The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1894-06-17

l. storIc Imagination. Lincoln ana ecc-
sssr could both be eloquent in the poetic
sense, but neither Franklin or Greeley
could be eloquent in this sense. man
may have a sound mind Of scientific quail
ity: he may enjoy botany and natural
history and may not enjoy poetry or books
OF humor. II would be folly for such
man 70 read the poetic and humorous
literature Of the world if he did not sppre-
bend or enjoy il. A man might enjoy
history and fine fiction, or be might enjoy
one and be incapable of enjoying the other.
To answer the question. therefore, hat
shall | read ?" We would say take the ad-
vice of Conan Doyle and read some book
Of critical essays, like Maeaalay's DE
Qaineey's or Cariyle's. that are broad in
their general sweep Of the general field OF
literature and full Of suggestiveness, and
ron will soon find out what You ike to
read. To illustrate, Maeaulay's essays
cover almost the whole field of literature,
either directly or by indirect sllusion.
His essays on Milton" Lord Give, !"
Warren Hastings" Frederick the
Great" "Barere," 1.-THE Comic Dramstists
of the Restoration" 1.-The History of the
Popes. "church and State" THE Civil
Disabilities of the Jews" Byron" "The
Athenian Orators" madame Darblay,"
and Others that we do not recall are SO
absolutely suggestive as well as delineative
that he must be dull man who does not
get hint of the kind of books that he will
enjoy reading.
On general principles every man, wheth-
er he is conscious of any taste for poetry
speare, Milton and Byron. because these
poets used the English language with .
master hand, so that they should be read.
IS Roscoe Conkling and Tom Corwin said,
TO furnish a man with a sound, simple
vocabulary, suitable to speech in the
courts, on the pulpit. on the hastings and
the sidewalk. Conkiing and Corwin were
neither of them college bred men, but they
were masters of effective public speech.
and both agreed that to get this kind of
English every thinking man, whether he
had poetic temperament or not should
read Shakespeare, Mutton and Byron
Poetry viii not admit of long, scientific
terms or Latinized diction. so the poets
of the people are obliged to use short.
simple. expressive English words.
Marking out arbitrary courses of read
ing for everybody is absurd: it is assuming
that human nature is exactly alike; 1t is
true OF literature as it is of food, that what
is zone mans meat is another mans
poison" and it is folly for man deficient
in sense of humor to read .Don Quixoten
or shakspeare's Henry the Fourth" but
that is no reason why he should not feed
on some other sound literature that he
likes and enjoys. Ben Franklin, Lincoln
and Greeley abounded in sense of humor,
while George Washington and the Duke
of Wellington had very little. nevertheless
George Washington was great man of
solid Antellect. His reading would be very
different from that of the able men We
have named who had keen sense of
humor.
Napoleon had corrupt literary taste,
but he had great genius for war. The
fact that Napoleon could read and enjoy
such stuff as 0ssian's poems, and cared
nothing for French literature outside of
the antique, rhetorical dramas of Racine
and Corneille did not impeach his claim
to great intellectual endowments; it only
proved that he lacked simplicity of liter
airy taste; he was an intensely practical
man, and TO him literary expression was a
mere tool; when he wrote a bombastic
proclamation to his army no man knew
better than he that it was bombast, but
he knew that his troops were of the sort
that enjoyed gasconade so he, practical
man that he Was. gave them their fill of
what they wanted. Take Napoleop's
famous proclamation to ''the army of
Italy" after his campaign of 1895; it
reused his troops TO wild enthusi-
asm, but you cannot conceive of that
greatest of all English soldiers. Cromwell,
after his victories of Dunbar and worces-
ter, issuing bombastic proclamation TO
his army, stern, solemn, tactiturn sec
taries. And yet Cromwell was an in
tenseiy practical man, who knew his
troops as thoroughly as Bonaparte knew
the Army of Italy" On his cannon
Cromwell inscribed the words, "0h, Lord,
open Thou our lips and our mouths shall
show forth Thy praise" To his Parlia-
mentary army of stern-browed religious
Englishmen texts like these meant as
much as the bomhastio proclamations of
Napoleon 10 his army of Gascon quality,
whether born in Gascony or not.