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THE LIBRARY
ACADIA UNIVERSITY
THE GIFT OF
F, Clarke Rraser
A 'V
Acadia University Llbrarr
Wnlfville. N. S. Canada
AN
OUTLINE OF THE IIISTOIIY
OK
ENGLISH LITERATURE
BY
J. ^L D. ^IKLEJOIIX, M.A.
FROFESSOH OK TlIK TIIKOav, HISTORV, AND PHACTICE OF EDUCATION
IN THE U.NIVKKSrry OF ST. ANDREWS
T W K N T I h: 1' H EDITION
W. J. GAGE AND COMPAXY, LIMITED
rUBLlSlIEUS
TORONTO, CANADA
pfll
/
This Outline forms Part JV. of Professor MciUejohn's
hook: ' The English Lanrjuarje; its Grammar, History, and
Literature.'
Kiiteved accordiiiK to .\(t of Parliament of Canada, in tlie oflico of
the :\Iinister of At,niiultnrf, by W. J. Gage & Co., in the year
one tiiousand eight liundred and ninety-one.
OUJl OLDE
THE FOUR
THE FIFTJ
TIfE 8L\Ti
THE SEVE.>
THE FHtST
THE SECO>
THE FIi{,ST
THE SECON
TABLES OP
/
rj
CONTENTS.
TeiJdejohn's
istory, and
tlic ottice of
ill Ihe year
OUR OLDEST ENGLISH LITERATURE
THE FOUUTEEXTH CENTUiiV
• • ,
THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY
THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY
• • ,
THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY
THE FIRST HALF OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY .
THE SECOND HALF OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY
THE FIRST HALF OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY
THE SECOND HAf.F OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY
TABLES OF ENGLISH LITERATURE
1
10
10
19
28
U
r.3
66
«3
1»7
36'9-/^l
i
¥
, in Its
in
1
cirAPTKif :.
OUR OLDEST ENCiLIslI LITER ATriiK,
1. .Literature.- The history of Knnli.l, I.ii,>r;,t,iiv is,
external asp,..'!, ;,u account cf tlic ]..st lu.oks in i-ruso and .
verso that ha.-e l^ni wihlrn l.y Kn-lisli uwu and Kn-Hsl
woni.Mi; and this arc.unt l).-i„s with a j ,„ hmu-ht mv.
from tli<- Continent, ].y onr .■ountrym.'n in tlie iiftl, c.nniry, and
i'onies <Io\vn t.. tlie time in Nv)ii<di we live. Jt covers, therefore,
a period of iicaily f.,iiii,.,u Imndred years.
2. The Distribution of Literature. We mnst not Mipp.,s,.
that literatnre lias always ...xisted in the form of ].rinted l,o,,ks.
Literatnre is a livin- thin-— a livin- outcome of the livin^
mind; and then, are many ways in which it lias h^en i]C
tributed to other Innnan hrin-s. The ohiest way is, <.f cours..,
hyoue person repcatin- a ]io,.m or otlu.v ]it,.i,„'y ..nmpo.Mtion
he .las made to an,.fher; and thus literainre is stored away,
not upon l.ook-sli..Ives, l.„t in the mcnmry of livin- mci,'
Homer's poems are said to hav<' l.-Mm i„vsen-ed in tlds way
to the r;rr.,d<s for live hundred years. Father clianted th.Mii
to son: the sons |„ their s.uis; and so on from feneration p.
^^eneration. The next way of distrilnitin- literature is hv the
^nd ..f si-ns called letters made ujM.n leaves, flattened reeds,
parchment, nr the inner hark nf trees. The next is ],y the
help of n■rilin,^^ „]„,h ,„j,„,, ',•],„ ,,,,, -^ ^^^. ^|^^, ,^.^^ ^^^^ ^^.^^^^
upon ].aper. This has existed in Kn.dand for mor.; than four
hundred years-sin,-e the year 1474; and thus it is that, onr
hlrarics contain many liundrcd>: of thousands of valuahle 1w.ks.
P
HISTORY OK KNTJLISII MTKKATURE.
Vol' the same n-asdii is it, most i»ii>l)al»Iy, tliat as oiir jtitwci of
n^taiiiinj,' tlui .substance and niultii»l,viii^' tlic copies of books has
^'rown stron^'cr, our living,' nieniories liave ^^'vowii weaker. Tliis
(lofnrit can be, reineilied only l)y ('(bication — tliat is, by trainin.i,'
tli(! nienioriiis ot" llie youn;,'. AVbilc we possess 8t) many jtiinted
l)Ooks, it must not l)e f(ji>fotten tliiit many vahiable uoiks exist
still in manuscni)t — written either upon paper or on parchment.
.'^. Verse, the earliest form of Literature. — It is a icniarkaljle
fa(;t that the earliest kind of conijiosition in :dl lan«,nia,L;es i.s in
th(; form of Verse. 'I'lie oldest bdoks, too, aie tliosc wjiich ai'e
written in vcise. 'I'lius Ibmiei's ]»ocnis ;ire tli<' oldest literary
•work of (I recce ; the S;i,l,ms jii'c the oldest ])roductions of Scan-
dinavian literature : and the r)eo\vulf is the oldest piece of
literature jiroduced liy the AiiLi.ht-.'^a.xon raci'. It is also from
the sti'oni; creatisi' power and the li\'ely iiivcidions of poets
that we are even now supplie(| Avitli new tlioie^hts and new
lan,:;uaL,M'- that the most vivid words and phrases come into the
language; just as it is th<^ I'anges of high mountains that send
down to the jilains the ever fresh soil that gi\cs to them their
unending feitility. And thus it ha]i]iens that our jiresent Eng-
lish speeidi is full of wnids and phrases that have found their
way into the most ordinary conversation from the Avi'itings of our
great poets and esjtecially from the writings of oui" greatest
poet, Shakes[ieare. The fact that the life (if prose depends
for its su])i)lies on the creatiN'e minds of })uets has been well
expressed by an .Vnun'ican Avriter : —
■■ I looked ujK)!! a pliiiu of ^mx'oii,
Which some one called the Land of Pid<o,
Wliere many living things were scon
In movoiiient or repose.
T looked u]ion a stately liill
Tliat well was named the ^Slount of Sontj.
W'liei'e golden sliadow.s dwelt at will,
'I'he wuod.s and streams among.
I'.ut most this fact my wonder lued
(Though known liy all tlie nobly wise),
It was the mountain stream that fed
That fair green plain's amenities,"'
OLU OLDKST F.N'OMS!! I.ITKlJAll'KK.
itcst
'luls
1. Our oldest Unglish Poetry. — Tlic vi-i.-m- Mriticu \>y "ur
olil J'ji^^'lisli writers ^vas Vfiy (lilTrivnt in I'-niii fn'iii tin- vi-rsc
that apjiears iiuw from llir liaiuls <it" T<iiiiv.-i'ii, or Ilrdwniii^', (ir
Miittlicw AiiimM. 'Ilic iiM l'",iiulisli or Aii,-Ii»-Saxi>n writers
u.st'd it kind nf rlivnn' iuIIimI lioad-rhyino nr alliteration;
wliilc, ivowi the fiiiirti'i'iith (■(■ntiiry iln\vii\\;inls, uwv |MH't.-> liavc
always ciupluyril ond-rhyuie in lh<'ii' \rrsfs.
"//iglitly down /eujiiiig iio /oosoiied hi- lulmrt."
Such ^\•:ls '..!• munh (>h\ Mnyh.-h I'nnii. At li ast thr<'c -words
ill each I'lii:^^ line ■wi-rc allitcrativf twn in llif lii>t halt", and
niii' in thi' si'Cdiiil. Metaphorical phrasi-s \vt'rc cuninidn, such
as U'(ii'-uilili I' I'lir aianw, iri(/'-sJn'r/s Inr arninur, irliiili\-<-jnifli or
Kwan-rn'iil fur the sea, inin-lior.-^-i' for a sliip, fm-irriijlif for
corpcntcr. Uilicrcni statements of the same fact, diilerenl
phrases fur I lie same thinii; — wliai luv called ijarallelisms in
llelu'ew poetry- -as in the line —
'•'riit'ii sjiw they Ihc >c;i hctnl hinds —tlic windy w;dls,"
were also in coninion u.^e amnm;' onr oMest I''.n,i;'li>li poets.
r». Beowulf, -- TIh! Beowult is 'he ohlest j m in ihi'
I'ji^flish lan;^nia,i;e. JL is our "old I'ji_L,dish epic": and, like
much of (lur anciiuiL M'l'se, it, is a war jmem. The author of
it is unknown. It was pr(dpahly composed in the Ijt'th century
— not' in Mn^dand, hut on the ('ontiiient -and lunn^^jht over to
tliis island not on jtaper (jr on jian-hmeiit hut in the mem-
ories of the. oM dutish or Saxnu ^ikings or warriors. It was
not written down at all, e\en in J'higland, till the eml of the
ninth century, and then, prid)ahly, hy a monk of Norlhuni-
hria. It tells aiming' other things tho .story of how Ueowulf
sailed from Sweden to tlu; Indp of Hrothgar, a king in Jut-
land, whose life was ]nad(; miserahlc' hy a monster — half man,
half iieud named (iremh'l. For ahout tweh'e years this mon-
ster had heen in the luihit of creeping iij) t<t the ])an([uctiiig-
hall of King Hrothgar, .seizing upon his thanes, carrying them
off, and devouring them. Beowulf attacks and overcomes the
dragon, which is mortally wounded, and llees away to die. The
illSTOllY OF KNOMSII MTKKATl'ia:.
jiiM'iii liildii'/^ ])f)t1) to till' ( Jfrniiui ami to tin* l''.n;4lisli liti'i'iiluii';
for it iswiiUiii ill ii ( 'oiitiiiciital l'-ii,L;lisli, wliidi is soincwlial
ilill'fiviil I'miii tlif l'!ii;;li>li of our own i>iaiiil. iliit, it-' liltTary
slia|ic is, as lias lin-ii said, due to a ( 'luistiaii w rilcr of Nortli-
imilti'ia ; ami tin iviurr its writlfii or jniiitcil form as it exists
at ]ii'('st'iit -is imi ( Icniiaii, luit l'ai,L;li.->li. I'aits of this pociii
Welt' oftiii rliiiiili'.j lit, tlic fciists of wari'ioi's, m-1h'1'c all saii,i,' in
tiivii as tlit'V sat after iliiiiici' nvii tlnir nips of uh'iuI rouml tin"
massive onkdi taMi'. Tin' poi'in cimsists of 'M^i lines, the
rli_vm"s of whieli ai'e solily alliterative,
(1. The First Native English Poem.- The IJedwulf eanie lo
lis fpiiii the < 'oiitiiieiit ; the liist iiatise I'ai;4lish jioein was ])ro-
iluecil ill ^'()|■kshire. ()ii tin- dark \\intl-s\ve|it elitl' whieli rises
uhove the litlle land locked harlioiir of Wliitby, stand the ruins
of an aiirii'iit and oine famous alihey. The lieail of this re-
ligious house was ihe Ahhess Ilild oi' Hilda: and there was a
secular priest, in it, a \ery shy retiring;' man, who limked after
the cattle of the iKonks, and wlio>e name wa,- Caednion. To
this man came ijic -ift nf muil^s ^>iit somewhat late in life.
And it. came in this wise. ( hie ni,L;ht, after a feast, sin,^dn,L;
bi'gan, ami eacji <if those seated at the tahle was to siiii; in his
turn. Cacdiiioii was \-cry iiei'vous felt he could \u>l •'^ing-
Fear o\ercaiiie his heart, ami la; stole (luietlv awav from thti
tal)le liefore the tuill collM ciiilie to him. Jle efejtt oil' to
the e.owshed, lay down on the straw and fell ash'ep. Jle
dreamed a dream ; and, in his dream, there canui to him a
voieii ; ''Caeilmon, ^iw^ me a sone; 1 " Ikit Caednion answered :
"I cannot siui^^ ; it was for this cause that 1 had to leave
the feast." '" Uut you must and shall sin,L,^ ! " "A^'llat must I
sing, then]" he rejilied. "Sing the Ixginning of created
tilings'." said the vision; and forthwith Caednion .sing some
lines in his sleep, ahout Cod aiid the creation of the world.
"When he awoke, he remembered some of tlu; lines that had
come to him in sleep, and, Leing brought before, Hilda, Ih^.
recited tlu-m to her. The Abbess thought that this wonderful
gift, which hud come to him so suddenly, must have come from
God, received him into the monastery, made liim a monk, and
oil; oi.DJisT ^:^•Ci^I^H mikkati i;r..
li.ul liiia tiui^'lit saci'cil lii>t(iry. *' AH tliis ( 'ucdiiitin, Ity ic-
iiiciiilii'rid'^', ;iiiil, like ;i cIimu niiimul, niiiiiiiatiii',', tuiiit(l intn
SWft'tcst verse."' 1 1 is jiMct ieiil Wi il'ks ei ilisi-l n\' a iiietri(,ll piira-
pliraSl! (if llie nM ;ill.l llie NrW 're>t alllel it . It UilS '.Vlittell
alioiit the \r;\v (;70 ; alitl he ilie.l ill (ISO. It was ivad aii'l
ru-reail in iiiaiiuscri|it Ini- niimy ei'Htinies, liiit it A\as imt jaititeil
in a l)iu)k until tho yciir 1 (!'>.">.
7. The War Poetry of England. Theiv wiiv maiiv ]ioeni.s
ahoiit Itattli's, wiilteii 1)(ilh in Nnrthmiila ia ;iiiil in the .sniith
of Mn^^daiul ; hut it was (Uily in the south tliat thi>e ^va^-.s(Jn,^s
were cniiuiiitted to writ iiiL,' ; and nl the-e writttii s(ln;^^^ there are
nnly iwu that sur\ive up to th<! |iresent, (hiy. 'I'liese are tho
Song of Brunanburg, and the Song of tho Tiglit at Maldon.
The first h(d<.n-s t^ the date 9:iN ; the secaid \n iHU. Thn
Son.Lj i>f llrunanliur^ was inscn'hed in thi- S.wo.s ( ■iiuomci.i:- -
a (airreiii narrative nl" I'Vfiit-, wiitli n I'hietly hy niniiks, I'lom thi!
ninth lentury t<i tln' end ol' the ivi-n of Stephen. The soii;^'
tells the st.ay (.f the li-ht nf King Athelslan wiili Ankif the
Dane. It tells hnW li\-e VnllU'^' killLi'S ami seven eai'ls nf
Anlaf's ho>t fell un the ti.dd of hattle, and lay th^ie ''(piieti'd
l)y swords,"' while theii' fellow-Xorlhnien lleil, ami left th^ir
frionds antl eoiiirades to "the s(M'eaiiiers of war - ihe lilaelc I'aveii,
the eagle, tlu^ greedy hattle-hawk, and the grey wolf in tla^
wood."' '{'he Song of the J'"ight at Maldon tells ns of the
heroii; deeds and death of Byrhtnoth, an ealdoriiiaii of ^I'ortli-
nniT)ria, in hattle against the 1 )anes at Maldon, in Essex.
Tlie speeches of the chiefs aiv given ; the >ingle eonihats Ijetween
lieroes descrilied ; and, as in llonn-r. the names and genealogies
of the foriiiiost men are hrought into tin; verse.
8. The First English Prose.— The first writor of English
prose was Baeda, or, as he is generally ''ailed, the Venerable
Bede. lie was horn in the year f\7'2 ai Moukwearmouth, a
small town at the mouth of the river AVear, and w,is, Iik(!
Caedinon, a native of the kingdom of Xorthumhria. lie
spent most of his life at tin,' famous monastery of Jarrow-on-
Tyno. He s})ent his life in writing. Ili.s works, whicli Aven;
Avritten in Latin, rose to the numher of forty-five ; liis chief
c
HISTORY OF KXGLISII LlTKUATrRF].
work boin;; nn Ecclesiastical History. Tint thon,i,'li Latui
Wits the tongue in which lie wrote liis liooks, Ik; wrote one book
in English; and he May tlierefore be fairly considered tlie first
writer of Jviiglish prose. 'J'his l)ook was a Translation of the
Gospel of St John — a work which hn labonred at nntil tlie
very moment of his dealli. His discijih! Cnthbert tt.'lls the
story of his last hours. "AVrit<! quickly !" said Bacila to his
scribe, for he felt that his end could not be far oil". "When the
last day came, all his scholars stood around his bed. " Then^
is still one cluq or wanting, ^Master," said the scril)e ; " it is
hard for thee to think and to speak." "It must be done," said
J'acda; "take thy pen and write quickly." So through the long
day they wrote — scribe succeeding' scribe ; and when the shades
of evening were coming on, the young writer looked U}) from
his task and said, "There is yet one sentence to write, dear
INFaster." "Write it iniickly!" ]*resently the writer, lookuig
up with joy, said, "It is finished ! " "Thou sayest truth,"
replied the weary old man ; " it is finished : all is finished."
(Quietly he sunk back ujion his ])illow, and, with a psalm of
])raise u])on his lips, gently yielded ui» *:o God his latest breath.
It is a great ])ity that this translation- — -the first piece of
prose in our language — is utterly lost. Xo MS. of it is at
present known to be in existence.
9. The Father of Fnglish Prose. — For several centuries, up
to the year 8GG, tlv. valleys and shores of Korthumbria were
the homes of learning and literature, I5ut a change wa not
long in coming. Horde after horde of Panes swe}.i down upon
the coasts, ravaged, the monasteries, burnt the books — after
stripping the lieautiful bindings of the gold, silver, and precious
stones which decorated them — killed or drove aAvay the monks,
and made life, property, and thought insecure all along that once
peacefid and industrious coast. Literature, tlien, Avas forced
to desert the monasteri(\s of Korthuml)ria, and to seek for a
/lonie in the south — in AVessex, the kingdom over which Alfred
the Ch-eat reigned for more than thirty years. The capital of
W'essex was "Winchester ; and an able writer says : " As
OUR OLDEST KNdLISH LITEKATUKE.
ig
AVliilliy is the midlc of Kii^lisli {)oetry, so is "Winchester of
Kiiglisli prose." Kinn' Alfred fouiKU'd C()lli\i,'es, invited {<>
Kn,tflaiid iijeii of li'ariiiiii,' fi'(»m abroad, and ])reside(l o\cr a
.sflidol fur the sons of Lis nol)lt> in his own Conrt. ITe liinisidf
wrote many l)nokt5, or ratlier, ' translat('(l tlie most fanums
Latin hooks uf his time into Kn,i;lish. He translatetl into the
MnyHsh of Wessi'x, for example, tlie 'Ecclesiastical History'
of J>actla ; the 'llistoiy of Oi'osius/ into ■which he inscrtetl
.'geographical eha])ters of his own; and the 'Consolations of
Philosophy,' l»y the famons Itoman ■writer, Ijoethius. Jn these
hooks he gavi; to his people, in tlieir own tongue, the he>l
existing works on history, geography, and philoso})]iy.
10. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle.- The greatest proso-work
of th(^ oldest English, or ])urely Saxoii, liteiatnre, is a work —
not hy one person, hut hy seNcral anthois. It is the historical
work which is known as The Saxoii Chronicle, It seems tu
have Ijeen hegun ahont the middle of the ninth century; and
it was continued, with hreaks now and then, down to ll;")!
the year of the death of Stejihen and the accession of lleni'v 1 1.
It was written hy a series of successive Avriters, all of v.iiom
were monks ; hut .Mfreil himsidf is saiil to ha\(' contrihuteil to
it a narrative of his own wars with the I 'anes. The ( 'hronicle
is found in seven separate forms, each name(l after the mcuuis-
tery in which it was wi'ilteii. It was the newspapei', the
annals, and the history of the nation. '' It is the lirst history
of any Teutoidc people in their own language ; it is the earliest
and most venerahle monument of English })rose." This Chron-
icle possesses for us a twofold value. It is a valiuihle ston;-
honso of historical facts ; and it is also a storehouse of speci-
mens of th(^ ditl'erent .states of the English language — as regards
hoth words and grammar — from the eighth down to the
twelfth century.
11. Layamon's Brut. — Layamoii Avas a native of AVorcester-
shire, and a priest of Ernley on the Severn. He translated,
ahout the year 1205, a poem called Brut, from the French of
a monkisl) writer named Muster Wace. Wacu's work itself is
8
HISTORY OF ENGUSir LTTF'JlATUIiE.
liltlo more tli;iii a translation of parts of a famous " Chronick-
or History of the iJrltons," written in Latin l)y ficofrrey of
Mi>nnionlli, wlio was lUshoi) of St Asapli in lir)2. Bui;
(leijUVey liiniself professed only to hav(! translated from a cliroii-
ii'le in tli(! iJritisli or ('eltie tongue, ealli'd tlie "Clironiele of tlie
Kings of Ih'itain,"' wliieli Avas found in IJrittany — long the homo
of most of the sloi'ies, iradiliMii>, ami falilcs ahont the old Brit-
ish Kings and tln'ir great deeds. LayauKjn'.s poem calh-d the
"Brut" is a UKitrieal chroinrle of Ihitain from the lauding of
Hriitus to tin; death of King Cadwallader, about the cud of the:
seventh century. Ihiitns was sui^jjosed to he a great-grandson
of ^Kn('as, who sailed wt-^t and Mcst till ho came to Great
Biitain, Avhero ho settli'il with liis followers. — This metrieal
chrouiide is Avritten in the dialect of the West of England; and
it shows everywhere a hreaking down of the grammatical forma
of tlu! oldest Knglish, as we lind it in th(( .Vnglo-Saxou Chruu-
iele. 111 fact, hetwcm the lauding of the Xorniaiis and the
fourteenth century, two things may he noted : lirst, that during
this time— that is, for three centuries — the intl(!ctions of the
oldest Knglish are gradually and surely stri})pi'd oil"; and, sec-
ondh', that there is little or im original hlnglish literature given
t<j th(! country, hut that hy far the greater part consists chiefly
of translations from I'^ivnch or from Latin.
12. Orm's Ormulum. — Less than half a century after Lay-
amon's Brut ap})eare(l a. poem calle(l the Ormulum, liy a monk
t)f the name of ( )rm or Orinin. It was pr(jl)al)ly Avritten
a1)0ut ih(». year 121."). Orm was a monk of the order of St
Augustine, and his hook consists of a series of religious poems.
It is the oldest, purest, and most valualile specimen of thirteenth-
century English, antl it is also remarkahlo for its peculiar
spelling. It is written in the purest English, and not five
French words are to he fcamd in the whole poem of twenty
tliousand sliort lines. Orm, in his spelling, doubles every con-
sonant that has a sliort vowel before it; and he writes jM??7i for
}Km^ but pan for ijanc. The following is a specimen of his
poem : —
OUR OLDHRT EXGLTSTI LITKIIATL-UK.
9
Ice hafe wennd inntill iMinglis.sii I have wended (turned) into English
tJoddspelle.s8 hallghe hire, (Jospel's holy lore,
Ati'tciT thatt little witt tatt ine After the little wit that mo
•Mill ])rihhtin hafethth lenedd. My Lord hath lent.
Other famous Avritcrs r.f Enolisli bctwcHMi this tinio ami tho
appciiraiicc of Cliaiicer Avero Robert of Gloucester and Robert
of Brunne, botli of whuiii wrote Chronicles of Eiiglaiicl in
verse.
U)
('ILVrTKU Jl.
TllK FOURTEENTH CENTLKV.
1. Tli(! upeniiiL,' of the fourtooiitli century saw i]w dcatli of
the great and al)lc king, Ivlward J., tlu; "Jlaninu'r of the
Scots," the " Keeper of ]iis -\voril." The centiuy itself — a most
eventful period — Avitnessed tluj fceLle and disastrous reign of
Edward II. ; tin; long and jirospi'i-ous ru\v — for fifty ye;irs — of
Edward Til. ; the troubled limes of liieliard IF., who exhibited
almost a repetition of the faults of Ivlwaid 11.; and the
appearane(> of a new and powi-rful dynasty — the House oi
Lancaster — in the person of the aide and and)itious Ifenry TV.
This century saw also many striking events, and many still
more striking change's, li heheld the welding of the Saxon and
the Xonnan elements into one- -chielly through the Ereneli
■wars; the linal triumph of the English language o\er Ereneh
in 13G2; tlie frequent coming of the lilack Death; the vic-
tories of Crecy and Poitiers; it learned the miiversal use
of the mariner's com})ass ; it witnessed two kings — of France
and of Scotland — prisoners in London ; great changes in the
condition of labourers; the invention of gunpowder in 1340;
the rise of English commerce under Edward IIL ; and every-
where in I'iUgland the rising up of new powers and new ideas.
2. The first prose-writer in this century is Sir John Mande-
ville (who has been, called the " Father of English Prose").
King Alfred has also been called by this name ; but as the
English written by Alfred was very different from that written
THE FOURTEENTFl CKNTUHV.
11
})}' Mundeville, — tlie latter cuntiiiiiing a large admixture of
Freiicli and of Latin word^, hoth Avritors are deserving of the
epitliet. The most iniluential prose-writer was John Wyclif,
who "was, in fact, tlio first English Keformer of the Church.
In poetry, two writers stand opposite each otlun- in striking
contrast — Geoffrey Chaucer and William Langlande, the iirst
writing in courtly '" King's English " in end-rhyme, and with
the fullest insi)irations from the literatures of France and Italy,
tlie lattfr writing in head-rhyme, and — tlmugh using more
Erem^h words tlian ("haucer — witli a styl(>, that was always
homely, }»laiii, and pedestrian. John Gower, in Kent, and
John Barbour, in Scotland, are also nofewoithy poets in this
century. The English language reached, a high state of polish,
power, and fi'cedom in this period; .md ilu^ sweetness and
music of ( "haucer's verse are still unsuijiassed ]>\ jiK-deiu poets.
The sentences of the prose-wiiters of this century are long,
clumsy, and somewhat helpless ; hut tlu' sweet homely English
rhythm exists in many of them, and was continued, through
AVyclifs version, down into our Iranslatinn of the Eibb; in
IGll.
3. Sir John Mande^'ILLe, (1300-1372), '' tlie fir.-t prose-writer in
forme<l English," was born at St Albans, in Hertfordshire, in the year
1300. He was a physician; Imt, in the year l'.V22, he set out on a
journev to the East ; was awav from home for more than thirty years,
and died at Lirge, in I'elgium, in 1372, He wrote his travels Iirst
in Latin, next in French, and then turned them into English, "that
every man (jf my nation may uinlrrstand it." The book is a kind of
guide-book to the Holy Land ; but the writer himself went much
further east — reached Cathay C)r China, in fart. He introduced a
large number of French words into our speech, such as cause, cou-
trarij, discover, quantify, and many hundretl others. His works were
nmch admired, reail, and copied; indei'd, hundreds of manuscript
copies of his book were made. There are nineteen still in the Brit-
ish Museum. The Itook was not printed till the year 14!)!) — that is,
twenty-five years after printing was introduced into this I'ouutry.
Many of the Old English intlexions still survive in his style. Thus
he says : " Machamete was born in Arabye, that was a pore knave
(boy) that kepte cameles that wentc/i with marchantes for mar-
chandise."'
H'
12
HISTORY OF r.NT.LISIl IJTI-nATrnK.
4. John Wycijp (his name is spelled in about forty dilTorcnt
ways) — 1324-1384 — was 1 'jrii at llipswell, near Kidiniond, in York-
shire, in the year 1324, and died at the vicaraL,'e of Lulterwortli, in
fjeicestershire, in 1384. His lame rests on two hases — his efforts as
a reformer of the abuses of the Cliurch, and liis complete transhition
of the Bible. This work was linishcd in 1383, just one year before
hisdeatli. Ihit the ti'anslation was not done by hiiiiM'lf alone ; the
lander ])art of the Old Ti'stnnitnl version seems lo have Ijeen made
by Nirliolas de Hereford. Though often eo]ned in manuscript, it
was not jirinted for ^'evf-ral eonturies. Wyclif's New Testament was
printed in 1731, an-l tlu; Old Testament m t until the year 1850.
But the words and the st\le of his translation, which was read ami
re-read by hundreds of thou,L,ditful men, were of real and permanent
service in fixint,' the language in the form in which we now find it.
5. John Gowkr (1325-1408) was a C(nintry gentleman of Kent.
As Mandeville wi'ote his travels in three languages, so did (jower his
poems. Almost all educated pei'sons in the fourteenth century could
I'ead ami write with tolcrabh; juid with almost equal ease, English,
French, and Latin. His three ])ocms are the Specviliim. M'-ditantis
("The Mirror of the Thoughtful Man"), in French; the Vox
Clainantis (''A'oiic of One Crying"), in Latin; and Confessio
Aniantis ("Tlu; Lover's Confession"'), in English. No manuscript
of the tirst work is known to exist. He M'as buried in St .Saviour's,
Southwark, where his etligy is still to be seen — his head resting on
his three works. Chaucer called him '* the moral Gower"; and his
books are very dull, heavy, and dithcult to read.
0. William Langlandk (1332-1400), a jioet who used the old
English head-rhyme, as Chaucer used the foreign end-rhyme, was
born at Cleobury-I\toi timer in Shropshire, in the year 1332. The
date of his death is doubtful. His poeiu is called the Vision of
Piers the Plowman ; an<l it is the last long poem in our literature,
that was writtrn in Old English alliterative rhyme. From this
period, if rhyme is eiujiloyed at all, it is the iMul-rhyme, which M'e
liorrowed from the French and Italiiins. The poem has an appen-
dix, called Do-well, Do-bet, Do-best — the three stages in the
growth of a (Christian. Langlande's wi'itings remaiu'.'d in manuscript
until the reign of Edward VL ; they wee printed then, and went
through three editions in one year. The English used in the
Vision is the ^Midland dialect — much the same as that used by
Chaucer; only, oddly enough, Langlande admits into his English a
THE FOTT.TEENTIT C'KNTrUV
13
LirgiT j.niouut iif J"'i'fii(li words tliaii Chaucer. 'J'lic jxH-m is a dis-
tinct Jaiuliuixvk in the history of our spcccli. Tht; lollnwin^' is a
specinuMi of llic; liiu's. 'J'lu'rc arc tiiriT alliterative Avords in each
line, \vitli a ])aus(; near the middle —
" A voice Aniil in tl.;it ^/'glit " 1" Zurifer cril'il,
' /^rinocs of lliis /jalra-c • jnx'si'^ undo tlio jrutUs,
For liiTo rninetli with rrnwii • \]\e k'wi' of all <:lory ! '"
7. Geoffrf.y Chauckk (1340-1400), tin- "fallier of En<^lisli
poiitry," and the grt-atest nari'ative poet of this country, was born
in Ldiidon in or ahout tlie year 134(1 lie lived in the rei<,nis of
I'Mwaid III., Kiiliard If., and one year in tlu; rci;j,ii of Henry IV.
His I'atlii'r was a vintnei'. Tlie name (.'huncfr is a Noiiuau naim',
anil is i'niind on tlie roll of Battle Abbey. ]le is said to have
studied both at Oxford and Cand)rid^i,'e ; scI'vimI as \nvj^v. in the
household of I'riiu-e Lionel, Duhe of (.'lariuice, the third son of
Kdwanl 111.; serve(l also in the aiany, and was tal<iii ]iiisonei'
in one ot' the I'leiieh canipai^^ns. In ].'5()7, he was appointed gen-
tleman - in - wail iuLi; {ntli'ftiis) to Ivhvard HI., who sent him on
several embass'"<. Jn 1:574 he married a lady of the (^)ueen's
chamber; and iiy this marjiai^e he became connected with John
(if daunt, Avlio afterwards marrii'il a sister of this lady. "While
on an embassy to Italy, he is ivporti'd to ha\-e met the j^reat poet
Petrarch, who told him the story of the Patient (Iriselda. In l.'Jsl,
he was made Conijitroller of (Justoms in the uueat port of London — •
an <)Hice whiili ln' hehl till the year 13^0. Li that year he was
elected kni,L;ht of the shire — that is, inendier of Pai'liament for the
county (jf Kent. Li L3S!), Ik- -was appointeil Clerk of the Kinj^^'s
AVorks at AVestminster and A\'iii(lsor. From 13.^1 to ]3>^9 was ])ro-
bably the best and mo>t proiluctive }»eriod of his life ; for it was in
this ])eriod that he wrote the House of Fame, the Legend of
Good Women, and the best of the Canterbury Tales. From
1390 to 1400 was sjient in writin;^' the other Canterbury Tales,
l)allads, and some moral ]>oems. ![(• dlrd at AVestniinster in the
year 1400, and was the tirst writer who was biiiie(l in the Poets
Corner of the Abliey. A\'e see from his life — ami it was fortunate
for his poetry — that ("haucer had the most varied experience as
student, courtier, soldier, ambassailor, oiHcial, and member of Parlia-
ment ; and was able to nii.x; freely and ou e([ual terms with all sorts
and conditions of men, from the kin;^' to tin; ])oorest hind in the
fields. He wa< a stout man, with a small brii^ht face, soft eves,
l<)ui,.klv.
14
IIISTOUY OF ENGLISH LITERATUUK.
(lazed l»y 1om<,' and liard reading;, and with the Enj^disli passion inr
flowers, green fH-lds, ami all the sii^'hts an<l sounds of nature.
8. Chaucer's Works. — Chaucer's j^reatest work is tlie Canter-
bury Tales. It is a collection of stories written in heroic metre —
that is, in the j'hynie(l < ouiilrt of live ianilnc feet. The finest part
of the (.'anterhurv Tales is the Prologue ; the noldest story is pro-
bably llie Knightes Tale. It is worthy of note that, in 13G2,
•when ('liaucer was a very youn.i,' man, the session of the House
of Commons was first opened with a s])eech in l*]n_(^lish ; and in the
p.iimii year an Act of Parliament wns ])asse(l, substituting the use of
English for French in courts of law, in scluxds, and in public olfices.
English had thus triumphed over French in all parts of the counti'v,
while it had at tin? same lime become saturated with French woids.
In the year 1383 the liible mms translated into English by Wyclif.
Thus Chaucer, whose writings were called by Spi-nser " the well of
English undeliled,"' wrote at a time when our English was freshest
an<l newest. The grammar of his works shows English with a large
number of inflexions still remaining. The Canterbury Tales are a
series of stories supposed to be told l)y a number of pilgrims who art;
on their way to the shrine of St Thomas (Becket) at Canterbury.
The pilgrims, thirty-two in numl>er, are fully described — their dress,
look, manners, and character in the Prologue. It had. been agreed,
when they met at the Tabard Inn in Southwark, that each pilgrim
should tell fo!ir stories — two going and two returning — as they rode
alobg the grassv lanes, then the only roads, to the old catliedral city,
liut only four-aiid-twenty stories exist.
9. Chaucer's Style. — Chaucer expresses, in the truest and liveliest
way, " the true and lively of everything which is set before him ; "
and he first gave to English poetry that force, vigour, life, and
colour which raised it al)ove the level of mere rhymed prose. All
the best poems and liistories in Latin, French, and Italian wore well
known to Chaucer ; and he borrows from them with the greatest
freedom. He handh^s, with masterly power, all the characters and
events in his Tales ; and he is heu^e, beyond doubt, the greatest
narrative poet that England ever ])roduced. In the Prologue, his
masterpiece, Dryden says, "we have our forefathers and great-grand -
(lames all before us, as they were in Chaucer's davs." His dramatic
power, too, is nearly as great as liis narrative power ; and ^Ir Marsh
afldrms that he was "a dramatist before that which is technically
known as the existing drama had been invented." Tliat is to say,
lie cotild set men and women talking as they would and did talk in
real life, but with more point, spirit, vcn-c, and picturesrpieness.
As regards the matter of his poems, it may be sufficient to say that
THK FurRTrKNTII rEXTURY.
I.')
Di'yilcMi rails liiiii "u pci'in'tujil I'uuntaiii <>t' ^'ixtd seiisu ; " uml that
Ifazlitt inak(.!.s this resn.iik . " r'huU(.'<T was the most i)i'a('tital of all
the yiviit poets, — tho most a man c.'i husincss and of the world. His
poetry reads like historv."' Teiiiiysou 'Speaks of him thus in his
" Dream of Fair Women" : —
" Dan f'haucer, tlie first warLler, wliose sweet breath
Prehi(U'il tlinso melodious hursts tliat till
Tlic spacious times of j,Teat Elizabeth,
With sounds that echo still."
10. John IJauuour (1316-1396).— The earliest Scottish poet of
any importance in the fo''.:'teenth century is John Barbour, wlio rose
to be Archdeacon of Aberdeen. Barbour was of Norman blood, and
wrote Xorthern En^dish, or, as it is sometimes calh^l, Scotch, He
stu<lied both at Oxiord and at tlu- University of Paris. His chief
work is a poem calli'(l The Bruce. The Enj.disli of this pdem does
not differ very ^'reatly from the English of Chaucer. Bai'bour has
f'chtand for fighting ; j)^^^^^^ f^^r presml; theretill for thereto ; but
these dillerences do not make the reading of his poem very difli-
cult. As a Norman he was proud of the doings of Robert de Bruce,
another Norman ; and Barbour must often have heard stories of
him in his bovhood, as he was only thirteen when Bruce died.
B
16
filAPTKT^ TTT.
Tin; I'IFTKKNTII f'EXTURY.
1. Tliu iiftociilli Cfintury, ii ivmaikable jtoriod in many ways,
saw throe royal dynasties pstablislifd in En;^'land — llic llousos
of Lancaster, Voi'k, and Tudor. Five successftd Frencli cani-
paigns of Henry V., and the battle of Agincourt ; and, on the
other side, the loss of all our large ])ossessions in Franee, with
the (ixeeption of Calais, nnder the rule of the Aveak Henry VJ.,
wei'e among the chief events of the fifteenth century. 1'he
Wars of the Hoses did not contribute anything to the j)rosi)erity
of the century, nor could so unsettled and <[uarreIsom(i a time
encourage the cultivation of literature. For tliis among other
reasons, we find no great compositions in ])rose or verse ; l)ut a
considerable activity in the making and distril^ution of balliids.
