,,the ,,novel ,,and ,,the ,,common      
,,school  ,by ,charles ,dudley ,warner  
,there has been a great improvement in  
the physical condition of the people of 
the ,united ,states within two          
generations4 ,this is more noticeable in
 the ,west than in the ,east1 but it is 
marked everywhere2 and the foreign      
traveler who once detected a race       
deterioration1 which he attributed to a 
dry and stimulating atmosphere and to a 
feverish anxiety1 which was evident in  
all classes1 for a rapid change of      
condition1 finds very little now to     
sustain his theory4 ,although the       
restless energy continues1 the mixed    
race in ,america has certainly changed  
physically for the better4 ,speaking    
generally1 the contours of face and form
 are more rounded4 ,the change is most  
marked in regions once noted for        
leanness1 angularity1 and sallowness of 
complexion1 but throughout the country  
the types of physical manhood are more  
numerous2 and if women of rare and      

exceptional beauty are not more         
numerous1 no doubt the average of       
comeliness and beauty has been raised4  
,thus far1 the increase of beauty due to
 better development has not been at the 
expense of delicacy of complexion and of
 line1 as it has been in some ,european 
countries4 ,physical well-being is      
almost entirely a matter of nutrition4  
,something is due in our case to the    
accumulation of money1 to the decrease  
in an increasing number of our          
population of the daily anxiety about   
food and clothes1 to more leisure2 but  
abundant and better-prepared food is the
 direct agency in our physical change4  
,good food is not only more abundant and
 more widely distributed than it was two
 generations ago1 but it is to be had in
 immeasurably greater variety4 ,no other
 people existing1 or that ever did      
exist1 could command such a variety of  
edible products for daily consumption as
 the mass of the ,american people       
habitually use today4 ,in consequence   

they have the opportunity of being      
better nourished than any other people  
ever were4 ,if they are not better      
nourished1 it is because their food is  
badly prepared4 ,whenever we find1      
either in ,new ,england or in the       
,south1 a community ill-favored1        
dyspeptic1 lean1 and faded in           
complexion1 we may be perfectly sure    
that its cooking is bad1 and that it is 
too ignorant of the laws of health to   
procure that variety of food which is so
 easily obtainable4 ,people who still   
diet on sodden pie and the products of  
the frying-pan of the pioneer1 and then1
 in order to promote digestion1 attempt 
to imitate the patient cow by           
masticating some elastic and fragrant   
gum1 are doing very little to bring in  
that universal physical health or beauty
 which is the natural heritage of our   
opportunity4  ,now1 what is the relation
 of our intellectual development to this
 physical improvement8 ,it will be said 
that the general intelligence is raised1

 that the habit of reading is much more 
widespread1 and that the increase of    
books1 periodicals1 and newspapers shows
 a greater mental activity than existed 
formerly4 ,it will also be said that the
 opportunity for education was never    
before so nearly universal4 ,if it is   
not yet true everywhere that all        
children must go to school1 it is true  
that all may go to school free of cost4 
,without doubt1 also1 great advance has 
been made in ,american scholarship1 in  
specialized learning and investigation2 
that is to say1 the proportion of       
scholars of the first rank in literature
 and in science is much larger to the   
population than a generation ago4  ,but 
what is the relation of our general     
intellectual life to popular education8 
,or1 in other words1 what effect is     
popular education having upon the       
general intellectual habit and taste8   
,there are two ways of testing this4    
,one is by observing whether the mass of
 minds is better trained and disciplined

 than formerly1 less liable to          
delusions1 better able to detect        
fallacies1 more logical1 and less likely
 to be led away by novelties in         
speculation1 or by theories that are    
unsupported by historic evidence or that
 are contradicted by a knowledge of     
human nature4 ,if we were tempted to    
pursue this test1 we should be forced to
 note the seeming anomaly of a          
scientific age peculiarly credulous2 the
 ease with which any charlatan finds    
followers2 the common readiness to fall 
in with any theory of progress which    
appeals to the sympathies1 and to accept
 the wildest notions of social          
reorganization4 ,we should be obliged to
 note also1 among scientific men        
themselves1 a disposition to come to    
conclusions on inadequate evidence--a   
disposition usually due to one-sided    
education which lacks metaphysical      
training and the philosophic habit4     
,multitudes of fairly intelligent people
 are afloat without any base-line of    

