COURSE
OF
ENGLISH READING,
ADAPTED TO
EVERY  TASTE  AND  CAPACITY:
WITH
iitrara  pnfaotel.
BY
THE REV. JAMES PYCROFT, B.A.
TRINITY COLLEGE, OXFORD;
PERPETUAL CURATE OF ST. MARY'S, BARNSTAPLE;
&UTHOR OF
"RECOLLECTIONS OF COLLEGE DAYS,"
"LATIN AND GREEK GRAMMAR PRACTICE,]
"THE CRICKET FIELD, ETC.
THIRD   EDITION.
NEW YORK:
D. APPLETON AND CO., 346. & 348. BROADWAY.
1854.








PREFACE
TO
THE THIRD EDITION.
MISS JANE C. divided her in-door hours into three
parts: the housekeeping and dinner-ordering cares
of life claimed one part; hearing two younger
sisters say their lessons a second part; and during the third and most delightful remainder she
would lock her chamber door, and move on the
marker of Russell's "Modern Europe" at the
rate of never less than fifteen pages an hour, and
sometimes more.
Being so vexatious as to ask wherein her satisfaction consisted, I was told —in the thought that
she did her duty; that she kept her resolution;
that she read as much as her friends; that continually fewer histories remained to be read; and
that she hoped one day to excel in literature.
2




iv             PREFACE TO
A few torturing questions elicited that neither
the labour nor the resolution aforesaid had produced any sensible increase, or more than a vague
but anxious expectation, of available information
or mental improvement.  A  painful suspicion
arose that there was some truth in the annoying
remark of a certain idle companion, that she was
" stupefying her brains for no good."
The exposure of an innocent delusion is mere
cruelty, unless you replace the shadow by the
substance; so a list of books and plan of operations was promised by the next post. Adam
Smith attempted in a pamphlet what resulted in
his "Wealth of Nations" after the labour of
thirty years. My letter grew into a volume, now
offered for the guidance of youth in each and
every department of literature.
Two large editions have been circulated, and a
demand for a third enables me to notice many
recent publications, and to profit by the suggestions of "gentle readers" and severer critics. In
reply to repeated inquiries how the Author could




THE THIRD EDITION.            V
have forgotten such and such works of undoubted
authority, he suggests, that no studentwould thank
him for transcribing the Catalogue of the Bodleian,
however much it might add to his reputation for
extensive reading. Without aspiring to direct
the future studies of Mr. Macaulay in History,
of Dr. Buckland in Geology, or of a Duke of
Wellington in Military Tactics, he is happy to
say, that very learned men have expressed their
regret that in their early studies they had not
the benefit of such simple guidance as this volume
affords.
J. P.
Barnstaple, Oct. 1. 1854.
a3








SUMMARY OF COURSE OF ENGLISH
READING.
How to study
HISTORY generally, 99.
of BRITAIN generally, 101. An outline of the whole,
and particular instructions for making our fort, or
strong point, one of six memorable eras; viz.
1. Till the Conquest.
2. Middle  ages — feudal system -chivalry --
crusades.
3. Commencement of Modern History, as marked
by printing, - gunpowder, - the compass, -
discovery of America, - Colonial System —
Reformation.
4. The Civil Wars.
5. The Revolution of 1688.
6. From George IlL. (. From   1660  to  the
to the present      French Revolution,
time, with spe- 2. To the end of the Recial instructions   volutionary war,
for studying,    3. To the present time.
of MODERN EUROPE generally, 126. Particular in.
structions for making our fort, or strong point, one
of seven eras; viz.
1. The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.
2. The Revival of Learning.
3. The Religious Wars in the Low Countries.
4. The Thirty Years' War.
5. The French Revolution.
6. History of America and the West.
7. British India and other Colonies.
of ROME, advice addressed to youths while yet at
school; or
to candidates for scholarship, 146.
to candidates for University honours
and Fellowships, 152.
to ladies and general readers, 153.
light and entertaining study of, 156.




Viii                 SUMMA;RY.
How to study
HISTORY of GREECE, advice addressed to youths reading
for scholarships, 159.
to candidates for University honours
and Fellowships, 164.
to ladies and general readers, 172.
light and entertaining study of, 172.
of MAN, 183.
The Wonders of Creation and Natural
Phenomena, 185.
The Arts, Sciences, Literature, and comparative superiority of different Nations,
185.
Notice of most interesting and exciting
Narratives of Land and Sea, 188.
The Manners and Customs, and the general state of different Nations, 189.
The Politics, Institutions, and Economy,
of Nations, 190.
The Ruins of Ancient Cities and Antiquities, 191.
Works, entertaining and illustrative, of
Classical and Sacred Literature, 192.
Preparatory to a Tour in Britain, or on
the Continent, 193.
Most pleasantly and profitably, by illustrated books, 193-4.
PHILOSOPHY, MORAL, POLITICAL, MENTAL,-Metaphysics,
-Grammar, Logic, Rhetoric, Phrenology,
Physiology, 194.
THE FINE ARTS, by a method very easy and entertaining, 208.
PAINTING,- Elements of Criticism, History of
Art, &c., 210.
SCULPTURE, 219.
ARCHITECTURE, 222.
THE SCRIPTURES, in five Divisions, viz.
1. The Text,-the Word (comparing passages,- interesting illustration, — repeating, - writing proofs,
- Scriptural common-place book), 224.
2. Commentaries and Notes, 232.
3. Biblical Antiquities, - Jewish History, - Translations, 234.
4. Doctrines, - Articles, - the Prayer Book, - Books
for Controversialists,-Defence of the Church, 235.




SUMMARY.                         ix
How to study
THE SCRIPTURES-continued.
principal Writers in order, 243.
1. The Fathers.
2. The Schoolmen.
3. The Reformers.
4. The Successors of the
Subdivisions of the       Reformers.
principal Writers.  5. The Non-conformists.
6. The Divines of the Restoration and Revolution.
~7. Modern Writers.
POETRY,- Criticism,- Taste, 257.
NATURAL PHILOSOPHY in all its Branches, —Notice
of simple Treatises, 270.
MILITARY SCIENCE AND HISTORY, 272.
How to keep a Common-place Book, 275.
How to remember what we read, - Rules simple and practicable,
277.
English Composition, -how acquired, 292.




X                      SUMMARY.
Advice more particularly to those who study
Antiquities, 104. 107. 191.
for the Bar, 103-107.
for the Church, 105. 128.
Constitutional history, 117.
for the Army and Navy, 272.
the History of Literature, 130. 257.
for University Scholarships, 146-159.
Classes and Fellowships, 152. 164.
Roman History, briefly (to young ladies), 153.
Grecian History, briefly, 172.
with weak memory, 277.
preparatory to travelling, 193.
instead of travelling, 181.
only the amusing, 64. 81.
methodically; to mark their progress, 7. 87.
Moral Philosophy, briefly, 196.
more deeply, 197.
at Oxford, 199.
Political Economy, more or less, 199.
Mental Philosophy and Metaphysics, 203.
Physiology and Phrenology, 205.
Grammar, with a view to Composition, 206.
Logic and Rhetoric, 207.
the fine Arts, 208.
to judge of Painting, 210. Sculpture, 219. Architecture,
222.
for Holy Orders, 109. 128.; 257.
for writing Sermons, 233.
for doctrinal Controversy, 237.
to defend the Established Church, 241.
Theology as a part of general Literature, 225. 243.
Poetry, - a regular course, 257.
to cultivate taste, 268.
requiring simple works for self-instruction in Natural Philosophy, 270.




SUMMARY.                       Xi
Literary Opinions and Remarks by distinguished Men.
By Hesiod of mankind, 4; by Johnson of study, 9; by Sheridan of gaining knowledge, 14; Locke on reading not always
knowledge; by Gray of Boswell, 22; by Steele and Johnson
on conversation; anecdote of Madame De Stail; by Talleyrand of conversation, 29; by. Bacon and Rochefoucauld of
seeming wise, 29; by Bolingbroke of course of reading, 31; by
by Sir J. Reynolds of genius, 32; by Johnson of Hudibras,
33; by Moore of Sheridan's oratory, 35; by Hobbes of
reading a little well, 39; Gibbon's mode of study; by Johnson
of history, 41; by Sir J. Reynolds of Robertson, 42; by
Sir R. Walpole of history, 42; by Bacon of historical compilation and choice of histories, 43; by Coleridge of Gibbon
44; by Burke of Hume, 45; by Lady W. Montagu, of
learning languages, 45; vulgar error concerning Smollett's
history, 46; by Johnson of reading books through, 47; by
Adam Smith, 47; by Heber of Sir W. Scott, 56; by Bishop
Sanderson, 62; by Bulwer of Sir David Wilkie, 66; of Goethe
and Byron, 66; of the strange taste of great men, 67; by Gray
of " Rasselas," 67; by Johnson of Gray's Odes, 67; by Wordsworth and Mrs. Hemans of Burns, 68; by Dr. Parr of Sir W,.
Scott, 68; by Burke of Ossian, 68; by Dr. Wolcot of " Alexander's Feast," 68; disadvantages of Alison, Hooker, Albert
Durer, and Melancthon; by Addison; by Bishop Butler of the
pleasures of the mind, 70; of the poverty and trials of men of
genius, 86; by Herschel of steam power compared with the
pyramids, 91; by Bacon and Johnson of reading and conversation, 95; by Dufresnoy of the time required for a course of
historical studies, 99; of Niebuhr's memory, 101; his wonderful
discernment, 104; Burke's prophecy, 104; Gibbon's, 107; by
Burke of Murphy's translation of Tacitus, 106; by Niebuhr
and Blackstone of Gibbon, 111;by Sir W. Scott of Clarendon,
113; of the author of "Junius," 121; by Bacon of superficial
reading, 123; of Scott's Life of Napoleon, 136; by Sydney
Smith on reviews, 136; by Campbell of Mackintosh's style,
137; of imagination as affected by age, 139; by Pitt of Sheridan's eloquence, 139; by Sir R. Peel of the Hon. M. Elphinstone's work, 141; by Theodore Beza of Plutarch, 156; by
the " Quarterly" of Boswell, 156; of the recreations of great
men; of Pascal's neglect of health, 159; by Abernethy of John
Hunter, 163; by Niebuhr of classical studies, 169; by Lady W.
Montagu of the ignorance of ladies, 169, by Jeremy Taylor of
classical studies, 171; by Pliny, Thucydides, and the tragedians, of the duty of man, 172; by Bacon, of the true use of
study, 178; of Isaac Barrw, 179; by Abercrombie of Memory,




X1i                   SUMMARY.
281; by Bacon of Memoria Technica, 286; by Niebuhr of
verbal memory, 287; by Medhurst of the wonderful memory
of the Chinese, 289; of the memory of Mathews the comedian,
290; by Lady W. Montague of Addison's daughter, 291; by
Prior of Bolingbroke's talent for languages, also of Xavier the
Jesuit, and the Bishop of New Zealand, 291; by Eusebius of
Esdras, by Seneca of Hadrian, by Petrarch of Clement V., by
Cicero and Quintilian, of Memory, 291; by Johnson of improving by travels, 193; by Professor Sedgwick of Paley's "Moral
Philosophy," 196; by Mackintosh, Dr. Chalmers, and Dr.
Arnold, of Butler's Sermons, 197; by Fox of Burke's " Letters,
on the French Revolution," 200; by Sir W. Scott, of Sir
David Wilkie's paintings, 214; bythe Rev. H. Melville of the
Scriptures tending to mental discipline, 226; by Coleridge of
Melite, not Malta, 227; by Dr. Meuse of the Indian tradition of
a deluge, 228; by Serle of the Trinity known to the Otaheitans, 228; by Mackintosh of Job xxix., by Wordsworth of
Jeremiah, by Mrs. Hemans of St. John, by Coleridge of St.
Paul's Epistle to the Romans, 229; by George III. of Watson's
" Apology for the Bible," 238; by Dr. Chalmers of the Fathers,
244; by the Duke of Wellington of Paley's Evidences, 245;
by Abp. Leighton of the Schoolmen, 247; by Robert Hall of
Burke andsHowe, 250; by St. Augustine of Cicero, 251; by
Charles II. of Isaac Barrow, 252;,by Johnson of Law's
" Serious Call," 254; Lord Jeffrey on the abundance of Poets:
Thomas Moore on Chaucer; Burke on Spenser 257-8; by
Bolingbroke of Dryden's prose; by Mackintosh of Dryden's
" Cock and the Fox," 264; by Mackintosh of obscurity in
poetry - of Gray - of Johnson's injustice to Gray and Prior,
265; by Byron of Johnson's poems, 365; by Fox and Mackintosh of Crabbe, by Pitt of Scott, by Scott of Coleridge, by
Mackintosh of Coleridge, 367; by Burns of Alison "On
Taste," 268.




A COURSE
OF
ENGLISH READING.
PART I.
IN WHICH THE PATH OF LEARNING IS EXPLAINED TO BE
NICELY SLOPED AND GRADUATED, AND SO PLENTEOUSLY
STREWN WITH OBJECTS OF INTEREST AND CURIOSITY AS
TO BE ENTERTAINING AND INVITING TO ALL.
"Est quiddain prodire tenus si non datur ultra."
"If you can't do as much as you would, at least do as much
as you can.",
ALL the world would allow that a traveller would
pass more easily from any one point to any other
point, by having a distinct picture of the road
before he started. All the world would approve
of a traveller's stopping once or twice in his
journey, and asking himself, " To what place am
I going?" and "Is this the best way to reach
it?"   But how many myriads in this world aforesaid do set out on the long and intricate road of
life without a map, and, while they can only keep
B




2      COURSE OF ENGLISH READING.
moving, never stop to ask whether they are in
their latitude or out of it. So blindly do men
run after all the imaginary prizes of life, and just
as blindly do they pursue any one of them. Consider intellectual pursuits. Many young persons
have said to me, " I should so like to possess
general information, and to be well-informed, like
our very amusing friend. Is it not strange that,
amidst all the toils of a most engrossing profession,
he can find time to acquire so much knowledge
on every subject?"
" Not at all strange; a few minutes a day, well
employed, are quite sufficient."
"Really I do not find it so. What I read
rarely interests me; so I forget nearly as fast as
I read, and grow more and more confused."
" Too little interest, and too much confusion!
Really you have enough to complain of. Do you
know that this may constitute all the difference
between your acquirements and those of your
learned friend?"
"But he is so clever."
" Can he do as much in one hour as you in
six?"
"No! certainly not -I see your argument.
You are going to remind me, I have more than
six times the number of hours to study."
"Is there no one subject on which you feel




CURIOSITY THE GUIDE OF STUDY.    3
yourself his equal? Think of gardening, drawing,
scriptural reading," &c.
"True, but I am so fond of these subjects;
for -"
"For, — you would say, your attention never
flags, and your memory never fails."
"Just so. But I am not so fond of certain
other subjects, though I much desire to know
them also."
" But do you not remember a time when you
were not so fond even of these favourite subjects?"
" Certainly; you would infer therefore -— "
" I would infer, what I positively have experienced both in myself and others, that a fondness
and interest for study may be acquired, and under
good guidance it is hardly ever too late to begin."
"And the advice you intend to give me is
founded on -  "
"Is founded on certain simple and self-evident
means of creating an interest in all we read, and
thus insuring Attention, and consequently Memory.
Suppose you wished to nourish a man's body, you
would say,' Feed him.'' But he does not digest.''Probably he has no appetite?''Yes; he will
eat some few things.'' Then choose these few;
attend to his appetite, and it will enable you to
judge when and what he can digest.' So with
B2




4. COURSE OF ENGLISH READING.
the mind; attend to the Curiosity, which is the
appetite of the mind: for, whatever the mind
receives with avidity tends to its maturity and
strength."
In this way I have reasoned with many of my
friends; and I have had the satisfaction of seeing
my advice attended with more success than I ever
could have anticipated.  My prescriptions are
not like the panacea of the day, the same for all
patients in all stages; but such as, being based
on the same principles of mental health, are nicely
modified to suit every age and constitution. If
my rules seem obvious, and what all well-educated
persons may be presumed to know, I answer, Do
we not often hear readers say, " I like a book
which begins at the beginning of a subjectwhich presumes not that I have knowledge, but
that I am really ignorant?" Have the best informed never searched for information, though
with affected indifference-they would not, on
any account, be seen to do so —even in a child's
story-book, or penny catechism? Hesiod, as
quoted by Aristotle, divides the world into three
classes:
The first have sense of their own.
The second use the sense of their neighbours.
The third do neither one nor the other.
Now all the advice I have to offer is addressed to




KNOWLEDGE ATTAINABLE BY ALL.    5
tke second class, with a slight hope and a sincere
desire to make converts of the third.  As to
arrangement, I will not promise to be very exact.
As a traveller in the boundless fields of literature,
I shall take the privilege of describing fair flowers
and curiosities as they occur, and to quote the
very words of many fellow-travellers. A man
who will stand forth like a witness in a court of
justice, and say not what he thinks, but what he
knows and has seen, and what impression these
occurrences produced upon his mind, may find
his humble testimony decide knotty questions and
promote high purposes, far beyond all conjecture.
Thus, by truth copied from the plain tablets of
memory, will I endeavour so to lay down the
law that each may solve his own perplexity, and
to hold up a mirror in which every man may see
hinmself.
The first case which occurs to me,-the case
of nearly all who have the ambition, but not the
method, to be literary characters -is the following: -A young lady of great intelligence asked,
"What would you recommend me to read?"
"That depends on what you have been reading
lately - the new matter must assimilate with the
old, or it will not digest."
"I h averead nearly all Hume and Smollett,
B3




6      COURSE OF ENGLISH READING.
and I want to know more of the History of Eng;land, and the continental nations too - shall I
read Russell's Modern Europe?"
"Excuse me for saying you have rather a large
ground-plan, for your Historical Edifice. Do you
hope to build up in the same proportion? Remember the Tower of Babel and the confusion of
tongues. A dozen and a half of thick volumes 
Can you remember all this?"
" Oh no. The worst of it is I cannot remember
even common facts, succession of kings, wars, and
peace, and the like, which even children learn
from their little books. I was so long over Hume,
that I forgot the first part before I had read the
last."
" And if you had only read the child's history
through twice, you would possess more real knowledge at the present moment!"
This was allowed: my pupil also admitted that
Hume dwelt too long on some topics in which she
felt no interest, and too little on others; that with
all long histories it was difficult to grasp the outline of events so comprehensively as to enjoy the
advantage of comparing one period with another;
and, that the more these disadvantages diminish
cur interest the more severely they tax our perseverance. An admission which called to mind
the expression of another literary pilgrim, who




A SIMPLE PRESCRIPTION.          7
exclaimed from the very slough of despond, " What
am I to try next- I have waded through two
volumes of Russell, and am heartily tired by a
third?"
I now took a sheet of paper and drew what was
intended for a historical tree.  The trunk bore
in straggling capitals the words Hume and Smol'lett, and, in smaller letters, the names of the sovereigns; each of whom was allowed a space
commensurate with his reign. " Here," I said,
"you have one continuous history; as it were,
the stem and prop, or the connected chain of your
knowledge: —a less substantial supporter than
Hume would do as well at present, because you
appear to have forgotten (which is about the same
thing as never having read) Hume's History. I
wish you to have a comprehensive knowledge of
this whole chain; so take the History of England
by the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, one small duodecimo of 140 pages, price
is. 3d. This you may learn accurately in four
or five days, and keep it in mind afterwards by
writing out the answers of the questions given at
the end. In this way your chain of history will
be connected, and you may learn to run over in
your mind all the events from Queen Boadicea to
Queen Victoria; at least, I have known children
of ten years of age do as much."
B 4




COURSE OF ENGLISH READING.
"Then what shall I do with Hume?"
"Hume's history will strengthen particular
links i; fine chain I am supposing: it will
make,  ginary trunk the thicker, and better
able    pport the weight of its branches. You
wilf  s that, by the branches and offshoots, I
men   p hies and other works read in connection,Wl  desire for which will be excited by
this chain of reading, or appear to grow out of this
Tree of History."
"A little more explanation if you please; and,
remember your promise, not only to inform but to
entertain. Hitherto, my studies have been literally
c lubble, bubble, toil and trouble."'
"' Tell me, first, what desire or curiosity has
grown out of your chain of reading?"
" I have a curiosity to know more of Ridley,
Cranmer, and their contemporaries."
"First cast your eye over the three or four
pages of Mary's reign in the little history; you
will then have a vivid recollection of their times;
and then read a separate account of these champions of Christendom in some other books."
" But for this purpose must I wade through four
or five volumes of the Reformation?"
"There is no necessity; continue to read about
the martyrs only as long as your curiosity lasts.
You may find a short account of them in a Cyclo"




DR. JOHNSON ON STUDY.           9
paedia or Biographical Dictionary; or you may
turn to a full and graphic account in Southey's
Book of the Church.  See, I keep my promise;
when' toil and trouble'begins or interest ends, I
allow you to stop and read something else."
My friend was laudably solicitous as to whether
this was sound advice: she thought " that where
there was no pain, there would be no cure;" so
besides urging my own experience, I sought and
found a high authority for my opinion in good old
Samuel Johnson::" What we read with inclination makes a much stronger impression. If we
read without inclination, half the mind is employed
in fixing the attention, so there is but one half to
be employed on what we read;"* and this the
Doctor said when sixty-seven years had rolled over
his sober head.
Again Doctor Johnson observed, " Idleness is
a disease which must be combated; but I would
not advise a rigid adherence to a particular plan
of study."- Now, my plan requires no rigid adherence, but allows full latitude, as the Doctor
goes on to require; "I, myself, have never persisted in any plan for two days together. A man
ought to read just as inclination leads him, for
what he reads as a task will do him little good."Vol. ii. p. 213.
* Boswell, vol. vi. p. 163.




10      COURSE OF ENGLISH READING.
My advice coincides with that of Johnson: I
would afford all the assistance of method, without
cramping the strong spring of inclination.
This advice was followed. A few evenings
after, I found my pupil had read with the sharp
edge of curiosity, and, of course, had digested,
lives of Ridley and Cranmer, and had become
curious still further about Henry VIII., Edward
VI., and Mary. "What I" I said; "how came
these characters to interest you more to-day than
when you read of them in, Hume?" "  Because,"
was the natural reply, "the association was different. I care more about those who fought or
befriended the pope, than about men who lost
heads or won crowns; to say nothing of long
chapters about primogeniture, a topic on which
the accuracy of our friend used to surprise me
once, though now I understand that he was assisted by its association with his law studies." My
principle was now understood: that every person
has his peculiar curiosity, by attending to the dictates of which we ensure attention, memory, interest,
and consequently general improvement- also that
the sphere of our curiosity may be gradually enlarged.
Let me relate another passage from my preceptorial diary: —" A most wonderfully retentive
memory has that Captain Evans we met yester



FALSE PRETENSIONS.          11
day: he talks on every subject; strange that Mr.
Wood, when here on his circuit, did not think
more of him." "I should wonder more if he did;
the captain talks for effect: he has more vanity
than love of literature: Mr. Wood truly remarked
that such a man was the very pest of a party;
that he went away like a steam-engine on his own
line, but clogged the moment he ran off it; pursued no game but what he himself had started;
could fight but badly on his own ground, and was
no match for the poorest antagonist on any other."
Strangely enough, there was another person in
the same company, of known depth and research,
who heard this "captain bold" without taking
the trouble to correct his facts, or question his
conclusions; and who also observed the next day,
he "only wished men would not worry their
friends in the evening with what they had read
without understanding the very same morning."
How true is the observation that men who have
not studied some one subject as a profession, or
with as much assiduity and thought as a profession requires, having no standard of accuracy, can
rarely speak creditably on any single topic! Lies,
whether expressed or implied (and what is Affectation but " lies in a state of solution "), ever prove a
discouragement to truth and to the humble endea-.
vours of simple honesty: so, a youth honourably




12     COURSE OF ENGLISH READING.
desirous of improvement was almost persuaded by
this foolish exhibition of a shallow pretender, that
the knowledge worthy of a man of good education is beyond ordinary ability to attain.
Let a vain, chattering character read the latest
article in the " United Service Magazine," talk of
the contents at the reading-room door with some
of those portly gentlemen who are to be seen in
every town like China jars, or male Caryatides,
daily fixtures for fear any stranger should want a
clue to the fashionable library; and, with the sum
total of remarks and illustrations so collected, let
him talk loud and long at his next party, and
he will often be regarded as a man of general
information. The ignorant do not discover the
cheat, and the wise despise too much to expose
it; or, should they venture to qualify the general
praise, thney are called jealous, and pass unregarded.
"Well," said my young friend, "certainly I
should have felt more comfortable. had I been
better acquainted with the subject he was discussing. The last war - Napoleon — Nelson-and
the' Duke, are matters about which I have a very
confused and shallow stock of information. How
should  I proceed?-' Gurwood's Despatches,'
Alison, volumes of Southey on the Peninsula, and
others on the Revolution, will take me so long, I




THE STUDENT ENCOURAGED.          13
shall starve for want of knowledge before I gain
it' at this slow rate."
My pupil soon understood that these were
not the books for a beginner; he was warned
with the mention of Robinson Crusoe's boat,
too big to launch, and his first plan of a goat-pen,
two miles round, which would have given him as
little command of his flock as if he had no pen
at all.
Long historical works, and most others, consist
of two parts: - First, facts. Secondly, observations on facts. As to the facts, he did not want
to know thoroughly all the minutiae in the books
above mentioned. A perfect knowledge of a very
small portion would satisfy him for the present;
a small collection would serve as standards round
which other ideas might rally, -as fixed points,
for association, in aid of memory; — as links, however coarse, to make the chain complete, till time
was allowed to substitute links stronger and more
minute. He had also the confidence to allow
that, by comparison of facts, he might discern
effects and causes, and have a home supply of
observations; for, the larger stock of ideas we
import the less we grow, and the more minds fall
out of cultivation. I encouraged him with the
prospect of becoming, in course of time, almost
exclusively his own grower and consumer as to




14     COURSE OF ENGLISH READING.
observations: and when books are to be read for
culling facts alone, and when most observations are
passed by as already known, he saw that cumbrous
volumes would in effect be considerably reduced
in size, and asked, " Is this the reason I see you
with a book on your favourite subject, turning
over the leaves without seeming to read five lines
out of a page?"  " Yes, frequently five lines are
enough to show what the author is going to observe. By passing judiciously from one kindred
author to another, we may learn to read books,
as lawyers read briefs; for they rather recognise than read the well-known clauses." Let not
readers be encouraged by these observations to
fall into a careless and desultory habit. I allow
them to miss what they already know: I do not
say what they have already read. Accurate
reading and reflection are their own reward, by
saving time and trouble in the end. Sheridan
once remarked, " Instead of always reading, I
prefer to think: on every subject there are only
a few leading ideas, and these we may originate
for ourselves." While others talk of so many
hours of daily study, and so many books read,
those who really improve think only of questions
solved and clear knowledge attained. " So, my
friend," I continued, " to gain confidence in speaking of Napoleon and his contemporaries, take first




AUTHOR'S EXPERIENCE.          15
of all a book of facts; do as I did some years
since, in idle time, by the sea-side: — I took
Miller's History of Great Britain from George II.
to George IV. (published 1834, by Jones, Finsbury Square), one double-columned volume of
400 pages; giving something like an epitome of
the newspapers, from 1760 to 1820, and bearing
on each page, in two or three places, lines in
capitals, drawing attention to the respective topics,
as in pages 332. and 333.: ADVANCE OF THE
BRITISH INTO SPAIN UNDER SIR JOHN MOORE;
again, SIR J. MOORE'S RETREAT; again, BATTLE
OF CORUNNA, AND DEATH OF MOORE."
I commenced at p. 207., which gave the history
of the end of the year 1789: I wrote on the top
of every page, " A. D. 17 —, or A. D. 18-," and in
this manner my book became a ready book of
reference for any newspaper allusion to the days
of our fathers. A few days' reading carried me
through the 200 pages which gave the history
from the beginning of the Revolution to the death
of George III. Still I intended to read the same
portion twice or thrice more. I was in haste to
complete my chain, as I call it, in a fair, substantial
way first, and strengthen it afterwards. I did
not read from end to end; but when tired, I used
to dip into interesting parts, such as victories and
state trials; so, this history suited me in all




16     COURSE OF ENGLISH READIN'G.
humours, whether as a novel or work of memory.
It would puzzle any one to guess what parts
made most impression on my memory: they were
not "the moving incidents by flood and field,"
but facts which I might probably have overlooked, had they not happened to form the subject
of conversation, and thus became matters of special interest. There is a maxim among lawyers,
that private reading makes little impression till
legal practice shows its use, and fixes attention to
important points. Daily intercourse with men
and books serves the general reader as practice
serves the lawyer; by fixing attention, it insures
memory. Nor is this the only point of comparison. Do you think any lawyer's knowledge
can comprehend all the ponderous volumes in
Lincoln's Inn library, and all these, to the uninitiated, seem equally deserving of study? Certainly not. Then how do they know which to
choose as most likely to bear upon all the
cases that occur?  Practice shows the general
demand, and this they prepare to supply. So the
general reader, like the lawyer, must study to be
strongest on those points which conscious inferiority or the greater proficiency of his friends may
happen to suggest.  The same book may be read
again and again with continually increasing interest and profit; because, the interval between




AUTHOR'S EXPERIENCE.           17
each reading may call attention to a new order of
facts, and elicit a new series of conclusions."
"And how did you proceed when you had read
this part of history once?"
" I had a friend who was fond of discussing the
same subject; one who had long lived by the sea,
conversed with naval officers, listened with me to
many an hour's yarn from an old Trafalgar man,
while cruising in the Rose yacht off Tenby and
Caldy, and had often surprised me with the apparent extent of his knowledge. His conversation
increased my interest, and made my reading more
profitable. I then read Southey's Life of Nelson,
and the Life of Napoleon, 2 vols., in the Family
Library. These books are quite easy reading,
except allusions to the history of the times, a
knowledge of which is always indispensable in
reading for real improvement. One word of caution.
I have suggested sometimes'to read and skip;' but
to skip only what we know, without indulging
an idle habit. The historical allusions in the Life
of Nelson I readily explained, by looking over
the occurrences of the same year in my history.
Thus, while the history explained the biography,
the biography drew attention to the history.
Certainly, all readers may occasionally be at a
loss for an allusion: still, if they do their best to
explain it, this is immaterial; but those literary
C




18     COURSE OF ENGLISH READING.
Epicures who touch nothing but dainties, and
pick all books for the amusing, will never enjoy a
sound intellectual constitution. If once you contract a habit of reading solely and exclusively
what pleases at the moment, and if once you blunt
that natural sense of satisfaction which a sound
mind experiences in accurate information, from
that moment you barter the literary resources of
a life for the excitement of an hour.  Neither
need this custom of elucidating historical allusions
interrupt the interest of the narrative. I often
place on a fly-leaf a mark of interrogation, and
against this I set the numbers of the pages containing difficulties, till I have finished reading,
and then make all the references at once. Even
if you should not succeed in your search at the
time, this practice will fix the difficulties in your
memory so firmly that you will be on the alert
for future elucidations.
But what was the result of the line of reading I
have mentioned? The result was, that my friend
was quite surprised at the accuracy of my knowledge even in his own favourite parts of modern
history: and, this was an idle man who had nothing to do but to read every periodical that came
out — a man who had read numerous volumes on
the topics on which I had read but three! My
knowledge, I knew, was shallow, but his no longer




THE READER ENCOURAGED.           19
seemed deep. This gave me confidence. I have
since found that there are very, very few readers
so familiar with any topic, that ordinary ability,
with methodical application, may not greatly surpass them after only a few days of diligent study.
To continue my method with history: Miller's
History has since served me as a book of reference, and stands on the same shelf with my Biographical and other Dictionaries. It shows, at one
view, a picture of those by-gone days and departed
heroes, of whom we hear old gentlemen talk,
when they are wicked enough to perpetrate a
little conversational monopoly, and swell with a
very innocent kind of self-importance, as they tell
of the cold perspiration that came over-their patriotic brows the morning they heard of the mutiny
at the Nore, the threatened Invasion, and the
Bank stopping payment;-and how they laughed
and triumphed in the truth of, if not their own,
at least some near relative's prognostication, that
Nelson would find the foe and beat him too; —
how melancholy they felt as that Hero's funeral
passed, and how they sympathised with the
honest tars who followed in the mournful throng.
To all such conversation it is improving to listen:
but since all you will learn from it is inaccurate
and unconnected, instead of being satisfied with
half a story, go at once to book, to ascertain time,
c2




20     COURSE OF ENGLISH READING.
place, and characters, and thus "give to airy
nothing a local habitation and a name." On this
principle, in reading Ireland's Seven Years of
France, from 1815-22, I cast my eye over the
pages of Miller, on which I had marked the corresponding seven years: I did the same before
reading every Biography relating to the same
period. But, I shall be reminded that I promised
to make my course amusing; and most amusing
was the method I am relating; for, in course of
time, I selected from old Reviews and Magazines
only such articles as were amusing; but by that
time the sphere of my amusement had become
greatly enlarged; my mind was stored with facts
on which I thirsted for more minute information;
and since all these were read with an appetite, all
were easily digested. In order to register my
reading, and preserve order in my studies, I
marked on the margin of the History what books
or eysays gave exact information on different subjects) vide Southey, p. -, or Gentleman's Magazine, No. -; or read Mackintosh's Observations on the French Revolution, p. -; Burke's
Opinion, see Life, p. -.  So my History became
an index or Common-Place Book.
"Reading furnishes the mind only with materials of knowledge," says Locke: " it is thinking
that makes what we read ours. We are of the




GENERAL REMARKS.              21
ruminating kind, and it is in vain to cram ourselves; unless we chew over again, we shall
derive no strength or nourishment:" without a
certain digesting and assimilating process —it is
but so much loose matter floating in the brain.
It is a great mistake, Locke argues, to honour
men of great Reading as men of great Knowledge, and to suppose that, by mere perusal, the
author's knowledge is transferred into the reader's
understanding. The stream of literature may flow
through the mind without any deposit. All depends on the food's agreeing with the constitution of the mind, of which the appetite of curiosity
is the only test.
The time at which reading is most improving,
is when; as you glance over the table of contents,
you feel impatient to begin the chapter, as containing exactly the facts you want to know  the
very observations you wish to compare with your
own. And this eager curiosity and zest for reading will find its sphere continually open and enlarge, till at last every book will have its interest.
Even now, there rises before me a vision of one,
an accomplished scholar and hard-worked man of
active life, standing amidst a nursery of children,
so riveted to a story book picked off the floor,
that the young fry, spite of all their pulling at his
skirts, and clinging to his knees, despaired in their
c3




'22    COURSE OF ENGLISH READING.
impatience at moving him, till one cried out, "Ah,
I knew if we did not keep our picture books away
from him, he would not let us ride on his foot till
he had read them all through."
None but those so eminently blessed with mental endowments, can conceive all the pleasures
which spring from the well-formed and fertile
mind. Such a mind seems ready fitted with little
cells for all sweets, and to have a distinct pigeonhole for every kind of communication: each of its
acquisitions has a tendency, not to dissolve and
darken, but to crystallise in brilliancy and beauty;
however extended its chain, each link ends in a
hook for joining more.
These are the minds which in society impart
almost as much pleasure as they enjoy: they find
companions even in those whom their friends apologise for asking them to meet.  Dr. Johnson
said he would rather sit next an intelligent man
of the world than a scholar; for the man who
has learned life from nature's own volume, is
provided with a supply as varied and as rich, as
is the store from which he draws! he can repay
with genuine unclipped coin, in bold relief, fresh
from Nature's mint: however small his afterdinner contribution to the common fund of entertainment, it still is sterling, pure, and unadulterated. Gray said of Boswell's Corsica, that it




GENERAL REMARKS.             23,.
proved any man with talent or without could
write a useful book, if he would only faithfully,
and without affectation, detail what he had seen
and heard in a sphere which the rest of the world
had never seen, and was curious to know. In this
point of view the man of well-formed mind regards companions; he is fully prepared to be entertained by the humblest relator of "things that
he doth know; " he consequently is qualified to
be always pleasing; for be it observed, men
please in society not in proportion as they inform, but in proportion as they elicit; and who
are so able to elicit as those who are not vainglorious to pour forth, but habitually intent on
the.great end of all society and of all conversation-to hear, to observe, and be improved?
Seek improvement, not only by books, but by
conversation which will teach the use of books.
Books furnish the arms, conversation teaches the
use of them.  Steele warns us against" coming
charged into company, and unloading whether a
fit opportunity offers or not;" still, he says,
" you may prepare for conversation, by reading
up each prevailing subject, just as our armies are
besieging a town abroad, or a new measure is
debating at home. A man buried in his study,
and'besprent with learned dust,' will lose in
utterance while he gains in knowledge.  He
c4




24     COURSE OF ENGLISH READING.
cannot adapt his topics to the taste, or his arguments to the conviction, of his company;
nothing but practice can give " the power," says
Johnson, "of changing a position and presenting
it in different points of view, connecting it with
truths already granted, fortifying it with intelligible arguments, and illustrating it by apt similitudes.  He who has collected knowledge in
solitude, must learn its application by mixing with
mankind."
As to conversation, too many forget that it
implies listening as well as talking; and none are
so agreeable as those who, while they inform,
elicit. Madame De Stael once pronounced a
lady to whom she had been speaking, a most
interesting person, who proved to be dumb! If
you think only of those who hear you, you will
please your company; if bent on display, you
will please none but yourself.  A  talent for
conversation is worth cultivating: it requires
experience to discern at a glance the taste, the
humour, and the intelligence you are addressing,
and the topics most attractive, and the manner
most winning with each. Without this nice discernment, some will inflict a lengthy dissertation where a passing remark, a sally of wit, or a
smile of qualified acquiescence would obviate a
question on which all argument were vain. Some,




BEGIN WITH AN OUTLINE.          25
of course, can be more entertaining than others;
still almost all persons may add something to the
pleasures of society if contented to talk of what
they understand, without pretence or affectation.
Speak from the natural suggestions of the moment, and from the genuine impulse of a hearty
and ingenuous disposition, and you will hardly
fail to please. Never be afraid of men of real
learning: the "world" is the book they enter
society to read, and they are the last persons to
complain of your knowledge being little, so long
as it is without pretence. It is not simple ignorance, but the affectation that so often accompanies it, which provokes contempt. The Rabbi
Aquiba said, " Stultum omnino ferre quam semistultum facilius est, et ignarum omnino quam
semidoctum,."
These remarks will give a general view of my
system. Let us now consider the various subjects
-History, Biography, Poetry, &c., and show
with what authors, and what method, each line of
study should be pursued, Only, I intend not to
prescribe for the sound and vigorous patient, or
for the unwearied man of letters, but for the
delicate, weak, and sickly appetite, which requires
humouring and coaxing at first to bring it to
health and strength,
Chinese scholars are divided into two classes,




2t     COURSE OF ENGLISH READING.
says a traveller: those who read only, and those
who understand what they read. This distinction
may be drawn nearer home. Those who read,
and those who remember, are often different
parties; and so also are those who remember, and
those who digest. Readers who only retain facts,
having minds like the article headed Farrago, or
Multum in Parvo, in the newspapers, are not always the persons who, by digesting, classifying,
and inferring, have a stock of really available information. I should be doing little if I did not
teach so to read that we may first, remember what
we read; secondly, digest it; thirdly, have it
ready and available. " Say you so?" says a young
friend, for whose guidance I am partly induced to
write this; " then what I read must be little
indeed; it must be a very short history at all
events."  Precisely what I was going to say.
Read a very short History of England first -the
Outline by the Society already mentioned. I
know a child of ten years of age who learned this
so thoroughly, that he could answer any question.
I once defied an old college companion to puzzle
him; and after receiving an accurate answer to
twenty-three questions out of twenty-four, my
friend wanted to know how it was possible for a
child to learn so much. I showed the book -a
well-chosen outline, too bare and meagre to be




BEGIN WITH AN OUTLINE.          27
alone very improving —yet it contained all matters within the range of a child's comprehension.
Fine painters tell their pupils, first draw a correct outline -let your anatomy be correct first;
it is easy to fill in, and to colour afterwards.
With this little history you have the figure —the
bones; but we must galvanize this anatomy and
add flesh, substance, vigour, and life; we must
make "these dry bones live."  Suppose this outline history represents the long, stem of a tree;
how are we to fill it up? It looks bare and
naked at present, without leaves or branches.
The pupil may begin to fill in just when he
pleases, provided he takes care that the outline
does not become erased, and that the whole figure
of his tree is plainly before his eye from first to
last. Every one according to his taste or ability
may work out, and bring into bolder relief and
more substantial form, any part he pleases. It is
immaterial whether he proceeds up or down.
Even the idle have a natural disposition to do
even the most toilsome work in order to complete
and connect little blanks which disfigure their
work. Who has such apathy as to finish head,
limbs, and breast of his figure, and then leave it,
like the body of Tityus, with vitals doomed never
to heal? The straight-forward way to fill up
your tree would be to take up another larger




28     COURSE OF ENGLISH REAIbING.
history; not Hume's, it is too big as yet; but
Goldsmith, first. The time required for learning
these two Histories will be even less than would
be required for Goldsmith's alone, without the
guidance of these smaller works as an introduction. The parts which are substantially the same
in all will be taken at a glance, and serve pleasantly to refresh the memory, rather than to exhaust the attention. We feel a secret pleasure in
our studies when we meet with what we know;
it shows we are improving, however gradually, to
that state in which we may read whole volumes
rather to judge and pronounce, than merely to
be taught without discretion. Even Goldsmith
gives little more than an outline; but, outline is a
comparative term: he gives such an outline as
deserves to be considered very substantial in comparison with the historical knowledge that most,
even of those reputed well informed, really possess. "One half the world," says the proverb,
"does not know how the other half lives." How
few would like to confess the little that they
really know - at least, the very limited number
of correct replies they could at any moment sit
down and write, for another's judgment, to questions which were within the capacity even of a
child! Supposing ourselves born with minds
literally like a blank sheet of paper, and that




READ A LITTLE-WELL.           29
these tablets were required to be laid open for the
inspection of our neighbours, who would not
dread a discovery of the little that he knew, and
the confused and indistinct lines in which that
little was inscribed. Were the minds of many
thus laid bare, all that at the moment remained
for judgment would seem less the acquisitions of
a life than the desultory reading of an hour. Oh!
if the pale patient, blistered, bled, and reduced,
could so read the mind of his physician - if the
client with his estate in chancery could so pry
into the narrow data on which his lawyer founds
such broad conclusions - if those who dream of
the unlimited powers of ministerial sagacity could
so prove " with what very little wisdom the world
is governed," many would agree that the goodness
of Providence is in no way more remarkable than
in this, that in the wise economy of creation, all
disturbing causes are so nicely calculated and
balanced, that busy man has even less power to
do mischief, than he imagines to do good.
Let none despair because his knowledge seems
little, if it be only accurate. The Germans, who
so well understand practical education, say "nothing is so prolific as a little known well." Knowledge increases in a geometrical ratio. The total of
the acquisitions of the mind is the continued product, rather than the mere sum, of all it contains.




