Consciously or unconsciously we are influenced by the characters we admire. A book that exerts a deep, as well as a wide influence, must produce changes in the reader's way of thinking, and excite him to activity; the world for him can never be quite ... Read more

Consciously or unconsciously we are influenced by the characters we admire. A book that exerts a deep, as well as a wide influence, must produce changes in the reader's way of thinking, and excite him to activity; the world for him can never be quite the same that it was before. Such books have an important part in moulding the character of a people. It is because the books represented in this volume have been doing just that for many years that they have become so prized. In the characters of Crusoe, Gulliver, and Christian, to mention only three, English-speaking people recognize pictures of the independent, self-reliant men, often self-educated (at least in many important particulars), adventurous and daring by nature, dependent upon themselves and the use of their faculties for happiness, who made England great among nations and wrote the Constitution of the United States. With the passage of time the books have lost nothing of the charm and fascination which they have ever possessed for young and old."Was there ever yet anything written by mere man," said Dr. SamuelJohnson, "that was wished longer by its readers, excepting Robinson Crusoe, Pilgrim's Progress, and Don Quixote?" At this time, when the subject of vocational training is receiving so much attention, and public school instruction is being criticized because its critics say, it does not prepare boys and girls to meet the demands which life makes upon them, it is interesting to read what was said almost a hundred years ago by a man whose influence on education has been both deep and lasting in character. Less