,a ,,gentleman4 ,,by ,,maurice ,,francis ,,egan1 ,,ll4,d4 ,,second ,,edition4 ,,new ,,york1 ,,cincinnati1 ,,chicago3 ,,benziger ,,brothers1 ,printers to the ,holy ,apostolic ,see4 #ahic4 ,copyright1 #ahic1 by ,,benziger ,,brothers4 ,,to ,,all ,,boys ,,who ,,want ,,to ,,make ,,life ,,cheerful4 ,preface4 ,in offering this little book to that public for which it is intended--a public made up of young men from fifteen to twenty years of age--the author fears that he may seem presumptuous4 ,he intends to accentuate what most of them already know1 not to teach them any new thing4 ,and if he appear to touch too much upon the trifles of life1 it is because experience shows that it is the small things of our daily intercourse with our fellow-beings which make the difference between success and failure4 ,he gratefully acknowledges his obligation to the ,reverend editor of the ,ave ,maria for permission to use in the last part of this volume several of the 8,chats with ,good ,listeners40 ,,the ,,university ,,of ,,notre ,,dame1 ,february #b1 #ahic4 ,contents4 ,,page ,i4 ,,the ,,need ,,of ,,good ,,manners1 #i ,,ii4 ,,rules ,,of ,,etiquette1 #bi ,,iii4 ,,what ,,makes ,a ,,gentleman1 #dg ,,iv4 ,,what ,,does ,,not ,,make ,a ,,gentleman1 #fd ,v4 ,,how ,,to ,,express ,,one',s ,,thoughts1 #hd ,,iv4 ,,letter-,,writing1 #ajf ,,vii4 ,,what ,,to ,,read1 #abf ,,viii4 ,,the ,,home ,,book-,,shelf1 #add ,,ix4 ,,shakspere1 #afh ,x4 ,,talk1 ,,work1 ,,and ,,amusement1 #aha ,,xi4 ,,the ,,little ,,joys ,,of ,,life1 #aid ,a ,,gentleman4 ,i4 ,the ,need of ,good ,manners4 ,i have been asked to refresh your memory and to recall to your mind the necessity of certain little rules which are often forgotten in the recurrent interest of daily life1 but which1 nevertheless1 are extremely important parts of education4 ,there are rules made by society to avoid friction1 to preserve harmony1 and perhaps to accentuate the immense gulf that lies between the savage and the civilized man4 ,but1 trifling as they seem1 you will be handicapped in your career in life if you do not know them4 ,good manners are good manners everywhere in civilization2 etiquette is not the same everywhere4 ,the best manners come from the heart2 the best etiquette comes from the head4 ,but the practice of one and the knowledge of the other help to form that combination which the world names a gentleman1 and which is described by the adjective well-bred4 ,for instance1 if a man laughs at a mistake made by another in the hearing of that other1 he commits a solecism in good manners--he is thoughtless and he appears heartless2 but if he wears gloves at the dinner-table and persists in keeping them on his hands while he eats1 he merely commits a breach of etiquette4 ,society1 which makes the rules that govern it1 will visit the latter offence with more severity than the former4 ,some young people fancy that when they leave school they will be free1--free to break or keep little rules4 ,but it is a mistake3 if one expects to climb in this world1 one will find it a severe task2 one can never be independent of social restrictions unless one become a tramp or flee to the wilds of ,africa4 ,but even there they have etiquette1 for one of ,stanley's officers tells us that some ,africans must learn to spit gracefully in their neighbor's face when they meet4 ,i do not advise the stringent keeping of the ,english etiquette of introductions4 ,at ,oxford1 they say1 no man ever notices the existence of another until he is introduced2 and they tell of one ,oxford man who saw a student of his own college drowning4 8,why did you not save him80 8,how could ,i80 demanded this monster of etiquette2 8,i had never been introduced to him40 ,boys at school become selfish in the little things1 and they seem to be more selfish than they really are4 ,every young man is occupied with his own interest4 ,if a man upsets your coffee in his haste to get at his own1 you probably forgive him until you get a chance to upset his4 ,there is no time to quarrel about it1--no code among you which in the outside world would make such a reprisal a reason for exile from good society4 ,when you get into this outside world you will perhaps be inclined to overrate the small observances which you now look on with indifference as unnecessary to be practised4 ,but either extreme is bad4 ,to be boorish1 rough1 uncouth1 is a sin against yourself and against society2 to be too exquisite1 too foppish1 too 8dudish10--if ,i may use a slang word1--is only the lesser of two evils4 ,society may tolerate a 8dude20 but it first ignores and then evicts a boor4 ,a famous ,queen of ,spain once said that a man with good manners needs no other letter of introduction4 ,and it is true that good manners often open doors to young men which would otherwise be closed1 and make all the difference between success and failure4 ,this recalls to my mind an instance which1 if it be not true1 has been cleverly invented4 ,it is an extreme case of self-sacrifice1 and one which will hardly be imitated4 ,it happened that not long ago there lived in ,washington a young ,american1 who had been obliged to leave ,west ,point because of a slight defect in his lungs4 ,he was poor4 ,he had few friends1 and an education1 which fortunately had included the practice of good manners4 ,it happened that he was invited out to dinner2 and he was seated some distance from the ,spanish ,ambassador1--who had the place of honor2 for the etiquette of the table is very rigid1--but within reach of his eye4 ,just as the salad was served the hostess grew suddenly pale1 for she had observed on the leaf of lettuce carried to this young man a yellow caterpillar4 ,would he notice it8 ,would he spoil the appetite of the other guests by calling attention to it1 or by crushing it8 ,the ,ambassador had seen the creature1 too1 and he kept his eye on the young man1 asking himself the same questions4 ,the awful moment came3 the young man's plate of salad was before him2 the hostess tried to appear unconcerned1 but her face flushed4 ,our young man lifted the leaf1 caught sight of the caterpillar1 paused half a second1 and then heroically swallowed lettuce1 caterpillar and all6 ,the hostess felt as if he had saved her life4 ,after dinner1 the ,ambassador asked to be introduced to him4 ,a week later he was sent to ,cuba as ,english secretary to a high official there4 ,the climate has suited him2 his health is restored2 and he has begun a career under the most favorable auspices4 ,you know the story of ,sir ,walter ,raleigh and the cloak4 ,sir ,walter was poor1 young1 and without favor at court4 ,one day ,queen ,elizabeth hesitated to step on a muddy place in the road2 off came ,sir ,walter's new cloak1--his best and only one1--all satin and velvet and gold lace4 ,down it went as a carpet for the ,queen's feet1 and his fortune was made4 ,but neither our ,west-,pointer nor ,sir ,walter would have made his fortune by his good manners if he had not disciplined himself to be thoughtful and alert4 ,on the other hand1 many a man has lost much by inattention to the little rules of society4 ,one of the best young men ,i ever knew failed to get certain letters of introduction1 which would have helped him materially1 because he would wear a tall hat and a sack coat1 or a low hat and a frock coat4 ,society exacts1 however1 that a man shall do neither of these things4 ,remember that ,i do not praise the social code that exacts so much attention to trifles1--,i only say that it exists4 ,prosper ,mrime lost his influence at the court of ,napoleon the ,third by a little inattention to the etiquette which exacts in all civilized countries that a napkin shall not be hung from a man's neck1 but shall be laid on his knee4 ,mrime1 who was a charming writer1 very high in favor with the ,empress ,eugenie1 was invited to luncheon in her particular circle one day4 ,he was much flattered1 but he hung his napkin from the top button of his coat2 the ,empress imitated his example1 for she was very polite1 but she never asked him to court again4 ,it is the way of the social world--one must follow the rules or step out4 ,if a man chooses to carry his knife to his mouth instead of merely using it as an implement for cutting1 he is at perfect liberty to do so4 ,he may not succeed in chopping the upper part of his head off1 but he will succeed in cutting himself off from the 8,dress ,circle of ,society10 as ,emerson phrases it4 ,apart from the first consideration that should govern our manners1--which is1 that ,our ,lord ,jesus ,christ means that1 in loving our neighbors as ourselves1 we should show them respect and regard1--you must remember that politeness is power1 and that for the ambitious man there is no surer road to the highest places in this land1 and in all others1 than through good manners4 ,you may gain the place you aim for1 but1 believe me1 you will keep it with torture and difficulty if you begin now by despising and disregarding the little rules that have by universal consent come to govern the conduct of life4 ,one independent young person may thrust his knife into his mouth with a large section of pie on it1 if he likes3 you can put anything into a barn that it will hold1 if the door be wide enough4 ,they tell me that in ,austria some of the highest people eat their sauerkraut with the points of their knives4 ,but we do not do it here1 and we must be governed by the rules of our own society4 ,some of you who always want to know the reason for rules1 may ask why are we permitted to eat cheese with our knives after dinner4 ,i can only answer that ,i do not know and ,i do not care4 ,the subject is not important enough for discussion4 ,good society all over the ,english-speaking world permits the use of the knife only in eating cheese4 ,some people prefer to take it with their fingers1 like olives1 asparagus1 artichokes1 and undressed lettuce4 ,so generally is this small rule observed1 that a very important discovery was made not very long ago through a knowledge of it4 ,an adventurer claiming to be a ,french duke was introduced to an ,american family4 ,he was well received1 until one day he tried to spear an olive with his knife4 ,as this is not a habit of good society1 he was quietly dropped--very fortunately for the family1 as he was discovered to be a forger and ex-convict4 ,you may ask1 ,why are olives1 lettuce1 and asparagus often eaten with the fingers8 ,i can only answer1 that it is a custom of civilized society4 ,you may ask me again1 ,why must we break our bread instead of cutting it8 ,and why must we take a fork to eat pie1 when we are permitted to eat asparagus and lettuce with our fingers8 ,i say again that ,i do not know3 all that ,i know is1 that these social rules are fixed1 and that it is better to obey than to lose time in asking why4 ,but if you should happen to be of a doubting turn of mind1 accept an invitation to dinner from some person for whose social standing you have much respect1 and then if your hostess in the kindness of her heart serves pie1 take half of it in your right hand1 close your eyes1 bite a crescent of it in your best manner1 and observe the effect on the other guests4 ,you may be quite certain that if you desire not to be invited again to that house you will have your wish4 ,society in this country is becoming more and more civilized and exacting every year2 and you will simply put a mark of inferiority on yourself in its eyes if you disregard rules which are trifles in themselves1 but very important in their effect4 ,a young man's fate in life may be decided by a badly-written letter or a well-written one1 by a rough gesture1 by an oath or an unclean phrase uttered when he thinks no one is listening4 ,but let us remember that there is always some one looking or hearing2 for1 and this is an axiom1 there are no secrets in life4 ,emerson says1 writing of 8,behavior30 8,nature tells every secret over4 ,yes1 but in man she tells it all the time1 by form1 attitude1 gesture1 mien1 face and parts of the face1 and by the whole action of the machine4 ,the visible carriage or action of the individual1 as resulting from his organization and his will combined1 we call manners4 ,what are they but thought entering the hands and feet1 controlling the movements of the body1 the speech and behavior80 ,of the power of manners ,emerson further says3 8,give a boy address and accomplishments1 and you give him the mastery of palaces and fortunes wherever he goes4 ,he has not the trouble of earning them40 ,and in another place3 8,there are certain manners which are learned in good society of such force that1 if a person have them1 he or she must be considered and is everywhere welcome1 though without beauty or wealth or genius40 ,cardinal ,newman1 in his definition of a gentleman1 does not forget manners1 though he lays less stress on their power for worldly advancement than ,emerson does4 ,good manners are1 in the opinion of the great cardinal1 the outward signs of true ,christianity4 ,etiquette is the extreme of good manners4 ,a man may be a good ,christian and expectorate1 spit1 sprinkle1 spray1 diffuse tobacco-juice right and left4 ,but the man who will do that1 though he have a good heart and an unimpeachable character1 is not a gentleman in the world's meaning of the term1 for with the world it is not the heart that counts1 but the manners4 ,you may keep your hat on your head if you choose when you meet a clergyman or a lady4 ,you need not examine your conscience about it1 and you will find nothing against it in the ,constitution of the ,united ,states2 you may be on your way to give your last five dollars to the poor or to visit a sick neighbor2 but1 by that omission you stamp yourself at once as being outside the sacred circle in which society includes gentlemen4 ,you can quote a great many fine sentiments against me1 if you like2 you may say1 with ,tennyson1 8,kind hearts are more than coronets1 ,and simple faith than ,norman blood40 ,god keep us from thinking otherwise2 but1 if one get into a habit of disregarding the small rules of etiquette1 if one use one's fork for a toothpick1 drink out of one's finger-bowl1 reach over somebody's head for a piece of bread1 all the kind hearts and simple faith in the world will not keep you in the company of well-bred people4 ,you may answer that some very good persons blow their soup with their breath1 stick their own forks into general dishes1 and--the thing has been done once perhaps in some savage land--wipe their noses with their napkins4 ,but if these good people paid more attention to the little things of life1 their goodness would have more power over others4 ,as it is1 virtue loses half its charm when it ignores good manners4 ,it is only old people and men of great genius who can afford to disregard manners4 ,old people are privileged4 ,if they choose to eat with their knives or with their napkins around their necks1--a thing which is no longer tolerated1--the man who remarks on it1 who shows that he notices it1 who criticises it1 is not only a boor1 but a fool4 ,young people have no such privileges3 they must acquire the little habits of good society or they will find every avenue of cultivation closed to them4 ,the only time they are privileged to violate etiquette is when some older person does it3 then they had better follow a bad form than rebuke him by showing superiority in manners4 ,it is foolish to appear to despise the little rules that govern the conduct of life4 ,this appearance of contempt for observances which have become part of the every-day existence of well-regulated people1 arises either from selfishness or ignorance4 ,the selfish man does not care to consider his neighbors2 but his selfishness is very shortsighted1 because his neighbors1 whose feelings and rights he treats as non-existent1 will soon force the consideration of them on him4 ,a young man may think it a fine thing to be independent in social matters4 ,he will soon find that he cannot afford in life to be independent of anything except an evil influence4 ,if he prefers the society of loungers in liquor-saloons or at hotel-bars1 he needs nothing but a limitless supply of money4 ,his friends there require the observance of only one rule of etiquette--he must 8treat0 regularly4 ,to young men who hunger for that kind of independence and that sort of friends ,i have nothing to say1 except that it is easy to prophesy their ruin and disgrace4 ,if a man has no better ambition than to die in an unhonored grave or to live forsaken in an almshouse1 let him make up his mind to be 8independent40 ,the world in which you will live is exacting1 and you can no more succeed and defy its exactions than you can stick your finger into a fire and escape burning4 ,even in the question of clothes--which seems to most of us entirely our own affair--society exacts obedience4 ,you cannot wear slovenly clothes to church1 for instance1 and expect to escape the indignation of your dearest friends4 ,in the most rigid of ,european countries1 if one happens to be presented to the king one wears no gloves3 one would as soon think of wearing gloves as of wearing a hat4 ,similarly1 according to the strictest etiquette in ,european countries1 people generally take off their gloves at the ,canon of the ,mass1 and1 above all1 when they approach the altar1 because they are in the special presence of ,god1 the ,king of heaven and earth4 ,how different is the practice of some of us6 ,we lounge into church as we would into a gymnasium1 with no outward recognition of the ,presence of ,god except a 8dip0 towards the tabernacle or an occasional and often inappropriate thumping of the stomach1 which is1 ,i presume1 supposed to express devotion4 ,it is as easy to bring a flower touched by the frost back to its first beauty as to restore conduct warped by habit4 ,and so1 if you want to acquire good manners that will be your passport to the best the world has1 begin now by guarding yourself from every act that may infringe on your neighbor's right1 from every word that will give him needless pain1 and from every gesture at table which may interfere with his comfort4 ,we cannot begin to discipline ourselves too soon2 it is good1 as the ,scripture says1 8that a man bear the yoke when he is young40 ,social rules1 as ,i said1 are very stringent on the seemingly unimportant matter of clothes3 so a man must not wear much jewelry1 under pain of being considered vulgar4 ,he may wear a pin1 or a ring1 or a watch-chain1 if he likes2 but for a young man1 the less showy these are1 the better4 ,it may be said that there are a great many people who admire diamonds1 and who like to see many of them worn4 ,this is true2 but if a young man puts a small locomotive headlight in his bosom1 or gets himself up in imitation of a pawnbroker's window1 he may be suspected of having robbed a bank4 ,it is certain that he will show very bad taste4 ,lord ,lytton1 the author of 8,pelham10 who was a great social authority1 says that a man ought to wear no jewelry unless it is exquisitely artistic or has some special association for the wearer4 ,if a young man is invited to a dinner or to a great assembly in any large city1 he must wear a black coat4 ,a gray or colored coat worn after six o'clock in the evening1 at any assembly where there are ladies1 would imply either disrespect or ignorance on the part of the wearer4 ,in most cities he is expected to wear the regulation evening dress1 the 8swallow-tail0 coat of our grandfathers1 and1 of course1 black trousers and a white tie4 ,in ,london or ,new ,york or ,chicago a man must follow this last custom or stay at home4 ,he has his choice4 ,the 8swallow-tail0 coat is worn after six o'clock in the evening1 never earlier1 in all ,english-speaking countries4 ,in ,france and ,spain and ,italy and ,germany it is worn as a dress of ceremony at all hours4 ,no man can be presented to the ,holy ,father unless he wears the 8swallow-tail10 so rigid is this rule at ,rome1 though perhaps an exception might be made under some circumstances4 ,in our country1 where the highest places are open to those who deserve them1 a young man is foolish if he does not prepare himself to deserve them4 ,and no man can expect to be singled out among other men if he neglects his manners or laughs at the rules which society makes4 ,speaking from the spiritual or intellectual point of view1 there is no reason why a man should wear a white linen collar when in the society of his fellows2 from the social point of view there is every reason1 for he will suffer if he does not4 ,besides1 he owes a certain respect to his neighbors4 ,a man should dress according to circumstances3 the base-ball suit or the ,rugby flannels are out of place in the dining-room or the church or the parlor1 and the tall hat and the dress suit are just as greatly out of place in the middle of the game on the playground4 ,good sense governs manners2 but when in doubt1 we should remember that there are certain social rules which1 if learnt and followed1 will serve us many mortifications and even failures in life4 ,no man is above politeness and no man below it4 ,louis the ,fourteenth1 a proud and autocratic monarch1 always raised his hat to the poorest peasant woman2 and a greater man than he1 ,george ,washington1 wrote the first ,american book of etiquette4 ,,ii4 ,rules of ,etiquette4 ,the social laws that govern the ,etiquette of ,entertainments of all kinds are as stringent and as well defined as any law a judge interprets for you4 ,it may be thought that one may do as he pleases at the theatre1 in a concert-room1 or at a dinner-party2 that little breaches of good manners will pass unobserved or be forgiven because the person who commits them is young4 ,this is a great mistake4 ,more is expected from the young than the old2 and if a young man comes out of college and shows that he is ignorant of the rules of etiquette which all well-bred people observe1 he will be looked on as badly brought up4 ,there are certain finical rules which are made from time to time1 which live a brief space and are heard of no more4 ,the ,english1 who generally set the fashion in these things1 call these non-essentials 8fads40 ,they are made to be forgotten4 ,for a time it had become a fashionable 8fad0 to use the left hand as much as possible1 in saluting to take off one's hat with the left hand1 to eat one's soup with the left hand2 but this is all nonsense4 ,not long ago1 in ,new ,york1 every 8dude0 turned up the bottoms of his trousers in all sorts of weather1 because in ,london everybody did it4 ,other fads were the carrying of a cane1 handle down1 and the holding of the arms with the elbows stuck out on both sides of him4 ,another importation of the ,anglomaniacs was the habit of putting ,american money into pounds1 shillings1 and pence1 for people who had been so long abroad could not be expected to remember their own currency4 ,another pleasant importation is the constant repetition of 8don't you know40 ,but they are all silly fashions1 that may do for that class of 8chappies0 whose most serious occupation is that of sucking the heads of their canes1 or of reducing themselves to idiocy with the baleful cigarette1 or considering how pretty the girls think they are--but not for men4 ,the rules held by sane people all over the ,english-speaking world are those one ought to follow1 not the silly follies of the hour1 which stamp those who adopt them as below the ordinary level of human beings4 ,let us imagine that you have been sent to ,washington on business4 ,i take ,washington because it is the capital of the ,united ,states1 and1 if you do the right thing according to social rules there1 you will do the right thing everywhere else4 ,so you are going to ,washington1 where you will see one of the most magnificent domes in the world and the very beautiful bronze gates of the ,capitol1 a building about which we do not think enough because it happens to be in our own country4 ,if it were in ,europe1 we should be flocking over in droves to see it4 ,some kind friend gives you a letter of introduction to a friend of his4 ,you accept it with thanks1 of course4 ,it is unsealed1 because no gentleman ever seals a letter of introduction4 ,you read it and are delighted to find yourself complimented4 ,now1 if you want to do the right thing1 you will go to a good hotel when you get to ,washington2 a good hotel--a hotel you can mention without being ashamed of it4 ,it will pay to spend the extra money4 ,and if a woman comes into the elevator as you are going up to your room1--,i would not advise you to take a suite of rooms on the ground-floor1--lift your hat and do not put it on again until she goes out4 ,you will send your letter of introduction to your friend's friend and wait until he acknowledges it4 ,but if you want to do the wrong thing1 you will take the letter of introduction and your travelling bag and go at once to ,mr4 ,smith's house4 ,you may arrive at midnight2 but never mind that1--people like promising young folk to come at any time4 ,if the clocks are striking twelve1 show how athletic you are by pulling the bell out by the wires4 ,when the members of the family are aroused1 thinking the house is afire1 they will be so grateful to you1 and then you can ask for some hot supper4 ,this pleasing familiarity will delight them4 ,it will show them that you feel quite at home4 ,it will ruin you eventually in the estimation of stupid people