30     COURSE OF ENGLISH READING.
A little sound and well digested historical
knowledge will be always useful; but if the facts
are mistaken, the deductions must be as false in
matter as they are logical in form. All such arguments will be as absurd as the answer of a sum
in arithmetic with an error in the first line.
This inaccuracy accounts for the obstinacy of
those called wrong-headed men. They are sure
their reasoning is right; but as their facts happen
to be wrong, they have only the advantage of
"method in their madness," and blundering by
rule.
This is a topic on which I am the more disposed
to dwell, because many persons, really capable of
knowledge, remain in ignorance from two causes.
First, from an opinion that any available degree
of information is beyond their powers. Secondly,
because their neighbours appear to know so
much that all they can learn will be nothing in
comparison. Such diffident students should be
consoled with the above observations, and taught
to beware of shallow pretenders, and of men who
always talk on their own topics.  "You are
surprised," said Talleyrand, " that I talk so well.
Tell me, would it be no advantage to draw an
enemy to your own ground, and only fight where
your strength is concentrated and your position
commanding? That is precisely my art." Men




READ A LITTLE —WELL.           31
lose no credit by being often silent, if, when they
speak, they speak to the purpose.  Bacon refines
upon this, and says, " He who is silent where he
is known to be informed, will be believed to be
informed where from ignorance he is silent."
Again, Rochefaucauld observes, " The desire to
seem learned prevents many from becoming such."
If you study, exclusively devoted to the secret
improvement of your own mind, and for the
pleasures a well stored mind has ever at command,
you will at the same time be taking the readiest
means to "shine in society;" but if you seek the
vain glory and opinion of others, you will sacrifice
real improvement in the pursuit, and gain, at best,
but the commendation of fools.  "Let every
man," said Lord Bolingbroke, "read according to
his profession or walk in life. Suppose that a
man shuts himself up in his study twenty years,
and then comes forth profoundly learned in
Arabic, he gains a great name; but where is the
good of it?"  There was an undergraduate at
Trinity College, Cambridge, in 1829, who was
famed for knowing the names, drivers, coach inns,
times of starting and arrival, of most of the principal stages in England. The absurdity of this is
too apparent to be imitated; but I will not say too
great. There are many powerful minds at the
present moment devoted to pursuits quite as




32     COURSE OF ENGLISH READING.
unprofitable to others, and nearly as unimproving
to themselves.
Another class whom diffidence deters from a
literary course must be encouraged by the words
of Sir J. Reynolds, addressed to the pupils of the
Royal Academy; he says: -'" The travellers into
the East tell us, that when the ignorant inhabitants of those countries are asked concerning the
ruins of stately edifices yet remaining amongst
them, the melancholy monuments of their former
grandeur and long-lost science, they always answer,'they were built by magicians.' The untaught
mind finds a vast gulf between its own powers
and those works of complicated art, which it is
utterly unable to fathom; and it supposes that
such a void can be passed only by supernatural
powers." What Sir Joshua Reynolds says of
painting is true of literature. Those who understand not the cause of achievements beyond their
own powers, may well be astonished at the effect;
and what the uncivilised ascribe to Magic, others
ascribe to Genius: two mighty pretenders, who,
for the most part, are safe from rivalry only because,
by the terror of their name, they discourage in
their own peculiar sphere that resolute and sanguine spirit of enterprise which is essential to
success.  But all magic is science in disguise:
let us proceed to take off the mask —to show that




THE AUTHOR OF HUDIBRAS.         33
the mightiest objects of our wonder are mere men
like ourselves; have attained their superiority by
steps which we can follow; and that we can, at
all events, walk in the same path, though there
remains atlast a space between us. Think of the
wit of Hudibras!  How  wonderful the mind
which could in the same page illustrate and throw
into relief, as it were, by a single touch, distinct
ideas, by reference to things of classes so different,
that the fact of thought being employed about
the one would seem to insure its overlooking the
other! How strange that more witty things
should occur to Butler while writing one page,
and that bearing every appearance of an off-hand
composition, than would occur to most men while
writing a volume! Are these our thoughts? Draw
back the curtain, and the phantom resolves itself
into the common things of daily life.
" The author of Hudibras," said Johnson, "had
a Common-place book, in which he had reposited,
not such events or precepts as are gathered by
reading, but such remarks, similitudes, allusions,
assemblages, or inferences, as occasion prompted
or inclination produced; those thoughts which
were generated in his own mind, and might be
usefully applied to some future purpose. Such is
the labour of those who write for immortality."
Much as I admire Hudibras, I cannot help
D




34     COURSE OF ENGLISH READING.
believing that the reason so many of its imitators
have failed is, that they endeavoured to meet at
the moment a demand for wit which Butler had
been a life preparing to supply. I have known
men of little talent so ready, by the practice of
a few months, with an inferior species of wit, —
puns, that I see no reason why many men of superior talents should not rival Butler in a higher
kind, if they only had recourse to the labour and
method which, Dr. Johnson truly says, is the price
of immortality.
See the miser in his lonely walk —his head
down- his soul grovelling in the dust-all his
senses intent on one narrow, sordid pursuit,
money or money's worth; - look, he turns from
the path on to the road:-" Is it? no, not a
farthing, but a button- and no shank.  Ah!
buttons often leave their shanks behind." Still he
takes it, and walks on. See again: " A tube —
tin is it? - spout of something - may come useful
one day-may find something it will fit: did
once, two years after-fetched two pence." Look
at him; scan that perversion of human kind, and
say -were that man, old as he is, self-denying
as he is, persevering and devoted as he ever has
been, through many a toilsome day and restless
night, were he a miser, not of pence but of ideas,
or the coin of the mind,-were he equally capable




ANECDOTE OF SHERIDAN.           35
of putting in his clail  when none knew the
rightful owner of one thing, of effacing marks of
identity in a second, equally ingenious in converting a third, or in matching a fourth, what
might not the same habits with the same limited
faculties accomplish!
Again, —think of Sheridan. His speech on the
impeachment of Hastings so completely ruled the
spirits of his hearers that Pitt said, " All parties
were under the wand of the enchanter, and only
vied with each other in describing the fascination
under which they were held." Mr. Windham,
even twenty years after, said the speech deserved
all its fame as the finest in the memory of man.
Mr. Fox, also, in answer to a question of Lord
Holland's, specified Sheridan's, on the Oude
Charge, as the finest speech of his day. This
would seem like genius-like inspiration. But, if
Genius means, as in the common acceptation it
does mean, a power that attains its end by means
wholly new and unpractised by others, then was
Sheridan's speech no work of genius. Moore
describes him at the desk, like other mortal men,
writing and erasing,-" Mr. Speaker," to fill up
this pause, and " Sir," to fill up that; and confirms the opinion of Sir Joshua Reynolds-that
the effects of genius must have their causes, and
these causes may for the most part be analysed,
D2




36     COURSE OF ENGLISH READING.
digested, and copied; though sometimes they
may be too subtle to be reduced to a written art.
Sheridan stored up his wit like Butler. Some of
his famous witticisms were found in his desk,
written in many different forms-the point shifted,
to try the effect, from one part of the sentence to
another; and thus did he laboriously mould and
manufacture what he had the readiness to utter
as an impromptu.
I dispute not Sheridan's brilliant talents. I
only argue that, high as they were, they were
lower than the ignorant rated them. I would
maintain that even the mightiest condescend to the
same rules and methods of study by which the
humblest are able to profit; and, amongst other
ways and means, -to return from this digression
introduced for my pupils' encouragement,- men
of the highest endowments have practised and
bequeathed Outlines of History, plans like my
Trees of Knowledge, and Common-place Books.
Suppose then, you proceed to fill up your Historical tree with Goldsmith; you may either read
it from end to end, and inscribe Goldsmith along
the whole length of the stem, in order to have a
more substantial outline than before: or, you may
choose such reigns as happen to be interesting to
you, and then record on the stem, " Henry VIII.,
or C. II. - Goldsmith;" and' read the other




TO FILL UP OUTLINE.           37
reigns as curiosity dictates. -But, is it not the
best plan to read a history through, and master
all the difficulties? The best plan undoubtedly,
if you can do it; that is, if you can not only read,
but remember and digest the whole: but, if your
mental constitution is unequal to the whole course
and regimen, part is better than none: and there
are very few young people who can profit by
the whole of any history the first time of
reading; so, why read what you are incapable of
digesting?
The next question is, " How am I to proceed
when I have read Goldsmith's History, or such
reigns as suit my capacity?" Shall I read Hume
and Smollett? Certainly not all the thirteen
octavos, to forget the first before you come to
the last. But, consider whether you feel so far
interested in any particular part of history, that
you are curious to read a more minute detail.
If pleased with any one reign, or war, or negotiation; or, should the comments and observations
with which men of genius have illustrated such
portions excite your curiosity; turn to these portions in a longer history, in Hume or any other.
The most profitable time to study any subject is
while you feel a lively interest. Then, record on
the corresponding part of your tree, "Hen. VIII.
or C. II., - Hume;" and thus your tree will
D3




38     COURSE OF ENGLISH READING.
grow in strength and substance. But, that with
every addition you may strengthen a particular
part of your historical fabric, be sure you cast
your eye over the whole work, to see that it yet
remains entire. If you cannot readily run over
in your mind the simple outline of the whole, you
should refresh your memory with the outline history before you proceed to fill up.
Doubtless this advice must seem new: but the
oldest things were new once; and all improvements
must be novelties. Old usages and length of service appeal to our feelings; and wholesome customs are sometimes allowed the weight of laws:
but if certain ways and means have stood the
wreck, but not the test of time- if the good old
tree beneath which our grandsires have gambolled
has ever borne more leaves than fruit, time-worn
but not time-honoured, then, root it up at once,
and make room for those with which the science
of to-day, collected from the failures of the past,
enriches the rising generation. And certainly, as
to the common ways and modes of study, "if
mode it can be called where mode is none," judging
by results, we can say little indeed in their favour.
I ask any person of advanced years, " Could
you call to mind more than one young person
out of fifty who ever pursued private reading
with a degree of method and judgment calculated




METHOD RECOMMENDED.            39
to ensure success in the common avocations of
life?" Hobbes of Malmesbury used to say, " If
I had read as many books as other persons,
I should probably know as little." And this
philosopher is only one of many hundred witnesses, who, both by counsel and example, teach
us "to read a little, and that little well:" such men
think and count, not by the books they read, but
the subjects they exhaust. Swift said that the
reason a certain University was a learned place
was, that " most persons took some learning there,
and few brought any away with them, so it accumulated." Now, could it be said of our minds,
that every habit tended to add, but nothing to
take away, what a stock we should have at command! These rules, though new, are not untried;
more than one of my friends have followed them,
and proceeded with continually increasing interest, - the necessary consequence of a sense of
steady and unintermitting improvement.
"Attend," said Gibbon, "to the order, not of
your books, but of your thoughts. A particular
work may suggest ideas unconnected with its
subject; these ideas I pursue, in spite of any
plan of reading." —Thus, Gibbon stopped reading
Homer to refer to a chapter of Longinus, this
suggested a letter by Pliny, and this again sent
him off to Burke " on the Sublime and Beautiful."
D 4




40     COURSE OF ENGLISH READING.
Let us now suppose that by a course of methodical study you have filled up the greater part of
your outline from Hume or some larger history:
what now will be the extent of your knowledge.?
"Will you be disheartened if you are told that you
have nothing but an outline still? For this is
scarcely an exaggeration. It is true that, in some
periods, Hume may have given as full particulars
as cotemporary authorities supply, or as the most
scrutinizing curiosity desires; but, upon the greater
part of events, all he gives is a mere outline or
epitome of original annals. For instance, Froissart's Chronicle alone is equal in bulk to Hume's
eight volumes, although it extends over scarcely
an eighth part the number of years. Again,
reckoning (and there is good authority for so
doing) each Times newspaper of a double sheet
as equal to two octavos, the news of the nation,
apart from advertisements and trivial subjects,
would make a history as large as Hume at least
once a month. And if so, what a bare outline
must eight volumes contain of matter which represents, not months, but centuries!
" Then oil what an ocean we embark! Can
we ever follow out so large a plan?"
Have patience. After mentioning many volumes of English history,. I was going to add,
not that there were so many to read, but so many




TO FILL UP OUTLINES,         41
from which to choose; and, of course, the larger
the choice, the more easy to suit each variety of
taste and inclination.
Without dictating the extent of your studies, I
would show you how to make the little time you
employ go as far as possible; for which purpose I
advise a short outline of the whole, and a minute
knowledge'of parts; and for this reason: The
sketches of the historian are like those of the artist.
You may have, first, an outline which gives
rather the shadows of men than the men themselves; you may have a broader outline, which
still leaves every man alike; you may have the
figures rudely filled up, giving substantial form
and individual character, but still stiff and inanimate; or, lastly, you may have a faithful expression of impassioned agents, delineating an interesting passage of real life. Now, which would
you prefer, -one good historical picture —say a
panorama of the Battle of Waterloo, in which
you could understand all the movements, positions, and manceuvres of one mighty action,
which would serve as a key to every other; or, a
long series of the usual battle-pieces, differing
from each other in little else than in the artist's
partiality for fire and smoke?
THE MOST VALUABLE SKETCHES ARE THOSE
DRAWN BY  CONTEMPORARIES.  The leading




42     COURSE OF ENGLISH READING.
events of history may be copied from age to
age.  Ingenious writers may.ascertain the details of wars and treaties at  a distant period of time: but contemporaries alone can
draw characters, and amuse us with vivid portraiture. This was Johnson's remark on Robertson's histories. He said the characters in history
must be fiction, unless drawn by those who knew
the  persons, as Sallust and Clarendon.  Sir
Joshua Reynolds remarked, that the distinctness
of Robertson's historical characters was caused
at the expense of truth, by exaggerating their
more marked features.  And Sir Robert WValpole, when, as Mr. Croker quotes, his son Horace
offered to amuse him with reading, said, "Any
thing but history-that must be false;" he meant
to say, the imputed motives, finer springs of actions, and minute detail of concurrent causes,
were, for obvious reasons, so inscrutable to historians, that he cared not for their works.
Wherefore, in preference to a dry outline enlivened only by fictitious circumstances and plausible reasonings on doubtful data, read the history
of a limited period, written by men who had
some opportunity at least of knowing what they
wrote.
This mode of historical study is supported by
high authority. Bacon remarked, he should like




BACON'S MOTHS OF' HISTORY.        43
a history formed of the genuine works of all the
writers of their own times, arranged, and, if requisite, translated, but not abbreviated. "For
compilers," said he, " are the very' moths of history."' Consider what was passing in Bacon's
mind when he made choice of this expression.
History, as faithfully related by a series of
writers, each detailing what he saw and heard,
seemed to Bacon like a fine piece of tapestry,
wherein were delineated figures that seemed to
move and breathe in positions which told the
whole story —who the victors-who the vanquished -the cause of the strife —the fire of
the chiefs, and the struggles of the men. To
such "cunning embroidery" we may liken the
varied and vivid page of Froissart; but, when
Hume comes in the character of moth the first,
makes havoc of all colour and perspective, till
no eye can distinguish between friend and foe -
when Goldsmith follows as moth the second, eats
up each remnant of distinctive character, and
makes the living motionless as the slain —and
when Pinnock comes, as moth the third, preys
on what the other two have spared, and makes
skeletons both of the dying and the dead 
surely such shadowy sketches of things that were,
cannot so far give the character of the past as to
make it what all history should be, the mirror of




44     COURSE OF ENGLISH READING.
the future -" the lessons of philosophy teaching
by example."
" Original authors," says Southey, "are the
bees that make the honey, compilers are the
bears that rob the hives."
With this picture present to my mind, I call
Goldsmith's history an outline — a skeleton: it
contains topics under which you may very conveniently arrange ideas derived from other writers.
But to be contented with such an outline alone is
like taking the trouble of providing yourself with
a frame of pigeon-holes for historical papers, and
collecting no papers to fill them. For, to say
that such epitomes alone give distinct ideas, is
absurd: only suppress the names, and then if we
ask which is Oliver Cromwell, and which is Wellington, we may well be answered, like children
at the peep-show, "Which you please."
Since the voluminous histories in common use,
such as Hume and Smollett, pass over matters
with so light a touch, it follows that readers who
confine themselves to such compositions, pursue
rather the shadow than the substance of real
knowledge. And this is a remark which Coleridge might as truly have made on the writings
of Hume as on those of Gibbon, of whom he said,
in his " Table Talk," that he passes along from
height to height, so as to convey more the idea of




HISTORIANS CHARACTERIZED.       45
romance than of history, and shows nothing of
the wide flats and valleys of real life.
Indeed it cannot be supposed that Hume, or
any other single writer, could investigate the
memorable achievements of sixteen hundred years.
How his fingers must tire ere he could unfold: all
the time-worn records of ages past! How his
eyes must swim over the black-lettered Chronicles! Think how the many volumes which, as
Hallam says, are rather the property of moths
than men, would try his sight and test his patience, before he could give their meed of fame
to Romans, Britons, Danes, Saxons, Normans.
Well might Edmund Burke say he found Hume
not very deeply versed in the early part of British
history. The powers of the mind, like the waters
of the sea, though vast and deep, are limited to
bounds they cannot pass; and when highest in
one part are lowest in another. And such was
the complaint of Lady Mary Wortley Montagu,
after making an attempt to rival the many
tongues of all her household at Pera, from whom,
be it known to all housekeepers of these degenerate days, she was doomed to hear the same excuse ten times told in ten different languages!
The practice of one language had a tendency to
diminish her aptitude for another; and her English was falling into decay. Burke said that Hume




46     COURSE OF ENGLISH READING.
admitted to him, that from the early historians he
derived no increased satisfaction to lead him on to
deep research; and Burke considered himself a
competent judge, having gone through all' the early
authorities. The reign he thought most carefully
composed was that of Charles II.
And here we may notice a vulgar error, that
Smollett wrote " a Continuation of Hume." The
truth is, that Smollett wrote a History of England from the time of the invasion of the Romans.
It is not one of the least of the curiosities of literature, that the fame of Hume should so completely
have eclipsed that of Smollett as to overlay all
that part of his work which could possibly enter
into competition with his own. Even a writer in
the " Edinburgh Review," in October, 1839, observed,-" Smollett has made a sorry figure by
continuing the History of England."
Then the conclusion of all this is, that we must
actually make out History for ourselves?-Yes.
This is the legitimate conclusion from all my
reasoning, that though what is called History is of
some small value, inasmuch as it keeps the terms
and forms of knowledge from passing into oblivion,
still, it is composed more of names than things,
rather shadowy than substantial, and greatly inferior to what an intelligent reader may easily
be led to collect for himself. You must choose




DR. JOHNSON ON READING.        47
between these maxims: -" Every man his own
historian," or " No man an historian at all:" take
which you please. I am not guilty of making
the difficulty, only of stating it; though real difficulty there is none: the only trouble consists
in making choice of proper authors, or proper
parts of them.
But here let me meet the old objection"We have been always advised to read books
through from end to end." The only consistent
meaning of this advice is, to read no books but
such as are worth most careful reading. The
principle is good; but if taken literally, you
would read dictionaries through, or cyclopaedias,
which is absurd; as indeed Dr. Johnson once remarked, in talking of a letter from the Rev.
Herbert Croft to his pupil: —
Johnson.-" This is surely a strange advice.
You may as well resolve that, whatever men you
happen to get acquainted with, you are to keep
to them for life. A book may be good for nothing,
or there may be only one thing in it worth knowing: are we to read it all through?"  It is well
known that the Doctor said he never read any
book through but the Bible. Adam Smith
said, " Johnson knew more books than any man
alive;" and Boswell innocently remarks, " He
had a peculiar facility in seizing at once on what




48     COURSE OF ENGLISH READING.
was valuable in any book, without submitting to
the labour of perusing it from beginning to end."
To draw a correct outline first, carefully preserving and retracing it from time to time, while
filling up according to inclination or ability, is
the method I propose to explain and illustrate;
and though I am now showing its application
only to History, I shall presently explain its
adaptation to literature generally, as a means of
avoiding confusion, and marking progress alike in
every subject.
" Well, then," said J. C. (a friend who will
excuse my citing his case), on entering my study
one morning with long sheets of paper, "here
are my outlines. I have drawn the trunk of my
tree: now for the leaves and the branches."
" Leaves and branches must be drawn in proportion to the maturity and vigour of the tree;
or, to speak less figuratively, you must consider
your curiosity, taste, and inclination. The strong
food of the full-grown man may not agree with
the child."
The taste of all readers may be regarded as
threefold: -
One class of readers requires excitement, and
that kind of interest which it is the part of the
novelist to supply. Their favourite books are of
the nature of the "Newgate Calendar" and




READING FOR EXCITEMENT.           49
"Terrific Register."  They read for the pleasure
of conjuring up horrid scenes in their imaginations, and enjoying that sense of comparative
security which the poet Lucretius has so sublimely noticed. If it be true that -
The stage but echoes back the public voiceif, that is to say, the current theme of every novel
and romance shows the public taste, as plainly as
the cut and colours in the dressmaker's window
show the ruling fashion, we can readily discern
one of the oldest favourites of a very large section
of the literary circle, —I mean in homely vernacular "Hanging Stories." "God's Revenge against
Murder" was the title of one of the earliest books
ever printed. Punch and Judy, with the gallows
and the public functionary, is one of the oldest
shows; nor at any fair in the country does it find
a more fearful rival than "Maria and the Red
Barn," or any "most barbarous and inhuman
murder, with the ghost of the unhappy victim."
George Barnwell, and many other plots, too exciting in their very name to allow of very fastidious criticism as to their composition, have contributed to supply the same demand with the
same commodity, in different forms, down to the
present day,  And now, in the plot of every
novel, whether there be or be not
Dignus vindice nodus,
E




50     COURSE OF ENGLISH READING.
a murder and the hangman seem as common a
resource as a broken heart or the blacksmith of
Gretna Green, in the novels of our younger days.
Mr. Gibbon Wakefield, about ten years since,
wrote an interesting pamphlet " On Crime in
the Metropolis;" in which he says that by comparing the statements of a large number of
prisoners in Newgate, he ascertained that inveterate thieves rarely failed to be present at an
execution, not so much for an opportunity of
picking pockets, as for the pleasure of excitement,
which, he says, by the very exciting nature of
their lawless pursuits, thieves soon become too
callous to derive from any ordinary source. There
is something true to nature —painfully true, in
these words, and something very like the case of
many novel readers, who bring themselves to that
morbid state, that they are only to be touched by
an appeal to their most vulgar sympathies! Oh!
well did Shakspeare know the human heart when
he crowded together all the stirring topics of
Othello's history. There is many a young lady
of whom we might say, that when serious things
are talked of, like Desdemona,Still the house affairs would draw her thence;
but, to a tale like Othello's, she would
Come again, and with greedy ear
Devour up my discourse.




READING FOR EXCITEMENT.           51
Myriads there are both of men and women,
who will read only for excitement. This stimulus
is exhibited by authors in various forms and different quantities. The best employ it like the
sweetening or spicing of a draught, to cheat the
full-grown child into taking that which ministers
to health. I allude not to certain writers who
mix things sacred with profane; still less do I
allude to writers who adopt the marketable form
and title of a novel to publish their views of
political philosophy; but I refer with great respect to a few novelists who have the goodness
and the talent to contrive by three small volumes
to rivet the attention of many an idle youth, and
for a total space of some twenty hours, or more,
wean him from that
Which Satan finds for idle hands to do;
and in its stead provide for twenty hours a wholesome exercise for the finest sympathies of the
heart. Still, when this wholesome recreation fails,
literary pastimes of a mere negative character are
not to be despised: because, they answer the purpose of keeping worse thoughts away, and sometimes lead on the student, step by step, till he
reaches the purest sphere of intellectual existence.
The first of the classes into which I divide readers
E 2




62      COURSE OF ENGLISH READING.
we will regard as resembling Desdemona: they
would have all narrators of Othello's caste, and
would read ofbattles, sieges, fortunes;of most disastrous chances,
Of moving accidents by flood and field;
Of hair-breadth'scapes i' the imminent deadly breach; —
of antres vast and desarts idle,
Rough quarries, rocks, and hills whose heads touch
heaven;And of the Cannibals that each other eat,
The Anthropophagi, and men whose heads
Do grow beneath their shoulders. -
A book with this page of Shakspeare for its
table of contents, would probably be a general
favourite with the subscribers of every circulating library in the kingdom; for, the majority of
readers are not much above the excitement class.
Their state of mind is by no means healthy, I
allow; still, the lowest order of intellectual is preferable to mere physical resources. A book containing but little good has kept many a youth
from company productive of positive evil. The
excitement and gross immorality even of the worst
of the old-fashioned novels is a less perni`cious
stimulant than lounging night after night with
a cigar to the billiard-room. Not long since I
heard a father say,  "If I could only see my boy




SEEK ENTERTAINING BOOKS.        53
teadcling Tom Thumb, I should be happy: that
would be a beginning: but, he avoids a book as if
it had the plague." The habit of seeking amusement from books is so truly valuable in limiting
the sphere of youthful temptations, that a parent
should encourage it at almost any cost. Children
should be taught that books are as natural a
source of entertainment as tops and balls.
A quondam acquaintance who tried in vain
for nearly seven years to take a degree at Oxford,
observed ludicrously enough, " Books were never
put in my way; when I could scarcely read, my
guardians sent me to Rugby. My grandmother
did once offer to make me a present of the' Seven
Wonders of the World,' or some such book, but
I told her I should like the money instead, so
she gave me neither. Now, I am trying for some
situation under Government, but very few will
suit me. Head work in an office is out of the
question. Something like Commissioner of Woods
and Forests, or any out-of-door work would do
exactly! "
This is very laughable, but very sad. Think
of the tedious hours of such a person's in-door
life in rainy weather, from breakfast to luncheon,
-to dinner - to supper - to bed. "Would it
were evening i" "Would it were morning! " and
in this state of mere vegetation, without the
3




54     COURSE OF ENGLISH READING.
energy of life, many a man has existed who had
all the natural qualifications for a sphere of usefulness, if his parents had been only satisfied to
give him stories suitable to his childish taste.
In paying so much deference to those who read
for excitement, I only act on the principle that
to keep a child quiet we must give him such toys
as he is in a humour to play with. Children (in
mind) are found of all ages; and, as Aristotle
says, " whether young in years, or young in character, matters not for the present argument:"
children often attain to the so-called years of discretion without being able to run alone. A
youthful taste must be indulged in its own way,
and gradually led on by timely encouragement,
and by the influence of superior minds, to mingle
works of valuable information with those of more
thrilling interest. Thus, from criminal trials (and
who has not read the Newgate Calendar?) youths
may acquire much information of the principles
and practice of the laws of their country; trials
for murders may lead to trials for treason, and
cotemporary history; and thence, as the mind
matures, they may learn to reflect on the state
and progress of society. In short, whatever be
the taste of a youth, it is better he should read
in his own way, with certain obvious exception s
than not at all. " What? " I may be sure some




LIGHT READING VINDICATED.        55
will say, " is that which ministers to love of excitement and a morbid appetite for subjects which
are vain and profitless, and take up time never
to be redeemed -is this to be recommended for
youth?" No —not in the abstract, but as a
choice, which so commonly presents itself, of
manifest evils. The mother of a large family
once observed, " Some object to novels and story
books as irreligious, because exciting. I have
four very high-spirited, though very excellent
sons; if I lock up Robinson Crusoe from my
George, and the Waverley novels from the other
three, how am I to prevent them from turning
the whole house out of window the first wet
day; for they will read nothing else?" A few
days after, a sensible physician told me he had
a patient who could digest nothing but lobster
salad. "Now," said he, "men with one idea
would starve him first, and plead the rules of
their profession afterwards."  So, some who
minister to the mind, instead of giving the child
childish things, try to force an appetite for what
they call instructive reading: the consequence
is that they nip in the bud the slow-growing but
healthy plant, which, with careful nurture, would
have borne good fruit in due season.
Sir Walter Scott must be admitted to be one of
the greatest benefactors of modern times. His
3: 4




E56    COURSE OF ENGLISH READING.
writings are wholesome, generous, and ennobling.
He gains the ear of those who would never hear
anything half as serious from any one else.
Bishop Heber was a great admirer of Scott's
works. We learn from his Journal that he read
Quentin Durward on his voyage, and said no
other man but Scott could have written it.
Some men make shots at truth with only one
idea at a time. They can manage one barrel,
but not two. "Books," they remind us, "can
never teach the use of books," as Bacon said:
and therefore what? Why, therefore, they argue
reading is of little good.  Whereas, the legitimate conclusion is that, therefore, reading and
observation, theory and practice, should go together. Reading multiplies experience: the vision of the unlearned is limited to his own little
circle, his own country town, and his own few
years of discretion. The man of reading, however,
may have gone round the world with Captain
Cook  (animoque rotundum percurrisse polum),
have soared among the stars with Newton, may
have penetrated the earth with Buckland, or
explored the caverns of the deep with Cuvier and
Linnmeus.  The life of the one is three score
years and ten: the other has outlived the age of
Mlethuselah, and with vivid recollection to the
last.




LIGHT READING VINDICATED.        57
Class the first, therefore, comprises readers of
youthful taste. Their appetite is for the rare, the
dainty, high-seasoned viands. When instructive
subjects are proposed, they soon find " house
affairs to draw them hence," and must be amused,
like Desdemona, before they will "seriously incline, and with greedy ear devour up my discourse." When one of this class sits down to a
book of sterling worth, he looks at his watch,
prepares his marker, smooths down the page,
knits his brow, turns his back to the window, and
begins.  The first page is read with great attention, and, per chance, the second: he turns
over the third, and, in a few minutes, finds his
eyes nearly at the bottom; how they got there he
knows not, for his thoughts, he feels, had gone off
at a tangent from the top. These truant thoughts
are soon recalled, obey for a page and a half, and
then are off again —how remarkable! Who has
not felt this mental phenomenon, and said, " How
strange! I was so resolved —I wanted to attend,
but my mind does so wander." Only consider
these two words —" I and my mind;" most people
think they and their minds are one and the same
thing, but they seem as different as Iand my dog,
for my mind and my dog are equally prone to
wander in spite of me - equally run off after anything that suddenly breaks upon my path; both




58     COURSE OF ENGLISH READING.
evince an equal eagerness to chase anything but
what I prepare to pursue. But there is a way to
make my dog obey me, to change his wandering
nature, to lie down when I say "down," passing
without a glance all game but what I choose to
hunt; all this I can do by gradual discipline. Let
every man make the trial, and resolve that his
mind shall become as tractable as his dog, by the
same watchfulness and judicious exercise. He
must not be severe with it at first, nor task it
beyond its opening powers. The dog will never
take the water if you begin by throwing him
in —use gentle encouragement, and avail yourself of each earliest indication of maturing
strength.  Thus, you may continually extend
the sphere of activity, improve the nature of
mind as well as matter, and promote the readers
of class the first to class the second, and, in due
course, to class the third, which I will respectively
describe.
The second class consists of those who study
biography, or some branch of natural philosophy,
who desire to improve, and can endure present
toil for future profit. Let us draw a comparison
between this and the former class. Tales of excitement cloy —the appetite becomes dull, till
the bloodiest of all bloody murders does not
make us creep —every headless spectre at mid



LIGHT READING VINDICATED.        69
night resolves itself into a shirt and red garters —
no giant seems more than a dwarf after the
monster who had a whole rookery flying out of
his beard, and every ship-wrecked crew are at
once foreseen either to be divided among sharks
and cannibals, or else made more comfortable
than if nothing had happened, by some homebound vessel. Every species of battle, murder,
and heroic exploit is soon familiar, and therefore
the topics of my first class of readers are easily
exhausted. But works of history, of fact not
fiction, are ever varied and ever new. They expand the mind and continually enlarge the sphere
of interest.  If the first class of students visit
the Polytechnicon, or Adelaide Gallery, they will
saunter about for a few hours, return home, and
say, with much composure, " Now we have seen
it," as an unanswerable argument against visiting
the same objects again. A visitor of this order of
intellect accompanied me one day, and the two
things which made most impression on his mind
were a new bit for a runaway horse and a chair
for surgical operations. Nothing arrested his attention for a moment but what was already
familiar to him. A little patience and exertion
of mind, with the courage to confess ignorance
and ask questions, would, in many instances, have
increased his knowledge of principles, and in



60      COURSE OF ENGLISH READING.
vested the mysterious wheels in glass cases with
all the interest of the patent snaffle.
A few days after I met a young friend in the
Polytechnicon, who had been there day after day;
what he saw in the morning was a continual incitement to study in the evening; thus his curiosity was no sooner satisfied than hungry again,
and literally "grew by what it fed on." My
second class of readers study on the same principle. Dissertations on taxation and other points
of political economy which occasionally occur in
history, to some are dry and profitless; but they
take the first opportunity of reading an article
from a Cyclopadia on this very difficulty, find it
far easier to understand than its repulsive name
led them to expect; and, ever after, when they
meet what once only convicted them of ignorance,
they eagerly grapple with it, assured of all the pleasures of conscious superiority and improvement.
But, the third class of readers are of a higher
order still: as the first like Fiction, and the second
Fact, so these like Principle. To examine into
causes and consequences is one of the highest exercises of the human mind, and one attended with
the purest pleasure.  Fiction delights us for
the moment with imaginary scenes; History
gives more lasting satisfaction by the realities of life; but the study of priniples or Sci



FICTION, HISTORY, PHILOSOPHY.    61
ence is like extracting the essence or culling
all that is profitable from both, and laying it up
in a convenient form to be ever useful, ready,
and available.  Suppose a man found himself
one of many hundred servants in a large factory or house of business, he would naturally
desire to know something of the rise, progress,
and future prospects of the system in which his
own prosperity was involved. Fiction would tell
what things might be — History would tell what
things had been-but Science, in investigating
the principles of the system, would, by comparing present with past, reveal what things
would be. Just such a system is the complicated
machinery of human society; such servants are
its members, and such is the knowledge which
the study of principles can impart.  Homer's
seer was a man deep in principles: " things
which were and had been," taught him "things
to come."
Again, the subjects of the three classes of
readers may be the same, but each reads with
a different purpose, gathers a different knowledge and exercises a different power of the
mind. The butterfly flits over every flower-bed
and stores up nothing; the spider gathers poison,
but the bee honey.  So, the lover of fiction
reads a novel for the excitement and interest




62     COURSE OF ENGLISH READING.
of the story; the lover of history reads the
same novel to learn the manners and customs
of the day; the lover of science and principles
seeks to quicken his observation, and increase
his knowledge of the human heart. And this
would suggest the remark, that the value of
every book, moral or intellectual, depends on
the object with which it is read. The same
volume may be made to minister to a morbid
love of excitement, or to increase knowledge of
the past, or to aid a noble contemplation of the
present or the future.  The child pulls off the
lid of the kettle for sport, the house-wife for
use, but young Watt for science, which ended
with the discovery of the steam-engine.
Tastes and faculties differ-all are capable
of improvement -and with good -counsel most
persons may learn to prefer the higher to the
lower exercise, till the most exalted proves the
most delightful, and our pleasures and interests
coincide.
Bishop Sanderson said, " It was no less than
a miracle of knowledge that men might attain
to, if they proceeded thus distinctly in reading
authors and pursuing knowledge."
I will now proceed to recommend books for
each class respectively.  Would that I could
insure that the highest order of works should




CHOICE OF BOOKS.            63
be preferred; or at least that those of a lower
kind should be invested with an improving
character by the high purposes which their
readers aspired to promote. But to advise readers
to study nothing till they feel a taste for works
of the highest character, is like saying " never
enter the water till you can swim."  To hope
to confine ourselves to books pure and unexceptionable, not only in their general tendency,
but in every word and sentiment, is like hoping
to join in none but the purest and most perfect
society. So rigid a rule in a world like this
would lead to monkish seclusion and narrowed
faculties, with a better name, though worse influence, than intercourse the most unguarded
would exert. If we may not read Shakspeare
lest we learn improper language, we should not
walk in the streets for the same reason; but the
body would suffer from want of exercise in the
one case, so would the mind in the other.
The first and most numerous class of readers;
whose chief object is rather present amusement
than future profit, should of course, when two
books are equal in interest, make choice of that
which is more improving.  Therefore, one rule
for a choice of books is to prefer those which
almost all well-informed persons are presumed
to know; books therefore which most frequently




64     COURSE OF ENGLISH READING.
furnish apt sayings to quote, and positions to
illustrate.  "2Esop's  Fables,"  the " Arabian
Nights," " Robinson Crusoe," most of the " Waverley Novels," and plays of Shakspeare, "Don
Quixote," the " Pilgrim's Progress,"," Goldsmith's
Vicar of Wakefield" and "Deserted Village,"
"Gray's Elegy " —these works are frequently
quoted; if unacquainted with them, we should
feel greatly at a loss almost every time we read
a newspaper, enter a picture gallery, or converse
with a man of ordinary fertility of mind.
These books serve in society as a common
-measure or standard for the easy interchange of
thought.  "Quixotic," for instance, is quite a
common word.  Allusion to vivid scenes and
leading principles in these works serves for the
transfer of ideas, just as letters of credit for the
transfer of money. A knowledge of this circulating medium gives all the facility to conversation,
that quoting the rule in  "Shelley's case," or
" Campbell versus Johnson," gives to an argument in a court of law; it saves explanations as
tedious as recurrence to first principles.
To these books, add the voyages of Captains
Cook and Parry, Basil Hall's Travels, Voyages
to the North Pole, and Whale Fishery, Southey's
Life of Nelson, Life of Napoleon in the " Family
Library," Gulliver's Travels, Scott's Tales of a




FAVOURITE AUTHORS.             65
Grandfather, Johnson's Rasselas, and Boswell's
Life of Johnson.
Here is a short, but varied and most comprehensive, list for beginning. I should say, for beginning your choice. They may not all suit the
taste of the same reader, and I freely allow you
the privilege of laying down any book you do not
like, and taking up another. More than one of
these books has formed the taste -more than one
has determined the fortunes -- of thousands.
"I Southey's Life of Nelson," said an anxious
mother, " I have put on the top shelf, out of
my boy's way. His cousin Harry sends home
fine accounts of mast-heading, and in windy
weather too.  All comes of Nelson's life-the
child never thought of going to sea till that
book turned his head."
There is a tide in the affairs of men,
Which taken at the flood leads on to fortune.
Certainly, there is a period when the mind of
youth is critically poised, when
A breath may make them, as a breath has mlade,
and marred them  too.  The nursery game of
deciding professions by straws, long and short,
or the head of a stem of grass -" tinker,
tailor, soldier, sailor, apothecary, thief" —ridicuF




66      COURSE OF ENGLISH READING.
lously but truly represents the feather-weight
which turns the scale of youthful destiny.
The Vicar of Wakefield in German, read by
Goethe in childhood, gave, says Mr. Forster, a
tone and character to that great poet's mind and
feeling for life. To Ricaut's History of the Turks,
read at Harrow, Byron ascribed his interest in
the affairs of Greece, as also the oriental colouring
of his poetry.
"The Beggars' Opera" was long prohibited,
for fear it should encourage pickpockets: another
book we could mention, which an officer of
Newgate, after contradiction, persisted in saying that Courvoisier told him suggested Lord
Russell's murder; and though that book has not
been prohibited, still the evidence of a gaol chaplain of Liverpool showed it to be, in the form both
of novel and melodram, a shocking incentive to
the rising generation of thieves.  "It is certain,"
says Falstaff, " that either wise bearing or ignorant carriage is caught, as men take diseases, one
of another; therefore let men take heed to their
company." Sir David Wilkie's touching picture,
"Distraining for Rent," says Mr. Bulwer, in his
"England and the Englishl" remained long unengraved, from an opinion it would inflame popular prejudice against the landed interest. —
"Books suggest Thoughts, thoughts become




TASTES ARE VARIOUS.          67
Motives, motives prompt to Action. Man is a
complicated piece of machinery: hundreds of
nerves and muscles must act and react for the
slightest turn of the body; yet, the very wind
of a word, a casual hint or association, can set
the whole in motion, and produce an Actionactions repeated form habits, and determine the
Character, fixed, firm, and unalterable for good
or for evil. So, the delicate hand of a princess
can launch a man-of-war, and the voice of a
peasant bring down an avalanche.
The reason I am desirous to give a varied list
is, because there are few books which suit every
taste. Gray saw little merit in Johnson's Rasselas; and Johnson was equally blind to the
beauties of Gray's odes. Neither Moore, Byron, nor
IW. S. Landor could appreciate Chaucer. " Obscure
and contemptible!" said Byron-though Southey
admired Chaucer even more than Spencer. Byron
called Shakespeare an impostor, and said he was
sadly overrated. Byron throughout all his letters never quotes Shakespeare with admiration.
Byron "detested" paintings, even those of IRubens and Murillo. Sir rW. Scott's indifference
in the Louvre is testified by Sharpe the engraver.
Lord Eldon cared neither for painting nor music,
and said, in the great Opera trial,'he "would not
give five shillings to hear Madame Catalani sing
F 2




68     COURSE OF ENGLISH READING.
for six months! " That very popular song, which
Burns said was in his best manner, "'Scots
wha hae wi' Wallace bled," was thought inferior
both by Wordsworth and Mrs. Hemans. Dr.
Parr said Sir Walter's popularity would not last;
The poems of Ossian, which so many have admired, Johnson thought any man could write
when he once hit the strain; and Edmund Burke
declared they were intended to try English gullibility.  Dr. Wolcot, better known as Peter
Pindar, ridiculed Dryden's Alexander's Feast, and
maintained, in a most humorous criticism, that it
was positively absurd. - While tastes and opinions so far differ among the learned, I may well
allow great latitude to the choice of the youthful
reader.
It is a great error to wait for some fancied
season of uninterrupted leisure before we enter
on any new study. Alison's History, and Lord
Campbell's Lives of the Chancellors, are the fruits
of hours stolen from a most busy life. Erasmus
spent his life in travelling from kingdom to kingdom in the vain pursuit of patrons and preferment; still, in the few hours available for study,
he contrived to write more than many in such
circumstances would expect even to read. The
judicious Hooker had his sheep to tend out of
doors, and a scolding wife within — a fair lady




DIFFICULTIES DIMINIS1.         69
who, like the matter-of-fact spouse of Albert
Durer, mistook profound meditation for dreamy
idleness —but nothing could mar the "Ecclesiastical Polity." Melancthon, also, had his troubles,
as Fuller relates; for "a certain Frenchman
found him dandling his child in the swaddling
clouts, and in the other hand holding a book
and reading it."
The secret is, that, to men of well-trained minds,
interruptions are not hindrances: while debarred
from literature, they draw on the resources of
their own thoughts; and when at length the longwished-for book is opened, it is devoured with an
avidity all the greater from the delay.
A few books may furnish very many ideas, or
instruments of thought; and only a few ideas well
arranged and brought to bear on one point will
clear away difficulties which a host of disorderly
powers would fail to remove. Show an uneducated
man a book, and he will say, " Who can remember all those Letters?"  Tell him there are but
twenty-four -he will still wonder at the many
W5ords: say that the words, too, are limited in
number, and that a knowledge of a system of
inflection and composition solves many difficulties,
and he will understand  that the labours he
reckoned by millions exist by tens. As with
Words, so with Ideas. In most books ideas are
F3




7()    COURSE OF ENGLISIT READING.
few and far between.  The distant forest which,
to the inexperienced botanist, seems to abound in
trees, numerous in kind and almost infinite in
number, proves as he enters it to contain but one
single species, each widely branching, with expanding limbs and luxuriant foliage; so, the
study of one gives a knowledge of all. The
power of recognising any old and well-known
truth in each variety of garb, of stripping it of
every accident and ornament, of studying it in its
simplest form, and then investing and combining
it anew, and setting it up in a useful and efficient
attitude - this power is one of the most valuable
results of human learning, and more to be envied
than a memory fraught with the most varied
stores of reading. The one possesses, but the
other coins. Butler, the author of the Analogy,
said, "Whoever will in the least attend to the
thing will see that it is not the having of knowledge, but the gaining of it, which is the entertainment of the mind."-In every part of life the
pleasure is in the pursuit, not in the possession.
And if
The worth of anything
Is just as much as it will bringin happiness as in money - if that is true of the
end which is said of the means, then we may deny
that " a bird in hand is worth two in the bush,"




CURIOSITY OUR GUIDE.            71
and prefer " an estate in expectancy" to one " in
possession," though the worldly-wise maintain the
contrary. Pursuits of literature are like the chase.
Whether we exercise our feet or faculties, mount
a hunter or a Pegasus, start a fox, or an idea, the
fun is over when we have run it down, or, it has
" got to earth." The young men in IEsop's fable
unconsciously cultivated their vineyard and improved their own strength and industry, while
they dug for an imaginary treasure. So, many a
student is insensibly storing strength while he
seeks for knowledge. The classical maxim " to
follow nature" is good indeed, when we can discern what nature says, and fish up truth from the
bottom of the well, or rather, sift it from the
rubbish, which, while truth was yet upon the
surface, ignorance heaped upon it. Still, with all
the darkness and difficulties of man's benighted
state, there is an instinct he may safely obey, and
one which, both in physics and metaphysics, disputations of science, falsely so called, have done
much mischief in thwarting. This at least is true
of my present subject - Study, and Curiosity as
its guide. This instinct of Curiosity, an " appetite that grows by what it feeds on," urges
many a youth to turn over and over the same
favourite tale, while a host of the usual advisers
cry out, Waste of time — pray read something
F4




72      COURSE OF ENGLISH READING.
new. "And, is he to obey curiosity and inclination to this extent?" Why not? a book cannot
continue to fix attention unless it continues also
either to impart or elicit new ideas. If the
same passages make the same impressions, the
book will be laid aside: but, if they make new impressions, the reader is learning to regard the
same scenes at a different angle, or to shift the
component parts, till they form, like the same
pieces in the kaleidoscope, a variety of pleasing
combinations.
A distinguished literary character of the present day was often found in childhood lying on
his little bed, where none were likely to seek him,
reading  " Robinson  Crusoe."  "Only reading
Robin - only Robin," was the constant excuse for
all absence or idleness, till his friends augured that
the future man would be a very different character
from one who has done much to preserve the most
valuable part of English literature. As a child
he was devoted to one book. He has since been a
man of one book.  Shakespeare has been his favourite author.  The rest of his reading has been
determined by an ever-present desire to correct,
illustrate, and restore every trace of that immortal
bard. His course of studies being dictated, as we
have advised, by his own curiosity and inclination,
was peculiar. For instance, at the time of Sir




TIhE MAN OF ONE BOOK.          73
Walter Scott's death, he had not read one of the
Waverley Novels.-" But would he not be afraid
of betraying this deficiency in society?" He
could find many a precedent to bear him out.
Sir James Mackintosh had not read Shakespeare's
minor works when forty years of age. Mr. Wilberforce used to say he would read no modern poetry
till he was tired of Homer and Mlilton. Dr. Johnson had not read Othello when he wrote Irene,
and visited Iona without seeing Staffa, though
the Duke of Wellington went thirty miles out of
his march to see Schrivanabalogol, " the big
Indian," whom Chantrey said he could beat.
Look on that picture and on this,-" Coleridge's mind," said Southey, " is in a perpetual
St. Vitus's dance - eternal activity without action.
At times, he feels mortified that he has done so
little; but this feeling never produces exertion.'I will begin to-morrow,' he says, and thus he
has been all his life long letting to-day slip.
He has had no heavy calamities in life, and so
contrives to be miserable about trifles."  Charles
Lamb, also, said to Coleridge, " I grieve from'
my very soul to observe you in your plans of
life, veering about from this hope to the other,
and settling nowhere. Would that the dancing
demon may conduct you at last in peace and
comfort even to the life and labour of a cottager!"




7 4    COURSE OF ENGLISH READING.
A friend, on looking over these pages, now asks
me, "But is there no danger that men of one
book, however honourably we hear them mentioned, should be ignorant of every other subject
of conversation which does not bear upon their
favourite topics?"  Certainly the mind requires
variety; still you may pursue one system, choose
one class of authors most suitable to your own
peculiar talents, and prefer to be sound in a
limited sphere, to being superficial in one more
extended. I would recommend every young man
to make choice of his book - Shakespeare, Milton,
Bacon, Clarendon, Burke, Johnson's Conversations in Boswell; or, to those of a thoughtful
habit, I would say, take Butler's Analogy and
Sermons, bind them up in one thick volume, on
which write WISDOM in gold letters, and begin
to read it through every New Year's Day. One
sterling author, to call "my book," ever most
conspicuous and most at hand, read, re-read,
marked and quoted, standing on the shelf, if
not "alone in his glory," at least surrounded
with pamphlets, manuscripts, and authors to illustrate it - this will do much to form the mind;
this will teach us to think as our favourite author
thought, to aspire to the same precision of expression, the same purity of taste, loftiness of views,
and fervency of spirit. This will give a high




ON THE CHOICE OF BOOKS.         75
standard of excellence, chastening us with humility, while it fires us with emulation. Tihe
one thing needful, and the Holy Volume, which
teaches all things pertaining thereto, must of
course be uppermost in the thoughts of all. I
shall content myself with observing that one of
my fellow-collegians, highly distinguished both at
Winchester and Oxford, made the Bible not only
the subject of his serious meditations, but a book
to illustrate and a literary resource in his hours of
recreation. It was the pride of his mind to be a
living index or treasury of Biblical literature.
The best guides in the study and the choice of
English literature are, as general advisers, Hallam and Berrington, who have written the History
of Literature, and Dunlop, who gives the History of Fiction. For Poetry, Johnson's " Lives
of the Poets,'" Campbell's Essay, and Aytoun's
" Poets of the Nineteenth Century." Pick your
way, by help of the table of contents, through
these books, and read the works recommended on
the spur of your appetite. Also, look through the
Lives of Southey, Campbell, Scott, and others.
See what they admire; and " rectify" your taste,
and "clarify" your judgment, by their purer
standard.
Whenever we feel unusually entertained with a
work, it is natural to inquire for other works by




76     COURSE OF ENGLISH READING.
the same author; and, though his other compositions bear no very inviting titles, we may still
hope that he has made them the vehicle of the
same order of ideas. Bishop Berkeley betrayed
the same train of reasoning in his "Thoughts
upon Tar ~Water," as in his " Principles of Human Knowledge." The verses in the celebrated
" Pursuits of Literature," a book which gives a
page of satirical observations to a line of text,
were said by George Steevens to be "mere pegs
to hang the notes on." And so, at the present
day, a book with the name, size, style, and letterpress of a novel, will often prove to be the insidious form in which science, political or theological,
is honrceopathically exhibited and disguised.
Defoe wrote, besides " Robinson Crusoe," the
History of the Plague of London," in which his
fertile imagination, guided and assisted by a few
authentic incidents, has placed before our eyes a
series of pictures nearly as vivid as that of Crusoe
himself when starting at the unknown foot mark
upon the sand. You might also be tempted to
read Defoe's ghost story of the appearance of
iMrs. Veal, prefixed to the second edition of the
English translation of " Drelincourt on Death,"
as also the " Life of Defoe," in Sir W. Scott's
prose works (vol. iv. p. 267.), where we have an
outline of the story, and the circumstance that led




NO READING WITHOUT ITS'USE.    77
to its fabrication. The first edition of this translation had but an indifferent sale; Defoe ingeniously contrived to render it popular, by prefixing
the story of a ghost which appeared and recommended the book; the consequence was that
those who had not been persuaded to read Drelincourt by any man living, were yet persuaded by
a recommendation from the dead.  Drelincourt's
admirable work first drew my attention as I read
an allusion to the story of Mrs. Veal, in Boswell
(iii. 194.). I therefore added it to my list of " authors characterised and recommended," in which
I enter any accidental notice of works of interest,
as I shall presently describe.
But I think I hear some censorious reader
say, " WVhy tell us where to find ghost stories?
Proceed at once to things worth knowing." This
is precisely the point to which I wish to show
that subjects the most trivial may be made to
tend. I was going to observe that Dr. Johnson,
like every one else till a comparatively recent
time, was ignorant that this story of Mrs. Veal
was a fiction, and said, " I believe the woman declared on her death-bed it was a lie." So, a fabricated story had a fabricated contradiction. Does
this supply no lesson as to the Credulity of man,
and the Uncertainty of human Testimony-two
topics well worthy of a man of reflection to illus



7 8    COURSE OF ENGLISH READING.
trate? What can be more requisite as a foundation of all learning than a clear knowledge of the
extent to which human testimony has erred; and
how far favour, affection, association, prejudice,
and passions of all kinds render man liable to yield
too ready and too general an assent to partial
evidence? Let this subject be pursued by readers
of a speculative turn; and, even from common
stories and anecdotes they will derive no less profit
than entertainment.  Consider the extraordinary
impositions which have been practised in literature, and the controversies to which they have led
— that of Lauder, for instance, in 1747, who by
an essay in the " Gentleman's Mlagazine," tried
to prove that Milton had borrowed from Latin
authors of modern date. A great many scholars
were actually deceived before he was detected by
Douglas, afterwards Bishop of Salisbury, who
showed that passages which Lauder pretended to
have found in the poems of Massenius and others,
were really taken from Hogg's Latin translation
of Paradise Lost!  Dr. Johnson was so far deceived as to write a preface and postscript to
Lauder's work. An account of this imposition is
found in Nichols' " Literary Anecdotes of the 18th
Century," a work to be read while inclination
lasts, and no longer. This limit should be particularly observed with books of anecdotes or mis



LITERARY FORGERIES.          7 9
cellany, and the multifarious reading which Bliography supplies. It must not be supposed that
mere dipping into a chapter here and there will
convey all the advantages of sound study: only,
after gleaning all which interests at one time, the
rest may be reserved for an occasion of more extended curiosity. I do not like to hear a man
say, " Rasselas, or the Vicar of Wakefield, is a
work of genius, but I have not read it since I was
young."  The second reading of a good book is
often more profitable than the first. The same
truth has many meanings: it has one voice for the
wise — another for the unwise. It pleases the
vacant mind by the knowledge it imparts; it
pleases the full and fertile mind by the force it
gathers from numerous associations, and by the
new ideas it elicits, as also by making mere
shadowy impressions distinct. A good book may
be ever new, so long as our own minds continue
to gather from it new strength to develope, and
new images to combine.
But to return to the topic of human testimony,
we might read the " Confessions" of Ireland, who,
as Malone was speculating on undiscovered MSS.
of Shakespeare, forged "miscellaneous papers and
legal instruments, under the hand and seal of
William Shakspeare;" also "Vortigern," a play,
which he pretended was written by Shakespeare,




s0     COURSE OF ENGLISH READING.
and which was actually performed at Sheridan's
theatre, and only condemned by the double meaning which Kemble's sneer gave the line -
And when this solemn mockery is o'er.
Many men in literary circles were deceived.
Dr. Parr acknowledged " the forgery beat him."
Warton said of a prayer which was also among
the forgeries, though written off-hand by Ireland
when only seventeen years of age, that it surpassed in sublimity any part of our Liturgy!
I must not omit Chatterton, who imposed
on many literary persons by forging poems, and
ancient records and title-deeds, which he pretended were found in St. Mary Redeliffe Church
at Bristol. Horace Walpole, with the help of
Gray and Mason, detected the forgery; but Walpole's letter to Chatterton proved he had once
been deceived. Afterwards, a line of Hudibras was
discovered among this ancient poetry; — still,
considering this deception was practised at the
age of sixteen, and that the poetry is pronounced
by Southey " the finest ever written at so early
an age," Dix's " Life of Chatterton" will be
found a work of lively interest. Dr. Johnson
said, in his peculiarly unsympathetic style, "' It
is wonderful how the young whelp could have
done it."  Coleridge's Monody on the death of
Chatterton evinces a widely different feeling.




