Chapter V: Part II: The Study of Literature (2)

The foundations of good taste are best laid in childhood. Fairy tales, adventures, and all sorts of stories for children may be well designed and well written, or the opposite, just as much as books for older people. Choose your children's books as you choose their food; take care they get no trash, arrange a tempting diet of wholesome nourishment for their minds. The authors listed below wrote as carefully and thoughtfully for little folks as when they wrote for grown-ups. Andersen devoted his life to authorship for children; the Grimm brothers made a scientific study of folk-lore and fairy tales throughout the German empire, collecting the stories told by the firesides in each district. Carroll, Hawthorne, Kingsley, and many others put their best efforts into books which are unquestioned examples of great literature and yet were purposed entirely for youth. There is no occasion for young people to ruin their taste and their appreciation with ill-written rubbish.

Æsop
Andersen
Arabian Nights
Brown
Fouqué
Grimm
Hughes
Irving
Jewish Lit.
Kingsley
Laboulaye
Perrault
Raspe
Russian Lit.
Swift

TRAVEL

The majority of travelers have been men of action rather than words, filled with enthusiasm and inspiration for deeds instead of books. Columbus, Magellan, Drake, and the rest of the leaders of exploration have left nothing that can be called literature. Their records, at best, are scientific reports of their discoveries. Still, ever since the days when Pausanias made his remarkable tour of Greece and described its wonders and Herodotus jotted down the travelers' tales of Egypt, there have been able writers to tell of the marvels, real or imaginary, to be found in foreign lands.

Audubon
Dana
Hearn
Heine
Kinglake
Mandeville
Melville
Pausanias
Polo
Stevenson
Tyndall

DRAMA

In both ancient and modern literature the drama is of religious origin. Among the Greeks it began as a service in memory of some dead hero, the choir or chorus chanting the story of his life and deeds. Their leader presently began to take an actor's part, addressing the audience or congregation, and then other persons were introduced who carried on a dialogue with him and at last played the part of characters in the hero's history. In the Middle Ages, when the great majority of the people could not read, the Bible story was acted at Christmas, Easter, and other festivals in order to impress it on their minds more vividly. From this it was an easy step to the presentation of historical events, and it was but one more step to the modern drama's elaborate staging and well-rounded plot. (For the poetic drama, see p. 40.)

In general the drama has certain limitations which must be taken into account before passing judgment upon a play. Three hours is the utmost duration for a play; it must 'get across' within that period, since an audience becomes wearied during the third hour. It appeals to two senses, hearing and sight, while other forms of literature appeal but to one. This is an advantage as far as it enables the dramatist to tell his story by scenery and action as well as by speech and incidental music. It is a handicap when the action or the scenery is faulty and distracts the attention of the audience from the dialogue. Descriptions of any length, the study or analysis of personality, all features of ordinary fiction which delay the action are impossible on the stage. Speech and action must be fitted together so as to carry the plot through without pause, revealing the story forcibly, clearly, and yet naturally, within the restricted time.

These limitations have been handled in widely varying manners: three systems of presentation have been employed, the ancient, the medieval, and the modern, all of which are to be seen at the present day, thanks to the revival of Greek plays in the stadiums and amphitheaters of our colleges and likewise to the revival of the Elizabethan drama during the past ten years.

The ancient or Greek drama was presented in a stone amphitheater against a background of marble, constructed in the form of a palace or temple; the semicircular space occupied by the orchestra seats in our theaters contained an altar in the center and was used by the actors as a part of the stage; the chorus in particular used this space for their stately dances and stood at one side during the progress of the action, commenting on the course of events in odes which they chanted. The lack of movable scenery, and other limitations, resulted in the restrictions known as =the three 'unities,'= of action, time, and place. No play, according to =the unity of action=, should introduce incidents that were not a part of the main action; the plot must be absolutely simple. Thus the story of Jessica and Lorenzo, in "The Merchant of Venice" would be barred by this convention, as it does not contribute to the development of the main story of Antonio and Shylock. The =unity of time= required that the action should not represent the occurrences of more than a day at the very outside, and the =unity of place= held the action to one spot. These latter conventions were to increase the impression of truth and actuality on the minds of the spectators, heightening the effect of complete naturalness and leaving their imaginations free to grasp the problems of the plot without the additional effort of supposing lapses of time and changes of scene to have occurred. The number of actors was small; usually two, or at most three, were permitted to take part at one time in a portion of the dialogue. These conventions produce a simplicity that was not bare and dull, but just the reverse; the attention is focused directly upon the leading character and his fate from beginning to end. The effect is single and direct, there is no complexity or intricacy to puzzle the audience or distract its interest in the crisis which is so obviously approaching. The grandeur of this type of drama is like that of a great hymn, such as "Old Hundred," sung by a vast congregation.