who do not want visitors at midnight--but you need not mind them1 though they form the vast majority of mankind4 ,if you want to do the right thing1 wait until ,mr4 ,smith acknowledges your letter of introduction and asks you to call at his house4 ,if the letter is addressed to his office1 you may take it yourself and send it in to him4 ,but you ought not to go to his house until he invites you4 ,after he does this1 call in the afternoon or evening--never in the morning1 unless you are specially asked4 ,a 8morning call0 in good society means a call in the afternoon4 ,and a first call ought not to last more than fifteen minutes4 ,take your hat and cane into the parlor2 you may leave overcoat and umbrella and overshoes in the hall4 ,a young man who wants to act properly will not lay his cane across the piano or put his hat on a chair4 ,the hat and stick ought to be put on the floor near him1 if he does not care to hold them in his hands4 ,if he leaves his hat in the hall1 his hostess will think that he is going to spend the day in her house4 ,but if she insists on taking his hat from him1 it will not do to struggle for it4 ,such devotion to etiquette might make a bad impression4 ,good feeling and common-sense must modify all rules2 and if one's entertainers have the old-fashioned impressions that the first duty of hospitality is to grasp one's hat and cane1 let them have them by all means2 but do not take the sign to mean that you are to stay all day4 ,a quarter of an hour is long enough for a first call4 8,you must have had a delightful visitor this morning10 one lady said to another4 8,he stayed over an hour4 ,what did he talk about80 ,the other lady smiled sadly3 8,he told me how he felt when he had the scarlet fever1 and all about his mother's liver-complaint40 ,topics of conversation should be carefully chosen4 ,strangers do not want to see a man often who talks about his troubles1 his illness1 and his virtues4 ,the more the 8,you0 is used in general society and the less the 8,i10 the better it will be for him who has the tact to use it4 ,there is no use in pretending that our troubles are interesting to anybody but our mothers4 ,other people may listen1 but1 depend upon it1 they prefer to avoid a man with a grievance4 ,if the young man with the letter of introduction has made a good impression1 he will probably be invited to dinner4 ,and then1 if he has been careless of little observances1 he will begin to be anxious4 ,perhaps it will be a ceremonious dinner1 too1 where there will be a crowd of young girls ready to criticise in their minds every motion1 and some older ladies who will be sure to make up their minds as to the manner in which he has been brought up at home or at college4 ,and we must remember that our conduct when we get out into the world reflects credit or discredit on our homes or our schools4 ,if our young man is invited to luncheon1 he will find it much the same as a dinner1 except that it will take place some time between twelve and two o'clock2 while a dinner in a city is generally given at six o'clock1 but sometimes not till eight4 ,the very fashionable hour is nine4 ,in ,washington the time is from six to eight4 ,if the dinner is to be formal--not merely a family dinner--our young stranger will get an invitation worded in this way3 ,mr4 and ,mrs4 ,john ,robinson request the pleasure of ,mr4 ,james ,brown's company at dinner1 ,on ,thursday1 ,june the ,twentieth1 ,at seven o'clock4 ,our young man should send an answer at once to this1 and he must say ,yes or ,no2 and if ,mr4 ,james ,brown 8regrets that he cannot have the pleasure of accepting ,mr4 and ,mrs4 ,john ,robinson's invitation to dinner on ,june the ,twentieth1 at seven o'clock10 let him give a good reason4 ,if he have a previous engagement1 that is a good reason2 if he will be out of town1 that is a good reason2 but he must answer the invitation at once1 and say whether he will go or not4 ,to invite to dinner is the highest social compliment one man can pay another1 and it should be considered in that light4 ,of course if a young man considers himself so brilliant that people must invite him to their houses1 he may do as he pleases1 but he will soon find himself alone in that opinion4 ,it is not good looks or brilliancy of conversation that gains a man the right kind of friends3 it is good manners4 ,conceit in young people is an appalling obstacle to their advancement4 ,you remember the story of the ,new ,york college man who was rescued from drowning by a ferry-hand4 ,the latter expressed his disgust with the reward he received1 and one of the college man's friends asked him why he had not done more for his rescuer4 8,done more80 he exclaimed1--he considered himself the handsomest man of his class1--8,done more6 ,what could ,i do8 ,did not ,i give him my photograph1 cabinet size80 ,if a young man is shy1 now will come his time of trials4 ,but if he keeps in mind the few rules that regulate the etiquette of the dinner-table1 he will have no reason to fear that he will make any important mistakes4 ,if his hostess should ask him to take a lady in to dinner1 he will offer her his left arm1 so that his right may be free to adjust her chair1 and he will wait until his place is pointed out by the hostess4 ,he will find it awkward if he should drop into the first seat he come to--for the laws of the dinner-table are regularity and beauty4 ,we cannot all be beautiful1 but we can move in obedience to good rules4 ,it is important that the man received in society should not cover too much space with his feet2 he ought to try to keep them together4 ,a dinner--that is1 a formal dinner--generally opens with four or five oysters4 ,the guest is expected to squeeze lemon on them and to eat them with an oyster-fork4 ,if one man is tempted to saw an oyster in half with a knife1 he had better resist the temptation and miss eating the oyster rather than commit so barbarous an outrage4 ,a guest who would cut an oyster publicly in half is probably a cannibal who would cut up a small baby without remorse4 ,a man must not ask for oysters twice4 ,after the oysters comes the soup4 ,if the dinner-party is small1 the soup may be passed by guest to guest2 but the waiter generally serves it4 ,it is a flagrant violation of good manners to ask for soup twice4 ,it should be taken from the side of the spoon if the guest's mustache will permit it1 and not from the tip4 ,soup is dipped from the eater1 not toward him4 ,among the ,esquimaux it is the fashion to smack the lips after every luscious mouthful of liquid grease2 with us1 people do not make any noise or smack their lips over anything they eat1 no matter how good it is4 ,in ,george ,eliot's novel of 8,middlemarch10 ,dorothea's sister's greatest objection to ,mr4 ,causaban is that his mother had never taught him to eat soup without making a noise4 ,after the soup comes the fish4 ,the young guest may not like fish1 but he must pretend to eat it2 it is bad manners not to pretend to eat everything set before one at a dinner4 ,a little tact will help anybody to do it4 ,no dish must be sent away with the appearance of having been untasted4 ,it would be an insult to one's hostess not to seem to like everything she has offered us4 ,and1 as the chief duty of social intercourse is to give pleasure and to spare pain1 this little suggestion is most important4 ,on this point ,mrs4 ,sherwood1 an acknowledged authority on social matters1 says3 8,first of all things1 decline nothing4 ,if you do not like certain kinds of food1 it is a courtesy to your hostess to appear as if you did4 ,you can take as little on your plate as you choose1 and you can appear as if eating it1 for there is always your bread to taste and your fork or spoon to trifle with1 and thus conceal your unwillingness to partake of a disliked course40 ,fish is eaten with a fork in one hand and a piece of bread in the other4 ,there was once a man who filled his mouth with fish and dropped the bones from his lips to his plate4 ,he disappeared--and nobody asks where he has gone4 ,if a bone does happen to get into the mouth1 it can be quietly removed4 ,the guest who puts his fingers ostentatiously into his mouth to take out the fish-bones he has greedily placed there might1 under temptation1 actually and savagely tilt over his soup plate to scoop up the last drop of the liquid4 ,the next course1 after the fish1 is the entre2 it may be almost anything4 ,no well-bred man ever asks for a second helping of the sweetbreads1 or chops1 or whatever dish may form the entre4 ,it is eaten with the fork in the right hand and a piece of bread in the left4 ,in ,england it is considered ill-bred to pass the fork from the left hand to the right2 but we have not as yet become so expert in the use of the left hand1 so we use our forks with the right4 ,a guest who asks for a second portion of the entre may find himself in the position of a certain ,congressman who had never troubled himself about etiquette4 ,he was invited to a state dinner at the ,white ,house4 ,the courses were delayed by this genial legislator1 who would be helped twice4 ,when the roasts came on he turned to a lady1 and in his amiable way said1 with a fascinating smile1 8,no1 ,i can't eat more2 ,i'm full--up to here10 he added1 making a pleasant motion across his throat4 ,it was probably the same ,congressman who1 seeing a slice of lemon floating in his finger-bowl1 drank its contents1 and swore that it was the weakest lemonade he had ever tasted4 ,the roast comes after the entre4 ,each course is eaten slowly1 because the host wants to keep his guests in pleasant conversation at his table as long as possible4 ,if the host helps our young guest to a slice of the roast1 whatever flesh-meat or fowl it may be1 the guest must not pass it to anybody else3 he must keep it himself2 it was intended for him4 ,this rule does not apply to the soup and the fish and the entres as it does to the roast4 ,suppose a guest wants his beef rare1 or underdone1 and ,i pass him the piece given to me by the host1 because he knows ,i like it well-done3 the consequence is that the guest next to me gets what he does not like and ,i get what ,i do not like4 ,another thing3 ,begin to eat as soon as you are helped4 ,do not wait for anybody2 if you do1 your food may become cold4 ,the seat of honor for the men is always on the hostess' right hand2 for the ladies1 on the right hand of the host4 ,the lady in the seat of honor is always helped first4 ,she begins to eat at once4 ,there is nobody to wait for then4 ,the rule is that one should begin to eat as soon as one is served4 ,this rule may be followed everywhere1 and the practice of it prevents much embarrassment4 ,after the roast there will probably be an entremets of some kind4 ,it may be an omelette1 it may be only a salad1 or it may be some elaborately made dish4 ,in any case1 your fork and a bit of bread will help you out4 ,when in doubt1 a young man should always use his fork--never his knife1 as it is used only to cut with1 and to help one's self to cheese4 ,vegetables are always taken with the fork2 lettuce too1 and asparagus1 except when there is no liquid sauce covering it entirely4 ,lettuce1 when without sauce1 asparagus when not entirely covered with sauce1 are eaten with the fingers4 ,water-cress is always eaten with the fingers1 and so are artichokes4 ,a dinner ought not to last over two hours2 but it may4 ,if our guest yawns or looks at his watch he is ruined socially4 ,he might almost as well thrust his knife into his mouth as do either of them4 ,when he gets more accustomed to the world1 he will discern that people object to a view of his throat suddenly opened to them4 ,but to return to our dinner-party3 ,if the finger-bowls are brought on1 the general custom is to remove them from the little plate on which they stand4 ,the little napkins underneath them are not used3 these are merely put there to save the plate from being scratched by the finger-bowls4 ,as usage differs somewhat here1 the young guest had better watch his hostess and imitate her4 ,an ice called a ,roman punch is served after the roast2 it is always eaten with a spoon4 ,if a fork is served with the ice-cream at the end of the dinner1 the amiable young man had better not begin to giggle and ask 8,what's this for80 ,if he never saw ice-cream eaten with a fork before1 it is not necessary to show it4 ,it is very often so eaten1 and if he finds a fork near his ice-cream plate1 let him use it just as if it was no novelty4 ,to show surprise in society is bad taste2 it is good taste to praise the flowers1 the china1 the soup4 ,one ought to say that he enjoyed himself1 but never to say that he is thankful for a good dinner4 ,it is understood that civilized people dine together for the pleasure of one another's society1 not merely to eat4 ,when the little cups of black coffee are served1 our young guest may take a lump of sugar with his fingers1 if there are no tongs4 ,similarly in regard to olives1 he may take them with his fingers and eat them with his fingers4 ,one's fingers should be dipped in the finger-bowls1--there is a story told of a young man who at his first dinner-party put his napkin into his finger-bowl and mopped his face4 ,the host1 who ought to have been more polite1 asked him if he wanted a bathtub4 ,the boy said no1 and asked for a sponge4 ,if our young guest be wise he will pay all possible attention to the hostess2 the host really does not count until the cigars come around4 ,then let the young person beware in being too ready to smoke4 ,he may possibly not be offered cigars at all1 but if he is1 and he smokes in any lady's presence without asking her permission1 the seal of vulgarity is impressed on him4 ,a guest to whom black coffee is served in a little cup ought not to ask for cream4 ,it might cause some inconvenience2 it is not the custom4 ,when a plate is changed or sent up to our host1 the knife and fork should be laid parallel with each other and obliquely across the plate4 ,at small dinners1 where the host insists on helping you twice1 one may keep his knife and fork until his plate is returned to him4 ,,iii4 ,what ,makes a ,gentleman4 ,cardinal ,newman made a famous definition and description1 both in the same paragraph1 of a gentleman4 8,it is almost10 he said1 in his 8,idea of a ,university10 8a definition of a gentleman to say he is one who never inflicts pain40 ,and this truth will be found to be the basis of all really good manners4 ,good manners come from the heart1 while etiquette is only an invention of wise heads to prevent social friction1 or to keep fools at a distance4 ,nobody but an idiot will slap a man on the back unless the man invites the slap by his own familiarity4 ,it seems to me that the primary rule which1 according to ,cardinal ,newman1 makes a gentleman is more disregarded in large schools than anywhere else4 ,there is no sign which indicates ignorance or lack of culture so plainly as the tendency to censure1 to jibe1 to sneer1--to be always on the alert to find faults and defects4 ,on the other hand1 a true gentleman does not censure1 if he can help it3 he prefers to discover virtues rather than faults2 and1 if he sees a defect1 he is silent about it until he can gently suggest a remedy4 ,the school-boy is not remarkable for such reticence4 ,and this may be one of the reasons why he has the reputation of being selfish1 ungrateful1 and sometimes cruel4 ,he is not any of these things2 he is1 as a rule1 only thoughtless4 ,it has been said that a blunder is often worse than a crime2 and thoughtlessness sometimes produces effects that are more enduringly disastrous than crimes4 ,forgetfulness among boys or young men is thoughtlessness4 ,if an engineer forget for a moment1 his train may go to ,,ruin4 ,if a telegrapher forget to send a message1 death may be the result2 but neither of them can acquire such control over himself that he will always remember1 if he does not practise the art of thinking every day of his life4 ,it is thoughtfulness1 consideration1 that makes life not only endurable1 but pleasant4 ,as ,christians1 we are bound to do to others as we would have them do to us4 ,but as members of a great society1 in which each person must be a factor even more important than he imagines1 we shall find that1 even if our ,christianity did not move us to bear and forbear from the highest motives1 ordinary prudence and regard for our own comfort and reputation should lead us to do these things4 ,the ,christian gentleman is the highest type3 he may be a hero as well as a gentleman4 ,culture produces another type1 and ,cardinal ,newman thus describes him4 ,the ,cardinal begins by saying that 8it is almost a definition of a gentleman to say he is one who never inflicts pain4 ,this description10 he continues1 8is both refined and1 as far as it goes1 accurate4 ,the gentleman is mainly occupied in merely removing the obstacles which hinder the free and unembarrassed action of those about him2 and he concurs with their movements rather than takes the initiative himself4 ,the benefits may be considered as parallel to what are called comforts or conveniences in arrangements of a personal nature3 like an easy-chair or a good fire1 which do their part in dispelling cold or fatigue1 though nature provides both means of rest and animal heat without them4 ,the true gentleman in like manner carefully avoids whatever may cause a jar or a jolt in the minds of those with whom he is cast1--all clashing of opinion or collision of feeling1 all restraint or suspicion or gloom or resentment1--his great concern being to make every one at their ease or at home4 ,he has his eyes on all the company3 he is tender towards the bashful1 gentle toward the distant1 and merciful towards the absurd2 he can recollect to whom he is speaking2 he guards against unreasonable allusions or topics which may irritate2 he is seldom prominent in conversation1 and never wearisome4 ,he makes light of favors which he does them1 and seems to be receiving when he is conferring4 ,he never speaks of himself except when compelled1 never defends himself by a mere retort2 he has no ears for slander or gossip1 is scrupulous in imputing motives to those who interfere with him1 and interprets everything for the best4 ,he is never mean or little in his disputes1 never takes unfair advantage1 never mistakes personalities or sharp sayings for arguments1 or insinuates evil which he dare not say out4 ,from a long-sighted prudence he observes the maxim of the ancient sage1 that we should ever conduct ourselves towards our enemy as if he were one day to be our friend40 ,the ,cardinal's definition of a gentleman does not end with these words3 you can find it for yourself in his 8,idea of a ,university10 page #bjd4 ,it will be found1 on examination1 to contain the principles which give a man power to make his own life and that of his fellow-beings cheerful and pleasant4 ,and life is short enough and hard enough to need all the kindness1 all the cheerfulness1 all the gentleness1 that we can put into it4 ,if a friend passes from among us1 one of the most enduring of our consolations is that we never gave him needless pain while he lived4 ,and who can say which of our friends may go next8 ,he who sits by you to-night1 he who greets you first in the morning1 may suffer from a hasty word or a thoughtless act that you can never recall4 ,it is in the ordinary ways of life that the true gentleman shows himself4 ,he does not wait until he gets out of school to pay attention to the little things4 ,he begins here1 and he begins the moment he feels that he ought to begin4 ,somebody once wrote that the man who has never made a mistake is a fool4 ,and another man added to this1 that a wise man makes mistakes1 but never the same mistake twice4 ,a gentleman at heart may blush when he thinks of his mistakes1 but he never repeats them4 ,it is a mistake made by thoughtless young people to stand near others who are talking4 ,it is a grave sin against politeness for them to listen1 as they sometimes do1 with eyes and ears open for fear they should miss any of the words not intended for them4 ,the young man thus engaged is an object of pity and contempt4 ,politeness may prevent others from rebuking him publicly1 but it does not change their opinion of him1 nor does it enter their minds to excuse him on the plea that he 8didn't think40 ,it does not seem to strike some of you that the convenience of those who work for you ought to be considered1 and that unnecessary splashings of liquids and dropping of crumbs and morsels of food is the most reprehensible indication of thoughtlessness4 ,we often forget that criticism does not mean fault-finding4 ,it means rather the art of finding virtues2 and after any private entertainment1 at which each performer has done his best for his audience1 it is very bad taste to point out all the defects in his work3 you may do this at rehearsal1 but not after the work is done2 you may discourage him by touching on something that he cannot help4 ,a friend of mine once played a part in ,box and ,cox1 but on the day after the performance he was much cast down by the comments in one of the daily papers4 8,mr4 ,smith10 the critic said1 8was admirable1 but he should not have made himself ridiculous by wearing such an abnormally long false nose40 ,as the nose happened to be ,mr4 ,smith's own1 he was discouraged4 ,criticism of music especially1 unless it be intelligent1 is likely to make the critic seem ignorant4 ,for instance1 there was on one occasion on a musical programme a ballade by ,chopin in ,a flat major4 ,the young woman who played it on the piano was afterwards horrified to find herself described as having sung a lively ballad called 8,a ,fat ,major06 ,the musical critic had better know what he is talking about or be silent4 ,no1 no1 gentlemen1 let us not be censorious about the efforts of those who do their best for us2 and good-fellowship--what the ,french call esprit de corps--ought to show itself in our manners4 ,anybody can blame injudiciously1 but few can praise judiciously4 ,at college boys especially must remember that the college is part of ourselves1 and that any reproach on our alma mater is a reproach on ourselves4 ,its reputation is our reputation1 and the critically censorious student will find that1 in the end1 it is the wiser course to dwell on the best side of his college life4 ,the world hates a fault-finder3 he will soon see himself left entirely alone with those acute perceptions that help him to find out all that is bad in his fellow-creatures and nothing that is good4 ,to be a gentleman1 one must be tolerant1 and1 above all1 grateful4 ,in the world outside there are many kinds of entertainment4 ,we disposed of the dinner-party in a preceding page4 ,one's conduct anywhere must be guided by good sense and the usages of the occasion4 ,at a concert1 for instance1 the main object of each person present is to hear the music4 ,anything that interferes with this is a breach of good manners4 ,to chatter during a song or while a piece of music is played shows selfish disregard for the comfort of others and a contemptible indifference to the feelings of the performer4 ,music may be a great aid to conversation1 but conversation is no assistance to music2 and people who go to a concert do not pay for their tickets to hear somebody in the next seat tell his private affairs in a loud voice4 ,there are some human creatures who seem to imagine that they may reveal everything possible to their next neighbor in a crowded theatre without being heard by anybody else4 ,there is an old anecdote1 but a true one1 of a very fashionable lady in ,boston who attended an organ recital in the ,music ,hall there4 ,she was supposed to be an amateur of classical music1 but her reputation was shattered by an unlucky pause in the tones of the organ4 ,the music ceased unexpectedly1 and the only sound heard was that of her voice1 soaring above the silence and saying to her friend1 8,we ,,fry ours in ,,lard40 ,her reputation was ruined in musical circles4 ,one goes to a concert or an opera to listen1 not to talk4 ,it is only the vulgar1 the ostentatious1 the ignorant1 that distinguish themselves in public places by a disregard of the rights of others4 ,to enter a concert-room late and to interrupt a singer1 to enter any public hall while a speaker is making an address1 is to excite the disapproval of all well-bred people4 ,sir ,charles ,thornton1 for a long time ,british minister at ,washington1 was noted for his care in this particular3 he would stand for half an hour outside the door of a concert-room rather than enter while a piece of music was in progress4 ,weddings1 ,i presume1 may be put down under the head of entertainments4 ,the etiquette of the assistants is very simple4 ,a wedding invitation requires no answer3 a card sent by mail and addressed to the senders of the invitation1 who are generally the father and mother of the bride1 is quite sufficient4 ,it is unnecessary to say that it is not proper during a marriage ceremony to stand on the seats of the pews in order to get a good look at the happy pair4 ,a tradition exists to the effect that a man during a wedding ceremony once climbed on a confessional4 ,it is added1 too1--and ,i am glad of it1--that he fell and broke his neck4 ,but there is no knowing what some barbarians will do3 watch them on ,sundays1 chewing toothpicks1 