LITERARY IMPOSITIONS.         81
Again, George Psalmanazar, born 1679, in the
south of France, pretended to be a heathen native of the island of Formosa, and invented a new
language, which he called the Formosan, and
into which he had the boldness to translate the
"Church Catechism."  This remained long undetected by the learned, while his " History of
Formosa" passed through two editions. His
" Auto-biography" is deserving of credit. Johnson said, "I scarcely ever sought the society of
any one, but of Psalmanazar the most. I used
to find him in an ale-house in the city: latterly
he lived as a very good man, and died a sincere
Christian: -his' Auto-biography' was a penitential confession."
On the same topic of the strength and weakness of the human mind, we may mention the controversies about Homer, "Epistles of Phalaris,"
Ossian, Junius, Chevalier D'Eon, Man with the
Iron Mask, " Voyages of Damberger," Eliza
Canning, Johannah Southcote, Mary Tophts of
Godalming, the Cock-lane Ghost, and Jugglers'
Feats, as related by Eastern travellers. If any
person entertains curiosity in these matters,
"Sketches of Imposture and Credulity," in the
"Family Library," and Sir WValter Scott's "Demonology and Witchcraft," will supply abundant
interest.
G




82     COURSE OF ENGLISH READING.
"But surely this is a strange selection."
Granted. But I do not name these subjects to
the exclusion of others, but principally to show
that youthful taste indulged even in its own
caprices will involuntarily lead to a kind of
knowledge available in the season of maturer
judgment. I would also illustrate the advantage
of always bearing in mind one useful subject,
which every hour of reading and reflection may
contribute to illustrate. Every mind has a host
of wandering thoughts, which unbidden come,
and unregarded go, only because they want —a
ready standard round which to rally.
A subject like that of Abercrombie, " On the
Intellectual Powers and the Investigation of
Truth," would surely be a laudable employment
for the talents of the greatest genius; and would
not this course of reading, childish as it may seem,
supply facts too valuable to lose? How often
have some of these cases of deception been cited
by the avowed enemies of the Gospel! Who can
say that he may not feel himself called upon to
give the same serious attention to the history of
these impostors, as Paley, in his "Evidences of'
Christianity," has given to the subject of fictitious
miracles, and for the same purpose?
Here, my friends, let me remind you that
from " Robinson Crusoe" I have wandered to the




QUESTION OF USE.             83
" Evidences of Revealed Religion;" and though I
did not see the point at which I should arrive, I
felt confident of eventually showing that, with
Curiosity as your guide, your route will afford
you no less profit than interest, whatever be your
starting point.  The ever-recurring questions,
"Where is the use of this?" or "the good of
that?" may well be met with the reply, that
many things are eventually useful, though not
immediately convertible; and that prudent housekeepers say, " Keep a thing three years, and
you'll find a use for it."  But I must be careful
not to give up a commanding position, because it
is convenient to meet a feeble enemy on lower
grounds. Let us, therefore, remember that in a
well-stored mind to which, as Herschel says, " a
thousand questions are continually arising, a
thousand subjects of inquiry presenting themselves, which keep the faculties in constant exercise, and the thoughts perpetually on the wing,
so that lassitude is excluded from life, and that
craving after artificial excitement and dissipation
of mind, which leads so many into frivolous, unworthy, and destructive pursuits, is altogether
eradicated from the bosom;"- in such a mind,
there is a use, indeed: there must therefore be
some good in whatever reading conduces to form
it. This argument, I say, asserting not the
G2




84     COURSE OF ENGLISH READING.
sordid money reckoning of the hireling but the
enlarged.estimation of the Christian, who values
literature as it lessens the temptations of earth,
and slopes the path of heaven-this is the true and
impregnable ground of defence against the sneers
of the friends of so-called utility and expediency.
Still, as we delight in foiling insignificant cavillers, not only on our own grounds but on theirs,
I would ask them, if they would have seen the
use of Newton's pondering over a falling apple;
and yet it raised his thoughts to the laws which
govern the revolution of the planets in their
orbits. Would they not have joined in the
ridicule of swing-swanys, which did not prevent
Robert HIooke from reviving the proposal of the
pendulum as a standard of measure, since so admirably wrought into practice, as Herschel remarks, by the genius and perseverance of Captain
Kater? Would they not have joined in the laugh
at Boyle, in his experiments on the pressure and
elasticity of air, and asked Watt, as I before
mentioned, the use of playing with the kettle,
and yet all can see the good of the steam-engine?
Then think of blowing soap bubbles, by which
the phenomena of colours has been studied; to
say nothing'of where could be the good of playing
with whirligigs, the simple means by which, a
few years since, a society of philosophers were




CULTIVATE LITERATURE.          85
investigating certain principles of optics, as exemplified in the clever toy called the Magic
Disk. A scientific friend (an F. R. S.), a short
time since, intent on geological discovery, sat
down one sultry day, with a hammer, to break
stones by the road-side. A fellow-labourer, employed by the parish, looked on with amazement,
till he saw some fossils selected from the heap,
and then said, " Why, Sir, I suppose they give
you something for them?" " No," said my friend,
" they don't."  "Then, what can be the good of
them?" - This poor fellow was quite as enlightened as many intellectual paupers, who,
when their money is as low as their wit, may
break stones too.
Cultivate literature for its own sake, not for
profit; though, profit may incidentally spring
from it: this most charming of all pursuits is
the most desperate of all professions.  Southey,
Charles Lamb, Rogers, and Campbell, among
others, emphatically warn us that disappointing
and sickening is the toil of those who woo the
Muses rather for their fortune than their charms.
Money is only paid for things in actual demand;
and that genius which is in advance of its age
and writes for future generations must not expect to be paid by this. -" A man would as soon
sit down to a whole ox as a whole Epic now-aG3




86     COURSE OF ENGLISH READING.
days," says Lord Jeffrey; and, to compose not according to the impulse of fancy, but the demands
of the trade, and not what you can write best,
but what will sell best, - the very idea of this
drudgery will paralyse the energies of any writer.
And what a chapter in literary history might be
made on the poverty and persecution of men of
genius: Simon Ockley, author of the " History
of the Saracens," said he was writing the Lives of
others, and could hardly live himself. Cervantes
at times wanted bread; Camoens died in an hospital; Tasso would have thanked us for a candle
to write by, and Ariosto could not have afforded
to help him; Corneille had a present from
Louis XIV. when dying of want; Otway was
starved; Collins, partly from the pressure of
want, ran a howling madman through the aisles
of Chichester Cathedral. Dryden, Johnson, Savage, and Goldsmith have all been in want of a
dinner; poor Sydenham died in a spunging-house,
and it was in sympathy for him that the " Literary Fund " was first instituted, on which, in'an
earlier age, Rymer, Spenser, and Le Sage might
all, from  poverty, have had a claim.  Then
fancy John Milton wasting his sublimity in a
school, Chantrey carrying milk-pails, Stephenson
in a coal mine, and Sir J. Paxton, a gardener's
labourer!




REGISTER PROGRESS.           87
The unknown author of ~" Fleta " has recorded
by its title that that learned law book was written
in the Fleet; but a prison formed the study also
of Buchanan, and of Grotius, besides Boethius,
whose " Consolations" seem as congenial to the
place as poor Dodd's " Prison Thoughts." From
a prison also issued the works of Sir Walter Raleigh, Lydiat, Selden, and Sir TW. Davenant. It
was in a prison that Cervantes wrote "Don
Quixote," that Voltaire wrote his " Henriade," De
Foe his " Robinson Crusoe," and John Bunyan,
the " Pilgrim's Progress."
So far I have supposed that a juvenile taste
has led my reader through a course of study,
which in a note-book, of the kind I shall presently recommend him  to keep, would stand
thus:MEIMORANDUM OF READING.- Read "Robinson Crusoe," which suggested "History of the
Plague," and " Defoe's Life," by Scott, in which
was quoted Defoe's " Preface to Drelincourt,"
concerning which I consulted Nichol's "Literary
Anecdotes." To be read, Nichols, again and
again, at future periods. This specimen of literqry
imposition suggested reading the life of Chatterton;
also Psalmanazar's, Ireland's, and Lauder's forgerics. The credulity of the wisest men was a topic
G4




88     COURSE OF ENGLISH READING.
which made me curious to read " Sketches of
Credulity and Imposture," as containing an outline of all notable instances, to which I find so
many allusions; and also Scott's " Demonology,"
which I was told gave a common-sense explanation of supernatural appearances. Query. —Was
Dr. Johnson superstitious? Must read more of
Boswell.
MEMORANDUM  OF KNOWLEDGE. -- Learned
the extent to which fiction may resemble truth
-the fallibility of human judgment- that men
of the greatest genius are not above the prejudices of their day. The nature of evidence —the
many causes which hinder the investigation of
truth. To read about fallacies, human understanding, laws of evidence, blunders and pretensions of critics, with a view to illustrate these
topics; to attend to the historical accounts of all
popular deceptions, criminal trials, and the like.
These memoranda are recommended as Aids to
Reflection; also, to teach how to digest all the
knowledge we acquire. "Heaping up information," says the author of "Woman's Mission,"
"however valuable of itself, requires the principle of combination to make it useful. Stones
and bricks are valuable things, very valuable;




MEMORANDA OF READING.          89
but they are not beautiful or useful till the hand
of the architect has given them a form, and the
cement of the bricklayer has knit them together."
Let us now take, from the list assigned to the
first class of readers, a second book, that we may
see how the same method and principle of combining and digesting applies to other amusing
subjects. Consider the "Travels" of Captain
B3asil Hall. His third series gives a brief but
clear outline of the History of India, from the
year 1497, in which the Portuguese discovered
the route by the Cape; the formation of the East
India Company; war with the French; the
Black Hole of Calcutta; Lord Clive; Hyder
Ali; Warren Hastings; an interesting account
of the system on which British India is governed;
Tippoo Saib; Cornwallis; Wellesley; writers and
cadets; a most interesting account of Bombay
and the wonders of Elephanta (Series ii. vol. iii.),
and Ceylon; the stupendous labour of making
Candelay Lake; the voluntary tortures of the
superstitious Sunnyasses; how widow burning
was abolished; the immense tanks; the "big
Indian" Shrivanabalagol, a statue seventy feet
high, cut out of a hill of granite; descriptions
of canoes, and inventions, strange habits, and
customs of a variety of nations. Basil Hall's
"Travels" in America are written in the saime




90     COURSE OF ENGLISH READING.
style, equally combining amusement with instruction. After reading these interesting volumes,
and following the course which I should suppose
your inclination would suggest, your note-book
would bear, as I judge from my own, some such
entry as the following: —
MEMORANDUM  OF READING.- Read Basil
Hall's "Travels;" mention of Warren Hastings;
suggested to read a few  pages of Miller's
" George III.," about the impeachment of Hastings; also Macaulay's " Clive," " W. Hastings,"
which suggested life of Sheridan in Biographical
Dictionary. Burke's " Speeches," recommended
on the same subject, and Nabob of Arcott -read
both.  To see more of the meaning of "Charta"
and " Company," H. W. promised me that five
minutes' reading in my Cyclopedia would inform
me; also that I might find the same by the
index to Blackstone's "Commentaries;" found
much more in Blackstone; also "India" in
Cyclopedia, and had a general view of the whole
subject. Must observe Daniell's Indian drawings
as very near reality.  H. W. says the Museum
at the India House, in Leadenhall Street, and the
Naval and Military Museum, near Whitehall,
may be visited with advantage. Rev. W. Ward's
book on the "Literature and Customs of the
Hindoos," recommended; also Sir W. Jones's




MEMORANDUM OF KNOWLEDGE.    91
"Letters" — picked out a great deal from both;
also from Robertson's "Ancient India," showing
what was known to the ancients about India, and
about Phoenicians: advised to read Ezekiel,
c. xxviii.; very curious- about ancient commerce and navigation —read of Tarshish, Ophir,
Elath, and Eziongeber, Palmyra, Arabians, Genoese, and Venetians.
MEMORANDUM OF KNOWLEDGE. -Feel more
confidence, as well as curiosity, about India. Can
converse with and draw out my Indian friends to
advantage. Know more about the ingenuity and
power of man. Must compare pyramids, railways,
and Indian tanks. Did not know there was so
much curious knowledge in O. T. Quote II. Maccabees, ii. 23. Excellent on the use of an abridgement. Begin to observe the natural productions,
manners, and customs of the Book of Job. Read
some of the "Scripture Herbalist" about the
plants and trees; also looked into " Natural
History of the Bible:" surprised at finding so
many curious things which never struck me before. Herschel's proof (Nat. Phil. p. 61.) of the
insignificance of the labour which raised the
great pyramid, compared with the weekly expense
of steam power in our foundries.




92     COURSE OF ENGLISH READING.
I should now consider that I had given my
class of readers their full share of attention, were
it not that, profiting by the example of Moliere,
who used to judge of the probable success of his
comedies by the degree they excited the risible
faculties of his old housekeeper, I read these
pages to a young friend, and was told, " that it is
not so easy to find the answers to the various
questions which we should like to ask in reading
travels; for too many authors assume that what
is familiar to themselves is familiar to their
readers."
This remark leads me to speak of the use of
Cyclopedias, Gazetteers, Biographical Dictionaries, and other books of reference.
We just mentioned India; East India Company; Clive; Hastings; Cornwallis; Wellesley;
Writers; Cadets. On each of these heads you
may consult the " Penny Cyclopaedia," which excels all others in the variety of its subjects. You
can read each article, more or less attentively,
according to the degree of interest which casual
notices of those topics in books or conversation
have excited. When you have read them all,
cast your eye again over the article on India, and
you will feel that the several parts of your newlyacquired knowledge have a propensity to " fall
in," as the drill sergeants say, and find their




READERS ENCOURAGED.            93
proper places in the main line which this sketch
of Indian history has marked out. And probably
allusions to Tippoo Saib, Hyder All, Brahmins,
Buddhism, Caste, and other subjects, will lead
you to read the separate articles upon these topics
also; and, I will venture to promise you will rise
from your studies with feelings of considerable
satisfaction. Having once mustered courage to
plunge into the ocean of learning, if you cannot
swim at first, you will acquire a sense of your
own buoyancy, and more easily resolve to try
again. When the splashing and floundering is
over for the first time, you will feel some confidence in society, and listen to catch a hint from
the greater advancements of others. Many a boy
would never have learned to swim, had it not been
for some companions who tempted him just to try
one dip. Many a man would have gone through
a whole life subject to that creeping sense of inferiority, which is the every-day punishment of
ignorance, had not some literary companions led
him to take the first step, which carried him so
much further than he expected, that he was emboldened to try a second, and at length to join
the busy throng, in which powers unknown,
because untried, made him first and foremost.
WVith this beginning in Indian history, take
another Cyclopadia, the " Britannica," or " Me



94     COURSE OF ENGLISH READING.
tropolitana," and look out for the same articles.
Then look for India in a Gazetteer, and the
names of men in a Biographical Dictionary: to
these articles are usually added the names of
authors from whom more information may be
derived. By this method you may soon make an
extensive collection of facts. I say of facts, for
sound, mature, well-digested knowledge is not the
growth of a day: facts to the mind are like food
to the body; digestion and strength depend on
the constitution, mental or physical.  After
reading long histories, or lives of distinguished
characters, most young readers find that they rise
with a knowledge' more confused than accurate,
and that even certain plain and obvious questions,
such as the age at which certain men attained
celebrity; at what times particular changes happened; what circumstances led to certain events,
and other things of interest, escape observation,
from the many pages over which the required
information is interspersed. These the compendious articles of a Cyclopaedia, or Biographical
Dictionary, are peculiarly suited to supply;
before commencing a biography in two or three
volumes, read a short outline; this prevents your
thoughts from wandering and enables you to keep
the thread; and for this purpose outlines are
always useful. Also, keep books of reference




REV1EWS AND MAGAZINES.          95
at hand, and turn at once to the name of any
unknown character introduced.
Again, Magazines and Reviews often contain
concise accounts of campaigns, political questions,
and the present policy and interests of different
nations. Nor must we forget, that, with the exception of Novels, Magazines are now nearly the
only channel by which an author can publish his
opinions with the least prospect of remuneration;
so, a compendium of facts, and series of reflections, which would once have made a plausible
appearance in two volumes octavo, are now cut
down to the length of a single essay in the
"Edinburgh," or " Quarterly," and gain no little
vigour from the pruning. The chief value of the
Magazines is, that they give us the benefit of
early information. Bacon says, that "Reading
makes the full min, and Conversation the ready
man; " and Johnson says of Conversation, that it
supplies only scraps, and that we must read books
to learn a whole subject; then, Bacon goes on to
say, that " Writing makes the exact man." The
digesting and arrangement of knowledge are two
points which should never be lost sight of: the
use of a short compendium will tend to that
clear view and that habit of exactness which
writing more fully promotes.
Besides cyclopaedias, gazetteers, biographical




96     COURSE OF ENGLISH READING.
dictionaries, and magazines, there are many other
works like the magazines furnished with indices,
and readily available as books of reference.  I
have already mentioned Blackstone's " Commentaries," which, though I cannot speak of it as a
work of general interest to the young, contains, as
a glance at its index will show, many things to
solve questions which arise in the study of history.
Again, biographies are good books of reference:
about the Reformation, the lives of Luther, Knox,
Calvin; about the Methodists, Southey's"' Life
of Wesley;" about the slavery question, "The
Life of Wilberforce;" about military matters, the
lives of Marlborough, Sir T. Picton, Wellington,
Napoleon; about naval affairs, Rodney, Earl St.
Vincent, Nelson, Lord Exmouth, - severally
contain much information, to which an index or
table of'contents will direct. You have only to
inquire, what celebrated men are connected or
cotemporary with the matter in question, and
you will generally find that their biographies
contain their opinions, and enough of the history
of their times, to make their opinions intelligible. Of all biographies none is so valuable for
a book of reference as Boswell's " Life of Johnson."  During the middle of the last century,
nearly every conspicuous character, or memorable
incident of that and of many preceding ages, passed
~"""'"~ ~^~^'~' ~"~''  "'~"J''~" tD  D




BOOKS OF REFERENCE.           97
successively in review before the severe judgment
of him, who was confessedly one of the wisest of
men, and his opinion has been faithfully recorded
by a biographer, of whom a writer in the " Quarterly" has truly said, "It is scarcely more practicable to find another Boswell than another
Johnson."
One of my young friends again asks, "Does
all my learning go for nothing? I have- read
many books, but know none accurately; still I
feel a degree of confidence when their contents
are the subjects of conversation."  Your time
cannot have been entirely thrown away; this confidence is worth something; you have gained at
least the habit of reading: if you stop where you
are, knowledge without accuracy is like an estate
encumbered with debt and subject to deductions.
But it is fair to hope, on striking a balance, something will remain; or, even if bankrupt quite, it
is well to have, as they say in the mercantile
world, a good connection and habits of business;
in other words, to have a general acquaintance
with authors, and all the stores they severally
supply, and also to have habits of application to
begin again with greater advantage. So, I would
console my many young friends who are in this
predicament with the assurance, that they have
probably made a useful survey for future operaH




Q8      COURSE OF ENGLISH READING.
tions, and worn down so many rough edges, that,
in retracing their former steps, they will have
more time to look out for objects of interest, and
fewer obstacles to daunt their energies.
I shall now proceed to treat separately of all
the principal divisions of knowledge, such as History, Poetry, Philosophy, Theology, and the Fine
Arts. Complete essays on these comprehensive
subjects will not of course be expected from one
who addresses himself to the young and inexperienced, and whose chief ambition is to be useful. The maxim of the poet is only fair: —
"In every work regard the writer's end,
Since none can compass more than they intend."




PART II.
CHAP. L
ON THE STUDY OF MODERN HISTORY.
THE first glance at the following pages might
lead my readers to think I intended to imitate
Dufresnoy, who, after laying down a course of
historical study, mildly added, " the time required is ten years." But I stipulate for no
length of labour; but only that you shall employ
your usual hours of reading, few or many, with the.method here proposed, and on such subjects as
suit the peculiar bent of your inclination. Thus
in one year you may achieve more than the
majority of your neighbours will achieve in ten;
so many are those who read without any system
or definite object in view, but carry on a desultory campaign like that of the Greeks around
Troy, who, as Thucydides says, were foraging
when they ought to have been fighting, or there
would have been no ten years' siege. The following chapters contain many subjects, and each
subject contains many divisions, that every reader
n 2




100    COURSE OF ENGLISH READING.
may select according to his taste. Works are
recommended to suit every capacity, requiring
different degrees of industry and talent: also, the
works are so chosen and so arranged, that every
hour expended shall bring its hour's worth. " The
many-aproned sons of mechanical life," of whom
Burns speaks, may spend their Saturday's evening according to these directions, and learn something complete, with a beginning, middle, and
end, in full assurance that, when they have more
leisure time, they may go on adding and enlarging, without pulling any of their work to pieces.
The University Student will find standard works,
and a course of reading, sanctioned by the first
judges of literary labour: in twelve hours a week,
stolen from his Ethics or Differential Calculus,
the Collegian may attain a considerable'accession
of that kind of knowledge which will save him
from the reproach of being deep in the past while
ignorant of the present, and of that knowledge
which is indispensable for advancement in public
life.
I have not the slightest fear that any student
will abandon this course -of readiiig when once he
has fairly tried it. The first step is all I ask.
A clergyman of my acquaintance chanced some
years since to take up " Tom Telescope," a little
book on Astronomy: from this, as from a centre,




STUDY OF HISTORY.          101
the rays of his curiosity shot forth on all sides:
and he is now a man of great scientific attainments.
One of my most intimate friends was induced
to study Giecian history on the principle here
recommended, of beginning with an outline and
filling in by degrees. Encouraged by his unexpected progress, he has since, by the same
method, attained a considerable knowledge of
numerous subjects.
But now for the study of history: and first let
us suppose you decide on a branch of modern
history, and would begin with
THE HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN.- Your
first step would be to read some History of England through. A man of disciplined mind, long
used to laborious application, should read Hume,
Smollett, Adolphus and Hughes's Continuation,
and Dr. Croly's George IV. "And how long
would he be in gaining a satisfactory knowledge,
such as Niebuhr possessed of Gibbon, when he
defied a friend to puzzle him from the index?"
The successful candidates for high university
honours, achieve nearly as great a work as " getting up" Hume and Smollett in the last month
preceding their examination. And since many
pages in each of those volumes need not be very
accurately remembered by the unprofessional
H3




102    COURSE OF ENGLISH READING.
reader, all of the above works would be satisfactorily perused in one month's real chamber study.
"Indeed!" some young lady will exclaim, "why,
a single volume employed me more than that space
of time." I can easily believe it, and will prescribe for your case next.
The outline History of England by the C. K.
Society, in 140 clear, lively, duodecimo pages, is
suited for every man, woman, and child.* Even
the hard-headed scholar will find this outline useful
to give a comprehensive view of the whole. Only,
let him not stop here. Parr's History of England
will be found most useful in tracing the gradual
progress of the country in wealth and civilization.
Keightley's History, in 2 vols. duodecimo, or Goldsmith's, may be read next. It will be easier still, to
read the little History again as far as Henry VII.,
and the rest in Keightley: next, read in Hume
any reign, war, or negotiation, which excites your
curiosity; and thus strengthen the stem of your
Historical Tree as much as you please. That you
may have the satisfaction of tracing its gradual
growth, make a memorandum on the simple drawing by which this tree is represented, just as the
works of Rapin, Lingard, and other narrators of
the same events are wholly, or partially, read to
combat or corroborate the views of Hume.
* Gleig's Series is better still.




CHOOSING SUBJECTS.          103
So far then you have been instructed how to
gain a more or less substantial outline of English
history. But, to be full and copious on every
point - to strengthen every link - and to master
every topic of so long a line, is not much more
practicable than to man the wall of China. Like
a good general,'be content to concentrate your
forces on one point at a time. The intermediate
parts, when left by themselves, will prove less
formidable than they appear, and will readily give
way as you become a more practised assailant.
So far, you have reconnoitred the general face of
the country: tne next thing is to select one portion
jfor a more searching and minute examination.
The leading principles of this selection are,
First, to be guided by your own taste and
curiosity. Sail with the current of your nature, if
you would traverse the wide ocean of truth.
Secondly, to consult your own necessities, and
read whatever will be useful in business or insure
confidence in society. Read what others read.
Conversation is often more improving than books;
so, read to profit by conversation. To profit by
a visit to Paris, you —must learn French. To
profit by a visit to London, or by joinihg-any
particular society, whether of men of business,
men of science, or men of literature, you must
study the thoughts and topics of each society.
H4




104    COURSE OF ENGLISH READING.
You will otherwise feel as much out of your
element as a sheriff's chaplain when dining with
the judges on circuit.
Thirdly, to read subjects which afford most
matter for reflection. To be wise is the surest
way to seem wise. Read those subjects which
involve most principles. Principles are the most
handy, convertible, portable, and prolific of all
species of literary property; therefore,
Fourthly, read one good comprehensive account
of a revolution, protracted war, or other everrecurring phenomenon of human society. Thus,
gain so intimate a knowledge of one that you
may anticipate the chief characteristics of all.
This was the secret of Edmund Burke's attainments. His letter to Lord Charlemont, at the
commencement of the French Revolution, is considered to evince almost the power of prophecy.
Niebuhr also, deep in principles, had studied
Roman history till he ventured to assert, after a
lapse of about 2000 years, an opinion of the early
constitution of Rome in direct contradiction to
classical authorities. By the recovery of some lost
books of Cicero "De Republic7A-il conc-usio-n
was proved correct. One of my friends was assured by Niebuhr, that before he had read the
summary of a lost decade of Livy, he wrote down
an outline of what that decade must contain.




STUDY OF HISTORY.          105
Another illustration of how far a little good intellectual coin may be made to go, is afforded by
Gibbon, chap. xxxi., in which he conjectures the
history of the unrecorded years between the with-,
drawing of the Romans from Britain and the descent of the Saxons.
These are the leading principles on which you
should select "a strong point" in history; and
on which I have selected, by way of example
and illustration, the following portions: —
1st, The early history till about the time of the
Conquest.
2dly, The era of the Middle Ages, including
the feudal system, chivalry, and the crusades.
3dly, The beginning of modern history, marked
by the art of printing, the use of gunpowder and
the compass, the discovery of America, and the
development of the colonial system.
4thly, The civil wars.
5thly, The Revolution of 1688.
6thly, From the accession of George III. to
the present time.
I will now consider these eras separately, and
pTistnrt wuuurtrf?;drclgp u eah -hau d,
I. ON EARLY  ENGLISH  HISTORY.- This
portion will afford amusement to one fond of
antiquities. It would constitute a good preparation
for any university student going to the bar; still




106    COURSE OF ENGLISH READING.
it is a portion which is only to be recommended
to students of mature understanding.
Now, reader, what is your object? If you
only wish to thicken and strengthen the lower
part of your Historical Tree by other outlines of
early history to run parallel with those already
laid down, read a short sketch in Tytler's " Universal History," vol. iv. "Family Library:" also
"The Romans in Britain," and "The AngloSaxons," forming one volume of the " Family
Library: " to which the more voluminous reader
may either add or prefer Turner's " History of
the Anglo-Saxons," or, which is the shortest of
all, Hume's "Appendix on the Anglo-Saxon
Government," and Kemble's "Anglo-Saxons."
Besides, or, instead of all these, read Mackintosh's " History of England," vol. i. The very
profound inquirer may also refer to the autborities  quoted  in  the foot-notes.  Chalmer's
" Caledonia," treating of the Roman period, is
recommended in Professor Smyth's lectures,lectures well worthy the attention of every
reader of modern history. On the Roman period
read also Tacitus's'" Agricola;" IVlurphy's translation was recommended by Edmund Burke, as
one of the best in our language. There are
also translations of Caesar and Suetonius, which
should be consulted. Dr. Smyth remarks that




ENGLISH HISTORY.           107
Gibbon, c. xxxi., supplies by ingenious conjecture the history of the years between 400 and
449.  On the Druids, read  the  account in
" Cesar;" also a concise history in Southey's
"Book of the Church."  The history which
treats of them most fully is Henry's "Britain,"
b. i. c. 4., where we have their history, manners,
learning, and religion. i'or the progress of religion in those early times, read Southey, Mosheim, Milner; a few pages in each, to which the
dates will be a clue.  The reasons for believing
St. Paul came to Britain, and the first promulgation of the Gospel, is given in " Peranzabuloi,'"
an interesting account of an ancient church found
buried in the sand on the coast of Cornwall.
Tytler recommends Carte's " History," vol. i. b.
iv. ~ 18., as containing an admirable account of
Alfred the Great. The " Encyclopaedia Britannica," " Metropolitana," Rees's and the "Penny
Cyclopaedia " (which I shall quote as " the Cyclopaodias ") also contain comprehensive articles on
Anglo-Saxons, Alfred, Bede, Druids.  Those
who have access to Camden's "Britannia," to
which many of the authors already recommended
are greatly indebted, may satisfy the most eager
curiosity. Camden, in 1582, travelled through
the eastern and northern counties of England to
survey the country and arrange a correspondence




108    COURSE OF ENGLISH READING.
for the supply of further information. His "Remains" (of a greater work on Britain), was published 1605. Camden's reign of Elizabeth is recommended by Hume, as one of the best compositions of any  English  historian.   Leland's
" Itinerary" is also recommended to the curious.
Camden made great use of it. In the reign of
Henry VII. Leland was empowered by a commission under the Great Seal to search for objects
of antiquity in the archives and libraries of all
cathedrals, abbeys, priories, &c., and spent six
years in collecting materials for the " Archaeology
of England and Wales."
I limit my recommendations as much as possible to books which may be easily procured.
Many other eligible works I omit; because, with
these directions, any reader may ascertain the
value of nearly every work within his reach.
Almost all of the above works quote authorities,
and contain incidental remarks on the sources
from which more extensive information may be
easily derived.
To those who have a real love of learning let
me observe, that Ingulphus, secretary to William I., wrote the " History of the Monastery of
Croyland," with many particulars of the English
kings from 664 to 1091. William of Malmesbury
wrote most laudably, as he said, "not to show




ENGLISH HISTORY.           109
his learning, but to bring to light things covered
with the rubbish of antiquity," a history of Old
England from 449 to 1126; also a Church History and Life of St. Aldhelm. The venerable
Bede, early in the eighth century, wrote an
Ecclesiastical History by aid of correspondence,
and that before the penny postage, with all the
monasteries in the heptarchy! All these works
have been under the hand of the compiler and
the spoiler; that is, as Bacon would say, the
moths have been at them: but away with these
dilutions and drink at the fountain.
II. THE MIDDLE AGES. - This comprehends
the Feudal System, Chivalry, and the Crusades.
This era may be also profitably selected by
university students and men of liberal education.
A knowledge of the feudal system is of the first
importance. Chivalry and the crusades must be
examined more particularly in respect of their
causes and effects on civilisation.
On the Feudal System, read a chapter in Blackstone's " Commentaries," vol. i.; also Tytler, b. vi.
c. 2.; and Hume's second " Appendix." The scholar
should read also Roundell Palmer's " Prize Essay
on the Clientship of the Romans."  Dr. Smyth
strongly recommends the account in Stewart's
"View of Society." Robertson's Introduction to
"Charles V." is very valuable. Attend particu



110    COURSE OF ENGLISH READING.
larly to the proofs and illustrations at the end.
Bacon's " Henry VII." Ican strongly recommend;
also part of Montesquieu. My readers must not
take fright at seeing so many books on the same
subject. Most of my references are only to a few
pages out of several volumes, and these easily
found by an index or summary. Learn the facts
and arguments of one treatise thoroughly during
hours of study, and the rest will be easy enough
for "hours of idleness."  No light reading rivets
attention so much as any dissertation on those
topics about which study has excited a spirit of
inquiry.
On Chivalry, as well as the feudal system and
the crusades, Hallam's " Middle Ages " is of the first
authority. Mill's " History of Chivalry" is much
admired. The very popular author, Mr. James,
has written the History of Chivalry, as also the
lives of Richard I. and the Black Prince, from
which much information may be derived. He
has also written on Chivalry and the Crusades.
These works, as well as Horace Smith's " Tales of
the Early Ages," combine amusement with instruction. On Chivalry read also Gibbon, ch. lviii. Of
Gibbon let me say, once for all, that as a man he
is guilty of having turned aside from the line ot
his history to shake that faith which, with all his
scepticism as to its divine original, he would have




ENGLISH HISTORY.            111
been the last to deny to be the richest earthly blessing. But as a historian, Gibbon is regarded with
admiration by all learned men. Even Niebuhr
praised the depth of his research, and the clearness ofthis views. Blackstone speaks with great
respect for his learning.  The accuracy of his
facts and the sagacity of his conclusions, where
his infidel prejudices are not concerned, are indisputable.
Of the Crusades, a good short account is given by
Tytler's " Universal History," book vi. c. 9. Read
also the Introduction to Robertson's " Charles V.,"
and search his notes and illustrations, for they
give a ready clue to the best sources of all matters relating to the middle ages. Lastly, read
the articles in the Cyclopaedias, upon the Feudal
System, Chivalry, and the Crusades; and consult, generally, Brande's "Dictionary of Science,
Literature, and Art."
IIL THE PERIOD OF THE REFORMATION,
and the commencement of modern history.
On the Reformation in England read Southey's
"Book of the Church."  Those who have little
time may read the small volume on the Reformation inthe "Family Library." Consult one or more
of the Cyclopsedias. Dr. Smyth's " Lecture" is
very useful. Lives of the Reformers will make
a profitable variety. Select also the appropriate




112    COURSE OF ENGLISH READING.
parts of Short's " Church History," Milner, and
Mosheim. The labour will be less than you would
suppose: an accurate knowledge of the narrative
of one virtually exhausts the difficulties of all.
While these authors give a true Protestant acount,
Lingard's " History of England" will show what
can be said by a Roman Catholic, and in Hume's
" History" you see the subject treated by a man
who cared for neither party. Read also Sir J.
Mackintosh's " Life of Sir Thomas Moore." Bur'
net's " History of the Reformation in England"
is allowed to be a very full and authentic account.
It was written in 1679, at the times described by
Sir Walter Scott in " Peveril of the Peak." For
the Reformation in Scotland, compare Robertson's
and Scott's " Scotland," Dr. Smyth strongly recommends Dr. M'Crie's work. Add the life of
Knox, and selections from Fox's "Martyrs."
On the Times of Henry VIII., and indeed on
every other period, consult Miss Strickland's
"- Queens," also " The Pictorial History of England," especially for a view of the state of society.
Think of the times when more than 70,000 criminals were executed in a single reign. In these
days, says Fuller, we read, " the common sort
of people were not much counted of, but sturdy
knaves were hung up apace."
On the Discovery of America, the most easy




ENGLISH HISTORY.           113
and entertaining reading will be Robertson's
A' America," and the "Life of Columbus," by
Washington Irving.
Hieeren's " Colonial System and Modern History," is chiefly valuable to more profound readers.
Read also Sir J. Mackintosh's "Life of Sir T.
M'ore," and the same subject in Lord Campbell's
~' Chancellors." The Lives of More, Wolsey, and
Bacon, are truly interesting.
Another portion of English History for extensive reading, is
IV. THE PERIOD OF THE CIVIL WARS.
Begin with Hume's," Charles I. and the Commonwealtb." Dr. Smyth's " Lecture on the Civil
Wars" will draw attention to the leading points,
and direct your reading. Then, the practised
student will take Clarendon's "Rebellion." Sir
WV,. Scott recommended it to his son as a book
replete with wisdom, in a style somewhat prolix,
but usually nervous and energetic. For many
readers it is too long; but since its author combined a power of striking portraiture, and an intimate knowledge of the human heart, with deep
political wisdom, and since he stood in a position
which gave a general view both of grand movements and secret springs of action, the work of
this stanch friend of Church and State is one
which no man of literary taste must long delay
-I




114    COURSE OF ENGLISH READING.
to read. Harris's " Lives of Charles I. and Cromwell" will give the views of a Dissenter and a
Republican.  See also Forster's "Lives of the
Statesmen of the Commonwealth." The notes
to these Lives show great research, and are
longer than the text.  Carlyle's "Letters of'
Cromwell," is a book which, in Carlyle's own.
very able though affected style, is designed to
show that Cromwell was rather a self-deceiver
than a hypocrite, and not the unqualified reprobate he is too often represented.  Godwin,
in his " Times of Charles I. and the Republic,"
follows on the same side. Neal's " History of
the Puritans" is reckoned good, and as fair as
could be expected from one of their own party.
But Milton on the popular, as Clarendon on
the royalist side, is the great cotemporary authority.  The utmost allowance must be made
for the partiality of Clarendon and the strong
prejudices of Milton.  Milton's Eiconoclastes,
"the Breaker of the Image," appeared by order
of Council in answer to Eicon Basilike, "the
IKing's Image," a book written just after the execution and in the king's name, but in reality by
the pen of Dr. Gauden, Bishop of Exeter, at the
command of Charles II. on the Continent, in order to keep up the spirits of his friends in England. Eiconoclastes is the best of all Milton's




ENGLISH HISTORY.            115
prose works.  It has more inspiration (to use
a figure of Burke) than the Sibyl of Carlyle,
without half the contortions. The curiosity. to
read the king's book was so general that 48,000
copies were sold; and that in England alone, in an
ge when about 1000 copies of Shakespeare had
3erved for forty-one years, and 3000 copies of?aradise Lost were thought an unprecedented sale
For the first eleven years. Mr. Macaulay regrets
that Mlilton's prose works are so little read, and
says they deserve the attention of every man who
would become acquainted with the full power of
the English language. "They abound with passages superior to the finest declamations of Burke
— a perfect field of cloth of gold. The style is
stiff with gorgeous embroidery." The first volume
of Macaulay's "History of England" gives a
clear and masterly summing up of all that could
be said against the king. This, with Miss Strickland's "Life of Henrietta Maria," will interest
even the dullest reader. The deep reader has
only to follow out Macaulay's authorities.  Burnet's " Own Times" is certainly quite what Dr.
Johnson termed it -most entertaining chit-chat
of a man who went everywhere, and talked to
every one. The first part of Burnet, containing
the result of his personal observation, is the most
entertaining. " Hudibras," with Gray's " Notes,"
I 2




116    COURSE OF ENGLISH READING.
and Dryden's " Absalom and Achitophel," may
be read in connection; as also Sir W. Scott's:
"Woodstock." Miss Aikin's " Charles I." is very
ably written.  Short's " History," as well as
Southey's " Book," will show the state of the
Church. Read the " Memorials of Whitelock,''
a lawyer whose opinion was taken about shipmoney, who served in the parliamentary army,
and was appointed one of the council of state.
Also "Memoirs of Holles," who was a playfellow of Charles 1. in his childhood, head of the
Presbyterian party, lieutenant of the parliamentary forces, and raised to the peerage by
Charles II. The " Memoirs of Ludlow," another leader of the Republicans, are full of interest; as also are those of Hutchinson.  The
" Life of Monk" most read is that by Dr. Gumble,
his chaplain, who once served on the republican,
but afterwards wrote on the royal side. Dr. Smyth
recommends Guizot's "Times of Charles I."
The "Diary" of Samuel Pepys, Secretary to
the Admiralty in the reigns of Charles II. and
James II., extending over the years of the Restoration, the plague of London, and the fire of
London, are invaluable illustrations of the manners of the 17th century.
V. THE REVOLUTION OF 1688.
Dr. Smyth's twentieth " Lecture," vol. ii., will




THE REVOLUTION.            117
serve as a guide, marking an outline and quickening observation.  When Keightley's " History"
has given an accurate knowledge of the course of
events, Ward's "Essay" will tell you all that
can be urged in support of every theory: the
opinions of Blackstone, Mackintosh, Hallam, and
Russell are concisely stated and considered.
Burke's opinion will be found in his " Letters on
the French Revolution." Burnet's " Own Times"
is in favour of William, to whom he was chaplain. The "Diary of the Years 1687, 1688,
1689, and 1690," by Clarendon, son of the Chancellor, is in favour of James II.  Sir D. Dalrymple, much respected by Dr. Johnson and his
circle, published "Annals of Scotland to the
Accession of the Stuarts," recommended by Dr.
Smyth, as also are the " Memoirs of Sir J.
Reresby."  Hallam's "Constitutional History"
should be consulted; also the " Stuart Papers,"
and memoirs and letters of all contemporaries.
The " Memoirs of Eyelyn," who held office in the
reign of James II., are very curious. Belsham,
Tindal, and Ralph, who is much recommended
for detail, and also Somerville, have written the
general history of the days of the Revolution.
For more directions, read Smyth's twenty-second
" Lecture" on William  III.  Above all, read
T. B. Macaulay's " History from James II."
i 3




118    COURSE OF ENGLISH READING.
Macaulay's History is a work of genius: vivid,
stirring, and graphic. It surpasses all other histories in this; that Mr. Macaulay asked himself,
apparently, of the bare skeletons which fill other
histories, the question of the prophet —" Can
these bones live?" And in his hands live, indeed,
they do, clothed with the distinctive form and
quickened with the energies of real life. His imputed faults are, to most readers, virtues. -"' He
writes like an advocate:" therefore with all the
force and liveliness of a lucid and brilliant address, imparting the intensity he feels. —" He
writes like a novelist:" therefore he does not
leave the most amusing topics out; actually remembering that where he ceases to interest, fle
will cease to be read.  ks to " partial selection"
or " misrepresentation of facts," the answer in
the "Edinburgh" should be read as well as the
accusation in the " Quarterly." All good Churchmen are advised to read Chancellor Harrington's
"Reply to certain Passages on the Church."
VI. FROM THE ACCESSION OF GEORGE III.,
IN 1760, TO THE PRESENT TIME.
Begin by reading this part of history in Goldsmith; then take Miller's " George III.," characterised in the first chapter. Select according to
your own curiosity. The account of each opening
of parliament, and the exact state of parties, for




ENGLISH HISTORY.           119
instance, may be useful to some, though most interesting to the determined talker of politics. The
contents of each paragraph are given in Roman
characters, so that you may readily " read and
skip," a practice which I shall discuss presently.
Since Miller contains little else than a continued
epitome of the newspapers, it may be read with
the same indulgence as a newspaper. The " Lives
of George IV." and "William IV." have been
published on the same principle by the same publisher. Bind the three volumes together, with a
flexible back, mark the date of the events of each
page on the top, and you will thus have a most
ready and valuable book of reference, with abstracts of public speeches and documents, besides
state trials and matters of deep curiosity. -The
other continuous histories of George III. are,
Belsham's, to the year 1793, and Adolphus's.
Mr. Hughes's " Continuation" is greatly to be
recommended.  The "Life of George IV.,"' by
Dr. Croly, may be read as a novel. Lord Londonderry's is a brief and most interesting account
of the war in the Peninsula.  The "Annual
Register" is a very valuable series of records. It
has employed the pens of very able men: Edmund
Burke wrote the historical parts for thirty years,
beginning in 1758; and for years after it was
written, under his direction, by Ireland. The
I 4




120    COURSE OF ENGLISH READING.
"Gentleman's Magazine" is a work of equal
authority. It afforded Dr. Johnson his chief employment and support in 1738 and many following
years. The " Annual Biography," as well as the
"Edinburgh Review," "Quarterly Review," and
"Blackwood," will most pleasantly and profitably
supply and strengthen many a link in your chain
of reading. It were scarcely too much to say,
that if we make good use of the cyclopeadias and
periodicals above mentioned, we shall not require
many other modern publications.
From Lord Brougham's " Statesmen" we may
gain a great accession to our knowledge of later
times, of which we will make three sub-divisions.
1. From  the accession of George III. to the
French Revolution.
In this period fill up your outline with the
" Annual Register" and "Gentleman's Magazine," and then read the " Life of Burke;" that
by Prior may serve, but it is not very good.
Read Dr. Johnson's "Taxation no Tyranny;"
also his "Parliamentary Speeches;" positively
his, for he did not report but composed them, as
you may see in a few most amusing pages in
Hawkins' "Life," pp. 122-129., quoted in
Croker's Boswell, i. 169-172. Read the "Life
of Washington "-one of the shortest is that in
the " Family Library;" also the lives of Chatham,




ENGLISH HISTORY.           121
Pitt, Fox, and Franklin.  I need not always
specify which biography is considered best. Biographical dictionaries and cyclopaedias often contain useful, though concise accounts. Do not be
dismayed because you see works in four or five
octavos each on your friends' tables.  Choose
books which you feel that you can remember,
not those which others appear to read. Junius's
" Letters "' are so often quoted, that you should
know something of them.  The authorship is
discussed in Brougham's "Characters," vol. i.,
and in Macaulay's Essay on " Warren Hastings,"
as well as in " Sketches of Credulity and Imposture." A late biographer of Lord Lyttelton
makes as strong a claim of authorship for his
Lordship as was ever made for Sir P. Francis;
and Mr. Smith, the Editor of the " Grenville
Papers," has prefixed to them a long dissertation
on the claims of Earl Temple to this equivocal
honour.-The capture of Andre by the Americans, and his trial and execution, are often mentioned.
Original letters of the Kings of England have
been published by Sir H. Ellis, also by J. O.
Halliwell.
2. On the French Revolution and the revolutionary war.
When familiar with the outline  from  the




122    COURSE OF ENGLISH READING.
general histories, read the two first volumes
of " Scott's Napoleon," which shows the long
train of causes; then, if the other volumes are
too long, read Napoleon's Life, 2 vols., "Family
Library." Segur's Russian Campaign is as interesting as any novel. Proceed with the Lives of
Burke, Sheridan, and Wilberforce; and the Life
of Erskine, in the " Lives of Eminent Lawyers,"
in Lardner's " Cyclopedia."  The actions by sea
are related in Southey's "Life of Nelson," and
some in the Lives of Earl St. Vincent, Howe, and
Collingwood; and the actions by land in Southey's
and Napier's " Peninsular War," the "Life of
Sir T. Picton," and " Despatches of Wellington."
You may add, of course, memoirs of any contemporary public characters. Then "pick your way
by help of the table of contents " through Alison's
famous History. His own Epitome, one small
volume, is excellent as a brief History of this
eventful period; but a sixpenny volume of the
Religious Tract Society is the very best compendium of the "French Revolution" I have
ever seen.
3. From the end of the War to the present time.
Alison has commenced this part of History,
and Miss Martineau has given us two interesting
volumes, which may be highly recommended, as
well as Maunder's " Treasury of History" in




READING AND SKIPPING.        123
which the events of more recent times are
detailed at considerable length. The "Annual
Biography," " Annual Register," and periodicals,
are almost the only source of information. The
"Penny Cyclopaedia," and articles in Chambers'
"Library," give very late news: other information must be sought in the latest memoirs of distinguished characters.
The practice of "reading and skipping " is so
liable to abuse, that I must qualify it with a
few observations. READ WITH A GIVEN OBJECT
IN VIEW, AND SKIP NOT ALL THAT IS DIFFICULT, BUT ALL THAT IS IRRELEVANT. Many
books may be read like a newspaper, which we
search for information on certain points, passing
by every article unsuited to our peculiar taste
and curiosity. Bacon says, C" Some books are to
be tasted, some few chewed and digested." A
book is like a guide, whom we leave when he
has shown us what we want, not at all ashamed
of not following him to his journey's end. For
instance, if you wished to read ten different
accounts of the Reformation, after reading one
attentively, you would see at a glance that a
second contained whole pages of facts which you
already knew, and which you would therefore skip,
unless you wished to refresh your memory. In
taking up a third account you would find many,




124    COURSE OF ENGLISH READING.
not only of the facts, but of the arguments, the
same; and by the time you had read a fourth or
fifth, you would look rather to the table of contents than to the pages, and turn only to the
parts in which you expected more particulars.
Again, the Lives of Nelson, Howe, Earl St. Vincent, and others, I remarked, would give information about the British navy. Reading with
this view, you would skip whole chapters about
the wars in which these admirals were engaged,
if you had read them elsewhere, or intended to
read history at some other time. The detail of
naval and military manceuvres may be read by
those of military taste. In corroboration of this
advice, let me add the following quotations from
Dr. Smyth's " Introductory Lecture:" —
"This (method of reading parts of books), it
will be said, is surely a superficial way of reading
history.  But we must either read books of
history in this manner, or not read them at all.
The more youthful the mind, the more hazardous the privilege thus allowed of reading
pages at a glance, and chapters by the table of
contents. But the mind, after some failures and
some experience, will materially improve in this
great and necessary art- the art of reading much
while reading little."-To indulge in the practice
merely to evade difficulties and humour idleness,




A SHORT COURSE.            125
is like picking the plums out of your cake: you
cloy the appetite, and what were otherwise a treat
will prove tasteless and insipid.
The above remarks on English History, being
laid before one of the young friends for whom
they were originally intended, drew forth two
observations: —" First, do not be afraid of making
it too plain to your readers, that all your many
lists of books form one long bill-of-fare to suit
all ages, appetites, tastes, and constitutions,
Make it plain that some dainties are for an
acquired taste, some for the strong, others for
the weak.  Explain clearly that there is more
than a supply for one person-that, in short,
any one person might be supposed to pass the
greater part of his life before he would undergo
all the changes of mind and body requisite to
enjoy every variety of dainty you have set before him. Secondly, write one short, easy, and
amusing course, to teach a good outline of English History to readers who, like myself, have
little leisure and less industry, but are yet
ashamed to be ignorant of what others know."
Then read the first sixty pages of the duodecimo " History" by the Society, which will tell
as much as most persons know, to the end of
Henry VII.'s reign. Read Goldsmith's "History
of England from Henry VIII. to George II.,"




126    COURSE OF ENGLISH READING.
and the rest in Keightley's "History," and the
three-halfpenny  sheet of Chambers' Journal,
which gives the history from the accession of
George III. to the present time. In this outline
you will find not more than you may accurately remember; and if your only ambition is
to know as much as the average of your neighbours, be sure that a clear and unbroken outline,
with every event assigned to its proper time,
place, and persons, will give you a greater command than if you possessed the confused and illassorted stores which form the largest "floating
capital."  However, in condescending to provide
for wants so limited, I am led by the hope that
you will eventually feel disposed to make such
outline clearer and broader by additional knowledge drawn from other sources.
In the HISTORY OF MODERN EUROPE the
principal points are the seven following:1. The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.
2. The Revival of Learning.
3. The Religious Wars in the Low Countries.
4. The Thirty Years' War.
5. The French Revolution.
6. The History of America and the West.
7. The History of British India, and our other
Colonies.
The student's object will, of course, be to learn




MODERN HISTORY.            127
an outline of all these divisions, and to gain a
thorough knowledge of one division at least.
These seven divisions are not all that are
worthy of attention, nor do I attempt to name
all the authors who throw light upon them, but
only to give such assistance, that the reader may
select other portions of history, and other authors
for himself. And this observation applies to every
subject on which I treat.
First, On the Decline and Fall of the Roman
Empire, the great authority is Gibbon, whom I
have before characterised.  Milman's edition is
the best for sound readers; for students of little
leisure, there is a compendium in one volume.
The History of the Decline and Fall is also
given in the second volume of Lardner's " Cyclopaedia."  The article in the "Cyclopaedia Britannica" is very comprehensive; but the best of the
short accounts is in Tytler's " Universal History."
For an account of Mahomet, read his " Life"
in the pamphlets of the Society for the Diffusion
of Useful Knowledge; and read a little of Sales'
Koran, with the introduction; and, above all,
Carlyle's account of Mahomet in his "Hero
Worship." White's Bampton Lectures on the precepts of Mahomet are quoted with respect by most
writers. Another esteemed authority is Ockley's
History of the Saracens. Tytler (book vi. ch. 1.)




