r SOME FAVOURITE BOOKS AND THEIR AUTHORS COMPANION VOLUMES COMPILED BY JOSEPH SHAYLOR Price 35. 6d. each. THE PLEASURES OF LITERATURE AND THE SOLACE OF BOOKS WITH INTRODUCTION BY ANDREW LANG SECOND EDITION NOW READY "Mr. Shaylor's extracts are judiciously chosen, and Mr. Andrew Lang's amusing introduction is well worth the money itself." Times. "It is the little band of lovers which will prize Mr. Shaylor's \)od\i."AthencBum. ' ' Mr. Shaylor is to be thanked for his appetising pages. " Academy. SAUNTERINGS IN BOOKLAND With Gleanings by the Way EACH VOLUME HAS A FRONTISPIECE IN HELIO- GRAVURE FROM PICTURES BY MEISSONIER. SOME FAVOURITE BOOKS AND THEIR AUTHORS * * * * With Biographical Sketches and Illustrative Extracts -> *+> By JOSEPH SHAYLOR, Compiler of "The Pleasures of Literature n and ** Saunterings in Bookland n LONDON ^ GRANT RICHARDS 9 HENRIETTA STREET, COVENT GARDEN, W.C. ^ *+>*+> 1901 Printed by BALI.ANTYNE, HANSON 6r> Co. At the Ballantyne Press r THIS BOOK IS DEDICATED IN ALL SINCERITY TO MY MANY FRIENDS J. S. r 2055330 PREFACE THE aim of the compiler of this volume is to lay before the reader a few interesting facts and details relating to fifty well-known books, together with some account of their author- ship. Accompanying these slight biographical sketches an extract is given from what is thought to be the particular author's best- known book. This extract, it is hoped, will prove an incentive to readers to peruse and study the entire work for themselves. The various books have been selected in accordance with the consensus of opinion which has placed them, according to their particular class, in the forefront of books that should be read, and also for their universal popularity. They are not chosen as the fifty viii Preface best books, but in any selection made upon this basis most of them would undoubtedly find a place. The , present volume makes no pretensions to be an authoritative work on either biog- raphy or bibliography, neither is it intended for' the expert in classic lore, but as a suc- cinct account of some popular authors and their works. Doubtless others besides the com- piler are aware how little is frequently known respecting the author of a book, although the reader may be quite familiar with the work itself. This applies to those who are closely associated with books as well as to the general reader, and if this compilation directs its readers to a good biographical dictionary, or better still to the lives of the auttibrs mentioned, it will have answered the end which the compiler had in view. The names of the various authors have been arranged Preface i* in alphabetical order; it has therefore been considered unnecessary to give a detailed index, and as the biographical and biblio- graphical facts have been gleaned from many sources, it has been found quite impossible to give a list of the different authorities con- sulted. In gleaning this information it has surprised the compiler to find how many and how varied are the accounts of the dates re- specting the birth, death, and the details of the lives of the different authors selected, which are found in the works of reference consulted, but in all cases what has been considered the highest authority has been the one which has been followed. I beg here to tender my sincere thanks to Mr. George Allen for his kindness and courtesy in allowing me to use an extract from Ruskin's "Modern Painters," and also to Messrs. Macmillan & Co. for the readi- x Preface ness with which they consented to my using the selection from " Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" and the twelve stanzas from Fitzgerald's translation of "The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam." If by inadvertence I have used any copyright matter without consent or acknowledgment, I hope the intention not to do so will procure me a pardon for such a transgression. J. SHAYLOR. 52 GLOUCESTER ROAD, BROWNSWOOD PARK, N. CONTENTS PAGE ADDISON, Joseph 1672-1719 I Antoninus, Marcus Aurelius 121- 180 9 Augustine, Saint 354- 430 . H Bacon, Francis 1561-1626 19 Barbara, R. H. 1788-1845 . 25 Boswell, James 1740-1795 . 29 Bronte, Charlotte 1816-1855 35 Browne, Sir Thomas 1605-1682 4i Bunyan, John . 1628-1688 . . 46 Carlyle, Thomas 1795-1881 5' Cervantes, Miguel de 1547-1616 57 Chaucer, Geoffrey 1340-1400 . 62 Dante, Alighieri 1265-1321 65 Darwin, Charles R. . 1809-1882 , 69 Defoe, Daniel . 1661-1731 . 76 De Quincey, Thomas 1785-1859 . . 82 Dickens, Charles 1812-1870 . 88 Dodgson, Rev. C. L. | (Lewis Carroll) ) 1832-1898 . 93 Eliot, George . 1819-1880 . . 103 Emerson, R. W. 1803-1882 . . 108 Fielding, Henry 1707-1754 . . 112 Gibbon, Edward 1737-1794 . 119 Goethe, Johann W. . 1749-1832 . . 125 xii Contents PAGE Goldsmith, Oliver *; 1728-1774 . 13 Holmes, O. W. 1809-1894 137 Homer B.C. 950- 850 . . 142 Keble, John 1792-1866 . , . 148 Kempis, Thomas A 1380-1471 153 Lamb, Charles . 1775-1834 ' 159 Livius, Titus B.C. 59-A.D. 17 I6 S Macaulay, Lord 1800-1859 171 Malory, Sir Thomas . . 1430-1485 . I8 5 Milton, John 1608-1674 . I8 7 More, Sir Thomas . . 1478-1535 . 189 Omar Khayyam 1050-60-1123 . 196 Pepys, Samuel 1632-1703 . . 2OI Plato B.C. 429- 347 . . 206 Poe, Edgar Allan 1809-1849 . 211 Richardson, Samuel . 1689-1761 . 217 Ruskin, John . 1 . 1819-1900 . 223 Scott, Sir Walter 1771-1832 . . 229 Shakespeare, William 1564-1616 235 Spenser, Edmund 1552-1599,*. . 240 Sterne, Laurence 1713-1768 245 Swift, Jonathan 1667-1745 . . 252 Tennyson, Lord . 1809-1892 257 Thackeray, W. M. . 1811-1863 . . 260 Virgil B.C. 70-19 . 268 Walton, Izaak . 1593-1683 . 274 White, Gilbert . 1720-1793 . . 2 7 8 Some favourite Books and tbeir flutbors JOSEPH ADDISON 1672-1719 IT was of the essays and style of Addison that Dr. Johnson wrote : " Whoever wishes to attain an Eng- lish style, familiar but not coarse, and elegant but not ostentatious, must give his days and nights to the volumes of Addison." The re- cipient of this eulogy was born at Milston, Wiltshire, on the ist of May 1672, and was educated at the Charterhouse and afterwards at Oxford. At the Charterhouse he made the friendship of Richard Steele; it was here also that the The Spectator 1711-1712 JOSEPH ADDISON 1672-1719 Some Favourite Books The Spectator 1711-1712 JOSEPH ADDISON 1672-1719 foundation was laid of that style, which afterwards exhibited itself so conspicuously in the essays con- tributed to the Spectator. To the Tatter, which was started by Sir Richard Steele, Addison contributed about seventy-five papers ; and upon that journal being discontinued it was succeeded by the Spectator, the first number being published on March i, 1711, and the last of the original series on December 6, 1712. It was issued daily, and on some occasions the number sold was over 20,000 copies. In its pages was produced that literary record of a gentleman of the last century, Sir Roger de Coverley ; and the whole tone of the periodical was to "establish a rational stand- ard in morals, manners, art, and literature"; and unquestionably it largely succeeded in this object. and their Authors For his poem commemorating the battle of Blenheim, Addison was appointed a commissioner on appeal for excise, and afterwards held several offices in the State. He was closely connected with Pope, Swift, Gray, and other literary associates of the famous Kit Kat Club. Addison died at Holland House on June 17, 1719. His body, after lying in state in the Jerusalem Chamber, was borne hence to Westminster Abbey, and buried at night. The following extract gives Sir Roger de Coverley's adventure with the gipsies : "As I was yesterday riding out in the fields with my friend Sir Roger, we saw at a little distance from us, a troop of gipsies. Upon the first discovery of them, my The Spectator 1711-1712 JOSEPH ADDISON 1672-1719 Some Favourite Books The Spectator 171 1-1712 JOSEPH ADOISON 1672-1719 friend was in some doubt whether he should not exert the justice of the peace upon such a band of law- less vagrants ; but not having his clerk with him, who is a necessary counsellor with him on these occa- sions, and fearing that his poultry might fare the worse for it, he let the thought drop but at the same time gave me a particular account of the mischiefs they do in the country, in stealing people's goods and spoiling their servants. ' If a stray piece of linen hangs upon a hedge,' says Sir Roger, 'they are sure to have it ; if a hog loses his way in the fields, it is ten to one but he becomes their prey ; our geese cannot live in peace for them ; if a man prosecutes them with severity, his hen-roost is sure to pay for it. They generally straggle into these parts about this time of the year; and their Authors and set the heads of our servant- maids so agog for husbands, that we do not expect to have any busi- ness done as it should be whilst they are in the country. I have an honest dairy-maid who crosses their hands with a piece of silver every summer, and never fails being pro- mised the handsomest young fellow in the parish for her pains. Your friend the butler has been fool enough to be seduced by them ; and though he is sure to lose a knife, a fork, or a spoon every time his fortune is told him, generally shuts himself up in the pantry with an old gipsy for above half- an-hour once in a twelvemonth. Sweethearts are the things they live upon, which they bestow very plentifully upon all those that apply themselves to them. You see now and then some hand- The Spectator 1711-1712 JOSEPH Aon i SON 1672-1719 Some Favourite Books The Spectator 1711-1712 JOSEPH ADDISON 1672-1719 some young jades among them ; the sluts have often very white teeth and black eyes.' "Sir Roger observing that I listened with great attention to his account of a people who were so entirely new to me, told me, that if I would, they should tell us our fortunes. As I was very well pleased with the knight's proposal, we rid up and commu- nicated our hands to them. A Cassandra of the crew, after hav- ing examined my lines very dili- gently, told me that I loved a pretty maid in a corner, that I was a good woman's man, with some other particulars which I do not think proper to relate. My friend Sir Roger alighted from his horse, and exposing his palm to two or three that stood by him, they crumpled it into all shapes, and diligently and their Authors scanned every wrinkle that could be made in it ; when one of them, who was older and more sunburnt than the rest, told him that he had a widow in his line of life. Upon which the knight cried, ' Go, go ; you are an idle baggage ; ' and at the same time smiled upon me. The gipsy finding that he was not displeased in his heart, told him after a farther inquiry into his hand, that his true love was constant, and that she should dream of him to-night. My old friend cried ' Pish ! ' and bid her go on. The gipsy told him that he was a bachelor, but would not be so long; and that he was dearer to somebody than he thought. The knight still re- peated she was an idle baggage, and bid her go on. ' Ah, master,' says the gipsy, 'that roguish leer The Spectator 1711-1712 JOSEPH ADDISON 1672-1719 Some Favourite Books The Spectator 1711-1712 JOSEPH ADDISON 1672-1719 of yours makes a pretty woman's heart ache ; you ha'nt that simper about the mouth for nothing.' The uncouth gibberish with which all this was uttered, like the darkness of an oracle, made us the more attentive to it. To be short, the knight left the money with her that he had crossed her hand with, and got up again on his horse." r and their Authors MARCUS AURELIUS ANTONINUS 121-180 EMPEROR of Rome and philoso- pher, Marcus Aurelius Antoninus was born April 26, 121. He was a prince of mild and excellent de- meanour, but devoted to paganism. He, to his discredit, allowed the persecution of Christians during his reign. It appears singular that one so opposed to Christianity should have written a work so full of maxims, morals, and the conduct of life, as his book of Meditations. Wisdom, gentleness, and benevo- lence are combined in this manual, which many suppose was intended Medita- tions First PiiblisheJ MARCUS AURELIUS ANTONINUS 121-180 Some Favourite Books Medita- tions First Published MARCUS AURELIUS ANTONINUS 121-180 for the instruction of his son Corn- modus. It was originally written in Greek, the first edition being published at Zurich. It has been translated into many European languages, and in its English dress has been reckoned among our most cherished classics. At the age of eleven Marcus Aurelius assumed the dress of a philosopher, giving himself up to a laborious life and to the study of philosophy. His Reflections or Meditations show how much light had entered his mind, for while his life was full of military adventures and practical philosophy, his book proves that he recognised a divine power govern- ing the universe, and is a wonderful example of what may be termed a pagan's testimony to the truths of Christianity. He died at Vindo- bona, Vienna, in 1 80. Nothing could and their Authors be finer than Edward Gibbons' esti- mate of his character in the "Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire." He says : " The virtue of Marcus Aurelius Antoninus was of a severer and more laborious kind. It was the well-earned harvest of many a learned conference, of many a patient lecture, and many a mid- night lucubration. At the age of twelve years he embraced the rigid system of the Stoics, which taught him to submit his body to his mind, his passions to his reason ; to consider virtue as the only good, vice as the only evil, all things external as things indifferent. His Meditations, composed in the tumult of a camp, are still extant ; and he even condescended to give lessons of philosophy in a more public manner than was perhaps con- sistent with the modesty of a sage, Medita- tions First Published 'Sf* MARCUS AURELIUS ANTONINUS 121-180 Some Favourite Books Medita- tions First Published I55S MARCUS AURELIUS ANTONINUS 121-180 or the dignity of an emperor. But his life was the noblest commen- tary on the precepts of Zeno. He was severe to himself, indulgent to the imperfection of others, just and beneficent to all mankind. . . . War he detested, as the disgrace and calamity of human nature ; but when the necessity of a just defence called upon him to take up arms, he readily exposed his person to eight winter campaigns on the frozen banks of the Danube, the severity of which was at last fatal to the weakness of his constitu- tion. His memory was revered by a grateful posterity, and above a cen- tury after his death, many persons preserved the image of Marcus Antoninus, among those of their household gods." Here are a few of his moral maxims : and their Authors "That which has died falls not out of the universe. If it stays here, it also changes here, and is dissolved into its proper parts, which are elements of the uni- verse and of thyself. And these too change, and they murmur not." " Everything exists for some end, a horse, a vine. Why dost thou wonder? Even the sun will say, I am for some purpose, and the rest of the gods will say the same. For what purpose then art thou? to enjoy pleasure ? See if common sense allows this." " Am I doing anything ? I do it with reference to the good of man- kind. Does anything happen to me ? I receive it and refer it to the gods, and the source of all things, from which all that happens is derived." Medita= tions First Published '55S MARCUS AURELIUS ANTONINUS 121-180 Some Favourite Books Con fessions 397 ST. AUGUS- TINE 354-430 ST. AUGUSTINE 354-430 THIS saint of the Ancient Church was born at Tagasta in Africa on November 13, 354; his father Patricius was a Pagan, but his mother Monica is known as a saintly Christian. St. Augustine was in early life a professor of rhetoric at Carthage, and after- wards at Rome ; at Milan he came under the influence of St. Am- brose, who converted him to the Christian faith. After receiving baptism from the hands of St. Ambrose he returned to Africa, where he distributed his estate among the poor of his native town. and their Authors He preached at Hippo with extra- ordinary success, and eventually became bishop of that place. St. Augustine entered into the con- troversies of his time, upon free will and predestination, with great warmth, and many learned and valuable treatises came from his pen. His powerful intellect, how- ever, produced nothing that has had such a lasting influence as his Confessions, which are partly auto- biographical as well as devotional. His biographer Possidius says that "his great design in writing this famous work, was that men should not think more highly of him than he deserved." St. Augustine lived in a com- munity with his clergy, and died on August 28, 430. The value of memory, and its aid towards higher Con= fessions 397 ST. AUGUS- TINE 354-43 i6 Some Favourite Books Con= fessions 397 ST. AUGUS- TINE 354-430 things, is the burden of the follow- ing confession : " Great is the power of memory, a fearful thing, O my God, a deep and boundless manifoldness ; and this thing is the mind, and this am I myself. What am I then, O my God ? What nature am I ? A life various and manifold, and exceed- ing immense. Behold in the plains, and caves, and caverns of my memory, innumerable and innumer- ably full of innumerable kinds of things, either through images, as all bodies; or by actual presence, as the arts ; or by certain notions or impressions, as the affections of the mind, which, even when the mind doth not feel, the memory retaineth, while yet whatsoever is in the memory is also in the mind over all these do I run, I fly ; I dive on this side and on that, as far as I and their Authors can, and there is no end. So great is the force of memory, so great the force of life, even in the mortal life of man. What shall I do then, O Thou my true life, my God? I will pass even beyond this power of mine which is called memory; yea, I will pass beyond it, that I may approach unto Thee, O sweet Light. What sayest Thou to me? See, I am mounting up through my mind towards Thee who abidest above me. Yea, I now will pass beyond this power of mine which is called memory, desirous to arrive at Thee, whence Thou mayest be arrived at ; and to cleave unto Thee, whence one may cleave unto Thee. For even beasts and birds have memory ; else could they not return to their dens and nests, nor many other things they are used unto : nor indeed could they be used to Con- fessions 397 ST. AUGUS- TINE 354-43 i8 Some Favourite Books Con= fessions 397 ST. AUGUS- TINE 354-430 anything but by memory. I will pass then beyond memory also, that I may arrive at Him who hath separated me from the four- footed beasts and made me wiser than the fowl of the air. I will pass beyond memory also, and where shall I find Thee, Thou truly good and certain sweetness ? And where shall I find Thee ? If I find Thee without my memory then do I not retain Thee in my memory? And how shall 1 find Thee if I remember Thee not ? " and their Authors FRANCIS BACON 1561-1626 THE first book published by this, perhaps the greatest of modern phil- osophers, was the book of Essays, which brought the mind of Lord Bacon into immediate contact with the minds of ordinary readers. Francis Bacon, Baron Verulam, was born at York House, in the Strand, on the 22nd January 1561, and from early life was destined for a distinguished position in the State. When quite young he came under the notice of Queen Eliza- beth, who called him her young lord keeper. His talents and wit eventually raised him to the posi- Essays 1597 FRANCIS BACON 1561-1626 Some Favourite Books Essays 1597 FRANCIS BACON 1561-1626 tion of Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain, and while occupying this position he was tried and con- demned for bribery. As a result he was deprived of office, fined ,40,000, and imprisoned in the Tower, his sentence being after- wards mitigated by James I. As the author of Novum Organum and the "Advancement of Learn- ing," he occupied the foremost place in science and the world of letters, but in the Essays he writes as a looker-on at the game of human affairs, and is thus able to give wise and faithful counsel in correcting the mistakes he observes. Bacon's life was full of high thoughts, and his industry led him to the ad- vancement of knowledge both of the works of Nature and of the discovery of all that could be rendered serviceable to mankind. and their Authors Bacon died at Highgate on April 9, 1626, in the sixty-fifth year of his age, and was buried in St. Michael's Church, St. Alban's. His discourse "Of Study" is one of the most delightful of his essays. "Studies serve for delight, for ornament, and for ability. Their chief use, for delight, is in private- ness and retiring; for ornament, is in discourse; and for ability, is in the judgment and disposi- tion of business ; for expert men can execute, and perhaps judge of particulars, one by one ; but the general counsels, and the plots and marshalling of affairs, come best from those that are learned. "To spend too much time in Studies, is sloth : to use them too much for ornament, is affectation ; to make judgment wholly by their rules, is the humour of a scholar; Essays 1597 FRANCIS BACON 1561-1626 Some Favourite Books Essays "597 FRANCIS BACON 1561-1626 they perfect nature, and are per- fected by experience ; for natural abilities are like natural plants, that need pruning by study ; and Studies themselves do give forth directions too much at large, except they be bounded in by experience. Crafty men contemn Studies, simple men admire them, and wise men use them ; for they teach not their own use; but that is a wisdom without them and above them, won by observation. "Read not to contradict and con- fute, nor to believe and take for granted, nor to find talk and dis- course, but to weigh and consider. Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested ; that is, some books are to be read only in parts ; others to be read but not curiously ; and some few to and their Authors be read wholly, and with diligence and attention. Some books also may be read by deputy, and ex- tracts made of them by others ; but that would be only in the less important arguments and the meaner sort of books; else dis- tilled books are like common distilled waters, flashy things. Reading maketh a full man; con- ference a ready man ; and writing an exact man; and, therefore, if a man write little, he had need have a great memory ; if he confer little, he had need have a present wit; and if he read little, he had need have much cunning, to seem to know that he doth not. " Histories make men wise ; poets, witty ; the mathematics, sub- tile ; natural philosophy, deep ; moral, grave; logic and rhetoric, able to contend : Abeunt studia in Essays 1597 FRANCIS BACON 1561-1626 Some Favourite Books Essays 1597 FRANCIS BACON 1561-1626 mores, nay, there is no stop or impediment in the wit, but may be wrought out by fit Studies ; like as diseases of the body may have appropriate exercises : bowl- ing is good for the reins, shooting for the lungs and breast, gentle walking for the stomach, riding for the head, and the like; so, if a man's wit be wandering, let him study the mathematics ; foi in de- monstrations, if his wit be called away never so little, he must begin again ; if his wit be not apt to distinguish or find difference, let him study the schoolmen ; for they are Cymini sectores. If he be not apt to beat over matters, and- to call up one thing to prove and illustrate another, let him study the lawyers' cases. So every defect of the mind may have a special receipt." and their Authors RICHARD HARRIS BARHAM 1788-1845 THE popularity of the humorous verse by "Thomas Ingoldsby, Esq.," was probably greater during the middle of the past century than that of any other writer of comic poetry. The author, Richard H. Barham, was born at Canterbury on December 6, 1788, and was edu- cated at St. Paul's School, London. In 1821 he accepted a minor Canonry of St. Paul's Cathedral. In his early years he made the friendship of Richard Bentley, who afterwards became his publisher, and when Bentlc^s Miscellany was Ingoldsby Legends 1840-1847 RICHARD HARRIS BARHAM 1788-1845 26 Some Favourite Books Ingoldsby Legends 1840-1847 RICHARD HARRIS BARHAM 1788-1845 started, he wrote for its pages many of his most celebrated poems. These were illustrated by George Cruikshank, and gave a great im- petus to the fame of that periodical. " Ingoldsby Legends " first appeared in the pages of various periodi- cals, but principally in Blackwoocts Magazine, Colburris New Monthly, the London Chronicle, and the before-mentioned Bentley's Miscel- lany. They were afterwards col- lected in three separate series, the first being published in 1840; the second in 1842 ; and the third, which was a posthumous volume, in 1847. Barham died in Lon- don on the xyth June 1845, a d a tablet has been erected to his memory in the crypt of St. Paul's Cathedral. The following fragment will serve as a sample of the peculiar metric and their Authors ring which pervades most of the " Ingoldsby Legends " : " A feeling sad came o'er me as I trod the sacred ground Where Tudors and Plantagenets were lying all around : I stepp'd with noiseless foot, as though the sound of mortal tread Might burst the bands of the dreamless sleep that wraps the mighty dead ! The slanting ray of the evening sun shone through those cloisters pale, With fitful light on regal vest, and warriors' sculptured mail, As from the stain'd and storied pane it danced with quivering gleam, Each cold and prostrate form below seem'd quickening in the beam. Now, sinking low, no more was heard the organ's solemn swell, And faint upon the listening ear the last Hosanna fell : It died and not a breath