The medieval plays, which reached their height in Shakespeare's time, were very different from those of the ancients. The stage was almost as bare and scenery was not used, but changes of locality were frequent, indicated by hanging out a sign with the words, "This is a garden" or "A Street in Venice" and so on. In the same way there was no restriction upon time; years might be supposed to have passed between one act and the next. The imagination of the audience was expected to take care of such matters, and indeed it did so with the utmost ease. The plot could be supplemented with all sorts of incidents whether they directly concerned it or not. For example, the wrestling scene at the beginning of "As You Like It" was inserted to satisfy the Elizabethan love of sport, not because it could be of use in advancing the progress of the story, as it did nothing of the kind. The Greek unities were disregarded completely; however, the most impressive of Shakespeare's tragedies do adhere to the principle of the unity of action,--"Macbeth," for example, deals with the consequences of unscrupulous ambition, each event in the play leads directly on to the catastrophe without a pause, there are no minor events or plots.

The modern play differs from both the earlier forms of the drama in its appeal to the eye. The use of scenery, which came in at the beginning of the Age of Classicism, has led to an elaboration of stage effects which sometimes is injurious to the success of a production. Much of the modern stage-craft is concerned with scenic effects and therefore does not come into this discussion. The chief distinction to-day lies in the treatment of problems of everyday life in an everyday manner. Neither the ancient nor the Shakespearian playwrights handled tragedy in the setting of ordinary life. The Greeks portrayed famous heroes and princes and so did the Elizabethans, but rarely, except in comedy, was there any presentation of the life of the middle classes of that time. Sheridan and Ibsen, in common with most of the modern playwrights, take the life of the mass of the people and draw their illustrations of success and failure direct. The audience of to-day sees itself walking and talking on the stage, playing the fool or the hero.

Each style has its merits and its faults, each is powerful in the hands of a genius and each fails when used by incompetents. The average drama depends largely upon the actors for its success, it can hardly be classed among literary efforts. Only the plays wrought by masters of thought as well as of speech can be given a place in the realm of literature.

Æschylus
Calderon
Euripides
Goethe
Ibsen
Jonson
Lessing
Marlowe
Molière
Racine
Rostand
Schiller
Shakespeare
Sheridan
Sophocles

ORATORY

The art of addressing a large gathering and winning their support, as well as their attention, by sound argument and also by eloquence is a study that is in danger of falling into a decline, owing perhaps to the prevalence of newspapers and the rapidity with which an argument or an idea can be spread broadcast over the world by the telegraph and the press. In reading even the finest speeches of the past or the present allowance must almost always be made for the personal magnetism of the speaker, the appeal made by his presence, his gestures, and his voice. For this reason it is difficult to form a just estimate of the worth of a speech, especially at a date when the subject has become less vital or even unfamiliar through the passage of time. The sole bases of criticism under these conditions must be the force of the argument and the eloquence of the style. This is aptly illustrated in the case of Burke, whose arguments were admitted to be irresistible in their strength, but who had so poor a delivery that he was called the dinner-bell of the House of Commons, in reference to the departure of the members when he rose to speak. The most influential speakers have been those who combined skill in argument with grace and eloquence and reinforced these qualities with a commanding personality. These talents are needed to-day if we are to maintain the standard set by Washington, Webster, and Lincoln.

Bright
Brooks
Burke
Channing
Choate
Demosthenes
Henry
Lincoln
Mirabeau
Phillips
Robertson
Sumner
Washington
Webster

PHILOSOPHY AND SCIENCE

The aim of philosophy, like that of science, is to probe the mystery of life, to discover as far as possible the nature of man and of the universe in which he dwells. These efforts began when men first asked "What am I? What is this world?" Philosophy attempts the answer by reasoning and meditation, while science uses inventions, such as the telescope, mathematical calculation, and all other means of obtaining accurate information regarding the physical environment and nature of man. The former is concerned with the spirit, the unseen, the motives of honor, love, and the like, and the infinite possibilities of the mind and the soul; the latter deals with the actual, material conditions of life. The best of scientific literature so closely borders on philosophy that it has been included among the selections that treat of philosophic problems.