128    COURSE OF ENGLISH READING.
writes briefly but comprehensively of Arabia
and Mohammedanism. For the establishment of
Christianity in the Roman Empire, read Tytler
(book v. ch. 4.); read also ch. 5, 6, 7. on the
last period of Roman History, and to learn the
genius and character of the Gothic nations. The
Franks, the Feudal system, Charlemagne and his
successors, the Normans, and the rise of the secular power of the Popes, are all points of history
deserving attention, and most easily to be learned
from Tytler (book vi. ch. 2, 3, and 4.).
The Germans, their genius, laws, and customs,
may profitably be read in the translation of
Tacitus's "Germany." Dr. Smyth, in his second
Lecture, strongly recommends Butler on the
German Constitution. This Lecture treats on
the laws of the barbarians, and will serve as a
useful guide to University students and men
whose minds are disciplined and used to deep
study. On all of these points, Gibbon may be
consulted by means of the index or summary.
"Then you do not take it for granted we
shall read all Gibbon?" will be the exclamation
of some University student in the ardour of his
first term. —Enter, my good friend, the first
bookseller's shop, and ask him how often, in taking
in exchange Gibbon and other voluminous authors, he has found the leaves cut or soiled




A LITTLE AT A TIME.           129;hroughout. When you have passed from colege rooms to "lodgings out," and thence after;he days when, from being one of many candilates (so called from white cravats and whiter
kaces), you gradually find the incubus removed,;he last button of your waistcoat less tight, and
vhen you have ceased to fancy yourself Tityus,
vith something kennelling in your diaphragm
md preying on your vitals —when, in short, the;ight of your "testamur" has made you your3elf again, and has sent you into the country,
rith time to learn that college and college ways
md notions are to the bachelor of arts what
school seemed to the undergraduate-from that;ime, the leisure hours of life will be found "di-isible with a remainder" by very few sets of;welve octavos. So, beware of a plan too exten-;ive to execute. Did you ever see a pudding
nixed? Well, the way is this — take first a little
lour, and then a little water; stir it well, till
muite smooth, then add a little more, first of one,
md then of the other, stirring and mixing, till
luite free from lumps; but should you, in your
laste, throw in a second handful of flour before
She first is well mixed, all the stirring of all the
Cooks who ever delighted in perquisites, will not
prevent the said pudding from being lumpy and
indigestible.  So the food of the mind, like the
K




130    COURSE OF ENGLISH READING.
food of the body, must have due time for each
accession to blend, to amalgamate, and to digest.
Secondly. The Era of the Revival of Learning.
Supposing that millions of guineas long buried in
some miser's garden were suddenly dug up by
country clowns, who little knew the value, some
would be trampled under foot and lost; but if
one hundredth part were restored to circulation
and use, the result would be a sudden stimulus to
all the buyers and sellers of the villages round.
Such was the increase of spirit and activity which
followed the sacking of Constantinople by the
Turks; when, though 120,000 MSS. are said to
have perished, yet many were carried away to
other nations by scholars who knew more of their
value than the degenerate Greeks. This even,
happened in the middle of the 15th century; but
Dante and Wickliffe, more than a century before,
and then Petrarch and Boccaccio, who had exerted themselves to bring to light the great
authors of antiquity-the former discovering the
Epistles of Cicero, the latter bringing Homer
from Greece to Tuscany -gave a promise of the
general reviving of learning. A knowledge of
this momentous era may be derived from the
beginning of Hallam's " History of Literature,"
and part of his " History of the Middle Ages;'
also from two chapters of Gibbon (the 53rd and




REVIVAL OF LEARNING.         131
66th); from  part of Roscoe's "Leo X." and
" Lorenzo de' Medici;" also from the introduction of Robertson's "Charles V." Mosheim's
" State of Learning in the 13th and 14th Centuries," is much recommended. Read also, especially, the " Life of Petrarch; " Vaughan's " Life
of Wickliffe;" Lives of Dante and Boccaccio, in
Lardner's "Cyclopaedia." Read Shepherd's "Life
of Poggio," who early in the 15th century
searched the monasteries for ancient MSS., and
found Quintilian, and some of the speeches of
Cicero, besides Silius Italicus, and many of the
later writers. To these add some account of the
art of printing; and, for other sources of information, observe the authorities quoted by Hallam
and others.
Doubtless all these sources have been searched,
and their stores reduced to a portable and readily
accessible form by the Cyclopaedias and Biographical Dictionaries; for, as literature accumulates, it would become unwieldy, were it not that
a constant demand for the gold without the dross
operates with general literature as with laws and
statutes; that is to say, it stimulates a supply of
treatises and abridgments, which, like legal digests, contain enough for general use, and point
out the sources of deeper knowledge.
Thirdly. The Era of the Reformation will
ji 2




132    COURSE OF ENGLISH READING.
cause me to refer to some of the authorities connected with the Reformation in England. Milner
and Mosheim treat this period in the general
course of Church History.  But the one book
allowed to supersede all others, is the late translation of D'Aubigne's work.  It is written with
much warmth and unction; its great merit is,
that the chief personages are allowed to speak
for themselves, and speak to their hearts' content. This book contains about 1800 closely
printed pages octavo. Intelligent readers, who
have not time to read the whole, will find it
easy to omit parts without losing the thread of the
narrative.
Robertson's " Charles V.," Coxe's " House of
Austria," and two chapters of Roscoe's " Leo X.,"
all bear on the same subject.  The History of
Printing and the Revival of Learning are of
course closely connected with it. With all due
praise to Luther and his friends, we must not
presume that the most prominent are always the
most efficient instruments in the hands of Providence. The men who like Petrarch and others,
contribute to the expansion of the human mind,
and thus lay the train and provide the fuel, may
be more useful, though less glorious, agents than
those who merely add the spark. The barbarism
of the Turks in disengaging and setting free the




REVIVAL OF LEARNING.          133
pent-up spirits of Constantinople, might not have
done less service to the cause of Christ, than the
never-failing faith and courage of those whom
every true Christian to the end of time must
admire. The truth is, God rolls along the still
untiring stream of time; and whether its surface
is ruffled by a ripple or a whirlpool — whether it
bears on its wide bosom the curling leaf or rifted
oak — whether the licentious poets of Italy or the
faithful scholars of Germany are struggling in its
dark and mighty waters, still it onward moves,
for purposes transcending mortal knowledge. "We
see in part and understand in part."  Those
mighty efforts on which man prides himself, as if
complete and valuable in themselves, are often
but the minutest links in one great providential
chain, reminding us of those clustered myriads of
coral cells by which the little insects conspire
unconsciously to raise a resistless barrier to the
angry lashings of the Indian Ocean.
The Essays of Sir James Stephen; reprinted
from the " Edinburgh Review," are truly valuable,
especially those on Ignatius Loyola and the Portroyalists.  Taylor's "Loyola" also contains an
excellent account of the Jesuits. Coxe's " Philip
II." and Grattan's " Netherlands" give an interesting account of the religious wars in the
Low Countries, than which there is no finer sub1 3




134    COURSE OF ENGLISH READING.
ject for contemplation in any part of Modern
History.
Dr. Smyth's Lectures on the Reformation will
be found very useful, as also Ranke's History of
the Reformation, which has been admirably translated into English by Mrs. Austin.
The Reformation is considered by Heeren the
chief event which marks the commencement of
Modern History; the other events which distinguish it from the History of the Middle Ages
are the discovery of America, and the consequent
development of the colonial system, the influence
of the art of printing, and the improvement in
the art of war by gunpowder. The era of the
Reformation, therefore, will be a good point from
which to begin a course of reading: this is the
era at which Heeren commences his Modern
History, a work I would strongly recommend
to any collegian who desires a good course of
modern reading to accompany the classical and
mathematical studies of sixteen terms in the seclusion of college rooms.
Fourthly. The Thirty Years' War is well
deserving the attention of all who hate studied
the Reformation. The detail of this portion of
history is intricate; its principles and secret
springs of action give much scope for that reflection which distinguishes the mere reading,




THE FRENCH REVOLUTION.         135
from the study, of history. " The whole interval
of about one hundred years, from the days of
Luther to the Peace of Westphalia, must be considered one continued struggle, open or concealed,
between the Reformers and the Roman Catholics."  This is the language of Dr. Smyth, whose
13th Lecture will afford considerable assistance.
The most important part of this interval is the
Thirty Years' War; the other parts are filled
chiefly with its causes and consequences. The
best book for a commencement is the Life of
Gustavus Adolphus, in the "Family Library."
After this, read Coxe's " House of Austria,"' and,
lastly, Schiller's " Thirty Years' War."
Fifthly. The French Revolution. Mr. Alison's
work is now almost universally allowed to supply
what has long been wanted -a general history of
the state of Europe during these momentous
times; and I am happy to advert again to his
epitome in one volume. For, Mr. Alison's work
is very voluminous, and, like all long histories, it
should be regarded as a general view and running
commentary; the judicious reader will yet desire
to examine the evidence of eye-witnesses, and to
weigh and compare a variety of opinions. The
true use of books is to give facts and arguments.
After hearing evidence and counsel on both sides,
every man who reads to any purpose will be his
K 4




136    COURSE OF ENGLISH READING.
own judge, and decide for himself. The man
whose mind is stored only with the conclusions
and judgments of others is like a man who collects
a set of rules and measures which he has not the
art to apply, and at best only can attain to "truth
in the wrong place." Therefore read parts of
Miller's " George III." from 1789, for an epitome;
then either the whole of Scott's "Life of Napoleon," or the first and second volumes, for the
causes of the revolution.  This was written " in
one year of pain, grief, sorrow, and ruin." It
was sold for 18,0001., and, says Mr. Lockhart,
"none of the pamphleteers could detect any material
errors." The accounts of Carlyle, Mignet, Thiers,
and Madame de Stael are much recommended.
The Memoirs of Talleyrand, Fouche, La Fayette,
the Prince of Canino, and every character of the
times, are among the very best sources.  The
index of the "Edinburgh" and "Quarterly" will
also be a ready clue to the most able dissertations. Few books relating to the revolution are
reviewed without serving as a theme for an essay
on the times.  Sydney Smith, one of the originators of the "Edinburgh," says, the use of a
review is to give a man who has only time to
read ten pages the substance of two or three
octavos. Burke's "Letters on the French Revolution" is a book which no English scholar




BRITISH INDIA.           137
should fail to read. Mackintosh's reply gives the
other side of the question. The flow of Burke's
language is like that of a mountain torrent rushing
impetuously down over crags and rocks; that of
Mackintosh resembles a stream smoothly gliding
through ornamental grounds. Thomas Campbell
said, that though the greater part were lost, any
ten consecutive sentences would show the hand of
a master as plainly as the genius of a sculptor is
discerned in the mutilated marble of Theseus.
If to these volumes is added the criticism on
Alison's History in the " Edinburgh Review," the
reader will have a fair knowledge of this momentous question. Add the French characters in
Brougham's "Statesmen of George III." and
Dr. Smyth's second course of Lectures, which treat
exclusively on the French Revolution. If you
read Carlyle's French Revolution, read it last;
because it supposes much previous knowledge.
Carlyle's writings are only to be recommended
to advanced students.
Two subjects only remain to be mentioned in
connection with Modern History —India, and the
Colonies and America.
Of BRITISH INDIA I have before spoken.
Hall's Travels contain a lively sketch of its history. Gleig's School Series and the Cycloptedias
give epitomes more or less concise, but each suf



138    COURSE OF ENGLISH READING.
ficient for general purposes.  The history of
British India in the " Family Library," and a
volume of "Martin's Colonies," will also be a
ready source of knowledge.  Either of these
works, as well as parts of Miller's " George III.,"
will give facts, which, as they cannot be known
too well, so they cannot be taught too simply.
For the policy, principles, conclusions, and connection'of effects with causes, read Mills's or Malcolm's "India," or both.  I say both, because it
is little trouble to read the second treatise when
you hnow the first-not when you have merely
read the first. Inexperienced readers who cannot
readily grapple with books of this kind, and
really know them, should choose others.  Musicians tell us to play easy pieces first; for it will
take less time to learn one-and-twenty pieces of
music if each is more difficult than the next preceding, than to learn only the one which is most
difficult without the gradual discipline of the
remaining twenty.
Mr. Macaulay's " Clive," and "Warren IIastings," are two choice essays, and should be read
in connection with Edmund Burke's Speeches.
These speeches were delivered when Burke was
nearly sixty years of age; his "Essay on the
Sublime and Beautiful" was published when he
was only twenty-eight; yet it has been observed




BRITISH INDIA.            139
as very remarkable that Burke displayed far more
poetical imagination in his speeches than in this
essay, though written at an age and on a subject
better suited to exercise imaginative powers. The
name of Hastings reminds us of the " enchanting
power" which Pitt allowed to the eloquence of
Sheridan on Hastings' trial.  But the oratory of
Sheridan was like the music of Paganini, which
died with him. The oratory of Burke reminds
us of many a musical genius who has left the
world a written record of that harmony of soul,
which he had neither the voice nor hand to express. Burke's speeches, and indeed all his writings, are what Thucydides would term iczrea Ev
ace. Burke had the same kind of knowledge of
what things were natural, what artificial, what
things belonged to the individual, and what to
the species in the body politic, as a skilful physician possesses respecting the human frame. As
anatomy and practice, have taught the one, analysis
and observation have taught the other. Burke is
one of the chosen few who, like Thucydides on
the plague of Athens, and like Shakespeare on
every subject, have shown that what is true to
nature is true always. Writings of this class
exactly exemplify the saying of the Wise man:
" The thing that hath been, it is that which
shall be, and that which is done is that which




140    COURSE OF ENGLISH READING.
shall be done."  And if any man says, "See
this is new," let him look in the writings of such
men as Burke, and he will find the case foreseen,
the rule provided, and his wisdom forestalled, and
that " it hath been of old time which was before us-'
The best of all Burke's speeches to read, as Mr.
Prior, in his "Biography," observes, is that on
the Arcot debts; yet Pitt and Grenville agreed,
while it was being delivered, that it was making
so little impression on the House, that they need
not answer it.
On the ancient state of India, read one volume
by Robertson, with notes and illustrations referring to other valuable writings.
The Life of Clive will give much information
on the events of the last century; while the Lives
of Sir T. Munroe and Lord Wellesley will give
later times. Heber's Journal is an elegant composition; but it is principally valuable to the traveller in Hindostan. The same may be said of
the Duke of Wellington's Indian Despatches.
Every man of the least curiosity must prize a
record so suited to give the impress of the great
mind of its author; still I would allow much
weight to the words of my friend, Captain B —-;
"The proper persons to buy the Duke's' Despatches' are cadets.  You cannot make them a
more appropriate present. Every man deserves




AMERICA.               141
to be cashiered who pretends to serve in India,
without reading every despatch, letter, and memorandum."  Read the work of Sir Alexander
Burnes, and also the work of the HIon. M. Elphinstone, of which Sir R. Peel said, in the House of
Commons, that it was a book of deep learning, of
the first authority, and the latest information.
On AMERICA, read Robertson's history of the
conquest and early settlements, a simple but most
deeply interesting narrative; Prescott's is the best
account of Mexico. On the curiosities of Mexico,
any catalogue will refer you to many accounts,
with prints showing memorials of the long-lost
arts of that most remarkable people. Inquire also
for similar works on Peru; and examine the curiosities collected in the British Museum. I lately
saw a Peruvian mummy in Dublin, at the College
of Surgeons. Dr. Johnson said, that a man who
travels must take out knowledge with him, if he
would bring knowledge home. This is as true of
visiting collections from foreign countries, or reading books which describe them, as in visiting the
countries themselves. While reading we should
think of things to examine when we visit a museum, and while visiting a museum we should
think of new questions to be solved when we
return to our reading. Catlin's work, illustrated
with numerous plates, on the North American




142    COURSE OF ENGLISH READING.
Indians, is well worth perusing; as also is the
review of it in the " Edinburgh." Several similar
books have lately been published, describing
matters of the greatest curiosity in North America. Cooper's " Deerslayer," " Pathfinder," and
his novels generally may here be recommended.
On Canada and Newfoundland, read Martin's
"Colonies" or articles in the Cyclopadias.  On
the United States, Basil Hall's " Travels" give
much information about the working of the democracy, and may be classed with the Journal of
Mrs. Butler (once Fanny Kemble), the American
Notes of Dickens, and the Sketch by Mrs. Trollope: but beware of mistaking caricature for
fact, or lending yourself to those writers on American customs who are bent rather on holding up
their peculiarities to ridicule, than their better
qualities to imitation. But, by far the best and
most instructive work that has been published in
England  on the United States, is Mackay's
"Western World."
The preceding observations on Modern History, I trust, will be found sufficient. Miartin's
" Colonies" will convey the latest information on
Malta, Gibraltar, and the rest of our settlements;
while the general history of the continental nations is given in the cyclopaedias as fully as most
readers require. Concerning France, the Life of




GENERAL OBSERVATIONS.         143
Richelieu and others, with histories of kings, or
reigning families of most interest, may easily be
selected, arranged, read, and digested, according
to the principles already explained.
The study of history and general literature is
like the study of law: that man reads to most
advantage who makes such a selection from the
ponderous records of the past as enables him to
bring most to bear at a given moment, to support
an argument, or refute an adversary. Old people
are apt to form most exalted notions of the literary advantages of the rising generation.  They
think that difficulties diminish as books increase;
whereas, in furnishing our minds, as our houses,
more is expected in proportion to our facilities.
The term well-informed, is not less a word of
comparison than the term rich. A modern schoolboy, says T. B. Macaulay, knows more of geography, than Strabo. True: but he has not the
merit of being equally in advance of the knowledge of his cotemporaries. However much the
labours of the learned may slope the way, the
temple of knowledge may always be represented
on a hill enveloped in a mist: the ascent should
be drawn most precipitous and cloudy at the
bottom, with crowds of travellers, dull, heavy,
discouraged, and bewildered; while, towards the
top, the slope should be gradual, the travellers




144    COURSE OF ENGLISH READING.
few and far between, looking better both in
health and spirits, and the mist clearing away,
till the one happy man on the summit is in
a flood of light, and cannot take off his hat to
huzzah for the sun in his eyes. Fancy would
add sign-posts, with " Beware of man-traps""Try no short cuts "-" The best road lies over
the hill." In the foreground, swarms of little
children, of pantomimic proportions, might be
selling penny guides to many an eager purchaser;
while one or two sages might be standing aside,
presenting a chosen few with lectures of a far
less tempting appearance on patient and methodical study.
CHAP. II.
ON THE STUDY OF ROMAN HISTORY.
THE first question which would occur is —Upon
what ancient authorities is the History of Rome
chiefly based? The following: Livy, Dionysius of
Halicarnassus, Polybius, Diodorus Siculus, Appian, Dion Cassius, Varro, Cicero, Sallust, Caesar,
Velleius, Tacitus, Suetonius, Plutarch, and Cornelius Nepos; these are the principal classical
authorities.  The  Scriptores  Hist. Augustve,




ROMAN HISTORY.            145
Procopius, and others, are comparatively little
consulted, except by men of the research and
enthusiasm of Gibbon.
These authors I mention, because their names
so often occur, that any young person would do
well to employ an hour in reading a short account
of them from a Biographical Dictionary. I would
also show how arduous is the task of becoming
profoundly learned in every part of Roman History. De Thou wrote 138 books on the continental broils during the last half of the 16th
century; but, before he began, he knelt down and
offered up a prayer, that he might accurately and
impartially execute a work to which, from that
moment, he resolved to devote his life. Gibbon
was twenty years composing the Decline and Fall
of the Roman Empire. It would have taken
many more years to add the history of its rise and
grandeur. To men of such genius we leave the
original authorities;- without entering the mine
ourselves, we will be content with such specimens
of the buried treasures as their researches bring
to light.
I must now address myself to two separate
classes of readers; first, to young men preparing
themselves as candidates either for Scholarships
or classical honours at the universities; secondly,
to young ladies, and other general readers, who
L




146    COURSE OF ENGLISH READING.
have only learning and leisure sufficient for a
shorter course.
To speak of the first class - yo?eths at school,
or with private tutors, if well directed, may read
much to advance them at college. The mode of
reading history which they must adopt is peculiar.
They have not only to fill but to form their
minds, and to satisfy not only themselves but
examiners. Others may be less careful of facts,
when they have gathered principles, and preserve
the kernel without the husk; but candidates for
honours must exhibit a knowledge of principles,
which they can only do-by having facts available
and ready at command. A college examination
is conducted by written questions which serve as
pegs on which to hang your knowledge: but
should you confuse even the names of historical
characters, you will lose the chance of displaying
your attainments, although your mind is stored
with the deepest reflections on the Roman policy
or constitution. The first thing, therefore, to
consider is, that you can never be said to know
any more history than you can accurately write
out, with time, place, and circumstance. Read,
therefore, on the method before described, which
I shall call the expansive principle. Begin with
committing to memory an outline; then fill in
no faster than you can make good your ground.




ROMAN HISTORY.            147
Thus you will always be ready to be examined
to the extent of your reading, and will rear such
an historical edifice as will admit of continual
addition and enlargement. This advice is more
simple than obvious. Many a University student
has passed his time collecting materials which
were at no single moment, from first to last, in a
state to be put together; and that, even sup-osing that the disorder of his mental store-room
lid not render it impossible to find or to identify
the many separate pieces so laboriously collected.
Wisely did Sir Egerton Brydges advise our occasionally " bringing out our own conceptions," and
computing not the pages read but the knowledge
stored, and thus " intellectually taking stock."
In 2 Maccabees, chap. ii. verse 23. are curious:emarks on historical abridgments.
Your first book should be " The Outline of the
Roman History," in Gleig's Series. This little
book is very ably executed by Professor Browne.
It traces the Romans as they gradually spread
from a corner of Italy over nearly all the known
world, and gives the chief dates, characters, and
events. When this outline is known thoroughly,
it will serve as a memoria technica, to connect
and facilitate the recollection of more minute
detail. For, the difficulty in history is to remember not the principles and general impression,
L2




148    COURSE OF ENGLISH READING.
but who said this, and who did that, and when
or where particular actions occurred; and, in an
examination, you can only show that you know
anything by giving a clear and accurate account.
Horace Malpole said, "I was forced to quit
Dow's Hindostan, for the Indian names made so
little impression on me that I was every minute
reverting to the former page to find about whom
I was reading." Let an outline, then, be impressed deeply on your memory, so that you may
have one Roman picture ever hanging before
your mind's eye, to serve as a historical map of
the country. One plan I found very useful was,
to draw out the leading historical facts on a sheet
of paper, divided into vertical columns, each column comprising one century. Then by drawing
across them four black horizontal lines, I cut all
the centuries into quarters, and the sheet into
departments. I found it easy to remember the
contents of each department, or the position of
each fact on my paper, and thus I had a clue to
dates and a long series of events. When this
outline is perfectly familiar to the " mind's eye,"
proceed to fill it up according to your taste and
inclination. The usual examinations for Scholarships require an exact knowledge of the commonly
received accounts of historians rather than that
critical research into particular portions which is




ROMAN- HISTORY.          -149
required of the candidates for Classes. In reading for a Scholarship, you should prepare for
writing historical essays, which will be read with
reference to two points: first, your Accuracy;
secondly, your Reflection. For Accuracy, the
observations respecting the outline history will
be sufficient.  For Reflection, you must read a
brief account of the whole, rather than a more
copious compilation of part, of the Roman annals.
And for this reason; -to show Reflection, you
must draw comparisons between the events of
different periods. Should you confine your studies
to one period only, this may chance not to be the
subject of a single question, and then all your
industry will lose its reward. I should therefore
advise you to take KIeightley's " Roman History,"
or that by Schmitz. The chief points to remark
are these -
1. The successive changes in the form of government, their effects, and causes;
2. The gradual rise of the plebeian power;
3. The conquests and accessions to the Roman
dominions.
Trace also each distinguished character through
his whole career, so that you may be prepared to
write the life of any party proposed.
During my early studies I had a friend with
whom I used daily to discuss parts of history;
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150    COURSE OF ENGLISH READING.
and in these peripatetic lectures, as we used to
call them, the glorious exploits of the good, as
well as the high crimes and misdemeanors of the
bad, formed the subject of very animated contro
versy. Vivid and lasting were the impressions
which these discussions produced; besides, inconsistencies were detected, and explanations sought.
which would not otherwise have occurred. XWhat
you read by yourself you may doze over, and
your mind may wander just where attention is
most required; but you can hardly converse on a
subject without reflection.  Bishop Sanderson
said, " I learnt much from my Master, more from
my Equals, but most from my Pupils."
At college, it was agreed between three friends
(myself and two others), that whenever we met we
should endeavour to puzzle each other with a question on Herodotus. The continual exercise of
recollection and attention to which this mere frolic
gave rise, rendered us wonderfully accurate in
that portion of ancient history. I would strongly
recommend some such diversion to pupils in the
upper form of a school. Imagine:'" Which way
did Hannibal cross the Alps?"  " Yes, but you
can't tell the route of Napoleon." " I can, and
next week I give notice I shall puzzle you with the
retreat of the Ten Thousand." In one half-year
Keightley might be learned from beginning to




ROMAN HISTORY.            15 l
end. Schmitz will then be easy reading. Some
questions have been published, which are useful
to try your knowledge, provided only you read
at least twenty pages, and never look at the
questions till you have thus prepared a portion
for self-examination: for, to read with questions
before you is a most pernicious practice; all
original reflection is superseded, and everything but the mere subject of the questions
escapes notice. When perfect in Keightley, take
Smith's' "Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities," and read attentively about Consuls,
Tribunes, Interregnum, Plebeians, Clientship,
and every term of office or dignity in Roman
History, and remember Mr. Rich's dictionary
with 2000 woodcuts of ancient arts and customs!
The five numbers of the Roman History, by the
Useful Knowledge Society, are highly useful
to scholars, especially the chapter on the Credibility of Roman History. The article in the
"'Encyclopaedia Metropolitana," on the same
subject, is very good, as also are some remarks
which you may find by the index in Hooke's
", Roman History." Certain lives in Plutarch
may be read in connexion with Roman History.
The articles on Livy, Rome, and the names of
offices and magistrates in Anthon's Lempriere,
are also good. This will be enough to say to
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152    COURSE OF ENGLISH READING.
candidates for Scholarships. When perfect so
far, they may take a hint from the few remarks I
have to offer to
Candidatesfor Classes. -These students I must
refer to what I have said in my " Student's Guide
to Oxford Honours;;" at the same time that I add,
that the early partk of Roman History, which is
allowed to be the most difficult, has now been
treated by Dr. Arnold.  Malden's " History of
Rome" is also used by candidates for honours.
What is required at Oxford, for the final examinations, is a thorough knowledge of portions of
Roman History, from the original authorities,
rather than a mere outline of the whole. Indeed,
a writer in the " Quarterly Review" asserts that
there probably are not three men in the whole
University who know any more of the later
periods of Roman History than can be derived
from English compilations. The Oxford examinations in Roman History, even for the highest
honours, are chiefly confined to the first and
second decade of Livy, with (as indispensable)
Niebuhr's History, about two books of Polybius,
to complete the history of the Punic war, and
half of Tacitus. To illustrate these books, it is
usual to read portions of the Roman History and
Biography in the " Encyclopoedia Metropolitana."
Lord Eldon, in his advice to his grandson at




ROMAN HISTORY.             153
Oxford, said, "After long and great experience,
I never knew a young man who had indulged
too much in amusements at Oxford to the neglect
of very diligent study, who ever afterwards in
life graced his friends, family or country: and
I never knew one who signally devoted his time
at Oxford to study who did not in aftertime
become an ornament to his family and country."
Therefore general readers and ladies I advise to
begin with the " Outline History" before mentioned, and to learn it thoroughly; then to read
parts of Keightley or Schmitz on the Punic wars,
or any other events which curiosity suggests. Regard the outline as a map of the Roman empire,
which you must daily consult to show you exactly
whereabouts you are. Men of well-formed minds
will readily observe all the changes in the constitution; young ladies, and others, in whom
general curiosity and imagination predominate,
can amuse themselves with the "most disastrous
chances," and the many tragical positions, in
which Roman story abounds. Those who frequent theatres should see the Roman plays,
Coriolanus, Julius Coesar, and others. Much
talent and industry is employed in the principal
theatres, in providing scenery, dresses and decorations, critically correct and true to the time and
place in which each plot is laid. Certain sets of




154    COURSE OF ENGLISH READING.
Roman engravings will answer the same purpose.
Our appreciation of Roman History greatly depends on terms and descriptions bringing before
the mind's eye scenes and customs as they really
existed.  Swallow-tailed coats, livery servants, a
regiment of champagne bottles, fan-bearing young
ladies, and ice-presenting young gentlemen, must
not rise in our imagination when we read of a
Roman supper; neither must every shower of rain
in Rome be associated with umbrellas, Mackintoshes, and cab-stands. To prevent these modern
from marring ancient views, the accounts of Pompeii, Herculaneum, and the late discoveries in
Etruria, will much contribute; as also " The last
Days of Pompeii," by Bulwer; X" The Fawn of
Sertorius;" "Pericles," a Tale of Athens: "Charicles," an illustration of the private life of ancient
Greeks; "Gallus," the same of ancient Rome.'" Macaulay's Lays," a work in which the printer,
binder, and engraver have conspired to aid the
effect of the poetry, will fill the dullest with the
spirit of ancient Rome. The bold engravings of
Piranesi make so deep an impression on the
imagination, that the buildings of the mighty city
will ever after be present to our imagination. A
small edition of Adam's " Roman Antiquities,"
and Smith's " Dictionary of Grecian and Roman
Antiquities," contain many engravings; but, for




ROMAN HISTORY.            155
the pencil, all such works yield to Rich's dictionary. With these works on Roman Antiquities, readers of the most ordinary curiosity
will find their attention riveted to a variety of
articles, describing how that mighty people ate
and drank, and bathed, and slept; to say nothing
of how they debated, went to law, and fought;
and the daily routine of their private life.
These works will make a pleasing variety
while reading Keightley's or Schmitz's History.
Similar entertainment may be profitably derived
from Fosbroke's " Treatise on the Arts, Manners,
Manufactures, &c., of the Greeks and Romans."
I can also recommend "A History of Rome,
from the earliest Times to the Founding of Constantinople," drawn chiefly from Schlosser's history, two small volumes of Lardner's Cyclopaedia.
Mr. Merivale's History of the Empire is also
much commended; and his "Fall of the Roman
Republic" supplies a gap which has been long
acknowledged to exist in school literature.
So far I have only recommended one Roman
Outline, price 9d., and one History, price 12s.:
and these, as I said of the histories of England,
are mere skeletons; when you have a competent
knowledge of them, and have perused the works
on Manners and Customs, proceed at once to the
original authorities; -- to the Punic wars in




156    COURSE OF ENGLISH READING.
" Livy's pictured page," which Clarendon took as
his model; the Catiline Conspiracy, which Johnson
allowed to contain historic portraiture, because
Sallust knew the characters; Tacitus, the philosophic annalist, who gives facts and principles, the
secret springs and the great movements, in the
same sentence; Plutarch, first the lecturer, and
afterwards the proconsul, of Trajan, who studied
at Athens, and travelled through Greece and
Egypt, the favourite author of Lord Chatham
and Napoleon, each of whom would almost have
said of Plutarch, with Theodore Beza, what, in
substance, a writer in the "Quarterly" said of
Boswell, " that if we were obliged to throw all
the books in the world into the sea, this should
be reserved till the last." Think of each timehonoured genius: how gladly would we invite
him to wine and walnuts, and try to draw him
out; and shall we not read his works when elegant
translations are in almost every library? Have
we not the curiosity even of the daughter of a
country post-master, who eagerly claims the per.
quisite of a peep at the letters of the great?
We are not obliged to read one of these works
through, but let us cease to regard them as sealed
books. We may take a translation of Cicero's
"Letters," and see what he had to say to his
wife and family, and what to the public, of those




ROMAN HISTORY.            157
most eventful days. If we retain a knowledge
of the general history, these authors will serve
to fill up the outline, and every new idea will
find its place, and tend both to pleasure and to
profit.
Dunlop's " History of Roman Literature," in
3 vols., and Schlegel's "Lectures on Ancient
and Modern Literature," 1 vol., are standard
works, deemed almost indispensable for those
emulous of classical honours. Such works, however, can give only the mere terms and sounds
of knowledge to that large majority of readers
who are unacquainted with Greek and Roman
writers.
A few hours devoted to the article on Rome,
in " The Penny Cyclopaedia," will be enough to
give a fair insight into the constitution as developed by Niebuhr.
Of Cicero and his times, which are topics equal
in interest to any part of Roman History, Middleton's " Life of Cicero " is the great authority. A
very good short account, by Mr. Hollings, is published in the Family Library. The Cyclopaedias
also contain compendious articles. Macaulay's
" Survey of the Greek, Roman, and Modern
Historians," published in the "Edinburgh Review," is very useful. The " Tour to the Sepulchres of Etruria in 1839," by Mrs. Hamilton




158    COURSE OF ENGLISH READING.Gray, will be entertaining and instructive to
most readers-to the classical scholar especially.
Of Niebuhr's history, I have only to say that it
is highly valuable to good classical scholars, but
unintelligible to most English readers.  They
may read a review of his work, both in the "Quarterly and Edinburgh Reviews."
Eustace's " Classical Tour" will profitably
relieve and vary the study of Roman History.
But, never be the slave of books: the pale
student reaps little profit for his pains. When
fatigue begins, improvement ends: to say nothing
of "exhausting our capital" of strength.  The
best scholars at Oxford  are often the best
cricketers- The "'Cricket Field" (reviewed as
the " Isaac Walton" of another sport) we are
proud to say is now the standard work on our
National Game. So play Cricket, Fish, Shoot,
have some diversion - not a mere milestonemeasured walk. The Jesuits insisted on the mind
of each student being unbent after two hours'
study; holding, with Seneca, that c" continued
labour deadens the soul."  Socrates found diversion with children; Cato, with a social glass;
Tycho Brahe, in making instruments of science;
Descartes, in gardening; Granville Sharp, in
boating; Samuel Clarke, in gymnastics; Sir
Henry Wotton, Paley, and Sir H. Davy, in




GRECIAN HISTORY.            159
angling. Mens sana in corpore sano! How many
forget the latter palrt, and, like Sir W. Follett,
ruin the lamnp that holds the light! When the
head attempts a tyrannous despotism over the
body, the stunted limbs and exhausted members
soon " refuse the supplies" of healthful energy,
and bring down the usurper from his throne.  A
fall or a fit of sickness, says Pascal, may bankrupt the ablest understanding. Addison regrets
that Pascal spoke feelingly, and observes " Pascal
contracted an ill habit of body, and the history of
his life is one continued account of his soul struggling under innumerable pains and distempers."
CHAP. III.
ON THE STUDY OF GRECIAN HISTORY.
THE " Outline History of Greece," in Gleig's
Series, is the first book for the candidate for Scholarships, by which I mean all young men who
are desirous of improving their last year at school,
or under a private tutor. Thirlwall's Epitome
of his larger History in one volume, will be the
second book. The whole of the " Outline History" should be learned almost by heart, as I




160    COURSE OF ENGLISH READING.
said before of English and Roman History. In
Keightley'you may be contented to read only as
far as the death of Alexander the Great: the remainder you may leave till almost every other
part of Ancient History is exhausted. Nine out
of ten of ordinary advisers would tell you it was
indispensable that you should read the whole of
the Grecian History, by Mitford or Thirlwall
(8 volumes each), and the valuable work by Mr.
Grote. The time for reading -Mitford, in my
opinion, is gone by: the best part is the Life
and Times of Alexander; and this I had rather
read in the Biography by Williams, in the "FamilyLibrary." Thirlwall's History, as also Grote's,
are masterly performances; but the question is
not what is creditable to the writer, but what is
profitable to the reader. When your mind is
prepared to realise, and make your own, any parts
of Grote's history, then read those parts, but
those parts only. You will ask to what preparation I allude; I mean that Grote classifies
facts, extracts principles, and makes comments.
The preparation requisite to profit by his writings
is therefore threefold: first, to be familiar with
the facts which he quotes; that is, to take at a
glance any sentence from Herodotus, Thucydides,
or others, and feel a curiosity to know whether
he has anything more to say of it than you




STUDY OF GRECIAN HISTORY.    161
already know: and if you have never seen the
sentence before, any remarks upon it must be a
burden to your memory, without assisting your
understanding. The second preparation is to be
used to compare some, at least, of the sentences
which Grote classifies; for then, and then only,
will you be improved by that increased quickness
of observation, and that ready comprehension of
all the bearings of facts, which a good history
should serve to promote. The historian, like the
judge, should sum up, arrange, and weave into
one plain story, all that falls from competent
witnesses.; while the reader, like a juryman,
should decide, not by the leaning of the judge,
but by the bearing of the evidence. It follows,
then, that besides being first conversant with facts,
and, secondly, having viewed facts in connection,
the third qualification is a competence to form an
independent judgment upon them. Few persons,
I admit, enjoy this threefold qualification for the
whole of any history; still a mature mind can
weigh and decide on one page, understand enough
to assent to a second page, and suspend judgment
on a third. But I am at present addressing
youths whose minds are not matured, and who
are required, by the university system, to read
history rather to form than to fill the mind, and
rather for discipline than information.  But on
M




162    COURSE OF ENGLISH READING.
this topic I must refer to my " Student's Guide,"
which, I have the satisfaction of knowing, one oi
the most experienced examiners has long been recommending for the guidance of his pupils. And
for all information on the manners, the lectureroom, and the studies of the Universities, I neec
not scruple to say that the head master of one ot
our most distinguished schools recommended the
"Collegian's Guide," or " Recollections of Col
lege Days," as the very book to prepare the minds
of youths leaving school for college.
Keightley has also written a small Elementary
History of Greece. Before either of these publications, there appeared a History of Greece, by
the Useful Knowledge Society, which was first
submitted to the revision of Dr. Arnold.  This
contains about 300 double-columned pages; the
first 150 of which comprise all events to the
death of Alexander.  Thirlwall's Epitome is a
very good book: but " Greece to the end of the
Peloponnesian War," in the Encyclopedia Metropolitana, by Sir T. N. Talfourd and others, shows
the valuable results of combined talent.
The student who has followed my advice so
far, may read the lives of Pericles, Nicias, and the
other Grecian characters in Plutarch. Above all,
he should learn most accurately every event in
chapters 94- 117. of the first book of Thucydides,




STUDY OF GRECIAN HISTORY.    163
-which treat of the interval between the Persian
and Peloponnesian wars: here, part of Grote's
Greece will be the best commentary. Let the
student read this portion till he can trace every
step in the rise of the Athenian supremacy.
I have now given as long a course of Grecian
fHistory as any youth can be expected to know
)erfectly, before he enters the university: I would
Add more, but I have not forgotten my own colege days, and all the instructive retrospect I have
often enjoyed in comparing notes with old friends,
Very great designs, and comparatively very small
achievements, enter into the confessions of every
student. Young persons are always sanguine;
and when they once are betrayed into forming
too large a plan, the work is wanted long before.he two ends meet.  Books require time for
reading, time for reflecting, and time to digest;
that is, to blend with our system, to become part
of our mental implements, and to serve as a common measure and every-day standard of thought.
It is worth remembering, that a man never
learns the use of instruments, whether mental or
physical, so readily or so thoroughly as when he
has few of them. The rude implements of the
Indian have surpassed the machinery of Manchester. " John Hunter's head," said Abernethyv
"was like a beehive;" not that he meant to say
M 2




164    COURSE OF ENGLISH READING.
it was all in a buz, but that it had a separate eel'
for every store.  The modern Attic bees are in a
hurry to gather the honey before they have prepared the combs. My advice is, to read, on each
subject, one outline, again and again, till you have
once formed the cells: you may then sip of everflower in the wide field of literature -fill without
confusion, and preserve without loss.
To candidates for university honours I haN
little more to say on Grecian History.  I mus
again refer to some general remarks in " The
Student's Guide." Since 1836, the year in which
that work was written, we have been favoured
with the works of Keightley, Thirlwall, Grot(
and Wordsworth. Of the value of the three last, il
read judiciously and in a spirit of inquiry, we can
hardly say too much. The general error of Oxfor(
classmen is, confining themselves too much to the
books they propose for examination.  The mind
requires not only relief but variety, which Words.
worth's " Greece," a book of entertainment and
of lively interest, is well calculated to afford.
Eustace's " Classical Tour" is of similar value to
the readers of Roman literature. I would also
suggest translations of Arrian, Pausanias, Xenophon (especially his smaller treatises), and almost
every original authority which comes to hand.
Far from intending to overtask your mind, I




TRANSLATIONS OF THE CLASSICS.  165
advise you to read more or less, to select the
amusing, or to toil through the intricate, according to the principle I have already vindicated of
being guided by taste and inclination. While the
subjects of your regular classical studies form the
cells, translation will furnish stores to fill them.
The history of Greek literature (Encyc. Met.),
price 7s. 6d., by the Bishop of London and others,
is truly valuable.
Many classical scholars will be ashamed to acJknowledge that they have any occasion to read
translations. But, when critical knowledge of the,text, and an accurate recollection of the matter
(9f sixteen or more Latin and Greek books are:required, very little time can remain for reading
the many works required to illustrate them.'These, therefore, I propose to read by the medium
of translations. Surely it is as worthy of a scholar
to read a translation of Xenophon, as any English
History which gives the narrative of Xenophon,
not only translated but condensed.  Many talk of:reading Greek like English; but there are very
few men who can read other languages, least of all
Greek and Latin, with as little effort as their own.
Bring any silly pretender to the proof; lay before
him the first column of the Times, and the first
page of the Oratores Attici, and challenge him to,a trial. The truth is, there is a kind of short-hand
M 




166    COURSE OF ENGLISH READING.
reading, by which we catch the sense of a sentence,
without seeing more than one word in a line. And
will any one pretend that he can skim over Plutarch's Greek, as readily as Langhorne's translation? Sound scholars'may mark passages in translations to read in the original; and these translations
of contemporary authors form a better commentary
than any English essays I can recommend.
English translations are chiefly useful to the
classical student in two ways. We will leave entirely out of the question how readily translations
explain difficult passages of those authors which
are read in the original; we will not argue how
much translations may contribute to elegance, and'
how much they often do contribute to idleness,
sapping the foundations of all sound scholarship; but, the first use of translations to classicaTi
students, is to enable them more thoroughly to
appreciate those historical compilations to which
they are obliged to trust for a large part of ancient
History. Let every student of Grecian History
keep a well-read, " marked and quoted" copy of
Thirlwall's Epitome; let this form his outline, or,
as Abernethy would say, "his series of cells;"
and during his leisure hours let him amuse himself
with marking on the margin any part of Plutarch, Pausanias, or other writers, whom he identifies as Thirlwall's authorities.  With a little




TRANSLATIONS OF THE CLASSICS.  167
reflection he may see that Thirlwall has said too
much on one point, too little on another, and has
not chosen the best illustration or argument in
support of a third. This exercise of judgment is
very improving: it is more improving to think,
though we sometimes think erroneously, than to
follow blindly, like a traveller who observes only
what his guide points out. The student should
gradually extend these marginal notes and references; for they will agreeably mark his progress.
How many a classical anecdote passes traceless
through the mind, because we want a cell for itbecause we have no such common-place book in
which to set it down! The value of facts, as of
figures, is determined by the series in which they
stand: and nothing is more likely to render us
alive to their value than the constant comparison
which translations will suggest, between some
seemingly unimportant observation of Plutarch
and the value which the same observation assumes
in the hands of Thirlwall, by elucidating the
social or political institutions.
The first time we read Herodotus it seems like
a collection of stories; at the second reading we
begin to trace the connection; till, gradually, the
mist clears away, the scene becomes distinct, and
large sections of the ancient world open to our
view.  Another suggestion for expanding the
4r 




168    COURSE OF ENGLISH READING.
mind, and teaching "How to observe" (the title
of a clever volume by Miss Martineau), is, to read
Herodotus through once, without assistance, and
a second time in connection with I-Ieeren's "Researches into the Politics, Intercourse, and Trade
of the principal Nations of Antiquity." Heeren,
like those who travel into comparatively unknown
countries, is rather apt to be led too far, by an
endeavour to bring to light curiosities commensurate with his toil, and is accused of drawing
conclusions rather more extensive than his premises; but this is only saying, that in reading
Heeren, like every author, you should hear his
opinions, but still judge for yourself.
Again, translations open to us the only true
source of the manners, customs, and general spirit
of past ages. Niebaihr has revealed great part of
the Roman constitution; but, as to the habits of
life, topics of conversation, and subjects of thought
which filled up the twenty-four hours of every
day at Rome or at Athens, there is still a wide
field for discovery. The books on Antiquities, by
Smith, Rich, Adams, and Potter, convey mere
fragments, and are no more to be compared to the
perusal of the original authors, than the scraps of
information from a tourist's guide-book are to be
compared to the well-digested knowledge of an
observing traveller. "For this knowledge of an



DEFECTS OF HISTORIANS.        169
tiquity," said Niebuhr, " the materials lie widely
scattered; every scholar must collect and arrange
as many as he has the industry or the ingenuity to
discover; and in putting them together (like the
pieces of some ancient pavement, to form one
consistent pattern, delineating ancient life) the
mind receives a most invaluable exercise."-Supposing you wished to know the spirit of the last
century and the general state of society; history
would tell you perhaps that a taste for literature,
or sense of religion, were less general than at the
present time. By such vague and negative testimony, diluted in a flood of words, with the mere
names of "men eminent for piety or learning,"
do historians (always excepting Mr. Macaulay)
convey impressions which they have derived from
memoirs and private letters written by the most
distinguished characters of their respective times.
Consider, for instance, the letters of Lady Mary
Wortley Montagu; think not only of their general tone and spirit, not only of the social influences and sphere of action which those letters
betray; but think of the state of society, when a
lady of rank could complain in a letter to a friend,
that so deplorably ignorant, so devoid of all but
folly and vanity, were the minds of the young
ladies of fashion, that they were more open to
sophistry, and more commonly turned atheists,




170    COURSE OF ENGLISH READING.
than even the professed rakes of the other sex;
and, instead of that modesty which should teach
respect for married persons, they really laughed
at them, as having prudishly fettered themselves
by an obligation with which the world had become
wise enough to dispense. Equally great is the difference between the vivid and truthful impressions
produced by translations of Xenophon or Cicero,
and the vague remarks and " impotent conclusions " of modern writers. In short, if you would
rather listen to " thoughts that breathe," in " words
that burn," from a traveller telling his own story,
than to a spiritless version second-hand; if you
would be better satisfied with hearing truth drawn
by instalments, and with all the reluctance of the
seven teeth of King John's Jew, from a lying
witness by a sharp counsel, than with reading a
report of the same trial in ten lines; if you would
enjoy all the strife of tongues, and time-beguiling
interest of a debate in the House more than the
summary in a country paper a week after; then
must you also prefer picking your way through
translations of the classics, and culling the choicest
sweets and flowers, according to your own taste
and appetite, to any essays on manners and customs, and any of those meagre descriptions to
which we may well apply the words of Byron,
"'Tis Greece, but living Greece no more."




