ool life, what books it were best
worth while to read before the end (let me say) of his thirtieth year;'
and we venture to regard Mr. Welldon's list as the best of all in point
of conciseness and practical value.

The last to enter the lists, though not under the auspices of the 'Pall
Mall Gazette,' is Mr. Frederic Harrison, who comes armed with a volume
entitled 'The Choice of Books,' though four-fifths of the contents have
strayed far away into such remote pastures as 'The Opening of the Courts
of Justice,' 'A Plea for the Tower of London,' and 'The AEsthete.' With
the small residue of the book, which has remained faithful to the
titlepage, we have little fault to find. Mr. Harrison, as might be
expected, regards everything through the spectacles of Auguste
Comte--'hinc omne principium, huc refer exitum.' Comte's 'Syllabus,' to
which we have already referred, was the basis of at least one of his
essays, and is the subject of his closing remarks.

For our present purpose, the first article, 'How to Read,' is
undoubtedly the most valuable and practicable. It deals in a
straightforward and vigorous manner with many of the snares and
difficulties by which the reader is beset, and sweeps away much of the
sentimental, sickly, criticism which is unfortunately prevalent at the
present time. We think, however, that Mr. Harrison is inclined to raise
the standard of taste too high for the mass of general readers.

'Putting aside the iced air of the difficult mountain tops
of epic, tragedy, or psalm, there are some simple pieces
which may serve as an unerring test of a healthy or vicious
taste for imaginative work. If the "Cid," the "Vita Nuova,"
the "Canterbury Tales," Shakspeare's "Sonnets," and
"Lycidas" pall on a man; if he care not for Malory's "Morte
d'Arthur" and the "Red Cross Knight"; if he thinks "Crusoe"
and the "Vicar" books for the young; if he thrill not with
the "Ode to the West Wind" and the "Ode to a Grecian Urn";
if he have no stomach for "Christabelle," or the lines
written on "The Wye above Tintern," he should fall on his
knees and pray for a cleanlier and quieter spirit.'

Now we believe that there is many a humble aspirant to literary taste on
whom the above paragraph will produce an effect similar to that of 'iced
air and mountain tops' by taking his breath away. Literary palates are
mercifully endowed with tastes and appreciations as varied a