standing in ranks outside of the churches1 and believing that the ladies are admiring their best clothes4 ,my list of entertainments would be incomplete without the dancing party4 ,st4 ,francis de ,sales says of dancing1 that a little of it ought to go a great way4 ,society ordains that every man shall learn to dance2 but if he can talk intelligently1 society will forgive him for not dancing4 ,dancing1 after all1 is only a substitute for conversation2 and1 properly directed1 it is a very good substitute for scandal1 mean gossip1 or the frivolous chatter which makes assemblies of young people unendurable to anybody who has not begun to be afflicted with softening of the brain4 ,public dances--dances into which anybody can find entrance by paying a fee--are avoided by decent people4 ,a young man who has any regard for his reputation will avoid them2 and as nearly every young man has his way to make in the world1 he cannot too soon realize how the report that he frequents such places will hurt him2 for1 as ,i said1 there are no secrets in this world1--everything comes out sooner or later4 ,it is no longer the fashion for a young man to invite a young woman to accompany him to a dance1 even at a private house4 ,he must first ask her mother4 ,this ,european fashion has--thank ,heaven6--reached many remote districts of late1 where young people hitherto ignored the existence of their parents when social pleasures were concerned4 ,the young girl who doesn't want the 8old man to know0 had better be avoided4 ,and in the best circles young women are not permitted to go to the theatre or to dances without a chaperon1--that is1 the mother or some elderly lady is expected to accompany the young people4 ,this1 of course1 makes trips to the theatre expensive2 but the young man who cannot afford to take an extra aunt or mother had better avoid such amusements until he can4 ,as to whether you are to take part in the round dances or not1 that will be settled by your confessor3 ,i have no right to dictate on that subject4 ,but if you are invited to a dance1 pay your respects to your hostess first1 and say something pleasant4 ,you must remember that she intends that you shall be useful1--that you shall dance with the ladies to whom she introduces you1 and that you shall not think of your own pleasure entirely1 but help to give others pleasure by dancing with the ladies who have no partners4 ,in a word1 you must be as unselfish in this frivolous atmosphere as on more serious occasions4 ,when the refreshments are served1 you must think of yourself last4 ,if you want to gorge yourself1 you can take a yard or two of ,bologna sausage to your room after the entertainment is over4 ,a young man over twenty-one should wear an evening suit and no jewelry at a dance4 ,infants under that age are supposed to be safely tucked in bed at the time the ordinary dance begins4 ,at a dance or at any other entertainment no introduction should be made thoughtlessly4 ,if a gentleman is presented to a lady1 it should be done only after her permission has been asked and received4 ,and the form should be1 8,mrs4 ,jones1 allow me to present ,mr4 ,smith40 ,a younger man should always be introduced to an older man1 one of inferior position to one of superior position4 ,if you are introducing a friend to the mayor of your city1 you ought not to say1 8,let me introduce the ,mayor to you40 ,on the contrary1 the form should be 8,mr4 ,mayor1 allow me to present my friend ,mr4 ,smith40 ,on being introduced to a lady1 it is not the fashion for a man to extend his hand1--for hand-shaking on first introduction is a thing of the past4 ,if the lady extends her hand1 it is proper to take it2 but the pump-handle style is no longer practised1 except perhaps in some unknown wilds of ,alaska4 ,after a man is introduced to a lady and he meets her again1 he must not bow until she has bowed to him4 ,in ,france the man bows first2 in ,america and ,england we give that privilege to the woman4 ,an ,american takes his hat entirely from his head when he meets a lady2 a foreigner raises it but slightly1 but he bows lower than we do4 ,in introducing people1 we ought always to be careful to give them their titles1 and to add1 if possible1 the place from which they come4 ,if ,mr4 ,jones1 of ,chicago1 is introduced to ,mr4 ,robinson1 of ,new ,york1 the subject for conversation is already arranged4 ,we know what they will talk about4 ,if the wife of the ,president introduced you to him1 she would call him the ,president2 but if you addressed him1 you would call him 8,mr4 ,president10 as you would address the mayor of a city as 8,mr4 ,mayor40 ,mrs4 ,grant was the only ,president's wife who did not give her husband his title in introductions3 she called him simply and modestly1 8,mr4 ,grant40 ,an ,english bard sings3 8,i know a duke1 well--let him pass-- ,i may not call his grace an ass1 ,though if ,i did1 ,i'd do no wrong-- ,save to the asses and my song4 8,the duke is neither wise nor good3 ,he gambles1 drinks1 scorns womanhood2 ,and at the age of twenty-four ,is worn and battered as threescore4 8,i know a waiter in ,pall ,mall1 ,who works and waits and reasons well2 ,is gentle1 courteous1 and refined1 ,and has a magnet in his mind4 8,what is it makes his graceless grace ,so like a jockey out of place8 ,what makes the waiter--tell who can-- ,the very flower of gentleman8 8,perhaps their mothers6--,god is great6 ,it can't be accident or fate4 ,the waiter's heart is true1--and then1 ,good manners make our gentlemen40 ,,iv4 ,what ,does ,not ,make a ,gentleman4 ,we have touched on the etiquette of dress and of entertainments2 and now ,i beg leave to repeat some things already said1 and to add a few others that need to be said4 ,a young man cannot afford to be slovenly in his dress4 ,carelessness in dress will prejudice people against him as completely as a badly written letter4 ,he will find himself mysteriously left out in invitations4 ,if he applies for a position in an office or a bank1 or anywhere else1 where neatness of dress is expected1 he will get the cold shoulder4 ,a young man who wears grease spots habitually on the front of his coat1 whose trousers are decorated with dark shadows and the mud of last week1 whose shoes are red and rusty1 and who hangs a soiled handkerchief1 like a flag of truce1 more than half out of his pocket1 will find himself barred from every place which his ambition would spur him to enter4 ,you may say that dress does not make the man4 ,you may call to mind ,burns' lines to the effect that 8a man's a man for a' that20 a piece of silver is only a piece of silver1 worth more or less1 until the ,united ,states mint stamps it a dollar4 ,the stamp of your character and the manner of your bringing up give you the value at which the world appraises you4 ,i recall to mind an instance which shows that we cannot always control our dress4 ,there was a boy at school who was the shortest and the youngest among three tall brothers4 ,he never had any clothes of his own4 ,he had to wear the cast-off suits of the other brothers1 and it was no unusual thing for his trousers to trip him up when he tried to run1 although they were fastened well up under his shoulders4 ,this unhappy youth was the victim of circumstances2 if he made a bad impression1 he could not help it4 ,but he was always neat and clean1 and he never put grease on his hair or leaned against papered walls in order to leave his mark there4 ,he never saturated himself with cologne to avoid a bath2 he never chewed gum2 he was never seen with a dirty-yellow rivulet at either side of his lips1 which flowed from a plug of tobacco somewhere in his gullet2 and so1 though he was pitied for the eccentricities of his toilet1 he was not despised4 ,in a country where we do not have to buy water there is no excuse for neglecting the bath4 ,the average ,englishman talks so much of his bath and his tub1 that one cannot help thinking that the ,order of ,bath is a late discovery in his country1 although we know it was instituted long ago4 ,every boy ought to keep himself 8well groomed20 to be clean outside and in gives him a solid respect for himself that makes others respect him4 ,it is like a college education3 it causes him to feel that he is any man's equal4 ,but one with a sham diamond in his bosom1 or cuffs that he has to shove up his sleeves every now and then to prevent them from showing how dirty they are1 can never feel quite like a man4 ,we ,americans have reason to be proud of the decay of two arts which ,charles ,dickens when he wrote 8,american ,notes0 found in a flourishing condition1--the art of swearing in public and the art of tobacco-chewing4 ,when ,dickens made his first visit to this country he was amazed by the skill which ,americans showed in the art of tobacco-chewing4 ,the 8spit-box10 the spittoon1 the cuspidore1--which is supposed to be an elegant name for a very inelegant utensil1--seemed to him to be the most important of ,american institutions4 ,we who have become accustomed to the cuspidore do not realize how its constant presence surprises foreigners4 ,they do not understand why the floor of every hotel should be furnished with conveniences for spitting1 because no country except the ,united ,states is infested by tobacco-chewers4 ,charles ,dickens was severe on the prevalence of the tobacco-chewing habit4 ,he was roundly abused for his criticisms on our public manners4 ,no doubt his censure was well founded1 for the manners of ,americans have improved since4 ,to ,dickens it seemed as if the principal ,american amusement was tobacco-chewing4 ,he found the ,american a gloomy being1 who regarded all the refinements with dislike1 and whose politeness to women was his one redeeming feature4 ,dickens admitted that a woman might travel alone from one end of the country to the other and receive the most courteous attention from even the roughest miner4 ,and this is as true now as it was then4 ,there are no men in any country so polite to women as ,americans2 and in no other country on the face of the earth is the sex of our mothers so publicly respected4 ,this chivalric characteristic1 which ,tom ,moore tells us was the most brilliant jewel in the crown of the ,irish1 8,when ,malachi wore the collar of gold10 is now an ,american characteristic1 and distinctively an ,american characteristic4 ,so sure are the ladies of every attention1 that they take the reverential attitude of men as a matter of course4 ,they no longer thank us when we give up our places in the street-car to them1 or walk in the mud to let them pass2 and it is probably regard for them that has caused the ,american to cease to flood every public place with vile tobacco-juice4 ,there was a time when the marble floors of our largest hotels were so spotted with this vicious fluid that their color could not be recognized1 when the atmosphere reeked with filthy fumes1 and many a man bit off a large chunk of tobacco between every second word4 ,it was his method of punctuating his talk4 ,he expectorated when he wanted to make a comma and bit off a 8chew0 at a period2 he squirted a half-pint of amber liquid across the room for an interrogation-mark1 and struck his favorite spot on the ceiling to mark an exclamation4 ,but we are not so bad as we used to be4 ,george ,washington1 whose first literary effort was an essay on ,manners1 might complain that we lack much1 but he would find that the tobacco-chewer is not so prominent a figure in all landscapes as he formerly was4 ,the truth is1 that ,american good sense is putting an end to this dirty and disgusting habit4 ,there was a time when a man was asked for a 8chew0 on almost every street corner4 ,but this was in the days of the ,bowery boys and of the old volunteer fire-departments1 when strange things occurred4 ,it is related that an ,english traveller riding down ,broadway1 some time about the year #aheb1 found that the light was suddenly shut out of his left eye4 ,he fancied for an instant that his optic nerves had been paralyzed4 ,he was relieved by the sound of an apologetic voice coming from the opposite seat4 ,it said3 8,i didn't intend to put that #8chew' into your eye1 sir4 ,i was aiming at the window when you bobbed your head60 ,and the thoughtful expectorator gently removed the ball of tobacco from the ,englishman's eye6 ,that could hardly occur now4 ,chewers do not take such risks1 or they aim straighter4 ,for a long time the typical ,american1 as represented in ,english novels or on the ,english stage1 chewed tobacco and whittled a wooden nutmeg4 ,the ,english have learned only of late that every ,american does not do these things4 ,if foreigners hate this savage practice1 who can blame them8 ,how we should sneer and jeer at the ,english if1 in ferry-boats1 in horse-cars1 in public halls1 pools of tobacco-juice should be seen1 and if perpetual yellow1 ill-smelling fountains sprung from men's mouths4 ,how ,puck would caricature ,john ,bull in his constant attitude of chewing6 ,how filthy and barbaric we would say the ,british were6 ,we should speak of it1 in ,fourth-of-,july orations1 as a proof of ,british inferiority4 ,but we cannot do this1 for the ,english do not chew tobacco1--and some of us do4 ,it is a habit that had better be unlearned as soon as possible4 ,it is happily ceasing to be an ,american vice1 and with it will cease the chronic dyspepsia and many of the stomach and throat diseases which have become almost national4 ,many a man1 come to the years of discretion1 bitterly regrets that he ever learned to chew tobacco2 but he thought once that it was a manly thing1 and he learns when too late that the manly thing would have been to avoid it4 ,some of you will perhaps remember a fashion boys had--,i don't know whether they have it now--of getting tattooed by some expert who practised the art4 ,what pain we suffered while a small star was picked in blue ink at the junction of the thumb with the hand6--and how proud we were of a blue anchor printed indelibly on our wrists6 ,but a day came when we should have been glad to have blotted out this insignia with thrice the pain4 ,and so the day will come when the inveterate tobacco-chewer will wish with all his heart that he had never been induced to put a piece of tobacco into his mouth4 ,it is one of those vices which has an unpleasant sting and which is its own punishment4 ,it is unbecoming to a gentleman2 it violates every rule of good manners1--the spectacle of a young man dropping a 8quid0 into his hand before he goes into dinner and trying on the sly to wipe off the dirty stains on his chin is enough to turn the stomach of a cannibal4 ,going back to the subject of entertainments1 let me impress on you that it is your duty when you go into society to think as little of yourselves as possible1 and to talk as little of yourselves4 ,if a man can sing or play on any musical instrument or recite1 and he is asked to do any of these things1 let him not refuse4 ,young women sometimes say no in society when they mean yes2 but young men are not justified in practising such an affectation4 ,it is not good taste to show that one is anxious to sing or to play or to recite4 ,if you are invited out1 do not begin at once by talking about elocution1 until somebody is forced to ask you to recite2 and do not hum snatches of song until there is no escape for your friends from the painful duty of asking you to sing4 ,the restless efforts of some amateurs to get a hearing in society always brings to mind a certain theatrical episode4 ,there was a young actress who thought she could sing1 and consequently she introduced a vocal solo whenever she could4 ,she was cast for the principal part in a melodrama full of tragic situations4 ,the manager congratulated himself that here1 at least1 there was no chance for the tuneful young lady to try her scales4 ,but he was mistaken4 ,the great scene was on4 ,a flash of lightning illumined the stage4 ,the actress was holding a pathetic conversation with her mother as the thunder rolled4 ,the mother suddenly fell with a shriek1 struck dead4 ,and then the devoted daughter said1 8,aha1 mee mother is dead6 ,alas1 ,i will now sing the song she loved so much in life60 ,and the young lady walked to the footlights and warbled 8,comrades40 ,she would and she did sing1 but ,i am afraid the audience laughed4 ,i offer this authentic anecdote as a warning to young singers that they should neither be hasty nor reluctant in displaying their talents4 ,a man goes into society that he may give as well as gain pleasure4 ,the highest form of social pleasure is conversation2 but conversation does not mean a monologue4 ,good listeners are as highly appreciated in society as good talkers4 ,a good listener often gives an impression of great wisdom which is dispelled the moment he opens his mouth4 ,mr4 ,gladstone was charmed by a young lady who sat next to him at dinner2 he concluded that she was one of the most intelligent women he had ever met1 until she spoiled it all by saying1 with effusion1 8,oh1 ,i love cabbage60 ,a young man should neither talk too much nor too little1 and he should never talk about himself unless he is forced to4 ,madame ,roland1 a famous ,frenchwoman1 who perished during the ,reign of ,terror under the guillotine1 said that by listening attentively to others she made more friends than by any remarks of her own4 8,judicious silence10 the author of 8,in a ,club ,corner0 says1 8is one of the great social virtues40 ,a man who tries to be funny at all times is a social nuisance4 ,two famous men suffered very much for their tendency to be always humorous4 ,these were ,sydney ,smith and our own lamented ,s4 ,s4 ,cox4 ,sydney ,smith could not speak without exciting laughter4 ,once1 when he had said grace1 a young lady next to him exclaimed1 8,you are always so amusing60 ,and ,s4 ,s4 ,cox1 one of the most serious of men at heart and the cleverest in head1 never attained the place in politics he ought to have gained because he was supposed to be always in fun4 ,jokes are charming things in a limited circle1 but no gentleman nowadays indulges in those practical jokes which we have heard of4 ,it is not considered a delicate compliment to pull a chair away just as anybody is about to sit down2 and the young person who jabs acquaintances in the ribs1 to make them laugh at his delightful sayings1 is not rapturously welcomed in quiet families4 ,a young man should not make a practice of using slang1 and he should never use it in the presence of ladies4 ,to advise a friend to 8shut his face0 or to 8come off the perch0 may sound 8smart10 but it is vulgar1 and is fatal to those ambitious young men who feel that their success in life depends on the good opinion of cultivated people4 ,moreover1 this habitual slang is likely to crop out at the most inopportune times4 ,mr4 ,sankey1 of the evangelizing firm of ,moody and ,sankey1 at a camp-meeting once asked a devout young man if he loved the ,lord4 ,there was profound silence until the young man1 who thought in slang1 answered in a loud voice1 8,you bet60 ,slang is in bad taste2 and the slang we borrow from the ,english is the worst of all--the repetition of 8don't you know80 for instance4 8,i'm going to town1 don't you know1 and if ,i see your friends1 don't you know1 ,i'll tell them you were asking for them1 don't you know1--oh1 yes1 ,i shall1 don't you know40 ,imagine an ,american so idiotic as not only to imitate the vulgarest ,cockney slang1 but to do it in the vulgarest ,cockney accent6 ,there was a woman who at a dinner said1 8,have some soup1 don't you know2 it's not half nawsty1 don't you know40 ,i must remind you again not to use1 in letter-writing1 tinted or ornamented paper4 ,let it be white and1 by all means1 unruled2 your envelope may be either oblong or square1 but the square form is preferable4 ,if you have time and want to follow the present fashion1 and also to pay a compliment of extreme carefulness to the person to whom you are writing1 close your letters with red sealing-wax4 ,some old-fashioned people look on postal cards as vulgar4 ,however1 it is not well to write family secrets on these cheap forms4 ,and if any man owes you money1 do not ask him for it on a postal card3 it is against a more forcible law than those that make etiquette4 ,postal cards are not to be used except on business4 ,be sure to write the name of the person to whom the letter is addressed on the last page of the letter4 ,but if you begin a letter with 8,dear ,mr4 ,smith10 you need not write ,mr4 ,smith's name again at the end of the letter4 ,buy good paper and envelopes4 ,and do not write on old scraps of paper when you write home4 ,nothing is too good for your father and mother2 they may not say much about it1 but every little attention from you brightens their lives and helps towards paying that debt of gratitude to them which you can never fully discharge4 ,a young man has asked me to say something about the etiquette of cards and calls4 ,a man1 under the ,american code of politeness1 need not make many calls4 ,if he is invited to an entertainment of any kind1 he should go to the house of his host to call or leave his card4 ,if it be his first call1 he must leave a card for each grown-up member of the family4 ,after that he need leave only one card4 ,the old fashion of turning down the corners of cards is gone out4 ,a man's card should be very small1 not gilt-edged2 it should never be printed1 but always engraved or written1 with the address in the left-hand lower corner4 ,a man may write his own cards4 ,in that case he must not put 8,mr40 before his name4 ,but if he has them engraved1 the present usage demands that 8,mr40 must appear before his name4 ,if he has been at a party of any kind1 he must call within a week after it1 or he can send his card with his mother or sister1 if they should happen to be calling at his host's within that time4 ,a man's card1 like his note-paper1 ought to be as simple as possible4 ,secretary ,bayard's cards always bore the plain inscription1 8,mr4 ,bayard40 ,sciolists and pretenders of all kinds put a great number of titles on their cards4 ,corn-cutters and spiritists and quacks of all sorts are always sure to print 8,professor0 before their names1 but men who have a right to the title never do it4 ,be sure1 then1 to have a neat1 plain card1 well engraved4 ,it costs very little to have a plate made by a good stationery firm2 and a neat1 elegant card1 like a well-written letter1 is a good introduction4 ,it symbolizes the man4 ,daniel ,webster's card was simply 8,mr4 ,webster10 and it expressed the man's hatred for all pretence4 ,a gentleman should never call on a young lady without asking for her mother or her chaperon4 ,and he should never leave a card for her without leaving one for her mother4 ,it will not do to send a card by mail after one has been asked to dinner4 ,a personal visit must be made and a card left4 ,in calling on the sons or daughters of a family1 cards should be left for the father and mother4 ,it may surprise some young men to find that in the great world fathers and mothers are so much considered4 ,i know that there are some boys at school who write home on any odd1 soiled paper they can find1 and who write only when they want something or feel like grumbling4 ,their letters run something like this3 8,,dear ,,father3 ,the weather is bad4 ,i am not well this evening1 hoping to find you the same4 ,grub as usual4 ,please send me five dollars4 8,yours10 etc4 ,and1 of course1 their fathers and mothers go down on their knees at once and thank ,heaven for such dutiful and clever boys--that is1 if you boys have brought them up properly4 ,but so many of our parents have been so badly brought up4 ,they really do not see how superior their children are to them4 ,they actually fancy that they know more of the world than a boy of sixteen or seventeen2 and they occasionally insist on being obeyed4 ,it would be a pleasant thing to form a new society among you--a society for the proper bringing up of fathers and mothers4 ,at present there are some parents who really refuse to be the slaves of their children1 or to take their advice4 ,this is unreasonable1 ,i know1 but it is true4 ,think how frightful it is for a young man of spirit to be kept at college during the best years of his life1 when he might be learning new clog-dance steps on street-corners or reading detective stories all day long6 ,it would be hard to change things now2 and the fact remains that in good society fathers and mothers are considered before their children4 ,the man who lacks reverence for his parents1 who shows irritation to them1 who pains them by his grumbling and fault-finding1 is no gentleman4 ,he is what the ,english call a cad4 ,he is the most contemptible of ,god's creatures4 ,let me sum up in the famous lines which you all ought to know by heart2 they are the words that ,shakspere puts into the mouth of ,polonius when his son ,laertes is about to depart into the great world3 8,give thy thoughts no tongue1 ,nor any unproportioned thought his ,,act4 ,be thou familiar1 but by no means vulgar3 ,the friends thou hast1 and their adoption ,,tried1 ,,grapple them to ,,thy ,,soul with hooks of ,,steel2 ,but do not dull thy palm with entertainment ,of each new-hatched1 unfledged comrade4 ,beware ,of entrance to a quarrel1 but1 being in1 ,bear it that the opposer may ,,beware of thee4 ,give every man thine ,,ear1 but few thy ,,voice2 ,take each man's censure1 but reserve thy judgment4 ,costly thy habit as thy purse can buy1 ,but not expressed in fancy2 rich1 not gaudy2 ,for the apparel oft proclaims the ,,man4 ,neither a borrower nor a ,,lender be2 ,for loan oft loses both itself and friend1 ,and borrowing dulls the edge of husbandry4 ,this1 above all3 to thine own self be ,,true2 ,and it must follow1 as the night the day1 ,thou canst not then be ,,false to ,,any ,,man40 ,v4 ,how to ,express ,one's ,thoughts4 ,mr4 ,frederick ,harrison1 a man of letters1 whose literary judgments are as right as his philosophical judgments are wrong1 tells us that the making of many books and the reading of periodical sheets obscure the perception and benumb the mind4 8,the incessant accumulation of fresh books must hinder any real knowledge of the old2 for the multiplicity of volumes becomes a bar upon our use of any4 ,in literature especially does it hold that we cannot see the wood for the trees40 ,i am not about to advise you to add to the number of useless leaves which hide the forms of noble trees2 but1 if your resolve to write outlives the work of preparation1 you may be able to give the world a new classic1 or1 at least1 something that will cheer and elevate4 ,this preparation is rigid4 ,two important qualities of it must be keen observation and careful reading4 ,it is a pity that an old dialogue on 8,eyes or ,no ,eyes0 is no longer included in the reading-books for children4 ,the modern book-makers have improved it out of existence2 nevertheless1 it taught a good lesson4 ,it describes the experience of two boys on a country road4 ,common things are about them1--wild flowers1 weeds1 a ditch1--but one discovers many hidden things by the power of observation1 while the other sees nothing but the outside of the common things4 ,to write well one must have eyes and see4 ,to be observant it is not necessary that one should be critical in the sense of fault-finding4 ,keen observation and charitable toleration ought to go together4 ,we may see the peculiarities of those around us and be amused by them2 but we shall never be able to write anything about character worth writing unless we go deeper and pierce through the crust which hides from us the hidden meanings of life4 ,how tired would we become of ,dickens if he had confined himself to pictures of surface characteristics6 ,if we weary of him1 it is because ,mr4 ,samuel ,weller is so constantly dropping his w's1 and ,sairey ,gamp so constantly talking of ,mrs4 ,harris4 ,if we find interest and refreshment in him now1 it is because he went deeper than the thousand and one little habits with which he distinguishes his personages4 ,to write1 then1 we must acquire the art of observing in a broad and intelligent spirit4 ,nature will hang the ,east and ,west with gorgeous tapestry in vain if we do not see it4 ,and many times we shall judge rashly and harshly if we do not learn to detect the trueheartedness that hides behind the face which seems cold to the unobservant4 ,we are indeed blind when we fail to know that an angel has passed until another has told us of his passing4 ,apparently there is not much to think of the wrinkled hand of the old woman who crosses your path in the street4 ,you catch a glimpse of it as she carries her bundle in that hand on her way from work in the twilight4 ,perhaps you pass on and think of it no more4 ,perhaps you note the knotted1 purple veins standing out from the toil-reddened surface1 and then your eyes catch at a glance the wrinkled face on which are written the traces of trials1 self-sacrifice1 and patience4 ,it is hard to believe that those hands were once soft and dimpled childish hands1 and that face bright with happy smiles4 ,the story of her life is the story of many lives from day to day4 ,those coarse1 ungloved1 wrinkled hands will seem vulgar to you only if you have never learned to observe and think4 ,they may suggest a noble story or poem to you1 if you take their meaning rightly4 ,life1 every-day life1 is full of the suggestions of great things for those who have learned to look and to observe4 ,mr4 ,harrison1 from whom ,i have quoted already1 puts his finger on a fault which must inevitably destroy all power of good literary production4 ,it is a common fault1 and the antidote for it is the cultivation of the art of careful reading4 8,a habit of reading idly10 ,mr4 ,harrison says1 8debilitates and corrupts the mind for all wholesome reading2 the habit of reading wisely is one of the most difficult to acquire1 needing strong resolution and infinite pains2 and reading for mere reading's sake1 instead of for the sake of the good we gain from reading1 is one of the worst and commonest and most unwholesome habits we have40 ,in order to write well1 one must read well--one must read a few good books--and never idle over newspapers4 ,newspapers have become necessities1 and grow larger each year4 ,but the larger they are the more deleterious they are4 ,the modern newspaper lies one day and corrects its lies1 adding1 however1 a batch of new ones1 on the day after4 ,there are a few newspapers which have literary value1 though even they1 mirroring the passing day1 have some of its faults4 ,as a rule1 avoid newspapers4 ,they will help you to fritter away precious time2 they will spoil your style in the same way that a slovenly talker1 with whom you associate constantly1 will spoil your talk2 for newspapers are generally written in a hurry1 and hurried literary work1 unless by a master-hand1 is never good work4 ,nevertheless1 in our country1 the newspapers absorb a great quantity of literary matter which would1 were there no newspapers1 never see the light4 ,literature considered as a profession includes what is known as journalism1--not perhaps reportorial work1 but the writing of leaders1 book reviews1 theatrical notices1 and other articles which require a light touch1 tact1 and careful practice1 but which do not always have those qualities4 ,a writer lately said3 8,literature has become a trade1 and finance a profession40 ,this is hardly true2 but some authors have come to look on their profession as a trade1 and to value it principally for the money it brings4 ,anthony ,trollope1 for instance1 whose novels are still popular1 set himself to his work as to a task2 he wrote so many words for so much money daily4 ,this may account for the woodenness of his literary productions4 ,in the pursuit of art1 money should not be the first consideration1 although it should not be left entirely out of consideration2 for the artist should live by his art1 the musician by his music1 and the author by his books4 ,literature1 then1 should be a vocation as well as an avocation4 ,literature1 in spite of the many stories about the poverty of writers1 has1 in our ,english-speaking countries1 been on the whole a fairly well-paid profession4 ,chaucer was by no means a pauper2 ,shakspere retired at a comparatively early age to houses and lands earned by his pen in the pleasant town of ,stratford4 ,pope earned nearly fifty thousand dollars by his translations or1 rather1 paraphrases of ,homer4 ,goldsmith1 though always poor through his own generosity and extravagance1 earned what in our days would be held to be a handsome competence4 ,sir ,walter ,scott made enormous sums which he spent royally on his magnificent castle of ,abbotsford4 ,charles ,dickens earned enough to make him rich1 and our modern writers1 though less in genius1 are not less in their power of securing the hire of which they are more than worthy4 ,mr4 ,howells has had at least ten thousand dollars a year for permitting his serial stories to be printed in the publications of ,harper ,brothers4 ,mr4 ,will ,carleton1 the author of 8,farm ,ballads10 has no doubt an equal amount from his copyrights4 ,mrs4 ,hodgson ,burnett1 the author of 8,little ,lord ,fauntleroy10 easily commands eight thousand dollars for the copyright of a novel4 ,so you see that the picture often presented to us of the haggard author shivering over his tallow candle in a garret is somewhat exaggerated4 ,but none of these authors attained success without long care given to art4 ,they all had their early struggles4 ,mrs4 ,burnett1 for instance1 was a very brave and hard-working young girl2 she was poor2 her only hope in life was her education2 she used it to advantage and by constant practice in literary work4 ,the means of her success was the capacity for taking pains4 ,it is the means of all success in life4 ,and any man or woman who expects to adopt literature as a profession must see well1 read well1 and take infinite pains4 ,probably ,mr4 ,howells and ,mrs4 ,burnett had many ,,mss4 rejected by the editors4 ,probably1 like many young authors1 each day brought back an article which had cost them many weary hours1--for literary work is the most nerve-wearying and brain-wearying of all work--with the legend1 8,returned with thanks40 ,still they kept on taking infinite pains4 ,lord ,byron awoke one morning and found himself famous4 ,but that first morning of fame had cost much study1 much thought1 and1 no doubt1 periods of despondency in which he almost resolved not to write at all4 ,poetry does not gush from the poet1 like fire out of a ,roman candle when you light it4 ,of all species of literary composition1 poetry requires more exquisite care than any other4 ,a sonnet which has not been written and rewritten twenty times may be esteemed as worthless4 ,to-day no modern poem has a right to be printed unless it be technically perfect4 ,it seems a sacrilege to speak of poetry as a profession2 it ought to be a vocation only1 and the poet ought not only to be made by infinite pains taken with himself1 but born4 ,as to the rewards of extreme fineness in the expression of poetry1 ,i have heard that ,longfellow received one thousand dollars for his comparatively short poem of 8,keramos10 and that ,tennyson had a guinea a line4 ,but we shall leave out poetry in talking of filthy lucre1 and consider literature as represented by journalism1 in which there is very little poetry4 ,i did not intend to touch on journalism1 as the work of making newspapers is sometimes called1 but ,i have been lately asked to give my opinion as to whether journalism is a good preparation for the pursuit of literature4 ,perhaps the best way to do this would be to give the experiences of a young journalist first4 ,i imagine a young person who had written at least twenty compositions2 some on 8,gratitude10 one on 8,ambition10 one on 8,the ,history of a ,pin10 and a grand poem on the ,southern ,confederacy in five cantos4 ,he had been prepared for the pursuit of literature by being made to write a composition every ,friday4 ,these compositions were read aloud in his class4 ,what beautiful sentiments were uttered on those ,fridays6 ,how everybody thrilled when young ,strephon compared ,ireland to 8that prairie-grass which smells sweeter the more it is trodden on06 ,he had never seen such grass2 he would not have recognized it if he had seen it2 but he had read about it1 and when a cruel scientific instructor asked him to give the botanical name1 he turned away in disgust4 ,his finest feelings were outraged4 ,this1 however1 did not prevent the simile of the prairie-grass of unknown genus from cantering through all the compositions of the other members of the class for many succeeding weeks1 until the professor got into a habit of asking1 when a boy rose to read his essay3 8,is there prairie-grass in it80 ,if the essayist said yes1 he was made to sit down and severely reprimanded4 ,teachers were very cruel in those days4 ,there was another lovely simile ruthlessly cut down in its middle age--pardon me if ,i digress and pour out my wrongs to you2 ,i know you can appreciate them4 ,a boy of genius once said that 8,charity1 like an eternal flame1 cheers1 but not inebriates40 ,after that inspired utterance1 charity1 like an eternal flame1 cheered1 but not inebriated1 the composition of every other writer1 until the same cruel hand put it out4 ,in those days we knew a good thing when we saw it1 and1 if it saved trouble1 we appreciated it4 ,somewhat later the young person attained a position in the office of an illustrated paper4 ,it was a newspaper which was so fearful that its foreign letters should be incorrect that it always had them written at home4 ,the young gentleman whose desk was next to that of your obedient servant wrote the ,paris1 ,dublin1 and ,new ,york letters4 ,the correspondent from ,rome and ,constantinople1 who also did the market reports at home1 had some trouble with his spelling occasionally1 and made a very old gentleman in the corner indignant by asking him whether 8pecuniary0 was spelled with a 8c0 or a 8q10 and similar questions4 ,this old gentleman wrote the fashion column1 and signed himself 8,mabel ,evangeline40 ,he sometimes made mistakes about the fashions1 but they were very naturally blamed on the printers4 ,to your obedient servant fell the agricultural and the religious columns4 ,all went well1 for the prairie-grass was kept out of the agricultural column1 though some strange things went in--all went well until he copied out of a paper a receipt for making hens lay4 ,he did not know then that it was a comic paper1 and that the friend who wrote it was only in fun4 ,the hens of several subscribers lay down and died4 ,there was trouble in the office1 and the agricultural department was taken from him and given to 8,mabel ,evangeline10 who later came to grief by describing an immense peanut-tree which was said to grow in ,massachusetts4 ,your obedient servant was asked to write leaders on current subjects4 ,how joyfully he went to work6 ,here was a chance to introduce the prairie-grass and the 8eternal flame40 ,with a happy face he took his 8copy0 to the managing editor4 ,why did that great man frown as he read3 8,if we compare ,dante with ,milton1 we find that the great ,florentine sage was like that prairie-grass which--0 8,do you call this a current subject80 he demanded4 8,it will not do4 ,where's the other one80 ,your obedient servant1 in fear and trembling1 gave him the other slips4 ,he began3 8,the geocentric movement1 like that eternal flame which cheers1 but--0 ,he paused4 8,when ,i asked10 he said1 in an awful voice--8when ,i asked you for current subjects1 ,i wanted an editorial on the fight in the ,fourth ,ward and a paragraph on the sudden rise in lard4 ,do you understand80 ,dante and the geocentric movement1 the prairie-grass and the eternal flame were crushed4 ,the wise young person learned to adapt himself to the ways of newspaper offices1 and all went well again1 until he attempted high art4 ,this newspaper was young and not very rich2 therefore economy had to be used in the matter of illustrations4 ,the great man1 its editor1 had a habit of buying second-hand pictures--perhaps it was not to save money1 but because he loved the old masters1--and it became the duty of the present writer1 who was then a young person1 and who is now your obedient servant1 to write articles to suit the pictures4 ,for instance1 if a scene in ,madrid had been bought1 the present writer wrote about ,madrid4 ,it was easy1 for he had an encyclopdia in the office2 but if anybody had borrowed the volume containing 8,m0 we always called ,madrid by some other name1 for 8,mabel ,evangeline10 who said he had travelled1 said foreign cities looked pretty much alike4 8,mabel ,evangeline10 who sometimes1 ,i am afraid1 drank too much beer and mixed up things1 was not to be relied on1 for he put in a picture of ,rome1 ,n4 ,y41 for ,rome1 ,italy1 and brought the paper into contempt4 ,still1 ,i think this would not have made so much difference1 if he had not labelled a picture of an actress in a very big hat and a very low-cut gown1 8,home from a convent school40 ,he was discharged after this1 and the present writer asked to perform his functions4 ,nothing unpleasant would have happened1 if a picture had not been sent in one day in a hurry4 ,it was a dim picture4 ,it seemed to represent a tall woman and a ghost4 ,the present writer named it 8,lady ,macbeth and the ,ghost of ,banquo10 and spun out a graphic description of the artist's meaning4 ,next day when the paper came out1 the picture was 8,the ,goddess of ,liberty crowning ,abraham ,lincoln40 ,it was a mistake2 but who does not make mistakes8 ,who ever saw the ,goddess of ,liberty1 anyhow8 ,if you heard the way that editor talked to the promising young journalist1 you would have thought he was personally acquainted with both ,lady ,macbeth and the ,goddess of ,liberty1 and that they had not succeeded in teaching him good manners4 ,it is sad to think that mere trifles will often cause thoughtless people to lose their tempers4 ,the writing for newspapers is a good introduction to the profession of literature1 if the aspirant can study1 can read good books when not at work1 can still take pains in spite of haste1 and cultivate accuracy of practice4 ,the best way to learn to write is to write4 ,one engaged in supplying newspapers with 8copy0 must write4 ,if he can keep a strict eye on his style--if he can avoid slang1 8smart0 colloquialism1 he will find that the necessity for conciseness and the little time allowed for hunting for the right word for the right place will help him in attaining ease and aptness of expression4 ,the first difficulty the unpractised writer has to overcome is a lack of the right words4 ,words are repeated1 and other words that are wanted to express some nice distinction of meaning will not come4 ,constant reference to a good dictionary or a book of synonyms is the surest remedy for this2 and if the writer will refuse to use any word that does not express exactly what he means1 he will make steady advance in the power of expression4 ,words that burn do not come at first4 ,they are sought and found4 ,tennyson1 old as he was1 polished his early poems1 hoping to make them perfect before he died4 ,pope's lines1 which seem so easy1 so smooth1 which seem to say in three or four words what we have been trying to say all our lives in ten or eleven1 were turned and re-turned1 carved and re-carved1 cut and re-cut with all the scrupulousness of a sculptor curving a ,grecian nose on his statue3 8,a little learning is a dangerous thing2 ,drink deep1 or taste not the ,pierian spring40 ,that is easy reading4 ,it seems as easy as making an egg stand on end1 or as putting an apple into a dumpling--when you know how4 ,it is easy because it was so hard2 it is easy because ,pope took infinite pains to make it so4 ,had he put less labor into it1 he would have failed to make it live4 ,it is true that a thing is worth just as much as we put into it4 ,although the desire to write is often kindled by much reading1 the power of writing is often paralyzed by the discovery that the reading has been of the wrong kind4 ,again1 the tyro who has read little and that little unsystematically is tempted to lay down his pen in despair4 ,lord ,bacon said that 8reading maketh a full man1 writing a ready man20 from which we may conclude that he who reads may best utilize his stock of knowledge by learning to write4 ,but he must first read1 no matter how keen his observation may be or how original his thoughts are2 for a good style does not come by nature4 ,it must be the expression of temperament as well as thought2 but it must have acquired clearness and elegance1 which are due to the construction of sentences in the good company of great authors4 ,to write1 you must read1 and be careful what you read2 and you must read critically4 ,to read a play of ,shakspere's only for the story is to degrade ,shakspere to the level of the railway novel4 ,it is better to have read the trial scene in 8,the ,merchant of ,venice0 critically1 missing no shade in ,portia's character or speech1 no expression of ,shylock's1 than to have read all ,shakspere carelessly4 ,to make a specialty of literature1 one must be1 above all1 thorough4 ,the writings that live have a thousand fine points in them unseen of the casual reader1 and1 like the carvings mentioned in ,miss ,donnelly's fine poem1 8,unseen1 yet ,seen10 known only to ,god4 ,take ten lines of any great writer1 examine them closely with the aid of all the critical power you have1 and then you will see that simplicity in literature is produced by the art which conceals art4 ,that style which is easiest to read is the hardest to write4 ,genius has been defined as the capacity for taking infinite pains4 ,there is a passage in 8,ben ,hur0 which seems to me particularly applicable to our subject4 ,you remember1 in the chariot-race1 where ,ben ,hur's cruel experience in the galleys serves him so well4 ,he would not have had the strength of hand or the steadiness of posture1 were it not for the work with the oars and the constant necessity of standing on a deck which was even more unsteady than the swaying chariot4 8,all experience10 says the author1 8is useful40 ,this is especially true for the writer4 ,one can hardly write a page without feeling how little one knows2 and if the great aim of knowledge be to attain that consciousness1 the writer sooner attains it than other men4 ,everything1 from the pink tinge in a seashell to the varying tints of an approaching thunder-cloud1 from an old farmer's talk of crops and weather to your lesson in geology and astronomy1 will help you4 ,do not imagine that science and literature are opponents4 ,for myself1 ,i would not permit anybody who did not know at least the rudiments of botany and geology to begin the serious study of literature4 ,if ,coleridge felt the need of attending a series of geological lectures late in life1 in order to add to his power of making new metaphors and similes1 how much greater is our necessity for adding to our knowledge of the phenomena of nature1 that we may use our knowledge to the greater glory of ,god6 ,literature is the reflection of life1 and literature ought to be the crystallization of all knowledge4 ,you will doubtless find that what you most need in the beginning is to know more about words and about books4 ,but this vacuum can be filled by earnest thought and serious application1 system1 and thoroughness4 ,it takes you a long time to play a mazurka of ,chopin's well4 ,it takes you a long time even to learn compositions less important4 ,a young woman sits many months before a piano before she learns to drag 8,home1 ,sweet ,home60 through the eye of a needle2 and then to flatten out again con expressione2 and then to chase it up to the last key until it seems to be lost in a still1 small protest2 and then to bring it to life and send it thundering up and down1 as if it were chased by lightning4 ,how easy it all seems1 and how delighted we are when our old friend1 8,home1 ,sweet ,home60 appears again in its original form6 ,but there was a time when it was not easy--a time when the counting of one and two and three was not easy4 ,so it is with the art of writing4 ,it is not easy in the beginning4 ,it may be easy to make grandiloquent similes about 8prairie-grass0 and the 8eternal light which cheers10 etc42 but that is just like beginning to play snatches of a grand march before one knows the scales4 ,to begin to write well1 one must cut off all the useless leaves that obscure the fruit1 which is the thought1 and keep the sun from it4 ,figures should be used sparingly4 ,one metaphor that blazes at the climax of an article after many pages of simplicity is worth half a hundred scattered wherever they happen to fall4 ,it is a white diamond as compared to a handful of garnets4 ,,vi4 ,letter-writing4 ,there is no art so important in the conduct of our modern life1 after the art of conversation1 as the art of letter-writing4 ,a young man who shows a good education and careful training in his letters puts his foot on the first round of the ladder of success4 ,if1 in addition to this1 he can acquire early in life the power of expressing himself easily and gracefully1 he can get what he wants in eight cases out of ten4 ,very few people indeed can resist a cleverly written letter4 ,in the old times1 when there was no ,civil ,service and ,congressmen made their appointments to ,west ,point at their own sweet will1 an applicant's fate was often decided by his letters4 ,there is a story told of ,thaddeus ,stevens1 a famous statesman of thirty years ago1 that he once rejected an applicant for admission to the military school4 ,this applicant met him one day in a corridor of the ,capitol and remonstrated violently4 8,your favoritism is marked1 ,mr4 ,stevens10 he said2 8you have blasted my career from mere party prejudice40 ,the legislator retorted1 8,i would not give an appointment to any blasted fool who spells #8until' with two #8ll's' and #8till' with one40 ,and the disappointed aspirant went home to look into his dictionary4 ,such trifles as this make the sum of life4 ,a man's letter is to most educated people an index of the man himself4 ,his card is looked on in the same light in polite society4 ,but a man's letter is more important than his visiting-card1 though the character of the latter cannot be altogether neglected4 ,it is better to be too exquisite in your carefulness about your letters than in the slightest degree careless4 ,the art of letter-writing comes from knowledge and constant practice4 ,your letters1 now1 ought to be careful works of art4 ,intelligent--remember ,i say intelligent--care is the basis of