Chapter VIII: Part III: Studies of Great Authors (3)

The greatest literary genius that Germany has produced was born and spent his early years at Frankfort-on-the-Main, then capital of the German confederation. His later youth was spent in preparation for the bar at Leipsic and Strasburg.

By 1775 he had rendered himself famous by his drama "Götz von Berlichingen" and his novel, "The Sorrows of Werther." In that year he removed to Weimar, which soon because of him became the intellectual Mecca of Germany. He found a true friend in Karl August, Duke of Weimar, and throughout his long life occupied one after another of the chief offices of that little state. In the succeeding years appeared many dramas and other works, principal among the former being "Iphigenia," "Tasso," and "Egmont."

The year 1789 witnessed the beginning of his acquaintance with Schiller, then professor of history at Jena. Schiller had established a literary journal "Die Horen," to which Goethe contributed his "Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship." And in the same year, 1796, Goethe and Schiller wrote between them some six hundred "Xenien," pithy sayings on the philosophic tendencies of the age. The next year Goethe published his "Hermann and Dorothea," a romance in verse and one of his best works. Schiller removed to Weimar in 1799, and Germany's two foremost poets worked together until the death of Schiller in 1805.

Until his death, twenty-seven years later, Goethe was unceasingly busy. Not satisfied with being preëminent in literature, he plunged into anatomy, vegetable physiology, and optics, in each of which, far from simply playing the amateur, he rendered permanent service to science.

Throughout his whole life he labored at that greatest of all German dramas, "Faust." Begun as early as 1774, it first appeared in 1790 and then only as a 'fragment.' Urged by Schiller, he took it up again, and in 1808 the First Part was issued; the Second Part, only after his death, in 1833. This Second Part is as deep in its thought and philosophy as any poetic work that has been written; it has been the subject of study and meditation by all the great thinkers since its publication.

THE MAN

1. Give Heine's description of Goethe's personal appearance. VI,
389.

2. What was Goethe's education?

3. Were Goethe's love affairs limited to his youth? IV, 372.

4. What part did Goethe take in scientific research? VI, 237.

5. What part did he take in political affairs?

6. Name three eminent writers who visited Goethe at Weimar. VI,
377; VIII, 174, 180.

7. How late in life did Goethe retain his physical vigor? IV, 403.

8. Did Goethe conceive of God as a personal being? I, 392.

9. What great composer was among his intimate friends? I, 418.

10. See Goethe's forecast of the construction of the Panama Canal
by the United States. IV, 385.

STYLE AND WORKS

1. Give Goethe's own statement of his influence upon German
poetry and institutions. I, 170.

2. For what reason is Faust not fully appreciated by the reading
public? IV, 382.

3. What was Napoleon's opinion of Goethe's works? IV, 401.

4. During what portion of Goethe's life was "Faust" written?

5. Name three other dramas of note by Goethe.

6. The position assigned to "Hermann and Dorothea"?

7. Who was the continuator of Goethe's work? I, 168.

8. What was Heine's opinion of Goethe? I, 169.

9. Was he the author of any prose works?

10. From what you read of him in I, 168-171; IV, 371 ff.; VI,
388-390; VIII, 172 ff.; do you think he belonged to the Age of
Classicism or of Romanticism, or both? What conclusion do you
draw from his work, its subject-matter, and its style?

FROM "FAUST"

1. The selection from "Faust" includes practically the whole
tragedy of Margaret's temptation, and forms a complete drama in
itself. This is the central theme of the First Part of "Faust";
in the Second Part Faust saves himself from damnation by
abandoning selfishness and solitude and becoming a worker for the
good of humanity, at one with the world.

2. What is Faust's first purpose?

3. Mephistopheles is to be regarded either as an evil spirit or
else as Faust's own baser side, endeavoring to defeat the ideals
of his better self.

4. What does the character of Martha add to the drama?

5. Compare with Marlowe's "Doctor Faustus," IX, 43, ff.

6. Which is the more immediately powerful? Both are derived from
a medieval tale and are related to the medieval morality plays,
in which virtues and vices are represented struggling for the
souls of men. Does Goethe or Marlowe come nearer to this simple
form of drama in style? in spirit?

FOR REFERENCE

"Life of Goethe."--BIELSCHOWSKY.

"Goethe and Schiller."--BOYESEN.

"The World's Leading Poets."--BOYNTON.

"Goethe and his Woman Friends."--CRAWFORD.

"Critical and Miscellaneous Essays."--CARLYLE.

"Conversations with Goethe."--ECKERMANN.

"Life of Goethe."--LEWES.

FRIEDRICH VON SCHILLER

(1759-1805)

Schiller, the most beloved of German poets, was a native of the Duchy of Würtemberg. Abandoning the study of the law for that of medicine, he gave vent to his literary powers by writing the romantic drama of "The Robbers," produced in 1782. Meanwhile he had become regimental surgeon and was obliged to leave his regiment without permission in order to witness the performance. As a result he was put under arrest and involved in further trouble, fleeing at last into hiding, under a false name.

Drifting through the literary centers of Germany, studying history and writing drama the while, he came in 1787 to Weimar, where he was received kindly by the duke, Goethe's patron and friend, and soon after met Goethe himself. Through the latter's influence Schiller received a post at the University of Jena as professor of history, and devoted himself to that subject; his "History of the Thirty Years' War" belongs to this period.

By 1795 he had become intimate with Goethe and renewed his poetic work, his principal dramas and "The Song of the Bell," all belonging to this period. Of the former, "Maria Stuart" and "The Maid of Orleans" deserve high praise beside his masterpieces, the "Wallenstein" trilogy, and "Wilhelm Tell," his last and most popular play.

His character was noble and lovable, and his work possesses a high finish in style and a lofty vein of idealism which gives it a resemblance to those passages and plays of Shakespeare in which princes and potentates appear. He was a lover of the Bard of Avon and translated several of his plays into German. But Schiller did not attempt the many-sided portrayal of life that was Shakespeare's forte; for him the presentation of high ideals and a majestic plot involving the great motives of human action was sufficient.

