Understanding" is one of the most valuable books in the language. +Spencer, Mill, and Locke have so fully imbibed all that was good in +Hobbes that it is scarcely necessary to read him. (Eng., 17th cent.) + +[191] Comte's "Positive Philosophy" rejects intuitive knowledge. It is +characterized by force of logic, immense research, great power of +generalization (which is frequently carried beyond the warrant of +facts), and immense bulk. (France, 19th cent.) + +[192] Sensationalist. A very strong writer. (Eng., 19th cent.) + +[193] "Limits of Religious Thought." A very powerful exposure of the +weakness of human imagination. (Eng., 19th cent.) + +[194] "Matter and Force." A powerful presentation of Materialism. (Ger., +19th cent.) + +[195] "Freedom of the Will." A demonstration of the impossibility of +free will. (Amer., 18th cent.) + +[196] A very acute English philosopher. (Eng., 1748-1832.) + +[197] Moral and Metaphysical Philosophy. (Eng., 19th cent.) + +[198] A deep, clear thinker, of sceptical character, who laid bare the +flaws in the old philosophies. (Eng., 1711-1776.) + +[199] One of the most profound metaphysicians the world can boast, and +inventor of quaternions, the latest addition to Mathematics. (Scot., +19th cent.) + +[200] Aristotle was the Bacon of the Old World. His method was the very +opposite of Plato's. He sought knowledge chiefly by carefully looking +out upon the world, instead of by introspection. No one has exerted a +greater influence on the thought of the world than this deep and earnest +thinker. (Greece, 4th cent. B. C.) + +[201] A very beautiful writer of the idealist school, though he claims +to be eclectic. (France, 19th cent.) + +[202] Hegel endeavored, by the method set forth in his "Absolute Logic," +to reduce all knowledge to one science. (Ger., 1770-1831.) Schelling, in +his "Philosophy of Identity," tries to prove that the same laws hold in +the world of spirit as in the world of matter. Schelling bases his +system on an _intuition_ superior to reason, and admitting neither doubt +nor explanation. (Ger., 1775-1854.) + +[203] Fichte carries the doctrines of Kant to their limit: to him all +except the life of the mind is a delusion. (Ger., 18th cent.) + +[204] A great German philosopher of the time of Luther (16th cent.), +very learned, refined, and witty. Read his "Familiar Colloquies." + +[205] "Cosmic Philosophy." (Amer. 19th cent.) + +[206] "Rational Cosmology, or the Eternal Principles and Necessary Laws +of the Universe." (U. S., 19th cent.) + +[207] Scottish Philosophy. (U. S., 19th cent.) + +[208] Theologico-politico-moral, voluminous dissertations. (Amsterdam, +17th cent.) + + + + +ESSAYS. + + +Next to Shakspeare's Plays, Emerson's Essays and Lectures are to me the +richest inspiration. At every turn new and delightful paths open before +the mind; and the poetic feeling and imagery are often of the best. Only +the music and the power of discriminating the wheat from the chaff were +lacking to have made one of the world's greatest poets. To pour into the +life the spirit of Emerson, Bacon, and Montaigne is a liberal education +in itself. Addison's "Spectator" is inimitable in its union of humor, +sense, and imagination. A number of eminent men, Franklin among them, +have referred to it as the source of their literary power. + +Read these essays: R. D. C. G. + +[209] Emerson's Essays and Lectures certainly deserve our first +attention in this department, because of their poetic beauty and +stimulating effect upon the imagination and all that is pure and strong +and noble in the character. (Amer., 19th cent.) + +[210] Nowhere can be found so much wit and wisdom to the square inch as +in Bacon's Essays. (Eng., 1600.) + +[211] Montaigne is the most popular of all the world's essayists, +because of his common-sense, keen insight, and perfect frankness. The +only author we certainly know to have been in Shakspeare's own library. +(France, 1580.) + +[212] Ruskin's "Ethics of the Dust," "Crown of Wild Olives," "Sesame +and Lilies," while somewhat wild in substance as well as in title, are +well worthy of reading for the intellectual stimulus afforded by their +breadth of view, novelty of expression and illustration, and the intense +force--almost fanaticism--which characterizes all that Ruskin says. +Ruskin is one of three living writers whom Farrar says he would first +save from a conflagration of the world's library. Carlyle is another of +the same sort. Read his "Past and Present," a grand essay on Justice. +(Eng., 19th cent.) + +So far as style is concerned, Addison's Essays in the "Spectator" are +probably the best in the world. + + + + +FICTION. + + +In modern times much that is best in literature has gone into the pages +of the novel. The men and women of genius who would in other days have +been great poets, philosophers, dramatists, essayists, and humorists +have concentrated their powers, and poured out all their wealth to set +in gold a story of human life. Don't neglect the novels; but be sure to +read _good_ ones, and don't read too many. + +In fiction, England, America, and France are far ahead of the rest of +the world. Scott may well be held to lead the list, considering the +quantity and quality of what he wrote; and Dickens, I presume, by many +would be written next, though I prefer the philosophic novelists, like +George Eliot, Macdonald, Kingsley, Hugo, etc. Fielding, Richardson, +Goldsmith, Sterne, and Defoe, Jane Austen, Cooper, and Marryat all claim +our attention on one account or another. + +The United States can boast of Hawthorne, Tourgée, Wallace, Hearn, +Aldrich, Warner, Curtis, Jewett, Craddock, and many others. + +France has a glorious army, led by Victor Hugo, George Sand, Balzac, +Dumas, Gautier, Mérimée, etc. But the magnificent powers of these +artists are combined with sad defects. Hugo is the greatest literary +force since Goethe and Scott; but his digressions are sometimes terribly +tedious, his profundity darkness, and his "unities," his plot, and +reasons for lugging in certain things hard to find. Balzac gives us a +monotony of wickedness. George Sand is prone to idealize lust. "Notre +Dame" and "Les Misérables," "Le Père Goriot" and "Eugénie Grandet," +"Consuelo" and "La Mare au Diable," "Capitaine Fracasse" and "Vingt Ans +Après," are great books; but they will not rank with "Tom Jones" +artistically, nor with the "Vicar of Wakefield," "Ivanhoe," "Adam Bede," +"Romola," or "The Scarlet Letter," considering all the elements that go +to make a great novel. + +Germany, Italy, and Spain have no fiction that compares with ours. + +No doubt many will be surprised to find Fielding, Balzac, Tolstoï, and +others placed so low in the list as they are. The reason is that the +moral tone of a book is, with us, a weightier test of its claims on the +attention of the general reader, than the style of the author or the +merit of his work from an artistic point of view. There might be some +doubt whether or no we ought not to exclude from our tables entirely all +books that are not noble enough in character to admit of their being +read aloud in the family. The trouble is that much of the finest +literature of the world would have to be excluded. So there seems to be +no course but to admit these men, with a note as to their character. + +One who wishes to make a study of the novel will be interested in +Dunlop's "History of Fiction," Tuckerman's "History of English Prose +Fiction," Hazlitt's "English Novelists," Lanier's "Novel," Masson's +"British Novelists and their Styles," and Jeaffreson's "Novels and +Novelists." + +The best fiction should be read: R. D. G. + +[213] "Heart of Midlothian," "Waverley," "Ivanhoe," "Kenilworth," "Guy +Mannering," "The Antiquary," "Rob Roy," "Old Mortality," "Red Gauntlet," +etc. Scott is by very many--and among them some of the greatest--loved +more than any other novelist. The purity, beauty, breadth, and power of +his works will ever place them among the most desirable reading. (Eng., +19th cent.) Hutton's "Sir Walter Scott," Carlyle's "Essay on Scott," +Hazlitt's Essay in "The Spirit of the Age," and other books referred to +in the head notes to Poetry and Fiction will be useful to the student of +Scott. + +[214] "Adam Bede," "Mill on the Floss," "Romola," "Silas Marner," etc. +Deep philosophy and insight into character mark all George Eliot's +writings. (Eng., 19th cent.) Lanier's "Development of the Novel" is +practically only an enthusiastic study of George Eliot. + +[215] "Pickwick," "David Copperfield," "Bleak House," "Martin +Chuzzlewit," "Old Curiosity Shop," etc. Dickens needs no comment. His +fame is in every house. (Eng., 19th cent.) + +[216] Hawthorne's "Scarlet Letter," "Marble Faun," "Great Stone Face," +etc., are by universal consent accorded the first place in the lists of +American novels, and are among the best to be found anywhere. (U. S., +19th cent.) + +[217] "Vicar of Wakefield." One of Goethe's earliest favorites. (Eng., +18th cent.) + +[218] "Rienzi," "Last Days of Pompeii," "Last of the Barons," etc. Most +powerful, delightful, and broadening books. (Eng., 19th cent.) + +[219] "Malcolm," "Marquis o' Lossie," "David Elginbrod," etc. Books of +marvellous spiritual helpfulness. (Eng., 19th cent.) + +[220] "Esmond," "Vanity Fair," etc. Very famous books. (Eng., 19th +cent.) + +[221] "Westward, Ho!" "Two Years Ago," etc. Among the best and most +famous pictures of true English character. (Eng., 19th cent.) + +[222] "Ben Hur." This book has been placed close to the Bible and +Bunyan. (U. S., 19th cent.) + +[223] "Hot Plowshares," "The Fool's Errand," "The Invisible Empire," +"Appeal to Cæsar," etc. Books widely known, but whose great merit is not +fully recognized. Tourgée, though uneven, seems to us a writer of very +great power. His "Hot Plowshares" is a powerful historical novel; and +few books in the whole range of literature are so intensely interesting, +and so free from all that is objectionable in subject or execution. (U. +S., 19th cent.) + +[224] "Les Misérables," "Notre Dame de Paris," "Les Travailleurs de la +Mer," etc. Wraxall's translations of these great French novels are most +excellent. (France, 19th cent.) + +Some critics think that no characters in Shakspeare are better drawn +than those of Dumas. "Monte Cristo," "The Vicomte de Bragelonne" +(Stevenson's favorite), "The Three Musketeers," "Twenty Years After," +"The Marie Antoinette Romances," etc., are powerful and intensely +interesting novels. (France, 19th cent.) + +[225] "Robinson Crusoe." There are few persons who do not get delight +and inspiration from Defoe's wonderful story. (Eng., 1661-1731.) + +"Tom Brown at Rugby" and "Tom Brown at Oxford," by Thomas Hughes, are +delightful books for boys. (Eng., 19th cent.) + +[226] Mrs. Stowe's "Uncle Tom's Cabin," was God's bugle-call to the war +against slavery. Her "Oldtown Folks" and "Sam Lawson's Fireside Stories" +are very humorous sketches of New England life. (U. S., 19th cent.) + +Cooper's "The Spy," "The Pilot," "Leather Stocking," "Deerslayer," +"Pathfinder," etc., are books that interfere with food and sleep, and +chain us to their pages. (U. S., 19th cent.) + +[227] "Prue and I," by George William Curtis, is one of the most +suggestive stories in print, and is in every way a delightful book. +"Potiphar Papers," "Our Best Society," "Trumps," "Lotus Eaters,"--in +fact, everything Mr. Curtis writes, is of the highest interest, and +worthy of the most careful attention. (U. S., 19th cent.) + +The same may be said of the works of Charles Dudley Warner,--"Being a +Boy," "A Hunting of the Deer," "In the Wilderness," "Backlog Studies," +"My Summer in a Garden," etc. (U. S., 19th cent.) + +[228] T. B. Aldrich, while perhaps not destined to rank with Scott, +Eliot, and Hawthorne, is nevertheless one of the most wholesome and +interesting of living authors. "The Stillwater Tragedy" is his strongest +book. "Prudence Palfrey," "The Story of a Bad Boy," "Margery Daw," and +"The Queen of Sheba" will doubtless be read by those who once become +acquainted with the author. (U. S., 19th cent.) + +The first part of Hearn's "Chita" exceeds in beauty and strength any +other piece of descriptive writing with which we are familiar. (U. S., +19th cent.) + +[229] Ebers' "Homo Sum," "Uarda," and "An Egyptian Princess" are very +powerful studies of Egyptian life and history. (Ger., 19th cent.) + +"With Fire and Sword," and its sequels, "The Deluge" and "Pan Michael," +by Henryk Sienkiewicz, are among the greatest books of modern times. +They are historical romances of the conflict between Russia, Poland, and +Sweden; and their power may be guessed from the fact that critics have +compared the author favorably with Scott, Dumas, Schiller, Cervantes, +Thackeray, Turgenieff, Homer, and even Shakspeare. (Poland, 19th cent.) + +[230] Miss Austen's "Emma," "Pride and Prejudice" (Eng., 19th cent.), +and Charlotte Bronté's "Jane Eyre" (Eng., 19th cent.), are all noble and +renowned novels. + +[231] Louisa Alcott's "Little Women" is a lovely story of home life; and +its exceeding popularity is one of the most encouraging signs of the +growth of a taste for pure, gentle, natural literature. (U. S., 19th +cent.) + +Mrs. Burnett's "Little Lord Fauntleroy" deservedly met at once a high +reward of popularity, and was placed in the front rank among stories of +child-life. As a teacher of gentleness and good manners it is +invaluable. (Eng., 19th cent.) + +[232] Cable's "Grande Pointe," "The Grandissimes," etc., should be read +by all who wish to know the best living novelists. (U. S., 19th cent.) + +Craddock's "Where the Battle was Fought," "Despot of Broomsedge Cove," +"Prophet of Great Smoky Mountain," "Story of Keedon Bluffs," and "Down +the Ravine" are fascinating stories, the last two being fine books for +children. (U. S., 19th cent.) + +[233] Mrs. A. D. T. Whitney's "Sights and Insights," though somewhat +too wordy for this busy world, is worthy a place here, because of its +spiritual beauty and its keen common-sense in respect to marriage and +courtship. (U. S., 19th cent.) + +Sarah Orne Jewett has won a good name by her excellent stories, +"Deephaven," "Betty Leicester," etc. Her "Play Days" is a fine book for +girls. (U. S., 19th cent.) + +[234] Fielding, Le Sage, and Balzac are writers of great power, whose +works are studied for their artistic merit, their wit, and the intense +excitement some of them yield; but the general moral tone of their +writings places them below the purer writers above spoken of in respect +to their value to the general reader, one of whose deepest interests is +character-forming. + +Fielding's "Tom Jones" is by many considered the finest novel in +existence; and it undoubtedly would be, if along with its literary skill +it possessed the high tone of Curtis or Scott. "Jonathan Wild" is also a +powerful story. (Eng., 18th cent.) + +"Gil Blas," by Le Sage, is one of the most famous and widely read books +in the world. (France, 1668--1747.) + +Balzac's best are "Le Père Goriot" (and especially the magnificent +preface to this book), "La Recherche de l'Absolu," "Eugénie Grandet," +"La Peau de Chagrin," etc. (France, 19th cent.) + +[235] Rousseau's "Emile" has been called the greatest book ever written; +but we presume that bias and limitation of knowledge on the part of +critics (not rare accomplishments of theirs) might procure a similar +judgment in respect to almost any strong and peculiar book. Rousseau's +"Confessions" are worth some attention. (France, 18th cent.) + +Saintine's "Picciola" is a beautiful story. (France, 19th cent.) + +[236] Coffin's "Boys of '76," "Boys of '61," "Story of Liberty," etc., +are splendid books for young people. The last describes the march of the +human race from slavery to freedom. (U. S., 19th cent.) + +Charles Reade's "Hard Cash," "Peg Woffington," "Cloister and Hearth" are +fascinating stories. (Eng., 19th cent.) + +Warren's "Ten Thousand a Year." + +[237] Landor's "Imaginary Conversations of Great Men." (Eng., 18th +cent.) + +Turgenieff's "Liza," "Smoke," and "Fathers and Sons." (Russia, 19th +cent.) + +Eugene Sue's "Wandering Jew." + +Manzoni's "I promessi Sposi." + +[238] Cottin's "Elizabeth." + +Besant's "All Sorts and Conditions of Men." (Eng., 19th cent.) + +Stevenson's "The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde." A book that +teaches the danger of giving way to the evil side of our nature. + +[239] Mrs. Ward's "Robert Elsmere" is a famous picture of the struggle +in the religious mind to-day. (Eng., 19th cent.) + +Margaret Deland's "John Ward, Preacher," is a book of the same class as +the last, but is not as interesting as her "Florida Days" or her Poems. +(U. S., 19th cent.) + +Anna Sewell's "Black Beauty" is the autobiography of a noble horse, and +is tender and intelligent. A book that every one who has anything to do +with horses, or indeed with animals of any sort, cannot afford to +neglect. (Eng., 19th cent.) + +Bret Harte's "Luck of Roaring Camp" is an interesting picture of Western +life, and opens a new vein of fiction. (U. S., 19th cent.) + +[240] Green's "Hand and Ring," "Leavenworth Case," etc., are splendid +examples of reasoning, without any of the objectionable features usually +found in detective stories. (U. S., 19th cent.) + +Miss Mulock's "John Halifax, Gentleman," is a great and famous book. +(Eng., 19th cent.) + +Disraeli's "Lothair," "Endymion," etc., are strong books; requiring the +notice of one who reads widely in English fiction. (Eng., 19th cent.) + +Howells' "A Modern Instance," "The Undiscovered Country," "A Hazard of +New Fortunes," "A Chance Acquaintance," "Lady of the Aroostook," etc., +are not objectionable. (U. S., 19th cent.) + +Tolstoï's "Anna Karénina" deserves mention, though we cannot by any +means agree with Howells that Tolstoï is the greatest of novelists. The +motive and atmosphere of his books are not lofty, and some of his work +is positively disgraceful. (Russia, 19th cent.) + +[241] George Sand's "Consuelo" is a great book in more senses than one; +and although it deserves a place in this lower list, yet there are so +many better books, that if one follows the true order, life would be +likely to depart before he had time to read a four-volume novel by an +author of the tone of George Sand. (France, 19th cent.) + +Black's "Strange Adventures of a Phaeton," "Princess of Thule." (Eng., +19th cent.) + +Blackmore's "Lorna Doone." (Eng., 19th cent.) + +Olive Schreiner's "Story of an African Farm" is powerful, but not +altogether wholesome. (Eng., 19th cent.) + +[242] Bremer's "The Neighbors." (Norway, 19th cent.) + +Trollope's "Last Chronicles of Barsetshire." (Eng., 19th cent.) + +Winthrop's "Cecil Dreeme," "John Brent." (U. S., 19th cent.) + +[243] Richardson's "Pamela" and "Clarissa Harlowe" are interesting, +because they were the beginning of the English novel; but they are not +nice or natural, and have no attractions except their historic position. +(Eng., 1689-1761.) + +Smollett's "Humphrey Clinker" is his strongest work. "Peregrine Pickle" +is very witty, and "Adventures of an Atom" altogether a miserable book. +Smollett possessed power, but his work is on a very low plane. (Eng., +18th cent.) + +Boccaccio's "Decameron" is a series of splendidly told tales, from which +Chaucer drew much besides his inspiration. The book is strong, but of +very inferior moral tone. + + + + +ORATORY. + + +Great and successful oratory requires deep knowledge of the human mind +and character, personal force, vivid imagination, control of language +and temper, and a faculty of putting the greatest truths in such clear +and simple and forceful form, that they may not only be grasped by +untrained minds, but will break down the barriers of prejudice and +interest, and fight their way to the throne of the will. Oratory is +religion, science, philosophy, biography, history, wit, pathos, and +poetry _in action_. This department of literature is therefore of the +greatest value in the development of mind and heart, and of the power to +influence and control our fellows. Especially read and study Demosthenes +on the Crown, Burke's "Warren Hastings' Oration," Webster's "Reply to +Hayne," Phillips' "Lovejoy" and "Toussaint L'Ouverture," and Lincoln's +"Gettysburg," his debates with Douglas, and his great speeches in New +York and the East before the War, in which fun, pathos, and logic were +all welded together in such masterly shape that professors of oratory +followed him about from city to city, studying him as a model of +eloquence. There is a book called "Great Orations of Great Orators" that +is very valuable, and there is a series of three volumes containing the +best British orations (fifteen orators), and another similar series of +American speeches (thirty-two orators). + + + + +WIT AND HUMOR. + + +In what wit consists, and why it is we laugh, are questions hard to +answer (read on that subject Spencer and Hobbes, and Mathews' "Wit and +Humor; their Use and Abuse"); but certain it is that a little seasoning +of fun makes intellectual food very palatable, and much better adapts it +for universal and permanent assimilation. Most men can keep what is tied +to their memories with a joke. Considering all things, Lowell, Holmes, +Dickens, and Cervantes are the best humorists the world affords. See +Table III. Group 4. They exhibit a union of power and purpose that is +not found elsewhere. They always subordinate wit to wisdom, always aim +at something far higher than making fun for its own sake, never appear +to make any effort for their effects, and always polish their work to +perfection. A great deal of the keenest wit will be found in books whose +general character puts them in some other column,--Poetry, Fiction, +Oratory, etc. The works of Shakspeare, Addison, Eliot, Sheridan, +Goldsmith, Irving, Higginson, Carleton, Thackeray, Hood, Saxe, Fielding, +Smollett, Aristophanes, Molière, etc., abound in wit and humor. + +The student of humor will be interested in Hazlitt's "English Comic +Writers," Thackeray's "English Humorists," and Besant's "French +Humorists." + +[244] "Fable for Critics," "Biglow Papers." Considering the keenness and +variety of wit, the depth of sarcasm, the breadth of view, and the +importance of its subject, the "Biglow Papers" is the greatest humorous +work of all history. (U. S., 19th cent.) + +[245] "Autocrat of the Breakfast-Table," "Professor at the +Breakfast-Table," etc. (U. S., 19th cent.) + +[246] "Pickwick Papers." (Eng., 19th cent.) + +[247] "Don Quixote." (Spain, 1547-1616.) + +[248] Along with much violent scoffing, and calling of his betters by +hard names, Ingersoll's speeches contain some of the keenest wit in the +language. (U. S., 19th cent.) + +[249] Marietta Holley's "Sweet Cicely," "Samantha at the Centennial," +"Betsey Bobbet," "My Wayward Pardner," "Samantha at Saratoga," "Samantha +among the Brethren," etc., are full of quaint fun, keen insight, and +common-sense. They are somewhat more wordy than we wish they were, but +they are wholesome, and the author's purpose is always a lofty one. Her +fun is not mere fun, but is like the laughing eye and smiling lip of one +whose words are full of thought and elevated feeling. (U. S., 19th +cent.) + +[250] G. W. Curtis's "Potiphar Papers" is a good example of quiet, +refined humor. (U. S., 19th cent.) + +[251] Chauncey M. Depew's Orations and After-Dinner Speeches are worthy +of perusal by all lovers of wit and sense. (U. S., 19th cent.) + +[252] Mark Twain is the greatest of those who make humor the primary +object. He does not, like Artemus Ward, make it the sole object,--there +is a large amount of keen common-sense in his "A Yankee in King Arthur's +Court," and there is also in it an open-mindedness to the newest +currents of thought that proves the author to be one of the most +wide-awake men of the day. "Innocents Abroad," "The Prince and the +Pauper," "Roughing It," etc., are very amusing books, the only drawback +being that the reader is sometimes conscious of an effort to be funny. +(U. S., 19th cent.) + +253: Charles Dudley Warner's "In the Wilderness" gives +some exceedingly amusing sketches of backwoods life. See +also other books mentioned under the head of Fiction. (U. S., +19th cent.) + +[254] S. K. Edwards' "Two Runaways, and Other Stories" is a book that no +lover of humor can afford to be without. (U. S., 19th cent.) + +[255] E. E. Hale's "My Double, and How He Undid Me," and other stories +contain much innocent recreation. (U. S., 19th cent.) + +[256] Nasby's "Ekoes from Kentucky" and "Swingin' round the Circle" are +full of the keenest political sarcasm. Lincoln was so impressed with +Nasby's power, that he said he had rather possess such gifts than be +President of the United States. (U. S., 19th cent.) + +[257] "Artemus Ward His Book," is funny, but lacks purpose beyond the +raising of a laugh. (U. S., 19th cent.) + +[258] "Caudle Lectures," "Catspaw," etc. Jerrold is one of the sharpest +of wits. (Eng., 19th cent.) + +[259] Voltaire was the Ingersoll of France, only more so. His +"Dictionnaire" is full of stinging sarcasm and fierce wit. (France, 18th +cent.) + +"English Bards and Scotch Reviewers." The sharpest edge of Byron's keen +mind. (Eng., 1788-1824.) + +[260] "Hudibras." A tirade against the Puritans. (Eng., 17th cent.) + +"Gulliver's Travels," "Tale of a Tub," etc. Coarse raillery. (Eng., 18th +cent.) + +[261] "Gargantua and Pantagruel." Immense coarse wit. (France, 16th +cent.) + +"Tristram Shandy." Not delicate, but full of humor. (Eng., 18th cent.) + +[262] Juvenal is one of the world's greatest satirists. (Rome, 1st +cent.) + +Lucian is the Voltaire of the Old World. In his "Dialogues of the Gods" +he covers with ridicule the religious notions of the people. (Greek Lit, +2d cent. A. D.) + + + + +FABLES AND FAIRY TALES. + + +Fables and fairy tales are condensed dramas, and some of them are +crystal drops from the fountains of poetic thought. Often they express +in picture language the deepest lessons that mankind have learned; and +one who wishes to gather to himself the intellectual wealth of the +nations must not neglect them. In the section of the book devoted to +remarks upon the Guidance of Children, the literature of this subject +receives more extended attention. Among the books that will most +interest the student of this subject may be mentioned the works of Fiske +and Bulfinch, named below, Baldwin's "Story of the Golden Age," +Ragozin's "Chaldea," Kingsley's "Greek Heroes," Cox's "Tales of Ancient +Greece," Hanson's "Stories of Charlemagne," Church's "Story of the +Iliad" and "Story of the Æneid," and the books mentioned in connection +with the "Morte D'Arthur," note 323 following:-- + +[263] "Fairy Tales," "Shoes of Fortune," etc. (Denmark, 19th cent.) + +[264] The inimitable French poet of Fable. (France, 17th cent.) + +[265] The world-famous Greek fabulist. His popularity in all ages has +been unbounded. Socrates amused himself with his stories. (Greece, 6th +cent. B. C.) + +[266] "Household Tales." (Ger., early 19th cent.) + +[267] "Reineke Fox." (Bohn Lib.) (Ger., early 19th cent.) + +Kipling's "Indian Tales." (Eng., 19th cent.) + +[268] "Age of Fable," "Age of Chivalry," etc. (Eng., 19th cent.) + +[269] Fables in his poems. (U. S., 19th cent.) + +[270] A French fabulist, next in fame to La Fontaine. (18th cent.) + +[271] Greek Fables. (About com. Christ. era.) + +[272] "Tales." (Ger., 19th cent.) + +[273] "Metamorphoses." An account of the mythology of the ancients. Ovid +was one of Rome's greatest poets. (Rome, 1st cent. B. C.) + +Curtin's "Myths and Folk-Lore of Ireland," "Myths and Folk-Tales of the +Russians," etc. (U. S., 19th cent.) + +Fiske's "Myths and Myth Makers." (U. S., 19th cent.) + + + + +TRAVEL. + + +Nothing favors breadth more than travel and contact with those of +differing modes of life and variant belief. The tolerance and sympathy +that are folding in the world in these modern days owe much to the vast +increase of travel that has resulted from growth of commerce, the +development of wealth, and the cheapness and rapidity of steam +transportation. Even a wider view of the world comes to us through the +literature of travel than we could ever gain by personal experience, +however much of wealth and time we had at our disposal; and though the +vividness is less in each particular picture of the written page than if +we saw the full original reality that is painted for us, yet this is +more than compensated by the breadth and insight and perception of the +meaning of the scenes portrayed, which we can take at once from the +writer, to whom perhaps the gaining of what he gives so easily has been +a very costly, tedious process, and would be so to us if we had to rely +on personal observation. Voyages and travels therefore are of much +importance in our studies, and delightful reading too. Stanley's +opinions have been much relied on in selecting the following books:-- + +[274] Voyages. (Eng., 18th cent.) + +[275] Cosmos; Travels. (Ger., 1762-1832.) + +[276] Naturalist on the Beagle. (Eng., 19th cent.) + +[277] Travels. (Venice, 14th cent.) + +[278] Arctic Explorations. (U. S., 19th cent.) + +[279] South Africa. (Eng., 19th cent.) + +[280] Through the Dark Continent; In Darkest Africa. (U. S., 19th cent.) + +[281] Travels in Africa. (France, 19th cent.) + +[282] On Egypt. (Germany, 19th cent.) + +[283] Abyssinia. (Eng., 19th cent.) + +[284] India. + +[285] Niger. + +[286] South America. + +[287] Upper Niger. + +[288] Persia. + +[289] Central Africa. + +[290] West Coast of Africa. + +[291] Travelled for thirty years, then wrote the marvels he had seen and +heard; and his book became very popular in the 14th and 15th centuries. +(Eng., 14th cent.) + +[292] The Nile. + + + + +GUIDES. + + +In this column of "Guides" are placed books that will be useful in +arriving at a fuller knowledge of literature and authors, in determining +what to read, and in our own literary efforts. + +[293] "What to Read on the Subject of Reading," by William E. Foster, +Librarian of the Providence Public Library. Every one who is interested +in books should keep an eye on this thorough and enthusiastic worker, +and take advantage of the information he lavishes in his bulletins. + +[294] The "Pall Mall Extra," containing Sir John Lubbock's "List of the +Best Hundred Books," and letters from many distinguished men. + +[295] English Literature. + +[296] English Literature. + +[297] "English Literature." The most philosophic work on the subject; +but it is difficult, and requires a previous knowledge of the principal +English authors. + +[298] Handbook of Universal Literature. + +[299] Dictionary of Authors. + +[300] Bartlett's "Familiar Quotations" is one of the most famous and +valuable of books. + +[301] "Edge-Tools of Speech." Brief quotations arranged under heads such +as Books, Government, Love, etc. + +[302] "Library of Poetry and Song;" but for the general reader +Palgrave's exquisite little "Golden Treasury" is better. + +[303] "Primer of English Literature." The best very brief book on the +subject. + +[304] Bibliographical Aids. + +[305] "Motive and Habit of Reading." + +[306] "Choice of Books." + +[307] "Sesame and Lilies." + +[308] "The Love of Books." + +[309] "History of Prose Fiction." + +Baldwin's "Book Lover" is valuable for its lists of books bearing on +special topics. + +C. K. Adams' "Manual of Historical Literature" is invaluable to the +student of history. There ought to be similar books relating to +Philosophy, Fiction, Science, etc. + + + + +MISCELLANEOUS. + + +In the column "Miscellaneous" are placed a number of books which should +be at least glanced through to open the doors of thought on all sides +and to take such account of their riches as will place them at command +when needed. + +[310] One of the noblest little books in existence; to read it is to +pour into the life and character the inspiration of hundreds of the best +and most successful lives. Every page should be carefully read and +digested. (U. S., 19th cent.) + +[311] An exquisite book; one of Robert Collyer's early favorites. Put +its beauty in your heart. (U. S., 19th cent.) + +[312] A book that should be read for its breadth. (Eng., early 17th +cent.) + +[313] Edward Bellamy's "Looking Backward" is one of the same class of +books to which Bacon's "New Atlantis," More's "Utopia," etc., belong, +and may be read with much pleasure and profit along with them. It is +really a looking forward to an ideal commonwealth, in which the labor +troubles and despotisms of to-day shall be adjusted on the same +principle as the political troubles and despotisms of the last century +were settled; namely, the principle that each citizen shall be +industrially the equal of every other, as all are now political equals. +It is a very famous book, and has been called the greatest book of the +century, which, happily for the immortality of Spencer and Darwin, +Carlyle and Ruskin, Parkman and Bancroft, Guizot and Bryce, Goethe and +Hugo, Byron and Burns, Scott and Tennyson, Whittier and Lowell, Bulwer +and Thackeray, Dickens and Eliot, is only the judgment of personal +friendship and blissful ignorance. But while the book cannot feel at +home in the society of the great, it is nevertheless a very entertaining +story, and one vastly stimulative of thought. The idea of a coming +_industrial democracy_, bearing more or less analogy to the political +democracy, the triumph of which we have seen, is one that has probably +occurred to every thoughtful person; and in Bellamy's book may be found +an ingenious expansion of the idea much preferable to the ordinary +socialistic plans of the day, though not wholly free from the injustice +that inheres in all social schemes that do not aim to secure to each man +the wealth or other advantage that his lawful efforts naturally produce. +(U. S., 19th cent.) + +[314] Everywhere a favorite. It opens up wide regions of imagination. +Ruskin says he read it many times when he might have been better +employed, and crosses it from his list. But the very fact that he read +the book so often shows that even his deep mind found irresistible +attraction in it. (First introduced into Europe in 17th cent.) + +[315] The most colossal lies known to science. (Ger., 18th cent.) + +[316] The poem of "Beowulf" should be looked into by all who wish to +know the character of the men from whom we sprang, and therefore realize +the basic elements of our own character. (Eng., early Saxon times.) + +[317] Should be glanced at for the light it throws on English history +and development. (9th-12th cents.) + +[318] Froissart's "Chronicles" constitute a graphic story of the States +of Europe from 1322 to the end of the 14th century. Scott said that +Froissart was his master. Breadth demands at least a glance at the old +itinerant tale-gatherer. Note especially the great rally of the rebels +of Ghent. + +[319] This masterpiece of Old German Minstrelsy is too much neglected by +us. Read it with the three preceding. (Early German.) + +[320] _Saga_ means "tale" or "narrative," and is applied in Iceland to +every kind of tradition, true or fabulous. Read the "Heimskringla," +Njal's Saga, and Grettir's Saga, (9th-13th cents.) + +[321] Along with the last should be read the poems of the elder Edda. +(Compiled by Samund the Wise, 12th cent.) + +[322] The epic of Spain, containing a wonderful account of the prowess +of a great leader and chief. (Spain, before the 13th cent.) + +[323] A collection of fragments about the famous King Arthur and his +Round Table. They crop out in every age of English literature. Read the +book with Tennyson's "Idylls of the King,"--a poem inspired by Malory's +"Morte D'Arthur,"--Cervantes' "Don Quixote," and Twain's "Yankee in the +Court of King Arthur," Lanier's "Boy's King Arthur," Ritson's "Ancient +English Metrical Romances," Ellis' Introduction to the Study of the +same, Preston's "Troubadours and Trouvères," Sismondi's "Literature of +Southern Europe," Chapon's "Troubadours," and Van Laun's "History of +French Literature" may be referred to with advantage by the student of +Malory. + +[324] A collection of Chinese odes. + +[325] This and the last are recommended, not for intrinsic merit, but +for breadth, and to open the way to an understanding of and sympathy +with four hundred millions of mankind who hold these books in profound +veneration. (China, as early as 5th cent. B. C.) + +[326] This is the Bible of the Sufis of Persia, one of the +manifestations of that great spirit of mysticism which flows like a +great current through the world's history, side by side with the stream +of Rationalism. It found certain outlets in Schelling, Swedenborg, +Emerson, etc., and is bubbling up even now through the strata of +worldliness in the United States in the shape of Theosophy. (7th cent.) + +[327] Read Saint Hilaire's "Buddha" and Arnold's "Light of Asia." They +will open great regions of thought. + +[328] These are epitomized by Talboys Wheeler in his "History of India." +Very interesting and broadening. (Very ancient.) + +[330] Not valuable reading intrinsically, but as opening the doors of +communication with the minds and hearts of whole races of men, most +useful. The Vedas are the Bible of the Hindus, and contain the +revelation of Brahma (15th cent.). The Koran is the Mohammedan Bible +(6th cent.). The Talmud belongs to the Rabbinical literature of the +Jews, and is a collection of Jewish traditions (3d cent.). + +[333] The works of Hooker, Swedenborg, Newton, Kepler, Copernicus, +Laplace, should be actually _handled_ and _glanced through_ to form a +nucleus of experience, around which may gather a little knowledge of +these famous men and what they did. This remark applies with more or +less of force to all the names on the second shelf. Few can hope to +_read all_ these books, but it is practicable by means of general works, +such as those mentioned in Column 13, to gain an idea of each man, his +character and work; and there is no better way to put a hook in the +memory on which such knowledge of an author may be securely kept, than +to take his book in your hands, note its size and peculiarities (visual +and tactual impressions are more easily remembered than others as a +rule), glance through its contents, and read a passage or two. + + + + +SHORT COURSES. + + +When the reader has a special purpose in view, it is of the greatest +advantage to arrange in systematic order the books that will be most +helpful in the accomplishment of his purpose, study them one after the +other, mark them, compare them, make cross references from one to +another, digest and assimilate the vital portions of each, and seek to +obtain a mastery of all that the best minds of the past have given us in +reference to the object of his effort. For example: a person who has +devoted himself exclusively to one line of ideas will be greatly +benefited by reading a short course of books that will give him a +glimpse of each of the great fields of thought. One who is lacking in +humor should get a good list of fine humorous works and devote himself +to them, and to the society of fun-loving people, until he can see and +enjoy a good joke as keenly as they do,--not only to quicken his +perception of humor, but that the organ of fun (the gland that secretes +wit and humor) may be roused into normal activity. Again, if a gentleman +finds that he does not appreciate Shakspeare, Dante, Irving, etc., as he +sees or is told that literary people do; if he prefers his newspaper to +the English classics as a source of pleasure and profit; if he sees +little difference between Tennyson and Tupper, enjoys Bill Nye as much +or more than Holmes, and is able to compare the verses he writes to his +sweetheart with Milton without any very distinct feeling except perhaps +a disgust for Milton,--if any of these things are true, he has need of a +course to develop a literary taste. + +In the three tables following will be found a suggestion of several +important short courses, and others will be found on page 123 _et seq._ + + + + +TABLE II. + + +A short special course, to gather _ideas_ of practical importance to +every life, and to make a beginning in the gaining of that _breadth of +mind_ which is of such vital value by reason of its influence on morals +and the aid it gives in the attainment of truth. + +1. Physiology and Hygiene. Read and digest the best books. See Table I. +Col. 3. + +2. "Our Country," by Strong; the Constitution of the United States; the +Declaration of Independence, and Washington's Farewell. (All m. R. D.) + +3. Mill's Logic; at any rate, the Canons of Induction and the Chapter on +Fallacies, (m. R. D. C. G.) + +4. Smiles's "Self-Help." (m. R. D.) + +5. Wood's books on Natural History; especially his anecdotes of animals, +and evidences of mind, etc., in animals (e. R. D.). Proctor's books on +Astronomy, "Other Worlds than Ours," etc. (e. R. G.). Lubbock's +"Primitive Condition of Man" (m. R.). Dawson's "Chain of Life" (m. R.). +In some good brief way, as by using the "Encyclopædia Britannica," read +_about_ Copernicus, Galileo, Kepler, Newton, Darwin, Herschel, Lyell, +Harvey, and Torricelli. + +6. Spencer's "First Principles." (d. R. D. G.) + +7. Green's "Short History of the English People" (m. R. D. G.). +Bancroft's "History of the United States" (m. R. D. G). Guizot's +"History of Civilization" (m. R. D. G.). + +8. Max Müller's philological works, or some of them (m. R.). Taylor's +"Words and Places" (m. R.). + +9. In some public library, if the books are not accessible elsewhere, +get into your hands the books named in Columns 12 and 13 of Table I., +and not already spoken of in this table, and glance through each, +reading a little here and there to make a rapid survey of the ground, +acquire some idea of it, and note the places where it may seem to you +worth while to dig for gold. + + + + +TABLE III. + + +A short course of the choicest selections from the whole field of +general literature. It may easily be read through in a year, and will +form a taste and provide a standard that will enable the reader ever +after to judge for himself of the quality and value of whatever books +may come before the senate of his soul to ask for an appropriation of +his time in their behalf. + +Very few books are requisite for this course, but it will awaken a +desire that will demand a library of standard literature. No. 1, No. 2, +etc., refer to the numbers of the "100 Choice Selections." Monroe's +"Sixth Reader" and Palgrave's "Golden Treasury" are also referred to, +because they contain a great number of these gems, and are books likely +to be in the possession of the reader. + +For the meaning of the other abbreviations, see the last section of the +Introductory Remarks. + + + GROUP I.--_Poetry._ + + [*] in headings denotes "Degree of Difficulty." + + +-------------------------------------+-----+----------+---------------+ + | | [*] | Manner | | + | | | of | Where found. | + | | | Reading. | | + +-------------------------------------+-----+----------+---------------+ + | 1. SHAKSPEARE. | | | | + | | | | | + | Hamlet, especially noting Hamlet's | | | Shakspeare's | + | conversations with the Ghost, | | | Plays are | + | with his mother and Ophelia, his | | | published | + | advice to the players, his | | | separately, | + | soliloquy, and his discourse on | d. | R.D.C.G. | and also | + | the nobleness of man | | | together, | + | Merchant of Venice, especially | | | Richard Grant | + | noting the scene in court, and | | | White's | + | the parts relating to Portia | e. | R.D.C.G. | edition being | + | Julius Cæsar, especially noting the | | | the best. | + | speeches of Brutus and Antony, | | | | + | and the quarrel of Brutus and | m. | R.D.C.G. | | + | Cassius | | | | + | Taming of the Shrew | e. | R.G. | | + | Henry the Eighth | m. | R.D. | | + | Henry the Fourth, read for the wit | | | | + | of Falstaff | m. | R.D. | | + | Henry the Fifth, noting especially | | | | + | the wooing | m. | R.D. | | + | Coriolanus, noting especially the | | | | + | grand fire and force and | | | | + | frankness of Coriolanus | m. | R.D.C.G. | | + | Sonnets in Palgrave's Golden | | | | + | Treasury, Nos. 3, 6, 11, 12, 13, | | | | + | 14, 18, 36, 46 | m. | R.D.C. | | + | | | | | + | 2. MILTON. | | | | + | | | | | + | The Opening of the Gates of Hell, | | | | + | one of the sublimest conceptions | | | | + | in literature. It is in Paradise | | | | + | Lost, about six pages from the | | | | + | end of Book II. Read sixty lines | | | | + | beginning, "Thus saying, from her | | | | + | side the fatal key, Sad | | | | + | instrument of all our woe" | d. | R.D.G. | Milton's | + | Satan's Throne, ten lines at the | | | Poems. | + | beginning of Book II. | m. | R.D.G. | | + | Opening of Paradise Lost, 26 lines | | | | + | at the beginning of Book I. | m. | R.D.G. | | + | The Angels uprooting the Mountains | | | | + | and hurling them on the Rebels. | | | | + | Fifty lines beginning about the | | | | + | 640th line of Book VI., "So they | | | | + | in pleasant vein," etc. | m. | R.D.G. | | + | "Hail, Holy Light," fifty-five | | | | + | lines at the beginning of Book | m. | R.D.G. | | + | III. | | | | + | Comus, a masque, and one of the | | | | + | masterpieces of English | d. | R.D.C.G. | Milton's | + | literature | | | Poems. | + | L' Allegro, a short poem on mirth | d. | R.D.C.G. | The last | + | Il Penseroso, a short poem | | | three of this | + | on melancholy | d. | R.D.C.G. | list are in | + | Lycidas, a celebrated elegy | d. | R.G. | Palgrave. | + | | | | | + | 3. HOMER. | | | | + | | | | | + | | | | Homer has had | + | | | | many | + | Pope's translation. At least the | | | translators, | + | first book of the Iliad. A | | | Pope, Derby, | + | simple, clear story of battles | | | Worsley, | + | and quarrels, and counsels, | | | Chapman, | + | charming in its sublimity, | | | Flaxman, | + | pathos, vigor, and naturalness. | | | Lang, Bryant, | + | The world's greatest epic | e. | R.D.C.G. | etc. | + | | | | | + | 4. ÆSCHYLUS. | | | | + | | | | Potter, | + | | | | Morshead, | + | Prometheus Bound, the sublimest of | | | Swanwick, | + | the sublime. Be sure to reach and | | | Milman, and | + | grasp the grand picture of the | | | Browning have | + | human race and its troubles which | | | translated | + | underlies this most magnificent | | | Æschylus. The | + | poem | d. | R.D.C.G. | first two are | + | Agamemnon, the grandest tragedy | | | the best. | + | in the world | m. | R.D.G. | Flaxman's | + | | | | designs add | + | | | | much. | + | | | | | + | 5. DANTE. | | | | + | | | | | + | Divine Comedy. Read Farrar's little | | | Translated by | + | Life of Dante (John Alden, | | | Longfellow, | + | N. Y.), and then take the Comedy | | | Carey, John | + | and read the thirty-third canto, | | | Carlyle, | + | the portions relating to the | | | Butler, and | + | Hells of Incontinence and of | | | Dean Church. | + | Fraud, thepicture of Satan, and | | | | + | the whole of the Purgatorio | d. | R.D.G. | | + | | | | | + | 6. SPENSER. | | | | + | | | | | + | Faerie Queen, noting specially the | | | | + | first book and the book of | | | | + | Britomart, endeavoring to grasp | | | | + | and apply to your own life the | | | | + | truths that underlie the rich and | | | | + | beautiful imagery | d. | R.D.G. | Spenser's | + | Hymn in Honor of his own Wedding | d. | R.D.G. | Poems. The | + | Fable of the Oak and the Briar, in | | | Calendar is | + | Shepherd's Calendar, February | m. | R. | published | + | | | | separately. | + | | | | | + | 7. SCOTT. | | | | + | | | | | + | Lady of the Lake | e. | R. | Scott's Poems,| + | Marmion | e. | R. | or separate. | + +-------------------------------------+-----+----------+---------------+ + + + +---------------------------------------------------------+ + | Transcriber's note: Numbers 8 and 9 are missing in the | + | original. | + +---------------------------------------------------------+ + + + GROUP II.--_Short Poetical Selections._ + + +-------------------------------------+-----+----------+---------------+ + | | | Manner | | + | | [*] | of | Where found. | + | | | Reading. | | + +-------------------------------------+-----+----------+---------------+ + | 10. PAYNE. | | | | + | Home, Sweet Home | e. | C. | | + | | | | | + | LONGFELLOW. | | | | + | Psalm of Life. | | R.D.C. | Longfellow's | + | Paul Revere's Ride | | | Poems. | + | The Building of the Ship | e. | R. | | + | (These may be found in most | | | | + | of the reading-books.) | e. | | | + | Suspiria, and the close of | | | | + | Morituri Salutamus | m. | R.D. | | + | | | | | + | HOLMES. | | | | + | Nautilus; the last stanza | | | Autocrat of | + | commit | m. | R.D. | the | + | The Stars and Flowers, a | | | Breakfast- | + | lovely little poem,--the | | | Table. | + | first verses in the | | | | + | Autocrat of the | | | | + | Breakfast-Table | e. | R.D. | | + | | | | | + | HUNT. | | | | + | Abou Ben Adhem | e. | R.D. | Monroe. | + | | | | | + | CAREW. | | | | + | The True Beauty | e. | R.D. | Palgrave, 87. | + | | | | | + | GRAY. | | | | + | Elegy in a Country Churchyard | m. | R.D.C. | " 147. | + | Hymn to Adversity | m. | R.D. | " 159. | + | Progress of Poesy | m. | R.D. | " 140. | + | The Bard | m. | R.D. | " 123. | + | | | | | + | SAXE. | | | | + | The Blind Men and the Elephant| e. | R.D. | No. 4. | + | | | | | + | JACKSON. | | | Poems of | + | The Release | m. | R.D. | H. H. Jackson.| + | | | | | + | 11. HOOD. | | | | + | Bridge of Sighs | m. | R.D. | Palgrave, 231.| + | Song of the Shirt | e. | R.D. | No. 2. | + | | | | | + | BURNS. | | | | + | Ye Banks and Braes o' Bonnie | | | | + | Doon | e. | R.D. | Palgrave, 139.| + | To a Field-mouse | e. | R.D. | " 144.| + | Mary Morrison | e. | R.D. | " 148.| + | Bonnie Lesley | e. | R.D. | " 149.| + | Jean | e. | R.D. | " 155.| + | John Anderson | e. | R.D. | " 156.| + | A Man's a Man for a' that | e. | R.D. | Burns's Poems.| + | Auld Lang Syne | e. | R.D. | | + | Robert Bruce's Address to his | | | | + | Army | e. | R.D. | | + | | | | | + | MOORE. | | | | + | The Light of other Days | e. | R.D. | Palgrave, 225.| + | Come rest in this Bosom | e. | R.D. | Irish Melodies| + | At the Mid Hour of Night | e. | R.D. | Irish Melodies| + | Those Evening Bells | e. | R.D. | Monroe. | + | | | | | + | COLERIDGE. | | | | + | Rime of the Ancient Mariner | d. | R.D.G. | Coleridge's | + | Kubla Khan; a Picture of the | | | Poems. | + | Stream of Life | d. | R.D.G. | | + | Vale of Chamouni | e. | R. | Monroe. | + | | | | | + | WHITTIER. | | | | + | The Farmer's Wooing, in Among | | | | + | the Hills | m. | R.D.C. | Whittier's | + | The Harp at Nature's Advent | | | Poems. | + | Strung, etc., in Tent on | | | | + | the Beach | m. | R.D.C. | | + | Snow Bound, Centennial Hymn | | | | + | (No. 13), and at least | | | | + | glance athis Voices of | | | | + | Freedom | m. | R.D.C. | | + | Barefoot Boy | e. | R.D.C. | | + | | | | | + | TENNYSON. | | | | + | "Break, break, break, on thy | | | Tennyson's | + | cold gray Stones, O Sea" | m. | R.D.C. | Poems. | + | "Ring out, wild Bells," in | | | | + | the In Memoriam | m. | R.D.C. | | + | Bugle Song, in The Princess | m. | R.D.C. | No. 2. | + | Charge of the Light Brigade | e. | R.D.C. | No. 2. | + | The Brook | e. | R.D.C. | Monroe. | + | | | | | + | CHAUCER. | | | | + | The Clerk's Tale, or the | | | | + | Story of Grisilde, in the | | | Chaucer's | + | Canterbury Tales | m. | R. | Poems. | + | | | | | + | 12. KEY. | | | | + | The Star-Spangled Banner | e. | C. | No. 4. | + | | | | | + | DRAKE. | | | | + | The American Flag | e. | R. | No. 1. | + | | | | | + | SMITH. | | | | + | "My Country, 'tis of thee" | e. | C. | | + | | | | | + | BOKER. | | | | + | The Black Regiment | e. | R. | No. 1. | + | | | | | + | CAMPBELL, | | | | + | full of fire | | | | + | and martial music. | | | | + | Ye Mariners of England | m. | R.D.C. | Palgrave, 206.| + | Battle of the Baltic | m. | R.C. | " 207.| + | Soldier's Dream | m. | R.C. | " 267.| + | Hohenlinden | m. | R.C. | " 215.| + | Lord Ullin's Daughter | m. | R.C. | " 181.| + | Love's Beginning | m. | R.C. | " 183.| + | Ode to Winter | m. | R.C. | " 256.| + | | | | | + | THOMSON. | | | | + | Rule Britannia | m. | R.C. | Palgrave, 122.| + | | | | | + | LOWELL. | | | | + | The Crisis | d. | R.D.C.G. | Lowell's | + | Harvard Commemoration Ode | d. | R.D.C.G. | Poems. | + | The Fountain | e. | R.D.C.G. | | + | | | | | + | HALLECK. | | | | + | Marco Bozzaris | e. | R. | No. 1. | + | | | | | + | MACAULAY. | | | | + | Lays of Ancient Rome, | | | | + | especially Horatius, and | e. | R.D. | No. 2. | + | Virginia, also the Battle of | | | | + | Ivry | m. | R.D. | No. 5. | + | | | | | + | O'HARA. | | | | + | The Bivouac of the Dead | | | | + | | | | | + | MITFORD. | | | | + | Rienzi's Address | m. | R. | No. 1. | + | | | | | + | CROLY. | | | | + | Belshazzar | m. | R. | No. 4. | + | | | | | + | 13. SHELLEY. | | | Shelley's | + | | | | Poems. | + | Ode to the West Wind | m. | R.D.C. | Palgrave, 275.| + | Ode to a Skylark | m. | R.D.C. | " 241.| + | To a Lady with a Guitar | m. | R.D.C. | " 252.| + | Italy | m. | R.D.C. | " 274.| + | Naples | m. | R.D.C. | " 227.| + | The Poet's Dream | d. | R.D.C. | " 277.| + | The Cloud, Sensitive Plant, | | | | + | etc. | m. | R.D.C. | | + | | | | | + | BYRON. | | | Byron's Poems.| + | All for Love | m. | R.D. | Palgrave, 169.| + | Beauty | m. | R.D. | " 171.| + | Apostrophe to the Ocean, and | | | | + | The Eve of Waterloo | m. | R.D.C. | Monroe. | + | The Field of Waterloo | m. | R.D.C. | No. 1. | + | (These are among the most | | | | + | magnificent poems in any | | | | + | language.) | | | | + | | | | | + | BRYANT. | | | | + | Thanatopsis | m. | R.C.G. | No. 1. | + | | | | | + | PRENTICE. | | | | + | The Closing Year | m. | R.C.G. | No. 1. | + | | | | | + | POE. | | | | + | The Bells; The Raven | m. | R.C.G. | No. 1. | + | Annabel Lee | m. | R. | No. 5. | + | | | | | + | KEATS. | | | Keats's Poems.| + | The Star | m. | R. | Palgrave, 198.| + | Ode to a Nightingale | m. | R. | " 244.| + | Ode to Autumn | m. | R. | " 255.| + | Ode on the Poets | m. | R. | " 167.| + | | | | | + | WORDSWORTH. | | | | + | A Beautiful Woman | e. | R.C. | Palgrave, 174.| + | The Reaper | m. | R. | " 250.| + | Simon Lee | m. | R. | " 219.| + | Intimations of Immortality | | | " 367.| + | | | | | + | HERBERT. | | | | + | Gifts of God | e. | R.D.C. | " 74.| + | | | | | + | READ. | | | | + | Drifting | m. | R.D.C. | No. 1. | + | Sheridan's Ride | e. | R. | " | + | | | | | + | FLETCHER. | | | | + | Melancholy | e. | R. | Palgrave, 104.| + | | | | | + | POPE. | | | | + | Rape of the Lock | m. | R. | Pope's Poems. | + | | | | | + | 14. INGELOW. | | | | + | The Brides of Enderby | m. | R. | No. 2. | + | High Tide, etc. | | | | + | | | | | + | COWPER. | | | | + | Loss of the Royal George | e. | R. | Palgrave, 129.| + | Solitude of Selkirk | m. | R. | " 160.| + | | | | | + | DRYDEN. | | | | + | Alexander's Feast | d. | R. | " 116.| + | | | | | + | COLLINS. | | | | + | The Passions | d. | R. | " 141.| + | | | | | + | JONSON. | | | | + | Hymn to Diana | m. | R. | " 78.| + | | | | | + | ADDISON. | | | | + | Cato's Soliloquy | m. | R. | No. 1. | + | | | | | + | LODGE. | | | | + | Rosaline | m. | R. | Palgrave, 16.| + | | | | | + | HERRICK. | | | | + | Counsel to Girls | e. | R. | " 82.| + | The Poetry of Dress | e. | R. | " 92.| + | | | | | + | 15. GOETHE. | | | | + | Raphael Chorus,--a wonderful | | | | + | chorus of three stanzas in | | | | + | Faust. Read Shelley's | | | | + | translations, both literal | | | | + | and free, in his Fragments | m. | R.C.G. | Shelley's | + | | | | Poems. | + | OMAR KHAYYÁM. | | | | + | Rubáiyát, especially the | | | | + | "moving shadow-shape" and the | | | | + | "phantom caravan" stanzas, | | | | + | for their magnificent imagery | m. | R.C.G. | Fitzgerald's | + | | | | Translation. | + | EURIPIDES. | | | | + | Chorus in Medea--Campbell's | | | | + | translation | m. | R.C.G. | Campbell's | + | | | | Poems. | + | | | | | + | CALDERON. | | | | + | Read Shelley's Fragments | m. | R.C.G. | Shelley's | + | | | | Poems. | + | SCHILLER. | | | Schiller's | + | The Battle | m. | R. | Poems. No. 4. | + | The Song of the Bell | m. | R. | Publ. | + | | | | separately. | + | MOLIÈRE. | | | | + | Tartuffe, or The Hypocrite | e. | R.D. | Molière's | + | Le Misanthrope, or The | | | Plays. | + | Man-Hater | e. | R.D. | | + +-------------------------------------+-----+----------+---------------+ + + GROUP III.--_Short Prose Selections._ + + +-------------------------------------+-----+----------+---------------+ + | | | Manner | | + | | [*] | of | Where found. | + | | | Reading. | | + +-------------------------------------+-----+----------+---------------+ + | | | | | + | 16. LINCOLN. | | | | + | Gettysburg Oration. Famous | | | | + | for its calm, clear, simple | | | | + | beauty, breadth, and power | m. | R.C. | No. 2. | + | | | | | + | IRVING | | | | + | our greatest | | | | + | master of style; | | | | + | his prose is poetry. | | | | + | Rip Van Winkle | e. | R.D.C. | Sketch Book. | + | The Spectre Bridegroom | e. | R.D.C. | " " | + | The Art of Book-Making | e. | R.D.C. | " " | + | The Legend of Sleepy Hollow | e. | R.D.C. | " " | + | | | | | + | 17. BACON. | | | | + | Essay on Studies. Note the | | | | + | clearness and completeness | | | | + | of Bacon, and his tremendous| | | | + | condensation of thought | m. | R.D.C. | Bacon's | + | | | | Essays. | + | CARLYLE. | | | | + | Apostrophe to Columbus, p. | | | | + | 193 of Past and Present,-- | | | | + | Carlyle's finest passage | m. | R.D.C. | | + | Await the Issue | m. | R.D.C. | Monroe. | + | The account of the | | | | + | conversational powers of | | | | + | Coleridge, given in | | | | + | Carlyle's Life of Sterling | e. | R.D.C. | | + | | | | | + | 18. WEBSTER. | | | | + | Liberty and Union,--a | | | | + | selection from the answer to| | | | + | Hayne in the United States | | | | + | Senate, on the question of | | | | + | the power of a State to | | | | + | nullify the acts of | | | | + | Congress, and to withdraw | | | | + | from the Union,--the | | | | + | greatest of American | | | | + | orations, and worthy to | | | | + | rank side by side with the | | | | + | world's best | m. | R.D.C. | No. 1. | + | | | | | + | PHILLIPS. | | | | + | Comparison of Toussaint | | | | + | L'Ouverture with Napoleon, | | | Phillips's | + | in his oration on Toussaint | m. | R.D.C. | Speeches. | + | | | | | + | 19. EVERETT. | | | | + | Discoveries of Galileo | m. | R. | No. 1. | + | | | | | + | BURRITT. | | | | + | One Niche the Highest | e. | R. | No. 7. | + | | | | | + | 20. HUGO. | | | | + | The Monster Cannon, one of | | | | + | the great Frenchman's master| | | | + | strokes,--a very thrilling | | | | + | scene, splendidly painted | e. | R. | No. 11. | + | Rome and Carthage | m. | R. | No. 6. | + | | | | | + | DE QUINCEY. | | | | + | Noble Revenge | m. | R. | No. 7. | + | | | | | + | 21. POE. | | | | + | Murders in the Rue Morgue | d. | R. | Little | + | | | | Classics. | + | INGERSOLL. | | | | + | Oration at the funeral of his | | | Ingersoll's | + | brother | m. | R. | Prose Poems. | + | | | | | + | 22. SCOTT. | | | | + | Thirty-sixth chapter of the | | | | + | Heart of Midlothian | m. | R. | | + | | | | | + | CURTIS. | | | | + | Nations and Humanity | m. | R. | No. 11. | + | | | | | + | 23. TAYLOR. | | | | + | The sections on Temperance | | | | + | and Chastity in the Holy | | | | + | Living and Dying | m. | R.D. | | + | | | | | + | BROOKS. | | | | + | Pamphlet on Tolerance,--the | | | | + | best book in the world on a | | | | + | most vital subject | m. | R.D. | | + +-------------------------------------+-----+----------+---------------+ + + GROUP IV.--_Wit and Humor_--_Short List._ + + +-------------------------------------+-----+----------+---------------+ + | | | Manner | | + | | [*] | of | Where found. | + | | | Reading. | | + +-------------------------------------+-----+----------+---------------+ + | | | | | + | 24. LOWELL. | | | | + | Biglow Papers | e. | R.D. | Lowell's | + | Fable for Critics | d. | R.D. | Poems. | + | The Courtin' | e. | R.D. | | + | | | | | + | HOLMES. | | | | + | Autocrat of the | | | | + | Breakfast-Table | m. | R.D. | | + | | | | | + | 25. CARLETON. | | | | + | Farm Ballads, especially the | | | | + | Visit of the School | | | | + | Committee, and The Rivals | e. | S. | | + | | | | | + | STOWE. | | | | + | Laughin' in Meetin' | e. | S. | No. 11. | + | | | | | + | TWAIN. | | | | + | On New England Weather | e. | S. | No. 13. | + | European Guides, and | | | Innocents | + | Turkish Baths | e. | S. | Abroad. | + | | | | | + | 26. DICKENS. | | | | + | Pickwick Papers | e. | S. | | + | | | | | + | JAMES DE MILLE. | | | Cumnock's | + | A Senator Entangled | e. | S. | Choice | + | | | | Readings. | + | LOVER. | | | | + | The Gridiron | e. | S. | " " | + | | | | | + | WHATELY. | | | | + | Historic Doubts regarding | | | Publ. | + | Napoleon | e. | S. | separately. | + +-------------------------------------+-----+----------+---------------+ + + + + +TABLE IV. + + +SUPPLEMENTARY GENERAL READING. + +In addition to the short courses set forth in Tables II. and III., at +the same time, if the reader has a sufficiency of spare hours, but +always in subordination to the above courses, it is recommended that +attention be given to the following books:-- + +Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress. (e. R. D.) + +Defoe's Robinson Crusoe. (e. S.) + +Dickens' Christmas Carol (m. R. D.); Cricket on the Hearth. (m. R. D.) + +Ruskin's Crown of Wild Olive (m. R. D.); Ethics of the Dust (m. R. D.); +Sesame and Lilies. (m. R. D.) + +Emerson's Essays (d. R. D. C.); especially those on Manners, Gifts, +Love, Friendship, The Poet, and on Representative Men. + +Demosthenes on the Crown. (m. R. D. C. G.) + +Burke's Warren Hastings Oration. (m. R. D. C. G.) + +Phillips' Speeches on Lovejoy and Garrison. (m. R. D. C. G.) + +La Fontaine's Fables. (m. R. D.) + +Short Biographies of the World's Hundred Greatest Men. (m. R. D.) + +Marshall's Life of Washington. (m. R. D. G.) + +Carlyle's Cromwell. (m. R. D. G.) + +Tennyson's In Memoriam. (d. R. D. C.) + +Byron's Childe Harold. (m. R. D. C.) + +Burns' Cotter's Saturday Night. (m. R. D.) + +Keats' Endymion. (d. R. D. C.) + +Shelley's Prometheus Unbound. (d. R. D. C. G.) + +Campbell's Pleasures of Hope. (m. R. D. C.) + +Goldsmith's Deserted Village. (m. R. D. C.) + +Pope's Essay on Man. (m. R. D. C.) + +Thomson's Seasons. (m. R. D. C.) + + + + +CHILDREN. + + +So far we have spoken of reading for grown people. Now we must deal with +the reading of young folks,--a subject of the utmost importance. For to +give a child good habits of reading, to make him like to read and master +strong, pure books,--books filled with wisdom and beauty,--and equally +eager to shun bad books, is to do for him and the world a service of the +highest possible character; and to neglect the right care of a child in +this matter is to do him an injury far greater than to mutilate his face +or cut off his arm. + + + + +WHAT TO GIVE THE CHILDREN. + + +Parents, teachers, and others interested in the welfare of young people +have not only to solve the problem of selecting books for their own +nourishment, but also the more difficult problem of providing the young +folks with appropriate literary food. As literature may be made one of +the most powerful influences in the development of a child, the greatest +care should be taken to make the influence true, pure, and tender, and +give it in every respect the highest possible character, which requires +as much care to see that bad books do not come into the child's +possession and use, as to see that good books do. The ability to read +adds to life a wonderful power, but it is a power for evil as well as +good. As Lowell says, "It is the key which admits us to the whole world +of thought and fancy and imagination,--to the company of saint and sage, +of the wisest and wittiest at their wisest and wittiest moments. It +enables us to see with the keenest eyes, hear with the finest ears, and +listen to the sweetest voices of all time. More than that, it +annihilates time and space for us,--reviving without a miracle the Age +of Wonder, and endowing us with the shoes of swiftness and the cap of +darkness." Yes, but it opens our minds to the thoughts of the vile as +well as to those of the virtuous; it unlocks the prisons and haunts of +vice as well as the school and the church; it drags us through the sewer +as well as gives us admission to the palace; it feeds us on filth as +well as the finest food; it pours upon our souls the deepest degradation +as well as the spirit of divinity. Parents will do well to keep from +their children such books as Richardson's "Pamela" and "Clarissa +Harlowe;" Fielding's "Joseph Andrews," "Jonathan Wild," and "Tom Jones;" +Smollett's "Humphrey Clinker," "Peregrine Pickle," and "Adventures of an +Atom;" Sterne's "Tristram Shandy;" Swift's "Gulliver," and their modern +relatives. Many of these coarse pictures of depravity and microscopic +analyses of filth I cannot read without feeling insulted by their +vulgarity, as I do when some one tells an indecent story in my presence. +Whatever the power or wit of a book, if its motive is not high and its +expression lofty, it should not come into contact with any life, at +least until its character is fixed and hardened in the mould of virtue +beyond the period of plasticity that might receive the imprint of the +badness in the book. There are plenty of splendid books that are pure +and ennobling as well as strong and humorous,--more of them than any one +person can ever read,--so that there is no necessity of contact with +imperfect literature. If a boy comes into possession of a book that he +would not like to read aloud to his mother or sister, he has something +that is not good for him to read,--something that is not altogether the +very best for anybody to read. Some liberty of choice, however, ought to +be allowed the children. It will add much to the vigor and enthusiasm of +a boy's reading if, instead of prescribing the precise volume he is to +have at each step, he is permitted to make his own selection from a list +of three or four chosen by the person who is guiding him. What these +three or four should be, is the problem. I cannot agree with Lowell, +when he says that young people ought to "confine themselves to the +supreme books in whatever literature, or, still better, choose some one +great author and make themselves thoroughly familiar with him." It is +possible to know something of people in general about me without +neglecting my best friends. It is possible to enjoy the society of +Shakspeare, Goethe, Æschylus, Dante, Homer, Plato, Spencer, Scott, +Eliot, Marcus Aurelius, and Irving, without remaining in ignorance of +the power and beauty to be found in Chaucer, Spenser, Milton, Byron, +Burns, Goldsmith, Keats, Shelley, Tennyson, Longfellow, Whittier, +Holmes, and Lowell, Ingersoll, Omar, Arnold, Brooks, and Robertson, +Curtis, Aldrich, Warner, Jewett, Burroughs, Bulwer, Tourgée, Hearn, +Kingsley, MacDonald, Hawthorne, Dickens, Thackeray, Carlyle, Ruskin, +Hugo, Bronté, Sienkiewicz, and a host of others. Scarcely a day passes +that I do not spend a little time with Shakspeare, Goethe, Æschylus, +Spencer, and Irving; but I should be sorry to have any one of those I +have named beyond call at any time. There are parts of Holmes, Lowell, +Brooks, Emerson, Omar, Arnold, Tourgée, and Hearn that are as dear to me +as any passages of equal size in Goethe or Irving. So it does not seem +best to me to _confine_ the attention to the supreme books; a just +_proportion_ is the true rule. Let the supreme books have the supreme +attention, absorb them, print them on the brain, carry them about in the +heart, but give a due share of time to other books. I like the +suggestion of Marietta Holley: "I would feed children with little sweet +crumbs of the best of books, and teach them that a whole rich feast +awaited them in the full pages," only taking care in each instance that +the crumb is well rounded, the picture not torn or distorted. There are +paragraphs and pages in many works of the second rank that are equal to +almost anything in the supreme books, and superior to much the latter +contain. These passages should be sought and cherished; and the work of +condensing the thought and beauty of literature--making a sort of +literary prayer-book--is an undertaking that ought not to be much longer +delayed. Until it is done, however, there is no way but to read widely, +adapting the speed and care to the value of the volume. Some things may +be best read by deputy, as Mark Twain climbed the Alps by agent; +newspapers, for example, and many of the novels that flame up like a +haystack on fire, and fade like a meteor in its fall, striking the earth +never to rise again. The time that many a young man spends upon +newspapers would be sufficient to make him familiar with a dozen +undying books every year. Newspapers are not to be despised, but they +should not be allowed to crowd out more important things. I keep track +of the progress of events by reading the "Outlook" in the "Christian +Union" every week, and glancing at the head-lines of the "Herald" or +"Journal," reading a little of anything specially important, or getting +an abstract from a friend who always reads the paper. A good way to +economize time is for a number of friends to take the same paper, the +first page being allotted to one, the second to another, and so on, each +vocally informing the others of the substance of his page. If time +cannot be found for both the newspaper and the classic, the former, not +the latter, should receive the neglect. + +This matter of the use of time is one concerning which parents should +strive to give their children good habits from the first. If you teach a +child to economize time, and fill him with a love of good books, you +ensure him an education far beyond anything he can get in the +university,--an education that will cease only with his life. The +creation of a habit of industrious study of books that will improve the +character, develop the powers, and store the mind with force and +beauty,--that is the great object. + +A good example is the best teacher. It is well for parents to keep close +to the child until he grows old enough to learn how to determine for +himself what he should read (which usually is not before fifteen or +twenty, and in many cases never); for children, and grown folks too for +that matter, crave intellectual as much as they do physical +companionship. + +The methods of guiding the young in the paths of literature fall +naturally into two groups,--the first being adapted to childhood not yet +arrived at the power of reading alone, the second adapted to later +years. There is no sharp line of division or exclusion, but only a +general separation; for the methods peculiarly appropriate to each +period apply to some extent in the other. Some children are able to read +weighty books at three or four years of age, but most boys and girls +have to plod along till they are eight or ten before they can read much +alone. I will consider the periods of child life I have referred to, +each by itself. + +=The Age of Stories=.--It is not necessary or proper to wait until a +child can read, before introducing it to the best literature. Most of +the books written for children have no permanent value, and most of the +reading books used in primary and grammar schools contain little or no +genuine literature, and what they do contain is in fragments. Portions +of good books are useful, if the story of each part is complete, but +children do not like the middle of a story without the beginning and +end; they have the sense of entirety, and it should be satisfied. And it +is not difficult to do this. Literature affords a multitude of beautiful +stories of exceeding interest to children, and of permanent +attractiveness through all the after years of their lives. Such +literature is as available, as a means of teaching the art of reading, +as is the trash in dreary droning over which the precious years of +childhood are spent in our public schools. The development of the child +mind follows the same course as the development of the mind of the race. +The little boy loves the wonderful and the strong, and nearly everything +is wonderful to him except himself. Living things especially interest +him. Every child is a born naturalist; his heart turns to birds and +beasts, flowers and stars. He is hungry for stories of animals, giants, +fairies, etc. Myths and fairy tales are his natural food. His power of +absorbing and retaining them is marvellous. One evening a few weeks ago +a little boy who is as yet scarcely able to read words of two and three +letters asked me for a story. I made an agreement with him that whatever +I told him, he should afterward repeat to me, and then gave him the +story of the elephant who squirted muddy water over the cruel tailor +that pricked his trunk with a needle. No sooner had I finished than he +threw his arms around my neck and begged for another story. I told him +eight in rapid succession, some of them occupying three or four minutes, +and then asked him to tell me about the elephants, dogs, bears, etc., +that I had spoken of. He recited every story with astonishing accuracy +and readiness, and apparently without effort, and would have been ready +for eight more bits of Wood or Andersen, if his bedtime had not +intervened. If parents would take as much pains to satisfy the mind +hunger of their children as they do to fulfil their physical wants, and +give them the best literature as well as the best beef and potatoes, the +boys and girls would have digested the greater part of mythology, +natural science, and the best fiction by the time they are able to read. +Children should be fed with the literature that represents the childhood +of the race. Out of that literature has grown all literature. Give a +child the contents of the great books of the dawn, and you give him the +best foundation for subsequent literary growth, and in after life he +will be able to follow the intricate interweaving of the old threads +throughout all modern thought. He has an immense affinity for those old +books, for they are full of music and picturesqueness, teeming with +vigorous life, bursting with the strange and wonderful. In the following +list parents and teachers will find abundant materials for the culture +of the little ones, either by reading aloud to them, or still better by +telling them the substance of what they have gathered by their own +reading of these famous stories and ditties. Pictures are always of the +utmost value in connection with books and stories, as they impart a +vividness of conception that words alone are powerless to produce. One +plea for sincerity I must make,--truth and frankness from the cradle to +the grave. Do not delude the children. Do not persuade them that a fairy +tale is history. I have a sad memory of my disgust and loss of +confidence in human probity when I discovered the mythical character of +Kriss Kringle, and I believe many children are needlessly shocked in +this way. + + _List of Materials for Story-telling and for the Instruction + and Amusement of Childhood._ + + "Mother Goose," "Jack and the Bean-Stalk," "Jack the + Giant-Killer," "Three Bears," "Red Riding-Hood," "The Ark," + "Hop o' my Thumb," "Puss in Boots," "Samson," "Ugly Duckling," + "The Horse of Troy" (Virgil), "Daniel in the Lion's Den," etc. + + Andersen's "Fairy Tales." Delightful to all children. + + Grimm's "Fairy Tales." + + De Garmo's "Fairy Tales." + + Craik's "Adventures of a Brownie." + + "Parents' Assistant," by Maria Edgeworth, recommended by George + William Curtis, Mary Mapes Dodge, Charles Dudley Warner, etc. + + "Zigzag Journeys," a series of twelve books, written by + Hezekiah Butterworth, one of the editors of the "Youth's + Companion." As might be supposed, they are among the very best + and most enduringly popular books ever written for young + people. + + Wood's books of Anecdotes about Animals, and many other works + of similar character, that may be obtained from the American + Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, 19 Milk + Street, Boston. The literature distributed by this Society is + filled with the spirit of love and tenderness for all living + things, and is one of the best influences that can come into a + child's life. + + Mary Treat's "Home Book of Nature." One of the best books of + science for young people. + + Bulfinch's "Age of Fable." A book that is exhaustive of Greek + and Roman mythology, but meant for grown folks. + + Bulfinch's "Age of Chivalry." + + Fiske's "Myths and Myth Makers." Brief, deep, and suggestive. + + Hawthorne's "Wonder Book" and "Tanglewood Tales." Books that no + house containing children should lack. + + Cox's "Tales of Ancient Greece." + + Baldwin's "Stories of the Golden Age." + + Forestier's "Echoes from Mist Land." An interesting study of + the Nibelungenlied. + + Lucian's "Dialogues of the Gods." Written to ridicule ancient + superstitions. + + Curtin's "Folk Lore of Ireland." + + Stories of Greek Heroes, Kingsley. + + Stories from Bryant's Odyssey. + + Stories from Church's "Story of the Iliad." + + Stories from Church's "Story of the Æneid." + + Stories from Herodotus, Church. + + Stories from the Greek Tragedians, Church. + + Stories of Charlemagne, Hanson. + + Stories from "Arabian Nights," Bulfinch. + + Stories from "Munchausen," and Maundeville. + + Stories from Chaucer, especially "Griselda." (From Chaucer, or + from Mrs. Haweis' book.) + + Stories told to a Child, by Jean Ingelow. + + Stories from the "Morte D'Arthur," Malory or Lanier. + + Stories from Lanier's "Froissart." + + Stories from Shakspeare. + + Stories of the Revolution, Riedesel. + + Stories from American and English History about the Magna + Charta, Henry VIII., Queen Elizabeth, Cromwell, Pitt, + Gladstone, Boston Tea Party, Declaration of Independence, + Washington, Rebellion, Lincoln, etc. + + Stories of American life, from "Oldtown Folks," "Sam Lawson's + Fireside Stories," and from the best novels. + + Stories from the "Book of Golden Deeds," Miss Yonge. + + Stories from Bolton's "Poor Boys who became Famous," and "Girls + who became Famous." + + Stories from Smiles's "Self-Help." Full of brief, inspiring + stories of great men. + + Stones from Todd's "Students' Manual." + + Stories from Irving's "Sketch Book," Rip Van Winkle, etc. + + Stories from Green's "Short History of the English People." + + Stories from Doyle's "History of the United States." One of the + very best brief histories. + + Stories from Mackenzie's "History of the Nineteenth Century." + + Stories from Coffin's "Story of Liberty." + + Stories from Freeman's "General Sketch of History." + + Stories from the "Stories of the Nations." (Putnam's Series.) + + Stories from the books of Columns 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 12, and 14 of + Table I. + + The story of Christ and his Apostles. (It is scarcely needful + to mention Bible stories in general. Every child born into a + civilized family is saturated with them; but the simple story + of Christ's life as an entirety is too seldom told them.) + + The story of Buddha, from the "Light of Asia." + + The story of Mahomet, Irving. + + The story of Confucius. + + The story of Socrates drinking the hemlock, from Plato, or from + Fénelon's "Lives of the Philosophers," which contains many + splendid Greek stories. + + The story of Prometheus, from Æschylus. + + The story of Diogenes in his Tub. + + The story of Thermopylæ and other battles, from Cressy. + + The story of Carthage, from Putnam's series of the "Stories of + the Nations." (Nine to eleven years.) + + The story of Roland, Baldwin. + + The story of the Cid, Southey. + + The story of the Nibelungenlied. (See Baldwin's "Story of + Siegfried.") + + The story of Faust, from "Zigzag Journeys." + + The story of "Reynard the Fox," Goethe. + + The story of Pythagoras and the transmigration of souls. + + The story of Astronomy, from Herschel, Proctor, etc. + + The story of Geology, from Lyell, Dawson, Miller, etc., or from + Dana's "The Geological Story, Briefly Told." + + The story of Athena, Pluto, Neptune, Apollo, Juno, Mars, + Jupiter, Mercury, Charon, Vulcan, Zeus, Io, Orpheus, and + Eurydice, Phaeton, Arachne, Ariadne, Iphigenia, Ceres, Vesta, + Herakles, Minerva, Venus, Scylla and Charybdis, Hercules, + Ulysses, Helen, Achilles, Æneas, etc., from Bulfinch's "Age of + Fable," "Zigzag Journeys," etc. + + The story of William Tell, the Man in the Moon, etc., from S. + Baring Gould's "Curious Myths." + + The story of the Courtship of Miles Standish. + + The story of the Nürnburg Stove, from Ouida's "Bimbi." + + The story of Robert Bruce. + + The story of Circe's Palace, from "Tanglewood Tales." + + The story of Pandora's Box, from the "Wonder Book." + + The story of Little Nell, from "The Old Curiosity Shop." + + The story of the Boy in "Vanity Fair." + + Many other books might be placed on the list of parent-helpers. + Indeed, the perfect guidance of youth would require a perfect + knowledge of literature throughout its breadth and depth; but + the above suggestions, if followed in any large degree, will + result in a far better training than most children now receive. + + + + +THE FORMATION OF A GOOD READING HABIT. + + +As the child learns to read by itself, the books from which were drawn +the stones it has heard may be given to it, care being taken that every +gift shall be adapted to the ability of the little one. The fact that +the boy has heard the story of Horatius at the Bridge does not diminish, +but vastly increases, his desire to read the "Lays of Ancient Rome." +When he comes to the possession of the book, it seems to him like a +discovery of the face of a dear friend with whose voice he has long been +familiar. I well remember with what delight I adopted the "Sketch Book" +as one of my favorites on finding Rip Van Winkle in it. + +Below will be found a list of books intended as a suggestion of what +should be given to children of various ages. The larger the number of +good books the child can be induced to read each year, the better of +course, so long as his powers are not overtaxed, and the reading is done +with due thoroughness. But if only four or five are selected from each +year's list, the boy will know more of standard literature by the time +he is sixteen, than most of his elders do. Each book enters the list at +the earliest age an ordinary child would be able to read it with ease, +and it may be used then or at any subsequent age; for no books are +mentioned which are not of everlasting interest and profit to childhood, +manhood, and age. Many of the volumes named below may also be used by +parents and teachers as story-mines. There is no sharp line between the +periods of story-telling and of reading. Most children read simple +English readily at eight or ten years of age; many do a large amount of +reading long before that, and nearly all do some individual work in the +earlier period. The change should be gradual. For the stimulus that +comparison gives, story-telling and reading aloud should be continued +long after the child is able to read alone; in truth, it ought never to +cease. Story-telling ought to be a universal practice. Stories should be +told to and _by_ everybody. One of the best things grown folks can do is +to tell each other the substance of their experience from day to day; +and probably no finer means of education exists than to have the +children give an account at supper or in the hour or two following, of +what they have seen, heard, read, thought, and felt during the day. In +the same way reading _solus_ should lap over into the early period as +far as possible. One of the greatest needs of the day is a class of +books that shall put _solid sense_ into _very_ simple words. A child can +grasp the wonderful, strong, loving, pathetic, and even the humorous and +critical, long before it can overcome the mechanical difficulties of +reading. By so much as we diminish these, we push education nearer to +the cradle. Charles Dudley Warner says, "As a general thing, I do not +believe in books written for children;" and Phillips Brooks, Marietta +Holley, Brooke Herford, and others express a similar feeling. But the +trouble is not with the _plan_ of writing for children, but with the +execution. If the highest _thoughts_ and feelings were written in the +simplest words,--written as a wise parent _tells_ them to his little +ones,--then we should have a juvenile literature that could be +recommended. As it is, most writers for babies seem to have far less +sense than the babies. Their books are filled with unnatural, +make-believe emotions, and egregious nonsense in the place of ideas. The +best prose for young people will be found in the works of Hawthorne, +Curtis, Warner, Holmes, Irving, Addison, Goldsmith, Burroughs, and Poe; +and the best poets for them are Longfellow, Lowell, Whittier, Burns, and +Homer. Books that flavor sense with fun, as do those of Curtis, Holmes, +Lowell, Holley, Stowe, Irving, Goldsmith, Warner, Addison, and +Burroughs, are among the best means of creating in any heart, young or +old, a love for fine, pure writing. P. T. Barnum, a man whose great +success is largely due to his attainment of that serenity of mind which +Lowell calls the highest result of culture, says: "I should, above +almost everything else, try to cultivate in the child a kindly sense of +humor. Wherever a pure, hearty laugh rings through literature, he should +be permitted and taught to enjoy it." This judgment comes from a +knowledge of the sustaining power a love of humor gives a man immersed +in mental cares and worriments. Lincoln is, perhaps, the best example of +its power. + +It is often an inspiration to a boy to know that a book he is reading +has helped and been beloved by some one whose name is to him a synonym +of greatness,--to know, for example, that Franklin got his style from +the "Spectator," which he studied diligently when a boy; that Francis +Parkman from fifteen to twenty-one obtained more pleasure and profit +from Scott than from any other writer; that Darwin was very fond of Mark +Twain's "Treatise on the Frog;" that Marietta Holley places Emerson, +Tennyson, and Eliot next to the Bible in her list of favorites; that +Senator Hoar writes Emerson, Wordsworth, and Scott next after the Bible +and Shakspeare; that Robert Collyer took great delight in Irving's +"Sketch Book," when a youth; that the great historian Lecky is said to +be in the habit of taking Irving with him when he goes to bed; that +Phillips Brooks read Jonson many times when a boy, and that Lockhart's +Scott was a great favorite with him, though the Doctor attaches no +special significance to either of these facts; that Susan Coolidge +thinks "Hans Brinker" is the best of all American books for children, +etc. Similar facts may be found in relation to very many of the best +books, and will aid much in arousing an interest in them. + +Plato, Bacon, Goethe, Spencer, Emerson, and many others of the best are +for the most part too difficult to be properly grasped until the mind is +more mature than it usually is at sixteen. No precise rules, however, +can be laid down on this subject, I have known a boy read Spencer's +"First Principles" and Goethe's "Faust" and "Wilhelm Meister" at +sixteen, and gain a mastery of them. All I have attempted to do is to +make broad suggestions; experiment in each case must do the rest. + + _Literature adapted to a Child Six or Eight Years of Age and + upward._ + + Little Lord Fauntleroy. A book that cannot fail to delight and + improve every reader. + + King of the Golden River, Ruskin. + + "Rosebud," from "Harvard Sophomore Stories." + + Christmas all the Year round, Howells. + + Mrs. Stowe's "Laughin' in Meetin'." An exceedingly funny story. + + "Each and All" and "Seven Little Sisters," by Jane Andrews. + Used in the Boston Public Schools as supplementary reading. + + Classics in Babyland, Bates. + + Scudder's "Fables and Folk Stories." Fine books for little + ones. + + Æsop. + + Rainbows for Children, Lydia Maria Child. + + Black Beauty, by Anna Sewell. The autobiography of a splendid + horse, and the best teacher of kindness to animals we know of. + + Burroughs' "Birds and Bees." In fact, all his beautiful and + simple stories of Nature--"Pepacton," "Fresh Fields," "Wake + Robin," "Winter Sunshine," "Signs and Seasons," etc.--are the + delight of children as soon as they can read. + + Winslow's "Fairy Geography." + + By Sea-side and Wayside, Wright. + + _Literature adapted to a Child Eight to Nine Years of Age and + upward._ + + Sandford and Merton, Day. One of the very best of children's + books. + + Play Days, Sarah Orne Jewett. + + Andersen's "Fairy Tales." Cannot be too highly praised. + + Stories from King Arthur, Hanson. A good foundation for the + study of Malory, Tennyson, etc. + + "Winners in Life's Race," and "Life and her Children," by Miss + Arabella Buckley. Books that charm many children of eight or + nine. + + Fairy Frisket; or, Peeps at Insect Life. Nelson & Sons. + + Physiology, with pictures. + + Queer Little People, Mrs. Stowe. + + Kingsley's "Water Babies." A beautiful book, as indeed are all + of Kingsley's. + + Longfellow's "Building of the Ship." + + The Fountain, Lowell. + + Ye Mariners of England, Campbell. + + Carleton's "Farm Ballads and Farm Legends." Humorous, pathetic, + sensible. + + _Literature adapted to a Child Nine to Ten Years of Age and + upward._ + + Story of a Bad Boy, Aldrich. A splendid book for boys. + + Boys of '76, Coffin. An eight-year-old boy read it five times, + he was so pleased with it. + + New Year's Bargain, Coolidge. + + Pussy Willow, Stowe. + + Hanson's "Homer and Virgil." Brief, clear, simple, clean. + + Stories from Homer, Hanson. + + Stories from Pliny, White. + + Grimm's "Fairy Tales." + + Legend of Sleeping Beauty. + + Clodd's "The Childhood of the World." A splendid book to teach + children the development of the world. + + "Friends in Feathers and Fur," "Wings and Fins," "Paws and + Claws," by Johonnot. Books much liked by the little ones. + + First Book of Zoölogy, Morse. + + Halleck's "Marco Bozzaris." + + Wordsworth's "Peter Bell." + + Mary, Queen of Scots, Strickland. + + The Prince and the Pauper, Twain. A book that mingles no small + amount of sense with its abounding fun and occasional tragedy. + + _Literature adapted to a Child Ten or Eleven Years of Age and + upward._ + + Being a Boy, Warner. + + Little Women, Alcott. One of the most popular books of the day. + + A Dog's Mission, Stowe. + + Two Years before the Mast, Dana. Recommended by Sarah Orne + Jewett, George William Curtis, and others. + + Ten Boys on the Road, Andrews. A great favorite with the boys. + + Jan of the Windmill, Ewing. The story of a poor boy who becomes + a famous painter. + + Hawthorne's "Celestial Railroad." + + Little People of Asia, Miller. + + Hawthorne's "Tanglewood Tales" and "Wonder Book" should belong + to every child old enough to read ordinary English. + + Adventures of a Brownie, Craik. + + Stories from Chaucer, Seymour. + + Stories from Livy, Church. + + Lives of the Philosophers, Fénelon. An excellent book. + + What Darwin saw in his Trip round the World in the Ship Beagle. + + Fairy Land of Science, Miss Buckley. An author who writes for + children to perfection. + + Animal Life in the Sea and on the Land, Cooper. Very fine + indeed. + + Darwin's chapter on the "Habits of Ants" (in the "Origin of + Species") is very interesting and amusing to little ones, and + together with Burroughs' books prepares them to read such works + as Lubbock's "Ants, Bees, and Wasps." + + Ragozin's "Chaldea." One of the indispensable books for + children. + + Longfellow's "Psalm of Life." + + Longfellow's "Hiawatha." + + Lowell's "Under the Old Elm." + + Wordsworth's "White Doe of Rylstone." + + Lamb's Essay on Roast Pig. A piece of fun always enjoyed by + boys and girls. + + _Literature adapted to a Child Eleven to Twelve Years of Age + and upward._ + + Shakspeare's "Merchant of Venice." + + Marcus Aurelius. In a school where the book was at their call + children from ten to thirteen carried it to and from school, + charmed with its beautiful thoughts. + + Hans Brinker, Mary Mapes Dodge. One of the very best stories + for children. + + Dickens' "Christmas Carol." + + Hawthorne's "Great Stone Face." Highly appreciated by the young + folks. + + Uncle Tom's Cabin, Mrs. Stowe. A book that every child should + have as soon as he is able to read it. + + Another Flock of Girls, Nora Perry. + + At the Back of the North Wind, Macdonald. A beautiful story, + with a high motive. + + A Hunting of the Deer, Warner. + + Crusade of the Children, Gray. A thrilling story. + + Bryant's translation of the Odyssey. + + Story of the Iliad, Church. + + Stories from Herodotus, Church. + + Mary Treat's "Home Book of Nature." + + Half Hours with the Stars, Proctor. + + Guyot's "Earth and Man." A most excellent book. + + First Book in Geology, Shaler. + + First Steps in Chemistry, Brewster. + + First Steps in Scientific Knowledge, Best. + + Abou Ben Adhem, Hunt. + + Scott's "Lady of the Lake." + + Macaulay's "Lays of Ancient Rome." + + Longfellow's "Tales of a Wayside Inn." + + Whittier's "Snow Bound." + + How they Brought the Good News to Aix, Browning. + + Wordsworth's "We are Seven." + + Franklin's Autobiography. + + Lincoln's Gettysburg Speech. + + Samantha at the Centennial. + + _Literature adapted to a Child Twelve to Thirteen Years of Age + and upward._ + + Shakspeare's "Julius Cæsar." + + Pilgrim's Progress, Bunyan. Indispensable. + + Meditation of Thomas à Kempis. A strong influence for sweetness + and purity. + + Vicar of Wakefield, Goldsmith. Full of fun and good feeling; + one of the most indispensable of books. + + Cooper's novels, especially "The Spy" and the "Last of the + Mohicans." Books that are fascinating and yet wholesome. + + "My Summer in a Garden," and "In the Wilderness," Warner. Very + humorous. + + "The Dog of Flanders," from "Little Classics." + + Picciola, Saintine. A great favorite. + + The Story of Arnon, Amélie Rives. + + Drake's "Culprit Fay." + + Dr. Brown's "Rab and his Friends." + + "The Man without a Country," "My Double and How He Undid Me," + etc., by E. E. Hale. The cast is extremely funny. + + The Hoosier Schoolmaster, Eggleston. + + Boots and Saddles, Mrs. Custer. + + Story of the Æneid, Church. + + Stories from Greek Tragedians, Church. + + Plumptre's "Sophocles." + + Ruskin's "Athena." + + Boys and Girls in Biology, Stevenson. + + Other Worlds than Ours, Proctor. + + Captains of Industry, Parton. + + Lowell's "Vision of Sir Launfal." One of the great poet's + finest productions. + + Byron's "Eve of Waterloo." + + Longfellow's "Evangeline." + + Scott's "Marmion." + + Milton's "Comus." + + "The Two Runaways," "The Born Inventor," "Idyl of Sinkin' + Mountain," etc., by Edwards. Very funny. + + _Literature adapted to a Child Thirteen to Fourteen Years of + Age and upward._ + + Shakspeare's "Coriolanus" and "Taming of the Shrew." + + Scott's "Ivanhoe," "Heart of Midlothian," "Guy Mannering," etc. + It is the making of a boy if he learns to love Scott. He will + make a gentleman of him, and give him an undying love of good + literature. + + Journal of Eugénie de Guerin. Full of delicacy and quiet + strength. + + Tom Brown, Hughes. An universal favorite. + + Curtis' "Prue and I." One of the very choicest books, both in + substance and expression,--especially remarkable for its moral + suggestiveness. + + Craddock's "Floating down Lost Creek." Most excellent. + + Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Stevenson. A story with a powerful + moral,--if we give scope to our evil nature, it will master us. + + Goldsmith's "Good-Natured Man." + + Carlyle's "Heroes and Hero Worship." + + Ben Hur, Wallace. + + The Fool's Errand, Tourgée. + + The Boys' King Arthur, Lanier. + + Epictetus. + + Physiology for Girls, Shepard. + + Physiology for Boys, Shepard. + + What Young People should Know, Wilder. A book that no boy or + girl should be without. + + How Plants Behave, Gray. + + Goethe's "Erl King." + + Browning's "Ivan Ivanovitch." A favorite. + + The Forsaken Merman, Matthew Arnold. An exquisite poem. + + Longfellow's "Miles Standish." + + Scott's "Lay of the Last Minstrel." + + The Veiled Statue of Truth, Schiller. + + Gütenburg, and the Art of Printing. + + Doyle's "United States History." + + John Bright's "Speeches on the American Question." + + Backlog Studies, Warner. + + "Encyclopædia of Persons and Places," and "Encyclopædia of + Common Things," by Champlin, should be within the reach of + every child over twelve or thirteen years of age. + + _Literature adapted to a Child Fourteen to Fifteen Years of + Age._ + + Shakespeare's "Henry Fourth" and "Henry Fifth." + + Autocrat of the Breakfast-Table, Holmes; and Irving's "Sketch + Book." Two of the best books in all the world. + + George Eliot's novels, especially "Silas Marner," "The Mill on + the Floss," "Romola," and "Adam Bede." + + The Wit and Wisdom of George Eliot. + + Our Best Society, Curtis. + + Bulwer's "Rienzi." + + The Marble Faun, Hawthorne. + + Sad Little Prince, Fawcett. + + Chita, or Youma, by Hearn, a master of English style. + + Grande Pointe, Cable. + + La Fontaine's Fables. + + Plutarch's "Morals." + + Ethics of the Dust, Ruskin. + + Lady How and Madam Why, Kingsley. + + Sketches of Creation, Winchell. Very interesting to children of + fourteen or fifteen. + + The Geological Story, Briefly Told, Dana. + + Ready for Business, or Choosing an Occupation, Fowler and + Wells. + + Ode to a Skylark, Shelley. + + Birds of Aristophanes, Frere. + + Alfred the Great, Hughes. + + Plutarch's "Lives." + + Green's "Short History of the English People." + + Demosthenes on the Crown. The finest of all orations. + + The Biglow Papers, Lowell. The best of fun and sense. + + Sweet Cicely, Holley. Quiet humor and unfailing wisdom. + + Higginson's "Vacations for Saints." A splendid example of + humorous writing. + + _Literature adapted to a Child Fifteen to Sixteen Years of Age + and upward._ + + Shakspeare's "Hamlet" and "The Tempest." + + Dante's "Inferno." + + Dickens' "Pickwick Papers," "David Copperfield," "Old Curiosity + Shop," etc. + + Thackeray's "Vanity Fair." + + Tourgée's "Hot Plowshares," and "With Fire and Sword," by + Sienkiewicz. Two of the greatest historical novels. + + Carlyle's "Past and Present." + + Arnold's "Sweetness and Light." + + Ruskin's "Crown of Wild Olive." + + Emerson's Essays on "Manners," "Self-Reliance," "Eloquence," + "Friendship," "Representative Men," etc. + + Mrs. Whitney's "Sights and Insights." A book that is filled + with beautiful thoughts and unselfish actions. + + Spencer's "Data of Ethics." Indispensable to a complete + understanding of ethical subjects. + + "The Light of Asia." A book that cannot fail to broaden and + deepen every life it touches. + + Ten Great Religions, Clarke. + + Omar. Superb poetry. + + Bryant's "Thanatopsis." + + Coleridge's "Ancient Mariner." A lesson of the awfulness of + cruelty. + + Auld Lang Syne, Burns. + + Toilers of the Sea, Hugo. + + Huxley's "Man's Place in Nature." + + Tyndall's "Forms of Water." + + Our Country, Strong. A book that ought to be in the hands of + every young person. + + Bryce's "American Commonwealth." + + Guizot's "History of Civilization." + + Mill's "Logic." No young man can afford to remain unacquainted + with this book. + + The Hand and Ring, Green. One of the finest examples of + reasoning in the language. + + Poe's "Murders in the Rue Morgue" is another such example, and + his "Gold Bug" is another. + + Phillips' Speeches + + Webster's "Liberty and Union." + + Golden Treasury, Palgrave. + + The Spectator. One of the very best books to study, in order to + form a good style. Franklin and others attribute their success + largely to reading it carefully in boyhood. + + The Fable for Critics, Lowell. + + The Yankee at the Court of King Arthur, Twain. Fun and sense + welded together to make the most delightful book the author has + written. + + + + +SPECIAL STUDIES. + + +Next in value to a love of good reading is a habit of concentrating the +attention upon one subject through a long course of reading. In this way +only can any thorough mastery be obtained. The child should be taught +not to be satisfied with the thought of any one writer, but to +investigate the ideas of all upon the topic in hand, and then form his +own opinion. Thus he will gain breadth, depth, tolerance, independence, +and scientific method in the search for truth. Of course it is +impossible in a work of this kind to map out lines of study for the +multitudinous needs of young people. The universities and the libraries +provide the means of gaining full information as to the literature of +any subject that may be selected. A few topic-clusters may, however, be +of use here in the way of illustration. Many examples will be found in +Baldwin's "The Book Lover." + +=The Industrial Question=.--Suppose a young man desired to study the +industrial question, which is one of the most important subjects of +to-day, the proper method would be to go to one of the great libraries, +or examine the catalogues of the large publishing-houses, to discover +the names of recent books on the given topic, or on such subjects as +Labor and Capital, Socialism, Co-operation, etc. Such books usually +refer to others, and name many kindred works on the last pages. Thus the +student's list will swell. I have myself investigated more than two +hundred books on this topic and those it led me to. A few of the more +important I will name as a starting-point for any one wishing to follow +this research. + + Labor, Thornton. + + Conflict of Labor and Capital, Bolles; also, Howell. + + Political Economy, Mill. + + Progress and Poverty, George. + + Profit-Sharing, Gilman. + + In Darkest England, Booth. + + Wages and the Wages Class, Walker. + + Book of the New Moral World, Owen. + + Communistic Societies of the United States, Nordhoff. + + Dynamic Sociology, Ward. + + Looking Backward, Bellamy. + + Destinée Sociale, Considérant. + + More's "Utopia." + + Co-operative Societies, Watts. + + History of Co-operation, Holyoake. + + The Margin of Profits, Atkinson. + + Gronlund's "Co-operative Commonwealth." + + Capital, Karl Marx. + + The State in relation to Labor, Jevons. + + Organisation du Travail, Louis Blanc. + + Co-operative Stores, Morrison. + + Labor and Capital, Jervis. + + Newton's "Co-operative Production and Co-operative + Distribution in the United States." + + Property and Progress, Mallock. + + Principles of Sociology, Spencer. + + Mill on Socialism. + + The Progress of the Working Classes, Giffen. + + Ely's "French and German Socialism," "Problems of To-day," + and "Labor Movement in America." + + Dilke's "Problems of Greater Britain." + + Contemporary Socialism, Rae. + + Outlines of an Industrial Science, Symes. + + Early History of Land-holding among the Germans, + Ross; etc. + +=Malthusianism=.--To take a smaller example. Suppose the student wishes +to make a thorough study of the doctrine of Malthusius in regard to +population, he will have to refer to Macaulay's "Essay on Sadler," and +the works on Political Economy of Ricardo, Chalmers, Roscher, etc., in +support of Malthus, and to George's "Progress and Poverty," Spencer's +"Biology" (Vol. II.), Sadler's "Law of Population," and the works of +Godwin, Greg, Rickards, Doubleday, Carey, Alison, etc., against him. + +For an example of a very different kind, cluster about the myth of Cupid +the poems "Cupid and my Campaspe," by Lilly; "The Threat of Cupid," +translated by Herrick; "Cupid Drowned," by Leigh Hunt; and "Cupid +Stung," by Moore. + +A great deal depends on selecting some department of thought and +exhausting it. To know something of everything and everything of +something is the true aim. If a child displays fine musical or artistic +ability, among the books given it ought to be many that bear upon music +and art,--the "Autobiography of Rubenstein;" the Lives of Beethoven, +Mozart, Schubert, Chopin, Mendelssohn; and Rocksho's "History of Music," +Upton's "Woman in Music," Clayton's "Queens of Song," Lillie's "Music +and the Musician," Haweis' "Music and Morals," Jameson's "Lives of the +Painters," Crowest's "Tone Poets," Clement's "Painting and Sculpture," +Mereweather's "Semele, or the Spirit of Beauty," etc. + +Probably these examples, with those to be found in the notes to Table +I., are amply sufficient to show what is meant by grouping the lights of +literature about a single point so as to illuminate it intensely; but +one more specimen will be given, because of the interest the subject has +for us now and is likely to have for many years. + +=The Tariff Question= may be studied in Ely's "Problems of To-day," +Greeley's "Political Economy," Carey's "Principles of Social Science," +E. P. Smith's "Manual of Political Economy," Byles's "Sophisms of Free +Trade," Thompson's "Social Science and National Economy," Bastiat's +"Sophisms of Protection," Mill's "Political Economy," Sumner's "Lectures +on the History of Protection in the United States," Fawcett's "Free +Trade and Protection," Mongredien's "History of the Free Trade +Movement," Butt's "Protection Free Trade," Walters' "What is Free +Trade," "The Gladstone-Blaine Debate," etc. + + + + +TABLE V. + + +_Showing the Distribution of the Best Literature in Time and Space, with +a Parallel Reference to some of the World's Great Events._ + + [It was impossible to get the writers of the eighteenth and + nineteenth centuries into the unit space. The former fills a + space twice the unit width, and the latter, when it is + complete, will require five units.] + + +---------------------------------------------------------------------------+ + | | | | | + | GREECE | B.C. | ISRAEL | | + | Homer | 1000 | David, The | | + | Hesiod | | Psalms | | + | | | | | + +-------------------------------+------+----------------+-------------------+ + | | | | | + | | 900 | | | + | | | | | + +-------------------------------+------+----------------+-------------------+ + | | | | | + | | 800 | | Rome founded | + | | | | | + +-------------------------------+------+----------------+-------------------+ + | | | | | + | Æsop | 700 | | | + | | | | | + +-------------------------------+------+----------------+-------------------+ + | | | | | + | | 600 | INDIA | Nebuchadnezzar, | + | | | Buddha | king of Babylon | + | | | | | + | | | | Republic | + | | | | established at | + | | | | Rome | + | | | | | + +-------------------------------+------+----------------+-------------------+ + | | | | | + | THE GOLDEN AGE OF GRECIAN | 500 | Mahabharata | Darius, king of | + | LITERATURE | | Ramayana | Persia | + | Pindar Æschylus Herodotus | |(Epics of India)| GREECE | + | Sophocles Thucydides| | | Battle of | + | | | | Marathon | + | Pericles Euripides Xenophon | | | " " Thermopylæ | + | Aristophanes | | | " " Salamis | + | | | | Cincinnatus at | + | | | | Rome | + | Socrates | | |Ezra at Jerusalem | + | | | | | + +-------------------------------+------+----------------+-------------------+ + | | | | | + | Plato | 400 | | Alexander | + | Aristotle | | | The Gauls burn | + | Demosthenes | | | Rome | + | | | | | + +-------------------------------+------+----------------+-------------------+ + | | | | | + | | 300 | | Wars of Rome | + | | | | against Carthage | + | | | |Hannibal in Italy | + | | | | | + +-------------------------------+------+----------------+-------------------+ + | | | | | + | | 200 | | Greece becomes a | + | | | | Roman Province | + | | | | | + | | | | ROME | + | | | | The Gracchi, | + | | | | Marius, and | + | | | | Sylla | + | | | | | + +-------------------------------+------+----------------+-------------------+ + | | | | | + |ROME. AUGUSTAN AGE, 31 | 100 | | ROME | + | B. C. TO A. D. 14. | | | | + | Reatinus Ovid | | | Pompey | + | Sallust Livy | | | Civil War, | + | Cicero Lucretius | | | Empire | + | Virgil | | | established | + | | | | | + +-------------------------------+------+----------------+-------------------+ + | | | | | + | Tacitus | A.D. | | Jerusalem taken | + | | | | by Titus | + | Plutarch Juvenal | | | Pompeii | + | | | | overwhelmed | + | Pliny | | Josephus | Romans conquer | + | | | | Britain | + | | | | | + +-------------------------------+------+----------------+-------------------+ + | | | | | + | Epictetus | 100 | | Church Fathers | + | Marcus Aurelius | | | | + | | | | | + +-------------------------------+------+----------------+-------------------+ + | | | | | + | | 200 | | | + | | | | Aurelian conquers | + | | | | Zenobia | + | | | | | + +-------------------------------+------+----------------+-------------------+ + | | | | | + | | 300 | | Under Constantine | + | | | | Christianity | + | | | | becomes the | + | | | | State religion | + | | | | Roman Empire | + | | | | divided | + | | | | | + +-------------------------------+------+----------------+-------------------+ + | | | | | + | | 400 | | Angles and Saxons | + | | | | drive out the | + | | | | Britons | + | | | | Huns under Attila | + | | | | invade the | + | | | | Roman Empire | + | | | | | + +-------------------------------+------+----------------+-------------------+ + | | | | | + | | 500 | | Christianity | + | | | | carried to | + | | | | England by | + | | | | Augustine | + | | | | | + +-------------------------------+------+----------------+-------------------+ + | | | | | + | ENGLISH LITERATURE | 600 | ARABIA | | + | Cædmon | | Mahomet | | + | | | | | + +-------------------------------+------+----------------+-------------------+ + | | | | | + | Bæda | 700 | | FRANCE | + | Cynewulf | | | Charlemagne | + | | | | founds the | + | | | | Empire of the | + | | | | West | + | | | | | + +-------------------------------+------+----------------+-------------------+ + | | | | | + | Ælfred, 850-900 | 800 | | Danes overrun | + | | | | England | + | | | | _Ælfred's_ | + | | | | _glorious | + | | | | _reign_ | + +-------------------------------+------+----------------+-------------------+ + | | | | | + | | 900 | | Chivalry begins | + | | | | Capetian kings in | + | | | | France | + | | | | ENGLAND | + | | | | Saint Dunstan | + | | | | Papal supremacy | + | | | | | + +-------------------------------+------+----------------+-------------------+ + | | | | | + | | 1000 | PERSIA | ENGLAND | + | | | Firdusi's Shah| Canute the Great| + | | | Nameh | 1066. | + | | | | _Norman_ | + | | | | _Conquest_ | + | | | | Peter the Hermit | + | | | | First Crusade | + +-------------------------------+------+----------------+-------------------+ + | | | | | + | Geoffrey of Monmouth | 1100 |PERSIA | ENGLAND | + | | | Omar Khayyám | Plantagenets | + | | |GERMANY | Richard I. | + | | | Nibelungenlied| | + | | | SPAIN | FRANCE | + | | | Chronicle of | Second and Third| + | | | the Cid | Crusades | + | | | | Saint Bernard | + | | | | | + +-------------------------------+------+----------------+-------------------+ + | | | | | + | Layamon | 1200 |PERSIA | ENGLAND | + | Roger Bacon | | Saadi | 1215. Runnymede,| + | | | | Magna Charta | + | | | | Edward I. | + | | | | | + +-------------------------------+------+----------------+-------------------+ + | | | | | + | Mandeville | 1300 | ITALY | ENGLAND | + | Langland | | Dante | Chivalry at its | + | Wycliffe Chaucer | | Petrarch | height | + | Gower | | Boccaccio | The Black Prince| + | | | | _Gunpowder_ | + | | | | | + | | |PERSIA | FRANCE | + | | | Hafiz | Battles of | + | | | | Crecy, | + | | | | Poictiers, and| + | | | | Agincourt | + | | | | | + +-------------------------------+------+----------------+-------------------+ + | | | | | + | Lydgate | 1400 |GERMANY | ENGLAND | + | Fortescue | | Thomas à | Henry VIII. | + | Malory | | Kempis | shook off the | + | | | | Pope | + | | | Arabian Nights |_Movable Type_ | + | | | (probably) |_Discovery of_ | + | | |PERSIA |_America_ | + | | | Jami | Joan of Arc | + | | | | Wars of the Roses | + | | | | | + +-------------------------------+------+----------------+-------------------+ + | | | | | + | | | | _Copernicus_ | + | More Ascham | 1500 | ITALY | _Kepler_ | + | Lyly Sackville | | Ariosto | _The Armada_ | + | Sidney | | Tasso | ENGLAND | + | Marlowe Fox | | Galileo | Henry VIII., | + | Spenser Hooker | | | Elizabeth | + | | | | GERMANY | + | | |FRANCE | 1515. _Luther's_ | + | | | Montaigne | _Reformation_ | + | | | | FRANCE | + | | | | Massacre of St. | + | | | | Bartholomew | + | | | | | + +-------------------------------+------+----------------+-------------------+ + | | | | | + | Jonson Bacon Herbert | 1600 |SPAIN. | 1620. Plymouth | + | Shakspeare Newton J.Taylor| | Cervantes | Rock and the | + | Chapman Hobbes | | Calderon | "Mayflower" | + | Beaumont & Walton | |GERMANY | 1649 | + | Fletcher S. Butler | | Kepler | _Cromwell_ | + | Milton Locke | |FRANCE | 1660 Restoration | + | Bunyan Pepys | | Descartes |1688 Revolution | + | Dryden | | Corneille | William and Mary | + | | | Racine | FRANCE. | + | | | Molière | Louis XIV. | + | | | La Fontain | | + +-------------------------------+------+----------------+-------------------+ + | | | | | + | Addison Cowper Otis | 1700 |FRANCE | 1776. American | + | Steele Burns Jay | | Montesquieu | Revolution | + | Pope Rogers Adams | | Le Sage | 1789-94. French | + | Defoe Hume Hamilton | | Rousseau | Revolution | + | Swift Edwards Madison | | Voltaire | ENGLAND | + | Berkeley A. Smith Jefferson| | | Marlborough | + | J. Butler Bentham Pitt | |GERMANY | | + | Moore Gibbon Burke | | Munchausen | | + | Thomson Johnson Fox | | Lessing | | + | Young Boswell Erskine | | | | + | Gray Malthus P. Henry.| | | | + | Goldsmith Mackintosh | | | | + | Sterne Paine | | | | + | | | | | + +-------------------------------+------+----------------+-------------------+ + | | | | | + | Scott Herschel DeQuincey| 1800 |GERMANY | 1807. Fulton's | + | Byron Whewell Whately | | Schiller | Steamboat | + | Bryant Ricardo Jeffrey | | Goethe | Wellington | + | Drake Carey Brougham | | Kant | 1815. Waterloo | + | Wordsworth Faraday S. Smith | | Fichte | 1815. White wives | + | Keats Lyell C. North | | Hegel | sold in England | + | Shelley Agassiz N. Webster| | Schelling | 1830. Passenger | + | Payne Whitney H. H. White| | Niebuhr | railway | + | Keble A. Gray D. Webster| | Schlosser | 1833. Matches | + | Halleck Hallam Sparks | | Heine | 1844. Telegraph | + | Key Prescott Story | | Haeckel | 1845. Mexican War | + | Macaulay Lewes Gould | | Helmholtz | | + | Hood Milman Cooper | | Grimm | | + | Poe Buckle Disraeli | | Froebel | | + | Read Merivale Dickens | | | | + | Tennyson Hildreth Thackeray| |FRANCE | 1860. Rebellion | + | Browning Freeman Bronté | | La Place | 1863. Emancipation| + | Lowell Draper Hawthorne| | Guizot | | + | Longfellow Froude Irving | | De Tocqueville| | + | Carleton Walpole Hughes | | Comte | | + | Ingelow Lecky Kingsley | | Hugo | | + | Whittier Parkman Eliot | | Dumas | 1870. Franco- | + | Mill Bancroft Collins | | Balzac | German War | + | Spencer Whipple Macdonald| | Renan | 1874. The | + | Ruskin Twain Hunt | | Taine | Telephone | + | Arnold Jerrold Wallace | | | Emancipation of | + | Curtis Choate Clarke | |RUSSIA | serfs in | + | Holmes Lincoln Landor | | Pushkin | Russia | + | Mansel Phillips Tourgée | | Lermontoff | | + | Carlyle Everett Holland | | Bashkirtseff | | + | Emerson Sumner Howells | | Tolstoi | | + | Darwin Garfield Mrs. Whitney| | | | + | Huxley Gladstone Miss Alcott| |DENMARK | | + | Dana A. D. White Bellamy | | Andersen | | + | Tyndall Beecher Gronlund | | | | + | Lubbock P. Brooks Gilman | |POLAND | | + | Proctor Lamb Holley | | Sienkiewicz | | + | Davy Hazlitt Dodge | | | | + | Proctor Lamb Jewett | | | | + | Davy Hazlitt Burroughs| | | | + | Bright Rives Stowe | | | | + | Fiske Aldrich Hearn | | | | + | Curtin Warner Burnett | | | | + | Hale Curtis | | | | + | Edwards Higginson | | | | + | | | | | + | | 1900 | | | + +-------------------------------+------+----------------+-------------------+ + + + + +REMARKS ON TABLE V. + + +=Definitions and Divisions=.--Literature is life pulsing through life +upon life; but only when the middle life imparts new beauty to the first +is literature produced in any true and proper sense. The last life is +that of the reader; the middle one that of the author; the first that of +the person or age he pictures. Literature is the past pouring itself +into the present. Every great man consumes and digests his own times. +Shakspeare gives us the England of the 16th century, with the added +qualities of beauty, ideality, and order. When we read Gibbon's "Rome," +it is really the life of all those turbulent times of which he writes +that is pouring upon us through the channels of genius. Dante paints +with his own sublime skill the portraits of Italy in the 14th century, +of his own rich, inner life, and of the universal human soul in one +composite masterpiece of art. In one of Munchausen's stories, a bugler +on the stage-top in St. Petersburg was surprised to find that the bugle +stopped in the middle of the song. Afterward, in Italy, sweet music was +heard, and upon investigation it was found that a part of the song had +been frozen in the instrument in Russia, and thawed in the warmer air of +Italy. So the music of river and breeze, of battle and banquet, was +frozen in the verse of Homer nearly three thousand years ago, and is +ready at any time, under the heat of our earnest study, to pour its +harmony into our lives. + +It is the fact that beauty is added by the author which distinguishes +_Literature_ from the pictures of life that are given to us by newspaper +reporters, tables of statistics, etc. Literature is not merely life,--it +is life _crystallized in art_. This is the first great line dividing the +Literary from the Non-Literary. The first class is again divided into +Poetry and Prose. In the first the form is measured, and the substance +imagery and imagination. In the latter the form is unmeasured, and the +substance direct. Imagery is the heart of poetry, and rhythm its body. +The thought must be expressed not in words merely, but in words that +convey other thoughts through which the first shines. The inner life is +pictured in the language of external Nature, and Nature is painted in +the colors of the heart. The poet must dip his brush in that eternal +paint-pot from which the forests and fields, the mountains, the sky, and +the stars were painted. He must throw human life out upon the world, and +draw the world into the stream of his own thought. Sometimes we find the +substance of the poetic in the dress of prose, as in Emerson's and in +Ingersoll's lectures, and then we have the prose poem; and sometimes we +find the form of poetry with only the direct expression, which is the +substance of prose, or perhaps without even the substance of _literary_ +prose, as in parts of Wordsworth, Pope, Longfellow, Homer, Tennyson, +and even sometimes in Shakspeare; see, for example, Tennyson's "Dirge." + +=Tests for the Choice of Books=.--In deciding which of those glorious +ships that sail the ages, bringing their precious freight of genius to +every time and people, we shall invite into our ports, we must consider +the nature of the crew, the beauty, strength, and size of the vessel, +the depth of our harbor, the character of the cargo, and our own wants. +In estimating the value of a book, we have to note (1) the kind of life +that forms its material; (2) the qualities of the author,--that is, of +the life through which the stream comes to us, and whose spirit is +caught by the current, as the breezes that come through the garden bear +with them the perfume of flowers that they touch; (3) the form of the +book, its music, simplicity, size, and artistic shape; (4) its merits, +compared with the rest of the books in its own sphere of thought; (5) +its fame; (6) our abilities; and (7) our needs. There result several +tests of the claims of any book upon our attention. + +I. What effect will it have upon character? Will it make me more +careful, earnest, sincere, placid, sympathetic, gay, enthusiastic, +loving, generous, pure, and brave by exercising these emotions in me, +and more abhorrent of evil by showing me its loathsomeness; or more +sorrowful, fretful, cruel, envious, vindictive, cowardly, and false, +less reverent of right and more attracted by evil, by picturing good as +coming from contemptible sources, and evil as clothed with beauty? Is +the author such a man as I would wish to be the companion of my heart, +or such as I must study to avoid? + +II. What effect will the book produce upon the mind? Will it exercise +and strengthen my fancy, imagination, memory, invention, originality, +insight, breadth, common-sense, and philosophic power? Will it make me +bright, witty, reasonable, and tolerant? Will it give me the quality of +intellectual beauty? Will it give me a deeper knowledge of human life, +of Nature, and of my business, or open the doorways of any great temple +of science where I am as yet a stranger? Will it help to build a +standard of taste in literature for the guidance of myself and others? +Will it give me a knowledge of what other people are thinking and +feeling, thus opening the avenues of communication between my life and +theirs? + +III. What will be the effect on my skills and accomplishments? Will it +store my mind full of beautiful thoughts and images that will make my +conversation a delight and profit to my friends? Will it teach me how to +write with power, give me the art of thinking clearly and expressing my +thought with force and attractiveness? Will it supply a knowledge of the +best means of attaining any other desired art or accomplishment? + +IV. Is the book simple enough for me? Is it within my grasp? If not, I +must wait till I have come upon a level with it. + +V. Will the book impart a pleasure in the very reading? This test alone +is not reliable; for till our taste is formed, the trouble may not be in +it but in ourselves. + +VI. Has it been superseded by a later book, or has its truth passed into +the every-day life of the race? If so, I do not need to read it. Other +things equal, the authors nearest to us in time and space have the +greatest claims on our attention. Especially is this true in science, in +which each succeeding great book sucks the life out of all its +predecessors. In poetry there is a principle that operates in the +opposite direction; for what comes last is often but an imitation, that +lacks the fire and force of the original. Nature is best painted, not +from books, but from her own sweet face. + +VII. What is the relation of the book to the completeness of my +development? Will it fill a gap in the walls of my building? Other +things equal, I had better read about something I know nothing of than +about something I am familiar with; for the aim is to get a picture of +the universe in my brain, and a full development of my whole nature. It +is a good plan to read everything of something and something of +everything. A too general reader seems vague and hazy, as if he were fed +on fog; and a too special reader is narrow and hard, as if fed on +needles. + +VIII. Is the matter inviting my attention of permanent value? The +profits of reading what is merely of the moment are not so great as +those accruing from the reading of literature that is of all time. To +hear the gossip of the street is not as valuable as to hear the lectures +of Joseph Cook, or the sermons of Beecher and Brooks. On this principle, +most of our time should be spent on classics, and very little upon +transient matter. There is a vast amount of energy wasted in this +country in the reading of newspapers and periodicals. The newspaper is a +wonderful thing. It brings the whole huge earth to me in a little brown +wrapper every morning. The editor is a sort of travelling stage-manager, +who sets up his booth on my desk every day, bringing with him the +greatest performers from all the countries of the world, to play their +parts before my eyes. Yonder is an immense mass-meeting; and that mite, +brandishing his mandibles in an excited manner, is the great Mr. +So-and-So, explaining his position amid the tumultuous explosions of an +appreciative multitude. That puffet of smoke and dust to the right is a +revolution. There in the shadow of the wood comes an old man who lays +down a scythe and glass while he shifts the scenes, and we see a bony +hand reaching out to snatch back a player in the midst of his part, and +even trying to clutch the showman himself. For three dollars a year I +can buy a season ticket to this great Globe theatre, for which God +writes the dramas, whose scene-shifter is Time, and whose curtain is +rung down by Death.[1] But theatre-going, if kept up continuously, is +very enervating. 'T is better far to read the hand-bills and placards +at the door, and only when the play is great go in. Glance at the +head-lines of the paper always; read the mighty pages seldom. The +editors could save the nation millions of rich hours by a daily column +of _brief but complete_ statements of the paper's contents, instead of +those flaring head-lines that allure but do not satisfy, and only lead +us on to read that Mr. Windbag nominated Mr. Darkhorse amid great +applause, and that Mr. Darkhorse accepted in a three-column speech +skilfully constructed so as to commit himself to nothing; or that Mr. +Bondholder's daughter was married, and that Mrs. So-and-So wore cream +satin and point lace, with roses, etc. + +[1] Adapted from Lowell. + +=Intrinsic Merit=.--It must be noted that the tests of intrinsic merit +are not precisely the same as the tests for the choice of books. The +latter include the former and more. Intrinsic merit depends on the +character impressed upon the book by its subject-matter and the author; +but in determining the claims of a book upon the attention of the +ordinary English reader, it is necessary not only to look at the book +itself, but also to consider the needs and abilities of the reader. One +may not be able to read the book that is intrinsically the best, because +of the want of time or lack of sufficient mental development. Green's +"Short History of England" and Dickens' "Child's History of England" may +not be the greatest works in their department, but they may have the +_greatest claims on the attention_ of one whose time or ability is +limited. A chief need of every one is to know what others are thinking +and feeling. To open up avenues of communication between mind and mind +is one of the great objects of reading. Now it often happens that a book +of no very high merit artistically considered--a book that can never +take rank as a classic--becomes very famous, and is for a time the +subject of much comment and conversation. In such cases all who would +remain in thorough sympathy with their fellows must give the book at +least a hasty reading, or in some way gain a knowledge of its contents. +Intrinsically "Robert Elsmere" and "Looking Backward" may not be worthy +of high rank (though I am by no means so sure of this as many of the +critics seem to be); but their fame, joined as it is with high motive, +entitles them to a reading. + +It is always a good plan, however, to endeavor to ascertain the absolute +or intrinsic merit of a book first, and afterward arrive at the relative +value or claim upon the attention by making the correction required by +the time and place, later publications in the same department, the +peculiar needs and abilities of readers, etc. + +In testing intrinsic worth we must consider-- + + Motive. + Magnitude. + Unity. + Universality. + Suggestiveness. + Expression. + +=Motive=.--The purpose of the author and the emotional character of the +subject matter are of great importance. A noble subject nobly handled +begets nobility in the reader, and a spirit of meanness brought into a +book by its subject or author also impresses itself upon those who come +in contact with it. Kind, loving books make the world more +tender-hearted; coarse and lustful books degrade mankind. The nobility +of the sentiment in and underlying a work is therefore a test of prime +importance. + + Whittier's "Voices of Freedom," + Lowell's "Vision of Sir Launfal," + Tennyson's "Locksley Hall," + Warner's "A-Hunting of the Deer," + Shakspeare's "Coriolanus," + Macaulay's "Horatius" and "Virginia," + Æschylus' "Prometheus," + Dickens' "Christmas Carol," + Sewell's "Black Beauty," + Chaucer's "Griselda," + Browning's "Ivan Ivanovitch," + Arnold's "Forsaken Merman," and "The Light of Asia," + +are fine examples of high motive. + +=Magnitude=.--The grander the subject, the deeper the impression upon +us. In reading a book like "The Light of Asia," that reveals the heart +of a great religion, or Guizot's "Civilization in Europe," that deals +with the life of a continent, or Darwin's "Origin of Species," or +Spencer's "Nebular Hypothesis," that grapples with problems as wide as +the world and as deep as the starry spaces,--in reading such books we +receive into ourselves a larger part of the universe than when we devote +ourselves to the history of the town we live in, or the account of the +latest game of base ball. + +=Unity=.