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Harvard Classics - Reading Guide - October

Oct 1: Machiavelli's THE PRINCE

Princes To-day and Yesterday

To-day the chief duty of a prince is to be the nation's friend
maker. Years ago princes desired supreme power and, by fair
means or foul, strove for control. Machiavelli was a guide for
such ambitious princes.

Read from Machiavelli's THE PRINCE ........    Vol. 36, pp. 36-44



Oct 2: Darwin's VOYAGE OF THE BEAGLE

Veteran Tells of Indian War

Just before Darwin visited Bahia Blanca, an Indian insurrection
had been ruthlessly put down. A veteran of the Indian war told
Darwin how Indians had been treated.

Read from Darwin's VOYAGE OF THE BEAGLE ......    Vol. 29, pp. 107-111



Oct 3: CHAUCER'S POEMS

Good Enough for Chaucer

When polite English society conversed in French—considering
English a vulgar tongue, fit only for servants and working people—
Chaucer, nevertheless, wrote poems in this "vulgar" English,
which charm us because of their quaint words.

Read: CHAUCER'S POEMS ........................     Vol. 40, pp. 11-20



Oct 4: Plutarch's DEMOSTHENES

His Mouth Full of Pebbles

The man who put pebbles in his mouth and orated to the sea,
shaved one-half of his head so that he would be obliged to stay
at home until he had perfected his oratory—a strange method of
attaining eminence, but a successful one.

Read from Plutarch's DEMOSTHENES .............    Vol. 12, pp. 196-205



Oct 5: Newman's UNIVERSITY LIFE AT ATHENS

Amateur Athlete in Old Athens

A boxer in public games desired to study philosophy at Athens.
There were no furnaces to tend, no tables to wait on, no books
or magazines to peddle, yet this sturdy young Greek managed
to work his way through college.

Read from Newman's UNIVERSITY LIFE AT ATHENS .......    Vol. 28, pp. 51-61



Oct 6: Burke's REVOLUTION IN FRANCE

The Atrocious Spectacle of October 6th

Wakened by the death cries of her sentry, Marie Antoinette,
Queen of France, fled by a secret passage from the fury of a vile
mob. The royal family was arrested and taken to Paris to await
their fate.

Read from Burke's REVOLUTION IN FRANCE ........    Vol. 24, pp. 208-217



Oct 7: THE JOURNAL OF JOHN WOOLMAN

An Uncanonized American Saint

John Woolman was the foremost leader of the early Quakers
and contributed much to the spiritual life of the American Colonies.
He was a pioneer in the crusade against slavery.

Read from THE JOURNAL OF JOHN WOOLMAN ..........    Vol. 1, pp. 283-288



Oct 8: Fielding's PREFACE TO JOSEPH ANDREWS

Fielding's Parody Becomes History

Fielding wrote a lengthy story to burlesque a novel of Richardson.
But the travesty overshot its mark. Instead of a mere parody,
it became a masterpiece.

Read: Fielding's PREFACE TO JOSEPH ANDREWS ......    Vol. 39, pp. 176-181



Oct 9: LATIN HYMNS

Songs Shake the Walls of Jericho

Do you know that many of your favorite hymns have echoed
for hundreds of years through vast cathedrals, and resounded
from the walls of Jericho during the Crusades?

Read: LATIN HYMNS ...........     Vol. 45, pp. 546-556; also pp. 567-568



Oct 10: Cervantes' DON QUIXOTE

A Fugitive in Boy's Clothes

The romance-stricken Don Quixote sees a fair youth seated by the
side of a stream, "his feet like two crystals, his hands like snowflakes."
The youth was a charming girl!

Read from Cervantes' DON QUIXOTE ................    Vol. 14, pp. 252-266



Oct 11: Virgil's AENEID

Aeneas Flees from an Inconsolable Love

Aeneas, mythological founder of the Roman race, leaving Carthage
and its lovely Queen Dido, was driven by a storm to the
coast of Sicily. There the hospitality of King Acestes helped
him to forget his relinquished love.