thought to which they can refer new     
suggestions2 just as many politicians   
are floundering about for want of an    
apprehension of the ,constitution of the
 ,united ,states and of the historic    
development of society4 ,an honest      
acceptance of the law of gravitation    
would banish many popular delusions2 a  
comprehension that something cannot be  
made out of nothing would dispose of    
others2 and the application of the      
ordinary principles of evidence1 such as
 men require to establish a title to    
property1 would end most of the         
remaining4 ,how far is our popular      
education1 which we have now enjoyed for
 two full generations1 responsible for  
this state of mind8 ,if it has not      
encouraged it1 has it done much to      
correct it8  ,the other test of popular 
education is in the kind of reading     
sought and enjoyed by the majority of   
the ,american people4 ,as the greater   
part of this reading is admitted to be  
fiction1 we have before us the relation 

of the novel to the common school4 ,as  
the common school is our universal      
method of education1 and the novels most
 in demand are those least worthy to be 
read1 we may consider this subject in   
two aspects3 the encouragement1 by      
neglect or by teaching1 of the taste    
that demands this kind of fiction1 and  
the tendency of the novel to become what
 this taste demands4  ,before           
considering the common school1 however1 
we have to notice a phenomenon in       
letters--namely1 the evolution of the   
modern newspaper as a vehicle for       
general reading-matter4 ,not content    
with giving the news1 or even with      
creating news and increasing its        
sensational character1 it grasps at the 
wider field of supplying reading        
material for the million1 usurping the  
place of books and to a large extent of 
periodicals4 ,the effect of this new    
departure in journalism is beginning to 
attract attention4 ,an increasing number
 of people read nothing except the      

newspapers4 ,consequently1 they get     
little except scraps and bits2 no       
subject is considered thoroughly or     
exhaustively2 and they are furnished    
with not much more than the small change
 for superficial conversation4 ,the     
habit of excessive newspaper reading1 in
 which a great variety of topics is     
inadequately treated1 has a curious     
effect on the mind4 ,it becomes         
demoralized1 gradually loses the power  
of concentration or of continuous       
thought1 and even loses the inclination 
to read the long articles which the     
newspaper prints4 ,the eye catches a    
thousand things1 but is detained by no  
one4 ,variety1 which in limitations is  
wholesome in literary as well as in     
physical diet1 creates dyspepsia when it
 is excessive1 and when the literary    
viands are badly cooked and badly served
 the evil is increased4 ,the mind loses 
the power of discrimination1 the taste  
is lowered1 and the appetite becomes    
diseased4 ,the effect of this scrappy1  

desultory reading is bad enough when the
 hashed compound selected is tolerably  
good4 ,it becomes a very serious matter 
when the reading itself is vapid1       
frivolous1 or bad4 ,the responsibility  
of selecting the mental food for        
millions of people is serious4 ,when1 in
 the last century1 in ,england1 the     
,society for the ,diffusion of ,useful  
,information1 which accomplished so much
 good1 was organized1 this              
responsibility was felt1 and competent  
hands prepared the popular books and    
pamphlets that were cheap in price and  
widely diffused4 ,now1 it happens that a
 hundred thousand people1 perhaps a     
million in some cases1 surrender the    
right of the all-important selection of 
the food for their minds to some unknown
 and irresponsible person whose business
 it is to choose the miscellaneous      
reading-matter for a particular         
newspaper4 ,his or her taste may be     
good1 or it may be immature and vicious2
 it may be used simply to create a      

sensation2 and yet the million of       
readers get nothing except what this one
 person chooses they shall read4 ,it is 
an astonishing abdication of individual 
preference4 ,day after day1 ,sunday     
after ,sunday1 they read only what this 
unknown person selects for them4        
,instead of going to the library and    
cultivating their own tastes1 and       
pursuing some subject that will increase
 their mental vigor and add to their    
permanent stock of thought1 they fritter
 away their time upon a hash of         
literature chopped up for them by a     
person possibly very unfit even to make 
good hash4 ,the mere statement of this  
surrender of one's judgment of what     
shall be his intellectual life is       
alarming4  ,but the modern newspaper is 
no doubt a natural evolution in our     
social life4 ,as everything has a cause1
 it would be worth while to inquire     
whether the encyclopaedic newspaper is  
in response to a demand1 to a taste     
created by our common schools4 ,or1 to  

put the question in another form1 does  
the system of education in our common   
schools give the pupils a taste for good
 literature or much power of            
discrimination8 ,do they come out of    
school with the habit of continuous     
reading1 of reading books1 or only of   
picking up scraps in the newspapers1 as 
they might snatch a hasty meal at a     
lunch-counter8 ,what1 in short1 do the  
schools contribute to the creation of a 
taste for good literature8  ,great      
anxiety is felt in many quarters about  
the modern novel4 ,it is feared that it 
will not be realistic enough1 that it   
will be too realistic1 that it will be  
insincere as to the common aspects of   
life1 that it will not sufficiently     
idealize life to keep itself within the 
limits of true art4 ,but while the      
critics are busy saying what the novel  
should be1 and attacking or defending   
the fiction of the previous age1 the    
novel obeys pretty well the laws of its 
era1 and in many ways1 especially in the