--A book, picture, statue, play, or oratorio is an artistic +unity when no part of it could be removed without injury to the whole +effect. True art masses many forces to a single central purpose. The +more complex a book is in its substance (not its expression),--that is +to say, the greater the variety of thoughts and feelings compressed +within its lids,--the higher it will rank, if the parts are good in +themselves and are so related as to produce one tremendous effect. But +no intrusion of anything not essentially related to the supreme purpose +can be tolerated. A good book is like a soldier who will not burden +himself with anything that will not increase his fighting power, +because, if he did, its weight would _diminish_ his fighting force. In +the same way, if a book contains unnecessary matter, a portion of the +attention that should be concentrated upon the real purpose of the +volume, is absorbed by the superfluous pages, rendering the effect less +powerful than it would otherwise be. Most of the examples of high motive +named above, would be in place here, especially,-- + + Prometheus. + The Forsaken Merman. + The Light of Asia. + +Other fine specimens of unity are,-- + + Holmes's "Nautilus." + Hood's "Bridge of Sighs." + Gray's "Elegy." + Hunt's "Abou Ben Adhem." + Longfellow's "Psalm of Life." + Whittier's "Barefoot Boy." + Shelley's "Ode to a Skylark." + Shelley's "Ode to the West Wind." + Byron's "Eve of Waterloo." + Bryant's "Thanatopsis." + Reed's "Drifting." + Drake's "Culprit Fay." + Irving's "Art of Bookmaking," etc. (in "Sketch Book"). + Rives' "Story of Arnon." + Dante's "Divine Comedy." + Schiller's "Veiled Statue of Truth." + Goethe's "Erl King." + +Humor alone has a right to violate unity even apparently; and although +wit and humor produce their effects by displaying incongruities, yet +underlying all high art, in this department as in others, there is +always a deep unity,--a truth revealed and enforced by the destruction +of its contradictories accomplished by the sallies of wit and humor. + +=Universality=.--Other things equal, the more people interested in the +subject the more important the book. A matter which affects a million +people is of more consequence than one which affects only a single +person. National affairs, and all matters of magnitude, of course +possess this quality; but magnitude is not necessary to +universality,--the thoughts, feelings, and actions of an unpretentious +person in a little village may be types of what passes in the life of +every human being, and by their representativeness attain a more +universal interest for mankind than the business and politics of a +state. + +The rules of tennis are not of so wide importance as an English grammar, +nor is the latter so universal as Dante's "Inferno" or "The Meditations +of Marcus Aurelius,"--these being among the books that in the highest +degree possess the quality under discussion. Other fine examples are-- + + Goethe's "Faust." + Shakespeare's Plays and Sonnets. + Bunyan's "Pilgrim's Progress." + Arnold's "Light of Asia." + Bacon's and Emerson's Essays. + "Uncle Tom's Cabin." + Sewell's "Black Beauty." + Eliot's "Romola." + Curtis' "Prue and I." + Cooper's "Last of the Mohicans." + Tourgée's "Hot Plowshares." + Irving's "Sketch Book." + Plato, Spencer, etc. + +In fact, all books that express love, longing, admiration, tenderness, +sorrow, laughter, joy, victory over nature or man, or any other thought +or feeling common to men, have the attribute of universality in greater +or less degree. + +=Suggestiveness=.--Every great work of art suggests far more than it +expresses. This truth is illustrated by paintings like Bierstadt's +"Yosemite" or his "Drummer Boy," Millet's "Angelus," or Turner's "Slave +Ship." Statues like the "Greek Slave" or "The Forced Prayer;" speeches +like those of Phillips, Fox, Clay, Pitt, Bright, Webster, and Brooks; +songs like "Home, Sweet Home," "My Country," "Douglas," "Annie Laurie;" +and books like + + Emerson's Essays. + Æschylus' "Prometheus." + Goethe's "Faust" and "Wilhelm Meister." + Dante's "Divine Comedy." + "Hamlet" and many other of Shakspeare's Plays. + Curtis' "Prue and I." + The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius. + The Sermons of Phillips Brooks and Robertson. + "My Summer in a Garden," by Warner; etc. + +A single sentence in Emerson often suggests a train of thought that +would fill a volume; and a single inflection of Patti's voice in singing +"Home, Sweet Home" will fill the heart to overflowing. + +=Expression=.--Like a musician, an author must study technique. A book +may possess high motive, artistic unity, universality, suggestiveness, +magnitude of thought, and yet be lacking in clearness, purity, music, +smoothness, force, finish, tone-color, or even in proper grammatical +construction. The style ought to be carefully adapted to the subject and +to the readers likely to be interested in it. _Force_ and _beauty_ may +be imparted to the subject by a good style. In poetry beauty is the +supreme object, the projection of truth upon the _mind_ being +subordinate. Poetry expresses the truths of the soul. In prose, on the +other hand, truth is the main purpose, and beauty is used as a helper. +As a soldier studies his guns, and a dentist his tools, so a writer must +study the laws of rhythm, accent, phrasing, alliteration, phonetic +syzygy, run-on and double-ending lines, rhyme, and, last but not least, +the melodies of common speech. The first three and the last are the most +important, and should be thoroughly studied in Shakspeare, Addison, +Irving, and other masters of style by every one who wishes to write or +to judge the work of others. Except as to rhyme, the arts of writing +prose and poetry are substantially the same. Theoretically there is a +fundamental difference in respect to rhythm,--that of a poem being +limited to the repetition of some chosen type, that of prose being +unlimited. A little study makes it clear, however, that the highest +poetry, as that of Shakspeare's later plays, crowds the type with the +forms of common speech; while the highest efforts of prose, as that of +Addison, Irving, Phillips, Ingersoll's oration over his dead brother, +etc., display rhythms that approach the order and precision of poetry. +In practice the best prose and the best poetry approach each other very +closely, moving from different directions toward the same point. + +It is of great advantage to form the habit of noticing the _tunes_ of +speech used by those around us; the study will soon become very +pleasurable, and will be highly profitable by teaching the observer what +mode of expression is appropriate to each variety of thought and +feeling. There is a rhythm that of itself produces a comic effect, no +matter how sober the words may be; and it is the same that we find in +"Pinafore," in the "Mariner's Duet" in the opera of "Paul Jones," and in +the minstrel dance. For fifteen centuries all the great battle-songs +have been written in the same rhythm; they fall into it naturally, +because it expresses the movement of mighty conflict. See Lanier's +"Science of English Verse," pages 151 _et seq._, 231 _et seq._ This is +the best book upon technique; but Spencer's Essay on the Philosophy of +Style, and Poe's Essay on his composition of "The Raven" should not be +overlooked. Franklin and many others have discovered the laws of style +simply by careful study of the "Spectator." + +Of course it is not easy to decide the true rank of a book, even when we +have tested it in respect to all the elements we have named. One book +may be superior in expression, another in suggestiveness, and so on. +Then we have to take note of the relative importance of these various +elements of greatness. A little superiority in motive or suggestiveness +is worth far more than the same degree of superiority as to unity or +magnitude. A book filled with noble sentiment, though lacking unity, +should rank far above "Don Juan," or any other volume that expresses +the ignoble part of human nature, however perfect the work may be from +an artistic point of view. Having now examined the tests of intrinsic +merit, let me revert for a moment to my remark, a few pages back, to the +effect that "Looking Backward" and "Robert Elsmere" deserve a high rank. +They are books of _lofty aim_, great magnitude of subject and thought, +fine unity, _wide universality_, _exhaustless suggestiveness_, and more +than ordinary power of expression. Doubtless they are not _absolute_ +classics,--not books of all time,--for their subjects are transitional, +not eternal. They deal with _doubts_, religious and industrial; when +these have passed away, the mission of the books will be fulfilled, and +their importance will be less. But they are _relative_ classics,--books +that are of great value to their age, and will be great as long as their +subjects are prominent. + + + + +SUPREME BOOKS + + IN THE LITERATURES OF ENGLAND, AMERICA, GREECE, ROME, ITALY, + FRANCE, SPAIN, GERMANY, PERSIA, PORTUGAL, DENMARK, RUSSIA. + + + + +PERIODS OF ENGLISH LITERATURE. + + +The highest summit of our literature--and indeed of the literature of +the world--is Shakspeare. He brings us life in the greatest force and +volume, of the highest quality, and clothed in the richest beauty. His +age, which was practically identical with the reign of Elizabeth, is the +golden age of English letters; and taking it for a basis of division, we +have the Pre-Shakspearian Age from 600 to 1559, the Shakspearian Age +from 1559 to 1620, and the Post-Shakspearian Age from 1620 to the +present. + +=The first age= is divided into three periods. + +_First_, the Early Period, from 600 to the Norman Conquest in 1066, +which holds the names of Beowulf,[2] Cædmon,[3] Bæda,[4] Cynewulf, and +Ælfred, the great king who did so much for the learning of his country, +bringing many great scholars into England from all over the world, and +himself writing the best prose that had been produced in English, and +changing the "Anglo-Saxon Chronicle"--till his time a mere record of +noble births and deaths--into a valuable periodical, the progenitor of +the vast horde that threatens to expel the classics in our day. The +literature of this period has little claim upon us except on the ground +of breadth. The _Anglo-Saxon Chronicle_, and the poems of _Beowulf_, +_Cædmon_, and _Cynewulf_, should be glanced at to see what sort of +people our ancestors were. + +[2] An epic poem, full of the life, in peace and war, of our Saxon +fathers before they came to England. + +[3] The writer of a paraphrase on the Bible; a feeble Milton. + +[4] A very learned man, who gathered many scholars about him, and who +finished translating the Gospel of John on his death-bed and with his +latest breath. + +_Second_, the Period of Chaucer, from 1066 to the death of Chaucer in +1400. The great books of this period were _Mandeville's Travels_, +Langland's "Piers the Ploughman." Wycliffe's translation of the Bible +(these two books, with Wycliffe's tracts, went all over England among +the common people, rousing them against the Catholic Church, and +starting the reformation that afterward grew into Puritanism, and gained +control of the nation under Cromwell), Gower's Poems, and _Chaucer's +Canterbury Tales_. Those in italics are the only books that claim our +reading. Mandeville travelled thirty years, and then wrote all he saw +and all he heard from the mouth of rumor. Chaucer is half French and +two-thirds Italian. He drank in the spirit of the Golden Age of Italy, +which was in the early part of his own century. Probably he met Petrarch +and Boccaccio, and certainly he drew largely from their works as well as +from Dante's, and he dug into poor Gower as into a stone quarry. He is +still our best story-teller in verse, and one of our most musical poets; +and every one should know something of this "morning star of English +poetry," by far the greatest light before the Elizabethan age, and still +easily among the first five or six of our poets. + +_Third_, the Later Period, from 1400 to 1559, in which _Malory's Morte +D'Arthur_, containing fragments of the stories about King Arthur and the +knights of his round table, which like a bed-rock crop out so often in +English Literature, should be read while reading Tennyson's "Idylls of +the King," which is based upon Malory; and _Sir Thomas More's Utopia_ +also claims some attention on the plea of breadth, as it is the work of +a great mind, thoroughly and practically versed in government, and sets +forth his idea of a perfect commonwealth. + +In this age of nine and a half centuries there were, then, ten +noteworthy books and one great book; eight only of the eleven, however, +have any claim upon our attention, the last three being all that are +entitled to more than a rapid reading by the general student; and only +Chaucer for continuous companionship can rank high, and even he cannot +be put on the first shelf. + + * * * * * + +=In the Shakspearian Age= the great books were (1) _Roger Ascham's +Schoolmaster_, which was a fine argument for kindness in teaching and +nobility in the teacher, but has been superseded by Spencer's +"Education." (2) _Sackville's Induction_ to a series of political +tragedies, called "A Mirror for Magistrates." The poet goes down into +hell like Dante, and meets Remorse, Famine, War, Misery, Care, Sleep, +Death, etc., and talks with noted Englishmen who had fallen. This +"Mirror" was of great fame and influence in its day; and the +"Induction," though far inferior to both Chaucer and Spenser, is yet the +best poetic work done in the time between those masters. (3) _John +Lyly's Euphues_, a book that expressed the thought of Ascham's +"Schoolmaster" in a style peculiar for its puns, antitheses, and +floweriness,--a style which made a witty handling of language the chief +aim of writing. Lyly was a master of the art, and the ladies of the +court committed his sentences in great numbers, that they might shine in +society. The book has given a word to the language; that affected +word-placing style is known as _euphuistic_. The book has no claims upon +our reading. (4) _Sir Philip Sidney's Arcadia_, a romance in the same +conceited style as the "Euphues," and only valuable as a mine for poetic +images. (5) _Hooker's Ecclesiastical Polity_, which was a defence of the +church system against the Puritans. The latter said that no such system +of church government could be found in the Bible, and therefore should +not exist. Hooker answered that Nature was a revelation from God as well +as the Bible; and if in Nature and society there were good reasons for +the existence of an institution, that was enough. The book is not of +importance to the general reader to-day, for the truth of its principles +is universally admitted. (6) _The Plays of Marlowe_, a very powerful but +gross writer. His "Dr. Faustus" may very properly receive attention, +but only after the best plays of Shakspeare, Jonson, Calderon, Racine, +Molière, Corneille, Æschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, and Aristophanes +have been carefully read. (7) _The Plays of Beaumont and Fletcher_, +which are filled with beauty and imagination, mingled with the immodesty +and vulgarity that were natural to this age. The remark just made about +Marlowe applies here. (8) _Fox's Book of Martyrs_, which for the sake of +breadth should be glanced at by every one. The marvellous heroism and +devotion to faith on one side, and cruelty on the other that come to us +through the pages of this history, open a new world to the modern mind. +(9) _Edmund Spenser's Faerie Queene_, which combines the poetry of a +Homer with the allegory of a Bunyan. It presents moral truth under vast +and beautiful imagery. In English poetry it claims our attention next to +Shakspeare and Milton. (10) _Ben Jonson's Plays_, which stand next to +those of Shakspeare in English drama. (11) _The Plays of Shakspeare_, +which need no comment, as they have already been placed at the summit of +all literature; and (12) _Bacon's Works_, including the _Novum Organum_, +the _New Atlantis_, and the _Essays_, the first of which, though one of +the greatest books of the world, setting forth the true methods of +arriving at truth by experiment and observation and the collation of +facts, we do not need to read, because the substance of it may be found +in better form in Mill's Logic. The "Essays," however, are world-famed +for their condensed wit and wisdom on topics of never-dying interest, +and stand among the very best books on the upper shelf. The "New +Atlantis" also should be read for breadth, with More's "Utopia;" the +subject being the same, namely, an ideal commonwealth. + +From this sixty-one years of prolific writing, in which no less than two +hundred and thirty authors gathered their poems together and published +them, to say nothing of all the scattered writings, twelve volumes have +come down to us with a large measure of fame. Only the last seven call +for our reading; but two of them, Shakspeare and Bacon, are among the +very most important books on the first shelf of the world's library. + + * * * * * + +=The Post-Shakspearian Age= is divided into four times, or periods,--the +Time of Milton; the Time of Dryden; the Time of Pope; and the Time of +the Novelists, Historians, and Scientists. + +THE TIME OF MILTON, from 1620 to 1674, was contemporary with the Golden +Age of literature in France. The great English books of this time were +(1) _Chapman's Translation of Homer_, which is superseded by Pope's. (2) +_Hobbes's Leviathan_, a discourse on government. Hobbes taught that +government exists for the people, and rests not on the divine right of +kings, but on a compact or agreement of all the citizens to give up a +portion of their liberties in order by social co-operation the better +to secure the remainder. He is one of our greatest philosophers; but the +general reader will find the substance of Hobbes's whole philosophy +better put in Locke, Mill, and Herbert Spencer. (3) _Walton's Complete +Angler_, the work of a retired merchant who combined a love of fishing +with a poetic perception of the beauties of Nature. It will repay a +glance. (4) _S. Butler's Hudibras_, a keen satire on the Puritans who +went too far in their effort to compel all men to conform their lives to +the Puritan standard of abstinence from worldly pleasures. In spite of +its vulgarity, the book stands very high in the literature of humor. (5) +_George Herbert's Poems_, many of which are as sweet and holy as a +flower upon a grave, and are beloved by all spiritually minded people. +(6) _Jeremy Taylor's Holy Living and Dying_, a book that in the strength +of its claim upon us must rank close after the Bible, Shakspeare, and +the Science of Physiology and Hygiene. (7) _Milton's Poems_, of which +the "Paradise Lost" and "Comus," for their sublimity and beauty, rank +next after Shakspeare in English poetry. Æschylus, Dante, and Milton are +the three sublimest souls in history. + +From this time of fifty-four years seven great books have come to us, +Milton and Taylor being among our most precious possessions. + +THE TIME OF DRYDEN.--From the death of Milton, in 1674, to the death of +Dryden, in 1700, the latter held undisputed kingship in the realm of +letters. This and the succeeding time of Pope were marked by the +development of a classic style and a fine literary and critical taste, +but were lacking in great creative power. The great books were (1) +_Newton's Principia_, the highest summit in the region of astronomy, +unless the "Mécanique Céleste" of Laplace must be excepted. Newton's +discovery of the law of gravitation, and his theory of fluxions place +him at the head of the mathematical thinkers of the world. His books, +however, need not be read by the general student, for in these sciences +the later books are better. (2) _Locke's Works_ upon Government and the +Understanding are among the best in the world, but their results will +all be found in the later works of Spencer, Mill, and Bryce; and the +only part of the writings of Locke that claims our reading to-day is the +little book upon the _Conduct of the Understanding_, which tells us how +to watch the processes of our thought, to keep clear of prejudice, +careless observation, etc., and should be in the hands of every one who +ever presumes to do any thinking. (3) _Dryden's Translation of Virgil_ +is the best we have, and contains the finest writing of our great John. +(4) _Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress_ picturing in magnificent allegory the +journey of a Christian soul toward heaven, and his "Holy War," telling +of the conflict between good and evil, and the devil's efforts to +capture and hold the town of "Mansoul," should be among the first books +we read. The "Progress" holds a place in the affections of all +English-speaking peoples second only to the Bible. (5) _Sam Pepys's +Diary_ is the greatest book of its kind in the world, and is much read +for its vividness and interesting detail. It has, however, no claims to +be read until all the books on the first shelf of Table I. have been +mastered, and a large portion of the second shelf pretty thoroughly +looked into. + +Of the five great works of these twenty-six years, Bunyan and Locke are +far the most important for us. + +THE TIME OF POPE, or the _Time of the Essayists and Satirists_, covers a +period of forty years, from 1700 to 1740, during which the great +translator of Homer held the sceptre of literary power by unanimous +assent. The great works of this time were (1) _The Essays of Addison and +Steele_ in the "Tatler" and "Spectator," which, though of great merit, +must rank below those of Emerson, Bacon, and Montaigne. (2) _Defoe's +Robinson Crusoe_, the boy's own book. (3) _Swift's Satires_,--the "Tale +of a Tub," "Gulliver's Travels," and the "Battle of the Books,"--all +full of the strongest mixture of grossness, fierceness, and intense wit +that the world has seen. The "Battle of the Books" may be read with +great advantage by the general reader as well as by the student of +humor. (4) _Berkeley's Human Knowledge_, exceedingly interesting for the +keenness of its confutation of any knowledge of the existence of matter. +(5) _Pope's Poems_--the "Rape of the Lock" (which means the theft of a +lock of hair), the "Essay on Man," and his translation of Homer--must +form a part of every wide course of reading. Their mechanical execution, +especially, is of the very finest. (6) _Thomson's Seasons_, a beautiful +poem of the second class. (7) _Butler's Analogy_, chiefly noted for its +proof of the existence of God from the fact that there is evidence of +design in Nature. + +Of these writers, Pope and Defoe are far the most important for us. + +We have, down to this time of 1740, out of a literature covering eleven +and a half centuries, recommended to the chief attention of the reader +ten great authors,--Chaucer and Spenser, Shakspeare and Bacon, Milton +and Taylor, Bunyan and Locke, Pope and Defoe. We now come to the TIME OF +NOVELISTS, HISTORIANS, AND SCIENTISTS, a period in the history of our +literature that is so prolific of great writers in all the vastly +multiplied departments of thought, that it is no longer possible to +particularize in the manner we have done in regard to the preceding +ages. A sufficient illustration has been given of the methods of judging +books and the results of their application. With the ample materials of +Table I. before him, the reader must now be left to make his own +judgments in regard to the relative merits of the books of the modern +period. We shall confine our remarks on this last time of English +literature to the recommendation of ten great authors to match the ten +great names of former times. In history, we shall name _Parkman_, the +greatest of American historians; in philosophy, _Herbert Spencer_, the +greatest name in the whole list of philosophers; in poetry, _Byron_ and +_Tennyson_, neither of them equal to Shakspeare and Milton, but standing +in the next file behind them; in fiction, _Scott_, _Eliot_, and +_Dickens_; in poetic humor, _Lowell_, the greatest of all names in this +department; and in general literature, _Carlyle_ and _Ruskin_, two of +the purest, wisest, and most forcible writers of all the past, and, +curiously enough, both of them very eccentric and very wordy,--a sort of +English double star, which will be counted in this list as a unit, in +order to crowd in _Emerson_, who belongs in this great company, and is +not by any means the least worthy member of it. One more writer there is +in this time greater than any we have named, except Spencer and Scott; +namely, the author of "The Origin of Species." _Darwin_ stands by the +side of Newton in the history of scientific thought; but, like his great +compeer, the essence of his book has come to be a part of modern thought +that floats in the air we breathe; and so his claims to being read are +less than those of authors who cannot be called so great when speaking +of intrinsic merit. + +Having introduced the greatest ten of old, and ten that may be deemed +the greatest of the new, in English letters, we shall pass to take a +bird's-eye view of what is best in Greece and Rome, France, Italy, and +Spain, and say a word of Persia, Germany, and Portugal. + + + + +THE GREATEST NAMES OF OTHER LITERATURES. + + +=Greece=, in her thirteen centuries of almost continuous literary +productiveness from Homer to Longus, gave the world its greatest epic +poet, _Homer_; the finest of lyric poets, _Pindar_; the prince of +orators, _Demosthenes_; aside from our own Bacon and Spencer, the +greatest philosophers of all the ages, _Plato_ and _Aristotle_; the most +noted of fabulists, _Æsop_; the most powerful writer of comedy, +_Aristophanes_ (Molière, however, is much to be preferred for modern +reading, because of his fuller applicability to our life); and the three +greatest writers of pure tragedy, _Æschylus_, _Sophocles_, and +_Euripides_,--the first remarkable for his gloomy grandeur and gigantic, +dark, and terrible sublimity; the second for his sweet majesty and +pathos; and third for the power with which he paints men as they are in +real life. Euripides was a great favorite with Milton and Fox. + +To one who is not acquainted with these ten great Greeks, much of the +sweetest and grandest of life remains untasted and unknown. Begin with +Homer, Plato's "Phædo" and "Republic," Æschylus' "Prometheus Bound," +Sophocles' "OEdipus," and Demosthenes' "On the Crown." + +A liberal reading must also include the Greek historians Herodotus, +Thucydides, and Xenophon. + +=Rome= taught the world the art of war, but was herself a pupil in the +halls of Grecian letters. Only three writers--_Plutarch_, _Marcus +Aurelius_ (who both wrote in Greek), and _Epictetus_--can claim our +attention in anything like an equal degree with the authors of Athens +named just above. Its literature as a whole is on a far lower plane than +that of Greece or England. A liberal education must include Virgil's +"Æneid," the national epic of Rome (which, however, must take its place +in our lives and hearts far after Homer, Shakspeare, Milton, Dante, and +Goethe), for its elegance and imagination; Horace, for his wit, grace, +sense, and inimitable witchery of phrase; Lucretius, for his depth of +meditation; Tacitus, for knowledge of our ancestors; Ovid and Catullus, +for their beauty of expression; Juvenal, for the keenness of his satire; +and Plautus and Terence, for their insight into the characters of men. +But these books should wait until at least the three first named in this +paragraph, with the ten Greek and twenty English writers spoken of in +the preceding paragraphs, have come to be familiar friends. + +=Italy=, in Chaucer's century, produced a noble literature. _Dante_ is +the Shakspeare of the Latin races. He stands among the first creators of +sublimity. Æschylus and Milton only can claim a place beside him. +_Petrarch_ takes lofty rank as a lyric poet, breathing the heart of +love. Boccaccio may be put with Chaucer. Ariosto and Tasso wrote the +finest epics of Italian poetry. A liberal education must neglect no one +of these. Every life should hold communion with the soul of Dante, and +get a taste at least of Petrarch. + +=France= has a glorious literature; in science, the best in the world. +In history, _Guizot_; in jurisprudence, in its widest sense, +_Montesquieu_; and in picturing the literary history of a nation, +_Taine_, stand unrivalled anywhere. Among essayists, _Montaigne_; among +writers of fiction, _Le Sage_, _Victor Hugo_, and _Balzac_; among the +dramatists, _Corneille_ the grand, _Racine_ the graceful and tender, and +_Molière_ the creator of modern comedy; and among fabulists, the +inimitable poet of fable, _La Fontaine_, demand a share of our time with +the best. Descartes, Pascal, Rousseau, Voltaire, and Comte belong in +every liberal scheme of culture and to every student of philosophy. + +=Spain= gives us two most glorious names, _Cervantes_ and _Pedro +Calderon de la Barca_,--the former one of the world's very greatest +humorists, the brother spirit of Lowell; the latter, a princely +dramatist, the brother of Shakspeare. + +=Germany= boasts one summit on which the shadow of no other falls. +_Goethe's_ "Faust" and "Wilhelm Meister" and his minor poems cannot be +neglected if we want the best the world affords; _Schiller_, too, and +_Humboldt_, _Kant_ and _Heine_, _Helmholtz_ and _Haeckel_ must be read. +In science and history, the list of German greatness is a very long and +bright one. + +=Persia= calls us to read her magnificent astronomer-poet, _Omar +Khayyám_; her splendid epic, the _Shah Nameh of Firdusi_, the story of +whose labors, successes, and misfortunes is one of the most interesting +passages in the history of poetry; and taste at least of her extravagant +singer of the troubles and ecstasies of love, Hafiz. + +=Portugal= has given us _Camoens_, with his great poem the "Luciad." +=Denmark= brings us her charming _Andersen_; and =Russia= comes to us +with her Byronic Pushkin and her Schiller-hearted poet, Lermontoff, at +least for a glance. + +We have thus named as the chiefs, twenty authors in English, ten in +Greek, three of Rome, two of Italy, ten of France, two of Spain, seven +of Germany, three of Persia, one of Portugal, one of Denmark, and two of +Russia,--sixty-one in all,--which, if read in the manner indicated, will +impart a pretty thorough knowledge of the literary treasures of the +world. + + + + +THE FOUNTAINS OF NATIONAL LITERATURES. + + +In the early history of every great people there has grown up a body of +songs celebrating the heroism of their valiant warriors and the charms +of their beautiful women. These have, generation after generation, been +passed by word of mouth from one group of singers to their +successors,--by each new set of artists somewhat polished and +improved,--until they come to us as Homer's Iliad, the "Nibelungenlied" +of the Germans, the "Chronicle of the Cid" of the Spanish, the "Chansons +de Gestes," the "Romans," and the "Fabliaux" of the French, and +"Beowulf" and the "Morte D'Arthur" of English literature. These great +poems are the sources of a vast portion of what is best in subsequent +art. From them Virgil, Boccaccio, Chaucer, Rabelais, Molière, +Shakspeare, Calderon, and a host of others have drawn their inspiration. +Malory has wrought the Arthurian songs into a mould of the purest +English. The closing books, in their quiet pathos and reserved +strength,--in their melody, winged words, and inimitable turns of +phrase,--rank with the best poetry of Europe. Southey called the "Cid" +the finest poem in the Spanish language, and Prescott said it was "the +most remarkable performance of the Middle Ages." This may be going +rather too far; but it certainly stands in the very front rank of +national poems. It has been translated by Lockhart in verse, by Southey +in prose, and there is a splendid fragment by Frere. Of the French early +epics, the "Chanson de Roland" and the "Roman du Renart" are the best. +The "Nibelungenlied" is the embodiment of the wild and tragic,--the +highest note of the barbaric drama of the North. That last terrific +scene in the Hall of Etzel will rest forever in the memory of every +reader of the book. Carlyle has given a sketch of the poem in his +"Miscellanies," vol. iii., and there exists a complete but prolix and +altogether miserable translation of the great epic, but we sadly need a +condensed version of the myth of "Siegfried" the brave, and "Chriemhild" +the beautiful, in the stirring prose of Malory or Southey. No reader +will regret a perusal of these songs of the people; it is a journey to +the head-waters of the literary Nile. + +The reader of this little book we hope has gained an inspiration--if it +were not his before--that, with a strong and steady step, will lead him +into all the paths of beauty and of truth. Each glorious emotion and +each glowing thought that comes to us, becomes a centre of new growth. +Each wave of pathos, humor, or sublimity that pulses through the heart +or passes to the brain, sets up vibrations that will never die, but +beautify the hours and years that follow to the end of life. These waves +that pass into the soul do not conceal their music in the heart, but +echo back upon the world in waves of kindred power; and these return +forever from the world into the heart that gave them forth. It is as on +the evening river, where the boatman bends his homeward oar. Each lusty +call that leaves his lips, or song, or bugle blast that slips the +tensioned bars, and wings the breeze, to teach its rhythm to the trees +that crown the rocky twilight steep o'er which the lengthening shadows +creep, returns and enters, softened, sweet, and clear, the waiting +portal of the sender's ear. The man who fills his being with the noblest +books, and pours their beauty out in word and deed, is like the merry +singers on the placid moonlit lake. Backward the ripples o'er the silver +sheet come on the echoes' winged feet; the hills and valleys all around +gather the gentle shower of sound, and pour the stream upon the boat in +which the happy singers float, chanting the hymns they loved of yore, +shipping the glistening wave-washed oar, to hear reflected from the +shore their every charmèd note. Oh, loosen from _thy_ lip, my friend, no +tone thine ear would with remorseful sorrow hear, hurling it back from +far and near, the listening landscape oft repeat! Rather a melody send +to greet the mountains beyond the silver sheet. Life's the soul's song; +sing sweetly, then, that when the silence comes again, and ere it comes, +from every glen the echoes shall be sweet. + + + + +APPENDIX. + +THE BEST THOUGHTS OF GREAT MEN ABOUT BOOKS AND READING. + + + + +APPENDIX I. + + +THE BEST THOUGHTS OF GREAT MEN ABOUT BOOKS AND READING. + +=Addison=. "Books are the legacies that genius leaves to mankind." + +"Knowledge of books is a torch in the hands of one who is willing and +able to show those who are bewildered the way which leads to prosperity +and welfare." + +=Alcott, A. B=. "My favorite books have a personality and complexion as +distinctly drawn as if the author's portrait were framed into the +paragraphs, and smiled upon me as I read his illustrated pages." + +"Next to a friend's discourse, no morsel is more delicious than a ripe +book,--a book whose flavor is as refreshing at the thousandth tasting as +at the first." + +"Next to a personal introduction, a list of one's favorite authors were +the best admittance to his character and manners." + +"A good book perpetuates its fame from age to age, and makes eras in the +lives of its readers." + +=Atkinson, W. P=. "Who can over-estimate the value of good books,--those +ships of thought, as Bacon so finely calls them, voyaging through the +sea of time, and carrying their precious freight so safely from +generation to generation?" + +=Arnott, Dr=. "Books,--the miracle of all possessions, more wonderful +than the wishing-cap of the Arabian tales; for they transport instantly, +not only to all places, but to all times." + +=Bacon=. "Studies serve for pastimes, for ornaments, for abilities. +Their chief use for pastimes is in privateness and retiring; for +ornaments, in discourse; and for ability, in judgment.... To spend too +much time in them is sloth; to use them too much for ornament is +affectation; to make judgment wholly by their rules is the humor of a +scholar. They perfect nature, and are themselves perfected by +experience. Crafty men contemn them, wise men use them, simple men +admire them; for they teach not their own use, but that there is a +wisdom without them and above them won by observation. Read not to +contradict, nor to believe, but to weigh and consider.... Reading maketh +a full man, conference a ready, and writing an exact man. Therefore, if +a man write little, he had need of a great memory; if he confer little, +he hath need of a present wit; and if he read little, he had need have +much cunning to seem to know that he doth not know. Histories make men +wise, poets witty, the mathematicians subtile, natural philosophy deep, +moral grave, logic and rhetoric able to contend." + +=Barrow=. "He who loveth a book will never want a faithful friend, a +wholesome counsellor, a cheerful companion, or an effectual comforter." + +=Bartholin=. "Without books God is silent, justice dormant, natural +science at a stand, philosophy lame, letters dumb, and all things +involved in Cimmerian darkness." + +=Beaconsfield, Lord=. "The idea that human happiness is dependent on the +cultivation of the mind and on the discovery of truth is, next to the +conviction of our immortality, the idea the most full of consolation to +man; for the cultivation of the mind has no limits, and truth is the +only thing that is eternal." + +"Knowledge is like the mystic ladder in the patriarch's dream. Its base +rests on the primeval earth, its crest is lost in the shadowy splendor +of the empyrean; while the great authors, who for traditionary ages have +held the chain of science and philosophy, of poesy and erudition, are +the angels ascending and descending the sacred scale, and maintaining, +as it were, the communication between man and heaven." + +=Beecher, Henry Ward=. "A book is good company. It seems to enter the +memory, and to hover in a silvery transformation there until the outward +book is but a body, and its soul and spirit are flown to you, and +possess your memory like a spirit." + +"Books are the windows through which the soul looks out. A home without +books is like a room without windows...." + +=Bright, John=. "What is a great love of books? It is something like a +personal introduction to the great and good men of all past time." + +=Brooks, Phillips=. "Is it not a new England for a child to be born in +since Shakspeare gathered up the centuries and told the story of +humanity up to his time? Will not Carlyle and Tennyson make the man who +begins to live from them the 'heir of all ages' which have distilled +their richness into the books of the sage and the singer of the +nineteenth century?" + +=Browning, Elizabeth Barrett=. + + "When we gloriously forget ourselves and plunge + Soul forward, headlong into a book's profound, + Impassioned for its beauty, and salt of truth-- + 'Tis then we get the right good from a book." + +=Bruyère=. "When a book raises your spirit, and inspires you with noble +and courageous feelings, seek for no other rule to judge the event by; +it is good, and made by a good workman." + +=Bury, Richard de=. "You, O Books! are golden urns in which manna is +laid up; rocks flowing with honey, or rather, indeed, honeycombs; udders +most copiously yielding the milk of life, store-rooms ever full; the +four-streamed river of Paradise, where the human mind is fed, and the +arid intellect moistened and watered; fruitful olives, vines of Engaddi, +fig-trees knowing no sterility; burning lamps to be ever held in the +hand." + +"In books we find the dead, as it were, living.... The truth written in +a book ... enters the chamber of intellect, reposes itself upon the +couch of memory, and there congenerates the eternal truth of the mind." + +=Carlyle=. "Evermore is _Wisdom_ the highest of conquests to every son +of Adam,--nay, in a large sense, the one conquest; and the precept to +every one of us is ever, 'Above all thy gettings get understanding.'" + +"Of all the things which man can do or make here below, by far the most +momentous, wonderful, and worthy are the things we call books." + +"All that mankind has done, thought, gained, and been, is lying as in +magic preservation in the pages of books." + +=Channing, Dr. Wm. E=. "God be thanked for books! They are the voices of +the distant and the dead, and make us heirs of the spiritual life of +past ages. Books are the true levellers. They give to all who will +faithfully use them the society, the spiritual presence, of the best and +greatest of our race. No matter how poor I am; no matter though the +prosperous of my own time will not enter my obscure dwelling: if the +sacred writers will enter and take up their abode under my roof,--if +Milton will cross my threshold to sing to me of Paradise; and +Shakspeare, to open to me the worlds of imagination and the workings of +the human heart; and Franklin, to enrich me with his practical +wisdom,--I shall not pine for want of intellectual companionship, and I +may become a cultivated man, though excluded from what is called the +best society in the place where I live." + +=Chaucer=. + + "And as for me, though that I know but lyte[5] + On bokès for to rede I me delyte, + And to them give I (feyth[6]) and ful credence, + And in myn herte have them in reverence + So hertily that there is pastime noon,[7] + That from my bokès maketh me to goon + But yt be seldom on the holy day, + Save, certeynly, whan that the monethe of May + Is comen, and I here the foulès synge, + And that the flourès gynnen for to sprynge; + Farewell my boke, and my devocioun." + +[5] Little. + +[6] Faith. + +[7] None. + +=Cicero=. "Studies are the aliment of youth, the comfort of old age, an +adornment of prosperity, a refuge and a solace in adversity, and a +delight in our home." + +=Clarke, James Freeman=. "When I consider what some books have done for +the world, and what they are doing,--how they keep up our hope, awaken +new courage and faith, give an ideal life to those whose homes are hard +and cold, bind together distant ages and foreign lands, create new +worlds of beauty, bring down truths from Heaven,--I give eternal +blessings for this gift, and pray that we may use it aright, and abuse +it not." + +=Coleridge=. "Some readers are like the hour-glass. Their reading is as +the sand; it runs in and runs out, but leaves not a vestige behind. +Some, like a sponge, which imbibes everything, and returns it in the +same state, only a little dirtier. Some, like a jelly-bag, which allows +all that is pure to pass away, and retains only the refuse and dregs. +The fourth class may be compared to the slave of Golconda, who, casting +away all that is worthless, preserves only the pure gems." + +=Collyer, Robert=. "Do you want to know how I manage to talk to you in +this simple Saxon? I will tell you. I read Bunyan, Crusoe, and Goldsmith +when I was a boy, morning, noon, and night; all the rest was task work. +These were my delight, with the stories in the Bible, and with +Shakspeare, when at last the mighty master came within our doors. These +were like a well of pure water; and this is the first step I seem to +have taken of my own free will toward the pulpit. From the days when we +used to spell out Crusoe and old Bunyan, there had grown up in me a +devouring hunger to read books.... I could not go home for the Christmas +of 1839, and was feeling very sad about it all, for I was only a boy; +and sitting by the fire, an old farmer came in and said, 'I notice +thou's fond o' reading, so I brought thee summat to read.' It was +Irving's 'Sketch Book.' I had never heard of the work. I went at it, and +was 'as them that dream.' No such delight had touched me since the old +days of Crusoe." + +=Curtis, G. W=. "Books are the ever-burning lamps of accumulated +wisdom." + +=De Quincey=. "Every one owes to the impassioned books he has read many +a thousand more of emotions than he can consciously trace back to +them.... A great scholar depends not simply on an infinite memory, but +also on an infinite and electrical power of combination,--bringing +together from the four winds, like the Angel of the Resurrection, what +else were dust from dead men's bones into the unity of breathing life." + +=Diodorus=. "Books are the medicine of the mind." + +=Emerson=. "The profit of books is according to the sensibility of the +reader." + +=Erasmus=. "A little before you go to sleep read something that is +exquisite and worth remembering, and contemplate upon it till you fall +asleep; and when you awake in the morning call yourself to an account +for it." + +=Farrar, Canon=. "If all the books of the world were in a blaze, the +first twelve which I should snatch out of the flames would be the Bible, +the Imitation of Christ, Homer, Æschylus, Thucydides, Tacitus, Virgil, +Marcus Aurelius, Dante, Shakspeare, Milton, Wordsworth. Of living +writers I would save, first, the works of Tennyson, Browning, and +Ruskin." + +=Fénelon=. "If the crowns of all the kingdoms of the empire were laid +down at my feet in exchange for my books and my love of reading, I would +spurn them all." + +=Freeman, E. A=. (the historian). "I feel myself quite unable to draw up +a list (of the best books), as I could not trust my own judgment on any +matters not bearing on my special studies, and I should be doubtless +tempted to give too great prominence to them." + +=Fuller, Thomas=. "It is thought and digestion which make books +serviceable, and give health and vigor to the mind." + +=Gibbon=. "A taste for books is the pleasure and glory of my life. I +would not exchange it for the glory of the Indies." + +=Gladstone=. "When I was a boy I used to be fond of looking into a +bookseller's shop; but there was nothing to be seen there that was +accessible to the working-man of that day. Take a Shakspeare, for +example. I remember very well that I gave £2 16_s._ 0_d._ for my first +copy; but you can get any one of Shakspeare's Plays for seven cents. +Those books are accessible now which were formerly quite inaccessible. +We may be told that you want amusement, but that does not include +improvement. There are a set of worthless books written now and at times +which you should avoid, which profess to give amusement; but in reading +the works of such authors as Shakspeare and Scott there is the greatest +possible amusement in its best form. Do you suppose when you see men +engaged in study that they dislike it? No!... I want you to understand +that multitudes of books are constantly being prepared and placed within +reach of the population at large, for the most part executed by writers +of a high stamp, having subjects of the greatest interest, and which +enable you, at a moderate price, not to get cheap literature which is +secondary in its quality, but to go straight into the very heart,--if I +may so say, into the sanctuary of the temple of literature,--and become +acquainted with the greatest and best works that men of our country have +produced." + +=Godwin, William=. "It is impossible that we can be much accustomed to +such companions without attaining some resemblance to them." + +=Goldsmith=. "An author may be considered as a merciful substitute to +the legislature. He acts not by punishing crimes, but by preventing +them." + +=Hale, Sir Matthew=. "Read the Bible reverently and attentively, set +your heart upon it, and lay it up in your memory, and make it the +direction of your life; it will make you a wise and good man." + +=Hamerton, P. H=. "The art of reading is to skip judiciously." + +=Harrison, Frederic=. "The best authors are never dark horses. The world +has long ago closed the great assize of letters, and judged the first +places everywhere." + +"The reading of great books is usually an acquired faculty, not a +natural gift. If you have not got the faculty, seek for it with all your +might." + +"Of Walter Scott one need as little speak as of Shakspeare. He belongs +to mankind,--to every age and race; and he certainly must be counted as +in the first line of the great creative minds of the world. His unique +glory is to have definitely succeeded in the ideal reproduction of +historical types, so as to preserve at once beauty, life, and truth,--a +task which neither Ariosto and Tasso, nor Corneille and Racine, nor +Alfieri, nor Goethe, nor Schiller,--no, nor even Shakspeare himself, +entirely achieved.... In brilliancy of conception, in wealth of +character, in dramatic art, in glow and harmony of color, Scott put +forth all the powers of a master poet.... The genius of Scott has raised +up a school of historical romance; and though the best work of +Chateaubriand, Manzoni, and Bulwer may take rank as true art, the +endless crowd of inferior imitations are nothing but a weariness to the +flesh.... Scott is a perfect library in himself.... The poetic beauty of +Scott's creations is almost the least of his great qualities. It is the +universality of his sympathy that is so truly great, the justice of his +estimates, the insight into the spirit of each age, his intense +absorption of self in the vast epic of human civilization." + +=Hazlitt, William=. "Books let us into the souls of men, and lay open to +us the secrets of our own." + +=Heinsius=. "I no sooner come into the library but I bolt the door to +me, excluding Lust, Ambition, Avarice, and all such vices, whose nurse +is Idleness, the Mother of Ignorance and Melancholy. In the very lap of +eternity, among so many divine souls, I take my seat with so lofty a +spirit and sweet content, that I pity all that know not this happiness." + +=Herbert, George=. "This _book of stars_ [the Bible] lights to eternal +bliss." + +=Herschel, Sir J=. "Give a man this taste [for good books] and the means +of gratifying it, and you can hardly fail of making a happy man. You +place him in contact with the best society in every period of +history,--with the wisest, the wittiest, the tenderest, the bravest, and +the purest characters who have adorned humanity. You make him a denizen +of all nations, a contemporary of all ages." + +=Hillard, George S=. "Here we have immortal flowers of poetry, wet with +Castilian dew, and the golden fruit of Wisdom that had long ripened on +the bough.... We should any of us esteem it a great privilege to pass an +evening with Shakspeare or Bacon.... We may be sure that Shakspeare +never out-talked his 'Hamlet,' nor Bacon his 'Essays.'... To the gentle +hearted youth, far from his home, in the midst of a pitiless city, +'homeless among a thousand homes,' the approach of evening brings with +it an aching sense of loneliness and desolation. In this mood his best +impulses become a snare to him; and he is led astray because he is +social, affectionate, sympathetic, and warm-hearted. The hours from +sunset to bedtime are his hours of peril. Let me say to such young men +that books are the friends of the friendless, and that a library is the +home of the homeless." + +=Holmes, O. W=. "Books are the 'negative' pictures of thought; and the +more sensitive the mind that receives the images, the more nicely the +finest lines are reproduced." + +=Houghton, Lord=. "It [a book] is a portion of the eternal mind, caught +in its process through the world, stamped in an instant, and preserved +for eternity." + +=Irving=. "The scholar only knows how dear these silent yet eloquent +companions of pure thoughts and innocent hours become in the season of +adversity." + +=Johnson, Dr=. "No man should consider so highly of himself as to think +he can receive but little light from books, nor so meanly as to believe +he can discover nothing but what is to be learned from them." + +=Jonson, Ben=. "A prince without letters is a pilot without eyes." + +=King, Thomas Starr=. "By cultivating an interest in a few good books, +which contain the result of the toil or the quintessence of the genius +of some of the most gifted thinkers of the world, we need not live on +the marsh and in the mists; the slopes and the summits invite us." + +=Kingsley, Charles=. "Except a living man, there is nothing more +wonderful than a book!--a message to us from the dead, from human souls +whom we never saw, who lived, perhaps, thousands of miles away; and yet +these, on those little sheets of paper, speak to us, amuse us, vivify +us, teach us, comfort us, open their hearts to us as to brothers." + +=Lamb, Charles=. "Milton almost requires a solemn service of music to be +played before you enter upon him. But he brings his music, to which who +listens had need bring docile thoughts and purged ears." + +=Landor, Walter Savage=. "The writings of the wise are the only riches +our posterity cannot squander." + +=Langford=. "Strong as man and tender as woman, they welcome you in +every mood, and never turn from you in distress." + +=Lowell=. "Have you ever rightly considered what the mere ability to +read means? That it is the key that admits us to the whole world of +thought and fancy and imagination, to the company of saint and sage, of +the wisest and the wittiest at their wisest and wittiest moments? That +it enables us to see with the keenest eyes, hear with the finest ears, +and listen to the sweetest voices of all time?... One is sometimes asked +by young people to recommend a course of reading. My advice would be +that they should confine themselves to the supreme books in whatever +literature, or, still better, to choose some one great author, and make +themselves thoroughly familiar with him." + +=Luther=. "To read many books produceth confusion, rather than learning, +like as those who dwell everywhere are not anywhere at home." + +=Lyly, John=. "Far more seemly were it ... to have thy study full of +books than thy purse full of money." + +=Lytton, Lord=. + + "Laws die, books never." + + "Beneath the rule of men entirely great + The pen is mightier than the sword." + + "Ye ever-living and imperial Souls, + Who rule us from the page in which ye breathe." + + "The Wise + (Minstrel or Sage) _out_ of their books are clay; + But _in_ their books, as from their graves, they rise, + Angels--that, side by side, upon our way, + Walk with and warn us!" + + "We call some books immortal! _Do they live?_ + If so, believe me, TIME hath made them pure. + In Books the veriest wicked rest in peace,-- + God wills that nothing evil should endure; + The grosser parts fly off and leave the whole, + As the dust leaves the disembodied soul!" + +=Macaulay=. "A great writer is the friend and benefactor of his +readers." + +=Milton=. "As good almost kill a man as kill a good book. Who kills a +man kills a reasonable creature, God's image; but he who destroys a good +book kills reason itself,--kills the image of God, as it were, in the +eye. Many a man lives a burden to the earth; but a good book is the +precious life-blood of a master spirit, embalmed and treasured up on +purpose to a life beyond." + +=Montaigne=. "To divert myself from a troublesome fancy, 'tis but to run +to my books." + +"As to what concerns my other reading, that mixes a little more profit +with the pleasure, and from whence I learn how to marshal my opinions +and qualities, the books that serve me to this purpose are Plutarch and +Seneca,--both of which have this great convenience suited to my humor, +that the knowledge I seek is discoursed in loose pieces that do not +engage me in any great trouble of reading long, of which I am +impatient.... Plutarch is frank throughout. Seneca abounds with brisk +touches and sallies. Plutarch, with things that heat and move you more; +this contents and pays you better. As to Cicero, those of his works that +are most useful to my design are they that treat of philosophy, +especially moral; but boldly to confess the truth, his way of writing, +and that of all other long-winded authors, appears to me very tedious." + +=Morley, John=. "The consolation of reading is not futile nor imaginary. +It is no chimera of the recluse or the bookworm, but a potent reality. +As a stimulus to flagging energies, as an inspirer of lofty aim, +literature stands unrivalled." + +=Morris, William=. "The greater part of the Latins I should call _sham_ +classics. I suppose that they have some good literary qualities; but I +cannot help thinking that it is difficult to find out how much. I +suspect superstition and authority have influenced our estimate of them +till it has become a mere matter of convention. Of modern fiction, I +should like to say here that I yield to no one, not even Ruskin, in my +love and admiration for Scott; also that, to my mind, of the novelists +of our generation, Dickens is immeasurably ahead." + +=Müller, Max=. "I know few books, if any, which I should call good from +beginning to end. Take the greatest poet of antiquity, and if I am to +speak the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, I must say +that there are long passages, even in Homer, which seem to me extremely +tedious." + +=Parker, Theodore=. "What a joy is there in a good book, writ by some +great master of thought, who breaks into beauty, as in summer the meadow +into grass and dandelions and violets, with geraniums and manifold +sweetness.... The books which help you most are those which make you +think most.... A great book ... is a ship of thought deep freighted with +thought, with beauty too. It sails the ocean, driven by the winds of +heaven, breaking the level sea of life into beauty where it goes, +leaving behind it a train of sparkling loveliness, widening as the ship +goes on. And what treasures it brings to every land, scattering the +seeds of truth, justice, love, and piety, to bless the world in ages yet +to come." + +=Peacham, Henry=. "To desire to have many books and never to use them, +is like a child that will have a candle burning by him all the while he +is sleeping." + +=Petrarch=. "I have friends whose society is extremely agreeable to me; +they are of all ages and of every country. They have distinguished +themselves both in the cabinet and in the field, and obtained high +honors for their knowledge of the sciences. It is easy to gain access to +them, for they are always at my service; and I admit them to my company +and dismiss them from it whenever I please. They are never troublesome, +but immediately answer every question I ask them. Some relate to me the +events of past ages, while others reveal to me the secrets of Nature. +Some teach me how to live, and others how to die. Some, by their +vivacity, drive away my cares and exhilarate my spirits; while others +give fortitude to my mind, and teach me the important lesson how to +restrain my desires and to depend wholly on myself. They open to me, in +short, the various avenues of all the arts and sciences, and upon their +information I safely rely in all emergencies." + +=Phelps, E. J=. (United States Minister to the Court of St. James). "I +cannot think the _finis et fructus_ of liberal reading is reached by him +who has not obtained in the best writings of our English tongue the +generous acquaintance that ripens into affection. If he must stint +himself, let him save elsewhere." + +=Plato=. "Books are the immortal sons deifying their sires." + +=Plutarch=. "We ought to regard books as we do sweetmeats,--not wholly +to aim at the pleasantest, but chiefly to respect the wholesomest." + +=Potter, Dr=. "It is nearly an axiom that people will not be better than +the books they read." + +=Raleigh, Walter=. "We may gather out of history a policy no less wise +than eternal, by the comparison and application of other men's +fore-passed miseries with our own like errors and ill-deservings." + +=Richardson, C. F=. "No book, indeed, is of universal value and +appropriateness.... Here, as in every other question involved in the +choice of books, the golden key to knowledge, a key that will only fit +its own proper doors, is _purpose_." + +=Ruskin=. "All books are divisible into two classes,--the books of the +hour and the books of all time." Books of the hour, though useful, are, +"strictly speaking, not books at all, but merely letters or newspapers +in good print," and should not be allowed "to usurp the place of true +books." + +"Of all the plagues that afflict mortality, the venom of a bad book to +weak people, and the charms of a foolish one to simple people, are +without question the deadliest; and they are so far from being redeemed +by the too imperfect work of the best writers, that I never would wish +to see a child taught to read at all, unless the other conditions of its +education were alike gentle and judicious." + +Ruskin says a well-trained man should know the literature of his own +country and half a dozen classics thoroughly; but unless he wishes to +travel, the language and literature of modern Europe and of the East are +unnecessary. To read fast any book worth reading is folly. Ruskin would +not have us read Grote's "History of Greece," for any one could write it +if "he had the vanity to waste his time;" "Confessions of Saint +Augustine," for it is not good to think so much about ourselves; John +Stuart Mill, for his day is over; Charles Kingsley, for his sentiment is +false, his tragedy frightful. Hypatia is the most ghastly story in +Christian tradition, and should forever have been left in silence; +Darwin, for we should know what _we are_, not what _our embryo was_, or +_our skeleton will be_; Gibbon, for we should study the growth and +standing of things, not the Decline and Fall (moreover, he wrote the +worst English ever written by an educated Englishmen); Voltaire, for his +work is to good literature what nitric acid is to wine, and sulphuretted +hydrogen to air. + +Ruskin also crosses out Marcus Aurelius, Confucius, Aristotle (except +his "Politics"), Mahomet, Saint Augustine, Thomas à Kempis, Pascal, +Spinoza, Butler, Keble, Lucretius, the Nibelungenlied, Malory's Morte +D'Arthur, Firdusi, the Mahabharata, and Ramayana, the Sheking, +Sophocles, and Euripides, Hume, Adam Smith, Locke, Descartes, Berkeley, +Lewes, Southey, Longfellow, Swift, Macaulay, Emerson, Goethe, Thackeray, +Kingsley, George Eliot, and Bulwer. + +His especial favorites are Scott, Carlyle, Plato, and Dickens. Æschylus, +Taylor, Bunyan, Bacon, Shakspeare, Milton, Dante, Spenser, Wordsworth, +Pope, Goldsmith, Defoe, Boswell, Burke, Addison, Montaigne, Molière, +Sheridan, Æsop, Demosthenes, Plutarch, Horace, Cicero, Homer, Hesiod, +Virgil, Aristophanes, Herodotus, Xenophon, Thucydides, and Tacitus, he +condescends to admit as proper to be read. + +=Schopenhauer=. "Recollect that he who writes for fools finds an +enormous audience." + +=Seneca=. "If you devote your time to study, you will avoid all the +irksomeness of this life." + +"It does not matter how many, but how good, books you have." + +"Leisure without study is death, and the grave of a living man." + +=Shakspeare=. "A book! oh, rare one! be not, as in this fangled world, a +garment nobler than it covers." + +"My library was dukedom large enough." + +=Sidney, Sir Philip=. "Nature never set forth the earth in so rich +tapestry as divers poets have done." + +=Smiles, Sam=. "Men often discover their affinity to each other by the +mutual love they have for a book." + +=Smith, Alexander=. "We read books not so much for what they say as for +what they suggest." + +=Socrates=. "Employ your time in improving yourselves by other men's +documents; so shall you come easily by what others have labored hard to +win." + +=Solomon=. "He that walketh with wise men shall be wise." + +=Spencer, Herbert=. "My reading has been much more in the direction of +science than in the direction of general literature; and of such works +in general literature as I have looked into, I know comparatively +little, being an impatient reader, and usually soon satisfied." + +=Stanley, Henry M=. "I carried [across Africa] a great many +books,--three loads, or about one hundred and eighty pounds' weight; but +as my men lessened in numbers,--stricken by famine, fighting, and +sickness,--one by one they were reluctantly thrown away, until finally, +when less than three hundred miles from the Atlantic, I possessed only +the Bible, Shakspeare, Carlyle's Sartor Resartus, Norie's Navigation, +and the Nautical Almanac for 1877. Poor Shakspeare was afterwards burned +by demand of the foolish people of Zinga. At Bonea, Carlyle and Norie +and the Nautical Almanac were pitched away, and I had only the old Bible +left." + +=Swinburne, A. C=. "It would be superfluous for any educated Englishman +to say that he does not question the pre-eminence of such names as Bacon +and Darwin." + +=Taylor, Bayard=. "Not many, but good books." + +=Thoreau=. "Books that are books are all that you want, and there are +but half a dozen in any thousand." + +=Trollope, Anthony=. "The habit of reading is the only enjoyment I know +in which there is no alloy; it lasts when all other pleasures fade." + +=Waller, Sir William=. "In my study I am sure to converse with none but +wise men; but abroad, it is impossible for me to avoid the society of +fools." + +=Whateley, Richard=. "If, in reading books, a man does not choose +wisely, at any rate he has the chance offered him of doing so." + +=Whipple, Edwin P=. "Books,--lighthouses erected in the sea of time." + +=White, Andrew D=., President of Cornell, speaking of Scott, says: +"Never was there a more healthful and health-ministering literature than +that which he gave to the world. To go back to it from Flaubert and +Daudet and Tolstoi is like listening to the song of the lark after the +shrieking passion of the midnight pianoforte; nay, it is like coming out +of the glare and heat and reeking vapor of a palace ball into a grove in +the first light and music and breezes of the morning.... So far from +stimulating an unhealthy taste, the enjoyment of this fiction created +distinctly a taste for what is usually called 'solid reading,' and +especially a love for that historical reading and study which has been a +leading inspiration and solace of a busy life." + +=Whitman, Walt=. "For us, along the great highways of time, those +monuments stand,--those forms of majesty and beauty. For us those +beacons burn through all the night." + +=Wolseley, Gen. Lord=. "During the mutiny and China war I carried a +Testament, two volumes of Shakspeare that contained his best plays; and +since then, when in the field, I have always carried a Book of Common +Prayer, Thomas à Kempis, Soldier's Pocket Book, depending on a +well-organized postal service to supply me weekly with plenty of +newspapers." + +=Wordsworth=. "These hoards of wealth you can unlock at will." + + + + +APPENDIX II. + +BOOKS FOR SUPPLEMENTARY READING. + + +BOYS' LATIN SCHOOL. + +Moss' First Greek Reader. Tomlinson's Latin for Sight Reading. Walford's +Extracts from Cicero (Part I.). Jackson's Manual of Astronomical +Geography. Ritchie's Fabulae Faciles. + + +GIRLS' LATIN SCHOOL. + +Sheldon's Greek and Roman History. Ritchie's Fabulae Faciles. + + +LATIN AND HIGH SCHOOLS. + +Books required for admission to Harvard College. + +A list of suitable books, carefully prepared under the direction of the +Committee on Text-Books, is presented to the Board for adoption. After +this list has been adopted, a master may make requisition on the +Committee on Supplies for one set (of not more than thirty-five copies) +of a book. This committee, after the approval of the Committee on +Text-Books has been obtained, will purchase the books and send them to +the school for permanent use. No book will be purchased until called for +in the manner described. + +_English._--Barnes's History of Ancient Peoples; Church's Stories from +the East, from Herodotus; Church's Story of the Persian War, from +Herodotus; Church's Stories from the Greek Tragedians; Kingsley's Greek +Heroes; Abbott's Lives of Cyrus and Alexander; Froude's Cæsar; +Forsythe's Life of Cicero; Ware's Aurelian; Cox's Crusades; Masson's +Abridgment of Guizot's History of France; Scott's Abbot; Scott's +Monastery; Scott's Talisman; Scott's Quentin Durward; Scott's Marmion +(Rolfe's Student series); Scott's Lay of the Last Minstrel (Rolfe's +Student series); Kingsley's Hereward; Kingsley's Westward Ho; Melville's +Holmby House; Macaulay's Essay on Frederic; Macaulay's Essay on Clive; +Macaulay's Essay on Dr. Johnson; Motley's Essay on Peter the Great; +Thackeray's Henry Esmond; Thackeray's The Virginians; Thackeray's The +Four Georges; Dickens' Tale of Two Cities; George Eliot's Silas Marner; +Irving's Alhambra; Irving's Bracebridge Hall; Miss Buckley's Life and +her Children; Miss Buckley's Winners in Life's Race; Bulfinch's Age of +Fable (revised edition); The Boy's Froissart; Ballads and Lyrics; Vicar +of Wakefield; Essays of Elia; Tennyson's Selected Poems (Rolfe's Student +series); Tennyson's Elaine; Tennyson's In Memoriam; Byron's Prisoner of +Chillon; Goldsmith's Deserted Village; Goldsmith's Traveller; +Coleridge's Ancient Mariner; Wordsworth's Excursion; Monroe's Sixth +Reader; Webster--Section 2 [Annotated English Classics, Ginn & Co.]; +Wordsworth's Poems--Section 2 [Annotated English Classics, Ginn & Co.]; +Sheldon's Greek and Roman History; Monroe's Fifth Reader (old edition). + +_French._--St. German's Pour une Épingle; Achard's Le Clos Pommier; +Feuillet's Roman d'un Homme Pauvre; Dumas's La Tulipe Noire; Vigny's +Cinq Mars; Lacombe's La Petite Histoire du Peuple Français. + +_German._--Andersen's Märchen; Simmondson's Balladenbuch; Krurnmacher's +Parabeln; Goethe's Iphigenie auf Tauris; Goethe's Prose; Schiller's +Jungfrau von Orleans; Schiller's Prose; Boisen's German Prose; +Bernhardt's Novellen Bibliothek. + + +GRAMMAR SCHOOLS. + +CLASS VI. (_about Ten Years old_). + +Seven Little Sisters, first half-year. Each and All, second half-year. +This is simple, interesting class-reading, which will aid the geography, +and furnish material for both oral and written language lessons. +Hooker's Child's Book of Nature; those chapters of Parts I. and II., +which will supplement properly the observational studies of plants and +animals, and those chapters of Part III., on air, water, and heat, which +will aid the instruction in Geography. Our World Reader, NO. 1. Our +World, NO. 1; the reading to be kept parallel with the instruction in +Geography through the year. Poetry for Children; selections appropriate +for reading and recitation. + + +CLASS V. (_about Eleven Years old_). + +Stories of American History; for practice in reading at sight, and for +material for language lessons. Guyot's Introduction to Geography; the +reading to be kept parallel with the instruction in Geography through +the year. Hooker's Child's Book of Nature, and Poetry for Children; as +in Class VI. Robinson Crusoe. + + +CLASS IV. (_about Twelve Years old_). + +The Wonder Book and Tanglewood Tales, as collateral to the oral +instruction in Stories in Mythology. Hooker's Child's Book of Nature, +and Poetry for Children; as in Classes VI. and V. Readings from Nature's +Book (revised edition). Robinson Crusoe. + + +CLASS III. (_about Thirteen Years old_). + +Hooker's Child's Book of Nature; as supplementary to oral lessons. +American Poems, with Biographical Sketches and Notes; appropriate +selections therefrom. + + +CLASS II. (_about Fourteen Years old_). + +Selections from American authors; as in part collateral to the United +States History. American Poems; appropriate selections therefrom. + + +CLASS I. (_about Fifteen Years old_). + +Selections from American authors. Early England--Harper's Half-Hour +Series, Nos. 6 and 14. American Poems; selections therefrom. Green's +Readings from English History. Phillips's Historical Readers, Nos. 1, 2, +3, 4. + + +ANY CLASS. + +Six Stories from the Arabian Nights. Holmes' and Longfellow Leaflets, +published by Houghton, Mifflin, & Co. Book of Golden Deeds. Jackson's +Manual of Astronomical Geography. Parkman Leaflets, published by Little, +Brown, & Co. + + +CIRCULATING LIBRARY FOR GRAMMAR SCHOOLS. + +Zigzag Journeys in Europe (revised edition); Zigzag Journeys in the +Orient (revised edition); Scudder's Boston Town; Drake's The Making of +New England; Towle's Pizarro; Towle's Vasco da Gama; Towle's Magellan; +Fairy Land of Science; Hawthorne's True Stories; Higginson's Young +Folks' Book of Explorers; Scott's Ivanhoe; Longfellow's Evangeline; +Little Folks in Feathers and Fur; What Mr. Darwin saw in his Voyage +around the World in the Ship Beagle; Muloch's A Noble Life; M. E. +Dodge's Hans Brinker; Lambert's Robinson Crusoe; Lamb's Tales from +Shakspeare (revised edition, Houghton, Mifflin, & Co.); Abbott's Jonas +on a Farm in Summer; Smiles' Robert Dick, Geologist and Botanist; Eyes +Right; Alcott's Little Men; Alcott's Little Women; Stoddard's Dab +Kinzer; Scott's Kenilworth; Tom Brown's School-Days at Rugby; Abbott's +Mary Queen of Scots; Abbott's Charles I.; Taylor's Boys of Other +Countries; How Marjory Helped; Little People in Asia; Gilman's Magna +Charta Stories; Overhead; Yonge's Lances of Linwood; Memory Gems; +Geographical Plays; Ten Boys Who Lived on the Road from Long Ago till +Now; Scott's Tales of a Grandfather; Hayes' Cast Away in the Cold; Sharp +Eyes and other Papers; Lessons on Practical Subjects; Stories of Mother +Nature; Play Days; Jackanapes; Children's Stories of American Progress; +Little Lord Fauntleroy; Gilman's Historical Readers (three volumes); +Pilgrims and Puritans; The Patriotic Reader; Ballou's Footprints of +Travel. + + +PRIMARY SCHOOLS. +PERMANENT SUPPLEMENTARY READING. + +Easy Steps for Little Feet. Popular Tales (first and second series.) +Parker & Marvel's Supplementary Reading (first book). Tweed's Graded +Supplementary Reading. Modern Series Primary Reading, Part I. An +Illustrated Primer (D. C. Heath & Co.). + + +CIRCULATING SUPPLEMENTARY READING. + +_First Readers._--Monroe's, Monroe's Advanced First, Appleton's, +Harvey's, Eclectic, Sheldon's, Barnes' New National, Sheldon & Co.'s, +Harper's, The Nursery Primer, Parker & Marvel's Supplementary Reading +(second book), Wood's First Natural History Reader, Stickney's First +Reader, Stickney's First Reader (new edition), McGuffey's Alternate +First Reader. + +_Second Readers._--Monroe's, Monroe's Advanced Second, Appleton's, +Harvey's, Lippincott's, Sheldon & Co.'s, Barnes' New National, +Analytical, Macmillan's, Swinton's, New Normal, Stickney's Second Reader +(new edition), Harper's Easy Book (published by Shorey), Turner's +Stories for Young Children, Our Little Ones, Golden Book of Choice +Reading, When I was a Little Girl, Johonnot's Friends in Feathers and +Fur, Woodward's Number Stories, Wood's Second Natural History Reader, +Young Folks' Library, Nos. 5 and 6 (Silver, Burdett, & Co.). + + + + +SUPPLEMENTARY READING IN ONE BUILDING, NOVEMBER, 1890. + + +GRAMMAR SCHOOL. + + +CLASS I. (_about Fifteen Years old_). + +Longfellow's Poems. + + +CLASS II. (_about Fourteen Years old_). + +Hans Brinker. Mary Mapes Dodge. + +How Marjory Helped. M. Caroll. + +Magellan's Voyages. + +Ivanhoe. Scott. + + +CLASS III. (_about Thirteen Years old_). + +American Explorers. Higginson. + + +CLASS IV. (_about Twelve Years old_). + +Playdays. Sarah O. Jewett. + +Water Babies. Kingsley. + +Physiology. + +A Child's Book of Nature. W. Hooker. + + +CLASS V. (_about Eleven Years old_). + +Stories of American History. N. S. Dodge. + +Guyot's Geography. + + +CLASS VI. (_about Ten Years old_). + +The Arabian Nights' Entertainments. Six stories by Samuel Eliot. + +Our World. Mary L. Hall. + +The Seven Little Sisters. Jane Andrews. + +Each and All. Jane Andrews. + +Poetry for Children. Samuel Eliot. + + + + +TEXT-BOOKS. + +PRIMARY SCHOOLS. + + +_Third Class._--Franklin Primer and Advanced First Reader. Munroe's +Primary Reading Charts. + +_Second Class._--Franklin Second Reader. Franklin Advanced Second +Reader. First Music Reader. + +_First Class._--Franklin Third Reader. [8]New Franklin Third Reader. +First Music Reader. + +[8] To be furnished at the discretion of the Committee on Supplies. + +_Upper Classes._--[9]Franklin Primary Arithmetic. First Lessons in +Natural History and Language, Parts I. and II. Child's Book of Language, +Nos. 1, 2, 3. [By J. H. Stickney.] + +[9] Each Primary-School building occupied by a first or second class to +be supplied with one set of the Franklin Primary Arithmetic; the number +in a set to be sixty, or, if less be needed, less than sixty; the +Committee on Supplies are authorized to supply additional copies of the +book at their discretion, if needed. + +_All the Classes._--American Text-books of Art Education. First Primary +Music Chart. Prang's Natural History Series, one set for each building. + +Magnus & Jeffries's Color Chart; "Color Blindness," by Dr. B. Joy +Jeffries.--One copy of the Chart and one copy of the book for use in +each Primary-School building. + +Normal Music Course in the Rice Training School and in the schools of +the third and sixth divisions. National Music Course (revised edition) +in the schools of the first and second divisions. + + +GRAMMAR SCHOOLS. + +_Sixth Class._--Franklin Advanced Third Reader. [10]Warren's Primary +Geography. Intermediate Music Reader. Franklin Elementary Arithmetic. +[11]Greenleaf's Manual of Mental Arithmetic. Worcester's Spelling-Book. + +[10] Swinton's Introductory Geography allowed in Charlestown Schools. + +[11] To be used in the manner recommended by the Board of Supervisors in +School Document No. 14, 1883; one set of sixty copies to be supplied for +the classes on each floor of a Grammar-School building occupied by +pupils in either of the four lower classes, and for each colony of a +Grammar School. + +_Fifth Class._--Franklin Intermediate Reader. [12] New Franklin Fourth +Reader. Franklin Elementary Arithmetic. [13]Greenleaf's Manual of Mental +Arithmetic. [14]Warren's Primary Geography. Intermediate Music Reader. +Worcester's Spelling-Book. + +[12] To be furnished at the discretion of the Committee on Supplies. + +[13] To be used in the manner recommended by the Board of Supervisors in +School Document No. 14, 1883; one set of sixty copies to be supplied for +the classes on each floor of a Grammar-School building occupied by +pupils in either of the four lower classes, and for each colony of a +Grammar School. + +[14] The revised edition to be furnished at the discretion of the +Committee on Supplies to schools where this book is used. Swinton's +Grammar-School Geography allowed in Charlestown Schools. + +_Fourth Class._--Franklin Fourth Reader. [15]New Franklin Fourth Reader. +Worcester's Comprehensive Dictionary. Franklin Written Arithmetic. +[16]Greenleaf's Manual of Mental Arithmetic. [17]Warren's Common-School +Geography. Intermediate Music Reader. Worcester's Spelling-Book. +[18]Blaisdell's How to Keep Well. + +[15] To be furnished at the discretion of the Committee on Supplies. + +[16] To be used in the manner recommended by the Board of Supervisors in +School Document No. 14, 1883; one set of sixty copies to be supplied for +the classes on each floor of a Grammar-School building occupied by +pupils in either of the four lower classes, and for each colony of a +Grammar School. + +[17] The revised edition to be furnished at the discretion of the +Committee on Supplies to schools where this book is used. Swinton's +Grammar-School Geography allowed in Charlestown Schools. + +[18] One set of not more than sixty copies, or, if determined by the +Committee on Supplies to be necessary, more than one set, be placed in +each Grammar School, for use as collateral reading in the third and +fourth classes. + +_Third Class._--Franklin Fifth Reader. [19]New Franklin Fifth Reader. +Franklin Written Arithmetic. [20]Greenleaf's Manual of Mental +Arithmetic. [21]Warren's Common-School Geography. Swinton's New Language +Lessons. Worcester's Comprehensive Dictionary. Higginson's History of +the United States. [22]Fourth Music Reader. [Revised edition.] +[23]Blaisdell's How to Keep Well. + +[19] To be furnished at the discretion of the Committee on Supplies. + +[20] To be used in the manner recommended by the Board of Supervisors in +School Document No. 14, 1883; one set of sixty copies to be supplied for +the classes on each floor of a Grammar-School building occupied by +pupils in either of the four lower classes, and for each colony of a +Grammar School. + +[21] The revised edition to be furnished at the discretion of the +Committee on Supplies to schools where this book is used. Swinton's +Grammar-School Geography allowed in Charlestown Schools. + +[22] The revised edition to be supplied as new books are needed. + +[23] One set of not more than sixty copies, or, if determined by the +Committee on Supplies to be necessary, more than one set, be placed in +each Grammar School, for use as collateral reading in the third and +fourth classes. + +_Second Class._--Franklin Fifth Reader. [24]New Franklin Fifth Reader. +Franklin Written Arithmetic. [25]Warren's Common-School Geography. +Tweed's Grammar for Common Schools. Worcester's Comprehensive +Dictionary. Higginson's History of the United States. [26]Fourth Music +Reader. [Revised edition.] Smith's Elementary Physiology and Hygiene. + +[24] To be furnished at the discretion of the Committee on Supplies. + +[25] The revised edition to be furnished at the discretion of the +Committee on Supplies to schools where this book is used. Swinton's +Grammar-School Geography allowed in Charlestown Schools. + +[26] The revised edition to be supplied as new books are needed. + +_First Class._--Franklin Sixth Reader. Franklin Written Arithmetic. +Meservey's Book-keeping, Single Entry. [27]Warren's Common School +Geography. Tweed's Grammar for Common Schools. Worcester's Comprehensive +Dictionary. Stone's History of England. Cooley's Elements of Philosophy. +[28]Fourth Music Reader. [Revised edition.] + +[27] The revised edition to be furnished at the discretion of the +Committee on Supplies to schools where this book is used. Swinton's +Grammar-School Geography allowed in Charlestown Schools. + +[28] The revised edition to be supplied as new books are needed. + +_Fifth and Sixth Classes._--First Lessons in Natural History and +Language. Parts III. and IV. + +_All Classes._--American Text-books of Art Education. Writing-Books: +Duntonian Series; Payson, Dunton, and Scribner's; Harper's Copy-books; +Appleton's Writing-Books. Child's Book of Language; and Letters and +Lessons in Language, Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4. [By J. H. Stickney.] Prang's Aids +for Object Teaching, "Trades," one set for each building. + +Normal Music Course in the Rice Training School and the schools of the +third and sixth divisions. National Music Course (revised edition) in +the schools of the first and second divisions. + + +HIGH SCHOOLS. + +_English._--Abbott's How to Write Clearly. Hill's _or_ Kellogg's +Rhetoric. Meiklejohn's English Language. Scott's Lady of the Lake. +Selections from Addison's Papers in the Spectator, with Macaulay's Essay +on Addison. Irving's Sketch-Book. Trevelyan's Selections from Macaulay. +Hales' Longer English Poems. Shakspeare,--Rolfe's _or_ Hudson's +Selections. Selections from Chaucer. Selections from Milton. [Clarendon +Press Edition. Vol. I.] Worcester's Comprehensive Dictionary. + +_Latin._--Allen & Greenough's Latin Grammar. [Roxbury, W. Roxbury, and +Brighton High Schools.] Harkness' Latin Grammar. [English, Girls', +Dorchester, Charlestown, and East Boston High Schools.] Harkness' +Complete Course in Latin for the first year. Gildersleeve's Latin +Primer. Collar & Daniell's Beginners' Latin Book. [Roxbury, West +Roxbury, and Brighton High Schools.] Harkness' Cæsar. Lindsey's +Cornelius Nepos. Chase's, Frieze's, _or_ Greenough's Virgil, or any +edition approved by the Committee on Text-Books. Greenough's _or_ +Harkness' Cicero. Chase's _or_ Lincoln's Horace, or any edition approved +by the Committee on Text-books. + +_History._--[29]Anderson's New General History. Martin's Civil +Government. + +[29] To be dropped from list of authorized text-books, July 1, 1890. + +_Mythology._--Berens's Hand-book of Mythology. + +_Mathematics._--Meservey's Book-keeping. Bradbury & Emery's Academic +Algebra. [30]Wentworth & Hill's Exercises in Algebra. Bradbury's +Elementary Geometry, _or_ Chauvenet's Geometry, _or_ Wells's Geometry. +Greenleaf's Trigonometry. [31]Metric Apparatus. + +[30] This book is not intended to, and does not in fact displace any +text-book now in use, but is intended merely to furnish additional +problems in algebra. + +[31] Not exceeding $15 for each school. + +_Physics._--Cooley's New Text-book of Physics. Avery's Physics, _or_ +Gage's Introduction to Physical Science. + +_Astronomy._--Sharpless & Phillips' Astronomy. + +_Chemistry._--Williams's Chemistry. Williams's Laboratory Manual. Eliot +& Storer's Elementary Manual of Chemistry, edited by Nichols. Eliot & +Storer's Qualitative Analysis. Hill's Lecture Notes on Qualitative +Analysis. Tables for the Determination of Common Minerals. [Girls' High +School.] White's Outlines of Chemical Theory. + +_Botany._--Gray's School and Field Book of Botany. + +_Zoölogy._--Morse's Zoölogy and Packard's Zoölogy. + +_Physiology._--Hutchinson's Physiology. Blaisdell's Our Bodies and How +We Live. + +_Drawing._--American Text-books of Art Education. + +_Music._--Eichberg's High-School Music Reader. Eichberg's Girls' +High-School Music Reader. [Girls' High School.] + +LATIN SCHOOLS. + +_Latin._--White's Abridged Lexicon. Harkness' Grammar. Harkness' Reader. +Harkness' Complete Course in Latin for the first year. Harkness' Prose +Composition, _or_ Allen's Latin Composition. Harkness' Cæsar. Lindsey's +Cornelius Nepos. Greenough's Catiline of Sallust. Lincoln's Ovid. +Greenough's Ovid. Greenough's Virgil. Greenough's _or_ Harkness' +Orations of Cicero. Smith's Principia Latina, Part II. + +_Greek._--Liddell & Scott's Abridged Lexicon. Goodwin's Grammar. White's +Lessons. Jones' Prose Composition. Goodwin's Reader. The Anabasis of +Xenophon. Boise's Homer's Iliad. Beaumlein's Edition of Homer's Iliad. + +_English._--Soule's Hand-book of Pronunciation. Hill's General Rules for +Punctuation. Tweed's Grammar for Common Schools (in fifth and sixth +classes). Hawthorne's Wonder Book. Hawthorne's Tanglewood Tales. +Plutarch's Lives of Famous Greeks and Romans. Macaulay's Lays of Ancient +Rome. Higginson's History of the United States. Hughes' Tom Brown's +School-Days at Rugby. Dana's Two Years before the Mast. Charles and Mary +Lamb's Tales from Shakspeare. [Revised Edition, Houghton, Mifflin, & +Co.] Scott's Ivanhoe. Hawthorne's True Stories. Greene's Readings from +English History. [32]Church's Stories from Homer. [32]Church's Stories +of the Old World. Selections from American Authors,--Franklin, Adams, +Cooper, and Longfellow. American Poems, with Biographical Sketches and +Notes. Irving's Sketch-Book. Selections from Addison's Papers in the +Spectator. Ballads and Lyrics. Hales' Longer English Poems. Three plays +of Shakspeare,--Rolfe's _or_ Hudson's Selections. + +[32] No more copies of Church's Stories from Homer to be purchased, but +as books are worn out their place to be supplied with Church's Stories +of the Old World. + +_History._--Leighton's History of Rome. Smith's Smaller History of +Greece. Long's _or_ Ginn & Heath's Classical Atlas. Smith's Smaller +Classical Dictionary,--Student's Series. + +_Mythology._--Bulfinch's Age of Fable. + +_Geography._--Geikie's Primer of Physical Geography. Warren's +Common-School Geography. + +_Physiology._--Macé's History of a Mouthful of Bread. Foster's +Physiology (Science Primer). Blaisdell's Our Bodies and How We Live. + +_Botany._--Gray's School and Field Book of Botany. + +_Zoölogy._--Morse's Zoölogy and Packard's Zoölogy. + +_Mineralogy._--Tables for the Determination of Common Minerals. [Girls' +Latin School.] + +_Mathematics._--The Franklin Written Arithmetic. Bradbury's Eaton's +Algebra. [33]Wentworth & Hill's Exercises in Algebra. Chauvenet's +Geometry. Lodge's Elementary Mechanics. + +[33] This book is not intended to, and does not in fact, displace any +text-book now in use, but is intended merely to furnish additional +problems in algebra. + +_Physics._--Arnott's _or_ Avery's Physics, _or_ Gage's Physics. + +_Drawing._--American Text-books of Art Education. + +_Music._--Eichberg's High-School Music Reader. Eichberg's Girls' +High-School Music Reader. [Girls' Latin School] + +LATIN AND HIGH SCHOOLS. + +_French._--Keetel's Elementary Grammar. Keetel's Analytical French +Reader. Super's French Reader. [34]Sauveur's Petites Causeries. +Hennequin's Lessons in Idiomatic French. Gasc's French Dictionary. +Erckmann-Chatrian's Le Conscrit de 1813. Erckmann-Chatrian's Madame +Thérèse. Bôcher's College Series of French Plays. Nouvelles Genevoises. +Souvestre's Au Coin du Feu. Racine's Andromaque. Racine's Iphigénie. +Racine's Athalie. Molière's Bourgeois Gentilhomme. Molière's Precieuses +Ridicules. Corneille's Les Horaces. Corneille's Cid. Herrig's La France +Littéraire. Roemer's French Course, Vol. II. Ventura's Peppino. Halévy's +L'Abbé Constantin. La Fontaine's Fables. About's La Mère de la Marquise. +Daudet's Siège de Berlin. Daudet's Extraits. Daudet's La Belle +Nivarnaise. + +[34] To be furnished as new French Readers are needed. The use of the +book confined for this year to the English, Charlestown, Roxbury, and +West Roxbury High Schools. + +_German._--Whitney's German Dictionary. Whitney's Grammar. Collar's +Eysenbach. Otto's _or_ Whitney's Reader. Der Zerbrochene Krug. +Schiller's Wilhelm Tell. Schiller's Maria Stuart. Goethe's Hermann und +Dorothea. Putlitz's Das Herz Vergessen. Grimm's Märchen. Goethe's Prose. +Schiller's Prose. Stein's German Exercises. Heine's Die Harzreise. Im +Zwielicht. Vols. I. and II. Traumerein. Buckheim's German Poetry for +Repetition. + + +NORMAL SCHOOL TEXT-BOOKS. + +The text-books used in this school shall be such of the text-books used +in the other public schools of the city as are needed for the course of +study, and such others as shall be authorized by the Board. + +Normal Music Course. + + +HORACE MANN SCHOOL TEXT-BOOKS. + +Such text-books shall be supplied to the Horace Mann School as the +committee on that school shall approve. + + +EVENING HIGH SCHOOL TEXT-BOOKS. + +Benn Pitman's Manual of Phonography. Reporter's Companion. The +Phonographic Reader. The Reporter's First Reader. Bradbury's Elementary +Geometry. + +The text-books used in this school shall be such of the text-books +authorized in the other public schools as are approved by the Committee +on Evening Schools and the Committee on Supplies. + +_East Boston Branch._--Graded Lessons in Shorthand. Parts 1 and 2, by +Mrs. Mary A. Chandler. + + +EVENING ELEMENTARY SCHOOL TEXT-BOOKS. + +Munroe's Charts. Franklin Primer. Franklin Reader. Stories of American +History. Harper's Introductory Geography. The Franklin Elementary +Arithmetic. The Franklin Written Arithmetic. [35]Andersen's Märchen. +Writing-books, Plain Copy-books; and such of the text-books authorized +in the other public schools as are approved by the Committee on Evening +Schools and the Committee on Supplies. + +[35] In schools in which the English language is taught to German +pupils. + + +SCHOOLS OF COOKERY. + +Boston School Kitchen Text-book, by Mrs. D. A. Lincoln. + + + + +REFERENCE-BOOKS. + + +PRIMARY SCHOOLS. + +Worcester's Comprehensive Dictionary. National Music Teacher. Munroe's +Vocal Gymnastics. Lessons in Color (one copy for each Primary-School +teacher's desk). White's Oral Lessons in Number (one copy for each +Primary-School teacher's desk). Smith's Primer of Physiology and Hygiene +(one copy for each Primary-School teacher's desk). + +Observation Lessons in the Primary Schools, by Mrs. L. P. Hopkins (one +copy for each Primary-School teacher's desk). + +Simple Object Lessons (two series), by W. Hewitt Beck. Natural History +Object Lessons, by G. Ricks (one set of books of each title for each +Primary-School teacher's desk). + + +GRAMMAR SCHOOLS. + +Appleton's American Encyclopædia _or_ Johnson's Encyclopædia. Chambers's +Encyclopædia. Anthon's Classical Dictionary. Thomas's Dictionary of +Biography and Mythology. + +Worcester's Quarto Unabridged Dictionary. Webster's Quarto Unabridged +Dictionary. Webster's National Pictorial Dictionary. + +Lippincott's Gazetteer. Johnson's Atlas. Reclus' Earth. Reclus' Ocean. +Flammarion's Atmosphere. Weber's Universal History. Bancroft's History +of the United States. Battle Maps of the Revolution. Palfrey's History +of New England. Martin's Civil Government. Frothingham's Rise of the +Republic. Lossing's Field-book of the Revolution. Shurtleff's +Topographical History of Boston. Frothingham's Siege of Boston. +Lingard's History of England. Smith's Primer of Physiology and Hygiene +(one copy for the desk of each teacher of the fifth and sixth classes). + +Goold-Brown's Grammar of English Grammars. Wilson's Punctuation. +Philbrick's Union Speaker. Methods of Teaching Geography (one copy for +each teacher of Geography). + +_First Classes._--Physiography (Longmans & Co.). Copies for teachers' +desks. + +_Second Classes._--Harper's Cyclopædia of United States History. + +_Maps and Globes._--Cutter's Physiological Charts. Charts of the Human +Body (Milton Bradley & Co.). White's Manikin. Cornell's Series Maps, +_or_ Guyot's Series Maps, Nos. 1, 2, 3. (Not exceeding one set to each +floor.) Hughes's Series of Maps. Joslyn's fifteen-inch Terrestrial +Globe, on Tripod (one for each Grammar School). Nine-inch Hand Globe, +Loring's Magnetic (one for each Grammar School room). Cosmograph. O. W. +Gray & Son's Atlas. (To be furnished as new atlases are needed.) + + +LATIN AND HIGH SCHOOLS. + +Lingard's History of England. Harper's Latin Lexicon. Liddell & Scott's +Greek Lexicon, unabridged. Eugène's French Grammar. Labberton's +Historical Atlas and General History (one book for the desk of each +teacher). Guyot's and Cameron's Maps of the Roman Empire, Greece, and +Italy. Strang's English Lessons (for use on teachers' desks). + + +NORMAL SCHOOL. + +Observation Lessons in Primary Schools, by Mrs. L. P. Hopkins (one set). + + +NORMAL AND HIGH SCHOOLS. + +Charts of Life. Wilson's Human Anatomical and Physiological Charts. +Hough's American Woods. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The World's Best Books, by Frank Parsons + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE WORLD'S BEST BOOKS *** + +***** This file should be named 37795-8.txt or 37795-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/3/7/7/9/37795/ + +Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Matthew Wheaton and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The World's Best Books + A Key to the Treasures of Literature + +Author: Frank Parsons + +Release Date: October 19, 2011 [EBook #37795] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE WORLD'S BEST BOOKS *** + + + + +Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Matthew Wheaton and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + +</pre> + + +<h1 class="booktitle">THE WORLD'S BEST BOOKS</h1> + +<p class="h3">A KEY TO THE TREASURES OF LITERATURE</p> + +<p class="h3">BY</p> + +<p class="h2">FRANK PARSONS</p> + +<p class="spacer"> </p> + +<p class="h4">THIRD EDITION</p> + +<p class="h5">REVISED AND ENLARGED</p> + +<p class="spacer"> </p> + +<p class="h4">BOSTON<br /> +LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY<br /> +1893</p> +<p class="spacer"> </p> + +<p class="h6"><i>Copyright, 1889, 1891, 1893,</i></p> + +<p class="h5"><span class="smcap">By Frank Parsons</span>.</p> + +<p class="spacer"> </p> + +<p class="h5">UNIVERSITY PRESS:</p> + +<p class="h6"> +<span class="smcap">John Wilson and Son, Cambridge, U.S.A.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_iii">[iii]</a></span></span> +</p> + +<hr class="chapter" /> + +<h2>PREFACE TO THE THIRD EDITION.</h2> + +<p>At the request of the publishers the following +statement is made as a substitute for the former +indefinite arrangement in respect to authorship.</p> + +<p>The plan and composition of the book were mine; +the work of my colleagues, F. E. Crawford and H. T. +Richardson, consisting of criticism, verifications, and +assistance in gathering materials for the appendix,—services +of great value to me, and of which I wish to +express my high appreciation.</p> + +<p>A few additions have been made in this edition, +and the book has been carefully revised throughout.</p> + +<p class="author">FRANK PARSONS.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Boston</span>, January, 1893.</p> + +<hr class="chapter" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_v">[v]</a></span></p> + +<h2 id="PREFACE_TO_THE_SECOND_EDITION">PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION.</h2> + +<p>The public and the critics have met us with a +welcome far more cordial than we had dared to +expect, though not more so, of course, than we hoped +for. When did a thing such as that ever happen? +We are glad to discover that in forming our expectations +we underrated their discernment, or our own +merit (probably not the latter, judging by the remarks +of two or three of our critics), and in real +earnest we are grateful for their high appreciation +of our work.</p> + +<p>Some few—a very few—have found fault with us, +and our thanks are due to them also; for honest, +kindly, intelligent criticism is one of the most powerful +means of growth. The fact that this little volume +is not intended as an <i>infallible</i> guide, or as anything +more than a <i>stimulus</i> to seek the best, and a <i>suggestion</i> +of the method of guiding one's self and one's +children, has been missed by some, though it appears<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_vi">[vi]</a></span> +distinctly in various places through the book, and is +involved in what we deem the most useful part of our +work,—the <a href="#REMARKS_ON_TABLE_V">remarks following Table V</a>., wherein we +endeavor to show the student how he may learn to +estimate the value of a book for himself. So far +were we from wishing to <i>decide</i> matters which manifestly +vary with the wants and capacities of each individual, +that we emphatically advised the reader not +to accept the opinions of any one as final, but to +form his own judgments.</p> + +<p>Some have failed to perceive that, <i>in ranking the +books, we have considered, not merely their intrinsic +merit, but also the needs and abilities of the average +English reader</i>, making a compound test by which +to judge, not the relative greatness of the books simply, +but their relative claims on the attention of the +ordinary reader. This also was set forth, as we +thought, quite distinctly, and was in fact understood +by nearly every one, but not by all, for some have +objected to the order of the books in <a href="#TABLE_I">Table I</a>., affirming, +for example, that the "Federalist" and Bryce's +"American Commonwealth" are far <i>superior</i> to "Our +Country," and should be placed above it. That +would be true if intrinsic greatness alone decided the +matter. But the average reader with his needs and +abilities is a factor in the problem, as well as the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_vii">[vii]</a></span> +book with its subject and style. Now, the ordinary +reader's time and his mental power are both limited. +"Our Country" is briefer and simpler than the +others, and its contents are of vital interest to every +American, of even more vital interest than the discussions +of the "Federalist" or Bryce; and so, although +as a work of art it is inferior to these, it must rank +above them in this book, because of its superior +claims upon the attention of the average reader. In +a similar manner other questions of precedence are +determined on the principles contained in the <a href="#REMARKS_ON_TABLE_V">remarks on Table V</a>. It is not pretended, however, that the +arrangement is perfect even in respect to our own +tests, especially among the authors on the second +shelf of <a href="#TABLE_I">Table I</a>. The difficulties of making a true +list may be illustrated by the fact that one critic of +much ability affirms that Marietta Holley ought to +head the tenth column, as the best humorist of all +time; another says it is absurd to place her above +the Roman wits Juvenal and Lucian; and a third declares +with equal positiveness that she ought not to +appear in the list at all. We differ from them all, +and think the high place we have given Miss Holley +is very near the truth.</p> + +<p>Communications have been received from Oliver +Wendell Holmes, Marietta Holley, Senator Hoar,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_viii">[viii]</a></span> +Phillips Brooks, Bishop J. H. Vincent, Brooke Herford, +Francis Parkman, ex-Gov. John D. Long, Gen. +Benj. F. Butler, T. W. Higginson, and many other +eminent persons, bringing to us a number of suggestions, +most of which we have adopted to the great +advantage of our book, as we hope and believe.</p> + +<p>We have added a number of valuable works to the +lists of the first edition, and have written a new chapter +on the guidance of children, the means of training +them to good habits of reading, and the books best +adapted to boys and girls of various ages.</p> + +<p>If any one, on noting some of the changes that +have been made in this edition, feels inclined to raise +the cry of inconsistency, we ask him to remember +the declaration of Wendell Phillips, that "Inconsistency +is Progress." There is room for still further +inconsistency, we do not doubt; and criticism or +suggestion will be gladly received.</p> + +<p class="author">FRANK PARSONS.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Boston</span>, January, 1891.</p> + +<hr class="chapter" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_ix">[ix]</a></span></p> + +<h2 id="CONTENTS">CONTENTS.</h2> + +<div class="toc"> +<p class="toc-sc">Introductory Remarks. + <span class="toc-right-first">PAGE</span> +</p> + +<p class="toc-in1">Purposes of the book briefly stated + <span class="toc-right"><a href="#Page_1">1</a></span> +</p> + +<p class="toc-in1">System in reading + <span class="toc-right"><a href="#Page_2">2</a></span> +</p> + +<p class="toc-in1">Purposes of reading + <span class="toc-right"><a href="#Page_2">2</a></span> +</p> + +<p class="toc-in1">Its influence on health and mind + <span class="toc-right"><a href="#Page_2">2</a></span> +</p> + +<p class="toc-in2">on character + <span class="toc-right"><a href="#Page_3">3</a></span> +</p> + +<p class="toc-in2">on beauty and accomplishments + <span class="toc-right"><a href="#Page_4">4</a></span> +</p> + +<p class="toc-in1">Its pleasures + <span class="toc-right"><a href="#Page_5">5</a></span> +</p> + +<p class="toc-in1">Quantity and quality of reading + <span class="toc-right"><a href="#Page_5">5</a></span> +</p> + +<p class="toc-in1"> Selection of books + <span class="toc-right"><a href="#Page_6">6</a></span> +</p> + +<p class="toc-in1">Order of reading + <span class="toc-right"><a href="#Page_7">7</a></span> +</p> + +<p class="toc-in1">Method of reading + <span class="toc-right"><a href="#Page_8">8</a></span> +</p> + +<p class="toc-in1">Importance of owning the books you read + <span class="toc-right"><a href="#Page_9">9</a></span> +</p> + +<p class="toc-in1">Effect of bad books + <span class="toc-right"><a href="#Page_10">10</a></span> +</p> + +<p class="toc-in2">useless books + <span class="toc-right"><a href="#Page_11">11</a></span> +</p> + +<p class="toc-in2">good books + <span class="toc-right"><a href="#Page_12">12</a>-<a href="#Page_12">15</a></span> +</p> + +<p class="toc-sc">Abbreviations used in this Work + <span class="toc-right"><a href="#Page_16">16</a></span> +</p> + +<p class="toc-sc">Note of Explanation + <span class="toc-right"><a href="#Page_17">17</a>,<a href="#Page_17">20</a></span> +</p> + +<p class="toc-sc">The First Two Shelves of the World's Library (Table.) + <span class="toc-right"><a href="#Page_18">18</a>-<a href="#Page_18">19</a></span> +</p> + +<p class="toc-sc">Remarks on Table I. + <span class="toc-right"><a href="#Page_21">21</a>-<a href="#Page_21">80</a></span> +</p> + +<p class="toc-in1">Religion and Morals + <span class="toc-right"><a href="#Page_21">21</a>-<a href="#Page_21">24</a></span> +</p> + +<p class="toc-in1">Poetry and the Drama + <span class="toc-right"><a href="#Page_25">25</a>-<a href="#Page_25">41</a></span> +</p> + +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_x">[x]</a></span> + +<p class="toc-in1">Science + <span class="toc-right"><a href="#Page_41">41</a>-<a href="#Page_41">46</a></span> +</p> + +<p class="toc-in1">Biography + <span class="toc-right"><a href="#Page_46">46</a>-<a href="#Page_46">48</a></span> +</p> + +<p class="toc-in1">History + <span class="toc-right"><a href="#Page_49">49</a>-<a href="#Page_49">52</a></span> +</p> + +<p class="toc-in1">Philosophy + <span class="toc-right"><a href="#Page_53">53</a>-<a href="#Page_53">56</a></span> +</p> + +<p class="toc-in1">Essays + <span class="toc-right"><a href="#Page_56">56</a>-<a href="#Page_56">57</a></span> +</p> + +<p class="toc-in1">Fiction + <span class="toc-right"><a href="#Page_58">58</a>-<a href="#Page_58">67</a></span> +</p> + +<p class="toc-in1">Oratory + <span class="toc-right"><a href="#Page_67">67</a>-<a href="#Page_67">68</a></span> +</p> + +<p class="toc-in1">Wit and Humor + <span class="toc-right"><a href="#Page_68">68</a>-<a href="#Page_68">71</a></span> +</p> + +<p class="toc-in1">Fables and Fairy Tales + <span class="toc-right"><a href="#Page_71">71</a>-<a href="#Page_71">73</a></span> +</p> + +<p class="toc-in1">Guides + <span class="toc-right"><a href="#Page_75">75</a>-<a href="#Page_75">76</a></span> +</p> + +<p class="toc-in1">Miscellaneous + <span class="toc-right"><a href="#Page_76">76</a>-<a href="#Page_76">80</a></span> +</p> + +<p class="toc-sc">Glimpses of the Great Fields of Thought, +<span class="toc-norm">Arranged for the purpose of securing breadth of mind (Table II.)</span> + <span class="toc-right"><a href="#Page_82">82</a>-<a href="#Page_82">83</a></span> +</p> + +<p class="toc-sc">A Series of Brief but very Choice Selections + <span class="toc-norm">from general literature, constituting a year's + course for the formation of a true literary taste (Table III.)</span> + <span class="toc-right"><a href="#Page_84">84</a>-<a href="#Page_84">93</a></span> +</p> + +<p class="toc-in1"> Groups I. and II., Poetry + <span class="toc-right"><a href="#Page_85">85</a>-<a href="#Page_85">91</a></span> +</p> + +<p class="toc-in1">Group III., Prose + <span class="toc-right"><a href="#Page_91">91</a>-<a href="#Page_91">92</a></span> +</p> + +<p class="toc-in1">Group IV., Wit and Humor + <span class="toc-right"><a href="#Page_93">93</a></span> +</p> + +<p class="toc-sc">A Short Course Supplementary to the Last + <span class="toc-norm">(Table IV.)</span> + <span class="toc-right"><a href="#Page_94">94</a>-<a href="#Page_94">95</a></span> +</p> + +<p class="toc-sc">What To Give the Children + <span class="toc-right"><a href="#Page_97">97</a>-<a href="#Page_97">127</a></span> +</p> + +<p class="toc-sc">Special Studies + <span class="toc-right"><a href="#Page_123">123</a>-<a href="#Page_123">127</a></span> +</p> + +<p class="toc-sc">The Distribution of the World's Great Authors<span class="toc-norm"> +in time and space, with a parallel column of contemporaneous +noted historic events (Table V.)</span> + <span class="toc-right"><a href="#Page_128">128</a>-<a href="#Page_128">132</a></span> +</p> + +<p class="toc-sc">Remarks on Table V. + <span class="toc-right"><a href="#Page_133">133</a>-<a href="#Page_133">148</a></span> +</p> + +<p class="toc-in1">Definitions and divisions + <span class="toc-right"><a href="#Page_133">133</a>-<a href="#Page_133">135</a></span> +</p> + +<p class="toc-in1">Eight tests for the choice of books + <span class="toc-right"><a href="#Page_135">135</a>-<a href="#Page_135">139</a></span> +</p> + +<p class="toc-in1">Intrinsic merit + <span class="toc-right"><a href="#Page_139">139</a>-<a href="#Page_139">148</a></span> +</p> + +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_xi">[xi]</a></span> + +<p class="toc-in1">Periods of English Literature + <span class="toc-right"><a href="#Page_150">150</a>-<a href="#Page_150">160</a></span> +</p> + +<p class="toc-in2">The Pre-Shakspearian age + <span class="toc-right"><a href="#Page_150">150</a>-<a href="#Page_150">152</a></span> +</p> + +<p class="toc-in2">The Shakspearian age + <span class="toc-right"><a href="#Page_152">152</a>-<a href="#Page_152">155</a></span> +</p> + +<p class="toc-in2">The Post-Shakspearian age + <span class="toc-right"><a href="#Page_155">155</a>-<a href="#Page_155">160</a></span> +</p> + +<p class="toc-in2">Time of Milton + <span class="toc-right"><a href="#Page_155">155</a>-<a href="#Page_155">156</a></span> +</p> + +<p class="toc-in3">Dryden + <span class="toc-right"><a href="#Page_156">156</a>-<a href="#Page_156">158</a></span> +</p> + +<p class="toc-in3">Pope + <span class="toc-right"><a href="#Page_158">158</a>-<a href="#Page_158">159</a></span> +</p> + +<p class="toc-in3">The novelists, historians, and scientists + <span class="toc-right"><a href="#Page_159">159</a>-<a href="#Page_159">160</a></span> +</p> + +<p class="toc-in1">The greatest names of other +literatures:—Greece, Rome, Italy, France, Spain, Germany, +Persia, Portugal, Denmark, Russia +<span class="toc-right"><a href="#Page_161">161</a>-<a href="#Page_161">164</a></span> +</p> + +<p class="toc-in1">The fountains of national literatures:—Homer, +Nibelungenlied, Cid, Chansons, Morte D'Arthur, etc. +<span class="toc-right"><a href="#Page_165">165</a>-<a href="#Page_165">167</a></span> +</p> + +<br /> + +<hr class="short" /> + +<br /> + +<p class="toc-sc">APPENDIX I. +</p> + +<p class="toc-in1 smcap">The Best Thoughts of Great Men about Books and Reading +<span class="toc-right"><a href="#Page_171">171</a>-<a href="#Page_171">190</a></span> +</p> + +<br /> + +<p class="toc-sc">APPENDIX II. +</p> + +<p class="toc-in1 smcap">Books Used in the Boston Public Schools +as Supplementary Reading, Text-Books, <span class="toc-norm">etc.</span> +<span class="toc-right"><a href="#Page_191">191</a>-<a href="#Page_191">207</a></span> +</p> + +</div> + +<hr class="chapter" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_1">[1]</a></span></p> + +<h2 id="THE_WORLDS_BEST_BOOKS">THE WORLD'S BEST BOOKS.</h2> + +<hr class="chapter" /> + +<h2 id="INTRODUCTORY_REMARKS">INTRODUCTORY REMARKS.</h2> + +<p>This book is the result of much reading and +thought, teaching, lecturing, and conversation, +in the direction of its subject-matter. Its purpose +is fivefold: <i>First</i>, to call attention to the importance +of reading the best literature to the exclusion of all +that is inferior, by setting forth the benefits that may +be derived from the former and the injuries that are +sure to result from the latter. <i>Second</i>, to select the +best things from all the literatures of the world; to +make a survey of the whole field of literature and +locate the mines most worthy of our effort, where +with the smallest amount of digging we may find the +richest ore; and to do this with far greater precision, +definiteness, and detail than it has ever been done +before. <i>Third</i>, to place the great names of the world's +literature in their proper relations of time and space +to each other and to the great events of history,—accompanying +the picture with a few remarks about +the several periods of English Literature and the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_2">[2]</a></span> +Golden Age of literature in each of the great nations. +<i>Fourth</i>, to discuss briefly the best methods of reading, +and the importance of system, quantity, quality, due +proportion, and thoroughness in reading, and of the +ownership of books and the order in which they +should be read. <i>Fifth</i>, to gather into a shining group, +like a constellation of stars, the splendid thoughts of +the greatest men upon these subjects.</p> + +<p>The book is meant to be a practical handbook of +universal literature for the use of students, business +men, teachers, and any other persons who direct the +reading of others, and for the guidance of scholars +in departments other than their own.</p> + +<p>1. <b>System</b> in reading is of as much importance as +it is in the business of a bank or any other mercantile +pursuit.</p> + +<p>2. <b>The Purposes of Reading</b> should ever be kept in +mind. They are the purposes of life; namely, health, +mental power, character, beauty, accomplishments, +pleasure, and the knowledge which will be of use +in relation to our business, domestic life, and citizenship. +Literature can aid the <i>health</i>, indirectly, by +imparting a knowledge of the means of its attainment +and preservation (as in works on physiology +and hygiene); and directly, by supplying that exercise +of the mind which is essential to the balance of +the functions necessary to perfect health. A study +of literature will develop the <i>mind</i>—the perception, +memory, reason (especially true of science and philosophy), +and the imagination (especially the study of +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_3">[3]</a></span> +poetry and science)—directly, by exercising those +all-important faculties; and indirectly, by yielding a +knowledge of the conditions of their existence and +strength. On the other hand, the mind may be +greatly injured, if not wholly destroyed, by pouring +into it a flood of filth and nonsense; or by a torrent +of even the best in literature, so rapid and long continued +that it cannot be properly absorbed and digested. +The evil effects of cramming the mind are +only too often seen about us.</p> + +<p>Literature can build or destroy the <i>character</i> both +directly and indirectly. Poetry, religion, philosophy, +fiction, biography, history,—indeed, all sorts of writings +in some degree make us more sympathetic, +loving, tender, noble, generous, kind, and just, or +the opposite, by the simple power of exercise, if for +no other reason. If we freely exercise the muscles +of the arm, we shall have more vigor there. If we +continually love, our power and tendency to love +will grow. The poet's passion, passing the gates of +the eye and ear into our souls, rouses our sympathies +to kindred states of feeling. We love when he loves, +and weep when he weeps; and all the while he is +moulding our characters, taking from or adding to +the very substance of our souls. Brave words change +the coward to a hero; a coward's cry chills the bravest +heart. A boy who reads of crime and bravery sadly +mixed by some foul traitor to the race, soon thinks +that to be brave and grand he must be coarse and +have the blood of villainy and rashness pulsing from +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_4">[4]</a></span> +his misled heart. Not all the books that picture vice +are harmful. If they show it in its truth, they drive +us from it by its very loathsomeness; but if they gild +it and plume it with pleasure and power, beware. +Literature, too, can give us a knowledge of the means +for the development of character, and the inspiration +to make the best use of these means. Books of +morals, religion, biography, science, poetry, and fiction +especially hold these treasures.</p> + +<p>In the attainment and enrichment of <i>beauty</i>, literature +has a work to do. The choicest beauty is the +loveliness of soul that lights the eye and prints its +virtue in the face; and as our reading moulds the +mind and heart to beauty, their servants at the doorways +ever bend to their instructions and put on +the livery of their lords. Even that beauty which +is of the rounded form, the soft cheek's blooming +tinge, the rosy mouth, and pearly lip, owes its +debt to health; and that, as has been seen, may +profit much by literature. And beyond all this we +learn the means of great improvement in our comeliness,—how +crooked may be changed to straight, +and hollow cheeks to oval; frowns to smiles, and lean +or gross to plump; ill-fitting, ill-adapted dress to +beautiful attire; a shambling gait to a well-conducted +walk,—and even the stupid stare of ignorance be +turned to angel glances of indwelling power and +interested comprehension.</p> + +<p><i>Accomplishments</i>, too, find help in written works of +genius, not merely as affording a record of the best +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_5">[5]</a></span> +methods of acquiring any given art, but directly as +supplying the substance of some of the greatest of all +accomplishments,—those of inspiring eloquent conversation, +and of writing clear and beautiful English.</p> + +<p><i>Pleasure</i> manifestly is, by all these aids to beauty, +health, and power, much beholden to the books we +read; but more than this, the very reading of a worthy +book is a delicious joy, and one that does not drain +but fills the fount from which the happiness of others +comes. Plato, Fénelon, Gibbon, and a host of others +name the love of books the chiefest charm and glory +of their lives.</p> + +<p>3. <b>The Quantity and Quality</b> of what we read should +have our careful thought. Whoever lives on literary +husks and intoxicants, when corn and wheat +and milk are just as easily within his reach, is +certainly no wiser than one who treats his physical +receptacle in the same way, and will as surely +suffer from ill feeding in diminished vital force. Indeed, +he may be glad if he escapes acquiring intellectual +dyspepsia or spiritual delirium tremens. +Even of the best of reading there may be too much +as well as not enough. More than we can assimilate +is waste of time and energy. Besides the regulation +of the <i>total</i> quantity we read, with reference +to our powers of digestion, we must watch the <i>relative</i> +amounts of all the various kinds of literary sustenance +we take. A due proportion ought to be +maintained by careful mixture of religious, scientific, +poetic, philosophic, humorous, and other reading. +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_6">[6]</a></span> +A man who exercises but one small muscle all +his days would violate the laws of health and power. +The greatest mind is that which comes the nearest +to attainment of a present perfect picture in the +mind of all the universe, past, present, and to come. +The greatest character is that which gets the greatest +happiness for self through fullest and most powerful +activities for others, and requires for its own work, +existence, and delight, the least subtraction from the +world's resources of enjoyment. The greatest man +is he who combines in due proportion and completest +harmony the fullest physical, emotional, and +intellectual life.</p> + +<p>4. <b>The Selection</b> of books is of the utmost importance, +in view of their influence upon character. +All the reasons for care that apply to the +choice of friends among the living, have equal +force in reference to the dead. The same tests +avail in one case as in the other,—reputation and +personal observation of the words and deeds of +those we think to make companions. We may at +will and at slight cost have all the great and noble +for our intimate friends and daily guests, who will +come when we call, answer the questions we put, +and go when we wish. And better yet, however +long we talk to them, no other friends will be kept +waiting in the anterooms, longing to take our place. +Our most engrossing friendship, though we keep +them <i>always</i> with us, will produce no interference +with their equal friendship with all the world +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_7">[7]</a></span> +besides. We may associate with angels and become +angelic, or with demons and become satanic.</p> + +<p>Besides the difference in the nature of books, the +very number of them commands a choice. In one +library there are three million volumes; in the Boston +Public Library about three hundred thousand, +or five hundred thousand including pamphlets. In +your short life you can read but a trifling part of the +world's literature. Suppose you are fortunate enough +to be able to read one book a week, in thirty years +you would read but fifteen hundred books. Use, +then, every care to get the best. If it were in your +equal choice to go to one of two reputed entertainments +and but one, it surely would be worth your +while to know their character before selecting. One +might be Beethoven's loveliest symphony, the other +but a minstrel show.</p> + +<p>5. <b>The Order of our Reading</b> must be carefully attended +to. The very best books are not always to +be first read. If the reader is young or of little +culture, the <i>simplicity</i> of the writing must be taken +into account, for it is of no use to read a book that +cannot be understood. One of mature and cultivated +mind who begins a course of systematic reading +may follow the order of absolute value; but a +child must be supplied with easy books in each department, +and, as his powers develop, with works +of increasing difficulty, until he is able to grasp the +most complex and abstruse. If you take up a book +that is recommended to you as one of the world's +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_8">[8]</a></span> +best, and find it uninteresting, be sure the trouble +is in you. Do not reject it utterly, do not tell people +you do not like it; wait a few months or years, then +try it again, and it may become to you one of the +most precious of books.</p> + +<p>6. <b>The Method</b> of your reading is an important +factor in determining its value to you. It is in proportion +to your <i>conquest</i> of what is worthy in literature +that you gain. If you pour it into your mind +so fast that each succeeding wave forces the former +out before its form and color have been fixed, you +are not better off, but rather worse, because the +process washes out the power of memory. Memory +depends on health, attention, repetition, reflection, +association of ideas, and practice. Some books +should be very carefully read, looking to both +thought and form; the best passages should be +marked and marginal notes made; reflection should +digest the best ideas, until they become a part of the +tissue of your own thought; and the most beautiful +and striking expressions should be verbally committed. +If you saw a diamond in the sand, surely +you would fix it where it might adorn your person. +If you find a sparkling jewel in your reading, fix +it in your heart and let it beautify your conversation. +Shakspeare, Milton, Homer, Bacon, Æschylus, and +Emerson, and nearly all the selections in <a href="#TABLE_III">Table III</a>. +should be read in this way. Other books have value +principally by reason of the line of thought or argument +of which the whole book is an expression; such +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_9">[9]</a></span> +for the most part are books of history, science, and +philosophy. While reading them marks or notes +should be made; so that when the book is finished, +the steps of thought may several times be rapidly +retraced, until the force and meaning of the book +becomes your own forever. Still other books may +be simply glanced through, it being sufficient for the +purposes of the general reader to have an idea of +the nature of their contents, so that he may know +what he can find in them if he has need. Such +books to us are the Koran, the works of the lesser +essayists, orators, and philosophers. Ruskin says +that no book should be read fast; but it would be as +sensible to say that we should never walk or ride fast +over a comparatively uninteresting country. Adaptation +of method to the work in hand is the true rule. +We should not read "Robert Elsmere" as slowly and +carefully as Shakspeare. As the importance of the +book diminishes, the speed of our journey through it +ought to increase. Otherwise we give an inferior +book equal attention with its superiors.</p> + +<p>7. <b>Own the Books you Read,</b> if possible, so that you +may mark them and often refer to them. If you are +able, buy the best editions, with the fullest notes and +finest binding,—the more beautiful, the better. A +lovely frame adds beauty to the picture. If you +cannot buy the best-dressed books, get those of +modest form and good large type. If pennies must +be counted, get the catalogues of all the cheap +libraries that are multiplying so rapidly of late,—the +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_10">[10]</a></span> +Elzevir, Bohn, Morley, Camelot, National, Cassel, +Irving, Chandos, People's Library, World's Library, +etc.,—and own the books you learn to love. Use +the public libraries for reference, but do not rely +on them for the standard literature you read. It is +better far to have an eight cent Bunyan, twelve cent +Bacon, or seven cent Hamlet within your reach from +day to day, and marked to suit yourself, than to read +such books from the library and have to take them +back. That is giving up the rich companionship +of new-found friends as soon as gained. The difference +between talking with a sage or poet for a +few brief moments once in your lifetime, and having +him daily with you as your friend and teacher is the +difference between the vales and summits of this life. +The immense importance of possessing the best +books for your own cannot be too strongly impressed +upon you, nor the value of clothing your noble +friends as richly as you can. If they come to you +with outward beauty, they will claim more easily their +proper share of your attention and regard. Get an +Elzevir Shakspeare if you can afford no other, but +purchase the splendid edition by Richard Grant +White, if you can. Even if you have to save on +drink and smoke and pie-crust for the purpose, you +never will regret the barter.</p> + +<p>8. <b>Bad Books</b> corrupt us as bad people do. Whenever +they are made companions, insensibly we learn +to think and feel and talk and act as they do in +degree proportioned to the closeness that we hug +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_11">[11]</a></span> +them to our hearts. Books may be bad, not only +by imparting evil thoughts, awakening lust and gilding +vice, but by developing a false philosophy, +ignoble views of life, or errors in whatever parts +of science or religion they may touch. Avoid foul +books as you would shun foul men, for fear you +may be like them; but seek the errors out and +conquer them. Spend little time in following a +teacher you have tested and found false, but do +the testing for yourselves, and take no other person's +judgment as to what is truth or error. Truth +is always growing; you may be the first to catch +the morning light. The friend who warns you of +some book's untruth may be himself in error, led +by training, custom, or tradition, or unclearly seeing +in the darkness of his prejudice.</p> + +<p>9. <b>Useless Books.</b> Many books that are not positively +bad are yet mere waste of time. A wise man +will not spend the capital of his life, or part with +the wealth of his energies except he gets a fair +equivalent. He will demand the highest market +price for his time, and will not give his hours and +moments—precious pieces of his life—for trash, +when he can buy with them the richest treasures +of three thousand years of thought. You have not +time to drink the whole of human life from out the +many colored bottles of our literature; will you take +the rich cream, or cast that aside for the skimmed +milk below, or turn it all out on the pathway and +swallow the dirt and the dregs in the bottom?</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_12">[12]</a></span></p> + +<p>10. <b>Good Books.—A Short Sermon.</b>—If you are a +scholar, professor or lawyer, doctor or clergyman, +do not stay locked in the narrow prison of your own +department, but go out into the world of thought +and breathe the air that comes from all the quarters +of the globe. Read other books than those that deal +with your profession,—poetry, philosophy, and travel. +Get out of the valleys up on to the ridges, where you +can see what relation your home bears to the rest of +the world. Go stand in the clamor of tongues, that +you may learn that the truth is broader than any +man's conception of it and become tolerant. Look +at the standards that other men use, and correct your +own by them. Learn what other thinkers and workers +are doing, that you may appreciate them and aid +them. Learn the Past, that you may know the Future. +Do not look out upon the world through one small +window; open all the doorways of your soul, let all +genius and beauty come in, that your life may be +bright with their glory.