Books by Mr. Torrey. =FRIENDS ON THE SHELF.= 12mo, $1.25, _net_. Postage extra. =NATURE’S INVITATION.= 16mo, $1.10, _net_. Postpaid, $1.21. =THE CLERK OF THE WOODS.= 16mo, $1.10, _net_. Postpaid, $1.20. =FOOTING IT IN FRANCONIA.= 16mo, $1.10, _net_. Postpaid, $1.19. =EVERYDAY BIRDS.= Elementary Studies. With twelve colored Illustrations reproduced from Audubon. Square 12mo, $1.00. =BIRDS IN THE BUSH.= 16mo, $1.25. =A RAMBLER’S LEASE.= 16mo, $1.25. =THE FOOT-PATH WAY.= 16mo, gilt top, $1.25. =A FLORIDA SKETCH-BOOK.= 16mo, $1.25. =SPRING NOTES FROM TENNESSEE.= 16mo, $1.25. =A WORLD OF GREEN HILLS.= 16mo, $1.25. HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN & CO. BOSTON AND NEW YORK. FRIENDS ON THE SHELF FRIENDS ON THE SHELF BY BRADFORD TORREY “I must get back to my friends on the shelf” _Edward FitzGerald_ [Illustration] BOSTON AND NEW YORK HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN AND COMPANY The Riverside Press, Cambridge 1906 COPYRIGHT 1906 BY BRADFORD TORREY ALL RIGHTS RESERVED _Published October 1906_ CONTENTS WILLIAM HAZLITT 1 EDWARD FITZGERALD 43 THOREAU 89 THOREAU’S DEMAND UPON NATURE 131 ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON 151 A RELISH OF KEATS 195 ANATOLE FRANCE 227 VERBAL MAGIC 275 QUOTABILITY 289 THE GRACE OF OBSCURITY 309 IN DEFENSE OF THE TRAVELER’S NOTEBOOK 319 CONCERNING THE LACK OF AN AMERICAN LITERATURE 329 WILLIAM HAZLITT WILLIAM HAZLITT Happy is the man who enjoys _himself_. His are the true riches. Saving physical pain and mortal illness, few evils can touch him. He may lose friends and make enemies; all the powers of the world may seem to have combined against him; he may work hard and fare worse; poverty may sit at his table and share his bed; but he is not to be greatly pitied. His good things are within. He enjoys him_self_. He has found the secret that the rest of men are all, more or less consciously, looking for,--how to be happy though miserable. It seems an easy method; nothing could be less complicated: simply to enjoy one’s own mind. The thing is to do it.