The best of these are Sir Patrick Spens, Edom o' Gordon,
The Nut-Brown Mayde, and some of tliose written about
Robin Hood and his ex})Ioits. 'J'he ballatl was everywhere
l)opular ; and minstrels sang them in every city and village
through th(> length and breadth of ]''ngland. The famous bal-
lad of Chevy Chase is generally jjlaced after the year MGO,
though it did not take its present form till tlie seventeenth
century. It tells the story of the IJattle of Otterburn, which
was fought in 1388. 'J'his century was also witness to the
short struggli; of liichard 111., followed by the rise of the
licase of Tudor. And, in 1498, just at its close, tlic won-
derful apparition of a new world — of The New World — -
TIIK ririKRNTII CENTUKV
17
rosf oil the liori/oti of the Mill,'! is] I mind, for Kii,L,'liiinl tlirii tii'.^t
liciinl <•!' lln- discovery of Aiiiciii'ii. I'.ut, as rcj^Mrds tliiiikiiiij
aiid wiitiiiLf, the liftcciith ci'iitiiry is the most Itiirivn in our
litcratuiv. It is the nio.-t liinivn in tin' production of ori^'inal
littiratuie ; hut, on the other liand, it is, eoin[iared witli all the
centuries tiiat precedeil it, thf most fertile in tin- dissemination
and diati'ibution of the literature that already fxisti'd. I''i.r
I'liijU'land saw, in tlif memorahle year of 1474, the cstaltlishment.
of the first j»rintin.L;-|iress in the Almonry at AN'i'sf minster, ]i\
William Caxton. The first hook iirintcd hy him in this country
Avascalleil ' Tim ( lame and I'laye of thf ( hcssc.' \\'lifn Ivlward
1 \'. and liis frii'iuls \isitrd ('a.\ton'> Jmnsi' aiid lonknl at liis
printinj^'-press, they spoke of it as a pictty toy; they couM not
foresee that it was destined to lie a nidie jiowei'fnl eimine <tf L(ood
'government and the sjireacl of tliou;j;ht and education tiian tlie
Crown, I'arliaments. and courts of law all ]iut toncther. 'I'he
two greatest names in literature in the lifteeiith century are
those of Janiea I. (of Scotland) and William Caxton liimself.
'J'wo followers (^f Chaucer, Occleve and Lydgate ai-e also <,fen-
erallv mentioneth I'ut shortlv, oiw mi'dit sav at the chief
])ootic'al ])roductions of this century wei-e its ballads; and tlie
ehief prose productions, translations from Latin or from foreign
Wol
\ft>
•2. .Tamks T. or Scotland (1394-1437), though a Scotchman, owed
Ills education to Eugkuid. He was hoi'U in 1394. AVhilst on his
way to France wlieii a hoy of eleven, he was ca})tured, in time of
l»eaee. hy tlie order of lleiu'y TV., and kejit prisoner in England for
ahout eiglituen }ears. It was no great misfortune, for lie I'eeeived
from Henry the hest education t]i it l^ngland could then give in
language, literatuif, music, and all knightly act(im])li>hments. He
married Lady Jane Beaufort, the grand-daugliter of Jolm of Gaunt,
the friend and ]>atron of Chaucer. His hest and longest poem is
The Kings Quair (that is, Book), a poem Mdiicli was inspired hy
the suliject of it, Lady Jane Beaufort herself. The poem is written
in a ptanza of .seven lines (called Rime Royal); an<l the style is
a clcse copy of tlie style of Chaucer. After reigning thirteen years
in Scotland, King James was murdered at Perth, in the year 1437.
A Xornian hy hlood, he is the best poet of the lil'teentli centurv.
18
HTRTOnY OF FNCMSir LITKItATrHF.
3. WlU-iAM Caxton (1422-1492) is tlie iiaiiic nl^jivntt'st iinpoit-
ancc and sii^'nilicancf in the liistorv of our litcratiiiv in llic liitct-ntli
ccntiirv. He was lif)in in Ktiit in tin- vi-ar 14-'i'. lit' was not intTelv
a firintt-r, In- was al-o a literary man; am), wlu-n lu- dcvottMl liinisi-ll'
to ]»iintin;^', lit- took to it as an ail, and not as a men' nn'i]iinii<al
device, ('axlon in caily lilV was a nifivci' in the city of TiOiidoii ;
and in the conise of his hnsin('S5, \vhi< li was a tlirivini,' one, he liad
to make IriMjnent joiiiiuys to the T<o\v (.'onntiies. Here he saw thi*
])ri III inL,'-] tress f,,r tlie fw-t time, with the new sejtarati- types,
was enchanted witli it, and fired hy the wonih'rfnl fntuii- it opened.
Tt liad heen introduced into Holland ahont the year \\f>0. Caxton's
l)res.s was set up in the Alnmnry at Westminster, at the si^^'ii of the
Red pole. Tl ]»rodu(ed in all sixty-four hooks, nearly all of them in
Kn;^di-h, some of them written hy Caxton himstdf. One of the most
impoitant of tluMn was Sir Thomas I^Iidory's History of King
Arthur, the storehouse fi'om wlii(h Tennyson diew the stories
which form the ground wui'k uf his IdijlU uj tlit Kiwj.
i
r.»
CHAITKi: IV.
iiii; .>i.\Ti:i:Mir » kmiiiv
1. Tln> Wars ul' tin' l.'usis fiidril in 1 IS,'), uith the virlmy ui
fJosworth FirM. A mw dynasty — tin' House df Tii'lor sat
ujtoii till' lliKiiic n|" I'ji^'land ; and with it a new r<i,uit <it' |ir,irc
and nidi'i' existed in the cuuntiy, t'l'i' the power ot' the kiii,^- was
paramount, and the power of ihe noMes had heen gradually
di'>troved in the nunieious hattlcs of the lifteenth eenturv.
Like the lifteenth, this eentuiy also is famous for its hallads, the
authors of which aie not known, hut whieh seem to lia\e heen
<.'onil»OSed ''hy the, pe()[)le for the peojde." They Were sun,^'
uverywhere, at fairs and feasts, in town and country, at ^^oin,:^ tu
and eomin,Lf home, from work; and niiiny of theiu were set to
popular danee-tunes.
■■ When Tom cumc Imiiic fnnu lubuui',
And ('is t'nua iiiilkiiig rose,
Jlerrily went tlie talmr,
And merrily went llieir loi-.-,"
'I'liu ballads of King Lear and The Babes in the Wood arc
]»('rhaps to Ijc reforrud to this period.
2. The first luilf of tlie sixteenth century saw the iH-Lfinnin.c^
of a new era in p(jetry ; and the last half saw the full m(;ridian
splendour of this new era. The heginnin^f of this era was
marked hy the ai)pearance of Sir Thomas Wyatt (1503-1542),
and of the Earl of Surrey (1517-1547). 'J'hese two eminent
20
HISTOIIV OK KNTiT.TSII T.TTF'.RATrilE.
^
AVi'ilcr.^ liavp uccn callrd tlic '' twiii-slars (if tln^. dawn," tho
"founders of I'.nglisli lyrical lioffiy"; and it is wortliy of
ps])ccial note, that it is to AVyatt tliat avc owo tin introduction
of tlic Sonnet into our literature, and to Suriey that is due the
introduction of Blank Verse. 'i"h<' most iiiiportant prose-
Avriters of the Mrs' lialf of the cintury were Sir Thomas More,
the. ,^reat. lawyer and statesman, and William Tyndale, who
translated the Xew Testament into l''-nglish. Jn the latter half
of the ('(.'ntury, the j^^^reat i)oet.s aie Spenser an<l Shakespeare;
* Uiu great proso-writcrs, Richard Hooker and Jj'rancis Baeon.
;i. Sir Thomas Mouk's (1480-1535) cliicf work in l-:iigli>li is the
Life and Reign of Ed-ward V. It is written in a plain, strong,
nervous Englisli style. Hallain calls it" the, tirst example nf ^'ond
iMi^lish— puic ami perspicuous, wtdl chosen, without, vulgarisms, and
without pe(lautry.'' His Utopia fa de.scriplion of the country of
Xoc'Jicri') was written in Latin.
4. William Tyndale (1484-1536)— a man of the greatest signifi-
cance, hoth in the history of religion, and in the lustory of (Uir lan-
Lfuaue and litciature — was a native of (jloucestershire, and -was
eilucateil at Mag<lalen 1 fall, Oxford. His opinions on religion and
the rule of the ("atlinlic Church, ((iii^H'lled him to leave Englainl,
and drove him to the (.'ontineut in \nc year \^yl'>i. lie lived in
ITamhurg for MUiie time. A\'ith the <'ii'inau and Swiss refornuM's
he held that the Ihhle shouM he in the hands of eveiy grown-U}>
person, anil not in the exclusive keeping of the Church. He ac-
cordingly set to wovk to translate the Scri[»tures into his native
tongui'. 'I'wo eiliti(jns of his \-eisi(in of the New Testament were
printed in ir)2.')-34. He \u'\\ translateil the five hooks of ^Mo.ses, and
the hook of Jonah. In lo.'io he wa-^, after many escapes and ad-
ventures, finally tracked and hunted down hy an emissary of the
Pope's faction, and thrown into prison at the castle of Vilvoor<le,
near Brussels. In l^t'M; hi' was brought to Antwerp, trietl, con-
demned, led to tlu- stake, strangh'd, and Ijurned.
5. The Work of William Tyndale. — Tyndale's translation
has, since the time of its appearance, formed the basis of all the
after A'ersions of the Bible. It is written in the purest and simplest
English ; and very few of the Avords used in lii.s translation have
grown obsolete in our modern ppeech. Tyndale'.^ work is indeed,
THE SIXTKEN'llI ( KNirKV.
31
laii-
■\\as
anil
aiuK
j(l ill
I'luei's
■U-U]i
■ ac-
itivc
\wvv.
'. aiul
a.l-
tli.>
iidc,
rdii-
atidii
the
plest
have
:leetl,
one iif tin; lUD.-t, .'^trikin;^' lamlmaiks in llic hi>ii'rv of (nir lan;4ua<:;o.
Mr Marsli wiv.s of it : "Tvmiale'.s tvanslatinji df the Xcw Tf^taim-nt
is tli(! most important i/hilulo^iial moiinnu'nt of tlu'. first lialf of tlic
sixtt'cutli century,— perliaps I slionhl say, of th(! whole pi'riorl \w~
twcou Cliauccr and ShalvL'sjicare. . . . The hcst fcatinvs of the
tran.-latiou of ICl 1 an' (lcri\cil I'lciii tlii; version of Tyndali'." It may
he said without r.\atj;^eratioii tliat, in the I'liiteil Kin-dom, Anieriea,
and tlie colonies, ahont one hundn'd millions of ]ieople now s[)eak
the En,i,'lish of Tyn(hile'.s liibh;; nor is tliere any hook that has
exerted so <^'reat aii inllnenee on Kurdish rliythm, English stylo, the
.selection of words, and the build (d' .-enteuces in our English
prose.
%'
6. EDMUxn Spenser (1552-1599), "Tlie Poet's Poet," and one of
the {greatest jxietieal writers of his own or of any a;^e, was horn at
Kast Smithtield, near the Tower rd" Eoii(ioii, in the yviw ]')')2, about
nine years before the Itirth of Pai on, and in the rei;j;n of Kdwanl \].
lie was educated at ^lerchant Taylors' School in i.oiiilon, and at
Pembi-oke Hall, Cambrid;^'e. \n 1")7!», we iind liim settleil in his
native city, when; his best frieiiil was the ;4allant Sir Philip Sidney,
who introduced him to his unch', the hlail of Leicester, then at tln^.
heij^ht of his power and inllueiice with (^)iieen Elizabeth. In the.
same year was ]tublishe(l his lirst poetical work. The Shepheard's
Calendar - a set of twehc pastoial poi-ms. In loSO, he went to
Ireland as Secretary to Lord (irey dc; Wilton, the ^'icel■oy of that
country. For .'^omt; yt ars he n'sided at Kilcolman Castle, in ((ainty
Cork, on an estate wducli had bei-n ^^^ranted him out of the forh'ited
lands of the Earl (d' Desmond. Sir Walter Pahd^'h ha<l obtained a
similar but larger ;j;rant, and was S[ienser's near neij;h1iour. In l."»!)0
Spenser brou,;j;ht out the lii>l tlii'ee books of The Faerie Queene.
The sec<ind three books id" his nrcat pi^-m ap[)eared in lolHI. To-
wards the end of l.')i)S, a I'ebelliou broke out in Ireland; it spri'ad
int(j .Muuster ; S[)enser's house was attacked and set on tire ; in the
lij^hting and confusion his only son ])erishe<l; ;ind Spenser escape :
with the i^ireatest dilliculty. In deep distress of body and niin<l, In;
made his way to London, wdiere he dieil — at an inn in Khv^ Street,
Westmii ster, at the a,L;e of forty-six, in the bei^inning of tlie year
i')'.y,). He wa.s buried in the Abbey, not far from the j,'rave of
Chaucer.
7. Spenser's Style.—Ilis greatest Avork is The Faerie Queene ;
but tliat in wdiich lie .slujws the most .striking command of lan<'ua<f(i
is iii-s Hymn of Heavenly Love. The Faerie Queene is writti-n
in a niuedined atanza, wdiich has since been called the Spenserian
22
M id
HISTORY OF ENGLISH LTTERATUKE.
Stanr.n. The first eight lines uro of the usual Iciigtli <if jivo iambio
feet ; tlie last line contains ^ix feet, an^l is tlierefore an Alexandrine.
Each stan/a contains only three rhymes, ^vllich are flisposod in this
order: a h a h h c h c c— The music of the stanza is long-drawn out,
beautiful, involvt'(l, and even luxuriant. — The story of the poem is
an allegory, like the 'Pilgrim's Progress' ; an<l in it Spenser under-
took, he says, " to represent all the moral virtues, assigning to every
virtue a knight to he the patron and defender of the same.''^ Only
six books Avrii!, (■om])leted ; ami these relate the adventures of the
knights who stand for Holiness, Temperance, Chastit'i, Friendship,
Justice, and Courtesy. The Faerie Queene herself is called
Gloriana, "who represents dloru in his "gener;d intention," and
Queen Klizalieth in his " ])articular intention."
8. Character of the Faerie Queene. — This poem is the greatest
of the sixteenth centurv. Si)enser has not onlv been the didight of
nearly ten generations; he AVas the study of Shakespeare, the ])oet-
ical master of Cowh-y and of ^filton, and, in some sense, of Dryden
and Pope. Keats, ■when a boy, was never tired of reading him.
"There is something," says Pope, "in Spenser that ]dcasi's one as
strongly in old age as it did in onr's youth.'"' Professor Craik says :
"AVithout calling Spenst'r the greatest of all poets, Ave may still say
that his poetry is the most poetical of all poeti'v." The outburst of
national feeling after the defeat of the Anuada in ir)88; the new
lands opened lip by our adventurous Devonshire sailors ; the strong
and lively loyalty of the nation to the (jueen ; the great statesmen
and writers of the period; the high daring shown by Knglan<l
against Spain — all these animated and inspired the glowing genius
of Spenser. His rhythm is singularly sweet and beautiful. Hazlitt
says: "His A'ersiticatiftu is at once the most smooth and the most
sounding in the language. It is a labyrinth of sweet sounds."
Xothing can exceed the Avealth of S])enser's phrasing and expression ;
there seems to be no limit to its tlow. lie is very fond of the Ohl-
English practice of alliteration or head-rhyme — "hunting the letter,"
as it was called. Thus he has —
" In woods, in waves, in wars, slic wont to ilwi'll.
Gay without good is good hcart'ti greatest loatliiii,t,'."
D. AViLLiAM Shakespeare (1564-1816), the greatest dramatist
that England ever produced, Avas born at Stratford-on-Avon, in
"Warwickshire, on the 23d of April — St George's Day — of the year
1564. His father, John Shakespeare, Avas a avooI dealer an<l groAvcr.
1 This use of the phrase "the same" is antiquated Enu-Hsh.
THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY.
23
11, in
Iveur
It.
Iwer.
William was oducated at th(> i^rainmar-scliool of the town, ulun; lie
learned "small Latin and less CJreek " ; and this slender sinrk was
his only scholastic outfit for life. At the early aije of ei_u;hteen lie
niarrietl Anne Hathaway, a yeoman's daughter. In I08G, at the age
of twenty-two, he (quitted his native town, and went to London.
10. Shakespeare's Life and Character.- lit- was ciiiployed in
some menial capacity at the Jjlackfriars Thcati'e, hut gradually rose t<»
be actor and also adapter of ]ilays. He was connected with the
thi itre for abo'it tive-and-tweiitv vears ; ami so diligent and so
successful was he, that he was able to jmichasc shares both in hi>
own theatre ami in the Globe. As an actur, he was only second-
rate : the two ]taris he is known t<> have jilaycd are tlio.-c; of the
(rhoat in Hamlet, and Aihun in As You Like It. In 1.')!)", at
the early age of thirty-three, he was al)]e to purchase New Place, in
iStratfbnl, and to rebuihl the house. In l(il2, at the age of forty-
eight, he left London altogether, an<l retired for the rest of his lil'i-
to New Phiee, where he died in the year 1(11 (!. His old father and
mother spent the last years of their, lives with him, and died uiu'.cr
his roof. Shakespeare had three children — two girls and a boy.
The boy, Haninet, died at the age of twelve. Shakespeare him.self
was ludoved by every one who knew him; and "gentle Shake-
speare" ■was the })hrase most often upon the li])s of his friends. A
placid face, with a sweet, mild ex]»i'e>>ion ; a high, l)r(jad, noble,
"two -storey" fcnxdiead ; bright eyes; a most speaking month —
though it .seldom opened; an open, frank manner, a kindly, haml-
some look,— such .eems to have been the external character of the
man Shakes] leare.
11. Shakespeare's Works. — He has written thirty-.seven plays
and many poems. The best of his rhymed poems are his Sonnets, in
which he chronicles many of the various moods of his min<l. The
plays consist of tragedie>, historical l)^.ays, and comedies. The
greatest of his tragedies are probably Hamlet and King Lear;
the best f>f his historical plays, Richard IIL and Julius Ca3sar ;
and his finest comedies, Midsummer Night's Dream ami As
You Like It. He wrote in the reign of Eli/aljeth as well as
in that of James; but his greatest wniks l)elong to tlu; latter
period.
12. Shakespeare's Style. — Every one knows that Shakespeare;
is great ; but ho>v is tlu; young learner to discover the best way
of forming an ade(puite idea of his greatness? In the lirst place,
Shakespeare has very many sides ; and, in the second place, he is
great on every one of them. Coleridge says : " In all points, from
the most important to tlie most mimite, the judgment of Shakespeare
24
lIIRTOItY OF EXr.LlSII IJTHKATUHK.
is < ommensurali'. with liis j^'t'iiius — nay, lii.s j^enius reveals itself in
his judj^MiM'iit, as in its most cxcalted inrin."' lie has hccu called
" mellitluous Shakespeare ; " " honey-tongiUMl Shukespi^are ; '"' " silver-
loiigne<l Shakespeare;" "the thousaiul-souled Shakesiu-ari' ; '' "the
invriad-miiided ; " and 1>v luanv other eijitl'ets. He seems ti» have
been !iiaster (if all human experienro ; to have known the, human
heart in all its ]»liases ; to li;i\e, l»een aeipiainted with all sorts and
enndit inns (if men— high and low, I'icli ami po(.ir ; and to have studied
the histui'v (if ]iast ages, and of other countries. He also shows a
greater and mure highly skilled mastery over language than any
other wj'iter that e\ .-r lived. The vocalndary employed hy Shake-
s])eare anu unts in nundier of words to tv»-enty-ono thousand. Th(5
vocabulary of Milton nuiuhers only seven thousand words. I'ut it
is n;)t sullicit'nt to say that Shakespeare's jxiwer of thought, of I'eel-
ing, and of e.\]>ression re(piired three times the number of words
to express ils(df; we must also say that Shakespeare's power of ex-
pression shows infmitidy greater skill, subtlety, ami eunning than
is to lie found in the works of Milton. Shakespeare ha<l also a mar-
vellous p(nver of making lU'W phrases, most of which liave become
part and parcel of our language. Such phrases as every inch a kiufj ;
vitch fhe irnrhl; (he time is out of joint, tuul hundreds more, sliow
that modern Englishmen not only speak Shakespeare, but think
Shakespeare. His knowledge of hunnm nature has enabled him to
throw into Knglish literature a lai'g»-r number of genuine "(har-
acter.s"' that will always live in the thoughts of men, than any other
author that ever wrote. And he has not drawn his characters from
England alone and from hi> own time—but from Greece and Rome,
from other countries, too, and also from all ages, lie has written in
a greater ^•ari^■ty of styles than any dther writer. "Shakespeare,"
says rrofessor C'raik, "has invented tw 'idy styles." The know-
ledge, too, that he shows on e\ery kind of human endeavour is as
aciurate as it is varied. Lawyers say that he was a great lawyer;
theologians, that he was an abb; divine, and nne(|ualled in his know-
ledge of the liilile; printeis, that he must have been a printer; and
seamen, that he knew <,'vevy Itranch of the sailor's craft.
13. Shakespeare's contenipoi'aries. — But we are not to sup})ose
that Shakespeare stood alone in the end of the sixteenth and the begin-
ning of the seventeenth century as a great poet ; and that everything
else was Hat and low around him. This never is and never can be
the case. Great genius is the possession, not of one man, but of
several in a great age ; and we do not tind a great writer standing
alone and unsupported, just as we do not find a high mountain rising
/
1 ,
THE SIXTEENTH f EXTmV.
25
from a, low })liuu. The larj^cst ;^'roup of the liij;host luountaiiis in the,
\vorI(l, the lliniiihiyiis, rise from the hij^liest liihh'-liuul in tht; woihl ;
iiud peaks iifurly as higli us tlu; liighi'st — Mount Everest— are seen
eleavinij; tht; hhie sky in the neiL^hbotirliood of Mount Kverest itself.
And so we liiid Shakespeare surrounded liy ilramatists in .-(iiiie re-
spects nearly as j^reat as himself; lur the same L^reat Inives welling'
lip within ihe heai't of Kn;4land that made hihi ereated al-o tlie
others. Mai'lowe, the teaeher of Sliakesprai'e, Peele, and Greene,
preceded him ; Ben Jonson, Beaumont and Fletcher, Massinger
and Ford, Webster, Chaprnan, and many others, ^\(•n• his (on-
temjioraries, ]i\ed with him, talkeil with him; and no douht eaeh of
these men inlluenced the work of the others. But the works of thi'se
men heloni; chielly to the seventeenth century. "We must not, how-
t'ver, foru'et that the rei;in of Queen Fdi/.aheth — ealletl in literature
the Elizabethan Period— was the greatest that England ever saw,
— greatest in poetiy and in prose, greatest in thought and in action,
;ukI perhaps also greatest in external events.
-/■
14. t'liiusTorHHil Marlowe (1564-1593), the first gieat English
dramatist, was horn at (.'anterhury in the year 15G4, two inoiiths
hefore the hirth of Shakespeare himself. Jle studied at Corpus
Cliristi ('ollege, Cand»ridge, and t(jok the degree of blaster of Ails
in l'>87. After leaving the university, he came up to London and
wrote for the stage, lit; seems to have led a wild and reckless life,
and was stabbed in a tavern brawl on the 1st of June 1 r)!)3. "As he
may be said to have in\ented and made the veise (d" the drama, so
he created the English drama.'' His chief j'lays are Dr Fanstus
and Edward the Second. Ilis style is one of the greati'st vigoui'
and power : it is often coarse, but it is always strong. l>en Jonson
snoke of " Marlowe's mightv line" ; and Eord Jelfiev savs of him :
" In felicity of thought and strengtli of expredsiou, he is second only
to Shakespeare himself."
[)ose
Igin-
Inng
11 be
of
lling
sing
lo. Bi:n Jonson (1574-1637), the greatest dramatist of England
after Shakespeare, was born in Westminster in the year l.")7-l,just
nine years after Shakesjieare's birth. He received his edueation at
Westminster School. It is said that, after leaving school, he was
obliged to assist his stepfather as a bricklayer; that he did mjt like
the work; and that he ran off to the Low Countries, and there en-
listed as a soldier. On his return to London, he began to write for
20
IirSTOHY OF KNGMSH T,TTKT!ATri;K.
tlic, sL;t;^'P. Jon?oii viis ii friend Jiiid companion of Sluikcspcure'.s ;
anil at tin; Mt-niiaiil, in Fleut Street, tlu-y liad, in pres<ence of men
like Jvilt i;^'li, Marlowe, (Jreene, Peele, and other distingnislicd
Kn;j;lislnnen, ni uiy •■' wit- coiul)a(s "' together. Jonson's greatest
plays are Volpone "r tlie Fox, and the Alchemist -- hoth
comedies. In !()](! hi; was crealcil Poet- Lanreate. For many
years he was in receipt of a jtem-ion from James I. and from Charles
I. ; hut so careless and jirofnsi; Avere his hahits, that he died in
piA'erty in tin; year l(i37. He was huried in an n])ri,uht ])osition in
Westminster Ahhey ; and the stone over his gravt- f-till hears the
inscri])tion, "O rare ]5en Jonson I" He lias been called a "robust,
surly, and observing; dramatist."
Ki. J{icHAUi) HooivKii (1553-1600), one of the -greatest of Jlliza-
bethan ])rose-wi'iters, uas born at Heavitive, a villai,'e ni-ar the city
of Fxeter, in the year I'u)^. I'y the kind aid of Jewel, P>ishop of
Salisbury, he was sent to Oxfoid, wlieic he distinj^nisheil himself
as a hard-workinj^ student, ami especially for his knowled;4e of
llebi'ew. In 1581 he enten'(l the Church. In the same year he
made an imprudent marriage witli an ignorant, coarse, vulgar, and
domiiieering woman. He was a])pointed blaster of the Temple in
158,"); but, by his (jwn reipiesl, he was renuned from that office,
and chose the (piieter living of I'joscombe, near Salisbury. Here
he wrote tlie lirst four liooks of his famous Avork, The Laws
of Ecclesiastical Polity, wliich w/re published in the year 15!)4.
In 15!)5 he was translated to tlie living of Bishopsborne, near Can-
terbury. His death took place in the year 1000. The complete
work, which (consisted of eight books, Avas not ])ul)lished till 1062.
17. Hooker's Style.— His Avritings are said to"maik an era in
English prose." His sentences are generally very long, very elab-
orate, but full of "an extraordinary musical richness of language."
The order is often more like that of a Latin than of an English
sentence ; and he is fond of Latin inversioiis. Thus he Avrites :
"That Avhich by Avisdom he saw to be re([uisite for that people, Avas
bA' as iireat Avisdom compassed." The folloAving sentenees 'live lis a
good example of his sweet and musical rhythm. " Of law there can
be no less acknoAvledged, than that her seat is the bosom of God, her
voice the liarmony of the Avorld. All things in heaven and earth do
her homage ; the very least as feeling her care, and th greatest as
not exempted from her power: both angels and men, and creatures
of Avhat condition soever, though each in different sort and manner,
yet all, Avith uniform consent, admiring her as the mother of their
peace and joy."
/
TIIK SIXTEENTH CENTURY.
27
ElizH-
le city
hop of
limsi'lf
1,^0 (if
I'iir lie
ir, ami
lie. ill
dtfiix',
aws
ir)t)4.
Cali-
ipk'tc
|()2.
I'.i ill
elal)-
la-L'."
|i,i,'lisli
ites :
, A\as
li.s a
can
, lier
li do
1st as
urc'S
incr,
heir
IR. Sir Philip Sidney (1554-1586), a noble knij^ht, a states-
man, and one of the bi'st proso-writcrs of tlic Kliznlu'tlian H'^o, was
ln)ru at Pt'iishurst, in Kent, in tlie year 1554. Ho was (Mliicatcd at
Slirt'wsbury ScIkk.I, and then at Christ Church, Oxford. At the
age of seventeen he went abroad for three years' travtd on tlie Con-
tinent ; and, while in Paris, witnessed, from the windows of the
English End)assy, the horrible Massacre of St P>artholomew in the
year 1572. A' the early age of twenty-two he was sent as am-
bassador to the P^mjieror of Germany; and wliile on that embassy,
he met William of Orange — "William the Silent" — who prononnce<l
liim one of the rijiest statesmen in Europe. This was said of a young
man " who .seems to have been the tyjie of what was noblest in ttie
youth of England during times that could ])i'oduce a statesman."
In 1581) he wrott^ the Arcadia, a romance, and dedicjited it to his
sister, the Countess of I'emln'oke. The year after, he pj'odiiced his
Apologie for Poetrie. His policy as a statesman was to side with
Protestant rulers, and to l)reak the power ol' the strongest Catlitilic
kingdom on the Continent — the power of Spain. In 1585 the
(^ueeii sent him to the Ni'therlands as governor of the ini])ortant
i'ortress of Flushing. He was mortally wounded in a skirmish at
Zutphen ; and as he was being carried off the tield, handed to a
private the cup of cold water that luid been brought to (juench his
raging thirst.
One of his friend
He died of his wounds on the 17th of October 158G.
of hill
"Death, courajre, lioiunir, iiiakc tliy soul to live I —
Thy soul in liuaven, tliy ikuuc in tongues of incii ! "
10. Sidney's Poetry. — In addition to the Arcadia and the
Apologie for Poetrie, Sidney wrote a nundjer of beautiful poems.
The best of these are a series of sonnets called Astrophel and
Stella, of Avhich his latest critic says : "As a series of sonnets, the
Astrophel and Stella poems are second only to Shakespeare's ; as
u .series of love-poems, they are perhaps unsurpassed." Sjienser
Avrote an elegy upon Sidney himself, under tin- title of Astrophel.
Sidney's prose is among the be.st of the sixteenth century. " He reads
more modern than any other author of that century." Jin does not
use "ink-horn terms," or cram his sentences with Latin or French or
Italian words ; but both his words and his idioms are of pure English.
He is fond of using personifications. Such phrases as, " About the
time that the candles began to inherit the sun's otiice;" "Seeing the
day begin to disclose her comfortable beauties," are not uncommon.
The rhvthm of his sentences is alwavs melodious, and each of them
has a very ]>loasant close.
CHAPTEE Y.
THE SEVENTEENTn CENTUnY,
1. The First Half. — Under the wiso am! nLlo rule (^f Queen
Elizabeth, tliis count ly liad onjoyeil a lon.i^' term of ])eapo. 'Yhe
Spanisli Ai'iuada luid l)ec'n defcjitcd in 1588; the »S]»anish ])ower
liad graihially ■waned before tlie growin^j; miglit of J^ngland ; and
it could b(» sail] with jx'rfect truth, in tlie Avords of Shake-
S])eare : —
" In licr (lays every man doth eat in safeiy
lender lii.s own vino wliat he i)lants, and sing
Tlie merry songs of jioace to all hi.s neighbour,-*."
The country -wan at ])eace ; and every peaceful art and pursuit
j)rospered. As one ."^ign of II10 great prosperity and ontstretch-
iiig enterprise of conuuerre, ^\■^'. should note the foundation (if
the East India ("()in])any on the last day of the year IGOO, The
rcMgn of -lames 1. (1003-1025) was also peaceful; and the.
country made steady progress in industries, in commerce, and in
the arts and sciences. The two ;;reatest prose-writers of the
lirst half of the seventeenth century W(n'e Raleigh and Bacon;
the two greatest poets Avere Shakespeare and Ben Jonson.
\
2. Sir Walthu Raleigh (1552-1618).— Walter Raleigh, soldier,
statesman, coloniser, historian, and poet, was born in Devonshire, in
the year 1052. He Avas sent t(j Oriel Colle'^e, Oxford ; but he left at
the earlv aye of .seventeen to fiudit on the side of the Protestants in
France. From that time his life is one long series of schemes, plofi?.
'fe
ISUlt
■U-]\-
'U (if
Tim
tllc
1 ill
till!
Ion ;
1, ill
It at
ill
r.t.'?.
I,
THE
SEVENTEENTH CENTURY.
29
advt'utures, ami iiiisfortuncs — cuhninatiii^' in liis oxocutiou at Wi-st-
ininster in tlu- viar 1(518. He spi'ut '* tljc t'vonini,' of a ti'inpi'stuous
life'" ill tin; 'J'owt'i', wbt'iv lie lay for tliirli'cii years; ami thiriiiL; lliis
iin])risniuii('iit lie wrote liis ^M'eate.-t woik, the History of tho
World, wliiili was never liiiislied. His lite ami ail\-eiitnri's lie-
loni,' to tile sixteenth ; his works to the scVeliteenlli ceiitiiry.
Kaleij^h was ])rohahly the most (lazzliii,^ ti^iuv of his time; ami is
"in a sinmilar dei^ree the rej)resentativt' of the vii,Mroiis versatility
of the Klizaliethan ])erio(1." Spenser, wlio>e neighl)oiir he wa> foi'
some time in Ireland, thought hii,dily of his poetry, calls him "the
summer's nightiiiLjale,'' and says of him —
" Yet a'liiuliiig' my song, he took in liaiul
My l)iiii', liefore that annuli'd of many,
Anil played then'on (for well tliat skill ho coiinM),
Jliiiisfll' as skill'ul in that art as any."
Raleigh is the author of the eelehrati'd verses, "(!o, soul, the liody's
guest ; " " Give me my scallop-shell of quiet ; " and of the lines M'hich
were written and left in his I'ilile on the night befort^ he was
Ijeheaded : —
" Even such is time, that takes in trust
Our youth, our joys, our all we have,
i.nd pays us Imt with age and dust ;
Who, in the dark and silent grave,
When we have wandered all our ways,
Shuts up the story of our days :
But from this earth, this grave, this dust,
The Lord shall raise me uji, 1 trust ! "
1
n
Raleigh';
and moil
(1
has l)een described as "some of the nio.-t llowini;
king prose of the ])eriod;"' and there can be no
given himself entirely to literature, he would
eatest ])oets and prose-writers of his time
and ]ii(diidious. The following is the la^t
of the World:—
"0 eloquent, just, ami mighty Death I whom none could advise, tliou hast
persuaded ; what none hath dared, thou hast done ; and whom all the world
hath flattered, thou only hast cast out of the world and des])i.sed ; thou hast
•Irawn together all the far-stretched greatness, all the ]iridc, cruelty, and am-
bition of man, ami covered it all over with these two narrow words llic.jacd.'"
3. Francis Bacon (1561-1626), one of the greatest of Kngli^h
thinkers, and one of our best prose-writers, was born at York House,
1 Emulating.
30
HISTORY OF ENOLTSTI I.ITEnATrRK.
ill tlic StrMiid, London, in tlic vi;ir I'idl. II
I' was ii giiivf an«
1
j)r('C()(i(>us cliild ; and (^ut'cn Klizalictli, wlio knew liini and liked
liiin, iiscfl t(» jtat him and call liim licj' "y •iuil,' Lord Keeper" — liis
latlier In'inj^ Lord KeejuT of the Seals in her rei>,Mi. At the early
a^e of twelve he was sent to Trinity CoUe-'e, Canihrid'rt', and re-
h^ >
niaine(
1 th
lere for tlii'ee vear
s. In l^)H'2 ho was called to the har
in lolK'} he was M.V. Wn- Middlesex. But his pcatest rise in fortune
ilid not take place till tlie rei^^'n (»f James I.; when, in the year lOlH.
he had risen to l)e fiord Hi^di Chancellor of Enj^'land. The tith^
which he took on this occasion — for the Lord lli^'h Chancellor is
chairman of tin; House of Lords — was Baron Verulam; and a
few years after he was created Viscount St Albans. His elo-
quence was famous in Eni^land; ami lien .lonsou said of him: "The
fear of every man that heaid him was lest he should make an end."
In the year 1621 he was accused f)f takinf^ bril>es, and of {giving un-
just decisions as a jud^^e. He had not really heen unconscientious,
hut he had heen careless; was obliged to pleatl guilty; and he was
sentenceil to pay a fine of :t'4(),00(), and to he imprisoned in the
T(jwer during the king's pleasure'. The tine was remitted; ]iacon
was set free in two days; a pension was allowed him; but he never
afterwards held otlice of any kind. He died on Easter-day of the
year 1620, of a chill which he caught while experimenting on tin;
ju'eservative ])roperties of snow.
4. His chief prose-wfU'ks in English — for he wrote many in Latin —
are the Essays, and the Advancement of Learning. His Essays
make one of the wisest books ever written ; and a groat numl)er of
English thinker^ owe to them the best of Avhat they have had to say.
They are written in a clear, forcible, pithy, and picturesque style,
with short sentences, and a good many illustrations, drawn from his-
tory, politics, and science. It is true that the style is sometimes
stiff, and even rigid ; but the stifl'ness is the stiffness of a richly
embi'oidered cloth, into which threails of gold and silver have been
worked. Bacon kept what he called a Promus or CVjinmonplace-
Book ; and in this he entered striking thoughts, sentences, and
phrases that he met with in the course of his reading, or that oc-
curred to him during the day. He calls these sentences " salt-pits,
that you may extract salt out of, and* sprinkle as you will." The
following are a few examples:—
"That that is Forced is not ForciMe."
" No Man lowth his Fetters tliough they be of Gold."
" Clear and Round Dealing is the Honour of Man's Nature,"
" The Arch-Hatterer, with wliom all the petty Flatterers have intelligence, is
a Man's Self."
THK SEVENTKKNTII C'ENTrHY,
31
" If Tliiiij,'.s be not tossed uiiuii tlic Arguments of Counsell, they will bo tossed
upon the Waves of Fortune."