all perfection2 and perfection in small things means success in great4 ,in our world the specialist1 the man who does at least one thing as well as he can1 is sure to succeed2 and so overcrowded are the avenues to success becoming that a man to succeed must be a specialist and know how to do at least one thing better than his fellow-men4 ,if you happen to have a rich father1 you may say1 8,it does not make much difference2 ,i shall have an easy time of it all my life4 ,i can spell #8applicant' with two #8c's' if ,i like and it will not make any difference40 ,this is a very foolish idea4 ,the richer you are1 the greater will be your responsibilities1 the more will you be criticised and found fault with1 and you will find it will take all your ability to keep together or to spend wisely what your father has acquired4 ,the late ,john ,jacob ,astor worked harder than any of his clerks2 in the street he looked careworn and preoccupied2 and he often lamented that poor men did not know how hard it was to be rich4 ,his hearers often felt that they would like to exchange hardships with him4 ,but he never1 in spite of his sorrows1 gave them a chance4 ,it is true1 however1 that a rich man needs careful education even more than a poor man4 ,and even politicians have to spell decently4 ,you have perhaps heard of the man who announced in a letter that he was a 8g-r-a-t-e-r man than ,grant40 ,usage decrees certain forms in the writing of letters2 and the knowledge and practice of these forms are absolutely necessary4 ,for instance1 one must be very particular to give each man his title4 ,although we ,americans are supposed to despise titles1 the frequency with which they are borrowed in this country shows that we are not free from a weakness for them4 ,you have perhaps heard the old story of the man who entered a country tavern in ,kentucky and called out to a friend1 8,major60 ,twenty majors at once arose4 ,you will find that if you desire to keep the regard of your friends you must be careful in letter-writing to give each man his title4 ,every man over twenty-one years of age is 8,esquire0 in this country4 ,plain 8,mr40 will do for young people--except the youngest 8juniors10 who are only 8,masters20 everybody else1 from the lawyer1 who is rightly entitled to 8,esquire10 to the hod-carrier1 must have that title affixed to his name1 or he feels that the man who writes to him is guilty of a disrespect4 ,a member of ,congress1 of the ,senate of the ,united ,states1 of the ,state legislatures1 has 8,honorable0 prefixed to his ,christian name1 and he does not like you to forget it4 ,but a member of the ,british ,parliament is never called 8,honorable40 ,when ,mr4 ,parnell and ,mr4 ,william ,o',brien1 both members of ,parliament1 were here1 this rule was not observed1 and they found themselves titled1 much to their amazement1 8,honorable40 ,except in business letters1 it is better not to abbreviate anything4 ,do not write 8,jno40 for 8,john10 or 8,wm40 for 8,william40 8,mister0 is always shortened into 8,mr410 and 8,mistress0 into 8,mrs410 which custom pronounces 8,missus40 ,if one is addressing an archbishop1 one writes1 8,the ,most ,reverend ,archbishop20 a bishop1 8,the ,right ,reverend20 and a priest1 8,the ,reverend0--always 8,the ,reverend10 never 8,rev40 ,titles such as 8,a4,m410 8,b4,a410 8,,ll4,d410 are not generally put on the envelopes of letters1 unless the business of the writer has something to do with the scholarly position of the person addressed4 ,if1 for instance1 ,i write to a ,doctor of ,laws and ,letters1 asking him to dinner1 ,i do not put ,,ll4,d4 after his name2 but if ,i am asking him to tell me something about ,greek accents1 or to solve a question of literature1 ,i1 of course1 write his title after his name4 ,to put one's knife into one's mouth means social exile2 there is only one other infraction of social rules considered more damning1 and this is the writing of an anonymous letter4 ,it is understood1 in good society1 that a man who would write a letter which he is afraid to sign with his own name would lie or steal4 ,and ,i believe he would4 ,if he happen to be found out--and there are no secrets in this world--he will be cut dead by every man and woman for whom he has any respect4 ,if he belong to a decent club1 the club will drop him1 and he will be blackballed by every club he tries to enter4 ,by the very act of writing such a letter he brands himself a coward4 ,and if the letter be a malicious one1 he confesses himself in every line of it a scoundrel4 ,a man capable of such a thing shows it in his face1 above all in his eyes1 for nature cannot keep such a secret4 ,another sin against good manners1 which young people sometimes thoughtlessly commit1 is the writing to people whom they do not know4 ,this is merely an impertinence2 it is not a crime2 the persons that get such letters simply look on the senders as fools1 not as cowards or scoundrels4 ,usage at the present time decrees that all social letters should be written on unruled paper1 and that1 if possible1 the envelope should be square4 ,an oblong envelope will do1 but a square one is considered to be the better of the two2 the paper should be folded to fit under4 ,the envelope and the paper should always be as good as you can buy4 ,money is never wasted on excellent paper and envelopes4 ,it is one of the marks of a gentleman to have his paper and envelopes as spotless and well made as his collar and cuffs4 ,a man ought never to use colored paper1 or paper with a monogram or a crest or coat-of-arms on it4 ,if you happen to have a coat-of-arms or a crest1 keep it at home2 anybody in this country who wants it can get it4 ,white paper and black ink should be used by men2 leave the flowers and the monograms and the pink1 blue1 and black paper to the ladies4 ,it is just as much out of place for one of us to write on pink paper as to wear a bracelet4 ,bad spelling is a social crime and a business crime1 too4 ,no business house will employ in any important position a young man who spells badly4 ,he may become a porter or a janitor1 but he can never rise above that if he cannot spell4 ,in social letters or notes1 one misspelled word is like a discord in music4 ,it is as if the big drum were to come in at the wrong time and spoil a cornet solo1 or a careless stroke ruin a fine regatta4 ,when dictionaries are so numerous1 bad spelling is unpardonable1 and it is seldom pardoned4 ,one of the worst possible breaches of good manners is to write a careless letter to any one to whom you owe affection and respect4 ,nothing is too good for your father or mother--nothing on this earth4 ,when you begin to think otherwise1 you may be certain that you are growing unworthy of affection and respect4 ,there is a story told of one of the greatest soldiers that this country ever knew1 who1 though he happened to fight against us1 deserves our most respectful homage2 this brave soldier was the ,confederate ,general ,sidney ,johnston4 ,a soldier had been arrested as a traitor on the eve of a battle4 ,the testimony was against him2 there was no time to sift it1 and ,general ,johnston ordered him to be shot before the assembled army4 ,a comrade who believed in him1 but who had no evidence in his favor1 made a last appeal4 ,when the soldier was arrested1 he had been in the act of writing a letter to his father4 ,he begged this comrade to secure it and send it home1 giving him permission to read it4 ,the comrade read it and took it to ,general ,johnston4 ,it was an honest1 loving letter such as a good son would write to a kind father4 ,it was carefully written4 ,general ,johnston read it1 expecting to find some sign of treason there4 ,he read it twice2 and then he said to the comrade3 8,why did you bring this to me80 8,to show you1 general10 the soldier answered1 8that a man who could write such a letter to his father on the eve of battle could not have the heart of a traitor40 8,you are right10 ,general ,johnston said1 after a pause2 8let the man be released40 ,he was released1 and later it was discovered that he had been wrongly suspected4 ,he was killed in that battle4 ,such a son would rather have died a hundred times than have such a father know that he had been shot or hanged as a traitor4 ,the letters we write home ought to be as carefully written as possible4 ,there is nothing too good for your father or mother4 ,they may not always tell you so2 but you may be sure that a well-written and affectionate letter from you brightens life very much for them4 ,have you ever seen a father who had a boy at school draw from his pocket a son's letter and show it to his friends with eyes glistening with pleasure8 ,i have4 8,there's a boy for you60 he says4 8,there is a manly1 cheerful letter written to me1 sir1 and written as well as any man in this country can write it60 ,if you have ever seen a father in that proud and happy mood1 you know how your father feels when you treat him with the consideration which is his due4 ,your mothers treasure your letters and give them a value they do not1 ,i am afraid1 often really possess4 ,if you desire to appear well before the world1 begin by correcting and improving yourself at school and out of school4 ,a young man who writes a slovenly letter to his parents will probably drop into carelessness when he writes formal letters to people outside his domestic circle4 ,it is a good rule to answer every letter during the week of its receipt4 ,it is as rude to refuse to answer a question politely put as to leave a letter without an answer--provided the writer of the letter is a person you know4 ,some young people are capable of addressing the ,president as 8,dear ,friend10 or of doing what1 according to a certain authority1 a young person did in ,baltimore4 ,this uncouth young person was presented to ,cardinal ,gibbons1 ,archbishop of ,baltimore4 8,hello1 ,arch460 he said--and ,i fear that his friends who were present wished that he were dead4 8,dear ,sir0 is always a proper form to begin a letter with to anybody older than ourselves1 or to anybody we do not know intimately4 ,and if we begin by 8,dear ,sir10 we should not end with 8,yours most affectionately40 8,yours respectfully0 or 8,yours sincerely0 would be the better form4 ,to end a letter with 8,yours1 etc410 is justly considered in the worst possible taste2 and it is almost as bad as to begin a letter with 8,friend ,jones10 or 8,friend ,smith10 or 8,friend ,john10 or 8,tom40 ,the ,quakers address one another as 8friend20 we do not4 ,begin with 8,dear ,john0 or 8,dear ,tom10 or even 8,dear ,jones0 or 8,dear ,brown10 if you like1 but do not use the prefix 8friend40 ,in writing to an entire stranger1 one may use the third person1 or begin with 8,sir0 or 8,madam40 ,suppose1 for instance1 you want some information from a librarian you do not know personally4 ,you may write in this way3 8,mr4 ,berry would be much obliged to ,mr4 ,bibliophile for ,dr4 ,st4 ,george ,mivart's book on #8,the ,cat1' which he will return as soon as possible40 ,or ,mr4 ,berry would say3 8,,sir3 ,i should be much obliged if you would lend me ,dr4 ,st4 ,george ,mivart's book on #8,the ,cat4' 8,yours respectfully40 ,no man in decent society ever puts 8,mr40 before his own name1 except on visiting-cards4 ,there1 usage has made it proper4 ,a married lady or a young girl always has 8,mrs40 or 8,miss0 on her cards1 and1 of late1 men have got into the habit of putting 8,mr40 on theirs4 ,no man of taste ever puts 8,mr40 before or 8,esq40#a after his own name when signing a letter4 ,footnote #a3 ,the title ,esq4 really belongs only to those connected with the legal profession1 but republican usage has much extended it4 ,another fault against taste is a habit--prevalent only in ,america--of writing social letters under business headings4 ,here is an example3 ,j4 ,j4 ,,robinson ,,co41 ,new ,york4 ,manufacturers and ,dealers in the ,newest ,styles of ,coffins1 ,caskets1 and ,embalming ,fluids4 ,orders carefully attended to4 ,all payments ,c4,o4,d4 ,no deductions for damages allowed after thirty days4 ,under that heading appears a note of congratulation3 8,,dear ,,tom3 ,i hasten to congratulate you on your marriage4 ,believe me1 ,i wish you every blessing1 and if you should ever need anything in my line1 you will always receive the greatest possible reduction in price4 ,may you live long and prosper6 8,yours very affectionately1 8,j4 ,j4 ,,robinson40 ,this is an extreme example1 ,i admit2 but who has not seen social notes written under business headings just as incongruous8 ,when we write to anybody not on business1 let us use spotless white paper without lines2 let the paper and envelopes be as thick as possible2 and let us not put any ornamental flower1 or crest1 or coat-of-arms1 or any bit of nonsense at the top of our letters4 ,the address ought to be written plainly at the head of our letter-paper1 or printed if you will4 ,and if we begin a letter with 8,dear ,sir10 we ought to write in the left-hand corner of the last sheet the name of the person to whom the letter is addressed4 ,but if we begin a letter with 8,dear ,mr4 ,robinson10 it is not necessary to write ,mr4 ,robinson's name again4 ,if a man gets an invitation written in the third person he must answer it in the third person4 ,if 8,mrs4 ,j4 ,j4 ,smith requests the pleasure of ,mr4 ,j4 ,j4 ,jones's company at dinner on ,wednesday1 ,april #bc1 at seven o'clock10 young ,mr4 ,j4 ,j4 ,jones would stamp himself as ignorant of the ways of society if he wrote back3 8,,dear ,,mrs4 ,,smith3 ,i will come1 of course4 ,if ,i am a little late1 keep something on the fire for me4 ,i shall be umpire at a base-ball match that afternoon1 and ,i shall be hungry4 ,good-by4 8,yours devotedly1 8,j4 ,j4 ,,jones40 ,you may be sure that if young ,mr4 ,jones should put in an appearance after that note he would find the door closed in his face4 ,an invitation to dinner must be accepted or declined on the day it is received4 ,one is not permitted to say he will come if he can4 ,he must say ,yes or ,no at once4 ,the words 8polite10 8genteel10 and 8present compliments0 are no longer used4 8,your kind invitation0 now takes the place of 8your polite invitation20 and 8genteel0 is out of date4 ,the letters 8,r4 ,s4 ,v4 ,p40 are no longer put on notes or cards4 ,it is thought it is not necessary to tell1 in ,french1 people to 8answer1 if you please40 ,all well-educated people are pleased to answer without being told to do so4 ,the custom of putting 8,r4 ,s4 ,v4 ,p40 in a note is as much out of fashion as that of drawing off a glove when one shakes hands4 ,in the olden times1 when men wore armor1 a hand clothed in a steel or iron gauntlet was not pleasant to touch4 ,there was then a reason why a man should draw off his glove when he extended his hand to another1 especially if that other happened to be a lady4 ,but the reason for the custom has gone by2 and it is not necessary to draw off one's glove now when one shakes hands4 ,but to return to the subject of letter-writing4 ,if you are addressing a ,doctor of ,medicine or ,divinity1 you may put 8,esq40 after his name in addition to his title 8,m4,d40 or 8,d4,d40 but it is a senseless custom4 ,but 8,mr40 and 8,esq40 before and after a man's name sends the writer1 in the estimation of well-bred people1 to 8the bottom of the sea40 ,paper with gilt edges is never used2 in fact1 a man must not have anything about him that is merely pretty4 ,usage decrees that he may wear a flower in his button-hole--and ,americans are becoming as fond of flowers as the ancient ,romans2 but farther than that he may not go1 in the way of the merely ornamental1 either in his stationery or his clothes4 ,it is the fashion now to fasten envelopes with wax and to use a seal2 but it is not at all necessary1 though there are many who prefer it1 as they object to get a letter which has been 8licked0 to make its edges stick4 ,begin1 in addressing a stranger1 with 8,madam0 or 8,sir40 8,miss0 by itself is never used4 ,after a second letter has been received1 8,dear ,madam0 or 8,dear ,sir0 may be used4 ,conclude all formal letters with 8,yours truly10 or 8,sincerely yours10 not 8,affectionately yours40 ,sign your full name when writing to a friend or an equal4 ,do not write 8,t4 ,f4 ,robinson0 or 8,t4 ,t4 ,smith20 write your name out as if you were not ashamed of it4 ,put your address at the head of your letters1 and if you make a blot1 tear up the paper4 ,a dirty letter sent1 even with an apology1 is as bad a breach of good manners as the extending of a dirty hand4 ,answer at once any letter in which information is asked4 ,do not write to people you do not know or answer advertisements in the papers 8for fun40 ,a man that knows the world never does this4 ,these advertisements often hide traps1 and a man may get into them merely by writing a letter4 ,and the kind of 8fun0 which ends in a man's being pursued by vulgar postal cards and letters wherever he goes does not pay4 ,in writing a letter1 do not begin too close to the top of the page1 or too far down towards the middle4 ,do not abbreviate when you can help it2 you may write 8,dr40 for 8,doctor40 ,do not put a yellow envelope over a sheet of white note-paper4 ,it is not necessary to leave wide margin at the left-hand side4 ,a habit now is to write only on one side of the paper2 to begin your letter on the first page1 then to go to the third1 then back to the second1 ending1 if you have a great deal to say1 on the fourth4 ,a late fad is to jump from the first to the fourth4 ,with a good dictionary at his elbow1 black ink1 white paper1 a clear head1 and a remembrance of the rules and prohibitions ,i have given1 any young man cannot fail1 if he write1 to impress all who receive his letters with the fact that he is well-bred4 ,,vii4 ,what to ,read4 ,young people who determine to study ,english literature seriously sometimes find themselves discouraged by the multitude of books2 consequently they get into an idle way of accepting opinions at second hand--the ready-made opinions of the text-book4 ,in order to study ,english literature1 it is not necessary to read many books2 but it is necessary to read a few books carefully4 ,the evident insincerity of some of the people who 8go in0 for literary culture has given the humorous paragrapher1 often on the verge of paresis from trying to be funny every day1 many a straw to grasp at4 ,there is no doubt that some of his gibes and sneers are deserved1 and that others1 undeserved1 serve as cheap stock in trade for people who are too idle or too stupid to take any interest in literary matters4 ,literary insincerity and pretension are sufficiently bad1 but they are not worse than the superficial and silly jeers at poetry and art in the line of the worn-out witticisms about the 8spring poet0 and the 8mother-in-law40 ,the young woman who thinks it the proper thing to go into ecstasies over ,robert ,browning without having read a line of the poet's work1 except1 perhaps1 8,how ,they ,carried the ,news from ,ghent to ,aix10 is foolish enough2 but is the man who sneers at ,browning and knows even less about him any better8 ,the earnest student of literature makes no pretensions4 ,he reads a few books well1 and by that obtains the key to the understanding of all others4 ,he does not pretend to admire epics he has not read4 ,he knows1 of course1 that the ,nibelungenlied is the great ,german epic2 but he does not talk about it as if he had studied and weighed every line4 ,if he finds that the ,inferno of ,dante is more interesting than the ,paradiso1 he says so without fear1 and he does not express ready-made opinions without having probed them4 ,if the perfection of good manners is simplicity1 the perfection of literary culture is sincerity4 ,among ,catholics there sometimes crops out a kind of insincerity which almost amounts to snobbishness4 ,it is the tendency to praise no book until it has had a non-,catholic approbation4 ,now that ,dr4 ,gasquet's remarkable volume on the suppression of the ,english monasteries and ,father ,bridgett's 8,sir ,thomas ,more0 have received the highest praise in ,england and swept ,mr4 ,froude's historical rubbish aside1 there are ,catholics who will not hesitate to respect them1 although they did hesitate before the popular laudation was given to these two great books4 ,when a reader has begun to acquire the rudiments of literary taste1 he ought to choose the books he likes2 but he cannot be trusted to choose books for himself until he has--perhaps with some labor--gained taste4 ,all men are born with taste very unequally developed4 ,a man cannot1 ,i repeat1 hope to gain a correct judgment in literary matters unless he works for it4 ,mr4 ,frederick ,harrison says3 8,when will men understand that the reading of great books is a faculty to be acquired1 not a natural gift1 at least to those who are spoiled by our current education and habits of life8 ,an insatiable appetite for new novels makes it as hard to read a masterpiece as it seems to a ,parisian boulevardier to live in a quiet country4 ,until a man can really enjoy a draught of clear water bubbling from a mountain-side1 his taste is in an unwholesome state4 ,to understand a great national poet1 such as ,dante1 ,calderon1 ,corneille1 or ,goethe1 is to know other types of human civilization in ways which a library of histories does not sufficiently teach40 ,mr4 ,harrison is right4 ,it is not always easy to like good books2 but it is easier to train the young to like them than to cleanse the perverted taste of the older4 ,the chief business of the teacher of literature ought to be the cultivation of taste4 ,at his best1 he can do no more than that2 at his worst1 he can fill the head of the student with mere names and dates and undigested opinions4 ,when the student of literature begins really to enjoy ,shakspere1 his taste has begun to be formed4 ,he may read the 8,vicar of ,wakefield0 after that without a yawn1 and learn to enjoy the quiet humor of ,charles ,lamb4 ,he finds himself raised into pure air1 above the malaria of exaggeration and sensationalism4 ,his style in writing insensibly improves2 he becomes critical of the slang and careless ,english of his every-day speech2 and surely these things are worth all the trouble spent in gaining them4 ,besides1 he has secured a perpetual solace for those long nights--and perhaps days--of loneliness which must come to nearly every man when he begins to grow old4 ,after religion1 there is no comfort in life1 when the links of love begin to break1 like a love for great literature4 ,but this love must be genuine2 pretence will not avail2 nor will mere 8top-dressing0 be of any use4 ,literature used to be considered in the light of a 8polite accomplishment40 ,a book of 8elegant extracts0 skimmed through was the only means deemed necessary for the acquirement of an education in letters4 ,it means a very different thing now1 and the establishment of the reading circles has emphasized its meaning for ,catholic ,americans4 ,it means1 first of all1 some knowledge of philology2 it means a critical understanding of the value of the stones that make up the great mosaic of literature1 and these stones are words4 ,a bit of ,addison1 a chunk of ,gibbon1 a taste of ,macaulay1 no longer reach the ideal of what a student of ,english literature should read4 ,we first form our taste1 and then read for ourselves4 ,we do not even accept ,cardinal ,newman's estimate of 8,the ,vision of ,mirza0 or 8,thalaba0 without inquiry2 nor do we throw up our hats for ,browning merely because ,browning has become fashionable4 ,a healthy sign of a robuster taste is the return to ,pope1 the poet of common-sense1 and to ,walter ,scott4 ,but we accept neither of these writers on a cut-and-dried judgment made by somebody else4 ,it is better to give two months to the reading of ,pope and about ,pope than to fill two months with desultory reading and take an opinion of ,pope at second hand4 ,in spite of the ordinary text-book of literature1 the serious student discovers that ,dryden is a poet and prose-writer of the first rank1 that ,newman is the greatest thinker and stylist of modern times1 that no dramatic writer of the last two centuries has come so near ,shakspere as ,aubrey de ,vere1 and that ,coventry ,patmore's prose is delightful4 ,if all the students of literature that read 8,a ,,gentleman0 have not discovered these things for themselves1 let them take up any one of these writers seriously1 perseveringly1 and contradict me if they think ,i am wrong4 ,matthew ,arnold showed long ago that1 if the basis of ,english literature was ,saxon1 its curves1 its form1 its symmetry1 its beauty1 were derived from the qualities of that other race which the ,saxons drove out4 ,similarly1 if the author of that ,saxon epic1 the 8,beowulf10 if ,cdmon and the ,venerable ,bede uttered high thoughts1 it was reserved for ,chaucer to wed high thoughts to a form borrowed from the ,french and ,italians4 ,chaucer saved the ,english language from remaining a collection of inadequate dialects4 ,the ,teutonic element supplied his strength2 the ,celtic element his lightness and elegance4 ,now this ,chaucer was a very humble and devout ,catholic4 8,ah6 but he pointed out abuses--he was the ,lollard1 enlightened by the morning-star of the ,reformation10 the text-books of ,english literature have been saying for many years4 8,see what he insinuates about the levity of his pilgrims to ,canterbury60 ,all of which has nothing to do with his firm faith in the ,catholic ,church4 ,chaucer was inspired by the intensely ,christian ,dante and the exquisite ,petrarch1 but1 unfortunately1 he took too much from another master-the greatest master of ,italian prose1 ,boccaccio4 ,when ,i use the word ,christian1 ,i mean ,catholic--the words are interchangeable2 and ,dante is the most ,christian of all poets4 ,but ,boccaccio was a ,christian2 he had faith2 he could be serious2 he loved ,dante2 his collection of stories1 which no man is justified in reading1 unless it is for their ,italian style1 has attracted every ,english poet of narrative verse1 from ,chaucer to ,tennyson2 and yet1 though these stories have moments of pathos and elevation1 they are full of the fetid breath of paganism4 ,a pope suppressed them2 but their style saved them--for art was a passion in ,italy--and they were revived1 somewhat expurgated4 ,in his old age he lamented the effects of his early book4 ,the occasional coarseness in ,chaucer we owe to the manners of the times2 for the ,english1 far behind the ,italians1 were just awakening from semi-barbarism4 ,dante had crystallized the ,italian language long before ,chaucer was born4 ,italy had produced the precursor of ,dante1 ,st4 ,francis of ,assisi1 and a host of other great men1 whose fame that of ,st4 ,francis and ,dante dimmed by comparison1 long before the magnificent ,english language came out of chaos4 ,the few lapses in morality in ,chaucer are due both to the influence of ,boccaccio and to the paganism latent in a people who were gradually becoming fully converted4 ,but the power of ,christianity protected ,chaucer2 the teaching of the ,church was part of his very life1 and nothing could be more pathetic1 more honest than his plea for pardon4 ,the ,church had taught him to love chastity2 if he sinned in word1 he sinned against light4 ,the ,church gave him the safeguards for his genius2 the dross he gathered from the earthiness around him4 ,of the latter1 there is little enough4 ,chaucer was born in #acdj2 ,dante in #abfe2 and ,dante helped to create the ,english poet4 ,italy was the home of the greatest and noblest men of all the world1 and these men had revived pagan art in order to baptize it and make it a child of ,christ4 ,chaucer has suffered more than any other poet at the hands of the text-book makers1 who have conspired for over three hundred years against the truth4 ,we have been made to see him through a false medium4 ,we have been told that he was in revolt against the religion which he loved as his life4 ,he loved the ,mother of ,god with a childlike fervor2 a modern ,presbyterian would have been as much of a heretic to him as a ,moslem2 he was as loyal a child of the ,church as ever lived1 and to regard him as anything else is to stamp one as of that old and ignorant school of ,philistines which all cultivated ,americans have learned to detest4 ,the best book for the study of this poet is ,cowden ,clarke's 8,riches of ,chaucer0 7,london3 ,crosby1 ,lockwood ,co471 the knowledge of which ,i owe to the kindness of ,mr4 ,aubrey de ,vere4 ,and his works will repay study2 ,mr4 ,cowden ,clarke arranged them so that they can be read with ease and1 after a short time1 with pleasure4 ,to see ,chaucer through anybody's eyes is to see him through a darkened glass4 ,why should not we1 so much nearer to him than any of the commentators who have assumed to explain him to us1 take possession of him8 ,he should not be an alien to us2 the form of the inkhorn he held has changed2 but the rosary that fell from his fingers was the same as our rosary4 ,english literature began with ,chaucer4 ,he loved ,god and he loved humanity2 he could laugh like a child because he had the faith of a child4 ,his strength lay in his faith2 and1 as faith weakened1 ,english poets looked back more and more regretfully at the 8merrie0 meads sprinkled with the daisies he loved4 ,he is as cheerful as ,sir ,thomas ,more2 as gay1 yet as sympathetic with human pleasure and pain1 as the ,dominican monks whom he loved4 ,if he jibed at abuses--if he saw that luxury and avarice were beginning to creep into monasteries and palaces--he knew well that the remedy lay in greater union with ,rome4 ,like ,francis of ,assisi1 he was a poet1 but a poet who loved even the defects of humanity1 and who preferred to laugh at them rather than to reform them4 ,unlike ,francis of ,assisi1 he was not a saint4 ,he was intensely interested in the world around him2 he was of it and in it2 and he belongs doubly to us--the ,alma ,redemptoris1 one of his favorite hymns1 which he mentions in 8,tale of the ,prioress10 we hear at vespers as he heard it4 ,the faith in which he died in #adjj is our faith to-day4 ,in no age have been the written masterpieces of genius within such easy reach of all readers4 ,but it is true that older people1 living at a time when books were dearer and libraries fewer than they are now1 read better books2 not more books1 but better books4 ,probably in those days people amused themselves less outside their own homes4 ,some tell us that the tone of thought was more solid and serious4 ,at any rate1 the ,english classics had more influence on the ,american reader fifty years ago than they have to-day4 ,the time had its drawbacks1 to be sure4 ,an old gentleman often told me of a visit to a ,pennsylvania farm in the thirties1 when the man of the house gave him1 as a precious thing1 a copy of ,the ,catholic ,herald two years old6 ,now the paper of yesterday seems almost a century old2 then the paper of last year was new4 ,unhappily1 the book of last year suffers the same fate as the paper of yesterday4 ,the best way to counteract this unhappy condition of affairs is to clasp a good book to one with 8hoops of steel0 when such a book is found4 ,in considering the subject of literature1 there is one great book which is seldom mentioned4 ,this is ,denis ,florence ,mac,carthy's translations from ,calderon4 ,calderon ought not to be a stranger to us4 ,he approaches very near to ,dante in deep religious feeling1 and he is not far behind him in genius4 ,if no good translation of some of his most representative works existed1 there might be an excuse for the general neglect of this great author by ,english-speaking readers4 ,and ,mac,carthy has done justice to those sublime1 sacred dramas1 called 8autos10 in which all the resources of faith and genius are laid at the feet of ,god4 ,it is to be hoped that in a few years both ,mac,carthy and ,mangan may be recognized4 ,those who know the former only by his 8,waiting for the ,may0 will broaden their field of literary knowledge and gain a higher respect for him through his translations of ,calderon4 ,the names of ,calderon1 the greatest of the ,spanish poets1 and of ,mac,carthy1 his chief translator1 suggest that of another author too little known to the general reader4 ,this is ,kenelm ,henry ,digby1 whose 8,mores ,catholici0 is a magazine of ammunition for the ,christian reader4 ,there is an amusing scene in one of ,thackeray's novels1 where a journalist acknowledges that he finds all the classical quotations which garnish his articles in ,burton's 8,anatomy of ,melancholy20 and1 indeed1 many other things besides bits of ,latin have been appropriated from ,burton and ,montaigne1 in our time1 by ready writers4 ,many a sparkling thought put into the crisp ,english of the nineteenth century may be traced back to ,boethius4 ,and who shall condemn this8 ,has not ,shakspere set us an example of how gold1 half buried in ore1 may be polished until it is an inestimable jewel8 ,kenelm ,digby's 8,mores ,catholici0 is a great magazine from which a thousand facts may be gathered1 each fact pregnant with suggestion and stimulus4 ,sharp-pointed arrows against calumny are here3 all they need is a light shaft and feather and a strong hand to send them home4 ,is an illustration for a sermon wanted8 ,is a fact on which to found an essay demanded8 ,one has only to open the 8,mores40 ,it is not a book which one reads with intense interest2 one cannot gallop through the three large volumes--one must walk1 laboriously stowing away every treasure4 ,it is1 in fact1 a book through which one saunters1 picking something at long intervals1 perhaps4 ,you may dip into it1 as a boy dives for a cent1 and come up with a pearl-oyster in your hand4 ,it is a book to be kept on the lowest shelf1 within reach at all times2 at any rate1 to be one of the books to which you go when you are in search of a fact or an illustration4 ,one of the few sonnets written by ,denis ,florence ,mac,carthy was addressed to ,digby4 ,digby had painted a picture of ,calderon and sent it to the ,irish poet2 hence the sonnet-- 8,thou who hast left1 as in a sacred shrine1-- ,what shrine more pure than thy unspotted page8-- ,the priceless relics of a heritage ,of loftiest thoughts and lessons most divine40 ,and so the names of ,calderon and ,mac,carthy and ,digby come naturally together2 and they are the names of men each great in his way4 ,they are not found in the newspapers2 they are seldom seen in the great magazines2 those societies of the cultivated which are--thank ,heaven6--multiplying everywhere for the better understanding of books know very little about them4 ,let us hope that ,miss ,imogene ,guiney1 who wrote so well of ,mangan in one of the numbers of the ,atlantic ,monthly1 will do a similar kind office for ,mac,carthy4 ,as to ,calderon1 he can be read but in parts4 ,like ,milton1 he travelled over many a barren stretch of prose thinking it poetry2 and so we will be wise to follow ,mac,carthy's lead in choosing from his dramas4 ,he is so little known among us for the reason that we have permitted the ,english taste--which became ,protestantized--to separate us from him4 ,it is to the ,german ,goethe that we owe the revival of the taste for ,dante4 ,before ,goethe rediscovered him1 the ,english-speaking people of the world held that there were only two great poets--,shakspere and ,milton4 ,to reclaim our heritage1 we must know something of ,calderon4 ,there is no reason why our horizon should be limited to that which ,english ,protestantism has uncovered for us4 ,calderon represents the literature of ,catholic ,spain at its highest point2 and even the most narrow-minded man1 having read a fair number of the pages of ,calderon1 can deny neither his ardent devotion to the ,church nor his high genius1 nor can he disprove that they existed together1 free and untrammelled4 ,we have been told that the outbreak of literary genius in the reign of ,elizabeth was but the outcome of the liberty of the ,reformation4 ,how did it happen that ,spain1 in which there was no ,reformation1 produced ,columbus1 ,calderon1 ,cervantes1 and ,italy illustrious names by the legion8 ,knowledge1 after all1 is the only antidote to the miasma of ignorance and arrogance which has clouded the judgment of so many writers on literature and art4 ,,viii4 ,the ,home ,book-shelf4 ,it ought not to be so much our practice to denounce bad books as to point out good ones4 ,to say that a book is immoral is to increase its sale4 ,but the more good books we put into the hands of our boys1 the greater preservative powers we give them against evil4 ,here is a bit from the ,kansas ,city ,star which expresses tersely what we have all been thinking3 8,the truth is that it is not the boys who read #8bad books' who swell the roll of youthful criminality2 it is the boys who do not read anything4 ,let any one look over the police court of a busy morning1 and he will see that the style of youth gathered there have not fallen into evil ways through their depraved literary tendencies4 ,they were not brought there by books1 but more probably by ignorance of books combined with a genuine hatred of books of all kinds4 ,there is not a more perfect picture of innocence in the world than a boy buried in his favorite book1 oblivious to all earthly sights and sounds1 scarcely breathing as he follows the fortunes of the heroes and heroines of the story40 ,it depends1 of course1 on what kind of a story it is4 ,a boy may be a picture of innocence2 but we all know that many a canvas on which is a picture of innocence is much worm-eaten at the back4 ,if the book be a good one1 a boy is safe while he is reading it--he can be no safer4 ,if it is a mere story of adventure1 without any dangerous sentiment1 a boy is not likely to get harm out of it4 ,it is the sentimental--not the honest sentiment of ,sir ,walter or ,thackeray--that does harm to the boy of a certain age1 but more harm to the girl4 ,a boy's preoccupation with his book may not be always innocent4 ,it is a father's or mother's duty to see that it is innocent1 by supplying the boy with the right kind of books4 ,this1 in our atmosphere1 is almost as much of a duty as the supplying him with bread and butter4 ,a father may take the lowest view of his duties2 he maybe content with having his son taught the ,little ,catechism and with feeding and clothing him4 ,however sufficient this may be among the peasants of the ,tyrol1 it does not answer in our country4 ,the boy who cares to read nothing except the daily paper or the theatrical poster has more chances against him than the devourer of books4 ,the police courts show that4 ,the parish library1 as a help to religious and moral education1 comes next to the parish school2 it supplements it2 it amplifies its instruction3 it carries its influence deeper2 it cultivates both the logical powers and the imagination4 ,give a boy a taste for books1 and he has a consolation which neither sickness nor poverty nor age itself can take from him4 ,but he must not be left to ramble through a library at his own sweet will4 ,there are probably no stricter ,catholics among our acquaintance than were the parents of ,alexander ,pope1 the 8poet of common-sense0 and bad philosophy2 and yet their carelessness1 or rather faith in books merely as books1 led him into many an ethical error4 ,there is no use in trying to restrict the reading of a clever ,american boy to professedly ,catholic books in the ,english language4 ,he will ask for stories1 and there are not enough stories of the right sort to last him very long4 ,he will want stories with plenty of action in them--stirring stories1 stories of adventure1 stories of school life1 of life in his own country2 and we have too few of them4 ,and it requires some discrimination to square his wants with what he ought to want4 ,but that discrimination must be used by somebody1 or there will be danger4 ,nevertheless1 the boy who rushes through ,oliver ,optic's stories1 and ,henty's and ,bolderwood's1 is not likely to be injured4 ,they are not ideal books1 from our point of view4 ,he may even read ,charles ,kingsley's boisterous1 stupid stuff2 but if he is a well-instructed boy1 he will be in a state of hot indignation all through 8,hypatia0 and the other underdone-roast-beefy things of that bigot4 ,kingsley1 with all his prejudice1 though1 is better for a boy than ,rider ,haggard4 ,there is a nasty trail over ,haggard's stories4 ,there is some comfort in the fact that the average boy is too eagerly intent on his story to mind the moralizing4 ,what does he care for ,lord ,lytton's talk about the ,good1 the ,true1 and the ,beautiful in 8,the ,last ,days of ,pompeii08 ,he wants to know how everything 8turns out40 ,and in ,kingsley's 8,hypatia0--which is so often in ,catholic libraries--he pays very little attention to the historical lies1 for the sake of the action4 ,nevertheless1 he should be guarded against the historical lies4 ,personally--,i hope this intrusion of the ego will be forgiven--,i had1 when ,i was a boy and waded through all sorts of books1 so strong a conviction that ,catholics were always right and every one else wrong1 that 8,hypatia0 and ,bulwer's 8,harold0 and the rest were mere incentives to zeal2 ,i thought that if the ,lady ,abbess walled up ,constance at the end of 8,marmion10 that young person deserved her fate4 ,this state of mind1 however1 ought not to be generally cultivated2 a discriminating taste for reading should4 ,do not let us cry out so loudly about bad books2 let us seek out the good ones2 and remember that it is not the reading boy that fills the criminal ranks1 but the boy that lives in the streets and does not read4 ,there should be a few books on the family shelf--books which are meant to be daily companions--the ,bible1 the 8,imitation of ,christ10 something of ,father ,faber's1 8,fabiola0 and 8,dion and the ,sibyls10 and some great novels4 ,people of to-day do not realize how much the greatest of all the romancers owes to the ,catholic ,dryden4 ,sir ,walter ,scott1 in spite of frequent change in public taste1 still holds his own4 ,cardinal ,newman1 in one of his letters1 regrets that young people have ceased to be interested in so admirable a writer4 ,but there is only partial reason for this regret4 ,sir ,walter's long introductions and some of his elaborate descriptions of natural scenery are no longer read with interest4 ,still1 it is evident that people do not care to have his works changed in any way4 ,not long ago1 ,miss ,braddon1 the indefatigable novelist1 8edited0 ,sir ,walter ,scott's novels4 ,she cut out all those passages which seemed dull to her4 ,but the public refused to read the improved edition4 ,it remained unsold4 ,it is safe to predict that neither ,sir ,walter ,scott nor ,miss ,austen will ever go entirely out of fashion4 ,sir ,walter's muse is to ,miss ,austen's as the ,queen of ,sheba to a very prim modern gentlewoman3 one is attired in splendid apparel1 wreathed with jewels1 sparkling2 the other is neutral-tinted1 timid1 shy4 ,but of all novelists1 ,sir ,walter ,scott admired ,miss ,edgeworth and ,miss ,austen4 ,he said1 with almost a sigh of regret1 that he could do the big 8bow-wow0 business1 but that they pictured real life4 ,nevertheless1 while ,miss ,austen is not forgotten--in fact1 interest has increased in her delightful books of late years--,sir ,walter ,scott's novels are found everywhere4 ,not to have read the most notable of the ,waverley ,novels is to give one's acquaintances just reason for lamenting one's illiberal education4 ,the name of ,sir ,walter ,scott naturally suggests that of ,dryden1 from whom the 8,wizard0 borrowed some of the best things in 8,ivanhoe0--and 8,ivanhoe0 is without doubt the most popular of ,sir ,walter ,scott's novels4 ,that picturesque humbug ,macaulay1 who could sacrifice anything for a brilliant antithesis1 has done much harm to the reputation of ,dryden4 ,he gives us the impression that ,dryden was a mere timeserver1 if a brilliant satirist and a third-rate poet4 ,some years will pass before the superficial criticism of ,macaulay shall be taken at its full value4 ,dryden was honest--honest in his changes of opinion1 and entirely consistent in his change of faith4 ,no church but that of his ancestors could have satisfied the mind of a man to whom the mutilated doctrine and bald services of the ,anglican sect were naturally obnoxious4 ,of the charge that ,dryden changed his religious opinions for gain1 ,mr4 ,john ,amphlett ,evans1 a sympathetic critic1 says that1 if ,dryden gained the approval of ,king ,james ,,ii41 he lost that of the ,english people4 ,dryden understood this1 for he wrote3 8,if joys hereafter must be purchased here ,with loss of all that mortals hold so dear1 ,then welcome infamy and public shame1 ,and last1 a long farewell to worldly fame40 ,if ,scott1 through ignorance or carelessness1 misrepresented certain ,catholic practices1 he never consciously misrepresented ,catholic ideas2 and1 as a recent writer in the ,dublin ,review remarks1 he showed that all that was best and heroic in the ,middle ,ages was the result of ,catholic teaching4 ,this was his attraction for ,cardinal ,newman4 ,this made him so fascinating to another convert1 ,james ,a4 ,mc,master1 who had an inherited ,calvinistic horror of most other novels4 ,scott1 robust and broad-minded as he was1 could understand the mighty genius and the great heart of ,dryden4 ,he was the ablest defender of the poet who abjured the licentiousness of the ,restoration--mirrored in his earlier dramas--to adopt a purer mode of thought4 ,although ,dryden was really ,scott's master in art1 ,sir ,walter did not fully understand how very great was ,dryden's poem1 8,almanzor and ,almahide40 ,if ,tasso's 8,jerusalem ,delivered10 or ,ariosto's 8,orlando ,furioso10 or ,milton's 8,paradise ,regained10 or ,fnelon's 8,telemachus0 is an epic1 this splendid poem of ,dryden's is an epic1 and greater than them all4 ,it is from this poem1 founded on episodes of the siege of ,granada1 that ,sir ,walter ,scott borrows so liberally in 8,ivanhoe40 ,one cannot altogether pardon the greatest fault of all ,sir ,walter made1 the punishment of ,constance in 8,marmion40 ,but his theory of artistic effect was something like ,macaulay's idea of rhetorical effect4 ,if picturesqueness or dramatic effect interfered with historical truth1 the latter suffered the necessary carving to make it fit4 ,it must be remembered1 too1 that ,sir ,walter ,scott was not in a position to profit by modern discoveries which have forced all honorable men to revise many pages of the falsified histories of their youth and to do justice to the spirit of the ,church4 ,sir ,walter ,scott is always chivalrous and pure-minded4 ,how he would have detested ,froude's brutal characterization of ,mary ,stuart1 or ,swinburne's vile travesty of her6 ,if his friars are more jolly than respectable1 it is because he drew his pictures from popular ballads and old stories never intended in ,catholic times to be taken as serious or typical4 ,his ,templars are horrible villains1 but he never seems to regard them as villanous because they are ecclesiastics2 he does not intend to drag their priesthood into disgrace2 they are lawless and romantic figures1 loaded with horrible accusations by ,philippe le ,bel1 and condemned by the ,pope--ready-made romantic scoundrels fit for purposes of fiction4 ,he does not look beyond this4 ,scott shows much of the nobility of ,dryden's later work4 ,he does not confuse good with evil2 he is always tender of good sentiments2 he hates vice and all meanness2 in depicting so many fine characters who could only have bloomed in a ,catholic atmosphere1 he shows a sympathy for the 8old ,church0 at once pathetic and admirable to a ,catholic4 ,there is no novel of his in which the influence of the ,church is not alluded to in some way or other4 ,and how delightful are his heroines when they are ,catholic6 ,how charmingly he has drawn ,mary ,stuart6 ,and the man that does not love ,di ,vernon and ,catherine ,seton has no heart for ,beatrice or ,portia4 ,and then there is the grand figure of ,edward ,glendenning in 8,the ,abbot40 ,dryden and ,scott both owed so much to the ,church1 were so naturally her children1 that one feels no ordinary satisfaction in the conversion of the one1 and some consolation in the fact that the last words of the other were those of the 8,dies ,irae40 ,brownson and ,newman are two authors more talked about than read in this country4 ,in ,england ,newman's most careful literary work is known2 ,brownson's work has only begun to receive attention4 ,newman has gained much by being talked and written about by men who love the form of things as much as the matter1 and who1 if ,newman had taught ,buddhism or ,schopenhauerism1 would admire him just as much4 ,as there is a large class of these men1 and as they help to form public opinion1 it has come to pass that he who would deny ,newman's mastery of style would be smiled at in any assembly of men of letters4 ,brownson has not had such an advantage4 ,he gave his attention thoroughly to the matter in hand2 style was with him a secondary consideration4 ,besides1 he wrote from the ,american point of view1 and sometimes--at least it would seem so--under pressure from the printer4 ,newman was never hurried2 ,horace was not more leisurely1 ,cicero more exact4 ,it would be absurd to compare ,newman and ,brownson4 ,i simply put their names together to show that they should be read1 even if other writers must be neglected1 by ,catholic ,americans4 ,i take the liberty of recommending three books as valuable additions to the home shelf3--,brownson's 8,views10 and the 8,characteristics0 of ,wiseman and ,newman4 ,every young ,american who wants to understand the political position of his country among the nations should read three books--,brownson's 8,american ,republic10 ,de ,tocqueville's 8,democracy in ,america10 and ,bryce's 8,american ,commonwealth40 ,but of these three writers the greatest--incomparably the greatest--is ,brownson3 he defines principles2 he clarifies them until they are luminous2 he shows the application of them to a new condition of things4 ,there have been ,catholics--why disguise the fact1 since they are nearly all dead or imbecile8--who fancied that our form of government was merely tolerated by the ,church4 ,brownson gave a death-blow to those ancient dragons of unbelief4 ,certain parts of this great work ought to be a text-book in every school in the country4 ,and it will now be easier to build a monument to this profound thinker1 as there is a well-considered attempt to popularize such portions of his books as must catch the general attention1 for there are many pages in ,brownson's works which are hidden only because they