THROUGH LIBRARY WINDOWS 183 



has by no means reached its highest and best, 

 into it the wisest thoughts and best sentiments, 

 involving the noblest life, are wrought up into 

 most singular and lifelike experiences. Dick- 

 ens wrote to correct abuses and expose shams, 

 and his books worked marvels. They cleared 

 up atmospheres and softened the asperities of 

 man and woman. They revolutionized wrong 

 usages, though hoary with age, and opened up 

 a new era of humanities. And what is true of 

 Dickens is true in some sense of every great 

 story writer who writes with purpose and plan, 

 and pours into his living pages his loves and 

 hates and hopes and convictions. 



It is only the great masters of fiction whom 

 we remember, not so quickly by what they write 

 and how, but by the friends they have intro- 

 duced us to. How well we know such books 

 and what repeated visits we pay them, and how 

 precious the mutual friendships. But they are 

 ideal, you say; what of that, they are so much 

 the more real to us. The mere mention of Ad- 

 dison or the sight of the "Spectator" instantly 

 suggests the genial Sir Roger; Goldsmith and 

 you see and hear the wise Dr. Primrose, and 

 the good-natured Tony; Sheridan and up comes 

 Jo. Surface and the inevitable Mrs. Malaprop ; 

 Thackeray and forthwith Colonel Newcome 