VALUE OF THE CLASSICS.          171
"I consider," says Jeremy Taylor, "that the
wisest persons, and those who know how to value
and entertain the more noble faculties of their soul
and their precious hours, take pleasure in reading
the productions of those old wise spirits who preserved natural reason and religion in the midst of
heathen darkness, such as Homer, Euripides, Orpheus, Pindar, and Anacreon, }Eschylus, and
Menander, and all the Greek poets; Plutarch, and
Polybius, Xenophon, and all those other excellent
persons of both faculties, whose choicest dictates
are collected by Stobceus; Plato and his scholars,
Aristotle, and after him Porphyry, and all his
other disciples, Pythagoras, and especially Hierocles and all the old Academics and Stoics within
the Roman school."
Consider, in the classical records of the wisdom
of antiquity, the faint glimmerings of life and immortality, which it remained for the Gospel fully
to bring to light; consider the evident yearning of
the souls of men for knowledge; consider the
history of unassisted reason, which describes, in
the feelings of every heart, such discord as plainly
showed the need of a Revelation to teach the uses
and relations of the several parts of the complicated machinery of man. Keep these points in
view during classical studies. Read in Thucydides how Nicias, amidst all the dangers of the




172    COURSE OF ENGLISH READING.
Sicilian campaign, tells his soldiers " his hope and
comfort is to reflect that he had always dealt honestly with his neighbour, and been mindful of hiE
God,"- how Euripides says that " the man who
has his God for his friend, has the fairest hope of
prosperity;" and Pliny, that " it is God-like in
man to show charity to man, and this is the road
to eternal life." Read more of the same kind in
Plato's Phoadon, describingc the last hours of Socrates, and also in Xenophon's Memoirs. In the
Greek tragedians, Humility is so inculcated as to
show that the minds of the Athenians were fully
possessed by the feeling that the man who did not
ascribe his prosperity to the hand of Providence,
but showed a proud and unchastened spirit, was
in danger of severe visitations; while, under the
all-prevailing fear of Ate, we may discern that the
Athenians were less incredulous than many in
later times of the truth of the threat, that the
sins of the fathers should be visited on the children
unto the third and fourth generation.
To general readers and ladies, my advice is to
use the outline history and the works of Keightley,
and study according to the method explained with
the History of Rome. They may be satisfied with
reading, first of all, to the death of Alexander the
Great. To fill up their outline they should read
the Grecian characters in Plutarch, and dip into




CLASSICS RECOMMENDED.         173
Xenophon's " Retreat of the Ten Thousand," and
"History of Greece," which begins where Thucydides leaves off, near the end of the Peloponnesian War. It is quite certain, for reasons already
published in the " Student's Guide," that Xenophon took up the pen exactly where Thucydides
laid it down; and the difference between the style
of the first two books of the " Hellenics," and the
rest of Xenophon's writings, implies an attempt to
continue the manner as well as the matter of Thucydides. On the Peloponnesian War, and the
state of Greece for half a century preceding it,
read a translation of Thucydides by Mr. Dale.
Attend particularly to the curious specimen of
historical criticism in the first twenty chapters; to
all the speeches; the plague of Athens; the sedition of Corcyra; the siege of Plataese; and read
attentively from the beginning to the end of the
Campaign in Sicily. Beloe's Herodotus contains
the materials of a very large part of ancient history. For the Life of Alexander the Great, read
the work of Arrian, to whom the younger Pliny
addressed several of his epistles. Arrian's history
is founded on the Memoirs of Aristobulus and
Ptolemy Lagus, who served under Alexander. A
Life of Alexander by Williams, in the "' Family
Library," is well written.  Gain an accurate
knowledge of the route at the north of India; this




174    COURSE OF ENGLISH READING.
will give an interest to Oriental travels lately
written; especially those by Sir A. Burnes and
Masson, as also that of Vigne, whose conjecture,
that Cabul is the same as Cau-Pol (KavKcaoov
7r6OXts), is, as Professor Wilson allowed, highly
probable. The speeches of Demosthenes "On
the Crown," and his three "Philippics," as well
as that orator's life by Plutarch, may well be read
in connection with the History of Philip of Macedon. I should also recommend the "i Edipus
Tyrannus" of Sophocles, by Potter, the "Agamemnon" of lEschylus, translated by Mr. Sewell;
and the "Medea " of Euripides, as highly serviceable to initiate the mind into the mysteries of
Grecian fable. A lady of my acquaintance found
the English translations of these tragedians sufficiently interesting to induce her to read every
play. You may also pick your way through some
of the dialogues of Plato, especially the "Phaedon," and Gillies's translation of Aristotle's " Politics." As to the rest of Ancient History, instead
of Rollin's " Ancient History," which, like Russell's " Modern Europe," tends, as I have generally observed, rather to the confusion than the
diffusion of knowledge, read Heeren's " Researches
both in Asia and Africa." This course of reading
may seem long; but since I leave each person to
select, more or less, according to the strength of




EGYPTIAN ANTIQUITIES.        175
his appetite and digestion, the course proposed
requires less time and labour than Rollin's " Ancient History" alone. Pope's " Homer" I need
hardly mention; so generally is it known and
read by both young and old. See Johnson's
criticism in his Life of Pope.
I will now conclude my observations on Grecian
History and Ancient History generally, with remarks for the benefit of all classes of readers.
The reason I extend my list of books, is to give
more scope for variety of taste and inclinations,
and not by any means to dispense with the rule,
NEVER READ TOO MUCH TO READ WELL.
Egyptian antiquities deserve especial notice.
Orpheus, Linus, Musaeus, Amphion, Sanchoniathon and Homer, as well as Pythagoras and Plato,
all visited Egypt. Solon, too, was assisted by the
Egyptian priests: and it was in Egypt that Herodotus found abundance to gratify his inquiring
spirit. From Egypt came the religion of the
Greeks; and whatever in Grecian mythology
seems to coincide with the Law and the Prophets,
has been not unreasonably supposed to have been
derived from the Egyptians, and by them from
the Israelites. That the Egyptians did receive
many things from those guardians of the Oracles
of God, can indeed hardly be doubted.
Iaimblicus, the preceptor of Julian, A.D. 360,




1.76    COURSE OF ENGLISH READING.
speaks of " the inscriptions on the ancient columns
of Hermes, on which Plato and Pythagoras
formed their philosophy.  Now these columns existed in Egypt in the time of Proclus, B.C. 500;
and on them were inscriptions according with the
doctrine of the Trinity, as is ingeniously explained
by Serle, in his "Iforae Solitariae," who mentions
also a name of the Deity " as near as translation
can attain to Jehovah." If I add the columns
mentioned by Procopius, found in the part of
Africa where the Carthaginians settled, inscribed,
" We are they that fled from the face of Joshua,
the son of Nun, the Robber," the reader can require no further argument to show the interest
which must attach to that land famed for wisdom
in the days of Moses. Therefore, besides IHeeren's
"African Nations," Dr. Pritchard's "Egyptian
Mythology" is a valuable work.  Sir G. Wilkinson's " Private Life, Religion, &c., of the Ancient
Egyptians," and published with 600 illustrations,
a very valuable work, is of great interest; but
Bunsen's Egypt is the latest, and in many respects unequalled.
Of Travels and modern writings for students
of Grecian History, the best are Dodwell's " Historical Tour through Greece," Gell's "Itinerary,"
and Leake's " Travels."  Miiller's " Dorians" is
only valuable to men of accurate classical reading:




ANTIQUITIES.             177
university students should read it in connection
with Herodotus and Thucydides. The articles on
Athens and Greece, in the c" Penny Cyclopaedia,"
are very usefully composed. Miiller's " Attica
and Athens" has lately been translated by J.
Ingram  Lockhart.  Stewart's " Antiquities of
Athens," with seventy plates, is valuable. A slight
glance at Mr. Wordsworth's " Greece," will show
that it supersedes all earlier writers; for he has
availed himself of the contents of all travels and
works on Greece existing at the time he wrote.
Flaxman's "Lectures on Sculpture," and the
" Specimens of Ancient Sculpture, selected from
different Collections of Great Britain by the Society of Dilettanti," as well as the Townle-,
Elgin, and Phigaleian Marbles, in the "Library
of Entertaining Knowledge," should be consulted
on the arts of Greece.
A " History of the Literature of Greece," by
Miiller, will be found in the " Library of Useful
Knowledge."  But, Col. Mure's work is by far
the most complete treatise on the same subject
that exists in English literature.
Lastly, I would recommend my readers to gain
a clear knowledge of the length and breadth of
the several parts of Greece, especially Attica;
and to compare every measurement with that of
some town or county of England.
N




178    COURSE OF ENGLISH READING.
I am only afraid that the variety of subjects
and books already mentioned should tempt young
persons to try too much.  The first thing to
consider is, for what purpose you are commencing
a course of study.  If to humour a literary ambition, to be thought learned, and to excite the
wonder of the ignorant, then abandon this vile and
degrading purpose, or your vanity will increase
much faster than your learning. What you gain
in head you will lose in heart; your mind will be
filled, but not refined, and excite far more jealousy
than admiration.  Read, as Bacon said, "for the
glory of your Creator and the relief of man's
estate;" to improve your talents for running the
race that is set before you; to prevent that periodical void within, which, like a vacuum, is doomed
to fill, and that with gnawing cares and souldebasing thoughts. Hear what Horace says,the finest motto for a Bible:
"Et ni
Posces ante diem LIBRUM cum lumine, si non
Intendes animum studiis et rebus honestis,
Invidia vel amore vigil torquebere." —I. Ep. 2. 37.
That is true of our faculties, which an old officer
said of his men, that there was no such security
for good behaviour as active service. The lusts
of the flesh maintain " a long pull, and a strong
pull, and a pull altogether," one way; and while




GENERAL OBSERVATIONS.         179
reason, conscience, and religion are arrayed against
them, the balance may be preserved. But when
these guards are not on duty, or perchance are
slumbering at their post, it is well if the history
of the past, or some such innocent recreation,
employs our memory, and engages our imagination; because, should these allies be gloating over
old pleasures or devising new, they will be playing on such dangerous ground, that they may
rouse up the enemy, and the citadel may be taken
by surprise.
" He that loveth a book," says Isaac Barrow,
"will never want a faithful friend, a wholesome
counsellor, a cheerful companion, an effectual
comforter. By study, by reading, by thinking,
one may innocently divert and pleasantly entertain himself, as in all weathers, so in all fortunes."
In following out one course of reading, do not
be impatient or disturbed because you do not
seem to be advancing as rapidly as others. Among
the many who desire to be thought literary
characters, nothing is more'common than an inclination to lock up the temple of knowledge and
throw away the key; or, to kick away the ladder,
that none may follow them.-So, beware of this
class of literary impostors: their life is one continued lie: they pretend to know far more than
they do know; and seek to magnify difficulties, and
N 2




180    COURSE OF ENGLISH READING.
hint that things are not so easy as they seem, implying that a talent peculiar to themselves is required for their favourite subjects.  In every
department of knowledge the man really proficient
is ever ready to communicate, and, forgetting all
the difficulties he encountered, firmly believes he
could teach his friends in half the time.
We should employ our minds with history, in
the same way as we should have done had we
lived in the times described. A man need not become a walking cyclopaedia; neither are we more
in honour bound to remember every circumstance
of former reigns, than every event in last year's
newspapers. We should read for the same purpose that we enter society, - to observe.  The
wisdom of the lesson may be remembered when
the facts are lost; and the moral remain, though
we forget the fable.  The portions of history
which enter into common conversation are limited,
and experience will soon suggest the most profitable subjects for more accurate study. No man
need be ashamed to say, when his memory is at
fault, "this or that has escaped me; let me ask a
question or two, and I shall be able to follow you."
Few persons are so ill-bred as to introduce abstruse subjects into general society. If you join
a party of antiquaries, you must expect antiquarian topics; but, in general society, no man of




TRAVELS.               181
ordinary reading can be painfully at a loss for
facts while he has the power of reasoning and
reflection. Next to the improvement and entertainment of your own mind, your design should
be to inform yourself on the general topics of
conversation. Read about the North of India,
Caffre Land, the Burman Empire, Australia, or
any other part of the world interesting at the
time present. To read only of the past, is to be
always out of fashion, and as uninteresting as an
old newspaper.  Men of extensive reading find
their chief advantage in this; —not that they remember all they read, but that they know exactly
where to seek for information; and, a few hours'
reading will at any time enable them to rally all
their scattered forces on the topic of general
conversation.
CHAP. IV.
HOW TO GAIN A KNOWLEDGE OF FOREIGN COUNTRIES.
ADDRESSED TO FIRE-SIDE TRAVELLERS AS WELL AS
OTHERS.
READERS of travels, as well as actual travellers,
differ widely in curiosity and observation; therefore, as some tourists consult Guides and HandN3




182    COURSE OF ENGLISH READING.
books to learn what galleries to visit and what
sights to inquire for, others learn from  Miss
Martineau's late work "How to observe." As
for those who must for the present be satisfied
with the pleasures of anticipation, in planning
tours and laying down the route they would like
to take, should some happy contingency occur,
to these speculative voyagers over the wide waters
of the round world, I will offer a few hints, showing how to gain as much knowledge as possible
of foreign countries, even although, like the Vicar
of Wakefield's family, " all their adventures were
by the fireside, and all their migrations from the
blue bedroom to the brown."
Basil Hall advises midshipmen to begin their
career by " taking up a line;" that is, to aspire
to some particular character; for seamanship, for
science, generalship, or diplomacy; so, readers of
travels should begin with choosing a topic which
every volume may contribute to illustrate. Instead
of turning over thousands of pages without an object, they should keep some one subject uppermost
in their thoughts, so as to be competent referees
on any question concerning it. Take, for instance, one of the following topics:1. The history of man, or human nature under
every variety of climate or influence, whether
social or physical; the savage, the slave, the freeman, the heathen, the Christian:




HISTORY OF MAN.            183
2. The wonders of creation, —the animals, produce; natural phenomena, - storms, earthquakes,
or volcanoes, in every part of the world:
3. The arts and sciences,-literature, education, ingenuity, and points of superiority in different nations.
First. As to the history of man. This subject
was chosen by Dr. Pritchard, whose learned work
remarkably exemplifies how to collect and classify
information. The author read all the travels he
could procure, to illustrate the modifying influence of physical and moral agencies on the different tribes of the human family. From his
work it appears that, however much may be said
about the artificial and unnatural habits that
civilisation produces, human strength, endurance,
and longevity —to say nothing of the development of those capacities which are deemed the
proper characteristics of man —are greater among
civilised than in uncivilised nations. This is a fact
which the most ordinary reader would be curious
to know: I have therefore selected it from a
volume of deep and subtle investigation, to show
with what care and interest we may illustrate a
subject seemingly of deep philosophy. Catlin's
"Notes on the North American Indians," with
400 illustrations, contain a most curious history
of our brother man. From  these sources we
N4




184    COURSE OF ENGLISH READING.
learn that works of art, considered impossible
under all the advantages of a civilised state, are
every day produced by the simple instruments
of untutored nations. After reading Mr. Catlin's
travels, and visiting his collection, I happened
to take up Bremner's excursion in Russia, and
shortly afterwards Davis's and Gutzlaff's accounts
of the Chinese, which induced me to visit the
Chinese Exhibition in London. Let any reader
consider the effect which must be produced on
the mind by the following observations, relating
to three races of men in distant parts of the
world: First, Mr. Catlin showed an Indian bow
which no turner in London could equal, and a
cloth which astonished the manufacturers of Manchester.  Secondly, Mr. Bremner stated that the
Russians, with no plane or line, nor any other
tool than an axe, will cut and join even edges
with the greatest precision. And, thirdly, in the
Chinese Exhibition appeared that varied collection of works of art too well known to need description. Again; how must the mind be opened
and improved by comparing the different habits
of life, —the food, the occupations, the character
of these widely differing and distant nations.
And how much more light will be thrown.upon
man's history, if in the life of Ali Pacha we read
of the state of Egypt, and see how that prince




WONDERS OF CREATION.           185
of slave-dealers carries on, or at least sanctions,
the annual negro-hunts.  One who has not read
of the horrors of this chase has yet to learn how
far it is possible for human nature, left to the
control of conscience alone, without the chastening
discipline of a Christian community, brutally to
make prey of the flesh and blood of his fellowman. In the extermination of the Red Indians
by the encroaches of the colonists of America, we
learn more lessons of the same kind, though less
cold-blooded and revolting. Borrow's " Gypsies
in Spain," as well as his " Bible in Spain," which
might as properly be entitled "Gipsy Adventures," together with the history of the " Thugs,"
or Indian Assassins, will all be valuable to those
who think that "the proper study of mankind is
man: " nor can any kind of reading afford more
thrilling interest.
Secondly. As to the wonders of creation and
natural phenomena. This, like the last, is a topic
suited to every capacity, - to the philosopher,
who needs no assistance, as well as to the general
reader, who would beguile a winter's evening by
gratifying his curiosity about the wide world and
all things that are therein. Humboldt's " Kosmos" is a library in itself.
Thirdly.  The arts, sciences, literature, and
comparative superiority of different nations can




186    COURSE OF ENGLISH READING.
also be studied by persons of various tastes and
capacities.  Some may compare the works of art
and manual performance only, and see how little
the pyramids of Egypt appear, in any thing but
their uselessness, when compared with our mines
and railways. The measurement of some of the
tanks of India and the wall of China may be
profitably remembered by reference to our docks,
canals, water-works, gas-pipes, and other machinery.  Again, those of maturer mind may
regard rather moral and social, than physical
grandeur; but my intention is directed to encourage and suggest the first attempts of a large
class of readers, who are too diffident to believe
they can attain the information which their friends
possess. Many a naturalist, who has added a valuable collection to a museum, has attributed all his
eminence to some accident which induced him to
make a store of birds' eggs or snail-shells at school,
Cowley attributed his poetry to the chance
perusal of the " Fairy Queen; " Sir J. Reynolds
attributed his painting to Richardson's treatise;
and Franklin imputed the cast of his genius to
De Foe's " Essay on Projects." Nature implants,
and education developes genius; but accident has
much to do in directing it to suitable employments. Had not Gibbon sat " musing amidst the
ruins of the Capitol, while the barefooted friars




DEVELOPMENT OF GENIUS.         187
were singing vespers in the Temple of Jupiter,
the idea of the "decline and fall of the city"
might not have " started in his mind."  Many
an author who has enlightened the world has felt
unworthy of the honours conferred upon him; because he attributes all his success to some chance
suggestion which first directed attention to his
favourite order of phenomena; and, because his
discoveries seemed too obvious to be overlooked
by any one who had collected the same class of
facts under equal advantages. Men of genius
will rarely believe an investigation to be impracticable to others which is so easy to themselves:
still, a patient adherence to a mere mechanical
system of study has often produced results which
undoubtedly appear the work, not of industry,
but of genius. " If I surpass other men," said
Newton, " in any thing, it is in patient examination of facts."
One of my friends has a map of England, on
which he has coloured each road he has travelled;
every county of which he knows the habits of the
people, or the produce and advantages of the
soil. He has also marked with figures many of
the towns, as being of the first, second, third, or
fourth class, in respect of population.  Such
methods prove a strong incentive, both to deep
research and methodical study; they forbid us to




188    COURSE OF ENGLISH READING.
forget that we read, not to count volumes, but
to store up knowledge. The maps we choose
should be originally blank ones, representing
terra incognita; a dark colour may also be appropriate. We shall thus be prompted to study,
that we may dispel this cloud which broods over
the face of the earth, and in its place diffuse some
lively hue emblematic of the light of knowledge.
These few hints will serve as a sufficient clue to
the shortest, safest, and most agreeable road to the
knowledge which travellers can impart. Of all the
works which may be skimmed, travels are] those
with which the reader may avail himself of this
privilege with the clearest conscience. He is not
bound to read of more than one passage from
Dover to Calais, or of one ducking at the Line.
The table of contents will generally point out the
parts worth reading.
For those who prefer voyages of discovery,
whale-fishery, and all the phenomena and wonders
of the deep, the voyages of Cook, Parry, and Ross
are to be preferred, because it is injudicious to
remain ignorant of books which others know.
Read Park's " Travels in Africa," for the same
reason, also " Mutiny of the Bounty."
The " Lives of Drake, Cavendish, and Dampier, with the History of the Buccaneers," form
one entertaining volume. The " Travels and Re



SELECT TRAVELS.            189
searches of Humboldt," being a condensed narrative of his journey in America and Asiatic Russia,
is a work second to none.  Besides these,
" Eithen " is the most compendious, and the best
narrative of Eastern travel; and Warburton's
" Crescent and the Cross; "-" ]From Cornhill to
Cairo;"  Stephens's "Central America;" Basil
IHall's "Fragments of Voyages and Travels;"
Charles Dickens's " America;" Sir F. B. Head's
"Emigrant," and  all his writings;  Lyell's
" Travels in  North America;"  Whiteside's
" Italy;" and Borrow's " Bible in Spain," and
" Gypsies in Spain." Here are ten works of more
than usual talent. A common catalogue will
supply numerous others of average interest.
As to manners, customs, and the general state
of different nations, — these form more or less the
subject of all travels; but more particularly ofCatlin's "Letters and Notes on the Manners
and Customs of the North American Indians;"
"Travels in North America, and a Residence
among the Pawnee Indians," by the Hon. C. A.
Murray; "Life in Alexico,"  in the Foreign
Library; Gardiner's " Visit to the Indians of
Chili;" Davis's " Description of China and its
Inhabitants," and Gutzlaff's " China Opened;"
"c Narrative of a Recent Imprisonment in China,
after the wreck of the Kite;" "Ten Thousand




190    COURSE OF ENGLISH READING.
Things relating to China and the Chinese," by W.
B. Langdon, Esq., curator of the Chinese Collection. This forms an epitome of the government,
literature, trade, and social life of the Chinese.
"Manners and Customs of the Japanese of the
Nineteenth Century;" "History and present Condition of the Barbary States," with a view of their
antiquities, arts, &c., by the Right Rev. M. Russell; "Nubia and Abyssinia," by the same author; Kohl's "Russia and the Russians in 1842;"
" Excursions in the Interior of Russia," by Bremner, with an account of Nicholas and his court,
and the horrors of exile in Siberia; " Journal of
a Residence in Norway, in 1834," and " Sweden,"
by Samuel Laing. — All these works are of indisputable value, and contain much to interest
both old and young.
For readers of mature mind, who can enter into
historical disquisitions'and historical reflections:" Notes (Moral, Religious, Political, Economical, Educational, and Phrenological) on the United
States of America;" of this it is enough to say
that it is written by George Combe; Smith's " Discovery of America by the Northmen in the Tenth
Century;" Buckingham's " America;" the second
series describes the slave states; Miss Martineau's
"America;" a book of much observation and reflection; Sir F. B. Head's "Rough Notes;" the




ANCIENT CITIES.          191
"Pampas and the Andes; " Bishop Heber's
"Journal" (very elegantly written, and generally
admired, though few readers receive from it very
lasting impressions); "Notes of a Traveller on
the Social and Political State of France, Prussia,
Switzerland, Italy, and other Parts of Europe,
during the present Century," by S. Laing;
" Mediterranean Sketches," by Lord F. Egerton;
"Forest Scenes and Incidents in the Wilds of
Canada," by Sir F. B. Head; Waterton's "Wanderings in the N. W. of the United States;" —
describing the capture of rare snakes and birds;
natural history.
For those curious about ancient cities, ruins,
and remains of bygone days:
"' Tour to the Sepulchres of Ancient Etruria,
in 1839," by Mrs. Hamilton Gray; Stephens's
" Incidents of Travel in Central America, Chiapas, and Yucatan;" also his " Second Visit to
the Ruined Cities of Central America." Norman's " Rambles in Yucatan; or, Notes of Travel
through the Peninsula, including a Visit to the
remarkable Ruins of Chi-chen, Kabah, Zayi,
and Uxmal." Laborde's "Arabia Petroea, and
the excavated City of Petra" (very interesting
and curious); " Narrative of a Journey to the
Site of Babylon in 1811; Memoir on the Ruins,
with engravings — Remarks by Major Rennel




192    COURSE OF ENGLISH READING.
- Inscriptions copied at Persepolis," by Claudius
James Rich, Esq.; also of a " Residence on the
Site of Ancient Nineveh," by the same author;
Layard's works on Nineveh; visit also the sculpture in the British Museum; Fellows's " Excursion in Asia Minor; including a Visit to several
unknown and undiscovered Cities; " and his
"Xanthian Marbles;  their Acquisition and
Transmission to England;" Kinnear's " Cairo,
Petrata, and Damascus;" "Topography of Thebes,
and General View of Egypt;" "Pompeii; an
Account of its Destruction and Remains;" Professor Long's " Egyptian Antiquities;"  and
Bucke's " Ruins of Ancient Cities."
Fifthly. For readers of Classical and Biblical
literature may be specified:Sir A. Burnes's " Travels to Bokhara and up
the Indus." This may be read in connection with
the life of Alexander the Great. Cramer's Asia
Minor, Ancient Italy, and Greece, as also Lake's,
are chiefly valuable to the more accurate students
of the classics. Lake's "Northern Greece; " and
" Topography of Athens and the Demi; " Lord
Lindsay's "Letters on the Holy Land;" Robinson's  "Biblical Researches in  Palestine,
Mount Sinai, and Arabia Petroaa, in 1838;"
"A Winter Journey through Russia, Caucasus,
and Georgia, thence across Mount Zagross, by




ADVICE TO TOURISTS.          193
the Pass of Xenophon, and the Ten Thousand
Greeks," by Migdan; Wordsworth's "Athens;"
also "Ancient Greece," and Eustace's " Classical Tour," above recommended.
Sixthly. For tourists in Great Britain or on
the Continent:
A full and impartial catalogue of all the most
approved works in every department of English
literature is published annually by Messrs. Longman, containing, under the head of " Guides and
Hand-books," a list of works for travellers visiting every part of England or of the Continent. In
this catalogue the tourist will find pictures, handbooks, guides, and travelling directions of all kinds.
But since Dr. Johnson wisely said that no traveller
will bring knowledge home who does not take
knowledge out with him, I would strongly re-commend every tourist to inform himself of the
{government, constitution, resources, and general:nature of the town, county, or country he intends
to visit. The traveller should know what to look'or inquire for: he should also read sufficiently to
understand common allusions to such events of the
kday as every one with whom he converses will
presume to be too familiar to need explanation.
Let me strongly recommend young persons to
avail themselves of all the Illustrated works they
can procure, as the most fertile source not only
TO




194    COURSE OF ENGLISH READING.
of rational amusement but of serious instruction.
With the productions of the pencil, as with those
of the pen, the same methodical application and
careful comparison are essential to real improvement. Panoramas are a great help to knowledge.
Imitate Lord Kenyon, who, amidst all his judicial labours, was the first to visit every shilling
show in London; and, beware of the erroneous
supposition, that knowledge is only to be derived
from books. The sculptor speaks with his chisel,
and the painter with his brush - and speaks far
more intelligibly, as to the visible creation, than
the writer with his pen.
CtIAP. V.
PHILOSOPHY,  IORAL, POLITICAL, MENTAL -— LOGIC -
MIETAPHYSICS.
PHILOSOPHY, my young friends, may seem to you
a very hard term, and you may feel disposed to
pass by this chapter as wholly unsuited to your
taste or talents; but, with a little attention, it
may appear that to think and reflect, not only on
what you see, but on what you feel,- in other
words, to think about your own thoughts and
emotions, and to examine curiously anything




PHILOSOPHY.              195
which seems remarkable in such thoughts, emotions or feelings,- you may find, I say, that this
kind of study is not too severe, if you read a little
at a time. And should you only try, the course
of reading I have to propose, or indeed any one of
the volumes, can hardly fail to produce a very
sensible effect upon your mind. Have you never
observed, that certain of your acquaintance are
remarkable for giving a very favourable impression of their good sense and understanding to any
person with whom they happen to converse, although only for a few minutes, and that too upon
some topic which gives scope neither for general
reading nor deep learning?
This mysterious influence, this weight of character, depends chiefly on the exact truth of our
thoughts and the propriety of our words. "The
truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the
truth," should be the rule, even of the most
casual of our daily remarks; and the degree of
our conformity to this rule is the measure,
mentally as well as morally, of our influence
upon society. The world often pays homage to
this truthfulness of thought and expression without knowinog what it reverences. A certain plain
and ssimple way of peaking, so generally admired, is nothing else but the language natural
only to those who discern the exact truth of every
O 2




196    COURSE OF ENGLISH READING.
question, - mean what they say, and say what
they mean.
To seek truth for truth's sake has therefore
been the laudable object of those called philosophers, or lovers of wisdom, both in ancient and
modern times. To paint the surface of the human
figure, we must know anatomy, otherwise there
will be a want of ease and true expression. To
speak correctly on our feelings, we must know
the real nature of our feelings, or, Moral Philosophy; to speak correctly of our thoughts, we
must know the laws of thought, or, Mental
Philosophy.
On MORAL PHILOSOPHY, the most easy, plain,
and intelligible work is that by Paley, which for
vigour, freshness, ease, and perspicuity of style,
as well as for aptness of illustration, is unrivalled;
but many of its principles and definitions savour
so much of casuistry that it is generally believed
that Paley would have been incapable of writing
so loosely at a later period of his life. This, indeed, is the remark of Professor Sedgwick, whose
admirable lectures I should strongly recommend
to be read in connection with Paley's " Moral
Philosophy."
The moral essays of Johnson's " Rambler" and
Addison's " Spectator" should next be selected;




MORAL PHILOSOPHY.           197
and then such of Bacon's Essays as appear from
their title to relate to this subject.
Chalmers's "Bridgewater Treatise" contains
most ingenious illustrations, and is on the whole
well calculated to give information in an amusing
way. The style unfortunately is turgid, and
contains many words "not found in Johnson."
Chalmers's object was to prove how admirably our
hearts and minds are suited to the sphere in which
we live.
I do not presume that the same person will
read all the, volumes here recommended. Each
can select such chapters as rivet his attention.
The following list is for those who have a more
decided preference for philosophical works: —
Mackintosh's "Dissertations on the Study of
Ethical Philosophy."  This is an admirably comprehensive work, well suited as a guide to subsequent reading. For the same purpose, some recommend Beattie's " Principles of Moral Science,"
which have attained much celebrity, but less than
"The Philosophy of the Moral Feelings," by
Abercrombie. Those, however, who would go to
the fountain, should read " Bishop Butler's Sermons:" this work is much read at Oxford, and
forms a subject of examination for the highest
honours. Dr. Chalmers and Sir James Mackintosh are both reputed to have said that nearly
o03




198    COURSE OF ENGLISH READING.
all they knew of moral philosophy they owed to
Butler. The late Dr. Arnold also recommended
Butler's Sermons as one of the few works we
should never cease reading. Butler's reasoning is
too abstruse for some minds. But, few persons,
really desirous of improvement, can be at a loss
for occasional assistance from men of sound education. I knew an instance of a young lady who
read these sermons with her brother, that she
might receive an explanation of every difficulty.
Mrs. Somerville truly remarks, as an encouragement to her countrywomen to study science, that
the degree of intelligence required to follow a
theory is not to be measured by the genius originally required for its discovery. Dissertations
most perplexing of themselves may be very easy
when we have a friend to vary the terms and simplify the arguments.  Mlany persons of sound
judgment have declared, that if there were one
book of human composition which, more than
another, they felt thankful to have read, it was
Butler's Sermons.
After Butler, Sewell's "Christian Morals" is
a good book, if you read but one; and Abercrombie's " Philosophy of the Moral Feelings" is a
work of deserved celebrity. It is written in a
clear and elegant style. Abercrombie also is suited
to those who have only leisure to read a little.




BURKE'S FRENCH REVOLUTION.   199
Sydney Smith's " Lectures of Moral Philosophy"
are superior to any in point of entertainment.
John Foster's " Essays on Decision of Character 
are admirable, and of the greatest interest to the
class of readers now addressed; as also is Taylor's
" Natural History of Society,' in which are considered the origin and progress of human improvement.
Dr. Hampden's Article in the Encyclopedia
Britannica, on Aristotle's Philosophy, will convey
much well-digested information on ancient ethics.
This, as well as Harris's Treatises on "Art" and
" Happiness," is very generally read by Oxford
classmen. To those who study Aristotle's Ethics,
I speak advisedly, when I say, that if they would
only select from the books here recommended
all the chapters which treat on the same subjects
as the several books of the Ethics, and if they
would also accustom themselves to write Ethical
Essays, — really Ethical, not Aristotelian, -they
would have a better chance of University distinction, and would also enjoy the benefit of that
mental exercise and those literary qualifications
which Oxford honours should imply.
POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY.- Our duties as
citizens form one part of Paley's "Moral and
Political Philosophy," above mentioned. Bishop
Butler's Sermon before the House of Lords, on
04




200    COURSE OF ENGLISH READING.
the 30th of January, 1740, and also Burke's
"French Revolution," albeit Fox said he disliked it as much as any writing by Paine, form
an invaluable study for youth and age. The
Right Hon. E. Burke's works are considered a
treasury of political wisdom.
On Political Economy, the most easy and instructive reading for young persons is found in
the Tales by Miss Martineau. I knew a young
lady who read the whole series with the greatest
avidity, although she was not generally fond of
study. The leading principles of Adam Smith's
"Wealth of Nations" are here shown in their
operation in a village or other community, ingeniously and naturally represented, so as to
present both cause and effect, the beginning and.
the end, of each impolitic system. Mrs. Marcet's
Conversations are at least equally admired.
Miss Martineau has, like all other persons, male
and female, who have the boldness to be original,
been ridiculed, and in nothing more wittily than
"Femina tractavit propria que maribus."
Nor must her peculiar opinions, which give a
harsh and ungenial tone to her writings, be forgotten; still, few persons are at once so deep and
clear that they need disdain her assistance.
For men of reflection, Adam Smith's work
must be the grammar and groundwork of political




POLITICAL ECONOMY.          201
economy. Ricardo is also celebrated; but Mill's
" Political Economy" is the best modern work.
The "Westminster Review" speaks highly of W.
N. Senior's treatise; but, for compendious information, the " Cyclopaedia of Commerce," by
M'Culloch, is a library in itself.
As supplementary to this branch of study, read'" The Economy of Machinery and Manufactures,"
by C. Babbage; " The Cotton Manufacture of
Great Britain," by A. Ure. On " Colonization
and the Colonies," read Lectures by Herman
Merivale;.also, "Colonization, particularly in
S. Australia," by Sir C. Napier; and Cornewall
Lewis's " Essay on the Government of Dependencies."  The works of J. W. Gilbart, General
Manager of the London and Westminster Bank,
consisting of "The History and Principles of
Banking," "ccThe Currency Question, an Examination of Evidence in Committee in 1840,"
and " Country Banks and the Currency, from
Evidence in Committee in 1841," by G. M. Bell.
Read also the Life of Horner, in Brougham's
"Statesmen," and Papers in the " Edinburgh Review" therein recommended, written in 1802-3-4.
On " Population," read Malthus, and the Reviews
upon his Essay; also, " Political Economy," by
the same, "Whateley's Introductory Lectures,"
" M'Culloch's Principles."  Sewell's "Christian,J




202    COURSE OF ENGLISH READING.
Politics" contains some admirable observations.
"Principles of Population," by Sir A. Alison,
is the principal remaining work of note. Lord
Brougham has also published his opinions on political economy. Francis's " History of the Bank
of England," and his " Chronicles of the Stock
Exchange," are highly interesting, especially to
men of business.
Besides, or instead of any or all of these, the
articles on Taxation, Rent, or any other part of
political economy, may be studied in the Cyclopaedias. This subject, indispensable as it is for
understanding the news of the day, is generally
considered to be a mystery which none but a
chosen few can penetrate. If there is any one
subject on which all should be informed, but
almost all are ignorant, it is political economy.
Many of the works above mentioned are suited
to the most ordinary capacity; nor is there one
of which most young ladies might not improve
by the study of many portions. Young ladies
reading Political Economy indeed! some will exclaim; and were there not some so silly as to
laugh in the wrong place, this and many other
books would be wholly unnecessary. It is not
many years since reading of any kind was held
ridiculous in women; but, happily, the opinion
that ladies were designed for nothing nobler than




MENTAL PHILOSOPHY.          203
"to suckle fools and chronicle small beer," as
Shakespeare says, is less prevalent.
MENTAL PHILOSOPHY and METAPHYSICS.
Abercrombie's work on the Intellectual Powers
is the best for those who can only read one book.
Another work much more interesting to the general reader is Combe's " Constitution of Man;"
at the same time I should recommend one of
Combe's works on " Phrenology," and his " Lectures on Popular Education." Whether the reader
believes in Phrenology, more, less, or not at all,
the works of Combe and Gall are deeply interesting from the facts they contain. The Phrenologists, and Physiologists generally, write in a
very lucid and pleasing style. There is no class
of men with whom it is so easy to converse, and
none who keep more to the point, nor are any
more properly to be called clear-headed, than
the Medical Profession. Gall's work displays
great learning, and is valuable to every one who
would know the history of human nature.
Locke's work " On the Conduct of the Understanding" is brief, and easily intelligible. This,
as well as many parts of "Watts on the Mind,"
is well suited to young persons. Those who
would dip more deeply into Metaphysics should
read Locke's larger work, Harris's " Philosophical
Arrangements," and Reid's "Essays on the In



204    COURSE OF ENGLISH READING.
tellectual Powers of Man," to which is annexed
an analysis of Aristotle's Logic_; — these works
alone will give a general knowledge of ancient
Metaphysics; -then " Bacon's Novum Organon,"
Locke " On the Human Understanding," and the
works of Thomas Brown and Dugald Stewart.
However, it is not my purpose to attempt to lay
down a plan for readers capable of profound investigations; I would only remind them of Sir J.
Mackintosh's papers in the "Encyclopedia Britannica." His works have also been published in
one volume.
Many works on Insanity are very interesting
to the general reader —such as those by Munro,
Mayo, and Willis. The facts on which the theories of every class of Physiologists are founded
are so deeply interesting and generally useful,
that they are supposed to be to some extent
familiar to all persons of good education.  In
parts of Beck's "Medical Jurisprudence," as also
in Dr. Taylor's book, much admired by the Profession, you will find an explanation of that insanity by which persons are legally irresponsible,
as well as many interesting cases, in which medical science has promoted the ends of justice.
Works of this kind, the unprofessional may read
like a newspaper, remembering that they should
dip into them with their minds as we would dip




POPULAR MEDICINE.           205
into a jar of steel filings with a magnet; more or
less will adhere and be gathered up in proportion
as the instrument has been previously charged.
" Pray remember," writes Southey to his son,
"all other considerations should give way to
health. A man had better break a bone, or even
lose a limb, than shake his nervous system. Lord
Mansfield advises only eight hours' reading a day
for a student of law; and Sir MN. Hale thought six
hours as much as a man could bear; eight, he said,
was too much." So read
POPULAR WORKS ON MEDICINE.-" Combe
on the Constitution of Man " is very generally
read by persons of all ages. Of late, so many
men of eminence have been impressed with a conviction that health and life are daily and hourly
thrown away through ignorance of the most simple
principles of health, air, exercise, food, and general
habits, that many works have been written, not
only for the doctors, but for the patients. "Every
man by thirty is, in his own case, either a physician or a fool," said Abernethy.
Thompson's "Domestic Management of the
Sick-room," and, above all others, South's " Hint's
on Emergencies," are well written, and intended
for the guidance of those who would co-operate
with the medical attendant, or supply his place
before he arrives. I have known a case in which




206    COURSE OF ENGLISH READING.
a life was saved by a lady having the sense
to get a warm bath ready when a child had the
croup; and a life lost by the ignorance of a wife,
who pressed on her husband a plate of roast meat
in a case of inflammation.
Dr. Holland's "Medical Notes" are very instructive. Read particularly an article in the
"Quarterly," No. CXXX., on Dr. Holland's
medical treatment, and the case of St. Martin in
America. St. Martin had an open wound in the
stomach, so that the process of digestion could be
watched: many hundreds of observations were
made on the digestibility of food and the influence
of various habits both of the mind and body.
On GRAMMAR, LOGIC, and RHETORIC. - The
Grammarian teaches the connection of words in
propositions; the Logician teaches the connection of propositions in argument; the Rhetorician,
the connection of arguments in persuasion. The
most useful English grammar is that by the celebrated William Cobbett. He treats particularly
of the points on which persons are most commonly
deficient. As works of a more philosophical character, Harris's "Hermes," and Horne Tooke's
"Diversions of Purley," are known to most good
English scholars. The " Edinburgh" and " Quarterly" also contain several instructive essays,
which may be found by the index of each.




