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THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.— SUPPLEMENT. 



to go to Persia for an example. How vast an in- 

 fluence for good has been exercised on this cen- 

 tury by the novels of Sir Walter Scott ! It is 

 not only that, by superseding the coarser though 

 often vigorous fictions of the last century, they 

 purified the whole current of English literature — 

 it is not only that they awakened an interest in 

 the past, and also gave a just view of the present 

 and the future, beyond almost any writings of our 

 time, but that they bound together, in an indis- 

 soluble bond, the two nations, Scotland and 

 England, which before that time had been almost 

 as far asunder as if one of them had been on the 

 other side of the Channel, instead of on the other 

 side of the Tweed. Often it has been said, and 

 truly, that no greater boon could be conferred on 

 Ireland than that a genius as wide-spreading, as 

 deeply penetrating, and as calmly judging, as Sir 

 Walter Scott, could be raised up to give a like 

 interest to the scenery, the history, the traditions, 

 and the characters of Ireland. 



I have given these two examples of the na- 

 tional influence of literature, because they show, 

 on a great scale, what can be effected by the 

 finest thoughts put into the finest words. To be 

 conversant with them is an education of after-life 

 which never ceases. We read such books again 

 and again, and there is always something new in 

 them. Spend, if possible, one hour each day in 

 reading some good and great book. The num- 

 ber of such books is not too many to overwhelm 

 you. Every one who reflects on the former years 

 of his education can lay his finger on half a 

 dozen, perhaps even fewer, which have made a 

 lasting impress upon his mind. Treasure up 

 these. It is not only the benefits which you 

 yourself derive from them — it is the impression 

 which they leave upon you of the lasting power 

 of that which is spiritual and immaterial. How 

 many in all classes of life may say of their own 

 experience that which was said in speaking of 

 his library, by one of your most illustrious towns- 

 men, who was my own earliest literary delight, 

 Robert Southey : 



" My days among the dead are past ; 



Around me I behold, 

 Where'er these casual eyes are cast, 



The mighty minds of old : 

 My never-failing friends are they, 

 With whom I converse day by day. 



" With them I take delight in weal 



And seek relief in woe ; 

 And while I understand and feel 



How much to them I owe, 

 My cheeks have often been bedewed 

 With tears of thoughtful gratitude. 



'• My thoughts are with the dead ; with them 

 I live in long-past years, 

 Their virtues love, their faults condemn, 



Partake their hopes and fears, 

 And from their lessons seek and find 

 Instruction with an humble mind." 



And even perhaps some of the youngest or 

 homeliest among us need not scruple to add : 



" My hopes are with the dead ; anon 



My place with them will be, 

 And I with them shall travel on 



Through all futurity ; 

 Yet leaving here a name, I trust 

 That will not perish in the dust." 



5. But it is not only by books, whether of 

 literature or science, that the self-education of 

 after-life is assisted. When Joan of Arc was ex- 

 amined before her ecclesiastical judges, and was 

 taunted with the reproach that such marvelous 

 things as she professed to have seen, and heard, 

 and done, were not found written in any book 

 which they had studied, she answered in a spirit 

 akiD, and in some respects superior, to the well- 

 known lines in which Hamlet replies to Horatio. 

 She replied, " My Lord God has a book in which 

 are written many things which even the most 

 learned clerk and scholar has never come across." 

 Let me take several examples, showing how edu- 

 cation may be carried forward apart from books. 



Let me touch on the experiences presented to 

 our eyes and ears by travel. In this age it is one 

 of the peculiar advantages offered to'all classes, 

 or almost all classes, which, in former times, was 

 the privilege only of a few, that the great book 

 of foreign countries and the phenomena of Xature 

 have been opened to our view. We hardly ap- 

 preciate how vast a revelation, how new a crea- 

 tion has been opened to us in these respects 

 within the last fifty years. A century ago not 

 only were the scenes to be visited closed against 

 us, but the eye by which we could see them was 

 closed also. The poet Gray was the first human 

 being who discovered the charms of the English 

 lakes which are now able even to enter into a 

 battle of life and death against the mighty power 

 of a city like Manchester, because of the enthusi- 

 astic interest which they have enkindled in the 

 hearts of all who visit them. The glories of the 

 valley of Chamounix were first made known to 

 the European world by two Englishmen at the 

 close of the last century. Before that time the 

 cherished resorts of such gifted personages as 

 Voltaire and Madame de Stael were so selected 

 as carefully to exclude every view of Mont Blanc 

 and his great compeers. But in our time all 

 these various forms of beauty and graudeur are 