did stir ; above each knightly stall, Unmov'd, the banner'd blazonry hung waveless as a pall. 27 Ingoldsby Legends 1840-1847 RICHARD HARRIS BARHAM 1788-1845 28 Some Favourite Books Ingoldsby Legends 1840-1847 RICHARD HARRIS BARHAM 1788-1845 I stood alone ! a living thing 'midst those that were no more I thought on ages past and gone the glorious deeds of yore On Edward's sable panoply, on Cressy's tented plain, The fatal Roses twined at length on great Eliza's reign. I thought on Naseby Marston Moor on Worc'ster's "crowning fight " ; When on mine ear a sound there fell it chill'd me with affright, As thus in low, unearthly tones I heard a voice begin, ' This here's the Cap of Giniral Monk ! Sir, please put suinmut in ! ' " and their Authors JAMES BOSWELL 1740-1795 THE writer of the most famous work of biography in the English language was born at Auchinleck on the agth of October 1740; he became a member of the Scotch Bar, but never devoted himself seriously to his profes- sion. In 1763 Boswell made the acquaintance of Dr. Johnson. This he considered the most important event in his life, as undoubtedly it was, for had he not chronicled the small tittle-tattle as well as the more important events in the great doctor's life, he would probably have been unknown Life of Samuel Johnson 1791 JAMES BOSWELL 1740-1795 3 Some Favourite Books Life of Samuel Johnson 1791 JAMES BOSWELL 1740-1795 beyond the circle in which he lived. Johnson's opinions on men, manners, and events are recorded with a conscientious detail which must have occa- sioned a considerable amount of work to his literary hench- man. Fleet Street with its various taverns was the favourite haunt of these celebrated companions. Boswell thus describes one of these visits, which represents many. He says, "They met at the Turk's Head one evening in every week at seven, and generally continued their conver- sation until a pretty late hour." It is these and other conversa- tions which charm and fascinate the readers of Boswell's famous work. He also had the friendship of Sir Joshua Reynolds, David and their Authors 3 1 Garrick, and Oliver Goldsmith. Boswell died in London on the 1 9th of May 1795, and was buried at his family seat in Scotland. The following is a sample of the conversation which took place be- tween the doctor and his circle of friends : "On the 26th of April I went to Bath ; and, on my arrival at the Pelican Inn, found lying for me an obliging invitation from Mr. and Mrs. Thrale, by whom I was agreeably entertained almost constantly during my stay. They were going to the rooms ; but there was a kind note from Dr. Johnson, that he should sit at home all the evening. I went to him directly, and before Mr. and Mrs. Thrale returned, we had by ourselves some hours of tea- drinking and talk. Life of Samuel Johnson 1791 JAMES BOSWELL 1740-1795 3 2 Some Favourite Books Life of Samuel Johnson 1791 JAMES BOSWELL 1740-1795 " I shall group together such of his sayings as I preserved during the few days that I was at Bath. "Of a person who differed from him in politics, he said, ' In private life he is a very honest gentleman ; but I will not allow him to be so in public life. People may be honest, though they are doing wrong : that is between their Maker and them. But we, who are suffering by their pernicious conduct, are to de- stroy them.' ... It having been mentioned, I know not with what truth, that a certain female politi- cal writer, whose doctrines he disliked, had of late become very fond of dress, sat hours together at her toilet, and even put on rouge : Johnson, ' She is better employed at her toilet than using her pen. It is better she should and their Authors 33 be reddening her own cheeks, than blackening other people's characters.' . . . " He told us, ' almost all his Rambles were written just as they were wanted for the press ; that he sent a certain portion of the copy of an essay, and wrote the remainder while the former part of it was printing. When it was wanted, and he had fairly sat down to it, he was sure it would be done.' " He said ' that for general im- provement a man should read whatever his immediate inclina- tion prompts him to; though, to be sure, if a man has a science to learn, he must regularly and resolutely advance.' He added, 'What we read with inclination makes a much stronger impres- sion. If we read without inclina- Life of Samuel Johnson 1791 JAMES BOSWELL 1740-1795 34 Some Favourite Books Life of Samuel Johnson 1791 JAMES BOSWELL 1740-1795 tion, half the mind is employed in fixing the attention ; so there is but one half to be employed on what we read.' He told us he read Fielding's 'Amelia' through without stopping. He said, ' If a man begins to read in the middle of a book, and feels an inclination to go on, let him not quit it, to go to the be- ginning. He may perhaps not feel again the inclination.' " and their Authors 35 CHARLOTTE BRONTE 1816-1835 CHARLOTTE BRONTE, the third daughter of the Rev. Patrick Bronte, was born at Thornton, in Yorkshire, on 2ist April 1816 In early life she removed with her parents to Haworth, where, with her two younger sisters, she strug- gled with poverty, consumption, and a wayward brother. In 1846 these sisters published a volume of poems under the names of Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell. These poems attracted little atten- tion, but by the publication of "Jane Eyre" in 1847 an imme- diate and decided success was Jane Eyre 1847 CHARLOTTE BRONTE 1816-1855 Some Favourite Books Jane Eyre 1847 CHARLOTTE BRONTE 1816-1855 attained. This was partly due to the interest shown in the book by Thackeray and Mr. G. Smith, Charlotte Bronte's publisher, but largely also to the genius and skill with which the story was told. Her sisters Anne and Emily each published novels which displayed great power in delineating char- acter, but none of these would probably have lived beyond their generation had it not been for the extraordinary brilliancy of "Jane Eyre." After the success of this work, Charlotte Bronte issued "Shirley" in 1849. Her two sisters died within six months of each other, Charlotte marrying her father's curate, the Rev. A. B. Nicholls, in 1854. She died nine months after, of consumption. Her novel " The Professor," which and their Authors 37 had been rejected by several pub- lishers, was issued after her death. Here is a scene from " Jane Eyre " : " He sat down ; for half-an-hour we never spoke ; neither he to me nor I to him : that interval passed, he recommenced : " ' Jane, I go in six weeks ; I have taken my berth in an East Indiaman which sails on the twentieth of June.' " ' God will protect you ; for you have undertaken His work,' I answered. " ' Yes,' said he, ' there is my glory and joy. I am the servant of an infallible Master. I am not going out under human guidance subject to the defective laws and erring control of my feeble fellow- worms : my king, my law-giver, Jane Eyre 1847 CHARLOTTE BRONTE 1816-1855 Some Favourite Books Jane Eyre 1847 CHARLOTTE BRONTE 1816-1855 my captain, is the All-perfect. It seems strange to me that all round me do not burn to enlist under the same banner to join the same enterprise.' " ' All have not your powers : and it would be folly for the feeble to wish to march with the strong.' 111 1 do not speak to the feeble, or think of them: I address only such as are worthy of the work, and competent to accomplish it.' " ' Those are few in number, and difficult to discover.' " ' You say truly : but when found, it is right to stir them up to urge and exhort them to the effort to show them what their gifts are, and why they were given to speak Heaven's message in their ear to offer them, direct and their Authors 39 from God, a place in the ranks of His chosen.' " ' If they are really qualified for the task, will not their own hearts be the first to inform them of it ? ' " I felt as if an awful charm was framing round and gathering round me : I trembled to hear some fatal word spoken which would at once declare and rivet the spell. " ' And what does your heart say? ' demanded St. John. "'My heart is mute, my heart is mute,' I answered, struck and thrilled. " ' Then I must speak for it.' continued the deep, relentless voice. 'Jane, come with me to India : come as my helpmeet and fellow- labourer.' "The glen and sky spun round : Jane Eyre 1847 CHARLOTTE BRONTE 1816-1855 Some Favourite Books Jane Eyre 1847 CHARLOTTE BRONTE 1816-1855 the hills heaved! It was as if I had heard a summons from heaven as if a visionary messen- ger, like him of Macedonia, had announced, ' Come over and help us!' But I was no apostle I could not behold the herald, I could not receive his call." and their Authors SIR THOMAS BROWNE 16051683 THIS celebrated physician was born in London on the igth October 1605. He was educated at Winchester and Broadgate Hall, now Pembroke College, Oxford. After travelling extensively upon the Continent, he settled as a physician at Norwich, where upon the visit of Charles II. in 1665 he was knighted, as a tribute to his great learning and literary reputation. Sir Thomas Browne wrote a treatise on "Vulgar Errrors" and also one on "Urn- Burial," but the work by which he is best known to posterity Religio Medici 1642 SIR THOMAS BROWNE 1605-1682 Some Favourite Books Religio Medici 1642 SIR THOMAS BROWNE 1605-1682 is his Religio Medici. By the originality of his ideas this work excited considerable interest both in England and on the Conti- nent, and was translated into several different languages. Re- ligio Medici the Religion of a Physician was originally issued privately, and for six years was handed about in manuscript. Dr. Johnson in his exuberant language says that it excited the attention of the public "by the novelty of paradoxes, the dignity of senti- ment, the quick succession of images, the multitude of abstruse allusions, the subtilty of disqui- sition, and the strength of lan- guage." The work is largely autobiographical, but full of sug- gestive thought, and its style entitles the author to high rank amongst our prose writers. Sir and their Authors 43 Thomas Browne died on the igth of October 1682, on his seventy- seventh birthday. The philosophy of life and immortality is thus described in Religio Medici: "Now for my life, it is a miracle of thirty years, which to relate were not a history, but a piece of poetry, and would sound to common ears like a fable. For the world, I count it not an inn, but an hospital : and a place not to live, but to die in. The world that I regard is myself; microcosm of my own frame that I cast mine eye on : for the other, I use it but like my globe, and turn it round sometimes for my recreation. Men that look upon my outside, perusing only my condition and fortunes, do err in my altitude; for I am above Atlas's shoulders. The Religio Medici 1642 SIR THOMAS BROWNE 1605-1682 44 Some Favourite Books Religio Medici 1642 SIR THOMAS BROWNE 1605-1682 earth is a point not only in re- spect of the heavens above us, but of that heavenly and celestial part within us. That mass of flesh that circumscribes me limits my mind. That surface that tells the heavens it hath an end can- not persuade me I have any. I take my circle to be above three hundred and sixty. Though the number of the ark do measure my body, it comprehended not my mind. Whilst I study I find how I am a microcosm, or little world, I find myself something more than the great. There "is surely a piece of divinity in us ; something that was before the elements, and owes no homage unto the sun. Nature tells me I am the image of God as well as Scripture. He that understands not thus much hath not his intro- and their Authors 45 duction, or first lesson, and is yet to begin the alphabet of man. Let me not injure the felicity of others ; if I say I am as happy as any. In brief I am content ; and what should Providence add more? Sure this is it we call happiness, and this do I enjoy; with this I am happy in a dream, and as content to enjoy a happi- ness in a fancy as others in a more apparent truth and reality." r Religio Medici 1642 SIR THOMAS BROWNE 1605-1682 Some Favourite Books The Pilgrim's Progress 1678 JOHN BUNYAN 1628-1688 JOHN BUNYAN 16*8-1688 JOHN BUNYAN and his immortal allegory are known wherever a printed book exists. He was the son of a travelling tinker, which business in early life he followed. Born at Elstow, near Bedford, in 1628, he led a dissolute and varied life, at one time fighting on the Royalists' side in the Civil War, at another preaching to the common people in the villages of Bedfordshire. In 1655 he joined a Baptist congregation, and was soon afterwards confined in Bed- ford Town Gaol for occasional preaching and for not conforming and their Authors 47 to the national worship. Here he wrote "The Pilgrim's Pro- gress, written in the similitude of a Dream." The first edition of this work was published in 1678 by Nathaniel Ponder, at the Pea- cock in the Poultry, in Cornhill, and according to a catalogue is- sued at that time, sold for is. 6d., the present value of a copy of this edition being about ^1475. Three editions were issued during the first year of its publication, and through the popularity of the book the publisher was known as Bunyan Ponder. Many alterations and additions were made in the text after its first issue, but it took its final shape as we now have it from the issue of the eighth edi- tion in 1682. The book has been translated into nearly eighty different lan- The Pilgrim's Progress 1678 JOHN BUNYAN 1628-1688 Some Favourite Books The Pilgrim's Progress 1678 JOHN BUNYAN 1628-1688 guages, and before the author's death in 1688 over 100,000 copies had been sold. It is considered, more than any other work, to have exercised permanent in- fluence upon the language and character of the English people the Bible, of course, excepted. Bunyan died in London on August 31, 1688, and was buried in Bun- hill Fields Burying Ground. Of his style Lord Macaulay has written, "There is no book in our literature on which we would so readily stake the fame of the old unpolluted English language, no book which shows so well how rich this language is in its own proper wealth, and how little it has been improved by all that it has borrowed." The following extract shows the pilgrims on the bank of the and their Authors 49 river which led to the Heavenly City : "The river was very deep. At the sight, therefore, of this river, the pilgrims were much stunned; but the men that went with them said, 'You must go through, or you cannot come at the gate.' The pilgrims then began to in- quire if there was no other way to the gate, to which they answered, 'Yes, but there hath not any save two Enoch and Elijah been permitted to tread that path since the foundation of the world, nor shall, until the last trumpet shall sound.' The pilgrims then, especially Christian, began to de- spond in their minds and look this way and that, but no way could be found by them by which they might escape the river. Then they ask the men if the waters The Pilgrim's Progress 1678 JOHN BUNYAN 1628-1688 Some Favourite Books The Pilgrim's Progress 1678 JOHN BUNYAN 1628-1688 were all of a depth. They said, 'No.' Yet they could not help them in that case ; ' for,' said they, 'you shall find it deeper or shallower as you believe in the King of the place.' " and their Authors 5 1 THOMAS CARLYLE CARLYLE was engaged for three years writing his " History of the French Revolution," which was the first work to which upon its publication the author placed his name. His heavy, incongruous style was objected to by many, but gradually the beauty and in- trinsic value of the work gained for it a recognition which placed it among our masterpieces in lite- rature. Through an unfortunate accident, this work was within measurable distance of being lost for ever. Carlyle having lent the manuscript of the first volume to French Revolution 1837 THOMAS CARLYLE 1795-1881 Some Favourite Books French Revolution 1837 THOMAS CARLYI.E 1 795-1881 John Stuart Mill, who in turn lent it to Mrs. Taylor, she care- lessly left it on her writing-table, from which it suddenly disap- peared, the presumption being that the servant had taken it with which to light the fire. Carlyle was able from his notes to re- write the volume, but he always thought that the first draught was the best. Thomas Carlyle was born at Ecclefechan, Dumfriesshire, on the 4th of December 1795. At the age of fourteen he entered the University at Edinburgh. Here he studied with the intention of entering the ministry, but being of a lonely and contemplative disposition, neither law, divinity, nor teaching suited his desires, so he determined to devote himself to literature. This he did with and their Authors 53 great success, and how much poorer Victorian literature would have been without him every student knows. He died at his house in Cheyne Walk, Chelsea, on February 5, 1881. The following is one of the many pictures to be found in the " History of the Great French Revolution " : "Eye-witnesses have represented this scene of the Third Voting, and of the votings that grew out of it a scene protracted, like to be endless, lasting with but few intervals, from Wednesday till Sunday morning as one of the strangest seen in the Revolution. Long night wears itself into day, morning's paleness is spread over all faces : and again the wintry shadows sink, and the dim lamps are lit : but through day and night French Revolution 1837 THOMAS CARLYI.E 1795-1881 54 Some Favourite Books French Revolution 837 THOMAS CARLYLE 1795-1881 and the vicissitudes of hours, member after member is mounting continually those Tribune steps ; pausing aloft there, in the clearer upper light, to speak his Fate- Word; then diving down into the dust and throng again. Like Phantoms in the hour of mid- night; most spectral, pandemonial! Never did President Vergniaud, or any terrestrial President, super- intend the like. A King's Life, and so much else that depends thereon, hangs trembling in the balance. Man after man mounts ; the buzz hushes itself till he hath spoken Death : Banishment ; Im- prisonment till the Peace. Many say Death ; with what cautious well-studied phrases and para- graphs they could devise, of ex- planation, of enforcement, of faint recommendation to mercy. Many and their Authors 55 too say, Banishment; something short of Death. The balance trembles, none can yet guess whitherward. . . . Members have fallen asleep; Ushers come and awaken them to vote : others dine. Figures rise like phantoms, pale in the dusky lamp-light ; utter from this Tribune, only one word : Death. . . . Deep in the Thursday night, when the vot- ing is done, and Secretaries are summing it up, sick Duchatel, more spectral than another, comes borne on a chair, wrapped in blankets, in ' nightgown and night- cap,' to vote for Mercy : one vote it is thought may turn the scale. "Ah no! In profoundest silence, President Vergniaud, with a voice full of sorrow, has to say : ' 1 declare, in the name of the Con- French Revolution 1837 THOMAS CARLYLE 1795-1881 Some Favourite Books French Revolution 1837 THOMAS CARLYLE 1795-1881 vention, that the punishment it pronounces on Louis Capet is that of Death.' Death by a small majority of fifty-three. Nay, if we deduct from the one side, and add to the other, a certain twenty- six, who said Death, but coupled some faintest ineffectual surmise of mercy with it, the majority will be but one." and their Authors 57 MIGUEL DE CERVANTES 1547-1616 THE author of the most popular of all the romances which have had their origin in Spain was born in 1547. At an early age he commenced to write verse, but at twenty-three went to Italy, where he fought under Colonna against the Turks, and here lost his left hand. When returning to his native country he was taken captive and sold as a slave in Algiers. He was afterwards ran- somed, and subsequently fought in many battles for his native country. Cervantes was a voluminous writer of plays, and also wrote several Don Quixote 1605 MIGUEL DE CERVANTES 1547-1616 Some Favourite Books Don Quixote 1605 MIGUEL DE CERVANTES 1547-1616 romances. His most abiding work, " Don Quixote," was begun while Cervantes was in prison and fin- ished in the city of Valladolid. Three or four editions were issued during the year in which the first part of the book was published. The hero of Cervantes' romance was a gentleman of La Mancha. dignified but simple-minded, who with his companion Sancho Panza went forth to redress the wrongs of the universe; it is throughout a satire on the craze for romantic knight-errantry so prevalent at that period. Cervantes died at Madrid and was buried in the convent of the Nuns of the Trinity; some years afterwards this convent was removed, but what eventually be- came of Cervantes' remains is quite unknown. Why Don Quixote de- cided to become the chivalrous and their Authors 59 hero the following passage will tell : " Be it known, then, that when our gentleman had nothing to do (which was almost all the year round), he passed his time in reading books of knight-errantry, which he did with such applica- tion and delight, that at last he in a manner wholly left off his country sports, and even the care of his estate ; nay, he grew so strangely enamoured of these amusements, that he sold many acres of land to purchase books of that kind, by which means he collected as many of them as he could ; but none pleased him like the works of the famous Feliciano de Sylva ; for the brilliancy of his prose, and those intricate expressions with which it is interlaced, seemed to him so many pearls of elo- Don Quixote 1605 MIGUEL DE CERVANTES 1547-1616 6o Some Favourite Books Don Quixote 1605 MIGUEL DE CERVANTES 1547-1616 quence, especially when he came to read the love-addresses and chal- lenges. . . . " But of all men in the world he admired Rinaldo of Montalban, and particularly his carrying away the idol of Mahomet, which was all massive gold, as the history says; while he so hated that traitor Galalon, that for the plea- sure of kicking him handsomely, he would have given up his house- keeper, nay and his niece into the bargain. "Having thus confused his un- derstanding, he unluckily stumbled upon the oddest fancy that ever entered into a madman's brain ; for now he thought it convenient and necessary, as well for the in- crease of his own honour, as the service of the public, to turn knight-errant, and roam through and their Authors 61 the whole world, armed cap-b-pie, and mounted on his steed, in quest of adventures ; that thus imitating those knights-errant of whom he had read, and following their course of life, redressing all manner of grievances, and ex- posing himself to danger on all occasions, at last, after a happy conclusion of his enterprises, he might purchase everlasting honour and renown." Don Quixote 1605 MIGUEL DE CERVANTES 1547-1616 62 Some Favourite Books Canter- bury Tales First Printed 1478 GEOFFREY CHAUCER 1340-1400 GEOFFREY CHAUCER 1340-1400 LIKE many of our great authors, Chaucer was born in Walbrook, London, about 1340. At an early age he was employed in the court of Edward the Third, with whom he went upon the inva- sion of France, by the English. Here he was taken prisoner, but set at liberty upon the king paying ;i6 towards his ransom. Chaucer afterwards occupied vari- ous positions connected with the State. He was appointed Clerk of the Works at two shillings per day; for other services he was granted a daily pitcher of wine; and their Authors but in 1386 he was dismissed from his Comptrollership and thus reduced to a state of poverty. He wrote his " Canterbury Tales " between the periods 1387 and 1393 : this work has obtained for him the title of "The Father of English Poetry." The first edi- tion of his Tales was printed by Caxton in 1478, but the first collected edition of his works was not made until 1532. Chaucer died on the 25th of October 1400. He was buried in West- minster Abbey, where a monu- ment has been erected in the Poets' Corner to his memory. The opening lines of the Prologue are here given ; it is a good specimen of the English of Chaucer's days. "When that Aprille with hise shoures soote The droghte of March hath 'perce'd to the roote, Canter bury Tales First Printed 1478 GEOFFREY CHAUCER 1340-1400 Some Favourite Books Canter- bury Tales First Printed 1478 GEOFFREY CHAUCER 1340-1400 And bathed every veyne in swich licour, Of which vertu engendred is the flour ; Whan Zephirus eek with his swete breeth Inspired hath in every holt and heeth The tendre croppes and the yonge sonne Hath in the Ram his halfe cours y-ronne, And smale foweles maken melodye That slepen al the nyght with open eye, So priketh hem Nature in hir corages, Thanne longen folk to goon on pilgrim- ages, And palmeres for to seken straunge strondes, To feme halwe's, kowthe in sondry londes ; And specially, from every shires ende Of Engelond, to Caunturbury they wende, The hooly blisful martir for to seke, That hem hath holpen whan that they were seeke." and their Authors ALIGHIERI DANTE 1263-1321 THE greatest of Italian poets, Dante, was born about the end of May 1265, in Florence. In the course of a wandering and event- ful life, he made himself master of all the events and of all the knowledge of his time. In early life he came under the influence of Beatrice Portinari, and the love she awakened in him is portrayed and symbolised in the Divina Commedia, a masterpiece in poetic literature. For joining one of the political factions of the period in which he lived, and for the influ- ence he exerted for his party, f The Divina Commedia First Printed 1472 ALIGHIERI DANTE 1265-1321 66 Some Favourite Books The Divina Commedia First Printed 1472 ALIGHIERI DANTE 1265-1321 Dante was