as to put one in touch with those qualities of mind and heart, of
intellectual and moral manhood, by which each became a leader in political
philosophy and a model in literary style. One who studies such authors in
order to formulate a historical or a personal estimate merely, or to
compare each as to certain externals of rhetorical form, has lost the true
perspective of literary judgment.

Reading in the school and in the home is far too often pursued with a
purpose to controvert and prove rather than to weigh and consider. Reading
which does not result in enlarging, stimulating, and refining one's nature
is but a busy idleness. The schools must see to it that the desultory and
dissipating methods of reading, so prevalent in the home, are not
encouraged. Pupils must be stimulated first of all to enjoy what is
beautiful in nature and in art: for here is

"A world of ready wealth,
Their minds and hearts to bless--
Spontaneous wisdom breathed by health,
Truth breathed by cheerfulness."

The wisdom of the classroom is too often "art tongue-tied by authority,"
and hence it is not wisdom at all, but a sham and a pretence. Not until
pupils rise to the spontaneity which betokens a genuine love for the work
in hand do they secure the richest results.

The publication of the masterpieces of the epic, the lyric, and the drama;
of the novel, the essay, and the oration, in a convenient form and at such
a price as to bring them within the reach of our schools, makes it
inexcusable if pupils are allowed to be ignorant of the great literary,
ethical, and artistic impulses which have touched and quickened the life