Tilt' rcillowiiiL; aiv a l«\v strikiiiL,' si'iitctici's f' 'in liis Essays : —
" Virtue is liki> a rifli stiiiif, best jihiin sft."
"A man's ii;ituro runs I'itluT to licrbs or weeds ; tlierefore, h-t him season-
ably water tlie one, and destroy the other."
"A crowd is not fniii]iaiiy, ami faifs an- but a gallery of jiirtures, and talk
but a tinkling cymbal, wliun tliere is no love."
Nn iiiuii coulil say wiser tliinj^'s in ]>itliit'r wnr(l.-, ; ami we may
well .sav of liLs tlioiij-'hts, in tlie wcir^U of Tcnnv.-^un, that tluv are —
"Jewels, five words long,
That on the stretched forefinger of all time
Sparkle for ever."
5. "William Shakespeare (1564-1616) has been already treatt'd
of in till! chapter on tho .^ixtocnth contiiry. ]^>ut it may be noted
here that hi.s lir.'^t two periods — as they an; called — fall within tho
sixteenth, ami his last two periods within the seventeenth century.
His first period lies between l^fJl and !.")!)(); and to it are ascribeil
hi.s early i)oenis, his play of Richard II., and .<(jme other histor-
ical plays. His second period, which stretche.s from l.')!)*; to IflOl
holds the Sonnets, the Merchant ofVenice, the Merry Wives of
Windsor, and a few historical dramas, l^nit his third and fourth
periods were richer in ])roduction, antl in j^'reater ]iroiluctions. The
third period, which belongs to the years KJOl to IfiOS, junduced the
play of Julius Caesar, the great tragedies of Hamlet, Othello,
Lear, Macbeth, and some others. To the fourth period, which
lies between KiOS and 1013, belong the calmer and wiser dramas,
—Winter's Tale, The Tempest, and Plenry VIII. Tlire(;
years after — in IGIG — he died.
■"• >
G. The Second Half. — Tho .^poond half of the great and
unique seventeenth century "was of a character very dillorent
indeed from that of the first half. Th(> Engli.shmen born into
it luul to face a new ^vn^ld ! New thoughts in rtdigion, new
forces in politics, now powers in social matters had b(>en slowly,
steadily, and irresistibly rising into sn})i'emacy ever since tho
Scotti.di King James came to take his seat u})on the throne of
England in 1G03. These new forces had. in fact, become .^u
82
IIISTOIIY OF EN'JIJSII LITEHATrUK.
strong; tliiit they Icil a klii;,' to the scufrold, ami liarnliMl over tho
j^'ovtirniiu'iit nf Kn;^'lMii(l to a section of IJopiililicans. (,'harles
I. wa.s •ixeeiiled in 1(11*.); and, thou^'h liis son raine ])ack
to tlie tlirone in KJGO, the face, tlie manners, the thon^'lits of
l''n;,'lanil ami ot" I'.nL^dishnieu had nnder^'one a comiilete ijiternal
an*
1 ."Xt
ei'iial Chan'"'
The I'liritan party was overvv/ltere Vm.
ruling party ; and its views and convictions, in reli^^don, ia
politics, and in literatnic, held un<inestione'l sway m alnost
every j)art of l''-n,i^dan<l. In the I'uritan ]»arty. the stror.;,'est
;tiou
f.
d hv the Tnd(
dents — th
.1
branch
men " — as they were, callnd ; and the j^'reatest man amonj,' the
Indej)endents was (Jlivi'r Cromwidl, in whose government John
Milton wi^ Foreign Secretary. ]\Iilton was certainly by far
the groat 'st and most jiowerfnl writer. Loth in prosit and in
verse, on tlu- side nf the I'uriian party. The al)lest verse-writer
on the Jioyalist <>r Conrt side M'as Samuel Butler, the nnrivalletl
satirist — the Hogarth of langnage,— the anthor of Hudibras.
The greatest prose-wiiter dii the h'oyalist and Chnrch sid(^ was
Jeremy Taylor, Uishnj. of I)i»wii, in Ireland, antl the author
of Holy Living, Holy Dying, and many other works written
with a wonderful elii(|uenc(!. 'J'he gri'ivtest philos')phical writer
was Thomas Hobbes, the author of the Leviathan. The most
powerful writiT for the iieojjle was John Bunyan, the immortal
author of The Pilgrim's Progress. AVhen, however, v c come
to the reigns of Charles 11. and James II., and tho new intluences
which their rule and presence imparted, we lind the greatest poet
to be John Dryden, and the most important piose-writer, John
Locke.
7. The Poetry of the Second Half. -The poetry of the second
half of tho seventeenth century Avas not an outgrowth or lineal
descendant of the poetry of the first half. Xo trace of the
strong Klizabethau poetical emotion remained; no writer of this
half-century can claim kinship with the great authors of the
Klizabt'than period. The three most reniarkablo poets in the
latter half of this century are John Milton, Samuel Butler,
and John Dryden. But ^filton's culture was derived chietly
from the great (Jreek arid Tatin writers; and his j)oems show
itton
writer
most
norliil
como
u'lices
poet
John
THE SEVENTFENTir rKN'TrHY.
3.T
few or no ai'^u^ of belonging to any n^v or generation in j»urtieu-
lar of Knglish literature. l>utler'.s poem, the Hudibrns, is tiie
only ont' of its kintl ; and if its autiior owes anything tr> oth<'r
writers, it is to France and n<>t ti> l-'iiglanil that wc must jnok
for its suurees. l)ryden, again, shuws ni» .^ign nf liriug related
to Shakespean' i>v the dramatie writers ut' the early part nf the
century; he is separateil from tliem l.y a great gulf; he owes
most, when he owes anything, to the I-'rcnch scliool of p<ietry.
S. John Mii.ton (1608-1674), tlic second greatest naiu.' in Kiig-
lish ])oetry, and tlu^ greatest of all our epic jtoets, was Ixiin in I'.i'ead
Street, (.'lieapside, Loiiilon, in the ycai' 1(508 — live years iit'tei- the ac-
<'cssion of .fames I. to the tliroue, an<l eiglit years hefoic the tieatll of
Shakcs[)eiii('. He was educated at St Paul's School, au<I then at
Christ's College, Caiuhriilge. He was so handsonu' — with a ileljeate
complexion, elcar Mue eyes, and liL^htdii'ow II hair tlowing down his
shouMers — that he was known as the *' ha^ly of Christ's." He was
destined for tile Church; lait, heing early seizeil with a stroii'^ desire
to compose a great jtoetical work which should hring honour to hi>
country anil to the English tongiu", he gave uj) all idea of hecoming
aclergymau. Filled with his secict jnu'pose, he retired to llortou,
in Buckinghamshire, where his father had hought a small couutrv
seat. I'etweeu the years l(i:i2 and 1(538 lit; stmlied all the hest
(Jreek and Latin authors, mathematics, and science; ami he also
wrote L'Allegro and II Penseroso, Conius, Lycidas, and some
shorter jioems. Thest; were ]>reludes, or exeicises, towards the great
poetical Work which it was the nnssimi of jiis life to produce. In
1();58-;}!) he look a journey to the Citntinent. Mo,-t of his time
was spriil in Italy ; and, when in Florence, he ])aid a visit to (Jalileo
in ])rison. It ha<l heeii his intention to go on to (hvece; hut the
troidded .-tate of ])olitics at home hrouglit him hack sooner than la^
wisheil. 'I'lie next ti'U yeais of his life were engagetl in leaching
and ill writing his prose woiks. His ideas on teaching are to lu-
found in liis Tractate on Education. The nio>t eloinieiit of his
prose-Works is lii> Areopagitica, a Speech for the Liberty of
Unlicensed I
iting (1(144) — a p
V
for relieving all writings fiiim the criticism of ceiisois. In 1(549 —
the year of the execution of Charles I. — Milton was ajipointed Latin
or Foreign Secretary to the Covernnieiit of Oliver Cromwell; and
for the next ten years his time was taken up with otlicial work.
and with writinsi
prose
-volumes in defence of the action of tae
34
IFISTOUY OF ENGLISH MTERATURK.
Kepul)lic. In 1()6U the Restoration took place; and Milton was at
lenj^th free, in his fifty- ^hird year, to carry out his lo;ig-cherished
.scheme of writing a great Epii; pot-iii. He chose the subject of the
fall and the rc'stoialion of man. Paraaise Lost was completed in
H5().") ; hut, owiug to the Plague and the Fire of London, it was not
published till the year 1(!<)7. Milton's young (.^)uaker friend, Kllwoo(',
said to him one day: "Thou hast said much of Paradise Lost, what
hast thou to say (»f Paradise Found?" Paradise Regained was
the result — a w./ik which was written in 1 (!(!(), and apjieared, along
with Samson Agonistes, in the year 1071 ^lilton died in the
yen' 1074 — about the middle of the reign of Chai'les IL lie had
been threi; times mari-iecl.
9. L'Allegro (or "The Cheei'ful !Man") is ,i companion poem to
II Penseroso (or "The !Me(litative Man" ). The jioems present two
eontra-ted views of the life of flu^ student. They arc written in an
irregui;;?- kind of octosyllabic verse. The Comus — mostly in blank
verse --i.- a lyrical drama ; and ]\Iilton's W(Jik was accompanied by
a musical composition by the then famous musician irenry Lawes.
Ijycida.s — a poem in irregular rhymed verse — is a thriMujdy on the
death of ]\Iilton's young friend, Edward King, who was drowned
in sailing iVom Che. ler to Dublin. This ])oem has lieeu called " the
touchstone of taste ;" the man who cannot admire it has no feeling
for true poetrv. Tlu; Paradise Lost is the storv of how iSatan was
allowed to ])lot against the ha])])iness of man; and how Adam and
Eve fell through his designs. The .style is the noblest in the English
language; the music of the rhythm is lofty, involved, sustained, and
sublime. " \n reailing ' Para<lise Lost,'" .says ^Ir Lowell, "one has a
feeling of spaciousness such as no other poet gives." Paradise
Regained is, in fact, Oie story of the Temptation, an<l of Christ's
triumph over the Aviles of i^atan. "Wordsworth .siys: "'Paradise
Regained ' is most perfect in execution of any written by ^lilton ; "
and C(deridge remarks that "it is in its kind the most perfect
])oem extant, though its kind may be inferior in interi'st.'' Samson
Agonistes ("Samson in Struggle" ) is a drama, in highly irregular
unrhymed verse, in which the poet sets forth his own unhappy fate —
'•Hyok'ss, in G;iza, at the in. 11 with slaves."
It is, indeed, an autobiographical poem— it is the story of the last
V'^')rs of the ])oet"s life.
a
S(
o
4
-a
10. Samuel Butler (1612-1680), the wittiest of English poets, was
born at St rensham, in "Worcestershire, in the year 1612, four years
set
Ig
,
I
THE SEVKNTKKXTH (T.NTrRV,
36
alter the Ijirth of Milton, iiml t'liiir yours before tlie death of Sliake-
.speare. He was educated at the graniniar-school of Worcester, and
afterwards at Cambridge — Imt only for a short time. At the Resto-
ration he was made secretary to the Earl of Caibery, who was llieii
President of the l'rimii>ality of Wales, and steward of Ludluw Castle.
The first part of his long poem calle<l Hudibras apjieared in 100:2;
the .second part in 1003; the third in 1078. Two years after, .Butler
died in the greatest poverty in London. He was buried in St Paul's,
Cov^ent Garden; but a monument was erected to him in Westminster
Abbey. Upon this fact Wi'sley wrote the lblh»wing epigram : —
" Wliile Butler, lu.'ody wri'ti'li, was yet ;ilivo,
Xo generous patron wouM ii diiiiier give ;
See him, when starveil to death, and turned to dust.
Presented witli a monumental oust.
'J'lie poet's late is here in emhiein shown,- -
He asked lor bread, ami he received a stone."
11. The Hudibras is a liiii'les([ue ])oem, — a long lampoon, a
laboured caricature, -in mockery of the weakci- side of tlu' great
I'uritan p'U'ty. It is an imaginary account of the adventures of a
Puritan knight and hi> siiuiii; in tlic ('ivil War>. It is r]iokr-lul' (d'
all kinds of learning, id' tin-, most juiiigcnt iTmarks a \ei'y ho;ird of
sentences and saws, "of vigorous locutions and pi(ture>i|ue i)hrases,
of stromr, sound scn.-r, anil robust English
It 1
la.-
(pie p
1
lern more
([Uoteil from tlian almost any book ii' our langiiagr. Charles II.
was never tired of reading it and ([iioling from it —
" lie never ate, nor drank, iior slejit,
But Hudibras still near him kept" —
1 fate-
last
;ays Dutler lum>elf.
The fuUuwiu'j; are sonn; (d' liis best know n lines : —
" And, like a hj'ister boil'd, tlie inoru
From black to red began to turn."
'■• For loyalty is still the same,
Whether it win or lose the game:
True as the dial to the sun,
Altho' it be not shin'd upon."
"He that comjilies against his will,
Is of his own opinion still."
s, was
vears
12. John Duyden (1631-1700), the greatest of our poets in the
S'jcond rank, was born at Aldwindc, in Northamptonshire, in the
36
iriHTOltY OF ENGLISH TJTEP.VTtJRK.
year 1631. He was desreiideJ fnjiu I'urit.in ancestors on both
sides of his liouse. lie was educated iit AVestniiiister School, and
at Trinitv Collc'c, Camhridw. London Ijecame Ids settled ahode in
the year 1657, At tlu; Restoration, in 1(560, he liccanie an ardent
Rovalist ; and, in the vwir 1663, he niari'ied the danuhter of a Eovalist
nohlcman, tlu; Earl of I'erkshire. It was not a happy marriage; the
lady, on the (jne hand, had a violent temper, and, on the (jther, did
not care a straw for the literary pursuits of her husband. In 1666 he
wrote his first long ])(jem, the Annus Mirabilis ("The W(»nderful
Year"), in which he i)aints the war with Holland, and the Fire of
London; and from this date his life is "one long literary labour."
In 1670, he receiveil the double appointment of Ilistoriogiapher-
lioval an<l I'oet-Laureale, Ui) to the year KJHl, his work lav chietlv
in writing plays for the theatre; and these plays were written in
rhymed verse, in inutation of the French plays ; for, from the date
of the Restoiation, Freuih inlluence was paramount both in literature
and in fashion. ])Ut in this year he j)ublished the first part of
Absalom and Achitophel — one of the most i)owerful satires in the
language. In the year 1683 lu' was appointed (,'ollector of Customs
in the ]»(jrt of London — a post which Chaucer had held bet'oi'e him.
(It is woi'tliy of note that Drydeii " traiislateil " the Tales of Chaucer
into modern Kiiglish.) At the aiicession of Jauu's 11., in 1685, iJrydeu
became a Roman Catholic ; most certainly neither for gain nov out
of gratitude, but from conviction. In 1(!87, appeared his poem of
The Hind and the Panther, in which he defends his new creed.
He ha<l,a few years before, brought out another poem called Religio
Laici ("A Layman's Faith''), which was a defcnci' of the (Miurch of
England and of her ])osltion in r<digion. In The Hind and the
Panther, the Hind represents the Roman Catholic ('hurch, "a milk-
white hind, unspotted and unchange<l," the Panther the Church of
England; and the two beasts reply to each other in all tlie argu-
ments used by controversialists on these two sides. W'iuMi the
Revolution of 1688 took place, and James II. had to llee the king-
dom, Hryden lost both his ollices and the pension he had from
the Crown. Nothing daunted, he set to work once more. Again
he wrote for the stage; but the last years of his life were spent
chiefly in translation. He translated passages from Homer, Ovid,
and from some Italian writers; but his most important work was
the translation of the Avhole of Virgil's JEneid. To the last he
retained his ■'ire and vigour, action and rush of verse ; an<l some of
his greatest lyric poems belong to his later years. His ode called
Alexander's Feast was written at the age of siity-six ; and it was
written at one sitting. At the age of sixty-nine he was meditating a
THE SEVENTEE.NTII CENTrUY.
37
tiuiislatiou of the wliole of Homer — both the Iliad ami tlie Udyssey.
He died at liis house in London, on May-day of 1"()(», and was bnri(?d
witli great pomp and splciKhjiir in Poets' Corner in AVi'stminster
Abbey.
13. His best satire is the Absalom and Achitophel ; his liest
specimen of reasoning in verse is The Hind and the Panther.
His best ode is liis Ode to the Memory of Mrs Anne Killigrew.
Dryden's style is distinguished by its ])o\ver, sweep, vigour, and
"long majestic march." Xo one has liandh'd the heroic couplet —
and it was this form of verse that he chiefly used — with more vigour
than Dryden; Pope was more correct, mort; sparkling, more finished,
but he had not Dryden's magnificent march or sweeping impulsi veTiess.
"The fire and spirit of the 'Annus ^lirabilis,' " says liis latest critic,
"are nothing short of ama/ing, when the dilliculties which beset the
author are rememlK'red. The glorious dash of the performance is
his own." His prose, though full of faults, is also very vigorous.
It has "something of the lightning zigzag vigour and splendour of
liis verse." He always v.-rites clear, homely, and pure English, — full
of force and point.
Many of his most pithy lines are often quoted: —
"Men are but chililrt'ii of a larger growtli."
" Errors, like straws, upon the surface flow ;
He that would search for pearls must dive helow."
"The greatest argument for love is love."
"The secret pleasure of the generous act,
ts the great mind's great bribe."
The great American critic and poet, Mr Tiowell, compares him lo
" an ostrich, to be classed with flying things, and capable, what with
leap and flap together, of leaving the earth for a longer or a shorter
space, but loving the open plain, where wini,' and foot help each
other to something that is both Uight ami run at once."
iting a
14. Jeremy Taylor (1813-1667), the greatest master of ornate
and musical English prose in his own day, was born at Cambridge in
the year 1013 — ^just three years before Shakespeare died. His father
was a barber. After attending the free grammar- schoid ul' Cam-
bridge, he proceeded to the University. He took holy orders and
removed to London, "\^'llen he was lecturing one day at St Paul's,
Archbishop Laud was so taken by his "youthful beauty, pleasant
nir," fresh eloquence, and exuberant style, that he had him create<l
38
IIISTOItY OF ENGLISH LITKRATUUE.
a FiiUow of All Souls' Colle<i;(.', (Jxl'ord. AVhcii the Civil War In-okc
out, he was taken prisoner by the Parliamentary iorces ; and, in-
deed, suH'creil iiuprisounient more than once. After the Restoration,
lie was presented with a bishopric in Irelaml, where he died in
15. Perhaps his best works are his Holy Living and Holy Dying,
ilis style is rich, even to luxury, full of the m(jst imaginative illus-
trations, and often overloaded with ornament. He has been called
" the Shakespeare of English prose," " the Spenser of divinity,"
and by other appellations. The latter title is a very happy descrip-
tion ; for he has the same wiialth of style, phrase, and description
that Spenser has, and the same Ijoundless delight in setting forth his
thoughts in a thousand different ways. The following is a specimen
of his writing. lie is speaking of a shipwreck : —
"These ure the tlioughts of mortals, this is the end and suni of i'U their
designs. A (huk night and an ill guide, a lioisterons sea and a hrnken cahle,
a hard rock and a rough wind, dash in pieces the fortune ot a whole family ;
and they that sliall weep loudest for the accident are not yet entered into tlie
storm, and yet have sull'erod shi])wreck."
His writings contain many pithy statements. The following are
a few of them : —
" Xo man is jioor that does not. tliink liimself so."
" lie tliut spends his time in sport and calls it recreation, is like him wliose
garment is all made of fringe, and liis meat nothing Imt sauce.
" A good man is us nuich iu awe of liimself as of a whole assendily. "
1(!. Thomas Hot?ni;s (1588-1679), a great philosopher, was born
at Malmesbury in the year 1588. He is hence called "the philo-
sopher of Malmesbury." He lived during the reigns of four Eng-
lish .sovereigns — Elizabeth, James I., Charles I., and Charles II.;
an<l he was twenty -eight years of age when Shakespeai'e died.
He is in many resjjects the type of the hard-working, htng-liveil,
persistent Englishman. }\c was for many years tutor in the Devon-
shire family — to the iirst Earl of Devonshire, and to the third Earl of
Devonshire — and lived for several years at the family seat of Chats-
worth. In his youth he was acquainted with P>acon and Ben Jonson ;
in his middle age he knew (xalileo in Italy ; and as he lived t(j the
age of ninety- two, he might have conversed with John Locke or
with Daniel Defoe. His greatest work is the Leviathan; or. The
Matter, Form, and Power of a Commonwealth. Ilis style
is clear, manly, and vigorous. He tried to write poetry too. At
THE SEVEXTEEXTH CENTURY.
39
tlie advanced age of fighty-livc, liu wrote a translution of the wliole
of Hon;er\s Iliail ami Oilyssry inU) I'liymcd Kii;^disli verso, xiAw^
the same (|uatraiu and tlie same mc;isure that JJrycU'ii employed
in liis 'Annus Mirnbilis.' Two lines are still remembered of this
translation: speaking of a ehild and his mother, he says —
" And like a star mion Ikt Ijosom Liy
His beautiful aud sbiuiuy golduu head."
y
are
born
iliilo-
Eiig-
IT.;
lieil.
i\L'd,
■viin-
rl of
lats-
the
e or
The
tvle
At
17. John Bun y an (1628-1688), one of the most popular of our
prose -writers, was born at Elst(jw, in Bedfordshire, in the year
J 628 — ^just three years bid'ore the birth of Drydeii. Jfe served,
when a young man, with the Parliamentary force. , and was i)resi'nt
at the siege of Leicester. At the Bestoration, In- was appridiendcil
for preaching, in disobedience to the (.'':nventicle Act, "was had
home to prison, and there lay comjdete twidve }'ears." Here In;
supported himself and his I'amily by making tagged lares and other
small-wares; and here, too, he vioie the immortal Pilgrim's Pi'o-
gress. After his release, he became pastor of the Bajtiist congre-
gation at Bedford. He had a great power of bringing persons who
had ([uarrelled together again; and he was so jiopular among those
who knew him, that he was generally spoken of as " Bishop Bunyan."'
On a journey, undertaken to reconcile an estranged father and a reljel-
lious son, he caught a severe cold, and died of fevec in J^ondon, in the
year 1698. Every one has read, or will read, the Pilgrim's Progr'^ss ;
and it mav be said, willujut exaggeration, that to him who has not
read the book, a large ^)art of English life and history is dumb and
unintelligible. Bunyan has been called the " Spenser of the jieople,"
and "the greatest master of allegory that ever lived." His power
of imagination is sonu)thing wonderful; and his simple, homely,
and vigorous style makes everything so real, that we seem to be
reading a luirrative of everyd;iy events and conversations. His
vocabulary is not, as Macaulay said, "the vocabidary of the common
people;" rather should we say that his English is the English of
the Bible and of the best religious writers. His style is, almost
e\'erywliere, simple, homely, earnest, and vernacular — without l)eing
vulgar. Bunyan's books have, along with Shakespeare and Tyndale's
works, been among the chief supports of an idiomatic, nervous, and
simple English.
18. John Locke (1632-1704;, a great English philosopher, was
born at Wrington, near Bristol, in the year 1632. He \s'.\a educated
%
40
HISTORY OF KN(;MsH LITKItATrUK.
at Oxlunl ; l»ut hv. took little interest in tlif ( licfk und Latin cla-ssicr
his cliiel' .studies lyin<^' in iiieslicinc! and the physical sciences. Ix„
became attached to the I'anious Lf>rd Shai'teshniy, under whom he
tilled SL'Veial ])ublic otiices-- anions,' others, that of Commissioner of
Tra(Ie. AVheu Shaftesliury was oliliged to tliM^ to IloUaml, Locke
f()llow?,<l him, and sj)ent several ye^irs in exile in that country. All
his li ■■, a vf'y .h'licate man, he yet, by dint of <freatcare and thought-
fulness, contrived to live to the age of seventy-two. His two most
famous works are Some Thoughts concerning Education, and
the celebrated Essay on the Human Understanding. The
latter, which is his great work, occupicil his time ami thoughts for
eighteen years. In both these books, Locke exhibits the very genius
of common-sense. The pnr]»ose of education is, in his opinion, not
to make learned men, but to maintain "a sound mind in a sound
body;" and \e begins the education of tin; future man even from
his cradle. In his philoso])hical M-ritings, he is always sim])le; but,
as he is loose an<l vacillating in his use ot terms, this simplicity is
often purchased at the expense of exactness and self-consistency.
i
il
CHAPTER VI.
THE FIR.ST HALF OF THK EIGHTEENTH CENTURY,
1. The Age of Prose. 'I'hc ci.^htofMitli contury Avas an auc
of prose in two senses. In the first })lace, it M'as a prosaic age ;
and, in tlie second place, better ])r()se- than poetry Avas ])ro-
duced l)y its writers. One reniarkiihh' fact may also he nutfd
abont the chief i)rose-Avriters of this century — and tiiat is, that
thev Aver(> most of them, not nieixdv able Avriters, not merely
distin'aiishetl literary men, but also men of all'airs — men well
versed in the world and in matters of tlie lii,n'h"'st practical
moment, whih; some were als(j statesmen holding high office.
Thus, in the first half of the centuiy, we find Addison, Swift,
and Defoe either holding ollicc; or ir.Miencing and guiding
those who held uHice ; while, in the Litter half, we haye men
like Burke, Ilnme, ami Clibbon, of whom th(> same, or nearly
the same, can be said. The poets, on tlui contrary, (»f this
eighteenth century, arc all of them — with tin; y(>ry slightest
exceptions — men who deyoted most of their liyes to poetry,
and had little or nothing to do with practical matters. It
may also be noted here that the character of the eighteenth
ccntnry becomes more and more prosaic as it goes on — less and
less nnder the influence of the si)irit of poetry, until, about the
close, a great reaction makes itself felt in the persons of Cowper,
Chatterton, and Burns, of Crabbo and Wordsworth.
2. The First Half. — The great prose-Avriters of the first half
of the eighteenth century are Addison and Steele, Swift and
42
lUSTOJiY OF ENGLISH MTEHATrnK.
Defoe. All uf thcsp incn lunl .soim' luoic or less close con-
noctioii with llu^ ii.su of joiiiiiulisiii in Kiiglaiul ; and one, of
them, I)t;f(je, was iiulccd the foumU'r of the luodoin iicwspaiicr.
r>y far the most iiowcrful intellect of these four was Swift.
The grratest poets of the first half of th(! eii;hteentli century
were Pope, Thomson, Collins, and Gray. ]*ope towers a})ovo
all of them by a liead and shoulders, because he was much
more fertile than any, and hecuuscj he worked so hard and so
untiringly at the labour t)f the fde — at tlio task of polishing and
imi)roving liis verses. JJut the vein of poetry in the thre(3
others — and more especially in Collins — was much more pui'o
and genuine than it was in Pope at any time of his life — at any
period of his Avriting. Let us look at each of these Avriters ;i
little more closely.
;3. JJanii:l Dkfok (1861-173r, one of the mo.-t I'ertilo writers
that England ever niw, ajid one who has Ik-cu the ilelight of
many generations of reailers, was boni in tlie city of bnndiMi in ilic,
year 1G61. He was educated to hi' a Dis^senting minister; but he
turned from that profession to tlu' i»ursuit of trade, lb' attcni]>1r<l
several trades, — was a hosier, a hatter, a printer ; and lie is said al>o
to have been a brick an<l tile niakfr. In Hil»2 lu failed in business;
but, in no long time after, he jiaid every one of liis creditois to the
uttermost farthing. Through all his labours and misfortunes he was
always a hard and careful reader, — an onniivorous reader, too, for
he was in the habit of reading almost every book that came in his
way. He made his lirst reputation by writing i)olitical pamphlets.
One of his pamjjldets brought him into high favour with King
AVilliam ; another luul the etl'ect of placing him in the pillory and
lodging him in prison. But while in Newgate, he did not idle away
his time or " languish " ; he set to work, wrote hard, and started a
newspaper. The Review, — the earliest genuine newspaper Eng-
land had seen up to his time. This i)aper he brought out two or
three times a-week ; and every word of it he wrote himself. He
continued to carry it on siui^de-handed for eight years. In 1706,
he was made a menil)er of the Commission for bringing about the
iiiiion between England and Scotland ; and his great knowledge of
commerce and commercial alfairs were of singular value to this Com-
mission. In 1715 he had a dangerous illness, brought on by ^ olitical
excitement ; ;',nd, on his recovery, he gave up most of his political
I
FTP!^T UAT.F OF EIGHTEENTH CENTURY.
4:\
writing, and tooic to the composition »»!' stories ami ionKin''t>s.
Altliou^'li now ii man of fifty-four, he wrote with the vi<^'oiir and
case of a yonni,' iiian of thiity. His ^avatest imai^inative work
was written in 171!) — when he was nearly sixty— The Life and
Strange Surprising Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, of
York, Mariner, . . . written by Himself. AN'ithin >ix yeais
lie had ]ii'(idii('ed twelve works of a similar kiiul. He is saiil tohavt;
written in all two hundred and lit'ty Looks in the course of his
lifetime. He ilied in IT^'l.
4. His hest known — and it is als(j his ^'reatost — work is Robinson
Crusoe ; ami this hook, which every one has reail, may lie comi)ai'ed
with '(JuUiver's 'J'ravels,' for the puri)ose of oliserviiij^' how inia.i,'-
inative effects are produced hy different means and in different ways.
Another vigorous work of ima;,'ination hy Defoe is the Journal of
the Plague, which a])]»eared in 17'2'2. There are thn-e chief tliin;.;s to
he noted rej^ardiiii; Defoe and his writing's. These are : first, that Defoi;
j)Ossessed an unparalleled kuowleil^^'e — a knowledge wider than even
Shakespeare's — of the circumstances and details of human life anionj^
all sorts, ranks, and conditions of men ; secondly, that he gains his
wonderful realistic effects t)y the free>t and most copious use of
this detailed knowleilge in his works of imaj^inatioii ; and thinlly.
that he possessed a vocabulary of the most wonderful wealth. His
style is strong, homely, and vigorous, but the sentences are long,
loose, clumsy, and sometimes nngramniatical. Like Sir Walter
Scott, he was too eager to produce large and broad effects to take
time to balance his clauses or to polish his sentences. Like Sir
AValter Scott, again, he possesses in tin; highest degree the art of
21(1 )•
ticuh
ansDu/.
iiie
lof
n-
lal
n
5. JoNATH.VN Swift (1667-1745;', the greatest prose -writer, in
his own kind, of the eighteenth century, and the opposite in most
respects — especially in style — of Addison, was born in Dublin
in the year 1667. Though born in Ireland, he was of purelv
English descent — his father belonging to a Y'orkshire family, and
his mother being a Leicestershire lady. His father died before he
was born ; and he was educated by the kindness of an uncle.
After being at a private school at Kilkenny, he was sent to Trinity
College, Dublin, where he was plucked for his degree at his first
examination, and, on a second trial, only obtained his Ji.A. "by
special favour." He next came U) England, and for ele\en years
acted as private secretary to Sir "William Temple, a retired states-
man and ambassador, who lived at ^foor Park, near Richmond-on-
1
44
HISTORY OF ENGLISH LITEUATUHE.
)
Thiiincs. Ill 101)2 1m; paid a visit to Oxford, .u d there oUuincd the
dt'<,'i'eu of M.A. In 1700 liu went to Ireland v/uh Lord Bcrkcdoy as
his chaiilain, and \vhil(; in tliat inuiitry was j>r':scut('d with several
livinijs. lie at tir>t attache(l hiiiiseU' to the Whijj; jiarty, hut stun^'
hy this jtarty's iie;^deet of his lal)(»urs and merits, lie joined the
Tories, who raiMMl hini to tiie Deanery of St Patrick's ('athe<lral in
Dublin. r>ut, though nominally resident in Dublin, he spent a largt;
])art of his timr; in London. Here lie knew and met evei'yhody
who was woi'th knowing, ami for some tiin(; he was the most im-
posing figure, and wiidded the greatest iiillu''nc(! in all the hest
social, ]>o1iti(al, and litiTary circles of tht; capital. In 1714, on the
death of (.^)ueen Anne, Swift's hopes of further advancement dieil
out; and he returneil to his Deaiieiy, settle<l in Dublin, and "coni-
mence(l Irishman for life." A man of strong jjassions, he usually
spent his birthday in I'l'ading that cha])t»'r of tin; Book of Job which
contains the verse, "Let the day perish in which I was horn." He
died insaiu! in I 74'), and left his fortune to found a lunatic asylum
in Dublin. One day, when taking a walk with a friend, he saw a
blastt'd elm, and, pointing to it, he said : "I shall be like that tree,
and die first at the toji." For the last three years of his life he never
spoke one word.
6. Swift has written vcix^ ; b\it it is his prose-works that give
him his high and unrivalleil place in English literature. His most
powerful work, published in 1704, is the Tale of a Tub- -a satire
ou the disputes betwi-en the Tioman Catholic, Anglican, and Pi'esl)y-
terian Chuivhes, His best known })rose-work is the Gulliver's
Travels, which appeared in 1720. This work is also a satire; but
it is a satire on men and women, — on humanity. "The power of
Swift's prose," it has been said by an able critic, "was the teiTor of
his own, and remains the wonder of after times.'"' His style is stnjng,
simple, straightforward ; he uses the ])lainest words and the homeliest
English, and every bh^w ttdls. Swift's style— as every genuine style
does — reflects the author's character. He was an ardent lover and a
good hater. Sir "Walter Scott describes him as "tall, strong, and
AvoU made, (hirk in complexion, but with bright blue eyes (Pope said
they were "as a/ure as the heavens"), l»lack and bushy eyebrows,
aquiline nose, and features which expressed the stern, haughty, and
dauntless turn of his mind.'' He grew savage under the slightest
contradiction ; and dukes and great lords were obliged to pay court
to him. His prose was as trenchant and powerful as were his man-
ners : it has been compared to "cold .steel." His own (.lefinitipn
of a good style is " proper words in proper places.'"'
1
FIRST HALF OF KK.HTKKNTII CKNTrUV.
45
of
St
le
a
ml
■St
irt.
11-
7. Joseph Addison (1672-1719), the most do;,'aiit |»r»).se-\viiii'r—
iw Popo wu.s tlio jiiost i)()lisheol YtTHt'-writtT — ••!' thr <'i;4liti'(iitli con-
turv, wiis l)i)in at Milstnn, in Wiltsliiic, in the year 1072. He was
('<lu('ate<l at ("hartcrhouse Schoiil, in Ldiithni, wlici't^ (tiieol'liis I'lit'iKls
and (■(inipaiiioiis was the cch-lirated ])irk Stotdc — afterwai'Is Sir
Kiihanl Stcch-. lie thru went tt) Oxluvd, wliefe lie made a name I'or
himself liy liis lifimt.'fid nmq nsitiniu in Latin ver>". In Id!)') he
addfe.-.-cd a ]>ofni ti) Kini; William ; and this jHM'::i luiae.dit liim intu
notiee with the (lovernment of the day. Not hm^' after, he reeeived
a ])ensi()n of £'M)i) a-year, to enalili- li'm to travcd ; and he s[n'nt .^onu'
time in Fraiire iunl Italy. 'I'lic cliief result of tliis lonr Mas a |io(iu
enlitli'd A Letter from Italy to Lord Halifax. In 17()l, \\li(ii
Lord (lodoljiliin was in seai'ch of a ]ioft who .should rch hratr in an
ade(|uate style tlu! strikin;^' vie tory of Hleidieim, Ailili.-ou was intro-
ilnced to him Ly Loid llalifai: His ]>oem called The Campaign
was tile result ; and one simile in it tonk ami lirM the attention
of all Kurdish readers, and of " tlu' town.'' A \iolfnt .-torm had
j)assed over Knj^laml ; ami Addis(.n ('oiii]iar"d tin- calm Lifiiius of
Marlliorou.i.;li, who was ;s cool and serene .iniid sin t and .-hell as in
a iIrawin;4-room or at the dinmr-lalile, to the /Vn^cl of the Storm.
The lines are these :—
"So wlu-ii an Aiigel by ilivine ooniii.ainl
Witli rising tt'Uipests .sliakes a f(uilty land,
Such as of late o'er iiale Britannia pas.sed,
Calm and serene he drives tlie I'nrioiis Llast :
And, pleased tlie Alniiirhty's orders to {lerioriii,
I{ides in the whirlwind, and directs tlie sturiu."
For this pooni Addison was rewarded with the post of Commissioner
uf Appeals. He rose, sueeessively, to be lender Secretary of State ;
Secretary for Ireland ; and, finally, Secretary of State ft)r England —
an office which would cori'espond to that of our prt;sent Home
Seoretarv. He marriexl the Countess uf AVarwick, to wIkjsc son he
liad been tutor ; but it was not a liappy marriage. Pope says of him
in regard to it, that —
" He married discord in a iioMc wife."
He died at Holland House, Kensington, London, in the yiiir 1710, at
the age of forty-seven.
8. But it is not at all as a poet, but as a prose-writer, that Addison
is famous in the liistorv of literature. While he was in Indand,
his friend Steele .started The Tatler, in 1709 ; and Addison sent
numerous contributions to tlds little paper. In 1711, Steele l)egan
a still more famous paper, which he called The Spectator ; and
46
IIISTOKY OF ENHMSH I-ITEIIATFRE.