Read from Virgil's AENEID .......................     Vol. 13, pp. 178-188



Oct 12: LETTER OF COLUMBUS


Columbus' Letter Miraculously Found

Historical documents, now priceless, were often used as wrapping
paper. Rescued by chance was a letter of Columbus telling of
his voyages—of the amazing bargains made with timid natives—
of Amazon women who fought like men and made marriage
treaties with cannibals.

Read: LETTER OF COLUMBUS.....................     Vol. 43, pp. 21-27



Oct 13: Marcus Aurelius' MEDITATIONS


Pagan Virtue Perpetuated

A man of virtue, although a pagan, Marcus Aurelius ruled with
benevolence and wisdom. Cruel in persecution of Christians as
lawbreakers, no trace of this sternness appears in his writings.

Read from Marcus Aurelius' MEDITATIONS ..........   Vol. 2, pp. 193-199



Oct 14: Adam Smith's WEALTH OF NATIONS


No Spice and Little Gold

All colonies are founded to gain territory or treasure. Spain
expected spice and gold from Columbus's expedition, but got no
spice and little gold. Adam Smith tells the true motive of the
colonizing Greeks, Romans, English, and Spaniards.

Read from Adam Smith's WEALTH OF NATIONS .........    Vol. 10, pp. 395-404



Oct 15: VESPUCCI'S ACCOUNT OF HIS FIRST VOYAGE


First Families of America

"They are a people smooth and clean of body because of continually
washing themselves—they eat all their enemies whom
they kill or capture." Amerigo Vespucci thus writes of the New
World inhabitants.

Read: VESPUCCI'S ACCOUNT OF HIS FIRST VOYAGE .......   Vol. 43, pp. 28-44



Oct 16: HIPPOCRATES' OATH AND LAW


When Medicine Was a Mystery

Once physicians treated the sick with a mixture of medicine and
charms. In those days medicine was regarded as a dark art like
magic, and those practicing it formed guilds to protect themselves.

Read: HIPPOCRATES' OATH AND LAW ................    Vol. 38, pp. 3-5



Oct 17: Browne's RELIGIO MEDICI


Reason His Only Religion

The religion of Thomas Browne—a liberal man in a most intolerant
time—was not taken from either Rome or Geneva, but
from his own reason.

Read from Browne's RELIGIO MEDICI ................   Vol. 3, pp. 253-265



Oct 18: SHELLEY'S POEMS


"If Winter Comes"

From the title of a recently popular novel, we know that one
prominent fiction writer of to-day was inspired by the verses of
Shelley. Many others have also felt the stirring vigor of his poetry.
What is your reaction?

Read: SHELLEY'S POEMS ..........................    Vol. 41, pp. 829-835



Oct 19: Hunt's ESSAYS


Virtue in Smiles

Weep if you must. It is far better than to repress your tears.
But Leigh Hunt finds greater virtue in cheerfulness. Fanciful
and graceful—his writings exerted a wholesome influence on all
nineteenth century journalism.

Read: Hunt's ESSAYS ...........................    Vol. 27, pp. 285-295



Oct 20: Homer's ODYSSEUS


Odysseus Adrift on a Raft

The gods met in council and decreed that Odysseus be set adrift.
Poseidon, God of the Sea, shattered the raft and Odysseus was cast
ashore to encounter further adventures.

Read from Homer's ODYSSEUS ..........................    Vol. 22, pp. 68-80



Oct 21: Cicero's ON OLD AGE


No Fault to Find with Old Age

Cicero agrees with Browning that old age is the golden time of
life, when the fruits of a well-spent life are harvested. Cicero,
the wise Roman, welcomed old age for its gifts: wisdom, sound
judgment, and contentment.

