Excerpt from Select Essays of Addison: Together With Macaulay's Essay on Addison's Life and Writings Having found the presence of a mass of explanatory notes an Obstacle to my endeavor to interest my pupils in their English reading, I have essayed to suggest a better method of procedure by preparing texts in such a manner as rather to call for research than to make research needless by giving its results. A note that tells at once what is wanted forestalls the teacher. I would co-operate with the teacher by aiding him to set the pupils at work. Accordingly I have Offered no notes whatever on passages easily explained by reference to dictionaries and encyclopedias, except perchance to give a warning that such research Should not be omitted. Only when I have found the way of research a little dark or crooked have I hinted at the path to be pursued. The notes in this volume, therefore, are distinctly meant to send the learner away from the little books in his little desk to the larger and more abundant books of the school library, and to the public and other libraries to which he may have access. I have myself found it a joy to conquer these small difficulties: this joy I would share with my pupils. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.