: but his popularity was an admirable sign of the times,
for such observers as were capable of interpreting it. Probably, in all
ages since the pen and the press began their work, literature has been
the expression of the popular mind; but it seems to have become
peculiarly forcible, as a general utterance, of late. Whatever truth
there may be in speculations about the growing infrequency of "immortal
works,"--about the age being past for the production of books which
shall become classics,--it appears that literature is assuming more and
more the character of letters written to those whom their subjects may
concern, and becoming more and more a familiar utterance of the general
mind of the day. In the popular modern works of Germany there is deep
and warm religious sentiment, while the most unflinching examination
into the philosophy and fact of revelation is widely encouraged. In
England, there is a growing taste for works which exhibit the life of
the lower orders of society, though all aristocratic prepossessions
appear in practice as strong as ever. This seems to indicate that our
philosophy has a democratic tendency under which a general opinion will
be formed, which will, in time, be expressed in practice. The French,
again, are devouring, at the rate of two new volumes every three days,
novels which are, in fact, letters to those whom they may concern on the
condition and prospects of men and women in society. The pictures are
something more than mere delineations. They carry with them principles
by which the position of the members of the community is to be tested.
The social position of Woman is a prominent topic. The first principles
of social organization are involved in the groundwork of the simplest
stories: and the universal reception of this product of literature shows
that those whom it concerns are all. What an enormous loss of knowledge
must the traveller sustain who omits to observe and reflect upon the
spirit of the fresh literature of a people, or of its preferences among
the literature of the past!

He must note whether a people has recent dramatic productions: if not,
whether and why the times are unfavourable to that kind of literature;
and if there is dramatic production, what are the pictures of life that
it presents.

He must obtain at least some general idea of what the mental philosophy
of the society is,--not so much because mental philosophy affects the
national mind, as because it emana