 variety of its development1 represents 
the time4 ,regarded simply as a work of 
art1 it may be said that the novel      
should be an expression of the genius of
 its writer conscientiously applied to a
 study of the facts of life and of human
 nature1 with little reference to the   
audience4 ,perhaps the great works of   
art that have endured have been so      
composed4 ,we may say1 for example1 that
 ,don ,quixote had to create its        
sympathetic audience4 ,but1 on the other
 hand1 works of art worthy the name are 
sometimes produced to suit a demand and 
to please a taste already created4 ,a   
great deal of what passes for literature
 in these days is in this category of   
supply to suit the demand1 and perhaps  
it can be said of this generation more  
fitly than of any other that the novel  
seeks to hit the popular taste2 having  
become a means of livelihood1 it must   
sell in order to be profitable to the   
producer1 and in order to sell it must  
be what the reading public want4 ,the   

demand and sale are widely taken as the 
criterion of excellence1 or they are at 
least sufficient encouragement of       
further work on the line of the success4
 ,this criterion is accepted by the     
publisher1 whose business it is to      
supply a demand4 ,the conscientious     
publisher asks two questions3 ,is the   
book good8 and ,will it sell8 ,the      
publisher without a conscience asks only
 one question3 ,will the book sell8 ,the
 reflex influence of this upon authors  
is immediately felt4  ,the novel1       
mediocre1 banal1 merely sensational1 and
 worthless for any purpose of           
intellectual stimulus or elevation of   
the ideal1 is thus encouraged in this   
age as it never was before4 ,the making 
of novels has become a process of       
manufacture4 ,usually1 after the fashion
 of the silk-weavers of ,lyons1 they are
 made for the central establishment on  
individual looms at home2 but if demand 
for the sort of goods furnished at      
present continues1 there is no reason   

why they should not be produced1 even   
more cheaply than they are now1 in great
 factories1 where there can be division 
of labor and economy of talent4 ,the    
shoal of ,english novels conscientiously
 reviewed every seventh day in the      
,london weeklies would preserve their   
present character and gain in firmness  
of texture if they were made by         
machinery4 ,one has only to mark what   
sort of novels reach the largest sale   
and are most called for in the          
circulating libraries1 to gauge pretty  
accurately the public taste1 and to     
measure the influence of this taste upon
 modern production4 ,with the exception 
of the novel now and then which touches 
some religious problem or some          
socialistic speculation or uneasiness1  
or is a special freak of sensationalism1
 the novels which suit the greatest     
number of readers are those which move  
in a plane of absolute mediocrity1 and  
have the slightest claim to be          
considered works of art4 ,they represent

 the chromo stage of development4  ,they
 must be cheap4 ,the almost universal   
habit of reading is a mark of this      
age--nowhere else so conspicuous as in  
,america2 and considering the training  
of this comparatively new reading       
public1 it is natural that it should    
insist upon cheapness of material1 and  
that it should require quality less than
 quantity4 ,it is a note of our general 
intellectual development that cheapness 
in literature is almost as much insisted
 on by the rich as by the poor4 ,the    
taste for a good book has not kept pace 
with the taste for a good dinner1 and   
multitudes who have commendable judgment
 about the table would think it a piece 
of extravagance to pay as much for a    
book as for a dinner1 and would be      
ashamed to smoke a cigar that cost less 
than a novel4 ,indeed1 we seem to be as 
yet far away from the appreciation of   
the truth that what we put into the mind
 is as important to our well-being as   
what we put into the stomach4  ,no doubt

 there are more people capable of       
appreciating a good book1 and there are 
more good books read1 in this age1 than 
in any previous1 though the ratio of    
good judges to the number who read is   
less2 but we are considering the vast   
mass of the reading public and its      
tastes4 ,i say its tastes1 and probably 
this is not unfair1 although this       
traveling1 restless1 reading public     
meekly takes1 as in the case of the     
reading selected in the newspapers1 what
 is most persistently thrust upon its   
attention by the great news agencies1   
which find it most profitable to deal in
 that which is cheap and ephemeral4 ,the
 houses which publish books of merit are
 at a disadvantage with the distributing
 agencies4  ,criticism which condemns   
the common-school system as a nurse of  
superficiality1 mediocrity1 and conceit 
does not need serious attention1 any    
more than does the criticism that the   
universal opportunity of individual     
welfare offered by a republic fails to  

