Lycidas #271102

Why is it thought necessary to edit the English Classics, after the manner of the Ancient, with copious notes? As a rule there are few things told in the notes appended to many editions that the average student could not, with a little diligence, find out for himself be merely needs to be put in the way of find ing them out. To clear the way of obstacles is to fore stall the very discipline that develops independent investigation. There is no surer way of making mental parasites than that of having everything served up in delectable notes. A boy with a nut only needs something with which to crack it in order to get at the kernel. With histories, dictionaries, and encyclo paadias to be found in every community, the student can do for himself almost everything that is usually done for him in the way of notes.