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 The Ontario Readers.

 

 THE

 HIGH SCHOOL READER.

 

 AUTHORIZED FOR USE IN THE PUBLIC AND HIGH SCHOOLS
 AND COLLEGIATE INSTITUTES OF ONTARIO BY THE
 DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION.

 Toronto:

 ROSE PUBLISHING COMPANY.

 1886.

 

 Entered according to Act of Parliament of Canada, in the year one thousand
 eight hundred and eighty-six, by the Minister of Education for Ontario,
 in the Office of the Minister of Agriculture.

 

 PRINTED AND BOUND BY
 Hunter, Rose & Co.,
 TORONTO.

 

PREFACE.

            The selections in the High School Reader have been chosen with the belief that to pupils of such advancement as is required for entrance into High Schools and Collegiate Institutes, oral reading should be taught from the best literature, inasmuch as it not only affords a wide range of thought and sentiment, but it also demands for its appropriate vocal interpretation such powers of sympathy and appreciation as are developed only by culture; and it is to impart culture that these institutions of higher learning have been established.

            Experience has shown that it is from their ordinary reading books that pupils obtain their chief practical acquaintance with literature, and the selections here presented have been made with this in remembrance. They have been taken from the writings of authors of acknowledged representative character; and they have been arranged for the most part chronologically, so that pupils may unconsciously obtain some little insight into the history of the development of the literary art. They have also been so chosen as to convey a somewhat fair idea of the relative value and productivity of authorship in the three great English-speaking communities of the world—the mother countries, our neighbours' country, and our own.

            While a limited space, if nothing else, prevents the collection here made from being a complete anthology, yet it does pretend to represent the authors selected in characteristic moods, and (in so far as is possible in a school book, and a reading text-book) to present a somewhat fair perspective of the world of authorship. It may be said that, if this be so, some names are conspicuously absent: McGee, Canada's poet-orator; Parkman, who has given to our country a place in the portraiture of nations; William Morris, the chief of the modern school of romanticism; Tyndall, who of the literature of science has made an art; Lamb, daintiest of humorists; Collins, "whose range of flight," as Swinburne says, "was the highest of his generation." Either from lack of space, or from some inherent unsuitableness in such selections as might otherwise have been made, it was found impossible to represent these names worthily; but as they are all more or less adequately represented in the Fourth Reader, the teacher who may wish to correct the perspective here presented may refer his pupils to the pieces from these authors there given. It may be added, too, that the body of recent literature is so enormous, that no adequate representation of it (at any rate as regards quantity) is possible within the limits of one book.

            The selections in poetry, with but three necessary exceptions, are complete wholes, and represent, as fairly as single pieces can, the respective merits and styles of their authors. The selections in prose cannot, of course, lay claim to this excellence; but they are all complete in themselves, or have been made so by short introductions; and it is hoped that they too are not unfairly representative of their authors. In many cases they are of somewhat unusual length; by this, however, they gain in interest and in representative character.

            In some of the prose selections, passages have occasionally been omitted, either because they interfered with the main narrative, or because, as they added nothing to it, to omit them would be a gain of space. In most cases these omissions are indicated by small asterisks.

            All the selections, both in prose and in verse, have been made with constant reference to their suitableness for the teaching of reading. They are fitted to exemplify every mode of expression, except, perhaps, that appropriate to a few of the stronger passions. It is not pretended that they are all simple and easy. Many of them will require much study and preparation before they can be read with that precision of expression which is necessary to perfect intelligibility. The chronological arrangement precludes grading; the teacher will decide in what order the selections are to be read.

            The introductory chapter is mainly intended to assist the teacher in imparting to his pupils a somewhat scientific knowledge of the art of reading. Of course the teacher will choose for himself his mode of dealing with the chapter, but it has been written with the thought that he should use it as a convenient series of texts, which he might expand and illustrate in accordance with his opportunities and judgment. Examples for illustration are indispensable to the successful study of the principles described, and they should be sought for and obtained by the teacher and pupils together (whenever possible they should be taken from the Reader), and should be kept labeled for reference and practice. If the application of these principles be thus practically made by the pupils themselves, they will receive a much more lasting impression of their meaning and value than if the examples were given to them at no cost of thought or search on their part.