A<l(lis(»ii'.-s wntin}^.s in tliis iiuiniiii;,' JDiiriiiil iiuuli' its reputation. His
cnntrilnitinns aw. (lislinj^'uisluililt' liy bcin)^' si;^'ntMl with some one (iftlie
li'ttcrs i.r tlu! iiiiiiK! Clio — liiu Must! of History. A tliinl pinn-r, The
Guardian, ii]ii)('iin'<l a I'l-w years ui'ler ; and Addison's fontriliutinns
tu it arc desij^'nated l)y a liantl (t^r) at llie I'imiI, orciiili. In addition
to his numerous ]irose-\vritin}^'s, Addison hrouj^lit out, tlie lra|,'e(ly of
Cato in ITKi. It was very Huccessi'ul ; hut it is now neitlier read
nor actt'(|. Some of liis liymns, liowever, ait^ heautiful, and aii; well
known. Such art; the hymn hcginnin^', "The sjuuious lirmament
on lii^'h ;" and Ins version of the 23d Psalm, "Tlu; I/jrd my pasture
shall
prei
)are
!). Addison's ])rosi' .style is ininiitahlc, easy, ^'raceful, full of humour
full of ''ood humoui', delicate, with a sweet and kindlv rhvthm,
— lull oi ,
and always musi<'al to the ear. lie is the. most <^'raccful of social
satirists; and his i^'cnial creation of the character of Sir Roger de
Coverley will live lor e\cr. AVhile his work in verse is never
more than second-rate, his wiitin;4s in ])ros(! are always first-rate.
Dr Johnson sai<l of his ])rose ; " Whoever wishes to attain an Eiii^lish
style— familiar hut not coarse, and elegant hut not ostentatious,
— must j^n've his days and nii^hts to the study of Addison." Lord
Lytton also remarks: "His style has that nanudess urhanity in
which we recoj^nise the ])erl'ectioii of ii. aimer ; courteous, hut not
courtiiT-like ; so di;j;niiii'd, yet so kindly; so easy, yet hi)^di-l)red.
It is the most ])i'rfect form of En.Ljlish.'' His style, however, must
be acknowli'ilj^ed to M'aut force — tu 1)e easy rather than vi^^orous ;
and it has not the s])lendid march of Jeremy Taylor, or the noble
power of Savage Landor.
10. Richard Stekt.e (1671-1729), commonly called " Dick Steele,"
the friend and colleai;ue of Addison, was born in Dublin, hut of
English ])arents, in the year 1(571. The two friends were educated
at Charterhouse aiul at Oxford together; and they remained friends,
-^ with some slight breaks and l)reezes, to the close of life. Steele
was a writer of jdays, essays, and pam])hlets — for one of which lie
was expidled from the Housi! of Commons; but his chief fame was
earned in connection with the Society Journals, which he founded.
He started many— such as Town-Talk, The Tea-Table, Chit-
chat; but only the Tatler and the Spectator rose to success and
to fame. The stnmgest (juality in his writing>i is his pathos : the
source of tears is always at his command ; and, although himstdf
of a gay and even rollicking temperament, he .^eems to have pre-
ferred this Vein. The literary skill of Addison — his }ia])]iv art in
V
riKsT HALF OF EinilTFENTM ( FNTinV
4:
tlm clioosili;^' of Wdl'tls — dill imt full t«> lllf Int ol" Strt'li* ; Imt lie
i.-t iiifti't' litiirty ami iiiorc Imiiiaii in his (l<s('rij)tinn uf cliiirai tci'. lie
ilii'il ill \~-2U, U'li VLMis al'lt-r lliu (U'liartuiv of his liii-nil A«lili-(iii.
ated
If lids,
Steele
li lie
e -was
nded.
Chit-
s and
the
liiself
pre-
ii't in
x
11. Al.KXANnini PoPK (1688-1744), tlio j^ivati'st poet nf the
ci'^litft'iifh rciiturv, was hoin in Lnmharil Street, Litnddii, in iIh;
year of the UevuhitiDn, KJHh. His father was a wlmle-ale liiandraper,
who, liavin^' aniasserl a fortnne, retireil tn liintield, nn the hinders ot
Windsor I'ort'st. In the heart of this heantifnl country youiiu' Pope's
yoiith was spent. On the death <'f his father, Pope left Windsor
an<l took np his residence at 'rwickeiihani, on the hanks of the
Thanies, where he remained till his death in 1741. His ])arents
lieiii;^' Koinaii ( 'athiilics, it was iinpos>il(lt' f<ir yoini",' Pope to j^o either
to a pulilic school 111' to diu' of the universities; and hence he was
educated privately. At the early a-e of ei;j;ht, he met with a tians-
latioii (»f lloiner in ^■el^e ; and this volume hecame his conijtaninii
ni;Jit and day. At the au'e of ten, he turned sunie of the events
deserihed in Homer into a play. The poems of Spenser, the jtoets'
]»oet, were his next, favourites ; hnt the writer who made the deejiest
and most lastiiej; impression n[>oii his mind was Drydeii. J.ittle
Pope licL'an to write vers*' > 'TV earlv. He savs of himself —
'• As yet a cliild, nor yet a innl to lanic,
I lispi'il in iiiiiMlicrs, for tin- immliers caiiic,"
iris Ode to Solitude was written ;it the a;j,e of twelve; his Pas-
torals when he was lifteeii. His Essay on Criticism, whii h was
comiioseil in his twentieth year, thouj^h imt jmlilished till ITll,
establislied his reputation asa\\iiter of neat, clear, sparkling;', and
elejfant versi-. The Rape of the Lock raised his n-putation still
hij^dier. Macaulay pronounced it his hest ])oem. l)e (^iiincey
decliired it t<» he "the most ex([uisite monument of playful tancy
that v.niversal literature offers." Another critii' has called it the
"■'])erf 'ction of the mock-heroic." Pope's most successful poem— if
we nua>nre it hy the fame and the money it liron,L,dit him — was his
translation of the Iliad of Homer. A ,ureat scholar said of this
translation that it was "a very ])retty jxieiii, hut not Homer.'' 'J'ho
fact is that Pope did not translate directly from the (Jreek, hut from
a French or a Latin version which he kept heside him. Whatever
its faults, and however _L,'reat its deficiency as a representation of the
])owerful and deep simplicity of the orij^inal Greek, no one can deny
the charm and finish of its versilication, or the rajiidity, facility, and
melody of the ilow of the verse. These ([ualities make tliis work
unique in EnL,disli jioetry.
n
v^
48
niSTOllV OF EXGLTSTI LITERATCKE.
12. Alter fini.sliing tlie Iliad, Pope undertook a translation ol' the
Odyssey of Homer. 'J'liis was not so succes.sful ; nor was it so avcII
done. In la^'t, l^)i)e tianslated only halt' of it hiniselt' ; tlie otlu-,:'
half was -written by two scholars called Drooiiie and I'Vnton. His
next great ptn in w;is the Dunciad, — a satire npni! those jutty writers,
carping crifics, and liiic<l deiamers who had tried to write down the
reputation of Pdjx-'s llnineric work. "The composition of the
* Dunciad' revealcil to Pope where his true strength lay, in hlendiug
personalities with moral rellcctions."
13. Pojic's greatest works v-ere written between 1730 and 1740;
and they consist of the Moral Essays, the Essay on Man, and the
Epistles and Satires. These poems are lull of the linest thoughts,
expressed in tiie most perfect form. ]\Ir Puskin <piotes the
couplet —
" Never cLittMi, wliilc one man's oppresseil ;
Never .leji'eted, wliilst iuintlicr's blessed," —
as ''the most comph'te, concise, and lofty expression <if moral temper
existing in English wca'ds." Tlie poem of Pope which shows his best
and most striking (pialities in their most characteristic I'orm, is
probaldy the Epistle to Dr Arbuthnot or Prologue to the
Satires. In this poem occur the eeU^brated lines about Addison —
which make a jierfect portrait, ;'".thougli it is far from being a true
likeness.
His ])ithy lines and couplets ha.'e oljtained a permanent place in
literature. Thus wi- liave : —
" Tnu' wit is nature to advantage dressed,
Wliat oi't was thought, but ne'er so well expressed."
" (ioo(bnature ai.d gcod-seiise must ever join.
To err is human, to forgive divine."
" All seems infeeted th.it the infected spy,
As all looks yellow to the janndic'd eye."
" Fear not the anger of the wise to raise ;
Those best can bear reproof who merit praise."
The greatest conciseness is visilde in his epigrams and in his com-
jjliments : —
" A vile encomium douhly ridicules:
Tliere's iiotliing blackens like the ink of fools."
\i
" And not a vanity is given in vain."
" Would ye be blest? ilesi)ise low joys, low gains,
Disdain whatever Pornbury disdains,
l{i' virtuous, and he liappy for your ]iains,"
FIUST HALF OF ETOTlTEENTH CKXTrRV,
49
14. ]'(»|io is tlif ion-iiiost liti'farv ti;4Uit' of liis ;iL;e ami conturv ;
aiiil hi' is also the licad ofa school. Hi' hroiiLrlit to porl'i'ction uptyhi
of wriliiiir vt-i'sc Avliidi was followi'd hv huiuhvd.s of clever writers.
Cowper says of him : —
" Hut Pope— his iniisicul linessL- was sncli,
So iiii'c Ills car, so delicate Ills toucli, —
INIade jioctry a iiierc iiiccliaiiio art,
Ami cvfry warbler lias liis tunc liy heart."
l'u[io was not tlic ])Oet of iiatui'c or of humanity; he was the poet of
"the t(jwn," and of the Court, lie was sireatlv inllnenced hv the
neatness and polish of Freiieli verse ; and, from his boyliood, liis
l^reat amlution was to he '"a eorrcct ]ioi't.'' lie worked and workcil,
polishe(l and ])olislu'd, until each idea had recfi\td at his liands
its vi'iy neatest and most rpinrammatic expri'ssion. In thi' ai't of
eondenscd, eom]»aet, jtointed, and yrt harmonious and Ihtwinj^ vci'Sf,
Po])e has no e(iual. Hut, as a vrldcle foi- poetry — for the love aufl
symi>athy with nature and man which eA'ery true i)oet must fctd.
l*o])c"s verse is artitii'ial ; and its style of e.\])res.sion has now died
out. It was oiu' of the chief missions of "Wordsworth to drivi- tin-
I'opian scconildiand vix'ahulary out of existence.
aia; in
coin-
«
15. Jamks Thomson (1700-1748), the poet of The Seasons, was
horn at Kilnani in lioxliur;.^dishire, Scotland, in the year ITCO. He
was educati'd at the <,n'amniar-school of Jetlliurnh, and then at the
University of Eilinhur,L;li. It was intended that he should enter the
ministry of the ("liurOi of Scotland; hut, het'oi'e Ids collcu^' course
was finislie(l, lu' liad jjivi-n up this idea: ])octi'y ]ir<tve(l for liim too
stron;4 a ma;4net. While yet a youui;' man, he had wiitten his poem
of Winter ; and, with that in his pocket, he resolved to try his
fortune in London. AVhile A\alkiiiL;' ahout the streets, lookin,if at the
shops, and ua/inif at the new wonders of the A'ast metropolis, his
jtocket was picked of his pocket-handkerchief and his letters of
introduction; and he found himself alone in Loudon — thrown
entirely on his own resources. A })ulilisher M'as, however, in time
found for "Winter ; and the jioem slowly rose into aj>]>reciation and
popnlaiity. This was in I72fi. Next year, Summer; two years
after. Spring apjieared ; while Autumn, in 1730, completed tlie
Seasons. The Castlo of Indolence— a poem in the Spen.serian
stanza — appeare<l in 174S. In tlie same year he was aii])ointed
Surveyor-(!eneral of the Leewanl Islands, thou<fh he never visited
the scene of his duty, hut had hi.s work ilune by deputy. He died
at Kew in the vear 1748.
50
HISTORY OF ENGLISH LITERATURE.
IG. Thomson's place as a jxirt is lii^'li in the secoiul rank. TTis
Seasons liave always been iiopular ; and, wlu-u CoU'ridge found a
wc'll-llinmbed and tliickly do^'Vcarcd (•()])y lyinj,' on the window-sill
of a country inn, he exclaimed "This is true fame. !" His Castle
of Indolence is, liowever, a finer \m-r,e of puetical Avork than any
of liis other writiie^s. Tin; fiist canto is the hest. But the Seasons
liave heen much more widely read ; and a modern critic says : " Xo
poet has fi;iven the special pleasure which poetry is capalde of givini;
to so lai'^'c a numher r)f persons in so large a nu-asure as Thomson."
Thomson is very unotpial in liis style. Sometimes he rises to a great
height of ins])ired expression ; at other times he sinks to a dull dead
level of pedestrian prose. His power of describing scenery is often
veiy remarkable. Professor C'raik says: "There is no otluT poet
who sui'rounds us with so much of the truth of nature ; " and he
calls the Castle of Indolence '■ one of the gems of the langua'^e."
17. Thomas Gray (1716-1771;, the greatest elegiac ])net of the
century, was boi'ii in London in 171(1. His father was a " money-
scrive -r," as it was called ; in other words, he was a stock-
broker. His mother's lu'other was an assistant - master at Eton;
and at Etmi, under the care of this uncle, (Jray Avas brought
U]), One of his schoolfellows was llie famous Horace AVal-
pole. After leaving school, Gray i>roceeded t(' Cambridge ; but,
instead of reading luatliematics, he studied classical literature,
history, and modern languages, and never took his degree. After
some years sjx'ut at Cambridge, lie I'ntered himself of the Inner
Temple ; l)ut he nevc^r gave nnudi time to the siudy of law. His
father diecl in 1741; and (Jray, soon after, gave np the law and
went to live eutindy at Cambridge. The first publisheil of his
])oems ■was tlie Ode on a Distant Prospect of Eton College.
The Elegy written in a Country Churchyard was hamli-d aliout
in manuscript befoi'(r its ]iublicatif)n in 175(1; and it made his
reputation at once. In 17.").") tlu' Progress of Poesy was pul)lisheil :
and the odt; entitled The Bard was begun. In 1768 he was a]i-
l>ointed Professor of ^lodern History at Cambridge ; but, tluiugh he
studied hard, he never lecture<l. He died at Caml)ridge, at the age
of tiftv-four, in the vear 1771. Crav was never married. He was
said by those wdio knew him to be t!ie most learncil man of his time
in Europe. Literature, history, and several sciences — all were thor-
oughly known to him. He had read everything in the world that
was best worth reading ; while his knowledge of botany, zoology,
and entomology was botli wide and exact.
FIRST FIALF OF EIGHTEENTH rENTUF^'.
61
18. Gray's Elegy took liiiii seven years to write ; it contains thirty-
two stanzas; and Mr Pal;^'rave says "they are perhaps tlie noblest
stanzas in the lan;,'ua^'e." General AVolt'e, wlien sailin;^' down to
attack (^iiebee, recitrd the ElcLjy to Ins ofHcers, and dechired, "Now,
j^'entli'iiu-n, I woidd rathiT l»e tlu; autlior of tliat poem tluin take
Cjuehrc." Lord Byron called tlie Kh';4y "the ccnier-stniu' (if Gray's
poetrv.'' (!rav ranks witli ]\Iiltou as the most tinislied workman in
En^disli verse ; and certainly lu; spaifd no ])ains. (!ray said himself
tliat "the style lie aimed at was extreme conciseness of ex]iression,
yet pure, perspicuous, and musical ; " and this style, at wliich lie
aiiiuid, lie succeeded fully in achiuviiij^'. One of the finest stanzas
in the whole Elegy is the last, which the writer omitted in all the
later editions : — ■
" Tlierc scattered oft, the earliest of tlic year,
By liaiuls unseen, are showers of violets fouiul :
The red-lir-'Pst loves to huild and warhle there,
And little footsteps lightly jirint the ground."
l.ul,
rat lire,
After
Inner
His
w and
of his
allege.
ahuut
c his
ished ;
IS a]i-
i:h he
he age
li' was
i time
Ihor-
1 that
ulogy,
ll». AViLi.iAM Collins (1721-1759), one of the truest lyrical ])f)ets
of the century, was born at Chichester on Christniafi-<Iay, 1721.
lie was educated at Winchester School ; al'tcrwards at Queen's^
an<l also at Magdalen Colle-re, Oxford. Ijefoi'c he left scIhidI In-
had written a set of poems called Persian Eclogues. lie left
the university with a reputation for ability an<l Ibr indolence ;
Went to London "with many projects in his head and little money
ill his pocket;" and there found a kind and fast friend in Dr
.lohns<in. His Odes appeared in 1747. The Aoluiiie iell still-
born fi'ijiu the press: not a single cojiV was sold; no one bought,
read, or noticed it. In a lit of furious despair, the uiihapi>y author
called in the whole edition and burnt every cojiy with his own
hands. And yet it was, with the single exception of tin; songs of
Burns, the truest }Mn-try that had a]i]ieare(l in the whole of the
eighteenth century. A great critic ,siys: "In th^ litije book thei'e
was hardly a single fal.-e rote : there was, above all things, a juirity
<d' music, a clarity of styh', to whieh I know of no parallel in
English verse from the death of Andrew Marvell to the birth of
William Blake." Soon after this great disapjxiintment he went to
livt at Richmond, where he formed a friendship with Thoni.son
and other poets. In 174!) he wrote the Ode on the Death of
Thomson, beginning —
"in yonder grave a Druid lies" —
one of the finest of his poems. Not long after, he was attacked by a
no
1H8T0I;V OF ENTiLISir LIT EI!ATT'RE.
disease of the l)i'aiii, IVoiii wliicli lu; .sudV-rt-il, iit interval.-, iliuiii;,' tlio
romaiiidcr (jt'liis sliort life. He dird at Chidiester in 17">1>, at the
age of tliirty-eight.
20. Culliiis'.s best jtociii is the Od*^ to Evening; Ids most elab-
fji'atc, l1i(! Ode on the Passions; ami his best known, the Ode
beginning-
'• How sift!]! the l)r;ive, who sink to re.>t
Hv all tluir oouiitrv's wishes lilusscil!"
ilis latest and best eritic says of ids jioems : "His range of
flight was perhaps the nai'rowest, Imt assuredly the higliest, td'
his generation. Iht could not be tauglit singing like a fm"'^', but
ho struek straight upward for the sun like a lark. . . . The oireot
sincerity and jiurity of tludr positive ami straightforward inspiration
will always kfe]t his poems fresh and sweet in the senses of all men.
lie was a solitary song-bird among many more or less excellent
pipers and ])iaiu>ts. He txndd })ut more spirit of colour into a single
stroke, more breatli of music into a single note, than could all thd
rest of hiss generation inlo all the labours of their lives."
63
CHAPTER VII.
THE SECOND HAJ.F OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY.
1. Prose - ""■'iters. — Tlio four greatest prose--\vriters of iho
lutter lialf of the eighteenth century arc Johnson, Goldsmith,
Burke, and Gibbon. Dr Jolnison uas thn most prouiiniMit
literary iigure in London at this period ; and lillfd in his own
time much the same position that Carlyle lately held in literary
circles. Ho wrote on many subjects — -hut chie'.iy >m literature
and morals; and hence he was called "The (!rt;it 'M(jralist."
Cfoldsmith stands out dearly as the writer of the most pleasant
and easy prose; his pen Avas ready for any suhject ; and it has
been said of him with perf(>et truth, that he touched nothing
that he did not adorn. Burke was the most (doiiuent writer
of his time, and hy far the greatest political thinker that
England has ever produced. He, is known hy an essay ho
wrote when a very young man — on '' Tiie Sublime and beauti-
ful"; but it is to his speeches and political writings t-.. it we
nmst look for his noblest thoughts and most elo([uent language.
Gibbon is one of the greatest historians and most powerful
writers the world has ever seen.
2. Samuel Johnson (1709-1784), the great essayist and lexico-
grapher, was b(n'n at Liclilield in the year 1709. His father was a
bookseller ; and it was in his father's shop tliat Johnson acipiircd
liis habit of omnivorous reading, or rather devouring of books. Tlic
mistress of the dame's school, to wliich he tirst went, dticlared him
64
III.STOKV OF EN(;FJSIf MTKItATriJE.
to ha tlie best scholar she over li.'ul. Ai'U-v a l\:\v years at the frre
j^'raniniar-school of Lichtiekl, aiul one year al Slourbriilj,'o, lie went
to Pembruke College, Oxford, at the aue of nineteen. Here he did
-n^y
not eonfine himself to the stmlies of the jilaee, but indulge<l in a
wide range of miscellaneous reading. He was too ]ioor to lake a
degree, aud aecijrdinglv left Oxford without uraduatiu'.
Aftei
acting for some time as a IxjokseJler's ha<k, h(! married a Mrs Porter
of Birmingham — a widow with £'800. AVith this money he opened a
boarding-scho(d, or " academy " as he called it ; but he had never more
tiian three schfdars — the most fam(nis of whom was the celebrateil
jdayer, David Garric-k. In 1737 he went up to London, and for
the next (juarter of a century struggleil for a living by the aid of
his pen. During the lirst ten years of his London life he wrote
chielly for the * (Jentleman'h Magazine.' In 1738 his London —
a poem in heroic metre — appeared. In 1747 lie began his famous
Dictionary; it was comi)leted in 17')o ; and the L^niversity of
Oxford conferred on him the honorary degree of M.A. In 1749 he
wrote another poem — also in heroic metre — the 'Vanity of Human
Wishes.' In 1750 he had begun the periodical that raised his fame
to its full height — a periodical to which he gave the name of The
Rambler. It ap])eared twice a-wi'ek ; and Dr Johnson wi'ole
every article in it for two years. In 17")!) he ]iublished the short
novel called Rasselas : it was written to defray the expenses of lii.s
mother's funeral; and he wrote it "in the eveiii.igs of a week."
The year 1762 saw him with a pension from the Government of
£300 a-year ; antl henceforth he was free from heavy hack-work and
literary drudgery, and could give himself up to the largest enjoy-
ment of that for winch he cared nujst — social conversation. He was
the best talker of his time; and he knew everybody wtn'th knowing
— Burke, Goldsmith, ( Jibbon, the great ])ainter Sir Joshua Jieynolds,
and many other able men. In 1704 he founded the " Literary Club,"
which still exists and meets in London. Oddly enough, although a
]>rolitic writer, it is to another pers(m — to Mr James Boswell, who
lirst met him in 1763 — that he owes his greatest and most lasting
fame. A much larger number of pei'sons read Boswell's Life of
Johnson — one of the most entertaining l)ooks ni all literature —
than Johnson's own works. Betwet'U the years 177!) and 1781
appeared his last and ablest wt)rk, The Lives of the Poets, which
were written as prefaces to a collective editi(tn oH tlu; English Poets,
published by several London booksellers. He died in 1784.
3. Johnson's earlier style was full of Latin words ; his later style
is more purely English than most of the journalistic writing of the
present day. Ilis Rambler is full of " long-tailed words in osity and
1
SECOND HALF OF EIGHTEENTfr CENTURY,
55
ation;" but his ' Lives of tiie Poets ' is written in manly, vij^orous, and
idiomatic EiiLjlisli. In verse, lie oecupies a j)l; ce between Pope antl
(jolilsmitli, and is one of the masters in the 'didactic school" ot
En;^dish poetry. His rhythm and periods are swellinj^' and sonorou> ;
and liere and there he equals Po])e in the terseness and condensation
01 his language. The following is a fair specimen : —
" Of all the griefs tluit harass tlit> distressed,
Sure the most bitter is a scoriiful jest ;
Fate never wounds more deep the p'lierous litMit,
Thau wlicii a lilockliead's insult points tin- dart."
749 he
Tumau
is fame
jf The
I wrote
short
if his
eek."
nt -d"
■: and
iijoy-
e was
iwing
olds,
'lub,"
igh a
, who
isting
ife of
ure —
17«1
vhich
Poets,
style
4. Olivkk Goldsmith (1728-1774), ixiri, (>>sayi.-t, hi.-torian, and
dramatist, was born at Pallas, in the county of Longford, Ireland, in
-J
His father was an Irish clergyman, ( arele
''OOlt-
X tl
le
anc
the year 1 72S.
hearted, and the original of the famous l)r Primrose, in The Vicar
ofWakefield. lie was also the original of the '* village preacher "'"
in The Deserted Village.
" A mau he was to all the country ilear.
And passing rich with forty pounds a-year. "
Oliver was educated at Trinity College, Dublin ; but he left it
with no fixed aim. He thought of law, and set off for London, but
spent all his money in Dublin. He thought of nu'dieine, and resided
two years in Edinburgh. He started for Leyden, in Ibdland, to
continue what he c;illed his medical studies ; but he had a thirst to
see the world — and so, with a guinea in his poeket, one .-hiit, and a
ilute, he set out on his travel< through the continent of Euro])e. At
length, on the 1st of Februaiy 1750, he landeil at Dover, after an
absenri; of two years, without a farthing in his ])ocket. London
reached, 1k' tried many ways of making a li\ing, as assistant to an
a})othecai'v, physie'an, reader for the ])ress, tisher in a school, writer
in journals. His first work was 'An lni|uiry into the State of
Polite Learning in Eurojie,' in 17o!> ; but it appeared without his
name. From that date he wrote books of all kinds, p(jems, and
])lays. He died in his cluunbers in Brick Court, Ti'iiiple, London, in
1774.
5. Coldsmith's best jioems are The Traveller and The Deserted
Village, — botii written in the Popian couplet. His l)est play is
She Stoops to Conquer. His l)est prose work is The Vicar of
Wakefield, "the first genuine no^el of domestic life." He also
wrote histories of England, of Rome, of Animated Nature. All
this was done as professional, nay, almost as hack work ; but
56
IIlSTUiiV OK Kxr;r,i.>^iT MTEUAirnF.
always in u very pleasant, lively, and roa<laljk! style. Ease, i^tucc,
rhaiiu, iiiiluralm'ss, pleasant rhytlmi, jjiirity of dietion — these were
the chief characteristics of his writing's. " Almost to all thing's could
lie turn his liaiul " - -jxx'in, essay, play, story, history, natural science.
Even wlifii satirical, ]u'. was j^ood-natured ; and his Retaliation is
the I'rit'Uillicst and jilcasantest of satires. In his ])oi'try, his words
seem artless, hut are indeed delicately chosen with that consummate
art which conceals and effaces itself: where he seems most simple
and easy, there he has taken most pains and given most labour.
(i. Edmund BukkI'] (1730-1797) was born at Dublin in the year
1730. lie was educated at Trinity Ccdle^'e, Dublin; and in 1747
was filtered of tbc Middle; Tenqtle, with tlie purpose of readin<^'
for till' liar. Ill I7(i() he was so fortunate as to enter Parliament
as member for Weiidover, in Pjuckin^hamshire ; and he sat in
the House, of Commons for nearly thirty years. Whih' in Tai-
lianieiit, he worked hard to obtain justice for tlie (•()lniii>ts of
North America, and to avert the separation of them fiom the
mother c(»uiiti'v; and also to secure j^'ood i^ovurnnient for India.
At the close of his life, it was his intention to take his seat in the
House of Peers as Earl lieaconsiield — the title afterw;u'ds assumed by
Mr Disraeli; but the death (tf his son, and only child — for whom
the honour was really meant and wished — quite broke his heart,
and he iH;ver carried out his ])urpose. He died at Beaconstield in
the year 1707. The lines of Ooldsmitli on Burke, in his poem of
" Retaliation," are well known : —
" Here lies our .u'ond Ednnuiil, whose ,i,'onins was sucli
We scarcoly can iiraisc, it or lilaiiie it too iiuicli ;
Who, lioru for llic universe, narrowed his iiiiiul,
AikI to iiarty j-'ave up wliat was meant tor mankind ;
Who, too (h'ep for his hearers, still went on relinin,Lr,
And t]iou<,dit of eonvincing wliile they thought of diniui.'. "
7. Burke's most famous writiin^s are Thoughts on the Cause of
the present Discontents, publislied in 1773; Reflections on the
French Revolution (1790) ; and tlie Letters on a Regicide
Peace (171)7). His '"ThouLjhts" is perliai)s the best of his works in
point of style ; his " Bellections," are I'ull of passa;^'es of the hij^hcst
and most noble eloiiueiice. Burke has lu'cii described bv a ureat critic
as "the sui)reme writer of the century;" and ^lacaulay says, that
''in richness of imagination, he is superior to every orator ancient
and modern." In the power of expressing thought in the strongest,
fullest, and most vivid manner, he must be classed with Shakespeare
SECOND HALF OF KIGMTHKNTII rENTrUV.
57
and Biioon — ami with ihcx' writers wIumi at tlu-ir l)f.st. llo iiululgcri
ill repetitions ; l)ut the repetitions ww. nevernionotonous ; tliey serve
to place the snhjeet in every i)t).-sil)le puint ol' view, ami to enaUe us
to see all sides ut' it. He possessed an enormous voeahulary, an<l had
tlio lullest ])()Wev uVt-r it ; "never was a man under whu-c; hands
languaj^e was more plastie and ductile." Hi; is very fond nt' nict-
a[)hor, and is descrihed hy an able critic as "the greatest nia>ter of
nu;tapliiir that tlie world has ever seen."'
/
ISC of
n the
jicide
irks in
.^diest
critic
that
ucient
ingest,
=;peare
H, Kdwakd (iinnoN (1737-1794;, the second great prose-wriier
of the seconil halt' ot" the eighteenth ceiituiy, was liorn at Putney,
London, in 1737. His father mms a wealthy Luulnwiier. \'(iung
GiljlMiii wa-j a very sickly child — the only suivi\(ir ol' a delicate
family of seven ; he was left to pass his time as he plcaseil, and
fur the most part to educate himself. But Ik; had the run of
several good libraries ; ami lu; was an eager and never satiated reader.
He was sent to Oxford at the early age of [il'teen ; and so full was his
knowledge in some ilirections, and so defective in ntliers, that ho
went there, he tells lis himself, "with a stock of knowledj^c; that
might have puzzled a doctin", and a degree of ignoranci; of which a
schooUxiy wouM have been ashamed."' He was very fond of dis-
putation while at Oxford; and tlu; Dons of the Uiuversity wi-re
astonished to sue the; })athetic " thin little ligure, with a large head,
disputing and arguing with the gu'atest ability." In the coinse
of his reailing, he lighted on some French and English books that
convinced him for the time of the truth of the Ibuiian Catholic
faith; he openly professed his change of belief; ami this obliged
him to leave the l'niversit\'. His father scut him to I.ausatijie,
anil ])laced him under the care of a Swiss clergyman there, whox^
arguments were at length successful in bringing him back to a
belief in Protestantism. On liis return to England in 1708, he
lived in his father's house in Hampshire; read largely, as usual,*
but also joined the Hampshire nulitia as captain of a company, anil
the exercises and manccu^•res of his regiment gave him an insi^'ht
into military matters whicli was afterwards usid'ul to him when
he came to write history. Ho published his first work in 17(11, It
was an essay on the study of literature, and was written in French.
In 1770 Ins father died; he came into a fortune, entered ravliament,
where he sat for eight years, but never spoke ; and, in 1770, he
bcgnn his liistory of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Em-
pire. This, liy far the greatest of his works, was not completed till
1787, and was published in 1788, on his fifty-first birthday. His
ri8>
HTSTORY OF ENOUSIt LITKHATriJE.
aucoiinl <>!' llie c()iiij)li!li(iii nt' the work — it was iinislud at Luucaimo,
wlieic III- had lived lur six yc.ii's — Is lull of licaiily: ''It was on the
(lay, nr rather iii.^ht, of .luiie 27, 1787, helwceu the hmus of eleven
and twelve, tliat I wrote the la>t lines of the last j'.e ■ in a sutunier-
huuse in my garden. Alter laying down my pel. . took several
tunic) in a covi'IimI walk of acacias, which command:-, a imispect of
the countiy, the lake, and the mnuntains. Tlu' air was temiierate,
the sky was serene. TIh; silver orti >>i' the nuK.n was rellected from
the waters, and all nature was silent. I wHI nut descrihe the lirst
emotion (if jny on the recovery of my freedom, ami ]ieiha])ri tin;
establishment of my fame. ]hit my pri<le was xxm hundiled, and
a sober mt;lancholv was siuead over mv mind bv the idea that 1 had
taken an everlasting leave of an old and agreeable companion, and
that, whatever might be; the I'liturt! fate of my history, the. life of
the historian must be short and precarious." (libbon died in I7!)-l,
about one year before the birth of another great historian, (Jrote, the
author of the ' History of (Ireece.'
1). (Jibbon's book is one of the great historical works of the world.
It covers a space (»f about thirteen centuries, from the reign of
Trajan (!)S), to tin; fall of tint Eastern Knijiire in Uaii ; and the
amount of reading and study reijuired to write it, must have been
almost beyond the ]>ower (»f oui- conceiving. The skill in arranging
and disposing the enormous mass of matter in his history is also
unparalleled. His style is said by a critic to be " co})ious, s])lendid,
eh'gantly rounded, distinguished by sujjrenie artiticial skill."' It is
remarkable for the proportion of Latin words employed. A\'hile
some ]»ii,|^s of our transkition of the Bible contain as nnich as IMl
per cent of ])ure English W(jrds, Gibbon has only oH jier cent : the
rest, or 42 per cent, are words of Latin origin. In fact, of all (hu'
great English writers, (Jibbon stands lowest in hi> use ot ]»ure English
words ; and the two writers who cttine nearest him in this respect
are Jolnison and Swift. The great (Jreek scholar. Professor Porson,
said of (Jibbon's style, that "there couhl not lie a better exercise for
a schoolboy than to turn a page of it into English."
10. Poets. — The chief poets of tlie hitter half of the eighteenth
century belong to a new world, and show very little trace in
their writings of eighteenth-century culture, ideas, or prejudices.
]\Iost of the best poets who Avere born in this half of the eight-
eenth century and began to write in it — such as Crabbe and
AVordsworth — are true denizens, in the character of their minds
and feelings, of the nineteenth. The greatest poets of the
I
SErOND HALF OF KI'JTTTKFNTH rT.NTI'TtV.
no
is also
<Mi(li<l,
It i.s
AVhile
as U(\
: the
111! oiu'
ii,L;lisli
It'spect
fll'SOll,
for
CL'lltll
to ill
lices.
light-
and
liiids
tlie
I
iM-rinil lilt' Cowpor, Ci-abbo, ami Burns; mnl aloHL,' \vitli tlicsc
Miuy be iiicntiniKMl IIS litllc iiiforinr, Chatterton and Blake,
two of the must ori^^'lnal jiui'ts tliat liiwe appeared in any
literature.
11. WiLMAM rowPEU (1731-1800\ Olio of the Irurst, pnrot, ami
sweetest of Kn;^'lisli jiocts, wa< liorn at (hvat I't'ikhaiiipstcinl, in
ilertfonlsliirt', in 1731. His latlM-r, l)r ^'owpcr, who was a nt-plnnv
of Lord Chancellor CVtwpcr, was ri'ctor of tlie ])arish, and rhaplain
to Gt'or^e If. Youiij^ Cowper was cdncatiMl at Wcstniinstcr School ;
and "the ^rcat ])roriiiisul of India," "Wancn llasli!i;^'s, was one
of liis schoolfellows. After leaving' "Westminster, hc^ \\as entered
of the Middle Temple, and was also articled to a solicitor. At the
a;4e of thirty-one he was apJ)ointeil one of the ( 'leiks to the House ot'
l.ipi'ds ; luit he was so terrihly nervoiisand timid, lliat he threw np the
a])pointment. He was next appointeil fleik of the Journals — a post
which even the shyest man nii^dit hold ; hut, when he found that lie
wonM havi' to ap]>ear at the har of the House of Lords, lie went home
and attempte(l to commit suici<le. When at sclntol, he had heen ter-
rihly and ])ersistt'ntly hullied ; and, ahout this time, his mind had
heen .Somewhat affected hy a disap))ointnient in love. The foim (.f
his insanity was nudancholia ; and lu^ had several lon<^' and severe
attacks of till' same disease in the after-courso of his life. He had to
he placed in the keeping of a physician; and it was only after fifte'-n
months' seclusion that he was ahle to fa> e the woild. (Ji\iii;4 up all
idea of professional or of ])uldic, life, he went to live at Ht..itin;j;don
with the L'nwins ; and, after the death of Mr Unwin, he removed
with Mrs Unwin to Olney, in Ihickinghamshire. Here, in 1773,
another attack of nudanch(dia canie iipon him. fu 177f>, ( 'owjier
joined with Mr Ne\\ ton, the curate of the ])arish, in ])uhlishin<4 the
Olney Hymns, of which he wi'nte sixty-eiLcht. Ihit it was not till
he was past fifty years of age. that he hctook himself seriously to the
writing of i)oetry. His fii'st volum(\ which contained Table-Talk,
Conversation, Retirement, and other poems in heroic metiv, a])-
jU'iired in 1782. His second volume, which inchnled The Task and
John Gilpin, was published in 1785. His translation of the Iliad
and Odyssey of Hoiiiei' — a translation into hlank verse, which he
wrote at the regular rate of forty liiu's a-day — waspuhlished in 1791.
Mrs Unwin now had a shock of ]>aralysis ; Cowper himself was again
seized with mental illness; and from 17!)1 till his death in 1800,
his condition was one of extreme misery, de]iression, and despair.
He thought himself an outcast from tlie mercy of God. " I sepiu to
no
HISTORY or r.Nouft i i.iTKiiATriji:.
iiiy^'lf,' Ik' wrote to 11 tVifinl, " to lie .st'raiiililiii;^ alwav- in tlu' dark,
jiiiioii;^' Jofks and ])r('('iiii(('s, w itlioiit a i^uidc, Inil with aii cufiiiy ww
at my In rls, juvpan'il to |ni>li iin- licadloii;,'." 'i'lic cloud iicviT lifti-d;
{^litoiii and dcji'itioii ciisliroiidcd all his later yiiiii'M ; a ]>rnsion of
£:V){) a-ycar IVoiii (Icoi'^'c HI. ln'oiv^dit liiiii no ]d('asuri! ; and In; dit-d
insane, at Ka.-t Dereham, in Noifolk, in the yciir IHOO. In the poem
ol'The Castaway he rninpares himsrlf to a drowning,' sailor : —
" No voii'i' iliviui' tlif stnrm all:iy«'il,
No li.-lllt lunpitious slidlic,
Wlieii, I'iir I'loiii all ellfctiiiil aiil,
"NVf jtcrislKMl -caeli alone -
Milt I lii'iii'atli a i(iu;^lii'r mm,
Ami wlicliiicil ill bliii'kfr gull's lliaa he."
