CHAUCER 1 "THE PASSIONATE PILGRIM" 29 SHAKESPEARE'S LYRICS 39 SAMUEL DANIEL 48 WILLIAM BROWNE 59 THOMAS CAREW 67 "ROBINSON CRUSOE" 75 LAWRENCE STERNE 90 SCOTT AND BURNS 103 CHARLES READE 124 HENRY KINGSLEY 131 ALEXANDER WILLIAM KINGLAKE 141 C.S.C. AND J.K.S 147 ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON 156 M. ZOLA 192 SELECTION 198 EXTERNALS 204 CLUB TALK 222 EXCURSIONISTS IN POETRY 229 THE POPULAR CONCEPTION OF A POET 235 POETS ON THEIR OWN ART 245 THE ATTITUDE OF THE PUBLIC TOWARDS LETTERS 254 A CASE OF BOOKSTALL CENSORSHIP 267 THE POOR LITTLE PENNY DREADFUL 276 IBSEN'S "PEER GYNT" 283 MR. SWINBURNE'S LATER MANNER 297 A MORNING WITH A BOOK 306 MR. JOHN DAVIDSON 314 BJÖRNSTERNE BJÖRNSON 332 MR. GEORGE MOORE 341 MRS. MARGARET L. WOODS 349 MR. HALL CAINE 368 MR. ANTHONY HOPE 377 "TRILBY" 384 MR. STOCKTON 391 BOW-WOW 399 OF SEASONABLE NUMBERS 404 ADVENTURES IN CRITICISM CHAUCER March 17, 1894. Professor Skeat's Chaucer. After twenty-five years of close toil, Professor Skeat has completed his great edition of Chaucer.[A] It is obviously easier to be dithyrambic than critical in chronicling this event; to which indeed dithyrambs are more appropriate than criticism. For when a man writes _Opus vitæ meæ_ at the conclusion of such a task as this, and so lays down his pen, he must be a churl (even if he be also a competent critic) who will allow no pause for admiration. And where, churl or no churl, is the competent critic to be found? The Professor has here compiled an entirely new text of Chaucer, founded solely on the manuscripts and the earliest printed editions that are accessible. Where Chaucer has translated, the originals have been carefully studied: "the requirements of metre and grammar have been carefully considered throughout": and "the phonology and spelling of every word have received particular attention." We may add that all the materials for a Life of Chaucer have been sought out, examined, and pieced together with exemplary care.