Yet his thought is not so profound as Goethe's, and its expression, on the other hand, is not so simple. The story of Margaret's tragedy, in "Faust," is bare as compared with the plots of "Tell" or "Maria Stuart" and the character development therein; but the lesson which Goethe drove home to the hearts of men was more forcible than any of Schiller's.

THE MAN

1. What terms of intimacy existed between Goethe and Schiller?
VIII, 182.

2. Was his education calculated to fit him for the calling of a
poet?

3. Was Jean Paul Richter right in supposing Schiller to be of a
strong nature? VIII, 175.

4. What was the nature of his connection with Jena?

5. In what respect did he resemble Shelley? VII, 222.

6. Where, and in whose company, were his latter years spent?

7. Compare Goethe and Schiller in character and in work.

STYLE AND WORKS

1. In what two departments of literature did Schiller attain
eminence?

2. Which works treat of scenes outside of Germany?

3. Name his four greatest dramas.

4. Which of these is esteemed the masterpiece?

5. Which first brought him to public notice?

6. For what two great historical works are we indebted to him?

FROM "WILHELM TELL"

1. What are the social and political conditions in Switzerland
at the beginning of the play? How did they compare with those of
other lands?

2. From what class in society do the characters come? Is their
style of speech consistent with their social position? Is
absolute adherence to realism desirable? Why, and also why not?

3. What is the date of this play and what great social upheavals
had recently taken place?

4. Why is Tell's son introduced?

5. Is the character of Gessler too harshly drawn?

6. The scene on p. 363 occurs at the close of the play; meanwhile
previous acts have shown the development of the spirit of freedom
in the hearts of the people and the determination to do away with
tyranny. Does this justify Tell's act?

7. "The Robbers" was one of the first products of Romanticism; is
"Tell" also a good example of this age?

8. Compare the style in "Tell" with that of Shakespeare and
Goethe, making allowance for loss in translation.

FOR REFERENCE

"Life of Friedrich Schiller."--CARLYLE.

"Biographical Essays."--DE QUINCEY.

"Goethe and Schiller."--BOYESEN.

CHARLES DICKENS

(1812-1870)

Charles Dickens was born at Portsmouth, England. His parents were poor and luckless. His early years were spent in moving from place to place, and as a boy he performed the services of a drudge and was rewarded with a mere pittance. Such education as he received was gained in the severe school of experience.

Hence it is not surprising that, after having been connected with various newspapers in a subordinate capacity, when he finally tried his hand at serial fiction he astounded the world in "Pickwick Papers" by his wonderful descriptions of middle and lower class English life; a work also unexcelled in its good-natured merriment.

"Pickwick Papers" and its successors were among the first of those social novels which form so marked a feature of modern literature. They waged open and successful warfare against many of the crying evils of the day, such as the work-houses, the barbarous school system in vogue, and the legal and prison systems.

Dickens was too kind-hearted to sneer, but his mocking humor was quite as effective. He won the hearts of high and low alike, and the sale of his novels was phenomenal.

In addition to rollicking humor, touches of satire and a pronounced tendency toward exaggerated pathos appear in his work, the latter quality especially in "The Old Curiosity Shop" and "Dombey and Son."

His creative powers were immense, the numbers of his characters running into the hundreds. Though some of these serve the purpose of lay figures, yet they are redeemed from mere puppetry by some whimsical oddity that stamps the character indelibly on one's mind. "David Copperfield," "Bleak House," and "Pickwick Papers" are usually held to be the best of his work.

THE MAN

1. Where did Dickens receive his education? Compare it with that
of other novelists.

2. Give the sources of his intimate acquaintance with conditions
among the lower class.

3. What moral characteristic of the man took the sting out of his
satire?

4. What great quality will ever endear him to the public?

5. Where did Dickens make his home after his reputation had
become established? V, 220.

6. What was his attitude toward the poor after he had become a
man of substance?

7. Have social conditions in England improved since his day? In
what lines and how?

STYLE AND WORKS

1. In what is Dickens related to the period of Romanticism? Is he
characteristically English? Compare him with Dumas, Daudet, and
Harte.

2. What beneficial effect has the reading of his novels had on
everyday life?

3. Explain his custom of running several stories at the same time
in a novel. III, 254, 259.

4. What is the true secret of his popularity? III, 250.

5. Whence did Dickens obtain the numerous characters that crowd
his pages?

6. What art lies at the bottom of his comic masterpiece? III, 258.

7. To what extent have Dickens's characters become common
property of the race? III, 248.

8. How does Dickens compare with the other novelists of the
nineteenth century? III, 264.

9. Does Dickens's continued popularity prove the contention that
the public likes bad literature? III, 252.

10. Which novel will endure the longer, that in which the
characters are exaggerated and impossible, as his often are, or
that in which the characters are carefully and realistically
drawn? III, 266.

11. Which is more popular at the present time, Dickens or
Kipling? III, 249.

12. What work brought Dickens into public notice?

13. Name three novels in which pathos predominates.

14. Which is considered his greatest work?

15. Dickens and Hood were masters of both humor and pathos, the
one as a novelist, the other as a poet. Compare them in these
qualities.

FROM "PICKWICK PAPERS"

1. Is this style clear and forcible? Why?

2. Is Mr. Magnus a common character of to-day whom one may meet
while traveling?

3. Would you expect to see the White Horse Inn at Ipswich if you
were in England?

4. Draw a character sketch of Mr. Pickwick.

5. When reading a story is it more effective when dialect is
introduced? How far may the use of dialect be carried?

6. Do you notice any exaggeration in incident or description? If
so what purpose does it serve?

7. Contrast the description of the temperance meeting with
Dickens's attitude on other social reforms.

8. Is this satire justified on any grounds then or now?

FOR REFERENCE

"The Life of Charles Dickens."--FORSTER.

"Charles Dickens."--CHESTERTON.

"Life of Charles Dickens as Revealed in his
Writings."--FITZGERALD.

