Books by Woodrow Wilson
CONGRESSIONAL GOVERNMENT. A Study inAmerican Politics. 16mo, $1.25.
MERE LITERATURE, and Other Essays. 12mo,$1.50.
HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY
Boston and New York
MERE LITERATURE
AND OTHER ESSAYS
BY
WOODROW WILSON
BOSTON AND NEW YORK
HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY
The Riverside Press, Cambridge
Copyright, 1896,
By WOODROW WILSON
All rights reserved.
TO
STOCKTON AXSON
BY EVERY GIFT OF MIND A CRITIC
AND LOVER OF LETTERS
BY EVERY GIFT OF HEART A FRIEND
THIS LITTLE VOLUME
IS AFFECTIONATELY
DEDICATED
CONTENTS.
| PAGE | ||
| I. | Mere Literature | 1 |
| II. | The Author Himself | 28 |
| III. | On an Author’s Choice of Company | 50 |
| IV. | A Literary Politician | 69 |
| V. | The Interpreter of English Liberty | 104 |
| VI. | The Truth of the Matter | 161 |
| VII. | A Calendar of Great Americans | 187 |
| VIII. | The Course of American History | 213 |
⁂ All but one of the essays brought together in this volumehave already been printed, either in the Atlantic Monthly, theCentury Magazine, or the Forum. The essay on Burke appearshere for the first time in print.
MERE LITERATURE.
I.
“MERE LITERATURE.”
A singular phrase this, “mere literature,”—theirreverent invention of a scientific age. Literaturewe know, but “mere” literature? We arenot to read it as if it meant sheer litera