BIOGRAPHY.
Biography carefully read will cast a flood of light before us on the path of life. Read Longfellow's "Psalm of Life," and try to find the teachings he refers to in the lives of great men. The world still lacks what it very much needs,—a book of brief biographies of the greatest and noblest men and women of every age and country, by a master hand. The aim should be to extract from the past what it can teach us of value for the future; and to do this biography must become a comparative science, events and lives must be grouped over the whole range of the years, that by similarities and contrasts the truth may appear. Smiles's "Self-Help" is a partial realization of this plan.
The manner of reading should be: R. D.
[124] Plutarch's "Lives" comes nearer to a comparative biography than any other book we have. He contrasts his characters in pairs, a Greek and a Roman in each couplet. It is one of the most delightful of books, and among those most universally read by cultured people of all nations. Dryden's translation revised by Clough is the best. (Rome, 1st cent.)
[125] In Wendell Phillips's oration on "Toussaint L'Ouverture," there is a fascinating comparison of the noble negro warrior with Napoleon. (U. S., 19th cent.)
[126] Boswell's "Johnson" is admittedly the greatest life of a single person yet written. (Eng., 18th cent.)
[127] Lockhart's "Life of Scott" is a favorite with all who read it. Wilkie Collins especially recommends it as finely picturing genius and nobility of character. (Eng., 19th cent.)
[128] Marshall's "Life of Washington" is an inspiring book. Gladstone said to Mr. Depew: "Sixty years ago I read Chief-Justice Marshall's 'Life of Washington,' and I was forced to the conclusion that he was quite the greatest man that ever lived. The sixty years that have passed have not changed that impression; and to any Englishman who seeks my advice in the line of his development and equipment I invariably say, 'Begin by reading the Life of George Washington.'" (U. S., 19th cent.)
Franklin's "Autobiography" is brief, philosophic, and delightfully frank and clear. (U. S., 18th cent.)