condemned to be burned alive, but eventually he was banished for life, and in his exile wrote his great poem, which he divided into "Hell," "Purga- tory," and " Paradise." The work ranks with the writings of Homer, Shakespeare, and Milton, and may be fitly described as the first Christian poem. His mainspring is love. In it is a reflex of his own stormy life, and by its in- fluence was opened up the litera- ture of modern Italy. Dante died on September 14, 1321, at Ravenna where his monument to-day is visited by admirers from all parts of the globe. The love of Dante for Bea- trice, with whom he traversed in his vision "Hell," "Purgatory," and "Paradise," is unsurpassed in and their Authors 67 literature. Here is an extract from Carey's translation of canto thirty : " Noon's fervid hour perchance six thou- sand miles From hence is distant ; and the shadowy cone Almost to level on our earth declines ; When from the midmost of this blue abyss By turns some star is to our vision lost. And straightway as the handmaid of the sun Puts forth her radiant brow, all, light by light, Fade, and the spangled firmament shuts in, E'en to the loveliest of the glittering throng. Thus vanish'd gradually from my sight The triumph, which plays ever round the point, That overcame me, seeming (for it did) Engirt by that it girdeth. Wherefore love, With loss of other object, forc'd me bend Mine eyes on Beatrice once again. The Divina Commediu First Printed 1472 ALIGHIERI DANTE 1265-1321 68 Some Favourite Books The Divina Commedia First Printed 1472 ALIGHIERI DANTE 1265-1321 If all, that hitherto is told of her, Were in one praise concluded, 'twere too weak To furnish out this turn. Mine eyes did look On beauty, such, as I believe in sooth, Not merely to exceed our human, but, That save its Maker, none can to the full Enjoy it. At this point o'erpower'd I fail, Unequal to my theme, as never bard Of buskin or of sock hath fail'd before. For, as the sun doth to the feeblest sight, E'en so remembrance of that witching smile Hath dispossest my spirit of itself. Not from that day, when on this earth I first Beheld her charms, up to that view of them, Have I with song applausive ever ceas'd To follow, but now follow them no more ; My course here bounded, as each artist's is, When it doth touch the limit of his skill." and their Authors 6 9 CHARLES ROBERT DARWIN 1809-188* THE " Origin of Species " may be termed an epoch-making book, as by its publication a revolution in biological science was created. The author of this work was born at Shrewsbury on February 12, 1809, and educated first at the Grammar School in that town, afterwards at Edinburgh. Having an hereditary disposition towards natural science and research, he obtained an appointment as natu- ralist on board H.M.S. Beagle. Here he served without salary, and on his return published his famous The Origin of Species 1859 CHARLES ROBERT DARWIN 1809-1882 Some Favourite Books The Origin of Species 1859 CHARLES ROBERT DARWIN 1809-1882 "Journal of Research." Settling at Down, in Kent, he continued his scientific studies, and published many volumes on geology, &c. After laborious watchings and re- search he gave to the world his great book on the hypothesis of Natural Selection, in which he demonstrated from analogy that all animal and vegetable life had descended from some one proto- type. His theories in his " Origin of Species" were at first derided and discredited, but they have now been generally accepted as a basis for inquiry and study into the mysteries of the whole realm of nature. Darwin lived to see his theories recognised by many learned socie- ties, both here and abroad. He died at his residence, Down, on the igth of April 1882, and was buried and their Authors in Westminster Abbey. The great apostle of evolution thus sums up his conclusions on the Origin of Species : " Authors of the highest emi- nence seem to be fully satisfied with the view that each species has been independently created. To my mind it accords better with what we know of the laws im- pressed on matter by the Creator, that the production and extinction of the past and present inhabitants of the world should have been due to secondary causes, like those determining the birth and death of the individual. When I view all beings not as special creations, but as the lineal descendants of some few beings which lived long before the first bed of the Cambrian system was deposited, they seem to me to become ennobled. Judg- The Origin of Species 1859 CHARLES ROBERT DARWIN 1809-1882 Some Favourite Books The Origin of Species 1859 CHARLES ROBERT DARWIN 1809-1882 ing from the past, we may safely infer that not one living species will transmit its unaltered likeness to a distant futurity. And of the species now living, very few will transmit progeny of any kind to a far distant futurity ; for the manner in which all organic beings are grouped, shows that the greater number of species in each genus, and all the species in many genera, have left no descendants, but have become utterly extinct. We can so far take a prophetic glance into futurity as to foretell that it will be the common and widely spread species, belonging to the larger and dominant groups within each class, which will ultimately prevail and procreate new and dominant species. As all the living forms of life are the lineal descendants of those which lived long before the and their Authors 73 Cambrian epoch, we may feel certain that the ordinary succes- sion by generation has never once been broken, and that no cataclysm has desolated the whole world. Hence, we may look with some confidence to a secure future of great length. And as natural selec- tion works solely by and for the good of each being, all corporeal and mental endowments will tend to progress towards perfection. "It is interesting to contemplate a tangled bank, clothed with many plants of many kinds, with birds singing on the bushes, with various insects flitting about, and with worms crawling through the damp earth, and to reflect that these elaborately constructed forms, so different from each other, and dependent upon each other in so complex a manner, have all been The Origin of Species 1859 CHARLES ROBERT DARWIN 1809-1882 74 Some Favourite Books The Origin of Species 1859 CHARLES ROBERT DARWIN 1809-1882 produced by laws acting around us. These laws, taken in the largest sense, being Growth with Re- production; inheritance which is almost implied by reproduction ; Variability from the indirect and direct action of the conditions of life, and from use and disuse; a Ratio of Increase so high as to lead to a Struggle for Life, and as a consequence to Natural Selec- tion, entailing Divergence of Char- acter and the Extinction of less improved forms. Thus, from the war of nature, from famine and death, the most exalted object which we are capable of conceiv- ing, namely, the production of the higher animals, directly follows. There is grandeur in this view of life, with its several powers, having been originally breathed by the Creator into a few forms or into and their Authors 75 one; and that, whilst this planet has gone cycling on according to the fixed law of gravity, from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonder- ful have been, and are being evolved." The Origin of Species 1859 CHARLES ROBERT DARWIN 1809-1882 r 7 6 Some Favourite Books Robinson Crusoe 1719 DANIEL DEFOE 1661-1731 DANIEL DEFOE 1661-1731 THE famous story of the "Life and Adventures of Robinson Crusoe" is supposed to have been suggested to Daniel Defoe by the adventures of one Alexander Sel- kirk, a Scotch seaman, who was shipwrecked upon the island of Juan Fernandez. This account was written by Sir Richard Steele in a periodical entitled the Eng- lishman^ and published in 1710. Defoe describes his story, which was written when he was in his fifty-eighth year, "as partly alle- gorical, partly historical, and as the representation of a life of un- and their Authors 77 exampled misfortune, and of a variety not to be met with in the world." It was refused by many publishers, but the first and second parts were ultimately issued in 1719, and a third part, entitled "Serious Reflections," in 1720, by W. Taylor, at the Sign of the Ship, Paternoster Row. The third part is rarely found in editions now published. In 1887 a copy of the 1719 edition was sold bj auction for $o. Defoe was the son of a Cripple- gate butcher named James Foe, his son changing his name to Defoe when he was about forty-five years of age. The change probably took place through accident, the author having signed himself so often as D. Foe, his Christian name being Daniel. This sug- gested his taking the compound Robinson Crusoe 1719 DANIEL DEFOE 1661-1731 7 8 Some Favourite Books Robinson Crusoe 1719 DANIEL DEFOE 1661-1731 surname of Defoe, which he adopted and used. Defoe was frequently in the pillory for the bitterness of his political pam- phlets, and for his offences against the law, one of his books being ordered by the House of Com- mons to be burned by the com- mon hangman in Palace Yard, Westminster. He died on April 26, 1731, in the parish in which he was born, and was buried in Bunhill Field Burying Grounds, where a monument was erected in 1870 bearing the following inscrip- tion : " By the Boys and Girls of England, to the memory of Robin- son Crusoe." Most readers will appreciate the following incident of the rescue of some men, brought by the can- nibals for a feast. This occurred and their Authors 79 on the island upon which Robin- son Crusoe was wrecked, and from which he was eventually de- livered. " I came as near them undis- covered as I could, and then, before any of them saw me, I called aloud to them in Spanish, 'What are ye, gentlemen?' They started up at the noise, but were ten times more confounded when they saw me, and the uncouth figure that I made. They made no answer at all, but I thought I perceived them first going to fly from me when I spoke to them in English. 'Gentlemen,' said I, 'do not be surprised at me; perhaps you may have a friend near you when you did not expect it.' ' He must be sent directly from Heaven, then,' said Robinson Crusoe 1719 DANIEL DEFOE 1661-1731 8o Some Favourite Books Robinson Crusoe 1719 DANIEL DEFOE 1661-1731 one of them very gravely to me, and pulling off his hat at the same time to me, ' for our con- dition is past the help of man.' 'All help is from Heaven, sir,' said I ; ' but can you put a stranger in the way how to help you, for you seem to me to be in some great distress.' I saw you when you landed, and when you seemed to make applications to the brutes that came with you, I saw one of them lift up his sword to kill you.' The poor man, with tears running down his face, and trembling, looking like one astonished, returned, 'Am I talking to God or man? Is it a real man or an angel ? ' ' Be in no fear about that, sir,' said I ; 'if God had sent an angel to relieve you he would have come better and their Authors 81 clothed, and armed after a better manner than you see me in. Pray lay aside your fears, I am a man, an Englishman, and disposed to assist you.'" Robinson Crusoe 1719 DANIEL DEFOE 1661-1731 82 Some Favourite Books Confes- sions of an Opium Eater 1822 THOMAS DK QUINCEY 1785-1859 THOMAS DE QUINCEY 1783-1859 IN the number for September 1821 of the London Magazine there appeared a paper of twenty pages, entitled " Confessions of an Opium- Eater," being an extract from the life of a scholar. This portion formed Part I. of the ^Confes- sions," Part II. appearing in the number for the following month. These two parts were published in a separate volume in 1822, by Messrs. Taylor & Hessey, but with no author's name on the title- page. The " Confessions " are stated to have been written in a small back-room at No. 4 York and their Authors Street, Covent Garden, the premises of the late Mr. H. G. Bohn, the well-known publisher. At an early age De Quincey adopted the bane- ful practice of opium-eating, which at times held complete mastery over his powerful intellect. His "Confessions" are largely autobio- graphic, and vividly portray the ecstasies and misery produced by this pernicious drug. In spite of this stimulating narcotic De Quincey made for himself a great name in English literature, his essays being full of brain from beginning to end. De Quincey was born in Man- chester on August the i5th, 1785, and after living a roving life, he turned his attention to serious study, making the acquaintance of Coleridge, Wordsworth, and Lamb, who afterwards greatly helped him in his literary career. Confes- sions of an Opium- Eater 1822 THOMAS DE QUINCEY 1785-1859 Some Favourite Books Confes- sions of an Opium- Eater 1822 THOMAS DE QUINCEY 1785-1859 He died at Edinburgh on De- cember 8, 1859, and was buried in West Churchyard. As an essayist De Quincey stands unrivalled. The following, in praise of Opium, well represents the rich- ness of his style : "Thus, opium, like wine, gives an expansion to the heart and the benevolent affections ; but, then, with this remarkable differ- ence that, in the sudden develop- ment of kind-heartedness which accompanies inebriation, there is always more or less of a maudlin and a transitory character, which exposes it to the contempt of the bystander. Men shake hands, swear eternal friendship, and shed tears, no mortal knows why, and the animal nature is clearly upper- most. But the expansion of the benigner feelings incident to opium and their Authors is no febrile access, no fugitive paroxysm, it is a healthy restora- tion to that state which the mind would naturally recover upon the removal of any deep-seated irri- tation from pain that had disturbed and quarrelled with the impulses of a heart originally just and good. True it is that even wine, up to a certain point, and with certain men, rather tends to exult and to steady the intellect. "In short, to sum up all in one word, a man who is inebriated, or tending to inebriation, is, and feels that he is, in a condition which calls up into supremacy the merely human, too often the brutal, part of his nature; but the opium-eater (I speak of him simply as such, and assume that he is in a normal state of health) feels that the diviner part of his Confes- sions of an Opium* Eater 1822 THOMAS DE QUINCEY 1785-1859 86 Some Favourite Books Confes- sions of an Opium Eater 1822 THOMAS DK QUINCEY 1785-1859 nature is paramount that is, the moral affections are in a state of cloudless serenity, and high over all the great light of the majestic intellect. "O just, subtle, and all-con- quering opium ! that, to the hearts of rich and poor alike, for the wounds that will never heal, and for the pangs of grief that ' tempt the spirit to rebel,' bringest an assuaging balm ; eloquent opium ! that with thy potent rhetoric stealest away the purposes of wrath, pleadest effectually for re- lenting pity, and through one night's heavenly sleep callest back to the guilty man the visions of his infancy, and hands washed pure from blood; O just and righteous opium ! that to the chan- cery of dreams summonest, for the triumphs of despairing innocence, and their Authors false witnesses, and confoundest perjury, and dost reverse the sen- tences of unrighteous judges ; thou buildest upon the bosom of darkness, out of the fantastic imagery of the brain, cities and temples beyond the art of Phidias and Praxiteles, beyond the splen- dours of Babylon and Hekatom- pylos ; and ' from the anarchy of dreaming sleep,' callest into sunny light the faces of long - buried beauties, and the blessed house- hold countenances, cleansed from the ' dishonours of the grave.' Thou only givest these gifts to man ; and thou hast the keys of Paradise, O just, subtle, and mighty opium ! " Confes- sions of an Opium Eater 1822 THOMAS DE QUINCEY 1785-1859 Some Favourite Books The Pickwick Papers 1837 CHARLES DICKENS 1812-1870 CHARLES DICKENS 1812-1870 THOUGH born at Landport, Port- sea, on February yth, 1812, and christened Charles John Huffam, Dickens will always be associated with London, and will always be known as simply Charles Dickens. His first start in business was as a packer in a blacking ware- house when living in Camden Town. He commenced to write at a very early age, and many of his first impressions were after- wards developed into characters made famous in some of his later writings. He entered a soli- citor's office, but soon found more and their Authors congenial employment as a Par- liamentary reporter to several news- papers, including the Morning Chronicle, to whose pages he con- tributed his "Sketches by Boz." These were reprinted in 1836, and became his first published volume, the copyright of which he sold for ^150; but before the work was finished Dickens found it wise to buy back the publisher's interest for no less a sum than ^2000, so as to secure the copy- right for himself. For his " Our Mutual Friend" he received the large sum of 26,000. It was at the suggestion of his publisher that he undertook to write, as the letterpress to some Plates by R. Seymour, that which afterwards developed into his immortal work, 'The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club." Dickens was The Pickwick Papers 1837 CHARLES DICKENS 1812-1870 Some Favourite Books The Pickwick Papers 1837 CHARLES DICKENS 1812-1870 then living in Furnival's Inn, Hoi- born, and Seymour having com- mitted suicide, H. K. Browne ("Phiz") joined Dickens as illus- trator, and as the humour and oddities of such characters as Pickwick and Sam Weller came upon the scenes, the public in- terest grew with each number issued, until crowds blocked the streets awaiting the publication of each new part. The work was published in 1837, in two volumes. Dickens died while at his work on June 9, 1870; he was buried in Westminster Abbey, and lamented by readers in every part of the civilised world. He died worth nearly ; 100,000 in real and per- sonal property. The following extract will show and their Authors how Dickens observed all the small details of life : "There are few things more worrying than sitting up for some- body, especially if that somebody be at a party. You cannot help thinking how quickly the time passes with them, which drags so heavily with you; and the more you think of this, the more your hopes of their speedy arrival de cline. Clocks tick so loud, too, when you are sittting up alone, and you seem at least we always do as if you had got an under- garment of cobwebs on. First, something tickles your right knee, and then the same sensation irri- tates your left. You have no sooner changed your position than it comes again in the arms ; and when you have fidgeted your 9 1 The Pickwick Papers 1837 CHARLES DICKENS 1812-1870 Some Favourite Books The Pickwick Papers CHARLES DICKENS 1812-1870 limbs into all sorts of queer shapes, you have a sudden relapse in the nose, which you rub as if to rub it off. These, and various other little nervous annoyances, render sitting up for a length of time anything but a cheerful amusement." and their Authors 93 LEWIS CARROLL (REV. C. L. DODGSON) 1833-1898 THE Rev. C. L. Dodgson, the author of " Alice's Adventures in Wonderland," " Through the Look- ing Glass," and other fascinating books for children, as well as many books on Mathematics, was born on January 27, 1832, at Daresbury, of which place his father was the incumbent. The first eleven years of his life were spent in this parish, when his delights were pet animals and other enjoyments of boyish country life. He went to Rugby, and matriculated at Christ Church, Alice's Ad- ventures in Wonder land 1865 LEWIS CARROLL (REV. C. L. DODGSON) 1832-1898 94 Some Favourite Books Alice's Ad= ventures inWonder= land 1865 LEWIS CARROLL (REV. C. L. DODGSON) 1832-1898 Oxford, and was ordained deacon by S. Wilberforce, Bishop of Oxford, on December 22, 1861. A book so full of quaint child- ish fun and humour as <; Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" was scarcely to be expected from the pen of one of Oxford's Mathe- matical lecturers. But the brain that could solve problems in Mathematics could also weave the fascinating adventures of Alice. This story was originally told to amuse the three little daughters of Dean Liddell. One of these has stated that the "early part of Alice was told one summer after- noon, when the sun was so burn- ing that they had landed in a meadow near Oxford, deserting the rowing-boat to take refuge in the only bit of shade to be found, which was under a new- and their Authors 95 made hayrick, and out of that story grew the "Adventures of Alice." The book was issued under the pseudonym of Lewis Carroll, by which the author has since attained a world-wide repu- tation. It was illustrated by Sir John Tenniel, and the first copy was presented to Miss Alice Liddell, whose name suggested the original Alice, and the second to Princess Beatrice. A large number of editions and many thousand copies have since been disposed of. A copy of the first edition has been sold at auction for the large sum of ^"5. The book has also been translated into many Euro- pean languages, and several plays have been written upon the story. The author of "Alice's Adven- tures" passed quietly away, at Guildford, on January 14, 1898, Alice's Ad- ventures inWonder- land 1865 LEWIS CARROLL (REV. C. L. DODGSON) 1832-1898 Some Favourite Books Alice's Ad- ventures in Wonder= land 1865 LEWIS CARROLL (REV. C. L. DODGSON) 1832-1898 and was buried in the picturesque cemetery there. Here is a little of the fun to be found in this wonderful book : " ' When we were little,' the Mock Turtle went on at last, more calmly, though still sobbing a little now and then, ' we went to school in the sea. The master was an old Turtle we used to call him Tortoise.' "'Why did you call him Tortoise, if he wasn't one?' Alice asked. " ' We called him Tortoise be- cause he taught us,' said the Mock Turtle angrily : ' really you are very dull ! ' " ' You ought to be ashamed of yourself for asking such a simple question,' added the Gryphon ; and then they both sat silent and their Authors 97 and looked at poor Alice, who felt ready to sink into the earth. "At last the Gryphon said to the Mock Turtle, ' Drive on, old fellow ! Don't be all day about it ! ' and he went on in these words " ' Yes, we went to school in the sea, though you mayn't believe it ' "'I never said I didn't!' inter- rupted Alice. '"You did,' said the Mock Turtle. " ' Hold your tongue ! ' added the Gryphon, before Alice could speak again. The Mock Turtle went on " ' We had the best of educa- tions in fact, we went to school every day.' " ' I've been to a day-school, too,' said Alice ; ' you needn't be so proud as all that.' Alice's Ad= ventures in Wonder* land 1865 LEWIS CARROLL (REV. C. L. DODGSON) 1832-1898 Some Favourite Books Alice's Ad- ventures inWonden land 1865 LEWIS CARROLL (REV. C. L. DODGSON) 1832-1898 '"With extras?' asked the Mock Turtle a little anxiously. "'Yes,' said Alice, 'we learned French and music.' " ' And washing ? ' said the Mock Turtle. " ' Certainly not ! ' said Alice indignantly. " ' Ah ! then yours wasn't a really good school,' said the Mock Turtle, in a tone of great relief. 'Now at ours they had at the end of the bill, " French, music, and washing extra."' " ' You couldn't have wanted it much,' said Alice ; ' living at the bottom of the sea.' '"I couldn't afford to learn it,' said the Mock Turtle with a sigh. 'I only took the regular course.' " ' What was that ? ' inquired Alice. and their Authors 99 "'Reeling and Writhing, of course, to begin with,' the Mock Turtle replied ; ' and then the different branches of Arithmetic, Ambition, Distraction, Uglification, and Derision.' " ' I never heard of " Uglifica- tion,'" Alice ventured to say. 'What is it?' "The Gryphon lifted up both its paws in surprise. ' What ! Never heard of uglifying ! ' it ex- claimed. 'You know what to beautify is, I suppose?' " ' Yes,' said Alice doubtfully : ' it means - to make anything prettier.' '"Well then,' the Gryphon went on, 'if you don't know what to uglify is, you must be a simpleton.' "Alice did not feel encouraged to ask any more questions about Alice's Ad= ventures in Wonder* land 1865 LEWIS CARROLL (REV. C. L. DODGSON) 1832-1898 IOO Some Favourite Books Alice's Ad- ventures in Wonder- land 1865 LEWIS CARROLL (REV. C. L. DODGSON) 1832-1898 it, so she turned to the Mock Turtle, and said, 'What else had you to learn?' '"Well, there was Mystery,' the Mock Turtle replied, counting off the subjects on his flappers. 'Mystery, ancient and modern, with Seaography : then Drawling. The Drawling-master was an old conger-eel, that used to come once a week : he taught us Drawl- ing, Stretching, and Fainting in Coils.' "'What was that like?' said Alice. "'Well, I can't show it you myself,' the Mock Turtle said; 'I'm too stiff. And the Gryphon never learnt it' "'Hadn't time,' said the Gry- phon. 'I went to the Classical master, though. He was an old crab, he was.' and their Authors " ' I never went to him,' the Mock Turtle said with a sigh : 'he taught Laughing and Grief, they used to say.' "'So he did, so he did,' said the Gryphon, sighing in his turn : and both creatures hid their faces in their paws. " ' And how many hours a day did you do lessons?' said Alice, in a hurry to change the subject. " ' Ten hours the first day,' said the Mock Turtle : ' nine the next, and so on.' " ' What a curious plan ! ' ex- claimed Alice. " ' That's the reason they're called lessons,' the Gryphon re- marked : ' because they lessen from day to day.' "This was quite a new idea to Alice, and she thought it over a little before she made her next Alice's Ad- ventures in Wonder* land 1865 LEWIS CARROLL (REV. C. L. DODGSON) 1832-1898 Some Favourite Books Alice's Ad- ventures in Wonder = land 1865 LEWIS CARROLL (REV. C. L. DODGSON) 1832-1898 remark. 