</p> + +<p>If you are a busy merchant, artisan, or laborer, you +too can give a little time each day to books that are +the best. If Plato, Homer, Shakspeare, Tennyson, +or Milton came to town to-day, you would not let the +busiest hour prevent your catching sight of him; you +would stand a half day on the street in the sun or the +snow to catch but a glimpse of the famous form; but +how much better to receive his spirit in the heart +than only get his image on the eye! His choicest +thought is yours for the asking.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_13">[13]</a></span></p> + +<p>If you are a thoughtless boy or silly girl, trying the +arts that win the matrimonial prize, remember that +there are no wings that fly so high as those of sense +and thought and inward beauty. Remember the old +song that ends,—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Beauty vanish, wealth depart,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Wit has won the lady's heart."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>Even as a preparation for a noble and successful +courtship, the best literature is an absolute necessity. +Perhaps you cannot travel: Humboldt, Cook, +and Darwin, Livingstone, and Stanley will tell you +more than you could see if you should go where +they have travelled. Perhaps you cannot have the +finest teachers in the studies you pursue: what a +splendid education one could get if he could learn +philosophy with Plato, Kant, and Spencer; astronomy +with Galileo, Herschel, and Laplace; mathematics +with Newton or Leibniz; natural history +with Cuvier or Agassiz; botany with Gray; geology +with Lyell or Dawson; history with Bancroft; +and poetry with Shakspeare, Milton, Dante, and +Homer! Well, those very teachers at their best are +yours if you will read their books. Each life is a +mixture of white and black, no one is perfect; but +every worthy passage and ennobling thought you read +adds to the white and crowds out the black; and of +what enormous import a few brief moments daily +spent with noble books may be, appears when we +remember that each act brings after it an infinite<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_14">[14]</a></span> +series of consequences. It is an awe-inspiring truth +to me that with the color of my thought I tinge the +stream of life to its remotest hour; that some poor +brother far out on the ocean of the future, struggling +to breast the billows of temptation, may by my hand +be pulled beneath the waves, ruined by the influences +I put in action now; that, standing here, I make +the depths of all eternities to follow tremble to the +music of my life: as Tennyson has put it so beautifully +in his "Bugle Song,"—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Blow, let us hear the purple glens replying:<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Blow, bugle; answer, echoes, dying, dying, dying.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i3">"O love, they die in yon rich sky,<br /></span> +<span class="i6">They faint on hill or field or river:<br /></span> +<span class="i4"><i>Our echoes roll from soul to soul</i>,<br /></span> +<span class="i6"><i>And grow for ever and for ever</i>."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>How careful we should be of every moment if we +had imaginative power enough to fully realize the +meaning of the truth that slightly differing actions +now may build results at last as wide apart as poles +of opposite eternities! Even idleness, the negative of +goodness, would have no welcome at our door. Some +persons dream away two thirds of life, and deem +quiescence joy; but that is certainly a sad mistake. +The nearer to complete inaction we attain, the nearer +we are clay and stone; the more activity we gain, +that does not draw from future power, the higher +up the cliffs of life we climb, and nearer to celestial +life that never sleeps. Let no hour go idly by that<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_15">[15]</a></span> +can be rendered rich and happy with a glorious bit +of Shakspeare, Dante, or Carlyle. Let us never +be deluded with the praise of peace, excepting that +of heart and conscience clear of all remorse. It +is ambition that has climbed the heights, and will +through all the future. Give me not the dead and +hopeless calm of indolent contentment, but far rather +the storm and the battle of life, with the star of my +hopes above me. Let me sail the central flow of the +stream, and travel the tides at the river's heart. I do +not wish to stay in any shady nook of quiet water, +where the river's rushing current never comes, and +straws and bubbles lie at rest or slowly eddying round +and round at anchor in their mimic harbor. How +often are we all like these imprisoned straws, revolving +listlessly within the narrow circle of the daily +duties of our lives, gaining no new truth, nor deeper +love or power or tenderness or joy, while all the +world around is sweeping to the sea! How often +do we let the days and moments, with their wealth +of life, fly past us with their treasure! Youth lies +in her loveliness, dreaming in her drifting boat, and +wakes to find her necklace has in some way come +unfast, and from the loosened ribbon trailing o'er the +rail the lustrous pearls have one by one been slipping +far beyond her reach in those deep waters over which +her slumbers passed. Do not let the pearls be lost. +Do not let the moments pass you till they yield their +wealth and add their beauty to your lives.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_16">[16]</a></span></p> + +<p>11. <b>Abbreviations.—</b></p> + +<p class="out-4">R. means, Read carefully.</p> + +<p class="out-4">D. means, Digest the best passages; make the thought and +feeling your own.</p> + +<p class="out-4">C. means, Commit passages in which valuable thought or +feeling is <i>exquisitely expressed</i>.</p> + +<p class="out-4">G. means, Grasp the idea of the whole book; that is, the +train of the author's thought, his conclusions, and the +reasons for them.</p> + +<p class="out-4">S. means, Swallow; that is, read as fast as you choose, it not +being worth while to do more than get a general impression +of the book.</p> + +<p class="out-4">T. means, Taste; that is, skip here and there, just to get an +idea of the book, and see if you wish to read more.</p> + +<p class="out-4">e. means <i>easy</i>; that is, of such character as to be within the +easy comprehension of one having no more than a +grammar-school education or its equivalent; and it +applies to all books that can be understood without +either close attention or more than an ordinary New +England grammar-school training.</p> + +<p class="out-4">m. means <i>medium</i>; that is, of such character as to require +the close attention called "study," or a high-school +education, or both; and it applies to books the degree +of whose difficulty places them above the class e. and +below the class <i>d</i>.</p> + +<p class="out-4">d. means <i>difficult</i>; that is, beyond the comprehension of an +ordinary person having only a New England high-school +education or its equivalent, even with close +study, unless the reader already has a fair understanding +of the <i>subject</i> of the book. In order to read with +advantage books that are marked <i>d.</i>, the mind should +be prepared by special reading of simpler books in +the same department of thought.</p> + +<hr class="chapter" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_17">[17]</a></span></p> + +<h2 id="TABLE_I">TABLE I.</h2> + +<p class="h3">NOTE OF EXPLANATION.</p> + +<div class="trnote"> +<p>Transcriber's note: The original format of the table exceeded +the width requirements for e-text. Therefore the table was +reformatted. It is now organized from top to bottom in the order of +importance. The first shelf and second shelf are arranged +side by side.</p> +</div> + +<p><span class="smcap">Table I.</span> contains a list of authors whose books, on principle +and authority, have the strongest claims on the attention of the +average reader of English. They are arranged from left to right +in the order of importance of the divisions of the subject matter +regarded as wholes, and from above downward in the order of +their value in relation to the highest standard in their own department. +The <i>numbers</i> have nothing to do with the ranking, +but refer to notes that will be found on the pages following the +table. There is also, at the head of the notes relating to each +column of the table, a special note on the subject matter of that +column.</p> + +<p>The upper part of the table represents the first shelf of +the world's library, and contains the books having the very +strongest claims upon the attention of all,—books with which +every one should endeavor to gain an acquaintance, at least <i>to +the extent</i> indicated in the notes.</p> + +<p>The lower part of the table represents the second shelf of the +world's library, and contains books which in addition to those +of the first shelf should enter into a liberal education.</p> + +<p>It must be always kept in mind that intrinsic merit alone +does not decide the position of a book in this table; for in order +to test the claim of a book upon the attention of a reader we +have to consider not only the artistic value of the author's work, +and its subject matter, but also the needs and abilities of the +reader. Thus it happens that it is not always the work of the +greatest genius which stands highest in the list. Moreover, +no claim is made that the ranking is perfect, especially on the +second shelf. The table is an example of the application of +the principles set forth in the <a href="#REMARKS_ON_TABLE_V">remarks following Table V</a>., to the +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_18">[18]</a></span> +case of the general reader. For every one above or below the +average reader the lists would have to be changed, and even +the average list has no quality of the absolute. It is but a suggestion,—a +suggestion, however, in which we have a good deal +of confidence, one that is based on a very wide induction,—and +we have no hesitation in affirming that the upper shelf represents +the best literature the world affords.</p> + +<p>In addition to <a href="#TABLE_I">Table I</a>., there will be found in <a href="#TABLE_III">Tables III</a>. and +<a href="#TABLE_IV">IV</a>., and in the remarks upon the <a href="#CHILDREN">Guidance of Children</a> following +Table IV., a number of pieces of literary work of the very +highest merit and value. Some of the most important are Lowell's +"Vision of Sir Launfal," one of the very finest American poems; +Browning's "Ivan Ivanovitch;" Guyot's "Earth and Man;" +Mary Treat's "Home Book of Nature;" Burroughs' "Pepacton," +"Signs and Seasons," "Wake Robin," etc.; Buckley's "Fairy +Land of Science," etc.; Ragozin's "Chaldea;" Fénelon's "Lives +of the Philosophers;" Bolton's "Poor Boys who became Famous;" +Rives' "Story of Arnon;" Drake's "Culprit Fay;" Dr. +Brown's "Rab and his Friends;" Mary Mapes Dodge's "Hans +Brinker;" Andrews' "Ten Boys on the Road;" Arnold's +"Sweetness and Light;" Higginson's "Vacations for Saints;" +and General Booth's "In Darkest England, and the Way Out," +a book of great power, which sets forth the most practical method +yet proposed for the immediate relief of society from the burdens +of pauperism and vice.</p> + +<p class="h3">TABLE I.—THE WORLD'S BEST BOOKS.</p> + +<p class="h4">[See explanation on the preceding pages.]</p> + +<div class="centered"> +<table class="table1" border="01" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> + <tr> + <td class="tdc">(first shelf)</td> + <td class="tdc">(second shelf)</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td colspan="2">1. Religion & Morals.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Bible<a id="FNanchor_1_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a></td> + <td class="tdl">Milton<a id="FNanchor_11_11"></a><a href="#Footnote_11_11" class="fnanchor">[11]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Bunyan<a id="FNanchor_2_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_2_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a></td> + <td class="tdl">Keble<a id="FNanchor_12_12"></a><a href="#Footnote_12_12" class="fnanchor">[12]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Taylor<a id="FNanchor_3_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_3_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a></td> + <td class="tdl">Cicero<a id="FNanchor_13_13"></a><a href="#Footnote_13_13" class="fnanchor">[13]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Kempis<a id="FNanchor_4_4"></a><a href="#Footnote_4_4" class="fnanchor">[4]</a></td> + <td class="tdl">Pascal<a id="FNanchor_14_14"></a><a href="#Footnote_14_14" class="fnanchor">[14]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Spencer<a id="FNanchor_5_5"></a><a href="#Footnote_5_5" class="fnanchor">[5]</a></td> + <td class="tdl">Channing<a id="FNanchor_15_15"></a><a href="#Footnote_15_15" class="fnanchor">[15]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">M. Aurelius<a id="FNanchor_6_6"></a><a href="#Footnote_6_6" class="fnanchor">[6]</a></td> + <td class="tdl">Aristotle<a id="FNanchor_16_16"></a><a href="#Footnote_16_16" class="fnanchor">[16]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Plutarch<a id="FNanchor_7_7"></a><a href="#Footnote_7_7" class="fnanchor">[7]</a></td> + <td class="tdl">St. Augustine<a id="FNanchor_17_17"></a><a href="#Footnote_17_17" class="fnanchor">[17]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Seleca<a id="FNanchor_8_8"></a><a href="#Footnote_8_8" class="fnanchor">[8]</a></td> + <td class="tdl">Butler<a id="FNanchor_18_18"></a><a href="#Footnote_18_18" class="fnanchor">[18]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Epictetus<a id="FNanchor_9_9"></a><a href="#Footnote_9_9" class="fnanchor">[9]</a></td> + <td class="tdl">Spinoza<a id="FNanchor_19_19"></a><a href="#Footnote_19_19" class="fnanchor">[19]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Brooks<a id="FNanchor_10_10"></a><a href="#Footnote_10_10" class="fnanchor">[10]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Drummond<a href="#Footnote_10_10" class="fnanchor">[10]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td colspan="2">2. Poetry & the Drama.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Shakspeare<a id="FNanchor_20_20"></a><a href="#Footnote_20_20" class="fnanchor">[20]</a></td> + <td class="tdl">Spenser<a id="FNanchor_27_27"></a><a href="#Footnote_27_27" class="fnanchor">[27]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Homer<a id="FNanchor_21_21"></a><a href="#Footnote_21_21" class="fnanchor">[21]</a></td> + <td class="tdl">Lowell<a id="FNanchor_28_28"></a><a href="#Footnote_28_28" class="fnanchor">[28]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Dante<a id="FNanchor_22_22"></a><a href="#Footnote_22_22" class="fnanchor">[22]</a></td> + <td class="tdl">Whittier<a id="FNanchor_29_29"></a><a href="#Footnote_29_29" class="fnanchor">[29]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Goethe<a id="FNanchor_23_23"></a><a href="#Footnote_23_23" class="fnanchor">[23]</a></td> + <td class="tdl">Tennyson<a id="FNanchor_30_30"></a><a href="#Footnote_30_30" class="fnanchor">[30]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Milton<a id="FNanchor_24_24"></a><a href="#Footnote_24_24" class="fnanchor">[24]</a></td> + <td class="tdl">Burns<a id="FNanchor_31_31"></a><a href="#Footnote_31_31" class="fnanchor">[31]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Æschylus<a id="FNanchor_25_25"></a><a href="#Footnote_25_25" class="fnanchor">[25]</a></td> + <td class="tdl">Scott<a id="FNanchor_32_32"></a><a href="#Footnote_32_32" class="fnanchor">[32]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Fragments<a id="FNanchor_26_26"></a><a href="#Footnote_26_26" class="fnanchor">[26]</a></td> + <td class="tdl">Byron<a id="FNanchor_33_33"></a><a href="#Footnote_33_33" class="fnanchor">[33]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdl">Shelley<a id="FNanchor_34_34"></a><a href="#Footnote_34_34" class="fnanchor">[34]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdl">Keats<a id="FNanchor_35_35"></a><a href="#Footnote_35_35" class="fnanchor">[35]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdl">Campbell<a id="FNanchor_36_36"></a><a href="#Footnote_36_36" class="fnanchor">[36]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdl">Moore<a id="FNanchor_37_37"></a><a href="#Footnote_37_37" class="fnanchor">[37]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdl">Thomson<a id="FNanchor_38_38"></a><a href="#Footnote_38_38" class="fnanchor">[38]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdl">Macaulay<a id="FNanchor_39_39"></a><a href="#Footnote_39_39" class="fnanchor">[39]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdl">Dryden<a id="FNanchor_40_40"></a><a href="#Footnote_40_40" class="fnanchor">[40]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdl">Collins<a id="FNanchor_41_41"></a><a href="#Footnote_41_41" class="fnanchor">[41]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdl">Ingelow<a id="FNanchor_42_42"></a><a href="#Footnote_42_42" class="fnanchor">[42]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdl">Bryant<a id="FNanchor_43_43"></a><a href="#Footnote_43_43" class="fnanchor">[43]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdl">Longfellow<a id="FNanchor_44_44"></a><a href="#Footnote_44_44" class="fnanchor">[44]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdl">Herbert<a id="FNanchor_45_45"></a><a href="#Footnote_45_45" class="fnanchor">[45]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdl">Goldsmith<a id="FNanchor_46_46"></a><a href="#Footnote_46_46" class="fnanchor">[46]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdl">Coleridge<a id="FNanchor_47_47"></a><a href="#Footnote_47_47" class="fnanchor">[47]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdl">Wordsworth<a id="FNanchor_48_48"></a><a href="#Footnote_48_48" class="fnanchor">[48]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdl">Pope<a id="FNanchor_49_49"></a><a href="#Footnote_49_49" class="fnanchor">[49]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdl">Southey<a id="FNanchor_50_50"></a><a href="#Footnote_50_50" class="fnanchor">[50]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdl">Walton<a id="FNanchor_51_51"></a><a href="#Footnote_51_51" class="fnanchor">[51]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdl">Browning<a id="FNanchor_52_52"></a><a href="#Footnote_52_52" class="fnanchor">[52]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdl">Young<a id="FNanchor_53_53"></a><a href="#Footnote_53_53" class="fnanchor">[53]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdl">Jonson<a id="FNanchor_54_54"></a><a href="#Footnote_54_54" class="fnanchor">[54]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdl">Beaumont & F.<a id="FNanchor_55_55"></a><a href="#Footnote_55_55" class="fnanchor">[55]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdl">Marlowe<a id="FNanchor_56_56"></a><a href="#Footnote_56_56" class="fnanchor">[56]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdl">Sheridan<a id="FNanchor_57_57"></a><a href="#Footnote_57_57" class="fnanchor">[57]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdl">Carleton<a id="FNanchor_58_58"></a><a href="#Footnote_58_58" class="fnanchor">[58]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdl">Virgil<a id="FNanchor_60_59"></a><a href="#Footnote_60_59" class="fnanchor">[60]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdl">Horace<a id="FNanchor_61_60"></a><a href="#Footnote_61_60" class="fnanchor">[61]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdl">Lucretius<a id="FNanchor_62_61"></a><a href="#Footnote_62_61" class="fnanchor">[62]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdl">Ovid<a id="FNanchor_63_62"></a><a href="#Footnote_63_62" class="fnanchor">[63]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdl">Sophocles<a id="FNanchor_64_63"></a><a href="#Footnote_64_63" class="fnanchor">[64]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdl">Euripides<a id="FNanchor_65_64"></a><a href="#Footnote_65_64" class="fnanchor">[65]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdl">Aristophanes<a id="FNanchor_66_65"></a><a href="#Footnote_66_65" class="fnanchor">[66]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdl">Pindar<a id="FNanchor_67_66"></a><a href="#Footnote_67_66" class="fnanchor">[67]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdl">Hesiod<a id="FNanchor_68_67"></a><a href="#Footnote_68_67" class="fnanchor">[68]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdl">Heine<a id="FNanchor_69_68"></a><a href="#Footnote_69_68" class="fnanchor">[69]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdl">Schiller<a id="FNanchor_70_69"></a><a href="#Footnote_70_69" class="fnanchor">[70]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdl">Corneille<a href="#Footnote_71_70" class="fnanchor">[71]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdl">Racine<a href="#Footnote_71_70" class="fnanchor">[71]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdl">Molière<a id="FNanchor_71_70"></a><a href="#Footnote_71_70" class="fnanchor">[71]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdl">Musset<a id="FNanchor_74_71"></a><a href="#Footnote_74_71" class="fnanchor">[74]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdl">Calderon<a id="FNanchor_75_72"></a><a href="#Footnote_75_72" class="fnanchor">[75]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdl">Petrarch<a id="FNanchor_76_73"></a><a href="#Footnote_76_73" class="fnanchor">[76]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdl">Ariosto<a id="FNanchor_77_74"></a><a href="#Footnote_77_74" class="fnanchor">[77]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdl">Tasso<a id="FNanchor_78_75"></a><a href="#Footnote_78_75" class="fnanchor">[78]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdl">Camoens<a id="FNanchor_79_76"></a><a href="#Footnote_79_76" class="fnanchor">[79]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdl">Omar<a id="FNanchor_80_77"></a><a href="#Footnote_80_77" class="fnanchor">[80]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdl">Firdusi<a href="#Footnote_81_78" class="fnanchor">[81]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdl">Hafiz<a href="#Footnote_81_78" class="fnanchor">[81]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdl">Saadi<a id="FNanchor_81_78"></a><a href="#Footnote_81_78" class="fnanchor">[81]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdl">Arnold<a id="FNanchor_82_79"></a><a href="#Footnote_82_79" class="fnanchor">[82]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdl">Pushkin<a id="FNanchor_83_80"></a><a href="#Footnote_83_80" class="fnanchor">[83]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdl">Lermontoff<a id="FNanchor_84_81"></a><a href="#Footnote_84_81" class="fnanchor">[84]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td colspan="2">3. Science.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Physiology and Hygiene<a id="FNanchor_85_82"></a><a href="#Footnote_85_82" class="fnanchor">[85]</a></td> + <td class="tdl">De Tocqueville<a id="FNanchor_99_95"></a><a href="#Footnote_99_95" class="fnanchor">[99]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">"Our Country"<a id="FNanchor_86_83"></a><a href="#Footnote_86_83" class="fnanchor">[86]</a></td> + <td class="tdl">Von Holst<a id="FNanchor_100_96"></a><a href="#Footnote_100_96" class="fnanchor">[100]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Federalist<a id="FNanchor_88_84"></a><a href="#Footnote_88_84" class="fnanchor">[88]</a></td> + <td class="tdl">Smith<a id="FNanchor_101_97"></a><a href="#Footnote_101_97" class="fnanchor">[101]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Bryce<a id="FNanchor_89_85"></a><a href="#Footnote_89_85" class="fnanchor">[89]</a></td> + <td class="tdl">Malthus<a id="FNanchor_102_98"></a><a href="#Footnote_102_98" class="fnanchor">[102]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Montesquieu<a href="#Footnote_90_86" class="fnanchor">[90]</a></td> + <td class="tdl">Carey<a id="FNanchor_103_99"></a><a href="#Footnote_103_99" class="fnanchor">[103]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Bagehot<a id="FNanchor_90_86"></a><a href="#Footnote_90_86" class="fnanchor">[90]</a></td> + <td class="tdl">Cairnes<a id="FNanchor_104_100"></a><a href="#Footnote_104_100" class="fnanchor">[104]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Mill<a id="FNanchor_91_87"></a><a href="#Footnote_91_87" class="fnanchor">[91]</a></td> + <td class="tdl">Freeman<a id="FNanchor_105_101"></a><a href="#Footnote_105_101" class="fnanchor">[105]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Bain<a id="FNanchor_92_88"></a><a href="#Footnote_92_88" class="fnanchor">[92]</a></td> + <td class="tdl">Jevons<a id="FNanchor_106_102"></a><a href="#Footnote_106_102" class="fnanchor">[106]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Spencer<a id="FNanchor_93_89"></a><a href="#Footnote_93_89" class="fnanchor">[93]</a></td> + <td class="tdl">Mulford<a id="FNanchor_107_103"></a><a href="#Footnote_107_103" class="fnanchor">[107]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Darwin<a id="FNanchor_94_90"></a><a href="#Footnote_94_90" class="fnanchor">[94]</a></td> + <td class="tdl">Hobbes<a id="FNanchor_108_104"></a><a href="#Footnote_108_104" class="fnanchor">[108]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Herschel<a href="#Footnote_95_91" class="fnanchor">[95]</a></td> + <td class="tdl">Machiavelli<a id="FNanchor_109_105"></a><a href="#Footnote_109_105" class="fnanchor">[109]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Proctor<a id="FNanchor_95_91"></a><a href="#Footnote_95_91" class="fnanchor">[95]</a></td> + <td class="tdl">Max Müller<a id="FNanchor_110_106"></a><a href="#Footnote_110_106" class="fnanchor">[110]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Lyell<a href="#Footnote_96_92" class="fnanchor">[96]</a></td> + <td class="tdl">Trench<a id="FNanchor_111_107"></a><a href="#Footnote_111_107" class="fnanchor">[111]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Lubbock<a href="#Footnote_96_92" class="fnanchor">[96]</a></td> + <td class="tdl">Taylor<a id="FNanchor_112_108"></a><a href="#Footnote_112_108" class="fnanchor">[112]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Dawson<a id="FNanchor_96_92"></a><a href="#Footnote_96_92" class="fnanchor">[96]</a></td> + <td class="tdl">White<a id="FNanchor_113_109"></a><a href="#Footnote_113_109" class="fnanchor">[113]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Wood<a id="FNanchor_97_93"></a><a href="#Footnote_97_93" class="fnanchor">[97]</a></td> + <td class="tdl">Cuvier<a id="FNanchor_114_110"></a><a href="#Footnote_114_110" class="fnanchor">[114]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Whewell<a id="FNanchor_98_94"></a><a href="#Footnote_98_94" class="fnanchor">[98]</a></td> + <td class="tdl">Cook<a id="FNanchor_115_111"></a><a href="#Footnote_115_111" class="fnanchor">[115]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdl">Tyndall<a id="FNanchor_116_112"></a><a href="#Footnote_116_112" class="fnanchor">[116]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdl">Airy<a id="FNanchor_117_113"></a><a href="#Footnote_117_113" class="fnanchor">[117]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdl">Faraday<a id="FNanchor_118_114"></a><a href="#Footnote_118_114" class="fnanchor">[118]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdl">Helmholtz<a id="FNanchor_119_115"></a><a href="#Footnote_119_115" class="fnanchor">[119]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdl">Huxley<a id="FNanchor_120_116"></a><a href="#Footnote_120_116" class="fnanchor">[120]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdl">Gray<a id="FNanchor_121_117"></a><a href="#Footnote_121_117" class="fnanchor">[121]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdl">Agassiz<a id="FNanchor_122_118"></a><a href="#Footnote_122_118" class="fnanchor">[122]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdl">Silliman<a id="FNanchor_123_119"></a><a href="#Footnote_123_119" class="fnanchor">[123]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td colspan="2">4. Biography.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Plutarch<a id="FNanchor_124_120"></a><a href="#Footnote_124_120" class="fnanchor">[124]</a></td> + <td class="tdl">G. Smith<a id="FNanchor_139_135"></a><a href="#Footnote_139_135" class="fnanchor">[139]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Phillips<a id="FNanchor_125_121"></a><a href="#Footnote_125_121" class="fnanchor">[125]</a></td> + <td class="tdl">Bourrienne<a id="FNanchor_140_136"></a><a href="#Footnote_140_136" class="fnanchor">[140]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Boswell<a id="FNanchor_126_122"></a><a href="#Footnote_126_122" class="fnanchor">[126]</a></td> + <td class="tdl">Johnson<a id="FNanchor_141_137"></a><a href="#Footnote_141_137" class="fnanchor">[141]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Lockhart<a id="FNanchor_127_123"></a><a href="#Footnote_127_123" class="fnanchor">[127]</a></td> + <td class="tdl">Walton<a id="FNanchor_142_138"></a><a href="#Footnote_142_138" class="fnanchor">[142]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Marshall<a href="#Footnote_128_124" class="fnanchor">[128]</a></td> + <td class="tdl">Stanley<a id="FNanchor_143_139"></a><a href="#Footnote_143_139" class="fnanchor">[143]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Franklin<a id="FNanchor_128_124"></a><a href="#Footnote_128_124" class="fnanchor">[128]</a></td> + <td class="tdl">Irving<a id="FNanchor_144_140"></a><a href="#Footnote_144_140" class="fnanchor">[144]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Nicolay & H.<a href="#Footnote_129_125" class="fnanchor">[129]</a></td> + <td class="tdl">Southey<a id="FNanchor_145_141"></a><a href="#Footnote_145_141" class="fnanchor">[145]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Grant<a id="FNanchor_129_125"></a><a href="#Footnote_129_125" class="fnanchor">[129]</a></td> + <td class="tdl">Stanhope<a id="FNanchor_146_142"></a><a href="#Footnote_146_142" class="fnanchor">[146]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Carlyle<a href="#Footnote_130_126" class="fnanchor">[130]</a></td> + <td class="tdl">Moore<a id="FNanchor_147_143"></a><a href="#Footnote_147_143" class="fnanchor">[147]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Renan<a id="FNanchor_130_126"></a><a href="#Footnote_130_126" class="fnanchor">[130]</a></td> + <td class="tdl">Jameson<a id="FNanchor_148_144"></a><a href="#Footnote_148_144" class="fnanchor">[148]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Farrar<a id="FNanchor_131_127"></a><a href="#Footnote_131_127" class="fnanchor">[131]</a></td> + <td class="tdl">Baring-Gould<a id="FNanchor_149_145"></a><a href="#Footnote_149_145" class="fnanchor">[149]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Emerson<a id="FNanchor_132_128"></a><a href="#Footnote_132_128" class="fnanchor">[132]</a></td> + <td class="tdl">Field<a id="FNanchor_150_146"></a><a href="#Footnote_150_146" class="fnanchor">[150]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Greatest Men<a id="FNanchor_133_129"></a><a href="#Footnote_133_129" class="fnanchor">[133]</a></td> + <td class="tdl">Hamilton<a href="#Footnote_151_147" class="fnanchor">[151]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Parton<a id="FNanchor_134_130"></a><a href="#Footnote_134_130" class="fnanchor">[134]</a></td> + <td class="tdl">Darwin<a href="#Footnote_151_147" class="fnanchor">[151]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Hale<a id="FNanchor_135_131"></a><a href="#Footnote_135_131" class="fnanchor">[135]</a></td> + <td class="tdl">Alcott<a href="#Footnote_151_147" class="fnanchor">[151]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Drake<a id="FNanchor_136_132"></a><a href="#Footnote_136_132" class="fnanchor">[136]</a></td> + <td class="tdl">Talleyrand<a href="#Footnote_151_147" class="fnanchor">[151]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Fox<a id="FNanchor_137_133"></a><a href="#Footnote_137_133" class="fnanchor">[137]</a></td> + <td class="tdl">Macaulay<a href="#Footnote_151_147" class="fnanchor">[151]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Grimm<a id="FNanchor_138_134"></a><a href="#Footnote_138_134" class="fnanchor">[138]</a></td> + <td class="tdl">Bashkirtseff<a href="#Footnote_151_147" class="fnanchor">[151]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdl">Guerin<a href="#Footnote_151_147" class="fnanchor">[151]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdl">Jefferson<a href="#Footnote_151_147" class="fnanchor">[151]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdl">American Statesmen<a href="#Footnote_151_147" class="fnanchor">[151]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdl">English Men of Letters<a id="FNanchor_151_147"></a><a href="#Footnote_151_147" class="fnanchor">[151]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td colspan="2">5. History.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Green<a id="FNanchor_152_148"></a><a href="#Footnote_152_148" class="fnanchor">[152]</a></td> + <td class="tdl">Creasy <a id="FNanchor_155A_152"></a><a href="#Footnote_155A_152" class="fnanchor">[155a]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Bancroft<a id="FNanchor_153_149"></a><a href="#Footnote_153_149" class="fnanchor">[153]</a></td> + <td class="tdl">Lecky<a id="FNanchor_156_153"></a><a href="#Footnote_156_153" class="fnanchor">[156]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Guizot<a href="#Footnote_154_150" class="fnanchor">[154]</a></td> + <td class="tdl">Clarke<a id="FNanchor_157_154"></a><a href="#Footnote_157_154" class="fnanchor">[157]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Buckle<a id="FNanchor_154_150"></a><a href="#Footnote_154_150" class="fnanchor">[154]</a></td> + <td class="tdl">Moffat<a id="FNanchor_158_155"></a><a href="#Footnote_158_155" class="fnanchor">[158]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Parkman<a href="#Footnote_155_151" class="fnanchor">[155]</a></td> + <td class="tdl">Draper<a id="FNanchor_159_156"></a><a href="#Footnote_159_156" class="fnanchor">[159]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Freeman<a href="#Footnote_155_151" class="fnanchor">[155]</a></td> + <td class="tdl">Hallam<a id="FNanchor_160_157"></a><a href="#Footnote_160_157" class="fnanchor">[160]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Fiske<a href="#Footnote_155_151" class="fnanchor">[155]</a></td> + <td class="tdl">May<a id="FNanchor_161_158"></a><a href="#Footnote_161_158" class="fnanchor">[161]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Fyffe<a id="FNanchor_155_151"></a><a href="#Footnote_155_151" class="fnanchor">[155]</a></td> + <td class="tdl">Hume<a id="FNanchor_162_159"></a><a href="#Footnote_162_159" class="fnanchor">[162]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdl">Macaulay<a id="FNanchor_163_160"></a><a href="#Footnote_163_160" class="fnanchor">[163]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdl">Froude<a id="FNanchor_164_161"></a><a href="#Footnote_164_161" class="fnanchor">[164]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdl">Gibbon<a id="FNanchor_165_162"></a><a href="#Footnote_165_162" class="fnanchor">[165]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdl">Grote<a id="FNanchor_166_163"></a><a href="#Footnote_166_163" class="fnanchor">[166]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdl">Palfrey<a id="FNanchor_167_164"></a><a href="#Footnote_167_164" class="fnanchor">[167]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdl">Prescott<a id="FNanchor_168_165"></a><a href="#Footnote_168_165" class="fnanchor">[168]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdl">Motley<a id="FNanchor_169_166"></a><a href="#Footnote_169_166" class="fnanchor">[169]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdl">Frothingham <a id="FNanchor_169A_167"></a><a href="#Footnote_169A_167" class="fnanchor">[169a]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdl">Wilkinson<a id="FNanchor_170_168"></a><a href="#Footnote_170_168" class="fnanchor">[170]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdl">Niebuhr<a id="FNanchor_171_169"></a><a href="#Footnote_171_169" class="fnanchor">[171]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdl">Menzel<a id="FNanchor_172_170"></a><a href="#Footnote_172_170" class="fnanchor">[172]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdl">Milman<a id="FNanchor_173_171"></a><a href="#Footnote_173_171" class="fnanchor">[173]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdl">Ranke<a id="FNanchor_174_172"></a><a href="#Footnote_174_172" class="fnanchor">[174]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdl">Sismondi<a id="FNanchor_175_173"></a><a href="#Footnote_175_173" class="fnanchor">[175]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdl">Michelet<a id="FNanchor_176_174"></a><a href="#Footnote_176_174" class="fnanchor">[176]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdl">Carlyle<a id="FNanchor_177_175"></a><a href="#Footnote_177_175" class="fnanchor">[177]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdl">Thierry<a id="FNanchor_178_176"></a><a href="#Footnote_178_176" class="fnanchor">[178]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdl">Tacitus<a id="FNanchor_179_177"></a><a href="#Footnote_179_177" class="fnanchor">[179]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdl">Livy<a id="FNanchor_180_178"></a><a href="#Footnote_180_178" class="fnanchor">[180]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdl">Sallust<a id="FNanchor_181_179"></a><a href="#Footnote_181_179" class="fnanchor">[181]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdl">Herodotus<a id="FNanchor_182_180"></a><a href="#Footnote_182_180" class="fnanchor">[182]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdl">Xenophon<a id="FNanchor_183_181"></a><a href="#Footnote_183_181" class="fnanchor">[183]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdl">Thucydides<a id="FNanchor_184_182"></a><a href="#Footnote_184_182" class="fnanchor">[184]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdl">Josephus<a href="#Footnote_185_183" class="fnanchor">[185]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdl">Mackenzie<a href="#Footnote_185_183" class="fnanchor">[185]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdl">Rawlinson<a id="FNanchor_185_183"></a><a href="#Footnote_185_183" class="fnanchor">[185]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td colspan="2">6. Philosophy.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Spencer<a id="FNanchor_186_184"></a><a href="#Footnote_186_184" class="fnanchor">[186]</a></td> + <td class="tdl">Mill<a id="FNanchor_192_190"></a><a href="#Footnote_192_190" class="fnanchor">[192]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Plato<a id="FNanchor_187_185"></a><a href="#Footnote_187_185" class="fnanchor">[187]</a></td> + <td class="tdl">Mansel<a id="FNanchor_193_191"></a><a href="#Footnote_193_191" class="fnanchor">[193]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Berkeley<a id="FNanchor_188_186"></a><a href="#Footnote_188_186" class="fnanchor">[188]</a></td> + <td class="tdl">Büchner<a id="FNanchor_194_192"></a><a href="#Footnote_194_192" class="fnanchor">[194]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Kant<a id="FNanchor_189_187"></a><a href="#Footnote_189_187" class="fnanchor">[189]</a></td> + <td class="tdl">Edwards<a id="FNanchor_195_193"></a><a href="#Footnote_195_193" class="fnanchor">[195]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Locke & Hobbes<a id="FNanchor_190_188"></a><a href="#Footnote_190_188" class="fnanchor">[190]</a></td> + <td class="tdl">Bentham<a id="FNanchor_196_194"></a><a href="#Footnote_196_194" class="fnanchor">[196]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Comte<a id="FNanchor_191_189"></a><a href="#Footnote_191_189" class="fnanchor">[191]</a></td> + <td class="tdl">Maurice<a id="FNanchor_197_195"></a><a href="#Footnote_197_195" class="fnanchor">[197]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Lewes</td> + <td class="tdl">Hume<a id="FNanchor_198_196"></a><a href="#Footnote_198_196" class="fnanchor">[198]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">or Ueberweg</td> + <td class="tdl">Hamilton<a id="FNanchor_199_197"></a><a href="#Footnote_199_197" class="fnanchor">[199]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">or Schwegler</td> + <td class="tdl">Aristotle<a id="FNanchor_200_198"></a><a href="#Footnote_200_198" class="fnanchor">[200]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">or Schlegel</td> + <td class="tdl">Descartes<a href="#Footnote_201_199" class="fnanchor">[201]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">on the History of Philosophy</td> + <td class="tdl">Cousin<a id="FNanchor_201_199"></a><a href="#Footnote_201_199" class="fnanchor">[201]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdl">Hegel & Schelling<a id="FNanchor_202_200"></a><a href="#Footnote_202_200" class="fnanchor">[202]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdl">Fichte<a id="FNanchor_203_201"></a><a href="#Footnote_203_201" class="fnanchor">[203]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdl">Erasmus<a id="FNanchor_204_202"></a><a href="#Footnote_204_202" class="fnanchor">[204]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdl">Fiske<a id="FNanchor_205_203"></a><a href="#Footnote_205_203" class="fnanchor">[205]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdl">Hickok<a id="FNanchor_206_204"></a><a href="#Footnote_206_204" class="fnanchor">[206]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdl">McCosh<a id="FNanchor_207_205"></a><a href="#Footnote_207_205" class="fnanchor">[207]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdl">Spinoza<a id="FNanchor_208_206"></a><a href="#Footnote_208_206" class="fnanchor">[208]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td colspan="2">7. Essays.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Emerson<a id="FNanchor_209_207"></a><a href="#Footnote_209_207" class="fnanchor">[209]</a></td> + <td class="tdl">Macaulay</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Bacon<a id="FNanchor_210_208"></a><a href="#Footnote_210_208" class="fnanchor">[210]</a></td> + <td class="tdl">Leigh Hunt</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Montaigne<a id="FNanchor_211_209"></a><a href="#Footnote_211_209" class="fnanchor">[211]</a></td> + <td class="tdl">Arnold</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Ruskin<a href="#Footnote_212_210" class="fnanchor">[212]</a></td> + <td class="tdl">Buckle</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Carlyle<a href="#Footnote_212_210" class="fnanchor">[212]</a></td> + <td class="tdl">Hume</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Addison<a id="FNanchor_212_210"></a><a href="#Footnote_212_210" class="fnanchor">[212]</a></td> + <td class="tdl">Froude</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdl">Symonds</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdl">Steele</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdl">Browne</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdl">Johnson</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdl">De Quincey</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdl">Foster</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdl">Hazlitt</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdl">Lessing</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdl">Sparks</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdl">Disraeli</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdl">Whipple</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdl">Lamb</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdl">Schiller</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdl">Coleridge</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td colspan="2">8. Fiction.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Scott<a id="FNanchor_213_211"></a><a href="#Footnote_213_211" class="fnanchor">[213]</a></td> + <td class="tdl">Rousseau<a href="#Footnote_235_233" class="fnanchor">[235]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Eliot<a id="FNanchor_214_212"></a><a href="#Footnote_214_212" class="fnanchor">[214]</a></td> + <td class="tdl">Saintine<a id="FNanchor_235_233"></a><a href="#Footnote_235_233" class="fnanchor">[235]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Dickens<a id="FNanchor_215_213"></a><a href="#Footnote_215_213" class="fnanchor">[215]</a></td> + <td class="tdl">Coffin<a href="#Footnote_236_234" class="fnanchor">[236]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Hawthorne<a id="FNanchor_216_214"></a><a href="#Footnote_216_214" class="fnanchor">[216]</a></td> + <td class="tdl">Reade<a href="#Footnote_236_234" class="fnanchor">[236]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Goldsmith<a id="FNanchor_217_215"></a><a href="#Footnote_217_215" class="fnanchor">[217]</a></td> + <td class="tdl">Warren<a id="FNanchor_236_234"></a><a href="#Footnote_236_234" class="fnanchor">[236]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Bulwer<a id="FNanchor_218_216"></a><a href="#Footnote_218_216" class="fnanchor">[218]</a></td> + <td class="tdl">Landor<a href="#Footnote_237_235" class="fnanchor">[237]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">MacDonald<a id="FNanchor_219_217"></a><a href="#Footnote_219_217" class="fnanchor">[219]</a></td> + <td class="tdl">Turgenieff<a href="#Footnote_237_235" class="fnanchor">[237]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Thackeray<a id="FNanchor_220_218"></a><a href="#Footnote_220_218" class="fnanchor">[220]</a></td> + <td class="tdl">Sue<a href="#Footnote_237_235" class="fnanchor">[237]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Kingsley<a id="FNanchor_221_219"></a><a href="#Footnote_221_219" class="fnanchor">[221]</a></td> + <td class="tdl">Manzoni<a id="FNanchor_237_235"></a><a href="#Footnote_237_235" class="fnanchor">[237]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Wallace<a id="FNanchor_222_220"></a><a href="#Footnote_222_220" class="fnanchor">[222]</a></td> + <td class="tdl">Cottin<a href="#Footnote_238_236" class="fnanchor">[238]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Tourgée<a id="FNanchor_223_221"></a><a href="#Footnote_223_221" class="fnanchor">[223]</a></td> + <td class="tdl">Besant<a href="#Footnote_238_236" class="fnanchor">[238]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Hugo<a href="#Footnote_224_222" class="fnanchor">[224]</a></td> + <td class="tdl">Stevenson<a id="FNanchor_238_236"></a><a href="#Footnote_238_236" class="fnanchor">[238]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Dumas<a id="FNanchor_224_222"></a><a href="#Footnote_224_222" class="fnanchor">[224]</a></td> + <td class="tdl">Ward<a href="#Footnote_239_237" class="fnanchor">[239]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Defoe<a href="#Footnote_225_223" class="fnanchor">[225]</a></td> + <td class="tdl">Deland<a href="#Footnote_239_237" class="fnanchor">[239]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Hughes<a id="FNanchor_225_223"></a><a href="#Footnote_225_223" class="fnanchor">[225]</a></td> + <td class="tdl">Sewell<a href="#Footnote_239_237" class="fnanchor">[239]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Stowe<a href="#Footnote_226_224" class="fnanchor">[226]</a></td> + <td class="tdl">Bret Harte<a id="FNanchor_239_237"></a><a href="#Footnote_239_237" class="fnanchor">[239]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Cooper<a id="FNanchor_226_224"></a><a href="#Footnote_226_224" class="fnanchor">[226]</a></td> + <td class="tdl">Green<a href="#Footnote_240_238" class="fnanchor">[240]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Curtis<a href="#Footnote_227_225" class="fnanchor">[227]</a></td> + <td class="tdl">Mulock<a href="#Footnote_240_238" class="fnanchor">[240]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Warner<a id="FNanchor_227_225"></a><a href="#Footnote_227_225" class="fnanchor">[227]</a></td> + <td class="tdl">Disraeli<a href="#Footnote_240_238" class="fnanchor">[240]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Aldrich<a href="#Footnote_228_226" class="fnanchor">[228]</a></td> + <td class="tdl">Howells<a href="#Footnote_240_238" class="fnanchor">[240]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Hearn<a id="FNanchor_228_226"></a><a href="#Footnote_228_226" class="fnanchor">[228]</a></td> + <td class="tdl">Tolstoï<a id="FNanchor_240_238"></a><a href="#Footnote_240_238" class="fnanchor">[240]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Ebers<a href="#Footnote_229_227" class="fnanchor">[229]</a></td> + <td class="tdl">Sand<a href="#Footnote_241_239" class="fnanchor">[241]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Sienkiewicz<a id="FNanchor_229_227"></a><a href="#Footnote_229_227" class="fnanchor">[229]</a></td> + <td class="tdl">Black<a href="#Footnote_241_239" class="fnanchor">[241]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Austen<a href="#Footnote_230_228" class="fnanchor">[230]</a></td> + <td class="tdl">Blackmore<a href="#Footnote_241_239" class="fnanchor">[241]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Bronté<a id="FNanchor_230_228"></a><a href="#Footnote_230_228" class="fnanchor">[230]</a></td> + <td class="tdl">Schreiner<a id="FNanchor_241_239"></a><a href="#Footnote_241_239" class="fnanchor">[241]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Alcott<a href="#Footnote_231_229" class="fnanchor">[231]</a></td> + <td class="tdl">Bremer<a href="#Footnote_242_240" class="fnanchor">[242]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Burnett<a id="FNanchor_231_229"></a><a href="#Footnote_231_229" class="fnanchor">[231]</a></td> + <td class="tdl">Trollope<a href="#Footnote_242_240" class="fnanchor">[242]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Cable<a href="#Footnote_232_230" class="fnanchor">[232]</a></td> + <td class="tdl">Winthrop<a id="FNanchor_242_240"></a><a href="#Footnote_242_240" class="fnanchor">[242]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Craddock<a id="FNanchor_232_230"></a><a href="#Footnote_232_230" class="fnanchor">[232]</a></td> + <td class="tdl">Richardson<a href="#Footnote_243_241" class="fnanchor">[243]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Whitney<a href="#Footnote_233_231" class="fnanchor">[233]</a></td> + <td class="tdl">Smollett<a href="#Footnote_243_241" class="fnanchor">[243]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Jewett<a id="FNanchor_233_231"></a><a href="#Footnote_233_231" class="fnanchor">[233]</a></td> + <td class="tdl">Boccaccio<a id="FNanchor_243_241"></a><a href="#Footnote_243_241" class="fnanchor">[243]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Fielding<a href="#Footnote_234_232" class="fnanchor">[234]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Le Sage<a href="#Footnote_234_232" class="fnanchor">[234]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Balzac<a id="FNanchor_234_232"></a><a href="#Footnote_234_232" class="fnanchor">[234]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td colspan="2">9. Oratory.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Demosthenes</td> + <td class="tdl">Sumner</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Burke</td> + <td class="tdl">Henry</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Fox</td> + <td class="tdl">Otis</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Pitt</td> + <td class="tdl">Jay</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Webster</td> + <td class="tdl">Madison</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Clay</td> + <td class="tdl">Jefferson</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Phillips</td> + <td class="tdl">Beecher</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Lincoln</td> + <td class="tdl">Brooks</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Everett</td> + <td class="tdl">Choate</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Bright</td> + <td class="tdl">Garfield</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdl">Ingersoll</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdl">Erskine</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdl">Sheridan</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdl">Gladstone</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdl">Cicero</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdl">Quintilian</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdl">Bossuet</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdl">Saint Chrysostom</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td colspan="2">10. Wit & Humor.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Lowell<a id="FNanchor_244_242"></a><a href="#Footnote_244_242" class="fnanchor">[244]</a></td> + <td class="tdl">Ingersoll<a id="FNanchor_248_246"></a><a href="#Footnote_248_246" class="fnanchor">[248]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Holmes<a id="FNanchor_245_243"></a><a href="#Footnote_245_243" class="fnanchor">[245]</a></td> + <td class="tdl">Holley<a id="FNanchor_249_247"></a><a href="#Footnote_249_247" class="fnanchor">[249]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Dickens<a id="FNanchor_246_244"></a><a href="#Footnote_246_244" class="fnanchor">[246]</a></td> + <td class="tdl">Curtis<a id="FNanchor_250_248"></a><a href="#Footnote_250_248" class="fnanchor">[250]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Cervantes<a id="FNanchor_247_245"></a><a href="#Footnote_247_245" class="fnanchor">[247]</a></td> + <td class="tdl">Depew<a id="FNanchor_251_249"></a><a href="#Footnote_251_249" class="fnanchor">[251]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdl">Twain<a id="FNanchor_252_250"></a><a href="#Footnote_252_250" class="fnanchor">[252]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdl">Warner<a id="FNanchor_253"></a><a href="#Footnote_253" class="fnanchor">[253]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdl">Edwards<a id="FNanchor_254_251"></a><a href="#Footnote_254_251" class="fnanchor">[254]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdl">Hale<a id="FNanchor_255_252"></a><a href="#Footnote_255_252" class="fnanchor">[255]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdl">Nasby<a id="FNanchor_256_253"></a><a href="#Footnote_256_253" class="fnanchor">[256]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdl">Ward<a id="FNanchor_257_254"></a><a href="#Footnote_257_254" class="fnanchor">[257]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdl">Jerrold<a id="FNanchor_258_255"></a><a href="#Footnote_258_255" class="fnanchor">[258]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdl">Voltaire<a href="#Footnote_259_256" class="fnanchor">[259]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdl">Byron<a id="FNanchor_259_256"></a><a href="#Footnote_259_256" class="fnanchor">[259]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdl">Butler<a href="#Footnote_260_257" class="fnanchor">[260]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdl">Swift<a id="FNanchor_260_257"></a><a href="#Footnote_260_257" class="fnanchor">[260]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdl">Rabelais<a href="#Footnote_261_258" class="fnanchor">[261]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdl">Sterne<a id="FNanchor_261_258"></a><a href="#Footnote_261_258" class="fnanchor">[261]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdl">Juvenal<a href="#Footnote_262_259" class="fnanchor">[262]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdl">Lucian<a id="FNanchor_262_259"></a><a href="#Footnote_262_259" class="fnanchor">[262]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td colspan="2">11. Fables & Fairy Tales.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Andersen<a id="FNanchor_263_260"></a><a href="#Footnote_263_260" class="fnanchor">[263]</a></td> + <td class="tdl">Bulfinch<a id="FNanchor_268_265"></a><a href="#Footnote_268_265" class="fnanchor">[268]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">La Fontaine<a id="FNanchor_264_261"></a><a href="#Footnote_264_261" class="fnanchor">[264]</a></td> + <td class="tdl">Saxe<a id="FNanchor_269_266"></a><a href="#Footnote_269_266" class="fnanchor">[269]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Æsop<a id="FNanchor_265_262"></a><a href="#Footnote_265_262" class="fnanchor">[265]</a></td> + <td class="tdl">Florian<a href="#Footnote_270_267" class="fnanchor">[270]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Grimm<a id="FNanchor_266_263"></a><a href="#Footnote_266_263" class="fnanchor">[266]</a></td> + <td class="tdl">Kipling<a id="FNanchor_270_267"></a><a href="#Footnote_270_267" class="fnanchor">[270]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Goethe<a href="#Footnote_267_264" class="fnanchor">[267]</a></td> + <td class="tdl">Babrius<a id="FNanchor_271_268"></a><a href="#Footnote_271_268" class="fnanchor">[271]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Hawthorne<a id="FNanchor_267_264"></a><a href="#Footnote_267_264" class="fnanchor">[267]</a></td> + <td class="tdl">Hauff<a id="FNanchor_272_269"></a><a href="#Footnote_272_269" class="fnanchor">[272]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdl">Ovid<a href="#Footnote_273_270" class="fnanchor">[273]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdl">Curtin<a href="#Footnote_273_270" class="fnanchor">[273]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdl">Fiske<a id="FNanchor_273_270"></a><a href="#Footnote_273_270" class="fnanchor">[273]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td colspan="2">12. Travel.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Cook<a id="FNanchor_274_271"></a><a href="#Footnote_274_271" class="fnanchor">[274]</a></td> + <td class="tdl">Marco Polo<a id="FNanchor_277_274"></a><a href="#Footnote_277_274" class="fnanchor">[277]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Humboldt<a id="FNanchor_275_272"></a><a href="#Footnote_275_272" class="fnanchor">[275]</a></td> + <td class="tdl">Kane<a id="FNanchor_278_275"></a><a href="#Footnote_278_275" class="fnanchor">[278]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Darwin<a id="FNanchor_276_273"></a><a href="#Footnote_276_273" class="fnanchor">[276]</a></td> + <td class="tdl">Livingstone<a id="FNanchor_279_276"></a><a href="#Footnote_279_276" class="fnanchor">[279]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdl">Stanley<a id="FNanchor_280_277"></a><a href="#Footnote_280_277" class="fnanchor">[280]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdl">Du Chaillu<a id="FNanchor_281_278"></a><a href="#Footnote_281_278" class="fnanchor">[281]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdl">Niebuhr<a id="FNanchor_282_279"></a><a href="#Footnote_282_279" class="fnanchor">[282]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdl">Bruce<a id="FNanchor_283_280"></a><a href="#Footnote_283_280" class="fnanchor">[283]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdl">Heber<a id="FNanchor_284_281"></a><a href="#Footnote_284_281" class="fnanchor">[284]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdl">Lander<a id="FNanchor_285_282"></a><a href="#Footnote_285_282" class="fnanchor">[285]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdl">Waterton<a id="FNanchor_286_283"></a><a href="#Footnote_286_283" class="fnanchor">[286]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdl">Mungo Park<a id="FNanchor_287_284"></a><a href="#Footnote_287_284" class="fnanchor">[287]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdl">Ouseley<a id="FNanchor_288_285"></a><a href="#Footnote_288_285" class="fnanchor">[288]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdl">Barth<a id="FNanchor_289_286"></a><a href="#Footnote_289_286" class="fnanchor">[289]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdl">Boteler<a id="FNanchor_290_287"></a><a href="#Footnote_290_287" class="fnanchor">[290]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdl">Maundeville<a id="FNanchor_291_288"></a><a href="#Footnote_291_288" class="fnanchor">[291]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdl">Warburton<a id="FNanchor_292_289"></a><a href="#Footnote_292_289" class="fnanchor">[292]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td colspan="2">13. Guides.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Foster<a id="FNanchor_293_290"></a><a href="#Footnote_293_290" class="fnanchor">[293]</a></td> + <td class="tdl">Brook<a id="FNanchor_303_300"></a><a href="#Footnote_303_300" class="fnanchor">[303]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Pall Mall<a id="FNanchor_294_291"></a><a href="#Footnote_294_291" class="fnanchor">[294]</a></td> + <td class="tdl">Leypoldt<a id="FNanchor_304_301"></a><a href="#Footnote_304_301" class="fnanchor">[304]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Morley<a id="FNanchor_295_292"></a><a href="#Footnote_295_292" class="fnanchor">[295]</a></td> + <td class="tdl">Richardson<a id="FNanchor_305_302"></a><a href="#Footnote_305_302" class="fnanchor">[305]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Welsh<a id="FNanchor_296_293"></a><a href="#Footnote_296_293" class="fnanchor">[296]</a></td> + <td class="tdl">Harrison<a id="FNanchor_306_303"></a><a href="#Footnote_306_303" class="fnanchor">[306]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Taine<a id="FNanchor_297_294"></a><a href="#Footnote_297_294" class="fnanchor">[297]</a></td> + <td class="tdl">Ruskin<a id="FNanchor_307_304"></a><a href="#Footnote_307_304" class="fnanchor">[307]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Botta<a id="FNanchor_298_295"></a><a href="#Footnote_298_295" class="fnanchor">[298]</a></td> + <td class="tdl">Bright<a id="FNanchor_308_305"></a><a href="#Footnote_308_305" class="fnanchor">[308]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Allibone<a id="FNanchor_299_296"></a><a href="#Footnote_299_296" class="fnanchor">[299]</a></td> + <td class="tdl">Dunlop<a href="#Footnote_309_306" class="fnanchor">[309]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Bartlett<a id="FNanchor_300_297"></a><a href="#Footnote_300_297" class="fnanchor">[300]</a></td> + <td class="tdl">Baldwin<a href="#Footnote_309_306" class="fnanchor">[309]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Ballou<a id="FNanchor_301_298"></a><a href="#Footnote_301_298" class="fnanchor">[301]</a></td> + <td class="tdl">Adams<a id="FNanchor_309_306"></a><a href="#Footnote_309_306" class="fnanchor">[309]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Bryant<a href="#Footnote_302_299" class="fnanchor">[302]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Palgrave<a id="FNanchor_302_299"></a><a href="#Footnote_302_299" class="fnanchor">[302]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Roget's Thesaurus</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Dictionaries</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Encyclopædias</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td colspan="2">14. Miscellaneous.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Smiles' Self-Help<a id="FNanchor_310_307"></a><a href="#Footnote_310_307" class="fnanchor">[310]</a></td> + <td class="tdl">Sheking<a id="FNanchor_324_321"></a><a href="#Footnote_324_321" class="fnanchor">[324]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Irving's Sketch Book<a id="FNanchor_311_308"></a><a href="#Footnote_311_308" class="fnanchor">[311]</a></td> + <td class="tdl">Analects of Confucius<a id="FNanchor_325_322"></a><a href="#Footnote_325_322" class="fnanchor">[325]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Bacon's New Atlantis<a id="FNanchor_312_309"></a><a href="#Footnote_312_309" class="fnanchor">[312]</a></td> + <td class="tdl">Mesnevi<a id="FNanchor_326_323"></a><a href="#Footnote_326_323" class="fnanchor">[326]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Bellamy<a id="FNanchor_313_310"></a><a href="#Footnote_313_310" class="fnanchor">[313]</a></td> + <td class="tdl">Buddhism<a id="FNanchor_327_324"></a><a href="#Footnote_327_324" class="fnanchor">[327]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Arabian Nights<a id="FNanchor_314_311"></a><a href="#Footnote_314_311" class="fnanchor">[314]</a></td> + <td class="tdl">Mahabharata<a id="FNanchor_328_325"></a><a href="#Footnote_328_325" class="fnanchor">[328]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Munchausen<a id="FNanchor_315_312"></a><a href="#Footnote_315_312" class="fnanchor">[315]</a></td> + <td class="tdl">Ramayana<a href="#Footnote_328_325" class="fnanchor">[329]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Beowulf<a id="FNanchor_316_313"></a><a href="#Footnote_316_313" class="fnanchor">[316]</a></td> + <td class="tdl">Vedas<a id="FNanchor_330_326"></a><a href="#Footnote_330_326" class="fnanchor">[330]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Anglo-Saxon Chronicle<a id="FNanchor_317_314"></a><a href="#Footnote_317_314" class="fnanchor">[317]</a></td> + <td class="tdl">Koran<a href="#Footnote_330_326" class="fnanchor">[331]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Froissart<a id="FNanchor_318_315"></a><a href="#Footnote_318_315" class="fnanchor">[318]</a></td> + <td class="tdl">Talmud<a href="#Footnote_330_326" class="fnanchor">[332]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Nibelungenlied<a id="FNanchor_319_316"></a><a href="#Footnote_319_316" class="fnanchor">[319]</a></td> + <td class="tdl">Hooker<a href="#Footnote_333_327" class="fnanchor">[333]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Icelandic Sagas<a id="FNanchor_320_317"></a><a href="#Footnote_320_317" class="fnanchor">[320]</a></td> + <td class="tdl">Swedenborg<a href="#Footnote_333_327" class="fnanchor">[333]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Elder Edda<a id="FNanchor_321_318"></a><a href="#Footnote_321_318" class="fnanchor">[321]</a></td> + <td class="tdl">Newton<a href="#Footnote_333_327" class="fnanchor">[333]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">The Cid<a id="FNanchor_322_319"></a><a href="#Footnote_322_319" class="fnanchor">[322]</a></td> + <td class="tdl">Kepler<a href="#Footnote_333_327" class="fnanchor">[333]</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Morte D'Arthur<a id="FNanchor_323_320"></a><a href="#Footnote_323_320" class="fnanchor">[323]</a></td> + <td class="tdl">Copernicus<a id="FNanchor_333_327"></a><a href="#Footnote_333_327" class="fnanchor">[333]</a></td> + </tr> +</table></div> + +<hr class="chapter" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_21">[21]</a></span></p> + +<h2 id="n_T_I">REMARKS ON TABLE I.</h2> + +<hr class="chapter" /> + +<h2 id="RELIGION_AND_MORALS">RELIGION AND MORALS.</h2> + +<p>Religion and Morals, though not identical, are +so closely related that they are grouped together. +The books in Column 1 by no means exhaust +these subjects, for they run like threads of gold +through the whole warp and woof of poetry. Philosophy, +fiction, and fable, biography, history, and +essays, oratory and humor, seem rather satellites +that attend upon moral feelings than independent +orbs, and even science is not dumb upon these +all-absorbing topics. If we are to be as broad-minded +in our religious views as we seek to be +in other matters, we must become somewhat acquainted +with the worship of races other than our +own. This may be done through Homer, Hesiod, +Ovid, Confucius, Buddha, the Vedas, Koran, Talmud, +Edda, Sagas, Beowulf, Nibelungenlied, Shah +Nameh, etc. (which are all in some sense "Bibles," +or books that have grown out of the hearts of the +people), and through general works, such as Clarke's +"Ten Great Religions."</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_22">[22]</a></span></p><div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_1_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_1"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> Especially Job, and Psalms 19, 103, 104, 107, in the +Old Testament; and in the New the four Gospels, the Acts, +and the Epistles. (m. R. D. C. G.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_2_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_2_2"><span class="label">[2]</span></a> Next to the Bible, probably no book is so much read +by the English peoples as Bunyan's "Pilgrim's Progress," a +simple, vivid, helpful story of Christian life and its obstacles. +No writer has so well portrayed the central truths of Christianity +as this great, untrained, imaginative genius, pouring his +life upon the deathless pages of his poetic allegory during +the twelve long years in the latter part of the 17th century, +when he was imprisoned, under the Restoration, merely +because of his religious principles. (e. R. D.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_3_3"></a><a href="#FNanchor_3_3"><span class="label">[3]</span></a> Taylor's "Holy Living and Dying" is a wise, frank +talk about the care of our time, purity of intention, practice +of the presence of God, temperance, justice, modesty, humility, +envy, contentedness, etc. Some portions of the first +hundred and fifty pages are of the utmost practical value. +Even Ruskin admits that Taylor and Bunyan are rightly +placed among the world's best. (Eng., 17th cent.—m. +R. D.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_4_4"></a><a href="#FNanchor_4_4"><span class="label">[4]</span></a> "Imitation of Christ" is a sister book to the last, written +in the 15th century by Thomas à Kempis, a German +monk, of pure and beautiful life and thought. It is a world-famous +book, having been translated into every civilized +language, and having passed through more than five hundred +editions in the present century. (m. R. D.)</p></div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_23">[23]</a></span></p><div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_5_5"></a><a href="#FNanchor_5_5"><span class="label">[5]</span></a> Spencer's "Data of Ethics" is one of the most important +books in literature, having to the science of ethics much +the same relation as Newton's "Principia" to astronomy, or +Darwin's "Origin of Species" to biology. Note especially +the parts concerning altruistic selfishness, the morality of +health, and the development of moral feeling in general. +(Eng., 19th cent.—d. R. D. G.) Spencer's "First Principles" +is also necessary to an understanding of the scientific +religious thinking of the day. In connection with Spencer's +works, "The Idea of God" and the "Destiny of Man," by +Fiske, may be read with profit. The author of these books +is in large part a follower and expounder of Spencer.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_6_6"></a><a href="#FNanchor_6_6"><span class="label">[6]</span></a> The "Meditations" of M. Aurelius is a book that is +full of deep, pure beauty and philosophy; one of the +sweetest influences that can be brought into the life, and +one of Canon Farrar's twelve favorites out of all literature. +(Rome, 2d cent.—m. R. D.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_7_7"></a><a href="#FNanchor_7_7"><span class="label">[7]</span></a> Plutarch's "Morals" supplied much of the cream used +by Taylor in the churning that produced the "Holy Living +and Dying." Emerson says that we owe more to Plutarch +than to all the other ancients. Many great authors have +been indebted to him,—Rabelais, Montaigne, Montesquieu, +Voltaire, Rousseau, Shakspeare, Bacon, and Dryden, among +the number. Plutarch's "Morals" is a treasure-house of +wisdom and beauty. There is a very fine edition with an +introduction by Emerson. (Rome, 1st cent.—m. R. D.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_8_8"></a><a href="#FNanchor_8_8"><span class="label">[8]</span></a> Seneca's "Morals" is a fit companion of the preceding +six books, full of deep thought upon topics of every-day import, +set out in clear and forceful language. The Camelot +Library contains a very good selection from his ethical treatises +and his delightful letters, which are really moral essays. +(Rome, 1st cent.—m. R. D.)</p></div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_24">[24]</a></span></p><div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_9_9"></a><a href="#FNanchor_9_9"><span class="label">[9]</span></a> Epictetus was another grand moralist, the teacher of +Marcus Aurelius. Next to Bunyan and Kempis, the books +of these great stoics, filled as they are with the serenity of +minds that had made themselves independent of circumstance +and passion, have the greatest popularity accorded +to any ethical works. Epictetus was a Roman slave in the +1st century <span class="smcap">a. d.</span> (m. R. D.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_10_10"></a><a href="#FNanchor_10_10"><span class="label">[10]</span></a> The little book on "Tolerance" by Phillips Brooks +ought to be read by every one. See Table III. side No. <a href="#table3_23">23</a>. +The sermons of Dr. Brooks and of Robertson are among +the most helpful and inspiring reading we know. Drummond's +"Natural Law in the Spiritual World" is a book of +ingenious and often poetic analogies between the physical +and spiritual worlds. If read as poetry, no fault can be found +with it; but the reader must be careful to test thoroughly +the laws laid down, and make sure that there is some weightier +proof than mere analogy, before hanging important conclusions +on the statements of this author. A later book by +Drummond entitled "The Greatest Thing in the World" is +also worthy of attention. (U. S., 19th cent.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_11_11"></a><a href="#FNanchor_11_11"><span class="label">[11]</span></a> "Areopagitica." A noble plea for liberty of speech +and press. (Eng., early 17th cent.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_12_12"></a><a href="#FNanchor_12_12"><span class="label">[12]</span></a> Keble's beautiful "Christian Year."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_13_13"></a><a href="#FNanchor_13_13"><span class="label">[13]</span></a> Cicero's "Offices" is a very valuable ethical work. +It directs a young Roman how he may attain distinction and +the respect and confidence of his fellow-citizens. Its underlying +principles are of eternal value, and its arrangement is +admirable. Dr. Peabody's translation is the best. (Rome, +1st cent. <span class="smcap">b. c.</span>)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_14_14"></a><a href="#FNanchor_14_14"><span class="label">[14]</span></a> "Pensées." Pascal's "Thoughts" are known the world +over for their depth and beauty. (France, 17th cent.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_15_15"></a><a href="#FNanchor_15_15"><span class="label">[15]</span></a> "The Perfect Life" and other works. (U. S., 19th +cent.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_16_16"></a><a href="#FNanchor_16_16"><span class="label">[16]</span></a> Ethics. (Greece, 4th cent. <span class="smcap">b. c.</span>)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_17_17"></a><a href="#FNanchor_17_17"><span class="label">[17]</span></a> "Confessions" and "The City of God." (Rome, +4th cent.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_18_18"></a><a href="#FNanchor_18_18"><span class="label">[18]</span></a> Analogy of Religion. (Eng., 18th cent.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_19_19"></a><a href="#FNanchor_19_19"><span class="label">[19]</span></a> Ethics and theologico-political speculation. (Dutch, +17th cent.)</p></div> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_25">[25]</a></span></p> + +<hr class="chapter" /> + +<h2 id="POETRY_AND_THE_DRAMA">POETRY AND THE DRAMA.</h2> + +<p>The faculty which most widely distinguishes man +from his possible relatives, the lower animals, and the +varying power of which most clearly marks the place +of each individual in the scale of superiority, is imagination. +It lies at the bottom of intellect and character. +Memory, reason, and discovery are built upon +it; and sympathy, the mother of kindness, tenderness, +and love, is itself the child of the imagination. Poetry +is the married harmony of imagination and beauty. +The poet is the man of fancy and the man of music. +This is why in all ages mankind instinctively feel that +poetry is supreme. Of all kinds of literature, it is the +most stimulating, broadening, beautifying, and should +have a large place in every life. Buy the best poets, +read them carefully, mark the finest passages, and +recur to them many, many times. A poem is like a +violin: it must be kept and played upon a long time +before it yields to us its sweetest music.</p> + +<p>The drama, or representation of human thought +and life, has come into being, among very many peoples, +as a natural outgrowth of the faculty of mimicry +in human nature. Among the South Sea Islanders +there is a rude drama, and in China such representations +have existed from remote ages. Greece first +brought the art to high perfection; and her greatest +tragic artists, Æschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides, of +the fifth century <span class="smcap">b. c.</span>, are still the highest names in<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_26">[26]</a></span> +tragedy. The Greek drama with Æschylus was only +a dialogue. Sophocles introduced a third actor. It +would be a dull play to us that should fill the evening +with three players. In another thing the Grecian +play was widely different from ours. The aim of ancient +playwrights was to bring to view some thought +in giant form and with tremendous emphasis. The +whole drama was built around, moulded, and adapted +to one great idea. The aim of English writers is to +give an interesting glimpse of actual life in all its multiplicity +of interwoven thought and passion, and let it +speak its lessons, as the great schoolmistress, Nature, +gives us hers. The French and Italian drama follow +that of Greece, but Spain and England follow Nature.</p> + +<p><i>Mystery and miracle plays</i> were introduced about +1100 <span class="smcap">a. d.</span>, by Hilarius, and were intended to enforce +religious truths. God, Adam, the Angels, Satan, +Eve, Noah, etc., were the characters. In the beginning +of the 15th century, <i>morality plays</i> became +popular. They personified faith, hope, sadness, +magnificence, conceit, etc., though there might seem +little need of invention to personify the latter. About +the time of Henry VIII., <i>masques</i> were introduced +from Italy. In them the performers wore extravagant +costumes and covered the face, and lords and ladies +played the parts. It was at such a frolic that King +Henry met Anne Boleyn. The first English comedy +was written in 1540, by Udall; and the first tragedy +in 1561, by Sackville and Norton. It was called +"Ferrex and Porrex." From this time the English<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_27">[27]</a></span> +drama rapidly rose to its summit in Shakspeare's +richest years at the close of the same century. At +first the theatre was in the inn-yard,—just a platform, +with no scenery but what the imagination of +the drinking, swearing, jeering crowd of common folk +standing in the rain or sunlight round the rough-made +stage could paint.</p> + +<p>On the stage sat a few gentlefolk able to pay a +shilling for the privilege. They smoked, played +cards, insulted the pit, "who gave it to them back, +and threw apples at them into the bargain." Such +were the beginnings of what in Shakspeare's hands +became the greatest drama that the world has ever +seen.</p> + +<p>The manner of reading all good poetry should +be: R. D. C. G.</p> + +<p>If the reader wishes to study poetry critically, he +will find abundant materials in Lanier's "Science of +English Verse" and Dowden's "Mind and Art of Shakspeare" +(books that once read by a lover of poetry +will ever after be cherished as among the choicest of +his possessions); Lowell's "Fable for Critics," "My +Study Windows," and "Among my Books;" Arnold's +"Essays;" Hazlitt's "English Poets;" "English Men +of Letters;" Poe's "Essay on the Composition of the +Raven;" Taine's "English Literature;" Swinburne's +"Essays and Studies;" Stedman's "Victorian Poets;" +Shairp's "Studies in Poetry;" Warton's "History +of English Poetry;" Ward's "History of English +Dramatic Literature;" and Schlegel's "Dramatic +Literature."<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_28">[28]</a></span></p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_29">[29]</a></span></p><div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_20_20"></a><a href="#FNanchor_20_20"><span class="label">[20]</span></a> Shakspeare is the summit of the world's literature. +In a higher degree than any other man who has lived on +this planet, he possessed that vivid, accurate, exhaustive +imagination which creates a second universe in the poet's +brain. Between our thought of a man and the man himself, +or a complete representation of him with all his thoughts, +feelings, motives, and possibilities, there is a vast gulf. +If we had a perfect knowledge of him, we could tell what +he would think and do. To this ultimate knowledge Shakspeare +more nearly approached than any other mortal. He +so well understood the machinery of human nature, that he +could create men and women beyond our power to detect +an error in his work. This grasp of the most difficult subject +of thought, and the oceanic, myriad-minded greatness of +his plays prove him intellectually the greatest of the human +race. It is simple nonsense to suppose that Bacon wrote +the dramas that bear the name of Shakspeare. They were +published during Shakspeare's life under his name; and +Greene, Jonson, Milton, and other contemporaries speak +with unmistakable clearness of the great master. Donnelly's +Cryptogram is a palpable sham; and to the argument that +an uneducated man like Shakspeare could not have written +such grand poetry, while Bacon, as we know, did have a +splendid ability, it is a sufficient answer to remark that Shakspeare's +sonnets, the authorship of which is not and cannot +be questioned, show far higher poetical powers than anything +that can be found in Bacon's acknowledged works. Richard +Grant White's edition is the best; and certainly every one +should have the very best of Shakspeare, if no other book is +ever bought. (16th cent.) See Table III. No. <a href="#table3_1">1</a>. +</p><p> +With Shakspeare may be used Dowden's "Shakspeare +Primer," and "The Mind and Art of Shakspeare," Abbott's +"Shakspearian Grammar," Lanier's "Science of English +Verse," Hazlitt's "Characters of Shakspeare's Plays" and +"Age of Elizabeth," Lamb's "Tales from Shakspeare," +Ward's "English Dramatic Literature, and History of the +Drama," Lewes' "Actors and the Art of Acting," Hutton's +"Plays and Players," Leigh Hunt's "Imagination and Fancy," +and Whipple's "Literature of the Age of Elizabeth."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_21_21"></a><a href="#FNanchor_21_21"><span class="label">[21]</span></a> Homer is the world's greatest epic poet. He is the +brother of Shakspeare, full of sublimity and pathos, tenderness, +simplicity, and inexhaustible vigor. Pope's translation +is still the best on the whole, but should be read with Derby's +Iliad and Worsley's Odyssey. In some parts these are fuller +of power and beauty; in others, Pope is far better. Flaxman's +designs are a great help in enjoying Homer, as +are also the writings of Gladstone, Arnold, and Symonds. +(Greece, about 1000 <span class="smcap">b. c.</span>) See Table III. No. <a href="#table3_2">2</a>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_22_22"></a><a href="#FNanchor_22_22"><span class="label">[22]</span></a> +Ruskin thinks Dante is the first figure of history, the +only man in whom the moral, intellectual, and imaginative +faculties met in great power and in perfect balance. (Italy, +14th cent.) Follow the advice given in Table III. No. <a href="#table3_5">5</a>, +and, if possible, read Longfellow's translation. See note <a href="#Footnote_24_24">24</a>, +p. 30. +</p><p> +Among writings that will be found useful in connection +with Dante, are Rossetti's "Shadow of Dante," Lowell's +Essay in "Among my Books," Symonds' "Introduction to +the Study of Dante," Farrar's "Lecture on Dante," Mrs. +Ward's "Life of Dante," Botta's "Dante as a Philosopher," +and Carlyle's "Heroes and Hero Worship."</p></div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_30">[30]</a></span></p><div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_23_23"></a><a href="#FNanchor_23_23"><span class="label">[23]</span></a> Goethe is unquestionably the greatest German, and +one of the first six names in literature. His "Faust" is a +history of the soul. Read Bayard Taylor's translation, and +the explanation of the drama's meaning given in Taylor's +"Studies in German Literature." "Faust" was the work of +half a century, and completed in 1818, when Goethe was past +eighty. +</p><p> +As a preparation for Goethe it is interesting to study the +story of Faust in Butterworth's "Zigzag Journeys," and +read Marlowe's "Drama of Faustus." The novel "Wilhelm +Meister" has been splendidly translated by Carlyle, and is +full of the richest poetic thought, crammed with wisdom, +and pervaded by a delicious sweetness forever provoking the +mind to fresh activity. As a work of genius, it is preferred +by some critics even to Hamlet. See Table III. No. <a href="#table3_15">15</a>.</p></div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_31">[31]</a></span></p><div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_24_24"></a><a href="#FNanchor_24_24"><span class="label">[24]</span></a> Milton stands in his age like an oak among hazel-bushes. +The nobility of his character, the sublimity of his +thought, and the classic beauty of his style give him, in spite +of some coldness and some lack of naturalness in his conception +of the characters of Adam and Eve, the second place +in English literature. His "Lycidas" is a beautiful elegy. +His "Comus" is the best masque in English, and certainly a +charming picture of chastity and its triumph over temptation. +It should be read along with Spenser's "Britomart." His +"L' Allegro" and "Il Penseroso," on mirth and melancholy, +are among the best lyrics of the world. His "Paradise +Lost" is the greatest epic in English, and the greatest that +any literature has had since Dante's "Divine Comedy." +The two books should be read together. Milton shows us +Satan in all the pride and pomp and power this world oft +throws around his cloven Majesty. Dante tears away the +wrappings, and we see the horrid heart and actual loathsomeness +of sin. (Eng., 17th cent.) See Table III. No. <a href="#table3_2">2</a>. +</p><p> +The writings of Stopford Brooke, Macaulay, Dr. Johnson, +De Quincey, and Pattison about Milton may be profitably +referred to.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_25_25"></a><a href="#FNanchor_25_25"><span class="label">[25]</span></a> Æschylus was the greatest of the noble triumvirate of +Greek tragedy writers. Sublimity reached in his soul the +greatest purity and power that it has yet attained on earth. +One can no more afford to tread in life's low levels all his +days and never climb above the clouds to thought's clear-ethered +heights with Æschylus, than to dwell at the foot of +a cliff in New Mexico and never climb to see the Rockies +in the blue and misty distance, with their snowy summits +shining in the sun. Read, at any rate, his "Prometheus +Bound" and his "Agamemnon." (5th cent. <span class="smcap">b. c.</span>, the +Golden Age of Grecian literature.) See Table III. No. <a href="#table3_4">4</a>. +</p><p> +The student of Æschylus will find much of value to him +in Mahaffy's "Greek Literature," "Old Greek Life," and +"Social Life in Greece;" Schlegel's "Dramatic Literature;" +Donaldson's "Theatre of the Greeks," and Froude's "Sea +Studies." Following the "Prometheus" of Æschylus, it is a +good plan to read the works of Goethe, Shelley, Lowell, and +Longfellow on the same topic. We thus bring close the +ideas and fancies of five great minds in respect to the myth +of Prometheus.</p></div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_32">[32]</a></span></p><div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_26_26"></a><a href="#FNanchor_26_26"><span class="label">[26]</span></a> Many a selection in <a href="#TABLE_III">Table III</a>. is of very high merit, +and belongs on the world's first shelf, although the poetic +works of the author as a whole cannot be allowed such +honor. In the section preceding <a href="#TABLE_V">Table V</a>. also will be +found a number of short writings of the very highest merit. +See explanatory note to <a href="#TABLE_I">Table I</a>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_27_27"></a><a href="#FNanchor_27_27"><span class="label">[27]</span></a> Edmund Spenser is the third name in English literature. +No modern poet is more like Homer. He is simple, +clear, and natural, redundant and ingenuous. He is a +Platonic dreamer, and worships beauty, a love sublime and +chaste; for all the beauty that the eye can see is only, in his +view, an incomplete expression of celestial beauty in the +soul of man and Nature, the light within gleaming and +sparkling through the loose woven texture of this garment of +God called Nature, or pouring at every pore a flood of soft, +translucent loveliness, as the radiance of a calcium flame +flows through a porcelain globe. Spenser was Milton's +model. The "Faërie Queen," the "Shepherd's Calendar," +and the "Wedding Hymn" should be carefully read; and if +the former is studied sufficiently to arrive at the underlying +spiritual meaning, it will ever after be one of the most +precious of books. (Eng., 16th cent.) See Table III. No. <a href="#table3_6">6</a>. +See also Lowell's "Among my Books," Craik's "Spenser +and his Poetry," and Taine's "English Literature."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_28_28"></a><a href="#FNanchor_28_28"><span class="label">[28]</span></a> Lowell is one of the foremost humorists of all time. +No one, except Shakspeare, has ever combined so much +mastery of the weapons of wit with so much poetic power, +bonhomie, and common-sense. Every American should +read his poems carefully, and digest the best. (Amer., 19th +cent.) See Table III. Nos. <a href="#table3_12">12</a> and <a href="#table3_24">24</a>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_29_29"></a><a href="#FNanchor_29_29"><span class="label">[29]</span></a> Whittier is America's greatest lyric poet. Read what +Lowell says of him in the "Fable for Critics," and get acquainted +with his poetry of Nature and quiet country life, +as pure as the snow and as sweet as the clover. (Amer., +19th cent.) See Table III. No. <a href="#table3_11">11</a>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_30_30"></a><a href="#FNanchor_30_30"><span class="label">[30]</span></a> Tennyson is the first poet of our age; and though he +cannot rank with the great names on the upper shelf, yet his +tenderness, and noble purity, and the almost absolutely perfect +music of much of his poetry commands our love and admiration. +Read his "In Memoriam," "Princess," "Idylls of +the King," etc. (Eng., 19th cent.) See Table III. No. <a href="#table3_11">11</a>.</p></div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_33">[33]</a></span></p> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_31_31"></a><a href="#FNanchor_31_31"><span class="label">[31]</span></a> Burns is like a whiff of the pure sea air. He is a +sprig of arbutus under the snow; full of tenderness and genuine +gayety, always in love, and singing forever in tune to +the throbs of his heart. Read "The Jolly Beggars," "The +Twa Dogs," and see Table III. No. <a href="#table3_11">11</a>. (Scot., 18th cent.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_32_32"></a><a href="#FNanchor_32_32"><span class="label">[32]</span></a> Probably nothing is so likely to awaken a love for +poetry as the reading of Scott. (Scot., 19th cent.) See +Table III. No. <a href="#table3_7">7</a>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_33_33"></a><a href="#FNanchor_33_33"><span class="label">[33]</span></a> Byron is the greatest English poet since Milton, and +except Goethe the greatest poet of his age in the world. +His music, his wonderful control of language, his impassioned +strength passing from vehemence to pathos, his fine sense +of the beautiful, and his combination of passion with beauty +would place him high on the first shelf of the world's literature +if it were not for his moral aberration. Read his "Childe +Harold." (Eng., 1788-1824.) See Table III. No. <a href="#table3_13">13</a>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_34_34"></a><a href="#FNanchor_34_34"><span class="label">[34]</span></a> Shelley is indistinct, abstract, impracticable, but full of +love for all that is noble, of magnificent poetic power and +marvellous music. Read "Prometheus Unbound," and see +Table III. No. <a href="#table3_13">13</a>. (Eng., 19th cent.)</p></div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_34">[34]</a></span></p><div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_35_35"></a><a href="#FNanchor_35_35"><span class="label">[35]</span></a> Keats is the poetic brother of Shelley. He is deserving +of the title "marvellous boy" in a far higher degree than +Chatterton. If the lives of Shakspeare, Milton, and Wordsworth +had ended at twenty-five, as did the life of Keats, they +would have left no poetry comparable with that of this impassioned +dreamer. Like Shakspeare, he had no fortune or +opportunity of high education. Read "Hyperion," "Lamia," +"Eve of Saint Agnes," "Endymion," and see Table III. No. <a href="#table3_13">13</a>. (Eng., 19th cent.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_36_36"></a><a href="#FNanchor_36_36"><span class="label">[36]</span></a> Campbell clothed in romantic sweetness and delicate +diction, the fancies of the fairy land of youthful dreams, and +poured forth with a master voice the pride and grandeur of +patriotic song. Read his "Pleasures of Hope," "Gertrude +of Wyoming," and see Table III. No. <a href="#table3_12">12</a>. (Eng., 19th +cent.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_37_37"></a><a href="#FNanchor_37_37"><span class="label">[37]</span></a> Moore is a singer of wonderful melody and elegance +and of inexhaustible imagery. Read his "Irish Melodies." +(Eng., 19th cent.) See Table III. No. <a href="#table3_11">11</a>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_38_38"></a><a href="#FNanchor_38_38"><span class="label">[38]</span></a> Thomson is one of the most intense lovers of Nature, +and sees with a clear eye the correspondences between the +inner and outer worlds upon which poetry is built. Read +his "Seasons" and "The Castle of Indolence." (Eng., +18th cent.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_39_39"></a><a href="#FNanchor_39_39"><span class="label">[39]</span></a> Read Macaulay's "Lays of Ancient Rome." "Horatius" +cannot fail to make the reader pulse with all the heroism +and patriotism that is in his heart, and "Virginia" will +fill each heart with mutiny and every eye with tears. (Eng., +19th cent.) See Table III. No. <a href="#table3_12">12</a>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_40_40"></a><a href="#FNanchor_40_40"><span class="label">[40]</span></a> Dryden's song is not so smooth as Pope's, but doubly +strong. His translation of Virgil has more fire than the +original, though less elegance. He was the literary king of +his time, but knew better <i>how</i> to say things than <i>what</i> to +say. (Eng., 17th cent.) See Table III. No. <a href="#table3_14">14</a>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_41_41"></a><a href="#FNanchor_41_41"><span class="label">[41]</span></a> Collins was a poet of fine genius. Beauty, simplicity, +and sweet harmony combine in his works, but he wrote very +little. Read his odes, "To Pity," "To Evening," "To +Mercy," "To Simplicity." See Table III. No. <a href="#table3_14">14</a>. (Eng., +18th cent.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_42_42"></a><a href="#FNanchor_42_42"><span class="label">[42]</span></a> Jean Ingelow's poems deserve at least tasting, which +will scarcely fail to lead to assimilation. (Eng., 1862.) See +Table III. No. <a href="#table3_14">14</a>.</p></div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_35">[35]</a></span></p><div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_43_43"></a><a href="#FNanchor_43_43"><span class="label">[43]</span></a> Bryant's "Thanatopsis," written at eighteen, gave promise +of high poetic power; but in the life of a journalist the +current of energy was drawn away from poetry, and America +lost the full fruitage of her best poetic tree. He is serene +and lofty in thought, and strong in his descriptive power and +the noble simplicity of his language. (Amer., 19th cent.) +See Table III. No. <a href="#table3_13">13</a>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_44_44"></a><a href="#FNanchor_44_44"><span class="label">[44]</span></a> Longfellow's poetry is earnest and full of melody, but +<i>as a whole</i> lacks passion and imagery. Relatively to a world +standard he is not a great poet and has written little worthy +of universal reading, but as bone of our bone he has a claim +on us as Americans for sufficient attention at least to investigate +for ourselves his merits. (Amer., 19th cent.) See +Table III. No. <a href="#table3_10">10</a>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_45_45"></a><a href="#FNanchor_45_45"><span class="label">[45]</span></a> Lowell says that George Herbert is as "holy as a +flower on a grave." (Eng., 1631.) See Table III. No. <a href="#table3_13">13</a>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_46_46"></a><a href="#FNanchor_46_46"><span class="label">[46]</span></a> Goldsmith's "Deserted Village" and "Traveller" will +live as long as the language. They are full of wisdom and +lovely poetry. His dramas abound in fun. Read "The +Good-Natured Man" and "She Stoops to Conquer." (Eng., +18th cent.) See <a href="#TABLE_IV">Table IV</a>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_47_47"></a><a href="#FNanchor_47_47"><span class="label">[47]</span></a> Read Coleridge's "Christabel," and get somebody to +explain its mysterious beauty to you; also his "Remorse," +"Ode to the Departing Year," "Ancient Mariner," and +"Kubla Khan." The latter is the most magnificent creation +of his time, but needs a good deal of study for most readers +to perceive the beautiful underlying thought, as is the case +also with the "Mariner." Coleridge is difficult reading. +He wrote very little excellently, but that little should be bound +in gold, and read till the inner light of it shines into the soul +of the reader. The terrible opium habit ruined him. Read +his life; it is a thrilling story. (Eng., 1772-1834.) Table III. No. <a href="#table3_11">11</a>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"> +<p> + <a id="Footnote_48_48"></a> + <a href="#FNanchor_48_48"><span class="label">[48]</span></a> +Lowell says, in his "Fable for Critics," that he is always +discovering new depths</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i6">"in Wordsworth, undreamed of before,—<br /></span> +<span class="i0">That divinely inspired, wise, deep, tender, grand—bore."<br /></span> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_36">[36]</a></span></div></div> + +<p>Nothing could sum up this poet better than that. His +intense delight in Nature and especially in mountain scenery, +and his pure, serene, earnest, majestic reflectiveness are his +great charms. His "Excursion" is one of the great works +of our literature, and stands in the front rank of the world's +philosophical poetry. Its thousand lines of blank verse roll +through the soul like the stately music of a cathedral organ. +(Eng., 19th cent.) See Table III. No. <a href="#table3_13">13</a>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_49_49"></a><a href="#FNanchor_49_49"><span class="label">[49]</span></a> Pope is the greatest of the world's machine poets, the +noblest of the great army who place a higher value on skilful +execution than on originality and beauty of conception. The +"Rape of the Lock" is his most successful effort, and is the +best of all mock-heroic poems. "The sharpest wit, the keenest +dissection of the follies of fashionable life, the finest grace +of diction, and the softest flow of melody adorn a tale in +which we learn how a fine gentleman stole a lock of a lady's +hair." Read also his "Essay on Man," and glance at his +"Dunciad," a satire on fellow-writers. (Eng., 1688-1744.) +See Table III. No. <a href="#table3_13">13</a>, and <a href="#TABLE_IV">Table IV</a>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_50_50"></a><a href="#FNanchor_50_50"><span class="label">[50]</span></a> Southey had great ideas of what poetry should be, and +strove for purity, unity, and fine imagery; but there was no +pathos or depth of emotion in him, and the stream of his +poetry is not the gush of the river, but the uninteresting +flow of the canal. Byron says, "God help thee, Southey, and +thy readers too." Glance at his "Thalaba the Destroyer" +and "Curse of Kehama." (Eng., 1774-1843.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_51_51"></a><a href="#FNanchor_51_51"><span class="label">[51]</span></a> Walton's "Compleat Angler" is worthy of a glance. +(Eng., 1653.)</p></div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_37">[37]</a></span></p><div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_52_52"></a><a href="#FNanchor_52_52"><span class="label">[52]</span></a> Browning is very obscure, and neither on authority nor +principle a first-rate poet; but he is a strong thinker, and dear +to those who have taken the pains to dig out the nuggets of +gold. Canon Farrar puts him among the three living authors +whose works he would be most anxious to save from +the flames. Mrs. Browning has more imagination than her +husband, and is perhaps his equal in other respects. (Eng., +19th cent.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_53_53"></a><a href="#FNanchor_53_53"><span class="label">[53]</span></a> Read Young's "Night Thoughts."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_54_54"></a><a href="#FNanchor_54_54"><span class="label">[54]</span></a> Jonson, on account of his noble aims, comparative +purity, and classic style, stands next to Shakspeare in the +history of English drama. Read "The Alchemist," "Catiline," +"The Devil as an Ass," "Cynthia's Revels," and "The +Silent Woman." The plot of the latter is very humorous. +(Eng., 1700.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_55_55"></a><a href="#FNanchor_55_55"><span class="label">[55]</span></a> The dramas of Beaumont and Fletcher are poetically +the best in the language except those of Shakspeare. Read +"Philaster," "The Fair Maid of the Inn," "Thierry and +Theodoret," "The Maid's Tragedy." (Eng., 17th cent.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_56_56"></a><a href="#FNanchor_56_56"><span class="label">[56]</span></a> Marlowe's "Mighty Line" is known to all lovers of +poetry who have made a wide hunt. His energy is intense. +Read "The Tragical History of Dr. Faustus," based on +that wonderfully fascinating story of the doctor who offered +his soul to hell in exchange for a short term of power and +pleasure, on which Goethe expended the flower of his genius, +and around which grew hundreds of plays all over Europe. +(Eng., 17th cent.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_57_57"></a><a href="#FNanchor_57_57"><span class="label">[57]</span></a> For whimsical and ludicrous situations and a rapid +fire of witticisms, Sheridan's plays have no equals. Read +"The School for Scandal" and "The Rivals." (Eng., +18th cent.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_58_58"></a><a href="#FNanchor_58_58"><span class="label">[58]</span></a> Carleton's poetry is not of a lofty order, but exceedingly +enjoyable. Read his "Farm Ballads." (Amer., +19th cent.)</p></div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_38">[38]</a></span></p><div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_60_59"></a><a href="#FNanchor_60_59"><span class="label">[60]</span></a> Virgil is the greatest name in Roman literature. His +"Æneid" is the national poem of Rome. His poetry is of +great purity and elegance, and for variety, harmony, and +power second in epic verse only to his great model, Homer. +(Rome, 1st cent. <span class="smcap">b. c.</span>) Read Dryden's translation if you +cannot read the original.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_61_60"></a><a href="#FNanchor_61_60"><span class="label">[61]</span></a> The Odes of Horace combine wit, grace, sense, fire, +and affection in a perfection of form never attained by any +other writer. He is untranslatable; but Martin's version and +commentary will give some idea of this most interesting man, +"the most modern and most familiar of the ancients." +(Rome, 1st cent. <span class="smcap">b. c.</span>)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_62_61"></a><a href="#FNanchor_62_61"><span class="label">[62]</span></a> Lucretius is a philosophic poet. He aimed to explain +Nature; and his poem has much of wisdom, beauty, sublimity, +and imagination to commend it. Virgil imitated whole passages +from Lucretius. (Rome, 1st cent. <span class="smcap">b. c.</span>)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_63_62"></a><a href="#FNanchor_63_62"><span class="label">[63]</span></a> Ovid is gross but fertile, and his "Metamorphoses" +and "Epistles" have been great favorites. (Rome, 1st +cent. <span class="smcap">b. c.</span>)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_64_63"></a><a href="#FNanchor_64_63"><span class="label">[64]</span></a> The "Antigone" and "Œdipus at Colonus" of Sophocles +are of exquisite tenderness and beauty. In pathos +Shakspeare only is his equal. (Greece, 5th cent. <span class="smcap">b. c.</span>)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_65_64"></a><a href="#FNanchor_65_64"><span class="label">[65]</span></a> Euripides is the third of the great triumvirate of Greek +dramatists. His works were very much admired by Milton +and Fox. Read his "Alcestis," "Iphigenia," "Medea," and +the "Bacchanals." (Greece, 5th cent. <span class="smcap">b. c.</span>)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_66_65"></a><a href="#FNanchor_66_65"><span class="label">[66]</span></a> Aristophanes is the greatest of Greek comedy writers. +His plays are great favorites with scholars, as a rule. Read +the "Clouds," "Birds," "Knights," and "Plutus." (Greece, +5th cent. <span class="smcap">b. c.</span>)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_67_66"></a><a href="#FNanchor_67_66"><span class="label">[67]</span></a> Pindar's triumphal odes stand in the front rank of the +world's lyric poetry. (Greece, 5th cent. <span class="smcap">b. c.</span>)</p></div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_39">[39]</a></span></p><div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_68_67"></a><a href="#FNanchor_68_67"><span class="label">[68]</span></a> Hesiod's "Theogony" contains the religious faith of +Greece. He lived in or near the time of Homer.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_69_68"></a><a href="#FNanchor_69_68"><span class="label">[69]</span></a> Heine is the most remarkable German poet of this +century. He has written many gems of rare beauty, and +many sketches of life unmatched for racy freshness and +graphic power.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_70_69"></a><a href="#FNanchor_70_69"><span class="label">[70]</span></a> Schiller is the second name in German literature; indeed, +as a lover of men and as a poet of exquisite fancy, +he far excels Goethe. He was a great philosopher, historian, +and critic. Read his "Song of the Bell," and his +drama of "Wallenstein," translated by Coleridge. (Germany, +18th cent.)</p></div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_40">[40]</a></span></p><div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_71_70"></a><a href="#FNanchor_71_70"><span class="label">[71]</span></a> Corneille, Racine, and Molière are the great +French triumvirate of dramatists. Their object is to produce +one massive impression. In this they follow the classic +writers. A French, Greek, or Roman drama is to a Shakspearean +play as a statue to a picture, as an idea carved +out of Nature and rendered magnificently impressive by +its isolation and the beauty of its modelling, to Nature itself. +The historical and ethical value of the French plays is very +great. Corneille is one of the grandest of modern poets. +Read "The Cid" ("As beautiful as the Cid" became a +proverb in France), and "Horace" (which is even more +original and grand than "The Cid"), and "Cinna" (which +Voltaire thought the best of all). Racine excels in grace, +tenderness, and versatility. Read his "Phèdre." Molière +was almost as profound a master of human nature on its +humorous side as Shakspeare. He hates folly, meanness, +and falsehood; he is always wise, tender, and good. Read +"Le Misanthrope," or "The Man-Hater," and "Tartuffe," +or "The Impostor." (17th cent.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_74_71"></a><a href="#FNanchor_74_71"><span class="label">[74]</span></a> Alfred de Musset is a famous French poet of this century, +and is a great favorite with those who can enjoy charming +and inspiring thoughts though mixed with the grotesque +and extravagant.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_75_72"></a><a href="#FNanchor_75_72"><span class="label">[75]</span></a> Calderon de la Barca is one of the greatest dramatists +of the world. His purity, power, and passion, his magnificent +imagination and wonderful fertility, will place him in +company with Shakspeare in the eternal society of the great. +Read Shelley's fragments from Calderon, and Fitzgerald's +translation, especially "Zalamea" and "The Wonder-Working +Magician," two of his greatest plays. (Spain, 17th cent.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_76_73"></a><a href="#FNanchor_76_73"><span class="label">[76]</span></a> Petrarch's lyrics have been models to all the great +poets of Southern Europe. The subject of nearly all his +poems is his hopeless affection for the high-minded and beautiful +Laura de Sade. His purity is above reproach. He is +pre-eminent for sweetness, pathos, elegance, and melody. +(Italy, 14th cent.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_77_74"></a><a href="#FNanchor_77_74"><span class="label">[77]</span></a> Ariosto is Italy's great epic poet. Read his "Orlando +Furioso," a hundred-fold tale of knights and ladies, giants +and magicians. (Italy, 1474-1533).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_78_75"></a><a href="#FNanchor_78_75"><span class="label">[78]</span></a> Tasso is the second name in Italian epic poetry; and +by some he is placed above Ariosto and named in the same +breath with Homer and Virgil. Read his "Jerusalem Delivered," +and "Aminta," and glance at his minor poems +composed while in confinement. (Italy, 16th cent.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_79_76"></a><a href="#FNanchor_79_76"><span class="label">[79]</span></a> Camoens is the glory of Portugal, her only poet whose +fame has flown far beyond her narrow borders. Read his +grand and beautiful poem, the "Lusiad," a national epic +grouping together all the great and interesting events in the +history of his country. (16th cent.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_80_77"></a><a href="#FNanchor_80_77"><span class="label">[80]</span></a> Omar Khayyám, the great astronomer poet of Persia, +has no equal in the world in the concise magnificence with +which he can paint a grand poetic conception in a single +complete, well-rounded, melodious stanza. Read Fitzgerald's +translation. (12th cent.)</p></div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_41">[41]</a></span></p><div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_81_78"></a><a href="#FNanchor_81_78"><span class="label">[81]</span></a> Firdusi, the author of the "Shah Nameh," or Poetic +History of the great deeds of the sultans. Hafiz, the poet +of love, and Saadi are other great Persian poets deserving at +least a glance of investigation. (11th-14th cents.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_82_79"></a><a href="#FNanchor_82_79"><span class="label">[82]</span></a> Arnold's "Light of Asia" claims our attention for the +additions it can make to our breadth of thought, giving us +as it does briefly and beautifully the current of thinking of +a great people very unlike ourselves. (Eng., 19th cent.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_83_80"></a><a href="#FNanchor_83_80"><span class="label">[83]</span></a> Pushkin is called the Byron of Russia. Russian +songs have a peculiar, mournful tenderness. "They are the +sorrows of a century blended in one everlasting sigh." +(19th cent.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_84_81"></a><a href="#FNanchor_84_81"><span class="label">[84]</span></a> Lermontoff is the Russian Schiller. (19th cent.)</p></div> + +<hr class="chapter" /> + +<h2 id="SCIENCE">SCIENCE.</h2> + +<p>The most important sciences for the ordinary reader +are Physiology, Hygiene, Psychology, Logic, Political +Economy, Sociology and the Science of Government, +Astronomy, Geology, and Natural History; +but an elementary knowledge of all the sciences is +very desirable on account of the breadth of mind and +grasp of method which result therefrom. The International +Scientific Series is very helpful in giving the +brief comprehensive treatment of such subjects that is +needed for those who are not specialists. The best +books in this department are continually changing, +because science is growing fast, and the latest books +are apt to be fuller and better than the old ones. +The best thing that can be done by one who wishes +to be sure of obtaining the finest works upon any +given subject in the region of scientific research, is<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_42">[42]</a></span> +to write to a professor who teaches that subject in +some good university,—a professor who has not +himself written a book on the subject,—and get his +judgment on the matter.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_43">[43]</a></span></p><div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_85_82"></a><a href="#FNanchor_85_82"><span class="label">[85]</span></a> Physical health is the basis of all life and activity, and +it is of the utmost importance to secure at once the best +knowledge the world has attained in relation to its procurement +and preservation. This matter has far too little attention. +If a man is going to bring up chickens, he will study +chicken books no end of hours to see just what will make +them lay and make them fat and how he may produce the +finest stock; but if he only has to bring up a few children, +he will give no time to the study of the physical conditions +of their full and fine development. Some few people, however, +have a strange idea that a child is nearly as valuable as +a rooster. There is no book as yet written which gives in +clear, easily understood language the known laws of diet, +exercise, care of the teeth, hair, skin, lungs, etc., and simple +remedies. Perhaps Dalton's "Physiology," Flint's "Nervous +System," Cutter's "Hygiene," Blaikie's "How to get Strong," +and Duncan's "How to be Plump," Beard's "Eating and +Drinking," Bellows' "Philosophy of Eating," Smith on Foods, +Holbrook's "Eating for Strength," "Fruit and Bread," "Hygiene +for the Brain," "How to Strengthen the Memory," +and Kay's book on the Memory, Walter's "Nutritive Cure," +Clark's "Sex in Education," Alice Stockham's "Tokology" +or "Hygiene for Married Women," and Naphy's "Transmission +of Life" will together give some idea of this all-valuable +subject, though none of these books except the first +are in themselves, apart from their subject, worthy of a place +on the first shelf.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_86_83"></a><a href="#FNanchor_86_83"><span class="label">[86]</span></a> Dr. Strong's little book, "Our Country," is of the most +intense interest to every American who loves his country and +wishes its welfare. (U. S., 19th cent.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_88_84"></a><a href="#FNanchor_88_84"><span class="label">[88]</span></a> The "Federalist" was a series of essays by Hamilton, +Jay, and Madison, in favor of the Federal Constitution, and +is the best and deepest book on the science of government +that the world contains. (Amer., 1788.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_89_85"></a><a href="#FNanchor_89_85"><span class="label">[89]</span></a> Bryce on the American Commonwealth is a splendid +book, a complete, critical, philosophic work, an era-making +book, and should be read by every American who wishes to +know how our institutions appear to a genial, cultured, +broad-minded foreigner. Mr. Bryce has the chair of Political +Economy in Oxford, and is a member of Parliament. His +chief criticism of our great republic is that it is <i>hard to fix +responsibility</i> for lawlessness under our institutions, which is +always an encouragement to wrongdoers. His book should +be read with De Tocqueville. (Eng., 19th cent.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_90_86"></a><a href="#FNanchor_90_86"><span class="label">[90]</span></a> Montesquieu's "Spirit of Laws" is a profound +analysis of law in relation to government, customs, climate, +religion, and commerce. It is the greatest book of +the 18th century. Read with it Bagehot's "Physics and +Politics."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_91_87"></a><a href="#FNanchor_91_87"><span class="label">[91]</span></a> Mill's "Logic" and "Political Economy" are simply +necessities to any, even moderately, thorough preparation for +civilized life in America. (Eng., 19th cent.)</p></div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_44">[44]</a></span></p><div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_92_88"></a><a href="#FNanchor_92_88"><span class="label">[92]</span></a> Read Bain on the "Emotions and the Will," "Mind +and Body," etc. (Eng., 19th cent.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_93_89"></a><a href="#FNanchor_93_89"><span class="label">[93]</span></a> Herbert Spencer is the foremost name in the philosophic +literature of the world. He is the Shakspeare of +science. He has a grander grasp of knowledge, and more +perfect <i>conscious</i> correspondence with the external universe, +than any other human being who ever looked wonderingly +out into the starry depths; and his few errors flow from an +over-anxiety to exert his splendid power of making beautiful +generalizations. Read his "First Principles," "Data +of Ethics," "Education," and "Classification of the Sciences," +at any rate; and if possible, all he has written. +Plato and Spencer are brothers. Plato would have done +what Spencer has, had he lived in the 19th century.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_94_90"></a><a href="#FNanchor_94_90"><span class="label">[94]</span></a> Darwin's "Origin of Species" stands in history by +the side of Newton's "Principia." The thought of both +has to a great extent become the common inheritance of +the race; and it is perhaps sufficient for the general reader +to refer to a good account of the book and its arguments, +such as may be found in the "Encyclopædia Britannica." +(Eng., 19th cent.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_95_91"></a><a href="#FNanchor_95_91"><span class="label">[95]</span></a> Read Herschel and Proctor in Astronomy, to +broaden and deepen the mind with the grand and beautiful +conceptions of this most poetic of the sciences. Proctor's +books are more fascinating than any fiction. (Eng., +19th cent.)</p></div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_45">[45]</a></span></p><div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_96_92"></a><a href="#FNanchor_96_92"><span class="label">[96]</span></a> For a knowledge of what has been going on in this +dim spot beneath the sun, in the ages before man came +upon the stage, and for an idea about what kind of a fellow +man was when he first set up housekeeping here, and how +long ago that was, read Lyell's "Geology;" Lubbock's +"Prehistoric Times," "Origin of Civilization and Primitive +Condition of Man," and Lyell's "Antiquity of Man" (Eng., +19th cent.); and Dawson's "Chain of Life." (U. S., 19th +cent.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_97_93"></a><a href="#FNanchor_97_93"><span class="label">[97]</span></a> Read Wood's beautiful and interesting books on +Natural History; especially his "Evidences of Mind in +Animals," "Out of Doors," "Anecdotes of Animals," +"Man and Beast," "Here and Hereafter." (Eng., 19th +cent.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_98_94"></a><a href="#FNanchor_98_94"><span class="label">[98]</span></a> Whewell's "History of the Inductive Sciences" is a +very broadening book.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_99_95"></a><a href="#FNanchor_99_95"><span class="label">[99]</span></a> De Tocqueville's "Democracy in America" is one +of the great books, and is superior in depth and style even +to Bryce. The two books supplement each other. See note <a href="#Footnote_89_85">89</a>: (France, 18th cent.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_100_96"></a><a href="#FNanchor_100_96"><span class="label">[100]</span></a> "Constitutional History of the United States." (Ger., +19th cent.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_101_97"></a><a href="#FNanchor_101_97"><span class="label">[101]</span></a> "Wealth of Nations," "Moral Sentiments." (Eng., +18th cent.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_102_98"></a><a href="#FNanchor_102_98"><span class="label">[102]</span></a> "Principles of Population." One of the most celebrated +of books. (Eng., 18th cent.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_103_99"></a><a href="#FNanchor_103_99"><span class="label">[103]</span></a> "Principles of Social Philosophy." (Eng., 19th cent.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_104_100"></a><a href="#FNanchor_104_100"><span class="label">[104]</span></a> "Essays on Political Economy," "Leading Principles +of Political Economy." (Eng., 19th cent.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_105_101"></a><a href="#FNanchor_105_101"><span class="label">[105]</span></a> "Comparative Politics." (Eng., 19th cent.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_106_102"></a><a href="#FNanchor_106_102"><span class="label">[106]</span></a> "The Theory of Political Economy," "The Logic +of Statistics." (Eng., 19th cent.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_107_103"></a><a href="#FNanchor_107_103"> +<span class="label">[107]</span></a> "The Nation, the Foundation of Civil Order and +Political Life in the United States." (U. S., 19th cent.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_108_104"></a><a href="#FNanchor_108_104"> +<span class="label">[108]</span></a> "Leviathan." See note <a href="#Footnote_190_188">190</a>. (Eng., 16th cent.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_109_105"></a><a href="#FNanchor_109_105"><span class="label">[109]</span></a> "The Prince." (Italy, 1469-1527.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_110_106"></a><a href="#FNanchor_110_106"><span class="label">[110]</span></a> "Chips from a German Workshop," and various +works on Philology. (Ger., 19th cent.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_111_107"></a><a href="#FNanchor_111_107"><span class="label">[111]</span></a> "Study of Words," etc. (Eng., 19th cent.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_112_108"></a><a href="#FNanchor_112_108"><span class="label">[112]</span></a> "Words and Places." (Eng., 19th cent.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_113_109"></a><a href="#FNanchor_113_109"><span class="label">[113]</span></a> "Natural History of Selborne." (Eng., 19th cent.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_114_110"></a><a href="#FNanchor_114_110"><span class="label">[114]</span></a> "Animal Kingdom." (France, early 19th cent.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_115_111"></a><a href="#FNanchor_115_111"><span class="label">[115]</span></a> "Voyages." (Eng., 18th cent.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_116_112"></a><a href="#FNanchor_116_112"><span class="label">[116]</span></a> "Heat as a Mode of Motion," "Forms of Water," +etc. (Eng., 19th cent.)</p></div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_46">[46]</a></span></p><div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_117_113"></a><a href="#FNanchor_117_113"><span class="label">[117]</span></a> "On Sound." (Eng., 19th cent.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_118_114"></a><a href="#FNanchor_118_114"><span class="label">[118]</span></a> "Scientific Researches." (Eng., 19th cent.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_119_115"></a><a href="#FNanchor_119_115"><span class="label">[119]</span></a> "Conservation of Energy." In a book on this subject +edited by E. L. Youmans. (Ger., 19th cent.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_120_116"></a><a href="#FNanchor_120_116"><span class="label">[120]</span></a> "Man's Place in Nature." (Eng., 19th cent.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_121_117"></a><a href="#FNanchor_121_117"><span class="label">[121]</span></a> Botany. (U. S., 19th cent.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_122_118"></a><a href="#FNanchor_122_118"><span class="label">[122]</span></a> "Methods of Study in Natural History." (U. S. +19th cent.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_123_119"></a><a href="#FNanchor_123_119"><span class="label">[123]</span></a> Physics. (U. S., 19th cent.)</p></div> + +<hr class="chapter" /> + +<h2 id="BIOGRAPHY">BIOGRAPHY.</h2> + +<p>Biography carefully read will cast a flood of light +before us on the path of life. Read Longfellow's +"Psalm of Life," and try to find the teachings he refers +to in the lives of great men. The world still +lacks what it very much needs,—a book of <i>brief</i> +biographies of the greatest and noblest men and +women of every age and country, by a master hand. +The aim should be to extract from the past what it +can teach us of value for the future; and to do this +biography must become a comparative science, events +and lives must be grouped over the whole range of +the years, that by similarities and contrasts the truth +may appear. Smiles's "Self-Help" is a partial realization +of this plan.</p> + +<p>The manner of reading should be: R. D.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_47">[47]</a></span></p><div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_124_120"></a><a href="#FNanchor_124_120"><span class="label">[124]</span></a> Plutarch's "Lives" comes nearer to a comparative +biography than any other book we have. He contrasts his +characters in pairs, a Greek and a Roman in each couplet. +It is one of the most delightful of books, and among those +most universally read by cultured people of all nations. +Dryden's translation revised by Clough is the best. (Rome, +1st cent.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_125_121"></a><a href="#FNanchor_125_121"><span class="label">[125]</span></a> In Wendell Phillips's oration on "Toussaint L'Ouverture," +there is a fascinating comparison of the noble negro +warrior with Napoleon. (U. S., 19th cent.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_126_122"></a><a href="#FNanchor_126_122"><span class="label">[126]</span></a> Boswell's "Johnson" is admittedly the greatest life +of a single person yet written. (Eng., 18th cent.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_127_123"></a><a href="#FNanchor_127_123"><span class="label">[127]</span></a> Lockhart's "Life of Scott" is a favorite with all who +read it. Wilkie Collins especially recommends it as finely +picturing genius and nobility of character. (Eng., 19th cent.