Aurelius
Bacon
Carlyle
Cicero
Darwin
Emerson
Epictetus
Galton
Hamilton
Kant
Lucretius
Machiavelli
Mill
More
Pascal
Plato
Rousseau
Ruskin
Schopenhauer
Seneca
Shaler
Smith, A.
Spencer

RELIGION

Certain hymns will always linger in the memory from the days of childhood; and certain sermons and devotional works have so feelingly expressed the aspirations of Christian life that they have attained enduring fame. These are here collected without reference to denominational distinction.

Also, as it is of interest to note the ideals of thinkers in other than Christian lands, passages are included from the teachings of Confucius, the Chinese scholar; Cleanthes, the Greek poet; the life of Buddha, in Hindoo Literature; the Talmud, in Jewish Literature; and the "Koran" of Mohammed.

HYMNS

Bernard, St.
Bernard of Cluny
Bonar
Bowring
Cowper
Faber
Heber
Herbert
Jacopone
Keble
Luther
Lyte
Milman
Newman
Palmer
Thomas of Celano
Toplady
Watts
Wesley

SERMONS AND DEVOTIONAL WORKS

Bowne
Brierley
Brooks
Browne, Sir T.
Bunyan
Channing
Hooker
à Kempis
Luther
Mazzini
Robertson
Wyclif

FROM SEVEN TO TWENTY-ONE

Lists of readings for young and old.

Showing how to acquire, by easy stages, a knowledge of the best in literature, year by year.

Unlike poets, painters, and the rest of the world of artists, booklovers are made, not born. But many a booklover has been spoiled in the making, too; so that we must needs give thought to the process of transforming everyday folk into _willing and skilful readers and lovers of books_. Many boys and girls and many men and women have lost all interest in the realm of books through lack of suitable material for enjoyment and adequate opportunity for practice. What books they could find round the house failed to meet their desires or hold their attention; probably they were technical or 'dry-as-dust.'

In other words the untrained reader, whether young or old, must be trained and exercised on the right books at the right time. Not that he should be coaxed and tempted with light fiction or showy trash, quite the contrary; he must acquire _strength of mind and intellectual habits_--he is to be trained to grasp serious thought as well as highstrung romance. Conan Doyle's thrilling "White Company" or Blackmore's tender "Lorna Doone" form excellent entertainment, but they must be supplemented by sturdy common sense, such as one finds in Franklin's "Autobiography," Dana's "Two Years Before the Mast," or Bancroft's account of the Lexington and Concord fight. The young mind, and the old one as well, cannot grow strong and able without exercise. Just as tennis, football, swimming, or golf help to develop and strengthen our physical powers, so the mind likewise must take exercise that will ripen and enlarge the intellectual powers. The joy of living is dependent upon full vigor of brain and brawn; the weakling, whether in intellect or in muscle, loses the best that life has to give. Our ideal must be not merely a sound mind in a sound body but, rather, a strong mind in a strong body.

The lists that follow have been devised to meet the requirements for training the mind to a ready facility and enjoyment of books and reading. Naturally, these groups are arbitrary, they definitely place one author or selection in the eleven year old's list, another in the fifteen; whereas either might well be transferred, in individual cases. The object manifestly is to group writers and selections as a means of guidance and help to the average reader whether parent or child, but not to draw hard and fast lines. The sooner the reader becomes ready to wander as he will, the sooner will he be a true booklover.

=Seven to Ten Years of Age.= At this time of life, as every one knows, fairy tales are an unfailing delight and form the foundations, moreover, of all thorough literary appreciation. In addition to these, tales of adventure or of travel, such as Malory's Morte Darthur, or Marco Polo's astonishing discoveries in China, serve as admirable supplementary reading at this age.

ÆSOP
Fables

ANDERSEN
Fairy Tales

GRIMM
Fairy Tales

HARRIS
Uncle Remus

IRVING
Rip Van Winkle

KEY
Star Spangled Banner

KINGSLEY
Water Babies

LABOULAYE
Poucinet

MALORY
Morte Darthur

PERRAULT
Fairy Tales

POLO
Travels

RUSSIAN LIT.
The Water King

SMITH, S. F.
America

SWIFT
Gulliver's Travels

=Eleven and Twelve Years of Age.= The next step consists in awakening the sense of understanding, rousing the mind to grasp actual scenes and situations. For this purpose the "Pilgrim's Progress," "Two Years Before the Mast," "The Village Blacksmith," or "Horatius" are especially suitable. For while the fairy tale element is continued in "Cupid and Psyche," the "Odyssey," and "Undine," it is to these more realistic selections that we must look for the stimulus to imaginative growth that the children need. For this reason, "Robinson Crusoe" is of paramount value at this time simply because it trains the young mind to picture the scenes or events with the utmost care for details; probably no other work of fiction in English Literature can equal it for realistic vividness and precision.

