Imagini ale paginilor
PDF
ePub

COPYRIGHT, 1897,

BY SILVER, BURDETT & COMPANY.

PUBLISHERS' ANNOUNCEMENT.

THE SILVER SERIES OF ENGLISH CLASSICs is designed to furnish editions of many of the standard classics in English and American literature, in the best possible form for reading and study. While planned to meet the requirements for entrance examinations to college, as formulated by the Commission of American Colleges, it serves a no less important purpose in providing valuable and attractive reading for the use of the higher grades of public and private schools.

It is now generally recognized that to familiarize students with the masterpieces of literature is the best means of developing true literary taste, and of establishing a love of good reading which will be a permanent delight. The habit of cultured original expression is also established through the influence of such study.

To these ends, carefully edited and annotated editions of the Classics, which shall direct pupils in making intelligent and appreciative study of each work as a whole, and, specifically, of its individual features, are essential in the classroom.

The SILVER SERIES notably meets this need, through the editing of its volumes by scholars of high literary ability and educational experience. It unfolds the treasures of literary art, and shows the power and beauty of our language in the various forms of English composition, as the oration, the essay, the argument, the biography, the poem, etc.

Thus, the first volume contains Webster's oration at the laying of the corner stone of Bunker Hill monument; and, after a brief sketch of the orator's life, the oration is defined, the speech itself furnishing a practical example of what a masterpiece in oratory should be.

[ocr errors]

Next follows the essay, as exemplified by Macaulay's "Essay on Milton." The story of the life of the great essayist creates an interest in his work, and the student, before he proceeds to study

3

212202

the essay, is shown in the Introduction the difference between the oratorical and the essayistic style.

After this, Burke's "Speech on Conciliation" is treated in a similar manner, the essential principles of forensic authorship being set forth.

Again, De Quincey's "Flight of a Tartar Tribe"-a conspicuous example of pure narration — exhibits the character and quality of this department of literary composition.

Southey's "Life of Nelson" is presented in the same personal and critical manner, placing before the student the essential characteristics of the biographical style.

66

The series continues with specimens of such works as "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner," by Coleridge; the " Essay on Burns," by Carlyle; the "Sir Roger De Coverley Papers,” by Addison; Milton's "Paradise Lost," Books I. and II.; Pope's Iliad," Books I., VI., XXII., and XXIV.; Dryden's "Palamon and Arcite," and other works of equally eminent writers, covering, in the completed series, a large and diversified area of literary exposition.

The functions of the several departments of authorship are explained in simple terms. The beginner, as well as the somewhat advanced scholar, will find in this series ample instruction and guidance for his own study, without being perplexed by abstruse or doubtful problems.

With the same thoughtfulness for the student's progress, the appended Notes provide considerable information outright; but they are also designed to stimulate the student in making researches for himself, as well as in applying, under the direction of the teacher, the principles laid down in the critical examination of the separate divisions.

A portrait, either of the author or of the personage about whom he writes, will form an attractive feature of each volume. The text is from approved editions, keeping as far as possible the original form; and the contents offer, at a very reasonable price, the latest results of critical instruction in the art of literary expression.

The teacher will appreciate the fact that enough, and not too much, assistance is rendered the student, leaving the instructor ample room for applying and extending the principles and sug gestions which have been presented.

INTRODUCTION.

ONE of the masterpieces in oratory is the speech of Daniel Webster, delivered at the laying of the corner stone of Bunker Hill Monument, on the 17th of June, 1825, at Charlestown, Massachusetts, under the auspices of the Bunker Hill Monument Association, of which he was president.

This oration is now edited and annotated in a new form, for the following reasons:

In order that the youth of our land may know something of the life of the great orator; that they may understand the conditions which made the speech especially memorable; and that they may be assisted in analyzing the various elements in the speech which combine to make it a model of oratorical art.

The modern requirements for scholarship have raised the standard for entrance examinations of our colleges, so that more attention than formerly is paid to the English classics in our preparatory schools, whether these schools fit students for college or for industrial and other occupations. Literature is one of the fine arts, and as such the new education demands that the best models be set before the pupils. Great orations are among the most effective means by which the principles that underlie the literary art may be

taught. They bring the personality of the speaker vividly before the mind, and connect his utterances with the formative influences which have developed his power. His strong

or impassioned sentences are read as if the man himself were present, a living witness and an exponent of great ideas. Spoken words are direct and forceful, intended to impress a present auditory; they are necessarily brief, and give play to the working of emotion both in the speaker and in his hearers. Abstractions and involved sentences are out of place; it is by the ear rather than the eye, that the thoughts which inspire the speaker are transmitted to the hearer. Although an oration, printed in a book, must be read, it conveys to the mind of the reader a sense of that mysterious influence which flows from the lips of one who, in speaking, vivifies by the voice the sentiments he utters.

America has given many noble orators to the world. Among them Webster stands foremost in all the essentials of oratory. As England has but one Burke, so América has as yet but one Webster. His immortal utterances will abide as long as the nation endures.

I.

Our first study is of the orator himself.

Daniel Webster, advocate, senator, statesman, whom Carlyle called "a parliamentary Hercules," and whom Everett has compared with Burke for political truth and practical wisdom, was born at Salisbury, New Hampshire, January 18, 1782, the last year of the Revolutionary War. His father,

« ÎnapoiContinuă »