make a perfect government4 ,but this is 
not saying that the common school does  
all that it can do1 and that its results
 answer to the theories about it4 ,it   
must be partly due to the want of proper
 training in the public schools that    
there are so few readers of             
discrimination1 and that the general    
taste1 judged by the sort of books now  
read1 is so mediocre4 ,most of the      
public schools teach reading1 or have   
taught it1 so poorly that the scholars  
who come from them cannot read easily2  
hence they must have spice1 and blood1  
and vice to stimulate them1 just as a   
man who has lost taste peppers his food4
 ,we need not agree with those who say  
that there is no merit whatever in the  
mere ability to read2 nor1 on the other 
hand1 can we join those who say that the
 art of reading will pretty surely      
encourage a taste for the nobler kind of
 reading1 and that the habit of reading 
trash will by-and-by lead the reader to 
better things4 ,as a matter of          

experience1 the reader of the           
namby-pamby does not acquire an appetite
 for anything more virile1 and the      
reader of the sensational requires      
constantly more highly flavored viands4 
,nor is it reasonable to expect good    
taste to be recovered by an indulgence  
in bad taste4  ,what1 then1 does the    
common school usually do for literary   
taste8 ,generally there is no thought   
about it4 ,it is not in the minds of the
 majority of teachers1 even if they     
possess it themselves4 ,the business is 
to teach the pupils to read2 how they   
shall use the art of reading is little  
considered4 ,if we examine the          
reading-books from the lowest grade to  
the highest1 we shall find that their   
object is to teach words1 not           
literature4 ,the lower-grade books are  
commonly inane 7,i will not say         
childish1 for that is a libel on the    
open minds of children7 beyond          
description4 ,there is an impression    
that advanced readers have improved much

 in quality within a few years1 and     
doubtless some of them do contain       
specimens of better literature than     
their predecessors4 ,but they are on the
 old plan1 which must be radically      
modified or entirely cast aside1 and    
doubtless will be when the new method is
 comprehended1 and teachers are well    
enough furnished to cut loose from the  
machine4 ,we may say that to learn how  
to read1 and not what to read1 is       
confessedly the object of these books2  
but even this object is not attained4   
,there is an endeavor to teach how to   
call the words of a reading-book1 but   
not to teach how to read2 for reading   
involves1 certainly for the older       
scholars1 the combination of known words
 to form new ideas4 ,this is lacking4   
,the taste for good literature is not   
developed2 the habit of continuous      
pursuit of a subject1 with comprehension
 of its relations1 is not acquired2 and 
no conception is gained of the entirety 
of literature or its importance to human

 life4 ,consequently1 there is no power 
of judgment or faculty of               
discrimination4  ,now1 this radical     
defect can be easily remedied if the    
school authorities only clearly         
apprehend one truth1 and that is that   
the minds of children of tender age can 
be as readily interested and permanently
 interested in good literature as in the
 dreary feebleness of the juvenile      
reader4 ,the mind of the ordinary child 
should not be judged by the mind that   
produces stuff of this sort3 ,little    
,jimmy had a little white pig4 ,did the 
little pig know ,jimmy8 ,yes1 the little
 pig knew ,jimmy1 and would come when he
 called4 ,how did little ,jimmy know his
 pig from the other little pigs8 ,by the
 twist in his tail4 7,children1 asks the
 teacher1 what is the meaning of        
'twist'87 ,jimmy liked to stride the    
little pig's back4 ,would the little pig
 let him8 ,yes1 when he was absorbed    
eating his dinner4 7,children1 what is  
the meaning of 'absorbed'87 ,and so on4 

,this intellectual exercise is1 perhaps1
 read to children who have not got far  
enough in word-building to read         
themselves about little ,jimmy and his  
absorbed pig4 ,it may be continued1     
together with word-learning1 until the  
children are able to say 7is it         
reading87 the entire volume of this     
precious stuff4 ,to what end8 ,the      
children are only languidly interested2 
their minds are not awakened2 the       
imagination is not appealed to2 they    
have learned nothing1 except probably   
some new words1 which are learned as    
signs4 ,often children have only one    
book even of this sort1 at which they   
are kept until they learn it through by 
heart1 and they have been heard to read 
it with the book bottom side up or shut6
 ,all these books cultivate inattention 
and intellectual vacancy4 ,they are--the
 best of them--only reading exercises2  
and reading is not perceived to have any
 sort of value4 ,the child is not taught
 to think1 and not a step is taken in   

informing him of his relation to the    
world about him4 ,his education is not  
begun4  ,now it happens that children go
 on with this sort of reading and the   
ordinary text-books through the grades  
of the district school into the high    
school1 and come to the ages of         
seventeen and eighteen without the least
 conception of literature1 or of art1 or
 of the continuity of the relations of  
history2 are ignorant of the great names
 which illuminate the ages2 have never  
heard of ,socrates1 or of ,phidias1 or  
of ,titian2 do not know whether         
,franklin was an ,englishman or an      
,american2 would be puzzled to say      
whether it was ,ben ,franklin or ,ben   
,jonson who invented lightning--think it
 was ,ben ,somebody2 cannot tell whether
 they lived before or after ,christ1 and
 indeed never have thought that anything
 happened before the time of ,christ2 do
 not know who was on the throne of      
,spain when ,columbus discovered        
,america--and so on4 ,these are not     