            To the teacher it is recommended that he should not be contented with the short and necessarily imperfect exposition of the art of reading therein given. The more familiar he is with the scientific principles the more successfully will he be able to direct the studies and practices of his pupils. Works on elocution are numerous and accessible. Dr. Rush's Philosophy of the Voice is perhaps the foundation of all subsequent good work in the exposition of voice culture. Professor Murdoch's Analytic Elocution is an exhaustive and scholarly treatise based upon it, and to the plan of treatment therein fully developed the practical part of the introductory chapter has largely conformed.

            The pleasing task remains of thanking those authors who have so kindly responded to requests for permission to use selections from their works: to President Wilson, for a sonnet from Spring Wild Roses, and for Our Ideal; to Mr. Charles Sangster, for two sonnets from Hesperus; to Mr. John Reade, for two poems from The Prophecy of Merlin; to Mr. Charles Mair, for the scenes from Tecumseh; and to Professor C. G. D. Roberts, for To Winter.

            To Miss A. T. Jones, thanks are due for permission to use Abigail Becker, recently published in the Century Magazine. The heroic acts described in this poem seem so wonderful, so greatly superior to woman's strength, even to human strength and endurance, to accomplish, that were it possible to doubt its truthfulness, doubt one certainly would. Nevertheless the poem is not only strictly in accordance with the facts, it is even within and below them.

 CONTENTS.

 (The Titles of the Selections in Poetry are printed in Italics.)

