the Ohio, across the "Father of Waters" and the
plains beyond, over the crest of the Rockies and
the Sierra Nevadas, they went; then down to the
coast, and the westward course of empire touches
the shores of the great Pacific.
Still the great tide is flowing in, and to-day,
Saxon Columbia, daughter of Italian Columbus,
stands with open arms to welcome the world to
the celebration of her four hundredth anniversary,
a celebration more glorious and more stupendous
than was ever thought of by man before. She
stands here in her purity, at once the greatest, rich
est, most prosperous, highest, noblest and best na
tion on this earth. Her future is veiled in mist,
but it is asthe mistsof the morning, already tinged
with the glorious colors of the approaching day,
when humanity, with Columbia as its queen, will
hasten to that brighter, better state, the fulfill
ment of history
GOOD LITERATURE
Before forming our opinion in regard to the
merits of any writing, and before placing it among
those productions belonging to the class called
"Good Literature," we must convince ourselves,
at least, that our judgment is reliable and un
biased by prejudices,—a state of mind rarely met
with among - those who pretend to distinguish be
tween the two.
Good reading strengthens us by sustaining if
not actually advancing our ideal morality. It
teaches us to think and act for ourselves, and thus
to exercise those faculties entrusted to our care for
cultivation and improvement ; stimulates our in
dividuality, making us independent, self-reliant,
God-fearing men and women. It implants a de
sire within our innermost consciousness to rise to
a broader and nobler manhood, enthusing us by
the success of others, and inspiring us with ambi
tions that finally permeate our whole beings, urg
ing us on to lives of usefulness and devotion.
Such literature gives us a knowledge of the life
and character of an author, for we may form a
THE FIIEE LANCE.
good idea of a man by his mode of describing
and dealing with different personalities. For in
stance, take Lord Lytton's "Earnest Maltravers."
By careful reading we may easily detect the unsel
fish disposition, and the big kind heart of the au
thor. By watching the evolution of the nature of
Maltravers from that of a wild, romantic, German
student, to one, proud, yet considerate of others,
ambitious, yet not willing to attain its object by
means of the least sacrifice of principle—energet
ic, conscientious, noble.
Maltravers, is a character deserving of careful
study and most of his traits are worthy of imita
tion. He was a man not free from temptation, or
above all human weaknesses, for, although by no
means subject to his passions, he was continually
reminded of their existence, and awed by their
power. How to conquer them and make them
subject to his will was his constant study, and his
success was due, to a very great extent, to the very
effort, which not only served to comfort him in
times of disappoinment, but to strengthen his will,
and give him additional self-command and
strength of character.
W. A. S
Good Literature is to the intellect what good
company is to the morals. We are not only
pleased with its surface qualities, as we may call
them, which tend to gratify our fancy, but we are
also benefitted by its mural virtues and christian
principles We are transported, as it were, from
this world of selfish ambition and idolatry, to one
of noble manhood and noble womanhood, where
our better selves may, for a time, find companions
more congenial to their natures, and yet to a
world not so much, beyond this as to seem unnatural
or unreal, but to one that we might easily suppose
had, by degrees, grown out of the old one ; where
honor and virtue are prized rather than wealth
and social position, and where christian purity
and undying truth reign supreme.
How much mote sensible to cultivate taste fur
reading that will broaden and deepen the intellect,
direct and chasten its maturity, and soften and har-