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_128_124"></a><a href="#FNanchor_128_124"><span class="label">[128]</span></a> Marshall's "Life of Washington" is an inspiring +book. Gladstone said to Mr. Depew: "Sixty years ago I +read Chief-Justice Marshall's 'Life of Washington,' and I +was forced to the conclusion that he was quite the greatest +man that ever lived. The sixty years that have passed have +not changed that impression; and to any Englishman who +seeks my advice in the line of his development and equipment +I invariably say, 'Begin by reading the Life of George +Washington.'" (U. S., 19th cent.) +</p><p> +Franklin's "Autobiography" is brief, philosophic, and delightfully +frank and clear. (U. S., 18th cent.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_129_125"></a><a href="#FNanchor_129_125"><span class="label">[129]</span></a> "The Life of Lincoln," by Nicolay and Hay, is a +book that has very strong claims to the attention of every +American, and every lover of liberty, greatness, nobility, and +kindliness. (U. S., 19th cent.) +</p><p> +Grant's "Memoirs" deserves reading for similar reasons. +The great General lived an epic, and wrote a classic. (U. S. +19th cent.)</p></div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_48">[48]</a></span></p><div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_130_126"></a><a href="#FNanchor_130_126"><span class="label">[130]</span></a> Read Carlyle's "Life of John Sterling," "Oliver +Cromwell's Letters and Speeches," and "Heroes and Hero +Worship." (Eng., 19th cent.) +</p><p> +Renan's "Life of Christ." (France, 19th cent.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_131_127"></a><a href="#FNanchor_131_127"><span class="label">[131]</span></a> Canon Farrar's little "Life of Dante" is, considering +its brevity, one of the best things in this department. +(Eng., 19th cent.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_132_128"></a><a href="#FNanchor_132_128"><span class="label">[132]</span></a> Emerson's "Representative Men" most strongly +stirs thought and inspires the resolution. (U. S., 19th +cent.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_133_129"></a><a href="#FNanchor_133_129"><span class="label">[133]</span></a> "The Portrait Collection of the Hundred Greatest +Men," published by Sampson, Low, & Co., 1879.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_134_130"></a><a href="#FNanchor_134_130"><span class="label">[134]</span></a> Read Parton's "Sketches of Men of Progress." +(U. S., 19th cent.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_135_131"></a><a href="#FNanchor_135_131"><span class="label">[135]</span></a> "Lights of Two Centuries." (U. S., 19th cent.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_136_132"></a><a href="#FNanchor_136_132"><span class="label">[136]</span></a> "Our Great Benefactors." (U. S., 19th cent.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_137_133"></a><a href="#FNanchor_137_133"><span class="label">[137]</span></a> "Book of Martyrs." (Eng., early 16th cent.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_138_134"></a><a href="#FNanchor_138_134"><span class="label">[138]</span></a> "The Life and Times of Goethe," and "Michaelangelo." +Most interesting books. (Germany, 19th cent.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_139_135"></a><a href="#FNanchor_139_135"><span class="label">[139]</span></a> "English Statesmen." (Eng., 19th cent.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_140_136"></a><a href="#FNanchor_140_136"><span class="label">[140]</span></a> "Life of Napoleon." (France, 19th cent.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_141_137"></a><a href="#FNanchor_141_137"><span class="label">[141]</span></a> "Lives of the Poets." (Eng., 18th cent.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_142_138"></a><a href="#FNanchor_142_138"><span class="label">[142]</span></a> Walton's "Lives." (Eng., 17th cent.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_143_139"></a><a href="#FNanchor_143_139"><span class="label">[143]</span></a> "Life of Dr. Arnold." (Eng., 19th cent.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_144_140"></a><a href="#FNanchor_144_140"><span class="label">[144]</span></a> "Life of Washington." (U. S., 19th cent.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_145_141"></a><a href="#FNanchor_145_141"><span class="label">[145]</span></a> "Life of Nelson." (Eng., 19th cent.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_146_142"></a><a href="#FNanchor_146_142"><span class="label">[146]</span></a> "Life of Pitt." (Eng., 19th cent.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_147_143"></a><a href="#FNanchor_147_143"><span class="label">[147]</span></a> "Life of Byron." (Eng., 19th cent.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_148_144"></a><a href="#FNanchor_148_144"><span class="label">[148]</span></a> "Lives of Female Sovereigns and Illustrious Women." +(Eng., 19th cent.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_149_145"></a><a href="#FNanchor_149_145"><span class="label">[149]</span></a> "Lives of the Saints." (Eng., 19th cent.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_150_146"></a><a href="#FNanchor_150_146"><span class="label">[150]</span></a> "Memories of many Men." (U. S., 19th cent.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_151_147"></a><a href="#FNanchor_151_147"><span class="label">[151]</span></a> "Reminiscences." (U. S., 18th cent.) +</p><p> +The Life and Letters of Darwin, Talleyrand, and Macaulay; +the Journals of Miss Alcott, Marie Bashkirtseff, +and Eugénie de Guerin; the Autobiography of Joseph<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_49">[49]</a></span> +Jefferson; the "American Statesmen" series, edited by +John T. Morse, Jr., and the "English Men of Letters" series +are all valuable books. The Journals of Miss Alcott and +Marie Bashkirtseff are stories of heart struggles, longings, +failures, and triumphs, and are of exceeding interest and great +popularity. The Journal of Eugénie de Guerin deserves +to be better known than it is, for the delicate sweetness of +feeling that fills its pages.</p></div> + +<hr class="chapter" /> + +<h2 id="HISTORY">HISTORY.</h2> + +<p>Remarks may be made about History very similar +to those in the special remarks concerning Biography. +The field is too vast for an ordinary life, and there is +no book that will give in brief compass the net results +and profits of man's investment in experience +and life,—the dividends have not been declared. +Guizot and Buckle come nearer to doing this than +any other writers; but <i>the</i> book that shall reduce the +past to principles that will guide the future has not +yet been written. The student will be greatly assisted +by the "Manual of Historical Literature," by C. K. +Adams. It is an admirable guide. Putnam's series, +"The Stories of the Nations," and Scribner's "Epoch" +series are very useful, especially for young people.</p> + +<p>The manner of reading the best history should be: +R. D. G.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_50">[50]</a></span></p><div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_152_148"></a><a href="#FNanchor_152_148"><span class="label">[152]</span></a> Green's "History of the English People" has probably +the first claims on the general reader. (Eng., 19th cent.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_153_149"></a><a href="#FNanchor_153_149"><span class="label">[153]</span></a> Bancroft's "History of the United States" should +be read by every American citizen, along with Dr. Strong's +"Our Country." (U. S., 19th cent.) The only trouble with +Bancroft is that he does not bring the history down to recent +times. Hildreth for the student, and Ridpath for practical +business men supply this defect. Doyle's "History of the +United States" is perhaps the best small book, and his +"American Colonies" is also good. McMaster's "History +of the People of the United States" is a brilliant work, given +largely to an account of the social life of the people.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_154_150"></a><a href="#FNanchor_154_150"><span class="label">[154]</span></a> Guizot's "History of Civilization" and "History of +France" (France, 19th cent.) are among the greatest books +of the world; and with Buckle's "History of Civilization" +(Eng., 19th cent.) will give a careful reader an intellectual +breadth and training far above what is attained by the majority +even of reading men.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_155_151"></a><a href="#FNanchor_155_151"><span class="label">[155]</span></a> Parkman is the Macaulay of the New World. He +invests the truths of sober history with all the charms of +poetic imagination and graceful style. His literary work +must take its place by the side of Scott and Irving. Read +his "France and England in North America," "Conspiracy +of Pontiac," and "The Oregon Trail." +</p><p> +Freeman, Fiske, and Fyffe are also great historians, who +require notice here. Freeman's "Comparative Politics," +"History of the Saracens," "Growth of the English Constitution," +"History of Federal Government," and "General +Sketch of History" are all great works,—the last being the +best brief account of general history that we possess. (Eng., +19th cent.) +</p><p> +Fiske's "Civil Government," "War of Independence," and +"Critical Period of American History" are standard books. +(U. S., 19th cent.)<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_51">[51]</a></span> +</p><p> +Fyffe's "Modern Europe" is called the most brilliant picture +of the Revolutionary Period in existence. It is certainly +one of the best of histories.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_155A_152"></a><a href="#FNanchor_155A_152"><span class="label">[155a]</span></a> "Fifteen Decisive Battles of the World." (Eng., +19th cent.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_156_153"></a><a href="#FNanchor_156_153"><span class="label">[156]</span></a> "History of England in the 18th Century," "History +of European Morals." These books take very high +rank in respect to style, accuracy, and completeness. (Eng., +19th cent.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_157_154"></a><a href="#FNanchor_157_154"><span class="label">[157]</span></a> "Ten Great Religions," by James Freeman Clarke. +(U. S., 19th cent.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_158_155"></a><a href="#FNanchor_158_155"><span class="label">[158]</span></a> "Comparative History of Religion."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_159_156"></a><a href="#FNanchor_159_156"><span class="label">[159]</span></a> "Intellectual Development of Europe." A work of +great power. (U. S., 19th cent.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_160_157"></a><a href="#FNanchor_160_157"><span class="label">[160]</span></a> "Middle Ages." (Eng., 19th cent.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_161_158"></a><a href="#FNanchor_161_158"><span class="label">[161]</span></a> "Constitutional History of England." Bagehot's +"English Constitution" should be read with the works of +Hallam, Freeman, and May on this topic, because of its +brilliant generalizations and ingenious suggestions. (Eng., +19th cent.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_162_159"></a><a href="#FNanchor_162_159"><span class="label">[162]</span></a> "History of England." (Eng., 18th cent.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_163_160"></a><a href="#FNanchor_163_160"><span class="label">[163]</span></a> "History of England." (Eng., 19th cent.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_164_161"></a><a href="#FNanchor_164_161"><span class="label">[164]</span></a> "History of England." (Eng., 19th cent.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_165_162"></a><a href="#FNanchor_165_162"><span class="label">[165]</span></a> "Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire." (Eng., +18th cent.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_166_163"></a><a href="#FNanchor_166_163"><span class="label">[166]</span></a> "History of Greece." (Eng., 19th cent.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_167_164"></a><a href="#FNanchor_167_164"><span class="label">[167]</span></a> "History of New England." (U. S., 19th cent.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_168_165"></a><a href="#FNanchor_168_165"><span class="label">[168]</span></a> "Conquest of Mexico," "Peru," "Ferdinand and +Isabella," etc. Prescott's style is of the very best, clear, +graphic, and ever interesting. (U. S., 19th cent.)</p></div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_52">[52]</a></span></p><div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_169_166"></a><a href="#FNanchor_169_166"><span class="label">[169]</span></a> "Rise of the Dutch Republic." (U. S., 19th +cent.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_169A_167"></a><a href="#FNanchor_169A_167"><span class="label">[169a]</span></a> "Rise of the Republic of the United States." +(U. S., 19th cent.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_170_168"></a><a href="#FNanchor_170_168"><span class="label">[170]</span></a> "Ancient Egyptians." (Eng., 19th cent.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_171_169"></a><a href="#FNanchor_171_169"><span class="label">[171]</span></a> "History of Rome." (Eng., 19th cent.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_172_170"></a><a href="#FNanchor_172_170"><span class="label">[172]</span></a> "History of the Germans." (Ger., 1798.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_173_171"></a><a href="#FNanchor_173_171"><span class="label">[173]</span></a> "Latin Christianity." (Eng., 19th cent.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_174_172"></a><a href="#FNanchor_174_172"><span class="label">[174]</span></a> "History of the Papacy in the 16th and 17th Centuries." +Ranke is one of the strongest names in history. +(Ger., 19th cent.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_175_173"></a><a href="#FNanchor_175_173"><span class="label">[175]</span></a> "Italian Republics." (France, 1773-1842.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_176_174"></a><a href="#FNanchor_176_174"><span class="label">[176]</span></a> "History of France." (France, 19th cent.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_177_175"></a><a href="#FNanchor_177_175"><span class="label">[177]</span></a> "French Revolution." (Eng., 19th cent.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_178_176"></a><a href="#FNanchor_178_176"><span class="label">[178]</span></a> "History of France," "Norman Conquest of England." +(France, 19th cent.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_179_177"></a><a href="#FNanchor_179_177"><span class="label">[179]</span></a> "Germania." His "Life of Agricola" is also worthy +of note for the insight into character, the pathos, vigor, and +affection manifested in its flattering pages. (Rome, 1st cent.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_180_178"></a><a href="#FNanchor_180_178"><span class="label">[180]</span></a> "History of Rome." (Rome, 1st cent. <span class="smcap">b. c.</span>)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_181_179"></a><a href="#FNanchor_181_179"><span class="label">[181]</span></a> "The War of Catiline." (Rome, 1st cent. <span class="smcap">b. c.</span>)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_182_180"></a><a href="#FNanchor_182_180"><span class="label">[182]</span></a> History of nearly all the nations known at the time +he wrote. (Greece, 5th cent. <span class="smcap">b. c.</span>)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_183_181"></a><a href="#FNanchor_183_181"><span class="label">[183]</span></a> "Anabasis, the Retreat of the Greek Mercenaries of +the Persian King." (Greece, 5th cent. <span class="smcap">b. c.</span>)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_184_182"></a><a href="#FNanchor_184_182"><span class="label">[184]</span></a> "History of the Athenian Domination of Greece." +(Greece, 5th cent. <span class="smcap">b. c.</span>)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_185_183"></a><a href="#FNanchor_185_183"><span class="label">[185]</span></a> "History of the Jewish Wars." (Jerusalem, 1st +cent.) +</p><p> +Mackenzie's "History of the Nineteenth Century" is the +best English book on the subject. +</p><p> +Rawlinson's "Five Great Monarchies" is strongly +recommended.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_53">[53]</a></span></p></div> + +<hr class="chapter" /> + +<h2 id="PHILOSOPHY">PHILOSOPHY.</h2> + +<p>There have been, since the waters of thought began +to flow, two great streams running side by side,—Rationalism +and Mysticism. Those who sail upon +the former recognize Reason as king; those upon +the latter enthrone some vague and shadowy power, +in general known as Intuition. The tendency of the +one is to begin with sense impressions, and out of +these to build up a universe in the brain corresponding +to the outer world, and to arrive at a belief in +God by climbing the stairway of induction and analogy. +The tendency of the other is to start with the +affirmed nature of God, arrived at, the thinker knows +not how, and deduce the universe from the conception +of the Divine Nature. If this matter is kept in +mind, the earnest student will be able to see through +the mists sufficiently to discover what the philosophers +are talking about whenever it chances that they themselves +knew. Spencer, Plato, Berkeley, Kant, Locke, +are all worthy of a thorough reading; and Comte's +philosophy of Mathematics is of great importance.</p> + +<p>The manner of reading good philosophic works +should be: R. D. G.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_54">[54]</a></span></p><div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_186_184"></a><a href="#FNanchor_186_184"><span class="label">[186]</span></a> Spencer's Philosophy is the grandest body of thought +that any one man has ever given to the world. No one who +wishes to move with the tide can afford to be unfamiliar with +his books, from "First Principles" to his Essays. He believes +that all ideas, or their materials, have come through +the avenues of the senses. (Eng., 19th cent.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_187_185"></a><a href="#FNanchor_187_185"><span class="label">[187]</span></a> Plato and Socrates are a double star in the sky of +Philosophy that the strongest telescopes have failed to resolve. +Socrates wrote nothing, but talked much. Plato was +a pupil of his, and makes Socrates the chief character in his +writings. Ten schools of philosophy claimed Socrates as +their head, but Plato alone represented the master with fulness. +Considering the times in which he lived, the grandeur +of his thought, the power of his imagination, and the nobility, +elegance, originality, and beauty of his writings, Plato +has no superior in the whole range of literature. With Plato, +ideas are the only realities, things are imperfect expressions of +them, and all knowledge is reminiscence of what the soul +learned when it was in the land of spirit, face to face with +ideas unveiled. Read his dialogues, especially "Phædo" +and the "Republic." (Greece, 429-348 <span class="smcap">b. c.</span>)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_188_186"></a><a href="#FNanchor_188_186"><span class="label">[188]</span></a> A most acute idealist, whose argument against the +existence of matter is one of the great passages of literature. +(Eng., 18th cent.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_189_187"></a><a href="#FNanchor_189_187"><span class="label">[189]</span></a> Kant argues that the <i>forms</i> of <i>thought</i>, <i>time</i>, and <i>space</i> +are necessarily intuitive, and not derived from sensation, +since they are prerequisites to sensation. Read the "Critique +of Pure Reason," "Critique of Practical Reason," in +which he treats moral philosophy, and "Observations on the +Sublime and Beautiful." (Germany, 18th cent.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_190_188"></a><a href="#FNanchor_190_188"><span class="label">[190]</span></a> Locke bases knowledge on sensation. His "Essay +on the Conduct of the Understanding" is one of the most +valuable books in the language. Spencer, Mill, and Locke +have so fully imbibed all that was good in Hobbes that it is +scarcely necessary to read him. (Eng., 17th cent.)</p></div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_55">[55]</a></span></p><div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_191_189"></a><a href="#FNanchor_191_189"><span class="label">[191]</span></a> Comte's "Positive Philosophy" rejects intuitive +knowledge. It is characterized by force of logic, immense +research, great power of generalization (which is frequently +carried beyond the warrant of facts), and immense bulk. +(France, 19th cent.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_192_190"></a><a href="#FNanchor_192_190"><span class="label">[192]</span></a> Sensationalist. A very strong writer. (Eng., 19th +cent.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_193_191"></a><a href="#FNanchor_193_191"><span class="label">[193]</span></a> "Limits of Religious Thought." A very powerful +exposure of the weakness of human imagination. (Eng., +19th cent.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_194_192"></a><a href="#FNanchor_194_192"><span class="label">[194]</span></a> "Matter and Force." A powerful presentation of +Materialism. (Ger., 19th cent.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_195_193"></a><a href="#FNanchor_195_193"><span class="label">[195]</span></a> "Freedom of the Will." A demonstration of the +impossibility of free will. (Amer., 18th cent.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_196_194"></a><a href="#FNanchor_196_194"><span class="label">[196]</span></a> A very acute English philosopher. (Eng., 1748-1832.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_197_195"></a><a href="#FNanchor_197_195"><span class="label">[197]</span></a> Moral and Metaphysical Philosophy. (Eng., 19th +cent.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_198_196"></a><a href="#FNanchor_198_196"><span class="label">[198]</span></a> A deep, clear thinker, of sceptical character, who +laid bare the flaws in the old philosophies. (Eng., 1711-1776.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_199_197"></a><a href="#FNanchor_199_197"><span class="label">[199]</span></a> One of the most profound metaphysicians the world +can boast, and inventor of quaternions, the latest addition to +Mathematics. (Scot., 19th cent.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_200_198"></a><a href="#FNanchor_200_198"><span class="label">[200]</span></a> Aristotle was the Bacon of the Old World. His +method was the very opposite of Plato's. He sought knowledge +chiefly by carefully looking out upon the world, instead +of by introspection. No one has exerted a greater influence +on the thought of the world than this deep and earnest +thinker. (Greece, 4th cent. <span class="smcap">b. c.</span>)</p></div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_56">[56]</a></span></p><div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_201_199"></a><a href="#FNanchor_201_199"><span class="label">[201]</span></a> A very beautiful writer of the idealist school, though +he claims to be eclectic. (France, 19th cent.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_202_200"></a><a href="#FNanchor_202_200"><span class="label">[202]</span></a> Hegel endeavored, by the method set forth in his +"Absolute Logic," to reduce all knowledge to one science. +(Ger., 1770-1831.) Schelling, in his "Philosophy of Identity," +tries to prove that the same laws hold in the world of +spirit as in the world of matter. Schelling bases his system +on an <i>intuition</i> superior to reason, and admitting neither +doubt nor explanation. (Ger., 1775-1854.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_203_201"></a><a href="#FNanchor_203_201"><span class="label">[203]</span></a> Fichte carries the doctrines of Kant to their limit: +to him all except the life of the mind is a delusion. (Ger., +18th cent.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_204_202"></a><a href="#FNanchor_204_202"><span class="label">[204]</span></a> A great German philosopher of the time of Luther +(16th cent.), very learned, refined, and witty. Read his +"Familiar Colloquies."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_205_203"></a><a href="#FNanchor_205_203"><span class="label">[205]</span></a> "Cosmic Philosophy." (Amer. 19th cent.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_206_204"></a><a href="#FNanchor_206_204"><span class="label">[206]</span></a> "Rational Cosmology, or the Eternal Principles and +Necessary Laws of the Universe." (U. S., 19th cent.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_207_205"></a><a href="#FNanchor_207_205"><span class="label">[207]</span></a> Scottish Philosophy. (U. S., 19th cent.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_208_206"></a><a href="#FNanchor_208_206"><span class="label">[208]</span></a> Theologico-politico-moral, voluminous dissertations. +(Amsterdam, 17th cent.)</p></div> + +<hr class="chapter" /> + +<h2 id="ESSAYS">ESSAYS.</h2> + +<p>Next to Shakspeare's Plays, Emerson's Essays +and Lectures are to me the richest inspiration. At +every turn new and delightful paths open before the +mind; and the poetic feeling and imagery are often +of the best. Only the music and the power of discriminating +the wheat from the chaff were lacking to +have made one of the world's greatest poets. To +pour into the life the spirit of Emerson, Bacon, and +Montaigne is a liberal education in itself. Addison's<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_57">[57]</a></span> +"Spectator" is inimitable in its union of humor, sense, +and imagination. A number of eminent men, Franklin +among them, have referred to it as the source of +their literary power.</p> + +<p>Read these essays: R. D. C. G.</p> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_209_207"></a><a href="#FNanchor_209_207"><span class="label">[209]</span></a> Emerson's Essays and Lectures certainly deserve +our first attention in this department, because of their poetic +beauty and stimulating effect upon the imagination and all +that is pure and strong and noble in the character. (Amer., +19th cent.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_210_208"></a><a href="#FNanchor_210_208"><span class="label">[210]</span></a> Nowhere can be found so much wit and wisdom to +the square inch as in Bacon's Essays. (Eng., 1600.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_211_209"></a><a href="#FNanchor_211_209"><span class="label">[211]</span></a> Montaigne is the most popular of all the world's +essayists, because of his common-sense, keen insight, and +perfect frankness. The only author we certainly know to +have been in Shakspeare's own library. (France, 1580.)</p></div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_58">[58]</a></span></p><div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_212_210"></a><a href="#FNanchor_212_210"><span class="label">[212]</span></a> Ruskin's "Ethics of the Dust," "Crown of Wild +Olives," "Sesame and Lilies," while somewhat wild in substance +as well as in title, are well worthy of reading for the +intellectual stimulus afforded by their breadth of view, novelty +of expression and illustration, and the intense force—almost +fanaticism—which characterizes all that Ruskin says. +Ruskin is one of three living writers whom Farrar says he +would first save from a conflagration of the world's library. +Carlyle is another of the same sort. Read his "Past and +Present," a grand essay on Justice. (Eng., 19th cent.) +</p><p> +So far as style is concerned, Addison's Essays in the +"Spectator" are probably the best in the world.</p></div> + +<hr class="chapter" /> + +<h2 id="FICTION">FICTION.</h2> + +<p>In modern times much that is best in literature has +gone into the pages of the novel. The men and +women of genius who would in other days have been +great poets, philosophers, dramatists, essayists, and +humorists have concentrated their powers, and poured +out all their wealth to set in gold a story of human +life. Don't neglect the novels; but be sure to read +<i>good</i> ones, and don't read too many.</p> + +<p>In fiction, England, America, and France are far +ahead of the rest of the world. Scott may well be +held to lead the list, considering the quantity and +quality of what he wrote; and Dickens, I presume, +by many would be written next, though I prefer the +philosophic novelists, like George Eliot, Macdonald, +Kingsley, Hugo, etc. Fielding, Richardson, Goldsmith, +Sterne, and Defoe, Jane Austen, Cooper, and +Marryat all claim our attention on one account or +another.</p> + +<p>The United States can boast of Hawthorne, Tourgée, +Wallace, Hearn, Aldrich, Warner, Curtis, Jewett, +Craddock, and many others.</p> + +<p>France has a glorious army, led by Victor Hugo, +George Sand, Balzac, Dumas, Gautier, Mérimée, etc. +But the magnificent powers of these artists are combined +with sad defects. Hugo is the greatest literary +force since Goethe and Scott; but his digressions are +sometimes terribly tedious, his profundity darkness,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_59">[59]</a></span> +and his "unities," his plot, and reasons for lugging in +certain things hard to find. Balzac gives us a monotony +of wickedness. George Sand is prone to +idealize lust. "Notre Dame" and "Les Misérables," +"Le Père Goriot" and "Eugénie Grandet," "Consuelo" +and "La Mare au Diable," "Capitaine Fracasse" +and "Vingt Ans Après," are great books; but they +will not rank with "Tom Jones" artistically, nor with +the "Vicar of Wakefield," "Ivanhoe," "Adam Bede," +"Romola," or "The Scarlet Letter," considering all +the elements that go to make a great novel.</p> + +<p>Germany, Italy, and Spain have no fiction that +compares with ours.</p> + +<p>No doubt many will be surprised to find Fielding, +Balzac, Tolstoï, and others placed so low in the list +as they are. The reason is that the moral tone of a +book is, with us, a weightier test of its claims on the +attention of the general reader, than the style of the +author or the merit of his work from an artistic point +of view. There might be some doubt whether or no +we ought not to exclude from our tables entirely all +books that are not noble enough in character to +admit of their being read aloud in the family. The +trouble is that much of the finest literature of the +world would have to be excluded. So there seems +to be no course but to admit these men, with a note +as to their character.</p> + +<p>One who wishes to make a study of the novel will +be interested in Dunlop's "History of Fiction," Tuckerman's +"History of English Prose Fiction," Hazlitt's<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_60">[60]</a></span> +"English Novelists," Lanier's "Novel," Masson's +"British Novelists and their Styles," and Jeaffreson's +"Novels and Novelists."</p> + +<p>The best fiction should be read: R. D. G.</p> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_213_211"></a><a href="#FNanchor_213_211"><span class="label">[213]</span></a> "Heart of Midlothian," "Waverley," "Ivanhoe," +"Kenilworth," "Guy Mannering," "The Antiquary," "Rob +Roy," "Old Mortality," "Red Gauntlet," etc. Scott is by +very many—and among them some of the greatest—loved +more than any other novelist. The purity, beauty, breadth, +and power of his works will ever place them among the most +desirable reading. (Eng., 19th cent.) Hutton's "Sir Walter +Scott," Carlyle's "Essay on Scott," Hazlitt's Essay in "The +Spirit of the Age," and other books referred to in the head +notes to Poetry and Fiction will be useful to the student of +Scott.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_214_212"></a><a href="#FNanchor_214_212"><span class="label">[214]</span></a> "Adam Bede," "Mill on the Floss," "Romola," +"Silas Marner," etc. Deep philosophy and insight into +character mark all George Eliot's writings. (Eng., 19th cent.) +Lanier's "Development of the Novel" is practically only an +enthusiastic study of George Eliot.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_215_213"></a><a href="#FNanchor_215_213"><span class="label">[215]</span></a> "Pickwick," "David Copperfield," "Bleak House," +"Martin Chuzzlewit," "Old Curiosity Shop," etc. Dickens +needs no comment. His fame is in every house. (Eng., +19th cent.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_216_214"></a><a href="#FNanchor_216_214"><span class="label">[216]</span></a> Hawthorne's "Scarlet Letter," "Marble Faun," +"Great Stone Face," etc., are by universal consent accorded +the first place in the lists of American novels, and are among +the best to be found anywhere. (U. S., 19th cent.)</p></div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_61">[61]</a></span></p><div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_217_215"></a><a href="#FNanchor_217_215"><span class="label">[217]</span></a> "Vicar of Wakefield." One of Goethe's earliest +favorites. (Eng., 18th cent.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_218_216"></a><a href="#FNanchor_218_216"><span class="label">[218]</span></a> "Rienzi," "Last Days of Pompeii," "Last of the +Barons," etc. Most powerful, delightful, and broadening +books. (Eng., 19th cent.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_219_217"></a><a href="#FNanchor_219_217"><span class="label">[219]</span></a> "Malcolm," "Marquis o' Lossie," "David Elginbrod," +etc. Books of marvellous spiritual helpfulness. (Eng., +19th cent.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_220_218"></a><a href="#FNanchor_220_218"><span class="label">[220]</span></a> "Esmond," "Vanity Fair," etc. Very famous books. +(Eng., 19th cent.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_221_219"></a><a href="#FNanchor_221_219"><span class="label">[221]</span></a> "Westward, Ho!" "Two Years Ago," etc. Among +the best and most famous pictures of true English character. +(Eng., 19th cent.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_222_220"></a><a href="#FNanchor_222_220"><span class="label">[222]</span></a> "Ben Hur." This book has been placed close to +the Bible and Bunyan. (U. S., 19th cent.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_223_221"></a><a href="#FNanchor_223_221"><span class="label">[223]</span></a> "Hot Plowshares," "The Fool's Errand," "The Invisible +Empire," "Appeal to Cæsar," etc. Books widely +known, but whose great merit is not fully recognized. Tourgée, +though uneven, seems to us a writer of very great power. +His "Hot Plowshares" is a powerful historical novel; and +few books in the whole range of literature are so intensely +interesting, and so free from all that is objectionable in subject +or execution. (U. S., 19th cent.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_224_222"></a><a href="#FNanchor_224_222"><span class="label">[224]</span></a> "Les Misérables," "Notre Dame de Paris," "Les +Travailleurs de la Mer," etc. Wraxall's translations of these +great French novels are most excellent. (France, 19th cent.) +</p><p> +Some critics think that no characters in Shakspeare are +better drawn than those of Dumas. "Monte Cristo," "The +Vicomte de Bragelonne" (Stevenson's favorite), "The Three +Musketeers," "Twenty Years After," "The Marie Antoinette +Romances," etc., are powerful and intensely interesting +novels. (France, 19th cent.)</p></div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_62">[62]</a></span></p><div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_225_223"></a><a href="#FNanchor_225_223"><span class="label">[225]</span></a> "Robinson Crusoe." There are few persons who do +not get delight and inspiration from Defoe's wonderful story. +(Eng., 1661-1731.) +</p><p> +"Tom Brown at Rugby" and "Tom Brown at Oxford," by +Thomas Hughes, are delightful books for boys. (Eng., 19th +cent.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_226_224"></a><a href="#FNanchor_226_224"><span class="label">[226]</span></a> Mrs. Stowe's "Uncle Tom's Cabin," was God's +bugle-call to the war against slavery. Her "Oldtown Folks" +and "Sam Lawson's Fireside Stories" are very humorous +sketches of New England life. (U. S., 19th cent.) +</p><p> +Cooper's "The Spy," "The Pilot," "Leather Stocking," +"Deerslayer," "Pathfinder," etc., are books that interfere +with food and sleep, and chain us to their pages. (U. S., +19th cent.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_227_225"></a><a href="#FNanchor_227_225"><span class="label">[227]</span></a> "Prue and I," by George William Curtis, is one of +the most suggestive stories in print, and is in every way a +delightful book. "Potiphar Papers," "Our Best Society," +"Trumps," "Lotus Eaters,"—in fact, everything Mr. Curtis +writes, is of the highest interest, and worthy of the most careful +attention. (U. S., 19th cent.) +</p><p> +The same may be said of the works of Charles Dudley +Warner,—"Being a Boy," "A Hunting of the Deer," "In +the Wilderness," "Backlog Studies," "My Summer in a +Garden," etc. (U. S., 19th cent.)</p></div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_63">[63]</a></span></p><div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_228_226"></a><a href="#FNanchor_228_226"><span class="label">[228]</span></a> T. B. Aldrich, while perhaps not destined to rank +with Scott, Eliot, and Hawthorne, is nevertheless one of the +most wholesome and interesting of living authors. "The Stillwater +Tragedy" is his strongest book. "Prudence Palfrey," +"The Story of a Bad Boy," "Margery Daw," and "The +Queen of Sheba" will doubtless be read by those who +once become acquainted with the author. (U. S., 19th +cent.) +</p><p> +The first part of Hearn's "Chita" exceeds in beauty and +strength any other piece of descriptive writing with which +we are familiar. (U. S., 19th cent.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_229_227"></a><a href="#FNanchor_229_227"><span class="label">[229]</span></a> Ebers' "Homo Sum," "Uarda," and "An Egyptian +Princess" are very powerful studies of Egyptian life and +history. (Ger., 19th cent.) +</p><p> +"With Fire and Sword," and its sequels, "The Deluge" +and "Pan Michael," by Henryk Sienkiewicz, are among the +greatest books of modern times. They are historical romances +of the conflict between Russia, Poland, and Sweden; +and their power may be guessed from the fact that critics have +compared the author favorably with Scott, Dumas, Schiller, +Cervantes, Thackeray, Turgenieff, Homer, and even Shakspeare. +(Poland, 19th cent.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_230_228"></a><a href="#FNanchor_230_228"><span class="label">[230]</span></a> Miss Austen's "Emma," "Pride and Prejudice" +(Eng., 19th cent.), and Charlotte Bronté's "Jane Eyre" +(Eng., 19th cent.), are all noble and renowned novels.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_231_229"></a><a href="#FNanchor_231_229"><span class="label">[231]</span></a> Louisa Alcott's "Little Women" is a lovely story of +home life; and its exceeding popularity is one of the most +encouraging signs of the growth of a taste for pure, gentle, +natural literature. (U. S., 19th cent.) +</p><p> +Mrs. Burnett's "Little Lord Fauntleroy" deservedly met +at once a high reward of popularity, and was placed in the +front rank among stories of child-life. As a teacher of gentleness +and good manners it is invaluable. (Eng., 19th cent.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_232_230"></a><a href="#FNanchor_232_230"><span class="label">[232]</span></a> Cable's "Grande Pointe," "The Grandissimes," etc., +should be read by all who wish to know the best living novelists. +(U. S., 19th cent.) +</p><p> +Craddock's "Where the Battle was Fought," "Despot of +Broomsedge Cove," "Prophet of Great Smoky Mountain," +"Story of Keedon Bluffs," and "Down the Ravine" are +fascinating stories, the last two being fine books for children. +(U. S., 19th cent.)</p></div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_64">[64]</a></span></p><div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_233_231"></a><a href="#FNanchor_233_231"><span class="label">[233]</span></a> Mrs. A. D. T. Whitney's "Sights and Insights," +though somewhat too wordy for this busy world, is worthy +a place here, because of its spiritual beauty and its keen +common-sense in respect to marriage and courtship. (U. S., +19th cent.) +</p><p> +Sarah Orne Jewett has won a good name by her excellent +stories, "Deephaven," "Betty Leicester," etc. Her "Play +Days" is a fine book for girls. (U. S., 19th cent.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_234_232"></a><a href="#FNanchor_234_232"><span class="label">[234]</span></a> Fielding, Le Sage, and Balzac are writers of great +power, whose works are studied for their artistic merit, their +wit, and the intense excitement some of them yield; but the +general moral tone of their writings places them below the +purer writers above spoken of in respect to their value +to the general reader, one of whose deepest interests is +character-forming. +</p><p> +Fielding's "Tom Jones" is by many considered the finest +novel in existence; and it undoubtedly would be, if along +with its literary skill it possessed the high tone of Curtis or +Scott. "Jonathan Wild" is also a powerful story. (Eng., +18th cent.) +</p><p> +"Gil Blas," by Le Sage, is one of the most famous and +widely read books in the world. (France, 1668—1747.) +</p><p> +Balzac's best are "Le Père Goriot" (and especially the +magnificent preface to this book), "La Recherche de l'Absolu," +"Eugénie Grandet," "La Peau de Chagrin," etc. +(France, 19th cent.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_235_233"></a><a href="#FNanchor_235_233"><span class="label">[235]</span></a> Rousseau's "Emile" has been called the greatest +book ever written; but we presume that bias and limitation of +knowledge on the part of critics (not rare accomplishments +of theirs) might procure a similar judgment in respect to +almost any strong and peculiar book. Rousseau's "Confessions" +are worth some attention. (France, 18th cent.) +</p><p> +Saintine's "Picciola" is a beautiful story. (France, 19th +cent.)</p></div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_65">[65]</a></span></p><div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_236_234"></a><a href="#FNanchor_236_234"><span class="label">[236]</span></a> Coffin's "Boys of '76," "Boys of '61," "Story of +Liberty," etc., are splendid books for young people. The +last describes the march of the human race from slavery to +freedom. (U. S., 19th cent.) +</p><p> +Charles Reade's "Hard Cash," "Peg Woffington," "Cloister +and Hearth" are fascinating stories. (Eng., 19th cent.) +</p><p> +Warren's "Ten Thousand a Year."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_237_235"></a><a href="#FNanchor_237_235"><span class="label">[237]</span></a> Landor's "Imaginary Conversations of Great Men." +(Eng., 18th cent.) +</p><p> +Turgenieff's "Liza," "Smoke," and "Fathers and Sons." +(Russia, 19th cent.) +</p><p> +Eugene Sue's "Wandering Jew." +</p><p> +Manzoni's "I promessi Sposi."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_238_236"></a><a href="#FNanchor_238_236"><span class="label">[238]</span></a> Cottin's "Elizabeth." +</p><p> +Besant's "All Sorts and Conditions of Men." (Eng., +19th cent.) +</p><p> +Stevenson's "The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. +Hyde." A book that teaches the danger of giving way to +the evil side of our nature.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_239_237"></a><a href="#FNanchor_239_237"><span class="label">[239]</span></a> Mrs. Ward's "Robert Elsmere" is a famous picture +of the struggle in the religious mind to-day. (Eng., 19th cent.) +</p><p> +Margaret Deland's "John Ward, Preacher," is a book of +the same class as the last, but is not as interesting as her +"Florida Days" or her Poems. (U. S., 19th cent.) +</p><p> +Anna Sewell's "Black Beauty" is the autobiography of a +noble horse, and is tender and intelligent. A book that every +one who has anything to do with horses, or indeed with animals +of any sort, cannot afford to neglect. (Eng., 19th cent.) +</p><p> +Bret Harte's "Luck of Roaring Camp" is an interesting +picture of Western life, and opens a new vein of fiction. +(U. S., 19th cent.)</p></div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_66">[66]</a></span></p><div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_240_238"></a><a href="#FNanchor_240_238"><span class="label">[240]</span></a> Green's "Hand and Ring," "Leavenworth Case," +etc., are splendid examples of reasoning, without any of the +objectionable features usually found in detective stories. +(U. S., 19th cent.) +</p><p> +Miss Mulock's "John Halifax, Gentleman," is a great and +famous book. (Eng., 19th cent.) +</p><p> +Disraeli's "Lothair," "Endymion," etc., are strong books; +requiring the notice of one who reads widely in English +fiction. (Eng., 19th cent.) +</p><p> +Howells' "A Modern Instance," "The Undiscovered +Country," "A Hazard of New Fortunes," "A Chance Acquaintance," +"Lady of the Aroostook," etc., are not objectionable. +(U. S., 19th cent.) +</p><p> +Tolstoï's "Anna Karénina" deserves mention, though we +cannot by any means agree with Howells that Tolstoï is the +greatest of novelists. The motive and atmosphere of his +books are not lofty, and some of his work is positively disgraceful. +(Russia, 19th cent.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_241_239"></a><a href="#FNanchor_241_239"><span class="label">[241]</span></a> George Sand's "Consuelo" is a great book in more +senses than one; and although it deserves a place in this +lower list, yet there are so many better books, that if one +follows the true order, life would be likely to depart before +he had time to read a four-volume novel by an author of the +tone of George Sand. (France, 19th cent.) +</p><p> +Black's "Strange Adventures of a Phaeton," "Princess of +Thule." (Eng., 19th cent.) +</p><p> +Blackmore's "Lorna Doone." (Eng., 19th cent.) +</p><p> +Olive Schreiner's "Story of an African Farm" is powerful, +but not altogether wholesome. (Eng., 19th cent.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_242_240"></a><a href="#FNanchor_242_240"><span class="label">[242]</span></a> Bremer's "The Neighbors." (Norway, 19th cent.) +</p><p> +Trollope's "Last Chronicles of Barsetshire." (Eng., +19th cent.) +</p><p> +Winthrop's "Cecil Dreeme," "John Brent." (U. S., +19th cent.)<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_67">[67]</a></span></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_243_241"></a><a href="#FNanchor_243_241"><span class="label">[243]</span></a> Richardson's "Pamela" and "Clarissa Harlowe" +are interesting, because they were the beginning of the English +novel; but they are not nice or natural, and have no +attractions except their historic position. (Eng., 1689-1761.) +</p><p> +Smollett's "Humphrey Clinker" is his strongest work. +"Peregrine Pickle" is very witty, and "Adventures of an +Atom" altogether a miserable book. Smollett possessed +power, but his work is on a very low plane. (Eng., 18th +cent.) +</p><p> +Boccaccio's "Decameron" is a series of splendidly told +tales, from which Chaucer drew much besides his inspiration. +The book is strong, but of very inferior moral tone.</p></div> + +<hr class="chapter" /> + +<h2 id="ORATORY">ORATORY.</h2> + +<p>Great and successful oratory requires deep knowledge +of the human mind and character, personal +force, vivid imagination, control of language and +temper, and a faculty of putting the greatest truths +in such clear and simple and forceful form, that they +may not only be grasped by untrained minds, but +will break down the barriers of prejudice and interest, +and fight their way to the throne of the will. +Oratory is religion, science, philosophy, biography, +history, wit, pathos, and poetry <i>in action</i>. This department +of literature is therefore of the greatest value +in the development of mind and heart, and of the +power to influence and control our fellows. Especially +read and study Demosthenes on the Crown, +Burke's "Warren Hastings' Oration," Webster's<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_68">[68]</a></span> +"Reply to Hayne," Phillips' "Lovejoy" and "Toussaint +L'Ouverture," and Lincoln's "Gettysburg," his +debates with Douglas, and his great speeches in New +York and the East before the War, in which fun, +pathos, and logic were all welded together in such +masterly shape that professors of oratory followed +him about from city to city, studying him as a model +of eloquence. There is a book called "Great Orations +of Great Orators" that is very valuable, and +there is a series of three volumes containing the +best British orations (fifteen orators), and another +similar series of American speeches (thirty-two +orators).</p> + +<hr class="chapter" /> + +<h2 id="WIT_AND_HUMOR">WIT AND HUMOR.</h2> + +<p>In what wit consists, and why it is we laugh, are +questions hard to answer (read on that subject Spencer +and Hobbes, and Mathews' "Wit and Humor; +their Use and Abuse"); but certain it is that a little +seasoning of fun makes intellectual food very palatable, +and much better adapts it for universal and +permanent assimilation. Most men can keep what is +tied to their memories with a joke. Considering all +things, Lowell, Holmes, Dickens, and Cervantes are +the best humorists the world affords. See Table III. Group <a href="#g4">4</a>. They exhibit a union of power and purpose +that is not found elsewhere. They always subordinate +wit to wisdom, always aim at something far<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_69">[69]</a></span> +higher than making fun for its own sake, never appear +to make any effort for their effects, and always polish +their work to perfection. A great deal of the keenest +wit will be found in books whose general character +puts them in some other column,—Poetry, Fiction, +Oratory, etc. The works of Shakspeare, Addison, +Eliot, Sheridan, Goldsmith, Irving, Higginson, Carleton, +Thackeray, Hood, Saxe, Fielding, Smollett, Aristophanes, +Molière, etc., abound in wit and humor.</p> + +<p>The student of humor will be interested in Hazlitt's +"English Comic Writers," Thackeray's "English +Humorists," and Besant's "French Humorists."</p> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_244_242"></a><a href="#FNanchor_244_242"><span class="label">[244]</span></a> "Fable for Critics," "Biglow Papers." Considering +the keenness and variety of wit, the depth of sarcasm, +the breadth of view, and the importance of its subject, the +"Biglow Papers" is the greatest humorous work of all history. +(U. S., 19th cent.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_245_243"></a><a href="#FNanchor_245_243"><span class="label">[245]</span></a> "Autocrat of the Breakfast-Table," "Professor at +the Breakfast-Table," etc. (U. S., 19th cent.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_246_244"></a><a href="#FNanchor_246_244"><span class="label">[246]</span></a> "Pickwick Papers." (Eng., 19th cent.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_247_245"></a><a href="#FNanchor_247_245"><span class="label">[247]</span></a> "Don Quixote." (Spain, 1547-1616.)</p></div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_70">[70]</a></span></p><div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_248_246"></a><a href="#FNanchor_248_246"><span class="label">[248]</span></a> Along with much violent scoffing, and calling of his +betters by hard names, Ingersoll's speeches contain some of +the keenest wit in the language. (U. S., 19th cent.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_249_247"></a><a href="#FNanchor_249_247"><span class="label">[249]</span></a> Marietta Holley's "Sweet Cicely," "Samantha at +the Centennial," "Betsey Bobbet," "My Wayward Pardner," +"Samantha at Saratoga," "Samantha among the Brethren," +etc., are full of quaint fun, keen insight, and common-sense. +They are somewhat more wordy than we wish they were, +but they are wholesome, and the author's purpose is always +a lofty one. Her fun is not mere fun, but is like the laughing +eye and smiling lip of one whose words are full of thought +and elevated feeling. (U. S., 19th cent.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_250_248"></a><a href="#FNanchor_250_248"><span class="label">[250]</span></a> G. W. Curtis's "Potiphar Papers" is a good example +of quiet, refined humor. (U. S., 19th cent.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_251_249"></a><a href="#FNanchor_251_249"><span class="label">[251]</span></a> Chauncey M. Depew's Orations and After-Dinner +Speeches are worthy of perusal by all lovers of wit and sense. +(U. S., 19th cent.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_252_250"></a><a href="#FNanchor_252_250"><span class="label">[252]</span></a> Mark Twain is the greatest of those who make +humor the primary object. He does not, like Artemus +Ward, make it the sole object,—there is a large amount +of keen common-sense in his "A Yankee in King Arthur's +Court," and there is also in it an open-mindedness to the +newest currents of thought that proves the author to be one +of the most wide-awake men of the day. "Innocents +Abroad," "The Prince and the Pauper," "Roughing It," +etc., are very amusing books, the only drawback being that +the reader is sometimes conscious of an effort to be funny. +(U. S., 19th cent.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_253"></a><a href="#FNanchor_253"><span class="label">[253]</span></a> +Charles Dudley Warner's "In the Wilderness" gives +some exceedingly amusing sketches of backwoods life. See +also other books mentioned under the head of Fiction. (U. S., +19th cent.)</p> +</div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_254_251"></a><a href="#FNanchor_254_251"><span class="label">[254]</span></a> S. K. Edwards' "Two Runaways, and Other Stories" +is a book that no lover of humor can afford to be without. +(U. S., 19th cent.)</p></div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_71">[71]</a></span></p><div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_255_252"></a><a href="#FNanchor_255_252"><span class="label">[255]</span></a> E. E. Hale's "My Double, and How He Undid +Me," and other stories contain much innocent recreation. +(U. S., 19th cent.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_256_253"></a><a href="#FNanchor_256_253"><span class="label">[256]</span></a> Nasby's "Ekoes from Kentucky" and "Swingin' +round the Circle" are full of the keenest political sarcasm. +Lincoln was so impressed with Nasby's power, that he said +he had rather possess such gifts than be President of the +United States. (U. S., 19th cent.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_257_254"></a><a href="#FNanchor_257_254"><span class="label">[257]</span></a> "Artemus Ward His Book," is funny, but lacks purpose +beyond the raising of a laugh. (U. S., 19th cent.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_258_255"></a><a href="#FNanchor_258_255"><span class="label">[258]</span></a> "Caudle Lectures," "Catspaw," etc. Jerrold is one +of the sharpest of wits. (Eng., 19th cent.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_259_256"></a><a href="#FNanchor_259_256"><span class="label">[259]</span></a> Voltaire was the Ingersoll of France, only more so. +His "Dictionnaire" is full of stinging sarcasm and fierce +wit. (France, 18th cent.) +</p><p> +"English Bards and Scotch Reviewers." The sharpest +edge of Byron's keen mind. (Eng., 1788-1824.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_260_257"></a><a href="#FNanchor_260_257"><span class="label">[260]</span></a> "Hudibras." A tirade against the Puritans. (Eng., +17th cent.) +</p><p> +"Gulliver's Travels," "Tale of a Tub," etc. Coarse raillery. +(Eng., 18th cent.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_261_258"></a><a href="#FNanchor_261_258"><span class="label">[261]</span></a> "Gargantua and Pantagruel." Immense coarse wit. +(France, 16th cent.) +</p><p> +"Tristram Shandy." Not delicate, but full of humor. +(Eng., 18th cent.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_262_259"></a><a href="#FNanchor_262_259"><span class="label">[262]</span></a> Juvenal is one of the world's greatest satirists. +(Rome, 1st cent.) +</p><p> +Lucian is the Voltaire of the Old World. In his "Dialogues +of the Gods" he covers with ridicule the religious +notions of the people. (Greek Lit, 2d cent. <span class="smcap">a. d.</span>)</p></div> + +<hr class="chapter" /> + +<h2 id="FABLES_AND_FAIRY_TALES">FABLES AND FAIRY TALES.</h2> + +<p>Fables and fairy tales are condensed dramas, and +some of them are crystal drops from the fountains of +poetic thought. Often they express in picture language +the deepest lessons that mankind have learned;<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_72">[72]</a></span> +and one who wishes to gather to himself the intellectual +wealth of the nations must not neglect them. In +the section of the book devoted to remarks upon the +Guidance of Children, the literature of this subject +receives more extended attention. Among the books +that will most interest the student of this subject may +be mentioned the works of Fiske and Bulfinch, named +below, Baldwin's "Story of the Golden Age," Ragozin's +"Chaldea," Kingsley's "Greek Heroes," Cox's +"Tales of Ancient Greece," Hanson's "Stories of +Charlemagne," Church's "Story of the Iliad" and +"Story of the Æneid," and the books mentioned in +connection with the "Morte D'Arthur," note 323 +following:—</p> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_263_260"></a><a href="#FNanchor_263_260"><span class="label">[263]</span></a> "Fairy Tales," "Shoes of Fortune," etc. (Denmark, +19th cent.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_264_261"></a><a href="#FNanchor_264_261"><span class="label">[264]</span></a> The inimitable French poet of Fable. (France, +17th cent.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_265_262"></a><a href="#FNanchor_265_262"><span class="label">[265]</span></a> The world-famous Greek fabulist. His popularity +in all ages has been unbounded. Socrates amused himself +with his stories. (Greece, 6th cent. <span class="smcap">b. c.</span>)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_266_263"></a><a href="#FNanchor_266_263"><span class="label">[266]</span></a> "Household Tales." (Ger., early 19th cent.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_267_264"></a><a href="#FNanchor_267_264"><span class="label">[267]</span></a> "Reineke Fox." (Bohn Lib.) (Ger., early 19th +cent.) +</p><p> +Kipling's "Indian Tales." (Eng., 19th cent.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_268_265"></a><a href="#FNanchor_268_265"><span class="label">[268]</span></a> "Age of Fable," "Age of Chivalry," etc. (Eng., +19th cent.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_269_266"></a><a href="#FNanchor_269_266"><span class="label">[269]</span></a> Fables in his poems. (U. S., 19th cent.)</p></div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_73">[73]</a></span></p><div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_270_267"></a><a href="#FNanchor_270_267"><span class="label">[270]</span></a> A French fabulist, next in fame to La Fontaine. +(18th cent.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_271_268"></a><a href="#FNanchor_271_268"><span class="label">[271]</span></a> Greek Fables. (About com. Christ. era.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_272_269"></a><a href="#FNanchor_272_269"><span class="label">[272]</span></a> "Tales." (Ger., 19th cent.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_273_270"></a><a href="#FNanchor_273_270"><span class="label">[273]</span></a> "Metamorphoses." An account of the mythology +of the ancients. Ovid was one of Rome's greatest poets. +(Rome, 1st cent. <span class="smcap">b. c.</span>) +</p><p> +Curtin's "Myths and Folk-Lore of Ireland," "Myths and +Folk-Tales of the Russians," etc. (U. S., 19th cent.) +</p><p> +Fiske's "Myths and Myth Makers." (U. S., 19th cent.)</p></div> + +<hr class="chapter" /> + +<h2 id="TRAVEL">TRAVEL.</h2> + +<p>Nothing favors breadth more than travel and contact +with those of differing modes of life and variant +belief. The tolerance and sympathy that are folding +in the world in these modern days owe much to the +vast increase of travel that has resulted from growth +of commerce, the development of wealth, and the +cheapness and rapidity of steam transportation. Even +a wider view of the world comes to us through the literature +of travel than we could ever gain by personal +experience, however much of wealth and time we +had at our disposal; and though the vividness is less +in each particular picture of the written page than +if we saw the full original reality that is painted for +us, yet this is more than compensated by the breadth +and insight and perception of the meaning of the +scenes portrayed, which we can take at once from +the writer, to whom perhaps the gaining of what he +gives so easily has been a very costly, tedious process, +and would be so to us if we had to rely on<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_74">[74]</a></span> +personal observation. Voyages and travels therefore +are of much importance in our studies, and +delightful reading too. Stanley's opinions have +been much relied on in selecting the following +books:—</p> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_274_271"></a><a href="#FNanchor_274_271"><span class="label">[274]</span></a> Voyages. (Eng., 18th cent.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_275_272"></a><a href="#FNanchor_275_272"><span class="label">[275]</span></a> Cosmos; Travels. (Ger., 1762-1832.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_276_273"></a><a href="#FNanchor_276_273"><span class="label">[276]</span></a> Naturalist on the Beagle. (Eng., 19th cent.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_277_274"></a><a href="#FNanchor_277_274"><span class="label">[277]</span></a> Travels. (Venice, 14th cent.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_278_275"></a><a href="#FNanchor_278_275"><span class="label">[278]</span></a> Arctic Explorations. (U. S., 19th cent.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_279_276"></a><a href="#FNanchor_279_276"><span class="label">[279]</span></a> South Africa. (Eng., 19th cent.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_280_277"></a><a href="#FNanchor_280_277"><span class="label">[280]</span></a> Through the Dark Continent; In Darkest Africa. +(U. S., 19th cent.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_281_278"></a><a href="#FNanchor_281_278"><span class="label">[281]</span></a> Travels in Africa. (France, 19th cent.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_282_279"></a><a href="#FNanchor_282_279"><span class="label">[282]</span></a> On Egypt. (Germany, 19th cent.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_283_280"></a><a href="#FNanchor_283_280"><span class="label">[283]</span></a> Abyssinia. (Eng., 19th cent.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_284_281"></a><a href="#FNanchor_284_281"><span class="label">[284]</span></a> India.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_285_282"></a><a href="#FNanchor_285_282"><span class="label">[285]</span></a> Niger.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_286_283"></a><a href="#FNanchor_286_283"><span class="label">[286]</span></a> South America.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_287_284"></a><a href="#FNanchor_287_284"><span class="label">[287]</span></a> Upper Niger.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_288_285"></a><a href="#FNanchor_288_285"><span class="label">[288]</span></a> Persia.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_289_286"></a><a href="#FNanchor_289_286"><span class="label">[289]</span></a> Central Africa.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_290_287"></a><a href="#FNanchor_290_287"><span class="label">[290]</span></a> West Coast of Africa.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_291_288"></a><a href="#FNanchor_291_288"><span class="label">[291]</span></a> Travelled for thirty years, then wrote the marvels he +had seen and heard; and his book became very popular in +the 14th and 15th centuries. (Eng., 14th cent.)</p></div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_75">[75]</a></span></p><div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_292_289"></a><a href="#FNanchor_292_289"><span class="label">[292]</span></a> The Nile.</p></div> + +<hr class="chapter" /> + +<h2 id="GUIDES">GUIDES.</h2> + +<p>In this column of "Guides" are placed books that +will be useful in arriving at a fuller knowledge of literature +and authors, in determining what to read, and +in our own literary efforts.</p> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_293_290"></a><a href="#FNanchor_293_290"><span class="label">[293]</span></a> "What to Read on the Subject of Reading," by +William E. Foster, Librarian of the Providence Public Library. +Every one who is interested in books should keep an eye +on this thorough and enthusiastic worker, and take advantage +of the information he lavishes in his bulletins.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_294_291"></a><a href="#FNanchor_294_291"><span class="label">[294]</span></a> The "Pall Mall Extra," containing Sir John Lubbock's +"List of the Best Hundred Books," and letters from +many distinguished men.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_295_292"></a><a href="#FNanchor_295_292"><span class="label">[295]</span></a> English Literature.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_296_293"></a><a href="#FNanchor_296_293"><span class="label">[296]</span></a> English Literature.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_297_294"></a><a href="#FNanchor_297_294"><span class="label">[297]</span></a> "English Literature." The most philosophic work +on the subject; but it is difficult, and requires a previous +knowledge of the principal English authors.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_298_295"></a><a href="#FNanchor_298_295"><span class="label">[298]</span></a> Handbook of Universal Literature.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_299_296"></a><a href="#FNanchor_299_296"><span class="label">[299]</span></a> Dictionary of Authors.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_300_297"></a><a href="#FNanchor_300_297"><span class="label">[300]</span></a> Bartlett's "Familiar Quotations" is one of the most +famous and valuable of books.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_301_298"></a><a href="#FNanchor_301_298"><span class="label">[301]</span></a> "Edge-Tools of Speech." Brief quotations arranged +under heads such as Books, Government, Love, etc.</p></div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_76">[76]</a></span></p><div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_302_299"></a><a href="#FNanchor_302_299"><span class="label">[302]</span></a> "Library of Poetry and Song;" but for the general +reader Palgrave's exquisite little "Golden Treasury" is +better.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_303_300"></a><a href="#FNanchor_303_300"><span class="label">[303]</span></a> "Primer of English Literature." The best very +brief book on the subject.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_304_301"></a><a href="#FNanchor_304_301"><span class="label">[304]</span></a> Bibliographical Aids.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_305_302"></a><a href="#FNanchor_305_302"><span class="label">[305]</span></a> "Motive and Habit of Reading."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_306_303"></a><a href="#FNanchor_306_303"><span class="label">[306]</span></a> "Choice of Books."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_307_304"></a><a href="#FNanchor_307_304"><span class="label">[307]</span></a> "Sesame and Lilies."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_308_305"></a><a href="#FNanchor_308_305"><span class="label">[308]</span></a> "The Love of Books."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_309_306"></a><a href="#FNanchor_309_306"><span class="label">[309]</span></a> "History of Prose Fiction." +</p><p> +Baldwin's "Book Lover" is valuable for its lists of books +bearing on special topics. +</p><p> +C. K. Adams' "Manual of Historical Literature" is invaluable +to the student of history. There ought to be similar +books relating to Philosophy, Fiction, Science, etc.</p></div> + +<hr class="chapter" /> + +<h2 id="MISCELLANEOUS">MISCELLANEOUS.</h2> + +<p>In the column "Miscellaneous" are placed a +number of books which should be at least glanced +through to open the doors of thought on all sides +and to take such account of their riches as will place +them at command when needed.</p> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_310_307"></a><a href="#FNanchor_310_307"><span class="label">[310]</span></a> One of the noblest little books in existence; to read +it is to pour into the life and character the inspiration of +hundreds of the best and most successful lives. Every +page should be carefully read and digested. (U. S., 19th +cent.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_311_308"></a><a href="#FNanchor_311_308"><span class="label">[311]</span></a> An exquisite book; one of Robert Collyer's early +favorites. Put its beauty in your heart. (U. S., 19th cent.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_312_309"></a><a href="#FNanchor_312_309"><span class="label">[312]</span></a> A book that should be read for its breadth. (Eng., +early 17th cent.)</p></div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_77">[77]</a></span></p><div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_313_310"></a><a href="#FNanchor_313_310"><span class="label">[313]</span></a> Edward Bellamy's "Looking Backward" is one of +the same class of books to which Bacon's "New Atlantis," +More's "Utopia," etc., belong, and may be read with much +pleasure and profit along with them. It is really a looking +forward to an ideal commonwealth, in which the labor +troubles and despotisms of to-day shall be adjusted on the +same principle as the political troubles and despotisms of +the last century were settled; namely, the principle that each +citizen shall be industrially the equal of every other, as all +are now political equals. It is a very famous book, and has +been called the greatest book of the century, which, happily +for the immortality of Spencer and Darwin, Carlyle and Ruskin, +Parkman and Bancroft, Guizot and Bryce, Goethe and +Hugo, Byron and Burns, Scott and Tennyson, Whittier and +Lowell, Bulwer and Thackeray, Dickens and Eliot, is only +the judgment of personal friendship and blissful ignorance. +But while the book cannot feel at home in the society of the +great, it is nevertheless a very entertaining story, and one +vastly stimulative of thought. The idea of a coming <i>industrial +democracy</i>, bearing more or less analogy to the political +democracy, the triumph of which we have seen, is one that +has probably occurred to every thoughtful person; and in +Bellamy's book may be found an ingenious expansion of the +idea much preferable to the ordinary socialistic plans of the +day, though not wholly free from the injustice that inheres +in all social schemes that do not aim to secure to each man +the wealth or other advantage that his lawful efforts naturally +produce. (U. S., 19th cent.)</p></div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_78">[78]</a></span></p><div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_314_311"></a><a href="#FNanchor_314_311"><span class="label">[314]</span></a> Everywhere a favorite. It opens up wide regions of +imagination. Ruskin says he read it many times when he +might have been better employed, and crosses it from his +list. But the very fact that he read the book so often shows +that even his deep mind found irresistible attraction in it. +(First introduced into Europe in 17th cent.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_315_312"></a><a href="#FNanchor_315_312"><span class="label">[315]</span></a> The most colossal lies known to science. (Ger., +18th cent.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_316_313"></a><a href="#FNanchor_316_313"><span class="label">[316]</span></a> The poem of "Beowulf" should be looked into by all +who wish to know the character of the men from whom we +sprang, and therefore realize the basic elements of our own +character. (Eng., early Saxon times.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_317_314"></a><a href="#FNanchor_317_314"><span class="label">[317]</span></a> Should be glanced at for the light it throws on English +history and development. (9th-12th cents.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_318_315"></a><a href="#FNanchor_318_315"><span class="label">[318]</span></a> Froissart's "Chronicles" constitute a graphic story +of the States of Europe from 1322 to the end of the 14th +century. Scott said that Froissart was his master. Breadth +demands at least a glance at the old itinerant tale-gatherer. +Note especially the great rally of the rebels of Ghent.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_319_316"></a><a href="#FNanchor_319_316"><span class="label">[319]</span></a> This masterpiece of Old German Minstrelsy is too +much neglected by us. Read it with the three preceding. +(Early German.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_320_317"></a><a href="#FNanchor_320_317"><span class="label">[320]</span></a> <i>Saga</i> means "tale" or "narrative," and is applied +in Iceland to every kind of tradition, true or fabulous. Read +the "Heimskringla," Njal's Saga, and Grettir's Saga, (9th-13th +cents.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_321_318"></a><a href="#FNanchor_321_318"><span class="label">[321]</span></a> Along with the last should be read the poems of +the elder Edda. (Compiled by Samund the Wise, 12th +cent.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_322_319"></a><a href="#FNanchor_322_319"><span class="label">[322]</span></a> The epic of Spain, containing a wonderful account +of the prowess of a great leader and chief. (Spain, before +the 13th cent.)</p></div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_79">[79]</a></span></p><div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_323_320"></a><a href="#FNanchor_323_320"><span class="label">[323]</span></a> A collection of fragments about the famous King +Arthur and his Round Table. They crop out in every age of +English literature. Read the book with Tennyson's "Idylls +of the King,"—a poem inspired by Malory's "Morte +D'Arthur,"—Cervantes' "Don Quixote," and Twain's "Yankee +in the Court of King Arthur," Lanier's "Boy's King +Arthur," Ritson's "Ancient English Metrical Romances," +Ellis' Introduction to the Study of the same, Preston's +"Troubadours and Trouvères," Sismondi's "Literature of +Southern Europe," Chapon's "Troubadours," and Van +Laun's "History of French Literature" may be referred +to with advantage by the student of Malory.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_324_321"></a><a href="#FNanchor_324_321"><span class="label">[324]</span></a> A collection of Chinese odes.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_325_322"></a><a href="#FNanchor_325_322"><span class="label">[325]</span></a> This and the last are recommended, not for intrinsic +merit, but for breadth, and to open the way to an understanding +of and sympathy with four hundred millions of +mankind who hold these books in profound veneration. +(China, as early as 5th cent. <span class="smcap">b. c.</span>)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_326_323"></a><a href="#FNanchor_326_323"><span class="label">[326]</span></a> This is the Bible of the Sufis of Persia, one of the +manifestations of that great spirit of mysticism which flows +like a great current through the world's history, side by side +with the stream of Rationalism. It found certain outlets +in Schelling, Swedenborg, Emerson, etc., and is bubbling +up even now through the strata of worldliness in the United +States in the shape of Theosophy. (7th cent.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_327_324"></a><a href="#FNanchor_327_324"><span class="label">[327]</span></a> Read Saint Hilaire's "Buddha" and Arnold's "Light +of Asia." They will open great regions of thought.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_328_325"></a><a href="#FNanchor_328_325"><span class="label">[328, 329]</span></a> These are epitomized by Talboys Wheeler in +his "History of India." Very interesting and broadening. +(Very ancient.)</p></div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_80">[80]</a></span></p><div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_330_326"></a><a href="#FNanchor_330_326"><span class="label">[330-332]</span></a> Not valuable reading intrinsically, but as opening +the doors of communication with the minds and hearts +of whole races of men, most useful. The Vedas are the +Bible of the Hindus, and contain the revelation of Brahma +(15th cent.). The Koran is the Mohammedan Bible (6th +cent.). The Talmud belongs to the Rabbinical literature +of the Jews, and is a collection of Jewish traditions (3d +cent.).</p></div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_81">[81]</a></span></p><div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_333_327"></a><a href="#FNanchor_333_327"><span class="label">[333]</span></a> The works of Hooker, Swedenborg, Newton, Kepler, +Copernicus, Laplace, should be actually <i>handled</i> and <i>glanced +through</i> to form a nucleus of experience, around which +may gather a little knowledge of these famous men and +what they did. This remark applies with more or less of +force to all the names on the second shelf. Few can hope +to <i>read all</i> these books, but it is practicable by means of +general works, such as those mentioned in Column 13, to +gain an idea of each man, his character and work; and +there is no better way to put a hook in the memory on +which such knowledge of an author may be securely kept, +than to take his book in your hands, note its size and peculiarities +(visual and tactual impressions are more easily remembered +than others as a rule), glance through its contents, +and read a passage or two.</p></div> + +<hr class="chapter" /> + +<h2 id="SHORT_COURSES">SHORT COURSES.</h2> + +<p>When the reader has a special purpose in view, it is of +the greatest advantage to arrange in systematic order the +books that will be most helpful in the accomplishment of +his purpose, study them one after the other, mark them, +compare them, make cross references from one to another, +digest and assimilate the vital portions of each, and seek to +obtain a mastery of all that the best minds of the past have +given us in reference to the object of his effort. For example: +a person who has devoted himself exclusively to one +line of ideas will be greatly benefited by reading a short +course of books that will give him a glimpse of each of the +great fields of thought. One who is lacking in humor should +get a good list of fine humorous works and devote himself to +them, and to the society of fun-loving people, until he can +see and enjoy a good joke as keenly as they do,—not only to +quicken his perception of humor, but that the organ of fun +(the gland that secretes wit and humor) may be roused +into normal activity. Again, if a gentleman finds that he +does not appreciate Shakspeare, Dante, Irving, etc., as he +sees or is told that literary people do; if he prefers his +newspaper to the English classics as a source of pleasure +and profit; if he sees little difference between Tennyson +and Tupper, enjoys Bill Nye as much or more than Holmes, +and is able to compare the verses he writes to his sweetheart +with Milton without any very distinct feeling except perhaps +a disgust for Milton,—if any of these things are true, he has +need of a course to develop a literary taste.</p> + +<p>In the three tables following will be found a suggestion of +several important short courses, and others will be found on +page 123 <i>et seq.</i></p> + +<hr class="chapter" /> + +<h2 id="TABLE_II">TABLE II.</h2> + +<p>A short special course, to gather <i>ideas</i> of practical +importance to every life, and to make a beginning in +the gaining of that <i>breadth of mind</i> which is of such +vital value by reason of its influence on morals and +the aid it gives in the attainment of truth.</p> + +<p>1. Physiology and Hygiene. Read and digest the best +books. See <a href="#TABLE_I">Table I</a>. Col. 3.</p> + +<p>2. "Our Country," by Strong; the Constitution of the +United States; the Declaration of Independence, and Washington's +Farewell. (All m. R. D.)</p> + +<p>3. Mill's Logic; at any rate, the Canons of Induction and +the Chapter on Fallacies, (m. R. D. C. G.)</p> + +<p>4. Smiles's "Self-Help." (m. R. D.)</p> + +<p>5. Wood's books on Natural History; especially his anecdotes +of animals, and evidences of mind, etc., in animals +(e. R. D.). Proctor's books on Astronomy, "Other Worlds +than Ours," etc. (e. R. G.). Lubbock's "Primitive Condition +of Man" (m. R.). Dawson's "Chain of Life" (m. R.). In +some good brief way, as by using the "Encyclopædia Britannica," +read <i>about</i> Copernicus, Galileo, Kepler, Newton, +Darwin, Herschel, Lyell, Harvey, and Torricelli.</p> + +<p>6. Spencer's "First Principles." (d. R. D. G.)</p> + +<p>7. Green's "Short History of the English People" (m. R. +D. G.). Bancroft's "History of the United States" (m. R. +D. G). Guizot's "History of Civilization" (m. R. D. G.).</p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_83">[83]</a></span></p><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_82">[82]</a></span></p> +<p>8. Max Müller's philological works, or some of them +(m. R.). Taylor's "Words and Places" (m. R.).</p> + +<p>9. In some public library, if the books are not accessible +elsewhere, get into your hands the books named in Columns +12 and 13 of <a href="#TABLE_I">Table I</a>., and not already spoken of in this +table, and glance through each, reading a little here and +there to make a rapid survey of the ground, acquire some +idea of it, and note the places where it may seem to you +worth while to dig for gold.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_84">[84]</a></span></p> + +<hr class="chapter" /> + +<h2 id="TABLE_III">TABLE III.</h2> + +<p>A short course of the choicest selections from the +whole field of general literature. It may easily be +read through in a year, and will form a taste and +provide a standard that will enable the reader ever +after to judge for himself of the quality and value of +whatever books may come before the senate of his +soul to ask for an appropriation of his time in their +behalf.</p> + +<p>Very few books are requisite for this course, but +it will awaken a desire that will demand a library of +standard literature. No. 1, No. 2, etc., refer to the +numbers of the "100 Choice Selections." Monroe's +"Sixth Reader" and Palgrave's "Golden Treasury" +are also referred to, because they contain a great +number of these gems, and are books likely to be in +the possession of the reader.</p> + +<p>For the meaning of the other abbreviations, see the +last section of the Introductory Remarks.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_85">[85]</a></span></p> + +<p class="h3"><span class="smcap">Group I.</span>—<i>Poetry.</i></p> + +<p class="h4">[*] in headings denotes "Degree of Difficulty."</p> + +<div> +<table border="1" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> + <tr> + <td> </td> + <td class="tdc">[*]</td> + <td class="tdc">Manner<br />of<br />Reading.</td> + <td class="tdl">Where found.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlsc"><a id="table3_1"></a>1. Shakspeare.</td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin">Hamlet, especially noting Hamlet's + conversations with the Ghost, with + his mother and Ophelia, his advice + to the players, his soliloquy, and his + discourse on the nobleness of man</td> + <td class="tdc">d.</td> + <td class="tdc">R.D.C.G.</td> + <td>Shakspeare's + Plays are published + separately, and also together, + Richard Grant White's edition + being the best.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin">Merchant of Venice, especially + noting the scene in court, and + the parts relating to Portia</td> + <td class="tdc">e.</td> + <td class="tdc">R.D.C.G.</td> + <td> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin">Julius Cæsar, especially noting the + speeches of Brutus and Antony, + and the quarrel of Brutus and + Cassius</td> + <td class="tdc">m.</td> + <td class="tdc">R.D.C.G.</td> + <td> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin">Taming of the Shrew</td> + <td class="tdc">e.</td> + <td class="tdc">R.G.</td> + <td> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin">Henry the Eighth</td> + <td class="tdc">m.</td> + <td class="tdc">R.D.</td> + <td> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin">Henry the Fourth, read for the wit + of Falstaff</td> + <td class="tdc">m.</td> + <td class="tdc">R.D.</td> + <td> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin">Henry the Fifth, noting especially + the wooing</td> + <td class="tdc">m.</td> + <td class="tdc">R.D.</td> + <td> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin">Coriolanus, noting especially the + grand fire and force and + frankness of Coriolanus</td> + <td class="tdc">m.</td> + <td class="tdc">R.D.C.G.</td> + <td> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin">Sonnets in Palgrave's Golden + Treasury, Nos. 3, 6, 11, 12, 13, + 14, 18, 36, 46</td> + <td class="tdc">m.</td> + <td class="tdc">R.D.C.</td> + <td> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlsc"><a id="table3_2"></a>2. Milton.</td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin">The Opening of the Gates of Hell, + one of the sublimest conceptions + in literature. It is in Paradise + Lost, about six pages from the + end of Book II. Read sixty lines + beginning, "Thus saying, from her + side the fatal key, Sad + instrument of all our woe"</td> + <td class="tdc">d.</td> + <td class="tdc">R.D.G.</td> + <td>Milton's Poems.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin">Satan's Throne, ten lines at the + beginning of Book II.</td> + <td class="tdc">m.</td> + <td class="tdc">R.D.G.</td> + <td> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin">Opening of Paradise Lost, 26 lines + at the beginning of Book I.</td> + <td class="tdc">m.</td> + <td class="tdc">R.D.G.</td> + <td> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin">The Angels uprooting the Mountains + and hurling them on the Rebels. + Fifty lines beginning about the + 640th line of Book VI., "So they + in pleasant vein," etc.</td> + <td class="tdc">m.</td> + <td class="tdc">R.D.G.</td> + <td> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin">"Hail, Holy Light," fifty-five + lines at the beginning of Book + III.</td> + <td class="tdc">m.</td> + <td class="tdc">R.D.G.</td> + <td> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin"><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_86">[86]</a></span>Comus, a masque, and one of the + masterpieces of English + literature</td> + <td class="tdc">d.</td> + <td class="tdc">R.D.C.G.</td> + <td>Milton's Poems. The last three of this list are in Palgrave.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin">L' Allegro, a short poem on mirth</td> + <td class="tdc">d.</td> + <td class="tdc">R.D.C.G.</td> + <td> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin">Il Penseroso, a short poem + on melancholy</td> + <td class="tdc">d.</td> + <td class="tdc">R.D.C.G.</td> + <td> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin">Lycidas, a celebrated elegy</td> + <td class="tdc">d.</td> + <td class="tdc">R.G.</td> + <td> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlsc"><a id="table3_3"></a>3. Homer.</td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + <td>Homer has had many translators, Pope, Derby, Worsley, Chapman, Flaxman, Lang, Bryant, etc.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin">Pope's translation. At least the + first book of the Iliad. A + simple, clear story of battles + and quarrels, and counsels, + charming in its sublimity, + pathos, vigor, and naturalness. + The world's greatest epic</td> + <td class="tdc">e.</td> + <td class="tdc">R.D.C.G.</td> + <td> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlsc"><a id="table3_4"></a>4. Æschylus.</td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + <td>Potter, Morshead, Swanwick, Milman, and Browning have translated Æschylus. The + first two are the best. Flaxman's designs add much.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin">Prometheus Bound, the sublimest of + the sublime. Be sure to reach and + grasp the grand picture of the + human race and its troubles which + underlies this most magnificent + poem</td> + <td class="tdc">d.</td> + <td class="tdc">R.D.C.G.</td> + <td> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin">Agamemnon, the grandest tragedy + in the world</td> + <td class="tdc">m.</td> + <td class="tdc">R.D.G.</td> + <td> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlsc"><a id="table3_5"></a>5. Dante.</td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin">Divine Comedy. Read Farrar's little + Life of Dante (John Alden, + N. Y.), and then take the Comedy + and read the thirty-third canto, + the portions relating to the + Hells of Incontinence and of + Fraud, thepicture of Satan, and + the whole of the Purgatorio</td> + <td class="tdc">d.</td> + <td class="tdc">R.D.G.</td> + <td>Translated by Longfellow, Carey, John Carlyle, Butler, and Dean Church.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlsc"><a id="table3_6"></a>6. Spenser.</td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin">Faerie Queen, noting specially the + first book and the book of + Britomart, endeavoring to grasp + and apply to your own life the + truths that underlie the rich and + beautiful imagery</td> + <td class="tdc">d.</td> + <td class="tdc">R.D.G.</td> + <td>Spenser's Poems. The Calendar is published separately.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin">Hymn in Honor of his own Wedding</td> + <td class="tdc">d.</td> + <td class="tdc">R.D.G.</td> + <td> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin">Fable of the Oak and the Briar, in + Shepherd's Calendar, February</td> + <td class="tdc">m.</td> + <td class="tdc">R.</td> + <td> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlsc"><a id="table3_7"></a>7. Scott.</td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin">Lady of the Lake</td> + <td class="tdc">e.</td> + <td class="tdc">R.</td> + <td>Scott's Poems, or separate.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin">Marmion</td> + <td class="tdc">e.</td> + <td class="tdc">R.</td> + <td> </td> + </tr> +</table></div> + +<div class="trnote"> +Transcriber's note: Numbers 8 and 9 are missing in the original. +</div> + +<p class="h3">Group II.—<i>Short Poetical Selections.</i></p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_87">[87]</a></span></p> + +<div> +<table border="1" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> + <tr> + <td> </td> + <td class="tdc">[*]</td> + <td class="tdc">Manner<br />of<br />Reading.</td> + <td class="tdl">Where found.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlsc"><a id="table3_10"></a>10. Payne.</td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin">Home, Sweet Home</td> + <td class="tdc">e.</td> + <td class="tdc">C.</td> + <td> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlscin">Longfellow.</td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin">Psalm of Life. Paul Revere's Ride</td> + <td class="tdc">e.</td> + <td class="tdc">R.D.C.</td> + <td>Longfellow's Poems.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin">The Building of the Ship + (These may be found in most + of the reading-books.)</td> + <td class="tdc">e.</td> + <td class="tdc">R.</td> + <td> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin">Suspiria, and the close of + Morituri Salutamus</td> + <td class="tdc">m.</td> + <td class="tdc">R.D.</td> + <td> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlscin">Holmes.</td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin">Nautilus; the last stanza commit.</td> + <td class="tdc">e.</td> + <td class="tdc">R.D.</td> + <td>Autocrat of the Breakfast-Table.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin">The Stars and Flowers, a + lovely little poem,—the + first verses in the + Autocrat of the + Breakfast-Table</td> + <td class="tdc">e.</td> + <td class="tdc">R.D.</td> + <td> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlscin">Hunt.</td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin">Abou Ben Adhem</td> + <td class="tdc">e.</td> + <td class="tdc">R.D.</td> + <td>Monroe.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlscin">Carew.</td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin">The True Beauty</td> + <td class="tdc">e.</td> + <td class="tdc">R.D.</td> + <td>Palgrave, 87.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlscin">Gray.</td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin">Elegy in a Country Churchyard</td> + <td class="tdc">m.</td> + <td class="tdc">R.D.C.</td> + <td>Palgrave, 147.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin">Hymn to Adversity</td> + <td class="tdc">m.</td> + <td class="tdc">R.D.</td> + <td>Palgrave, 159.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin">Progress of Poesy</td> + <td class="tdc">m.</td> + <td class="tdc">R.D.</td> + <td>Palgrave, 140.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin">The Bard</td> + <td class="tdc">m.</td> + <td class="tdc">R.D.</td> + <td>Palgrave, 123.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlscin">Saxe.</td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin">The Blind Men and the Elephant</td> + <td class="tdc">e.</td> + <td class="tdc">R.D.</td> + <td>No. 4.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlscin">Jackson.</td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + <td>Poems of H. H. Jackson.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin">The Release</td> + <td class="tdc">m.</td> + <td class="tdc">R.D.</td> + <td> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlsc"><a id="table3_11"></a>11. Hood.</td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin">Bridge of Sighs</td> + <td class="tdc">m.</td> + <td class="tdc">R.D.</td> + <td>Palgrave, 231.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin">Song of the Shirt</td> + <td class="tdc">e.</td> + <td class="tdc">R.D.</td> + <td>No. 2.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlscin">Burns.</td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin">Ye Banks and Braes o' Bonnie Doon</td> + <td class="tdc">e.</td> + <td class="tdc">R.D.</td> + <td>Palgrave, 139.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin">To a Field-mouse</td> + <td class="tdc">e.</td> + <td class="tdc">R.D.</td> + <td>Palgrave, 144.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin">Mary Morrison</td> + <td class="tdc">e.</td> + <td class="tdc">R.D.</td> + <td>Palgrave, 148.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin">Bonnie Lesley</td> + <td class="tdc">e.</td> + <td class="tdc">R.D.</td> + <td>Palgrave, 149.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin">Jean</td> + <td class="tdc">e.</td> + <td class="tdc">R.D.</td> + <td>Palgrave, 155.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin">John Anderson</td> + <td class="tdc">e.</td> + <td class="tdc">R.D.</td> + <td>Palgrave, 156.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin">A Man's a Man for a' that</td> + <td class="tdc">e.</td> + <td class="tdc">R.D.</td> + <td>Burns's Poems.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin">Auld Lang Syne</td> + <td class="tdc">e.</td> + <td class="tdc">R.D.</td> + <td> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin">Robert Bruce's Address to his + Army</td> + <td class="tdc">e.</td> + <td class="tdc">R.D.</td> + <td> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlscin">Moore.</td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin">Come rest in this Bosom</td> + <td class="tdc">e.</td> + <td class="tdc">R.D.</td> + <td>Irish Melodies</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin"><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_88">[88]</a></span>At the Mid Hour of Night</td> + <td class="tdc">e.</td> + <td class="tdc">R.D.</td> + <td>Irish Melodies</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin">Those Evening Bells</td> + <td class="tdc">e.</td> + <td class="tdc">R.D.</td> + <td>Monroe.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlscin">Coleridge.</td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin">Rime of the Ancient Mariner</td> + <td class="tdc">d.</td> + <td class="tdc">R.D.G.</td> + <td>Coleridge's Poems.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin">Vale of Chamouni</td> + <td class="tdc">e.</td> + <td class="tdc">R.</td> + <td>Monroe.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlscin">Whittier.</td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin">The Farmer's Wooing, in Among + the Hills</td> + <td class="tdc">m.</td> + <td class="tdc">R.D.C.</td> + <td>Whittier's Poems.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin">The Harp at Nature's Advent + Strung, etc., in Tent on + the Beach</td> + <td class="tdc">m.</td> + <td class="tdc">R.D.C.</td> + <td> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin">Snow Bound, Centennial Hymn + (No. 13), and at least + glance at his Voices of + Freedom</td> + <td class="tdc">m.</td> + <td class="tdc">R.D.C.</td> + <td> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin">Barefoot Boy</td> + <td class="tdc">e.</td> + <td class="tdc">R.D.C.</td> + <td> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlscin">Tennyson.</td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin">"Break, break, break, on thy + cold gray Stones, O Sea"</td> + <td class="tdc">m.</td> + <td class="tdc">R.D.C.</td> + <td>Tennyson's Poems.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin">"Ring out, wild Bells," in + the In Memoriam</td> + <td class="tdc">m.</td> + <td class="tdc">R.D.C.</td> + <td> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin">Bugle Song, in The Princess</td> + <td class="tdc">m.</td> + <td class="tdc">R.D.C.</td> + <td>No. 2.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin">Charge of the Light Brigade</td> + <td class="tdc">e.</td> + <td class="tdc">R.D.C.</td> + <td>No. 2.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin">The Brook</td> + <td class="tdc">e.</td> + <td class="tdc">R.D.C.</td> + <td>Monroe.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlscin">Chaucer.</td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin">The Clerk's Tale, or the + Story of Grisilde, in the + Canterbury Tales</td> + <td class="tdc">m.</td> + <td class="tdc">R.</td> + <td>Chaucer's Poems.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlsc"><a id="table3_12"></a>12. Key.</td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin">The Star-Spangled Banner</td> + <td class="tdc">e.</td> + <td class="tdc">C.</td> + <td>No. 4.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlscin">Drake.</td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin">The American Flag</td> + <td class="tdc">e.</td> + <td class="tdc">R.</td> + <td>No. 1.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlscin">Smith.</td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin">"My Country, 'tis of thee"</td> + <td class="tdc">e.</td> + <td class="tdc">C.</td> + <td> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlscin">Boker.</td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin">The Black Regiment</td> + <td class="tdc">e.</td> + <td class="tdc">R.</td> + <td>No. 1.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlscin">Campbell, <span class="toc-norm">full of fire + and martial music.</span></td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin">Ye Mariners of England</td> + <td class="tdc">m.</td> + <td class="tdc">R.D.C.</td> + <td>Palgrave, 206.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin">Battle of the Baltic</td> + <td class="tdc">m.</td> + <td class="tdc">R.D.C.</td> + <td>Palgrave, 207.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin">Soldier's Dream</td> + <td class="tdc">m.</td> + <td class="tdc">R.D.C.</td> + <td>Palgrave, 267.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin">Hohenlinden</td> + <td class="tdc">m.</td> + <td class="tdc">R.D.C.</td> + <td>Palgrave, 215.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin">Lord Ullin's Daughter</td> + <td class="tdc">m.</td> + <td class="tdc">R.D.C.</td> + <td>Palgrave, 181.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin">Love's Beginning</td> + <td class="tdc">m.</td> + <td class="tdc">R.D.C.</td> + <td>Palgrave, 183.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin">Ode to Winter</td> + <td class="tdc">m.</td> + <td class="tdc">R.D.C.</td> + <td>Palgrave, 256.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlscin"><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_89">[89]</a></span>Thomson.</td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin">Rule Britannia</td> + <td class="tdc">m.</td> + <td class="tdc">R.C.</td> + <td>Palgrave, 122.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlscin">Lowell.</td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin">The Crisis</td> + <td class="tdc">d.</td> + <td class="tdc">R.D.C.G.</td> + <td>Lowell's Poems.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin">Harvard Commemoration Ode</td> + <td class="tdc">d.</td> + <td class="tdc">R.D.C.G.</td> + <td> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin">The Fountain</td> + <td class="tdc">e.</td> + <td class="tdc">R.D.C.G.</td> + <td> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlscin">Halleck.</td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin">Marco Bozzaris</td> + <td class="tdc">e.</td> + <td class="tdc">R.</td> + <td>No. 1.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlscin">Macaulay.</td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin">Lays of Ancient Rome, + especially Horatius, and + Virginia, also the Battle of Ivry</td> + <td class="tdc">e.</td> + <td class="tdc">R.D.</td> + <td>No. 2.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlscin">O'Hara.</td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin">The Bivouac of the Dead</td> + <td class="tdc">m.</td> + <td class="tdc">R.D.</td> + <td>No. 5.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlscin">Mitford.</td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin">Rienzi's Address</td> + <td class="tdc">m.</td> + <td class="tdc">R.</td> + <td>No. 1.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlscin">Croly.</td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin">Belshazzar</td> + <td class="tdc">m.</td> + <td class="tdc">R.</td> + <td>No. 4.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlsc"><a id="table3_13"></a>13. Shelley.</td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + <td>Shelley's Poems.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin">Ode to the West Wind</td> + <td class="tdc">m.</td> + <td class="tdc">R.D.C.</td> + <td>Palgrave, 275.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin">Ode to a Skylark</td> + <td class="tdc">m.</td> + <td class="tdc">R.D.C.</td> + <td>Palgrave, 241.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin">To a Lady with a Guitar</td> + <td class="tdc">m.</td> + <td class="tdc">R.D.C.</td> + <td>Palgrave, 252.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin">Italy</td> + <td class="tdc">m.</td> + <td class="tdc">R.D.C.</td> + <td>Palgrave, 274.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin">Naples</td> + <td class="tdc">m.</td> + <td class="tdc">R.D.C.</td> + <td>Palgrave, 227.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin">The Poet's Dream</td> + <td class="tdc">d.</td> + <td class="tdc">R.D.C.</td> + <td>Palgrave, 277.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin">The Cloud, Sensitive Plant, + etc.</td> + <td class="tdc">m.</td> + <td class="tdc">R.D.C.</td> + <td> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlscin">Byron.</td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + <td>Byron's Poems.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin">All for Love</td> + <td class="tdc">m.</td> + <td class="tdc">R.D.</td> + <td>Palgrave, 169.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin">Beauty</td> + <td class="tdc">m.</td> + <td class="tdc">R.D.</td> + <td>Palgrave, 171.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin">Apostrophe to the Ocean, and + The Eve of Waterloo</td> + <td class="tdc">m.</td> + <td class="tdc">R.D.C.</td> + <td>Monroe.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin">The Field of Waterloo + (These are among the most + magnificent poems in any + language.)</td> + <td class="tdc">m.</td> + <td class="tdc">R.D.C.</td> + <td>No. 1.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlscin">Bryant.</td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin">Thanatopsis</td> + <td class="tdc">m.</td> + <td class="tdc">R.C.G.</td> + <td>No. 1.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlscin">Prentice.</td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin">The Closing Year</td> + <td class="tdc">m.</td> + <td class="tdc">R.C.G.</td> + <td>No. 1.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlscin">Poe.</td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin">The Bells; The Raven</td> + <td class="tdc">m.</td> + <td class="tdc">R.C.G.</td> + <td>No. 1.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin">Annabel Lee</td> + <td class="tdc">m.</td> + <td class="tdc">R.</td> + <td>No. 5.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlscin">Keats.</td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + <td>Keats's Poems.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin">The Star</td> + <td class="tdc">m.</td> + <td class="tdc">R.</td> + <td>Palgrave, 198.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin">Ode to a Nightingale</td> + <td class="tdc">m.</td> + <td class="tdc">R.</td> + <td>Palgrave, 244.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin">Ode to Autumn</td> + <td class="tdc">m.</td> + <td class="tdc">R.</td> + <td>Palgrave, 255.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin">Ode on the Poets</td> + <td class="tdc">m.</td> + <td class="tdc">R.</td> + <td>Palgrave, 167.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlscin"><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_90">[90]</a></span>Wordsworth.</td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin">A Beautiful Woman</td> + <td class="tdc">e.</td> + <td class="tdc">R.C.</td> + <td>Palgrave, 174.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin">The Reaper</td> + <td class="tdc">m.</td> + <td class="tdc">R.</td> + <td>Palgrave, 250.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin">Simon Lee</td> + <td class="tdc">m.</td> + <td class="tdc">R.</td> + <td>Palgrave, 219.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin">Intimations of Immortality</td> + <td class="tdc"></td> + <td class="tdc"></td> + <td>Palgrave, 367.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlscin">Herbert.</td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin">Gifts of God</td> + <td class="tdc">e.</td> + <td class="tdc">R.D.C.</td> + <td>Palgrave, 74.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlscin">Read.</td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin">Drifting</td> + <td class="tdc">m.</td> + <td class="tdc">R.D.C.</td> + <td>No. 1.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin">Sheridan's Ride</td> + <td class="tdc">e.</td> + <td class="tdc">R.</td> + <td>No. 1.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlscin">Fletcher.</td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin">Melancholy</td> + <td class="tdc">e.</td> + <td class="tdc">R.</td> + <td>Palgrave, 104.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlscin">Pope.</td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin">Rape of the Lock</td> + <td class="tdc">m.</td> + <td class="tdc">R.</td> + <td>Pope's Poems.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlsc"><a id="table3_14"></a>14. Ingelow.</td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin">The Brides of Enderby + High Tide, etc.</td> + <td class="tdc">m.</td> + <td class="tdc">R.</td> + <td>No. 2.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlscin">Cowper.</td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin">Loss of the Royal George</td> + <td class="tdc">e.</td> + <td class="tdc">R.</td> + <td>Palgrave, 129.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin">Solitude of Selkirk</td> + <td class="tdc">m.</td> + <td class="tdc">R.</td> + <td>Palgrave, 160.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlscin">Dryden.</td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin">Alexander's Feast</td> + <td class="tdc">d.</td> + <td class="tdc">R.</td> + <td>Palgrave, 116.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlscin">Collins.</td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin">The Passions</td> + <td class="tdc">d.</td> + <td class="tdc">R.</td> + <td>Palgrave, 141.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlscin">Jonson.</td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin">Hymn to Diana</td> + <td class="tdc">m.</td> + <td class="tdc">R.</td> + <td>Palgrave, 78.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlscin">Addison.</td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin">Cato's Soliloquy</td> + <td class="tdc">m.</td> + <td class="tdc">R.</td> + <td>No. 1.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlscin">Lodge.</td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin">Rosaline</td> + <td class="tdc">m.</td> + <td class="tdc">R.</td> + <td>Palgrave, 16.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlscin">Herrick.</td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin">Counsel to Girls</td> + <td class="tdc">e.</td> + <td class="tdc">R.</td> + <td>Palgrave, 82.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin">The Poetry of Dress</td> + <td class="tdc">e.</td> + <td class="tdc">R.</td> + <td>Palgrave, 92.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlsc"><a id="table3_15"></a>15. Goethe.</td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin">Raphael Chorus,—a wonderful + chorus of three stanzas in + Faust. Read Shelley's + translations, both literal + and free, in his Fragments</td> + <td class="tdc">m.</td> + <td class="tdc">R.C.G.</td> + <td>Shelley's Poems.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlscin">Omar Khayyám.</td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin">Rubáiyát, especially the + "moving shadow-shape" and the + "phantom caravan" stanzas, + for their magnificent imagery</td> + <td class="tdc">m.</td> + <td class="tdc">R.C.G.</td> + <td>Fitzgerald's Translation.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlscin">Euripides.</td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin">Chorus in Medea—Campbell's + translation</td> + <td class="tdc">m.</td> + <td class="tdc">R.C.G.</td> + <td>Campbell's Poems.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlscin"><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_91">[91]</a></span>Calderon.</td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin">Read Shelley's Fragments</td> + <td class="tdc">m.</td> + <td class="tdc">R.C.G.</td> + <td>Shelley's Poems.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlscin">Schiller.</td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + <td>Schiller's Poems.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin">The Battle</td> + <td class="tdc">m.</td> + <td class="tdc">R.</td> + <td>No. 4.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin">The Song of the Bell</td> + <td class="tdc">m.</td> + <td class="tdc">R.</td> + <td>Publ. separately.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlscin">Molière.</td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin">Tartuffe, or The Hypocrite</td> + <td class="tdc">e.</td> + <td class="tdc">R.D.</td> + <td>Molière's Plays.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin">Le Misanthrope, or The Man-Hater</td> + <td class="tdc">e.</td> + <td class="tdc">R.D.</td> + <td> </td> + </tr> +</table> +</div> + +<p><br /></p> + +<p class="h3">Group III.—<i>Short Prose Selections.</i></p> + +<p><br /></p> + +<div> +<table border="1" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> + <tr> + <td> </td> + <td class="tdc">[*]</td> + <td class="tdc">Manner<br />of<br />Reading.</td> + <td class="tdl">Where found.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlsc"><a id="table3_16"></a>16. Lincoln.</td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin">Gettysburg Oration. Famous + for its calm, clear, simple + beauty, breadth, and power</td> + <td class="tdc">m.</td> + <td class="tdc">R.C.</td> + <td>No. 2.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlscin">Irving, <span class="toc-norm">our greatest + master of style; + his prose is poetry.</span></td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin">Rip Van Winkle</td> + <td class="tdc">e.</td> + <td class="tdc">R.D.C.</td> + <td>Sketch Book.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin">The Spectre Bridegroom</td> + <td class="tdc">e.</td> + <td class="tdc">R.D.C.</td> + <td>Sketch Book.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin">The Art of Book-Making</td> + <td class="tdc">e.</td> + <td class="tdc">R.D.C.</td> + <td>Sketch Book.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin">The Legend of Sleepy Hollow</td> + <td class="tdc">e.</td> + <td class="tdc">R.D.C.</td> + <td>Sketch Book.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlsc"><a id="table3_17"></a>17. Bacon.</td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin">Essay on Studies. Note the + clearness and completeness + of Bacon, and his tremendous + condensation of thought</td> + <td class="tdc">m.</td> + <td class="tdc">R.D.C.</td> + <td>Bacon's Essays.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlscin">Carlyle.</td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin">Apostrophe to Columbus, p. + 193 of Past and Present,— + Carlyle's finest passage</td> + <td class="tdc">m.</td> + <td class="tdc">R.D.C.</td> + <td> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin">Await the Issue</td> + <td class="tdc">m.</td> + <td class="tdc">R.D.C.</td> + <td>Monroe.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin">The account of the + conversational powers of + Coleridge, given in + Carlyle's Life of Sterling</td> + <td class="tdc">e.</td> + <td class="tdc">R.D.C.</td> + <td> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlsc"><a id="table3_18"></a>18. Webster.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_92">[92]</a></span></td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin">Liberty and Union,—a + selection from the answer to + Hayne in the United States + Senate, on the question of + the power of a State to + nullify the acts of + Congress, and to withdraw + from the Union,—the + greatest of American + orations, and worthy to + rank side by side with the + world's best</td> + <td class="tdc">m.</td> + <td class="tdc">R.D.C.</td> + <td>No. 1.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlscin">Phillips.</td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin">Comparison of Toussaint + L'Ouverture with Napoleon, + in his oration on Toussaint</td> + <td class="tdc">m.</td> + <td class="tdc">R.D.C.</td> + <td>Phillips's Speeches.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlsc"><a id="table3_19"></a>19. Everett.</td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin">Discoveries of Galileo</td> + <td class="tdc">m.</td> + <td class="tdc">R.</td> + <td>No. 1.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlscin">Burritt.</td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin">One Niche the Highest</td> + <td class="tdc">e.</td> + <td class="tdc">R.</td> + <td>No. 7.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlsc"><a id="table3_20"></a>20. Hugo.</td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin">The Monster Cannon, one of + the great Frenchman's master + strokes,—a very thrilling + scene, splendidly painted</td> + <td class="tdc">e.</td> + <td class="tdc">R.</td> + <td>No. 11.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin">Rome and Carthage</td> + <td class="tdc">m.</td> + <td class="tdc">R.</td> + <td>No. 6.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlscin">De Quincey.</td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin">Noble Revenge</td> + <td class="tdc">m.</td> + <td class="tdc">R.</td> + <td>No. 7.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlsc"><a id="table3_21"></a>21. Poe.</td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin">Murders in the Rue Morgue</td> + <td class="tdc">d.</td> + <td class="tdc">R.</td> + <td>Little Classics.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlscin">Ingersoll.</td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin">Oration at the funeral of his + brother</td> + <td class="tdc">m.</td> + <td class="tdc">R.</td> + <td>Ingersoll's Prose Poems.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlsc"><a id="table3_22"></a>22. Scott.</td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin">Thirty-sixth chapter of the + Heart of Midlothian</td> + <td class="tdc">m.</td> + <td class="tdc">R.</td> + <td> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlscin">Curtis.</td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin">Nations and Humanity</td> + <td class="tdc">m.</td> + <td class="tdc">R.</td> + <td>No. 11.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlsc"><a id="table3_23"></a>23. Taylor.</td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin">The sections on Temperance + and Chastity in the Holy + Living and Dying</td> + <td class="tdc">m.</td> + <td class="tdc">R.D.</td> + <td> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlsc">Brooks.</td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin">Pamphlet on Tolerance,—the + best book in the world on a + most vital subject</td> + <td class="tdc">m.</td> + <td class="tdc">R.D.</td> + <td> </td> + </tr> +</table> +</div> + +<p><br /></p> + +<p class="h3"><a id="g4"></a>Group IV.—<i>Wit and Humor</i>—<i>Short List.</i></p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_93">[93]</a></span></p> + +<p><br /></p> + +<div> +<table border="1" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> + <tr> + <td> </td> + <td class="tdc">[*]</td> + <td class="tdc">Manner<br />of<br />Reading.</td> + <td class="tdl">Where found.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlsc"><a id="table3_24"></a>24. Lowell.</td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin">Biglow Papers</td> + <td class="tdc">e.</td> + <td class="tdc">R.D.</td> + <td>Lowell's Poems.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin">Fable for Critics</td> + <td class="tdc">d.</td> + <td class="tdc">R.D.</td> + <td> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin">The Courtin'</td> + <td class="tdc">e.</td> + <td class="tdc">R.D.</td> + <td> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlscin">Holmes.</td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin">Autocrat of the + Breakfast-Table</td> + <td class="tdc">m.</td> + <td class="tdc">R.D.</td> + <td> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlsc"><a id="table3_25"></a>25. Carleton.</td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin">Farm Ballads, especially the + Visit of the School + Committee, and The Rivals</td> + <td class="tdc">e.</td> + <td class="tdc">S.</td> + <td> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlscin">Stowe.</td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin">Laughin' in Meetin'</td> + <td class="tdc">e.</td> + <td class="tdc">S.</td> + <td>No. 11.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlscin">Twain.</td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin">On New England Weather</td> + <td class="tdc">e.</td> + <td class="tdc">S.</td> + <td>No. 13.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin">European Guides, and + Turkish Baths</td> + <td class="tdc">e.</td> + <td class="tdc">S.</td> + <td>Innocents Abroad.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlsc"><a id="table3_26"></a>26. Dickens.</td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin">Pickwick Papers</td> + <td class="tdc">e.</td> + <td class="tdc">S.</td> + <td> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlscin">James De Mille.</td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + <td>Cumnock's Choice Readings.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin">A Senator Entangled</td> + <td class="tdc">e.</td> + <td class="tdc">S.</td> + <td></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlscin">Lover.</td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin">The Gridiron</td> + <td class="tdc">e.</td> + <td class="tdc">S.</td> + <td>Cumnock's Choice Readings.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlscin">Whately.</td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlin">Historic Doubts regarding + Napoleon</td> + <td class="tdc">e.</td> + <td class="tdc">S.</td> + <td>Publ. separately.</td> + </tr> +</table> +</div> + +<hr class="chapter" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_94">[94]</a></span></p> + +<h2 id="TABLE_IV">TABLE IV.</h2> + +<p>SUPPLEMENTARY GENERAL READING.</p> + +<p>In addition to the short courses set forth in Tables +II. and III., at the same time, if the reader has a +sufficiency of spare hours, but always in subordination +to the above courses, it is recommended that attention +be given to the following books:—</p> + +<p> +Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress. (e. R. D.)<br /> +<br /> +Defoe's Robinson Crusoe. (e. S.)<br /> +<br /> +Dickens' Christmas Carol (m. R. D.); Cricket on the<br /> +Hearth. (m. R. D.)<br /> +<br /> +Ruskin's Crown of Wild Olive (m. R. D.); Ethics of<br /> +the Dust (m. R. D.); Sesame and Lilies. (m. R. D.)<br /> +<br /> +Emerson's Essays (d. R. D. C.); especially those on<br /> +Manners, Gifts, Love, Friendship, The Poet, and on Representative<br /> +Men.<br /> +<br /> +Demosthenes on the Crown. (m. R. D. C. G.)<br /> +<br /> +Burke's Warren Hastings Oration. (m. R. D. C. G.)<br /> +<br /> +Phillips' Speeches on Lovejoy and Garrison. (m. R.<br /> +D. C. G.)<br /> +<br /> +La Fontaine's Fables. (m. R. D.)<br /> +<br /> +Short Biographies of the World's Hundred Greatest Men.<br /> +(m. R. D.)<br /> +<br /> +Marshall's Life of Washington. (m. R. D. G.)<br /> +<br /> +Carlyle's Cromwell. (m. R. D. G.)<br /> +<br /> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_95">[95]</a></span>Tennyson's In Memoriam. (d. R. D. C.)<br /> +<br /> +Byron's Childe Harold. (m. R. D. C.)<br /> +<br /> +Burns' Cotter's Saturday Night. (m. R. D.)<br /> +<br /> +Keats' Endymion. (d. R. D. C.)<br /> +<br /> +Shelley's Prometheus Unbound. (d. R. D. C. G.)<br /> +<br /> +Campbell's Pleasures of Hope. (m. R. D. C.)<br /> +<br /> +Goldsmith's Deserted Village. (m. R. D. C.)<br /> +<br /> +Pope's Essay on Man. (m. R. D. C.)<br /> +<br /> +Thomson's Seasons. (m. R. D. C.)<br /> +</p> + +<hr class="chapter" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_96">[96]</a></span></p> + +<h2 id="CHILDREN">CHILDREN.</h2> + +<p>So far we have spoken of reading for grown +people. Now we must deal with the reading of +young folks,—a subject of the utmost importance. +For to give a child good habits of reading, to make +him like to read and master strong, pure books,—books +filled with wisdom and beauty,—and equally +eager to shun bad books, is to do for him and the +world a service of the highest possible character; and +to neglect the right care of a child in this matter is +to do him an injury far greater than to mutilate his +face or cut off his arm.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_97">[97]</a></span></p> + +<hr class="chapter" /> + +<h2 id="WHAT_TO_GIVE_THE_CHILDREN">WHAT TO GIVE THE CHILDREN.</h2> + +<p>Parents, teachers, and others interested in the +welfare of young people have not only to solve the +problem of selecting books for their own nourishment, +but also the more difficult problem of providing +the young folks with appropriate literary food. +As literature may be made one of the most powerful +influences in the development of a child, the greatest +care should be taken to make the influence true, +pure, and tender, and give it in every respect the +highest possible character, which requires as much +care to see that bad books do not come into the +child's possession and use, as to see that good books +do. The ability to read adds to life a wonderful +power, but it is a power for evil as well as good. As +Lowell says, "It is the key which admits us to the +whole world of thought and fancy and imagination,—to +the company of saint and sage, of the wisest and +wittiest at their wisest and wittiest moments. It +enables us to see with the keenest eyes, hear with +the finest ears, and listen to the sweetest voices of +all time. More than that, it annihilates time and +space for us,—reviving without a miracle the Age +of Wonder, and endowing us with the shoes of swiftness +and the cap of darkness." Yes, but it opens<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_98">[98]</a></span> +our minds to the thoughts of the vile as well as to +those of the virtuous; it unlocks the prisons and +haunts of vice as well as the school and the church; it +drags us through the sewer as well as gives us admission +to the palace; it feeds us on filth as well as the +finest food; it pours upon our souls the deepest degradation +as well as the spirit of divinity. Parents will +do well to keep from their children such books as Richardson's +"Pamela" and "Clarissa Harlowe;" Fielding's +"Joseph Andrews," "Jonathan Wild," and "Tom +Jones;" Smollett's "Humphrey Clinker," "Peregrine +Pickle," and "Adventures of an Atom;" Sterne's +"Tristram Shandy;" Swift's "Gulliver," and their +modern relatives. Many of these coarse pictures of +depravity and microscopic analyses of filth I cannot +read without feeling insulted by their vulgarity, as I +do when some one tells an indecent story in my +presence. Whatever the power or wit of a book, if +its motive is not high and its expression lofty, it +should not come into contact with any life, at least +until its character is fixed and hardened in the mould +of virtue beyond the period of plasticity that might +receive the imprint of the badness in the book. +There are plenty of splendid books that are pure and +ennobling as well as strong and humorous,—more +of them than any one person can ever read,—so that +there is no necessity of contact with imperfect literature. +If a boy comes into possession of a book that +he would not like to read aloud to his mother or +sister, he has something that is not good for him to<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_99">[99]</a></span> +read,—something that is not altogether the very +best for anybody to read. Some liberty of choice, +however, ought to be allowed the children. It will +add much to the vigor and enthusiasm of a boy's +reading if, instead of prescribing the precise volume +he is to have at each step, he is permitted to make +his own selection from a list of three or four chosen by +the person who is guiding him. What these three or +four should be, is the problem. I cannot agree with +Lowell, when he says that young people ought to +"confine themselves to the supreme books in whatever +literature, or, still better, choose some one great +author and make themselves thoroughly familiar with +him." It is possible to know something of people +in general about me without neglecting my best +friends. It is possible to enjoy the society of Shakspeare, +Goethe, Æschylus, Dante, Homer, Plato, +Spencer, Scott, Eliot, Marcus Aurelius, and Irving, +without remaining in ignorance of the power and +beauty to be found in Chaucer, Spenser, Milton, Byron, +Burns, Goldsmith, Keats, Shelley, Tennyson, Longfellow, +Whittier, Holmes, and Lowell, Ingersoll, Omar, +Arnold, Brooks, and Robertson, Curtis, Aldrich, +Warner, Jewett, Burroughs, Bulwer, Tourgée, Hearn, +Kingsley, MacDonald, Hawthorne, Dickens, Thackeray, +Carlyle, Ruskin, Hugo, Bronté, Sienkiewicz, and +a host of others. Scarcely a day passes that I do not +spend a little time with Shakspeare, Goethe, Æschylus, +Spencer, and Irving; but I should be sorry to have +any one of those I have named beyond call at any<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_100">[100]</a></span> +time. There are parts of Holmes, Lowell, Brooks, +Emerson, Omar, Arnold, Tourgée, and Hearn that +are as dear to me as any passages of equal size in +Goethe or Irving. So it does not seem best to me to +<i>confine</i> the attention to the supreme books; a just +<i>proportion</i> is the true rule. Let the supreme books +have the supreme attention, absorb them, print them +on the brain, carry them about in the heart, but give +a due share of time to other books. I like the +suggestion of Marietta Holley: "I would feed children +with little sweet crumbs of the best of books, +and teach them that a whole rich feast awaited them +in the full pages," only taking care in each instance +that the crumb is well rounded, the picture not torn +or distorted. There are paragraphs and pages in +many works of the second rank that are equal to +almost anything in the supreme books, and superior +to much the latter contain. These passages should +be sought and cherished; and the work of condensing +the thought and beauty of literature—making a +sort of literary prayer-book—is an undertaking that +ought not to be much longer delayed. Until it is +done, however, there is no way but to read widely, +adapting the speed and care to the value of the volume. +Some things may be best read by deputy, as +Mark Twain climbed the Alps by agent; newspapers, +for example, and many of the novels that flame up +like a haystack on fire, and fade like a meteor in its +fall, striking the earth never to rise again. The time +that many a young man spends upon newspapers<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_101">[101]</a></span> +would be sufficient to make him familiar with a dozen +undying books every year. Newspapers are not to +be despised, but they should not be allowed to crowd +out more important things. I keep track of the +progress of events by reading the "Outlook" in the +"Christian Union" every week, and glancing at +the head-lines of the "Herald" or "Journal," reading +a little of anything specially important, or getting +an abstract from a friend who always reads the paper. +A good way to economize time is for a number of +friends to take the same paper, the first page being +allotted to one, the second to another, and so on, +each vocally informing the others of the substance of +his page. If time cannot be found for both the newspaper +and the classic, the former, not the latter, +should receive the neglect.