"Great English Novelists."--DAWSON.

"Charles Dickens and His Girl Heroines."--MOSES.

"Dickens" ("English Men of Letters").--WARD.

"Masters of the English Novel."--BURTON.

WILLIAM MAKEPEACE THACKERAY

(1811-1863)

The novelist was born in Calcutta, India; he was sent to Cambridge University. Here he was an intimate friend of Tennyson and Fitzgerald (translator of the "Rubáiyát"). After losing his money in various newspaper deals, he settled down in London as a literary hack. His genius soon attracted the attention of "Punch," which welcomed his sketches and satires against snobbery.

"Vanity Fair" in 1847 finally raised him to the highest rank among writers of fiction. "Pendennis" followed, and a little later "Henry Esmond," the equal of "Vanity Fair." Its sequel, "The Virginians," was not so powerful.

Thackeray came to the United States in 1852 and delivered his lectures on "The English Humorists." So pleased was he with the country that he returned again three years later and lectured on "The Four Georges." During these trips he became acquainted with the leading American writers of the day.

THE MAN

1. With what noted English periodical was he connected?

2. Did he soon show an aptitude for fiction?

3. What authors were numbered among his most intimate friends?

4. What other eminent English writer was born in India? VIII, 3.

5. Describe his American visits.

6. Is the vein of cynicism which runs through his writings
indicative of his real character?

STYLE AND WORKS

1. Was Thackeray a realist? III, 266, 267.

2. Upon what was his creation of character based?

3. What great service did he render English society?

4. Which of his works were delivered in America in the form of
lectures?

5. Which were particularly aimed at British snobbery?

6. Why is Dickens more popular than Thackeray? III, 248.

7. For which may we expect the more enduring fame? III, 264.

8. Read his metrical translations from Beranger. I, 428-431.

9. Which two novels are considered his masterpieces?

10. Was his work characteristically English, as contrasted with
that of other nations?

"CLUB SNOBS"

1. Why should bachelors be excluded from the luxuries of Clubs?

2. To whom should the privilege of attending these institutions
be given and during what hours?

3. What evils are attributed to these institutions; wrongly or
otherwise?

4. In general do women's clubs or men's clubs exert a more
beneficial influence on the surrounding community?

5. How serious is the author?

"THE SNOB ROYAL"

1. What queen of England is alluded to by "her present Majesty"?
(See the dates of Thackeray's life.)

2. How does Thackeray's definition of a "Snob" compare with your
conception of this type of person?

3. From your own knowledge of Charles II, do you consider him
worthy of the title "snob"?

4. Compare Chesterfield's ideas of a gentleman with Thackeray's.
III, 240-247.

5. Thackeray wrote several parodies of successful novels; which
type does he satirize in the opening paragraph of this essay?

6. 'The Baron of Bradwardine' refers to Scott; do you agree with
Thackeray's condemnation of Scott's conduct? Why? Why not?

FOR REFERENCE

"Life of Thackeray."--BENJAMIN.

"Thackeray."--CHESTERTON.

"Great English Novelists."--JACKSON.

"Literary Studies."--BAGEHOT.

"The Thackeray Country."--BENJAMIN.

"Victorian Prose Masters."--BROWNELL.

"Thackeray's Haunts and Homes."--CROWE.

"With Thackeray in America."--CROWE.

SAMUEL JOHNSON

(1709-1784)

Johnson was born at Lichfield, Staffordshire, and studied at Oxford. His early years were one continuous struggle with poverty, first as a teacher at Lichfield and other places and afterwards as a hack writer in London. During the latter period, besides his ordinary duties as an editor of various magazines, he found time to turn his hand to the most diverse forms of literature. He wrote poems, "London" and the "Vanity of Human Wishes"; a drama, "Irene"; a philosophic romance, "Rasselas, Prince of Abyssinia"; two series of essays, the "Rambler" and the "Idler," after the model of Addison's "Spectator"; and prepared the first English dictionary.

In 1862 he was granted a pension of £300 by Lord Bute, from which time dates his literary dictatorship. His only subsequent works of importance were his "Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland" and his "Lives of the Poets." The latter is his best work and one of the monuments of English criticism in spite of its prejudiced tone.

During the latter half of his life he gathered about him a coterie of the most intellectual men of the day, nearly all of whom belonged to the literary society known as the Club. Burke, Goldsmith, Gibbon, Garrick, Reynolds, and Boswell were among his intimates.

THE MAN

1. To see Johnson, the thinker and the man, read Boswell's
"Life," II, 100 ff., and then take up the following questions:

2. What attitude did Johnson maintain toward religious questions?

3. Quote Goldsmith on his roughness of manner.

4. What was Johnson's opinion of the married state?

5. Would you judge him to have been of a harsh or tender
disposition?

6. See Frances Burney's account of his sociability. II, 339 ff.

7. In what respect was the Doctor a typical Anglo-Saxon? VIII,
259.

8. What distinguishes Boswell from most biographers? II, 100.

9. Where did Johnson win his fame, in writing, or in society?

10. Is he a true follower of the spirit of Classicism?

STYLE AND WORKS

1. What peculiar position did Johnson occupy in the literary
world of his day?

2. If Johnson is to be called heroic for having kept at his
dictionary until its completion, why should not the term be
applied to later lexicographers, whose dictionaries are much more
extensive?

3. Under what circumstances does Johnson justify dissimulation?

4. Was his criticism of Milton fair? VIII, 350.

5. Why was he a poor critic of the Latin productions of modern
writers? VIII, 354.

6. Give Johnson's view of death.

7. By what works is he best known?

8. Is he comparable with Addison as an essayist in your opinion?
Why?

"THE VALLEY OF HAPPINESS"

1. 'The father of waters' is an appellation applied to what
African stream?

