The Washington herald., 1913-11-30
Gathered Into Home at Sycamore Hill "On No Known Prn-
ciple" and Scattered Through the House
for Convenience.
for Convenience.

I quite unconsciously TO furnish himself
with much ammunition which he will
md of use in the battle of life.
A book must be interesting to the par
ticular reader at that particular time.
But there are tens of thousands Of inter-
esting books, and some of them are seal
ed TO some men and some are sealed to
others; and some stir the soul at some
given point of a mans life and yet con-
vey no message at other times. The
reader, the booa-lover, must meet his
own needs without paying too much at
tention to what his neighbors say these
needs should be. He must not hypocrit-
| ically pretend to like what he does not
like. Yet at the same time he must
avoid that most unpleasant of all the in
dications Of puffed-up vanity which con-
sists in treating mere individual, and
perhaps unfortunate, idiosyncrasy as a
matter Of pride. I happen to be devoted
to Macbeth" whereas I very seldom read
| Hamlet Though l like parts of it). Now
am humbly and sincerely conscious
| that this is demerit in me and not in
Hamlet" and yet II would not do me any
| good to pretend that 1 like Hamlet as
much as Macbeth when, as a matter Of
fact. ] don't I am very fond OF simple
epics and % ballad poetry, from the
Nibelungenlied and the Roland song
through Chevy Chase and Patrick
Spens" and "Twa Corbies'' to Scott's
poems and Longfellow's Saga of King
Olaf and "Othere." On the other hand,
don't care to read dramas as a rule:
cannot read them with enjoyment unless
they appeal to me very strongly. They
must almost be Eschylus or Euripides.
Goethe or Moliere, in order that 1 may
not feel after finishing them q sense OF
virtuous pride in having achieved a task.
Now l would be the first the deny that
even the most delightful old English bal
lad should be put on a par with any one
Ct scores of dramatic works by authors
whom ! have not mentioned; know that
each OF these dramatists has written
what is of more worth than the ballad:
only, enjoy the ballad, and don't en-
joy the drama; and therefore the ballad
is better for me, and this fact is not
altered by the other fact that my own
shortcomings are to blame in the matter.
still read a number Of Scott's novels
over and over again, whereas II l
finish anything by Miss Austin 1 have
a feeling that duty performed is a rain
bow to the soul. But other book
lovers who are very close kin to me-
and whose taste / know to be better
than mine. read Miss Austen all the
time-and, moreover. they are very
kind, and never pity me in too offensive
manner for not reading her myself.
Aside from the masters of literature.
there are all kinds of books which one
person will find delightful, and which
he certainly ought not to surrender Just
because nobody else is able to find as
much in the beloved volume. There is
on our book-shelves a little pre-Vic-
toria novel or tale called The Semi
Attached Couple" 1t is told with much
humor; 1t is a story OF gentle-folk who
lxy nd 20 . ts
altogether delightful. But outside the
members of my own family I have
never met a human being who had
even heard OF II, and / don't suppose I
ever shall meet one. ! often enjoy a
story by some living author so much
that I write to tell him so-or to tell
her so: and at least half the time / re-
gret my action. because it encourages
! the writer to believe that the public
shares my views, and he then finds
| that the public doesn't
BETTER Than Books.
Books are all very we'll in their way,
and we love them at Sycamore Hill;
but children are better than books
Sycamore Hill is one of three neighbor-
ing houses in which small cousins spent
very happy years of childhood. In the
three houses there were at one time
sixteen Of these small cousins, all told.
and once we ranged them in order of
size and took their photograph. There
are many kinds of success in life worth
having. 1t is exceedingly interesting
and attractive to be a successful busi-
ness man. or railway man, or farmer,
or successful lawyer or doctor; or a
writer. or a President or a ranchman,
or the colonel of a lighting regiment,
or TO kill grizzly bears and lions. But
for unfiagging interest and enjoyment,
household OF children, II things go
reasonably well, certainly makes all
other forms Of success and achievement
lose their importance by comparison.
The Country for Children.
1t may be true that he travels farthest
who travels alone; but the goal thus
reached Is not worth reaching. And as
for a life deliberately devoted TO pleasure
as an end-why. the greatest happiness
is the happiness that comes as a by
product of striving to do what must be