12. His rtrcatest woik is The Task; and the h.^t ]ioeni in it is
prubahly "The Winter Evenin-,'." His l>est-kno\vn ])ocm is John
Oilpin! ^\hi^h, like "The Task," lie ^vl•ote at the re.|nest nf his
IVieiel, l/ely Ansten. His most iiowerfnl jiocin is The Castaway.
Ilc! always writes in clear, <ri>i), jdeasant, and manly Kn;j;lisli. lie
liims(dt' .-ays, in a letttr to a tViend : '• Persi>icnily is always more
than hair the hattle. . . A meanin.ii; that does not stare ym in the
fac(^ is as had as no meanin;^' ; '' and this dii'cctiou he himsidf always
cari'ied ont. Cowjier's jiocnis mark a new era in i)oeti'y ; liis style
is new, and his ideas are new. He is no follower of Poj)e ; Sonthey
<'omi>ared l'u]a' and ( 'ow])er as "formal ;j;ardens in compai'ison
with woodland scenery." He is always ori^dnal, always tine —
liMie to his own feelin.u:, and true to the uliiect he is descrihinj,'.
" My descri]>tions," he writes of " The Task." "are all fri>m nature ;
not one of them second-handecl. ^ly dtdineati(tns of the heart are
from my own exju'rieiice." Everywheri' in his poems we lind a
j^ennim^ love of nature; linniour and jiathos in his descrij)tion of
])ers(ins ; and a purity and honesty of style that have never heen
mirjiassed. ^lany of his uell-put lines have passed into our comiiKHi
.^lo(•k of everyday ([notations. Such are—
" Cioil laaile llie cuniitry, and man niadi.' tlu' town."
" Variety's tin' very spiiM! of life
That gives it all its tlavmir."
" The heart
May give .a useful lessoii to the lieail,
Ami lieariung wiser grow williont his Imoks."
" V.ewaro of desjicrate steps. The darkest day,
Live till to-morrow, will liave jjassed away."
iturc ;
it arc
bind a
liiiU of
liecn
tnuiiiu
\.
\
SF/'OND lIAt.l' or KlflHTKENTIT rFNTI'TIV.
CI
\
1:J. (lEoiici': CuAiiiiK (1754-1832;, tlir« lu.-t <>{ ilu- jmur, was liorn
at Al'llpni'i»ii,i,'li, in SiiU'ulk, on Cliriritmiis Kvt^ of tlic vt-ur 17.')4. IK'
.stanils thus midway I'tiwirn (JnMsniitli and ^^'cl^ds\\oI•tll niid-
Avav lii'twi'i-n till' old and tlu* new .sihoid »>t iiocfiv. Hi-; ratlnr
was ^alt-nia.-tti' nr rollcctor nf ?-a1l duti<'s— at tin- littli- MMpoit.
Al'tiT li'in;^' tau;,'lit, a littli- at M'Vci'al .■^rhcols, it was aijifcil llial
CiC'oi';.;*' .--liould lie made a Mir;^'t'on. He was a'lordin^^ly apiJi'iMitiri'd ;
luit ho wa> t'iii,dir I'f wi'itiii;^ vo'so than nf atli'iidin;^ casfs. His
nitMnory lor poetry wius a^toni>hin;,' ; lie had hci^ini to wiiti- vir.»'s
at the u;4<' of fourlt'cn ; and he fUh-d the drawers of the siiii-ery w ilh
his poetieal attempts. Aftei' a time lie set n]> for himself in praetin*
at AMhoroUi^li ; hut most of his jiatients were ]ioor jieople aipl poor
I'elations, who jiaitl him niitlii-i- for his jihysic noi' his ad\iee. In
1779 he rrsolvcd " to l;c> to London and venture all.'' Accoj'dinnly,
he took a lierth on lioanl of a sailin.Lj-jiaeket, cai'ryin.u' ^vith him a
little money and a numher of mann.-iript ]iuems. lint nothin;^' >nr-
ceetled with Jiim ; lie was I'ednced to his la>t (^'htiienci'. In this
strait, he wrote to the j^M'eat statesman. Ivlnmnd Ihiike ; and, while
the answer was conun,^', lie walkeil all niijlit up and down West-
minster llrid.ye. I'nike t(»ok him in to his own leaise and found
a ]iulilislier for his poems.
11. In 1781 The Library a])peared ; ami in the .-ame year
("rahhe entered the Chnrcli. In 17M:i he ])idilislied The Village-
a ])oem whieh Dr Johnson icvised fur him. This work won for him
an estaldishetl rejiutation ; luit, for twenty-four yeai's after, Crahhe
l^'ave, himself up entiiely to the eaie of his jtarisli, .and ]udili.-lnHl
only one ])oi-m— The Newspaper. In 1807 ai>i)eaied The Parish
Register; in 1810, The Borough; in ISIJ, Tales in Verse;
ami, in 1810, his last poetical work, Tales of the Hall. From this
tinie,till hisdeath iul832 — thirteen years after- he pioduced no other
]ioem. Personally, lu^ was om; of the noblest and kindest of men ;
he Wii.s known as "the i^entleman with the sour name and thi' sweet
countenance ;" and he spent most of his inconu^ on the wants of others.
1.'), Crahlie's ]ioetical work forms a prominent hnnlmark in
En^t,dish literatuiv. llis style is the style of the ciLihteenth ci-ntury
— with a stron;^' admixture of his own ; his way of thinking', and the
olijects he selects for description, helon^ to tlu- nineteenth. While.
Pope de}iicted "tlu; town," ])olitics, and abstract moralities, C'rahlie
describes the country and the country poor, scjcial matters, real life —
the lowest and poorest life, and more especially, the intense niispry
of the villac;e population of his time in the eastern counties —
" tlie wild ariipliibious rare
With sullen vol- ilisiilayed in every I'lice."
r,2
HISTORY OF ENOLISir I,ITEUATURK.
]{>• ilrx's iKit piiint till' lui t)[' ilie j)()i>r wiili iln' lose-colonreil tints
used l)y (Joldsmitli ; he lioMly (Iciiics the existence of sucli a villa^'e
!is Aul)uni ; lie <^'ronps such jiliiccs witli Ivlm, and says —
"Aulium ami Kileii nm In- fnuiid no iium';"
he sliow.s the ;^d()oiny, liard, d{'si)airin<,' side of EuLjlisli country lift-.
Me luis been called a " Pope in worsted stockings," and " the JIugarth
of song." Eyron tU-scrihos liim as
"Nature's .Nlfriicsl iniiiitcr. yet tin- best."
Now and then liis style is Hat, and even coarse ; l)Ut there i> every-
where a genuine jtmver of strong anil bold painting. He is also
an excelh'iit inast<'r of easy dialogue.
All of his ])oenis are written in the ]*o])ian couiilet of two icn-
svllahled lines.
1 (». KoBERT BuRXs (1759-1796), the greatest i>oot of Scotlatid, was
born in Ayrshire, two miles from the town of Ayr, in 17")!>. The
only education he received from his father was the schooling of a
lew months ; but the family were fon<l of reading, and Ibibert was
the most enthusiastic reader (jf them all. Every spare moment he
could find — and thev were not manv — he gave to reading ; he sat at
meals "with a book in one hand and. a sjioon in the other;" and in
this way he read most of the great English poets and prose-writer.'*.
This was an excellent education — one a great deal better than most
]ieople receive ; and some of our gi'eatest men havi; had no better.
l>ut, up to the age of sixteen, he had to toil on his father's farm fi'om
early morning till late at night. In the intervals of his work he con-
trived, by dint of thrift and industry, to leaiii French, matheniat'cs,
and a litlh,' Latin, (^n the dt'atli of his father, he took a small farm,
but did not succeed. He was on the point of embarking for Jamaica,
where a post had been found for him, when the news of the success-
ful sale of a small volume of his ])ocnis reached him ; and he at once
changed his mind, and gave up all idea of eiuigi'ating. His friends
obtained lor him a post as exciseman, in which his duty was to
gauge the ((uautity and i[uality of ai'dent spiiits — a ]iost full nj
ilangers to a man of his excitable and emotional tem]»eranient. He
went a great deal into what was called society, fornie(l the actpiaint-
ance of nuiny boon companions, accpiiied Inibits of intem]>erance that
he cmdd not shake off, and died at Dumfiies 'u ITJK!, iu his thirty-
seventh year.
17. His best poems arc Iviiv'al, and he is himself one nf the fore-
SECOND HALF OF KTOIITKENTII CENTURY.
63
Icn-
niost lyrical poets in the world. Ills son^s have prnbaMy been more
siui<,', and in inort- ])arts of the ,L;h>he, than the .sonj^s of any otlicr
AV
liU'i- tliat evtT lived. Thcv are of evei'v kind-
son'
>f lovi
mirth, sorrow, labour, and social ''atht-rinu's. Professoi- C'raik
war,
-avs
"One characteristic that bclou'-s to whatever liurns hi
IS wi'itli'n IS
that, of its kind and in its own way, it is a jn'rfcct prodiuticjn. His
jtoetry is, thr(jiiL,di(iUt, rfal eni<jtion melodiously utti-reil, instinct with
])assion, but not less so with ])ower of thoiiu'ht,— full of li,L'lil as well
as of tire.'' Most of his pot-ms are written in the Noith-En<,disli, or
Tiowland - Scottish, dialect. Tht' most elevated of his ])oenis is
The Vision, in which he relates how the Scottish Muse found him
at the ploiiuli, and crowneil liim with a wreath of holly. One of
his longest, as well as iinest ])oems, is The Cottar's Saturday-
Night, which is written in the Spenserian staii/a. Perhaps his
most jiathetic ])oeiu is that eiititleil To Mary in Heaven. It is
of a singular elo(|uence, elevation, and sweetness. The first verse
runs thus —
'• Thou liiiu'i'iiiii,' stur, witli lessoniiij; ray,
Tliat lov'st ti) j^Tcot tlie early mnni,
Again tlinti iislier'st in tlic day
My Mary I'roni my soul was torn.
O Mary I dear dejiartod sliacU- !
When- is tliy ])lacL' of lilissful rest ?
Soc'st tliou lliy lover lowly laid ?
llear'^l thou the groans that rciid his lnoast?"
He is, as his latest critic says, '' the poet of homely huiiian nature ;"
and his Ljeiiius shows tiie beautiful tdeinents in this homeliness; and
that what is homely need not therefore be dull and i»rosaic.
Inaica,
[ccess-
(ince
•iemls
ras to
idl ..i
He
liaint-
\ that
liirty-
fore-
18. TftoMAS CuAPTERTON and William Blake are two minor
poets, of whom little is known and less said, but whose work is of
the most poetical and genuine kind. — C'liattertun was born at Bristol
in th.e year 1752. He was the son (d" a schoolmaster, who dieil before
he was born. He was educated at (.'olston's l>lue-C'oat Schofd in
liristol ; and, while at .school, read his way steadily through every
bo(jk in three circulating librarii's. He began to write verses at the
age (jf fifteen, and in two years had ]iroducetl a largt; number of ]>oems
— some of them of the highest value. In 1770, he came U)) to Lon-
don, with something under live j)Ounds in his pocket, and his mind
made up to try his fortune as a literary man, res(dved, though he
was oidv a bov of seventeen, to live bv literature or to die. Accord-
iugly, he set to work and wrote every kind id' production — jioems,
E
t"
V
64
HISTORY OF KNOLISII LITEI'.ATUKE.
essays, stories, itulitical articles, son<,^s lor public sinf,'ers ; and all the
time he was half starving. A loaf of bread lasted him a week ; and it
was " Ijought .stale to make it last longer." He had ma<le a friend of
the Lord flavor, Jjeckford ; but Ijefore he had time to hold out a hand
to the struggling lioy, lieckford died. The struggle became harder
and hartler — more and more hopeless ; his neighbours offered a little
help — a small coin or a meal — he r(>jected all ; and at length, on the
evening of the 21th August 1770, he went up to his garret, locked
himself in, tore up all his manuscripts, took poison, and died. He
was only sevi-ntcen.
19. Wordsworth and Coleridge spoke ■with awe of hi"^ genius ;
Keats deilicated one of his jjoems to his memory; and > Muiilgf
co])ied some of his rhytlims. One of his best poems is the Min-
strel's Roundelay —
" siiij,' unto my rouiuk-hiy,
droj) the briny teur with uif,
]);nii'(.' no more on lioly-diiy,
Like ii running river be.
.My love is dead,
(lone to Ills death-bed
All nndiT the willow-tree.
" T?laek his liair as the winter night,
White his skin as the .summer snow
]lvd his face as the morning light,
Cold he lies in the grave lielow.
l\Iy love is dead,
(lone to his death-hed
All under the willuw-troi'."
20. "WiLLLVM Blake (1757-1827), one of the most original i»oett>
that ever lived, was born in l^ondon in the year 1757. He was
brought uj) as an engraver ; worked steadily at his business, and
did a great deal of beautiful woik in that capacity. He in fact
illustrated his own poems — each page being set in a fantastic design
of his own invention, which he himself engraved. He was also
liis own printer and pvJuislu'r. The tiist volume of liis poems was
pulilished in 178.'i ; tiie Songs of Innocence, probably his best,
appeared in 1787. He died in Fountain Court, Strand, London,
in the year 1827.
21. His latest critic says of Blake : " His detachment from the
ordinary currents of ])racti('al thought left to his mind an unspoiled
and delightful simplicity wliich has ])erhaps never been matched in
English poetry." Simplicity — the perfect simplicity of a child — •
)
PKOnXD HALF OF F.K ;HTF,K,N'm CKNTriiV
r,.")
1 pOL'lb
lie was
ts, and
in Tact
lesiun
als
Sf)
IS was
best,
|>ik1u1i,
^■L'autiful j^iinplirity — pimple and childliko beauty, — sucli is the chief
note of the poetry of Bhike, " Where be is surcessful, his work has
the fresb perfume and i)erfect grace of a Ihiwer." The most remark-
aide point about Blake is that, while livinj,' in an age wh<n the poetry
of Po2)e — ami that alone — was every wliei'e paramount, bis poems
show not the smallest, trace of Po[)i!'s intluence, but aic absolutely
original. His work, in fact, seems to be tin; first bright streak of the
golden dawn tliat heralded the approadi of the fidl and splendid
•layligbt of the poetry (jf Wordsworth and Coleridge, of Shelley and
I'yron. His be>t-kno\vn ]V)ems are those iVom the ' Songs of Inno-
<enee' — sue h as Piping down the valleys wild ; The Lamb; The
Tiger, and others. Perhaps tin- nu)>t remarkable eliuunt in Blake's
])oetrv is the sweetness and naturalness of tlu; rhythm. It seems
careless, but it is always beautiful ; it grows, it is not made ; it
is like a wiM tiidd-llower thrown up by Nature in a ]ilca<ant 'jri'cii
li(dd. Such are the rhythms in the ^locni entitled Night: —
'• Tlie sun (li'Meinliii.: in tlie Wf>l ,
'I'lie cvcninu' star i1<ms shine ;
Tlio Itinls arc silent in tlieir nest,
And I nin^t M'eli lor mine.
'I'liu moon, like ;i tiowcr
In lieaveirs lii,i,'li bower,
With silent deli-hl
Sits and smiles on tlie niijht.
Farewell, ^reen tield-
uid hapjiy t-^rnvc,
Where flocks have ta'en deli^'ht :
Where lambs have nilibled, silent move
'{'he feet of an'.'cls briirht :
Unseen tinn' p^iur blessing,
And joy without ceasing,
(H\ each bud and blossom,
On each sleeping bosotn,"
the
|H)iled
'd in
ild—
ft
66
CHAPTER Vlir.
THE FIRST IIAM' OF TMi: NrVKTEENTII CEN'TUUY.
1. New Ideas. — 'I'lHiond of lli<^ cii^htccnth ami llic l)(';;'inmnL,'
of tlio iiinctccMitli century uro aliki' voinarkal)lt> fni- tlie new
powers, new ideas, and now lift' Uirown into society. I'Ik;
eomlnj^ up <>f a liigli llood-tidi' of new forees s'-enis to coincide
witli the l)(';j;inninL;' of the FrtMieh lievolution in 1 7S0, whm
tlie overtlirow of tlu; ]'>astille niavkeil tlie tlownfall of the old
ways of tliinkin,:;' and aetin<^ and announced t<i the Morhl of
Europe; and America tliat tlie old rnjinir — the ancient mode
of govornini,' — was over. "Wordsworth, then a lad of nineteen,
was excitecl hy the event almost hoyond the hounds of self-
control. Ho savs in liis "Excursion" —
" Blis.s was it in that dawn to lie ulivo.
But to be young was very Heaven I "
It was, inihn^d, tin; dawn of a new day for the peoples of
Europe. Tho itleas of freedom and eipiality — of respect for
man as man — were thrown into ])opular form hy Erance ; they
hecanu^ livinj^' j)owt'is in Europe; and in England they ani-
mated and insj)ired the hest minds of the time — lUirns, Colc-
rid^fe, Wordswortli, ohelley, and l^yron. .Vlong with this lii,<,^h
tide of lK)i)e and emotion, there was such an outhurst of talent
and (genius in every kind of human endeavour in England, as
was never seen before except in the Elizahethan period. Great
events produced great powers ; and great powers in tlieir turn
FIRST HALF OF NiNKTKENTH f'ENTUKY.
67
the IK'W
ty. The
> coiiicitlf
89, Avlu'ii
f tlic (.1(1
world of
■nt moilt'
iiincttH'U,
; of self-
[oplos of
l»rct for
te; tlioy
|u'y ani-
[■S Colr-
\\H lii«j;li
talont
and, as
Groat
fir turn
brought ahout groat events. The war with America, tlio long
struggle with Xapoloon, the- now political idoas, groat victories
by sea and land, — all these wore to ho found in the h(>ginning
of the ninctoonth century. TIk; English race produced groat
men in num])ers — almost, it might he said, in groups. AVo had
groat loaders, like Xolson and AVollington ; brilliant generals,
like 8ir Charles .Vapior and Sir .iohu ^Foorc ; groat statesmen,
like 1h)X and Pitt, like AVashington and I''ranklin ; groat on-
ginoors, like .Stephenson and JUanrd ; and groat poets, like
Wordsworth and Byron. And as regards literature, an able
critic remarks : " \V(! have recovered in this century the I'diza-
bethan magic and passion, a more than Kli/abothan sense of
the beauty and complexity of nature the l-'li/.abethan music of
language."
•J. Great Poets. — The greatest poets of the first half of the
nineteenth century may bo l)ost arranged in groups. Tlu re
were Wordsworth, Coleridge, and Southey — commonly, l)ut
unnecessarily, described as the Lake Toots. In their jioetie
thought and expression they had lilth; in common; and the
fact that two of them lived niosl of their lives in the Lake
country, is not a suliicient juMitication for tin; use of the teini.
There wore Scott and Campbell both of tliem Scotchmen.
There were Byron and Shelley — both Knglishmon, both brought
uj) at the great jjublic schools and tln^ universities, but both car-
ried away by the influence of the new revolutionary ideas.
Lastly, then; Avore Moore, an Irishman, and young Keats, tlu5
splendid j.romiso of whoso youth W( nt out in an early death.
Let us learn a little more about each, and in the order of the
dates of their birth.
.3. William "Wordsworth fmO-1850) was born at Cocker-
mouth, a town in Cuinherlaiid, which stands at the confluence uf
the Cocker and the Derwent. His father, John Wordsworth, was
law agoKt to Sir James Lowther, who afterwards became Karl (jf
Lonsdale. William was a ])oy of a stiff, moody, and violent temper;
and as his mother died when lie was a very little boy, and his father
when he was fourteen, he grew up with very little care from his
68
irisTORY <)K KNOLISII LITKIiATlUE.
puiviits and },'iiariliiiiis. He was sunt to sdiool at llawk.slieuil, in llio
Vale <4' Esthwaitt.', in LancaNliiif ; and, at tlie aj,'*; u[ seventeen, pro-
ceedccl to St Jolm's ddlei^'c, ('ainbridj^'c. After takiii;,' his degree of
Ij.A. in I7l)l, lie n-sidi'd for a > car in l''rani'f. He took >idi'8 with
one of the parties in \\\i- ltci;j,ii of Tt-rror, aii<l Id't thi' conntry (^idy
in time to save liis head. Ih- was (h'signcd liy liis nncdcs for the
Chtmh ; hnt a friend, I'aisley Calvert, dyiiiir, ht't him i.'!>00; and lie
now resolved to live a jilain ami fVuj^'al lil'e, to Join no profession, hut
to give himself wholly up io the writing of ])oetry. In 17!J8, he
l)ul)lished, along with his friend, S. T. Coleridge, the Lyrical
Ballads. The only work of Coleridge's in this volunii! was the
"Ancient ^lariner." In 1H()2 he niai'ried Mary Hutchinson, of
whom he speaks in the well-known lines —
" IltT eyi's as stars of 'l'\vili{,'ht fair,
Like 'r\vilii,'ht's, too, Ikt (hisky liair ;
Hut all tliiii,!,'-; ilse about licr drawn
From Mav-tiine and the cheirfu] dawn. "
He ohtained the post -)f iJistrihutor of Stamjjs hu' the county of
Westmoreland; and, after the death of Southey, he was created
Poet-Laureate liy the (i)ueen. — He settled with his wife in the
Lake couidry ; and, in 1S13, lo<)k uj* his allele at Kydal Mount,
where; he lived till his death in is'iO. Ho dieil on the i.'id (if Ajiril
— tlu^ death-tlay of Shakesjieare.
■i. His longest Morks are the Excursion ami the Prelude — hoth
heing parts of u longer and greater work which he iidended to write
on the growth of his own mind. His hest jioems are his shorter
pieces, such as the jioemson Lucy, The Cuckoo, the Ode to Duty,
tlu! Intimations of Immortality, and several of his Sonnets. He.
says of his own poetiy that his ]>urpose in writing it was '• to console
the atllicted ; to aild sunshine to daylight hy making the ha]»py
ha])pier; to teach the young and the gracious of every age to
see, to think, and feed, and thend'ore to hecdine more actively and
securely viituous." His jioetical work is tlu' n(dde landmark of a
•freat transition — hoth in thought and in stvle. He drew asidt;
poetry from (piestions and interests of mere society and the town
to the scenes of Nature and the deei>(-st fetdings of man as man.
In stvle, he refused to employ the old artiticial vocahulary which
Pope and his followers revidled in ; he used the .simplest words he
could tind; and, when he hits the mark in his sim]ilest form of e.\-
propsion, his style is us forcible as it is true. lie says of his own
verse —
T
I, ill Uio
■en, \>Ti>-
t'greo t»t"
lU'S V iili
try only
I'or lliu
; and lie
-ion, liut
Lyrical
was the
ns(tn, of
FIRST HALF OF NINKTEKNTII CENTUIIV. 69
" Till' iiioviiij,' iicciiUMit is lint my tra'li',
'I'o t'ri't'ze tlie iilooil I liiivi! no iviuly art.s ;
Tis tiiy ilt'ligiit, alDiif, in suiiiincr .sliadi-.
To jiijii! a siiiiiile soiij,' tor tliinkiit^ /irmis."
If one were a^ked what i'oiir lines of liis poetry 1h'>1 cfinvey the feel-
ing of tilt! wliole, tlie reply nnist l>e that these are to 1m' foinul in his
" Son^,' at the Feast of I'rou^hani Castle,''— lines writt.-n ahoiit "the
good Lonl (;iil!u-..l/'
'■ i.iivi' liail lie I'liuml in liuts wIhtc immii- nicii lie,
His daily tfachcrs liad lu'cii woods and rills,—
'VW. silciict' that is in tlii' starry sky,
Till' slfcp that is aiii(jiii( thf loiii'ly hills."
/
oiinly of
created
in the
MnUIlt,
,(d' April
ie — holh
\\<) write
shoiti-r
Duty,
5tS. 11. ■
console
ha]i]iy
age to
lely and
lu'k (d' a
[v asidi'
e town
lis man.
which
brds he
of ex-
lis own
i
a. Walter Scott (1771-1832), poet, and noveli>t, the .-on of
a Scotch attoi'ney (called in Eilinlmrgh a W'.S. or Writer to II.M.'.s
Signet), was horn there in the year 1771. lie was educated at tin;
High School, and then at the College — now called tin; University
— of Edinhurgh. In 17I>2 he was caileil to the Scotti>li ]5ar, or
hecanie an "advocate." During his hoyhond, ][>■ liad hail several
illnesses, one of which left him lanu' for life. Thrnii:;]! tleix- long
periods of sickness and ot coii\ alt'sceiu'c, he read Percy's ' Helitptes
of Ancient Poetry,' and alnio>t all the romances, old plays, and e]iic
poems that liavt; been pul)li>licd in the English language. This
gave his mind and imagination a set which they never lost all
through life.
G. His first ]mhlications were translations of German jioenis. In
the year ISO."), however, an original poem, the Lay of the Last
Minstrel, apjieared ; and Scutt became at mie houml the foremost
poet of the day. Mai^niion, the Lady of the Lake, and other
poems, followed with gnat rapidity. P.ut, in is id, Scott took it
into his head that his poetical vein was worked dut ; the star (d'
Byron was rising ujion the literaiy horizon; and he now ga\-e him-
self u[> to novel-writing. His liist novel, Waverley, appealed
anonymously in 1S14. Guy Mannering, Old Mortality, Rob
Roy, and others, ([uickly followed; and, though the secret of the
authorship was well kept hoth hy jirinter and imljlisher, Walter
Scott was generally l)elie\-ed to he the writer of these works, and he
was fre([ucntly spoken of as "the (Jreat Unknown." He was made
a haronet hy George lY. in lS-2().
7. His expenses in huildiiig Ahhdtsford, and his de.sire to ac(|uiro
land, imluced liiin to go into partnershiii with Piallantyne, his printer,
and witii Constable, his publisher. Both iirms failed in the datk
,'f-
70
JIlrtTOUY OF ENTiMSFF LITER ATlTfK.
year of 182(5 ; and Scf»tt found himself imuxpectedly liable for the
lurgc sum of i;i47,0(K). Surh a load of debt would have utterly
cTUiihtMl ipost nion ; hut Scott .stood clear and uiidauntr(l in fntiit of
it. " (Jt-ntliMucn,'' he said to liis cit'ditors, "linit' and I a.u'ainst any
two. ijot mo take this j^ood ally into my toiii|>aiiy, ami I lielievc"
I shall be able to ])ay you every fa!•thin;.^" lie left his beautiful
country house at Abltotsford; lie gave up all his country pleasures;
he surrendered all his property to his creditors ; he took a small house
in lviiiiliurc,'h ; and, in th.e short space of five years, he had jiaid olf
i,'l;jU,(K)0. But the task was too terril)le ; the pace had been too hard ;
and he was struck down by j)uralysis. But even this disaster did not,
daunt him. Aj^ain he went [-.) work, and again he had a paralytic
stroke. At last, howf " he was obliged to give up ; the Govern-
ment o*" the day place. . iOj .' frigate at his disposal; he went to
Italy; but his health ha i.tteri"' ■roken down, he felt he could get
no good from the air of the souiii, and he turned his face t(jwards
home to die. He breatlu'd his last breath at Abbotslbrd, in sight of
his beloved Tweed, with his family around him, on the 21st of Sep-
tember 1832.
8. llis ])oetry is the poetry of action. In imaginative power he
ranks b(dow no other poet, except Homer and Shakespeare. lie
delighted in war, in its movement, its pageantry, and its events ;
and, though lame, he was quartermaster of a volunteer corps of
cavalry. On one occasion he rode to muster one hundred miles in
twenty-four hours, comjtosing verses by the way. ^huh of'' Marmion"
was composed on horseback. *' I had many a grand gallop," he says,
" when I was thinking of ' Marmion.' " His two chief powers in verse
are his narrative an<l his ])i(torial power, llis boyhood was passed
in the Ijorderland of Scotland — " a district in which every field has
its battle and every rivulet its song ;" and he was at home in every
jtart of the Highlands and the Lowlands, the Islands and the Borders,
of his native country. But, both in his novels and his poems, he was
a painter of action rather than of character.
!>. Ills prose works are now much more read than his ])oems ; l)ut
both are full of life, power, literary skill, knowledge of men and
women, and strong sympathy with all past ages. He wrote so fast
that his sentences are often hjose and ungrammaticid ; but they are
never unidiomatic orstilf. The rush of a strong and large life goes
through them, and carries the reader along, forgetful of all minor
blemishes. His best novels are Old Mortality and Kenilworth ;
his greatest ronumce is Ivanhoe.
10. Samuel Taylok Colekidge (1772-1834), a true poet, and
FIKST ir.\T,F OF NINT.TKKNTIf CENTrUY.
1
111
; Iml
I'll autl
so last
icy lire
lie I'oi'H
ji wiittT of noble inone, was horn ut Otterv Si Mary, in Divonshiro,
in 1772. His father, who was viear of the jKirish, and master
of tii(> ''raniniar - school, djcil when the hov was oiilv nine vears
of a^'e. He was educated at Christ's iIos|»ital, in London, wliere
his most famous sehocdfellow w.is Charles lianih ; and from there
he went to Jesus College, Camhrid^'e. In 17!^:} he had fallen into
deht at Colle<,'e ; and, in despair, left Cani)>ridi,'e, and enlisteil
in tlie latli liiudit Dragoons, under tlie name of Silas Toiiikins
Coniberbateh. lie was (luiekly discovi-red, aii<l his discharge soon
obtaine(l. While on a \isit to his friend Robert Sonthey, at
Bristol, the jdan of emigrating to the banks of the Sus(jiudiaiina, in
Pennsylvania, was entered on; but, when all the friends and ftllow-
emigrants were ready to start, it was di.-covered that no om; of thiiii
hail any money. — Coleridge linally became a literary man and jour-
nalist. His real power, however, lay in poetry; but by jtoetiy he
could not make a living. His first volunu; of ]iocms as ]tublis1ifd
at Pu'istol, in the year 17!)() ; but it was not till 17J>s Toat lie Rimo
of the Ancient Mariner- a] ipeared in the ' Lyrica Ballads.' His
lU'.Kt greatest poem, Christabel, though written in 171)7, was not
])ublishe(l till the year ISK!. His other bust ]»oe!:'s are Love;
Dejection — an Ode; and some of liis shorter pieces. His lp(>t
poetry was written about the (lose of the cen' y : " Cdlrridge. '
said Wordsworth, "was in blossom from 17!M! to 1800.''- .\s a critic
and jirose-writer, he is one of the greatest men of his time. His best
works in ])rose are The Friend and tlie Aids to Reflection. He
died at Highgate, near London, in tlu; year 1S34.
11. His .style, both in prose and in verse, marks the beginning of
the modern era. His prose style is noble, elaborate, eloquent, and
full of subtle and involved thought ; his style in verse is always
musical, and abounds in rhythms of the most startling and novel —
yet always genuine — kind. Christabel id the poem that is most
full of these line musical rhvthms.
12. llonLRT SouTHEY (1774-1843), i)oet, reviewer, historian,
but, above all, man of lettiu's, — the tiit-nd of Coleridge ami
Wordsworth,— was born at Bristol in 1771. He was educateil at
Westminster ScIkjoI and at I'alliol Ccdlege, Oxford. After his mar-
riage with Miss Edith FrickiT— a sister of Sara, tlie wife of Cole-
ridge — he settled at (Jretii Hall, near Keswick, in 1803 ; and resided
there until his death in 1843. In 1813 he was created Poet-
Laureate by George IlL — He v. as the m<ist indefatigable of writers.
He wrote poetry before breakfast; history between breakfa.st and
70
IIISTOl:V OF- KNTIMSH I.TTEIJATT'I.'K.
tliiini!!'; iTviou.s httwi'cii tliniiLT iiii<l suppur ; ;iii«I,l'\cu win ii takiii;^'
;i coiistitiiliiiiiul, lie liad always a lunik in liis liajid, aiiil walked aldii;^'
llic mad r<'adin;^'. He hegau tn write and tn iniMi.-li at llie a<^'e of
nineteen ; he nciver ceased writing' till the year ls;}7, Avjicn hi- hrain
sol'tened I'roni the ed'eets «tl" perpetual lahciir.
i;5. Sollthev wrott! a ;ireat deal nf verse, hut liiUfll llinr*' pl'dse.
His pruse works auiouiit to more than t/iu' hundred volumes ; hut his
jtoetry, sueli as it is, will jirohahly live lonj^'er than liis ])rose. His
hest-knowu pot-ms are Joan of Arc, written when he was ninetei-n;
Thalaba the Destroyer, a iiociu in irrej^nilar and unriiymed verse ;
Tlie Curse of Kehania, in ver-e rhynie(l, hut iri'e;_'ular ; and
Roderick, the last of the Goths, writteji in hlank verse. He
will, however, always hi; hest reinemheifd hy hi- shorter ])iores,
such as Tlie Holly Tree, Stanzas written in My Library, and
others. — His most fanutus prose work is the Life of Nelson. His
prose style is always iirni, elear, eoinitact, and sensihlc.
14. Thomas Camphki,), (1777-1844), a nolde ])oet and hrilliant
reviewer, was horn in Glasgow in the year 1777. He was educated
at the lii.uh School ami the L'niwrsity of (ihisgow. At the
age <d" twenty-two, hi; })uhlished his Pleasures of Hope, which at
once gavi! him a phu'c high among the poets of the day. InlSQ.'i
he removed to London, and foljnwed literature as his profession ;
and, in 18(K!, he ri'ceived a pension of £-2()0 u-year from tin;
Governnu'Ut, whiih enahled him to devote the whole of his time to
his favourite study of poetry. His l)est long poem is the Gertrude
of Wyoming, a tale written in the Spenserian stanza, which
he handles with gi'cat ease and ]M.wrr. Ihit he is hest known,
and will he longest reniemhereii, for his short lyrics — which
glow with passi()nat(^ and tiery idofpitnu'e — such as The Battle of
the Baltic, Ye Mariners of England, Hohenlinden, and
others. He was twice Lord K'ector of the rinversity of Glasgow.
Fie died at lloulogm' in 1814, ami was huricMl in Poets' Gurner,
Westminster Aljhe\-.
!."». Thomas ]\[oork (1779-1852\ poet, hiographer, and historian
—hut must of all poet — was horn in Duhlin in the year 1771).
Ho liegan to ])rint verses at the age of thirteen, and may he said,
like Pope, to have " lis])ed in numhers, for the numhers came."
He canu; to L(jnilon in 171)9, and was quickly received into
fashionahle societv. In 16u3 lie was made Admiraltv Registrar
"S.
FIHST HALF OF NINKTFKNTH CFN'TrilV.
■3
at I5t'rmuil;i ; luit he soon ;,'iivo iin liiu l>ii«t, Itaviii;^ a il(|iiily
in his jiliK'c, who, soiiin vi*ars jiIut, einltc//h'«i tin- ( Jnvtiiiiiitiii
I'uiuls, ami l>rniiL;ht. tinaiiijal iiiiii iiimhi Mnoif. The jtot-l's Irit-iuls
nllVrt'd to help him out nf liis mom-y (lifhriiltics ; l)iit lie iiio,<t
hoiioiirahly thMliurd all sudi hrlp, ami, like Sif W. Scott, rc-
solvi'il to clrar oil" all claims a,L,'aiiist him hy the aiil of his jicii aloiic
Fof the next twenty y«'ars of his Hli; he lalMiiiird incessantly; and
vohinns of |MM'try, hi-tory, and hio^iaphy i anie steadily from his
jien. His hi'st poems are his Ii'ish Melodies, sonn* tittein or six-
teen of whiih are ])erfert and impeii.-liahle ; and it is as a writer
of si)ii;4s that Moon; will live in the literature of this country.
He boasteil, an<l with truth, that it was lie who awakened for this
century the liiii;i->ilent harp of his native land - -
*■ I)iai' Ilurp of my Cniiiitrv I in 'l;irkm-ss I I'liund tlico,
Tlic ii'lil cliiiiu (if silfin'i' Iiad liiiiiu' '>Vr tliei- Imij.',
Wlnii iifniidly, my own Island ll;irii, I luilioniid tlicr.
Ami gave all tliy elionls to lij-'lit, tici'ilom, and smii.'. "
Hid licst liiu,:; piHiu is Lalla Rookh. — His jirose wnik> aic littl(»
leatl nowad,i\ s. Tlir chitd" anion;; them are his Life of Sheridan,
and lii.s Life of Lord Byron.— He died at Slo])eitun, in A\'ill.-hirt',
in 1S.")2, two years afti.'r the death of \\"ordsworlh.