Read from Cicero's ON OLD AGE ................    Vol. 9, pp. 45-56



Oct 22: Thackeray's JONATHAN SWIFT


Swift's Love Problems

Swift was embarrassed by two women; Stella, whom he really
loved, and Vanessa, with whom he had flirted and who had
taken him seriously. Marriage to either one would break the
heart of the other.

Read from Thackeray's JONATHAN SWIFT ...........    Vol. 28, pp. 23-28



Oct 23: Plutarch's CAESAR


When Caesar Turned the Tables

When only a boy, Caesar was captured by pirates. While awaiting
ransom he entered into every sport and game with them. Once
freed, he quickly returned with forces that captured the outlaws.
Then he took deliberate revenge.

Read from Plutarch's CESAR ....................   Vol. 12, pp. 264-273



Oct 24: Aeschylus' AGAMEMNON

Clytemnestra Meets Her Rival

Cassandra knew through a prophetic vision that a sword would
pierce her heart. Agamemnon, her captor, took her to his home
where an avenging wife, Clytemnestra, awaited. The tragedies
of the doom that requited the sins of the House of Atreus are
among the most powerful ever written.

Read from Aeschylus' AGAMEMNON ..............   Vol. 8, pp. 52-64



Oct 25: Macaulay's MACHIAVELLI


Greatly Encouraged Intrigue

After the publication of Machiavelli's " The Prince," the Sultans
became more addicted to strangling their brothers, tyrants became
more merciless, and murderous plots increased. The
influence of that book, as Macaulay points out, spread over Europe
and Asia.

Read from Macaulay's MACHIAVELLI ................    Vol. 27, pp. 363-372



Oct 26: Franklin's AUTOBIOGRAPHY


Franklin Learned the Secret

Poor at twenty, rich at forty, internationally famous at fifty. Benjamin
Franklin once walked the streets of Philadelphia alone,
poor, and with no education. Yet he rose to be a leader because
he learned the secret of careful reading.

Read from Franklin's AUTOBIOGRAPHY ...................    Vol. 1, pp. 14-21



Oct 27: BUDDHIST WRITINGS


Fruit of Seven Years' Silence

Siddhartha Gautama, who became the god Buddha, renounced
the world and spent seven years in meditation. Then one day,
while sitting under a fig tree, he became inspired with exalted
and sublime conceptions of life and death. The rest of his life
was spent in teaching and converting mankind.

Read from BUDDHIST WRITINGS ...............   Vol. 45, pp. 661-674



Oct 28: SOME THOUGHTS CONCERNING EDUCATION


How Dice Taught Spelling

Locke taught children by means of games. He tells of a game
whereby children were taught to spell with dice on which the
letters of the alphabet were pasted. This was more than 200 years
before modern kindergarten methods. Today's children would
respond to such wise direction as Locke recommends.

Read: SOME THOUGHTS CONCERNING EDUCATION .........   Vol. 37, pp. 128-136



Oct 29: KEATS' POEMS

Genius Rises from a Stable

Though the son of a stable man, John Keats wrote the most exquisite
and sublime poetry in our language. He was the friend
of Shelley, Lord Byron, and the other literary leaders of the time—
his genius recognized by all.

Read: KEATS' POEMS ................................    Vol. 41, pp. 874-882



Oct 30: Lyell's THE PROGRESS OF GEOLOGY


Geology's Greatest Benefactor

Lyell has been called the founder of modern geology. Darwin,
the master scientist, called h im "Geology's Greatest Benefactor."
Lyell's research revolutionized ideas on that subject.

Read from Lyell's THE PROGRESS OF GEOLOGY ...........    Vol. 38, pp. 385-391



Oct 31: BURNS' POEMS

Witches Walk To-night

Beware of magic! Once a year uneasy spirits are released and
walk the earth from midnight until dawn. Spooks and goblins
invade the most secure homes and the canniest must watch out
for danger lurking in every dark corner.

Read from BURNS' POEMS ...........................    Vol. 6, pp. 110-119