APULEIUS
Cupid and Psyche

BROWN, J.
Rab

BUNYAN
Pilgrim's Progress

CARROLL
Alice in Wonderland, etc.

COOPER
Pathfinder

DANA
Two Years Before the Mast

DEFOE
Robinson Crusoe

FOUQUÉ
Undine

GESTA ROMANORUM

HAWTHORNE
Snow Image

HEMANS
Casabianca
Pilgrim Fathers

HERODOTUS
Legends

HOMER
Iliad
Odyssey

HOWE
Battle Hymn

HUGHES
Tom Brown

JAPANESE LIT.
The Ronins

LIVY
Legends

LONGFELLOW
Village Blacksmith
Hiawatha
Evangeline

MACAULAY
Horatius

MELVILLE
Typee

MEREDITH
Shagpat

RASPE
Baron Münchausen

READ
Sheridan's Ride

WHITTIER
Barbara Frietchie

=Thirteen and Fourteen Years of Age.= This period should mark the beginning of true reading power--the faculty of perceiving and absorbing the pictures, the facts, the ideas that lie within the printed page. The true joys of reading first-class fiction, for example, "Don Quixote" or "The Cloister and the Hearth," are usually first experienced in these years. And in the same manner young readers delight in the more vivid pages of history, such as "The Relief of Leyden," or "The Conquest of Peru," or--best of all--Raleigh's telling account of the fight of the 'Revenge' together with Tennyson's magnificent poem, built up from the prose of Raleigh. For it is in such passages as these that the natural tendency to hero-worship is roused and fostered. Jim Bludso, Sir Launfal, Alexander the Great, John Halifax, Lorna Doone, and Constantia, together with the splendid characters in the works already mentioned, all establish in the minds of the average boy and girl examples of courage, courtesy, and nobility that are never forgotten.

ADDISON
Mirza
Arabian Nights

BLACKMORE
Lorna Doone

BOCCACCIO
Constantia
Federigo

BORROW
Lavengro

BROWNE, C. F.
The Showman's Courtship

CELLINI
Life

CERVANTES
Don Quixote

COLLINS, W. W.
A Terribly Strange Bed

CRAIK
John Halifax

DICKENS
David Copperfield
Pickwick

FRENCH LITERATURE
Aucassin

HALE
Man Without a Country

HARTE
Truthful James

HAY
Jim Bludso

HENRY
Speech

HOLINSHED
Princes in the Tower

HOLMES
Nautilus
Old Ironsides

HUNT
Abou Ben Adhem

INGELOW
High Tide

JEWISH LITERATURE
Tobit

KINGLAKE
Eothen

LE SAGE
Gil Blas

LOWELL
Sir Launfal

LYTTON
Pompeii

MCMASTER
Settler Life in 1800

MOTLEY
Relief of Leyden

NORSE LITERATURE
Discovery of Vinland

PLUTARCH
Alexander the Great

PRESCOTT
Conquest of Peru

RALEIGH
The Fight of the "Revenge"

READE
Cloister and the Hearth

SOUTHEY
Inchcape Rock

TENNYSON
The Revenge
The Light Brigade, Etc.

=Fifteen and Sixteen Years of Age.= The appreciation of poetry is one of the most subtle and difficult developments in the youthful intellect. Yet some enjoyment of poetry, not merely narrative poems, but contemplative verse as well, should manifest itself during these next years. Furthermore, it is high time to form an acquaintance with writers who will be met again and again in days yet to come. No one will maintain for a moment that a sixteen year old lad will fully understand and appreciate Milton's "L'Allegro," with its treasury of allusion; yet, on the other hand, no one will pretend that this same lad should not at least be granted the opportunity to listen for the first time to those immortal lines. For this reason not only Milton, but Lincoln, Cowper, Pepys, Tolstoi, Hodgkin, Gray, and several others are included in the list.

But apart from the more serious and contemplative side of the reading that can be commenced at this age, there is much that will fascinate and delight those who are looking for pastime rather than deep thinking. Barham's "Ingoldsby Legends," of which "The Knight and the Lady" is a most characteristic tale in verse, have long been the joy of all who love laughter and nonsense; and so with Irving's "Knickerbocker's New York," which in many respects is unequaled for wit and delicate fun. Crawford's "The Upper Berth," Doyle's "White Company," and Dumas's "Three Musketeers" furnish thrill enough for the most eager adventure seeker. Tolstoi and Goldsmith will satisfy a quieter mood with their gentle satire on the folly and stupidity and vanity of everyday people, who none the less are the salt of the earth, after all.