'Then the eleventh day must have been a holiday?' "'Of course it was,' said the Mock Turtle. " ' And how did you manage on the twelfth?' Alice went on eagerly. " ' That's enough about lessons,' the Gryphon interrupted in a very decided tone : ' tell her something about the games now.' " and their Authors 103 GEORGE ELIOT 18*9-1880 BORN at South Farm in Warwick- shire on November 22, 1819. Mary Ann Evans in early child- hood foreshadowed those marvel- lous powers of observation which in after years she developed into the portraits of the various char- acters depicted in her novels, many of them being drawn from the life with which she was sur- rounded. Naturally of a nervous and retiring disposition, she, at the age of twenty-one, came under the influence of the phil- osophy of Rationalism, her first literary venture being a transla- Adam Bede 1859 GEORGE ELIOT 1819-1880 104 Some Favourite Books Adam Bede 1859 GEORGE ELIOT 1819-1880 tion of Strauss's "Life of Jesus." In 1851 she became associated with George Henry Lewes, who greatly influenced and encouraged her in her literary work. In 1859 she published "Adam Bede," which at once placed her in the foremost rank of writers of fiction. Writing in the maturity of her powers, she happily blended in- sight into life and character with dramatic imagination and effect, and the work was immediately re- cognised as one of the master- pieces in the world's fiction. In May 1880 she married Mr John Cross, but died rather suddenly at Chelsea on the 22nd December of that year. George Eliot is at her best when describing some of the scenes which surrounded her child- hood. Here is a picture of life at and their Authors a farmhouse under Mrs. Peyser's management : " Everything was looking at its brightest at this moment, for the sun shone right on the pewter dishes, and from their reflecting surfaces pleasant jets of light were thrown on mellow oak and bright brass; and on a still pleasanter object than these ; for some of the rays fell on Dinah's finely moulded cheek, and lit up her pale red hair to auburn, as she bent over the heavy house- hold linen which she was mend- ing for her aunt. No scene could have been more peaceful ; if Mrs. Poyser, who was ironing a few things that still remained from the Monday's wash, had not been making frequent clink- ing with her iron, and moving to and fro whenever she wanted it Adam Bede 1859 GEORGE ELIOT 1819-1880 io6 Some Favourite Books Adam Bede 1859 GEORGE ELIOT 1819-1880 to cool ; carrying the keen glance of her blue-grey eye from the kitchen to the dairy, where Hetty was making up the butter, and from the dairy to the back- kitchen, where Nancy was taking the pies out of the oven. Do not suppose, however, that Mrs. Poyser was elderly or shrewish in her appearance; she was a good- looking woman, not more than eight-and-thirty, of fair complexion and sandy hair, well-shapen, light- footed : the most conspicuous article in her attire was an ample checkered linen apron, which almost covered her skirt ; and nothing could be plainer or less noticeable than her cap and gown, for there was no weakness of which she was less tolerant than feminine vanity, and the preference of ornament to utility. and their Authors 107 The family likeness between her and her niece Dinah Morris, with the contrast between her keenness and Dinah's seraphic gentleness of expression, might have served a painter as an excellent sugges- tion for a Martha and Mary. Their eyes were just of the same colour, but a striking test of the difference in their operation was seen in the demeanour of Trip, the black-and-tan terrier, when- ever that much-suspected dog unwarily exposed himself to the freezing arctic ray of Mrs. Peyser's glance. Her tongue was not less keen than her eye, and, whenever a damsel came within earshot, seemed to take up an unfinished lecture, as a barrel-organ takes up a tune, precisely at the point where it had left off." Adam Bede 1859 GEORGE ELIOT 1819-1880 io8 Some Favourite Books Essays 1841-1844 RALPH WALDO EMERSON 1803-1882 RALPH WALDO EMERSON 1803-1882 THIS great American master of prose and poetry was born at Boston, Mass., on May 25, 1803. He graduated at Harvard Uni- versity, and was ordained as a Unitarian minister. This position, however, he soon abandoned, and retiring to the home of his an- cestors at Concord, Mass., devoted his study to the nature of Man in his relation to the Universe; the burden of his spiritual philosophy being that the things which are seen are temporal, and the things which are not seen eternal. In and their Authors 109 1833 he undertook a tour through England and Europe, when he made the friendship of Thomas Carlyle. These two great minds remained in sympathetic relation- ship until Carlyle's death. Emerson lectured occasionally in both England and America, these lectures being devoted to some high purpose in ideals, and with the noble object of renewing mankind's spiritual life. In the volumes of " Essays " published in 1841-1844, Emerson has appa- rently one central idea running through the whole series, by which he calls us from a life of conven- tionality and routine to the heights of human excellence. His influ- ence, particularly in America, has been of a most beneficent and permanent character. Once, when away from home, his house was Essays 1841-1844 RALPH WALDO EMERSON 1803-1882 no Some Favourite Books Essays 1841-1844 RALPH WALDO EMERSON 1803-1882 burnt down; it was rebuilt by his admirers and presented to him ex- actly in its old form. Emerson died at Concord on April 27, 1882. He here gives us from his "Essays" a peep into his philo- sophy of life : "'Tis cheap and easy to destroy. There is not a joyful boy or an innocent girl, buoyant with fine purposes of duty, in all the street full of eager and rosy faces but a cynic can chill and dishearten with a single word. Despondency comes readily enough to the most sanguine. The cynic has only to follow their hint with his bitter confirmation, and they check that eager courageous pace and go home with heavier step and pre- mature age. They will, themselves, quickly enough give the hint he wants to the cold wretch. Which and their Authors of them has not failed to please where they most wished it, or blundered where they were most ambitious of success, or found themselves awkward or tedious, or incapable of study, thought, or heroism, and only hoped by good sense and fidelity to do what they could and pass unblamed? And this witty malefactor makes their little hope less with satire and scepticism, and slackens the springs of endeavour. Yes, this is easy; but to help the young soul, add energy, inspire hope, and blow the coal into a useful flame; to re- deem defeat by new thought, by firm action, that is not easy ; that is the work of divine men." Essays 1841-1844 RALPH WALDO EMERSON 1803-1882 Some Favourite Books Tom Jones 1749 HENRY FIELDING 1707-1754 HENRY FIELDING 1707-1754 HENRY FIELDING commenced his public career as part proprie- tor of one of the booths at Bar- tholomew Fair, frequently writing the plays performed by the com- pany of actors here and also at Drury Lane. Fielding is known as the author of "Joseph An- drews " ; this was written with the intent to ridicule the then popu- lar novel "Pamela," by Samuel Richardson. He also wrote " Tom Jones" and "Amelia," the latter being free from the grossness of his two former novels ; but it is as the author of "The History of and their Authors Tom Jones" that Fielding is principally known. This work was published in February 1749, by Andrew Millar; it was issued in six volumes, and sold for i6s. the set A copy of this edition was sold in 1894 for 69. Fielding received ^600 for his work, with an additional ^100 on account of its success, which was so great that copies could not be bound fast enough to meet the demand. Many of Fielding's characters were drawn from real life, and with the advent of "Tom Jones" there was introduced into English fiction a new expression which brought candour in detail, with wise and witty descriptions to re- lieve the monotony. Fielding was born in 1707 at Sharpham Park, Somersetshire. His father was a general in the army, Tom Jones 1749 HENRY FIELDING I707-I7S4 H 114 Some Favourite Books Tom Jones 1749 HENRY FIELDING 1707-1754 and his mother the daughter of a judge. He was one of a band of brilliant writers of fiction which existed during the eighteenth cen- tury. He was called to the bar, and wrote many pamphlets of a political character. Much of his time was, however, passed in wild and reckless living. In 1749 he was made a Justice of the Peace for Middlesex, but worn out by gout and intemperance, he went to Lisbon in 1754. An account of this voyage was his last literary effort. He died there in October of that year, and was buried in the English cemetery. The philosophic dissertation with which many of our old authors commenced each chapter of their works has many a literary charac- teristic which is most refreshing. and their Authors Here is one from a chapter in " Tom Jones," concerning fall- ing in love : " It hath been observed by wise men or women, I forget which, that all persons are doomed to be in love once in their lives. No particular season is, as I re- member, assigned for this; but the age at which Miss Bridget was arrived, seems to me as proper a period as any to be fixed on for this purpose : it often, indeed, happens much earlier; but when it doth not, I have observed it seldom or never fails about this time. Moreover, we may remark that at this season love is of a more serious and steady nature than what sometimes shows itself in the younger parts of life. The love of girls is uncertain, capricious, and so foolish that Tom Jones 1749 HENRY FIELDING 1707-1754 n6 Some Favourite Books Tom Jones 1749 HENRY FIELDING I707-I7S4 we cannot always discover what the young lady would be at : nay, it may almost be doubted whether she always knows this herself. "Now we are never at a loss to discern this in women about forty; for as such grave, serious, and experienced ladies well know their own meaning, so it is always very easy for a man of the least sagacity to discover it with the utmost certainty. "Miss Bridget is an example of all these observations. She had not been many times in the cap- tain's company before she was seized with this passion. Nor did she go pining and moping about the house, like a puny foolish girl, ignorant of her dis- temper : she felt, she knew, and and their Authors 117 she enjoyed, the pleasing sensa- tion of which, as she was certain it was not only innocent but laud- able, she was neither afraid nor ashamed. "And to say the truth, there is, in all points, great difference between the reasonable passion which women at this age con- ceive towards men, and the idle and childish liking of a girl to a boy, which is often fixed on the outside only, and on things of little value, and no duration ; as on cherry cheeks, small lily-white hands, sloe -black eyes, flowing locks, downy chins, dapper shapes ; nay, sometimes on charms more worthless than these, and less the party's own ; such are the outward ornaments of the person, for which men are beholden to the tailor, Tom Jones 1749 HENRY FIELDING 1707-1754 u8 Some Favourite Books Tom Jones >749 HENRY FIELDING 1707-1754 the lace-man, the periwig-maker, the hatter, and the milliner, and not to nature. Such a passion girls may well be ashamed, as they generally are, to own either to themselves or others." and their Authors EDWARD GIBBON I737-I794 THIS eminent English historian was born at Putney on April 27, 1737, and educated at Magdalen College, Oxford, but having de- clared himself a Roman Catholic, he was placed at Lausanne, in Switzerland, with a learned Cal- vinistic minister who reconverted him to Protestantism. He was fond of literature and the classics, and was also a proficient French scholar, some of his early works being issued in that language. The great work of his life was the " History of Rome," which he commenced writing in London History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire 1776-1788 EDWARD GIBBON 1737-1794 Some Favourite Books History of the Decline and Pall of the Roman Empire 1776-1788 EDWARD GIBBON I737-I794 about 1772, the whole work occu- pying about fifteen years in its composition. Three times he com- posed the first chapter, and twice the second and third, before he felt satisfied with them. The latter part of the history he wrote at Lausanne. Gibbon has himself stated that the design of writing his " History " occurred to him when visiting Rome at the age of twenty-seven. He says that "on the isth of October 1764, as I sat musing amidst the ruins of the Capitol, while the barefooted friars were singing vespers in the Temple of Jupiter, the idea of writing the Decline and Fall of the City first started to my mind." The publication of the first volume in 1776 made at once a reputation for the author, although his apparent attacks upon Christi- and their Authors anity were very offensive to some readers ; volumes two and three were published at intervals; the last three volumes were issued to- gether in 1788. Gibbon entered Parliament in 1774 as member for Liskeard, Cornwall ; he also represented Lymington, in Hamp- shire, for eight sessions, but made no impression upon the House of Commons. Retiring to Lausanne, he passed his time in playing chess or whist and in literary work, but returned to London in 1793, where he died from a dis- ease of long standing, on January 1 6, 1794. "The love of study," he wrote in his Autobiography, "supplies each day, each hour, with a perpetual round of inde- pendent and rational pleasure.'' His body was interred at Fletch- ing, Sussex, in the mausoleum of History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire 1776-1788 EDWARD GIBBON 1737-1794 Some Favourite Books History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire 1776-1788 EDWARD GIBBON 1737-1794 his executor, Lord Sheffield. Gib- bon thus describes the Conquest of Britain by the Romans : "The only accession which the Roman empire received during the first century of the Christian Era was the province of Britain. In this single instance the successors of Caesar and Augustus were per- suaded to follow the example of the former rather than the pre- cept of the latter. The proximity of its situation to the coast of Gaul seemed to invite their arms; the pleasing but doubtful intelli- gence of a pearl fishery attracted their avarice; and as Britain was viewed in the light of a distinct and insulated world, the Conquest scarcely formed any exception to the general system of continental measures. After a war of about forty years, undertaken by the and their Authors 123 most stupid, maintained by the most dissolute, and terminated by the most timid of all the emperors, the far greater part of the island submitted to the Roman yoke. The various tribes of Britons pos- sessed valour without conduct, and the love of freedom without the spirit of union. They took up arms with savage fierceness, they laid them down, or turned them against each other with wild incon- stancy, and while they fought singly they were successively subdued. Neither the fortitude of Caractacus, nor the despair of Boadicea, nor the fanaticism of the Druids could avert the slavery of their country, or resist the steady progress of the Imperial generals, who maintained the national glory when the throne was disgraced by the weakest or the most vicious of mankind. At History of the Decline and Pall of the Roman Empire 1776-1788 EDWARD GIBBON 1737-1794 124 Some Favourite Books History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire 1776-1788 EDWARD GIBBON 1737-1794 the very time when Domitian, con- fined to his palace, felt the terrors which he inspired, his legions, under the command of the virtuous Agricola, defeated the collected forces of the Caledonians at the foot of the Grampian hills, and his fleets, venturing to explore an unknown and dangerous naviga- tion, displayed the Roman arms round every part of the island." and their Authors 125 JOHANN WOLFGANG GOETHE 1749-1832 GOETHE was born at Frankfort- on - the - Maine on August 28, 1749. He was educated at the University of Leipzig, and was intended for the legal profession, but his love for poetry, music, and the drama assisted in leading him into the company of the group of men who were guiding and constructing the literature of Germany. For many years previous to the appearance of " Faust," as we know it, Goethe had been greatly influenced by the many romantic legends then Faust 1808 JOHANN WOLFGANG GOETHE 1749-1832 126 Some Favourite Books Faust 1808 JOHANN WOLFGANG GOETHE 1749-1832 in circulation. Upon these his work was eventually founded. In 1790 he published "Faust, a Frag- ment," but this attracted little attention. At the earnest en- treaties of Schiller he remodelled and continued his great poem, and it was in a new edition of his collected works that the first part of " Faust," as we possess it, appeared. The work represents the agony of a student toiling after inaccessible knowledge; and then, in despair, plunging into sensuality. Goethe wrote many works of poetry, romance, science, art, and philosophy. The second part of "Faust," which was his last work, is far inferior to the first part, and is not included in the dramatic version of this work. Goethe died at Weimar on March 22, 1832, the last and their Authors 127 words he uttered being, " More Light." It was thus that " Faust " pledged himself to enjoy his transformed nature : " Faust. Fear not that I will break this covenant : The only impulse now that sways my powers, My sole desire in life, is what I've pro- mised ! I've been puffed up with fancies too aspiring, My rank is not more high than thine ; I am Degraded and despised by the Great Spirit ; Nature is sealed from me ; the web of thought Is shattered ; burst into a thousand threads ; I loathe, and sicken at the name of knowledge. Now in the depths of sensuality To still these burning passions ; to be wrapped In the impenetrable cloak of magic, With things miraculous to feast the senses ! Faust 1808 JOHANN WOLFGANG GOETHE 1749-1832 128 Some Favourite Books Faust 1808 JOHANN WOLFGANG GOETHE 1749-1832 Let's fling ourselves into the stream of time, Into the tumbling waves of accident, Let pain and pleasure, loathing and en- joyment, Mingle and alternate, as it may be ; Restlessness is man's best activity. Meph. Nothing whatever is there to restrain you If your desires be as you say, to taste Of every sweet sip all things settle no- where Catching each moment while upon the wing In random motion all that meets the eye, Rifling from every flower its bloom and fragrance, If anything will do that is amusing I wish you joy of this new life come on- Set to at once come come, no bashful loitering. Fatist. Hearken, I have not said one word of bliss Henceforth do I devote and yield myself Heart, soul, and life, to rapturous excite- ment Such dizzy, such intoxicating joy, As, when we stand upon a precipice, Makes reel the giddy sense and the brain whirl. From this day forward am I dedicate and their Authors 129 To the indulgence of tempestuous passion Love agonising idolising hatred Cheering vexation all that animates And is our nature ; and the heart, serened And separated from the toil of knowledge, Cured of the fever that so long oppressed it, Shall cease to shut itself against the wounds Of pain : whate'er is portioned 'mong man- kind In my own intimate self shall I enjoy, With my soul grasp all thoughts most high or deep, Heap on my heart all human joys and woes, Expand myself until mankind becomes A part as 'twere of my identity, And they and I at last together perish." Faust 1808 JOHANN WOLFGANG GOETHE 1749-1832 130 Some Favourite Books The Vicar of Wakefield 1766 OLIVER GOLDSMITH 1728-1774 OLIVER GOLDSMITH 1728-1774 OLIVER GOLDSMITH was born in Ireland on the loth of November 1728. After several unsuccessful attempts to obtain holy orders, he first became a lawyer, then a doctor, but eventually drifted into literature. He wrote for the Monthly Review and the Public Ledger, and in 1761 he came under the influence of Dr. John- son. As historian, scientist, poet, and dramatist, he published a number of works, but that by which he is best known is the "Vicar of Wakefield." This was written by Goldsmith in Wine and their Authors Office Court, and in Boswell's "Life of Johnson" the story of its publication is thus told : Gold- smith one day sent a message to the great doctor saying that he was in great distress and had no power to come to see him. Johnson sent him a guinea, but when he arrived he found the landlady had arrested Goldsmith for debt. Goldsmith had already changed the guinea sent, for a bottle of Madeira, and when means were talked over by which he might be extricated, Goldsmith said he had just completed a novel which was ready for the press. This Johnson took to the publisher Newby; for it he obtained the sum of ;6o, and thus the rent was discharged and the prisoner set at liberty. Always in debt although his yearly earnings as a The Vicar of Wakefield 1766 OLIVER GOLDSMITH 1728-1774 132 Some Favourite Books The Vicar of Wakefield 1766 OLIVER GOLDSMITH 1728-1774 bookseller's hack were over ^800, he died owing some ^2000 ; but as his friend Dr. Johnson re- marked, " Let not his frailties be remembered, he was a very great man." Beloved by a large circle of literary and artistic friends, Gold- smith died of fever on the 4th of April 1774. He was buried in the north side of the Temple Church, where a monument was placed in 1860, bearing this simple inscription, " Here Lies Oliver Goldsmith." Good Dr. Primrose, the Vicar of Wakefield, was very severe in the regulation of his family. We have here a glimpse of its public and home life: "The place of our retreat was in a little neighbourhood, con- sisting of farmers, who tilled their and their Authors 133 own grounds, and were equal strangers to opulence and poverty. As they had almost all the con- veniences of life within themselves, they seldom visited towns or cities, in search of superfluity. Remote from the polite, they still retain the primeval simplicity of manners, and, frugal by habit, they scarcely knew that temperance was a virtue. They wrought with cheerfulness on days of labour ; but observed festivals as intervals of idleness and pleasure. They kept up the Christmas carols, sent true love- knots on Valentine morning, ate pancakes on Shrove-tide, showed their wit on the first of April, and religiously cracked nuts on Michaelmas eve. Being apprised of our approach, the whole neigh- bourhood came out to meet their minister, dressed in their finest The Vicar of Wakefield 1766 OLIVER GOLDSMITH 1728-1774 134 Some Favourite Books The Vicar of Wakefield 1766 OLIVER GOLDSMITH 1728-1774 clothes, and preceded by pipe and tabor. A feast also was pro- vided for our reception, at which we sat cheerfully down ; and what the conversation wanted in wit, was made up in laughter. "Our little habitation was situ- ated at the foot of a sloping hill, sheltered with a beautiful under- wood behind, and a prattling river before : on one side a meadow, on the other green. My farm consisted of about twenty acres of excellent land, having given a hundred pounds for my prede- cessor's good-will. Nothing could exceed the neatness of my little enclosures, the elms and hedge- rows appearing with inexpressible beauty. My house consisted of but one story, and was covered with thatch, which gave it an air of great snugness : the walls on the and their Authors 135 inside were nicely white-washed, and my daughters undertook to adorn them with pictures of their own designing. Though the same room served us for parlour and kitchen, that only made it the warmer. Besides, as it was kept with the utmost neatness, the dishes, plates, and coppers being well scoured, and all disposed in bright rows on the shelves, the eye was agreeably relieved, and did not want rich furniture. There were three other apartments one for my wife and me, another for our two daughters, within our own, and the third, with two beds, for the rest of the children. "The little republic, to which I gave laws, was regulated in the following manner : by sunrise we all assembled in our common apart- ment; the fire being previously The Vicar of Wakefield 1766 OLIVER GOLDSMITH 1728-1774 136 Some Favourite Books The Vicar of Wakefield 1766 OLIVER GOLDSMITH 1728-1774 kindled by the servant. After we had saluted each other with proper ceremony, for I always thought fit to keep up some mechanical forms of good breeding, without which freedom ever destroys friendship, we all bent in gratitude to that Being who gave us another day. This duty being performed, my son and I went to pursue our usual industry abroad, while my wife and daughters employed them- selves in providing breakfast, which was always ready at a certain time. I allowed half-an-hour for this meal, and an hour for dinner ; which time was taken up in innocent mirth between my wife and daughters, and in philosophical arguments between me and my son." r and their Authors 137 OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES THIS distinguished American writer, Oliver Wendell Holmes, was born at Cambridge, Mass., on August 29, 1809, and was educated at Andover and Harvard University. His first studies were of law, but these he relinquished for medicine, which he pursued in Paris, and in 1839 became Profes- sor of Anatomy and Physiology in Dartmouth College. He, however, abandoned medicine for literature, and in connection with several men of note established in 