LITERATURE ENGLISH AND AMERICAN WITH SEVERAL HUNDRED EXTRACTS TO BE MEMORIZED NEW EDITION, REVISED AND ENLARGED. BY J. WILLIS WESTLAKE, A. M., LATE PROFESSOR OF ENGLISH LITERATURE IN THE STATE NORMAL TO WRITE LETTERS, ETC. HOW "Literature is the immortality of speech." PHILADELPHIA · CHRISTOPHER SOWER COMPANY, No. 614 ARCH STREET. LELAND STANFORD JUNIOR UNIVERSITY PREFACE. ON NE of the demands of the present day in educational work is small text-books, in which are given a few fundamental facts and principles as a basis for future attainments. The present work is intended to conform to this requirement. It aims to give just such and so much literary information as is indispensable to the learner; to show the growth of our literature through its various eras; to present a concise view of the lives and characters of its great representative authors; and to bring forth from the thought-treasures of our language a variety of literary gems for the enrichment of the mind of the student. It is calculated to impart both knowledge and cultureknowledge by its historic facts, culture by its philosophical development and its illustrative and thoughtawakening extracts. The memorizing of extracts has long been recognized by educators as one of the most efficient means of culture. Every beautiful sentiment implanted in the fertile mind of youth is a seed-truth that will yield a perennial harvest of good thoughts developed into worthy acts. Hoping that this little work may be the means of giving a new interest to the study of pure literature, and sowing in many a heart the fructifying seeds of truth, the author herewith submits it to an indulgent public. MILLERSVILLE, PA. iii |