AGASSIZ
Mountains

AUDUBON
In the Woods

BANCROFT
Lexington and Concord

BARHAM
The Knight and the Lady

BARRIE
Lads and Lasses

BERNARD, ST.
Hymn

NOTE. The reader should take care to read and even to reread
the majority of the selections in the previous lists before
attempting further progress.

BERNARD OF CLUNY
Hymns

BRONTË
Jane Eyre

COLERIDGE
Poems

COWPER
Poems

CRAWFORD, F. M.
The Upper Berth

DOYLE
The White Company

DUMAS
Three Musketeers,
Monte Cristo, etc.

EWALD
King Christian

FRANKLIN
Autobiography

FROUDE
A Cagliostro of the Second Century

GILBERT
The Nancy Bell

GOLDSMITH
Vicar of Wakefield

GRAY
Elegy

HAWTHORNE
The Old Manse

HEINE
Travel Pictures

HODGKIN
Attila the Hun

HOOD
Poems

IRVING
Knickerbocker's New York

JOSEPHUS
Destruction of the Temple

KINGSLEY
Poems

LA FONTAINE
Fables

LINCOLN
Gettysburg Speech

LONGFELLOW
Poems

MAHAFFY
Alexander the Great

MILTON
L'Allegro
Il Penseroso

PEPYS
Diary

PHILLIPS
Toussaint L'Ouverture

ROUGET DE LISLE
The Marseillaise

SCOTT
Selections

STOWE
Uncle Tom's Cabin

TOLSTOI
Where Love Is

WHITTIER
Poems

=Seventeen and Eighteen Years of Age.= With increasing maturity we may naturally expect the mind to enjoy the more calm and meditative moods of life: for example, the essays of Addison and Lamb, the more forceful historical reflections of such writers as Green, Froissart, and Parkman, the "Utopia" of Sir Thomas More, Thoreau's "Walden," and Washington's "Farewell Address." These form an excellent introduction to the deeper thoughts which will shortly be forced upon youth as it goes out into the world to fight for a career.

At this time, too, interest is stirred to attempt an understanding of the 'reason for things'--the mind endeavors to arrive at some law or principle beneath the varied course of life and action in the world. In other words, boyhood and girlhood are past, and an older view of life and its responsibilities must naturally take the place of the carefree spirit of earlier days. The qualities of friendship that appear in "Tennessee's Partner" and the search for spiritual as well as intellectual companionship and understanding that is emphasized in Tennyson or Matthew Arnold are at this time beginning to be more fully appreciated and understood.

ADDISON
Punning
Good Nature
Westminster Abbey

ALDRICH
Père Antoine

ANGLO-SAXON LITERATURE
Beowulf

ARNOLD, M.
The Forsaken Merman

BALZAC
The Purse

BJÖRNSON
Railroad and Churchyard

BROOKS
Lincoln

CAINE
The Bondman

CAMPBELL
Poems

CREASY
Decisive Battles

DAUDET
Tartarin

EDGEWORTH
Castle Rackrent

FIELD
Poems

FROISSART
Battles of Otterbourne and Crécy

GASKELL
Cranford

GREEN
English History

HARDY
The Three Strangers

HARTE
Tennessee's Partner

HINDOO LITERATURE

HUGO
Selections

JERROLD
Mrs. Caudle

LAMB
Essays

LEVER
Charles O'Malley

LINCOLN
Second Inaugural

LOWELL
The Courtin'

MORE
Utopia

OVID
Philemon and Baucis

PARKMAN
La Salle
The Plains of Abraham

POE
Tales

SHORTHOUSE
John Inglesant

STEELE
Essays

SWIFT
Selections

TENNYSON
Poems

THOREAU
Walden

TYNDALL
Ascent of Mont Blanc

VOLTAIRE
Charles XII

WASHINGTON
Farewell Address

=Nineteen and Twenty Years of Age.= Unquestionably, as the years pass on, we read again the books that have already given us so many hours of happiness and amusement. For this reason it is well for the young booklover to return to the lists for the previous years and renew acquaintanceships there. No doubt some of the authors whom he found but moderately amusing then will now win far more favor in his sight. Meanwhile, among the fresh material history and criticism naturally find a prominent place. Mommsen's estimate of Julius Cæsar and Chesterton's appreciative critique of Dickens stand among the foremost studies of great men that the world has yet produced. In the field of poetry it is high time to spend some quiet hours with Emerson, Browning, Shakespeare, Shelley, and Wordsworth. These five poets represent perhaps the very best that English verse has produced in the way of meditation--insight into the depths of nature and humanity.