imagined instances4 ,the children       
referred to are in good circumstances   
and have had fairly intelligent         
associations1 but their education has   
been intrusted to the schools4 ,they    
know nothing except their text-books1   
and they know these simply for the      
purpose of examination4 ,such pupils    
come to the age of eighteen with not    
only no taste for the best reading1 for 
the reading of books1 but without the   
ability to be interested even in fiction
 of the first class1 because it is full 
of allusions that convey nothing to     
their minds4 ,the stories they read1 if 
they read at all--the novels1 so called1
 that they have been brought up on--are 
the diluted and feeble fictions that    
flood the country1 and that scarcely    
rise above the intellectual level of    
,jimmy and the absorbed pig4  ,it has   
been demonstrated by experiment that it 
is as easy to begin with good literature
 as with the sort of reading described4 
,it makes little difference where the   

beginning is made4 ,any good book1 any  
real book1 is an open door into the wide
 field of literature2 that is to say1 of
 history--that is to say1 of interest in
 the entire human race4 ,read to        
children of tender years1 the same day1 
the story of ,jimmy and a ,greek myth1  
or an episode from the ,odyssey1 or any 
genuine bit of human nature and life2   
and ask the children next day which they
 wish to hear again4 ,almost all of them
 will call for the repetition of the    
real thing1 the verity of which they    
recognize1 and which has appealed to    
their imaginations4 ,but this is not    
all4 ,if the subject is a ,greek myth1  
they speedily come to comprehend its    
meaning1 and by the aid of the teacher  
to trace its development elsewhere1 to  
understand its historic significance1 to
 have the mind filled with images of    
beauty1 and wonder4 ,is it the ,homeric 
story of ,nausicaa8 ,what a picture6    
,how speedily ,greek history opens to   
the mind6 ,how readily the children     

acquire knowledge of the great historic 
names1 and see how their deeds and their
 thoughts are related to our deeds and  
our thoughts6 ,it is as easy to know    
about ,socrates as about ,franklin and  
,general ,grant4 ,having the mind open  
to other times and to the significance  
of great men in history1 how much more  
clearly they comprehend ,franklin and   
,grant and ,lincoln6 ,nor is this all4  
,the young mind is open to noble        
thoughts1 to high conceptions2 it       
follows by association easily along the 
historic and literary line2 and not only
 do great names and fine pieces of      
literature become familiar1 but the     
meaning of the continual life in the    
world begins to be apprehended4 ,this is
 not at all a fancy sketch4 ,the writer 
has seen the whole assembly of pupils in
 a school of six hundred1 of all the    
eight grades1 intelligently interested  
in a talk which contained classical and 
literary allusions that would have been 
incomprehensible to an ordinary school  

brought up on the ordinary readers and  
text-books4  ,but the reading need not  
be confined to the classics nor to the  
master-pieces of literature4 ,natural   
history--generally the most fascinating 
of subjects--can be taught2 interest in 
flowers and trees and birds and the     
habits of animals can be awakened by    
reading the essays of literary men on   
these topics as they never can be by the
 dry text-books4 ,the point ,i wish to  
make is that real literature for the    
young1 literature which is almost       
absolutely neglected in the public      
schools1 except in a scrappy way as a   
reading exercise1 is the best open door 
to the development of the mind and to   
knowledge of all sorts4 ,the unfolding  
of a ,greek myth leads directly to art1 
to love of beauty1 to knowledge of      
history1 to an understanding of         
ourselves4 ,but whatever the beginning  
is1 whether a classic myth1 a ,homeric  
epic1 a play of ,sophocles1 the story of
 the life and death of ,socrates1 a     

mediaeval legend1 or any genuine piece  
of literature from the time of ,virgil  
down to our own1 it may not so much     
matter 7except that it is better to     
begin with the ancients in order to gain
 a proper perspective7 whatever the     
beginning is1 it should be the best     
literature4 ,the best is not too good   
for the youngest child4 ,simplicity1    
which commonly characterizes greatness1 
is of course essential4 ,but never was a
 greater mistake made than in thinking  
that a youthful mind needs watering with
 the slops ordinarily fed to it4 ,even  
children in the kindergarten are eager  
for ,whittier's ,barefoot ,boy and      
,longfellow's ,hiawatha4 ,it requires1  
,i repeat1 little more pains to create a
 good taste in reading than a bad taste4
  ,it would seem that in the complete   
organization of the public schools all  
education of the pupil is turned over to
 them as it was not formerly1 and it is 
possible that in the stress of text-book
 education there is no time for reading 