 NUMBER. TITLE. AUTHOR. PAGE. I. King Solomon's Prayer and Blessing at the Dedication of the Temple. Holy Bible 33 II. Invitation. Holy Bible 39 III. The Trial Scene in the "Merchant of Venice." Shakespeare 40 IV. Of Boldness. Bacon 53 V. To Daffodils. Herrick 55 VI. Of Contentedness in all Estates and Accidents. Taylor 56 VII. To Lucasta, on Going to the Wars. Lovelace 61 VIII. Angling. Walton 62 IX. On the Morning of Christ's Nativity. Milton 67 X. Character of Lord Falkland. Clarendon 76 XI. Veni, Creator Spiritus. Dryden 81 XII. Lines printed under the Portrait of Milton. Dryden 82 XIII. Reason. Dryden 83 XIV. On the Love of Country as a Principle of Action. Steele 83 XV. The Golden Scales. Addison 88 XVI. Misjudged Hospitality. Swift 93 XVII. From the "Essay on Man." Pope 96 XVIII. Rule, Britannia. Thomson 101 XIX. The First Crusade. Hume 102 XX. The Bard. Gray 111 XXI. On an Address to the Throne concerning Affairs in America. Chatham 116 XXII. From "The Vicar of Wakefield." Goldsmith 127 XXIII. Meeting of Johnson with Wilkes. Boswell 133 XXIV. The Policy of the Empire in the First Century. Gibbon 142 XXV. On the Attacks upon his Pension. Burke 147 XXVI. Two Eighteenth Century Scenes. Cowper 155 XXVII. From "The School for Scandal." Sheridan 159 XXVIII. The Cotter's Saturday Night. Burns 171 XXIX. The Land o' the Leal. Lady Nairn 177 XXX. The Trial by Combat at the Diamond of the Desert. Scott 179 XXXI. To a Highland Girl. Wordsworth 202 XXXII. France: an Ode. Coleridge 205 XXXIII. Complaint and Reproof. Coleridge 208 XXXIV. The Well of St. Keyne. Southey 209 XXXV. The Isles of Greece. Byron 211 XXXVI. Go where Glory Waits Thee. Moore 214 XXXVII. Dear Harp of My Country. Moore 215 XXXVIII. Come, ye Disconsolate. Moore 216 XXXIX. On a Lock of Milton's Hair. Hunt 217 XL. The Glove and the Lions. Hunt 217 XLI. The Cloud. Shelley 219 XLII. On First Looking into Chapman's Homer. Keats 222 XLIII. On the Grasshopper and the Cricket. Keats 222 XLIV. The Power and Danger of the Cæsars. De Quincey 223 XLV. Unthoughtfulness. Dr. Arnold 227 XLVI. The Bridge of Sighs. Hood 234 XLVII. A Parental Ode to my Son. Hood 237 XLVIII. Metaphysics. Haliburton 239 XLIX. Indian Summer. Lover 246 L. To Helen. Praed 246 LI. Horatius. Macaulay 247 LII. The Raven. Poe 258 LIII. David Swan—A Fantasy. Hawthorne 262 LIV. My Kate. Mrs. Browning 270 LV. A Dead Rose. Mrs. Browning 271 LVI. To the Evening Wind. Bryant 272 LVII. Death of the Protector. Carlyle 274 LVIII. Each and All. Emerson 282 LIX. Waterloo. Lever 284 LX. The Diver. Lytton 294 LXI. The Plague of Locusts. Newman 299 LXII. The Cane-bottom'd Chair. Thackeray 306 LXIII. The Reconciliation. Thackeray 308 LXIV. The Island of the Scots. Aytoun 315 LXV. The Gambling Party. Beaconsfield 321 LXVI. The Pickwickians Disport themselves on Ice. Dickens 327 LXVII. The Hanging of the Crane. Longfellow 336 LXVIII. Earthworms. Darwin 342 LXIX. "As Ships, Becalmed at Eve." Clough 346 LXX. Duty. Clough 347 LXXI. Sonnets. Heavysege 349 LXXII. Dr. Arnold at Rugby. Dean Stanley 350 LXXIII. Ode to the North-east Wind. Kingsley 354 LXXIV. From "The Mill on the Floss." George Eliot 356 LXXV. The Cloud Confines. Rossetti 359 LXXVI. Barbara Frietchie. Whittier 361 LXXVII. Contentment. Holmes 364 LXXVIII. The British Constitution. Gladstone 367 LXXIX. The Lord of Burleigh. Tennyson 370 LXXX. "Break, Break, Break." Tennyson 373 LXXXI. The "Revenge". Tennyson 373 LXXXII. Hervé Riel. Browning 378 LXXXIII. Sonnet. Dr. Wilson 383 LXXXIV. Our Ideal. Dr. Wilson 383 LXXXV. From the Apology of Socrates. Jowett 384 LXXXVI. The Empire of the Cæsars. Froude 389 LXXXVII. Of the Mystery of Life. Ruskin 390 LXXXVIII. The Robin. Lowell 397 LXXXIX. The Old Cradle. Locker 400 XC. Rugby Chapel. Matt. Arnold 401 XCI. In the Orillia Woods. Sangster 408 XCII. Morals and Character in the Eighteenth Century. Goldwin Smith 409 XCIII. A Liberal Education. Huxley 412 XCIV. Too Late. Mrs. Craik 416 XCV. Amor Mundi. Miss Rossetti 417 XCVI. Toujours Amour. Stedman 418 XCVII. England. Aldrich 419 XCVIII. Rococo. Aldrich 420 XCIX. Kings of Men. John Reade 420 C. Thalatta! Thalatta! John Reade 421 CI. The Forsaken Garden. Swinburne 422 CII. A Ballad To Queen Elizabeth of the Spanish Armada. Dobson 424 CIII. Circe. Dobson 426 CIV. Scenes from "Tecumseh." Mair 426 CV. The Return of the Swallows. Gosse 437 CVI. Dawn Angels. Miss Robinson 438 CVII. Le Roi Est Mort. Miss Robinson 439 CVIII. To Winter. Roberts 440 CIX. Abigail Becker. Miss Jones 442
 

 SHORT EXTRACTS.