2. Can man be truly happy with luxury alone?

3. What occupations give the greatest pleasure to the normal
person?

4. How long is the active life of the average man or woman?

5. The power to enjoy our blessings is enhanced by what knowledge
or experience?

6. In the description of the Valley of Happiness, find some
combinations of setting which would not hold in real life.

7. Judging from this selection, would the human race be contented
in utter idleness?

8. What moral did Johnson wish to teach by this piece?

9. Would Johnson deserve immortality simply on the merits of
this, one of his best pieces of literary work?

FOR REFERENCE

"Life of Johnson."--BOSWELL.

"Dr. Johnson" ("Bell's Miniature series").--DENNIS.

"Life of Johnson."--MACAULAY.

"Six Essays on Johnson."--RALEIGH.

"Doctor Johnson and Mrs. Thrale."--BROADLEY.

"Essay on Boswell's Johnson."--CARLYLE.

OLIVER GOLDSMITH

(1728-1774)

Goldsmith was born in central Ireland, where his father was a clergyman of the Established Church of England. His youth gave little promise of future eminence. Educated at Trinity College, Dublin, after various escapades he was sent by his uncle to study medicine in Edinburgh. After a few months of study he started on a four years' vagabond trip, during which he made the tour of Western Europe on foot, paying his way with his flute.

Returning to England he was by turns a physician, proofreader, teacher, and hack writer. In the latter capacity he came in contact with Dr. Johnson, and was one of the nine charter members of the Club, a literary society over which Johnson held genial sway. The next year appeared his first work of any value, the poem, "The Traveler." A year later he published his only novel, "The Vicar of Wakefield," still one of the most popular of stories. From this he turned to the drama and produced "The Good-Natured Man," and "She Stoops to Conquer," the latter unsurpassed among later English comedies. At some time prior to this appeared his greatest poem, "The Deserted Village."

In character he was a strange mixture of generosity and vanity; the butt and yet the envy of his many friends, uncouth in appearance and yet gifted with so lucid a style.

THE MAN

1. Goldsmith was educated at the same college as Burke: did he
benefit as greatly?

2. Under what circumstances did he make the tour of the Continent?

3. Were his habits of dress eccentric? II, 115.

4. He was a member of what celebrated literary coterie?

5. What were his principal traits?

6. What was his opinion of his friend Johnson? II, 110, 122.

STYLE AND WORKS

1. Give Johnson's estimate of the "Good-Natured Man." II, 103.

2. Was Goldsmith a productive poet? See Goethe's statement to
Eckermann. IV, 393.

3. Name the principal prose writers of his time. II, 100, 331; V,
193, 406; VII, 334; XI, 294.

4. What other poet wrote at this period? VI, 106.

5. The style of Goldsmith is in imitation of what poet? X, 64.

6. What defects mar his writings?

7. Name three of his works in different departments of
literature, any one of which would have served to establish his
reputation.

8. What poem brought him into public notice?

"THE DESERTED VILLAGE"

1. What is the economic effect on a community when one large
landholder possesses the entire land?

2. The "bold peasantry" of England are similar to what class in
America?

3. What was Goldsmith's ideal of a happy old age?

4. To what qualities of character was the attracting power of the
village preacher due?

5. What were the qualifications of a rustic school teacher in
Goldsmith's time?

6. Why is wealth a barren possession?

7. Name some of the disagreeable surroundings of a life in the
tropics.

8. What plan does Goldsmith recommend to remedy the evils of the
present social system?

9. What is your judgment of the style of this poem?

10. Does Goldsmith's description ring true?

11. As an example of the influence of Classicism, compare it
with Milton's "L'Allegro" and "Il Penseroso," IX, 110, of the
Renaissance, and "The Cotter's Saturday Night," II, 343, of the
Romantic Period.

FOR REFERENCE

"Goldsmith" ("English Men of Letters").--BLACK.

"Oliver Goldsmith" ("Bell's Miniature Series").--BUCKLAND.

"Biographical Essays."--MACAULAY.

"Story-Lives of Great Authors."--ROWBOTHAM.

"Essays on the Poets."--DE QUINCEY.

"A Paladin of Philanthropy."--DOBSON.

THOMAS GRAY

(1716-1771)

After studying at Eton and at Cambridge University, Gray made the customary tour of the Continent and then settled down to a retired life among his books. His circle of friends was small but intellectual. He spent most of his life at Cambridge, reading and thinking.

In disposition he was very reserved, seldom revealing his feelings. As he was sensitive and also rather melancholy it was natural that he should find few intimates. Always a student, he none the less applied himself to those topics only which attracted him, neglecting such portions of the subject as did not appeal to him, so that although one of the most learned men of his time he did not receive public recognition until his appointment as regius professor of history and modern languages at Cambridge, three years before his death.

The Age of Classicism, in which he lived, was repugnant to him; its formal standards, as expressed especially by the poetry of Pope, offended his fastidious taste, which was charmed by the wild beauty of nature and longed for freedom of expression and avoidance of convention in literary art.

He was the forerunner of the Romantic spirit. Had he lived forty years later he would have been far more productive; the poetry of Wordsworth, Byron, and the rest of that dazzling group of poets would have strengthened and enthused him.

What little he wrote bears witness to the scholarship, refinement, and depth of feeling of the recluse. His "Elegy," meditated in Stoke Pogis churchyard near his mother's home, where he spent the summer, is probably the most thoroughly English poem ever written. It was begun in 1742 and finished in 1750; during the interval it was polished and revised so effectively that not a word can be altered without detracting from its symmetry and splendor. The dignity of the classic spirit and the wistful grace of Romanticism are both apparent, but the keynote is quiet, simple love of everyday life tinged with moral reflection, the note sounded again and again in English poetry and prose.