1837 the Atlantic Monthly, and ten The Autocrat of the Breakfast Table 1858 OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES 1809-1894 138 Some Favourite Books The Autocrat of the Breakfast Table 1858 OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES 1809-1894 years later became its editor. It was to the pages of this magazine that he contributed his famous "Autocrat" papers, taking as a title the nom de flume he had previously adopted. Holmes, when appealed to for a contribution to its pages, had little thought of adopting literature as a profes- sion, and it was only at the ear- nest instigation of James Russell Lowell that he eventually con- sented. Upon their publication in the Atlantic Monthly Magazine, the contributions were received with enthusiasm. His incisive but natural style, so full of epigram- matic wisdom and tender fancies, went at once to the hearts and understanding of readers, and it was felt that behind the pen of its author there must be a mind and their Authors teeming with learning. "The Autocrat of the Breakfast Table" was afterwards published in volume form in 1858, followed in 1860 by "The Professor of the Break- fast Table." In 1872 "The Poet of the Breakfast Table" was pub- lished; but neither of the latter have attained the success of "The Autocrat." Oliver Wendell Holmes died on October 7, 1894, at Boston, Mass., where also he was buried. As a brilliant piece of incisive writing, from "The Autocrat of the Breakfast Table," the follow- ing extract could scarcely be equalled : "This business of conversation is a very serious matter. There are men whom it weakens one to talk with an hour more than The Autocrat of the Breakfast Table 1858 OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES 1809-1894 140 Some Favourite Books The Autocrat of the Breakfast Table 1858 OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES 1809-1894 a day's fasting would do. Mark this which I am going to say, for it is as good as a working professional man's advice, and costs you nothing : It is better to lose a pint of blood from your veins than to have a nerve tapped. Nobody measures your nervous force as it runs awry, nor bandages your brain and marrow after the operation. There are men of esprit who are excessively exhaust- ing to some people. They are the talkers who have what may be called jerky minds. Their thoughts do not run in the natu- ral order of sequence. They say bright things on all possible sub- jects, but their zig-zags rack you to death. After a jolting half-hour with one of these jerky companions, talking with a dull friend affords great relief. It is like taking the and their Authors 141 cat in your lap after holding a squirrel. What a comfort a dull but kindly person is, to be sure, at times. A ground glass shade over a gas-lamp does not bring more solace to our dazzled eyes than such a one to our minds." The Autocrat of the Breakfast Table 1858 OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES 1809-1894 142 Some Favourite Books The Iliad and the Odyssey About B.C. goo HOMER B.C. 950 AND 850 HOMER BETWEEN B.C. QjO AND SjO HOMER was not only the father of poetry, but his great epic poems may be considered the Bible of the Greek nation during its pagan times. Much discussion has taken place as to the existence of such a person as Homer, but it is now considered possible that the man to whom we owe these marvellous compositions was the son of one Maeon, a Greek. His birthplace is claimed by seven different cities, but it was probably either Chios or Smyrna. These poems are based upon many popular legends and ballads prevalent in those and their Authors 143 times, and it is suggested that for centuries parts of them were recited at banquets and religious festivals, by the " rhapsodists " or minstrels; this may account for the interpolations which here and there have crept into the early versions of the poems. The Iliad in its present form con- sists of twenty-four books, and tells the story of the siege of Troy from the quarrel of Achilles with Agamemnon to the burial of Hector; this may be described as the poem of war. The most popular translation of this poem was made by Alexander Pope ; for this he received the sum of ^5320. The Odyssey deals chiefly with the domestic life of the Greeks; its twenty -four books describe the adventures of Ulysses (Odysseus) on his return voyage to The Iliad and the Odyssey About B.C. goo HOMER B.C. 950 AND 850 144 Some Favourite Books The Iliad and the Odyssey About B.C. goo HOMER B.C. 950 AND 850 his home in Ithaca after the fall of Troy. All is conjecture as to the life and death of the author of these poems ; by some he is supposed to have been a wanderer, and in his old age to have been both blind and poor; it is, how- ever, sufficient that these great epic poems remain an heritage to all the ages. The return of Ulysses to his home at Ithaca, and the slaughter of the suitors of Penelope his wife, is thus described by Charles Lamb in his " Adventures of Ulysses " : "He let fly a deadly arrow at Antinous, which pierced him in the throat, as he was in the act of lifting a cup of wine to his mouth. Amazement seized the suitors as their great champion fell dead; and they raged highly against Ulysses, and said that it and their Authors should prove the dearest shaft which he had ever let fly; for he had slain a man whose like breathed not in any part of the kingdom : and they flew to their arms, and would have seized the lances; but Minerva struck them with dimness of sight, that they went erring up and down the hall, not knowing where to find them. "Then Ulysses revealed himself to all of them, and told them that he was the man whom they thought was dead at Troy, whose palace they had usurped, whose life in his lifetime they had sought, and that for this reason destruc- tion was come upon them. And he dealt his deadly arrows among them, and there was no avoiding him or escaping from his horrid person. And Telemachus, by his The Iliad and the Odyssey About B.C. goo HOMER B.C. 950 AND 850 146 Some Favourite Books The Iliad and the Odyssey About B.C. goo HOMER B.C. 950 AND 850 side, plied them with thick mur- derous lances from which there was no retreat, till fear itself made them valiant, and danger gave them eyes to understand the peril. Then they which had swords drew them, and some with shields that they had found, and some with tables and benches snatched up in haste, rose in a mass to over- whelm and crush those two; yet they singly bestirred themselves like men, and defended themselves against that great host ; and through tables, shields and all, right through, the arrows of Ulysses clove, and the irresistible lances of Telemachus ; and many lay dead, and all had wounds. "And Minerva, in the likeness of a bird, sat upon the beam which went across the hall, clapping her wings with a fearful noise : and and their Authors sometimes the great bird would fly among them, cuffing at the swords and lances, and up and down the hall would go, beating her wings and troubling everything, that it was frightful to behold. Nor did that dreadful pair desist until they had lain all their foes at their feet. At their feet they lay in shoals ; like fishes when the fishermen break up their nets, so they lay gasping and sprawling at the feet of Ulysses and his son." r The Iliad and the Odyssey About B.C. goo HOMER B.C. 950 AND 850 148 Some Favourite Books The Christian Year 1827 JOHN KEBLE 1792-1866 JOHN KEBLE 1792-1866 BORN at Fairford, Gloucestershire, on April 25, 1792, Keble received his early education at home ; but he passed his academic career at Oxford, where he gained the Chancellor's Prize for an English Essay on "Translations from the Dead Languages." He wrote seve- ral of the "Tracts for the Times," and was the author of Lyra fnnocentium, and of many volumes on religious subjects. It is, how- ever, as the author of "The Chris- tian Year" that his name will be handed down to posterity. This work was published anonymously in and their Authors 149 1827, but the secret of its author- ship was committed to too many friends for it to remain unrevealed for long. It is stated that from its publication in 1827 to January 1854, 108,000 copies were sold, and that during the nine months following his death seven editions, consisting of 11,000 copies, were disposed of. The book appears from one of his letters to have had its origin in a self-imposed task to fill up some idle time, and to have been suggested by thoughts arising from the study of the Old Testament, and from the fact that the discipline of the Jews as a nation was intended as an example which should regulate the religious conduct of Christians as individuals. It was from this love of discipline and in this devotion of spirit that he prepared The Christian Year 1827 JOHN KEBLE 1792-1866 Some Favourite Books The Christian Year 1827 JOHN KEBLE 1792-1866 "The Christian Year," which forms a companion to the services of the Prayer Book. Keble died at Bournemouth on March 29, 1866, and was buried in Hursley Churchyard, Win- chester. All through his poetry there breathes that pure spirit of true re- ligion which is beyond controversy, and its object was to quicken an in- terest in the offices and ordinances of the Church of England. This lofty tone is beautifully expressed in the following extract from the poem entitled " Morning " : " Oh, timely happy, timely wise, Hearts that with rising morn arise ! Eyes that the beam celestial view, Which evermore makes all things new ! New every morning is the love Our wakening and uprising prove ; and their Authors Through sleep and darkness safely brought, Restored to life, and power, and thought. New mercies each returning day, Hover around us while we pray ; New perils past, new sins forgiven. New thoughts of God, new hopes of Heaven. The Christian Year 1827 If on our daily course our mind Be set to hallow all we find, New treasures still, of countless price, God will provide for sacrifice. JOHN KEBLE 1792-1866 Old friends, old scenes will lovelier be, As more of Heaven in each we see ; Some softening gleam of love and prayer Shall dawn on every cross and care. We need not bid, for cloistered cell, Our neighbour and our work farewell, Nor strive to wind ourselves too high For sinful man beneath the sky : Some Favourite Books The Christian Year 1827 JOHN KEBLE 1792-1866 The trivial round, the common task, Would furnish all we ought to ask ; Room to deny ourselves ; a road To bring us daily nearer God. Only, O Lord, in Thy dear love Fit us for perfect Rest above, And help us, this and every day, To live more nearly as we pray." r and their Authors 153 THOMAS A KEMPIS 1380-1471 THE authorship of "The Imita- tion" has been the subject of much discursive criticism. The book is probably the result of the thoughts of more than one devout mind, but the form in which it is now known is undoubtedly due to one Thomas Haermmerlin of Kempen ; and this name, through usage, has gradually settled down into that by which the author of this work is now known, Thomas a Kempis. The author was born about 1380, at Kempen, in Rhen- ish Prussia; his death taking place at a convent near Zwolle, Of the Imitation of Christ 1615 THOMAS X KEMPIS 1380-1471 154 Some Favourite Books Of the Imitation of Christ 1615 THOMAS A KEMPIS 1380-1471 Holland, in 1471, in the ninety- first year of his age. He received the first part of his education at Deventer, under the lectureship of one of the brothers of the Common life. In 1406 he be- came a Canon Regular of the monastery at Mount St. Agnes. Here his life was spent in teaching, and in copying MS. ; and here, in his secluded retreat, he compiled amongst other works his immor- tal book, "Of the Imitation of Christ." He was a voluminous writer, and an edition of his works was published in three volumes at Antwerp in 1615. The following inscription is placed under his portrait in the convent where he died : " I have sought everywhere for peace, but I have found it not, save in a little nook and in a little book." and their Authors 155 Many seekers after the higher life have found a guide and helper in Kempis* "Imitation." Amongst those who have testified to its stimulating influence are such noble and varied workers as General Gordon, John Wesley, Dr. Pusey, George Eliot, W. E. Gladstone, and John Keble. Here are some of the golden precepts to be found in this volume : "We ought to place but little confidence in ourselves, because we are often destitute both of grace and understanding. The light we have is small, and that is soon lost by negligence. We are even insensible of this inward darkness ; we do wrong and ag- gravate our guilt by excusing it; we are impelled by passion and mistake it for zeal ; we severely re- Of the Imitation of Christ 1615 THOMAS A KEMPIS 1380-1471 156 Some Favourite Books Of the Imitation of Christ 1615 THOMAS A KEMPIS 1380-1471 prove little failings in our brethren and pass over enormous sins in ourselves ; we quickly feel and perpetually brood over the suffer- ings that are brought upon us by others, but have no thought of what others suffer from us. If, however, a man would but truly and impartially examine himself he would find but little cause to judge severely of his neighbour. " The spiritual man prefers to all cares the care of his own improve- ment, and he that is strictly watch- ful over his own conduct will easily be silent about the conduct of others. But to the divine life of the spiritual man thou wilt never attain, unless thou canst withdraw thy attention from all persons, and the concerns of all, and fix it wholly upon thyself. He that purely and simply attends and and their Authors desires the reunion of his soul with God will not easily be moved by what he hears or sees in the world. "Tell me, if thou canst, where thou hast been wandering when thou art absent from thy own breast, and after thou hast run about and taken a hasty view of the actions and affairs of men, what advantage bringest thou home to thy neglected and forsaken self? He that desires peace of heart and reunion with the divine nature must cast all persons and things behind him, and keep God and his own spirit only in his view. "As thy progress to perfection depends much upon thy freedom from the cares and pleasures of the world, it must be proportion- ably obstructed by whatever de- gree of value they have in thy Of the Imitation of Christ 1615 THOMAS X KEMPIS 1380-1471 Some Favourite Books Of the Imitation of Christ 1615 THOMAS X KEMPIS 1380-1471 affections. Abandon, therefore, all hope of consolation from created things, not only as vain but danger- ous, and esteem nothing honour- able, nothing pleasing, nothing great and worthy the desire of an immortal spirit but God, and that which immediately tends to the improvement of thy state in Him. The soul that truly loves God despises all that is inferior to God. It is God aione, the Infinite and Eternal, who filleth all things, that is the life, light, and peace of all blessed spirits." and their Authors 159 CHARLES LAMB 1775-1834 THE essays which comprise the volume issued under the title "Essays of Elia" were commenced in the London Magazine of August 1820, and afterwards published by Baldwin, Cradock, & Joy. Previ- ously Lamb had issued his " Speci- mens of English Dramatic Poetry," and in conjunction with his sister Mary, the "Tales from Shake- speare." But he was not known as a writer of essays. Naturally of a humorous and versatile disposi- tion, Charles Lamb lived a life sur- rounded with sadness. His father died an imbecile; and his mother Essays of Elia 1823 CHARLES LAMB 1775-1834 i6o Some Favourite Books Essays of Elia 1823 CHARLES LAMB 1775-1834 was killed by his sister when the latter was suffering from an attack of melancholia, which continued at intervals during the whole of her life. As these attacks came on, and the sister felt her reason giving way, the two might be seen walking together hand in hand, weeping, to the place of her de- tention. The " Essays " record the thoughts and fancies of a poor India Dock clerk, and are largely autobiographical, depicting many events in Lamb's early life and school-days at Christ's Hospital. The origin of the signature " Elia " is stated by Talfourd to have been the result of accident. Lamb's first contribution to literature was a description of the Old Southsea House, and remembering a light- hearted foreigner who was em- ployed there during the period and their Authors 161 Lamb was a clerk in that office, he subscribed his name to the essay. It was afterwards affixed to all his subsequent contributions. Lamb was a lover of London and London life, having been born there on February 10, 1775. He died at Edmonton on the 27th of December 1834, where a monu- ment has recently been erected to his memory. His love of books was very great. He thus gives his opinion upon the style and manner in which some books should be bound : "To be strong-backed and neat- bound is the desideratum of a volume. Magnificence comes after. This, when it can be afforded, is not to be lavished upon all kinds of books indiscriminately. I would not dress a set of magazines, for instance, in full suit. The desha- Essays of Elia 1823 CHARLES LAMB 1775-1834 162 Some Favourite Books Essays of EHa 1823 CHARLES LAMB bille, or half-binding (with russia backs ever), is our costume. A Shakespeare, or a Milton (unless the first editions), it were mere foppery to trick out in gay apparel. The possession of them confers no distinction. The exterior of them (the things themselves being so common), strange to say, raises no sweet emotions, no tickling sense of property, in the owner. Thomson's 'Seasons,' again, looks best (I maintain it) a little torn and dog's-eared. How beautiful to a genuine lover of reading are the sullied leaves, and worn-out appearance, nay, the very odour (beyond russia), if we would not forget kind feelings in fastidious- ness, of an old ' Circulating Library ' 'Tom Jones' or 'Vicar of Wake- field ' ! How they speak of the thousand thumbs that have turned and their Authors 163 over their pages with delight ! of the lone sempstress, whom they may have cheered (milliner, or harder-working mantua-maker) after her long day's needle-toil, running far into midnight, when she has snatched an hour, ill spared from sleep, to steep her cares, as in some Lethean cup, in spelling out their enchanting contents ! Who would have them a whit less soiled ? What better condition could we desire to see them in ? "In some respects the better a book is, the less it demands from binding. Fielding, Smollett, Sterne, and all that class of per- petually self-reproductive volumes Great Nature's Stereotypes we see them individually perish with less regret, because we know the copies of them to be ' eterne.' But where a book is at once both good and Essays of Ella 1823 CHARLES LAMB 1775-1834 i6 4 Some Favourite Books Essays of Elia 1823 CHARLES LAMB I775-I834 rare where the individual is almost the species, and when that perishes, ' We know not where is that Promethean torch That can its light relumine,' such a book, for instance, as the 'Life of the Duke of Newcastle,' by his Duchess no casket is rich enough, no casing sufficiently dur- able, to honour and keep safe such a jewel." and their Authors 165 TITUS LIVIUS B.C. 5Q-A.D. If THIS learned Roman historian was born at Patavium, now Padua, in the year 59 B.C. He was one of the brilliant circle of authors who added lustre to the court of the Emperor Augustus, and among his contemporaries and associates were Virgil and Horace. It is probable that Livy was in early life a professor of Rhetoric, but at the suggestion of Augustus he undertook to write the " History of Rome " ; this in its original con- dition began with the landing of ^Eneas in Italy, and was brought down to the commencement of History of Rome First Printed 1469 TITUS LIVIUS B.C-59-A.0. 17 i66 Some Favourite Books History of Rome First Printed TITUS LIVIUS B.C. 59-A.o. 17 the Christian era. The work was composed in 143 books ; of these only thirty-five have descended to us, but with the exception of two books we have epitomes of the complete work. The books which are now extant are the first ten, and those from the twenty-first to the forty-fifth, all the remainder having been either destroyed or lost. The works of Livy have no pretensions to the character of a critical history, but are written for the glorification of his country and its people. After collecting all his materials, he retired to Naples that he might have more leisure and quiet to compose his history. He returned to his native place, where he died A.D. 17, at the age of seventy-six. The story of how Hannibal crossed the Alps is thus recorded by Livy : and their Authors 167 " At length they came to a much narrower defile, where the descent was so sheer that a light-armed man could hardly grope his way down, holding on by the shrubs and roots which stuck out around him. The track, which was at the first very steep, now led straight down to about a thousand feet, in consequence of a landslip. There the cavalry came to a standstill, as though they had reached their journey's end, and Hannibal, who expressed surprise that the troops made no advance, was told that the way was impassable. He then turned aside to examine the posi- tion himself. It seemed beyond all doubt that he must lead his army around over pathless and hitherto untrodden ground, however long might be the detour. But that way was impracticable, for upon History of Rome First Printed TITUS LIVIU B.C.59-A.D. 17 i68 Some Favourite Books History of Rome First Printed 1469 TITUS LIVIUS B.c-59-A.D. 17 last year's untouched snow there was a fresh layer of moderate depth, so that while the first comers were able to get a foothold on the soft and rather thin layer, the march of so great a host of men and beasts trampled it down, so that they had to walk on the bare ice beneath, and in the slush from the melting snow. Then came a fearful struggle ; the slippery ice refused all foothold, and whether a man strove to help himself by rising on his hands or knees, his supports gave way and he fell back again, and there were no roots or trunks of trees to which he could cling by hand or foot. So they slipped and rolled incessantly on the smooth ice and muddy snow. The cattle coming on behind some- times broke through into the lowest layer of snow, and, as they fell and and their Authors 169 struggled to rise, they went through with their hoofs to the bottom, and many of them stuck fast, as though caught in a trap, in the hard and deeply-frozen ice. At length, when both men and beasts were tired out with the fruitless efforts, they encamped on the top, a place being cleared in the snow, the digging out and removing of which made immense labour. Then the soldiers were marched off to make a road through the rock, where alone a passage was possible. As the stone had to be cut through, they made a great heap of wood from the trees they had felled and lopped near at hand, and when the wind was favourable, set fire to it, and melted the heated rocks by pouring on vinegar. So they split the red- hot rock with iron implements, and took off the steepness of the slope History of Rome First Printed 1469 TITUS LIVIUS B.C-59-A.D. 17 170 Some Favourite Books History of Rome First Printed 1469 TITUS LIVIUS B.C.59-A.D. 17 by means of gradually winding paths, so that even the elephants could be driven down. Four days were spent on the rock, the beasts being almost worn out with hunger; for the summits are very nearly bare, and if there is any herbage, the snow hides it. Lower down they came upon valleys, and sunny hills, and streams, and woods beside them, and spots at last more worthy for the habitation of men. There the cattle were sent to grass, and the soldiers enjoyed a longed-for rest. Three days hence they reached the level ground, and now they found the country less wild and the inhabitants less savage. "Thus it was that Hannibal reached Italy, five months after leaving New Carthage, the passage of the Alps having taken fifteen days." and their Authors 171 THOMAS BABINGTON MACAULAY, the distinguished poet, orator, poli- tician, and historian, was born at Rothley Temple, Leicestershire, on the 25th October 1800. He was the son of Zachary Macaulay, the well-known philanthropist, and was educated first at Clapham, and afterwards at Trinity College, Cam- bridge, where he gained the Chan- cellor's medal for a poem on Pompeii. Macaulay's earliest contributions were to Knighfs Quarterly Maga- zine, but it was in the Edinburgh Review, with his essay on Milton, History of England 1848-1861 LORD MACAULAY 1800-1859 172 Some Favourite Books History of England 1848-1861 LORD MACAU LAY 1800-1859 that his brilliant career as a writer was inaugurated. He was on several occasions returned to Par- liament, and also accepted an appointment in India. He served in the Government under Lord Grey. But it is as an historian that he is best known to fame. In 1848 appeared the first two volumes of his " History of Eng- land," which 'met with a success that was unprecedented. This work was universally read, and from its brilliant rhetoric and luci- dity of style, Macaulay was at once recognised as one of our greatest historians. The third and fourth volumes were equally successful, and the cheque for 20,000 which was paid by his publishers on account, for the authorship of these volumes, is a sum which and their Authors 173 created a record among writers. The fifth volume was published posthumously, and was edited by his sister, Lady Trevelyan, the whole history covering the period between the accession of James II. and the death of William III. In 1857 Macaulay was