</p> + +<p>This matter of the use of time is one concerning +which parents should strive to give their children +good habits from the first. If you teach a child to +economize time, and fill him with a love of good +books, you ensure him an education far beyond anything +he can get in the university,—an education +that will cease only with his life. The creation of a +habit of industrious study of books that will improve +the character, develop the powers, and store the mind +with force and beauty,—that is the great object.</p> + +<p>A good example is the best teacher. It is well for +parents to keep close to the child until he grows old +enough to learn how to determine for himself what +he should read (which usually is not before fifteen or<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_102">[102]</a></span> +twenty, and in many cases never); for children, and +grown folks too for that matter, crave intellectual +as much as they do physical companionship.</p> + +<p>The methods of guiding the young in the paths +of literature fall naturally into two groups,—the first +being adapted to childhood not yet arrived at the +power of reading alone, the second adapted to later +years. There is no sharp line of division or exclusion, +but only a general separation; for the methods +peculiarly appropriate to each period apply to some +extent in the other. Some children are able to read +weighty books at three or four years of age, but most +boys and girls have to plod along till they are eight +or ten before they can read much alone. I will consider +the periods of child life I have referred to, each +by itself.</p> + +<p><b>The Age of Stories.</b>—It is not necessary or proper +to wait until a child can read, before introducing it to +the best literature. Most of the books written for +children have no permanent value, and most of the +reading books used in primary and grammar schools +contain little or no genuine literature, and what they +do contain is in fragments. Portions of good books +are useful, if the story of each part is complete, but +children do not like the middle of a story without the +beginning and end; they have the sense of entirety, +and it should be satisfied. And it is not difficult to +do this. Literature affords a multitude of beautiful +stories of exceeding interest to children, and of permanent +attractiveness through all the after years of<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_103">[103]</a></span> +their lives. Such literature is as available, as a means +of teaching the art of reading, as is the trash in dreary +droning over which the precious years of childhood +are spent in our public schools. The development +of the child mind follows the same course as the +development of the mind of the race. The little boy +loves the wonderful and the strong, and nearly everything +is wonderful to him except himself. Living +things especially interest him. Every child is a born +naturalist; his heart turns to birds and beasts, flowers +and stars. He is hungry for stories of animals, +giants, fairies, etc. Myths and fairy tales are his +natural food. His power of absorbing and retaining +them is marvellous. One evening a few weeks ago +a little boy who is as yet scarcely able to read words +of two and three letters asked me for a story. I +made an agreement with him that whatever I told +him, he should afterward repeat to me, and then +gave him the story of the elephant who squirted +muddy water over the cruel tailor that pricked his +trunk with a needle. No sooner had I finished than +he threw his arms around my neck and begged for +another story. I told him eight in rapid succession, +some of them occupying three or four minutes, and +then asked him to tell me about the elephants, dogs, +bears, etc., that I had spoken of. He recited every +story with astonishing accuracy and readiness, and +apparently without effort, and would have been +ready for eight more bits of Wood or Andersen, +if his bedtime had not intervened. If parents would<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_104">[104]</a></span> +take as much pains to satisfy the mind hunger of +their children as they do to fulfil their physical wants, +and give them the best literature as well as the +best beef and potatoes, the boys and girls would +have digested the greater part of mythology, natural +science, and the best fiction by the time they are +able to read. Children should be fed with the literature +that represents the childhood of the race. +Out of that literature has grown all literature. Give a +child the contents of the great books of the dawn, and +you give him the best foundation for subsequent literary +growth, and in after life he will be able to follow +the intricate interweaving of the old threads throughout +all modern thought. He has an immense affinity +for those old books, for they are full of music and +picturesqueness, teeming with vigorous life, bursting +with the strange and wonderful. In the following +list parents and teachers will find abundant materials +for the culture of the little ones, either by reading +aloud to them, or still better by telling them the +substance of what they have gathered by their own +reading of these famous stories and ditties. Pictures +are always of the utmost value in connection with +books and stories, as they impart a vividness of conception +that words alone are powerless to produce. +One plea for sincerity I must make,—truth and +frankness from the cradle to the grave. Do not +delude the children. Do not persuade them that a +fairy tale is history. I have a sad memory of my +disgust and loss of confidence in human probity when<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_105">[105]</a></span> +I discovered the mythical character of Kriss Kringle, +and I believe many children are needlessly shocked +in this way.</p> + +<p class="h3"><i>List of Materials for Story-telling and for the +Instruction and Amusement of Childhood.</i></p> + +<blockquote><p>"Mother Goose," "Jack and the Bean-Stalk," "Jack the +Giant-Killer," "Three Bears," "Red Riding-Hood," +"The Ark," "Hop o' my Thumb," "Puss in Boots," +"Samson," "Ugly Duckling," "The Horse of Troy" +(Virgil), "Daniel in the Lion's Den," etc.</p> + +<p>Andersen's "Fairy Tales." Delightful to all children.</p> + +<p>Grimm's "Fairy Tales."</p> + +<p>De Garmo's "Fairy Tales."</p> + +<p>Craik's "Adventures of a Brownie."</p> + +<p>"Parents' Assistant," by Maria Edgeworth, recommended +by George William Curtis, Mary Mapes Dodge, Charles +Dudley Warner, etc.</p> + +<p>"Zigzag Journeys," a series of twelve books, written by +Hezekiah Butterworth, one of the editors of the "Youth's +Companion." As might be supposed, they are among +the very best and most enduringly popular books ever +written for young people.</p> + +<p>Wood's books of Anecdotes about Animals, and many +other works of similar character, that may be obtained +from the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty +to Animals, 19 Milk Street, Boston. The literature distributed +by this Society is filled with the spirit of love +and tenderness for all living things, and is one of the +best influences that can come into a child's life.</p> + +<p>Mary Treat's "Home Book of Nature." One of the best +books of science for young people.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_106">[106]</a></span></p> + +<p>Bulfinch's "Age of Fable." A book that is exhaustive of +Greek and Roman mythology, but meant for grown folks.</p> + +<p>Bulfinch's "Age of Chivalry."</p> + +<p>Fiske's "Myths and Myth Makers." Brief, deep, and suggestive.</p> + +<p>Hawthorne's "Wonder Book" and "Tanglewood Tales." +Books that no house containing children should lack.</p> + +<p>Cox's "Tales of Ancient Greece."</p> + +<p>Baldwin's "Stories of the Golden Age."</p> + +<p>Forestier's "Echoes from Mist Land." An interesting study +of the Nibelungenlied.</p> + +<p>Lucian's "Dialogues of the Gods." Written to ridicule ancient +superstitions.</p> + +<p>Curtin's "Folk Lore of Ireland."</p> + +<p>Stories of Greek Heroes, Kingsley.</p> + +<p>Stories from Bryant's Odyssey.</p> + +<p>Stories from Church's "Story of the Iliad."</p> + +<p>Stories from Church's "Story of the Æneid."</p> + +<p>Stories from Herodotus, Church.</p> + +<p>Stories from the Greek Tragedians, Church.</p> + +<p>Stories of Charlemagne, Hanson.</p> + +<p>Stories from "Arabian Nights," Bulfinch.</p> + +<p>Stories from "Munchausen," and Maundeville.</p> + +<p>Stories from Chaucer, especially "Griselda." (From Chaucer, +or from Mrs. Haweis' book.)</p> + +<p>Stories told to a Child, by Jean Ingelow.</p> + +<p>Stories from the "Morte D'Arthur," Malory or Lanier.</p> + +<p>Stories from Lanier's "Froissart."</p> + +<p>Stories from Shakspeare.</p> + +<p>Stories of the Revolution, Riedesel.</p> + +<p>Stories from American and English History about the +Magna Charta, Henry VIII., Queen Elizabeth, Cromwell,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_107">[107]</a></span> +Pitt, Gladstone, Boston Tea Party, Declaration of Independence, +Washington, Rebellion, Lincoln, etc.</p> + +<p>Stories of American life, from "Oldtown Folks," "Sam Lawson's +Fireside Stories," and from the best novels.</p> + +<p>Stories from the "Book of Golden Deeds," Miss Yonge.</p> + +<p>Stories from Bolton's "Poor Boys who became Famous," +and "Girls who became Famous."</p> + +<p>Stories from Smiles's "Self-Help." Full of brief, inspiring +stories of great men.</p> + +<p>Stones from Todd's "Students' Manual."</p> + +<p>Stories from Irving's "Sketch Book," Rip Van Winkle, etc.</p> + +<p>Stories from Green's "Short History of the English People."</p> + +<p>Stories from Doyle's "History of the United States." One of +the very best brief histories.</p> + +<p>Stories from Mackenzie's "History of the Nineteenth +Century."</p> + +<p>Stories from Coffin's "Story of Liberty."</p> + +<p>Stories from Freeman's "General Sketch of History."</p> + +<p>Stories from the "Stories of the Nations." (Putnam's Series.)</p> + +<p>Stories from the books of Columns 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 12, and 14 +of <a href="#TABLE_I">Table I</a>.</p> + +<p>The story of Christ and his Apostles. (It is scarcely needful +to mention Bible stories in general. Every child born +into a civilized family is saturated with them; but the +simple story of Christ's life as an entirety is too seldom +told them.)</p> + +<p>The story of Buddha, from the "Light of Asia."</p> + +<p>The story of Mahomet, Irving.</p> + +<p>The story of Confucius.</p> + +<p>The story of Socrates drinking the hemlock, from Plato, or +from Fénelon's "Lives of the Philosophers," which contains +many splendid Greek stories.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_108">[108]</a></span></p> + +<p>The story of Prometheus, from Æschylus.</p> + +<p>The story of Diogenes in his Tub.</p> + +<p>The story of Thermopylæ and other battles, from Cressy.</p> + +<p>The story of Carthage, from Putnam's series of the "Stories +of the Nations." (Nine to eleven years.)</p> + +<p>The story of Roland, Baldwin.</p> + +<p>The story of the Cid, Southey.</p> + +<p>The story of the Nibelungenlied. (See Baldwin's "Story +of Siegfried.")</p> + +<p>The story of Faust, from "Zigzag Journeys."</p> + +<p>The story of "Reynard the Fox," Goethe.</p> + +<p>The story of Pythagoras and the transmigration of souls.</p> + +<p>The story of Astronomy, from Herschel, Proctor, etc.</p> + +<p>The story of Geology, from Lyell, Dawson, Miller, etc., or +from Dana's "The Geological Story, Briefly Told."</p> + +<p>The story of Athena, Pluto, Neptune, Apollo, Juno, Mars, +Jupiter, Mercury, Charon, Vulcan, Zeus, Io, Orpheus, +and Eurydice, Phaeton, Arachne, Ariadne, Iphigenia, +Ceres, Vesta, Herakles, Minerva, Venus, Scylla and Charybdis, +Hercules, Ulysses, Helen, Achilles, Æneas, etc., +from Bulfinch's "Age of Fable," "Zigzag Journeys," etc.</p> + +<p>The story of William Tell, the Man in the Moon, etc., from +S. Baring Gould's "Curious Myths."</p> + +<p>The story of the Courtship of Miles Standish.</p> + +<p>The story of the Nürnburg Stove, from Ouida's "Bimbi."</p> + +<p>The story of Robert Bruce.</p> + +<p>The story of Circe's Palace, from "Tanglewood Tales."</p> + +<p>The story of Pandora's Box, from the "Wonder Book."</p> + +<p>The story of Little Nell, from "The Old Curiosity Shop."</p> + +<p>The story of the Boy in "Vanity Fair."</p> + +<p>Many other books might be placed on the list of parent-helpers. +Indeed, the perfect guidance of youth would re<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_109">[109]</a></span>quire +a perfect knowledge of literature throughout its breadth +and depth; but the above suggestions, if followed in any +large degree, will result in a far better training than most +children now receive.</p></blockquote> + +<hr class="chapter" /> + +<h2 id="THE_FORMATION_OF_A_GOOD_READING_HABIT">THE FORMATION OF A GOOD READING HABIT.</h2> + +<p>As the child learns to read by itself, the books +from which were drawn the stones it has heard may +be given to it, care being taken that every gift shall +be adapted to the ability of the little one. The fact +that the boy has heard the story of Horatius at the +Bridge does not diminish, but vastly increases, his desire +to read the "Lays of Ancient Rome." When he +comes to the possession of the book, it seems to him +like a discovery of the face of a dear friend with +whose voice he has long been familiar. I well remember +with what delight I adopted the "Sketch Book" +as one of my favorites on finding Rip Van Winkle +in it.</p> + +<p>Below will be found a list of books intended as a +suggestion of what should be given to children of +various ages. The larger the number of good books +the child can be induced to read each year, the better +of course, so long as his powers are not overtaxed, +and the reading is done with due thoroughness. But +if only four or five are selected from each year's list, +the boy will know more of standard literature by the +time he is sixteen, than most of his elders do. Each<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_110">[110]</a></span> +book enters the list at the earliest age an ordinary +child would be able to read it with ease, and it may +be used then or at any subsequent age; for no books +are mentioned which are not of everlasting interest +and profit to childhood, manhood, and age. Many +of the volumes named below may also be used by +parents and teachers as story-mines. There is no +sharp line between the periods of story-telling and of +reading. Most children read simple English readily +at eight or ten years of age; many do a large amount +of reading long before that, and nearly all do some +individual work in the earlier period. The change +should be gradual. For the stimulus that comparison +gives, story-telling and reading aloud should be continued +long after the child is able to read alone; in +truth, it ought never to cease. Story-telling ought to +be a universal practice. Stories should be told to +and <i>by</i> everybody. One of the best things grown +folks can do is to tell each other the substance of +their experience from day to day; and probably no +finer means of education exists than to have the +children give an account at supper or in the hour or +two following, of what they have seen, heard, read, +thought, and felt during the day. In the same way +reading <i>solus</i> should lap over into the early period +as far as possible. One of the greatest needs of the +day is a class of books that shall put <i>solid sense</i> into +<i>very</i> simple words. A child can grasp the wonderful, +strong, loving, pathetic, and even the humorous +and critical, long before it can overcome the mechanical<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_111">[111]</a></span> +difficulties of reading. By so much as we diminish +these, we push education nearer to the cradle. +Charles Dudley Warner says, "As a general thing, I +do not believe in books written for children;" and +Phillips Brooks, Marietta Holley, Brooke Herford, +and others express a similar feeling. But the trouble +is not with the <i>plan</i> of writing for children, but with +the execution. If the highest <i>thoughts</i> and feelings +were written in the simplest words,—written as a wise +parent <i>tells</i> them to his little ones,—then we should +have a juvenile literature that could be recommended. +As it is, most writers for babies seem to have far less +sense than the babies. Their books are filled with +unnatural, make-believe emotions, and egregious nonsense +in the place of ideas. The best prose for young +people will be found in the works of Hawthorne, +Curtis, Warner, Holmes, Irving, Addison, Goldsmith, +Burroughs, and Poe; and the best poets for them are +Longfellow, Lowell, Whittier, Burns, and Homer. +Books that flavor sense with fun, as do those of Curtis, +Holmes, Lowell, Holley, Stowe, Irving, Goldsmith, +Warner, Addison, and Burroughs, are among the +best means of creating in any heart, young or old, +a love for fine, pure writing. P. T. Barnum, a man +whose great success is largely due to his attainment +of that serenity of mind which Lowell calls the highest +result of culture, says: "I should, above almost everything +else, try to cultivate in the child a kindly sense of +humor. Wherever a pure, hearty laugh rings through +literature, he should be permitted and taught to enjoy<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_112">[112]</a></span> +it." This judgment comes from a knowledge of +the sustaining power a love of humor gives a man +immersed in mental cares and worriments. Lincoln +is, perhaps, the best example of its power.</p> + +<p>It is often an inspiration to a boy to know that a +book he is reading has helped and been beloved by +some one whose name is to him a synonym of greatness,—to +know, for example, that Franklin got his +style from the "Spectator," which he studied diligently +when a boy; that Francis Parkman from fifteen +to twenty-one obtained more pleasure and profit from +Scott than from any other writer; that Darwin was +very fond of Mark Twain's "Treatise on the Frog;" +that Marietta Holley places Emerson, Tennyson, and +Eliot next to the Bible in her list of favorites; that +Senator Hoar writes Emerson, Wordsworth, and Scott +next after the Bible and Shakspeare; that Robert +Collyer took great delight in Irving's "Sketch Book," +when a youth; that the great historian Lecky is said +to be in the habit of taking Irving with him when he +goes to bed; that Phillips Brooks read Jonson many +times when a boy, and that Lockhart's Scott was +a great favorite with him, though the Doctor attaches +no special significance to either of these facts; +that Susan Coolidge thinks "Hans Brinker" is the +best of all American books for children, etc. Similar +facts may be found in relation to very many of the +best books, and will aid much in arousing an interest +in them.</p> + +<p>Plato, Bacon, Goethe, Spencer, Emerson, and many<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_113">[113]</a></span> +others of the best are for the most part too difficult +to be properly grasped until the mind is more mature +than it usually is at sixteen. No precise rules, however, +can be laid down on this subject, I have known +a boy read Spencer's "First Principles" and Goethe's +"Faust" and "Wilhelm Meister" at sixteen, and gain +a mastery of them. All I have attempted to do is to +make broad suggestions; experiment in each case +must do the rest.</p> + +<p class="h3"><i>Literature adapted to a Child Six or Eight Years +of Age and upward.</i></p> + +<blockquote><p>Little Lord Fauntleroy. A book that cannot fail to delight +and improve every reader.</p> + +<p>King of the Golden River, Ruskin.</p> + +<p>"Rosebud," from "Harvard Sophomore Stories."</p> + +<p>Christmas all the Year round, Howells.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Stowe's "Laughin' in Meetin'." An exceedingly funny +story.</p> + +<p>"Each and All" and "Seven Little Sisters," by Jane Andrews. +Used in the Boston Public Schools as supplementary +reading.</p> + +<p>Classics in Babyland, Bates.</p> + +<p>Scudder's "Fables and Folk Stories." Fine books for little +ones.</p> + +<p>Æsop.</p> + +<p>Rainbows for Children, Lydia Maria Child.</p> + +<p>Black Beauty, by Anna Sewell. The autobiography of a +splendid horse, and the best teacher of kindness to animals +we know of.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_114">[114]</a></span></p> + +<p>Burroughs' "Birds and Bees." In fact, all his beautiful and +simple stories of Nature—"Pepacton," "Fresh Fields," +"Wake Robin," "Winter Sunshine," "Signs and Seasons," +etc.—are the delight of children as soon as they +can read.</p> + +<p>Winslow's "Fairy Geography."</p> + +<p>By Sea-side and Wayside, Wright.</p></blockquote> + +<p class="h3"><i>Literature adapted to a Child Eight to Nine Years of +Age and upward.</i></p> + +<blockquote><p>Sandford and Merton, Day. One of the very best of +children's books.</p> + +<p>Play Days, Sarah Orne Jewett.</p> + +<p>Andersen's "Fairy Tales." Cannot be too highly praised.</p> + +<p>Stories from King Arthur, Hanson. A good foundation for +the study of Malory, Tennyson, etc.</p> + +<p>"Winners in Life's Race," and "Life and her Children," +by Miss Arabella Buckley. Books that charm many children +of eight or nine.</p> + +<p>Fairy Frisket; or, Peeps at Insect Life. Nelson & Sons.</p> + +<p>Physiology, with pictures.</p> + +<p>Queer Little People, Mrs. Stowe.</p> + +<p>Kingsley's "Water Babies." A beautiful book, as indeed are +all of Kingsley's.</p> + +<p>Longfellow's "Building of the Ship."</p> + +<p>The Fountain, Lowell.</p> + +<p>Ye Mariners of England, Campbell.</p> + +<p>Carleton's "Farm Ballads and Farm Legends." Humorous, +pathetic, sensible.</p></blockquote><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_115">[115]</a></span></p> + +<p class="h3"><i>Literature adapted to a Child Nine to Ten Years of +Age and upward.</i></p> + +<blockquote><p>Story of a Bad Boy, Aldrich. A splendid book for boys.</p> + +<p>Boys of '76, Coffin. An eight-year-old boy read it five times, +he was so pleased with it.</p> + +<p>New Year's Bargain, Coolidge.</p> + +<p>Pussy Willow, Stowe.</p> + +<p>Hanson's "Homer and Virgil." Brief, clear, simple, clean.</p> + +<p>Stories from Homer, Hanson.</p> + +<p>Stories from Pliny, White.</p> + +<p>Grimm's "Fairy Tales."</p> + +<p>Legend of Sleeping Beauty.</p> + +<p>Clodd's "The Childhood of the World." A splendid book +to teach children the development of the world.</p> + +<p>"Friends in Feathers and Fur," "Wings and Fins," "Paws +and Claws," by Johonnot. Books much liked by the +little ones.</p> + +<p>First Book of Zoölogy, Morse.</p> + +<p>Halleck's "Marco Bozzaris."</p> + +<p>Wordsworth's "Peter Bell."</p> + +<p>Mary, Queen of Scots, Strickland.</p> + +<p>The Prince and the Pauper, Twain. A book that mingles +no small amount of sense with its abounding fun and +occasional tragedy.</p></blockquote> + +<p class="h3"><i>Literature adapted to a Child Ten or Eleven Years of +Age and upward.</i></p> + +<blockquote><p>Being a Boy, Warner.</p> + +<p>Little Women, Alcott. One of the most popular books of +the day.</p> + +<p>A Dog's Mission, Stowe.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_116">[116]</a></span></p> + +<p>Two Years before the Mast, Dana. Recommended by Sarah +Orne Jewett, George William Curtis, and others.</p> + +<p>Ten Boys on the Road, Andrews. A great favorite with +the boys.</p> + +<p>Jan of the Windmill, Ewing. The story of a poor boy who +becomes a famous painter.</p> + +<p>Hawthorne's "Celestial Railroad."</p> + +<p>Little People of Asia, Miller.</p> + +<p>Hawthorne's "Tanglewood Tales" and "Wonder Book" +should belong to every child old enough to read ordinary +English.</p> + +<p>Adventures of a Brownie, Craik.</p> + +<p>Stories from Chaucer, Seymour.</p> + +<p>Stories from Livy, Church.</p> + +<p>Lives of the Philosophers, Fénelon. An excellent book.</p> + +<p>What Darwin saw in his Trip round the World in the Ship +Beagle.</p> + +<p>Fairy Land of Science, Miss Buckley. An author who writes +for children to perfection.</p> + +<p>Animal Life in the Sea and on the Land, Cooper. Very fine +indeed.</p> + +<p>Darwin's chapter on the "Habits of Ants" (in the "Origin of +Species") is very interesting and amusing to little ones, +and together with Burroughs' books prepares them to +read such works as Lubbock's "Ants, Bees, and Wasps."</p> + +<p>Ragozin's "Chaldea." One of the indispensable books for +children.</p> + +<p>Longfellow's "Psalm of Life."</p> + +<p>Longfellow's "Hiawatha."</p> + +<p>Lowell's "Under the Old Elm."</p> + +<p>Wordsworth's "White Doe of Rylstone."</p> + +<p>Lamb's Essay on Roast Pig. A piece of fun always enjoyed +by boys and girls.</p></blockquote><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_117">[117]</a></span></p> + +<p class="h3"><i>Literature adapted to a Child Eleven to Twelve Years +of Age and upward.</i></p> + +<blockquote><p>Shakspeare's "Merchant of Venice."</p> + +<p>Marcus Aurelius. In a school where the book was at their +call children from ten to thirteen carried it to and from +school, charmed with its beautiful thoughts.</p> + +<p>Hans Brinker, Mary Mapes Dodge. One of the very best +stories for children.</p> + +<p>Dickens' "Christmas Carol."</p> + +<p>Hawthorne's "Great Stone Face." Highly appreciated by +the young folks.</p> + +<p>Uncle Tom's Cabin, Mrs. Stowe. A book that every child +should have as soon as he is able to read it.</p> + +<p>Another Flock of Girls, Nora Perry.</p> + +<p>At the Back of the North Wind, Macdonald. A beautiful +story, with a high motive.</p> + +<p>A Hunting of the Deer, Warner.</p> + +<p>Crusade of the Children, Gray. A thrilling story.</p> + +<p>Bryant's translation of the Odyssey.</p> + +<p>Story of the Iliad, Church.</p> + +<p>Stories from Herodotus, Church.</p> + +<p>Mary Treat's "Home Book of Nature."</p> + +<p>Half Hours with the Stars, Proctor.</p> + +<p>Guyot's "Earth and Man." A most excellent book.</p> + +<p>First Book in Geology, Shaler.</p> + +<p>First Steps in Chemistry, Brewster.</p> + +<p>First Steps in Scientific Knowledge, Best.</p> + +<p>Abou Ben Adhem, Hunt.</p> + +<p>Scott's "Lady of the Lake."</p> + +<p>Macaulay's "Lays of Ancient Rome."<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_118">[118]</a></span></p> + +<p>Longfellow's "Tales of a Wayside Inn."</p> + +<p>Whittier's "Snow Bound."</p> + +<p>How they Brought the Good News to Aix, Browning.</p> + +<p>Wordsworth's "We are Seven."</p> + +<p>Franklin's Autobiography.</p> + +<p>Lincoln's Gettysburg Speech.</p> + +<p>Samantha at the Centennial.</p></blockquote> + +<p class="h3"><i>Literature adapted to a Child Twelve to Thirteen Years +of Age and upward.</i></p> + +<blockquote><p>Shakspeare's "Julius Cæsar."</p> + +<p>Pilgrim's Progress, Bunyan. Indispensable.</p> + +<p>Meditation of Thomas à Kempis. A strong influence for +sweetness and purity.</p> + +<p>Vicar of Wakefield, Goldsmith. Full of fun and good feeling; +one of the most indispensable of books.</p> + +<p>Cooper's novels, especially "The Spy" and the "Last of the +Mohicans." Books that are fascinating and yet wholesome.</p> + +<p>"My Summer in a Garden," and "In the Wilderness," +Warner. Very humorous.</p> + +<p>"The Dog of Flanders," from "Little Classics."</p> + +<p>Picciola, Saintine. A great favorite.</p> + +<p>The Story of Arnon, Amélie Rives.</p> + +<p>Drake's "Culprit Fay."</p> + +<p>Dr. Brown's "Rab and his Friends."</p> + +<p>"The Man without a Country," "My Double and How He +Undid Me," etc., by E. E. Hale. The cast is extremely +funny.</p> + +<p>The Hoosier Schoolmaster, Eggleston.</p> + +<p>Boots and Saddles, Mrs. Custer.</p> + +<p>Story of the Æneid, Church.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_119">[119]</a></span></p> + +<p>Stories from Greek Tragedians, Church.</p> + +<p>Plumptre's "Sophocles."</p> + +<p>Ruskin's "Athena."</p> + +<p>Boys and Girls in Biology, Stevenson.</p> + +<p>Other Worlds than Ours, Proctor.</p> + +<p>Captains of Industry, Parton.</p> + +<p>Lowell's "Vision of Sir Launfal." One of the great poet's +finest productions.</p> + +<p>Byron's "Eve of Waterloo."</p> + +<p>Longfellow's "Evangeline."</p> + +<p>Scott's "Marmion."</p> + +<p>Milton's "Comus."</p> + +<p>"The Two Runaways," "The Born Inventor," "Idyl of Sinkin' +Mountain," etc., by Edwards. Very funny.</p></blockquote> + +<p class="h3"><i>Literature adapted to a Child Thirteen to Fourteen +Years of Age and upward.</i></p> + +<blockquote><p>Shakspeare's "Coriolanus" and "Taming of the Shrew."</p> + +<p>Scott's "Ivanhoe," "Heart of Midlothian," "Guy Mannering," +etc. It is the making of a boy if he learns to love +Scott. He will make a gentleman of him, and give him +an undying love of good literature.</p> + +<p>Journal of Eugénie de Guerin. Full of delicacy and quiet +strength.</p> + +<p>Tom Brown, Hughes. An universal favorite.</p> + +<p>Curtis' "Prue and I." One of the very choicest books, +both in substance and expression,—especially remarkable +for its moral suggestiveness.</p> + +<p>Craddock's "Floating down Lost Creek." Most excellent.</p> + +<p>Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Stevenson. A story with a<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_120">[120]</a></span> +powerful moral,—if we give scope to our evil nature, it +will master us.</p> + +<p>Goldsmith's "Good-Natured Man."</p> + +<p>Carlyle's "Heroes and Hero Worship."</p> + +<p>Ben Hur, Wallace.</p> + +<p>The Fool's Errand, Tourgée.</p> + +<p>The Boys' King Arthur, Lanier.</p> + +<p>Epictetus.</p> + +<p>Physiology for Girls, Shepard.</p> + +<p>Physiology for Boys, Shepard.</p> + +<p>What Young People should Know, Wilder. A book that +no boy or girl should be without.</p> + +<p>How Plants Behave, Gray.</p> + +<p>Goethe's "Erl King."</p> + +<p>Browning's "Ivan Ivanovitch." A favorite.</p> + +<p>The Forsaken Merman, Matthew Arnold. An exquisite +poem.</p> + +<p>Longfellow's "Miles Standish."</p> + +<p>Scott's "Lay of the Last Minstrel."</p> + +<p>The Veiled Statue of Truth, Schiller.</p> + +<p>Gütenburg, and the Art of Printing.</p> + +<p>Doyle's "United States History."</p> + +<p>John Bright's "Speeches on the American Question."</p> + +<p>Backlog Studies, Warner.</p> + +<p>"Encyclopædia of Persons and Places," and "Encyclopædia +of Common Things," by Champlin, should be within the +reach of every child over twelve or thirteen years of +age.</p></blockquote><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_121">[121]</a></span></p> + +<p class="h3"><i>Literature adapted to a Child Fourteen to Fifteen +Years of Age.</i></p> + +<blockquote><p>Shakespeare's "Henry Fourth" and "Henry Fifth."</p> + +<p>Autocrat of the Breakfast-Table, Holmes; and Irving's +"Sketch Book." Two of the best books in all the world.</p> + +<p>George Eliot's novels, especially "Silas Marner," "The Mill +on the Floss," "Romola," and "Adam Bede."</p> + +<p>The Wit and Wisdom of George Eliot.</p> + +<p>Our Best Society, Curtis.</p> + +<p>Bulwer's "Rienzi."</p> + +<p>The Marble Faun, Hawthorne.</p> + +<p>Sad Little Prince, Fawcett.</p> + +<p>Chita, or Youma, by Hearn, a master of English style.</p> + +<p>Grande Pointe, Cable.</p> + +<p>La Fontaine's Fables.</p> + +<p>Plutarch's "Morals."</p> + +<p>Ethics of the Dust, Ruskin.</p> + +<p>Lady How and Madam Why, Kingsley.</p> + +<p>Sketches of Creation, Winchell. Very interesting to children +of fourteen or fifteen.</p> + +<p>The Geological Story, Briefly Told, Dana.</p> + +<p>Ready for Business, or Choosing an Occupation, Fowler and +Wells.</p> + +<p>Ode to a Skylark, Shelley.</p> + +<p>Birds of Aristophanes, Frere.</p> + +<p>Alfred the Great, Hughes.</p> + +<p>Plutarch's "Lives."</p> + +<p>Green's "Short History of the English People."</p> + +<p>Demosthenes on the Crown. The finest of all orations.</p> + +<p>The Biglow Papers, Lowell. The best of fun and sense.</p> + +<p>Sweet Cicely, Holley. Quiet humor and unfailing wisdom.</p> + +<p>Higginson's "Vacations for Saints." A splendid example of +humorous writing.</p></blockquote><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_122">[122]</a></span></p> + +<p class="h3"><i>Literature adapted to a Child Fifteen to Sixteen +Years of Age and upward.</i></p> + +<blockquote><p>Shakspeare's "Hamlet" and "The Tempest."</p> + +<p>Dante's "Inferno."</p> + +<p>Dickens' "Pickwick Papers," "David Copperfield," "Old +Curiosity Shop," etc.</p> + +<p>Thackeray's "Vanity Fair."</p> + +<p>Tourgée's "Hot Plowshares," and "With Fire and Sword," +by Sienkiewicz. Two of the greatest historical novels.</p> + +<p>Carlyle's "Past and Present."</p> + +<p>Arnold's "Sweetness and Light."</p> + +<p>Ruskin's "Crown of Wild Olive."</p> + +<p>Emerson's Essays on "Manners," "Self-Reliance," "Eloquence," +"Friendship," "Representative Men," etc.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Whitney's "Sights and Insights." A book that is +filled with beautiful thoughts and unselfish actions.</p> + +<p>Spencer's "Data of Ethics." Indispensable to a complete +understanding of ethical subjects.</p> + +<p>"The Light of Asia." A book that cannot fail to broaden +and deepen every life it touches.</p> + +<p>Ten Great Religions, Clarke.</p> + +<p>Omar. Superb poetry.</p> + +<p>Bryant's "Thanatopsis."</p> + +<p>Coleridge's "Ancient Mariner." A lesson of the awfulness +of cruelty.</p> + +<p>Auld Lang Syne, Burns.</p> + +<p>Toilers of the Sea, Hugo.</p> + +<p>Huxley's "Man's Place in Nature."</p> + +<p>Tyndall's "Forms of Water."</p> + +<p>Our Country, Strong. A book that ought to be in the +hands of every young person.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_123">[123]</a></span></p> + +<p>Bryce's "American Commonwealth."</p> + +<p>Guizot's "History of Civilization."</p> + +<p>Mill's "Logic." No young man can afford to remain unacquainted +with this book.</p> + +<p>The Hand and Ring, Green. One of the finest examples +of reasoning in the language.</p> + +<p>Poe's "Murders in the Rue Morgue" is another such example, +and his "Gold Bug" is another.</p> + +<p>Phillips' Speeches</p> + +<p>Webster's "Liberty and Union."</p> + +<p>Golden Treasury, Palgrave.</p> + +<p>The Spectator. One of the very best books to study, in +order to form a good style. Franklin and others attribute +their success largely to reading it carefully in boyhood.</p> + +<p>The Fable for Critics, Lowell.</p> + +<p>The Yankee at the Court of King Arthur, Twain. Fun and +sense welded together to make the most delightful book +the author has written.</p></blockquote> + +<hr class="chapter" /> + +<h2 id="SPECIAL_STUDIES">SPECIAL STUDIES.</h2> + +<p>Next in value to a love of good reading is a habit of +concentrating the attention upon one subject through +a long course of reading. In this way only can any +thorough mastery be obtained. The child should be +taught not to be satisfied with the thought of any +one writer, but to investigate the ideas of all upon +the topic in hand, and then form his own opinion. +Thus he will gain breadth, depth, tolerance, independence, +and scientific method in the search for truth. +Of course it is impossible in a work of this kind to<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_124">[124]</a></span> +map out lines of study for the multitudinous needs of +young people. The universities and the libraries +provide the means of gaining full information as to +the literature of any subject that may be selected. +A few topic-clusters may, however, be of use here in +the way of illustration. Many examples will be found +in Baldwin's "The Book Lover."</p> + +<p><b>The Industrial Question.</b>—Suppose a young man desired +to study the industrial question, which is one of +the most important subjects of to-day, the proper +method would be to go to one of the great libraries, +or examine the catalogues of the large publishing-houses, +to discover the names of recent books on +the given topic, or on such subjects as Labor and +Capital, Socialism, Co-operation, etc. Such books +usually refer to others, and name many kindred +works on the last pages. Thus the student's list will +swell. I have myself investigated more than two +hundred books on this topic and those it led me to. +A few of the more important I will name as a starting-point +for any one wishing to follow this research.</p> + +<p> +Labor, Thornton.<br /> +<br /> +Conflict of Labor and Capital, Bolles; also, Howell.<br /> +<br /> +Political Economy, Mill.<br /> +<br /> +Progress and Poverty, George.<br /> +<br /> +Profit-Sharing, Gilman.<br /> +<br /> +In Darkest England, Booth.<br /> +<br /> +Wages and the Wages Class, Walker.<br /> +<br /> +Book of the New Moral World, Owen.<br /> +<br /> +Communistic Societies of the United States, Nordhoff.<br /> +<br /> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_125">[125]</a></span>Dynamic Sociology, Ward.<br /> +<br /> +Looking Backward, Bellamy.<br /> +<br /> +Destinée Sociale, Considérant.<br /> +<br /> +More's "Utopia."<br /> +<br /> +Co-operative Societies, Watts.<br /> +<br /> +History of Co-operation, Holyoake.<br /> +<br /> +The Margin of Profits, Atkinson.<br /> +<br /> +Gronlund's "Co-operative Commonwealth."<br /> +<br /> +Capital, Karl Marx.<br /> +<br /> +The State in relation to Labor, Jevons.<br /> +<br /> +Organisation du Travail, Louis Blanc.<br /> +<br /> +Co-operative Stores, Morrison.<br /> +<br /> +Labor and Capital, Jervis.<br /> +<br /> +Newton's "Co-operative Production and Co-operative<br /> +Distribution in the United States."<br /> +<br /> +Property and Progress, Mallock.<br /> +<br /> +Principles of Sociology, Spencer.<br /> +<br /> +Mill on Socialism.<br /> +<br /> +The Progress of the Working Classes, Giffen.<br /> +<br /> +Ely's "French and German Socialism," "Problems of To-day,"<br /> +and "Labor Movement in America."<br /> +<br /> +Dilke's "Problems of Greater Britain."<br /> +<br /> +Contemporary Socialism, Rae.<br /> +<br /> +Outlines of an Industrial Science, Symes.<br /> +<br /> +Early History of Land-holding among the Germans,<br /> +Ross; etc.<br /> +</p> + +<p><b>Malthusianism.</b>—To take a smaller example. Suppose +the student wishes to make a thorough study of +the doctrine of Malthusius in regard to population, +he will have to refer to Macaulay's "Essay on Sadler," +and the works on Political Economy of Ricardo, +Chalmers, Roscher, etc., in support of Malthus, and<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_126">[126]</a></span> +to George's "Progress and Poverty," Spencer's "Biology" +(Vol. II.), Sadler's "Law of Population," and +the works of Godwin, Greg, Rickards, Doubleday, +Carey, Alison, etc., against him.</p> + +<p>For an example of a very different kind, cluster +about the myth of Cupid the poems "Cupid and +my Campaspe," by Lilly; "The Threat of Cupid," +translated by Herrick; "Cupid Drowned," by Leigh +Hunt; and "Cupid Stung," by Moore.</p> + +<p>A great deal depends on selecting some department +of thought and exhausting it. To know something +of everything and everything of something is +the true aim. If a child displays fine musical or +artistic ability, among the books given it ought to +be many that bear upon music and art,—the "Autobiography +of Rubenstein;" the Lives of Beethoven, +Mozart, Schubert, Chopin, Mendelssohn; and Rocksho's +"History of Music," Upton's "Woman in Music," +Clayton's "Queens of Song," Lillie's "Music and +the Musician," Haweis' "Music and Morals," Jameson's +"Lives of the Painters," Crowest's "Tone Poets," +Clement's "Painting and Sculpture," Mereweather's +"Semele, or the Spirit of Beauty," etc.</p> + +<p>Probably these examples, with those to be found +in the <a href="#n_T_I">notes to Table I</a>., are amply sufficient to show +what is meant by grouping the lights of literature +about a single point so as to illuminate it intensely; +but one more specimen will be given, because of the +interest the subject has for us now and is likely to +have for many years.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_127">[127]</a></span></p> + +<p><b>The Tariff Question</b> may be studied in Ely's "Problems +of To-day," Greeley's "Political Economy," +Carey's "Principles of Social Science," E. P. Smith's +"Manual of Political Economy," Byles's "Sophisms +of Free Trade," Thompson's "Social Science and +National Economy," Bastiat's "Sophisms of Protection," +Mill's "Political Economy," Sumner's "Lectures +on the History of Protection in the United +States," Fawcett's "Free Trade and Protection," Mongredien's +"History of the Free Trade Movement," +Butt's "Protection Free Trade," Walters' "What is +Free Trade," "The Gladstone-Blaine Debate," etc.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_128">[128]</a></span></p> + +<hr class="chapter" /> + +<h2 id="TABLE_V">TABLE V.</h2> + +<p><i>Showing the Distribution of the Best Literature in Time and Space, with a +Parallel Reference to some of the World's Great Events.</i></p> + +<blockquote><p>[It was impossible to get the writers of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries into +the unit space. The former fills a space twice the unit width, and the latter, when +it is complete, will require five units.]</p></blockquote> + +<div> +<table border="1" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> + <tr> + <td class="tdlsc">Greece</td> + <td class="tdc">B.C.<br />1000</td> + <td class="tdlsc">Israel<br /><span class="in1 toc-norm">David, The Psalms</span></td> + <td> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> </td> + <td class="tdc">900</td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> </td> + <td class="tdc">800</td> + <td> </td> + <td class="tdl">Rome founded</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Æsop</td> + <td class="tdc">700</td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> </td> + <td class="tdc">B.C.<br />600</td> + <td class="tdlsc">India<br /><span class="in1 toc-norm">Budha</span></td> + <td>Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon<br />Republic established at Rome</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> + <div> + <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> + <tr> + <td class="tdl" colspan="3"><span class="smcap">The Golden Age of Grecian Literature</span></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Pindar</td> + <td class="tdl">Æschylus</td> + <td class="tdl">Herodotus</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> </td> + <td class="tdl">Sophocles</td> + <td class="tdl">Thucydides</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Pericles</td> + <td class="tdl">Euripides</td> + <td class="tdl">Xenophon</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> </td> + <td class="tdl">Aristophanes</td> + <td> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + <td class="tdl">Socrates</td> + </tr> + </table> + </div> + </td> + <td class="tdc">500</td> + <td class="tdl">Mahabharata<br />Ramayana<br />(Epics of India)</td> + <td>Darius, king of Persia<br /> + <span class="smcap">Greece</span><br /> + Battle of Marathon<br /> + Battle of Thermopylæ<br /> + Battle of Salamis<br /> + Cincinnatus at Rome<br /> + Ezra at Jerusalem<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_129">[129]</a></span></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> + <div> + <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> + <tr> + <td> + </td> + <td> + </td> + <td class="tdl">Plato</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + </td> + <td> + </td> + <td class="tdl">Aristotle</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + </td> + <td> + </td> + <td class="tdl">Demosthenes</td> + </tr> + </table> + </div> + </td> + <td class="tdc">400</td> + <td> </td> + <td>Alexander<br /> + The Gauls burn Rome</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> </td> + <td class="tdc">300</td> + <td> </td> + <td class="tdl">Wars of Rome against Carthage<br /> Hannibal in Italy</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> </td> + <td class="tdc">200</td> + <td> </td> + <td class="tdl">Greece becomes a Roman Province<br /><br /> + <span class="smcap">Rome</span><br /> + The Gracchi, Marius, and Sylla</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> + <div> + <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> + <tr> + <td colspan="3"><span class="smcap">Rome. Augustan Age, 31 b. c. to a. d. 14.</span></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Reatinus </td> + <td class="tdl">Ovid</td> + <td> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Sallust</td> + <td class="tdl">Livy</td> + <td> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Cicero</td> + <td class="tdl">Lucretius</td> + <td> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Virgil</td> + <td> + </td> + <td> + </td> + </tr> + </table> + </div> + </td> + <td class="tdc">100</td> + <td> </td> + <td><span class="smcap">Rome</span><br /> + Julius Cæsar<br /> + Pompey<br /> + Civil War, Empire established</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> + <div> + <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> + <tr> + <td> + </td> + <td class="tdl">Tacitus</td> + <td> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Plutarch</td> + <td class="tdl">Juvenal</td> + <td> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + </td> + <td class="tdl">Pliny</td> + <td> + </td> + </tr> + </table> + </div> + </td> + <td class="tdc">A.D.</td> + <td>Josephus</td> + <td>Jerusalem taken by Titus<br /> + Pompeii overwhelmed<br /> + Romans conquer Britain</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> + <div> + <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> + <tr> + <td> + </td> + <td>Epictetus</td> + <td> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + </td> + <td>Marcus Aurelius</td> + <td> + </td> + </tr> + </table> + </div> + </td> + <td class="tdc">100</td> + <td> </td> + <td>Church Fathers</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> </td> + <td class="tdc">200</td> + <td> </td> + <td>Aurelian conquers Zenobia</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_130">[130]</a></span> </td> + <td class="tdc">300</td> + <td> </td> + <td>Under Constantine Christianity becomes the State religion<br /> + Roman Empire divided</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> </td> + <td class="tdc">400</td> + <td> </td> + <td>Angles and Saxons drive out the Britons<br /> + Huns under Attila invade the Roman Empire</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> </td> + <td class="tdc">500</td> + <td> </td> + <td>Christianity carried to England by Augustine</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> + <div> + <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> + <tr> + <td class="tdl" colspan="2"><span class="smcap">English Literature</span></td> + <td> + </td> + <td> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Cædmon</td> + <td> + </td> + <td> + </td> + </tr> + </table> + </div> + </td> + <td class="tdc">600</td> + <td><span class="smcap">Arabia</span><br /> + <span class="in1">Mahomet</span></td> + <td> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> + <div> + <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> + <tr> + <td>Bæda</td> + <td> + </td> + <td> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Cynewulfda</td> + <td> + </td> + <td> + </td> + </tr> + </table> + </div> + </td> + <td class="tdc">700</td> + <td> </td> + <td><span class="smcap">France</span><br /> + <span class="in1">Charlemagne founds the Empire of the West</span></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> + <div> + <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> + <tr> + <td colspan="2">Ælfred, 850-900</td> + <td> + </td> + <td> + </td> + </tr> + </table> + </div> + </td> + <td class="tdc">800</td> + <td> </td> + <td>Danes overrun England<br /> + <i>Ælfred's glorious reign</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> </td> + <td class="tdc">900</td> + <td> </td> + <td>Chivalry begins<br /> + Capetian kings in France<br /> + <br /> + <span class="smcap">England</span><br /> + <span class="in1">Saint Dunstan</span><br /> + <span class="in1">Papal supremacy</span><br /></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_131">[131]</a></span> </td> + <td class="tdc">1000</td> + <td><span class="smcap">Persia</span><br /> + <span class="in1">Firdusi's Shah Nameh</span></td> + <td>Chivalry begins<br /> + Capetian kings in France<br /> + <br /> + <span class="smcap">England</span><br /> + <span class="in1">Canute the Great</span><br /> + <span class="in1">1066. <i>Norman</i> <i>Conquest</i></span><br /><br /> + Peter the Hermit<br /> + First Crusade</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> + <div> + <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> + <tr> + <td colspan="3">Geoffrey of Monmouth</td> + <td> + </td> + <td> + </td> + </tr> + </table> + </div> + </td> + <td class="tdc">1100</td> + <td><span class="smcap">Persia</span><br /> + <span class="in1">Omar Khayyám</span><br /> + <span class="smcap">Germany</span><br /> + <span class="in1">Nibelungenlied</span><br /> + <span class="smcap">Spain</span><br /> + <span class="in1">Chronicle of the Cid</span></td> + <td><span class="smcap">England</span><br /> + <span class="in1">Plantagenets</span><br /> + <span class="in1">Richard I.</span><br /><br /> + <span class="smcap">France</span><br /> + <span class="in1">Second and Third Crusades</span><br /> + <span class="in1">Saint Bernard</span></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> + <div> + <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> + <tr> + <td>Layamon</td> + <td> + </td> + <td> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Roger Bacon</td> + <td> + </td> + <td> + </td> + </tr> + </table> + </div> + </td> + <td class="tdc">1200</td> + <td><span class="smcap">Persia</span><br /> + <span class="in1">Saadi</span></td> + <td><span class="smcap">England</span><br /> + <span class="in1">1215. Runnymede, Magna Charta</span><br /> + <span class="in1">Edward I.</span></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> + <div> + <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> + <tr> + <td>Mandeville</td> + <td> + </td> + <td> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Langland</td> + <td> + </td> + <td> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Wycliffe</td> + <td>Chaucer</td> + <td> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Gower</td> + <td> + </td> + <td> + </td> + </tr> + </table> + </div> + </td> + <td class="tdc">1300</td> + <td><span class="smcap">Italy</span><br /> + <span class="in1">Dante</span><br /> + <span class="in1">Petrarch</span><br /> + <span class="in1">Boccaccio</span><br /><br /> + <span class="smcap">Persia</span><br /> + <span class="in1">Hafiz</span></td> + <td><span class="smcap">England</span><br /> + <span class="in1">Chivalry at its height</span><br /> + <span class="in1">The Black Prince</span><br /> + <span class="in1"><i>Gunpowder</i></span><br /><br /> + <span class="smcap">France</span><br /> + Battles of Crecy, Poictiers, and Agincourt</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> + <div> + <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> + <tr> + <td>Lydgate</td> + <td> + </td> + <td> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Fortescue</td> + <td> + </td> + <td> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Malory</td> + <td> + </td> + <td> + </td> + </tr> + </table> + </div> + </td> + <td class="tdc">1400</td> + <td><span class="smcap">Germany</span><br /> + <span class="in1">Thomas à Kempis</span><br /> + Arabian Nights (probably)<br /> + <span class="smcap">Persia</span><br /> + <span class="in1">Jami</span></td> + <td><span class="smcap">England</span><br /> + <span class="in1">Henry VIII. shook off the Pope</span><br /> + <i>Movable Type</i><br /> + <i>Discovery of America</i><br /> + Joan of Arc<br /> + Wars of the Roses</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> + <div> + <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> + <tr> + <td>More</td> + <td>Ascham</td> + <td> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Lyly</td> + <td>Sackville</td> + <td> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Sidney</td> + <td> + </td> + <td> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Marlowe </td> + <td>Fox</td> + <td> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Spenser</td> + <td>Hooker</td> + <td> + </td> + </tr> + </table> + </div> + </td> + <td class="tdc">1500</td> + <td> + <span class="smcap">Italy</span><br /> + <span class="in1">Ariosto</span><br /> + <span class="in1">Tasso</span><br /> + <span class="in1">Galileo</span><br /> + <br /> + <span class="smcap">France</span><br /> + <span class="in1">Montaigne</span></td> + <td> + <i>Copernicus</i><br /> + <i>Kepler</i><br /> + <i>The Armada</i><br /> + <span class="smcap">England</span><br /> + <span class="in1">Henry VIII., Elizabeth</span><br /> + <span class="smcap">Germany</span><br /> + <span class="in1">1515. <i>Luther's Reformation</i></span><br /> + <span class="smcap">France</span><br /> + <span class="in1">Massacre of St. Bartholomew</span></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> + <div> + <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> + <tr> + <td>Jonson </td> + <td>Bacon </td> + <td>Herbert</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Shakspeare </td> + <td>Newton </td> + <td>J.Taylor</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Chapman </td> + <td> + </td> + <td>Hobbes</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Beaumont & Fletcher </td> + <td> + </td> + <td>Walton</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Milton </td> + <td>Locke </td> + <td>S. Butler</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Bunyan </td> + <td>Pepys</td> + <td> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Dryden</td> + <td> + </td> + <td> + </td> + </tr> + </table> + </div> + </td> + <td class="tdc">1600</td> + <td> + <span class="smcap">Spain.</span><br /> + <span class="in1">Cervantes</span><br /> + <span class="in1">Calderon</span><br /> + <span class="smcap">Germany</span><br /> + <span class="in1">Kepler</span><br /> + <span class="smcap">France</span><br /> + <span class="in1">Descartes</span><br /> + <span class="in1">Corneille</span><br /> + <span class="in1">Racine</span><br /> + <span class="in1">Molière</span><br /> + <span class="in1">La Fontain</span></td> + <td> + 1620. Plymouth Rock and the "Mayflower"<br /> + 1649 <i>Cromwell</i><br /> + 1660 Restoration<br /> + 1688 Revolution<br /> + <span class="in1">William and Mary</span><br /> + <span class="smcap">France.</span><br /> + <span class="in1">Louis XIV.</span></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> + <div> + <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> + <tr> + <td>Addison </td> + <td>Cowper </td> + <td>Otis</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Steele </td> + <td>Burns </td> + <td>Jay</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Pope </td> + <td>Rogers </td> + <td>Adams</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Defoe </td> + <td>Hume </td> + <td>Hamilton</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Swift </td> + <td>Edwards </td> + <td>Madison</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Berkeley </td> + <td>A. Smith </td> + <td>Jefferson</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>J. Butler </td> + <td>Bentham </td> + <td>Pitt </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Moore </td> + <td>Gibbon </td> + <td>Burke </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Thomson </td> + <td>Johnson </td> + <td>Fox</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Young </td> + <td>Boswell </td> + <td>Erskine</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Gray </td> + <td>Malthus </td> + <td>P. Henry.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Goldsmith </td> + <td>Mackintosh</td> + <td> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Sterne </td> + <td>Paine</td> + <td> + </td> + </tr> + </table> + </div> + </td> + <td class="tdc">1700</td> + <td> + <span class="smcap">France</span><br /> + <span class="in1">Montesquieu</span><br /> + <span class="in1">Le Sage</span><br /> + <span class="smcap">Rousseau</span><br /> + <span class="in1">Voltaire</span><br /> + <br /> + <span class="smcap">Germany</span><br /> + <span class="in1">Munchausen</span><br /> + <span class="in1">Lessing</span></td> + <td> + 1776. American Revolution<br /> + 1789-94. French Revolution<br /> + <br /> + <span class="smcap">England</span><br /> + <span class="in1">Marlborough</span></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> + <div> + <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr> + <td>Scott</td> + <td>Herschel</td> + <td>DeQuincey</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td>Byron</td> + <td>Whewell</td> + <td>Whately</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td>Bryant</td> + <td>Ricardo</td> + <td>Jeffrey</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td>Drake</td> + <td>Carey</td> + <td>Brougham</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td>Wordsworth </td> + <td>Faraday</td> + <td>S. Smith</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td>Keats</td> + <td>Lyell</td> + <td>C. North</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td>Shelley</td> + <td>Agassiz</td> + <td>N. Webster</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td>Payne</td> + <td>Whitney</td> + <td>H. H. White</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td>Keble</td> + <td>A. Gray</td> + <td>D. Webster</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td>Halleck</td> + <td>Hallam</td> + <td>Sparks</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td>Key</td> + <td>Prescott</td> + <td>Story</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td>Macaulay</td> + <td>Lewes</td> + <td>Gould</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td>Hood</td> + <td>Milman</td> + <td>Cooper</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td>Poe</td> + <td>Buckle</td> + <td>Disraeli</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td>Read</td> + <td>Merivale</td> + <td>Dickens</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td>Tennyson</td> + <td>Hildreth</td> + <td>Thackeray</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td>Browning</td> + <td>Freeman</td> + <td>Bronté</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td>Lowell</td> + <td>Draper</td> + <td>Hawthorne</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td>Longfellow</td> + <td>Froude</td> + <td>Irving</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td>Carleton</td> + <td>Walpole</td> + <td>Hughes</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td>Ingelow</td> + <td>Lecky</td> + <td>Kingsley</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td>Whittier</td> + <td>Parkman</td> + <td>Eliot</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td>Mill</td> + <td>Bancroft</td> + <td>Collins</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td>Spencer</td> + <td>Whipple</td> + <td>Macdonald</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td>Ruskin</td> + <td>Twain</td> + <td>Hunt</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td>Arnold</td> + <td>Jerrold</td> + <td>Wallace</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td>Curtis</td> + <td>Choate</td> + <td>Clarke</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td>Holmes</td> + <td>Lincoln</td> + <td>Landor</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td>Mansel</td> + <td>Phillips</td> + <td>Tourgée</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td>Carlyle</td> + <td>Everett</td> + <td>Holland</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td>Emerson</td> + <td>Sumner</td> + <td>Howells</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td>Darwin</td> + <td>Garfield</td> + <td>Mrs. Whitney</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td>Huxley</td> + <td>Gladstone</td> + <td>Miss Alcott</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td>Dana</td> + <td>A. D. White </td> + <td>Bellamy</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td>Tyndall</td> + <td>Beecher</td> + <td>Gronlund</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td>Lubbock</td> + <td>P. Brooks</td> + <td>Gilman</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td>Proctor</td> + <td>Lamb</td> + <td>Holley</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td>Davy</td> + <td>Hazlitt</td> + <td>Dodge</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td>Proctor</td> + <td>Lamb</td> + <td>Jewett</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td>Davy</td> + <td>Hazlitt</td> + <td>Burroughs</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td>Bright</td> + <td>Rives</td> + <td>Stowe</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td>Fiske</td> + <td>Aldrich</td> + <td>Hearn</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td>Curtin</td> + <td>Warner</td> + <td>Burnett</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td>Hale</td> + <td>Curtis</td> + <td> </td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td>Edwards</td> + <td>Higginson</td> + <td> </td> +</tr> + </table> + </div> + </td> + <td class="tdc">1800</td> + <td> + <span class="smcap">Germany</span><br /> + <span class="in1">Schiller</span><br /> + <span class="in1">Goethe</span><br /> + <span class="in1">Kant</span><br /> + <span class="in1">Fichte</span><br /> + <span class="in1">Hegel</span><br /> + <span class="in1">Schelling</span><br /> + <span class="in1">Niebuhr</span><br /> + <span class="in1">Schlosser</span><br /> + <span class="in1">Heine</span><br /> + <span class="in1">Haeckel</span><br /> + <span class="in1">Helmholtz</span><br /> + <span class="in1">Grimm</span><br /> + <span class="in1">Froebel</span><br /> + <br /> + <span class="smcap">France</span><br /> + <span class="in1">La Place</span><br /> + <span class="in1">Guizot</span><br /> + <span class="in1">De Tocqueville</span><br /> + <span class="in1">Comte</span><br /> + <span class="in1">Hugo</span><br /> + <span class="in1">Dumas</span><br /> + <span class="in1">Balzac</span><br /> + <span class="in1">Renan</span><br /> + <span class="in1">Taine</span><br /> + <br /> + <span class="smcap">Russia</span><br /> + <span class="in1">Pushkin</span><br /> + <span class="in1">Lermontoff</span><br /> + <span class="in1">Bashkirtseff</span><br /> + <span class="in1">Tolstoi</span><br /> + <br /> + <span class="smcap">Denmark</span><br /> + <span class="in1">Andersen</span><br /> + <br /> + <span class="smcap">Poland</span><br /> + <span class="in1">Sienkiewicz</span></td> + <td> + 1807. Fulton's Steamboat<br /> + <span class="in1">Wellington</span><br /> + 1815. Waterloo<br /> + 1815. White wives sold in England<br /> + 1830. Passenger railway<br /> + 1833. Matches<br /> + <br /> + <br /> + <br /> + <br /> + 1844. Telegraph<br /> + 1845. Mexican War<br /> + <br /> + <br /> + <br /> + <br /> + <br /> + <br /> + 1860. Rebellion<br /> + 1863. Emancipation<br /> + <br /> + <br /> + <br /> + <br /> + <br /> + <br /> + 1870. Franco-German War<br /> + 1874. The Telephone<br /> + Emancipation of serfs in Russia</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> </td> + <td class="tdc">1900</td> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + </tr> +</table> +</div> + +<hr class="chapter" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_133">[133]</a></span></p> + +<h2 id="REMARKS_ON_TABLE_V">REMARKS ON TABLE V.</h2> + +<p><b>Definitions and Divisions.</b>—Literature is life pulsing +through life upon life; but only when the middle +life imparts new beauty to the first is literature produced +in any true and proper sense. The last life +is that of the reader; the middle one that of the +author; the first that of the person or age he pictures. +Literature is the past pouring itself into the +present. Every great man consumes and digests his +own times. Shakspeare gives us the England of +the 16th century, with the added qualities of beauty, +ideality, and order. When we read Gibbon's "Rome," +it is really the life of all those turbulent times of +which he writes that is pouring upon us through the +channels of genius. Dante paints with his own sublime +skill the portraits of Italy in the 14th century, +of his own rich, inner life, and of the universal human +soul in one composite masterpiece of art. In one +of Munchausen's stories, a bugler on the stage-top +in St. Petersburg was surprised to find that the bugle +stopped in the middle of the song. Afterward, in +Italy, sweet music was heard, and upon investigation +it was found that a part of the song had been frozen +in the instrument in Russia, and thawed in the warmer +air of Italy. So the music of river and breeze, of +battle and banquet, was frozen in the verse of Homer<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_134">[134]</a></span> +nearly three thousand years ago, and is ready at any +time, under the heat of our earnest study, to pour its +harmony into our lives.</p> + +<p>It is the fact that beauty is added by the author +which distinguishes <i>Literature</i> from the pictures of life +that are given to us by newspaper reporters, tables +of statistics, etc. Literature is not merely life,—it +is life <i>crystallized in art</i>. This is the first great line +dividing the Literary from the Non-Literary. The +first class is again divided into Poetry and Prose. +In the first the form is measured, and the substance +imagery and imagination. In the latter the form is +unmeasured, and the substance direct. Imagery is +the heart of poetry, and rhythm its body. The +thought must be expressed not in words merely, but +in words that convey other thoughts through which +the first shines. The inner life is pictured in the +language of external Nature, and Nature is painted +in the colors of the heart. The poet must dip his +brush in that eternal paint-pot from which the forests +and fields, the mountains, the sky, and the stars +were painted. He must throw human life out upon +the world, and draw the world into the stream of his +own thought. Sometimes we find the substance of +the poetic in the dress of prose, as in Emerson's and +in Ingersoll's lectures, and then we have the prose +poem; and sometimes we find the form of poetry +with only the direct expression, which is the substance +of prose, or perhaps without even the substance +of <i>literary</i> prose, as in parts of Wordsworth,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_135">[135]</a></span> +Pope, Longfellow, Homer, Tennyson, and even sometimes +in Shakspeare; see, for example, Tennyson's +"Dirge."</p> + +<p><b>Tests for the Choice of Books.</b>—In deciding which of +those glorious ships that sail the ages, bringing their +precious freight of genius to every time and people, +we shall invite into our ports, we must consider the +nature of the crew, the beauty, strength, and size of +the vessel, the depth of our harbor, the character of +the cargo, and our own wants. In estimating the +value of a book, we have to note (1) the kind of +life that forms its material; (2) the qualities of the +author,—that is, of the life through which the stream +comes to us, and whose spirit is caught by the current, +as the breezes that come through the garden +bear with them the perfume of flowers that they +touch; (3) the form of the book, its music, simplicity, +size, and artistic shape; (4) its merits, compared +with the rest of the books in its own sphere of +thought; (5) its fame; (6) our abilities; and (7) +our needs. There result several tests of the claims +of any book upon our attention.</p> + +<p>I. What effect will it have upon character? Will +it make me more careful, earnest, sincere, placid, +sympathetic, gay, enthusiastic, loving, generous, pure, +and brave by exercising these emotions in me, and +more abhorrent of evil by showing me its loathsomeness; +or more sorrowful, fretful, cruel, envious, vindictive, +cowardly, and false, less reverent of right +and more attracted by evil, by picturing good as<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_136">[136]</a></span> +coming from contemptible sources, and evil as +clothed with beauty? Is the author such a man as +I would wish to be the companion of my heart, or +such as I must study to avoid?</p> + +<p>II. What effect will the book produce upon the +mind? Will it exercise and strengthen my fancy, +imagination, memory, invention, originality, insight, +breadth, common-sense, and philosophic power? +Will it make me bright, witty, reasonable, and tolerant? +Will it give me the quality of intellectual +beauty? Will it give me a deeper knowledge of +human life, of Nature, and of my business, or open +the doorways of any great temple of science where I +am as yet a stranger? Will it help to build a standard +of taste in literature for the guidance of myself and +others? Will it give me a knowledge of what other +people are thinking and feeling, thus opening the avenues +of communication between my life and theirs?</p> + +<p>III. What will be the effect on my skills and accomplishments? +Will it store my mind full of beautiful +thoughts and images that will make my conversation +a delight and profit to my friends? Will it teach +me how to write with power, give me the art of +thinking clearly and expressing my thought with +force and attractiveness? Will it supply a knowledge +of the best means of attaining any other desired +art or accomplishment?</p> + +<p>IV. Is the book simple enough for me? Is it within +my grasp? If not, I must wait till I have come upon +a level with it.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_137">[137]</a></span></p> + +<p>V. Will the book impart a pleasure in the very +reading? This test alone is not reliable; for till our +taste is formed, the trouble may not be in it but in +ourselves.</p> + +<p>VI. Has it been superseded by a later book, or has +its truth passed into the every-day life of the race? +If so, I do not need to read it. Other things equal, +the authors nearest to us in time and space have the +greatest claims on our attention. Especially is this +true in science, in which each succeeding great book +sucks the life out of all its predecessors. In poetry +there is a principle that operates in the opposite +direction; for what comes last is often but an imitation, +that lacks the fire and force of the original. Nature +is best painted, not from books, but from her +own sweet face.</p> + +<p>VII. What is the relation of the book to the completeness +of my development? Will it fill a gap in +the walls of my building? Other things equal, I had +better read about something I know nothing of than +about something I am familiar with; for the aim is to +get a picture of the universe in my brain, and a full +development of my whole nature. It is a good plan +to read everything of something and something of +everything. A too general reader seems vague and +hazy, as if he were fed on fog; and a too special reader +is narrow and hard, as if fed on needles.</p> + +<p>VIII. Is the matter inviting my attention of permanent +value? The profits of reading what is merely of +the moment are not so great as those accruing from<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_138">[138]</a></span> +the reading of literature that is of all time. To +hear the gossip of the street is not as valuable as +to hear the lectures of Joseph Cook, or the sermons +of Beecher and Brooks. On this principle, most of +our time should be spent on classics, and very little +upon transient matter. There is a vast amount of +energy wasted in this country in the reading of newspapers +and periodicals. The newspaper is a wonderful +thing. It brings the whole huge earth to me in a +little brown wrapper every morning. The editor is +a sort of travelling stage-manager, who sets up his +booth on my desk every day, bringing with him the +greatest performers from all the countries of the +world, to play their parts before my eyes. Yonder +is an immense mass-meeting; and that mite, brandishing +his mandibles in an excited manner, is the great +Mr. So-and-So, explaining his position amid the tumultuous +explosions of an appreciative multitude. +That puffet of smoke and dust to the right is a revolution. +There in the shadow of the wood comes an +old man who lays down a scythe and glass while he +shifts the scenes, and we see a bony hand reaching +out to snatch back a player in the midst of his part, +and even trying to clutch the showman himself. For +three dollars a year I can buy a season ticket to +this great Globe theatre, for which God writes the +dramas, whose scene-shifter is Time, and whose curtain +is rung down by Death.<a id="FNanchor_1_328"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_328" class="fnanchor">[1]</a> But theatre-going, +if kept up continuously, is very enervating. 'T is +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_139">[139]</a></span>better far to read the hand-bills and placards at the +door, and only when the play is great go in. Glance +at the head-lines of the paper always; read the mighty +pages seldom. The editors could save the nation +millions of rich hours by a daily column of <i>brief but +complete</i> statements of the paper's contents, instead +of those flaring head-lines that allure but do not satisfy, +and only lead us on to read that Mr. Windbag +nominated Mr. Darkhorse amid great applause, and +that Mr. Darkhorse accepted in a three-column +speech skilfully constructed so as to commit himself +to nothing; or that Mr. Bondholder's daughter +was married, and that Mrs. So-and-So wore cream +satin and point lace, with roses, etc.</p> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_1_328"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_328"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> Adapted from Lowell.</p></div> + +<p><b>Intrinsic Merit.</b>—It must be noted that the tests of +intrinsic merit are not precisely the same as the tests +for the choice of books. The latter include the +former and more. Intrinsic merit depends on the +character impressed upon the book by its subject-matter +and the author; but in determining the claims +of a book upon the attention of the ordinary English +reader, it is necessary not only to look at the book itself, +but also to consider the needs and abilities of the +reader. One may not be able to read the book that +is intrinsically the best, because of the want of time +or lack of sufficient mental development. Green's +"Short History of England" and Dickens' "Child's +History of England" may not be the greatest works +in their department, but they may have the <i>greatest +claims on the attention</i> of one whose time or ability is<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_140">[140]</a></span> +limited. A chief need of every one is to know what +others are thinking and feeling. To open up avenues +of communication between mind and mind is one of +the great objects of reading. Now it often happens +that a book of no very high merit artistically considered—a +book that can never take rank as a classic—becomes +very famous, and is for a time the subject +of much comment and conversation. In such cases +all who would remain in thorough sympathy with +their fellows must give the book at least a hasty +reading, or in some way gain a knowledge of its contents. +Intrinsically "Robert Elsmere" and "Looking +Backward" may not be worthy of high rank +(though I am by no means so sure of this as many +of the critics seem to be); but their fame, joined as +it is with high motive, entitles them to a reading.</p> + +<p>It is always a good plan, however, to endeavor to +ascertain the absolute or intrinsic merit of a book +first, and afterward arrive at the relative value or +claim upon the attention by making the correction +required by the time and place, later publications +in the same department, the peculiar needs and abilities +of readers, etc.</p> + +<p>In testing intrinsic worth we must consider—</p> + +<p> +Motive.<br /> +Magnitude.<br /> +Unity.<br /> +Universality.<br /> +Suggestiveness.<br /> +Expression.<br /> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_141">[141]</a></span></p> + +<p><b>Motive.</b>—The purpose of the author and the emotional +character of the subject matter are of great +importance. A noble subject nobly handled begets +nobility in the reader, and a spirit of meanness +brought into a book by its subject or author also +impresses itself upon those who come in contact +with it. Kind, loving books make the world more +tender-hearted; coarse and lustful books degrade +mankind. The nobility of the sentiment in and +underlying a work is therefore a test of prime +importance.</p> + +<p> +Whittier's "Voices of Freedom,"<br /> +Lowell's "Vision of Sir Launfal,"<br /> +Tennyson's "Locksley Hall,"<br /> +Warner's "A-Hunting of the Deer,"<br /> +Shakspeare's "Coriolanus,"<br /> +Macaulay's "Horatius" and "Virginia,"<br /> +Æschylus' "Prometheus,"<br /> +Dickens' "Christmas Carol,"<br /> +Sewell's "Black Beauty,"<br /> +Chaucer's "Griselda,"<br /> +Browning's "Ivan Ivanovitch,"<br /> +Arnold's "Forsaken Merman," and "The Light of Asia,"<br /> +</p> + +<p>are fine examples of high motive.</p> + +<p><b>Magnitude.</b>—The grander the subject, the deeper +the impression upon us. In reading a book like +"The Light of Asia," that reveals the heart of a great +religion, or Guizot's "Civilization in Europe," that +deals with the life of a continent, or Darwin's "Origin +of Species," or Spencer's "Nebular Hypothesis,"<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_142">[142]</a></span> +that grapples with problems as wide as the world +and as deep as the starry spaces,—in reading such +books we receive into ourselves a larger part of the +universe than when we devote ourselves to the history +of the town we live in, or the account of the +latest game of base ball.</p> + +<p><b>Unity.</b>—A book, picture, statue, play, or oratorio +is an artistic unity when no part of it could be +removed without injury to the whole effect. True +art masses many forces to a single central purpose. +The more complex a book is in its substance (not its +expression),—that is to say, the greater the variety +of thoughts and feelings compressed within its lids,—the +higher it will rank, if the parts are good in themselves +and are so related as to produce one tremendous +effect. But no intrusion of anything not +essentially related to the supreme purpose can be +tolerated. A good book is like a soldier who will +not burden himself with anything that will not increase +his fighting power, because, if he did, its +weight would <i>diminish</i> his fighting force. In the +same way, if a book contains unnecessary matter, a +portion of the attention that should be concentrated +upon the real purpose of the volume, is absorbed +by the superfluous pages, rendering the effect less +powerful than it would otherwise be. Most of the +examples of high motive named above, would be in +place here, especially,—</p> + +<p> +Prometheus.<br /> +The Forsaken Merman.<br /> +The Light of Asia.<br /> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_143">[143]</a></span></p> + +<p>Other fine specimens of unity are,—</p> + +<p> +Holmes's "Nautilus."<br /> +Hood's "Bridge of Sighs."<br /> +Gray's "Elegy."<br /> +Hunt's "Abou Ben Adhem."<br /> +Longfellow's "Psalm of Life."<br /> +Whittier's "Barefoot Boy."<br /> +Shelley's "Ode to a Skylark."<br /> +Shelley's "Ode to the West Wind."<br /> +Byron's "Eve of Waterloo."<br /> +Bryant's "Thanatopsis."<br /> +Reed's "Drifting."<br /> +Drake's "Culprit Fay."<br /> +Irving's "Art of Bookmaking," etc. (in "Sketch Book").<br /> +Rives' "Story of Arnon."<br /> +Dante's "Divine Comedy."<br /> +Schiller's "Veiled Statue of Truth."<br /> +Goethe's "Erl King."<br /> +</p> + +<p>Humor alone has a right to violate unity even apparently; +and although wit and humor produce their +effects by displaying incongruities, yet underlying +all high art, in this department as in others, there is +always a deep unity,—a truth revealed and enforced +by the destruction of its contradictories accomplished +by the sallies of wit and humor.</p> + +<p><b>Universality.</b>—Other things equal, the more people +interested in the subject the more important the +book. A matter which affects a million people is +of more consequence than one which affects only a +single person. National affairs, and all matters of +magnitude, of course possess this quality; but magnitude<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_144">[144]</a></span> +is not necessary to universality,—the thoughts, +feelings, and actions of an unpretentious person in +a little village may be types of what passes in the +life of every human being, and by their representativeness +attain a more universal interest for mankind +than the business and politics of a state.</p> + +<p>The rules of tennis are not of so wide importance +as an English grammar, nor is the latter so universal +as Dante's "Inferno" or "The Meditations of +Marcus Aurelius,"—these being among the books +that in the highest degree possess the quality under +discussion. Other fine examples are—</p> + +<p> +Goethe's "Faust."<br /> +Shakespeare's Plays and Sonnets.<br /> +Bunyan's "Pilgrim's Progress."<br /> +Arnold's "Light of Asia."<br /> +Bacon's and Emerson's Essays.<br /> +"Uncle Tom's Cabin."<br /> +Sewell's "Black Beauty."<br /> +Eliot's "Romola."<br /> +Curtis' "Prue and I."<br /> +Cooper's "Last of the Mohicans."<br /> +Tourgée's "Hot Plowshares."<br /> +Irving's "Sketch Book."<br /> +Plato, Spencer, etc.<br /> +</p> + +<p>In fact, all books that express love, longing, admiration, +tenderness, sorrow, laughter, joy, victory +over nature or man, or any other thought or feeling +common to men, have the attribute of universality in +greater or less degree.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_145">[145]</a></span></p> + +<p><b>Suggestiveness.</b>—Every great work of art suggests +far more than it expresses. This truth is illustrated by +paintings like Bierstadt's "Yosemite" or his "Drummer +Boy," Millet's "Angelus," or Turner's "Slave +Ship." Statues like the "Greek Slave" or "The +Forced Prayer;" speeches like those of Phillips, Fox, +Clay, Pitt, Bright, Webster, and Brooks; songs like +"Home, Sweet Home," "My Country," "Douglas," +"Annie Laurie;" and books like</p> + +<p> +Emerson's Essays.<br /> +Æschylus' "Prometheus."<br /> +Goethe's "Faust" and "Wilhelm Meister."<br /> +Dante's "Divine Comedy."<br /> +"Hamlet" and many other of Shakspeare's Plays.<br /> +Curtis' "Prue and I."<br /> +The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius.<br /> +The Sermons of Phillips Brooks and Robertson.<br /> +"My Summer in a Garden," by Warner; etc.<br /> +</p> + +<p>A single sentence in Emerson often suggests a +train of thought that would fill a volume; and a single +inflection of Patti's voice in singing "Home, Sweet +Home" will fill the heart to overflowing.</p> + +<p><b>Expression.</b>—Like a musician, an author must study +technique. A book may possess high motive, artistic +unity, universality, suggestiveness, magnitude of +thought, and yet be lacking in clearness, purity, +music, smoothness, force, finish, tone-color, or even +in proper grammatical construction. The style ought +to be carefully adapted to the subject and to the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_146">[146]</a></span> +readers likely to be interested in it. <i>Force</i> and <i>beauty</i> +may be imparted to the subject by a good style. In +poetry beauty is the supreme object, the projection of +truth upon the <i>mind</i> being subordinate. Poetry expresses +the truths of the soul. In prose, on the other +hand, truth is the main purpose, and beauty is used +as a helper. As a soldier studies his guns, and a +dentist his tools, so a writer must study the laws of +rhythm, accent, phrasing, alliteration, phonetic syzygy, +run-on and double-ending lines, rhyme, and, last but +not least, the melodies of common speech. The +first three and the last are the most important, and +should be thoroughly studied in Shakspeare, Addison, +Irving, and other masters of style by every one +who wishes to write or to judge the work of others. +Except as to rhyme, the arts of writing prose and +poetry are substantially the same. Theoretically there +is a fundamental difference in respect to rhythm,—that +of a poem being limited to the repetition of +some chosen type, that of prose being unlimited. +A little study makes it clear, however, that the +highest poetry, as that of Shakspeare's later plays, +crowds the type with the forms of common speech; +while the highest efforts of prose, as that of Addison, +Irving, Phillips, Ingersoll's oration over his dead +brother, etc., display rhythms that approach the order +and precision of poetry. In practice the best +prose and the best poetry approach each other very +closely, moving from different directions toward the +same point.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_147">[147]</a></span></p> + +<p>It is of great advantage to form the habit of +noticing the <i>tunes</i> of speech used by those around +us; the study will soon become very pleasurable, +and will be highly profitable by teaching the observer +what mode of expression is appropriate to +each variety of thought and feeling. There is a +rhythm that of itself produces a comic effect, no +matter how sober the words may be; and it is the +same that we find in "Pinafore," in the "Mariner's +Duet" in the opera of "Paul Jones," and in the minstrel +dance. For fifteen centuries all the great battle-songs +have been written in the same rhythm; they +fall into it naturally, because it expresses the movement +of mighty conflict. See Lanier's "Science of +English Verse," pages 151 <i>et seq.</i>, 231 <i>et seq.</i> This is +the best book upon technique; but Spencer's Essay on +the Philosophy of Style, and Poe's Essay on his composition +of "The Raven" should not be overlooked. +Franklin and many others have discovered the laws of +style simply by careful study of the "Spectator."</p> + +<p>Of course it is not easy to decide the true rank of +a book, even when we have tested it in respect to +all the elements we have named. One book may be +superior in expression, another in suggestiveness, and +so on. Then we have to take note of the relative +importance of these various elements of greatness. +A little superiority in motive or suggestiveness is +worth far more than the same degree of superiority +as to unity or magnitude. A book filled with noble +sentiment, though lacking unity, should rank far<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_148">[148]</a></span> +above "Don Juan," or any other volume that expresses +the ignoble part of human nature, however +perfect the work may be from an artistic point of +view. Having now examined the tests of intrinsic +merit, let me revert for a moment to my remark, a +few pages back, to the effect that "Looking Backward" +and "Robert Elsmere" deserve a high rank. +They are books of <i>lofty aim</i>, great magnitude of subject +and thought, fine unity, <i>wide universality</i>, <i>exhaustless +suggestiveness</i>, and more than ordinary +power of expression. Doubtless they are not <i>absolute</i> +classics,—not books of all time,—for their +subjects are transitional, not eternal. They deal with +<i>doubts</i>, religious and industrial; when these have +passed away, the mission of the books will be fulfilled, +and their importance will be less. But they +are <i>relative</i> classics,—books that are of great value +to their age, and will be great as long as their subjects +are prominent.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_149">[149]</a></span></p> + +<hr class="chapter" /> + +<h2 id="SUPREME_BOOKS">SUPREME BOOKS</h2> + +<p class="smcap h3">in the<br />Literatures of England, America, Greece, +Rome, Italy, France, Spain, Germany, Persia, +Portugal, Denmark, Russia.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_150">[150]</a></span></p> + +<hr class="chapter" /> + +<h2 id="PERIODS_OF_ENGLISH_LITERATURE">PERIODS OF ENGLISH LITERATURE.</h2> + +<p>The highest summit of our literature—and indeed +of the literature of the world—is Shakspeare. He +brings us life in the greatest force and volume, of the +highest quality, and clothed in the richest beauty. +His age, which was practically identical with the +reign of Elizabeth, is the golden age of English letters; +and taking it for a basis of division, we have +the Pre-Shakspearian Age from 600 to 1559, the +Shakspearian Age from 1559 to 1620, and the Post-Shakspearian +Age from 1620 to the present.</p> + +<p><b>The first age</b> is divided into three periods.</p> + +<p><i>First</i>, the Early Period, from 600 to the Norman +Conquest in 1066, which holds the names of Beowulf,<a id="FNanchor_2_329"></a><a href="#Footnote_2_329" class="fnanchor">[2]</a> +Cædmon,<a id="FNanchor_3_330"></a><a href="#Footnote_3_330" class="fnanchor">[3]</a> Bæda,<a id="FNanchor_4_331"></a><a href="#Footnote_4_331" class="fnanchor">[4]</a> Cynewulf, and Ælfred, the +great king who did so much for the learning of his +country, bringing many great scholars into England +from all over the world, and himself writing the best +prose that had been produced in English, and changing +the "Anglo-Saxon Chronicle"—till his time a +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_151">[151]</a></span>mere record of noble births and deaths—into a valuable +periodical, the progenitor of the vast horde +that threatens to expel the classics in our day. The +literature of this period has little claim upon us except +on the ground of breadth. The <i>Anglo-Saxon +Chronicle</i>, and the poems of <i>Beowulf</i>, <i>Cædmon</i>, and +<i>Cynewulf</i>, should be glanced at to see what sort +of people our ancestors were.</p> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_2_329"></a><a href="#FNanchor_2_329"><span class="label">[2]</span></a> An epic poem, full of the life, in peace and war, of our +Saxon fathers before they came to England.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_3_330"></a><a href="#FNanchor_3_330"><span class="label">[3]</span></a> The writer of a paraphrase on the Bible; a feeble Milton.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_4_331"></a><a href="#FNanchor_4_331"><span class="label">[4]</span></a> A very learned man, who gathered many scholars about +him, and who finished translating the Gospel of John on his +death-bed and with his latest breath.</p></div> + +<p><i>Second</i>, the Period of Chaucer, from 1066 to the +death of Chaucer in 1400. The great books of +this period were <i>Mandeville's Travels</i>, Langland's +"Piers the Ploughman." Wycliffe's translation of the +Bible (these two books, with Wycliffe's tracts, went +all over England among the common people, rousing +them against the Catholic Church, and starting +the reformation that afterward grew into Puritanism, +and gained control of the nation under Cromwell), +Gower's Poems, and <i>Chaucer's Canterbury Tales</i>. +Those in italics are the only books that claim our +reading. Mandeville travelled thirty years, and then +wrote all he saw and all he heard from the mouth of +rumor. Chaucer is half French and two-thirds Italian. +He drank in the spirit of the Golden Age of +Italy, which was in the early part of his own century. +Probably he met Petrarch and Boccaccio, and certainly +he drew largely from their works as well as +from Dante's, and he dug into poor Gower as into a +stone quarry. He is still our best story-teller in +verse, and one of our most musical poets; and every +one should know something of this "morning star of<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_152">[152]</a></span> +English poetry," by far the greatest light before the +Elizabethan age, and still easily among the first five +or six of our poets.</p> + +<p><i>Third</i>, the Later Period, from 1400 to 1559, in +which <i>Malory's Morte D'Arthur</i>, containing fragments +of the stories about King Arthur and the +knights of his round table, which like a bed-rock +crop out so often in English Literature, should be +read while reading Tennyson's "Idylls of the King," +which is based upon Malory; and <i>Sir Thomas More's +Utopia</i> also claims some attention on the plea of +breadth, as it is the work of a great mind, thoroughly +and practically versed in government, and sets forth +his idea of a perfect commonwealth.</p> + +<p>In this age of nine and a half centuries there were, +then, ten noteworthy books and one great book; eight +only of the eleven, however, have any claim upon +our attention, the last three being all that are entitled +to more than a rapid reading by the general +student; and only Chaucer for continuous companionship +can rank high, and even he cannot be put +on the first shelf.</p> + +<hr class="chapter" /> + +<p><b>In the Shakspearian Age</b> the great books were +(1) <i>Roger Ascham's Schoolmaster</i>, which was a +fine argument for kindness in teaching and nobility +in the teacher, but has been superseded by Spencer's +"Education." (2) <i>Sackville's Induction</i> to a series +of political tragedies, called "A Mirror for Magistrates." +The poet goes down into hell like Dante,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_153">[153]</a></span> +and meets Remorse, Famine, War, Misery, Care, +Sleep, Death, etc., and talks with noted Englishmen +who had fallen. This "Mirror" was of great fame +and influence in its day; and the "Induction," though +far inferior to both Chaucer and Spenser, is yet the best +poetic work done in the time between those masters. +(3) <i>John Lyly's Euphues</i>, a book that expressed +the thought of Ascham's "Schoolmaster" in a style +peculiar for its puns, antitheses, and floweriness,—a +style which made a witty handling of language the +chief aim of writing. Lyly was a master of the art, +and the ladies of the court committed his sentences +in great numbers, that they might shine in society. +The book has given a word to the language; that +affected word-placing style is known as <i>euphuistic</i>. +The book has no claims upon our reading. (4) <i>Sir +Philip Sidney's Arcadia</i>, a romance in the same +conceited style as the "Euphues," and only valuable +as a mine for poetic images. (5) <i>Hooker's Ecclesiastical +Polity</i>, which was a defence of the church +system against the Puritans. The latter said that no +such system of church government could be found in +the Bible, and therefore should not exist. Hooker +answered that Nature was a revelation from God as +well as the Bible; and if in Nature and society there +were good reasons for the existence of an institution, +that was enough. The book is not of importance to +the general reader to-day, for the truth of its principles +is universally admitted. (6) <i>The Plays of +Marlowe</i>, a very powerful but gross writer. His<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_154">[154]</a></span> +"Dr. Faustus" may very properly receive attention, +but only after the best plays of Shakspeare, Jonson, +Calderon, Racine, Molière, Corneille, Æschylus, Sophocles, +Euripides, and Aristophanes have been carefully +read. (7) <i>The Plays of Beaumont and Fletcher</i>, +which are filled with beauty and imagination, mingled +with the immodesty and vulgarity that were +natural to this age. The remark just made about +Marlowe applies here. (8) <i>Fox's Book of Martyrs</i>, +which for the sake of breadth should be +glanced at by every one. The marvellous heroism +and devotion to faith on one side, and cruelty on +the other that come to us through the pages of this +history, open a new world to the modern mind. (9) +<i>Edmund Spenser's Faerie Queene</i>, which combines +the poetry of a Homer with the allegory of a Bunyan. +It presents moral truth under vast and beautiful +imagery. In English poetry it claims our attention +next to Shakspeare and Milton. (10) <i>Ben Jonson's +Plays</i>, which stand next to those of Shakspeare in +English drama. (11) <i>The Plays of Shakspeare</i>, +which need no comment, as they have already been +placed at the summit of all literature; and (12) <i>Bacon's +Works</i>, including the <i>Novum Organum</i>, the +<i>New Atlantis</i>, and the <i>Essays</i>, the first of which, +though one of the greatest books of the world, setting +forth the true methods of arriving at truth by +experiment and observation and the collation of +facts, we do not need to read, because the substance +of it may be found in better form in Mill's Logic.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_155">[155]</a></span> +The "Essays," however, are world-famed for their condensed +wit and wisdom on topics of never-dying interest, +and stand among the very best books on the +upper shelf. The "New Atlantis" also should be +read for breadth, with More's "Utopia;" the subject +being the same, namely, an ideal commonwealth.</p> + +<p>From this sixty-one years of prolific writing, in +which no less than two hundred and thirty authors +gathered their poems together and published them, +to say nothing of all the scattered writings, twelve +volumes have come down to us with a large measure +of fame. Only the last seven call for our reading; +but two of them, Shakspeare and Bacon, are among +the very most important books on the first shelf of +the world's library.</p> + +<hr class="chapter" /> + +<p><b>The Post-Shakspearian Age</b> is divided into four times, +or periods,—the Time of Milton; the Time of Dryden; +the Time of Pope; and the Time of the Novelists, +Historians, and Scientists.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">The Time of Milton</span>, from 1620 to 1674, was +contemporary with the Golden Age of literature in +France. The great English books of this time were +(1) <i>Chapman's Translation of Homer</i>, which is superseded +by Pope's. (2) <i>Hobbes's Leviathan</i>, a +discourse on government. Hobbes taught that government +exists for the people, and rests not on the +divine right of kings, but on a compact or agreement +of all the citizens to give up a portion of their +liberties in order by social co-operation the better<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_156">[156]</a></span> +to secure the remainder. He is one of our greatest +philosophers; but the general reader will find the +substance of Hobbes's whole philosophy better put +in Locke, Mill, and Herbert Spencer. (3) <i>Walton's +Complete Angler</i>, the work of a retired merchant +who combined a love of fishing with a poetic perception +of the beauties of Nature. It will repay +a glance. (4) <i>S. Butler's Hudibras</i>, a keen satire +on the Puritans who went too far in their effort to +compel all men to conform their lives to the Puritan +standard of abstinence from worldly pleasures. In +spite of its vulgarity, the book stands very high +in the literature of humor. (5) <i>George Herbert's +Poems</i>, many of which are as sweet and holy as a +flower upon a grave, and are beloved by all spiritually +minded people. (6) <i>Jeremy Taylor's Holy +Living and Dying</i>, a book that in the strength +of its claim upon us must rank close after the +Bible, Shakspeare, and the Science of Physiology +and Hygiene. (7) <i>Milton's Poems</i>, of which the +"Paradise Lost" and "Comus," for their sublimity +and beauty, rank next after Shakspeare in English +poetry. Æschylus, Dante, and Milton are the three +sublimest souls in history.</p> + +<p>From this time of fifty-four years seven great books +have come to us, Milton and Taylor being among our +most precious possessions.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">The Time of Dryden.</span>—From the death of Milton, +in 1674, to the death of Dryden, in 1700, the latter +held undisputed kingship in the realm of letters.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_157">[157]</a></span> +This and the succeeding time of Pope were marked +by the development of a classic style and a fine literary +and critical taste, but were lacking in great creative +power. The great books were (1) <i>Newton's +Principia</i>, the highest summit in the region of astronomy, +unless the "Mécanique Céleste" of Laplace +must be excepted. Newton's discovery of the law of +gravitation, and his theory of fluxions place him at +the head of the mathematical thinkers of the world. +His books, however, need not be read by the general +student, for in these sciences the later books are +better. (2) <i>Locke's Works</i> upon Government and +the Understanding are among the best in the world, +but their results will all be found in the later works +of Spencer, Mill, and Bryce; and the only part of +the writings of Locke that claims our reading to-day +is the little book upon the <i>Conduct of the Understanding</i>, +which tells us how to watch the processes +of our thought, to keep clear of prejudice, careless +observation, etc., and should be in the hands of every +one who ever presumes to do any thinking. (3) +<i>Dryden's Translation of Virgil</i> is the best we have, +and contains the finest writing of our great John. +(4) <i>Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress</i> picturing in magnificent +allegory the journey of a Christian soul toward +heaven, and his "Holy War," telling of the +conflict between good and evil, and the devil's efforts +to capture and hold the town of "Mansoul," should +be among the first books we read. The "Progress" +holds a place in the affections of all English-speaking<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_158">[158]</a></span> +peoples second only to the Bible. (5) <i>Sam Pepys's +Diary</i> is the greatest book of its kind in the world, +and is much read for its vividness and interesting detail. +It has, however, no claims to be read until all +the books on the first shelf of <a href="#TABLE_I">Table I</a>. have been +mastered, and a large portion of the second shelf +pretty thoroughly looked into.</p> + +<p>Of the five great works of these twenty-six years, +Bunyan and Locke are far the most important for us.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">The Time of Pope</span>, or the <i>Time of the Essayists +and Satirists</i>, covers a period of forty years, from +1700 to 1740, during which the great translator of +Homer held the sceptre of literary power by unanimous +assent. The great works of this time were +(1) <i>The Essays of Addison and Steele</i> in the "Tatler" +and "Spectator," which, though of great merit, +must rank below those of Emerson, Bacon, and +Montaigne. (2) <i>Defoe's Robinson Crusoe</i>, the boy's +own book. (3) <i>Swift's Satires</i>,—the "Tale of a +Tub," "Gulliver's Travels," and the "Battle of the +Books,"—all full of the strongest mixture of grossness, +fierceness, and intense wit that the world has +seen. The "Battle of the Books" may be read with +great advantage by the general reader as well as +by the student of humor. (4) <i>Berkeley's Human +Knowledge</i>, exceedingly interesting for the keenness +of its confutation of any knowledge of the existence +of matter. (5) <i>Pope's Poems</i>—the "Rape of +the Lock" (which means the theft of a lock of hair), +the "Essay on Man," and his translation of Homer<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_159">[159]</a></span>—must +form a part of every wide course of reading. +Their mechanical execution, especially, is of the very +finest. (6) <i>Thomson's Seasons</i>, a beautiful poem of +the second class. (7) <i>Butler's Analogy</i>, chiefly noted +for its proof of the existence of God from the fact +that there is evidence of design in Nature.</p> + +<p>Of these writers, Pope and Defoe are far the most +important for us.</p> + +<p>We have, down to this time of 1740, out of a literature +covering eleven and a half centuries, recommended +to the chief attention of the reader ten great +authors,—Chaucer and Spenser, Shakspeare and Bacon, +Milton and Taylor, Bunyan and Locke, Pope +and Defoe. We now come to the <span class="smcap">Time of Novelists, +Historians, and Scientists</span>, a period in the +history of our literature that is so prolific of great +writers in all the vastly multiplied departments of +thought, that it is no longer possible to particularize +in the manner we have done in regard to the preceding +ages. A sufficient illustration has been given of +the methods of judging books and the results of their +application. With the ample materials of <a href="#TABLE_I">Table I</a>. +before him, the reader must now be left to make his +own judgments in regard to the relative merits of the +books of the modern period. We shall confine our +remarks on this last time of English literature to the +recommendation of ten great authors to match the +ten great names of former times. In history, we shall +name <i>Parkman</i>, the greatest of American historians; +in philosophy, <i>Herbert Spencer</i>, the greatest name<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_160">[160]</a></span> +in the whole list of philosophers; in poetry, <i>Byron</i> +and <i>Tennyson</i>, neither of them equal to Shakspeare +and Milton, but standing in the next file behind +them; in fiction, <i>Scott</i>, <i>Eliot</i>, and <i>Dickens</i>; in poetic +humor, <i>Lowell</i>, the greatest of all names in this department; +and in general literature, <i>Carlyle</i> and +<i>Ruskin</i>, two of the purest, wisest, and most forcible +writers of all the past, and, curiously enough, both +of them very eccentric and very wordy,—a sort of +English double star, which will be counted in this +list as a unit, in order to crowd in <i>Emerson</i>, who +belongs in this great company, and is not by any +means the least worthy member of it. One more +writer there is in this time greater than any we have +named, except Spencer and Scott; namely, the author +of "The Origin of Species." <i>Darwin</i> stands by the +side of Newton in the history of scientific thought; +but, like his great compeer, the essence of his book +has come to be a part of modern thought that floats +in the air we breathe; and so his claims to being +read are less than those of authors who cannot be +called so great when speaking of intrinsic merit.</p> + +<p>Having introduced the greatest ten of old, and ten +that may be deemed the greatest of the new, in English +letters, we shall pass to take a bird's-eye view +of what is best in Greece and Rome, France, Italy, +and Spain, and say a word of Persia, Germany, and +Portugal.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_161">[161]</a></span></p> + +<hr class="chapter" /> + +<h2 id="THE_GREATEST_NAMES_OF_OTHER_LITERATURES">THE GREATEST NAMES OF OTHER LITERATURES.</h2> + +<p><b>Greece</b>, in her thirteen centuries of almost continuous +literary productiveness from Homer to Longus, +gave the world its greatest epic poet, <i>Homer</i>; the +finest of lyric poets, <i>Pindar</i>; the prince of orators, +<i>Demosthenes</i>; aside from our own Bacon and Spencer, +the greatest philosophers of all the ages, <i>Plato</i> and +<i>Aristotle</i>; the most noted of fabulists, <i>Æsop</i>; the most +powerful writer of comedy, <i>Aristophanes</i> (Molière, +however, is much to be preferred for modern reading, +because of his fuller applicability to our life); +and the three greatest writers of pure tragedy, <i>Æschylus</i>, +<i>Sophocles</i>, and <i>Euripides</i>,—the first remarkable +for his gloomy grandeur and gigantic, dark, and +terrible sublimity; the second for his sweet majesty +and pathos; and third for the power with which he +paints men as they are in real life. Euripides was a +great favorite with Milton and Fox.</p> + +<p>To one who is not acquainted with these ten great +Greeks, much of the sweetest and grandest of life remains +untasted and unknown. Begin with Homer, +Plato's "Phædo" and "Republic," Æschylus' "Prometheus +Bound," Sophocles' "Œdipus," and Demosthenes' +"On the Crown."<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_162">[162]</a></span></p> + +<p>A liberal reading must also include the Greek historians +Herodotus, Thucydides, and Xenophon.</p> + +<p><b>Rome</b> taught the world the art of war, but was herself +a pupil in the halls of Grecian letters. Only three +writers—<i>Plutarch</i>, <i>Marcus Aurelius</i> (who both wrote +in Greek), and <i>Epictetus</i>—can claim our attention in +anything like an equal degree with the authors of +Athens named just above. Its literature as a whole +is on a far lower plane than that of Greece or England. +A liberal education must include Virgil's +"Æneid," the national epic of Rome (which, however, +must take its place in our lives and hearts far +after Homer, Shakspeare, Milton, Dante, and Goethe), +for its elegance and imagination; Horace, for his +wit, grace, sense, and inimitable witchery of phrase; +Lucretius, for his depth of meditation; Tacitus, for +knowledge of our ancestors; Ovid and Catullus, for +their beauty of expression; Juvenal, for the keenness +of his satire; and Plautus and Terence, for their insight +into the characters of men. But these books +should wait until at least the three first named in +this paragraph, with the ten Greek and twenty English +writers spoken of in the preceding paragraphs, +have come to be familiar friends.</p> + +<p><b>Italy</b>, in Chaucer's century, produced a noble literature. +<i>Dante</i> is the Shakspeare of the Latin races. +He stands among the first creators of sublimity. Æschylus +and Milton only can claim a place beside him. +<i>Petrarch</i> takes lofty rank as a lyric poet, breathing +the heart of love. Boccaccio may be put with Chaucer.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_163">[163]</a></span> +Ariosto and Tasso wrote the finest epics of +Italian poetry. A liberal education must neglect no +one of these. Every life should hold communion +with the soul of Dante, and get a taste at least of +Petrarch.</p> + +<p><b>France</b> has a glorious literature; in science, the +best in the world. In history, <i>Guizot</i>; in jurisprudence, +in its widest sense, <i>Montesquieu</i>; and in +picturing the literary history of a nation, <i>Taine</i>, +stand unrivalled anywhere. Among essayists, <i>Montaigne</i>; +among writers of fiction, <i>Le Sage</i>, <i>Victor +Hugo</i>, and <i>Balzac</i>; among the dramatists, <i>Corneille</i> +the grand, <i>Racine</i> the graceful and tender, and <i>Molière</i> +the creator of modern comedy; and among +fabulists, the inimitable poet of fable, <i>La Fontaine</i>, +demand a share of our time with the best. Descartes, +Pascal, Rousseau, Voltaire, and Comte belong in +every liberal scheme of culture and to every student +of philosophy.</p> + +<p><b>Spain</b> gives us two most glorious names, <i>Cervantes</i> +and <i>Pedro Calderon de la Barca</i>,—the former one of +the world's very greatest humorists, the brother spirit +of Lowell; the latter, a princely dramatist, the brother +of Shakspeare.</p> + +<p><b>Germany</b> boasts one summit on which the shadow +of no other falls. <i>Goethe's</i> "Faust" and "Wilhelm +Meister" and his minor poems cannot be neglected +if we want the best the world affords; <i>Schiller</i>, too, +and <i>Humboldt</i>, <i>Kant</i> and <i>Heine</i>, <i>Helmholtz</i> and +<i>Haeckel</i> must be read. In science and history, the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_164">[164]</a></span> +list of German greatness is a very long and bright +one.</p> + +<p><b>Persia</b> calls us to read her magnificent astronomer-poet, +<i>Omar Khayyám</i>; her splendid epic, the <i>Shah +Nameh of Firdusi</i>, the story of whose labors, successes, +and misfortunes is one of the most interesting +passages in the history of poetry; and taste at least +of her extravagant singer of the troubles and ecstasies +of love, Hafiz.</p> + +<p><b>Portugal</b> has given us <i>Camoens</i>, with his great poem +the "Luciad." <b>Denmark</b> brings us her charming <i>Andersen</i>; +and <b>Russia</b> comes to us with her Byronic +Pushkin and her Schiller-hearted poet, Lermontoff, +at least for a glance.</p> + +<p>We have thus named as the chiefs, twenty authors +in English, ten in Greek, three of Rome, two of Italy, +ten of France, two of Spain, seven of Germany, three +of Persia, one of Portugal, one of Denmark, and two +of Russia,—sixty-one in all,—which, if read in the +manner indicated, will impart a pretty thorough knowledge +of the literary treasures of the world.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_165">[165]</a></span></p> + +<hr class="chapter" /> + +<h2 id="THE_FOUNTAINS_OF_NATIONAL_LITERATURES">THE FOUNTAINS OF NATIONAL LITERATURES.</h2> + +<p>In the early history of every great people there +has grown up a body of songs celebrating the heroism +of their valiant warriors and the charms of their +beautiful women. These have, generation after generation, +been passed by word of mouth from one +group of singers to their successors,—by each new +set of artists somewhat polished and improved,—until +they come to us as Homer's Iliad, the "Nibelungenlied" +of the Germans, the "Chronicle of the Cid" +of the Spanish, the "Chansons de Gestes," the "Romans," +and the "Fabliaux" of the French, and "Beowulf" +and the "Morte D'Arthur" of English literature. +These great poems are the sources of a vast portion of +what is best in subsequent art. From them Virgil, Boccaccio, +Chaucer, Rabelais, Molière, Shakspeare, Calderon, +and a host of others have drawn their inspiration. +Malory has wrought the Arthurian songs into a mould +of the purest English. The closing books, in their +quiet pathos and reserved strength,—in their melody, +winged words, and inimitable turns of phrase,—rank +with the best poetry of Europe. Southey called the +"Cid" the finest poem in the Spanish language, and +Prescott said it was "the most remarkable performance<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_166">[166]</a></span> +of the Middle Ages." This may be going rather +too far; but it certainly stands in the very front rank +of national poems. It has been translated by Lockhart +in verse, by Southey in prose, and there is a splendid +fragment by Frere. Of the French early epics, the +"Chanson de Roland" and the "Roman du Renart" +are the best. The "Nibelungenlied" is the embodiment +of the wild and tragic,—the highest note of the +barbaric drama of the North. That last terrific scene +in the Hall of Etzel will rest forever in the memory of +every reader of the book. Carlyle has given a sketch +of the poem in his "Miscellanies," vol. iii., and there +exists a complete but prolix and altogether miserable +translation of the great epic, but we sadly need a +condensed version of the myth of "Siegfried" the +brave, and "Chriemhild" the beautiful, in the stirring +prose of Malory or Southey. No reader will regret +a perusal of these songs of the people; it is a journey +to the head-waters of the literary Nile.</p> + +<p>The reader of this little book we hope has gained +an inspiration—if it were not his before—that, with a +strong and steady step, will lead him into all the paths +of beauty and of truth. Each glorious emotion and +each glowing thought that comes to us, becomes a +centre of new growth. Each wave of pathos, humor, +or sublimity that pulses through the heart or passes +to the brain, sets up vibrations that will never die, +but beautify the hours and years that follow to the +end of life. These waves that pass into the soul +do not conceal their music in the heart, but echo<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_167">[167]</a></span> +back upon the world in waves of kindred power; and +these return forever from the world into the heart +that gave them forth. It is as on the evening river, +where the boatman bends his homeward oar. Each +lusty call that leaves his lips, or song, or bugle blast +that slips the tensioned bars, and wings the breeze, +to teach its rhythm to the trees that crown the rocky +twilight steep o'er which the lengthening shadows +creep, returns and enters, softened, sweet, and clear, +the waiting portal of the sender's ear. The man who +fills his being with the noblest books, and pours their +beauty out in word and deed, is like the merry singers +on the placid moonlit lake. Backward the ripples +o'er the silver sheet come on the echoes' winged feet; +the hills and valleys all around gather the gentle +shower of sound, and pour the stream upon the boat +in which the happy singers float, chanting the hymns +they loved of yore, shipping the glistening wave-washed +oar, to hear reflected from the shore their +every charmèd note. Oh, loosen from <i>thy</i> lip, my +friend, no tone thine ear would with remorseful sorrow +hear, hurling it back from far and near, the listening +landscape oft repeat! Rather a melody send to +greet the mountains beyond the silver sheet. Life's +the soul's song; sing sweetly, then, that when the silence +comes again, and ere it comes, from every glen +the echoes shall be sweet.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_169">[169]</a></span><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_168">[168]</a></span></p> + +<hr class="chapter" /> + +<h2 id="APPENDIX">APPENDIX.</h2> + +<hr class="short" /> + +<p class="h3">THE BEST THOUGHTS OF GREAT MEN<br /> +ABOUT BOOKS AND READING.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_171">[171]</a></span><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_170">[170]</a></span></p> + +<hr class="chapter" /> + +<h2 id="APPENDIX_I">APPENDIX I.</h2> + +<p class="h3">THE BEST THOUGHTS OF GREAT MEN ABOUT BOOKS AND READING.</p> + +<p><b>Addison.</b> "Books are the legacies that genius leaves to +mankind."</p> + +<p>"Knowledge of books is a torch in the hands of one who +is willing and able to show those who are bewildered the way +which leads to prosperity and welfare."</p> + +<p><b>Alcott, A. B.</b> "My favorite books have a personality and +complexion as distinctly drawn as if the author's portrait +were framed into the paragraphs, and smiled upon me as I +read his illustrated pages."</p> + +<p>"Next to a friend's discourse, no morsel is more delicious +than a ripe book,—a book whose flavor is as refreshing at +the thousandth tasting as at the first."</p> + +<p>"Next to a personal introduction, a list of one's favorite +authors were the best admittance to his character and +manners."</p> + +<p>"A good book perpetuates its fame from age to age, and +makes eras in the lives of its readers."</p> + +<p><b>Atkinson, W. P.</b> "Who can over-estimate the value of +good books,—those ships of thought, as Bacon so finely calls +them, voyaging through the sea of time, and carrying their +precious freight so safely from generation to generation?"<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_172">[172]</a></span></p> + +<p><b>Arnott, Dr.</b> "Books,—the miracle of all possessions, +more wonderful than the wishing-cap of the Arabian tales; +for they transport instantly, not only to all places, but to all +times."</p> + +<p><b>Bacon.</b> "Studies serve for pastimes, for ornaments, for +abilities. Their chief use for pastimes is in privateness and +retiring; for ornaments, in discourse; and for ability, in +judgment.... To spend too much time in them is sloth; +to use them too much for ornament is affectation; to make +judgment wholly by their rules is the humor of a scholar. +They perfect nature, and are themselves perfected by experience. +Crafty men contemn them, wise men use them, +simple men admire them; for they teach not their own use, +but that there is a wisdom without them and above them +won by observation. Read not to contradict, nor to believe, +but to weigh and consider.... Reading maketh a full man, +conference a ready, and writing an exact man. Therefore, +if a man write little, he had need of a great memory; if he +confer little, he hath need of a present wit; and if he read +little, he had need have much cunning to seem to know that +he doth not know. Histories make men wise, poets witty, +the mathematicians subtile, natural philosophy deep, moral +grave, logic and rhetoric able to contend."</p> + +<p><b>Barrow.</b> "He who loveth a book will never want a faithful +friend, a wholesome counsellor, a cheerful companion, or +an effectual comforter."</p> + +<p><b>Bartholin.</b> "Without books God is silent, justice dormant, +natural science at a stand, philosophy lame, letters +dumb, and all things involved in Cimmerian darkness."</p> + +<p><b>Beaconsfield, Lord.</b> "The idea that human happiness is +dependent on the cultivation of the mind and on the discovery +of truth is, next to the conviction of our immortality,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_173">[173]</a></span> +the idea the most full of consolation to man; for the cultivation +of the mind has no limits, and truth is the only thing +that is eternal."</p> + +<p>"Knowledge is like the mystic ladder in the patriarch's +dream. Its base rests on the primeval earth, its crest is lost +in the shadowy splendor of the empyrean; while the great +authors, who for traditionary ages have held the chain of +science and philosophy, of poesy and erudition, are the angels +ascending and descending the sacred scale, and maintaining, +as it were, the communication between man and heaven."</p> + +<p><b>Beecher, Henry Ward.</b> "A book is good company. It +seems to enter the memory, and to hover in a silvery transformation +there until the outward book is but a body, and +its soul and spirit are flown to you, and possess your memory +like a spirit."</p> + +<p>"Books are the windows through which the soul looks out. +A home without books is like a room without windows...."</p> + +<p><b>Bright, John.</b> "What is a great love of books? It is +something like a personal introduction to the great and good +men of all past time."</p> + +<p><b>Brooks, Phillips.</b> "Is it not a new England for a child +to be born in since Shakspeare gathered up the centuries +and told the story of humanity up to his time? Will not +Carlyle and Tennyson make the man who begins to live +from them the 'heir of all ages' which have distilled their +richness into the books of the sage and the singer of the +nineteenth century?"</p> + +<p><b>Browning, Elizabeth Barrett.</b></p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"When we gloriously forget ourselves and plunge<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Soul forward, headlong into a book's profound,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Impassioned for its beauty, and salt of truth—<br /></span> +<span class="i0">'Tis then we get the right good from a book."<br /></span> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_174">[174]</a></span></div></div> + +<p><b>Bruyère.</b> "When a book raises your spirit, and inspires +you with noble and courageous feelings, seek for no other +rule to judge the event by; it is good, and made by a good +workman."</p> + +<p><b>Bury, Richard de.</b> "You, O Books! are golden urns in +which manna is laid up; rocks flowing with honey, or rather, +indeed, honeycombs; udders most copiously yielding the +milk of life, store-rooms ever full; the four-streamed river +of Paradise, where the human mind is fed, and the arid +intellect moistened and watered; fruitful olives, vines of +Engaddi, fig-trees knowing no sterility; burning lamps to +be ever held in the hand."</p> + +<p>"In books we find the dead, as it were, living.... The +truth written in a book ... enters the chamber of intellect, +reposes itself upon the couch of memory, and there congenerates +the eternal truth of the mind."</p> + +<p><b>Carlyle.</b> "Evermore is <i>Wisdom</i> the highest of conquests +to every son of Adam,—nay, in a large sense, the one conquest; +and the precept to every one of us is ever, 'Above +all thy gettings get understanding.'"</p> + +<p>"Of all the things which man can do or make here below, +by far the most momentous, wonderful, and worthy are the +things we call books."</p> + +<p>"All that mankind has done, thought, gained, and been, +is lying as in magic preservation in the pages of books."</p> + +<p><b>Channing, Dr. Wm. E.</b> "God be thanked for books! +They are the voices of the distant and the dead, and make +us heirs of the spiritual life of past ages. Books are the true +levellers. They give to all who will faithfully use them the +society, the spiritual presence, of the best and greatest of our +race. No matter how poor I am; no matter though the +prosperous of my own time will not enter my obscure dwelling:<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_175">[175]</a></span> +if the sacred writers will enter and take up their abode +under my roof,—if Milton will cross my threshold to sing to +me of Paradise; and Shakspeare, to open to me the worlds +of imagination and the workings of the human heart; and +Franklin, to enrich me with his practical wisdom,—I shall +not pine for want of intellectual companionship, and I may +become a cultivated man, though excluded from what is +called the best society in the place where I live."</p> + +<p><b>Chaucer.</b></p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"And as for me, though that I know but lyte<a id="FNanchor_5_332"></a><a href="#Footnote_5_332" class="fnanchor">[5]</a><br /></span> +<span class="i0">On bokès for to rede I me delyte,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And to them give I (feyth<a id="FNanchor_6_333"></a><a href="#Footnote_6_333" class="fnanchor">[6]</a>) and ful credence,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And in myn herte have them in reverence<br /></span> +<span class="i0">So hertily that there is pastime noon,<a id="FNanchor_7_334"></a><a href="#Footnote_7_334" class="fnanchor">[7]</a><br /></span> +<span class="i0">That from my bokès maketh me to goon<br /></span> +<span class="i0">But yt be seldom on the holy day,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Save, certeynly, whan that the monethe of May<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Is comen, and I here the foulès synge,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And that the flourès gynnen for to sprynge;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Farewell my boke, and my devocioun."