In A Morning In My Library ("Times" Book Club), Mr. Stephen Coleridge has put together an anthology of English prose which has some high advantages to recommend it to popular favour even in what the compiler calls "these tumultuous times." It is a small book and fits easily into a coat pocket; it is well and clearly printed, and, best of all, the selection is admirably made and does credit to Mr. Coleridge's taste. Every extract bears the stamp of inspiration, a quality difficult to define but unmistakable. Raleigh's invocation to Death; Johnson's preface to the Dictionary; Napier's description of the battle of Albuera; Richard Shiel's appeal on behalf of his fellow-countrymen, and Abraham Lincoln's immortal speech at Gettysburg—all these are to be found, and many more; and all go to show the might, majesty, dominion and power of that great language which it is our privilege to speak. I think we shall value that privilege a little more highly and shall endeavour to place a more careful restraint on our tongues and our pens after we have dipped through Mr. Coleridge's little book. He is a judicious guide, and such explanations as he adds are always short and never tiresome. Yet it must in fairness be added that King Charles's head, in the shape of an anti-vivisection footnote, has once, but only once, crept into the "memorial." However the fault is such a little one that those who love noble English prose will easily forgive it.
Old Lady (to wounded Officer). "Oh, Sir, do you 'appen to 'ave 'eard if any of your men at the front 'as found a pair of spectacles wot I left in a 16 'bus in the Edgware Road?"
Transcriber Notes
Typographical inconsistencies have been changed and are listed below.
Archaic and variable spelling is preserved.
Editors' punctuation style is preserved.