At this point the reader will do well to consider other chapters in this Handbook, notably that on Literary Criticism, and the rest of Part II, which deals with the general principles underlying a fuller comprehension of literature. Part III, Studies of Great Authors, will be of even greater help to those readers who are finding increased pleasure in reading as students rather than for the sake of recreation or light reading alone. By following out the lines of thought presented in Parts II and III, especially if one does not attempt to carry too heavy a quantity of reading at a time, the enjoyment of books and thought will be immensely stimulated and broadened.

ALDRICH
Poems

ALFRED THE GREAT
Poems

ASCHAM
The Schoolmaster

AUSTEN
Pride and Prejudice

BEECHER
Industry and Idleness

BERANGER
Poems

BOSWELL
Life of Johnson

BROWNING, R.
Poems

BURKE
Speech

BYRON
Poems

CHANNING
Self-culture

CHESTERTON
Dickens

DE QUINCEY
Dreams
Our Ladies of Sorrow

ELIOT
Brother Jacob
Poems

EMERSON
Poems

FARRAR
Corruption of Rome

FERRERO
Empire Building

FIELDING
Selections

FREEMAN
The World Romeless

GIBBON
Roman Empire

HAWKINS
Dolly Dialogues

HEARN
In Japan

HOLMES
The Autocrat

HOWELLS
Essay

HUNT
Autobiography

JOHNSON
Rasselas

KEATS
Poems

KIPLING
Mandalay
Man Who Would be King

LOCKHART
Life of Scott

MACAULAY
Milton

MILTON
Poems

MIRABEAU
Franklin

MOMMSEN
Julius Cæsar

MORRIS, W.
Poem

PAUSANIAS
Description of Greece

PLATO
Trial of Socrates

PLINY
Letters

POE
Poems

POPE
Poems

RILEY
Poems

ROSTAND
Cyrano

SCHILLER
Wilhelm Tell

SHAKESPEARE
Selections

SHELLEY
Poems

SHERIDAN
The Rivals
The School for Scandal

STEPHEN
Hawthorne

STEVENSON
Selections

SUETONIUS
Roman Emperors

SUMNER
Grandeur of Nations

TACITUS
The Histories

THACKERAY
Selections

WHITMAN
O Captain

WORDSWORTH
Poems

=Twenty-one and After.= During these years, through respect for wisdom and experience, maturity rapidly quickens into being. Once we get a few hard knocks in the battle of life, our regard for the learning and understanding of our elders soon increases. We likewise can enter more thoroughly into the work of such thinkers as Carlyle, Galton, Emerson, Ruskin, Shaler, or of such poets as Chaucer and Goethe. For these men have spent the best of their lives in studying and probing into the causes and developments of our moods and characters. Carlyle has given us the most terrific and stirring account ever written of the battle that is waged in every man's soul between the forces of good and evil. Goethe has dramatized this same problem, revealing the wretchedness of him who only thinks of self, who drags his nearest and dearest down to ruin simply to gratify his lusts or his whims. Ruskin searches architecture, painting, or even the workmanship of everyday trades in order to discover their true merit--their greatness and their weakness. From such writings we can learn more and yet more each time we peruse them. There is no end to the richness and wealth of thought and experience to be gained from these alone.

ALCOTT
Thoreau's Flute

ARNOLD, E.
Poems

BACON
Essays

BARNARD
Robin Gray

BENSON
Games

BLAKE
Poems

BOURDILLON
Light

BRYANT
Poems

BURNS
Poems

CARLYLE
Selections

CHAUCER
Poems

CHOATE
Webster

DANTE
Divine Comedy

EMERSON
Essays

EVELYN
Diary

FIELDS
Dickens

FRANKLIN
Poor Richard's Almanac

GOETHE
Faust, etc.