suffered in their original method of publication4 ,open a volume of his works at random1 and you will find something to suggest or stimulate thought1 to define a term or to fortify a principle4 ,read1 for instance1 those pages of his on the ,catholic ,american literature of his time and you will have a standard of judgment for all time4 ,and who to-day can say what he says as well as he said it8 ,as to those parts of his philosophy about which the doctors disagree1 let us leave that to the doctors4 ,it does not concern the general public1 and indeed it might be left out of consideration with advantage4 ,brownson's works are mines of thought4 ,in them lie the germs of mighty sermons1 of great books to come4 ,already he is a classic in ,american literature1 and there is every reason why he should be a classic1 since he was first in an untilled ground2 and yet it is a sad thing to find that of all the magnificent material ,brownson has left1 the 8,spirit ,rapper10 that comparatively least worthy product of his pen1 seems to be the best known to the general reader4 ,if one of us would confine himself to the reading of four authors in ,english--,shakspere1 ,newman1 ,webster1 and ,brownson--he could not fail to be well educated4 ,the 8,idea of a ,university0 of ,newman is a pregnant book4 ,it goes to the root of the subtlest matters2 its clearness enters our minds and makes the shadows flee4 ,it cannot be made our own at one reading4 ,there are passages which should be read over and over again--notably that on literature and the definition of a classic4 ,if any man could make us grasp the intangible1 ,newman could4 ,how sentimental and thin ,emerson appears after him6 ,professor ,cook1 of ,yale1 has done the world a good turn by giving us the chapter on 8,poetry and the ,poetics of ,aristotle0 in a little pamphlet2 and ,john ,lilly's 8,characteristics0 is a very valuable book4 ,any reader or active man who dips into the chapter on the 8,poetics0 will long for more2 and1 if he does1 the 8,characteristics0 will not slake his thirst2 he will desire the volumes themselves and drink in new refreshments with every page4 ,i have known a young admirer of 8,lead1 ,kindly ,light0--which1 by the way1 has only three stanzas of its own--to be repelled by the learned title of 8,apologia ,pro ,vita ,sua10 but1 in search of the circumstances that helped to produce it1 to turn to certain pages in this presumably uninteresting work4 ,the charm began to work2 ,newman was no longer a pedant to be avoided1 but a friend to be ever near4 8,callista0 amounts to very little as a novel2 it is valuable because ,newman studied its color from authentic sources4 ,but 8,the ,dream of ,gerontius0 is only beginning in our country to receive the attention due to it4 ,it was a text-book in classes at ,oxford long before people here touched it at all1 except in rare instances4 ,it is a unique poem4 ,there is nothing like it in all literature4 ,it is the record of the experience of a soul during the instant it is liberated from the body4 ,it touches the sublime2 it is colorless--if a pure white light can be said to be colorless4 ,it is the work of a great logician impelled to utter his thoughts through the most fitting medium1 and this medium he finds to be verse4 ,in ,dante the symbols of earthly things represent to us the mystic life of the other world4 ,dante ,gabriel ,rossetti1 chief of the ,pre-,raphaelites1 imitated the outer shell of the great ,dante--the sensuous shell--but he got no further4 ,newman soars above1 beyond earth2 we are made to realize with awful force that the soul at death is at once divorced from the body4 ,dante does not make us feel this4 ,the people that ,virgil and he meet are not spirits1 but men and women with bodies and souls in torment4 ,no painter on earth could put 8,the ,dream of ,gerontius0 into line and color4 ,flaxman1 so exquisite in his interpretation of ,dante1 would seem vulgar1 and ,dor brutal4 ,none of us should lack a knowledge of this truly wonderful poem1 which must be studied1 not read4 ,philosophy and theology have found no flaws in it2 humanity may shiver in the whiteness of its light1 and yet be consoled by the fact that the comfort it offers is not merely imaginative1 or sentimental1 or beautiful1 but real4 ,it is impossible to suppress the love of the beautiful in human nature4 ,the early ,new ,englanders1 to whom beauty was an offence and art and literature condemned things--who worshipped a ,god of their own invention1 clothed in sulphurous clouds and holding victims over eternal fire1 ready1 with the ghastly pleasure described by their divines1 to drop these victims into the flame--were not ,christians4 ,christians have never accepted the ,grecian dictum that earthly beauty is the good and that to be sthetic is to be moral2 but ,christianity has always encouraged the love of beauty and led the way to its use in the worship of ,god4 ,among ,americans1 ,longfellow had a most devout love of the beautiful4 ,and it was this love of beauty that drew him near to the ,church4 ,that eloquent writer ,ruskin has little sympathy with men who are drawn towards the ,church by the beauty she enshrines1 and he constantly protests against the enticements of a ,spouse the hem of whose garment he kisses4 ,still1 judging from his ill-natured diatribe against ,pugin1 in the 8,stones of ,venice10 he had no understanding of the sentiment that caused ,longfellow1 when in search of inspiration1 to turn to the ,church4 ,longfellow's love of the melodious1 of the beautiful1 of the symmetrical1 led him into defects4 ,he could not endure a discord1 and his motto was 8,non clamor1 sed amor10 which1 as coming from him1 may be paraphrased in one word1 8serenity40 ,his superabundant similes show how he longed to carry one thing into another thing of even greater beauty1 and how this longing sometimes leads him to faults of taste4 ,but this lover of beauty--led by it to the very beauty of ,ruskin's ,circe and his forefathers' 8,scarlet ,woman0--came of a race that hated beauty4 ,and yet he stretched out through the rocky soil of ,puritan traditions and training until we find him translating the sermon of ,st4 ,francis of ,assisi to the birds into ,english verse1 and working lovingly at the most ,christian of all poems1 the 8,divine ,comedy40 ,it was he--this descendant of the ,puritans--who described1 as no other poet ever described1 the innocence of the young girl coming from confession4 ,but it was his love of beauty and his love of purity that made him do this4 ,in ,longfellow's eyes only the pure was beautiful4 ,a canker in the rose made the rose hateful to him4 ,he was unlike his classmate and friend ,hawthorne3 the stain on the lily did not make it more interesting4 ,his love of purity was1 however1 like his hatred of noise1 a sentiment rather than a conviction4 ,the love for the beautiful leads to ,rome4 ,ruskin fights against it1 ,longfellow yields to it1 and even ,whittier--whose lack of culture and whose traditions held him doubly back--is drawn to the beauty of the saints4 ,as culture in ,america broadens and deepens1 respect for the things that ,protestantism cast out increases4 ,james ,russell ,lowell's paper on ,dante1 in 8,among ,my ,books10 is an example of this4 ,the comprehension he shows of the divine poet is amazing in a son of the ,puritans4 ,but the human mind and the human heart will struggle towards the light4 ,longfellow was too great an artist to try to lop off such ,catholic traditions as might displease his readers4 ,in this he was greater than ,sir ,walter ,scott1 and a hundred times greater than ,spenser4 ,scott's mind1 bending as a healthy tree bends to the light1 stretched towards the old ,church4 ,she fascinated his imagination1 she drew his thoughts1 and her beauty won his heart2 but he was afraid of the ,english people4 ,and yet1 subservient as ,scott was1 ,cardinal ,newman avows that ,sir ,walter's novels drew him towards the ,church2 and there is a letter written by the great cardinal in which he laments that the youth of the nineteenth century no longer read the novels of the 8,wizard of the ,north40 ,scott cannot get rid of the charm the ,church throws about him4 ,he was not classical1 he was romantic4 ,he soon tired of mere form1 as any healthy mind will4 ,the reticent and limited beauty of the ,greek temple made him yawn2 but he was never weary of the ,gothic church1 with its surprises1 its splendor1 its glow1 its statues1 its gargoyles--all its reproductions of the life of the world in its relations to ,god4 ,similarly1 ,longfellow was not a classicist4 ,the coldness of ,greek beauty did not appeal to him2 he could understand and love the pictures of ,giotto--the artist of ,st4 ,francis--better than the 8,dying ,gladiator40 ,when ,christianity had given life to the perfect form of ,greek art1 then ,longfellow understood and loved it4 ,and he trusted the ,american people sufficiently not to attempt to placate them by concealing or distorting the source of his inspiration4 ,no casual reader of 8,evangeline0 can mistake the cause of the primitive virtues of the ,acadians4 ,a lesser artist would have introduced the typical ,jesuit of the romancers1 or hinted that a ,king ,james's ,bible read by ,gabriel and ,evangeline1 under the direction of a self-sacrificing colporteur1 was at the root of all the patience1 purity1 and constancy in the poem4 ,but ,longfellow knew better than this1 and the ,american people took 8,evangeline0 to their heart without question1 except from some carper1 like ,poe1 who envied the literary distinction of the poet4 ,we must remember1 too1 that the ,american people of #ahdg were not the ,american people of to-day2 they were narrower1 more provincial1 less infused with new blood1 and more prejudiced against the traditions of the ,church to which ,longfellow appealed when he wrote his greatest poem4 ,it is as impossible to eliminate the cross from the discovery of ,america as to love art and literature without acknowledging the power that preserved both4 ,,ix4 ,of ,shakspere4 ,the time has come when the ,catholics of this country--who possess unmutilated the seamless garment of ,christ--should begin to understand the real value of the inheritance of art and literature and music which is especially theirs4 ,the ,reformation made a gulf between art and religion2 it declared that the beautiful had no place in the service of ,god1 and that a student of sthetics was a student of the devil's lore4 ,of late a reaction has taken place4 ,fifty years ago the picture of a ,madonna by ,raphael or ,filippo ,lippi or ,botticelli in a popular magazine would have occasioned a howl of condemnation from the densely ignorant average ,protestant of that time4 ,but the taste for art has grown immensely in the last twenty years1 and now--,i am ashamed to say it--non-,catholics have1 in ,america1 learned to know and love the great masterpieces of our inheritance more than we ourselves4 ,it is we1 ,english-speaking ,catholics1 who have suffered unexpressibly from the deadening influence of the ,reformation on sthetics4 ,as a taste for art and literature grows1 8orthodox0 protest against the ,church must wane1 for the essence of 8orthodox0 protest is misunderstanding of the ,church which made possible ,dante and ,cervantes1 ,chaucer and ,wolfram von ,eschenbach1 ,fra ,angelico and ,murillo1 ,shakspere and ,dryden4 ,and no cultivated man1 loving them1 can hate the ,church that1 while guarding morality1 likewise protected sthetics as a stretching out towards the immortal4 ,art and literature and music are efforts of the spirit to approach ,god4 ,and1 as such1 ,christianity cherishes them4 ,art and history are one2 art and literature are history2 and nothing is grander in the panorama of events than the spectacle of the fine arts1 in ,christian times1 emptying their precious box of ointment on the head of ,our ,lord to atone for the sins of the past4 ,the flower of all art is ,christian art2 it took the perfect form of the ,greeks and clothed it with luminous flesh and blood4 ,miss ,eliza ,allen ,starr has shown us some of the treasures of our inheritance of art4 ,it is easy to find them2 good photographs of the masters' works--of the ,sistine ,madonna of ,raphael1 of the ,immaculate ,conception of ,murillo1 of the ,virgin of the ,kiss by ,hbert1 and of the beautiful pictures of ,bouguereau are cheap everywhere4 ,why1 then1 with all these lovely reflections of ,catholic genius near us1 should we fill our houses with bad1 cheap prints8 ,similarly1 why should we be content with flimsy modern books8 ,the best of all literature is ours--even ,shakspere is ours4 ,if there is one fault to be found in ,cardinal ,newman's lecture on 8,literature0 in that great book1 8,the ,idea of a ,university10 it is that the most subtle master of ,english style took his view of ,continental literature from ,hallam4 ,when he speaks of ,english literature1 he speaks as a master of his subject2 on the literature of the ,greeks and ,romans1 there is no uncertainty in his utterances2 but he takes his impressions of the literature of ,france and ,spain from a non-,catholic critic1 whose opinions are tinctured with prejudice4 ,one cannot help regretting that the cardinal did not apply the same test to ,montaigne that he applied to ,shakspere4 ,similarly1 most of us have been induced1 by the ,puritanism in the air around us1 to take our opinions of the great ,english classics from text-books compiled by sciolists1 who have not gone deep enough to understand the course of the currents of literature4 ,we accept ,shakspere at second hand2 if we took our impressions of his works from ,professor ,dowden or ,herr ,delius or men like ,george ,saintsbury or ,horace ,furness1 or1 better than all1 from himself1 it would be a different thing4 ,but we do not2 if we read him at all1 we read him hastily2 we read 8,hamlet0 as we would a novel1 or we are content to nibble at little chunks from his plays1 which the compilers graciously present to us4 ,the text-book of literature has been an enemy to education1 because it has been generally compiled by persons who were incapable of fair judgment4 ,in this country1 ,father ,jenkins's compilation is the best we have had4 ,it is a brave attempt to remove misapprehensions2 but a text-book should be merely a guide to the works themselves4 ,there is more intellectual gain in six months' close study of the text and circumstances of 8,hamlet0 than in tripping through a dozen books of 8selections40 ,the ,germans found this out long ago1 and ,dr4 ,gotthold ,bttcher puts it into fitting words in his introduction to ,wolfram von ,eschenbach's 8,parcival40 ,the time will doubtless come when even in parochial schools the higher 8,reader0 will be a complete book--not a thing of shreds and patches1 like the little dabs of meat and vegetables the keepers of country hotels set before us on small plates4 ,this book will1 of course1 be intelligently annotated4 ,some of us have a certain timidity about claiming ,shakspere as our own and about reading his plays to our young people4 ,this is because we have given in too much to the critical spirit1 which finds purity in impure things1 and impurity where no impurity is intended4 ,it is time we realize the evil that the ,english speech has done us by unconsciously impregnating us with alien prejudices4 ,surely no man will accuse ,cardinal ,newman of condoning sensuality or coarseness4 ,his idea of propriety is good enough2 it is broad enough and narrow enough for us4 ,that foreign code which would keep young people within artificial barriers and then let them loose to wallow in literary filth1 that hypocritical ,american code which leaves the obscenities of the daily newspaper open and closes ,shakspere1 is not ours4 ,shakspere was the result of ,catholic thought and training4 ,there is no ,puritanism in him4 ,his plays are ,catholic literature in the widest sense2 he sees life from the ,christian point of view1 and1 depicting it as it is1 his standard is a ,catholic standard4 ,there is no doubt that there are coarse passages in ,shakspere's plays--it is easy to get rid of them4 ,but they are few4 ,they seem immodest because the plainness of language of the ,elizabethan time and of the preceding times has happily gone out of fashion4 ,it would be well to revise our definition of immorality1 by comparing it with the more robust ,catholic one1 before we condemn ,shakspere or the ,old ,testament1 though the scrupulous ,tom ,paine1 who has gone utterly out of fashion1 found both immoral6 ,hear ,cardinal ,newman 78,idea of a ,university10 page #cai7 speaking of ,shakspere3 8,whatever passages may be gleaned from his dramas disrespectful to ecclesiastical authority1 still these are but passages2 on the other hand1 there is in ,shakspere neither contempt of religion nor scepticism1 and he upholds the broad laws of moral and divine truths with the consistency and severity of an schylus1 ,sophocles1 and ,pindar4 ,there is no mistaking in his works on which side lies the right2 ,satan is not made a hero1 nor ,cain a victim1 but pride is pride1 and vice is vice1 and1 whatever indulgence he may allow himself in light thoughts or unseemly words1 yet his admiration is reserved for sanctity and truth2 444 but often as he may offend against modesty1 he is clear of a worse charge1 sensuality1 and hardly a passage can be instanced in all that he has written to seduce the imagination or to excite the passions40 ,in arranging a course of reading for young people1 it seems to me that those books which define principles should be put first4 ,when a reader has a good grasp of definitions1 he is in a mathematical state of mind and ready to assimilate truth and reject error4 ,books of literature should not be recommended to him until he is sure of his principles2 for1 unhappily1 the tendency of ,american youth is to imagine that what he cannot refute is irrefutable4 ,if the young reader be thoroughly grounded in the doctrines of his faith and armed with a few clear definitions of the meaning of things1 even ,milton cannot persuade him that ,satan is a more admirable figure than ,our ,lord1 or ,byron seduce him into the opinion that ,cain was wronged1 or ,goethe that sin is merely a more or less pleasing experience4 ,it is remarkable that the ,puritanism which lauds ,milton as a household god turns its face from ,shakspere2 and yet ,milton's great epic is not only the deification of intellectual pride1 but it contemns ,christianity4 ,there are very few men who can to-day say that they have read 8,paradise ,lost0 line after line with pleasure4 ,there are long stretches of aridity in it2 and those who pretend to admire it as a whole are no doubt tinctured with literary insincerity4 ,but there are glorious passages in the 8,paradise ,lost10 unexcelled in any literature2 and therefore the epic should be read in parts1 and one cannot be blamed if he 8skip0 many other parts4 ,the great parts of 8,paradise ,lost10 ought to be read and re-read4 ,the comparative weakness of the 8,paradise ,regained0 shows that ,milton had not that sympathy with the ,redemption which he had with the revolt of ,satan4 ,and yet1 in some pious households1 where puritanized opinion reigns1 ,shakspere is locked up1 while 8,paradise ,lost0 is put beside the family ,bible6 ,it is not necessary that one should read all of ,shakspere's writings2 the early poems had better be omitted2 but it is necessary for purposes of culture that one should read what one does read with intelligence4 ,before beginning 8,hamlet0--which a thoughtful ,catholic can appreciate better than any other man--one should clear the ground by studying ,professor ,dowden's little 8,primer0 on ,shakspere 7,macmillan ,co471 and ,mr4 ,furnivall's preface to the ,leopold edition of ,shakspere1 and ,george ,h4 ,miles's study of 8,hamlet40 ,then1 and not until then1 will one be in a position to get real benefit from his reading4 ,to read 8,hamlet0 without some preparation is like the inane practice of 8going to ,europe to complete an education never begun at home40 ,i repeat that a ,catholic can better appreciate the marvels of ,shakspere's greatest play1 because1 even if he know only the ,little ,catechism1 he has the key to the play and to ,shakspere's mind4 ,the philosophy of 8,hamlet0 is that sin cankers and burns and ruins and corrupts even in this world1 and that the effects do not end in this world4 ,shakspere1 enlightened by the teaching of centuries since ,st4 ,austin converted his forefathers1 teaches a higher philosophy than that of schylus or ,euripides or ,sophocles--he substitutes will for fate4 ,it is not fate that forces the keen ,claudius to murder his brother2 it is not fate that obliges him to turn away from the reproaches of an instructed mind and conscience3 he chooses2 it is his own will that makes the crime2 he does not confuse good with evil4 ,the sin of the ,queen is not so great2 she is ignorant of her husband's crime2 in fact1 from the usual modern point of view1 she has committed no sin at all4 ,and1 as the ,danish method of choosing monarchs permitted the nobles to name ,claudius king1 while her son was mooning at the ,saxon university1 she had done him no material wrong4 ,but as there is no mention of a dispensation from ,rome1 and as ,shakspere makes the ,danes ,catholic1 the people of ,denmark must have looked on the alliance with doubt4 ,the demand made to ,horatio to exorcise the spirit1 as he was a scholar2 the expression1 8,i'll cross it10 which ,fechter1 the actor1 rightly interpreted as meaning the sign of the cross2 a hundred touches1 in fact1 show that 8,hamlet0 can and ought to be studied with special profit by ,catholics4 ,suppose that one begins with 8,hamlet10 having cleared the ground1 and then takes the greatest of the tragi-comedies1 8,the ,merchant of ,venice40 ,here opens a new field4 ,before beginning this play1 it would be well to read ,mgr4 ,seton's paper on the ,jews in ,europe1 in his excellent 8,essays1 ,chiefly ,roman40 ,it will give one an excellent idea of the attitude of the ,church towards ,shylock's countrymen1 and do away with the impression that ,antonio was acting in accordance with that attitude when he treated ,shylock as less than a human being4 ,portia not only offers a valuable contrast to the weakness of ,ophelia and the criminal weakness of ,gertrude1 but she is a type of the ideal noblewoman of her time1 whose only weakness is love for a man of lesser nobility than herself1 but who holds his honor as greater than life or love4 ,shakspere's 8,julius ,csar10 for comparison with 8,hamlet10 might come next1 and after that the most lyrical and poetical of all the comedies1 8,as ,you ,like ,it10 or perhaps 8,the ,tempest10 with ,prospero's simple but strong assertion of belief in immortality4 ,having studied these four great works1 with as much of the literature they suggest as practicable1 a distinct advance in cultivation will have been made4 ,the best college in the country can give one no more4 ,but they must be studied1 not read4 ,he who does not know these plays misses part of his heritage2 for the plays of ,shakspere belong more to the ,catholic than to the non-,catholic4 ,shakspere was the fine flower of culture nurtured under ,catholic influences4 ,x4 ,of ,talk1 ,work1 and ,amusement4 ,there are too many etiquette books--too much about the outward look of things1 and too little about the inward4 ,manners make a great difference in this world--we all discover that sooner or later2 but later we find out that there are some principles which keep society together more than manners4 ,if manners are the flower1 these principles are the roots which intricately bind earth and crumbling rocks together and make a safe footing4 ,to-day the end of preaching seems to be to teach the outward form1 without the inward light that gives the form all its value4 ,by preaching ,i mean the talk and advice that permeate the newspapers and books of social instruction4 ,manners are only good1 after all1 when they represent something4 ,what does it matter whether ,mr4 ,jupiter makes a charming host at his own table or not1 if he sit silent a few minutes after some of his guests are gone1 and listen to the horrors that one who stays behind tells of them8 ,and if ,mrs4 ,juno1 whose manners at her 8at home0 are perfect1 sits down and rips and tears at the characters of the acquaintances she has just fed with coffee and whatever else answers to the fatted calf1 shall we believe that she is useful to society8 ,there is harmless gossip which has its place2 in life it is like the details in a novel2 it is amusing and interesting1 because it belongs to humanity--and what that is human is alien to us8 ,so far as gossip concerns the lights and shades of character1 the minor miseries and amusing happenings of life1 what honest man or woman has not a taste for it8 ,and who values a friend less because his peculiarities make us smile8 ,but by and by there comes into the very corner of the fireside a guest who disregards the crown of roses which every man likes to hang above his door4 ,the roses mean silence--or1 at least1 that all things that pass under them shall be sweetened by the breath of hospitality2 and he adds a little to the smile of kindly tolerance1 and he paints it as a sneer4 8,you must forgive me for telling you10 he whispers1 when he is safely sheltered beneath your