decline of moral energy, conspire to
blight this noble use of the imagination, and to chill the faith which
makes creative living and working possible. The familiar companionship
of the great Idealists is one of the greatest resources against the
paralysis of this faith and the decay of this faculty.

Chapter XXIV.

Retrospect.

The books of four great writers have been used almost exclusively by
way of illustration throughout this discussion of the relation of
books to culture. This limited selection may have seemed at times too
narrow and rigid; it may have conveyed an impression of insensibility
to the vast range and the great variety of literary forms and
products, and of indifference to contemporary writing. It needs to be
said, therefore, that the constant reference to Homer, Dante,
Shakespeare, and Goethe has been made for the sake of clearness and
force of illustration, and not, in any sense, as applying an exclusive
principle of selection. The books of life are to be found in every
language, and are the product of almost every age; and no one attains
genuine culture who does not, through them, make himself familiar with
the life of each successive generation. To be ignorant of the thought
and art of one's time involves a narrowness of intelligence which is
inconsistent with the maturity of taste and ripeness of nature which
have been emphasised in these chapters as the highest and finest
fruits of culture. The more generous a man's culture becomes, the more
catholic becomes his taste and the keener his insight. The man of
highest intelligence will be the first to recognise the fresh touch,
the new point of view, the broader thought. He will bring to the books
of his own time not only a trained instinct for sound work, but a deep
sympathy with the latest effort of the human spirit to express itself
in new forms. So deep and real will be his feeling for life that he
will be eager to understand and possess every fresh manifestation of
that life. However novel and unconventional the new form may be, it
will not make its appeal to him in vain.

It remains true, however, that literature is a universal art,
expressive and interpretative of the spirit of humanity, and that no
man can make full acquaintance with that spirit who fails to make
companionship with its greatest masters and interpreters. The appeal
of contemporary books is so constant and urgent that it stands in
small need of emphasis; but the c