GOLDSMITH
Deserted Village

HAMERTON
Intellectual Life

HARRISON
Choice of Books

HAZLITT
Great and Little Things

HEINE
The Romantic School

HENLEY
Out of the Night

IBSEN
A Doll's House

JACOPONE
Stabat Mater

JEWISH LITERATURE
The Talmud

JOUBERT
Essays

LANG
The Divining Rod

LANIER
Marshes of Glynn

LOWELL
Chaucer

LUTHER
Table Talk
Ein Feste Burg

MCCARTHY
Disasters of Cabul

MARLOWE
Dr. Faustus

MAUPASSANT
The Piece of String

MILTON
Areopagitica

MITCHELL
Dream Life

MOLIÈRE
Imaginary Invalid

ROSSETTI, D. G.
Poems

RUSKIN
Selections

SAINTE-BEUVE
Mme. de Staël

SHALER
The Last of Earth and Man

SIENKIEWICZ
Quo Vadis

STERNE
Selections

THOMAS OF CELANO
Dies Iræ

WALTON
Compleat Angler

Apart from the power to appreciate the thought itself, the reader by this time is surely ready to take pleasure in the style of such writers as Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Matthew Arnold, Walter Pater, Herrick, and Spenser. And with respect to the matter, he surely will profit in the company of Sir Thomas Browne, Thomas à Kempis, Mill, and Plato, presenting four remarkably valuable points of view in their studies of what is most worth man's consideration. Further reading of interest in style and in matter will be found under the headings of "Essay," "Travel," "Drama," "Oratory," "Philosophy," etc., on pages 46-53 of this Handbook.

One of the chief problems of the reader deals with the question of foreign authors. Perhaps one man in a hundred thousand can find time to learn to read more than four languages fluently. If he is to get in touch with the great writers of other tongues than those which he knows, he must perforce read translations. And for most of us translations are the only resource. The modern writers have been translated with but slight difficulty, mainly because their views of life are so closely akin to ours that their thoughts may be put into English with slight trouble. But the ancients, the masters of Greek and Roman Literature, regarded life from other standpoints than ours. They were mainly interested in interpreting fate and the mysteries of life. Their work, then, is for the most part philosophic, even when presented in the form of drama or of poetry. It is so great, so lofty in tone and so profound in its perception of everlasting truths that we cannot afford to neglect it. But it can only be grasped by a mature mind and by calm and patient meditation. The tragedies of Æschylus, Euripides, and Sophocles, the poetry of Lucretius and Cleanthes, and the meditations of Marcus Aurelius rank among the grandest and most sublime works that mortal mind has ever achieved. For complete lists of foreign authors, see the classified entries on pages 28-35 of this Handbook.

THE INDEX AND THE BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES

=The Use of the Index.= The thoughtful and habitual use of the Index will prove of more lasting benefit than any other practice associated with reading. Not only is attention called to authors, to the titles of selections, and to the opening lines of familiar and unfamiliar poems, but hundreds upon hundreds of topics are there listed, dealing with subjects of endless variety as viewed by the ablest minds of the past and the present. Agriculture, for example, is dealt with by ancients and moderns--among others, by Cicero and by Charles Dudley Warner. America's development, we find, has been presented from such diverse viewpoints as those of Ferrero, the modern Italian historian; of Goethe, the master-poet of old Germany, as bitter a foe of Prussia as any who live to-day; of Hamilton, the statesman-economist; of McMaster, the historian; of Henry, the patriot orator; of Leslie Stephen, the English critic, and other leaders of the world's thought. The value of books, the use of chariots of war, the case for and against Charles I of England, the nature of conversation, the progress of the drama in ancient and in more recent times--these topics suggest the amazing diversity of outlook.

Whether for the sake of study or merely as a pastime, every moment employed upon the Index will prove stimulating, will open trains of thought and furnish additional means of enjoyment that otherwise will lie undiscovered.

These fifty pages provide an encyclopedia of intellectual entertainment and cultivation. Through them the reader can pursue a subject or a line of thought as nowhere else. Not the opinion of one man, or of one nation, or of one era alone, but the best and most valued reflections of the great men of all the ages are here collected under every important heading on which they best expressed themselves.

Throughout this whole work, Opportunity lies in wait, needing only to be recognized; then, she at once enriches your life and your usefulness. Not a page but contains thoughts, suggestions, grave and gay, old and new, matter-of-fact or sublime,--yet all of them leading to a more sincere and purposeful understanding of the deeds and thoughts that make up a sound and full career. But of all these thousands of pages and selections not any contain more hints for the reader than the pages of the Index.

=The Use of the Biographical Sketches.= The reader who has once grasped the inestimable value of reflecting on the books that he meets, will naturally perceive the worth of the Biographical Sketches that immediately precede the selections in the LIBRARY. For although these are purposely terse, yet they have been painstakingly constructed to supply two essential needs; first, an introduction to the author, as well as to his best work; second, a guide to his other works.

As has elsewhere been pointed out (pages 19, 28, 55, etc., of this Handbook), the true appreciation and enjoyment of a writer are unquestionably increased by understanding his personality and his outlook on the world.

In the second place, the selections present the best and only the best achievements of each writer. They obviously cannot include thirty volumes of Scott's novels, for example; nor is it desirable that the quotations from any author should extend beyond complete passages of assured distinction. On the other hand, persons attracted by an author's style or subject matter will naturally desire to read more of his work and even to acquire several of his most characteristic books. The Biographical Sketch lists his principal writings so that you can send for them to bookseller or public library.

