lessly pages of the rarest and profoundest moral disquisition.

The question will be asked at this point, Would not the reading be more profitable if it could be pursued with critical. attention and thorough understanding? Doubtless; but that is an art which must be learned by slow degrees. The student's eyes must be opened to the value and significance of the neglected passages. Gradually, with the increasing knowledge which he should derive from the class-room drill, a larger and larger proportion of each book will grow to have an interest for him. In some schools the commendable practice has been followed, of placing on an easily accessible shelf in the class-room a collection of the best English prose and poetry. The pupils are invited, as they have time, to read whatever each may find suited to his taste. Some will read Cooper, some Macaulay, some Sir Walter Scott.

(b) Historical Study. — This includes every manner of inquiry into the life history of the author and especially into the circumstances attending the production of the work to be studied. The extent of the inquiry and the nature of the sources from which the facts are drawn must depend upon the amount of time to be devoted to the subject and the literary facilities at command. In the case of some schools, unfortunately, a single brief sketch will be all that the programme of study will allow, but whenever possible the pupil should be encouraged to consult more than one authority, to institute comparisons, and to pursue his reading into related subjects as far as interest and curiosity will lead him. The writings of most English writers have been greatly influenced by the political, religious, and literary currents of the times in which they lived; the authors have in turn exercised more or less influence upon such currents. It follows that if we would understand the author's life to the full, we must read it in the light

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of contemporary history. For the same reason, when studying any particular work, we may inquire concerning it whether it has been affected in form or contents by the circumstances under which it was produced, whether its style has been influenced by that of some preceding or contemporary writer, whether it exhibits opinions and views of life peculiar to the author at a given time, and so on. Sometimes, reversing the process, it is profitable study to seek in the book itself for information regarding the author's life, mind, and character. What characteristics of Dr. Johnson's mind, for example, may we infer from his Rasselas"? In such study it is necessary to distinguish carefully between the author's open expression of his own convictions and his attribution of opinions he may or may not hold, to characters he has created. Whatever may be the method of historical research, the results will be better understood and longer retained if the plan is adopted of assigning each student a special topic for investigation. A student who is required to commit to memory the dates of George Eliot's works will remember them for perhaps one or two recitations; but if some definite question be assigned him, as, for example, How much time did the author devote to the composition of each one of her novels? and he is encouraged to hunt the answer to this question through half a dozen books and essays, he will not only fix the dates in mind so that he probably never will forget them, but also will pick up, incidentally, no inconsiderable fund of biographical information.

The question whether the study of the author's life should come before or after the reading of his work, can only be determined by the circumstances of particular cases. A good biography is a great stimulus to interest in the works of an author, but the reading of exhaustive criticisms and analyses, such as are to be found in most biographies, almost invariably

results in forestalling the student's own impressions and generally in blunting to some degree the sharp edge of his interest. The danger may be averted by the plan just suggested of assigning a particular topic to each member of the class.

(c) Interpretative Study - Under this head may be included all investigations into the form and contents of the work that aim not at determining its literary value but simply at describing it. Such are [a] inquiries into the literary species, i.e., as to whether the work is an essay, a novel, a drama, or some other recognized form; [b] into the substance of the ideas, the trend of the plot, etc., leading to an analysis; [c] into the meaning of obscure allusions, rare or obsolete words, unfamiliar idioms, etc. It has come to be the custom for the editor to save the student the trouble of seeking the information included under this last head, by furnishing it to him gratis in notes at the bottom of the page or at the end of the volume. Doubtless the ideal plan is for the student to look up all such matters for himself in the dictionary, encyclopædia, and other books of reference. The notes should be reserved for information that is not readily accessible.

(d) Critical Study. - By this is meant the application of standards of criticism in order to decide whether the work, or any given portion of it, is, from the literary point of view, good or bad. The earliest critical judgments of the pupil are purely subjective impressions. He likes the work, or he does not like it. If asked why he exhibits a preference one way or the other, it is usual that he offers a trivial and inadequate explanation of the effect, or else falls back upon the bare fact of preference as in itself sufficient. If the inadequate reason, as far as it goes, is sound, the feeling just, the pupil is already started on the right path. The latent critical sense is there; the teacher has but to develop it by encouraging a search for the rational element underlying the impulsive

choice. If the pupil offers a single good reason for his liking of a passage or a character, it is easy to show him that other related causes enter into his appreciation. In this way the critical analysis may be pushed as far as the student's powers will warrant. The only too common method of compelling pupils to commit to memory certain rules and formulæ to be applied irrespective of the pupil's feeling for the value of the literature, produces most unfortunate results. Students are often led to pretend to a liking they do not really have, simply to avoid the charge of stupidity. Tested by the rules, the work should be excellent; tested by the pupil's own feelings, it is insufferably tiresome. Undoubtedly the pupil is in the wrong, but in a matter that depends after all so largely upon culture and emotional temperament, argument is of little or no effect. If outwardly compliant, yet, convinced against his will, the student remains, in fact, intrenched in the inner fortress of his own conviction. On the other hand, it cannot be denied that the very learning of a principle of criticism will often open the pupil's eyes to literary qualities the existence of which he had not before suspected. The feelings may be trained to wait upon the judgment. The solution of the difficulty, as it seems to the present writer, lies in carrying on the two processes of development side by side. The sense of literary value, where it exists, should be shown to correspond to, to be explained by, the so-called laws of rhetoric; the rhetorical principles should be verified by illustrations drawn from passages for which the student has already shown an instinctive appreciation. Thus the rules become for the student what they are in reality—the statement of certain uniformities in modes of feeling. The sense of value, on the other hand, losing its character of mere prejudice, grounds upon observed principles of order and adjustment, and in time becomes good taste.

Account must be taken of differences of temperament. It would be absurd as well as unscientific to deny that certain natures are irresponsive to literary influences by which others are profoundly affected. Some students enjoy poetry, others cannot endure it. So far, however, from the proverb being true that there is no accounting for tastes, almost every difference observable may be traced to some peculiar exciting cause to a difference of temperament, education, or surroundings. In some cases the disposition may be to a considerable degree modified by proper training; in others the causes are too deep-seated to be reached by any of the ordinary school methods. The prepossession or the antipathy will last through life.