as been
reflective and deliberative, involving a judgment upon speculative more
than upon historical data. And it may fairly be said, though it be much
to say, that he has shrunk from nothing which a perfect performance of
his task required. Whether we consider the formation or the expression
of his judgments, it may still be affirmed that he has met his great
theme fairly, and given to its exposition the utmost exercise of his
powers and the unstinted devotion of his labor.

We can accordingly pass upon his work this rare commendation, that it is
thoroughly _honest_. This may, indeed, seem to many no very high
approval. But it is one of the very highest. For we mean by it not
merely that he has refrained from conscious misrepresentation of
fact,--that he has not lied, as Kingsley did about Hypatia in the novel
wherein he borrowed, only to befoul, the name of that spotless woman,
knowing all the while that his representation was contrary to the
recorded facts of history. To say so much only of this book would be not
to attribute to it a positive merit, but only to acquit it of damning
demerit. But what we affirm is that Mr. Alger has fairly looked his
facts in the face, and come to some understanding with himself about
them. When he speaks, therefore, it is about facts, about realities, not
merely about words; and what he offers is the result of genuine
processes of production which have gone on in his own mind. If he speak
of life, it is not life in the dictionary, but in the universe. If he
profess to offer thoughts, he really gives the results of his thinking.
He does not cant; he does not merely recite verbal formulas; he does not
play the part of attorney, first determining what to advocate, and then
seeking plausible reasons: everywhere one perceives that he has really
brought his _mind_ to bear upon _facts_, and so has come to real mental
fruit. And it is this verity, this reality and genuineness, to which we
give the name of _intellectual_ honesty. It is a rare quality; and
always the rarer in proportion to the depth of the matters treated of,
on the one hand, and to their expression in customs and institutions, on
the other. Institutions are masks. The thinker must have both
earnestness and penetration, if he is to get behind them. And just in
proportion as any element of man's spiritual consciousness has come to
institutional expression, it is the easier to talk about it and the
harder to think upon it,--to ta