at home4 ,the competent teachers contend
 not merely with the difficulty of the  
lack of books and the deficiencies of   
those in use1 but with the more serious 
difficulty of the erroneous ideas of the
 function of text-books4 ,they will     
cease to be a commercial commodity of so
 much value as now when teachers teach4 
,if it is true that there is no time for
 reading at home1 we can account for the
 deplorable lack of taste in the great  
mass of the reading public educated at  
the common schools2 and we can see      
exactly what the remedy should          
be--namely1 the teaching of the         
literature at the beginning of school   
life1 and following it up broadly and   
intelligently during the whole school   
period4 ,it will not crowd out anything 
else1 because it underlies everything4  
,after many years of perversion and     
neglect1 to take up the study of        
literature in a comprehensive text-book1
 as if it were to be learned--like      
arithmetic1 is a ludicrous proceeding4  

,this1 is not teaching literature nor   
giving the scholar a love of good       
reading4 ,it is merely stuffing the mind
 with names and dates1 which are not    
seen to have any relation to present    
life1 and which speedily fade out of the
 mind4 ,the love of literature is not to
 be attained in this way1 nor in any way
 except by reading the best literature4 
,the notion that literature can be taken
 up as a branch of education1 and       
learned at the proper time and when     
studies permit1 is one of the most      
farcical in our scheme of education4 ,it
 is only matched in absurdity by the    
other current idea1 that literature is  
something separate and apart from       
general knowledge4 ,here is the whole   
body of accumulated thought and         
experience of all the ages1 which indeed
 forms our present life and explains it1
 existing partly in tradition and       
training1 but more largely in books2 and
 most teachers think1 and most pupils   
are led to believe1 that this most      

important former of the mind1 maker of  
character1 and guide to action can be   
acquired in a certain number of lessons 
out of a textbook6 ,because this is so1 
young men and young women come up to    
college almost absolutely ignorant of   
the history of their race and of the    
ideas that have made our civilization4  
,some of them have never read a book1   
except the text-books on the specialties
 in which they have prepared themselves 
for examination4 ,we have a saying      
concerning people whose minds appear to 
be made up of dry1 isolated facts1 that 
they have no atmosphere4 ,well1         
literature is the atmosphere4 ,in it we 
live1 and move1 and have our being1     
intellectually4 ,the first lesson read  
to1 or read by1 the child should begin  
to put him in relation with the world   
and the thought of the world4 ,this     
cannot be done except by the living     
teacher4 ,no text-book1 no one          
reading-book or series of reading-books1
 will do it4 ,if the teacher is only the

 text-book orally delivered1 the teacher
 is an uninspired machine4 ,we must     
revise our notions of the function of   
the teacher for the beginners4 ,the     
teacher is to present evidence of truth1
 beauty1 art4 ,where will he or she find
 it8 ,why1 in experimental science1 if  
you please1 in history1 but1 in short1  
in good literature1 using the word in   
its broadest sense4 ,the object in      
selecting reading for children is to    
make it impossible for them to see any  
evidence except the best4 ,that is the  
teacher's business1 and how few         
understand their business6 ,how few are 
educated6 ,in the best literature we    
find truth about the world1 about human 
nature2 and hence1 if children read     
that1 they read what their experience   
will verify4 ,i am told that publishers 
are largely at fault for the quality of 
the reading used in schools--that       
schools would gladly receive the good   
literature if they could get it4 ,but ,i
 do not know1 in this case1 how much the

 demand has to do with the supply4 ,i am
 certain1 however1 that educated        
teachers would use only the best means  
for forming the minds and enlightening  
the understanding of their pupils4 ,it  
must be kept in mind that reading1      
silent reading done by the scholar1 is  
not learning signs and calling words2 it
 is getting thought4 ,if children are to
 get thought1 they should be served with
 the best--that which will not only be  
true1 but appeal so naturally to their  
minds that they will prefer it to all   
meaner stuff4 ,if it is true that       
children cannot acquire this taste at   
home--and it is true for the vast       
majority of ,american children--then it 
must be given in the public schools4 ,to
 give it is not to interrupt the        
acquisition of other knowledge2 it is   
literally to open the door to all       
knowledge4  ,when this truth is         
recognized in the common schools1 and   
literature is given its proper place1   
not only for the development of the     