THE MAN

1. What was Gray's education; did he travel?

2. What was his nature?

3. How did he spend his life?

4. What was the character of the age in which he lived?

5. What influence did this period have upon Gray?

6. In what period would he have been more active?

7. How did he show national tendencies in his work?

"ELEGY WRITTEN IN A COUNTRY CHURCHYARD"

1. Select stanzas representative of the Romantic spirit.

2. Select stanzas that are Classic in tone.

3. Point out the ideas or phrases in each which lead you to make
the classification.

4. Sketch roughly on separate sheets of paper the outlines of the
pictures in each stanza.

5. Compare the pictures in the poem with those in Milton's
"L'Allegro" and "Il Penseroso," IX, 110.

6. Compare the poem also with Goldsmith's "Deserted Village," VI,
94.

7. What phrases or passages impress you as being especially
English in tone? Why?

8. What changes would you expect to find in a modern English
village neighborhood?

9. Where do you observe traces of Gray's scholarship?

10. Select the best stanzas and explain their superiority.

11. Do any lines suggest Gray's sensitive dislike of the spirit
of his times and the melancholy reserve in his nature? Which
lines?

FOR REFERENCE

"Life of Gray."--MASON.

"Life of Gray" ("English Men of Letters").--GOSSE.

"Gray and his Friends."--TOVEY.

"Essays."--LOWELL.

"Letters."--Ed. RIDEOUT.

EDMUND BURKE

(1729-1797)

Edmund Burke was a native of Dublin, Ireland. After a careful preparatory training, he entered Trinity College, Dublin, where he showed marked ability in eloquence, history, poetry, and philosophy. After receiving his master's degree, he went to England, with the intention of becoming a barrister, but found the profession not to his taste. He accordingly spent the next six years making the tour of Great Britain and the Continent, and forming the acquaintance of the leading literary men.

The first years after his return to England were devoted to literary work, resulting in two philosophical essays, "Vindication of Natural Society," and "The Sublime and Beautiful." He also collaborated with his cousin William Burke in "An Account of the European Settlements in America."

But he soon turned his attention to politics. In 1766 he was elected to Parliament, of which he remained a member for twenty-eight years. He held many other positions under the Government, and his actions were always distinguished by the strictest integrity. He labored earnestly in the cause of humanity, against the slave trade and the oppression of India and the American Colonies. His most widely read works are his "Speech at the Trial of Warren Hastings," and the speech on "Conciliation with America." But owing to his increasing conservatism he failed to appreciate the causes of the French Revolution and his "Reflections on the Revolution in France" is of little critical value.

Burke was distinguished by great nobility of mind and purity of life, both public and private. He possessed great oratorical powers, a vigorous imagination, a rare gift of observation, and prodigious industry.

Yet on the other hand, he appears not to have known how to contain himself, but scattered his eloquence on all occasions, until the public ear became dulled. He was also of a passionate and intractable disposition, qualities which in the course of time left him in political isolation.

Among his friends were Dr. Johnson, Goldsmith, Boswell, Sir Joshua Reynolds, the famous painter, and Garrick, the great actor. These were members of the Club, a society of the most brilliant intellects in England at that day. Burke's learning and power were greatly venerated by them, and by none more than by Johnson, who admitted that he must be at his best to meet Burke in argument.

THE MAN

1. Of what city was Burke a native?

2. In what branches of learning did he achieve distinction?

3. State the mode he adopted for completing his education.

4. Were his first years in England devoted to oratory?

5. What was the extent of his connection with the British
Parliament?

6. Give his views with regard to contemporary conditions in
India, France, and the American Colonies.

7. Where did he die?

8. What was his social environment?

STYLE AND WORKS

1. What qualities distinguished Burke's oratory? V, 424.

2. Taking his utterances out of their forensic setting, how would
they compare with the finest of Milton's prose passages? VIII,
394.

3. Were his rhetorical sallies always in good taste? XI, 199.

4. What great service did he render to the British Constitution?
XI, 204.

5. Aside from his oration on Conciliation with the Colonies, what
evidence have we that Burke was thoroughly informed on American
affairs?

6. What great works did he compose in addition to speeches?

7. What are the principal elements of beauty and power in his
productions?

8. What characteristics detracted from permanent popularity?

9. Is his work characteristic of the Age of Classicism?

FROM "CONCILIATION WITH THE AMERICAN COLONIES"

1. What reasons does Burke give for concession on England's part
toward the American colonies?

2. Why did this statesman consider the use of force impractical?

3. What nation was very likely meant by "foreign enemy"?

4. Account for the excessive spirit of liberty which predominates
in the character of most Americans.

5. In what respect was England at a great disadvantage in
governing her colonies? How is this remedied now?

6. How was religion instrumental in making the colonists more
dissatisfied with English rule?

7. What was the condition of education in America at this time?

8. If England had followed Burke's plan of conciliation, is it
likely that the American Colonies would have revolted either then
or in a subsequent generation?

FOR REFERENCE

"Posthumous Essays."--COLLINS.

"Obiter Dicta."--BIRRELL.

"Edmund Burke; an Historical Sketch."--MORLEY.

"Appreciations and Addresses."--ROSEBERY.

DANIEL WEBSTER

(1782-1852)

Born at Salisbury (now Franklin), New Hampshire, Daniel Webster received his education at Dartmouth College. He afterward studied law and then removed to Massachusetts, where he soon obtained distinction as a politician, and was in 1812 sent to Congress. He championed the New England cause against the embargo and the other measures of the administration, yet although his great oratorical powers were already manifest, he displayed little of that breadth of character which afterwards distinguished him.

To the years which followed we owe some of his most popular forensic efforts and public addresses, the "Dartmouth College Case," the "Girard Will," and the addresses at Plymouth and Bunker Hill.

In 1827 he was elected to the United States Senate. Three years later he delivered his masterpiece, "The Reply to Hayne," on the floor of the Senate. Under Presidents Harrison and Tyler he was Secretary of State, and was instrumental in negotiating the celebrated "Webster-Ashburton Treaty."

For many years the leading man of the Whig party, his presidential aspirations were doomed to disappointment. His last years in the Senate were, like those of Clay, consecrated to the effort to preserve the Union. But his pleas for compromise fell in the North on dull ears, and his pleas for concessions to the South were looked on as treason. The time for compromise was passing.

The Whigs being returned to power in 1850, Webster again became Secretary of State, but again failing to secure the nomination for President, he returned to Marshfield, where, after a brief illness, he died in October, 1852.