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_5_332"></a><a href="#FNanchor_5_332"><span class="label">[5]</span></a> Little.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_6_333"></a><a href="#FNanchor_6_333"><span class="label">[6]</span></a> Faith.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_7_334"></a><a href="#FNanchor_7_334"><span class="label">[7]</span></a> None.</p></div> + +<p><b>Cicero.</b> "Studies are the aliment of youth, the comfort +of old age, an adornment of prosperity, a refuge and a solace +in adversity, and a delight in our home."</p> + +<p><b>Clarke, James Freeman.</b> "When I consider what some +books have done for the world, and what they are doing,—how +they keep up our hope, awaken new courage and faith, +give an ideal life to those whose homes are hard and cold, +bind together distant ages and foreign lands, create new +worlds of beauty, bring down truths from Heaven,—I give +eternal blessings for this gift, and pray that we may use it +aright, and abuse it not."</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_176">[176]</a></span></p><p><b>Coleridge.</b> "Some readers are like the hour-glass. Their +reading is as the sand; it runs in and runs out, but leaves +not a vestige behind. Some, like a sponge, which imbibes +everything, and returns it in the same state, only a little +dirtier. Some, like a jelly-bag, which allows all that is pure +to pass away, and retains only the refuse and dregs. The +fourth class may be compared to the slave of Golconda, +who, casting away all that is worthless, preserves only the +pure gems."</p> + +<p><b>Collyer, Robert.</b> "Do you want to know how I manage +to talk to you in this simple Saxon? I will tell you. I read +Bunyan, Crusoe, and Goldsmith when I was a boy, morning, +noon, and night; all the rest was task work. These were +my delight, with the stories in the Bible, and with Shakspeare, +when at last the mighty master came within our +doors. These were like a well of pure water; and this is +the first step I seem to have taken of my own free will toward +the pulpit. From the days when we used to spell out +Crusoe and old Bunyan, there had grown up in me a devouring +hunger to read books.... I could not go home +for the Christmas of 1839, and was feeling very sad about it +all, for I was only a boy; and sitting by the fire, an old +farmer came in and said, 'I notice thou's fond o' reading, +so I brought thee summat to read.' It was Irving's 'Sketch +Book.' I had never heard of the work. I went at it, and +was 'as them that dream.' No such delight had touched +me since the old days of Crusoe."</p> + +<p><b>Curtis, G. W.</b> "Books are the ever-burning lamps of accumulated +wisdom."</p> + +<p><b>De Quincey.</b> "Every one owes to the impassioned books +he has read many a thousand more of emotions than he can +consciously trace back to them.... A great scholar depends<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_177">[177]</a></span> +not simply on an infinite memory, but also on an infinite +and electrical power of combination,—bringing together +from the four winds, like the Angel of the Resurrection, what +else were dust from dead men's bones into the unity of +breathing life."</p> + +<p><b>Diodorus.</b> "Books are the medicine of the mind."</p> + +<p><b>Emerson.</b> "The profit of books is according to the sensibility +of the reader."</p> + +<p><b>Erasmus.</b> "A little before you go to sleep read something +that is exquisite and worth remembering, and contemplate +upon it till you fall asleep; and when you awake in the +morning call yourself to an account for it."</p> + +<p><b>Farrar, Canon.</b> "If all the books of the world were in a +blaze, the first twelve which I should snatch out of the flames +would be the Bible, the Imitation of Christ, Homer, Æschylus, +Thucydides, Tacitus, Virgil, Marcus Aurelius, Dante, +Shakspeare, Milton, Wordsworth. Of living writers I would +save, first, the works of Tennyson, Browning, and Ruskin."</p> + +<p><b>Fénelon.</b> "If the crowns of all the kingdoms of the empire +were laid down at my feet in exchange for my books +and my love of reading, I would spurn them all."</p> + +<p><b>Freeman, E. A.</b> (the historian). "I feel myself quite unable +to draw up a list (of the best books), as I could not +trust my own judgment on any matters not bearing on my +special studies, and I should be doubtless tempted to give +too great prominence to them."</p> + +<p><b>Fuller, Thomas.</b> "It is thought and digestion which +make books serviceable, and give health and vigor to the +mind."</p> + +<p><b>Gibbon.</b> "A taste for books is the pleasure and glory +of my life. I would not exchange it for the glory of the +Indies."<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_178">[178]</a></span></p> + +<p><b>Gladstone.</b> "When I was a boy I used to be fond of +looking into a bookseller's shop; but there was nothing to +be seen there that was accessible to the working-man of that +day. Take a Shakspeare, for example. I remember very +well that I gave £2 16<i>s.</i> 0<i>d.</i> for my first copy; but you can +get any one of Shakspeare's Plays for seven cents. Those +books are accessible now which were formerly quite inaccessible. +We may be told that you want amusement, but that +does not include improvement. There are a set of worthless +books written now and at times which you should avoid, +which profess to give amusement; but in reading the works +of such authors as Shakspeare and Scott there is the greatest +possible amusement in its best form. Do you suppose when +you see men engaged in study that they dislike it? No!... +I want you to understand that multitudes of books are constantly +being prepared and placed within reach of the population +at large, for the most part executed by writers of a +high stamp, having subjects of the greatest interest, and +which enable you, at a moderate price, not to get cheap +literature which is secondary in its quality, but to go straight +into the very heart,—if I may so say, into the sanctuary +of the temple of literature,—and become acquainted with +the greatest and best works that men of our country have +produced."</p> + +<p><b>Godwin, William.</b> "It is impossible that we can be +much accustomed to such companions without attaining some +resemblance to them."</p> + +<p><b>Goldsmith.</b> "An author may be considered as a merciful +substitute to the legislature. He acts not by punishing +crimes, but by preventing them."</p> + +<p><b>Hale, Sir Matthew.</b> "Read the Bible reverently and attentively, +set your heart upon it, and lay it up in your memory,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_179">[179]</a></span> +and make it the direction of your life; it will make you +a wise and good man."</p> + +<p><b>Hamerton, P. H.</b> "The art of reading is to skip judiciously."</p> + +<p><b>Harrison, Frederic.</b> "The best authors are never dark +horses. The world has long ago closed the great assize of +letters, and judged the first places everywhere."</p> + +<p>"The reading of great books is usually an acquired faculty, +not a natural gift. If you have not got the faculty, seek for +it with all your might."</p> + +<p>"Of Walter Scott one need as little speak as of Shakspeare. +He belongs to mankind,—to every age and race; +and he certainly must be counted as in the first line of the +great creative minds of the world. His unique glory is to +have definitely succeeded in the ideal reproduction of historical +types, so as to preserve at once beauty, life, and +truth,—a task which neither Ariosto and Tasso, nor Corneille +and Racine, nor Alfieri, nor Goethe, nor Schiller,—no, +nor even Shakspeare himself, entirely achieved.... In +brilliancy of conception, in wealth of character, in dramatic +art, in glow and harmony of color, Scott put forth all the +powers of a master poet.... The genius of Scott has +raised up a school of historical romance; and though the +best work of Chateaubriand, Manzoni, and Bulwer may take +rank as true art, the endless crowd of inferior imitations are +nothing but a weariness to the flesh.... Scott is a perfect +library in himself.... The poetic beauty of Scott's creations +is almost the least of his great qualities. It is the +universality of his sympathy that is so truly great, the justice +of his estimates, the insight into the spirit of each age, +his intense absorption of self in the vast epic of human +civilization."<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_180">[180]</a></span></p> + +<p><b>Hazlitt, William.</b> "Books let us into the souls of men, +and lay open to us the secrets of our own."</p> + +<p><b>Heinsius.</b> "I no sooner come into the library but I bolt +the door to me, excluding Lust, Ambition, Avarice, and all +such vices, whose nurse is Idleness, the Mother of Ignorance +and Melancholy. In the very lap of eternity, among so many +divine souls, I take my seat with so lofty a spirit and sweet +content, that I pity all that know not this happiness."</p> + +<p><b>Herbert, George.</b> "This <i>book of stars</i> [the Bible] lights +to eternal bliss."</p> + +<p><b>Herschel, Sir J.</b> "Give a man this taste [for good +books] and the means of gratifying it, and you can hardly +fail of making a happy man. You place him in contact with +the best society in every period of history,—with the wisest, +the wittiest, the tenderest, the bravest, and the purest characters +who have adorned humanity. You make him a denizen +of all nations, a contemporary of all ages."</p> + +<p><b>Hillard, George S.</b> "Here we have immortal flowers of +poetry, wet with Castilian dew, and the golden fruit of Wisdom +that had long ripened on the bough.... We should +any of us esteem it a great privilege to pass an evening with +Shakspeare or Bacon.... We may be sure that Shakspeare +never out-talked his 'Hamlet,' nor Bacon his 'Essays.'... +To the gentle hearted youth, far from his home, in the midst +of a pitiless city, 'homeless among a thousand homes,' the approach +of evening brings with it an aching sense of loneliness +and desolation. In this mood his best impulses become a snare +to him; and he is led astray because he is social, affectionate, +sympathetic, and warm-hearted. The hours from sunset to +bedtime are his hours of peril. Let me say to such young +men that books are the friends of the friendless, and that a +library is the home of the homeless."<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_181">[181]</a></span></p> + +<p><b>Holmes, O. W.</b> "Books are the 'negative' pictures of +thought; and the more sensitive the mind that receives the +images, the more nicely the finest lines are reproduced."</p> + +<p><b>Houghton, Lord.</b> "It [a book] is a portion of the eternal +mind, caught in its process through the world, stamped +in an instant, and preserved for eternity."</p> + +<p><b>Irving.</b> "The scholar only knows how dear these silent +yet eloquent companions of pure thoughts and innocent hours +become in the season of adversity."</p> + +<p><b>Johnson, Dr.</b> "No man should consider so highly of +himself as to think he can receive but little light from books, +nor so meanly as to believe he can discover nothing but what +is to be learned from them."</p> + +<p><b>Jonson, Ben.</b> "A prince without letters is a pilot without +eyes."</p> + +<p><b>King, Thomas Starr.</b> "By cultivating an interest in a +few good books, which contain the result of the toil or the +quintessence of the genius of some of the most gifted thinkers +of the world, we need not live on the marsh and in the +mists; the slopes and the summits invite us."</p> + +<p><b>Kingsley, Charles.</b> "Except a living man, there is nothing +more wonderful than a book!—a message to us from +the dead, from human souls whom we never saw, who lived, +perhaps, thousands of miles away; and yet these, on those +little sheets of paper, speak to us, amuse us, vivify us, teach +us, comfort us, open their hearts to us as to brothers."</p> + +<p><b>Lamb, Charles.</b> "Milton almost requires a solemn service +of music to be played before you enter upon him. But +he brings his music, to which who listens had need bring +docile thoughts and purged ears."</p> + +<p><b>Landor, Walter Savage.</b> "The writings of the wise are +the only riches our posterity cannot squander."<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_182">[182]</a></span></p> + +<p><b>Langford.</b> "Strong as man and tender as woman, they +welcome you in every mood, and never turn from you in +distress."</p> + +<p><b>Lowell.</b> "Have you ever rightly considered what the +mere ability to read means? That it is the key that admits +us to the whole world of thought and fancy and imagination, +to the company of saint and sage, of the wisest and the wittiest +at their wisest and wittiest moments? That it enables +us to see with the keenest eyes, hear with the finest ears, +and listen to the sweetest voices of all time?... One is +sometimes asked by young people to recommend a course +of reading. My advice would be that they should confine +themselves to the supreme books in whatever literature, or, +still better, to choose some one great author, and make themselves +thoroughly familiar with him."</p> + +<p><b>Luther.</b> "To read many books produceth confusion, +rather than learning, like as those who dwell everywhere are +not anywhere at home."</p> + +<p><b>Lyly, John.</b> "Far more seemly were it ... to have thy +study full of books than thy purse full of money."</p> + +<p><b>Lytton, Lord.</b></p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Laws die, books never."<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Beneath the rule of men entirely great<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The pen is mightier than the sword."<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Ye ever-living and imperial Souls,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Who rule us from the page in which ye breathe."<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i10">"The Wise<br /></span> +<span class="i0">(Minstrel or Sage) <i>out</i> of their books are clay;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">But <i>in</i> their books, as from their graves, they rise,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Angels—that, side by side, upon our way,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Walk with and warn us!"<br /></span> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_183">[183]</a></span></div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"We call some books immortal! <i>Do they live?</i><br /></span> +<span class="i0">If so, believe me, <span class="smcap">Time</span> hath made them pure.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">In Books the veriest wicked rest in peace,—<br /></span> +<span class="i0">God wills that nothing evil should endure;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The grosser parts fly off and leave the whole,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">As the dust leaves the disembodied soul!"<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p><b>Macaulay.</b> "A great writer is the friend and benefactor +of his readers."</p> + +<p><b>Milton.</b> "As good almost kill a man as kill a good book. +Who kills a man kills a reasonable creature, God's image; +but he who destroys a good book kills reason itself,—kills +the image of God, as it were, in the eye. Many a man lives +a burden to the earth; but a good book is the precious +life-blood of a master spirit, embalmed and treasured up +on purpose to a life beyond."</p> + +<p><b>Montaigne.</b> "To divert myself from a troublesome fancy, +'tis but to run to my books."</p> + +<p>"As to what concerns my other reading, that mixes a little +more profit with the pleasure, and from whence I learn how +to marshal my opinions and qualities, the books that serve +me to this purpose are Plutarch and Seneca,—both of which +have this great convenience suited to my humor, that the +knowledge I seek is discoursed in loose pieces that do not +engage me in any great trouble of reading long, of which I +am impatient.... Plutarch is frank throughout. Seneca +abounds with brisk touches and sallies. Plutarch, with things +that heat and move you more; this contents and pays you +better. As to Cicero, those of his works that are most useful +to my design are they that treat of philosophy, especially +moral; but boldly to confess the truth, his way of writing, +and that of all other long-winded authors, appears to me +very tedious."<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_184">[184]</a></span></p> + +<p><b>Morley, John.</b> "The consolation of reading is not futile +nor imaginary. It is no chimera of the recluse or the bookworm, +but a potent reality. As a stimulus to flagging energies, +as an inspirer of lofty aim, literature stands unrivalled."</p> + +<p><b>Morris, William.</b> "The greater part of the Latins I should +call <i>sham</i> classics. I suppose that they have some good literary +qualities; but I cannot help thinking that it is difficult +to find out how much. I suspect superstition and authority +have influenced our estimate of them till it has become +a mere matter of convention. Of modern fiction, I should +like to say here that I yield to no one, not even Ruskin, in +my love and admiration for Scott; also that, to my mind, of +the novelists of our generation, Dickens is immeasurably +ahead."</p> + +<p><b>Müller, Max.</b> "I know few books, if any, which I should +call good from beginning to end. Take the greatest poet of +antiquity, and if I am to speak the truth, the whole truth, +and nothing but the truth, I must say that there are long passages, +even in Homer, which seem to me extremely tedious."</p> + +<p><b>Parker, Theodore.</b> "What a joy is there in a good book, +writ by some great master of thought, who breaks into beauty, +as in summer the meadow into grass and dandelions and +violets, with geraniums and manifold sweetness.... The +books which help you most are those which make you think +most.... A great book ... is a ship of thought deep +freighted with thought, with beauty too. It sails the ocean, +driven by the winds of heaven, breaking the level sea of life +into beauty where it goes, leaving behind it a train of sparkling +loveliness, widening as the ship goes on. And what +treasures it brings to every land, scattering the seeds of +truth, justice, love, and piety, to bless the world in ages yet +to come."<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_185">[185]</a></span></p> + +<p><b>Peacham, Henry.</b> "To desire to have many books and +never to use them, is like a child that will have a candle +burning by him all the while he is sleeping."</p> + +<p><b>Petrarch.</b> "I have friends whose society is extremely +agreeable to me; they are of all ages and of every country. +They have distinguished themselves both in the cabinet and +in the field, and obtained high honors for their knowledge of +the sciences. It is easy to gain access to them, for they are +always at my service; and I admit them to my company +and dismiss them from it whenever I please. They are +never troublesome, but immediately answer every question I +ask them. Some relate to me the events of past ages, +while others reveal to me the secrets of Nature. Some teach +me how to live, and others how to die. Some, by their +vivacity, drive away my cares and exhilarate my spirits; while +others give fortitude to my mind, and teach me the important +lesson how to restrain my desires and to depend wholly +on myself. They open to me, in short, the various avenues +of all the arts and sciences, and upon their information I +safely rely in all emergencies."</p> + +<p><b>Phelps, E. J.</b> (United States Minister to the Court of St. +James). "I cannot think the <i>finis et fructus</i> of liberal reading +is reached by him who has not obtained in the best writings +of our English tongue the generous acquaintance that +ripens into affection. If he must stint himself, let him save +elsewhere."</p> + +<p><b>Plato.</b> "Books are the immortal sons deifying their sires."</p> + +<p><b>Plutarch.</b> "We ought to regard books as we do sweetmeats,—not +wholly to aim at the pleasantest, but chiefly to +respect the wholesomest."</p> + +<p><b>Potter, Dr.</b> "It is nearly an axiom that people will not +be better than the books they read."<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_186">[186]</a></span></p> + +<p><b>Raleigh, Walter.</b> "We may gather out of history a policy +no less wise than eternal, by the comparison and application +of other men's fore-passed miseries with our own like errors +and ill-deservings."</p> + +<p><b>Richardson, C. F.</b> "No book, indeed, is of universal +value and appropriateness.... Here, as in every other +question involved in the choice of books, the golden key +to knowledge, a key that will only fit its own proper doors, is +<i>purpose</i>."</p> + +<p><b>Ruskin.</b> "All books are divisible into two classes,—the +books of the hour and the books of all time." Books of the +hour, though useful, are, "strictly speaking, not books at all, +but merely letters or newspapers in good print," and should +not be allowed "to usurp the place of true books."</p> + +<p>"Of all the plagues that afflict mortality, the venom of a +bad book to weak people, and the charms of a foolish one to +simple people, are without question the deadliest; and they +are so far from being redeemed by the too imperfect work of +the best writers, that I never would wish to see a child taught +to read at all, unless the other conditions of its education +were alike gentle and judicious."</p> + +<p>Ruskin says a well-trained man should know the literature +of his own country and half a dozen classics thoroughly; but +unless he wishes to travel, the language and literature of +modern Europe and of the East are unnecessary. To read +fast any book worth reading is folly. Ruskin would not have +us read Grote's "History of Greece," for any one could +write it if "he had the vanity to waste his time;" "Confessions +of Saint Augustine," for it is not good to think so much +about ourselves; John Stuart Mill, for his day is over; +Charles Kingsley, for his sentiment is false, his tragedy +frightful. Hypatia is the most ghastly story in Christian tradition,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_187">[187]</a></span> +and should forever have been left in silence; Darwin, +for we should know what <i>we are</i>, not what <i>our embryo was</i>, +or <i>our skeleton will be</i>; Gibbon, for we should study the +growth and standing of things, not the Decline and Fall +(moreover, he wrote the worst English ever written by an +educated Englishmen); Voltaire, for his work is to good +literature what nitric acid is to wine, and sulphuretted hydrogen +to air.</p> + +<p>Ruskin also crosses out Marcus Aurelius, Confucius, Aristotle +(except his "Politics"), Mahomet, Saint Augustine, +Thomas à Kempis, Pascal, Spinoza, Butler, Keble, Lucretius, +the Nibelungenlied, Malory's Morte D'Arthur, Firdusi, the +Mahabharata, and Ramayana, the Sheking, Sophocles, and +Euripides, Hume, Adam Smith, Locke, Descartes, Berkeley, +Lewes, Southey, Longfellow, Swift, Macaulay, Emerson, +Goethe, Thackeray, Kingsley, George Eliot, and +Bulwer.</p> + +<p>His especial favorites are Scott, Carlyle, Plato, and Dickens. +Æschylus, Taylor, Bunyan, Bacon, Shakspeare, Milton, Dante, +Spenser, Wordsworth, Pope, Goldsmith, Defoe, Boswell, +Burke, Addison, Montaigne, Molière, Sheridan, Æsop, Demosthenes, +Plutarch, Horace, Cicero, Homer, Hesiod, Virgil, +Aristophanes, Herodotus, Xenophon, Thucydides, and Tacitus, +he condescends to admit as proper to be read.</p> + +<p><b>Schopenhauer.</b> "Recollect that he who writes for fools +finds an enormous audience."</p> + +<p><b>Seneca.</b> "If you devote your time to study, you will +avoid all the irksomeness of this life."</p> + +<p>"It does not matter how many, but how good, books you +have."</p> + +<p>"Leisure without study is death, and the grave of a living +man."<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_188">[188]</a></span></p> + +<p><b>Shakspeare.</b> "A book! oh, rare one! be not, as in this +fangled world, a garment nobler than it covers."</p> + +<p>"My library was dukedom large enough."</p> + +<p><b>Sidney, Sir Philip.</b> "Nature never set forth the earth +in so rich tapestry as divers poets have done."</p> + +<p><b>Smiles, Sam.</b> "Men often discover their affinity to each +other by the mutual love they have for a book."</p> + +<p><b>Smith, Alexander.</b> "We read books not so much for +what they say as for what they suggest."</p> + +<p><b>Socrates.</b> "Employ your time in improving yourselves +by other men's documents; so shall you come easily by what +others have labored hard to win."</p> + +<p><b>Solomon.</b> "He that walketh with wise men shall be +wise."</p> + +<p><b>Spencer, Herbert.</b> "My reading has been much more in +the direction of science than in the direction of general literature; +and of such works in general literature as I have +looked into, I know comparatively little, being an impatient +reader, and usually soon satisfied."</p> + +<p><b>Stanley, Henry M.</b> "I carried [across Africa] a great +many books,—three loads, or about one hundred and eighty +pounds' weight; but as my men lessened in numbers,—stricken +by famine, fighting, and sickness,—one by one they +were reluctantly thrown away, until finally, when less than +three hundred miles from the Atlantic, I possessed only the +Bible, Shakspeare, Carlyle's Sartor Resartus, Norie's Navigation, +and the Nautical Almanac for 1877. Poor Shakspeare +was afterwards burned by demand of the foolish people +of Zinga. At Bonea, Carlyle and Norie and the Nautical +Almanac were pitched away, and I had only the old Bible +left."</p> + +<p><b>Swinburne, A. C.</b> "It would be superfluous for any educated<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_189">[189]</a></span> +Englishman to say that he does not question the pre-eminence +of such names as Bacon and Darwin."</p> + +<p><b>Taylor, Bayard.</b> "Not many, but good books."</p> + +<p><b>Thoreau.</b> "Books that are books are all that you want, +and there are but half a dozen in any thousand."</p> + +<p><b>Trollope, Anthony.</b> "The habit of reading is the only +enjoyment I know in which there is no alloy; it lasts when +all other pleasures fade."</p> + +<p><b>Waller, Sir William.</b> "In my study I am sure to converse +with none but wise men; but abroad, it is impossible +for me to avoid the society of fools."</p> + +<p><b>Whateley, Richard.</b> "If, in reading books, a man does +not choose wisely, at any rate he has the chance offered him +of doing so."</p> + +<p><b>Whipple, Edwin P.</b> "Books,—lighthouses erected in +the sea of time."</p> + +<p><b>White, Andrew D.</b>, President of Cornell, speaking of +Scott, says: "Never was there a more healthful and health-ministering +literature than that which he gave to the world. +To go back to it from Flaubert and Daudet and Tolstoi is +like listening to the song of the lark after the shrieking passion +of the midnight pianoforte; nay, it is like coming out +of the glare and heat and reeking vapor of a palace ball into +a grove in the first light and music and breezes of the morning.... +So far from stimulating an unhealthy taste, the enjoyment +of this fiction created distinctly a taste for what is +usually called 'solid reading,' and especially a love for that +historical reading and study which has been a leading inspiration +and solace of a busy life."</p> + +<p><b>Whitman, Walt.</b> "For us, along the great highways of +time, those monuments stand,—those forms of majesty and +beauty. For us those beacons burn through all the night."<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_190">[190]</a></span></p> + +<p><b>Wolseley, Gen. Lord.</b> "During the mutiny and China war +I carried a Testament, two volumes of Shakspeare that contained +his best plays; and since then, when in the field, I have +always carried a Book of Common Prayer, Thomas à Kempis, +Soldier's Pocket Book, depending on a well-organized postal +service to supply me weekly with plenty of newspapers."</p> + +<p><b>Wordsworth.</b> "These hoards of wealth you can unlock +at will."<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_191">[191]</a></span></p> + +<hr class="chapter" /> + +<h2 id="APPENDIX_II">APPENDIX II.</h2> + +<p class="h3">BOOKS FOR SUPPLEMENTARY READING.</p> + +<p class="h4">BOYS' LATIN SCHOOL.</p> + +<p>Moss' First Greek Reader. Tomlinson's Latin for Sight +Reading. Walford's Extracts from Cicero (Part I.). Jackson's +Manual of Astronomical Geography. Ritchie's Fabulae +Faciles.</p> + +<p class="h4">GIRLS' LATIN SCHOOL.</p> + +<p>Sheldon's Greek and Roman History. Ritchie's Fabulae +Faciles.</p> + +<p class="h4">LATIN AND HIGH SCHOOLS.</p> + +<p>Books required for admission to Harvard College.</p> + +<p>A list of suitable books, carefully prepared under the direction +of the Committee on Text-Books, is presented to +the Board for adoption. After this list has been adopted, a +master may make requisition on the Committee on Supplies +for one set (of not more than thirty-five copies) of a +book. This committee, after the approval of the Committee +on Text-Books has been obtained, will purchase the books +and send them to the school for permanent use. No book +will be purchased until called for in the manner described.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_192">[192]</a></span></p> + +<p><i>English.</i>—Barnes's History of Ancient Peoples; Church's +Stories from the East, from Herodotus; Church's Story of +the Persian War, from Herodotus; Church's Stories from +the Greek Tragedians; Kingsley's Greek Heroes; Abbott's +Lives of Cyrus and Alexander; Froude's Cæsar; Forsythe's +Life of Cicero; Ware's Aurelian; Cox's Crusades; Masson's +Abridgment of Guizot's History of France; Scott's Abbot; +Scott's Monastery; Scott's Talisman; Scott's Quentin Durward; +Scott's Marmion (Rolfe's Student series); Scott's Lay +of the Last Minstrel (Rolfe's Student series); Kingsley's +Hereward; Kingsley's Westward Ho; Melville's Holmby +House; Macaulay's Essay on Frederic; Macaulay's Essay +on Clive; Macaulay's Essay on Dr. Johnson; Motley's +Essay on Peter the Great; Thackeray's Henry Esmond; +Thackeray's The Virginians; Thackeray's The Four Georges; +Dickens' Tale of Two Cities; George Eliot's Silas Marner; +Irving's Alhambra; Irving's Bracebridge Hall; Miss +Buckley's Life and her Children; Miss Buckley's Winners +in Life's Race; Bulfinch's Age of Fable (revised edition); +The Boy's Froissart; Ballads and Lyrics; Vicar of Wakefield; +Essays of Elia; Tennyson's Selected Poems (Rolfe's +Student series); Tennyson's Elaine; Tennyson's In Memoriam; +Byron's Prisoner of Chillon; Goldsmith's Deserted +Village; Goldsmith's Traveller; Coleridge's Ancient Mariner; +Wordsworth's Excursion; Monroe's Sixth Reader; +Webster—Section 2 [Annotated English Classics, Ginn & +Co.]; Wordsworth's Poems—Section 2 [Annotated English +Classics, Ginn & Co.]; Sheldon's Greek and Roman +History; Monroe's Fifth Reader (old edition).</p> + +<p><i>French.</i>—St. German's Pour une Épingle; Achard's Le +Clos Pommier; Feuillet's Roman d'un Homme Pauvre; +Dumas's La Tulipe Noire; Vigny's Cinq Mars; Lacombe's +La Petite Histoire du Peuple Français.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_193">[193]</a></span></p> + +<p><i>German.</i>—Andersen's Märchen; Simmondson's Balladenbuch; +Krurnmacher's Parabeln; Goethe's Iphigenie auf +Tauris; Goethe's Prose; Schiller's Jungfrau von Orleans; +Schiller's Prose; Boisen's German Prose; Bernhardt's Novellen +Bibliothek.</p> + +<p class="h4">GRAMMAR SCHOOLS.</p> + +<p class="h4"><span class="smcap">Class VI.</span> (<i>about Ten Years old</i>).</p> + +<p>Seven Little Sisters, first half-year. Each and All, second +half-year. This is simple, interesting class-reading, which +will aid the geography, and furnish material for both oral and +written language lessons. Hooker's Child's Book of Nature; +those chapters of Parts I. and II., which will supplement +properly the observational studies of plants and animals, and +those chapters of Part III., on air, water, and heat, which +will aid the instruction in Geography. Our World Reader, +<span class="smcap">No. 1.</span> Our World, <span class="smcap">No. 1</span>; the reading to be kept parallel +with the instruction in Geography through the year. Poetry for +Children; selections appropriate for reading and recitation.</p> + +<p class="h4"><span class="smcap">Class V.</span> (<i>about Eleven Years old</i>).</p> + +<p>Stories of American History; for practice in reading at +sight, and for material for language lessons. Guyot's Introduction +to Geography; the reading to be kept parallel with +the instruction in Geography through the year. Hooker's +Child's Book of Nature, and Poetry for Children; as in Class +VI. Robinson Crusoe.</p> + +<p class="h4"><span class="smcap">Class IV.</span> (<i>about Twelve Years old</i>).</p> + +<p>The Wonder Book and Tanglewood Tales, as collateral to +the oral instruction in Stories in Mythology. Hooker's<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_194">[194]</a></span> +Child's Book of Nature, and Poetry for Children; as in +Classes VI. and V. Readings from Nature's Book (revised +edition). Robinson Crusoe.</p> + +<p class="h4"><span class="smcap">Class III.</span> (<i>about Thirteen Years old</i>).</p> + +<p>Hooker's Child's Book of Nature; as supplementary to +oral lessons. American Poems, with Biographical Sketches +and Notes; appropriate selections therefrom.</p> + +<p class="h4"><span class="smcap">Class II.</span> (<i>about Fourteen Years old</i>).</p> + +<p>Selections from American authors; as in part collateral +to the United States History. American Poems; appropriate +selections therefrom.</p> + +<p class="h4"><span class="smcap">Class I.</span> (<i>about Fifteen Years old</i>).</p> + +<p>Selections from American authors. Early England—Harper's +Half-Hour Series, Nos. 6 and 14. American Poems; +selections therefrom. Green's Readings from English History. +Phillips's Historical Readers, Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4.</p> + +<p class="h4"><span class="smcap">Any Class.</span></p> + +<p>Six Stories from the Arabian Nights. Holmes' and Longfellow +Leaflets, published by Houghton, Mifflin, & Co. Book +of Golden Deeds. Jackson's Manual of Astronomical Geography. +Parkman Leaflets, published by Little, Brown, & Co.</p> + +<p class="h4"><span class="smcap">Circulating Library for Grammar Schools.</span></p> + +<p>Zigzag Journeys in Europe (revised edition); Zigzag Journeys +in the Orient (revised edition); Scudder's Boston +Town; Drake's The Making of New England; Towle's +Pizarro; Towle's Vasco da Gama; Towle's Magellan; Fairy +Land of Science; Hawthorne's True Stories; Higginson's<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_195">[195]</a></span> +Young Folks' Book of Explorers; Scott's Ivanhoe; Longfellow's +Evangeline; Little Folks in Feathers and Fur; +What Mr. Darwin saw in his Voyage around the World in +the Ship Beagle; Muloch's A Noble Life; M. E. Dodge's +Hans Brinker; Lambert's Robinson Crusoe; Lamb's Tales +from Shakspeare (revised edition, Houghton, Mifflin, & Co.); +Abbott's Jonas on a Farm in Summer; Smiles' Robert +Dick, Geologist and Botanist; Eyes Right; Alcott's Little +Men; Alcott's Little Women; Stoddard's Dab Kinzer; +Scott's Kenilworth; Tom Brown's School-Days at +Rugby; Abbott's Mary Queen of Scots; Abbott's Charles I.; +Taylor's Boys of Other Countries; How Marjory Helped; +Little People in Asia; Gilman's Magna Charta Stories; +Overhead; Yonge's Lances of Linwood; Memory Gems; +Geographical Plays; Ten Boys Who Lived on the Road +from Long Ago till Now; Scott's Tales of a Grandfather; +Hayes' Cast Away in the Cold; Sharp Eyes and other +Papers; Lessons on Practical Subjects; Stories of Mother +Nature; Play Days; Jackanapes; Children's Stories of American +Progress; Little Lord Fauntleroy; Gilman's Historical +Readers (three volumes); Pilgrims and Puritans; The Patriotic +Reader; Ballou's Footprints of Travel.</p> + +<p class="h4">PRIMARY SCHOOLS.</p> + +<p class="h4"><span class="smcap">Permanent Supplementary Reading.</span></p> + +<p>Easy Steps for Little Feet. Popular Tales (first and second +series.) Parker & Marvel's Supplementary Reading +(first book). Tweed's Graded Supplementary Reading. +Modern Series Primary Reading, Part I. An Illustrated +Primer (D. C. Heath & Co.).<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_196">[196]</a></span></p> + +<p class="h4"><span class="smcap">Circulating Supplementary Reading.</span></p> + +<p><i>First Readers.</i>—Monroe's, Monroe's Advanced First, +Appleton's, Harvey's, Eclectic, Sheldon's, Barnes' New National, +Sheldon & Co.'s, Harper's, The Nursery Primer, +Parker & Marvel's Supplementary Reading (second book), +Wood's First Natural History Reader, Stickney's First +Reader, Stickney's First Reader (new edition), McGuffey's +Alternate First Reader.</p> + +<p><i>Second Readers.</i>—Monroe's, Monroe's Advanced Second, +Appleton's, Harvey's, Lippincott's, Sheldon & Co.'s, +Barnes' New National, Analytical, Macmillan's, Swinton's, +New Normal, Stickney's Second Reader (new edition), +Harper's Easy Book (published by Shorey), Turner's Stories +for Young Children, Our Little Ones, Golden Book of +Choice Reading, When I was a Little Girl, Johonnot's +Friends in Feathers and Fur, Woodward's Number Stories, +Wood's Second Natural History Reader, Young Folks' Library, +Nos. 5 and 6 (Silver, Burdett, & Co.).</p> + +<hr class="chapter" /> + +<h2 id="SUPPLEMENTARY_READING_IN_ONE_BUILDING_NOVEMBER_1890">SUPPLEMENTARY READING IN ONE BUILDING, NOVEMBER, 1890.</h2> + +<p class="h3">GRAMMAR SCHOOL.</p> + +<p class="h4"><span class="smcap">Class I.</span> (<i>about Fifteen Years old</i>).</p> + +<p>Longfellow's Poems.</p> + +<p class="h4"><span class="smcap">Class II.</span> (<i>about Fourteen Years old</i>).</p> + +<p>Hans Brinker. Mary Mapes Dodge.</p> + +<p>How Marjory Helped. M. Caroll.</p> + +<p>Magellan's Voyages.</p> + +<p>Ivanhoe. Scott.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_197">[197]</a></span></p> + +<p class="h4"><span class="smcap">Class III.</span> (<i>about Thirteen Years old</i>).</p> + +<p>American Explorers. Higginson.</p> + +<p class="h4"><span class="smcap">Class IV.</span> (<i>about Twelve Years old</i>).</p> + +<p>Playdays. Sarah O. Jewett.</p> + +<p>Water Babies. Kingsley.</p> + +<p>Physiology.</p> + +<p>A Child's Book of Nature. W. Hooker.</p> + +<p class="h4"><span class="smcap">Class V.</span> (<i>about Eleven Years old</i>).</p> + +<p>Stories of American History. N. S. Dodge.</p> + +<p>Guyot's Geography.</p> + +<p class="h4"><span class="smcap">Class VI.</span> (<i>about Ten Years old</i>).</p> + +<p>The Arabian Nights' Entertainments. Six stories by +Samuel Eliot.</p> + +<p>Our World. Mary L. Hall.</p> + +<p>The Seven Little Sisters. Jane Andrews.</p> + +<p>Each and All. Jane Andrews.</p> + +<p>Poetry for Children. Samuel Eliot.</p> + +<hr class="chapter" /> + +<h2 id="TEXT-BOOKS">TEXT-BOOKS.</h2> + +<p class="h4">PRIMARY SCHOOLS.</p> + +<p><i>Third Class.</i>—Franklin Primer and Advanced First +Reader. Munroe's Primary Reading Charts.</p> + +<p><i>Second Class.</i>—Franklin Second Reader. Franklin Advanced +Second Reader. First Music Reader.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_198">[198]</a></span></p> + +<p><i>First Class.</i>—Franklin Third Reader. <a id="FNanchor_8_335"></a><a href="#Footnote_8_335" class="fnanchor">[8]</a>New Franklin +Third Reader. First Music Reader.</p> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_8_335"></a><a href="#FNanchor_8_335"><span class="label">[8]</span></a> To be furnished at the discretion of the Committee on Supplies.</p></div> + +<p><i>Upper Classes.</i>—<a id="FNanchor_9_336"></a><a href="#Footnote_9_336" class="fnanchor">[9]</a>Franklin Primary Arithmetic. First +Lessons in Natural History and Language, Parts I. and II. +Child's Book of Language, Nos. 1, 2, 3. [By J. H. +Stickney.]</p> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_9_336"></a><a href="#FNanchor_9_336"><span class="label">[9]</span></a> Each Primary-School building occupied by a first or second class to be +supplied with one set of the Franklin Primary Arithmetic; the number in a +set to be sixty, or, if less be needed, less than sixty; the Committee on Supplies +are authorized to supply additional copies of the book at their discretion, +if needed.</p></div> + +<p><i>All the Classes.</i>—American Text-books of Art Education. +First Primary Music Chart. Prang's Natural History Series, +one set for each building.</p> + +<p>Magnus & Jeffries's Color Chart; "Color Blindness," by +Dr. B. Joy Jeffries.—One copy of the Chart and one copy +of the book for use in each Primary-School building.</p> + +<p>Normal Music Course in the Rice Training School and in +the schools of the third and sixth divisions. National Music +Course (revised edition) in the schools of the first and second +divisions.</p> + +<p class="h4">GRAMMAR SCHOOLS.</p> + +<p><i>Sixth Class.</i>—Franklin Advanced Third Reader. <a id="FNanchor_10_337"></a><a href="#Footnote_10_337" class="fnanchor">[10]</a>Warren's +Primary Geography. Intermediate Music Reader. +Franklin Elementary Arithmetic. <a id="FNanchor_11_338"></a><a href="#Footnote_11_338" class="fnanchor">[11]</a>Greenleaf's Manual of +Mental Arithmetic. Worcester's Spelling-Book.</p> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_10_337"></a><a href="#FNanchor_10_337"><span class="label">[10]</span></a> Swinton's Introductory Geography allowed in Charlestown Schools.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_11_338"></a><a href="#FNanchor_11_338"><span class="label">[11]</span></a> To be used in the manner recommended by the Board of Supervisors in +School Document No. 14, 1883; one set of sixty copies to be supplied for the +classes on each floor of a Grammar-School building occupied by pupils in either +of the four lower classes, and for each colony of a Grammar School.</p></div> + +<p><i>Fifth Class.</i>—Franklin Intermediate Reader. <a id="FNanchor_12_339"></a><a href="#Footnote_12_339" class="fnanchor">[12]</a> New +Franklin Fourth Reader. Franklin Elementary Arithmetic. +<a id="FNanchor_13_340"></a><a href="#Footnote_13_340" class="fnanchor">[13]</a>Greenleaf's Manual of Mental Arithmetic. <a id="FNanchor_14_341"></a><a href="#Footnote_14_341" class="fnanchor">[14]</a>Warren's Primary +Geography. Intermediate Music Reader. Worcester's +Spelling-Book.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_199">[199]</a></span></p><div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_12_339"></a><a href="#FNanchor_12_339"><span class="label">[12]</span></a> To be furnished at the discretion of the Committee on Supplies.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_13_340"></a><a href="#FNanchor_13_340"><span class="label">[13]</span></a> To be used in the manner recommended by the Board of Supervisors in +School Document No. 14, 1883; one set of sixty copies to be supplied for the +classes on each floor of a Grammar-School building occupied by pupils in either +of the four lower classes, and for each colony of a Grammar School.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_14_341"></a><a href="#FNanchor_14_341"><span class="label">[14]</span></a> The revised edition to be furnished at the discretion of the Committee on +Supplies to schools where this book is used. Swinton's Grammar-School +Geography allowed in Charlestown Schools.</p></div> + +<p><i>Fourth Class.</i>—Franklin Fourth Reader. <a id="FNanchor_15_342"></a><a href="#Footnote_15_342" class="fnanchor">[15]</a>New Franklin +Fourth Reader. Worcester's Comprehensive Dictionary. +Franklin Written Arithmetic. <a id="FNanchor_16_343"></a><a href="#Footnote_16_343" class="fnanchor">[16]</a>Greenleaf's Manual of Mental +Arithmetic. <a id="FNanchor_17_344"></a><a href="#Footnote_17_344" class="fnanchor">[17]</a>Warren's Common-School Geography. Intermediate +Music Reader. Worcester's Spelling-Book. <a id="FNanchor_18_345"></a><a href="#Footnote_18_345" class="fnanchor">[18]</a>Blaisdell's +How to Keep Well.</p> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_15_342"></a><a href="#FNanchor_15_342"><span class="label">[15]</span></a> To be furnished at the discretion of the Committee on Supplies.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_16_343"></a><a href="#FNanchor_16_343"><span class="label">[16]</span></a> To be used in the manner recommended by the Board of Supervisors in +School Document No. 14, 1883; one set of sixty copies to be supplied for the +classes on each floor of a Grammar-School building occupied by pupils in either +of the four lower classes, and for each colony of a Grammar School.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_17_344"></a><a href="#FNanchor_17_344"><span class="label">[17]</span></a> The revised edition to be furnished at the discretion of the Committee on +Supplies to schools where this book is used. Swinton's Grammar-School +Geography allowed in Charlestown Schools.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_18_345"></a><a href="#FNanchor_18_345"><span class="label">[18]</span></a> One set of not more than sixty copies, or, if determined by the Committee +on Supplies to be necessary, more than one set, be placed in each Grammar +School, for use as collateral reading in the third and fourth classes.</p></div> + +<p><i>Third Class.</i>—Franklin Fifth Reader. <a id="FNanchor_19_346"></a><a href="#Footnote_19_346" class="fnanchor">[19]</a>New Franklin +Fifth Reader. Franklin Written Arithmetic. <a id="FNanchor_20_347"></a><a href="#Footnote_20_347" class="fnanchor">[20]</a>Greenleaf's +Manual of Mental Arithmetic. <a id="FNanchor_21_348"></a><a href="#Footnote_21_348" class="fnanchor">[21]</a>Warren's Common-School +Geography. Swinton's New Language Lessons. Worcester's +Comprehensive Dictionary. Higginson's History of the +United States. <a id="FNanchor_22_349"></a><a href="#Footnote_22_349" class="fnanchor">[22]</a>Fourth Music Reader. [Revised edition.] +<a id="FNanchor_23_350"></a><a href="#Footnote_23_350" class="fnanchor">[23]</a>Blaisdell's How to Keep Well.</p> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_19_346"></a><a href="#FNanchor_19_346"><span class="label">[19]</span></a> To be furnished at the discretion of the Committee on Supplies.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_20_347"></a><a href="#FNanchor_20_347"><span class="label">[20]</span></a> To be used in the manner recommended by the Board of Supervisors in +School Document No. 14, 1883; one set of sixty copies to be supplied for the +classes on each floor of a Grammar-School building occupied by pupils in either +of the four lower classes, and for each colony of a Grammar School.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_21_348"></a><a href="#FNanchor_21_348"><span class="label">[21]</span></a> The revised edition to be furnished at the discretion of the Committee on +Supplies to schools where this book is used. Swinton's Grammar-School +Geography allowed in Charlestown Schools.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_22_349"></a><a href="#FNanchor_22_349"><span class="label">[22]</span></a> The revised edition to be supplied as new books are needed.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_23_350"></a><a href="#FNanchor_23_350"><span class="label">[23]</span></a> One set of not more than sixty copies, or, if determined by the Committee +on Supplies to be necessary, more than one set, be placed in each Grammar +School, for use as collateral reading in the third and fourth classes.</p></div> + +<p><i>Second Class.</i>—Franklin Fifth Reader. <a id="FNanchor_24_351"></a><a href="#Footnote_24_351" class="fnanchor">[24]</a>New Franklin +Fifth Reader. Franklin Written Arithmetic. <a id="FNanchor_25_352"></a><a href="#Footnote_25_352" class="fnanchor">[25]</a>Warren's +Common-School Geography. Tweed's Grammar for Common +Schools. Worcester's Comprehensive Dictionary. +Higginson's History of the United States. <a id="FNanchor_26_353"></a><a href="#Footnote_26_353" class="fnanchor">[26]</a>Fourth Music +Reader. [Revised edition.] Smith's Elementary Physiology +and Hygiene.</p> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_24_351"></a><a href="#FNanchor_24_351"><span class="label">[24]</span></a> To be furnished at the discretion of the Committee on Supplies.</p></div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_200">[200]</a></span></p><div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_25_352"></a><a href="#FNanchor_25_352"><span class="label">[25]</span></a> The revised edition to be furnished at the discretion of the Committee on +Supplies to schools where this book is used. Swinton's Grammar-School +Geography allowed in Charlestown Schools.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_26_353"></a><a href="#FNanchor_26_353"><span class="label">[26]</span></a> The revised edition to be supplied as new books are needed.</p></div> + +<p><i>First Class.</i>—Franklin Sixth Reader. Franklin Written +Arithmetic. Meservey's Book-keeping, Single Entry. +<a id="FNanchor_27_354"></a><a href="#Footnote_27_354" class="fnanchor">[27]</a>Warren's Common School Geography. Tweed's Grammar +for Common Schools. Worcester's Comprehensive Dictionary. +Stone's History of England. Cooley's Elements +of Philosophy. <a id="FNanchor_28_355"></a><a href="#Footnote_28_355" class="fnanchor">[28]</a>Fourth Music Reader. [Revised edition.]</p> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_27_354"></a><a href="#FNanchor_27_354"><span class="label">[27]</span></a> The revised edition to be furnished at the discretion of the Committee on +Supplies to schools where this book is used. Swinton's Grammar-School +Geography allowed in Charlestown Schools.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_28_355"></a><a href="#FNanchor_28_355"><span class="label">[28]</span></a> The revised edition to be supplied as new books are needed.</p></div> + +<p><i>Fifth and Sixth Classes.</i>—First Lessons in Natural History +and Language. Parts III. and IV.</p> + +<p><i>All Classes.</i>—American Text-books of Art Education. +Writing-Books: Duntonian Series; Payson, Dunton, and +Scribner's; Harper's Copy-books; Appleton's Writing-Books. +Child's Book of Language; and Letters and Lessons +in Language, Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4. [By J. H. Stickney.] +Prang's Aids for Object Teaching, "Trades," one set for +each building.</p> + +<p>Normal Music Course in the Rice Training School and +the schools of the third and sixth divisions. National Music +Course (revised edition) in the schools of the first and second +divisions.</p> + +<p class="h4">HIGH SCHOOLS.</p> + +<p><i>English.</i>—Abbott's How to Write Clearly. Hill's <i>or</i> +Kellogg's Rhetoric. Meiklejohn's English Language. Scott's +Lady of the Lake. Selections from Addison's Papers in +the Spectator, with Macaulay's Essay on Addison. Irving's +Sketch-Book. Trevelyan's Selections from Macaulay. +Hales' Longer English Poems. Shakspeare,—Rolfe's <i>or</i> +Hudson's Selections. Selections from Chaucer. Selections +from Milton. [Clarendon Press Edition. Vol. I.] Worcester's +Comprehensive Dictionary.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_201">[201]</a></span></p><p><i>Latin.</i>—Allen & Greenough's Latin Grammar. [Roxbury, +W. Roxbury, and Brighton High Schools.] Harkness' +Latin Grammar. [English, Girls', Dorchester, Charlestown, +and East Boston High Schools.] Harkness' Complete +Course in Latin for the first year. Gildersleeve's Latin +Primer. Collar & Daniell's Beginners' Latin Book. [Roxbury, +West Roxbury, and Brighton High Schools.] Harkness' +Cæsar. Lindsey's Cornelius Nepos. Chase's, Frieze's, +<i>or</i> Greenough's Virgil, or any edition approved by the Committee +on Text-Books. Greenough's <i>or</i> Harkness' Cicero. +Chase's <i>or</i> Lincoln's Horace, or any edition approved by the +Committee on Text-books.</p> + +<p><i>History.</i>—<a id="FNanchor_29_356"></a><a href="#Footnote_29_356" class="fnanchor">[29]</a>Anderson's New General History. Martin's +Civil Government.</p> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_29_356"></a><a href="#FNanchor_29_356"><span class="label">[29]</span></a> To be dropped from list of authorized text-books, July 1, 1890.</p></div> + +<p><i>Mythology.</i>—Berens's Hand-book of Mythology.</p> + +<p><i>Mathematics.</i>—Meservey's Book-keeping. Bradbury & +Emery's Academic Algebra. <a id="FNanchor_30_357"></a><a href="#Footnote_30_357" class="fnanchor">[30]</a>Wentworth & Hill's Exercises +in Algebra. Bradbury's Elementary Geometry, <i>or</i> Chauvenet's +Geometry, <i>or</i> Wells's Geometry. Greenleaf's Trigonometry. +<a id="FNanchor_31_358"></a><a href="#Footnote_31_358" class="fnanchor">[31]</a>Metric Apparatus.</p> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_30_357"></a><a href="#FNanchor_30_357"><span class="label">[30]</span></a> This book is not intended to, and does not in fact displace any text-book +now in use, but is intended merely to furnish additional problems in algebra.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_31_358"></a><a href="#FNanchor_31_358"><span class="label">[31]</span></a> Not exceeding $15 for each school.</p></div> + +<p><i>Physics.</i>—Cooley's New Text-book of Physics. Avery's +Physics, <i>or</i> Gage's Introduction to Physical Science.</p> + +<p><i>Astronomy.</i>—Sharpless & Phillips' Astronomy.</p> + +<p><i>Chemistry.</i>—Williams's Chemistry. Williams's Laboratory +Manual. Eliot & Storer's Elementary Manual of Chemistry, +edited by Nichols. Eliot & Storer's Qualitative Analysis. +Hill's Lecture Notes on Qualitative Analysis. Tables for the +Determination of Common Minerals. [Girls' High School.] +White's Outlines of Chemical Theory.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_202">[202]</a></span></p><p><i>Botany.</i>—Gray's School and Field Book of Botany.</p> + +<p><i>Zoölogy.</i>—Morse's Zoölogy and Packard's Zoölogy.</p> + +<p><i>Physiology.</i>—Hutchinson's Physiology. Blaisdell's Our +Bodies and How We Live.</p> + +<p><i>Drawing.</i>—American Text-books of Art Education.</p> + +<p><i>Music.</i>—Eichberg's High-School Music Reader. Eichberg's +Girls' High-School Music Reader. [Girls' High +School.]</p> + +<p class="h4">LATIN SCHOOLS.</p> + +<p><i>Latin.</i>—White's Abridged Lexicon. Harkness' Grammar. +Harkness' Reader. Harkness' Complete Course in Latin +for the first year. Harkness' Prose Composition, <i>or</i> Allen's +Latin Composition. Harkness' Cæsar. Lindsey's Cornelius +Nepos. Greenough's Catiline of Sallust. Lincoln's Ovid. +Greenough's Ovid. Greenough's Virgil. Greenough's <i>or</i> +Harkness' Orations of Cicero. Smith's Principia Latina, +Part II.</p> + +<p><i>Greek.</i>—Liddell & Scott's Abridged Lexicon. Goodwin's +Grammar. White's Lessons. Jones' Prose Composition. +Goodwin's Reader. The Anabasis of Xenophon. +Boise's Homer's Iliad. Beaumlein's Edition of Homer's +Iliad.</p> + +<p><i>English.</i>—Soule's Hand-book of Pronunciation. Hill's +General Rules for Punctuation. Tweed's Grammar for +Common Schools (in fifth and sixth classes). Hawthorne's +Wonder Book. Hawthorne's Tanglewood Tales. Plutarch's +Lives of Famous Greeks and Romans. Macaulay's Lays of +Ancient Rome. Higginson's History of the United States. +Hughes' Tom Brown's School-Days at Rugby. Dana's +Two Years before the Mast. Charles and Mary Lamb's +Tales from Shakspeare. [Revised Edition, Houghton, Mifflin, +& Co.] Scott's Ivanhoe. Hawthorne's True Stories.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_203">[203]</a></span> +Greene's Readings from English History. [32]Church's Stories +from Homer. <a id="FNanchor_32_359"></a><a href="#Footnote_32_359" class="fnanchor">[32]</a>Church's Stories of the Old World. Selections +from American Authors,—Franklin, Adams, Cooper, and +Longfellow. American Poems, with Biographical Sketches +and Notes. Irving's Sketch-Book. Selections from Addison's +Papers in the Spectator. Ballads and Lyrics. Hales' +Longer English Poems. Three plays of Shakspeare,—Rolfe's +<i>or</i> Hudson's Selections.</p> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_32_359"></a><a href="#FNanchor_32_359"><span class="label">[32]</span></a> No more copies of Church's Stories from Homer to be purchased, but +as books are worn out their place to be supplied with Church's Stories of the +Old World.</p></div> + +<p><i>History.</i>—Leighton's History of Rome. Smith's Smaller +History of Greece. Long's <i>or</i> Ginn & Heath's Classical +Atlas. Smith's Smaller Classical Dictionary,—Student's +Series.</p> + +<p><i>Mythology.</i>—Bulfinch's Age of Fable.</p> + +<p><i>Geography.</i>—Geikie's Primer of Physical Geography. +Warren's Common-School Geography.</p> + +<p><i>Physiology.</i>—Macé's History of a Mouthful of Bread. +Foster's Physiology (Science Primer). Blaisdell's Our Bodies +and How We Live.</p> + +<p><i>Botany.</i>—Gray's School and Field Book of Botany.</p> + +<p><i>Zoölogy.</i>—Morse's Zoölogy and Packard's Zoölogy.</p> + +<p><i>Mineralogy.</i>—Tables for the Determination of Common +Minerals. [Girls' Latin School.]</p> + +<p><i>Mathematics.</i>—The Franklin Written Arithmetic. Bradbury's +Eaton's Algebra. <a id="FNanchor_33_360"></a><a href="#Footnote_33_360" class="fnanchor">[33]</a>Wentworth & Hill's Exercises +in Algebra. Chauvenet's Geometry. Lodge's Elementary +Mechanics.</p> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_33_360"></a><a href="#FNanchor_33_360"><span class="label">[33]</span></a> This book is not intended to, and does not in fact, displace any text-book +now in use, but is intended merely to furnish additional problems in +algebra.</p></div> + +<p><i>Physics.</i>—Arnott's <i>or</i> Avery's Physics, <i>or</i> Gage's Physics.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_204">[204]</a></span></p><p><i>Drawing.</i>—American Text-books of Art Education.</p> + +<p><i>Music.</i>—Eichberg's High-School Music Reader. Eichberg's +Girls' High-School Music Reader. [Girls' Latin +School]</p> + +<p class="h4">LATIN AND HIGH SCHOOLS.</p> + +<p><i>French.</i>—Keetel's Elementary Grammar. Keetel's Analytical +French Reader. Super's French Reader. <a id="FNanchor_34_361"></a><a href="#Footnote_34_361" class="fnanchor">[34]</a>Sauveur's +Petites Causeries. Hennequin's Lessons in Idiomatic French. +Gasc's French Dictionary. Erckmann-Chatrian's Le Conscrit +de 1813. Erckmann-Chatrian's Madame Thérèse. +Bôcher's College Series of French Plays. Nouvelles Genevoises. +Souvestre's Au Coin du Feu. Racine's Andromaque. +Racine's Iphigénie. Racine's Athalie. Molière's +Bourgeois Gentilhomme. Molière's Precieuses Ridicules. +Corneille's Les Horaces. Corneille's Cid. Herrig's La +France Littéraire. Roemer's French Course, Vol. II. Ventura's +Peppino. Halévy's L'Abbé Constantin. La Fontaine's +Fables. About's La Mère de la Marquise. Daudet's +Siège de Berlin. Daudet's Extraits. Daudet's La Belle +Nivarnaise.</p> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_34_361"></a><a href="#FNanchor_34_361"><span class="label">[34]</span></a> To be furnished as new French Readers are needed. The use of the book +confined for this year to the English, Charlestown, Roxbury, and West Roxbury +High Schools.</p></div> + +<p><i>German.</i>—Whitney's German Dictionary. Whitney's +Grammar. Collar's Eysenbach. Otto's <i>or</i> Whitney's +Reader. Der Zerbrochene Krug. Schiller's Wilhelm Tell. +Schiller's Maria Stuart. Goethe's Hermann und Dorothea. +Putlitz's Das Herz Vergessen. Grimm's Märchen. Goethe's +Prose. Schiller's Prose. Stein's German Exercises. Heine's +Die Harzreise. Im Zwielicht. Vols. I. and II. Traumerein. +Buckheim's German Poetry for Repetition.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_205">[205]</a></span></p> +<p class="h4">NORMAL SCHOOL TEXT-BOOKS.</p> + +<p>The text-books used in this school shall be such of the +text-books used in the other public schools of the city as are +needed for the course of study, and such others as shall be +authorized by the Board.</p> + +<p>Normal Music Course.</p> + +<p class="h4">HORACE MANN SCHOOL TEXT-BOOKS.</p> + +<p>Such text-books shall be supplied to the Horace Mann +School as the committee on that school shall approve.</p> + +<p class="h4">EVENING HIGH SCHOOL TEXT-BOOKS.</p> + +<p>Benn Pitman's Manual of Phonography. Reporter's Companion. +The Phonographic Reader. The Reporter's First +Reader. Bradbury's Elementary Geometry.</p> + +<p>The text-books used in this school shall be such of the +text-books authorized in the other public schools as are +approved by the Committee on Evening Schools and the +Committee on Supplies.</p> + +<p><i>East Boston Branch.</i>—Graded Lessons in Shorthand. +Parts 1 and 2, by Mrs. Mary A. Chandler.</p> + +<p class="h4">EVENING ELEMENTARY SCHOOL TEXT-BOOKS.</p> + +<p>Munroe's Charts. Franklin Primer. Franklin Reader. +Stories of American History. Harper's Introductory Geography. +The Franklin Elementary Arithmetic. The Franklin +Written Arithmetic. <a id="FNanchor_35_362"></a><a href="#Footnote_35_362" class="fnanchor">[35]</a>Andersen's Märchen. Writing-books, +Plain Copy-books; and such of the text-books authorized in +the other public schools as are approved by the Committee +on Evening Schools and the Committee on Supplies.</p> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_35_362"></a><a href="#FNanchor_35_362"><span class="label">[35]</span></a> In schools in which the English language is taught to German pupils.</p></div> + +<p class="h4">SCHOOLS OF COOKERY.</p> + +<p>Boston School Kitchen Text-book, by Mrs. D. A. Lincoln.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_206">[206]</a></span></p> + +<hr class="chapter" /> + +<h2 id="REFERENCE-BOOKS">REFERENCE-BOOKS.</h2> + +<p class="h4">PRIMARY SCHOOLS.</p> + +<p>Worcester's Comprehensive Dictionary. National Music +Teacher. Munroe's Vocal Gymnastics. Lessons in Color +(one copy for each Primary-School teacher's desk). White's +Oral Lessons in Number (one copy for each Primary-School +teacher's desk). Smith's Primer of Physiology and Hygiene +(one copy for each Primary-School teacher's desk).</p> + +<p>Observation Lessons in the Primary Schools, by Mrs. L. P. +Hopkins (one copy for each Primary-School teacher's desk).</p> + +<p>Simple Object Lessons (two series), by W. Hewitt Beck. +Natural History Object Lessons, by G. Ricks (one set of +books of each title for each Primary-School teacher's desk).</p> + +<p class="h4">GRAMMAR SCHOOLS.</p> + +<p>Appleton's American Encyclopædia <i>or</i> Johnson's Encyclopædia. +Chambers's Encyclopædia. Anthon's Classical Dictionary. +Thomas's Dictionary of Biography and Mythology.</p> + +<p>Worcester's Quarto Unabridged Dictionary. Webster's +Quarto Unabridged Dictionary. Webster's National Pictorial +Dictionary.</p> + +<p>Lippincott's Gazetteer. Johnson's Atlas. Reclus' Earth. +Reclus' Ocean. Flammarion's Atmosphere. Weber's Universal +History. Bancroft's History of the United States. +Battle Maps of the Revolution. Palfrey's History of New +England. Martin's Civil Government. Frothingham's Rise +of the Republic. Lossing's Field-book of the Revolution. +Shurtleff's Topographical History of Boston. Frothingham's +Siege of Boston. Lingard's History of England. Smith's +Primer of Physiology and Hygiene (one copy for the desk +of each teacher of the fifth and sixth classes).<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_207">[207]</a></span></p> + +<p>Goold-Brown's Grammar of English Grammars. Wilson's +Punctuation. Philbrick's Union Speaker. Methods of Teaching +Geography (one copy for each teacher of Geography).</p> + +<p><i>First Classes.</i>—Physiography (Longmans & Co.). Copies +for teachers' desks.</p> + +<p><i>Second Classes.</i>—Harper's Cyclopædia of United States +History.</p> + +<p><i>Maps and Globes.</i>—Cutter's Physiological Charts. Charts +of the Human Body (Milton Bradley & Co.). White's Manikin. +Cornell's Series Maps, <i>or</i> Guyot's Series Maps, Nos. +1, 2, 3. (Not exceeding one set to each floor.) Hughes's +Series of Maps. Joslyn's fifteen-inch Terrestrial Globe, on +Tripod (one for each Grammar School). Nine-inch Hand +Globe, Loring's Magnetic (one for each Grammar School +room). Cosmograph. O. W. Gray & Son's Atlas. (To be +furnished as new atlases are needed.)</p> + +<p class="h4">LATIN AND HIGH SCHOOLS.</p> + +<p>Lingard's History of England. Harper's Latin Lexicon. +Liddell & Scott's Greek Lexicon, unabridged. Eugène's +French Grammar. Labberton's Historical Atlas and General +History (one book for the desk of each teacher). Guyot's +and Cameron's Maps of the Roman Empire, Greece, +and Italy. Strang's English Lessons (for use on teachers' +desks).</p> + +<p class="h4">NORMAL SCHOOL.</p> + +<p>Observation Lessons in Primary Schools, by Mrs. L. P. +Hopkins (one set).</p> + +<p class="h4">NORMAL AND HIGH SCHOOLS.</p> + +<p>Charts of Life. Wilson's Human Anatomical and Physiological +Charts. Hough's American Woods.</p> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The World's Best Books, by Frank Parsons + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE WORLD'S BEST BOOKS *** + +***** This file should be named 37795-h.htm or 37795-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/3/7/7/9/37795/ + +Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Matthew Wheaton and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The World's Best Books + A Key to the Treasures of Literature + +Author: Frank Parsons + +Release Date: October 19, 2011 [EBook #37795] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE WORLD'S BEST BOOKS *** + + + + +Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Matthew Wheaton and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + + + + THE WORLD'S BEST BOOKS + + A KEY TO THE TREASURES OF LITERATURE + + BY + + FRANK PARSONS + + + THIRD EDITION + + REVISED AND ENLARGED + + BOSTON + + LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY + + 1893 + _Copyright, 1889, 1891, 1893,_ + + BY FRANK PARSONS. + + UNIVERSITY PRESS: + + JOHN WILSON AND SON, CAMBRIDGE, U.S.A. + + + + +PREFACE TO THE THIRD EDITION. + + +At the request of the publishers the following statement is made as a +substitute for the former indefinite arrangement in respect to +authorship. + +The plan and composition of the book were mine; the work of my +colleagues, F. E. Crawford and H. T. Richardson, consisting of +criticism, verifications, and assistance in gathering materials for the +appendix,--services of great value to me, and of which I wish to express +my high appreciation. + +A few additions have been made in this edition, and the book has been +carefully revised throughout. + +FRANK PARSONS. + +BOSTON, January, 1893. + + + + +PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION. + + +The public and the critics have met us with a welcome far more cordial +than we had dared to expect, though not more so, of course, than we +hoped for. When did a thing such as that ever happen? We are glad to +discover that in forming our expectations we underrated their +discernment, or our own merit (probably not the latter, judging by the +remarks of two or three of our critics), and in real earnest we are +grateful for their high appreciation of our work. + +Some few--a very few--have found fault with us, and our thanks are due +to them also; for honest, kindly, intelligent criticism is one of the +most powerful means of growth. The fact that this little volume is not +intended as an _infallible_ guide, or as anything more than a _stimulus_ +to seek the best, and a _suggestion_ of the method of guiding one's self +and one's children, has been missed by some, though it appears +distinctly in various places through the book, and is involved in what +we deem the most useful part of our work,--the remarks following Table +V., wherein we endeavor to show the student how he may learn to estimate +the value of a book for himself. So far were we from wishing to _decide_ +matters which manifestly vary with the wants and capacities of each +individual, that we emphatically advised the reader not to accept the +opinions of any one as final, but to form his own judgments. + +Some have failed to perceive that, _in ranking the books, we have +considered, not merely their intrinsic merit, but also the needs and +abilities of the average English reader_, making a compound test by +which to judge, not the relative greatness of the books simply, but +their relative claims on the attention of the ordinary reader. This also +was set forth, as we thought, quite distinctly, and was in fact +understood by nearly every one, but not by all, for some have objected +to the order of the books in Table I., affirming, for example, that the +"Federalist" and Bryce's "American Commonwealth" are far _superior_ to +"Our Country," and should be placed above it. That would be true if +intrinsic greatness alone decided the matter. But the average reader +with his needs and abilities is a factor in the problem, as well as the +book with its subject and style. Now, the ordinary reader's time and his +mental power are both limited. "Our Country" is briefer and simpler than +the others, and its contents are of vital interest to every American, of +even more vital interest than the discussions of the "Federalist" or +Bryce; and so, although as a work of art it is inferior to these, it +must rank above them in this book, because of its superior claims upon +the attention of the average reader. In a similar manner other questions +of precedence are determined on the principles contained in the remarks +on Table V. It is not pretended, however, that the arrangement is +perfect even in respect to our own tests, especially among the authors +on the second shelf of Table I. The difficulties of making a true list +may be illustrated by the fact that one critic of much ability affirms +that Marietta Holley ought to head the tenth column, as the best +humorist of all time; another says it is absurd to place her above the +Roman wits Juvenal and Lucian; and a third declares with equal +positiveness that she ought not to appear in the list at all. We differ +from them all, and think the high place we have given Miss Holley is +very near the truth. + +Communications have been received from Oliver Wendell Holmes, Marietta +Holley, Senator Hoar, Phillips Brooks, Bishop J. H. Vincent, Brooke +Herford, Francis Parkman, ex-Gov. John D. Long, Gen. Benj. F. Butler, T. +W. Higginson, and many other eminent persons, bringing to us a number of +suggestions, most of which we have adopted to the great advantage of our +book, as we hope and believe. + +We have added a number of valuable works to the lists of the first +edition, and have written a new chapter on the guidance of children, the +means of training them to good habits of reading, and the books best +adapted to boys and girls of various ages. + +If any one, on noting some of the changes that have been made in this +edition, feels inclined to raise the cry of inconsistency, we ask him to +remember the declaration of Wendell Phillips, that "Inconsistency is +Progress." There is room for still further inconsistency, we do not +doubt; and criticism or suggestion will be gladly received. + +FRANK PARSONS. + +BOSTON, January, 1891. + + + + + CONTENTS. + + + INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. + + Purposes of the book briefly stated + + System in reading + + Purposes of reading + + Its influence on health and mind + + on character + + on beauty and accomplishments + + Its pleasures + + Quantity and quality of reading + + Selection of books + + Order of reading + + Method of reading + + Importance of owning the books you read + + Effect of bad books + + useless books + + good books + + ABBREVIATIONS USED IN THIS WORK + + NOTE OF EXPLANATION + + THE FIRST TWO SHELVES OF THE WORLD'S LIBRARY + (TABLE.) + + REMARKS ON TABLE I. + + Religion and Morals + + Poetry and the Drama + + Science + + Biography + + History + + Philosophy + + Essays + + Fiction + + Oratory + + Wit and Humor + + Fables and Fairy Tales + + Travel + + Guides + + Miscellaneous + + GLIMPSES OF THE GREAT FIELDS OF THOUGHT, + + Arranged for the purpose of securing breadth of + mind (Table II.) + + A SERIES OF BRIEF BUT VERY CHOICE SELECTIONS + from general literature, constituting a year's + course for the formation of a true literary taste + (Table III.) + + Groups I. and II., Poetry + + Group III., Prose + + Group IV., Wit and Humor + + A SHORT COURSE SUPPLEMENTARY TO THE LAST + (Table IV.) + + WHAT TO GIVE THE CHILDREN + + SPECIAL STUDIES + + THE DISTRIBUTION OF THE WORLD'S GREAT AUTHORS + in time and space, with a parallel column of contemporaneous + noted historic events (Table V.) + + REMARKS ON TABLE V. + + Definitions and divisions + + Eight tests for the choice of books + + Intrinsic merit + + Periods of English Literature + + The Pre-Shakspearian age + + The Shakspearian age + + The Post-Shakspearian age + + Time of Milton + + Dryden + + Pope + + The novelists, historians, and scientists + + The greatest names of other literatures:-- + Greece, Rome, Italy, France, Spain, Germany, + Persia, Portugal, Denmark, Russia + + The fountains of national literatures:-- + Homer, Nibelungenlied, Cid, Chansons, Morte + D'Arthur, etc. + + APPENDIX I. + + THE BEST THOUGHTS OF GREAT MEN ABOUT + BOOKS AND READING + + APPENDIX II. + + BOOKS USED IN THE BOSTON PUBLIC SCHOOLS + AS SUPPLEMENTARY READING, TEXT-BOOKS, + etc. + + + + +THE WORLD'S BEST BOOKS. + + + + +INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. + + +This book is the result of much reading and thought, teaching, +lecturing, and conversation, in the direction of its subject-matter. Its +purpose is fivefold: _First_, to call attention to the importance of +reading the best literature to the exclusion of all that is inferior, by +setting forth the benefits that may be derived from the former and the +injuries that are sure to result from the latter. _Second_, to select +the best things from all the literatures of the world; to make a survey +of the whole field of literature and locate the mines most worthy of our +effort, where with the smallest amount of digging we may find the +richest ore; and to do this with far greater precision, definiteness, +and detail than it has ever been done before. _Third_, to place the +great names of the world's literature in their proper relations +of time and space to each other and to the great events of +history,--accompanying the picture with a few remarks about the several +periods of English Literature and the Golden Age of literature in each +of the great nations. _Fourth_, to discuss briefly the best methods of +reading, and the importance of system, quantity, quality, due +proportion, and thoroughness in reading, and of the ownership of books +and the order in which they should be read. _Fifth_, to gather into a +shining group, like a constellation of stars, the splendid thoughts of +the greatest men upon these subjects. + +The book is meant to be a practical handbook of universal literature for +the use of students, business men, teachers, and any other persons who +direct the reading of others, and for the guidance of scholars in +departments other than their own. + +1. =System= in reading is of as much importance as it is in the business +of a bank or any other mercantile pursuit. + +2. =The Purposes of Reading= should ever be kept in mind. They are +the purposes of life; namely, health, mental power, character, beauty, +accomplishments, pleasure, and the knowledge which will be of use in +relation to our business, domestic life, and citizenship. Literature can +aid the _health_, indirectly, by imparting a knowledge of the means of +its attainment and preservation (as in works on physiology and hygiene); +and directly, by supplying that exercise of the mind which is essential +to the balance of the functions necessary to perfect health. A study of +literature will develop the _mind_--the perception, memory, reason +(especially true of science and philosophy), and the imagination +(especially the study of poetry and science)--directly, by exercising +those all-important faculties; and indirectly, by yielding a knowledge +of the conditions of their existence and strength. On the other hand, +the mind may be greatly injured, if not wholly destroyed, by pouring +into it a flood of filth and nonsense; or by a torrent of even the best +in literature, so rapid and long continued that it cannot be properly +absorbed and digested. The evil effects of cramming the mind are only +too often seen about us. + +Literature can build or destroy the _character_ both directly and +indirectly. Poetry, religion, philosophy, fiction, biography, +history,--indeed, all sorts of writings in some degree make us more +sympathetic, loving, tender, noble, generous, kind, and just, or the +opposite, by the simple power of exercise, if for no other reason. If we +freely exercise the muscles of the arm, we shall have more vigor there. +If we continually love, our power and tendency to love will grow. The +poet's passion, passing the gates of the eye and ear into our souls, +rouses our sympathies to kindred states of feeling. We love when he +loves, and weep when he weeps; and all the while he is moulding our +characters, taking from or adding to the very substance of our souls. +Brave words change the coward to a hero; a coward's cry chills the +bravest heart. A boy who reads of crime and bravery sadly mixed by some +foul traitor to the race, soon thinks that to be brave and grand he must +be coarse and have the blood of villainy and rashness pulsing from his +misled heart. Not all the books that picture vice are harmful. If they +show it in its truth, they drive us from it by its very loathsomeness; +but if they gild it and plume it with pleasure and power, beware. +Literature, too, can give us a knowledge of the means for the +development of character, and the inspiration to make the best use of +these means. Books of morals, religion, biography, science, poetry, and +fiction especially hold these treasures. + +In the attainment and enrichment of _beauty_, literature has a work to +do. The choicest beauty is the loveliness of soul that lights the eye +and prints its virtue in the face; and as our reading moulds the mind +and heart to beauty, their servants at the doorways ever bend to their +instructions and put on the livery of their lords. Even that beauty +which is of the rounded form, the soft cheek's blooming tinge, the rosy +mouth, and pearly lip, owes its debt to health; and that, as has been +seen, may profit much by literature. And beyond all this we learn the +means of great improvement in our comeliness,--how crooked may be +changed to straight, and hollow cheeks to oval; frowns to smiles, and +lean or gross to plump; ill-fitting, ill-adapted dress to beautiful +attire; a shambling gait to a well-conducted walk,--and even the stupid +stare of ignorance be turned to angel glances of indwelling power and +interested comprehension. + +_Accomplishments_, too, find help in written works of genius, not merely +as affording a record of the best methods of acquiring any given art, +but directly as supplying the substance of some of the greatest of all +accomplishments,--those of inspiring eloquent conversation, and of +writing clear and beautiful English. + +_Pleasure_ manifestly is, by all these aids to beauty, health, and +power, much beholden to the books we read; but more than this, the very +reading of a worthy book is a delicious joy, and one that does not drain +but fills the fount from which the happiness of others comes. Plato, +Fenelon, Gibbon, and a host of others name the love of books the +chiefest charm and glory of their lives. + +3. =The Quantity and Quality= of what we read should have our careful +thought. Whoever lives on literary husks and intoxicants, when corn and +wheat and milk are just as easily within his reach, is certainly no +wiser than one who treats his physical receptacle in the same way, and +will as surely suffer from ill feeding in diminished vital force. +Indeed, he may be glad if he escapes acquiring intellectual dyspepsia or +spiritual delirium tremens. Even of the best of reading there may be too +much as well as not enough. More than we can assimilate is waste of time +and energy. Besides the regulation of the _total_ quantity we read, with +reference to our powers of digestion, we must watch the _relative_ +amounts of all the various kinds of literary sustenance we take. A due +proportion ought to be maintained by careful mixture of religious, +scientific, poetic, philosophic, humorous, and other reading. A man who +exercises but one small muscle all his days would violate the laws of +health and power. The greatest mind is that which comes the nearest to +attainment of a present perfect picture in the mind of all the universe, +past, present, and to come. The greatest character is that which gets +the greatest happiness for self through fullest and most powerful +activities for others, and requires for its own work, existence, and +delight, the least subtraction from the world's resources of enjoyment. +The greatest man is he who combines in due proportion and completest +harmony the fullest physical, emotional, and intellectual life. + +4. =The Selection= of books is of the utmost importance, in view of +their influence upon character. All the reasons for care that apply to +the choice of friends among the living, have equal force in reference to +the dead. The same tests avail in one case as in the other,--reputation +and personal observation of the words and deeds of those we think to +make companions. We may at will and at slight cost have all the great +and noble for our intimate friends and daily guests, who will come when +we call, answer the questions we put, and go when we wish. And better +yet, however long we talk to them, no other friends will be kept waiting +in the anterooms, longing to take our place. Our most engrossing +friendship, though we keep them _always_ with us, will produce no +interference with their equal friendship with all the world besides. We +may associate with angels and become angelic, or with demons and become +satanic. + +Besides the difference in the nature of books, the very number of them +commands a choice. In one library there are three million volumes; in +the Boston Public Library about three hundred thousand, or five hundred +thousand including pamphlets. In your short life you can read but a +trifling part of the world's literature. Suppose you are fortunate +enough to be able to read one book a week, in thirty years you would +read but fifteen hundred books. Use, then, every care to get the best. +If it were in your equal choice to go to one of two reputed +entertainments and but one, it surely would be worth your while to know +their character before selecting. One might be Beethoven's loveliest +symphony, the other but a minstrel show. + +5. =The Order of our Reading= must be carefully attended to. The very +best books are not always to be first read. If the reader is young or of +little culture, the _simplicity_ of the writing must be taken into +account, for it is of no use to read a book that cannot be understood. +One of mature and cultivated mind who begins a course of systematic +reading may follow the order of absolute value; but a child must be +supplied with easy books in each department, and, as his powers develop, +with works of increasing difficulty, until he is able to grasp the most +complex and abstruse. If you take up a book that is recommended to you +as one of the world's best, and find it uninteresting, be sure the +trouble is in you. Do not reject it utterly, do not tell people you do +not like it; wait a few months or years, then try it again, and it may +become to you one of the most precious of books. + +6. =The Method= of your reading is an important factor in determining +its value to you. It is in proportion to your _conquest_ of what is +worthy in literature that you gain. If you pour it into your mind so +fast that each succeeding wave forces the former out before its form and +color have been fixed, you are not better off, but rather worse, because +the process washes out the power of memory. Memory depends on health, +attention, repetition, reflection, association of ideas, and practice. +Some books should be very carefully read, looking to both thought and +form; the best passages should be marked and marginal notes made; +reflection should digest the best ideas, until they become a part of the +tissue of your own thought; and the most beautiful and striking +expressions should be verbally committed. If you saw a diamond in the +sand, surely you would fix it where it might adorn your person. If you +find a sparkling jewel in your reading, fix it in your heart and let it +beautify your conversation. Shakspeare, Milton, Homer, Bacon, AEschylus, +and Emerson, and nearly all the selections in Table III. should be read +in this way. Other books have value principally by reason of the line of +thought or argument of which the whole book is an expression; such for +the most part are books of history, science, and philosophy. While +reading them marks or notes should be made; so that when the book is +finished, the steps of thought may several times be rapidly retraced, +until the force and meaning of the book becomes your own forever. Still +other books may be simply glanced through, it being sufficient for the +purposes of the general reader to have an idea of the nature of their +contents, so that he may know what he can find in them if he has need. +Such books to us are the Koran, the works of the lesser essayists, +orators, and philosophers. Ruskin says that no book should be read fast; +but it would be as sensible to say that we should never walk or ride +fast over a comparatively uninteresting country. Adaptation of method to +the work in hand is the true rule. We should not read "Robert Elsmere" +as slowly and carefully as Shakspeare. As the importance of the book +diminishes, the speed of our journey through it ought to increase. +Otherwise we give an inferior book equal attention with its superiors. + +7. =Own the Books you Read,= if possible, so that you may mark them and +often refer to them. If you are able, buy the best editions, with the +fullest notes and finest binding,--the more beautiful, the better. A +lovely frame adds beauty to the picture. If you cannot buy the +best-dressed books, get those of modest form and good large type. If +pennies must be counted, get the catalogues of all the cheap libraries +that are multiplying so rapidly of late,--the Elzevir, Bohn, Morley, +Camelot, National, Cassel, Irving, Chandos, People's Library, World's +Library, etc.,--and own the books you learn to love. Use the public +libraries for reference, but do not rely on them for the standard +literature you read. It is better far to have an eight cent Bunyan, +twelve cent Bacon, or seven cent Hamlet within your reach from day to +day, and marked to suit yourself, than to read such books from the +library and have to take them back. That is giving up the rich +companionship of new-found friends as soon as gained. The difference +between talking with a sage or poet for a few brief moments once in your +lifetime, and having him daily with you as your friend and teacher is +the difference between the vales and summits of this life. The immense +importance of possessing the best books for your own cannot be too +strongly impressed upon you, nor the value of clothing your noble +friends as richly as you can. If they come to you with outward beauty, +they will claim more easily their proper share of your attention and +regard. Get an Elzevir Shakspeare if you can afford no other, but +purchase the splendid edition by Richard Grant White, if you can. Even +if you have to save on drink and smoke and pie-crust for the purpose, +you never will regret the barter. + +8. =Bad Books= corrupt us as bad people do. Whenever they are made +companions, insensibly we learn to think and feel and talk and act as +they do in degree proportioned to the closeness that we hug them to our +hearts. Books may be bad, not only by imparting evil thoughts, awakening +lust and gilding vice, but by developing a false philosophy, ignoble +views of life, or errors in whatever parts of science or religion they +may touch. Avoid foul books as you would shun foul men, for fear you may +be like them; but seek the errors out and conquer them. Spend little +time in following a teacher you have tested and found false, but do the +testing for yourselves, and take no other person's judgment as to what +is truth or error. Truth is always growing; you may be the first to +catch the morning light. The friend who warns you of some book's untruth +may be himself in error, led by training, custom, or tradition, or +unclearly seeing in the darkness of his prejudice. + +9. =Useless Books=. Many books that are not positively bad are yet mere +waste of time. A wise man will not spend the capital of his life, or +part with the wealth of his energies except he gets a fair equivalent. +He will demand the highest market price for his time, and will not give +his hours and moments--precious pieces of his life--for trash, when he +can buy with them the richest treasures of three thousand years of +thought. You have not time to drink the whole of human life from out the +many colored bottles of our literature; will you take the rich cream, or +cast that aside for the skimmed milk below, or turn it all out on the +pathway and swallow the dirt and the dregs in the bottom? + +10. =Good Books=.--=A Short Sermon=.--If you are a scholar, professor or +lawyer, doctor or clergyman, do not stay locked in the narrow prison of +your own department, but go out into the world of thought and breathe +the air that comes from all the quarters of the globe. Read other books +than those that deal with your profession,--poetry, philosophy, and +travel. Get out of the valleys up on to the ridges, where you can see +what relation your home bears to the rest of the world. Go stand in the +clamor of tongues, that you may learn that the truth is broader than any +man's conception of it and become tolerant. Look at the standards that +other men use, and correct your own by them. Learn what other thinkers +and workers are doing, that you may appreciate them and aid them. Learn +the Past, that you may know the Future. Do not look out upon the world +through one small window; open all the doorways of your soul, let all +genius and beauty come in, that your life may be bright with their +glory. + +If you are a busy merchant, artisan, or laborer, you too can give a +little time each day to books that are the best. If Plato, Homer, +Shakspeare, Tennyson, or Milton came to town to-day, you would not let +the busiest hour prevent your catching sight of him; you would stand a +half day on the street in the sun or the snow to catch but a glimpse of +the famous form; but how much better to receive his spirit in the heart +than only get his image on the eye! His choicest thought is yours for +the asking. + +If you are a thoughtless boy or silly girl, trying the arts that win the +matrimonial prize, remember that there are no wings that fly so high as +those of sense and thought and inward beauty. Remember the old song that +ends,-- + + "Beauty vanish, wealth depart, + Wit has won the lady's heart." + +Even as a preparation for a noble and successful courtship, the best +literature is an absolute necessity. Perhaps you cannot travel: +Humboldt, Cook, and Darwin, Livingstone, and Stanley will tell you more +than you could see if you should go where they have travelled. Perhaps +you cannot have the finest teachers in the studies you pursue: what a +splendid education one could get if he could learn philosophy with +Plato, Kant, and Spencer; astronomy with Galileo, Herschel, and Laplace; +mathematics with Newton or Leibniz; natural history with Cuvier or +Agassiz; botany with Gray; geology with Lyell or Dawson; history with +Bancroft; and poetry with Shakspeare, Milton, Dante, and Homer! Well, +those very teachers at their best are yours if you will read their +books. Each life is a mixture of white and black, no one is perfect; but +every worthy passage and ennobling thought you read adds to the white +and crowds out the black; and of what enormous import a few brief +moments daily spent with noble books may be, appears when we remember +that each act brings after it an infinite series of consequences. It is +an awe-inspiring truth to me that with the color of my thought I tinge +the stream of life to its remotest hour; that some poor brother far out +on the ocean of the future, struggling to breast the billows of +temptation, may by my hand be pulled beneath the waves, ruined by the +influences I put in action now; that, standing here, I make the depths +of all eternities to follow tremble to the music of my life: as Tennyson +has put it so beautifully in his "Bugle Song,"-- + + "Blow, let us hear the purple glens replying: + Blow, bugle; answer, echoes, dying, dying, dying. + + "O love, they die in yon rich sky, + They faint on hill or field or river: + _Our echoes roll from soul to soul_, + _And grow for ever and for ever_." + +How careful we should be of every moment if we had imaginative power +enough to fully realize the meaning of the truth that slightly differing +actions now may build results at last as wide apart as poles of opposite +eternities! Even idleness, the negative of goodness, would have no +welcome at our door. Some persons dream away two thirds of life, and +deem quiescence joy; but that is certainly a sad mistake. The nearer to +complete inaction we attain, the nearer we are clay and stone; the more +activity we gain, that does not draw from future power, the higher up +the cliffs of life we climb, and nearer to celestial life that never +sleeps. Let no hour go idly by that can be rendered rich and happy with +a glorious bit of Shakspeare, Dante, or Carlyle. Let us never be deluded +with the praise of peace, excepting that of heart and conscience clear +of all remorse. It is ambition that has climbed the heights, and will +through all the future. Give me not the dead and hopeless calm of +indolent contentment, but far rather the storm and the battle of life, +with the star of my hopes above me. Let me sail the central flow of the +stream, and travel the tides at the river's heart. I do not wish to stay +in any shady nook of quiet water, where the river's rushing current +never comes, and straws and bubbles lie at rest or slowly eddying round +and round at anchor in their mimic harbor. How often are we all like +these imprisoned straws, revolving listlessly within the narrow circle +of the daily duties of our lives, gaining no new truth, nor deeper love +or power or tenderness or joy, while all the world around is sweeping to +the sea! How often do we let the days and moments, with their wealth of +life, fly past us with their treasure! Youth lies in her loveliness, +dreaming in her drifting boat, and wakes to find her necklace has in +some way come unfast, and from the loosened ribbon trailing o'er the +rail the lustrous pearls have one by one been slipping far beyond her +reach in those deep waters over which her slumbers passed. Do not let +the pearls be lost. Do not let the moments pass you till they yield +their wealth and add their beauty to your lives. + +11. =Abbreviations=.-- + + R. means, Read carefully. + + D. means, Digest the best passages; make the thought and + feeling your own. + + C. means, Commit passages in which valuable thought or feeling + is _exquisitely expressed_. + + G. means, Grasp the idea of the whole book; that is, the train + of the author's thought, his conclusions, and the reasons for + them. + + S. means, Swallow; that is, read as fast as you choose, it not + being worth while to do more than get a general impression of + the book. + + T. means, Taste; that is, skip here and there, just to get an + idea of the book, and see if you wish to read more. + + e. means _easy_; that is, of such character as to be within the + easy comprehension of one having no more than a grammar-school + education or its equivalent; and it applies to all books that + can be understood without either close attention or more than + an ordinary New England grammar-school training. + + m. means _medium_; that is, of such character as to require the + close attention called "study," or a high-school education, or + both; and it applies to books the degree of whose difficulty + places them above the class e. and below the class _d_. + + d. means _difficult_; that is, beyond the comprehension of an + ordinary person having only a New England high-school education + or its equivalent, even with close study, unless the reader + already has a fair understanding of the _subject_ of the book. + In order to read with advantage books that are marked _d._, the + mind should be prepared by special reading of simpler books in + the same department of thought. + + + + +TABLE I. + +NOTE OF EXPLANATION. + + + +----------------------------------------------------------------+ + | Transcriber's note: The original format of the table exceeded | + | the width requirements for e-text. Therefore the table was | + | reformatted. It is now from top to bottom in the order of | + | importance. The first shelf and second shelf are arranged | + | side by side. | + +----------------------------------------------------------------+ + +TABLE I. contains a list of authors whose books, on principle and +authority, have the strongest claims on the attention of the average +reader of English. They are arranged from left to right in the order of +importance of the divisions of the subject matter regarded as wholes, +and from above downward in the order of their value in relation to the +highest standard in their own department. The _numbers_ have nothing to +do with the ranking, but refer to notes that will be found on the pages +following the table. There is also, at the head of the notes relating to +each column of the table, a special note on the subject matter of that +column. + +The upper part of the table represents the first shelf of the world's +library, and contains the books having the very strongest claims upon +the attention of all,--books with which every one should endeavor to +gain an acquaintance, at least _to the extent_ indicated in the notes. + +The lower part of the table represents the second shelf of the world's +library, and contains books which in addition to those of the first +shelf should enter into a liberal education. + +It must be always kept in mind that intrinsic merit alone does not +decide the position of a book in this table; for in order to test the +claim of a book upon the attention of a reader we have to consider not +only the artistic value of the author's work, and its subject matter, +but also the needs and abilities of the reader. Thus it happens that it +is not always the work of the greatest genius which stands highest in +the list. Moreover, no claim is made that the ranking is perfect, +especially on the second shelf. The table is an example of the +application of the principles set forth in the remarks following Table +V., to the case of the general reader. For every one above or below the +average reader the lists would have to be changed, and even the average +list has no quality of the absolute. It is but a suggestion,--a +suggestion, however, in which we have a good deal of confidence, one +that is based on a very wide induction,--and we have no hesitation in +affirming that the upper shelf represents the best literature the world +affords. + +In addition to Table I., there will be found in Tables III. and IV., and +in the remarks upon the Guidance of Children following Table IV., a +number of pieces of literary work of the very highest merit and value. +Some of the most important are Lowell's "Vision of Sir Launfal," one of +the very finest American poems; Browning's "Ivan Ivanovitch;" Guyot's +"Earth and Man;" Mary Treat's "Home Book of Nature;" Burroughs' +"Pepacton," "Signs and Seasons," "Wake Robin," etc.; Buckley's "Fairy +Land of Science," etc.; Ragozin's "Chaldea;" Fenelon's "Lives of the +Philosophers;" Bolton's "Poor Boys who became Famous;" Rives' "Story of +Arnon;" Drake's "Culprit Fay;" Dr. Brown's "Rab and his Friends;" Mary +Mapes Dodge's "Hans Brinker;" Andrews' "Ten Boys on the Road;" Arnold's +"Sweetness and Light;" Higginson's "Vacations for Saints;" and General +Booth's "In Darkest England, and the Way Out," a book of great power, +which sets forth the most practical method yet proposed for the +immediate relief of society from the burdens of pauperism and vice. + + + +TABLE I.--THE WORLD'S BEST BOOKS. + + +[See explanation on the preceding pages.] + + (first shelf) (second shelf) + + 1. Religion & Morals. + + Bible[1] Milton[11] + Bunyan[2] Keble[12] + Taylor[3] Cicero[13] + Kempis[4] Pascal[14] + Spencer[5] Channing[15] + M. Aurelius[6] Aristotle[16] + Plutarch[7] St. Augustine[17] + Seleca[8] Butler[18] + Epictetus[9] Spinoza[19] + Brooks[10] + Drummond[10] + + 2. Poetry & the Drama. + + Shakspeare[20] Spenser[27] + Homer[21] Lowell[28] + Dante[22] Whittier[29] + Goethe[23] Tennyson[30] + Milton[24] Scott[32] + AEschylus[25] Byron[33] + Fragments[26] Shelley[34] + Keats[35] + Campbell[36] + Moore[37] + Thomson[38] + Macaulay[39] + Dryden[40] + Collins[41] + Ingelow[42] + Bryant[43] + Longfellow[44] + Herbert[45] + Goldsmith[46] + Coleridge[47] + Wordsworth[48] + Pope[49] + Southey[50] + Walton[51] + Browning[52] + Young[53] + Jonson[54] + Beaumont & F.[55] + Marlowe[56] + Sheridan[57] + Carleton[58] + Virgil[60] + Horace[61] + Lucretius[62] + Ovid[63] + Sophocles[64] + Euripides[65] + Aristophanes[66] + Pindar[67] + Hesiod[68] + Heine[69] + Schiller[70] + Corneille[71] + Racine[71] + Moliere[71] + Musset[74] + Calderon[75] + Petrarch[76] + Ariosto[77] + Tasso[78] + Camoens[79] + Omar[80] + Firdusi[81] + Hafiz[81] + Saadi[81] + Arnold[82] + Pushkin[83] + Lermontoff[84] + + 3. Science. + + Physiology and Hygiene[85] De Tocqueville[99] + "Our Country"[86] Von Holst[100] + Federalist[88] Smith[101] + Bryce[89] Malthus[102] + Montesquieu[90] Carey[103] + Bagehot[90] Cairnes[104] + Mill[91] Freeman[105] + Bain[92] Jevons[106] + Spencer[93] Mulford[107] + Darwin[94] Hobbes[108] + Herschel[95] Machiavelli[109] + Proctor[95] Max Mueller[110] + Lyell[96] Trench[111] + Lubbock[96] Taylor[112] + Dawson[96] White[113] + Wood[97] Cuvier[114] + Whewell[98] Cook[115] + Tyndall[116] + Airy[117] + Faraday[118] + Helmholtz[119] + Huxley[120] + Gray[121] + Agassiz[122] + Silliman[123] + + 4. Biography. + + Plutarch[124] G. Smith[139] + Phillips[125] Bourrienne[140] + Boswell[126] Johnson[141] + Lockhart[127] Walton[142] + Marshall[128] Stanley[143] + Franklin[128] Irving[144] + Nicolay & H.[129] Southey[145] + Grant[129] Stanhope[146] + Carlyle[130] Moore[147] + Renan[130] Jameson[148] + Farrar[131] Baring-Gould[149] + Emerson[132] Field[150] + [100] Greatest Men[133] Hamilton[151] + Parton[134] Darwin[151] + Hale[135] Alcott[151] + Drake[136] Talleyrand[151] + Fox[137] Macaulay[151] + Grimm[138] Bashkirtseff[151] + Guerin[151] + Jefferson[151] + American Statesmen[151] + English Men of Letters[151] + + 5. History. + + Green[152] Creasy [155a] + Bancroft[153] Lecky[156] + Guizot[154] Clarke[157] + Buckle[154] Moffat[158] + Parkman[155] Draper[159] + Freeman[155] Hallam[160] + Fiske[155] May[161] + Fyffe[155] Hume[162] + Macaulay[163] + Froude[164] + Gibbon[165] + Grote[166] + Palfrey[167] + Prescott[168] + Motley[169] + Frothingham [169a] + Wilkinson[170] + Niebuhr[171] + Menzel[172] + Milman[173] + Ranke[174] + Sismondi[175] + Michelet[176] + Carlyle[177] + Thierry[178] + Tacitus[179] + Livy[180] + Sallust[181] + Herodotus[182] + Xenophon[183] + Thucydides[184] + Josephus[185] + Mackenzie[185] + Rawlinson[185] + + 6. Philosophy. + + Spencer[186] Mill[192] + Plato[187] Mansel[193] + Berkeley[188] Buechner[194] + Kant[189] Edwards[195] + Locke & Hobbes[190] Bentham[196] + Comte[191] Maurice[197] + Lewes Hume[198] + or Ueberweg Hamilton[199] + or Schwegler Aristotle[200] + or Schlegel Descartes[201] + on the Cousin[201] + History of Hegel & Schelling[202] + Philosophy. Fichte[203] + Erasmus[204] + Fiske[205] + Hickok[206] + McCosh[207] + Spinoza[208] + + 7. Essays. + + Emerson[209] Macaulay + Bacon[210] Leigh Hunt + Montaigne[211] Arnold + Ruskin[212] Buckle + Carlyle[212] Hume + Addison[212] Froude + Symonds + Steele + Browne + Johnson + De Quincey + Foster + Hazlitt + Lessing + Sparks + Disraeli + Whipple + Lamb + Schiller + Coleridge + + 8. Fiction. + + Scott[213] Rousseau[235] + Eliot[214] Saintine[235] + Dickens[215] Coffin[236] + Hawthorne[216] Reade[236] + Goldsmith[217] Warren[236] + Bulwer[218] Landor[237] + MacDonald[219] Turgenieff[237] + Thackeray[220] Sue[237] + Kingsley[221] Manzoni[237] + Wallace[222] Cottin[238] + Tourgee[223] Besant[238] + Hugo[224] Stevenson[238] + Dumas[224] Ward[239] + Defoe[225] Deland[239] + Hughes[225] Sewell[239] + Stowe[226] Bret Harte[239] + Cooper[226] Green[240] + Curtis[227] Mulock[240] + Warner[227] Disraeli[240] + Aldrich[228] Howells[240] + Hearn[228] Tolstoi[240] + Ebers[229] Sand[241] + Sienkiewicz[229] Black[241] + Austen[230] Blackmore[241] + Bronte[230] Schreiner[241] + Alcott[231] Bremer[242] + Burnett[231] Trollope[242] + Cable[232] Winthrop[242] + Craddock[232] Richardson[243] + Whitney[233] Smollett[243] + Jewett[233] Boccaccio[243] + Fielding[234] + Le Sage[234] + Balzac[234] + + 9. Oratory. + + Demosthenes Sumner + Burke Henry + Fox Otis + Pitt Jay + Webster Madison + Clay Jefferson + Phillips Beecher + Lincoln Brooks + Everett Choate + Bright Garfield + Ingersoll + Erskine + Sheridan + Gladstone + Cicero + Quintilian + Bossuet + Saint Chrysostom + + 10. Wit & Humor. + + Lowell[244] Ingersoll[248] + Holmes[245] Holley[249] + Dickens[246] Curtis[250] + Cervantes[247] Depew[251] + Twain[252] + Warner[253] + Edwards[254] + Hale[255] + Nasby[256] + Ward[257] + Jerrold[258] + Voltaire[259] + Byron[259] + Butler[260] + Swift[260] + Rabelais[261] + Sterne[261] + Juvenal[262] + Lucian[262] + + 11. Fables & Fairy Tales. + + Andersen[263] Bulfinch[268] + La Fontaine[264] Saxe[269] + AEsop[265] Florian[270] + Grimm[266] Kipling[270] + Goethe[267] Babrius[271] + Hawthorne[267] Hauff[272] + Ovid[273] + Curtin[273] + Fiske[273] + + 12. Travel. + + Cook[274] Marco Polo[277] + Humboldt[275] Kane[278] + Darwin[276] Livingstone[279] + Stanley[280] + Du Chaillu[281] + Niebuhr[282] + Bruce[283] + Heber[284] + Lander[285] + Waterton[286] + Mungo Park[287] + Ouseley[288] + Barth[289] + Boteler[290] + Maundeville[291] + Warburton[292] + + 13. Guides. + + Foster[293] Brook[303] + Pall Mall[294] Leypoldt[304] + Morley[295] Richardson[305] + Welsh[296] Harrison[306] + Taine[297] Ruskin[307] + Botta[298] Bright[308] + Allibone[299] Dunlop[309] + Bartlett[300] Baldwin[309] + Ballou[301] Adams[309] + Bryant[302] + Palgrave[302] + Roget's Thesaurus + Dictionaries + Encyclopaedias + + 14. Miscellaneous. + + Smiles' Self-Help[310] Sheking[324] + Irving's Sketch Book[311] Analects of Confucius[325] + Bacon's New Atlantis[312] Mesnevi[326] + Bellamy[313] Buddhism[327] + Arabian Nights[314] Mahabharata[328] + Munchausen[315] Ramayana[329] + Beowulf[316] Vedas[330] + Anglo-Saxon Chronicle[317] Koran[331] + Froissart[318] Talmud[332] + Nibelungenlied[319] Hooker[333] + Icelandic Sagas[320] Swedenborg[333] + Elder Edda[321] Newton[333] + The Cid[322] Kepler[333] + Morte D'Arthur[323] Copernicus[333] + Laplace[333] + + + + +REMARKS ON TABLE I. + + + + +RELIGION AND MORALS. + + +Religion and Morals, though not identical, are so closely related that +they are grouped together. The books in Column 1 by no means exhaust +these subjects, for they run like threads of gold through the whole warp +and woof of poetry. Philosophy, fiction, and fable, biography, history, +and essays, oratory and humor, seem rather satellites that attend upon +moral feelings than independent orbs, and even science is not dumb upon +these all-absorbing topics. If we are to be as broad-minded in our +religious views as we seek to be in other matters, we must become +somewhat acquainted with the worship of races other than our own. This +may be done through Homer, Hesiod, Ovid, Confucius, Buddha, the Vedas, +Koran, Talmud, Edda, Sagas, Beowulf, Nibelungenlied, Shah Nameh, etc. +(which are all in some sense "Bibles," or books that have grown out of +the hearts of the people), and through general works, such as Clarke's +"Ten Great Religions." + +[1] Especially Job, and Psalms 19, 103, 104, 107, in the Old Testament; +and in the New the four Gospels, the Acts, and the Epistles. (m. R. D. +C. G.) + +[2] Next to the Bible, probably no book is so much read by the English +peoples as Bunyan's "Pilgrim's Progress," a simple, vivid, helpful story +of Christian life and its obstacles. No writer has so well portrayed the +central truths of Christianity as this great, untrained, imaginative +genius, pouring his life upon the deathless pages of his poetic allegory +during the twelve long years in the latter part of the 17th century, +when he was imprisoned, under the Restoration, merely because of his +religious principles. (e. R. D.) + +[3] Taylor's "Holy Living and Dying" is a wise, frank talk about the +care of our time, purity of intention, practice of the presence of God, +temperance, justice, modesty, humility, envy, contentedness, etc. Some +portions of the first hundred and fifty pages are of the utmost +practical value. Even Ruskin admits that Taylor and Bunyan are rightly +placed among the world's best. (Eng., 17th cent.--m. R. D.) + +[4] "Imitation of Christ" is a sister book to the last, written in the +15th century by Thomas a Kempis, a German monk, of pure and beautiful +life and thought. It is a world-famous book, having been translated into +every civilized language, and having passed through more than five +hundred editions in the present century. (m. R. D.) + +[5] Spencer's "Data of Ethics" is one of the most important books in +literature, having to the science of ethics much the same relation as +Newton's "Principia" to astronomy, or Darwin's "Origin of Species" to +biology. Note especially the parts concerning altruistic selfishness, +the morality of health, and the development of moral feeling in general. +(Eng., 19th cent.--d. R. D. G.) Spencer's "First Principles" is also +necessary to an understanding of the scientific religious thinking of +the day. In connection with Spencer's works, "The Idea of God" and the +"Destiny of Man," by Fiske, may be read with profit. The author of these +books is in large part a follower and expounder of Spencer. + +[6] The "Meditations" of M. Aurelius is a book that is full of deep, +pure beauty and philosophy; one of the sweetest influences that can be +brought into the life, and one of Canon Farrar's twelve favorites out of +all literature. (Rome, 2d cent.--m. R. D.) + +[7] Plutarch's "Morals" supplied much of the cream used by Taylor in the +churning that produced the "Holy Living and Dying." Emerson says that we +owe more to Plutarch than to all the other ancients. Many great authors +have been indebted to him,--Rabelais, Montaigne, Montesquieu, Voltaire, +Rousseau, Shakspeare, Bacon, and Dryden, among the number. Plutarch's +"Morals" is a treasure-house of wisdom and beauty. There is a very fine +edition with an introduction by Emerson. (Rome, 1st cent.--m. R. D.) + +[8] Seneca's "Morals" is a fit companion of the preceding six books, +full of deep thought upon topics of every-day import, set out in clear +and forceful language. The Camelot Library contains a very good +selection from his ethical treatises and his delightful letters, which +are really moral essays. (Rome, 1st cent.