The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1901-09-03

pd<Ouiea OI sucn great poets as Byron
and Tennyson and Browning. He was
devoted to Greek and Latin. but with
out pedantry OF literary foppishness.
He did every thing he undertook with
a facile. finished pen. and the most
a~ppreciative Of him nave been the most
cultured and scholarly.
Professor Harry T. Peck. edits the
New York Bookman and teaches
in Columbia College. New York City.
He Is cultured. bold IN writing. opin-
ionative, sometimes extreme almost To
eccentricity as when he puts Balzac,
the French novelist without humor or
imagination. above Shakespeare. Some
time g We saw from him al article
in which he set forth his choice of the
six best books" IL all the world. He
was answering an inquiry sent to him
by a clergyman at Fayetteville, N. c
The question propounded. read:
What are the best six books. sup
posing that an intelligent and fairly
educated person could have but six
bookS?"
He makes several replies fitted to
particular cases. He sets forth his
views at some length. but only gives
his individual preference at the close
of his article For instance, he says
hat the following six he thinks 'in one
way or another. have most profoundly
affected the development OF western
civilization in it's different phases: The
Bible, Homer's Odyssey, Aristotle's
Ethics and Politics, Bacon's Novum
Organum, Rousseau's Social and Polit-
zeal Treatises, Darwin's Origin of Spe-
cies." He considers the odyssey a
iner piece of literature than the
''Iliad," both by Homer as 1t is more
generally held. That is not the judg-
ment Of most great scholars and critics
as to the relative excellence Of the two
poems. There are cholars who do not
think the Odyssey" the work of He
mer. OF the six named, Professor
Peck writes:
The six books named above, how
ever, represent q sort Of council of per-
lection. They are the most remarkable
six books that can be gathered to-
gether. Yet 1 doubt whether any per-
son, if it were restricted to six books
for the rest of his life, would wish the
six just named. J know, for one, that
I should not"
We would like to put in our oar in
these waters. Of the six we would Sc
lect but the first two for our W read
ing n enjoyment. Aristotle and Ba-
con could be tolerated if we could find
nothing better. more appetizing. Pro-
fessor Peck is pleased to give anothe-
list as adopted to certain readers who
love good literature. Here is the sort
Of list that wise and good men usually
make UP when they are recommending
books to other people:
"The Bible, Dante's Divine Comedy.
Shakespeare's Plays, Millions Paradise
Lost, Plutarch's Lives, Pilgrims Prog
ress."'
That is a vast improvement on the
other On the score of mental enjoyment.
1t is a good and notable selection. But
if still another list must be made, all
Of which would be we'll worth reading
he says then take these:
1.-THE Bible, Shakespeare's Plays,
Buckles History of Civilization, J. r.
Green's History Of the English Peo-
pie. Matthew Arnold'S Essays, Taine's
English Literadfre."
Enjoyable no doubt, but many better
works can be substituted for Buckle
and perhaps two others. But that
would depend upon individual taste,
Macaulay, Ruskin, Carlyle and De-
Quincy furnish a great deal Of most
| Io1;oI4f,I 49, VI
curious thing in the Peck discussion
remains yet to be presented. He gives
his own particular choice if imprisoned
and he was to be limited to but six fol
the remainder of his life. The selec-
tons have the favor of originality
best possible models always. He gives
them:
1.-THE Bible, Bacon's Essays, J. r
| Green's History Of the English People
Tennyson's Poems, Buckles History OF
Civilization. George Moore's Comics
sions of a Young Man"
He leaves out Homer. Dante. Shakes.
peare. Milton, Byron. Scott, Thackeray
and the other immortals. Think OF
that and substituting Buckle and Moore
He makes a suggestion to those who
only care for fiction. In exile he ad.
vises them to take "Balzac's Woman
of Thirty, Thackeray's P~endennis
F1aubert's Madame Bovary, Dickens
Martin ChuZZlewit, kiplins's Plain
Tales from the Hills" We do not know
that he means to say that the books
named are in his judgment the best OF
h respective writer's. Kipling has nc
place among them. We love ~"Ivanhoe,'
but it is not so great and mastery as
some others of the Great Wizard
The Antiquary," "Kenilworth," Guy
Mannering' and some others. We thinE
very highly of "Pendennis,' but it is
not believed by the best critics to equa-
some others. 1t is a great favorite
with US, and we will not lend a hand
to depreciate it in the least Thack-
cray himself thought Henry Esmond'
his masterpiece, but his gifted Daugh-