GRAMMAR, LOGIC, AND RHETORIC.  207
Dr. Crombie's " Etymology and Syntax of the
English Language " is also in high repute. Trench's
"Use of Words," and Latham's "Structure of
the English Language" may also be recommended.
The scholar should devote one or two weeks to
Vernon's "Anglo-Saxon Guide."
On Logic, read Whateley's " Elements," and a
Treatise by Dr. Moberly, and " Edinburgh Review," No. 115. The Oxford student should
make Aldrich his text-book, and use the treatises
of Huyshe, Moberly, Hill, with Questions on
Logic and Answers to explain Aldrich. Also
Hampden's article on the Rhetoric of Aristotle,
Woolley's "Logic" and select chapters of Aristotle's "Organon." Mr. Newman's "Lectures on
Logic," delivered at Bristol, are much admired.
On Rhetoric, read Whateley's " Elements,"
Campbell's "Philosophy of Rhetoric." Scholars
may read Cicero's " Orator," and Quinctilian;
even the English reader may profitably dip into
the translation of Aristotle's "Rhetoric;" and
read HIampden's article upon it before mentioned.
Grammar, Logic, and Rhetoric, are subjects to
be deeply studied only by those who are naturally
fond of science. Still, no one can be considered
well educated who has not read at least one treatise upon each of these subjects.
The best general History of Ancient Philoso



208    COURSE OF ENGLISH READING.
phy, Moral and Metaphysical, is that by Ritter.
Mr. Lewes's " Biographical History of Philosophy," will be found an interesting introduction.
CHAP. VI.
ON THE FINE ARTS.
PAINTING, Sculpture, and Architecture, are three
subjects on which nearly all persons of polite
education, professional or unprofessional, feel
compelled to conceal ignorance, if they cannot display knowledge. It is not my purpose to minister
to the vanity of those who pick up the names
of ancient masters or celebrated galleries, and
affect to be connoisseurs: but, two or three simple
directions for attaining the elements of criticism
and a general history of art may be profitable in
various ways. It will save us from that shame
and confusion which we should otherwise feel
when the fine arts form the subject of conversation; it will enable us to understand the elegant
illustrations which authors commonly derive from
the arts; it will qualify us to profit by the conversation of men of taste, giving a nucleus for




ON THE FINE ARTS.           209
gathering a new kind of matter, drawing forth a
new power of the mind, and opening to us a
never-failing source of the purest pleasure and
refinement.
I may encourage the studious with the strongest
assurance that, great as is the advantage of cultivating a taste and of acquiring knowledge of the
fine arts, this to many minds is a work of very
little time or toil. It consists more in observation than in reading; it consists in opening our
eyes and ears with curiosity, on occasions in which
they are too frequently closed or turned away.
Indeed, so prevalent is the opinion, that we cannot judge of any picture, statue, or piece of
architecture, without some qualities with which
only a chosen few are endowed, that many possessing not less judgment, but more honesty, than
their neighbours, confess, that for them to visit
works of art is mere waste of time: they say they
know what is pleasing to themselves, but cannot
venture to express any opinion, because such
matters seem not within the sphere of their
understanding. But this is often an unfair estimate of their own capacities. With a little attention to the following directions, it is quite possible
that they may prove even better qualified to give a
sound opinion on works of art than many of the
most confident connoisseurs of their acquaintance.
Vp




210    COURSE OF ENGLISH READING.
We will begin with PAINTING.
First. Request some friend of undoubted taste,
who is fond of drawing, to accompany you to
some extensive collection, and improve the opportunity according to the suggestions of the
following anecdote:A youth of my acquaintance, who had been
more than once in the National Gallery, without
seeing the peculiar merit of any of the pictures,
chanced to visit them in company with a professional painter of correct judgment and good common sense. He observed, on entering, that he
knew nothing of the value of paintings, and would
gladly receive a little general instruction. The
painter told him to look at each picture attentively, compare it with what he knew of nature,
and say honestly, not what others thought, but
simply what impression it produced on his own
mind. The opinions so elicited, proved nearly all
to savour of truth. In some instances, the artist
told him to consider if he was conversant with
nature under the peculiar forms represented, and
whether he knew how much lay within the sphere
of art; at the same time observing that these two
points would require a comparison of paintings,
first with nature, and then with each other. With
such hints and cautions was this youth restricted
to judging on such points only as were within the
range of ordinary judgment. If he felt encouraged




PAINTING.               211
by the frequent corroboration of his own opinions
by those of the artist, he was yet more prompted,
to the full use of his faculties and open expression
of his sentiments, by the repeated assurance that
nature had made nearly all persons judges to a
certain extent, and that if any were disqualified.to give an opinion of nature's copyists, they were
to be found among a certain set of pretending
connoisseurs, whose vanity had led them to appropriate the sense and opinions of others so long,
that they had lost the free use of their own. On
that day my friend discovered how much he knew
about paintings, and the precise points in which
he was deficient; namely, that he wanted a more
intimate and extensive acquaintance with nature,
a knowledge of the limits of art, and correct
standard of excellence in each kind of painting,
as also the leading principles of perspective and
composition. These are the chief points in which
most common observers are deficient: therefore,
Secondly. Accustom yourself to observe landscapes, figures, &c., in nature, and compare them
with paintings of similar subjects. To appreciate,
for instance, the famous sea-pieces by the Vanderveldts, you must observe the degree of buoyancy
in ships upon the water, of distinctness in the outlines and picturesque swelling of the sails; and so
also, with reference to other pictures, observe the
2




212    COURSE OF ENGLISH READING.
clouds, the tints of evening, and the foliage at
different seasons, and, indeed, all other things,
which works, below mentioned, will suggest.
Thirdly. Compare the paintings of those who
have treated the same subject with different degrees of excellence.  Do not join in decrying
modern pictures, unless you can discern the exact
points of their inferiority. Universal censure and
universal praise are equally unphilosophical and
far from truth; both must be qualified. More
knowledge is required to point out beauties than
defects. Things are good and bad by comparison;
we must therefore study the best specimens of
each kind of pictures, till they are firmly impressed upon our memory, so as to serve as a
common measure or standard of excellence by
which to value all others of the same class.
Fourthly. We must take every opportunity of
conversing and comparing our own opinions with
the opinions of others.  After seeing several
pictures'by Claude or Titian, for example, we
may read some account of their characters and
a criticism on their style. Critical discussions
on the styles of the ancient masters abound;
every picture of celebrity has been the subject of
an essay. And as to the practicability of conv-ersing with those thoroughly conversant with
art, it must be observed, that men are generally




THE FINE ARTS.            213
communicative on the subject of their favourite
studies. It is natural with man to take an interest
in those of similar taste. Doubtless the Creator
ordained this sympathy between those capable of
instructing each other, as a provision for the improvement of society. Such an instinct evidently
prevails, and a really teachable spirit can generally find a master. The admirers of paintings of
genius say, that every time they examine them
they discover new beauties, and that ordinary
observers frequently point out a touch of nature
which the professed artist has overlooked. It is
not absolutely necessary that you should meet an
artist in a picture gallery. Whenever you meet
a man of taste in company, the drawing-room
table may furnish some book of prints taken
from the works,of ancient masters, which will
readily furnish the occasion and the subject of a
conversation. All who have money at command,
if they will only inquire for one of the many illpaid but well-deserving artists, may arrange such
peripatetic lectures, in the National or Dulwich
Gallery, as will prove a very valuable initiation
into the secrets of art. Indeed, most happy should
I be, if, by this casual observation, I could open
a new and honourable source of emolument to a
class of men who conduce very much to the refine.ment and ornaments of life, and receive very little
P3




214    COURSE OF ENGLISH READING.
in return.  How many thousands are there in
London, whose fathers have earned in the East
sums which they are squandering in the West
(end), and to whom it would, if they only thought
of it, be a pleasure to be lionised for two or three
mornings by a person well qualified to inform and
amuse them! How many of that order of society,
who are called callous, selfish, and indifferent to
all wants but their own, have quite heart enough
to confess that they would feel an extra relish in
their own dinner, if they had earned an appetite
*in a way that had provided a more generous meal
to one who had quite as much sensibility, though
far less comfort, than themselves!
Whether my readers adopt this or any other
method of improvement, they should bear in mind
that their object must not be to gain mere critical
knowledge, and the terms and mechanical part of
the art of painting; but they should endeavour
to gain a correct taste of beauty and propriety of
expression, as well as a due appreciation of that
invention and grandeur of conception which distinguish the highest specimens of art. Sir W.
Scott exemplified the spirit in which pictures
were to be studied, when he said that those of
Sir David 5Wilkie gave him new ideas. That
there are ideas in pictures is a fact which many
persons have yet to learn. But, I must trust to




SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS.        215'
works which will shortly follow, to show how
paintings by men of genius are to be read almost
like a poem, and that the conceptions of a grand
imagination and a correct delineation of nature's
beauties are the subject-matter of painter and
poet alike, though the one conveys his impressions
with the pencil and the other with the pen.
I will now enumerate the books best suited to
give a general knowledge of art.
Sir Joshua Reynolds's " Discourses to the Students of the Royal Academy" have been lately
published, illustrated by explanatory notes and
plates by J. Burnet, F. R. S. Those who cannot
procure this work may purchase, for one shilling
and nine-pence, No. XXVII. of the " Student's
Cabinet Library of Useful Tracts," containing a
very excellent selection of those discourses. Sir
Joshua, it must be observed, was a very accomplished scholar. Before Edmund Burke published
his " Letters on the French Revolution," he submitted them to Sir Joshua's consideration. All of
these discourses show a very superior mind, and
are valuable to students of every kind of art and
literature. I have scarcely known any questions
arise concerning the limits and province of the
imaginative arts, which these writings do not tend
to elucidate.
At the same time that we read Sir Joshua's
P4




216    COURSE OF ENGLISH READING.
Discourses, and all other lectures or essays on
art, Pilkington's " Lives of the Painters" will be
a useful handbook. Of this there is a good abstract in one small volume, by Dr. Shepherd, who
selected and abridged 100 out of 1400 of the lives
written by Pilkington. This is quite comprehensive enough for general purposes. I would recommend the student to procure an interleaved
copy, as a convenient catalogue and critique;
when he visits collections of paintings. If he
sees paintings by a Claude or a Titian, by turning to their respective biographies he will have
his attention directed to the peculiar characteristics of the respective styles; he will feel an
interest in noting that such a landscape in such a
gallery, or that such a picture exemplifies certain
critical remarks.
It may be useful here to enumerate the several
schools of painting. These are, -
1. The Roman school, comprehending Raphael,
Cherubino Alberti, Giovanni Alberti, Caravaggio,
Gauli, Michael Angelo Campidoglio, Carlo Maratti, Andrea Sacchi:
2. The Venetian school, in which are, Titian,
Annibal Caracci, Tintoretto, Paolo Veronese,
Ludovico Caracci, Giacomo Bassano, Francesco
Bassano, Francisco Bolognese:
3. The Florentine school, with Michael Angelo




SCHOOLS OF ART.           217
Buonarotti, Andrea del Sarto, Leonardi da
Vinci:
4. The Bologna school, with Guido, Albano,
Domenichino, Guercino, Lanfranc, Correggio:
5. The Flemish and Dutch, of which are
Rubens, Vandyck, Rembrant, Teniers, Godfrey
Kneller, Wouvermans, Vanderveldt, Albert
Durer, Hans Holbein, Sir Peter Lely:
6. The French school, with Poussin, Le Brun,
Perrier, Fresnoy, Claude:
7. The Spanish school, of which are Murillo,
Ximenes, Velasquez, Gallego: and others in each
school too many to mention.
8. Of the English school, the most remarkable
are the following, noticed in Allan Cunningham's
" British Painters: "- Jameson, the Scotch Vandyck; Verrio, La Guerre, and Thornhill, architectural painters; Hogarth, Wilson, Reynolds,
Gainsborough, Ramsay (Scotch), Romney, Runciman (Scotch), Copley, Mortimer, Raeburn
(Scotch), Hoppner, Owen, Harlow, Bonington,
Cosway, Allan, Northeote, Sir T. Lawrence, Sir
H. Beaumont, who aided in forming the National
Gallery, Liverseege, Burnet, Fuseli, West, Bird,
Barry, Blake, Opie, Morland.
Of the painters of later days, Mr. Bulwer, in
his " England and the English," enumerates, in
historical painting, Haydon, Hilton, Westall,




218    COURSE OF ENGLISH READING.
Etty, Martin; in portrait painting, Owen, Jackson, Pickersgill, Philips; in fancy painting,
Wilkie, Maclise, Parris, Howard, Clint, Webster,
Newton; in landscape painting, Turner, Stanfield, Fielding, Callcott, J. Wilson, Harding,
Stanley, besides Landseer, Roberts, Prout, Mackensie, Lance, Derby, Cooper, Hancock, Davis.
Dr. Shepherd gives the following list of books,
which he considered necessary to be consulted, in
order to become a judge of painting: —
Vasari's  " Lives; "  Sandrart's  "Lives  of
Painters;" Du Piles' ditto; Lord Orford's, 4
vols.; " Vertue's Life;"  "Gilpin on Prints;"
Dallaway's "Anecdotes;" Cochin's "Travels
through Italy," 3 vols. French; "Richardson on
Painting,;" Raphael Mengs' "Works," 2 vols.;
Winckelman's "Works."  Forty years ago these
were probably the best works; but all that is
valuable in them has doubtless been adopted by
later authors. The three following works, in the
same list, are still popular: - Sir J. Reynolds'
" Lectures," above mentioned; Cumberland's
" Lives of Spanish Painters," and Fuseli's "Three
Lectures;" a copy of the last is published in the
"Life of Fuseli."
I have before said that a continual comparison
of pictures with nature and with each other is the
chief source of knowledge; still some books will




WORKS ON ART.            219
quicken our observation both of nature and of
art; of these the best, next to the Discourses of
Sir Joshua, are "Criticisms  on  Art," and
" Sketches of the Picture Galleries of England,"
by Wm. Hazlitt, containing catalogues of the
principal galleries; Mrs. Jameson's " Handbook
to Public Galleries of Art;" in or near London,
and " Sacred and Legendary Art;"  " Painting
and Fine Arts," by R. B. Haydon and W. Hazlitt;
Rev. R. Cattermole's " Book of the Cartoons;"
Modern Paintings," by a Graduate of Oxford,
a work of much talent, and admired by the first
judges of English writing. See also " Handbook
of Taste,'" by Fabius Pictor. The works of
Hogarth, with explanations of each plate, have
been published in the " Penny Magazine;" but
more completely in fifty-two numbers by John
Nicholls, F.S.A. " Of all the paintings in the
National Gallery those of Hogarth," said one
of the attendants, "are examined by the greatest
number of persons." Allan Cunningham's "British Painters," in the "Family Library," is a
book of much general information. The same
author has written a " Life of Sir David Wilkie."
Much may also be derived from the " Life of
Titian;" " Life of Sir Thomas Lawrence;" " Life
of Fuseli."
The ART OF SCULPTURE. Of this compara



220    COURSE OF ENGLISH READING.
tively little remains to be said. By cultivating a
taste for the highest order of painting, which is
characterised, not by meretricious ornament, but by
grandeur of conception and by simplicity of execution, we shall not be at a loss to judge of sculpture.
The history of sculpture is very fully given in
the " Penny Cyclopaedia." You will there find
an enumeration of all traces of the arts found in
Scripture. The extent to which it flourished
among the Hebrews, Babylonians, and Phoenicians
being little known, is the subject of only a few
pages; but the style of sculpture, at different
periods, among the Persians, Egyptians, Etrurians,
Greeks, and Romans, admits of being illustrated
with reference to existing remains. Of each of
these schools, therefore, we have a succinct account. The history of Greek sculpture is written
with peculiar care, and in the space of a few
double-columned pages the reader may have a
clear general view, sufficient, indeed, to give an
increased interest in the collection of the British
Museum, as well as in drawings of these and many
other admired works not so easily accessible. The
revival of the art in Italy is usually ascribed to
the tenth or eleventh century, though Flaxman
traces it from the age of Constantine.  Fuseli
remarks that the arts had never been wholly lost
in Italy, because there many barbarians had been




SCULPTORS.              221
long used to behold works of art while serving in
the Roman armies, and were thus animated with
a nobler spirit than the less disciplined invaders of
other lands. Be this as it may, the history of the
revival is given in the same article, nearly down to
the present time. I can recommend also the
articles on Bronze, Polycletus, Phidias, Phigaleian
Marbles, Elgin Marbles, Townley Marbles, Praxiteles, Benvenuto Cellini.
Allan Cunningham's "Lives of the British
Sculptors" in the "Family Library" contains a
good account of British art. The "Encyclopaedia Britannica" has also an article on sculpture,
with more criticism  than that in the "Penny
Cyclopaedia." It is illustrated by plates, which,
indeed, are almost indispensable for any essay on
art which is not purely historical. Many works
above mentioned, especially those on painting,
throw light upon the art of sculpture: this will
appear even from their titles. Mrs. Gray's " Etruria," Sir G. Wilkinson's "Egyptians," and Dr.
Wordsworth's "Illustrated Greece," of course
supply the best possible information on Etrurian,
Egyptian, and Grecian art respectively.  "DeF
scription of the Ancient Marbles in the British
Museum, with Engravings," will teach the principles of criticism. "The Monumental Remains
of Noble and Eminent Persons" comprises the




222     COURSE OF ENGLISH READING.
sepulchral antiquities of Great Britain. Flaxman's " Lectures and Illustrations of Hesiod,
Homer, }Eschylus, and Dante," are beyond all
praise. "The Life of Flaxman" and of every
other sculptor will convey much general information. The British Museum, Westminster Abbey
(of which a history has been written by Smith,
Flaxman, and others), and almost every cathedral,
must improve a visitor who carefully examines
every piece of sculpture, and takes the earliest
opportunity of comparing his own observations
with those of men of taste.
ARCHITECTURE.  The same remarks as to
method, prints, illustrated works, general observation, conversing with men of taste, will of
course apply.
Take the article on Architecture, in Chambers'
" Information for the People," price only threehalfpence - an outline, and simple woodcuts to
distinguish the several Orders and Styles. Study
this paper till you have a clear knowledge of its
contents; and from that moment you will be
much more competent to speak of architecture
than most of your neighbours; so rare is it to
find persons conversant with the shortest treatise, even of an easy and interesting subject.
Next take Barr's " Anglican Church Architecture," an interesting detail of ecclesiastical




ARCHITECTURE.            223
furniture. Bloxam's " Gothic Architecture" is
also very clearly written: these works have
numerous engravings. As a companion or dictionary for constant reference, " The Glossary
of Architecture" is admirable, containing explanations of the terms used in Grecian, Roman,
Italian, and Gothic architecture, with 700 woodcuts: 400 additional examples to the same work
have lately been published  separately.  For
further information read Ruskin's " Stones of
Venice," and " Lamps of Architecture," both
valuable works to the man of taste; the paper
on  C"Gally  Knight's  Architectural  Tour,"
No. CXXXIX. of the " Edinburgh Review f "
other papers which may be found both in the
c" Edinburgh" and " Quarterly," as also, in the
Cyclopwedias, under the terms Architecture, Arch,
Architrave, Ionian, Corinthian, Poestum, and
under the name of any famous building.
Gwilt's "Encyclopoedia of Architecture" is
valuable for reference.
Read also, in No. XIX. of the "Family Library," the lives of William of Wykeham, Inigo
Jones, Sir Christopher Wren, Sir J. Vanbrugh,
James Gibbs, William Kent, and Sir W. Chambers. As an encouragement to young men of
fortune to avail themselves of all the opportunities which wealth commands, I am happy to




224    COURSE OF ENGLISH READING,
observe that Sir W. Chambers was employed by
George III. when heir apparent, as a tutor in
architecture.
When the student of the Fine Arts has fully
availed himself of all these hints, he may be safely
trusted to run alone, and choose works by the
names of their authors and their titles from the
classified catalogue.
CHAP. VII.
THE WAY TO STUDY THE SCRIPTURES.
LET us consider the best method of studying,
First, The text of Scripture-the Word.
Secondly, Commentaries; to which belong,
Thirdly, Biblical antiquities —Jewish history
— versions of Scripture, and
Fourthly, Doctrines - Articles - the PrayerBook.
Fifthly, The principal writers on Divinity in
order.
Sixthly, Books for the closet.
1. THE TEXT OF SCRIPTURE. Select a copy
of the Bible not larger than an octavo with a
good margin.  The one I use has uncut edges
and flexible back, a minion 8vo from the Clarendon
Press, without marginal references. A large




SCRIPTURE.               225
Bible is best for reading aloud, but a smaller
copy for the study.  Marginal references, every
student blessed with an active mind should make
for himself. When you make a study of the
Scriptures, read with pen in hand; and decide on
a few simple marks to affix to verses which are
most important, as supporting doctrines, proving
the genuineness or authenticity of any part of
Scripture, or requiring further thought or illustration. These marks will enable you to refresh
your recollection of any book of the Bible in a
very short space of time. For instance, in my
Bible the letters T mark passages most suitable
for the text of a sermon, or for a rule of daily
conduct. Q marks a difficulty, for further consideration or inquiry.  When  any new  commentary falls in my way, I can at once test its
value by passages of real difficulty.  Again, Art.
1, 2, or 3, denotes that a verse contains a very
plain proof of one of the Thirty-nine Articles.
Ch. denotes a verse relating to the Church; besides others, as occasi6n suggests.
It is advisable, every time you read a book of
Scripture, to propose one subject for particular
attention. Read the Gospels, once, to see wherein
they agree and wherein they differ, and mark
M. Mk. L. J., according as St. Mlatthew, Mark,
Luke, or John have also mentioned any parable,
Q




226    COURSE OF ENGLISH READING.
miracle, or other memorable part of our Lord's
history occurring in the Gospel before you. Read
the Gospels a second time for internal evidence
of their truth. A third time with a Diatessaron
to mark the order of events or any other matter
of instruction. To those fond of literature, the
Scriptures will have also another and a wholly
different value for literary and secular purposes;
for the Bible is allowed to be the most curious
book in the world. It contains more knowledge
of life and of the human heart than all the writings
of Shakspeare, Horace, Clarendon, Thucydides,
put together. The Bible comprises all that was
discovered, and much more that was overlooked,
by the philosophers of ancient and modern times.
And the proof is this;- Butler may be said to
have been the corrector of the ancient ethical
writers.  Mackintosh, Robert Hall, and Dr.
Chalmers, no inconsiderable writers of modern
times, acknowledge that they were taught by
Butler, and Butler pretends only to have been
taught by Scripture. Well then might the Rev.
H. Melville say, " It is a truth made known to
us by God, and at the same time demonstrable by
reason, that in going through the courses of Bible
instruction, there is a better mental discipline,
whether for the child or for the adult, than in any
of the cleverly devised methods for opening and
strengthening the faculties."




BIBLICAL CURIOSITIES.        227
It is advisable, however, to distinguish when
we take up the Scriptures to gather the precious
seed and when to examine the husk- when to
read the Word and when the letter; and since
the mind, no less than the heart, is a talent to
improve, and since ignorance of the Scriptures
is a disgrace no less to the scholar than the man;
it is convenient for literary purposes to keep a
separate copy, in which to enter observations, as
we read of Oriental customs, Jewish antiquities,
discoveries in Nineveh, or any thing illustrative of
Scripture. To show the interest and satisfaction
which results from being thus so methodical in
the pursuit of knowledge, I will select from one
of my own Bibles a few notes, which, without
the method recommended, might pass unheeded
through the mind.
At Gen. vi. 15., " The length, depth, and width
of the' Great Britain' steam-ship is in feet exactly what the Ark was in cubits! "
Acts, xxviii. 1. That Melita is Malta (though
Coleridge says not) is ingeniously proved by the
observation that the same wind which drifted a
vessel from the Fair Havens under Clauda would
in fourteen days carry it to Malta, and nowhere
else.
Acts, xxviii. 13. "Fetched a compass."  A
friend, in making the same voyage from Syra2




228    COURSE OF ENGLISH READING.
cuse to Rhegium recently, observed that a considerable sailing round, as the Greek means
literally, was, from the Gulf stream, unavoidable.
Deut. xxviii. 65-7. The text of the conscience-stricken Dr. Dodd, the Sunday before he
was apprehended for forgery, " The Lord shall
give thee there a trembling heart," &c.
Gen. viii. 9. The dove. Dr. Meuse says that
the N. American Indians have a tradition of a
big canoe, in which came eight persons across the
water, caused by the Great Spirit. They hold the
willow sacred, because a dove flew with it from the
canoe. Many similar curiosities are found in Cardinal Wisemnan's Lectures.
The 46th Psalm  was Luther's favourite; the
15th, Feltham's; the 103rd and  145th, Miss
Hiannah More's: the 139th, she said, " surpassed
any of Pindar's."  The best translation of the
139th, "By the rivers of Babylon," was by
Camoens while in exile.  This also is about
the best of all Buchanan's translations.
Isaiah, xiv. 102. was the text of the Presbyterians at Perth, before Charles Stuart, 19th
September, 1745.
John, i. 1. At Otaheite, the names of the
superior deities are the Father, the Son, and the
Friend Bird, which inspires the priests. —Serle's
force Solitarice.




SCRIPTURE.              229
Job, xxix.  This chapter moved Sir J. Mackintosh to tears on his death-bed.
These instances will exemplify my meaning.
Again, the poetry of the Bible and the beauties
of natural and simple diction deserve attention.
To commit them to memory is the best exercise
for the improvement of taste.  Wordsworth once
remarked that he knew no poetry finer than that
of Jeremiah. Mrs. Hemans justly preferred St.
John to the other Evangelists. Coleridge considered the " Epistle to the Romans" the finest of
St. Paul's compositions. The "Epistle to the
Ephesians" exhibits a train of thought as far superior to ordinary minds and motives as anything
ever written. These are hints for the exercise of
criticism. Whenever you read, compare scripture with scripture. Commentaries at best are
only like advisers, who may assist for the moment,
but never yet made any man wise. While you
trust to commentators, you will never gain the
full use of your own faculties, nor enjoy anything
better than an insipid spiritless dilution of scriptural truth. With respect to the difficulties of
Holy Writ, either they can be solved in an obvious
and satisfactory way or they cannot. If they
can, a person of ordinary understanding, by examining the context and seeking similar expressions may solve the difficulties as well as any
Q 3




230    COURSE OF ENGLISH READING.
commentator; if they cannot, the opinions of
commentators, though sometimes instructive, are
frequently of little use, differing widely from each
other, being enveloped in a cloud of words, and
more fanciful than reasonable. One hour's study
with marginal references is worth ten with notes.
"Every reader his own commentator."
Learn by heart one verse of the Bible every
day. One of my friends takes the first verse
which meets his eye as the Bible happens to
open. A better plan is to mark the verses you
prefer in several books, and learn them in order.
If one verse is too little, choose a second or a
third from a different part; but do not try too
much at first. The great thing is never to omit
one verse each day. Do not despise the importance of this method; still less the self-command
which constancy, in its performance, requires.
I warn you that it is not very easy to learn 365
verses in the year without being one day in arrears. If you miss a day, do not allow yourself
to make it up; but let the inequality between
the number of the verses and the days remain as
a punishment.  Perseverance and regularity will
insure a surprising knowledge of the more familiar
texts of Scripture. Remember, all depends on
the regularity and uninterrupted habit.  Mark
the 30 or 31 verses on the first day of each month,




SCRIPTURE.             231
and consider you have failed, unless the number
of the day and of the verse coincide.   The
Hebrew or Greek version is to be preferred by
scholars; still none should omit the English.
One of my friends, a young lady, takes much
interest in writing out the verses to which the
marginal references of the Bible allude. Her
paper is ruled by the stationer with one vertical
column about two inches wide for the text; the
rest of the page is ruled. One line also preserves
a fair margin that the work may in future years
admit of being bound. This is a much more profitable employment than knitting and crochet,
though there is a time for both. Who would
not be more proud of a mother who bequeathed
him a Commentary than a Quilt?
The Society for the Diffusion of Christian
Knowledge has published a prayer-book with
marginal references. In the last age young ladies
used to be taught at school to present their
mammas with a sampler; if every young lady
and young gentleman too were required to produce a neat copy of all the scripture proofs of
our liturgy, or certain parts of it, what a wonderful extension of scriptural knowledge would
result!
Another exercise, really invaluable to clergymen especially, is to make a scriptural commonq 4




232    COURSE OF ENGLISH READING.
place book. This will require the use of two
books —one as a day-book, another as a ledger.
The day-book must be always at hand as you
read the Bible from end to end. In this you will
write down promiscuously any illustration of the
divine attributes, as also of faith, justification,
types, prophecies, and many other topics, as you
please. Then, in your ledger, you will enter each
of these under its proper head, which you will
also notice with the number of the page in the
index. A small work of this kind was published by Dr. Chalmers.
Lastly, attend particularly to the style, dates,
and proofs of the genuineness and authenticity of
the several books of Scripture; and read the history of the different translations. For this purpose
Gray's or Percy's "Key,"' Tomline, or HIorne's
"Introduction," will be serviceable, and especially
Dr. Wordsworth's c" Canons of Scripture."
2. WVORKS OF COMMENTARY AND NOTES.We will now specify some of the valuable works
explanatory of the several parts of Scripture.
i. On the whole of the Bible, Horne's " Introduction" contains information so varied, that
few persons can require more. It contains also
useful instructions on theological reading. The
" Epitome of Horne's Introduction," and "Key
to the Bible," by the Society, will be useful for




DIVINITY.               233
those who have less time for study. The " Commentaries to the Bible" by Mant, Henry, Clarke,
and others, and especially Scott's " Commentary"
are well known; but Dr. Copleston truly said, that
nothing equalled that by Whitgift and others.
Simeon's Discourses or Commentary is the most
useful work a country clergyman can possess for
writing sermons-very sober, sensible, and practical.
2. On the Old Testament, Gray's " Key" is
very valuable. A similar work by Bishop Tomline
is also useful. Bishop Horsley's "Biblical Criticism" is highly esteemed.  A new edition is now
advertised in a convenient form.
3. On separate portions and subjects of Scripture.  On the Pentateuch, Grave's "Lectures"
display much useful learning.  The  "i Hora
Mosaicea," by G. S. Faber, 1818, is much admired for scriptural learning and truth.  Warburton's "Divine Legation" is one of the standdard pieces of English literature. On the
Prophecies generally, read Sir I. Newton and
Davison's " Discourses upon Prophecy," also
Keith.  On the minor Prophets, Bishop New
come and George Hutcheson (1675) have written.
The first is termed " critical and useful," the
second "pithy, full, and spiritual."  On the historical parts, read "History of the Bible," and
"History of the Jews."  Also a most useful




234    COURSE OF ENGLISH READING.
analysis given at the end of Mant's Bible. On
the whole of the New Testament, Percy's " Key
to the New Testament" is very popular. Hammond, on the New Testament, has written the
most learned Commentary and the most satisfactory for the scholar. Burkitt, excellent in drawing out every text into its full and legitimate
signification, is better for the general reader.
Campbell's "Four Gospels translated," Elsley's
Annotations on the Gospels and Acts, are good
for scholars, who should also read the " Diatessaron," to mark the order of events. On the
Parables and Miracles, read two able works by
Rev. Chevenix French. On the Epistles of St.
Paul, Paley's " Horse Paulinae" will never be
superseded.  Shuttleworth's "Paraphrase of the
Epistles" is the most concise and generally useful
commentary; but the scholar may consult the
new works by Dr. Peile and Mr. Alford on particular difficulties. Conybeare and Howson's
" Life, &c. of St. Paul," should be in the library
of every biblical student. On the Epistles of St.
Peter, Dr. Leighton's book is one of the first of
scripture classics.
4. On Biblical Antiquities. Many works combine entertainment with instruction; such as
Jennings' " Jewish Antiquities;" Lightfoot's
works; Shuckford's " Sacred and Profane His



DOCTRINAL WORKS.            235
tory Connected;" Prideaux's "Connection of
the Old and New Testament;" Harris's "Natural History of the Bible;" Burder's " Oriental
Customs and Literature;" Calcott's " Scripture
Herbal;" Townley's "Illustrations of Biblical
Literature;"  Carpenter's " Scripture Natural
History, or an Account of the Zoology, Botany,
and Geology of the Bible."
All of these works are highly valued. Those
of Lightfoot, Shuckford, and Prideaux, are
standard classics. The last six, though not less
improving, may be termed light reading, and give
agreeable relief to severer studies.
3. ON DOCTRINE. - Of the Person and offices
of Christ.  Horne recommends Stuart's "Letters to Dr. Channing" as admirably depicting
the subtle criticisms of an accomplished Unitarian, in a fine spirit of Christian philosophy.
Gurney's "Biblical Notes to confirm the Deity
of Christ," is considered a very able illustration
of texts of Scripture.  On the offices of the Holy
Spirit.  Serle's "Horao Solitariae" exhausts Fthe
subject. In his chapter on the Trinity, he has
availed himself of his extensive classical learning.
Heber's " Bampton Lectures" are on the Holy
Ghost as the Comforter. Of Dr. Burton's Sermons, two treat of the sin of blasphemy against
the Holy Ghost, in a very sound and consistent




236     COURSE OF ENGLISH READING.
manner. On the Trinity, Serle's Essay, above
mentioned, and Horne's " Scripture Doctrine of
the Trinity; " also sermons and works too obvious
to mention.  On Election and Predestination
there are some very fair and reasonable remarks
in " Christ our Example."  Bishop Tomline's
"Refutation of Calvinism" gives all that can
be  said on  one side, and  Thomas Scott's
"Remarks on Bishop Tomline's'Refutation,"'
on the other. Read the 17th Article in Burnet.
Copleston on " Necessity and Predestination,"
alludes to Scott, and terms him the most pious
and temperate of modern Calvinists, though his
doctrine of predestination, he says, " appears to
me mistaken and dangerous."  Archbishop Sumner's Sermons on this subject are the best of all
his writings. The Rev. J. Scott, in the life of
his father, shows that he was very cautious of
bringing this doctrine before a mixed congregation, and once observed of Wilberforce's book,
that it was " not Calvinistic, and so much the
better, being more suited to the class of persons
to whom it was addressed."  In studying this
doctrine, we should consider whether authors do
not dispute about a word, while they agree about
the thing.
On.Faith and Justiflcation, read Bishop Barlow's " Two Letters on Justification."  Of this it




DIVINITY.              237
was said by Archdeacon Browne, "The subject is
treated with a degree of closeness of reasoning
and logical accuracy, which defies confutation."
Also Burnet's 11th Article.  The sentiments of
the writers of the first four centuries are given
in Wall's " History of Infant Baptism."  This,
with Bethel's much-admired work, exhausts the
subject of baptism. Read especially Burnet on
the 27th Article. On the Lord's Supper, Burnet
on the Articles 25, 26, 28, 29, 30, and Beveridg(e's Articles are equally valuable.
4. READING FOR CONTROVERSIALISTS.- 1.
Against Infidelity. Paley's "Evidences of Christianity," I have already mentioned. Almost the
whole is easily intelligible, and many chapters
so interesting as to require but little effort. It is
universally allowed to be one of the first argumentative works in the English language. Paley's
" Horsa Pauline," is also very convincing. With
this we may class Keith on the Prophecies, and
the works of Bishops Hurd and Newton; as also
Campbell on the Miracles. All of these combine
explanation with argument. Shuttleworth's " Consistency of Revelation with Human Reason," is
especially valuable, because it meets the difficulties
most likely to occur to men of fair minds, honestly
open to conviction.  And Cardinal Wiseman's
"Lectures on Science and Revealed Religion"




238    COURSE OF ENGLISH READING.
is a work valuable to the scholar, the general
reader, and the theologian, and happily unqualified
by the errors of his Church. Graves on the Pentateuch is a very learned work, yet easy to understand. Of "WMatson's Apology for the Bible,"
George III. observed, he " did not know that the
Bible needed any apology," not considering that
Justin Martyr and others of the early Christians
used to set forth defences of the Gospel under
the name of Apologia, which, in Greek, means a
defence. Watson and Graves wrote in answer
to the cavils of Paine and other infidels of the
French Revolution. M'Ilvaine's " Lectures on
Evidences," gives an account of the death of
Paine, which, if well known, would be the best
antidote to the poison of his life; it is an intelligible selection from Paley and others, and containing some little original matter.
Of Butler's " Analogy," I knew one who said
that he always doubted till he read it, and never
doubted after. The reasoning is too deep for
many readers, yet I would have all give it a trial.
I have known cases in which it has been comprehended by those who had the greatest diffidence
in attempting it. Gregory's " Letters " are much
recommended, as giving a plain and easy exposition of difficulties.  Sumner's  "Evidences,"
Lardner's  "Credibility,"  Gibson's  "Pastoral




DIVINITY.              239
Letters," Jenkin's "Reasonableness," and Stillingfleet's "Origines Sacrte," are all works of
authority. Paley and Butler, if well read and
digested, nearly exhaust the subject.  Butler
shows that there is no reason why we should not
believe; and Paley that there is much reason why
we should. Shuttleworth is the best substitute
for Butler. The value of the "Analogy" cannot be fully appreciated without considering the
urgency of the times in which it was written.
Butler observes, " It comes, I know not how, to
be taken for granted, that Christianity is now at
length discovered to be fictitious." Horace Walpole said that Queen Caroline particularly recommended his father to read it; indeed, it was
wanted in high life; for Lady Mary Wortley
Montagu, even while she expresses her alarm at
so many young ladies being infidels, speaks in a
way which shows she regarded religion as rather
useful than true.
Robert Hall's sermon, on "Modern Infidelity,"
is very celebrated. This is a masterly composition, showing enlarged and comprehensive views.
2. In controversy with Jews, Bishop Kidder's
"Demonstration of the Messiah," and Thomas
Scott's "Discussion on the principal Question
between the Jews and Christians," in reply to
the Rabbi Crool. Of course all other works on




240    COURSE OF ENGLISH READING.
evidences will be of much service; but Scott's
reply to the Rabbi's " Restoration of Israel,"
teaches us to avail ourselves of every advantage
which the faith of a Jewish adversary affords,
and "discuss every important question concerning the Messiah of the Old Testament, on the
ground of the Old Testament only."
3. Against Popery, Finch's " Sketch of the
Roman Controversy" contains a valuable collection of documents from many sources; Bishop
AMarsh's " Comparative View of the Churches of
England and Rome;" M'Ghee's " Truth and
Error contrasted," and especially Dr. Phillpott's
(the Bishop of Exeter's) "Letters to Dr. Butler,"
occasioned by the Committee evidence given by
Dr. Butler at the time of the Roman Catholic
question. Pascal's "Provincial Letters" affords
the most witty and keen exposure of the Jesuits.
Both for the brilliancy of composition and the
influence they exerted, these letters hold the
highest place in the history of literature.  A
bookseller's catalogue will point out many other
works.
The "Eclipse of Faith" will be found to be
a full armoury against the assaults that have been
more recently directed against the orthodox doctrines of Christianity.
4. Against Arianism, read Whittaker's "His



DIVINITY.              241
tory of Arianism; " Burnet's " Articles," and the
works which are recommended on the Trinity.
This course of reading will apply also,
5. Against Socinianism; read also J. Edwards's
"Preservative against Socinianism;" Wardlaw's
" Discourses on the principal Points of the Socinian Controversy;" and Fuller's " Calvinistic
and Socinian Systems compared."
6. Against Dissenters from the Established
Church. The great champion of the Established
Church is Hooker. His " Ecclesiastical Polity,"
like the writings of most men of true genius, is
calculated to enrich and expand the reader's
views on a variety of subjects. But Hooker is
too grave a writer for the youthful student.
Thelwall's " Letters on the Church," one volume
duodecimo, explains, in a clear and familiar way,
the nature of the Establishment, the excellence
of our liturgy, and the importance of a national
church. Boyd, on "Episcopacy," enters more
deeply into the origin and authority of our Church.
To those who have not time to read Mr. Boyd's
larger work, I would strongly recommend his
"Lecture on Episcopacy," delivered at Cheltenham.  Mr. Thelwall recommends M'Neile's
"Letters on the Church;" also the Rev. A.
M'Caul's three sermons on " The Divine Commission of the Christian Ministry," and the
R




242    COURSE OF ENGLISH READING.
" Principles of a Church Establishment."  To
the general reader, a truly valuable work is
" Essays on the Church," by a layman. This
author modestly pretends to be only a compiler, one
who, having read all the pamphlets for or against
the dissenters which appeared about the year
1833, endeavours to bring the whole argument
within the compass of one small volume. Add
Chalmers on " Church Establishments;" also an
article in the Edinburgh Review, vol. xxvi. From
Dr. Dwight's " Travels in New England and
New York," we learn how little the "case of
America" proves against an establishment; an
extract is given in " Essays on the Church."
Let me not be understood to say, or even to
wish, that dissenters may be reasoned down. The
worst dissenting teaching, where there is no church,
is better than heathen ignorance. Let churchmen maintain the true standard of pure doctrine,
and this will insensibly restrain the wildness of
the dissenters' tenets; and gradually, by church
building and endowments, let us supply their place.
Still, I "doubt that the three classes, the gentry,
the tradesmen, and the labourers, will ever be
successfully treated by a ministry composed of the
gentry alone. Then, would I institute another
class, say of deacons, from a rank below?-No;
a Roman Catholic hierarchy might control such




THEOLOGICAL WRITERS.          243
an order of men, but not so the free spirit of a
Protestant church. Without that self-knowledge
and that discipline resulting from our public
schools and universities, which characterises the
present order of the clergy, any new order
taken from a lower rank would be only nominally
churchmen, but really as independent as dissenters are now. Besides, dissent is (partly by
exclusive dealing) self-supporting; but whence;
shall we find a maintenance for the same men in
the Church? And, would they work better? If
we had greater order, should we have equal
energy? Think of these things.
5. THE PRINCIPAL WRITERS ON DIVINITY.
A mere list of authors will seem of little use; but
my object is to induce the student to follow some
method in his selection; to read writers of the
same period at the same time, in order to learn
the peculiar character of each school of Theology.
The different styles of composition and changes in
theological writing may also be noticed; and, more
particularly, the recent change from the weighty
to the wordy style, with smooth sounds instead
of hard sense. The number of volumes of a
serious character read by some persons in the
course of a year is so great that if, instead of
mere casual recommendation, they would be
guided by the following lists of writers, they
2




244     COURSE OF ENGLISH READING.
might soon gain a very extensive knowledge of
Theological literature.
The classification is that of the Rev. E. Bickersteth, in his " Christian Student," first published
in 1829. This is a valuable guide in Divinity
studies. Since its publication many good works
have appeared; and not a few have been rendered available by translations, selections, and
reprinting.
First. The FATHERS. Dr. Chalmers fairly
says, " We ought not to cast the Book of Antiquity away from us, but give it our most assiduous perusal, while at the same time we sit in
the exercise of our free and independent judgment over its contents."-The Fathers are now
accessible by means of English translations; and
it is time that the remembrance of all the tales
of pale students, dusty folios, and the midnight
lamp in monastic cells, which used to be associated with the very names of the Fathers had
passed away; and, as to those prejudiced persons
who do not hesitate to avow an utter indifference
to the writings of the Fathers, I have only to say,
that to feel no curiosity about the compositions of
the first and foremost of Christian champions in
times the most critical to the faith, men who
bequeathed to us the readiest weapons against the
sceptics of modern times-to care nothing about




THEOLOGICAL WRITERS.         245
Justin Martyr, Tertullian, Cyprian, Chrysostom,
Athanasius, Augustine - to feel no curiosity about
the works of those who, like Jerome and Origen,
have done much to restore and preserve the pure
text of Scripture, —of Ignatius, the disciple of
St. John-of Clement, "whose name is in the
book of life," —this certainly betrays a feeling
hard indeed to reconcile with a due sense of our
Gospel privileges. " It is difficult indeed to be
insensible," says Mr. Conybeare, in his Lectures,
" to the beauty, the piety, the devotion, and the
spiritual feeling which are found in almost every
page of the Commentary of Augustine."  Whoever doubts that the works of the Fathers have
a real appreciable value, founded not in the mere
curiosities of ancient literature, but on good and
useful service done, should read the "Evidences"
of Paley, and then consider whether his leading
arguments could be maintained without the testimony of the Fathers; and whether these arguments are not indispensable to the defence of
Christianity upon external evidence. The reason
I instance Paley's work in preference to any other
evidences is, that its style and way of reasoning
is of a most popular kind; and while many other
works may confirm those who believe, Paley is
convincing to those who doubt. It is related of
the Duke of Wellington that, on hearing one
3




246    COURSE OF ENGLISH READING.
of his officers speak lightly of Revelation, he
asked him, "Did you ever read Paley?" —
" Then you are not qualified to give an " No."opinion."
The translations to which I alluded form the
"Library of the Fathers of the Holy Catholic
Church." Also in " The Christian's Family
Library" there is one volume, entitled " The
Christian Fathers of the First and Second Century; their Principal Remains at large; with
Selections from their other Writings."  Milner
and Mosheim  may both be consulted for the
general character of the Fathers; also, Horne's
" Introduction."  Conybeare's " Bampton Lectures," contain an analytical examination into
the character, value, and just application of the
writings of the Christian Fathers during the
Ante-Nicene period. Dr. Burton also published
" Testimonies of the Ante-Nicene Fathers to the
Divinity of Christ." In the works of N. Lardner
(a Socinian writer) we have a careful examination of the testimony which the fathers have
afforded to the Scriptures. Dr. Clarke's " Succession of Sacred Literature," with his " Bibliographical Miscellany," and more particularly
Cave's "Lives of the Fathers of the First Four
Ages of the Church," are books of high authority.