raised to the peerage, and on December 28, 1859, he died at Holly Lodge, Kensington, and was buried in Westminster Abbey. Here is a characteristic picture from his " History of England " : "It was necessary to the success, and even to the safety of the highwayman that he should be a bold and skilful rider, and that his manners and appearance should be such as suited the master of a fine horse. He therefore held an aristocratical position in the corn- History of England 1848-1861 LORD MACAULAY 1803-1859 Some Favourite Books History of England 1848-1861 LORD MACAULAY 1800-1859 munity of thieves, appeared at fashionable coffee-houses and gam- ing-houses, and betted with men of quality on the race -ground. Sometimes, indeed, he was a man of good family and education. A romantic interest therefore attached, and perhaps still attaches, to the names of freebooters of this class. The vulgar eagerly drank in tales of their ferocity and audacity, of their occasional acts of generosity and good nature, of their amours, of their miraculous escapes, of their desperate struggles, and of their manly bearing at the bar and in the cart. Thus it was related of William Nevison, the great robber of Yorkshire, that he levied a quarterly tribute on all the northern drovers, and, in return, not only spared them himself, but protected them against all other thieves ; and their Authors 175 that he demanded purses in the most courteous manner ; that he gave largely to the poor what he had taken from the rich ; that his life was once spared by the royal clemency, but that he again tempted his fate, and at length died, in 1685, on the gallows of York. It was related how Claud Duval, the French page of the Duke of Rich- mond, took to the road, became captain of a formidable gang, and had the honour to be named first in a royal proclamation against notorious offenders; how at the head of his troop he stopped a lady's coach, in which there was a booty of four hundred pounds; how he took only one hundred, and suffered the fair owner to ransom the rest by dancing a coranto with him on the heath ; how his vivacious gallantry stole History of England 1848-1861 LORD MACAULAY 1800-1859 176 Some Favourite Books History of England 1848-1861 LORD MACAULAY 1800-1859 away the hearts of all women ; how his dexterity at sword and pistol made him a terror to all men ; how, at length, in the year 1670, he was seized when overcome by wine ; how dames of high rank visited him in prison, and with tears interceded for his life; how the king would have granted a pardon, but for the interference of Judge Morton, the terror of high- waymen, who threatened to resign his office unless the law were carried into full effect ; and how, after the execution, the corpse lay in state with all the pomp of scutcheons, wax-lights, black hang- ings, and mutes, till the same cruel judge, who had intercepted the mercy of the crown, sent officers to disturb the obsequies. In these anecdotes there is doubt- less a large mixture of fable; tout and their Authors 177 they are not on that account un- worthy of being recorded; for it is both an authentic and an im- portant fact that such tales, whether false or true, were heard by our ancestors with eagerness and faith." History of England 1848-1861 LORD MACAU LAY 1800-1859 M i 7 8 Some Favourite Books King Arthur 1470 SIR THOMAS MALORY 1430-1485 SIR THOMAS MALORY 1430-1483 LITTLE is known of the author of "The most Ancient and Famous History of the Renowned Prince Arthur" beyond the fact that he was a knight, and possibly born in Wales. The literary origin of the Arthurian legends is pro- bably to be found in folk-lore and ancient Eastern myths. The first four, as we know them, are contained in the " Mabinogion," a collection of Welsh romances from which Malory drew his in- spiration. Upon these romances are based the stories of "Merlin," "Lancelot," "Tristram," and the and their Authors 179 " Quest of the Graal " ; these were first printed by Caxton in 1485, and from them in later times the poetic imaginings of Tennyson, Swinburne, William Morris, and Matthew Arnold have been stirred and fascinated. Wagner has also drawn upon them for his lyrical drama. Caxton, in his prologue, gives it as his opinion that in these tales there are " many joyous and pleasant histories, and the noble and renowned acts of humanity, gentleness, and chivalry by which we may come and attain to good fame and renown in this life, and after this short and transitory life to come into everlasting bliss in heaven." He also considered Arthur a national hero, and Eng- lish literature has been made richer by the judgment displayed by Caxton in selecting "Morte King Arthur 1470 SIR THOMAS MALORY 1430-1485 i8o Some Favourite Books King Arthur 1470 SIR THOMAS MALORY 1430-1485 d' Arthur" as one of those books of his age which was worthy of being printed at his press. Here is one of the chivalrous encounters in which the Knights of the Round Table were con- tinually engaged : "Then Sir Launcelot mounted upon his horse, and rode into many strange and wild countries, and through many waters and valleys, and evil was he lodged. And at the last by fortune it happened him against a night to come to a fair cortelage, and therein he found an old gentlewoman who lodged him with a goodwill; and there he and his horse were well cared for. And when time was, his host brought him to a fair garret over a gate to his bed. There Sir Launcelot unarmed him- self, and set his harness by him, and their Authors 181 and went to bed, and anon he fell asleep. So soon after there came one on horseback, and knocked at the gate in great haste ; and when Sir Launcelot heard this, he arose up and looked out of the window, and saw by the moonlight three knights that came riding after that one man, and all three lashed upon him at once with their swords, and that one knight turned on them knightly again, and defended him- self. 'Truly,' said Sir Launcelot, 'yonder one knight shall I help, for it were shame for me to see three knights on one, and if he were slain, I should be partner of his death.' And therewith he took his harness, and went out at a window by a sheet down to the four knights, and then Sir Launcelot said all on high : ' Turn King Arthur 1470 SIR THOMAS MALORY 1430-1485 182 Some Favourite Books King Arthur 1470 SIR THOMAS MALORY 1430-1485 you knights unto me, and leave your fighting with that knight. And then they all three left Sir Kay, and turned unto Sir Launce- lot, and there began a great battle, for they alighted all three and struck many great strokes at Sir Launcelot, and assailed him on every side. Then Sir Kay dressed him for to have helped Sir Launce- lot. 'Nay, sir,' said he, 'I will none of your help, and therefore as ye will have my help, let me alone with them.' Sir Kay for the pleasure of the knight he suffered him to have his will, and so stood aside. And then anon within six strokes Sir Launcelot had stricken them to the earth. And then they all three cried : ' Sir knight, we yield us unto you, as man of might.' 'As to that,' said Sir Launcelot, 'I will not and their Authors take your yielding unto me, but so that ye will yield you unto Sir Kay the seneschal; upon that covenant will I save your lives, and else not.' ' Fair knight,' said they, 'that were we loth to do, for as for Sir Kay we chased him hither and had overcome him, had ye not been, therefore to yield us unto him it were no reason.' ' Well, as to that,' said Sir Launce- lot, 'advise you well, for ye may choose whether ye shall die or live, for if ye be holden it shall be unto Sir Kay, or else not.' ' Fair knight,' said they, ' then in saving our lives we will do as ye command us.' 'Then shall ye,' said Sir Launcelot, 'upon Whit- sunday next coming go unto the Court of King Arthur, and there shall ye yield you unto Queen Guenever, and put you all three 183 King Arthur 1470 SIR THOMAS MALORY 1430-1485 i8 4 Some Favourite Books King Arthur 1470 SIR THOMAS MALORY 1430-1485 in her grace and mercy, and say that Sir Kay sent you thither to be her prisoners.' 'Sir,' said they, 'it shall be done, by the faith of our bodies, if we be living.' And there every knight swore upon their swords ; and so Sir Launcelot suffered them to depart." and their Authors 185 JOHN MILTON 1608-1674 THE author of "Paradise Lost" was born in London on Decem- ber 9, 1608, and lived through the exciting and perilous times of Charles I., the Commonwealth, and the early part of the Restora- tion under Charles II. Milton was the writer of many pamphlets, for the publication of some of which without license or registration he was prosecuted by the Stationers' Company. This drew from him the famous "Areopagitica," addressed to the Parliament of England, in which he advocated the liberty of unlicensed printing. Under the Paradise Lost 1667 JOHN MILTON 1608-1674 i86 Some Favourite Books JOHN MILTON 1608-1674 Commonwealth he was employed as Latin Secretary, and defended the action of Cromwell against Charles I. Losing his eyesight, he retired to a house in Artillery Walk, Bunhill Fields, where he dic- tated to his daughters his famous poem "Paradise Lost," for which his publisher, Samuel Simons, agreed to pay ^5 when issued, and another sum of a like amount for each succeeding edition of 1300 copies, this eventually amounting to 10. His widow subsequently sold the entire copyright for 8. When first published the poem was in ten books, but in the second edition it was rearranged into twelve books, and sold for three shillings. The Puritan poet died at his house in London on November 8, 1674, and was buried at St. Giles', Cripplegate, and their Authors 187 but the exact spot it is now quite impossible to trace. His beautiful " Morning Hymn in Eden " is one of the choicest specimens of poetry in the English language. Here is a selection from it : " So all was cleared, and to the field they haste, But first from under shady arborous roof, Soon as they forth were coming to open sight Of dayspring, and the sun, who, scarce uprisen, With wheels yet hovering o'er the ocean- brim, Shot parrelled to the earth his dewy ray, Discovering in wide landscape all the east Of Paradise and Eden's happy plains, Lowly they bowed adoring, and began Their orisons, each morning duly paid In various style ; for neither various style Nor holy rapture wanted they to praise Their Maker, in fit strains pronounced, or sung Unmeditated ; such prompt eloquence Paradise Lost 1667 JOHN MILTON 1608-1674 i88 Some Favourite Books Paradise Lost 1667 JOHN MILTON 1608-1674 Flowed from their lips, in prose or numerous verse ; More tuneable than needed lute or harp To add more sweetness ; and they thus began : These are thy glorious works, Parent of good, Almighty ! Thine this universal frame, Thus wondrous fair: Thyself how wondrous then Uuspeakable, who sittest above these heavens To us invisible, or dimly seen In these thy lowest works ; yet these declare Thy goodness beyond thought, and power divine. Speak, ye who best can tell, ye sons of light, Angels : for ye behold him, and with songs And choral symphonies, day without night, Circle his throne rejoicing ; ye in heaven, On earth join, all ye creatures, to extol Him first, him last, him midst, and without end." r and their Authors 189 SIR THOMAS MORE 1478-1535 WHAT are now known as Utopian ideas have presented themselves to many thoughtful minds from the days when Plato wrote his "Re- public," Harrington his "Oceana," and Bacon his " New Atlantis." In the disturbed times of Henry VIII., More attempted in his "Uto- pia " to portray the ideal state ; but this, among other schemes for remodelling the government of the world, has remained in an imaginative and ideal condition, although much has resulted from such speculations. Sir Thomas More, Lord Chan- Utopia 1516 SIR THOMAS MORE I478-IS3S Some Favourite Books Utopia 1516 SIR THOMAS MORE 1478-1535 cellor of England, successor to the great Wolsey and friend of Erasmus, wrote his political romance in the early part of the sixteenth century. This work showed an enlightenment of senti- ment far beyond the times in which he lived. Born in Milk Street, London, on February 7, 1478, he soon attained preferment under Henry VIII. , and entering Parliament, afterwards became its Speaker ; but differing from his monarch upon the question of his marriage with Anne Boleyn, he was committed to the Tower for refusing the Oath of Supremacy. After a trial in the King's Bench, where he delivered an eloquent defence, he was sentenced to be beheaded. This took place on July 6, 1535, and his remains were buried in the Church of St. Peter's and their Authors 191 in the Tower. Thus fell one of the most illustrious Englishmen of his time. The " Utopia " was origi- nally written in Latin, the first English translation being made by R. Robinson in 1551. Here is an account of some of the strange manners and customs of the people of Utopia : " Throughout the island they wear the same sort of clothes, without any other distinction ex- cept what is necessary to distinguish the two sexes, and the married and unmarried. The fashion never alters, and it is neither disagree- able nor uneasy, so it is suited to the climate, and calculated both for their summers and winters. Every family makes their own clothes ; but all among them, women as well as men, learn one or other of the trades formerly mentioned. Utopia 1516 SIR THOMAS MORE 1478-1535 192 Some Favourite Books Utopia 1516 SIR THOMAS MORE 1478-1535 Women, for the most part, deal in wool and flax, which suit best with their weakness, leaving the ruder trades to the men. The same trade generally passes down from father to son, inclinations often following descent : but if any man's genius lies another way he is, by adoption, translated into a family that deals in the trade to which he is inclined ; and when that is to be done, care is taken, not only by his father, but by the magistrate, that he may be put to a discreet and good man; and if, after a person has learned one trade, he desires to acquire another, that is also allowed, and is managed in the same manner as the former. When he has learned both, he follows that which he likes best, unless and their Authors the public has more occasion for the other. "The chief and almost the only business of the Syphogrants is to take care that no man may live idle, but that every one may follow his trade diligently; yet they do not wear themselves out with per- petual toil from morning till night, as if they were beasts of burden, which, as it is indeed a heavy slavery, so it is everywhere the common source of life amongst all mechanics except the Utopians : but they, dividing the day and night into twenty-four hours, ap- point six of these for work, three of which are before dinner and three after ; they then sup, and at eight o'clock, counting from noon, go to bed and sleep eight hours : the rest of their time, besides Utopia 1516 SIR THOMAS MORE 1478-1535 194 Some Favourite Books Utopia 1516 SIR THOMAS MORE I478-IS35 that taken up in work, eating, and sleeping, is left to every man's discretion ; yet they are not to abuse that interval to luxury and idleness, but must employ it in some proper exercise, according to their various inclinations, which is, for the most part, reading. It is ordinary to have public lectures every morning before daybreak, at which none are obliged to appear but those who are marked out for literature; yet a great many, both men and women, of all ranks, go to hear lectures of one sort or other, according to their inclina- tions : but if others that are not made for contemplation, choose rather to employ themselves at that time in their trades, as many of them do, they are not hindered, but are rather commended, as men that take care to serve their country. and their Authors After supper they spend an hour in some diversion : in summer in their gardens, and in winter in their halls where they eat, where they entertain each other either in music or discourse." Utopia 1516 SIR THOMAS MORE I478-IS35 196 Some Favourite Books Edward Fitz- gerald's Transla- tion of the Rubaiyat 1859 OMAR KHAYYAM 1050-60-112; OMAR KHAYYAM 1050-60-1123 THIS celebrated astrdnomer-poet was the son of a tentmaker, and was born about 1050, at Nishapur in Persia. His "Rubaiyat" has been rendered into English by several translators, but the transla- tion by Edward Fitzgerald is the most famous. The MS. from which this was made was dis- covered in the Bodleian Library, Oxford, in 1856, by Professor Cowell, and the story of its early struggle for publicity is told by Fitzgerald in one of his fascinating letters. He had been asked by Parker, the publisher of Prater's and their Authors 197 Magazine, to contribute something to its pages. Fitzgerald says, "I gave him the less wicked (stanzas) to use if he chose. He kept them for two years without using them, and as I saw he didn't want them I printed some copies, 250, with Quaritch, and keeping some for myself, gave him the rest." These, Mr. Quaritch says, although pub- lished to sell for 53., he eventually sold for id. each, and when they were sold out, Mr. Fitzgerald's re- putation as a translator was estab- lished. These copies which were sold for id. each are now fetching over ^20, and every year adds fresh lustre and influence to this apostle of Epicurean scepticism and the wine-cup. Edward Fitz- gerald, the translator of "Omar Khayyam," was born at Bredfield House, Suffolk, on March 31, Edward Fitz- gerald's Transla- tion of the Rubaiyat 1859 OMAR KHAYYAM 1050-60-1123 198 Some Favourite Books Edward Fitz- gerald's Transla- tion of the Rubaiyat OMAR KHAYYAM 1050-60-1123 1809. Eccentric but clever, he wrote several books, none of which gained him fame except his render- ing of the "Quatrains of Omar." He died on the i4th June 1883. Here are a few stanzas from the " Rubaiyat " : " Come, fill the Cup, and in the fire of Spring Your winter garment of Repentance fling : The Bird of Time has but a little way To flutter and the Bird is on the Wing. Whether at Naishapur or Babylon, Whether the Cup with sweet or bitter run, The Wine of Life keeps oozing drop by drop, The Leaves of Life keep falling one by A Book of Verses underneath the Bough, A Jug of Wine, a Loaf of Bread and Thou Beside me singing in the Wilderness Oh, Wilderness were Paradise enow ! and their Authors 199 The Worldly Hope men set their Hearts upon Turns Ashes or it prospers ; and anon, Like Snow upon the Desert's dusty Face, Lighting a little hour or two is gone. Ah, my Beloved, fill the Cup that clears To-day of past Regrets and future Fears : To-morrow ! Why, To-morrow I may be Myself with Yesterday's Sev'n thousand Years. For some we loved, the loveliest and the best That from his Vintage rolling Time hath prest, Have drunk their Cup a Round or two before, And one by one crept silently to rest. And we, that make merry in the Room They left, and Summer dresses in new bloom, Ourselves must we beneath the Couch of Earth Descend ourselves to make a Couch for whom ? Edward Fitz- gerald's Transla* tion of the Rubaiyat 1859 OMAR KHAYYAM 1050-60-1123 Some Favourite Books Edward Fitz- gerald's Transla- tion of the Rubaiyat 1859 OMAR KHAYYAM 1050-60-1123 Ah, make the most of what we yet may spend, Before we too into the Dust descend ; Dust into Dust, and under Dust to lie Sans Wine, sans Song, sans Singer, and sans End ! There was the Door to which I found no Key; There was the Veil through which I might not see : Some little talk awhile of Me and Thee There was and then no more of Thee and Me. I sent my Soul through the Invisible, Some letter of that After-life to spell : And by and by my Soul return'd to me, And answered, ' I Myself am Heav'n and Hell.' " and their Authors 201 SAMUEL PEPYS 1632-1703 ACCIDENT has probably never given to the world such an entertaining work as the " Diary of Samuel Pepys." The manuscript was dis- covered among a collection of books bequeathed by Pepys to Magdalen College, Cambridge ; it was written in shorthand, for the obvious reason that it contained much that was not intended for the public gaze. The original issue of the "Diary" was edited by Lord Braybrook, and published in 1825. Samuel Pepys was born on February 23, 1632, at Brampton, Diary 1825 SAMUEL PEPYS 1632-1703 Some Favourite Books Diary 1825 SAMUEL PEPYS 1632-1703 near Huntingdon. He came early to London, and was educated at St. Paul's School. He matriculated at Cambridge, and afterwards occu- pied many important positions in the Government. He was member of Parliament for Castle Rising and Harwich, and Governor of Christ's Hospital, but was imprisoned for treason in the Gate House in 1686 ; he was also Secretary to the Admiralty during the reigns of Charles II. and James II. Pepys frequented the haunts of busy city and official life, and also those of literary and fashionable society. He died on May 26, 1703, and was buried by the side of his wife, in a vault by the communion-table, in the Church of St. Olave's, Seething Lane. The "Diary" was commenced on January i, 1659, just before and their Authors 203 the Restoration, and continued until May 31, 1669. It forms a valuable account, both histori- cally and socially, of the time of Charles II., and contains interest- ing details of the Great Fire of London and of the Plague. The diarist also finds time to chronicle an account of proces- sions, concerts, fires, riots, execu- tions, picture galleries, weddings, christenings, charity sermons, and also every court scandal, new beauty, or new book that ap- peared within his charmed circle. Pepys discontinued his diary on account of failing eyesight; this, however, he recovered, and it re- mained unimpaired until the close of his life. It can be judged, from the following extract from the " Diary," how nearly every thought and Diary 1825 SAMUEL PEPYS 1632-1703 2O4 Some Favourite Books Diary 1825 SAMUEL PEPYS 1632-1703 action in his life was carefully written down. On December 26, 1662, he writes : " Hither came Mr. Battersby, and we falling into discourse of a new book of drollery in use called ' Hudibras,' I would needs go find it out and met with it at the Temple : cost me 25. 