!<;. (iKoiuiK (JouDoN, Loud Dykon 1 1788-1824, a i^reit l-ji-li.di
pnct, was horn in London in the year 17H8. He was the only rliild
of a reckless and unprincipleil father and a i)assionate mother. He
was educateil at I larrow Schodl, jiiid altfiwards at Trinity ( 'olleu'e,
('amhrid;^'e. His tirst volume — Hours of Idleness— was ].ulili>hed
in 1S<)7, hi'fore lir was nineteen. A ( rili<[Ui' of this ju\eiiile work
which ajipeareil in tlie ' Kdinl»ui;<,di Ue\iev.- ' stun.L; liim t'l jia.-sion :
and he jji-oduceil a very viLjorous p(jetical leply in Englisli Bards
and Scotch Reviewers. After the publication of this liodk, J'.yron
tra\cllrd in (Jerniany, Spain, (ireece, and Turkey fur two years;
and the tirst two cantos of tlie poem entitled Childo Harold's
Pilgrimage were the outcoini- of thcM- tiavids. This jiuem at once
placed him at the head of fhejlish poets; '"he woke one morniiiLr,"
he .said, "and found himself famous."' He was married in the year
isl"), hut left his wife in th.; followin<^ year; left his native
country alf^o, never to retiu".. First of all he settled at (lene\a,
where he made tlu; a" ;"amtance of tin; jioet Slndley, and whore lu-
wrote, anion^' other ])oems, the third canto of Childe Harold and
the Prisoner of Chillon. in 1817 he removed toA'enicc, when? he
7i
ITISTOUY OF KNT.MSIT I.ITFIlATTMlK.
roinpoRffd tlit; fuiirtli canto (•!' Childo Harold iuul the Lament of
Taaao; lii- next r»!sting-jil;itt' wiis Kavt'ima, wlui',- he wrote sfvcrul
I)liiv^. I'isii Hiiw liim nt'xt ; and at tliis pluci; Ik- sjti-nt a great deal
oF his time in close intiniacy with ShtUey. In Is-Jl the (Jrcek
nation rose in revolt a^'ainst the rrueltif.s ami oi)i)iession of the
Tufkish mil' ; and llyron'.s sym|iatiiie.s wen; ,strojii,dy enli>ted on the
side <d" tlie (inel<s. lie heliicd tjic .>>ti ii>;;^lin;^' litth; country with
contrihiition.s of money; ami, in \H'2',i, sailed from (Jeneva to tuku u
luTsonal share in the wai- of lilteration. lie died, liowever, of fever,
at Missolon^'hi, mm the I'Jth of A]iril \H-2l, at the aije of thirty-six.
17. His liest-known work is Childe Harold, wjiich is written in
tile Sjienscrian stan/a. His plays, tin- best of which are Manfred
and Sardanapalus, are written in hhvnk verse. — His style is re-
markalde for its strength and (dastieity, for its immensely powerful
Bweep, tireless energy, ami brilliant illustrations.
IH. i'KKCY By.ssiik Shklley (1792-1822),— who has, like Sjien-
ser, heen called "the jxiet's pnct,"— was horn at Field IMaoe, near
Horsham, in Sussex, in the year 17!>2. lie was educated at Eton,
ami then at University Cidlege, Oxford. A shy, dillident, retiring
boy, with sweut, gentle lo(jks and manners — like those of a girl —
but with a spirit of the greatest fearlessness and the noblest in-
dependince, he took little share in the sports and pursuit:- of his
i'chool ltd lows. Obligeil t«i leave Oxford, in consecpience of having
written a tract of wduch the authorities did not api»rove, he married
at the very early age of nineteen. The young lady whom he
marrieil died in IHKI ; and he soon after married Mary, daughter
of William (indwin, the eminent author of 'Political .lustioe.' In
1818 he left England for It;dy, — like his friend, Lord liyron, for
ever. It was at Xajdes, Leghorn, and I'isa that he chielly resided.
In l^-2-2 \n\ bought a little boat— "a ]H;rfect plaything for the sum-
mer,'' he calls it; and he use<l often to make short voyages in it. and
wrote many of his j)oems on these occasions. "When Leigh Hunt
was lying ill at Leghorn, Sludley and his friend ^\'iIliams resolved
on a coasting trip to that city. They reached Leghorn in safety;
but, on the return journey, the boat sank in a sudden scjuall.
('ai)taiu Holierts was watching the vessel with his glass fronj the
tit]) of the Li'ghorn lighthouse, as it crossed the Bay of Spezzia : a
black cloud arc se ; a storm came down; the vessels sailing with
Shelley's boat were wrapped in ilarkness ; the cloud passed ; the
sun shone out, and all wiis clear again ; the larger vessels rode on ;
but Shelley's boat had disappeared. The poet's body was cast on
\
FIH«T HALF OF NINFTKKNTM (ENTrUV.
"• r
flhore, but the ijuiirantiiu* laws of Italy rtMiuiitil that «'Vi'rvtliiiij^
thrown Mjt oil the roast shoiiM hi- Imriu'il : no rfpn-siiiti-.tioiiH couM
alter the l.iw ; an<l .ShflUy'.> u.shi'.s were jiluced in a \n>x ami hurietl
in tlie Protestant cemetery at Home.
If). Shelley's best lonj^ poem is the Adonais, an eh ;,'y on the death
(»f John Keals. It is written in the Spenserian slaii/a. I'lit this
trill' jMict, will be best renienibelcd b;- ]l\<, short lyririd poelll^. Sllrll
as The Cloud, Ode to a Skylark, Ode to the West Wind,
Stanzas written in Dejection, ami others. Shtlby has been
called "the ]ioet's poet," becausu his style is so tlioroui,ddy transfused
by pure iina^'ination. He has also been called "the master-singer
of our modern race and a^'e ; for his tlmu-^dits, his words, and his
deeds all sang together." He i-* probably the greate.-t lyri' i)ott of
thisi centurv.
he
hter
In
, for
ided.
SUIIl-
aiid
nut
ved
ety;
nail,
the
I : a
with
the
on ;
B on
:!(). John Kf.ats (1705-1821\ one of our truest poet-, was
born in Moorlields, Jiondoii, in tlie year 170"). He was educated
at a ]tvivate s(hoid at Knliidd. His desire for the pleasures of
the intellect and the iiuaLjination .-liowecl itstdf very early at -chool ;
and he spent, many a halfdioliday in writin;^' translations from
the Roman ami the l''i'enrh jioets. On le.iving school, he was
apprenticed to a sur^'eon at Edmonton — the scene cd' one of John
(iil))in's adventures ; Imt, in 1H17. he ;,Mve U]» the ])raitice (d" sur<,'ery,
devoted himself entiicly t'^ poetry, and brou^dil out his fnvt volume.
In 181S apjxared his Endymion. The ' Quarterly Heview' handlid
it without nierey. Keats's health irave way ; the. seeds of consump-
tion were in his frame ; ainl he was (U'dered to Italy in 1S2(), as the
last chance of savin ;^f hi- life. Ibit it was too late. The air of Italy
could nnt restore him. He Milled at I'onie with his iVieiid Severn ;
but, in spite of all the care, thou;.^dit, devotion, and wat(hin;4 <'f his
friend, he died in 18-21, at the age of twenty-tive. He was buried
ill the Trotestant eeuieteiy at Rome ; and the inscription on his
tomb, comjiosed by himself, is, " /A'Te /Aw rmc irJirnn' )i(inu'. cYf.N- vrit
ill vatrr.''
21. His greatest ]toem is Hyperion, written, in blank verse, oti
the overfbrow of the "early gods" of (Jreece. I'mt he will most
probably best remembered liy bis marvellous odes, such as the
Ode to a Nightingale, Ode on a Grecian Urn, To Autumn,
and others. His style is clear, sensuous, anil beautiful ; ami he has
added to our literature lines that will always live. Such are the
following : —
A tiling of beauty is a joy for ever."
76 HISTOKV OF KNCLISH LlTKKATriJE.
" Silent, iiiioii ;i |n'iik ill I>;irifii."
" Tlll'll r.lt r like M.liic Wat.ji.T nf 111," .^kics
W'lii'ii a iicw plaiift swims iiiln liis lim."
" IVrliiips till! soli' siiiiii.' song tluit rnmni a jiatli
'I'liroii.trli till! sail Ill-art of liiitli, wln'ii, • irl |i r Ihiiik'
She stood in tuars aiiiiil tin.' alien euni."
22. Prose-Writers. — We Imvc now to consider tlir ^^nMicsl
j)r()S('-\vritcis of tlic iirst half of tlu' niiictccnlli (('iilurv. First,
comes Walter Scott, one of tlie j^M'eatest novelists that ever
liveij, and who won Ihe name of "'{"he A\'izaiil of the Nmlh "
from Ih'' mar\el]ons pown' In- jiossessed of eiirhainiiii^ the
altentioii and fasrinatini^Mlic minds nf his rraders. Two other
_^roat writers of pidsi' wire Charles Lamb and Walter Savage
Landor, each in styles essentially dill'erent. Jane Austen,
a yi)nn_L( ]'ai;j;lisli lady, has hei-onie a classic iii jii'ose, hreause her
woi'k is true and jirrfi'ct within its own spline. De Quiucey
is j)erl,aps the wiiti'i' of tic most oriiatr and elaliorate l'!n;4lish
prose of this periotl. Thomas Carlyle, a i^reat Scotsman, witli
a style of ovei'whelmin.LT powei-, hut of occasional <^M'otes(pieness,
like a ,i;reai jaojihet and teacher of the nation, compelled stato
men and jthilanthrojiists to think, while he also ijained for him
.s(!lf a hi.Ljh place in the rank of historians. Macaulay, also of
Scottish descent, was one of the. e;reatest essayists and ahlest
writers on history that, (Jreat Hritain has produced. A shoit
survey of each of these eiv;it men may he. usefuL Scott has
heen alreadv ti'cated of.
23. ('MAHr.Ks L.wn (1775-1834), a lurfe.t Kn-li.di essayist,
was horn in tlie Tiiner Ti'inj'le, in liontloii, in the year JTTa.
His fatlici- was clerk to a harrister of that Tnii of Court. Charles
was educated at Clirisi's Hosjtital, wliere his inost famous school-
fellow was S. '\\ Colcriil^'e. llrouu'ht up in the very heart of
London, lie had alv.ays a stron;^ feeling' for the j^'reatm-s.s of the
nietro])olis of the worlil. "i often sheil tears," he saiil, "in tlio
motley Straml, for fulness of joy at so much life.'' lie was, indeed,
a thoroueh Cockney and lovi-r of London, us were uIho Chaucer,
FHIST HALF OF NLN'ETEKNTIl rKNTUHY.
( /
SjiriisiT, Milt()ii,au(l Liiiiili's Irit'inl Iamj^U Hunt. Enti'iiii;^ tin- Iiidiu
House iis ii cIltIc ill tlic yi'iii' ITi'-, lie rciiiuimd tlictc tliiit\llm'f
year.-' ; ami il was oiic oi' his odd sayiims tliat, il' any luic vauti'il to
.see lii.s "^v<>l•ks," lie wnuld liud llinii on tlir >litl\(,- of tin- India
Hdusi'. — He is ;,'ivati'.>t a> a writi-r of juo.-u; and Ids jiid-c is, in
its way, nni'i[naiii'd li»i' swci-l Uf.-s, i^i'ari-, Inininur, and (juaint ti'inis,
aninii^r tl,,. w litiii^i^s of this century. His lust ])ri>sc woik is tiic
Essays of Elia, wlndi .-liow on cvriy \k[<j,v. tlic luc-t \vlnin>ital and
liuniiiKius subtleties, ;i tjiuidv iila\- ol' inttdlert, ami a deep .-ynipatliy
with till' sorrows and tin; joys ol' men. \'ery little veive .'anie from
his ]ien. 'M'liai'U's I.,am1t's noseijay <•!' verse," say.s I'roh'ssor Howden,
"may he held hy llu' small hand of a maiden, and tlu-re is not in it
one llauntin;^ llower." l\rha)>s the he.-t lA' his pnenis arc the short
jiicccs cntitle(l Hester and The Old Familiar Faof^".. — He ivtircd
IVom the India ilnu-e, on a ]ien>ioii, in ISii."), and died at Ivlmnnton,
near London, in 1H34. ilis character was as swt'ct and rctined as his
.style ; W'oi'dswortli sjioke of him as " Lamli the frolic and the
1,'entle ; " and these and othi-r line tjUalitics endeared inm t^ a lar-e
circle oi' I'rieiuls.
has
lyi-l,
77;").
:irles
ool-
. of
the
the
ced,
eer.
21. Wai.tkh SAVA(iH Landou (1775-1864', the p'eale>l jmo-c-
writer in his own style of the nineteenth rentury, uas hm^n at
I[)sley Court, in AN'arwickshire, on the UOth of .lanuary 177.") — the
anniversary of the execution of Chai'les I. He was cilucated at
Hiv^hy School and at Oxford; hut his fierce, and in-uhordinati'
temper — which remainetl with him, and injured him all hi- life —
]>roeiire(l his expulsion from hoth of the>e places. A^ heir to a
Iar;.'e est;ite, lie re-olved to -/iw himself u)i entirely to literature ;
and lit! accordin;4ly <leclined to adopt any profe.-sion. ia\in.; an
almost ])urely intellectual life, he wrote a Lii'eat deal of piose
;ind some jun'try ; and hi- tir>t, volume of poems apjieared 1m foic the
(lose of the ei^diteeiitli century. His life, whiih lie;.4aii in the ifi^in
of (}eor!;,'e III., stretcheil through the reii;ns (pf (!e(cr,i,'e I \'. and
William 1\'., into the twenty-seventh year of t^)ueen \'iitoria; and,
in the coui'-e of this Ioul' lite, he had manifold experii'nc; -. many
ioves and h.ites, friendships and ac(juaintan< ohips, w itli persons of
every sort ami rank. He joined the Spanish .iiiuy to iij^diL Napo-
leon, untl ])resented the Spanf-h (lovernment with lari^e sums of
money. He spent ahout thirty years of his life in l-'loreiK <•. where
he wrott; many of hi.s work.**. He died at I'loreiice in the year 1S(M.
His j^reato.'^t ])rose work is the Imaginary Conversations ; his he. t
jioeni is Count Julian; and the character of Count Julian ha- heeu
78
IIISTOIIY OF EN'OIJSH I.TTF.rATURE.
ranked by De Quincey with the Satan of Milton. Some of liis
siiihIKt ]HK'Xiv. pieces are. perfect; an<l there is one, Rose Aylmei,
written ahout a ilear youii^' frieml, tluit Lamb was never tired ol
repeating : —
" All ! what ;iv;iils tlio sceptrtMl race I
Ah I wliat the form divine I
^Vh!lt every virtue, every ;.'race !
Jtose Ayhucr, all wen; thine !
" Rose Ayliiier, wlioni these wakeful eyes
Shall weeji, luit never see I
A ni,t,'lit of memories and siglis
I conseerate to thee."
2'). .Tank Austen (1775-1817), the most didicate and failliful
j.ainter of English social life, was horn at Steventon, in Hamj*-
sliire in 177') — in the same year as Landor and Lamb. She wrote
a small niimher <>!' jinvids, mo^t of wdiich are almost ])erfect in
their minute and tnie i)ainting of character. Sir Walter Scott,
Macaulay, and (»ther great writeis, are among her fervent admirers.
Scott says of her writing : "Tlie. hig liow-wow strain 1 can do niystdf,
like any now g<iiiig ; hut the excjuisitc touch whidi ri'iulers oidinary
commonplace things and chara< ters interesting, from the trnth of the
descrii)tion and the s.-ntiment, is denied to me."' She works out luT
characters hy making them reveal themselves in their talk, ami 1-y
an infinite sei'ies of minnte touches. Her twohest novtds are Emma
and Pride and Prejudice. The interest of them ilepends on the
truth of the painting ; and many thoughtful persons read througii
the whole of her novels every year.
26. Thomas Df: Quincey (1785-1859), one of our nio,«t brilliant
essavists, was born at Greenhays, ^Manchester, in the year 1785.
He was educated at the Manchester grammar-school and at
Worcester College, Oxford. While at Oxford he took little share
in the regular studii'S of his colh'ge, but rea<l enormou.s iiundiers
of Oreek, Latin, and Knglish books, as his taste or whim sug-
"ested. lie knew no one ; he hardly knew bis own tutor. "For
the first two years of my residence in ()xf<ird," W say.s, "I com-
pute that I did not utter one hundred words."' After leaving
Oxfonl he lived for about twenty years in the Lake countrv ; and
there he became actiuainted with Wordsworth, Hartley Coleridge
(the son uf S. T. Coleridge), and John Wilson (a!'terward.-> known as
FIIv'ST HAT.F OF NINKTKKNTII fENTrKV.
70
Professor Wilsdii, and al>o as tin- ■ < "liristopher North" of ' lUaik-
woud's Maj^aziiitr). Sutferiiii^' iVom ri-jx-atcil attacks of iicuvlLiia, ln'
;^'i'ai.lually foriiifii tin- liaMt of takiiiu' laMil.uiuin ; aii<l l'\ the tiiiif lio
liad rtMilird tlif a.u'f >>{' thirty, lie drank ahoiit ^Oct' ilroji- a-d;iy.
This uiifortunatf hahil injinvtl liis jxiwcrs of work ami wcakiiu'il his
will. In spiti' of it, however, he wrote many hundreds of essays and
articles in i'e\ iews iind nia;4azines. in the latter ]iail nt' his life, he
livi'd either near oi- in KdinhnrL^h, and was always emjilnyed in dicam-
,i'r hoth of dreamiiiLT and <tf in
US-
UI;^' (tlie oinuni increased Jus pow
in.i:), or in studyin;^ or writing,'. He died in l-MinliurLjh in the year
LsniK
M
mv of his essays weiv wiitteii inn
ler tl
le signature ot
'I'll
["ho Confes-
Sudden Deatli.
l*]n;4li-h ()|.ium-Eater." I'n^l'aMy his best works ai
sions of an Opium-Eater ami The Vision of
Tlu^ chief characteristics of his .-tyle ai'e nuijestic rhythm and elaho-
rate (do4uence. Soiue of his seiiteiicis are almost as loiii^' and as su.—
tained as those of Jeremy Taylor ; while, in many pas.si«,'es (tf
I'easoniiii,' that i^lows and liri<,'htens with stronu jiassion and emotion,
he is not infeiior tn l>iM'k'
II.
e ]»ossesse(l an enormous vora
hiilar'
— in \i"ealt]i of wiiids ami phrases he surjiasses l)oth Macaulay and
Carlvle : and he makes a very lurue — ])orhaj)s even an excessive — ustr
of Latin woi'ds. He is also vi.TV i'ond of usin;^ meta]»hors, ])ersonili-
cations, and other figures of s])i'ech. It may he said without exa^'^^'era-
tion that, next toC'arlyle's, DeC^uincey's stylo is tho most stimnlatiie^'
and inspiriting^ that a youn;j reader can iind anionti; modern writers.
27. Thomar rAHi.vi.K (1795-1881). a j^roat thinker, es>ayi-=t,
and hisitirian, wa> l)orn at f^ccleferhaii. in Dumfriesshire, in the
year 1 79r). He was educated at the hui'L^h >cliool of Annan,
and afterwards '\t the I'niver-iiy of Kdinluirirh. Classics ami the
hi;^'lier mathematics were his favourite studies ; Mid lie was iiioro
especially fond of,- irnnomy. He was a tea'dier for some years after
leavini,' the rniversity. I'or a few years after tliis he was eiij^'a^'ed
in mini>r literary work; and translating from the Cierman ec; upied a
;4ood deal of his tiim'. In I'^i''! he married Jane \\'cl>h, .t \\(jniaii
of aliilities only inferior to his own. His lirst orij^inal woik was
Sartor Resartua ('•'The Tailor llepatc lied'"), which appeuie.l in
18;J4, and excited a .u'l'eat ileal of attention — a hook Mhich has j)ro\i'(l
to many the eh-ctric spark which Ih'st woke int(i life tluir iiowera jf
thouf^'ht and rethntion. Frnm ls37 to 1840 he jjave courses of lec-
tures in Londiin ; ;uid thesi' lectures were ii.-tericd tn \>y ihr he-t and
mo>^t thou;^'htful ol tlie London ]teoj)le. The mo~t strikin;^' series
afterwards ajipeari-d in the form of a Lnok. Mnd.r the title of Ileroea
F
so
FflSTOKY OF ENOMSfl LITERATrilK.
and Horo-Worship. Pi-rliai).- liis most rciuiiikiiliK' book- i lionk
that is iiiii<iu(' in all Kii;^'lish literature — is The Frencli Revolu-
tion, wliirli a])]!' ;i]'tMl in ls;}7. Tii llic yv.iv ]X4'), lii.s Ciorawoli'p
Lcf.tovs and Speeches wric ]iul'lisln'(l, and dit-w alter tlieiii a 'arj^o
■.li.iilv r III' ca^'cr readers. Jii IHCi") he eolu|>leleil tile liai'ilesf piece of
Work lie had ever iiii<leitaken, his History of Frederick II., com-
raonly called the Great. This work is so highly reiiarded in
(Irniiany as a truthful and jiaiustakin.Lj histoi-y that oliicers in the
Prussian army are oMi,L,'t'il to study it, as ctintaininL; the l>est aoeount
of the i,'reat hattles of the ('mitinent, the iiidds on which iiiey were
l'(»U}^dit, ami the stiate;,'y that wiiit to win them. One of the crown-
in;^' external htiiiours of Cailylc's life was his ai>])ointinent as Lord
Hectctr of the Unive'^ity "f Ivlinhurudi in 1 s(i(; ; imij at the very time
that he was ileliverin;^ his famnus and reniarkahh' Installation Ad-
dress, his wife lay dyin;.,' in London. This stroke hroii^ht terrible
sorrow !>n tin- old man ; he nevt'r ceasefl to mourn for hi:-' loss, and to
recall the virtues and the beauties of eharactei- in liis dead wife ;
"the li.uht. of his life," he said, "was »|nite Ljone out;" ;ind he wrote
Very little after her death. He himself died in L<uidon on the r)tli
of February ISHl.
28. Cai'lyle's Style. — Carlyle was an autlutr by profession, n
ieachei' of and i)i(»i)het to his countrymen by his mission, and a
student of history by the deej) inlei'est he to(»k in the life of man.
lie was always more or less severe in his judj,Mnonts- he has been
called "Tlu' Censor of the A;4e," - bcausi' of the liiLrh ideal A\];ich
he set up for his own conduct anil tlic conduit of others. — He shows
in his historic, wrilin;^'s a si»lendour of ima.Ljery and a jiowei' of di'a-
matic j,M'oupin,L,f second only to Shakespeare's. In connnand of words
he is second to no modern I'he^dish wi'iter. His style has been hiL,ddv
]iraiscd and al>o euer,:.,'etically blamed, li, ii, ru,u;,'eii, .unarled, dis-
jointeil, fall of iire;j;ular force— shot acro.s.s by aidiK'U lurid liLjhts of
ima.Liination — -full of the most slrikinj,; and indeed astonishing
epithets, and insj)ired by a certain •^v'un Titanic I'orce. His sen-
tences are often clumsily built. He himself said of them : " i'erha]>s
not more tliau nine-tenths >tand straight on theirlc,u;s ; the remainder
ale in i[Mite an,i;ular attitudes ; a few even sjnawl out helplessly on
all sides, (piito broken-backed and disnienibereil." There is no
modern writer who possesses so lar^e a profusion of iii^nirative lan-
l^uaj^e. His works are also full of the pilhiest and most memorable
sayiny.s, such as the following : —
" Genius is an innin'iisc capacity fur tukiiiL' pains."
" J)o tlic iluty ..liich lies ncare; t thee I Thy second ilnty will alnail;. Icive
become clearer."
I
FIRST H.il.F OF NINKTKKNTH rP:NTt'l:V
SI
" History is :i im^'lity ilniiiiri, cnin.U'il ui>'*n iln: Ih uli'- (if I'liu*, wiU' .suiis
for Iruiiip-;, mvl ct'Tiiity U.r ;•. l>:ifk<;roiMiil."
"All tnif woik 1-^ ^;ii'ri-<i Iii all tiiu- wnik, wt ic it luit true iiaii'l lalioiir,
tliere is something of divinent'ss. Laliour, wide ;ts tlic (';utli, Ims its Mi'mint in
lieuveii."
' llfiiii'Mibfr now iiMil always tliat Lifi- i-; no iiUc ilii am, but a >.il.'nin
ii'ality liascil n|ioit Ktcrnity, and eni"oiii]iass(M| \<y Ktfinity. l-'ind '-ut yom
tusk: .--land to it: the ni^dit ronifth when no man r;in woiU."
ssioii, a
, ;um1 a
)f man.
tS ln'Cll
■\\ hicli
.f.lra-
' Wol'ils
.l,".lis-
-llls of
lisliiiio
is si'ii-
(■ilia]>s
aiinlt-r
sly mi
is no
■0 lan-
ralile
have
21). Thomas Baiungton Macaulay (1800-1859), tli.' iin.>t ]>n],\\-
].XT of niodt'i'U liistorians, — an essayist, ])ut't, .•>latt'>nian, ami oiatur,
— was lioin at JJotlilcy 'i'cnijil*', in I^fici-stt'isliiif, in the year 1M)0.
His i'atlicr was one of the oi-,.jiti'st aiivocati's fur tli'' aliolitiun ot
."-hivt'i'v; ami icccivrd, afli-r his dratli, the Imiiorir of a niniuiimnt in
AVestniin>ti-v AIjIx'V. N'cun;^' Maranlay wa- fclu>.\tfil juiNattly, and
tlu'n at Trinity ('(jjlcj^'c, (,'ainlirid,L'i'. Ilf slndii-d r!,i»ii - \v\\\\ ^rtat
ilili;-;('ma' and snccess, Imt tlftcstfd niatlu-matirs — a di>likc the loiisc-
<|m lu'fs of wln\'h lii' afterwards deeply re,oretti-d. In iSiil lie was
eU'ctiMl Fellow of his coIU'i^e. His tirst literaiy work was done \\>r
lvn!j,dit's 'Quarterly Ma^'azine'; luit the I'ailie-t ]iiere of writin.Lj
that l)rou;;lit him into nntice was his fanmns es.-ay i^n Milton,
written for the ' Milinbnruh Review' in isiio. Se\eral years of his
life Were spent in India, as Memher id' the Stijireme ( 'i.iincil ; and, nn
his retnrn, he enlereil Parliament, wheiv he sat a- M.l'. I'mI' Ivlin-
linr;.,'li. Several otlii'es were filled li\- him, anmuu' idh.is that id
i'i\ nia>ter-( leiieial (d'the Fiii'ces, with a seat in the Cahinet ol' I, did
John Ku>-ell. In l^ti' .ippeand hi> Lays of Ancient Rome,
poems whi<h lia\'e i'l.und a veiy larire numlur <d' iiaders. His
.,'i'eatest wuik is hi> History of England from the Acoossion
of James II. 'i"o cnahle him. ell' tn wiite this history he read
hundri-d^ id' liuok-, Ait> of Parliament, thtai.-and- u\' pam]ihlets,
tracts, hi'iiad-hiets, hallad.-, and other tlviiej frau'nnnt- id" Ideiatiire ;
and ho mver seems lo ha\e furLTidten anything' he ever read. In
ISl!) he \\a- ileeted liUid Iveclnr (d' the I'lMNerHty (if (llas^'iiw ; and
in ISoT was i'ai-e(l to the pc(i'a;_'c w itl. the title of Paron Macanlax
of ]^>thley- the lii'st literary man who was e\(r called to the liousu
of Lords. He died at Holly l,odL,'e, Keiisinj^ton, in the y( ar IS.')!).
.30. Macaulay's Style.- One of tlie most remarkahle (pialitics in
his .style is the copionsness of ex])ression, and tlu; remai'kaMe ])ower
of piittin;^ thi! same .statement in a lar;^'e niimhor of dill'erent way.-,.
This eiu)rnious command of «.\prt'ssion corres])unded with the extra-
ordinarv power of his memory. At the aj^e (d' eight he oouM rep»-ut
^mm
■^^M:
H2
HI.STORY OF ENfJIISH MTFHATT'UE.
the whole of Scntt's jtdcm of " MuTiiiioTi
11»' was fond, lit this (*«rlv
f lii;^ wonls ami IcariHMl Eiiulish ; and onrc, wlu-n ln' was a-kcd
1.V a lady if his t<iotha.hc was l.ttttT, lie ivi.licd, " Madam, the a^,'ony
IJ^'C, o
IS a
l.at
CI
I "
llr k
new
the whole of IIoiiK r and of Milton I'.v heart
and it was said with perfect tnith that, if Milt«tn's pot-tiral works
conld have been lost, Macanlay wonld have restored every line with
ronipletc! exaetiie.-.-. Sydney Smith said of him: "There are no
limits to his knowled^'e, on small snhjeits as on ^.'n-at ; he is like a
Look in hreeches." His style has been called "al.rnpt, ]»ointed, and
oratorical." He is fond (tf tlu; arts of snrprise— of antithesis— and of
epij^'ram. Sentences like these arc of freciiient occ
urrcnce : — •
if liciiiu' a licrt'tii- milv
"Cranincr roiiM vimlicate liiiiiscH' from tin- iliargcoi
by argimients wliidi iikkIi- liiiii i>u1 ti> bi' a iiiwrilcnT. "
'•Tlic I'uritaii liatiil bfar-baitiii>:. imt Ih'cmusc il i^'avc pain to llu- luar, Imt
'ii'iausn it },'avi' jilcasurc to tin- sju'i'tatcirs."
besides these ilciuents of epi;_Mam and antithesis, there i-^ a vast
wealth of illustration, brou^dit from the stores of a memory which
iit-vr seemcil to forget anything,'. He stu«licd every sentence with
the -greatest care and minuteness, and woidd often rewrite paia-
U'raphrf and ev.-n whole . hai»ters, until he was Nitislied with the
variety and clearness of the expression. "He could not rc-t," it
was said, "until the jiunctuation was correct to a comma; until
every jiane^rajth con< luded with a tellinj,' seJilence, and every sen-
tence flowed like clear running' water." I'.at, above all thin,-,'s, In.'
strove to make his tyle perff tly lucid ami immediattdy intelligible.
He is fond t)f countlexs details ; Imt he Mt masters and maishals these
details that each only serves tti throw lui.re li-^dit upon tin; main
statement. His ])r(.se may be dc-^cribed as pictorial ]»rose. The
character of his min<l was, like liurke's, combative an«l oratorical ;
and be writes with the j,'reatest vi;4i.ur aiul animation when he is
attacking a policy or an opinion.
\
8,-!
I
i
CHArXER TX.
TUl-: SKCOND IIAI.l' or THK MN'ETKKNTH CFNTrnT.
1. Science.- -Tin' soivjud lialf df the iiiiit'tcciitli (•cntmv is
(listinguishetl by tlm ciioniKHis ailvaiicf^ iiiadi' in sficin'c, an<l in
tlio iipplicatioii i»f s(;i(;n<r to t!n' iiidustrius and (ircnpalioiis of
lh(! people. (,'lu'niistry ami cicftrieily liavt; iiime especially
niiule ononnoii.s strides. Wilinii tiie last, twenty years, elirm-
istry has remade itself inlo a new scienct^, and elfctricity lias
taken a vny lar^v; j>uft i)f the lal)uui t»f iii.inkind n|'<in itself.
It carries our ines.sugos round the world — under the deepest seas,
t-vor the liiLrhest mountains, to every continent, and to every
great city; it lights np our streets ami jiulilic halls; it drives
our engines and profiels our train.s. l!iit the powers of imagina-
tion, the great literary pijwers of ])oetry, ami of (do([Uent jirose,
— especially in tiie d«^maiu of ti('tion, - have not tlecrease 1 because
science has grown. Tiii^v have rather shown stronger develop-
ments. We mu.st, at the same time, rcmemlMr that a great deal
of tln! liti-rary -work published by the Avriiers "vvho liveil, or are
>till li\ing, in th«' latter half of this century, was written in the
fonu«>r lialf. Thus, Longfellow was a man of foi\, -three, and
'IVimyson was forty-one, in thtj year 1850; and both had 1)y
that time done a great <leal of their best work, 'i'hc same is
true of the ]»rosc-writers, Thackeray, I)i<kens, anil IJuskin.
2. Poets and Prose-Writers. — ^Thc six greatest poets of tlio
latter half of this century avo. Longfellow, a distinguished
American } jet, Tennyson, Mrs Browning, Robert Brown-
8t
HISTORY OF KNrjUSTT T.lTKHATl'rvF:.
ing, William Morris, and Matthew Arnold. ( >f tlic.-c, Mrs
I'.rowiiiii;,' and Loii>,'ft'll()\v arc dead — Mrs Jlrownin;,' liavinj,' dird
ill IfST)!, ami LoiiL^'lfllow in \HX'2. — Thf fniir ^^'natcst writers d
l>r«isi^ arc Thackeray, Dickens, George Eliot, and Ruskin.
< »f llicse, nnly IJu.-kin is alivt-.
3. IIknuy Wauswoutii Lonofkllow (1807-1882), tlir nio.st
]Hi)iiiI;ir ()!' Amtriran j.di'ts, and as jiojmlar in ( Jrcat iJritain as lie
is in the I'liited State
va
s boiii at Portland, Maine, in the vear
|H(f;
II.
as edurated at I'owiloin (.'(illc^f, and tnok liis dci^rec
there in tht; year lS-2'). His jirnfessiun was tn ha\e Ikih tlic law ;
hut, IVdiu the lii.-,t, thi- wlmh' heiit of his talents and character was
lileriry. At flit; exti-aorijinary a;^'e of ei:j;htecii the jirofessorshii) of
niodeiii laii,L,'iia,L,'es ill his own colle;^'e was nt!'t'i('(l to him ; it was
eagerly acccptfd, and in uidrr to (nialily hinis.di" f'nr his duties, he
spent the next t'niw yiar- in (icrnuiny, France, Spain, and Italy.
ili> lir>t impoitanl pi<i>c w(tilc was Outre-Mer, m' a Pilgrimage
beyond the Sea. In 1H37 he \\;i> oMeied the Cliair of Modi-rn
liai)j,ni;i'^cs and Litcratniv in Jlatxard I'liiver-ity, and lu; airain paid
a visit to Muropc thi< time ''ivin'4 hi> thou^lits and stmlv i hiellv tn
(lermany, Denmark, and Scandina\ia. In ls.'}}> he piilili>]u'd the
])rosc' roniaui'e calle(l Hyperion, lint it was n^t a-^ a inosc-writcr
that rionj^l'elhiw ij;ained tlie secure jdacc lie has in the. hearts of the
Knglish-spcakinu' ]'e.ijih's ; it was as a pnit. His lii'st volume "['
poems was calhd Voices of the Night, and apjuare.d in 1841 ;
Evangeline was pul.lished in ls4S; and Hiawatha, on wliicli liis
poetioal reputation is ])erlia)ts luost liiinly hased, in IS'i.'i. Many
other V()!unic> if ]ioi'trv- — hoth ori;^'inal and ti'anslations — liaxc al-o
come iVom his pi-n ; hut thesi- are tiie lie>l. The I'niversity of Ox-
ford createdhim 1 )octor of Civil Law in lN(i!» ilc died at JIarvard
in the year 18S2. A man of siii;^'\,]arly mild and ^'entle character, of
sweet and cliarniinL; manners, Ids own linos may he ai>])lied to him
witli perfect approi)riateness —
" His ^'racidu- ]iiv>t'iice upon (■ai'tli
Was as a tire u]ioii a liearUi ;
As ])lt'asaiit snugs, at iiioniing sanir,
'Pile words tliat (lro|ipL'il Iroiii his sweet tuiigiic
Streiigtlicned our lieails, nr — licanl at uiglit —
Madi' all our slumber'^ soft and light."
4. Longfellow's Style. — In one of his prose works, Longfellow
himself sayp, "In cluiractpr, in manners, in style, in all things, the
SECdNI HALF (iF NINKTKKNIfr ( KNTIIIV
H-)
law
Piilirciiio cxci'llf.'nco is pimitlicity." This siiiipliiity lit; t-tiMtlily aiiiit'il
at, and in aliiui>t all liis wiitiiij^s ivachccl ; ainl tin- ifsult is tho
sweet lucidity wliicli is niatiirt'.-t in liis ]n'>\ ]niinis. His verso has
hecn chararteriseil as "sinijilr, niii.-icai, sinrcif, synij)athi'tii', < Itar
as ir\>tal, and iimi; a> snow," lie has writtrn in a ^irat varietv
nl" nit'a>uie.s - - in uunv, ])frhi|i>, than have liccn cinployed by
Tennyson ]iiin>t'lf. His " K\aii,L;elini' " is written in a kind ol
daitylic hexameter, which d(ie> not always >can, hut whieh is alniu>t
always niusieal and inipresxive —
" Fair was ,>lii' aiul youii^', when in 1ic,|m' liep;aii tlie lonu' jmniicy ;
Failt'il was slic ami oM, wlien in ilisappoiiitnu'iit it I'lnli'ii. "
The " Hiawatha," ai^ain, is written in a tioehaic luea^ure — eadi ver.-e
euntaining tour trochees —
" ' Fan- well ! • M.id lie, " Min!ioliaIi!i,
Farcwfll, () my laii^'liin;; \vat>rl
All my lieart is lunieil witli yoii,
Air my I tli()u'f:lits j^n | ou'wanl | with ynu I'"
He i> alway.s earei'ul and |iain.>takiii,Lr with his rhytlini and with the
cadenet; ul' his verse. It may lie said with truth tliat h'in;^'t'ellow
lias taught more peuplu to lovu poetry than any other English writer,
however great. \
-rox-
iii\ard
ler, of
io him
lloW
Slhe
.'». Alfkkd Tknny.son, a great Kngli>li poet, who haji-AwitUiw
heautil'ul poetry for moi'e than fifty years, was lioi'U at Sojuershy,
in liimailnshire, in the year 1^0!). He i^ the youngest of thret;
1 brothers, all of Avhom are poets. He was educated at Canil'iidge,
and some of his poems have shown, in a .-triking light, tin; foigotten
beauty of the fens ami Mats of ("ambridgt! and Lineolnshire. In IH:.".*
he obtaineil the Chaneellor's medal ibr a jioem on *' Timbuctoo." In
1H3<> lu' publislu'd his lirst volume, with the title of Poems chiefly
Lyrical -a volunu' which containeil. among othei' beautitnl ver.-es,
the " Kecollecti(Uis of the Arabian Nights"' and "The Hying Swan."
In 1H33 he issuiid another volume, called simply Poems; and this
contained the exfjuisite jioems entitled "The Miller's Daughter" an<l
"The L(jtus-Kat<,Ts."' The Princess, a ]Niem as remarkable for its
striking thoughts as for its pertectioii of language, ait[ieai'ed in I"' IT.