SCHOOLMEN-REFORMERS.          247
Secondly. The SCHOOLMEN. At the beginning of the Reformation a monk declared that
Greek was " the mother of all heresy," and that
as to Hebrew, " it is certain that all who learn it
become instantly Jews." For this abhorrence of
learning we must blame its abuse by the Schoolmen, of whom Luther said "they did nothing
but propose paradoxes, and that their whole art
was built on a contempt of Scripture." Bonaventura, Aquinas, Bradwardine, WTickliffe, Huss, and
Jerome, are the names of the principal Schoolmen.; the life and opinions of Wickliffe have been
written by Mr. Vaughan. Estius's Sum is considered to contain the best account of the Scholastic Divinity. The best advice I can offer the
general reader is conveyed in the words of Leighton; for, truly did Leighton say, "To understand and be master of those trifling disputes
that prevail in the schools, is an evidence of a
very mean understanding."
Thirdly. The REFORMERS. Tindal, Latimer,
Cranmer, Ridley, and Philpot, Bradford, Jewell,
Fox, Knox, are the writers whose lives and opinions are most worthy of attention. A work in
twelve volumes by the Religious Tract Society
gives selections from their works, as well as from
those of Bale, Barnes, Becon, Bilney, Borthwick,
Clement, Frith, Gilby, Lady J. Grey, Hamilton,
4




248    COURSE OF ENGLISH READING.
Hooper, Joye, Lambert, Queen Parr, Ponet,
Rogers, Sampson, Saunders, Taylor, Wickliffe,
and Wishart. More matter of the same kind
will be found in Legh Richmond's " Fathers of
the English Church," and in Bickersteth's "Testimony of the Reformers."   Mr. Le Bas has
written the lives of Cranmer, Wickliffe, Jewell,
and Laud. The "English Martyrology," abridged from Foxe, by Charlotte Elizabeth, a
most able writer, forms two small volumes in
"The Christian's Family Library."   Of the
Foreign Reformers, Luther, Melancthon, Erasmus,
Calvin, Zuinglius, (Ecolampadius, Martyr, Bucer,
Beza, Bullinger, are men with whom, either by
biography (especially D'Aubigne's), or extracts,
we have many opportunities of becoming acquainted. Ranke's "German Reformation" and
"Lives of the Popes" are much admired, as
also are Dr. Wordsworth's "Biographies" and
"Christian Institutes."
Fourthly. The SUCCESSORS OF THE REFORMERS. Hooker's " Ecclesiastical Polity" is
universally allowed to be the strongest bulwark
of the Established Church. In this work there is
a wonderful weight of words, a most appropriate
selection of topics and cogent reasoning.  This
author is usually quoted as " the Judicious
Hooker." His life, by Isaac Walton, is one of




THEOLOGICAL WRITERS.         249
the most valuable pieces of biography in our
language. He died A.D. 1600. Richard Sibbes
died about thirty-five years after Hooker. The
"Bruised Reed" and " Soul's Conflict" are the
titles of two of Sibbes' best works. Archbishop
Usher died A.D. 1656. He was called by Dr.
Johnson " the great luminary of the Irish
church."  He is famed for having read all the
Fathers.  Mr. Bickersteth  mentions  Usher's
"Answer to the Jesuit," as one of the best
pieces against Romanism. Usher's works complete, fill eighteen volumes, now publishing in a
handsome form, at 12s. each.  A collection of
Usher's Letters with his Life were published
by his chaplain, Dr. Richard Parr. Dr. Hammond, the chaplain of Charles I. in Carisbrook
Castle, wrote a Paraphrase of the New Testament,
with the most learned and valuable notes. Sanderson also, attached to Charles and, to compensate for persecution, elevated to the bishopric of
Lincoln at the Restoration, wrote " Nine Cases
of Conscience," and " Discourse on the Church."
Dr. Mede is accounted the ablest interpreter of
obscure prophecy. Jeremy Taylor is a writer of
great fertility and depth of thought. His defence
of episcopacy and the Liturgy were much admired by Bishop Heber, who thought Taylor, in
imagination and real genius, superior either to




250    COURSE OF ENGLISH READING.
Hooker or Barrow. Few writers have been more
gleaned by modern divines. Jeremy Taylor's life
has been written by Bonney and Wilmott. Bishops
Babington, Cowper, Greenham, and Andrews,
lived in this period.
Fifthly. The NONCONFORMISTS.  These comprise all who separated from the Liturgy and ceremonies of the Church, from the Reformation till
modern times. On this period, " The Christian
Student" is stronglyto be recommended. However
great our sorrow for dissent, we must not think
lightly of the writings of dissenters, or we shall
forego some of the most valuable works on practical piety. When certain persons once complained
to Lord Burleigh of the Liturgy, and said they
only wished its amendment, he told them to make
a better. Accordingly, one class of the complainants formed a new one, like that of Geneva;
another class altered the new one in 600 particulars; a third, quarrelling about the alteration,
proposed an entirely different model, and a fourth
dissented from all!  Dr. Owen was famed for
sound learning and judgment.   His writings
are numerous, and are of a high Calvinistic character.  Read the article on Baxter's life and
writings in the Edinburgh Magazine, 1843. He
was chaplain to Whalley's regiment after the battle
of Naseby. He tried to reconcile Calvinism with




THEOLOGICAL WRITERS.          251
Arminianism. Baxter'wrote 145 treatises, of which
four were folios, seventy-three quartos, and fortynine octavos. He wrote much in gaol, under the
unjust sentence of Jeffries. Charnock was famed
for masculine style and originality of thought; his
"Discourses on Providence" are considered the
best. Dr. Goodwin was a favourite of Cromwell,
whom he attended on his death-bed; he wrote
sermons, expositions, and controversial treatises.
Howe is nervous and majestic. Robert Hall said
Burke was the best author for earth, and Howe
for heaven. Howe's " Living Temple" is very
celebrated. I would particularly recommend the
work by Howe among the "Sacred Classics."
Dr. Bates was fluent, with beautiful similitudes.
Flavel was fervent, touching the conscience, and
moving the feelings. Caryl officiated with Dr.
Owen as a minister to Cromwell.  He wrote a
"Commentary on Job " in 12 vols. 4to.
Matthew Pool: the " Synopsis Criticorum," in
five folios, was his chief work.  Read  Neal's
" Puritans."
Sixthly. The DIVINES OF THE RESTORATION
AND REVOLUTION. This era was marked, says
Bishop Heber, by a school of literature and composition, of all others which this country has seen,
the least favourable to genius, and the most
unlike that style of thinking and expression which




252    COURSE OF ENGLISH READING.
had distinguished Jeremy Taylor and his contemporaries. What Augustine said of Cicero
has been remarked of more than one of the following writers, " that we cease to be captivated
with him, because the name of Christ does not
occur in him." We may mention Bishop Burnet.
Read his " Articles," " Reformation," and " Own
Times."-Bishop Reynolds, very terse and full;
devotional and controversial, a strong Calvinist.Archbishop Leighton: his Commentary on St.
Peter has been already mentioned.-Bishop Beveridge, very learned in Oriental literature. He
wrote on the Thirty-nine Articles. His " Private
Thoughts" are most known, and published among
the " Sacred Classics;" and his " Sermons"
are most judiciously recommended by the present
Bishop of Exeter as guides in composition to
candidates for ordination.-Archbishop Tillotson:
Locke considered Tillotson and Chillingworth
very remarkable for perspicuity. Heber speaks
of "the dull good sense of Tillotson."  Tillotson
attended with Dr. Burnet at the execution of Lord
William Russell. He was accused of Socinianism,
Dr. Jortin says, because, in making some concessions to the Socinians, he had broken through
one ancient rule of controversy, " allow not an
adversary either common sense or common honesty."  In answer to this charge he republished




THEOLOGICAL WRITERS.          253
four of his sermons " On the Incarnation and
Divinity." His sermons are best known. As to
the style in which he wrote, read " Fitzosborne's
Letters " by Melmoth, who qualifies the excessive
praise it had long received.-Isaac Barrow was
so deep and copious, that Charles II. used to call
him an unfair preacher, because he left nothing to
be said after him! Barrow's sermons are a mine
of brilliant thoughts and sterling arguments. He
was a great mathematician, deemed second only
to Sir Isaac Newton.  His sermon on " vain
and idle talking" is quoted by Addison, as a
specimen of singular felicity of expression. — Stillingfleet: his writings against Popery are very
valuable. His " Origines Britannicae" give antiquities of the churches of Britain. The elegance
and learning of the " Origines Sacra " has made
it yet more popular. Stillingfleet had a controversy with Locke, arising from remarks made in
his " Defence of the Doctrine of the Trinity."Dr. Thomas Jackson, Southey said, was an author
with whom, more than any other, one might
be contented in a prison, as the most valuable
of all the old Divines, though the least known
also recommended by Bishop Horne. - John
Locke wrote "On the Reasonableness of Christianity," and Paraphrases and Notes to several of
St. Paul's Epistles.-Robert South held a con



254    COURSE OF ENGLISH READING.
troversy with Sherlock on the Trinity. His sermons are well known. His style is nervous, with
much point and even wit. His writings are in
great repute.-William Sherlock wrote against
the dissenters. —Thomas Sherlock, his son, wrote
a tract well worth reading, called " The Trial of
the Witnesses of the Resurrection."-Wilson,
Bishop of the Isle of Man, published " Ecclesiastical Constitutions," of which Lord Chancellor
King said that " if the ancient discipline of the
Church were lost, it might be found in the Isle
of Man."  He wrote also sermons and tracts.William Law: his " Serious Call to a Religious
Life" was considered by Dr. Johnson one of the
most powerful works of the kind. His "' Practical Treatise on Christianity" is also very good.
-Bishop Warburton's " Julian," " Alliance of
Church and State," and " Divine Legation," are
much admired. Read Dr. Johnson's character of
Warburton in his " Life of Pope."  It was said
that Bishop Bull was his master, and Jeremy
Taylor his favourite divine. —Bishop Watson
answered Paine and Gibbon. His "Apology"
has been already mentioned.-Archbishop Secker
wrote " Sermons and Lectures on the Church
Catechism."-Bishop Berkeley fell dead while
hearing a sermon, written by Dr. Sherlock. He
is more known as a philosopher than as a divine.




THE LITURGY.             255
-Bishop Butler, the author of the Sermons and
Analogy already mentioned.
Seventhly. MODERN WRITERS. Dr. Horne,
author of the "Introduction."  Jonathan Edwards, who wrote on " Justification." Romaine,
author of the most popular book on Faith. Milner, author of the " Church History."  Jones, of
Nayland, deemed one of the most satisfactory
writers on the Trinity. Newton, the history of
whose life is universally recommended, as also
are his letters. Scott, the author of the " Commentary." Robert Hall, one of the finest writers
in the English language; clear, candid, and very
powerful. Bishop Horsley, the author of " Biblical Criticism."
ON THE PRAYER-BOOK. — Read, first, the
" History of the Prayer-Book," by the C. K.
Society (this is a small volume, containing a
useful addition to Church History); Shepherd,.
c" On the Common Prayer;" Wheatley's "Illustration of Common Prayer; " Nelson's "Companion for the Fasts and Festivals;" and Mant
"On the Liturgy," are all standard works. On
"The Rubrics and Canons of the Church," a
work much recommended, was written in 1753,
by Thomas Sharp. " Lectures and Sermons on
the Liturgy" have been published by Bishop
Jebb, 2 vols. 8vo., 1830; Thomas Rogers, 2 vols.




256    COURSE OF ENGLISH READING.
8vo.; Bishop J. Bird Sumner, 8vo. (more particularly on the Fasts and Festivals): Matthew
Hole, 4 vols. 8vo., 1838 (a new edition); and
others. Bishop Taylor's " Apology for the Liturgy"  Heber considered among the best of
Taylor's "Polemical Discourses." Cardwell's "Liturgies," Faber's " Origines Liturgicae," and
Maskell's "Ancient Liturgy," are all able works.
The Liturgies of Edward VI., published by Parker in one volume, may be compared in a single
morning with much advantage.
The Rev. J. E. Riddle's c" Ecclesiastical Chronology, or Annals of the Church," containing
History, the relations of the Church to the State;
controversies, sects, rites, discipline, writers, is
a most compendious and useful book.
On the Church of England, besides the above,Bishop Jewell's famous " Apology for the
Church of England," written in Latin, and translated by the mother of Sir Francis Bacon, is
considered to have promoted the Reformation
more than any other book. This, with Hooker's
"Polity," Burnet's "Articles," and Nicholson
"On the Book of Common Prayer," will constitute unexceptionable expositions of the doctrines
of the Church of England.
Mr. Martineau's " Church History in England"
contains an admirable and a very fair account




STUDY OF POETRY.           257
of any thing relating to the Church previous to
the Reformation.
CHAP. VIII.
ON THE STUDY OF POETRY - CRITICISM - TASTE.
"THEY who have known what it is," says Hallam, " in solitude, or in the intervals of worldly
care, to feed on poetical recollections - to murmur
over the beautiful lines whose cadence has long
delighted their ear-to recall the sentiments and
images with all the charm of early associations,they will feel the inestimable value of committing
to memory, in the prime of power, what it will
easily and indelibly retain." Therefore, time is
well spent in committing fine poetry to memory.
Lord Jeffrey says that, on an average, 10,000
lines of good poetry were published annually, and
asked, " How shall posterity keep pace with the
growing literature of the times?"  In reply, we
offer the following hints for a judicious selection:Johnson's "Lives of the Poets," with Campbell's " Essay," and Moir's " Sketches of the Poetical Literature of the last Half-Century," are indis.pensable as handbooks to direct attention to the
choicest pieces.
The lives of most literary men supply notices
of admired pieces, which should be read as the
notices of them occur.
S




258    COURSE OF ENGLISH READING.
Of Chaucer few read more than one or two Tales
as a specimen. Thomas Moore said he looked in
vain for the qualities for which Chaucer was admired by other men of high literary character.
Spenser: one of the most poetical, and certainly
the most perspicuous of all Poets; an author
whom men of deep poetic feeling fondly read,
and others distantly admire.
Pope said, that to hear a canto of Spenser was
like seeing a gallery of pictures. When Horace
Walpole was planning a bower at Strawberry
Hill, he said, " I am almost afraid I must go and
read Spenser, and wade through his allegories, to
get at a picture." Lord Chatham's sister used to
accuse him of knowing nothing but the "Fairy
Queen;" "and no matter," said Burke, "for he
who reads and relishes Spenser will have a strong
hold of the English language."
Shakespeare. As every man of education is
supposed to be familiar with Shakespeare, the
following hints may be of very general service:part are the kind suggestions, and nearly all meet
the approval, of John Payne Collier, whose one
volume edition, be it remembered, incorporates
about 1000 corrections from the margin of his lately
discovered folio, dated 1632 -corrections (as a
little inquiry will convince every reader) nearly as
satisfactory as if made by Shakespeare's own hand.




SHAKESPEARE'S COMEDIES.        259
Shakespeare's Plays are commonly divided into
Comedies, Histories and Tragedies. "Pericles"
was the first written, and " The Tempest" the
last-a play which proves that Shakespeare's
poetic spirit did not fail at fifty years of age.
Chaucer and Young were never more truly poets
than at sixty; Dryden was best at seventy; and
Sophocles wrote his " (Edip. Coloneus" at eighty!
1. Comedies of Shakespeare.  " The Winter's
Tale " is more than marvellous; almost a miraculous composition, and the best comedy in any
language. " Twelfth Night" and " As you like
it" are next in merit. The least agreeable is
" All's well that ends well."  " The Tempest " is
a play wholly unlike any other dramatic effort,
and wonderful from the first line to the last.
As to " Midsummer's Night's Dream" it is a
happy composition in every sense, and shows,
says Thomas Campbell, that Shakespeare did once
at least compose in a state of joyous ecstasy and
delight. He adds, in "Measure for Measure."
"Much ado about Nothing," and "Comedy of
Errors," with every allowance for tales of fiction, our credulity is taxed to a fault. To eulogise
"Romeo and Juliet" is gilding refined gold;
and " Cymbeline," involves a refutation of old
Johnson's " dictum " that we had no right to be
pleased with poetry beyond our ability to say why
s2




260    COURSE OF ENGLISH READING.
and wherefore. This dictum certainly may be
carried too far; but generally, in Poetry, as in
Religion, a man should be able to render a reason
for the faith that is in him.
2. The Historical Plays.  The three parts of
"Henry VI." were written first. Campbell was
happy to believe that " Henry VI." pt. i. with the
burning of Joan of Arc, as also " Titus Andronicus," were not by Shakespeare. Mr. Collier is convinced that Shakespeare did write "Titus Andronicus;" he also thinks that if he did not write, he
certainly added to the first part of " Henry VI."
In " Henry VI.," pt. ii., the death-scene of Cardinal Beaufort is very finely drawn. "Richard
III." is the best of all the plays for the stage. Its
historical truth was questioned in Walpole's
" Doubts." The hunchbacked Richard III. is described by a contemporary as a handsome man;
still, Sir James Mackintosh lived to alter an
opinion he once maintained of Richard's innocence
of the crimes imputed to him.
Charles James Fox justly compared Clarence's
dream to the death-scene of Alcestis in Euripides.
The whole of " Richard III." evinces a power of
terrific delineation; but the two parts of" Henry
IV." are better plays.
"Henry IV." pt. i. is original, and rich in characters beyond all other plays. In " Henry V.," the




SHAKESPEARErS TRAGEDIES.       261
description of the night before the Battle of
Agincourt is very celebrated. " Henry VIII." is
full of fine speeches and characters. In reading
this play, remember that it was written in the
reign of a Queen most dangerous to offend, daughter of two of the principal characters. In "King
John" the scenes of "Arthur and Hubert " and
" Hubert and John" are admirably adapted for
private recitation. The character of the bereaved
Constance ranks with Queen Margaret, Desdemona, Cleopatra, Juliet, and Lady Macbeth, the
best female characters in Shakespeare.
3. The Tragedies of Shakespeare. In " Troilus
and Cressida" Campbell thinks the Poet was not
eminently successful, though the Germans (whose
Shakespearian enthusiasm has made us appear comparatively cold) are as much enraptured with Troilus as with Hamlet; a play apparently more congenial to the German spirit. However, "Julius
Caesar," and "Antony and Cleopatra,"-a play
more true to nature, to history and to dramatic
rules —as also " Coriolanus," fully vindicate Shakespeare's power to cope with Roman subjects. The
quarrel of Brutus and Cassius has been more applauded, says Collier, than any other piece on the
stage, for the last 250 years. But the scene of
Coriolanus with his mother, wife and child, may
be deemed the finest dramatic scene ever written.
s3




262    COURSE OF ENGLISH READING.
" Hamlet " is one of the best plays to read, " Macbeth" the best to see-great in its plot, its characters and its sentiments; but " Othello" would
be equally good,-so true to nature, and its plot so
well developed, - were it not so painfully revolting in some parts. " King Lear" well acted
would be too painful, were it not so well relieved.
The madness of King Lear the physician of an
asylum pronounced as true to the very life.
"Hamlet," "Macbeth," " Lear," and " Othello"
are as much read as any of the plays. " Macbeth"
has often been compared to the "Agamemnon" of
IEschylus, from the spirit of awe and mystery
that broods over the whole play, and also from
the resemblance of Lady Macbeth to the daring
Clytemnestra.  Strong and stirring as are the
thoughts of the " Agamemnon,"' there are twice the
number in "Macbeth;" and, as to delineation of
character and studies of nature, that which was
first and foremost in Shakespeare was of quite a
secondary consideration with the Greek Dramatists. Milton's " Samson" bears some resemblance
to the Irometheus of 2Eschylus.  In each play
there is one grand figure thrown out in strong
relief.
On this subject Macaulay's "Essay on Milton"
has some good remarks. It was in structure and
artistic finish, and not in variety of character, or




POETRY.               263
fertility of thought, that the Greeks excelled.
Shakespeare had not the same inducement for
exact composition, otherwise no man ever could
have surpassed him. Many of his speeches exhibit a matchless proportion of words to sense;
they show so true a balance, and so nice a rhythm,
that they seem rather tesselated than constructed.
Not a syllable can you displace without loss. No
play exemplifies this excellence more than the
"Merchant of Venice."
The reader of Poetry must judge of beauties
for himself, so widely do "doctors disagree."
Byron had little appreciation either for Shakespeare or for Spenser; and Horace Walpole, as
Southey quotes, said, that " The Midsummer
Night's Dream " is far more nonsensical than the
worst translation of an Italian opera book!
Cowley (Milton's favourite poet), Waller, Philips, Parnell, Rowe, Prior, Gay, Green, Tickell,
Somerville, Swift, Collins (his lyrics very celebrated), Dyer, Churchill, Akenside, Lyttelton,
Armstrong, Warton, Mason, Beattie, are authors
of whom we may read such parts only as Johnson
or other critics point out.
Of Milton, to read "Paradise Lost" is the
duty of all, the pleasure of a few. Read Mi-acaulay's admirable criticism of Milton. All the
minor works are better known than" Paradise
s4




264    COURSE OF. ENGLISH READING.
Regained." Fuseli thought the second book of
"Paradise Lost" the grandest effort of the
human mind.
Of Dryden, " Alexander's Feast" is one of
the most popular lyric odes.  His "Fables,"
" Annus Mirabilis," and " Translation of Virgil,"
are the most celebrated. Dryden is considered
to evince more strength and real poetry, with less
smoothness, than Pope.  Bolingbroke admired
Pope's prose writing. Mackintosh thought " The
Cock and the Fox " the best poem of Dryden.
Of Addison, read the "' Cato," and Psalm xxiii.
Of Pope, the " Rape of the Lock" is the best
of all heroi-comical poems; " Eloisa to Abelard "
is, though very clever, a most immoral and impious poem, most unworthy of the author of " The
Messiah," which should be learned by heart, and
compared with Isaiah and Virgil. The "Essay
on Criticism," and the " Dunciad," show that Pope
could write as strong lines as any author. Of the
" Essay on Man," the argument was written by
Bolingbroke, and versified by Pope.
Of Thomson, all admire the sensibility and
natural beauty of " The Seasons." He had not
the art of giving effect with a few touches. His
"Castle of Indolence" shows more genius, though
less known than " The Seasons."
Of Shenstone Gray said, " He goes hopping




POETRY.                265
along his own gravel walk, and never deviates
from the beaten track, for fear of being lost."
" The Schoolmistress," as an imitation of Spenser,
is very good, but far inferior to the " Castle of
Indolence."
Of Young, " The Night Thoughts" hold a
high place among devotional poetry.  Most of
the literary world read part, few read all: which,
indeed, may almost be said of Milton, for reasons
given in Johnson's " Life of Milton."
Of Gray, the "Elegy," and " Ode to Eton
College," are best known.  Of the rest of his
odes, Sir J. Mackintosh truly said, "They are
most pleasing to the artist who looks to structure."
And again, " To those who are capable of that
intense application, which the higher order of
poetry requires, and which poetical sympathy
always produces, there is no obscurity."
Of Goldsmith, " The Deserted Village," next to
Gray's " Elegy," is the most popular piece of English poetry. The other poems are much read.
Of Johnson, " London," and " The Vanity of
Human Wishes," much admired by Byron, every
scholar should compare with the third and tenth
satires of Juvenal.  His " Prologue," spoken by
Garrick in 1747, is very good.
Of Cowper, " The Task" is considered the
master-piece.  All his poems are much read,




266    COURSE OF ENGLISH READING.
especially " Alexander Selkirk," " John Gilpin,"
and all the smaller pieces. Cowper, like Euripides, was remarkable for reconciling poetical
sentiment with the language of common life. He
may be considered the first of the school of
Wordsworth. His letters are equal to any. Few
poets have had more readers than Cowper. The
public say of poetry as cottagers of religious
tracts, " We like something with a tale in it."
Of later writers, Wordsworth is admired by all
his brother poets. See Coleridge's "Biographia
Literaria." Read " The Excursion." His observations of nature's beauties are too minute, and
his sensibilities too acute for the sympathies of
most readers.  Crabbe's "Phoebe Dawson"' was
read to Fox on his death-bed! Of the "Borough "
Mackintosh said what Pitt observed of Sir W.
Scott's "Minstrel," 1"I acknowledge his unparalleled power of painting."
Byron avoid as intellectual poison —his genius
serves only to wing his rankling arrow for a
deeper wound. " He was inspired by the genius
of pain," said Goethe.  The good, wholesome,
moral Southey aptly called Byron and Shelley
of the "' Satanic School of Poetry." Byron fills
the mind with distempered views of life without
contentment, humility, resignation, or repose. He
not only scoffs at Religion, but diffuses a general




POETRY.                267
odour of Godlessness.  The true Poet is " the
High Priest of Nature," eliciting our praise for
beauties yet unseen, and our gratitude for mercies
unfelt before; and, revealing " a soul of goodness
in things evil," fits man for his mortal spherebut Byron unfits us. He would stir up a mutiny
in the voyage of life, and make believe " a soul
of badness in thinggood." How truly did a female
friend of Southey say that there was 2lbs. of devil
to every 11b. of man in Byron's composition!
Of Coleridge, Scott said, translation was hisforte.
He translated " Wallenstein " from manuscript,
and Schiller adopted and printed some of Coleridge's deviations. The " Ancient Mariner," composed during an evening walk with Wordsworth,
as well as his " Christabel," are very celebrated.
Mackintosh said Coleridge's " talents were below
his understanding; he had never matured his
ideas, so as to express them with clearness
and order." In other words, Coleridge, like Shelley and others of the same school, often failed
in the single step which would have attained to
"the sublime," and therefore their writings seem
in some parts to remain in the regions of " the ridiculous." Burns, Moore, Southey, Sir W. Scott,
Rogers, L. E. L. (Letitia Elizabeth Landon),
Heber, Milman, Keats, Shelley, James Montgomery, are names which I need only mention.




268    COURSE OF -ENGLISH READING.
The reader may easily ascertain what are the
best pieces of each; and when he thinks he knows
their several styles, then he may read with interest the "iRejected Addresses," and try how
many of the supposed authors he can identify.
Alfred Tennyson was for some time considered
the Poet of the present day who had most admirers, but Longfellow has far more real lovers.
Longfellow, Lowell, Whittier, Sigourney, Bryant, and Willis are five names of which our
American friends have much reason to be proud.
Thomas Hood's "Plea for the Midsummer
Fairies " is of the very highest order of poetical
composition. Many of his pieces are very beautiful.
On Taste. -Read Burke " On the Sublime
and Beautiful," Alison " On Taste," the principles of which were espoused by Stewart and
Jeffrey; but see "Burns's Letters" (lett. cc.).
Read the critical articles in the "Edinburgh"
and "Quarterly," and especially Lord Jeffrey's
" Essays." Some admirable remarks on the poetry
of a civilised, as compared with that of a ruder
age, are found in T. B. Macaulay's " Essay on
Milton:" and read also an able dissertation of
the poetry of the present age in his " Essay on
Moore's Life of Byron." Hallam recommends the
papers in "Blackwood" on Spenser, by Professor
Wilson.  Read Coleridge's criticism of Words



TASTE.               269
worth in his " Biographia Literaria," and the
" Reviews of Wordsworth." Johnson's criticism of
Gray, in his " Lives of the Poets," is termed by
Mackintosh "a monstrous example of critical
injustice." Gray adds, "he was unjust to Prior,
because he had no feeling of the lively and the
graceful."  Sir James justly maintained  that
"there is a poetical sensibility which, in the
progress of the mind, becomes as distinct a power
as a musical ear or a picturesque eye," which
sensibility Johnson had not.  The author of
"Rasselas" certainly had a talent for poetry,
and so Sir James himself was " not wanting in
imagery," said Robert Hall, "but it was acquired
and imported, not native to his mind." The Essay
in " Blackwood " on Burns's poetry, by Carlyle,
was strongly recommended by Mrs. Hemans. Read
and reflect on the criticisms of "Paradise Lost."
Compare the papers on Milton in the " Spectator "
and Johnson's "I Life of Milton " with the criticisms
in Coleridge's " Remains," p. 176; Hallam's
"History of Literature," vol. iv. p. 419; the
"Quarterly Review," June 1825; and Macaulay's
"Essay on Milton."  Lastly, study attentively
poems of different degrees of merit; compare
odes, blank verse, the different measures of Pope
and Spenser, Scott, and others, and consider
which best suit the English language, and what




270    COURSE OF ENGLISH READING.
poet excels in each; then confirm or correct
your own opinions by those of reputed critics. I
have also known much improvement conveyed by
a few hours' reading with a tutor of good taste.
Coleridge, high as were his natural endowments,
ascribed much of his proficiency to school lessons
in criticism from Dr. Bowyer at Christ's Hospital.
CHAP. IX.
ON NATURAL PHILOSOPHY.
"IN a recent catalogue by a Frenchman," says
I. D'Israeli, "among works on natural history
we find the'Essay on Irish Bulls! "' We should
rather recommend Rymer Jones's " Natural History," Humboldt's "Kosmos," and his " Aspects
of Nature," Ellis's " Chemistry of Creation,"
" Physical Geography" by Mrs. Somerville, Kirby's "Bridgewater Treatise," and a very choice little
book called the " Life of a Tree," by the C. K.
Society. After these others will readily occur.
On Astronomy, Herschel's " Preliminary Discourse" all may read. Mrs. Somerville's " Connection of the Physical Sciences" was designed to
teach her countrywomen science; but (1) Mitchell's "Orbs of Heaven," (2) Nichol's " Solar and
Planetary Systems," and (3) Tomlinson's " Stu



NATURAL PHILOSOPHY.         271
dent's Manual" should smooth the way. Tomlinson
clearly explains the principle of the Thermometer, Compass, Telescope, Dial, and Acoustics.
On Botany, Loudon's works will afford a clue
to others.
On Chemistry, " Liebig's Letters on Chemistry"
are indispensable, especially for agriculturists.
" Chemistry no Mystery," by Scoffern, with one
of Palmer's Chemical Chests, will furnish all
implements required for common experiments;
and, in every town there is a chemist who would
gladly earn a guinea for a few lessons.
Lardner's " Cyclopaedia" supplies Treatises on
all the Sciences; he has lately published a separate
course of a familiar kind. Read his work on
the" Steam-Engine." Dr. Brewer's " Guide to
Science" explains, in question and answer, every
common phenomenon from the theory of dew to
the boiling of the kettle.
On Geology, Mantell's "Wonders of Geology,"
Dr. Buckland, and Lyell will afford introductions.
The Museums and the Crystal Palace will afford
a fine school for lectures, which needy men of
science are ever ready to deliver on every branch
of Natural Philosophy. Science, by the many
elementary treatises of the present day, has been
brought within the comprehension of every intelligent person.




272    COURSE OF ENGLISH READING.
CHAP. X.
READING FOR A MILITARY OFFICER.
THE following is the advice of a military officer,
whose name and office as lecturer in a military
academy, were I allowed to mention it, would
prove the value of the authority.
The following list will enable the student to
become his own guide: -
I. On the ART OF WAR IN GENERAL; read,
1. Jackson on the " Formation and Discipline
of Armies."
2. Jomini on " Military Combinations; " by
Gilbert.
3. "K Iing of Prussia's Military Instructions;"
by Forster.
4. Duke of Wellington's " General Orders and
Despatches," by Gurwood; or, "Selections from
the Despatches," in one volume.
5. "Memoir of the Military Sciences," by Col.
Lewis; a " Military Cyclopaedia " of great merit,
just completed.
II. On ARTILLERY; read,
1. Griffith's " Artillerist's Manual."
2. Sir H. Douglas's " Naval Gunnery."
N. B. I know of no reputable treatise on Artillery in the English language.




READING FOR MILITARY AFFAIRS.  2 73
III. On FORTIFICATION; read,
1. Straith's "Fortification."
2. IMacaulay's "Field Fortifications."
3. Jebb on " Attack and Defence of Ports."
4. Pasley's " Rules for conducting the practical
Operations of a Siege."
IV. On MILITARY BRIDGES AND PONTOONS;
read,
" Sir H. Douglas's Treatise on Military Bridges."
V. On CAVALRY; read,
1. "Remarks on the Tactics of Cavalry," by
Beamish.
2. Bismark's " Field Service of Cavalry," by
Beamish.
VI. On LIGHT INFANTRY; read,
1. Jarry's "Duties of Light Infantry."
2. Fitz-Clarence on the " Duty of Piquets."
VII. On TACTICS AND MILITARY ORGANISATION; read,
Mitchell.
VIII. On MILITARY LAW; read,
Simmons on " Court Martials."
IX. On SURVEYING; read,
Jackson's " Surveying and Military Sketching."
X. On MILITARY HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY;
read,
1. Coxe's " Life of Marlborough."
2. Stedman's " History of the American War."
T




2 74    COURSE OF ENGLISH READING,
3. Lloyd's " German War."
4. " Conquest of Canada," by Author of Hochelaga.
5. Alison's "French Revolution."
6. Napier's "Peninsular War."
7. " Napoleon's Invasion of Russia," by Segur.
8. Jones's " Sieges in Spain."
9. Drinkwater's " Siege of Gibraltar."
10. Mahon's " War of Succession in Spain."
11. Siborne's " Waterloo Campaign."
12. The Work by Frederick II. of Prussia.
The Memoirs of Napoleon, by Generals Gourgaud and Montholon, contain, what must be a
matter of the greatest curiosity to the soldier, an
account of the authors and the studies which
formed the mind of that master of the art of war.
All the works of Jomini are instructive; his
later works are the best.
The general reading of an officer should be that
of any private gentleman. Though I may specify
Modern History, Geographical Descriptions, Military Narratives, and accounts of the policy and
interests of England and other great nations.
By translations of Arrian, Caesar, Polybius,
Tacitus, Xenophon, Herodotus, and Thucydides,
the student may glean the tactics of the Greeks
and Romans.
The valuable dissertation by Polybius (b. xvii.)




A COMMON-PLACE BOOK.         275
on the Macedonian phalanx, as compared with the
Roman legion, is given in Jones's Xenophon,
translated, pp. 255.
CHAP. XI.
HOW TO KEEP A COMMON-PLACE BOOK.
PROCURE B" The Improved Common-place Book
on the Plan of Locke." The preface contains instructions. This Common-place Book I would advise students to use as a day-book, and to keep a
common ruled book of 300 or 400 pages as a ledger.
The day-book should contain an analysis of every
book that is read, to aid the natural defects of
memory, not to supersede it; that is, we should
enter time, place, and persons, and little facts,
when, and only when, we can trust our memory
with the chief part of the narrative. The entry
should resemble the summary we find in books.
We may also enter original thoughts in order as
they arise. Then the ledger should be a book of
topics in which every subject of interest may
have a page or two assigned it, for the purpose
of classifying the contents of the Common-place
or Day Book. To show the advantage of this,
I will copy from my own book one of the pages
in which I have long stored up any casual notice
T2




276    COURSE OF ENGLISH READING.
and recommendation of authors to determine:my
choice of reading.
"Authors recommended and characterised.
"Read' Collingwood's letter on Trafalgar,'
cp. 2. (i. e. Common-place Book, page 2.), and
Hutchinson'On Alexandria,' cp. 8. Burke's
opinion of Montesquieu, cp. 14., and of Voltaire,
of Murphy's Translation and' Ossian,' cp. 14.
The prose of Dryden, Shaftesbury, and Hooker
characterised, cp. 27. What Niebuhr and what
Pitt considered the desiderata of literature,
cp. 175. Gent. Mag. for 1747, about Hogeus.
Miss Austin's' Pride and Prejudice,' Scott
thought unequalled, cp. 31. Adolphus's Letter
to Heber.' New Monthly' for 1822, about
National Gallery.' On India and Hindoos,' read
Ward's Book. Swift's letters better than Pope's,
cp. 150. Read Cowper's Letters, Mackintosh's
opinion of Hume's' History,' cp. 38.' Edinb.
No. XLI.' 2nd article by Sir J. Mackintosh.
Canning's Eulogy of Chalmers's'Astronomical
Sermons,' cp. 257. Gray's Opinion of'  Froissart;'
which was admired by Hemans, as also' Paul and
Virginia,' cp. 54."




ON MEMORY.              277
CHAP. XII.
HOW TO REMEMBER WHAT WE READ.
MOST readers, I presume, will open this chapter
with no little curiosity, and a feeling which would
be expressed by these words: "My memory is
bad enough -would it were as good as that of
a certain friend of mine. Let me see if there can
be any rules to suit so bad a case as my own."
Now, before you decide that you have a worse
memory than your friend, let me ask, Is there no
one subject on which you can equal him? You
have no doubt observed, that a large class of men,
who are devoted exclusively and literally to animal
pursuits, sportsmen to wit, have the greatest difliculty in remembering matters of history or general
literature, but yet are so ready with the names of
all the winners of the Derby, Oaks, or St. Leger,
and the progeny and pedigree of each, that a
scholar would be as much surprised at their memory of horses and mares, as they could be at the
scholar's memory of kings and queens. Probably
you will now say, " All this we grant; it is true
we have memory for some things, but not for
literature." Your meaning is, that you have
memory where you have attention. The sportsman cannot attend to books, nor the scholar to
horses. The art of memory is the art of attenT3




278    COURSE OF ENGLISH READING.
tion. A memory for literature will increase with
that interest in literature by which attention is
increased. The sportsman could remember pages
of history relating to forest laws or encouragement
of the breed of horses, but not the adjoining pages
on the law of succession, and only because he felt
an interest, and consequently paid attention, in
reading the one but not the other.
Again, memory depends on association, or, on
the tendency of some things to suggest and make
us think of others. The geologist remembers fossils,
but not flowers; and the botanist flowers, but not
fossils. Each has in his mind "a cell" for the one
specimen, but not for the other; and the observations which fall in with the ideas of the geologist,
and link to many a subtle chain of thought, remain alone and unassociated in the mind of the
botanist. Association certainly is, in some respects, an aid to attention; they are usually considered as distinct, and the basis of Memory;
therefore every rule I can give for promoting
either attention or association will be virtually
rules for Memory.
Memory is assisted by whatever tends to a full
view and clear apprehension of a subject. Therefore, in reading history, occasionally lay the book
aside, and try if you can give a connected narrative of events.  " What thou dost not know,




ON MEMORY.               279
thou canst not tell;" but clear ideas never want
plain words. Do not be satisfied with feeling that
the subject is too familiar for this repetition to be
necessary. The better a story is known, the less
time it will take to repeat. Put your" thoughts
in express words." This is an invaluable exercise;
for, first of all, you will greatly improve your
power of expression, and gain that command of
language on which one of my friends heard Fox
compliment Pitt, as having not only a word, but
the word, the very word to express his meaning.
Secondly, the practice of putting your thoughts
into words will improve your power of Conception. When you see a speaker, in a long argument, contract and fix his eye as if on some aereal
form, he is trying to body forth his ideas, and hold
them up as a picture from which he may select,
read off, and lay before his hearers such portions
as he thinks will convey the desired impression.
Conception is the quality for which we call a man'C clear-headed;" for this enables him to grasp at
one view the beginning, middle, and end of what
he means to say, and have the order of his ideas
at the direction of a cool judgment, instead of
depending upon chance.
"Ut jam nune dicat jam nune debentia dici,
Pleraque differrat prmesensque in tempus omittat."
HOR.
T4




280    COURSE OF ENGLISH READING.
To repeat a narrative to another is better stillthan repeating it to yourself: you are more excited to accuracy, and your memory is assisted
by the degree of attention and association which
casual remarks and questions may promote. After
walking round Christ Church Meadow with a
late fellow of Exeter College, relating the fortunes of the Athenians in Sicily, the very trees
seemed vocal, and one weather-beaten elm at the
left-hand corner of the avenue next the Cherwell
so regularly reminded us of Nicias, that we used
to say it afforded an unanswerable argument for
the transmigration of souls.
With a view to distinct conception, Writing is
usually recommended to aid memory. As to
mere transcribing, though much has been advanced in its favour, I believe it is by no means
to be adopted. Much experience has shown me
that it not only wastes time, but deceives us as to
the extent of our knowledge. We are flattered
at the sight of the paper we fill, while in reality
we are exercising, not our wits, but our fingers.
Every University student knows how common it
is to find men of misguided industry with desks
full, and heads empty. Writing never aids memory but when it tends to clear Conception.
Most persons find it more pleasant to draw a
sketch of a subject on a sheet of paper than on




ON MEMORY.              281
the tablets of the mind; but let them not suppose it is more improving.
When you want relief or variety, you may try
to write, instead of repeating the subject of your
morning's reading; but you will soon admit that
the viva voce exercise is the better of the two.
In speaking of Conception, Abercrombie relates
the case of a distinguished actor, who created
great surprise by learning a long part with very
short notice. "When questioned respecting the
mental process which he employed, he said that
he lost sight entirely of the audience, and seemed
to have nothing before him but the pages of the
book from which he had learnt, and that, if any
thing had occurred to interrupt that illusion, he
should have stopped instantly."
Secondly. Memory is assisted by whatever adds
to our interest or entertainment.  Therefore all
the remarks I have made relative to being guided
by curiosity and inclination are hints for memory.
A man rarely forgets a fact which he hears in
answer to a question he has himself originated;
and the art of reading is, to gain facts in such
order that each shall be, as Abercrombie says, a
nucleus or basis of more; in other words, that
every fact may be an answer to some question
already in our minds, and may suggest in its turn
new questions for new answers in an endless series.




282    COURSE OF ENGLISH READING,
Thirdly. Memory depends much on a thorough
determination to remember.  Most persons have
memory enough for the purposes of their own
business. Ask the guard of the mail how he
remembers the places at which he has to drop
his many parcels, and he will tell you, " because
he must." And if you put the same question
to any number of different persons whose fortune
depends on the constant exercise of memory,
you will invariably receive similar answers, which
is a proof from experience that our memory
depends very much on our own will and determination. If, by the force of resolution, a person
can wake at any hour in the morning, it is easy
to believe that, by the same means, he may also
have a powerful command over his memory.
While at the University, I had a very remarkable
proof of this. I was assisting in his studies,
previous to examination, a friend who assured me
he could not remember what he read; that such
had been the case during fourteen University
terms. But I said, " Now you must remember,
— I know you can, - and I will have no more to
do with you if you do not answer me correctly
to-morrow on what we read to-day."
Having rallied him in this way, I heard no
more of the complaint. After his examination he
assured me that he was perfectly surprised at the




ON MEMORY.              283
extent to which his memory had served him, and
fairly acknowledged that for years he had given
way to a state of mental inactivity, never stopping
to try his memory, but drinking of the Castalian
stream rather after the manner of Baron Munchausen's horse, when he had lost his hinder
quarters with the portcullis. A man can remember to a great extent, just as Johnson said
a man might at any time compose, mastering his
humour, if he will only set to work with a dogged determination: " Possunt quia posse videntur,"
" for they can conquer who believe they can," is
very generally true where the mind is concerned.
A very common reason that men do not remember is, that they do not try; a hearty and
ever-present desire to prevail is the chief element of all success.  Nothing but the fairy's
wand can realise the capricious desire of the
moment; but as to the objects of laudable
wishes, deeply breathed and for many a night
and day ever present to the mind, these are
placed by Providence more within our reach
than is commonly believed.  When a person
says, If I could only have my wish, I would
excel in such an art or science, we may generally answer, The truth is, you have no such
wish; all you covet is the empty applause, not
the substantial accomplishment. Before we com



284    COURSE OF ENGLISH READING.
plain of want of power and mental weapons, let
us be sure that we make full use of what we
have. When we see one man write without
hands, and another qualify himself (as in an instance within my own remembrance) for high
University honours without eyes, a complaint of
our memory, or other faculties, justifies the same
conclusion as when workmen complain of their
tools.
These, or at least other instances equally surprising, are founded on good authority.  Still
Abercrombie justly says, though the power of
remembering unconnected facts and lists of words
makes a great show, and is the kind of memory
most generally admired, yet it is often combined
with very little judgment, and is not so important a feature, in a cultivated mind, as that
memory founded on the relations, analogies, and
natural connections of different subjects, which
is more in our own power. Indeed, mere parrot
memory is of less use than is generally supposed.
It enables a superficial person to pass off the
opinions of others as his own; but educated men
can generally remember enough for their own
purposes, and command data sufficient for the
operations of their judgment. The power and
the science is the chief point, not the tools. A
mathematician is always a mathematician, even




ON MEMORY.               285
without his formulak and diagrams. The oldest
judge remembers the rules of law, though he
forgets the case in point, and the ablest counsel
are allowed refreshers.  It is enough that our
minds, like our guns, carry true to the mark
without being always loaded.
Fourthly. Memory is assisted by whatever tends
to connection or association of ideas.  When I
asked the friend above mentioned the particular
means he took to remember his lectures previous
to examination, he said, that besides looking
everything " more fully in the face " than he had
ever done before, he tried "to match, sort, and
put along-side of something similar," each event
in its turn, and also to say to himself, " Here are
four or five causes, circumstances, or characters
relating to the same thing; by such a peculiarity
in the first I shall remember the second, while
something else in the second will remind me of
the third and fourth." During this process, he
said, he became so familiar with many facts, that
he could remember without any association at
all. Again, in all the works and phenomena of
nature, moral or physical, men of comprehensive
minds discern a marked family likeness; certain
facts indicate the existence of others; so that
memory is assisted by a certain key which classification suggests; and thus one effort of memory




286    COURSE OF ENGLISH READING.
serves for all. Association and Attention are both
the basis of several inventions called Memoria
Technica, of which I will proceed to speak, more
particularly for the benefit of students preparing
for examinations, and those who would follow out
my plan of attaining accuracy of outlines of history and other subjects. Dr. Doddridge learnt the
Scripture history from his mother's lectures on
the Dutch tiles in the fireplace. A series of historical pictures would form the best iemnzoria Technica; so readily do we remember the position of
pictures, and associate facts with their subjects.
Of Memoria Technica, the practice of almost
all men of distinction coincides with the avowed
opinions of Bacon and of Abercrombie, who held
that the memory of such events as these systems
teach is scarcely worth the process; and, that the
same degree of resolution which their use implies
would supersede the necessity of them, except to
that extent only to which every man of sense can,
and commonly does, frame the best possible Memoria Technica, namely, one suited to his peculiar cast of mind. Of such kinds are the following: -
First. Looking at names in the index of a
history, and following each separately through all
the events with which it is connected. This plan
with Herodotus and Thucydides I found invalu



MEMORIA TECHNICA,          287
able. It aids Memory most powerfully, and leads
to comparison and valuable reflection.
Secondly. Marking the names, words, or paragraphs, in your book, or numbering the separate
arguments by figures, 1, 2, and 3, in the margin.
This I found useful, not only with history, but
especially with Aristotle, and other works of
science. It tends to distinct conception; to many
casual associations; you sometimes fancy you see
the page itself marked with your own figures, and
then one event reminds you of another; it also
enables you easily to refresh your memory of a
book while you leisurely turn over the pages;
above all, it keeps ever present to your mind,
what many students do not think of once a month,
namely, that reading and remembering are two
different things.
Thirdly. Making a very brief summary of the
contents of each book, and thinning it by degrees,
as your memory can serve, with few catchwords
as well as many. This plan answers many of the
same purposes as the preceding; it is valuable to
one who is preparing himself to write off-hand the
history of any century required. Take one sheet
of paper, and write words enough on it to remind
you of the whole Outline History, and after a
month, try if a much more portable skeleton-key
will not serve, and this may be reduced, in its




288    COURSE OF ENGLISH READING.
turn, till the whole is transferred from the paper
to your memory. Thus Niebuhr advised his
nephew to keep a list of difficulties or new words,
and blot out each as soon as he could.
Lastly, associating things with places or objects
around: thus the Roman orators used to associate
the parts of their speeches with the statues or
pillars in the building in which they spoke. Let
my readers prepare a " skeleton-key" of each of
the three Outline Histories of England, Rome,
and Greece, and take a walk in three different
directions with each; then will they find, though
I cannot say in the noble sense in which Shakespeare intended, —
" Tongues in trees - books in the running brooks,
Sermons in stones - and good in everything."
Gray's " Memoria Technica" is very useful for
dates. But it must be used for kings and queens
principally, the dates of other events being remembered by association.
Example is better than precept. What man
has done, man may do; so we will consider a few
anecdotes of men famed for powers of memory.
Xenophon, in his " Symposium," speaks of
Athenians who could repeat both the "Iliad" and
the " Odyssey." This statement has been recommended to the consideration of those who assert
the impossibility of the Homeric poems being




ON MEMORY.              289
orally transmitted. What was practicable for one
man, however extraordinary a character he might
be, would be comparatively easy for a society of
Rhapsodists, if each member were intrusted with
the memory of a part.
The nation that exerts memory in a more surprising manner than any other at the present day
is the Chinese. Medhurst, in describing their
education, enumerates nine books under the names
of the " Five Classics" and the " Four Books."
The Classics consist of a Book of Diagrams; a
Collection of Odes; The Public Ceremonies;
The Life of Confucius; and the History of the
Three Dynasties. The Four Books are, The
Happy Medium; the Great Doctrine; Book of
Discourses; and Mencius. The bulk of these
nine is equal to that of the New Testament; and
yet, says Medhurst, " if the whole were lost, one
million persons (out of a population reckoned at
361,000,000) could restore every volume tomorrow." Public offices in' China depend on
examination in these books. Two per cent. of the
population compete.
At Winchester and the Charter House many
a boy has committed to memory 10,000 lines, so
as to repeat from any part at which he was told
to begin.
Mathews, the comedian, as we are told by his
U




290    COURSE OF ENGLISH READING.
widow, had so surprising a memory, that he
would go through an Entertainment which he had
not seen for many months. He has even been
known to step aside as the curtain drew up, to
ascertain by a play-bill the name of the piece advertised for the evening; and this, strange to say,
at a time when he was suffering so much from
cracks on the tongue, that he had not spoken a
word during the whole day, and felt the greatest
pain in uttering what the audience heard with
raptures of delight.
Addison's daughter, said Lady Mary Wortley
Montagu, was nearly imbecile, yet so powerful
was her memory, that she could repeat a sermon
which she had heard once, and could learn pages
of a dictionary by heart.
It is related of Lord Bolingbroke that he learned
Spanish enough in three weeks to correspond with
the Spanish minister. I would say credat Judteus;
but, in Sir J. Stephen's Essay on "Ignatius Loyola
and the Jesuits," it is mentioned as indisputable
that Xavier learnt one of the Indian languages, so
as to prepare himself for his missionary duties, in
the same space of time. This is an instance of the
power that enthusiastic determination exerts over
memory. To the same principle must we also
attribute the fact that the Bishop of New Zealand
preached to the natives in their own language as