 FIRST LINES. AUTHOR. PAGE. He that cannot see well Bacon 54 Stone walls do not a prison make Lovelace 55 When the heart is right Berkeley 87 It must be so—Plato, thou reasonest well Addison 92 England, with all thy faults, I love thee still Cowper 154 Now stir the fire, and close the shutters fast Cowper 158 Oh, wad some power the giftie gie us Burns 170 Life! we've been long together Mrs. Barbauld 178 Rough wind, that moanest loud Shelley 218 There is a book, who runs may read Keble 233 There is no great and no small Emerson 245 Wellington, Thy great work is but begun Rossetti 293 Sacrifice and self-devotion Lord Houghton 320 Flower in the crannied wall Tennyson 366 It fortifies my soul to know Clough 369 And yet, dear heart! remembering thee Whittier 372 There is no land like England Tennyson 377 The Summum Pulchrum rests in heaven above Clough 382 Be of good cheer then, my dear Crito Socrates 388 What know we greater than the soul Tennyson 407 That is best blood that hath most iron in't Lowell 411 Such kings of shreds have woo'd and won her Aldrich 419

 

 INDEX OF AUTHORS.

 NAME. PAGE. Addison, Joseph 88, 92 Aldrich, Thomas Bailey 419, 420 Arnold, Matthew 401 Arnold, Thomas 227 Aytoun, Wm. Edmondstoune 315 Bacon, Lord (Francis) 53, 54 Barbauld, Anna Lætitia 178 Beaconsfield, Lord (Benjamin Disraeli) 321 Berkeley, Bishop (George) 87 Bible, The Holy 33, 39 Boswell, James 133 Browning, Elizabeth Barrett 270, 271 Browning, Robert 378 Bryant, William Cullen 272 Burke, Edmund 147 Burns, Robert 170, 171 Byron, Lord (George Gordon Noel) 211 Carlyle, Thomas 274 Chatham, Lord (Wm. Pitt) 116 Clarendon, Lord 76 Clough, Arthur Hugh 346, 347, 369, 382 Coleridge, Samuel Taylor 205, 208 Cowper, William 154, 155, 158 Craik, Dinah Maria Mulock 416 Darwin, Charles 342 De Quincey, Thomas 223 Dickens, Charles 327 Dobson, Austin 424, 426 Dryden, John 81, 82, 83 Eliot, George (Marian Evans Cross) 356 Emerson, Ralph Waldo 245, 282 Froude, James Anthony 389 Gibbon, Edward 142 Gladstone, William Ewart 367 Goldsmith, Oliver 127 Gosse, Edmund William 437 Gray, Thomas 111 Haliburton, Thomas Chandler 239 Hawthorne, Nathaniel 262 Heavysege, Charles 349 Herrick, Robert 55 Holmes, Oliver Wendell 364 Hood, Thomas 234, 237 Houghton, Lord (Richard Monckton Milnes) 320 Hume, David 102 Hunt, Leigh 217 Huxley, Thomas Henry 412 Jones, Amanda T. 412 Jowett, Benjamin 384 Keats, John 222 Keble, John 233 Kingsley, Charles 354 Lever, Charles James 284 Locker, Frederick 400 Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth 336 Lovelace, Richard 55, 61 Lover, Samuel 246 Lowell, James Russell 397, 411 Lytton, Lord (Edward Bulwer) 294 Macaulay, Lord (Thomas Babington) 247 Mair, Charles 426 Milton, John 67 Moore, Thomas 214, 215, 216 Nairn, Baroness (Carolina Oliphant) 177 Newman, Cardinal (John Henry) 299 Poe, Edgar Allan 258 Pope, Alexander 96 Praed, Winthrop Mackworth 246 Reade, John 420, 421 Roberts, Charles George Douglas 440 Robinson, A. Mary F. 438, 439 Rossetti, Christina Georgina 417 Rossetti, Dante Gabriel 293, 359 Ruskin, John 390 Sangster, Charles 408 Scott, Sir Walter 179 Shakespeare, William 40 Shelley, Percy Bysshe 218, 219 Sheridan, Richard Brinsley 159 Smith, Goldwin 409 Southey, Robert 209 Stanley, Dean (Arthur Penrhyn) 350 Stedman, Edmund Clarence 418 Steele, Sir Richard 83 Swift, Jonathan 93 Swinburne, Algernon Charles 422 Taylor, Bishop (Jeremy) 56 Tennyson, Lord (Alfred) 366, 370, 373, 377, 407 Thackeray, William Makepeace 306, 308 Thomson, James 101 Walton, Izaak 62 Whittier, John Greenleaf 361, 372 Wilson, President (Daniel) 383 Wordsworth, William 202