124 Overdoing the Past 



delegation of the old. Nothing can im- 

 prove or affect the latter ; and to make little 

 gods of the dead is hurtful, because the living 

 youth knows his own limitations and despairs 

 becoming as good, say, as George Washing- 

 ton, whereas it really requires but little effort 

 to be quite as good and even considerably 

 better. Mere eulogy and parade of transcen- 

 dent virtue which the individual discussed 

 did not possess is rubbish. Much of the 

 current magazine matter is a sort of goody- 

 goody biography that is not even pleasant 

 reading, and surely not profitable because 

 untrue, that is, the facts are so stated as to 

 give a wrong impression. What we want is 

 applied biography, not a mere record of a 

 man's sayings and doings ; a selection thereof, 

 with their application to the present day and 

 its needs. Essays on characters are better 

 than detailed records of the lives of Tom, 

 Dick, and Harry. 



My critic hopes to silence me by naming 

 Lincoln. Is it not peculiarly true of him 

 that we need a guide to the study of his 

 career, and so make practicable the applica- 

 tion of the secret of his success to our times? 

 But does the ponderous picture-book, with a 



