f man. Such books are "The
Stars and the Earth," Kingsley's "Glaucus, or Wonders of the Shore,"
Clodd's "Story of Creation," (a clear account of the evolution theory)
Figuier's "Vegetable World," and Professor Langley's "New Astronomy."
There are wise specialists whose published labors have illuminated for
the uninformed reader every nook and province of the mysteries of
creation, from the wing of a beetle to the orbits of the planetary
worlds. There are few pursuits more fascinating than those that bring us
acquainted with the secrets of nature, whether dragged up from the depths
of the sea, or demonstrated in the substance and garniture of the green
earth, or wrung from the far-off worlds in the shining heavens.

A word only can be spared to the wide and attractive realm of fiction. In
this field, those are the best books which have longest kept their hold
upon the public mind. It is a wise plan to neglect the novels of the
year, and to read (or to re-read in many cases) the master-pieces which
have stood the test of time, and criticism, and changing fashions, by the
sure verdict of a call for continually new editions. Ouida and Trilby may
endure for a day, but Thackeray and Walter Scott are perennial. It is
better to read a fine old book through three times, than to read three
new books through once.

Of books more especially devoted to the history of literature, in times
ancient and modern, and in various nations, the name is legion. I count
up, of histories of English literature alone (leaving out the American)
no less than one hundred and thirty authors on this great field or some
portion of it. To know what ones of these to study, and what to leave
alone, would require critical judgment and time not at my command. I can
only suggest a few known by me to be good. For a succinct yet most
skilfully written summary of English writers, there is no book that can
compare with Stopford A. Brooke's Primer of English Literature. For more
full and detailed treatment, Taine's History of English Literature, or
Chambers' Cyclopaedia of English Literature, two volumes, with specimens
of the writers of every period, are the best. E. C. Stedman's Victorian
Poets is admirable, as is also his Poets of America. For a bird's eye
view of American authors and their works, C. F. Richardson's Primer of
American Literature can be studied to advantage, while for more full
reference to our authors, with specimens of each, Stedman's Library