THE MAN

1. Of what college was Webster a graduate?

2. State the extent to which he filled the public eye at the time
of his death. III, 271.

3. In what respect did he "wear the double wreath of professional
and public supremacy"? III, 273.

4. What ties bound him to New Hampshire, and what to
Massachusetts? III, 275.

5. As a statesman, what division of the country did Webster
especially represent?

6. To what political party did he adhere?

7. To what do you ascribe the unpopularity which embittered his
declining years?

8. What important public positions did he fill?

FROM "REPLY TO HAYNE"

1. State the "nullification doctrine" propounded by Senator Hayne.

2. Why does Webster defend Massachusetts against the charge of
having formerly attempted to nullify an act of Congress?

3. Explain the impracticality of state nullification.

4. Was the federal government created by the States?

5. State how the mere existence of the federal constitution
implies the subordination of the States.

6. Show how Webster brings ridicule of his opponent to the aid of
his argument.

7. What would be the inevitable and direct result of
nullification?

8. Do you think the statement of Webster that he was "drawn into
the debate, with no previous deliberation," etc., to be literally
true?

9. Read carefully the peroration, pp. 281-283; one of the
grandest passages in American eloquence.

10. Does Webster show the influence of the classics as well as
the moderns? Compare his style with that of Demosthenes, IV, 161.

FOR REFERENCE

"Famous American Statesmen."--BOLTON.

"The True Daniel Webster."--FISHER.

"Daniel Webster."--MCCALL.

"John Adams, and Other Essays."--CHAMBERLAIN.

"Daniel Webster, the Expounder of the Constitution."--WHEELER.

"American Literature and other Papers."--WHIPPLE.

PLATO

(427 B.C.-347 B.C.)

An Athenian by birth, Plato's youth was spent in the midst of the tumult and gloom in which Athens, the flower of Greek civilization, fell victim to her greed and arrogance and succumbed to the sturdy, rising power of Sparta. But his maturity and later years saw the growth of a purified and enlightened spirit of culture which raised Greek thought above local pettiness and prepared for the day of alliance with Roman enterprise.

His youth was passed under the inspiring guidance of Socrates, whose searching inquiries into the depths of human nature marked the beginning of the loftiest philosophy of ancient times. Plato, and Aristotle, his pupil, carried on the work begun by Socrates, involving the discussion of the entire experience of Greek life and the criticism of its principles.

Upon the condemnation and death of Socrates in 399 B.C. the circle of his disciples was broken up, Plato fleeing with others to Megara. He spent the next twelve years in travel, visiting most of the centers of learning of the ancient world. On his return to Athens about 388 B.C. he founded the famous school of the Academy, and settled down to the study and teaching of philosophy.

His teachings have come down to us in the form of dialogues between Socrates and his disciples, but as they were written for the purpose of setting forth Plato's system of philosophy, which differed in some respects from that of Socrates, we do not of course know to what extent the narrative is colored. It would appear, however, that in the simpler dialogues, such as the "Apology," "Crito," "Laches," and "Charmides," we may possess the unvarnished teachings of Socrates.

In some of his later dialogues the speculative interest is allowed to become so absorbing that the dialogue form is rather inappropriate; but the others have been generally acknowledged as comprising the greatest masterpieces of dialogue that literature has to show, in the skill with which the scene is suggested, the charm of the conversation, and the artistic truth with which the characters are set forth in the changing course of the discussion.

The "Republic" is the best summing up of his philosophy. In it is best represented his Theory of Ideas, which has made his work the great type of idealistic philosophy.

He ranks with Aristotle and Kant as one of the three greatest thinkers of all ages.

THE MAN

1. During what period of the world's history did Plato live?

2. From what sources did he derive the principles set forth in
his teachings?

3. Of whom was he the disciple, and who in turn was his disciple?

4. What rank is generally accorded him as a philosopher?

5. How did Plato look upon pleasure? III, 291.

6. What is said to have been the manner of his death? III, 281.

7. By what name is his school of philosophy known?

8. Who are the three greatest philosophers of the ages?

9. What was the nature of his education?

STYLE AND WORKS

1. Are Plato's writings addressed to the select few, or to the
people of all classes? III, 253.

2. Give Milton's estimate of the "Republic." IX, 126.

3. What were Plato's views as to the proper age for marriage? IX,
190.

4. And what his views anent the right of the owner of property to
devise or bequeath it, as he sees fit? IX, 200.

5. Did the use of dialogue render his writings more effective
than they otherwise would have been?

6. Which of his dialogues are most read at the present day, and
why?

7. Would Plato have made a successful dramatist if he had turned
his energies in that direction? Your reason for so thinking?

8. Which is his greatest work from a philosophical point of view?

9. Explain his parable of the cave, in the selection from the
"Republic."

"THE TRIAL OF SOCRATES"

1. Why was Socrates brought to trial?

2. What was his refutation to these charges?

3. What was Socrates's view of death?

4. Does it seem likely that he might have been acquitted if he
had used ordinary methods of defense?

5. Wherein did Socrates's methods of teaching differ from
ordinary methods of to-day?

6. What were the customary penalties inflicted for serious crimes?

7. Did Socrates practise what he preached?

8. How do the teachings of Socrates compare with those of
Christianity?

9. What is the fundamental difference, in your understanding,
between philosophy and religion?

10. Did Socrates believe in one God or in many?

FOR REFERENCE

"Plato" ("The World's Epoch-Makers").--RITCHIE.

"Dialogues," translated by JOWETT.

"Plato the Teacher."--BRYAN.

"Representative Men."--EMERSON.

"The Myths of Plato."--STEWART.

"Plato's Republic" ("Historical and Critical Essays").--DE
QUINCEY.

AURELIUS

(121 A.D.-180 A.D.)

