voted to him, and these essays tell usnwhy. The study of Gildersleeve requiresnexpertise in Greek philology, the historynof education in the United States, thensocial and political history of Americanon either side of the Civil War, thendevelopment of American literature, tonname only some of the more importantntopics. In addition, we feel that enviousnemotion Pericles described in the FuneralnOration: we find it hard to believenthat the men of the past were so superiornto our contemporaries.nYet the Gildersleeve archive at JohnsnHopkins, now at last cataloged andncross-referenced, lures the scholar. Innhis own day, before World War I,nGildersleeve was a towering figure. Europeannscholars put meetings with himnin their memoirs. In our time, hensurvives as a scholarly presence, yes,nbut more, as a symbol of the possibilitynof combining scholarly achievementnand creative spark, of being a successfulnteacher and also a brave and independentnman. While so many fields in thenhumanities seem to have lost theirnmoorings, some of America’s classicistsnhave not forgotten where they camenfrom. Following Yeats’s injunction,nthey “cast their minds on other days,nthat we in future days may be” creativenand vital.nORDER TOLL-FREEn1-000-230-2200neNt 500nCharge your Visa or MasterCardn• Continental U.S. •n24 hours a day • 7 days a weelcnMONEY BACKnQUARANTEEnif for any reason younare dissatisfied with any book,njust return it within 30 daysnfor a refundnGetting AmericanRightnThe Source by Fred Chappell, BatonnRouge: Louisiana State UniversitynPress; $6.95.nWinter Oysters by Brendan Calvin,nAthens, GA: University of GeorgianPress.nPoems From the Sangamon by JohnnKnoepfle, Champaign, IL: UniversitynoflUinois Press; $8.95.nThe New World: An Epic Poem bynFrederick Turner, Princeton, NJ:nPrinceton University Press.nThe Unlovely Child by Norman Williams,nNew York: Alfred A. Knopf.nAmerican novelists no longer writenabout America. That, at least, was thenjudgment of many foreign writers whonattended the recent PEN Conference.nIt would be hard to make the samencomplaint about our poets. In fact, it isnhard to escape the feeling that a goodnmany American poets are engaged in annexploration, a rediscovery of the terrancognita of American history.nDOES WELFARE HURT THE POOR?nLOSING GROUNDnby Charles MurraynThis profoundly influential booknexplains how the welfare state notnonly failed to help the poor, but oftennmade thmgs worse for thendisadvantaged.nMurray’s brea](through work has hadnexplosive impact on discussions ofnsocial policy in the ’80s, and thenreverberations will echo beyond thendecade. This is the book socialndemocrat Michael Harrington hasncalled “dangerous,” while suchnconservatives as Milton Friedman,nWilliam Buckley, Jack Kemp andnPatrick Buchanan have hailed it asn”briUiant.”nNOWAVAILABLEnINPAPERBACKnfrom LAISSEZ FAIRE BOOKSnOrder *CU0572 $10.95nThese four volumes cover at leastnthree regions of the U.S.: New England,nthe South, and the Midwest.nNorman Williams appears to be thenbest traveler. His verses take him tonVermont, Kansas, Virginia, and indeed,nall the way to Spain and Portugal,nbut his most striking pieces are Midwestern,nas “The Genius of Small-nTown America”:nEach spring another crop ofndebt is sown.nAnd, though agencies attachnthe land.nOutbuildings, crops andnunborn young, stillnThe beak-nosed men walk head-upnand proud.nConvinced, against all evidence,nthat whatnThey’ve planted, built or rearednis theirs.nAnd that, come the plaguenor Democrats,nThey will die as they have lived,nthat isnIn their good time, just whennand how they choose.nIf Williams takes an unromantie viewnof the prairie states, he can still find ankind of beauty in its twilight, “when thenscent of alfalfa mingles with / the odornSend your order to:nLAISSEZ FAIRE BOOKS, Dept. CACn532 Broadway, 7th Floor, NY 10012nPlease send me copies of LosingnGround (order •CU0572) for $10.95 each, plus $1.00npostage & handling ($2.00 for foreign orders).nD Send me your 32-page catalog of books on liberty.nD My check or money order is enclosed for $nD Plea.se bill mv D Visa D Ma.sler Card.nAcct. No.nExpir. DatenSif^naturenName(PlrasePrml)nAddressnCily/Slale/Zip_nnn*JnJUNE 1986/31n