--m. R. D.) + +[9] Epictetus was another grand moralist, the teacher of Marcus +Aurelius. Next to Bunyan and Kempis, the books of these great stoics, +filled as they are with the serenity of minds that had made themselves +independent of circumstance and passion, have the greatest popularity +accorded to any ethical works. Epictetus was a Roman slave in the 1st +century A. D. (m. R. D.) + +[10] The little book on "Tolerance" by Phillips Brooks ought to be read +by every one. See Table III. side No. 23. The sermons of Dr. Brooks and +of Robertson are among the most helpful and inspiring reading we know. +Drummond's "Natural Law in the Spiritual World" is a book of ingenious +and often poetic analogies between the physical and spiritual worlds. If +read as poetry, no fault can be found with it; but the reader must be +careful to test thoroughly the laws laid down, and make sure that there +is some weightier proof than mere analogy, before hanging important +conclusions on the statements of this author. A later book by Drummond +entitled "The Greatest Thing in the World" is also worthy of attention. +(U. S., 19th cent.) + +[11] "Areopagitica." A noble plea for liberty of speech and press. +(Eng., early 17th cent.) + +[12] Keble's beautiful "Christian Year." + +[13] Cicero's "Offices" is a very valuable ethical work. It directs a +young Roman how he may attain distinction and the respect and confidence +of his fellow-citizens. Its underlying principles are of eternal value, +and its arrangement is admirable. Dr. Peabody's translation is the best. +(Rome, 1st cent. B. C.) + +[14] "Pensees." Pascal's "Thoughts" are known the world over for their +depth and beauty. (France, 17th cent.) + +[15] "The Perfect Life" and other works. (U. S., 19th cent.) + +[16] Ethics. (Greece, 4th cent. B. C.) + +[17] "Confessions" and "The City of God." (Rome, 4th cent.) + +[18] Analogy of Religion. (Eng., 18th cent.) + +[19] Ethics and theologico-political speculation. (Dutch, 17th cent.) + + + + +POETRY AND THE DRAMA. + + +The faculty which most widely distinguishes man from his possible +relatives, the lower animals, and the varying power of which most +clearly marks the place of each individual in the scale of superiority, +is imagination. It lies at the bottom of intellect and character. +Memory, reason, and discovery are built upon it; and sympathy, the +mother of kindness, tenderness, and love, is itself the child of the +imagination. Poetry is the married harmony of imagination and beauty. +The poet is the man of fancy and the man of music. This is why in all +ages mankind instinctively feel that poetry is supreme. Of all kinds of +literature, it is the most stimulating, broadening, beautifying, and +should have a large place in every life. Buy the best poets, read them +carefully, mark the finest passages, and recur to them many, many times. +A poem is like a violin: it must be kept and played upon a long time +before it yields to us its sweetest music. + +The drama, or representation of human thought and life, has come into +being, among very many peoples, as a natural outgrowth of the faculty of +mimicry in human nature. Among the South Sea Islanders there is a rude +drama, and in China such representations have existed from remote ages. +Greece first brought the art to high perfection; and her greatest tragic +artists, AEschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides, of the fifth century B. C., +are still the highest names in tragedy. The Greek drama with AEschylus +was only a dialogue. Sophocles introduced a third actor. It would be a +dull play to us that should fill the evening with three players. In +another thing the Grecian play was widely different from ours. The aim +of ancient playwrights was to bring to view some thought in giant form +and with tremendous emphasis. The whole drama was built around, moulded, +and adapted to one great idea. The aim of English writers is to give an +interesting glimpse of actual life in all its multiplicity of interwoven +thought and passion, and let it speak its lessons, as the great +schoolmistress, Nature, gives us hers. The French and Italian drama +follow that of Greece, but Spain and England follow Nature. + +_Mystery and miracle plays_ were introduced about 1100 A. D., by +Hilarius, and were intended to enforce religious truths. God, Adam, the +Angels, Satan, Eve, Noah, etc., were the characters. In the beginning of +the 15th century, _morality plays_ became popular. They personified +faith, hope, sadness, magnificence, conceit, etc., though there might +seem little need of invention to personify the latter. About the time of +Henry VIII., _masques_ were introduced from Italy. In them the +performers wore extravagant costumes and covered the face, and lords and +ladies played the parts. It was at such a frolic that King Henry met +Anne Boleyn. The first English comedy was written in 1540, by Udall; and +the first tragedy in 1561, by Sackville and Norton. It was called +"Ferrex and Porrex." From this time the English drama rapidly rose to +its summit in Shakspeare's richest years at the close of the same +century. At first the theatre was in the inn-yard,--just a platform, +with no scenery but what the imagination of the drinking, swearing, +jeering crowd of common folk standing in the rain or sunlight round the +rough-made stage could paint. + +On the stage sat a few gentlefolk able to pay a shilling for the +privilege. They smoked, played cards, insulted the pit, "who gave it to +them back, and threw apples at them into the bargain." Such were the +beginnings of what in Shakspeare's hands became the greatest drama that +the world has ever seen. + +The manner of reading all good poetry should be: R. D. C. G. + +If the reader wishes to study poetry critically, he will find abundant +materials in Lanier's "Science of English Verse" and Dowden's "Mind and +Art of Shakspeare" (books that once read by a lover of poetry will ever +after be cherished as among the choicest of his possessions); Lowell's +"Fable for Critics," "My Study Windows," and "Among my Books;" Arnold's +"Essays;" Hazlitt's "English Poets;" "English Men of Letters;" Poe's +"Essay on the Composition of the Raven;" Taine's "English Literature;" +Swinburne's "Essays and Studies;" Stedman's "Victorian Poets;" Shairp's +"Studies in Poetry;" Warton's "History of English Poetry;" Ward's +"History of English Dramatic Literature;" and Schlegel's "Dramatic +Literature." + +[20] Shakspeare is the summit of the world's literature. In a higher +degree than any other man who has lived on this planet, he possessed +that vivid, accurate, exhaustive imagination which creates a second +universe in the poet's brain. Between our thought of a man and the man +himself, or a complete representation of him with all his thoughts, +feelings, motives, and possibilities, there is a vast gulf. If we had a +perfect knowledge of him, we could tell what he would think and do. To +this ultimate knowledge Shakspeare more nearly approached than any other +mortal. He so well understood the machinery of human nature, that he +could create men and women beyond our power to detect an error in his +work. This grasp of the most difficult subject of thought, and the +oceanic, myriad-minded greatness of his plays prove him intellectually +the greatest of the human race. It is simple nonsense to suppose that +Bacon wrote the dramas that bear the name of Shakspeare. They were +published during Shakspeare's life under his name; and Greene, Jonson, +Milton, and other contemporaries speak with unmistakable clearness of +the great master. Donnelly's Cryptogram is a palpable sham; and to the +argument that an uneducated man like Shakspeare could not have written +such grand poetry, while Bacon, as we know, did have a splendid ability, +it is a sufficient answer to remark that Shakspeare's sonnets, the +authorship of which is not and cannot be questioned, show far higher +poetical powers than anything that can be found in Bacon's acknowledged +works. Richard Grant White's edition is the best; and certainly every +one should have the very best of Shakspeare, if no other book is ever +bought. (16th cent.) See Table III. No. 1. + +With Shakspeare may be used Dowden's "Shakspeare Primer," and "The Mind +and Art of Shakspeare," Abbott's "Shakspearian Grammar," Lanier's +"Science of English Verse," Hazlitt's "Characters of Shakspeare's Plays" +and "Age of Elizabeth," Lamb's "Tales from Shakspeare," Ward's "English +Dramatic Literature, and History of the Drama," Lewes' "Actors and the +Art of Acting," Hutton's "Plays and Players," Leigh Hunt's "Imagination +and Fancy," and Whipple's "Literature of the Age of Elizabeth." + +[21] Homer is the world's greatest epic poet. He is the brother of +Shakspeare, full of sublimity and pathos, tenderness, simplicity, and +inexhaustible vigor. Pope's translation is still the best on the whole, +but should be read with Derby's Iliad and Worsley's Odyssey. In some +parts these are fuller of power and beauty; in others, Pope is far +better. Flaxman's designs are a great help in enjoying Homer, as are +also the writings of Gladstone, Arnold, and Symonds. (Greece, about 1000 +B. C.) See Table III. No. 2. + +[22] Ruskin thinks Dante is the first figure of history, the only man in +whom the moral, intellectual, and imaginative faculties met in great +power and in perfect balance. (Italy, 14th cent.) Follow the advice +given in Table III. No. 5, and, if possible, read Longfellow's +translation. See note 24, p. 30. + +Among writings that will be found useful in connection with Dante, are +Rossetti's "Shadow of Dante," Lowell's Essay in "Among my Books," +Symonds' "Introduction to the Study of Dante," Farrar's "Lecture on +Dante," Mrs. Ward's "Life of Dante," Botta's "Dante as a Philosopher," +and Carlyle's "Heroes and Hero Worship." + +[23] Goethe is unquestionably the greatest German, and one of the first +six names in literature. His "Faust" is a history of the soul. Read +Bayard Taylor's translation, and the explanation of the drama's meaning +given in Taylor's "Studies in German Literature." "Faust" was the work +of half a century, and completed in 1818, when Goethe was past eighty. + +As a preparation for Goethe it is interesting to study the story of +Faust in Butterworth's "Zigzag Journeys," and read Marlowe's "Drama of +Faustus." The novel "Wilhelm Meister" has been splendidly translated by +Carlyle, and is full of the richest poetic thought, crammed with wisdom, +and pervaded by a delicious sweetness forever provoking the mind to +fresh activity. As a work of genius, it is preferred by some critics +even to Hamlet. See Table III. No. 15. + +[24] Milton stands in his age like an oak among hazel-bushes. The +nobility of his character, the sublimity of his thought, and the classic +beauty of his style give him, in spite of some coldness and some lack of +naturalness in his conception of the characters of Adam and Eve, the +second place in English literature. His "Lycidas" is a beautiful elegy. +His "Comus" is the best masque in English, and certainly a charming +picture of chastity and its triumph over temptation. It should be read +along with Spenser's "Britomart." His "L' Allegro" and "Il Penseroso," +on mirth and melancholy, are among the best lyrics of the world. His +"Paradise Lost" is the greatest epic in English, and the greatest that +any literature has had since Dante's "Divine Comedy." The two books +should be read together. Milton shows us Satan in all the pride and pomp +and power this world oft throws around his cloven Majesty. Dante tears +away the wrappings, and we see the horrid heart and actual loathsomeness +of sin. (Eng., 17th cent.) See Table III. No. 2. + +The writings of Stopford Brooke, Macaulay, Dr. Johnson, De Quincey, and +Pattison about Milton may be profitably referred to. + +[25] AEschylus was the greatest of the noble triumvirate of Greek tragedy +writers. Sublimity reached in his soul the greatest purity and power +that it has yet attained on earth. One can no more afford to tread in +life's low levels all his days and never climb above the clouds to +thought's clear-ethered heights with AEschylus, than to dwell at the foot +of a cliff in New Mexico and never climb to see the Rockies in the blue +and misty distance, with their snowy summits shining in the sun. Read, +at any rate, his "Prometheus Bound" and his "Agamemnon." (5th cent. B. +C., the Golden Age of Grecian literature.) See Table III. No. 4. + +The student of AEschylus will find much of value to him in Mahaffy's +"Greek Literature," "Old Greek Life," and "Social Life in Greece;" +Schlegel's "Dramatic Literature;" Donaldson's "Theatre of the Greeks," +and Froude's "Sea Studies." Following the "Prometheus" of AEschylus, it +is a good plan to read the works of Goethe, Shelley, Lowell, and +Longfellow on the same topic. We thus bring close the ideas and fancies +of five great minds in respect to the myth of Prometheus. + +[26] Many a selection in Table III. is of very high merit, and belongs +on the world's first shelf, although the poetic works of the author as a +whole cannot be allowed such honor. In the section preceding Table V. +also will be found a number of short writings of the very highest merit. +See explanatory note to Table I. + +[27] Edmund Spenser is the third name in English literature. No modern +poet is more like Homer. He is simple, clear, and natural, redundant and +ingenuous. He is a Platonic dreamer, and worships beauty, a love sublime +and chaste; for all the beauty that the eye can see is only, in his +view, an incomplete expression of celestial beauty in the soul of man +and Nature, the light within gleaming and sparkling through the loose +woven texture of this garment of God called Nature, or pouring at every +pore a flood of soft, translucent loveliness, as the radiance of a +calcium flame flows through a porcelain globe. Spenser was Milton's +model. The "Faerie Queen," the "Shepherd's Calendar," and the "Wedding +Hymn" should be carefully read; and if the former is studied +sufficiently to arrive at the underlying spiritual meaning, it will ever +after be one of the most precious of books. (Eng., 16th cent.) See Table +III. No. 6. See also Lowell's "Among my Books," Craik's "Spenser and his +Poetry," and Taine's "English Literature." + +[28] Lowell is one of the foremost humorists of all time. No one, except +Shakspeare, has ever combined so much mastery of the weapons of wit with +so much poetic power, bonhomie, and common-sense. Every American should +read his poems carefully, and digest the best. (Amer., 19th cent.) See +Table III. Nos. 12 and 24. + +[29] Whittier is America's greatest lyric poet. Read what Lowell says of +him in the "Fable for Critics," and get acquainted with his poetry of +Nature and quiet country life, as pure as the snow and as sweet as the +clover. (Amer., 19th cent.) See Table III. No. 11. + +[30] Tennyson is the first poet of our age; and though he cannot rank +with the great names on the upper shelf, yet his tenderness, and noble +purity, and the almost absolutely perfect music of much of his poetry +commands our love and admiration. Read his "In Memoriam," "Princess," +"Idylls of the King," etc. (Eng., 19th cent.) See Table III. No. 11. + +[31] Burns is like a whiff of the pure sea air. He is a sprig of +arbutus under the snow; full of tenderness and genuine gayety, always in +love, and singing forever in tune to the throbs of his heart. Read "The +Jolly Beggars," "The Twa Dogs," and see Table III. No. 11. (Scot., 18th +cent.) + +[32] Probably nothing is so likely to awaken a love for poetry as the +reading of Scott. (Scot., 19th cent.) See Table III. No. 7. + +[33] Byron is the greatest English poet since Milton, and except Goethe +the greatest poet of his age in the world. His music, his wonderful +control of language, his impassioned strength passing from vehemence to +pathos, his fine sense of the beautiful, and his combination of passion +with beauty would place him high on the first shelf of the world's +literature if it were not for his moral aberration. Read his "Childe +Harold." (Eng., 1788-1824.) See Table III. No. 13. + +[34] Shelley is indistinct, abstract, impracticable, but full of love +for all that is noble, of magnificent poetic power and marvellous music. +Read "Prometheus Unbound," and see Table III. No. 13. (Eng., 19th cent.) + +[35] Keats is the poetic brother of Shelley. He is deserving of the +title "marvellous boy" in a far higher degree than Chatterton. If the +lives of Shakspeare, Milton, and Wordsworth had ended at twenty-five, as +did the life of Keats, they would have left no poetry comparable with +that of this impassioned dreamer. Like Shakspeare, he had no fortune or +opportunity of high education. Read "Hyperion," "Lamia," "Eve of Saint +Agnes," "Endymion," and see Table III. No. 13. (Eng., 19th cent.) + +[36] Campbell clothed in romantic sweetness and delicate diction, the +fancies of the fairy land of youthful dreams, and poured forth with a +master voice the pride and grandeur of patriotic song. Read his +"Pleasures of Hope," "Gertrude of Wyoming," and see Table III. No. 12. +(Eng., 19th cent.) + +[37] Moore is a singer of wonderful melody and elegance and of +inexhaustible imagery. Read his "Irish Melodies." (Eng., 19th cent.) See +Table III. No. 11. + +[38] Thomson is one of the most intense lovers of Nature, and sees with +a clear eye the correspondences between the inner and outer worlds upon +which poetry is built. Read his "Seasons" and "The Castle of Indolence." +(Eng., 18th cent.) + +[39] Read Macaulay's "Lays of Ancient Rome." "Horatius" cannot fail to +make the reader pulse with all the heroism and patriotism that is in his +heart, and "Virginia" will fill each heart with mutiny and every eye +with tears. (Eng., 19th cent.) See Table III. No. 12. + +[40] Dryden's song is not so smooth as Pope's, but doubly strong. His +translation of Virgil has more fire than the original, though less +elegance. He was the literary king of his time, but knew better _how_ to +say things than _what_ to say. (Eng., 17th cent.) See Table III. No. 14. + +[41] Collins was a poet of fine genius. Beauty, simplicity, and sweet +harmony combine in his works, but he wrote very little. Read his odes, +"To Pity," "To Evening," "To Mercy," "To Simplicity." See Table III. No. +14. (Eng., 18th cent.) + +[42] Jean Ingelow's poems deserve at least tasting, which will scarcely +fail to lead to assimilation. (Eng., 1862.) See Table III. No. 14. + +[43] Bryant's "Thanatopsis," written at eighteen, gave promise of high +poetic power; but in the life of a journalist the current of energy was +drawn away from poetry, and America lost the full fruitage of her best +poetic tree. He is serene and lofty in thought, and strong in his +descriptive power and the noble simplicity of his language. (Amer., 19th +cent.) See Table III. No. 13. + +[44] Longfellow's poetry is earnest and full of melody, but _as a whole_ +lacks passion and imagery. Relatively to a world standard he is not a +great poet and has written little worthy of universal reading, but as +bone of our bone he has a claim on us as Americans for sufficient +attention at least to investigate for ourselves his merits. (Amer., 19th +cent.) See Table III. No. 10. + +[45] Lowell says that George Herbert is as "holy as a flower on a +grave." (Eng., 1631.) See Table III. No. 13. + +[46] Goldsmith's "Deserted Village" and "Traveller" will live as long as +the language. They are full of wisdom and lovely poetry. His dramas +abound in fun. Read "The Good-Natured Man" and "She Stoops to Conquer." +(Eng., 18th cent.) See Table IV. + +[47] Read Coleridge's "Christabel," and get somebody to explain its +mysterious beauty to you; also his "Remorse," "Ode to the Departing +Year," "Ancient Mariner," and "Kubla Khan." The latter is the most +magnificent creation of his time, but needs a good deal of study for +most readers to perceive the beautiful underlying thought, as is the +case also with the "Mariner." Coleridge is difficult reading. He wrote +very little excellently, but that little should be bound in gold, and +read till the inner light of it shines into the soul of the reader. The +terrible opium habit ruined him. Read his life; it is a thrilling story. +(Eng., 1772-1834.) Table III. No. 11. + +[48] Lowell says, in his "Fable for Critics," that he is always +discovering new depths + + "in Wordsworth, undreamed of before,-- + That divinely inspired, wise, deep, tender, grand--bore." + +Nothing could sum up this poet better than that. His intense delight in +Nature and especially in mountain scenery, and his pure, serene, +earnest, majestic reflectiveness are his great charms. His "Excursion" +is one of the great works of our literature, and stands in the front +rank of the world's philosophical poetry. Its thousand lines of blank +verse roll through the soul like the stately music of a cathedral organ. +(Eng., 19th cent.) See Table III. No. 13. + +[49] Pope is the greatest of the world's machine poets, the noblest of +the great army who place a higher value on skilful execution than on +originality and beauty of conception. The "Rape of the Lock" is his most +successful effort, and is the best of all mock-heroic poems. "The +sharpest wit, the keenest dissection of the follies of fashionable life, +the finest grace of diction, and the softest flow of melody adorn a tale +in which we learn how a fine gentleman stole a lock of a lady's hair." +Read also his "Essay on Man," and glance at his "Dunciad," a satire on +fellow-writers. (Eng., 1688-1744.) See Table III. No. 13, and Table IV. + +[50] Southey had great ideas of what poetry should be, and strove for +purity, unity, and fine imagery; but there was no pathos or depth of +emotion in him, and the stream of his poetry is not the gush of the +river, but the uninteresting flow of the canal. Byron says, "God help +thee, Southey, and thy readers too." Glance at his "Thalaba the +Destroyer" and "Curse of Kehama." (Eng., 1774-1843.) + +[51] Walton's "Compleat Angler" is worthy of a glance. (Eng., 1653.) + +[52] Browning is very obscure, and neither on authority nor principle a +first-rate poet; but he is a strong thinker, and dear to those who have +taken the pains to dig out the nuggets of gold. Canon Farrar puts him +among the three living authors whose works he would be most anxious to +save from the flames. Mrs. Browning has more imagination than her +husband, and is perhaps his equal in other respects. (Eng., 19th cent.) + +[53] Read Young's "Night Thoughts." + +[54] Jonson, on account of his noble aims, comparative purity, and +classic style, stands next to Shakspeare in the history of English +drama. Read "The Alchemist," "Catiline," "The Devil as an Ass," +"Cynthia's Revels," and "The Silent Woman." The plot of the latter is +very humorous. (Eng., 1700.) + +[55] The dramas of Beaumont and Fletcher are poetically the best in the +language except those of Shakspeare. Read "Philaster," "The Fair Maid of +the Inn," "Thierry and Theodoret," "The Maid's Tragedy." (Eng., 17th +cent.) + +[56] Marlowe's "Mighty Line" is known to all lovers of poetry who have +made a wide hunt. His energy is intense. Read "The Tragical History of +Dr. Faustus," based on that wonderfully fascinating story of the doctor +who offered his soul to hell in exchange for a short term of power and +pleasure, on which Goethe expended the flower of his genius, and around +which grew hundreds of plays all over Europe. (Eng., 17th cent.) + +[57] For whimsical and ludicrous situations and a rapid fire of +witticisms, Sheridan's plays have no equals. Read "The School for +Scandal" and "The Rivals." (Eng., 18th cent.) + +[58] Carleton's poetry is not of a lofty order, but exceedingly +enjoyable. Read his "Farm Ballads." (Amer., 19th cent.) + +[60] Virgil is the greatest name in Roman literature. His "AEneid" is +the national poem of Rome. His poetry is of great purity and elegance, +and for variety, harmony, and power second in epic verse only to his +great model, Homer. (Rome, 1st cent. B. C.) Read Dryden's translation if +you cannot read the original. + +[61] The Odes of Horace combine wit, grace, sense, fire, and affection +in a perfection of form never attained by any other writer. He is +untranslatable; but Martin's version and commentary will give some idea +of this most interesting man, "the most modern and most familiar of the +ancients." (Rome, 1st cent. B. C.) + +[62] Lucretius is a philosophic poet. He aimed to explain Nature; and +his poem has much of wisdom, beauty, sublimity, and imagination to +commend it. Virgil imitated whole passages from Lucretius. (Rome, 1st +cent. B. C.) + +[63] Ovid is gross but fertile, and his "Metamorphoses" and "Epistles" +have been great favorites. (Rome, 1st cent. B. C.) + +[64] The "Antigone" and "OEdipus at Colonus" of Sophocles are of +exquisite tenderness and beauty. In pathos Shakspeare only is his equal. +(Greece, 5th cent. B. C.) + +[65] Euripides is the third of the great triumvirate of Greek +dramatists. His works were very much admired by Milton and Fox. Read his +"Alcestis," "Iphigenia," "Medea," and the "Bacchanals." (Greece, 5th +cent. B. C.) + +[66] Aristophanes is the greatest of Greek comedy writers. His plays are +great favorites with scholars, as a rule. Read the "Clouds," "Birds," +"Knights," and "Plutus." (Greece, 5th cent. B. C.) + +[67] Pindar's triumphal odes stand in the front rank of the world's +lyric poetry. (Greece, 5th cent. B. C.) + +[68] Hesiod's "Theogony" contains the religious faith of Greece. He +lived in or near the time of Homer. + +[69] Heine is the most remarkable German poet of this century. He has +written many gems of rare beauty, and many sketches of life unmatched +for racy freshness and graphic power. + +[70] Schiller is the second name in German literature; indeed, as a +lover of men and as a poet of exquisite fancy, he far excels Goethe. He +was a great philosopher, historian, and critic. Read his "Song of the +Bell," and his drama of "Wallenstein," translated by Coleridge. +(Germany, 18th cent.) + +[71] Corneille, Racine, and Moliere are the great French triumvirate of +dramatists. Their object is to produce one massive impression. In this +they follow the classic writers. A French, Greek, or Roman drama is to a +Shakspearean play as a statue to a picture, as an idea carved out of +Nature and rendered magnificently impressive by its isolation and the +beauty of its modelling, to Nature itself. The historical and ethical +value of the French plays is very great. Corneille is one of the +grandest of modern poets. Read "The Cid" ("As beautiful as the Cid" +became a proverb in France), and "Horace" (which is even more original +and grand than "The Cid"), and "Cinna" (which Voltaire thought the best +of all). Racine excels in grace, tenderness, and versatility. Read his +"Phedre." Moliere was almost as profound a master of human nature on its +humorous side as Shakspeare. He hates folly, meanness, and falsehood; he +is always wise, tender, and good. Read "Le Misanthrope," or "The +Man-Hater," and "Tartuffe," or "The Impostor." (17th cent.) + +[74] Alfred de Musset is a famous French poet of this century, and is a +great favorite with those who can enjoy charming and inspiring thoughts +though mixed with the grotesque and extravagant. + +[75] Calderon de la Barca is one of the greatest dramatists of the +world. His purity, power, and passion, his magnificent imagination and +wonderful fertility, will place him in company with Shakspeare in the +eternal society of the great. Read Shelley's fragments from Calderon, +and Fitzgerald's translation, especially "Zalamea" and "The +Wonder-Working Magician," two of his greatest plays. (Spain, 17th cent.) + +[76] Petrarch's lyrics have been models to all the great poets of +Southern Europe. The subject of nearly all his poems is his hopeless +affection for the high-minded and beautiful Laura de Sade. His purity is +above reproach. He is pre-eminent for sweetness, pathos, elegance, and +melody. (Italy, 14th cent.) + +[77] Ariosto is Italy's great epic poet. Read his "Orlando Furioso," a +hundred-fold tale of knights and ladies, giants and magicians. (Italy, +1474-1533). + +[78] Tasso is the second name in Italian epic poetry; and by some he is +placed above Ariosto and named in the same breath with Homer and Virgil. +Read his "Jerusalem Delivered," and "Aminta," and glance at his minor +poems composed while in confinement. (Italy, 16th cent.) + +[79] Camoens is the glory of Portugal, her only poet whose fame has +flown far beyond her narrow borders. Read his grand and beautiful poem, +the "Lusiad," a national epic grouping together all the great and +interesting events in the history of his country. (16th cent.) + +[80] Omar Khayyam, the great astronomer poet of Persia, has no equal in +the world in the concise magnificence with which he can paint a grand +poetic conception in a single complete, well-rounded, melodious stanza. +Read Fitzgerald's translation. (12th cent.) + +[81] Firdusi, the author of the "Shah Nameh," or Poetic History of the +great deeds of the sultans. Hafiz, the poet of love, and Saadi are other +great Persian poets deserving at least a glance of investigation. +(11th-14th cents.) + +[82] Arnold's "Light of Asia" claims our attention for the additions it +can make to our breadth of thought, giving us as it does briefly and +beautifully the current of thinking of a great people very unlike +ourselves. (Eng., 19th cent.) + +[83] Pushkin is called the Byron of Russia. Russian songs have a +peculiar, mournful tenderness. "They are the sorrows of a century +blended in one everlasting sigh." (19th cent.) + +[84] Lermontoff is the Russian Schiller. (19th cent.) + + + + +SCIENCE. + + +The most important sciences for the ordinary reader are Physiology, +Hygiene, Psychology, Logic, Political Economy, Sociology and the Science +of Government, Astronomy, Geology, and Natural History; but an +elementary knowledge of all the sciences is very desirable on account of +the breadth of mind and grasp of method which result therefrom. The +International Scientific Series is very helpful in giving the brief +comprehensive treatment of such subjects that is needed for those who +are not specialists. The best books in this department are continually +changing, because science is growing fast, and the latest books are apt +to be fuller and better than the old ones. The best thing that can be +done by one who wishes to be sure of obtaining the finest works upon any +given subject in the region of scientific research, is to write to a +professor who teaches that subject in some good university,--a professor +who has not himself written a book on the subject,--and get his judgment +on the matter. + +[85] Physical health is the basis of all life and activity, and it is +of the utmost importance to secure at once the best knowledge the world +has attained in relation to its procurement and preservation. This +matter has far too little attention. If a man is going to bring up +chickens, he will study chicken books no end of hours to see just what +will make them lay and make them fat and how he may produce the finest +stock; but if he only has to bring up a few children, he will give no +time to the study of the physical conditions of their full and fine +development. Some few people, however, have a strange idea that a child +is nearly as valuable as a rooster. There is no book as yet written +which gives in clear, easily understood language the known laws of diet, +exercise, care of the teeth, hair, skin, lungs, etc., and simple +remedies. Perhaps Dalton's "Physiology," Flint's "Nervous System," +Cutter's "Hygiene," Blaikie's "How to get Strong," and Duncan's "How to +be Plump," Beard's "Eating and Drinking," Bellows' "Philosophy of +Eating," Smith on Foods, Holbrook's "Eating for Strength," "Fruit and +Bread," "Hygiene for the Brain," "How to Strengthen the Memory," and +Kay's book on the Memory, Walter's "Nutritive Cure," Clark's "Sex in +Education," Alice Stockham's "Tokology" or "Hygiene for Married Women," +and Naphy's "Transmission of Life" will together give some idea of this +all-valuable subject, though none of these books except the first are in +themselves, apart from their subject, worthy of a place on the first +shelf. + +[86] Dr. Strong's little book, "Our Country," is of the most intense +interest to every American who loves his country and wishes its welfare. +(U. S., 19th cent.) + +[88] The "Federalist" was a series of essays by Hamilton, Jay, and +Madison, in favor of the Federal Constitution, and is the best and +deepest book on the science of government that the world contains. +(Amer., 1788.) + +[89] Bryce on the American Commonwealth is a splendid book, a complete, +critical, philosophic work, an era-making book, and should be read by +every American who wishes to know how our institutions appear to a +genial, cultured, broad-minded foreigner. Mr. Bryce has the chair of +Political Economy in Oxford, and is a member of Parliament. His chief +criticism of our great republic is that it is _hard to fix +responsibility_ for lawlessness under our institutions, which is always +an encouragement to wrongdoers. His book should be read with De +Tocqueville. (Eng., 19th cent.) + +[90] Montesquieu's "Spirit of Laws" is a profound analysis of law in +relation to government, customs, climate, religion, and commerce. It is +the greatest book of the 18th century. Read with it Bagehot's "Physics +and Politics." + +[91] Mill's "Logic" and "Political Economy" are simply necessities to +any, even moderately, thorough preparation for civilized life in +America. (Eng., 19th cent.) + +[92] Read Bain on the "Emotions and the Will," "Mind and Body," etc. +(Eng., 19th cent.) + +[93] Herbert Spencer is the foremost name in the philosophic literature +of the world. He is the Shakspeare of science. He has a grander grasp of +knowledge, and more perfect _conscious_ correspondence with the external +universe, than any other human being who ever looked wonderingly out +into the starry depths; and his few errors flow from an over-anxiety to +exert his splendid power of making beautiful generalizations. Read his +"First Principles," "Data of Ethics," "Education," and "Classification +of the Sciences," at any rate; and if possible, all he has written. +Plato and Spencer are brothers. Plato would have done what Spencer has, +had he lived in the 19th century. + +[94] Darwin's "Origin of Species" stands in history by the side of +Newton's "Principia." The thought of both has to a great extent become +the common inheritance of the race; and it is perhaps sufficient for the +general reader to refer to a good account of the book and its arguments, +such as may be found in the "Encyclopaedia Britannica." (Eng., 19th +cent.) + +[95] Read Herschel and Proctor in Astronomy, to broaden and deepen the +mind with the grand and beautiful conceptions of this most poetic of the +sciences. Proctor's books are more fascinating than any fiction. (Eng., +19th cent.) + +[96] For a knowledge of what has been going on in this dim spot beneath +the sun, in the ages before man came upon the stage, and for an idea +about what kind of a fellow man was when he first set up housekeeping +here, and how long ago that was, read Lyell's "Geology;" Lubbock's +"Prehistoric Times," "Origin of Civilization and Primitive Condition of +Man," and Lyell's "Antiquity of Man" (Eng., 19th cent.); and Dawson's +"Chain of Life." (U. S., 19th cent.) + +[97] Read Wood's beautiful and interesting books on Natural History; +especially his "Evidences of Mind in Animals," "Out of Doors," +"Anecdotes of Animals," "Man and Beast," "Here and Hereafter." (Eng., +19th cent.) + +[98] Whewell's "History of the Inductive Sciences" is a very broadening +book. + +[99] De Tocqueville's "Democracy in America" is one of the great books, +and is superior in depth and style even to Bryce. The two books +supplement each other. See note 89: (France, 18th cent.) + +[100] "Constitutional History of the United States." (Ger., 19th cent.) + +[101] "Wealth of Nations," "Moral Sentiments." (Eng., 18th cent.) + +[102] "Principles of Population." One of the most celebrated of books. +(Eng., 18th cent.) + +[103] "Principles of Social Philosophy." (Eng., 19th cent.) + +[104] "Essays on Political Economy," "Leading Principles of Political +Economy." (Eng., 19th cent.) + +[105] "Comparative Politics." (Eng., 19th cent.) + +[106] "The Theory of Political Economy," "The Logic of Statistics." +(Eng., 19th cent.) + +[107] "The Nation, the Foundation of Civil Order and Political Life in +the United States." (U. S., 19th cent.) + +[108] "Leviathan." See note 190. (Eng., 16th cent.) + +[109] "The Prince." (Italy, 1469-1527.) + +[110] "Chips from a German Workshop," and various works on Philology. +(Ger., 19th cent.) + +[111] "Study of Words," etc. (Eng., 19th cent.) + +[112] "Words and Places." (Eng., 19th cent.) + +[113] "Natural History of Selborne." (Eng., 19th cent.) + +[114] "Animal Kingdom." (France, early 19th cent.) + +[115] "Voyages." (Eng., 18th cent.) + +[116] "Heat as a Mode of Motion," "Forms of Water," etc. (Eng., 19th +cent.) + +[117] "On Sound." (Eng., 19th cent.) + +[118] "Scientific Researches." (Eng., 19th cent.) + +[119] "Conservation of Energy." In a book on this subject edited by E. +L. Youmans. (Ger., 19th cent.) + +[120] "Man's Place in Nature." (Eng., 19th cent.) + +[121] Botany. (U. S., 19th cent.) + +[122] "Methods of Study in Natural History." (U. S. 19th cent.) + +[123] Physics. (U. S., 19th cent.) + + + + +BIOGRAPHY. + + +Biography carefully read will cast a flood of light before us on the +path of life. Read Longfellow's "Psalm of Life," and try to find the +teachings he refers to in the lives of great men. The world still lacks +what it very much needs,--a book of _brief_ biographies of the greatest +and noblest men and women of every age and country, by a master hand. +The aim should be to extract from the past what it can teach us of value +for the future; and to do this biography must become a comparative +science, events and lives must be grouped over the whole range of the +years, that by similarities and contrasts the truth may appear. Smiles's +"Self-Help" is a partial realization of this plan. + +The manner of reading should be: R. D. + +[124] Plutarch's "Lives" comes nearer to a comparative biography than +any other book we have. He contrasts his characters in pairs, a Greek +and a Roman in each couplet. It is one of the most delightful of books, +and among those most universally read by cultured people of all nations. +Dryden's translation revised by Clough is the best. (Rome, 1st cent.) + +[125] In Wendell Phillips's oration on "Toussaint L'Ouverture," there is +a fascinating comparison of the noble negro warrior with Napoleon. (U. +S., 19th cent.) + +[126] Boswell's "Johnson" is admittedly the greatest life of a single +person yet written. (Eng., 18th cent.) + +[127] Lockhart's "Life of Scott" is a favorite with all who read it. +Wilkie Collins especially recommends it as finely picturing genius and +nobility of character. (Eng., 19th cent.) + +[128] Marshall's "Life of Washington" is an inspiring book. Gladstone +said to Mr. Depew: "Sixty years ago I read Chief-Justice Marshall's +'Life of Washington,' and I was forced to the conclusion that he was +quite the greatest man that ever lived. The sixty years that have passed +have not changed that impression; and to any Englishman who seeks my +advice in the line of his development and equipment I invariably say, +'Begin by reading the Life of George Washington.'" (U. S., 19th cent.) + +Franklin's "Autobiography" is brief, philosophic, and delightfully frank +and clear. (U. S., 18th cent.) + +[129] "The Life of Lincoln," by Nicolay and Hay, is a book that has very +strong claims to the attention of every American, and every lover of +liberty, greatness, nobility, and kindliness. (U. S., 19th cent.) + +Grant's "Memoirs" deserves reading for similar reasons. The great +General lived an epic, and wrote a classic. (U. S. 19th cent.) + +[130] Read Carlyle's "Life of John Sterling," "Oliver Cromwell's +Letters and Speeches," and "Heroes and Hero Worship." (Eng., 19th cent.) + +Renan's "Life of Christ." (France, 19th cent.) + +[131] Canon Farrar's little "Life of Dante" is, considering its brevity, +one of the best things in this department. (Eng., 19th cent.) + +[132] Emerson's "Representative Men" most strongly stirs thought and +inspires the resolution. (U. S., 19th cent.) + +[133] "The Portrait Collection of the Hundred Greatest Men," published +by Sampson, Low, & Co., 1879. + +[134] Read Parton's "Sketches of Men of Progress." (U. S., 19th cent.) + +[135] "Lights of Two Centuries." (U. S., 19th cent.) + +[136] "Our Great Benefactors." (U. S., 19th cent.) + +[137] "Book of Martyrs." (Eng., early 16th cent.) + +[138] "The Life and Times of Goethe," and "Michaelangelo." Most +interesting books. (Germany, 19th cent.) + +[139] "English Statesmen." (Eng., 19th cent.) + +[140] "Life of Napoleon." (France, 19th cent.) + +[141] "Lives of the Poets." (Eng., 18th cent.) + +[142] Walton's "Lives." (Eng., 17th cent.) + +[143] "Life of Dr. Arnold." (Eng., 19th cent.) + +[144] "Life of Washington." (U. S., 19th cent.) + +[145] "Life of Nelson." (Eng., 19th cent.) + +[146] "Life of Pitt." (Eng., 19th cent.) + +[147] "Life of Byron." (Eng., 19th cent.) + +[148] "Lives of Female Sovereigns and Illustrious Women." (Eng., 19th +cent.) + +[149] "Lives of the Saints." (Eng., 19th cent.) + +[150] "Memories of many Men." (U. S., 19th cent.) + +[151] "Reminiscences." (U. S., 18th cent.) + +The Life and Letters of Darwin, Talleyrand, and Macaulay; the Journals +of Miss Alcott, Marie Bashkirtseff, and Eugenie de Guerin; the +Autobiography of Joseph Jefferson; the "American Statesmen" series, +edited by John T. Morse, Jr., and the "English Men of Letters" series +are all valuable books. The Journals of Miss Alcott and Marie +Bashkirtseff are stories of heart struggles, longings, failures, and +triumphs, and are of exceeding interest and great popularity. The +Journal of Eugenie de Guerin deserves to be better known than it is, for +the delicate sweetness of feeling that fills its pages. + + + + +HISTORY. + + +Remarks may be made about History very similar to those in the special +remarks concerning Biography. The field is too vast for an ordinary +life, and there is no book that will give in brief compass the net +results and profits of man's investment in experience and life,--the +dividends have not been declared. Guizot and Buckle come nearer to doing +this than any other writers; but _the_ book that shall reduce the past +to principles that will guide the future has not yet been written. The +student will be greatly assisted by the "Manual of Historical +Literature," by C. K. Adams. It is an admirable guide. Putnam's series, +"The Stories of the Nations," and Scribner's "Epoch" series are very +useful, especially for young people. + +The manner of reading the best history should be: R. D. G. + +[152] Green's "History of the English People" has probably the first +claims on the general reader. (Eng., 19th cent.) + +[153] Bancroft's "History of the United States" should be read by every +American citizen, along with Dr. Strong's "Our Country." (U. S., 19th +cent.) The only trouble with Bancroft is that he does not bring the +history down to recent times. Hildreth for the student, and Ridpath for +practical business men supply this defect. Doyle's "History of the +United States" is perhaps the best small book, and his "American +Colonies" is also good. McMaster's "History of the People of the United +States" is a brilliant work, given largely to an account of the social +life of the people. + +[154] Guizot's "History of Civilization" and "History of France" +(France, 19th cent.) are among the greatest books of the world; and with +Buckle's "History of Civilization" (Eng., 19th cent.) will give a +careful reader an intellectual breadth and training far above what is +attained by the majority even of reading men. + +[155] Parkman is the Macaulay of the New World. He invests the truths of +sober history with all the charms of poetic imagination and graceful +style. His literary work must take its place by the side of Scott and +Irving. Read his "France and England in North America," "Conspiracy of +Pontiac," and "The Oregon Trail." + +Freeman, Fiske, and Fyffe are also great historians, who require notice +here. Freeman's "Comparative Politics," "History of the Saracens," +"Growth of the English Constitution," "History of Federal Government," +and "General Sketch of History" are all great works,--the last being the +best brief account of general history that we possess. (Eng., 19th +cent.) + +Fiske's "Civil Government," "War of Independence," and "Critical Period +of American History" are standard books. (U. S., 19th cent.) + +Fyffe's "Modern Europe" is called the most brilliant picture of the +Revolutionary Period in existence. It is certainly one of the best of +histories. + +[155a] "Fifteen Decisive Battles of the World." (Eng., 19th cent.) + +[156] "History of England in the 18th Century," "History of European +Morals." These books take very high rank in respect to style, accuracy, +and completeness. (Eng., 19th cent.) + +[157] "Ten Great Religions," by James Freeman Clarke. (U. S., 19th +cent.) + +[158] "Comparative History of Religion." + +[159] "Intellectual Development of Europe." A work of great power. (U. +S., 19th cent.) + +[160] "Middle Ages." (Eng., 19th cent.) + +[161] "Constitutional History of England." Bagehot's "English +Constitution" should be read with the works of Hallam, Freeman, and May +on this topic, because of its brilliant generalizations and ingenious +suggestions. (Eng., 19th cent.) + +[162] "History of England." (Eng., 18th cent.) + +[163] "History of England." (Eng., 19th cent.) + +[164] "History of England." (Eng., 19th cent.) + +[165] "Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire." (Eng., 18th cent.) + +[166] "History of Greece." (Eng., 19th cent.) + +[167] "History of New England." (U. S., 19th cent.) + +[168] "Conquest of Mexico," "Peru," "Ferdinand and Isabella," etc. +Prescott's style is of the very best, clear, graphic, and ever +interesting. (U. S., 19th cent.) + +[169] "Rise of the Dutch Republic." (U. S., 19th cent.) + +[169a] "Rise of the Republic of the United States." (U. S., 19th cent.) + +[170] "Ancient Egyptians." (Eng., 19th cent.) + +[171] "History of Rome." (Eng., 19th cent.) + +[172] "History of the Germans." (Ger., 1798.) + +[173] "Latin Christianity." (Eng., 19th cent.) + +[174] "History of the Papacy in the 16th and 17th Centuries." Ranke is +one of the strongest names in history. (Ger., 19th cent.) + +[175] "Italian Republics." (France, 1773-1842.) + +[176] "History of France." (France, 19th cent.) + +[177] "French Revolution." (Eng., 19th cent.) + +[178] "History of France," "Norman Conquest of England." (France, 19th +cent.) + +[179] "Germania." His "Life of Agricola" is also worthy of note for the +insight into character, the pathos, vigor, and affection manifested in +its flattering pages. (Rome, 1st cent.) + +[180] "History of Rome." (Rome, 1st cent. B. C.) + +[181] "The War of Catiline." (Rome, 1st cent. B. C.) + +[182] History of nearly all the nations known at the time he wrote. +(Greece, 5th cent. B. C.) + +[183] "Anabasis, the Retreat of the Greek Mercenaries of the Persian +King." (Greece, 5th cent. B. C.) + +[184] "History of the Athenian Domination of Greece." (Greece, 5th cent. +B. C.) + +[185] "History of the Jewish Wars." (Jerusalem, 1st cent.) + +Mackenzie's "History of the Nineteenth Century" is the best English book +on the subject. + +Rawlinson's "Five Great Monarchies" is strongly recommended. + + + + +PHILOSOPHY. + + +There have been, since the waters of thought began to flow, two great +streams running side by side,--Rationalism and Mysticism. Those who sail +upon the former recognize Reason as king; those upon the latter enthrone +some vague and shadowy power, in general known as Intuition. The +tendency of the one is to begin with sense impressions, and out of these +to build up a universe in the brain corresponding to the outer world, +and to arrive at a belief in God by climbing the stairway of induction +and analogy. The tendency of the other is to start with the affirmed +nature of God, arrived at, the thinker knows not how, and deduce the +universe from the conception of the Divine Nature. If this matter is +kept in mind, the earnest student will be able to see through the mists +sufficiently to discover what the philosophers are talking about +whenever it chances that they themselves knew. Spencer, Plato, Berkeley, +Kant, Locke, are all worthy of a thorough reading; and Comte's +philosophy of Mathematics is of great importance. + +The manner of reading good philosophic works should be: R. D. G. + +[186] Spencer's Philosophy is the grandest body of thought that any one +man has ever given to the world. No one who wishes to move with the tide +can afford to be unfamiliar with his books, from "First Principles" to +his Essays. He believes that all ideas, or their materials, have come +through the avenues of the senses. (Eng., 19th cent.) + +[187] Plato and Socrates are a double star in the sky of Philosophy that +the strongest telescopes have failed to resolve. Socrates wrote nothing, +but talked much. Plato was a pupil of his, and makes Socrates the chief +character in his writings. Ten schools of philosophy claimed Socrates as +their head, but Plato alone represented the master with fulness. +Considering the times in which he lived, the grandeur of his thought, +the power of his imagination, and the nobility, elegance, originality, +and beauty of his writings, Plato has no superior in the whole range of +literature. With Plato, ideas are the only realities, things are +imperfect expressions of them, and all knowledge is reminiscence of what +the soul learned when it was in the land of spirit, face to face with +ideas unveiled. Read his dialogues, especially "Phaedo" and the +"Republic." (Greece, 429-348 B. C.) + +[188] A most acute idealist, whose argument against the existence of +matter is one of the great passages of literature. (Eng., 18th cent.) + +[189] Kant argues that the _forms_ of _thought_, _time_, and _space_ are +necessarily intuitive, and not derived from sensation, since they are +prerequisites to sensation. Read the "Critique of Pure Reason," +"Critique of Practical Reason," in which he treats moral philosophy, and +"Observations on the Sublime and Beautiful." (Germany, 18th cent.) + +[190] Locke bases knowledge on sensation. His "Essay on the Conduct of +the Understanding" is one of the most valuable books in the language. +Spencer, Mill, and Locke have so fully imbibed all that was good in +Hobbes that it is scarcely necessary to read him. (Eng., 17th cent.) + +[191] Comte's "Positive Philosophy" rejects intuitive knowledge. It is +characterized by force of logic, immense research, great power of +generalization (which is frequently carried beyond the warrant of +facts), and immense bulk. (France, 19th cent.) + +[192] Sensationalist. A very strong writer. (Eng., 19th cent.) + +[193] "Limits of Religious Thought." A very powerful exposure of the +weakness of human imagination. (Eng., 19th cent.) + +[194] "Matter and Force." A powerful presentation of Materialism. (Ger., +19th cent.) + +[195] "Freedom of the Will." A demonstration of the impossibility of +free will. (Amer., 18th cent.) + +[196] A very acute English philosopher. (Eng., 1748-1832.) + +[197] Moral and Metaphysical Philosophy. (Eng., 19th cent.) + +[198] A deep, clear thinker, of sceptical character, who laid bare the +flaws in the old philosophies. (Eng., 1711-1776.) + +[199] One of the most profound metaphysicians the world can boast, and +inventor of quaternions, the latest addition to Mathematics. (Scot., +19th cent.) + +[200] Aristotle was the Bacon of the Old World. His method was the very +opposite of Plato's. He sought knowledge chiefly by carefully looking +out upon the world, instead of by introspection. No one has exerted a +greater influence on the thought of the world than this deep and earnest +thinker. (Greece, 4th cent. B. C.) + +[201] A very beautiful writer of the idealist school, though he claims +to be eclectic. (France, 19th cent.) + +[202] Hegel endeavored, by the method set forth in his "Absolute Logic," +to reduce all knowledge to one science. (Ger., 1770-1831.) Schelling, in +his "Philosophy of Identity," tries to prove that the same laws hold in +the world of spirit as in the world of matter. Schelling bases his +system on an _intuition_ superior to reason, and admitting neither doubt +nor explanation. (Ger., 1775-1854.) + +[203] Fichte carries the doctrines of Kant to their limit: to him all +except the life of the mind is a delusion. (Ger., 18th cent.) + +[204] A great German philosopher of the time of Luther (16th cent.), +very learned, refined, and witty. Read his "Familiar Colloquies." + +[205] "Cosmic Philosophy." (Amer. 19th cent.) + +[206] "Rational Cosmology, or the Eternal Principles and Necessary Laws +of the Universe." (U. S., 19th cent.) + +[207] Scottish Philosophy. (U. S., 19th cent.) + +[208] Theologico-politico-moral, voluminous dissertations. (Amsterdam, +17th cent.) + + + + +ESSAYS. + + +Next to Shakspeare's Plays, Emerson's Essays and Lectures are to me the +richest inspiration. At every turn new and delightful paths open before +the mind; and the poetic feeling and imagery are often of the best. Only +the music and the power of discriminating the wheat from the chaff were +lacking to have made one of the world's greatest poets. To pour into the +life the spirit of Emerson, Bacon, and Montaigne is a liberal education +in itself. Addison's "Spectator" is inimitable in its union of humor, +sense, and imagination. A number of eminent men, Franklin among them, +have referred to it as the source of their literary power. + +Read these essays: R. D. C. G. + +[209] Emerson's Essays and Lectures certainly deserve our first +attention in this department, because of their poetic beauty and +stimulating effect upon the imagination and all that is pure and strong +and noble in the character. (Amer., 19th cent.) + +[210] Nowhere can be found so much wit and wisdom to the square inch as +in Bacon's Essays. (Eng., 1600.) + +[211] Montaigne is the most popular of all the world's essayists, +because of his common-sense, keen insight, and perfect frankness. The +only author we certainly know to have been in Shakspeare's own library. +(France, 1580.) + +[212] Ruskin's "Ethics of the Dust," "Crown of Wild Olives," "Sesame +and Lilies," while somewhat wild in substance as well as in title, are +well worthy of reading for the intellectual stimulus afforded by their +breadth of view, novelty of expression and illustration, and the intense +force--almost fanaticism--which characterizes all that Ruskin says. +Ruskin is one of three living writers whom Farrar says he would first +save from a conflagration of the world's library. Carlyle is another of +the same sort. Read his "Past and Present," a grand essay on Justice. +(Eng., 19th cent.) + +So far as style is concerned, Addison's Essays in the "Spectator" are +probably the best in the world. + + + + +FICTION. + + +In modern times much that is best in literature has gone into the pages +of the novel. The men and women of genius who would in other days have +been great poets, philosophers, dramatists, essayists, and humorists +have concentrated their powers, and poured out all their wealth to set +in gold a story of human life. Don't neglect the novels; but be sure to +read _good_ ones, and don't read too many. + +In fiction, England, America, and France are far ahead of the rest of +the world. Scott may well be held to lead the list, considering the +quantity and quality of what he wrote; and Dickens, I presume, by many +would be written next, though I prefer the philosophic novelists, like +George Eliot, Macdonald, Kingsley, Hugo, etc. Fielding, Richardson, +Goldsmith, Sterne, and Defoe, Jane Austen, Cooper, and Marryat all claim +our attention on one account or another. + +The United States can boast of Hawthorne, Tourgee, Wallace, Hearn, +Aldrich, Warner, Curtis, Jewett, Craddock, and many others. + +France has a glorious army, led by Victor Hugo, George Sand, Balzac, +Dumas, Gautier, Merimee, etc. But the magnificent powers of these +artists are combined with sad defects. Hugo is the greatest literary +force since Goethe and Scott; but his digressions are sometimes terribly +tedious, his profundity darkness, and his "unities," his plot, and +reasons for lugging in certain things hard to find. Balzac gives us a +monotony of wickedness. George Sand is prone to idealize lust. "Notre +Dame" and "Les Miserables," "Le Pere Goriot" and "Eugenie Grandet," +"Consuelo" and "La Mare au Diable," "Capitaine Fracasse" and "Vingt Ans +Apres," are great books; but they will not rank with "Tom Jones" +artistically, nor with the "Vicar of Wakefield," "Ivanhoe," "Adam Bede," +"Romola," or "The Scarlet Letter," considering all the elements that go +to make a great novel. + +Germany, Italy, and Spain have no fiction that compares with ours. + +No doubt many will be surprised to find Fielding, Balzac, Tolstoi, and +others placed so low in the list as they are. The reason is that the +moral tone of a book is, with us, a weightier test of its claims on the +attention of the general reader, than the style of the author or the +merit of his work from an artistic point of view. There might be some +doubt whether or no we ought not to exclude from our tables entirely all +books that are not noble enough in character to admit of their being +read aloud in the family. The trouble is that much of the finest +literature of the world would have to be excluded. So there seems to be +no course but to admit these men, with a note as to their character. + +One who wishes to make a study of the novel will be interested in +Dunlop's "History of Fiction," Tuckerman's "History of English Prose +Fiction," Hazlitt's "English Novelists," Lanier's "Novel," Masson's +"British Novelists and their Styles," and Jeaffreson's "Novels and +Novelists." + +The best fiction should be read: R. D. G. + +[213] "Heart of Midlothian," "Waverley," "Ivanhoe," "Kenilworth," "Guy +Mannering," "The Antiquary," "Rob Roy," "Old Mortality," "Red Gauntlet," +etc. Scott is by very many--and among them some of the greatest--loved +more than any other novelist. The purity, beauty, breadth, and power of +his works will ever place them among the most desirable reading. (Eng., +19th cent.) Hutton's "Sir Walter Scott," Carlyle's "Essay on Scott," +Hazlitt's Essay in "The Spirit of the Age," and other books referred to +in the head notes to Poetry and Fiction will be useful to the student of +Scott. + +[214] "Adam Bede," "Mill on the Floss," "Romola," "Silas Marner," etc. +Deep philosophy and insight into character mark all George Eliot's +writings. (Eng., 19th cent.) Lanier's "Development of the Novel" is +practically only an enthusiastic study of George Eliot. + +[215] "Pickwick," "David Copperfield," "Bleak House," "Martin +Chuzzlewit," "Old Curiosity Shop," etc. Dickens needs no comment. His +fame is in every house. (Eng., 19th cent.) + +[216] Hawthorne's "Scarlet Letter," "Marble Faun," "Great Stone Face," +etc., are by universal consent accorded the first place in the lists of +American novels, and are among the best to be found anywhere. (U. S., +19th cent.) + +[217] "Vicar of Wakefield." One of Goethe's earliest favorites. (Eng., +18th cent.) + +[218] "Rienzi," "Last Days of Pompeii," "Last of the Barons," etc. Most +powerful, delightful, and broadening books. (Eng., 19th cent.) + +[219] "Malcolm," "Marquis o' Lossie," "David Elginbrod," etc. Books of +marvellous spiritual helpfulness. (Eng., 19th cent.) + +[220] "Esmond," "Vanity Fair," etc. Very famous books. (Eng., 19th +cent.) + +[221] "Westward, Ho!" "Two Years Ago," etc. Among the best and most +famous pictures of true English character. (Eng., 19th cent.) + +[222] "Ben Hur." This book has been placed close to the Bible and +Bunyan. (U. S., 19th cent.) + +[223] "Hot Plowshares," "The Fool's Errand," "The Invisible Empire," +"Appeal to Caesar," etc. Books widely known, but whose great merit is not +fully recognized. Tourgee, though uneven, seems to us a writer of very +great power. His "Hot Plowshares" is a powerful historical novel; and +few books in the whole range of literature are so intensely interesting, +and so free from all that is objectionable in subject or execution. (U. +S., 19th cent.) + +[224] "Les Miserables," "Notre Dame de Paris," "Les Travailleurs de la +Mer," etc. Wraxall's translations of these great French novels are most +excellent. (France, 19th cent.) + +Some critics think that no characters in Shakspeare are better drawn +than those of Dumas. "Monte Cristo," "The Vicomte de Bragelonne" +(Stevenson's favorite), "The Three Musketeers," "Twenty Years After," +"The Marie Antoinette Romances," etc., are powerful and intensely +interesting novels. (France, 19th cent.) + +[225] "Robinson Crusoe." There are few persons who do not get delight +and inspiration from Defoe's wonderful story. (Eng., 1661-1731.) + +"Tom Brown at Rugby" and "Tom Brown at Oxford," by Thomas Hughes, are +delightful books for boys. (Eng., 19th cent.) + +[226] Mrs. Stowe's "Uncle Tom's Cabin," was God's bugle-call to the war +against slavery. Her "Oldtown Folks" and "Sam Lawson's Fireside Stories" +are very humorous sketches of New England life. (U. S., 19th cent.) + +Cooper's "The Spy," "The Pilot," "Leather Stocking," "Deerslayer," +"Pathfinder," etc., are books that interfere with food and sleep, and +chain us to their pages. (U. S., 19th cent.) + +[227] "Prue and I," by George William Curtis, is one of the most +suggestive stories in print, and is in every way a delightful book. +"Potiphar Papers," "Our Best Society," "Trumps," "Lotus Eaters,"--in +fact, everything Mr. Curtis writes, is of the highest interest, and +worthy of the most careful attention. (U. S., 19th cent.) + +The same may be said of the works of Charles Dudley Warner,--"Being a +Boy," "A Hunting of the Deer," "In the Wilderness," "Backlog Studies," +"My Summer in a Garden," etc. (U. S., 19th cent.) + +[228] T. B. Aldrich, while perhaps not destined to rank with Scott, +Eliot, and Hawthorne, is nevertheless one of the most wholesome and +interesting of living authors. "The Stillwater Tragedy" is his strongest +book. "Prudence Palfrey," "The Story of a Bad Boy," "Margery Daw," and +"The Queen of Sheba" will doubtless be read by those who once become +acquainted with the author. (U. S., 19th cent.) + +The first part of Hearn's "Chita" exceeds in beauty and strength any +other piece of descriptive writing with which we are familiar. (U. S., +19th cent.) + +[229] Ebers' "Homo Sum," "Uarda," and "An Egyptian Princess" are very +powerful studies of Egyptian life and history. (Ger., 19th cent.) + +"With Fire and Sword," and its sequels, "The Deluge" and "Pan Michael," +by Henryk Sienkiewicz, are among the greatest books of modern times. +They are historical romances of the conflict between Russia, Poland, and +Sweden; and their power may be guessed from the fact that critics have +compared the author favorably with Scott, Dumas, Schiller, Cervantes, +Thackeray, Turgenieff, Homer, and even Shakspeare. (Poland, 19th cent.) + +[230] Miss Austen's "Emma," "Pride and Prejudice" (Eng., 19th cent.), +and Charlotte Bronte's "Jane Eyre" (Eng., 19th cent.), are all noble and +renowned novels. + +[231] Louisa Alcott's "Little Women" is a lovely story of home life; and +its exceeding popularity is one of the most encouraging signs of the +growth of a taste for pure, gentle, natural literature. (U. S., 19th +cent.) + +Mrs. Burnett's "Little Lord Fauntleroy" deservedly met at once a high +reward of popularity, and was placed in the front rank among stories of +child-life. As a teacher of gentleness and good manners it is +invaluable. (Eng., 19th cent.) + +[232] Cable's "Grande Pointe," "The Grandissimes," etc., should be read +by all who wish to know the best living novelists. (U. S., 19th cent.) + +Craddock's "Where the Battle was Fought," "Despot of Broomsedge Cove," +"Prophet of Great Smoky Mountain," "Story of Keedon Bluffs," and "Down +the Ravine" are fascinating stories, the last two being fine books for +children. (U. S., 19th cent.) + +[233] Mrs. A. D. T. Whitney's "Sights and Insights," though somewhat +too wordy for this busy world, is worthy a place here, because of its +spiritual beauty and its keen common-sense in respect to marriage and +courtship. (U. S., 19th cent.) + +Sarah Orne Jewett has won a good name by her excellent stories, +"Deephaven," "Betty Leicester," etc. Her "Play Days" is a fine book for +girls. (U. S., 19th cent.) + +[234] Fielding, Le Sage, and Balzac are writers of great power, whose +works are studied for their artistic merit, their wit, and the intense +excitement some of them yield; but the general moral tone of their +writings places them below the purer writers above spoken of in respect +to their value to the general reader, one of whose deepest interests is +character-forming. + +Fielding's "Tom Jones" is by many considered the finest novel in +existence; and it undoubtedly would be, if along with its literary skill +it possessed the high tone of Curtis or Scott. "Jonathan Wild" is also a +powerful story. (Eng., 18th cent.) + +"Gil Blas," by Le Sage, is one of the most famous and widely read books +in the world. (France, 1668--1747.) + +Balzac's best are "Le Pere Goriot" (and especially the magnificent +preface to this book), "La Recherche de l'Absolu," "Eugenie Grandet," +"La Peau de Chagrin," etc. (France, 19th cent.) + +[235] Rousseau's "Emile" has been called the greatest book ever written; +but we presume that bias and limitation of knowledge on the part of +critics (not rare accomplishments of theirs) might procure a similar +judgment in respect to almost any strong and peculiar book. Rousseau's +"Confessions" are worth some attention. (France, 18th cent.) + +Saintine's "Picciola" is a beautiful story. (France, 19th cent.) + +[236] Coffin's "Boys of '76," "Boys of '61," "Story of Liberty," etc., +are splendid books for young people. The last describes the march of the +human race from slavery to freedom. (U. S., 19th cent.) + +Charles Reade's "Hard Cash," "Peg Woffington," "Cloister and Hearth" are +fascinating stories. (Eng., 19th cent.) + +Warren's "Ten Thousand a Year." + +[237] Landor's "Imaginary Conversations of Great Men." (Eng., 18th +cent.) + +Turgenieff's "Liza," "Smoke," and "Fathers and Sons." (Russia, 19th +cent.) + +Eugene Sue's "Wandering Jew." + +Manzoni's "I promessi Sposi." + +[238] Cottin's "Elizabeth." + +Besant's "All Sorts and Conditions of Men." (Eng., 19th cent.) + +Stevenson's "The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde." A book that +teaches the danger of giving way to the evil side of our nature. + +[239] Mrs. Ward's "Robert Elsmere" is a famous picture of the struggle +in the religious mind to-day. (Eng., 19th cent.) + +Margaret Deland's "John Ward, Preacher," is a book of the same class as +the last, but is not as interesting as her "Florida Days" or her Poems. +(U. S., 19th cent.) + +Anna Sewell's "Black Beauty" is the autobiography of a noble horse, and +is tender and intelligent. A book that every one who has anything to do +with horses, or indeed with animals of any sort, cannot afford to +neglect. (Eng., 19th cent.) + +Bret Harte's "Luck of Roaring Camp" is an interesting picture of Western +life, and opens a new vein of fiction. (U. S., 19th cent.) + +[240] Green's "Hand and Ring," "Leavenworth Case," etc., are splendid +examples of reasoning, without any of the objectionable features usually +found in detective stories. (U. S., 19th cent.) + +Miss Mulock's "John Halifax, Gentleman," is a great and famous book. +(Eng., 19th cent.) + +Disraeli's "Lothair," "Endymion," etc., are strong books; requiring the +notice of one who reads widely in English fiction. (Eng., 19th cent.) + +Howells' "A Modern Instance," "The Undiscovered Country," "A Hazard of +New Fortunes," "A Chance Acquaintance," "Lady of the Aroostook," etc., +are not objectionable. (U. S., 19th cent.) + +Tolstoi's "Anna Karenina" deserves mention, though we cannot by any +means agree with Howells that Tolstoi is the greatest of novelists. The +motive and atmosphere of his books are not lofty, and some of his work +is positively disgraceful. (Russia, 19th cent.) + +[241] George Sand's "Consuelo" is a great book in more senses than one; +and although it deserves a place in this lower list, yet there are so +many better books, that if one follows the true order, life would be +likely to depart before he had time to read a four-volume novel by an +author of the tone of George Sand. (France, 19th cent.) + +Black's "Strange Adventures of a Phaeton," "Princess of Thule." (Eng., +19th cent.) + +Blackmore's "Lorna Doone." (Eng., 19th cent.) + +Olive Schreiner's "Story of an African Farm" is powerful, but not +altogether wholesome. (Eng., 19th cent.) + +[242] Bremer's "The Neighbors." (Norway, 19th cent.) + +Trollope's "Last Chronicles of Barsetshire." (Eng., 19th cent.) + +Winthrop's "Cecil Dreeme," "John Brent." (U. S., 19th cent.) + +[243] Richardson's "Pamela" and "Clarissa Harlowe" are interesting, +because they were the beginning of the English novel; but they are not +nice or natural, and have no attractions except their historic position. +(Eng., 1689-1761.) + +Smollett's "Humphrey Clinker" is his strongest work. "Peregrine Pickle" +is very witty, and "Adventures of an Atom" altogether a miserable book. +Smollett possessed power, but his work is on a very low plane. (Eng., +18th cent.) + +Boccaccio's "Decameron" is a series of splendidly told tales, from which +Chaucer drew much besides his inspiration. The book is strong, but of +very inferior moral tone. + + + + +ORATORY. + + +Great and successful oratory requires deep knowledge of the human mind +and character, personal force, vivid imagination, control of language +and temper, and a faculty of putting the greatest truths in such clear +and simple and forceful form, that they may not only be grasped by +untrained minds, but will break down the barriers of prejudice and +interest, and fight their way to the throne of the will. Oratory is +religion, science, philosophy, biography, history, wit, pathos, and +poetry _in action_. This department of literature is therefore of the +greatest value in the development of mind and heart, and of the power to +influence and control our fellows. Especially read and study Demosthenes +on the Crown, Burke's "Warren Hastings' Oration," Webster's "Reply to +Hayne," Phillips' "Lovejoy" and "Toussaint L'Ouverture," and Lincoln's +"Gettysburg," his debates with Douglas, and his great speeches in New +York and the East before the War, in which fun, pathos, and logic were +all welded together in such masterly shape that professors of oratory +followed him about from city to city, studying him as a model of +eloquence. There is a book called "Great Orations of Great Orators" that +is very valuable, and there is a series of three volumes containing the +best British orations (fifteen orators), and another similar series of +American speeches (thirty-two orators). + + + + +WIT AND HUMOR. + + +In what wit consists, and why it is we laugh, are questions hard to +answer (read on that subject Spencer and Hobbes, and Mathews' "Wit and +Humor; their Use and Abuse"); but certain it is that a little seasoning +of fun makes intellectual food very palatable, and much better adapts it +for universal and permanent assimilation. Most men can keep what is tied +to their memories with a joke. Considering all things, Lowell, Holmes, +Dickens, and Cervantes are the best humorists the world affords. See +Table III. Group 4. They exhibit a union of power and purpose that is +not found elsewhere. They always subordinate wit to wisdom, always aim +at something far higher than making fun for its own sake, never appear +to make any effort for their effects, and always polish their work to +perfection. A great deal of the keenest wit will be found in books whose +general character puts them in some other column,--Poetry, Fiction, +Oratory, etc. The works of Shakspeare, Addison, Eliot, Sheridan, +Goldsmith, Irving, Higginson, Carleton, Thackeray, Hood, Saxe, Fielding, +Smollett, Aristophanes, Moliere, etc., abound in wit and humor. + +The student of humor will be interested in Hazlitt's "English Comic +Writers," Thackeray's "English Humorists," and Besant's "French +Humorists." + +[244] "Fable for Critics," "Biglow Papers." Considering the keenness and +variety of wit, the depth of sarcasm, the breadth of view, and the +importance of its subject, the "Biglow Papers" is the greatest humorous +work of all history. (U. S., 19th cent.) + +[245] "Autocrat of the Breakfast-Table," "Professor at the +Breakfast-Table," etc. (U. S., 19th cent.) + +[246] "Pickwick Papers." (Eng., 19th cent.) + +[247] "Don Quixote." (Spain, 1547-1616.) + +[248] Along with much violent scoffing, and calling of his betters by +hard names, Ingersoll's speeches contain some of the keenest wit in the +language. (U. S., 19th cent.) + +[249] Marietta Holley's "Sweet Cicely," "Samantha at the Centennial," +"Betsey Bobbet," "My Wayward Pardner," "Samantha at Saratoga," "Samantha +among the Brethren," etc., are full of quaint fun, keen insight, and +common-sense. They are somewhat more wordy than we wish they were, but +they are wholesome, and the author's purpose is always a lofty one. Her +fun is not mere fun, but is like the laughing eye and smiling lip of one +whose words are full of thought and elevated feeling. (U. S., 19th +cent.) + +[250] G. W. Curtis's "Potiphar Papers" is a good example of quiet, +refined humor. (U. S., 19th cent.) + +[251] Chauncey M. Depew's Orations and After-Dinner Speeches are worthy +of perusal by all lovers of wit and sense. (U. S., 19th cent.) + +[252] Mark Twain is the greatest of those who make humor the primary +object. He does not, like Artemus Ward, make it the sole object,--there +is a large amount of keen common-sense in his "A Yankee in King Arthur's +Court," and there is also in it an open-mindedness to the newest +currents of thought that proves the author to be one of the most +wide-awake men of the day. "Innocents Abroad," "The Prince and the +Pauper," "Roughing It," etc., are very amusing books, the only drawback +being that the reader is sometimes conscious of an effort to be funny. +(U. S., 19th cent.) + +253: Charles Dudley Warner's "In the Wilderness" gives +some exceedingly amusing sketches of backwoods life. See +also other books mentioned under the head of Fiction. (U. S., +19th cent.) + +[254] S. K. Edwards' "Two Runaways, and Other Stories" is a book that no +lover of humor can afford to be without. (U. S., 19th cent.) + +[255] E. E. Hale's "My Double, and How He Undid Me," and other stories +contain much innocent recreation. (U. S., 19th cent.) + +[256] Nasby's "Ekoes from Kentucky" and "Swingin' round the Circle" are +full of the keenest political sarcasm. Lincoln was so impressed with +Nasby's power, that he said he had rather possess such gifts than be +President of the United States. (U. S., 19th cent.) + +[257] "Artemus Ward His Book," is funny, but lacks purpose beyond the +raising of a laugh. (U. S., 19th cent.) + +[258] "Caudle Lectures," "Catspaw," etc. Jerrold is one of the sharpest +of wits. (Eng., 19th cent.) + +[259] Voltaire was the Ingersoll of France, only more so. His +"Dictionnaire" is full of stinging sarcasm and fierce wit. (France, 18th +cent.) + +"English Bards and Scotch Reviewers." The sharpest edge of Byron's keen +mind. (Eng., 1788-1824.) + +[260] "Hudibras." A tirade against the Puritans. (Eng., 17th cent.) + +"Gulliver's Travels," "Tale of a Tub," etc. Coarse raillery. (Eng., 18th +cent.) + +[261] "Gargantua and Pantagruel." Immense coarse wit. (France, 16th +cent.) + +"Tristram Shandy." Not delicate, but full of humor. (Eng., 18th cent.) + +[262] Juvenal is one of the world's greatest satirists. (Rome, 1st +cent.) + +Lucian is the Voltaire of the Old World. In his "Dialogues of the Gods" +he covers with ridicule the religious notions of the people. (Greek Lit, +2d cent. A. D.) + + + + +FABLES AND FAIRY TALES. + + +Fables and fairy tales are condensed dramas, and some of them are +crystal drops from the fountains of poetic thought. Often they express +in picture language the deepest lessons that mankind have learned; and +one who wishes to gather to himself the intellectual wealth of the +nations must not neglect them. In the section of the book devoted to +remarks upon the Guidance of Children, the literature of this subject +receives more extended attention. Among the books that will most +interest the student of this subject may be mentioned the works of Fiske +and Bulfinch, named below, Baldwin's "Story of the Golden Age," +Ragozin's "Chaldea," Kingsley's "Greek Heroes," Cox's "Tales of Ancient +Greece," Hanson's "Stories of Charlemagne," Church's "Story of the +Iliad" and "Story of the AEneid," and the books mentioned in connection +with the "Morte D'Arthur," note 323 following:-- + +[263] "Fairy Tales," "Shoes of Fortune," etc. (Denmark, 19th cent.) + +[264] The inimitable French poet of Fable. (France, 17th cent.) + +[265] The world-famous Greek fabulist. His popularity in all ages has +been unbounded. Socrates amused himself with his stories. (Greece, 6th +cent. B. C.) + +[266] "Household Tales." (Ger., early 19th cent.) + +[267] "Reineke Fox." (Bohn Lib.) (Ger., early 19th cent.) + +Kipling's "Indian Tales." (Eng., 19th cent.) + +[268] "Age of Fable," "Age of Chivalry," etc. (Eng., 19th cent.) + +[269] Fables in his poems. (U. S., 19th cent.) + +[270] A French fabulist, next in fame to La Fontaine. (18th cent.) + +[271] Greek Fables. (About com. Christ. era.) + +[272] "Tales." (Ger., 19th cent.) + +[273] "Metamorphoses." An account of the mythology of the ancients. Ovid +was one of Rome's greatest poets. (Rome, 1st cent. B. C.) + +Curtin's "Myths and Folk-Lore of Ireland," "Myths and Folk-Tales of the +Russians," etc. (U. S., 19th cent.) + +Fiske's "Myths and Myth Makers." (U. S., 19th cent.) + + + + +TRAVEL. + + +Nothing favors breadth more than travel and contact with those of +differing modes of life and variant belief. The tolerance and sympathy +that are folding in the world in these modern days owe much to the vast +increase of travel that has resulted from growth of commerce, the +development of wealth, and the cheapness and rapidity of steam +transportation. Even a wider view of the world comes to us through the +literature of travel than we could ever gain by personal experience, +however much of wealth and time we had at our disposal; and though the +vividness is less in each particular picture of the written page than if +we saw the full original reality that is painted for us, yet this is +more than compensated by the breadth and insight and perception of the +meaning of the scenes portrayed, which we can take at once from the +writer, to whom perhaps the gaining of what he gives so easily has been +a very costly, tedious process, and would be so to us if we had to rely +on personal observation. Voyages and travels therefore are of much +importance in our studies, and delightful reading too. Stanley's +opinions have been much relied on in selecting the following books:-- + +[274] Voyages. (Eng., 18th cent.) + +[275] Cosmos; Travels. (Ger., 1762-1832.) + +[276] Naturalist on the Beagle. (Eng., 19th cent.) + +[277] Travels. (Venice, 14th cent.) + +[278] Arctic Explorations. (U. S., 19th cent.) + +[279] South Africa. (Eng., 19th cent.) + +[280] Through the Dark Continent; In Darkest Africa. (U. S., 19th cent.) + +[281] Travels in Africa. (France, 19th cent.) + +[282] On Egypt. (Germany, 19th cent.) + +[283] Abyssinia. (Eng., 19th cent.) + +[284] India. + +[285] Niger. + +[286] South America. + +[287] Upper Niger. + +[288] Persia. + +[289] Central Africa. + +[290] West Coast of Africa. + +[291] Travelled for thirty years, then wrote the marvels he had seen and +heard; and his book became very popular in the 14th and 15th centuries. +(Eng., 14th cent.) + +[292] The Nile. + + + + +GUIDES. + + +In this column of "Guides" are placed books that will be useful in +arriving at a fuller knowledge of literature and authors, in determining +what to read, and in our own literary efforts. + +[293] "What to Read on the Subject of Reading," by William E. Foster, +Librarian of the Providence Public Library. Every one who is interested +in books should keep an eye on this thorough and enthusiastic worker, +and take advantage of the information he lavishes in his bulletins. + +[294] The "Pall Mall Extra," containing Sir John Lubbock's "List of the +Best Hundred Books," and letters from many distinguished men. + +[295] English Literature. + +[296] English Literature. + +[297] "English Literature." The most philosophic work on the subject; +but it is difficult, and requires a previous knowledge of the principal +English authors. + +[298] Handbook of Universal Literature. + +[299] Dictionary of Authors. + +[300] Bartlett's "Familiar Quotations" is one of the most famous and +valuable of books. + +[301] "Edge-Tools of Speech." Brief quotations arranged under heads such +as Books, Government, Love, etc. + +[302] "Library of Poetry and Song;" but for the general reader +Palgrave's exquisite little "Golden Treasury" is better. + +[303] "Primer of English Literature." The best very brief book on the +subject. + +[304] Bibliographical Aids. + +[305] "Motive and Habit of Reading." + +[306] "Choice of Books." + +[307] "Sesame and Lilies." + +[308] "The Love of Books." + +[309] "History of Prose Fiction." + +Baldwin's "Book Lover" is valuable for its lists of books bearing on +special topics. + +C. K. Adams' "Manual of Historical Literature" is invaluable to the +student of history. There ought to be similar books relating to +Philosophy, Fiction, Science, etc. + + + + +MISCELLANEOUS. + + +In the column "Miscellaneous" are placed a number of books which should +be at least glanced through to open the doors of thought on all sides +and to take such account of their riches as will place them at command +when needed. + +[310] One of the noblest little books in existence; to read it is to +pour into the life and character the inspiration of hundreds of the best +and most successful lives. Every page should be carefully read and +digested. (U. S., 19th cent.) + +[311] An exquisite book; one of Robert Collyer's early favorites. Put +its beauty in your heart. (U. S., 19th cent.) + +[312] A book that should be read for its breadth. (Eng., early 17th +cent.) + +[313] Edward Bellamy's "Looking Backward" is one of the same class of +books to which Bacon's "New Atlantis," More's "Utopia," etc., belong, +and may be read with much pleasure and profit along with them. It is +really a looking forward to an ideal commonwealth, in which the labor +troubles and despotisms of to-day shall be adjusted on the same +principle as the political troubles and despotisms of the last century +were settled; namely, the principle that each citizen shall be +industrially the equal of every other, as all are now political equals. +It is a very famous book, and has been called the greatest book of the +century, which, happily for the immortality of Spencer and Darwin, +Carlyle and Ruskin, Parkman and Bancroft, Guizot and Bryce, Goethe and +Hugo, Byron and Burns, Scott and Tennyson, Whittier and Lowell, Bulwer +and Thackeray, Dickens and Eliot, is only the judgment of personal +friendship and blissful ignorance. But while the book cannot feel at +home in the society of the great, it is nevertheless a very entertaining +story, and one vastly stimulative of thought. The idea of a coming +_industrial democracy_, bearing more or less analogy to the political +democracy, the triumph of which we have seen, is one that has probably +occurred to every thoughtful person; and in Bellamy's book may be found +an ingenious expansion of the idea much preferable to the ordinary +socialistic plans of the day, though not wholly free from the injustice +that inheres in all social schemes that do not aim to secure to each man +the wealth or other advantage that his lawful efforts naturally produce. +(U. S., 19th cent.) + +[314] Everywhere a favorite. It opens up wide regions of imagination. +Ruskin says he read it many times when he might have been better +employed, and crosses it from his list. But the very fact that he read +the book so often shows that even his deep mind found irresistible +attraction in it. (First introduced into Europe in 17th cent.) + +[315] The most colossal lies known to science. (Ger., 18th cent.) + +[316] The poem of "Beowulf" should be looked into by all who wish to +know the character of the men from whom we sprang, and therefore realize +the basic elements of our own character. (Eng., early Saxon times.) + +[317] Should be glanced at for the light it throws on English history +and development. (9th-12th cents.) + +[318] Froissart's "Chronicles" constitute a graphic story of the States +of Europe from 1322 to the end of the 14th century. Scott said that +Froissart was his master. Breadth demands at least a glance at the old +itinerant tale-gatherer. Note especially the great rally of the rebels +of Ghent. + +[319] This masterpiece of Old German Minstrelsy is too much neglected by +us. Read it with the three preceding. (Early German.) + +[320] _Saga_ means "tale" or "narrative," and is applied in Iceland to +every kind of tradition, true or fabulous. Read the "Heimskringla," +Njal's Saga, and Grettir's Saga, (9th-13th cents.) + +[321] Along with the last should be read the poems of the elder Edda. +(Compiled by Samund the Wise, 12th cent.) + +[322] The epic of Spain, containing a wonderful account of the prowess +of a great leader and chief. (Spain, before the 13th cent.) + +[323] A collection of fragments about the famous King Arthur and his +Round Table. They crop out in every age of English literature. Read the +book with Tennyson's "Idylls of the King,"--a poem inspired by Malory's +"Morte D'Arthur,"--Cervantes' "Don Quixote," and Twain's "Yankee in the +Court of King Arthur," Lanier's "Boy's King Arthur," Ritson's "Ancient +English Metrical Romances," Ellis' Introduction to the Study of the +same, Preston's "Troubadours and Trouveres," Sismondi's "Literature of +Southern Europe," Chapon's "Troubadours," and Van Laun's "History of +French Literature" may be referred to with advantage by the student of +Malory. + +[324] A collection of Chinese odes. + +[325] This and the last are recommended, not for intrinsic merit, but +for breadth, and to open the way to an understanding of and sympathy +with four hundred millions of mankind who hold these books in profound +veneration. (China, as early as 5th cent. B. C.) + +[326] This is the Bible of the Sufis of Persia, one of the +manifestations of that great spirit of mysticism which flows like a +great current through the world's history, side by side with the stream +of Rationalism. It found certain outlets in Schelling, Swedenborg, +Emerson, etc., and is bubbling up even now through the strata of +worldliness in the United States in the shape of Theosophy. (7th cent.) + +[327] Read Saint Hilaire's "Buddha" and Arnold's "Light of Asia." They +will open great regions of thought. + +[328] These are epitomized by Talboys Wheeler in his "History of India." +Very interesting and broadening. (Very ancient.) + +[330] Not valuable reading intrinsically, but as opening the doors of +communication with the minds and hearts of whole races of men, most +useful. The Vedas are the Bible of the Hindus, and contain the +revelation of Brahma (15th cent.). The Koran is the Mohammedan Bible +(6th cent.). The Talmud belongs to the Rabbinical literature of the +Jews, and is a collection of Jewish traditions (3d cent.). + +[333] The works of Hooker, Swedenborg, Newton, Kepler, Copernicus, +Laplace, should be actually _handled_ and _glanced through_ to form a +nucleus of experience, around which may gather a little knowledge of +these famous men and what they did. This remark applies with more or +less of force to all the names on the second shelf. Few can hope to +_read all_ these books, but it is practicable by means of general works, +such as those mentioned in Column 13, to gain an idea of each man, his +character and work; and there is no better way to put a hook in the +memory on which such knowledge of an author may be securely kept, than +to take his book in your hands, note its size and peculiarities (visual +and tactual impressions are more easily remembered than others as a +rule), glance through its contents, and read a passage or two. + + + + +SHORT COURSES. + + +When the reader has a special purpose in view, it is of the greatest +advantage to arrange in systematic order the books that will be most +helpful in the accomplishment of his purpose, study them one after the +other, mark them, compare them, make cross references from one to +another, digest and assimilate the vital portions of each, and seek to +obtain a mastery of all that the best minds of the past have given us in +reference to the object of his effort. For example: a person who has +devoted himself exclusively to one line of ideas will be greatly +benefited by reading a short course of books that will give him a +glimpse of each of the great fields of thought. One who is lacking in +humor should get a good list of fine humorous works and devote himself +to them, and to the society of fun-loving people, until he can see and +enjoy a good joke as keenly as they do,--not only to quicken his +perception of humor, but that the organ of fun (the gland that secretes +wit and humor) may be roused into normal activity. Again, if a gentleman +finds that he does not appreciate Shakspeare, Dante, Irving, etc., as he +sees or is told that literary people do; if he prefers his newspaper to +the English classics as a source of pleasure and profit; if he sees +little difference between Tennyson and Tupper, enjoys Bill Nye as much +or more than Holmes, and is able to compare the verses he writes to his +sweetheart with Milton without any very distinct feeling except perhaps +a disgust for Milton,--if any of these things are true, he has need of a +course to develop a literary taste. + +In the three tables following will be found a suggestion of several +important short courses, and others will be found on page 123 _et seq._ + + + + +TABLE II. + + +A short special course, to gather _ideas_ of practical importance to +every life, and to make a beginning in the gaining of that _breadth of +mind_ which is of such vital value by reason of its influence on morals +and the aid it gives in the attainment of truth. + +1. Physiology and Hygiene. Read and digest the best books. See Table I. +Col. 3. + +2. "Our Country," by Strong; the Constitution of the United States; the +Declaration of Independence, and Washington's Farewell. (All m. R. D.) + +3. Mill's Logic; at any rate, the Canons of Induction and the Chapter on +Fallacies, (m. R. D. C. G.) + +4. Smiles's "Self-Help." (m. R. D.) + +5. Wood's books on Natural History; especially his anecdotes of animals, +and evidences of mind, etc., in animals (e. R. D.). Proctor's books on +Astronomy, "Other Worlds than Ours," etc. (e. R. G.). Lubbock's +"Primitive Condition of Man" (m. R.). Dawson's "Chain of Life" (m. R.). +In some good brief way, as by using the "Encyclopaedia Britannica," read +_about_ Copernicus, Galileo, Kepler, Newton, Darwin, Herschel, Lyell, +Harvey, and Torricelli. + +6. Spencer's "First Principles." (d. R. D. G.) + +7. Green's "Short History of the English People" (m. R. D. G.). +Bancroft's "History of the United States" (m. R. D. G). Guizot's +"History of Civilization" (m. R. D. G.). + +8. Max Mueller's philological works, or some of them (m. R.). Taylor's +"Words and Places" (m. R.). + +9. In some public library, if the books are not accessible elsewhere, +get into your hands the books named in Columns 12 and 13 of Table I., +and not already spoken of in this table, and glance through each, +reading a little here and there to make a rapid survey of the ground, +acquire some idea of it, and note the places where it may seem to you +worth while to dig for gold. + + + + +TABLE III. + + +A short course of the choicest selections from the whole field of +general literature. It may easily be read through in a year, and will +form a taste and provide a standard that will enable the reader ever +after to judge for himself of the quality and value of whatever books +may come before the senate of his soul to ask for an appropriation of +his time in their behalf. + +Very few books are requisite for this course, but it will awaken a +desire that will demand a library of standard literature. No. 1, No. 2, +etc., refer to the numbers of the "100 Choice Selections." Monroe's +"Sixth Reader" and Palgrave's "Golden Treasury" are also referred to, +because they contain a great number of these gems, and are books likely +to be in the possession of the reader. + +For the meaning of the other abbreviations, see the last section of the +Introductory Remarks. + + + GROUP I.--_Poetry._ + + [*] in headings denotes "Degree of Difficulty." + + +-------------------------------------+-----+----------+---------------+ + | | [*] | Manner | | + | | | of | Where found. | + | | | Reading. | | + +-------------------------------------+-----+----------+---------------+ + | 1. SHAKSPEARE. | | | | + | | | | | + | Hamlet, especially noting Hamlet's | | | Shakspeare's | + | conversations with the Ghost, | | | Plays are | + | with his mother and Ophelia, his | | | published | + | advice to the players, his | | | separately, | + | soliloquy, and his discourse on | d. | R.D.C.G. | and also | + | the nobleness of man | | | together, | + | Merchant of Venice, especially | | | Richard Grant | + | noting the scene in court, and | | | White's | + | the parts relating to Portia | e. | R.D.C.G. | edition being | + | Julius Caesar, especially noting the | | | the best. | + | speeches of Brutus and Antony, | | | | + | and the quarrel of Brutus and | m. | R.D.C.G. | | + | Cassius | | | | + | Taming of the Shrew | e. | R.G. | | + | Henry the Eighth | m. | R.D. | | + | Henry the Fourth, read for the wit | | | | + | of Falstaff | m. | R.D. | | + | Henry the Fifth, noting especially | | | | + | the wooing | m. | R.D. | | + | Coriolanus, noting especially the | | | | + | grand fire and force and | | | | + | frankness of Coriolanus | m. | R.D.C.G. | | + | Sonnets in Palgrave's Golden | | | | + | Treasury, Nos. 3, 6, 11, 12, 13, | | | | + | 14, 18, 36, 46 | m. | R.D.C. | | + | | | | | + | 2. MILTON. | | | | + | | | | | + | The Opening of the Gates of Hell, | | | | + | one of the sublimest conceptions | | | | + | in literature. It is in Paradise | | | | + | Lost, about six pages from the | | | | + | end of Book II. Read sixty lines | | | | + | beginning, "Thus saying, from her | | | | + | side the fatal key, Sad | | | | + | instrument of all our woe" | d. | R.D.G. | Milton's | + | Satan's Throne, ten lines at the | | | Poems. | + | beginning of Book II. | m. | R.D.G. | | + | Opening of Paradise Lost, 26 lines | | | | + | at the beginning of Book I. | m. | R.D.G. | | + | The Angels uprooting the Mountains | | | | + | and hurling them on the Rebels. | | | | + | Fifty lines beginning about the | | | | + | 640th line of Book VI., "So they | | | | + | in pleasant vein," etc. | m. | R.D.G. | | + | "Hail, Holy Light," fifty-five | | | | + | lines at the beginning of Book | m. | R.D.G. | | + | III. | | | | + | Comus, a masque, and one of the | | | | + | masterpieces of English | d. | R.D.C.G. | Milton's | + | literature | | | Poems. | + | L' Allegro, a short poem on mirth | d. | R.D.C.G. | The last | + | Il Penseroso, a short poem | | | three of this | + | on melancholy | d. | R.D.C.G. | list are in | + | Lycidas, a celebrated elegy | d. | R.G. | Palgrave. | + | | | | | + | 3. HOMER. | | | | + | | | | | + | | | | Homer has had | + | | | | many | + | Pope's translation. At least the | | | translators, | + | first book of the Iliad. A | | | Pope, Derby, | + | simple, clear story of battles | | | Worsley, | + | and quarrels, and counsels, | | | Chapman, | + | charming in its sublimity, | | | Flaxman, | + | pathos, vigor, and naturalness. | | | Lang, Bryant, | + | The world's greatest epic | e. | R.D.C.G. | etc. | + | | | | | + | 4. AESCHYLUS. | | | | + | | | | Potter, | + | | | | Morshead, | + | Prometheus Bound, the sublimest of | | | Swanwick, | + | the sublime. Be sure to reach and | | | Milman, and | + | grasp the grand picture of the | | | Browning have | + | human race and its troubles which | | | translated | + | underlies this most magnificent | | | AEschylus. The | + | poem | d. | R.D.C.G. | first two are | + | Agamemnon, the grandest tragedy | | | the best. | + | in the world | m. | R.D.G. | Flaxman's | + | | | | designs add | + | | | | much. | + | | | | | + | 5. DANTE. | | | | + | | | | | + | Divine Comedy. Read Farrar's little | | | Translated by | + | Life of Dante (John Alden, | | | Longfellow, | + | N. Y.), and then take the Comedy | | | Carey, John | + | and read the thirty-third canto, | | | Carlyle, | + | the portions relating to the | | | Butler, and | + | Hells of Incontinence and of | | | Dean Church. | + | Fraud, thepicture of Satan, and | | | | + | the whole of the Purgatorio | d. | R.D.G. | | + | | | | | + | 6. SPENSER. | | | | + | | | | | + | Faerie Queen, noting specially the | | | | + | first book and the book of | | | | + | Britomart, endeavoring to grasp | | | | + | and apply to your own life the | | | | + | truths that underlie the rich and | | | | + | beautiful imagery | d. | R.D.G. | Spenser's | + | Hymn in Honor of his own Wedding | d. | R.D.G. | Poems. The | + | Fable of the Oak and the Briar, in | | | Calendar is | + | Shepherd's Calendar, February | m. | R. | published | + | | | | separately. | + | | | | | + | 7. SCOTT. | | | | + | | | | | + | Lady of the Lake | e. | R. | Scott's Poems,| + | Marmion | e. | R. | or separate. | + +-------------------------------------+-----+----------+---------------+ + + + +---------------------------------------------------------+ + | Transcriber's note: Numbers 8 and 9 are missing in the | + | original. | + +---------------------------------------------------------+ + + + GROUP II.--_Short Poetical Selections._ + + +-------------------------------------+-----+----------+---------------+ + | | | Manner | | + | | [*] | of | Where found. | + | | | Reading. | | + +-------------------------------------+-----+----------+---------------+ + | 10. PAYNE. | | | | + | Home, Sweet Home | e. | C. | | + | | | | | + | LONGFELLOW. | | | | + | Psalm of Life. | | R.D.C. | Longfellow's | + | Paul Revere's Ride | | | Poems. | + | The Building of the Ship | e. | R. | | + | (These may be found in most | | | | + | of the reading-books.) | e. | | | + | Suspiria, and the close of | | | | + | Morituri Salutamus | m. | R.D. | | + | | | | | + | HOLMES. | | | | + | Nautilus; the last stanza | | | Autocrat of | + | commit | m. | R.D. | the | + | The Stars and Flowers, a | | | Breakfast- | + | lovely little poem,--the | | | Table. | + | first verses in the | | | | + | Autocrat of the | | | | + | Breakfast-Table | e. | R.D. | | + | | | | | + | HUNT. | | | | + | Abou Ben Adhem | e. | R.D. | Monroe. | + | | | | | + | CAREW. | | | | + | The True Beauty | e. | R.D. | Palgrave, 87. | + | | | | | + | GRAY. | | | | + | Elegy in a Country Churchyard | m. | R.D.C. | " 147. | + | Hymn to Adversity | m. | R.D. | " 159. | + | Progress of Poesy | m. | R.D. | " 140. | + | The Bard | m. | R.D. | " 123. | + | | | | | + | SAXE. | | | | + | The Blind Men and the Elephant| e. | R.D. | No. 4. | + | | | | | + | JACKSON. | | | Poems of | + | The Release | m. | R.D. | H. H. Jackson.| + | | | | | + | 11. HOOD. | | | | + | Bridge of Sighs | m. | R.D. | Palgrave, 231.| + | Song of the Shirt | e. | R.D. | No. 2. | + | | | | | + | BURNS. | | | | + | Ye Banks and Braes o' Bonnie | | | | + | Doon | e. | R.D. | Palgrave, 139.| + | To a Field-mouse | e. | R.D. | " 144.| + | Mary Morrison | e. | R.D. | " 148.| + | Bonnie Lesley | e. | R.D. | " 149.| + | Jean | e. | R.D. | " 155.| + | John Anderson | e. | R.D. | " 156.| + | A Man's a Man for a' that | e. | R.D. | Burns's Poems.| + | Auld Lang Syne | e. | R.D. | | + | Robert Bruce's Address to his | | | | + | Army | e. | R.D. | | + | | | | | + | MOORE. | | | | + | The Light of other Days | e. | R.D. | Palgrave, 225.| + | Come rest in this Bosom | e. | R.D. | Irish Melodies| + | At the Mid Hour of Night | e. | R.D. | Irish Melodies| + | Those Evening Bells | e. | R.D. | Monroe. | + | | | | | + | COLERIDGE. | | | | + | Rime of the Ancient Mariner | d. | R.D.G. | Coleridge's | + | Kubla Khan; a Picture of the | | | Poems. | + | Stream of Life | d. | R.D.G. | | + | Vale of Chamouni | e. | R. | Monroe. | + | | | | | + | WHITTIER. | | | | + | The Farmer's Wooing, in Among | | | | + | the Hills | m. | R.D.C. | Whittier's | + | The Harp at Nature's Advent | | | Poems. | + | Strung, etc., in Tent on | | | | + | the Beach | m. | R.D.C. | | + | Snow Bound, Centennial Hymn | | | | + | (No. 13), and at least | | | | + | glance athis Voices of | | | | + | Freedom | m. | R.D.C. | | + | Barefoot Boy | e. | R.D.C. | | + | | | | | + | TENNYSON. | | | | + | "Break, break, break, on thy | | | Tennyson's | + | cold gray Stones, O Sea" | m. | R.D.C. | Poems. | + | "Ring out, wild Bells," in | | | | + | the In Memoriam | m. | R.D.C. | | + | Bugle Song, in The Princess | m. | R.D.C. | No. 2. | + | Charge of the Light Brigade | e. | R.D.C. | No. 2. | + | The Brook | e. | R.D.C. | Monroe. | + | | | | | + | CHAUCER. | | | | + | The Clerk's Tale, or the | | | | + | Story of Grisilde, in the | | | Chaucer's | + | Canterbury Tales | m. | R. | Poems. | + | | | | | + | 12. KEY. | | | | + | The Star-Spangled Banner | e. | C. | No. 4. | + | | | | | + | DRAKE. | | | | + | The American Flag | e. | R. | No. 1. | + | | | | | + | SMITH. | | | | + | "My Country, 'tis of thee" | e. | C. | | + | | | | | + | BOKER. | | | | + | The Black Regiment | e. | R. | No. 1. | + | | | | | + | CAMPBELL, | | | | + | full of fire | | | | + | and martial music. | | | | + | Ye Mariners of England | m. | R.D.C. | Palgrave, 206.| + | Battle of the Baltic | m. | R.C. | " 207.| + | Soldier's Dream | m. | R.C. | " 267.| + | Hohenlinden | m. | R.C. | " 215.| + | Lord Ullin's Daughter | m. | R.C. | " 181.| + | Love's Beginning | m. | R.C. | " 183.| + | Ode to Winter | m. | R.C. | " 256.| + | | | | | + | THOMSON. | | | | + | Rule Britannia | m. | R.C. | Palgrave, 122.| + | | | | | + | LOWELL. | | | | + | The Crisis | d. | R.D.C.G. | Lowell's | + | Harvard Commemoration Ode | d. | R.D.C.G. | Poems. | + | The Fountain | e. | R.D.C.G. | | + | | | | | + | HALLECK. | | | | + | Marco Bozzaris | e. | R. | No. 1. | + | | | | | + | MACAULAY. | | | | + | Lays of Ancient Rome, | | | | + | especially Horatius, and | e. | R.D. | No. 2. | + | Virginia, also the Battle of | | | | + | Ivry | m. | R.D. | No. 5. | + | | | | | + | O'HARA. | | | | + | The Bivouac of the Dead | | | | + | | | | | + | MITFORD. | | | | + | Rienzi's Address | m. | R. | No. 1. | + | | | | | + | CROLY. | | | | + | Belshazzar | m. | R. | No. 4. | + | | | | | + | 13. SHELLEY. | | | Shelley's | + | | | | Poems. | + | Ode to the West Wind | m. | R.D.C. | Palgrave, 275.| + | Ode to a Skylark | m. | R.D.C. | " 241.| + | To a Lady with a Guitar | m. | R.D.C. | " 252.| + | Italy | m. | R.D.C. | " 274.| + | Naples | m. | R.D.C. | " 227.| + | The Poet's Dream | d. | R.D.C. | " 277.| + | The Cloud, Sensitive Plant, | | | | + | etc. | m. | R.D.C. | | + | | | | | + | BYRON. | | | Byron's Poems.| + | All for Love | m. | R.D. | Palgrave, 169.| + | Beauty | m. | R.D. | " 171.| + | Apostrophe to the Ocean, and | | | | + | The Eve of Waterloo | m. | R.D.C. | Monroe. | + | The Field of Waterloo | m. | R.D.C. | No. 1. | + | (These are among the most | | | | + | magnificent poems in any | | | | + | language.) | | | | + | | | | | + | BRYANT. | | | | + | Thanatopsis | m. | R.C.G. | No. 1. | + | | | | | + | PRENTICE. | | | | + | The Closing Year | m. | R.C.G. | No. 1. | + | | | | | + | POE. | | | | + | The Bells; The Raven | m. | R.C.G. | No. 1. | + | Annabel Lee | m. | R. | No. 5. | + | | | | | + | KEATS. | | | Keats's Poems.| + | The Star | m. | R. | Palgrave, 198.| + | Ode to a Nightingale | m. | R. | " 244.| + | Ode to Autumn | m. | R. | " 255.| + | Ode on the Poets | m. | R. | " 167.| + | | | | | + | WORDSWORTH. | | | | + | A Beautiful Woman | e. | R.C. | Palgrave, 174.| + | The Reaper | m. | R. | " 250.| + | Simon Lee | m. | R. | " 219.| + | Intimations of Immortality | | | " 367.| + | | | | | + | HERBERT. | | | | + | Gifts of God | e. | R.D.C. | " 74.| + | | | | | + | READ. | | | | + | Drifting | m. | R.D.C. | No. 1. | + | Sheridan's Ride | e. | R. | " | + | | | | | + | FLETCHER. | | | | + | Melancholy | e. | R. | Palgrave, 104.| + | | | | | + | POPE. | | | | + | Rape of the Lock | m. | R. | Pope's Poems. | + | | | | | + | 14. INGELOW. | | | | + | The Brides of Enderby | m. | R. | No. 2. | + | High Tide, etc. | | | | + | | | | | + | COWPER. | | | | + | Loss of the Royal George | e. | R. | Palgrave, 129.| + | Solitude of Selkirk | m. | R. | " 160.| + | | | | | + | DRYDEN. | | | | + | Alexander's Feast | d. | R. | " 116.| + | | | | | + | COLLINS. | | | | + | The Passions | d. | R. | " 141.| + | | | | | + | JONSON. | | | | + | Hymn to Diana | m. | R. | " 78.| + | | | | | + | ADDISON. | | | | + | Cato's Soliloquy | m. | R. | No. 1. | + | | | | | + | LODGE. | | | | + | Rosaline | m. | R. | Palgrave, 16.| + | | | | | + | HERRICK. | | | | + | Counsel to Girls | e. | R. | " 82.| + | The Poetry of Dress | e. | R. | " 92.| + | | | | | + | 15. GOETHE. | | | | + | Raphael Chorus,--a wonderful | | | | + | chorus of three stanzas in | | | | + | Faust. Read Shelley's | | | | + | translations, both literal | | | | + | and free, in his Fragments | m. | R.C.G. | Shelley's | + | | | | Poems. | + | OMAR KHAYYAM. | | | | + | Rubaiyat, especially the | | | | + | "moving shadow-shape" and the | | | | + | "phantom caravan" stanzas, | | | | + | for their magnificent imagery | m. | R.C.G. | Fitzgerald's | + | | | | Translation. | + | EURIPIDES. | | | | + | Chorus in Medea--Campbell's | | | | + | translation | m. | R.C.G. | Campbell's | + | | | | Poems. | + | | | | | + | CALDERON. | | | | + | Read Shelley's Fragments | m. | R.C.G. | Shelley's | + | | | | Poems. | + | SCHILLER. | | | Schiller's | + | The Battle | m. | R. | Poems. No. 4. | + | The Song of the Bell | m. | R. | Publ. | + | | | | separately. | + | MOLIERE. | | | | + | Tartuffe, or The Hypocrite | e. | R.D. | Moliere's | + | Le Misanthrope, or The | | | Plays. | + | Man-Hater | e. | R.D. | | + +-------------------------------------+-----+----------+---------------+ + + GROUP III.--_Short Prose Selections._ + + +-------------------------------------+-----+----------+---------------+ + | | | Manner | | + | | [*] | of | Where found. | + | | | Reading. | | + +-------------------------------------+-----+----------+---------------+ + | | | | | + | 16. LINCOLN. | | | | + | Gettysburg Oration. Famous | | | | + | for its calm, clear, simple | | | | + | beauty, breadth, and power | m. | R.C. | No. 2. | + | | | | | + | IRVING | | | | + | our greatest | | | | + | master of style; | | | | + | his prose is poetry. | | | | + | Rip Van Winkle | e. | R.D.C. | Sketch Book. | + | The Spectre Bridegroom | e. | R.D.C. | " " | + | The Art of Book-Making | e. | R.D.C. | " " | + | The Legend of Sleepy Hollow | e. | R.D.C. | " " | + | | | | | + | 17. BACON. | | | | + | Essay on Studies. Note the | | | | + | clearness and completeness | | | | + | of Bacon, and his tremendous| | | | + | condensation of thought | m. | R.D.C. | Bacon's | + | | | | Essays. | + | CARLYLE. | | | | + | Apostrophe to Columbus, p. | | | | + | 193 of Past and Present,-- | | | | + | Carlyle's finest passage | m. | R.D.C. | | + | Await the Issue | m. | R.D.C. | Monroe. | + | The account of the | | | | + | conversational powers of | | | | + | Coleridge, given in | | | | + | Carlyle's Life of Sterling | e. | R.D.C. | | + | | | | | + | 18. WEBSTER. | | | | + | Liberty and Union,--a | | | | + | selection from the answer to| | | | + | Hayne in the United States | | | | + | Senate, on the question of | | | | + | the power of a State to | | | | + | nullify the acts of | | | | + | Congress, and to withdraw | | | | + | from the Union,--the | | | | + | greatest of American | | | | + | orations, and worthy to | | | | + | rank side by side with the | | | | + | world's best | m. | R.D.C. | No. 1. | + | | | | | + | PHILLIPS. | | | | + | Comparison of Toussaint | | | | + | L'Ouverture with Napoleon, | | | Phillips's | + | in his oration on Toussaint | m. | R.D.C. | Speeches. | + | | | | | + | 19. EVERETT. | | | | + | Discoveries of Galileo | m. | R. | No. 1. | + | | | | | + | BURRITT. | | | | + | One Niche the Highest | e. | R. | No. 7. | + | | | | | + | 20. HUGO. | | | | + | The Monster Cannon, one of | | | | + | the great Frenchman's master| | | | + | strokes,--a very thrilling | | | | + | scene, splendidly painted | e. | R. | No. 11. | + | Rome and Carthage | m. | R. | No. 6. | + | | | | | + | DE QUINCEY. | | | | + | Noble Revenge | m. | R. | No. 7. | + | | | | | + | 21. POE. | | | | + | Murders in the Rue Morgue | d. | R. | Little | + | | | | Classics. | + | INGERSOLL. | | | | + | Oration at the funeral of his | | | Ingersoll's | + | brother | m. | R. | Prose Poems. | + | | | | | + | 22. SCOTT. | | | | + | Thirty-sixth chapter of the | | | | + | Heart of Midlothian | m. | R. | | + | | | | | + | CURTIS. | | | | + | Nations and Humanity | m. | R. | No. 11. | + | | | | | + | 23. TAYLOR. | | | | + | The sections on Temperance | | | | + | and Chastity in the Holy | | | | + | Living and Dying | m. | R.D. | | + | | | | | + | BROOKS. | | | | + | Pamphlet on Tolerance,--the | | | | + | best book in the world on a | | | | + | most vital subject | m. | R.D. | | + +-------------------------------------+-----+----------+---------------+ + + GROUP IV.--_Wit and Humor_--_Short List._ + + +-------------------------------------+-----+----------+---------------+ + | | | Manner | | + | | [*] | of | Where found. | + | | | Reading. | | + +-------------------------------------+-----+----------+---------------+ + | | | | | + | 24. LOWELL. | | | | + | Biglow Papers | e. | R.D. | Lowell's | + | Fable for Critics | d. | R.D. | Poems. | + | The Courtin' | e. | R.D. | | + | | | | | + | HOLMES. | | | | + | Autocrat of the | | | | + | Breakfast-Table | m. | R.D. | | + | | | | | + | 25. CARLETON. | | | | + | Farm Ballads, especially the | | | | + | Visit of the School | | | | + | Committee, and The Rivals | e. | S. | | + | | | | | + | STOWE. | | | | + | Laughin' in Meetin' | e. | S. | No. 11. | + | | | | | + | TWAIN. | | | | + | On New England Weather | e. | S. | No. 13. | + | European Guides, and | | | Innocents | + | Turkish Baths | e. | S. | Abroad. | + | | | | | + | 26. DICKENS. | | | | + | Pickwick Papers | e. | S. | | + | | | | | + | JAMES DE MILLE. | | | Cumnock's | + | A Senator Entangled | e. | S. | Choice | + | | | | Readings. | + | LOVER. | | | | + | The Gridiron | e. | S. | " " | + | | | | | + | WHATELY. | | | | + | Historic Doubts regarding | | | Publ. | + | Napoleon | e. | S. | separately. | + +-------------------------------------+-----+----------+---------------+ + + + + +TABLE IV. + + +SUPPLEMENTARY GENERAL READING. + +In addition to the short courses set forth in Tables II. and III., at +the same time, if the reader has a sufficiency of spare hours, but +always in subordination to the above courses, it is recommended that +attention be given to the following books:-- + +Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress. (e. R. D.) + +Defoe's Robinson Crusoe. (e. S.) + +Dickens' Christmas Carol (m. R. D.); Cricket on the Hearth. (m. R. D.) + +Ruskin's Crown of Wild Olive (m. R. D.); Ethics of the Dust (m. R. D.); +Sesame and Lilies. (m. R. D.) + +Emerson's Essays (d. R. D. C.); especially those on Manners, Gifts, +Love, Friendship, The Poet, and on Representative Men. + +Demosthenes on the Crown. (m. R. D. C. G.) + +Burke's Warren Hastings Oration. (m. R. D. C. G.) + +Phillips' Speeches on Lovejoy and Garrison. (m. R. D. C. G.) + +La Fontaine's Fables. (m. R. D.) + +Short Biographies of the World's Hundred Greatest Men. (m. R. D.) + +Marshall's Life of Washington. (m. R. D. G.) + +Carlyle's Cromwell. (m. R. D. G.) + +Tennyson's In Memoriam. (d. R. D. C.) + +Byron's Childe Harold. (m. R. D. C.) + +Burns' Cotter's Saturday Night. (m. R. D.) + +Keats' Endymion. (d. R. D. C.) + +Shelley's Prometheus Unbound. (d. R. D. C. G.) + +Campbell's Pleasures of Hope. (m. R. D. C.) + +Goldsmith's Deserted Village. (m. R. D. C.) + +Pope's Essay on Man. (m. R. D. C.) + +Thomson's Seasons. (m. R. D. C.) + + + + +CHILDREN. + + +So far we have spoken of reading for grown people. Now we must deal with +the reading of young folks,--a subject of the utmost importance. For to +give a child good habits of reading, to make him like to read and master +strong, pure books,--books filled with wisdom and beauty,--and equally +eager to shun bad books, is to do for him and the world a service of the +highest possible character; and to neglect the right care of a child in +this matter is to do him an injury far greater than to mutilate his face +or cut off his arm. + + + + +WHAT TO GIVE THE CHILDREN. + + +Parents, teachers, and others interested in the welfare of young people +have not only to solve the problem of selecting books for their own +nourishment, but also the more difficult problem of providing the young +folks with appropriate literary food. As literature may be made one of +the most powerful influences in the development of a child, the greatest +care should be taken to make the influence true, pure, and tender, and +give it in every respect the highest possible character, which requires +as much care to see that bad books do not come into the child's +possession and use, as to see that good books do. The ability to read +adds to life a wonderful power, but it is a power for evil as well as +good. As Lowell says, "It is the key which admits us to the whole world +of thought and fancy and imagination,--to the company of saint and sage, +of the wisest and wittiest at their wisest and wittiest moments. It +enables us to see with the keenest eyes, hear with the finest ears, and +listen to the sweetest voices of all time. More than that, it +annihilates time and space for us,--reviving without a miracle the Age +of Wonder, and endowing us with the shoes of swiftness and the cap of +darkness." Yes, but it opens our minds to the thoughts of the vile as +well as to those of the virtuous; it unlocks the prisons and haunts of +vice as well as the school and the church; it drags us through the sewer +as well as gives us admission to the palace; it feeds us on filth as +well as the finest food; it pours upon our souls the deepest degradation +as well as the spirit of divinity. Parents will do well to keep from +their children such books as Richardson's "Pamela" and "Clarissa +Harlowe;" Fielding's "Joseph Andrews," "Jonathan Wild," and "Tom Jones;" +Smollett's "Humphrey Clinker," "Peregrine Pickle," and "Adventures of an +Atom;" Sterne's "Tristram Shandy;" Swift's "Gulliver," and their modern +relatives. Many of these coarse pictures of depravity and microscopic +analyses of filth I cannot read without feeling insulted by their +vulgarity, as I do when some one tells an indecent story in my presence. +Whatever the power or wit of a book, if its motive is not high and its +expression lofty, it should not come into contact with any life, at +least until its character is fixed and hardened in the mould of virtue +beyond the period of plasticity that might receive the imprint of the +badness in the book. There are plenty of splendid books that are pure +and ennobling as well as strong and humorous,--more of them than any one +person can ever read,--so that there is no necessity of contact with +imperfect literature. If a boy comes into possession of a book that he +would not like to read aloud to his mother or sister, he has something +that is not good for him to read,--something that is not altogether the +very best for anybody to read. Some liberty of choice, however, ought to +be allowed the children. It will add much to the vigor and enthusiasm of +a boy's reading if, instead of prescribing the precise volume he is to +have at each step, he is permitted to make his own selection from a list +of three or four chosen by the person who is guiding him. What these +three or four should be, is the problem. I cannot agree with Lowell, +when he says that young people ought to "confine themselves to the +supreme books in whatever literature, or, still better, choose some one +great author and make themselves thoroughly familiar with him." It is +possible to know something of people in general about me without +neglecting my best friends. It is possible to enjoy the society of +Shakspeare, Goethe, AEschylus, Dante, Homer, Plato, Spencer, Scott, +Eliot, Marcus Aurelius, and Irving, without remaining in ignorance of +the power and beauty to be found in Chaucer, Spenser, Milton, Byron, +Burns, Goldsmith, Keats, Shelley, Tennyson, Longfellow, Whittier, +Holmes, and Lowell, Ingersoll, Omar, Arnold, Brooks, and Robertson, +Curtis, Aldrich, Warner, Jewett, Burroughs, Bulwer, Tourgee, Hearn, +Kingsley, MacDonald, Hawthorne, Dickens, Thackeray, Carlyle, Ruskin, +Hugo, Bronte, Sienkiewicz, and a host of others. Scarcely a day passes +that I do not spend a little time with Shakspeare, Goethe, AEschylus, +Spencer, and Irving; but I should be sorry to have any one of those I +have named beyond call at any time. There are parts of Holmes, Lowell, +Brooks, Emerson, Omar, Arnold, Tourgee, and Hearn that are as dear to me +as any passages of equal size in Goethe or Irving. So it does not seem +best to me to _confine_ the attention to the supreme books; a just +_proportion_ is the true rule. Let the supreme books have the supreme +attention, absorb them, print them on the brain, carry them about in the +heart, but give a due share of time to other books. I like the +suggestion of Marietta Holley: "I would feed children with little sweet +crumbs of the best of books, and teach them that a whole rich feast +awaited them in the full pages," only taking care in each instance that +the crumb is well rounded, the picture not torn or distorted. There are +paragraphs and pages in many works of the second rank that are equal to +almost anything in the supreme books, and superior to much the latter +contain. These passages should be sought and cherished; and the work of +condensing the thought and beauty of literature--making a sort of +literary prayer-book--is an undertaking that ought not to be much longer +delayed. Until it is done, however, there is no way but to read widely, +adapting the speed and care to the value of the volume. Some things may +be best read by deputy, as Mark Twain climbed the Alps by agent; +newspapers, for example, and many of the novels that flame up like a +haystack on fire, and fade like a meteor in its fall, striking the earth +never to rise again. The time that many a young man spends upon +newspapers would be sufficient to make him familiar with a dozen +undying books every year. Newspapers are not to be despised, but they +should not be allowed to crowd out more important things. I keep track +of the progress of events by reading the "Outlook" in the "Christian +Union" every week, and glancing at the head-lines of the "Herald" or +"Journal," reading a little of anything specially important, or getting +an abstract from a friend who always reads the paper. A good way to +economize time is for a number of friends to take the same paper, the +first page being allotted to one, the second to another, and so on, each +vocally informing the others of the substance of his page. If time +cannot be found for both the newspaper and the classic, the former, not +the latter, should receive the neglect. + +This matter of the use of time is one concerning which parents should +strive to give their children good habits from the first. If you teach a +child to economize time, and fill him with a love of good books, you +ensure him an education far beyond anything he can get in the +university,--an education that will cease only with his life. The +creation of a habit of industrious study of books that will improve the +character, develop the powers, and store the mind with force and +beauty,--that is the great object. + +A good example is the best teacher. It is well for parents to keep close +to the child until he grows old enough to learn how to determine for +himself what he should read (which usually is not before fifteen or +twenty, and in many cases never); for children, and grown folks too for +that matter, crave intellectual as much as they do physical +companionship. + +The methods of guiding the young in the paths of literature fall +naturally into two groups,--the first being adapted to childhood not yet +arrived at the power of reading alone, the second adapted to later +years. There is no sharp line of division or exclusion, but only a +general separation; for the methods peculiarly appropriate to each +period apply to some extent in the other. Some children are able to read +weighty books at three or four years of age, but most boys and girls +have to plod along till they are eight or ten before they can read much +alone. I will consider the periods of child life I have referred to, +each by itself. + +=The Age of Stories=.--It is not necessary or proper to wait until a +child can read, before introducing it to the best literature. Most of +the books written for children have no permanent value, and most of the +reading books used in primary and grammar schools contain little or no +genuine literature, and what they do contain is in fragments. Portions +of good books are useful, if the story of each part is complete, but +children do not like the middle of a story without the beginning and +end; they have the sense of entirety, and it should be satisfied. And it +is not difficult to do this. Literature affords a multitude of beautiful +stories of exceeding interest to children, and of permanent +attractiveness through all the after years of their lives. Such +literature is as available, as a means of teaching the art of reading, +as is the trash in dreary droning over which the precious years of +childhood are spent in our public schools. The development of the child +mind follows the same course as the development of the mind of the race. +The little boy loves the wonderful and the strong, and nearly everything +is wonderful to him except himself. Living things especially interest +him. Every child is a born naturalist; his heart turns to birds and +beasts, flowers and stars. He is hungry for stories of animals, giants, +fairies, etc. Myths and fairy tales are his natural food. His power of +absorbing and retaining them is marvellous. One evening a few weeks ago +a little boy who is as yet scarcely able to read words of two and three +letters asked me for a story. I made an agreement with him that whatever +I told him, he should afterward repeat to me, and then gave him the +story of the elephant who squirted muddy water over the cruel tailor +that pricked his trunk with a needle. No sooner had I finished than he +threw his arms around my neck and begged for another story. I told him +eight in rapid succession, some of them occupying three or four minutes, +and then asked him to tell me about the elephants, dogs, bears, etc., +that I had spoken of. He recited every story with astonishing accuracy +and readiness, and apparently without effort, and would have been ready +for eight more bits of Wood or Andersen, if his bedtime had not +intervened. If parents would take as much pains to satisfy the mind +hunger of their children as they do to fulfil their physical wants, and +give them the best literature as well as the best beef and potatoes, the +boys and girls would have digested the greater part of mythology, +natural science, and the best fiction by the time they are able to read. +Children should be fed with the literature that represents the childhood +of the race. Out of that literature has grown all literature. Give a +child the contents of the great books of the dawn, and you give him the +best foundation for subsequent literary growth, and in after life he +will be able to follow the intricate interweaving of the old threads +throughout all modern thought. He has an immense affinity for those old +books, for they are full of music and picturesqueness, teeming with +vigorous life, bursting with the strange and wonderful. In the following +list parents and teachers will find abundant materials for the culture +of the little ones, either by reading aloud to them, or still better by +telling them the substance of what they have gathered by their own +reading of these famous stories and ditties. Pictures are always of the +utmost value in connection with books and stories, as they impart a +vividness of conception that words alone are powerless to produce. One +plea for sincerity I must make,--truth and frankness from the cradle to +the grave. Do not delude the children. Do not persuade them that a fairy +tale is history. I have a sad memory of my disgust and loss of +confidence in human probity when I discovered the mythical character of +Kriss Kringle, and I believe many children are needlessly shocked in +this way. + + _List of Materials for Story-telling and for the Instruction + and Amusement of Childhood._ + + "Mother Goose," "Jack and the Bean-Stalk," "Jack the + Giant-Killer," "Three Bears," "Red Riding-Hood," "The Ark," + "Hop o' my Thumb," "Puss in Boots," "Samson," "Ugly Duckling," + "The Horse of Troy" (Virgil), "Daniel in the Lion's Den," etc. + + Andersen's "Fairy Tales." Delightful to all children. + + Grimm's "Fairy Tales." + + De Garmo's "Fairy Tales." + + Craik's "Adventures of a Brownie." + + "Parents' Assistant," by Maria Edgeworth, recommended by George + William Curtis, Mary Mapes Dodge, Charles Dudley Warner, etc. + + "Zigzag Journeys," a series of twelve books, written by + Hezekiah Butterworth, one of the editors of the "Youth's + Companion." As might be supposed, they are among the very best + and most enduringly popular books ever written for young + people. + + Wood's books of Anecdotes about Animals, and many other works + of similar character, that may be obtained from the American + Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, 19 Milk + Street, Boston. The literature distributed by this Society is + filled with the spirit of love and tenderness for all living + things, and is one of the best influences that can come into a + child's life. + + Mary Treat's "Home Book of Nature." One of the best books of + science for young people. + + Bulfinch's "Age of Fable." A book that is exhaustive of Greek + and Roman mythology, but meant for grown folks. + + Bulfinch's "Age of Chivalry." + + Fiske's "Myths and Myth Makers." Brief, deep, and suggestive. + + Hawthorne's "Wonder Book" and "Tanglewood Tales." Books that no + house containing children should lack. + + Cox's "Tales of Ancient Greece." + + Baldwin's "Stories of the Golden Age." + + Forestier's "Echoes from Mist Land." An interesting study of + the Nibelungenlied. + + Lucian's "Dialogues of the Gods." Written to ridicule ancient + superstitions. + + Curtin's "Folk Lore of Ireland." + + Stories of Greek Heroes, Kingsley. + + Stories from Bryant's Odyssey. + + Stories from Church's "Story of the Iliad." + + Stories from Church's "Story of the AEneid." + + Stories from Herodotus, Church. + + Stories from the Greek Tragedians, Church. + + Stories of Charlemagne, Hanson. + + Stories from "Arabian Nights," Bulfinch. + + Stories from "Munchausen," and Maundeville. + + Stories from Chaucer, especially "Griselda." (From Chaucer, or + from Mrs. Haweis' book.) + + Stories told to a Child, by Jean Ingelow. + + Stories from the "Morte D'Arthur," Malory or Lanier. + + Stories from Lanier's "Froissart." + + Stories from Shakspeare. + + Stories of the Revolution, Riedesel. + + Stories from American and English History about the Magna + Charta, Henry VIII., Queen Elizabeth, Cromwell, Pitt, + Gladstone, Boston Tea Party, Declaration of Independence, + Washington, Rebellion, Lincoln, etc. + + Stories of American life, from "Oldtown Folks," "Sam Lawson's + Fireside Stories," and from the best novels. + + Stories from the "Book of Golden Deeds," Miss Yonge. + + Stories from Bolton's "Poor Boys who became Famous," and "Girls + who became Famous." + + Stories from Smiles's "Self-Help." Full of brief, inspiring + stories of great men. + + Stones from Todd's "Students' Manual." + + Stories from Irving's "Sketch Book," Rip Van Winkle, etc. + + Stories from Green's "Short History of the English People." + + Stories from Doyle's "History of the United States." One of the + very best brief histories. + + Stories from Mackenzie's "History of the Nineteenth Century." + + Stories from Coffin's "Story of Liberty." + + Stories from Freeman's "General Sketch of History." + + Stories from the "Stories of the Nations." (Putnam's Series.) + + Stories from the books of Columns 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 12, and 14 of + Table I. + + The story of Christ and his Apostles. (It is scarcely needful + to mention Bible stories in general. Every child born into a + civilized family is saturated with them; but the simple story + of Christ's life as an entirety is too seldom told them.) + + The story of Buddha, from the "Light of Asia." + + The story of Mahomet, Irving. + + The story of Confucius. + + The story of Socrates drinking the hemlock, from Plato, or from + Fenelon's "Lives of the Philosophers," which contains many + splendid Greek stories. + + The story of Prometheus, from AEschylus. + + The story of Diogenes in his Tub. + + The story of Thermopylae and other battles, from Cressy. + + The story of Carthage, from Putnam's series of the "Stories of + the Nations." (Nine to eleven years.) + + The story of Roland, Baldwin. + + The story of the Cid, Southey. + + The story of the Nibelungenlied. (See Baldwin's "Story of + Siegfried.") + + The story of Faust, from "Zigzag Journeys." + + The story of "Reynard the Fox," Goethe. + + The story of Pythagoras and the transmigration of souls. + + The story of Astronomy, from Herschel, Proctor, etc. + + The story of Geology, from Lyell, Dawson, Miller, etc., or from + Dana's "The Geological Story, Briefly Told." + + The story of Athena, Pluto, Neptune, Apollo, Juno, Mars, + Jupiter, Mercury, Charon, Vulcan, Zeus, Io, Orpheus, and + Eurydice, Phaeton, Arachne, Ariadne, Iphigenia, Ceres, Vesta, + Herakles, Minerva, Venus, Scylla and Charybdis, Hercules, + Ulysses, Helen, Achilles, AEneas, etc., from Bulfinch's "Age of + Fable," "Zigzag Journeys," etc. + + The story of William Tell, the Man in the Moon, etc., from S. + Baring Gould's "Curious Myths." + + The story of the Courtship of Miles Standish. + + The story of the Nuernburg Stove, from Ouida's "Bimbi." + + The story of Robert Bruce. + + The story of Circe's Palace, from "Tanglewood Tales." + + The story of Pandora's Box, from the "Wonder Book." + + The story of Little Nell, from "The Old Curiosity Shop." + + The story of the Boy in "Vanity Fair." + + Many other books might be placed on the list of parent-helpers. + Indeed, the perfect guidance of youth would require a perfect + knowledge of literature throughout its breadth and depth; but + the above suggestions, if followed in any large degree, will + result in a far better training than most children now receive. + + + + +THE FORMATION OF A GOOD READING HABIT. + + +As the child learns to read by itself, the books from which were drawn +the stones it has heard may be given to it, care being taken that every +gift shall be adapted to the ability of the little one. The fact that +the boy has heard the story of Horatius at the Bridge does not diminish, +but vastly increases, his desire to read the "Lays of Ancient Rome." +When he comes to the possession of the book, it seems to him like a +discovery of the face of a dear friend with whose voice he has long been +familiar. I well remember with what delight I adopted the "Sketch Book" +as one of my favorites on finding Rip Van Winkle in it. + +Below will be found a list of books intended as a suggestion of what +should be given to children of various ages. The larger the number of +good books the child can be induced to read each year, the better of +course, so long as his powers are not overtaxed, and the reading is done +with due thoroughness. But if only four or five are selected from each +year's list, the boy will know more of standard literature by the time +he is sixteen, than most of his elders do. Each book enters the list at +the earliest age an ordinary child would be able to read it with ease, +and it may be used then or at any subsequent age; for no books are +mentioned which are not of everlasting interest and profit to childhood, +manhood, and age. Many of the volumes named below may also be used by +parents and teachers as story-mines. There is no sharp line between the +periods of story-telling and of reading. Most children read simple +English readily at eight or ten years of age; many do a large amount of +reading long before that, and nearly all do some individual work in the +earlier period. The change should be gradual. For the stimulus that +comparison gives, story-telling and reading aloud should be continued +long after the child is able to read alone; in truth, it ought never to +cease. Story-telling ought to be a universal practice. Stories should be +told to and _by_ everybody. One of the best things grown folks can do is +to tell each other the substance of their experience from day to day; +and probably no finer means of education exists than to have the +children give an account at supper or in the hour or two following, of +what they have seen, heard, read, thought, and felt during the day. In +the same way reading _solus_ should lap over into the early period as +far as possible. One of the greatest needs of the day is a class of +books that shall put _solid sense_ into _very_ simple words. A child can +grasp the wonderful, strong, loving, pathetic, and even the humorous and +critical, long before it can overcome the mechanical difficulties of +reading. By so much as we diminish these, we push education nearer to +the cradle. Charles Dudley Warner says, "As a general thing, I do not +believe in books written for children;" and Phillips Brooks, Marietta +Holley, Brooke Herford, and others express a similar feeling. But the +trouble is not with the _plan_ of writing for children, but with the +execution. If the highest _thoughts_ and feelings were written in the +simplest words,--written as a wise parent _tells_ them to his little +ones,--then we should have a juvenile literature that could be +recommended. As it is, most writers for babies seem to have far less +sense than the babies. Their books are filled with unnatural, +make-believe emotions, and egregious nonsense in the place of ideas. The +best prose for young people will be found in the works of Hawthorne, +Curtis, Warner, Holmes, Irving, Addison, Goldsmith, Burroughs, and Poe; +and the best poets for them are Longfellow, Lowell, Whittier, Burns, and +Homer. Books that flavor sense with fun, as do those of Curtis, Holmes, +Lowell, Holley, Stowe, Irving, Goldsmith, Warner, Addison, and +Burroughs, are among the best means of creating in any heart, young or +old, a love for fine, pure writing. P. T. Barnum, a man whose great +success is largely due to his attainment of that serenity of mind which +Lowell calls the highest result of culture, says: "I should, above +almost everything else, try to cultivate in the child a kindly sense of +humor. Wherever a pure, hearty laugh rings through literature, he should +be permitted and taught to enjoy it." This judgment comes from a +knowledge of the sustaining power a love of humor gives a man immersed +in mental cares and worriments. Lincoln is, perhaps, the best example of +its power. + +It is often an inspiration to a boy to know that a book he is reading +has helped and been beloved by some one whose name is to him a synonym +of greatness,--to know, for example, that Franklin got his style from +the "Spectator," which he studied diligently when a boy; that Francis +Parkman from fifteen to twenty-one obtained more pleasure and profit +from Scott than from any other writer; that Darwin was very fond of Mark +Twain's "Treatise on the Frog;" that Marietta Holley places Emerson, +Tennyson, and Eliot next to the Bible in her list of favorites; that +Senator Hoar writes Emerson, Wordsworth, and Scott next after the Bible +and Shakspeare; that Robert Collyer took great delight in Irving's +"Sketch Book," when a youth; that the great historian Lecky is said to +be in the habit of taking Irving with him when he goes to bed; that +Phillips Brooks read Jonson many times when a boy, and that Lockhart's +Scott was a great favorite with him, though the Doctor attaches no +special significance to either of these facts; that Susan Coolidge +thinks "Hans Brinker" is the best of all American books for children, +etc. Similar facts may be found in relation to very many of the best +books, and will aid much in arousing an interest in them. + +Plato, Bacon, Goethe, Spencer, Emerson, and many others of the best are +for the most part too difficult to be properly grasped until the mind is +more mature than it usually is at sixteen. No precise rules, however, +can be laid down on this subject, I have known a boy read Spencer's +"First Principles" and Goethe's "Faust" and "Wilhelm Meister" at +sixteen, and gain a mastery of them. All I have attempted to do is to +make broad suggestions; experiment in each case must do the rest. + + _Literature adapted to a Child Six or Eight Years of Age and + upward._ + + Little Lord Fauntleroy. A book that cannot fail to delight and + improve every reader. + + King of the Golden River, Ruskin. + + "Rosebud," from "Harvard Sophomore Stories." + + Christmas all the Year round, Howells. + + Mrs. Stowe's "Laughin' in Meetin'." An exceedingly funny story. + + "Each and All" and "Seven Little Sisters," by Jane Andrews. + Used in the Boston Public Schools as supplementary reading. + + Classics in Babyland, Bates. + + Scudder's "Fables and Folk Stories." Fine books for little + ones. + + AEsop. + + Rainbows for Children, Lydia Maria Child. + + Black Beauty, by Anna Sewell. The autobiography of a splendid + horse, and the best teacher of kindness to animals we know of. + + Burroughs' "Birds and Bees." In fact, all his beautiful and + simple stories of Nature--"Pepacton," "Fresh Fields," "Wake + Robin," "Winter Sunshine," "Signs and Seasons," etc.--are the + delight of children as soon as they can read. + + Winslow's "Fairy Geography." + + By Sea-side and Wayside, Wright. + + _Literature adapted to a Child Eight to Nine Years of Age and + upward._ + + Sandford and Merton, Day. One of the very best of children's + books. + + Play Days, Sarah Orne Jewett. + + Andersen's "Fairy Tales." Cannot be too highly praised. + + Stories from King Arthur, Hanson. A good foundation for the + study of Malory, Tennyson, etc. + + "Winners in Life's Race," and "Life and her Children," by Miss + Arabella Buckley. Books that charm many children of eight or + nine. + + Fairy Frisket; or, Peeps at Insect Life. Nelson & Sons. + + Physiology, with pictures. + + Queer Little People, Mrs. Stowe. + + Kingsley's "Water Babies." A beautiful book, as indeed are all + of Kingsley's. + + Longfellow's "Building of the Ship." + + The Fountain, Lowell. + + Ye Mariners of England, Campbell. + + Carleton's "Farm Ballads and Farm Legends." Humorous, pathetic, + sensible. + + _Literature adapted to a Child Nine to Ten Years of Age and + upward._ + + Story of a Bad Boy, Aldrich. A splendid book for boys. + + Boys of '76, Coffin. An eight-year-old boy read it five times, + he was so pleased with it. + + New Year's Bargain, Coolidge. + + Pussy Willow, Stowe. + + Hanson's "Homer and Virgil." Brief, clear, simple, clean. + + Stories from Homer, Hanson. + + Stories from Pliny, White. + + Grimm's "Fairy Tales." + + Legend of Sleeping Beauty. + + Clodd's "The Childhood of the World." A splendid book to teach + children the development of the world. + + "Friends in Feathers and Fur," "Wings and Fins," "Paws and + Claws," by Johonnot. Books much liked by the little ones. + + First Book of Zoology, Morse. + + Halleck's "Marco Bozzaris." + + Wordsworth's "Peter Bell." + + Mary, Queen of Scots, Strickland. + + The Prince and the Pauper, Twain. A book that mingles no small + amount of sense with its abounding fun and occasional tragedy. + + _Literature adapted to a Child Ten or Eleven Years of Age and + upward._ + + Being a Boy, Warner. + + Little Women, Alcott. One of the most popular books of the day. + + A Dog's Mission, Stowe. + + Two Years before the Mast, Dana. Recommended by Sarah Orne + Jewett, George William Curtis, and others. + + Ten Boys on the Road, Andrews. A great favorite with the boys. + + Jan of the Windmill, Ewing. The story of a poor boy who becomes + a famous painter. + + Hawthorne's "Celestial Railroad." + + Little People of Asia, Miller. + + Hawthorne's "Tanglewood Tales" and "Wonder Book" should belong + to every child old enough to read ordinary English. + + Adventures of a Brownie, Craik. + + Stories from Chaucer, Seymour. + + Stories from Livy, Church. + + Lives of the Philosophers, Fenelon. An excellent book. + + What Darwin saw in his Trip round the World in the Ship Beagle. + + Fairy Land of Science, Miss Buckley. An author who writes for + children to perfection. + + Animal Life in the Sea and on the Land, Cooper. Very fine + indeed. + + Darwin's chapter on the "Habits of Ants" (in the "Origin of + Species") is very interesting and amusing to little ones, and + together with Burroughs' books prepares them to read such works + as Lubbock's "Ants, Bees, and Wasps." + + Ragozin's "Chaldea." One of the indispensable books for + children. + + Longfellow's "Psalm of Life." + + Longfellow's "Hiawatha." + + Lowell's "Under the Old Elm." + + Wordsworth's "White Doe of Rylstone." + + Lamb's Essay on Roast Pig. A piece of fun always enjoyed by + boys and girls. + + _Literature adapted to a Child Eleven to Twelve Years of Age + and upward._ + + Shakspeare's "Merchant of Venice." + + Marcus Aurelius. In a school where the book was at their call + children from ten to thirteen carried it to and from school, + charmed with its beautiful thoughts. + + Hans Brinker, Mary Mapes Dodge. One of the very best stories + for children. + + Dickens' "Christmas Carol." + + Hawthorne's "Great Stone Face." Highly appreciated by the young + folks. + + Uncle Tom's Cabin, Mrs. Stowe. A book that every child should + have as soon as he is able to read it. + + Another Flock of Girls, Nora Perry. + + At the Back of the North Wind, Macdonald. A beautiful story, + with a high motive. + + A Hunting of the Deer, Warner. + + Crusade of the Children, Gray. A thrilling story. + + Bryant's translation of the Odyssey. + + Story of the Iliad, Church. + + Stories from Herodotus, Church. + + Mary Treat's "Home Book of Nature." + + Half Hours with the Stars, Proctor. + + Guyot's "Earth and Man." A most excellent book. + + First Book in Geology, Shaler. + + First Steps in Chemistry, Brewster. + + First Steps in Scientific Knowledge, Best. + + Abou Ben Adhem, Hunt. + + Scott's "Lady of the Lake." + + Macaulay's "Lays of Ancient Rome." + + Longfellow's "Tales of a Wayside Inn." + + Whittier's "Snow Bound." + + How they Brought the Good News to Aix, Browning. + + Wordsworth's "We are Seven." + + Franklin's Autobiography. + + Lincoln's Gettysburg Speech. + + Samantha at the Centennial. + + _Literature adapted to a Child Twelve to Thirteen Years of Age + and upward._ + + Shakspeare's "Julius Caesar." + + Pilgrim's Progress, Bunyan. Indispensable. + + Meditation of Thomas a Kempis. A strong influence for sweetness + and purity. + + Vicar of Wakefield, Goldsmith. Full of fun and good feeling; + one of the most indispensable of books. + + Cooper's novels, especially "The Spy" and the "Last of the + Mohicans." Books that are fascinating and yet wholesome. + + "My Summer in a Garden," and "In the Wilderness," Warner. Very + humorous. + + "The Dog of Flanders," from "Little Classics." + + Picciola, Saintine. A great favorite. + + The Story of Arnon, Amelie Rives. + + Drake's "Culprit Fay." + + Dr. Brown's "Rab and his Friends." + + "The Man without a Country," "My Double and How He Undid Me," + etc., by E. E. Hale. The cast is extremely funny. + + The Hoosier Schoolmaster, Eggleston. + + Boots and Saddles, Mrs. Custer. + + Story of the AEneid, Church. + + Stories from Greek Tragedians, Church. + + Plumptre's "Sophocles." + + Ruskin's "Athena." + + Boys and Girls in Biology, Stevenson. + + Other Worlds than Ours, Proctor. + + Captains of Industry, Parton. + + Lowell's "Vision of Sir Launfal." One of the great poet's + finest productions. + + Byron's "Eve of Waterloo." + + Longfellow's "Evangeline." + + Scott's "Marmion." + + Milton's "Comus." + + "The Two Runaways," "The Born Inventor," "Idyl of Sinkin' + Mountain," etc., by Edwards. Very funny. + + _Literature adapted to a Child Thirteen to Fourteen Years of + Age and upward._ + + Shakspeare's "Coriolanus" and "Taming of the Shrew." + + Scott's "Ivanhoe," "Heart of Midlothian," "Guy Mannering," etc. + It is the making of a boy if he learns to love Scott. He will + make a gentleman of him, and give him an undying love of good + literature. + + Journal of Eugenie de Guerin. Full of delicacy and quiet + strength. + + Tom Brown, Hughes. An universal favorite. + + Curtis' "Prue and I." One of the very choicest books, both in + substance and expression,--especially remarkable for its moral + suggestiveness. + + Craddock's "Floating down Lost Creek." Most excellent. + + Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Stevenson. A story with a powerful + moral,--if we give scope to our evil nature, it will master us. + + Goldsmith's "Good-Natured Man." + + Carlyle's "Heroes and Hero Worship." + + Ben Hur, Wallace. + + The Fool's Errand, Tourgee. + + The Boys' King Arthur, Lanier. + + Epictetus. + + Physiology for Girls, Shepard. + + Physiology for Boys, Shepard. + + What Young People should Know, Wilder. A book that no boy or + girl should be without. + + How Plants Behave, Gray. + + Goethe's "Erl King." + + Browning's "Ivan Ivanovitch." A favorite. + + The Forsaken Merman, Matthew Arnold. An exquisite poem. + + Longfellow's "Miles Standish." + + Scott's "Lay of the Last Minstrel." + + The Veiled Statue of Truth, Schiller. + + Guetenburg, and the Art of Printing. + + Doyle's "United States History." + + John Bright's "Speeches on the American Question." + + Backlog Studies, Warner. + + "Encyclopaedia of Persons and Places," and "Encyclopaedia of + Common Things," by Champlin, should be within the reach of + every child over twelve or thirteen years of age. + + _Literature adapted to a Child Fourteen to Fifteen Years of + Age._ + + Shakespeare's "Henry Fourth" and "Henry Fifth." + + Autocrat of the Breakfast-Table, Holmes; and Irving's "Sketch + Book." Two of the best books in all the world. + + George Eliot's novels, especially "Silas Marner," "The Mill on + the Floss," "Romola," and "Adam Bede." + + The Wit and Wisdom of George Eliot. + + Our Best Society, Curtis. + + Bulwer's "Rienzi." + + The Marble Faun, Hawthorne. + + Sad Little Prince, Fawcett. + + Chita, or Youma, by Hearn, a master of English style. + + Grande Pointe, Cable. + + La Fontaine's Fables. + + Plutarch's "Morals." + + Ethics of the Dust, Ruskin. + + Lady How and Madam Why, Kingsley. + + Sketches of Creation, Winchell. Very interesting to children of + fourteen or fifteen. + + The Geological Story, Briefly Told, Dana. + + Ready for Business, or Choosing an Occupation, Fowler and + Wells. + + Ode to a Skylark, Shelley. + + Birds of Aristophanes, Frere. + + Alfred the Great, Hughes. + + Plutarch's "Lives." + + Green's "Short History of the English People." + + Demosthenes on the Crown. The finest of all orations. + + The Biglow Papers, Lowell. The best of fun and sense. + + Sweet Cicely, Holley. Quiet humor and unfailing wisdom. + + Higginson's "Vacations for Saints." A splendid example of + humorous writing. + + _Literature adapted to a Child Fifteen to Sixteen Years of Age + and upward._ + + Shakspeare's "Hamlet" and "The Tempest." + + Dante's "Inferno." + + Dickens' "Pickwick Papers," "David Copperfield," "Old Curiosity + Shop," etc. + + Thackeray's "Vanity Fair." + + Tourgee's "Hot Plowshares," and "With Fire and Sword," by + Sienkiewicz. Two of the greatest historical novels. + + Carlyle's "Past and Present." + + Arnold's "Sweetness and Light." + + Ruskin's "Crown of Wild Olive." + + Emerson's Essays on "Manners," "Self-Reliance," "Eloquence," + "Friendship," "Representative Men," etc. + + Mrs. Whitney's "Sights and Insights." A book that is filled + with beautiful thoughts and unselfish actions. + + Spencer's "Data of Ethics." Indispensable to a complete + understanding of ethical subjects. + + "The Light of Asia." A book that cannot fail to broaden and + deepen every life it touches. + + Ten Great Religions, Clarke. + + Omar. Superb poetry. + + Bryant's "Thanatopsis." + + Coleridge's "Ancient Mariner." A lesson of the awfulness of + cruelty. + + Auld Lang Syne, Burns. + + Toilers of the Sea, Hugo. + + Huxley's "Man's Place in Nature." + + Tyndall's "Forms of Water." + + Our Country, Strong. A book that ought to be in the hands of + every young person. + + Bryce's "American Commonwealth." + + Guizot's "History of Civilization." + + Mill's "Logic." No young man can afford to remain unacquainted + with this book. + + The Hand and Ring, Green. One of the finest examples of + reasoning in the language. + + Poe's "Murders in the Rue Morgue" is another such example, and + his "Gold Bug" is another. + + Phillips' Speeches + + Webster's "Liberty and Union." + + Golden Treasury, Palgrave. + + The Spectator. One of the very best books to study, in order to + form a good style. Franklin and others attribute their success + largely to reading it carefully in boyhood. + + The Fable for Critics, Lowell. + + The Yankee at the Court of King Arthur, Twain. Fun and sense + welded together to make the most delightful book the author has + written. + + + + +SPECIAL STUDIES. + + +Next in value to a love of good reading is a habit of concentrating the +attention upon one subject through a long course of reading. In this way +only can any thorough mastery be obtained. The child should be taught +not to be satisfied with the thought of any one writer, but to +investigate the ideas of all upon the topic in hand, and then form his +own opinion. Thus he will gain breadth, depth, tolerance, independence, +and scientific method in the search for truth. Of course it is +impossible in a work of this kind to map out lines of study for the +multitudinous needs of young people. The universities and the libraries +provide the means of gaining full information as to the literature of +any subject that may be selected. A few topic-clusters may, however, be +of use here in the way of illustration. Many examples will be found in +Baldwin's "The Book Lover." + +=The Industrial Question=.