Marcus Aurelius (Antoninus), emperor and philosopher, was the child of noble parents. His wonderful character, both intellectual and moral, early attracted the attention of the emperor, Hadrian, who, when Marcus had attained his seventeenth year, adopted Antoninus Pius as his successor, upon the condition that the latter adopt Marcus.

Accordingly Marcus was adopted by Pius, who proceeded to lavish upon him as heir presumptive to the Empire every position for which his high character and thorough education fitted him; and upon the death of Pius he ascended the throne, at the age of forty.

His reign covered a period of nineteen years, over two-thirds of which he spent on the borders of the empire in ceaseless struggles to sustain the tottering empire against the ravages of the outer barbarians.

It was during these campaigns that his "Meditations," or "Thoughts," his only work, was written. In its present form, at least, it was never intended for publication, nor is it probable that it was, as some think, written for the instruction of his son, Commodus. It was written in Greek, and consists of mere memoranda, disconnected thoughts, and confessions, evidently hastily noted, a circumstance which accounts for its repetitions, its obscurity, and its elliptical form of expression. But in spite of this it has been an inspiration to the despondent in all ages. Its tone and temper are sweet yet dignified, courageous yet resigned, philosophical and speculative yet intensely practical. It stands preëminent among those world-books which teach men how to live and how to die.

The great blots on his memory, in popular estimation, are the massacres of Christians in his reign, and his blindness to the frailty of his wife and the worthlessness of his son. But the Christians were in those days commonly looked upon as a pernicious secret cult, and those who comprehend his philosophy will know why he could see only good in the members of his family.

THE MAN

1. What circumstance illustrates the great value he set upon time?

2. Was he considered a man of letters by his contemporaries?

3. What two others deserve to be remembered with him as Roman
stoics? V, 90; X, 419.

4. Why would one hardly expect to find a great philosopher in
Marcus Aurelius?

5. Under what circumstances did he become Emperor of Rome?

6. How were his early years spent?

7. What was the extent of his education?

8. Why did he permit the persecution of the Christians?

9. What circumstances indicate the nobility of his character?

10. What other author wrote a work for the instruction of his
son, and, like Aurelius, was blind to the son's faults? III, 240.

11. Summarize his character.

STYLE AND WORKS

1. To what are his literary remains confined?

2. Were they written in Latin?

3. Under what circumstances were the "Meditations" composed?

4. For what purpose were they written?

5. In what form have they come down to us?

6. Does Aurelius consider that the absence of an overruling
Providence would relax moral obligations?

7. What position do the "Meditations" hold in the world's
literature?

8. What is the spirit of the philosophy which they breathe?

9. Probably no other book of the ancients is as widely read
to-day. Why is this?

10. Do its defects of form detract from its value?

FROM "MEDITATIONS"

1. From the viewpoint of this philosopher, are poverty, death,
and sickness inflicted on people as punishment for sins?

2. To what frame of mind does a righteous person school himself?

3. What prescription is given for the making of a happy man?

4. Would Marcus Aurelius have been in sympathy with the medieval
custom of pious people who shut themselves up in monasteries or
other secluded places?

5. Explain the relationship of man to his fellow beings.

6. Does this environment have an influence in the altering of an
adult's character?

7. Why does each of us live a complete life, whether we die young
or old?

8. Judging the Emperor's character from his writings, would you
consider him a wise ruler?

FOR REFERENCE

"Essays in Criticism."--ARNOLD.

"Marcus Aurelius and the Later Stoics."--BUSSELL.

"Seekers after God."--FARRAR.

"Glimpses of Truth."--SPALDING.

"Excursions in Art and Letters."--STORY.

FRANCIS BACON

(1561-1626)

Francis Bacon was born three years before his great contemporary, William Shakespeare, but survived him many years. He was born in high station and had every educational advantage which the times afforded. He was the nephew of William Cecil, Elizabeth's great minister, and, entering public life, himself became the favorite minister of James I and Lord High Chancellor of England. But his character was not in keeping with his literary merits and ability. He was venal and corrupt, took bribes as a judge and sold justice for a price. He has been called the wisest and meanest of mankind.

By the introduction of the inductive method in logic, Bacon overthrew the scholastic system and facilitated the study of modern science. It is true the inductive method was known before Bacon, but it had been in general neglected. The great philosophical works which accomplished this revolution were the "Advancement of Learning," and the "Novum Organum." The latter and others of his metaphysical works were written in Latin in order to reach a wider circle of readers!

His "Essays" are the best known and most popular of his writings. The style is all his own; elaborate, sententious, often witty, often metaphorical, and possessing a degree of conciseness rarely found in the compositions of the Elizabethan age. Every sentence is pregnant with thought. He alone of the writers of his time strikes straight at the root of the matter.

What peculiarly impresses one in his "Essays" is the undoubted truthfulness of the propositions advanced, and the manner in which he illuminates his thought by the form in which he casts it. The slight tinge of casuistry noticeable in his writings is in keeping with the times.

The "Essays" were at first mere jottings down of desultory ideas, mere note-book memoranda. They were revised and expanded from time to time until they reached their present shape.

THE MAN

1. Of what great English poet was Bacon a contemporary?

2. From what walk of life did Bacon come? What can you say of his
preparation for literature?

3. What were his political connections?

4. How do Bacon's moral qualities compare with his intellectual
ability?

5. As a judge, did Bacon have a high regard for justice and the
'judicial ermine'?

6. What popular saying aptly describes his character?

STYLE AND WORKS

1. What services did Bacon render to the scientific world?

2. Was Bacon the first to make use of the inductive method in
investigations?

3. Name his leading philosophical works.

4. Why are his philosophical works not accessible to the ordinary
reader?

5. Which of his works are most read at the present day?

6. Does Bacon imitate any former authors or borrow from any
former school of thought?

7. What are the distinguishing characteristics of Bacon's style?

8. Contrast his style with that of his contemporaries.

9. Why is it that the matters stated in the "Essays" strike you
as being things which you have always known?

10. Knowing as we do in advance the truth of most of what he
says, why do we derive such peculiar pleasure from reading his
works?

