STUDIES IN . . ENGLISH AND AMERICAN LITERATURE. INTRODUCTORY. In 1. Advantages of Studying Literature. — In studying the literature of a nation, we become acquainted with the best thoughts of its best minds. such writings, we have revealed to us the highest ideals and the noblest motives that prevailed during the successive periods of the nation's growth. Daily association with such thoughts and motives has its influence upon the mind of the learner. It calls into action the best that is in him. It fosters a love for pure thoughts and beautiful expression; it creates a distaste for whatever is low or unworthy. Thus one comes at length to turn from coarse or worthless reading as instinctively as from vulgar society. 2. Not Biographical. - We like to form the personal acquaintance of those whose writings have delighted us; but we can do that by private reading. Our time in school would be better taken up with the more important study of the truths which their writings reveal, -subjects in which we need the guidance of a teacher. And besides, it is not always profitable to study the per sonal traits of authors. They could never in their lives rise higher than the ideals which they have presented in their writings; and if they had foibles or disagreeable habits, it cannot make us wiser, and should not make us happier, to know them. We shall, therefore, give attention to the literature itself rather than to the peculiarities of the writers who produced it. What we want is the best an author has to give us, thoughts that inspire, and language that teaches the art of expression. "Whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report," these we will study and take to ourselves. 3. But One Source of Wisdom. There is but one original source of light and truth, and that is not among men. All true wisdom comes from the Father of Lights, who rules above, and who has revealed himself in the works of creation, in the Written Word, and in his influence on the inner consciousness of men. Some are, by nature or by culture, more susceptible to these revelations than are others. They can better read the handwriting of God in nature. Their hearts are so attuned that they more readily vibrate to the pulsations of the great universal Heart of Love. Such are truth's interpreters, the "singers" that God has sent to earth "That they might touch the hearts of men, And bring them back to heaven again." 4. All Men Fallible. - Men possessed of such rare gifts are said to have genius. But genius may err. The choicest gifts are held in earthen vessels. Even those who are so highly favored, have human passions and weaknesses like other men, and thus the light that shines through them is often more or less obscured. Like flaws in glass, their imperfections of character may sometimes produce distorted images. In literature, as in mining, even in the richest of mines, the sands of error must be washed from the pure gold of truth. Nothing but direct revelation can be absolutely perfect. Yet we can find many writings whose chief tendency is in the right direction, -writings that will bring us into closer touch with nature, into truer sympathy with humankind, and into a better attitude for receiving the truth and light with which the great All-Father is ever trying to impress us. out in some one's brain. 5. The Relation of History to Literature. The inner life of men is revealed through their words. and through their deeds. Great events are first worked The scheme is made known to others by means of language, and then- by the united action of many-the event is consummated. Naturally, the thought -the conception comes first, and then the deed. Literature is a record of thoughts; history is a record of deeds: hence the former takes precedence of the latter. But they mutually react upon each other, and it is almost impossible to treat of them separately. So, in order to trace the literature of English-speaking people through its different periods, it is necessary to know something of their history. Part First contains a brief account of the forming of the nation, and of the development of its language, its thought, its literature, tracing their progress through |