--Suppose a young man desired to study the +industrial question, which is one of the most important subjects of +to-day, the proper method would be to go to one of the great libraries, +or examine the catalogues of the large publishing-houses, to discover +the names of recent books on the given topic, or on such subjects as +Labor and Capital, Socialism, Co-operation, etc. Such books usually +refer to others, and name many kindred works on the last pages. Thus the +student's list will swell. I have myself investigated more than two +hundred books on this topic and those it led me to. A few of the more +important I will name as a starting-point for any one wishing to follow +this research. + + Labor, Thornton. + + Conflict of Labor and Capital, Bolles; also, Howell. + + Political Economy, Mill. + + Progress and Poverty, George. + + Profit-Sharing, Gilman. + + In Darkest England, Booth. + + Wages and the Wages Class, Walker. + + Book of the New Moral World, Owen. + + Communistic Societies of the United States, Nordhoff. + + Dynamic Sociology, Ward. + + Looking Backward, Bellamy. + + Destinee Sociale, Considerant. + + More's "Utopia." + + Co-operative Societies, Watts. + + History of Co-operation, Holyoake. + + The Margin of Profits, Atkinson. + + Gronlund's "Co-operative Commonwealth." + + Capital, Karl Marx. + + The State in relation to Labor, Jevons. + + Organisation du Travail, Louis Blanc. + + Co-operative Stores, Morrison. + + Labor and Capital, Jervis. + + Newton's "Co-operative Production and Co-operative + Distribution in the United States." + + Property and Progress, Mallock. + + Principles of Sociology, Spencer. + + Mill on Socialism. + + The Progress of the Working Classes, Giffen. + + Ely's "French and German Socialism," "Problems of To-day," + and "Labor Movement in America." + + Dilke's "Problems of Greater Britain." + + Contemporary Socialism, Rae. + + Outlines of an Industrial Science, Symes. + + Early History of Land-holding among the Germans, + Ross; etc. + +=Malthusianism=.--To take a smaller example. Suppose the student wishes +to make a thorough study of the doctrine of Malthusius in regard to +population, he will have to refer to Macaulay's "Essay on Sadler," and +the works on Political Economy of Ricardo, Chalmers, Roscher, etc., in +support of Malthus, and to George's "Progress and Poverty," Spencer's +"Biology" (Vol. II.), Sadler's "Law of Population," and the works of +Godwin, Greg, Rickards, Doubleday, Carey, Alison, etc., against him. + +For an example of a very different kind, cluster about the myth of Cupid +the poems "Cupid and my Campaspe," by Lilly; "The Threat of Cupid," +translated by Herrick; "Cupid Drowned," by Leigh Hunt; and "Cupid +Stung," by Moore. + +A great deal depends on selecting some department of thought and +exhausting it. To know something of everything and everything of +something is the true aim. If a child displays fine musical or artistic +ability, among the books given it ought to be many that bear upon music +and art,--the "Autobiography of Rubenstein;" the Lives of Beethoven, +Mozart, Schubert, Chopin, Mendelssohn; and Rocksho's "History of Music," +Upton's "Woman in Music," Clayton's "Queens of Song," Lillie's "Music +and the Musician," Haweis' "Music and Morals," Jameson's "Lives of the +Painters," Crowest's "Tone Poets," Clement's "Painting and Sculpture," +Mereweather's "Semele, or the Spirit of Beauty," etc. + +Probably these examples, with those to be found in the notes to Table +I., are amply sufficient to show what is meant by grouping the lights of +literature about a single point so as to illuminate it intensely; but +one more specimen will be given, because of the interest the subject has +for us now and is likely to have for many years. + +=The Tariff Question= may be studied in Ely's "Problems of To-day," +Greeley's "Political Economy," Carey's "Principles of Social Science," +E. P. Smith's "Manual of Political Economy," Byles's "Sophisms of Free +Trade," Thompson's "Social Science and National Economy," Bastiat's +"Sophisms of Protection," Mill's "Political Economy," Sumner's "Lectures +on the History of Protection in the United States," Fawcett's "Free +Trade and Protection," Mongredien's "History of the Free Trade +Movement," Butt's "Protection Free Trade," Walters' "What is Free +Trade," "The Gladstone-Blaine Debate," etc. + + + + +TABLE V. + + +_Showing the Distribution of the Best Literature in Time and Space, with +a Parallel Reference to some of the World's Great Events._ + + [It was impossible to get the writers of the eighteenth and + nineteenth centuries into the unit space. The former fills a + space twice the unit width, and the latter, when it is + complete, will require five units.] + + +---------------------------------------------------------------------------+ + | | | | | + | GREECE | B.C. | ISRAEL | | + | Homer | 1000 | David, The | | + | Hesiod | | Psalms | | + | | | | | + +-------------------------------+------+----------------+-------------------+ + | | | | | + | | 900 | | | + | | | | | + +-------------------------------+------+----------------+-------------------+ + | | | | | + | | 800 | | Rome founded | + | | | | | + +-------------------------------+------+----------------+-------------------+ + | | | | | + | AEsop | 700 | | | + | | | | | + +-------------------------------+------+----------------+-------------------+ + | | | | | + | | 600 | INDIA | Nebuchadnezzar, | + | | | Buddha | king of Babylon | + | | | | | + | | | | Republic | + | | | | established at | + | | | | Rome | + | | | | | + +-------------------------------+------+----------------+-------------------+ + | | | | | + | THE GOLDEN AGE OF GRECIAN | 500 | Mahabharata | Darius, king of | + | LITERATURE | | Ramayana | Persia | + | Pindar AEschylus Herodotus | |(Epics of India)| GREECE | + | Sophocles Thucydides| | | Battle of | + | | | | Marathon | + | Pericles Euripides Xenophon | | | " " Thermopylae | + | Aristophanes | | | " " Salamis | + | | | | Cincinnatus at | + | | | | Rome | + | Socrates | | |Ezra at Jerusalem | + | | | | | + +-------------------------------+------+----------------+-------------------+ + | | | | | + | Plato | 400 | | Alexander | + | Aristotle | | | The Gauls burn | + | Demosthenes | | | Rome | + | | | | | + +-------------------------------+------+----------------+-------------------+ + | | | | | + | | 300 | | Wars of Rome | + | | | | against Carthage | + | | | |Hannibal in Italy | + | | | | | + +-------------------------------+------+----------------+-------------------+ + | | | | | + | | 200 | | Greece becomes a | + | | | | Roman Province | + | | | | | + | | | | ROME | + | | | | The Gracchi, | + | | | | Marius, and | + | | | | Sylla | + | | | | | + +-------------------------------+------+----------------+-------------------+ + | | | | | + |ROME. AUGUSTAN AGE, 31 | 100 | | ROME | + | B. C. TO A. D. 14. | | | | + | Reatinus Ovid | | | Pompey | + | Sallust Livy | | | Civil War, | + | Cicero Lucretius | | | Empire | + | Virgil | | | established | + | | | | | + +-------------------------------+------+----------------+-------------------+ + | | | | | + | Tacitus | A.D. | | Jerusalem taken | + | | | | by Titus | + | Plutarch Juvenal | | | Pompeii | + | | | | overwhelmed | + | Pliny | | Josephus | Romans conquer | + | | | | Britain | + | | | | | + +-------------------------------+------+----------------+-------------------+ + | | | | | + | Epictetus | 100 | | Church Fathers | + | Marcus Aurelius | | | | + | | | | | + +-------------------------------+------+----------------+-------------------+ + | | | | | + | | 200 | | | + | | | | Aurelian conquers | + | | | | Zenobia | + | | | | | + +-------------------------------+------+----------------+-------------------+ + | | | | | + | | 300 | | Under Constantine | + | | | | Christianity | + | | | | becomes the | + | | | | State religion | + | | | | Roman Empire | + | | | | divided | + | | | | | + +-------------------------------+------+----------------+-------------------+ + | | | | | + | | 400 | | Angles and Saxons | + | | | | drive out the | + | | | | Britons | + | | | | Huns under Attila | + | | | | invade the | + | | | | Roman Empire | + | | | | | + +-------------------------------+------+----------------+-------------------+ + | | | | | + | | 500 | | Christianity | + | | | | carried to | + | | | | England by | + | | | | Augustine | + | | | | | + +-------------------------------+------+----------------+-------------------+ + | | | | | + | ENGLISH LITERATURE | 600 | ARABIA | | + | Caedmon | | Mahomet | | + | | | | | + +-------------------------------+------+----------------+-------------------+ + | | | | | + | Baeda | 700 | | FRANCE | + | Cynewulf | | | Charlemagne | + | | | | founds the | + | | | | Empire of the | + | | | | West | + | | | | | + +-------------------------------+------+----------------+-------------------+ + | | | | | + | AElfred, 850-900 | 800 | | Danes overrun | + | | | | England | + | | | | _AElfred's_ | + | | | | _glorious | + | | | | _reign_ | + +-------------------------------+------+----------------+-------------------+ + | | | | | + | | 900 | | Chivalry begins | + | | | | Capetian kings in | + | | | | France | + | | | | ENGLAND | + | | | | Saint Dunstan | + | | | | Papal supremacy | + | | | | | + +-------------------------------+------+----------------+-------------------+ + | | | | | + | | 1000 | PERSIA | ENGLAND | + | | | Firdusi's Shah| Canute the Great| + | | | Nameh | 1066. | + | | | | _Norman_ | + | | | | _Conquest_ | + | | | | Peter the Hermit | + | | | | First Crusade | + +-------------------------------+------+----------------+-------------------+ + | | | | | + | Geoffrey of Monmouth | 1100 |PERSIA | ENGLAND | + | | | Omar Khayyam | Plantagenets | + | | |GERMANY | Richard I. | + | | | Nibelungenlied| | + | | | SPAIN | FRANCE | + | | | Chronicle of | Second and Third| + | | | the Cid | Crusades | + | | | | Saint Bernard | + | | | | | + +-------------------------------+------+----------------+-------------------+ + | | | | | + | Layamon | 1200 |PERSIA | ENGLAND | + | Roger Bacon | | Saadi | 1215. Runnymede,| + | | | | Magna Charta | + | | | | Edward I. | + | | | | | + +-------------------------------+------+----------------+-------------------+ + | | | | | + | Mandeville | 1300 | ITALY | ENGLAND | + | Langland | | Dante | Chivalry at its | + | Wycliffe Chaucer | | Petrarch | height | + | Gower | | Boccaccio | The Black Prince| + | | | | _Gunpowder_ | + | | | | | + | | |PERSIA | FRANCE | + | | | Hafiz | Battles of | + | | | | Crecy, | + | | | | Poictiers, and| + | | | | Agincourt | + | | | | | + +-------------------------------+------+----------------+-------------------+ + | | | | | + | Lydgate | 1400 |GERMANY | ENGLAND | + | Fortescue | | Thomas a | Henry VIII. | + | Malory | | Kempis | shook off the | + | | | | Pope | + | | | Arabian Nights |_Movable Type_ | + | | | (probably) |_Discovery of_ | + | | |PERSIA |_America_ | + | | | Jami | Joan of Arc | + | | | | Wars of the Roses | + | | | | | + +-------------------------------+------+----------------+-------------------+ + | | | | | + | | | | _Copernicus_ | + | More Ascham | 1500 | ITALY | _Kepler_ | + | Lyly Sackville | | Ariosto | _The Armada_ | + | Sidney | | Tasso | ENGLAND | + | Marlowe Fox | | Galileo | Henry VIII., | + | Spenser Hooker | | | Elizabeth | + | | | | GERMANY | + | | |FRANCE | 1515. _Luther's_ | + | | | Montaigne | _Reformation_ | + | | | | FRANCE | + | | | | Massacre of St. | + | | | | Bartholomew | + | | | | | + +-------------------------------+------+----------------+-------------------+ + | | | | | + | Jonson Bacon Herbert | 1600 |SPAIN. | 1620. Plymouth | + | Shakspeare Newton J.Taylor| | Cervantes | Rock and the | + | Chapman Hobbes | | Calderon | "Mayflower" | + | Beaumont & Walton | |GERMANY | 1649 | + | Fletcher S. Butler | | Kepler | _Cromwell_ | + | Milton Locke | |FRANCE | 1660 Restoration | + | Bunyan Pepys | | Descartes |1688 Revolution | + | Dryden | | Corneille | William and Mary | + | | | Racine | FRANCE. | + | | | Moliere | Louis XIV. | + | | | La Fontain | | + +-------------------------------+------+----------------+-------------------+ + | | | | | + | Addison Cowper Otis | 1700 |FRANCE | 1776. American | + | Steele Burns Jay | | Montesquieu | Revolution | + | Pope Rogers Adams | | Le Sage | 1789-94. French | + | Defoe Hume Hamilton | | Rousseau | Revolution | + | Swift Edwards Madison | | Voltaire | ENGLAND | + | Berkeley A. Smith Jefferson| | | Marlborough | + | J. Butler Bentham Pitt | |GERMANY | | + | Moore Gibbon Burke | | Munchausen | | + | Thomson Johnson Fox | | Lessing | | + | Young Boswell Erskine | | | | + | Gray Malthus P. Henry.| | | | + | Goldsmith Mackintosh | | | | + | Sterne Paine | | | | + | | | | | + +-------------------------------+------+----------------+-------------------+ + | | | | | + | Scott Herschel DeQuincey| 1800 |GERMANY | 1807. Fulton's | + | Byron Whewell Whately | | Schiller | Steamboat | + | Bryant Ricardo Jeffrey | | Goethe | Wellington | + | Drake Carey Brougham | | Kant | 1815. Waterloo | + | Wordsworth Faraday S. Smith | | Fichte | 1815. White wives | + | Keats Lyell C. North | | Hegel | sold in England | + | Shelley Agassiz N. Webster| | Schelling | 1830. Passenger | + | Payne Whitney H. H. White| | Niebuhr | railway | + | Keble A. Gray D. Webster| | Schlosser | 1833. Matches | + | Halleck Hallam Sparks | | Heine | 1844. Telegraph | + | Key Prescott Story | | Haeckel | 1845. Mexican War | + | Macaulay Lewes Gould | | Helmholtz | | + | Hood Milman Cooper | | Grimm | | + | Poe Buckle Disraeli | | Froebel | | + | Read Merivale Dickens | | | | + | Tennyson Hildreth Thackeray| |FRANCE | 1860. Rebellion | + | Browning Freeman Bronte | | La Place | 1863. Emancipation| + | Lowell Draper Hawthorne| | Guizot | | + | Longfellow Froude Irving | | De Tocqueville| | + | Carleton Walpole Hughes | | Comte | | + | Ingelow Lecky Kingsley | | Hugo | | + | Whittier Parkman Eliot | | Dumas | 1870. Franco- | + | Mill Bancroft Collins | | Balzac | German War | + | Spencer Whipple Macdonald| | Renan | 1874. The | + | Ruskin Twain Hunt | | Taine | Telephone | + | Arnold Jerrold Wallace | | | Emancipation of | + | Curtis Choate Clarke | |RUSSIA | serfs in | + | Holmes Lincoln Landor | | Pushkin | Russia | + | Mansel Phillips Tourgee | | Lermontoff | | + | Carlyle Everett Holland | | Bashkirtseff | | + | Emerson Sumner Howells | | Tolstoi | | + | Darwin Garfield Mrs. Whitney| | | | + | Huxley Gladstone Miss Alcott| |DENMARK | | + | Dana A. D. White Bellamy | | Andersen | | + | Tyndall Beecher Gronlund | | | | + | Lubbock P. Brooks Gilman | |POLAND | | + | Proctor Lamb Holley | | Sienkiewicz | | + | Davy Hazlitt Dodge | | | | + | Proctor Lamb Jewett | | | | + | Davy Hazlitt Burroughs| | | | + | Bright Rives Stowe | | | | + | Fiske Aldrich Hearn | | | | + | Curtin Warner Burnett | | | | + | Hale Curtis | | | | + | Edwards Higginson | | | | + | | | | | + | | 1900 | | | + +-------------------------------+------+----------------+-------------------+ + + + + +REMARKS ON TABLE V. + + +=Definitions and Divisions=.--Literature is life pulsing through life +upon life; but only when the middle life imparts new beauty to the first +is literature produced in any true and proper sense. The last life is +that of the reader; the middle one that of the author; the first that of +the person or age he pictures. Literature is the past pouring itself +into the present. Every great man consumes and digests his own times. +Shakspeare gives us the England of the 16th century, with the added +qualities of beauty, ideality, and order. When we read Gibbon's "Rome," +it is really the life of all those turbulent times of which he writes +that is pouring upon us through the channels of genius. Dante paints +with his own sublime skill the portraits of Italy in the 14th century, +of his own rich, inner life, and of the universal human soul in one +composite masterpiece of art. In one of Munchausen's stories, a bugler +on the stage-top in St. Petersburg was surprised to find that the bugle +stopped in the middle of the song. Afterward, in Italy, sweet music was +heard, and upon investigation it was found that a part of the song had +been frozen in the instrument in Russia, and thawed in the warmer air of +Italy. So the music of river and breeze, of battle and banquet, was +frozen in the verse of Homer nearly three thousand years ago, and is +ready at any time, under the heat of our earnest study, to pour its +harmony into our lives. + +It is the fact that beauty is added by the author which distinguishes +_Literature_ from the pictures of life that are given to us by newspaper +reporters, tables of statistics, etc. Literature is not merely life,--it +is life _crystallized in art_. This is the first great line dividing the +Literary from the Non-Literary. The first class is again divided into +Poetry and Prose. In the first the form is measured, and the substance +imagery and imagination. In the latter the form is unmeasured, and the +substance direct. Imagery is the heart of poetry, and rhythm its body. +The thought must be expressed not in words merely, but in words that +convey other thoughts through which the first shines. The inner life is +pictured in the language of external Nature, and Nature is painted in +the colors of the heart. The poet must dip his brush in that eternal +paint-pot from which the forests and fields, the mountains, the sky, and +the stars were painted. He must throw human life out upon the world, and +draw the world into the stream of his own thought. Sometimes we find the +substance of the poetic in the dress of prose, as in Emerson's and in +Ingersoll's lectures, and then we have the prose poem; and sometimes we +find the form of poetry with only the direct expression, which is the +substance of prose, or perhaps without even the substance of _literary_ +prose, as in parts of Wordsworth, Pope, Longfellow, Homer, Tennyson, +and even sometimes in Shakspeare; see, for example, Tennyson's "Dirge." + +=Tests for the Choice of Books=.--In deciding which of those glorious +ships that sail the ages, bringing their precious freight of genius to +every time and people, we shall invite into our ports, we must consider +the nature of the crew, the beauty, strength, and size of the vessel, +the depth of our harbor, the character of the cargo, and our own wants. +In estimating the value of a book, we have to note (1) the kind of life +that forms its material; (2) the qualities of the author,--that is, of +the life through which the stream comes to us, and whose spirit is +caught by the current, as the breezes that come through the garden bear +with them the perfume of flowers that they touch; (3) the form of the +book, its music, simplicity, size, and artistic shape; (4) its merits, +compared with the rest of the books in its own sphere of thought; (5) +its fame; (6) our abilities; and (7) our needs. There result several +tests of the claims of any book upon our attention. + +I. What effect will it have upon character? Will it make me more +careful, earnest, sincere, placid, sympathetic, gay, enthusiastic, +loving, generous, pure, and brave by exercising these emotions in me, +and more abhorrent of evil by showing me its loathsomeness; or more +sorrowful, fretful, cruel, envious, vindictive, cowardly, and false, +less reverent of right and more attracted by evil, by picturing good as +coming from contemptible sources, and evil as clothed with beauty? Is +the author such a man as I would wish to be the companion of my heart, +or such as I must study to avoid? + +II. What effect will the book produce upon the mind? Will it exercise +and strengthen my fancy, imagination, memory, invention, originality, +insight, breadth, common-sense, and philosophic power? Will it make me +bright, witty, reasonable, and tolerant? Will it give me the quality of +intellectual beauty? Will it give me a deeper knowledge of human life, +of Nature, and of my business, or open the doorways of any great temple +of science where I am as yet a stranger? Will it help to build a +standard of taste in literature for the guidance of myself and others? +Will it give me a knowledge of what other people are thinking and +feeling, thus opening the avenues of communication between my life and +theirs? + +III. What will be the effect on my skills and accomplishments? Will it +store my mind full of beautiful thoughts and images that will make my +conversation a delight and profit to my friends? Will it teach me how to +write with power, give me the art of thinking clearly and expressing my +thought with force and attractiveness? Will it supply a knowledge of the +best means of attaining any other desired art or accomplishment? + +IV. Is the book simple enough for me? Is it within my grasp? If not, I +must wait till I have come upon a level with it. + +V. Will the book impart a pleasure in the very reading? This test alone +is not reliable; for till our taste is formed, the trouble may not be in +it but in ourselves. + +VI. Has it been superseded by a later book, or has its truth passed into +the every-day life of the race? If so, I do not need to read it. Other +things equal, the authors nearest to us in time and space have the +greatest claims on our attention. Especially is this true in science, in +which each succeeding great book sucks the life out of all its +predecessors. In poetry there is a principle that operates in the +opposite direction; for what comes last is often but an imitation, that +lacks the fire and force of the original. Nature is best painted, not +from books, but from her own sweet face. + +VII. What is the relation of the book to the completeness of my +development? Will it fill a gap in the walls of my building? Other +things equal, I had better read about something I know nothing of than +about something I am familiar with; for the aim is to get a picture of +the universe in my brain, and a full development of my whole nature. It +is a good plan to read everything of something and something of +everything. A too general reader seems vague and hazy, as if he were fed +on fog; and a too special reader is narrow and hard, as if fed on +needles. + +VIII. Is the matter inviting my attention of permanent value? The +profits of reading what is merely of the moment are not so great as +those accruing from the reading of literature that is of all time. To +hear the gossip of the street is not as valuable as to hear the lectures +of Joseph Cook, or the sermons of Beecher and Brooks. On this principle, +most of our time should be spent on classics, and very little upon +transient matter. There is a vast amount of energy wasted in this +country in the reading of newspapers and periodicals. The newspaper is a +wonderful thing. It brings the whole huge earth to me in a little brown +wrapper every morning. The editor is a sort of travelling stage-manager, +who sets up his booth on my desk every day, bringing with him the +greatest performers from all the countries of the world, to play their +parts before my eyes. Yonder is an immense mass-meeting; and that mite, +brandishing his mandibles in an excited manner, is the great Mr. +So-and-So, explaining his position amid the tumultuous explosions of an +appreciative multitude. That puffet of smoke and dust to the right is a +revolution. There in the shadow of the wood comes an old man who lays +down a scythe and glass while he shifts the scenes, and we see a bony +hand reaching out to snatch back a player in the midst of his part, and +even trying to clutch the showman himself. For three dollars a year I +can buy a season ticket to this great Globe theatre, for which God +writes the dramas, whose scene-shifter is Time, and whose curtain is +rung down by Death.[1] But theatre-going, if kept up continuously, is +very enervating. 'T is better far to read the hand-bills and placards +at the door, and only when the play is great go in. Glance at the +head-lines of the paper always; read the mighty pages seldom. The +editors could save the nation millions of rich hours by a daily column +of _brief but complete_ statements of the paper's contents, instead of +those flaring head-lines that allure but do not satisfy, and only lead +us on to read that Mr. Windbag nominated Mr. Darkhorse amid great +applause, and that Mr. Darkhorse accepted in a three-column speech +skilfully constructed so as to commit himself to nothing; or that Mr. +Bondholder's daughter was married, and that Mrs. So-and-So wore cream +satin and point lace, with roses, etc. + +[1] Adapted from Lowell. + +=Intrinsic Merit=.--It must be noted that the tests of intrinsic merit +are not precisely the same as the tests for the choice of books. The +latter include the former and more. Intrinsic merit depends on the +character impressed upon the book by its subject-matter and the author; +but in determining the claims of a book upon the attention of the +ordinary English reader, it is necessary not only to look at the book +itself, but also to consider the needs and abilities of the reader. One +may not be able to read the book that is intrinsically the best, because +of the want of time or lack of sufficient mental development. Green's +"Short History of England" and Dickens' "Child's History of England" may +not be the greatest works in their department, but they may have the +_greatest claims on the attention_ of one whose time or ability is +limited. A chief need of every one is to know what others are thinking +and feeling. To open up avenues of communication between mind and mind +is one of the great objects of reading. Now it often happens that a book +of no very high merit artistically considered--a book that can never +take rank as a classic--becomes very famous, and is for a time the +subject of much comment and conversation. In such cases all who would +remain in thorough sympathy with their fellows must give the book at +least a hasty reading, or in some way gain a knowledge of its contents. +Intrinsically "Robert Elsmere" and "Looking Backward" may not be worthy +of high rank (though I am by no means so sure of this as many of the +critics seem to be); but their fame, joined as it is with high motive, +entitles them to a reading. + +It is always a good plan, however, to endeavor to ascertain the absolute +or intrinsic merit of a book first, and afterward arrive at the relative +value or claim upon the attention by making the correction required by +the time and place, later publications in the same department, the +peculiar needs and abilities of readers, etc. + +In testing intrinsic worth we must consider-- + + Motive. + Magnitude. + Unity. + Universality. + Suggestiveness. + Expression. + +=Motive=.--The purpose of the author and the emotional character of the +subject matter are of great importance. A noble subject nobly handled +begets nobility in the reader, and a spirit of meanness brought into a +book by its subject or author also impresses itself upon those who come +in contact with it. Kind, loving books make the world more +tender-hearted; coarse and lustful books degrade mankind. The nobility +of the sentiment in and underlying a work is therefore a test of prime +importance. + + Whittier's "Voices of Freedom," + Lowell's "Vision of Sir Launfal," + Tennyson's "Locksley Hall," + Warner's "A-Hunting of the Deer," + Shakspeare's "Coriolanus," + Macaulay's "Horatius" and "Virginia," + AEschylus' "Prometheus," + Dickens' "Christmas Carol," + Sewell's "Black Beauty," + Chaucer's "Griselda," + Browning's "Ivan Ivanovitch," + Arnold's "Forsaken Merman," and "The Light of Asia," + +are fine examples of high motive. + +=Magnitude=.--The grander the subject, the deeper the impression upon +us. In reading a book like "The Light of Asia," that reveals the heart +of a great religion, or Guizot's "Civilization in Europe," that deals +with the life of a continent, or Darwin's "Origin of Species," or +Spencer's "Nebular Hypothesis," that grapples with problems as wide as +the world and as deep as the starry spaces,--in reading such books we +receive into ourselves a larger part of the universe than when we devote +ourselves to the history of the town we live in, or the account of the +latest game of base ball. + +=Unity=.--A book, picture, statue, play, or oratorio is an artistic +unity when no part of it could be removed without injury to the whole +effect. True art masses many forces to a single central purpose. The +more complex a book is in its substance (not its expression),--that is +to say, the greater the variety of thoughts and feelings compressed +within its lids,--the higher it will rank, if the parts are good in +themselves and are so related as to produce one tremendous effect. But +no intrusion of anything not essentially related to the supreme purpose +can be tolerated. A good book is like a soldier who will not burden +himself with anything that will not increase his fighting power, +because, if he did, its weight would _diminish_ his fighting force. In +the same way, if a book contains unnecessary matter, a portion of the +attention that should be concentrated upon the real purpose of the +volume, is absorbed by the superfluous pages, rendering the effect less +powerful than it would otherwise be. Most of the examples of high motive +named above, would be in place here, especially,-- + + Prometheus. + The Forsaken Merman. + The Light of Asia. + +Other fine specimens of unity are,-- + + Holmes's "Nautilus." + Hood's "Bridge of Sighs." + Gray's "Elegy." + Hunt's "Abou Ben Adhem." + Longfellow's "Psalm of Life." + Whittier's "Barefoot Boy." + Shelley's "Ode to a Skylark." + Shelley's "Ode to the West Wind." + Byron's "Eve of Waterloo." + Bryant's "Thanatopsis." + Reed's "Drifting." + Drake's "Culprit Fay." + Irving's "Art of Bookmaking," etc. (in "Sketch Book"). + Rives' "Story of Arnon." + Dante's "Divine Comedy." + Schiller's "Veiled Statue of Truth." + Goethe's "Erl King." + +Humor alone has a right to violate unity even apparently; and although +wit and humor produce their effects by displaying incongruities, yet +underlying all high art, in this department as in others, there is +always a deep unity,--a truth revealed and enforced by the destruction +of its contradictories accomplished by the sallies of wit and humor. + +=Universality=.--Other things equal, the more people interested in the +subject the more important the book. A matter which affects a million +people is of more consequence than one which affects only a single +person. National affairs, and all matters of magnitude, of course +possess this quality; but magnitude is not necessary to +universality,--the thoughts, feelings, and actions of an unpretentious +person in a little village may be types of what passes in the life of +every human being, and by their representativeness attain a more +universal interest for mankind than the business and politics of a +state. + +The rules of tennis are not of so wide importance as an English grammar, +nor is the latter so universal as Dante's "Inferno" or "The Meditations +of Marcus Aurelius,"--these being among the books that in the highest +degree possess the quality under discussion. Other fine examples are-- + + Goethe's "Faust." + Shakespeare's Plays and Sonnets. + Bunyan's "Pilgrim's Progress." + Arnold's "Light of Asia." + Bacon's and Emerson's Essays. + "Uncle Tom's Cabin." + Sewell's "Black Beauty." + Eliot's "Romola." + Curtis' "Prue and I." + Cooper's "Last of the Mohicans." + Tourgee's "Hot Plowshares." + Irving's "Sketch Book." + Plato, Spencer, etc. + +In fact, all books that express love, longing, admiration, tenderness, +sorrow, laughter, joy, victory over nature or man, or any other thought +or feeling common to men, have the attribute of universality in greater +or less degree. + +=Suggestiveness=.--Every great work of art suggests far more than it +expresses. This truth is illustrated by paintings like Bierstadt's +"Yosemite" or his "Drummer Boy," Millet's "Angelus," or Turner's "Slave +Ship." Statues like the "Greek Slave" or "The Forced Prayer;" speeches +like those of Phillips, Fox, Clay, Pitt, Bright, Webster, and Brooks; +songs like "Home, Sweet Home," "My Country," "Douglas," "Annie Laurie;" +and books like + + Emerson's Essays. + AEschylus' "Prometheus." + Goethe's "Faust" and "Wilhelm Meister." + Dante's "Divine Comedy." + "Hamlet" and many other of Shakspeare's Plays. + Curtis' "Prue and I." + The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius. + The Sermons of Phillips Brooks and Robertson. + "My Summer in a Garden," by Warner; etc. + +A single sentence in Emerson often suggests a train of thought that +would fill a volume; and a single inflection of Patti's voice in singing +"Home, Sweet Home" will fill the heart to overflowing. + +=Expression=.--Like a musician, an author must study technique. A book +may possess high motive, artistic unity, universality, suggestiveness, +magnitude of thought, and yet be lacking in clearness, purity, music, +smoothness, force, finish, tone-color, or even in proper grammatical +construction. The style ought to be carefully adapted to the subject and +to the readers likely to be interested in it. _Force_ and _beauty_ may +be imparted to the subject by a good style. In poetry beauty is the +supreme object, the projection of truth upon the _mind_ being +subordinate. Poetry expresses the truths of the soul. In prose, on the +other hand, truth is the main purpose, and beauty is used as a helper. +As a soldier studies his guns, and a dentist his tools, so a writer must +study the laws of rhythm, accent, phrasing, alliteration, phonetic +syzygy, run-on and double-ending lines, rhyme, and, last but not least, +the melodies of common speech. The first three and the last are the most +important, and should be thoroughly studied in Shakspeare, Addison, +Irving, and other masters of style by every one who wishes to write or +to judge the work of others. Except as to rhyme, the arts of writing +prose and poetry are substantially the same. Theoretically there is a +fundamental difference in respect to rhythm,--that of a poem being +limited to the repetition of some chosen type, that of prose being +unlimited. A little study makes it clear, however, that the highest +poetry, as that of Shakspeare's later plays, crowds the type with the +forms of common speech; while the highest efforts of prose, as that of +Addison, Irving, Phillips, Ingersoll's oration over his dead brother, +etc., display rhythms that approach the order and precision of poetry. +In practice the best prose and the best poetry approach each other very +closely, moving from different directions toward the same point. + +It is of great advantage to form the habit of noticing the _tunes_ of +speech used by those around us; the study will soon become very +pleasurable, and will be highly profitable by teaching the observer what +mode of expression is appropriate to each variety of thought and +feeling. There is a rhythm that of itself produces a comic effect, no +matter how sober the words may be; and it is the same that we find in +"Pinafore," in the "Mariner's Duet" in the opera of "Paul Jones," and in +the minstrel dance. For fifteen centuries all the great battle-songs +have been written in the same rhythm; they fall into it naturally, +because it expresses the movement of mighty conflict. See Lanier's +"Science of English Verse," pages 151 _et seq._, 231 _et seq._ This is +the best book upon technique; but Spencer's Essay on the Philosophy of +Style, and Poe's Essay on his composition of "The Raven" should not be +overlooked. Franklin and many others have discovered the laws of style +simply by careful study of the "Spectator." + +Of course it is not easy to decide the true rank of a book, even when we +have tested it in respect to all the elements we have named. One book +may be superior in expression, another in suggestiveness, and so on. +Then we have to take note of the relative importance of these various +elements of greatness. A little superiority in motive or suggestiveness +is worth far more than the same degree of superiority as to unity or +magnitude. A book filled with noble sentiment, though lacking unity, +should rank far above "Don Juan," or any other volume that expresses +the ignoble part of human nature, however perfect the work may be from +an artistic point of view. Having now examined the tests of intrinsic +merit, let me revert for a moment to my remark, a few pages back, to the +effect that "Looking Backward" and "Robert Elsmere" deserve a high rank. +They are books of _lofty aim_, great magnitude of subject and thought, +fine unity, _wide universality_, _exhaustless suggestiveness_, and more +than ordinary power of expression. Doubtless they are not _absolute_ +classics,--not books of all time,--for their subjects are transitional, +not eternal. They deal with _doubts_, religious and industrial; when +these have passed away, the mission of the books will be fulfilled, and +their importance will be less. But they are _relative_ classics,--books +that are of great value to their age, and will be great as long as their +subjects are prominent. + + + + +SUPREME BOOKS + + IN THE LITERATURES OF ENGLAND, AMERICA, GREECE, ROME, ITALY, + FRANCE, SPAIN, GERMANY, PERSIA, PORTUGAL, DENMARK, RUSSIA. + + + + +PERIODS OF ENGLISH LITERATURE. + + +The highest summit of our literature--and indeed of the literature of +the world--is Shakspeare. He brings us life in the greatest force and +volume, of the highest quality, and clothed in the richest beauty. His +age, which was practically identical with the reign of Elizabeth, is the +golden age of English letters; and taking it for a basis of division, we +have the Pre-Shakspearian Age from 600 to 1559, the Shakspearian Age +from 1559 to 1620, and the Post-Shakspearian Age from 1620 to the +present. + +=The first age= is divided into three periods. + +_First_, the Early Period, from 600 to the Norman Conquest in 1066, +which holds the names of Beowulf,[2] Caedmon,[3] Baeda,[4] Cynewulf, and +AElfred, the great king who did so much for the learning of his country, +bringing many great scholars into England from all over the world, and +himself writing the best prose that had been produced in English, and +changing the "Anglo-Saxon Chronicle"--till his time a mere record of +noble births and deaths--into a valuable periodical, the progenitor of +the vast horde that threatens to expel the classics in our day. The +literature of this period has little claim upon us except on the ground +of breadth. The _Anglo-Saxon Chronicle_, and the poems of _Beowulf_, +_Caedmon_, and _Cynewulf_, should be glanced at to see what sort of +people our ancestors were. + +[2] An epic poem, full of the life, in peace and war, of our Saxon +fathers before they came to England. + +[3] The writer of a paraphrase on the Bible; a feeble Milton. + +[4] A very learned man, who gathered many scholars about him, and who +finished translating the Gospel of John on his death-bed and with his +latest breath. + +_Second_, the Period of Chaucer, from 1066 to the death of Chaucer in +1400. The great books of this period were _Mandeville's Travels_, +Langland's "Piers the Ploughman." Wycliffe's translation of the Bible +(these two books, with Wycliffe's tracts, went all over England among +the common people, rousing them against the Catholic Church, and +starting the reformation that afterward grew into Puritanism, and gained +control of the nation under Cromwell), Gower's Poems, and _Chaucer's +Canterbury Tales_. Those in italics are the only books that claim our +reading. Mandeville travelled thirty years, and then wrote all he saw +and all he heard from the mouth of rumor. Chaucer is half French and +two-thirds Italian. He drank in the spirit of the Golden Age of Italy, +which was in the early part of his own century. Probably he met Petrarch +and Boccaccio, and certainly he drew largely from their works as well as +from Dante's, and he dug into poor Gower as into a stone quarry. He is +still our best story-teller in verse, and one of our most musical poets; +and every one should know something of this "morning star of English +poetry," by far the greatest light before the Elizabethan age, and still +easily among the first five or six of our poets. + +_Third_, the Later Period, from 1400 to 1559, in which _Malory's Morte +D'Arthur_, containing fragments of the stories about King Arthur and the +knights of his round table, which like a bed-rock crop out so often in +English Literature, should be read while reading Tennyson's "Idylls of +the King," which is based upon Malory; and _Sir Thomas More's Utopia_ +also claims some attention on the plea of breadth, as it is the work of +a great mind, thoroughly and practically versed in government, and sets +forth his idea of a perfect commonwealth. + +In this age of nine and a half centuries there were, then, ten +noteworthy books and one great book; eight only of the eleven, however, +have any claim upon our attention, the last three being all that are +entitled to more than a rapid reading by the general student; and only +Chaucer for continuous companionship can rank high, and even he cannot +be put on the first shelf. + + * * * * * + +=In the Shakspearian Age= the great books were (1) _Roger Ascham's +Schoolmaster_, which was a fine argument for kindness in teaching and +nobility in the teacher, but has been superseded by Spencer's +"Education." (2) _Sackville's Induction_ to a series of political +tragedies, called "A Mirror for Magistrates." The poet goes down into +hell like Dante, and meets Remorse, Famine, War, Misery, Care, Sleep, +Death, etc., and talks with noted Englishmen who had fallen. This +"Mirror" was of great fame and influence in its day; and the +"Induction," though far inferior to both Chaucer and Spenser, is yet the +best poetic work done in the time between those masters. (3) _John +Lyly's Euphues_, a book that expressed the thought of Ascham's +"Schoolmaster" in a style peculiar for its puns, antitheses, and +floweriness,--a style which made a witty handling of language the chief +aim of writing. Lyly was a master of the art, and the ladies of the +court committed his sentences in great numbers, that they might shine in +society. The book has given a word to the language; that affected +word-placing style is known as _euphuistic_. The book has no claims upon +our reading. (4) _Sir Philip Sidney's Arcadia_, a romance in the same +conceited style as the "Euphues," and only valuable as a mine for poetic +images. (5) _Hooker's Ecclesiastical Polity_, which was a defence of the +church system against the Puritans. The latter said that no such system +of church government could be found in the Bible, and therefore should +not exist. Hooker answered that Nature was a revelation from God as well +as the Bible; and if in Nature and society there were good reasons for +the existence of an institution, that was enough. The book is not of +importance to the general reader to-day, for the truth of its principles +is universally admitted. (6) _The Plays of Marlowe_, a very powerful but +gross writer. His "Dr. Faustus" may very properly receive attention, +but only after the best plays of Shakspeare, Jonson, Calderon, Racine, +Moliere, Corneille, AEschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, and Aristophanes +have been carefully read. (7) _The Plays of Beaumont and Fletcher_, +which are filled with beauty and imagination, mingled with the immodesty +and vulgarity that were natural to this age. The remark just made about +Marlowe applies here. (8) _Fox's Book of Martyrs_, which for the sake of +breadth should be glanced at by every one. The marvellous heroism and +devotion to faith on one side, and cruelty on the other that come to us +through the pages of this history, open a new world to the modern mind. +(9) _Edmund Spenser's Faerie Queene_, which combines the poetry of a +Homer with the allegory of a Bunyan. It presents moral truth under vast +and beautiful imagery. In English poetry it claims our attention next to +Shakspeare and Milton. (10) _Ben Jonson's Plays_, which stand next to +those of Shakspeare in English drama. (11) _The Plays of Shakspeare_, +which need no comment, as they have already been placed at the summit of +all literature; and (12) _Bacon's Works_, including the _Novum Organum_, +the _New Atlantis_, and the _Essays_, the first of which, though one of +the greatest books of the world, setting forth the true methods of +arriving at truth by experiment and observation and the collation of +facts, we do not need to read, because the substance of it may be found +in better form in Mill's Logic. The "Essays," however, are world-famed +for their condensed wit and wisdom on topics of never-dying interest, +and stand among the very best books on the upper shelf. The "New +Atlantis" also should be read for breadth, with More's "Utopia;" the +subject being the same, namely, an ideal commonwealth. + +From this sixty-one years of prolific writing, in which no less than two +hundred and thirty authors gathered their poems together and published +them, to say nothing of all the scattered writings, twelve volumes have +come down to us with a large measure of fame. Only the last seven call +for our reading; but two of them, Shakspeare and Bacon, are among the +very most important books on the first shelf of the world's library. + + * * * * * + +=The Post-Shakspearian Age= is divided into four times, or periods,--the +Time of Milton; the Time of Dryden; the Time of Pope; and the Time of +the Novelists, Historians, and Scientists. + +THE TIME OF MILTON, from 1620 to 1674, was contemporary with the Golden +Age of literature in France. The great English books of this time were +(1) _Chapman's Translation of Homer_, which is superseded by Pope's. (2) +_Hobbes's Leviathan_, a discourse on government. Hobbes taught that +government exists for the people, and rests not on the divine right of +kings, but on a compact or agreement of all the citizens to give up a +portion of their liberties in order by social co-operation the better +to secure the remainder. He is one of our greatest philosophers; but the +general reader will find the substance of Hobbes's whole philosophy +better put in Locke, Mill, and Herbert Spencer. (3) _Walton's Complete +Angler_, the work of a retired merchant who combined a love of fishing +with a poetic perception of the beauties of Nature. It will repay a +glance. (4) _S. Butler's Hudibras_, a keen satire on the Puritans who +went too far in their effort to compel all men to conform their lives to +the Puritan standard of abstinence from worldly pleasures. In spite of +its vulgarity, the book stands very high in the literature of humor. (5) +_George Herbert's Poems_, many of which are as sweet and holy as a +flower upon a grave, and are beloved by all spiritually minded people. +(6) _Jeremy Taylor's Holy Living and Dying_, a book that in the strength +of its claim upon us must rank close after the Bible, Shakspeare, and +the Science of Physiology and Hygiene. (7) _Milton's Poems_, of which +the "Paradise Lost" and "Comus," for their sublimity and beauty, rank +next after Shakspeare in English poetry. AEschylus, Dante, and Milton are +the three sublimest souls in history. + +From this time of fifty-four years seven great books have come to us, +Milton and Taylor being among our most precious possessions. + +THE TIME OF DRYDEN.--From the death of Milton, in 1674, to the death of +Dryden, in 1700, the latter held undisputed kingship in the realm of +letters. This and the succeeding time of Pope were marked by the +development of a classic style and a fine literary and critical taste, +but were lacking in great creative power. The great books were (1) +_Newton's Principia_, the highest summit in the region of astronomy, +unless the "Mecanique Celeste" of Laplace must be excepted. Newton's +discovery of the law of gravitation, and his theory of fluxions place +him at the head of the mathematical thinkers of the world. His books, +however, need not be read by the general student, for in these sciences +the later books are better. (2) _Locke's Works_ upon Government and the +Understanding are among the best in the world, but their results will +all be found in the later works of Spencer, Mill, and Bryce; and the +only part of the writings of Locke that claims our reading to-day is the +little book upon the _Conduct of the Understanding_, which tells us how +to watch the processes of our thought, to keep clear of prejudice, +careless observation, etc., and should be in the hands of every one who +ever presumes to do any thinking. (3) _Dryden's Translation of Virgil_ +is the best we have, and contains the finest writing of our great John. +(4) _Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress_ picturing in magnificent allegory the +journey of a Christian soul toward heaven, and his "Holy War," telling +of the conflict between good and evil, and the devil's efforts to +capture and hold the town of "Mansoul," should be among the first books +we read. The "Progress" holds a place in the affections of all +English-speaking peoples second only to the Bible. (5) _Sam Pepys's +Diary_ is the greatest book of its kind in the world, and is much read +for its vividness and interesting detail. It has, however, no claims to +be read until all the books on the first shelf of Table I. have been +mastered, and a large portion of the second shelf pretty thoroughly +looked into. + +Of the five great works of these twenty-six years, Bunyan and Locke are +far the most important for us. + +THE TIME OF POPE, or the _Time of the Essayists and Satirists_, covers a +period of forty years, from 1700 to 1740, during which the great +translator of Homer held the sceptre of literary power by unanimous +assent. The great works of this time were (1) _The Essays of Addison and +Steele_ in the "Tatler" and "Spectator," which, though of great merit, +must rank below those of Emerson, Bacon, and Montaigne. (2) _Defoe's +Robinson Crusoe_, the boy's own book. (3) _Swift's Satires_,--the "Tale +of a Tub," "Gulliver's Travels," and the "Battle of the Books,"--all +full of the strongest mixture of grossness, fierceness, and intense wit +that the world has seen. The "Battle of the Books" may be read with +great advantage by the general reader as well as by the student of +humor. (4) _Berkeley's Human Knowledge_, exceedingly interesting for the +keenness of its confutation of any knowledge of the existence of matter. +(5) _Pope's Poems_--the "Rape of the Lock" (which means the theft of a +lock of hair), the "Essay on Man," and his translation of Homer--must +form a part of every wide course of reading. Their mechanical execution, +especially, is of the very finest. (6) _Thomson's Seasons_, a beautiful +poem of the second class. (7) _Butler's Analogy_, chiefly noted for its +proof of the existence of God from the fact that there is evidence of +design in Nature. + +Of these writers, Pope and Defoe are far the most important for us. + +We have, down to this time of 1740, out of a literature covering eleven +and a half centuries, recommended to the chief attention of the reader +ten great authors,--Chaucer and Spenser, Shakspeare and Bacon, Milton +and Taylor, Bunyan and Locke, Pope and Defoe. We now come to the TIME OF +NOVELISTS, HISTORIANS, AND SCIENTISTS, a period in the history of our +literature that is so prolific of great writers in all the vastly +multiplied departments of thought, that it is no longer possible to +particularize in the manner we have done in regard to the preceding +ages. A sufficient illustration has been given of the methods of judging +books and the results of their application. With the ample materials of +Table I. before him, the reader must now be left to make his own +judgments in regard to the relative merits of the books of the modern +period. We shall confine our remarks on this last time of English +literature to the recommendation of ten great authors to match the ten +great names of former times. In history, we shall name _Parkman_, the +greatest of American historians; in philosophy, _Herbert Spencer_, the +greatest name in the whole list of philosophers; in poetry, _Byron_ and +_Tennyson_, neither of them equal to Shakspeare and Milton, but standing +in the next file behind them; in fiction, _Scott_, _Eliot_, and +_Dickens_; in poetic humor, _Lowell_, the greatest of all names in this +department; and in general literature, _Carlyle_ and _Ruskin_, two of +the purest, wisest, and most forcible writers of all the past, and, +curiously enough, both of them very eccentric and very wordy,--a sort of +English double star, which will be counted in this list as a unit, in +order to crowd in _Emerson_, who belongs in this great company, and is +not by any means the least worthy member of it. One more writer there is +in this time greater than any we have named, except Spencer and Scott; +namely, the author of "The Origin of Species." _Darwin_ stands by the +side of Newton in the history of scientific thought; but, like his great +compeer, the essence of his book has come to be a part of modern thought +that floats in the air we breathe; and so his claims to being read are +less than those of authors who cannot be called so great when speaking +of intrinsic merit. + +Having introduced the greatest ten of old, and ten that may be deemed +the greatest of the new, in English letters, we shall pass to take a +bird's-eye view of what is best in Greece and Rome, France, Italy, and +Spain, and say a word of Persia, Germany, and Portugal. + + + + +THE GREATEST NAMES OF OTHER LITERATURES. + + +=Greece=, in her thirteen centuries of almost continuous literary +productiveness from Homer to Longus, gave the world its greatest epic +poet, _Homer_; the finest of lyric poets, _Pindar_; the prince of +orators, _Demosthenes_; aside from our own Bacon and Spencer, the +greatest philosophers of all the ages, _Plato_ and _Aristotle_; the most +noted of fabulists, _AEsop_; the most powerful writer of comedy, +_Aristophanes_ (Moliere, however, is much to be preferred for modern +reading, because of his fuller applicability to our life); and the three +greatest writers of pure tragedy, _AEschylus_, _Sophocles_, and +_Euripides_,--the first remarkable for his gloomy grandeur and gigantic, +dark, and terrible sublimity; the second for his sweet majesty and +pathos; and third for the power with which he paints men as they are in +real life. Euripides was a great favorite with Milton and Fox. + +To one who is not acquainted with these ten great Greeks, much of the +sweetest and grandest of life remains untasted and unknown. Begin with +Homer, Plato's "Phaedo" and "Republic," AEschylus' "Prometheus Bound," +Sophocles' "OEdipus," and Demosthenes' "On the Crown." + +A liberal reading must also include the Greek historians Herodotus, +Thucydides, and Xenophon. + +=Rome= taught the world the art of war, but was herself a pupil in the +halls of Grecian letters. Only three writers--_Plutarch_, _Marcus +Aurelius_ (who both wrote in Greek), and _Epictetus_--can claim our +attention in anything like an equal degree with the authors of Athens +named just above. Its literature as a whole is on a far lower plane than +that of Greece or England. A liberal education must include Virgil's +"AEneid," the national epic of Rome (which, however, must take its place +in our lives and hearts far after Homer, Shakspeare, Milton, Dante, and +Goethe), for its elegance and imagination; Horace, for his wit, grace, +sense, and inimitable witchery of phrase; Lucretius, for his depth of +meditation; Tacitus, for knowledge of our ancestors; Ovid and Catullus, +for their beauty of expression; Juvenal, for the keenness of his satire; +and Plautus and Terence, for their insight into the characters of men. +But these books should wait until at least the three first named in this +paragraph, with the ten Greek and twenty English writers spoken of in +the preceding paragraphs, have come to be familiar friends. + +=Italy=, in Chaucer's century, produced a noble literature. _Dante_ is +the Shakspeare of the Latin races. He stands among the first creators of +sublimity. AEschylus and Milton only can claim a place beside him. +_Petrarch_ takes lofty rank as a lyric poet, breathing the heart of +love. Boccaccio may be put with Chaucer. Ariosto and Tasso wrote the +finest epics of Italian poetry. A liberal education must neglect no one +of these. Every life should hold communion with the soul of Dante, and +get a taste at least of Petrarch. + +=France= has a glorious literature; in science, the best in the world. +In history, _Guizot_; in jurisprudence, in its widest sense, +_Montesquieu_; and in picturing the literary history of a nation, +_Taine_, stand unrivalled anywhere. Among essayists, _Montaigne_; among +writers of fiction, _Le Sage_, _Victor Hugo_, and _Balzac_; among the +dramatists, _Corneille_ the grand, _Racine_ the graceful and tender, and +_Moliere_ the creator of modern comedy; and among fabulists, the +inimitable poet of fable, _La Fontaine_, demand a share of our time with +the best. Descartes, Pascal, Rousseau, Voltaire, and Comte belong in +every liberal scheme of culture and to every student of philosophy. + +=Spain= gives us two most glorious names, _Cervantes_ and _Pedro +Calderon de la Barca_,--the former one of the world's very greatest +humorists, the brother spirit of Lowell; the latter, a princely +dramatist, the brother of Shakspeare. + +=Germany= boasts one summit on which the shadow of no other falls. +_Goethe's_ "Faust" and "Wilhelm Meister" and his minor poems cannot be +neglected if we want the best the world affords; _Schiller_, too, and +_Humboldt_, _Kant_ and _Heine_, _Helmholtz_ and _Haeckel_ must be read. +In science and history, the list of German greatness is a very long and +bright one. + +=Persia= calls us to read her magnificent astronomer-poet, _Omar +Khayyam_; her splendid epic, the _Shah Nameh of Firdusi_, the story of +whose labors, successes, and misfortunes is one of the most interesting +passages in the history of poetry; and taste at least of her extravagant +singer of the troubles and ecstasies of love, Hafiz. + +=Portugal= has given us _Camoens_, with his great poem the "Luciad." +=Denmark= brings us her charming _Andersen_; and =Russia= comes to us +with her Byronic Pushkin and her Schiller-hearted poet, Lermontoff, at +least for a glance. + +We have thus named as the chiefs, twenty authors in English, ten in +Greek, three of Rome, two of Italy, ten of France, two of Spain, seven +of Germany, three of Persia, one of Portugal, one of Denmark, and two of +Russia,--sixty-one in all,--which, if read in the manner indicated, will +impart a pretty thorough knowledge of the literary treasures of the +world. + + + + +THE FOUNTAINS OF NATIONAL LITERATURES. + + +In the early history of every great people there has grown up a body of +songs celebrating the heroism of their valiant warriors and the charms +of their beautiful women. These have, generation after generation, been +passed by word of mouth from one group of singers to their +successors,--by each new set of artists somewhat polished and +improved,--until they come to us as Homer's Iliad, the "Nibelungenlied" +of the Germans, the "Chronicle of the Cid" of the Spanish, the "Chansons +de Gestes," the "Romans," and the "Fabliaux" of the French, and +"Beowulf" and the "Morte D'Arthur" of English literature. These great +poems are the sources of a vast portion of what is best in subsequent +art. From them Virgil, Boccaccio, Chaucer, Rabelais, Moliere, +Shakspeare, Calderon, and a host of others have drawn their inspiration. +Malory has wrought the Arthurian songs into a mould of the purest +English. The closing books, in their quiet pathos and reserved +strength,--in their melody, winged words, and inimitable turns of +phrase,--rank with the best poetry of Europe. Southey called the "Cid" +the finest poem in the Spanish language, and Prescott said it was "the +most remarkable performance of the Middle Ages." This may be going +rather too far; but it certainly stands in the very front rank of +national poems. It has been translated by Lockhart in verse, by Southey +in prose, and there is a splendid fragment by Frere. Of the French early +epics, the "Chanson de Roland" and the "Roman du Renart" are the best. +The "Nibelungenlied" is the embodiment of the wild and tragic,--the +highest note of the barbaric drama of the North. That last terrific +scene in the Hall of Etzel will rest forever in the memory of every +reader of the book. Carlyle has given a sketch of the poem in his +"Miscellanies," vol. iii., and there exists a complete but prolix and +altogether miserable translation of the great epic, but we sadly need a +condensed version of the myth of "Siegfried" the brave, and "Chriemhild" +the beautiful, in the stirring prose of Malory or Southey. No reader +will regret a perusal of these songs of the people; it is a journey to +the head-waters of the literary Nile. + +The reader of this little book we hope has gained an inspiration--if it +were not his before--that, with a strong and steady step, will lead him +into all the paths of beauty and of truth. Each glorious emotion and +each glowing thought that comes to us, becomes a centre of new growth. +Each wave of pathos, humor, or sublimity that pulses through the heart +or passes to the brain, sets up vibrations that will never die, but +beautify the hours and years that follow to the end of life. These waves +that pass into the soul do not conceal their music in the heart, but +echo back upon the world in waves of kindred power; and these return +forever from the world into the heart that gave them forth. It is as on +the evening river, where the boatman bends his homeward oar. Each lusty +call that leaves his lips, or song, or bugle blast that slips the +tensioned bars, and wings the breeze, to teach its rhythm to the trees +that crown the rocky twilight steep o'er which the lengthening shadows +creep, returns and enters, softened, sweet, and clear, the waiting +portal of the sender's ear. The man who fills his being with the noblest +books, and pours their beauty out in word and deed, is like the merry +singers on the placid moonlit lake. Backward the ripples o'er the silver +sheet come on the echoes' winged feet; the hills and valleys all around +gather the gentle shower of sound, and pour the stream upon the boat in +which the happy singers float, chanting the hymns they loved of yore, +shipping the glistening wave-washed oar, to hear reflected from the +shore their every charmed note. Oh, loosen from _thy_ lip, my friend, no +tone thine ear would with remorseful sorrow hear, hurling it back from +far and near, the listening landscape oft repeat! Rather a melody send +to greet the mountains beyond the silver sheet. Life's the soul's song; +sing sweetly, then, that when the silence comes again, and ere it comes, +from every glen the echoes shall be sweet. + + + + +APPENDIX. + +THE BEST THOUGHTS OF GREAT MEN ABOUT BOOKS AND READING. + + + + +APPENDIX I. + + +THE BEST THOUGHTS OF GREAT MEN ABOUT BOOKS AND READING. + +=Addison=. "Books are the legacies that genius leaves to mankind." + +"Knowledge of books is a torch in the hands of one who is willing and +able to show those who are bewildered the way which leads to prosperity +and welfare." + +=Alcott, A. B=. "My favorite books have a personality and complexion as +distinctly drawn as if the author's portrait were framed into the +paragraphs, and smiled upon me as I read his illustrated pages." + +"Next to a friend's discourse, no morsel is more delicious than a ripe +book,--a book whose flavor is as refreshing at the thousandth tasting as +at the first." + +"Next to a personal introduction, a list of one's favorite authors were +the best admittance to his character and manners." + +"A good book perpetuates its fame from age to age, and makes eras in the +lives of its readers." + +=Atkinson, W. P=. "Who can over-estimate the value of good books,--those +ships of thought, as Bacon so finely calls them, voyaging through the +sea of time, and carrying their precious freight so safely from +generation to generation?" + +=Arnott, Dr=. "Books,--the miracle of all possessions, more wonderful +than the wishing-cap of the Arabian tales; for they transport instantly, +not only to all places, but to all times." + +=Bacon=. "Studies serve for pastimes, for ornaments, for abilities. +Their chief use for pastimes is in privateness and retiring; for +ornaments, in discourse; and for ability, in judgment.... To spend too +much time in them is sloth; to use them too much for ornament is +affectation; to make judgment wholly by their rules is the humor of a +scholar. They perfect nature, and are themselves perfected by +experience. Crafty men contemn them, wise men use them, simple men +admire them; for they teach not their own use, but that there is a +wisdom without them and above them won by observation. Read not to +contradict, nor to believe, but to weigh and consider.... Reading maketh +a full man, conference a ready, and writing an exact man. Therefore, if +a man write little, he had need of a great memory; if he confer little, +he hath need of a present wit; and if he read little, he had need have +much cunning to seem to know that he doth not know. Histories make men +wise, poets witty, the mathematicians subtile, natural philosophy deep, +moral grave, logic and rhetoric able to contend." + +=Barrow=. "He who loveth a book will never want a faithful friend, a +wholesome counsellor, a cheerful companion, or an effectual comforter." + +=Bartholin=. "Without books God is silent, justice dormant, natural +science at a stand, philosophy lame, letters dumb, and all things +involved in Cimmerian darkness." + +=Beaconsfield, Lord=. "The idea that human happiness is dependent on the +cultivation of the mind and on the discovery of truth is, next to the +conviction of our immortality, the idea the most full of consolation to +man; for the cultivation of the mind has no limits, and truth is the +only thing that is eternal." + +"Knowledge is like the mystic ladder in the patriarch's dream. Its base +rests on the primeval earth, its crest is lost in the shadowy splendor +of the empyrean; while the great authors, who for traditionary ages have +held the chain of science and philosophy, of poesy and erudition, are +the angels ascending and descending the sacred scale, and maintaining, +as it were, the communication between man and heaven." + +=Beecher, Henry Ward=. "A book is good company. It seems to enter the +memory, and to hover in a silvery transformation there until the outward +book is but a body, and its soul and spirit are flown to you, and +possess your memory like a spirit." + +"Books are the windows through which the soul looks out. A home without +books is like a room without windows...." + +=Bright, John=. "What is a great love of books? It is something like a +personal introduction to the great and good men of all past time." + +=Brooks, Phillips=. "Is it not a new England for a child to be born in +since Shakspeare gathered up the centuries and told the story of +humanity up to his time? Will not Carlyle and Tennyson make the man who +begins to live from them the 'heir of all ages' which have distilled +their richness into the books of the sage and the singer of the +nineteenth century?" + +=Browning, Elizabeth Barrett=. + + "When we gloriously forget ourselves and plunge + Soul forward, headlong into a book's profound, + Impassioned for its beauty, and salt of truth-- + 'Tis then we get the right good from a book." + +=Bruyere=. "When a book raises your spirit, and inspires you with noble +and courageous feelings, seek for no other rule to judge the event by; +it is good, and made by a good workman." + +=Bury, Richard de=. "You, O Books! are golden urns in which manna is +laid up; rocks flowing with honey, or rather, indeed, honeycombs; udders +most copiously yielding the milk of life, store-rooms ever full; the +four-streamed river of Paradise, where the human mind is fed, and the +arid intellect moistened and watered; fruitful olives, vines of Engaddi, +fig-trees knowing no sterility; burning lamps to be ever held in the +hand." + +"In books we find the dead, as it were, living.... The truth written in +a book ... enters the chamber of intellect, reposes itself upon the +couch of memory, and there congenerates the eternal truth of the mind." + +=Carlyle=. "Evermore is _Wisdom_ the highest of conquests to every son +of Adam,--nay, in a large sense, the one conquest; and the precept to +every one of us is ever, 'Above all thy gettings get understanding.'" + +"Of all the things which man can do or make here below, by far the most +momentous, wonderful, and worthy are the things we call books." + +"All that mankind has done, thought, gained, and been, is lying as in +magic preservation in the pages of books." + +=Channing, Dr. Wm. E=. "God be thanked for books! They are the voices of +the distant and the dead, and make us heirs of the spiritual life of +past ages. Books are the true levellers. They give to all who will +faithfully use them the society, the spiritual presence, of the best and +greatest of our race. No matter how poor I am; no matter though the +prosperous of my own time will not enter my obscure dwelling: if the +sacred writers will enter and take up their abode under my roof,--if +Milton will cross my threshold to sing to me of Paradise; and +Shakspeare, to open to me the worlds of imagination and the workings of +the human heart; and Franklin, to enrich me with his practical +wisdom,--I shall not pine for want of intellectual companionship, and I +may become a cultivated man, though excluded from what is called the +best society in the place where I live." + +=Chaucer=. + + "And as for me, though that I know but lyte[5] + On bokes for to rede I me delyte, + And to them give I (feyth[6]) and ful credence, + And in myn herte have them in reverence + So hertily that there is pastime noon,[7] + That from my bokes maketh me to goon + But yt be seldom on the holy day, + Save, certeynly, whan that the monethe of May + Is comen, and I here the foules synge, + And that the floures gynnen for to sprynge; + Farewell my boke, and my devocioun." + +[5] Little. + +[6] Faith. + +[7] None. + +=Cicero=. "Studies are the aliment of youth, the comfort of old age, an +adornment of prosperity, a refuge and a solace in adversity, and a +delight in our home." + +=Clarke, James Freeman=. "When I consider what some books have done for +the world, and what they are doing,--how they keep up our hope, awaken +new courage and faith, give an ideal life to those whose homes are hard +and cold, bind together distant ages and foreign lands, create new +worlds of beauty, bring down truths from Heaven,--I give eternal +blessings for this gift, and pray that we may use it aright, and abuse +it not." + +=Coleridge=. "Some readers are like the hour-glass. Their reading is as +the sand; it runs in and runs out, but leaves not a vestige behind. +Some, like a sponge, which imbibes everything, and returns it in the +same state, only a little dirtier. Some, like a jelly-bag, which allows +all that is pure to pass away, and retains only the refuse and dregs. +The fourth class may be compared to the slave of Golconda, who, casting +away all that is worthless, preserves only the pure gems." + +=Collyer, Robert=. "Do you want to know how I manage to talk to you in +this simple Saxon? I will tell you. I read Bunyan, Crusoe, and Goldsmith +when I was a boy, morning, noon, and night; all the rest was task work. +These were my delight, with the stories in the Bible, and with +Shakspeare, when at last the mighty master came within our doors. These +were like a well of pure water; and this is the first step I seem to +have taken of my own free will toward the pulpit. From the days when we +used to spell out Crusoe and old Bunyan, there had grown up in me a +devouring hunger to read books.... I could not go home for the Christmas +of 1839, and was feeling very sad about it all, for I was only a boy; +and sitting by the fire, an old farmer came in and said, 'I notice +thou's fond o' reading, so I brought thee summat to read.' It was +Irving's 'Sketch Book.' I had never heard of the work. I went at it, and +was 'as them that dream.' No such delight had touched me since the old +days of Crusoe." + +=Curtis, G. W=. "Books are the ever-burning lamps of accumulated +wisdom." + +=De Quincey=. "Every one owes to the impassioned books he has read many +a thousand more of emotions than he can consciously trace back to +them.... A great scholar depends not simply on an infinite memory, but +also on an infinite and electrical power of combination,--bringing +together from the four winds, like the Angel of the Resurrection, what +else were dust from dead men's bones into the unity of breathing life." + +=Diodorus=. "Books are the medicine of the mind." + +=Emerson=. "The profit of books is according to the sensibility of the +reader." + +=Erasmus=. "A little before you go to sleep read something that is +exquisite and worth remembering, and contemplate upon it till you fall +asleep; and when you awake in the morning call yourself to an account +for it." + +=Farrar, Canon=. "If all the books of the world were in a blaze, the +first twelve which I should snatch out of the flames would be the Bible, +the Imitation of Christ, Homer, AEschylus, Thucydides, Tacitus, Virgil, +Marcus Aurelius, Dante, Shakspeare, Milton, Wordsworth. Of living +writers I would save, first, the works of Tennyson, Browning, and +Ruskin." + +=Fenelon=. "If the crowns of all the kingdoms of the empire were laid +down at my feet in exchange for my books and my love of reading, I would +spurn them all." + +=Freeman, E. A=. (the historian). "I feel myself quite unable to draw up +a list (of the best books), as I could not trust my own judgment on any +matters not bearing on my special studies, and I should be doubtless +tempted to give too great prominence to them." + +=Fuller, Thomas=. "It is thought and digestion which make books +serviceable, and give health and vigor to the mind." + +=Gibbon=. "A taste for books is the pleasure and glory of my life. I +would not exchange it for the glory of the Indies." + +=Gladstone=. "When I was a boy I used to be fond of looking into a +bookseller's shop; but there was nothing to be seen there that was +accessible to the working-man of that day. Take a Shakspeare, for +example. I remember very well that I gave L2 16_s._ 0_d._ for my first +copy; but you can get any one of Shakspeare's Plays for seven cents. +Those books are accessible now which were formerly quite inaccessible. +We may be told that you want amusement, but that does not include +improvement. There are a set of worthless books written now and at times +which you should avoid, which profess to give amusement; but in reading +the works of such authors as Shakspeare and Scott there is the greatest +possible amusement in its best form. Do you suppose when you see men +engaged in study that they dislike it? No!... I want you to understand +that multitudes of books are constantly being prepared and placed within +reach of the population at large, for the most part executed by writers +of a high stamp, having subjects of the greatest interest, and which +enable you, at a moderate price, not to get cheap literature which is +secondary in its quality, but to go straight into the very heart,--if I +may so say, into the sanctuary of the temple of literature,--and become +acquainted with the greatest and best works that men of our country have +produced." + +=Godwin, William=. "It is impossible that we can be much accustomed to +such companions without attaining some resemblance to them." + +=Goldsmith=. "An author may be considered as a merciful substitute to +the legislature. He acts not by punishing crimes, but by preventing +them." + +=Hale, Sir Matthew=. "Read the Bible reverently and attentively, set +your heart upon it, and lay it up in your memory, and make it the +direction of your life; it will make you a wise and good man." + +=Hamerton, P. H=. "The art of reading is to skip judiciously." + +=Harrison, Frederic=. "The best authors are never dark horses. The world +has long ago closed the great assize of letters, and judged the first +places everywhere." + +"The reading of great books is usually an acquired faculty, not a +natural gift. If you have not got the faculty, seek for it with all your +might." + +"Of Walter Scott one need as little speak as of Shakspeare. He belongs +to mankind,--to every age and race; and he certainly must be counted as +in the first line of the great creative minds of the world. His unique +glory is to have definitely succeeded in the ideal reproduction of +historical types, so as to preserve at once beauty, life, and truth,--a +task which neither Ariosto and Tasso, nor Corneille and Racine, nor +Alfieri, nor Goethe, nor Schiller,--no, nor even Shakspeare himself, +entirely achieved.... In brilliancy of conception, in wealth of +character, in dramatic art, in glow and harmony of color, Scott put +forth all the powers of a master poet.... The genius of Scott has raised +up a school of historical romance; and though the best work of +Chateaubriand, Manzoni, and Bulwer may take rank as true art, the +endless crowd of inferior imitations are nothing but a weariness to the +flesh.... Scott is a perfect library in himself.... The poetic beauty of +Scott's creations is almost the least of his great qualities. It is the +universality of his sympathy that is so truly great, the justice of his +estimates, the insight into the spirit of each age, his intense +absorption of self in the vast epic of human civilization." + +=Hazlitt, William=. "Books let us into the souls of men, and lay open to +us the secrets of our own." + +=Heinsius=. "I no sooner come into the library but I bolt the door to +me, excluding Lust, Ambition, Avarice, and all such vices, whose nurse +is Idleness, the Mother of Ignorance and Melancholy. In the very lap of +eternity, among so many divine souls, I take my seat with so lofty a +spirit and sweet content, that I pity all that know not this happiness." + +=Herbert, George=. "This _book of stars_ [the Bible] lights to eternal +bliss." + +=Herschel, Sir J=. "Give a man this taste [for good books] and the means +of gratifying it, and you can hardly fail of making a happy man. You +place him in contact with the best society in every period of +history,--with the wisest, the wittiest, the tenderest, the bravest, and +the purest characters who have adorned humanity. You make him a denizen +of all nations, a contemporary of all ages." + +=Hillard, George S=. "Here we have immortal flowers of poetry, wet with +Castilian dew, and the golden fruit of Wisdom that had long ripened on +the bough.... We should any of us esteem it a great privilege to pass an +evening with Shakspeare or Bacon.... We may be sure that Shakspeare +never out-talked his 'Hamlet,' nor Bacon his 'Essays.'... To the gentle +hearted youth, far from his home, in the midst of a pitiless city, +'homeless among a thousand homes,' the approach of evening brings with +it an aching sense of loneliness and desolation. In this mood his best +impulses become a snare to him; and he is led astray because he is +social, affectionate, sympathetic, and warm-hearted. The hours from +sunset to bedtime are his hours of peril. Let me say to such young men +that books are the friends of the friendless, and that a library is the +home of the homeless." + +=Holmes, O. W=. "Books are the 'negative' pictures of thought; and the +more sensitive the mind that receives the images, the more nicely the +finest lines are reproduced." + +=Houghton, Lord=. "It [a book] is a portion of the eternal mind, caught +in its process through the world, stamped in an instant, and preserved +for eternity." + +=Irving=. "The scholar only knows how dear these silent yet eloquent +companions of pure thoughts and innocent hours become in the season of +adversity." + +=Johnson, Dr=. "No man should consider so highly of himself as to think +he can receive but little light from books, nor so meanly as to believe +he can discover nothing but what is to be learned from them." + +=Jonson, Ben=. "A prince without letters is a pilot without eyes." + +=King, Thomas Starr=. "By cultivating an interest in a few good books, +which contain the result of the toil or the quintessence of the genius +of some of the most gifted thinkers of the world, we need not live on +the marsh and in the mists; the slopes and the summits invite us." + +=Kingsley, Charles=. "Except a living man, there is nothing more +wonderful than a book!--a message to us from the dead, from human souls +whom we never saw, who lived, perhaps, thousands of miles away; and yet +these, on those little sheets of paper, speak to us, amuse us, vivify +us, teach us, comfort us, open their hearts to us as to brothers." + +=Lamb, Charles=. "Milton almost requires a solemn service of music to be +played before you enter upon him. But he brings his music, to which who +listens had need bring docile thoughts and purged ears." + +=Landor, Walter Savage=. "The writings of the wise are the only riches +our posterity cannot squander." + +=Langford=. "Strong as man and tender as woman, they welcome you in +every mood, and never turn from you in distress." + +=Lowell=. "Have you ever rightly considered what the mere ability to +read means? That it is the key that admits us to the whole world of +thought and fancy and imagination, to the company of saint and sage, of +the wisest and the wittiest at their wisest and wittiest moments? That +it enables us to see with the keenest eyes, hear with the finest ears, +and listen to the sweetest voices of all time?... One is sometimes asked +by young people to recommend a course of reading. My advice would be +that they should confine themselves to the supreme books in whatever +literature, or, still better, to choose some one great author, and make +themselves thoroughly familiar with him." + +=Luther=. "To read many books produceth confusion, rather than learning, +like as those who dwell everywhere are not anywhere at home." + +=Lyly, John=. "Far more seemly were it ... to have thy study full of +books than thy purse full of money." + +=Lytton, Lord=. + + "Laws die, books never." + + "Beneath the rule of men entirely great + The pen is mightier than the sword." + + "Ye ever-living and imperial Souls, + Who rule us from the page in which ye breathe." + + "The Wise + (Minstrel or Sage) _out_ of their books are clay; + But _in_ their books, as from their graves, they rise, + Angels--that, side by side, upon our way, + Walk with and warn us!" + + "We call some books immortal! _Do they live?_ + If so, believe me, TIME hath made them pure. + In Books the veriest wicked rest in peace,-- + God wills that nothing evil should endure; + The grosser parts fly off and leave the whole, + As the dust leaves the disembodied soul!" + +=Macaulay=. "A great writer is the friend and benefactor of his +readers." + +=Milton=. "As good almost kill a man as kill a good book. Who kills a +man kills a reasonable creature, God's image; but he who destroys a good +book kills reason itself,--kills the image of God, as it were, in the +eye. Many a man lives a burden to the earth; but a good book is the +precious life-blood of a master spirit, embalmed and treasured up on +purpose to a life beyond." + +=Montaigne=. "To divert myself from a troublesome fancy, 'tis but to run +to my books." + +"As to what concerns my other reading, that mixes a little more profit +with the pleasure, and from whence I learn how to marshal my opinions +and qualities, the books that serve me to this purpose are Plutarch and +Seneca,--both of which have this great convenience suited to my humor, +that the knowledge I seek is discoursed in loose pieces that do not +engage me in any great trouble of reading long, of which I am +impatient.... Plutarch is frank throughout. Seneca abounds with brisk +touches and sallies. Plutarch, with things that heat and move you more; +this contents and pays you better. As to Cicero, those of his works that +are most useful to my design are they that treat of philosophy, +especially moral; but boldly to confess the truth, his way of writing, +and that of all other long-winded authors, appears to me very tedious." + +=Morley, John=. "The consolation of reading is not futile nor imaginary. +It is no chimera of the recluse or the bookworm, but a potent reality. +As a stimulus to flagging energies, as an inspirer of lofty aim, +literature stands unrivalled." + +=Morris, William=. "The greater part of the Latins I should call _sham_ +classics. I suppose that they have some good literary qualities; but I +cannot help thinking that it is difficult to find out how much. I +suspect superstition and authority have influenced our estimate of them +till it has become a mere matter of convention. Of modern fiction, I +should like to say here that I yield to no one, not even Ruskin, in my +love and admiration for Scott; also that, to my mind, of the novelists +of our generation, Dickens is immeasurably ahead." + +=Mueller, Max=. "I know few books, if any, which I should call good from +beginning to end. Take the greatest poet of antiquity, and if I am to +speak the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, I must say +that there are long passages, even in Homer, which seem to me extremely +tedious." + +=Parker, Theodore=. "What a joy is there in a good book, writ by some +great master of thought, who breaks into beauty, as in summer the meadow +into grass and dandelions and violets, with geraniums and manifold +sweetness.... The books which help you most are those which make you +think most.... A great book ... is a ship of thought deep freighted with +thought, with beauty too. It sails the ocean, driven by the winds of +heaven, breaking the level sea of life into beauty where it goes, +leaving behind it a train of sparkling loveliness, widening as the ship +goes on. And what treasures it brings to every land, scattering the +seeds of truth, justice, love, and piety, to bless the world in ages yet +to come." + +=Peacham, Henry=. "To desire to have many books and never to use them, +is like a child that will have a candle burning by him all the while he +is sleeping." + +=Petrarch=. "I have friends whose society is extremely agreeable to me; +they are of all ages and of every country. They have distinguished +themselves both in the cabinet and in the field, and obtained high +honors for their knowledge of the sciences. It is easy to gain access to +them, for they are always at my service; and I admit them to my company +and dismiss them from it whenever I please. They are never troublesome, +but immediately answer every question I ask them. Some relate to me the +events of past ages, while others reveal to me the secrets of Nature. +Some teach me how to live, and others how to die. Some, by their +vivacity, drive away my cares and exhilarate my spirits; while others +give fortitude to my mind, and teach me the important lesson how to +restrain my desires and to depend wholly on myself. They open to me, in +short, the various avenues of all the arts and sciences, and upon their +information I safely rely in all emergencies." + +=Phelps, E. J=. (United States Minister to the Court of St. James). "I +cannot think the _finis et fructus_ of liberal reading is reached by him +who has not obtained in the best writings of our English tongue the +generous acquaintance that ripens into affection. If he must stint +himself, let him save elsewhere." + +=Plato=. "Books are the immortal sons deifying their sires." + +=Plutarch=. "We ought to regard books as we do sweetmeats,--not wholly +to aim at the pleasantest, but chiefly to respect the wholesomest." + +=Potter, Dr=. "It is nearly an axiom that people will not be better than +the books they read." + +=Raleigh, Walter=. "We may gather out of history a policy no less wise +than eternal, by the comparison and application of other men's +fore-passed miseries with our own like errors and ill-deservings." + +=Richardson, C. F=. "No book, indeed, is of universal value and +appropriateness.... Here, as in every other question involved in the +choice of books, the golden key to knowledge, a key that will only fit +its own proper doors, is _purpose_." + +=Ruskin=. "All books are divisible into two classes,--the books of the +hour and the books of all time." Books of the hour, though useful, are, +"strictly speaking, not books at all, but merely letters or newspapers +in good print," and should not be allowed "to usurp the place of true +books." + +"Of all the plagues that afflict mortality, the venom of a bad book to +weak people, and the charms of a foolish one to simple people, are +without question the deadliest; and they are so far from being redeemed +by the too imperfect work of the best writers, that I never would wish +to see a child taught to read at all, unless the other conditions of its +education were alike gentle and judicious." + +Ruskin says a well-trained man should know the literature of his own +country and half a dozen classics thoroughly; but unless he wishes to +travel, the language and literature of modern Europe and of the East are +unnecessary. To read fast any book worth reading is folly. Ruskin would +not have us read Grote's "History of Greece," for any one could write it +if "he had the vanity to waste his time;" "Confessions of Saint +Augustine," for it is not good to think so much about ourselves; John +Stuart Mill, for his day is over; Charles Kingsley, for his sentiment is +false, his tragedy frightful. Hypatia is the most ghastly story in +Christian tradition, and should forever have been left in silence; +Darwin, for we should know what _we are_, not what _our embryo was_, or +_our skeleton will be_; Gibbon, for we should study the growth and +standing of things, not the Decline and Fall (moreover, he wrote the +worst English ever written by an educated Englishmen); Voltaire, for his +work is to good literature what nitric acid is to wine, and sulphuretted +hydrogen to air. + +Ruskin also crosses out Marcus Aurelius, Confucius, Aristotle (except +his "Politics"), Mahomet, Saint Augustine, Thomas a Kempis, Pascal, +Spinoza, Butler, Keble, Lucretius, the Nibelungenlied, Malory's Morte +D'Arthur, Firdusi, the Mahabharata, and Ramayana, the Sheking, +Sophocles, and Euripides, Hume, Adam Smith, Locke, Descartes, Berkeley, +Lewes, Southey, Longfellow, Swift, Macaulay, Emerson, Goethe, Thackeray, +Kingsley, George Eliot, and Bulwer. + +His especial favorites are Scott, Carlyle, Plato, and Dickens. AEschylus, +Taylor, Bunyan, Bacon, Shakspeare, Milton, Dante, Spenser, Wordsworth, +Pope, Goldsmith, Defoe, Boswell, Burke, Addison, Montaigne, Moliere, +Sheridan, AEsop, Demosthenes, Plutarch, Horace, Cicero, Homer, Hesiod, +Virgil, Aristophanes, Herodotus, Xenophon, Thucydides, and Tacitus, he +condescends to admit as proper to be read. + +=Schopenhauer=. "Recollect that he who writes for fools finds an +enormous audience." + +=Seneca=. "If you devote your time to study, you will avoid all the +irksomeness of this life." + +"It does not matter how many, but how good, books you have." + +"Leisure without study is death, and the grave of a living man." + +=Shakspeare=. "A book! oh, rare one! be not, as in this fangled world, a +garment nobler than it covers." + +"My library was dukedom large enough." + +=Sidney, Sir Philip=. "Nature never set forth the earth in so rich +tapestry as divers poets have done." + +=Smiles, Sam=. "Men often discover their affinity to each other by the +mutual love they have for a book." + +=Smith, Alexander=. "We read books not so much for what they say as for +what they suggest." + +=Socrates=. "Employ your time in improving yourselves by other men's +documents; so shall you come easily by what others have labored hard to +win." + +=Solomon=. "He that walketh with wise men shall be wise." + +=Spencer, Herbert=. "My reading has been much more in the direction of +science than in the direction of general literature; and of such works +in general literature as I have looked into, I know comparatively +little, being an impatient reader, and usually soon satisfied." + +=Stanley, Henry M=. "I carried [across Africa] a great many +books,--three loads, or about one hundred and eighty pounds' weight; but +as my men lessened in numbers,--stricken by famine, fighting, and +sickness,--one by one they were reluctantly thrown away, until finally, +when less than three hundred miles from the Atlantic, I possessed only +the Bible, Shakspeare, Carlyle's Sartor Resartus, Norie's Navigation, +and the Nautical Almanac for 1877. Poor Shakspeare was afterwards burned +by demand of the foolish people of Zinga. At Bonea, Carlyle and Norie +and the Nautical Almanac were pitched away, and I had only the old Bible +left." + +=Swinburne, A. C=. "It would be superfluous for any educated Englishman +to say that he does not question the pre-eminence of such names as Bacon +and Darwin." + +=Taylor, Bayard=. "Not many, but good books." + +=Thoreau=. "Books that are books are all that you want, and there are +but half a dozen in any thousand." + +=Trollope, Anthony=. "The habit of reading is the only enjoyment I know +in which there is no alloy; it lasts when all other pleasures fade." + +=Waller, Sir William=. "In my study I am sure to converse with none but +wise men; but abroad, it is impossible for me to avoid the society of +fools." + +=Whateley, Richard=. "If, in reading books, a man does not choose +wisely, at any rate he has the chance offered him of doing so." + +=Whipple, Edwin P=. "Books,--lighthouses erected in the sea of time." + +=White, Andrew D=., President of Cornell, speaking of Scott, says: +"Never was there a more healthful and health-ministering literature than +that which he gave to the world. To go back to it from Flaubert and +Daudet and Tolstoi is like listening to the song of the lark after the +shrieking passion of the midnight pianoforte; nay, it is like coming out +of the glare and heat and reeking vapor of a palace ball into a grove in +the first light and music and breezes of the morning.... So far from +stimulating an unhealthy taste, the enjoyment of this fiction created +distinctly a taste for what is usually called 'solid reading,' and +especially a love for that historical reading and study which has been a +leading inspiration and solace of a busy life." + +=Whitman, Walt=. "For us, along the great highways of time, those +monuments stand,--those forms of majesty and beauty. For us those +beacons burn through all the night." + +=Wolseley, Gen. Lord=. "During the mutiny and China war I carried a +Testament, two volumes of Shakspeare that contained his best plays; and +since then, when in the field, I have always carried a Book of Common +Prayer, Thomas a Kempis, Soldier's Pocket Book, depending on a +well-organized postal service to supply me weekly with plenty of +newspapers." + +=Wordsworth=. "These hoards of wealth you can unlock at will." + + + + +APPENDIX II. + +BOOKS FOR SUPPLEMENTARY READING. + + +BOYS' LATIN SCHOOL. + +Moss' First Greek Reader. Tomlinson's Latin for Sight Reading. Walford's +Extracts from Cicero (Part I.). Jackson's Manual of Astronomical +Geography. Ritchie's Fabulae Faciles. + + +GIRLS' LATIN SCHOOL. + +Sheldon's Greek and Roman History. Ritchie's Fabulae Faciles. + + +LATIN AND HIGH SCHOOLS. + +Books required for admission to Harvard College. + +A list of suitable books, carefully prepared under the direction of the +Committee on Text-Books, is presented to the Board for adoption. After +this list has been adopted, a master may make requisition on the +Committee on Supplies for one set (of not more than thirty-five copies) +of a book. This committee, after the approval of the Committee on +Text-Books has been obtained, will purchase the books and send them to +the school for permanent use. No book will be purchased until called for +in the manner described. + +_English._--Barnes's History of Ancient Peoples; Church's Stories from +the East, from Herodotus; Church's Story of the Persian War, from +Herodotus; Church's Stories from the Greek Tragedians; Kingsley's Greek +Heroes; Abbott's Lives of Cyrus and Alexander; Froude's Caesar; +Forsythe's Life of Cicero; Ware's Aurelian; Cox's Crusades; Masson's +Abridgment of Guizot's History of France; Scott's Abbot; Scott's +Monastery; Scott's Talisman; Scott's Quentin Durward; Scott's Marmion +(Rolfe's Student series); Scott's Lay of the Last Minstrel (Rolfe's +Student series); Kingsley's Hereward; Kingsley's Westward Ho; Melville's +Holmby House; Macaulay's Essay on Frederic; Macaulay's Essay on Clive; +Macaulay's Essay on Dr. Johnson; Motley's Essay on Peter the Great; +Thackeray's Henry Esmond; Thackeray's The Virginians; Thackeray's The +Four Georges; Dickens' Tale of Two Cities; George Eliot's Silas Marner; +Irving's Alhambra; Irving's Bracebridge Hall; Miss Buckley's Life and +her Children; Miss Buckley's Winners in Life's Race; Bulfinch's Age of +Fable (revised edition); The Boy's Froissart; Ballads and Lyrics; Vicar +of Wakefield; Essays of Elia; Tennyson's Selected Poems (Rolfe's Student +series); Tennyson's Elaine; Tennyson's In Memoriam; Byron's Prisoner of +Chillon; Goldsmith's Deserted Village; Goldsmith's Traveller; +Coleridge's Ancient Mariner; Wordsworth's Excursion; Monroe's Sixth +Reader; Webster--Section 2 [Annotated English Classics, Ginn & Co.]; +Wordsworth's Poems--Section 2 [Annotated English Classics, Ginn & Co.]; +Sheldon's Greek and Roman History; Monroe's Fifth Reader (old edition). + +_French._--St. German's Pour une Epingle; Achard's Le Clos Pommier; +Feuillet's Roman d'un Homme Pauvre; Dumas's La Tulipe Noire; Vigny's +Cinq Mars; Lacombe's La Petite Histoire du Peuple Francais. + +_German._--Andersen's Maerchen; Simmondson's Balladenbuch; Krurnmacher's +Parabeln; Goethe's Iphigenie auf Tauris; Goethe's Prose; Schiller's +Jungfrau von Orleans; Schiller's Prose; Boisen's German Prose; +Bernhardt's Novellen Bibliothek. + + +GRAMMAR SCHOOLS. + +CLASS VI. (_about Ten Years old_). + +Seven Little Sisters, first half-year. Each and All, second half-year. +This is simple, interesting class-reading, which will aid the geography, +and furnish material for both oral and written language lessons. +Hooker's Child's Book of Nature; those chapters of Parts I. and II., +which will supplement properly the observational studies of plants and +animals, and those chapters of Part III., on air, water, and heat, which +will aid the instruction in Geography. Our World Reader, NO. 1. Our +World, NO. 1; the reading to be kept parallel with the instruction in +Geography through the year. Poetry for Children; selections appropriate +for reading and recitation. + + +CLASS V. (_about Eleven Years old_). + +Stories of American History; for practice in reading at sight, and for +material for language lessons. Guyot's Introduction to Geography; the +reading to be kept parallel with the instruction in Geography through +the year. Hooker's Child's Book of Nature, and Poetry for Children; as +in Class VI. Robinson Crusoe. + + +CLASS IV. (_about Twelve Years old_). + +The Wonder Book and Tanglewood Tales, as collateral to the oral +instruction in Stories in Mythology. Hooker's Child's Book of Nature, +and Poetry for Children; as in Classes VI. and V. Readings from Nature's +Book (revised edition). Robinson Crusoe. + + +CLASS III. (_about Thirteen Years old_). + +Hooker's Child's Book of Nature; as supplementary to oral lessons. +American Poems, with Biographical Sketches and Notes; appropriate +selections therefrom. + + +CLASS II. (_about Fourteen Years old_). + +Selections from American authors; as in part collateral to the United +States History. American Poems; appropriate selections therefrom. + + +CLASS I. (_about Fifteen Years old_). + +Selections from American authors. Early England--Harper's Half-Hour +Series, Nos. 6 and 14. American Poems; selections therefrom. Green's +Readings from English History. Phillips's Historical Readers, Nos. 1, 2, +3, 4. + + +ANY CLASS. + +Six Stories from the Arabian Nights. Holmes' and Longfellow Leaflets, +published by Houghton, Mifflin, & Co. Book of Golden Deeds. Jackson's +Manual of Astronomical Geography. Parkman Leaflets, published by Little, +Brown, & Co. + + +CIRCULATING LIBRARY FOR GRAMMAR SCHOOLS. + +Zigzag Journeys in Europe (revised edition); Zigzag Journeys in the +Orient (revised edition); Scudder's Boston Town; Drake's The Making of +New England; Towle's Pizarro; Towle's Vasco da Gama; Towle's Magellan; +Fairy Land of Science; Hawthorne's True Stories; Higginson's Young +Folks' Book of Explorers; Scott's Ivanhoe; Longfellow's Evangeline; +Little Folks in Feathers and Fur; What Mr. Darwin saw in his Voyage +around the World in the Ship Beagle; Muloch's A Noble Life; M. E. +Dodge's Hans Brinker; Lambert's Robinson Crusoe; Lamb's Tales from +Shakspeare (revised edition, Houghton, Mifflin, & Co.); Abbott's Jonas +on a Farm in Summer; Smiles' Robert Dick, Geologist and Botanist; Eyes +Right; Alcott's Little Men; Alcott's Little Women; Stoddard's Dab +Kinzer; Scott's Kenilworth; Tom Brown's School-Days at Rugby; Abbott's +Mary Queen of Scots; Abbott's Charles I.; Taylor's Boys of Other +Countries; How Marjory Helped; Little People in Asia; Gilman's Magna +Charta Stories; Overhead; Yonge's Lances of Linwood; Memory Gems; +Geographical Plays; Ten Boys Who Lived on the Road from Long Ago till +Now; Scott's Tales of a Grandfather; Hayes' Cast Away in the Cold; Sharp +Eyes and other Papers; Lessons on Practical Subjects; Stories of Mother +Nature; Play Days; Jackanapes; Children's Stories of American Progress; +Little Lord Fauntleroy; Gilman's Historical Readers (three volumes); +Pilgrims and Puritans; The Patriotic Reader; Ballou's Footprints of +Travel. + + +PRIMARY SCHOOLS. +PERMANENT SUPPLEMENTARY READING. + +Easy Steps for Little Feet. Popular Tales (first and second series.) +Parker & Marvel's Supplementary Reading (first book). Tweed's Graded +Supplementary Reading. Modern Series Primary Reading, Part I. An +Illustrated Primer (D. C. Heath & Co.). + + +CIRCULATING SUPPLEMENTARY READING. + +_First Readers._--Monroe's, Monroe's Advanced First, Appleton's, +Harvey's, Eclectic, Sheldon's, Barnes' New National, Sheldon & Co.'s, +Harper's, The Nursery Primer, Parker & Marvel's Supplementary Reading +(second book), Wood's First Natural History Reader, Stickney's First +Reader, Stickney's First Reader (new edition), McGuffey's Alternate +First Reader. + +_Second Readers._--Monroe's, Monroe's Advanced Second, Appleton's, +Harvey's, Lippincott's, Sheldon & Co.'s, Barnes' New National, +Analytical, Macmillan's, Swinton's, New Normal, Stickney's Second Reader +(new edition), Harper's Easy Book (published by Shorey), Turner's +Stories for Young Children, Our Little Ones, Golden Book of Choice +Reading, When I was a Little Girl, Johonnot's Friends in Feathers and +Fur, Woodward's Number Stories, Wood's Second Natural History Reader, +Young Folks' Library, Nos. 5 and 6 (Silver, Burdett, & Co.). + + + + +SUPPLEMENTARY READING IN ONE BUILDING, NOVEMBER, 1890. + + +GRAMMAR SCHOOL. + + +CLASS I. (_about Fifteen Years old_). + +Longfellow's Poems. + + +CLASS II. (_about Fourteen Years old_). + +Hans Brinker. Mary Mapes Dodge. + +How Marjory Helped. M. Caroll. + +Magellan's Voyages. + +Ivanhoe. Scott. + + +CLASS III. (_about Thirteen Years old_). + +American Explorers. Higginson. + + +CLASS IV. (_about Twelve Years old_). + +Playdays. Sarah O. Jewett. + +Water Babies. Kingsley. + +Physiology. + +A Child's Book of Nature. W. Hooker. + + +CLASS V. (_about Eleven Years old_). + +Stories of American History. N. S. Dodge. + +Guyot's Geography. + + +CLASS VI. (_about Ten Years old_). + +The Arabian Nights' Entertainments. Six stories by Samuel Eliot. + +Our World. Mary L. Hall. + +The Seven Little Sisters. Jane Andrews. + +Each and All. Jane Andrews. + +Poetry for Children. Samuel Eliot. + + + + +TEXT-BOOKS. + +PRIMARY SCHOOLS. + + +_Third Class._--Franklin Primer and Advanced First Reader. Munroe's +Primary Reading Charts. + +_Second Class._--Franklin Second Reader. Franklin Advanced Second +Reader. First Music Reader. + +_First Class._--Franklin Third Reader. [8]New Franklin Third Reader. +First Music Reader. + +[8] To be furnished at the discretion of the Committee on Supplies. + +_Upper Classes._--[9]Franklin Primary Arithmetic. First Lessons in +Natural History and Language, Parts I. and II. Child's Book of Language, +Nos. 1, 2, 3. [By J. H. Stickney.] + +[9] Each Primary-School building occupied by a first or second class to +be supplied with one set of the Franklin Primary Arithmetic; the number +in a set to be sixty, or, if less be needed, less than sixty; the +Committee on Supplies are authorized to supply additional copies of the +book at their discretion, if needed. + +_All the Classes._--American Text-books of Art Education. First Primary +Music Chart. Prang's Natural History Series, one set for each building. + +Magnus & Jeffries's Color Chart; "Color Blindness," by Dr. B. Joy +Jeffries.--One copy of the Chart and one copy of the book for use in +each Primary-School building. + +Normal Music Course in the Rice Training School and in the schools of +the third and sixth divisions. National Music Course (revised edition) +in the schools of the first and second divisions. + + +GRAMMAR SCHOOLS. + +_Sixth Class._--Franklin Advanced Third Reader. [10]Warren's Primary +Geography. Intermediate Music Reader. Franklin Elementary Arithmetic. +[11]Greenleaf's Manual of Mental Arithmetic. Worcester's Spelling-Book. + +[10] Swinton's Introductory Geography allowed in Charlestown Schools. + +[11] To be used in the manner recommended by the Board of Supervisors in +School Document No. 14, 1883; one set of sixty copies to be supplied for +the classes on each floor of a Grammar-School building occupied by +pupils in either of the four lower classes, and for each colony of a +Grammar School. + +_Fifth Class._--Franklin Intermediate Reader. [12] New Franklin Fourth +Reader. Franklin Elementary Arithmetic. [13]Greenleaf's Manual of Mental +Arithmetic. [14]Warren's Primary Geography. Intermediate Music Reader. +Worcester's Spelling-Book. + +[12] To be furnished at the discretion of the Committee on Supplies. + +[13] To be used in the manner recommended by the Board of Supervisors in +School Document No. 14, 1883; one set of sixty copies to be supplied for +the classes on each floor of a Grammar-School building occupied by +pupils in either of the four lower classes, and for each colony of a +Grammar School. + +[14] The revised edition to be furnished at the discretion of the +Committee on Supplies to schools where this book is used. Swinton's +Grammar-School Geography allowed in Charlestown Schools. + +_Fourth Class._--Franklin Fourth Reader. [15]New Franklin Fourth Reader. +Worcester's Comprehensive Dictionary. Franklin Written Arithmetic. +[16]Greenleaf's Manual of Mental Arithmetic. [17]Warren's Common-School +Geography. Intermediate Music Reader. Worcester's Spelling-Book. +[18]Blaisdell's How to Keep Well. + +[15] To be furnished at the discretion of the Committee on Supplies. + +[16] To be used in the manner recommended by the Board of Supervisors in +School Document No. 14, 1883; one set of sixty copies to be supplied for +the classes on each floor of a Grammar-School building occupied by +pupils in either of the four lower classes, and for each colony of a +Grammar School. + +[17] The revised edition to be furnished at the discretion of the +Committee on Supplies to schools where this book is used. Swinton's +Grammar-School Geography allowed in Charlestown Schools. + +[18] One set of not more than sixty copies, or, if determined by the +Committee on Supplies to be necessary, more than one set, be placed in +each Grammar School, for use as collateral reading in the third and +fourth classes. + +_Third Class._--Franklin Fifth Reader. [19]New Franklin Fifth Reader. +Franklin Written Arithmetic. [20]Greenleaf's Manual of Mental +Arithmetic. [21]Warren's Common-School Geography. Swinton's New Language +Lessons. Worcester's Comprehensive Dictionary. Higginson's History of +the United States. [22]Fourth Music Reader. [Revised edition.] +[23]Blaisdell's How to Keep Well. + +[19] To be furnished at the discretion of the Committee on Supplies. + +[20] To be used in the manner recommended by the Board of Supervisors in +School Document No. 14, 1883; one set of sixty copies to be supplied for +the classes on each floor of a Grammar-School building occupied by +pupils in either of the four lower classes, and for each colony of a +Grammar School. + +[21] The revised edition to be furnished at the discretion of the +Committee on Supplies to schools where this book is used. Swinton's +Grammar-School Geography allowed in Charlestown Schools. + +[22] The revised edition to be supplied as new books are needed. + +[23] One set of not more than sixty copies, or, if determined by the +Committee on Supplies to be necessary, more than one set, be placed in +each Grammar School, for use as collateral reading in the third and +fourth classes. + +_Second Class._--Franklin Fifth Reader. [24]New Franklin Fifth Reader. +Franklin Written Arithmetic. [25]Warren's Common-School Geography. +Tweed's Grammar for Common Schools. Worcester's Comprehensive +Dictionary. Higginson's History of the United States. [26]Fourth Music +Reader. [Revised edition.] Smith's Elementary Physiology and Hygiene. + +[24] To be furnished at the discretion of the Committee on Supplies. + +[25] The revised edition to be furnished at the discretion of the +Committee on Supplies to schools where this book is used. Swinton's +Grammar-School Geography allowed in Charlestown Schools. + +[26] The revised edition to be supplied as new books are needed. + +_First Class._--Franklin Sixth Reader. Franklin Written Arithmetic. +Meservey's Book-keeping, Single Entry. [27]Warren's Common School +Geography. Tweed's Grammar for Common Schools. Worcester's Comprehensive +Dictionary. Stone's History of England. Cooley's Elements of Philosophy. +[28]Fourth Music Reader. [Revised edition.] + +[27] The revised edition to be furnished at the discretion of the +Committee on Supplies to schools where this book is used. Swinton's +Grammar-School Geography allowed in Charlestown Schools. + +[28] The revised edition to be supplied as new books are needed. + +_Fifth and Sixth Classes._--First Lessons in Natural History and +Language. Parts III. and IV. + +_All Classes._--American Text-books of Art Education. Writing-Books: +Duntonian Series; Payson, Dunton, and Scribner's; Harper's Copy-books; +Appleton's Writing-Books. Child's Book of Language; and Letters and +Lessons in Language, Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4. [By J. H. Stickney.] Prang's Aids +for Object Teaching, "Trades," one set for each building. + +Normal Music Course in the Rice Training School and the schools of the +third and sixth divisions. National Music Course (revised edition) in +the schools of the first and second divisions. + + +HIGH SCHOOLS. + +_English._--Abbott's How to Write Clearly. Hill's _or_ Kellogg's +Rhetoric. Meiklejohn's English Language. Scott's Lady of the Lake. +Selections from Addison's Papers in the Spectator, with Macaulay's Essay +on Addison. Irving's Sketch-Book. Trevelyan's Selections from Macaulay. +Hales' Longer English Poems. Shakspeare,--Rolfe's _or_ Hudson's +Selections. Selections from Chaucer. Selections from Milton. [Clarendon +Press Edition. Vol. I.] Worcester's Comprehensive Dictionary. + +_Latin._--Allen & Greenough's Latin Grammar. [Roxbury, W. Roxbury, and +Brighton High Schools.] Harkness' Latin Grammar. [English, Girls', +Dorchester, Charlestown, and East Boston High Schools.] Harkness' +Complete Course in Latin for the first year. Gildersleeve's Latin +Primer. Collar & Daniell's Beginners' Latin Book. [Roxbury, West +Roxbury, and Brighton High Schools.] Harkness' Caesar. Lindsey's +Cornelius Nepos. Chase's, Frieze's, _or_ Greenough's Virgil, or any +edition approved by the Committee on Text-Books. Greenough's _or_ +Harkness' Cicero. Chase's _or_ Lincoln's Horace, or any edition approved +by the Committee on Text-books. + +_History._--[29]Anderson's New General History. Martin's Civil +Government. + +[29] To be dropped from list of authorized text-books, July 1, 1890. + +_Mythology._--Berens's Hand-book of Mythology. + +_Mathematics._--Meservey's Book-keeping. Bradbury & Emery's Academic +Algebra. [30]Wentworth & Hill's Exercises in Algebra. Bradbury's +Elementary Geometry, _or_ Chauvenet's Geometry, _or_ Wells's Geometry. +Greenleaf's Trigonometry. [31]Metric Apparatus. + +[30] This book is not intended to, and does not in fact displace any +text-book now in use, but is intended merely to furnish additional +problems in algebra. + +[31] Not exceeding $15 for each school. + +_Physics._--Cooley's New Text-book of Physics. Avery's Physics, _or_ +Gage's Introduction to Physical Science. + +_Astronomy._--Sharpless & Phillips' Astronomy. + +_Chemistry._--Williams's Chemistry. Williams's Laboratory Manual. Eliot +& Storer's Elementary Manual of Chemistry, edited by Nichols. Eliot & +Storer's Qualitative Analysis. Hill's Lecture Notes on Qualitative +Analysis. Tables for the Determination of Common Minerals. [Girls' High +School.] White's Outlines of Chemical Theory. + +_Botany._--Gray's School and Field Book of Botany. + +_Zoology._--Morse's Zoology and Packard's Zoology. + +_Physiology._--Hutchinson's Physiology. Blaisdell's Our Bodies and How +We Live. + +_Drawing._--American Text-books of Art Education. + +_Music._--Eichberg's High-School Music Reader. Eichberg's Girls' +High-School Music Reader. [Girls' High School.] + +LATIN SCHOOLS. + +_Latin._--White's Abridged Lexicon. Harkness' Grammar. Harkness' Reader. +Harkness' Complete Course in Latin for the first year. Harkness' Prose +Composition, _or_ Allen's Latin Composition. Harkness' Caesar. Lindsey's +Cornelius Nepos. Greenough's Catiline of Sallust. Lincoln's Ovid. +Greenough's Ovid. Greenough's Virgil. Greenough's _or_ Harkness' +Orations of Cicero. Smith's Principia Latina, Part II. + +_Greek._--Liddell & Scott's Abridged Lexicon. Goodwin's Grammar. White's +Lessons. Jones' Prose Composition. Goodwin's Reader. The Anabasis of +Xenophon. Boise's Homer's Iliad. Beaumlein's Edition of Homer's Iliad. + +_English._--Soule's Hand-book of Pronunciation. Hill's General Rules for +Punctuation. Tweed's Grammar for Common Schools (in fifth and sixth +classes). Hawthorne's Wonder Book. Hawthorne's Tanglewood Tales. +Plutarch's Lives of Famous Greeks and Romans. Macaulay's Lays of Ancient +Rome. Higginson's History of the United States. Hughes' Tom Brown's +School-Days at Rugby. Dana's Two Years before the Mast. Charles and Mary +Lamb's Tales from Shakspeare. [Revised Edition, Houghton, Mifflin, & +Co.] Scott's Ivanhoe. Hawthorne's True Stories. Greene's Readings from +English History. [32]Church's Stories from Homer. [32]Church's Stories +of the Old World. Selections from American Authors,--Franklin, Adams, +Cooper, and Longfellow. American Poems, with Biographical Sketches and +Notes. Irving's Sketch-Book. Selections from Addison's Papers in the +Spectator. Ballads and Lyrics. Hales' Longer English Poems. Three plays +of Shakspeare,--Rolfe's _or_ Hudson's Selections. + +[32] No more copies of Church's Stories from Homer to be purchased, but +as books are worn out their place to be supplied with Church's Stories +of the Old World. + +_History._--Leighton's History of Rome. Smith's Smaller History of +Greece. Long's _or_ Ginn & Heath's Classical Atlas. Smith's Smaller +Classical Dictionary,--Student's Series. + +_Mythology._--Bulfinch's Age of Fable. + +_Geography._--Geikie's Primer of Physical Geography. Warren's +Common-School Geography. + +_Physiology._--Mace's History of a Mouthful of Bread. Foster's +Physiology (Science Primer). Blaisdell's Our Bodies and How We Live. + +_Botany._--Gray's School and Field Book of Botany. + +_Zoology._--Morse's Zoology and Packard's Zoology. + +_Mineralogy._--Tables for the Determination of Common Minerals. [Girls' +Latin School.] + +_Mathematics._--The Franklin Written Arithmetic. Bradbury's Eaton's +Algebra. [33]Wentworth & Hill's Exercises in Algebra. Chauvenet's +Geometry. Lodge's Elementary Mechanics. + +[33] This book is not intended to, and does not in fact, displace any +text-book now in use, but is intended merely to furnish additional +problems in algebra. + +_Physics._--Arnott's _or_ Avery's Physics, _or_ Gage's Physics. + +_Drawing._--American Text-books of Art Education. + +_Music._--Eichberg's High-School Music Reader. Eichberg's Girls' +High-School Music Reader. [Girls' Latin School] + +LATIN AND HIGH SCHOOLS. + +_French._--Keetel's Elementary Grammar. Keetel's Analytical French +Reader. Super's French Reader. [34]Sauveur's Petites Causeries. +Hennequin's Lessons in Idiomatic French. Gasc's French Dictionary. +Erckmann-Chatrian's Le Conscrit de 1813. Erckmann-Chatrian's Madame +Therese. Bocher's College Series of French Plays. Nouvelles Genevoises. +Souvestre's Au Coin du Feu. Racine's Andromaque. Racine's Iphigenie. +Racine's Athalie. Moliere's Bourgeois Gentilhomme. Moliere's Precieuses +Ridicules. Corneille's Les Horaces. Corneille's Cid. Herrig's La France +Litteraire. Roemer's French Course, Vol. II. Ventura's Peppino. Halevy's +L'Abbe Constantin. La Fontaine's Fables. About's La Mere de la Marquise. +Daudet's Siege de Berlin. Daudet's Extraits. Daudet's La Belle +Nivarnaise. + +[34] To be furnished as new French Readers are needed. The use of the +book confined for this year to the English, Charlestown, Roxbury, and +West Roxbury High Schools. + +_German._--Whitney's German Dictionary. Whitney's Grammar. Collar's +Eysenbach. Otto's _or_ Whitney's Reader. Der Zerbrochene Krug. +Schiller's Wilhelm Tell. Schiller's Maria Stuart. Goethe's Hermann und +Dorothea. Putlitz's Das Herz Vergessen. Grimm's Maerchen. Goethe's Prose. +Schiller's Prose. Stein's German Exercises. Heine's Die Harzreise. Im +Zwielicht. Vols. I. and II. Traumerein. Buckheim's German Poetry for +Repetition. + + +NORMAL SCHOOL TEXT-BOOKS. + +The text-books used in this school shall be such of the text-books used +in the other public schools of the city as are needed for the course of +study, and such others as shall be authorized by the Board. + +Normal Music Course. + + +HORACE MANN SCHOOL TEXT-BOOKS. + +Such text-books shall be supplied to the Horace Mann School as the +committee on that school shall approve. + + +EVENING HIGH SCHOOL TEXT-BOOKS. + +Benn Pitman's Manual of Phonography. Reporter's Companion. The +Phonographic Reader. The Reporter's First Reader. Bradbury's Elementary +Geometry. + +The text-books used in this school shall be such of the text-books +authorized in the other public schools as are approved by the Committee +on Evening Schools and the Committee on Supplies. + +_East Boston Branch._--Graded Lessons in Shorthand. Parts 1 and 2, by +Mrs. Mary A. Chandler. + + +EVENING ELEMENTARY SCHOOL TEXT-BOOKS. + +Munroe's Charts. Franklin Primer. Franklin Reader. Stories of American +History. Harper's Introductory Geography. The Franklin Elementary +Arithmetic. The Franklin Written Arithmetic. [35]Andersen's Maerchen. +Writing-books, Plain Copy-books; and such of the text-books authorized +in the other public schools as are approved by the Committee on Evening +Schools and the Committee on Supplies. + +[35] In schools in which the English language is taught to German +pupils. + + +SCHOOLS OF COOKERY. + +Boston School Kitchen Text-book, by Mrs. D. A. Lincoln. + + + + +REFERENCE-BOOKS. + + +PRIMARY SCHOOLS. + +Worcester's Comprehensive Dictionary. National Music Teacher. Munroe's +Vocal Gymnastics. Lessons in Color (one copy for each Primary-School +teacher's desk). White's Oral Lessons in Number (one copy for each +Primary-School teacher's desk). Smith's Primer of Physiology and Hygiene +(one copy for each Primary-School teacher's desk). + +Observation Lessons in the Primary Schools, by Mrs. L. P. Hopkins (one +copy for each Primary-School teacher's desk). + +Simple Object Lessons (two series), by W. Hewitt Beck. Natural History +Object Lessons, by G. Ricks (one set of books of each title for each +Primary-School teacher's desk). + + +GRAMMAR SCHOOLS. + +Appleton's American Encyclopaedia _or_ Johnson's Encyclopaedia. Chambers's +Encyclopaedia. Anthon's Classical Dictionary. Thomas's Dictionary of +Biography and Mythology. + +Worcester's Quarto Unabridged Dictionary. Webster's Quarto Unabridged +Dictionary. Webster's National Pictorial Dictionary. + +Lippincott's Gazetteer. Johnson's Atlas. Reclus' Earth. Reclus' Ocean. +Flammarion's Atmosphere. Weber's Universal History. Bancroft's History +of the United States. Battle Maps of the Revolution. Palfrey's History +of New England. Martin's Civil Government. Frothingham's Rise of the +Republic. Lossing's Field-book of the Revolution. Shurtleff's +Topographical History of Boston. Frothingham's Siege of Boston. +Lingard's History of England. Smith's Primer of Physiology and Hygiene +(one copy for the desk of each teacher of the fifth and sixth classes). + +Goold-Brown's Grammar of English Grammars. Wilson's Punctuation. +Philbrick's Union Speaker. Methods of Teaching Geography (one copy for +each teacher of Geography). + +_First Classes._--Physiography (Longmans & Co.). Copies for teachers' +desks. + +_Second Classes._--Harper's Cyclopaedia of United States History. + +_Maps and Globes._--Cutter's Physiological Charts. Charts of the Human +Body (Milton Bradley & Co.). White's Manikin. Cornell's Series Maps, +_or_ Guyot's Series Maps, Nos. 1, 2, 3. (Not exceeding one set to each +floor.) Hughes's Series of Maps. Joslyn's fifteen-inch Terrestrial +Globe, on Tripod (one for each Grammar School). Nine-inch Hand Globe, +Loring's Magnetic (one for each Grammar School room). Cosmograph. O. W. +Gray & Son's Atlas. (To be furnished as new atlases are needed.) + + +LATIN AND HIGH SCHOOLS. + +Lingard's History of England. Harper's Latin Lexicon. Liddell & Scott's +Greek Lexicon, unabridged. Eugene's French Grammar. Labberton's +Historical Atlas and General History (one book for the desk of each +teacher). Guyot's and Cameron's Maps of the Roman Empire, Greece, and +Italy. Strang's English Lessons (for use on teachers' desks). + + +NORMAL SCHOOL. + +Observation Lessons in Primary Schools, by Mrs. L. P. Hopkins (one set). + + +NORMAL AND HIGH SCHOOLS. + +Charts of Life. Wilson's Human Anatomical and Physiological Charts. +Hough's American Woods. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The World's Best Books, by Frank Parsons + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE WORLD'S BEST BOOKS *** + +***** This file should be named 37795.txt or 37795.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/3/7/7/9/37795/ + +Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Matthew Wheaton and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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