Tlie 111 Memoriam, a long series of short jioems in memory of his
di-ar friv'iid, Arthur Henry Hallam, the son of Hallam the historian,
wi\,s published in the year IBoO AVheu "Wortlswortli tlied in 1(S."){»,
Teunysuu was appointed to the oUiee of Poet-Laureiue. This ollice,
from the time when Drydeu was forced to resign it in 1G8D, to the
pr,
FIISTOKY or F.NOMSM MTKIIATI'liK,
f
liiii'- wlnii Soutlicy jicci'IiUmI it yi |si;5, luul always lu'cn Ijuld l.v
thirl
"!• Iniiifli ial<; writoi's ; in ttm-tuweatxMy it kIm-M l«vtl
D' mail
\\
lio lias (luiir the lar^'tst aiiiniiiit of tlu' l.L'st jtdftical work. Tho
Idylls of tho Kinjr apiieaicd in Ih",!). Tliis series of i»oi-iii.s— ]K'r-
lia].s lii.-, -ivat.st .uiitaiiis tlic stories <)t'"Artlnir ami tlic Kiii'-lits
my other voliiine-, of jiooms have heeii u'ivi'ii
heJiaa^Lt k »>fi to the writiii;,' •>!'
i' the
The
'f the K<.uihlTaM
M
'V hiiii to the World, ju 1
MS o
hi
a<'e
halla.l.^
am
I .1
ramas.
II
IS liail.i'l o!
Tho ne^
JVOll
ii.urlaii'
• llamas of Harold, Quoon Mary, ami Beckot
noblest and most vi;^! irons poems that Ki
go I- one o
vs ('\ er seen.
ire iieriiaiis iiis
he.^t ; ami the hist was wiitteii wjieii the )M»et had readied the a;.'(
f seventy-l'onr. In the year ISHJ he was created JJaron 'iVnnvx.n
and failed to the H(
|o nie IKmsc ol I'eers,
•i. Tennyson's Stylo. -Tennyson hu*. U-t-n to the la>t two -eiier-
■ itions ol' Kn:,dishmen the national tearher of jioetiy. lie h.i.- tried
many imw nu asinvs ; he has \entiir('«I on many new ihythm- ; and
he hiiH siicceedeil in them all. He is at home ei|iially in the slowest,
most tran(|uil, and most meditative nf rh\ thms. and in the rapide.-t
Mid most impul.-ive. Let us look at the h)llowin;j lines as un
e.xample of tlu! tirst. The poem is written on a womuii wliu id
dying of a lin^'eriii;.,' disease —
'' Fair is Ikt cotta'^'c in its \>\nvv,
Wiifiv yon Iroad water sweetly slowly j,'liilcft :
It sees itself from tliatdi to Imse
Dream in the sliilint; tides,
" .\iid fairer slie : luit. ali I li<i\v sonn to die!
Her ijiiiet dream of life tlii.s Iiour may cease:
I 111- pcaicriil lieiiif,' slowly jiasscs by
i'o Noiiif more perl'eet jieaci'."
The Very next pcein, "The Sailor r.o\,"' in the siiii- \-,,liniie, is —
though written in exact Iv the saim- iiiea^iiiv— driven (»n with the
must rajiid manh and \ i:^'orou> rhvthm —
" He ro.se at ilawn ami, liivd witli liopc,
Shut o'er the seetliiiii,' liarlioiir-bar,
And reaclied the .sliip and cau^Iit tlic rojic
And whistled to the ninriiinu'-.-'tar."
And this is ;i striking' and ]irominent ( haracteristie of all Teiinvson'.s
poetry. Hvery where, the sound is made to he "an ediotothe .sense"-
the .style is in ])erfe(t keeping,' with the matter. In the " Lotos-
Katers," we have the sense of c(impleto ind(den(.e and deep repfKse
in —
luM by
tin lii;(1i
i. Tho
us — ]U'l-
I'll ^ivcii
riliii;,' ••!"
C of tilt'
II. TIm-
liii|»s his
(lie ap-
.'imys(jii,
KIS 1 villi
111^ ; ali'l
sl<)\V«'>t,
i'api'K.>t
s ;is an
I whu in
SFrONIf H.\I,F f>K MNKTKIINTII (KNTrKV. S7
" A lainl t>f htn'mii.-. ! Soiiir, lik<' .i (Inwiiwiinl )«ttiokf,
Slow ilrojipiiiK vuils ol' tliiiniot l.ivsii, ilnl p)."
Ill llic " jioiulici'i!," We llil\i- till- Illsli ,111.1 til"' siudk nf Itflltlr, tllir
I I't.-iii;,' nf It'i^'itiiis, tin; liiirtlf (•!' arms aii'l tin' < la>li (>ranii''l uifii
" I'liiiiitniii xiiiiiil of 1>Im\vs •Icscciiilin^', iin'aii of an cin'iny tiiii>-»arivil,
i'hiuitoiii wail (if vvoiiK.'ii ami rhiliinii, iiiiiltituiliiious u^uitirs,"
Maiiv <if TL-nnysnii's swcftf.-t ami most jiatlii-ti"' lines huvo ^oin- lijlil
into tlir litMi'l III" till- iialiuii, -iirli as —
" Hilt oil I'ur tin- tmiili iif a vaiiishfil luiinl,
Ainl till! sniiinl 111 a Mijic that is >till!"
All liis lan;^Mia^(' is lii;^lily iioIIsIumI, oiniitc, riih - sonit'tinu-.> Si>(ii-
scrian in luxuriant imaj^cry ami swci't music, soiintinii's rvm Ilonuiic
in massivi'iicss ami srvcn- simjilirity. Tlius, in tin- " Mmtr irAitliui,"
he .•'[Kaks of the kni;^'ht walking' to tin- lake a-
*' ("lotlii'il witli Ills Imatli, ami lnokiiif,' as lie walki'il,
LaitriT lliaii Ininiaii on tlie Iro/cn liill-*. "
Many of his iiitliy lines ha\i' taken ruiit in the inemiii\ nf tiie Kir^-
li>h i»e(»iile, such as these —
•' "I'is lii'ttcr to have luveil an'l lo-f,
Tlian never to liavc lovnl at all."'
" For WDiils. liki- Nature, lialf reveal,
Aiiil lialt' iiiini'al, tlif ^"iil within."
" Kiiel Inart-i an- iimre than loronets,
Aiei simple t'.iith than Nuinian liluoil."
le, is-
ith tl
Hi
liyson ri
use ";
liotos-
jl'eposo
7. Kl1/A1}KTI[ r.AKUKTT JiAiiuini', at'terwaiils MlJ.S r.llOWNINi;, the
j^reatest j»ot'tess of this century, was lunii in Lomlon in the vt-ar
lH(t:». She wrote vei'st's "at the a;;e of ei;^'ht — and earlier," .^he
says; ami her fust volume of iMiems was inihlished when .-he was
seventeen. When still a ;,'irl, she brokt' a hlooil-vessel u]imii tin
1 11 n;,'s, was ordered to a warmer climate than that of London; and
lier lirother, whom she loved veiv dearly, tunk her down lu Tor-
([uay. Tlnre .i terrihh; tra;,'edy w,;s enacted before her eye,-. Om;
day the weather and the water looked very leniiitinj,' ; lnr brother
took a sailin,L,'-l)(»at for a short cruise in Torbay ; the l)oat wi'iil down
ill front of the house, and in view of his si>ter ; the body was ne\rr
recovered. This sad event complelidy destroyed her aln^aily weak
health ; she returned to Londcni, and sjtent .several yeara in a tlark-
ened room. Here she " n-ail almost every book worth reading in
IMAGE EVALUATION
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8S
HISTORV OF ENOUGH TJTERATr-IiK.
iiliiui.-L i;vt'iv liiii^^ua^'c, and ;^'avo, lierr-elf he-art ami ?oiil to thai
|)0(^tTy of wliich slie seemed lioni tw be the priestess." This way of
lift; lasted for many years ; and, in the i-ourse of it, she piiblislie(l ^-i-v-
eral volumes of noble verse. In 1840 she married Iiohert Jirownin;.',
also a iL,'reat poet. In IHoO she hrougiit out Aurora Leigh, her
]iin;4e>t, and pr')1)al)ly al>o her ;^'reatest, poem. Mr Iluskin called
it "the i^'reatest poem ^vhi(■ll llie century lias produced in any lan-
Ljuai^'e; '' l»ut tliis is ;^'oin.L,' tuo far.^ — Mrs Ei'owninL,' will prohaMy 1)(-'
lon^^'est remembered by her incomparable sonnets and l)y her lyrics,
which are full of pathos and passion. Perha])s her two linest poems
in this kind aic the Cry of the Children and Cowper's Grave.
All her ]»oems show an enormous power of elo(juent, penetratiuL,', and
pii'turesijue lan;^ua;4e ; and many of them are melodious with a rich
and wiinderful nnisic. She died in l^fll.
s. lIoHHUT IhiowNiNG, the most daring' and oricjinal ]ioet ol the
<"enlury, was bniu in Camberwcdl, a .southern suburb of London, in
the year 1S12. He was jtrivately educated. In 1830 he ])ubli,-hed
his ru>t poem Paracelsvis, which many wondered at, but few read.
It was the story of a man who bad lost his way in the mazes of
thonu'ht about life, —about its whv and wherefore, — about this worhl
ami the next, — about himself and his rtdations to God and his fellow-
men. Mr r>rownin,Lj has written many plays, but they are more tit
for readiiiL; in tlie study than for aetiniif on the stage. His pi;reatest
v'ork is The Ring and the Book; and it is most probably by this
that his nam(! will live in future a}j;es. Of his minrir ]>oenis, the best
known and most ])opular is The Pied Piper of Hamelin — a poem
wliich is a ,!.,'reat favourite with all younij ])eople, from the })ictnr-
es([Ue)' <s and vij^our of the ver>e. The mu~t deejjly pathetic of his
minoi J .tems is Evelyn Hope : —
'' So. iiusli, I will uivi' you this luaf Id kt.'C|) —
Sec, I shut it inside the sweet coM liainl.
'I'hcri; ! that is onr secret! tro to slecii :
Vou will wake, ami reiueiiiher, and luidirstaiid,"
0. Browning's Style. — Browning'.s lani,aui,L,'e is almost always
very hard to nnocrstand ; but tlie meanini::, when we have got at
it, is well worth all the troublr that may have been taken to reach
it. His poems are more full of thought and more rich in experience
than those of any other English writer exce])t Shakspeare. The
thoughts and emotions which throng liis mind at the same moment
so cntwd npon and Jostle each other, become so inextricably inter-
minL,ded, that it is verv often e.xtremelv difiicult for us to make out
\
SF.COXD HALF OF NINFIFKNTFI fKXTrilV.
Sj
any me.iniu;,' iiL all. Tlicii many nf liis tli(iu;_'lit,s arc so sulttlo and so
profound that they cannot t-asil}- ho drawn nj) from the (hpllis in
which they lie. Xo man can write with ::,avatir directne.-.-, i^icater
lyric vigour, tire, ami im]»ul.-c, than lirowniuL,' when ht; choo.ses--
write more clearly and furciMy ahout such sulijcits as love and w;ir ;
hut it is very seldom that h" does choose. Tin; inlinitc complexity
of human life and its manifold experiences have sei/cd and im-
prisont'(l his imagination ; ami it is nut often that he spciks in a
clear, free voice.
1 1 ways
,^jt at
reach
riencc
The
oment
intiM'-
•;c out
t
\
10. Matthew Arnold, one of the finest poets and nol.lc.-t stylists
(jf the age, was horn at Laleham, near Staim's, on the 'i'lianics, in the
year 1822. lie is the eldest son oi' the great I )r Arnold, the famous
Ifead-master of Rughy. He was educated at Winchester and JJnghy,
from which latter school he ])roceeded to Ilallitd College, Oxlonl.
The Newdigate jirize f^r Kngli>h verse was won hy him in 184.*?—
the .-uhject of his jiot-m heing Cromwell. His lij'.-t volume (it
])oems Avas puhli.-hecl in 184«. In the \e,ir 1>^.")1 lu- was a]ipointed
one of H.M. Inspectors of School..; and he held that otlic(! up to the
year 188"). In 18.')7 he was elected Professor of Poetry in the Uni-
versity of Oxford. In 1808 a])])eared a iiew Aolume with the simple
title of New Poems; and, since then, he has ])roduced a large
number of books, mostly in pro.-e. He is no less I'anidU-- as a
critic than as a ])oet ; and his prose is singidarly lieautiful and
musical.
11. Arnold's Style. — The chief ipialities oi' his ver.~(> arc. clear-
ness, simplicity, strong directness, noble und nnisical rhythm, and a
certain intense calm. His lines on Morality give a gooil ide:i of hi-
^tyle :-
" We cannot kiiulle wlicn we will
The fire tliut iu the heart roidc-- ;
Tho spirit hlnwcth and is .still
III mystery our soil aludo:
But task-^ iu hours of iu.^iiL'ht willcl
Can lie through liours of ,:,'looni fultilled.
" With arhint,' liamls and bleeding feel
Wo dig ami heap, lay stone on stone ;
We bear the burden anil the Jieat
Of the long day, ;ind wi.sh 'twere done.
Not till the hours of light return,
All we have built do we discern."
His finopt poem iu blank verse i.s his Sohrab and Ruatum— a tale
90
IIISTOIJY OF ENflLTSir TJTERATUrvE.
f)f tlic Till tar wiistos. One of his nohk'st poems, f'iill('(l Rugby
Chapel, describes the stroii;^' uthI elevated ch.'irarter of his latlier,
the Heail-master of llug])y. — His prose is remarkable for its lucidity,
its pleasant and almost conversational rhythm, and its perfection of
language.
12. AViLiJAM Morris, a great narrative poet, was horn near London
in tlie year 1834. He was educate<l at Marlborough and at Exeter
College, Oxford. In 1808 appeared his first volume of ]ioems In
1863 he began a business for the ])roduction of artif.tic \vai[-i)a}»er,
stained ghiss, antl furniture ; he has a shop for tlic .''ale of these
works of ai't in Oxford Street, London ; and he devotes most of his
time to drawing an<l designing for artistic manufacturers. His first
poem. The Life and Death of Jason, a))peared in iSfiT; and Ins
magnificent .series of narrative ])oems — The Earthly Paradise —
was puf)lished in the years fVnui 18f)8 and 1870. ' 'I'he Earthly
I'aradise' consists of twenty-i'our tales in verse, set in a framework
nnich like that of Ciiaucer's ' ('anterbury Tales.' Tlie ])oetic ]tower
in these talcs is second only to that of Chaucer ; aTid Morris has al-
ways acknowledged himself to be a pupil of Ciiaucer's —
'•"riiou, my Master stiH,
Whatever feet liave cliiiil)e(l Parnassus' liill."
Mr Morris has also translated the vEneid of A'irgil, and several
wm'ks from tlie Icelandic.
13. Morris's Style. — Clearness, strength, music, })ictures(|ui;ness,
and easy flow, are the chi.'f characteristics of Morris's style. Of the
month of A])ril he says : —
'■'<) fair iiiid.spriiig, besuiig so oft ami oft,
How can I praise thy loveliness enow /
Thy sun that burns not, and thy bree/os suit
That o'er tlie blossoms of the orchard lilow,
Tlic thousand tilings that neath the young leaves grow
The hopes and chances of the growing year,
Winter forgotten long, and summer near."
His ])ictorial power — the power of bringing a person or a scene fully
and adeipiately before one's eyes by the aid of words alone — is as
great as that of Chaucer. The following is his jiictur.^ of Edward
IIL in nnddle age : —
" l^road-broweil lie wa.s, hook-nosed, with wide grey eyes
No longer eager for the coming prize,
8ErOXD ITAM" OF N fNEIKKNTH CENTrKV.
91
Rugby-
is I'iltlllT,
lucidity,
fectioii of
r London
it Exeter
L'TUS In
iil-]iii])C'r,
of these
»st of his
His first
; ;iii(l his
7adise —
Eartldy
iniewoik
i(,' ])o\vcr
s has ul-
sf\L'i'al
[lu.-iie.-,-,
Of th.-
fully
is ;iH
I ward
But kt't'ii ami stt'a(lfii>t : many an atriMnfr lino.
Hall-liidik'ti 1)}' liis sweeping beard and tine,
l'louf,died Ins tliin cheeks ; his liair was uum' than f-'rey,
And like to one he seemed whose better day
Is over to himself, thoiiL'h foolish fame
Shouts louder year by year his empty name.
Tnarmed he was, nur clad ujion that morn
Much like a kinj: : an ivory liuntin,t,'-horii
Was slunu aliout him, ritii witli trems and >i<ild,
And a great white ger-f'aicnn did he hold
Upon his fist ; before his feet there sat
A scrivener making notes of this and that
As tlie King bade him, and behind his cliair
His captains stood in armour ridi and fair. "
Mnnis'r< stores of languaj^'e are as rich as ;^]lensel•'s ; and lie has inurli
the same eojiious and musical How of poetic word-^ and jdirases.
It. William Makepeace Thackeray (1811.1863), fine of the
in(pst ori;^in;il of Enj^^lish novelists, vas boiii at (.'alcutta in the year
is] 1. Tilt' son of a [gentleman hiuli in tlic civil scrvict' of the East
India Company, he was .sent to EnLiland to he e(lucat»'(l, and was
some years at Charterhouse Scliool, where one of his sdioolftdlows
was Alfred Tennyson. He tlu-n went on to the University of Cam-
lifidj^'e, which he left without taking' a ih-gree. l\iintiiiL,' was the
profes>ion that he at first chose ; and he studied art both in Ei'ance
and(Jermany. At the a^'e of twenty-nine, however, he discovered
that he was on a false tack, <fave up ])aintin<i, and took to literary
Work ;is his t^ held, lie ct)ntril)uted many jdeasant articlrs to
* Fr,.ser"s ^Maqazine,' under the name of Michael Angelo Titmarsh ;
an<l oiu' of his mo.st heautiful and most patheti*: stories, The Great
Hoggartj" Diamond, was also written under this name, lie did
not, liowe.'er, take his true i)lace as an English novtdist of the fir>t
rank until the year 1847, when he ])ul)lished his first serial novel,
Vanity Fair. Readers now liei^an everywhere to class him with
Charles Dickens, and even ahove him. His most heautifid Moik is
])erhaps The Newconies; hut the work wliich exhibits most fully
the wonderful power of his art and his intimate knowhMl^'e of th.-
.^spirit and the details of our older Eni,dish life is The History of
Henry Esmond — a work written in the style and lan,t,nia,i,'e of the
d;ivs of Queen Anne, and as heautiful as anvthinj' ever done bv
Addison hinrself. He died iu the year 1803.
15. Chaules DlCKKNs (1812-1870;, the most jiopular writer ot
92
IIISTOUV OF ENGLISH I.TTKltATr'nE.
this cL'iiturv, was burn at Laii(li)ort, Poit.sinouUi, in ihi^ yi-ar iH12.
His delicate coiistitulion debarred liim from mixiii;^ in boyish spoils,
and very early niadi; liini a ;^'reat reader. Tliere was a little garret
in Ills latiier's liouse where a small collection i>t' books was ko]tt ;
and, hidden away in this room, youn;^ CharU's devoured such bo(jks
as the ' Vicar of AVakelield,' ' Ko])ins(Mi Crusoe,' and many other
famous Kii'jlish books. Tins was in Chatham. The lamily next
i'emo\i'(i tu Lmiduu, whei'c the fatliei' was thiown into jiiison I'oi
debt. Tbe little bov, weaklv and sensitive, was now sent to work
in a lilackinv; manufaetoiy at six shillin;^'s a-week, his duty bein,:^' to
c(A'er the bhickiic^-pots with paper. "No wor(ls can exitress," he
savs, " the secret aijonv of mv soul, as I conniared these mv evervdav
%, 7 Oil// 1 it«.
associates with those (if ni\ hapjiier chihlhood, and i'tdt my earh' hopes
o!' 'j;i'owin^ up to be a h'arneil and distinguished man (•iu>hed in my
breast. . . . The misery it was to my young heart to btdiev^- that,
day by day, what 1 had learned, and tliought, and ilelighteil in, and
iai>ed my fanry and my emulation up by, was ])assing away Iroin
me, never to be brought ba(dc any more, cannot be written."' AVlicu
his latiier's atl'airs took a tuin for the bettii', he was sent to school ;
l)ut it was to a school where "the boys trained white nuce much
better than the master trained the boys." In fact, his true educa-
tion consisted in his eager perusal of a large munber of miscellaneous
])ooks. When he came to think of what he should do in the '.\orld,
the profession of 'ie])orter tuok his fancy ; and, by the tinit- hi; was
nineteen, lu; had made himself the (piickest and most accurate — that
is, the best rej)orter in the C.allery of the House of Commons. His
iirst woik. Sketches by Boz, was piiblisln'd iu 18.3(1. In 1837 a])-
]ieared tlu^ Pickwick Papers ; and this work at once lifted Dickens
into tlu; I'oreuiost j'ank as a popular writer of liction. From this time
hi' was almost constantly engaged in writing novels. His Oliver
Twist and David Copperfield contain reminiscences of his own
life; and perhaps the latter is his most powerful work. "Like
many fond ])arents," he wrote, "I have iu my heart of hearts a
favourite child; ai;<l his name is Ihivid CopperJldJ." He lived with
all the strength of bis heart and soul in the creations of his imagina-
tion and fancy while he A\as writing about them; he says himself,
"No one can ever l)elieve this narrative, in the reading, more than 1
believed it in the writing;" and each novel, as he wrote it, made
him older and leaner. Great knowledge of the lives of the poor, and
great sympathy with them, were among his most striking gifts ; and
Sir Arthnr Helps goes so far as to say, " I doubt much whether tliere
has ever been u writer of fiction who tock such a real and living
kept ;
I liookf
■ otlicr
y iit'xt
-dU fill'
) work
jiii^ to
ss," lie
(.•rvduy
i' hopes
in inv
V iliat,
in, jiiid
iv Iroiii
"Wlu'ii
school ;
'. much
0(1 uea-
aiii'oUH
^^orl(^,
he ■\vas
;— that
Iliri
i7 up-
• ickoiis
is tiiuo
Oliver
own
Like
u't.s a
with
iij.ina-
II self,
liau 1
made
', and
; and
there
living
SECOND MALI' OF NINKTKKXTII ( KNTrilV
93
interest in tlie world about liim.'" lie diid in the year 1M70, ;ind
was hurie(l in \\'estininstei' Ahl>ey.
10. Dickens's Style.— His style is easy, ilo\vin;j;, vi;^orous, pictui'-
es([Ue, and liiiniorous ; his power of lanyua.i^'e is very L,'reat ; and,
when he is writin.i,' umhr tlif inthu'nee of ^tioni; ]iassion, it I'iscs
into a ])uie and nol>le elo<[uenee. The stcn.'i'y— the iwternal cir-
(•um>fances of his ciiaraeters, art* steeped in tlit; same (•oh)urs as the
<'harai'tcis thems(dves ; everythin;^ he touches seems to he liUed with
life "id to speak — to look hapi)y or sorrowful, — to rellei't tlie feelinj^s
of the perMius. His comic ami liuinorous powers are very i^ucat ;
hut Ins tra;^ic p(jv, t is also enoimous — hi-; jiov/'-r ol' dej)ictinLj tlie
liereest })assions that tear tlie human lu'east, — avai'iee, hale, feai\
revenue, remorse. Tlie j^reat Anu'rican statesman, l)anieM\'ehster,
said that Dickens ha<l done more to hetter the condition of the
En.ylish ])oor than all the statesmen (Jreat I'ritaiu liad ever sent into
the l'jiuli--li Parliament.
17. J(jh\ lUsKiN, the greatest livin;^' master of Eni^li^h }>ros(>, an
art-critie and thin er, was horn in London in the yeai' LSI'.). In hi-
father's house he was accustonu'd "to no other ]irospei't than that
of the hrick walls over tlie way; lie had no brothers, nor sisters, nor
companions." To his l^ondon hirth lie ascribes the ,great cliarm that
the beauties of nature liad for him from his boyhood : he fi'lt the
(•(jiitrast betwtH'U town and country, and saw what no counlrydiied
child could have seen in si.ulit^ that were usual to him from his
infancy. He was educated at Cliiist ("liurch, Oxford, and gained the
Xewdi;4ate ]irizi^ for jioitry in 18.39. lie at th'st devoted himself to
paintini; ; but his true and stron;^n'.st ^jenius lay in the direction of
literature. Li 1843 apjteared tlie tirst volume of his Modern
Painters, ^\■llich i-' perhaps his ^'reatest work ; and the fuur other
volumes Were ])id»lished between that date and the year isflO. In
this Work he discu.sses the (qualities and the uieiits of the L:reate>t
painters of the Eie^lish, the Italian, and other schools. In IS")! he
produceil a charminu; fairy tale, 'The KIii.l; of the ( lohlen Iii\er, or
the ]^)lack Brothers.' lie has written on architecture also, on jioliti-
cal economy, and on many other social subjects. IL- is the founder
(if a socii-ty called " The St Oeorg(;'s (Juild," the janpose of which is
to spread abroad sound notions of what true life and true art are, and
especially to make the life of the ])Oor nn^re endurable and better
worth livinj^f.
18. Ruskin's Style. — A i^lowing elofjuence, a splendid and full-
01
HISTORY OF ENflLISH LITKi:A'''rilK.
flowirif^ music, wcultli of pliriisc, iijitiiuss ol' ('i)it]it't, opiilonrc of
iiU'Us— iill those ([ualitii'S I'huructerise the jd'oso styU; of Mr Ku^kiii.
His similL'S are diiiiiig, biit always tnu'. S[)cakiii^ of tlu' countlf.-s
statues iliat. Iill tlic iuuuiiicraljlc uiclics of the caliicdral of Milau, lie
says that '' it is as tlioii^'h a llij,'ht ' " .u<^'fls had alighted then; and
l)een struck to uiarlde." His writings are full of tl'e wisest sayings
])Ut into the nu)st musical and heautilul language. Here arc a
few : —
" Kvcry act, every iinimlse, of virtue and vice, afTects in any crcaturt', face,
voice, nervous ])()Wcr, and viirour ;'iid liarniony nf invention, at ome. I'erse-
venun'c in rij,'litness ot liumaii conduct renders, after a certain number of fren-
oratinns, liuinan art possible ; every sin (douds it, be it eversolittb- a one ; and
|iersistent vicious living' ami followiuir of jdcasure nuder, after a certain number
of j^enerations, ail art imjiossible."
" In mortals, tiiere is a care for tritio, wincli jiroceeds from love and con-
science, and is most holy ; ami a care for trifles, which comes of idleness and
frivolity, and is most base. And so, also, there is a gravity i)roceeding from
dnlness and mere incajiability of enjoyment, which is most base."
His jiower of painting in words is inooni|)ar;d»ly greater than that of
any other English author : he almost infuses colour into his words
and ]>hrases, s(» fidl are ihey of ]»ictorial power. It would he ini])os-
silile to give any adequate idea of this power here ; hut u few lines
may sutlice f(»r the ]>resent :—
" Tiie noonday sun oame shuitinc,' do'vn the rocky slojjes of La Riccia, ami
its masses of enlarged and tall foliage, \vln.<e autumnal tints were mixed with
the wet verdure of a tliousand ewn-greens, were penetrated with it as with rain.
I cannot call it colour ; it was conflagration. Purjde, and erinison, and sciirlet,
like the curtains of (Jod's tabernacle, the rejoicing trees sank into tlie valley in
showers of light, every separate leaf cpiivered with buoyant and bnni '<? life ;
eacli, as it turned to retleot or to transmit the sunbeam, first a torch aud then
an emerald."
19. (jrEOKCK Eliot (the literary name lor Marian Evans, 1819-
1880), one of our greatest writers, was born in Warwickshire in the
year 1819. She was well and carefully educated ; and her own
serious and studious chaiacter mr.de her a careful thinker and a
nu)st diligent reader. For fome time the famous Herbert Spencer
was her tutor ; and under his care her mind developed with surpris-
ing rapidity. She taught herself (iei'uian, French, Italian — studied
tl.' best works in the literature of these languages ; and she was also
fairly mistress of Greek and Latin. Uesides all these, she was an
accomplished musician. — She was for .some time a?sistant-editor of
the ' Westminster Review.' Tl:*^ first of her works which called the
SECOND II.VM" OK NIXF/rKEXTIT fF.XTURV.
95
ii
iilleiitiou of tlu! public to lici' a>t()ni>liiii;^' skill ;ui<l imwcr as a
luivclist WHS lifi' Scenes of Clerical Lite. \\>\ nu>A jxiimlar
novel, Adam Bedc, apiiciMvd in is")!); Romola m I^(j.'{; aiiti
Middlemarch in I'^Ti'. ."^lif lias al-D wvitti-n a .u^dj i|,,i! nt'iKH'try,
ain(in;4 otlicr xnluni's tliat fnlitlnl The Tjegend of Jubal, and
other Poems. One of Ini' lu-t iiocms is The Spanish Gypsy.
Slu' ilifU in tlif yiMi' ISSio.
20. George ElioL's Style.— IltT stvlr is cvcix wlinr |nirf ami
stronj^', of til.' lii'^t ami iiio>t vii^orous Knylisli, not only Kioail in its
])u\vi'i', liiit ot'it-n intt-nsf in it.> drscrijit ion of cliaiartcr ami .-ituation,
ami always siiiifularly ailrcjuali' to the llion;ilit. I'luliaMy no novi'list
knew tlu' I'ln.nlish cliaracti-r — i-iu-iially in tlic Miillanils — so well
as .she, or could analyse it \\itli so niucli snl'tlrty ami tinlli. She
is entirely niistvess of the country ilialerts. In liinndur, ]iatlios,
kiiowleilni- of cliaracter, ]> >\\rv of ]iuttin;j; a ]w itcait lirnily upon the
canvas, no writer sur])asses her, and few come neai' her. Her jiower
is son.etinies almost Shakespearian. Like Shakespeare, she i^ives us
a larj^Mi iiuniher of wise say in, lus, expressed in the pithiest lani;uage.
The i'ollowin;^' are a few : —
" It is never too \n\{; to he wliat yon ininlit liave liocn."
" It is easy liiiiliii,L( r<'asni>s why oilier iM'n]ile sliouM hr jialiciit."
"Genius, at lirst, is lillle more timii a ;j-rcat ;';iiiarity t'nv receiving (lisci]iliiip."
" Tliin,i,'s are vA so ill witli you ■.wu] me as llicy midit liave lieeu, lialf owiiij.'-
to the number who lived faithfully a liiddeu life, ami rest in unvisiteil tombs."
" Nature never makes men v.lio are at once eiier,L,'eti( ally sympathetic and
minutely calculating."
" To the far woods lie wandered, listening,
Ami heard the birds their little stories sing
In notes whose rise and fall seem melted sjieech —
Meltfd with tears, smile'^, glances— that can reach
More ([uirkly lliroucdi our frame's dee])-wiiiiliiiL' niLrlit,
And without thought raise thought's best fruit, delii.dit."
i
; '
n
TABLES OF EXGLLSII LITEKATCIiR
Writkrm.
(A fifhnr unl'iini'ii .
CAEDMOX.
A scciilai' iiiciiiU
Wliitt.y.
Kii'd itbdut 680.
liAEDA.
672-735-
"The V. inTal.lr
ruw-dii-Tyiii'.
alffiki) tuh
G!;i;at.
849-901.
Kiiij,' ; translator ;
j>rii.s(_'-writcr.
Compiled liy monks
in various nioiia.stia'-
ies.
ASSER.
nislu)]! (if Slirr-
liiinii-. Died 910.
WuitKs.
roNTKMI'MllAKY
I'JVKMS,
Beowulf (lumiL'lif over liy
SaxKiis ami Aii,i:les Iroiii tlie
t'outiiieiit).
Poems n„ tii.« Civatini, ami ' i;,hvi„(,,ri»..na)
otiR-i' suhjvcts taivcii tVum 1 Kill- ..r tli.'
till- 'Md and the New '\\-<\;\. \ Antics, U\]>\\n.
mciil. I '•'! '''-T.
An Ecclesiastical History iu ' i.'i.si, lan.lin- „f
i-atiii. A traiisiatinn ol St tli^ Danes, ?>-
, John's Gospel into Eii'disl
(lost).
Ckv.
TCKIKS.
500
600
700
I'll!' Univfisity
I'f Oxford is
aid to liavol
Translated into the En;,di>li
of Wessex, llcdc's Keele>i-
astieal History and otiier
Latin works. ' Is said to i !"'''" f'"iiKled
liHV.. lM-un tln> Anglo- i '" ^''"^ '■*''^'"'
Saxon Chronicle. .
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, 87.>
11. "»4.
800
Life of King Alfred.
{Author unlHoini.) \ ,„„.„, entitled The Gr
avo.
900
iOOO
LAVA.M(>X.
The Brut (120'i), a jiocm on | John asceii.led nnn
1150-1210. JJrntus, the .supiiosed lirst i <•"" throne inj
A i)ri('st of Ernley- 1 settler iu Jiritain. I 1199.
ou-.Scveru.
v1
98
lAHI.KS (M' KNGMSII I.ITKilAI I'llK.
Wl:l I IKH.
•V..,,..^ I ri.NTflMI'i.llM'.Y CfH.
()i:.M ni: (>|;MIN The Ormulum l-Ji:.), a mI .if
I I 87- I 237.
A iTllloli ..I llii'Oi.l.'l
i.r SI, Aiu'iLstiiii'.
nli.'i'jii^ M rvji'i-, III inctr.
I!nin:irr nl* chronicle of England in Mip.'im chnrta, 1200
Gi.u(r|v'n:i;.
1255-1307.
ihyi.u; (1-Jl»r).
I.'l.-..
Il.tiiy III, .-IS-
r I' II i| > t )| I'
tllimir, I'Jjl'i
HOI'.KIi'r <>l' Clironiclc of En^'land in r ,t m ii r i'll >.'f
liltl'N'N'l'.. rliyiiM' ; J/nix/ii/n'/ ,'<niiii: Iniupli M, I'Ji'.l.
I272-I34O. tl =!''>•'' '•
(It'.lMil. MMliliilr.'ut I
l!iiiij.i I
1-M\v;iril I. :is-
I' !• 11 l| ^ 1 ll 1'
tlmmr, JL'T-J.
''l)lll| tll'Sl >lf
Wal.s, IL'M.
sii; .loilX The Voyaige and Travaile. i;.i« n.i 11 us- 1300
M.\ N l)K\' 1 1,1,1;. 'i'ravi'1-i to .Ifinsiii'iii, Imli.i, I <■ c n il ■> ilicl
To«7o ami other couiitrii's, written ' "n'nur, ];;()7. 1
130O-1372. jji |_.^,j,^_ Fivneli, ;unl Kii-- I
ri,ysinan: .nn,!- ,i.h (1 :ui> The tn^UvriUT ,,„„„. .,,• ,,,J
'•in lorinea l-,iivhMi, iineMHiiii, i:!ii, ]
ler ; jii'iiM'-wriler.
.TOnX IJARHOri;. The Bruce (]:'.77). a ]H.eiii i i;.| war.] TIIJ
TOT/i T-7ort written 111 liie \(irtlieni Kiil:- I asren.ls tlie'
iJiO-My"- I li.l, ,„• "Se(,lti>h" .lialerl. ' UnoMe, i:;'j7. >
Arcliile.ieoii ol
Aliel-ileeli, i
' Iliiihlii'l Years'
JOHN' WN'CLIF, TraiKslatioii of tlie Bible IVniii \V;ti- l.e^iiis,
172A-17SA the Latin version ; an. I many ^'■•'^>^.
'^,, "^ ^' traets ami iiainiilih-ts on
\ie.ar .,t I,ul ,.•- , , <i„„.clMvrorni. : ,, ,,, , ,,
worth, ni I.eu.'ester- ' , liattle <il ( icey,
sliire.
JOHN (K^WKi;. Vox Clamantis, Confessio
l.'MO.
ii2<-iAo8 Amantis. Speculum Medi- The iii.uk ( l;;^','''
rnuiy l^i: tantis (131.:;); a„,l ,,nems Lea.h -^j;';^;
1350
inan of Ivent ; iiroli-
alily also a hiwyer.
in Freieli ;in(l Latin
Wir^LIAM Vision concerning Piers the i Battloof Poitiers,
LANC!i,ANl)K. Plowman three eilitioiis i 'i'<'>''>.
1332- 1400. (l-^^--7^^). I
Born in Slu'oiisbire. First l;iw-ph>a.l-
I iii.i;3 ill luij,'lisli,
I 1302.
\
i
1
TAIil.KS or FNi.I.IsII LITKIIATriiK.
yj
1200
1300
1350
\
4
t
Will 1 1 US,
WuKKx.
(Jl)NrKMI'iillAUV
KVKMS,
t-'KS
CKOI'KIIKV ' The Canterbury Tales (l:^»- Hi. ImpI II. as
(• II A i; (' r: i;. '."^i, nt uiii.i, tiic ii.'.; i^ti,,. ' "■-•ipIs mi.-
1340-1400. Kniuhtos Tale. Diylm ' ""• ■ '■"'
I-.M-t; ..omli...;, •■'"';'. '''','.' " \' l-n-t'i.'l
>ol,li.T; .lil.lninfitist; I l-'UntillU ol L'on.l sr|i>r.
CiltllptlolliT lif till' j I
f'li^itMiiis; Cl.ils iil'fliM \V,ii T>liT'^iii>iir-
Kiii;4-. \V..ik<: M.l'. ic'.ti..ii, i:;si.
.lAMKs I. n|' The Kin>?s Quair ( /;'../,). , ,
SL'UT1,ANI>. fiiiofiii ill the Ntvle (if (.'hail- ' "'■'">• '^' ■•'•'•;
' • , !■ .• 11 r| s Ml .
1394-1437-
I'|i>nl|i'r ill l'.li_'-
lainl, aiiil r.|iiiati(l
th.iv. Ill 1405-24.
