PREFACE. T HIS volume is the first of a Series, the design of which is to encourage and assist the Study of English Literature as an essential and systematic part of a liberal education. Hitherto very little has been done to make the standard and classical authors of our country available in this way. In schools of the higher grades, the study of the Classics has simply meant the study of the languages and literatures of Greece and Rome; and in the majority of these schools no other study has been more than barely tolerated. In middle class schools, on the other hand, the course of instruction has generally been confined to Arithmetic, History, Geography, something that passed for English Grammar, a smattering of Science, and other odds and ends of knowledge, supplied by such authors as Magnall and Pinnock. There are indications, however, of an improvement in this respect. English Literature is receiving more attention, and it is beginning to be felt that the study of it may be made an effective instrument of mental training and refinement. In order, however, that it may serve this end, the language and literature of our country must be taught thoroughly, and with some degree of method and science. The mere super 3920 ficial reading of an author will do little good. The same process that is in vogue in the study of a Latin Classic must be employed in the study of an English one. The etymology and primary meaning of the words must be investigated, the idioms noticed, the constructions analyzed, the figures and allusions examined and elucidated. The teacher must point out peculiarities of style and beauties of expression or imagery; and the practice of composition, in some cases with imitative exercises, must be carried on in connection with the study of the author in hand. If this be carefully and systematically done, "English Language and Literature" will very soon vindicate for itself a leading position in the educational course. The accompanying series of Extracts will, it is hoped, supply a want in this direction. The authors selected may be regarded as representative writers. They include the leading names connected with each epoch of our National Literature. Many of our great masters of English Prose are indeed passed over, but it is nevertheless believed that almost every variety of style is worthily represented. It has been the Editor's aim to make the Extracts sufficiently long at once to exhibit an adequate sample of the author's language and a complete and connected description or argument. In compiling the Notes, he has, to the best of his ability, sought fairly to illustrate the text, to avoid trivialities, and to explain what really needed explanation. : : How the Follies of Learned Men have Dishonoured Learning From Wisdom and Genius of the Ancients: Pan, or Nature, Explained of Natural Philosophy |