friend's garland of roses2 8but ,theseus spoke of you the other night in a way that made my blood boil40 ,and then the friendship of years is snapped2 and then the harmless jest1 in which ,theseus's friend would have delighted even at his own expense if he had been present1 becomes a jagged bullet in an ulcerated wound4 ,sub ros was a good phrase with the old ,latins1 but who minds it now8 ,it went out of fashion when the public began to pay newspaper reporters for looking through keyholes1 and for stabbing the hearts of the innocent in trying to prove somebody guilty4 ,it went out of fashion when private letters became public property and a man might1 without fear of disgrace1 print1 or sell to be printed1 any scrap of paper belonging to another that had fallen into his hands4 ,a very wise man--a gentle man and a loyal man--once said1 8,a man may be judged by what he believes40 ,if we could learn the truth of this early in life1 what harm could be done us by the creature who tears the thorns out of our hospitable roses1 and goes about lacerating hearts with them8 ,when we hear that ,jason has called us a fool1 we should not be so ready to cry out with all our breath that he is a scoundrel--because we should not be so ready to believe that ,jason1 who was a decent fellow yesterday1 should suddenly have become the hater of a good friend to-day4 ,and when1 under stress of unrighteous indignation1 we have called ,jason a scoundrel1 the listener can hardly wait until he has informed ,jason of the enormity2 8and thereby hangs a tale40 ,but when we get older and wiser1 we do not ask many people to sit under our roses2 and those whom we ask we trust implicitly4 ,in time--so happily is our experience--we believe no evil of any man with whom we have ever cordially shaken hands4 ,then we begin to enjoy life2 and we1 too1 choose our acquaintances by their unwillingness to believe evil of others4 ,and as for the man who has eaten our salt1 we become so optimistic about him that we would not even believe that he could write a stupid book2 and that is the nirvna of belief in one's friends4 ,less manners1 we pray--less talk about the handling of a fork and the angle of a bow1 and more respect for the roses4 ,of course1 one of us may have said yesterday1 after dinner1 that ,jason ought not to talk so much about his brand-new coat-of-arms2 or that ,ariadne1 who was a widow1 you know1 might cease to chant the praise of number one in the presence of number two4 ,but do we not admire the solid qualities of both ,jason and ,ariadne8 ,and yet who shall make them believe that when the little serpent wriggles from our hearthstone to theirs8 ,it is a settled fact that young people must be amused4 ,it is a settled fact1 or rather an accepted fact1 that they must be amused much more than their predecessors were amused4 ,it is useless to ask why4 ,life in the ,united ,states has become more complicated1 more artificial1 more civilized1 if you will2 and that ,jeffersonian simplicity which ,de ,tocqueville and ,de ,bacourt noted has almost entirely disappeared4 ,the theatre has assumed more license than ever2 it amuses--it does not attempt to instruct2 and spectacles are tolerated by decent people which would have been frowned upon some years ago4 ,there is no question that the drama is purer than it ever was before2 but the spectacle1 the idiotic farce1 and the light opera are more silly and more indecent than within the memory of man4 ,the toleration of these things all shows that1 in the craving for amusement1 high principle and reasonable rules of conduct are forgotten4 ,a serious question of social importance is3 ,how can the rage for amusement be kept within proper bounds8 ,how can it be regulated8 ,how can it be prevented from making the heart and the head empty and even corrupt8 ,in many ways our country and our time are serious enough4 ,we need1 perhaps1 a touch of that cheerful lightness which makes the life of the ,viennese and of the ,parisian agreeable and bright--which enables him to get color and interest into the most commonplace things4 ,but our lightness and cheerfulness are likely to be spasmodic and extravagant4 ,we are not pleased with little things2 it takes a great deal to give us delight2 our children are men and women too early2 we do not understand simplicity--unless it is sold at a high price with an ,english label on it4 ,luxuries have become necessities1 and even the children demand refinements of enjoyment of which their parents did not dream in the days gone by4 ,and yet the essence of ,american social life ought to be simplicity4 ,we have no traditions to support2 a merely rich man without a great family name owes nothing to society1 except to help those poorer than himself2 he has not inherited those great establishments which your ,english or ,spanish high lord must keep up or tarnish the family name4 ,we have no great families in ,america whose traditions are not those of simplicity and honesty1 and these are the only traditions they are bound to cherish4 ,in this way our aristocracy--if we have such a thing--ought to be the purest in the world and the most simple4 ,there is no reason why we should pick up all the baubles that the effete folk of the ,old ,world are throwing away4 ,whether we are to achieve simplicity1 and consequently cheerfulness1 in every-day life depends entirely on the women4 ,it is remarkable how many ,catholic women bred in good schools enter society and run a mad race in search of frivolities4 ,in ,st4 ,francis de ,sales's 8,letters to ,people in the ,world0 there is a record of a lady 8who had long remained in such subjection to the humors of her husband1 that in the very height of her devotions and ardors she was obliged to wear a low dress1 and was all loaded with vanity outside2 and1 except at ,easter1 could never communicate unless secretly and unknown to every one--and yet she rose high in sanctity40 ,but ,st4 ,francis de ,sales had other words for those women of the world who rushed into all the complications of luxury1 and yet who defended their frivolity by the phrase 8duty to society40 ,the woman who serves her children best serves society4 ,and she best serves her children by cultivating her heart and mind to the utmost2 and by teaching them that one of the best things in life is simplicity1 and that it is much easier to be a ,christian when one is content with a little than when one is constantly discontented with a great deal4 ,if the old ,new ,england love for simplicity in the ordinary way of life could be revived among ,catholics1 and sanctified by the amiable spirit of ,st4 ,francis of ,assisi1 the world would be a better place4 ,father ,faber tells us what even greater men have told us before--that each human being has his vocation in life4 ,and we nearly all accept it as true1 but the great difficulty is to realize it4 ,ruskin says that work is not a curse2 but that a man must like his work1 feel that he can do it well1 and not have too much of it to do4 ,the sum of all this means that he shall be contented in his work1 and find his chief satisfaction in doing it well4 ,it is not what we do1 but how we do it1 that makes success4 ,the greatest enemy to a full understanding of the word vocation among ,americans is the belief that it means solely the acquirement of money4 ,and the reason for this lies not in the character of the ,american--who is no more mercenary than other people--but in the idea that wealth is within the grasp of any man who works for it4 ,the money standard1 therefore1 is the standard of success4 ,but success to the eyes of the world is not always success to the man himself4 ,the accumulation of wealth often leaves him worn-out1 dissatisfied1 with a feeling that he has somehow missed the best of life4 ,that man has probably missed his vocation and done the wrong thing1 in spite of the opinion outside of himself that he has succeeded4 ,the frequent missing of vocations in life is due to false ideas about education4 ,the parent tries to throw all the responsibility of education on the teacher1 and the teacher has no time for individual moulding4 ,a boy grows up learning to read and to write1 like other boys4 ,he may be apt with his head or his hands1 but how few parents see the aptitude in the right light6 ,it ought to be considered and seriously cultivated4 ,the tastes of youth may not always be indications of the future3 they often change with circumstances and surroundings4 ,but they are just as often unerring indications of the direction in which the child's truest success in the world will lie4 ,if a boy play at swinging a censer when he is little1 or enjoy the sight of burning candles on a toy altar1 it is not an infallible sign that he will be a priest4 ,and yet the rosary that young ,newman drew on his slate1 when he was a boy1 doubtless meant something4 8,the thoughts of youth are long1 long thoughts10 ,longfellow sings4 ,he who comprehends them gets near to the heart of youth4 ,but who tries to do it8 ,the boy is as great an enigma to his father1 as a rule1 as the old sphinx in the ,egyptian desert is to passing travellers4 ,and who but his father ought to have the key to the boy's mind1 and find his way into its recesses so gently and carefully that the question of his child's vocation would be an easy one for him to answer8 ,if the religious vocations in this country are not equal in number to what they ought to be1 we may attribute it to these two causes3 the general desire to make money1 and the placid indifference of parents4 ,a boy is sent to 8school0--school implying a sort of factory from which human creatures are turned out polished and finished1 but not ready for any special work in a world which demands specialists4 ,and what is specialism but the industrious working out of a vocation8 ,god is very good to a man when that man is true to his vocation4 ,to be content in one's work is almost happiness4 ,to do one's work for the eyes of ,god is to be as near happiness as any creature can come to it in this world4 ,fortunate are they who1 like the old sculptors of the roof of 8the cathedral over sea10 learn early in life1 as ,miss ,eleanor ,donnelly puts it1-- 8,that nothing avails us under the sun1 ,in word or in work1 save that which is done ,for the honor and glory of ,god alone40 ,direction and coercion are two different things4 ,the parents who mistake one for the other make a fatal error4 ,direction is the flower1 coercion the weed that grows beside it1 and kills its strength and sweetness4 ,the true gospel of work begins with the consideration of vocation1 and the prayers and the appeals to the sacraments that ought to accompany it4 ,this is the genesis of that gospel4 ,it is true that if a man can be helped to take care of the first twenty years of his life1 the last twenty years will take care of him4 ,those who find their vocation are blessed-- 8,and they are the sculptors whose works shall last1 ,whose names shall shine as the stars on high1 ,when deep in the dust of a ruined past ,the labors of selfish souls shall lie40 ,,xi4 ,the ,little ,joys of ,life4 ,has enthusiasm gone out of fashion8 ,are the young no longer hero-worshippers8 ,a recent writer complains of the sadness of ,american youth4 8,the absence of animal spirits among our well-to-do young people is a striking contrast to the exuberance of that quality in most ,european countries10 says this author1 in the ,atlantic ,monthly4 ,our young people laugh very much1 but they are not1 as a rule1 cheerful2 and they are amiable only when they 8feel like being amiable40 ,this is the most fatal defect in ,american manners among the young4 ,the consideration for others shown only when a man is entirely at peace with himself is not politeness at all3 it is the most unrefined manifestation of selfishness4 ,before we condemn the proverbial artificiality of the ,french1 let us contrast it with the brutality of the average carper at this artificiality4 8,a ,frenchman10 he will say1 8will lift his hat to you1 but he would not give you a sou if you were starving40 ,let us take that assertion for its full value4 ,we are not starving2 we do not want his sou1 but we do want to have our every-day life made as pleasant as possible4 ,and is your average brutal and bluff and uncivilized creature the more anxious to give his substance to the needy because he is ready on all occasions to tread on the toes of his neighbor8 ,he holds all uttered pleasant things to be lies1 and the suppression of the brutal a sin against truth4 ,one sees this personage too often not to understand him well4 ,he is half civilized4 ,king ,henry ,,viii4 was of this kind--charming1 bluff old fellow1 bubbling over with truth and frankness1 slapping ,sir ,thomas ,more on the back1 and full of delicious horseplay1 when his dinner agreed with him6 ,it is easy to comprehend that the high politeness of the best of the ,french is the result of the finest civilization4 ,no wonder ,talleyrand looked back and said that no man really enjoyed life who had not lived before the ,revolution4 ,but why should enthusiasm have gone out8 ,why should the young have no heroes8 ,have the newspaper joke1 the levity of ,ingersoll and the irreverence of the stump-speakers1 the cynicism of ,puck and the insolence of ,judge1 driven out enthusiasm8 ,george ,washington is mentioned--what inextinguishable laughter follows6--the cherry-tree1 the little hatchet6 ,what novel wit that name suggests6 ,one must laugh1 it is so funny6 ,and1 then1 the scriptural personages6 ,the paragraphers have made ,job so very amusing2 and ,joseph and ,daniel6--how stupid people must be who do not roar with laughter at the mere mention of these august names6 ,cannot this odious1 brutal laughter1 which is not manly or womanly1 be stopped8 ,ridicule cannot kill it1 but an appeal to all the best feelings of the human heart might2 for all the best feelings of the human heart are outraged4 ,how funny death has become6 ,when shall we grow tired of the joke about the servant who lighted the fire with kerosene1 and went above2 or the quite too awfully comical jeu d'esprit about the boy who ate green apples1 and is no more8 ,these jokes are in the same taste that would put the hair of a skeleton into curl-papers4 ,still we laugh4 ,a nation without reverence has begun to die3 its feet are cold1 though it may still grin4 ,a nation whose youth are without enthusiasm has no future beyond the piling up of dollars4 ,it is not so with our country yet2 but the fact remains3 enthusiasm is dying1 and hero-worship needs revival4 ,one can easily understand why1 among ,catholics1 there is not as much hero-worship as there ought to be4 ,it is because our greatest heroes are not even mentioned in current literature1 and because they are not well presented to our young people4 ,st4 ,francis ,xavier was a greater hero than ,nelson2 yet ,nelson is popularly esteemed the more heroic1 because ,southey wrote his life well4 ,but ,st4 ,francis's life is written for the mystic1 for the devotee4 ,it is right1 of course2 but our young people are not all mystics or devotees2 consequently ,st4 ,francis seems afar off--a saint to be vaguely remembered1 but nothing more4 ,if the saints whose heroism appeals most to the young could be brought nearer to the natural young person1 they would soon be as friends1 daily companions--heroes1 not distant beings whose halos guard them from contact4 ,one need only know ,st4 ,francis of ,assisi to be very fond of him4 ,he had a sense of humor1 too1 but no sense of levity4 ,and yet the only readable life of this hero and friend has been written by a ,protestant4 7,i am not recommending it1 for there are some things which ,mrs4 ,oliphant does not understand47 ,and there is ,st4 ,ignatius ,loyola4 ,and there is ,st4 ,charles ,borromeo--that was a man6 ,and ,st4 ,philip ,neri1 who had a sense of humor1 and was entirely civilized at the same time4 ,and ,st4 ,francis of ,sales6 ,his 8,letters to ,persons in the ,world0 make one wish that he had not died so soon4 ,what tact1 what knowledge of the world6 ,how well he persuades people without diplomacy1 by the force of a fine nature open to the grace of ,god6 ,our young people need only know the saints--not out of ,alban ,butler's sketches1 but illumined with reality--to be filled with an enthusiasm which ,carlyle would have had them waste on the wrong kind of heroes4 ,one of the most interesting pictures of a priest in ,american literature--which of late abounds in pictures of good priests--is that of ,pre ,michaux1 in ,miss ,woolson's novel 8,anne40 ,he believed that 8all should live their lives1 and that one should not be a slave to others2 that the young should be young1 and that some natural1 simple pleasure should be put into each twenty-four hours4 ,they might be poor1 but children should be made happy2 they might be poor1 but youth should not be overwhelmed by the elders' cares2 they might be poor1 but they could have family love around the poorest hearthstone2 and there was always time for a little pleasure1 if they would seek it simply and moderately40 ,but ,pre ,michaux was ,french3 he had not been corrupted by that ,american ,puritanism which has1 somehow or other1 got into the blood of even the ,irish ,celts on this side of the ,atlantic4 ,pleasures are not spontaneous or simple1 and joy is only possible after a long period of worry4 ,simple pleasures--the honest little wild flowers that peep up between the every-day crevices of each twenty-four hours--are neglected because we have not been taught to see them4 ,life may be serious without being sad2 but1 influenced by the ,puritan gloom1 sadness and seriousness have come to be confounded4 ,man was not made to be sad4 ,unless something is wrong with him1 he is not sad by temperament4 ,and sadness ought to be repressed in early youth4 ,the sad child in the stories is pathetic1 but the authors generally have the good sense to kill him when he is young4 ,the sad child in real life ought not to be tolerated4 ,and if his parents have made him sad by putting their burden of the trials of life on him so early1 they have done him irreparable wrong4 ,simple pleasures are the sunlight of life2 and the little plants struggle to the sunshine and find light for themselves1 darken their dwelling-place as you will4 ,the frown in the household1 the scolding voice1 the impatience with childish folly--all these things are against the practice of the ,church and her saints4 ,the ,catholic sentiment is one of joy--not the ,sabbath any more1 but the ,sunday1 the day of smiles1 of rejoicing2 the day on which1 as old ,christian legends have it1 the sun is supposed to dance in honor of the first ,easter4 ,how much the ,french and ,germans1 who have not lost the ,catholic traditions1 make of the little joys of life6 ,if the grandfather's name-day come1 there is the pot of flowers1 the little cake with its ornaments4 ,and how many other feasts are made by the poorest of them out of what the ,americans1 rich by comparison1 would look on but as a patch upon his poverty6 ,there should be no dark days for the young4 ,it is so easy to make them happy1 if they have not been distorted by their surroundings out of the capability of enjoying little pleasures4 ,the mother who teaches her daughters that poverty is not death to all joy1 and that the enjoyment of simple things makes life easier and keeps people younger--such a mother is kinder to her girls1 gives them a better gift than the diamond necklace which the spoiled girl craves1 and then finds good only so far as it excites envy in others4 ,children should not be made to bear a weight of sadness4 ,that girl will not long for an electric doll if she has been taught to get the poetry of life out of a rag-baby4 ,and the boy will not pine for an improved bicycle1 and sulk without it1 if he has learned to swim4 ,the greatest pleasures are the easiest had-- 8,each ounce of dross costs an ounce of gold2 ,for a cap and bells our lives we pay2 ,bubbles we buy with a whole soul's tasking3 ',tis ,heaven alone that is given away1-- ',tis only ,god may be had for the asking40 ,those who have suffered and borne suffering best are the most anxious that the young should enjoy the simple joys of life4 ,like this ,pre ,michaux1 they look for a little pleasure in each twenty-four hours4 ,is it a wild rose laid by a plate at the simple dinner1 a new story1 a romp1 ungrudging permission for some small relaxation of the ordinary rules1 or a brave attempt to keep sorrow away from the young8 ,no matter2 it is a little thing done for the ,holy ,child and for childhood1 that ought to be holy and joyous4 ,there is a commercial axiom that declares that we get out of anything just as much as we put into it4 ,this may be true in trade or not2 it is certainly true of other things in life4 ,when the frost begins to make the blood tingle1 and the glow of neighborly fires has more than usual comfort for the passer-by1 as he sees them through windows and thinks of his own1 the fragrance of home seems to rise more strongly than ever1 and then there is a longing that the home-circle may revolve around a common centre4 ,sometimes this longing takes the form of resolutions to make life more cheerful2 and sometimes even the father wonders if he1 in some way1 cannot make home more attractive4 ,as a rule1 however1 he leaves it to the mother2 and if the young people yawn and want to go out1 it must be her fault4 ,the truth is1 he expects to reap without having sown4 ,home can be made cheerful only by an effort4 ,why1 even friendship and love will perish if they are not cultivated2 and so if the little virtues of life--the little flowers--are not carefully tended they must die4 ,young people cannot be imprisoned or kept at home by force4 ,we cannot get over the change that has come about--a change that has eliminated the old iron hand and rod from family life4 ,we must take things as they are4 ,and the only way to direct the young1 to influence1 to help them1 is to interest them4 ,books are resources and consolation2 study is a resource and consolation4 ,both are strong factors in the best home-life2 and the man who can look back with gratitude to the time when1 around the home-lamp1 he made one of the circle about his father's table1 has much to be thankful for2 and we venture to assert that the coming man whose father will give him such a remembrance to be thankful for can never be an outcast1 or grow cold1 or bitter1 or cynical4 ,but the taste for books does not come always by nature3 it must be cultivated4 ,and everything between covers is not a book2 and a taste for books cannot be cultivated in a bookless house4 ,it may be said that there is no ,catholic literature1 or that it is very expensive to buy books1 or that it is difficult to get a small number of the best books1 or to be sure that one has the best in a small compass4 ,none of these things is true--none of them4 ,there is a vast ,catholic literature1 and a vast literature1 not professedly ,catholic1 which is good and pure1 which will stimulate a desire for study1 and help to cultivate every quality of the mind and heart4 ,does anybody realize how many good books twelve or fifteen dollars will buy nowadays8 ,and1 after all1 there are not fifty really great books in all languages4 ,if one have fifty books1 one has the best literature in all languages4 ,a book-shelf thus furnished is a treasure which neither adversity nor fatigue nor sickness itself can take away4 ,each child may even have his own book-shelf1 with his favorites on it1 and such volumes as treat of his favorite hobby--for every child old enough should have a hobby1 even if it be only the collecting of pebbles1 and every chance should be given to enjoy his hobby and to develop it into a serious study4 ,a little fellow who used to range his pebbles on the table in the lamplight1 and get such hints as he could about them out of an old text-book1 is a great geologist4 ,and a little girl who used to hang over her very own copy of ,adelaide ,procter's poems is spoken of as one of the cleverest newspaper men 7though she is a woman7 in the city of ,new ,york4 ,the taste of the early days1 encouraged in a humble way1 became the talent which was to make their future4 ,there should be no bookless house in all this land--least of all among ,catholics1 whose ancestors in ,christ preserved all that is great in literature4 ,let the trashy novels1 paper-backed1 soiled1 borrowed or picked up1 be cast out4 ,let the choosing of books not be left to mere chance4 ,a little brains put into it will be returned with more than its first value4 ,what goes into the precious minds of the young ought not to be carelessly chosen4 ,and it is true that1 in the beginning1 it is the easiest possible thing to interest young people in good and great books4 ,but if one lets them wallow in whatever printed stuff happens to come in their way1 one finds it hard to conduct them back again4 ,let the books be carefully chosen--a few at a time--be laid within the circle of the evening lamp--and ,god bless you all6 ,,printed ,,by ,,benziger ,,brothers1 ,,new ,,york4 ---------------------------------------- -------------------------------- ,,transcriber',s ,,notes #a4 ,silently corrected typographical errors and variations in spelling4 #b4 ,archaic1 non-standard1 and uncertain spellings retained as printed4 #c4 ,enclosed italics font in underscores4