■IT.
iliiuiir, l;;:''.!
WII.I.IAM The Game and Playe Of the iirmy V. hs- 1400
CAN To \. Chesse (1171)- -the liiNt r.. nds tli.-j
I422-X402 '"'"'^ l>rin1r.l in Knv'laii.l ; tlu-.n... 1 II',.
v.nvr • , liNhi*' I-ives of the Fathers. " lin-
li-H'slatui 'ts.: ishnl M,. _ the la>t .lay of | Hj-m. -f A.iii-'
writer. h\> UW ;" and iiiaiiy "tli. r """" '" '■
works.
IIiMiry VI. ,'iH-
r !■ II d S t li (• I
llllnli.', 1 I'.'-.'.
In vr.vTios hk'
1'K1NT1N(., 1 i:i>-'
4
WITJJAM
1) Lf \ 11 .\ 1:.
I450-1530.
I'l'aiicisraii iir (!riy
I'riar ; Sciiriaiy to
.1 Si'otch ciiiliassy til
France.
(iAWAlX
DOUULAS.
1474-1522.
nislinli i.r lUlllkrl.!
ill Pcrtlisliirr.
WFMJA.M
TYN DAI. !■:.
1477-1536.
StUilrnt, oftlif'i)ln;,'y;
ti-anslaf'ir. Ruriit at
Antwerp for heresy.
The Golden Termed. "nl): I lio .laiN ra.l.s in- 1450
Dance of the Seven Deadly | suni'.:ti"ii,i4:.o
Sins (1.'07) ; ami otlicr
)Miriii<. I Ic lia-^ liiTii calh'il
"thu (.'liaucLT of Scotlaiiil." Kn.l nf tlio IIuii-
lirtil Wans' Wai
14r.;i.
Palace of Honour (I'h'I);
1 raii>lat iniM)t Virp;rs.ffineid
(l.'»l:i)— tilt; tirst traiislatinii
iif any L.atin autlior iiitu
vers,'. Dnii.'l.'i'^ -wrote in
XortlKTii HiiLflish.
New Testament translatnl
(l.V2.',-:!l); tlie Five Books
of Moses traiislatiil (l.'.:ii)).
'I'liis trails latioii is tlic liasis
of the Authorist'il Version.
W.ir.s <.f flic
Kmsuh, 14.:i.'.Mi.
F.iUvar.l TV. as-
(• <■ II l| S I ll !•
tliliilie, IMl.
Ivlwanl V. king,
14s:i.
\
luu
TAI'.LKS OF KXCILISII MTKKA'I'CUK.
WuriKK.s.
v^
SIR THOMAS
MO UK.
1480-1535-
Lnnl IIi^;li (Jliaiii'i'l-
Inr ; wi'itt^r 011 socitil
toiiius ; liistori.'ui.
Sill DAVID
L Y N 1) J-: S A V.
1490-1556.
Tutor iif I'rijii'f'
.laiiii's <it' ririitl;'.;iii
(.JaiiH-; \ .); ■■ f-nril
I. yon Kiii;^-iit-Anns ;"
UOUKll ASCI I AM.
1515-1568.
LcCfUrcl' nil (llTcl^
at ("anilii'ic'mi' ; tiitnr
(o I'dwanl \l., Qiu'cii
Klizabotli, and !.a(ly
,rani'. (Jr. y.
JOHN' FOXH.
1517-1587-
Ai, Kiij;]isli clpr;,'y-
iwv.i. CIoi'iTctor lor
tlio vrt'ss at. Basle ;
I'ri'honilary of fSali.s-
bnvy Catliodral;
imisi'-writiT.
FILM I'M)
s p i'. N s ]■: ; .
1552-^599-
SeciTtary to VioiM'oy
of Irelainl; )iolitic;'.l
writer; poet.
STR \\;ttfr
RALEICIIl.
1552-1618.
Courtier ; states-
man ; sailor; eol(ui-
i.ser ; ]iistoriaii.
RTfTTARD
llOOKEJt.
1553-1600.
P'iif;Ii.s)i elernyniaii ;
>fastProf tlieTenijile;
Hector of Uoscomlie,
in t!ie diocese of Salis-
bury.
N\'i>IlK>
History of King Edward V.,
and of his brother, and of
Richard III. (ir*i;i); Utopia
(-"Tlic Land of No-
where"), written in Latin;
und other jirose works.
Lyndesay'sDream(ir)2S); The
Complaint (L'^/JO); A Satire
of the Three Estates (153,'))
— a ■' niorality-jilay. "
Toxopl, :'.as (L^.in, a treatise
on .shootiiiLT with the bow;
The Scholeniastre (1.070).
'• Ascliam is plain andstron,'
in his style, bnt witliout
i^raee or w.irnitli."
Tl'o Book of Martyrs (L06:5).
an arcouiiL of tlic chief Tro-
testuut uiartyr.s.
Shepheard's Calendar (157^') ;
Faerie Queene, in six books
(1590-9tj).
History of the World (IGU),
^vritten during tlie autlior'.s
in!j)risoninent in tlic Tower
of London.
Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity
(L')9i). Tliis bonk is aii elo-
'inent defence of the ( 'hnreli
of England. Tlie writer,
from his excellent jn''.gment,
i.s generally called ''the
judicious Hooker."
f'oNTKMf'ORARY
EVENT.S.
Cen-
TIJItlER
Hiehard I If. as-
<!eiiil.s tliti
throne, I IS.3.
liattle of lios-
worth, 11.85.
Henry VII. as-
e, e n il s t li e
throne, 14s').
(ireok be;,'aii to
be t.iii;,'lit ill
Kn;,'lanil about
1 1',)7.
Il.'nry VIIF. as-
!• e 11 d s t h !•
throne, l."iO'.>.
liattle of Fioil.
iliii, 1513.
Wolsey Cardinal
anil T-ord IIif,'h
h a n c e 11 o r,
Sir Th-mias Mori.
first layman
who w;is Lord
Higli Chancel-
lor, ]y2".
Reforriatioii in
Knglaml J)ct,'in.s
about l'i:;4.
I'Mwanl Vr. ;is-
I- e nils t h e
throne, l.'itT.
Mary Tudor
asceno. s the
throne, 1553.
Crannier burnt,
15JG.
Elizabetli as-
cends t h e
throne, l,'i5S.
1500
1560
TAIlLIvS OF FA'GLLsII LITKIIATUMK.
101
IRARY
rs.
Cen-
TI'HIKf!
If. as-
the
1S3.
]3os-
.85.
I. as-
tl. <■
an tn
lit in
about
r. a>
till
00.
FIo.l.
I'llinal
Hi;,'li
1 1 o r,
■IIKIII
Lord
mt'i'l-
1 in
icL'in.s
. as-
f hv
the
1500
'"'"<- 1560
as-
the
WitriEK.',
sru PHir.if
.SIDXKV.
WnltKS.
Arcadia, a romaiu'c (15S0).
Defence of Poesie, pub-
1554-1586. ; ''■^l'<"' 'It.T liis death (in
"oniti.r; mnifviil ' l^'*"' Souiiets.
CoNTKMrOKARY j De-
KVKNTS. CAl.FS.
I'dnianri'-writi.T.
FRAXrrs IJ.VCOX, , Essays (l.^n:); Advancement
1561-1626. I of licarning (lb"Or>); Novum
Viscount St Al-
liaiis ; L(inl ni<;li
(Mianccllor nf Kn^r.
laud; lauycr; iihilo-
sopher ; c-wayist.
WILLIAM
SHAIvESPLAIIE.
1564-1616.
A(((jr ; (iwiii r df
theatre ; jilay-wrifer;
Iioet. Moiu and died
at atratl'ord-on-Avon.
Org-anum (l^viO); and other
wdrks on methods of inquiry
into nature.
'I'Inrty - .'jovcn I'layK. His
.i-^eatest tragedies "^are l/um-
!'•(, Le'ir, and Oflulln. His
liest comedies aie Midsum-
mer Nii/liCs Jtiram, The
Merchant i>f ]'niirr^ and A.s
You Like ft. \\U \,vA. his-
torical plays are ,/idii/s
C'limr JUKI Itiehard III.
Many minor j»/'"//(s— cliietly
sonnets. He wrote no prose.
BEX JONSOX. i Tragedies and comedies, iiest i>iai<e sails round
Hawkins begins
>lave ira<le in
lo(JL'.
Uiz/io murdered,
I'ltJO.
•Marlowe, Dek-
ker, Cliaiiman,
lii'annidnl and
I'li'tclK T, p'ord,
Wrl,.ster, \]n\
•Jfuisiin, and
other drama-
tists, Wei'ft eou-
tempdraries
Shaksiieare.
1560
1574-1637. I I'lay.s: Vi^lpunr ,,r th>- Fn.c ;
Ecery Man i)i Ids llumuur.
Dra-iiatist ; jiout ;
prose-writer.
WILLIAM Sonnets iuul poeins,
DUUMMUXI) ("01.
IIawthoknden ").
1585-1649.
Scottisli ])oet: ;
friend of Ben Jonson.
THOMAS II0B15ES. The Leviathan {hu>\), a
1588-1679. ; '^\;"i;k on jjolitics and moral
till' wiirld, 1577.
ExeiMition of
Mary Queen of
^JCdts, 1.07S.
1570
Philosopher; jirosi
writer ; translator of
Homer.
philo.sojdiy.
Haleigh in Vir- 1580
^'inia, l.VSI.
Balnngton's Plot,
l.'iSO.
S].;inish Armada,
I.-jSS.
Battle of Ivry,
l.V.'O.
1590
»«*■
^
0-2
TAni-Ks OF i;\(;].i.sii LriKi;Ai'Li;K.
WlUTKKS.
Hill THOMAS
p,uo\v.\i;.
1605-1682.
Physician a1. Xnr-
wicli.
Wol'.KS.
Religio Medici (-^''Tlie JJc-
lijxiou of ;i I'liysician") ;
Urn - Burial ; and otlier
lirose woi'lc'^.
CoNTKMI'OllAKY
KVKNTS.
i 1>^-
: CAIiKS.
Australia ills- i 1600
CDVflCcl, 1001.
.lames I. a s-
(• I! II d s the
throne in 100'<.
JOHN Mir/rOX. ■ ^finor /'<nms ; Paradise Hatni.tu,, ('(mrt
1608-1674.
Stuih'iit ; i)olitii'al
writer ; jioi't. ; Fur
rij,'n (or " Latin ")
Secretary to Cnmi-
wpII. Uocaiiio Mind
from over- Work in
.1654.
SAMUEL BUTLER.
1612-1680.
Ijiterary man :
secn^tary to the Earl
of Carlicry.
JEIIEMY TAYLOR.
1613-16O7.
l'3iij^lish cli'rLryman ;
Hislmii of Down and
(Jounor in Ireland.
JOHN BUXYAN.
1628- 1688.
Tinker ami tra\el-
ling preacher.
JOHN DRYDEX.
1631-1700.
Poet - T/aui'e;ite
aiid Ilistoriojirapher-
Royal ; playwright ;
poet ; prose-writer.
Lost; Paradise Regained ; I ''"nt'ienee fori
Samson Agonistes. Mauv I l!;l';'''\'''nV „ ''' '
, ^ , , , . , • • 151 ble, loOl-ll.
prose work>, the licst l»cin,t,'
Areopagitica, a s]>eeoli tor
tlie Liberty of Unlicensed (j„„powder Plot,
li'"itnig. 1000.
Hudibras, a ninek - liomic
]i()eiu, written to ridicule,
th(! Puritan and Parliament-
arian Jiarty.
Holy Living and Holy Ly-
ing (1649) ; and a number
of other religious books.
Exer.ution of
Raleigh, 1018.
The Pilgrim's Progress Charles I. as-
(1678) ; tlif Holy War; ami eends the
otlier religious works. , throne in k;-.'').
' Petition of Ri-ht,
IOl'8.
No I'aiiiament
from lO'JO-40.
Annus Mirabilis (-"The
Wonilerful Year," 166.')-(;t),
on the l'la,L,nie ami thi' Fire
of London); Absalom and I Scottisli National
Achitophel (ItiSl), a poem Covenant, IimS.
on political parties; Hind
and Panther (16S7), a re-
ligious poem. Ho also
wrote many plays, some
odes, and a translation of
Virgil's .ffineid. His prose
consists chiefly of jirefaces
and introductions to his j L'xcention of
poems. I Charles I., 1649.
I.onj,' Parliament,
liilO-5:5.
Marston Moor,
1044.
vy
leio
1620
1630
1640
TAHLFS OF rxriLIslI I.ITKlJAifKK.
103
Wi;r
;'KI;.S.
1610
1620
1630
V
WoKKS.
CoNTKMPOKAnv Tir-
HVKMS. CAUKS.
.lUllX LOCKE.
I632-I704.
iJiploiiL'ifist; Si'cr.'-
t.'iry ti) the JJcianl (,i
Tfaile; ]iliil(i.snj)hfr ;
jirosi'-writfT.
I > AN I EL J)EFci:.
1661-1731,
Lit.fM'ary man
paiuplilrtcrr; Journal-
ist ; iiK'iiihiT of roni-
inissioii (HI L'ltiiiii
with .ScotLuiil.
JOXATIfAX
SWIFT.
1667-1745.
Englisli c'!iT-yiiiaii;
literary man ; 'satir-
ist; lu'osi!- wi-i tcr ;
poet; DranofSt l';it-
rick's, ill Diil.liu.
Essay concerning the Hu-'Th.t Oo,nn,o„. leso
man Understanding (ICl'iM' "''altli, ir.i'i-t'.o I •^"'^'-'
Tlioughts on Education ;
;uiil other ]n-i)st' wi.rks. 1 |
Ci-Minu-fil I.onl
I'i'dtcrtur, ii;:,:;. I
The True-born Englishman ' 1;, st„ration.i.;,„, leeo
(l/i'l); Robinson Crusoe , xwow
(17]'.') ; Journal of the i
Plague (1722); and innro !,,:,,. ,, , ,.
^:'" - '""Hired books in;'^';!;,:!';:,!;:^'"-
First, iiiMVsi);iiipr
_ ill Kiiglaiid,!
Battle of the Books ; Tale of \ i^'''-- ;
a Tub (I7n4i, an allc^orv du |
tlie (.'huivlii's ot lliinii', Fnu'- I 1
land, and Scotland; Gulli- I'l'V^no o| Loii-
ver's Travels (172<;) ; u 'l'"i, ir,(;.-,. j
lew luHiiis , and a nun'dier
of vtM-y vi<,'ornus jiolitical
paniiililfts. !•'"•'■ "f London
STEELE. I
1671-1729. ;
Soldier : literary |
man ; courtier ; jour-
iialist; M.P. ' I
SpeetMor M.uardian.'and | sio,„.,i i,y ij.uisl '
other small .{..iirnals. Hi,' XIV. of France, '
also wrote some ]ihiy,s. , l''i'l.
I
JOSEPH A I )I)TSOX. Essays in tlic 'Tathr,'
1672-1719. -Sinvtator 'ami '(niardian.'' ; Tl,,. iJahea.s Cor-
Es.s,iyist;i.oet; S.T. : V^^o, a Iragody (l71-'5). i I'us Act, 107'J.
rotary of State for tlir
Home Deiiartment,
ALEXANDER
POPE.
Poet.
1688-1744.
Several /'i>ritis and Hi/i,uis.
Essay en Criticism (1711); Jam.s 11 as iftRn
Rape of the Lock (1711); -.nds , i,,: ^®^"
Translation of Homer's tluon,. in i,;v,-,.
Iliad and Odyssey, linished ! „
111 172t); Dunciad (i;^;,) . I H'-vointion o f
Essay on Man (]73ii). A ^'^^'
few prose y^sw///.., and a , William Iir. and
volimie ot Z.>«m. | Mary IL asemd |
the throne, lOSli. I
Battle of the, 1690
I lioyiie, 1090.
'z
10
TAI'-LKS OK K,X(;t.lsH MTKi; A TCIM:.
I \
Wmir.ii.s.
.lA.MHH THOMSON'.
1700-1748.
I'oct.
I1I:XUYF1KLDIN(1.
1707-1754-
i'olico - in;r_;i--t r.'itr ;
Jiiuniali.sl. ; imsi^li^t.
l)i; SA.MUIOL
JOllNSOX.
1709-1784.
Scliooliiiaslcr ; lil-
(i'iiry iiiJiii ; essayist ;
jMU'l.; dicliiiiiary-
iiiiikiT.
DAVID IH'MK.
1711-1776.
IJlirariaii ; f^i'CHt-
aiy to tin; I'Mciich lOiii-
liassy ; iiliilosoiihur ;
litriavy mail.
THOMAS (JliAV.
1716-1771.
iStiiilt'iit.; I'lii't,; 1ft-
tci-wrilcr ; I'rul'i'sscir
of Modtiii History in
the Uiiiver.sily ol'
('aiiiliiiil.:i'.
WoUKS.
CuXTi;.Ml'UUAUY l)K-
EVK.NTS. LAUKb.
The Seasons; uiiocm iulilank 1 Cfusor.sliipol' tiie
v.Tsc; (17:'0) : The Castle of j PreHsabolislad,
Indolence; a mock - lii'i'oic ; ''''''■
i)Ouiii ill the SiicusL'iiuii stall- „ , irrnA
^-'l' C'-l'^)- I aSCMMllls tlllJ
lliroiie in 17U-.
Joseph Andrews (1742);
Amelia (1751). IK; was
■■ llir llrst ,L'rcal Eiigli^li
lln\<'li>t."
H.ittlc <.f 151.11.
lu.'iiii, 1701.
• liliialtar take
1704.
London (17-"^) : The Vanity Union >'t' Kn^-
of Human Wishes (171'.') ; '■'i"l »'"1 ^t^^"b-
Dictionary of the English lainl, 1.07.
Language (17;")) ; Rasse-
las (17r'lM ; Lives of the
Poets (17S1). He also
wrote The Idler, The Ram-
bler, am i 1 1 ilay called Irene.
History of England (1751-
17'ili) ; ami a number of
pliilosojthical JCsm'//.^. His
jirosc is sin,!.Mil,arly clear,
easy, ami pleasant.
Odes; Elegy "Written in a
Country Churchyard (17.')'M
— one (if tlie iiKist jierl'ect
poems in our lauirunLre, lie
was a gi'cat stylist, and an
c.xtremelv cavei'ul workman.
(icorge I. ascciiiis
the tliruUe in
1714.
roiil AS GKOKGE Roderick Random (1748);
SMOLLETT.
1721-1771.
Uoetor; jiauiiilili't
Humphrey Clinker (1771).
lie, also continueil Hume's
History of England. He
lieil also some /'I'tj/s
Keliellion in Seol>
land in 1715.
1710
>fimtli-Seu Hiiljble
liurst.s, 17'.iO.
1720
cer; literary hack; i 1'"I;'i;IhmI als
OLIVER
r.OLDSMlTlL '
1728-1774. i
Literary man; play- '
writer ; poet. I
The Traveller (17ti4) ; The
Vicar of Wakefield (17t3t!) ; ,;,,or-e II as-
TheDesertedVillage(1770); I eends "ti/e
She Stoops to Conquer- -a tluone, 17'J7.
Play (1773) ; and u lar<;e [
numlier of books, jiam-
phlets, and compilations. I
TAHLKS OF KNdf.lsII l,ITi:|;.\T(|;|
().")
1)K-
CADKS.
1700
1710
1720
WlUTK.K.S,
ADAM SMITH.
I 723- I 790.
i'rof(^ss(ir in tlic
University of Gla.si,'(j\v,
EDMUND BURKE.
1730-1797.
M.P. ; Ntalisiiiaii ;
" tlic liist man ill till'
House of CniiiiiKins ; "
orator ; w riti'i- on po-
litical iiliilijsoiiliy.
WILLIAM
COWPK i;.
1731-1800.
Coniinissionrr in
Ikuikrniitcy; Clerk 1 if
the Jonrnal.s oT tlie
House of Lords ; imjiI.
1) WARD GIBBON.
1737-1794-
llislorian ; M.l'.
ROBERT BURNS.
1759-1796.
Farm - labourer ;
ploucliinan ; farmer;
exeise-officer ; lyrical
poet.
WnUKS.
Theory of Moral Sentiments
(17;V.t); Inquiry into the
Nature and Causes of the
"Wealth of Nations {\17>\).
lie was the louinler of tlio
seieuee of iioliticiil economy.
Essay on the Sublime and
Beautiful ( ! 7i>7 > ; Reflec-
tions on the Revolution of
France (17it(M ; Letters on
a Regicide Peace (1797);
and many other works.
"The uTeatest iihilosophcr
ill jiractice the world ever
•saw."
Table Talk (1782): John Gil-
pin (17^5) : A Translation
of Homer (17l»I) ; and manv
other I'oi-m.^. His Letters,
like Gray's, are aiiK>ng the
Lest in tlie language.
Decline and Fall of the
Roman Empire (1776-87).
" Heavily hideu style and
monotonous lialaiice of
every sentence. "
Co.NTKMroUAUV
KVKNTS.
! lAKES.
1730
Poems and Hcmgs (1786-96).
His prose consists (■hielly of
Letters. " His j.irtures of
social life, (jf (|uaint hiunour,
come up to nature ; and
they cannot go Leyoml it."
lu'liellioninScot-
laiKJ, 1745, ciim-
iiHinly ealleil
"The 'Fcrtv-
live."
1740
Clive in
1750-GO.
India, 1 1750
Eartluiuake at
Lishiin, 1755.
Black IIolp of
Calcutta, 175ti.
/
loi;
TAi;ij;s OF F.NdLisiF i.iTKi;.\'rn;K.
\\i;i ii;hs.
WILLIAM
wouDswoirni.
1770- 1850.
Dist ri 1mi( (ir ol
StMiiijis I'nr till! cniiii-
ly 1)1' Wc'slinorijlaml ;
lioi't ; iioct-lunroiilr.
W<.i;k-^.
CoNTKMPORAUY De-
EVKNTS. C'AUKS.
Lyrical Ballads (wiili Culr- c-.i-,. m. as- ; 176O
riil'.M', 171'N) : The Excursion '' '' " 'I -^ ♦ •' '' '
(1M4) ; Yarrow Revisited , """"^' '" ^'''"- }
(is:!;')), ami iii;iiiy oilier , |
|)0(,'iiis. The Prelude was
])iil)lislu'il iil'lrr hi- (Icatli. Ni).(ilci,n ami
11 i-^ luDsc, ^v]li(■ll is vci \
!l;i)(ii1, consists chii'lly of
I'lvlacos ami lutrotluctioiis.
\V (• 11 i ii;^t 1,11
Ixiiii, 170'.'.
sill WALTER
«(_'0'!'T.
1771-1832.
Clerk to tli(! Cniirt,
of JSes.sioli ill Ivliii-
l)urj,'h; Scottish liur-
ristur; poet.; novelist.
SAMTKL TAYLOR
COLKRIDOH.
1772-1834.
I'riv.ate .soldier ;
jouiiiali.st ; literary
man ; j'liilosopliei' ;
I'oet.
L'OnERT
SOUTIIEV.
1774-1843.
Literary man ;
Quarterly Ileviewer ;
historian; i>uet- lau-
reate.
Lay of the last Minstrel Warr.n Hastin-s 1770
(ISO."); Marmion (ISOS) ; , in Imlia, 1772-
Lady of the Lake (ISIO);
Waverley- the lir>t of tlie
" Waverlev Novels" — was
l.ulilishor in 1S14. Tlie
" JInnier of Scot'.and." His
])fose is Lri.Lclit and ilucnt,
l)ut vei V inaci'uruto.
The Ancient Mariner (ITi'S) ;
Christabel (ISI*!); The
Friend a Collei'tion of p\-
sa\ s (lsl'2) ; Aids to Reflec-
tion (1S25). His ]iros(! is
very full l)oth of thouirhl
and emotion.
ClIARLE^^ LAMB.
1775-1834.
Clerk in the lOast
India IFousiv; jioet ;
pi'dSL'-writer.
Joan of Arc ( 1 7'.'G) : Thalaba
the Destroyer (ISOl) ; The
Curse of Kehania (ISIO) ; A
History of .Brazil; The
Doctor a Collection of Es-
says ; Life of Nelson. He
wrote more lliaii a liundred
volumes. He. was ''the most j
amliitious and the most vol- |
uniino\is author of his age." ,
/''>.',/^s- (17!'7^; Tales from i
Shakespeare (ISOtJ) ; The !
Essays of Elia (lSi3-1833). |
One ol' tlie linest. writers of
]irosc in the EiiL'lish lan-
uuaL'e.
American De-
claration of
Independence,
1770.
.Vl
W'.VI/I'ER RAVAGE Gebir (170^); Count Julian
AN DOR.
1775-1864.
Poet; pro.sc- writer.
(ISrj); Imaginary Conver-
sations (1S-J1-1S46) : Dry
Sticks Faggoted (ISfiS). He
wrote liook.; for more than
sixty jear.s. His style is
full of vigour and sustained
eloquence.
i :'. nee of
!•" r .1 11 c e a n d
Aiii' I'ica, 177S,
r.VBLKS OF F.NOLISM LITF.i;ATri;K.
07
CADKS.
1760
1770
Whitku.s
THOMAS
ca.mim;i:i.i..
i777-i8}4.
Piii't ; lilriai-y iii;ui;
filitur.
WdltlsS,
i CoNTKMroRAUV Dk-
KVKNTS. I CAIlES.
The Pleasures of Hope (IT'.nM; ' FnryciMpiiiiia
Poems (1^(*:5): Gertrude of i H i- i t mi n i ca
Wyoming. Battle of the ^ f-'un.l.Min l77s,
Baltic, Holieiilindcn. etc.
(l^'tti*). llealMi wrote snnn
Jhvlnrictil \\'iir/:s.
IIKXRY TTATJ.A^r. View of Europe during the
1778-1859. ■ Middle Ages (lsi>) ; Con-
Historian ■ stitutional History of Eng-
land (1NJ7); Introduction
to the Literature of Europe
(is-n.).
THOMAS MOORE, j Odes and Epistles (1806);
1779-1852. ^alla Rookh (1.S17) ; His-
I'o,-; iT,.sr-wrii,t. tory of Ireland (]Mi7); Life
of Byron (IhiiO); Irish
Melodies dS.'M); and many
prn-^i' works.
THOMAS
1)E QLIINCEY.
1785-1859.
Kssayi.st.
Dull
17,V.».
ii:;iiii 111
Confessions of an English Fniifh i{,v..ln- 1780
Opium-Eater (Ibiili. Jlr
wrote also on many .suhjccts
— liliiloso[iliy, iioctry, clas-
sics, lli.^tory, jiolitics. His
writings fill twi-nty volunu's.
He was one of tlii' finest
lirnsc-writcrs of this cciitnrv.
LORD BYROX
((iEORGE GoHD(iX).
I788-1824.
rccr; i".i't ; Vdlnn-
ti-er to O'.'cecc.
Hours of Idleness (1^07);
English Bards and Scotch i
Reviewers flM)',t) ; Childe
lyiSJ : Hebrew Melodies 1 thrown, \7S:i.
(1815) ; ami many J'/ni/s. ,
His i)ros(', wliii^h is full of 1
vigour I lid animal s[iirits, is '
to li(^ louiiil chietly in liis
Letters.
V
OH
TAHLFS OF FATILISII [JTKRATUnE.
WllITKItS.
PKnr'Y T.VSSIIK
SIIKLLKV.
I 792- 1822.
Tort.
TOTIN KKATS.
i795-i8;?i.
P..cf.
THOMAS
CAR L V LK.
1795-1881.
Fwt. rary iiiaii;
jtoot; translator;
essayist ; roviewor ;
I'oliiical writer; his-
torian.
i,oi;i)
:\IA('AIIL.VY
(Thomas Haisinctoni.
1800-1859.
Barrister; Edin
liuru'li Ue viewei';
M.r. ; MeiiiluM- (if the
Snjirenie ('(HUieil of
India ; Cabinet Minis-
tor ; 1)1 let; ess:iyist;
historian; jieer.
WoltKS.
CoNlKMroKAUY
K\ KNIS.
I)K-
lADKS.
Quoen Iilab (l^Uh; Prome- , «'.M". of (iood 1790
theiis Unbound a Tra^'odv I ""P« taken,
( 1 SID) ; Ode to the Skylark, ' ' ' •'•'•
The Cloud (iSiiO) ; Adonais
(IS'Jl), and many otlier
jiopins ; ,'uiil several prose
works.
lionnimrte in
Italy, 17!)(J.
IJattle of the
Nile, 17'.»8.
Union of firp.it
Hritaiii and Ire-
Poems (1 SI 7); Endymioni >•""'. i^^O'-
(1818); Hyperion (1^20). I
" Had Keats lived to tin
ordinary ajre of man. In
^vo^lld liave been one of tht
j,'reatest of all iiofts."
i'rafalgar and
Nelson, 1.S05.
German Romances-
•t of
I'eninsiilar War.
180S-14.
Najioleon's Inva-
sion of Hussia ;
.MoM.'dW Imriit,
ISl'J.
War with I'idled
'IVanslations (l,vJ7) , Sartor states, lsi2-14.
Resartus '• The Tailor '
Hat tie of Water-
loo, lbl5.
ileiiat.'licl" (1S:'.1); The
French Revolution dSo?) ;
Heroes and JTero-Worship j
(ISKo ; Past and Present
(184:5); Cromwell's Letters , "'''"'S'^, '^'- ■''^•
and Speeches (184.^) ; Life ',',!",.",', .'iroI, "'
o Ti J • 1 Vi.1 n i tlirone, 18.0.
of Frederick the Great
(18."i8.l)rn. '-With the fjift '
<if som:, Carlvle would have ; G'f'^k War of
l.een the Ki'<'.itest of epic ';^'>'i"">"'. i»22-
poets since Homer." I
Bvron in Greece,
'is:;:i-2i.
Catholic Enianci-
! I'ation, ISi'.i.
Milton (iti tlie ' Ivliiiliuruh
Iteview,' I81.'.')) ; Lays of ^Villiani IV.^a-
Ancient Rome (18}'2) ; His
toryof England -iintinish('(l
(1849-59). " His pictorial
faeultv is amazimr. "
e e n il s t: h I
throne, 1830.
Til.' Keforni Hill,
ls:i2.
T(ital Ahojition
of b 1 a v e r V,
18o4.
1800
1810
1820
1830
TAPLES 01 KXGMSII [.ITEItATrUE.
101>
llK-
('Al)K.S.
1790
1800
1810
820
330
Wuniiis.
\>'iii;k.s.
(KUWAIil) llll.WKIl).
1805-1873.
N'o .ol isf, ; luift ;
ilraiiiiitist, ; M. I'. ;
Ciliiiiul Minister;
l"fi'.
.Toiix STiJAirr
1806-1873.
CIci'k ill (ho Kiist,
T?iili;i IfuiNit ; jiliiiiis-
nplicr; iHiliticii
wiitrr; .M.I'.; ],,„.,!
Ucctiir or til,. L'iii\.T-
sity ol'Si, Amlivws.
CoNTi;Mt'OR.\nY
KVF.NTS.
Dr.
< ADKS.
Ismael and Otlicr Poems f-inwu Victmia
^\y~o); Eug:ene Arp n ! ••i^'''i<l.s the
(l^-il); Last Days of Pom- ' ""'""■. l**""-
peii as:\\)- The Caxtons
(ISIH); My Novel (]\-;j)-
Poems (istifi).
Iiish Fa mi lie.
1 !<:.
System of Lopicd'^in); Prill- i '^''''"'■■'^ "'" ""
ciples of Political Economy ' ^'""' ''"''"•
(! -^) ; Essay on Liberty
(1>._).S) ; Autobiography
(187;!>. '• l'"(irj'u(lic-i"al ((ilni-
iifss, cluviitiou of tone, ami
iVfciloiu iroiii jii-rsoiialitv ,
■Mill is iiiirivallcii aiiiontr the
v.i'itiTs of his tiiiic."
I.'rV
I'ai
intioii in
, iv,l.
Hi;xi;v w.
I.(JX(iFi:i.L(.)\V.
1807-1882.
D.'.dlM.fWcliiir.
I'lii, l^jl.'.
Oiitre-Mer— a S'torv (1S;3.');
Hyperion a Stci'V (lS;J!t) • i
-, Voices of the Night (IMl) •' N'aiM, Iron m
rrnfrss..,- ,.r j|,,.i. i EV'i»?eline il^48); Hia- i Kuiimtci- of tlic
•Til l.aii_'ii;iL;rs an. I I watha [\s',:,, ■ Aftermath' l'''fiirii, 185l>.
Litcratmviullarvanl ' (lf^7-'>}. "Ilis f-actiii Ih,-
Uiiivrrsity, U..S. : "sc of lan.uiiai:!! is ],ml,al,ly !
the rhit'f cause of liis .su,'.
^"^'^■"^' Russian War.
185t-iiJ.
liout ; iiruse-writer.
LORD
TEX.WSOX
(Alirkd Tkn.nyso.n-,.
i8094-S-^.~
P'liT ; iMjcL-lauiv-
ute ; jieor.
ErjzABKTrr n
hai;i;k'|'t
(aftiTWanls
-Mrs J!no\v\[\f;).
i8o9-:86i.
Port: !iiMse-\viiirr;
translator.
Poems (1S30); In Memoriam '■[■'.nf-'-Ansfriai
( 1 ^.'ii » > ; Maud < 1 s.-,.", , ; idyiis | ^^ '"'- ^^^^■
oftheKing(ls.v,<.7;ji; Queen '
Mary -a JM-aniu (187.'.);!
Becket --a Drama (]S81). ■
He is at ])rcsi.'nt our greatest ■ K'ii'iii''ii'ation i.t
1840
1850
livuiu'' poet.
Prometheus Bound — Iran-
l.Hlrd troui thr Creek of
J'Jsehylus (]S3;j); Poems
(I'^jJ); Aurora Leigh
(ISoO) ; and Kasrn/s eon-
triliuteil to vaiinus ma^'a-
ziues.
I{nssiati
18(51.
-■rfs
Ansiro - J'nissian
■' iScvon Weeks'
War," ISOO.
^ni'7. Canal
ished, l.si;;i.
18^o
/
110
lAULEb OF 1:NC;LISII IJTKftATUItK.
WlllTKItS.
WILIJA.M
MAKKPKACK
TIIA(; K !•; II \Y.
1811-1863.
\fiVili>t ; wiitiT ill
' rmich' ; aitisl..
WOUKS
CIIAKI.KS
DKJKKNS.
1812-1870.
The Pa Sketch-Book
ilsi(i); »a . :y Fair (1"^47):
Esinou'l (l^.VJ); The New-
coinos ( 1 *>;"'."») ; The Vir-
ginians (l-Sfj?). Till! ^nviit-
I'st novelist !iii(l one of tlu'
jnost jpcil'iit stylists ol' this
•'(Mitniy. "Till! cliissifal
Kn^rlisli liiiiiinri^t, iiinl sat-
.rist oT tlir ri-ijiii oi' Qiictn
\'i 'tnria."
Sketches by Boz (1830); The
Pickwick Papers (1^:!7):
Oliver Twist (is:'.-'); Nicho
las Nickleby (18:58); and
iiiaiiv other novels ami
works ; Great Expectations
(l.StJS). Tlu! most ]io|iiiIar
writer tliat ever liveil.
ROr>Kl!T t Pai-.line (IS^.*]); Paracelsiis
iniOWMNC. (IS:5t)); /'»m;/.v (iMlf)) ; The
p . ■ * ami many other \olinnes ol
lioetry.
J(;1[X T^T'SKIX.
1819 .
Art-oviti.' ; essay-
ist; teaeher; literary
man.
Modern Painters (lsi:i.Hii):
The Stones of Venice (is.'.l-
."i;5) ; The Queen of the Air
I (IStJ'.t) ; An Autobiography
[ (ISS.)); ami Very many other
I works. " lie has a deej),
I serious, ami almost fanatical
reverence for art."
OKORdK ELIOT. Scenes of Clerical Life (IS.'iS);
181Q-1880. ! ^^^^^ Bede (IS59); and
' iiianv otlii'r novels down to
No veil st ; jMU'l ;
e.ssayist .
Daniel Deronda (l.^TtM
Spanish Gypsy (isr.s) ; Le- y,,,,. R.fonnnill,
gend of Jubal (18/ n. I iss'..
CoNTEMPonAnv T)r.-
EVKNT.S. ( AI»K.S.
Franen • I'russiaii 1870
War IsTO-Tl.
Tliird Freticli Re-
]piilihe. IsTii.
William I. of
I'nissi.'i iiiailo
MiMpiinr of the
(!ei iiiaiis.it Ver-
.suilles, 1S71.
IJnniP till' 1 ev
r;ii.ital ot Ilalv,
1871.
liii^x. - TiMl<i>h
War 1>-T7-T^.
Hrilin rnii;,'rrHV.
ami Treat v,
isTS.
I.rn Xlll. made
I'l'lM' ill 1SV8,
Assassiiiatinii ,,r 1880
Alexander 11., !
ISSI.
Ar.tliiraslia'sRe-
l.ellioii,l.s82-83.
War in tlie Sou-
dan, ISSl.
MurtliT of fior-
diiji, ISSt.
Edinbur-h : rrinted Vy T. and A. Co.sst.mu.f.
II !|
MPORAI'.Y Pf-
IINTS. I AUKS.
-rni-si;iii 1870
'loncli no-
:. IsVi).
nil 1. <if
ill made
■iiir ol" tlie
iins.it Ver-
s, 1871.
111.' lev
;il (.1 Italy,
. Ttirkish
li^77-7x.
Tri'iit y,
vIII. made
• ill 1S7.S.
sinatidU nl' 1880
;aiidcr 11., I
1 Pasha's Re-
inn, 1S82-8U.
in the Snu-
, ISSl.
ler of Gor-
I, 1SS4.
RcfonuBill,
iI.E.