PREFACE To one who is familiar with eighteenth century life and literature, and with the mind and art of Goldsmith, The Vicar of Wakefield needs little commentary. A few obscure allusions, an archaic word or two, call for explanation; but that is all. Indeed, it is so simple and obvious to such a reader that he is not unlikely to suppose it to be equally intelligible to those who lack his basis of information. The experience of the present editor is far from proving the correctness of this supposition. It is true that, just as a modern gallery audience listens with satisfaction to a Shakespeare comedy, so wide is the range of pleasure afforded by a great work of art, a modern class of boys does not find itself entirely at a loss upon a casual reading of Goldsmith's tale. But the danger lies for them in just this apparent simplicity of the task before them. Having found some portions of the story amusing, according to their lights, they are ready with a complacent condemnation of the rest; and it is more than an even chance that the part which has pleased them is the least valuable part of the work. They read it for the incident, and everything else is an impertinence to them. Compared with the romances of Scott and Stevenson and Crockett, with which most of them are familiar, The Vicar of Wakefield makes no great figure as a narrative. So the average boy brings in the verdict, "A pretty good story (for a school-book), but slow in parts." It is quite right that this boy should first be given the chance to read the story through in his own way, and to form his own honest opinion of it. But it is not in the least right that he should be permitted to keep that opinion, supposing it to be inadequate, if the efforts of editor and teacher can bring him to an equally honest change of his estimate. To this result, of a genuine comprehension, the present editor has tried to contribute in two ways: by calling attention to the value of the characterization or portraiture, and to the comparative insignificance of the incident; and by emphasizing the difference in atmosphere and flavor between English eighteenth century life and our own. To wean the boy from his nineteenth century preoccupation, and to give him the point of view of the author, and of the reader to whom the book was immediately addressed, is certainly essential to his understanding of the book, and, therefore, to his full enjoyment of it. The present text is based on the fifth edition, but with some variations. Special acknowledgments are due to the editions of Hudson and Jordan for information on some obscure matters. ANDOVER, December, 1898. H. W. B. The Family endeavour to cope with their Betters. 44 |