6d. But when I came to read it, it is so silly an abuse of the presbyter knight going to the wars, that I am ashamed of it, and by and by meeting at Mr. Townsend's at dinner I sold it to him for one and sixpence." Pepys returns to the subject again on February 6, 1663. "To Lincoln's Inn Fields, and it being too soon to go to dinner I walked up and down and looked upon the outside of the new theatre building in Covent Garden, which will be very fine. and their Authors 205 And so to a bookseller's in the Strand, and there bought 'Hudi- bras ' again, it being certainly some ill-humour to be so against that which all the world cries up to be the example of wit : for which I am resolved once more to read him and see whether I can find it or no." Diary 1825 SAMUEL PEPYS 1632-1703 206 Some Favourite Books The Republic About B.C. 387 PLATO B.C. 429-347 PLATO B.C. 429-347 PLATO, the founder of one of the Greek schools of philosophies, was born at Athens, and in his youth came under the influence and enrolled himself a disciple of Socrates. It is to Plato, as well as to Xenophon, that we owe the record of the life of Socrates, Plato having attended him while in prison, and written an account of his last discourse upon the im- mortality of the soul, and of his philosophic but heroic death. The philosophy of Plato as expressed in his dialogues has made his name a synonym for and their Authors 207 harmonising the rational with the ideal. To many his "Republic" is the grandest of all his works. In this he sketches an ideal state, its morality, politics, and art, in which the natural wants of man, the education and bodily training of the young, are all considered. He was guided by one grand prin- ciple, which was that the aim of the education of the young, as well as the government of nations, should be to make them better. He has been pictured in the groves at Athens, surrounded by Aristotle and others, students who have handed down to posterity his great conceptions of the All- powerful God and the government of the universe. It is stated that women were so eager to attend these discourses that they dressed themselves up in men's clothes The Republic About B.C. 387 PLATO B.C. 429-347 208 Some Favourite Books The Republic About B.C. 387 PLATO B.C. 429-347 so as to hear his wise teach- ings. Plato died at Athens in the eighty-second year of his age, B.C. 347, leaving in his will, to the students of the school, the garden in which for so many years he had taught his system of philo- sophy. The following passage, in which Socrates defends himself against his enemies, is from Plato's "Apo- logy " of Socrates : "You, therefore, O my judges, ought to entertain good hopes with respect to death, and to be firmly persuaded of this one thing, that to a good man no- thing is evil, neither while living nor when dead, and that his con- cerns are never neglected by the gods. Nor is my present condition the effect of chance; but this is evident to me, that now to die, and their Authors 209 and be liberated from the affairs of life, is better for me. On this account the accustomed signal did not in this affair oppose me. Nor am I very indignant with those that accused and condemned me, though their intention in so doing was to injure me; and for this they deserve to be blamed. Thus much, however, I request of them : That you will punish my sons when they grow up, afflicting them as I have afflicted you, if they shall appear to you to pay more attention to riches or any- thing else than to virtue; and if they shall think themselves to be something when they are nothing, that you will reprobate them as I do you, for neglecting the care of things to which they ought to attend, and conceiving themselves to be of some consequence when The Republic About B.C. 387 PLATO B.C. 429-347 Some Favourite Books The Republic Abend B.C. 387 PLATO B.C. 429-347 they are of no worth. If ye do these things, your conduct both towards me and my sons will be just. But it is now time for us to depart hence for me to die, but for you to live. Which of us, however, will arrive at a better thing is manifest to none but Divinity." and their Authors 211 EDGAR ALLAN POE 1809-1849 THE career of this remarkable man was irregular and eventful. Born in Boston, Mass., on January 19, 1809, his taste for riotous living was early developed. This greatly interfered with the expansion of that talent with which he was so remarkably endowed. His father and mother were actors, and he was left an orphan when quite a child. He was adopted by Mr. Allan, a Baltimore merchant, who did all he could to restrain his passionate temperament and exu- berance of feeling. He received his early education at Stoke-New- Tales of the Orotesque, &c. 1840 EDGAR ALLAN POE 1809-1849 Some Favourite Books Tales of the Grotesque, &c. 1840 EDGAR ALLAN POE 1809-1849 ington, London, and afterwards at Richmond, Virginia, and Charlottes- ville University; from the latter he was expelled for his propensities for gambling and intemperance. Always of a wayward and erratic disposition, he took part in the struggle of the Greeks for inde- pendence, but returning to America he adopted literature as a career, and in 1835 gained a prize for a tale and a poem. The great literary event of his life was, how- ever, the publication of his poem "The Raven" in New York in 1845. P e is reported to have received 2 for this production. Exhibiting a weird yet fascinating disposition, he wrote a number of tales for various periodicals, the most celebrated being the "Golden Bug" and the "Narrative and their Authors 213 of Arthur Gordon Pym." These were republished in "Tales of the Grotesque and the Arabesque," and are amongst the best known of Poe's works. Passing through Baltimore, while on his way to be married for the second time, he gave way to ex- cessive drinking, and died at the hospital on October 3, 1849. Poe's vivid imaginings frequently found expression in such bursts of passionate eloquence as the following : " I found myself within a strange city, where all things might have served to blot from recollection the sweet dreams I had dreamed so long in the Valley of the Many- Coloured Grass. The pomps and pageantries of a stately court, and the mad clangour of arms, and the Tales of the Grotesque, &c. 1840 EDGAR ALLAN POE 1809-1849 214 Some Favourite Books Tales of the Grotesque, &c. 1840 EDGAR ALLAN POE 1809-1849 radiant loveliness of woman, bewil- dered and intoxicated my brain. But as yet my soul had proved true to its vows, and the indications of the presence of Eleonora were still given me in the silent hours of the night. Suddenly, these manifestations ceased ; and the world grew dark before mine eyes ; and I stood aghast at the burning thoughts which possessed at the terrible temptations which beset me; for there came from some far, far distant and unknown land, into the gay court of the king I served, a maiden to whose beauty my whole recreant heart yielded at once at whose footstool I bowed down without a struggle, in the most ardent, in the most abject worship of love. What indeed was my passion for the young girl of the valley in com- and their Authors 215 parison with the fervour, and the delirium, and the spirit-lifting ecstasy of adoration with which I poured out my whole soul in tears at the feet of the ethereal Ermengarde? Oh, bright was the seraph Ermen- garde ! and in that knowledge I had room for none other. Oh, divine was the angel Ermengarde ! and as I looked down into the depths of her memorial eyes, I thought only of them and of her. " I wedded ; nor dreaded the curse I had invoked ; and its bitterness was not visited upon me. And once but once again in the silence of the night, there came through my lattice the soft sighs which had forsaken me ; and they modelled themselves into familiar and sweet voice, saying " ' Sleep in peace ! for the spirit of love reigneth and ruleth, and, Tales of the Grotesque, &c. 1840 EDGAR ALLAN FOE 1809-1849 2l6 Some Favourite Books Tales of the Grotesque, &c. 1840 EDGAR ALLAN POE 1809-1849 in taking to thy passionate heart her who is Ermengarde, thou art absolved, for reasons which shall be made known to thee in Heaven, of thy vows unto Eleonora.' " r and their Authors 217 SAMUEL RICHARDSON 1680-1761 THE father of the English novel, as Samuel Richardson is named, was born in Derbyshire in 1689, and as a youth was fond of story- telling and letter-writing ; when only thirteen years old he enjoyed the confidence of some young ladies, for whom he wrote their amatory correspondence. Appren- ticed at the age of fifteen to a London printer, he afterwards commenced on his own account in Salisbury Court, Fleet Street. Here he developed a successful business, and eventually married Pamela 1740 SAMUEL RICHARDSON 1689-1761 2l8 Some Favourite Books Pamela 1740 SAMUEL RICHARDSON 1689-1761 his former master's daughter. He was at one time employed by the Speaker of the House of Commons to print the journals of the House. In the year 1740, when he was nearly fifty years of age, he was requested to pre- pare a little volume of letters ; this he did by utilising those written in his early days for his confidential lady friends, the result being "Pamela; or, Virtue Re- warded." Upon the publication of this work its popularity became very great; it was recommended from the pulpit as the one book to be retained if all others ex- cept the Bible were burned. On another occasion, a village black- smith was reading it to an audi- ence round his forge ; when they found that virtue was rewarded and that the hero and heroine and their Authors 219 were married to live long and happily together, they went to the parish church and rang the bells in celebration of the event. The successful "Pamela," which was published anonymously, was followed by "Clarissa Harlowe" and other works. In 1754 Richardson became Master of the Stationers' Company. He died of apoplexy in London on July 4th, 1760, and was buried by the side of his first wife in the Church of St. Bride's, Fleet Street. The epistolary character of " Pamela " may be judged by the following letter, received by "Pamela" from her mother: " MY DEAREST DAUGHTER, Our prayers are at length heard, and we are overwhelmed with joy. O what sufferings, what trials hast thou gone through ! Pamela 1740 SAMUEL RICHARDSON 1689-1761 Some Favourite Books Pamela 1740 SAMUEL RICHARDSON 1689-1761 Blessed be the divine goodness which has enabled thee to with- stand so many temptations. We have not yet had leisure to read through your long accounts of all your hardships. I say long, because I wonder how you could find time and opportunity for them ; but otherwise they are the delight of our spare hours ; we shall read them over and over, as long as we live, with thankfulness to God who has given us so virtuous and so discreet a daughter. How happy is our lot, in the midst of our poverty. Oh, let none ever think children a burden to them : when the poorest circumstances can pro- duce so much riches in a Pamela ! Persist, my dear daughter, in the same excellent course; and we shall not envy the highest estate, and their Authors but defy them to produce such a daughter as ours. "We don't see that you can do any way so well, as to come into the present proposal, and make Mr. Williams, the worthy Mr. Williams God bless him ! happy. And though we are poor, and can add no merit, reputation, or fortune, to our dear child, but rather must be a disgrace to her, as the world will think ; yet I hope I do not sin in my pride to say, that there is no good man of a common degree, but may think himself happy in you. But, as you say you had rather not marry at present, far be it from us to offer violence to your inclination. So much prudence, as you have shown in all your conduct, would make it very wrong in us to mistrust it in Pamela 1740 SAMUEL RICHARDSON 1689-1761 Some Favourite Books Pamela 1740 SAMUEL RICHARDSON 1689-1761 this, or to offer to direct you in your choice. But, alas ! my child, what can we do for you ? To partake of our hard lot, and to involve yourself into as hard a life, would not help us; but add to our afflictions. It will be time enough to talk of these things when we have the pleasure you now put us in hope of, of seeing you with us ; which God grant. Amen, amen, say your most in- dulgent parents, Amen ! " r and their Authors 223 JOHN RUSKIN 1819-1900 THERE has been no writer during the Victorian era more versatile in his originality, and greater in his influence, than John Ruskin. Born in Hunter Street, Brunswick Square, London, on February 8, 1819, with a delicate body but with a keen and brilliant intellect, he early de- veloped that love of nature and art which has made him one of the greatest figures who have shed their light upon our times. At the age of nine he started a long poem on the Universe, and from that period on, he has appeared at varied times as an Artist, a Critic, Modern Painters 1843-1860 JOHN RUSKIN 1819-1900 224 Some Favourite Books Modern Painters 1843-1860 JOHN RUSKIN 1819-1900 a Political Economist, a Scientist, a Philosopher, a Poet, and a Re- ligious Disputant. During his life he wrote over seventy separate works, and his whole career was a very remarkable one, being full of high aspirations and consecrated to beautiful ends. His "Modern Painters" is the book by which he will be longest known. The first volume was published in 1843. It was issued anonymously, as by "A Graduate of Oxford," when Ruskin was only twenty-four years of age, his father thinking that on account of his youthfulness it might lose some of its authority. The work was commenced as an essay in defence of J. M. W. Turner, who had, Ruskin thought, been unfairly attacked in B 'lackwood 's Magazine. The second volume was also pub- lished anonymously, in 1846. Ten and their Authors 225 years later the third volume was issued, and the fourth in the latter part of the same year. The fifth and concluding volume was pub- lished in 1860; these volumes, it has been stated, " cover every phase of Nature and every type of Art." Ruskin was in his generation both teacher and preacher, and his influence will be felt through many succeeding ages. He died at his residence, Brantwood, Coniston, on the 2Oth January 1900, and was buried in the churchyard on the borders of the beautiful lake. Mr. Ruskin thus explains, in his " Modern Painters," vol. iii., the nobility and greatness of Art : " The difference between great and mean art lies, not in definable methods of handling, or styles of representation, or choices of sub- Modern Painters 1843-1860 JOHN RUSKIN 1819-1900 226 Some Favourite Books Modern Painters 1843-1860 JOHN RUSKIN 1819-1900 jects, but wholly in the nobleness of the end to which the effort of the painter is addressed. We can- not say that a painter is great because he paints boldly, or paints delicately ; because he generalises or particularises ; because he loves detail or because he disdains it. He is great if, by any of these means, he has laid open noble truths, or aroused noble emotions. It does not matter whether he paint the petal of a rose, or the chasms of a precipice, so that love and admiration attend him as he labours, and wait for ever upon his work. It does not matter whether he toil for months upon a few inches of his canvas, or cover a palace front with colour in a day, so only that it be with a solemn purpose that he has filled his heart with patience, or urged and their Authors 227 his hand to haste. And it does not matter whether he seek for his subjects among peasants or nobles, among the heroic or the simple, in courts or in fields, so only that he behold all things with a thirst for beauty, and a hatred of meanness and vice. There are, indeed, certain methods of representation which are usually adopted by the most active minds, and certain characters of subject usually delighted in by the noblest hearts; but it is quite possible, quite easy, to adopt the manner of painting without sharing the activity of mind, and to imitate the choice of subject without pos- sessing the nobility of spirit ; while, on the other hand, it is altogether impossible to foretell on what strange objects the strength of a great man will sometimes be con- Modern Painters 1843-1860 JOHN RUSKIN 1819-190x3 228 Some Favourite Books Modern Painters 1843-1860 JOHN RUSKIN 1819-1900 centrated, or by what strange means he will sometimes express himself. So that true criticism of art never can consist in the mere application of rules; it can be just only when it is founded on quick sympathy with the innumerable instincts and changeful efforts of human nature, chastened and guided by un- changing love of all things that God has created to be beautiful, and pronounced to be good." and their Authors 229 SIR WALTER SCOTT 1771-1832 CRITIQUES do not consider "Waver- ley " as either the finest or the most literary of Sir Walter Scott's novels ; yet, as it was the first work of fiction he published, and as it has given the general title to all his novels, it might be considered to represent both the man and his works. Born in Edinburgh in 1771, and passing through the High School and University of that town, Sir Walter Scott became a Writer to the Signet, but early *devoted himself to literature. His first published works were princi- Waverley 1814 SIR WALTER SCOTT 1771-1832 230 Some Favourite Books Waverley 1814 SIR WALTER SCOTT 1771-1832 pally poetry, but in 1814 he issued anonymously " Waverley ; or, 'Tis Sixty Years Since." This was begun some ten years previously, and while searching in a desk for some fishing-tackle he discovered the MS. ; he at once took it up, and finished it in about three weeks. Five editions were issued in six months, and much speculation was made as to its authorship. This was at last avowed at a public dinner as a matter of self-defence. Scott was a voluminous writer, " Guy Mannering " being com- pleted in six weeks. But it is perhaps to his financial embarrass- ments that we owe so many of his delightful romances, of which as a nation we are justly proud. Sir Walter Scott died at Abbotsford on September 21, 1832, and was buried* at Dryburgh Abbey. A beautiful and their Authors 231 monument to his memory has been erected at Edinburgh. Sir Walter Scott delighted in the historic and picturesque. Here are some of the thoughts which crossed Waverley's mind as he rode through the streets of Tully-Veolan : "As Waverley moved on, here and there an old man, bent as much by toil as years, his eyes bleared with age and smoke, tot- tered to the door of his hut, to gaze on the dress of the stranger and the form and motions of the horses, and then assembled, with his neighbours, in a little group at the smithy, where he might be going. Three or four village girls, returning from the well or brook with pitchers and pails upon their heads, formed more pleasing ob- jects, and, with their thin short- gowns and single petticoats, bare Waverley 1814 SIR WALTER SCOTT 1771-1832 232 Some Favourite Books Waverley 1814 SIR WALTER SCOTT 1771-1832 arms, legs, and feet, uncovered heads and braided hair, somewhat resembled Italian forms of land- scape. Nor could a lover of the picturesque have challenged either the elegance of their costume or the symmetry of their shape ; al- though, to say the truth, a mere Englishman in search of the com- fortable, a word peculiar to his native tongue, might have wished the clothes less scanty, the feet and legs somewhat protected from the weather, the head and com- plexion shrouded from the sun, or perhaps might even have thought the whole person and dress con- siderably improved by a plentiful application of spring water, with a quantum sufficit of soap. The whole scene was depressing ; for it argued, at the first glance, at least a stagnation of industry, and and their Authors 2 33 perhaps of intellect. Even curi- osity, the busiest passion of the idle, seemed of a listless cast in the village of Tully-Veolan : the curs alone showed any part of its activity; with the villagers it was passive. They stood and gazed at the handsome young officer and his attendant, but without any of those quick motions and eager looks that indicate the earnest- ness with which those who live in monotonous ease at home look out for amusement abroad. Yet the physiognomy of the people, when more closely examined, was far from exhibiting the indiffer- ence of stupidity ; their features were rough, but remarkably intelli- gent; grave, but the very reverse of stupid ; and from among the young women an artist might have chosen more than one model whose Waverley 1814 SIR WALTER SCOTT 1771-1832 234 Some Favourite Books Waverley 1814 SIR WALTER SCOTT 1771-1832 features and form resembled those of Minerva. The children also, whose skins were burnt black, and whose hair was bleached white, by the influence of the sun, had a look and manner of life and interest. It seemed, upon the whole, as if poverty, and indo- lence, its too frequent companion, were combining to depress the natural genius and acquired infor- mation of a hardy, intelligent, and reflecting peasantry." and their Authors 235 WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE 1564-1616 THE first collected edition of Shake- speare's works, known as the first folio edition, was published by John Heminge and Henry Condell in 1623, seven years after the author's death. Other editions followed, with additional plays, but the principal critical edition was issued in 1709, edited by Nicholas Rowe, in seven volumes octavo. Considering the position now occupied by Shakespeare's works in the world's literature, comparatively little is known of his life's history ; that he was born on the 22nd or 23rd of April 1564 Dramas 1623 WILLIAM SHAKE- SPEARE 1564-1616 Some Favourite Books Dramas 1623 WILLIAM SHAKE- SPEARE 1564-1616 at Stratford-upon-Avon, and that he died there on the 23rd of April 1616, is certain; it is also a fact that in his nineteenth year he married Anne Hathaway, a yeo- man's daughter. A few years afterwards we find him reported to have been prosecuted for deer- stealing, and then in London as a player and play-writer. Here, in the company of Burbage, he is stated to have acted before Queen Elizabeth, and was also associated with the Globe Theatre, Blackfriars. His writings, with those of George Chapman, Ben Jonson, and other Elizabethan dra- matists, have exercised an influence upon English literature which will exist, not for a period, but for all time. It is supposed that the first folio edition was issued at ^i, but a copy has been recently sold for and their Authors 237 the large sum of ^1720. Dethron- ing Shakespeare and placing Lord Bacon upon his exalted pedestal has been a favourite occupation with a certain school of writers, but at the present time Shakespeare stands firmly fixed as the writer of the plays which bear his name, and at the head of the dramatic authors of the world. His beauti- ful memorials in the church and town of Stratford-upon-Avon are visited by admirers from all parts of the world. Every one knows his " Seven Ages of Man." It will not, however, be out of place here as representing the author and his work : " Jaq. All the world's a stage, And all the men and women merely players : They have their exits and their entrances : And one man in his time plays many parts, Dramas 1623 WILLIAM SHAKE- SPEARE 1564-1616 2 3 8 Some Favourite Books Dramas 1623 WILLIAM SHAKE- SPEARE 1564-1616 His acts being seven ages. At first the infant, Mewling and puking in the nurse's arms. And then the whining school-boy, with his satchel And shining morning face, creeping like snail Unwillingly to school. And then the lover, Sighing like furnace, with a woeful ballad Made to his mistress' eyebrow. Then a soldier, Full of strange oaths, and bearded like the pard, Jealous in honour, sudden and quick in quarrel, Seeking the bubble reputation Even in the cannon's mouth. And then the justice, In fair round belly with good capon lined, With eyes severe and beard of formal cut, Full of wise saw and modern instances ; And so he plays his part. The sixth age shifts Into the lean and slippered pantaloon, With spectacles on nose and pouch on side, His youthful hose, well saved, a world too wide and their Authors 239 For his shrunk shank ; and his big manly voice, Turning again toward childish treble, pipes And whistles in his sound. Last scene of all, That ends this strange eventful history, Is second childishness and mere oblivion, Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything." Dramas 1623 WILLIAM SHAKE- SPEARE 1564-1616 r 240 Some Favourite Books The Faerie Queene 1590-1596 EDMUND SPENSER IS52-I599 EDMUND SPENSER ^552-1599 THE author of the " Faerie Queene " tells us that his object in writing this poem " was to fashion a gentle- man or noble person in virtuous and gentle discipline " ; this he pro- posed to do by means of a poetical panorama, delineating moral duty. The work was to be completed in twelve books. The first three were published in 1590, having been brought over from Ireland, where Spenser resided, by Sir Walter Raleigh; these books were dedi- cated to Queen Elizabeth, to whom the author was introduced. They were immediately popular, and and their Authors 241 gained for him a pension of 50 a year. Books four, five, and six were published in 1596; these six books and some stanzas of book seven are all that we have of the twelve originally contemplated. It has been conjectured that the miss- ing books may have been written but burned in a fire which destroyed Spenser's house and infant child during the rebellion of Tyrone. Spenser, who has been justly de- scribed as the Poets' Poet, was born in London, near Tower Hill, in 1552. After his flight from Ireland he lost his vigour both of body and of spirit, and died of a broken heart on January 16, 1599, in King Street, Westminster. A grave was selected for him in the Poets' Corner, Westminster Abbey, near that of another great English poet, Chaucer. It is more The Faerie Queene 1590-1596 EDMUND SPENSER I552-IS99 242 Some Favourite Books The Faerie Queene 1590-1596 EDMUND SPENSER I552-IS99 than probable, says Dean Stanley, that his hearse was attended by Beaumont, Fletcher, Ben Jonson, and Shakespeare. The desires of the gentle knight and his " Faerie Queene " are thus sung by Spenser : " A gentle Knight was pricking on the plaine, Ycladd in mightie armes and silver shielde, Wherein old dints of deepe woundes did remaine, The cruell markes of many a bloody fielde ; Yet armes till that time did he never wield, His angry steede did chide his foming bitt, As much distayning to the curbe to yield : Full jolly knight he seemd, and faire did sitt, As one for knightly giusts and fierce encounters fitt. And on his brest a bloodie Crosse he bore, The deare remembrance of his dying Lord, and their Authors 243 For whose sweete sake that glorious badge he wore, And dead, as living, ever him ador'd : Upon his shield the like was also scor'd, For soveraine hope which in his helpe he had. Right faithfull true he was in deede and word, But of his cheere did seeme too solemne sad ; Yet nothing did he dread, but ever was ydrad. Upon a great adventure he was bond, That greatest Gloriana to him gave, (That greatest Glorious Queene of Faery lond) To winne him worshippe, and her grace to have, Which of all earthly things he most did crave : And ever as he rode his hart did earne To prove his puissance in battell brave Upon his foe, and his new force to learne, Upon his foe, a Dragon horrible and stearne. A lovely Ladie rode him faire beside, Upon a lowly Asse more white than snow, The Faerie Queene 1590-1596 EDMUND SPENSER I55 2 - 1 599 244 Some Favourite Books The Faerie Queene 1590-1596 EDMUND SPENSER I552-IS99 Yet, she much whiter : but the same did hide Under a vele, that wimpled was full low ; And over all a blacke stole shee did throw : As one that inly mourned, so was she sad, And heavie sate upon her palfrey slow ; Seemed in heart some hidden care she had, And by her, in a line, a milke white lambe she lad. So pure and innocent, as that same lambe She was in life and every vertuous lore ; And by descent from Royal 1 lynage came Of ancient Kinges and Queenes, that had of yore Their scepters stretcht from East to Westerne shore, And all the world in their subjection held ; Till that infernall feend with foule uprore Forwasted all their land, and them expeld ; Whom to avenge she had this Knight from far compeld." and their Authors 245 LAURENCE STERNE 1713-1768 THE Rev. Laurence Sterne was born at Clonmel on November 24, 1713. The first two volumes of his great work, "The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman," were written when he was vicar of Sutton and prebendary of York, and pub- lished by John Hinxham, book- seller, Stonegate, York ; Dodsley, the celebrated publisher, acting as the London agent. The creator of " My Uncle Toby " once de- clared that "he wrote not to be fed but to be famous." This he became upon the publication of the first two volumes of " Tristram Tristram Shandy 1759-1767 LAURENCE STERNE 1713-1768 246 Some Favourite Books Tristram Shandy 759-1767 LAURENCE STERNE 1713-1768 Shandy," which we are told were written within twelve months. Be- fore they were published at York they were offered to and declined by Dodsley, but he regretted his decision