Essays on English Studies

Excerpt from Essays on English Studies

Yet it is just
That here in memory of all books which lay
Their sure foundations in the heart of man

That I should here assert their rights, attest
Their honors, and should, once for all, pronounce
Their benediction; speak of them as Powers
Forever to be hallowed; only less,
For what we are and what we may become,
Than Nature's self, which is the breath of God,
Or His pure Word by miracle revealed.

Wordsworth

If by great authors the many are drawn up into unity, national character is fixed, a people speaks, the past and the future are brought into communication with each other, - if such men are, in a word, the spokesmen and prophets of the human family, - it will not answer to make light of Literature or to neglect its study; rather we may be sure that, in proportion as we master it, and imbibe its spirit, we shall ourselves become in our own measure ministers of like benefits to others.

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