ON MEMORY.              291
soon as he arrived, having studied it only during
his voyage. This, however, though highly meritorious, is by no means so surprising a case as that
of Xavier.
Eusebius says that to the memory of Esdras we
are indebted for the Hebrew Scriptures which
were destroyed by the Chaldaeans. St Anthony,
the Egyptian hermit, though he could not read,
knew the whole Scripture by heart; while, a
certain Florentine, at the age of sixteen, could
repeat all the Papal bulls. Seneca tells us that
the Emperor Hadrian could repeat 2000 words
in the order he heard them. Petrarch says that
Pope Clement V. had his memory impaired by a
fall on the head (an accident which has been
known to give a good memory to one who had
little before), and by great application gained so
much more power than he had lost, that he never
forgot anything he read. Cicero says, " Lucullus
had a miraculous memory for events, but Hortensius had a better memory for words." Quintilian
alludes to the well-known fact that we can repeat
a task more perfectly on the following morning
than on the night we learn it, and observes that
things digest and settle in the mind during sleep.
Many instances are recorded of men losing the
memory of a language, and speaking it many
years after, during a brain fever or some exciting
u2




292    COURSE OF ENGLISH READING.
illness. The truth of this is beyond all doubt,
though it seems very much like the tunes being
thawed out of the frozen trumpet.
Dr. Abercrombie knew a lady seized with
apoplexy while playing at cards one Thursday
evening, and on regaining consciousness three
days after, her first words were, "What are
trumps?"
CHAP. XIII.
ENGLISH COMPOSITION. - HOW ACQUIRED.
W' ITII full command of your subject," says
Horace, " you will never be at a loss, either for
words, or arrangement."  Composition is an art
well worth studying: much as men differ in natural powers of composition, no man ever did full
justice to these powers without much consideration and practice.
1. The first thing in writing is to have something
to say. Strong and stirring thoughts will rarely
find vent in any but a vigorous and forcible
style.  The next thing is to be contented to
write in the style which is natural to you. At
the moment of writing, express yourself as nature dictates: in the hours of study, improve that
nature to the full extent of its capacity. Never




ENGLISH COMPOSITION.         293
attempt to write a letter and study letter-writing
at the same time. Write in your own language
and in your own character without effort and
without affectation. Think of nothing but your
subject; and your style, however imperfect, will
have far more force and fluency than any slow
and laboured composition could produce.
Southey's advice on the art of composition was
similar to Johnson's; namely, to think of what
you have to say, and to use the first words
which present themselves, - the first words will
be the most natural —you may afterwards correct
with a view  to brevity and rhythm.  From
Southey's Life it appears that his advice on composition was asked very frequently; and naturally so; for Southey's prose is equal to any
English writing; and the "Life of Nelson," in
particular, is written in a style so lucid and natural as never was surpassed. This is the opinion
of the best judges — of Byron among others - and
Byron is himself pronounced by Mr. Macaulay,
when speaking of that poet's correspondence, to
be a perfect master of English prose.
Writing poetry is the best of all practice for
prose. Poets have generally been good prose
writers. Witness Cowley, Dryden, and Milton,
whose prose has all the power without the affectation of Carlyle; witness Swift, Pope, Goldu3




294    COURSE OF ENGLISHk READING.
smith, Cowper, Scott, Thomas Moore, and Mr.
Macaulay.
Poetical exercises are recommended, on the
same principle as translations from foreign languages, because they forbid the writer to shape
his ideas to fit his words, and compel him to
search for words adequate to his ideas.
"' One thing I do know," says Southey, "to
write poetry is the best preparation for writing
prose. The verse-maker gets the habit of weighing the meanings and qualities of words, until
he comes to know, as if by intuition, what particular word will best fit into the sentence.
People talk of my style!  I have only endeavoured to write plain English, and to put my
thoughts into language which every one can understand." And yet how many writers appear to
think that heavy latinised words, and far-fetched
metaphors, and unnatural, flowery language, are
all essential to fine writing!
"I am glad," writes Southey on another occasion, "that you sometimes write verses, because, if ever you become a prose writer, you
will find the great advantage of having written
poetry.;No poet ever becomes a mannerist in
prose, nor falls into those tricks of style which
show that the writer is always labouring to produce effect." The great rule of composition there



ENGLISII COMPOSITION.       295
fore iS, —NEVER TO TAKE PEN IN HAND TILL
YOU HAVE SOMETHING TO SAY, AND THEN WRITE
IN THE FIRST WORDS THAT COME TO MIND. This
was Southey's advice, though he would afterwards
correct for brevity and rhythm. That plain and
forcible writer William Cobbett, said, that the
order of his sentences was the natural order in
which one thought suggested another, and when
this suggestion failed, it was time to stop. Much
of the weak diluted writing of the present day
William Wilberforce ascribed to a vain attempt
to write without ideas -without ideas enough, he
should have said, to gush forth as under highpressure, but only enough to trickle out few and
far between. The voluminous Richard Baxter
confessed he had too much to do in giving utterance to all the weighty truths he would impart,
to afford time for selection of words or modulation
of sentences; so, he fixed his thoughts on his subject, and wrote as well as he could. On this Sir
George Stephen observed, that no writer ever
proposed to himself a surer method for doing justice
to his own powers of composition. It is the only
method by which a writer will ever give full scope
and freedom to his abilities, be they great or
little. John Bunyan, whose " Pilgrim's Progress" Mr. Macaulay deems "an invaluable study
for any man who wishes to obtain a wide comu 4




296    COURSE OF ENGLISH READING.
mand over the English language," tells the secret
of his success in words that truly describe the
birth of every offspring of genius," It came from mine own heart, so to my head,
And thence into my fingers trickled;
Then to my pen, from whence immediately
On paper I did dribble it daintily."
2. As to the course of reading conducive to a
good English style, we may learn something from
Lord Brougham's remarks on the studies of
Robertson: -
" That Robertson had carefully studied the
best writers, with a view to acquire genuine
Anglicism, cannot be doubted.  He was intimately acquainted with Swift's writings; indeed,
he regarded Swift as eminently skilled in the
narrative art. Robertson had equal familiarity
with Defoe, and had formed the same high estimation of his historical powers.
When a certain Professor consulted Robertson
on the best discipline for acquiring a good narrative style, the remarkable advice he received
was to read Robinson Crusoe carefully; and,
when the Professor was astonished and supposed
it was a jest, the historian said he was quite
serious; but, if Robinson Crusoe would not help
him, or if he was above studying Defoe, then he
would recommend " Gulliver's Travels I"




ENGLISH COMPOSITION.          297
Southey specified Cobbett as one of our best
writers, having a Saxon basis, derived from his
education in the heart of an English county.
Cobbett writes like a man very much in earnest,
and never stops to pick out pretty words or to
round off polished sentences.
Gibbon studied the style of Blackstone, and
Pope that of Dryden, but without any trace of
imitation.
Henry Taylor says that Mr. Crabbe Robinson,
being one day with Schiller in his library, and
observing on the shelves a collection of German
translations of Shakespeare, he inquired how it
was that Schiller, who understood English, could
require these translations. Schiller's answer was
that he was in the habit of reading as little as
possible in foreign languages, because it was his
business to write German, and he thought, by
reading in other languages, he should lose his
nicer perceptions of what belonged to his own.
Pope, Congreve, and Chatterton were all selfeducated, being left to seek in the pure "well
of English undefiled," according to their own intellectual wants and tastes, those treasures of
which they were so early possessed. Byron at
school and college attended far more to the living
languages than to the dead. Pope thought himself the better for having no regular education,




298    COURSE OF ENGLISH READING.
but allowed to gather " sweets from every opening
flower" in the rich fields of English literature.
Moore acquiesces in these opinions, as he quotes
them; he adds, that the perfect purity with which
the Greeks wrote their own language was justly
attributed to their entire abstinence from every
other.
3. The above rule specifies, till you have something to say; something clear and familiar to your
own mind, and only awaiting words for expression.
With this view, some persons make a brief sketch
before writing an Essay, or set down a list of
topics before beginning a letter; and some
writers will walk about and arrange their ideas,
or converse and reason upon them with a friend.
Many of our great writers have mused for years
upon their favourite theory, the constant subject
of their solitary and their social hours.  Then,
when once resolved to write, a free and natural
stream of thoughts, having long since clothed
themselves with words, flows forth with rapidity
and effect. Great results are never attained by
little labour; though the labour may not be apparent to the uninitiated, who are apt to compute
by the time of actual expression, forgetting the
many patient hours of antecedent thought. Thirty
times over did Pascal write some of his immortal
letters. Most writers would do better at a second,




ENGLISH COMPOSITION.           299
or even at a third attempt, could they spare the
time; and that, principally for a reason which
confirms our rule, because each repetition would
give them a more comprehensive view and a
more full command of all their materials.
4. As to Brevity, the secret of its beauty is, that
when perfectly natural, it is the result of a mind
full of its subject - a symptom which every reader
welcomes, that the writer had ideas ready for his
words, instead of having his words and ideas to
seek at the same time. Brevity is valuable rather
as an omen of excellence than as an excellence
in itself. Bad writers are diffuse and prosy, for
the same reasons that bad speakers stammer and
hesitate, because they are making a cast for ideas,
and have nothing to say. Brevity, when made a
point of-that is, affected brevity, is far, indeed,
from being a beauty in composition.
Horace ridicules this error in Brevis esse laboro,
obscurus fio, -" I make a great effort to be brief,
and the consequence is that I am obscure."
William Wilberforce was of the same opinion.
In writing his "Practical Christianity" he purposely avoided that pruning and condensation
which literary taste usually prescribes. He wisely
judged, that a style rather more diffuse is more
easily read.  The readers, like the hearers of
religious discourses, are well pleased to have their




300     COURSE OF ENGLISH READING.
attention roused by a little repetition. Brief and
terse maxims are of their own nature unconnected
with the context. They go by you in a single
flash, whereas you have time to think and recover yourself in a longer sentence; and Wilberforce once observed to a friend-" Do not curtail
too much: portable soup must be diluted before
it can be used."
But as to brevity, conciseness, and that exact
proportion of words to things which distinguished
our great writers, this is by no means to be accomplished without careful study. Horace tells
us we should observe a delicate discrimination in
the choice of our words, and great nicety in their
arrangement; — In verbis etiam tenuis cautusque
serendis.  Here, serere verba is not the same thing
as spargere verba. We must dibble our words
in exactest order, and not sow them broad cast,
if we would attain to excellence. The perfection of composition is well exemplified in Sir
James Mackintosh's "Laws of Nature and of
Nations."  For, in these truly classical compositions, every sentence reads with the utmost ease
and perspicuity; yet, if you analyse the structure,
you will find the words are like Mosaic work;
the sentences are rather tesselated than constructed, each word fitting admirably in its
own place, but defying all transposition. Such




ENGLISH COMPOSITION.         301
excellence no mortal man can attain without
patient study.
Ariosto furnishes another instance of careful
selection and patient labour. His MSS. show
that many a lofty and figurative expression was
written and erased, before he attained to that
chaste simplicity, to the imitation of which Galileo
ascribed his own success, in making science
attractive to the general reader.
The mention of Lord Brougham reminds us
that it is well known that no man has gone
beyond Lord Brougham in the patient finish of
particular passages of his speeches; he has himself recorded that the peroration on Queen
Caroline's case was written ten times over before
he thought it worthy of the occasion.
5. Again, our rule states, write in thefirst words
that come to mind: hence, any attempt to write
in the style of Addison, or in any other style than
your own, is strictly prohibited. Elegant writers
must be studied in the hours of preparation, and
the secret of their peculiar charms considered;
thus Gibbon transcribed many chapters of
Blackstone; but Gibbon's History shows not the
faintest trace of his copy. By throwing off your
own style to attain that of another, you will fall
into a style worse than either. Many a man has
written in a stiff and affected style for life, by




302    COURSE OF ENGLISH READING.
being taught to balance sentences and count syllables at school. When general education has
formed the taste, and varied and extensive reading has enriched the vocabulary, then constant
practice will give facility of expression, and the
result will be a style worthy of a scholar.
That choice language which we admire in the
poems of Pope and in the prose of Addison is
hardly the language of our mother tongue, or, at
all events, it must be admitted that such smooth
and chaste and varied diction is a forml and dialect
of that mother tongue, far superior to what we
learn by nature, and only to be acquired by art.
Let us explain ourselves a little more at length.
We once heard a sensible country Rector inform
a new Curate that the lower classes could not
understand above one fourth part of that English
which the higher classes speak; and, consequently,
that as often as a preacher deviated from this very
limited vocabulary he was virtally speaking in
an unknown tongue.
Now, if one word out of every four in the dictionary is as large a proportion of the language
as the ploughman can understand, one word out
of four - though, unhappily, not by any means
the same -is about as many as the Squire or the
Parson are able commonly to use.  Words, the
instruments of thought, are like other instru



ENGLISH COMPOSITION.          303
ments, or other tools.  A  first-rate workman
carries a great variety of tools in his flag-basket,
and attains an additional finish and accuracy by
the skilful application of each. But the rougher
and ruder kind of labourer can handle only one
or two of a sort. So is it with the ordinary vocabulary of common conversation.  One word
acts many parts.  Nearly all persons, without
special study, may be detected in ringing the
changes on one set of words, and of moving round
and round in one narrow circle of trite phraseology. It is one thing to understand every word
in the language, but another thing to have every
word ready and available for its proper use and
application. Even Goldsmith, so choice and so
chaste in his writings, was singularly careless and
inaccurate when he conversed. It was remarked
of him by one of his friends -" Goldsmith, for
instance, would say,' This is as good a guinea
as was ever born;' coined, he ought to say; but
such a word as coined would never occur to
Goldsmith."
Let it be granted, therefore, that one column
of the dictionary out of four is as large a proportion of our language as any one person will
use by nature.  It is by art -by variety of reading, and minute observation of every word in
every sentence of the most effective writers —




304    COURSE OF ENGLISH READING.
that all the great masters of composition have
studied to enrich their style, endeavouring to
incorporate and make habitual as much of the
other three columns as they could.
In this study of language, Pope has succeeded
so far as to lay the whole language under contribution, to supply words in unison with every
tone of feeling and expressive of every shade
of thought. So, Johnson, struck with admiration
at these varied beauties, immediately raised the
question, How such command of language ever
was attained?
It is a law of the human mind, that it insensibly takes the tone and colouring of those with
whom it communicates. If we catch the dialect
and the phrases of the land in which we live,
hours and days passed amidst the pure sentiments
and chaste language of Addison or Southey will
tend to propriety of words and simplicity of
arrangement. Still, at the moment we take pen
in hand, we must avoid all imitation, and think
of nothing but our subject; and, for this obvious
reason, — all such terms and beauties of style as
we have made thoroughly our own will present
themselves in a natural way, while all others that
require the least effort to recal will appear stiff
and inharmonious.
6. The same rule-to use the first words that




ENGLISH COMPOSITION.          305
come to mind —would suggest, that by attentive
reading and exercises, we should endeavour to
make our foremost words the most appropriate.
Of the many persons who understand all the words
in the language, few indeed have a tenth part ready
and available for the pen. It is a great thing to
have, like Sir R. Peel, a copious vocabulary; but
it is a still higher excellence, says Mr. D'Israeli,
that it should be "rich and rare," and, like that
of the eloquent George Canning, full of the most
forcible and glowing, of the most effective and
spirit-stirring expressions: to this end,
Alternately read and write on the subject of
your reading. This will add both to your fluency
and stock of words. The ever-recurring difficulties of writing will make us observing when
we read, and expressions which are new to us
to-day will be uttered as our own to-morrow.
Read any well-written tale, then lay aside the
book, and tell it in your own words; and, many
of the author's words will be embodied as your
own. Every new subject will contribute new
terms. The sailor abounds in nautical phrases, the
lawyer uses words of jurisprudence, the physician
words of exact science, - but the experienced
writer should command the stores of all. So, the
more varied your reading, the more copious will
be your vocabulary. Shakespeare, Milton, and
x




306    COURSE OF ENGLISH READING.
John Bunyan, comprise an excellent variety of
words; but Coleridge truly said, that the study
of Scripture would prevent any man's style from
being common or undignified.
7. Read select passages aloud, or commit them
to memory and recite them, to accustom the ear
to the rhythm. Cobbett's " English Grammar"
has excellent observations on composition: no
English scholar will regret having devoted a few
hours to its perusal.
8. Translate from foreign languages, ancient and
modern. Most writers sacrifice occasionally what
they would say to what they can say: their ideas
are at the mercy of their words, and are often
clipped and mutilated for the sake of euphony.
This compromise between sound and sense translation defies; it enforces a thorough searching
of the language, and an accurate distinction of
terms. Of translation, considered as a preparation for prose writing, Southey says, " I believe
I derived great advantage from the practice sometimes of translating and sometimes of abridging
the historical books read at Westminster School.
And I think that a habit of speaking upon business might be acquired by giving orally the substance of what one has just read."
Sir Walter Scott also advises his son to the
same effect: -" You should exercise yourself




ENGLISH COMPOSITION.          307
frequently in trying to make translations of the
passages that most strike you, trying to invest
the sense of Tacitus in as good English as you
can. This will give you a command of your own
language, which no person will ever have who
does not study English composition in early life."
The following is Lord Brougham's account of
the way Robertson, the historian, studied composition: -
"Translations from the Classics, and especially
from the Greek, formed a considerable part of his
labour. He considered this exercise as well calculated to give an accurate knowledge of our
own language, by obliging us to weigh the
shades of difference between words or phrases,
and either by the selection of the terms or the
turning of the idiom, to find the expression
which is required for a given meaning; whereas,
when composing originally, the idea may be
varied in order to suit the diction which most
readily presents itself."
In this advice we are but too happy to be supported by the authority of Lord Brougham. We
have long maintained that writers are often at
the mercy of their words, and that many persons
are prevented from doing justice to their ideas, because there remains a large part of the language
which they never have pressed into their service.
x2




308    COURSE OF ENGLISH READING.
But, the very nature of translation compels us to
extend our vocabulary as widely as our author,
and so it tends to bring an entirely new order of
words into requisition.
Sir Samuel Romilly follows as a witness on
the same side: -"I translated, composed, and
endeavoured to form for myself a correct and
elegant style; I translated the whole of Sallust,
and a great part of Livy, Tacitus, and Cicero."
Translation insures the ideas, and enables the mind
to attend chiefly to the words. This is highly
necessary. Seeking for words and ideas at the
same time is the worst of practice; still, this
absurdity is involved in the pernicious custom
of setting schoolboys to write themes on Moral
Virtue or on any other subjects on which they
cannot possibly have anything to say. How much
better to lecture them on a given portion of
history, and, having thus insured ideas, to require
them to expand and illustrate these ideas with
such remarks as may naturally occur!
9. A few touches from the hand of a master may
give wonderful effect even to a dull compositionespecially from such a master as always bears the
reader in his eye. Even such aids as points and
punctuation are not to be despised; though Paley
said that that was the best style which was the
most independent of punctuation. Southey prided




ENGLISH COMPOSITION.         309
himself on his knowledge of typography; and
would refer to his title-pages in proof of his skill.
A printer once remarked of him, that Mr. Southey
was the only man he ever knew who could tell
how a page would look before it was in type.
The paper and type, with a judicious arrangement of paragraphs, and suitable spaces and capitals, tend very much to enliven a page, and to
sustain the attention of the reader. "A plain
tale may be marred by the telling "- so, the
weariness of the eyes, as well as of the ears, may
put the mind out of humour with the story.
Every author has to learn that there are secrets
worth knowing in the art of bookmaking, apart
from the excellence of the composition. No doubt
the leading publishers and printers in London will
render considerable assistance; still, every author
should be able to judge for himself.
Distinct Punctuation is an art which will repay
attentive study. It is excellently taught, as also
are some other points most essential in composition, by William  Cobbett's English Grammar, a work amusing, as well as instructive, in
parts; especially where he criticises a King's
Speech, and shows almost as many grammatical
errors as there are clauses in it.
Milton made a great point of correct punctuation.  Addison was equally particular.  Lord




310    COURSE OF ENGLISH READING.
Jeffrey was famed for his skill in giving effect by
little points and the touches of a master's hand;
by which many an essay which he received as
Editor of the " Edinburgh Review" was set forth
with a boldness of relief and lucid arrangement,
almost to the surprise of its author.
Lord Cockburn says of Lord Jeffrey, his
" value as Editor was incalculable.  He had not
only to revise and arrange each Number after its
parts were brought together, but he had much
difficult and delicate work to perform. He had
to train authors-to discern the public taste —to
suggest subjects. Inferior to these excellences,
but still important, was his dexterity in revising
the writings of others. Without altering the general tone or character of the composition, he had
great skill in leaving out defective ideas or words,
and in so aiding the original by lively or graceful
touches, that reasonable authors were surprised
and charmed in seeing how much better they
looked than they thought they would."
10. Sydney Smith said, " It would be an extremely profitable thing to draw up a short and
well-authenticated account of the habits of study
of the most celebrated writers with whose style of
literary industry we happen to be most acquainted.
It would go very far to destroy the absurd and
pernicious association of genius and idleness, by




ENGLISH COMPOSITION.          311
showing men that the greatest poets, orators,
statesmen, and historians —men of the most brilliant and imposing talents-have actually laboured
as hard as the makers of dictionaries and the
arrangers of indices; and, that the most obvious
reason why they have been superior to other men
is, that they have taken more pains than other
men. Gibbon was in his study every morning,
winter and summer, at six o'clock; Burke was
the most laborious and indefatigable of human
beings; Leibnitz was never out of his library;
Pascal killed himself by study; Cicero narrowly
escaped death by the same cause; Milton was at
his books with as much regularity as a merchant
or an attorney -he had mastered all the knowledge of his time; so had Homer; Rafaelle lived
only thirty-seven years; and in that short space
of time carried the art so far beyond what it had
before reached, that he appears to stand alone as
a model to his successors. The multitude cry
out,' A miracle of genius!' Yes, a man proves
a Miracle of Genius, because he has been a miracle of labour; because he makes use of the accumulated wisdom of ages, and talces as his point
of departure the very last line and boundary to
which science has advanced; because it has ever
been the object of his life to assist every intellectual gift of nature with every resource that




312    COURSE OF ENGLISH READING.
art could suggest, and with every attention that
diligence could bestow."
Genius is comparatively helpless and dormant
without patient labour and many of the industrial
virtues of common men. Even imagination and
invention, says Johnson, are useless without
knowledge: nature in vain gives the power of
combination, unless study and observation supply
materials to be combined. Sir Isaac Newton remarked, that if he excelled other men in anything,
he thought it was in patient observation of facts
and persevering analysis. That great philosopher
attributed only to the intensity of his inspection
what all the world has imputed to the superiority
of his vision. Buffon also thought that " Genius
is Patience;" or, as another French writer explained, "La Patience cherche, et la Ge'nie trouve."
And, it is only when these two powers, Genius
and Application, are found in union, that great
discoveries have been made.  Herschel's telescope wants Herschel's patient observation. Butler, the author of the "Analogy," forcibly remarked — " Though a man have the best eyes in
the world, he can only see the way he turns
them." Genius is like a great general-or like
the master-mind of striking and original combinations -but without some such an aide-de-camp
as Diligence or Observation to ascertain exact




ENGLISH COMPOSITION.        313
positions and to supply the data of his calculations, no result can be expected but confusion
and dismay.
We are happy to be able to quote the following testimony from a man of real genius, Thomas
Moore.
" There are some exceptions, it is true, to this
rule. But the records of immortality furnish very
few such exceptions; all we know of the works
that she has hitherto marked with her seal sufficiently authorise the general position-that nothing
great and durable has ever been produced with
ease; and that labour is the parent of all the lasting wonders of this world, whether in verse or
stone, Poetry or Pyramids."
THE END.




LONDON:
A. and G. A. SPO1rlSWOODE,
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A CATALOGUE
OF
NEW WORKS
IN G'ENERAL LITERATURE,
PUBLISHED BY
LONGMAN, BROWN, GREEN, AND LONGMANS,
39, PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON.
CLASSIFIED INDEX,
Agriculture and Rural Affairs.                                                       Pages
and  Rural Affairs.   Southey's Life of Wesley -  21
~ages,,    Life and Correspondence      - 21
Bayldon onl Valling Rents, etc.  -   -   2Stephen's Ecclesiastical Biography          - 22
C(aird's Letters oil Agriculture -     -  7  Taylor's Loyola  -               -         22
Cecil's Stud Farm   -   -   -   -   -,,   Wesley  -      -22
Loudon's Encycloptedia of Agriculture - 14   Townsend's Eminent Judges  -  24
Self-Instruction for Farmers, etc. 14  Waterton's Autobiography and Essays    24,,   (Mrs.) I,ady'sCountryCompanioni 15
Low's Elements of Agriculture    -   - 15
Domesticated Animals  -        -    15     Books  of  General  Utility.
Actos's (Eliza) Cookery       -      -     5
Arts,  Manufactures,  and                  Matock's Treatise on Brewing               6
Cabinet Gazetteer  -   -                   7
Architecture.                              awyer...                        7
st's Ivalid's OwrS Book    -    -          8
Bourne's Catechism of the Steam Engine   6    iits ol Etiquette         -        -.,,   On the Screw Propeller        -  6   Hudson's   ecutor's Guide.   - 11
Brande's Dictionary of Science, etc.  -  6,,   ()n Making Wills.           - 11
t:hevreul on Colour -                          Lardner's Cabinet Cycloptedia -           13
Cresy's Encyclo of Civil Engineering       8   Loudon's Self tnstructio      -           14
Eastlake oil Oil Painting -   -'3,,   Lady's Coopaion   -               15
(iwilt's Encyclopwedia of Architecture   -9,,   (lrs.) Amateur Gardener    - 16
Jameson's S:t-red and Legendary Art  - 12   Maunder's Treasury of Knowledge. 16,,    Commonplace Book        -   - 12,,    BiographicalTreasury   -   - 16
Loudon's Rural Architecture -             14,,    Scientific Treasury      -      16
Moselev's Ejigineering and Architecture   17,,    Treasury of History.. 16
Richardsoa's Art of Horsemanship -        -         19,,    Natural History   -    -   - 16
Steatm Engine, by the Artisan Club     -6   Pocket and the Stud                  -   - 1
Tate on Strength of Materials     -   - 22  Pycroft's English Reading          -.       19
Ure's Dictionary of Arts, etc.         - 24   Reece's Medical Guide  -   -   -   - 19
Rich's Companion to Latin Dictionary  - 19
RIiddle's Latin Dictionaries   -.   - 19
Richardason's Art of Horsemanship      - 19
Biography3.                     Roget's English Thesaurus               - 19
Rowton's Debater.    19
Bunsen's Hippolytius                       6   iShort Whist                           - 21'Chesterton's Autobiography  -   -         8  Thomson's interestTables                   22
Cockayne's Mtarshal Turenle -          - 23    raveller's Library..      23
Freeman's Life of Kirby  -             - 12   Webster's l)omestic Economy             - 24
Haydon's Autobiography, by Taylor    - 10   Wlllich's Popular Tables -   -.   - 24
Holcroft's Memoirs     -                 23   Wilmot's Abridgment of Blackstone's
Holland's (Lord) Memoirs   -   -   - 10    Commentaries. 24
Lardher's Cabinet Cyclopaedia     -   - 13
Mlaunder's Biographical Treasury.   - 16
Memoir of the I)uke of Wellington      -           Botany  and  Gardening.
I      Lord Peterborough             IS- 
Merivale's Memoirs of Cicero           -  16  Conversations onBotany                     7
Russell's Memoirs of Moore    -   -    17  Hooker's British Flora   -   -          -    11,   Life of Lord William Russell - 19,,   Guide to Kew Gardens   -   - 11
London: l'rinlted by 2I. 1lASON, Ivy Lante, l'aternoster How.




2                              CLASSIFIED INDEX.
Pages                                         Pages
Lindley's Introduction to Botany  -      14   Roget's English Thesaurus              -  19,,   Theory of Horticulture  *       14   Russell's (L.ady Rachel) Letters       -  19
Loudoa's HortusBritannicus -   -         14,   Life of Lord William Russell -  19
(Mrs.) Amateur Gardener - 15 i        t. John's Indian Archipelago          - 20
Self-tnstruction for Gardeners  14  Schmitz's HistoryofGreece               - - 20
Encyclopediaof Trees& Shrhbs 14   Sinclair's Popish Legends   -   -   - 21,,  Gardessinlg.14   Smith's Sacred Annals   -   -      - 21
PU,,,,.  -   14   Southey's The Doctor etc.   -   -   - 22
Rivers's Rose Amateur's Guide    *        19  Stephen's Ecclesiastical Biography     - 22,,    Lectures on the History of
France     -         -   - 22
Chronology.                      Sydney Smith's Works          -   -   - 21,,       Lectures on Moral PhiloBlair's Chronological Tables -         -  6                     sophy  -         -   - 21
Bunsen's Ancient Egypt -   -          -   7  Taylor's Loyola                     -   - 22
Haydn's Beatson's Isndex -   _.         10,,   Wesley          -         -      22
Nicolas's Chronology of Histoqy   *   - 13  Thiriwvall's History of Greece       -       22
Townsend's State Trials -                 24
Turkey and Christendom                    23
Commerce  and  Mercantile                  Turner's Anglo-Saxons  -                  24,,   Middle Ages                -     24
Affairs.,,   Sacred History of the World - 24
Bewley's Decimal Interest Tables -                     Latin Gra
Francis On Life Asslrance    -    -       9
Lorimer's Letters to aYoung MasterMarilner14       Geography  and  Atlases..1M'Cullocl's Commerce and Navigation - 15
Steel's Shipmaster's Assistant    -   -  2   Btler's Geographyand Atlases   -   -   7
Thomsou' InterTegtTables    -.. 22   Cabinet Gazetteer          -                   7
Hall's Large Library Atlas.        -  10
Huehes.'s Australian Colonies     -   - 23
Johnston's General Gazetteer      *       12
~Criticism,  History, and                 M'Culloch's Geographical Dictionary   - 15
Memoirs.                       Murray's Encycloptedia of Geography  - 18
Sharp's British Gazetteer    -   -        20
Austin's Germany   -.         -  5
Balfour's Sketches of Literature   -   -  5              Juvenile Books.
Belfast's Eiglish Poets  -        -            Amy H
Blair's Chron. and'HistoricalTables       6 Amy Herbert                                 20
Bunsen's Ancient Egypt     -       Calling, etc. of a Governess      -
ipplytusBunsen's A ent Egypt-  7   Corsner's Children's Sunday Book   -         8
Burton's History of Scotland          7-    arl          ghter (The)               -     20
Chalybacss's Modern Speculative Philo-        Eperience  of Life- 20
sophy                                  T  Gertrude  -20
Conybeare and Howson's St. Paul   -            Howitt's Boy's Countr Book  -             11
Eastlake's History of Oil Painting    -                (Mar) Childen's Year  -          11
Erskine's History of India   -                 Laneton Par  ongr                         120
Felice's French Protestants   -             8   Mrs. Maret's Covrsations                 16
Francis's Annals of Life Assurance -      9   Margaret Percival   - 
Gig'sLeipsic Campaign  -   - 23  Pycroft's EnglishReading                    19
Gileig's Leipsic   Campaign   -      -,3 -  3
Gurney's Historical Sketches -   -   -  9
Hamiltone'  Essays'from the Edinburgh             Medicine  and   Surgery.
Review                           -  10
Haydon's Autobiography, by Taylor   -  10   Bull's Hints to Mothers                - 
Holland's (Lord) Foreign Reminiscences  1,,  Managementof Children                  6,,,,          Whig Party  -   - 10   Coptand's Dictionary of Medicine              8
Jeffrey's (Lord) Contributions    -       12   Cust's Invalid'sOwn Book          -        8
Kemble's Anglo-Saxons in England    -  12   Hollanld's Mental Physiology  -             11
Lardnler's Cabinlet Cyclopaedia  -   - 13   Latham On Diseases of the Heart. 12
Macaulay's Crit. and Hist. Ess s  -   - 15   Little on Treatment of Deformities       - 14,,    History of England    -   -  15   Moore On Health, Disease, and Remedy. 17
Speeches         -   -.  15   Pereira Ott Food and Diet    -  18
Mackintosh's Miscellaneous Works   - 1.5  Reece's Medical Guide             -   -   - 19,,     History of England   -   - 15
M'Culloch's Geographical Dictionary       15
Martinleau's Church History  -        -  16      Miscellaneous  and   General
Maunder's Treasury of History    -   - 16                   Literature.
Memoir of the Duke of Wellington      - 23
Merivale's History of Rome   -.   - 16  Atstin's Sketches of German Life           -  5
Roman Republic   -.   - 16  Calling, etc. of a Governess.   -      7
Milner's Chur(-h History    -'   - 16  Carlisle's Lectures aid Addresses -   - 23
Moore's (Thomas) Memoirs, etc. -         17   Chalybaeus's Modern Speculative PhiloMure's Greek literature'       - 17       sophy                                  7
Ranke's Ferdinand and Maximilian'.      23   Defence of Eclipse of Fait         -   -9
Rich's Companion to Latin Dictionary  - 19   Eclipse of Faith          -         -   -  9
Riddle's Latin Dictionaries            -  19   Greg's Essays on Political and Social
Rogers's Essays  from Edinburgh Review  19        Science.-  9




TO MESSRS. LONGMAN AND Co.'S CATALOGUE.
Pages                                          Pages
Haydn's Book of Dignities.   -   - 10  Calling and Responsibilities ofaGoverness  7
Hole's Essay on Mechanics' Institutions   10  Calvert's Wife's Manual                   7
Holland's Mental Physiology -    -   -  11   Conybeare and Howson's St. Paul          -  
Hooker's Kew Guide                    -  11  Corner's Sunday Book                         8
Howitt's Rural Life of England    -   - 11   Dale's Domestic Liturgy             - o    8,,   Visits to Remarkable Places  - 11   Defence of Eclipse of Faitt  -   -    -   9
Jameson's Commonplace Book.   - 12   Discipline..-  9
Jeffrey's (Lord) Contributions    -       12  Earl's Daughter (The)                      20
Loudon's Lady's Country Companion  -  15  Eclipse of Faith    -   -   -    -   -  9
Macaulay's Critical and Historical Essays 15  Englishman's Greek Concordance -            9
Speeches             -       -  15        H,,       eb. and Charld. Concord.   9
Mackintosh's (SirJ.) Miscellaneous Works 16  Experience of Life (The)    -            - 20
Memoirs of a Maitre d'Armes            - 23   Felice's French Protestants  -.          8
Maitland's Church in the Catacombs   - 16  Gertrude.                           20
Pascal's Works, by Pearce   -   - =       18   Harrison's Light of the Forge     -       10
Pycroft's EnglishReading   -           o 19   Hook's (Dr.) Lectures on Passion Week   11
Report on Industrial Itlstruction         11   Horne's Introduction to Scriptures    - 
Rich's Companion to Latin Dictionary  - 19,  Abridgment of ditto             -11
Riddle's Latin Dictionaries       -       19  Jameson's Sacred legends   -               12
Rowton's Debater  -      -                19,,    Monastic Legends -               1
St. John's Nemesis of Power -          - 20,,    Legends of the Madonna    - 12
Schoolmaster's Difficulties     -   -    20  Jeremy Taylor's Works  -                 - 12
Seaward's Narrativeof his Shipwreck       20   Kippis's Hymns    -.           12
Sir Roger De Coverley   -         -    - 21   Laneton Parsonage -    -   -   -           20
Smith's (Rev. Sydney) Works            - 21   Letters to My Unknown Friends           - 14
Southey's Common-Place Books           - 21,,  on Happiness   -   -               12
The Doctor etc.    -        - 22   Litton's Church of Christ     -   -        14
Souvestre's Attic Philosopher          - 23   Maitland's Church in tihe Catacombs    = 16
Confessions of a Working Man 23   Margaret Percival          -   -   -         0
Stephen's Essays         -             - 22   Martineau's Church History  -           - 
Stow's Training System                 - 22   Miltner's Church of Christ    -   -        16
Thomson's Outline of the Laws of Thought 22   Montgomery's Original Hymns    -  
Townsend's State Trials -   -   -    - 24   Moore On'he Use of the Body          =  -  17
Willich's Poptlar Tales  -   -.           - 24,,,,   Sol and Body        - 
Zumpt's Latin Grammar  -   -   -   - 24,,    Man ad his Motives            - 1
Neale's Closing Scene   -. 1
Natural History  in  General.,,  Resting Places of the Just         18,,  Richesthat bring no Sorrow       18
Catlow's Popular Conchology                7,,  Risen from the Raaks -  -          18
Ephemera and Young on the Salmon    -  9   Newman's (J. H.) Discourses -                 18
Gosse's Natural History of Jamaica    _  9   Ranke's Ferdinand and Maximilian         - 23
Kemp's Natural History of Creation    - 23   Readiltgs for Lent -   -    -            - 20
Kirby and Spence's Entomology        -    12       "         Confirmation   -.        20
Lee's Elements of Natural History    _   12   Robinson's Lexicon to the Greek TestaMaunder's Treasury of Natural History - 16         ment         -                        19
Turton's Shellsof the BritishIslands      24   Saints our Example      -   -    - 
Waterton's Essays on Natural History  - 24   Self- Denial          -     
Youatt's The Dog -                       24   Sermon on the Mount, illuminated -   - 20
The Horse    -   -            - 24   Sinclair's Journey of Life    -         - 21
Popish Legends.      21
1-Volume Encyclopaedias  and    Smith's (Sydney) Moral Philosophy    -,,   ((i.) Sacred Annals  -   -   -21
Dictionaries.                    Southey's Life of Wesley      -   -    - 21
Stephen's (SirJ.) EcclesiasticalBiography  21
Blaine's Rural Sports    -    -        -  6  Taylor's Loyola       -.   -   -   - 2
Brande's Science, Literature, and Art -   6,,  Wesley                            22
Copland's Dictionary of Medicine -   -         Thumb Bible (The)                         2
Cresy's Civil Etlgineerinlg          -     8  Tlrner'sSacred History                     24
Gwilt's Architecture     -        -        9
Johnston's Geographical Dictionary    - 12
Loudon's Agriculture    -       -      - 14,     Rural Architecture       =  - 14         Poetry  and  the  Drama.,,    Gardening               -   - 14
Plants        -.            14   Arnold's Poems                          -  5,,    Trees and Shrubs -   -   - 14  Aikin's (Dr.) British Poets   -              - -
M'Culloch's Geographical Dictionary  - 15   Baillie's (Joanna) Poetical Works -   - 
Dictionary of Commerce        15   Belfast's Lectures on the English Poets   5
slurray'sEncycloppadiaof Geography        18  [lode's Ballads from Herodotus    -   -  6
Sharp's British Gazetteer -   -.         20   Calvert's Wife's Manual      -   -    -  7
Ure's Dictionary of Arts, etc.-    -      24   Flowers and their Kindred Thoughts   -  18
Webster'sDomestic Economy         -       24  Goldsmith's Poems, illustrated.      9
Kippis's Hymns   -   -   -          -    12
Religious arnd Moral Works.                 L. E. L.'s Poetical Works     -. 12
Religious and Moral Works.       Linwood's Anttologia Oxoniensis        - 14
Amy Herbert  -                         - 20  Macaulay's Lays of Ancient Rome  -   -  15
Bloomfield'sGreekTestament        -        6   Montgomery's Poetical Works            - 17,,     Annotations on ditto  -   -  6,,       Original Hymns   -   _ 16




4                             CLASSIFIED INDEX.
Pages                                          Pages
Moore's PoeticalWorks         -   -   - 17  Cecil's Stable Practice   -           -   -  7,,  Lalla Rookh                       ] -  7,,  Records of the Chase    -       -  7
Irish Melodies    -               17,,  Stud Farm    -                       7,   Songs and Ballads   -   -   - 17   The Cricket Field.~ -             -
Rohy's Poetical Remains                   19   Ephemera on Angling    -   -   -   -  9
Shakspeare, by Bowdler -          -   - 21,,'s Book of the Salmon   -         9,,'s Sentiments and Similes       11  The Hunting Field           -      -       10
Southey's Poetical Works    -          - 21   Loudon's Lady's Country Companion   - 15,,    British Poets  -   -         - 21   Pocket and the Stud       -          -   -  10
Swain's English Melodies    -   -   - 22   Practical Horsemanship -                   -  10,,   Letters of Laura D'Au'erne   - 22   Pulman's Fly-Fishing   -                 -  19
Thomson's Seasons,illustrated    -        22   Richardson's Horsemanship               - 19
Thornton's Zohrab..              22   St John's Sporting Rambles  -   -   - 20
Watts's Lyrics of the Heart  -   -    - 24   Stable Talk and Table'alk               -  10
Stonehenge on the Greyhoulnd           - 22
The Stud, fox Practical Purposes   -   -  10
Political Economy & Statistics.
Banfield's Statistical Companion   -   -  5        Veterinary  Medicine, etc.
Caird's Letters on Agriculture    -    -  7   Cecil's Stable Practice                     7
Francis onl Life Assurance    -    -   -  9,, Stud Farm                           7
Greg's Essays on Political and Social          The Hulting Field  -                      10
Science -                              9   Mortoii's Veterinary Pharmacy    -   - 17
Laing's Notes of a Traveller      -    - 12   Pocket and the Stud                     - 1(0,,  Notes Denmark and the Duchies  12   Practical Horsemanship             -      -  10
M'Culloch'sGeographical, Statistical, etc.    Richardson's Horsemanship  -   -           ]9
Dictionary  -       -      - 15   Stable Talk and Table Talk         -        0
Dictionary of Commerce         - 15  l'he Stud for Practical Purposes   -        10,,  London  -   -           -. 23   Youatt's The Dog                            24
Statistics of the British Empire  15,,    The Horse       _                 24
Marcet's Political Fconomy        -   - 16
Willich's Popular Tales  -        -   - 24            Voyages and  Travels.
Adams's Canterbsry Settlement   -          5
The Sciences in  General and                 Baker's Rifle and Hound in Ceylon          5
Barrowv's Colntinental'rour  -   -    - 23
Mathematics.                       Davis's China  S
Botrne's Catechism of the Steam Engine   6   Fcrguson's Ssiss Men asd Moutsta            23
on the Screw Psler  -   -     Forester and Biddulph's Norway        -  9
Brande's Dictionary of Science, etc.  -6  Gironiere's Philippines   3ra 
Cresy's Civil Engineering    -    - -   8'raveIs  ibria -   -                 l)
DelaBeche's Geology ot Cornwall, etc.  8   Hope's Brttelny and the B         -           23,,'s Geological Observer -         -8   Hope's B      r ittany and the Bible      23
De la Rive's Electricity  -   -. -            Ciaseia Brittany                   23
e la Rive's  lectricity    -    8   Howitt's Art Student in Munich         - 11
Faraday's Noln-Mletallic Elements -   -9   Huc's Tartary, Thibet, and China -    - 23
Herschel's Outlines of Astronomy   -    10   Hughes's Australiat Coloanies               23
Holland's Mental Physiology       -    - 11
~~~~~~~'I   Humboldt's Aspects                              of Nature             I - J o'  atsda2 11
Humboldt's Aspects of Nature    -            I  Jameson's-Canada  -1,,  Cosmos  -  11.lerrmann's Pictures from St. Petersburg   23
Lardner's Cabinet Cyclopredia       -      3   Lain's Norwa        -    -   -            2
Marcet's (Mrs.) Conversations             16          DeLn mark and the Duches      -    12
Moseley's Wngineerilg and Architecture  17            Notes of a Traveller               12
Owen'sLectureson Comparative Anatonmy  18  Osborn's ArcticJournal -              -   -  IS
Our Coal Fields and our Coal Pits -            Peel's Nbia         t   -              - 
Peschel's Elements of Phvsics    -    -  18   Pfeiffer's Voyage roslnd the WTorld -   - 23
Phillips's Fossils of Corinwall, etc.     18'ower's New Zealand Sketches           -  19,,  Mineralogy      -,  18   Richardson's Arctic Boat Voyage -   - ]9
Guide to nteology                18  Seaward's Narrative of his Shipwreck  - 20
Portlock's (eology of Londonderry         19   St.John's (H.) Indian archipelago      - 20
Smee's Electro-Mletallurgy   -   -   -21
Steam Engine, by the Artisian Club                       (J. A.) Iss        -   -. 20
Tate on Stresigth of Mtaterials   -       22              Hon eF.) Ramblesac         n   2
Todd's Tables of Circles..            -         t        nt        Vae        -         2
22  Sutherland's Arctic Voyage           -    22
Wilson's Electricity and  the Electric         Troveller's Lilbary     - V g3
Telegraph -                         23   Werne's Airicas Wanderislgs         -   - 23
Rural Sports.                               Works of Fiction.
Baker's Rifle and Hound in Ceylon      -  5   Lady Willouvhbv's Diary       -   _        24
Berkeley's Reminiscences of a Hunts-.lacdrannld's Villa Verocchio      -   - 15
man -                                  5 Sir Roger De Coverley -  -  -. 21
Blaiiie's Dictionaryof Sports    -   -  6  Southey's The Doctor etc.   -   -. 22




ALPHABETICAL CATALOGUE
OF
NEW WORKS AND NEW EDITIONS
PUBLISHED  BY
MESSRS. LONGMAN, BROWN, GREEN, AND LONGMANS,
PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON.
Miss Acton's Modern Cookery- Baker.-TheRifleandtheHound
Book.-Modern Cookeryin all its Branches,   in Ceylon. By S. W. BAKER, Esq. With
reduced to a System of Easy Practice. For    several Illustrations printed in Colours,
the use of Private Families. In a Series of    and Engravings on Wood. 8vo. price 14s.
Receipts, all of which have been strictly
tested, and are given with the most minute
exactness. By ELIZA ACTON. New Editio;  Balfour.-Sketches  of  English
with Directions for Carvinc, and other Ad-    Literatnre from  the Fourteenth to the
ditions, Plates and Woodcuts. Fcp. 8vo.    Present Century. By CLARA LvcAs  BALprice 78. 6d.                              FOUR. Fcp.8vo. 78.
Adams.-A Spring in the Can- Bayldon's Art of Valuing Rents
terburv  Settlement.   By C. WARREN         and Tillages, and Tesnant's Right of EnterADAMS, Esq. With Five Illustrations. Post   ing asd'uitting  Farms, explained  by
8vo. price 58. 6d.                          several Specimens of Valuations; with
Remarks on the Cultivation pursued on
Soils in different Situations.  Adapted to
Aikin. - Select Works  of the                the Use of I,andlords, Land Agents, Appraisers, Farmers, and  Tenants.  New
British Poets, from Ben Jonson to Beattie.    Edition  corrected and revised by JOHN
With Biographical aid Critical Prefaces by    DONALDSON. 8vo. 10s. 6d.
Dr. AIKIN. NewEdition, with Supplement
by Lucy AIKIN i consisting of additional
Selections, from more recent Poets. 8vo.  Banfield.-The Statistical Comrnprice 18s.                                  panion for 1854: Exhibiting the most Interesting Facts in Moral and Intellectual,
Vital, Economical, and Political Statistics,
Arnold. —Poems.  By Matthew                  at Home and Abroad. Corrected to the
Arnold, Author of Poems by A. A'New         Present Time: and including the Census
Edition, greatly altered; With a Preface.    of the British Population taken it 1851.
Pcp. 8vo. price 5s. 6d.                    Compiled from Official and  other Authentic
Sources, by T. C. BANFIELD, Esq., Sta*,* More than one-third of the contents   tistical Clerk to the Council of Education.
of this volume consists of Poemsn now first    Fcp. 8vo. price 5s.
published.
Lord Belfast.-Lectures  on the
Austin.-Germany from  1760 to                Eoglish Poets and Poetry of theNineteenth
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