wishes to spare the young those circuitous ways in which he wandered up and down, and whilst he observes and profits by the advantages of the present time, preserves the recollection of earlier and more meritorious endeavors.

From Goethe's Introduction to the "Propylæum.»

LIFE AS AN APPRENTICESHIP

RT is long, life short; judgment difficult, occasion transient. To act is easy, to think is hard; to act according to our thought is troublesome. Every beginning is cheerful; the threshold is the place of expectation. The boy stands astonished, his impressions guide him; he learns sportfully, seriousness comes on him by surprise. Imitation is born with us; what should be imitated is not easy to discover. The excellent is rarely found, more rarely valued. The height charms us, the steps to it do not; with the summit in our eye, we love to walk along the plain. It is but a part of art that can be taught; the artist needs it all. Who knows it half, speaks much and is always wrong; who knows it wholly, inclines to act and speaks seldom or late. The former have no secrets and no force; the instruction they can give is like baked bread, savory and satisfying for a single day; but flour cannot be sown, and seed corn ought not to be ground. Words are good, but they are not the best. The best is not to be explained by words. The spirit in which we act is the highest matter. Action can be understood and again represented by the spirit alone. No one knows what he is doing, while he acts rightly; but of what is wrong we are always conscious. Whoever works with symbols only is a pedant, a hypocrite, or a bungler. There are many such, and they like to be together. Their babbling detains the scholar; their obstinate mediocrity vexes even the best. The instruction which the true artist gives us opens up the mind; for where words fail him, deeds speak. The true scholar learns from the known to unfold the unknown, and approaches more and more to being a master.

From "Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship."

A

THE VICAR OF WAKEFIELD

PROTESTANT Country-clergyman is, perhaps, the most beautiful subject for a modern idyl; he appears, like Melchizedek, as priest and king in one person. In the most innocent situation which can be imagined in the world, that of a husbandman, he is, for the most part, united to his people by similar occupations, as well as by similar family relationships; he is a father, a master of a family, an agriculturist, and thus a perfect member of the community. On this pure, beautiful, earthly foundation, reposes his higher calling; to him is it given to guide men through life, to take care for their spiritual education, to bless them at all the leading epochs of their existence, to instruct, to strengthen, to console them, and, if present consolation. is not sufficient, he calls up before them the hope and firm assurance of a happier future. Imagine to yourself such a man, with feelings of pure humanity, strong enough not to deviate from them under any circumstances, and by this already elevated above the many, of whom one can expect neither purity nor firmness; give him the learning necessary for his office, as well as a cheerful, equable activity which is even passionate, for he neglects no moment for doing good,- and you will have him well endowed. But at the same time add the necessary limitation, so that he must not only labor on in a small circle, but may also, perchance, pass over to a smaller; grant him good-nature, placability, resolution, and everything else praiseworthy that springs from so decided a character, and over all this a serene condescension and a smiling forbearance towards his own failings and those of others; so will you have put together pretty well the image of our excellent Wakefield.

The delineation of this character on his course of life through joys and sorrows, and the ever-increasing interest of the plot, by the combination of what is quite natural with the strange and the wonderful, make this romance one of the best which has ever been written; besides this, it has the great superiority of being quite moral, nay, in a pure sense, Christian, for it represents the reward of good intentions and perseverance in the right, it strengthens an unconditional confidence in God, and asserts the final triumph of good over evil, and all this without a trace of cant or pedantry. The author was preserved from both of these

by an elevation of mind that shows itself throughout in the form of irony, by reason of which this little work must appear to us as wise as it is amiable. The author, Dr. Goldsmith, has without question great insight into the moral world, into its strength and its infirmities; but, at the same time, he may thankfully acknowledge that he is an Englishman, and reckon highly the advantages which his country and his nation afforded him. The family, with whose delineation he has here busied himself, stands upon one of the lowest steps of citizen-comfort, and yet comes in contact with the highest; its narrow circle, which becomes still more contracted, extends its influence into the great world through the natural and common course of things; this little skiff floats full on the agitated waves of English life, and in weal or woe it has to expect injury or help from the vast fleet which sails around it. I may suppose that my readers know this work and remember it; whoever hears it named for the first time here, as well as he who is induced to read it again, will thank me.

From Goethe's "Autobiography.»

OLIVER GOLDSMITH

(1728-1774)

OLDSMITH began his life in London by persistent work as an essayist, writing in what was still the dominant style of Addison and Steele. He wrote essays of this kind for the Critical Review, the British Magazine, the Lady's Magazine, the Busybody, the Bee, and the Citizen of the World. Much of the work he did at this period has been lost, but in the Bee and the Citizen of the World he wrote a very considerable collection of essays, many of which would be valued even were they not known to be his. The Citizen of the World is a record of the observations of a suppositious Chinese philosopher, traveling in England and writing home to "Fum Hoam, First President of the Ceremonial Academy at Pekin.” Goldsmith was born in County Longford, Ireland, November 10th, 1728. He studied at Trinity College, Dublin, obtaining the degree of Bachelor of Arts in 1749. After studying medicine at the University of Edinburgh in 1752, he traveled on foot through western and southern Europe, supporting himself by playing the flute. Returning penniless to London, he attempted to practice medicine, but being obliged to write to support himself, he was forced by his necessities into immortality. After much work of an ephemeral character done for London publishers, he published "The Traveler" in 1765, "The Vicar of Wakefield" in 1766, and his comedy of "The Good-Natured Man" in 1768. Each of these is a masterpiece sufficient of itself to have made his reputation permanent, but in 1770 he followed them with his "Deserted Village," no doubt his best poem, as it is certainly one of the best ever written. His greatest comedy, "She Stoops to Conquer," was not produced until 1773, the year before his death. The list of his other works is a long one, and while many of them have been criticized as the hasty work of a "potboiler," all are unquestionably the work of a man of high and fine genius, worthy of the age and company of Samuel Johnson, David Garrick, and Sir Joshua Reynolds.