good reading material and a suggestion of study for the
evenings of many a winter day.

_Volume Nine._ Most of the selections in this volume are rather
difficult reading for young people but there are helps enough to make
the task a pleasant one. The series of essays, begun in Volume Eight is
here continued, with _The Ascent of the Jungfrau_ by Tyndall, _A
Dissertation upon Roast Pig_ and _The Praise of Chimney Sweepers_ by
Charles Lamb, and two representative essays by Sir Francis Bacon. The
studies are of an advanced nature and if carried out as intended will be
of decided service to high school students. In a few cases the
selections are simple, like _Robert of Lincoln_, for instance, but the
studies that accompany it are the more complete. It is hoped by such an
arrangement to show how inexhaustible a field for study literature
offers and how many things there are to be known about the least of our
fine lyrics. _The Ode on a Grecian Urn_ is of a different type. This
poem makes no direct appeal to sentiment or to the knowledge of the
average young person, yet by study it is seen to be a lyric of
exquisite beauty. This volume introduces the writings of several authors
who have not before appeared because of their slight appeal to young
people. Among them may be mentioned particularly Addison, Boswell, and
Bacon. The volume contains also orations that should be studied as
models, viz: _The Gettysburg Address_, _The Fate of the Indians_ and
_The Call to Arms_. Each has a series of studies following it. As a
relief from the serious work of the volume there are included an extract
from _Pickwick Papers_; that fascinating story, _The Gold-Bug_; and the
delightful essay, _Modestine_, an extract from _Travels with a Donkey_,
by Stevenson.

_Volume Ten._ At the end of this volume are given two tables; the first
arranges the leading English writers chronologically, and the second
follows a similar plan with the American authors. The index with which
the book closes is for the entire series and enables the reader to find
the selections readily, if he knows either the title or the name of the
author; to find all the selections on any given topic; and to find the
studies quickly if they are wanted. The index should prove as useful as
any of the devices with which the books are filled.

CHAPTER III

PICTURES AND THEIR USE

_I. What Should We Notice in a Picture?_

In his excellent little book, _How to Judge of a Pi