mind1 but as the most easily-opened door
 to history1 art1 science1 general      
intelligence1 we shall see the taste of 
the reading public in the ,united       
,states undergo a mighty change3 ,it    
will not care for the fiction it likes  
at present1 and which does little more  
than enfeeble its powers2 and then there
 can be no doubt that fiction will rise 
to supply the demand for something      
better4 ,when the trash does not sell1  
the trash will not be produced1 and     
those who are only capable of supplying 
the present demand will perhaps find a  
more useful occupation4 ,it will be     
again evident that literature is not a  
trade1 but an art requiring peculiar    
powers and patient training4 ,when      
people know how to read1 authors will   
need to know how to write4  ,in all     
other pursuits we carefully study the   
relation of supply to demand4 ,why not  
in literature8 ,formerly1 when readers  
were comparatively few1 and were of a   
class that had leisure and the          

opportunity of cultivating the taste1   
books were generally written for this   
class1 and aimed at its real or supposed
 capacities4 ,if the age was coarse in  
speech or specially affected in manner1 
the books followed the lead given by the
 demand2 but1 coarse or affected1 they  
had the quality of art demanded by the  
best existing cultivation4 ,naturally1  
when the art of reading is acquired by  
the great mass of the people1 whose     
taste has not been cultivated1 the      
supply for this increased demand will1  
more or less1 follow the level of its   
intelligence4 ,after our civil war there
 was a patriotic desire to commemorate  
the heroic sacrifices of our soldiers in
 monuments1 and the deeds of our great  
captains in statues4 ,this noble desire 
was not usually accompanied by artistic 
discrimination1 and the land is filled  
with monuments and statues which express
 the gratitude of the people4 ,the      
coming age may wish to replace them by  
images and structures which will express

 gratitude and patriotism in a higher   
because more artistic form4 ,in the     
matter of art the development is        
distinctly reflex4 ,the exhibition of   
works of genius will slowly instruct and
 elevate the popular taste1 and in time 
the cultivated popular taste will reject
 mediocrity and demand better things4   
,only a little while ago few people in  
the ,united ,states knew how to draw1   
and only a few could tell good drawing  
from bad4 ,to realize the change that   
has taken place1 we have only to recall 
the illustrations in books1 magazines1  
and comic newspapers of less than a     
quarter of a century ago4 ,foreign      
travel1 foreign study1 and the          
importation of works of art 7still      
blindly restricted by the ,american     
,congress7 were the lessons that began  
to work a change4 ,now1 in all our large
 towns1 and even in hundreds of         
villages1 there are well-established art
 schools2 in the greater cities1 unions 
and associations1 under the guidance of 

skillful artists1 where five or six     
hundred young men and women are         
diligently1 day and night1 learning the 
rudiments of art4 ,the result is already
 apparent4 ,excellent drawing is seen in
 illustrations for books and magazines1 
in the satirical and comic publications1
 even in the advertisements and         
theatrical posters4 ,at our present rate
 of progress1 the drawings in all our   
amusing weeklies will soon be as good as
 those in the ',fliegende ,blatter4'    
,the change is marvelous2 and the       
popular taste has so improved that it   
would not be profitable to go back to   
the ill-drawn illustrations of twenty   
years ago4 ,but as to fiction1 even if  
the writers of it were all trained in it
 as an art1 it is not so easy to lift   
the public taste to their artistic      
level4 ,the best supply in this case    
will only very slowly affect the quality
 of the demand4 ,when the poor novel    
sells vastly better than the good novel1
 the poor will be produced to supply the

 demand1 the general taste will be still
 further lowered1 and the power of      
discrimination fade out more and more4  
,what is true of the novel is true of   
all other literature4 ,taste for it must
 be cultivated in childhood4 ,the common
 schools must do for literature what the
 art schools are doing for art4 ,not    
every one can become an artist1 not     
every one can become a writer--though   
this is contrary to general opinion2 but
 knowledge to distinguish good drawing  
from bad can be acquired by most people1
 and there are probably few minds that  
cannot1 by right methods applied early1 
be led to prefer good literature1 and to
 have an enjoyment in it in proportion  
to its sincerity1 naturalness1 verity1  
and truth to life4  ,it is1 perhaps1 too
 much to say that all the ,american     
novel needs for its development is an   
audience1 but it is safe to say that an 
audience would greatly assist it4       
,evidence is on all sides of a fresh1   
new1 wonderful artistic development in  