THE LIBRARY OF ENTERTAINMENT will thus form the nucleus of a collection that can become unique, in that it will not contain an author that you have not tested before purchase. To own books that you value and esteem unfailingly leads to reading with increased pleasure day by day; such reading forms the purpose that lies behind these volumes.

LITERARY CRITICISM

Criticism is a term that is commonly misused and misunderstood. It does not mean condemnation and disapproval. It does mean sound judgment, a careful valuation of the work under discussion, weighing its merits and its faults; therefore it follows that sincere criticism may be wholly free from fault-finding, provided the subject proves to be without blemish. The criticism of Milton's minor poems, "L'Allegro," "Il Penseroso," and "Lycidas," must be an appreciation of their beauty and power, since they are practically faultless.

To form a trustworthy opinion regarding a piece of literature is not difficult; all that is necessary is to make a definite, orderly inquiry into certain essential facts.

I. The first of these concern the author himself, his surroundings, and the influences which shaped his thoughts.

1. =The period when he lived.= Each of the great ages of literature has its special characteristics and tendencies, without a knowledge of which it is impossible to judge a writer's work. (These periods are defined on p. 19 ff.) For example, if Dickens had lived in Shakespeare's time his writings would have been very different in form and in style; he would have probably written comedies for the stage instead of novels.

2. =His nation.= Nationality also has strong traits that must be taken into account. (These are stated on p. 28 ff.) If Dickens had been a Frenchman, he would have paid more attention to the grace and clearness of his style; if he had been a German, he would have tended to be more philosophical in his thought, his plots would have been deeper, and his characters less vivid.

3. =His life and immediate surroundings.= Equally significant are the social conditions in which a man is reared, whether noble, like Byron, or poor, like Burns; well-educated, like Macaulay, or self-taught, like Bunyan; unfortunate and dissipated, like Poe, or fortunate and happy, like Holmes. These facts all have a direct bearing on the view we must take of the man's productions. Joel Chandler Harris could never have written his amusing "Uncle Remus" stories, if he had not spent his boyhood on a Southern plantation. De Quincey would never have written "Our Ladies of Sorrow" if he had not been the slave of opium. Stevenson's "Travels With a Donkey," one of his most charming books, is due to the fact that his consumptive tendencies compelled him to go on a walking trip in the pure and bracing air of the mountains of southern France.

II. A second group of facts deals with the work itself.

1. =The form=; poetry, fiction, history, essay, drama, etc. (These are discussed on p. 36 ff.)

2. =The style.= The worth of the author's work as a piece of composition is best decided by observing the following elements, which taken all together make up the style and quality of his writing.

What =words= does he use? Are they commonplace or do they express his exact meaning? Are they simple, or unusual and even unintelligible? Are they forceful or weak? etc.

How are his =sentences= constructed? Are they straightforward or confused? Do they express a simple, direct thought or do they contain several ideas? If complex and lengthy, are they still powerful? etc.

Are his =paragraphs= unified; that is, do they contain one leading idea? Do they follow in systematic order, leading from one to the other? Is the development of the author's subject easily followed? etc.

Are the =scenes= and =characters=, the =plots= and =purposes= clearly shown? Does it require more than one reading to find out what the writer is trying to say? Is his work convincing? Do the characters change, and if so, is the change natural or does it seem unreal and artificial? Are the incidents natural or do some of the events seem forced? If the latter, do you think the author is justified? What is the author's aim? Has he any further purpose than that which is immediately evident? etc.

What is the =tone= of his work? Realism? Imagination? Mystery? Charm? Beauty? Accuracy? Delicacy? Pathos? Humor? Joy? Sarcasm? etc.

3. =The effect.= What are =your feelings= regarding the work? Do you like it or dislike it? Why?

What is your cold =judgment= regarding it? Note that this is by no means necessarily the same thing as what you may feel. Many people do not care especially for Dickens or Kipling, yet they all grant that both these authors have deserved their fame. They may not like them, but their reason and their judgment compel admission of their ability. It is accordingly important to ask what impression a book makes on your feelings and on your judgment as well, and to ask why that impression has grown upon you.

The value of this systematic consideration of a passage of literature is manifest. The reader's knowledge is increased, and, better still, his ability to arrive at a wise judgment of other literature is greater than before. Efficiency in habits of thought is encouraged, his outlook on life is broader, he becomes more fit to take a prominent part in social and in business life, wherever judgment and thought are needed.