11. What can you say as to the suggestiveness of his writings?

12. What trait, constantly appearing in his writings, is
displeasing to the modern reader?

13. How can you account for the lack of system in the choice of
subjects treated in the "Essays"?

"THE PRAISE OF KNOWLEDGE"

1. Which are the greater and truer pleasures, those of the
intellect or those of the affections?

2. What is Bacon's method of reasoning, and what are its
advantages over the method of Aristotle?

3. Did Aristotle have many followers in the universities of
Europe in Bacon's day?

4. What was Bacon's criticism of Greek philosophy and science?

5. What arguments does Bacon give to show the importance of
knowledge above all other possessions?

6. What sarcasm do you detect in Bacon's reference to the
universities?

7. What great intellectual movement resulted in part, at least,
from the three inventions mentioned, viz., printing, artillery,
and the compass?

8. What familiar quotation do you note in this essay?

9. Does Bacon attain as high intellectual levels as Plato? As
Marcus Aurelius?

FOR REFERENCE

"Bacon" ("English Men of Letters").--CHURCH.

"Francis Bacon; a Sketch of His Life, Works, etc."--STEEVES.

"Bacon" ("Critical and Miscellaneous Essays").--MACAULAY.

"Account of the Life and Times of Lord Bacon."--SPEDDING.

THOMAS CARLYLE

(1795-1881)

Carlyle was the son of a stone mason. He entered the University of Edinburgh at the age of thirteen and remained there five years, proving himself an omnivorous reader but impractical in many respects, so that he took no degree. After several years of hardship in Scotland as a teacher and a hack writer he married Jane Welsh, whose intellect was almost the equal of his own and whose eccentricity of temper was also similar to his, with the result that much of their life was marred by bickering; yet there is no question of their mutual affection. After a long fight against poverty in London, he eventually won the esteem of Europe for his bold personality and titanic literary power and died full of years and honors, but sensitive and harsh to the last. It is only fair to mention that he was the victim of lifelong dyspeptic trouble and the depression resultant therefrom.

His writings all make a study of life, seeking the answer in the lives of the great men, the Heroes, whether of literature or of history. His early studies in German literature, especially the work of Goethe, influenced him not only in his outlook on the universe but in his literary style. Sacrificing everything to force, he adopts every expedient to drive home each point in the lesson he wishes to convey. This intense earnestness and unprecedented unconventionality, although united with phenomenal descriptive powers, resulted in an ungainly style, yet so filled with sincerity and the hatred of shams and falsity as to hold and inspire not merely a select circle of readers but a whole nation. His influence was that of a living personality, a prophet to all English-speaking peoples.

"Sartor Resartus" expresses the doubts and hesitancies of youth, when confronted with the materialism and apparent relentlessness of nature, together with the bold, sturdy defiance which youth's courage creates for its protection. In "Heroes and Hero-Worship," the "Essay on Burns," "The French Revolution," and the "History of Frederick the Great" he holds up examples of heroism as he sees them, searchingly and vividly. So in the "Life of John Sterling," he studies the character of one of his dearest friends, recently dead, and there finds the same qualities of manly nobility. His work becomes not only biographical but historical, obviously, and such volumes as "Past and Present" and "Latter-Day Pamphlets" attack flagrant weaknesses of his day. Work that is so daring and furious in tone could not be utterly free from error; his conclusions are not always justified. Yet he will always remain the prophet and seer of his century.

THE MAN

1. Of what extraction was Carlyle?

2. What was the nature of his education?

3. What occupations did he follow?

4. What places were the scenes of his literary life?

5. Do you think he can be called a genial soul?

6. Would you call him a typical or an exceptional Scotchman?

STYLE AND WORKS

1. What was the purpose of his writings? Is he a philosopher?

2. What particular phase of history interested him most?

3. Is he at his best in narration or description?

4. What is the source and the cause of his style?

5. Account for the distinct feeling of reality which arises from
a reading of his descriptive passages.

6. What work best illustrates his element of strength?

7. What defects are apparent in much of his writing?

8. Are his accounts of Coleridge, Burns, and Mahomet sympathetic?
Which do you prefer? Why?

9. Is he religious or unreligious in your opinion? Why do you
think so?

10. Among what people have his writings the greatest vogue? Why?

11. What trait renders Carlyle unreliable as a critic? I, 168.

12. Into what did Carlyle transmute the principles of German
philosophy? XI, 445.

"THE FALL OF THE BASTILLE"

1. What act on the part of Louis XVI caused the smouldering flame
of revolution to break out in this demonstration of violence?

2. How is the term Eumenides appropriate when applied to the
Parisian mob of the French Revolution? (Consult a classical
dictionary.)

3. Contrast the French and the English in revolutions.

4. Why did Carlyle choose the subject of the French Revolution?

5. What was the form of government at Paris during the Revolution?

6. Briefly describe the condition of the lower classes as
indicated in this account.

7. Are any of the other selections from Carlyle equal to this?
Why?

FOR REFERENCE

"Reminiscences."--CARYLE, ed. NORTON.

"Carlyle, Personally and in his Writings."--MASSON.

"Literary Remains."--JAMES.

"Thomas Carlyle."--CONWAY.

"Thomas Carlyle."--FROUDE.

JOHN RUSKIN

(1819-1900)

The son of a Scotch millionaire who had settled in London, Ruskin received from private masters the best possible preparation for his future and also traveled extensively with his father and mother. Shortly after his graduation from Oxford he astonished the world with the first volume of "Modern Painters," a work designed primarily to show the superiority of Turner, and a few other modern artists, over the older painters of landscape; in later volumes he wanders over the whole field of art criticism, the burden of his advice being a return to the study of nature itself.

"The Seven Lamps of Architecture" discusses the moral principles which should underlie architecture. This subject was suggested to him by his continual studies of the work of painters and architects in Italy and France while in pursuit of material for his earlier work. "The Stones of Venice" carries on the task set in both these works, namely the problem of the moral basis underneath all art, the purpose which should lie at the back of the artist's mind.