,america in drawing1 painting1          
sculpture1 in instrumental music and    
singing1 and in literature4 ,the promise
 of this is not only in the climate1 the
 free republican opportunity1 the mixed 
races blending the traditions and       
aptitudes of so many civilizations1 but 
it is in a certain temperament which we 
already recognize as ,american4 ,it is  
an artistic tendency4 ,this was first   
most noticeable in ,american women1 to  
whom the art of dress seemed to come by 
nature1 and the art of being agreeable  
to be easily acquired4  ,already writers
 have arisen who illustrate this        
artistic tendency in novels1 and        
especially in short stories4 ,they have 
not appeared to owe their origin to any 
special literary centre2 they have come 
forward in the ,south1 the ,west1 the   
,east4 ,their writings have to a great  
degree 7considering our pupilage to the 
literature of ,great ,britain1 which is 
prolonged by the lack of an             
international copyright7 the stamp of   

originality1 of naturalness1 of         
sincerity1 of an attempt to give the    
facts of life with a sense of their     
artistic value4 ,their affiliation is   
rather with the new literatures of      
,france1 of ,russia1 of ,spain1 than    
with the modern fiction of ,england4    
,they have to compete in the market with
 the uncopyrighted literature of all    
other lands1 good and bad1 especially   
bad1 which is sold for little more than 
the cost of the paper it is printed on1 
and badly printed at that4 ,but besides 
this fact1 and owing to a public taste  
not cultivated or not corrected in the  
public schools1 their books do not sell 
in anything like the quantity that the  
inferior1 mediocre1 other home novels   
sell4 ,indeed1 but for the intervention 
of the magazines1 few of the best       
writers of novels and short stories     
could earn as much as the day laborer   
earns4 ,in sixty millions of people1 all
 of whom are1 or have been1 in reach of 
the common school1 it must be confessed 

that their audience is small4  ,this    
relation between the fiction that is1   
and that which is to be1 and the common 
school is not fanciful4 ,the lack in the
 general reading public1 in the novels  
read by the greater number of people1   
and in the common school is the         
same--the lack of inspiration and       
ideality4 ,the common school does not   
cultivate the literary sense1 the       
general public lacks literary           
discrimination1 and the stories and     
tales either produced by or addressed to
 those who have little ideality simply  
respond to the demand of the times4  ,it
 is already evident1 both in positive   
and negative results1 both in the       
schools and the general public taste1   
that literature cannot be set aside in  
the scheme of education2 nay1 that it is
 of the first importance4 ,the teacher  
must be able to inspire the pupil2 not  
only to awaken eagerness to know1 but to
 kindle the imagination4 ,the value of  
the ,hindoo or the ,greek myth1 of the  

,roman story1 of the mediaeval legend1  
of the heroic epic1 of the lyric poem1  
of the classic biography1 of any genuine
 piece of literature1 ancient or modern1
 is not in the knowledge of it as we may
 know the rules of grammar and          
arithmetic or the formulas of a science1
 but in the enlargement of the mind to a
 conception of the life and development 
of the race1 to a study of the motives  
of human action1 to a comprehension of  
history2 so that the mind is not simply 
enriched1 but becomes discriminating1   
and able to estimate the value of events
 and opinions4 ,this office for the mind
 acquaintance with literature can alone 
perform4 ,so that1 in school1 literature
 is not only1 as ,i have said1 the      
easiest open door to all else desirable1
 the best literature is not only the    
best means of awakening the young mind1 
the stimulus most congenial1 but it is  
the best foundation for broad and       
generous culture4 ,indeed1 without its  
co-ordinating influence the education of

 the common school is a thing of shreds 
and patches4 ,besides1 the mind aroused 
to historic consciousness1 kindled in   
itself by the best that has been said   
and done in all ages1 is more apt in the
 pursuit1 intelligently1 of any         
specialty2 so that the shortest road to 
the practical education so much insisted
 on in these days begins in the         
awakening of the faculties in the manner
 described4 ,there is no doubt of the   
value of manual training as an aid in   
giving definiteness1 directness1        
exactness to the mind1 but mere         
technical training alone will be barren 
of those results1 in general            
discriminating culture1 which we hope to
 see in ,america4  ,the common school is
 a machine of incalculable value4 ,it is
 not1 however1 automatic4 ,if it is a   
mere machine1 it will do little more to 
lift the nation than the mere ability to
 read will lift it4 ,it can easily be   
made to inculcate a taste for good      
literature2 it can be a powerful        

influence in teaching the ,american     
people what to read2 and upon a         
broadened1 elevated1 discriminating     
public taste depends the fate of        
,american art1 of ,american fiction4    
,it is not an inappropriate corollary to
 be drawn from this that an elevated    
public taste will bring about a truer   
estimate of the value of a genuine      
literary product4 ,an invention which   
increases or cheapens the conveniences  
or comforts of life may be a fortune to 
its originator4 ,a book which amuses1 or
 consoles1 or inspires2 which           
contributes to the highest intellectual 
enjoyment of hundreds of thousands of   
people2 which furnishes substance for   
thought or for conversation2 which      
dispels the cares and lightens the      
burdens of life2 which is a friend when 
friends fail1 a companion when other    
intercourse wearies or is impossible1   
for a year1 for a decade1 for a         
generation perhaps1 in a world which has
 a proper sense of values1 will bring a 

like competence to its author4 7#ahij47