and afterwards published volumes three and four, for which he paid Sterne ^380. He found fresh publishers in Becket and De Hondt for volumes five and six, volumes seven and eight were pub- lished by the same firm in 1765, and volume nine, completing the work, appeared in 1766, and was stated to be better than any of the previous volumes. Upon the issue of the early volumes the book at once attracted attention from its Rabelaisian characteristics, and obtained a success little antici- pated by its author. It gained the favour of David Garrick, the cele- brated actor, and from its outspoken and their Authors 247 humour and personal allusions made Sterne the hero of London Society. Sterne, in a letter, discloses most frankly his gratification at the re- sult. In it he says, "Never, he believes, had such honour been rendered to any man by devotees so distinguished." Again he writes, "The honours paid me were the greatest that were ever known from the great, even the Bishops have sent me compliments." In 1768 he wrote "A Sentimental Journey through France and Italy," the de- sign of which was " to teach us to love the world and our fellow- creatures better than we do." After many vicissitudes he died, " over the silk bag shop " in Old Bond Street, on March 18, 1768, and was interred, in the presence of many of his boon companions, in the burial-ground of St. George's, Tristram Shandy 1759-1767 LAURENCE STERNE 1713-1768 248 Some Favourite Books Tristram Shandy 1759-1767 LAURENCE STERNE 1713-1768 Hanover Square. His tomb bears the following inscription. The date of his death, however, is wrong, that given above being the correct one. " ' Alas, poor Yorick' 1 NEAR TO THIS PLACE LIES THE BODY OF THE REVEREND LAURENCE STERNE Died September 13, 1768 AGED 53 YEARS." Some of the characteristics of Sterne's writing will be found in the following extract : "An eye is, for all the world, exactly like a cannon, in this re- spect, that it is not so much the eye or the cannon, in themselves, as it is the carriage of the eye and the carriage of the cannon ; by which both the one and the and their Authors 249 other are enabled to do so much execution. I don't think the com- parison a bad one : however, as 'tis made and placed at the head of the chapter, as much for use as ornament ; all I desire in re- turn is that, whenever I speak of Mrs. Wadman's eyes (except once in the next period) that you keep it in your fancy. '"I protest, Madam,' said my uncle Toby, 'I can see nothing whatever in your eye.' " ' . . . It is not in the white/ said Mrs. Wadman. My uncle Toby looked with might and main into the pupil. " Now, of all the eyes which ever were created, from your own, Madam, up to those of Venus her- self, which certainly were as ven- ereal a pair of eyes as ever stood Tristram Shandy 1759-1767 LAURENCE STERNE 1713-1768 25 Some Favourite Books Tristram Shandy 1759-1767 LAURENCE STERNE 1713-1768 in a head, there never was an eye of them all so fitted to rob my uncle Toby of his repose as the very eye at which he was looking; it was not, Madam, a rolling eye, a romping, or a wanton one ; nor was it an eye sparkling, petu- lant, or imperious of high claims and terrifying exactions, which would have curdled at once that milk of human nature of which my uncle Toby was made up ; but 'twas an eye full of gentle salutations, and soft responses, speaking, not like the trumpet-stop of some ill-made organ, in which many an eye I talk to holds coarse converse, but whispering soft, like the last low accents of an expiring saint, 'How can you live comfortless, Captain Shandy, and alone, without a bosom to lean your head on, or trust your cares to?' and their Authors 251 "It was an eye " But I shall be in love with it myself, if I say another word about it. " It did my uncle Toby's busi- ness." Tristram Shandy 1759-1767 LAURENCE STERNE 1713-1768 252 Some Favourite Books Gulliver's Travels 1726 JONATHAN SWIFT 1667-1745 JONATHAN SWIFT 1667-1745 JONATHAN SWIFT was the posthu- mous son of English parents. He was born in Dublin on November 30, 1667, and was educated at Trinity College. In early life his thoughts were directed to the Church, which he eventually entered ; after suffer- ing many disappointments of prefer- ment in England he was appointed Dean of St. Patrick's, Dublin, in 1713. Here he devoted much of his time to literary work, amongst the most notable of his writings being "Gulliver's Travels." This work was published anonymously, and although containing many coarse and their Authors 253 allusions, it achieved in a short time a European popularity. It also contains much ironical and sarcastic humour. But it has con- ferred upon its author an immortal reputation. In his love affairs Swift appears to have been rather unfortu- nate, his first attachment being to Esther Johnson, whom he clan- destinely married, and who is known to literature by the letters Swift addresses to her under the name of Stella. He was afterwards asso- ciated with Miss Esther Vanhom- right (Vanessa), who, through his conduct, died of a broken heart, after cancelling the will she had made in his favour. Swift advo- cated and produced many reforms in Ireland, but his mental facul- ties gradually declined, and he died in a state of idiotcy on October 2 9> I 74S> leaving the bulk of his Gulliver's Travels 1726 JONATHAN SWIFT 1667-1745 254 Some Favourite Books Gulliver's Travels 1726 JONATHAN SWIFT 1667-1745 fortune to erect an hospital for lunatics. He was buried in St. Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin. In " Gulliver's Travels " his wit and satire are deep and incisive. He thus describes a debate upon a theory of taxation for the people of Laputia : " I heard a very warm debate between two professors about the most commodious and effectual ways and means of raising money without grieving the subjects. The first affirmed, ' that the justest method would be to lay a certain tax upon vices and folly, and the sum fixed upon every man to be rated, after the fairest manner, by a jury of his neighbours.' The second was of an opinion directly contrary. ' To tax those qualities of body and mind for which men chiefly value themselves; the rate and their Authors 255 to be more or less according to the degrees of excelling; the de- cision whereof should be left en- tirely to their own breast.' The highest tax was upon men who are the greatest favourites of the other sex, and the assessments ac- cording to the number and nature of the favours they have received, for which they are allowed to be their own vouchers. Wit, valour, and politeness were likewise pro- posed to be largely taxed, and collected in the same manner, by every person giving his own word for the quantum of what he pos- sessed. But as to honour, justice, wisdom, and learning, they should not be taxed at all, because they are qualifications of so singular a kind that no man will either allow them in his neighbourhood or value them in himself. Gulliver's Travels 1726 JONATHAN SWIFT 1667-1745 256 Some Favourite Books Gulliver's Travels 1726 JONATHAN SWIFT 1667-1745 " The women were proposed to be taxed according to their beauty and skill in dressing, wherein they had the same privilege with the men to be determined by their own judgment. But constancy, chastity, good sense, and good nature were not rated, because they would not bear the charge of collecting." and their Authors 257 LORD TENNYSON i8og-i8g2 THERE is probably no poem by Tennyson that so thoroughly re- presents his deep thought and poetic power as "In Memoriam." It also contains many of the finest lines that ever proceeded from his or indeed perhaps from any pen. It is surrounded by many tender and pathetic memories, and is pro- bably the best known of any of his poems. Alfred Tennyson was the third son of the rector of Somersby in Lincolnshire, where he was born on the 6th August 1809. He attended Louth Gram- mar School, and in due course In Memoriam 1850 LORD TENNYSON 1809-1892 258 Some Favourite Books In Memoriam 1850 LORD TENNYSON 1809-1892 entered Trinity College, Cam- bridge, where he formed the friendship of Arthur Hallam. This friendship is immortalised in " In Memoriam," and probably this dirge of death, with its alterna- tions of joy, sorrow, parting, and death, is unsurpassed by any poem in the English language. In 1827, in conjunction with his brother Charles, Tennyson pub- lished "Poems by Two Brothers," but it was not until 1842 that he was recognised as a great poet. He received the laureateship in 1850, and from that time onwards there appeared most years either a poem or a drama from his pen. In 1884 he was raised to the peer- age, and died at Aldworth on the 6th of October 1892. He was buried in Westminster Abbey. The deep pathos of grief for and their Authors 2 59 his dead friend is powerfully ex- pressed in the following verses from " In Memoriam " : ' ' The lesser griefs that may be said, That breathe a thousand tender vows, Are but as servants in a house Where lies the master newly dead ; Who speak their feeling as it is, And weep the fulness from the mind : ' It will be hard,' they say, ' to find Another service such as this.' My lighter moods are like to these, That out of words a comfort win ; But there are other griefs within, And tears that at their fountain freeze ; For by the hearth the children sit Cold in that atmosphere of Death, And scarce endure to draw the breath, Or like to noiseless phantoms flit : But open converse is there none, So much the vital spirits sink To see the vacant chair, and think, ' How good ! how kind ! and he is gone.' " In Memoriam 1850 LORD TENNYSON 1809-1892 260 Some Favourite Books Vanity Fair 1848 WILLIAM MAKEPEACE THACKERAY 1811-1863 WILLIAM MAKEPEACE THACKERAY 1811-1863 BORN in Calcutta on July 18, 1811, Thackeray was at a'n early age sent to England to complete his education. From the Charter- house he went to Cambridge to continue his studies. In the early part of his career he chose the profession of an artist ; this he afterwards relinquished for that of literature. His earliest contribu- tions were to the pages of Frazer's Magazine, under the nom dc plumes of George Fitz-Boodle, Esq., and Michael Angelo Titmarsh ; but it was not until the publication of and their Authors 261 "Vanity Fair" that he can be con- sidered to have entered the first rank of English novelists. This, his greatest work, was published in parts during the years 1846-48, by Bradbury & Evans. It has been stated that he received fifty guineas for each part ; this included two sheets of letterpress, two etchings, and the initial letters from his pencil at the commencement of each chapter. At the time these arrangements were concluded, only one part had been written. Thack- eray became the editor of the Cornhill Magazine, upon its com- mencement in 1859, and several of his later novels and essays appeared in its pages. About the year 1840 he com- menced writing for Punch, and continued a contributor until 1853 ; he thus made the friendship of Vanity Fair 1848 WILLIAM MAKEPEACE THACKERAY 1811-1863 262 Some Favourite Books Vanity Fair 1848 WILLIAM MAKEPEACE THACKERAY 1811-1863 Douglas Jerrold, John Leech, and other wits and humorists of the period. As an author, a humorist, a satirist, as a lecturer and public speaker, Thackeray stands in the forefront of the men of letters of the Victorian era. He died sud- denly at his house in Kensington Palace Gardens on December 24, 1863, and was buried at the ceme- tery, Kensal Green. The light and shade of life and character are drawn with power and penetration in all Thackeray's works, especi- ally in "Vanity Fair." Here is one incident in the life of Becky Sharp : "The news of Lady Crawley's death provoked no more grief or comment than might have been expected in Miss Crawley's family circle. ' I suppose I must put off and their Authors 263 my party for the 3rd,' Miss Crawley said; and added, after a pause, ' I hope my brother will have the decency not to marry again.' ' What a confounded rage Pitt will be in if he does,' Rawdon remarked, with his usual regard for his elder brother. Rebecca said nothing. She seemed by far the gravest and most impressed of the family. She left the room before Rawdon went away that day; but they met by chance below, as he was going away after taking leave, and had a parley together. "On the morrow, as Rebecca was gazing from the window, she startled Miss Crawley, who was placidly occupied with a French novel, by crying out, in an alarmed tone, ' Here's Sir Pitt, Ma'am ! ' and the Baronet's knock followed this announcement. Vanity Fair 1848 WILLIAM MAKEPEACE THACKERAY 1811-1863 264 Some Favourite Books Vanity Fair 1848 WILLIAM MAKEPEACE THACKERAY 1811-1863 " ' My dear, I can't see him I won't see him. Tell Bowls not at home; or go downstairs and say I'm too ill to receive any one. My nerves really won't bear my brother at this moment,' cried out Miss Crawley, and resumed the novel. " ' She's too ill to see you, sir,' Rebecca said, tripping down to Sir Pitt, who was preparing to ascend. '"So much the better,' Sir Pitt answered. ' I want to see you, Miss Becky. Come along a me into the parlour,' and they entered that apartment together. " ' I want you back at Queen's Crawley, Miss,' the Baronet said, fixing his eyes upon her, and taking off his black gloves and his hat with its great crape hat-band. His eyes had such a strange look, and fixed upon her so steadfastly, that and their Authors 265 Rebecca Sharp began almost to tremble. " ' I hope to come soon,' she said in a low voice, 'as soon as Miss Crawley is better and return to to the dear children.' " ' You've said so these three months, Becky,' replied Sir Pitt, 'and still you go hanging on to my sister, who'll fling you off like an old shoe when she's wore you out. I tell you I want you. I'm going back to the Vuneral. Will you come back ? Yes or no ? ' '"I daren't I don't think it would be right to be alone with you, sir,' Becky said, seemingly in great agitation. " ' I say agin, I want you,' Sir Pitt said, thumping the table. 'I can't git on without you. I didn't see what it was till you went away. The house all goes wrong. It's not Vanity Fair 1848 WILLIAM MAKEPEACE THACKERAY 1811-1863 266 Some Favourite Books Vanity Fair 1848 WILLIAM MAKEPEACE THACKERAY 1811-1863 the same place. All my accounts has got muddled agin. You must come back. Do come back. Dear Becky, do come.' " 'Come as what, sir?' Rebecca gasped out. " ' Come as Lady Crawley, if you like,' the Baronet said, grasping his crape hat. ' There ! will that zatusfy you ? Come back and be my wife. You're vit vor't. Birth be hanged ! You're as good a lady as ever I see. You've got more brains in your little vinger than any baronet's wife in the county. Will you come? Yes or no ? ' '"O Sir Pitt!' Rebecca said, very much moved. " ' Say yes, Becky,' Sir Pitt con- tinued. 'I'm an old man, but a good'n. I'm good for twenty years. I'll make you happy, zee if I don't. You shall do what you like ; spend and their Authors 267 what you like; and 'av it all your own way. I'll make you a zettle- ment. I'll do everything reg'lar. Look year ! ' and the old man fell down on his knees and leered at her like a satyr. " Rebecca started back, a picture of consternation. In the course of this history we have never seen her lose her presence of mind ; but she did now, and wept some of the most genuine tears that ever fell from her eyes. <"O Sir Pitt!' she said, 'O sir I I'm married already? " r Vanity Fair 1848 WILLIAM MAKEPEACE THACKERAY 1811-1863 268 Some Favourite Books Aeneid About B.C. 29 VIRGIL B.C. 70-19 VIRGIL B.C. THE full name of Rome's most celebrated poet was Publius Ver- gilius Maro. He was born at Andes, a small village near Man- tua in Italy, on i5th October, B.C. 70. During his studies at Naples and Rome, he came under the influence of Plato's system of philosophy, which he embraced. Besides the ^Eneid, Virgil wrote the Bucolica and Georgica the latter being considered his most finished work. The design of the yEneid was to reconcile the Roman people to a monarchical govern- and their Authors 269 ment. This greatly interested the Emperor Augustus, who viewed the poem in that light. At his urgent solicitation Virgil com- pleted the poem, but was much dissatisfied with the result. He in- tended to revise it, but his health failed, and he left an order in his will that the manuscript should be destroyed ; but this injunction was disobeyed by the command of Augustus, for which he must be thanked by every student of the epic poetry of Rome. Some of Virgil's poetry has been described as the testimony of a heathen to the truth of Chris tianity. He is portrayed as a the good-tempered man, free from mean passions of envy and jeal- ousy. He died at Brundusium on the 22nd of September, B.C. 19, and was buried at Naples, where Aeneid About B.C. 29 VIRGIL B.C. 70-19 270 Some Favourite Books Aeneid About B.C. 29 VIRGIL B.C. 70-19 a monument supposed to be the tomb of the poet is still shown. Some of the difficulties ex- perienced in establishing Rome, through the evil influences of the goddess Juno, are thus described : "Thus silently debating in her impassioned heart, the goddess arrived in ^Eolia, the home of the tempests, a region teeming with chafing winds. Here King ^Eolus, by virtue of his royalty, confines the rebellious winds and deep-voiced storms in a spacious cavern, and curbs them by impri- sonment and chains. They impa- tiently roar around their dungeon with deep rumbling, as of a moun- tain. ^Eolus is throned upon a lofty peak, sceptre in hand, and calms their passions and controls their fury. Did he not, they would of course take with them in their and their Authors 271 flight seas and lands, and the steep heaven, and sweep them through the air. But the Almighty Father, apprehending this, hid them in sunless caves, and piled above a mass of lofty mountains. A king also he gave them who, by un- varying laws, should know how to constrain, and, when authorised, to give them freedom uncontrolled. To him, then, Juno addressed these suppliant words : ' ^Eolus, for thee the father of gods and king of men has given to calm the billows and raise them by the storm a nation whom I hate are embarked upon the Tyrrhene sea, conveying to Italy, Ilium and its conquered gods. Awake the fury of the winds, and sink their foundered galleys, or disperse and strew their bodies on the deep ! " ^Eolus, thus in answer : ' Thy Aeneid About B.C. 29 VIRGIL B.C. 70-19 272 Some Favourite Books Aeneid About B.C. 29 VIRGIL B.C. 70-19 task be it, O Queen, to consider what you would have done; my duty is to execute thy orders. It is you who bestow all I possess of royalty, my sceptre, and Jove's protection. You grant me a seat at the banquet of the gods, and make me lord of the storms and the weather.' When he had spoken so, with his inverted sceptre he cleft inward the hollow moun- tain's side ; and the winds, as in a marshalled band, issue where a vent was given, and sweep the earth in an eddy. They spent their strength upon the sea, and all at once Eurus and Notus, and Africus, with his fitful blast, plough it all up from its lowest depths, and heave the long billows to the land. The cries of men ensue, and the creaking of cordage ; clouds suddenly intercept the sky and daylight from the and their Authors 273 Trojans' view ; a night of darkness lies upon the water ; the poles thunder, and aether blazes with quick flashes; and all forbodes instant death to the heroes." Aeneid About B.C. 29 VIRGIL B.C. 70-19 r r 274 Some Favourite Books The Compleat Angler 1653 IZAAK WALTON 1593-1683 IZAAK WALTON 1593-1683 As the patriarch of anglers, and author of a treatise unsurpassed by any other on that recreation, Izaak Walton will always be revered by fishermen ; and as the biographer of Donne, Wotton, Hooker, and others, he stands pre- eminent among our men of letters. Born at Stafford in 1593, he came early in life to London, and in the Royal Exchange kept a shop for the sale of linen. The " Com- pleat Angler" was published in 1653 by Richard Harriot, and sold at his shop in St. Dunstan's Church- and their Authors 275 yard, Fleet Street, at eighteenpence. Copies of this edition have of late years fetched at auction the large sum of ^415. The book was originally written in the form of a dialogue between Piscator and Viator, but in the fifth edition, which was the last one corrected by Walton, it is between three fishermen, Auceps, Viator, and Pis- cator, and the work is divided into discourses lasting over five days. Walton, after retiring from business, lived in Clerkenwell; from thence he went on his expeditions to the Swan Inn, Tottenham, to fish in the river Lea, which is about five minutes' walk from this inn. Here he sang his songs, and drank the nectar brewed for the occasion. Walton eventually re- tired to Winchester, where he died in 1683. The Compleat Angler 1653 IZAAK WALTON 1593-1683 276 Some Favourite Books The Compleat Angler 1653 IZAAK WALTON 1593-1683 Here is his famous " Milkmaid's Song":- " Come, live with me, and be my love, And we will all the pleasures prove That valleys, groves, or hills, or field Or woods and steepy mountains yield Where we will sit upon the rocks, And see the shepherds feed our flocks By shallow rivers, to whose falls Melodious birds sing madrigals. And I will make thee beds of roses, And then a thousand fragrant posies, A cap of flowers, and a kirtle Embroider'd all with leaves of myrtle ; A gown made of the finest wool Which from our pretty lambs we pull ; Slippers lined choicely for the cold, With buckles of the purest gold ; A belt of straw and ivy-buds, With coral clasps and amber studs : And if these pleasures may thee move, Come, live with me, and be my love. and their Authors 277 Thy silver dishes for my meat, As precious as the gods do eat, Shall, on an ivory table, be Prepared each day for thee and me. The shepherd swains shall dance and sing, For thy delight, each May morning. If these delights thy mind may move, Then live with me, and be my love." The Compleat Angler 1653 IZAAK WALTON 1593-1683 r 278 Some Favourite Books The Natural History of Selborne 1749 GILBERT WHITE 1720-1793 GILBERT WHITE 1720-1793 THE Rev. Gilbert White was born at Selborne, Hampshire, on July 18, 1720. He was educated for the Church, but declined all substantial preferment. In his later years he accepted a curacy in his native village, so that he could carry out the one great object of his life, which was studying and chronicling the natural history and antiquities of Selborne. He brought to his work on this subject a mind open to receive any impression nature revealed to him, and his eyes were ever watchful, noting every change or variation in the life and habit of and their Authors 279 the animals that came under his notice. These records he arranged and classified systematically, and with them he built up one of the most fascinating works in the Eng- lish language upon Natural History. For months and years he would watch and wait, verifying every de- tail that would add to his facts or experience. These he jotted down with methodic accuracy, as well as the early and late dates on which various birds came into the district of Selborne. He was strongly at- tached to the charms and beauties of rural scenery, and followed with a practical assiduity the lessons such study is calculated to afford. Gil- bert White died at Selborne on June 26, 1793. The first series of the " Natural History of Selborne " consists of letters addressed to Thomas Pennant, Esq. These were The Natural History of Selborne 1749 GILBERT WHITE 1720-1793 280 Some Favourite Books The Natural History of Selborne 1749 GILBERT WHITE 1720-1793 distributed over a period of several years, and were collected and edited for publication in 1 749. This edi- tion was published in boards, and sold for one guinea. Since then ninety different editions have been issued. It is to the old-fashioned style in which these letters are written that much of their charm is due. Gilbert White's patient power of observation is thus illustrated: " We have had, ever since I can remember, a pair of white owls that constantly breed under the eaves of this church. As I have paid good attention to the manner of life of these birds during their season of breeding, which lasts the summer through, the following remarks may not perhaps be unacceptable : About an hour before sunset, for then [the mice begin to run, they sally forth in quest of prey, and hunt and their Authors 281 all round the hedges of meadows and small enclosures for them, which seem to be their only food. In this irregular country we can stand on an eminence and see them beat the fields over like a setting- dog, and often drop down in the grass or corn. I have minuted these birds with my watch for an hour together, and have found that they return to their nest, the one or the other of them, about once in five minutes; reflecting at the same time on the adroitness that every animal is possessed of as far as regards the well-being of itself and offspring. But a piece of ad- dress, which they show when they return loaded, should not, I think, be passed over in silence. As they take their prey with their claws, so they carry it in their claws to their nest ; but, as the feet are necessary The Natural History of Selborne '749 GILBERT WHITE 1720-1793 282 Some Favourite Books The Natural History of Selborne J749 GILBERT WHITE 1720-1793 in their ascent under the tiles, they constantly perch first on the roof of the chancel, and shift the mouse from their claws to their bill, that the feet may be at liberty to take hold of the plate on the wall as they are rising under the eaves." r Printed by BALLANTYNE, HANSON & Co. Edinburgh &* London